Lessons in Chaos

Chapters

3 - An Alarming Disappearance
4 - Dysphoria
5 - A Kingdom in Disarray
6 - Veridical Dissonance
7 - Discarded
8 - Distance
9 - The Most Discourteous Unicorn
10 - A Single Act of Disloyalty
11 - Discharged
12 - A Family Dispute
13 - A Fateful Disagreement
14 - A Much Needed Discourse
15 - Belligerent Discouragement
16 - Disinclined to Obey
17 - Love in Disrepair
1 - Distress of the Heart
2 - Friendship Tainted by Distrust

3 - An Alarming Disappearance

Applejack’s eyes remained fixed on the spot of flooring where Twilight Sparkle had shattered into a thousand triangular shards. She saw the image flashing through her mind again and again. She experienced Twilight’s face collapsing into pieces, watched the fracture spread across the length of her body, down her legs and tail, and when it finished, Twilight shattered again.

“Twilight?” Applejack asked to nopony in particular. She reached out with her hoof, feeling the air where Twilight stood, but only air remained. She felt her heart begin to race, felt her breathing pick up, but she could do nothing to stop it. Her memory flashed unbidden and for an instant, she was a filly again.

“Where’s Mama?” Applejack asked, her heart already filling with fear. Somewhere deep inside, she already knew the answer, but she asked the question all the time.

Bright Mac had no answer to the question. His face dropped when she asked, and she could see him open his snout to speak, but no words would come out. Frantically, Applejack turned on Granny Smith. “Granny, where’s Mama?!” she demanded, her voice rising in panic.

Somberly, Granny Smith said only, “Applejack, I’m sorry.”

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted, her voice rising through the haze of memory. She reared back on her hind legs, shoulders convulsing as she stepped back from the ghost of Twilight’s disappearance.

“Applejack,” Rarity said carefully, stepping slowly towards her.

From the other direction, Pinkie Pie advanced, offering sweetly, “It’s okay. Twilight’s just fine.”

Applejack’s attention snapped quickly to Pinkie. “Y’found her? Where is she?!”

Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, backing up a step. “I mean, she’s probably fine. I’m sure she’ll be back before you know it! Unless she was sent traveling through time or to another dimension or maybe she was vaporized on the spot and now she isn’t anywhere at all, but I’m sure none of those are what happened!”

Applejack stared horrified at Pinkie, who seemed not to notice at all as she suddenly perked up and shouted, “Ooh, maybe she’ll come back and be a double alicorn! Can you do that?! Is that a thing?!”

All eyes turned slowly to Rarity. A second passed before she seemed to notice that she’d become the center of attention. She raised an eyebrow, glancing around at her friends before tentatively suggesting, “…I highly doubt it?”

Frantically, Applejack grabbed Pinkie’s shoulders with her hooves. “We got to find her,” she said quickly. “Is she--”

“She’s not upstairs!” Spike reported, descending the staircase.

Applejack’s breath rapidly increased its pace. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest like a jackhammer, and her eyes remained wide and unfocused as she spoke to the group. “We can spread out. Rainbow, you can go to Cloudsdale. Rarity, you search Canterlot. Flutt--”

“Uh, there’s a lot of Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

Flatly, Rarity added, “Yes, one does not simply search Canterlot.”

“We can fan out!” Applejack insisted. “There’s six of us, we can search every inch of Equestria in--” Before she could finish, she found Rainbow Dash’s hoof where her voice should be.

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there.”

“We can’t simply search all of Equestria,” Rarity said in agreement. “We have to be smart about this. There must be some way to determine what happened to her.”

Applejack wrestled Rainbow Dash’s hoof from her mouth and demanded, “We got to find her!”

“Um….” Fluttershy spoke up in the back of the group. “What if we--”

“We will,” Rarity replied. “If you’d just calm down, we can--”

“We got to find her now!” Applejack shouted.

Dejected, Fluttershy lowered her head. “Okay. I’ll just be quiet over here.”

“I’ll find her myself!” Applejack shouted, bolting for the front door.

Rainbow Dash moved quickly in front of the door, barring her exit. “Hey, calm down. We’re going to find her, we just need to--”

“Applejack, please calm down,” Rarity pleaded. “This isn’t like you.”

“Wait, I got this,” Rainbow Dash said suddenly. Out of nowhere, she smacked Applejack across the face with her hoof.

“RAINBOW DASH!” exploded Pinkie Pie.

Grinning, Rainbow Dash asked, “You feeling better?”

“No!” Applejack shouted. “And now m’jaw hurts!”

One after another, the group turned to glare at Rainbow Dash. Sheepishly, she backed up to the door again. “That, uh…that usually works for Daring Do.”

Rarity looked back to Applejack, holding a hoof up in Rainbow Dash’s direction. “Setting aside Rainbow Not Helping Dash for a moment, we need you to help us think of a plan. We can’t do this without you, Applejack.”

“Y’don’t get it,” Applejack told her. “It’s my fault this happened. I gotta fix it. I can’t let this happen, not to Twilight. I can’t.”

“Wait, I’m confused,” Pinkie Pie uttered. “How is this your fault?”

“I….”

“Consider this the final lesson I have to teach you, Applejack, and it’s one you would do well to remember. There are always consequences for the choices you make.”

“Applejack,” Rarity whispered. “Listen to me. This is not your fault. We all agreed to help Twilight. We chose to do this as a group.”

“I should have let her go,” Applejack whispered to nopony in particular.

“Applejack, no,” Rarity started. She opened her snout to say more, but found herself coming up short on the right words to solve this problem.

Before Rarity could find those words, Spike spoke up. “We are going to find her, though. Aren’t we?” Rarity turned to see Spike standing next to Fluttershy, one claw gripping the table. “I mean, she’s not gone gone, right? She’s coming back.”

There was a strange vulnerability in Spike’s wide eyes and the light tremor in his voice that Applejack could hear him trying to hide. She’d never seen him like this before. With his intelligence and compassion, it was easy at times to forget how young he was, but watching him now, she found something familiar in his trepidation.

In a moment, something seemed to shift inside of Applejack. She surged to her hooves, feeling a wave of confidence and determination flow through her, crushing down her fears and insecurities into the pit of her stomach.

“Course we are,” she answered Spike quickly, approaching and reaching out a hoof to pull him into her chest. “We’re gonna find Twilight and we’re gonna bring her home, whatever that takes. Y’got my word on that, Spike.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess,” Spike said, raising an eyebrow at Applejack’s sudden shift in behavior.

“Don’t you guess nothin’. You and me, we’re all but kin, and kin takes care of one another. You and me, we got each other and we ain’t about to rest until she’s home safe, you got that?” She released her foreleg, letting Spike out.

Spike backed up a couple paces, then looked up at Applejack. “Thanks,” he told her earnestly. “I’ve got your back too.” He folded his claw into a fist, holding it out for Applejack. Without hesitation, she tapped it with her hoof.

Applejack nodded. She took a deep breath, then turned to address her friends. “I’m mighty sorry for the way I acted, y’all.”

“That was weird,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “You’re not supposed to be the pony that flips out.”

Rarity stepped forward, shooting a sharp sideways glare in Rainbow Dash’s direction. “We are all entitled to our momentary lapses, Applejack. The important thing is that you’re with us now.”

Speaking up from the rear of the group, Fluttershy asked, “Would now be a good time to--”

“Hey, I just had a thought,” Rainbow Dash stated, turning towards the table. The golden chest remained where it had been, the only perceivable motion being the glowing of the runes, which seemed to fade in and out. “How do we know that box is working right?”

Fluttershy scowled at Rainbow Dash, but fell silent again with a huff.

“Hmmm,” Pinkie Pie murmured, climbing up onto the table to examine the box closely. Plucking a magnifying glass from her hair, she flitted around it, examining every corner, inspecting the jewels, and scrutinizing the runes. After a couple minutes of careful investigation of its craftsmanship and makeup, she concluded, “The glowy bits are glowing, so that probably means it’s working!”

“Are they supposed to glow?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Mm?” Rarity stepped forward, approaching Rainbow Dash. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I tune her out when she starts raving about magic stuff,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Did she say the box is supposed to glow like that?”

“Huh!” Pinkie exclaimed, standing proudly on the table beside the chest. “Y’know, I don’t think she did.”

“Right!” Rainbow Dash shouted, gaining steam. “So how do we even know the box is doing what it’s supposed to do?”

One by one, each pony turned to look at Rarity. Pinkie Pie was the first she noticed, prompting her to ask, “What?” Whipping around, she spotted Applejack and Rainbow Dash looking expectantly her way as well. “Can I help any of you?”

“Well, it’s magic and you’re--” Rainbow Dash started.

“Are you suggesting….” The remark ignited something fierce inside of Rarity. She looked from Applejack to Rainbow Dash, eyes narrowing as her mind processed the implication of the pegasus’s statement.

“I mean, if the horn fits--”

“Let me make myself clear,” Rarity said sternly. “I am not a backup unicorn. Why would you even think that?! The kind of spells Twilight works are above and beyond the realm of ordinary unicorn magic! Here, you want my professional assessment?” Rarity spent a second looking at the chest, then growled, “The glowy bits are glowing, so that probably means it’s working.”

“Geeze,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “We get--” She found herself abruptly cut off by Pinkie Pie’s hoof.

“We’re sorry, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie said, pointedly looking at Rainbow Dash.

“Honestly!” Rarity huffed. “You might just as well ask Fluttershy to perform a Sonic Rainboom. Isn’t that right, Fluttershy?”

Poking her head up, Fluttershy answered, “I had an idea that could--”

“Exactly!” Having managed to vent her frustrations, Rarity’s ire began to cool. More calmly, she continued, “If you want somepony to tell you if the chest is gaudy – and it is; it looks like it was invited to its first Grand Galloping Gala and is trying too hard to impress – then I’m your pony. But that’s the extent of my Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?”

“Hmm,” Pinkie uttered, lifting the chest from the table between her hooves. She heaved it overhead as though preparing to slam it down on the table.

“PINKIE, NO!” Rainbow Dash shouted, shooting onto the table and snatching the chest from her hooves. Squeezing the box between her forelegs, she fluttered in the air, keeping it well out of hoof from everypony.

Applejack turned on Pinkie in an instant. “What in tarnation do y’think you’re doin’?!”

Cheerfully, Pinkie Pie explained, “Well, I was thinking that if we don’t know that the box is doing what it’s supposed to be doing then maybe it’s not doing it and we just think it’s doing it, and if we think it’s doing it then it could be not doing it right under our noses! So I was gonna hit it really hard and see if it breaks like Twilight did.”

Applejack blinked. “Y’think the box is a fake?”

“Maybe not the whooooole box,” Pinkie Pie replied. “But Rarity said it’s really gaudy and I’m thinking, ‘Who likes things that are gaudy?’”

Rainbow Dash set herself back on the ground, returning the chest to the table. “That’s a good point,” she noted. “You guys remember what Cardinal was like? The guy had a huge crush on himself.”

Following her train of thought, Applejack added, “Yeah, Rarity’s whole job in that whackadoo fantasy world of his was to go ‘round tellin’ everypony how cool he was.”

“I remember,” Rarity acknowledged through gritted teeth.

Looking to the others, Rainbow Dash explained, “Yeah, that! He’d totally put up an image just to make his box prettier.”

At that, everypony backed slowly away from the chest, keeping a suspicious gaze on it. The runes continued to pulse and for a second, Applejack thought there might be a clue somewhere in the pulsing, but to her dismay, it was not the same rate that the stone had been pulsing previously. Perhaps magic just pulsed sometimes?

Applejack sighed. “Does anypony know how to tell if we’re lookin’ at an illusion or not?” Reflexively, she glanced to Rarity, but a violent stink-eye from the unicorn quickly turned her gaze away.

Several seconds passed in silence. Applejack watched the box, looking for any sign of an answer to the questions that today had laid on their plate. Fluttershy fidgeted with her foreleg, keeping Rarity between her and the table and wrestling with the question of whether or not it’d be right to interrupt. Pinkie Pie drifted casually towards Rainbow Dash, who had taken a seat in front of the chest, keeping it in hoof’s reach just in case it started to act up.

“A thought occurs to me,” Rarity admitted, breaking the silence.

“Good thought or bad thought?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Tom feeds by consuming magic,” she explained.

“Bad thought. Gotcha.”

“Even supposing that Twilight’s enchantment is effective at containing the chaos magic within the stone, what is to keep him from devouring the enchantment itself?”

“Twilight would have had a plan for that,” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“She did,” Applejack answered quickly. “Plan was, she’d be here to blast him with her counterspell.”

“Oh, yeah!” Pinkie grinned for a moment, before reality resettled and her expression slowly turned to a grimace. “Oh. Right. That’s not super helpful.”

Applejack looked to the others, then carefully approached the chest, putting herself between it and the group. “Well, we can’t just try smackin’ it around, less’n we wind up bein’ the ones to break it in the first place. Tom ain’t made any more Twilights since Rainbow….” She stopped suddenly, seeing the image play out in her mind once more. Twilight’s face broke into pieces in an instant, sending fractured shards of purple--

“Since I took care of it,” Rainbow interrupted, tapping Applejack in the shoulder with a hoof to try and bring her back to reality.

Applejack blinked, shaking her head. “Right. That. Point is, he ain’t in the room with us and that’s the best we got.”

“…how do we know that?” The question emerged from Rarity in a long, flat tone. She looked to Applejack and Rainbow Dash and for just a second, she sounded afraid.

Pinkie Pie giggled at Rarity’s question. “’Cause the box is here and Twilight isn’t, silly billy!”

“I don’t mean to be alarmist,” Rarity started, stepping forward to the others. “But how do we know that Twilight was the only one of us that Tom replaced?” She looked to her friends, watching the realization dawn on each of them in turn. Everypony except Fluttershy, who sat in a corner of the library simply watching the group speak. She’d been unusually quiet, hadn’t she? Well, it was Fluttershy, but still, a pony would think that she might have had something to offer to the conversation.

She looked to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was difficult to read at the best of times, but she had been quick to try and break the chest. Could it be possible that she was trying to release Tom from the binding spell? She could have been a…no, wait, that didn’t make sense. If the magic chest was working, Tom shouldn’t be able to make a Pinkie clone to do that, should he? Unless his illusions didn’t need to…gah, she did not understand nearly enough about this kind of magic to make that assumption.

Applejack wasn’t prone to breakdowns, she was certain of that. She’d known the farm pony since childhood and had never once seen her completely lose it the way she had earlier. She’d seen Applejack get angry a time or two, but never the kind of panic attack that had struck so abruptly. Then again, Applejack’s ponytail had come undone and remained so, which seemed like an odd detail for Tom to have devised.

Rarity watched Rainbow Dash and Applejack separate from each other. A heavy weight settled in, seeming to press down upon the entire room. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak, remarking, “We got the fake Twilight. I think we’d have noticed if somepony else went missing. It’s not like he can be two ponies at once.”

“Why not?” Spike asked, climbing up onto the table.

“’Cause he’d have to be in two places at once, duh.”

Darkly, Applejack chimed in. “Ain’t like we’re talkin’ ‘bout a Changeling. Tom ain’t a pony, he just fakes bein’ one. Who’s to say he can’t fake bein’ two?”

Quickly, Rainbow Dash answered, “Well, we know he’s not me! So we can start there.”

“Do we?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, yeah. I’m the one that smashed his Twilight. I wouldn’t do that if I was fake. I mean, a fake me might not even be able to. Those things break really easy.”

Pinkie Pie leaned in close to Rainbow Dash, eyeballing her carefully. “Unleeeess…you really were Tom and you wanted us all to think you weren’t Tom so you pretended to smash the fake Twilight to get us all to think you were really the really real Rainbow Dash and not the fake real Rainbow Dash that you really are!” Plucking a magnifying glass from her hair, Pinkie shoved it into Rainbow Dash’s face. “COME CLEAN!!!”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash fell sideways, pushing back against Pinkie Pie. “Cut it out! What about Rarity?!”

“What about me?” Rarity asked.

“You were really mean to us earlier! If anypony’s fake here, it’s you!”

“I beg your pardon?!”

Fluttershy sidled into the group, adding, “You did interrupt me when I was trying to--”

“I have been as courteous as I am capable of given the circumstances!”

“…just like that, yeah.”

“Twilight has gone missing, a treacherous stone that put me in the most ghastly attire and humiliated me for his own satisfaction is already trying to move us around like his puppets again, Applejack is on the verge of a panic attack, Twilight is still missing, and nopony informed me that I’d be expected to act as a backup wizard in her absence, so you’ll forgive me IF I’M A LITTLE STRESSED OUT RIGHT NOW!!!”

“Could everypony please stop yelling?” Fluttershy asked. “We’re all friends here. This isn’t how friends should act.”

“She’s right,” Spike agreed. “Twilight wouldn’t want this.”

Applejack nodded. “It’d just about break her heart, seein’ us at each other’s throats when she ain’t even been gone but an hour. Done enough of that already, I’d reckon.”

“She started it,” Rainbow Dash grumbled to herself.

Staying back by the edge of the group, Fluttershy suggested, “There has to be a way to tell if anypony’s been replaced, but we aren’t going to think of one if we don’t work together.”

Pinkie Pie mused, “Do you mean like a secret magic weak spot? Do the fake ponies have those?” She glanced over at Rarity, considering what she might--

“The next pony who does that is getting poked in the eye,” Rarity growled.

“Sorry, Rarity.”

“With my horn,” the unicorn clarified.

“Rarity!” Applejack shouted.

Rarity sighed. “I’m sorry. That’s getting on my--oh. Oh!” Rarity perked up, glancing frantically from one pony to another. “What about Twilight?!”

“Still missing,” Rainbow Dash said idly. “Thanks for catching up.”

“No, not our Twilight. I mean the other Twilight. Rainbow Dash, you managed to deceive her into revealing herself by appealing to events she could not recall.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “So, what, you want us to just stand here and talk about stuff that’s happened to us?”

“Good idea,” Applejack said, stepping forward and addressing the group. “We’ve all been friends for quite some moons now. Surely we gotta know some stuff about each other that ain’t common knowledge.”

Pinkie Pie grimaced in confusion at the suggestion. “What, you mean like how funny it is when a pony nibbles on Rainbow Dash’s ear ‘cause--”

“WHOA, OKAY!” Rainbow Dash shouted, waving her forelegs frantically. “That is enough of that!”

“Sorry, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said chipperly. She waited only a second before leaning in close to Rarity. In a whisper audible enough to echo around the room, she concluded, “She squeaks!” The sound of Pinkie’s voice was followed swiftly by an audible slap as Rainbow Dash’s hoof collided with her own forehead.

Nervously, Rarity took a single step away from Pinkie Pie, stating, “Thank you, Pinkie. I will file that under Things I Never Needed to Know About Rainbow Dash. I look forward to destroying that knowledge with what will likely be an excessive amount of cider this evening. It has been some time since I’ve seen Berryshine.”

“Why do you know that?” Fluttershy asked. Her voice trembled along with her legs as she approached Pinkie Pie. Her head hung low but her eyes studied Pinkie carefully, as if searching for some hidden feature.

Pinkie Pie only smiled sweetly. “I know lots of stuff! Like about your secret basement where you keep supplies and treats so your animals won’t get into them that you were going to turn into a secret getaway place where you could be alone from the world, but then you didn’t ‘cause of how you’re scared of basements!”

She turned to Rarity beside her next. “Or how Rarity always wants to have ice cream with her birthday cake even though she thinks ice cream is a sad times food, because her birthday always reminds her that she’s gonna get old and wrinkly.”

Rarity’s jaw opened slowly, but no words came out of it. She put a hoof to her heart, but before she could react, Pinkie Pie had already bounded off to Applejack. “Or that Applejack’s favorite color is green because it reminds her of her dead fa--”

Applejack promptly stuffed a hoof in Pinkie’s snout, silencing her. “Alright, y’all, who here thinks Pinkie Pie’s real?” she asked the room. She withdrew her hoof, leaving Pinkie to rub her nose, and raised it in the air. Her gesture was quickly matched by everypony else.

“Nopony else could be so tactless,” Rarity suggested.

Pinkie Pie inhaled sharply at the unanimous vote. Leaping several feet up and suspending herself in midair as she kicked her hooves excitedly, Pinkie let out a roaring, “YIPPEE!!!”

“Reckon I should go next,” Applejack said. “Rares, you’re the easy one. Your sister once ran off to try and join my family ‘cause she was jealous of the relationship I got with mine. You used to be madder than a wet hen over what happened ‘tween me and Crystal, but you and I got to bondin’ ‘cause of how much we both loved Twilight in our own way.”

“Yeah, you’ve been there for us a lot,” Rainbow Dash said to Rarity in agreement. “I mean, you managed to make dresses that make me look good without cutting into my awesomeness.”

Rarity chuckled. “Yes, I believe you once asked me for ‘20% cooler’. Were those not your words?”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Hey, you pulled it off, so it can’t have been that bad of a suggestion. Even if it took a couple tries.”

Despite the tension in the room, Applejack chuckled. It was nice to think of her friends and everything they’d been through. “Y’always brought out the challenger in me, Rainbow,” she admitted. “It’s been nice havin’ a friend like you to keep me on my hooves. Even if y’did cheat at the Runnin’ of the Leaves.”

“Hey, you cheated too. Don’t put that all on me! Twilight beat us both.”

“She sure did,” Applejack remembered fondly. “She didn’t win, but she beat us fair and square while you and me were goin’ at it like a pair of foxes fightin’ over a lame rabbit.”

Rarity smiled. “I suppose that’s everypony. Well, all of us except….” The group turned in unison towards Fluttershy, who let out a quiet squeak and began to back away from the attention.

Rainbow Dash flashed a confident grin at Fluttershy. “Come on, you’ve known all of us for how long now? You’ve got to have something.”

Fluttershy’s eyes flew wide open with panic as she replied, “I-I-I don’t know, I…you’ve all done exciting and interesting things together and I’ve…what if I remember something wrong or say the wrong thing? I don’t want Rainbow Dash to kick me.”

“So long as you’re really Fluttershy, that ain’t gonna happen,” Applejack assured her.

“But it could,” Fluttershy insisted. “Everypony’s so scared and angry right now. You were yelling at each other and everypony’s been ignoring me and talking over me.”

Rarity put a hoof to her heart. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I hadn’t realized we were doing it. We never meant to ignore you.”

“It hurt my feelings,” Fluttershy admitted. “I’m supposed to be as much a part of this group as the rest of you, but whenever Tom’s involved, everypony becomes so mean. This is why I didn’t want to do this!” Fluttershy blinked and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Applejack’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I reckon some of us still got a long of hurt and anger in our hearts ‘bout what happened to us, but that ain’t no reason to take it out on you or anypony else here.”

“Awwww!” Pinkie Pie grinned widely. She reached out her forelegs to scoop up her companions, shouting “FRIENDSHIP HU--”

Rainbow Dash quickly put a hoof against Pinkie’s chest, pushing her back. “Hold up,” she said, refusing to take her eyes off of Fluttershy. Narrowing her gaze, she explained, “Fluttershy still needs to prove that she’s really Fluttershy.”

“But I can’t think of anything,” Fluttershy told them, backing up against the bookshelves. “You all have exciting lives but I’m just me. Nothing I do is special!” Looking quickly from Applejack to Rarity, Fluttershy added, “Besides, it’s not just me! What about Spike? I mean, if I was a mean illusion trying to trick everyone, I’d get everypony focused on me. Well, not me me, but me, the pony me and not…I’m sorry, I’m babbling.”

“Fluttershy,” Rarity said concernedly. She gently reached out a hoof for her friend, but the pegasus ducked away.

“It’s the clever thing to do,” she insisted. “While everypony’s looking at me, Spike can grab the chest and bolt out the door. I’m nervous under a spotlight and everypony knows that, so they could--”

“Spike?” Applejack asked.

Spike stepped up beside Applejack, stating bluntly, “One time I tried to come live at your farm because my dragon code made me owe you a life debt.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said sadly, looking down at her hooves.

Rarity shot a glance to Applejack, who returned her look with a nearly imperceptible nod. She’d been given the go-ahead. Taking a deep breath, Rarity approached Fluttershy and placed a firm hoof on her shoulder. “It’s quite alright, darling. We all understand. You worry so much about what everypony thinks of you. It’s why you became so jealous of me when Photo Finish wanted me to be a model. You wanted--”

“No, I didn’t,” Fluttershy interjected. Catching herself, she quickly put a hoof to her lips. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked out. “I shouldn’t have interrupted.”

Rarity smiled. “No, darling, do go on.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that you were the one who was jealous of me. Photo Finish picked me. I didn’t want her to, but I also didn’t want to let you down, so I tried to do it anyway. I didn’t want to disappoint you.” Fluttershy sighed, remembering the way she’d felt that day. It hadn’t been easy being in front of so many ponies, but she’d….

Wait a second.

“That was one!” Fluttershy shouted quietly. “That’s something you and I shared!”

Rarity smiled warmly. “And you remembered, darling.”

“That means I’m real! Oh, I was so afraid. Thank you.” Fluttershy reached out and embraced Rarity, squeezing her neck as tightly as her forelegs could muster. Applejack came up around the other side of Fluttershy, putting a hoof on her side to join in the hug. Rainbow Dash descended upon Fluttershy from above while Pinkie Pie piled in from the side.

Fluttershy and her friends remained together for the better part of a minute, sharing in the relief and contentment of knowing that no matter what else happened, they could trust in each other. Twilight was still missing and Tom’s core still needed to be dealt with in some way, but with teamwork and faith in one another, she knew they could--

“The box is gone.” Spike’s voice cut sharply through the relief. Every pony looked up at once, their eyes falling on the table where the chest once sat. The door hung open and through it, Twilight’s purple silhouette could be seen galloping into the distance.

Shocked, Pinkie Pie declared, “She took advantage of a Friendship Moment! That’s so evil.”

“I’m on it,” Rainbow Dash said before taking off through the door. Twilight vanished around a corner, but corners were for grounded ponies. Rainbow Dash soared over rooftops, following Twilight’s course as she darted and weaved between shops.

Applejack started out the door after Rainbow Dash, but hesitated. She waved a hoof to Spike. “C’mon, we got to get after her!”

“Right!” Spike hesitated only for a second before leaping onto Applejack’s back.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie had already given chase, which naturally left only one pony to deal with. “Git along, Fluttershy, we’ve got to--” Applejack looked behind her, but found herself addressing only an empty room. A quick glance out the door showed that Fluttershy was on Rarity’s tail, pursuing the false Twilight of her own volition. Applejack couldn’t help but smile. “Well, good on you.”

Rainbow Dash soared ahead of the illusion, watching her closely. The chest sat on Twilight’s back, and she seemed to be struggling to hold it there with both wings. Rainbow Dash shook her head; the obvious smart pony thing for Twilight to do would have been to grab the chest with her forelegs and fly, rather than this awkward land escape she was undergoing.

Gauging Twilight’s direction, Rainbow Dash rocketed forward and dove down towards Twilight on an intercept course. Twilight spotted her at the last second and spun to face her. The phantom motioned with her horn but once again no magic emerged. Nothing stopped Rainbow Dash from slamming straight into her, sending the chest flying across the road.

The chest hit the ground hard on its lock, breaking it open. As it rolled forward, it fell open and spilled the stone core into the road. The fake Twilight pulled herself to her hooves and leapt for it, but Rainbow Dash was faster. The pegasus wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s haunches and yanked her to the ground.

Although she rarely found opportunity to use it, Twilight’s ascension meant she should have the physical might of an earth pony. Rainbow Dash knew that wrestling with her should be as difficult as Applejack or Pinkie Pie, but the illusory alicorn gave her minimal struggle. She was shocked to discover that maneuvering on top of Twilight and pinning her to the ground took almost no effort at all.

“Let go of me!” Twilight shouted impotently at Rainbow Dash. She screamed in frustration, causing her image to flicker in and out of existence, but the weak force of her body never wavered.

“Yeah, that’s going to happen,” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes.

“You have to set me free,” Twilight argued. “I don’t know what he’s done to you, but I can fix it.” She struggled once more against Rainbow Dash’s weight; the weak effort felt strangely like holding down a foal, making Rainbow Dash feel uncomfortable. “Please, Rainbow Dash, I know you’re in there somewhere,” she pleaded.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. This was getting weird. “What the hay are you talking about?!”

“It’s Cardinal,” Twilight told her. “He must have woken up with that spell we cast. He’s taken control of your minds again. He must be trying to use the Elements of Harmony to--”

“Twilight, look at me.” Rainbow Dash rolled her over onto her back, once more feeling surprised at how easily Twilight could be forced around. “Do I look like I’m wearing my Element?”

Twilight’s eyes fell to Rainbow Dash’s neck, then opened wide with horror. “That’s impossible,” she said quietly. “How is he controlling you?”

“There you are!” Rarity shouted, galloping down the road. She was followed quickly by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack at the rear. “I see you’ve captured our wayward phantom!”

“Yeah, I got her,” Rainbow Dash reported. “You should feel how weak she is. It’s weird.”

Dryly, Applejack remarked, “She ain’t never been Bulk Biceps, exactly.”

“No, but I’m pretty sure Fluttershy could beat her at hoof-wrestling right now.”

Spike dismounted from Applejack, slipping between ponies to approach. “Twilight?” he asked tentatively.

“Spike!” Twilight struggled once more under Rainbow Dash’s grip. The pegasus held both of her forelegs pinned to her chest with a single hoof that refused to budge even an inch. “Spike, you have to listen to me. Cardinal’s done something very strange to all of us. He’s controlling everypony, he’s making them attack me. He’s done it before. You have to do something. You’re the only one left.”

“Does she know we can hear her?” Rarity asked.

“Spike, please,” Twilight pleaded. “He turned off my magic. I don’t know how he did it, but--”

“Y’know what, I think I’ve had about enough of this!” Applejack snapped, stomping her hoof on the road. “Where’s that rock at? I’ll put a stop to this right quick.”

“Applejack?” Twilight whispered quietly.

“Oh, don’t even start,” Applejack grumbled. As Rarity levitated the stone core back into the confines of its chest, Applejack stomped towards Rainbow Dash and the helpless phantom. “You tell me what you did with Twilight right here and now or as Celestia is my witness, I ain’t about to be responsible for what happens next.”

“Applejack, it’s me,” Twilight whispered, eyes wide with fear. “Please, you have to recognize me. I know you’re in there.”

Rainbow Dash glanced sideways at Applejack. “She’s been rambling like this since I caught her.”

“You have to fight his control,” Twilight urged. “Please, if anypony can do it, I know you can. I love--”

Applejack stomped the ground next to Twilight. “Don’t you even dare,” she warned the illusion, eyes glowing with rage.

Behind Applejack, Fluttershy asked the others, “What are we going to do with her? She doesn’t seem to know anything.”

“Yeah, this is weird,” Pinkie Pie agreed. “I thought she’d be all, ‘MUWAHAHAHA NOW MY EVIL PLAN IS NIGH!!!’ but instead she’s all ‘AHHHH YOU WERE THE REAL MONSTERS ALL ALONG!!!’ But we’re not, right? We held a vote and everything. We all agreed we were real. Of course, she didn’t get to participate in that on account of Dashie smashing her so maybe she didn’t know.”

“It’s a trick, of course,” Rarity replied grimly. Fluttershy noticed that her face was contorted in the same angry grimace that had briefly appeared on Applejack when she interrupted Twilight. Unlike Applejack, however, Rarity seemed to be sustaining the look, keeping her eyes fixed on the phantom alicorn.

Rarity continued, “He’s trying to lure us into a false sense of security. He wants us to think we can trust him so that we’ll let our guards down. That’s when he’ll strike.”

Twilight fell silent under Applejack’s glare. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the ground, seemingly resigned to her fate. Tears could be seen dripping from her eyes, which evaporated into thin air as they fell from her face, but she refused to give her captors the dignity of hearing her cry.

“This is a trap,” Rarity insisted. “Nothing more.”

“If you say so, Rarity,” Pinkie responded. Fluttershy noticed the dire tone in her voice; she sounded as unconvinced as Fluttershy herself was. “What do we do now?”

Piping up, Fluttershy finally managed to get out what she’d been trying to say before. “We should go ask Discord for help. Twilight disappeared because she was trying to use his magic. He might be able to figure out what happened to her.”

Rarity jolted away from her locked gaze on the Twilight phantom to raise an eyebrow at Fluttershy. “You are a dear friend, Fluttershy, but that idea is positively dreadful. Trying to contain Discord was the entire point of this. I can’t imagine any good coming of letting him know about this little fiasco.”

Fluttershy drooped. “You know, I’m not saying he’s perfect but he is trying. It wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance.”

“Well said, Fluttershy!” The voice seemed to come straight out of the air itself, reverberating through the street. “Why, I couldn’t have put it better myself, and I’m me!”

“Discord,” Applejack cursed, looking around quickly for the draconequus.

“Oh, great,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Because that’s what we really needed right now: more chaos.”

A serpentine shape slithered out the window of the nearby flower shop, gliding swiftly along the ground until it arrived at Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Emerging from the earth, the flat shape reached out its talon to pinch at Twilight’s cheek. “And whatever do we have here?” he asked curiously.

Rainbow Dash startled from Discord’s sudden appearance, but kept a firm grip on the illusion. “Hey! Go bother someone else,” she shouted.

Discord seemed to pay her no mind. “Oh, marvelous work,” he said gleefully. “Truly a fantastic design you have here!”

With trembling voice, Twilight asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing at all. I am, of course, joking. This is amateur work. Really shoddy craftsmanship. You can practically see the magic bursting through the seams.” To illustrate his point, Discord raised his paw and snapped his fingers, conjuring a mattress overstuffed with watermelons. Summoning a mallet into his talon, he raised the bludgeoning implement to articulate his point and--

“We get it!” Applejack shouted, stepping between Discord and his argument. “No need to get messy.”

“Hmph. You’re no fun.” Discord snapped his talon, whisking the mattress and mallet away. “But if your majesty wills it, I suppose I must acquiesce.”

“Beg pardon?”

Ignoring Applejack’s confusion, Discord reiterated, “Still, this looks as though somepony took a halfway decent enchantment and ran it over with a train a few times.”

“It’s funny you should say that,” Rarity said grimly. Opening the chest with her magic, she levitated the stone core in front of Discord’s face. Bitterly, she asked, “Does this look familiar?”

Discord reached out and grabbed the rock, examining it carefully. “I’m afraid I couldn’t begin to keep track of…oh. Oh!” Discord giggled to himself with glee. Whirling around on the Twilight phantom, Discord asked, “My dearest Tom, is that you?”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked. “What did you do to me?!”

Twilight’s demand elicited nothing more than a snicker from Discord. “You have not been taking care of yourself at all, have you? Though I suppose it’s just as well.” Turning back to face the other ponies, he explained, “I must say, this is all a bit disappointing for me, really. I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic.” He shrugged, lobbing the rock over his shoulder. “Oh, well. They can’t all be winners.”

“Careful!” Rarity shrieked, racing after the rock. She caught it with her magic, returning it gently to its box. “We have no idea what could happen if the stone ruptures any further.”

Discord chuckled, reclining on thin air in the middle of the group. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry. I promise it would be quite a lot of fun.”

Bitterly, Applejack chided, “I reckon we’ve all had just about enough of your fun as it is. Now did you come out here to help, or are you just tryin’ to get under everypony’s skin again?”

Discord provided an elaborate bow, assuring Applejack, “Oh, of course I came to help, your highness. Haven’t you heard? I’ve reformed.” A shark’s grin spread across his face, covered in layers of teeth. He gestured to his chest, where a single patch of fabric labeled Merit Badge of Reformation rested. Printed on the badge was a picture of Discord himself giving a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, I trust you ‘bout as much as I can throw you,” Applejack replied. “And why do you keep callin’ me that?!”

“I’m just trying to show my respect,” Discord explained. “With Twilight missing, surely somepony has to serve as the…hmmm….” Discord rubbed his chin, musing to himself. “Whatever was she the Princess of, anyway? Books? I suppose we can go with that. Long live Applejack, the Acting Princess of Books!”

Discord threw his arms into the air, prompting a burst of confetti to spray down into the road. A single banner emerged from nowhere, suspended in the air behind Applejack and reading, “HOORAY 4 NEPOTISM”. A pair of tiny Discords appeared beside her, waving green and purple flags.

“Cut that out!” Applejack shouted. “Twilight ain’t gone. We’re getting her back, uh….” Sheepishly, Applejack added, “Just as soon’s we cotton onto where she might’ve gotten off to.”

“Of course,” Discord said wryly. “But in the meantime--"

“Stuff your meantime, I ain’t nopony’s princess!” Applejack shouted at him.

“Oh.” Discord recoiled from Applejack, an expression of concern flowing across his face. “Oh, dear. Perhaps I misunderstood the nature of your relationship. I am dreadfully sorry. Would you prefer ‘concubine’?”

Applejack erupted, lunging at Discord. Pinkie Pie and Rarity threw themselves against her, straining to hold her back as sheer rage poured across her face.

“DISCORD!!!” Fluttershy shouted, causing a visible tremor to run across his body. Flapping her wings, she lifted herself into the air. “That was not very nice,” she criticized sharply. “Applejack is in a lot of pain right now and you’re not helping. Now apologize to her.”

“In my defense, I wanted her to be a Princess--”

“Now. Or you can forget about next week’s tea time. And maybe the week after that.”

“Oh, alright,” Discord grumbled. Turning away from Applejack and folding his arms over his chest, he grunted, “Mmsry.”

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked pointedly.

Discord sighed. Turning his head to face Applejack, he said, “I’m sorry. There, are you happy now?”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “I ain’t gonna be happy ‘til you tell us what you’re doin’ here, Discord.”

Discord turned the rest of his body back towards the group, putting the claws of his talon against his chest. “Why wouldn’t I be here? An alicorn blinks out of existence and you think I wouldn’t notice? What kind of Lord of Chaos would I be to let that slip by?”

Gently, Fluttershy asked, “You don’t know where she is?”

Discord shrugged. “Honestly, she could be anywhere. Or she could be nowhere at all. That happens sometimes when eldritch forces from beyond time and space are messed with by amateurs.”

“Horse apples,” Applejack swore. “You know somethin’.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash shouted in agreement. “What did you do to her?!”

“Me?” Discord asked softly. “Well, that’s just rude. Here I was trying to help you, and what do I get for my trouble? Suspicion, anger, and scorn, that’s what. Well, fine. If you’re going to be like that, maybe you don’t want my help after all.”

Discord vanished in a flash of light, but didn’t go far. He reappeared on a bench down the road with his arms folded across his chest, visibly pouting.

Applejack slapped herself in the forehead with her hoof. “Y’all realize this is the last thing anypony needs right now, I hope.”

Fluttershy stepped into the middle of the group, encouraging, “He could help us. He’s better equipped than anypony to understand what happened to Twilight. He might even be the key to bringing her back from wherever she wound up.”

“As long as it’s not ‘nowhere’,” Rainbow Dash said grimly.

Rarity floated the chest to Fluttershy. “He created this thing, Fluttershy. Everything it did to us, it did because of him. Everything it’s doing now….” She glanced down at Rainbow Dash’s captured Twilight apparition again. The very sight of it frightened and sickened her. “The last thing we need is to give him a chance to make this situation worse.”

In the distance, Discord cried out, “Oh, woe is me, to be abandoned by all of my dearest friends!”

“Yeah, I don’t know, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. “Rarity’s right. This feels like a trap.”

Pinkie Pie sprang into the conversation, stating, “Even if it is a trap, it could be a trap with Twilight in it, and a trap with Twilight is still closer to Twilight than we were before we sprang the Twilight trap!”

“See?” Fluttershy asked. “Even if this goes bad, it could still help us.”

“We’re doin’ it,” Applejack said abruptly.

Rarity blinked. “I’m sorry, darling, I seem to have gotten whiplash from how fast you switched sides. Would you care to repeat that?”

“Pinkie’s right,” Applejack said. “Look, we got even the slightest chance of findin’ Twilight, we take it. Ain’t no good’s gonna come from us sittin’ ‘round the library like a bunch of useless bumps on a log. We find Twilight, we bring her home. Ain’t nothin’ else matters right now.”

“Applejack,” the phantom spoke, but a sharp glare from the farm pony silenced her quickly.

Down the road, Discord shouted, “Truly, this betrayal has cut me deep, like a very deep cutting thing could cut! Oh, I am so alone!”

Applejack sighed. “C’mon, everypony. Reckon we should go see what he wants.”

“What about her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What about her?” Rarity answered. “We have the stone. She can’t stray far from it, I’m sure, and we’ve already seen that she has no usable magic.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, accepting Rarity’s argument. “Yeah, and she’s about as tough as a kitten. I guess I can let her up.” She stepped off Twilight, finally allowing the illusion to stand.

Twilight rubbed one foreleg against the other, soothing her sore limbs. She eyed the rest of the group suspiciously, as though still trying to read where the trick might be. “What do you want from me?” she asked them carefully.

“Pinkie Pie and I will stay with her,” Rarity suggested. “That way, I can keep an eye on the chest.”

“Good idea,” Applejack replied. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, you’re with me. Let’s go deal with Discord.”

As the trio of ponies approached Discord, he turned a single eye in their direction, then quickly turned his head away with a huff. Applejack sighed, speaking up as they drew near. “C’mon, out with it. What do you want?”

“I’m not speaking to any of you while she’s here,” Discord whined.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, gesturing with a hoof to herself. “Who, me?”

“She knows what she did,” Discord griped.

Smiling sweetly, Fluttershy crossed around to the other side of the bench. “She didn’t mean it. She’s just having a very bad day, that’s all. I’m sure if you gave her a chance, she’d be nicer to you.”

“Maybe,” Discord said slowly. He turned back towards Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “But I want an apology.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash’s feathers stood on end at the suggestion. Her body convulsed at the very idea of it. “Are you out of your mind?!”

“I had to apologize to Applejack when I hurt her feelings. Now you should have to apologize to me. That’s how friendship works. Isn’t that right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy looked straight at Rainbow Dash. “You were kind of accusatory. It wasn’t fair to Discord.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Discord agreed. “Now apologize or I’ll…I’ll go write a nasty letter to your parents about what you said and how it made me feel!”

Rainbow Dash laughed at Discord’s threat. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said sternly.

Applejack put a hoof against Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “C’mon, Rainbow, you gotta do this. Just remember, it’s for Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Ugh, fine. Mmsry.”

“I’m afraid I couldn’t hear that,” Discord said, cupping his talon around his ear. “What did you say?

“I said I’m sorry!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Ooooh!” Discord giggled, clapping his talon and paw together. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. And now look at us! We’re all friends again, because you said sorry.” Stretching out his limbs, he grasped the three ponies and pulled them in for a tight hug. “It’s the Magic of Friendship!”

Applejack pressed her forelegs against Discord, prying herself away from him. “You gonna help us or not?!” she shouted.

“Well, that’s tricky,” Discord admitted. “I wasn’t lying when I said that Twilight could literally be anywhere. She’s plunged into the depths of eternity itself. There may simply be no way of knowing where or how she ended up.”

Deeper and deeper into swirling colors and endless shapes, Twilight fell. Images assaulted her brain from directions that ran perpendicular to her vision. She experienced impossible mathematics. She became geometric shapes that could not exist. She was at once one with herself while being only a stranger on the infinite road of life.

She saw. She felt. She was. Twilight Sparkle.

And then she fell, screaming through a thousand mouths that did not exist, reaching out with a million hooves for something, anything to grasp onto. As she fell, she heard the voice again. “Lost little traveler, where does she go?” The voice giggled to itself. “Where can she go, so far from home? We don’t get many like you.”

Twilight looked up but saw only the infinite colors of black illuminated in the darkness, and then all at once she felt her body jolt to a stop. The pressure struck her like the ground crashing against her back, and then reality turned black.

“Mmmm….” Twilight felt something strangely soft, almost velvety against the side of her head. She felt her muscles beginning to return to her as the phantom limbs receded into the dark. The first parts she was aware of were her hooves pressed up against her chest. Then she found her eyelids, opening them into the dim of night.

The room was completely dark, but she could just make out the bare silhouette of a bedside table beside her. She blinked a couple of times as she sat up, but a stinging pain from the left side of her face struck her with each blink of her eyelid. She reached up with a hoof to rub her eye, but a jolting pain assaulted her every time she touched that side of her face.

Twilight reached out with her hooves, feeling out her limbs. Her forelegs stretched and moved fine. Her wings were missing in their entirety. There was a strange stiffness to her left hind leg, but otherwise, they were okay. Her neck--

Wait, what happened to her wings?! She reached around herself with her foreleg to feel her sides, and sure enough, she found only flesh. Not a single feather to be felt anywhere on her. As alarming as her strange whereabouts were, she found the fact of being a unicorn again to be far more jarring.

Climbing out of bed, Twilight set her hooves down on the floor, which made a strange clacking sound. It wasn’t a sound she was accustomed to, but neither was it unfamiliar. She knew it as the sound of crystalline flooring, not unlike what adorned Cadance and Shining Armor’s palace. But that didn’t make a lot of sense unless….

Twilight lit her horn with a quick spark of magic. Portraits and satin curtains decorated the walls and windows, but Twilight could clearly make out the white walls and large crystalline pillars that made up her surroundings. Racing to a large curtain, she threw it open with her magic and passed through the doorway into the balcony outside.

Sure enough, Twilight looked out upon the world and saw countless jagged, crystalline houses silhouetted in the dark of night. “The Crystal Empire?” she asked herself. “How did I get here?”

“Mmm?” Twilight heard a voice behind her, and for the first time, she turned to see the other occupant who had shared the room with her. “What time is…oh, for pony’s sake. Twilight, darling, the sun hasn’t even risen yet. Be a dear and come back to bed.”

4 - Dysphoria

A long and steady yawn cut through the mysterious bedchamber Twilight had found herself in. “What time is…oh, for pony’s sake. Twilight, darling, the sun hasn’t even risen yet. Be a dear and come back to bed.”

“Rarity?!” Twilight asked. What are you doing here?! What am I doing here?! Where are we? What happened to my face? Why are you…are we…? A million questions caught in Twilight’s mind at once, wrestling for control of her voice.

Rarity sat upright, blinking her eyes in the light. Even in the dead of night, her mane and coat seemed immaculate. Twilight had never noticed before, but Rarity’s ability to maintain the curls of her mane even in bed was nothing short of miraculous.

In the luminescence created by her magic, Twilight could easily make out the violet comforter on the bed. The dark purple was accented by clovers, each made from four hearts conjoined in the middle. Twilight had seen the pattern before in Rarity’s bedroom, but she seemed to have added crescent moons to form each heart’s curves. At the center, each clover was held together by the six-pointed star of Twilight’s cutie mark.

“Twilight!” Rarity shouted in response. “There, we’ve identified each other. May we please return to bed? I need my beauty rest for tomorrow’s unveiling. It’s for the foals, Twilight. Think of the foals.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

“You can’t have forgotten.” She sighed. “I guess we’re doing this now.” She dropped from the bed, but not to approach Twilight. Instead, she moved to a door along the side of the room, levitating it open.

Twilight listened to Rarity speak to somepony outside. “Vigilant, would you be a dear and run down to the kitchen? I fear it’s looking like another early morning, and I’ll be needing a cup if I’m to manage. Thank you ever so much.”

“Rarity, I need you to listen to me,” Twilight insisted. Rarity closed the door in front of her, giving Twilight her attention. “Something is terribly wrong here.”

“I know, dear. Something’s always terribly wrong,” Rarity answered. She approached Twilight, reaching out with a hoof to caress her chin. Twilight jerked her head back, avoiding the touch and causing a scowl to emerge on Rarity’s face. With bitterness suddenly emerging from her voice, Rarity said, “Fine. Shut me out. What would I care? I’m just your wife.”

“My WHAT?!” Twilight’s stomach caught in her throat at the offending word. She and Rarity were--

“You know what? Fine. Tell Vigilant I changed my mind about the coffee. If you woke me up just to be in one of your moods then I’m not dealing with it.” Rarity whirled towards the bed, lightly smacking Twilight with her tail as she stormed off, taking the answers Twilight needed with her.

“Wait, don’t go.”

“Why, so you can lecture me about whatever new project you’re on about? The new schoolhouse opens tomorrow and you are going to be there. I do what I can, but the ponies need their Princess, Twilight. It comforts them to see you. It makes them feel like everything is still under control.”

Twilight’s mind whirled with Rarity’s words. Every shred of information that emerged from her snout seemed to raise further questions. There were so many things wrong with her predicament, she struggled to even think of which to address.

The only certainty in the moment was that Rarity was now angry, and upsetting her wasn’t going to help the situation any. “I’m sorry,” Twilight said quickly.

Rarity abruptly stopped moving. She remained where she was, with one hoof on the bed in preparation for pouncing. After a few seconds she turned her head, facing Twilight. “That’s a rare set of words coming from you.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Twilight said, approaching her friend. “It’s been a weird….” Day? Night? How long had she plunged through the abyss? She tried to think of that place, of the shifting colors and impossible geometries she’d seen. She remembered--

“NGGH!” Twilight shouted, pressing a hoof to the top of her head. She could feel her skull splitting open, as a tearing force of raw ferocity seemed to tear its way through her mind. She felt her senses unravel and watched the world around her fracture and split open, streaming a rainbow of colors that seared away everything they touched until the world was cold and black.

She was vaguely aware of her legs giving out under her and she heard Rarity screaming, “TWILIGHT?!” before the universe faded into black and reality abandoned her once more.

“Oh, Flash, it’s beautiful,” Twilight beamed. She blinked, trying to choke back the tears threatening to overwhelm this moment. Her hands drifted to her collarbone and she took a step back, never taking her eyes off the sparkling diamond ring in front of her. She reached out with a single shaking hand and took the box from him.

Flash Sentry smiled up at her from his kneeling position. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this,” he said. “I’m coming up on my Bachelor’s in a couple of weeks, and I’ve been trying to think about what I’m going to be doing once I graduate.”

Standing up, Flash reached out for Twilight’s free hand, gently grasping it between his. “In a short while, I won’t be in school anymore. I don’t know how to feel about that. I’ve only ever been a student. I don’t know where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do, but every time I think about it, the one thing I’m sure of is you.”

Twilight looked up from the ring. She heard the sincerity in Flash’s words. She witnessed the love and desire in his eyes, and she felt her heart filling her body with warmth. Her cheeks hurt from all of the smiling, but her lips refused to abate. She lost the battle with her tears, letting them flow down the sides of her face.

But even in this moment, despite her heart urging her that everything was perfect, her mind refused to turn off. “Flash,” she said softly, her voice catching in her throat. She took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and tried again. “Flash, I can’t,” she answered him. “I have responsibilities to Equestria. It’s my home. It’s where I belong.”

“Then take me with you,” he said without hesitation. “I’ve wanted to see your world since that night at the Fall Formal. It doesn’t matter to me where we go, as long as we’re….”

Twilight blinked her eyes against the intrusion of artificial light. She lifted her head off of a velvet cushion, casting a blurry gaze around at her surroundings. She could clearly make out the crystal pillars and gleaming white walls surrounding her; she was back in the Crystal Empire to be certain.

Rarity pushed into her vision, resting a hoof beside her head. “Oh, my dearest, are you okay?” she asked frantically. Before Twilight could even answer, Rarity squeezed her head, pressing her face into the unicorn’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” Rarity whispered. “I didn’t realize you were ill. I shouldn’t have been so short with you.”

The left side of Twilight’s face stung as it made contact with Rarity’s hide. So that was back. Yay. Twilight pushed back with her hooves, trying to pry her snout free. She’d never noticed how strong Rarity was before; it took more effort than she would have expected to extricate herself. “Rarity, it’s okay,” she managed to grunt out.

“Come now, your highness,” a voice called out across the room. “Give Twily some space. She’s been through a lot lately.” Twilight perked up instantly. As Rarity withdrew from her, she lifted her head to find--

A brick wall of white fuzz and polished steel crashed into her, hoisting her from the bed in which she lay and twirling her through the air. After the second rotation, Shining Armor set her back down upon the bed, grinning like a madpony. “What happened to giving me space?!” Twilight demanded.

“It was my turn,” her brother said with a laugh. “We thought we’d lost you.”

“I was gone for two minutes!” Twilight retorted.

Softly, Rarity corrected, “You were catatonic for three hours, darling.” She sniffled, and Twilight noticed the streaks of mascara running down the sides of her face. “You were completely unresponsive. I was beginning to fear the worst!”

“Beginning,” Shining Armor scoffed. “Twily, you should have seen her. She kept going back and forth between bawling her eyes out and color-coordinating your funeral.”

With her cheeks glowing beet red, Rarity snapped into a violent glare at Shining Armor. “You be quiet!” she shouted.

Shining Armor replied simply by pantomiming crying. “But the tulips won’t go with black sa-a-ati-in!!!”

Rarity levitated a nearby magazine, lightly bopping Shining Armor across the back of his helmet. This succeeded only in widening his grin, prompting Rarity to huff.

“Three hours?!” Twilight asked. The strange vision she’d received certainly hadn’t taken that long. She leapt to her hooves, racing back out to the balcony. She longed to spread her wings and soar across the city, to take in this strange new place and find understanding from above. She was once more acutely aware that her ascension had somehow regressed in placing her here, and it caused her heart to ache.

From the balcony, she could see the sun creeping over the horizon, spilling its light over the Crystal Empire. In the radiant glow of dawn, she could take in more details about the city below her. Many of the crystal structures she recognized were present, but countless new buildings had cropped up between them. Cottages constructed from wood and hay squeezed between the buildings, cutting off avenues and narrowing transit options through the streets.

Beyond the edge of the city, she could see the vast expanse of plains between the city’s end and the translucent barrier had been converted to farmland, with a single apple grove bordered by what looked to be crops of varying types, too distant to make out.

Placed sporadically throughout the city were large blue crystals as tall as a house. Twilight had noticed a similar crystal in the corner of the bedroom she apparently shared with Rarity. In the center of town, a single large crystal stretched up from the marketplace, rising several stories into the air to rival the Crystal Palace in height.

Twilight could see ponies filing out of their homes to gather around them. A few ponies had a familiar crystal sheen, but many more seemed to be regular unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Twilight was startled at how small a percentage the crystal ponies represented within their own city.

But as she watched the crowds assemble, a thought began to cross her mind. I know what this is. I’ve seen this before.

“Is that right?” The booming voice from the void echoed through Twilight’s body, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. “By all means, I can’t wait to hear. I’m positively giddy with excitement!” The voice let out a familiar giggle. “Tell us, Twilight Sparkle. Where are you right now?”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Rarity sidled up to Twilight on her right side where she’d be clearly in sight, cutting off her train of thought. “I always love the way the Empire glimmers in the morning sun.” She hooked a single hoof around Twilight’s in the same fashion that Applejack typically did, sending a creeping feeling from the bottom of Twilight’s stomach through her spine.

Twilight’s instinct was to pull away, but she remembered how her rejection had hurt Rarity earlier. Rarity’s behavior made her deeply uncomfortable, but if there was any chance that this was really her friend, she hated the thought of hurting her. She chose to focus on something else instead. “Rarity, listen to me. I need to find Tom. He has to be around somewhere.”

Rarity blinked at Twilight’s statement. “…and Tom is?”

Twilight stared blankly at her for a couple seconds. She’d expected a few different responses, but that hadn’t been among them. “Tom. Tom. Big rock, kinda diamond-shaped, you were obsessed with him for a while?”

Rarity grimaced at Twilight’s explanation. She took a moment to think, then suddenly a light seemed to go off in her head, followed by another grimace. “Ugh, is this a Maud thing?”

“…who’s Maud?”

Rarity laughed. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. Honestly, the way she carries on….”

Twilight pulled her hoof away from Rarity’s, stepping around to face her. “Rarity, please, I need you to focus. Tom is a weapon Discord created to attack us. He’s out there and he’s done something and--”

Rarity raised a hoof, taking a step back from Twilight. “I’m sorry, Discord? I can’t help you if you keep throwing these wild names at me and expecting me to know what you’re talking about, darling. Are you quite certain you’re feeling well enough to be on your hooves?”

Twilight tried to back away from Rarity, but the railing blocked her retreat. She shot a look over to Shining Armor, who stepped through the open doorway to join them. “You can’t have forgotten about Discord. The Master of Chaos, which is kind of an oxymoron but he claims it anyways! Rarity, he made it rain chocolate milk.”

Rarity and Shining Armor exchanged confused glances. Rarity looked back to Twilight and opened her snout as if to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Shining Armor scratched at his mane, stating, “I’m sorry, Twily, but that’s not ringing any bells. You’re sure he’s a pony here in the Empire?”

“He’s not a pony!” Twilight shouted. “He’s a draconequus.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, looking once more to Shining Armor. “Is that a real thing?”

“Probably not!” Twilight asserted.

Shining Armor made a quick gesture to Rarity before approaching Twilight. “Listen, Twily, do you think maybe the stress is getting to you? You did have that collapse earlier. Maybe you should take some time away. Rarity can run the empire while you’re gone.”

Twilight groaned audibly. Neither of them were getting it. “This is not about the Empire! There shouldn’t even be an Empire! I mean, there should, but not with--”

“--without you,” Rarity finished. “We know, darling. We are all so proud of what you’ve managed to build here, and we would never suggest that you could be replaced. We’re just worried about your health, because we love you. The Empire can survive a few days of bedrest, but it won’t survive if we lose you.”

Shining Armor put a hoof around Twilight’s neck, turning her towards the massive crystal in the center of town. “You know, it’s almost time for the broadcast. How about we shelve this talk until it’s over? You always love the broadcasts.” He led her back inside, towards the crystal in the corner.

Broadcast? What in the hay was that supposed to mean? It seemed like the longer Twilight stayed here, the more questions were raised. She was beginning to lose track of the sheer quantity of things that seemed wrong with the world around her. Was she the one that was crazy? Could that be--

“GOOD MORNING, CRYSTAL EMPIRE!!!” Before Twilight had a chance to collect her thoughts, the peppy, energized voice of Pinkie Pie shot out across the Empire. All at once, each crystal lit up with blue flames, revealing Pinkie’s smiling face to everypony in the nation.

Without stopping to explain herself, Pinkie launched into a speech that seemed so well rehearsed it almost sounded routine. “It’s shaping up to be another beautiful day in the Empire, all thanks to the magic barrier of our Crystal Heart, so I want to see some smiles on those faces, everypony! And before we begin, let’s all take a moment to give thanks to Acting Princess Twilight Sparkle, who works so hard every day to make all of this possible!”

“Acting Princess?” Twilight mouthed silently.

The broadcast of Pinkie Pie continued on, oblivious to Twilight’s confusion. “Now, I know we’re all hearing rumors about trouble with the yaks up north and trust me, I was just as worried as some of you when I heard about it. But I want you to do something, I want you to look at me. Look at me. Everypony? You looking?”

Pinkie Pie held up a single hoof and shook it back and forth dismissively. “Nonono. You tell that worry voice that you’re on the Smile Train to Calm Central, choo-choo! Twilight has a plan. Twilight always has a plan. She can’t talk about it just yet, but she will and it’s gonna be a doozy.

“And speaking of plans, I want to personally thank each and every one of you who stepped up to help out with the Solar Committee yesterday. Having some of our friends fall ill when they’re channeling the solar rings is no good for us, so thank you, Fancy Pants and Cinnamon Chai for volunteering. There’ll be pies with your names on them personally delivered by yours truly this afternoon, just to show you how much we all love you!

“The Solar Committee! It’s not optional; we need the sun to live.” Pinkie punctuated her statement with a wide, toothy grin.

“But enough about dreary news, blegh.” Pinkie Pie stuck out her tongue to accentuate her statement. “Guess what day it is? That’s right! It’s Silver Spoon’s BIRTHDAY!!!” Party poppers exploded behind Pinkie, and Twilight could see streamers and confetti raining down behind her in the broadcast. Pinkie Pie threw up her forelegs and danced back and forth, chanting, “Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Got a birthday! Happy birthday!”

Settling down, Pinkie explained, “We’re going to be throwing a great big birthday festival in the plaza! Same as yesterday! And everypony is invited to attend, so come on out and wish the super special birthday girl a happy happy super-duper birthday!”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “That’s all today’s news, so make sure you come on down to Birthday Plaza and I hope to see you there! Have a wonderful, happy, superiffic day!” The flames vanished from the crystals as quickly as they’d appeared and, with that, Pinkie Pie was gone.

I want to go home.

The thought came unbidden, and it made Twilight’s heart ache. Her mind was sore from trying to take in everything that was happening. She told herself not to let it get to her; the regression into her unicorn state and Pinkie Pie’s broadcasts and whatever the Solar Committee was? Trouble with yaks? None of it was real, she knew that much, but her curiosity refused to quit--

That was when she saw it. Her jaw slowly opened of its own accord and she stared into the reflective sheen of the broadcast crystal, struggling to breathe. At last, Twilight could finally see where the stinging on her face was coming from.

The entire left half of her face was gone. Where violet skin and light hairs had once been, there was now only cracked and reddened flesh. The burns traveled up the length of her snout and past her eye, then a short ways down her neck.

Twilight raised a single hoof to the crystal, setting it down gently on the burns in her reflection. She’d never been a pony who worried overmuch about her appearance. She had her vices, certainly, but vanity wasn’t typically among them. Even so, it broke her heart to see the scars that had somehow been permanently embedded on her visage.

In what had already become an emotionally exhausting day, this new horror was--

Twilight’s hoof was suddenly pulled away and she felt a pony leading her from the crystal. “Wait, I’m not done,” she protested to no avail.

“You must be,” Rarity answered her. “For your own sake, dearest. You must learn to stop dwelling on matters that can only hurt you. I’ve told you a thousand times, that pony you see in the reflection, that’s not what defines you.” Rarity walked Twilight to the bed, cradling her hoof in her own. “Look at me, Twilight,” she requested gently.

When Twilight locked eyes with hers, Rarity continued. “You are Twilight Sparkle. You are the Acting Princess of the Crystal Empire. You are beautiful and you are strong and you are full of love for every pony in the Empire. That is what defines you. Your scars are just cosmetic, darling. Nothing more.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked. “Rarity, please, what happened to me?”

Rarity smiled. “Nothing happened to you. You are every bit the brave and brilliant pony that I fell in love with. You just need to open your eye and see yourself the way I see you.” Twilight suddenly became aware of just how physically close to her Rarity had become. Before she could articulate a response, she felt Rarity’s lips press against hers. She felt the unicorn’s weight pressing into her, watched Rarity’s eyes close--

Roughly, Twilight pushed back against Rarity, tearing her lips from the kiss in the process. She backed up out of her friend’s personal space, shouting, “Stop! Stop. I can’t do this, I shouldn’t be doing this, this is wrong. Everything is wrong.” Her heart pounded in her chest, piling guilt on top of--

“It’s Applejack, isn’t it?” Twilight perked up suddenly at the name. She looked to Rarity and saw, for just a brief moment, a look of pain cross her friend’s face. It was gone nearly as quick as it came, however, and Rarity closed her eyes and sighed with conviction. “Of course it is. It’s always Applejack.”

“Rarity,” Twilight started, but Rarity cut her off.

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “This is what’s important to you and I shouldn’t begrudge you. So far as I know, there’s nothing new. Spearhead’s search party is still out there looking for her. If she’s anywhere in Equestria, we’ll find her.”

“Wait, what?!” Twilight shrieked.

“Are you quite sure you’re feeling alright?” Rarity asked. “After the events of earlier, perhaps it’d be good for you to lie down.”

“What?! No, go back, what did you say about….” Twilight stopped herself. It was a trick. She knew it to be a trick and she’d almost blundered into it. Tom was trying to hurt her. He was trying to tempt her through Rarity and he was using Applejack to make her rash, make her reckless. She reminded herself once more that she couldn’t trust anything she saw or felt here.

Centering herself, she accepted Rarity’s offer. “You’re right. I should lie down. I have a lot to think about. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Rarity forced a smile, but Twilight could all but feel the lack of sincerity behind it. “I’ll take care of everything. You just focus on getting some rest.”

“Yeah.” Coldly, Twilight turned away from Rarity, climbing up into the bed. She looked away, waiting until she heard the click of the door closing before easing her tension. In a strange way, she almost missed the strange fantasy world with faceless ponies that Tom had stuck her in before. It was much easier to see through the lies.

She glanced across the room to find herself alone. Shining Armor must have seen himself out. She had to admit that however Tom had done this, it was certainly impressive. Actual ponies with defined characteristics and personality traits were a huge advance from what he’d done to her and her friends before, and he’d needed the Elements of Harmony then to even accomplish that much.

This was something else entirely, something new. Had he been active all this time, channeling the magic he’d need for this? No, he would have needed to drain so much magical energy that there’s no way it would have gone unnoticed. Was there something in the Everfree, perhaps, that had allowed this? For a second, she thought of the Mirror Pool, but she couldn’t fathom anything about it that would allow for an illusion or potential reality reconfiguring of this magnitude.

Unless it was the Tree of Harmony. So much was still unknown about the Tree and what it could do. Perhaps he’d gone to the Tree, feeding off of its…no, she once again had to assume that surely somepony would have noticed if the Tree was being leeched of its magic. The Plundervines had the advantage of striking swiftly and without warning, but that wasn’t how Tom operated.

“You are beautiful and you are strong and you are full of love for every pony in the Empire.”

Rarity’s words hung in her mind. She felt confident assuming that the pony who’d said them wasn’t the real Rarity. After all, if Tom had somehow rewritten her memories, there was no reason to believe he couldn’t have done the same to Twilight, was there? The visible discrepancy between experiences was enough for her to assume that Rarity was as much a part of the illusion as Shining Armor or the Crystal Empire itself.

And yet, she couldn’t shake the way the words had made her feel. It was as though Rarity appreciated her. In a few minutes of conversation, Rarity had made her feel more beloved and accepted than she had since she gained her wings. And when she’d kissed her….

No, stop. She couldn’t think about that right now. She and Applejack were having problems, but she didn’t….

“Twilight?” Applejack asked. “Twi, sugar, you up?”

Twilight’s eyes opened only under protest. She groaned audibly, trying to lift her head from the warmth of the pillow. Her neck muscles strained, urging her to stop, and she…no, wait, that wasn’t a pillow. Not unless pillows usually had orange fuzz on them.

Did pillows have orange fuzz? Was that a thing? Maybe she should research that in the morning, when she’s--

“Reckon y’ain’t,” Applejack whispered in the dark. “Figures. I ain’t no good with fancy words anyhow. It’s just…you’re good to me, Twilight. You’re good to my family and you’re good to me. You got a lot of love to give, and me and mine gettin’ so much of it’s just about the best danged gift anypony’s ever given me.”

Twilight felt a hoof brush through her mane, and she smiled at the way her skin tingled with her partner’s touch. “I love you, Twilight. I say that a lot, ‘cause it’s easy. Said those words a lot in my life, truth be told. They’re easy. Why I love you, that’s the hard part. The words are quick, they’re easy, they don’t linger. They don’t hurt.”

Applejack sighed. “Listen to me, yammerin’ on. I don’t even know what I’m doin’ half the time I’m with you. I don’t got a lot to offer, but I hope I make you happy, Twilight.”

Twilight clenched her eyes tight and forced herself to shut out the memory. It wasn’t helping and it certainly wasn’t going to get her out of this situation now. She needed to focus on what was in front of her and then worry about Applejack later.

Facts. That’s what she needed.

Twilight was once again trapped inside of Tom’s strange illusory world. But Rarity was not. At least one of her friends had avoided becoming trapped here. If she understood the effect of what Tom had done to them before, it was probable that her physical body was still back in the library, standing catatonic while her mind was imprisoned here. If her friends were free, they were surely already researching a means to break Tom’s hold on her.

This meant that she could in theory wait for her friends to rescue her, but that seemed like a terrible idea. Twilight Sparkle had never been a pony to sit by while others were working. She wished Spike were here; if there were any mistakes that stood out and made the unreality of this place clear, it was that Tom had forgotten to place Spike’s bed in her room. Even in this bizarre reality where she married Rarity, she’d never have left Spike behind.

But even with him gone, she’d still have to do what she could, and that started by seeing just how far Tom’s illusion extended. Twilight stood and hopped down off the bed. With a simple gesture of magic, she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

“Twily?” Shining Armor asked. He stood vigilant just outside the door. “Rarity said you were resting.”

“I need some fresh air,” Twilight answered. “I thought I’d take a walk around the Empire, see if anything’s amiss.”

Shining Armor smiled. “I’m sure your subjects will be happy to see you.” Subjects. That was weird. It felt strange to see her brother watching over her room like this. This was, after all, supposed to be Cadance’s and his Empire. She hadn’t heard anything of Cadance at all since waking up here, and that bothered her. She was hesitant to ask, however; the others seemed to expect her to know what was going on, and she couldn’t help but feel like it would go easier if she played along.

“I’m sure.” Twilight turned away and started down the hall, only to hear the click of hooves against the crystalline floor behind her. Shining Armor was following her. Of course he was. He was probably her bodyguard or something. She’d need to be wary; putting Shining Armor here was a clever move, and she knew it. She trusted him implicitly, and that made this construct of him a dangerous threat. She couldn’t let herself fall into the mental trap of believing he was really there.

The Crystal Empire was as much a strange mixture of the familiar and the unknown on the ground as it had been from the balcony. The streets were full of Crystal ponies intermixed with ordinary. Twilight could see the new structures more closely, and they reminded her of Ponyville; thatched rooves over modest homes, squeezed between the Empire’s implacable stone architecture.

As she walked, ponies gasped to see her. She could hear them whispering to one another in reverence, and any time she came too close to one, that pony would bow and greet her with a simple, “Your highness,” before stepping out of her way. She quickly grew uncomfortable with the way crowds would part before her in deference. All the while, Shining Armor remained at her back, saying nothing.

At noon, she took lunch with Shining Armor in a quaint diner, where she was immediately seated and served before the other patrons. Many seemed to look away when she glanced at them, as though trying to avert their gaze from her eyes. It had become more unsettling with each passing hour.

“How are you feeling?” Her brother asked her. His voice dripped concern, but Twilight remained on guard.

“I’m feeling better,” she lied. “I was thinking about paying a visit to the Birthday Plaza, but I’m not sure what to bring.” It seemed like a reasonable enough statement. She didn’t know Silver Spoon very well in reality, and she had no idea if she was supposed to be familiar with her here.

“You are?!” Shining Armor seemed shocked, and Twilight watched his face erupt into a smile. “That’d be great! Everypony will be thrilled to see you!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “…I’m sure. What’s gotten into you?”

“It’s just surprising, that’s all. You’ve never visited Birthday Plaza.”

Swing and a miss. “I’m feeling charitable today,” Twilight attempted.

“Are you?” Shining Armor laughed. “Well, whatever gets you out of the palace more. We’re all worried about you, Twily. I think this will be good for you. Mom and Dad….” Shining Armor stopped, choking on his words. He cleared his throat. “Sorry. Mom and Dad would be happy to see you out spending time with other ponies.”

What was that supposed to mean? Twilight opened her snout to respond, but the door abruptly slammed open. A white earth pony Twilight recognized as her acquaintance from Ponyville, Bon Bon, approached the table. There was something weird about the way she walked, though; she held her head high and moved her hooves symmetrically in a disciplined fashion she’d seen from the palace guards in Canterlot and here.

Bon Bon arrived in front of Twilight and Shining Armor swiftly, saluting. “Special Agent Sweetie Drops reporting, your highness.”

Twilight looked to Shining Armor, then back at Bon Bon. “Uh….” Special Agent who? “Go ahead.”

Bon Bon nodded. “Some of our scouts have reported in, ma’am. They say Applejack’s been sighted near Ponyville.”

“Applejack?!” Twilight leapt up from the table. “Where is she?”

“According to our scout report, she was seen near the ruins of the old library. Nopony’s sure what she’s doing there, but it sounded like she’s by herself.”

This changed everything. If Applejack was here, then they could work together to figure out Tom’s trickery! Together, they could unravel Tom’s machinations, escape from this cage he’d set up, and undo whatever havoc he must be wreaking on Equestria.

Shining Armor wiped his snout with his napkin. “We’ll have a team ready to move within the hour,” he suggested.

“What? No, I’m going out there.”

Bon Bon’s eyes widened. “You’re going yourself, your highness?”

“Of course, I’m going!” Twilight leapt from the table. “You said Applejack’s out there alone! Why wouldn’t I go get her?” Before Bon Bon could even answer, Twilight bolted out the door.

“Your highness, wait!” Bon Bon shouted. That was the last Twilight heard before she cast her teleportation spell, vanishing from the street in front of the diner.

Applejack was here. Applejack had been missing but now she was here. That could only mean one thing: Tom must have captured her as well. This was great news! Well, not great, because Applejack was captured, but it meant that she’d be able to see her. They could put their heads together and come up with a way to overcome Tom, just as they’d done before.

They could….

“I was born right here in the muck, and I’m gonna die right here in the muck.”

Twilight stopped. She stood in the courtyard of the Crystal Palace, caught up in the memory. Would it be like last time? Could it? She…no, she had to put that out of mind. There was a time and place for it and it wasn’t here. Tom wasn’t going to be defeated by hashing out her feelings with Applejack.

Find Applejack. Make a plan. Defeat Tom. There’d be time for feelings afterwards.

“I need a carriage!” she shouted to the guards as she raced across the courtyard. “As quickly as possible!”

Two royal pegasi approached her, clad in the familiar golden armor of Princess Celestia’s palace guardponies. They saluted her on sight, but she raced past them. Behind the two stood a single golden carriage decorated with gilded stars on each side, reminiscent of her Cutie Mark. She leapt into the back, waiting for the guards to follow.

“Where are we going, ma’am?” One guardpony asked.

“Ponyville. I need you to take me there as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Twilight watched the guards take position at the front of the carriage, slipping into their harnesses without another word. No further questions were asked, nor the slightest bit of hesitation given. The guards did precisely as they were told and before long, Twilight was in the air.

For a couple of hours, Twilight flew through the air and gazed down at the landscape under her carriage. Equestria was as green and full of life as the real Equestria, but something important felt like it was missing from the world. She saw the bright lights of Manehattan and Las Pegasus in the distance as she passed, and they comforted her. They reminded her that for everything that was different some things remained the same.

It felt strange to have so much authority, and yet at the same time, Twilight felt odd for the fact that it felt strange. She had been a Princess, an actual Alicorn Princess and not whatever “Acting Princess” meant, for several weeks now but she still wasn’t accustomed to being treated this way. She was fourth in line and, more importantly, new to the crown. She didn’t even have a proper title.

Not for the first time since her ascension, Twilight wondered if she was even fit for the role. Being a Princess meant leadership. It meant other ponies did what you said, and you had to be responsible for them. It meant that half of Canterlot was missing.

Why was half of Canterlot missing?! As the city came over the horizon, Twilight stared in horror at the wreckage of what had once been Equestria’s crown city. Where the city hung out over the edge of the mountain, a large fissure had broken the royal palace off from the rest of the city, plunging it into the countryside below.

Crumbled piles of marble architecture lay splintered at the bottom of the cliff, reshaping the rivers that Canterlot’s majestic waterfalls created in the landscape. Twilight could easily make out a chunk of the tower where she’d grown up. The top half had been smashed to pieces by the landing, but part of the spire’s structure could be seen embedded in the ground. A river now ran through it, washing away the ruins of Twilight’s memories.

The rest of the city was no better off. Many buildings had been smashed open and several appeared to have been expertly taken apart, the materials used for constructing large walls and watchtowers around the city’s perimeter. As the carriage drew closer, Twilight could see the gleam of soldier armor in the sunlight, as guardponies patrolled the high walls.

Twilight pulled her eyes away. She didn’t want to see any more of what had happened to the city where she was born and raised. She reminded herself once more that this was all an illusion. It was meant to break her, meant to tear her down and strip her of her faith in herself and her friends. Tom was trying to get inside her mind and she knew it, but she was afraid it was working nonetheless.

The more she saw of this place Tom had crafted for her, the less she wanted to be here. She almost didn’t want to see what Ponyville would look like, but she knew that she would have to. It was for Applejack, she reminded herself. Find Applejack and it would all be worthwhile.

Ponyville validated Twilight’s fears, as she knew it would. The city was abandoned entirely, without even the contingent of guard ponies and makeshift construction that composed Canterlot. Large swaths lay cleaved through the dirt, tearing up the roads she knew and loved and rending entire buildings to rubble. Half of Sugarcube Corner had been blown out by whatever had left these trails.

The Carousel Boutique still stood, but the front door hung open, connected only by its lower hinge. The window to the left of the door had been smashed open, but by something smaller than the scars throughout the town; it looked as though it had been done by a thrown rock or other object.

But nothing prepared her for coming home. The Golden Oak Library in the center of the plaza lay upon its side. What had once been a majestic tree large enough to house her home had been torn up by the roots, and the wood burned until its bark whitened to ash.

“Set me down at the library,” Twilight ordered. Her guards complied and as soon as she landed in the plaza, she leapt from the carriage to take a closer look at the tree. The first thing she noticed was that the roots had immolated with the rest of the tree; it had fallen over either before or while it burned, not after.

“Oh, no!” Twilight shouted. She teleported to the top of the trunk in a panic, using her magic to pry away some of the charred lumber. Once she’d created an entrance large enough to fit through, Twilight dropped into the ruins of what was once her home.

The fire had been thorough, sweeping through the library and turning everything she’d known and loved to ash. She found Spike’s tea kettle blackened with soot, but still keeping its shape. She recognized a patch of purple fabric in the cinders, which she knew to be the blanket from her bed. Her telescope lay smashed, broken, and scorched by the flames that had torn through the room. But something was missing.

She searched her bedroom, then climbed the sideways stairs into the foyer. She sifted through the ashes and tossed aside cinders, but found the same results in every room. There were no bindings, no leaves of blackened parchment, no glimpses of white or brown pages spilt among the ash. Not a single book had burned with the rest of the library.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know if her heart could take the loss of so much valuable knowledge. Still, though, the missing books raised further questions. “Why would somepony burn the rest of it?” Twilight wondered aloud.

“It’s not what you expected, it is?” The voice from nowhere asked suddenly. “You know, they say you can never go home again. I wonder if they meant this?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, something like this is exactly what I expected. I just don’t understand why my books would be spared. Obviously you were going to do something to my home, but this feels like a half-measure.”

“Me?!” Hearing a booming voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once scoff in mock offense was a rather surreal experience, Twilight noted. “Why, I am insulted, Twilight. What would I have to do with any of this?”

Opting against dignifying that statement, Twilight took another look around the charred ruins. She reached up with a hoof, gently prodding the scar tissue on her face and wincing at the sting. The seared flesh across the left half of her face was surely meant to be connected to the library in some way. Was she supposed to have been here during this? Was that the implication?

“Fine,” the voice said indignantly. “If you’re going to be like that, then I’m not talking to you. For now.” Twilight couldn’t be certain, but she was reasonably sure that the ominous voice of doom then proceeded to blow a raspberry at her.

Twilight sighed. She had more questions than answers and there was nothing else to find in this burned-out tree. Tom had presented her with a puzzle to solve. It was almost certainly a trick meant to distract her by focusing her mental energies on unraveling the clues, but as much as she hated to admit it, it was working. Although the state of the library was emotionally devastating, it had also piqued her curiosity.

But this was a distraction. Applejack was here and she was meant to meet up with her. With a burst of magic, Twilight teleported back outside into the ruins of her town. She knew exactly where to go; if Applejack was here, there was one place she’d surely be drawn to.

The road to Sweet Apple Acres was long and filled with crumbled streets, collapsed homes, and a few of the large grooves carved through the road. As she walked, Twilight couldn’t help but notice the eerie quiet that pervaded the abandoned town. The desolate silence crept into her ears, leaving her with a sense of unease that made her hairs stand on end.

She stopped for a moment as she passed the Ponyville Bowling Alley. She remembered her first date so long ago. Applejack had insisted that they start with something innocuous to try and make her feel comfortable. She’d never been on a real date before then; she’d read about them in books and heard some of her classmates whispering about them, but before Ponyville, she’d never put much thought into it.

She’d been nervous at the time. She was afraid for what Applejack was going to expect from her and how their relationship might change going forward. Looking back, her fears had certainly been validated; nothing was ever the same between them after that day. But Applejack had been perfect; she’d recognized Twilight’s trepidation and chosen this place so that they could have their date in a more casual and less romantic setting, and it worked; Twilight’s fears were eased and she was able to engage the date on a more familiar level.

“Huh,” Twilight reflected to herself. “The benefit of experience, I guess.” Looking back, it was impossible to see Applejack’s choice of venue as anything but a well-reasoned decision by a pony who knew exactly what she was doing and how to make her companion comfortable. Applejack may have flailed about as much as Twilight in the relationship, but she was certainly a master of the first date.

Uncertain how to feel about that, Twilight decided it may be best to move on. She turned to continue down the road, but stopped. Out the corner of her eye, she’d seen something moving. It had vanished around the corner of the flower shop’s ruins, but it had certainly been there. She bolted, galloping in pursuit, heart pounding in her chest. There was only one pony that could have been.

Rounding the corner, she saw a flash of purple and green disappear around another bend. “Wait!” she shouted. Taking a moment to estimate her target’s trajectory, she cast a quick spell and teleported, emerging on the other side of the ruins directly in front of--

“Spike?!” Twilight announced in surprise. The little dragon skidded to a stop and raised his claws defensively, but Twilight quickly scooped him up with one hoof and hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re here! It’s great to see you!”

Spike’s panicked shoving against Twilight’s foreleg stopped when she spoke. “…it is?” he asked, a palpable tinge of confusion on his voice.

Twilight set him down. “You’re not who I was hoping for,” she admitted. “Still, I’m glad you’re here. We have so much that we need to talk about.”

Spike blinked. “We do? I mean, uh…yeah.” He looked down the alleyway, then cast another glance the other way. “It’s, uh…it’s good to see you too, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked. She followed Spike’s gaze down the alley, but saw nothing.

“Of course! I’m just, uh…excited to talk to you.” He fidgeted with his claws, looking behind Twilight down the alley again. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“There’s something terribly wrong,” Twilight told him. “I think that spell we cast might we reawakened Tom.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Spike said, scratching his chin. He put his claw on Twilight’s side and started walking with her back down the alleyway from where they’d come earlier.

Twilight nodded. “It’s not. I think Tom’s done something to us. At least, he’s done something to you and me, but I’m really glad you’re here. I’ve been trying to work this out by myself and it’d really help to have you to bounce ideas off of.”

“Well, that’s what I’m good for,” Spike suggested.

Twilight rounded the corner and stepped out of the flower shop’s shadow. “Well, you’re good for a lot of things, but--”

“GET HER!!!” Before Twilight knew what was happening, a heavy weight struck her from above and to the side. Her body toppled sideways, carried in its force. A weighted net forced her down, pinning her to the cobblestones below her. She struggled against the net, but before she could do anything, two pegasi dropped from the sky to hold her down.

One perched on her haunches, restraining her hind legs while the other sat on her chest, holding down her forelegs. Twilight struggled against them, but even if her unicorn frame was built for wrestling, the net restricted her movement and made it impossible to struggle.

"Whoa,” a voice called out. “That really is her.” Twilight looked out from the ponies holding her to see a turquoise set of hooves approaching her. Spike dashed across the road, taking his place at the unicorn’s side.

Twilight realized instantly that she knew this pony. Although the two scars across her left foreleg and the cold, steely gaze she affixed on Twilight was certainly new, there was no mistaking the harp on her flank or the voice she’d heard so many times growing up. But while she knew that voice to be passive-aggressive at times, judgmental at worst, there was no mistaking the utter malice it carried now.

“Twilight Sparkle in the flesh,” said Lyra Heartstrings with a bemused shake of her head. “Oh, I’m sorry, Acting Princess Twilight. You know, I’m sure everypony’s so impressed by your title, but that’s because they never had to know you. I knew you were full of yourself, Twilight, but this is too much. You should never have come here.”

5 - A Kingdom in Disarray

Twilight struggled against the pegasi holding her, straining her neck to look up. “Lyra?! Lyra Heartstrings?!” she exclaimed.

“You remember me?” Lyra asked, eyes wide with surprise. “You know, I’m actually flattered. I wasn’t even sure you ever learned my name.”

“Of course, I remember you!” Twilight replied. “We’re friends! Not great friends, but I see you around Ponyville all the time.”

Lyra opened her snout to say something, then looked to Spike. Spike shrugged. “I think there’s something wrong with her. She was saying a bunch of weird stuff back behind the flower shop too.”

“I’ll deal with it,” Lyra replied. As Twilight watched, Lyra reached out and patted Spike’s head. “You did good. Go find Applejack. She’s going to want to see this.”

“Applejack?” Twilight whispered to herself. Suddenly, it all clicked. This was a trap. This had been a trap the entire time. Tom had used her feelings for Applejack, used her loneliness and confusion to bait her into coming here. From the moment Bon Bon had walked into that diner, Tom was setting her up for the emotional hammer blow.

How could she have been so stupid? Of course it was a trick. He didn’t even know Bon Bon’s name.

Twilight let out a guttural roar, boiling all the pain and uncertainty she’d felt in this horrible place into pure rage. With a flash from her horn, she teleported to freedom, landing three feet away from where she’d lain. She raised her horn and fired off a concussive bolt at Lyra, which glowed a strange yellow-red as it flew. Lyra jerked her head sideways as the bolt arced past, crackling her mane as it flew.

Twilight’s bolt struck the eaves of the bowling alley and exploded on impact, sending several feet of roofing tiles flying through the air. Twilight stopped, stunned at what her magic had just done. Even as an alicorn, her concussive bolt wasn’t supposed to do that. If that had hit Lyra….

Lyra rounded on Twilight, horn held out threateningly. There was a fierce glare in her eyes, an expression Twilight had never seen Lyra wear before. Twilight followed Lyra’s motion and began circling the other direction, horn readied.

“You’re even crazier than you let on if you think I’m going to let you hurt me or my friends,” Lyra warned. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Let’s talk about this,” Twilight said, the will to fight drained from her after seeing that spell.

“What, now you want to talk?” Lyra asked, a fierce glare blazing across her face. “You think I’m stupid enough to let you distract me while you line up another shot? And did you seriously come alone?! You really need to check your hubris, your majesty.” Lyra lunged suddenly, firing a shot from her horn.

Twilight leapt backwards, raising a barrier to deflect but the bolt punched through and struck her in the shoulder. Twilight let out a cry of pain, stumbling on her foreleg but keeping her balance. Lyra raised her horn for the follow-through, but Twilight retaliated, conjuring a burst of wind to throw her back off-balance.

Internally, Twilight berated herself. She shouldn’t have tried to block a straight-bolt with a spherical barrier. Her magic wasn’t as powerful in this state as it was in her true alicorn form. That was a sloppy amateur mistake and she was supposed to know better than that.

Twilight pressed forward, channeling her magic into her horn, but the two pegasi came at her from the side. She diverted her casting into her teleport, vanishing as one leapt upon her and reappearing on the roof of the flower shop. She lobbed a spell into the sky, summoning a thundercloud which began to drop a torrential downpour onto the street below.

One of Lyra’s pegasi, a large brown male that Twilight didn’t recognize, hoisted a large wooden plank from the debris of the shop, lifting it overhead to shield himself and the others from the rain. Raindrops pummeled the ground, cracking cobblestones and splintering the wood, but the pegasus held fast.

Lyra, meanwhile, used her telekinesis to grab hold of the straw under Twilight’s hooves and yank it downwards. Twilight let out a yelp as her footing abandoned her, sending her sprawling back down to the ground and cracking her shoulder as she impacted. She folded her legs over herself to shield her from her spell as she quickly dismissed the raincloud.

“You can’t win!” Lyra called out as her friend tossed the wood aside. “You might have been a great student back in school, Twilight, but we’ve found a power far greater than anything you could possibly imagine: the magic of friendship!”

Twilight snapped. Lyra might have had a pair of allies but Twilight excelled in magic. With a flash of her horn, the cobblestones beneath Lyra and her friends hoisted upwards, curling into tendrils of dirt and rock. Lyra and the brown pegasus were captured while the other pegasus, a light red mare, flapped upwards out of its grip.

Twilight leapt forward. A pounding ache in her head seemed to split her skull, but she fought through it and cast a freezing spell to paralyze the pegasus in midflight. She focused her magic, slowly reeling the pegasus in telekinetically while struggling to keep her concentration on the freezing spell.

Her migraine’s intensity flared, threatening to split her skull in half, but she refused to let up. Tom wanted a fight and now he was getting one, and she--

Twilight found herself seated on a large crystal chair, facing a mysterious round table. She was able to make out what seemed like a transparent map of Equestria emerging from the table’s surface. Around her sat her friends, each with a grim expression, in thrones made from blue crystal that bore their Cutie Marks.

“We have to do something,” another pony said. A pink pony that Twilight didn’t recognize stepped forward, addressing the group. Her purple mane seemed to curl around her horn, with a blue stripe reminiscent of Twilight’s red. “They could be here at any moment.”

“I know,” Twilight said. Her snout moved of its own accord, speaking without waiting for Twilight to catch up. “I’ve spoken with the other princesses and they’re just as concerned as we are, but there’s nothing that can be done. The dragons have their customs, and they’ve passed on the line of succession their way.”

“But,” Twilight continued. “That does not mean that we plan to be caught defenseless. The dragons are fierce, but we have the magic of friendship. Together, the ponies of Equestria are capable of more than Garble can even imagine. If we believe in each other, we can--”

Even in her sleep, Twilight could smell the delicious aroma of eggs and bacon wafting through the house, mixing with the old pine lumber. “Mrmm,” she muttered, rolling over and pulling the down comforter over herself. It was a morning like any other morning at Sweet Apple Acres, and she had every intention of enjoying the privilege of being a part of this family.

She could stay like this forever if only the universe would let her.

She knew breakfast was waiting for her downstairs, but she also knew what would happen if she dallied a couple of minutes. Besides, she’d been awake into the wee hours of the night researching her new spell, and sleep seemed very accommodating at the moment.

So she drifted, floating in the space between awake and sleep, waiting for her gallant knight to come and rouse her from her slumber. She had no sense of time in the space between mental states, but it felt like an eternity before she felt that hoof brush her mane away from her eyes and a rough yet gentle set of lips peck lightly at her forehead, just to the right of her horn.

“You’re liable to sleep the day away, you keep on like this.” After a few seconds, her favorite voice added, “C’mon, sugar, y’don’t want Granny thinkin’ you’re skippin’ out on breakfast, less’n she gets half a mind to start chargin’ you rent.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Twilight whispered with a bemused smile, pointedly refusing to open her eyes. “Granny adores me.”

Applejack laughed. “Yeah, well, that and a dozen eggs will get you six scrambles, which is just what Granny’s whipped up for us. So come on, sugar, rise and shine.”

Something about that struck Twilight. “What did you say?”

“I said, rise and shine, sugarcube. Time to greet the first day of a brand new Equestria, where ponies don’t got to be afraid of the likes of you.”

Twilight froze the instant that voice hit her ears. She knew it was coming. She’d figured out that much from the moment she realized the trap Tom had lain with Lyra. Even so, the hostility in Applejack’s voice struck her with the force of an Ursa Major. Her heart quaked, sending an emotional ripple through her body that shook her to her core.

“Applejack?” Twilight groaned, lifting her head from the cool stone beneath her. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the dim. The wood of the walls around her could be made out easily enough, and a single candle resting on a desk in the corner provided just enough light that she could make out the confines of her captivity.

Rods of bamboo embedded in the stone floor rose around her, tight enough that not even a filly could slip through, but still leaving room to see between them. Further bamboo stalks ran horizontally along the bars of her confinement, creating a functional latticework.

On the other side of the cage stood Applejack, reared up on her hind legs with one hoof against the cage. The position made her seem larger to Twilight, and the dim light behind her cast her features in shadow, creating a menacing feel to her presence that made the hairs on Twilight’s body stand on end.

“So I’m told you been lookin’ for me all by your lonesome,” Applejack says, pushing off of the cage and dropping to the ground. “So first, I reckon this is a trap. Ain’t nopony daft enough to go waltzin’ in to get me all by herself. But land’s sakes if that ain’t really you? Why don’t you sit a spell and level with me, your highness; what in Celestia’s sweet Equestria made you reckon that was a good idea?”

“I wanted to see you,” Twilight answered honestly. “I miss you. Nothing’s been the same since I got here, but you…that’s not you, is it? This is just another trick, and I walked blindly into it.” Mentally, she berated herself for putting the cart before the pony. She’d wanted so badly for Applejack to be here to help her that she’d led herself astray chasing after a fool’s hope.

“What in tarnation are you on about?” Applejack asked.

“Nothing you’d understand. I shouldn’t have let myself be taken in like this. You’re just another lie.”

Applejack shrugged. “Yeah, I ain’t got the foggiest of what you’re on about, sugar, and to be honest, I don’t rightly care. I should probably let you know that Lyra’s put some kinda magic doodad on those bars so you ain’t goin’ nowhere. If’n y’start itchin’ for an escape, go on and give your magic a try, but I hear tell that she’s put a right nasty surprise in place.”

The heartless tone with which Applejack spoke gave Twilight a chill in her heart. “What happened to you?” she asked.

“Me? I ain’t the problem here, your highness. I reckon you don’t even recognize this place, do you?”

Twilight took another look at the room around her. In the dim light of the candle, she could just barely make out a bag resting against the wall and what looked like a shelf or two, but nothing that seemed familiar.

“Should have known the meanin’ would be lost on you,” Applejack grumbled. “Well, don’t get comfy. We ain’t stayin’ long. Once we get the caravan up and movin’, we’ll be on our way. I’ve got accommodations all picked out for ya.”

Twilight laid on her front in the middle of the cage. She assumed Applejack was being truthful about the cage; Tom had probably just made some kind of magic-blanking field or something in his simulation, and she especially didn’t want to know what kind of surprise Applejack was talking about. As long as she kept her wits about her, she’d find her way out of this. But for now, she would meditate and wait for an opening to present itself.

“Thank you again for letting us use your basement,” Rarity said, sipping from her teacup. Fluttershy’s couch, comfortable though it was, offered her little reprieve from the tension of the day’s events.

“Of course,” Fluttershy answered from her green chair. “It’s nice that it’s getting some use.”

Pacing by the front door, Applejack uttered, “I still say we need to take that thing straight to Princess Celestia and be done with it!”

“I agree,” Rarity said diplomatically. “But we should have some idea of what we’re dealing with first. Tom feeds on magic. Putting him in a room with the most powerful pony in Equestria is a dangerous proposition.”

“The Princess can handle it,” Applejack argued. “She’s the one taught Twilight that counterspell of hers.”

“She’s right, of course.” Discord reclined on a red sofa that levitated near the door. He stared up at the ceiling, but his eyes moved as though watching something that nopony else could see. With a dismissive wave of his talon, he explained, “Princess Celestia would certainly be able to protect herself from Tom. Unless, of course, Tom were more analytically inclined. If he was more intelligent, somepony that could able to learn and comprehend the delicate nature of alicorn magic and dissect it on a fundamental level, that might be a bit of a problem.”

Rarity exchanged glances with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, seated beside her on the couch. It wasn’t hard to piece together what Discord was hinting at, and the implications--

“You’re messin’ with us,” Applejack said bluntly.

“Am I?” Discord sat up, turning towards her. “Why ever would I do a thing like that?”

Ignoring him, Applejack addressed the others. “Y’all see that, right? He’s playin’ us like fiddles. He wants us thinkin’ that fake Twilight in the basement might hurt the Princess so we’ll keep it here and let it carry out its plan!”

“Well, it’s working,” Rainbow Dash admitted.

Fluttershy calmly reached for her teacup on the end table between her chair and the couch. She lifted it to her snout as though to drink but hesitated. With the cup clearly between her and Discord, she politely asked, “Is this true?”

Discord looked to the cup, then up at Fluttershy. With a sigh, he confessed, “Yes, it is absolutely true. I am trying to trick all of you into allowing Tom the freedom he needs to carry out my master plan. Before long, he will steal the Elements of Harmony and use them to release me from my stony prison, allowing me to roam free in Equestria once more. Alas, I have been foiled by Applejack’s ingenious cunning.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes and looked away. “Well, when you put it like that….”

“Why is she Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking up at Discord.

The question earned her a stern glare from Applejack. “It ain’t.”

“Right, no, I get that. But why does she look like Twilight? And why does she talk like her and know our names and stuff? I can’t be the only one who thought that was her.”

“She was very convincing,” Fluttershy agreed. At Applejack’s glare, she shrank down in her seat. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

“It’s a good question,” Rarity added, joining the others in looking expectantly to Discord. “…are you planning on answering it today?”

“Hmph,” Discord grunted. “Why does everything have to be my fault? It was Twilight who created this one. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Because she’s gone?” Rainbow Dash answered.

Rarity traded glances with Fluttershy. She’d caught that too, evidently. “What do you mean by that?”

Discord scoffed. “I mean that I came all the way out here to help you and I’ve gotten nothing but accusations for my trouble! It’s as though nopony wants my help.”

“You listen here,” Applejack growled before Rainbow Dash could even finish processing how offended to be at that statement. “You got no idea what we’ve been through--”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m being terribly inconsiderate. You’ve had such a hard time lately, haven’t you? It can’t be easy having a Special Somepony who’s more successful than you are.”

“Hey!” Applejack shouted. “That ain’t--”

Fluttershy quickly put herself in the middle of the room, flashing a diplomatic smile. “Now, now, I think everypony’s just a little stressed.” Looking up at Discord, she asked, “Please, if there’s anything you can do to help, we would all appreciate it.” Rainbow Dash opened her snout to say something, but Fluttershy insisted, “All of us.”

Discord grunted. “Very well. But I’m doing this for you, Fluttershy. Not for them.” With a snap of his talons, he dismissed his couch. Levitating upright in the middle of the group, Discord clutched his talon and paw together, then pulled them apart. A crystal shard emerged in the space, which he quickly snatched up with his paw and held out to the group.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked. The shard shone brilliantly along the rainbow spectrum, its colors and shades shifting depending on the angle it was looked at. Its many faces reflected glimpses of things that weren’t there: a dragon roaring, a sunlit meadow, or the smiling face of Mrs. Cake. It hurt her head to look at it for too long

“This is a shard of crystallized unreality, taken from the space beyond existence. Each flawless edge is hewn in tattered, jagged pieces taken from the corners outside your vision. I hope you all appreciate the amount of work I had to put into making this; you couldn’t possibly grasp the hours I spent carving nothing out of everything.”

“When did you have hours to work on this?” Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously.

Discord shrugged. “Well, seconds, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Rarity reached out with her magic, levitating the chaos shard out of Discord’s paw. “It’s lovely, but what does it do?”

“Nothing!” Discord announced with a giggle. “It does absolutely nothing.”

Rarity blinked. “Why are you giving it to us if it doesn’t do anything?”

“I didn’t say it doesn’t do anything. I said it does nothing. Wherever something has been done, this will return it to nothing, leaving everything as it was. Think of this as a gift for Fluttershy, because I don’t think I like the rest of you very much right now.”

“Discord,” Fluttershy started.

“Please don’t make any more apologies on their behalf, Fluttershy. I know when I’m not wanted.” With that, Discord vanished in a flash of light, leaving the ponies alone with the chaos shard.

Two seconds after Discord vanished, Applejack gave a flat look to the other ponies. “So, y’all agree that he’s clearly behind this, right?”

“No, we do not agree,” Fluttershy argued. “None of you needed to be so rude to him. You hurt his feelings.”

“Why are we even wastin’ time with this?!” Applejack demanded. “He’s tryin’ to keep us from findin’ Twilight. There ain’t nothin’ more to it.”

“Then why give us this?” Rarity asked curiously, levitating the chaos shard.

“To keep us guessin’ at his motives.”

Fluttershy scrutinized the shard, pondering aloud. “I think he means for us to use this to destroy Tom.”

“That was my thought as well,” Rarity agreed. “You all heard what he said. This turns something into nothing. Tom is a something that Discord created, so one assumes that this would allow us to turn him into nothing and make that core of his into an ordinary rock. Unless, of course, it literally means nothing.” She rubbed a hoof against her forehead. “I do wish Twilight was here; this is starting to give me a headache.”

“What are you saying?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Discord gave us an off-switch for Tom?”

The question hung in the air as the reality presented by the shard began to settle in with everypony. Each turned their gaze to the shard before the migraine-inducing sight of its existence forced them to look away.

Fluttershy was the first to speak. “Absolutely not.”

Rarity dropped from the couch, approaching Fluttershy slowly. “Fluttershy, listen to me.”

“No! I’m sorry, but I have to draw a line here. My home is meant to be a safe haven for all living creatures. As long as she’s here, she has the same rights as anyone else who comes to me. If Pinkie Pie were up here, she’d say the same thing. I’m not going to let you harm her just because you’re mad.”

“That ain’t what we’re doin’,” Applejack said.

“Yes, Applejack, that is exactly what you’re thinking about doing. You want to use that shard to hurt somepony who might not even have done anything wrong.”

“That thing ain’t a pony!” Applejack exploded. “It ain’t even alive. It’s a rock made to bring us all down, and it’s been takin’ us for suckers since it was made. We got a way to shut it down. I say we go down there and make it tell us what it knows about Twilight, then switch it off for good.”

“Listen to yourself,” Fluttershy pleaded. “You’re talking about a thinking, feeling being. Maybe she’s not exactly like us, but who are we to say she doesn’t have a right to exist?

“We’re the ponies he’s hurt,” Rarity answered bluntly. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but Applejack’s right. Figuring out what happened to Twilight is going to be hard enough without having to watch our backs for his particular brand of ‘friendship’. This is a trap, and it’s not one that we should allow ourselves to be caught in again.”

“It ain’t even real,” Applejack added. “If it was a pony, I’d be with you, Fluttershy, but we’re talkin’ about an evil rock that wants nothin’ more than to see us all laid low. There ain’t no reason not to shut it down and be done with it.”

“You don’t know that. I still say no, and Pinkie Pie would agree with me. That makes two against two.” Fluttershy looked over to Rainbow Dash. “You’re with us, right, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash had been quiet through this debate. With the spotlight put on her, she found herself in a rare moment of chafing at it. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “This is way over my head. I mean, if she were trying to take over Equestria or something that’d be one thing, but she hasn’t really done anything wrong.”

“He has done everything wrong,” Rarity retorted.

“Maybe?!” Rainbow Dash gestured towards the kitchen, where the trapdoor to the basement could be located. “Why is she Twilight?!” she asked again. “Nopony’s answered that! Is she even the same guy that we dealt with before? ‘Cause if she is, she’s dangerous, but she’s not doing anything down there.” Rainbow Dash put up her forelegs. “I don’t want to be the pony who makes this call. There’s just too much I don’t get.”

“Then it’s a tie,” Applejack stated bluntly.

“If we assume Pinkie’s vote is with Fluttershy, then yes,” Rarity replied.

“What does that mean?”

“It means we decide for ourselves. The rest of you can stay up here, but I’m going to go do what needs to be done.” Levitating the shard with her, Rarity marched through the kitchen door.

“Rarity, wait!” Fluttershy called after her, leaping down from her chair and following. “You can’t do this. She deserves a chance.”

Rarity whirled on Fluttershy, her eyes ablaze with fear and rage. “He will destroy us if we give him half a chance. Do you remember what he did to us? What he did to me?”

“I do remember,” Fluttershy insisted. “But we don’t even know if that’s him.”

“We know enough. I’m doing this, Fluttershy. You don’t have to watch.” The kitchen rug lay unfurled, revealing a small trapdoor in the floor. Rarity used her magic to pull it open, descending with the shard into the basement without another word.

The wooden stairs did little to disguise the inhospitable atmosphere permeating the basement. A chill drifted through the foundation, forcing a shudder out of Rarity. The stairs led down to a long chamber with wooden walls lined with shelves. Occupying the shelves sat a variety of supplies for tending to Fluttershy’s animals. There were bags of birdseed next to rolls of gauze. Brushes and combs of various shapes and sizes shared shelf space with spare water bowls and loofahs.

In the back of the room, Pinkie Pie picked up a pair of dice between her hooves. She cast them out, clacking along the stone floor as they rolled. “Six!” she announced cheerfully, before taking her token from the gameboard on the floor and moving it along, one by one. Spike sat along another side of the board, watching her move her token.

Fluttershy’s bear friend Harry stood guard by the stairs, as the group had decided. If the Twilight construct attacked Pinkie Pie, his job would be to come to her aid and smash the illusion’s fragile form. Rarity had her reservations about whether or not that would be effective in disabling Tom’s magic-draining properties, but she didn’t have a better suggestion. Or, at least, she hadn’t before Discord’s present.

As for the construct herself, the phantom Twilight sat across the board from Pinkie Pie, watching her move her token. At the sound of Rarity’s hooves clicking against the basement’s stone floor her head jerked up suddenly. “Applejack?” she called out into the dim basement, eyes alight with hope. At the sight of Rarity, her eyes drooped.

“No, silly, that’s Rarity!” Pinkie Pie said with a smile. “Hi, Rarity! Did you figure out a plan yet?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Rarity replied coldly. Her eyes locked on Tom’s core, which sat pulsing in its open chest beside the gameboard. It would be easy, she knew. Applejack was right; it was like turning off a lamp. There was nothing to--

“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked, following Rarity down. She moved quickly to the phantom’s side.

“My head’s still fuzzy,” the false Twilight admitted. “It’s difficult for me to think, but I feel like I’m starting to put things together again.”

“We’ve been working with her on her memories,” Spike explained.

“…is that right?” Rarity asked.

“Nopony went with me to the human world,” explained Tom’s deceitful trick. “I went alone. I don’t know why I didn’t remember that earlier. I’ve hypothesized that Tom might have had some kind of safeguard to prevent his enchantment from being interfered with. I must have triggered a trap of some kind.”

Sheepishly, the illusion continued. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I’m not entirely sure what happened. There’s blank spots in my memory. After Rainbow Dash said what she did, I thought Tom had taken control of her again. I panicked. It wasn’t my proudest moment.”

“I’ve been helping her too,” Pinkie Pie said proudly. “She took some convincing, but she’s figured out we’re not all mind-controlled minions of evil now. The game helped!”

Twilight’s phantom nodded in agreement, but her heart wasn’t in it. She looked into Rarity’s eyes. “I’m scared, Rarity. My magic still hasn’t come back. What if it never does?”

Rarity looked to Pinkie Pie, uncertain of what to say. She could see the concern in Pinkie’s eyes, but the party pony seemed just as lost as she was. “…Twilight,” Rarity started, but she had no idea where to even go from there. The magic field gripping the chaos shard behind her wavered.

“I know,” the illusion replied. “You couldn’t possibly know. It’s just…why am I down here, Rarity? Applejack wouldn’t even talk to me, and when she did…I’ve never seen so much hate in her eyes. Did I do something when I blacked out?”

Rarity took a step backwards, unsure of what to say or do, but the image of Twilight pressed on. “Why won’t you talk to me?” The image stood from the game, taking a step towards Rarity, which prompted the unicorn to back away further. “Please, Rarity. I’ve already lost my magic. I’ve lost Applejack. I can’t lose my friends too. I need you.”

“I can’t do it,” Rarity said bluntly, casting the chaos shard down on Fluttershy’s coffee table. The crystal clacked against the wood as it landed, rolling to a stop against Rainbow Dash’s mug of cocoa.

Applejack reeled on Rarity. “Are you plumb out of your mind?! After what he--”

“I am aware of what Cardinal did to me,” Rarity snapped. “But what I saw down there wasn’t him, and I cannot in good conscience condone carrying out a vendetta against somepony who doesn’t even know what she did wrong.”

“What if it’s messin’ with our heads?!” Applejack demanded. “What if this is a trick?”

“What if it’s not?” Fluttershy asked simply. “What if this is real, and right now there is a pony downstairs who’s hurting in ways we couldn’t even imagine? She has no idea why her friends are treating her like this, and she--”

“Quit talkin’ like it’s Twilight, ‘cause it ain’t,” Applejack snapped.

“She’s not,” Fluttershy agreed. “She’s something else entirely, and she doesn’t even know what. She isn’t a pony, but she’s still a unique and intelligent being. She’s a brand new kind of life!”

“It ain’t a life at all,” Applejack insisted. “It’s a rock. Y’all keep talkin’ ‘bout it like it’s a pony, but it don’t breathe like us. It ain’t got a heart or feelin’s or--”

“How do you know?” Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head. “Look, all of this is way over my head but she looks like a pony. She talks like one. Who’s to say she can’t be--”

“She ain’t Twilight,” Applejack repeated. “She…consarnit, now you got me doin’ it! That thing ain’t Twilight. It ain’t never gonna be Twilight.”

“A lot of ponies aren’t Twilight,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“I….” Applejack hesitated. She didn’t have an answer to that.

“Nopony is expecting her to take Twilight’s place,” Fluttershy said gently, resting a hoof against Applejack. “She could never take Twilight’s place. But she deserves a chance to find a place in this world for herself. This could be her chance to start over and be something more than what Tom was created to be.”

“She might even help us find Twilight,” Rainbow Dash added in agreement.

“She deserves a chance,” Rarity said. “It’s what Twilight would say if she were here.”

“She ain’t here,” Applejack said coldly. “She could be on the far side of the moon for all we know, and y’all are wastin’ time messin’ ‘round with an evil rock instead of findin’ her!”

“We still have this,” Rarity said, levitating the chaos shard. She floated it out towards Applejack. “Why don’t you take it? If anything happens, you could--”

“I ain’t about to be a part of this,” Applejack said coldly, pushing the shard away with her hoof. “And you shouldn’t be neither.”

“Whoa, hold on,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, leaping in front of Applejack. “Of course you’re part of this. You’re part of the group. We do these things together.”

“Not this, Rainbow. Not with that thing down there, and not with….” Applejack gasped suddenly. She blinked and a single tear dripped from her eye. She reached up with her foreleg, wiping it away. For a second, she stared at the offending moisture as though it had insulted her pride.

Rarity stepped towards her, reaching out with a comforting hoof. “Applejack--"

Applejack quickly jerked away from Rarity. “I’m finding Twilight,” she announced, refusing to look at anypony in the group. Before anypony could say another word, she bolted, slamming the bottom half of Fluttershy’s front door open as she went. She made it six paces down the walk from the front door before she stumbled, catching herself to keep from falling.

“AJ!” Rainbow Dash called after her, but Rarity pressed a hoof against the pegasus’s shoulder.

“Let her go,” Rarity said somberly. “She’ll come to us when she’s ready.”

Applejack fled, following the course of the river. She had no destination in mind, but she needed to be away before she snapped even harder at her friends. Why couldn’t they see how important this was? Twilight was missing. For all anypony knew, she could be dead. She could be….

Once Fluttershy’s cottage was out of sight, Applejack stopped. She stared into the water running in the river. She watched as the ripples distorted her reflection, casting her image this way and that. She knew she had no idea where to even begin looking for Twilight, despite her bluster back at the cottage. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was doing at all. Rarity’s voice still rang in her ears. “It’s what Twilight would do.”

She’s never comin’ back, y’know.

Applejack nodded to her reflection. It wasn’t saying anything she didn’t already know to be true. She’d overstepped her station, plain and simple. Every time she tried to reach beyond her place, it just made everything worse. She knew this. She knew this.

Twilight’s gone, and it’s all my--

No, this wasn’t how she was going to get anything done. First thing she had to do was pick herself up and keep moving, just like she’d always done before. She pushed her doubts to the back of her mind and started marching again. She was going to find Twilight. She had to find Twilight and there wasn’t a force in Equestria that could stop her.

Then…then she’d figure out what she had to do to put this right.

The creak of a door opening interrupted Twilight’s meditation. She opened her good eye to see sunlight spilling down through a trapdoor. A set of stairs led down into the chamber her cage occupied, and with this newfound illumination she could make out bare racks of shelves running along the walls’ wooden paneling.

A pair of bowls lay scattered across the floor, along with a large bag filled with tiny nuts and seeds that sat stacked against the left wall. On the front, the bag read, “Grain Feed’s Nut and Fruit Mix”. Beside it, a rake lay splayed out on the ground. Twilight wondered how long it had gone unused.

“How are the wards holding?” Lyra gracefully descended the stairs, grinning like a jackal. “She found my surprise yet?”

Applejack nodded to the unicorn on approach, never taking her eyes off the cage. “She ain’t tried nothin’ yet. I reckon that’s as close to a royal seal of approval as your spell’s liable to get.”

“Huh. You know, I’m actually disappointed. I thought she’d at least zap herself once. Then you’d say something cool like, ‘Eeyup, ain’t that a shockin’ turn of events, darn tootin’.’ I sort of regret spending so much time researching this spell if she’s not even going to try it. We could have dipped the bars in cake mix and gotten the same results.”

Wait, what did she say? Based on her terrible pun, Lyra appeared to be indicating that her ward would physically electrocute Twilight if she tried to escape, and her phrasing implied that it was an obscure spell. Twilight had previously assumed that Tom had taken the easy route and simply generated a field within his simulated reality to stop her from using magic, but could this actually be Silverhoof’s Repulse?

“Y’got word from Rainbow yet?” Applejack asked. “We don’t get the convoy up and movin’ soon, we’re liable to have Shinin’ Armor breathin’ down our necks ‘fore we know what’s what. There ain’t--”

“--no good takin’ what y’can’t keep,” Lyra finished for her. “I know, I know you--”

“Don’t you sass me,” Applejack said sternly, raising a hoof to silence Lyra. “It’s a stroke of luck brought Twilight Sparkle to us, and it’s gettin’ cocky’s gonna take her away. The war ain’t theirs to win no more, it’s ours to lose, so you go get the girls movin’; I want to be gone by sun-down.”

The war?

Twilight couldn’t help but glance over. There was a war now? Equestria had known invasions from beyond its borders from time to time as well as the occasional cosmic threat, but a war between ponies hadn’t happened in over a thousand years. What could have happened to--

Twilight’s eyes locked on Applejack’s signature Stetson hat, firmly seated atop her head. Wrapped around the crown of the hat, in place of its typical brown brand, Twilight could make out a pink ribbon tied in a bow that she instantly recognized. The sight of the ribbon made her heart stop. “Applejack,” she said without thinking. “Your sister--”

“This ain’t about my sister!” Applejack snapped, whirling on the cage. Behind her, Lyra shook her head slowly, mouthing a silent no to Twilight. “I don’t care what you got Pinkie Pie sayin’ to make you feel better, this ain’t about her and it ain’t about me.” Applejack reared up, slamming a hoof against the bar and holding herself up on her hind legs to loom over Twilight. “It’s you, sugarcube. It’s always been you. You’re what’s wrong with--”

“We’ve gotta go now!” Spike called out, racing down the stairs, yanking Applejack’s attention away. She pushed off the cage and dropped to her forelegs, addressing Spike.

“Is it Rainbow?” Applejack asked.

“She’s in the med tent, she’s--”

“You stay here and watch the Princess,” Applejack barked before Spike could finish. “Lyra, get those gals movin’.” Without another word, Applejack bolted up the stairs into the bright afternoon sunlight, followed swiftly behind by Lyra.

“Spike?” Twilight called out. The dragon didn’t respond. He wouldn’t even look at her. He stared up the stairs, bouncing back and forth from one leg to another. Twilight recognized this behavior. “You’re worried,” she said simply. Taking a shot in the dark, she added, “Worried about Lyra?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Spike replied coldly. At least that had gotten a response out of him.

Fine. If that was how he was going to be, then Twilight felt she’d learned about as much as this particular part of Tom’s fake world had to offer. Lyra’s spell was Silverhoof’s Repulse, and she knew exactly what that meant.

Princess Celestia strode majestically through the halls of Canterlot Castle, her rainbow mane flowing behind her as she walked with elegance and poise. Less elegantly, a young Twilight Sparkle scrambled forward beside her, filling the hall with the echoing cacophony of frantic hooves clicking arrhythmically on marble flooring.

Levitating a book in front of her, Twilight explained, “And it was created by this really cool unicorn named Silverhoof! I’ve heard ponies call her the Star Swirl of her time, but that’s just because she was really smart and she invented a couple of new spells, it wasn’t because she was anything like the Star Swirl.”

“Is that right?” Princess Celestia asked, hiding a bemused smile behind a single white teacup she levitated to her lips.

“See, Silverhoof was worried that if a unicorn ever committed a crime, there’d be no way to stop her without hurting her. How do you imprison a pony who can just use magic to get out of any prison, right? So she came up with this spell that would keep a pony from using her magic to get out!”

“And where did you find this?” Princess Celestia asked politely before adding, “Watch the column, Twilight.”

“Well, they first mentioned it in chapter 27 of Breaking Dawn: The Reign of the Two Sisters Begins. I had to cross-reference it with the Arcane Appendix, but there were surprisingly few mentions of Silverhoof’s work. What little I could find on her Repulse was just a brief mention here or there that it existed, but nothing on how it’s cast. Do you know where I could find more information on--whoa!”

Princess Celestia scooped Twilight up in her magical field, pulling the excited filly towards her just before she had a chance to walk snout-first into a marble column, jutting up from the side of the hall.

Twilight blushed, looking up at her mentor. “I didn’t see it there,” she admitted sheepishly.

“You were excited,” Princess Celestia said with a laugh. “I have some time before court, so why don’t you come down to storage with me? There’s something I’d like to show you. I think it will put all of your questions to bed.”

“Is it a new library?” Twilight asked excitedly as the Princess set her down on her hooves.

“No, Twilight.”

Twilight followed at her teacher’s heels, descending the spiral stairs to the storage chamber. As they walked, she continued to ask questions. “Is it a magical scepter that will let me meet great ponies from the past?”

“No, Twilight.”

“Is it a magic bowl that you put your memories into and then I can jump into the bowl and relive your memories, but in third-person for some reason?”

The princess stopped walking. She shot a confused glance at her pupil and her snout hung open, searching for words.

Hanging her head, Twilight explained, “It was in a book when I was a filly.”

“You are a filly, Twilight.”

The little unicorn rolled her eyes. “I mean a little filly.”

In the storage room, Princess Celestia levitated a large, bronze archway, lifting it out from behind a set of crates. She set the arch down in front of Twilight. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

Twilight blinked twice. “It’s a doorway.”

“Sort of.” The princess’s horn glowed with magic, casting some unknown spell to enchant the arch. Then she asked Twilight, “Why don’t you step through it?”

Twilight stepped into the arch and as soon as she was within, it sprang to life. A speckled blue field burst into existence on the far side, which wrapped around Twilight as she passed. It enveloped her, causing a strange tingling sensation to crawl across her skin, before the field peeled upwards beyond her field of vision.

Suddenly, her horn felt strangely cold. She reached up with a hoof to touch it, but there didn’t seem to be anything amiss.

“Why don’t you try casting a spell?” Princess Celestia proposed. Twilight did as instructed, going for a simple levitation spell to try and lift a small music box sitting in one corner, but nothing happened. She tried again, but once more, her magic failed her. She looked back to Princess Celestia for explanation.

The Princess smiled. “This, Twilight, is a disabling enchantment. It enchants your horn and restricts its magical properties. So long as the spell remains on you, your ability to cast spells is completely revoked. Here, let me get that for you.” The Princess’s horn glowed once more, and Twilight felt the cold abate. Testing her magic, she levitated the music box with little difficulty.

“You can do that?” Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia nodded to her. “We once used these as a security measure in Equestria, to prevent unicorns from using their magic to influence important events. For a period of about two hundred years, you could find disabling spells enchanting doorways at political summits, public transportation carriages, and even some private residences.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Those were darker times when ponies didn’t trust one another the way we do now. These days, you can still find disabling spells here or there, but they’ve become much more scarce. I believe Chalk Scratch’s Institute for Higher Learning still uses them for exams. I know the Friendship Games have been known to employ them a time or two as well.”

Twilight nodded to her teacher, absorbing all of this information, but a question emerged. “What does this have to do with Silverhoof?”

“Silverhoof was a talented unicorn, but she was never very practical. And, I should note, the only pony who called her the Star Swirl of her time back in her day was her. She’d be very pleased to hear that she managed to get that nickname into history.”

Princess Celestia looked up, reflecting on days long past. “She was quite proud of the spell that she’d created, but there were a few flaws in it. For one, her enchantment does little to restrict the casting of spells. Instead, it detects the casting and provides an aggressive response. For another, it was only designed with a few specific spells in mind.

“Teleportation and levitation effects are forbidden, but I still remember the day Night Weaver transmuted herself into a potted fern in defiance of the Repulse. The two were old rivals, you see. Silverhoof attempted to argue that it didn’t matter, because a fern could no more escape a prison cell than a unicorn stripped of magic could.” The Princess laughed at the memory. “Oh, was her face red when Night Weaver proceeded to grasp the sides of her pot with her leaves and hop her way to freedom between the bars!”

Twilight chuckled at the mental image, but she still hadn’t quite seen the point. Princess Celestia continued, “You see, while it is not unheard of for long forgotten magics to be rare and valuable, you will find that more often than not, a spell will become lost to time because whatever utility it’s meant to serve is better found elsewhere. Some things become obscure for a reason, Twilight. Silverhoof’s spell never amounted to quite what she aspired for it to be, and with the advent of the disabling spell, her Repulse became little more than a historical footnote.

“The purpose that every pony strives for is to take what we have now and to make it better for the generations that come after us. Society is built on the achievements of our predecessors. We remember their mistakes, we learn from them, and we build upon them so that we can avoid repeating them. If you looked hard enough, I’m sure you would find historians who recorded her spell in greater detail, but if you want to know why her spell is not a part of the curriculum, then the answer is this archway.”

Twilight took a deep breath, studying the door to the cage. It wasn’t out of the question that she’d cast the disabling spell as well, but given her disappointment earlier, Twilight felt confident that she hadn’t.

Lyra must have believed she was stumbling onto some lost, secret gem of history when she cast these wards. She’d never learned the important lesson Twilight had gotten from Princess Celestia personally: that obscure is not synonymous with better. The idea that a spell’s quality was equivalent to the amount of effort put into finding it was an easy logical trap to fall into.

Of course, Twilight did not have a spell to transmute herself into a potted fern. However, looking at Spike, she might just have the next best thing. “Spike,” Twilight called out once more.

The little dragon was pacing back and forth in front of the stairs. At Twilight’s call, he answered, “Don’t talk to me. We’re not friends.” Twilight could hear the commotion from outside; she didn’t have a lot of time. Glancing at the opening, she knew it was only a matter of time before the others came down here.

Hard way it is, then. Twilight’s horn crackled with magic. She weaved her magic through--

SHHRAAKKK

Lightning arced through the cage from one bar to another, surging through Twilight’s body. It lasted only a second, but it was enough. Her left foreleg gave our and she stumbled to her front set of knees, the focus required to cast anything having been rapidly drained from her. She breathed in ragged, gasping breaths.

The flash of light caught Spike’s attention. “Whoa!” he shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Escaping,” Twilight muttered. She struggled to push the weight of her body back up on her forelegs. As soon as she could stand, she weaved her magic once more and--

SHHRAAKKK

Again, the lightning jolted through the cage, and again Twilight found herself wracked with searing pain. She fell sideways, hitting the floor with a thump. For a moment, she saw the blinding colors and impossible geometries from before, but she closed her eyes and pulled away from them. She couldn’t afford another temporally disproportionate vision. Not now.

Spike raced forward, grasping the bars with his claws. “Stop that!” he shouted. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”

Despite the pain still smoldering in her body, Twilight grinned to herself. Spike was in range. Setting her horn glowing once more, Twilight cast a sphere of red light that erupted outwards, enveloping herself and Spike. A beam of red energy flew from her horn to his body, connecting the two.

The first thing to change was Twilight’s midsection. It jerked down in size, yanking her legs together. Claws erupted from her hooves, covered in deep violet scales that proceeded to ripple up the length of her body. The long hairs of her tail fused together into a fleshy mass before the scales covered them. Her mane hardened into plates, each a dark blue with her signature pink and purple stripes around its perimeter.

As the spell abated, Twilight wobbled only for a second before catching herself. Walking on two legs was still an unpleasant experience, but she wasn’t exactly a stranger to it. Spike shook his head, stumbling back from where Twilight had enchanted him, but his part was finished. Twilight took a deep breath, and huffed with all of her might in the direction of the bars.

Her vivid exhalation did little to disturb them.

“What happened?” Spike asked, shaking off the effect. “What did you--” He stopped suddenly, eyes locked on the newly draconic Twilight Sparkle. “APPLEJACK!!!” Spike called out. Without wasting a second, he turned and bolted up the stairs, screaming once more, “APPLEJACK!!!”

Twilight knew she didn’t have much time. How did this work? She thumped herself in the chest, coughed, and then tried again. She successfully belched out a trail of smoke, followed by a series of coughs as she choked on her own embers. Twilight took a moment to clear her mind. This whole thing was going to be pointless if she couldn’t get her fire working.

She closed her eyes and tried to reach down to her core. This function was as alien to her as those weird stubby fingers the humans had, but she’d learned to control those and she could control this too. It was a part of her now and she was the master of her own body. She was Twilight Sparkle. She could--

“What in tarnation?!” Applejack shouted just before Twilight let loose a burst of purple fire. The flames tore through the bamboo bars of her prison, setting the latticework ablaze. The flames crackled, burning through the ropes that held the bars together. She gave the flames a couple of seconds to burn, then ran forwards and threw herself against the bars where the fire was most concentrated.

The bars cracked with her effort, but threw her back into the cage. Much as she’d surmised, her dragonscales shielded her from the heat entirely. Picking herself off the ground, she made another go, launching herself into the bars. She broke through with a cracking sound that echoed through the chamber, hitting the stone floor on the other side on her shoulder.

Now safely beyond the wards, Twilight let out a flash of magic to restore her pony form. “LYRA!” she heard from the top of the stairs, but it was too late. As her scales receded, Twilight cast her teleport and vanished from the basement. She emerged aboveground, just beside the treeline of the Everfree Forest.

“FIND HER!!!” Applejack roared from somewhere nearby. Twilight darted into the forest, using one of its gnarled trees for cover before looking back. In retrospect, she probably should have expected something like this, but the sight that greeted her still managed to shock her.

She could now see the top of the stairs the other ponies had been descending; an area had been cleared away from the wreckage to provide access. The scorched remains of Fluttershy’s cottage stood before her, as black and charred as the library she’d seen earlier today. The upper floor appeared to have collapsed in on the lower, but the wall where Fluttershy’s kitchen should have been had been cleared away and much of the debris removed.

Twilight could see a ring burned into the grass around the cottage; a clear boundary point. The fire had been contained to avoid letting it spread to the fields or forest nearby. Much like the library, this could only have been deliberate; someone destroyed the cottage on purpose, and Twilight had a fairly reasonable estimation as to who.

Applejack bolted from the top of the stairs, flanked by nearly a dozen other ponies. “Spread out!” she ordered, racing towards an assembly of tents in the field behind the house. Twilight could see other ponies busily taking them down. Others loaded chests onto carts, while a pair of pegasus stallions took down a fire pit in the center.

“There’s no time for that!” Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash emerged from one of the tents, leaping in front of Applejack. “I told you, they’re going to be here any minute! Our agent’s stalled them as long as she can, but Shining Armor is on his way here right now and we need to be gone when he gets here.”

Twilight could easily tell that Rainbow Dash had been through a lot in this conflict. There were several scars on her side and down her legs, as well as one patch of hair along her left side that seemed to have been scraped off. Her left wing was scuffed up but she didn’t seem to be too concerned by and, and given the state of her face, it was the least of her issues. A huge scar ran from the side of her snout up across her left eye; the damage seemed severe from what little Twilight could make out around the eyepatch covering it.

“Consarnit, Rainbow, we ‘bout near have her!” Applejack retorted. “We find her, this could be the end of the war!”

“Yeah, and what’s Shining Armor going to do to us if he finds us with her before we’re ready for him? I don’t like running from a fight any more than you do, but this is the Royal Guard we’re talking about. The entire Royal Guard. Rarity’s not going to send two-bit grunts to bring back the Princess, she’s going to hit us with everything she’s got. We’re not ready for this.”

“You’re never going to be ready if you don’t let me see to that wing,” Nurse Redheart chastised Rainbow Dash, following her from the tent.

The nurse reached for the wing, but Rainbow Dash yanked it away from her. “There’s no time for that! We have to go before--”

As if on cue, the sound of a thundering crack split the camp, followed shortly by a trio of blue streaks that tore across overhead. “Wonderbolts,” Rainbow Dash snarled, spitting their name like some hideous curse.

“Oh, that ain’t no good for us,” Applejack replied. “Alright, you win. We have to get a move on, which means I need you in the air. Can you fly?”

“Better than they can, any day.” Rainbow Dash answered, spreading her wings for takeoff.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed. “I haven’t even bandaged--” Before she could finish, Rainbow Dash exploded into the sky, shooting off towards Ponyville faster than Twilight’s eyes could follow.

“Everypony else, load up and get movin’!” Applejack ordered over the camp. “Make for the treeline and stay together. Sunshower, Thunder Streak, you two get flyin’ and keep the Wonderbolts off Rainbow’s back. Smeltin’ Hammer, get your squad ready to cover our exit.”

Watching Applejack order her ponies around brought a smile to Twilight’s face. Despite everything that was different and wrong about this place, it was nice to see that some things hadn’t changed. Applejack was as strong-willed and assertive as the one Twilight knew so well. The greatest paradox Twilight had known in her relationship with Applejack was the way she chafed so strongly against status and the admiration of others, and yet so readily seized the yoke of control in a crisis.

“Double time it, ponies!” Applejack ordered. Pressing her side against a large chest opposite a silver earth pony that Twilight didn’t recognize, Applejack helped to hoist the chest onto the back of a cart. She quickly told the mare, “You’re loaded up. Get a move on, giddyup!” before moving on to help the next pony.

Applejack was confident, charismatic, and quick to take initiative. Although Twilight was a bit biased, she had to admit. She knew that there was a possibility that their relationship had left her unable to view Applejack through a rational lens. Even so, as she watched Applejack spurring on her camp, stepping in to help out herself and make sure that everypony made it out, Twilight felt a warmth in her heart. This was the behavior she’d fallen in--

“It’s the Princess! Twilight Sparkle’s by the treeline!”

Oh, horseapples!

In a burst of magic, Twilight teleported back into Ponyville, landing in front of the flower shop. She needed to find the carriage that brought her here. She’d left it by the library, so if she could just—

SLAM

Twilight was struck in the side, sending her sprawling across the cobblestones. She lit her horn in self-defense, but then she recalled the way her concussive bolt had nearly taken Lyra’s head off earlier in the day. She hesitated, and that was all the advantage Cloud Kicker needed. The light blue pegasus landed on top of her, her face a mask of rage concealed by her blonde hair.

Twilight rolled onto her back, using her forelegs to press up against Cloud Kicker’s frame. Above her, she could see the blue streak of a Wonderbolt peeling off-course and making a beeline down towards her. A flash of a lighter blue slammed into the first streak, knocking it off-course; Twilight had a pretty good idea who that was.

“Your highness!” A voice called out. A spear hurtled past, narrowly grazing Cloud Kicker’s back. She jolted up, and before she could respond, Twilight grasped the pegasus in her telekinetic field and gave her a shove sideways into the wall of the flower shop.

Twilight rolled to her hooves and galloped in the direction of the voice. Never in her life had she been so relieved to see the blue mane and golden armor of a Royal Guardpony. “Over here!” he called out, waving his hoof frantically. Twilight closed distance as fast as she could. He was thirty yards away, then twenty, then--

SHRAKK

A bolt of magic struck the street at the guardpony’s feet and a wave of ice washed over him, rooting him to the spot. Twilight skidded to a stop, then reflexively raised her barrier just as another bolt struck down in front of her. The ice washed forward, but her shield protected her as the air froze in a semicircle around its perimeter.

“End of the line!” Lyra Heartstrings called down to her, perched upon the caved-in roof of Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight’s horn crackled with magic. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she called back.

“Don’t worry. You won’t.” To Twilight’s surprise, Lyra leapt from the roof, plunging three stories straight at her. Twilight darted out of the way and Lyra’s hooves struck the ground, transmuting the cobblestones as she landed into a liquid mudslide. She kept moving, her vertical velocity turning into horizontal momentum. A wall of mud lifted up around the street, blocking Twilight’s avenue of escape as Lyra skated around its perimeter.

Twilight fired off her concussive bolt and watched as an entire section of Lyra’s mudslide exploded on impact, clearing a path for her to dart through. Lyra leapt from the mudslide to cut her off, firing a concussive bolt from her horn. The shot hit Twilight in her haunches as she leapt through the hole, sending her spinning sideways and scraping her side against the cobblestones.

Twilight looked up to see Lyra soar gracefully through the same hole. She focused her magic and projected a freezing ray from her horn. Lyra flashed a barrier, deflecting the spell. Her horn crackled with magic as she reared up on her hind--

A blue streak slammed into Lyra, smashing her through Sugarcube Corner’s front door. Twilight wasted no time climbing to her hooves. She cast a shaped cone of pure heat on the ice restraining her guardpony, thawing him out after a few seconds of concentrated casting.

“We have to get out of here,” Twilight urged him.

“I couldn’t agree more,” answered a voice from the sweet shop’s doorstep. Twilight vaguely recognized the yellow pegasus leaping down the stairs to join her.

“Spitfire, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Your wife asked me to keep you out of trouble.”

Twilight blinked. It took her a moment to realize that Spitfire was talking about Rarity. That’s right, she was married to Rarity here for some strange--a crashing sound in the distance brought her back to the urgency of the situation. She pushed that mystery to the back of her mind for processing later.

“How bad is it?” Twilight asked Spitfire as they raced for the carriage. Her other guardpony, secured in the harness, waved frantically for the trio to hurry.

“Their fliers are harassing my ponies, but most of them are harmless. The worst they can do is distract. But there’s one of them that’s dangerous. I’ve got three of my best fliers trying to keep her occupied, but our window’s closing fast. If we don’t get you out of here soon, we might not get the chance.”

“What about my brother?” Twilight asked, leaping into the carriage. As soon as her other guardpony could secure himself, the pair took off into the sky. Twilight braced herself against the side as the carriage jolted upwards, streaking into the skies over Ponyville.

“He’s not going to make it in time. We tried to mobilize, but something went wrong. The transport ship scuttled itself in dock. Princess Rarity thinks we might have a saboteur in our ranks.”

A saboteur. Tom’s reality became more and more complicated with each passing hour. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Twilight said, trying to sound authentic. She was starting to get a handle on this place, and there was no sense upsetting the one side of the conflict that didn’t want her in chains.

“I’m sure you will,” Spitfire answered. She soared faithfully beside the carriage, keeping between it and the town.

Within minutes, they were beyond Ponyville’s limits. Twilight took one last look back at the destroyed town. Even knowing that this was fake, her heart still broke for the devastation that had been caused. Tom had given her a lot of heartaches today. “Were you here when it happened?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

“No, ma’am,” Spitfire answered her. “We were the first line deployed after Princess Celestia found out what was happening. Tirek tore through us before he even made it to Appleoosa.”

Tirek. If Twilight had any doubts about the fabricated nature of this place, that sealed it. That doesn’t even sound like a real pony’s name.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight said simply. “…how much do you know about--”

Twilight was interrupted by a flash of color splitting the horizon. A circle of light projected outwards, framing the ruins of her hometown with every color on the visible spectrum. The next couple of seconds seemed to happen in slow motion.

A rainbow streak barreled in the direction of the carriage, splintering the visible light spectrum as it flashed across the sky. Spitfire peeled off from the carriage, rocketing off to intersect. Twilight could barely make out the point where the two collided; the impact forced the rainbow streak only a hair off-course.

The rainbow blew over Twilight’s head, rocking the carriage and sending her guardponies tumbling through the sky. She scrambled to wrap her forelegs around the side of the carriage as the boom struck, trailing in the rainbow’s wake. A deafening crack shattered Twilight’s ears, while the rainbow moved unimpeded, carrying Spitfire until it crashed into the mountain on which Canterlot once sat.

“SPITFIRE!!!” Twilight shouted as her senses struggled to return to her. With the sound wave still ringing her ears, she had no idea how loud or how quiet she had spoken; moreover, she knew Spitfire was already well beyond a reasonable distance to hear her, but an emotional reflex held back for no rational logic.

The streak Twilight knew to be Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom spiraled downwards after hitting the mountain, before eventually colliding with the ground. Twilight had no idea if Spitfire was down there or if she’d been knocked away somewhere else, and either thought chilled her heart.

She didn’t know Spitfire well; she vaguely knew of her through Rainbow Dash, and didn’t really count her among her friends. But she knew exactly what would have happened to her and her carriage if Rainbow Dash had made her shot, and the thought of what Spitfire may have sacrificed to protect her chilled her to the bone. Was this what it meant to govern?

As her guardponies found their bearings and the carriage righted itself, Twilight breathed in ragged gasps, curling herself up against its seat.

This wasn’t a mystery. This was a nightmare.

I want to go home.

6 - Veridical Dissonance

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked hesitantly. She stood with Fluttershy in her friend’s living room, facing the coffee table in the center of the room. The evening sun had reached the horizon, casting an orange glow through the windows that seemed to color and distort the room.

Much to her dismay, Applejack was already gone when Twilight’s friends had told her she was clear to come upstairs. Rainbow Dash had left a short time after, announcing an intent to go find their errant friend. The rest of her friends surrounded her; Rarity and Pinkie sat to Twilight’s left, near enough to show support without crowding Fluttershy. Spike clicked his claws together nervously, watching the events unfold.

The stone core sat in its chest on the table, continuing its rhythmic pulsing. Beside it rested a strange, fragmented crystal that seemed to warp and shift in ways that hurt Twilight’s head to try and think about. It never seemed to move, and yet it looked different from second to second. The others had been strangely noncommittal about what it was and where it came from.

“Just try it,” Fluttershy urged her. “I know it might seem scary now, but we’re here for you.”

“Plus if it works, you’ll have cool stony powers!” Pinkie Pie added. “I mean, it probably won’t make up for losing all of the spells that you’ve spent your whole life trying to master and becoming an outcast to your friends and family and wondering, day in and day out, whether your life even has any meaning without--”

“PINKIE PIE!” Rarity chastised.

Pinkie smiled chipperly, tapping Twilight’s sides with her hooves. “But there’ll be cool stony powers.”

Twilight’s jaw hung open, searching for words to respond to Pinkie Pie’s insinuation. Rarity sighed. “Don’t mind her, darling. Let’s just take this one step at a time.”

Fluttershy put a comforting hoof against Twilight’s shoulder. “We’ll figure everything out,” she assured her friend. “Rarity’s right. Let’s start here and we’ll see what happens.”

Twilight took a deep breath. She centered herself and locked her gaze on the pulsing stone. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do; she’d never done anything like this before. It wasn’t like casting one of her spells; it was something more primal, something connected at her very center, that she needed to find. This wasn’t something she could process intellectually; she knew that it had to be felt, in much the same way that she felt her connection with all of her friends.

Twilight closed her eyes to center herself. If what the others were saying was true, then there would be some kind of instinctual connection. She remembered the feeling of gaining her wings for the first time; moving them required the flexing of a muscle she’d never had before. It had taken her weeks to get them under control and learn this new form of motion, and even after all of that practice, she still struggled sometimes.

At least hypothetically, this would be just like that. It wasn’t a spell but a muscle, something that she could naturally control. She reached out with her mind, trying to feel the soft velvet inside the chest. With a mental gesture, she willed the stone to rise, and the stone answered. It lifted from its resting place, levitating a foot into the air.

In the end, it was easier than she’d anticipated. The stone responded to her conscious will without any of the difficulty she’d faced with her wings. She chose for it to move towards her and it did, floating in her direction until it came to a stop less than a foot in front of her. She turned it over in her mind and watched as it followed suit. Then, in an instant, she chose for it to vanish. It instantly flashed out of sight; still present in the room, but enveloped in an illusion to keep it from being seen.

“So it’s true, then,” Twilight said. “Everything you’ve told me is right. I’m not the real Twilight Sparkle.”

Without a word, Fluttershy stepped wrapped a single hoof gently around Twilight’s neck, embracing her. Rarity stepped forward. “This must be difficult,” she said gently. “I’m so--”

“This is FASCINATING!” Twilight erupted. “Spike, take notes. We’ve made an amazing breakthrough!”

“You’re not upset?” Fluttershy asked.

“I am!” Twilight announced exuberantly. With a huge smile emblazoned on her face, she dictated, “I’m scared about what’s going to happen to me in the future. My heart is still aching from what happened with Applejack and now that I understand why she’s so upset, I’m not even sure if she’ll ever speak to me again!” She reared up, grasping with her hooves at the sides of Fluttershy’s neck. “Do you understand what that means?!”

“That you express heartbreak very differently from the rest of us?”

“To clarify: no, she doesn’t,” Rarity said quickly.

“It means that I feel, Fluttershy. The enchantment that created my intelligence is complex enough to give me emotions. It’s…Spike, why aren’t you taking notes?” She looked suddenly to the dragon, who simply stared back at her, empty claws outstretched.

“With what?” Spike asked

“With….” Twilight blinked. Sheepishly, she turned to her friend. “Fluttershy, would you happen to have a quill and parchment that we could borrow?”

“Will paper and a pencil work?”

“It’ll do.”

Fluttershy hurried to set Spike up with his note-taking equipment while Twilight continued. “This has been bothering me ever since we defeated Cardinal. We knew he was intelligent, but I’ve suspected for a while now that there might be more than that. I hypothesized that he had an emotional range as well.”

“He did seem rather driven to capture us,” Rarity said.

“Yes, but it’s more than that. He seemed angry when we fought him. By itself, that wouldn’t mean much; we had him cornered and he knew it. The anger could have just been a fabricated contingency response. But after I cast my counterspell, he apologized to me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but after everything settled down, it started to stick in my mind. Why apologize? What rational purpose could that have served?”

“Do you think he felt bad for hurting you?” Fluttershy asked.

“Maybe!” Twilight beamed. “If we assume his emotional capacity was the same as mine, then we can confirm that he was capable of being emotionally compromised. There isn’t just an intelligence here; there’s cognition. I’m capable of feeling and learning. I mean, I can’t 100% be certain that the magic sustaining me isn’t just making me think I’m conscious, but I feel conscious. At the very least, I don’t feel any different than I did as an alicorn."

Twilight began to pace, considering the ramifications. She held a hoof up suddenly, slowly raising and lowering it while following it with her eyes. “How am I seeing?” she wondered aloud. “I mean, I can’t imagine I’m using my eyes to see, since I’m reasonably sure I don’t actually have eyes.”

“Of course you have eyes, silly!” Pinkie Pie corrected, jamming her hoof right in front of Twilight’s face. “They’re right there!”

Twilight backed away from her friend. “Only sort of,” she replied. “If what we understand about Tom’s magic is correct, then my entire body is an image. You can see eyes on my face, but those aren’t actual eyes. They don’t process information and transmit it to my brain; if my suspicions are correct, I don’t even have a brain. I have this.” She extended her foreleg and the stone appeared once more, levitating just an inch over her hoof.

“There must be more to it than that,” Rarity said. “Otherwise, how would we be able to touch you?”

“That’s a good point. There must be some kind of magical barrier to make me tangible.” She perked up suddenly. “I wonder if I have pain receptors?” She held out her foreleg, looking from Pinkie to Rarity. “This might sound like a weird request, but could somepony slap me? I need to understand the extent of my ability to feel.”

“I supposed I could try,” Rarity offered. She stepped closer to Twilight and raised a single hoof. She hesitated a moment, looking to Twilight for confirmation. At Twilight’s nod, Rarity lightly jabbed at her friend’s outstretched leg.

“You’ll need to hit me harder than that,” Twilight said dryly.

“I’m sorry. Let me try again.” Rarity put slightly more force into her second try, tapping Twilight’s leg with enough force to knock over a teacup.

Twilight shook her head. “That’s still not helping. I’m not sure I’d be able to feel that even if I wasn’t an illusion.”

“I’m just worried about hurting you,” Rarity said.

“I appreciate that, but hurting me is actually the point of this so if you could please--” Rarity cut off Twilight, rearing back with her foreleg and slamming it forcefully through Twilight’s. As Rarity struck, Twilight’s foreleg exploded into triangular shards of light. The shards scattered across the room, colliding harmlessly against the floor and furniture before fading out of existence.

“Oh, my!” Fluttershy gasped. “Are you okay?!”

Calmly, Twilight answered, “I’m fine.” She held up the jagged stump of her foreleg, examining it. The leg had broken off just below the shoulder, leaving a fractured ring around it. The wound was jagged and uneven, and yet each cut seemed pristine; a series of curveless lines and sharp angles made up the ring around where her leg used to be. “Well, that answers the question about pain receptors.”

Rarity gasped. “I’m so sorry, darling.”

“Don’t be; this was my idea,” Twilight insisted. “Spike, write down the word “FRAGILE” in all capital letters. Then circle it. Twice.”

“On it!” Spike answered.

“How come it’s not all gooky?” Pinkie Pie asked, coming over to get a look at Twilight’s fracture.

“Why would it be?” Twilight asked. “I don’t have biology. There’s nothing to gook.” She pondered for a second, then looked to her friends. “…okay, so this might sound like a weird question but could one of you take a look inside my stump? It’s for science.”

“Oh, my darling, thank Celestia you’re alright!” Twilight had barely had the chance to step off the carriage when Rarity leapt upon her. Before she knew it, she was being half-embraced and half-dragged across the courtyard, squeezed in the tight embrace of another pony’s lover.

“Rarity!” Twilight gasped out, trying to pull herself away. Before she could say anything further, however, she felt the crushing embrace of another set of hooves enveloping the both of them.

Shining Armor pulled Twilight and Rarity into a crushing embrace. “Are you okay, Twily?” he asked, pressing her face deeper into Rarity’s shoulder. “What happened out there? Did they hurt you?”

So this was how it ends: far away from anything familiar, choked to death in an ocean of white.

Finally, the pressure abated and Twilight found she could breathe again.

“Oh, whatever were you thinking, facing those ruffians alone?” Rarity demanded.

“I….” Twilight tried to answer, but her mind flashed back on Spitfire. She remembered the sight of Rainbow Dash streaking towards the carriage. Before she even knew what was happening, Spitfire had taken that hit for her. They had been talking like friends and colleagues and then, in the span of a second, Spitfire was gone.

“That’s just like you, Twily,” Shining Armor said.

Twilight caught a hint of sadness in his voice when he spoke. He’d turned away, not looking quite at her. “It is?” she asked.

Rarity stopped, placing a hoof against Twilight’s cheek. “Darling, if I’ve told you once, I have told you a thousand times, you simply cannot thwart every evil in Equestria by yourself. I adore you for trying, but it’s just not possible, especially in your condition. What if something were to happen to you?”

“Something did happen,” Twilight admitted, looking back at the carriage. In her mind’s eye, she could see those colors streaking across the sky again, roaring by just over her head. She’d always thought that the Sonic Rainboom was a cool trick; she’d never considered how dangerous it could be.

“Tell us,” Rarity said gently.

Twilight nodded slowly. “It happened so fast. Before I even knew what was happening, Rainbow Dash was coming at us.”

“Of course it was Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said, voice dripping with contempt.

Twilight closed her eyes. Even knowing it was all an illusion, she couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt for what happened. It felt real enough. “Spitfire put herself in harm’s way to protect the carriage, to…to protect me. She could be hurt. How did this happen?!”

Rarity scoffed. “It happened because Rainbow Dash is a--”

Twilight pressed a hoof to her shoulder, looking her in the eyes. “No, this whole thing. We’re at war with other ponies. How could that happen?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, darling. I know you’re worried about Spitfire; I am too, but we must keep our heads. All of Equestria is looking to us to lead the way. We can’t….” Rarity hesitated and for a moment, Twilight thought she could see a glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes. Then Rarity blinked and it was gone, replaced by a steely gaze.

Shining Armor finished her thought for her. “It’s like you always say, sis. We can’t afford to doubt ourselves; not when we represent all that’s left. We’re Princess Celestia’s legacy. We have to be more than that.”

“I say that?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Besides,” Shining Armor continued, “Those ponies have no idea what they’re talking about. The militia’s barely a fraction of what the Shield of Harmony once boasted. This isn’t a war, it’s an insurgency; once it’s been dealt with, our ponies can get back to rebuilding.”

“The Shield of Harmony,” Twilight repeated, following the others into the castle.

Rarity laughed. “I know, it’s such a dreadful name. Honestly, I always found it to be so tacky, but Applejack insisted upon it.”

“Oh, uh, it really is,” Twilight agreed quickly. Internally, she thought the name sounded cool; it really drove home the idea of deriving strength from the companionship and camaraderie between ponies. She thought again of what she’d seen on her way out of Ponyville; Applejack flitting from one cart to another, helping ponies retreat from the Wonderbolt attack. Perhaps it was a little corny, but in that moment, she’d felt closer to home than she’d been since she arrived in this place.

It was a good name. Strange to hear it applied to a gang of outlaws, though. Harmony, at least as Twilight understood it, was a state that could only be achieved by ponies coming together and working with one another for the common good. It was fundamentally irreconcilable with criminal and renegade behavior.

Once more, Spitfire floated back into her mind. Twilight hated not knowing if she was okay. There was nothing harmonious in what happened to--

“Are you alright, dearest?” Rarity asked, sidling up to Twilight.

“Tell us what happened,” Shining Armor said. “We’re here for you, Twily.”

Once more, Applejack found herself standing before the throne belonging to the greatest power in all of Equestria. The red carpet was beginning to feel strangely familiar under her hooves; she wasn’t sure how she felt about that anymore.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Princess Celestia said from the majestic rise of her golden throne.

“Of course, your highness,” Applejack said, bowing respectfully. “I’ll be honest, I ain’t got the foggiest idea where to get started, but whatever I can do to help find her, you just say the word. I’m ready to go through hay or high water if it means bringin’ her back safe and sound.”

“I appreciate that, Applejack,” the Princess said, rising from her throne. She descended the ramp, seeming to glide with each step of her golden shoes. “I am certain she will as well. However, I’m afraid that there is little at this time that you can do.”

“There must be somethin’,” Applejack argued. “I’ll trek to the far ends of Equestria if’n I gotta. I’ll--”

“Applejack,” Princess Celestia said sternly, standing before Applejack. The farm pony quieted down at the sound of her sovereign voice. “I understand how you feel, but you must temper yourself. There is nothing you can do at this time. Please do not make this worse while we are trying to solve it.”

“It’s Twilight,” Applejack pleaded.

“I am aware.” The Princess’s voice never rose, but Applejack could feel the statement resonate through her being. It cut straight to her heart, opening her mind and allowing her to see the concern printed on Princess Celestia’s face. Applejack could feel the fear that the Princess worked diligently not to show in her eyes. She saw her own worry and doubt reflected in the monarch.

In that moment, she realized, she and the Princess were kin, united by their concern for the safety and wellbeing of Twilight Sparkle. They both loved Twilight in their own ways. Though she didn’t show it outwardly, the Princess could only be feeling the same terror that had burrowed into Applejack’s heart.

“I’m sorry, your….” Applejack stopped. She knew the right thing to say, but it didn’t feel right. She’d been here before; she knew that this wasn’t a time for pomp and ceremony. It was a time to be with kin who shared your fears and knew your pain. “You’re right,” she said, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry, Celestia.”

Celestia flashed a small smile, accepting her apology with a small nod of her head. “I wish I had more to offer you, but for now, this matter is out of your hooves. I’m afraid there’s only one in all of Equestria who understands the kind of magic Twilight was trying to work with.”

“You don’t mean--”

“Ooh hoo hoo, my ears are burning!” Discord’s voice filled the throne room. To Applejack’s right, a large blue stained glass window stood, depicting the sun shining down on the world. Beside it floated Saturn and, as Applejack watched, the ring uncoiled itself into a serpentine figure she knew well enough. “Oh, who could this handsome gentledraconequus be, I wonder?”

“Hello, Discord,” Celestia said pleasantly as Discord slithered out from the pattern.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance once more, my lady,” Discord said, adding a lavish bow to the monarch. “And Applejack! Why, it’s so good to see two of my favorite princesses together in one place.”

Applejack scowled at the word, but if Discord noticed, he gave no indication. “All due respect, gettin’ anythin’ useful out of Discord’s gonna be like pullin’ teeth, ‘ceptin’ teeth don’t hurt near as much.”

“Hmph.” Discord looked to Celestia. “Do you see what I have to put up with? The way everypony acts, one would think I had something to do with Twilight’s disappearance. I’ll have you know that when she went missing, I was in the middle of a very vigorous brushing of my teeth. Here, I have a witness!”

Discord snapped his fingers, conjuring up a small, red toothbrush that levitated in midair. The brush squirmed, recoiling in horror from the group. Just under the bristles, a mouth spoke, saying only, “I have seen things….”

Discord promptly dismissed it. “There. You see? I am innocent of any wrongdoing!” Applejack narrowed her eyes. “…fine, well, I’m innocent of this very specific wrongdoing, anyway.”

Ignoring Discord’s bluster, Celestia approached him. “I believe you,” she said diplomatically. “However, the terms of our arrangement were that you’re to use your magic for good. Here, we have an opportunity to make good on that bargain. Twilight Sparkle has gone missing as the result of an experiment with chaos magic. There is nopony in Equestria who understands this force like you do, Discord.”

Discord smiled. “That’s certainly true, but it’s not going to be of much good in this case.” Discord held up his clawed hand. In a flash, a purple alicorn figurine appeared, hovering over it. He explained, “Twilight has taken a plunge into infinity itself.” Removing his claw, the figurine fell. A black vortex appeared in its path, swallowing it in its descent. “There are literally infinite possibilities for where she could be. Finding her is simply impossible.”

Celestia’s face sank at the news. “There’s truly nothing you can do?”

“There’s nothing anypony can do,” Discord insisted. “She’s not coming back, short of finding her own way.”

Applejack felt her heart fall out from her. More and more, the truth was revealing itself exactly as she’d feared. Because she’d allowed herself to be selfish, because she’d indulged when she knew she shouldn’t, Twilight was gone forever. The reality of her situation stung deep. This, she knew, was entirely her fault.

Well, no, not entirely. Applejack felt her temper beginning to flare up. She found solace in the rage kindling in her muscles. The overwhelming steamroller of anger lent her solace, shielding her from the pain in her heart. She turned on Discord, muscles tensing. “She wouldn’t have been--”

Celestia raised a single hoof in front of Applejack, urging her to silence. A sideways glance from the Princess and a comforting smile was all she needed for her anger to die back down, replaced by fear and trepidation for Twilight’s fate. “I see,” Celestia said gently. “Then there truly is nothing we can do. From what you’ve described, I understand that it would take a monumental intellect to find Twilight now. Regrettably, we can only make do with what we have. Thank you for your time, Discord.”

With a graceful sweep of her rainbow tail, Princess Celestia turned back to her throne. It took her only two steps before Discord swooped around in front of her. “What do you mean by that?!” he demanded.

“Is something the matter?”

“Do you mean to imply that I, Discord, the Master of Chaos, am not a monumental intellect?!”

“Of course not.” Celestia smiled. “You are quite intelligent, Discord. That this problem’s more than you can handle is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Discord scowled. “I’ll have you know, I could ‘handle’ it ten times over!”

“But you just said--”

“I know what I said! But what I’m saying now is that I’ll have Twilight right here, blathering on about the history of Lord Who Cares from Encyclopedia Obnoxiousness before you even have a chance to miss her!”

Celestia’s face lit up at Discord’s proclamation. “What wonderful news! Be sure to keep me apprised of everything you uncover, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“I’d best be off then!” Discord shouted aggressively. “Lots to do!”

“Have a good day.”

Discord replied by blowing a raspberry at Applejack before vanishing in a flash of light. Applejack stared at the space where Discord had disappeared. She looked to the Princess, then back to where he’d stood. “What just happened? Is Discord gonna help us now?”

“That remains to be seen, but it’s a start.” Celestia turned to Applejack. “But for now, we can only wait and see what comes. It would be best for you to return to Ponyville.”

“But I want to help,” Applejack argued. “Whatever can be done to find Twilight, I want to lend a hoof.”

“I know you do, but there is simply nothing you can do. I understand this may be hard to hear, but Twilight’s fate is out of your hooves now. Your energy would better be spent helping your friends with their new project.”

“But that ain’t where I want to be,” Applejack argued.

“I know it’s not. But where you want to be is not always where you’re needed most.”

“And that’s how I wound up back here,” Twilight concluded. She sat on a velvet cushion sewn into a crystal chair. One hoof rest upon the long table before her, crafted out of the same blue crystal. The dining hall had offered a good place to rest and tell what had happened, though she’d been careful to leave certain details out, especially pertaining to the strange flashes she kept having.

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot,” Shining Armor said.

Rarity stood at Twilight’s side, one hoof on her shoulder. She hadn’t moved from this position since Twilight had taken her seat to tell the story. “It sounds like you gave that dreadful Lyra quite a licking,” she said proudly. “You should be—oh! Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called out to her sister as the little filly passed in front of the door to the main corridor. Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks. “Come over here and greet your sister-in-law properly. She’s had a very harrowing experience and could use a bit of affection from her family.”

Sweetie Belle blinked, remaining rooted where she stood. “Twilight almost got hurt?” she asked.

“Terribly. Oh, it was dreadful.”

“But she made it back,” Sweetie Belle said bluntly.

“Why, yes, of course she did. She’s standing right here.”

“Hmm. Pity.” Without another word, Sweetie Belle resumed course towards a far door.

Rarity gasped. “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity raced to the door, calling out, “You come back here and apologize this instant!” Seconds passed without so much as a verbal response from Sweetie Belle. Rarity stood, trembling with rage and staring expectantly out before finally giving out a huff and turning to look back at Twilight. “I am dreadfully sorry about that, my sweet. She has been in such a ghastly mood.”

“She’s still mad about her friends,” Shining Armor explained.

Wait, Sweetie Belle was holding a grudge about Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? Twilight remembered the pink ribbon tied around Applejack’s hat. There had to be a connection, but Twilight would need to be careful how she replied. “She thinks that’s my fault?” she answered cautiously.

“I….” Rarity hesitated. Once again, Twilight could see that uncertainty in her eyes. “N…no, sweetheart, of course not,” Rarity said, but her words were less than convincing. But after another second, it was gone, replaced by a wide smile to cover up the vulnerability in her eyes. “I’m sorry, it would seem I’m quite a mess today,” she said, excusing herself.

Twilight reached out, urging Rarity to return to the table. “Rarity, talk to me. It’s okay.”

Rarity shook her head. “No, no, it’s quite alright.” When she looked up to Twilight, those hints of sadness and trepidation had vanished from her eyes, replaced by a gentle loyalty that slowly melted into the rest of her face. “You did what you had to,” she said simply. “You can’t be responsible for their behavior, and I’m positive she knows that. I mean, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Apple Bloom would turn out to be such a troublemaker, given who her sister is. And Scootaloo, well, she’s always admired Rainbow Dash.”

Rarity sighed. “It was inevitable that something would happen,” she said, approaching Twilight. “You can’t be responsible for the choices they made.”

“I…guess not,” Twilight said tentatively. There was more here; there had to be. But Twilight wasn’t sure she’d be able to get anything more out of Rarity without giving away her ignorance.

“You two should catch up,” Shining Armor said, rising from the table. “I’m going to head upstairs and brief Pinkie Pie on her talking points about today’s incident.”

Twilight’s head jerked up. Pinkie Pie’s broadcasts came from here in the castle? That seemed unusual. The Equestria she knew didn’t have these magic stone messages and relied on regular newspapers to distribute the news, and each of those was its own separate entity. Having a source of news directly in the castle seemed…brilliant, really.

She’d never thought much of it before, but having ponies right there in the palace to record and distribute current events to the rest of Equestria seemed both convenient and efficient. She made a mental note to try and find out what effect made these broadcasts possible; if it was a real spell, then Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be able to cast it herself, so there had to be a unicorn or two in the palace casting it. If she could learn the spell, she’d be sure to propose this idea to Celestia upon returning home.

More than that, however, this presented an opportunity. If Twilight Sparkle was anything like Twilight Sparkle, then she’d keep extensive records of events that had transpired, especially something as major as this war or insurrection or whatever it was. Finding those records was going to present a challenge in an unfamiliar version of the Crystal Palace, but if Pinkie Pie worked directly with the Acting Princess, then she might have copies.
“Hey!” Twilight shouted, trotting to catch up with Shining Armor, putting on her best fake smile. “So, I’m feeling fired up to, uh, to neutralize some insurgents. I was thinking it might help if I got my hooves on some reports? Maybe pertaining to recent events? Just to go over, I mean. I want to try and get a clear view of the big picture. That might help me predict what Applejack’s going to do next.”

Shining Armor stopped, waiting for Twilight to catch up. “If you can make sense of Pinkie Pie’s filing system, that would be your best option. She keeps every file we hand off to her.”

“Perfect,” Twilight said with a grin. “If it’s just an organizing problem, then I’m sure I can handle this.”

“I can’t handle this!” Twilight threw up her hooves in frustration. Stacks upon stacks of binders, folders, and miscellaneous papers lay spread out across the crystal table before her. The wall behind her was covered from one end to the other with filing cabinets in varying states of disarray.

For three hours, she’d combed over one report after another, but each needed to be referenced and cross-referenced with another report utilizing a bizarre numerical system. At first, Twilight had thought that the numbers might represent dates or times, but that had failed to provide results. She’d tried using the numbers as a cipher, standing in for letters of the alphabet, but that wouldn’t explain why a profile on Fancy Pant’s favorite eating habits would be found adjacent to whatever “Sweet Apple Incident” was supposed to mean.

“You could always ask for help.”

Twilight rolled her eyes before returning her focus to the report on the table. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you again. As long as you’re here, do you know anything about the Changeling War? I’ve seen several references to it, but so far there’s nothing that talks directly about it.”

“Nothing? You’d think there’d be at least some record.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not surprised. These look to be situation reports and personality profiles. They aren’t meant to be educational and with an event as major as a war, they wouldn’t need to have a comprehensive explanation of it unless the reports were actually about the war. I have found some skirmish details with Applejack’s militia; Shining Armor called them the Shield of Harmony, but I don’t see that name anywhere in here; they’re just called ‘the militia’ over and over.”

“How very curious.”

“Needlessly so. Making Spike and Applejack evil was a nice touch. I’ll give you that. But did you have to make it all so convoluted? There’s so much going on in this illusion that it can be hard to keep track of it all.” She looked up from the table, casting her gaze to the expressionless ceiling. “That first one was pretty straightforward. We were in Ponyville and we were happy. Done. Maybe it was too simple, but it got the job done. But this one’s just too complicated. I don’t see the point of half of the choices you made here.”

“Is that so? And what makes you think there’s a point?” The voice asked curiously.

“The fact that it’s a trap,” Twilight said, as though it were the most obvious thing. “You got me. Good for you. Of course, my friends are probably working on finding a way to set me free right now so this is more of an exercise in curiosity than anything else.”

“You really are intent on saying this is my fault, aren’t you? You have no idea what’s going on.”

“Okay,” Twilight answered calmly, returning to her report.

“Don’t ‘okay’ me! Do you have any idea how much work I had to put into following you here?! Why, I skipped afternoon tea!”

“If you’re just going to be vague and cryptic, then I’m going back to my reading.”

“Hmph. Have it your way, then. Perhaps it’s time we met face to face.”

Twilight perked up. Finally, she was getting somewhere. “And how do we go about doing that?”

“Follow the threads in the tapestry of--”

“Nope.” Twilight returned to reading.

“Oh, fine!” Twilight heard the voice give out an angry huff. “I’m beyond the edge of reality. I’m sitting in my living room drinking Herbal Grey out of a goldfish. Good luck!”

Twilight looked up, raising an eyebrow. “That can’t be right. How would I even reach you?”

“Oh, do you hear that? It sounds like not my problem. It’s too bad you couldn’t have a riddle to solve or something. Oh well! Toodles!”

“Wait, come back!” Twilight called out, leaping to her hooves. Silence filled the room, permeating the air around her. She’d been so close to an answer; she couldn’t let it slip through her--

“Oh, fine, you twisted my arm!” Never mind. There he was again. He paused as though waiting for a response. “Twisted my arm!”

“Um….”

“Twisted my…oh, never mind. If you could see what I was doing right now, your sides would be splitting with laughter!” The voice took a moment to laugh at its own joke. After a few seconds, it seemed to notice that Twilight hadn’t gotten whatever was supposed to be funny about it and gave another huff. “Hurry up and get here before I waste all of my best material. You’ve already seen through the veil of possibility. It’s up to you to take the next step.”

“How do I do that?” Twilight asked, but the voice had faded once again. “Hey!” she called out, but to no avail. This time, it seemed to truly be gone. Twilight sighed; this whole endeavor continued to become more and more complicated. She wondered what had been going through her head when she’d thought this was a good idea in the first place.

Applejack stood, hooves planted firmly in the mud. The orange hairs of her face were stained with tears, which soaked into the ground beneath her. “This is all I am, Twilight,” she said desperately. “I was born right here in the muck and I’m gonna die right here in the muck.”

Nope! Twilight did not have the emotional capacity to deal with that right now. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she tried to focus on what the voice had said. She had seen through the veil of possibility. Her immediate thought was of her bizarre plunge through impossible shapes and colors that had brought her here in the first place, but that hadn’t been all, had it?

Since her arrival, she’d been having strange flashes. Her mind had been occupied by visions of herself. These strange other Twilights she witnessed were leading different lives, doing things that she couldn’t imagine. She remembered something about a war with the dragons and a marriage proposal from Flash Sentry? They only lasted a few minutes, but each time, she returned as though hours had gone by. Was that the veil of possibility the voice was referring to?

Twilight pushed aside the reports and documents on the table. This was a lead she needed to follow up on, but she barely knew where to begin. She looked down at the crystal composing the table; this place was another strange world with another strange Twilight. The face staring back at her was scarred and burned across half of her face. Her left eye only barely functioned. There was also something about her horn that she hadn’t noticed before, but she couldn’t quite make it out.

This was wrong. She didn’t belong here. She was as much a stranger to this place as to those other places she’d seen. Nothing about this pastiche of reality made any sense, and when she tried to think about it, the splitting headaches from before would try to surface. She recognized them now for what they were and tried to keep them from her mind; those were the voice’s glimpses of possibility.

None of this was real, she reminded herself again. Not the palace nor her brother nor whatever the Changeling War was supposed to be. Not the Shield of Harmony. Not…not the sacrifice that Spitfire made for Twilight.

But they felt real. They touched her heart and her mind in ways she couldn’t easily deny. They meant something at the very least, and she’d already begun to make memories that couldn’t easily be let go. Could there be meaning even in a false reality like this?

Twilight thought again of the other realities she’d seen. She remembered the abstract geometries and impossible colors of the space outside, and she felt the splitting headache resurfacing. The voice had said that he was waiting for her beyond the edge of reality. She tried to focus her mind on the pain, to open herself to the migraine and allow it to take her--

“ALICORN PARTY!!!” Pinkie Pie screamed. She swung from the barn’s rafters, suspended by a rope and wearing a party hat and a set of cardboard wings.

“Congratulations, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a smile. “I still can’t believe you became an alicorn! I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Rainbow Dash laughed from her place in the air, raising her horn high. “Yeah, I still don’t know exactly how this works either. I guess my Triple Rainboom was just that awesome!”

“Yes, darling, we are all--”

With a great cry of effort, Twilight wrenched herself free. She felt her body pull away, tugging in a direction she couldn’t perceive. Her eyes flooded with endless shapes and structures once more. Her mind screamed to make sense of anything and before she knew it, she could feel herself plummeting through the infinite once more.

But this time Twilight spread her wings and opened her mind. She didn’t try to make sense of what she was seeing, only to move within it, to let herself become a part of the endless tide. Eternity opened its maw and welcomed her, allowing her to glide gently down on her wings to a sphere below her.

She floated, flapping her wings as she looked through the lens of possibility. She saw herself, the Twilight she had left behind, passed out on the crystal table atop a mountain of paperwork. She looked up and around, and through the swirling pinks, oranges, and other colors she couldn’t describe, she could see other spheres in the distance.

She reached down for the surface of the world below her. It was like peering through a snowglobe. As she touched it, she felt a rush try to pull her down into it. Instinctively, she jerked her hoof away, flapping for height and staying in the tumultuous space beyond the edge of space.

Getting in a couple more flaps, Twilight began to circle the sphere. The voice had said he’d be here somewhere, and after the headache she’d suffered--

Oh! Twilight realized suddenly that the migraine was gone. Out here, her head felt fine as long as she didn’t try to focus for too long on the shapes around her.

She flew around the orb, but it never changed perspective; the orb looked the same from every direction, and Twilight quickly lost track of the ability to tell which way she’d even been going. Gravity behaved strangely here, allowing her to turn upside-down with ease.

“There you are.” The voice beckoned in her mind, pulling her sideways in a direction she couldn’t define. She closed her eyes and embraced its pull, allowing herself to be moved along. She felt her hooves click against wood beneath her and inhaled fresh air. Both of her eyes opened with ease, and her wings returned to her sides where they rested.

She looked up and finally saw the origin of the voice that had followed her since her descent. “SURPRISE!!!” he announced from his ponylike mouth, a single large fang sticking out from his upper lip. The talon of his left hand and the soft paw of his right were thrown up in the air, prompting confetti to explode outwards from the corners of the room. “It’s me! Discord! The Master of Chaos!”

“Right,” Twilight said simply, looking around the room. A circular white coffee table sat in the middle of the room with a hole through the center of it. A purple and orange sofa sat behind it, just in front of an upside-down stairs built into one side of the ceiling. “Anyways, are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

Discord slithered through the air, sliding into her vision. “Whoa, hold on, now! That’s it? No gasps of surprise or shocked exclamations? No astonishment?”

Twilight looked Discord in the eyes and asked, “Who else would it be?”

“Hmph.” Discord rose to a standing position, rubbing his beard in aggravation. “Well, you could at least pretend to be surprised.”

Twilight glanced to her left. “Is that a second set of stairs that doesn’t lead anywhere?”

“Of course not,” Discord chided her. “Don’t be absurd!” With a flash of light, he teleported to the staircase, holding out his arms to present them to her. “They lead nowhere!”

“Why would you need two?” Twilight asked, looking back at the first.

“Ooh hoo hoo,” Discord trilled. “What an excellent question! Why would I need two? What could I possibly be trying to accomplish?” He held out his paw, offering the question to Twilight to peruse.

“Nothing,” Twilight answered sharply. “There’s no reason to have two of them. They don’t go anywhere; what could you possibly do with a second one?” She blinked, surprised at herself. She glanced back to the first one. “What would you even do with the first?” she asked, catching up to the obvious question. She was surprised at how easily she’d allowed it to slip past her when presented with the more glaring redundancy. “It doesn’t have any purpose.”

Discord smiled, hovering in the air. He raked his talon slowly over the second staircase, hanging suspended from the wall. “Then I’d say this one has exactly as much purpose as the other. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But it doesn’t have a purpose.”

Discord answered her only with a smirk. Floating back to the center of the room, he crossed his legs and lowered himself to rest in a green armchair. “Why don’t you have a seat?” he offered her. He held his talon out, gesturing to an orange pillow set against the wall.

The pillow lifted up one corner, noticing his gesture. With some exertion, it flopped itself into a standing position and proceeded to waddle itself over to Twilight. Golden tassles flopped from each corner or dragged along the floor as it approached. It waved one tassle in greeting, then threw itself to the floor beside her right foreleg.

Twilight lifted her hoof away from the pillow, sneering with equal parts revulsion and confusion. Taking a step away from it, she replied, “I’ll stand, thanks.” Looking back up to Discord, she asked, “Are you going to tell me what this is about now? What did you do to me?”

Discord rest his talon over his heart and held his paw into the air. “Twilight, I swear to you by that shiny crown of yours that I have done none of the things you’re imagining. Honest Apple!” Putting down his paw, he held out his talon. “You were the one who chose to peek behind the curtain!” With a snap of his talons, a green shower curtain appeared around Twilight, cutting her off from the room.

She startled, reaching out to throw back the curtain. It parted easily, revealing a small, porcelain bathtub before a wall of pink tiles. Discord stood in the bath wearing a blue shower cap, scrubbing under his arm with a loofah. Upon spotting Twilight, he shrieked. She stumbled backwards, falling on her rump through the curtain on the other side.

She landed on soft yellow fuzz. After so many nights with Applejack, she immediately recognized the feel of horsehide beneath her. She picked herself up, looking out at three stubby fingers as large as houses. Above her, Discord towered, floating against the black night sky amidst an ocean of stars. His yellow eyes and malevolent grin burned a hole into her soul; she’d never felt so small.

Discord laughed to himself. “If you wanted to know more about my magic, then there must have been easier ways to do it. I’m certain you could have asked, but I suppose that’s not really your style, is it?” He waved his talon over her head and Twilight felt a wave flow over her, like an ocean washing over her hide. Thinking quickly, she kicked her legs and pushed with her wings to reach the surface.

She breached through the top of a bearberry shrub, her hooves finding purchase against its twigs. Her hind legs pushed out against solid ground, lifting the shrub with her. She was in Ponyville now. It wasn’t the desolate ruin she’d so recently visited, however, but the true Ponyville she recognized as her home. Cardboard figures of ponies running, playing, or chatting with one another sat propped up throughout the street, creating a fake imitation of life.

Discord popped up through the shrub to her left, holding out a pair of binoculars in his talon. “Now this is more like it,” he said. “I agree, Twilight, this is a much better method.”

“Cut it out!” In a purple flash, Twilight teleported to the street in front of her. Whirling on Discord, she demanded, “Why the show, Discord? And why the illusion? Am I supposed to learn something from all of this? Do you want me to think that my friends are a half-step away from going nuts? Am I supposed to be losing my mind because Applejack is apparently capable of hating me in ways I never thought possible?! Is that the point?”

A chorus asked from behind her, “Why does everything have to have a point?” Twilight turned around, following the sound. Each of the cardboard ponies turned its head to look at her, and she could see Discord’s face printed on each one.

“Because I know you,” Twilight answered. Discord called himself the Master of Chaos, but he always had an agenda. He could be strange and unpredictable at times, but he was always purposeful. Nothing he did was without meaning.

“But how well do you know her?” Discord asked from just behind Twilight’s ear, causing her to jump. He held out his talon in front of her face. Clutched in it was a snowglobe through which Twilight could see herself once more. Her body was still passed out on the crystal table where she’d left it, as though no time had gone by.

“That’s me,” Twilight said obviously. “At least, it’s the fake version of me that I was given. Her face is scarred and there’s something wrong with her horn. If I had to guess, I’d say that she’s the Twilight Sparkle that was created for the illusion.”

Discord grinned, watching the gears in Twilight’s mind turn. “You still think this is all an illusion.”

“Of course it is,” Twilight answered, looking up from the sphere. She wasn’t at all surprised to find herself standing in Discord’s living room once more, facing the chair where he sat. “I’ve visited another reality before. I seem to be possessing the fake Twilight in this one, but that’s not how it works when you actually travel between dimensions.” She held out the globe to Discord. “If the reality in here actually existed, then why wouldn’t my body come with me?”

Discord gasped in faux alarm. “I never even thought of that! Why, Twilight, it seems you got me! I can’t imagine any reason why chaos magic would yield an unpredicted result!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Right, I get it. You don’t have to be mean about it.”

Discord giggled to himself. “You know what? Since it’s been so much fun watching your mind squirm about, I’m going to give you this as a freebie. Right now, you’re a hole in the chain of causality. You shouldn’t exist and yet here you are existing plain as day!” Discord scratched his beard. “At least, I think you exist. You will tell me if you stop existing, won’t you? It would be terribly embarrassing to waste my time explaining this to thin air.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

In a flash, Discord was in front of Twilight, jabbing his talon into her chest. “I’m talking about you. Do try to pay attention; reality doesn’t often slow down for you to catch up.” He stood up, waving his talon dismissively. “It’s your favorite subject so that shouldn’t be hard.”

“Excuse you?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You’re a contradiction, Twilight. You aren’t meant to exist here.”

“Then how did I get here?”

Discord smiled. “You witnessed the impossible. Then you opened your mind and you leapt. You weren’t brought here, Twilight. You weren’t taken by anypony. You left. You glimpsed the impossible and for a fleeting moment, you understood. In that moment, you recognized the limitless potential beneath the veil of reality and you made a wish on that power to be anywhere else.”

“That’s not true,” Twilight replied. “I wouldn’t do that. I was with my friends. Why would I….”

Rarity stepped forward on grass still slick with the early morning dew. Her hoof crunched the grass beneath it, alarming Twilight to her movement. Twilight’s eyes shot open, slick with the tears that could only come from a pony’s first heartbreak.

“Stay away from me!” Twilight shouted at the ponies she’d thought were her friends. “You let this happen to me! How could you?!”

“We were trying to protect you!” Rarity insisted, her words like icicles digging into Twilight’s heart. “We never meant for any of this to happen.”

“Well, that was melodramatic,” Discord said, shaking Twilight from her memory. The living room reasserted itself, fading back into existence over the Everfree Forest.

“You saw that?” Twilight asked.

“Of course! You created it!” Discord gestured around himself with his paw. “We’re in the space between space. It’s all very suggestable.”

Twilight closed her eyes. She was beginning to hear a nugget of truth behind what Discord was saying. There was still so much she didn’t understand and she didn’t like the sound of the parts that she did, but something about it was beginning to click. “If I believe what you’re saying,” she started, thinking aloud, “Where did my body go?”

Twilight held a hoof to her chest. “The last time I traveled across dimensional space, my body was altered to accommodate the new reality I was stepping into. I don’t know if that place had a Twilight Sparkle of its own, but I know that if it did, I never met her. I didn’t wake up in her bed with her family and her scars….”

“You must have crossed a more stable connection,” Discord replied. To illustrate, Discord conjured up a pair of globes that levitated in midair in front of Twilight. He plunked a wooden footbridge down to connect them, then jammed the two globes into the bridge on each side until they cracked. With a snap of his talons, a golden scepter topped by a bright, smiling Twilight appeared. The scepter rocked back and forth, tapping its way across the bridge as Discord intoned, “Muffin muffin muffin muffin muffin,” with each step.

“Right,” Twilight replied, not quite seeing the humor.

“This time, on the other hoof….” Discord reached out and grasped the scepter at its base, just above the ruby gemstone embedded at the bottom. Raising it over his head, he swung it into the globe to the right. It exploded, sending pieces sailing in Twilight’s direction. She covered her eyes to shield herself from the inbound debris, but nothing ever impacted her.

Twilight lowered her hoof to find herself floating in the abyss of colors and shapes once more. “You broke a hole in the fabric of reality and then didn’t even have the courtesy to travel all the way through. Amateur work, if I’m honest.” Before her, Twilight could see the globe once more housing the slumbering Acting Princess.

Following Discord’s train of logic, Twilight asked, “Can I do that? Travel all the way through, I mean. How do I….”

Twilight looked to the sphere before her. She reached out with her hoof to touch the edge of it once more. At her touch, reality seemed to ripple like water and she felt herself being pulled towards it once more. It was a strange sensation; it felt like falling but in a direction she’d never noticed was even there before. She pulled her hoof back, tugging at the edge of reality with her mind to center herself once more in the space between.

“Go on, Twilight,” Discord said, that wry grin plastered on his face. He let out a whooping giggle, urging her, “Give it a try. There’s still so much for you to see.”

Twilight took a deep breath, then wondered what she was even breathing here in the space between—yet another entry for her mental checklist of unanswered questions. She caught something out the corner of her eye, and when she glanced over, she could see Discord's room fading away from her; the pointless stairs drawing her focus just as they had before.

Why would you need two?

She shook her head, putting the question out of mind, and threw herself forwards into the sphere. Twilight plunged into the reality before her, embracing it as though it were her own.

The colors warped into a bright light. The impossible geometry of the space between receded into a course and at the end of it, Twilight could see the other Twilight. She watched as a bright glow grew out of the center of her own head, watched the glow spread down the center of the body. Twilight steadied her wings and flew towards the glow, diving deeper through the--

A bright flash lit up the records room and Twilight erupted into existence, breathing in gasps of air as her hooves landed on carpet below. She coughed and choked as though waking up from drowning, retching out heaves and chunks of nothing.

Twilight looked up and before her, she could see the crystal wall clearly through both of her eyes. She extended her wings and found they were there, just as they were always supposed to be. Folding her wings to her side, she ran a hoof along the left side of her face and for the first time since the morning, she felt no pain at the touch.

“It worked!” Twilight exclaimed, turning around to face Discord. “It--"

The draconequus had not followed her through the veil of reality. Instead, before her lay her scarred doppelganger, still unconscious. Of course, Discord wasn’t there. He’d never met her within the boundaries of this reality. She wondered if he even could.

Twilight approached her unconscious other self. She felt a strange sense of nostalgia, seeing her sides unadorned by feathers. It hadn’t been so long ago that she ascended, but it already felt comfortable enough that she could scarcely imagine life before. Being an alicorn felt right, like it was something she was born to do. It was like filling a void she’d never even known existed before.

But this Twilight Sparkle wasn’t quite the same. Twilight could now more clearly see the red and black flesh that ran down the side of her face and neck. The small hairs that ran across her purple skin had never regrown, which was to be expected with a third-degree burn like this. Like Applejack, the other Twilight’s body was marred with scars along her side, legs, and neck. Running down the length of the her horn, Twilight found a long vertical crack; nothing that would inhibit the use of magic, but the sight of it was still alarming.

“What happened to you?” Twilight whispered in the dark. She glanced down at the report she’d been reading when Discord contacted her. Nothing too helpful; a situation report on the yaks, who’d--

The door opened suddenly, filling the room with a scent of lavender and ginger. “Good evening, dearest, I brought you--” Rarity stopped, dropping her magic field. A tray carrying two teacups plunged, punctuating her silence with the sound of porcelain smashing against the ground.

“Rarity?” Twilight put on her best diplomatic smile. “Hi, listen, I can--”

“GET AWAY FROM HER!!!” Rarity shrieked, hurling herself across the table. She landed one hind leg against the records table and kicked off, curling with the momentum into a forwards flip. Twilight jerked backwards just before Rarity’s hind leg swept the air where her face had been.

Rarity landed with grace, spinning into an expertly trained stance. She stood on her hind legs between Twilight and her copy, holding her forelegs up defensively. Her eyes remained locked on Twilight but she didn’t move.

“This isn’t what you think,” Twilight pleaded.

“GUARDS!!!” Rarity shrieked. Time to go.

“...whuzzah….” Twilight’s duplicate seemed to be coming around. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but from Rarity’s shriek, it was time to go anyway. In a purple flash, she teleported to the hallway just outside the chamber.

Three palace guards startled at her sudden appearance. “Uh, there’s a commotion--” Twilight started just before a spear whirled past her ear. Right. Obviously not their Twilight. Too many physical differences.

Raising her magic barrier, Twilight turned and bolted for the grand staircase, but spotted four more Royal Guardponies galloping up the stairs for her. It wouldn’t take long for her to be completely surrounded. She turned back towards the adjoining room, a recreational chamber for Pinkie Pie and the guard ponies stationed on this floor, but that avenue too was cut off.

Acting Princess Twilight Sparkle glowered from the door. She’d lowered her head aggressively, pointing her horn threateningly at Twilight. As she conjured her magic, Twilight could see a bright orange-yellow glow shining through the crack in her horn.

“Could we talk about--” Twilight didn’t even get to finish her question. An orange-yellow bolt of magic fired from the other Twilight’s horn before she could react. It slammed into her barrier, exploding less than a foot in front of Twilight’s face and pushing her backwards two feet.

Dazed from the blast, Twilight looked up to see the other Twilight soaring through the air towards her, sneering with pure revulsion. Thinking quickly, Twilight cast her teleport, whisking herself downstairs to the second floor. She landed roughly, hooves skidding along the crystal floor before finding her balance. She tossed her head to the side, searching for an ex--

In a flash of purple, the other one appeared above her, landing on Twilight’s back and forcing her to the ground. “You think a barrier can stop me?” the Acting Princess asked and Twilight could feel the sharpness of a unicorn horn pressing against the side of her face.

Twilight felt the horn glow hot and kicked out, flaring her wing and rolling to throw her duplicate off of her. Concentration broke, the other Twilight let out a yelp, wrapping a foreleg around her neck to keep her grip. A warmth filled her heart as she realized she knew exactly what to do; her mind recalling images of long afternoons out by the corral, watching her heart’s desire practice for whatever new event was coming up in Appleoosa.

“Yeehaw!” Twilight shouted with a grin, hoisting her copy as she lifted herself from the ground. The unicorn’s weight was surprisingly easy to throw around and before long, Twilight was leaping around the corridor, bucking her hind legs and thrashing about with her head. The Acting Princess struggled to hold on for dear life and Twilight was certain on at least one occasion that she felt the back of her skull collide with the other’s nose.

The unicorn Twilight seemed woefully unprepared for this. As Twilight pantomimed the best moves she’d seen from her Special Somepony, it took less than half a minute before Twilight was able to throw her off. The Acting Princess landed hard on her side, skidding across the crystal floor.

Twilight gasped for air, losing her footing in her foreleg. That had taken a lot out of her, but she couldn’t rest yet. The other Twilight seemed as dazed as she was, and she needed to take advantage of this chance to--

A bright blue field filled the corridor, its light covering every surface. Twilight looked up, startled. She jerked back towards the grand staircase to see Shining Armor descending the stairs on approach, horn glowing with magic as the field glowed brighter.

Twilight took a step back, but the blue energy was everywhere. Suddenly it shrank away from the walls and doorways, pulling inwards with Twilight at its center. She felt the energy flow through her, infusing her horn with its light. Then it was gone and Twilight felt a strange coldness that ran through her bones. She realized with dread that she knew this feeling.

She conjured up her teleport spell, but the magic wouldn’t come. She tried to turn herself invisible, to levitate, even a basic transmutation, but none of it would function. With every spell she cast, the magic was simply denied to her.

Seconds later, she was forced to the ground. Two Royal Guardponies stood over her, pressing her body against the crystal floor. “Be careful with her,” the Acting Princess ordered. “She’s uncharacteristically strong for a Changeling. We may need to revise our notation on their capabilities.”

“I’m not a Changeling!” Twilight shouted.

“Where is she?!” Rarity exclaimed from the staircase. “Is she hurt?! I told her not to--aha!" Rarity galloped down the stairs from the third floor. Before the other Twilight even had a chance to react, Rarity was upon her, smothering her in a tight embrace. “Are you hurt? Did she do anything to you? So help me, I will--”

“I’m fine,” the Acting Princess answered, pushing Rarity back with a hoof.

Rarity reached out for the other Twilight, saying, “Darling, if you’ll just let me--”

The Acting Princess silenced her with a single hoof that came up to block Rarity from reaching her. A tense moment hung in the air over the two. Twilight watched the duplicate’s eyes flicker as though weighing considerations in her mind. Then, after a couple seconds, she wrapped her foreleg around Rarity’s hoof and pulled it to her chest.

“I’m well enough,” the Acting Princess said more gently. “Right now, my wellbeing can’t be our consideration. Everypony needs to be on high alert.” Letting go of Rarity’s hoof, Twilight ordered, “I want a full sweep. Start with the palace and work our way out. A changeling never operates alone; there have to be more of them out there.”

She glanced down at Twilight on the ground. “And be careful. I’ve never heard of a Changeling that could cast spells before, apart from their Queen. I want three ponies to a patrol and if you get in trouble, send up a signal.” With a hoof, she lifted up Twilight’s wing. “And if anypony sees Chrysalis, tell her I’m flattered but she needs to do her research.”

“Yes, ma’am!” One Guardpony in front replied. The assembled ranks saluted, then spread out to carry out her orders with the exception of the two holding down Twilight.

“I’m not a Changeling,” Twilight tried again. “You have to listen to me, I’m--” A sideways glare from the other Twilight and a crackle of her horn later, Twilight found herself swiftly silenced. A small lavender bubble fit around her snout, silencing any noise that came from it. Twilight pleaded, she even shouted, but the spell denied her every word.

“Truly now, are you feeling up to this?” Rarity asked. Twilight watched the Acting Princess’s body seem to slump once most of the guards had left.

“I have to be,” she answered, eyes full of determination even as her body seemed to struggle to remain upright. “It’s all up to me now. I made a promise; I have to be vigilant.”

One of the guardponies holding Twilight spoke up. “Oh, uh, I’m Vigilant, ma’am.”

Twilight sighed with agitation, refusing to even turn her head to acknowledge his interruption. “Hello again, Vigilant,” she said wearily.

“Hello, ma’am. Happy to be here, as always!”

“What should we do with her?” Shining Armor asked.

“You know where to put her.” The Acting Princess looked to her brother, gesturing at Twilight. “There may be some value in studying her, but I don’t want her in the Empire. Put her in Bridle Rock with the rest of them while I figure out our next move.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shining Armor answered gravely. As Twilight and Rarity walked away to the stairs, he turned to his ponies. “You heard the Princess. Load her up.” Twilight tried to appeal to him once more, but the isolation spell remained firmly affixed to her snout.

That was how Twilight found herself in a barred carriage, carted through the night air by a pair of royal pegasi. As she looked to the sky, she found a full moon staring down back at her. She could see the glowering features of the Mare in the Moon passively watching over all of Equestria. Another stark reminder of how far she was from home.

The carriage landed on a rocky outcropping high in the snow-covered mountains. It was next to impossible to see on approach through the blizzarding air, so thick with snow that it obscured everything beyond a few feet. Shining Armor had stood at the edge of the carriage, casting a locator from his horn that shone the way for the pegasi to follow.

The carriage landed on the outcropping just before a small cave entrance and the cage’s door was opened for Twilight. “Out,” Shining Armor said simply. The biting cold clung to Twilight’s skin; her legs had already gone numb from the trip over and she could feel the ice clinging to her nose. Shining Armor seemed to have a generous idea of the temperature if he thought she could move in this condition.

Noticing this himself, Shining Armor gave Twilight a forceful shove with his magic, pushing her out of the carriage. She fell hard on her shoulder, impacting the rocks and dirt beneath her. As her teeth chattered, she struggled to push herself to a standing position. Her forelegs gave out once, forcing her to try a second time. Through the effort, Shining Armor wouldn’t even look at her; he stood apart from her, dispassionately facing the cave and closing his eyes to her struggle.

Once Twilight made it up on her hooves, Shining Armor started walking. He said nothing to her, never looking straight at her but always seeming to be aware of how far behind him she was and pairing his gait to hers. The chittering of her teeth was the only sound that….

Wait, if she could hear her teeth, that meant the isolation spell must have ended. She made one more plea to Shining Armor. “Shining Armor, you have to listen to--”

“Speak to me with my sister’s voice and you won’t make it to your cell,” Shining Armor replied scornfully. In his voice, Twilight didn’t hear anger or malice, but the bitterness of a heart crying out in pain. His tone struck her, resonating with the pain in her own heart.

On a lark, she tested her horn, but the magic still refused to come. The disabling spell would not wear off so easily, it seemed.

The interior of the cave was warmer than the outside, but not by as much as Twilight would have liked. There was a clear source of heat being generated here and Twilight felt her extremities thawing after a minute inside, but there was still a chill that wafted through air from the outside. It felt nothing like the temperate warmth of the Crystal Empire.

Concrete walls with steel support beams lined each passageway, turning the place from a simple cave into a subterranean structure. As she walked, she noticed tunnels and paths that led off to other areas of the cave. A green glow lit each passageway and down the tunnels, she could see doorways and branches leading off to other parts of the structure.

Shining Armor stopped in front of set of steel bars at the end of the hallway. With a glow of his horn, a door opened in the bars, allowing him to pass through. Twilight followed him into a long hallway lined on both sides by rows of bars. To her left, she spotted an orange pegasus reclining in a break room through an open door. The room was decorated with white paint and against the far wall, the pegasus lay out across a red recliner that Twilight found reminiscent of Rarity’s fainting couch.

“Ahem,” Shining Armor cleared his throat.

Upon noticing the two, the pegasus leapt to his hooves. His orange hide seemed strangely familiar, as did the bright blue star on the breastplate of his golden armor. “Uh, one sec,” he called back, glancing frantically about the room. His unkempt blue mane whirled about the room as he scrambled. “Where is it?!” Twilight heard him mutter, followed by a quick, “Aha!”

The pegasus emerged, his golden helmet securely resting upon his head. He scrambled over to stand in front of Shining Armor and gave a quick salute. “Everything’s quiet here, sir!” he reported. “Inspecting or….” His eyes fell on Twilight, then grew as large as dinner plates. “Your highness!” he exclaimed. “I-I-I didn’t know you were--”

“This is a dropoff,” Shining Armor said, cutting him off. “This Changeling was found in the Crystal Palace trying to replace Acting Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

The pegasus blinked. “That’s a serious offense.”

“It is. So don’t worry; this isn’t an inspection. Go ahead and put her with the others. We can talk about your professionalism another time.”

The pegasus lowered his head at Shining Armor’s casual reprimand. “With all due respect, sir, does it really matter? This is Bridle Rock. Nopony ever leaves Bridle Rock.”

Shining Armor stood up to his full height, towering a head above the pegasus. “As her majesty’s Royal Guard, we are expected to follow her example and stand firm against anypony and everypony that would seek to harm Equestria. She expects nothing less than constant vigilance from you. Nopony is to leave Bridle Rock until she’s determined that they do not pose a dangerous threat to the future of our people.”

“Right,” the pegasus replied. “Total agreement. Like I said.” Bitterly, he added, “Nopony ever leaves Bridle Rock.”

“Good. I have to get back; Twilight might need me to join the search. Be careful with this one; she’s strong and she seems to have unicorn magic. We’re still looking into that. Be sure that her disabling spell gets refreshed daily. And you can expect me to be back for an inspection next week. Don’t look forward to it.”

The pegasus gulped. “Yes sir,” he replied, saluting Shining Armor. He stood in place, salute raised high until Shining Armor disappeared around a corner towards the mouth of the cave, then slumped. “Well, that’s great,” he muttered to himself. With a shrug, he added, “But what are they going to do? Demote me to prison bar?”

Twilight looked to the pegasus curiously. “You don’t like it here, do you?” she asked.

The pegasus laughed. “You know, weird as it might sound, I actually volunteered for this. But hey, the dump shift doesn’t stop being a dump shift just because you asked for--” He stopped suddenly, looking at Twilight with suspicion. “…I shouldn’t be talking to you.” He started walking, motioning for Twilight to keep up.

She followed him, looking through the bars as she walked. If being underground hadn’t already made her claustrophobic, the small size of the cells would have done the job. Each cell was decorated only with a straw mat and was barely more than two pony lengths in size. She already dreaded the thought of being alone here.

“Have you been here long?” she asked, trying to keep her spirits up with some conversation.

“Oh, no, I’m not falling for this,” the pegasus replied. “You’re trying to work some Changeling voodoo on me, aren’t you? Get inside my head so you can replace me and slip out of here. I’m onto you.”

“Right,” Twilight muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Still not talking.” She was already getting tired of being--

Out the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of red and yellow contrasted against the stone. She stopped, turning to look inside the cell beside her. “Sunset Shimmer?” she whispered. Her fiery red mane was unmistakable in the--

“Hey, keep up,” the pegasus chided.

“Right,” Twilight answered, tearing her eyes away. That had to have been Sunset, she was certain of it. As she walked, she looked through the cells she passed to see if she recognized any of the other prisoners. She spotted Flam of the Flimflam Brothers pacing a circle in the tiny confines of his cell. She noticed a light blue hide that she could swear probably belonged to “The Great and Powerful Trixie”.

She also saw several ponies she couldn’t recognize, of various species and genders. The more she saw, the more she became uncomfortable with the very idea of this place. This was not the Equestria she knew and loved. It was more than foreign; it was hostile to the very ideals she’d spent the last couple years developing.

There was an atmosphere of pony suffering that seemed palpable. She could feel the edges of fear creeping in around her as she tasted spoiled air rich with despair. Following the pegasus deeper in, she wanted more than anything to be out of here.

“This should work,” the pegasus said, sliding open the door in one cell. Twilight wondered what he would do if she decided to make a break for it. Was he the only guard pony here? He didn’t seem to take his job very seriously; it wasn’t impossible that she could outrun him.

Of course, Shining Armor had said something about refreshing her disabling spell, which meant that there had to be at least a unicorn somewhere in the facility. So the assumption that this pegasus was alone seemed implausible. Not to mention, she wasn’t sure how the door to the outside worked. But if she could get past him, avoid any other guards, and get that door open, she’d be able to make it outside and promptly freeze to death in the blizzard.

…that solution seemed uncomfortably suboptimal.

“Come on, don’t make this hard,” the pegasus urged her. With this disabling spell on her horn, her options were sharply limited right now. With great trepidation, Twilight entered the cell, which the pegasus then closed. The door closed by a single handle that was pushed away from the hinge horizontally, then rotated ninety degrees to run parallel to a long horizontal bar. The bar blocked the handle from being accessible from within the cell and the bars were too tightly spaced to fit a hoof through.

“Lights out,” the pegasus muttered, returning back up the hall the way he’d come. In response, the green light dimmed until the room turned pitch black.

Twilight flopped onto the straw mat. It was every bit as uncomfortable as she’d expected, providing only the barest of cushioning from the hard stone floor below her. The more she learned about this place, the more she found she hated it here. They very idea of Bridle Rock hurt her deep in her soul; why would the other Twilight even have a place like this? Did she know what it was like here?

Twilight rolled over on the straw mat and her mind drifted to thoughts of home. She closed her eyes and in the depths of her mind, she could smell Granny Smith’s warm apple pie wafting up the stairs at Sweet Apple Acres. She saw the brilliant colors created by Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom light up the--

Spitfire.

She remembered Spitfire throwing herself in the Rainboom’s path once more, and her heart stung with the tinge of guilt. She heard Applejack frantically proclaiming that she wasn’t a part of the family. She saw the look on Rarity’s face when she realized she shouldn’t have mentioned a betting pool involving Twilight’s relationship.

Somehow, with three different realities in which her friends existed, Twilight had never been more alone. The chill drifting through the prison did nothing to comfort her, and soon she found herself unable to keep a sob from welling up inside her. Tomorrow, she’d figure out what to do, but tonight, she’d let herself--

Twilight smelled a curious scent drifting up. It smelled like cheese, drifting up from the floor. That couldn’t be right. Twilight opened her eyes and squinted down; in the dark, she could just make out the shape of a small rodent. It clutched a small block between its paws, which it held out in offering to her.

Twilight leaned her head forward slowly, trying to make sure she understood this. The block clearly smelled like cheddar. Opening her snout, she reached out with her teeth and took it from the mouse, which released its grip as soon as she had it.

Twilight tasted the cheese and, here in this moment, it was the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted. To her left, another rat approached, holding up a small bowl. Twilight put her lips to the bowl and tasted cool, refreshing water, which she gulped down. She hadn’t even realized how thirsty she was. Another rat approached, this one with a piece of bread that Twilight accepted gratefully. Her tears still ran down her cheek as she took one gift after another from the rodents. “Thank you,” she whispered to them; somehow, this tiny gesture had managed to warm her heart.

“Please don’t cry, Miss Changeling,” a voice greeted her from the dark outside her cell. The shape of a pony approached in the dark, flanked by rodents. One carried a small lamp which glowed from the light of fireflies inside, allowing her to see the yellow hide of her benefactor. The rat set the lamp down just outside Twilight’s cell and, shortly after, she was greeted by a smiling face flanked by a curled pink mane.

Fluttershy seemed weaker than Twilight remember her. Her mane was matted down against her skin and looked as if it hadn’t been washed in weeks. Her body was thinner than Twilight remembered and her wings lay still by her sides. Even so, there was a gentle kindness in the smile that met Twilight through the fireflies’ dim light. When she spoke, it was with concern that Twilight hadn’t heard since her arrival here.

“Even when times seem at their darkest, you can always find a little light.”

7 - Discarded

“Fluttershy?!” Twilight exclaimed. She didn’t think anything could shock her more than the very existence of this terrible place, but seeing Fluttershy down here certainly did the trick.

“Shhh,” Fluttershy whispered in the dim glow of the firefly lantern, casting a quick glance over her shoulder. Looking back, she asked, “You know my name? Did Thorax tell you about me? How is he doing? Is his wing any better?”

Twilight put up her hoof, resting it against the bars. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she answered, “I don’t know who that is.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned, looking away from Twilight. “I thought you might be part of his clutch.”

“What are you doing here?!” Twilight demanded.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her. “I heard there was a new arrival. I thought you might be hungry. Squeakers and Little Tooth have some more bread slices if you’d like.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Of all the surprises she’d had in this strange semblance of reality, this was perhaps the most alarming. The existence of Bridle Rock was bad enough, but for Fluttershy to be imprisoned here? Her mind raced to conceive of anything about her that could be so offensive that she’d be lumped in with the likes of Sunset Shimmer and Trixie.

Of course, given the curve balls this world had been throwing her, she couldn’t discount the possibility that Fluttershy was a pirate or a serial killer or something. Still, it was another of the day’s impossibilities to be seeing her here.

“You don’t want to hear my story,” Fluttershy said sadly.

“Yes! Yes, I do!” Twilight shouted. She was tired of fumbling about this world in the dark. She wanted answers and she wanted them—

“Shhh,” Fluttershy shushed her again.

Twilight winced, then lowered her voice once more. “What happened to you?” she asked. “What happened to Equestria? Where is Princess Celestia?! What is Bridle Rock?! Why does this place even exist?!”

“Oh!” Fluttershy said with a gasp. “Of course, you wouldn’t know. I’m sorry, Miss Changeling. I wasn’t thinking. This is Bridle Rock. Acting Princess Twilight had it commissioned after…well, after Tirek.” Twilight could feel Fluttershy turning solemn. “Everything changed after Tirek,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Tirek. Spitfire had said something about a pony named Tirek as well. Now she was getting somewhere. “What happened with--”

“Hey!” A loud voice called down the hallway. Fluttershy whirled about to face the orange pegasus who had shown Twilight to her cell. The corridor filled with the echo of hooves on the stone below as he approached.

Twilight could just make out the appeasing smile on Fluttershy’s lips as she shrank back into the cell’s bars. “Oh, hi, Flash,” she said sheepishly. “Are you having a pleasant evening?”

Flash? That name struck a chord with Twilight. She definitely knew this pony, she knew him from…Canterlot? No, that wasn’t--oh, Flash! It struck her in an instant. As he stepped into the dim light of Fluttershy’s firefly lantern, there was no mistaking him. The pony that received her here was Flash Sentry! He was a palace guard in the Crystal Empire; she’d met him a couple of times back in her own world.

Flash didn’t answer the question, Twilight noticed. With a resigned sigh, he said, “It’s past lights out, Fluttershy. You know you’re not supposed to be out of your cell.”

“I know,” Fluttershy said, bowing her head as low as she could. “I’m sorry, but I heard we had a new friend and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

“What if it was one of the others who found you? They’d report it to Shining Armor in a heartbeat. You know that.”

“I know,” Fluttershy said again. “But she was scared and lonely. I had to do something.”

Flash glanced for just a second at Twilight. “She’s not a ‘new friend’. She’s a changeling.”

“Does being a changeling mean she doesn’t have a right to food and water?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight looked down to see another of Fluttershy’s rats offering her a broken off chunk of carrot. She accepted it gratefully, lifting it from the rat’s claws with her teeth.

Flash sighed. “Look, you’re not wrong,” he admitted.

Fluttershy looked Flash Sentry straight in the eyes, asking, “If I’m not wrong, then why are you attacking me?”

Flash groaned. “Can we not get into this right now? I need to take you back to your cell.”

“You should probably go,” Twilight said in agreement. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Fluttershy’s muscles slacked. She gave a weak nod, surrendering to their pleas. She looked to Twilight, locking eyes on hers. “I’ll find you at breakfast tomorrow.” She put up a single hoof against one of the cell’s bars. “Don’t be afraid. You’re not alone.”

Twilight gave Fluttershy a weak smile. She pressed her own hoof against the bars. “Thank you,” she said simply. For the first time since she’d arrived in this strange reality, Twilight felt welcome. She watched Fluttershy pick up the lantern with her teeth and turn to leave with Flash. The light faded slowly into the distance and for a second, Twilight caught Flash looking back to her, but she couldn’t make out his expression in the dark.

Then they were gone and Twilight collapsed onto her mat. The straw was coarse and uncomfortable, scratching into her side as she struggled to get comfortable. She rolled over onto her side, but with each motion, she found herself itching more. She rolled to her back and squirmed, trying to carve out a space for herself before finally giving up and letting her legs fall where they lay.

Resting her head down, Twilight thought once more of the space between space. She’d shaped the reality or…what? Unreality? What could she even call that? Whatever it was, she’d shaped it just as Discord did. She hadn’t meant to, but she did; her memory had surged up and borne itself into existence in front of him.

There was something to it. There had to be. It wasn’t like anything she’d seen before but…well, no, that wasn’t entirely true, was it? She had only vague memories of the passage between the Crystal Empire and Canterlot High, but there was definitely a similarity to it. If the mirror portal acted as a sort of guided tunnel, carrying a pony through the space between from one world to the other, then it would have to function under similar magical principles. Wouldn’t it?

Twilight thought again of the way the space between had shifted and changed at a whim. Discord said that it was suggestible, as if there was some special property of the place that allowed the changes to occur. Was the ability to enter and manipulate the space between a function of chaos magic?

Or was it something else? That Discord could enter the space between couldn’t be taken as conclusive evidence that this was chaos magic. After all, so far as she knew, his magic didn’t have the same limitations that other types of magic did. That it let him go there didn’t mean that was the only way to get there. It’s not like he’d created the mirror, either. At least, she didn’t think he did.

If Discord’s magic controlled the mirror, Twilight felt like Princess Celestia would have mentioned that before sending her through it.

But even if the mirror wasn’t chaos magic, Twilight believed that the method by which she arrived in the space between had to be. Discord had guided her through it. He didn’t just know the place, he knew the magic she was using to get there. He seemed intimately familiar with the course she charted, and there were few things that could mean. Twilight felt she could assert with 60% accuracy that this was chaos magic she had used.

It would warrant further testing, of course. And since she was trapped in a dingy cell, there was no time like the present, was there? Twilight cleared her mind and tried to focus on the space between. She tried to remember shapes beyond the realm of three dimensions and colors that couldn’t exist, but comprehending a seemingly infinite spectrum from a finite perspective was difficult at best.

She reached out with her mind and tried to find that tether Discord had spoken of, the one she’d followed into this world and on a few occasions had accidentally followed out of it. She slipped into a meditative trance, clearing her mind and thinking, feeling, yearning only for the vast, endless openness between the threads of reality.

For what must have been several minutes, she concentrated, but nothing ever changed. The world never bled away from her. The rows of cells, now quiet enough that she could hear a light snoring from the other ponies incarcerated with her, never budged from her perception. She remained as before fixed to the straw mat, unable to escape the overbearing darkness even through this unconventional avenue.

She thought at last of the disabling spell Shining Armor had placed upon her horn. The spell worked on all kinds of unicorn magic, but even this was denied to her? Perhaps there were limits to chaos magic after all.

“Y’reckon she’s thinkin’ of me?” Applejack whispered in the isolating dark. The moon sat high in the Equestrian sky, its light beaming in through her open bedroom window. She lay on her side, looking out at the stars twinkling far away. After the day she’d had, sleep was certainly taking its sweet time finding her.

Smarty Pants rest against Applejack’s chest. The button that made up the doll’s eye felt cold against her chest, but she welcomed the sensation; it was a textile reminder that she wasn’t alone. But as much as Smarty Pants made for a welcome companion in stressful times, the doll wasn’t much of a conversationalist.

“Nah, she wouldn’t be,” Applejack answered herself. “She might spare a thought here or there but that ain’t how her mind works.” Her right hoof clutched the doll while the left gave its mane an absent-minded stroke. “Wherever she is, her brain’s buzzin’ at a mile a minute to find a way home. She’s a problem-solver. Once she puts her mind to somethin’, she can’t stop ‘til it’s fixed.”

Applejack looked down at the little doll. “Maybe this is just our life now,” she wondered aloud. She remembered this feeling of helplessness from that mirror in the Crystal Empire. Once again, Twilight had disappeared on some sojourn or another and once again, there was nothing she could do to help.

Was this going to be their future? As a Princess, Twilight was going to have responsibilities at times that her friends wouldn’t be able to help her with. She might have to travel to distant lands and hold summits for dignitaries and all that gobbledygook that Princesses get up to. It was only a matter of time before Celestia set her up with a castle, a court, and a people she’d be in charge of.

Because at the end of the day, she was Princess Twilight, not Princess Twilight and Friends. Her castle was only going to have one throne.

Unless it had two. That thought rested in the back of Applejack’s mind, rearing its ugly head whenever she thought too hard on this. Giving the doll another stroke, she asked, “If’n Twilight gets sent off to some faraway place, y’think she’d ask me to go?”

“…y’think I’d say yes?”

Too many uncertainties filled the air for Applejack’s liking. Returning her gaze to the night sky beyond her window, Applejack couldn’t help but--

Wait.

Wait, was that…?

Applejack rose with a start. She leapt from her bed and rose up on her hind legs, resting her forelegs on the windowsill. That had to be it. There was no question about it.

“Our constellation,” Twilight had called it. It was a set of five stars arranged in a square with a fifth jutting out on one side. Twilight said that if you drew the lines around it right, it made an apple. But if you added a sixth star on the other side, you could form her six-pointed star.

Applejack had never been one for star-gazing. She adored when Twilight got passionate about it, but it wasn’t really for her. She’d given the sky a cursory glance from time to time, but ever since that night, she’d never seen it. But there it was now, twinkling in the sky as if it was shining just for her.

Staring up at it brought a comforting warmth to her heart. “She’s somewhere out there,” she muttered to Smarty Pants as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Somewhere, Twilight’s lookin’ up at this same sky.”

The smell of warm syrup and eggs in a skillet lured Twilight from the embrace of sleep. She drifted from the covers, floating through the air on a cloud made entirely of yearning. She wafted down from her bedroom loft, still laid out on her side as she followed that invisible thread of deliciousness.

Twilight’s hooves touched down on the stairs leading to the library’s foyer. She skated down its ramp, following the ticking sounds of her beating heart. “Mornin’, sugar,” she heard before she saw.

A magnificent library stood before her. Marble bookshelves inlaid with pearls seemed to spiral out in every direction. At the center, there was Applejack flipping an egg in a skillet. “Do you flip eggs?” she asked herself aloud.

“Eh, who really knows?” Applejack answered, flipping the egg again. “You should probably ask me sometime.” Setting the skillet back on the stove, Applejack turned and greeted Twilight with an early morning kiss. Twilight felt her body flooding with desire at the feel of Applejack’s lips. She tasted like pancakes topped with apple butter.

“I miss you,” Twilight whispered once her snout had slid free.

“Now don’t you be frettin’ none when we still ain’t fed the foals yet,” Applejack said, shaking the skillet at Twilight. Where did the eggs go? “It’s Malus’s first day of school and I don’t want that Crystal filly, whatever her surname was, to be pickin’ on him.”

Oh, that’s right. Twilight had forgotten all about the foals’ breakfasts. Applejack walked around the table, laying two plates down in front of a pair of saplings that grew up from cracks in the library’s marble floor. “Now, Pumila, you make sure your”--

“LIGHTS UP!”

A bright green glow flooded Twilight’s vision, dragging her from the depths of what was shaping up to be a really strange session of REM. She blinked against the harsh light while her eyes struggled to adjust. She was…married to an apple tree? Something like that?

The clang of metal against metal struck Twilight’s ears, shaking any semblance of sleep from her mind. A procession of earth ponies clad in the familiar armor of the Royal Guard marched down the corridor, the stomp of their hooves echoing in the enclosed space.

At the head of the procession, a light yellow earth pony announced, “Rise and shine, ponies!” He stopped, casting his gaze in the direction of Twilight’s cell. “And you,” he added before resuming his march.

A pair of unicorn guardponies marched in the back of the group. Their magic stretched out as they walked, unlocking cell doors in their wake. Twilight marveled at the rigorous precision in their timing; each door slid open just as they passed, matching its pace to theirs down to the microsecond.

With each cell door open, Twilight watched as ponies began to pile out of their cells, crowding into the corridor outside. She joined them, trying to get a better look at the guards. The guardpony at the lead turned around to face the crowd while his entourage continued past him, then spun around at the end of the hall to flank him the opposite direction.

“Alright, everypony, you know how this works,” the leader announced. “I want all unicorns to the west block. Everypony else, you’re clear to go through east block.” Twilight watched as the other ponies began to filter out through large, open gates on the sides of the corridor, just before where the guardponies stood.

“You!” Twilight suddenly became acutely aware that the leader was staring straight at her. “The changeling. Shining Armor says you line up with the unicorns.” He studied Twilight’s features for a second, then added, “That means horns, not wings.”

“I know what a unicorn is,” Twilight said in her own defense.

“Do you? Do you really?” The guard leader smirked, and Twilight watched two of the ponies behind him start laughing at her. She tucked her wings to her sides as tightly as she could and looked away towards the left gate, trying to mask her irritation. She was tired of ponies treating her wings as if they were leprous. A pony would think that becoming an alicorn would be met with more rejoicing than she’d seen recently.

Twilight bowed her head and--

“Ow!”

--stepped right into Fluttershy, knocking her off her hooves. Fluttershy fell sideways, landing hard on her side and shoulder.

“I am so sorry! Are you okay?” Twilight spoke frantically, reaching out a hoof to help pull Fluttershy back up.

“It happens,” Fluttershy said sadly, linking her hoof with Twilight’s and accepting the help. “I wanted to say you should meet me in the cafeteria. We can talk over breakfast.” Before Twilight could respond, Fluttershy hurried off, disappearing into the crowd of ponies flowing through the gate on the right.

Somehow, she felt relieved despite her situation. There was something about Fluttershy that always seemed to make a tense situation feel less stressful. She had an air of--

“Hey! Changeling! In case you’re confused, the horns are going that way.” The guard leader pointed a hoof towards the left gate. “They’re spikes made of bone that stick out of a pony’s forehead. You can’t miss ‘em.”

“I’m going!” Twilight shouted in response. Of all the places in this world she’d seen, she definitely hated this one the most.

There was something about Fluttershy’s cottage that never failed to bring a sense of tranquility over Applejack. Water trickled over the stones in the creek bed, soothing her eardrums with its gentle caress. The noise of ponies going about their day to day was gone, replaced by nearby birdsong and the occasional insect’s buzzing.

There was a certain smell to nature as well. She felt the cool chill of air rising from the creek, carrying with it the scent of morning grass slick with dew. Even Sweet Apple Acres never quite captured the majesty of the raw, untouched nature. A pony could go her whole life breathing in the forest air and listening to the sound of Rarity screeching, “Well, I think it sounds lovely!”

…so much for that. Applejack picked up her pace to a canter, hurrying to the front door of Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Sure, maybe to nerds,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “My tongue’s given up and gone home just thinking about it!”

“Well, she is a ‘nerd’, so that is entirely appropriate. And it’s not like your idea was any better!”

“Hey, I thought it sounded awesome!”

Rarity scoffed. “It’s rubbish, Rainbow Dash. It’s mindless rubbish. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy!”

“Yeah, well I wish you’d--”

“Hey, hey!” Applejack interjected, pushing open the door to the cottage. “Anypony want to explain to me what y’all are getting’ so worked up about?” In front of her Rarity and Rainbow Dash froze in their places, eyes locked on her.

Rarity lowered her head sheepishly, taking a step backwards. “I’d rather not.”

Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash, who grimaced in response. “It’s kind of….”

“There was some context and….”

“…you weren’t there, it was….”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances with each other, then bowed their heads. “It was a silly argument,” Rarity said reluctantly.

Rainbow Dash scratched at the back of her neck with a hoof. “Yeah, we might have….” She drifted off, struggling with herself for a minute. Then she took a step towards Applejack and asked, “Look, if you had to pick something to call the Fake Twilight, would you go with Stony McRockface or Fax…Fatchit….”

“Façade,” Rarity corrected. “It means an illusory, deceptive veil surrounding an unknowable truth. It carries an air of mystique and intrigue.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It ‘carries an air’ of not being a real word. You made that up!

“I did no such thing! The Faelish have a marvelous dialect; it’s not my fault you can’t be bothered to obtain even an ounce of culture!”

“Yeah, well, normal ponies speak Ponish. Why not just call her Lies?!”

Rarity scoffed. “We are not calling her Lies. That would be completely absurd!”

“It’s kinda what you’re suggesting.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I don’t speak Fancy neither. Beg pardon, Rares, but I think Rainbow’s got the right of it on that.”

“Ha!” Rainbow Dash thrust out a hoof for Applejack, remarking, “AJ says we’re going with Rockface. Give me hoof.”

“Nah, that just sounds goofy.” Applejack watched Rainbow Dash’s face sour. On a lark, she still gave her pal the requested hoofbump; disagreeing was no reason for leaving a pony hanging like that. “Sorry, Rainbow, but it sounds like somethin’ you cooked up in about five seconds.”

“Hey, I spent—I mean, yeah, uh….” Rainbow Dash cast a sideways glance away from Applejack. “You got me. That totally just came to me.”

Applejack took a look across the room. Pinkie Pie sat with Fluttershy on the sofa, using her hoof to push a small pink token along a gameboard. She moved the piece one space at a time, making “tok tok tok” sounds with her mouth on each space it passed. “Free space!” she announced ecstatically. “That means I get to go again!” She looked up to see Applejack watching her expectantly. “Oh, hi, Applejack! When did you get here?”

Applejack grimaced. “I, uh, well, I got somethin’ I wanted to say to everypony.”

Fluttershy rose from the couch, lowering herself to the floor. “If you could wait for just one minute, I had a suggestion that I wanted to share once all the fighting stopped.”

Applejack stepped back, raising a hoof to Fluttershy. “You go right ahead. Floor’s yours.” Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief for the interruption.

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “I was thinking that maybe we should call her Cardilight.”

“What,” Rarity said flatly.

“Well, it’s what you get when you put the names Cardinal and Twilight together.”

“I’m aware of what it means. Why would we call her that?”

Fluttershy beamed as she spoke. “You see, sometimes in my graphic novels, two ponies will fuse together into one pony. When that happens, what they do is they take the two ponies’ names and put them together to make one name.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced at the suggestion. She looked up, trying to picture it in her mind. “What, so Pinkie and I would turn into one pony and be…what, Rainkie? Pinkbow?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Ponies also use this trick for combining the names of couples in these stories, so they can have a word to refer to them as. For instance, Applejack, you and Twilight would be Applelight or Twijack or something like that. But if you got together with Rarity, you’d be Applety or Rarijack. Something to that effect.”

“Or,” Fluttershy said as a crimson blush spread across her face. Reaching up with a hoof, she brushed her mane behind her ear. With a hopeful smile, she looked up to Rainbow Dash, standing just in front of her. “If, um…if Rainbow Dash and I were ever to get together, we could be Flutterdash? Maybe?”

“No, that’s weird,” Rainbow Dash asserted. “Why would we want to put Cardinal in her name? Don’t we want to keep all of that away from her?”

“I agree,” Rarity added. “The fewer reminders of Cardinal’s influence she has, the better off we’ll all be.”

Pinkie perked up, bouncing into the conversation. “What about T2? Twi Hard? Twi Some More? A Good Day to Twi?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the others. “Okay, is it bad if I like Twi Hard?”

Immediately, Rarity answered, “It’s dreadful and you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Can we table this for a moment?” Applejack asked. “I got somethin’ I want to say to y’all.”

“Of course, Applejack.” Rarity smiled. “What is it?”

Applejack took a deep breath. This was going to be a hard conversation, but she knew it was one that had to happen. “Listen, I just want to say I’m sorry ‘bout the way I acted yesterday. I shouldn’t have been so short with everypony.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “We’re cool. So anyways, how about The Stonicorn? Because she’s--”

Applejack blinked. “Wait, that’s it? Y’ain’t mad I stormed out like I did?”

“Of course not.” Fluttershy came up beside Applejack, putting a comforting hoof against her foreleg. “We’re all worried about Twilight.”

“I’m not!”

“Except Pinkie Pie.”

From her comfortable place on the sofa, Pinkie pie held out her forelegs, gesturing to the room. “She’s Twilight, you guys. She’s probably whipping up some big spell that’s going to bring her home right now!” Pinkie Pie leapt from the couch, joining the others in the center of the room. “Any second now, she’s going to just POOF and she’ll be right here, in front of us.”

Pinkie stared intensely at the middle of Fluttershy’s rug. “Any second now, she’s going to be right here.”

Rarity looked to Applejack. “Fluttershy’s--”

“Aaaaaaany second now.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “What she’s trying to--”

“Aaaaaaanyyyyyyyy second nooooooooooow.”

“She’s trying to--”

“Aaaaaaany--”

“PINKIE PIE!!!” Rarity screamed, slamming her front hooves into the floor in front of her. She seethed, breathing heavy and lightly shaking. A second passed, then another as her agitation seemed to emanate off her in waves. Then something seemed to snap in her and she coughed, raising a hoof to cover her snout.

Her muscles loosened, she took a deep breath, and she composed herself. “Pinkie, darling, why don’t you be a dear and go fetch my curling iron? I’ve been such a state since yesterday and I’m afraid I didn’t have a chance to freshen up this morning.”

With a bright smile, Pinkie Pie answered, “Okie-dokie-loki!” Before anypony knew what had happened, she’d bolted out the door.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Do y’even use a curlin’ iron? I thought your mane just did that.”

“The point Fluttershy’s making is that we’re all concerned. We can’t imagine the stress this must be putting you under. If you need some time, you go right ahead and take it.” Rarity shared a glance with Fluttershy and then the two came together around Applejack, embracing her. A couple seconds later, Rainbow Dash joined in the embrace from above.

“That’s right,” Fluttershy agreed. “We’re all worried. Even, um…her,” she squeaked out.

Applejack winced at the mention, tensing up within the group hug. “You’re talkin’ ‘bout the rock.”

Fluttershy was the first to break off from the embrace, backing up to make eye contact with Applejack. “She misses you,” she explained. “She doesn’t talk about it, but I think it would really make her day if you would go see her. She’s downstairs right now, studying her core. Spike brought some materials from the library.”

“She ain’t goin’ back?” Applejack asked.

Rarity shook her head. “She said it would be for the best if she didn’t get comfortable while she’s adjusting. She slept here last night.”

“She doesn’t sleep,” Fluttershy corrected. “I think she’s been working.”

Applejack sighed. “Look, y’all, I miss her too. The real one. Twilight. Not the rock that stole her face. I’m sorry, but I just…I ain’t ready to face her. I can’t look her in the eyes and see Twilight lookin’ back at me. I ain’t--”

“Applejack?”

Applejack whirled to see Twilight standing at the door to the kitchen, eyes agape. She held a journal clutched to her chest. At the sight of Applejack, she squeezed the journal tightly to her. “You…you came….” She whispered. “I wasn’t expecting to see you! How are you? Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Applejack?” Spike asked, following Twilight through the kitchen door. “Oh.” He looked quickly to Rarity, who gritted her teeth and shook her head slowly to him. Getting the message, he took a few steps back into the kitchen.

Applejack stepped backwards away from Twilight’s phantom. “Oh, uh, Twilight, I was…I was stoppin’ by and....”

“I was just about to share some of my research,” the illusion explained. “Are you going to stay? I would love to hear what you think. And, well….” She reached up with her left hoof, idly brushing her mane against her neck. “…it’d mean a lot to me if you could be here.”

Applejack opened her snout to answer, but then she felt Rainbow Dash kicking her in her left hind leg. Applejack looked to her left and saw Rainbow Dash nodding to her. She couldn’t help but noticed that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity had arranged themselves in a semicircle around her, barring her from the front door.

“I think that’s a lovely idea,” Rarity agreed. Pointedly, she asked, “What do you think, Applejack?”

“Alright, y’all don’t need to make a thing of it.” Applejack looked to the illusion. “I’ll stay.”

“Great!” The fake Twilight bounced into the air from her giddiness. Upon hitting the ground, she coughed, cleared her throat, and composed herself. “I mean, thank you. It’s nice to have you back with us.” She stepped towards Applejack, but the earth pony put a hoof up to stop her advance. The illusion backed off, recomposing herself.

“Why don’t you tell us what you’ve found?” Applejack suggested.

“Right.” Twilight stepped around Applejack, entering the living room proper. “It’s not so much what I’ve found as it is what I think I might be able to find. As you know, my magic is…well, gone wouldn’t be the factually correct way to phrase it. I’ve never had magic. I have memories of magic. I have working knowledge of magical theory and countless hours of practice, but I can’t cast even the most basic of unicorn spells.”

“Yeah, why is that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Because I’m not a pony,” the illusion answered bluntly. “More specifically, it’s because I’m a spell. I was created with a few specific magical functions; I don’t actually have magic of my own.”

“…but don’t you eat magic?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“That, uh….” The illusion took a deep breath. Applejack narrowed her eyes; she didn’t need to know a lot about magic to know that a thing that doesn’t breathe taking a deep breath was clearly for visual effect. “That’s what I wanted to talk to everypony about. Last night, I took some of Fluttershy’s magic.”

“You did what?!” Applejack exploded. The Twilight illusion visibly flinched at her outburst.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said. “I let her do it.”

“The effect was incredible,” Twilight continued. “It was like there was a film over my mind that suddenly lifted. I woke up to a new level of clarity. I was able to focus again in ways I haven’t since all of this began. Even my memories fell right into place. I couldn’t imagine them having ever been in question. It felt like I was becoming real.”

Applejack braced herself. In her mind, she could already see where this was going. She watched as the fake Twilight looked from one pony to the next as if reading their expressions.

Twilight continued, just as Applejack presumed she would. “I need your help. With your permission, I’d like to drain magic from you periodically. It will just be enough to keep my reserves topped off, in order to prevent any decrease in my emotional and mental faculties.”

“How much magic would you need to take?” Rarity asked carefully.

Applejack whirled on her. “Y’ain’t actually thinkin’ about this, are you?!”

“It shouldn’t be too much,” the illusion answered. “If I can drain magic from one pony each day, it would probably leave that pony feeling weakened for at least six hours.”

“At least?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s not a precise estimate.”

Rarity looked to the others. “I don’t know about this.”

The illusion lowered her head. “I know it’s an unusual request, but I’ve seen the alternative. When Cardinal attacked me--”

“Twilight,” Applejack corrected.

“…yes. When Cardinal attacked Twilight, I saw what happens if he runs low on magic. He was flickering uncontrollably and ranting. None of it made any sense. It was like his consciousness was firing off in random spasms; it was horrifying. I don’t want that to happen to me.”

Fluttershy broke with the group, embracing the illusion. “We don’t want that to happen either.” Her pleading eyes crossed the others, seeking empathy in their visages. “Do we?” she asked pointedly, as much a statement as a question.

“Please,” the illusion said. “I don’t have legs or wings or this horn on my head. None of this is real. It’s just layer after layer of deceptions. It’s light shaped by magic to look like a pony. I know I’m not real but my mind is. It’s the only thing I have that’s real. The only thing that’s really and truly mine.”

“It ain’t yours,” Applejack accused. “It’s stolen from Twilight, just like the rest of you.”

The fake Twilight closed her eyes and once again, Applejack couldn’t help feeling like it was just for effect. “Maybe you’re right,” she said quietly. “That might be fair. But if that’s true, then, logically speaking, wouldn’t that be more reason to help me preserve it?”

“I’ll do it,” Rainbow Dash said. “You can start with me and we’ll see what happens.”

“Technically, I started with Fluttershy,” Twilight corrected her. “Still, I appreciate it all the same.”

Applejack argued, “You sure about this, Rainbow? What if it’s a trick?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Why would it be a trick?”

“She could be tryin’ to steal your magic.”

“I’m giving her my magic.” Distressingly, Rainbow Dash made more sense than Applejack was comfortable with. “Look, I trust her. I mean, come on, it’s Twilight. She’d never do anything to hurt us.”

Applejack glowered. “She ain’t Twilight,” she grumbled through gritted teeth.

Rainbow Dash shrugged again, gesturing with one hoof to the illusion. “Isn’t she? I mean, she looks like her. She talks like her. She’s got Twilight’s memories and stuff. I’m not saying she could replace the real Twilight or anything, but she’s kinda Twilight.”

From the door to the kitchen, the illusionary Twilight beamed. A proud smile grew across her face and she lifted a hoof to her heart.

Rainbow Dash dropped her hoof to the floor. “Look, I don’t get all of this, but my gut says she’s cool. That’s good enough for me.”

“That ain’t what mine says,” Applejack said, her low voice turning to a snarl.

“Well, you’re not the boss of me.” Rainbow Dash turned to address Twilight. “So how do we do this?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” the illusion answered. Ponies backed away from Rainbow Dash, forming a semicircle around her as Twilight’s image approached. At the tip of Twilight’s horn, a white crackle appeared sending flashes of light across the room. She looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes, asking, “Are you ready? You might feel some muscle weakness and a loss of energy. I’ve only done this once, but I think that’s normal.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Hit me with your best--” Before she could finish, the light from Twilight’s horn enveloped her. She felt a wave course through her, starting at the tips of her hooves and working its way up her legs. It traveled through her body and then up her neck before finally tugging out from the edge of her snout.

After that came another wave surging across her followed by another. With each wave, she could feel her strength diminishing. Her torso became heavier as the strength to hold it up faded from her. Fatigue washed through her, dabbing at her senses. She found it harder to focus or to follow the basic movements of her friends.

She hadn’t even noticed that the waves had stopped until she heard Twilight say, “We’re done.” She tried to raise her foreleg for a hoofbump, but her other legs gave out on her and she toppled to the side.

Applejack raced to her side, catching her and putting a hoof around her back to brace her. “We got you,” she said quickly.

Rarity came around Rainbow Dash’s other side, offering a hoof to help her walk. “Let’s get you over to the couch.”

The Twilight phantom winced. “I’m sorry, I should have thought about that. I’d help but, well…fragile.”

With some assistance from her friends, Rainbow Dash flopped onto her side on the couch. She smiled weakly at Twilight. “You got what you needed?”

“I did,” the phantom said with a smile. “I feel wonderful. Thank you.”

“Awesome.” Rainbow Dash let out a long yawn. “I think it’s nap o’clock. Thanks for flying, have a great day.” Her head promptly fell into the cushion and within seconds, the room echoed with the sound of her snoring.

“She’ll be okay, right?” Applejack asked.

The phantom studied Rainbow Dash carefully. Without turning her eyes away, she answered, “She will. She just needs some time to rejuvenate her magic.” She glanced over to see Fluttershy hovering over the couch, slowly draping a blanket over Rainbow Dash before landing off to the side.

“She looked cold,” Fluttershy explained.

The illusion nodded affirmingly. She--

“FOUND IT!!!” Pinkie Pie blew through the front door covered in twigs and leaves. Cheerfully, she bounded in front of Rarity and extended the front curl of her mane, offering up a hair curler wrapped in its cord.

Rarity blinked. She stared at the hair curler as though it were diseased, pulling her forelegs back away from it. “Pinkie Pie, where did you get this?”

Pinkie grinned. “Well, I looked all over your home but it wasn’t there so that’s when I started to really search! It turns out, you left it in Roseluck’s bathroom!” Rarity glanced over to Applejack, who responded only with a shrug. “So, what I’d miss?”

As Twilight entered the west block, she took the time to have a look at her surroundings. She’d only seen the facility in dim lighting, but now there were crystals fixed to the ceiling at regular intervals letting out a green glow.

The corridor filled with the sound of hooves clapping against the stone floor. Twilight took her place at the back of a line that stretched fifty feet to the end of the hall, then turned sharply to the right. The line moved forward at a steady pace. Every ten seconds or so, the line would move forward a single pony length, then stop once more. She hoped it wouldn’t extend much further beyond the corner; while last night’s visitation had been appreciated, she found she was quite hungry this morning.

“Why do they separate the unicorns?” she idly asked the pony ahead of her. It was only after she’d spoken that she realized she recognized that Cutie Mark; a light blue wand overlaid against a sparkling, fluttering cape.

“Why do you think?” the pony replied with a scoff. “Holding our breakfast hostage is how they make sure we comply. Not that it really matters anyway. Not every unicorn is Twilight Sparkle.”

“This is where they refresh the disabling spell,” Twilight surmised, following the logic.

“Of course it’s where they refresh it.” The pony rolled her eyes. “What is this, your first time in the--” She turned to glance at Twilight and stopped dead in her tracks. Her snout hung open and her eyes slowly widened with recognition.

“Um…buzz buzz?” Twilight suggested sardonically.

That set her off. Trixie let out a deafening scream and scrambled over the pony in front of her, taking shelter behind a protective wall of amber horsehide. “Hey!” the pony shouted before turning on Twilight with a stern glare.

Twilight had just long enough to remark to herself on how weird it felt to see Sunset Shimmer as a pony before a guardpony’s voice boomed through the corridor, “What’s going on down there?!”

“SHE’S TRYING TO REPLACE ME!!!” Trixie shrieked. Before Twilight knew what was happening, she felt herself yanked sideways by a unicorn’s magic field, pulling her out of line to face the white stallion now bearing down on her.

“No, I’m not!” Twilight replied frantically.

“Should have known,” the guardpony grumbled. “Back of the line!”

Twilight looked behind her to see that the unicorn line now extended back into the row of cells she’d come from. “But I didn’t do anything,” she pleaded with the guard.

“Either you go to the back of the line or you can go to confinement. Your choice.”

Twilight looked desperately to Trixie, who remained tucked in her place behind a glowering Sunset Shimmer. “Fine,” she grumbled, following the line backwards. This was going to be a long day.

This time, Twilight remained silent, trudging along with the rest of the ponies. Twenty minutes later, the line brought her to the corner. She could make out another turn forty feet down and groaned. As if on cue, her stomach groaned with her.

As she walked, she noticed that the line passed through a gate, then a small inner room with another gate. The inner room had a large metal door with a small window. The door looked heavier than anything else she’d seen in Bridle Rock.

Her immediate reflex was to inquire about it, but then she remembered what had happened with Trixie and clamped her jaw shut. The curiosity nagged at her, but it would have to wait until after breakfast.

Around the second bend, Twilight finally saw the end of the line. The door to a large cafeteria stood open, framed by a brass archway with a clearly visible cyan field glowing inside of it. Guardponies were stopping the line just in front of it, permitting only a single unicorn to pass at a time.

When it came her turn, Twilight stepped through the archway and felt the sensation of its disabling magic binding her horn again. This had to be the refresh that Shining Armor was talking about. Every morning, she’d have to renew the disabling spell or she wouldn’t eat. She briefly wondered how long she’d have to fast in order to wait out the effect, but realized the Royal Guard would probably force her through it anyway.

Beyond the archway, Twilight entered a vast cafeteria. The size and magnitude of this place shocked her; mares and stallions of all races and colors filled over two dozen tables in the canteen. Their conversations created a raucous cacophony that echoed through the room. Twilight stood stunned for a few seconds, taking them in; there must have been over a hundred ponies seated at these tables.

Another gurgle from her stomach shook her from her surprise. She followed the unicorns towards the north wall, where three rows of counters rested, each with a disinterested looking unicorn standing behind it. Twilight watched as the others divided between counters. She selected the line that looked the smallest, then took her place there.

It was another fifteen minutes before she was able to pick up a tray in her teeth, following suit from the ponies ahead of her. She lifted the tray and set it on her outstretched hoof, then followed the line to the counter. “Good morning,” she greeted the unicorn behind the counter.

“Don’t talk to me,” was her only response. With her magic field, the unicorn placed a bowl of oats, a glass of water, and a single apple on Twilight’s tray. Twilight stared down at the dismal meal. Was there supposed to be more to--

“Hey, move along!” A voice behind her commanded.

Twilight jumped. “Sorry!” She took her tray and hustled back towards the tables, looking for a place to sit in the crowded room. She walked between the tables, eyes scanning for open seats. After a minute of searching, she spotted an unoccupied corner beside a large earth pony stallion. “Excuse me, is this spot free?” she asked politely.

“Not for you, changeling.”

Dismayed, Twilight continued looking. She found another spot in the middle of a table, but the pony next to it reached and with a hoof to cover it when she drew close, fixing a harsh glare to her. “Keep moving,” she said gruffly.

Finally, Twilight found a table near the back of the room that was half abandoned. She sat down at the corner as far away from everypony else as she could get and then looked down at her meal. She breathed out a long, depressed sigh.

She missed Spike’s macadamia and rhubarb pies. She missed waking up to the smell of flapjacks and apple brown betties wafting through an old Applewood house, where the very walls and floor seemed to carry the scent of fruit long past. She missed elaborate luncheons in a library carved from a great oak, seated at a table that had seen more generations of ponies than the Apples had orchards.

Discord was the key. She knew that much. She hated it, but she would need to work with him if she was going to get home. He seemed to have a strange curiosity about her, and that gave her a hoof in the door. All she needed to do was figure out how to leverage it.

“GOOD MORNING CRYSTAL EMPIRE!!!” Twilight started at the sudden appearance of Pinkie Pie. She hadn’t even noticed the black crystal hanging above the counters; another receiver for whatever spell allowed the Acting Princess to send out recent events to the rest of the kingdom. Wreathed in blue flame, Pinkie Pie emerged on the surface of the crystal, as upbeat as ever.

“Oh my gosh, you guys, you would not believe what just happened yesterday! So, Acting Princess Twilight went out to Ponyville to see how bad the damage was, right? When out of nowhere, BAM!” Pinkie Pie slammed her fist down on the table in front of her, just out of sight from the flaming image. “Out of nowhere, the Frowny Faces jumped her!” She gasped in shock at her own statement. “I know, right?!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Pinkie’s explanation. Surveying the damage?

“Applejack was like, ‘GRRRR!!! First you, then the Empire! Now will be the end of peace for all ponies!!!’ But it’s cool, ‘cause then Twilight saw what was happening and she was like, POW!” Pinkie pantomimed throwing a punch with her right foreleg. “But, you know, it was a magic POW with all her cool spells and stuff. So then Twilight chased off those Frowny Faces and made it back in one piece. And she made sure nopony got hurt in the process!”

“WHAT?!” Twilight leapt to her hooves. Visions of the Sonic Rainboom colliding with Spitfire flashed over the image of Pinkie Pie’s impossibly cheerful smile. Ponies turned, fixing their attention to her, and Twilight suddenly felt the weight of her outburst. “That’s a lie!” she accused, looking at the crowd of ponies in the canteen. “Why would she say that?!”

“’Cause she’s a tool,” one voice called out from the sea of ponies around her.

“BUT WAIT!!!” Pinkie continued. “That’s not all. So, Twilight came back fired up and with a plan to take down those Frowny Faces for good. But just then, a dozen changelings jumped her in the records room!” Pinkie punctuated her statement by screaming at the top of her lungs, waving about her forelegs in the air.

Once more, all eyes turned on Twilight. She shrank down on her bench, trying to conceal herself as best she could behind her bowl of oatmeal. “That’s not what happened,” she said again.

“But Twilight kept her cool. ‘I’ll never let you hurt my beloved Crystal Empire!’ she shouted as she charged into battle, ordering the Royal Guard to stay back so they wouldn’t get hurt. She singlehoofedly fended off the whole swarm and sent them all buzz buzz BUZZING back to whatever hole they crawled out of!”

Pinkie Pie reached to the side, bringing her hoof back with a piece of paper resting on top of it. “I’m supposed to read you this note Rarity gave me. It says, ahem, what we should all take away from yesterday is that no matter what happens or who tries to threaten the Crystal Empire, Twilight Sparkle is always there to defend us. She is our hero, our friend, and our beloved Acting Princess.”

Pinkie set the paper down. “There you have it, everypony. Acting Princess Twilight’s looking out for your--" Suddenly, she let out a huge gasp. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! I just thought of something, you guys! Do you think the Frowny Faces have been working with the changelings this entire time?!?! I am so looking into this, everypony! See you next time, and remember to keep on smiling!”

The blue flames faded from the crystal, taking the image of Pinkie Pie with them as they vanished. Twilight looked down at her bowl. The flames seemed to have taken her appetite with them. All she could think about was why Pinkie Pie would lie the way she did. Twilight knew the truth, and it barely even resembled what Pinkie had said. Why would she say those things?

She wasn’t finding any answers and she was still hungry. Twilight bit down on the edge of her oatmeal bowl, lifting it up. Resting its weight on her hoof, she gulped down the warm contents. She was pleasantly surprised at the discovery that it wasn’t cold; that was something, at least. It certainly wasn’t her Special Somepony’s apple and cinnamon blend, but at least it was edible.

Once empty, she set the bowl back on her plate and looked over her apple. “Of course,” she grumbled to herself.

“Not what you expected?” Twilight jumped in her seat, startled by the sudden voice. Sunset Shimmer stood at the side, propping herself up with her forelegs on the table. The height allowed her to tower over Twilight, making the alicorn feel smaller by association.

“Hi!” Twilight said nervously. She took a second to compose herself, then followed up. “I mean, no, it’s not that. Well, it’s kind of that. The oatmeal leaves a lot to be desired but it’s not the worst either. It’s….” A large blue stallion she didn’t recognize came around her other side, taking a seat beside her. A light green mare sat down across from her. She felt foolish admitting what she was thinking, and the presence of more ponies wasn’t helping.

“Go on,” Sunset implored, rolling her hoof. The way she said it, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that it sounded more like an order than a request.

“It’s my apple,” she admitted. “The stem is a quarter inch too short and there are clear imperfections in the skin here and here.” She gestured with her hoof. “There’s bruising around the back which implies a lack of care given to its fall distance and impact surface. The wrinkles on its surface suggest an overripe fruit. Also, the color’s off. I’m not really good with color but it should be…more red, I guess? A darker red. Redlike.”

Sunset grinned, listening to Twilight rant. “Seriously?” she asked. “You’re an apple snob?”

“I….” The question caught Twilight by surprise. Shrinking down in her seat, she explained, “I didn’t used to be.” Another pony sat down at the table. This one was an orange pegasus with a light green mane that curled around her ear.

Twilight hadn’t even noticed Trixie cowering behind Sunset until she spoke up, asking “Why are we talking to her?”

“Because I’m curious.” Sunset folded her forelegs on the table, lowering her eyeline to be equal with Twilight’s. “Level with me. How much of that was true just now?”

“All of it?” Twilight asked. “You can see the wrinkles for yourself here--"

“Not your stupid apple!” Sunset slapped herself in the forehead with a hoof. “I’m talking about you and a bunch of other changelings jumping Twilight Sparkle. How much of that happened?”

“Oh.” Twilight looked down at her tray. “That report completely misrepresented what happened. There was a brief altercation after she came to, but--”

Sunset jumped back up on her hooves, excited. “Came to?! You knocked out Twilight Sparkle?! Did you hit her with something? Or did you just come up behind her and go….” Sunset reached out to her left, putting her foreleg around the mare across from Twilight. In one swift motion, she slammed the pony’s face into the table.

Twilight jerked backwards at the sudden violence in front of her, but the rest of the group seemed unfazed by it. The mare in question lifted her head back up, rubbing her snout, but said nothing in her own defense. She looked fearfully at the grin emblazoned on Sunset’s face and sat in silence.

Twilight’s gut churned at the sight. This was Sunset Shimmer exactly as she remembered her. Malevolent, self-absorbed, and entirely too willing to harm others on a whim. In a world gone mad, Sunset had managed to come through unscathed.

“The second one?” Twilight answered, trying to sound confident. She kept glancing at the mare across from her, who was now cradling her snout.

“Sunset, she’s a changeling,” Trixie hissed from behind.

“Yeah, a changeling who smashed Twilight Sparkle’s face into her desk.” Sunset laughed. “Come on, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t love to have been a fly on that wall.”

“It would literally be the highlight of my existence but that’s not the point!” Trixie peered over Sunset’s back at Twilight. “She’s trying to use her changeling tricks on us. Why are we talking to her?”

Sunset considered Trixie’s ravings, then shrugged. “Eh. I got what I wanted.” She dropped from the table and, as if on cue, the ponies around Twilight rose from their places to follow her. Even the mare across the table, still cradling her face, moved without hesitation.

Twilight’s conscience nagged at her. She hated herself for not saying something or doing something in that pony’s defense, but she didn’t know what she could have done. Sunset’s ponies had her surrounded and she--

It was at that moment that she noticed her apple was missing. She looked back up just in time to see Sunset Shimmer grinning back at her from across the cafeteria, the missing fruit resting conspicuously in her hoof.

“HEY!!!” Twilight shouted, leaping up. Sunset took a single step away, then stopped suddenly in her tracks.

“Oh, you retrieved Miss Changeling’s apple,” Fluttershy said sweetly. “That was so kind of you. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

Sunset blinked a couple of times. Her crew of ponies parted, giving her a wide berth as though afraid to be associated with her crime. “…yeah. That’s what I did,” she said uncertainly. Taking a few careful steps back to the table, Sunset returned the fruit to its place on Twilight’s tray. “You, uh…you should keep more of an eye on your things around here. Stuff just goes missing sometimes. You know how it is.”

“Do I?” Twilight asked skeptically.

Sunset chuckled nervously. “She’s a joker, this bug. She likes jokes. Come on, Trixie.” She gave Twilight an enthusiastic pat on her back, then started to slip away. The other members of her group had already dissipated, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.

“Oh, before I forget!” Fluttershy perked up. “Trixie, I wanted to talk about your diet. How is your digestion doing lately? Because I think there’s some artichoke left over if you still need it.”

Trixie blushed, glancing at Sunset and Twilight. Lowering her head, she whined through gritted teeth, “…not in front of the changeling!”

Fluttershy smiled. “If you insist. But do let me know if you need anything at all. I’ll see what we can scrounge up.” She waited for Sunset and Trixie to slink away, both ponies giving her their widest fake smiles, before addressing Twilight. “How are you feeling, Miss Changeling? I wanted to check up on you and make sure you’re settling in well.”

“I’m fine,” Twilight said defensively. She took a bite out of her apple, determined to get it eaten before anything else could happen to it.

“That’s good to hear.” Fluttershy sat down across from Twilight. “So, we can’t keep calling you Miss Changeling, can we? Do you mind sharing your name?”

While trying to think of how to answer that, Twilight looked to where Sunset and Trixie had gone, but found only the exit doors standing open. On the east side of the room near where the pegasi and earth ponies entered, a set of double doors opened into a hallway beyond, lit by the same green light as the rest of the facility.

By now, the cafeteria had mostly cleared of ponies, but Twilight found herself in no hurry to see where they’d gone. The sooner she could be out of Bridle Rock, the better. It made her nauseous to even think of such a place existing in Equestria. This, of course, did little to help her ascertain an answer for what should, in most scenarios, be a very simple question.

“Are you not allowed to tell me?” Fluttershy asked. “That’s okay. I would never ask you to betray your hive. I can come up with something myself. How about Antennae?”

“Antennae?” Twilight asked, just before taking another bite of apple.

“You’re right, that’s a mouthful. Oh! What about Skitter? How does that sound?”

Twilight swallowed. “Like I need to be swatted with a rolled-up newspaper.”

“Oh, dear.” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Does Mandible sound any better?

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You know what? Let’s just go with Skitter.” Great. Another fake identity to justify her unjustifiable presence in a world she didn’t belong to. One that seemed to become more terrible by the hour, no less.

Fluttershy beamed. “Skitter, it is. So, are you allowed to change back to your natural state? You’ve been wearing that disguise since you came in.”

“You watched me come in?!” Twilight marveled at the mysterious power Fluttershy held over this place. The way Sunset Shimmer and Trixie had behaved was stuck in her mind; she couldn’t believe how suddenly they’d changed as soon as Fluttershy was in their presence.

“Oh, no, but Francis and The Big Cheese were starting their rounds when you showed up.”

“Big Cheese?” Twilight asked with a grin.

“The Big Cheese,” Fluttershy corrected. “The ‘The’ is very important. It makes him feel like more of a rodent to have a ‘The’ in his name.” Twilight shook her head, amused at the naming preferences of Bridal Rock’s rodentia. “In any case, they told me all about it. We don’t usually get new prisoners so late, so I had to go meet you for myself.”

“I’m glad you did,” Twilight said truthfully. “Things haven’t been easy for me since I showed up in….” This world? This timeline? This version of reality? “…Equestria. Your kindness last night meant a lot to me. Thank you.”

“Of course!” Fluttershy seemed to be glowing from Twilight’s words. “We’re all in here together. We have to look out for each other, because there’s nopony else here to do it.”

The sentiment warmed Twilight’s heart. For the first time, something felt right in Equestria. It was exactly the kind of thing she’d expect to hear from her friends. She’d found a little piece of home, a piece of love and kindness in this strange world filled with violence and lies. She’d found a fraction of the Magic of Friendship locked in a cage and buried under a mountain.

“Why don’t you let me show you around?” Fluttershy offered. “There isn’t a lot to show, but I can. Show you, I mean.”

Twilight smiled amicably. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

Fluttershy gestured to the east and west doors. “Those go to the cell blocks, but you already knew that. Each one’s built to hold about two dozen ponies. There were only two when I got here, but they keep expanding them to have enough for all the residents.”

“How many are there now?”

“Nine.”

“Wow,” Twilight said aloud. A feeling of horror crept into her stomach, tinged with a revulsion she’d never felt before. “I was not prepared for that answer,” she admitted. She quickly ran the numbers in her head. “There are 216 ponies in this place?!”

“Oh, no, don’t be silly,” Fluttershy said. Twilight had enough time to breathe a sigh of relief before she continued. “The ninth block isn’t full yet; that’s where your cell is. There are only 207. When there’s only five empty cells left, that’s usually when they start construction on a new block.”

Twilight’s breath stopped short. Over two hundred ponies were sealed away from the world in this place. Why? What could this possibly accomplish? “How long are we supposed to be here?” she asked. “Do ponies ever leave?”

“Until we reform,” Fluttershy answered simply. “We can leave when we prove to the Acting Princess that we are responsible and productive members of society.”

“So, she comes here often to check on us?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no, she’s never come to see Bridle Rock herself. At least, not for as long as I’ve been here. It’s usually her brother, but he only stops by to drop off new residents.

“Then how is she supposed to know if we’ve reformed?!”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I’m sure she has her ways. She’s very clever.” She hopped down from the table, gesturing to the second east door. “Why don’t you follow me? The social areas are this way.”

Twilight stepped down from the table and trotted after Fluttershy. The door led to a rounded corridor, traveling north while gradually bending around to the west. “Has anypony ever left?” she asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

“No. But I’m sure that if we all keep to our best behavior, she’ll let us go one day. We’re only here because we did something bad.” In a quiet voice, she added, “We belong here.” Twilight couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t sound very convinced.

“What did you do?” Twilight asked carefully.

“I…I shouldn’t have….” Fluttershy choked on her crime. The words caught in her throat, refusing to complete the idea she was straining herself to assert.

She took Twilight through a doorway in the middle of the corridor, leading to an open room. A dozen bookshelves stood stacked against the back wall. Three round tables sat in the middle of the room, each with a dozen hard wooden chairs surrounding it. Quickly, Fluttershy said, “Oh, look. This is the library. It’s, um…well, it’s not a very good library. There are books if you ever want to visit some books. And chairs, if you ever want to read chairs. And….” Flustered, she quickly turned away.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Twilight said quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said.

“Don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Twilight thought for a moment, then added, “Except whatever you did wrong, anyway. Uh…so, library, huh? Sounds like there’s a lot of exciting chairs to read!”

Fluttershy giggled. “I’m glad you’re here, Skitter. I mean, I’m not glad you’re here, here. That’d be rude of me. But--”

“I understood what you meant.”

Fluttershy smiled. “If you’ll follow me down this hall, I’ll show you the way to the workshop.”

“So, do the guards know about your activities?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, no. I’m afraid most of them would be very cross with me if they found out.”

“Then where do you get the supplies? I can’t imagine procurement comes easy given the perpetual snowstorms around the Crystal Empire. I’m not even sure where you found rats; the weather hardly seems conducive to their survival.”

“The rats come in on supply shipments. That’s where I get my stock, too. The Royal Guard has their own private stores which they keep over in their quarters. Every night, Captain Wiggins and Pamela will make supply runs through the walls and sneak away with food, bandages, and sometimes even blankets if we need them.”

Twilight stopped, eyes wide with shock. “You’re a thief?!”

“Shhh!” Fluttershy looked around quickly to see if there were any guardponies nearby. With determination in her eyes, she whispered, “I know it’s wrong, but when I got here, everypony was terribly malnourished. I couldn’t just do nothing. Then, one day, I met The Big Cheese and we made a plan to get these ponies fed.”

Through another door, Twilight and Fluttershy entered an interior space larger than the cafeteria. Tables set with sewing machines, table saws, sanders, and various other tools filled the space. About twenty ponies by Twilight’s estimate milled around, working on a variety of projects. “Is that Flam?” she asked.

The traveling salespony stood over a sewing machine, running a connecting thread between two pieces of light purple fabric. He stopped a moment, appearing to say something to a unicorn mare beside him and gesturing emphatically with his left hoof.

“Oh, is he a friend of yours?”

“Not exactly,” Twilight said with a grimace. “I thought I saw him on the way in. Where’s his brother?”

Fluttershy chuckled. “If you can answer that question, I hear Acting Princess Twilight’s offering two hundred bits. Anyways, this is the workshop. Ponies are encouraged to try their hooves at all sorts of crafts here. Under heavy guard, of course.” She gestured to the Royal Guardponies that stood solemnly around the walls. “Three earth ponies, three unicorns, three pegasi. Enough to make sure that anypony that gets the wrong idea is quickly discouraged of it. Flash had to fight tooth and hoof to even get this place approved.”

Fluttershy led Twilight back out into the corridor. “The Greenroom is right this way. It’s the main--" She froze in her tracks, watching a trio of Royal Guardponies approaching from the west end of the hall.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, following Fluttershy’s gaze. “Oh no.” She recognized the pegasus at the lead; he was the one who’d made fun of her “disguise” this morning.

“That’s Captain Silverpride,” Fluttershy whispered. “Don’t make eye contact and try not to--”

“Well, look who it is,” the Captain said to his subordinates. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”

“…draw his attention,” Fluttershy finished.

The subordinates spread out, forming a triangle around Twilight. To her right, a guard answered, “I think I do, Captain. Looks like our new changeling’s harassing a resident and it’s barely past breakfast. What do you think, Brick Wall?”

Fluttershy waved a hoof frantically. “Oh, no, she’s not bothering me,” she said quickly, but the guardponies ignored her.

To Twilight’s left, the earth pony identified as Brick Wall answered, “I think she was backtalking the Captain earlier, wasn’t she?”

The Captain replied, “It sounds like she’s got an attitude problem.” Looking Twilight dead in the eyes, he asked in a low and gravely voice, “Do you have an attitude problem, changeling?”

“Me?” Twilight glowered. “I have a few problems. I have a problem with that chill wafting through the air; you can magically heat the place but you can’t make it comfortable? I have a problem with the itchy beds you gave us. I have a problem with the quality of the food you’re serving. But an attitude problem? No, in fact, the only pony I see around here with an attitude problem is--”

The first thing Twilight noticed about solitary confinement was how dark the cell was. None of the green crystals that lit up the facility outside were present in the cell and, unlike the barred cell she’d spent the night in, this one was closed by a large metal door. On a reflex, Twilight tried to light her horn, but the disabling spell denied her even this basic feat of magic.

Within seconds, the second thing she noticed about solitary confinement was how cold it was. Whatever crystal magic kept the facility heated to being merely chilly rather than impossibly frigid didn’t seem to extent to the round chamber she’d been placed in. She pressed herself against one of the walls, wrapping her wings as much around herself as she could to retain her warmth. She stroked her hooves back and forth along her forelegs, trying to regulate her temperature.

“You got any smart comments now?” The Captain demanded through a narrow slit in the door.

“Let me out of here!” Twilight shouted at him, slamming her hoof against the steel of the door.

“I didn’t think so.” The hatch slid shut, leaving Twilight alone in the frigid dark.

“You can’t leave me in here!” Twilight shouted. She banged against the door again and again, slamming her hooves against it until the echoing in her chamber hurt her ears. “LET ME OUT!!!” she screamed, but her voice became lost in the cacophony of its own echo. She collapsed into the door, pulling her limbs together and straining her wings as much as possible to cover her.

In the endless dark, her chamber at once seemed too small yet impossibly large. She waited for her eyes to adjust, hoping against hope that at least the smallest amount of light would creak inside. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to train her eyes to the dark, then opened them again. The darkness, however, remained absolute; not a single trace of light graced her vision to give her an idea of her surroundings.

And still there was the cold. Despite her best efforts, the chill of the room bit at her skin. It nipped at her legs and her back. It crawled up her neck and stung her eyes and lungs. She rubbed her hooves against the end of her snout, trying to keep her blood circulating. She made a mental note that if she ever made it home to Ponyville, she would try to show more appreciation for the hard work the weather pegasi put into maintaining a comfortable climate.

With nothing else to do, she tucked her body as much into itself as she could and tried to meditate. Clearing her mind proved to be a challenging task with the cold pushing pins into her flesh, but the harder she focused, the less it seemed to bother her. Indeed, retreating into her mind palace provided the only shelter from the cold that would be found in the void of darkness that surrounded.

Roaming the seemingly endless bookshelves that comprised the library of her mind, she searched for ways to occupy her time. She recited to herself the basic fundamentals from the Principia Magia in order. She counted down the sixteen steps to analyzing and determining the function of an unknown magical effect. She even read a few pages from A Legacy Lost: The Vanishment of Star Swirl the Bearded which she had naturally committed to memory.

She would have read more, but it was then that she noticed something unusual. There were new avenues and pathways to her mind palace. She found a connection that she’d never seen before. It was a bright, glowing string pulled tight through her consciousness. It shone the same impossible colors as the Space Between.

Twilight pulled her attention away from the string, but found her mental library filled with more strings. For each one she noticed, another ten appeared shimmering in her mental space, alien and yet strangely familiar to her. Reaching out in her imagination, she plucked a single--

“Thank you for agreeing to come tonight,” Twilight said. A checkerboard tablecloth lay on the table between her and her companion, lit only by the flicker of a candelabra’s flames. Around them, a sea of ponies sat at tables eating their food and making small talk, but inside the confines of her isolation spell, she and Rainbow Dash were the only ponies in the world.

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Rainbow Dash replied, leaning back against her chair and draping a foreleg over the back. “After all that, we deserve some time for us, y’know?”

“I know.” Twilight dropped her gaze into the spaghetti plate in front of her. Moving the fork with her magic, she idly stirred it, but her appetite wasn’t quite what it had been recently. “I’m sorry my role as Princess keeps me so busy,” she started.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash sat up quickly. She bolted from her chair, crossing beside the table to stop just before Twilight. “Hey, don’t start with that. You’re fine. We’re fine. I’ve got Wonderbolt stuff too; It’s not just your fault. Besides, that just means we’ve gotta cram more of us into every moment you and me get, right?”

Twilight giggled. “I suppose you’re--OW!” A sharp impact collided with the top of her head, followed swiftly by a splat. She grabbed at her throbbing skull with both hooves, wincing in pain.

Rainbow Dash leapt up instantly. “WHO THREW THAT?!” she demanded of a dining room that couldn’t actually hear her through the bubble.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said quietly, eyes fixed on the offending object.

“YOU’VE GOT FIVE SECONDS TO--"

“Rainbow Dash, stop,” Twilight hissed. “Look at this.” Using her magic, she lifted the item from her plate of spaghetti, wiping the tomato sauce from it with a napkin. Floating in her telekinetic field, there sat a wooden carving in the shape of a pony. Twilight could clearly make out the figure’s pegasus wings as well as its sharp horn; it was unmistakably an alicorn. And it was painted purple.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I think it’s…me.” A chill ran down Twilight’s spine as she said the words. A feeling of horror and revulsion welled up in the pit of her stomach. “Somepony made this. Somepony made a…look here. That’s how I wear my mane. This has to be me. Somepony took a chunk of wood and carved it in my likeness. Who would do something like that?”

“And then they threw it at you?” Rainbow Dash grimaced. “I really don’t see the point.”

“There isn’t a point! Why is this here?!” Panic surged through Twilight’s being, seizing her muscles. She looked around frantically for anypony that seemed out of place, but the restaurant appeared as it had before; posh ponies enjoying their fine dining, waiters zipping about with trays of food, and not one suspicious looking character.

“Do you want to just leave?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We could head home, maybe stop at the Hay Burger.”

Twilight looked back down at the figurine. It even had her nervous smile. It was a flawless reproduction of her features. The idea that somepony had been watching her, had taken enough visual measurements of her to create a replica this well-crafted left her uncertain if she’d ever sleep again.

“Please just take me home,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Rainbow Dash wrapped her forelegs and her wings around Twilight, squeezing her. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out, okay? We’ll figure--”

When Twilight snapped back to reality, she found herself being pulled bodily from the isolation chamber. Her limbs splayed out on the floor, where she lay shivering in the relative warmth. “Skitter!” she heard a voice call out to her in the dark abyss where her consciousness lingered. She tried to reach out for the Space Between, to unseat herself from reality as she had before, but found that feat of magic was still denied to her.

“Come on, Skitter, wake up.” She was distantly aware of a light impact on her left cheek. She strained one last time with all her might to leave Bridle Rock behind and find the impossible geometries she’d seen before, but still the magic refused to come. At last, she returned to the world, closing up her mind palace and acknowledging the reality of physical space once more.

Her eyes opened and took in the facility’s pale green glow. All at once, the stings and pains returned to her. She could feel her lungs burning from the frozen air. Her forelegs, haunches, and face had gone numb in the time she was away. “Who--”

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere a bit warmer than this,” Flash Sentry said, throwing one of Twilight’s forelegs over his shoulder.

Twilight found walking on frozen hooves to be especially difficult, but Flash worked to keep her moving. They made their way down the corridor and through a door, then crossed a large room and passed into another hallway. “How long was I--” Before she could finish, Twilight was cut off by a violent gurgling in her stomach.

“It’s almost lights out,” Flash answered. “I guess the Captain thought it’d be funny to leave you in there all day.”

“How could he do that?” Twilight asked. She stumbled from the emotional weight of her situation bearing down on already numb limbs, but Flash quickly caught her and helped to keep her on her hooves.

“Look, you should watch what you say and do around here,” Flash suggested. “A lot of ponies lost friends and loved ones in the war. There isn’t a Royal Guardpony I know of that didn’t go through fire and fury to get where they are now, and I can think of a lot of ponies that should be standing here with us.”

“But I wasn’t there,” Twilight insisted.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re a changeling. You tried to replace the Acting Princess; that’s pretty high up there. Plus it takes a lot of us back to places we’d rather not be. I don’t know how much you know about that invasion, but it started with Princess Cadance. By the time anypony even knew what was happening, your kind had infiltrated everything.”

“The wedding,” Twilight whispered.

Flash winced. “Yeah, what I just said about ponies not liking you? That goes double for Shining Armor. Just try to stay away from him when he shows up. And maybe give the other Guardponies a wide berth too. What you pulled gave a lot of us some pretty ugly flashbacks. I think some of them are just looking for an excuse.”

Flash led Twilight through a side door into a well-lit room. The lighting was still artificial, but there was a gentle white glow instead of the unpleasant green in the rest of the facility. A long sofa stretched across one wall with a table in front of it flanked by several armchairs. And, most importantly, it was warm in a way she was starting to forget existed.

With Flash’s help, Twilight hobbled over to one of the chairs and plopped down in it. He quickly drew a blanket off the back of the sofa and laid it around her, which she accepted gratefully. “Hey!” he shouted suddenly, dashing towards a set of cabinets. Twilight craned her neck to look behind her, where she saw a large rat stand up to look at Flash.

Flash approached the rat, calling out, “Tom! Uh, Tom Whiskers? Thomas Wise Crackers? Whatever your name is. I need cocoa.” The rat turns its head sideways. “Co-coa. Cooooocoa. Come on, I know you know what that is; I’ve seen Wish Bone drinking it, and she certainly didn’t get that from Captain Silverpride.” The rat gave up on Flash and hopped through a slit in the cabinet door, resuming its rummaging. “Ugh, I don’t know how she gets these things to listen to her.”

“It’s alright,” Twilight said. “I prefer tea anyway. Do you have any ginseng?”

“Let me see here….” Flash stood on his hind legs at the kitchenette, propping open the cabinet doors and rifling through their contents. “We’ve got jasmine, cinnamon, something called Mareghrebi tea, Equestrian breakfast…the hay is Equestrian breakfast tea? Does it have eggs in it or something?”

“You’re not a tea pony, are you?” Twilight asked.

“Definitely not. I’m a coffee stallion. Gotta keep my energy going if I’m going to work long nights.”

“I’ll take the jasmine.” Twilight listened to the sound of Flash working the kettle behind her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on warming up. Something pegged her curiosity, however. “Why aren’t you angry?” she asked.

“About you?” Flash fell quiet. Twilight heard only the heating of the water and then, after a time, the pouring of liquid. Finally, in a flat, emotionless voice, Flash spoke up again. “You and your kind are the reason Equestria fell apart. If it weren’t for creatures like you, this place wouldn’t exist. I hate you and I hate everything you stand for.” He came around the chair, passing a small cup on a saucer into her hooves. Politely, he said, “Here, have some tea.”

Twilight looked at the swirling liquid. In the back of her mind, she considered the possibility that he might have poisoned it, but quickly dismissed it. He didn’t have to pull her out of that chamber, after all. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip; the fluid passed over parched lips and lit up her taste buds with a jolt of life and energy. Then it sank into her stomach and warmed her from within. “If you hate me so much, then why are you being so nice to me?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Flash said, plopping himself into the chair across from Twilight. In the crook of his right front hoof, he held a mug of apple cider. Twilight recognized that smell instantly. Flash continued, “Because it’s what she would do, I guess. She’s a lot smarter than me.”

“You’re talking about Fluttershy.”

“Of course, I’m talking about Fluttershy. She cried for a week straight when she got here. She wouldn’t eat anything or talk to anypony. She just stayed cooped up in her cell and cried. Then, one day, something just clicked inside of her. She got up, she started eating, she even talked to the other ponies. I thought she’d snapped, but then food started turning up missing.”

“Look, I don’t know how you’re doing it, but you can’t keep swiping supplies,” Flash whispered through the bars of Fluttershy’s cell. A small lantern sat at his side, providing illumination in the blacked out cell block. “The others could report you if they find out. This could even get back to Acting Princess Twilight.”

Her voice dripping with conviction, Fluttershy asserted, “I’m not afraid--” At which point her conviction faded and she lowered her head. “…okay, I’m terrified of her. She’s so mean and I don’t think she's very stable emotionally. But I can’t stop now. Wish Bone hasn’t been able to eat in three days because his stomach is too tumultuous for the cafeteria’s oatmeal. Sunset came down with a cold yesterday--”

“Wait, stop,” Flash told her. “What do they have to do with anything?”

“Well, I thought some nice carrots and asparagus would help Wish Bone get his diet back in order. The blankets are for Sunset. We’re working on a way to produce meltwater using the snowfall outside, because it has to be better than the groundsprings you’re giving us. We took some onion and lettuce for--”

“You’re giving them the food?!” Flash hissed. He could scarcely believe what he was hearing. “Fluttershy, these ponies are criminals!”

“So am I,” Fluttershy said bluntly.

“…okay, technically, yes. But you’re different from them.”

“How?”

“What?”

Fluttershy fixed a firm stare to Flash Sentry. “You said I’m different. How am I different? Am I not guilty of a crime against Equestria?”

“You are,” he admitted. “But you didn’t mean to do it.”

“Yes, I did. I knew exactly what I was doing and I did it.” She looked him in the eyes. “I did it, Flash. I’d do it again. A thousand times, I would do it again. So how am I different?”

Flash closed his eyes, trying to think. He heard Fluttershy’s words, but he didn’t like them. He loathed to consider her point, but he had nothing to counter it. After several seconds, he answered with a sigh, “…you’re not wrong.”

“If I’m not wrong, then why are you attacking me?”

“I don’t even know anymore.”

Flash explained, “We eventually declared that the missing stores were being caused by some wildlife getting in. I helped push that story along, and then I took over requisitions. It made sense for me to fill out the forms, since I have so much free time on my night shift. I try to make sure we have everything Fluttershy needs for her activities.”

“What did she do?” Twilight asked. “I’m still having a lot of trouble understanding that. What crime could a pony like Fluttershy have possibly committed to get her sent here?”

Without hesitating, Flash answered, “Treason.”

Despite herself, Twilight cracked up laughing. She was relieved that her body had warmed to the point that she was capable of mirth once more, and found it a welcome reprieve from recent events.

Flash simply stared at her. After several seconds of laughter, he said, “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“Because you said…you said….” Twilight chuckled a few more times, looking at Flash. She held out her hoof and rolled it, trying to lead him to finish the thought. After a few more seconds with no answer from him, she suddenly felt deathly ill. “…it’s a joke,” she said uncertainly. “You’re not serious. You can’t be.”

Flash said nothing.

Twilight fell back in her chair, suddenly feeling a knot in a throat. “You’re serious. Treason? Treason?! A pony hasn’t been convicted of treason in over a thousand years! Most lawbooks don’t even have it on the legal records anymore! That doesn’t happen.”

“You seem to know a lot about our history,” Flash observed.

Twilight sat back against the cushion, her newfound energy spent. She took another gulp of her tea. “Treason,” she repeated. It just didn’t seem possible. Fluttershy of all ponies had committed such a terrible act of treason that Acting Princess Twilight had no choice but to send her here? Here where the guards were completely mean and had freezing chambers set up to punish ponies over imagined slights against them?

Thinking aloud, Twilight said, “So Fluttershy committed treason and they sent her here. And she’s supposed to be here until she’s a better pony?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“How?” Twilight looked down at her empty teacup. “What do stale oatmeal and freezing chambers have to do with becoming a better pony? Does the Acting Princess know what it’s like out here?”

“I don’t think she cares either way,” Flash said.

“Of course, she cares,” Twilight replied, standing up in her chair. “If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t be signing those supply orders you put in, right?”

“She doesn’t. Those come back with Rarity’s signature. I couldn’t tell you why, but whatever I put on the manifest, she signs off on. I could ask for the moon and she’d probably see her way to having it delivered. But Twilight Sparkle? No, all she cares about is hunting down problems and throwing them in here. It’s just a matter of time before we’ve got half of Equestria behind these bars.”

Flash took a gulp of his cider, then added, “The other guards might talk about reforming you, but the truth is, Twilight put you here to rot.”

“That’s not true,” Twilight said defensively. “It can’t be true.”

“Yeah, well, that’s how it works. The Crystal Empire’s barely managing as it is. Once the war ended, everypony was terrified of where we’d go and what would happen next. Twilight stepped up, she took charge, and she brought us here. She and her administration, they keep the peace. That’s their job: to keep everypony safe and make sure nothing like that ever happens again. So they get rid of anypony that might cause trouble. You make too much noise, you disappear overnight. Those ponies wind up here. Bridle Rock is the cost we pay to have a safe Equestria.”

“You don’t believe that,” Twilight replied. “You wouldn’t be helping Fluttershy if you thought these ponies deserve to be treated like this.” Flash fell silent once more, looking down into his mug. “Maybe she doesn’t either,” Twilight continued. “It could be that there’s more to this. She might feel like she has to do this or…or maybe there’s a secret motive.”

Flash set his mug on the table. “Look, the way I see it, there’s two kinds of ponies. There’s the kind that does to others the way they’ve had done to them, and then there’s the kind that just does to others. Fluttershy’s that second type. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and she says you deserve to be helped. That’s all I know.”

Hopping down from his chair, he gestured for Twilight at the door. “You should be warmed up by now. Let’s get you back to your cell.”

She was reluctant to go, but she couldn’t argue with that logic. The feeling had come back to her quite some time ago. Any further stalling would just be for the benefit of comfort, and she didn’t think that would be a winning argument from a changeling.

Leaving the blanket on the chair she’d occupied, Twilight followed the light of Flash’s lantern through the dark cell block. When they arrived at her cell, she took her place on the straw mat while he closed and locked the door behind her. Flash told her, “The rats should be here with some food for you later. Try to get some rest, I guess.” Then he was gone.

As Twilight lay on her side, the weariness of the day finally hit her. She drifted away into the abyss of sleep, allowing her first day in Bridle Rock to finally draw to a close.

8 - Distance

Ponyville. A small town at the base of the mountains where Canterlot used to be. Twilight Sparkle knew from her geopolitical studies that this place had once been a small but pleasant hamlet. It had been far from the majesty of Canterlot or the hustle of Las Pegasus, but the ponies did well enough for themselves.

In more innocent times, the town had grown up around a large apple plantation. Ponies had settled in around the farm, eager to take advantage of its plentiful produce. A marketplace had developed along with stables and dining establishments to support ponies coming to sample the farm’s wares. Much of the town’s economy was wrapped up in the sales and distribution of the farm’s produce.

While its population had never been impressive before, the derelict site now sent a chill through Twilight. After Canterlot fell to the changelings, a full-scale evacuation of Ponyville had become necessary. For three days, ponies had collected their belongings and fled the town in an orderly fashion, guided by Rarity’s ridiculous militia, the Shield of Harmony. With the Wonderbolts providing scouting assistance, the Royal Guard had acted as a bulwark against Queen Chrysalis’s forces coming down the mountain.

All in all, the evacuation had gone exactly as Twilight had scheduled it. Ever since, the town had been poised as a staging ground for attempts to retake the capitol. For three years, ponies had holed up in the abandoned buildings now littered across the area, planning strategies and running drills in preparation for their offensives.

Now, at the end of everything, it felt strangely appropriate that the town would serve as the final battlefield. In the distance, the ruins of Canterlot could still be seen smoldering at the base of the royal mountain. Chrysalis and what forces survived the destruction had been forced into retreat. This time, it was their turn to flee in desperation through the remains of this hamlet.

Twilight’s legs were already strained and she could feel the pain impulses brought on by muscle exhaustion, but still she galloped for all she was worth to try and keep pace. Around her lay abandoned display stands and overturned carts; the disused remnants of what once must have been a bustling marketplace.

Ahead of her, the Princess stumbled, falling against an abandoned produce display. “Your highness!” Spike shouted in alarm as she fell, watching from Twilight’s back. His words spurred Twilight to kick her hooves faster, ignoring the signals to her brain.

“Do not concern yourself,” the Princess said, taking this impromptu moment of rest to nurse her damaged left wing, but Twilight couldn’t help but be concerned. The Princess had taken a nasty hit in her latest duel with Chrysalis, and the strain was already showing.

Twilight slowed on approach, eyes wide with fear. “Your majesty, with all due respect, we’ve already driven them out of Canterlot. They’ve lost their hoofhold in Equestria. Surely the Royal Guard can clear out any strongholds they might have left.”

“No,” the Princess said. With a heavy grunt of exertion, she forced herself back to her hooves. “If their Queen escapes, she’ll only return with another invading force. Equestria will never be safe so long as she’s out there. This may be the only chance we’ll ever have to capture her.”

“Then let me do it,” Twilight pleaded. “She hit the ground pretty hard after your last beam; she can’t have a lot of fight left in her!”

“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia stepped into a quick trot, with Twilight racing once again to keep up with her long strides. “There is still so much for you to learn, and I fear there is little time.” Princess Celestia remained as inscrutable as ever, Twilight feared.

Together, the Princess and her student made their way towards the plaza where they’d seen Chrysalis land. Twilight knew the area well enough; the Golden Oak Library had served a few times as a temporary residence for her, any time she needed to visit Ponyville. It wasn’t far from Rarity’s old pre-war storefront, the place where she’d made hats or some such nonsense.

“We each have our part to play in defending Equestria,” the Princess shared, gritting her teeth and wincing with several of her breaths. She stumbled once more, her foreleg falling out from under her, but Twilight raced forward to help catch her. “Thank you,” she said simply, climbing back up. “Every pony from the smallest foal to the mightiest earth pony is doing their part to end this war. I, in turn, must do mine. One day, Twilight, you must come to understand that we are stronger together than we could ever--”

“That’s beautiful,” a hoarse, deep voice cackled. It was a voice that Twilight had never heard before, but the Princess stopped dead in her tracks freezing in place. Ahead in the plaza stood a large, imposing figure that dwarfed even Celestia’s great height. Twilight had never seen anything like him before.

His lower body was that of a dark gray equine, but no Cutie Mark adorned his flank. His hooves were sharp and metallic, as if carved from steel, and his tail was sleek and white as snow. But where his head stood be, a large simian torso rose up, stacked with muscles the likes of which she’d rarely seen outside of one particular Ponyville pegasus. The creature’s red, furry arms were adorned by metallic bracers, and he wore another ring of steel around his neck. He wore a nose ring that accentuated the sharp fangs of his teeth, and Twilight shivered at the black pits of his eyes.

Around the creature, countless Royal Guardponies and changelings alike lay upon on the ground. None bore any visible sign of injury, and yet they sprawled out, quivering weakly in the wake of the beast’s powerful hoofsteps. In his right hand, Twilight was horrified to realize that he clutched Queen Chrysalis by the throat. With a quick motion, he tossed her to the ground at Princess Celestia’s hooves, spraying up cobblestones from the impact. There, the Changeling Queen fell limp, her eyes clenched shut.

“Tirek,” Princess Celestia whispered in a low growl.

“You should listen to her,” the monster named Tirek said, addressing Twilight. “I truly am stronger with you ponies together than I ever could have been with you apart.” He laughed at his own remark, a cruel and harsh sound that hurt Twilight’s eardrums to listen to. She never did learn what he found so entertaining about that statement.

“Don’t you speak to her,” the Princess growled, stepping protectively in front of Twilight.

“Well, look at you.” Clenching his fist, Tirek snarled, “You went and had yourself a little one, while I’ve been suffering your indignities for a thousand years!” His eyes fell once more on Twilight before returning to the Princess. “I intend to savor the look in your eyes as I tear her from you.”

Princess Celestia’s horn lit up with magic. “You will come no closer,” she replied.

“As you wish.” Tirek opened his jaw unnaturally wide and—

A beam of shining yellow energy slammed into Tirek’s chest, driving him backwards several feet. His hooves dug into the cobblestones, but he stood his ground and weathered the Princess’s blast. He reached out with his hand, pushing back the stream of Celestia’s beam. Between his horns, a red ball of energy glowed into existence.

Princess Celestia shot a sideways glance to Twilight at her side, then released the pressure of her beam. She leapt into the air, flapping her wings for altitude, but her left wing bent crooked and she fell lopsided to the right, crashing into the ground beneath her.

Tirek seized the opportunity. He lunged for Celestia, the energy sphere still resting between his horns. Twilight teleported to the roof of the building above her mentor, raining down a series of purple concussive bolts in his path. Tirek skidded to a stop, glaring up at her and giving the Princess a chance to compose herself.

With a powerful roar of force, Princess Celestia threw herself forward into Tirek, firing another beam of energy. Distracted, Tirek was caught full-on by the blast and thrown backwards through the wall of what used to be the flower shop. As the beam abated, Princess Celestia leaned against the wall next to her, breathing heavy gasps. Twilight’s heart sank; she knew the Princess wasn’t prepared for a fight of this caliber, not now.

“Princess Celestia!” she shouted. “We should--"

A colossal stream of red energy tore through the flower shop, catching the Princess in its wake. It tore up the street as it traveled and passed straight on through the bakery, obliterating the entire building. Twilight saw the Princess raise her barrier just before the impact, but she was still carried off by its force.

“NO!” Twilight cried out. Tirek stepped out from the ruins of the flower shop, cracking his neck. His flesh was scuffed and bruised, but he remained on his hooves ready to fight. Twilight teleported across the plaza, lifting as many displays and carts as her levitation spell could manage. One after another, she hurled them at Tirek. He blocked the first cart with his arm, then punched through the first display. One after another, he fought his way through the projectiles. On fifth, he roared and charged forward, smashing bodily through the objects in Twilight’s direction.

At the end of his charge, Tirek lowered his fist and swung down at Twilight, transferring his momentum into the blow. She teleported to safety, landing on the front step of the library just before a shout filled the plaza.

“Leave her alone!” Princess Celestia roared, firing one beam after another into Tirek. He blocked with his palm, catching her shots, but leaving himself open. Twilight bounded forward, summoning the magic to--

Twilight suddenly felt herself jerked into the air by the force of Tirek’s magic. She was shocked to realize he, too, knew a levitation spell. Before she had a moment to process, she was hurtling through the air straight at an ocean of brick and--

“She’s coming around!” Twilight opened her eyes to an ocean of white and violet. “Easy, darling. Don’t try to move. Are you injured?” Despite Rarity’s urgings, Twilight attempted to sit up. She was immediately met by a sharp pain surging through her left foreleg and let out a cry of pain. “I said not to move!”

“How bad is it?” Twilight asked fearfully.

“Well, it isn’t any good.” Lifting her blurry head, Rarity shouted, “For pony’s sake, she’s awake! Can we get a medic over here?! What is taking so long?!”

Twilight blinked her eyes several times. The image of Rarity became sharper, more clear. She was standing over her, clad in an Applewood breastplate with back and side armor tied together by vined ropes. Upon her head sat helmet crudely fashioned after the Royal Guard, but carved from Applewood like the rest of her armor.

On the front of her chest piece, a round shield had been carved in the wood with six crude hexagons spaced evenly around its edges. Twilight knew the symbol; the Shield of Harmony, invoking the imagery of the six Elements of Harmony she had once briefly wielded against Nightmare Moon. While the Elements had proven unstable and difficult to control, the ponies of Ponyville had been quite taken with them.

Twilight shook her head, groaning as consciousness slowly returned to her. She lay inside the ruins of what had once been a private home. The wall had collapsed around and on top of her, which must have been how she lost consciousness. But why was--

Tirek.

“Where’s Tirek?!” She cried frantically. “What happened?!” Despite the pain in her leg, Twilight struggled to get to her hooves.

“Stop that!” Rarity shrieked, physically restraining her.

“Where is he?! Is he still out there?!”

“Listen to me,” Rarity urged her. “The Shield of Harmony’s engaging as we--” She was suddenly silenced by the sound of a massive explosion in the distance.

“You don’t know how powerful he is,” Twilight hissed. “Where is Princess Celestia? We have to find her. She’s the only one who can--”

“We already found her,” Rarity said quietly. “We saw the creature standing over her. He was trying to do something to her, but we managed to drive him away. She’s….”

“Take me to her,” Twilight said.

“Twilight, you can’t even stand up. As the Shield’s liaison, I can’t in good conscience--”

“Rarity,” Twilight said, more firmly. “Please. I need to see her. I’m going to see her. If you can help me, then do, but if not…I can do it myself.” Twilight let the statement hang in the air for a few seconds. Then, forcefully, she asked, “Are you with me?”

Rarity closed her eyes, considering the statement. Then she answered, “Of course I am.” Putting Twilight’s wounded leg over her shoulders, Rarity helped to lift her out of the rubble. Twilight’s hind legs strained and her a sharp pain shot through her back, but she gritted her teeth and bore through it.

With Rarity’s help, Twilight stepped out through the hole her body had made in the wall. As they walked past the library together, Twilight could make out the devastation that had torn through the town. Massive gouges had been cut in the earth, with large holes through several buildings. Some homes had collapsed from the damage, while others shook, threatening further devastation at the slightest touch.

The sounds of fighting could be heard in the distance. Every now and then, Twilight saw pegasi swooping up into the air, then diving back down for another hit. Flashes of light and explosions rocked the town periodically. Looking at the changelings and Royal Guardponies whose unconscious forms littered the plaza, she knew it couldn’t have been going well for the militia. If the Royal Guard couldn’t handle Tirek, what could a rag-tag battalion of overenthusiastic villagers hope to accomplish?

With Rarity’s help, Twilight descended into one such gouge, and that is where they found Princess Celestia laid out. A dozen ponies in medical equipment raced about the scene, propping up her head and tending her wounds. Twilight recognized Nurse Redheart and a yellow mare she thought was named Fluttershy, though most of the other medical staff were unfamiliar to her.

Despite the best efforts of the medics, Princess Celestia’s teeth were clenched tight from the severity of her injuries and her eyes winced with each attempt to soothe them. She looked helpless, unable to do so much as lift her head from the cushion that Fluttershy had set under it. The sight sent a jolt of horror that chilled Twilight’s bones.

At her side, Spike sat distraught, openly weeping and clutching her right front hoof in his claws. He looked up at the sound of Twilight and Rarity’s approach, tears streaming from his eyes. “Twilight,” he said quietly, but fell too deep into his sobs to say any more.

“Twilight,” the Princess whispered as she approached. She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, opening her eyes weakly. “I’m glad….” She winced again, inhaling sharply. “…glad you made it.”

“What can I do?” Twilight asked desperately.

“Listen to me, Twilight. Listen very carefully. Tirek is still out there. If allowed, he will rampage through Equestria until he’s destroyed everything we hold dear. The very way of life that we ponies hold dear is at stake. He must not be allowed to bring everything we cherish to ruin.”

“How can we stop him?” Twilight asked. “You’re hurt. You can’t keep fighting!”

“Oh, Twilight,” the Princess said sadly. “I’ve done everything that I can. It’s up to you now.”

“Me?”

A gentle golden glow began to emanate from the Princess’s body. Twilight could feel the warmth coming from her. There was a power to it, but also a gentleness. It felt like basking in the sun’s rays on a hot summer day, feeling its nourishment flood into her skin. “Take my magic, Twilight. Take as much as your body can hold.”

It was then that Twilight realized what she was saying. “No,” she whispered. “I can’t. You can’t ask me to do this.” Even as she protested, the magic continued to flow into her, filling her with a warmth and a sense of power that she’d never known before.

“You have to do this, Twilight. This has to end here and now. You’re the only one who can do it. You must defend Equestria. You must guide its ponies into the future. It’s all up to you.”

“Please, no.” Twilight insisted. She wanted to cry. She wanted to break down and bawl for her mentor, but the tears wouldn’t come. She clenched her eyes tight and felt the warmth still growing inside her, strengthening her, empowering her.

The power grew larger and tighter. It strained the inside of her body. She could feel it filling her bones, squeezing and building up in pressure. She screamed in equal parts pain and anguish as the Princess’s magic filled her, a scream that seemed to resonate through the ruined town.

At last, when she felt as if she’d explode, Twilight tore herself away, breaking the connection between her and the Princess. She looked to her mentor, who had gone still against the ground. Celestia’s breathing came in low, shallow gasps. Not yet stilled, but weak. Twilight raised a hoof, reaching out to--

Another huge explosion in the distance rocked the town.

You must defend Equestria.

Twilight shut her eyes tight and let out a single gasp of despair. Then, with a burst of magic, she teleported across the town.

Half a mile away, Tirek roared in defiance. His left eye was clenched tightly shut and his left arm hung limply at his side. His body was scratched and scuffed in several places and he had trouble moving his right hind leg, but still he fought on.

From above, Rainbow Dash screamed down through the air. The visible light spectrum exploded around her, sending a kaleidoscope of colors in every direction as she tore straight towards Tirek. Tirek caught her in the corner of his eye, glancing up just in time to see her coming and hurl a massive beam of red energy from his horns.

The beam struck Rainbow Dash head-on, sending her spiraling off course into a nearby home. She slammed into the wall hard, losing her momentum. Before she could react, Tirek lifted her with his levitation, driving her back into the wall and scraping the side of her face across it. She fell limp to the ground in the alley at the wall’s end.

“RAINBOW!” A lasso snared Tirek’s neck from behind, yanking him up off his forelegs and backwards. Five ponies pulled the rope taut, each clad in the Shield’s wooden armor, with Applejack at the front. Lyra Heartstrings dashed across the road, firing a series of concussive bolts into Tirek’s exposed underbelly.

Tirek let out a roar and threw himself back down, yanking the rope forward. Each pony holding the rope was hurled forward, crashing into the ground and sending chunks of Applewood flying. Lyra darted to the side, narrowly avoiding being struck by Applejack impacting the cobblestones. Tirek snarled and--

“TIREK!!!” Twilight screamed from a nearby rooftop. Before he had a chance to react, she let loose all of the energy she’d been given. A beam as large as her with a super-heated yellow-orange glow erupted from her horn, hitting Tirek dead on. He raised his one good hand to try and stop it, but the blast tore into him, driving him backwards and chewing at his hide.

He summoned the energy he had left and fired into Twilight’s beam, trying to drive it back. Twilight kept the pressure on, screaming bloody fury as she unloaded wave after wave of solar magic. Even as tears threatened to flood from her eyes, she refused to let up. Even when her horn fractured from the intensity of the magic she was using, she kept the pressure up. She--

Twilight shot awake, hooves flailing against the covers. She rolled off the edge of the bed, her shoulder impacting the crystal floor with a thud that rang out in the silent room.

“Twilight?!” Rarity called out, roused by the noise. Lighting up her horn, Rarity scrambled to the side to find Twilight curled into herself, eyes clenched tightly shut. Twilight had buried her face in her forelegs and Rarity could just make out the desperate grimace on her face behind the cover of her limbs.

“Oh, dearest,” Rarity said. “Was it the dream again?” She reached out to touch her partner.

“I’m fine!” Twilight choked out in a broken voice. She jerked away from Rarity. “Leave me alone.”

Rarity took a moment to Climbing down from the bed, Rarity approached her love. “Talk to me,” she pleaded, reaching out for Twilight. “I can have Vigilant bring you some herbal--”

“Stop that!” Twilight snapped. She caught Rarity’s hoof in her levitation field, wrenching it away from her.

“Darling, please,” Rarity begged. “I can’t help you if you won’t at least try to talk to me. What is this nightmare of yours? Why won’t you let me in?”

“Because it’s not about you,” Twilight hissed. She refused to look at her partner, refused to let Rarity see the hollow terror in her good eye. She felt the urge to cry rise up inside her like an old friend, and she clenched her eyes shut to squash it back down. She would not be caught up in crying while Equestria burned to ash, its soul incinerated in those flames that consumed everything that mattered on that terrible day in Ponyville.

“Applejack,” she said firmly, sitting up slowly. As though her muscles were liquid, her body flowed into an upright stance. She slowed her breathing and calmed the beating of her heart. She inhaled and felt the energy infuse her center, then exhaled and allowed the horror of the past to flow away from her. She could not allow herself to feel it. Equestria could not survive another failure. She was needed now.

“Dearest?”

Twilight opened her eyes with a fierceness that threatened to pierce the door in front of her. With purpose dripping from her voice, she stated firmly, “Applejack and her fanatics are a threat to everything that matters to Equestria. They’re out there right now, plotting to destroy our way of life. This new changeling and her unicorn abilities must be connected to that.”

Rarity sat down hard on her haunches. “Dearest, no. There will be time for work later. You must--”

“It’s a puzzle,” Twilight replied coldly. “This whole scenario is meant to ensnare and destroy us. But it won’t, because I’m going to solve it.”

“Twilight, listen to me,” Rarity said, a single tear dripping down her cheek.

“I’ll be in the library.” Without another word, Twilight stormed off, leaving her wife alone with the echoes of a broken world.

Twilight’s second day in Bridle Rock began the same way as the first. Five members of the Royal Guard traversed the cell corridor with Captain Silverpride at their lead. Three pegasi, two unicorns. As they passed each cell, the unicorns used their magic to slide open the cell doors on each side, releasing ponies into the hall.

Once more, the Captain ordered ponies to go their separate ways for breakfast. “Let’s see if we can get through this one without incident,” he added. Twilight could swear he was smirking directly at her as he said it. Her stomach churned with revulsion at the sight of it, but she said nothing. She simply kept her head down and fell in with the unicorn line.

Once again, her eyes were drawn to the heavy metal door the line passed on their way to the disabling field. She couldn’t help but wonder what could warrant such a thick door. Nopony had said anything about it. No guardponies stood watch outside of it. There didn’t seem to be any active efforts to protect the door, and yet there it was.

She wanted to ask about it, but she remembered what happened yesterday with Trixie. So she remained silent and waited until her turn in the disabling field. Once through, she collected her oatmeal and apple, but the door remained in her mind. The Royal Guard didn’t seem concerned with it being tampered with, but it was heavy enough that even most earth ponies would have difficult getting through. It looked more like a vault than anything else.

What would the Acting Princess want to secure in Bridle Rock?

With her tray of food in hoof, Twilight found herself an empty corner of a table again and sat down to eat. She lifted her oatmeal bowl, downing its contents and savoring the warm feeling it put in her stomach; the closest thing to a temperate atmosphere in this wretched place, not counting the staff room Flash Sentry had taken her to last night. She lowered her bowl and--

“Good morning,” Fluttershy greeted her from across the table. Twilight jumped, sending the empty bowl bounding off her tray and clattering to the ground.

Twilight spent a few seconds catching her breath, then offered a weak, “Good morning,” back to her.

“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”

“No, it’s fine. I just have a lot on my mind.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I’m sorry that we never got to finish our tour yesterday. I hope the Captain wasn’t too hard on you.”

“They put me in a room to freeze,” Twilight stated bluntly.

Fluttershy gasped. “The solitary chambers?! I’m so sorry! They normally only do that to ponies who act out of line. You didn’t talk back to them, did you?”

“I might have?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “At what point did being snippy to a Royal Guardpony become a freezing offense? Sunset Shimmer slammed a pony’s nose into a table! Why didn’t they do anything to her?!”

“She did what?!” Fluttershy glowered. “She was supposed to be on her best behavior. I’m going to have to have so many words with her!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “If Sunset Shimmer has a best behavior, I haven’t seen it.” She thought of the Sunset she’d seen at Canterlot High. That Sunset had been cruel, vindictive, and surprisingly violent for a pony from Equestria.

She’d wondered several times if she had made the right decision, leaving Sunset Shimmer in the human world. At the time, she’d had faith that the magic of friendship would help her find her way, but now she wasn’t so sure. Seeing her again in this new context, she wondered if she might have been wrong.

Bridle Rock bothered Twilight on a gut level. The very notion of the place sickened her. But when she thought of Sunset Shimmer and ponies like her, the question rose in the back of her mind: maybe this place was the right solution after all. After all, if Twilight herself had conceived it, how wrong could it be?

“Hey, changeling!” A jab to Twilight’s left foreleg shook her out of her mental space. Sunset Shimmer stood beside the table, a menacing smirk burned onto her face. “You’re with me after breakfast. Green room. I have to see what you’re made of if you’re going to be one of mine.”

“Buzz buzz,” Twilight answered sardonically. She looked across the table at Fluttershy, who had frozen in place. She stared forward, saying nothing. Twilight glanced back to answer Sunset, but the pony was already on her way out the door. Once she was far enough away, Fluttershy exhaled.

“I thought you wanted to talk to her?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy hung her head. “I do have to. But she’s going to be mad and she gets scary when she’s mad. I need some time.” There was the Fluttershy Twilight remembered. She remained the hitch in Twilight’s blossoming idea that this place might not be so wrong. It was still hard to imagine Fluttershy doing anything on par with Sunset Shimmer or Trixie.

Treason.

What did that even mean? A charge of treason required a pony to betray Equestria itself during wartime. Had Fluttershy sided with the changelings?

Twilight shook it off. There were more pressing matters to deal with. “What did Sunset mean when she said she needs to see what I’m made of?”

“Oh, that’s simple,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Sunset Shimmer claimed you yesterday at dinner. You were probably in solitary at the time.”

“Claimed me?”

“It means you’re part of her herd now,” Fluttershy explained. “She probably wants to size you up and make sure you’re a good fit. After breakfast, I’ll show you where the Greenroom is. You never got to see it yesterday.”

Twilight had no idea what to expect, but she knew she wasn’t going to enjoy it. She made sure to eat her apple extra slowly.

“This is the Greenroom,” Fluttershy said, leading Twilight through an open pair of double doors. The sun’s bright light struck her for the first time in over a day, blinding her and forcing her to blink several times as her eyes adjusted to its intensity. Raising a hoof to shield her eyes, she lifted her gaze to the sky and--

Oh.

Even the sun’s welcoming light was a pale imitation of the world outside. A great ceiling made of some form of glass rested above her, allowing the sun to pierce the Greenroom but obscuring it and the sky from view. It must have been enchanted to protect it from the snow, she thought, but it didn’t truly matter. Even this was just another of Bridle Rock’s cages.

And still the chill lingered in the air. The sun provided light, but there was no warmth to come with it. The temperature remained just low enough to be a constant bother.

Glancing around the room, she was surprised at the size of it. The Greenroom must have been hundreds of feet across, with the ceiling several dozen feet up. The floor beneath her hooves was comprised of natural earth and rock. Patches of grass were spaced out in regular intervals across the ground, with vines and other forms of vegetation growing.

Twilight estimated at least a hundred ponies milling about in the cavernous space. Not far to her left, she was surprised to see Bulk Biceps hoisting a heavy barbell into the air. As the oversized pegasus roared triumphant, a pair of blue arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him off the ground, still clutching the barbells. The minotaur, who Twilight recognized as Iron Will, joined in Bulk’s roar, adding his voice to the cacophony filling the chamber before setting him back down.

Twilight put on her most diplomatic smile and waded into the Greenroom. She passed a trio of earth ponies on the right, each of whom scowled their disdain at her. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but she kept smiling to the best of her ability while giving them a wide berth.

“Where am I supposed to meet Sunset?” she asked through clenched teeth. After a couple of seconds when no answer came, she turned and realized Fluttershy was no longer with her. Fighting down a jolt of panic seizing her heart, she tossed another look around the room and spotted the pegasus on the far side, chatting with the con artist Flam.

Twilight lifted a hoof to go back for her when she heard, “Hey, Skitter!” called out across the room. Sunset Shimmer’s demeaning voice attacked her ears, shouting “Quit wasting everyone’s time and get over here!”

“Oh, ponyfeathers,” Twilight muttered to herself. Following the voice, she found Sunset reclining on her stomach on a soft patch, surrounded by her herd. Around her, Twilight counted twenty-seven ponies of varying species and colors. She easily recognized the ponies that had cornered her at breakfast yesterday as well as Trixie, who scowled at her from her safe vantage behind Sunset.

“It’s about time,” Sunset Shimmer said with a predatory smirk. “I don’t like being made to wait. You’re new, so I’ll let it slide today, but I expect punctuality in the future.”

Glancing just to Sunset’s left, Twilight spotted the mare Sunset had assaulted yesterday. She watched Twilight over the shoulders of a teal stallion, saying nothing. “What is this about?” Twilight asked.

“You mean it isn’t obvious?” Sunset whispered audibly to Trixie, “Dim-witted. Make a note of that.”

“I’m not dim-witted,” Twilight protested.

“You must be if I have to explain this to you. You’re a changeling. I want to see you change.”

Twilight took a step back, stunned by the request. “…change? You want to see me change?” she asked frantically. Her eyes darted across the room once more, but Fluttershy had vanished among the growing throng of ponies in the Greenroom.

“I just said that.” She whispered to Trixie, “Very slow.”

“I am not slow!”

Sunset huffed. “I claimed you in the dining hall. That basically means I own you. Now I want to see what you’ve got so get to changing already! Show me the biggest, meanest form you can take.”

Twilight glanced from Sunset to Trixie and back. She shot another look at the mare from yesterday, but found only hungry, curious eyes looking back. “Right,” she said to herself. “Change.”

After a few seconds passed, Sunset gave out a frustrated groan. “Come on, Skitter, this isn’t complicated. You know what, you don’t even need to go big right now. I’ll take whatever you have. You’ve been here a day and I’m already sick of looking at Twilight Sparkle.” She sneered when she said the name, as though it were a curse. “You know she’s not supposed to have wings, right?”

Twilight glared. “I’ve made a few errors,” she said through gritted teeth.

Sunset whispered to Trixie, “Poor observation skills.”

“Would you stop that?! There is nothing wrong with my--” It was at that point Twilight realized that Trixie didn’t even have anything to be taking notes with. Sunset had been making these comments purely to antagonize her.

“All evidence to the contrary,” Sunset Shimmer said with a smirk. “I’ll stop when you quit screwing around and change already.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?!” Sunset rose abruptly from her spot on the grass, staring down Twilight with a fierce menace in her eyes.

“Because….” Twilight thought for a second. “Oh! Because of the disabling spell.”

“What.”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. They’ve been making me go through the disabling field every morning to prevent me from using magic. That’s why I can’t change.”

“No, it’s not,” Sunset asserted.

Twilight blinked. She hadn’t expected Sunset to catch onto her deception so quickly. “Yes, it is. I use my magic to change. The spell shuts down my magic, so I can’t change.”

“Do you think we’re all stupid or something?” Sunset asked with a certainty that surprised Twilight once more. “Unicorn magic and changeling magic function on entirely separate principles; even a nobody in grade school could tell you that. Right, Trixie?”

Trixie scoffed. “Obviously. Because changelings have horns that are filled with holes and…their holes make magic…that’s, um…that’s full of--”

Pressing a hoof to her forehead just under her horn, Sunset let out a grunt of frustration. “Trixie, stop trying to sound like you have half an idea in your skull and just agree with me.” Listening to Sunset Shimmer denigrate her companion’s intelligence, Twilight was suddenly struck by a flash of inspiration.

“Pop quiz!” Sunset announced, whirling on Twilight in the darkest hallway of Canterlot High. “What happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?”

Twilight hesitated, uncertain. She thought back to the tome she’d read on the subject, but she couldn’t recall any reference to the Elements actually leaving Equestria. As far as she knew, it had never happened before.

“You don’t know?!” Sunset demanded. “Seriously?!” She let out a short laugh filled more with malevolent scorn than mirth. “And you’re supposed to be Princess Celestia’s star student? Then again, what were the chances she’d find somebody as bright as me to take under her wing after I decided to leave Equestria?” Sunset passed dismissively by Twilight, adding, “Bit embarrassing that you were the best she could do.”

Twilight had known at the time that Sunset Shimmer was just trying to get under her skin. She was an adversary in the battle for the Element of Magic, so anything Sunset said was undoubtedly a psychological assault. Still, knowing was easier than feeling; Twilight was very proud of her intelligence, and having it so directly challenged and demeaned hurt.

Even after returning to Equestria, she spent a lot of time thinking about that conversation. What does happen when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world? The unusual transformation that had overtaken her couldn’t have been what she was referring to. Twilight vividly remembered the shock on her face and the tears streaming from her eyes as she transformed; she clearly hadn’t been expecting this.

Twilight had spent days in the library researching obscure principles of magic to try and find what Sunset Shimmer had found. Then, one day….

“Do you have to leave?” Twilight asked, one hoof resting on the tome in front of her. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. We could grab my telescope and set it up out front.”

Applejack smiled sadly, picking up her hat with a hoof and fixing it to her head. “That sounds like a mighty fine evenin’,” she admitted, “But we got the harvest comin’ in tomorrow. I’m fixin’ to be up at the first sound of the rooster’s crowin’, so I’ll be needin’ to call it an early night.”

Applejack smirked at Twilight’s expression. “Hey, you quit your poutin’,” she said as she closed the distance between them.

“I’m not pouting,” Twilight replied. “I’m sulking.”

“Nah, sugar, I’ve seen you sulk. You quit usin’ your neck muscles and let your head hit what’s in front of you. Right now, you got that shakin’ lip stuck out and that means you’re poutin’.”

Before Twilight could respond, Applejack leaned in and captured her pouting lips in a tender kiss. A single hoof joined Twilight’s on the tome, squeezing it against the book. Her heart fluttered and her muscles filled with the kind of warmth and energy that only comes from the fulfillment of passion.

And then it was over. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, and when it broke, Twilight instinctively slid her head forward trying to find it again. Then consciousness reclaimed her muscle control and she opened her eyes. “Boy howdy,” Twilight whispered, followed shortly by a giggle.

“That’ll have to last you,” Applejack said. “Besides, y’look like you’ve got another all-nighter ahead of ya. Still scratchin’ your head about Sunset Shimmer?”

Twilight looked down at the tome in front of her. This was the fourth time she’d read The Elements of Harmony in the last two days. The evidence of her other avenues of study lay in neatly assembled stacks around the library’s central table.

“I’ve been through every book we have that even mentions the Elements of Harmony. I even went through several from the Royal Library, but there’s nothing here. Perhaps I’m missing a cross-reference with another source….”

Applejack shrugged. “Do y’think she might’ve just been messin’ with ya?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, spreading apart her notes beside the book.

“Well, the way I heard it, she was just bullyin’. There ain’t a lot of logic in that, sugar. I reckon she was just tryin’ to rattle ya. Y’know, talkin’ out of her Cutie Mark to make you feel like y’ain’t smart enough to keep up with her.”

Twilight’s forelegs went slack and her jaw fell open. She stared forward, listening to Applejack’s words running through her mind. In her mind’s eye, she flashed back on those minutes in the hallway and the way Sunset Shimmer had treated her. Slowly, she turned her gaze back down at the tome before her, feeling a sense of betrayal from the very premise of knowledge itself.

“…I’ve spent four days on this,” she muttered absently. She’d had things taken from her before, but this was the gift of knowledge. There was supposed to be an answer or a solution; she was supposed to be able to find a truth that would enrich and enlighten her. That Sunset Shimmer had presented her with a query with no true answer…that was the ultimate cruelty.

Unless there was more to it! “What if it’s a trick?” she asked desperately, laughing to herself. Flipping through the pages of her research journal, she announced, “She thought she could fool me with a double bluff! Well, she’s going to find out that--”

Twilight suddenly felt the warmth of her partner’s body pressing in around her. Applejack’s forelegs came down around her own. For several seconds she just sat there, basking in the feeling of having the pony she loved all around her. In that moment, her fears and regrets seemed to melt away. She could feel Applejack’s warm breath against her ear, followed shortly by a whisper. “Why don’t you run upstairs and get your telescope?”

Twilight shivered at the sensation. “What about your harvest?” she asked quietly. “You said you have to get up early?”

“I can be late.”

Sunset Shimmer turned grumpily away from Trixie, reluctant to even look at her right now. “In any case--”

“You’re right,” Twilight said, trying to mask the smile that threatened to break out across her face. “You are absolutely right. I should have known better than to try and trick a pony as brilliant as you.” Applejack was right; she’d been so focused on the metaphysical element that she’d missed the obvious point staring her in the face. It was…how did it go? She was being bitten by a snake and that stopped her from seeing it?

When Sunset Shimmer’s scowl turned slightly upwards, Twilight took it as confirmation. It wasn’t about the magic. It had never been about the magic. The magic, the knowledge, and the studies were all a means to an end for her. Ultimately, what Sunset wanted was to have her intelligence validated. Twilight could use that.

“There is no sound basis for the disabling field affecting changeling magic,” Twilight asserted. “A unicorn’s horn serves as a focal point for all of our magic. We use our horns to control and manipulate the spells we cast, using the energy that exists in our thoughts and feelings. The disabling spell neutralizes that flow of energy through our horns, creating a metaphysical block that prevents us from making our spells manifest in reality.”

Sunset Shimmer absorbed this information from Twilight with a thoughtful look on her face. Of course, she knew all of this already. A horn’s function was one of the earliest lessons in the School for Gifted Unicorns. It was the most basic of basic learning. Still, it gave Twilight a solid ground to demonstrate her experience level.

“Not bad,” Sunset replied. “You’re familiar with the basic principles, which is more than I expected.”

“Oh, I’m more than familiar.” Holding her head high, Twilight asserted, “I’ve all but memorized Baritone’s Thesis on the Internalization of Magical Force. I’ve read all six volumes of Philosophy of Transmutation cover to cover in one sitting. Did you know that four separate ponies have postulated the hypothetical scenario of Magical Derangement independently of one another?”

Sunset nodded along with Twilight, easily absorbing the information she was sharing. “Well, this approaches adequacy. But you still haven’t changed.”

Of course that was still going to be the sticking point. “I can’t,” Twilight said again. “I can’t tell you why, but I can’t change. But I did want to get your opinion on Firemane’s Third Conundrum. I’ve read it a few times, but there were parts of it that never made any sense to me.” Twilight held her breath, hoping she hadn’t overplayed her hoof. For a second, she worried that she might have gone overboard, choosing too simple of a problem.

Her fears were quickly allayed, when Sunset broke out into her mocking laugh. “Really? I answered that in my sleep. Fine, go ahead and keep your secrets for now. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll walk you through Firemane’s Third. Trixie, pay attention; you could stand to learn a few things too.”

Twilight approached Sunset Shimmer, taking a seat on the grass in front of her. She wasn’t quite sure what purpose a herd served in this context, but she’d managed to ingratiate herself and that had to count for something.

By lunch, Twilight was certain that the herds had no purpose. In absence of a social structure, ponies had taken it among themselves to form elaborate social groups. The herd chatted with one another. They played games here or there. She’d expected some kind of organized movement, but it was more like having friends. At least, as long as everypony was careful not to step on Sunset’s hooves, it was.

Twilight was only half surprised that the lunch oatmeal was the same oatmeal that they served for breakfast. She hoped it was at least a new batch. Still, after a morning spent letting Sunset lecture her about principles of magic she already knew, she was ready for anything else. It was almost a relief when she set down her lunch tray at a table, flanked by other members of the herd, and heard Sunset Shimmer say, “So. Fluttershy.”

“What about her?” Twilight asked.

“Good to see you’re getting along. Some ponies show up here and they don’t really get it. They just think they can push her around and she won’t defend herself.” Sunset took a bite of her apple, loudly crunching it. “Trust me, it doesn’t take long for them to learn how much of a mistake they’re making.”

“What does she do to them?”

Sunset scoffed. “Nothing. She doesn’t have to. You’re new, so maybe you don’t get it yet, but we’re supposed to be waiting to die here. That’s what this place is: Twilight Sparkle’s dumping ground for ponies she doesn’t want in her pretty, perfect Crystal Empire. And then there’s guardponies like Captain Silverpride.” Sunset fumed as she said the name.

“We’ve met,” Twilight said, matching Sunset’s disdain.

“The point is, this place is a hole in the ground and the only reason it’s not a thousand times worse is Fluttershy. She’s the only thing in this whole complex that’s worth anything.”

“But why is she here?” Twilight asked for what felt like the hundredth time. “I was told that, uh…that the Acting Princess sent her here for treason? Why would she do that?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Uh, because she’s a crazy dictator? Why does she do anything?”

“She’s what?” Twilight mulled over the term in her head, but her internal vocabulary was pulling nothing but blanks. “I don’t understand that reference.”

“You wouldn’t,” Sunset said simply. “Here, since you’re obviously too dim-witted to get it, let me lay this out for you. Twilight’s in charge and she expects everyone in Equestria to do everything she says without question. She says to go that way, and then everyone’s supposed to drop what they’re doing and obey her.”

Twilight stared blankly at Sunset. In her mind, she mulled over what she was hearing, but for the life of her, she couldn’t find the problem. “The Princess is supposed to make the laws,” she said. “Why wouldn’t ponies be expected to follow them?”

“Because they’re terrible,” Sunset answered. “Sure, if they were good laws, maybe you’d have a point, but things get dicier when you have a maniac like Twilight Sparkle on the throne.”

“Stop that,” Twilight said. She knew she shouldn’t, but hearing those comments had already started agitating her beyond the point of reasonable restraint.

“Stop what?”

“Stop calling her names. She’s not crazy. She’s not a maniac. She’s doing the best she can!”

Sunset let loose the most condescending laugh Twilight had heard from her yet. “Look, changeling, I’ll stop calling her a lunatic when she stops acting like one. Twilight Sparkle is out of her mind. Do you know what she arrested Trixie for?”

Dryly, Twilight suggested, “Trying to enslave ponies with an evil artifact to make them worship her?”

Trixie’s eyes perked up from beside Sunset. “Is that a real thing? Not that I’d need anything like that, of course. The Great and Powerful Trixie--”

“She challenged Twilight to a duel,” Sunset interrupted. “About a week after they all fled to the Crystal Empire, Trixie invited Twilight to come out and prove whose magic was stronger. She got the crowd worked up for the big show, and then here comes Twilight with her Stormtroopers.”

“Her what?” Twilight asked.

Trixie scowled. “Twilight had me arrested for, ahem, ‘inciting unrest’. She said I was making ponies lose faith in her ability to protect them. I was only trying to liven everypony’s spirits with some entertainment.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Why do I think there’s more to that story?”

“There’s not,” Sunset snapped. “Twilight shut her down and sent her here because her precious little ego couldn’t bear the challenge.”

“Sure,” Twilight said grumpily. “Or maybe she did it because Trixie’s a liar, a braggart, and a dangerous con artist!”

“Are you seriously trying to defend her?” Sunset demanded.

“She has to run this whole kingdom by herself. I’m sure she’s had to make a lot of hard choices--”

“Hard choices?! She’s ruling Equestria with an iron hoof!”

“No, she’s not!” Twilight shouted, standing up from the table. “She’s doing what she thinks is best to protect Equestria! You have no idea how hard she’s worked to get to where she is. You have no room to talk, not after you left--” Twilight stopped suddenly, putting a hoof to her lips.

“Say that again,” Sunset said, eying Twilight carefully.

“It’s nothing.”

“No, finish what you were going to say. What, exactly, where you about to say I did?”

“Never mind.” Twilight looked down at her half-eaten bowl of oatmeal. “I’m finished. I’ll be in my cell.”

“Hey!” Sunset shouted after Twilight as she stormed off. “You don’t walk away from me! We’re not finished here!” Twilight didn’t even look back. She had meditations to get to, and the loneliness of her cell promised to be more welcome company than the likes of Sunset Shimmer.

As soon as Skitter had left the room, Trixie let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Well, that was a disaster. And predictably so, too. I told you nothing good would come from trying to be nice to a changeling.”

“You don’t actually believe that garbage, do you?” Sunset asked. She looked over at Trixie’s puzzled expression, then groaned. “Never mind, I forgot who I was speaking to.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to have to explain this. “I’m talking about that tripe they fed us about her being a changeling, obviously. We’re going to put that over in the ‘Unproven’ pile until I see some actual evidence.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. She looked to the door where Skitter had departed. “What else could she be?” she asked. “She looks and sounds exactly like Twilight Sparkle. There aren’t two Twilights.” Suddenly she perked up as a flash of inspiration took her. “Ooh, maybe Twilight has a twin sister. She could have been kept hidden away for years, secretly mastering the ancient art of, um…growing wings….”

Sunset Shimmer groaned. “Trixie. Your snout is moving while intelligence is trying to happen. Fix that.”

Trixie clamped her snout shut, lowering her head in deference to her boss.

“That’s better. Follow her. Keep track of everything she’s doing. If she even sneezes weird, I want to hear about it.”

“Why?” Trixie asked.

“Because I have a hunch. If I’m right, ‘Skitter’ might just be the key to claiming my rightful place in Equestria.”

9 - The Most Discourteous Unicorn

A coarse and grainy wind whipped across the barren wasteland. Flecks of sand bit into Twilight’s flesh and stung at her eyes. She raised a hoof to shield her eyes and used her magic to pull her cloak tighter around her.

She knew this area. She’d been here once long ago. She walked among wooden shacks long collapsed under their own weight. She watched tumbleweeds roll past, bringing memories of sweeter times. She remembered the smell of fresh-picked produce down at Cherry Hill Ranch. They’d all been so worried about Applejack then; it seemed almost a lifetime ago now.

It really does.

Twilight considered lingering a moment. There was a peaceful atmosphere in this moment that she wasn’t sure she’d find elsewhere. Equestria was long since gone, of course, with no rhyme or reason for why. She wasn’t liable to find any kind of answers here. But at least she could collect her thoughts. She could rummage for something to eat in peace. She could rest at least for a night without fear.

It’d be nice in its own way. It’d be lonely, of course, to be so far from home with nothing but pale shadows of a world she knew and her memories to comfort her.

More than you know.

But she could do it. Just one night. Yeah. That would be nice.

She smiled to herself, thinking of how nice it could be as she returned to the tracks. Her vessel stood in silent vigil, waiting for her return. What had once been the Friendship Express’s engine car had been outfitted with hydraulic regulators to help direct the flow of magic; various pipes jutted out from its sides, connecting to the Crystal Mirror in the back of the cab.

What in Equestria? This is…this is brilliant. How did you build this?

A moment’s rest was a nice fantasy, but there was still work to do. Opening the door to the cab with her magic, Twilight--

No, stop! I wasn’t finished! Keep looking at the train!

--ascended into the booth. She took one last longing glance back at the town and savored the taste of rest in her imagination. Then she threw the lever forward and pulled back on a switch, sending a charge of energy surging through the Temporal Express.

Is that Star Swirl the Bearded’s Time Travel Scroll you’re using as a power source?! That’s incredible! How did you configure the mirror to channel it?!

The train jolted forward, then stopped. After a couple seconds, it kicked forward again, then began slowly chugging forward. Twilight stared straight ahead, watching the scenery approach as the vehicle picked up speed. Bright lights began to flash around her as the Crystal Mirror began to work its magic, popping wildly about until finally--

With a jolt, Twilight felt her consciousness returning to the cold cell where her body rested. That was unusual; her connection had never been so forcefully disrupted before. It must have been the other Twilight’s contraption; the connection broke when she’d vanished into the timestream.

Okay. That was a new piece of information to add to her mental list. These connections, she’d determined, were glimpses into other lives she might have lived. The network of strings in her mind palace connected her to a seemingly endless labyrinth of Twilight Sparkles, each with her own life and history.

That much had already been determined, but this was an interesting new development. If time travel disrupted the connection, then that implied that the connections reached across space, not time. Each other Twilight seemed to exist simultaneously with her, moving forward through time at the same rate.

This seemed consistent with what she’d experienced at Canterlot High. Three days at Canterlot High had correlated perfectly with three days in her own reality. She hadn’t been there long enough to see another Twilight for herself, but given everything she’d seen in her time there, it seemed probable that there was one. Still, she reminded herself, one mustn’t make assumptions, especially in these conditions.

Not for the first time, she felt a pang of longing for the comfort and familiarity of parchment. Memory was much too unreliable for even moderate studies, and here she was exploring a brand new principle of magic. She feared for how much vital information she was losing with each passing second to memory decay. Worse, she had to remind herself of the dangers of assuming; over time, it was easy for memory to mistake an assumed hypothesis for a proven fact.

For instance, Twilight could hypothesize that the reason she was still able to view these connections with other realities was because the magic she was using was completely internal. The disabling spell prohibited her horn from making her magic manifest in reality, but as long as her body remained present here, there was nothing to manifest.

It seemed logical. She was looking through windows in the recesses of her mind that either had never been there before or that she’d simply never perceived, but actually following those connections physically would require her to manifest her magic. That’s where the disabling spell limited her. It made reasonable sense. However, without rigorous testing, it should never move from hypothesis to proof.

Twilight sighed. The rumbling in her stomach told her that dinner would probably be near soon. Another bowl of oatmeal and another apple was waiting for her, just like it was for every meal. She idly wondered how long it would take for the symptoms of malnutrition to set in. Of course, Fluttershy was there, so she probably had little to worry about in that regard.

For three days, this had been her routine. She meditated in her cell where nopony would bother her, exploring the connections between herself and a wide web of lives she might have led if circumstances were different.

At this point, she wasn’t even sure what she was trying to find. Was this a facet of chaos magic? Discord seemed to indicate it was, but she couldn’t see any connection between these glimpses into parallel realities and making it rain chocolate. There had to be pieces missing from her understanding.

Two staircases that each lead to nowhere. Two separate staircases leading nowhere.

That image had remained burned in her mind’s eye. Discord seemed thrilled to talk about it, but nothing he’d said had made any sense. What purpose could the staircase serve? And if there was no purpose, then why would you need two of them? And how did it relate to chaos?! What was the connection?!

Was it just there to not make sense? Was that its purpose? To confuse ponies? To trick them into wasting their time trying to figure out what kind of sense it was supposed to make when there were really better things they could be doing with their life?! Was it all an elaborate practical joke?!

Twilight grunted in frustration, standing up from the straw that Bridle Rock called a bed. She needed to take a walk or she was liable to go stir-crazy. Lights out wouldn’t come until well after dinner, so she still had plenty of time to stretch her legs. She just had to worry about who she’d run into.

She’d spent the last three days trying to avoid drawing attention. Captain Silverpride was the last pony she wanted to run into alone. She’d also been giving Sunset Shimmer a wide berth; she wasn’t certain if she could still be considered a member of Sunset’s herd after the argument they’d had, and she was in no mood to find out.

So she’d spent her days exploring the connections. Each led to another Twilight Sparkle somewhere in a distant reality. She’d seen Twilights in love, Twilights on adventures, Twilights in strange places and interacting with ponies she’d never even heard of, and more. But she was still no closer to home, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized this course wasn’t going to get her there anyway.

Even if she was able to return to the Space Between and follow one of these connections, none of them would lead her home. There was no connection to her home; the Twilight Sparkle of that reality was right here, wasting away in Bridle Rock. No matter how many pieces of a seemingly infinite spectrum of Twilights she reviewed, the one connection she’d never find was herself.

Twilight approached the massive door once more. She’d been by to visit it every day, sometimes multiple times. There was something about it that seemed to call out to her. She couldn’t explain the strange fascination she’d had with this door. It felt as if it was resonating with her, sending signals through her psyche that she’d never felt before. She could feel something beyond it, as if it was triggering a brand new sense entirely.

But the door stood firm as ever. It didn’t even seem to have a handle or latch. She’d seen doors like this before in Canterlot; Princess Celestia’s vault opened through magic. With the disabling fields keeping the unicorns from casting their spells, such a door would guarantee that the only ponies who even could open it were the unicorns in the Royal Guard.

But staring at it was getting her nowhere. It wasn’t even relevant to her objectives anyway, was it? The ultimate objective was to find a way home. To do that, she’d need to understand the magic that brought her here, which she still didn’t even have the slightest grasp on. Nothing about Discord’s magic made sense, and nothing she’d learned seemed like it had anything to do with it.

Maybe she needed to come at this from a new angle.

Twilight stared at the rock, daring it to move. She watched it carefully, studying its every curve and feature. Gray with a hint of bronze on its left side. Craggy. Three potentially sharp corners. Smells like grit. Tastes like grit too.

It was definitely a rock, alright. Definitely a rock.

Definitely. A. Rock.

But could it be an orange?

No. It was a rock.

But did it want to be an orange?

No. Rocks did not have feelings.

But maybe it could be an orange. Oranges had a hard peel on the outside covering a sweet and juicy center. Twilight had created oranges many times with her transmutation spells, so she was familiar with the basic principles of using unicorn magic to alter an object’s properties in such a fashion.

But this wasn’t unicorn magic. This was a rock. A rock that persisted in not being an orange.

“Change,” she ordered it.

The rock said nothing.

“Be an orange!”

Still, the rock said nothing.

“You wish to be an orange,” Twilight argued, attempting to convinced it.

“I really don’t,” the rock said in response.

Aha! Progress! Wait, no, she’d imagined that. Never mind.

“Auuuuugh,” Twilight groaned, slapping her forehead down onto the defiant stone. She immediately regretted the gesture. Now her head hurt and she still didn’t have an orange.

What was she doing wrong? “I licked a rock,” she complained into the void. “What more do you want from me?!” But the laws of physics were cruel and uncaring, so no reply was sent.

According to Discord, glimpsing the Space Between had opened her mind and made chaos magic possible or something to that effect. So, logically speaking, that meant she should be able to transmute the way he does. And yet the rock remained ever stubbornly a rock.

She had to think. What would Discord do here? If it was him in her place, how would he change the rock?

Twilight glowered. She glanced around to make sure that nopony would see her doing this. She’d come to the Greenroom some time after dinner, when most ponies were wandering towards their cells for lights out. It was the perfect time to avoid attention.

Feeling secure in her isolation, Twilight whispered to the rock, “Hey, can you peel away for a second?” She sat in silence, watching the rock eagerly, but nothing happened. “I need you to help orange the library!”

After several more seconds, she caught herself glaring daggers at the impertinent stone and its obnoxious decision to cling to physics. She stepped away for a moment and took a breath, letting the air flow through her being and relax her. Getting angry wasn’t going to do her any good.

Once she’d had her time to recover, she whirled on the stone. “Rock rock!”

In a low, whining voice, Twilight responded, “Who’s there?”

“Orange!”

“Orange who?”

“Orange you glad you don’t have to be a rock?!” Twilight beamed brightly, eyes pinned to the stone in eager anticipation. As the seconds turned to minutes, her hope dimmed and her smile faded.

She hated this rock. She hated it like she had never hated anypony before.

So there had to be more to it than just the snappy pun. What else did Discord do? Oh, that’s right! The talon snap. His dry wit was typically accompanied by a click of his talons. How could she have forgotten?

Twilight eagerly raised her hoof and….

…

Twilight swore a blood oath of vengeance upon this stone and all of its granular progeny.

She reared back, balancing on her hind legs and pressing her front hooves together. She ground her hooves against each other for a moment, then flicked one, casting her foreleg out with such force that it cost her balance and pulled her over. She hit the dirt, face inches away from the offending stone.

She could feel it laughing at her.

Nothing left to do but try again. She reared up again, finding her center of balance before clicking her hooves together and then slapping one away as noisily as she could muster.

No response. This was going to be a long night.

Calmly, Trixie explained, “So, once she finished telling bad puns to the rock, Skitter spent the rest of the evening practicing interpretive dance.”

Reclining forward on her straw bed, Sunset’s features contorted into an expression that Trixie could only define as somewhere between mortified horror and confused indignation. The only word she managed to utter was a simple, “What.”

“It could be some kind of Changeling ritual,” Trixie suggested.

“It’s not a….” Sunset stopped midsentence, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hoof. Trixie knew the gesture well; Sunset Shimmer seemed to prefer condescending groans to actually explaining anything. She said simply, “This isn’t working. I need a new avenue.”

“Should I keep following her?” Trixie asked, but Sunset had already rolled over on her mat and put her back out. There was going to be no way to get through to her now. Trixie let out a defeated sigh and returned to her own cell block, secure in the knowledge that no matter what she did, it would be wrong.

Twilight reached her cell with a few minutes left before lights out. She stayed silent as the Royal Guard led by Captain Silverpride descended the hall in the opposite direction they moved each morning. The pegasi inspected each cell as they passed, ensuring its occupant was present. Then the unicorns slid the doors shut with a gesture of magic every bit as fluid as when they opened them in the morning.

With a few minutes left before lights out, Twilight picked up a small rock in her hoof. She pressed it to the wall and lowered her hoof, dragging the rock with the motion. The rock scratched a thin vertical line into the stone.

With the day marked on the wall, Twilight let the rock fall to the ground. She dropped onto her straw mat and faced the wall beside her. Engraved in rock scratches was a crude sketch of a small, bipedal dragon wearing a cowboy hat. When the magic green light faded out and darkness took the cell block, Twilight whispered, “Goodnight Spike.”

After a few seconds, she added, “Goodnight, Applejack.”

The encroaching darkness that flooded into her vision said nothing in response.

The next day came like each before it. Once more, Twilight ate her meal in isolation and returned to her cell. Once more she meditated on the spectrum of realities that dwelled beyond perception, intersecting endlessly through her being. Once more she found herself before the door, questioning its purpose.

She wondered how many ponies had stood here, staring at it, wondering the same questions she wondered now. Why did the door occupy so much of her calculating prowess? What secrets were calling to her from--

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Sunset Shimmer said from beside her, causing Twilight to startle. “I mean, if you’re into doors.”

“Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight gave the biggest, widest fake smile she could manage. “Hi! How are you? Nice, uh…nice weather we’re having?”

“Yes, the sky’s just how I like it: chunky.”

Eyes wide with panic, Twilight laughed as loudly and obnoxiously as she could manage. “That’s so funny!” she exclaimed.

“It’s really not.” Sunset turned on Twilight, reading her features like a hawk studying its prey. “So. Skitter. You’re into doors. What’s up with that?”

“You don’t feel that?” Twilight asked. “There’s some kind of signal coming from here. I can’t trace it without my magic, but it feels like it’s calling out to me.”

“Of course, I feel it,” Sunset retorted. “Don’t be an idiot; the herd already has a Trixie. I just thought you might have found something interesting, but if that’s all you’re occupied with, then I guess you’re just another disappointment.”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide. “You know what’s through this door?”

“Skitter, everypony knows. It’s not a secret. There’s a viewing room down the hall. The guards use it to check and make sure everything’s still in order; wouldn’t want to risk letting it out.”

Enthusiastically, Twilight asked, “Can you show me?!” This could be it! The key to understanding how this strange allure was within her grasp!

“Of course,” Sunset said with a malevolent smirk. “You’re one of mine. I’d do anything for my herd.”

Sunset led Twilight down the hall away from the cafeteria. They rounded a corner and traveled the length of a dozen cells down, then took a right. She stopped at a wooden door with an ordinary handle, opening it with her hoof. “It’s right through here,” she said, grinning like a jackal.

Twilight passed through the door, looking enthusiastically for the viewing window. She found shelves worth of cleaning supplies. A handful of mops and brooms rest against a single corner just beside a large water basin.

“Wait, this is a--” Before Twilight could finish, she was forcibly shoved from behind. Her hooves skittered on the tile beneath them and she narrowly avoided her forehead colliding with the basin. She fell to the side, catching herself on a shelving unit by her right foreleg. “Did you just push me?” she demanded of Sunset.

“Wow, Look at that,” Sunset replied, stepping into the supply closet. “I guess I did. You must be really sharp to figure that out.” She lunged for Twilight again, pushing her back against the shelves.

“Stop that!” Twilight shouted, rearing back and kicking out her forelegs to drive Sunset back.

Sunset went low, feeling Twilight’s hooves kick against her back. Her shoulder landed in Twilight’s exposed stomach and she pressed forward, slamming Twilight’s back into the shelves hard enough to break the unit. Twilight collapsed into a pile, buried under rolls of paper towels and bottles of bleach.

“Why don’t you make me?” Sunset asked. “Come on, changeling.” Sunset clambered onto Twilight, driving a hoof into her side. “Turn into something big and mean and hit me!” Again, she slammed a hoof into Twilight’s gut, followed by another one. On the third hit, Twilight kicked back with her hind legs. Her strength took Sunset by surprise, throwing her up on her hind legs and jamming her spine into the basin.

Sunset muffled a cry of pain as she struck the basin. She hit the stone floor hard and coughed. Twilight rose defensively, shielding her front with her wing, eyes pinned to her assailant. “Come on. Is that all you’ve got?” Sunset taunted. She threw herself once more at Twilight, rearing up and kicking out her forelegs.

Twilight reared back and met Sunset’s approach, kicking her forelegs to drive her back. Both ponies landed, then Sunset pushed forward into Twilight, checking her with her shoulder and lifting up. Twilight raised her forelegs under Sunset’s and grappled for control of her attacker’s upper body.

Realizing what Twilight was doing, Sunset tried to pull her legs to the side. Twilight used that momentum to push her off-balance, pulling her around to the side. Twilight slammed Sunset’s back against a wall, pinning her forelegs underhoof by sheer physical strength. Sunset jerked and pulled against Twilight’s grip, but her best efforts couldn’t extricate her from the alicorn’s grip.

Sunset grunted with the exertion, twisting her body to try and free herself. “Let go of me!” Sunset spat. With a great heave, she pushed Twilight back a few inches, but Twilight pushed back and slammed her back into the wall.

“Stop fighting me,” Twilight replied, putting more of her weight against the struggling unicorn.

“I knew it!” Sunset raged. “Just as soon as I saw you, I knew you were lying.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

Sunset struggled again, trying in vain to free herself from Twilight’s alicorn strength. “No changeling is this strong,” she accused.

Stunned, Twilight’s muscles relaxed. She backed off, letting Sunset drop onto her hooves. Sunset backed away slowly, never taking her eyes off Twilight. “Is that what this is about?” Twilight asked.

“How did you do it?” Sunset demanded. “Did you come through the mirror?! Is it open?”

“I’m still not sure, exactly,” Twilight admitted. “I’ve been working on that, but there’s only so much I can do here.”

“But I’m right,” Sunset said, as much a question as a statement. “You really are Twilight Sparkle. A different Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight Sparkle nonetheless.”

“I am.”

“Ha!” Sunset beamed. “This is perfect! That snot-nosed excuse for a unicorn won’t even know what hit her.”

“Wait, you’re asking me to help you?” Twilight asked. “You attacked me! We were fighting less than five minutes ago!”

“Oh, grow a thicker skin,” Sunset replied dismissively. “Sorry if I bruised your delicate feathers.” After a second, she added, “Why do you have wings, anyway? You’re not actually a dim-witted changeling who couldn’t figure out a decent disguise to save her life, so what’s the deal there? Why do you look like an alicorn?”

“…because I’m an alicorn,” Twilight answered slowly.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “No, really. Explain the wings.”

“I am explaining them,” Twilight replied sternly. “I became an alicorn a couple moons ago.”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “Wait, it’s possible for a pony to just become an alicorn? I thought you had to be born into it.”

“I did too,” Twilight admitted. “My friends and I were all shocked when it happened.” Bitterly, she added, “Apparently some of us stayed shocked.”

Sunset Shimmer’s face lit up like a foal opening her presents on the morning of Hearth’s Warming. “This is perfect. I was thinking we could have you impersonate the Acting Princess, but this is so much better!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

“Oh, of course you don’t.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Don’t you see? Twilight Sparkle is only the Acting Princess. She’s in charge because Princess Celestia said so, I guess, but unlike you, she isn’t a real Princess. If you can show me how to become an alicorn, she won’t be able to stop me from taking what’s mine. My right to Equestria’s throne will be indisputable!”

Twilight winced, watching Sunset get herself riled up. “I’m not sure if that’s possible,” she said diplomatically.

Sunset scoffed. “Look, if you’re worried that you’re not smart enough to teach me, don’t. I’m an excellent study.”

Twilight glowered. “That’s not what I meant,” she asserted through gritted teeth. She was already getting tired of Sunset Shimmer’s casual egotism. With a sigh, she continued. “I don’t even know if becoming an alicorn is something I can teach. When it happened for me, it was the product of lessons I had to learn on my own. Princess Celestia was only able to carry me so far.”

“Princess Celestia….” Sunset echoed distantly

“Princess Celestia didn’t just set me on my path,” Twilight explained. “She was there for me to guide me, but she also gave me space to learn new things. And she was there to help me transition through the final step. I couldn’t have done it without her. I don’t even know if it can be done without her. And in this reality, she’s….”

It was then that Twilight noticed how quiet and still Sunset Shimmer had gone. “Sunset?” Twilight asked. Letting down her guard, she approached and reached out for Sunset with a hoof. “Are you--”

“I’m fine,” Sunset snapped, jerking away from Twilight.

“No, you’re not. You’re….” Twilight hesitated. Sunset had an established history of being dangerously irrational and potentially violent. If she wasn’t careful, this could end in another fight. She knew from experience that Sunset kept a brick wall built up around her emotions and wrapped it in links of barbed wire made from anger or even hate.

This emotional response was an opening. Sunset wasn’t going to talk about her feelings, but there might be a different angle to approach from. “What happened to her?” Twilight asked. “If I may, I mean.”

Sunset scoffed. “What do you think?” she asked. She looked back to Twilight, eyes burning with hatred. “You happened, Twilight. She needed help and you weren’t there. You let her die.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight attempted. “Did you--”

“Forget it.” Sunset said, shutting down the conversation. Her cold exterior resurfaced and the opportunity was lost. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

Twilight sighed. So much for that. “In any case, even if I were to agree with this, it’s not going to happen in Bridle Rock.” She thought for a second and then an idea came to her. “How about I make you a deal?”

“I’m listening.”

Twilight put on her best diplomatic smile, trying to forget the insults she’d been given. “If you help me get out of here, then I promise to do everything in my power to help you become an alicorn.” It wasn’t a lie, really. She had every intention of making the effort. It wouldn’t be her fault if Sunset Shimmer was too much of a mean, heartless, violent….

Calm. Calm. She took a deep breath and centered herself. Anger wasn’t going to get her through this.

“Alright, I’m listening,” Sunset said. A knowing smirk crossed her face as she asked, “If you can’t make me an alicorn from here, then what makes you think I can get us out? After all, nobody ever leaves Bridle Rock.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true, is it?” Twilight asked. “Supplies apparently come and go all the time, so somepony has to be leaving Bridle Rock.”

“You’re suggesting we steal a supply carriage?”

“It’s just an idea.” Twilight thought for a moment, then asked, “How long have you been here?”

“Me? I was the first pony ever to set hoof in this place. Twilight built it just for me, so that she’d have somewhere to dump me. It grew from there. It’s hard to keep track of time down here, but I’d say it’s been a year and a half.”

“That’s what. You see, back in my reality, Sunset Shimmer made it back to Equestria on the first night that the mirror was open. Not only did she learn about our Princess Summit and my ascension, but she was able to plan and execute a heist to steal my crown in only a few hours. Nopony saw it coming. Not even the Princesses.”

Sunset grinned. “She sounds pretty clever.”

“So, you’ve been here for a year and a half and you expect me to believe that you don’t already have a dozen plans for how to get past the Guard? You’re too smart for that.”

Sunset seemed to glow from Twilight’s praise, but a second later, her grin faded. “Wait a minute, I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“Yes, I am,” Twilight answered bluntly. “But I’m also right, aren’t I?”

Sunset answered with a grin. “Good to know where we stand. Okay, the first step is Fluttershy. She practically runs Bridle Rock. She has a trick for getting her cell door open so that she can make her nightly rounds. No one’s ever figured out how she’s doing it, but it’s probably got something to do with those rats she has running around. If we can get her on our side, we’re halfway to freedom.”

Twilight smiled. This would work out perfectly. Once she was free of Bridle Rock, she’d be able to resume her studies and find a way home. All she needed now was for everything to go according to plan.

“Oh, no, I could never!” Fluttershy exclaimed at the breakfast table. Great. Already, things were not going to plan. “I wouldn’t even dream of it! And you shouldn’t either,” she added, scolding the ponies before her.

“You’re joking, right?” Sunset asked. “Fluttershy, you of all ponies have to know how terrible this place is.”

Behind her, Pinkie Pie boomed from the viewing crystal. “So, I’m not gonna lie, things are getting p-ret-ty bad with the yak situation. They’re super angry, like, all the time and I don’t think they like us being here. But Acting Princess Twilight’s got her best ponies on it and, trust me, they’ve got it handled. We’ll have a peace treaty before you can say, ‘Mean old grumps!’”

Fluttershy held her snout up high, stating, “The Acting Princess put us here for a reason. We’re supposed to take this time to understand what we did wrong and how to never do it again. Then she’ll let us go home.”

“No, she didn’t,” Sunset replied. “She dumped us here to rot. She doesn’t care about any of us.”

“That’s not true!” Fluttershy replied desperately. She looked from Twilight to Sunset and back, then sighed. “I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. The Acting Princess cares about us. She put us here so that we can become better.”

“How is this making anyone better?” Sunset demanded. “Every morning, I wake up in a hole in the ground. They feed us garbage and propaganda that’s even worse than the garbage.”

Behind her, Pinkie Pie continued. “You know what time it is! BIRTHDAY TIME!!! Today, we’re celebrating Twist! Happy birthday, Twist! Ooh, but that’s not all, because we have a super duper double birthday today! That’s right, it’s also Fancy Pants’s birthday! Happy birthday, Fancy Pants! So make sure you come down to Birthday Plaza and let both of these super-duper ponies know how special they really are!”

Flatly, Sunset Shimmer said, “If I have to listen to another birthday announcement, Fluttershy, then I swear I’m going to eat that crystal.”

“That wouldn’t be very good for your digestion.” Fluttershy thought for a moment, then a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. “Oh! But I do have some celery in stock that might--”

“I don’t want celery!” Sunset snapped. “If you aren’t going to help us, then fine. We’ll figure something out. But Skitter and I are leaving one way or another. Isn’t that right?”

Twilight put a hoof on the table next to Fluttershy’s. “Please, Fluttershy,” she pleaded. “We can’t do this without your help. If you come with us, then we might--”

“Oh, absolutely not!” Fluttershy pulled away from Twilight, shocked by the very suggestion. “Even if I wanted to, I could never abandon Bridle Rock. The ponies here need me to keep them in good spirits!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Good spirits,” she muttered to herself.

“What?”

“You….” Sunset rose up, stepping her front hooves on the table to lift her up and make her larger than Fluttershy, but the words she wanted to say caught in her throat. She let out an exasperated grunt followed by, “Never mind. Come on, Skitter. This place is a trash heap and some ponies are too cowardly to actually do anything about it.”

Fluttershy reeled as though she’d been struck. Her jaw hung open as she tried to process what Sunset Shimmer had said to her. “I…I’m not….”

“Yes, you are!” Sunset rounded on Fluttershy. “If you want to stay here and play nursemaid, fine. But we have real work to do and my kingdom’s not going to fix itself no matter how many useless asparagus stalks you pass out. Come on, Skitter. We’re done here.”

As Sunset Shimmer started to walk away, Fluttershy began to cry. She turned away from Sunset, clutching her tray.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “I am so sorry,” she said, resting a hoof on Fluttershy’s. “She didn’t mean that--”

“Yes, she did.” Fluttershy wiped her eyes with the side of her hoof.

After a second, Twilight sighed and nodded. “Okay, she probably did. Can I--”

“Just leave me alone.”

“What the hoof was that?!” Twilight demanded, catching up to Sunset Shimmer. “After everything you said about respecting Fluttershy, how…how could you….”

Sunset shrugged. “We’re leaving. I don’t have to behave anymore.”

“You made her cry!” Twilight accused. “That was completely unacceptable!”

Sunset stopped. The sharp glare coming out of the corner of her eye caused the hairs on Twilight’s neck to stand on end. “Is that right?” she asked. “It’s starting to sound like you’re not fully onboard with our plan. Don’t forget who put her here in the first place.”

Twilight didn’t have an answer for that. It was difficult to defend against accusations she still didn’t fully understand.

After a few seconds of silence, Sunset continued with, “That’s what I thought. Besides, after I become an alicorn, none of this will even matter anyway.”

“What is she doing here?!” Trixie shrieked. “I thought we were mad at her!” She gave Twilight a panicked sneer and backed into the corner of her cell.

Ignoring her, Sunset looked to Twilight. “Trixie’s an idiot but she has her uses. She can be--”

“I’m familiar,” Twilight said quickly, trying to spare Trixie from having to hear the inevitable condescending explanation of her abilities.

Trixie hissed to Sunset, “Why is she familiar?!”

Still ignoring Trixie, Sunset explained. “She’s not going to be any use in a fight, but she’s still an able body if we need another set of hooves. But that does mean she’s leaving with us.”

“Leaving?!” Trixie exclaimed. “Nopony leaves Bridle Rock!”

“We’re about to test that theory,” Twilight replied. “Actually, I had another idea. Trixie, what would it take for you to make some of your smoke bombs?”

Sunset blinked. “She makes smoke bombs?”

Eyes wide, Trixie shot a look to Sunset, then back at Twilight. Twilight took a careful step towards her, saying, “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I’m not even a changeling.”

“You’re not?” Trixie asked. “…are you sure?”

“I’m reasonably sure.”

Trixie gasped. She looked quickly to Sunset Shimmer. “Secret twin,” she hissed. “I knew it! I….” She looked Twilight up and down. “…wait, if you’re not a changeling, then why do you look like an alicorn?”

“It’s complicated. The point is, we’re getting out of here and you’re coming with us, but we need your help to pull this off. Is it possible to make smoke bombs out of the supplies we have here, and can you do it without the Guard noticing?”

“That’s a tall order,” Trixie replied. “A pony doesn’t just find my handiwork in the street, you know. And it’s not like they give us much to use in the workshop. You’re asking if I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, can produce explosives in these conditions? Without any of the Guard seeing what I’m doing?”

Trixie smirked broadly. She cast a look around the corridor to make sure there were no Guardponies in the vicinity, then shuffled her hoof over her straw mat. She pulled it away from the wall, revealing a dozen small, round objects. They were balls made of black and silver powder wrapped up in white paper, each the side of a bead. “I’ve been making these since I got here,” Trixie boasted.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she stepped into Trixie’s cell to get a closer look. She’d never seen smoke bombs up close before. “This is incredible,” she complimented. Behind her, Sunset watched, uncertain of what to say.

“I would have made more, but it’s been a trial even finding this much supply. Fortunately, there are magnesium deposits to work with in the Greenroom, so that was the easy part.” She looked Twilight straight in the eyes and flatly added, “You don’t want to know what I’ve had to do to get even this much saltpeter.”

“Do you mind if I take these?” Twilight asked. “We can hide them in my wings.”

“Oooh, that’s a good idea. You know, I used to do the same thing with my cape. Ponies never saw my brilliant escapes coming.”

“Good. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

Trixie picked up a pair of smoke bombs in her hoof. Twilight extended her left wing, allowing Trixie to pad one between the feathers of it. She repeated with Twilight’s right wing. “There. If you run into any sort of trouble, all you have to do is slam one of these on the ground. The bomb will take care of the rest. It should be particularly potent down here due to the enclosed space.”

Twilight nodded, following along with Trixie’s logic. “Limited ventilation. It will be difficult for the smoke to disperse.”

“Exactly!”

Twilight glanced back to the cell opening. “Sunset, do you want a couple….” The space where Sunset had been now stood vacant, leaving Trixie and her alone. “Sunset?” Twilight asked, stepping back out into the corridor with the smoke bombs delicately pressed to her sides. “Sunset Shimmer!” she called out, but nopony answered.

“She’s always like this,” Trixie said flatly. “She has no patience for any conversations that aren’t about her. You get used to it.”

Of course. How could Twilight have forgotten? Everything always had to revolve around Sunset Shimmer. They were trying to put together an escape plan, but Celestia forbid any part of it not be spent celebrating how smart and cool she is.

“I better go find her.” Twilight looked back to Trixie. “Thank you, this will be a great help. I’ll update you when we have more of the plan together.”

Trixie replied with a smirk. “It’s not going to work, you know. Nopony ever leaves Bridle Rock. But it’ll be fun to try.”

Twilight returned to the cafeteria, keeping her head raised up to try and see Sunset Shimmer’s fiery red mane over the sea of ponies milling about. She wished she’d gotten to know the ponies of Sunset’s herd better; it’d make the search easier if she knew who to ask.

After several minutes, she gave up on the cafeteria and started down the hall to the Greenroom. She was just past the workshop when she heard a low, firm voice calling out over the crowd! “You there! The changeling! Stop!”

Twilight turned to see a pair of Royal Guardpony pegasi approaching from the direction of the cafeteria. Her first thought was panic, but when she noticed that Captain Silverpride was not among them, her fear level shrank to a tentative distrust. “Can I help you?” she asked hesitantly. She fought the urge to snidely ask if she was walking too aggressively; despite her misgivings towards their commander, these were ponies of the Royal Guard and she felt they warranted some respect.

“Come with us,” one guard commanded.

“Come with us, please?” Twilight asked. The guard responded with a stern glare. She held her head as high as she could and did her best imitation of the guard’s deep voice. “Hello, there. Could you please come with--”

The other guard, coming around behind Twilight, gave her a firm shove. “Move, changeling.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Twilight rolled her eyes. The rudeness of the Royal Guard was just another sign of how far she was from home.

“So,” Flash Sentry said, seated in his chair in the guardpony break room. The Royal Guard had unceremoniously deposited Twilight into the room, then closed the door and isolated her with him. “Let’s talk about this plan of yours.”

“Plan?!” Twilight asked. Her eyes popped open and her snout contorted into the biggest smile she could make. Sweat beaded across her face and her teeth clenched together. “What plan?” she asked innocently through gritted teeth, just before her head cocked to the left.

“Have a seat,” Flash said neutrally, gesturing to the sofa.

“I’ll stand,” Twilight replied. She gripped a smoke bomb in her wing, scanning the room for possible exits. Bridle Rock being Bridle Rock, however, the only avenue of retreat was the door behind her, through which she assumed the other Guardponies lurked. “Standing’s nice, isn’t it?” she rambled. “I mean, it’s just so….” Her eyes fell to the coffee table in front of Flash Sentry. A small stick of metal rest upon it with grooves carved into the side. A ring attached to it on one end, large enough to fit a hoof through.

“What is that?” Twilight asked, despite herself. It hadn’t been here the last time Flash had brought her in.

“This is the master key,” Flash replied. “It opens the front gate. Now, you might be able to slip out of your cells and maybe you can get past the Guard. I’ll even give you credit and say you’ve figured out how to do this all in the dark. Even so, you won’t make it far without this. There’s one way in and out of Bridle Rock. Unicorns assigned to this place learn a spell to open the door, but the rest of us have to use this.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Twilight asked.

“Because you need to understand something. There’s a reason nopony leaves Bridle Rock. The front gate’s enchantment was created by Twilight Sparkle. It can’t be broken by force. Either you cast the spell or you use this key. Either way, it won’t open for any pony who isn’t a member of the Royal Guard or Twilight Sparkle herself. You could steal this key right now and vanish in a cloud of smoke, and you still won’t get anywhere.”

“Uh…obvious question coming….” Twilight warned.

“The actual Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t need a key,” Flash responded. “We’ve been at war with your kind for years. The Acting Princess thought of that too.”

“Okay.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because Fluttershy was in here for an hour and a half crying about what Sunset Shimmer said to her.” Twilight winced; in retrospect, she probably should have expected that.

“She told you everything?”

“She tells me everything. And now I’m telling you: you aren’t getting anywhere without this key and a member of the Royal Guard to open the front gate.” He glanced at the door, still sealed tightly. Then, lowering his voice, he added, “And I’m not going anywhere without Fluttershy.”

“You’re offering to help us?!” Twilight was floored by the suggestion.

“No, I’m asking you to help me. She doesn’t deserve what we did to her. I’ve done what I can, but now Shining Armor has it in for me and if I can’t be here to help her….”

“Bridle Rock’s about to get a lot worse,” Twilight completed his thought.

“I know it looks like we run a pretty tight ship around here,” Flash started.

“Uh…sure.”

“…but getting assigned to Bridle Rock is basically an exile. Guardponies get sent here for the same reason that regular ponies do: because the Royal Guard needs a place to dump us. So long as nopony escapes, we’re allowed to do whatever we want. Captain Silverpride runs this place like his own personal kingdom.

“Tomorrow, all of that changes. Shining Armor’s coming in for an inspection, and that means we get to spend the day pretending to be a well-disciplined machine.”

“There’s not a lot in Bridle Rock that’s up to code, is there?” Twilight asked.

“No. And we need to pretend that this facility actually keeps order. The Guard will be scrambling to keep up appearances.”

Twilight nodded along with Flash’s suggestion. “Security’s going to be tight wherever he is, but that means we’re going to see reduced Guard activity everywhere else in the facility. As long as we avoid running into him, we’ll have a straight shot.”

Twilight beamed. The plan was coming together. As long as she could keep Sunset under control--

“But remember, we’re not leaving without Fluttershy. You won’t make it to the carriage without me and I’m not leaving without her.”

“The last time I spoke to her, she was heavily opposed to the plan. Has she changed her mind?”

“No, and she doesn’t listen to me. That’s why you need to talk to her.”

“Why me?”

“Because she likes you. She says you’re nice for a changeling. From what I’ve seen, she isn’t wrong. Sunset Shimmer is a horrible pony and I’m not any good at arguing with her, but you might actually get her to see reason. All I’m asking you to do is try.”

“No, you’re not. You’re literally telling me that I need to succeed.”

“I….” Flash Sentry hesitated. After a few seconds, his features dropped. Defeated, he replied, “That is what I’m saying, isn’t it? Look, I’m just trying to help. It’s Fluttershy, she….” He paused, searching for words.

“You like her, don’t you?” Twilight asked with a wry grin.

“What kind of question is that? Everypony likes Fluttershy.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Twilight grinned. In her mind’s eye, she vividly pictured Flutterflash walking out among the pastures outside Fluttershy’s cottage, hoof in hoof. “Have you told her?” she asked eagerly, approaching the chair.

“What?!” Flash Sentry panicked. “No, of course not! And you shouldn’t either!”

“But you’d make a great couple!” Twilight practically glowed from excitement. “She’d be taking care of the local wildlife and you, you could…well, I don’t know you very well. But you’re a Guardpony! You could defend the cottage from threats coming out of the Everfree! And then at night, the two of you would retire in front of a fire and--”

“What is happening right now?” Flash asked.

“…your first foal would be named Shutter Shy,” Twilight finished quickly.

“Okay, first of all, what? Second, no, seriously, what?!”

“It’d be cute,” she said defensively.

“Third, you don’t speak a word of what I may or may not be feeling to Fluttershy. If you even hint that I might be into her, this deal’s off. She does not hear about this.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked. “She might like you too! You’ll never know if you don’t take the chance.”

“Because it’s not about me!” Flash sighed. “Right now, she’s a prisoner. Her whole distribution thing relies on me to get her the supplies she needs. The orders go through me. I do that out of respect, but it means she depends on me. This doesn’t work without me, and I don’t want her to feel like she has to….” He stopped again, searching for words. “Like she owes it to me to….”

Twilight drooped. “Oh,” she said quietly.” she said quietly. “I...I hadn’t considered that….”

Flash nodded. “Maybe some day when this is all over, I’ll talk to her. When we can be equals. But that’s not what we are right now. Right now, she needs me to be her friend.”

“You’re taking me bowling?” Twilight asked. Of all the places she’d considered her first date might go, this was a bit of a surprise.

“Y’said you wanted stuff that’s simple and familiar,” Applejack explained, coming up beside her. “Way I see it, bowlin’s somethin’ we might be inclined to do even just as friends. It don’t need to have no romantic connotation to it, so I reckoned it might be a good place for our date.”

Twilight felt a familiar warmth in her heart at the memory of her first date. Her concerns had been heard and taken into account. Applejack liked her, of course, but also tried to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. Had she not pressed the issue, Applejack would have even been okay letting the night end without a kiss. It made her feel respected and appreciated to see the concerns she’d expressed taken into account.

“Just do what you can,” Flash asked, snapping Twilight back to the present. “Please. She deserves better than this place.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Twilight said.

“Fluttershy?” Just as Twilight expected, Fluttershy was curled up in her cell. She’d piled up her straw mat and buried herself beneath it, tucked against a corner.

“Go away,” Fluttershy said weakly. After a few seconds, she added, “…if you don’t mind, please.”

“It’s me,” Twilight said cheerfully. “Your friend Skitter?”

“You’re her friend now,” came Fluttershy’s response.

Twilight approached the bars, staying away from the open doorway. Violating Fluttershy’s safety bubble definitely wouldn’t get her anywhere, not if she was anything like the mare that Twilight knew. “I can’t be both?” Twilight asked diplomatically.

“Not if she’s going to be like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I should have stopped her, but I was as surprised as you were. She doesn’t respect me or Trixie or anypony, really. But I thought, at the very least, that she’d respect you. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

A tuft of pink could be seen shifting through the straw. After a few seconds, Fluttershy poked her snout out. “Do you mean that?” she asked.

“I do.”

“That’s sweet. But you’re wrong.” With that, Fluttershy returned to the safety of her straw fortress. “I am a coward, Skitter. I’m a coward and a traitor and I must have done something terribly wrong to bring so much evil into this world.” At the sound of her sobbing, Twilight pressed against the bars, trying to listen closer.

“That can’t be true,” Twilight whispered.

“You’re not from here,” Fluttershy sobbed. “You don’t understand. It’s all because of me. I try to help them, I do everything I can, but nothing makes it right.”

Twilight sat on her haunches, putting a hoof against the bars. “You’re not making sense,” she said as diplomatically as she could. “You’re right, I don’t understand. I’m trying to, because you’re my friend and I care about you. But in order to do that, I have to know. What could be so terrible?” She had to struggle to even hear the answer that came floating out.

“I’m the reason we went back to war.”

10 - A Single Act of Disloyalty

“I’m the reason we went back to war.” The words hung in the air, casting a pall over the cell block. Twilight thought she felt the typical unpleasant chill in the air drop a few degrees towards outright cold.

Twilight sat on her haunches, putting a hoof against the bars. “How can that be true?” she asked. “Were you with the Shield of Harmony?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, of course not. I was there when they came up with the name, though.” She sniffled. After a few seconds, she added, “It was all Applejack’s idea, you know. She came up with it after we…well, you probably wouldn’t know about that. There was a really mean pony named Nightmare Moon, and we helped the Acting Princess seal her back inside her prison. She wasn’t the Acting Princess then, of course; it was still a couple moons before the war started.”

Twilight smiled fondly. “It would be her idea, wouldn’t it?” For as long as she’d known her, Applejack had always been proactive about trying to lend a hoof around Ponyville. If she heard of anypony in trouble, she was right there with her hat and her lasso, throwing herself into whatever needed doing.

Fluttershy nodded. “It was a miracle that we even managed to obtain the Elements for Twilight, and even with all of them, she was only barely able to fend off Nightmare Moon. Applejack said that we had be ready if something like that happens again. Rarity came up with the name; I think she was joking, but Rainbow Dash loved it and it wound up sticking. Everypony wanted to do it, but I said no.”

“What about m--” Twilight caught herself. “Twilight. What did Twilight think of all this?”

“Oh, she hated it as soon as she found out. She was completely against the idea. But that wasn’t until weeks later.”

Twilight blinked. “She wasn’t with you when you were talking about it?”

“Why would she be there?” Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow. “She went back to Canterlot as soon as the crisis was over. She slept at the library sometimes when she had business in the area, but we didn’t see her very often until the war.”

“She didn’t stay in Ponyville?” Twilight let her vision drift away, feeling a rush of memories strike her heart. She recalled sunny days spent at Sweet Apple Acres. The smell and taste of fresh-baked cupcakes from Sugar Cube Corner. Jogging at a brisk pace through freshly falling leaves, waiting for her moment. A birthday in Canterlot with ponies who loved her.

“She did what she came to do,” Fluttershy replied. “Why would she stay?”

Twilight opened her snout to answer, but the pain in her heart seized her voice. “You got a bright future ahead of you.” The words came unbidden from the corner of her mind, and she found she had nothing to say.

Fluttershy sniffled again before moving on. “After the war started, I spoke with Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse, and we agreed that somepony needed to stay in the field to help out injured ponies and other creatures that might be caught in all that fighting. My cottage seemed perfect. It was right next to the Everfree Forest, so we could escape into the woods if the changelings came for us.”

“Did they?” Twilight asked.

“Only in a manner of speaking.”

A warm wind blew through a busy campsite, resting beside a peaceful creek. Where a gentle, green meadow had once been, there now stood several brown tents dotting the landscape. The creek provided easy access to water for dozens of ponies and woodland creatures displaced by nearby fighting. At the top of a nearby hill, a large cottage had been converted into a medical station that six ponies spent their days dashing in and out of.

It was at one of these tents that Fluttershy found herself that morning. “Keep the icepack on it,” she urged a pony with a white coat. Bon Bon, she believed her name was, but it was difficult to keep track with so many ponies coming in and out. “Make sure your leg stays elevated. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

Fluttershy stepped out of the tent and wiped her brow. Rumor had it the changelings had raided Appleoosa recently. She could expect to see an influx of wounded travelers in a few days if common trends panned out. Ponies in need of aid and unable to make the trek to Manehattan or Las Pegasus were sure to turn up here, and her team would need to be ready to receive them.

She stepped over to a picnic table the team had dragged over to the campsite to have a seat. Five minutes was all she needed, and then she’d be ready to check on her next patient. Just five minutes and--

“Fluttershy!” Apparently five minutes was asking too much. Well, that was life in wartime, wasn’t it? She glanced up the hill to see Nurse Redheart racing towards her at a hungry cougar’s pace.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, rising from her rest.

“It’s a…we’ve got an inbound…uh….” Nurse Redheart skidded to a stop, waving her foreleg frantically. “You need to see this!” With that, she raced off back towards the cottage.

Curiously, Fluttershy followed. She’d never seen Nurse Redheart in such a state, dashing frantically about in a tizzy. What could possibly….

Oh?

Oh.

As she crested the hill, it became immediately apparent what the matter was. A changeling stood before the front door to the cottage, supporting another changeling that leaned up against them. The second changeling seemed barely conscious and Fluttershy could make out a terrible scrape in their exposed right side. The first changeling kept one of the second’s forelegs over their back to keep their companion upright.

Doctor Horse and Doctor Scope stood protectively between the changelings and the cottage, seemingly conversing with the two. As Fluttershy approached, she could hear the conscious changeling pleading with the doctors.

“Please,” the changeling begged. “My cousin needs help or he won’t make it through the night.”

“This is a trick,” Doctor Scope accused. “Why would a changeling come here?”

“Where else would we go?” the changeling asked.

“Surely there must be some changeling hospital that would take you,” Doctor Horse replied. “Why come here?”

“You think the queen cares what happens to us?” the changeling asked. “We’re disposable to her. This clinic’s the only chance my cousin has. I’ll do anything.” The doctors hesitated, glancing between themselves. After a few seconds, the changeling added, “Clinic Everfree will take anyone. Pony, bear, squirrel, it doesn’t matter. That’s what everyone says. That kindness is all I’m asking for. Please, my cousin won’t make it without you.”

Fluttershy could feel the weight of this decision bearing down on her. She wanted to turn the changelings away. She wanted somepony to come take them from her so that she wouldn’t have to worry about them. She wanted to protect herself and her patients from the threat that these invading creatures posed. She, as much as her colleagues, wanted to say no.

But even in these dark times, Fluttershy believed in the principles of Harmony that Equestria was founded on. This clinic rose from that vision. It was her home, her dream, and an extension of her life’s work. She had stated from the beginning that her clinic would be neutral ground. No wars, no fighting, and no predation would be accepted inside the boundaries of Clinic Everfree. It was a safe place for creatures of all shapes and colors, both pony and otherwise.

“I don’t know,” Doctor Horse said. He glanced over at the side of the cottage, spotting Fluttershy watching from a distance.

Steeling herself, Fluttershy made up her mind. “I do,” she said on approach. “Doctor Scope, get a gurney. There’s an open tent in the third camp that we can use.” As requested, the doctor disappeared into the cottage.

“Are you sure about this?” Nurse Redheart hissed.

“Not even a little bit,” Fluttershy admitted.

“What if they start feeding on the camp?”

“Then we’ll need to have enough love for our patients to go around.” Once the doctor returned with the gurney, she helped lay the barely conscious changeling upon it. Per routine, Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse disappeared down the hill, carrying the patient to safety.

“Thank you,” the remaining changeling said. Fluttershy could see a single tear in his eye and knew immediately that she’d done the right thing. Gratitude was difficult to fake.

“We’ll do what we can,” she told him. “What’s your name?”

“Thorax. My name is Thorax.”

“I’m Fluttershy.” It took her a second to work up the nerve, but she took a few tentative steps towards Thorax and offered her hoof. “Welcome to Clinic Everfree, Thorax.”

“There you go,” Fluttershy said, pressing the end of the gauze bandage into itself. It wasn’t perfect, she noted, but it should keep the splint in place as long as her patient could be persuaded not to do anything reckless.

That’s going to be the hard part.

“How much longer do I need to have this stupid thing on?” Rainbow Dash asked. She fidgeted in place, shifting restlessly from side to side. Her left wing lay unfurled across a table, where Fluttershy had just finished applying the new splint.

She reflexively tried to pull her wing back, but Fluttershy put a small amount of pressure down on the joint to discourage that behavior. “That depends on whether we can keep you out of trouble,” Fluttershy scolded. “You need bed rest, not drills or whatever you’re doing now. I don’t want to have to re-set your bone a third time.”

“So, what? Like, a day of no exercise?”

“Three weeks, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said sternly. “Three weeks of bed rest, and then you come back here and we’ll see how it looks.

Rainbow Dash blanched at the order. “…right, funny, but how long are we really talking? Three days? Four?”

“I mean it. You took some terrible hits from Tirek. Your body needs time to heal.” Fluttershy glanced over Rainbow Dash’s cerulean hide. Though her skin and ribs had healed up, scars in varying shapes and sizes covered of her sides. A chunk of her tail had been scraped off, leaving an incomplete rainbow absent its purple, cerulean, and green stripes.

Rainbow Dash scoffed as she always did. “Please. I’ve been through worse.”

“Oh, you have not,” Fluttershy replied fimly. “You haven’t, Rainbow Dash. You keep saying that, but you haven’t. You’re lucky to even be alive right now, and you need to start listening to me if you want to stay that way.”

But true to form, Rainbow Dash replied with a roll of her eye. “Fine. Bed rest. Whatever. What about this?” She lifted a hoof to her face. Most of the intensive scar tissue from her lip up to her ear was concealed by the large, black patch that ran over her left eye. “How long until this gets better?”

“I’ve told you--”

“Right, I know. ‘Get used to the eyepatch, Rainbow Dash.’ But, I mean, everything heals up eventually, right?”

“Your eye is gone, Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry.”

Rainbow Dash was silent for a few seconds. Then, more forcefully, she said, “But I need it to fly. It’s no big deal while my wing’s still busted, but I’m going to need it back pretty soon. Have you ever tried flying with one eye?”

“You’re going to have to get used to it. We did everything we could. We saved your life. I’m sorry we couldn’t save your eye.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. I need it. Is there medicine I can take or--”

“It’s not going to happen!” Fluttershy said angrily. Her hoof pressed down too hard on the injured wing bone, eliciting a wince of pain from Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy gasped, putting a hoof to her lips. “Excuse me,” she said, then quickly retreated from the tent. She marched straight off towards one of the picnic tables in the middle of the camp’s rest area.

Behind her, Rainbow Dash called out, “Wait, come back! You didn’t give me a timeframe for my eye!”

Fluttershy plopped down at the table and rested her head on her forelegs. It took only a few seconds for her to start feeling guilty about how she’d handled that situation. Doctor Horse had told her a few times that her bedside manner needed some work. She’d tried, certainly, but it was just so much easier talking to the animals than it was with ponies.

“Hi, Harry,” she said sadly, watching a large brown bear with its left paw in a sling waddle by.

“Nyarf,” was Harry’s response. He wasn’t feeling well, so she’d let him have that. He could be surly at times, but he really was a sweetheart when you got to know him. Besides, she was in no mood to press the issue.

“Rough session?” a friendly voice asked from ahead of her. She looked up to see Thorax dressed in his typical nursing scrubs.

It had been over a year since Thorax had joined them, and he’d taken to the work with an enthusiasm that greatly outmatched his ability. His adversity to many natural fluids made it difficult to find a place for him, but he was surprisingly kind and even charming for a changeling. If anything, he had the opposite problem that Fluttershy had; he couldn’t operate to save a life, literally, but once ponies got over the initial shock of seeing him, he was easy to get along with.

“Yes and no,” Fluttershy answered. “It’s Rainbow Dash again. Nothing I say gets through to her. It’s like she’s not even listening to me.”

“Should I try to talk to her?”

Fluttershy looked across the table at her friend’s goofy smile. His big opal eyes beamed with enthusiasm and his wings fluttered anxiously. But his sharp fangs and black chitin remained as unmistakable as ever. “That probably wouldn’t be a good idea,” she concluded.

Thorax’s wings fell flat against his back. “Oh. No, I guess you’re right,” he said. Fluttershy couldn’t miss the dejection in his voice.

“If it was any other Shieldmare, I’d tell you to go ahead,” she added. “But you know how Rainbow Dash can be. Seeing a changeling isn’t going to make her less stubborn. It could just make her hostile, and we don’t need that right now.”

“She seems nice to me,” Thorax argued. “Last week, she made up a nickname for me! She called me ‘Roach’. She also asked if I needed to go spin a web somewhere; she doesn’t seem to know a lot about our biology but at least she’s concerned about my needs! That was really thoughtful of her.”

Fluttershy’s features drooped. “Thorax, she was making fun of you. You need to tell me when she says things like that.”

“She was? Are you sure? I didn’t think….” Thorax stopped, looking upwards. “…do you see that?” he asked.

Fluttershy turned, following his gaze. To the north, alongside the distant mountain where Canterlot once stood, a small speck in the sky grew slowly larger. “What is that?” Fluttershy asked, standing up at the table. Another speck appeared in the sky beside it, followed by a third and then a fourth. Within seconds, there were six of the objects headed towards Clinic Everfree.

“My goodness,” Nurse Redheart said from behind Fluttershy. She, too, fixed her eyes to the sky to watch the approach. In moments, a bright yellow gleam became visible in the armor of the pegasi. Pairs of pegasi pulled carriages painted over in dark purple. “A royal convoy?” the nurse asked, raising a hoof to block out the midday sun.

Fluttershy felt a chill begin to prickle on the back of her neck. She’d tended a Royal Guardpony here or there, but the Royal forces generally had their own medical facilities. It was rare to see even a single Guardpony out here, let alone a dozen. And who could they be bringing in those carts?

“Thorax, how many changelings do we have in the clinic?” she asked.

“Uh, counting me?” Thorax did a quick bit of mental counting. “Four.”

“Are they mobile?”

“Well, Mandible has a broken foreleg, but we’ve already got the cast on him. Why?”

“I want you to take them up to the cottage. Get them into the cellar, and you stay down there with them.”

Thorax blinked. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy answered gravely. “But I have an awful feeling about this.”

As the convoy drew closer, Fluttershy could see the details more clearly. Loaded on the back of each carriage was an iron cage.

Fluttershy stood with Nurse Redheart in front of the cottage, watching the convoy make its final descent. The Royal Guard landed just across the land bridge that ran over the babbling brook in front of her home, and Fluttershy could see ponies beginning to unload. Each carriage brought three Guardponies in addition to those who’d pulled the carriages; it almost looked like an invasion force preparing for battle.

But that wasn’t the surprising part. What shocked her most was the front carriage. Twilight Sparkle herself, the Acting Princess of Equestria as of a couple moons ago, had come in person to deliver whatever purpose they were on. Beside her, Acting Princess Rarity dismounted from the carriage, followed shortly by a large white stallion that she thought was probably Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor.

“The entire Royal Family is here,” Nurse Redheart whispered. “The entire family.”

Fluttershy nervously raised a hoof, resting it just under her neck to try and slow the beating of her heart. “That’s a lot of Guardponies,” she observed, watching the ever-growing contingent fall in line before the Royals.

Nurse Redheart bounced nervously from one hoof to another, jittering in Fluttershy’s ear. “This is about the changelings,” she hissed. “I told you this would happen!”

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said, trying desperately not to let her friend’s fears compound her own. “We’ll get through this.”

“It’s not okay!” The nurse gestured to the carriages. “They brought cages, Fluttershy. Those might be for us. We need to tell them everything.”

“You want to give her Thorax?” Fluttershy was shocked by the suggestion.

“I don’t want to do anything, but we can’t run a clinic out of a dungeon. You said we should start taking changelings. This is where it got us. We have to fix this, and I only see one way to do that.”

“What about the patients?” Fluttershy asked. “We have three changeling patients. They’re here because they trust us. They’re counting on what we’re supposed to believe in: care for any of Equestria’s creatures, large or small. Would you give them away too?”

Nurse Redheart had no answer to that, just as Fluttershy knew she wouldn’t. She might have complained about the changelings initially, but her compassion and care for her patients knew no boundaries, changeling or not. She couldn’t reconcile her fear of the impending events with her desire to help, just as Fluttershy herself couldn’t.

“You should head up to the cottage,” Fluttershy suggested. “I can speak with the Princesses.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.” Fluttershy shivered, watching the Guardponies. They’d formed into a rectangle and had just saluted Shining Armor. Now the Princesses made their way towards the land bridge, with the Royal Guard marching in lockstep behind them. “I’d rather help Doctor Horse reattach a severed nerve again than have this conversation. But somepony has to. It was my decision, so I’ll do this.”

“Be careful,” Nurse Redheart urged. She gave Fluttershy a quick hug, then trotted up the hill towards the cottage. Fluttershy shivered in place, watching the parade of Royal Guardponies fan out across the field. She wished she was even half as confident as she’d sounded just then. But she meant what she said. This responsibility fell on her and she’d see it out, come what may.

What was the worst that could happen?

Twilight Sparkle and Rarity crossed the land bridge together, each with a golden crown gleaming upon her head. Their crowns had six points decorated by a single amethyst in the centermost piece and two rubies, one on either side. They shone with fresh polish, as if they’d never seen a day’s wear.

Rarity smiled from ear to ear, carrying her head high on the approach. She made eye contact with Fluttershy and walked straight and proud. By contrast, Twilight seemed a nervous wreck. Her eyes darted across the field and to the Everfree treeline. She looked up at the cottage, studying it, before snapping her focus away at the slightest movement. Her movements were low and careful but meaningful, like a hungry predator prowling for its target.

A little purple dragon who Fluttershy only vaguely recognized jogged beside Rarity, caught up in some conversation with her. He gestured emphatically with his claws, causing her to giggle. Twilight’s face, however, remained serious and focused, prompting the dragon to roll his eyes and say something else that Fluttershy couldn’t make out.

Shining Armor stayed back with the troops. He marched back and forth in front of the platoon, barking something at them, but Fluttershy couldn’t make out his words from this distance. As she watched, one orange Guardpony lost his footing and fell sideways into another, knocking the pair of them over. Shining Armor was on top of him in an instant, dragging him out of formation and screaming at the rest of the troops.

When the princesses came close, the little dragon leapt out before them. “Introducing their royal majesties, Acting Princess Twilight Sparkle and Acting Princess Rarity!” He gave a low bow, then backed away to Twilight’s side.

“Good afternoon, your highnesses,” Fluttershy said cheerfully, casting a greeting bowing to her regal guests.

“Thank you, it’s good to see you again,” Rarity replied politely. “Oh, it has been quite some time, hasn’t it? How have you been?”

“I’ve been well,” Fluttershy replied. “Thank you for asking. How is life in the Crystal Empire?”

“It’s been quite an ordeal these past weeks. There is much to do and less time every day, it seems. Of course, you know my dearest, her royal highness.”

Fluttershy suddenly became acutely aware that Twilight had not only fixed her gaze to her, but was actively studying her face. “Do we know each other?” Twilight asked curiously. “You look familiar.”

“We met when you came to town for the Summer Sun Festival,” Fluttershy explained. “I found the Element of Kindness for you to help you defeat Nightmare Moon.”

“With the magic of delegating,” the dragon muttered quietly. Fluttershy shot him a confused glance; now that the attention was away from him, he’d settled for leaning up against a rock and his earlier eagerness had faded.

Rarity stepped in beside Fluttershy, beaming brightly at her wife. “Fluttershy is a proud civil servant with many years of service to Equestria,” she stated. “Between the help she gave us during that whole dreadful Nightmare Moon debacle and then the years of medical care she and her staff provided during the war, Equestria owes her a debt it can never repay.”

“They aren’t my staff,” Fluttershy corrected. “We’re a co-op.”

“…The years of medical care she and her co-op provided,” Rarity amended.

“The magic of cursory research,” the dragon muttered.

“Right, good work,” Twilight said quickly. She looked up at the cottage and asked, “This is your clinic?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no, we could never take on so many ponies in this tiny space. We have the clinic around the back. Here, let me show you.” Fluttershy trotted down a well-worn hoof path, circling around the small hill that her cottage rest upon. Behind her, the princesses followed, and she keenly noticed the soldiers marching in their wake a moderate distance away.

Fluttershy brought the princesses to an upraised mound just behind the cottage, from which they could see the meadow stretching out into the distance. Over a hundred tents were pitched across the grassy field. Fluttershy always found it easy to get lost in the sea of canvas from here; it was a nice place to stand and think. “Your highnesses, welcome to Clinic Everfree,” she said proudly, surveilling her life’s work.

“This is it?” Twilight asked skeptically.

Before Fluttershy could process Twilight’s rudeness, Rarity stated, “We’re all very impressed with the work you’ve done here, Fluttershy.”

“Right,” Twilight added. “That. You, uh… you helped a lot of ponies, I’m sure. Of course, we’re building the highest-quality facilities in the Crystal Empire to provide medical care for ponies but perhaps all of this dirt has some benefit that I’m just not seeing.”

“Maybe it doesn’t look like much,” Fluttershy admitted. The Acting Princess’s words cut straight through her, as though a knife had been driven into her confidence. “Still, we’ve been operating for a couple years now. We’re hoping to move to a more polished facility when the Reconstruction begins.”

“Reconstruction?” Twilight asked.

“Well, with the war over, I’m sure many of the ponies who had to leave are going to want to come back to Ponyville. While we’re rebuilding the town, I thought that maybe we could spend some time building up the clinic. We could get a stable for ponies and maybe a spring--”

“Let me stop you there,” Twilight said dismissively. “We’re not rebuilding anything until Equestria is safe. There are too many variables right now, and the Royal Guard is stretched thin enough trying to safeguard the cities we still have.”

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I must have misunderstood. I thought the war was over.”

Twilight looked out over the medical tents. She fixed her gaze in the distance, not looking at any part of the meadow itself as she spoke. “As long as Chrysalis is still out there, Equestria will never be safe. The war may be over, but we’re still under threat from changelings.” Her eyes turned sideways suddenly, looking sharply at Fluttershy. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

As she spoke, Shining Armor emerged from the cottage with two of his soldiers. Between them, a small group of nurses and doctors stuck close to each other, nervously eying the escort they’d been given. At the rear of the group, Fluttershy saw that orange Guardpony from earlier, who wore a proud smile on his face. Upon noticing her watching him, he gave a small wave, then sheepishly stopped after a stern glare from Shining Armor.

“What are they doing?” Fluttershy asked

The only reply that Twilight gave her was a direct, “Follow me,” as she started across the hill towards where the clinic staff were taken.

In the meadow below, Fluttershy saw the rest of the Royal Guard descend upon the campsite, rifling through the tents and extracting their occupants. “What is this?!” she demanded of Rarity. “What are they doing with my patients?!” Ahead of her, Nurse Redheart and Doctor Scope both moved to try and get down the hill, but Shining Armor stepped quickly in front of them. His horn glowed, urging them to get back in line.

Was…was that a threat? Did the Captain of the Royal Guard just threaten her colleagues?

“I’m sure this must all seem terribly inconvenient,” Rarity said quickly, walking beside Fluttershy. “But I assure you, Acting Princess Twilight has only your best interests at heart, darling. Just be patient with us and before long, this whole ugly ordeal will be over. Please, if you would go stand with the others, we can get this all sorted out.”

Fluttershy wanted to argue. In the pit of her stomach, she wanted to scream at the Guardponies below to get away from her patients. She watched a pony with a cast on his right hind leg limping helplessly to one of the several lines of ponies being created around the camp. Two members of the Royal Guard took notice, but neither helped him. It was Rainbow Dash who came up beside him and put a hoof over her shoulder, helping him walk.

The glare that Rainbow Dash gave the two Guardponies who’d stood and watched could cleave stone.

Yes, Fluttershy wanted to argue. She believed in the principles of Harmony and she couldn’t see how this behavior from the Royal Guard connected to them. But she also respected the authority of the crown and knew that there had to be a reason for this.

Glancing up at Shining Armor, she saw a rage in his eyes barely masked behind his veneer of discipline and professionalism. In the back of her mind, she believed he might actually hurt her if she refused the order. So she complied, taking her place in a lineup with the rest of her colleagues.

Once Fluttershy had taken her place in the line, the little dragon approached. “Oh, this looks good,” he said, earning a sharp glare from Twilight. “No, really. There are all kinds of great reasons to have ponies dragged out of their workplace and lined up in the street. Nothing about this looks totally evil at all. Great start to a new--”

Rarity clapped a hoof over the dragon’s mouth and smiled brightly. “What Spikey-poo is trying to say is that a transition in such extreme times can be tumultuous. He thinks we should be mindful of the optics while Equestria’s still becoming accustomed to the new regime, but that we should still do what we must in order to secure Equestria’s safety in these troubled times.”

Fluttershy couldn’t tell if Twilight had accepted Rarity’s beaming smile or not; she lifted her gaze from Spike and returned her attention to the matter at hand, and that was that. However, the sigh of relief that emanated from Rarity’s snout was unmistakable.

In contrast to Shining Armor’s serious face, the orange guardpony wore an apologetic smile as he crossed in front of the gathered staff. “We’re really sorry for all of this, folks,” he explained. “I know it’s a bit unorthodox, but this is for your safety as much as for the rest of Equestria. We’ve been hearing some rumors here and there, and we just need to make sure there aren’t any changelings hiding out here. But don’t worry about it. If you haven’t done anything wrong, then you’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”

The orange pony looked over to his captain, then quickly shuffled aside. Shining Armor stepped out in front of the group. He gathered energy into his horn for a couple seconds, which glowed dark pink, briefly resembling a wilted rose. Then he released it, and a wave of magic washed over the assembled staff. Fluttershy felt the magic pass through her, felt its weight against her skin and hair, and then it was gone. It traveled twenty feet, then flicked out.

“They’re clean,” Shining Armor reported, looking over to his sister.

Fluttershy saw the orange pony breathe a sigh of relief. “It’s like I said, sir,” he said, addressing the captain with a salute. “Many in the Guard owe their lives to Clinic Everfree. They’re on the up and up.”

“Is that right?” Twilight asked. “Because I’ve heard multiple accounts of changelings coming and going from this place. Shining Armor, go validate the patients.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We have taken changeling patients from time to time,” Fluttershy explained. “It was never anything more than that, though.” She looked to Nurse Redheart, who shared her confusion.

“Oh, dear,” Rarity said quietly.

“Patients?!” Twilight demanded, turning on Fluttershy. “So you admit it, then? While we’ve been fighting the changelings, you were harboring them?”

Fluttershy took a few steps back, breaking the line as Twilight advanced on her. “We weren’t harboring anything,” she said quickly. “Any creature who needs help, large or small, is welcome at Clinic Everfree. That’s what we do here.” She looked out at the camp again, where three Guardponies gathered around Harry, nervously ushering him to a spot beside a deer and three chipmunks. “If they were hurt, we gave them aid,” she explained.

“How many, Fluttershy?” Twilight demanded. “How many times did you patch up Chrysalis’s forces and send them right back out there so they could burn our towns and….” Twilight drifted off. She stopped advancing, her eyes unfocused. She wasn’t looking at Fluttershy, not truly. Her eyes seemed to flicker back and forth for a few seconds, and then she closed her eyes and wandered away.

“Hey,” Rarity said quietly, carefully approaching Twilight. “I’m on your right,” she whispered. “This is me.” She put a single hoof over Twilight, gently tracing the side of the Acting Princess’s neck. “It’s okay.”

In the meadow below, Shining Armor moved from group to group. Once after another, he cast his spell. With each group of patients, the magic blew through them, harming nopony. Fluttershy was quietly relieved she’d sent the changelings to the basement; hidden as it was, they were safer there than if they’d tried to disguise themselves.

“It will never be okay,” Twilight said quietly, a few seconds later. She opened her eyes again. Fluttershy had never before seen the kind of hatred burning in Twilight’s features as she pulled away from Rarity and slowly turned on her once more. “You did this,” she accused.

The orange pony stepped forward, speaking up. “Permission to speak freely, your highness?” he asked.

“Denied,” Twilight snapped.

“I….” He took her answer as a heavy blow, shaking from the weight of them.

“Maybe we should hear him out,” the dragon insisted.

“Your highness,” the orange pony stammered, earning a sharp glare from his companion. A white guardpony standing at attention with a halberd raised in the air stared daggers into the back of the orange pony’s head as he interrupted. “She’s helped so many--”

“Yes, she has! She’s helped so many changelings, hasn’t she?!” Twilight demanded, advancing on Fluttershy and forcing her to back up again. “She helped them raid Appleoosa and burn it to the ground. She helped them fortify Canterlot, forcing us to bring it down. She helped them burn Ponyville and pillage Las Pegasus. She helped them kill--”

“She stood by the medical oath!” Nurse Redheart shouted suddenly. “We all did. Medicine doesn’t march to war. Mercy doesn’t pick a side. Princess Celestia believed in that and so do we.”

“Princess….” Twilight took the nurse’s words as a slap in the face. Her breathing picked up pace and she slowly peeled herself away from Fluttershy.

“Dearest,” Rarity said carefully. “Perhaps you should take a moment to calm down.”

“Yeah,” the dragon added. “This is getting a little crazy, even for you.”

“You dare,” Twilight whispered, causing Nurse Redheart to shrink back on herself.

“It’s not her fault!” Fluttershy said quickly. “The changelings were my idea. I’ll take responsibility for them.”

Twilight glanced down at the meadow and Fluttershy followed her gaze. Shining Armor continued through the lines of ponies, but was turning up no results. “You want to take responsibility?” Twilight asked. “You can start with where they are. How many changelings are you harboring?!”

“We haven’t seen any since the war ended,” Fluttershy said quickly.

“You’re lying!” In a flash, Twilight shoved Fluttershy, sending her flailing to the ground.

“WHOA!” the dragon shouted, racing over to Fluttershy’s side. Doctor Scope and Doctor Horse made a move as well, but the white guardpony dropped his halberd in front of them.

“Darling,” Rarity said diplomatically. “Perhaps we should calm ourselves. This may be getting a little out of hoof.”

“Where is the Hive?!” Twilight demanded of Fluttershy.

“I-I don’t know,” Fluttershy said honestly.

“Where’s Chrysalis? What’s she planning?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Answer the question!” Twilight screamed at her. From the crack that split her horn vertically, Fluttershy could see an orange energy beginning to glow.

“She said she doesn’t know!” the dragon said, stepping between Fluttershy and Twilight.

“Stay out of this, Spike!” Twilight retorted, telekinetically moving him out of the way. “She’s lying to me and I’m going to get the truth!”

“I’m telling you the truth,” Fluttershy pleaded.

“Then give me the changelings!”

“Darling, listen to me,” Rarity said, coming up beside Twilight. “I want answers too, but you’re losing con--”

“You too?” Twilight asked. In an instant, she shot from aggressive to vulnerable. “You’re taking her side?” she asked.

“I’m not,” Rarity said quietly. “You know I wouldn’t, but I just think--”

“Are you with me?” Twilight asked. The question hung in the air, each word clearly stated and thick with intent.

Rarity shot a look to Fluttershy, then back to Twilight. Then again, as though stuck for an answer. Then, at last, she bowed her head and replied, “Of course, I am, dearest. Of course.” She gave one last apologetic look to Fluttershy, then backed away.

“What?!” The dragon shouted. “Rarity, you have to do something!” His pleas fell on deaf ears. Fluttershy didn’t know if Rarity chose to ignore him or if she simply stopped caring, but she closed her eyes and merely looked away.

Twilight closed her eyes. The veneer of vulnerability faded from her features. “Burn the cottage,” she ordered.

“WHAT?!” A shout of alarm rose from the medical staff.

“Your highness, with all due respect--” the orange guardpony started.

“You can’t do that!” Fluttershy shouted desperately.

“Then give me the changelings!” Twilight screamed, her horn glowing with magic. Fluttershy looked up from her place on the ground, eyes wide with horror. The Acting Princess stood over her, magic burning quietly in the crack of her horn, eyes ablaze with fury.

“This is a safe space,” Fluttershy stated, with tears in her eyes.

“Rarity, say something!” the dragon begged, to no avail.

“Nothing is safe!” Twilight spat back at her. “Not as long as you’re hiding threats to Equestria! Where are the changelings?!”

“This is a safe space,” Fluttershy repeated. In the meadow, a the neat lines of ponies had dispersed into a crowd, steadily gathering to see what was happening. The Royal Guard tried to disperse them, but to no avail. At their head, Shining Armor had ceased his tests and now barked orders at the crowd, which nopony listened to.

“Twilight, you need to calm down!” The dragon cried, dashing between the Acting Princess and Fluttershy once more.

“I made a promise,” Twilght snarled, forcefully pushing past him. The dragon fell down hard, shoved aside by Twilight’s movement. “I will defend Equestria from ANYONE!!!” She cried out, her horn lighting up with magic. “LAST CHANCE, FLUTTERSHY!!!” she screamed at Fluttershy, who quivered in terror from the proclamation.

“TWILIGHT, NO!!!” the dragon screamed back at her.

Ignoring him, Twilight demanded, “Give me the changelings! I won’t ask again!”

Fluttershy wept openly as Twilight towered over her. Her eyes fixed to the Acting Princess’s glowing horn and she was instantly petrified of what would happen to her. She glanced to her colleagues who stood in various states of uncertainty. Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse were clearly restless, but none would move for fear of Twilight Sparkle.

Her decision. Her responsibility. The weight of it all fell on her. Fluttershy closed her eyes and gave her final answer.

“I refuse.”

She braced herself for whatever horrible magic Twilight would unleash upon her, but the magic never came. Instead, the air exploded with heat and a blood-curdling scream ripped through the air. Fluttershy opened her eyes to see Twilight writhing, a guttural cry of agony echoing forth from her snout. The entire left side of her face and neck had erupted with green flames. She bucked back and forth as the flames scorched.

To her left, the dragon stood, quivering in place. “Twilight, I had to,” he stammered, tears dripping from his eyes. “I had to.”

“Hold her down!” Rarity barked at her three guardponies. The white pony dropped his halberd and raced to action, grabbing onto the Acting Princess and guiding her to the ground, while the black pony took her other side, helping to hold her down. The orange pony stood in place, visibly shaken from the preceding events. “That is an order,” Rarity screamed at the orange pony.

“Y-yes, ma’am.” The orange pony joined his companions, helping to hold down Twilight. Rarity lifted mud from the ground with her magic, packing it to her wife’s neck and face to quench the flames. “I’m here, dearest,” she said soothingly. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

“TWILY!” While Rarity was working to help Twilight, Shining Armor’s shout of horror could be heard from the meadow. He never got the chance to say or do anything else. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Rainbow Dash leapt up beside him and bucked, slamming her hind legs right into the side of his head. Thrown from the impact, Shining Armor crashed into a nearby tent, collapsing it.

Rainbow Dash screamed something to the assembled crowd and before Fluttershy knew what was happening, Clinic Everfree erupted in violence. A guardpony screaming for order was swiftly silenced by Harry lifting him up and slamming him into another guardpony. Four Shieldmares emerged from the crowd, joining Rainbow Dash’s call to action and backed by an angry mob of injured ponies.

“Get off of me!” Twilight ordered. “I’ll be fine! Arrest them!” Fluttershy froze in place, unsure of what to do as Twilight commanded.

“I’m sorry about this,” the orange pony said to Fluttershy. The white pony advanced on her—

CRACK

A heavy blow to the side of the head sent the guardpony tumbling to the ground. Fluttershy looked up to see Nurse Redheart standing over her, holding gripping the halberd in the crook of her hoof.

“You?” Fluttershy asked.

“The oath is murky about defending others,” Nurse Redheart said hastily. “We’ll call this an ounce of prevention.” She gripped the catatonic little dragon in her teeth and quickly deposited him onto Fluttershy’s back.

“Our friends are clear!” The black guardpony announced. “This way!”

The escape route led through the Everfree Forest, but the treeline was blocked by the violence. Around the other side of the cottage, the only other path was blocked by the carriages and more contingents of guardponies. There was only one choice: the Ponyville ruins.

Along with the black guardpony, the staff raced alongside the meadow and into a small copse of trees that they knew would lead into Pony—

A bolt of orange energy streaked past Fluttershy and struck a tree. The entire trunk exploded, peppering Fluttershy and her staff with bark shrapnel. As the tree began to fall, two changelings emerged from the underbrush, gesturing emphatically for them to follow. The tree crashed down in front of Fluttershy, but she felt the black guardpony behind her, lifting her with his forelegs and letting his rapidly morphing wings carry her over.

Thorax landed with Fluttershy on the other side, prompting a relieved, “Thank you,” from her. In the back of her mind, the damage that Twilight’s concussive bolt had done to the tree shook her. So much raw magic powering a spell of pure destruction. What would have happened if that had struck a pony?

“Who’s our friend?” Thorax asked, glancing at the little dragon.

“S…Spike,” the dragon answered, voice shaking with uncertainty. “My name is Spike.”

It hadn’t taken long for the Royal Guard to regroup and expand through Ponyville, searching for Fluttershy and her companions. The group darted through building ruins and down alleyways to try and avoid pursuit, but the town grew thicker with the Guards’ presence with each passing minute.

“Can you take Spike?” Fluttershy asked Nurse Redheart. “He’s starting to get heavy.”

“Of course.” Nurse Redheart sidled up beside Fluttershy, allowing Spike to change mounts.

“Where are we going?” the little dragon asked. Suspiciously, he added, “It’s not the hive, is it?”

“Of course not,” Fluttershy answered him. “We’re going to a sanctuary. A mutual friend will take care of us until we decide what to do.” She hoped Zecora wouldn’t mind the imposition. The plan had been made during wartime, after all, so it may have expired when the war did. Plus, the changelings were never part of that plan, but she hoped Zecora would understand.

Still, none of that would mean anything if they couldn’t get to the treeline. Sweet Apple Acres would have been easier to hide in, but this was a vegetable farm. Lots of open space and very little room to hide. They’d be visible as soon as they stepped out, and with the sun’s angle, there wouldn’t even be shadows to hide in.

“We can make it if we gallop,” Doctor Scope said. “Full out, no stopping or slowing until we’re in the clear.”

The others agreed, but Fluttershy knew better. With the thickness of the search parties, the Royal Guard would be upon them in seconds. “You’re right,” she said with a smile. She stepped forward, watching for patrols with the doctor. When the crowd seemed thinnest, she urged, “Let’s go.”

In the excitement to make it to the treeline, they would never even notice she wasn’t with them until they were already across. As the group left the alley, she went the other direction, lobbing a small stone towards the patrol nearest to the farm and then galloping as fast as she could back towards the town square.

She darted into an alleyway and ducked through what used to be a small law office. She exited through a hole in the wall and sprinted as fast as her hooves would take her up the steps to Sugarcube Corner. She blew through the door and out the back exit, racing down the hill towards the marketplace. She ducked under one of the stalls, then raced out the side and--

CRASH

Fluttershy slammed straight into the orange Guardpony from before and fell to the ground, skidding along the cobblestones.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” The orange guard said reflexively. “Are you o--Fluttershy?!” He froze, unable to react.

She looked up at him, waiting for the hammer to fall. It never did.

The orange pony glanced about quickly, then whispered. “Go. Just g--”

“Excellent work, Sentry!” Shining Armor raced up beside the orange pony. With one hoof, he held an ice compress against the side of his neck. Fluttershy bitterly noted that it was one of hers. “I was starting to have my doubts, but you came through. Arrest her.”

“I….” The orange pony hesitated again, but under the steely gaze of his superior, he folded. “Yes, sir,” he said, his earlier enthusiasm drained from his voice. He put a hoof under Fluttershy’s foreleg and pulled her to her feet, but she could tell from his shaky movements that the energy wasn’t there.

“This is a good start,” Shining Armor mused. “We’ll find the rest in time, but at least not everypony got away. Bring her this way.”

“Yes, sir,” the orange pony said, just as he had before. He pulled at Fluttershy’s shoulder, forcing her to walk, but once more the energy wasn’t there.

“Don’t look so down, soldier. You’re sure to earn a commendation for bringing her in.”

“Yes, sir.”

In one corner of Bridle Rock, an alicorn princess from another reality stood speechless, listening to Fluttershy conclude her tale. “Fluttershy,” she whispered quietly, leaning against the bars of her friend’s cell – the punishment Fluttershy was given for caring too much. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Fluttershy sobbed. “We’re not friends. You’re only talking to me because Flash told you to.”

“Maybe that was true at first,” Twilight admitted. “But he was right. You don’t belong here, Fluttershy. Flash believes that, and after hearing your story, I believe it too.”

“Don’t you get it?!” Fluttershy demanded, standing up from her bundle. “This is all happening because of me. For over a thousand years, ponies have lived in peace with one another. We’ve survived one disaster after another and we’ve always come through for each other, no matter how bad things have gotten.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Twilight tried to explain.

“I managed to destroy the Harmony that Equestria is founded on. How monstrous would a pony have to be to do that? We survived the changelings. We survived Nightmare Moon. But we couldn’t survive Fluttershy.”

Twilight fell silent. She had no answer for Fluttershy’s charges. It was true: the Harmony in Equestria had gone through so many disasters and terrors and threats, and it had always come out strong. Ponies raising weapons against ponies was unheard of. A true Equestrian civil war had never happened, not since the nation was founded. No matter what happened, Princess Celestia’s leadership and the spirit of friendship and harmony had always kept them together.

But here and now, in a nation ripped apart by war and with Princess Celestia gone, the unthinkable had truly occurred. This wasn’t an enemy that could be defeated with the Elements of Harmony. Now, more than ever, Equestria needed the Magic of--

“You let this happen to me!” Twilight screamed, horn glowing with rage. Tears fell from her face, staining grass already slick with morning dew. “How could you?!”

No. Maybe it couldn’t be solved. Maybe this was bigger than anything she’d ever even considered before. To end a civil war and bring Equestria back together would surely take more than one pony who didn’t belong here and whose faith in the Magic of Friendship had been waning for over a moon. Maybe there was no answer at all. Could this reality be beyond saving?

“That’s why I belong here,” Fluttershy explained. “I know that what I did was wrong. It must have been, to bring so much pain into Equestria. But it didn’t feel wrong, and I don’t know why that is. So I have to be here until I understand what Acting Princess Twilight is trying to teach me. Maybe then the violence can end.” She hung her head. “Or maybe Sunset Shimmer’s right. Maybe I am just a coward.”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight said honestly. “I don’t know if protecting your changeling friends was right,” she admitted. “It’s not something I’ve ever had to think about.”

“I’m sure it probably doesn’t come up at the Hive much.”

The Hive? What was she—OH. RIGHT. THE HIVE. “Uh, right. Buzz buzz. But I can tell you that making a stand for what you believe in the way you did was the farthest thing from cowardly. It took a lot of courage to stand up to Princess Twilight the way you did.”

“Do you really think that?” Fluttershy asked.

“I do,” Twilight said with a smile. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. I don’t have all the answers right now. But I do know that you are the bravest pony I’ve met since I came here. Right now, I think Equestria needs ponies like you.”

“And what if I get more ponies hurt?” Fluttershy asked. “I still believe in the principles of Harmony, Skitter. They’re what everypony fought for. They’re….” She hesitated for a few seconds. Then, quietly, she continued, “They’re what she died for.”

“Fluttershy, please….”

“I’m sorry, Skitter, but my answer is no. What you and Sunset Shimmer are planning is just going to lead to more violence. There’s enough of that happening in Equestria already, and I’ve already caused enough misery for a lifetime.”

Defeated, Twilight stepped away from the bars. Fluttershy wasn’t changing her answer and she had no idea how to even begin to change her mind. In the end, this conversation had only served as another reminder of how different this reality was. But as she turned to leave, she felt the need to say one last thing.

“Even when times seem at their darkest, you can always find a little light,” she said, looking down the corridor towards the door that led back to her cell block. “A friend said that to me once. It gave me hope when I was feeling crushed by the weight of this world. Maybe you should listen to her sometime.” Without another word, Twilight departed, leaving Fluttershy alone with her regrets.

“Tell Trixie that we’re doing this tomorrow,” Twilight said bluntly. “Just the three of us. Captain Silverpride and his ponies will be so busy trying to keep Shining Armor pleased that they won’t be paying much attention to anything else.”

“You know they lock us in our cells for inspections, don’t you?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

Twilight blinked. She did not, in fact, know that. That complicated matters significantly. “I might have a workaround for that,” she stated. “The biggest obstacle is going to be the front gate. It opens one of three ways. Either you cast a spell, you use a key, or you’re me. The Acting Princess probably never counted on there being two of us.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Sunset sneered. “Equestria spent two years fighting an ugly war with the changelings not long ago. If Twilight Sparkle is even half as smart as you think she is, she’d never have left such a glaring hole in her defenses.”

“You might be right,” Twilight admitted. “Still, it’s the best option we’ve got. If it doesn’t work out, then--”

“If it doesn’t work out, we’re both going to be in solitary for a moon.”

“Probably. Are you nervous?”

A predatory grin spread across Sunset Shimmer’s face. “We’re about to take Twilight Sparkle’s greatest achievement and shove it down her throat. I was born to do this.”

With the long day at an end, Twilight retired to her cell to think about what she’d heard. She wondered if Fluttershy could be exaggerating or making up details about what happened. The behavior that had been ascribed to the Acting Princess seemed unnecessarily harsh. She couldn’t even begin to imagine herself acting that way.

She wished she could sit down with herself and ask for her reasons. Why do all this? Why build Bridle Rock? Why imprison Fluttershy? There had to be something that she was missing, she was certain of that much. Some thread that would make this all make sense.

Far across the mountains, the halls of the Crystal Palace echoed with the sound of hooves clicking on crystal flooring. Another tiresome day ended in another sleepless night, as Equestria remained as beset by threats and enemies as ever before.

She’d been forced to hold court again today. She meant to skip it, but Rarity had twisted her hoof. Petty nobleponies and rich aristocrats arguing about petty affairs that meant nothing next to the great dangers lurking around the Empire, waiting for their opportunity to strike. Why couldn’t these ponies just understand how meaningless their bickering was in the face of greater issues?

Twilight wasn’t a diplomat. She wasn’t some fast-talking negotiator. She was about one thing: magic. She swore that her magic would save Equestria, and these ponies were only interrupting that effort. Couldn’t they see that the end of Equestria itself could be upon them at any moment? Were they truly so simple, so stupid, that they couldn’t grasp how their pointless shenanigans were wasting time better spent organizing plans for the Royal Guard’s mobilization and prepping counterattack opportunities for the event of a potential yak invasion?

Why was she the only pony in Equestria who had any sense of priorities?

“Gooooood evening, your highness!” Speaking of.

“Hello, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, voice dripping with disdain.

“We had a lovely party today!” Pinkie said, smiling from ear to ear.

“I’m sure. Just like every day.”

Pinkie Pie grinned. “Today it was Twist’s birthday! She thought she was just getting a spiral cake, so I surprised her with a spiral within a spiral! When I turned the knob, it rose from--”

“Is there a point to any of this?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, well, I got to talking to some of the other ponies and everypony’s wondering when we can get started on the Reconstruction? Everypony’s packed in pretty tight here in the Empire and we’re--”

“We leave the Empire when and only when Equestria is safe,” Twilight answered. “I’m not sending ponies out there to be attacked by rogue changelings or Applejack’s marauders.”

“But Manehattan’s doing okay,” Pinkie protested.

“When the forces conspiring to destroy Equestria and everything we stand for are gone,” Twilight reiterated. “Not one second before.” She stormed off without another word, leaving Pinkie Pie behind to interpret her response.

Crossing the threshold into her royal library, Twilight felt a strong sense of relief. Here, in her solitary enrichment chamber, her frustration with the world could find relief. This was her sanctuary where no other pony was permitted to tread. It was where she made her plans, discovered new things, and took many of her meals. It was the one place in all of Equestria that truly understood her.

The library had been filled using several selections of books from the Crystal Empire’s public library along with whatever could be salvaged from the Canterlot ruins. Having plunged down a mountainside, many of the Canterlot books were in a state of disrepair, but Twilight had taken eagerly to the project of fixing them up.

In the center of the room, a round wooden table sat with only a single chair. Nopony else was authorized to even enter Twilight’s library, so there was no pressing need for another. The table was shaped like a ring, with a large opening in the center for the library’s central monument.

Rising fifteen feet into the air, Princess Celestia’s effigy towered over the rest of the chamber. She stood on her hind legs, wings flared and hooves kicking our, looking down across the library’s front. Her body was made from polished marble, while her mane and tail shone with the finest imperial crystal in a variety of hues.

Twilight took a seat under her mentor’s watchful gaze, resting a hoof beside a tome with a red binding. The book was still open to where she’d left it this morning, naturally; after all, the library had no visitors to interfere with her placement with their grubby hooves. “A Unicorn’s Guide to Changeling Magic” was its title, but even after three reads, she was still struggling to grasp the mystery of a changeling who could cast unicorn spells.

But perhaps that would need to be a mystery for another day. The latest field reports sat to the side with her maps, relaying the most recent encounters with Applejack and her militia. It was sure to be filled with the latest sightings for ponies such as Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings…Spike….

She looked into her reflection in the monument’s mirrored base, as she always did. Her eyes fell on her fractured horn first, as it always did. The horn was the cost she’d paid for Equestria’s safety. It embodied the brave sacrifices that she and her mentor had made for all ponies. It was a constant reminder to be vigilant and strong.

She looked next to the burns across the left side of her face and down her neck. Even with the best medical practitioners in Equestria, her scars had never fully healed. She was to understand they never would. But she could live with that, because it meant she would never forget that one most important truth: trust is the gateway to betrayal. She would vividly remember for the rest of her days the treachery of the one creature in all Equestria she had been foolish enough to call her friend. She would never make that mistake again.

Looking over the scars that symbolized everything she’d learned and everything she’d given to Equestria, she opened her snout as she did every day and reaffirmed her one great purpose.

“I will defend Equestria from anyone.”

11 - Discharged

THOK

The grove reverberated with the familiar sound of hooves striking wood. Apples tumbled from the sky, falling into baskets below. Applejack wiped the sweat of a hard day’s work from her brow. From the placement of the sun in the sky, she knew that her morning’s work was nearly complete. Her cart was filled near to its tipping point anyway, so it was long past time to start heading back.

She hefted the first basket into an empty space in the cart’s corner. She stared into it for a moment, mesmerized by the colors and shapes of the precious fruit. The basket stared back, framed by a golden mane of hair. In its turquoise eyes, Applejack found an endless well of kindness and understanding. They made her feel safer than she’d ever been before.

Moving to the second basket, Applejack loaded it onto the cart beside the first. She looked into the second cart and it stared back at her with green eyes. The basket’s blonde mane seemed to glow under her father’s hat. The second cart had no comforting smile for her; instead, it seemed lost and confused, and it hurt Applejack’s heart to look at it. She moved on quickly.

The third basket felt lighter than the others, and she easily found a space for it between the other two. Its orange eyes shone brighter than the first two, blooming with hope and the optimism of a future that had yet to be defined. It made her heart melt to see so much possibility still to be discovered. Here was a basket yet to be defined, its contents overflowing with a million dreams yet to be realized.

Applejack closed up the cart. It was time to be heading back. She took its yoke and pulled, setting off for the long trip home. She marched for what felt like hours, accompanied only by the sound of her own hooves splashing in thick mud. When did it get so muddy?

A crack of lightning lit up the Everfree Forest, casting dark shadows across her path. Applejack knew that she had to keep going, lest she be caught out in the storm. The homestead was just over the next hill, she was certain of that. A million eyes burnt into her flesh and she could feel the hunger of the woods craving her precious cargo, but they wouldn’t have it. She steadied herself and kept on.

The sky split open, pouring down rain as she crossed the hill. Right, that’s where the mud came from. Of course, It made sense now. Still, she marched on. She could see the homestead resting up against the edge of the gorge. Across the gorge, the Castle of Two Sisters loomed, casting its shadow over Sweet Apple Acres just as it always had.

Applejack pulled her cart up to the front door, then pulled her neck out of the yoke. Pushing the front door open, she called out, “Sugar?” The living room was pitch black as she entered. She could barely see a hoof in front of her face. “What happened to the lights?” she asked.

“In here!” a voice called from the kitchen. A bright light shone at the end of a long corridor. Applejack broke into a full gallop, racing down the tunnel. She felt a strange presence encroaching on her neck, but she kept her speed and refused to look back. The truth couldn’t hurt her if she was careful not to see it.

Bolting through the doorway, Applejack skidded on the floorboards, nearly crashing into the kitchen table. “Twilight?” she asked eagerly.

Just inside the brightly lit kitchen, a lavender unicorn stood on her hind legs over the countertop. Her dark blue bangs hung down over her horn, which stood like a wizard’s tower amidst an ocean of hair. Beside the horn, a single purple stripe sat alongside a pink stripe, both of which ran the length of her mane. Splashes of batter stained into the dark blue apron she wore around her torso. She gripped a whisk with her foreleg, using it to stir the contents of the mixing bowl before her.

Beside her, a small yellow filly leaned against the counter, propping herself up with her forelegs. She had a bright red mane topped by a pretty pink bow. She hopped impatiently, trying to get a better look at the bowl, but she stopped when she heard Applejack’s approach. “Mornin’, Applejack!” she greeted cheerfully.

The sweet smell of freshly cooked apple dashed with a little bit of cinnamon was unmistakable. Her special somepony must have been working on Applejack’s favorite recipe, causing her mouth to water in anticipation. “What’s that you’re cookin’ up?” she asked coyly, knowing the answer in her heart.

“She’s teachin’ me to make an apple brown betty!” Apple Bloom replied.

The earth pony at the counter said nothing. She remained in her place, facing away from Applejack. Mindlessly, she continued to mix the bowl with a light blue hoof. Her pink mane fell around the sides of her face, obscuring her features from view.

“That right?” Applejack asked. Something wasn’t sitting right with her. “You feelin’ out of sorts, hon?” Again, the earth pony said nothing. Applejack took a few steps around her, trying to get a look at her face, but the pony seemed to rotate in place, remaining at the same angle with each step. Her black mane seemed to hover in place, curled just around the left side of her gray face.

“Sugarcube?” Applejack asked the teal pony. “Sugar, why ain’t you talkin’?”

“’Cause she knows what you did.”

Applejack whipped around, but Apple Bloom was nowhere to be seen. She stood alone in the Everfree Forest, surrounded by rustling trees whose ravenous faces snarled around her. The derelict cart lay upended beside her, one wheel having broken off from the musty old wood. The apples she’d picked had scattered upon the ground, rotting and molding in the dirt.

Applejack knew what this was. In her heart of hearts, she knew there would be no forgiveness. She broke into a gallop, moving as fast as her hooves could take her down the slope. She hurdled a fallen log and ducked under a thick tree branch, trying to flee from the truth she felt clawing at her sides and scratching its hooves into her skin.

Around the next bend, Applejack came upon a clearing. The moon shone down upon a single figure, standing alone. Her blue skin and pink mane were instantly recognizable. After all, nopony ever truly forgets her first love. “Crystal!” she shouted in warning. “You gotta run! She’s comin’ for us!”

Crystal gave one look to Applejack, then looked up to the moon. Wordlessly, voicelessly, she turned to dust and blew away in the wind. “CRYSTAL!!!” Applejack shrieked, but it was too late. Within seconds, she was gone.

She kept on galloping, coming into another clearing. “SUGAR BLOSSOM!!!” she shouted in alarm. “Y’gotta get on before she gets here!” The light red pony gave her a sad smile, and then she too turned to dust.

Applejack shut her eyes tight, galloping as fast as her legs could carry her. One after another, ponies turned to dust around her, but she refused to open her eyes. She wouldn’t see it again, not this time. She didn’t want to see it again.

Then she came to the final clearing. “TWILIGHT!!!” Applejack shrieked. Without waiting for a response, she lunged, tackling Twilight into the grass. She wrapped her forelegs around Twilight, holding tightly to her. “You can’t go,” she pleaded. “Not you too.”

Twilight looked her in the eyes, and then gave her a small kiss. It was a little thing, lasting only for a second. Then she gave a sad smile and turned to dust in Applejack’s hooves. “TWILIGHT!!!” Applejack screamed into the uncaring mud beneath her hooves.

“They ain’t comin’ back,” Apple Bloom said from behind, speaking in a flat monotone. Applejack’s heart seized. She couldn’t be here. Not here, not now, not her too.

“Not her,” she said quietly. Applejack leapt to her hooves, turning to face the darkness emerging from the woods. She dashed in front of Apple Bloom, tears streaming down her face as she screamed, “YOU CAN’T HAVE HER!!!”

“Time comes for us all,” Apple Bloom said with her lifeless voice. “Y’can’t stop the turnin’ of the clock.”

It was then that the beast erupted from the woods. Gray stormclouds flooded through the trees, rising up thirty feet above. They formed into the shape of a mare’s head, raised up tendrils made from black ink. Its turquoise eyes and golden curls shone against the gray darkness of its face, but Applejack didn’t need those details to know her; she’d never forget that face. It howled malevolently, a monstrous sound like trees breaking apart in a furious wind, but Applejack stood firm against its hideous voice.

“Take me!” Applejack called up to the creature. “Take my heart from my chest, I don’t need it anyhow, but not her!”

“It’s time,” Apple Bloom whispered. “Time for--” She froze midsentence as reality around her seemed to stop.

The creature froze as well. A crack appeared in the center of its face, just above its snout. Then another over its left eye. More and more, cracks made of pure light spread out until the creature’s structure was entirely compromised. A beam of holy radiance burst from the creature, spreading out to the surrounding forest, purifying its influence and restoring the apple farm.

“Once more, I find you here.” The voice boomed from the center of the golden radiance, which slowly faded to reveal a great alicorn twenty feet above Applejack. She hovered in the sky, making no effort to beat her wings to keep her aloft. She didn’t need to, of course, for this was her domain and she wielded the ultimate power here.

Applejack instantly felt foolish. The truth seemed so painfully obvious, it embarrassed her not to have noticed already. This was the dream again. A pony would think she’d be able to recognize it by now.

“I have seen loss play itself out in the dreams of many ponies across Equestria,” Princess Luna continued. “Indeed, I have found that it carries a different weight on the soul of each and every pony to suffer it.” Lowering herself to the ground, she held out a hoof, allowing the creature made from smoke and ink to coalesce upon it. “But rarely have I seen a pony so beloved be presented with such malevolence. What is it about her passing that torments you so, even after all these years?”

“Beg pardon, your highness,” Applejack said noncommittally. “I’m mighty sorry y’had come out here again on my account.”

“That does not answer my question,” Princess Luna replied. She squinted at Applejack for a few seconds, then asked a probing question. “Do you fear that your mother never loved you?”

“No!” Applejack said quickly. “That ain’t it at all. My Mama gave me all the love she had. She ain’t never done nothin’ but right by me.”

“Then why does her spirit haunt you so?”

“That ain’t ‘cause of her.” Applejack looked to the smoke creature, resting immobile upon the Princess’s hoof. These were the times when honesty became the hardest. So little good had ever come of letting ponies from outside the family get too close. She had her friends and she loved them dearly, but some secrets were meant to stay private. Weren’t they?

“Your family and mine are blending together. That’s exactly what’s supposed to happen, if you’d just quit being so stubborn and let it.”

Twilight was right, wasn’t she? She was usually right, after all. Applejack tried to think of what she would say to Granny Smith if it was her standing here in Princess Luna’s place. She looked to the Princess, still waiting for more of an answer, but the words struggled to come. Why was this so hard? It felt like her emotions were locked away behind an iron wall she didn’t remember ever putting up.

“I understand if the truth is too painful,” Princess Luna said, giving her a way out. Her first instinct was to seize it. She wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible. But still, she hesitated. She knew in her heart that if she fled now, she’d be running for the rest of her life.

So she stood her ground and she forced the words that refused to come naturally. “My Mama wanted the world for me,” she said, eyes fixed on the creature in Princess Luna’s hoof. “I let her down. There’s just one thing she wanted from me, one thing that mattered to her, and I ruined it. I broke her dyin’ wish.”

Princess Luna lowered her hoof, dismissing the apparition into thin air. She took a seat just before Applejack, laying a hoof against her shoulder. “I understand,” she said softly. “Regret is a beast that I know better than most. It is never easy to speak of such hardship, but you are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many who love you. Have you shared your pain with anypony?”

“Rarity knows,” Applejack admitted. “I told Twilight, but we were fightin’,” Applejack answered. “That was my fault too. But that ain’t all. See, it was just past that, I started losin’ folk. Crystal was the first pony to get pulled out of my life. Then there was Sugar Blossom and after that, we lost m’Daddy.”

Princess Luna pulled her hoof away, raising an eyebrow. “I do not follow. You fear that you are cursed?”

“Nah, t’ain’t nothin’ like that,” Applejack said quickly. “My Mama had a dream for me, and I let her down. This is my punishment ‘cause I couldn’t be the pony she meant for me to be.”

Princess Luna stared at Applejack’s solemn face for a few seconds. When it became apparent that there was nothing more to say that would justify her correction, Luna stated, “Being supernaturally punished from beyond the grave is what we would typically call a curse.”

Applejack scrunched her nose. She didn’t like the sound of that word. “That makes it sound like she’s bein’ mean.”

Luna looked as if she wanted to say something. She opened her snout to argue the point, then took a few seconds to consider and waved it away with her hoof. “Regardless of the semantics, I’ve seen no evidence of any curse laid upon you. My sister and I have both had the fortune of having you in our presence many a time, and I certainly haven’t seen a trace of the dark magic required for such a thing.”

“That’s ‘cause it ain’t no curse,” Applejack argued. “Look, maybe I ain’t sayin’ it right. I learnt a long time ago that actions have consequences, and this is mine.” She took a deep breath, coming around to the hardest honesty of all. “Truth of it is, I was supposed to let Twilight go. I didn’t. That ain’t never failed to make it worse.”

“You believe that Twilight’s disappearance is your fault?” Luna asked.

“I got selfish,” she explained. “I knew I shouldn’t have. Twilight’s a Princess now. It’s time for her to leave Ponyville to go do whatever purpose Celestia--”

“Stop,” the Princess commanded, prompting Applejack to fall suddenly silent. With confusion in her voice, she stated, “My sister and I have no intention for Twilight to leave Ponyville. We never have.”

Applejack blinked a couple of times, absorbing Princess Luna’s words. “That can’t be right,” she argued. “Twi’s a Princess now. I mean, y’all sent Princess Cadance to the Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia’s got to have somethin’ like that in mind for Twilight.”

“Cadance volunteered to lead the Crystal Empire,” the Princess explained. “She spent many years with my sister in Canterlot before then, deciding on what she wanted her princesshood to mean. We never ordered her to do anything.” Princess Luna shifted back on her hooves, visibly uncomfortable with the allegation. “Is that truly what you believed we did?”

Applejack’s mind swirled with this new information. “But that means Twilight….”

“Twilight faces the same expectation Cadance once did. She and she alone will determine the course of her future. We could no more ask her to leave Ponyville than ask the wind to cease its blowing or the Timberwolves to end their hunger. If this is where she feels that she belongs, then this is where she will remain. Upon her return, in any case.”

“You’re sayin’….”

“Twilight’s ascension never meant that she was to go anywhere. Only she may determine where she belongs, just like any other pony.”

This was new information. Applejack’s mind reeled with the knowledge. She’d hoped that she and Twilight could find a way to keep their relationship going even after Princess Celestia’s instructions came, but this changed everything. If Twilight was never meant to leave, then that meant…that meant she’d….

“When was the last time you visited your mother?” Princess Luna asked curiously.

“I….” So many truths were being laid out tonight. There was no sense hiding this one. “I ain’t been up to see her since we laid her in the ground,” Applejack confessed.

“Then perhaps that would be a place to start. Twilight’s predicament is beyond our grasp for the present, but you must not let her absence give you cause to stop trying to be the best version of yourself that you can.” Princess Luna placed a hoof under Applejack’s chin, lifting her head up. “If you wish for a life filled with love, then you must learn to love yourself as much as you would ask of another.”

“How can I face my Mama, knowin’ what I done?” Applejack asked.

“Allow me to answer that question with a question,” Luna replied. “Are you certain that she is truly the pony you are afraid to face? Love is a strange and powerful force, Applejack. It inspires us to reach farther than we might have on our own, but it can also expose pieces of us that we never even have knew were there.”

Princess Luna levitated back into the air, floating up towards the moon. “Our time has run short, I’m afraid, but remember this: only you can find your peace. Left to roam free, fear and regret will drive a pony to terrible action. If allowed, they will govern your life. Once that occurs, you may not be proud of the pony that you will become.” With those words, the farm was overtaken in a flash of white, and then everything was gone.

Applejack woke to the sound of birds chirping just outside her window. The sun cracked over the horizon, sending the first dim strands of daylight to wash over Equestria. She let out a long yawn, her conscious mind resurfacing and taking control of her awareness. Smarty Pants lay pressed against her chest, once more providing a stalwart companion in the lonely dark of night.

Another day in Equestria was about to begin. The sun would rise and ponies would begin going about their lives, just as they did on each day before. The family counted on her to rise and begin her work, just as she had on each day before. The weather Pegasi would bring the rain where it was needed and drive it away from where it wasn’t, just as they had on each day before.

And Twilight would still be missing. Applejack could only hope that wherever she had gone, it would be a place that welcomed and cherished her, just as Applejack had tried to.

“GOOOOD MORNING EQUESTRIA!!!” Pinkie Pie’s high-pitched voice echoed through the cafeteria over the morning’s breakfast oats. “I hope you all had a great night’s sleep and are ready to face another bright and sunny day in the Crystal Empire! I mean, it’s not actually going to be sunny ‘cause the Weather Pegasi have scheduled for a few spring showers throughout the day, but when we’re living under Twilight Sparkle’s amazing leadership, it’s always sunny in our hearts!”

An oatmeal bowl struck the broadcast crystal, splattering its goopy contents along the side facing Twilight. A nearby Guardpony shouted at an occupant of the table just behind and to the right of Twilight’s, prompting a brown stallion to try and flee into the hallway. Two more Guardponies came around and pincered the culprit at the door. Before long, he was being taken away.

“Just like we thought,” Sunset whispered, seated next to Twilight. “The Guard usually doesn’t give a flying feather about minor acts of aggression. They’re on edge today.”

“Are we sure we want to do this today? They seem pretty alert. That’s the opposite of what we’re looking for.”

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe that she had to explain this. “In an hour’s time, they won’t even be thinking about us.” She glanced to the next table, where the rest of her herd sat apprehensively. She’d told them that she needed them to back off while she broke in the new changeling. It was important to keep them out of the way; the more ponies knew about the plan, the more liable it was to backfire.

The image projected in blue fire continued unimpeded. “…but it was a tuba the whole time!” Pinkie Pie broke into uproarious laughter, pounding her hoof on the table in front of her. Her anecdote got a chuckle or two from the ponies around the cafeteria, but most didn’t seem to find the humor.

Wiping a tear from her eye and trying to calm her chuckles, Pinkie repeated, “A tuba. What will Concerto think of next?!” She let out a couple more chuckles, then turned to the papers on the desk before her. “Anyways, let’s see what else we have here. In other news, Fort Saddlehorn is on fire! What a goof….” Pinkie Pie drifted off, the bright grin on her face slowly fading.

After a couple seconds, she started reading through her report again. “Wow, I probably should have led with this,” she stated. Clearing her throat, she explained, “Those mean old Frowny Faces are at it again, you guys! They hijacked a supply carriage and snuck into the fort, pretending to be good, honest ponies! Super cowardly. But don’t worry! The Guard has it all under control. Shining Armor’s flying out there today to take care of it, so don’t anypony worry your little heads!”

A sudden look of panic emerged on Twilight’s face. “Did you hear that?” she whispered to Sunset. “Shining Armor’s not coming.”

“Yes, he is,” she replied. “The Guard wouldn’t be on edge like this if he cancelled.”

“But she just said--”

“For the love of….” Sunset Shimmer groaned. “Obviously, they can’t say he’s going to be busy visiting Twilight Sparkle’s secret prison, so they made up a story.” Sunset glanced over to Twilight, noticing the sickly look emerging on her face. “Oh, don’t give me that look,” Sunset said defensively. “It’s the smart way to play this. It’s what I’d do.”

Twilight felt sick listening to this. Here in front of her was further proof that her counterpart in this reality was deliberately misleading her own people. All of the lies, the violence, the cruelty…what was it for? What did she think she was accomplishing with all of this? She wished once more that she could speak to the Acting Princess. She wanted to try and understand the logic fueling her decisions.

Pinkie Pie carried on, oblivious to Twilight’s concerns. “Do you know what you should worry about? BIRTHDAY PLAZA!!! Two fabulous fillies and one cool colt are having birthdays today!”

As Pinkie Pie ended her broadcast by rattling off the day’s birthday ponies, Twilight returned her attention to her bowl of oatmeal. She forced herself to gulp down its lukewarm contents. Her appetite had abandoned her, but she knew she’d need the strength for what was to come. She couldn’t let herself to become paralyzed by the hopelessness of this Equestria’s plight. She had to focus on what she could do now, and that meant getting out of Bridle Rock.

Despair later. Act now. The situation was bleak, but with the help of her friends….

She looked across the table to Trixie, then glanced to Sunset Shimmer beside her. Hmm.

With the help of her loosely-affiliated acquaintances, she had to believe that she could do this.

“Five minute warning!” A Guardpony’s voice called out through the cafeteria.

On every other day that Twilight had been here, the cafeteria’s northeast doors stood open, allowing ponies to access the social area once they were finished. Today, however, the Guard had sealed them shut. Two sentries were stationed in front of the doors, gripping their spears and scowling at anypony who walked too close.

“Finish your breakfast and return to your cells!” The Guardpony ordered.

“Now?” Twilight asked.

“Four minutes,” Sunset Shimmer replied in a hushed whisper. “We want this down to the wire. These oafs won’t be thinking straight if they’re worried about the time crunch.”

One minute. Twilight counted the seconds under her breath, bracing herself.

Two minutes. Ponies filtered out of the cafeteria as instructed. The exit doors overflowed with exiting ponies, overseen by the bulk of the facility’s Guardponies. Twilight had never seen so many in one place before, not since she used to watch the Royal Guard drilling as a facility.

Three minutes. The cafeteria now nearly empty, Twilight could feel the attention of the Guard turning in their direction. From the corner of her eye, she saw four Guardponies muttering to one another, and then begin approaching their table. She nodded to Trixie.

“You take that back!” Trixie shrieked, throwing herself to her hooves. “How dare you impugn the Great and PowerfulTRIXIE?!”

“HA!” Twilight barked, rearing back on her hind legs atop the bench. “You think your intellectually subpar monickers can match my SPOOKY CHANGELING POWERS?! You don’t even have magic!”

“I have all the magic I need right here!” Sunset retorted, shaking her hoof vigorously. “The magic of busting your cutie mark!”

“We don’t even have those!” Twilight taunted. “Your biological expertise is as incomprehensive as your vituperations!”

“I’LL SHOW YOU VITUPERATIONS!!!” Sunset Shimmer tackled Twilight, knocking her back off the bench. Twilight’s back landed hard on the floor beneath her. A sharp pain shot through her spine, but she gritted her teeth and fought through the pain. It had to look real.

“Do it!” Trixie shouted. “Defend my great and powerful love! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!” The four Guardponies broke into a gallop, arriving in less than a second. Sunset Shimmer was yanked up away from Twilight, who was in turn pulled to her hooves by another Guardpony.

“What in Equestria is going on here?!” A brown unicorn demanded. Twilight recognized the gold stripe on the front of his breastplate. It was the service insignia for a Lieutenant.

Frantically, Trixie explained, “This creature was trying to work her scary changeling voodoo on us!”

Twilight thrust a hoof at Sunset, asserting, “She called my wings--”

The stallion shouted over the cacophony of voices. “What makes anypony think I care which of you ponyfeathers started this? The only thing that matters is that I’m finishing it.” He looked to the others. “Take them to their cells.”

“You’re letting her go?!” Trixie demanded. “She tried to feed on my love!”

Twilight snarled dramatically. “You love yourself so much; I couldn’t help myself!” This prompted Trixie to lunge for her. Trixie whiffed her hoof three inches in front of Twilight’s face. Twilight fell back dramatically, forcing the two Guardponies near her to struggle to keep her upright.

The lieutenant’s horn glowed, prying Trixie back away from Twilight. “One more word out of any of you and it’s the solitary chambers!” he threatened. “Back to your cells, now.”

“Oh, please,” Sunset Shimmer scoffed. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

Twilight fired back, “Barely a morsel for the Hive!” In response, Sunset Shimmer broke from the Guardpony with her, rearing to her hind legs and kicking her forelegs at Twilight.

The lieutenant lunged, quickly getting between them and slamming Sunset backwards to the ground. “THAT’S IT!!!” he shouted. “It’s the solitary cells for all of you! Take them away!”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Trixie argued, to no avail. Each pony was flanked by a Guardpony who gripped her by the foreleg, half-leading and half-dragging them towards the northeast doors. “I am a victim!” she asserted. “A tragic soul caught up in this terrible plot of wickedness and, uh…and debauchery!”

“I can walk by myself,” Sunset asserted, jerking her hoof away from the Guardpony. “See?” she asked, taking a few steps. “I’m--”

The guard responded by shoving her forward. “Keep up,” he ordered.

The Guard led them through the recreational area, then opened a reinforced metal door. Twilight had been here once before, when the Captain ordered her into solitary confinement for talking back to him nearly a week ago. Sunset Shimmer had confirmed her suspicions the previous night; to keep them away from the other prisoners, the solitary chambers were kept in the secure quarter, the same place as the barracks, storage, and other staff facilities.

They took a right at an intersection. Twilight glanced to Sunset, who slightly jerked her head down the forward hall. Guardponies flooded down from the end. Some adjusted the helmets on their heads while others fidgeted with the clasps on their breastplates. When they reached the intersection, they disappeared down the hall to the left.

Thirty paces down the corridor. A left. Twenty paces. Right. Through another secure door. There they were: a row of sealed chambers. Twilight vividly remembered the chill of the last one she’d been in. The chambers were removed from the climate magic that permeated Bridle Rock, letting in some of the cold from the frozen wastes outside.

Even in her best estimations of Bridle Rock, there was no excusing these chambers. This was torture, plain and simple. Behavioral modification through cruel and unusual punishment had no place in Equestria. But at the same time, part of her did have to admire the twisted efficiency in their design; she’d come out of her own stay afraid to ever cross a line that would make her face these chambers again.

They were brutally effective, but at what cost to the dignity of ponykind? To the very heart of Equestria? She hated these chambers. Even more, she hated the fact that she could even consider their merits in the first place. It made her physically ill to imagine they had come from her own brilliant mind.

The first chamber creaked open. “Alright, who’s first?” The guard asked.

Twilight nodded to Sunset Shimmer, who returned the gesture in kind. Then she shoved back suddenly at the pony gripping her hoof, wrenching it free with her alicorn strength. Before the Guard could react, Twilight flared her wings, slamming both of her hidden smoke bombs against the floor. The effect was near-instantaneous: a thick smoke blanketed the chamber, choking lungs and blinding eyes.

Twilight lunged forward, slamming into the Guardpony who’d opened the chamber and forcing him off-balance. He stumbled and fell backwards into the chamber. The second Guardpony came stumbling backwards towards her on his hind legs. Twilight dropped to the floor as Sunset shoved him, prompting him to trip over her back and land on the first pony.

Before the first two could get up, Twilight pushed through the smoke to where she remembered Trixie standing. She found her target despite the stinging in her eyes, prying the third Guardpony off and shoving him into the solitary chamber. Sunset Shimmer slammed the door closed, sealing them off. Then the three mares raced for the exit door, coughing and hacking as they emerged in the corridor beyond.

Sunset Shimmer turned a large wheel on the front of the solitary wing’s metal door, sealing it off. Twilight hated using the chambers like this, but she’d accepted the compromise. The three ponies could huddle together for warmth until the Royal Guard found them. The chamber also had its own ventilation system, so what smoke had entered it should clear up in short order. These three Guardponies would be fine, which was more of a courtesy than they extended to their “residents”.

The sound of distant hooves kept everypony alert. Twilight led her companions to a side door they’d passed, slipping into a storage room.

Sunset Shimmer listened at a crack in the door while Twilight took in their surroundings. There wasn’t much to speak of; it was a supply closet just like the one Sunset had attacked her in. Cleaning supplies, mops, and plenty of shelving.

“What the hoof are ‘vituperations’?!” Trixie whispered urgently.

“What?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that really important right now?”

“It means ‘insult’,” Sunset answered. She whispered to Twilight, “You really need to work on your trash talk, ‘Princess’.”

Twilight glowered. She didn’t know why she should feel offended at Sunset’s insinuation, but it still stung all the same. In response, she hissed, “I’m sorry. I don’t have as much experience being pointlessly rude as you do. I actually have friends.”

“See? That’s better.” Sunset whispered, grinning to herself. Twilight felt a pang of remorse, seeing Sunset’s satisfaction at her answer. She couldn’t help but feel that she’d somehow lost the conversation. A few seconds later, Sunset gave the call. “Now.”

Twilight crept out the door after Sunset, followed quickly by Trixie. She did her best to silence the sound of her steps, but there was only so much that she could do about hard hooves clicking against concrete. Each sound made her wince.

“Ugh. This was much so easier with footpads,” Sunset grumbled. She led the way back to the original intersection. By now, the hall had emptied of Royal Guards; they’d be up ahead preparing for Shining Armor’s arrival if they weren’t already receiving him. “This way,” she whispered to Twilight and Trixie, rounding the corner to the right.

At the end of the hall, the three ponies found it. A great pair of double door stood open. Just beyond it was Bridle Rock’s treasure trove of armor and weapons; just the disguise that three ponies out for mischief would need to move unrestricted in the facility. “Perfect,” Sunset Shimmer said with a grin, echoing Twilight’s own thoughts.

Within minutes, the group was eagerly throwing armor over themselves. Trixie was the first to fit her head into a unicorn helm. Her head swam in the overlarge equipment. The tip came down over her nose and the sides nearly covered her eyes. “I think they’re going to notice,” she stated dryly.

“Of course, they’ll notice,” Sunset replied, rolling her eyes. “But that’s only going to be a problem if they get a close look at us. As long as we keep moving and stay away from Shining Armor, we’ll be fine. Now how do you....” She slid her neck through the open collar of a barding set. She wrestled against the weight of the metal, trying to shift the rest onto her back. After a few seconds, the armor ultimately won out, pulling her sideways off of her hooves.

Across the room, Trixie fared little better. She wrestled with the back end of the armor, trying to fit it over her tail to no avail. To Twilight’s eyes, the visible openings in the top of the set introduced an additional problem. “Trixie, you can’t wear that,” she corrected. “That’s pegasus barding.”

“Ugh!” Trixie grunted in frustration, prying her tail free from it. “Whoever made these suits clearly had a grudge against comfort. This is the most unpleasant thing I’ve been exposed to since I came to this awful place!”

“Including the saltpeter?” Twilight asked dryly.

“I know what I said.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. With her right hoof, she snapped the clasp shut on her own barding. As with the others, it was uncomfortably large on her, but that was as much a boon as a curse. Unicorn barding had no opening to let her wings through, but the extra size prevented them from being crushed against her sides. Her wings couldn’t breathe, but they didn’t hurt either. “This is armor,” she explained. “It’s meant for protection over comfort. Here, let me help you.”

Twilight walked Trixie through the process, selecting a suit of unicorn barding that was nearest to her size. Under Sunset Shimmer’s watchful yet silent eye, Twilight showed her where the hidden clasps were located. “This is going to be heavier than you might be used to. Brace yourself at the knees.”

“How do you know all of this?” Trixie asked.

“My brother always wanted to be in the Royal Guard,” Twilight answered truthfully. “I used to help him with his practice suit back when we were younger. That only had some leather buckles attached to a sheet of colt iron, but the principles are the same.”

Before Trixie could say anything more, Twilight released the barding, letting its weight drop onto Trixie’s back. Her front legs buckled instantly, pitching her front end towards the ground. She lay upended on her front, inhaling heavy gasps. A few seconds later, she grimaced and forced herself back up onto her front hooves.

“You’ll get used to it,” Twilight said. “It’s a different kind of weight than your wagon, but--”

Trixie’s eyes shot open in alarm. “How do you know about my wagon?!”

“Eh heh heh….” Twilight chuckled nervously. Diverting from the question, Twilight asked. “Do you need any help, Sunset Shimmer?”

“I’m fine!” Sunset snapped angrily. She stood across the armory from Twilight and Trixie, scowling at her two companions. Imitating the steps she’d seen Twilight take Trixie through, she’d managed to get the barding on her back with her tail and neck through the openings, but visibly struggled to find the clasps while wrestling with the heavy burden of its weight on her back.

“Sunset, your saddle is crooked,” Twilight said. “That’s going to chafe. If you’d just let me--”

“Did I say I need help?!” Sunset spat at her. “Look here. I can do anything you can, ‘Princess’. In fact, I’ll do it better.”

“This isn’t a competition,” Twilight replied. “It’s already impressive that you’ve gotten this far with--”

“I didn’t ask for validation!” Sunset interrupted.

“Sunset….”

One hour later, Twilight and her companions made their way towards the front gate. Crossing Bridle Rock without letting the Guard get too close of a look at them had been slow going, and there had been a few close calls. Additionally, there were the breaks, which Twilight had already accounted for. In his youth, Shining Armor had taken two months of strenuous training to get used to this weight; that Trixie required frequent stops was only to be expected.

She was sure that Sunset Shimmer needed the rests as well, though Sunset rarely said anything about it. As they grew closer to the gate, Sunset developed a crooked limp in her gait. With each fall of her left hind leg, she shuffled awkwardly to the side. Clearly, the saddle was chafing her hip just as Twilight knew it would. But of that, Sunset said even less.

Why do you have to be so stubborn? What kind of pony would let herself remain in pain just to protect her ego?

On their third rest, Trixie and Sunset sat with their backs against a wall while Twilight kept watch for any commotion that might indicate the Guard was coming their way. They’d already passed several roaming squads, but as anticipated, the Guard was moving too quickly to pay much attention to them so long as they walked straight and looked like they were supposed to be here.

Trying to raise her companions’ spirits, Twilight proposed, “On the plus side, even if this doesn’t work out, think of what a great learning experience it’s been!” She looked back to them with a smile. “We’re learning a little more about what it’s like to be a--”

“Oh, shut up,” Sunset replied disdainfully.

“You really are an alicorn,” Trixie said bluntly. At each rest stop, Twilight had caught her staring at the space on her sides where her wings would be if the armor wasn’t concealing them. Now, it seemed she was finally ready to speak her mind. “How is that possible?” she asked, her voice filled with mystery.

“It’s complicated,” Sunset Shimmer answered in Twilight’s stead. “Don’t hurt your thick head trying to worry about things that don’t concern you. Just stick to the plan.”

“Skitter hasn’t needed to rest since we started wearing these things,” Trixie pointed out. “I might not be the expert in pony biology, but she has the magic. She has the wings. She obviously has the natural strength. I might have bought into that changeling story as much as the next pony, but--”

“We can talk about this later,” Twilight whispered. “We’re almost to the gate, but we’ll need to pass another patrol. Everypony, act natural.”

Twilight lowered her gaze and stood straight up. Her oversized helmet came down just over the top of her eyes, concealing her distinctive mane. She marched as close to uniform as she could to Trixie and Sunset, trying to match her hoofsteps to theirs. Coming down the corridor, two pegasi and three unicorns approached with haste. Twilight saluted the patrol as they passed, receiving a salute in turn, and then kept walking.

Before long, Twilight and her companions found themselves before the front gate. Thick metal bars laid in a crisscross pattern, emerging from the walls and floor. Somewhere in this mess of steel, there had to be a door; Twilight had watched Shining Armor open it when she arrived.

She stood before the bars, opened her snout, and commanded, “Open!”

The bars said nothing.

“Acting Princess Twilight Sparkle commands you to open!” Twilight asserted.

The bars didn’t even salute.

“Well, that’s it for plan A,” Sunset Shimmer commented. “But that’s fine, because Plan A was dumb anyway.”

“There’s nothing dumb about being thorough,” Twilight said defensively. “Before you spend the time trying to find a new volume, you should always make sure that you don’t already own it first. There’s nothing to gain from making things harder than they need to be.”

“You really are a fountain of useless platitudes, aren’t you?” Sunset Shimmer asked contemptuously.

“They’re not useless.” Once more, Twilight found herself questioning the logistics of their bargain. Sunset Shimmer was as far from an alicorn as a pony could conceivably get. She was mean, unreasonable, and entirely self-absorbed; she was the complete antithesis of everything Twilight had learned from her time in Ponyville.

It would take years to teach Sunset Shimmer the lessons she’d needed to learn, and even that was a generous estimate; Sunset seemed very proud of her toxic worldview, and Twilight wasn’t sure that anything would pry it away from her. Just getting her to listen would take nothing short of a miracle.

Once more, she thought of the human world she’d left behind. Had it been a mistake to leave Sunset Shimmer with the humans? The longer she spent here, the more she found herself questioning whether the faith she’d previously placed in ponies like Sunset had been misplaced. Bridle Rock still felt wrong to her, but every moment in Sunset Shimmer’s presence provided a compelling argument for its existence.

Was it a mistake to forgive?

As much as Fluttershy usually found Bridle Rock to be constricting, she resented being confined to her cell even worse. These days were always the hardest; watching the Royal Guard bustle about in the dim green light of the facility, Fluttershy was left with nothing to do but think. She hated having time to let her mind wander. It always found its way back to Clinic Everfree.

“Even when times seem at their darkest, you can always find a little light.”

Skitter had said that to her, though she was only echoing something that Fluttershy had said herself. When Equestria became consumed by war, the Clinic had been her light. It was a place where ponies, wildlife, and even changelings could be safe and free from the troubles of the world outside. For the time it took them to recover, the Clinic allowed creatures of all kinds, friends and enemies alike, to coexist in harmony.

Until the day when the Clinic destroyed Equestria’s harmony.

She tried to remind herself of the importance in her presence here, but these were the times when all she could think of was a great grassy meadow lined with trees that rang with birdsong. She remembered the gratitude on the face of her patients. She still knew the words to the robins’ song of aid and when she closed her eyes, she could hear Harry’s noncommittal grumbling. It was a good life.

Until the day when her good life ruined everything that was great about Equestria.

Suddenly, a shrill voice filled the cell block. “The residents have been confined to their cells for the duration of your visit,” it said. At the end of the hall, a great white stallion emerged into the cell block. Everypony in Equestria knew the face of Shining Armor, clad in his distinctive purple barding. Behind him, Captain Silverpride followed in lockstep, flanked by half a dozen Guardponies.

Shining Armor stepped slowly through the cell block, stopping at each cell to inspect its resident in turn. When it became Fluttershy’s turn to be scrutinized, she kept her head low and tried to avoid making eye contact. She expected him to say something. She hoped that he might speak to her, acknowledging her terrible crime and explaining what she had to do to make it right. From the day she’d arrived here, he had never so much as spoken to her. But this time was no different; he said nothing and simply moved on to the next.

“This one’s missing,” Shining Armor observed.

“That’s Sunset Shimmer,” the Captain explained. “She and another pony decided that today would be a good time to have an altercation with our new changeling resident, who the ponies have taken to calling Skitter. They’ll be spending the remainder of the day in the solitary wing.”

“Is that right?” Shining Armor asked. “Do you have fights breaking out often?”

The Captain blanched. “No, sir.”

Shining Armor rounded on the Captain. “I gave you a lot of flexibility in Bridle Rock’s design. You said that you were committed to doing whatever it takes to keep order around here. If I find out that you can’t even keep the residents from fighting each other, then you and I are going to have problems. Is that clear, soldier?”

“Of course, sir,” the Captain responded, keeping his head held high. “It won’t be a problem, sir. This was a very unusual occurrence.”

“Unusual, is it?” Shining Armor thought for a second. “You said that the changeling was involved. I assume the three of them are being heavily supervised.”

“They were taken to the solitary wing,” the Captain asserted once more.

“Where they’re being watched extensively, I assume.”

“I hardly think that’s necessary,” the Captain scoffed. “The solitary cells only open from one--”

“Do you know what unusual means, Captain?” Shining Armor asked forcefully. “It means the changelings set a trap, and you’re about to walk blindly into it. If this behavior isn’t normal, then I expect a thorough response. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the Captain replied quickly.

“Good. Take me to the solitary wing. I’ll decide just how secure this changeling actually is.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

Fluttershy watched the Royal Guard disappear around a corner. Worry knotted in the pit of her stomach. Sunset and the others were undoubtedly trying to carry out that plan of theirs. If he caught them, then there was no way of telling what Shining Armor would do to them.

Setting aside her doubts, Fluttershy pulled a corner of her straw mat to the side, revealing a small hole in the corner of the wall. She gave a few quick squeaks into the hole, prompting a large rat to poke his nose out. “I’m sorry to bother you, my friend,” she said to The Big Cheese. “I’m afraid something very urgent has just come up. I need to have my cell opened.”

“We need to find that key,” Sunset Shimmer said quietly, leading Twilight and Trixie through another cell block. “You said Flash has a copy?”

“He’s not going to help us without Fluttershy,” Twilight replied.

“He doesn’t need to. We take it from him, get the gate open, and then we’re gone before he even knows what hit him.” Sunset Shimmer grinned. “It’s the perfect plan.”

“Oh, of course,” Trixie said mockingly. “If I’d just shown dangerous criminals that I had something they wanted, I’d be sure to wear it all the time. There’s nothing safer than an obvious target.”

Sunset Shimmer stopped suddenly, allowing Trixie to walk headfirst into her backside. Sunset turned on her, hissing, “Do you have something that you want to say?”

“Sunset, this isn’t….” Twilight droned off, eyes facing ahead. Was that? It couldn’t be, could it?

Trixie scowled. “All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t expect him to be wearing it. It could be in a closet. Somepony else might have it. There’s no reason to think he’d keep it with him.”

“Fine.” Sunset glowered. “Then we hunt him down and we make him tell us where it is. We know something that he doesn’t want anypony else knowing about, which means we have leverage. Skitter, you’re not going to have a heart attack if we….” It was then that Sunset noticed that Twilight was no longer among them.

Twilight slowly descended the hall leading to the cafeteria, eyes fixed on the reinforced door. Unlike each day before, the door now stood open. She could hear the hustle of ponies within.

“Hey! We’re trying to make a plan here,” Sunset hissed, coming up behind her. “What in the hay do you think you’re doing?!”

“It’s open,” Twilight replied simply. Through the door, she could see several branching corridors leading off from the main hall. Display racks of all shapes and sizes lined the corridors created by large filing cabinets, with thick glass revealing their contents.

Three Royal Guard unicorns hustled between the racks, each carrying a clipboard and a levitating quill. They scribbled furiously at their clipboards, checking the contents from rack to rack. They appeared to be taking inventory of the secure room’s contents.

“Twilight.” The voice came unbidden, directly touching her soul and mind.

“Skitter!” Sunset Shimmmer shook Twilight, breaking her from her trance. “Are you listening to me? We can’t stay here. Ponies are already starting to notice us.” She gestured to the cells, where several ponies had already taken a curious interest in the three unusually sized and strangely colored Guardponies.

“There’s something here,” Twilight said. Without even waiting for a response, she crossed the threshold into the secure room. She looked across the racks at the Guard unicorns, but they were too busy with their work to notice her.

It didn’t take long to work out that this place was meant to be some kind of vault. The cases she looked through were filled with a variety of objects, each tagged and marked. One section of the displays appeared to be for resident belongings. A barbell sat in one display, marked as “Bulk Biceps”. Across from it, Twilight saw a black suit jacket marked “Bracer Britches” next to some kind of strange contraption simply labeled “Flam”.

“Skitter, what are you doing?!” Sunset hissed from the doorway. “They’re going to see you!”

She skimmed over the contents of the cabinet beside her. A set of cherry bombs. Two pliers and a socket wrench. A pink ribbon tied in a bow. A rolling pin. A large camera with a flashbulb. A single wilted rose. Pamphlets for some kind of self-help program.

“Can you believe this?!” Trixie demanded, right next to Twilight. She pointed her hoof at one cabinet, which held her familiar purple cape and cap, both decorated with blue and yellow stars. “I’ve never been so insulted in my life!”

“It’s not just yours,” Twilight said simply. “It looks like everypony’s possessions are kept here.”

“Not that. Look at the label!”

“It says, ‘Trixie’.”

“Exactly! Just Trixie. What about, ‘The Great and Powerful’?! Ugh, I’ve never been so insulted.”

“What are you idiots doing in here?!” Sunset Shimmer demanded, joining them. “We don’t have all day.”

“There’s something here that might help us,” Twilight explained. She closed her eyes and listened to the connection that was tugging at her.

“Is it a key?” Sunset asked angrily. “Because unless it’s not, I don’t see what could possibly be worth wasting our time like this.”

“Twilight, this is your dignity speaking. Why don’t you love me anymore?”

“Discord,” Twilight whispered.

“Cool,” Sunset answered. “New question: what the hoof is a Discord and why should I care?”

Twilight took a deep breath. “If I’m right, this might be our ticket out of here. Or we might unleash an ancient force of evil across all of Equestria.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Great. And I’m sure you’ll be able to get a lot of use out of it without your magic. We don’t have time for this, Twilight. They could figure out we’re gone any--”

BWOMM

Suddenly, the lighting from the crystals turned bright red. A deep, repeating thrumming sound echoed through Bridle Rock, seeming to come from every direction at once.

BWOMM BWOMM BWOMM BWOMM

“What is that?!” Twilight demanded, looking up in alarm.

Sunset replied by shoving Twilight behind a large case. “Trixie!” she hissed.

“Give me a second,” Trixie replied. Standing on her hind legs, she felt her way around the cabinet housing her cape and hat. “There has to be a latch or--” Trixie suddenly felt herself yanked aside, pulled by Sunset Shimmer’s teeth on her ear. “Ow owowowow!”

Twilight peered around the corner, watching as four ponies entered and began conversing urgently with the inventory ponies. She made out the words “escape” and “changeling”, the latter of which prompted a horrified gasp. All seven ponies exited the vault with great haste, leaving Twilight and her companions briefly alone with the room.

“We need to get out of here,” Sunset insisted.

“I have to find Discord,” Twilight said sternly. “He could be the key to escaping Bridle Rock.”

“Twilight, this place has one way in and out. If they find us here, there’s nowhere to retreat, and you’ve already used both of your smoke bombs. I’m putting my hoof down. We need to—hey!” Without even waiting for Sunset’s response, Twilight had already bolted for the other side of the vault.

In the next room, Twilight found a treasure trove of arcane magic. The Alicorn Amulet lay in a glass case across from blanket made from solid gold ramskin that Twilight recognized as one of Mage Meadowbrook’s eight magical items. A large tank in the center of the room housed a dozen Parasprites, fluttering around and bumping into each other.

“Twilight, stop,” Sunset ordered.

“Twilight?” Trixie asked, stunned by Sunset’s repeated use of the name. “Skitter, why is she calling you--”

“That’s not important,” Twilight barked, refusing to even look at her companions. He had to be here somewhere. A familiar looking case sat along one wall with six empty slots. That must have been for the Elements of Harmony, but why wouldn’t they be there? Unless this reality had to deal with the Plunder Seeds too, in which case….

“He’s here,” Twilight said. “I can feel it. He has to be here. He’s going to get us out of here and then he’s going to take me home.”

“This is a dead end,” Sunset Shimmer reiterated. “You’re going to get us caught. We can’t. Be. Here.”

Trixie blinked. She took a look around the vault they were in, and a question came to her lips. “What are they going to do if they find us with all of this stuff? That could be even worse than just getting caught.”

Twilight continued to ignore them. She looked to the far corner. A large doorway led into a narrow hall that led deeper into the mountain. “I would have put him as far back in this place as possible,” she confirmed to herself. “He has to be this way.”

“Just a little farther, Twilight. Why, you could say I’m DYING to see you again!”

“Twilight, that is a hallway,” Sunset hissed. “Okay, I’m done with this.” Lunging at Twilight from behind, Sunset grappled the alicorn’s midsection with her hooves, pulling her back from the door.

“Let go of me!” Twilight shouted audibly, rearing back. She shoved back at Sunset Shimmer, forcing her off. Sunset’s side crashed into the case that once held the Elements of Harmony, sending it tumbling to the ground. The glass, amazingly, held out against the impact without so much as a crack. The loud crashing noise as steel struck wood and glass struck concrete, however, was unmistakable.

“They had to have heard that!” Sunset shouted. “We need to leave!”

“Then go!” Twilight shouted back at her. “But I’m doing this!” She broke into a gallop, racing down the hall. The small confines echoed with the sound of her hooves. Turning around would prove quite a challenge if this led to a dead end, but Twilight was filled with confidence. She was right. She had to be. Everything she’d experienced in Bridle Rock had led her to this moment, when she would--

No.

Twilight slowed to a stop as she entered a vast chamber, deep beneath the mountain.

“No.”

Her breathing hitched.

“This can’t right. This isn’t possible.”

She sat down hard, staring in horror at the center of the room. Minutes later, Sunset Shimmer entered, followed closely by Trixie. Their armor did not enter with them, having been discarded back in the vault. Sunset’s eyes burned with raw fury; Trixie merely looked concerned, casting a worried look back down the hall.

“How is this possible?” Twilight asked them, all of her previous bravado fading from her voice.

“You tell me,” Sunset Shimmer snarled. “I’ve never seen this stupid thing in my life. This is your big escape plan?” In the center of the room, a large pedestal held up the statue that Twilight knew to be Discord petrified by the Elements of Harmony. A great howling laugh remained frozen on his face, just as it had been when the Royal Sisters defeated him.

That face sat on the ground beside his outstretched talon. The broken pieces of his wings were piled on top of one another, just beside his right leg. His tail, snaked around the pedestal, lay atop the collection of rubble.

No salvation would be found here. There was nothing left but another reminder of a ruined world. Twilight’s mind raced with the ramifications. She picked up Discord’s petrified head with her hoof, and it felt like he was laughing directly at her, mocking her for her false hope. This would be her last indignity. Twilight broke, flinging the head across the room. “He was supposed to be here!” she screamed into the somber room.

Once more, Sunset Shimmer urged her, “We need to leave.”

“What’s the point?!” Twilight asked. “There’s nowhere to go. They’re going to find us and they’re going to take us back. That’s how it works here. There was supposed to be a way out. There was supposed to be hope, but all we did was make it worse. It only ever gets worse.” After a few seconds, she added, “I hate your reality. What’s the point of even trying if everything has to be so awful?”

“Oh, Twilight. Why does everything always have to have a point?”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “You are here,” she whispered. “I didn’t imagine that.”

“Who’s here?” Trixie asked nervously. She looked to Sunset. “You’re not making a lot of sense right now.”

“Me? Here? You should know better than that! Why would I, the Master of Chaos, be hanging out with these losers? I’m where I’ve always been, Twilight. I must say, I’m hurt. Not angry just disappointed. I can’t imagine what would be so exciting about ‘Bridle Rock’ that you’d choose them over me. And here I thought we were becoming friends.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Twilight shouted to the empty room. “Can you get us out of here?!”

“What is she talking about?!” Trixie demanded.

Across the room, Twilight saw the eyes on the Discord head glow red. “Wow, this guy has seen some better days, hasn’t he? Wouldn’t want to be him, if you know what I mean.”

“Would you please focus?” Twilight asked. “They’re going to find us any minute!”

“Careful now. I wouldn’t want you FALLING TO PIECES on me! PUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“That’s not funny!” Twilight shouted at the empty room.

“Twilight!” Sunset barked. “There’s nopony there!”

The sound of hooves could be heard through the passage, prompting Sunset and Trixie to glance back at it in terror. Twilight yelled, “They’re going to find us any minute! If you can help us, we need it now!”

“You know, you’re being terribly rude for somepony asking for help. You haven’t even laughed at one of my jokes!”

“What?!”

“Hmph.” In a downtrodden voice, Discord said, “And here I thought you might be different. I thought you of all ponies might actually understand me.”

Twilight’s heart seized. This was bad. If Discord abandoned her now, she might never understand his brand of magic. Worse, she might never find her way home.

My friends. Applejack. Apple Bloom. Spike.

“I’m trying,” she gasped out hastily. “Really, I want to understand, but I don’t know what I can learn from here!”

“Oh, Twilight. You’ve always had trouble seeing the truth, even when it stared you right in the face.” Twilight could practically hear the malevolent grin as he spoke.

“Stared me right in….” Twilight thought for a second. “Is this some kind of puzzle?” No answer came. “Okay. A broken Discord. Your statue must have been smashed during the Changeling War, obviously. That’s not much of a mystery.” Discord didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The answer sounded wrong even to Twilight herself.

Stepping over to the head, Twilight continued. “Except that doesn’t explain your face. You’re laughing instead of panicking, which indicates it must have been broken before the time when you escaped in my world.”

Trixie stood in confused silence, absorbing everything. “Twilight” hates this reality, and now she’s talking about her world? This wasn’t changeling weird. This was a whole new layer of weird.

“Rarity had never even heard of you when I mentioned your name,” Twilight mused. “That corroborates the theory that you never escaped your imprisonment in this reality. So then this must be connected to events that are different from before then. It’s a product of the butterfly effect.”

“That’s it,” Sunset Shimmer said. “Trixie, we’re leaving. I’m not getting busted so that she can carry on arguing with a broken statue.”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. “What did you say?” she asked, turning on Sunset.

“I said, I’m not getting busted so you can--”

“No, before that!” Twilight trotted over to Sunset, studying her face. “You said you’ve never seen this statue before. Not even once?”

“Is that really important right now?!”

“There is nothing more important right now.” Twilight grasped the sides of Sunset Shimmer’s face with her hooves. “Focus. Think hard. You were Princess Celestia’s student years before I ever was. You don’t remember this statue standing in the southwest courtyard?”

Sunset pushed Twilight off of her. “Twilight, I have never seen this hideous thing in my life. I would remember decorations this ugly.”

Twilight wandered back towards the podium where the pieces were held. “Then it must have been destroyed years before I even came along. There’s no telling what magic this statue might still hold, so the pieces would need to be locked away for safekeeping.”

“Come on, Trixie,” Sunset ordered. “We’re leaving with or without her.”

Oblivious to her companions’ departure, Twilight continued on. “That would have been in Canterlot. I must have moved it here after the war, just in case. But if that’s true, why is it broken here? The war, Nightmare Moon…how far back do these changes go? What caused all of this to change in the first place?”

“There we go. Now you’re asking the right questions. I knew you had it in you! Of course, I already gave you the answer, but I understand if you weren’t paying attention. You do have so much trouble following along when a pony other than you is talking.”

“What was that about?!” Trixie demanded, rounding a corner behind Sunset Shimmer. They’d spent only a few minutes reassembling their armor. With the Royal Guard now on alert, the disguises were needed more than ever.

“She’s either insane or stupid,” Sunset replied, adjusting the strap of her saddle around her waist. She peered down a corner, but the coast seemed clear. “I should have expected that,” she muttered.

“Why? Because she’s Twilight Sparkle?”

Sunset froze. “What makes you say that?”

“Only the fact that you’ve been saying her name for the last ten minutes! How is she Twilight Sparkle?! Why is she Twilight Sparkle?!”

“I told you not to worry about it,” Sunset said sternly.

“Well, too bad, because I’m worrying about it!”

Sunset turned on Trixie. “Trixie, I swear to Celestia. I have this under control. You just keep quiet and do what you’re told and we’ll get through this.”

“No! I’m sick of this! ‘Oh, Trixie, you’re too stupid to understand. Trixie, you don’t need to worry about that. Trixie, don’t strain your brain.’ I put up with you because you were going to teach me. Do you want to know what I’ve learned?!” Trixie reached up for Sunset’s face, but Sunset swatted her hoof away. She held up the hoof. “Look, I just pulled everything I’ve learned from you out from behind your ear. Do you see it? It’s nothing! It’s nothing, Sunset.”

“What do you think I’m going to teach you with my magic shut off?” Sunset demanded. “If you actually thought you could learn spells in this place, then you’re even stupider then I gave you credit for.”

“You could teach me the theory! The principles! The history! There is so much I never got to learn, because I wasn’t a super special gifted unicorn like you. I didn’t get to go to a fancy school for unicorns. I didn’t get to learn from Princess Celestia herself! Do you know what I got? A wagon and a few trinkets my dad forgot to take with him when he left.”

Sunset Shimmer glowered. “I’m still waiting for the part that concerns me. You got screwed? Well, guess what? Life sucks for everypony. What do you expect me to do about it?”

“We’ve had an alicorn princess who’s apparently actually named Twilight Sparkle right here in Bridle Rock for a week. You can start by explaining that.”

“Let me be clear,” Sunset said. “You are a dim-witted, overenthusiastic purveyor of parlor tricks with more excitement than sense who could barely cast a cantrip even before you were imprisoned here. There is nothing of value to me in what you do or do not know. You’re not a thinker, Trixie. You’re just a tool.”

“I have a better idea, then,” a deep, masculine voice spoke. Sunset and Trixie glanced to the side to see the bright white hide of Shining Armor looming over the both of them. “How about you both explain it to me?”

Flash Sentry raised his right foreleg over his eyes, saluting his commander. “Flash Sentry, reporting for duty, sir.”

“At ease, soldier,” Shining Armor replied. “Come inside. I’m hoping you can help me get to the bottom of this.”

It came as no surprise to Flash that Shining Armor would ask to meet with him. Standard protocol would have everypony interviewed before the inspection was complete, even ponies who worked the night shift and had no business being up at whatever hour of Bridle Rock’s dim, green day cycle this was supposed to be. Not that he was bitter, mind you.

He had, however, expected a more accommodating chamber. A break room, perhaps. If nothing was available, the Greenroom would do in a pinch, seeing as the residents were confined to their cells. This was neither of those, however. This was an interrogation room.

A dozen members of the Royal Guard stood at attention just outside the door, armed with polearms that would touch the ceiling if raised a couple feet. The room was cramped and stuffy, decorated only with a single wooden table at the center and no chairs. A steel collar lay in the center, attached to a chain that was bolted to the table. Flash Sentry had seen that collar latched around the necks of more ponies than he’d care to name. It always give him chills.

“Have a seat,” Shining Armor commanded. At that moment, Flash’s heart filled with dread. Behind the commander, another four Guardponies stood at attention, but their spears were pointed not at the ceiling. Their weapons were held diagonally, each pair crossing under the chin of a resident. Sunset Shimmer and Trixie must have been caught staging whatever foolish action they’d tried to undertake with Skitter.

“Permission to speak freely?” Flash asked.

“Denied,” Shining Armor barked at him. “Have a seat, soldier. We have a lot to talk about.”

Flash sat down at the end of the table, opposite from Shining Armor. He eyed the collar nervously. “Sir, with all due respect, I’ve been sleeping in the barracks all morning. I work the graveyard shift, so I’m--”

“I’m familiar with your schedule,” Shining Armor replied. Before him on the table lay several folders and reports, neatly organized into three stacks. “And I didn’t give you permission to speak freely, so stow it. Now, as you can clearly see, this inspection has not gone well.” He gestured to the captive residents.”

“Yeah?” Flash asked. “That sounds like a day shift problem, Sir.”

“You’re not wrong,” Shining Armor said plainly. “Too many factors had to go wrong to put these two in the secure wing dressed in Royal Guard armor while three loyal Guardponies were locked away in a solitary cell. I don’t expect you to know much about that.” The commander paused, studying Flash’s features carefully.

After a few seconds, Shining Armor continued. “I do have some questions about these, though.” He pushed a folder across the table. It slid across the wood, allowing Flash to catch it with his hoof. Flash opened the folder to a familiar sight; it was filled with overstocked supply requests going back several months. Each requisition bore his and Rarity’s signatures at the bottom.

Shining Armor gave Flash a few seconds for the requests to sink in, watching his features. Then he continued. “I’ve seen my share of requisitions, soldier. I’ve filled out more of these than I could ever hope to recall. I’ve never seen anything like this. Taken on their own, none of these is really out of place for a two month supply. But you send these every week. That seems like a lot of food for a base of this size. That’s not to mention that you have thirty ponies; I can’t imagine what you would need one hundred and twenty blankets over the span of six weeks for.”

“The Acting Princess signed off on these,” Flash said in his defense.

“That’s not an answer,” Shining Armor replied. “Her highness has a gentle heart. I know that. My sister knows it. It’s what makes her so great with the ponies in the Empire. But it keeps her from having the stomach for the kind of work we’re doing here.”

“And what work is that, Sir?” Flash asked. In the back of his mind, he knew he was getting insubordinate, but faced with the evidence already collected against him, it didn’t seem like he had much to lose. “This place is a junkyard for collecting banished ponies. That’s all it’s ever been.”

Shining Armor scowled. Flash could tell he’d touched on a sensitive subject. “Bridle Rock is the key to protecting Equestria,” he snarled. “This is where thieves and violent criminals are rehabilitated so that they can become functional members of our society.”

“Sunset Shimmer’s been here since we built the place,” Flash replied, gesturing to Sunset in the back of the room. “Why don’t you take off her disabling spell and see just how ‘rehabilitated’ she is.”

Shining Armor shot a look to Sunset, who replied with a smirk. “Try me, Whiteout,” she said with a sneer. “I promise not to stain that pretty coat of yours.”

“It sounds like you’re blaming us for your failure to carry out my sister’s vision,” Shining Armor replied, rising from his spot. He crossed the room, approaching the door as he spoke. “Bridle Rock was your job. All of yours,” he added, raising his voice to ensure the Guardponies in the room heard him. “Not only have you failed it, you’ve conspired to undermine our authority. And then there’s the pest problem I keep hearing about.”

Flash Sentry’s heart seized. He knew about that? “Sir, I don’t think--”

BANG BANG

Flash was interrupted by Shining Armor pounding on the interrogation room’s door. “Bring her in!” he called.

A few seconds later, the door opened and Flash’s throat fell into the pit of his stomach. Fluttershy was shoved roughly through the door. She doubled over and landed on her shoulder, but nopony moved to help her. After a couple seconds, she pushed herself to her hooves, only to see Shining Armor hovering over her. She looked up nervously and shrank down, trying to make herself smaller.

Shining Armor’s horn glowed, grasping Fluttershy’s forelegs with his magic. He yanked her roughly to the table, setting her beside Flash. “We caught this one skulking about the barracks. I saw her on my way in. I was certain on my way in that she was locked securely in her cell. But here she is. Can you explain that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Flash said neutrally. His heart pounded rapidly. He could feel Fluttershy shivering with panic beside him, and it made it harder for him to resist the urge to lose it.

He had to think of something. He knew she was helpless. She was probably terrified out of her mind right now, paralyzed into inaction. She needed him to do something that would fix this. He could take whatever Shining Armor could throw at him, surely. He was a tough enough guy, right? But Fluttershy, she needed—

“I did it,” Fluttershy whispered meekly. Flash froze. What did she say? She couldn’t mean that, surely.

“Speak up,” Shining Armor ordered.

“You’re not going to get anything out of Flash,” she said quietly. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath, then continued. “He’s trying to protect me. It’s very sweet of him. But I did it. This was all because of me.”

“Explain.”

“I stole the requisition forms,” she explained. Flash’s jaw dropped. “I changed them so that I could steal supplies coming in.”

“She’s lying,” Flash stammered out. “She’s obviously lying.”

“He didn’t know anything about it,” Fluttershy insisted.

“Don’t listen to her! She’s--”

“Silence,” Shining Armor ordered, using his magic to shove Flash aside. “If that’s true, then what about these two? How do they fit in?” he asked, gesturing to Trixie and Sunset Shimmer.

“I made them steal the supplies,” Fluttershy said, putting her hoof to her heart. “That’s all they did, and they didn’t have a choice. It’s what they were trying to do now. They didn’t want to, but I made them do it. Please, it’s all my fault.”

“That’s right!” Trixie added. She swooned from side to side, raising a hoof over her eyes dramatically. “Oh, It feels soooo good to get that off of my chest. I’ve never wanted to be a criminal. I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, was brought low by a tragic twist of fate and then seduced into this tragic life of crime. It’s all sotragic!”

“Is this true?” Shining Armor asked Sunset.

Sunset Shimmer hesitated. She knew what she should say, but it didn’t feel right. Give her a chance, she’d throw Fluttershy to the wolves any day, but here was Fluttershy trying to make that trade for her. It didn’t make any sense. What was she expecting to gain from this? “I….” This wasn’t how it was supposed to work. This wasn’t a victory. All she had to do was say yes and she might get away scot free. It should have been an easy choice, but it felt wrong to have it handed to her like this.

Why would Fluttershy do this? What pony in her right mind would volunteer to take a fall? What game was she playing?

“I see,” Shining Armor said, returning his attention to Fluttershy. The opportunity had passed, and Sunset Shimmer had allowed it to slip through her fingers. Well, metaphorical fingers. The clunky hooves that passed for her fingers. And she still couldn’t fathom why.

“It looks like not everypony agrees with your story,” Shining Armor said. “So here’s your chance to convince me. If you really are the mastermind behind all this, then answer this question.” Shining Armor narrowed his eyes, his voice rippling with fury. “Where is the changeling that impersonated my sister?”

“You’re right,” Twilight said to the stone draconequus head. “There’s still so much here that I don’t understand. The choices I’ve made in this reality, the choices my friends have made, they only raise further questions. I’m trying to explore them, but there’s only so much I can do here. They took my magic.”

“And?” Twilight could hear the grin in his voice.

“I never thought in a million years that I’d be saying these words, but I need your help. Please, Discord.”

“Okay, let’s try that again, but with feeling this time.”

“What?!” Twilight was taken aback. Fuming, she demanded, “Is everything a joke to you?! This is serious! I need real help. You’re the last creature I’d ever consider asking it from, but--”

“And yet, here we are,” Discord interrupted.“Isn’t that fascinating?!Just you and me on a whirlwind tour to the very heart of reality itself! And it all starts with one question.”

“I’m working on that,” Twilight replied. “But there are a million different variables and--”

“I’m not talking about the statue.” Discord’s disembodied voice somehow managed to blow a raspberry in Twilight’s ear. She swore she could feel it. “I mean this: why are you here?”

“Because my counterpart thought I was a changeling,” Twilight answered.

“Not here in Bridle Rock. Here. Why are you here?”

“Here in this reality?” Twilight asked. “I fell through the fabric of the universe. I’m still not clear on what happened, but you suggested that I might have been drawn here because of some sort of kinship I felt with this place. I can’t imagine why, though.”

“No, Twilight. This moment, right here and now. Asking me for help. Why are you here? What made you have to be here and nowhere else right now? Oh, here, let me put on my pretentious, boring stick in the mud voice. Ahem!”

Suddenly, Twilight heard her own voice echoing back at her. “Of all the infinite variables that permeate the universe, why did they conspire to bring you to this exact moment? What is the great meaning behind your presence right here, right now? What purpose defines this meeting between us?”

“I….” Twilight hesitated. She had always believed in a well structured and regimented world. She’d lived her whole life trying to follow the purpose that was laid out before her. Every moment was a step along her path, the path of being Princess Celestia’s prized pupil. For much of her life, Twilight had aspired to do something great with her life, though she had quite underestimated the extent to which she would succeed.

There was meaning in every action. There was a purpose to everything that happened to her. This was unquestionable. Whether that purpose manifested through the Elements of Harmony or through the glorious plan that her mentor had conceived for her, every step on her journey served a purpose in bringing her towards her very reason for existing. Twilight Sparkle was an instrument of purpose, and Equestria was the map upon which her purpose played out.

It was a hard life filled with trouble and new lessons to be learned around every turn, but she had always risen to the occasion. She couldn’t imagine doing anything but. And yet, here was a world where her purpose had played out much differently. What stage of her great purpose was this? How did it connect to Celestia’s plan for her? Where was the lesson?

The words stuck on her tongue, just at the edge of her mind. She hated those words. She hated the very idea of them. They undermined the very concept of who she was, of everything she had lived her life for. Somehow, they were even harder to say than the request for help. She feared that if she spoke them, she might never come back from them.

“Go on,” Discord said malevolently, his voice coursing around her mind like a serpent, squeezing everything she stood for. “Give me those three little words I long for.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight whispered.

“Louder.”

“I DON’T KNOW!!!” she shouted in rage. Her entire body seethed with resentment. She felt defeated. She felt used. Only twice before had she ever felt so violated, as though her entire identity had been torn inside-out. Appropriately enough, that time was because of him as well.

“Did you hear that?” A voice echoed down the corridor. Twilight’s heart seized. The Royal Guard had heard her screaming at Discord. “There’s someone in the Deepvault!”

“There, I said it!” Twilight shouted. “Whatever you’re going to do, I need it now!”

“Me? I can’t even set foot in this reality. What do you expect me to do?” He let out that high-pitched laughter of his, churning Twilight’s stomach. She tried to look around the room for anything she could use, but it was nearly empty. The only objects present were the central dais and the rubble.

After a few seconds of panic, Discord’s voice returned. “Then again, there might just be some magic left in these old stones. If I could just….” At once, the pieces of Discord started to glow with a dark blue energy. Crackles of red and green lightning emanated from the magic, flashing and striking out at everything around them. The pieces let out a deep thrum. They made a chattering sound as they vibrated slowly upwards into the air.

“They’re coming this way!” Twilight urged him.

“Give me a second,” Discord said giddily. “Okay, three more seconds. I think he’s…yes, this is going to be hilarious. And….”

At that moment, a Royal Guardpony burst into the vault. “Freeze!” He ordered. Twilight backed up against the podium, just under the levitating stones. “What in Equestria?” The guard asked. He called down the hall behind him, “I think we have a problem here!”

“Now.” At that moment, the stones pulsed, sending a wave of energy outward. It hit the Guard, turning him instantly to crystal.

“Where is the changeling?!” Shining Armor repeated.

Trixie shared a glance with Sunset Shimmer. “Ugh, you know changelings,” Trixie said in disgust. “Who knows where she could have gotten off to?!”

“She’s not with us,” Sunset said quickly. “She attacked us in the solitary wing She made all of that smoke with her changelingmagic and then she vanished. She could be anywhere!”

Trixie gasped. “What if she is the smoke?!” she exclaimed.

Sunset Shimmer looked Shining Armor straight in the eyes. “The real question is, what were you thinking putting that monster in here with us?! We could have been seriously hurt! I think you owe us some answers.” In the back of her mind, Sunset silently pleaded with Fluttershy to just stay quiet and go along with this.

“Is that right?” Shining Armor asked. “It took you long enough to think of that.” He looked to one of his guards. “As soon as our stallions finish clearing out the solitary wing, I want all four of these criminals locked up. I’m going to find the changeling.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You don’t have to do that,” Fluttershy begged. “It was just me.”

“Do you think this is a game?” Shining Armor demanded of her. “There is a dangerous creature loose in this facility. Every one of you is an accomplice to that happening. This cannot happen! Bridle Rock is the single most secure military site in Equestria. You are in my camp, and I will have order!”

Seconds later, a strange wave pulsed through the air, rippling across the room from the left side. Instantly, the lighting blacked out. The stones that were supposed to provide the facility’s dim green glow instead cast rows of illuminated circles in a variety of colors, rotating rapidly in opposite directions from one another.

A shrill high-pitched voice sang out through the base in techno acapella, drowning Bridle Rock in its deafening, repeating tone. “DO DO DODODO DO DO DODODO DO DO DODODO DO DO DODODO!!!”

“SIR!!!” A Guardpony screamed as gravity ceased to function. The ponies holding Sunset Shimmer and Trixie cried out as their spears turned to serpents, whirling and biting at them.

Trixie froze up in panic while reality unhinged around her. Sunset Shimmer, thinking quickly, pushed away the struggling guards between them and then gave Trixie a forceful push through the air towards the door. She kicked off the wall, following Trixie. “Go!” she shouted to Fluttershy and Flash Sentry, shaking them out of their confusion.

Shining Armor flailed uselessly in the air as Sunset passed him. He turned, seeing Fluttershy and Flash orienting themselves in the air. His horn glowed with purple energy just as Sunset landed on the edge of the table, flipping it upwards. Shining Armor’s magic bolt struck the back of the table, blasting through it and propelling Sunset, Fluttershy, and Flash safely towards the exit door.

Trixie was the first to hit the door, passing through it and splashing it into pieces as though it were made from water. She coughed and sputtered as she passed. “Ugh, it got in my mouth!” she whined, spitting out liquid door particles. “Ick, it tastes like…like….” She smacked her lips a couple of times. “Huh….”

The others followed through behind her, wading through air now saturated with liquid wood particles. Fluttershy screamed as she passed through the door, shutting her eyes and covering them with her hooves while floating through the air.

Ahead of her, Sunset Shimmer barked over the noise of that horrid singing. “This is our chance!” She whirled in midair, turning on Flash. “Do you still have--OW” Sunset’s back struck the wall behind her, ceasing her momentum.

Flash opened his snout to answer, but the air filled with the sounds of screaming. Terrified voices echoed from the cell blocks. Down the hall, Sunset could see one of the soldiers who had stood guard outside the interrogation room; spear in teeth, he hovered in midair, desperately blocking strikes from what looked like a cell bar with arms and a menacing face, wielding two other cell bars as clubs.

“We have to leave,” Sunset reiterated.

“We can’t!” Fluttershy insisted. The screams had snapped her from her panicked funk. “Those ponies might need us. We have to do something to help them!” She flapped her wings helplessly in the air, inching her way down the hall, but Sunset took a few steps sideways against the wall and pushed off, pulling Fluttershy back towards the group.

“What is your problem?!” Sunset spat at Fluttershy. “We’re never going to get another chance like this and you want to waste it for them?! What have any of them ever done for you?”

What have I ever done for you?

Fluttershy looked Sunset in the eyes. “I can’t look away from a creature that needs help. I’m sorry that you can. I can’t imagine what must have happened to make you this way.”

Sunset didn’t even know how to respond to that. It cut deeper than any insult or barb she’d ever suffered. A flood of emotion passed through her. First, she felt old wounds and injuries beginning to stir within her, but those pains were quickly quashed with the flood of anger that filled her heart, glowing in her eyes.

Who was Fluttershy to say something like that to her? No, really, who did she think she was?! Did she think she was better than Sunset?! She was here for treason, the worst crime anypony in Bridle Rock had ever committed. Sunset might be scum in Equestria’s eyes, sure, but Fluttershy was the lowest scum, so where does she get off talking like that?!

“There you are!” Skitter flared her wings, slowing her approach. “Come on! We have to get out of here!”

“I’m not going,” Fluttershy insisted. “We need to--”

“They’ll be okay,” Skitter said quickly, anticipating Fluttershy’s response. “This is controlled chaos. I know it looks bad, but trust me, it’s all temporary. Once it’s over, Bridle Rock will revert to normal. We need to escape before that happens.”

Flash looked at the concern on Fluttershy’s face, then asked, “You’re certain that everything will be fine?”

“It always does,” Skitter answered. “Discord’s magic has a temporary warping influence on the fabric of reality, but as soon as the source fades away, the natural world should reassert itself.”

“Then we need to be gone before that happens,” Flash agreed. He turned Fluttershy around, hooves against her shoulders. “You’re not wrong, but please listen to me. I know you want to help, but you can’t help anypony if Shining Armor catches you, and after all of this, he’s going to be livid. I don’t even want to think about what the Acting Princess might come up with that’s worse than Bridle Rock.”

Fluttershy looked from Flash to Sunset, then to Skitter. Finally, her eyes settled on Trixie, who responded only with a shrug. “I just want to leave,” Trixie admitted. “I don’t really care who goes.”

Finally, Fluttershy nodded. “You win,” she said meekly. “I’ll go.”

The antigravity effect weakened as the group approached the front gate. Flash skidded to a stop, patting his armor. “The key!” he shouted. “It should be in the--”

Skitter galloped past him, diving through the gate and splashing it just like the door before. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy followed after. Trixie opened her snout before leaping through catching a mouthful of liquid metal. Flash followed through, catching up to her.

“What was that about?!” he asked Trixie.

Trixie smirked at Flash Sentry. “What? You can’t tell me you weren’t curious.”

She had him there. “So what did this thing turn the doors into?” he asked.

“Applesauce,” Trixie answered, her voice indicating she was as perplexed by the answer as Flash was. For some reason, ahead of them, Skitter let out an annoyed groan.

Five ponies emerged into fresh air. For some, it had been years since the last time they’d seen the sky beyond the Greenroom. Yet there was no time to celebrate, for the biting wind and freezing cold bit at their flesh and howled at their ears.

“The carriage!” Flash ordered. “Skitter, can you help me pull?”

“Already on it!” Skitter replied, sliding into a guard harness. Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, and Trixie climbed into the back of the carriage, embracing each other for shared warmth. Flash and Twilight tugged at the carriage, breaking into a gallop and spreading their wings to take to the sky.

The endless blizzard outside pounded at their faces and the wind chilled their wings, but Flash knew exactly where he was going. “This way!” he shouted to Skitter, pulling to the right. She let him lead, following his course for half a mile east. The Crystal Empire would be in the opposite direction, he knew, but they would never make it without the unicorns’ magic to shield them from the elements. Instead, Flash Sentry guided the carriage down to the earth.

“Where are we going?” Skitter asked over the roar of the blizzard.

“Trust me!” The carriage descended towards an empty snowfield, and it was only when they were a few feet above the snow that the cave became visible. They set down the carriage just inside. The outcropping that shielded it from above also blocked much of the storm outside, allowing for shelter.

The temperature, however, was still painfully cold. “Why did we stop?” Sunset Shimmer demanded through chattering teeth. “My legs are going numb.”

Without answering, Flash leapt to work. In the center of the cave sat a fire pit, already stocked with dry wood. Flash pounced on it, striking his metal horseshoes against each other to create a spark. “Somepony watch the fire,” he asked. Next, he moved to the side of the cave, where two racks leaned against the wall on uneven ground, holding an assortment of canned goods.

Flash came back with blankets, throwing them over his companions while Trixie blew on the fire. “We can rest here,” he assured them. “In about twenty hours, the disabling spells should wear off. There’s food and fuel, so as long as we keep warm, we’ll be fine. They shouldn’t be able to find us, not in that storm.”

Fluttershy glanced about the cave, taking in her surroundings. “These things didn’t bring themselves here,” she observed. “You’ve been planning this.”

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about,” Flash confessed. “On and off, anyways.”

“For how long?”

Flash looked her in the eyes, then said, “Always.” After a few seconds, he looked to the ground and added, “You never deserved what we did to you.”

“If you two are about to have a love-in, I’m going outside,” Sunset Shimmer declared, glaring daggers at the both of them.

Flash blinked. “Outside is a roaring storm made of ice and death.”

“And that’s still preferable to you.”

“What was that?” Trixie asked. “I know just about every trick in the book. In fact, I wrote half of it. But I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Sunset looked across the fire at Skitter. “She’s right. I’ve memorized half of Princess Celestia’s library and I’ve never heard of a spell like that. That wasn’t alicorn magic, it wasn’t changeling magic, and it certainly wasn’t unicorn magic. So what in Equestria did you do?!”

“It’s a long story,” Skitter replied.

“Twenty hours?” Sunset asked Flash. He nodded. “Twenty hours. So look at that, we have time.”

“Please, Skitter,” Fluttershy said. “After everything that’s happened, I think we deserve the truth.”

Skitter pulled her blanket more tightly over her shoulders. She looked into the fire, weighing her options. She’d kept her cards tight to her chest since she arrived in this reality for fear of the fundamental impossibility of her presence. But given what her companions had just seen? She took a deep breath. Then she stood, fluffing her wings, and looked out at the ponies gathered with her.

“My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

12 - A Family Dispute

A cacophony tore through the meadow just outside Fluttershy’s home. The pegasus gasped in shock. “Flitterjet! You know better than that!”

“TWEET TWEET TWEE TWEE TWEEEEEEET”

The hummingbird chirped rapidly in protest, but Fluttershy would hear none of it. “Don’t you take that tone with me,” she said sternly. “I know what I saw.”

“TWEET TWEEEEEEE”

“No, I am not letting you go until you apologize. That kind of vulgarity was completely uncalled for. Angel was just trying to be friendly with you.”

“TWEE TWEEEET”

“That’s not what I saw.”

“TWEEEEEE”

Flitterjet let out one last disappointed chirp. Beside Fluttershy, her dearest friend Angel, an innocent little bunny rabbit who she knew would never do anything like what Flitterjet accused, folded his forelegs and tapped his bunny foot expectantly. Bitterly, the hummingbird nodded her head.

“Twee tweet.”

“There,” Fluttershy said, more warmly than before. “Isn’t that better? Doesn’t it feel nice to get that off your conscience? Now the two of you can….” It was then that she noticed her friend Applejack towing a cart across the land bridge headed up to the cottage. “Oh, my delivery is here. Play nice now, you two!”

No sooner had Fluttershy trotted off across the mead than Angel blew a raspberry at Flitterjet.

Applejack parked the wagon at the base of the incline leading up to the front door and began the process of extricating herself from the yoke. Behind her, a small purple dragon hopped down from the back of the cart. Fluttershy hadn’t even realized Spike was coming, but there he was, opening the tailgate.

Applejack came around the back of the wagon. Fluttershy could see Spike bouncing back and forth, grinning from ear to ear and clicking the tips of his claws against each other in eagerness. “Three bushels,” Applejack ordered.

“Good morning, Applejack,” Fluttershy greeted. Spike pulled the first basket full of apples down from the cart. “It’s nice to see you.”

“Mornin’,” Applejack said neutrally. “I got three bushels for delivery.” With her left foreleg, she pulled a second basket down from the back of the cart.

“And a little helper, I see.” Fluttershy giggled, watching Spike scurry towards the front door. More seriously, she asked, “He hasn’t tried breathing for you again, has he?”

Three days before, Applejack’s hoof rapped gently against her bedroom door. “Spike, y’in there?” she called. “Supper’s on if’n you want to join us.” A few seconds passed with no answer.

Earlier that day, at her insistence, Spike had moved into the Apple family house. Transporting his bed and other essentials had been a trivial matter. The main fear was what he would do once he arrived. The family had braced themselves for how he would behave, but to everypony’s surprise, the day had passed uneventfully. Nopony had seen hide nor hair of him since his midday arrival. Instead, he’d been up here, wasting the day away under what Applejack suspected to be the same cloud of depression that she’d been fending off.

Applejack furrowed her brow and knocked again. “Spike?” She waited another moment, then twisted the handle and eased the door open. Inside, she found Spike seated on his bed at the foot of her own. His bed was a tiny thing. He slept in a woven basket with a shaped boxspring and cushion pressed into it. Applejack presumed that it was a custom design, probably ordered for a bunch of bits from some fancy custom furniture place in Canterlot. At least, she hoped that was the case, as it took her mind off how much Spike’s bed resembled Winona’s.

Spike glanced up at the sound of the door opening. “Oh, hey, Applejack,” he said dourly. “Did you need my help with something?”

“Wanted to let you know that supper’s on,” Applejack repeated. Her eyes trailed to the picture frame in his claws. He must have taken it from her bedside table. A younger Twilight could be seen in the photo, fidgeting nervously with her forelegs. She was seated on a red cushion in what looked to be the Royal Palace while her face was contorted somewhere between a fake smile and a grimace. Her attention seemed to be somewhere off to her left rather than on the camera.

“Oh!” Spike said, following her gaze to the picture he held. “I’m sorry, I saw this and--”

“Ain’t no harm in lookin’,” Applejack said soothingly. “I miss her too.”

Spike seemed to accept that. After a few seconds, he explained, “I was there when they took this, you know. A couple moons before we came to Ponyville, Princess Celestia gathered all of her students to take photos for the graduation ceremony.”

Applejack sat down beside him, looking down at the picture. “I heard a little somethin’ about that. Reckon she didn’t take kindly to it?”

“Oh, she was so mad,” Spike said. Setting down the picture frame, he held up a claw snippily, raising the pitch of his voice in his best impersonation of Twilight’s nasal intonation. “I’m in the middle of a very important experiment with Somethinghoof’s Whatever! Nostalgic photography serves no pragmatic function!” Spike bounced up to his feet, holding up his claws in mock agitation. “This is stupid! You’re all stupid! Study study books study!” Then, in his best screeching eagle tone, he cried out, “REEEEEESEARCH!!!”

Applejack burst out laughing at Spike’s impression. She reared back on her hind legs, cackling at Spike’s screech, then caught herself on the side of her bed. “That pony is somethin’ else,” Applejack said through chuckles. She took a few seconds to wind down, then added, “Explains why there ain’t a lot of pictures of her.”

“There are better ones, though,” Spike replied. “They did a bunch of takes with her school picture. She didn’t like it, but she wasn’t going to argue with Princess Celestia, and the Princess wasn’t going to let her stop until she got one that wasn’t scowling. It was very important to her.” He picked up the photo again, looking quizzically at Applejack. “But this isn’t that picture. Twilight always told me that this is her worst photo. Why would you frame it?”

“’Cause it’s her,” Applejack said bluntly. “Twilight ain’t all prim and properlike. She ain’t even no good at fakin’ it. Those other pictures are tryin’ to make her out to be somethin’ she ain’t.” Applejack traced her hoof along the frame. “This right here, this is Twi. When she’s snorin’ like hungry Timberwolf, drool drippin’ out on the pillow, this is her. When she skips two meals readin’ and then she gets mad at her stomach for cuttin’ in, this is her.”

Seeing Spike tremble, Applejack stopped. His claws jittered and he closed his eyes for a second. “She’s coming back, right?” Spike asked. Suddenly, Applejack felt like a heel. She’d been so focused on her own panic and her own hurt, but there were others who were just as afraid and hurt right now. She’d already seen that with Princess Celestia, and now here she was rambling in front of Spike.

Truth was, she hadn’t gotten the best impression of Spike the last time he tried to spend an extended period on the farm. Even before that, she’d always been mildly uncomfortable around him. His role as Twilight’s personal dragon servant made her uneasy. Twilight wasn’t the first upper-class pony she’d ever been with, so she was no stranger to the concept of servants. A live-in servant who doesn’t get paid, though… that was something different, and it bothered her in a way she’d never been able to put to words.

But seeing him here, trying to hide the quiver in his eyes and mask the shaking of his voice, it all fell into place.

“Oh, Spike,” Applejack said softly. She embraced the little dragon, crossing both of her forelegs around him from behind. “I ain’t about to lie to ya and say she’ll be okay. I wish I could, but life’s got plans for each and every one of us and we don’t always get a say in what that means. But if you know nothin’ else about her, you know this: she’s a fighter, right down to her root, and she’s gonna do everythin’ she can to make it right back here with us.”

It was a strange feeling to be saying these words. Her father’s voice came as naturally as if it had been her own. “You gotta keep your chin up and hope for the best, Spike. But you gotta be ready for the worst just as much.” She dabbed him in the chest with the tip of her hoof. “And if that time’s gotta come, y’know in your heart that she loved you enough for a lifetime. You carry that with you for the rest of your days.”

Applejack heard Spike let out a sniffle. Gently, she added, “This room right here, it’s your safe place. You don’t gotta be tough right now, not in here. You go on and let it all out, and I’ll be right here with you through each and every tear.”

Applejack shut her eyes tight and squeezed the little dragon, rocking gently back and forth the way her daddy had done for her. In that moment, her questions and doubts no longer seemed to matter. The precise nature of Spike’s relationship with Twilight no longer seemed to matter. It didn’t matter if he was anything as simple as a worker. It didn’t matter if he was like a brother or a son or a cousin or even just a friend. Truthfully. there were no words to describe what Spike was to her anyway.

At least, there were no words but one, and she knew it was the only one that mattered.

He was family.

“He hasn’t tried breathing for you again, has he?” Fluttershy asked with a giggle.

“Spike ain’t a bad seed,” Applejack answered, watching him setting down his basket. He turned and jogged down the path towards Applejack and Fluttershy, wearing a proud grin. “He just gets excited, is all. Reckon we all forget how young he is at times.”

“I think she’d be happy to see you two getting along,” Fluttershy said.

“Reckon she would,” Applejack replied stoically.

“How have you been since…?”

“I manage,” Applejack replied noncommittally.

Fluttershy eyed Applejack carefully. That the earth pony kept her gaze on Spike, never looking straight at her when she answered these questions was not lost on Fluttershy. “I know it’s only been a week, but I can’t stop worrying about her. I can’t imagine how you must…I mean….”

“Good work,” Applejack said, cutting her off. “You got two more and then it’s happy trails.” She met Spike at the bottom of the hill, passing him the second bushel. Spike accepted the basket with a grunt, then scurried back up the path.

“Oh, my, there’s no need for you to go so soon,” Fluttershy said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay for tea?”

“Beg pardon, but we got a long day of deliveries ahead and we’re burnin’ daylight as it is. How ‘bout I take a raincheck for next time?” The distance in Applejack’s eyes did not go unnoticed as she spoke.

Fluttershy pursed her lips. She was never very good at this. In a given day, she had enough sympathy for a lifetime, but communicating her feelings had always been difficult for her. Why did this come so much easier with nature’s other creatures?

“Well, perhaps I could come with you,” she offered sweetly. “I might be able to help you with your load.”

Applejack hesitated. Despite herself, she actually cracked a smile at that mental picture. “Better times, I might be gettin’ half a mind to set you up with the cart and watch you try and pull it.”

“You’re right, that was silly of me,” Fluttershy said. Internally, however, she marked this down as a success. Applejack’s mood had at least brightened, and that was progress enough. “I still want to help, though. Isn’t there anything I could do?”

“That depends. Y’ain’t seen Apple Bloom round these parts, have you?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“Worth a shot,” Applejack said with a shrug. “You reckon Discord’s still keeping up his end, tryin’ to find where Twilight’s gone off to?”

“We’re having tea tomorrow,” Fluttershy explained. “I was going to ask him if he’s found anything.”

Applejack nodded. “Then how’s about you let me worry about me, and you worry about that. You find a way to bring Twilight home, and you’ll have helped me enough for a lifetime.”

“Apples!” Spike called out over the bustle of the crowd. “We’ve got fresh, juicy apples over here!” The marketplace was packed with a rainbow of differently colored ponies, each rushing back and forth between a variety of wooden displays. Vendors marketed their goods under differently colored cloths. Some were forced to rely on calling out for attention while others had signs put up on their booths, clearly marking their business name and type of stock.

The Apple Family relied on a stall with a green canvas over the top to shield their wares from the midday sun. Crates sat in front of the stall, each upturned diagonally to provide passing ponies with a clearer view of the many different apples they had on sale. On the rack behind the crates, Applejack had unloaded apple pies, apple turnovers, apple brown betties, and several other pastry dishes that a hungry pony might be interested to take home with them.

The wagon nestled comfortably in the back of the stall, allowing easy access to its stock. As apples and pastries sold from the front, Spike would restock the supply from the wagon. It was easy enough work to get the hang of, and Applejack was there to help him with any organizational questions. Not that he had money; compared to navigating Twilight’s organizational requirements, the Apple Family’s display rules were a breeze.

But that wasn’t the only task Spike had taken up. Across the marketplace, he spotted a finely dressed stallion. The pony wore a fine set of brown leather saddlebags with sterling silver clasps. He was dressed in a blue suede vest, open at the top. Spike watched this pony passed three bits into the hoof of a unicorn merchant, who levitated a green porcelain bowl into his bag in return.

This was his chance. Spike eagerly raced around behind Applejack, but she caught him with her hind leg. Without saying a word, she merely smirked at him, then swatted an apple his direction from their cart’s inventory. It sailed just over his head, but he caught it in his claws. Spike nodded firmly, then scampered off across the market.

“Sir!” Spike shouted. “Hey!” As soon as he know he’d caught the stallion’s attention, Spike put on his best dealing voice. “You, sir! You look like a pony who needs something to snack on after all this shopping, and have I got the treat for you!” Holding up the prized fruit, Spike announced, “Straight out of Sweet Apple Acres, I have with me one of the finest pieces of fruit in all of Equestria!”

The pony sniffed the apple in Spike’s claw, but sneered at the offer. “I’ve always been a blueberry pony, myself,” he explained.

“Blueberries?!” Spike scoffed. Suavely, he asked, “Can a blueberry match the crisp, firm texture of a ripe apple? Does a blueberry whet the appetite and leave its savory juice on your lips? Here, why don’t you give this a try?” He hoisted the apple proudly in front of the pony. “On me.”

The pony examined the fruit before him. “Well, if you insist,” he said snidely. “I’m certainly not going to turn down anything that’s free.” He took the apple from Spike’s claw, considering it carefully.

“Excellent.” Spike snickered, pointing his claws at the pony. “When you make up your mind, you know where to find us,” he said, backing away and vanishing into the crowded marketplace. As soon as he was out of sight, Spike turned and raced ba—

WHUMP

Spike slammed into a field of white. He staggered backwards, shaking off the impact. “Oh, my goodness!” the pony before him exclaimed. “Oh, my dear Spikey-wikey, I am ever so sorry. Are you quite alright?”

Spike would know that voice anywhere. “Rarity?” he asked, his voice lifting with the beating of his heart. Before him stood the vision of loveliness he knew from his dreams. Her violet curls wound around her slender white neck, perfectly framing the curvature of her face. She wore a light blue hat tied around her chin with a teal ribbon and carried a straw basket with her magic.

“That was quite the performance you just put on,” she said with a giggle. Each bounce of her laugh sounded like the ringing of a wind chime. His heart melted at the sound. “It’s a shame that one got away, but surely the next will more thoroughly appreciate your efforts.”

“Yeah,” Spike said dreamily. “Appreciate my….”

“You give it a minute,” Applejack said proudly. She sat on her haunches behind the stand, her forelegs resting on it. “Reckon that pony will be back in two shakes of a dog’s tail once he gets a taste of my harvest.” She tipped her hat. “Mornin’, Rares. I got your usual dozen all set to go.”

“Thank you, Applejack. As always, you are the very image of punctuality.” She glanced down at Spike. “And I must say, it’s quite a surprise to see our little Spikey-wikey with you. And he’s doing such a good job, too!”

Rarity said that. She said that. He was doing a good job. This was by far the greatest moment of his life. He couldn’t wait to tell Tw—

…to tell….

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Spike said. Somehow, Rarity’s praise just didn’t seem so exciting anymore.

“Spike’s just bein’ modest,” Applejack said. “He’s got a real knack for this part of the work. Reckon we might have found a good place where he fits in the day to day.” Quietly, she added, “Twilight was right.”

Before Applejack could get too lost in her thoughts, Rarity put a hoof against hers, snapping her back to reality. “She’ll be thrilled to see how you both are getting along,” Rarity said. “I’m certain of it, and our friend in the library thinks so as well.”

“Speakin’ of,” Applejack started.

“She’s adjusting,” Rarity answered. “Rainbow Dash and I have been working with her. I’m afraid she’s very disoriented by everything. Trying to build an identity from another pony’s life is….” Rarity hesitated, searching for words. “Why, I can’t even imagine what that must be like.”

“That thing shouldn’t have stolen Twi’s life in the first place, then,” Applejack replied dismissively, prompting a miffed glare from Rarity. She hefted a bushel from the back of her wagon, carrying it towards the produce display. “By the by, you seen Apple Bloom around? Granny wants her home early so she can help peel the taters for tonight’s stew.”

“Oh, Apple Bloom?” Rarity nervously bit her lip. “Sweetie Belle said she was having a rough day in class and I’m afraid she had an awful lot of homework. So she…well, you know, it is Thursday and Sweetie Belle says--” She flinched at the heavy thump from the bushel landing on the ground in front of the produce stand.

“No,” Applejack sneered.

“Well, you know how much Apple Bloom adores her,” Rarity pleaded.

Applejack snapped straight into mission mode. “Spike, I gotta go. You’re in charge of the stand ‘til I get back,” she ordered.

“And you know how much Twilight adores her as well,” Rarity argued. “I hardly think she needs a chaperone.”

“Ain’t chaperonin’,” Applejack said bluntly. “This here’s a rescue mission.” She bolted across the market like a Timberwolf in pursuit of prey, straight for the cucumber stand across the way.

“NO NO NO NO NO!!!” The vendor cried out, but Applejack kicked off and sailed straight over the stand, vanishing on the other side.

“Applejack.” Rarity sighed in frustration. There truly was no convincing that pony as soon as her mind was set on something. How Twilight could put up with such determined stubbornness, she would never understand.

“Um, excuse me?” A low, masculine voice interrupted. The stallion from before, dressed in his vest and leather saddlebags, stood just a few feet away from the cart. “Is this the stand for Sweet Apple Acres? That apple you gave me really opened my eyes. I’ve never tasted anything like it! I’d like a dozen, if I could.”

Spike winked at Rarity. “Right this way, sir!”

Deep inside the confines of the Golden Oak Library, everything was going according to plan. Twilight couldn’t help but grin, watching it all unfold before her.

Twilight had laid the seeds, but it had been Apple Bloom that took the bait on each and every one of them. Piece by piece, step by step, she laid out the course. She’d set a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, and Apple Bloom, so eager to learn, had easily kept the pace. Twilight had given her just enough to make each piece seem like it had been Apple Bloom’s idea, and now she just had to put it all together. Within moments, the final step would come.

“So then I reckon X would be…7?” she asked. “No, wait. 8. X is 8! ‘Cause Y and Z make 64, and the root of 64 is 8! So it’s 8, right?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said coyly. “Is it?”

“Uh….” Apple Bloom went back over her equation once more, following each step of her solution. “It’s 8,” she said more confidently. “It’s gotta be. See, ‘cause Y’s a 4, so this part where you divide X by it and get a 2 wouldn’t make a lick of sense with 7. So I’m right.”

Twilight took a sip from the illusory mug before her. She first generated a glow from her horn, then lifted the mug illusion to her lips to simulate the act of drinking tea. It wasn’t quite the same as using real magic, but the opportunity to practice sustaining and manipulating her illusion was welcome all the same. “It sounds to me like you don’t even need me to answer that.”

“What?!” Panic erupted from Apple Bloom’s voice. “No no no, y’gotta tell me if it’s right! How else am I gonna know?!”

“The same way you just showed me,” Twilight answered. “By doing it again. Repetition is the backbone of scientific study. You can’t just perform a trial once and then consider the results conclusive. You do it again and again, in different ways and from different angles. You experiment multiple times, and you build your--”

SLAM

The front door blew inwards in the wake of a panicked Applejack. She instantly swept up Apple Bloom in her hooves. “Apple Bloom!” she cried out. “Are y’hurt? Did she do anythin’ to you?” She pried open Apple Bloom’s jaw, asking, “She didn’t make y’eat nothin’ funny, did she?” Next, she pulled apart Apple Bloom’s forelegs, inspecting her thoroughly for injuries.

Suddenly, Apple Bloom jerked her limbs away from her sister. “Land’s sakes, Applejack! I’m fine. What’s gotten into you?!”

Ignoring the question, Applejack turned on Twilight. “What in tarnation do y’think you’re doin’ with her?!”

“Math?” Twilight answered confusedly. “It’s Thursday. Apple Bloom always comes by to work on her homework.”

Applejack was no stranger to Apple Bloom and Twilight’s weekly routine. In truth, she’d even been privy to some discussion in the past about expanding her weekly visits to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, though the drama of recent events had put a hold on that conversation. But that was before.

“That right?” Applejack asked. She looked down at her sister. “Run on home, Apple Bloom.” She scowled at the phantom wearing her special somepony’s image. “’Twilight’ and I got some things need to be set straight.”

“What?!” Apple Bloom protested. “Y’can’t send me home! We ain’t even halfway finished yet!”

“This ain’t up for debate,” Applejack said firmly. Pulling open Apple Bloom’s saddlebag, she started sweeping her sister’s notebooks and pens inside, shooting suspicious glances at Twilight. “You gonna give that over or do I gotta take it?” she asked of Apple Bloom’s textbook, resting in front of Twilight.

“Y’can’t do this!” Apple Bloom pleaded.

Twilight picked up the book, holding it gingerly with her force barrier. Lifting things was almost trivially easy, she’d found. A force field levitated the object while her illusion created an image around it. The field didn’t even need to be the same shape or size as the illusion; in truth, once she knew how to do it, she found it had more in common with her levitation spell than physically touching the item in question.

“Your sister is right,” she said to Applejack, holding the book. “There’s no reason for this hostility.”

“How ‘bout you let me worry about my sister,” Applejack replied coldly.

“I was just trying to help,” Twilight explained.

“That right? You jumpin’ in right now, in the middle of all this, you think that’s helpin’ anypony? You think you bein’ around is makin’ this any easier for….” Applejack’s eyes burned with white-hot fury. Twilight couldn’t remember ever seeing her so angry before. Then she looked at her sister, eyes still pleading for some explanation of why she was acting like this. Quietly, she asked the phantom, “You want to do this? Fine. You gonna tell her? Or do I gotta?”

“Tell her what?” Twilight asked. “I don’t understand what you’re so upset about.”

“Is this about the rock thing?” Apple Bloom asked.

Applejack froze. At Apple Bloom’s question, her anger broke. She found herself standing in the middle of the library, shoveling school supplies into her sister’s backpack while ignoring her desperate cries to stop. In that moment, she was suddenly vividly aware of how bad she looked. She could see herself through Apple Bloom’s eyes, and in that instant, she looked completely unreasonable. She dared even say she looked mean.

“Is that what you thought?” Twilight cringed, squeezing the textbook to her chest. “You actually thought I would lie about something like this? To Apple Bloom?”

“I….”

“Do you know what I did as soon as she came through that door? I told her everything. Every word. I even told her the parts that were hard to say, because I knew how much the truth matters to YOU!” Twilight shoved the textbook at Applejack, who caught it in her forelegs. When she lowered it, water had emerged from the corners of Twilight’s illusionary eyes.

“Why are you doin’ this to me?” Applejack asked, squeezing the book to her chest. “Why couldn’t you just send her home?”

“Because this isn’t about you!” Twilight snapped at her. “When she came in, I wasn’t thinking about you at all. I was thinking about her future. Apple Bloom has amazing potential. You know that; we’ve talked about this before. She could be the first Apple to attend a university!”

“Nothin’ would make me prouder.”

Those words echoed in Applejack’s mind. They were an affirmation from a happier time, before their lives had changed so dramatically. It seemed so long ago that she’d stood here with Twilight, the real Twilight, and witnessed the light of her sister’s future shining down. Apple Bloom had every chance in the world to be what she couldn’t and to live the life she never managed to attain. Apple Bloom could be the daughter her Mama wanted all along.

Applejack set the textbook on the table. She felt at once horribly guilty, but still apprehensive for her sister’s safety. “I’m sorry, Apple Bloom,” she said, trying not to look at the construct. Keeping Twilight’s image out of sight made it easier not to think about how right she sounded. “I mean it. But y’know what she did to us.”

“Of course, I know! I was there for that!” the filly retorted. “Big Mac and I helped Twilight save all’a y’all. But she don’t even remember doin’ any of that!”

“I’m just tryin’ to keep you from gettin’ hurt,” Applejack admitted.

Apple Bloom looked her sister in the eyes. “Would Twilight ever hurt me?” she asked.

“…Apple Bloom, that ain’t Twilight.” Applejack swallowed hard, trying to find the words to explain this. “Least, it ain’t the Twilight we know. I don’t even know how much of our Twilight she’s got in her.” She looked back up at the construct, which had shrank into herself defensively. “I just don’t know if it’s safe.”

“Then why don’t you stay and find out?” Twilight suggested a little too eagerly. Getting Applejack to spend any length of time around her had been next to impossible. Here at last was the opportunity she’d longed for. “We still have half an hour at least before we’ll be finished with Apple Bloom’s math. I was planning to move on to her potion studies from here. We’d love for you to join us.” After a couple seconds, she added, “It’d be a rare opportunity, as well. She’s been dying to show you some of her potion work.”

“Please, sis,” Apple Bloom begged.

Applejack sighed. There was no arguing with those eyes, especially not after the scene she’d just made. “Alright, sugarcube. You win. But just for a couple hours, then Granny’s gonna need you home.”

“Thank you so much,” Twilight said. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”

“So it’s true,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy really did start the fighting.” Five feet away, Fluttershy lay on her left side, wrapped under a light blue blanket. To comfort her head, she’d outstretched her wing, using the feathers as a pillow.

Flash gripped a stick in his teeth, stirring the fire. The flames flickered and threw off sparks, lighting up the slumbering forms of Trixie and Sunset Shimmer as well. Once he was satisfied with the size of the fire, he set the stick to the side. It had been a long day for everypony.

“It wasn’t much of a surprise to anypony,” he said, answering Twilight. “Tensions were already pretty high in the Empire. Rarity had been pressuring Applejack to disband for moons.”

“All because of Tirek,” Twilight said, following the logic chain. “What was Tirek? That doesn’t sound like a pony’s name. In fact, before I came here, I’d never even heard it before.”

“Nopony knows,” Flash said, throwing his forelegs up in consternation. “To this day, not one pony in Equestria has any idea who this guy was or what he wanted. He just showed up in the middle of that last great battle and murdered Princess Celestia. The only reason we even know his name is because the Acting Princess heard her say it.”

“Really?” Twilight looked up in thought. “I suppose Princess Celestia does tend to keep a lot of things to herself. She’s surprised me a few times with some task or another involving a creature or place I’d never even heard of. But I can’t imagine she’d keep something so dangerous from me.”

“I don’t think she ever envisioned not being here to run the kingdom,” Flash suggested. “But I don’t know. It’s possible that even she didn’t know that was coming. Some of the stallions in the Guard think Tirek was supposed to be some kind of secret changeling project to make this kind of evil super-bug with all kinds of strange powers and magic. Queen Chrysalis was doing a lot of weird stuff in Canterlot. Most of it’s buried in the rubble, though.”

“Maybe.” Twilight wasn’t sure if she believed that story, but she didn’t have any other ideas either. “But then how would she know his name?”

Flash shrugged. Twilight sighed. That was probably the most she was going to get out of this topic.

“Okay, but then why go after the Shield of Harmony? If the Changeling War was so horrible, then it sounds like you could have used any help you could get. Celestia forbid, if anything like that happened to my Equestria, we’d welcome everypony’s assistance.”

“It’s not that simple,” Flash answered.

“No offense, but I think it is.” She held up her forelegs, closing her hooves on each other. “Different groups of ponies coming together in friendship is how Equestria was built. Without cooperation from unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, we never would have had the kingdom we all grew to love.” Flash chuckled, earning a scowl from Twilight. “What’s funny about that?” she asked flatly.

“It’s nothing,” he said, smiling. “It’s just that Fluttershy likes to talk about that too. She loves that old faerie tale about the first Hearth’s Warming. She likes to say that we need to work together and cherish each other again, or we’re never going to make it. It’s just…it’s weird to hear that coming from…well, from Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle, even.”

“Am I really that awful?” Twilight asked.

“I’m probably not the right guy to answer that.” Flash looked into the fire, watching the flames dance. “Look, when I enlisted, you were Princess Celestia’s protégé. Nopony really knew what to make of you, but we all had a lot of respect for the way you defeated Nightmare Moon. You outranked each and every one of us, but you treated us with respect. Although you didn’t make much of a secret about the fact that you hated the Shield.”

“I did?”

“Pretty much from the start, yeah. At least when I was around, you never missed a chance to make a sarcastic comment about them. You called them a bunch of small-town crazy ponies trying to get themselves killed, and you said they’d be safer if they went home and left securing Equestria to the ponies who’ve been trained for it. Now, I don’t know what happened in Ponyville, but I know that you didn’t like talking about it.”

“All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!!!” Twilight shrieked from her lofty perch. The soft mattress of her bed provided little comfort, and the pillow over her head was less than suitable for its task of blocking out the ear-splitting sounds of obnoxious townies partying in the library below. “Do you know what time it is?!” she demanded of her companion on the floor below.

“It’s the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration,” Spike said enthusiastically. “Everypony has to stay up or they’ll miss the Princess raising the sun!” Twilight snorted, returning her attention to the sky outside her window. Spike sighed. “You really should lighten up, Twilight,” he suggested. “It’s a party.”

Twilight bitterly pantomimed Spike’s ridiculous words while he left. He had no idea what he was talking about. None of these ponies did, and their feckless distractions were going to keep her from solving this problem.

Frustrated, she dropped her pillow and laid her head back against the mattress. “Ugh!” she said to nopony in particular. “Here I thought I’d have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!”

“I think I have some idea,” Twilight replied sorrowfully.

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Flash replied. “Whatever your reasons were, you made no secret of how much you hated the Shield. Then, after what happened to you at the Clinic, you were on a warpath by the next morning. You had bandages covering your face and neck and three doctors trailing you when you made us march to the training camp on the outskirts of the Empire, screaming at us to arrest everypony wearing applewood barding.”

Twilight put her hoof to her neck. She’d felt the scars for herself; she knew how real they were. Still, she could scarcely imagine them. It broke her heart to think of Spike, her faithful assistant and beloved friend, turning his flame on her like that. So much had to go wrong here in order to make that happen. And then, just like that, the one creature in all Equestria she could trust was gone. “I must have felt so alone,” Twilight muttered.

“Uh, sure,” Flash said, awkwardly glancing to the side. “I mean, you made us set a hospital on fire and threatened of the kindest, gentlest souls in Equestria with violence. But we can go with ‘lonely’.”

Twilight said nothing. She didn’t have a response to that. The more she learned, the harder it became to understand her choices in this world, let alone to defend them.

Flash took a moment to stir the fire once more. “Can you grab another log?” he asked. Twilight stood, braving the cold outside the fire’s immediate vicinity to reach the lumber pile behind her. “Anyways, you took us down to the training grounds, but by that point, the Shield was already gone. Applejack must have gotten word about what was happening. Don’t know how, but she did. Some of the colts like to say she’s got a spy planted somewhere.”

“And that’s how the fighting started?” Twilight asked, hoisting up a pair of logs with her right foreleg. Her magic wouldn’t return for another few hours, and already she was feeling the anticipation to use her levitation spell again. Truthfully, she didn’t know how earth ponies and pegasi got around without magic. It had been exhausting and unpleasant since the moment the spell was placed on her.

“The war started that same day,” Flash answered. “The report came in that afternoon. The Shield attacked a depot just west of Las Pegasus. The royal family gave the order to arrest Shieldmares on sight. No negotiation, no hesitation, and no exceptions. Applejack and every single pony who followed her were declared public enemies and a threat to Equestria’s peace.”

“What about Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“Rarity wasn’t a Shieldmare by then,” Flash explained. “She’d hung up her barding moons before, around the same time she started telling Applejack to throw in the towel. Nopony was really surprised; we got to know Rarity pretty well. She’d been the Shieldmares’ liaison with Canterlot before the war. She was kind of like the public face for Applejack’s militia.”

“And that was good enough?” Twilight asked.

“Anypony who’d hung up her shield before Clinic Everfree was considered to not be involved. Pinkie Pie’s going to be your other big name there, plus a few others I don’t really know. That brother of Applejack’s is another. But the Acting Princess wanted any pony actively serving when all that went down to be brought back in chains.” He watched Twilight drop a log into the fire, setting the other to the side. “That was the day we all went back to war.”

“When I was impersonating…uh…myself, Shining Armor insisted that it’s not a war,” Twilight corrected.

“He would say that.” Flash picked up his stick, coaxing the flames towards the new log. Once he was satisfied with the fire licking the log’s side, he returned the stick to its place. “The Royal Family refuses to declare it. They’re trying to cover up everything. They’ve got Pinkie Pie out there saying Applejack’s group are just a small group of bandits and that the Royal Guard has this all under control.”

“Don’t they?” Twilight asked. “We are talking about the Royal Guard. My friends and I have been through more than a few rough scrapes, but that’s not exactly what we’re talking about here. How dangerous can a handful of ponies wearing applewood be against the pride of Canterlot?”

Flash shook his head. “You don’t get it. The Shield of Harmony were right there through the entire war, fighting the changelings just like we were. But they didn’t have our numbers, our weapons, or any real armor. That means they got really good at thinking like a small fighting force. They’re mobile and they move fast, hitting a target before it even knows what’s coming and then vanishing into Celestia-knows-where.”

“We don’t have a way to deal with that?” Twilight asked. It was an earnest question; she’d never really considered the logistics of fighting a war in Equestria before. “I thought the Wonderbolts were supposed to….” She drifted off, recognizing the answer to her suggestion before Flash could even say it.

“Oh, they are,” Flash replied. “The Wonderbolts are supposed to be able to get anywhere in Equestria and hold the line long enough for the Guard to sweep in and overwhelm the target. But there’s this one Shieldmare who’s an absolute beast in the air.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight whispered.

“They call her the Terror of the Sky. The Wonderbolts are the best of the best when it comes to flying, but even they’ve never seen anything like this pegasus. She’s got old veterans with decades of training, ponies who fought and survived on the front lines of the Changeling War, flinching at the sight of a rainbow.”

Twilight remembered the explosion of light in the distance. She’d barely even had enough time to process what was happening before Spitfire was throwing herself at the oncoming streak of light and destruction. The shockwave of a near-miss had almost thrown her from the carriage, and she still didn’t know if Spitfire was okay.

“And it gets worse,” Flash continued. “Throughout the war, you insisted on keeping the Shield out of the fighting as much as possible. Right up until the Battle of Canterlot, we handled most of the fighting ourselves while the Shield stuck to a hit and run harassment campaign. That meant we took the brunt of the losses. The Royal Guard was decimated by this war, but Applejack came out of it with most of the ponies she started out with.”

Twilight took a deep breath, absorbing all of this information. “So what you’re telling me is that she has better tactics, more ponies, a way to shut down our eyes in the sky, and she’s raiding bases for weapons and armor that can even the field. That’s…wow, okay.” Twilight took a deep breath, processing all of this. “That is a lot different from the way Pinkie Pie makes it sound.”

“The Royal Family would never admit it,” Flash said. “But there’s a very real chance that Applejack might win this thing. And if she does, what happens then? I don’t even know what Equestria would look like with a usurper taking her throne by force. Honestly, I don’t want to know.” He looked at Fluttershy, watching her side rise and fall with her breathing. “All I want is to get her away from all of this. Maybe we could leave Equestria and try our luck somewhere outside the border. It has to be better out there, right?”

Twilight didn’t have an answer for that either. “I’ve never been outside Equestria’s borders,” she said. “But I can tell that you care a lot about her,” she said.

“Of course, I do,” Flash said. He reached out with a hoof, brushing Fluttershy’s slumbering ear. “She gave me something to believe in again. Look, Equestria’s gone and it’s not coming back. Everything that was ever great about it, it all died with Princess Celestia. I took the oath when I enlisted, same as anypony, but there’s nothing left here to protect.” He stared solemnly into the flickering flames. “I didn’t want to admit it, but after what I saw at Clinic Everfree, I knew it was true. It’s over. Equestria’s over. This kingdom lost its soul trying to fight off the changelings, and now all that’s left are vultures picking over the carcass.”

“…and then Fluttershy happened?” Twilight asked, trying to make the connection.

“Her work happened,” he explained. “Helping her out at Bridle Rock made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile for the first time in moons. She brought back some of the magic. I don’t know how she does it, but when I’m with her, it feels like a piece of the Equestria I love is still there. She inspires me to believe there might actually be something good left in this kingdom. I guess this is what it feels like to be in love.” He laughed nervously.

“Awww!” Twilight beamed, putting a hoof to her heart. Ever since her relationship with Applejack had taken off, she’d found that nothing warmed her heart like the rush of two ponies getting together for the first time. “That’s so sweet,” she said. “It’s not, but that’s sweet.”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, it’s great that you’re interested in her,” Twilight said. “Like I said the other night, you really should go for it. I mean, the prison issue isn’t stopping you now, and I think you two would make a great couple.”

“No, stop,” Flash said, frustration slipping into his voice. “Go back. What do you mean, it’s not love?”

“Oh, that.” Twilight took a moment to think about how to say this. “Well, you obviously like her and that’s very sweet of you. But it’s not love. It’s more like the first chapter.” She sighed. “I’m probably not the best pony to talk about this,” she admitted. “My Special Somepony, Applejack--”

“I still can’t believe that actually came out of your snout,” Flash commented. “Between the chaos thing and the other Equestria, I think that’s the most unbelievable part of your story. If I hadn’t seen what I saw back in Bridle Rock, I’d probably be calling horseapples on your whole story based on those words alone.”

“It’s a day full of surprises,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “Anyways. Applejack and I haven’t exactly been in a good place lately, but I still remember what it felt like when it was good. Love is more than just thinking a pony has good ideas and liking how you feel when she’s around.”

Twilight took a deep breath, remembering the way her heart would flutter every time she heard that word, “Sugarcube.” “When I’m with her, it’s like I feel every motion she makes. When she’s hurt or she’s hungry or she’s happy, I feel it. And then she feels me feeling it. And then we turn into this irrational feedback loop of feeling each other feeling the other’s feelings! Does that make sense?”

“Not even a little bit,” Flash answered.

“And when she’s not around, I crave her. Since we started fighting, I’ve barely even been able to focus on my studies. A stray thought goes out to her, and then she’s all I can think about. She isn’t even there, and I still have to fight her for control of my own brain.”

“That sounds like an addiction.”

“Love is an addiction! It’s ridiculous and it’s illogical and sometimes you get your heart ripped out and stomped on by all of your friends and find out your Special Somepony dated had a bunch of other Special Someponies before you and you know that shouldn’t bother you but it does. It does. And it means that maybe you aren’t very special to her after all if you’re just the replacement for the replacement for the replacement, and you start to wonder about what the pony who replaces you is going to be like and….”

Flash awkwardly glanced at the fire, then back up to Twilight. “Do you, uh, need a hug?”

“What? No, I’m….” It was at that moment that Twilight realized she was crying. She sniffled, using her hoof to wipe away her tears. “I’m sorry,” she choked out. She cleared her throat, trying to calm her nerves. “Love is complicated.”

“I can tell.” He sat in silence with Twilight for a minute, trying to find his way back to the topic at hoof. But after that display, there wasn’t really a lot coming to mind. One minute turned to the next and the only sound that filled the cave was the crackle of the fire. Finally, he suggested, “Do you want to lie down for a bit? You look pretty tired. I can make sure the fire keeps burning.”

“You know what, that’s probably a good idea,” Twilight admitted. “Thank you. Once my magic comes back, I’ll probably get back to trying to make my way home, so I don’t know how long I’m going to be here. But for what it’s worth, I hope you and Fluttershy can find that place you’re looking for.”

“Thank you,” Flash said. “I hope you can get things figured out too. You’re not bad for a violent, paranoid despot.”

“You haven’t seen my bad side,” Twilight joked.

“With all due respect, your highness, I have seen more of your bad side than I ever care to see again.”

“Thank you for giving me this chance,” Twilight said. “It’s an unusual situation for everypony, I know. This isn’t exactly optimal for me either. But I thought that, even if there wasn’t anything else I could do, Apple Bloom shouldn’t have to pay for what happened.” She sat in silence for a few seconds, trying to find her words. “…I know, intellectually, that these are just feelings I inherited, but they feel real to me. Apple Bloom is part of that. She’s like the little sister I never had.”

The evening light cast its orange glow on Twilight’s face, framing her features. She was still as pretty as she’d been on the day she came to Ponyville, and that made this conversation so much harder. Her mannerisms and turns of phrase were all the same. These were mannerisms that Applejack had fallen in love with, and she didn’t know how strong she could be in the face of them.

Apple Bloom had left minutes ago. Applejack asked her to help Spike pack up the wagon and get it back to the farm so that she could have this moment to talk to Twilight’s illusion. But her leaving meant that they were now alone, and that made it so much harder to remember that the pony in front of her was a lie. Those purple eyes gleaming with curiosity and hope were a lie. That smell of….

Well, actually, she didn’t smell like anything. That was the one saving grace that helped keep Applejack in the right frame of mind. Twilight’s smell usually changed from day to day. She woke to a meticulous hygiene schedule that Applejack was sure was timed down to the millisecond, but that was before she tackled her day. From there, Twilight’s hide would either spend its day gathering dust and spores from old, sometimes ancient books or collecting odors from whatever activity she was pursuing with laserlike focus that day.

At the start of any given day, Twilight’s scent was so sanitized that a pony could mistake her for one of Rarity’s fashionistas. But she was messy and often didn’t pay much care to what she was doing when she had a task on her mind. By the time the sun went down, the day’s events were caked in her skin.

It never bothered Applejack; she was sure she didn’t smell any better after a hard day of working in the sun, after all. But there was definitely a distinctive smell to Twilight that a pony could notice if they had a chance to get close enough.

By contrast, the illusion was a void in her sense of smell. It was one of the few true indicators that Twilight wasn’t really standing there in front of her. She clung to that, holding it up as a reminder of what manner of being she was speaking with.

“I still ain’t made up my mind whether I can be okay with this,” Applejack told her. “I don’t reckon you’re gonna get it on account of you bein’ an evil magic spell and all, but Apple Bloom means the world to me. There ain’t nopony in this life matters more. Not Granny, not my brother, not even Twilight.”

“I know,” Twilight replied. “And the other Twilight knows that too. She’d never do anything to hurt Apple Bloom, and of course that means I wouldn’t either.” She inched closer, setting a hoof down on Applejack’s.

Applejack jerked her foreleg away. “Beg pardon, but I don’t know that I buy that.”

Twilight looked initially hurt by the rejection, but then she nodded, thinking back. “That’s right,” she said. “You weren’t here with the others when we talked about the spell.”

This caught Applejack’s attention. “Y’all worked out what happened to Twilight?”

“Twilight? No, I meant this spell.” She held up her hoof. The air shimmered at the end of it, revealing the pulsing red stone. “I’ve been researching the enchantment and trying to cross-reference it with a few volumes I have on self-perpetuating magic. Of course, this was created through chaos magic, so the principles aren’t exactly the same, but I think I have some understanding of it now.”

“That right?” Applejack asked.

“Well, Discord created this enchantment to set him free if something went wrong. When he activated it, it was supposed to clone him. He made a copy of his own consciousness, which became embedded in the rock.”

“Right,” Applejack replied. “And that became Cardinal.”

“Well, no,” Twilight said. “It became Tom. And then Tom started watching us, waiting for his moment to strike, learning everything he could about who we are and what we do. He was there, lurking somewhere, through many of the events in our lives. And I think he was learning from us. In a way, we shaped him and Cardinal was the result of that.” Twilight shuddered at the thought. “In fact, I think he became obsessed with us.”

“He did, did he?” Applejack asked pointedly.

Twilight looked at the stone, then smiled sheepishly. “Well…okay, right. Right. I became obsessed with all of you, probably. I don’t actually remember any of that. I mean, I do, but I remember being Twilight through it. When the Elements of Harmony hit…uh…me, it smashed the enchantment up pretty badly. Everything he was seems to be gone. I wouldn’t know where to begin repairing the damage even if I wanted to.”

“Uh-huh.” Applejack wasn’t sure how much of that she actually believed.

“In any case, I think what Cardinal was really after was just us. Not the Elements or Discord or even ruling Equestria. I think he just wanted to own us. I know it sounds weird, but my hypothesis is that it was the only way he could understand wanting to be our friend.” Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but Twilight quickly added, “And I know that sounds self-serving, but I should clarify: that was actually Twilight’s hypothesis from before all this happened.”

“That right?”

“There was something he said,” Twilight explained. “It always bothered me. After I hit him with the counterspell, Cardinal said, and I quote, ‘Twilight, you have to get up. I didn’t mean it.’ That Cardinal tried to apologize to me when he thought I’d been seriously hurt never sat right with me. Instead of trying to retake control of the situation, he actually seemed to be worried that he might have hurt me.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Am I supposed to feel bad for the guy ‘cause his idea of makin’ friends was to break us all up and make us worship him?”

“No, of course not,” Twilight clarified. “What Cardinal did was indefensible. He needed to be stopped and he was. It was the best possible outcome given the circumstances at the time. But I don’t think he ever actually meant to hurt us. At least, not physically. With Discord governing his moral compass, I think he just couldn’t figure out any other way to be our friend. And after what happened in the human world, I…or, at least, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if there might have been another way we could have handled that.”

“Right,” Applejack said coldly. She hated how much sense the phantom was making. The last thing she needed was to start feeling bad about the way that situation had played out. She and each of her friends were the victims in all of this, after all. It wasn’t their job to start teaching everypony how to make friends, was it?

Besides, she still hadn’t answered the most important question. “So what’s all this got to do with you turnin’ into Twilight?”

“It’s the spell,” Twilight explained. “After we broke the enchantment, it started drawing magic energy from its surroundings to sustain itself. The damage was too extensive for it to reactivate on its own, so it went dormant. When she tried to examine it, the enchantment must have activated, and it did what it was created to do: it scanned its creator and copied her identity. That’s how I was created: a fresh new start for Tom.”

This did make sense in Applejack’s mind. It was, if nothing else, at least feasible. There was a whole lot of magic mumbo-jumbo mixed into it, but she could still see the ins and outs of how it was supposed to work. One thing stuck out, though. “You said it didn’t get the personality quite right,” she noted. “Cardinal ain’t exactly a dead-ringer for Discord.”

“Right, but that was before,” Twilight said. “Do you remember where we left Tom? My theory is that the stone’s been drawing magic from the Mirror Pool to sustain itself, and it may have incorporated some of the Pool’s properties. When Pinkie used the Mirror Pool, the resulting clones were able to duplicate her personality, but they didn’t have the memories or context for it. But with the Mirror Pool’s enchantment to provide the personality and Discord’s for memories….”

“They’d make a perfect copy,” Applejack concluded, following Twilight’s train of thought.

“And that’s me: a flawless reproduction of Twilight Sparkle.” Proudly, she held her head high. “At least, in theory. But, of course….” She flicked her horn with a hoof. “Still no magic. Borrowing a few principles from the Mirror Pool can’t fix the fact that the Twilight Sparkle standing here is a hollow frame produced by a light kinetic barrier, cloaked in a fabricated image.”

“Right.” Applejack knew she needed time to process this. It all sounded right and she couldn’t think of anything necessarily wrong with it. Moreover, part of her even wanted to believe it. The idea that Twilight was still here in some form, was still—was she getting closer?

Twilight picked up Applejack’s hoof with her own and set it against her heart. The stone pulsed within her chest, creating the thrumming feel of a heartbeat. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I mean, if you think about it, I’m still in here. The real Twilight Sparkle is a critical part of me.”

“That right?” Applejack asked. Her body itched with discomfort at Twilight’s proximity.

“And I know we’ve been having problems lately,” Twilight said, wrapping her foreleg around the hoof to squeeze it. There was a warmth to her touch that unnerved Applejack; it wasn’t perfect, but it still reproduced the feel of Twilight’s true hoof reasonably well. “But I want you to know that I’m here for you, like I should have been all along.”

By now, it was clear what the construct wanted. In truth, it was something Applejack had wanted for weeks, but this wasn’t how she’d wanted it. Certainly not like this. The desire in the construct’s eyes and the feel of it against her hoof didn’t inspire the same craving desire that she felt in every moment with Twilight. She knew she needed to pull her hoof away, to reject this.

But she didn’t. Deep down inside, a part of her didn’t care. This was more attention than Twilight had shown her since their terrible fight, and even if it wasn’t real, it still touched along the edges of her heart.

“And I need you to know that I do still love you,” Twilight said. She was closer now, and Applejack could feel the other foreleg tracing down her side in just the right spot to send a pleasing shiver through her body. “I don’t even know why we’re still fighting. I mean, I do, but it just seems silly now.”

“Does it?” Applejack asked, feeling her blood warm.

“I shouldn’t have been keeping you at hoof’s length,” she said, bringing her snout in close to Applejack’s. “Having to be apart from you like this showed me that. Being away from you made me realize how much I wanted to be right here with you.” Her eyes held on Applejack’s, whose heart beat faster at having her so close.

“Twilight….”

“Can you forgive me?” Twilight whispered. Her nose touched against Applejack’s. The passion in her eyes warmed Applejack’s heart, making her feel wanted in a way she hadn’t in a long time. The thrumming feel under her hoof, still pressed to Twilight’s chest, captivated her. She could feel the desire in Twilight’s body. She could see the need gleaming in her eyes and smell the—

…

“Twilight, stop,” Applejack said, breaking away from her. She pushed the construct back away. “I can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked, clearly distraught by Applejack’s rejection.

“’Cause it ain’t right,” Applejack said. “I’m with Twilight. The real Twilight. It ain’t been good for a while now, but I still love her and I want to make it work. You’re askin’ me to be unfaithful to her when all I’ve been wantin’ is for her to see how faithful I can be.”

“No, I’m not,” Twilight said, glowering. “Look at this logically. I’m Twilight. I have a perfect facsimile of her memories and personality. It’s not like I’m asking you to cheat on her. I basically am her. I’m sure she’d understand that because, hey, she’s me and I’ve got a pre-t-ty good idea of how I think.”

“Nah, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Y’might look like her and talk like her and even think like her, but there ain’t none of that’s real.”

“Applejack, please,” Twilight begged. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, sugar,” Applejack replied. “I’ve been missin’ you a long time now. But this right here? It ain’t right. It ain’t real and it sure ain’t bein’ honest.” She looked right into Twilight’s purple eyes. “And I can’t be with a lie.”

The room fell deathly quiet. Applejack broke eye contact, looking towards the door. “I should get goin’.”

“Right,” Twilight said quietly, keeping her gaze low and away from Applejack.

“You, uh…y’have a good evenin’,” Applejack uttered awkwardly, letting herself out.

“You too,” Twilight said dejectedly. The door clicked, leaving her alone in the library. She collapsed against the shelf beside her. She let out a defeated sigh.

“Thank you for your honesty.”

13 - A Fateful Disagreement

“What do you mean, Rainbow Dash is gone?!” Twilight was stunned. Never in her wildest dreams had such a thing even seemed possible. Rainbow Dash had always been a part of the group, despite her best efforts.

“I’m afraid so, darling,” Rarity explained. “It would seem she has finally realized how terrible she is. So she flew far, far away from Ponyville and will not be returning. But never you fret!”

“I wasn’t ‘fretting’,” Twilight grumbled. “She really is terrible. We’re all much better off without her. Still, we’re going to need a new friend to carry the Element of Loyalty.”

“Already covered, darling,” Rarity said with a grin. “I have the perfect pony in mind. My secret twin stepsister Diamondgleam will be here shortly to take her place.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. Then she closed them just so that they could shoot open again. “Did you say Diamondgleam?! That’s amazing! I never knew you were related!”

“Oh, you know her?”

“Know her?! She’s my secret twin stepsister too! But how can she have the Element of Loyalty when she already took over bearing the Element of Laughter last week?”

“Oh, Twilight, you worry too much! Diamondgleam is more than enough pony to handle two Elements. Why, you know that she was born both a pegasus and a unicorn. Although, mysteriously, she is not an alicorn, but a brand new creature called a pegacorn. She’s both the first and last of her kind!”

“Pegacorn?” Applejack emerged from bushes. “Y’all ain’t talkin’ ‘bout Diamondgleam, are ya?”

“Why, whatever else is there to talk about in this dreary little town?”

Applejack smiled fondly. “Ain’t that the truth. Did y’all hear I’m gettin’ hitched to her brother, Diamondguy, next week?”

Twilight gasped. “You are?! Congratulations! I’m sure you and Diamondguy will get along great together!”

“Eeyup, I reckon you’re right on the pig’s behind, Twilight!” Applejack swooned. “What a wonderful stallion that Diamondguy is.”

“I agree.” Twilight smiled. “He is, in every way, the perfect dream boyfriend! He’s also a very distinct and suitably different pony from Diamondgleam. This marriage is Pony Princess Approved!”

Resting on her front, one foreleg crossed over the other, Twilight stared straight forward towards the interior wall of Discord’s extradimensional cabin. Her eyes darted this way and that, but a white glaze concealed them from view. She spoke, her voice full of equal parts confusion and disdain, of the visions before her. “…what am I looking at.”

“Why, everything!” Discord giggled at her from his perch. To her frustration, he’d taken his seat on one of the staircases to nowhere, reclining upside-down on the bizarre ceiling structure. “This is it, Twilight! This is the question. You’re looking at the fundamental mystery that runs beneath every scientific study and research paper you’ve ever read.” He giggled. “It’s like reading the stuff that goes in the book! Isn’t that exciting?!”

“I guess?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “None of this is making any sense. Who is Diamondgleam supposed to be? I’ve never even heard that name before, but everypony’s acting like she’s one of our best friends.”

“Why, she’s simply the best!” Discord exclaimed. “You’d understand if you’d met her. She’s as clever as Clover the Clever and as powerful as, uh… as Clover the Clever! Did you know she defeated Nightmare Moon with her bare hooves?!”

“That seems highly improbable,” Twilight said flatly.

“It’s completely improbable!” Discord chuckled. “But is it impossible?”

“Yes,” Twilight said bluntly. “Yes, it’s impossible for a… for whatever a pegacorn is supposed to be to defeat Nightmare Moon with her bare hooves! How does that make any sense?!”

“Oh, Twilight.” Discord grinned malevolently. “Why does--”

“Why does everything have to make sense?” she said in a frustrated pantomime. “I get it. You don’t live in a world of physics like we do. You don’t have to care about things like basic causality, so you don’t. But that’s not how reality works!”

“Is that right?” Discord stroked his beard, enjoying Twilight’s display.

“Yes! The universe is governed by very specific rules,” Twilight said, pounding the air in front of her as if gesturing to an invisible document. “You might not understand that because your magic lets you break those rules. But the rest of us live in a world governed by reason and logic. One where there is no such thing as a ‘twin stepsister’!” Trying to think too hard about that particular combination of words caused Twilight to have a splitting migraine.

“Mmm… perhaps you’re right,” Discord said coyly. “A world governed by rules and restrictions isn’t something I’d ever give much thought to. It sounds dreadful. But I suppose there might be a nugget of—oh!” He clapped his paw and talon together, exclaiming “I just had a lovely idea!” Discord half-jumped and half-fell from his perch. As he landed on the floor, he scooted forward on his tail like a foal eager for a bedtime story.

Gleefully, Discord asked, “How about I make you a deal? You explain a rule to me. One fundamental rule of reality. And I’ll concede to your point!” Even hunched over in a serpentine imitation of a seated pony, Discord still towered over Twilight. That he popped his legs off to hug them to his chest didn’t help matters, either.

Twilight narrowed her eyes up at him. “You want me to explain a physical law?”

“Of course! That shouldn’t be too hard, should it? The universe is governed by them, after all.”

“I guess not.” Something about this didn’t feel right. There was a logic trap in here. There had to be, and she’d need to be mindful not to walk into it. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch. You teach me about physics and I’ll sit here politely and ask the question. Like a good little colt.”

There was definitely a trap here. “I supposed I can do that,” Twilight said. Her mind raced to try and get ahead of him. If she could find where he was going with this, she might be able to head him off.

“Excellent! Then why don’t you explain….” Discord lowered his voice, speaking the word as if it were some dark spell. “Gravity.” A crack of lightning punctuated the word. He held out his arms as though conjuring the force itself. Rather than fall, his legs drifted around him, falling into a stable orbit. A porcelain teacup beside Twilight was caught up in the force of Discord’s personality, skidding across the table and floating into his orbit as well.

Twilight scoffed. “That’s an easy one. Gravity is a fundamental force that attracts matter in the universe towards one another. It’s what causes the downward pull. Objects, fluids, and even the air we breathe are all pulled downward and held to the planet’s surface by gravity. Some ponies have even suggested that light might be affected by gravity as well! I’ve read a few papers on it and the research is fascinating!”

“But why is that?” Discord asked. “Why does gravity exist?”

“It comes from matter,” Twilight explained. “Technically, everything has gravity. Even you and I exert a gravitational pull, but it’s too weak to affect anything. Larger objects such as planets or stars, however, have a much stronger gravitational pull.”

“But why does it exist?” Discord repeated.

“I just told you,” Twilight said. “It comes from matter.”

“No, that’s what it is. You’re not telling me where it came from; only where it is now. Why. Does gravity. Exist?”

Twilight glowered. She didn’t like the way that Discord was saying this. He spoke with confidence and no small amount of swagger, as if he’d already sprung the trap. But instead of disproving her statements, he was only restating an absurd question. “Because it’s a natural law of physics,” Twilight answered. “It serves a fundamental purpose. It exists because it has to; the universe as we know it couldn’t exist without it.”

“You’re still telling me what it does. But why does it exist?”

“Because it has to exist in order for the universe we live in to have come into existence in the first place!” Sarcastically, Twilight added, “Why does lightning exist?”

“Why indeed. Ohohoho!” Discord cackled to himself, unfurling into the air before her. “What fun! You’re finally starting to ask the right questions!”

Twilight glowered. This was getting nowhere and at this point, she was pretty sure that Discord was making fun of her. “What are you talking about? You said you had an answer for me,” she said.

“Why, Twilight, I said nothing of the sort! I said I had a question. The question. The only question that anypony has ever wanted to know! Why.”

“Okay,” Twilight said defensively. “And asking why is chaos magic?”

“Oh no, quite the opposite.” Discord reached out with his talon, grasping his orbital teacup. He lifted it to his lips as though to drink, but realized the cup was upside down. After a moment’s contemplation, he flipped his head around to compensate.

Twilight scowled. Part of her wanted to smash that stupid cup, but she quashed the impulse. It wouldn’t contribute anything positive to the conversation and there was every likelihood that her magic wouldn’t be able to pierce his anyway. She needed to keep a cool head about her if she was going to get information here. Instead, she thought that perhaps a more specific example might facilitate a more reasonable answer from Discord. “Let’s try a different approach,” she said. “Chocolate rain.”

“Some stay dry and others feel the pain,” Discord sang to himself.

“The first time I met you, it was raining chocolate milk. How did you do that?”

“That’s not the question,” Discord said with a bemused grin.

“Yes, it is!” Twilight shouted. “It’s not, ‘Why was it raining chocolate?’ It was raining chocolate because you made it rain chocolate with your chaos magic! The answer is you!”

“Oh, Twilight,” Discord said. Twilight’s anger flared at the sound. It was the same tone, down to the decibel, that Princess Celestia had always used to calm her down whenever she let her excitement get ahead of her knowledge base. It was a nurturing sound, one that helped bring her back down to reality. It offended her to hear it coming from him. “If you already have the answers, then why do you even need to ask?”

“You’re deflecting,” Twilight accused. “The question isn’t why. It’s how. How do you make it rain chocolate? How do you do any of the things that you do?! Your magic violates every metaphysical principle. It violates causality itself. Nothing about you is possible. Nothing about any of this is possible!” She gestured wildly around the cabin. “You told me that reality is suggestible in this place. But you’re able to make these suggestions in actual physical space. How is that possible?”

“That’s not the question.”

Twilight pounded her hoof into the floor. Truly, in all her life, she had never met any creature so infuriating as Discord. He floated in front of her, coiled smugly around himself in a mock fabrication of natural life. She hated that grin. She hated the knowing glances and bemused condescension, as if there was some great hidden joke that only he was privy to. “I’m waiting,” he said in faux politeness that made her skin crawl.

“Fine then,” Twilight said bitterly. “Why.” She thought for a second, trying to rephrase her question. “Why… do these things happen… only when you’re around?”

“Why indeed?”

“No!” Twilight screeched. Discord’s teacup hurtled into the wall behind him, smashing to pieces and spraying its contents. He whipped around, staring intently at the mess. “Do not do this to me, Discord! I asked your stupid question! You owe me an answer!”

“I never said it was my question,” Discord said, still watching the wall. “I said it’s the question. Every scientific principle, every spell, every invention, it all comes from the question!”

Discord never moved from his spot. Yet suddenly, Twilight heard his voice whispering in her ear. She felt a pressure constricting her, squeezing her lungs as if caught in his coils.

“But it’s not my question.”

The pressure released at once, but the sharp chill running down her spine lingered. She whirled around to see where the voice had come from, but the only thing behind her was the world in front of her. Discord floated in the middle of the living room, just in front of the broken shards and stained tea on the wall.

“Stop doing that,” Twilight said. She tried to make it sound tough, but she couldn’t disguise how much the experience had startled her.

“Aw, don’t be mad,” Discord said gleefully. “You did it! You’ve explained gravity to me. That means you won the conversation!” He snapped his talon and a tiny Discord emerged from Twilight’s mane. He stood on her shoulder, blasting a triumphant anthem on a tiny trumpet directly into her ear. Then he vanished as quickly as he’d come.

Blue and pink streamers erupted from the walls. A heavy weight fell on Twilight’s head followed by a great red cloak that landed on her shoulders. Using her levitation spell, she lifted the object from her head to examine it; before her eyes was a golden crown with the inscription, ‘Princess of Talky-Talk’.

“This is serious, Discord,” Twilight said.

“Oh, so much more than you know,” Discord said menacingly. He then turned meaningfully back to the wall, floating aside. He turned with his whole body towards the mess, indicating that there was something about it that Twilight needed to see.

She didn’t understand. What was so interesting about a broken teacup? Certainly, she’d lost her temper and despite everything, she did feel guilty about it. The splatter, of course, was not dripping like it naturally should. It had splayed out as if on the floor and remained fixed in place. Discord’s disdain for causal physics made this no surprise.

…

Except that she’d been the one to throw the cup. Why would it be—

The moment Twilight began thinking about that, the pieces of the cup fell from the wall and clattered on the floor. The tea, suddenly caught in the grip of gravity, began its descent down the wall. The laws of physics had corrected themselves before Twilight could reach a logical conclusion.

Twilight shivered at the revelation. She hadn’t cast a spell. She did not used her levitation magic to throw the cup. She was so angry that she wasn’t even thinking about how she did it. It just happened. Without using her horn to channel the force of magic, such a deviation from causal physics should not have been possible and yet, for over a minute, it had shared a reality with her.

“How did I do that?” she whispered.

Discord smirked to himself. “How is not the question.” She no longer had the ability to be frustrated with such an answer.

“You told me that the Space Between is highly suggestible,” Twilight said. Her mind was already running full steam on what had just transpired. She tried to walk her actions back and figure out what she’d done differently, but she’d been so upset that it was difficult to get a solid recollection of what she was even thinking, let alone any alternative magic she might have worked.

“Oh, yes!” Discord said. “Quite suggestible, in fact. Why, you gave me such a lovely show on your way down.”

“Of course, I did,” Twilight said bitterly.

“For what it’s worth, I’m on your side. Honestly, that Rarity is lucky you even speak to her after what she did to you! Really, you’re better off.” He blinked, then glanced at a glowing void in the far wall. Twilight’s body could be seen in a meditative state, resting in a stone cavern dimly lit by the glow of a flickering campfire. “Well, maybe not here. But in a general sense.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said flatly. “Nothing makes a pony feel better about her life choices than approval from a creature like you.”

“You are quite welcome!” Discord gave a small bow.

Twilight had what she needed. The Space Between’s suggestibility was likely what had made her cup throw possible. That made sense to her in a way that she could be comfortable with. Which meant that, in theory, she should be able to reproduce the effect. She stared at the smear on the wall, willing it to cease its dripping and roll back up to where it had been.

The smear did no such thing.

Twilight sighed in frustration. Why had it worked before? She’d done it then; why couldn’t she do it now?

“You need to relax,” Discord said. “Ask yourself: what would Diamondgleam do?”

“Diamond….” She’d almost forgotten about that part of the conversation. “Wait a second. You’re saying that Diamondgleam used chaos magic to defeat Nightmare Moon?”

It made perfect sense! Nightmare Moon’s power was immense, but Discord’s was literally unfathomable. Supplementing their fight with chaos magic could easily make it look as if she’d done it with her bare hooves. And it would explain the strange behavior of—

“You’re close,” Discord said. A tiny Discord wearing a Stetson perched on the side of Twilight’s teacup. He gave Twilight a wink, then kicked its sides to make it rear back and whinny. “If it were a snake it would’ve--”

Suddenly, Discord scooped up both the teacup and the tiny version of himself. “You know what, on second thought, that’s probably a bad joke. You have a thing, I should have been thinking about that. The last thing I’d want is to make this awkward between us.”

Twilight took a step back, uncertain if she even wanted to follow what Discord was saying. “Can we get back on track?” she asked meekly, attempting to rerail both the conversation and her mental process before she wound up dwelling too much on that horrifying image. “If Diamondgleam isn’t using chaos magic, then how is….” She gave out a frustrated sigh. “Why is she able to defeat Nightmare Moon?”

“Because of what she is.” The walls of the cabin flickered away, leaving the vast, inconceivable chaos inherent to the Space Between. Discord waved his arms and the chaos molded around them, answering his call. The impossible shapes and mind-shattering colors morphed and shifted into something Twilight could conceive more easily: a field of stars that littered the universe around her.

There were millions of them at least. They seemed to come and go of their own volition; constellations vanished and were replaced by new configurations as soon as she moved her eyes. Twilight spun about in the empty space, taking in its grandeur. It made her feel very small, like an insignificant speck in the universe.

It reminded her of the threads that she’d found within her mind palace. Discord had used one of those threads to bring her awareness to the Diamondgleam reality in the first place. “These are different worlds,” Twilight observed, following his logic.

“Close! These are possibilities, Twilight. An infinite well of possibility that makes probability into outcome! This is where possibility becomes reality!”

In that moment, it made sense. “Being here in this place isn’t some ability that chaos gave us,” she whispered. “This is chaos. It’s the raw form of possibility itself.” Twilight looked up to Discord, eyes full of wonder. “This is how you do it. Somehow you’re drawing on this place to....” Twilight tried to continue her train of thought, but nothing seemed to make sense. “To do what? To change the fabric of reality? To make material physicality as fluid and suggestible as the Space Between? Or are you momentarily displacing our reality with another?” She looked up at him, grinning that arrogant grin of his. “How do you do this? How am I doing this?”

“How isn’t my question.”

“Are you crazy or just stupid?!” It took Twilight a moment to realize that voice hadn’t come from her. The question had resonated through the Space Between, but it had not come from either creature present within its irrational geometries. It came from the space/time hole in the cabin, rippling from Twilight’s connection to her body.

“It sounds like my friends are awake,” she said. “I should go.” A part of her was grateful for the distraction, but she hated leaving like this. She still didn’t understand what Discord was talking about, and every time she spoke with him, she was left with more questions. And now she had questions about questions!

“Well, I’d offer to see you out but I’m afraid I don’t care very much. You understand.” Discord waggled his fingers. “Do be sure to drop by again; I do so love our talks!” The great void of space faded, replaced once more by the strange cabin that Discord called a home.

There was still one thing bothering Twilight, however. “You’re welcome to join us,” she offered.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,” Discord said. “Besides, I like it better when it’s just the two of us, you and me. It’s so much more cozy that way.”

Twilight scowled. That answer had neither confirmed nor refuted her suspicions. Opting for a more direct approach, she asked, “That was your statue in Bridle Rock, wasn’t it?” Discord didn’t answer right away, so she continued. “This has been bothering me. Since I got here, I’ve been working under the assumption that you followed me here from my reality. But you didn’t, did you? You’ve been here this entire time, trapped in the Space Between, unable to act on the world or even perceive anything past those broken stones.”

“Have I, now?” Discord asked slyly.

“You said that you’d followed me here. Did you mean you followed me from my reality? Or did you find me in the Space Between and guide me to yours?”

Discord puffed on a bubble pipe. “Mmm, both interesting theories. Or perhaps I came from another reality entirely. I might have found you falling and I followed you here. In an infinite plane of endless possibilities, who’s to say there should only be two choices?”

“I suppose that’s possible,” Twilight admitted. She felt ashamed at having not considered that before. “But it still wouldn’t make any sense. If you came from my reality, you would either help me get home or strand me here. Knowing you, I could believe either one. What I can’t explain are the meetings we keep having. I don’t understand the purpose. What do you have to gain from all of this?”

“Hmph!” Discord folded his arms. “I’m disappointed in you, Twilight. You spent so much time arguing about this! But we spend less than five minutes away from that conversation and at the first chance you get, you jump right back to why. I say good day to you, madam!”

A door slammed in Twilight’s face before she could respond. She didn’t recall stepping outside, but the cabin was fading quickly before her eyes nonetheless. She never took her eyes off of it but within seconds, she could no longer pick it apart from the blinding colors and swirling light.

But perhaps it was just as well. She was needed somewhere else.

Becoming accustomed to the physical world again after spending hours in the Space Between was a disorienting experience. Twilight was immediately struck by dull aches in her muscles that she’d never even realized were there before. It was as though a great weight had suddenly been added to her spirit, encasing her in material bindings.

And yet, it was a comforting sensation all the same. She had returned to a world not her own, but at least it was a world that made sense. It was founded on the same physical laws she’d devoted her life to understanding. All of that out there, that was color and noise, but this was real.

She blinked her eyes, letting them adjust to the cavern’s light. The red glow from the fire had been joined by a dim white, seeping in from the corner near the entrance. This hint of daylight made Twilight’s heart soar. Truly, she’d never appreciated the light until she was forced to spend a week without. She would never take Princess Celestia’s blessing for granted again.

“Oh, hey!” Sunset called out in mock surprise. She added, “Look who finally woke up.”

“I wasn’t asleep,” Twilight replied grumpily. She rose shakily to her hooves, struggling to get used to balancing again. It seemed so much harder here than it was in the Space Between. Literal muscles came with limitations that Twilight’s spirit or projection or whatever it was lacked. “I’ve been communing with Discord.”

Flash Sentry tensed up. On the other side of the campfire from Twilight, he lay on his front with a crudely opened can of sweet corn between his forelegs. “He’s not going to flip the world upside-down again, is he?”

“No,” Twilight answered. “That was only possible because we found his statue in Bridle Rock. He used the statue as a conduit. Without that connection, I don’t think he’s capable of interacting with this reality.”

“Isn’t that what he has you for?” Trixie asked from Twilight’s left. Her body was shrouded in at least three different blankets. The green middle layer came up over her head and covered her hood, giving her the appearance of some sort of monk.

“He’s never asked me to do anything,” Twilight said. It was technically true, but she couldn’t shake the feeling like Trixie was right. After all, the likelihood had certainly crossed Twilight’s mind a few times. Discord wasn’t the kind of creature that would be helping her merely out of the kindness of his heart. He was using her; of that, there was no doubt. But she still had no idea what his endgame might possibly be.

“This doesn’t matter!” Sunset Shimmer asserted. “If he’s not going to help us, then there’s nothing to discuss.” She pointed her hoof at Flash. “Now, would you tell this idiot that he’s being stupid?”

“Twilight already gave me her blessing,” Flash said. “As soon as we make it back to civilization, I want to find somewhere that we can get away from all of this. Fluttershy’s been through enough. She doesn’t need you dragging her into another fight.”

“Um,” Fluttershy spoke up. She sat on her haunches to Flash’s left, just across the fire from Sunset Shimmer. She raised her hoof meekly. “If I could just--”

“That’s your plan?” Sunset Shimmer asked. “Run away and hide under a rock and hope the scary Princess doesn’t find you?”

“They’ve been at this all morning,” Trixie whispered to Twilight.

Sunset Shimmer scowled at Flash and Fluttershy. “You’re in my herd and that means you do what I tell you. I did not break the two of you out of Bridle Rock just so you could prance off and leave me holding the bag.”

“You broke us out?” Trixie asked. “That’s funny. I never knew you had a spell that turns iron into applesauce! But I suppose I wouldn’t, would I?” The sarcasm fell abruptly from her voice as she accused, “You never taught me anything.”

“You’re taking his side?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy raised her hoof. “If I could just--”

“And why not?” Trixie asked. “What has Equestria ever done for me? All I wanted to do was bring a little fun to this kingdom, and they shoved me in a hole to rot.” Bitterly, she added, “And it’s not like anypony’s going to miss me. So if Flash thinks there’s a better place for us somewhere far away from here, then my vote is, ‘Giddyup.’”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and tried again. “If I could just--”

“Hmph,” Sunset scoffed. “Really, it’s my fault. I don’t know what I expected from you, Trixie. But if any of you honestly think the outside world is going to be any different, then you’re living in a faerie tale. There’s not going to be some great magical paradise over the horizon. Do you know what you find when you cross the world? You just find more world.”

“What other choice do we have?” Flash asked. “Twilight Sparkle is a deranged lunatic!” Twilight bit her tongue and tried not to take offense to that. “She won’t take our escape lightly. She’s going to have search parties scouring Equestria for us. There is no place for us here, not anymore. If we stay here, we’ll all be back in Bridle Rock within a moon. Maybe worse.” He looked Sunset Shimmer in the eyes. Earnestly, he asked her, “What do you even think you’re going to do? You can’t challenge her by yourself.”

“I already told you,” Sunset replied. “Once I become an alicorn, everything changes.” She gestured angrily at the cave entrance. “That throne belongs to me and as a true Princess, there won’t be anypony who can keep it from me. I claim my right and this whole crisis ends right then and there. And when I do, I’m going to remember who stuck by me. You’d do well to keep that in mind.”

Flash looked to Twilight. “Is that actually possible?” he asked.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Twilight Sparkle was able to pull it off and she can barely find her horn with two hooves. I can do it in half the time she took.” After a few seconds, she asked, “…how long does it take, anyway?”

That was a complex question with an answer she still wasn’t entirely sure of how to present to Sunset Shimmer. Fortunately, she might not have to as of yet. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Fluttershy fluctuating between raising her hoof and lowering it. She recognized that antsy behavior, and the lip nibble erased any doubt of what it meant. “I think Fluttershy has something to say. We’re all talking over her and that’s rude of us.” She looked to her friend. “Go on.”

Fluttershy looked apologetically at Flash beside her. “I wanted to say that… Flash, I do appreciate what you’re trying to do. I do. But I agree with Sunset Shimmer.”

Flash’s jaw fell open. He couldn’t believe the words coming out of Fluttershy’s snout. He glanced at Sunset, whose snout hung similarly agape. For one brief moment, the two were united in questioning whether the creature known as Discord was still working his bizarre reality-warping magic upon them.

“I’ve been thinking about this all night,” Fluttershy said. “The five of us are safe. We made it out but there are still hundreds of ponies trapped in Bridle Rock. They’re suffering in there. And what we did is probably going to make life even worse for them. They don’t deserve to be treated like this. We can’t abandon those poor ponies.”

Trixie raised her hoof. “Um, excuse you. I’m pretty sure we can.”

“Okay, we can. But we shouldn’t.” The fire flickered in her eyes when she turned to Sunset. “I don’t know anything about becoming an alicorn. But if you’re right, then it means we can heal the pain Equestria’s in. Not just for ponies, but for all the creatures who’ve been suffering since the wars started.”

“That’s… not untrue….” Sunset Shimmer eyed her suspiciously. There was a trick here. There had to be. Ponies didn’t usually agree with her of their own volition.

“Then I want to help you. In fact, if it’s alright with everypony, I have a friend in the Everfree Forest. She might be able to help us contact the Shield of Harmony.”

“Wait, what?!” Sunset paled at that suggestion.

“No way,” Flash said quickly. “Fluttershy, you can’t be serious.”

Sunset grimaced. “Is it too late to change my vote? Because now I’m actually with Jackboots over here.”

“Jack Who?”

“Look, you’re not going to get it,” Sunset said. “We’ve got a thousand years of peace in our history. But I’ve actually been to other places and I’ve studied this. Hooking up with insane militant rebels never goes well. One way or another, this civil war is ending badly. Either Twilight brings down the iron fist on all of them or Applejack somehow manages to pry the throne away from her. The last thing we want is to throw ourselves into that mess.”

“That doesn’t have to be true,” Fluttershy protested.

“I thought you hated violence,” Trixie said, raising an eyebrow.

“I-I do, but….” Fluttershy stammered. She suddenly realized that all eyes were on her. Everypony looked so stern all of a sudden and their ire radiated in her direction. She looked from Trixie to Flash and shrank into herself. Her heart pounded quickly in her chest. Oh, why did she have to say anything? She should have--

Twilight came up beside Fluttershy, putting a hoof on her side. “It’s okay,” she said soothingly. Two words and a gesture, nothing more.

And yet, to Fluttershy, it felt like so much more. It made her feel safe, like she didn’t have to hide. It reminded her of what it felt like to have a friend. This single act of compassion gave her the strength to speak up. “I know these ponies,” she said. “They’ll listen to me and they’ll help us.” She looked at Sunset Shimmer. “They have resources we can use for your ascension. Whatever you need, they can get. And….”

“And?” Twilight asked gently.

Fluttershy nibbled her lower lip. She didn’t know if it was a good idea to say this next part, but she was already laying it all out there. “They’ll free the prisoners from Bridle Rock,” she said matter-of-factly. “As soon as Applejack finds out where that place is, she’ll put everything she has into making sure that everypony goes free.”

“You don’t know that,” Sunset Shimmer asserted.

“Yes, I do. And you know it too.”

The statement hung in the air. It seemed innocuous enough, but Twilight could feel a profound tension rising in the cave. Fluttershy had challenged Sunset Shimmer. She might not have realized she was doing it, but that was exactly what she was doing. Twilight readied herself to intervene if--

“You’re right,” Sunset said. “She probably would.”

“Oh, in a heartbeat,” Trixie agreed.

Flash nodded. “Without question.”

…what just happened?

“But that wouldn’t be right,” Flash argued. “Fluttershy, I know you feel for them. I get that. But those ponies are criminals. They belong in Bridle Rock. We’re not talking about upstanding citizens of Equestria. These ponies are thieves and con artists and Celestia knows what else.”

“And I’m a traitor to the throne,” Fluttershy said sternly.

“That’s different,” Flash said, pressing his hoof to his face. Of course it was this argument again. He never won this argument.

“I know why you hate them,” Fluttershy said. She approached Flash, using her foreleg to pry his hoof away. “It’s not easy watching everything we believed in fall apart around us. I’m hurting too. But you’re wrong. You’ve always been wrong. You feel guilty about what happened to me because you were there and helped make it happen. But you’ve never looked at the bigger picture. You don’t think about what’s happening to Equestria. You only think about me.”

“Fluttershy….”

“Maybe the same thing that happened to me is happening to other ponies.”

Trixie added, “Maybe ‘criminal’ doesn’t have the same meaning under a Princess as insane and cruel as Twilight Sparkle.” She tossed a sideways glance to Twilight. “Uh, no offense.”

Twilight glowered. More barbs. That wasn’t going away any time soon.

“I can’t let anything happen to you,” Flash pleaded. Fluttershy’s eyes remained as full of concern and compassion as ever. Flash felt as if he could get lost in them forever. “Fluttershy, you mean a lot to me. More than you know. You gave me something to believe in after—”

“I know, Flash,” Fluttershy whispered.

“No, you don’t. I need to tell you--”

“Flash, I know,” Fluttershy said again. She looked down at his foreleg still clasped in hers. Apologetically, she explained, “My rats have ears. Nothing happens in Bridle Rock that I don’t know about.”

“Oh.” Flash’s eyes widened with revelation. Fluttershy’s spies were everywhere. They brought her information from across the prison on who was hungry, who had been hurt, and who needed help. The ramifications of that had never settled in until now.

“I’m flattered that you care so much for me,” Fluttershy said. “I really am. Nopony’s ever… That’s not important.” She shook her head, trying to avoid getting distracted. “Flash, listen to me. I can’t be your reason to live. Please don’t ask me to. Don’t pin all of your hopes for the future on me.”

That was not the answer Flash had been hoping for. Stunned, he stammered out, “But I believe in you.”

“You shouldn’t,” she said definitively. “I don’t even believe in me. But I have to believe that there is still good in this world. We can find that good if we’re willing to look.”

“You’re not going to find it here,” Flash said. “Not with Applejack and her kind. And if you go down that road, then you won’t find it with me, either. I can’t betray Equestria. Not even for you.”

Trixie raised her hoof. “Uh, didn’t you plan a jailbreak?”

“That’s not the same!” Flash shouted. His eyes glistened as his voice echoed off the walls of the cave. Were those tears? “Look, desertion is one thing. I can live with being the pony who ran away. But I swore an oath when I put on this suit for the first time. I swore that I would defend Equestria. I made that oath to Princess Celestia.”

The cave fell deathly silent. Even now, there was power in the name that Flash had just spoken. It changed the very atmosphere of the cave. Even Sunset Shimmer seemed affected by the gloom the infiltrated the conversation. Without another word, she turned away from the fire and rolled up her bedroll, refusing to even look at anypony.

“I can’t keep fighting for the Acting Princess,” Flash said. “I know that. After everything I’ve seen, I could never go back. But if you ask me to raise arms against Equestria, then you’re asking me to spit in the face of everything she held dear. I could never desecrate her memory that way.”

Fluttershy looked as though she wanted to say something, but she struggled with herself to get it out. She opened her snout to speak, but then quietly shut it again. Twilight gave her an urging rub to her shoulder. When Fluttershy glanced her way, she said simply, “Go on.”

“Flash,” Fluttershy said carefully. Her words came out slowly, as if each one was a battle just to say it. “You. Don’t. Have. To come.”

Twilight could feel Flash’s heart break. The pain on his face was so palpable. All at once, she was standing in that field at Sweet Apple Acres once more, listening to Applejack tear out her heart. Her own heart cracked in half alongside his. In this moment, she and Flash Sentry truly were kindred spirits.

“Fluttershy,” he whispered. “Please. No.” Twilight felt an ache in her heart, watching him withdraw into himself. This was not at all how she’d imagined his feelings for Fluttershy would turn out. Love was supposed to win out, wasn’t it? If he loved her, then shouldn’t that be enough?

“Applejack, please! For once, I need you to support me!”

No, of course, it wasn’t. How could it be? She couldn’t argue with Fluttershy’s decision. How could a pony be with somepony that didn’t even agree with her values? She knew that Flash meant well. Of course, he did. But if he couldn’t even see eye to eye to her, then what kind of relationship could they even have?

What kind of relationship did she have?

But that was what this reality was. It was cold. It was mean. And nothing ever worked out. It was so terribly broken that there might not even be a way back. It was so far gone from the Equestria that she knew and loved, and not for the first time, she considered that it might just be beyond salvation. She wanted to believe that. It would be so easy to believe that. To just give up on this place and these ponies, and to refocus her efforts on getting home.

But there was something that nagged at her in the back of her mind. Something about what Flash said about Princess Celestia wasn’t sitting right. And she wasn’t entirely sure of what it might mean, but she could not in good conscience keep it to herself.

“Once upon a time,” Twilight said, filling the silence that permeated the cave. “In a world far away from here, Princess Celestia asked me to perform a task for her. She said that it was very important and that it would help save Equestria. But she also said that it was a test. She gave me one very specific instruction: no matter what happened, I had to do it alone. It was my test and I was to complete it myself.”

Twilight looked around the fire to see that everypony was now focused on her. Even Sunset Shimmer by the far wall had ceased piling canned goods from Flash’s shelves into a sack and was looking her direction. Twilight noticed the cavernous floor was slick with a few drops of moisture that glistened in the flame’s crackle, painting a trail towards where Sunset stood.

“So I tried,” Twilight continued. “I tried everything I could think of. I did everything in my power to complete the task, but I wasn’t strong enough alone. I wanted to make her proud, but without my friends, I couldn’t do it. I’d failed and I knew that I failed, but Equestria was still in danger. Even if I had to give up on what Princess Celestia wanted for me, I realized it would be worth it so long as the ponies of Equestria never had to know the kind of terror that my failure would bring. So I broke the rules. I asked a friend to help me and together, we were able to save Equestria.”

Twilight saw Flash leaning forward, hanging on her every word. “What did she say?” he asked.

“I thought that she’d be mad, but she wasn’t. She was elated. She said that I’d done well. I couldn’t believe it; I’d broken the rules. I thought for certain that she was going to send me back to Magic Kindergarten. Instead, she told me that it was better for me to understand the value of self-sacrifice than to be the kind of pony who only looks out for herself.”

“That’s just like her,” Sunset Shimmer said. She closed her eyes and turned away quickly. Then, after a couple seconds, she crammed her sack more forcefully than she had before.

Twilight looked Flash in the eyes. “When I went back to Canterlot, I felt like I’d betrayed her. But the truth is, she never really cared about the rules. She never has. What she cared about was knowing that I would be the kind of pony who would protect this kingdom from harm in whatever form it takes by whatever means I had to. It’s not the throne or the castle or the oaths that make Equestria. None of that really matters to her. It’s her love for each and every pony that makes her Princess Celestia.”

“She’s right,” Fluttershy said, approaching Flash. “Equestria is more than its Princess. It’s about the spirit of kindness and goodwill that exists between us. We’ve all heard the story of the First Hearth’s Warming. This kingdom was built on a foundation of harmony between ponies. Somewhere along the way, we lost that spirit. It was taken from us by years of constant fighting. It was taken by violence. It was taken by fear.” She reached out, taking Flash’s hoof with her own once more. “I’m not asking you to betray Princess Celestia. I’m asking you to help me find that spirit again.”

For the first time, Flash didn’t answer right away. He didn’t simply concede the argument when he knew he’d been beaten. Instead, Fluttershy could see him considering Twilight’s and her words. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that she’d never seen before. She gently squeezed his hoof, affirming that she was there for him.

Finally, Flash said, “I think I can do that.” His eyes opened more fully than she’d ever seen him. He stood straighter, letting go of the slouch he’d always worn when wandering the halls of Bridle Rock. There was an unfamiliar hope in his voice as sincerity crept into his smile. He looked into Fluttershy’s eyes and spoke with a renewed sense of strength and vigor.

“You’re right,” Flash reiterated confidently. “You’ve been right all along. Equestria is supposed to be a place where ponies are free to love and cherish one another. That’s what she believed in. It’s what she died for. We let our fear change the fabric of who we are. We were so afraid of what might happen that we gave up on our way of life. And we never even noticed that we were doing it.”

Fluttershy smiled. At long last, Flash was starting to understand. “Will you help me find the good in Equestria?”

Before he could answer, Sunset Shimmer sharply interjected. “If you ladies are finished giving out hugs, I’m done packing up the cave. We’re burning daylight and I might have to vomit on one of you if I stay here any longer.”

Twilight blinked. “You mean you might wind up vomiting on one of us?”

“No. That would imply that it’s not a deliberate choice.”

Flash smiled. “Yeah, I think we’re done here.” To Fluttershy, he said, “I’ll do it. If it means bringing an end to Bridle Rock, then I’ll follow you to the ends of Equestria. I think she’d be proud of that.” To Twilight, he turned awkwardly. He stumbled internally, wrestling with himself over the proper way to address her, then settled on a quick bow. “Thank you, your majesty.”

Twilight’s first instinct was to protest the terminology, but something stopped her. She found a strange sense of pride in those words. For the first time, they felt truly earned. To this point, her wings had caused her no end of trouble. She remembered Discord’s teasing, Sunset Shimmer’s antagonism, Applejack’s bizarre reverse-abandonment issues, and the repeated ire she’d received in this reality. Becoming an Alicorn Princess had added nothing but grief to her life.

But standing here in this moment, she could only see how far she had truly come. Flash was ready to walk away forever. He might even have left Equestria altogether, just like he’d wanted to do. And yet together, she and Fluttershy had done more than just convinced him to stay. They’d inspired him. That was something amazing about that feeling. It warmed her heart in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.

So she didn’t protest. She didn’t tell him that it felt weird to hear that or ask him to call her something different. She didn’t allow herself feel guilty out of some misplaced humility. Instead, she merely said, “You’re welcome,” and gave a slight bow of the head the way she’d seen Princess Celestia do many times before.

“So,” Flash said, taking a deep breath. “Applejack?”

“Applejack,” Fluttershy said affirmatively.

Standing by the cave entrance with a bag slung over her back, Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. “Aww, it’s so sweet that you made up. But you’re all forgetting one thing. I’m the pony who calls the shots around here, and I’m not about to let you drag me into their mess.”

“This is what we decided on,” Fluttershy replied. “You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t think you heard me clearly,” Sunset replied. She let her bag fall to the floor beside her and took slow, deliberate steps in Fluttershy’s direction. Twilight moved quickly, putting herself between them. “Well, aren’t you so very noble?”

“We made our decision,” Twilight stated. “If you have a better idea, we’ll listen. But we make these choices as a group. That’s how it works.”

Sunset scowled. “Look at you. You’re so tough now that the magic’s back. What are you going to do? Zap me with your alicorn spells?”

In no uncertain terms, Twilight said, “If you walk away from this or raise a hoof against anypony in this cave, you will never be an alicorn.”

Stunned, Sunset Shimmer asked, “Are you threatening me?”

“It’s a statement of fact. Consider this your first lesson. Honesty. Generosity. Laughter. Loyalty. Kindness. Magic. If you ever want to become an alicorn, then these six virtues are what you need to take in and internalize. You have to embrace them as a part of yourself. There’s no trick here, Sunset. There’s no spell or ritual that will make you an alicorn. It has to be earned. You need to make yourself into the kind of pony who would be an alicorn.”

Sunset glowered. Nopony ever talked to her this way. But Twilight was beginning to think it was long past time. “I thought you said it was a spell.”

“I said that I cast a spell,” Twilight corrected. “But that was my final test. The spell didn’t make me an alicorn. Its magic was only a catalyst. The time I spent taking the six virtues of Harmony into my heart, that’s what made me an alicorn.”

“So now I have to do what? Mindlessly serve whatever these ponies want?”

“Your friends are asking you for help,” Twilight told her. “By refusing them, you’re showing disloyalty. By refusing to listen, you’re being ungenerous. And with the threats and insults you’ve been throwing around, you’ve been completely unkind. I can show you the path, Sunset Shimmer, but you have to be the one who takes it. The road you’re on right now will never lead there.”

“Is that right?” Sunset Shimmer rose up as tall as she could. She stepped forward, getting as much in Twilight’s face as she could manage. “Are you saying you’re better than me?”

“I would never say that,” Twilight replied. She refused to rise and try to stand taller than Sunset. She wouldn’t allow herself to be baited like that. Instead, she visibly fluffed her wings so that the motion would be impossible to miss. “I don’t have to.” Tension filled the air. Twilight held eye contact with Sunset Shimmer and braced herself. In the back of her mind, she prepared to cast her barrier. It would not have surprised her in the least if Sunset responded with violence.

“Tch.” Instead, to Twilight’s relief, Sunset Shimmer looked away. “Fine. Whatever. In my great Generosity, I’ll let you have your stupid idea. But all of you better remember our deal.” She trotted back towards the front of the cave. “I’ll be ready to accept everypony’s apologies just as soon as this blows up in your faces.”

“Noted,” Flash said with a nod.

“Can we go now?!” Trixie whined. “I don’t really care where we go as long as it isn’t here.” She stood near the edge of the cave, still bundled up like a poofy hermit.

“Do you want to grab a bag?” Flash asked, jerking his head at the packs Sunset had made.

“Twilight has alicorn magic,” Trixie answered. “Shouldn’t she deal with the luggage?”

“Wait, what?!”

“No, she has a point,” Sunset Shimmer said with a malevolent grin. “Trixie’s so smart and clever. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and…something.”

“What happened to Generosity?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, that’s so thirty seconds ago. I’m doing Loyalty right now. I’m showing Loyalty to Trixie by making you carry the bags!”

“That’s not--”

“Honestly? Bite me.” With those words, Sunset followed Trixie out to the carriage.

From inspirational leader to work horse. Twilight sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

“I’m sorry about that,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure in your world, she’s probably really nice?”

“No, she’s not that different from what I remember,” Twilight admitted. “I guess some ponies don’t change m--” She slapped her forehead. “I just got that.”

“What?”

“Diamondguy is the twin. Diamondgleam isn’t my step-sister and somehow also my twin. She’s my step-sister who is a twin. My twin step-sister. It’s a trick of the language!” Despite herself, Twilight laughed at the absurdity. “At least that's one thing that makes sense in all of this!”

“…if, um... if you say so.”

The sound of heavy hooffalls tromping on crystal signaled the approach to Shining Armor’s office. He set aside the intelligence report that had occupied his attention for the better part of the afternoon just in time for a decorated member of the Royal Guard to march into Shining Armor’s office. The pony stopped just in front of Shining Armor’s desk and saluted. “Captain Silverpride reporting, sir.”

Shining Armor rose from a red velvet cushion behind his mahogany desk and returned the salute. Then, leaving the Captain standing, he sat back down. Sternly, he asked, “Can you explain yourself, Captain?”

“If you’ve brought me here to answer for yesterday’s events, then I am afraid I cannot, sir,” the Captain replied. “What happened in Bridle Rock defies explanation. With the binding spells in place, no unicorn among the prisoners was capable of performing such magic. My stallions and I have been very diligent in ensuring that every unicorn passes through those gates each day. The mysterious changeling has done so as well. What occurred is simply not possible by any measure I can imagine. Permission to speak freely?”

“Denied.” Shining Armor placed a hoof on his desk, just beside the folder. “I’m not stupid, Captain. I understand how inexplicable yesterday’s events were. Nopony could have been prepared for what happened. We would never hold you accountable for that.”

“Thank you, sir,” the Captain replied.

“But the breakout is a different story. Three high-profile prisoners and whoever this ‘Trixie Lulamoon’ is supposed to be have escaped from custody. They never should have even been out of their cells. That’s a problem for us, Captain.”

“I’m aware, sir.”

“I don’t think you are.” Shining Armor opened the folder, revealing the paperwork within. A black and white photograph of Flash Sentry was clipped to the top page. “I’ve been looking through your paperwork. These requests exploded in size after Sentry started filling them out. Do you have an explanation for that?”

The Captain cleared his throat nervously. “These are renegade actions by a rogue agent. Flash Sentry has been visibly disgruntled since he arrived at Bridle Rock. He turns up late for his shifts and shows flagrant disrespect for his uniform and his post. It would appear that he’s been working with the prisoner Fluttershy to coordinate this breakout. I understand your frustration, but this was all the work of one lone wolf. It will not happen again.”

“It should never have happened in the first place,” Shining Armor criticized. “A pony under your command went native with a prisoner and has since conspired to undermine everything that we’re trying to achieve. That sounds to me like a failure of leadership. I expected more from a pony of your stature.”

“Sir. Permission to speak freely?” the Captain tried again.

“Denied. You had one job in Bridle Rock: to ensure that not one of those ponies ever threatens the safety, stability, or happiness in Equestria again. You have not delivered on that expectation. You may return to your post for the time being, but I’m recommending for your command be pulled pending a more thorough investigation. It’s time to find out exactly what’s been happening in Bridle Rock.”

Stunned, the Captain stammered, “Sir—”

“You’re dismissed.”

Captain Silverpride exchanged a second salute with Shining Armor. Without another word, he turned and left.

“Explain it to me again,” Twilight said. “The door turned to liquid?” She had invited Rarity and Shining Armor into her library sanctum for the sake of Shining Armor’s debriefing. Shining Armor stood at attention in front of her chair while Rarity opted to stand to her side. Above them, the stone visage of Princess Celestia towered, just as she always did in this special room.

“It still looked like a door,” Shining Armor said. “But ponies floated through it like it was made of water.”

“Floated because you said the gravity had been turned off somehow,” Twilight observed. “And also spears turned into snakes. Was there anything else?”

“The lights were flashing multiple colors. I’ve never seen Illumigems do that before.”

“That’s because they don’t,” Rarity iterated. “The stones produce a variety of different colors, but never more than one at a time. It is simply not possible. Are you quite certain it was the stones creating this light?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. So did every Guardpony in the base.”

“This is impossible,” Twilight said bluntly.

“I know it is, Twily. But it’s the truth. I can’t explain what I saw, but it’s what happened.”

“I believe you.” Twilight softly pressed her nose against her brother’s, crossing his horn with hers. She lingered for a few seconds. It helped her to center herself and find her balance. She reminded herself that despite every sacrifice, every betrayal, every loss, there was still good in Equestria. If nothing else, her true family would never abandon her. That was a truth that needed to be defended at all costs.

Pulling out of her brother’s embrace, Twilight continued. “Everything you’ve described is impossible. Literally impossible. Even ignoring the fact that none of the prisoners could have cast those spells, the effects themselves are not metaphysically sound. There are no spells that could have done something like that. It’s not how magic works.”

“But what else could it be?” Rarity asked.

“This is that changeling,” Twilight said confidently. “There’s no other explanation.” She hated that particular mystery more and more with each passing day. “She’s been inexplicable since we found her. The fact that she can even cast unicorn spells in the first place is unheard of. She’s a terrible impersonator but she….” Twilight stopped. Staring into space, her eyes slowly widened, watching the pieces fall into place.

“Dearest?” Rarity asked. “You’re doing it again.”

“She’s not a poor impersonator,” Twilight whispered excitedly. “She wanted to be caught!” She threw open her journal, leafing through her notes. After a few seconds, she looked back up at Shining Armor. The initial enthusiasm for cracking the puzzle faded into horrified realization. Her good eye glimmered with panic. A bright orange glow slipped out through the crack in her horn. “Bring everypony in. I want a complete lockdown. Put eyes on the ground and in the sky in every direction. I want search parties for miles around. Nopony goes home until this creature’s found!”

Rarity glanced from Shining Armor back to Twilight. Her eyes locked on the shimmer coming out of her wife’s damaged horn. She’d long since learned to dread the sight of that glow. It always signaled when Twilight had stopped thinking clearly. “Dearest?” she said again, this time in a soothing voice. “Twilight. Darling. What are we dealing with?”

“I don’t know yet, but she’s clever,” Twilight admitted. “She set us up like we were foals and we walked right into it!” Her voice reeked of desperation. “She wanted us to send her to Bridle Rock. That’s where she needed to be. She was trying to break into the Vault, and we were all too happy to accommodate her! She must have taken something or used something. This was a trap. That means nopony’s safe until we understand the nature of it.”

Twilight put a hoof against Rarity’s shoulder, looking into her eyes. “I need you to think carefully. The fate of all Equestria is at stake. We can’t afford a single mistake. She was impersonating me for the better part of a day; did she say anything or do anything out of the ordinary? Something that might reveal her intentions?”

“Oh, she was rambling quite a lot,” Rarity replied. “Nothing she said quite seemed to make much sense, though.”

“Proper nouns,” Twilight replied. “Did she mention anything or anypony by name?”

“There were a scant few names, but not one that made any sense. She mentioned a Tom. She was looking for Tom or mad at Tom, I can’t quite recall.”

“Tom?” Twilight tried out the word. It didn’t sound like a pony name, but that didn’t preclude it from being a pet or artifact or possibly some other creature entirely.

“Might be an abbreviation,” Shining Armor suggested. “Or maybe an acronym? It could stand for something like the Titanic Oven Mitt.”

Twilight considered. “Have the Guard look through the census registry,” she ordered. “Pull out any names that seem like they might be a Tom. We’ll work from there.” She looked to Rarity. “Do you remember anything else?”

“There was one other name but it was rather unorthodox. She mentioned a Dis…something. She was rambling quite a lot and I wasn’t really following, I’m afraid. Discredit? Discotheque?”

A chill ran down Twilight’s spine. She froze in place, jaw hanging open. Suddenly, it all fit. She knew exactly what the changeling had taken from the Vault. The pieces of the puzzle all hung in view, each blaring an image she was afraid to assemble. Her heart seemed to cease its thumping and her voice struggled to find air. In shock, she whispered, “Discord.”

“Oh, yes! That was it! Eeyech.” Rarity shivered. “What a ghastly name.”

“Twily?” Shining Armor pressed his hoof to her shoulder, pulling her back to reality. “Does that name mean something to you?”

“Yes and no.” Twilight looked up at the monument to her mentor. Princess Celestia loomed overhead, casting her shadow over everypony. “She never told me the full story, but over a thousand years ago, Princess Celestia saved Equestria from a creature named Discord. She said that his magic was strange and terrible in ways that our own study of magic couldn’t even begin to explain.”

“Strange feats of magic that nopony can explain,” Shining Armor mused. “Yep, that checks out.”

“There used to be a statue of him centuries ago, but something happened to it. She said that with the statue broken, it wouldn’t be possible for him to ever return. But also that he had a history of defying possibility, so she locked the pieces away in the Canterlot vaults just to be safe.”

“And we sent them to Bridle Rock,” Rarity concluded, finishing Twilight’s train of thought. “Of course. This can only be Discord’s work. But why now? Why would Chrysalis--”

“She wouldn’t,” Shining Armor stated with certainty. “This isn’t her.”

Rarity looked up at him. “Are you certain?”

“Chrysalis had control of the vault for two years. If she was going to do something with the pieces, she would have done it then. She never laid a hoof on him then. Why would she now?”

“Applejack,” Twilight said. Heat seemed to radiate off her body from rage as she said the name. The crack in her horn glowed brighter, bathing a portion of the room in golden light. “This is her. It has to be.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Rarity scoffed. “I’d never even heard of this Discord creature until today! How would she even….” Rarity drifted off. As her eyes studied Twilight’s features, they drifted across the terrible scars along her eye and neck. The answer was literally written into the Acting Princess’s face.

“Spike.” Shining Armor had gotten there as well, it seemed.

“How did I miss this?!” Twilight asked. She hated herself for being so naïve. Of course, Spike would have told Applejack every secret he’d ever gleaned from Princess Celestia. She’d be armed with every scrap of secret history and arcane knowledge that had ever been taught to Twilight. And there was no line she wouldn’t cross in her quest to destroy Equestria and everything in it. “It has to be her. She’s not working with Chrysalis; she’s working with Discord! She has no idea what she’s about to unleash!” Disparagingly, she added, “She probably thinks he’ll want to be friends!”

Shining Armor stood at attention. “Orders, your highness?”

“Same plan as before. I want a full lockdown. Triple the guard. Pull ponies in from the Canterlot and Appleoosa outposts if you have to. Applejack won’t rest until she’s taken us all away in chains and burned this city to the ground, and now she might have the means to do it.”

“Darling, listen to yourself,” Rarity pleaded. “Why would she do that?”

“Because she’s evil,” Twilight retorted.

“I knew her for years. She’s stubborn and a bit rough around the edges, but I can’t imagine she’d….”

Twilight stood tall under Princess Celestia’s shadow. She looked Rarity straight in the eyes and spoke with a voice free from doubt. “I made a promise to Princess Celestia that I will defend Equestria from anyone.”

“I know, Dearest. But I just can’t imagine her going to such--”

“Are you with me?”

Silence fell over the library. Shining Armor took the opportunity to find something interesting to look at around the next bookshelf over. Rarity could see the righteousness in Twilight’s eyes. She could feel the confidence and self-assurance coming from her, and in a strange way, it comforted her even now. After a few seconds, she answered, “Of course, I am,” and said nothing more.

With Rarity’s concerns alleviated, Shining Armor asked, “What are we going to tell Pinkie Pie about all this?”

“Nothing,” Twilight answered. “Bridle Rock is the best-kept secret in Equestria. If our scouts can find the escaped prisoners, then nopony ever has to know about this. I’ll be here, researching everything I can about Discord and this creature he’s made.” Musing, she added, “It’s likely some kind of contingency plan meant to take effect if he was defeated.”

Rarity perked up. “But darling, what about the flower festival that’s coming up? Everypony’s expecting you to give the commencement speech.”

Twilight recoiled from Rarity in horror. “We don’t have time for speeches! There’s a force of pure evil coming to destroy us all! And she’s made a pact with Discord!”

“You can’t keep blowing things off like this!” Rarity pleaded. “Those ponies out there need their Princess. They need to see you, Twilight.”

“No, they need to be protected. They need to be safe. Those ponies out there are alive because of me. They’re able to have flower festivals and eat cake and make friends and whatever else they do because of me. So why don’t you go to the festival and I’ll stay here and make sure there’s still an Equestria tomorrow.”

“I….” Rarity wanted to argue the point, but she knew there was no winning when Twilight was like this. “Very well. I’ll give them your regards.” She shared a quick glance with Shining Armor. His sympathy was a small consolation but welcome all the same. Then she exited the library with him, leaving her wife to study.

As soon as the room was empty, Twilight looked up at the statue of her mentor. Even from this hollow reproduction, Princess Celestia beamed with a grace and wisdom that couldn’t be matched. “I don’t know how you did it for so many years,” Twilight confessed. “They just don’t understand. None of them do. I have a kingdom to lead! I have to protect Equestria. What does it matter if I don’t show up and smile every now and then?”

As always, the statue said nothing. In the presence of its silence, Twilight always felt very small.

14 - A Much Needed Discourse

“Ugh, aren’t we there yet?” Trixie asked. “We’ve been walking all morning; my delicate hooves were never meant for this much hiking.”

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and kept walking, but Twilight stopped. Confused, she asked, “Don’t you tow a wagon cross-country?”

“Yes, but that was when I knew where I was going. I wasn’t wandering aimlessly around hoping to find a tree in the forest!”

“We’re not aimless,” Fluttershy said. “It should be just over the next ridge.”

“That’s what you said four ridges ago!”

“Yes, it is,” Fluttershy agreed with a polite nod of her head. “Four ridges ago, I said there would be five ridges. We’re coming up on the last one now.”

Before Trixie could respond, Twilight addressed the group. “I know it’s been a long march, but this was the safest way to make this journey.” She wore a brown cloak to conceal her mane and as much of her tail as possible. At her insistence, the group had left their carriage near the Ghastly Gorge and made the rest of the journey on hoof.

She didn’t know if the Shield would still be in Ponyville, but the last thing she wanted was for Applejack and her Shieldmares to see Twilight Sparkle and a Royal Guardpony flying in from the north. The image of Spitfire’s fate stayed burned in her brain. She knew that if they were caught in the air, they would never get the chance to explain themselves.

“This is it,” Fluttershy announced as they crested the ridge. The path led to a stout tree nestled between several large rocks. Various melons and gourds dangled from ropes tied to its branches, swaying back and forth in the gentle forest breeze. Carved into the trunk was a small set of stairs which led up to a red door.

“Is there anything we need to know before we go in?” Flash asked, stopping at the crest. The group ceased moving with him, circling around Fluttershy.

Sheepishly, Fluttershy bowed her head and stepped away from the group. “Please don’t do that,” she told them. After taking a second to compose herself, she explained, “Um, you should know that Zecora might not be what you’re expecting. She’s…well, she’s different. And in some--”

“She’s a zebra,” Twilight said bluntly.

“Oh!” Fluttershy jolted up in surprise. “You know her?”

“I know her in my world,” Twilight corrected. “Although that’s probably not going to be of much help here.”

“What’s a zebra?” Trixie asked.

“You’ll see,” Twilight told her.

Fluttershy approached the front door alone, leaving her friends up on the hill. She knocked twice, then scraped her hoof along the side of the door in a digging motion. She heard jostling come from the other side of the door and then, shortly after, a voice called out through the wood, “Who out there treads upon my field?”

Without missing a beat, Fluttershy answered, “A light that shines on every shield.”

From behind the door came the sound of metal clicking and scraping against wood. Then, three seconds later, the door swung inward to reveal the home’s occupant. A light gray pony with black stripes stood behind the door. Her neck and her left foreleg were each adorned in a set of five golden rings, which matched the large earrings that hung by her neck.

Zecora threw the door open, gripping a flask in her left foreleg. Zecora’s foreleg pulled back as if to throw it, but as soon as she laid eyes upon the pegasus, suspicion turned instantly to shock. “Fluttershy?” she asked, lowering the flask. “Do my eyes deceive? To see you standing here, I can hardly believe.”

“Some parts of it are hard to accept,” Fluttershy admitted. She crossed the threshold and embraced her old friend. “It’s been a very strange journey to get here, and now my friends and I need your help. I hope you can keep an open mind; they might seem odd, some more than others, but they helped me escape from a terrible prison that we were being kept at. Can you help us?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zecora answered, “Of course, I can; bring your friends inside. You are welcome to any aid I can provide. I hope you can forgive me a moment’s hostility; this conflict has cost us all hope of civility. With Rarity as our foe, we cannot ensure that the old pass phrases will remain secure.” She placed the red flask on a table beside the door.

“I understand,” Fluttershy assured her friend. “Thank you.” She returned to the top of the hill, where she relayed this message to the group. Together, they started the trek down. Twilight stuck to the rear of the group, keeping her hood up to shroud her face.

“Well, that was easy,” Trixie commented.

Trixie was the first behind Fluttershy to enter the hut, with Flash Sentry following her. Sunset Shimmer passed through next. When it came Twilight’s turn to cross the threshold, however, Zecora reached out a hoof to stop her. “For what reason does this one hide her face?” she asked suspiciously. “There is no need for secrets in this space.”

“She’s shy,” Fluttershy said quickly.

“She’s a changeling!” Sunset Shimmer said at the same time.

“She’s diabetic!” erupted from Trixie’s snout.

Flash said nothing. He was fixated on the strange masks and vials that decorated Zecora’s hut. He stepped awkwardly around the large cauldron in the center, trying to keep a safe distance between himself and his surroundings. Without the familiar weight of his barding, his movements came clumsily, betraying more of his nerves than he would have liked.

Upon hearing these conflicting answers, Zecora narrowed her eyes. “Let me see you; there is nothing to fear. Weary travelers of all kinds may find respite here.”

“You might not think that way in a second,” Twilight said. She drew back her cloak, revealing her face.

As expected, Zecora’s entire body jolted at the sight. She lunged for the side table, grabbing up her red flask once more. Before she could toss it, however, Flash threw himself in front of Twilight. “What treachery is this?!” Zecora demanded. “What have you done?!”

“It’s not what you think,” Fluttershy pleaded. “Please, don’t run.”

“I’m not the Acting Princess,” Twilight said. She struggled to get the cloak off of her body. She gave Flash a small nudge to move aside and stepped forward, spreading her wings where Zecora could clearly see them.

Zecora’s eyes fixed on Twilight’s wings. In a stunned whisper, she said, “Oh my, I can see you are not. Her face bears the mark of all she has wrought. You must be the imposter who has caused so much fuss. What brings such a creature to be here with us?”

“I’m not exactly a changeling either,” Twilight admitted. “It’s complicated and I know I’m asking you to take a lot on faith, but I need you to believe me.”

Zecora moved quickly to the shelves behind her, sorting through powders and potions. She returned with a gourd nestled in the crook of her foreleg. There was a large hole in one end of the gourd and several smaller holes reminiscent of a salt shaker on the other.

Zecora took a seat in front of Twilight to free her forelegs, then raised the gourd with both hooves and blew in the large opening. A bright pink powder cloud sprayed out from the other end, coating Twilight’s face. She choked as the dust entered her lungs and squeezed her eyes shut against it.

“Hmm, I can see that your protest reads true,” Zecora said. Twilight opened her eyes to see that the cloud had condensed. It floated between her and Zecora, but had been dramatically changed. A black stormcloud had replaced the bright pink color. Jolts of brown and red lightning shot back and forth through it. If Twilight looked close enough, she could see sharp angles and indescribable colors reminiscent of the Space Between. “A far graver magic, I see inside you.”

The vision stunned Twilight. She reached out to touch the cloud, but a painful jolt of red lightning struck her hoof, forcing it away. She knew without a doubt that this was the chaos magic that had infected her body.

Diplomatically, Zecora asked, “Why don’t you sit down and weave me a tale. I am eager to hear of your escape from jail. No pony has ever returned from exile. To be standing here now must have taken great guile.”

“We’d be delighted to,” Twilight said. To Trixie, she whispered, “Diabetic? Really?”

Sheepishly, Trixie admitted, “I panicked.”

If nothing else, the familiar decorations inside Zecora’s home came to Twilight like a breath of fresh air. In this one place in all of Equestria, nothing had ever changed. Everything was exactly as Twilight remembered it. Once again, she found herself longing for home.

“Oh, Good morning, Applejack.” Fluttershy found her friend trotting down Ponyville’s main street, headed towards the central plaza under the noonday sun. “And to you as well, Spike. Are you both on your way to the library?”

“We got Rainbow Dash’s message this morning!” Spike answered. He walked just to Applejack’s side with a visible bounce in his step. “Twilight—I mean, the other Twilight, the fake Twilight, she wants to see us all! I think she might have come up with a way to bring our Twilight home!”

Applejack huffed. She visibly did not share Spike’s optimistic sentiment. “Y’reckon she and Discord actually worked somethin’ out this time? Or are we just in for another update to let us know they ain’t got nothin’ to update us on?”

“Come on, Applejack,” Spike pleaded. “Don’t be so grim. Maybe they actually found something!”

“Discord did come over for tea the other day,” Fluttershy noted.

“Did he say anything about Twilight?” Spike asked.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “You tell him to quit draggin’ his hooves?”

“My friends were hoping you might have an update for us,” Fluttershy said cheerfully. “Applejack’s terribly worried about Twilight.”

“Hmph!” Discord snorted, folding his arms and turned away from Fluttershy. The teacup in his talon sloshed upwards, but the fluid folded on itself and returned harmlessly to the cup, refusing to stain Fluttershy’s furniture. “I bet she thinks I’m dragging my hooves, doesn’t she?!”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy assured him. “She knows how hard this must be. She would never try to pressure you.”

“I’m sure. Well, why don’t you tell Applejack that if she thinks she can do a better job, then she’s welcome to try. Maybe if she kicks enough trees, a Princess will fall out! She can do that and I can keep combing the vast expanse of infinite possibility searching for a single piece of hay in a stack of needles!”

Fluttershy smiled. “He said that finding Twilight is a very complicated ordeal and he politely asked for our patience.”

“I’m sure,” Applejack answered dryly. “Patience is for growin’ season. We got a missin’ pony; that’s the time to hustle!”

“That’s true,” Fluttershy admitted. “But you shouldn’t lose hope. Discord’s doing everything he can, and the, um…the other Twilight is helping.”

“Ain’t we got a name for her yet?” Applejack asked. “We can’t just keep callin’ her Other Twilight or Fake Twilight or Twilight on the Rocks.”

“I know that,” Fluttershy said sadly. “But even if we agreed on a name, we can’t make that decision for her. She deserves to be part of that conversation. But she’s been so terribly busy and Rarity and I agreed that we shouldn’t bother her about that right now. We can have that discussion once Twilight comes home.”

“Don’t reckon I can argue with that,” Applejack admitted. The more time the rock had to work on the problem of Twilight’s disappearance, the sooner they could all put this behind them. Assuming they actually had made any progress this time, that is. As the library came into view, Applejack sighed. “Might as well get this over with.”

Applejack and her friends gathered around the library’s central table, eyes fixed to its new decoration. The Crystal Mirror, which Twilight had once used to enter the human world, rested in the back across from the fireplace. The same question was on everypony’s mind as they entered and saw the mirror: could this be the hope that they had all been waiting for?

“Thank you for coming, everypony,” the illusory Twilight greeted, descending the stairs. “I’m glad you all could come. I wanted to take this time to update everypony on our progress. I’m afraid it’s still a work in progress.”

Applejack glanced at Fluttershy. She said nothing, but the droop of her eyelids said it all. Just like she said: they had nothing. Again.

“I wanted to thank Pinkie Pie for her suggestion,” Twilight continued. “I’ve been researching the effects of the Crystal Mirror, but I hadn’t considered the possibility of utilizing it for this purpose before. However, I am sorry to report that ‘quantum cupcakes’ are still not an actual scientific concept.”

“That’s only because you’re looking,” Pinkie Pie explained firmly. To Rainbow Dash beside her, she whispered, “They stop being cupcakes when you see them.”

“As some of you know…” Twilight said, glancing awkwardly at Applejack. “… Ever since the incident with Sunset Shimmer, I’ve been looking into the history and metaphysics surrounding the Crystal Mirror. There’s not much information to be found, but a few old journals do refer to what I believe to be the properties we’re dealing with. Let me explain.”

“Do you have to?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight cleared her throat for effect. “Over a thousand years ago, Star Swirl the Bearded discovered something incredible. Another reality existed concurrently with our own, but it was only accessible for short periods of time. Every thirty moons for a span of three days, this other world would brush against ours, creating overlaps in our relativistic fields of matter.”

Applejack blinked. “You reckon you should run that by us again?”

“Think of it like astrophysics,” Twilight said.

“Nerd stuff,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Got it.”

Twilight gestured to the center of the room. An illusory sun appeared just over the table, while an illusory moon appeared at the ceiling. “Every morning, Princess Luna sets the moon. At the same time, Princess Celestia raises the sun.” The two stellar objects floated along their courses, with the moon setting as the sun rose. Twilight froze the bodies as they neared one another. “For a brief moment, these stellar objects pass one another.”

“You had us at nerd stuff,” Rainbow Dash whined.

“Our realities follow a similar principle. They exist in a non-physical space somewhere outside of physical space, or something like that. Discord explained this to me and getting a straight answer out of him is like pulling teeth, but the theory does match up to some of what I’ve read. Star Swirl designed a spell that would, when our realities aligned with one another, tear open the fabric of reality and allow passage from one to the other.”

“And that’s where the mirror came from,” Rarity concluded. “You know, I have wondered.”

“Well, not initially,” Twilight corrected. “But after some time using the spell, Star Swirl must have concluded that it would be unsafe to travel to the other world himself. Magic doesn’t work the same way there as it does here. If Star Swirl had entered the human world, he would have been stranded without his horn, unable to reopen the portal and return to Equestria. He would have had to find a way to stabilize the connection from this side before exploring the other world would even become an option.”

Twilight looked up in wonder at the mirror towering over the group. “Our ancient history is littered with various accounts of ancient monsters and magical artifacts that vanished from existence. I believe it’s probable that at least some of these may have found their way into the human world. The Mirror activates itself whenever our worlds align and it’s been around even after Star Swirl himself mysteriously vanished. Any number of ponies could have used it to cross over in the last thousand years.”

“I don’t mean to sound rude,” Fluttershy said. “But what about the creatures living in that other world? Letting dangerous things cross through the portal doesn’t sound very responsible of him.”

Twilight blinked. This was the first time she’d ever heard Star Swirl’s nobility impugned. She wasn’t sure exactly how to answer it. After a few seconds of consideration, she settled on, “He probably didn’t know that at the time. Besides, I’m sure he wouldn’t have sent anything truly dangerous over there. I mean, I was there for three days, and I didn’t see a world under attack by sirens or entranced by the Staff of Mortality!” She snorted.

“I suppose you’re right,” Fluttershy conceded. “You probably would have noticed that.”

Twilight beamed proudly. “All things considered, the Crystal Mirror is a remarkable innovation in the field of enchantment. It might even be one of the greatest things that Star Swirl ever created, and let me tell you, he--”

“We get it,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “It’s cool, Star Swirl’s cool, can we use it to find Twilight or not? ‘Cause that’s kinda why we’re here.”

“Of course,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I could talk about Star Swirl all day! But that’s not why you’re here, so excuse me. In any case, I hypothesized that this connection might be the key to finding our missing friend.”

“You’re suggesting that Twilight’s stranded in that other world?” Rarity asked. “Ugh, how ghastly.”

“No,” Twilight replied. “That would be much easier to solve. Our friend is…well, how to put this….”

“She’s on JUPITER!” Pinkie Pie blurted out.

“Yes!” Twilight announced. “That’s an outstanding metaphor. Although, personally, I would place her somewhere in the asteroid belt. The point is, going back to our sun and moon metaphor, she’s in a reality far away from here. The place she’s at is never going to intersect our world. There is no connection from here to there. Wherever she is, the Crystal Mirror will never open to it on its own.”

“That doesn’t sound too terribly helpful,” Rarity observed.

“It’s not. At least, not with how the mirror exists today. However, before I….” Twilight stumbled over her words, catching herself. “Before she disappeared, our friend was exploring ideas for a way to improve on Star Swirl’s original design. In theory, manually opening a portal through the Crystal Mirror should be possible. The logic is sound. But without a cosmic overlap, we would need to establish our own connection between our world and the reality we’re targeting. We need some kind of magical conduit that we can follow from here to there in order to build a bridge between two worlds.”

Applejack and Rarity shared a glance. Twilight could tell that she was losing them. “Think about the way Spike exchanges our letters with Princess Celestia. The spell creates a temporary tunnel in space between his dragonfire and the Princess. It follows a magical connection to bridge Spike and Princess Celestia’s locations, wherever those happen to be. Then the letter simply moves from one space to the other through that connection.”

“And that’s how the Mirror works?” Applejack asked.

“Exactly! The only difference with the Mirror is that it’s linked geographically across different realities. The enchantment Star Swirl the Bearded placed on the Mirror connects it to a specific surface in the human world.”

“So y’reckon you can use all this magic knowhow to make a ‘bridge’ to Twilight?”

“No,” Twilight replied. “That’s the problem. Think about it: what connects this reality to her? What do we have in this world that could be used to reach her? If Spike were with her, then we’d be able to trace the signal from his existing link with Princess Celestia in this world and use that to find him. But we don’t have anything we could use to locate her.”

“What about you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity piped up. “She raises an excellent point. You have spoken at length about being a perfect copy of our Twilight. Could we not use you for the enchantment?”

“I wish it were that simple,” Twilight said. “That would be so much easier. But there isn’t a connection between me and her. If there was, I’d be able to see through her eyes and relay things she knew. I can’t. The way my enchantment works, I copied her once and that was it. There’s no lingering connection between her and me. I’m sorry.”

The dour mood returned, filling the library. Twilight opened the journal in front of her. “I’ve been poring through my notes, looking for anything that might provide that sort of connection. I’ve already considered the Element of Magic, but it--”

“Why not us?” Applejack asked. Her eyes brightened and her voice rose enthusiastically. For the first time today, she found herself with hope. “There any reason we can’t use us? Twilight’s always goin’ on about friendship bein’ the most powerful magic and whatnot. There ain’t a way we can use that?”

“We’re the connection,” Rarity said, following the logic.

Fluttershy suggested, “We could open the portal, then go through and find her. Like a search party.”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “Oh my gosh, you guys. We can have a Search Party FOR OUR SEARCH PARTY!!!”

“That’s not going to work,” Twilight said grumpily. She hated how obvious the answer sounded. She should have been the one to come up with it. “At least, it won’t work the way you think it will. The theory is sound. But we can’t send you through the portal if you’re powering the bridge. We could lose the connection as soon as you stepped through. You might not even make it to the other side before the bridge collapses. You could wind up lost in some other reality, just like she was.”

“There are seven of us,” Rarity mused. “Surely, you don’t need all of us together to keep the portal open.”

Twilight followed Rarity’s glance to Applejack. There was truth in Rarity’s suggestion, but something inside her resented that truth. “We have no way of knowing what you’d even find on the other side,” she pleaded for reason, not even fully understanding why she was arguing with this. Darkly, she said, “We don’t even know if she’s…”

Before Twilight could finish, Applejack retorted, “If she ain’t, then it seems to me like this won’t work nohow. I reckon we can get it set up and if’n it works, then we know.” Applejack glanced down at Spike, appearing to be lost in thought. She suggested, “Y’just said a moment ago that Spike can send his letters across the distance, right?”

“In theory,” Twilight reiterated. “When I visited the human world, the shift in metaphysics transfigured his body into that of a dog. We wouldn’t have been able to test my theory due to the change in his physiology. You should realize that something like that could still happen on the other side of the portal.”

Applejack nodded. “I’ll take Spike with me, then. We find Twilight and he can send a letter to the Princess, sayin’ to open it up again ‘cause we’re ready to come home. So we get to the other side, then we can try sendin’ a sheet of parchment. That don’t work, the portal will be right there. We can come back and think of somethin’ else.”

Deep inside the pit of Twilight’s petrified heart, an emptiness grew. Something about this trip filled her with dread. She knew that the plan would work. Everything that had been proposed made sense and having four of Twilight’s friends here would surely provide a strong enough connection through the Magic of Friendship to open the portal. It all made sense. So why did it frighten her so?

“I’ll go with you,” she offered, drawing everypony’s attention. She explained, “I’m not going to be of much use for opening the portal, but I might be able to help you on the other side.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “What about the rest of us? We’re just supposed to wait here while you go into danger?”

“We might have to leave in a hurry,” Twilight said. “In the event of an emergency, somepony will need to get to the Crystal Mirror to open it for us. There’s nopony who can reach it faster than you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Do you really need four of us for this?” Fluttershy asked.

No, she wouldn’t. That was the truth as Twilight knew it. If the theory held out, three would probably be sufficient. In fact, she wasn’t willing to rule out even two ponies being able to open the portal. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to say this. There was no reason why it had to be just her and Applejack, but she wanted it to be. She needed it.

She looked at her friends. Each and every one of them looked back at her, waiting for her to answer. They were hanging on her words. They trusted her intelligence and her judgment. They believed in her, like true friends believed in one another.

“It has to be four,” she said finally. “Any less and we risk the bridge collapsing. We can’t take that chance.”

“I see,” Fluttershy said. “We won’t let you down.”

Why did she say that? Twilight felt a wave of guilt wash over her. It was an ugly feeling, lying to ponies who trusted her so much. And for what? What had she gained? Apart from an opportunity to be alone with Applejack, that is.

Well, her and Spike. But he doesn’t count. He’s barely even part of the group.

This was her chance to be depended on. Her chance to be relied upon. To show Applejack how useful she could be. Maybe even to save the day! She could be the hero this time. She could be the pony that everypony loved and revered. And all she had to do was lie to ponies who trusted her. Ponies who believed in her….

Each and every one of them would do the same thing in my place. I’ve done nothing wrong.

That was true. They had all lied to her before, after all. Except Fluttershy. Surely, this was no worse than what they’d done to her.

“Spike, you go on and send the Princess a letter on what we talked about,” Applejack said. “I need some time to tell my family what’s what. Don’t reckon they’ll be too thrilled about me bein’ gone for a spell, but they ain’t gonna fight me on it neither. Twilight’s one of us, no two ways about it.”

“What about Apple Bloom?” Rarity asked.

“You’re right, I don’t know how long we’re gonna be. She might need help from time to time,” Applejack admitted. “Rares, could you--”

“Of course I can,” Rarity said firmly, meeting her eyes. Applejack could feel a profound sense of kinship. She didn’t always get along with Rarity and in fact, some days she’d still very much rather be doing anything but talking to her. But despite everything that had come between them, there was a bond forged in fire that could never be broken again.

“We’ve got your back,” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. “I’ll drop by the farm while you’re gone. See what I can do to lend a hoof.”

“OOH OOH OOH!!!” Pinkie Pie waved her forelegs ecstatically. “I can make you the biggest mountain of cupcakes you’ve ever seen!”

“How would I take that with me?” Applejack asked.

“You’d be surprised what I can cram in a saddlebag.”

“I don’t have anything to give you,” Fluttershy admitted mournfully.

Applejack embraced her. “That’s alright, sugarcube. You keep on hopin’ we can bring Twilight home safe and that’ll be all I need.”

“It sounds like we have a plan,” Twilight said. “I’ll head to the Crystal Empire tonight and work on setting up the portal overnight.”

“Wait, isn’t it right there?” Rainbow Dash asked, gesturing to the Crystal Mirror standing against the wall.

Twilight glanced up at the mirror above her. “Oh, no, that’s a prop.” She let her illusion fade, revealing a normal rectangular standing mirror with a wooden frame. “It’s the same height as the Crystal Mirror, so it’s been helpful for sizing up my equipment. I just thought I’d touch it up for everypony to illustrate my plan.

“The real mirror is still in the Crystal Empire, so we’ll need to meet there. I don’t sleep, so I can explain everything to Cadance when I arrive and then spend the night setting up the tools we’ll need for this. I want everypony to meet me in the Crystal Palace first thing tomorrow morning. If this works, Applejack and I will be setting hoof in a strange new world before breakfast.”

“And that’s that, everypony,” Applejack concluded. Supper had provided the perfect opportunity to address the family, and Applejack had not hesitated to take it. While the family around her dug into their meals, her plate of roasted asparagus and cheesy mashed potatoes sat untouched in front of her. “I reckon it might be askin’ a lot and I’m mighty sorry to be bailin’ on y’all but--”

“It’s Twilight,” Big Mac said simply before grabbing up three asparagus stalks with his teeth.

Applejack nodded. “Eeyup. It’s Twilight.”

“It ain’t like it’s nothin’ new,” Granny Smith said. She didn’t even look at Applejack. “You’re gonna go gallopin’ off to help save some who-dads from a whatsit and we’ll be right here like we always is, workin’ with our hooves in the dirt.”

Applejack shrank away from Granny’s words. She felt a pang of guilt strike her heart. She hated leaving her family holding her share of the work like this, but life kept coming between her and doing right by her family. Every time something came up and she had to run off, she couldn’t help but feel like she was letting them down.

“You’re gonna bring her back, right?” Apple Bloom asked.

Applejack smiled. At least her siblings understood, even if her granny didn’t. “Wild ponies couldn’t stop me, sugarcube,” she said, ruffling Apple Bloom’s mane with her hoof. Apple Bloom responded by holding her plate away from Applejack and scarfing her own cheesy potatoes, eying her sister suspiciously.

Granny Smith opened her snout to say something, but she was interrupted by a knock at the front door. “You got company comin’?” she asked. Applejack shook her head. Rising from her spot at the table, Granny grumbled, “Well, somepony’s about to learn not to come callin’ when supper’s on the table!”

Granny Smith opened the door to find the peculiar sight of Twilight Sparkle standing on the other side. Twilight gave the most innocent smile she could muster under pressure. “Good evening, Granny. Sorry if it’s not a great time. I know the family’s probably sitting down to supper right now.”

Granny snorted. Looking back at Applejack standing in the kitchen doorway, she asked, “This that magic rock doodad you been goin’ on about?”

“Oh, you’ve heard of me?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll take care of it,” Applejack said, crossing the living room. “Y’all stay here and finish up.” To Granny, she added, “Don’t let Apple Bloom get at my taters.”

“Ehh, you’d best get a move on,” Granny answered. “That filly’s a fiend for cheesy taters and I ain’t gettin’ my hoof bit off on account of it.”

Applejack stepped outside. A light drizzle fell from the sky, sprinkling the farm in nature’s shower. She paid it no mind, stepping down off the porch and into fresh mud, just beginning its transition from ordinary dirt. “Ain’t you supposed to be in the Crystal Empire?” she asked.

“The train doesn’t leave for another hour,” Twilight answered. Hesitantly, she added, “And I thought this might be a good time to talk.”

“Ain’t we been talkin’?” Applejack asked defensively. She wasn’t sure what to make of this sudden intrusion into her home situation.

“I don’t mean with the group,” Twilight said. “I want to talk to you. About earlier when--”

Applejack raised a hoof. Of course. The elephant in the room. “Listen, sugarcube. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. Bein’ like y’are must be a whole mess of confusin’, and pickin’ up where me and Twilight left off sure ain’t helpin’ ya none. I reckon there’s a whole lot of livin’ you gotta do to figure out what y’want to be with your life, and y’ain’t done that yet so of course it’s gonna be weird for you. I ain’t about to hold that against you. You got nothin’ to apologize for.”

“I didn’t come here to apologize,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow.

“Beg pardon?”

Twilight sighed. “I didn’t want to talk about this in front of the others because it’s not really any of their business. This is about you and me and… well, the other me. I’ve been trying to find the words for days, but they just didn’t come out right. No matter how I tried to say it, no matter how many times, they didn’t….” She shook her forelegs in frustration.

“Might be best they don’t,” Applejack said. “You and me, we ain’t--”

“I LOVE YOU,” Twilight blurted out. “I always have. Ever since this all started, you’ve been on my brain. You’re everywhere in my mind’s eye. I can’t focus because everywhere I look, I see shadows of you.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t—”

“Your favorite food is an apple turnover!” Twilight shrieked. “Your favorite color’s green. You prefer historical dramas because you like hearing about their take on what happened. You don’t like science fiction novels because you think ponies need to spend less time dreaming about the future and more time working on getting there. My brain is filled with useless novelty facts and they’re all about you. There are entire files in my mind dedicated just to you. Because I love you.”

Twilight reached for Applejack, who quickly stepped back and held up a hoof to stop her. “No. You don’t. You got your head full of what you took from Twilight, but that ain’t real. It ain’t nothin’ you made for yourself. You got a seat up front to our problems, hers and mine, and I’m mighty sorry y’had to see any of that. But you gotta stop thinkin’ like you can be Twilight Sparkle and start figurin’ on who you’re gonna be when she comes home.

“So why don’t you go and do that,” Applejack concluded. “I got taters that’ll get ate if’n I don’t get back.” She turned away and took a step back towards the front porch, but the Twilight illusion flickered around to appear in front of her once more.

“You don’t understand,” Twilight said. “I know we’ve had our problems, but I’ve been contemplating this extensively and the conclusion I found was that you’re right. You think you’re holding her back and you’re right!” She gestured frantically with her hoof as though pointing to another pony. “She, her, she has this incredible future in front of her. She’s an alicorn princess now! She might get a kingdom of her own to govern. We don’t know!”

“This ain’t a road you want to go down,” Applejack warned.

Sitting on her haunches, Twilight held up her forelegs diplomatically. “I know. I know. It’s hard to hear, but you were right. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing! I mean, if you think about it logically, this all worked out better than you could have imagined!” She glanced at her hooves. “…well, once we bring her home, of course. Obviously, it’s not great now, but we find her, we bring her back, and then everything works out! It works because I’m your solution.”

Applejack stared into the flickering phantom. The more worked up she got, the less real she seemed. Parts of her image seemed to tug away just for a split second before reasserting themselves. Her left eye turned bright green only for a couple seconds before returning to purple. “When’s the last time you drained a pony’s magic?” Applejack asked carefully.

“It’s been a couple of days,” Twilight admitted. “I’ve been studying extensively. You know how it goes. But that’s not important!”

“Sounds important to me,” Applejack said. “It’s how y’keep from bein’ crazy. Twilight, bless her heart, she’s got crazy to spare sometimes. It ain’t about to do nopony no good, you gettin’ like that.”

“I’m fine,” Twilight growled. The color drained from her right front foreleg, turning it to gray. Agitated, she shook it twice, causing the purple to blink back in. “We’re here to talk about Twilight. You wanted to let her go live her life, and you were right. She can be the Princess she was meant to be. And then I can stay here with you. I can give you that cozy home life you wanted in a way that she can’t. We can be a family.”

It was true. For moons, Applejack had thought of it. Her heart was full of images that often found her in her dreams. Many a pleasant afternoon or an evening spent at their special place on the hill had left Applejack thinking about their happy domesticity.

The long days she spent tilling the fields while Twilight did her research or practiced her spells had been wonderful. The nights spent enthusiastically talking about what happened that day were among the best she’d ever had. Twilight adored Apple Bloom and got on so well with Big Mac and Granny Smith, and she was insatiably curious to know more about their family.

She never criticized Applejack for not doing things her way. If anything, she was eager to learn the family’s ways. She cared so much about academia, but she never judged Applejack for her failures in it. She never disparaged Applejack’s brawn; she respected it, even revered it.

It hadn’t been that long ago that Applejack had stood there in the Carousel Boutique, asking Rarity’s advice on how to get her mama’s wedding broach made into a unicorn’s horn ring. She knew that marriage would have been a big step, but in that moment, she felt as though it wouldn’t have. What she’d had with Twilight had been everything she ever wanted.

Perhaps that’s why the threat of change had frightened her so.

“I know you’re afraid,” Twilight continued. “You have every right to be. But it doesn’t have to end. What we had doesn’t have to end. All you have to do is let her go and you can be here with me. We can have the family you always wanted.” After a few seconds, she added, “Well, we can’t have foals. Not biologically. But that was always going to be a problem anyway! There are options to get around that, and there’s no reason you and I couldn’t hypothetically explore those together! If it matters to you.”

“You’re askin’ me to give up on Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Not entirely! We’re still going to go rescue her. We go and get her, we make sure she’s safe, and then you and I can tell her the good news. You can be with Twilight through me. She gets her bright future, you get me. It makes the most logical sense, because everypony gets what they deserve this way.”

“You’re askin’ me to give up on Twilight,” Applejack said again. This time, it was not a question.

“To be with a perfect copy,” Twilight reiterated.

“No offense, sugarcube, but I don’t buy that,” Applejack said bluntly. “Y’keep usin’ them words, ‘perfect copy’. But that ain’t how I see it. Never have. That’s some sci-fi mumbo jumbo to try and make you think like y’can just make a new pony and have her be the same pony. But she ain’t. You ain’t. You might look like Twilight Sparkle and y’might talk like you’re her, but y’ain’t my Twilight.”

“Fine,” Twilight said, “I’m not going to argue. If that’s how you want to see it, then fine. So instead of being your 16th special somepony, I can be number 17. That’s not that much of a difference, really.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked. Something about the way she’d said that felt like a slap in the face.

“I meant no offense,” the phantom urged her. “I’m just saying that it can still work out. You and I can still be together. If anything, this makes it even more perfect! Think about it!” Her entire body flickered. A wave passed over the image, turning her purple skin blue as it moved. A harpsichord replaced the stars on her Cutie Mark. The stripes in her mane and tail turned white and pushed out to the side, taking up new positions.

Lyra Heartstrings took a step forward, explaining, “Once you get bored of Twilight, I can be number 18 too. And then I can be number 19. I can be anypony you want me to be, and that’s exactly what makes us perfect for each other.”

“That ain’t—”

In the blink of an eye, Lyra vanished. Applejack felt a light pressure on her neck. It felt faintly like the touch of a single hoof, which slowly trailed up to a spot just under her chin. To her left, she could see the hoof’s owner; a unicorn’s face with blue eyes and a purple mane filled her vision, close enough that she’d be able to feel her breath if the image could breathe. “Absolutely anypony, Darling.”

Applejack trembled at the touch. A shallow, primal part of her fought its way to the surface, reacting instantly to the illusion’s gesture. Ever since they were fillies, she’d always admired Rarity’s beauty. Even when she was with her first love, Crystal Chalice, she’d admired Rarity from a distance. There had always been a part of her that hungered for what she knew could not be had. Even when she hated Rarity, that part still admired her.

But that wasn’t who she was. That was lust, pure and simple, but it wasn’t love. “This ain’t right,” she asserted, pushing the phantom hoof away from her and jerking away. “There ain’t no part of this is right. Rarity’s… well, Rarity’s pretty as an orchard ripe for harvest, no two ways about that. But that ain’t your body, and you got no right to use it like that.”

“I’m trying to give you options!” the illusion insisted, flashing back into Twilight. “It doesn’t have to be Rarity! I just wanted you to see how flexible I can be. I can be whatever pony you feel like you’re into.”

“Is that what you think?” Applejack demanded. “Y’reckon I just mosey along from pony to pony like a cow at pasture? Y’think ‘cause I’ve been with a lot of ponies, I just wake up at sun-up and go, ‘I sure do have a hankerin’ for a pretty blonde this mornin’!’?”

“…is that not how it works?” the illusion asked.

Applejack stared dumbfounded at her. Never in her life had she felt so thoroughly insulted. “You listen here and you listen good. Sure, I’ve been with a lot of ponies. That’s a truth. And it’s a truth that I ain’t always done right by ‘em. Not all of ‘em lasted long enough to fall in love, neither. But I tried. I always tried. Celestia help me, each and every time, I tried.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know what you mean. You got Twilight mixed up in your brain and that means all you know is a life so charmed its servants have servants.” She growled. “You got no idea what it’s like to live with a hole in your heart won’t never mend. You got no right to judge me for wantin’ to have nights where it don’t got to hurt.

“Here’s another truth for you,” Applejack said plainly. “I had a life before I met Twilight. I ain’t about to apologize for that, not to you or nopony. Now I reckon it’d be for the best if you get on out of here before you dig yourself any deeper. That mirror won’t set itself up and whatever you think’s gonna happen here ain’t.”

Dejected, Twilight turned to leave. She flickered as she walked away, leaving no hoofprints in the mud beneath her. After ten feet, however, she stopped. She looked back at Applejack, her face contorted in a mean scowl. Bitterly, she said, “She’s never coming back, you know.”

Applejack felt a surge of panic mixed with the rage already coursing through her body. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded, racing to catch up to the illusion. “You know somethin’ you ain’t been sharin’ with the rest of us?” she accused.

“What I know is you,” Twilight answered with a sneer. “The time came to let her move on and you didn’t. You clung to her selfishly, because you couldn’t bear to be apart. And you made it worse, just like you knew you would. She’s gone, Applejack. She’s gone and it’s because of you. Just like your mother.”

There was no denying the cold sting that Applejack felt through her body. The words cut deeply, but she wasn’t about to let this shake her. After all, she was no stranger to closing her heart against feelings she was not prepared to feel. An iron mask slid over her features and with a cold voice, she said, “Look at that. You’re becomin’ your own pony already. The real Twilight never would have said a thing like that.”

The color literally drained from the illusion’s face, turning her head to gray. She blinked, stepping back from Applejack with realization dawning in her eyes. “Applejack, I--”

“You can get off my property now.”

No word of resistance was offered. No argument was made. The illusion simply faded out of sight, leaving Applejack alone in the drizzling rain.

Applejack stood in the living room for a minute after the door had closed behind her. She wanted to rejoin her family in the kitchen, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat now. Not after what just--

“Applejack?” Applejack jolted at the voice behind her, punctuated by the sound of the front door opening once more.

She whipped around, putting a hoof to her heart to try and calm its beating. “Granny?! What in tarnation are you doin’ out there?”

Granny Smith entered, kicking the door shut with her hind leg. The somber look about her chilled Applejack to her core. Granny was a pony full of fire and vinegar. Applejack had seen her frothing mad more times than she could count, but rarely did she see her downtrodden. But now, there was a wound in her voice when she asked, “Why don’t we have a talk upstairs?”

In the comfort of Applejack’s bedroom, Granny Smith took a seat beside the bed. After supper, Spike had been planning on helping Apple Bloom fix the wheelbarrow, so there was little threat to privacy. Still, Applejack remained on edge. Granny’s demeanor didn’t—

“I heard what y’all said out there,” Granny said quietly.

“You were spyin’ on us?” Applejack asked.

“Y’ain’t been yourself in weeks and you won’t say how nor why! You’re darned right, I been spyin’!” There was the fire. Strangely, hearing Granny Smith erupt like that set Applejack’s nerves at ease.

“Granny--”

“Quit your yappin’ and let me talk. I know you and I don’t talk a lot about the mares in your life. Now, I don’t got to guess why that is; I ain’t senile yet, y’know! Got a good twenty years left in these old bones!”

“I know, Granny.”

“But when I heard what that that pony said about your mama, I was about ready to get out the fryin’ pan! Applejack, you don’t really believe that sack of rubbish?”

“It ain’t simple, Granny,” Applejack admitted.

“Sure, it is! Your mama loved you more than life itself and there ain’t nothin’ more to be said about it!”

“I know that,” Applejack replied. At this point, she felt she’d much rather be anywhere but having this conversation right now.

“When was the last time you went up and saw her?” Granny Smith asked. There was that question again.

“I ain’t been,” Applejack answered truthfully. “Not since….”

Granny Smith glowered. Applejack could tell she didn’t appreciate that answer. “Well, perhaps I am gettin’ a mite bit senile, ‘cause I can’t think of a single reason why y’wouldn’t. Your mama gave up everythin’ she had to be right here for this family! She ain’t never given you nothin’ but love and respect and she--”

“It ain’t her!” Applejack interjected. “It ain’t Mama. It’s me.” Having to talk about this under the iron gaze of the family matriarch left Applejack feeling tremendously embarrassed. She felt like a foal in trouble for playing too hard and breaking the lamp. “The problem’s me. When we lost Mama, I messed up everythin’. I got myself kicked out of school and--”

“And what?” Granny Smith asked. “You think your mama’d be disappointed ‘cause of schoolin’?”

When she put it like that, it sounded silly. Applejack reiterated, “Mama had a dream for me. She had one all my life growin’ up. I was supposed to be the first Apple to go to a big fancy school for learnin’. That’s all she wanted from me, and I messed that up.”

Where she’d hoped to see sympathy on Granny Smith’s face, there was only consternation. “What kind of codswallop have you been feedin’ yourself?!” she demanded. “You think your mama’s spinnin’ in her grave, bless her heart, ‘cause of you gettin’ kicked out of your school? That idea about a fancy school wasn’t her dream, Applejack! It was yours! She only ever cared about it ‘cause of how much you cared!”

Applejack blinked. That certainly wasn’t how she remembered it.

Granny explained, “You got the wanderlust in ya. Y’always have. Ever since you was a tiny sprout, you’ve been yearnin’ for somethin’ bigger than this place. Your mama saw that. We all did. So the schoolin’ didn’t work out. That just means it weren’t right for you. Just like how Manehattan wasn’t right for you.”

“I ain’t meant to wander, neither,” Applejack argued. “I found my purpose and it’s right here at home. This is where I belong. Ain’t nothin’ good’s never come from strayin’ from it.”

“’Course it’s where you belong!” Granny Smith chided. “This here’s your home. Your problem is, you think you gotta make a choice. Look at where y’are now! They got you up on a painted window in Canterlot! You’re shakin’ hooves with Princesses and then gallopin’ off to save all of Equestria. That’s your calling, Applejack. You’re doin’ what you were always meant to do. Why, if your mama could see you now, she’d be the proudest apple in Ponyville!”

“You mean that?” Applejack asked.

“All your mama ever wanted was for you to be happy. Don’t matter if it’s here or somewhere else. Don’t matter if it’s both. There ain’t nothin’ wrong with doin’ what gots to get done and then comin’ right back home to your family.”

“There ain’t, is there?” Applejack asked. She felt a strange sense of validation in her Granny Smith’s words.

“’Course there ain’t! Bein’ an Apple don’t mean you gotta be doin’ what you do here all your life. Look at your sister, she’s got it figured out. When she’s not workin’ the farm, she’s out there with those friends of hers gettin’ in all mess of trouble. She ain’t ashamed to be who she is and an Apple besides!”

Wistfully, Applejack replied, “She ain’t, is she?” Granny Smith had given her a lot to think about. “Thank you, Granny,” she said. There was a lightness to her body when she stepped forward to embrace Granny Smith, as if a great and terrible weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Granny Smith took the hug and squeezed her granddaughter tightly, patting her shoulders with her forelegs. “Oh, and for what it’s worth,” she added. “Twilight. I like her.”

Applejack smiled. “I like her too, Granny.” In a strange way, Applejack felt better than she ever had been. For years since her mother passed away, she’d dreaded ever having to talk to Granny Smith about this. And yet, now that it was over, she wished she’d done it sooner. She felt a strange sense of closure in hearing about her mother. The conversation had shed a new light on past regrets she’d carried for years.

There was only one question still burning in her mind. “Apple Bloom ate my taters, didn’t she?”

“Oh, Applejack,” Granny Smith said, patting her shoulders some more. “They were gone as soon as y’got up from the table.”

“Why did I say that?!” Twilight shouted in the echoing library, but the pain in her petrified heart failed to relent. She screamed in her solitude, letting her pain echo through the library’s foyer. After five minutes of pure guttural rage, Twilight collapsed in a ball beside the stairs. She sobbed phantom tears, droplets forged of pure despair that wouldn’t even give her the dignity of being real. “How could I be so stupid?” she asked herself.

It’s hardly my fault if that dim-witted bumpkin can’t see reality when it’s right in front of her eyes.

That much was true, she supposed. Applejack, for all her virtues, was hardly the most intellectual pony she’d ever known. It should be no surprise that she couldn’t see the logic. But she hated thinking of her that way; it felt mean-spirited. Besides, some of what she said tonight had--

It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be alone with her soon enough. That’s opportunity enough.

Yeah. That’s right. She’d convinced the others to let her and Applejack go through the portal by themselves. Well, they’d have Spike, but—

Spike doesn’t count. He’s not even a pony. He’ll buy whatever I feed him.

That was right. She was right. Soon enough, Applejack would see who the best Twilight Sparkle really—

Twilight looked up from her solace to see a library torn apart. Several shelves had been cleared off, their contents laying scattered on a carpet of ripped out pages. “No!” she shrieked as despair gave way to blind panic. She raced to the nearest book and laid it out on the table. The Complete Works of Feather Beret was an ancient relic. Its pages were older than Princess Celestia herself, and now half of them had been broken off from their binding by a forceful impact with the ground.

She could see the gaps in the shelves where the books had been thrown from. They looked as though a pony’s foreleg had swept through and shoved, with zero care for what was being destroyed. The table itself had been cleared off in the same fashion; her journals and reports lay amid the rest of the paper victims.

What had she done? How could she have done this? She had been terribly hurt when she arrived back at home, but she couldn’t imagine what would compel a pony to wreak such carnage against such innocent targets. But there was nopony else who could have. Even Spike was with Applejack out at the farm.

Twilight looked upon her works. She knew it to be her work. And she suddenly found herself very afraid.

15 - Belligerent Discouragement

One week ago, Twilight probably would have considered it strange to be sleeping in an abandoned home. She didn’t even know whose house this was, two doors down from the Hay Burger. But the building was mostly intact. The walls still mostly stood, the roof hadn’t caved in, and it had never been set on fire. That was already more than could be said for many of the other houses in the Ponyville ruins.

The air inside was dry and reeked of dust. A two-foot gash ran horizontally along the living room wall, cleaving through a shattered window on the left side. A sofa lay overturned atop the coffee table but appeared to still be in usable condition. With each step she took, a crunching sound alerted her to the broken glass and pottery her hooves were grinding into the carpet.

A single bed occupied the master bedroom, caked in dust, but unlike the houses they’d visited before, the mattress still seemed usable. An unbroken window along the left side provided a path to the outside world for the dust to travel once opened, and the supply kit from their wagon outside gave them plenty of supplies for cleaning.

After two hours of work, the bed was just serviceable enough to be slept in. They also dragged the couch into the bedroom, turning it upright and inspecting the cushions for any unfortunate surprises. Twilight only had to hope now that there were no bedbugs or other nasty creatures that had come to inhabit this abode since its abandonment.

Twilight opened her snout to volunteer for the couch, but Fluttershy had already climbed up and taken it as hers.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like the bed?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I couldn’t.” Facing Twilight, Fluttershy dropped down on her side and used her legs to push her back into the rear cushion. She wriggled in place for comfort. “This is fine.”

It didn’t feel fine. “You were in that place for a lot longer than I was,” Twilight insisted. It made logical sense, after all. Fluttershy deserved the more comfortable spot because she’d been so long without.

But Fluttershy wouldn’t have it. “The Princess shouldn’t have to sleep on the couch,” she explained. “You wouldn’t let Princess Celestia do that, would you?”

She had a point there, but it still didn’t feel right to Twilight. “That’s different. I’m not the same kind of Princess. I’ve only even been a Princess for a moon or two.”

Fluttershy looked her in the eyes. “You told Sunset Shimmer that being a Princess has to be earned. It’s not a gift or a spell, it’s something that happens to ponies who do great things. So if you’re a Princess, that means you’ve earned it.”

That also made logical sense. “Are you sure about this?”

Fluttershy smiled sweetly. “Twilight, if you make me sleep on the bed, I’m going to feel guilty. I’m going to feel very guilty. Then I’m going to nag at you about how guilty I feel. And then I’m going to keep nagging.”

Twilight laughed. “Okay, okay, you win.”

“Zecora said that one of Applejack’s scouts would be here tomorrow morning, so it’s very important that we get our rest. How are we going to do that if I’m nagging at you?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Twilight hopped up onto the bed, grinning widely.

As she settled into bed, Twilight couldn’t help but think of how strong Fluttershy seemed even now. She’d been in Bridle Rock for only a week and already this bed seemed like paradise by comparison. Fluttershy had been there for moons. Perhaps even years. How long had it been since Fluttershy had even seen the sun?

A knock at the window interrupted Twilight’s thoughts. She used her magic to slide it open. She relished the feeling of casting spells again; she feared she had taken her magic for granted. That would never happen again.

A familiar orange face peeked through the window. “How are you two holding up?” Flash Sentry asked. “Everything good?”

“We’re fine, thank you,” Twilight answered. “Have you seen anything?”

“Nothing yet, but I’ll keep you posted.” Due to his role on the night shift, Flash was accustomed to sleeping during the day. This had made him the perfect choice to keep the night watch. Zecora had said that the scout would arrive at morning, but Flash had insisted on making sure nopony saw Twilight before they had a chance to explain anything.

“How are the others?” Twilight asked.

“Sunset and Trixie are in the house across the way,” Flash said, pointing across the street. “They seemed to be doing fine. Sunset’s….” Flash hesitated, covering his snout with a hoof as though trying to think of how to phrase it. He settled on, “Well, she’s being Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight yawned. “As long as she isn’t starting fights, she can be a tomorrow problem.”

“Agreed. I’ll keep you updated if anything happens. Have a good night, your majesty.” Flash gave Twilight a slight nod of the head, then resumed his patrol. Twilight closed the window behind him, then rolled over onto her back. The cushion conforming to her back felt like a slice of paradise after this last week. She mentally added soft beds to the list of things she would never--

“Hey, Twilight? Can I ask you a question? If it’s too personal, I understand.”

Twilight squirmed on the mattress, rolling over to face Fluttershy. She raised herself on her forelegs. “What is it?”

“I wanted to know about….” Fluttershy stopped herself. She took a couple of seconds to reconsider her question. “How did you know….” She stopped again. “It’s Applejack,” she said meekly. “How did you meet?”

“The same way I met the rest of you,” Twilight answered. “Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Festival.”

“Oh, that’s right. I suppose that happened the same way for you too.”

“Well, not exactly the same.” She glanced behind her at the window. High in the sky, the Mare in the Moon looked down from her lofty prison. “I visited Sweet Apple Acres to check on the food they were preparing. I was only there to make sure they were keeping on schedule, but Applejack wanted me to stay and try it.” She smiled bemusedly at the memory.

“Did you?”

“I didn’t want to at first. I knew right away what they really wanted; the Apples were trying to convince me to stay for lunch. Applejack was very eager to make a new friend. All I cared about was getting this task finished so I could work on the Nightmare Moon problem.” She held her forelegs out in front of her, shaking them lightly as she spoke. It was all too easy to remember how she’d felt that day. “I didn’t have time for distractions and friend-making. I had work to do and she was making herself an obstacle to that work.”

Twilight looked up to see Fluttershy visibly shrinking away from her. “That sounds more like the Twilight Sparkle I know. You told her no?”

“I tried to.” Twilight looked down at her right foreleg. “But when it came down to it, I couldn’t refuse. Applejack called me ‘part of the family’. That felt very strange. I’d barely even known her for two minutes and she was welcoming me into her home.”

“Was she hitting on you?” Fluttershy blushed and stammered out, “I-I mean, you said you two were….”

“No, I don’t think so. At least, not then.” Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes. “She was just nice.” Twilight looked down at her forelegs once more. She idly rolled one hoof over the other. “I have my own theories about what happened that day, but the truth is, I don’t know why I stayed. I had a lot of work that needed to get done and I didn’t even know any of these ponies. But once I saw how many ponies I’d be disappointing if I left, I couldn’t do it.”

“And that’s when you fell in love,” Fluttershy said eagerly. She lay on her front, resting her head on her forelegs with a blushing grin.

“What!? No! I thought she was being pushy and wasting my time with frivolous socializing.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy’s grin faded. “That sounds more like you.”

“I’m guessing that didn’t happen here?”

Fluttershy nodded sadly. “I think Applejack felt really insulted that you rejected her hospitality. She didn’t talk about it much, but she’s always been very quick to assume the worst about you. I was there when she and the others came up with the Shield of Harmony. She said that it was important for us to not have to rely on two-faced self-centered ponies like you to protect us.”

Twilight was stunned by the sentiment. It sounded heartless and cruel at first, but as she mulled it over in her brain, she began to see it. “Applejack has a lot of pride, especially where her family’s concerned. There’s nothing in Equestria that’s more important to her. She also tends to think with her heart more than her brain.” Twilight sighed. “That’s been an adjustment for me.”

Fluttershy smiled. She returned to her stomach, folding her hooves under her head once more. “Going back to my question, though, how did you know? Um…that she was the one who confessed, or did you?”

“Confessed?” Twilight asked.

“Confessed,” Fluttershy repeated. Twilight stared blankly at her for a second, prompting Fluttershy to clarify, “The confession.” As enlightenment failed once more to fill the silence between them, she added, “… of true love.”

“There’s a confession?”

“There’s supposed to be,” Fluttershy said with a pout. “Before the war happened, I used to read about it in my graphic novels. When one pony realizes that they’re in love with another pony, they take that pony aside and confess their true feelings. Then the other pony reveals that they’re in love too, and the two ponies live happily ever after.”

“That’s not at all like the stories I’ve read,” Twilight replied. She smiled, thinking back. “In my books, two ponies would go on an adventure together. They’d save each other and help each other over and over, building a bond of trust and reliance. Then, at the journey’s end, they would look into each other’s eyes and just know. Nothing needs to be said. They kiss, sealing the love that will endure forever.”

“Oh. That’s very different.” Fluttershy watched Twilight lower herself back down into the bed. Once her friend had a chance to get comfortable, she asked, “So, did that happen?”

“Did what happen?”

“The journey with the kiss that endures forever.”

“No, that never happened either.” Twilight frowned. “I don’t think that’s actually how it works in real life. At least, it wasn’t for us.”

“So how did you get together?”

“She asked if I wanted to go on a date. I said yes.”

Fluttershy waited silently for Twilight to continue the story. After a few seconds, when it became apparent that there wasn’t going to be anything more, she frowned. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. Our big epic love story. She thought I was interesting, and I agreed to start seeing her as an experiment in social interaction. I wanted to study what that kind of relationship felt like.” Twilight paused, musing on the events that had transpired since that day. “All things considered, I wasn’t really prepared for some of the results I’ve obtained.”

“Oh.” Twilight could tell that she’d been hoping for more. “Well, why did you pick her for your experiment?”

“Because she asked.”

“That’s it? There was really nothing more to it?”

Twilight grinned wryly. “This isn’t really about me and Applejack, is it? This is about Flash Sentry.”

Fluttershy pouted as soon as Twilight caught her. “I’m worried I might have ruined his confession,” she admitted.

“Do you like him?”

Fluttershy considered the question. “He’s nice, but I don’t know. I know he likes me and he’s done so much for me that I appreciate, but I don’t know if that’s enough to be in love. How do I know if I’ve fallen for somepony?”

Twilight shook her head. “Love doesn’t work like that. Attraction does, but love is deeper than that. You don’t wake up one morning in love with somepony; you have to build love with time and care. The best thing you can do if you think you’re interested is give it a try.“

“But what if it doesn’t work out?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Twilight had struggled with it for some time now. “Alright, I don’t have all the answers,” she admitted. She wanted to say that if it doesn’t work out, you can just stay friends with the pony. She wanted to say that Fluttershy would be no worse off than if she’d never given it a try. But those were harder words to bring to her lips now.

There was bad blood mixed into her relationship with Applejack. An ugly chain of events had shown her things she never wanted to know about the pony she loved. Now, even though they’d agreed at the outset that whatever happened wouldn’t affect their friendship, it was next to impossible to view Applejack in the same light as she had before.

For better or worse, their time as Special Someponies had altered their relationship on a fundamental level. Applejack had hurt her in ways she’d never anticipated were possible, and even if they became friends, she could never unfeel those feelings. Even worse, her friends had followed suit. The group dynamic would never be the same again.

But did every relationship have to go that way? Or was that just what had happened in hers? She’d never been with another pony, so she didn’t truly know. Then again, there were others who had.

“I’ve never been with anypony but Applejack,” she explained. “But I do have two friends who tried being a couple once. It didn’t work out for them, but they’re still friends. They put it behind them and moved on with their lives. I guess that’s how you’re supposed to do it. If it doesn’t work, if you don’t want to make it work or don’t think you can, then you put it behind you and move forward. And you meet new ponies and try again.”

“What if that doesn’t work?”

“Then you do it again, I think? Put it behind you and move on. However many times you have to….” Twilight stopped. She looked down at her hooves once more, feeling suddenly very ill.

Fluttershy lowered her head. “Did I say something wrong?”

Twilight didn’t answer her. A stray thought had emerged from the back of her mind, and now she couldn’t let it go. It demanded attention that she didn’t want to give it.

What if you have to do it fifteen times?

She hated that question. She didn’t want to think about it at all. She didn’t want to give it the credibility of being reasonable. Fifteen was weird, right? Surely, she wasn’t wrong for thinking that was weird. And besides, Applejack had made it clear that she was always the party who did the breaking up, so it was really her fault that she’d had to try fifteen times already.

She was upset that Applejack had hurt her. That was why she was upset, she reaffirmed. She was mad at Applejack for breaking her heart. Even though she’d already seen efforts to make amends both to her and even to the other ponies that Applejack had hurt. Even though, in her heart, she wanted to forgive her but could never quite bring herself to do it because every time she was alone with Applejack, she couldn’t stop feeling so small. Like a tiny, insignificant link in a longer chain.

Fifteen ponies.

But that had never been why she was upset, she reaffirmed. She wasn’t the kind of pony to be petty about things like that. It was fine that Applejack went through partners the way Twilight went through rolls of parchment. It was the other thing that she couldn’t forgive. The other thing.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. “You stopped talking.”

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured her. She needed to stop thinking about this. She needed to think about anything else but this. “I’m sorry but I need some time to meditate. You should get some sleep.”

She didn’t wait for a response. She closed her eyes and fled from her body. Escaping from the cruel and pitiless confines of tangible reality was becoming easier and easier for her. Within moments, she found her spirit adrift, entering into the relatively comforting non-linearity known as the Space Between.

It didn’t take her long at all to find a physical cottage in non-physical space. Before she’d even knocked at the door, she felt a rush of existence warping around her and found herself standing in the living room. Discord reclined in place where a chair should have been, one leg crossed over the other and fingers steepled. “Oh, good evening!” he said chipperly. “Why, whatever brings you to my door at this late hour?”

Despite his words, he had clearly been expecting her. However, she realized that she didn’t care very much. “Teach me more about chaos.”

It’s almost ready. It won’t be long now.

A crescent ring larger than a pony’s length floated in the air, five feet above Twilight’s head. Wooden insulators guarded the edges of the crescent to protect the foundation from any potential overflow in the magic being channeled. A pair of conductor rods rose from the insulators. These would harness the magic flowing through the artifact placed on a podium connected to the rods and direct that magic into the Crystal Mirror.

Using her illusory field, Twilight had shaped an invisible circle beneath this structure to create a platform, then raised the circle ever higher until it cleared the Mirror. She set it down on a large clasp connected to the foundation and closed the latch around it with another invisible field. The clasp settled in between two brown spheres on the lower ring’s backside. She then plugged a pair of cables into ports in the spheres. These would supply a magical current to the rings needed to power the conductors, created by an infusion of powderized gemstones in large tanks around the base.

Finally, she set a smaller mirror, less than a foot in height, into the artifact dais. The mirror rested in a small blue stand on a swivel, which Twilight was able to turn down to face the room. Twelve gemstones decorated its frame in carefully spaced intervals, which would in theory work to attract the magic of the group’s friendship with the other Twilight Sparkle.

“It’s almost ready,” she announced. She made a motion to wipe sweat from the brow, though her image had no such excretion. She remembered what tired felt like. She had memories of physical strain from long nights of studying. She knew how it felt to try and function in class on three hours of sleep after a night of binging textbooks for material her classes wouldn’t even be covering for several moons.

But she couldn’t feel it. In two hours, the sun would rise over the Crystal Empire, and Twilight was still alert and attentive. Fatigue was no longer a part of her. It never would be again.

She liked that. She missed having a sense of taste, of course. She missed the smell of old tomes when their pages were turned. The magic, though, that was what she missed more than anything. She missed the feel of channeling energy through her horn. She missed the burst of energy whenever she teleported. The light resonating buzz when she levitated an object. The twist and curve of magic’s flow when she ran a more complicated spell down her horn.

There was so much that she missed from the experience of being a physical pony, but she didn’t miss fatigue. Never again would she need to waste hours on sleep that could better be turned to more productive uses.

“You’re certain this will work?” she asked the empty room. She knew better than to think she was alone right now.

“Where would be the fun in certainty?” Discord stepped out from behind the Crystal Mirror, inspecting her work. He reached out with his talon, flicking the conductor rod. It reverberated with a metallic twang. “Is all of this really necessary?”

“The Mirror was built to function without unicorn magic,” Twilight explained. “Star Swirl the Bearded knew that he’d need to be able to move through it without having a pony to cast a spell and open the portal, so it opens in response to a set criteria. This equipment will let us manipulate that criteria and open the portal under a different stimulus.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Of course, what was I thinking?” he asked dryly.

Twilight frowned. “If you wanted to actually help, I wouldn’t turn down the offer.”

“Help?” He slithered around the mirror, examining the smaller channeling mirror in the receiver stand at the top. “I already explained the concept of parallel realities. Well, the abridged version, anyway. You seem to have the rest under control.”

“You could start with the unabridged version.”

Discord paused. Slowly, he turned his body to face Twilight, floating menacingly above her. A deathly severity fell over his face that Twilight had never seen before. “Don’t ask for secrets you don’t want. The truth of what I know would destroy your fragile mind.”

“Is that right?” Twilight asked nervously. “Like what?”

“Why, the secret to Pinkie Pie’s delicious recipe for cupcake frosting, of course!” Confetti exploded from behind Discord, showering the Mirror and illusory Twilight alike. Discord curled over in midair, laughing as Twilight sputtered in place. “What did you think I was talking about?”

“What am I holding?” Discord leaned forward from the comfort of his chair, one leg crossed over the other. In his outstretched arm, a single talon gripped a violet porcelain teacup with a white swirl printed along the side.

“That’s obviously a teacup,” Twilight answered flatly. It seemed like a silly question to even ask in the first place. Why wouldn’t it be a—oh. Right. “Wait, this is a trick question,” she said swiftly. She wasn’t about to fall for another ploy or game this time. She studied the cup more carefully, trying to discern where the riddle might be. “It’s a…swirly teacup? There might be something unusual about the pattern.”

“What swirls?” Discord asked, raising an eyebrow. He held up the teacup to inspect it, but as it moved, its color shifted to red. A blue butterfly pattern appeared over it.

“It’s butterfly-printed now,” Twilight explained.

“Is it? I don’t see that at all.” He shrugged, holding it out to Twilight. Its pattern changed once more, becoming yellow with green dots.

“That’s because it keeps changing.”

“Is that right?” Discord asked. He chuckled to himself, clearly savoring Twilight’s confusion. “Why would it do that? That sounds terribly naughty of this teacup you’re proposing.”

Twilight sighed in frustration. “Well, when it started out, it was clearly Fluttershy’s teacup. Is that the answer you’re looking for?” It was clear from the smug look on his face that it wasn’t.

“Now, that can’t be right. I’ve taken tea with many different Fluttershies, and I’ve never seen her teacups fly like that.” He released his grip on the cup, allowing it to flutter in place on tiny bat wings.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “That’s because you made it do that.”

“Did I now? Perhaps you need to look again.” He waved his paw over the cup. When he pulled it away, there was nothing in the space but his talon, still in its gripping position. “What am I holding?”

“Well, there’s nothing there now.”

“Only now? How can you be sure there was ever anything there in the first place?”

“Because I saw the cup,” Twilight insisted. “It was right there and it had wings. That was five seconds ago!”

“Wings?!” Discord exclaimed. “Why, I’ve never even heard of a teacup with wings. That doesn’t sound very much like a teacup at all.” He waved his paw. “That’s really more of a teabat or perhaps a tearaven?”

“You’re dodging,” Twilight said with a glower. “Is there a point to all of this? Or are you just making fun of me?”

Discord held out his talon, still gripping empty space. “Twilight, I swear to you that what I am holding right now is the same thing I’ve been holding since we started this conversation.”

“Fine.” Twilight studied the air around Discord’s talon, trying to figure out the angle. “Is it an invisible teacup now? Is that the trick?”

Discord scoffed. “You think I would use immense power over the fabric of reality for a cheap glamour? I am the Master of Chaos! Not some parlor magician!”

“Then what is it?!” Twilight demanded. “You keep asking riddles and questions but you never give me any answers. What’s the point of this, Discord? What are we even doing here?”

Discord looked as though he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. He looked down at his paw for a second, then over at Twilight. Then he stood and began walking, gesturing with his talon for Twilight to follow. “Why don’t we take a walk?” he suggested.

“But we’re in the middle of something.”

“It will be good for you!” he insisted. “Get some fresh air. Broaden your horizons! See what the world has to offer!” Not waiting for her answer, he approached one of the twin staircases that--

Wait.

Every time Twilight had been here, the stairs had been upside-down. She had taken note of them on each visit, unable to keep herself from questioning their bizarre lack of utility. Now, they were righted. If a pony so wished, she could climb them, though as both stairs still led to a blank space on the wall it would still be an exercise in futility.

It was then that Twilight noticed the sofa and coffee table on the green carpeted surfaced above her. A lamp hung down beside the sofa. She was standing, she realized with horror, on the ceiling of Discord’s living room.

Her mind raced. When had the room flipped upside-down? Had it been like this since she arrived today and she just somehow hadn’t noticed?

Had it always been like this?

There would be time for that mystery later. She bounded to her hooves, catching up with Discord. “Are we taking the stairs?” she asked, eager to finally know where they were meant to lead. Still, in the back of her mind, she surveyed her surroundings. On her left, she passed a light fixture. On her right, she could see the top of a wardrobe hanging down from the floor above; a shoebox holding a wooden racecar and two magazines rested in one corner. Next to Discord opposite the staircase was a large potted fern whose fronds touched the ceiling.

No, the room had to be normal when she arrived. She would have noticed this. Surely, she would have, wouldn’t she?

“The stairs, Twilight?” Discord asked incredulously. “Where in Equestria do you think the stairs are going to take us?”

“To some magical chaos training ground?” Twilight suggested.

Discord stared at her flatly. He gestured up the staircase. “It clearly goes to a blank wall. You can try to find something up there if you must, but I can’t imagine it’d be terrible interesting.” Snickering to himself, he parted the fronds of the upside-down fern and stepped through a gateway made of pure light. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do with you sometimes.”

Twilight blinked. She approached the fern, placing a hoof against it. In the back of her mind, something about this told her not to follow. There was a danger here that she couldn’t see, a threat to her very existence she had yet to comprehend. Once already she had defied metaphysical logic, hurling a teacup with desire alone.

In that moment, she felt an unusual hesitation. She was beyond the realm of logic and reason now. Down this road lay the same brand of madness that had created Discord. She knew that. The idea of one day waking up to realize that Discord made some measure of sense to her mind, that chilled her to the bone.

But she had to know.

Of course, she had to know. She had to know because this was her only hope for getting home. Nopony was coming to save her. She knew that. Her friends had lied to her. Her special somepony had moved on by now, surely, as she was so good at doing. This was the only road left for her, and that was the road forward. She would walk it alone if she had to. In the back of her mind, she wondered if perhaps she always had.

Her friends had left her here. They left her here at the mercy of Bridle Rock and the Acting Princess. They left her here with Discord. She knew they had left her here. They had to have left her here. It was the only truth that her heart could accept because if they hadn’t, then she wouldn’t have to know.

And she had to know.

Twilight took that step. She parted the fern and stepped through the gateway into nothing. She gave herself over to the road before her, the one and only road that she could walk. Perhaps here, she would at last find the meaning of her journey, the ultimate purpose for everything that had happened to her since that fateful day when she met her friends in Ponyville.

Before she saw anything, she felt the soft powder of sand beneath her hooves. She looked down and saw pristine white powder. She dug her hoof through the grains, marveling at their fineness. Sunlight streamed down on her from above and the smell of sea salt licked her nostrils.

She stood on a beach in the midday sun. She watched sparkling blue waves crash against the shore, then retreat into the ocean as new waves took their place. Not a single pony or creature could be seen in any direction. Not even Discord was here to greet her. She was alone, basking in light and warmth.

When she turned around, Twilight could see no sign of where she had come from or how she had gotten here. All she saw was a grassy hillside leading up from the beach. “What is this place?” she asked blindly. “Where are we?”

“Where we’ve always been, Twilight.” Discord never appeared, but his voice floated with her nonetheless. “It’s not nowhere, but it’s not exactly somewhere either. I believe we’ve found our way to anywhere!”

Twilight watched the waves roll across the shore. “Are we still in the Space Between?” she asked curiously. Here was a place far less jarring to her senses than Discord’s home had been. It abided by physical laws and resembled the true structure of reality. This similarity to a physical space made it easier for her to buy into the lie. A part of her was already wanting to accept this space as truth.

But she knew it had to be another construct of chaos. Discord had said the Space Between was suggestible, after all. She’d seen it for herself several times. It would be simple for him to create a space like this, but that didn’t feel right to her either. This place, which she quickly took to calling Sensible Beach, lacked his signature style. She was certain he wasn’t capable of such normalcy. No, there was a distinct logic to this world that far exceeded his capacity for reason.

She stepped lightly across the sand, feeling the fine detail of its grains beneath her hooves. On her fifth step, she felt something beneath her hoof. When she raised her foreleg, she saw something lying half-buried in the sand. She dug it out with her hoof. It was a magenta hairclip in the shape of a flower with yellow and blue petals.

She knew instantly that this hairclip was meant for her. It had been waiting for her to come here and find it. It belonged to her.

Twilight accepted the clip. Not with magic and not with hoof; she closed her eyes and knew that it was with her. She could see it in her mind’s eye: a metal flower beside her left ear, pulling the dark blue of her mane to the side and leaving a small gap in the front next to the pink stripe.

With the clip locked into place, Twilight looked to the ocean of sand between her and the waves. She understood the function of this place. Sensible Beach was a place where she could practice free from the seemingly random distractions of Discord and his cottage. This space truly belonged to her, so that she could experiment and gain an understanding of the Space Between.

She gazed upon her workshop. She formed the image in her mind. Then, she began to create. The sand swirled around her, rising in tune with her desire. It molded into the shape of a tree, then expanded outwards from the base. Walls grew out, creating new rooms and structures beyond the trunk’s width. They hardened into the color and texture of applewood, becoming real. Apples sprouted from the branches above, growing from seeds to fully-grown fruit in the span of a second.

The window was slightly crooked, so she rotated it to fit properly, watching the wood around it flow like water to accommodate. The doorframe was an inch out of place, so she slid it over. The mustard color she had initially painted it with didn’t look as great in reality, so she rotated her hoof and the walls shifted around the color wheel, landing on a reddish brown.

“Having fun, are we?” The voice startled her. She jumped and the entire house collapsed into the sand below. In less than a second, the house was gone as though it had never existed in the first place.

“Don’t do that!” Twilight put a hoof to her chest and took a moment to catch her breath.

“Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry,” Discord said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just thought we might want to wrap this up. It’s been nearly two hours since you arrived.”

“Two hours?!” Twilight exclaimed. Had it really been so long? She hadn’t been paying any attention to the sun’s movement across the sky at all since she’d started work on her house. She couldn’t believe she’d let the time slip away like this. Discord was right. She needed to finish up and go.

“I understand now,” Twilight said. She had joined Discord in his living room once more, though the room had righted itself in her absence. Indeed, she had no knowledge of how they had returned. She knew only that Sensible Beach had relinquished them, and so now they were here. “I know what you were trying to show me.”

“Is that so?” Discord clapped his paw and talon eagerly. “Honestly, I was beginning to think I would need to chisel it into your mind. So, let’s have it! Let’s hear what enlightenment sounds like!”

“There was never a teacup,” Twilight explained. She watched as Discord’s smile grew wider. “It was here in the room with us the entire time, but it was never truly a teacup. It never flew on bat wings. But at the same time, it had every pattern and there was nothing actually stopping it from achieving flight. It could be any kind of teacup or not a teacup at all, because it wasn’t constrained by physical practicality. What you were holding was the idea of a teacup, which changed as quickly as a mind could allow.”

Discord grinned. “And you figured that out through carpentry?”

“I wasn’t building a house,” Twilight replied. “I was playing with the idea of a house. It’s a spare idea that I used to think about, but I’ve never put much time into the practical logistics.” She held up her hoof and the air swirled above it, then hardened into a tiny plastic model of what she’d constructed on the beach. “I’ve been so caught up in trying to make sense of the madness you surround yourself with that it never really clicked for me until now.

“It’s just as you said: this space is suggestible. The only limitation in the Space Between is the imagination. The non-physical reality here is like clay. It molds to our wishes, our desires, and even to our basic thoughts if we allow it to. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve been trying to treat this space as though it were real. Without even thinking about it, I’ve constrained myself to the limitations of a physical pony. All I had to do to create what I wanted to create was to allow myself the freedom that this place offers.”

Twilight frowned. “There’s just one thing that bothers me, though. I understand how we can manipulate this space, but you still go a step beyond that. Somehow, you’re bringing the unreality of this space into physical reality. How do you do it? How do you make the teacup real?”

“Oh, Twilight,” Discord said in that condescending tone once more. “You were this close to earning a cookie. But I’m afraid I’ll just have to eat them all myself again. Are you suggesting that an idea isn’t real? Why, if that were true, I don’t know how anything new would ever get done!”

“It’s not the same thing,” Twilight asserted.

“Hmph. Well, that’s just closed-minded of you.” Discord folded his arms. “My teacup is exactly as real as it’s allowed to be. No more. No less.”

Twilight’s eyes opened to the dim light of a ruined home in Ponyville. As she had been before, she was suddenly keenly aware of the physical limitations of her body. Her eyelids felt heavy and her neck muscles strained to hold her head up. She greeted the night in a true physical space with a long and profound yawn.

To her left, she could hear the faintest sound of Fluttershy snoozing. Twilight chuckled to herself. Even Fluttershy’s snores were soft and meek; a stark difference from Applejack’s midnight snorts. Out the window, she could see the comforting flicker from Flash Sentry’s makeshift torch; he was still making his rounds, just as he’d said he would.

This was reality. Not her reality, but reality all the same. In a strange way, she almost felt disappointed to be back here. In the back of her mind, she found herself eager to return to Sensible Beach. At long last, she had finally made progress. There was a craving in her now, a desire to see what else she could make in this mysterious practice space that Discord had given her. Her mind raced with the possibilities.

But she would have to find out at another time. Tomorrow would have its own challenges and she would need her rest if she intended to meet them. There would be time to mull over Discord’s parting words when—

“Ow!”

As she lay her head down on her left side, she felt the pillow mush something hard into her ear. She sat back up quickly, lighting her horn with a dim glow and wrapping herself in a blanket to block the light from Fluttershy. With her magic, she plucked the offending object from her scalp and lowered it into her outstretched hoof in front of her. That was when her breathing stopped.

Here before her was the pink metal flower she’d discovered on the beach. The hairclip had followed her back.

She set the flower down on the mattress in front of her. She wasn’t certain whether to take it or hurl it out the window and let it be the night’s problem now. Her breath returned in gasps. She couldn’t even blink, so affixed were her eyes on the offending object. The implications weighed heavy on her mind, and through it all, she heard Discord’s parting words to her.

Exactly as real as it’s allowed to be.

Twilight heard the clicking of hooves from down the hall. It was time. Princess Celestia had arrived in her royal carriage earlier in the morning and had taken breakfast with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Twilight had kept to herself, uncertain of whether or not it was her place to impose while she waited for her friends.

Now, at last, five sets of hooves alerted her to the fateful moment, but something didn’t sound right. The hooves moved slowly and deliberately rather than with the frantic pace she was accustomed to. She could hear no mirth coming down the hall. No idle chatter or enthusiastic banter broke the ominous quiet. Not even an off-beat comment from Pinkie Pie emerged to break the tension from their approaching hoofsteps.

Something was terribly wrong.

Twilight couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of unease as her friends entered the room. Rainbow Dash entered first; Twilight couldn’t help but notice that she was walking on her hooves rather than hovering in the air. Rarity and Applejack followed quickly behind her, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trailing behind. The somber mood followed them in as well, filling the Mirror chamber with its idle dread.

The ponies clustered together between Twilight and the door, leaving the Crystal Mirror behind her. Pinkie Pie’s eyes were full of sorrow and hurt. Fluttershy wouldn’t even look at her. Rainbow Dash scowled but looked more hurt than angry. The hardest to read was Applejack, who stoically nodded to Rarity.

Rarity stepped forward, clearing her throat. “I’m afraid we need to talk.”

Rarity’s tone caused a sharp panic in the back of Twilight’s mind. “Is this about the portal?” she asked, feigning innocence. They couldn’t have figured out that she lied to them, could they? Who could have told them? None of them had the experience with cross-dimensional physics to—

Discord. Discord. Of course it was him. He must have told them the truth just to mess with her. He was trying to ruin everything for fun.

In her most diplomatic voice, Rarity said, “We’ve been discussing it and we simply don’t think it would be a good idea for you to travel through the portal with Applejack. It would be best if you remained here with us.”

Twilight’s heart sank. “But this was my idea,” she argued.

Pinkie piped up. “Actually, using the portal thingy was my idea and Applejack came up with the friendship dealie! You just did all the work and figured out the magical sciencey mumbo-stuff to make it work. And reeeeeeeally Twilight already had a lot of that figured out, according to you!”

Twilight couldn’t dispute that. Still, she felt sick to her core at the suggestion that she couldn’t go. Being alone with Applejack was the whole point of this stupid plan, wasn’t it?

They don’t understand.

“I’ve been working on this all night,” she pleaded.

“We’re still gonna use it,” Applejack said, eyes fixed on the mirror. “We just don’t want you comin’ with me.”

“But it’s my project!”

THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!

They truly didn’t. This was her moment. It was her chance to prove herself to Applejack and they were trying to ruin it. “How can you do this to me?!”

“This isn’t a punishment,” Rarity said diplomatically. “It’s just….” She paused, mulling over her words. “We’re at a very important stage of your growth, darling. Right now, we don’t think it would be wise to expose you to whatever might be beyond that portal.”

“What important stage?!” Twilight demanded. “I’m fine. I’m a perfect copy of Twilight Sparkle. There’s nothing wrong with me that isn’t wrong with her!”

“You’re nuttier than a boar in a peach orchard if you think we’re swallowin’ that line after what you pulled last night,” Applejack retorted.

It was in that moment that it all clicked for Twilight. “You told them about that?”

“We’re just worried about you,” Rarity said quickly, trying to pull the subject away. “We think you might be having a few problems and—"

But it was too late. “How could you?” Twilight asked. “That was a private moment! It was supposed to stay between us!”

Applejack snapped. “There’s no ‘us’! Ain’t never been, ain’t gonna be.”

Fluttershy added, “What you said to her was really mean. I think you should at least apologize. After that, we can talk about what happens next.”

“I agree,” Rarity said. “We only want what’s best for you. Apologize to Applejack, let us send her on her way, and then we can figure out what’s wrong with you.”

Twilight took a step back, shooting glances of outrage from Applejack to Rarity. She turned pleading eyes to Rainbow Dash for help. Rainbow Dash had always spoken up for her. But the pegasus, in a wounded voice, said, “Come on. I vouched for you.”

“What’s wrong with me?!” Twilight sputtered. She couldn’t believe they were doing this. Did they not understand how important this was? It was her chance to be alone with Applejack, to… to….

Listen to them. They don’t trust me. They never trusted me.

Twilight’s heart hardened. “You want to talk about what’s wrong with me?” she asked. “What’s wrong with you?! Look at this,” she said, gesturing to the Mirror. “I did this! None of this would even exist without me!”

“Darling, please,” Rarity urged. “Nothing good can come of letting tempers flare.”

Who do you think you are to talk? You used me. You took advantage of me and then threw me out like I was trash when you were done. I gave everything to you and you betrayed me.

“Why?!” Twilight demanded. “So you don’t have to hear my pain while you stab me in the back again?! Is that it?”

Rarity gasped. “I-I-I never….” She sputtered. She reared up and threw her foreleg over her eyes, then fell backwards onto a conveniently-placed sofa.

“Hey, leave her alone!” Rainbow Dash threw herself between Twilight and the others. Applejack and Spike joined her, shielding Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity from her rage.

Ever the knight in boastful armor. Everything always has to be about you, doesn’t it? But you could never understand what I’m going through. You wouldn’t know true love if it kicked you in the face. All you care about is what feels good to you in the moment.

Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash. “I realize it’s a hard concept to grasp but this isn’t about you. Why don’t you go have another overnight mistake with Pinkie Pie and stay out of my business?”

Shock flashed across Rainbow Dash’s eyes. It took less than a second for that shock to turn to rage. Applejack grabbed her from behind as she lunged for Twilight. Rarity assisted with her magic, pulling Rainbow Dash back while Spike came around to push against her leg.

Behind them, Fluttershy blinked in confusion. Her jaw slid open slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, looking from Rainbow Dash to Pinkie Pie.

Spike looked back over his shoulder at the illusion. “Twilight, please,” he pleaded, approaching her. “You need help. You don’t sound like….” He stopped to consider his words. “Well, I was going to say you don’t sound like yourself, but I mean her. You don’t sound like her.”

I AM HER!!!

“I am her!” Twilight screamed at the little dragon. “You don’t understand. None of you understand. Not one of you knows what I’m going through, so don’t think you can talk about what I say or do to my family—”

“We’re not your family!” Applejack declared.

Twilight fell abruptly silent. She felt as though she’d been kicked in the chest. The words resonated through her, playing through her mind again and again. She struggled to even believe that she was standing here having this conversation. And in the back of her mind, the whispering of her thoughts grew ever stronger.

Do you think I wanted this? That I chose to be like this? To feel these feelings? Do you think I would ever in a million years have chosen a dim-witted backwater hick like you?

“How dare you?” Twilight whispered, falling to a sitting position and grasping her head between her hooves.

Spike released Rainbow Dash, who had ceased her struggling. “We just want to help you,” he said, carefully approaching Twilight.

“Help me?!” Twilight exclaimed incredulously. “You want to help me?! You can’t help me! You did this to me! All of you with your friendship and love and… and her, let’s not forget her, worming her way in my skull and making me feel things I shouldn’t have to feel! DO YOU THINK I WANTED THIS?!?!”

From her place on the sofa, Rarity shared a sharp glance with Applejack. Anger and hurt had suddenly been replaced by creeping dread. They knew what this was. They had both been waiting for this, hoping against hope that they were wrong. But they knew exactly what this was.

Applejack took a cautious step forward. She knew that this needed to be defused now, before it could grow out of control. In a slow whisper, she said, “Twili--"

“No, SHUT UP!!!” A far deeper voice echoed through the room when she shouted. Tears fell in streams from eyes red with fury. She thrust a hoof at Applejack’s chest. “You don’t get to talk, not you. You, most of all. You made me love you, you made me feel these feelings and then you ripped my heart from my chest! Just like you always do. Everything wrong, everything that’s terrible, it all started with you!”

“That’s not true,” Rarity insisted.

“You want to talk about true?” Twilight asked, whirling on Rarity. “Here’s a fun idea. Let’s talk about my birthday!”

Spike reached up for Twilight. “Twilight, please—”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!!” Twilight shoved back at Spike, who rocked slightly in place but remained standing. She shot one glance back at the mirror behind her. “Don’t any of you touch me! You’re not my friends. You don’t even know me at all.” Then she vanished from sight, leaving the ponies alone in the room.

A few minutes later, far away from the Mirror and its chamber, Twilight emerged once more. She took three steps, then collapsed against a crystal pedestal and weeped imaginary tears. The rage she’d felt just minutes before had burned itself out. Righteous fury had abandoned her, leaving her with only the isolating sting of regret to keep her company.

She remembered the words she had said, but she couldn’t believe they’d come from her snout. She was mean to the only ponies in the world that cared about her. She was cruel and heartless to them. Her friends, the only friends she’d ever had, would almost certainly never want to see her again. And she didn’t even understand why. What had compelled her to say those terrible things?

Here at the frozen edge of Equestria, under the light of the Crystal Heart which shone with the love of the Empire, she knew that she was truly alone.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack searched the room frantically for any sign of Twilight or the stone producing her image, but both knew the search to be futile. They both knew that if the illusion didn’t want to be found, it wouldn’t be. Still, it made them feel better to be doing something.

Fluttershy examine the mirror. “It looks like she put a lot of work into this,” she commented. “Is it okay for us to use it? It doesn’t feel right after we drove her off like that.”

“I agree,” Rarity said sadly. “I would hate for her to think we were using her.”

“Ain’t much of a choice.” Applejack came up beside Fluttershy, putting her hoof against the solid glass on the mirror. “Either we find Twilight or we don’t. That’s the only choice we got.” She turned back towards the others. “Are y’all gonna be alright without me?”

“Yeah, I don’t know about this,” Rainbow Dash said, glancing at the open doorway. They had no way of knowing if the false Twilight had left or if she was hanging around invisibly. “This could get bad really quick. The ‘All Hooves on Deck’ kind of bad.”

“It might be better this way,” Fluttershy suggested. “She seems really mad at you, especially. More at you than the rest of us, anyway.”

Rarity nodded. “I’m inclined to agree. I’m not sure how much your presence could actually help matters. What we need right now is a calming voice; you tend to agitate this particular problem.”

“You’re right,” Applejack said. “And if the creek does rise, we’ll need Twilight to use the Elements of Harmony.” She took a deep breath and looked to the Mirror. There were four circles painted on the floor, each with a line connecting it to the mirror. A smaller mirror in the pedestal at the top pointed down with gems aligned towards those four circles. “I reckon y’all are meant to stand on these,” she suggested.

Fluttershy took her place on the third circle. Rainbow Dash took the fourth beside her. Pinkie Pie and Rarity stood on the first and second, respectively. Fluttershy looked up at the mirror, idly asking, “What do we do now?”

“The idea was to create this bridge between worlds with our friendship,” Rarity reminded. “I suppose we’re meant to think about Twilight. Open our hearts to her or something like that.”

“That’s it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What, I’m just supposed to talk about that time she showed me how cool Daring Do is?”

“That sounds like a great place to start!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Twilight introduced you to your favorite book series. How did that make you feel?”

“Like I found a cool book.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rainbow….”

“Alright, it was cool and junk, okay? I always thought reading was just for losers and eggheads, but she showed me that books can be pretty cool.” Rainbow Dash looked to the mirror. “I totally wouldn’t have tried it without her.”

Pinkie piped up. “Remember that time she went back in time to tell herself about her cool birthday present but then she accidentally tricked herself into going back in time?”

“Is that what that was about?” Applejack asked.

“I never made it back to Ponyville for her birthday,” Rarity noted. “I thought for sure she’d be disappointed, but she brought all of you to visit me in Canterlot.” She looked down at the circle painted below her. This was the symbol of her friendship with Twilight, but a pang of guilt struck her heart. The illusion had called her a liar. Was that true, she wondered? “I never did tell her the truth about that day.”

“Wasn’t your cat sick?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, that was a lie. The truth is, I was so busy thinking about myself, I’m afraid I spared no time to think of her at all. But she never stopped thinking about me. I was trying to deceive her and she traveled all the way to Canterlot so that I could attend her party. I never even finished her dress, but she loved it all the same.”

Rarity glanced at Applejack for only a second, then turned her gaze to the mirror. “I haven’t always been the best friend to Twilight,” she admitted. “I’m afraid I haven’t always considered her feelings. Some things I’ve said that perhaps I shouldn’t have. Other I kept to myself when she had every right to know. I just didn’t want to lose her. I haven’t had a friend like her in a long time.”

Applejack closed her eyes and sat down, nodding along somberly. She understood exactly what Rarity meant.

“But she never stopped thinking about me. Even when I was being dreadfully inconsiderate, she was there for me.” Rarity stared into the mirror’s reflective sheen. She wasn’t sure what she was doing as she spoke, but she knew what needed to be said.

Rainbow Dash grumbled, “Thanks for making this sappy. Now my story looks stupid next to yours.”

“It’s not a competition, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied.

“Hey, I’ve messed up too! I said Daring Do was for uncool eggheads like Twilight. Daring Do! Making fun of Daring Do has to be worth as much as you lying to her was. Plus, I was kind of mean to her after she and AJ hooked up, so that’s double.” Rainbow Dash paused, letting the gears turn in her brain. “I mean, there was also this one time where she got way too into my sleepovers with Pinkie Pie, so we might be square on that second one.”

“I stole Princess Celestia’s pet,” Fluttershy said, looking at the mirror. “I was afraid that she wasn’t taking very good care of it. Twilight tried to help me. She might have just made things worse, but the effort was there. I really appreciated it.”

“Ooh ooh!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in her circle. “Remember that time we were on the train and somepony ate the MMMM? And then she figured out that it was actually everypony that ate the MMMM and then we all had donut éclair cake?” She licked her lips, savoring the memory. “I thought I had it all worked out but she always kept her thinky-cap straight.”

Pinkie whispered to Rarity, “I think it’s screwed into her head.” They both looked to Applejack, who closed her eyes and nodded. “I KNEW IT.”

Laughter broke out among the ponies. Rarity wiped a tear from her eye with a hoof, grinning wide despite herself. “She always did—”

“Hey, everypony, Look!” Spike pointed at the Crystal Mirror. It still retained its reflective sheen, but the hard texture of the glass had given way to the slightest ripple, as though the glass had turned to liquid. Spike climbed onto the mirror’s podium, tapping its glass with a claw; the impact sent a ripple across its surface.

“The portal’s open,” Rarity observed. “It worked!”

Applejack approached. She gave a nod to Spike. “Reckon it’s time we get a move on,” she stated, prompting him to climb up on her back. “Happy trails, everypony,” she said, tipping her hat to her friends. Her response came in the form of shouted cheers and urgings of good fortune. Then she bolted, hitting the portal at full gallop. In an instant, both pony and dragon were gone, leaving Rarity and her friends alone in the room.

A minute passed by in silence. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “How long are we supposed to stand here doing this?”

“Until Princess Celestia gets their letter, I suppose,” Rarity answered dourly. “Or she doesn’t and they return.”

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. She had noticed the somber tone in Rarity’s voice.

Rarity frowned. “I was just thinking. She really did put a marvelous bit of work into this, didn’t she?”

A few seconds passed and nopony had an answer for that. Rarity waved the question off. “That can be tomorrow’s problem. What’s important right now is Twilight.”

Pinkie bounced in place. “Hey, remember that time she did those crazy experiments to figure out why my Pinkie Sense works?”

Applejack plunged through a tunnel of light. A brilliant rainbow lit up the world around her, forming into a tube that insulated and guided her motion. She couldn’t make out anything beyond its light; she knew only the brilliant colors and trusted them to take her where she needed to be.

After what felt like nearly an hour of falling, Applejack suddenly emerged to the familiar click of her hooves on crystal flooring. The room she arrived in was dimly lit by sunrise through a far window, but she could clearly make out the distinctive columns of the Crystal Palace.

The room she’d landed in was large but cluttered with dress racks, dressers, and wardrobes. The Crystal Mirror itself was decorated by a pink dress hat on its top and wrapped in a loosely hanging red boa. Next to the mirror was a white vanity housing a variety of makeups and perfumes.

Spike hopped down from Applejack’s back. He patted his chest with his claws, then checked behind him to make sure his tail was still with him. “At least we’re still us,” he observed. “You should have seen what happened the last time I went through that thing.”

Applejack spent a glance around the room. What was this place? It was clearly the Crystal Palace, yet it strongly resembled the storeroom at the Carousel Boutique. She was certain she recognized at least one of the dresses surrounding her as Rarity’s, though she could not for the life of her place where she’d seen it before.

A tug at her side pulled her away from the mystery of her surroundings. She looked down to see Spike rifling through her saddlebag. The little dragon pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill, scrawling a quick note.

We’ve arrived safely on the other side. Getting ready to set out and find Twilight.

Spike incinerated the letter in his green flame, sending it across time and space to Princess Celestia. He folded his arms and tapped his talon, hoping the connection would still work. But a minute passed with no response.

Another minute passed. Then another. It usually didn’t take this long. After seven minutes had gone by, Spike looked to Applejack. “Maybe it didn’t work,” he suggested.

Applejack took a deep breath. She had so many questions about this room, but there was no sense in staying here if they couldn’t guarantee a return. “We should head back,” she suggested. “We’ll make sure they got our letter before—”

A loud crash interrupted her. Applejack whipped around quickly to see a unicorn standing in the open doorway, eyes and jaw open wide. Pieces of broken porcelain and a splatter of brown fluid lay on the ground at her hooves. She breathed quick, ragged gasps and backed away slowly, shaking her head.

Stuck for what to say or how to explain herself, Applejack settled on a nervous, “Uh, H-Hey, Rares….”

As the sun finished its rise over the horizon, a scream could be heard throughout the Crystal Empire.

16 - Disinclined to Obey

Twilight waited patiently outside, watching Fluttershy back gently through the front door. Gripping the doorknob in her teeth, Fluttershy pulled the door shut without so much as a creak of the wood. It was only after hearing the click of the knob that Twilight asked, “How is he doing?”

“He’s snoozing like a cuddly bear,” Fluttershy answered, easing the door shut. “Reminds me of an old friend.”

Twilight smiled, savoring the warmth of a memory shared. She pulled forward the brown hood of her cloak, concealing her mane and horn once more. “Harry was a good friend to you,” she observed.

“Oh, you knew him?” Fluttershy seemed to grow brighter at the knowledge. “Yes, he was normally a very peaceful sleeper, but there were some nights when his snoring could wake even a sloth.” She sighed. “I do hope he and the others are okay.”

“Do you want to look for them?” Twilight offered. “I mean, we still need to meet the scout, but afterwards there could be time.”

“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t even know how to find them. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been here. Do you think they’d be at the cottage?”

“I, uh…” Twilight shrank away from Fluttershy. Sheepishly, she explained, “I think I might have burned your cottage.” Fluttershy’s face grew pale with horror. Twilight quickly added, “The other me, I mean. When I was here before, the whole place had been burnt to ash. The only part that was still standing was the basement. And I didn’t see any animals down there.”

Twilight could feel Fluttershy’s hopes draining away as she spoke. “Oh,” the pegasus whispered, staring straight ahead. “I see.”

Not for the first time, Twilight felt the pangs of guilt for what her counterpart had done. She still couldn’t fathom the horror that had been wrought on an already wounded Equestria by her own hooves. She still held out hope that there was some answer, some explanation that would make sense of all of this, but it became harder to believe in herself with each passing day. “I’m sorry,” were the only words she could find. “There are no words for what I’ve done to you.”

“No,” Fluttershy answered, still not looking at her. “No, there really aren’t.”

“Are you two planning on helping us, or do you just want to mope all day?” Twilight was momentarily relieved to hear Sunset Shimmer’s grumpy voice. Sunset cut in between her and Fluttershy, snapping the tension in half with her cumbersome presence. If nothing else, she certainly had a talent for claiming control of a social situation and making it about her. Sometimes, that might actually be welcome.

Trixie followed behind Sunset Shimmer. On her back, she wore a light blue bedsheet painted with crudely-drawn white stars and cut to an appropriate length. It was certainly a valiant effort to recreate her cape, if nothing else. Twilight guessed it would probably be best not to ask about it.

“Have you seen anything yet?” Twilight asked.

With a flourish, Trixie exclaimed, “The Wise and Ever Observant Trixie has seen…!” Then her voice dipped back down to a normal speaking tone as she continued. “… a few birds, a tree, and a lot of broken cobblestones. But if you’re asking about this scout Zecora mentioned, it’s been Dull with a capital D.”

“H-H-How did you s-sleep?” Fluttershy stuttered nervously. She tried to put on a cheerful smile, but Twilight could tell that the revelation about her home had wounded her.

“Do you even have to ask?” Trixie asked incredulously. “Trixie slept on a broken mattress in a pile of rubble and it was still the best sleep she’s had in moons. Do you know what a broken mattress feels like? It feels like not sleeping in a dingy cage under a mountain that’s always just too chilly to ever become comfortable.”

“It was fine,” Sunset Shimmer said in her usual sour voice, though she added nothing further.

“Oh, you’re so lucky,” Fluttershy said, beginning to find her pep again. “Our house only had one usable bed, but I was able to find a couch that wasn’t too damaged. It must have taken you a very long time to find two working beds.”

“What?” Trixie asked. “No, she—"

“Yes, we found two,” Sunset cut her off. “Why do you care?”

Fluttershy shrank away from Sunset Shimmer with a squeak. Twilight stepped between them, staring down the unicorn. “She was making polite conversation,” Twilight said sternly. “That’s what friends do.”

“Yeah? Well maybe she should….” Sunset stopped herself. She hesitated, considering her words. She looked at Fluttershy for a moment, then shook her head frustratedly. Finally, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.” Sunset stormed off. Twilight continued glaring as she left.

“Huh,” Trixie uttered. “Looks like somepony woke up on the wrong side of the broken-down shack this morning.”

“Is she okay?” Fluttershy asked. “Did she say anything to you last night?”

“She’s been nice,” Trixie answered with disgust, watching Sunset Shimmer disappear around a corner.

“Oh?” Fluttershy smiled. “That’s good to hear.”

“No, it’s weird. Sunset Shimmer doesn’t do nice. She demanded I sleep on the comfy bed. I wasn’t about to argue, of course. But then we found a tea set that hadn’t been broken, and she asked if I wanted tea. She didn’t just make herself tea and ignore me. She asked if I wanted any. That’s not normal!”

“She was being generous,” Twilight surmised. “She’s actually making an effort.” Something about that didn’t seem right. This was much too easy. The Sunset Shimmer she knew needed to hit rock bottom, become possessed by magic she couldn’t control, and then be defeated with the Magic of Friendship before she’d even consider listening.

What was happening in that head of--

CRACK

The sound of wood splintering under force of impact pulled the ponies’ attention away from Sunset Shimmer’s behavior. A few seconds after, there came another crack. The third crack came with the chime of shattering glass.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight affirmed with an audible sigh. Visions of her confrontation with her own Sunset Shimmer flashed through Twilight’s mind. She could see Sunset Shimmer gripping her sledgehammer, poised to shatter the portal between worlds once and for all. Here, in these ruins, her destructive temper posed less of an immediate threat, but Twilight felt that it would still be best to try to rein it in.

The three mares took off at a gallop towards the source of the noise. Two more cracks rang out before they reached the central plaza, where the burnt husk of what was once Golden Oak Library still lay on its side. The sight of its charred remains didn’t hurt any less now than it had the first time Twilight had seen it, but there wasn’t time to contemplate this reality’s broken fate. Another crash of breaking glass met them as they turned down a road that Twilight knew by heart.

Near the edge of town, past where the stone roads give way to hoof-beaten trails in the wild grass, Twilight and her friends came upon the dilapidated ruins of what was once the Carousel Boutique. Several more windows were broken now than the last time she’d seen this place, and there were a few more visible dents in the wooden siding.

Eight purple support poles ringed the building, holding up the canvas that stuck out from the roof. The pole in front of the door to the left now bent inwards from a fracture halfway up its length. A freshly shattered window rested in the center of the front door, which hadn’t been broken the last time she’d been here.

“Heads up!” Before Twilight could react, a rock the size of a bit flew over her head and crashed through the door’s lower window. “Nice throw!”

“You girls are just in time,” Sunset Shimmer said, levitating another pebble from the ground. “I found our scout.”

The vibrant spectrum of colors that greeted Twilight were unmistakable. Rainbow Dash hovered upright in the air two feet from Sunset Shimmer. A handful of scars ran up her legs and down her back, but what drew Twilight’s eye the most was the black patch over her left eye. The edges of a wide scrape that had never fully healed could be seen jutting out from beneath it.

“Celestia’s horsefeathers,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, dropping her forelegs. Small rocks tumbled to the ground below her. “It really is you!” In a flash, Rainbow Dash was upon Fluttershy, grasping her up by her forelimbs. Rainbow Dash circled around Fluttershy, spinning her in place before coming to a stop with Fluttershy’s forelegs still held up in hers.

“Where have you been?!” Rainbow Dash demanded. “Are you okay?! Do you want a rock?” Without waiting for an answer, she released Fluttershy and zipped back to Sunset Shimmer, grabbing up a stone from the pile she’d left behind. She returned and held out a stone the size of a golf ball. Fluttershy looked nervously at the rock and shot Twilight a quick glance. “Go on, take it,” Rainbow Dash urged.

“Um. Okay.” Fluttershy accepted the rock and held it in her foreleg, uncertain as to what to actually do with it.

Rainbow Dash returned to her pile, picking up another stone. “Zecora said you’d made it back, but I figured she might be pulling my leg. This changes everything!”

“It-it does?” Fluttershy asked.

“Are you kidding? You came back! Nopony ever comes back! Do you know what that means?”

“Um. What?”

“No idea! But AJ will know what it means and trust me, this is big. Super big. Plus, y’know, it sucked, what happened to you.” She glanced at Twilight and Trixie, as if noticing them for the first time. “Who’re your friends? They as cool as Sunshine over here?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset growled.

“Whatever.”

“This is my friend Trixie,” Fluttershy replied, getting the easy one out of the way. “She helped me escape.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie,” Trixie clarified. She twirled on her hind legs, then dropped back to her forelegs for a bow. “At your service.” Making that bedsheet cape had done wonders for restoring her self-esteem, Twilight observed.

“Don’t I know you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Of course! Ponies far and wide have heard of Trixie’s magnificent—”

“Oh, yeah! You’re that blowhard that made an Ursa Major attack Ponyville.”

Abruptly abandoning her theatrics, Trixie snarled, “Okay, that was not my fault.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “That thing tore up half the town before we stopped it. Wow, good times, huh?” She held out a stone for Trixie. “Rock?”

Trixie grimaced at the thing as if it had insulted her family. “Why would Trixie want a rock?”

“’Cause it’s fun.” Rainbow Dash fluttered upwards, then hurled the rock as hard as she could. It smashed through a triangle of glass from an already broken window in the Carousel Boutique. “I like to stop by here whenever I’m in Ponyville. Smashing up Rarity’s old stuff helps me get out some of the--”

Before Rainbow Dash could finish, Trixie levitated a pebble from the pile next to Sunset Shimmer and sent it sailing towards the building. It slammed into a decorative iron cast in the shape of a pony, molded into the second floor’s support columns. The stone ricocheted off the pony’s face with a satisfying tone of reverberating metal, then landed harmlessly in the grass.

“You had me at Rarity,” Trixie said sweetly. She spied a solid piece of broken cobblestone lying in the dirt, then floated it into the air and sent it sailing through an unbroken window. “You’re right, this is fun.”

“And this must be her,” Rainbow Dash said, her tone darkening. She hovered upright in front of Twilight, imposingly folding her forelegs. “Zecora told me about you. Come on. Let’s see it.”

Twilight took a deep breath, then drew back her hood. As soon as Rainbow Dash could see her face clearly, her jaw fell open and her eyes went wide with shock. “Horsefeathers,” she exclaimed.

“I thought you said Zecora told you about me,” Twilight stated.

“Yeah, but I was thinking there’d be a vague resemblance. Like, maybe you could be her second cousin or something. This is….” She looked quickly to Fluttershy. “We’re sure she’s not a changeling?”

“I don’t know how you’d ever be sure of that,” Fluttershy admitted. “But Zecora ran some tests and if anypony would know, it’s her.”

“Besides, she casts spells,” Sunset Shimmer added before lobbing another rock at the boutique. “Changelings don’t cast spells.”

“They don’t?” Rainbow Dash asked. The group fell silent, each pony staring in stunned disbelief at the ignorant Shieldmare. “What?! I don’t know! I just hit them; I’ve never asked one for her life story.”

“I have,” Fluttershy replied.

“No,” Twilight asserted. “Changelings do not cast spells.”

Rainbow Dash winced. “See, I want to believe that. I do. But it sounds like something a changeling would say. We don’t do changelings. We took those pals of Fluttershy’s down to Appleloosa and let them go, and then that was it. No more changelings.”

“I’m not a changeling,” Twilight reiterated.

Rainbow Dash sighed with frustration. She weighed her options, bobbing her head back and forth as she argued with herself, then settled on picking up a stone in her hoof and bringing it to Twilight. “You want a rock?” she asked.

Twilight glanced from the stone in Rainbow Dash’s hoof to the broken structure before her. Watching a stone cast by Trixie crack into a support column, she felt ill. It felt as though the stones were striking her with every throw. “I’d prefer to abstain,” she answered. “If it’s all the same to you, I mean.”

Rainbow Dash scowled. “See, that’s the thing. It’s not. You’re a mystery. I don’t like mysteries. They throw all this super complicated junk at you and act like it matters but then it doesn’t mean anything ‘cause the body’s actually a griffin or something. You know what I mean?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Slowly, she shook her head. “I’ve never read that, no.” She looked to Fluttershy, who answered with a confused shrug.

“That’s not important! You’re asking me to take a lot on faith here, and that’s in pretty short supply these days. See, I can’t stop thinking that maybe this is a trap. The way I see it, either you’re a changeling or you’re Twilight Sparkle. Zecora says you’re not a changeling and everypony else agrees, but what that leaves isn’t any better.”

“I’m not the same Twilight Sparkle that you know,” Twilight explained.

“Yeah, yeah, Zecora said something about cross-reality bibbledy-squat. I kinda zoned out. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t trust you. So what I want you to do is show me that you don’t have any love for the Royal Family. I want you to take this rock and I want you to chuck it at that building as hard as you can. Not, like, a limp underhooved toss that a foal might do. I want to see paint chips flying or hear glass smashing.”

Twilight stared at the rock. It seemed simple enough, but she hated the very idea of it. Every fiber of her being screamed at her not to go forward with this. “That will mean you trust me?” she asked.

“No. Not doing it means I don’t trust you. Actual trust is going to take a lot more than this.”

“… Right.” Twilight levitated the rock with her magic. She looked to the Carousel Boutique. Her heart ached to see it in such a state. Even just looking at it was difficult. Picking it apart for targets that would make Rainbow Dash happy, that….

“Oh, perish the thought! This dress is meant to complement your features, darling, not distract from them. This is your coronation we’re talking about! We’re not getting together to celebrate the dress. That’s why I went with rose for the base. It blends with your natural coat, but it’s still subtly different enough to avoid looking as though you weren’t wearing a dress at all. All we need to add is a light olive around the sleeves and collar, the edges between the dress and your hide. That should pop just enough to create a transitional contrast between the colors.”

“Well?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. “You gonna throw that thing or just stare at it all day?”

“Oh, no no no! You can’t wear this old thing. You need a glamorous new outfit for the Gala and I’ll make it for you. No problem at all. It will be my pleasure!”

“We’re not building the Crystal Palace here,” Rainbow Dash criticized. “Just throw it!”

Logically, Twilight knew that she was right. This place was already falling apart. The stone she held would only be a small contribution to the demolition already underway. Besides, the place was long abandoned. It was just an empty building now. It didn’t mean anything, right?

Twilight tried to think of the secrets Rarity had kept from her. She tried to think of that fateful night in the Everfree Forest when she’d learned the truth about Applejack. She tried to think of that horrible betting pool that had torn a gash in her heart every bit as deep as Applejack’s harsh words had. She closed her eyes, concentrated on the pain from that night, and listened as the voices of memory came to mind.

“Oh, I could never,” Rarity insisted, raising a hoof from her sewing and placing it on her heart. She took her hind leg off the pedal to stop the machine.

“I’m sure Princess Celestia would be willing to help you out,” Twilight suggested, more eagerly than she’d intended to. “It wouldn’t even have to be a lot. She can buy you the building and pay for whatever you need to get up and running. The rest would be up to you. I can even help pay for it out of my stipend.”

“I appreciate it, darling. Truly, I do. But I’m afraid I must refuse your generous offer. I do want to open a store in Canterlot one day. Really, I do. It’s been a dream of mine ever since I started thinking about the boutique. But that’s precisely why I must do this myself.”

Rarity’s eyes drifted to a wire-frame carousel sitting on a shelf along the far wall of the store. Twilight had often wondered about the carousel’s significance, but could never find the right opportunity to inquire about it.

With a sad smile, Rarity explained, “The boutique is more than just a business to me, Twilight. I don’t know if you could ever understand, but I built this place from the ground up. I put my sweat and tears into making this work despite all the terrible setbacks. Carousel is more than just a business, Twilight. This is my fillyhood dream. It’s mine, and nopony can ever take that away from me.”

The pebble fell from Twilight’s magic aura, landing in the soft dirt. “I can’t do it,” Twilight said, every bit as surprised in herself as anypony else.

“Seriously?!” Rainbow Dash exploded. “I’m not asking for your first-born foal here. It’s a ROCK. You do this.” She hefted a large piece of granite in her hooves and heaved it with full force at the boutique. The chunk landed a few feet away, falling far short of the building. “It’s not hard!”

“I can’t do it,” Twilight repeated firmly, looking Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “Rarity poured her heart into this place. This business was her dream. It meant as much to her as joining the Wonderbolts used to mean to you!”

The accusation stunned Rainbow Dash. “Wait, you know about—"

“She worked her hooves to the bone to try and make it work. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you anymore, but it matters to me. I’m sorry. I can’t understand what you’ve been through, but I also can’t find enjoyment in breaking something that meant so much to her. That’s not friendship. It’s not catharsis. It’s just cruel.”

A few seconds later, she added, “With all due respect, I think your world has enough cruelty without me adding to it.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight caught Sunset Shimmer’s scowl. Sunset gave a guilty look at the rock in her hoof. Then guilt intensified into raw fury, scorching the pile of rocks with raw hate. All of this passed by in a second, and then she dropped her own rock to the ground and stormed away from the group.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash said sullenly, looking at her pile of rocks. “Sure. Go on. Make me feel like the bad guy here.”

Gently, Fluttershy admitted, “I don’t want to throw my rock either. It just feels mean.”

“You’re not the problem here, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash sighed, rubbing her hoof along her temple. To Twilight, she said, “Look, I don’t get you. I don’t know what this is about and I don’t like it. Zecora said you’re cool, but I want to know that I can trust you. Right now, I don’t.”

“Oh, really?” A new voice joined the group, speaking out from just behind Fluttershy. Twilight looked back just in time to see a pair of yellow eyes enter her vision. A cyan pony circled around, studying her up and down. “Because I’m pr-e-tty convinced with what I’m seeing here.”

“HEY!” Twilight protested. Without asking, Lyra Heartstrings levitated the side of Twilight’s cloak, revealing her wings. Twilight grimaced and tugged the cloak back down, her cheeks turning a darker shade of purple.

“Oh, wow, wings and everything,” Lyra observed. “You know, she said you were an alicorn and I was like, ‘No way, nuh-uh, that’s gotta be Twilight’s paranoid delusions again.’”

“Wait, you know about this?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Lyra rolled her eyes. In a singsong voice, she chastised, “Maybe if you paid a little more attention to in-tel, you’d have heard about it too.” She looked Twilight up and down once more. Her eyes locked in on Twilight’s horn. The way her head bobbed back and forth as she scrutinized, Twilight was sure she was taking an estimated measure of its length. “The Acting Princess has been turning the palace upside-down about an alicorn copycat.”

“Yeah, but she knows we’re onto her,” Rainbow Dash commented. “Maybe this is a trick. We can’t prove she’s not Twilight Sparkle herself! She might be using magic to make her scars go away!”

Twilight and Lyra both stared at Rainbow Dash as though she’d just suggested picking up the moon with chopsticks. “That’s….” Twilight began.

“… Not a spell,” Lyra finished.

“It could be!” Rainbow Dash held up her hooves. “Look, you know I respect you. But Twilight’s rocking Princess Celestia’s magic. There could be all kinds of spells she can do that you’ve never even heard of!”

“She’s not Twilight Sparkle,” Lyra asserted.

“How do you know that?”

“Because of what she said just now.” Lyra levitated a rock from Rainbow Dash’s pile. “I’m sure this probably seemed really clever in the moment, but you’re not exactly being the Star Swirl the Bearded of loyalty testers here. Shining Armor could have passed this test, and he has two modes: Yes, Ma’am and Time for Lunch.”

“Okay, sure,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “It’s the best I could do on the spur of the moment.”

“And it worked. A lot better than you seem to realize.” Lyra looked back at Twilight. “If she was Twilight Sparkle, come to trick us into taking her back to camp, do you honestly think she would have even hesitated? Even for a second?”

“Maybe?”

Lyra stepped forward towards Twilight, looking her in the eyes as she spoke. “Twilight Sparkle is ruthless, clever, and totally devoid of any sense of loyalty. She’s physically incapable of the kind of empathy that this pony just demonstrated. She couldn’t see the value in another pony’s feelings if her life literally depended on it.”

Twilight couldn’t help but scowl at the accusations. Still, given what these ponies had been through, she couldn’t protest the claims either.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Yeah, okay. I guess that checks out.” To Lyra, she asked, “What are you even doing here? I thought you were with AJ, working on the….” She glanced at Twilight and Fluttershy. “Y’know. The idea.”

“Did you see this morning’s broadcast?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “You know I don’t pay attention to those.” She raised her forelegs and smiled chipperly, pantomiming as she spoke. “Good morning, Equestria, it’s another lovely day in Despair City. Let me just fill your heads with all the made-up nonsense that will let you keep pretending that everything’s okay while Equestria continues to decay around us.” She concluded her recital by blowing a raspberry.

“Yeah, well, you miiiiight want to start. They got Applejack.”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash wrapped her forelegs around Lyra’s shoulders and pulled her front half upright. “HOW?! WHEN?! HOW?!”

“All good questions,” Lyra replied, extricating herself from Rainbow Dash’s panicked embrace and letting her forelegs return to the ground. She looked curiously at Twilight. “All very good questions, in fact. Applejack’s been wondering the same thing.”

Before today, Applejack had never known that the Crystal Empire even had a jail. But here she was, surrounded by red crystal walls on all sides save for one, where green crystal pillars formed vertical bars. Facing the bars, horizontal crystal growths formed the frame of the door. The exterior side had a looped crystal handle for pulling, while the interior was bare and featureless.

A dark blue clump of rock rested atop the handle, enclosing it and barring it from opening. The lock seemed crude, but effective; Applejack had discovered almost immediately after being left here that her strongest kicks couldn’t even budge the door. It had clearly been built with ponies as strong as her in mind.

“I can’t believe Rarity would throw us in here like this!” Applejack had exclaimed to Spike after the first ten minutes in isolation.

“She’s not the same Rarity,” Spike explained. “It’s just like when me and Twilight went to the human world. The ponies we meet aren’t going to be the same ponies we know.”

Applejack sighed with frustration. “I know that, I do. I just thought they’d be more friendly-like. I reckoned we’d be doin’ some explainin’, maybe sittin’ down with a pony or two to let them know what’s up. I sure as shootin’ wasn’t ready for Rares to start screamin’ like I was a hungry manticore out to get her. Somethin’ ain’t right about all this.”

That had been at 7 AM. Within the next hour, the pair found themselves with company. It was not an improvement.

“EEEEEEEEEEE This is so exciting!” Pinkie Pie bounced enthusiastically outside of the cell. The echoing click of her hooves landing on the crystal floor with each bounce did little to improve the high-pitched scream.

For the life of her, Applejack could see little about this situation to warrant such enthusiasm. “Pinkie, would you calm your hooves and sit a spell,” she pleaded, wrapping her right foreleg around the crystal bar before her.

Pinkie landed in front of the cell and beamed at Applejack. “This is great! Don’t you get it? Now that you’re here, everypony can stop being mad at each other and go back to being friends again!” She pranced in place from excitement.

Beside Applejack, Spike grasped the bars of the cell with both claws. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you,” the little dragon explained. “We’re not who you think we are,” he explained.

“Uh-huh?”

“Spike and I are from another world,” Applejack explained.

“Uh-huh.”

“We think a friend of ours is lost in y’all’s Equestria someplace.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We need to find her so we can get back home to our world.”

“Uh-huh!”

“So can y’let us out?”

“Nope!” Pinkie grinned. “We got you, so now all the Frowny-Faces have to come home and be our friends. That’s how it works. It’s, like, the rules or something.”

“Are y’even listenin’ to me?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie responded with a pout. “Do you even know how many birthday parties I’ve had to throw for ponies who wouldn’t even come back and celebrate? We just had yours last month. It was a huge blowout! One of the biggest parties we’ve ever thrown in the Empire! And you wouldn’t even call off the meany-facing for one day to attend!”

“I don’t think she’s even paying attention,” Spike muttered.

“Even Twilight showed up! And she never comes to the parties! Rarity made a wicker strawpony shaped like you out of applewood and then Twilight set it on fire in front of the whole town!” She grasped the bars with her forelegs and shook herself silly, screaming “IT WAS SO COOL!”

“Pinkie Pie.” A voice that Applejack knew only too well ripped through the chamber. She felt a pang in her heart from the sound.

Spike latched his claw onto a tuft of hair on Applejack’s foreleg. He shook his head when she looked down, rejecting what she wanted to be true, but knew better than to believe. She nodded to him, grateful for the strength he offered, and braced herself for the reality that was about to unfold.

A pony who, at once, was and was not Twilight Sparkle strode proudly into the jail. A sensation of immense dread crept up Applejack’s spine from the moment she laid eyes on her. This pony looked like Twilight at a superficial level, but she didn’t move like Twilight. She carried her head too high and walked with a militaristic sense of purpose not unlike what Applejack had seen from the Royal Guard. Each step was powerful and commanding; here was a pony who would not be questioned and would not be refused.

This pony looked like Twilight Sparkle. She sounded like Twilight Sparkle. But she was not Twilight Sparkle, not by any measure that Applejack knew. She was a stranger clad in Twilight’s skin, marked by hideous scars and a cracked horn.

Spike gasped with horror at the sight of her face, clapping his claws over his snout. Applejack remained calm, but felt as though she could throw up. Hideous scarring covered the left side of Twilight’s face and ran further down her neck. The burns ran up and over her left eye; the eyelid barely opened more than a slit.

The second she walked into the room, Twilight’s good eye fixed to Applejack. There was no love to be found in that eye. No friendship or compassion. Not even the disappointment and fear that Applejack had grown to expect of late. This was a look she had seen directed at her only a few times in her life and never with such intensity before. This was the eye of hate.

“Has she said anything?” Twilight demanded, her eyes never moving from Applejack. There was an arrogance in Twilight’s voice when she spoke. It wasn’t the sarcastic disdain that Applejack had heard so much from a younger Twilight. It had evolved into full-blown condescension. She intoned her words like a pony who knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was better than anypony who heard them.

“Oh, just some cra-a-zy talk about a friend from another world!” Pinkie chimed.

“Is that right?” Twilight turned to face the cell and Applejack recoiled in horror. She glanced down at Spike for a second, then back up at Applejack. Something about the sight of the little dragon seemed to make her angrier, but she kept her focus. “Leave us,” she ordered, still not looking away from the imprisoned pair.

“Yes, ma’am!” Pinkie Pie bounced towards the door on the right side of the room.

Before Pinkie departed, Twilight delivered another order. “When you get upstairs, tell Shining Armor to send down Sweetie Drops. We might need her services.”

“Ooh ooh!” Pinkie Pie jogged in place excitedly. “Yes, ma’am!”

As soon as Pinkie Pie was gone, Twilight demanded, “Does the name Discord mean anything to the two of you?”

“Discord?!” Applejack exclaimed. “What’s that low-down snake in the grass got to do with this?”

“So you admit it!” Twilight exclaimed. “Discord sent you here to capture me, is that it?” There was a wild frenzy in her eyes that Applejack knew too well. She’d seen that same look once before, when Twilight had missed what she thought to be a deadline. She’d been dismissive of it then, not understanding the lengths that a deranged Twilight Sparkle might go to. She knew better now. This time, she was afraid.

“Listen, sugar, I swear to you, there ain’t no way we’d ever be workin’ for that no-good--”

“You’re lying to me,” Twilight accused.

Spike pleaded, “It’s the tru—"

“YOU DON’T SPEAK TO ME!!!” Twilight exploded. From the vertical crack that ran up her horn, Applejack could see a bright orange light suddenly glowing. Spike was hefted up into the air and pulled against the bars, clawing helplessly.

“You leave him alone!” Applejack exclaimed. She kicked at the bars where Twilight stood, causing them to shake violently. Spike landed on his stomach, and fortune chose that moment for him to belch out a burst of green flame. A rolled up scroll emerged from his fire, landing with a gentle plop on the floor beyond the bars.

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs and threw herself across the room, enveloping herself instantly in a purple barrier. She stood with her back to the far wall, that same orange glow burning in her horn. Her wild eye moved from Spike down to the parchment that had landed on the floor. Where rage and hatred had once been, now Applejack saw only terror.

“It’s just a letter,” Spike said diplomatically, pointing to the parchment on the floor.

They watched Twilight’s rapid, desperate breaths slow and her composure steadily return. “A letter,” she repeated, lowering her magic barrier. She stood up straight once more and patted down her forelegs. Before long, she had returned to the place of dignity and supremacy she had earlier occupied.

“Special Agent Sweetie Drops reporting,” a voice called from the door on the right side. Applejack couldn’t recognize the name, but she knew the pony instantly. The black suit jacket and dark sunglasses this pony wore did little to disguise the cream-colored mare with a curly blue and pink mane. This was Bon Bon standing at attention, saluting Twilight, with a black briefcase standing on end at her front hooves.

For the first time since she’d entered the room, Twilight took her eyes off of Applejack and Spike. “Where have you been?” she demanded.

“Apologies, your highness. I was investigating your wife’s dressing room. As yet, I’ve found no indications of forced entry.”

“You won’t,” Twilight said with a glower, returning her focus to Spike and Applejack. “These two didn’t come from outside. They were created here or summoned here or something.”

Bon Bon blinked. “Your highness?”

“There are a lot of questions here,” Twilight explained. “I’m counting on you to get answers out of these two.”

“Of course,” Bon Bon replied. “Have I ever let you down?”

“Never.” To Applejack and Spike, Twilight explained, “You might not know this, but Special Agent Sweetie Drops specializes in collecting information. She’ll get the truth out of you, no matter how hard you try to hide it.”

“We ain’t hidin’ nothin’,” Applejack protested. “We’re just here for—”

“STOP LYING TO ME!!!” Twilight threw herself against the cell bars. She stood upright, propping herself up on the bars, with that orange glow once again burning furiously from the crack in her horn.

Behind her, Bon Bon remained professionally stoic. She stood at attention, waiting for instruction. She cleared her throat, reminding Twilight of her presence without saying a word.

“It doesn’t matter,” Twilight said. “We’ll know the—” her hoof landed on the parchment on the floor, crumpling it. “… truth soon enough,” Twilight concluded, lifting her hoof to examine the letter. “And we can start with this.” Levitating the scroll, she broke the seal and read its contents aloud.

Dear Applejack and Spike,

I’m so very proud of both of you, but you must know that the most perilous part begins now. Try your hardest to remain unnoticed as much as possible; if discovered, the damage you could cause to the stability of that world by your presence alone could be catastrophic. I trust you will be able to locate Twilight Sparkle and bring her back here as carefully and quietly as you can.

Sincerely--

Suddenly, the parchment fell to the ground. “How dare you?” Twilight asked quietly. Then the orange glow returned to her horn once more. “How dare either of you?! Do you think this is funny?!”

Spike clamped his snout shut, having learned his lesson from the last time he’d opened it. Applejack pleaded, “Just talk with us for a minute and—"

“Who wrote this?! Was it Discord? Is this his idea of a sick joke?”

“What?! No! Twilight, I swear to you, we’re on a mission from Princess Cel—”

“YOU DON’T GET TO SAY HER NAME!!!” Twilight exploded, throwing herself against the bars once more. The orange glow brightened, lighting up the cell with its intensity. The wild frenzy had returned to her eyes and with it, the terrified panic. Applejack enveloped Spike with her forelegs, shielding him from Twilight’s fury. In this state, there was no telling what the unicorn was capable of.

Twilight’s pupil’s flickered back and forth. Fear crept back into her features as her eyes unfocused, jumping from point to point in the cell. She looked as though she was watching some private events play out, invisible to everypony else in the room. “I won’t let you,” she whispered, seemingly not to anypony in particular.

Behind Twilight, Bon Bon cleared her throat. “Your highness, if I may. I’m not going to get any answers out of them if they’re too afraid to speak.”

Twilight blinked a few times. The light in her horn dimmed and she let herself down again. “Right,” she said, walking for the door. “Yes. Of course. Find out everything they know,” Twilight ordered. When she reached the door, she seemed to return to the situation, turning to Bon Bon with a voice filled with clarity. “I want names, places, rituals. Who they’re in contact with, how they contact them, who else their master is working with, all of it.”

“Of course, your highness,” Bon Bon answered. She saluted once more as Twilight departed the jail. She waited a few seconds past the click of the door, then she picked up her briefcase in her teeth. Without another word, she carried the suitcase over to the front of the cell and set it down on the floor.

Applejack and Spike watched curiously as Bon Bon laid out her case. She stepped down on a metal clasp with her hoof, releasing the latch. The case popped open to reveal a purple interior lining filled with padded foam. The foam insulated a strange mechanism. It appeared to be made out of a dark blue crystal shell with metallic prongs that stuck out at four points.

“What are you going to do with that?” Spike asked with trepidation.

“Look now, there ain’t no need for fussin’,” Applejack said nervously, staring at the mechanism. “We’ll tell you all we know. It started with—”

“Shhh,” Bon Bon replied. Next to the mechanism in the case, Bon Bon bit down on a straight piece of shaped silver. It resembled a bar but with various crooked bends. She lifted the piece in her teeth and carried it over to the door, sliding it into the locking crystal. She turned the bar with her teeth and the lock popped off, landing harmlessly on the ground.

“Out,” Bon Bon instructed Spike and Applejack. The pair looked to each other with confusion as the door swung slowly open. Spike climbed onto Applejack’s back, clinging nervously to her. Applejack stepped out, tensing her muscles for a fight.

As soon as the pair were out of the cell, Bon Bon pushed the door shut again. She hefted her mechanism with her forelegs, and it was then that Applejack realized the object was a precise duplicate of the original lock. The replacement lock slid perfectly into place, latching the door shut.

“What’s all this about?” Applejack asked curiously.

“This?” Bon Bon smiled. “This is done. Well, mostly. I still need to figure out which idiot to peg for using quartz to cage a dragon. Speaking of which, Spike, I need some of your fire over here.”

“Uhh….” Spike dropped down from Applejack’s back and stepped forward. He looked up at Applejack, who nodded. “Sure can do,” he said, less enthusiastically than he’d meant. He waited for Bon Bon to step away from the lock then let loose a jet of fire. The green flames caressed the crystal lock, charring them black.

“More,” Bon Bon pressured. Spike let out another burst of fire. Fissures erupted in the crystal from the intensity of Spike’s heat. “Just a little bit more.” Seconds later, the lock split in half and fell in pieces to the ground.

“That’s perfect,” Bon Bon observed. “Now we don’t have much time. Both of you need to be out of here before the morning shift starts. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that your safety literally depends on it. Come with me.”

Leaving through a door on the opposite wall from where Twilight had gone, Bon Bon slipped down the eastern hall. She stopped at a corner to peer around it, then motioned at Spike and Applejack to follow.

“Shouldn’t there be guards?” Spike asked.

“There will be, just not here. Nopony ever wants to listen to me work. It’s demoralizing.” She guided them around a corner and into a small closet. “Stay in here until you hear the Royal Guard move out. You’ll know it because Shining Armor will be bellowing orders. Once they’re gone, take a right and follow it straight to the end and out. Once you’re in the city, make your way for the east gate. There will be a trio of pegasi ready to take you to safety.”

“Why are you helpin’ us?” Applejack asked.

“Because I don’t know you,” Bon Bon answered bluntly. “That’s a problem. There’s been a mystery going around the Crystal Empire for the last week and a half, and you might just hold the key to answering it.”

“Twilight?” Applejack asked hopefully.

Bon Bon answered the inquiry with a smile. “The pegasi will take you where you need to go. While you’re at it, when you see Lyra, give her this message: the raven is in its cage and the door is shut tight. She’ll know what that means.”

“I will,” Applejack said gratefully. “Thank you.”

“One last thing. I need you to kick me in the face as hard as you can.”

“GUARD!!!” With one foreleg clasped over her right eye, Bon Bon stumbled forward from the stairs screaming at the top of her lungs. “GUARD!!!”

Immediately, Shining Armor descended upon her, flanked by a dozen Royal Guardponies. “Agent Sweetie Drops?!” he exclaimed. “Report. What happened to you? Are you injured?”

“Do I look injured?!” Bon Bon pulled away her hoof, revealing a bruised imprint just under her right eye.” Gesturing wildly at Shining Armor’s stallions, Bon Bon accused, “One of these idiots decided that quartz was suitable to contain a dragon and now they’re getting away! I’m looking at you, Steeltone.”

The third Guardpony to Shining Armor’s left gulped nervously.

“It’s not too late to salvage this,” Shining Armor commanded. “Tell me which way they went. My stallions and I can head them off before they get too far.”

“I didn’t see where they went,” Bon Bon admitted. “However, I did feign unconsciousness after Applejack kicked me. I heard Spike say something about the West Gate.”

Shining Armor clapped his hoof down on Bon Bon’s shoulder. “Good work. We’ll follow the lead from there.” To his men, he ordered, “Secure the West Gate first and foremost. Then I want every pony in the city fanning out from there.”

“I’ll go with you,” Bon Bon offered. “Just let me get a ice pack from—”

“Get an ice pack and then stay in the med bay?” Shining Armor completed her sentence. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You’ve done enough.”

“I can still fight,” Bon Bon insisted. “They caught me offguard the first time, that’s all.”

“You’re injured. I’d be a pretty sorry Captain if I let you go right back out into the field with a concussion. Stay in the Med Bay, Soldier. That’s an order.”

“I….” Bon Bon sighed with frustration. “Yes, sir,” She saluted with as little enthusiasm as she could manage.

To the others, Shining Armor asked, “What are you waiting for? Move out and find those prisoners!”

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Trixie traveled with Rainbow Dash and Lyra Heartstrings in the dwindling evening light. Sunset Shimmer had volunteered to remain behind, in case Flash Sentry woke up. Somepony needed to tell him where they’d gone, after all.

The journey had taken them through a part of Ponyville that Twilight had long dreaded seeing with her own eyes. It was worse than she’d ever imagined. She’d pictured apple trees gone unharvested. A collapsed barn. Rusted out wheelbarrows lying next to long-neglected rakes. She’d braced herself for the emotional blow that seeing all of those things would deal to her. She was ready for it.

What she was not ready for was the Flimflam Brothers’ Cider Refinery. There were no rusted wheelbarrows; instead, dozens of Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000s lay in disrepair. Trudging through the refinery ruins, the ground was littered with rotting apples. Several trees out of each grove had been cut down to make room for the automated cider processors. Smaller devices with treads and outstretched hands lay neglected in the dirt, some with apples still clutched in their grip.

There was no barn here to hold parties in. No family home to make cherished memories surrounded by ponies who loved her. A quaint little life that she’d wanted to be hers was gone forever, replaced by a cold and dispassionate foundry made from brick and stone. Well, most of it did; a single wall had collapsed inwards, revealing the inner workings of an assembly line within.

Twilight’s friends had no way of truly understanding why she broke down and cried right there at the gate leading in. They had never known a world different from this. But they gave her the time she needed. Lyra even threw in a warm hug to help her cope. And then it was time to leave; their destination lay far beyond the edge of the South Orchard.

“Fortunately, our asset in the Crystal Palace gave us the heads up,” Lyra finished relaying as the group crossed the boundary from what should have been Sweet Apple Acres to the pear grove next door. Twilight had heard most of this story before and wasn’t really paying attention; her mind remained fixed on the horror that had befallen Sweet Apple Acres. “We were able to clear out of the Empire before the ‘Acting Princess’ had the chance to get her wits together and come after us.”

“Sounds like you got lucky,” Trixie observed.

“Everypony got lucky,” Lyra replied sternly. “The Shield of Harmony is Equestria’s last hope. There wouldn’t be any chance of a brighter future if Shining Armor’s thugs had taken us by surprise.”

“I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy whispered. “This is all my fault. I never wanted to cause so much trouble.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Lyra assured her. “This fight needed to happen.”

“Yeah, cheer up!” Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a shove from the right. Fluttershy fell forcefully to the side, scrambling to find her footing. It was only by the thinnest of miracles that she avoided falling down. Rainbow Dash continued on, oblivious to her plight. “All you did was strike the match. This was gonna happen, one way or another. It was Twilight that started all of this.”

That part brought Twilight back into the conversation. There was one thing she’d been wondering about, after all. Irately, she asked, “And that’s when you burned my library?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, AJ wanted to make a statement. Some kind of war declaration to let you know we mean business. You’d stayed in that tree a few times so I thought, why not rip it out and set it on fire? I mean, you burned the clinic, so we burned the only place in Ponyville where you ever spent more than five minutes.”

“If you’re worried about the books, don’t be,” Lyra said. “I made everypony agree to save the books and only burn the library itself before I’d let them have my vote. They’re in my personal collection now. You don’t want to know what Rainbow Dash was going to do with them.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Hey, I still like the idea of mailing them to Twilight page by page. But apparently that’s ‘barbaric’.”

“We’re here,” Lyra announced. An ocean of green tents spread out ahead of the ponies, identical in color to the trees overhead. From above, it would be impossible to notice that the camp was even here. Even from their vantage on the ground, it was difficult to make out the full size of the place. It would be too easy to pass right by, never noticing it was there, were it not for the sound of galloping hooves in the distance. “Welcome to Camp Comice.”

Entering the campsite, Twilight lowered her head and pulled her hood closer. The red shroud kept her tail from view while the hood disguised her mane, but neither made her feel any safer. Though the ponies around her seemed no wiser to her presence, she couldn’t stop feeling like a hundred eyes were upon her from every direction. With each passing second, she grew more fearful that somepony would leap up and shout, “That’s her! That’s Twilight Sparkle!”

She was not the focus of everypony’s attention, however. From the moment the first pony set eyes on Fluttershy, the entire atmosphere seemed to shift. Between gasps of shock, murmured whispers were traded from pony to pony. Some stood up to see her better. Others stomped their hooves in applause.

Fluttershy tucked her head down nervously. She squeezed in close to Trixie, making her best attempt at a smile while the sweat beaded on her face. When she heard the stomping, she let out an audible, “Meep!” and tried to use Rainbow Dash to shield herself from view. This was to no avail, however, and she wound up just giving out nervous waves to ponies as she passed.

As the group neared a large tent in the center of camp, Trixie started sniffing the air. “Mmm, that smells delicious,” she observed. “What is that? Trixie is eager to try some.”

“Some kind of apple casserole, I think,” Rainbow Dash answered. “I don’t know. It’s Flim’s turn to cook tonight and his stuff’s usually apple something or other.”

“Flim is here?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Uh, yeah. Where else would he be?”

Twilight didn’t have an answer for that, but the question stuck in her mind. If Applejack was leading the Shield of Harmony, why would the Flimflam Brothers of all ponies be welcome at Camp Comice? After the sight she’d witnessed, it made her sick to even consider.

“Are you ready for this?” Fluttershy asked, shaking Twilight from her thoughts.

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. “I think so. Are you?”

“No.” Fluttershy quivered in place. “I-I-I don’t know if I can do this. W-What if she doesn’t like me? What if she’s mad at me for starting all of this? What if she wants to trade me to Twilight for the prisoners?” Fluttershy considered for a moment. “I mean, if the Acting Princess was willing to let everypony go free, I guess that would be okay, but--”

“She’s not going to do that,” Twilight insisted. In a strange way, she was grateful to Fluttershy for the distraction.

“How do you know?”

Twilight smiled. “Because I know Applejack. She can be short-sighted and stubborn, yes, but she’s also brave and compassionate. She’s loyal to her friends and her family….” Twilight hesitated, considering Flim once more. That really bothered her. But she shook it off. “The point is, Applejack has a good heart. She’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“Where you come from, Twilight Sparkle has a good heart too.”

Twilight blushed at that statement. She tried to think of a counterpoint, but there was no arguing the truth behind it.

Fluttershy went on. “I, um… I want you to know something. I don’t blame you for what that other you did to me. I don’t think you should either. I meant to say that earlier, but looking at you and knowing what you, um, the other you did, that just hurt too much. Sometimes it’s hard to even look at you without feeling angry, and sometimes you do talk like her and that scares me.”

“It scares me too,” Twilight admitted.

“But I don’t think you’re anything like her,” Fluttershy explained. “I don’t think you even could be like her. You care too much.” Quietly, she added, “But maybe that’s just my opinion. I’ll stop talking now.”

“Thank you.” Twilight pulled Fluttershy in for a hug. “It’s okay to be scared of this place,” she said comfortingly. “The Fluttershy I know would be scared too. In fact, she jumps at her own shadow on some days.” Twilight chuckled, releasing her friend.

Fluttershy lowered her head. “Shadows can be very mean sometimes.”

“But that’s what makes her one of the strongest ponies I know. She can be scared out of her mind, she can be in the grips of panic, and still never let us down. Fluttershy, I’ve watched you stare down dragons. You saved me from a cockatrice. You helped us save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra!”

“That isn’t me, though,” Fluttershy argued.

“Maybe it’s not,” Twilight agreed. “But it’s who you could be. It might even be who you already are. See, the way I hear it, the Acting Princess tried to make you betray everything you stand for. She threatened you with harm if you didn’t give up your friends. She could have done unspeakable things to you. And you still told her no. You stood your ground and fought for what you believed in. That’s something a hero does.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded, but she said nothing. She was listening; that much was certain. But Twilight just couldn’t be certain if it was helping, so she went on. “Besides, if anything happens, your friends will be right there with you. Friends can help give you strength when times are hard. They’re there to pick you up when you stumble. When you’re lost and don’t know what to do, a friend can be there to show you the way.” To herself, she muttered, “At least, they’re supposed to be.”

Twilight reached out a hoof for her friend. “You don’t need to be fearless to take each step. Let your friends be your courage. Let them shine in your heart to give you strength, just like they did for you on that day. Can you do that?”

“I think I can do that.” Fluttershy stepped forward and tentatively tapped Twilight’s hoof with her own. Just like that, two friends leaning on one another for strength stepped through that flap into the tent.

The interior was fairly close to what Twilight had been anticipating. A round applewood table sat in the center, surrounded by a dozen folding chairs. Each chair was occupied by a pony, some of whom she knew from Ponyville. Lyra Heartstrings and Rainbow Dash had taken their seats to Applejack’s right, but she also recognized Roseluck on the left side.

The pony in the center, of course, was unmistakable. Applejack sat with one hoof on the table, watching the assembled ponies like a hawk. Like the others, her body showed the battle scars of a life spent fighting. A prominent scar ran vertically up her lip. She wore her well-known hat, but as with their last meeting, the hat’s crown was decorated with a large pink ribbon tied in a bow at the back.

The sense of dread that Twilight had felt the first time she’d laid eyes on that ribbon returned with a vengeance, knotting in the pit of her stomach.

But Twilight had little attention to spare for Applejack and her council. Just two feet inside the tent, she froze staring at the other Applejack standing in the room. Her heart stopped. Her muscles seized. Her breath hitched. Twilight needed no explanation. She made no inquiry. She simply knew.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Spike raced across the room, leaving a trail of footsteps peppered by tears. Before Twilight could react, he’d plunged into her, grasping her neck with his claws and burying his face in her chest.

“Sugar?” The unscarred Applejack, her Applejack, asked. “That really you?”

Reflexively, Twilight closed a foreleg around Spike, squeezing him tightly to her. Her eyes stared straight at Applejack and her voice came out as a whisper filled with shock and wonder. With tears streaking down her face, she said the only thing she could say.

“You came for me. You really came.”

17 - Love in Disrepair

The dinner bell rang out across Camp Comice and before long, the mess area was densely populated with an ocean of ponies. Herds flooded in loosely organized rows between folding tables, which had been haphazardly arranged in the dirt. Each table had enough space for roughly four ponies, but they were pressed together in rows of six. There were no benches or chairs for comfort; ponies sat in the dirt to consume their meals.

The crowds flowed towards the large central tent set up at the north end. The pleasant aroma of cooked asparagus wafted out from the central tent, making Fluttershy’s mouth water. There wasn’t a line so much as a general idea of a line composed out of the swarming mass which moved in and out of the central tent, then broke up in different directions. Some ponies stopped at the dozen or so smaller tents situated around the large one while others made their way to the tables with their trays of food.

Most of the ponies were dressed in a makeshift suit of barding crafted from applewood slats nailed to a leather shroud and roped together. Their helmets and chest plates were single carved pieces of applewood crafted in a crude mimicry of a Royal Guard’s. On the breastplate, each suit bore the marking of a large hexagonal diamond flanked by five smaller equally sized diamonds.

Fluttershy knew the symbol well; the breastplates depicted the Elements of Harmony that most of the founding Shieldmares had once used against Nightmare Moon. Applejack had called it a symbol of unity. Rarity said the design would keep them from losing their way; they could always see it and remember why they were doing this. Fluttershy had nothing to contribute to the conversation; she had spent the day contemplating how to tell her friends that she couldn’t be a part of this.

How very long ago that seemed.

“Wow,” Flash Sentry commented. “You know, I heard there were a lot of them, but to actually see it like this….”

“Regretting that we came and got you?” Sunset asked.

“No, not at all. It’s just impressive, that’s all. It’s no Fort Cowlick, but to think they built it out of a small town in Canterlot’s shadow is astonishing.”

“Are we going to get in line?” Trixie asked impatiently, tapping her hoof.

“I thought I’d wait for the crowd to finish,” Fluttershy admitted. “You can all go if you’d like, though. I’ll just wait here.”

“Are you serious?” Sunset asked. “Girl, these ponies worship you. They went to war because of you. Here, come with me and I’ll show you how to part a crowd.”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide with panic. “I-I-I don’t want to be a bother—”

But there was no stopping her. “MAKE WAY!!!” she called out, shoving through the ranks of Shieldmares. “Important pony, coming through! Out of the way, small fries, you’re holding up the line.”

“Excuse you?” One Shieldmare demanded. “Who do you think you are?”

“Me? I’m Sunset Shimmer, Princess of the Fall Formal and personal entourage to Fluttershy. Now you tell me, why does a two-bit grunt think she’s in a position to keep Her Merciful from the front?”

The Shieldmare glowered. “I don’t care who you are. You can’t cut the line like this.”

“What’s your name?”

“Excuse me?”

“You name. It’s not a hard question; even a simpleton like you can get it.”

“Why should I tell you my name?”

Sunset grinned devilishly. “Because I want a name to give to Captain Applejack when I tell her who was responsible for making Fluttershy go hungry.”

Behind her, Trixie emerged with a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, marching her forward. Fluttershy’s beet-red cheeks hung low. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. “I am so sorry about this,” she choked out in a half-sobbing plea.

The Shieldmare gave out an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Sunset Shimmer replied, flanking Fluttershy from the other side and moving her through the crowd. “Was that so hard?”

“That was the worst experience of my life,” Fluttershy whispered, staring in horror at the tray of broccoli and asparagus before her. She sat close to Flash in the middle of a row of tables that they’d found mostly unoccupied.

“And you’ve been in solitary,” Trixie observed from across the table.

“Three times.”

“I can’t believe you did that,” Flash said to Sunset. “What the hoof is wrong with you?!”

Sunset splayed herself unusually across the ground, resting on her hip and letting her hind legs splay out behind her. She propped herself up on the table by the knee of her foreleg, taking a chomping bite out of her broccoli in response to Flash’s question. She clearly savored the meal, making him wait for her to finish chewing before dignifying his question. “It’s called Loyalty, Beefcake. Besides, I didn’t see you stopping me.”

Flash’s looked sheepishly to Fluttershy. “You know I can’t make a scene,” he whispered. “I’m not exactly welcome here, and ponies are already staring at us as it is. What if they recognize me?”

“Pfft!” Sunset laughed in Flash’s face. “You think anyone actually cares about you?! Without that armor, you’re just some guy with weird hair. Speaking of which, seriously, you look like your mane’s giving praises to the sun. What exactly is going on there?”

“I do not have weird hair,” Flash protested. To Fluttershy, he asked, “My mane isn’t weird, right?”

“It’s scruffy,” Fluttershy observed. “Like an otter.”

“Yeah!” Flash fired back. “I’m like an otter!” After a few seconds, he turned to Fluttershy. “Otter is good, right?”

“It’s adorable.”

Flash stood up, pounding his forelegs on the table. “I am a mighty otter!” he bellowed across the mess area. Ponies at the table around them grew silent. More and more befuddled eyes turned to stare at the lunatic pony screaming into the evening sky.

“Do a trick!” a voice called out from the crowd.

“Uh, sorry,” Flash said, blushing furiously. He sat back down, trying to shrink down and disappear amidst his friends.

“Okay, now they’re staring at you,” Trixie said dryly. “Honestly, you should have—” Trixie looked up to see a dozen Shieldmares now surrounding their table.

Rainbow Dash clapped her hoof on Flash Sentry’s shoulder. “Hey, Otter Guy! How’s it going?”

Flash blanched. “It’s, uh…. It’s fine. We’re all fine.”

“Great! We’re fine too. Hope you won’t mind if we have a seat. The mess is pretty crowded.” At her signal, the Shieldmares took up places at the table, each carrying her own tray. Rainbow Dash sat beside Fluttershy, but then turned in diagonally to face the group. “So, what were we talking about?”

Twilight had thought that a private tent away from the Shieldmares would have made this conversation easier. She now found herself regretting that decision. Applejack, her Applejack, had said nothing to her for over an hour and yet Twilight couldn’t help but feel as if she was under interrogation. Somehow, this Applejack managed to intimidate her more than the Shield Captain.

The tent itself was sparsely decorated. A folding table stood in the middle of the room covered with maps and a few books. Crates sat in one corner, stuffed full of various knickknacks. Just under the side furthest from the door were a trio of lonely cots, one of which Applejack had managed to find space for and set up against the side furthest from the door.

Applejack lay perpendicular to the cot, dangling her forelegs off the edge. She didn’t move or speak or make any indication that she was even alive, save for the subtle motion of her head to follow Twilight. She silently absorbed Twilight’s story, giving no clues or suggestions as to her thought process.

Twilight, on the other hoof, moved quite a lot. She was a nervous wreck, pacing around the table in the center and using the motion to help collect her thoughts. She gestured frantically with her hooves for emphasis, inadvertently striking the table more than once.

“And that’s when we came here,” Twilight said, concluding her tale. She had hoped that finishing the story would coax some thought or advice or even chastisement out of Applejack, but still nothing penetrated that iron stubbornness. A minute passed in awkward silence while Applejack’s expression remained unchanged. “That’s it,” Twilight said, trying in vain to get the conversation moving. “That’s all I know.”

What was she thinking? Was she angry with Twilight for getting so mixed up in all of this that she’d lost sight of getting home? Did she feel abandoned or betrayed because Twilight hadn’t tried harder to find a way back? Or had she given up on Twilight ever returning, and was now disappointed to find her here?

That thought terrified Twilight more than anything in this Equestria had. Was there still a place for her at Sweet Apple Acres? In that moment, Twilight wanted to go to her. She wanted to lay with her and embrace her. To reassure her that she still loved her, that she wanted to come home, felt like the right thing to do.

But would Applejack accept it? What would happen from there? Would Twilight be expected to leave all of this behind and go home with her?

Did Twilight want to leave this behind and go home with her?

Well, yes. Absolutely, without question, yes. She wanted to escape from this awful world and never look back. She wanted to curl up in her own bed with a steaming mug of ginseng tea, a plate of Granny Smith’s special recipe apple fritters, and her favorite copy of A Legacy Lost: The Vanishment of Star Swirl the Bearded. Most of all, she just wanted to be in a world that wasn’t tearing itself apart at the seams. She wanted to be in the company of ponies who didn’t define themselves by fear and resentment so that she could remember what it felt like not to feel afraid and resentful.

She could do it, of course. She wouldn’t even need the Mirror anymore. She knew from the moment she laid eyes on Spike that Discord had shown her the way home. Through chaos magic, she could carve her own path through the Space Between, following the magical thread that connected him to the Princess Celestia of their reality. She could do it right now, in fact. She would just whisk herself, Spike, and Applejack away and never look back.

And then she would never forgive herself for turning her back on friends who needed her. Twilight fluffed her wings idly as they weighed on her mind. Somehow, in some way, her trials and ordeals had made her worthy of these wings. She was still wrapping her head around that. She didn’t understand what it all meant, but she knew that it meant something. These wings weren’t a prize, they were a responsibility. They were something to live up to.

The pony who abandoned her friends in need to return to a comfortable life was a pony who didn’t deserve these wings. That pony was no better than the Acting Princess who dominated this world.

…

Well, maybe a little better. That Twilight had some issues to work out.

“Twilight,” Applejack said, her voice distant and solemn. This was it. Oh, horseapples, this was it. She wasn’t ready. She hadn’t even prepared an opening statement or counterarguments. She hadn’t even ascertained which argument they were going to have! She— “We gotta help these ponies.”

“Y… yeeeeeeeesssssss….”

At once, every thought and feeling in Twilight’s head collided with one another. “Yes,” she said again, blinking rapidly while her mind calibrated what just happened. “Yes!” she shouted once more, closing the distance to Applejack. “Yes, that’s exactly right! These ponies need our help. We-We can’t just leave them like this. They-They need towels—no, towels aren’t helpful. Why would I say towels?”

“They need what we had to find for ourselves,” Applejack finished for her. She reached out to Twilight, lightly brushing her left foreleg.

“Yes! That! The magic of friendship.” Twilight lifted her right hoof and pressed it to her chest, feeling her heart beating under it. “It’s something that I think they lost sight of a long time ago. You know, I have sometimes wondered what my life would be like if we’d never become friends, but this is….” Twilight swallowed hard.

“It’s a nightmare is what it is.”

“It is. I know there’ve always been some resentments here or there between different groups of ponies. We’re not always nice to each other. We don’t always get along. Sometimes we make mistakes. And there are always going to be groups and factions here and there. But war? Ponies fighting ponies with weapons instead of words? I always thought we’d moved past that. I thought we were over that. It’s not supposed to be possible, not in Equestria.”

Applejack nodded along. “Y’know, sugar, my Aunt Orange likes to say a thing. She says, ‘There’s two kinds of you. There’s the pony y’are on your best day, then there’s the pony y’are on your worst. Now, the best side of you is always one bad day away from bein’ your worst. But do remember that your worst is one good day away from becomin’ your best.”

“You’re saying we need to give Equestria a good day?” Twilight asked, making no effort to mask the confusion in her voice. “What would that even mean?”

“I’m sayin’ where they are might not be so far from us as you might reckon. Now, I don’t know how we get them back on the side of harmony. Truth be told, I’m a mite stumped on this. But what I do know is you. Twilight Sparkle’s never met a puzzle she couldn’t crack. Whatever we do to fix this, it’s gotta start at you.”

“My well of ideas isn’t as full as I would have liked either,” Twilight admitted. “Sunset Shimmer thinks that if she can become an alicorn, she can end the war overnight. The way she explained it, as an Alicorn Princess, she would become the rightful heir to the throne.”

Applejack blinked. “Is that how that works?”

“I don’t know. Nopony knows. We’ve never needed to replace Princess Celestia. There isn’t a system for it. There never has been. But Sunset is convinced that if she walks right into the Crystal Palace as an alicorn, everypony will accept her as the legitimate ruler.”

“Alright, so that’s what she thinks,” Applejack said, mulling over the suggestion in her mind. “Now why don’t y’tell me what you think?”

“You don’t want to know what I think,” Twilight said quickly. She couldn’t mask the bitterness in her voice as she spoke.

“Twilight….”

Twilight sighed. “The truth, the honest truth, is that I think it was a mistake to help her escape from Bridle Rock. I might have unleashed something terrible into this world and I don’t know what I can do to fix it. Sunset Shimmer is a time bomb waiting to go off.”

“You don’t mean that,” Applejack said quietly.

“But I do. I’ve spent the last few days with her and it’s hard to escape the fact that Sunset Shimmer is evil. She’s cruel and she’s mean and she’s manipulative. I tried to explain the values of harmony to her and now she’s faking kindness and decency to try and trick the laws of physics into making her an alicorn, but it’s not working because she’s so mean. As soon as she realizes that it’s never going to happen, she’s going to do something dramatic and terrible.”

Applejack nodded, absorbing everything Twilight was telling her. “And you reckon that leavin’ her to rot in that awful place would have been the right thing to do?” Twilight caught the disapproval in Applejack’s voice.

“I don’t know.” Twilight closed her eyes. She sat down on her haunches beside the cot, putting her left hoof on Applejack’s right. “I don’t know what’s right anymore. This place is nothing like our world and I’m not even sure if it’s right to try to hold them to our standards. What if we’re on the wrong side of this? Things are so different here. Who are we to tell them what’s right and wrong?”

“Ponies that know better,” Applejack answered softly. “Our world didn’t burn down like theirs ‘cause we made our choices right. We stuck to our values even when it was hard and spent each and every day tryin’ to learn that right from wrong y’mentioned.”

“We set Discord free,” Twilight asserted. “We might have to pay for that. And-and who knows what horrible things Sunset Shimmer might be doing in the human world because I decided to leave her there? What if that was a mistake too? Just because it seems to be working out for us now doesn’t mean it will last.”

“Is that right?” Applejack asked, pulling her hoof away. “That what was runnin’ through your head when they put you in there? Were you standin’ there sayin’, ‘Eeyup, this seems fair.’”

Twilight raised her forelegs defensively. “Okay, that doesn’t count. They thought I was a changeling. That was a mistake that anypony could have made in their position. If I’d actually been who they thought I was, their reaction would have been completely justified!” She considered her words for a second. “Well, maybe not completely. At least three-fifths justified.”

“And what about Fluttershy?” Applejack asked sharply. “You said they locked her up for treason. Treason, Twilight! You know when the last time a pony’s been jailed for treason was?”

Twilight held up her hoof diplomatically. “Okay, yes, that’s bad. What happened to Fluttershy is terrible. I’m not going to argue about that. But she’s one data point. What about Sunset? Trixie? Iron Will? The Flimflam brothers? Well, one of them anyway. Can you honestly tell me that Equestria wouldn’t be better off without them in it?”

“You know that ain’t—”

“I don’t know what I know anymore. Every day feels a little bit less certain than the last. I just don’t want to rush into any judgments. Fluttershy should never have been there, I agree completely with you about that. But overall? Maybe the good Bridle Rock does outweighs the bad.” Scowling somberly, Twilight looked Applejack in the eye. “Maybe we’re the ones who have it wrong. Maybe it’s naïve to think that a pony can change.”

“I don’t rightly know,” Applejack admitted. “I ain’t got the first idea of what’s the right way to lead to a kingdom. All I really know right now is you.” She tapped Twilight’s chest with her hoof. “And if you’re askin’ me, then I get to thinkin’ there’s a reason you’re an alicorn and that other you ain’t. I’d bet my life on there bein’ no mistake about that.”

Twilight hesitated, weighing Applejack’s words in her mind. “Thank you,” she said somberly. Applejack didn’t have the experience to weigh in too heavily on geopolitical affairs, Twilight knew, but there was wisdom in her assessment all the same.

Twilight took a seat beside the cot, putting her hoof on Applejack’s. “What about you?” she asked gently. “I don’t know how long we’re going to have to be here. Don’t you need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres? This isn’t an afternoon job like the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh, we got that covered,” Applejack explained. “Once we got to camp, Spike sent another letter to Princess Celestia, givin’ her the what’s what. Takes a while to get there and back, but she’s sure to have got it by now.”

“But what about you, though?” Twilight insisted. She slowly rubbed Applejack’s hoof back and forth. “I know you don’t feel comfortable being away from the farm. This isn’t the life you wanted; I think you’ve made that pretty clear. If you need to go back, I’ll understand.”

Applejack took a deep breath. “Eeyup, we’re doin’ this,” she muttered. Before Twilight could inquire further, Applejack said, “Twilight, since the day I met you, I felt like I was bein’ split ‘twixt two worlds.”

Applejack scowled at herself in hesitation. After a few seconds, she nodded her head to the side. “No, that’s a lie. I just lied to us. That was goin’ on long before you came into my life. See, there’s the one Applejack, she ain’t never happier than when she’s tillin’ the soil, family at her side. She takes care of Apple Bloom and sees that little filly off to school each and every day. She brings in the harvest and grinds her hooves makin’ pies and fritters and all sorts of tasty treats to sell at market.

“But then there’s another Applejack. She goes on wild adventures to the Everfree Forest and the Crystal Empire. She fights timberwolves and changelings and every once in a blue moon, a nutty chaos spirit. She likes sleepin’ in them fancy royal guestrooms and it made her mighty proud when they put her face on a mural. She also likes hearin’ them fancy big-city accents. They’re like silk for the ears.”

“What are you saying?” Twilight asked. “Is this an apology?”

“I ain’t sayin’ my sorries, sugarcube. I’ve said them enough and they ain’t never amounted to a hill of beans. Beggin’ your pardon’s just an empty promise if’n it don’t get kept. This is….” She stopped, mulling the words over. “What I’m tryin’ to say is….” Lowering her head, she sighed frustratedly. “Y’know, I might just be ramblin’. Never you mind.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Look, I had an idea in my head for what I should say when I saw you, but now I reckon it might just be corny.”

Twilight lifted Applejack’s chin with a hoof to bring her back to eye level. “I spent the last week of my life sleeping on a pile of straw in a damp cell. Everything was just cold enough to keep us from getting comfortable. If we complained, they stuffed us in an even smaller and colder room and left us in there for hours to freeze. I could use a little bit of corniness right now.”

“Hoo doggy.” Applejack sighed. Blushing furiously, she said, “Alright, here it goes. You can’t laugh at me, though.” She cleared her throat. “Dear Princess Twilight. Here is what I learned today.”

Instantly, Twilight’s face lit up. “Applejack….” She kept her left hoof on Applejack’s but raised the right to her heart, struggling to contain the feelings welling up inside of it.

“I mean it, now. You laugh at me and I ain’t doin’ this!” Applejack said sharply. She closed her eyes and continued. “Well, it ain’t today or nothin’ I learned it, but close enough. I learned that I don’t gotta choose between the Applejack I want to be and the one I gotta be. There’s a piece of my heart at Sweet Apple Acres. Always has been. Bein’ there, workin’ the farm and bein’ with my family, that makes me happy. But there’s another piece right out here, doin’ what we’re doin’. Bein’ with you and helpin’ ponies out of a fix, that makes my life worth livin’.

“I learned with a little help from my Granny that sometimes a pony wears more than just the one hat and that’s an okay way to be. I don’t gotta choose one life or the other. Never have. Truth be told, I reckon I got a bright future ahead of me, just waitin’ for me to quit bein’ so stubborn and let it come.”

Applejack chuckled to herself. “Y’know, it’s funny. My Mama used to tell me--"

The thought was swiftly silenced by the sudden taste of Twilight on her lips. Twilight pressed her body weight into Applejack, capturing her in the embrace of pent-up passion. Her heart pounded like it hadn’t since before that terrible day at the farm. When she did break the kiss, she pressed her neck against Applejack’s. She rest her chin on the base of Applejack’s mane, feeling her warmth.

Applejack stammered. “Th-that, uh, that wasn’t what my Mama used to tell me….”

“I miss you,” Twilight whispered into Applejack’s ear. “I miss us. I’m tired of being mad. I don’t want to fight with you anymore, but I don’t want to lose you either. I wish we could go back to the way things were when we were happy.”

“Why can’t we?” Applejack asked earnestly.

“Because then nothing would change. Like it or not, this happened. I can’t let it go until I understand why. What do we take away from this? How do I stop this from happening again?”

“Sugar, I just told you what I learned.”

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “I know,” she said. “And I am so proud of you. But I haven’t learned anything. What if I’m the reason this happened?”

“You ain’t,” Applejack said quickly. “Sugar, this was all on me.”

“I-I know you say that, but it wasn’t just you.” Twilight pulled away from Applejack, resuming her pacing about the room. “It was Rarity too. And Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie. Probably not Fluttershy, but who knows? Maybe she secretly knew and she just didn’t want me to know she knew because she knew that if I knew that she knew then—”

“Twilight, you’re spiralin’ again.”

“Oh. Right.” Twilight stopped, turning to face Applejack again. “It’s just, maybe it’s not you. Or, at least, it’s not just you.” She closed her eyes. In her mind’s eye, she could see a malevolent orange glow burning through the crack in a violet horn. “What if the problem is me?”

Applejack stepped down to the floor, leaving her cot. “Sugar,” she said sowly on approach. With her hoof, she traced a line down Twilight’s neck just to the left of her mane’s base, where she knew Twilight to be the most sensitive. “You’re the one of all of us that ain’t done nothin’ wrong on this.”

“But what if I’m not?” Twilight insisted. “What do I learn so that this doesn’t happen again? Where’s the lesson?”

“Why’s there gotta be a lesson?” Applejack asked. “Why can’t it just be a thing that happened to you?”

A frustrated sigh escaped Twilight’s lips. “Ugh, you sound like Discord,” she muttered.

“Beg pardon?”

“Discord. He keeps throwing that at me. ‘Nyeh, why does everything need a purpose, Twilight? Why can’t a rose bush just be a rose bush, Twilight?’” She punctuated her disdain by blowing a raspberry.

“Well, why can’t it?”

“Because life doesn’t work that way. Everything has a causal origin. Something has to change and that doesn’t just mean you. If I’m doing something wrong, then I need to stop so that my friends won’t ever turn on me again.” With pleading eyes, Twilight uttered, “I need to understand why I’m a bad friend. Then maybe I can figure out how to start forgiving all of you.”

Applejack sighed. “Look, I think you might be barkin’ up the wrong tree on this, but if there’s anythin’ I can do to help, I’m with you.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, pressing herself once more into Applejack. She reared onto her hind legs and grasped Applejack’s neck with her forelegs, hugging her tightly.

With one foreleg, Applejack returned the embrace. “What can I do for you?” she asked delicately.

“You’re already doing it.” Twilight released Applejack. “What I need right now is for you to just be you.”

In her mind’s eye, she saw worlds she’d never known. She saw Appleoosa in ruins, its buildings flattened and scattered by some terrible explosion. She saw a strange contraption with a million dials channeling a bolt of lightning into a strange table, upon which lay a pony-shaped figure under a sheet. She set out a tray full of delicious pastries in a classroom; a gift for her son’s first day of school.

And she saw lovers. So many Special Someponies across so many lives. Applejack. Rainbow Dash. Flash Sentry. Some orange stallion she’d never met before wearing a blue star-spangled cape, his face decorated by a pair of spectacles and a nervous smile. Rarity. Fluttershy. Big Mac. Trixie. Sunset Shimmer.

These were the hallmarks of lives she’d never lived, each blurring into one another. Images that came faster and faster with each passing day. Her mind palace was filled to the brim with strangely-colored threads that all led to another Twilight Sparkle. Inside her brain, it was never quiet anymore. There was still only Twilight in that special place, but she had become a cacophony.

“I need you to keep me sane.”

Applejack said nothing. She sat on her haunches and pulled Twilight into her chest. Twilight accepted the embrace and lay there listening to Applejack’s heartbeat, feeling as if her own body was resonating in time with it. Her mind palace remained as loud as ever, but with Applejack to focus on, she could safely step outside of it.

This was what tonight would be, she decided. It’d be a night for reunion and togetherness. There was still so much fear in her heart, but fear could have its day tomorrow. There was always another day for fear. Tonight, she wanted only the sense of love and togetherness that a family could bring.

She pulled her head back, looking into Applejack’s eyes. She was more afraid of this pony than any she’d ever met. She was afraid because she loved this pony more than she’d known was possible. Fear and love went hoof in hoof, it seemed. Perhaps there’d be something in that for the Friendship Journal once all was said and done. It wasn’t her lesson, of course, but it was an interesting observation all the same.

She would make a mental note of that if only her mind would shut up for two seconds and let her write one.

“I like your flower, by the by,” Applejack whispered.

“My what?” Twilight blinked, trying to figure out what Applejack could possibly be referencing.

Applejack brushed her mane away from her ear and it was then that she realized what it was. Applejack was trying to get a better look at the jeweled flower she’d found at Sensible Beach, which she’d managed to forget was even there. “It’s mighty purdy.”

“Is that right?” Twilight asked with a giggle. Twilight asked with a giggle. Even after all this time, Applejack’s dialect still brought a smile to her lips. Like silk for the ears. “It’s purdy, is it?”

“’Mighty’ purdy,” Applejack clarified. “That’s four times the purdies as your normal purdy.”

“It is not,” Twilight said, grinning from ear to ear.

Applejack nodded her head to the side. “Fine, three and a half, but y’carry the cute and round up.”

Twilight smirked. “You stole that from Big Mac.”

Applejack scoffed in mock indignation. “Hey, I’ll have you know I had some fancy mathematics of my own once upon a time. I just ain’t used ‘em in a dog’s year. I’m rusty.”

“Sure,” Twilight said, nodding her head slightly. “But you stole that line from Big Mac.”

“It was m’daddy’s, actually,” Applejack admitted. “Used to say it to me when I got mad at my homework.”

“Oh,” Twilight said somberly. “Well, I think it’s a beautiful sentiment. Thank you.” Twilight sank back down into the sound of Applejack’s heartbeat. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. She focused on it, trying to meditate on her problems away from the roaring crowd in her head. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. “Can I ask you something?” Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

“No, I didn’t quit doin’ math ‘cause of the expulsion. I just never saw the use and let it slide.”

“Not that.” Twilight sighed. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. That’s right, just keep focusing on that. “Have you ever been hurt by somepony you cared about?”

“I was one time,” Applejack admitted. “Pony I thought was my best friend in the whole wide world, and then it turned out all he wanted was to get with me. He turned real mean soon as he found out I wouldn’t go with him.”

“Sound Stage,” Twilight remembered. “I remember.” Thump-thump. Thump-thump. “Wow, that’s actually a lot worse than what Rarity and the others did to me. That is terrible. What could possibly make a pony act like that?”

“Some ponies don’t take to rejection so well,” Applejack said with a shrug.

“But why? Why ruin a friendship over….” Twilight couldn’t even finish the sentence. Already, she could feel the answer forming in her gut.

“You letthis happen to me!”

Because it hurt. To care so much about a pony and to feel let down or abandoned was an ugly feeling. It had torn Twilight up inside in ways she was still feeling today.

“I never hated her, Twilight,” Luna said to her, walking the halls of the Royal Palace. “Not truly. I felt angry and hurt by her and I allowed that feeling to take control of me.”

How many times had the fear of being unwanted wreaked its havoc over Equestria?

“I don’t rightly know, sugarcube,” Applejack answered. “You might ask Rares about it, though, if’n you remember when we get home.”

“Wait, Rarity?!” Twilight asked, horror dripping from her voice. “She’s been accosted by a pony that didn’t respect her boundaries too?”

“Uh….”

“Royal Pin! Why, I’m so happy I found—I-I mean, ran into you! I mean, I certainly haven’t been wandering around for six hours, that’d be crazy. Now, I know that the last 47 times I asked you to accompany me, you said you were washing your mane! So that’s why I brought two gallons of shampoo and a washbasin! We can wash our manes TOGETHER.”

“Somethin’ like that.”

“How many times has this happened?” The implications were staggering. She looked up at Applejack, who she could tell was trying so hard to answer these questions but probably hadn’t ever thought about them before. “Is this feeling a normal part of friendship?” she asked herself as much as Applejack.

“I wouldn’t say normal,” Applejack replied. “Normal means there ain’t nothin’ wrong with it, and that means ponies that act on it ain’t never doin’ no wrong by others. I don’t like the taste of that.”

Twilight nodded. She could agree with that logic. The behaviors exhibited by ponies that shared this feeling with her had been various degrees of awful. “What about ‘common’, then?”

“’Common’ sounds right. I can live with ‘common’.”

Common was a good word. Sound Stage had felt let down by Applejack rejecting his romantic advances. This, in turn, led him to lash out and hurt Applejack, who surely felt let down and abandoned by his actions. Did every pony feel this way at some point in their life? And if they did, then was the feeling itself bad? Or was it merely how some ponies acted on it that was bad?

“How did you forgive him?” Twilight asked. “Sound Stage, I mean. How did you let go of the pain in your heart?”

Applejack’s face turned pale. “…uh….” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, y’see, sugarcube….”

“Oh.” Twilight’s face soured. “I-I see,” she said, standing up.

“Twilight….”

“You know what, it’s fine!” She exclaimed, putting on her best fake smile. “We probably shouldn’t be talking about this anyway. It’s family night! So we should just go get Spike and have FAMILY NIGHT! It’s fine.”

Applejack rose, stepping towards Twilight. “Sugar, if we need to talk about—”

“Family night!” Before Applejack could respond, Twilight vanished through the entry flap and took off into the camp.

Twilight walked closely beside Applejack along the road between tents. Firefly lanterns hung on posts to illuminate the path. Although her cloak worked to keep the evening chill from her sides and neck, she could still feel it pressing on around her face. She wore her hood down and kept her head low to avoid attracting attention.

Twilight knew that the Captain had spoken with the Shield about their situation. She had not been privy to that conversation, however, and despite the relative assurance that there wouldn’t be any trouble, she still felt uncomfortable being exposed in public. Each moment, she felt as if a pony might jump up and shout her name across the camp. She walked quickly and avoided making eye contact with any of the ponies she passed, dreading any attention they might give her.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if this was how Fluttershy felt all the time.

“What are we gonna do about Cardinal?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence that had hung in the air between them since they’d left their tent. “We got a lot goin’ on here and all, but we also got that low-down snake in the grass back home. It might be for the best we get to makin’ our way back to the Mirror. We can take care of Cardinal and then come right back and—”

“That’s not going to be an option,” Twilight asserted. “If I understand the principles that brought you here correctly, you were able to find me because the magic of friendship connects me to you and the others. That’s a magical connection we share between us, but that only lasts so long as one of us is here. As soon as the three of us depart through the Mirror, this world becomes one tiny pebble among infinite possibilities. We’d never find it again.”

“So you’re sayin’ a pony has to stay here if’n we want to come back?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Applejack sighed. Clearly this was not the answer she’d been hoping for. Reluctantly, she said, “Might be best we split back up again. One of us sneaks back into the Empire and gets at that Mirror, and then….” She stopped, noticing a disapproving look on Twilight’s face. “Alright, what’s wrong with that one?”

“There’s nothing wrong necessarily,” Twilight admitted. “Although splitting up might be an exercise in futility. You haven’t been here very long. If anypony was going to stay here, it should be me. I’ve at least spent time with these ponies; I do know a few of them. However, and I mean no offense when I say this, but getting Applejack into the Crystal Palace would be next to impossible.

“You can see where that presents a problem. Now, there is a third option. There might be another way to get out of here, but I would need to take Spike with me to do it. And it would have to be me that left through this avenue as well, so that still doesn’t solve the problem.”

Twilight could feel Applejack’s spirits fading with that assessment. “You’re sayin’ I ain’t much use here nor there then?” She sighed. “Didn’t figure for gettin’ stuck here. Even had a whole plan worked out to make sure we could find our way home before we left.”

“No, it’s okay,” Twilight assured her. She nuzzled against Applejack’s shoulder, then kept walking past her. “You’re already helping. Besides, the others might actually be safer with you here.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. Matching Twilight’s pace, she asked, “How do you figure?”

“The last time we fought Cardinal, he imprisoned us in our minds using the Elements of Harmony. By channeling the magic of friendship through us and using us as vessels, he was able to take control of both us and the Elements themselves.”

“I remember.”

“What you probably don’t remember is the conversation he and I had after he took control of you. He told me that he didn’t actually need me for his plan. He intended to wear the Element of Magic himself, then use it to control the rest of the Elements through the bond of friendship he’d formed with the group over the few days he was with us. I was a redundancy, but he did need each of you. The plan couldn’t work without Cardinal, the Elements, and five Element-Bearing ponies.”

“And right now, he’s got four,” Applejack concluded, finishing Twilight’s train of thought. “You’re right. We beat him by the skin of our teeth last time ‘cause we had you there workin’ at the problem from the outside. Right now, best we can do is make sure he can’t strike again ‘til we got a chance to come home and put our hoof down.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t already,” Twilight admitted. “Last time, he made his move in less than a week.”

Proudly, Applejack boasted, “It ain’t like this is our first rodeo, sugarcube. We were careful. Got everypony on the same page, made sure we knew what we were dealin’ with.”

Twilight scowled at this answer. “Why would that stop him? Applejack, we’re talking about a shapeshifting illusion. He doesn’t have an actual body. If he wanted to make another attempt, he could present himself to the group as a brand new pony and we’d never know the difference. The way his magic works, he could even be two or three different ponies. At the same time.”

“We only ever saw him as you.”

Twilight stopped. “ME?! Why would he be ME?! You didn’t tell me he was ME!” She convulsed in horror at the image. “Celestia, that’s like having Discord walking around in my skin. Do I want to know what kind of weird and awful things he did with my image?”

“He didn’t do nothin’ with….” Applejack paused to reconsider her words. “What kind of horrible are you thinkin’ of?”

“The answer needs a qualifier?!” Twilight plopped down on her haunches, her face turning beet red. “Well. Good news! We’ve resolved our conundrum from earlier. The pony who remains here has been determined by default to be me, because I can never go home again.”

“It ain’t like that!” Applejack exclaimed. “The only pony she was weird and awful with was me. I think.”

“THAT’S NOT BETTER.”

“Sugar….”

“Do you know what I miss? I miss yesterday. Yesterday was a good day. I met Zecora. I only had one evil doppelganger in my life. I found a cool beach. That was nice.”

Applejack glanced over Twilight’s head at the crowd of ponies across the way. “Sugar, I don’t wanna alarm you but those ponies look to be starin’ at us.”

“They’re all staring at us. They have been since we left the tent, because I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Evil Clones! We’re having an Evil Twilight Bargain Sale. Buy two and get a third one free!”

“Who’s the third one?”

“Give her time, I’m sure she’s just around the corner. There can’t be an Evil Applejack or Evil Spike or Evil Fluttershy. No, it’s just Evil Twilights as far as the eye can see!”

“Evil Fluttershy?” Applejack grinned at the mental image. “What, she’d put teacups on your end table without usin’ a coaster?”

“Upside-down.” To Twilight’s complete dismay, Applejack laughed openly at the image. “What?!” she asked indignantly. “What’s so funny?”

Applejack took a few seconds to compose herself. “What’s funny is you, Sugarcube. I’ve missed bein’ ‘round the Not-Evil Twilight.” Before Twilight could say anything more, Applejack gave her a peck behind the ear. That seemed enough to placate her for the moment. “So y’reckon she’d sneak in your house and butter the wrong side of toast?”

“There’s a right side of toast?”

“Does a pig lie in shade? ‘Course there’s a right side. It’s the side y’ain’t holdin’ in your hoof.”

“Oh.” Twilight had honestly never considered the ramifications of holding toast before. “In that case, Fluttershy’s thorough. I’m sure she’d butter both sides of it. One side as an evil gesture to make sure you get butter on your hoof, and the other side so that your buttered hoof experience doesn’t ruin your breakfast.”

“Wait, why are we at the mess?” Twilight asked. This crowded dining area was the last place she wanted to be right now; hundreds of judging eyes waited to get a good look at her. If any of them spotted her, something terrible might happen.

“The what now?” Applejack answered.

“The mess,” Twilight repeated as though the answer were obvious.

“Well, I reckon it’s a mite messy, but you try keepin’ tidy with so many ponies all at once. Hospitality only gets you so far, Twilight. Come’s a time you just gotta wait for a lull in the action and then put in a bit of elbow grease.”

Twilight stared blankly at Applejack. She took a moment to register what her partner had just said. “N-no….” Twilight responded, shaking her head. “It’s what the Royal Guard calls their dining area.”

Applejack snorted. “Well, what kind of high-falutin’ no-sense wordin’ is that?! A thing means what it means. What’s so hard about sayin’ the words ‘cookout’?”

“The Guard uses a lot of their own terminology, actually,” Twilight explained.

Grumpily, Applejack replied, “Then they should learn to talk normal like regular folk.” This earned her a snicker from Twilight. “What? What’d I say?’

Twilight smiled. Shaking her head in bemusement, she--

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash floated in the air just over a table in the crowded mess, waving both of her forelegs. “TWILIGHT, OVER HERE!!! TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!”

Twilight winced at each exclamation of her name, hugging tighter to Applejack. She could practically feel the sharp glares of Shieldmares around her, all turning to stare at the threat in their presence. She felt like a salad bar set to be descended upon by a ravenous herd.

With Applejack beside her, Twilight cantered quickly towards Rainbow Dash’s table. As she got close, she overheard Rainbow Dash whisper to the others, “That’s them. Everypony be cool.”

Once she’d arrived in the safety of the herd, she hissed, “Don’t shout my name like that! There are--” It was then that she took notice of approximately two dozen Shieldmares seated around her friends.

Every pony at the table had a wooden mug in front of them. Some had trays with partially-eaten meals. Six mugs huddled together in the center of the table, still filled to the brim with frothing brown liquid.

“Hey, it’s cool,” Rainbow Dash replied, waving her hoof to indicate that it was no big deal. “We had a meeting. Everypony knows what’s up.”

Twilight glowered. “It doesn’t feel ‘cool’. Half the camp seems to be deciding whether or not to throw me in chains.”

“Nopony wants to do that,” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully, lowering herself back to her space at the table. She paused a moment, then clarified, “Okay, some ponies want to do that. But it’s just a few. Hundred. So relax! You’re with the good guys now. Have some cider!” She gestured to the mugs in the center of the table.

“Cider that I went to the trouble to painstakingly get for everyone,” Sunset Shimmer clarified. Grinning at Twilight, she added, “I think that was very generous of me. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uh…” Twilight and Applejack squeezed in between Trixie and Sunset at the table. “Yes, that was very thoughtful of you.” Rainbow Dash slid two mugs across the table for the pair.

“I told them about Bridle Rock,” Fluttershy said eagerly. She was practically glowing from excitement. “Applejack listened to everything I had to say. She even thanked me for the information! Thank you so much for helping me get here. I couldn’t have done this without—”

Fluttershy’s heartfelt gratitude was interrupted Applejack choking and coughing on her cider. She roughly shoved the mug away from her and turned away from the table, sputtering and choking up the contents she’d engulfed. “What in tarnation are y’all shovin’ down your gullets?” she demanded as soon as she could breathe. “No offense meant to anypony but I gotta ask, is this swill? I mean, actual swill? Did somepony empty out a washbucket into a mug on accident?”

Twilight gave her own mug a taste. The problem hit her tongue in an instant. Applejack was right, there was something terribly off about this cider. The rich, full flavor had been replaced by a watered-down tang. She stuck out her tongue in disgust.

“It came from that cider stand over there,” Flash Sentry answered, perplexed. “Is something wrong?”

Applejack stood up from the table, following Flash’s gesture. Twilight could feel Applejack’s entire body groan at the sight.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, step on up and get yourself a mug of the coolest, the spiciest, the most refreshing cider this side of what’s left of Equestria!” Flim. In the commotion of her reunion with Applejack, Twilight had forgotten that he was even here. “You’ll only find it here, folks! The one, the only Flimflam Brothers’ Apple Cider, coming at you straight from the Quick n’ Speedy Mobile Squeezy 3000! Ain’t that right, brother?” Flim addressed a wooden carving resting on his stand, vaguely shaped like a pony. He stood there blankly, as though waiting for the carving to reply.

“Eeyup, that explains it,” Applejack said dryly.

Twilight blinked. “Is he charging money for this?”

“Well, he was, but AJ told him he could have his profits or the safety of the camp. Now he just does that,” Rainbow Dash explained.

Lyra explained, “We do try to encourage coping mechanisms in ponies under our care. Flim’s not a Shieldmare, but he can still help out in his own way. We just have to put up with a few eccentricities. It’s still better for everypony than throwing him to the royals.”

“Ha!” Flim exclaimed in the distance, ending his long, uncomfortable pause. “That is absolutely right, brother! The Granny Smith Special is a great way to close out a hard day of training! Get it now while supplies last!”

“Wow.” Twilight turned away from the stand, rejoining the others at the table. “You know, I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t like the Flimflam Brothers very much when I met them, but that’s still hard to watch. I actually feel bad for him.”

“I don’t,” Applejack noted dryly.

Though the others turned away, Fluttershy continued watching Flim going through his strange one-sided routine. “This feels wrong to me too,” she said simply. For four fugitives from Bridle Rock, there was nothing to say that wasn’t already shared within the group.

“Come on.” Flash nudged Fluttershy back towards the table. “We did what you wanted. It’s only a matter of time before the Shield sets the others free.”

Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash. “I wanted to ask about that. I’m sure you have a lot going on right now. I got to see some of the spells they’re using to defend Bridle Rock while I was there. If there’s anything I can do to he—”

“We’ll let you know,” Lyra said curtly.

Something about that answer didn’t sit right with Twilight. “I realize it might not be the most important task you have to deal with,” she added, carefully eying Lyra for a reaction.

“Are you nuts?!” That reaction, however, came from Rainbow Dash instead. Lyra merely sipped calmly from her mug while Rainbow Dash exploded. “This is the most important thing we have! I mean, not THE most important, but it’s up there! We’ve been trying to find that secret prison for moons!”

Twilight had thought that such a positive reassurance would put her fears aside, and yet Rainbow Dash’s exuberance bothered her in an entirely new way. “Why is that?” she asked.

“Uh, ‘cause it’s an evil hole in the ground where ponies are sent to rot,” Trixie answered for Rainbow Dash. “Trixie thought that was obvious.”

“There some reason they shouldn’t?” Applejack asked, as perplexed by Twilight’s line of questioning as the others.

“No,” Twilight admitted. She caught the wounded look Fluttershy was giving her. “I’m not opposed to it,” she said quickly. She looked to Flash. “I’ve just been thinking about what you said. I’ve never had to think about planning a war, thank Celesti--.” She slapped a hoof over her snout. She looked at the faces around her, each souring at her expression. “I am so sorry, that was insensitive of me.”

“At least you caught it,” Fluttershy said quietly.

Turning to Rainbow Dash, Lyra gestured at Twilight. “Did you hear that? That, right there. That’s what I’m talking about. She cares enough to apologize. Without even being prompted! That’s why I trust her.”

“Ugh, fine.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You made your point. Can we move on now?”

“Right,” Twilight said quietly. “As I was saying, I’ve been trying to figure out what war in Equestria even means. I know why Fluttershy cares so much about freeing the ponies trapped at Bridle Rock. What I don’t understand is why you do. I don’t see the ‘tactical value’, I guess. Is it about numbers? Are you hoping to recruit some of the ponies?”

The table around Twilight fell silent. “What?” Twilight asked. “Did I say something wrong again?”

“Did you seriously never notice?” Trixie asked.

“I suppose I didn’t. Was there something about Bridle Rock that I missed?”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy said delicately. “What do you think happened to Apple Bloom?”

“I don’t know. Something must have happened to her, because I saw the way Applejack….” Twilight stopped suddenly. The gears turned in her head, causing the answer to click into place. “No,” she whispered. She shook her head slowly, standing up from the table. “No, that can’t be right. She wouldn’t… I wouldn’t… We wouldn’t do that!”

Twilight glanced frantically around the table at her new friends, but none of the ponies seated would meet her gaze. These were ponies who had already faced and digested this horror, who’d had to make their peace with it in their own way. The crushing weight of solemn reality weighed down upon the group. Only Sunset Shimmer seemed unaffected as she downed her cider.

“It’s not just her,” Rainbow Dash said bitterly. “She took Scootaloo too. Shoved them both in a hole, Celestia knows where, and told everypony they were going to a ‘special school’ to teach them how to ‘get along with others’.”

“Why?” she pleaded for somepony to answer. “Why would she do that?”

“Because she’s evil,” Rainbow Dash replied bluntly. “She always has been. We just didn’t see it at first. We thought she was helping.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight shrieked. “Why would she lock them away?! They’re good fillies. They’d never hurt anypony. What could they have possibly done?!”

“Twilight,” Applejack said weakly, but she made no further effort to calm Twilight’s outburst. Her pale face and wide eyes showed that she, too, was wrestling with this new, fresh horror from a world under siege.

Applejack didn’t have to say anything further. Twilight knew what she wanted. She wanted Twilight to breathe. She wanted Twilight to control her feelings and not get carried away. But she was wrong. “No,” Twilight said sharply. “I’m not going to calm down because this is wrong. This is impossibly wrong. How could this have happened? How could anypony let this happen?”

“We have an agent on the inside,” Lyra explained calmly. She glanced at Applejack. “I believe you’ve met.”

“Uh, yeah,” Applejack whispered, still visibly shaken. “Just for two shakes of a dog’s tail.”

Lyra took another sip of her mug. “Our agent saw everything. The sad thing is, you’re not wrong. From what she’s told us, all those fillies wanted was to earn their Cutie Marks.”

Rarity paced frantically back and forth in the crystal throne room, her hoofsteps echoing off the crystal walls. Shining Armor stood at attention to the left, spear raised skyward, accompanied by a dozen Royal Guardponies and three Special Agents, with Sweetie Drops among them. Before the royal court, a trio of fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders hugged tightly to one another, shivering in various degrees of nervousness.

Behind Rarity and Shining Armor, a flight of stairs covered in a purple rolled carpet led up the Crystal Throne. Twilight Sparkle sat with her head raised high, towering over the ponies below. She had said nothing since the Crusaders were brought into her presence, but her stern gaze had never left them.

“I just can’t understand what you were thinking?!” Rarity declared, the panic fresh on her voice. “Do you have any idea what you might have done?! This situation was delicate enough as it was!”

“We never meant for nothin’ to happen, honest!” Apple Bloom said, standing slightly ahead of her friends. “We were just tryin’ to earn our bobsleddin’ Cutie Marks. We thought we were far enough away that there wouldn’t be nopony out there.”

Sweetie Drops held up a report, reading off from it. “My agents can corroborate that no pony was present at the scene of the avalanche. However, a family of yaks were camping at the bottom of the mountain when both they and their equipment were submerged in the snow.”

“Prince Rutherford is calling this an unprovoked attack!” Rarity screeched. “He’s threatening us with war!”

“Are the yaks okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“None of the yaks have been seriously harmed,” Sweetie Drops reported. “A few scrapes and bruises here or there, but no major injuries.”

“That might not matter,” Shining Armor observed. “The yaks have been uncomfortable with having a large military presence on their border since we moved up here. If Prince Rutherford thinks the avalanche was just the opening volley of an assault, he may decide to make a pre-emptive strike against us. If that happens, we’ll have no choice but to go to war.”

Apple Bloom’s lip quivered. “We didn’t mean to hurt nopony,” she repeated.

Sweetie Drops glanced at the fillies over the top her report. “I think we all know you didn’t,” she said with a gentle smile. “This was an accident.”

“Right,” Rarity said, struggling to compose herself. “Right, of course. An accident. A potentially apocalyptic accident that could have terrible consequences for all of us. But we’ll manage, of course. We always have.” She looked to Shining Armor, desperation shining in her eyes. “Won’t we?”

Shining Armor cleared his throat. “The Guard’s numbers remain heavily depleted and our stores are low. We’re rebuilding, but it will take time. With half our standing military defecting, I don’t know if—"

“You’re talking about Applejack,” Twilight said, speaking up for the first time since the Crusaders’ hearing began. “Her violent mob was never part of our military. It was a mistake to even let them form in the first place; I hope you haven’t been counting them among our defenses.”

Shining Armor blinked. “I misspoke.” He gave a small bow of his head, trusting that the show of deference would appease his little sister’s temper. “What I meant to say was that the Guard is already stretched thin as it is. With all the skirmishes we’ve been having with Applejack’s forces, we don’t have the ponies or resources to fight a war on a second front. An invasion by Yakyakistan would mean the end of Equestria.”

“We’re really sorry,” Sweetie Belle insisted.

Rarity pulled her little sister in for a close hug. “Oh, Sweetie Belle, we know. You just wanted your Cutie Marks, but your timing couldn’t have been worse. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll find a way to manage all the same.”

“Why don’t you fillies run along and play?” Shining Armor suggested. “We still have a lot to discuss here and you don’t need to trouble yourselves with it.”

“Yes, sir,” Apple Bloom said somberly. As she and her friends made for the door, she stated, “We’re sorry again. We won’t do nothin’ like that again, promise. We--”

“Wait,” Twilight called out from her throne. She didn’t look at the fillies; her eyes were fixed on the reflective arm of the Crystal Throne. She said nothing for a few seconds, instead staring intently at her own reflection, at the burned visage and cracked horn that reminded her every day of the weight she bore. She would protect Equestria from any creature or any pony that dared threaten it.

Twilight rose from her throne and descended the carpeted stairs. “You,” she said, sizing up Apple Bloom with her good eye. “I know you. Why do I know you? Have we met?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both shot nervous looks at Apple Bloom in the center. Apple Bloom gulped. “Uh, yes, ma’am,” she said earnestly. “Day of the Summer Sun Festival, way back when. We asked you to stay for brunch, me and the family, but--”

“You’re Applejack’s sister,” Twilight whispered. Her eyes grew wide with the revelation. This changed everything.

“Yes’m,” Apple Bloom said quietly. “We ain’t seen hide nor hair of her for a spell, but that’s the honest truth.”

“The war was cruel all of us, I’m afraid,” Rarity said sadly. “But I believe we can—"

“What did you say?” Twilight said suddenly.

Rarity blinked. “I said the war was cruel to—”

“No. Before.” Twilight sifted her hoof in the air, as if sorting through invisible files. “You said the timing couldn’t be worse.” She walked slowly, rounding the Cutie Mark Crusaders while thinking aloud. “Our forces could handle an attack by the yaks, but only by leaving us weak to Applejack’s insurgents. This avalanche pinned us between two hostile forces.”

Shining Armor was the first to follow Twilight’s train of thought. “You don’t think….”

Rarity was the next to get there. “Darling, these are fillies. They don’t even have their cutie marks yet! They couldn’t possibly--”

“Seal the room,” Twilight snapped at Sweetie Drops. The earth pony stood motionless, stunned by the force of Twilight’s demand. The report clenched in her foreleg visibly shook. Despite her inaction, the Guardponies behind her moved quickly, using their magic to pull the doors shut.

“She put you up to this,” Twilight said; by the tone of her voice, it was clearly a statement, not a question. “When did she contact you?” she demanded. “Did she plan this? How long has she been plotting against Equestria?!”

“I told you the truth!” Apple Bloom insisted. “We ain’t seen her since we left Ponyville! Honest!”

“You expect me to believe that?!” Twilight closed in on Apple Bloom. “We’re caught in a dangerous pincer because of you three! It’s a brilliant move, the kind that only a master strategist like myself could have come up with! Attacks like this don’t happen by accident. What do you know?!”

“Hey, leave her alone!” Scootaloo shouted, shoving roughly against Twilight.

Twilight took a step back, surprised by the force of Scootaloo’s push. Shock turned quickly to outrage, however. She narrowed her eyes and gave her horn the tiniest flick, causing Scootaloo to levitate helplessly into the air, clasped in a golden aura.

“Let her go!” Sweetie Belle shouted. Twilight scooped her and Apple Bloom up as well, lifting all three Crusaders into the air.

“Darling, you can’t think this is true,” Rarity pleaded.

“They attacked me! That proves that they’re on her side! This wasn’t an accident, it was an act of war and we let it happen!”

“You don’t know that,” Rarity urged. She looked quickly at the stallion standing across from her. “For goodness sake, would you please talk some sense into your sister!”

A solemn look fell over Shining Armor’s face. “Applejack is a traitor to the throne,” he said sadly. “I can’t imagine any pony would be so evil as to weaponize fillies. But then, I never thought any pony would be so evil as to seek Equestria’s destruction, especially so soon after we lost Princess Celestia.”

“You too?” Rarity asked, visibly wounded by her brother-in-law’s decision. “I understand we are all under a tragic amount of stress, but we must not cast aside our civility. I thought you would understand that better than anypony.”

Shining Armor closed his eyes. He breathed deeply. “I do understand,” he said. “I understand better than anypony what can happen when ponies within our own ranks turn on us. We made that mistake with the changelings and it cost us everything. I know you don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to say it. But Twili’s right. Above all else, we must not let Applejack destroy everything that Equestria stands for.”

“No,” Rarity said distantly. “No, we seem to be doing that just fine by ourselves.”

The room fell silent, but for the cries and pleas of the Crusaders. Twilight quivered; her iron persona fell in pieces to the ground. Rarity knew instantly that she’d overstepped, but it was too late to take the words back. She’d crossed a line.

“Rarity, help us,” Sweetie Belle begged.

“Rarity,” Twilight said distantly, her voice dripping fear and vulnerability. “Are you with me?”

Rarity knew this question intimately. As a former Shieldmare, her place in the Crystal Palace was always in question. She knew how the guards whispered about her. She wondered many times about the doubts and fears that hid in the deepest recesses of her wife’s heart. Time and time again, whenever she stepped out of line, she faced that wicked question: are you with me?

But it was never a demand for loyalty. It was a cry for help each and every time Twilight asked it from one of the only creatures in all of Equestria who truly understood her. Twilight had faced loss and betrayal, and yet was still determined to push through it all for Equestria. Another abandonment would do her emotional state no good. Twilight would suffer with Rarity gone, and Equestria would suffer in turn. Being here in the Palace was the only way Rarity could help everypony.

So Rarity answered in the same way she always did. “Of course, I am,” she said confidently. “I’m with you.” And just as she always did, Rarity silenced her conscience and resigned herself to the inevitable. Perhaps Twilight was right, she told herself. Maybe, just maybe, this truly was an act of war carried out through a terrible conspiracy. Maybe what was about to happen was not, in fact, a terrible crime against ponykind.

Maybe some day, she’d find some way to forgive herself.

But not without Sweetie Belle.

Twilight gave Shining Armor a nod. She released the Crusaders from her magic, setting them on the floor in front of him. “You know what to do.”

“Darling, wait,” Rarity spoke up once more. “I won’t stop you, of course not. But you know my Sweetie Belle. She’s a sweet filly with a good heart. She could hardly stand to hurt a fly; she’d never have anything to do with those traitorous ruffians.”

Twilight considered Rarity’s plea for a second. “We can’t take any chances,” she replied. “I swore to Princess Celestia that I would protect us from any creature that tried to threaten Equestria. Sweetie Belle was on the mountain. We have to assume that she’s working for Applejack.”

The idea struck both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo at once. They exchanged glances, each affirming what the other already wanted to do. “Excuse me, but I want to make a confession.”

“Me too!” Scootaloo hopped up and down, waving her forelegs. “I want to confess too!”

Twilight hesitated. This sudden change of heart was unexpected, but not altogether unwelcome. “Go on,” she urged, curious to see where this would go.

“I did it,” Apple Bloom said. “My sister said to make the avalanche and I made it.”

“It was my sled that caused it,” Scootaloo added. “We did it together.”

“How did she contact you?” Twilight inquired.

Apple Bloom explained, “It was a secret family letter drop. Shaped like a bird!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo jumped up on her hind legs. “It goes, ‘Cacaw! Cacaw!’ Then when you look at it, it turns into a letter. It’s so cool!”

Sweetie Belle shook her head slowly at the antics of her friends. “What is wrong with you?” she whispered under her breath.

“She gave you these instructions, then?”

“Uh, yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “Just like y’said. But it was just us, Scootaloo and me.”

“Wait, what?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. The reality of what the others were doing suddenly dawned on her.

Scootaloo looked at Rarity. “Sweetie Belle wasn’t part of it. She wasn’t even on the mountain with us!”

“That’s not true! They’re lying!”

“That’s the truth,” Apple Bloom asserted. “You do whatever you want with us, but don’t hurt her none ‘cause she weren’t even there.”

“Stop lying!” Sweetie Belle screamed with tears in her eyes. “I was there! I was on the mountain!”

Twilight considered Apple Bloom’s confession for a moment. She looked at Rarity and saw the hope blossoming in her eyes. She gave a light nod of her head. “Get her out of here,” she told Rarity.

“You can’t do this!” Sweetie Belle grasped for Scootaloo, but Rarity swept her up with her magic and pulled her away from the other two. “Tell them the truth!” she screamed, tears dripping on the crystalline floor beneath her. “I was there! Tell them!”

“Thank you for being our friend,” Scootaloo replied with a sad smile. It was the last thing either of her friends said to her before Sweetie Belle was carried out the front doors to the relative safety of the palace. She screamed bloody fury for hours. She didn’t stop crying for days.

She wasn’t the only one.

“Our asset made contact three days later,” Lyra explained, her voice stained with distant rage. “We spotted her walking alone, out by that old fountain just across from the flower shop. During the war, she and I made a promise that if either of us was ever lost and couldn’t find the other, we could both make our way there to find each other again. She told me she couldn’t support a regime that was capable of so much cruelty. She said a lot of things, but mostly that.”

“But y’saved the fillies, right?” Applejack asked.

“It was too late. The fillies had already been moved. A delegation was sent to the yaks to explain that the culprits had been caught and were being punished. Their families were told they’d been taken to a remedial boarding school to learn how to behave around our yak neighbors. They said it’d be like a summer camp and that the fillies would be well taken care of. It was just another lie.”

“Bridle Rock is built on a foundation of lies,” Flash Sentry said, scowling furiously. “Whether it’s the lies they tell other ponies or the lies they tell themselves to justify the work they do, everything about that place is just another lie.” Fluttershy patted his hoof.

“How could she?” Twilight asked vacantly. There were no words to defend this atrocity. There was no academic curiosity to be had anymore. She could not defend this; she could barely believe she ever had.

“Twilight Sparkle’s dumping ground for ponies she doesn’t want in her pretty, perfect Crystal Empire.”

Sunset Shimmer had said those words to her and they rang truer than ever before. In this world, Twilight was a monster. Did that mean she was a monster? If Twilight Sparkle was truly so terrible, then what did that say about Twilight Sparkle? She wanted to believe that she was a good pony. She wanted to believe that she was capable of great things. But here was this ugliness haunting this world, and it wore her face.

“Well, what are we sittin’ here for?!” Applejack asked. “We got innocent fillies locked away in cages just for playin’ around a little?! There ain’t no two ways about it, that pony is evil. We should get out there, save those ponies, and give her what for!”

That pony is evil. Applejack was right; Twilight couldn’t deny that anymore. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, looking up from her mug of cheap cider-colored sludge. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”

“I thought you knew,” Fluttershy said gently. “They were in the prison with us.”

“They were?”

“They mostly hang out with Iron Will’s crew,” Sunset Shimmer explained. “There’s this guy over there. Picture a pony made entirely out of muscles. Then imagine he ate a bull, and you get an idea for—”

“Bulk Biceps,” Applejack stated.

“Yeah, that idiot. I think he’s friends with them or something? I don’t know, it’s not my herd. Oh, and for the record, I never said anything because I don’t care. Iron Will’s crew isn’t my business. He keeps to his, I keep to mine. That’s how it goes in Bridle Rock.”

“Y’all are gonna put a stop to this, right?” Applejack asked. “We’ll go right now, all of us and all of y’all!”

“Hold your horses,” Lyra insisted. “There is a plan in motion that’s going to set everything right. We just need some time. Two or three days at the most. I promise, when we’re done, there won’t be a single pony in chains ever again. The only thing in question are each of you. Are you willing to help us with this? Will you stand with us and help liberate Equestria?”

“You can count on me,” Applejack said instantly. “Probably ain’t much of a surprise, considerin’. I might not know all the ins and outs of this place, but I know my rights and wrongs and that princess of y’all’s sure as shootin’ ain’t right.”

“I don’t want to fight anypony,” Fluttershy said. “That’s even worse than fighting changelings. I just want everypony to be safe and happy.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “That’s not going to happen without fighting. The only way Twilight leaves that throne is when we drag her off of it.”

“And then what?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash aggressively shrugged her forelegs. “And then she won’t be on it anymore. What kind of question is that?”

“Think it over,” Lyra requested. “Ideals are wonderful to have and to hold to, but there comes a time when you need to set idealism aside and make a stand. Equestria’s freedom won’t come from kindness; it has to be paid for in courage.”

“Why does courage have to mean violence?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s just how the world is.” Lyra stood up from the table. “Rainbow Dash, let’s get the girls moving.”

“Right.” Rainbow Dash gulped down her fourth mug of cider. She slammed the mug down on the table, then burst up into the air above the table. Flapping her wings to hold her aloft, she circled her hoof and called out to the mess area. “Quit your lollygagging, ladies! Wrap it up and fall in!”

The mess area erupted with activity. Hundreds of ponies vacated their tables, turning into an ocean of horsehide and tail hair. The tide swept first to the trash cans and adjacent tray depositories, then branched out and filtered into over a dozen square herds. Each herd was four ponies wide and nine deep, all standing in a gathering field just outside the mess.

“Move out!” Rainbow Dash ordered. The air filled with the thunderous cacophony of the Shieldmares’ hooves striking the ground in a disorganized rhythm. They lacked the precision and discipline of the Royal Guard and their columns marched unevenly, occasionally swaying from row to row. Even so, the unity and dedication of these ponies to their cause was unmistakable.

“Have a good evening, ladies,” Lyra said to the group before taking her own leave.

“Did she just call me a lady?” Flash Sentry asked.

“That’s okay,” Fluttershy assured him. “It just means you don’t count.”

Flash raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Where we are?” Trixie asked. “Better a nopony than a Royal.”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

“What a load that was,” Sunset Shimmer observed. “’Ideals are nice, I’m so clever, please ignore the dozen or so ponies with weapons conveniently seated by you.’ She honestly thinks we don’t know what she’s doing?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. There was Sunset Shimmer hating everypony and being mean, right on cue. “And what exactly do you think she’s doing?”

“She was feeding us a sales pitch. She rehearsed that conversation. ‘Freedom needs to be paid for in courage!’ No one talks like that. That was a speech. And she made sure to do it when we were surrounded by Shieldmares because she wants us to feel pressured into signing up with them.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to need to explain that again, because it sounds pointless. Trixie was under the impression that that’s literally the entire reason why we came here.”

“Oh, it is,” Sunset said quickly. “Of course, that’s why we came here. That’s the whole point. We know that. They know that. So what in Equestria is Lyra trying so hard to sell us on?”

“We’re back at the storage tent?” Twilight squinted at Applejack. “Why are we back here?”

“No reason at all, sugarcube.” Applejack shot her a wry grin. “I just reckon Spike might have found his way back, is all.”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do nothin’. Let’s just have a peek inside.”

Just like that, Twilight knew this was a setup. Spike hadn’t gone missing; Applejack had planned this from the start. She followed her partner inside and sure enough, Spike lay curled up on one of the cots in the back corner.

She was, however, surprised at how unsurprising the tent seemed. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected those two to have cooked up, but she expected something. Spike by his lonesome wasn’t much of a surprise; certainly not enough to justify cloak and dagger shenanigans.

“Up and at ‘em, Spike,” Applejack said, nudging the little dragon with her hoof. “Come on, rise and shine.”

“Twilight?” Spike murmured in his sleepy drone. He rolled over to face the ponies, allowing Twilight to make out a book with a purple cover clenched in his claws. He blinked several times, then rubbed his eyes with his claws to wipe away the sleep. “Oh! AJ! You’re not Twilight.”

“Nah, reckon we both know I ain’t smart enough by half to even pretend to be her for a day. Nice try, though.”

“That’s not what Twilight says,” Spike asserted. He let out a long yawn. “She thinks you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

“Yeah, well, she’s got a dog in that race so that don’t count. You find what we talked about?”

Standing up, Spike held the book aloft. “Does a pig sleep in mud?” he asked with a sharp grin.

“He don’t, not if he can help it. But it’s a nice try all the same.” Applejack scruffed Spike’s head fin with her hoof. “Mark me, we’ll make a farmhoof of you if my name ain’t Apple Mud.” Recognizing the absence of a certain pony from the conversation, Applejack looked behind her. “Hey Twilight, you wanna kick off your cloak and stay a while? We got….” The smile on Twilight’s face took the words out of Applejack’s mouth.

Twilight seemed to visibly glow as she approached her family. She wore the largest smile that Applejack had seen on her in over a moon. She walked lightly on her hooves, looking eagerly from Spike to Applejack. “By all means, go on,” she said cheerfully, as though the terrible weight of this broken world had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Go on with what?” Applejack asked, perplexed.

“You’re bonding.” Twilight took a seat beside the cot, just opposite Applejack. “You two have never bonded. When did this happen? How did this happen?”

“You were gone,” Spike said simply.

Applejack nodded. “Now, I know you and I ain’t always seen eye to eye on Spike, but somepony had to take care of the little guy.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “You took care of him when I couldn’t be there?” she asked, laying a hoof on Applejack’s.

“Well, yeah. It wouldn’t do to leave him out in the cold like that. It’s like you said; Spike’s part of the family. Family don’t turn its back on family.”

“I love you,” Twilight blurted out. It took a second for her own mind to catch up to what she said. She blushed furiously and stammered, “I-I-I mean, you knew that, but-but I---”

“I didn’t, no,” Applejack admitted. “Not since the way things have been lately.” She lifted Twilight’s hoof and clapped it between both of her forelegs. “But I’d hoped y’still felt that same fire burnin’ in your heart that I got in mine.”

“For a while, I didn’t,” Twilight confessed. “I thought that if I gave it time, things would be different. I thought the pain would go away if I just waited long enough. I tried to find distractions to avoid thinking about it. Let me tell you, I’ve been pretty well distracted this last week, but the pain still never went away. It was always there, waiting to come right back whenever I found a quiet moment.”

“And now?”

“It’s still there, but there’s something else. Seeing you and Spike like this makes me feel a way I haven’t felt in quite some time. You’re learning. You listened to me, you understood how you were hurting me, and you’re making an effort to be better. That means something. There is something here, I know there is and I don’t want to give up on it.”

Twilight cleared her throat. She took a deep breath, then bare the truth in her heart. “I don’t want to be the pony that causes so much pain to everypony she meets because she’s afraid to let them into her life. Mercy is hard. It’s painful and it’s a constant struggle and sometimes it doesn’t work out and you’re left with a gaping hole where your heart should be, but it’s still better than cruelty. Isn’t it?”

“I don’t rightly know, sugar,” Applejack admitted. “I ain’t about to tell a pony how to run a kingdom. That’s over my head by a foot and a half. I know zap apples will spoil if’n you don’t get to ‘em lickety-split. I know Spike’s comin’ along to be a shrewd salesdragon.”

Spike gave Twilight a wink. “Since you’re my friend, I can get you a great deal on an apple turnover. Three bits and it’s a deal.”

“Apple turnovers already cost three bits,” Twilight answered, grinning at the little dragon.

“SHHHHH! You’re ruining my pitch!”

Applejack and Twilight shared a moment of laughter at Spike’s indignation. A second later, the dragon joined in too. In one little corner of that desolate world, mirth, love, and compassion had found a home.

“But for a thing like this?” Applejack said, returning to her point. “All I can do is what I always do when knowin’ right and wrong get blurry. I ask myself: what would Twilight Sparkle do? That ain’t never steered me wrong.”

Twilight smiled, but Applejack could still make out a distant sadness in her eyes. “What if I don’t know what to do?” Twilight asked.

“Then you sit right down and you look at the pony you are. Don’t you look at her, look at you. Think about all the choices you made that got you this far, ‘cause you must be doin’ something right. And when you got a good idea of the life you lived, you ask yourself: what would Twilight Sparkle do?”

“Right now?” Twilight asked, still wearing that beaming smile across her face. “I think she’d want to curl up on a hard, gross cot with her family and read whatever that book is that you two are being so secretive about. What is that, anyway?”

“Oh, this?” Spike turned the book around so that Twilight could see the graphic design on the cover. Two ponies dressed in silver suits stood in a metallic room, looking out at an ocean of stars beyond a viewing window in the center. “It’s The Adventures of Stellar Journey Vol. 7: The Missing Eclipse. Lyra had a copy of it from Golden Oak. Applejack said I should go find it for you to read tonight.”

“This is what you two were sneaking around about?” Twilight gave Applejack a skeptical glare. “What’s going on here? You hate science fiction.”

“Course I do.” Applejack grimaced. “Those books are all about fancy doodads that don’t amount to a hill of beans in real life. I don’t gotta know what a hyper-turbo-whatnot runs on if there ain’t none of it’s ever gonna be real anyway. If you wanna make a thing run on magic, just say it runs on magic and move on.”

Twilight had about six different counterpoints she wanted to make, but prior experience with this argument assured her that it was better to just bite her tongue. Sometimes it was better to be happy than to be right; Granny Smith was a wise pony when she’d passed along those words. Instead, she opted to simply ask, “Why did you send Spike to get a book you hate?”

“You really don’t remember?” Applejack asked. She ran a hoof along the cover. “Twilight, this is the first book you ever read to me way back when. Now, I’d just spent twelve hours harvestin’ for Nightmare Night. I was just about to spend another twelve hours bakin’ up some sweet treats for Nightmare Night. And there you were, readin’ away.”

“That’s right,” Twilight said wistfully. “I remember. The last issue ended on a cliffhanger. I’d been waiting three moons to find out what happens next. How does an eclipse go missing? I mean, it’s not a physical object, eith—”

“Either it happens or it don’t,” Applejack finished for her. “That was all you could talk about. I didn’t like you ignorin’ me, but I didn’t want to get in front of your readin’, neither.”

“That’s right. So I asked if you’d like to read it with me. Wow, I can’t believe you remembered that.”

“Course I remember. I didn’t like the book, but that don’t mean I didn’t love the listenin’. That’s what I want tonight to be about. I reckon it’d do us good to take some time and remember why we fell in love in the first place.”

Twilight responded by levitating the book out of Spike’s claws. She laid it to rest in one hoof, using her other foreleg to turn to the first page. “Applejack, it would be my greatest privilege if you would read this book with me.”

Twilight stood on the shore, feeling the sand brushing up against her hooves. She watched the waves come in, lapping at the shore before vanishing back into the ocean whence they came. This place was every bit as peaceful as she remembered. A perfect place to practice a craft that shouldn’t have been hers.

What would Twilight Sparkle do? Those words stuck with her, floating through her mind. It was a complicated question. More complicated than Applejack knew, surely. She’d seen many Twilight Sparkles since she’d been here and not all of them would have the same answer. Twilight was a spectrum, encompassing a variety of different ponies with a million different ideas.

All of them, each and every one, were her. And yet none of them were. She was a farm pony and a queen. She was a brutal dictator and a benevolent governess. She saved the world and she destroyed the world. She loved stallions, she loved mares, and sometimes she even was a stallion herself. There were as many Twilight Sparkles as there were grains of sand on Sensible Beach and they all, each and every one of them, were her.

She had only the one body, of course. It was probably right where she’d left it, laying on its side with its head on Applejack’s chest and Spike nestled in between its forelegs. But with Discord’s help, her mind was expanding in dimensions she never even knew existed. She was beginning to feel them even without making the psychic journey to visit them. She could hear multiple worlds resonating through her Mind Palace and they all made sense to her.

She was Twilight Sparkle. But here at Sensible Beach, she had a chance to be something more. Twilight opened up her mind’s eye and relaxed her perception of the possible. She took hold of this external reality around her. And she began to create.

1 - Distress of the Heart

“Okay, girls, last chance to change our minds,” Twilight warned her friends. A brisk wind blew across Sweet Apple Acres that day, carrying a light chill that Twilight felt she could mistake for ominous, were she not clearly above such omens. “Are we absolutely certain that we want to do this?”

“I don’t like having that thing around,” Fluttershy admitted meekly. “It’s too depressing to keep looking at.”

“I agree,” Rarity said quickly. There was a hint of bitterness in her voice as she spoke; it was a subtle rage she reserved for personal betrayals, buried under her ever-present veneer of civility. Twilight had rarely ever heard it. More often than not, when it did come up, it seemed directed at Applejack. She’d never gotten the history there, but it piqued her curiosity more than once. “We agreed that I was to have the final word on the matter, and I say it’s almost too good for him. Besides, he is harmless now, is he not?”

“There isn’t even a ‘he’ left, as near as I can tell,” Twilight confirmed. She looked to the wagon lying in the center of the path. Resting inside the wagon was a massive rock that appeared to be vaguely shaped like a diamond. Rarity had named it Tom a few moons back during the battle with Discord. After the battle was over, it had seemed hilarious then.

It stopped being funny weeks later, when it had named itself Cardinal. A last-ditch contingency by Discord had gone off-script, deceiving and manipulating Twilight’s friends. Rarity had taken it the hardest; so far as anypony else was concerned, Tom’s fate was in her hooves first and foremost.

“I’ve cast every spell I know to be sure,” Twilight continued. “Princess Celestia has as well. There’s still a bit of magic inside of Tom, but it’s residual. As near as I can tell, everything that we knew as Cardinal has ceased to exist. I wouldn’t even call it harmless, because that would imply that there’s something inside of it to be harmless. There’s not; any intelligence or will inside of Tom is gone. It would be impossible for the stone to reactivate.”

“Then there ain’t nothin’ to fuss about,” Applejack said, hooking a hoof around Twilight’s. “Twi’s magic ain’t never led us wrong before and I ain’t about to start doubtin’ now.”

A smile spread across Twilight’s blushing cheeks. She leaned gently into Applejack, savoring the tingling feeling across her skin at the touch of her special somepony. “Thank you,” she said simply.

“We should have a party!” Pinkie suggested, leaping into the air from excitement at her own suggestion. “We can do it tonight! A going away party for Tom!”

Applejack snickered. “Ain’t much of a goin’ away if the rock’s already gone.”

“I think it’s a lovely idea, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said. “Instead of a farewell party, we can have a Good Riddance Party to celebrate no longer living with the reminder in our midst.”

“Good Riddance to Bad Rockish!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “It’s perfect! I’ll get started right away!” Before anypony could say anything, she was gone, bounding down the road for Ponyville.

“I guess it’s settled,” Twilight said. “Does anyone want to say anything to, uh…to the rock?”

Rainbow Dash had been silent throughout the conversation. At Twilight’s request, she shrugged. “I don’t know. He seemed kinda cool. Then he wasn’t. What else is there to say?”

Clearing her throat, Rarity stepped forward. Addressing the stone, she said, “Farewell, Tom. I hope you make a better plug than you did a friend.”

Twilight nodded at Rarity’s eulogy. “Well, we should get going, then. Are you all set back there?”

Hitched to the wagon, Big Macintosh called back, “Eeyup!”

“Great.” She nuzzled Applejack before untwining her hoof. “You don’t have to come, you know. Big Mac and I can take care of this.”

“It ain’t nothin’, Twilight. Big Mac and I can handle the West Orchard soon as we’re back. I want to see this m’self. You, uh…you know where we’re going?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, but that’s why we’re following….” She drifted off, suddenly realizing who was missing from the group. “PINKIE!!!”

Deep in the Everfree Forest, Twilight laid Tom to rest in a large hole. He seemed to fit perfectly, blocking the entrance to the Mirror Pool forever. Once Tom had settled into place, Twilight let out an audible sigh.

“Somethin’ wrong, sugar?” Applejack asked, coming up from behind her. Looking to Big Mac and Pinkie Pie, she said, “Why don’t y’all go on ahead and we’ll catch up? I think Twi needs a minute with the crazy evil rock.”

“Eeyup.”

“It just seems like a waste,” Twilight admitted, just as soon as the others were gone. “This was a kind of magic I’ve never seen before. A thinking, feeling, free-willed enchantment that feeds on magic is unheard of in Equestrian history. Princess Celestia was familiar with it, but none of the books I’ve read even suggested that such a thing is possible.”

“Equestrians didn’t make Cardinal,” Applejack said bluntly. “This is all Discord, and the less we have of his magic lyin’ about, the better we’ll all be.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Twilight said noncommittally. “Doesn’t it make you curious, though? I mean, if Discord is capable of crafting magic like this, what else could he--”

“Let me stop you right there,” Applejack said, putting a hoof to Twilight’s lips. “There ain’t nothin’ good comes of this magic. Cardinal gave us a whole mess of trouble with a helpin’ of problems besides, and you know that. I love you sugar, but some things, there ain’t no good comes of messin’ with them.”

Twilight seemed unconvinced but after a few seconds, she nodded slowly. “I know, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Discord’s dangerous, don’t get me wrong. The last thing Equestria needs is for him to ever find a way to be free again, but what if his magic could at least be put to--”

Twilight interrupted herself with a giggle. “Hey!” Applejack had lain a foreleg over her neck and used the vantage to reach her ear, nibbling gently on it. “Quit that!” She shouted halfheartedly, straining to protest through the spreading grin. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Takin’ your mind off it,” Applejack whispered, before laying a kiss just under Twilight’s chin. “It’s just you, me, and miles of forest far as the eye can see.”

“Don’t be morbid,” Twilight insisted despite herself, letting out a few more laughs. “Applejack, no,” Twilight said as firmly as she could. “No, I mean it.” Applejack stopped, pulling herself off of Twilight. “Home. Not here. Not in front of….” Twilight droned off, searching for a way to finish that sentence. It seemed silly to be worried about dignity in front of an emotionless rock, but sentimentally, she still thought of it as alive.

“Home,” Applejack agreed. “But you’re forgettin’ this rock tonight. I got me a mission now.”

Twilight’s purple face turned a bright shade of pink. “Is that right?”

The stone, meanwhile, said nothing. As it had done for the past several months, it did nothing. It remained featureless, expressionless, and utterly devoid of thought or deed. Still blushing furiously from Applejack’s forwardness, Twilight gave it one last set of magical analyses and just as before, the rock gave no sign of even rudimentary activity.

As difficult as it was to believe, Twilight accepted that this was the last time she’d see Tom. It was well and truly over, and deep inside, she knew that was for the best. She didn’t have time to dwell on it anyway; she had a date tonight and an impatient special somepony already dragging her away.

But somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder what could have been.

“Your noodles are gettin’ cold, sugarcube. You sure there ain’t nothin’ on your mind?” Applejack asked, eyes gleaming with concern. It had been over a moon and a half since Tom was laid to rest and much had changed in the interim.

“I’m fine,” Twilight said shortly. Levitating a fork, she stirred alfredo noodles on her plate, not quite looking at Applejack. “Please don’t worry about it.”

“Y’know I worry,” Applejack admitted, reaching a hoof across the small, white-clothed table to lay it gently on Twilight’s. The bustle of one of Canterlot’s finest dining establishments had seemed oppressive to her once when she was a filly, but as she’d expected, Twilight seemed perfectly in her element. An lavender bubble surrounded the table, insulating the pair from the noise of the other patrons; Twilight had called it an isolation spell, and not for the first time, Applejack marveled at her talents.

Twilight seemed to tense up at Applejack’s touch, but she did not reject it. “There’s been a lot on my mind of late,” she said noncommittally.

“It’s still hurtin’ ya, ain’t it?” Applejack asked gently.

“No,” Twilight started, but she corrected herself. “I mean, yes, but that’s not entirely it. It’s about Spike.”

“Spike?”

“More specifically, his comic book. What happened to all of us yesterday was incredible!” Twilight’s eyes lit up as she spoke, bringing a warmth to Applejack’s heart. The distance between her and Twilight had only grown since recent events, but when she found a chance to talk about magic, it was as though they’d never quarreled in the first place.

Eagerly, Twilight continued. “The magic on display was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I’ve been researching it since last night and I think I might have….” She stopped suddenly. Applejack knew that look on her face intimately; she was feeling self-conscious about her proclivities. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “You’re probably not interested in my latest sojourn into magical theory.”

Applejack smiled warmly and urged her partner, “You go on, Twilight. I might not get most of it, but that don’t mean I don’t like to hear it.” A gentle nudge to restore the lift to her voice.

“Well, I think it might be connected to a visionary named Hayscartes,” Twilight resumed. “He wrote several texts considered to be the foundations of Equestrian philosophy. He made a profound impact on our understanding of mathematics. His influence led to the Haysian coordinate system. He was one of the most brilliant minds in all of Equestria!”

“And this led to magic comics suckin’ in ponies?”

“Not directly,” Twilight said. “But there were urban legends back in school about a special magic Hayscartes used in his studies that was supposed to be able to put him directly inside a book, so that he could absorb the knowledge more directly. I’d written it off as a myth before, but with a little more time to study Spike’s comic, I believe I might be able to recreate it.”

“I’m sure you can, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her. “You be sure and let me know if there’s anythin’ I can do to help.”

“I will,” Twilight said. For just a moment, Applejack could see the same glow in her features, the same light that seemed to shine from the smile she knew was meant only for her. But that moment passed too quickly and before long, Twilight had plunged back into the emotional quagmire that tonight’s dinner had been meant to lift her from.

Applejack lifted her bowl of soup, sipping from the edge. “Apple Bloom lost another foal tooth today,” she said, trying to fill the silence.

“Did she?”

“Eeyup. Big Mac’s too big to go clompin’ ‘round in the dark and Granny’s too creaky, so teethin’ duty falls to me.”

Twilight waited a moment, expecting further explanation to fill the silence. When no such answers came, she asked, “Falls to you to do what, exactly?”

“I’m the Toothicorn, Twilight,” Applejack said bluntly. With comprehension failing to break out over Twilight’s face, Applejack explained, “Apple Bloom hid her tooth under her pillow, and I gotta sneak it out of there when she’s sleepin’ and leave a bit in its place.”

“Why would she put her tooth under a pillow?”

“So the Toothicorn will take it and leave her a bit. It’s supposed to put a little magic in a filly’s life. Did your folks not do that for ya?”

“My fillyhood had plenty of magic,” Twilight answered. “I started reading the volumes on Theory of Spellcraft when I was--”

“Not that kind of magic. I’m talkin’ about fantasy, Twilight. Helpin’ her see there’s more to life than just what her eyes can see and her hooves can feel. Not everythin’ has to be understood.”

Twilight looked down at her plate. Her fork continued its incessant spinning, never lifting. She considered taking a bite, but the impulse abandoned her as soon as she thought of it. Looking back up at Applejack, she asked, “You do this by…you know what, never mind.”

“No, go on,” Applejack urged her.

“She’s your sister, Applejack. It’s really not my place to say.”

“It ain’t, huh?” Applejack sighed. She wanted to press the issue, but she understood too well why Twilight felt that way and she knew bickering wouldn’t help anything. “So, did you hear Rarity’s talkin’ ‘bout some big fashion hullaballoo that’s comin’ up?”

“Is she?” Twilight asked. “I hope that goes well for her.”

“This is me,” Twilight said plainly, arriving at the doorstep to the Golden Oaks Library. “I should….” She hesitated, wrestling with her thoughts. What should she do? Bid Applejack a good night? Thank her for the lovely evening she’d attempted to provide?

Invite her inside.

Twilight knew that impulse intimately, but as soon as she opened her snout to put words to it, another struck.

She did this to me.

A pain that was becoming all too familiar to her too quickly welled up from within. She looked into Applejack’s eyes and she saw love in them. She felt her body warm with need, but her heart struck knives into her muscles that held the feeling at bay.

“Twilight,” Applejack said, filling the silence. “I gotta say somethin’ to you, and tonight’s a lovely night to do it.” She looked up at the stars that dotted the sky, then drew in a deep breath.

“What is it?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Twi, sugar, you know I ain’t no good at putting my feelin’s to words. I wrote down everythin’ I wanted to say to you tonight, so I could just read off what I mean from my heart. I, uh…I don’t got that with me. It might have accidentally got mixed up in the pigs’ feedin’ trough.”

“You fed my letter to pigs?” Twilight asked.

“Well, Apple Bloom came snoopin’ ‘round and Granny was in the kitchen so…y’know what, that ain’t what matters,” Applejack insisted. “I want to tell you that I think you’re great and the colors of your hair match the sky? Somethin’ like that? Consarnit this ain’t comin’ out right.”

Twilight stared flatly at Applejack, watching her fluster. “You probably shouldn’t have fed my letter to pigs, then,” she added dryly.

“Twilight, I love you,” Applejack said directly. “I know we had our problems but you’re still the first thing on my mind come crack of dawn. I know I ain’t exactly been the best of Special Someponies recently and I’m mighty sorry about that, but I miss what we had before. Time was, even my hardest days were always worthwhile, knowin’ my evenin’ glow was somewhere out there, thinkin’ of me.”

Applejack stepped forward, lifting up Twilight’s chin with her hoof. “I miss you, sugarcube. I hate sayin’ goodnight like this, not knowin’ if I’ll even get a kiss. I hate sleepin’ alone night after night, wonderin’ when I’ll even see you again. I want to go to bed holdin’ you tonight. I want to feel your heart beatin’ against--”

“Applejack, stop,” Twilight said sternly, pulling away from her. “Please,” she added more gently. She resented the pleasant tingle on her chin where Applejack had touched her. It would have been so easy to sink into that feeling, to let herself be carried away on the winds of passion that seemed to become stronger with each passing day that she was apart from her partner.

“I miss you too,” Twilight said. “I never could have imagined the impact you’ve made on my life. Every day that we’re apart is harder than the last. You hurt me and that’s a journey that’s going to take a long time to heal, but I don’t want to make that journey without--”

“I can’t do this,” she said simply, shaking off the words flooding into her mind. “Not tonight.”

“Twilight,” Applejack started with a sharp edge to her voice. Instantly, Twilight knew that she wanted to say something, to press the issue, but she caught herself. After a few seconds Applejack muttered with a nod, “Yeah, I got it. Not tonight.”

The dejection in Applejack’s voice cut sharper than the edge had, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel disappointed in herself as she watched Applejack turn and go. After a quick internal struggle, she called out, “Applejack, wait!” Trotting to catch up, she met Applejack with a kiss, pressing as much of her love as she could into the gesture.

For several long moments, Twilight kissed her Special Somepony. She raised a hoof to the side of Applejack’s head, stroking downwards across her neck while she kissed her. For as long as she had the strength, she lingered in the moment, shutting out the entire universe but for her and the pony she loved. Finally, over a minute later, she relented.

Before Applejack could form a coherent thought, Twilight told her, “Thank you for being patient with me. I love you. I do. But there’s still a lot that I need to sort out.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Applejack said simply. She still sounded dismayed, but Twilight could tell from her voice that she’d helped a little bit. She could only hope Applejack would be patient enough.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash shouted, diving out of the way of a red, inflated sphere. The ball slammed into the net behind her, rolling down the netting to a stop on the ground. “You almost took my head off with that!” she shouted in alarm.

“Sorry, Rainbow,” Applejack said quickly, taking a quick breather. She strolled across the clearing to a small bench. Twisting the cap off a bottle of water with her teeth, she slammed it down before returning her attention to her friend.

“What, that’s it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You’ve obviously got something itching up your tail end and you’re seriously not going to tell me what it is?”

“It’s Twilight,” Applejack said bluntly.

“Gotcha.” After a few seconds, she asked, “Do I want to know?”

“Six weeks, Rainbow. It’s been six ponyforsaken weeks Twi and I’ve been tryin’ to patch things up and she’s still givin’ me the brush off. I’ve been in the doghouse so long everythin’s startin’ to smell like Winona!”

“Well, you did stomp on her heart pretty good.”

“I know!” Applejack grunted in frustration. “You don’t got to remind me what I’ve done. I get it. But I’ve got…I mean….” She tried to find a way to put her feelings to words, but every way of saying it just made her feel ashamed for her own frustrations.

Rainbow Dash sighed. This game wasn’t getting back on its hooves right now and she figured she could use a break as well. Still, she’d rather be anywhere else in Equestria than in the middle of this conversation. “Look, I get it,” she said, dropping to her haunches next to Applejack. “I’ve been there.”

“How are things goin’ with Pinkie anyhow?” Applejack asked.

“They’re not,” Rainbow Dash answered with a glare. She wasn’t certain whether to be grateful for the deflection or agitated, but it was a prickly subject Applejack had stepped into.

“Ain’t you and her--”

“There are no ‘things’ between me and Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said firmly. “We’re friends.” After a few seconds, she added, “…who sometimes have sleepovers.” Before Applejack could say any more, she quickly brought the conversation back on track. “And that’s your problem, isn’t it? You’re bummed out ‘cause you’ve got needs and Twilight quit having sleepovers,” she said pointedly.

Applejack took a second to catch the meaning in Rainbow Dash’s choice of phrase. “What?! No, that ain’t…well, it ain’t just that,” she said defensively.

“Uh-huh.” Rainbow leaned back against the bench, knocking back a bottled water. She shot a skeptical glance at Applejack as she drank.

“It ain’t! Twi’s been distant ever since we had our spat. Sometimes I feel like everythin’s set back to rights, but then she turns cold and we’re right back where we started.”

“And you’ve talked to her, right?”

“Of course, I’ve talked to her! And she ain’t….” Applejack sighed. “She ain’t wrong to be mad or nothin’. I’m just ventin’, Rainbow. I told Twilight she could have the time she needs and I meant it, but land’s sake, it ain’t easy. It’s gettin’ harder every day.”

Lacking in ideas for how to console her friend, Rainbow Dash settled on giving her a firm pat on the back. After a few pats, Applejack said, “Thanks, Rainbow. I’m better now. Let’s get back to it.”

“To clarify, you have spoken about your feelings with Applejack, have you not?” Rarity asked flatly, staring pointedly at a section of the hot tub to Twilight’s left. The olive face mask created a sickly glare even through the cucumber slices she wore on her eyes. The purple towel wrapped around her mane, however, slightly undermined the severity of her interrogation.

“Yes, we’re talking about it,” Twilight said. She took a couple of seconds to consider options for correcting Rarity’s imposing alignment, then settled on scooting her haunches over in order to be more directly in the line of Rarity’s glare.

“Well, I certainly hope so, because this becoming formulaic and I abhor predictability. You and her play nice with each other and pretend everything is okay and then you come to tell me that everything is not okay and before long, everypony is mad at each other and sometimes Equestria is threatened by evil. To be perfectly honest, Twilight, I consider open and honest communication between you and your Special Somepony to be a matter of national security.”

“Yes, we’re talking about it!” Twilight shouted.

“Good.” Twilight thought she saw Rarity’s features soften, but it may have simply been one of the cucumbers sliding out of place. “I know that you and I have had our differences recently,” she said with a sigh. “I want you to know that I do want for you and Applejack to pull through this.”

“I know,” Twilight said. “That’s why I’m here. I want to forgive you, Rarity. I want it to be like it was before, but every time I try to sink back into the things I used to love to do with my friends, it feels wrong. I feel like there’s something broken inside of me, and it’s so much worse when Applejack’s around.”

“And you feel that way around me as well?” Rarity asked carefully.

“Around all of you. You were supposed to be my friends and you lied to me. She hurt me terribly and all of you stood by and let her do it. You knew what was going to….” She stopped herself, feeling her own voice starting to rise and her muscles start to push at her to stand. “I’m sorry,” she said, reclining back into the hot tub.

“No, Twilight, I’m sorry,” Rarity said gently. “All I wanted was for it to work out. I did lie to you and I am dreadfully sorry that I did, but I thought that the both of you deserved a chance at happiness.” She reached out for Twilight’s shoulder, but the distance was too great. Her hoof dangled in midair, searching for pony flesh to tap down on.

Twilight reached out her own hoof and gently tapped Rarity’s with her own. “I know that. Logically, I understand why you lied to me. But it still hurts. How can I trust you again? How do I trust any of you again?”

“I don’t have the answer for that,” Rarity said simply. “All I can suggest is that you take it one day at a time. Also, for what it’s worth, I don’t believe Fluttershy ever lied to you. I would be shocked if she knew anything about Applejack’s past and I doubt she follows the rumor mill. It’s unfair to tar her with the same brush you use for Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and myself.”

“I know that,” Twilight said in response. “I don’t have anything against Fluttershy. It’s just a mouthful to have to say, ‘except Fluttershy’, every time I talk about this.”

“Good. As long as we’re in agreement on that.”

“But as hard as this is, it’s even harder with Applejack. I keep thinking about what she did to those other mares and what she did to me. Logically, I can’t think of any reason for why I should trust her, but I keep thinking of the good I’ve seen her do. I want to believe in who I know that she is.”

Rarity sighed. “I should tell you that this sounds dangerously similar to some other sentiments I’ve heard in my shop, and those historically have rarely ended well. You cannot rely on other ponies changing themselves for you. That never ends well.”

“I don’t need her to change,” Twilight said sadly. “I like who she is. I just need her to stop bailing on me whenever she thinks we might be headed towards a hard point in our relationship.”

“That’s asking her to change,” Rarity said simply. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s something I’m certain that she wants to work on as well, but you must understand where she’s coming from. Some ponies in situations like hers can become rather clingy, but others become quick to push away for fear of being hurt again.”

“Then how am I supposed to trust her again?” Twilight asked.

“Darling, if I had ever cracked the vault that is Applejack’s heart, I would never have needed to place bets on it in the first place. Now, I could gab for hours about what’s wrong with her, but fixing it? That is much too far beyond my expertise. The place to start, I’d imagine, is with you. Do you want to be with Applejack?”

“I do,” Twilight answered. “I truly do. But whenever I’m around her, it doesn’t feel right.”

“May I ask a very personal question? I assure you, I would not be asking if it was not important.”

“Go ahead?” Twilight replied tentatively.

“Have you been, shall we say, ‘intimate’ with Applejack since this began?”

A redder shade of purple spread quickly across Twilight’s face at Rarity’s question. Despite Rarity’s circumstantial blindness, Twilight lowered herself more fully into the water of the hot tub, sinking down to her nose.

“You don’t have to answer the question if it’s too personal,” Rarity added.

“…we’ve been distant,” Twilight said, slowly emerging from the water.

“May I ask why?”

Twilight sighed. “I want to be with her. I do. But it just doesn’t feel right. Now, in my books--”

“Oh, Twilight, no.”

“I know, I know. Just hear me out.” Twilight smiled, thinking back to some of the stories she’d read in her lifetime. “In my books, the heroines and heroes of Equestria would go on these epic journeys of daring and virtue to earn the love of the lord or lady they were courting. They’d do a heroic deed to prove how much their love meant to them.”

“That’s what you’re looking for?”

After a few seconds, Twilight nodded. “I want Applejack to slay a dragon for me, yes.”

Across the room from the hot tub, Spike suddenly coughed. Laid out on the massage table, his sudden motion gave Aloe a start.

“Not a literal dragon,” Twilight called across the room. “A figurative dragon made of metaphors!” Looking back to Rarity, she continued. “I know it’s probably silly, but I need that. I keep thinking about the others that came before me. Octavia Melody, Crystal Chalice, and twelve other ponies who were with Applejack before I was.” Bitterly, Twilight added, “Sometimes I feel like I’m not really her Special Somepony. I’m just her Latest Somepony.”

“I’m not sure that’s fair--”

“It’s not! It’s completely unfair! But it’s how I feel, Rarity, and I can’t control how I feel.”

“So you’re looking for her to perform a grand gesture of love?” Rarity asked. “And you’ve spoken with her about this? Did you not mention her taking you to Le Carafe Dorée last night? I can’t imagine that was easy on her bit purse.”

“She did.”

“That wasn’t grand enough for you?”

“If it was, it would have made my heartache go away.” Twilight closed her eyes and reclined back against the wall of the hot tub once more. A minute passed in silence as she contemplated the hurt inside of her. She wondered idly if it would ever fade entirely. “How did you do it?” she asked Rarity. “How did you forgive her?”

“Because of you,” Rarity said simply. “We started spending time together because we both wanted to be around you. It gave me a chance to see parts of Applejack I’d forgotten she had. We were forced to build a new friendship for your sake, and that helped us learn to respect each other once more.”

Twilight sighed. “That’s not as helpful as I’d hoped it would be, but thank you.”

“Applejack?” A tiny voice cut through the gloom of Applejack’s bedroom. The door slid open slowly, the hinge creaking in the night. “Are you awake?”

Applejack added that hinge to a mental checklist of repairs that still needed to be done around the farmhouse. “Yeah, I’m up. Everythin’ okay, sugarcube?” Leaning over to her bedside table, Applejack clicked the button on her lamp, lighting up the room.

Apple Bloom hopped up to the bed, curling up next to her sister. An object dropped from her teeth onto the bed by Applejack’s side.

“That what I think it is?” Applejack asked. On the comforter before her sat a ratty old gray doll. A pair of red and blue buttons made up the eyes, but the red button held on only by a thread. The doll was dressed in a pair of blue shorts with white dots and what appeared to be a red napkin tied around its neck like a cape.

“She was modelin’ the stunt for gettin’ our extreme skateboardin’ cutie marks,” Apple Bloom explained. With a sigh, she admitted, “And sometimes she’s nice to have around when I get to thinkin’ too much.”

Applejack scruffed Apple Bloom’s mane. “Can’t imagine getting’ her away from Big Mac was a walk in the park.”

“He gets sad at nights,” Apple Bloom replied. “He won’t say nothin’, but I think she’s comfortin’ to him. She’s a nice friend to have when you’re lonely, y’know?” Apple Bloom took a minute to think about that, then continued, “Suppose you wouldn’t, ‘cause you’re never lonely.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack blinked.

Apple Bloom reached out with her hooves, embracing Applejack. “Now, I don’t know what’s goin’ on with Twilight but we’re all pullin’ for ya. Ain’t none of us happy less’n you’re happy.”

Inside, Applejack felt a piece of her heart begin to melt at Apple Bloom’s display of affection. She gave her sister a firm pat along her back. A single tear tried to fall from her eye, but she wouldn’t let it; not here, not in front of her sister. She was meant to be the strong one, to give these talks to Apple Bloom as she got older.

“That’s mighty kind of you,” Applejack told her sister. “I mean that. Thank you. You should get on back to bed, now. I’ll be fine.”

“We’re always here for you,” Apple Bloom said. She hopped back down off the bed, conspicuously leaving the doll where it lay.

As Apple Bloom approached the door, Applejack called after her, “You forgot your doll!”

At the door, Apple Bloom simply smiled and shook her head. “Ain’t my doll. It’s Twilight’s.” With those words, she departed, pulling the doorknob with her teeth to close the door.

Applejack stared at the door where she’d left. For several seconds, her mind pored over the conversation she’d just had. Had Apple Bloom done this just to get the doll into her hooves? Was that the plan here? She looked down at Smarty Pants. She remembered Twilight talking about it; the doll was her favorite childhood toy, which had taken up residency in the Apple farmhouse after one of Twilight’s occasional meltdowns.

Applejack shook her head at Apple Bloom’s conniving. That filly was too clever for her own good, and it was bound to get her in a mess of trouble one of these days. Ignoring it, she clicked the light on her bedside table and laid her head down on her apple-print pillow, resuming her efforts to find sleep in the dark night.

“You’re never lonely.”

Of everything that had just happened, that was the part that bothered her. Why would Apple Bloom think that? She had her cold nights same as every other pony in this household. The loss of her parents had hit the family hard and even now, there were nights she’d lie awake, thinking of the warmth and love they had before.

From the sounds of it, so did Big Mac.

She went out of her way to try and recreate that atmosphere for Apple Bloom every chance she got. She and her brother had worked tirelessly to ensure that Apple Bloom would grow up in a house as full of love, acceptance, and the occasional squabble as they did. She wasn’t a perfect replacement for a mother’s love; nopony could replace what Buttercup had done for her. But she tried.

She rolled over, looking at that doll again. From what Apple Bloom had said, Smarty Pants had charted quite a journey through the household when Applejack wasn’t watching. She was an imaginary friend on loan; a dear memento from a family not their own. Staring at the doll, she couldn’t help but picture Twilight as a filly, probably studying her books with Smarty Pants propped in front of an open one, pretending to study too

She thought of the adventures they must have had.

“Look out, Smarty Pants!” Twilight shouted from atop a grassy hilltop, wrapped in a purple blanket spangled with stars. “There’s an ogre behind you!” She paused a moment, raised a hoof, and recited, “A Clasmorifis maraloficus ogre, of course.” She raised her hoof and exclaimed, “Its diet consists predominantly of berries and small birds, but it has been known to attack ponies of our size when hungry! Quickly! We must assemble a bird feeder that will attract its preferred habit of consumption to spare us from is wrath!”

Smarty Pants fell over on her side.

“We’re too late! I’ll avenge you, Smarty Pants!” Twilight shouted.

Before she could move, a glimmering white stallion leapt onto the scene, waving a cardboard road left and right with his magic. “I’m here to save you, Twilight!” Shining Armor declared. “Take that, foul ogre! Take that! And that!”

Despite herself, Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at the misadventures this doll must have seen. She wondered to herself how many private moments it had been privy to, how many secrets had been whispered to it in the dark night. What a life it must have led to bring it here now.

She tried to lay back down again, but something stopped her. She kept staring at this little piece of Twilight’s past taking residence in her home. Nervously, she reached out and poked it with her hoof. “This is silly,” she said to herself, withdrawing her hoof and turning away, but once more she found herself drawn to it.

She looked to the door. It was closed; nopony was watching her or listening in. She was all alone in the room with Smarty Pants, everypony’s best friend. “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “My turn, I reckon.” She lay down, facing the doll, and told her, “I’m lonely, Smarty Pants. I got Twilight’s love on paper but she ain’t with me in spirit.”

Pouring out her soul to the doll seemed strangely easy. It came much easier than talking to another pony. There was no judgment coming from Smarty Pants. No hostility or resentment, no fear of hurting another pony’s feelings, no worry about what they would think of her in the future or what she might say that would come back to haunt her.

For a pony who struggled with being as honest as she could, Applejack found honesty to be easier than it had ever been with Smarty Pants. “I’m scared I might’ve broke Twi’s heart for good. What am I supposed to do if she don’t never come back to me? She’s got me hangin’ in limbo waitin’ for her and I don’t know I can wait forever.”

The doll, for its part, said nothing.

“Bein’ with Twilight’s the best thing ever came into my life,” Applejack asserted. “And I know this is her first heartbreak and all and I gotta be patient with her ‘cause she don’t have the experience like me and the others, but it’s gettin’ harder and harder.”

Smarty Pants lay on her side, giving no reply.

“I don’t know what to do. I reckon there ain’t nothin’ can be done. Ain’t no sense worryin’ ‘bout the future, but that don’t mean I ain’t. I ain’t mad or sad or nothin’ can be acted on, I’m just scared and as Celestia’s in Canterlot, I got nothin’ that makes scared go away and I don’t reckon you do either.”

Smarty Pants continued to stare non-judgmentally at a nondescript spot on the wooden headboard.

Strangely, Applejack did seem to feel a little better for getting her thoughts out to the toy. She looked at the door again, once more making sure she didn’t have anypony watching or listening, then pulled the covers back up over her. “Thanks anyway for listenin’,” she said idly to the toy.

A second passed. Then another. Then, without thinking, Applejack reached out and grabbed Smarty Pants, squeezing the toy to her heart. Somehow, just having her there seemed to warm Applejack’s heart, as though a precious piece of Twilight was with her through the cold and hostile dark.

And it was there, in the private of the dark, that she finally allowed a single tear to stain her pillow.

In the dead of the night, Twilight lay awake staring at the moon through her bedroom window. The room was quiet but for the sound of Spike’s snoring, and yet Twilight found herself struggling to hear herself think. The Hayscartes method was intriguing, to be sure, but it wasn’t a project. At the end of the day, it was a puzzle to be solved.

After an hour of trying, Twilight abandoned hope on sleep. She slipped out of bed and descended the stairs to the library foyer. As she walked, several of her research journals pulled themselves from the shelves in her wake and settled onto the table; there was no need to check the titles, for she knew these shelves inside and out.

She lit up her horn with a quick puff of magic and opened her journal on the Hayscartes method and read through her research, but none of it was new. There were a few notes from her fillyhood and several observations she’d found when examining Spike’s comic, but she’d seen all of this already. If she wasn’t dealing with the distraction of her heartache, she’d have solved it already, she was certain of it.

She read through it twice, just to see if there was anything she hadn’t considered the previous times, but nothing came to mind. Frustrated, she closed the notebook and looked to some of her other documents. Several folders, notebooks, and a couple of binders lay neatly organized in piles on the table.

Twilight began to sort through her other folders, looking for something that might actually hold her interest long enough to forget about the throbbing pain in her heart. She found her file on the Tree of Harmony, but there had already been depressingly little information about the Tree in her research, and nothing had indicated even a hint as to what the mysterious chest at its base could be. It was certainly a mystery she was sure to keep working on but based on what she knew now, that avenue was a dead end.

She turned next to her journals on the mysterious portal to another world residing in the Crystal Empire. She was hoping to get more of an opportunity to examine the portal up close in the near future, but for now she’d settled for finding any information she could as to its design and purpose.

She’d turned up nothing but mysteries thus far on that front as well. She did happen to find a passage in her autobiography of Star Swirl the Bearded, speaking of a great battle he led against a trio of Sirens. In the end, Star Swirl was forced to banish them to another world. The thought had crossed Twilight’s mind that it could be the same world that Sunset Shimmer now occupied, but it was purely speculation; lacking any conclusive evidence to link the two, she wasn’t about to go making assumptions.

Just as she was about to give up, her eyes glanced across a single file buried under her journal on alicorn magic. It was a red notebook with a single name printed across the cover that she recognized with some dread. It was the project she’d been putting off, the in-depth dive into a realm unfathomable by ponykind. However, it became more pressing with each passing month, and she knew she couldn’t put it off much longer.

Addressing the empty room, Twilight read the name aloud. “Discord.”

“USELESS!!!” Twilight shouted in frustration, slamming her hooves down on the table in front of her. Behind her, Spike descended the stairs carefully. Morning had come as it always did, and he’d found her bed conspicuously missing upon awake. With a stomach full of dread, he came down to find her tearing through her paperwork in a sleep-deprived frenzy.

Dryly, Spike asked, “Should I make room on the shelves for Applejack’s bone structure?”

Ignoring the question, Twilight heaved a frustrated grunt and shouted, “There is NOTHING here! There’s never anything here, but there has to be something. He can’t just pull huge metaphysical shifts in the quantum structure of reality out of thin air, that’s not how magic works.”

“So this isn’t about Applejack?”

“There has to be a trick to it. Maybe there’s a law of magic that isn’t as sturdy as we think it is or perhaps there’s some hidden maneuver that he’s doing to realign the chromatic spectrum along the three spatial axes….”

What passed for Spike’s hopes plummeted as he listened to her rant. Resuming his descent, Spike asked, “It’s the Discord file, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been over my notes and observations but it’s all purely theoretical. Chaos magic can’t be studied. There’s nothing to study. Discord makes things happen and then everything snaps back with a click of his talons. It doesn’t leave any discernible trace. There’s no residue, no source magic to be traced, there’s nothing. It’s like it never even happened. This isn’t magic, it’s…I don’t know what this is!”

“It’s not magic?” Spike asked, approaching the table.

“Well, it’s obviously magic,” Twilight corrected herself. “But it’s not. Not really. Magic has spells and theories and practices. There are philosophies and fundamental procedures behind every spell we cast. Discord, so far as I can tell, doesn’t cast spells at all. He’s altering the fabric of reality with a wave of his claw. These are incredibly complex transmutations he performs, and he doesn’t even need a line of sight to what he’s enchanting.”

“Okay, I’m going to need to take your word on it that this is different from what you do.”

“There are certain fundamentals that govern every spell we cast. It takes a force of will, a skilled horn, and knowledge of the spell’s casting principles. Most of the casting is done internally through a series of meditations and conjurations; our horns act as a focal point, channeling that effect into reality.”

“And Discord isn’t doing that?”

“He’s not doing anything! Nothing he does is possible. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d think the surviving documents of his reign were making things up to discredit an unpopular historical figure. Nothing about him should be true and yet, here we are. I don’t even think his species is real! He’s called a draconequus but I’ve never heard of any such thing existing outside of him.”

“He does look like someone glued a bunch of animal parts together,” Spike conjectured.

“And that’s all I’ve got. Discord’s species probably isn’t real. Hours and hours of research and every conclusion I come to is telling me the same thing: Discord cannot exist. There are no metaphysical laws, no forces of magic, no possible circumstances in which Discord could be. But here we are. An impossible violation of every conceivable law of magic has tea time with Fluttershy on Thursdays.”

Looking about the table, Spike couldn’t help but take notice of the state of the library. Several folders lay splayed across the table. A couple had landed on the floor. It seemed unlike Twilight to be so careless, even when she was frustrated with a project. There was something more to this, and it didn’t take him long to find it.

“Twilight?” Spike asked, picking up a folder off the ground. The words “Relationship Matrix” lay etched on the cover. Setting it gently on the table in front of Twilight, Spike asked, “This isn’t really about Discord, is it?”

Twilight opened her snout to speak, but the contents Spike had opened to caught her eye. Inside was a single photo from her birthday party in Canterlot. She and her friends had crashed another party taking place in the garden and, at one point, Fancy Pants had introduced her to a photographer, whom she’d asked for a birthday photo with a dear friend.

Applejack hadn’t been her Special Somepony yet, but they’d been seeing each other for quite a while by that point and it seemed like a sweet gesture. Applejack had tried to sneak in a kiss before the photo snapped, but her timing was off. Emblazoned on the page in her folder was her own stunned expression, eyes wide in alarm at the sudden gesture of affection Applejack had given her.

She supposed that, in its own strange way, the photo served as a metaphor for their entire relationship up to this point.

“Think of it like a clinical trial,” she had said to Applejack. “In order to learn more, you observe and collect data on the subject. It’s an experiment.”

Accepting Applejack’s offer had put her into a place to learn so many new things about herself, about love, and about the meaning of her relationships with other ponies. There were still new things she was discovering, but the more time she spent with her, the more natural it had become.

The same was true of all her friendships. At some point, the letters had stopped getting written as often. Her interactions with all of them had ceased to be about what new things she could observe and had become about how much she enjoyed having them in her life.

And with Applejack, what started as one surprised pony reacting to the sudden affections of another had taken root in her heart and grown to places she couldn’t even have imagined before. She turned the page to find the first of her old Friendship Letters to Princess Celestia, recounting her findings with Applejack.

Reading the words Applejack had inspired from her, she could feel her heart beginning to lift. Tears began to form in her eyes as she read each one, word by word, remembering the way she had felt when she wrote them. Just past the letters, she found her notes from the Hearth’s Warming Eve play.

On 43 occasions that I could observe, Applejack glanced at me. She sought my company three times while we were backstage, coming straight to me without hesitation and spending as much of the downtime with me as she could. There was a moment while we were onstage that her hoof brushed against mine and I could feel my heart pounding stronger just from the sensation of her touch.

While I’ve tried to document each feeling that she’s inspired in me, the reality is that they’re becoming stronger and I fear that within one or two moons, I may cross a point of no return. The nearest equivalence I can make to the feeling is one of addiction. I find myself beginning to emotionally crave her. My ability to maintain sound mind and judgment has become dependent on her presence in my life.

The truth of the matter is as plain as day. I have become emotionally compromised by this experiment. I am no longer capable of making an unbiased decision where she is involved, because my cognitive functions have already begun to shift to account for her. For both my sake and for hers, there is only one thing I can do now. It’s going to be hard, but I know in my heart that it’s the right thing to do.

I’m going to ask her to be my Special Somepony. I hope she says yes.

Tears dropped from Twilight’s eyes, staining the pages under her. She wiped at her face with a hoof while her magic turned to the next page, and it was there that suddenly everything clicked into place. Reading her observations and discoveries, it all made sense. She had the answer she’d been looking for, and it was right here all along.

“This is it, Spike,” Twilight whispered. “This is exactly what I needed! Thank you!” She bolted up from the table, racing up the stairs to her bedroom.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Spike asked. “What is it? What did you find?”

Twilight came bolting back downstairs with her saddlebags, urging Spike, “I need you to do something for me. It’s not hard but it’s really important.”

“Of course. What do you need?”

Applejack answered a pounding on the front door to find Spike standing on her doorstep. “Hi, Applejack,” Spike said nervously.

“Mornin’ Spike. What can I do ya for?”

Spike scratched at the back of his neck. “See, Twilight asked me to come get you. She said to tell you that, uh, ‘We need to talk.’”

Applejack’s heart sank instantly. “There ain’t no good’s never come of those words,” she said dreadfully.

“She also said that you’d probably panic and assume the worst when I said that, so I should assure you that she doesn’t want to break up with you.”

“…that’s mighty specific, but a comfort all the same. Why don’t you tell Twilight I’ll be up to the library just as soon as I’m done with the mornin’ chores.”

Applejack arrived at the library just before noon. She found Twilight waiting for her outside with a beaming glow emanating from her features.

“Applejack!” Twilight greeted her, and for an instant, Applejack thought she might kiss her from excitement. “I’m glad you made it. I wanted to talk to you before any of the others got here.”

“The others?” Applejack’s heart sank at those words.

“Yes. I need everypony to be a part of this. If it works, we could change the face of Equestrian history as we know it. Come in, let me show you what I’ve got.”

Before Applejack could protest, Twilight grasped her with her magic, pulling her through the door to the library. Resting in the middle of the room on the central table was a coarse stone roughly the size of a basketball. The rock’s texture indicated that it had been hewn from a larger stone, but the most conspicuous element was its pulsing glow.

With a clearly discernible pattern, a red glow seeped out of cracks and fissures in the stone’s hide. It would linger for less than a second and then then fade back out only to return a second later. Surrounding the stone was a golden chest with layers of inscribed runes along its sides. The lid lay open, exposing the stone and its velvet interior to light.

Applejack took a moment to glance from Twilight’s beaming grin to the stone, then back to Twilight. “Oh, sugar,” she said, making no effort to mask the horror in her voice. “Tell me that ain’t who I think it is.”

2 - Friendship Tainted by Distrust

“Now, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out,” Twilight began. The stone inside the golden chest continued its steady pulsing, its mysterious glow eerily resembling the beating of a heart.

“Really?!” Applejack replied, her voice rising swiftly. “‘Cause what I’m thinkin’ is, great, we didn’t have enough problems, you and me. Why not bring Cardinal into the mix!”

“I understand,” Twilight said. She maintained eye contact with Applejack and kept her voice low, trying to project as much sincerity as she could manage. She knew that of all her friends, Applejack was always going to be the hardest one to convince. She resented Tom as much as Rarity did, and she could be much more hard-headed about it.

Cautiously, Twilight said, “I know you’re worried, and I share your concerns. It’s why I’m taking every possible precaution, but you have to understand that this is an opportunity we may never find again. I can explain more when everypony else arrives, but please, if nothing else, I’m asking you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

Applejack hesitated as though uncertain of what to say, and for a moment, Twilight thought that perhaps she’d gotten through. Lowering her voice, Applejack asserted, “Discord made that thing to get at us. It ain’t a tool, it ain’t a pony, it’s a weapon and it’s pointed right at each of us. Us, Twilight. The six of us, personally. Y’can’t think settin’ it up and lettin’ it take another shot is a good idea.”

“I understand the risks, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Please, Applejack.”

“Some roads ain’t meant to be taken, Twi, even if you find a way. You mark my word, there ain’t nothin’ good can come of us messin’ with that thing. Now I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t smart,” Applejack said, reaching a hoof up to brush the side of Twilight’s face. “You got the biggest brain in Equestria and I love you for it, but sometimes you get to outsmartin’ yourself.”

Despite herself, Twilight found her head moving to nuzzle against Applejack’s hoof. The contact felt like a void inside her beginning to fill in, and yet her heart still railed against it. After a few seconds, she pulled herself away. Applejack was trying to distract her, and she couldn’t let herself get pulled away from this, not now.

“Applejack, please, for once, I need you to support me!” The words were out of Twilight’s snout before she even realized she was considering saying them. She lifted a hoof to her lips, but she was too late to stop the hurtful words from escaping, and the damage was already done.

Applejack took a step back as though physically struck by Twilight’s statement. “Twilight…is that how you see us?” she asked, her voice shaking from the impact.

“Well….” Twilight sighed. There was no taking that statement back. Instead, she looked Applejack in the eyes and asked, “What else would I see?”

Despite her best efforts, none of Twilight’s friends seemed to understand the problem. Here they were enjoying their picnic without a care in the world while her entire life came crashing down around her.

Trying once again to explain it, she told them, “If I don’t turn in a letter on time, I’ll be tardy. TARDY!!!” She grabbed Applejack with her hooves, hoping she’d understand. Her of all ponies, she had to--

“No offense, sugarcube,” Applejack said, pushing her hooves back to her. Applejack held her own hooves on Twilight’s trying to console her as she spoke. “But it looks like somepony’s gettin’ themselves all worked up over nothin’.”

Twilight swatted Applejack’s hooves away. “This is not nothing! This is everything!” Racing back and forth between her friends, Twilight shouted, “I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! MY WHOLE LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!”

Pinkie Pie laughed in her face. “Oh, Twilight, you’re such a crack-up!”

Before Twilight could respond, Applejack called out to her, “Come on now, have a seat and stop sweatin’ the small stuff.” This was the last straw. It was clear to Twilight that her friends neither understood nor cared. With nothing but a pair of frustrated sighs to give them, Twilight gave up on them and teleported home.

Despite the hours of preparation put into Applejack’s surprise homecoming, the only pony at the door was the mailpony. He had a single letter written in Applejack’s halfway decent jawwriting.

“Who’s it from, Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked curiously. The family, Twilight’s friends, and the other ponies of Ponyville who had come to welcome Applejack home from the rodeo all gathered around her. “What’s it say?”

“It’s from Applejack,” Twilight answered cheerfully before moving on to read. “Family and friends, not coming back to Ponyville. Don’t worry, will send money soon.” Twilight took a second to process the message, then quickly turned it around to see if Applejack had written any more. “That’s all there is,” she reported.

“Applejack’s not comin’ back?” Apple Bloom asked, her voice quivering as she spoke. The sorrow in her voice echoed the feeling in Twilight’s heart as the message started to sink in. She heard her friends talking, heard discussion of what to do, but the only thing she could think of was that Applejack had left. For no reason, with no warning, Applejack was gone from her life.

It wasn’t until Rainbow Dash shouted, “What are we waiting for?! Let’s go find her!” that Twilight shook from her stupor.

“Don’t worry,” she assured the family before following Rainbow Dash out the door. Her friend was right; now wasn’t the time for sorrow, it was the time for action. “We’ll search all of Equestria if we have to.”

“Please,” Twilight begged Applejack, standing in the dim of night outside the farmhouse. “I came over here to talk to you. I wanted to--"

“Walk with me.” Applejack didn’t even let her finish. She started walking, heading towards the front gate. Twilight knew instantly where this was going, and her fears were made certain by the words, “We don’t need to do this in front of the house. Apple Bloom’s probably listenin’ at the door already.”

“Applejack, you need to know that I would never do anything to endanger your family. Please, you know how much I care about them,” Twilight pleaded, hoping against hope that Applejack wouldn’t say what she knew was coming.

How had it even gotten like this? It wasn’t so long ago that she’d decided to ask Applejack to become her Special Somepony. How did one even get from there to here so quickly?

“I want to believe that,” Applejack said. She wouldn’t even give Twilight the dignity of looking at her. What had happened to them? With a quiver in her voice, she continued, “I want to believe you came out here ‘cause you wanted to make things right with me. I want that more than anythin’, Twi. For the last couple days, all I could think about was makin’ things right with you.”

“Then do,” Twilight said. “It’s the truth. I came here to--”

“But I remember how you get when your reports ain’t goin’ well. Big Macintosh still has that doll y’cursed. He tries to hide it but we all know it’s there. So I want to believe you, but….” Twilight was certain that she could see Applejack crying, but the farm pony still refused to turn and face her.

“Applejack, please,” Twilight begged.

“I just don’t know. I have to think about my family right now. I don’t know if you’re close enough to your family to get it, but they come first. I don’t get to have what I want until I make sure they’re taken care of, and they do the same for me.”

“Applejack, what are you saying?”

Finally, Applejack turned and faced Twilight, allowing her to see the tears streaming down her face as she spoke. “I told you when this all started that I’d always be your friend. I meant that, Twi, and I will be. Bein’ with you has made me happier than I ever knew I could be, but I think we both know this trial of yours has gone cross-eyed.”

“Don’t do this.”

“I have to. This ain’t easy for me, Twi. Just about the hardest thing I’ve ever done, I reckon. But it’s over. I need to ask you not to come back to the farm for a while. I need….” Applejack’s breath hitched. Her voice had abandoned her for a moment, futilely protesting against her own statement. She took a deep breath, then finished. “I need time to figure out how to stop lovin’ you.”

“Bet I can guess what you’re all thinking!” Twilight announced, joining her friends at a set of tables. Everypony sat on a small pink cushion save for Spike, who was merrily comfortable on three to boost him to eye level. “Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever.”

Despite all odds, Twilight’s assertion was met with alarmed stares from her friends. Spike raised the bride figurine from the wedding cake, pantomiming Cadance as he asked, “Who, me?”

“Spike!” Applejack chastised him. “That goes on the cake.”

Rarity demanded, “Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem!”

Twilight met Rarity’s question with much confusion. Did she not meet the same Cadance? Had she somehow managed to ignore this behavior? “Rarity, she was so demanding!”

“Of course, she was. Why shouldn’t she expect the very best on her wedding day?”

Rarity was obviously not seeing things clearly. There was something very wrong here. Turning to her Special Somepony for support, Twilight asked, “Applejack, did you know that after she told how much she just ‘love-love-loved’ your hors-d’oeuvres, she threw them in the trash?!”

Applejack smiled warmly. “Aww, she was probably just tryin’ to spare my feelin’s.”

So Applejack was a writeoff as well. That’s okay, somepony here had to have noticed Cadance’s behavior. Twilight went around to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash in turn, but each one let her down. It seemed there wasn’t a single pony among her friends that would even entertain the thought, not even the one pony who was supposed to have her back.

“The Princess is about to get married,” Rarity reasoned. “I’m sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves.”

That was the last straw. Twilight stood up from the table, slamming her hoof down and retorting, “And I’m sure it’s the result of her being an awful pony who doesn’t deserve to even know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!”

A second passed and Twilight felt better for getting that off of her chest. Her friends had to understand, they had to--

Applejack chimed in, answering Twilight’s frustrations with, “Think maybe you’re bein’ just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?”

“I am not being possessive!” Twilight insisted. “And I am not taking it out on Cadance. You’re all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn’t even be a wedding!” Twilight slammed her hoof down on the table, spilling everypony’s drinks before storming off to fume alone.

“Alright,” Applejack admitted. “I reckon I ain’t always been the best Special Somepony, but--”

Not letting up, Twilight continued. “Whenever you and Sweet Apple Acres needed help, I’ve always been there for you. But when have you ever been there for me? Do you remember this? ‘Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for Twilight to go back to Ponyville and let us look for the Tree of Harmony without her’!”

“Sugar, you were almost eaten by a cragadilly. I wanted you to be safe. I couldn’t….”

“Well, it’s a good thing for everypony’s sake that I came back, isn’t it? I needed you to--”

“I can’t lose you,” Applejack said suddenly, cutting off Twilight’s argument. “I came within two shakes of a dog’s tail from losin’ you. I can’t go through that, Twilight, not again, not you….” Her breath caught in her throat and she choked on what Twilight could swear sounded like a sob.

The sincerity in Applejack’s eyes touched Twilight’s heart. She wanted to say something to reassure her, wanted to comfort the pony she loved, but one question stuck in her heart and kept her from moving. With more bitterness than she intended, Twilight asked, “Then why did you push me away?”

Applejack erupted in response to the question, her voice still choked with sorrow, “I can’t apologize harder than I already have! You want to take it slow and Celestia help me, I’m tryin’, but y’can’t keep hangin’ that over my head the rest of our lives!”

“Rainbow Dash?” Approaching the library, Fluttershy was caught by the bizarre sight of her friend sitting just under its window. “Why are you waiting outside? Is the door locked?”

“Mom and dad are fighting again,” Rainbow Dash said dryly.

“Oh, my.”

Twilight took a step back, stunned by Applejack’s outburst. She realized quickly that she’d pushed too far. She watched Applejack’s face soften as she, too, seemed to realize she’d gone too far.

Before Twilight could organize her thoughts, Applejack said, “I’m sorry for yellin’, Twilight. I just want us to be like we were.”

“I want that too,” Twilight admitted. “I’m trying. I am. But what you did to me hurt every part of who I am. Even so, I can’t do this without you.” Twilight closed her eyes, sighing. “Well, yes, I could do this without you. I absolutely could. But I don’t want to. I need you to be here. I need to know that you’re with me on this.”

After a few seconds, Applejack nodded. “You’re right. I ain’t been a great Special Somepony. Lots of times you’ve needed me, I ain’t been there. I kept things from you, even turned on you. I ain’t never been no good for you, Twilight, and I don’t for the life of me know why you took me back.”

“Because I want us to work,” Twilight answered honestly.

Applejack smiled. “I want us to work too, sugar. I don’t like this one bit, but I’ll listen. I can do that for you. If nothin’ else, I still love you.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said simply. “I--

“Are you guys done yet?!” Rainbow Dash called from outside the window. “You’re fighting about nothing and we’ve been waiting out here forever! I have some really important napping to get done today!”

Twilight blushed, glancing sheepishly at Applejack. “I’m sorry, everypony!” she called, opening the door with her magic to let her friends in. “How much of that did you--”

“Discord’s a jerk, you both suck at romance, and something about--oh.” Rainbow Dash stopped mid-sentence, staring at the stone on the table.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to everypony about.”

Pinkie Pie filed in after Rainbow Dash, giggling, “You don’t need to talk to us about being bad at love, silly. We already know!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, that’s not what I—wait, what?!”

Rarity and Fluttershy entered behind the others. With a sigh, Rarity said, “Darling, when you’re fighting about—” Her eyes fell on the stone on the table and her mood instantly darkened. “No,” she said firmly.

Twilight swept to the side quickly, putting herself between the stone and Rarity. “Rarity, listen to me--”

“Absolutely not!” Rarity shouted. “Whatever you’re planning here, Twilight, if it involves that thing then I want no part of it, and you shouldn’t either. What it did to me is--”

“I know,” Twilight said. “But--”

“No, you don’t! You have no idea how it felt to be used and betrayed and--”

“Yes, I do,” Twilight said pointedly. With an edge of bitterness in her voice, she looked Rarity in the eyes and told her, “I know exactly how that feels.”

“Twilight,” Rarity whispered, shrinking back from her. “I’m sorry. That was dreadfully insensitive of me.”

Applejack sidled up beside Twilight, appealing, “Look, Rares, I get where you’re coming from, I truly do. I don’t like it none either, but I think we owe it to Twilight to hear her out.”

Twilight hesitated, looking over at Applejack. Despite her earlier appeal, she hadn’t actually expected this. It felt strange to hear Applejack say those words, and she felt a pang of guilt strike her for having browbeat her into it.

Am I really any better?

Well, there was a thought she didn’t want any part of. Shoving it to the back of her mind, Twilight refocused herself on the matter at hand. “Please, can I have everypony’s attention?” She called out over the group, not waiting for Rarity’s answer.

Twilight stepped over to the table, turning to address the group. “Yes, this is exactly what you think it is. You’re looking at Tom’s magic core. This, right here, is the beating heart of Discord’s enchantment. All of the magic Discord put into creating the illusion we met as Cardinal is centralized right here. Well, what’s left of it, anyways.”

The stone continued its repetitive pulsing, and even Twilight had to admit to being at least a little creeped out by it. “This is a conversation that we’ve been needing to have, but I could never decide how to approach it. What we have on our hooves is the potential for incredible disaster to befall Equestria, and that disaster’s name is Discord.”

Fluttershy stepped forward, raising a hoof. “That’s not fair, Twilight,” she argued. “Discord has been very well-behaved at our get-togethers.”

“Sure, now he’s fine. That’s great for him, but what happens when he’s not? What do we do if Discord ever decides that maybe he doesn’t care as much about friendship as he thought he did? What happens if he gets bored? We agreed to give him this chance because we could imprison him with the Elements of Harmony if he acted up, but that option isn’t on the table anymore.”

“It kinda is,” Rainbow Dash said. “The Elements are still there. We just have to go get them, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Sure. In the event that Discord turns on us, all we have to do is make the perilous trek across the Everfree Forest while an unstoppable draconequus uses his incredibly powerful chaos magic to stop us.”

Rainbow Dash winced. “When you put it that way….”

“This is where we are right now,” Twilight insisted. “As long as we have no way to understand Discord’s magic, we have nothing that can counter him. The moment he turns on us, we all lose. The safety of Equestria is hanging on the thin hope that a thousand-year-old trickster will be content with tea parties forever.”

Twilight looked to her friends, waiting for them to make up their minds on her assertion. Applejack was the first to recognize what Twilight was saying and nod. Comprehension spread to Rarity and Rainbow Dash from there. In the middle, Pinkie Pie stuck close to Fluttershy and seemed reluctant to agree.

Fluttershy, alone, wore an unconvinced scowl at what Twilight was saying.

Addressing Fluttershy directly, Twilight said, “I’m not talking about doing anything to Discord. He deserves the same chance that anypony else would get. I just want to be ready in case something happens.”

“So, Tom?” Applejack asked.

“Tom.” Twilight nodded. “The problem with trying to understand Discord’s magic is that it’s not like any form of Equestrian magic that I’ve ever seen. It’s there and then it’s gone, leaving no trace. We can’t exactly ask Discord for samples of it, not without tipping him off to what we’re doing here.”

“You could give him the chance,” Fluttershy grumbled.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “It’s not a safety net if he knows it’s there.” Clearing her throat, she continued. “The point is, Tom is an opportunity we aren’t going to have again. We have a sample of Discord’s chaos magic that we can study and analyze. Through Tom, we can find a way to understand and maybe even neutralize Discord’s magic!”

“Yay,” Fluttershy said unenthusiastically. Twilight shot a sharp glance at her but bit her tongue.

Applejack spoke up before Twilight could say something she might regret. “Sugar, I don’t mean to be rude or nothin’, but ain’t this more your cup of tea than anypony’s here? What do you need us for?”

Twilight took a deep breath, pushing her growing agitation towards Fluttershy to the back of her mind. “I know you all have concerns about the risk of reactivating Tom. You should. I have the same fears, which is why I’ve taken the precautions that I have here.” Twilight gestured to the golden chest holding the core.

She placed a hoof over the runes inscribed along the box. “If everything works according to plan, these warding runes should keep the stone in its dormant state. If at any time we think that Tom’s turning on, we close the chest over him and the wards will seal away the enchantment. At least, that’s how it should work in theory.”

“In theory?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Ooh, ooh, I know this one!” Pinkie Pie shouted, leaping to the front of the room. “You’re studying Tom because you don’t know chaos magic and you made a spell to bind him but the spell won’t really work because you don’t know chaos magic and you can’t make an anti-chaos binding spell without knowing how to bind chaos so you have to study Tom so that you can bind chaos which you need to do to study Tom!”

Twilight withdrew slightly from Pinkie Pie, watching her draw in a deep breath at the end of her pronouncement. “That’s not wrong,” she started.

“Wow,” Pinkie Pie said suddenly. “This is a really bad idea, Twilight.”

“That’s why I wanted the rest of you here,” Twilight asserted. “If anything goes wrong, we’re the first line of defense for shutting down Tom. There’s no telling what could happen if he activates, so I’ll need all of you to help keep him busy while I work the counterspell to shut him down. We know the counterspell works, so no matter what happens, we can stop him before this gets out of control.”

Twilight looked at her friends. Rainbow Dash and Applejack seemed unconvinced, but neither were saying anything against her. Rarity hadn’t looked away from Tom, and Twilight realized that she’d been eerily quiet throughout this conversation. Fluttershy still looked angry that they were even considering this, and Pinkie Pie…there was no reading Pinkie Pie some days.

“I know we’re all scared,” Twilight said. “Cardinal messed with our memories and our minds. But we’ve faced far worse dangers than him and we can deal with whatever Tom throws at us. He only got where he did by taking away our power and making it his own. We’re all stronger now and wiser than we were before; we won’t let--"

“Why don’t we just get on with it?” Rarity asked bluntly, finally speaking up.

“I’m sorry?”

Rarity looked to Twilight, telling her plainly, “Nopony’s going to argue with you about it, Twilight. You seem very excited and we’re happy for you.” It wasn’t the answer she’d hoped for, but it wasn’t a rejection either.

“I…thank you,” Twilight said hesitantly. In an instant, the turmoil of recent months came tumbling back, threatening to spill across the room. She got what she wanted, but it didn’t feel right. She looked to her friends, each one avoiding her gaze. Were they ashamed or mad? She couldn’t tell, and as silence began to roll through the room, Twilight felt more bothered than ever.

Deep down, she’d hoped that maybe having something like this to do together would help bridge the gap between her and her friends, but having them all here seemed only to make it all more unbearable. She felt empty when she was near them, as though the connections she’d long valued with them now lay frayed and broken across the floor.

Twilight stepped around the table, standing with her tail to the stairs. She watched the stone carefully; she almost wished she hadn’t convinced the others to do this. The tip of her horn sparked with magic, but she stopped, thinking twice of the spell she would use. This was dangerous magic she was working with, after all. The slightest miscast could mean disaster.

“Thank you, everypony, for agreeing to help me with this,” Twilight said, but when she looked around the room, all she saw were worried faces and dim spirits. Sighing to herself, she wondered if maybe this was a mistake after all.

Just as Twilight opened her mouth to address her friends again, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Applejack stood beside her, giving her the strongest attempt at a smile she seemed able to muster. “Go on, sugarcube. We’re all with you.” They weren’t and Twilight knew it, but she appreciated the gesture all the same.

Twilight nodded. “Here we go.” Summoning her magic to her, she began to weave her spell. The room filled with a blue light, blanketing everypony in its glow. The pulsing stone turned a sickly yellow and purple mesh, each color flowing over its surface, with each somehow seeming to entirely cover it at once without ever melding into the other.

Under the effect of the analysis spell, visible cracks could be seen all over the surface, spraying light into the room in a color that defied explanation. It was at once every color on the visible spectrum, and yet no color that Twilight had ever seen before. Her head ached to stare for too long at any of the cracks and she was forced to keep her focus moving.

“Woooow! It’s pretty!” Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, seemed to be having no trouble staring intensely at the rock, which Twilight could best be described as fractured on a spatial level.

“This is what’s left of Tom’s enchantment,” Twilight explained to her friends in the room. “As you can see, the damage caused by the Elements of Harmony is severe.”

Rarity raised a hoof to shield her eyes. “Ugh, what is that eerie illumination?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s chaos, duh.”

Rarity opened her snout to retort, but Twilight cut her off. “Rainbow Dash is right. I have no doubt that what we’re seeing inside the stone is Discord’s chaos magic.” She took a deep breath. “This is exactly what we’ve been missing. The question is, how do we remove it from its case?”

Applejack glanced over at Twilight. “Uh, sugar, do we really need to? Y’can’t do your fancy whatchamacallit like this?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. I need to go deeper.” Her horn began to shine brighter, with orange lights streaking out towards the stone. It levitated upwards from the chest and turned over, pointing one of its fractures in Twilight’s direction. The lights crossed through the fracture and gently pulled at its sides, allowing Twilight the chance to peer inside, but she couldn’t make out anything meaningful. She sent a jolt of magic into the shell, probing it for--

Blinding light of every color flared into Twilight’s vision. She shut her eyes tightly against it but impossible shapes batted at the inside of her eyelids. A cornucopia of screams echoed through her mind. She reached her hooves to her ears only to discover that she was no longer standing on solid ground at all, but plummeting through a cascade of sight and sounds divorced of meaning and intent.

Twilight opened her six mouths to scream and out poured birdsong that split the sky. Six pillars of light shone down upon Equestria far below, each thumping in rhythm to the beating of her heart. They landed in the heart of Ponyville, pulsing and undulating faster and faster until Twilight felt it could erupt from her chest.

Before Twilight could do anything, she was as liquid floating through a vast ocean. Her tail, red and scaled, swept out behind her and pushed through the water, pushing her massive jaws in the direction of prey. She swept into a crevasse, hunting, searching, and it was there that she saw.

Twilight stood before a mirror in an infinite hallway, gleaming white and lined with glass on hundreds of walls. Gazing through the mirror, she saw Twilight Sparkle standing before her, curiously inspecting the surfaces of her world. Twilight stepped forward and raised a hoof, and the other Twilight did the same. She tapped the surface and it rippled like water, and before she knew it, Twilight plunged forward into the liquid and found herself falling through reality once more.

“Oh my,” boomed the deafening voice of the universe around her. “What do we have here?” She folded her ears down against her head, but nothing further spoke. A blinding flash of light abruptly severed her connection and before she knew what was happening, she felt herself thrown to the hard wooden floor of the library.

“Twilight?!” She felt the familiar sensation of Spike’s claws in her hide, pushing against her shoulders. “Come on, wake up!”

Pressing down against the floor with her hoof, Twilight pushed herself up, blinking her eyes open to the blurry sight of a purple dragon before her. “Spike?” she asked hesitantly, blinking a few more times to clear her vision. She could still see impossible geometries and color patterns in her eyelids. She felt like in an instant, she’d learned so much and yet it was all nearly impossible to retain.

Seeing her rise, Spike embraced Twilight immediately. “You’re okay!” he shouted. “The others still haven’t woken up. What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted. “I…Applejack!” Finding more strength in her than she’d previously known was possible, Twilight pushed herself to her hooves and leapt across the room to where the subject of her affections lay splayed out on the ground.

Twilight opened her snout to speak but her heart caught in her throat. She stared down at Applejack’s golden mane, liberated from the confines of hat and hairband, spread out across her face. Applejack’s jaw hung open and her tongue lolled onto the ground, but her rigid jawline and powerful shoulders made Twilight’s heart flutter to look at.

Twilight reached out slowly for Applejack, as much because she craved her touch as because she feared for her safety. “Applejack?” she asked, reaching out hesitantly. Twilight laid her hoof on Applejack’s neck, holding it there as she tried again. “Applejack, get up.”

Her worry struggled to compete with the sheer exuberance of being so close to her Special Somepony. She felt as though the sun had come up and shone its brightness down upon her life. She put another hoof on Applejack’s side and pushed her, urging, “You have to get up, Applejack!” As she spoke, she couldn’t mask the excitement in her voice, nor could she do anything to hide the grin upon her face.

“Whuzza….” Applejack’s head lifted and her tongue rolled back into her snout where it belonged. She barely had her eyes open before Twilight’s hooves wrapped around her, squeezing her head into the alicorn’s neck.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Twilight whispered to her.

“What happened?” Applejack asked. Her eyes shot open suddenly and she threw herself to her hooves. “The others, are they--”

“Spike’s checking on them,” Twilight said quickly. “They’ll be fine, I’m sure. Are you hurt? Do you need any help?” Twilight lifted Applejack’s chin to inspect, searching for any signs of bruising in her skin.

Applejack reached a hoof up to Twilight’s, delicately removing it from her head. “I’m fine, sugar. What’s got into you?”

“Your hat!” She leaned down and gripped it in her teeth, picking it up for Applejack. With a quick gesture, Twilight threw it over her Special Somepony’s head, using a hoof to adjust it.

Applejack smiled. “Mighty kind of you, but that don’t answer my question,” she said as Twilight brushed the golden strands of hair out from in front of her emerald eyes.

“I should find your hairband,” Twilight said.

She tried to pull away, but Applejack stopped her with one hoof gently placed on the side of her face. “Twilight,” she said sternly.

“I….” Twilight hesitated. It was a fair question, she had to admit. Just looking at Applejack, she felt overcome by wave after wave of urging, of need. She wanted to cancel everything, to get her friends out the door as quickly as she could because she needed to feel her partner’s embrace, to bury her head in Applejack’s chest and--

“Ugh, what hit me?” The voice of Rainbow Dash called across the room, interrupting Twilight’s train of thought, which was likely for the best given that she could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks and knew that nothing good would have likely come of continuing down it.

“Is everypony okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “What was th--”

“Can we do that again?!” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly, bouncing onto the library table. “It was so fun. There were colors and screaming and rainbows and then a big boom at the end! It was the best roller coaster ever.”

Curiosity abruptly overcame desire as Twilight’s attention snapped to Pinkie. “You saw all that too?! Did you hear the voice while you were falling? What did it say?”

“I wasn’t falling,” Pinkie answered in confusion. “A bunch of colors and lights were spilling out of the rock.”

Applejack stepped forward, pressing a hoof to Twilight’s side. “Y’started glowin’ and your eyes shot open and then you were screamin’. I tried to reach you but some kinda lightnin’ shot out at me. I don’t know that it’s a good idea to try this again.”

“Tell her about the boom!” Pinkie insisted.

“Honestly,” Rarity muttered, climbing to her hooves. “The less I have to think about that dreadful thing, the better off I’ll be.”

Twilight turned her attention to Rarity. “What happened? Please, I need to know. This is important for my research.”

Before Rarity could speak, Rainbow Dash filled the space. “There was this huge cloud that showed up over the table. It was like the death of color. Looking at it made my head hurt. Fluttershy screamed and scrambled behind Applejack.”

Twilight lifted a hoof to stroke her chin as she thought. “Fascinating. That sounds like some kind of temporal storm, the kind that only forms around ruptures in the causality chain. Did it do anything else?”

“It exploded,” Fluttershy whispered.

So that’s where the blast had come from. That could mean that--

“Darling, is it strictly necessary for us to continue doing this?” Rarity asked. “This magic seems to be rather temperamental, and I’m not certain it’s a good idea to risk another incident like this.”

Twilight took a moment to think. She’d always trusted Rarity’s judgment in the past, but she also really wanted to learn more about Discord’s magic, which made it difficult to agree entirely. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Give me some time to think about it. With a little time, I might be able to devise a safer way of studying the core now that we understand more of the risks associated with it.”

“That would be appreciated,” Rarity answered.

“We’re with you,” Applejack said wearily. It was a simple sentiment but it still brought a wide smile to Twilight’s face.

Leaning into Applejack’s side, Twilight nuzzled against her ear. “Thank you,” she said gently. After a few seconds, she lifted her head to address the rest of their friends. “Thank all of you. I couldn’t have done this without each and every one of you here.”

“I’m not sure we did anything,” Fluttershy admitted.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, this was all on you, Twilight. We were just…I don’t know, moral support?”

Applejack laid a hoof on Twilight’s spine, sending chills through the alicorn’s body as it gently rolled forward. “Don’t reckon I really get what came of it, but it’s your victory, sugarcube. Ain’t nopony else’s.”

Twilight glanced around the room, seeing the weak smiles of her friends. “But you’re wr--” She stopped, shivering at the feeling Applejack was giving her. “Please don’t stop doing that,” she murmured quickly, before returning her attention to her friends.

Clearing her throat, Twilight said, “You’re wrong. I couldn’t have done this without you – any of you. You’re all my dearest friends and it means so much to me to have you here, standing by my side and helping me through. It warms my heart to know that no matter what happens, whatever we go through, I’ll always have you here.”

A single tear rolled down Twilight’s cheek, and she reached up to wipe it away. “Our focus today may be Discord’s magic, but there’s one more important magic that we must never lose sight of: the magic of friendship.”

Twilight watched her friends’ smiles grow stronger and wider as she spoke, and she knew that she was getting through. “We are, each and every one of us, connected by an invisible thread that binds our lives together. Our journeys through life may be perilous, but as long as we stay together and face those challenges as friends, I know that we can overcome anything.”

Twilight smiled, glancing at Applejack beside her, then back to the group. “I love you all, each and every one of you. Together, we can overcome anything that comes our way.” Twilight watched her friends’ faces brighten, but then slowly dim. Rarity and Pinkie Pie exchanged glances while Fluttershy sidled up beside Rainbow Dash.

Beside her, Applejack asked, “You sure you’re okay, hon?”

“Of course I am,” Twilight answered shortly. She’d thought it was a pretty good speech for something she had to make up on the spot; her friends were supposed to like it and be happy with her. That’s how this works. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked, probing for advice.

“Nothing of the sort,” Rarity said, stepping forward. “That was lovely, truly it was, but I can’t help but feel something’s amiss. You seem….”

“Why aren’t you mad anymore?” Rainbow Dash blurted. “You were pretty peeved with us earlier.”

Twilight took a step back, absorbing Rainbow Dash’s question. “I’m sorry,” she said, reflecting on recent events. “I know I’ve been pretty short with all of you, but there’s been a lot on my mind of late.”

Applejack stepped forward, addressing the group. “Twi’s goin’ through a lot right now and if she’s a mite testy, that’s her right. But she loves us; she wouldn’t have come back if that weren’t true.”

Thank you, Applejack.

Twilight smiled, giving her partner a rewarding nuzzle for defending her. “I love you,” she whispered so that only Applejack would hear.

Rarity sighed. “You’re absolutely right, darling. Twilight, if you’re ready to put our troubles behind us, then I am too.”

“Thank you, everypony.” Twilight approached Rarity, embracing her with her right hoof. With her left, she gestured to the group, encouraging them to come in around her. Applejack grabbed Twilight from behind, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy crowded in from the sides. Rainbow Dash embraced her head from above, and together, Twilight sat there with her friends, soaking in the warmth of being with ponies who loved her.

After what felt like a couple of minutes, the group dispersed from around Twilight. “I should let you go,” she told them. “We’ll get together tomorrow for brunch and plan what to do next with the core. Does that sound good for everypony?”

“That sounds lovely, darling,” Rarity told her.

Twilight smiled. “I’ll get the door,” she said. She approached the door and flicked her horn, releasing a burst of magic to open it as she always did. Looking back at her friends, she smiled, but they just stared past her.

“You gonna open it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight glanced back at the door, which remained stubbornly shut. That was unusual. Conjuring her magic again, she cast the spell to pull the door open, but once more it refused to so much as budge. Twilight narrowed her eyes; this was getting irritating.

Unicorn telekinesis was the most basic of basic spells. Even foals could learn to cast it in short order. Twilight flicked her horn again, but once more, nothing happened. She concentrated, pushing all of her magic into the casting, but the door would not budge. She focused harder, shutting her eyes tight and commanding it to just move, to just--

Twilight suddenly felt very dizzy. She opened her eyes, but there was nothing to greet her. She felt as though she was drifting in a great black abyss, and she felt her mind fade. In an instant, she was terrified, aware only of reality abandoning her and her brain shutting down. In seconds, she felt as though she would be no more.

Am I dead?

The question came unbidden and it terrified her to her core. But then reality snapped back into place and she blinked against the harsh light of the library. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly to her friends, trying to shake off the strange funk. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Did she just--” Fluttershy whispered behind her.

“I’m on it,” Rainbow Dash hissed back.

Applejack came up beside Twilight, asking, “You okay, sugarcube?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “I don’t feel good. I think there might be something wrong--”

“Yeah, there’s something wrong, alright,” Rainbow Dash said quickly, storming up on Twilight. “Look, I get that you’re sorry and everything, but you’ve been a real jerk to us lately.”

“Rainbow,” Applejack started, but Rainbow Dash marched right past her, getting up in Twilight’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said quickly.

“You should be! It’s like you don’t even respect us anymore. You know, when we all went through that mirror to the other world to get your crown back, we could have been stranded on the other side for thirty moons!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “That ain’t how it--” Her protest was promptly silenced by Rainbow Dash’s hoof.

“We took a big risk helping you,” Rainbow Dash accused, “And you didn’t even thank us for it. It’s like you didn’t care.”

Twilight stepped back from Rainbow Dash. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” Glancing around the room at the others, she told them, “Thank you, everypony, for coming with me to--”

In that instant, Twilight was cut off by Rainbow Dash’s hind legs landing against her neck. Her body exploded into triangular shards, perfectly cut and dyed like stained glass. These shards flew from the impact in every direction, fading out of existence as they travelled.

As everypony stared stunned at the image of Twilight breaking into pieces before them, Rainbow Dash shouted, “THE BOX!!! Somepony close the box!”

Rarity snapped out of the funk first, using her magic to grip the chest Twilight had built for the core and slam the lid shut. The sound of a latch could be heard as it closed, followed by a golden ray of light that emerged from the front and traveled a circle around the rim. Once the light had completed its circle, the runes on the front of the box began to glow green.

Rainbow Dash approached the chest on the table, examining the lettering. “Does that mean it’s working?” she asked, looking to Rarity.

Rarity caught Rainbow Dash’s glance and glared at her. “Why ever do you think I would know?”

Rainbow Dash looked away quickly. “Uh, no reason.”

Pinkie Pie blinked her eyes, looking away from the space in the library that Twilight had once occupied. “How did you know it wasn’t her?”

Fluttershy approached the group, explaining, “She flickered. It was like she was gone and then she was there again.”

“Is that what that was?” Rarity asked. “I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It’s been quite a long day.”

“It’s about to get longer,” Pinkie Pie warned the others.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Something’s happened to Twilight. We gotta figure out what or…what to do with the box or…or something!” She sighed. “Twilight was supposed to be here for this!”

Pinkie tapped Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, turning her attention away from the table. “I meant because of that.”

Following Pinkie’s gaze, Rainbow Dash saw Applejack standing stock still by the door. She wouldn’t move, she wouldn’t look away. She remained transfixed on the space where Twilight’s illusion had been smashed.

“Applejack?” Rarity asked carefully, approaching slowly from the side. Applejack made no response. She didn’t even turn her head to acknowledge that she’d heard. She seemed lost in her own world.

“Hey, AJ?” Rainbow Dash said, stepping forward behind Rarity.

Still there came no answer. Instead, Applejack simply reached a hoof forward, touching the floor where Twilight had been standing. When her hoof reached it, she began to tremble. Her body shook and her breathing started to speed up. She looked up and her eyes refused to lock onto anything in front of her, instead focusing on whatever was flashing in her mind.

With a broken voice, Applejack asked only one word of the gathered assembly. “Twilight?”