Familiarity

Chapters

Three: The Girl Who Couldn't Fly.
Four: Familiar.
Five: Heart to Heart.
Six: Friends and Enemies.
Seven: Hopes and Dreams.
Eight: Scootaloo Makes A Friend.
Nine: Tails.
One: Ice and Fire.
Two: Fang the Sorceress
Ten: Monster.

Three: The Girl Who Couldn't Fly.

Scootaloo didn't feel especially rested when she dragged herself out of bed that morning, but she had somehow managed to get enough sleep that she felt she'd be able to make it through school. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and ate her breakfast, going through the routine on automation while waiting for her mind to fully wake up.

It wasn't until she took her scooter outside and set off for school that she managed to shake off the last of her drowsiness. Moving her body always helped clear her mind. It was a perfect day, with blue skies and gentle winds, warm for the season. Ponyville looked just the same as on any other day, and Scootaloo wondered if anypony had noticed the intrusion of the gaunthound the day before.

Even though she wasn't in any particular hurry, she reached the schoolhouse well in time. She had expected to meet up with her friends along the way, but this time they seemed to have missed each other. Scootaloo parked her scooter in her usual spot and pulled her helmet off her head. Other foals were already starting to trickle in, many of them chatting among themselves.

"Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo turned her head and saw Sweetie Belle trot over to her with a bright smile on her face, accompanied by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Scootaloo wasn't very surprised – out of the three Crusaders, Sweetie seemed to be the one getting along best with their former nemeses.

"Hey, you guys," Scootaloo greeted.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Diamond Tiara sighed. "Scootaloo, could you do something about Sweetie? She's been all jittery ever since we ran into her this morning."

"That's because I have an awesome story to tell you girls!" Sweetie Belle hopped slightly on the spot in excitement. "Scootaloo, you won't believe what happened to me last night!"

"Huh.” Scootaloo blinked. "Funny, I was just about to say the exact same thing."

Diamond raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you too? What exactly happened last night?"

"It's kind of a long story," Scootaloo sighed. "Anyway, we should probably wait for Apple... Bloom..." She fell silent and stared. Noticing, the others turned to look as well, seeing Apple Bloom approach on dragging hooves with her head hanging low.

The earth pony filly had seen better days. Her mane and tail were a mess and she had several scratches and scrapes all over her body. Her eyes were tired with large bags as if she hadn't slept much that night, and even the bow on her head was torn and tattered.

"Hi, y'all," she mumbled.

"Hey, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle said, giving her friend a concerned look. "Um, wow, what happened? You look awful. No offense."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Had a rough night."

"I'll say," Scootaloo chuckled. "You look like you had a worse night than me, and my night sucked."

"Ah don't wanna talk 'bout it right now," Apple Bloom said. She noticed the other two and suddenly shot Silver an angry glare. "Silver Spoon," she growled.

"Apple Bloom," Silver replied in a cold tone, her eyes narrowing.

Diamond Tiara looked at Silver Spoon, then at Apple Bloom. She frowned. "Oookaaay. What was that?"

"Why don't ya ask her?" Apple Bloom said, still glaring.

"Hmpf!" Silver Spoon huffed, turning with her muzzle raised and marching into the schoolhouse.

"Silver!" Diamond called after her, then turned to Sweetie and Scootaloo. The two just shrugged as if to say: Don't look at us, we have no idea what this is about.

"Whatever," Apple Bloom muttered, trudging past them. "Let's just get inside, class is 'bout to start."

"...and then Starlight was all like: 'If we don't close that book, Ponyville is dooooomed!'"

Once recess came around the five fillies finally got a chance to talk and catch up on the events of the previous day. Scootaloo listened as Sweetie Belle regaled them with the epic tale of her first magic lesson. It was a bit hard to follow as Sweetie kept getting carried away, talking very fast and omitting what was probably important context, but it was clear that the lesson had not gone quite according to plan.

"So we combined our magic and managed to force the book shut! The Dark Librarian was like: 'Curses! You've won today, ponies, but I will be baaack!' Then the book burst into flames! It was so cool! Of course, a bunch of the other books also caught fire, but we managed to put them out before the library burned down." Sweetie Belle giggled. "You should have seen Twilight's face!"

"You're kidding, right?" Diamond said, staring at Sweetie in open disbelief. "There's no way that actually happened."

"It so totally happened!" Sweetie crossed her hooves, looking slightly offended. "If it weren't for me and Miss Starlight, this whole town would have been overrun by unspeakable evil!"

"An unspeakable evil you released in the first place," Silver Spoon pointed out.

Sweetie's expression turned a bit sheepish. "...I didn't know it was a bad magic book. But it all worked out in the end."

"An' they still wanna keep teachin' you?" Apple Bloom asked. "After all that?"

"Yep!" Sweetie went back to grinning proudly. "Starlight even said I have an ominous talent for dark magic, and Twilight said it was imperative I learn how to control it."

"What inna hay does that even mean?"

"It means I'm awesome at magic stuff, duh!"

Diamond frowned. "I still don't buy it."

"You guys believe me, right?" Sweetie Belle asked, turning to her fellow Crusaders.

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Sure, Ah guess."

"I believe you, Sweetie," Scootaloo said. "It's not much weirder than what happened to me."

"What did happen to you last night?" Sweetie asked. "Didn't you just head back home after the meeting?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo said, "but once I made it into Ponyville, it suddenly got super cold and then this huge monster dog showed up out of nowhere. I mean, it wasn't really a dog, I guess. It just sorta looked like one. Anyway, it chased me all the way to the Everfree Forest and almost killed me, but then this magic tower appeared right in front of me. I sorta passed out, and when I woke up I was in a bed inside the tower. Turns out this sorceress pony chased the monster away and saved me. Only, she's not really a pony. Actually, I still have no idea what she really is. She was pretty cool, though. She said she's been traveling the world and apparently she's friends with the princesses. She gave me food and took me to her mad scientist lab to make sure the monster didn't eat my magic or something. Then she brought me home and..." Scootaloo hesitated for a moment. "...well, that's pretty much the whole story."

The other four ponies stared at her.

"Wow," Sweetie said. "I mean, are you okay, Scootaloo? You didn't get hurt?"

"Well, I did, but I'm fine now," Scootaloo replied. "Mostly because of Fang. Um, that's her name. The sorceress, I mean. I'm pretty sure I would've ended up in the hospital if she hadn't healed me."

"Is this like a thing for you guys?" Diamond asked. "Do you always end up in these crazy adventures all the time?"

"Last night was extra crazy," Scootaloo said. "But yeah, I guess?"

Diamond just shook her head and turned to Apple Bloom. "Okay, so what about you? Why do you look like you tried to wrestle an angry badger? And why are you and Silver Spoon acting like you hate each other all over again?"

Apple Bloom sighed. "Ya know how there was a full moon out last night?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... apparently Ah'm some kinda werewolf now."

There was a brief silence.

"...So, that's a bad thing?" Scootaloo asked.

"Ah'm still tryin' to figure that out."

Diamond just shook her head. "You know what, I'm not even going to question that. But what does that have to do with you and Silver Spoon?"

Apple Bloom shot Silver Spoon an angry glance. "Turns out, somepony happens to be descended from this here ancient line of werewolf hunters."

Diamond turned her head, staring at her friend. "What?"

"I told you, Apple Bloom, it was a misunderstanding!" Silver exclaimed. "I sensed something really dangerous and when we ran into each other I didn't recognize you!"

"Y'all tried to stab me with a spoon!"

Diamond slumped over and put her head into her hooves. "So that's it, huh? I'm the only normal pony here."

Scootaloo gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. “I guess you're just lucky that way.”

The hours at school passed without much incident. Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon did try to elaborate on their "misunderstanding", but their stories quickly devolved into incoherent bickering again and when the five friends left the school after the final class, Scootaloo still wasn't entirely sure what had happened between them. Diamond was clearly frustrated with the whole thing, and Sweetie seemed worried about the rising tension within the group.

"So," she said, in what was clearly meant to be a casual tone, "wanna head over to Sugarcube Corner? I think we all need to relax a bit."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Sorry, gals, but Ah just wanna head home an' sleep for a while. Got farm work to do later, an' Ah just don't think Ah'm gonna last in this condition."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Twilight about some stuff," Scootaloo said. "It's kinda urgent, so I should probably head over there right away. Sorry, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie shook her head. "Don't worry about it, I understand." She turned to the other two. "You guys coming?"

"Sure, I have nothing better to do," Silver Spoon shrugged.

"Okay," Diamond said, giving Silver a hard look. "But we are going to talk about this whole 'werewolf slayer' thing."

Parting with her friends, Scootaloo set course for the huge crystal tree towering at the far end of town. She hoped Twilight wasn't too busy with princess stuff to see her without an appointment, but she figured the matter was serious enough to warrant it. Navigating her scooter along the Ponyville streets, Scootaloo tried to think of the best way to ask Twilight about Fang. After all, she didn't want it to seem like she was snooping. Twilight absolutely needed to know about the gaunthound, at any rate. Scootaloo swerved, narrowly avoiding a collision with Big Macintosh and his apple cart, and forced herself to focus more on what she was doing. She realized that she had unconsciously been speeding up and took it down a notch.

Before long she had reached the castle and slowed her scooter down to stop by the large front doors. For a moment she stood there debating whether to knock or simply step inside. She did know Twilight pretty well from back when she was just the local unicorn librarian, after all. Still, considering how the circumstances had developed recently...

"Oh, Scootaloo?" said a voice behind her. "My, we do keep running into each other, don't we?"

Scootaloo turned around to find Fang walking towards her, looking slightly amused. She still appeared to be a unicorn – Scootaloo noted she had remembered the horn this time – and wore no attire save for a pair of plain saddlebags. Though her unusual beauty did turn a few heads among the townsfolk, nothing about her betrayed the illusion that she was anything but a normal pony.

"Fang?" Scootaloo frowned slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you yesterday, didn't I?" Fang replied. "I came to visit my old friend Twilight Sparkle. If anything I'm surprised to see you here."

"Well, yeah, I wanted to talk to Twilight," Scootaloo said. "You know, about what happened yesterday. Seemed like something she should know about."

Fang nodded. "Just as well, that will save us some time."

Scootaloo frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"We'll get to that soon enough," Fang said. "Aren't you going to knock? Nevermind, I'll do it." Having reached the door, she raised her hoof and gave it a few solid knocks.

For a moment they just stood there, waiting in silence. Scootaloo started to feel awkward.

"...Um, so, did you fix my scooter?" she finally asked.

"Hm?" Fang turned her head, looking surprised at the question. "Yes, a simple repair spell, nothing too difficult. I nearly forgot about it, though."

"Thank you," Scootaloo mumbled. "It kinda means a lot to me. And... sorry about last night."

"No, that's quite alright," Fang said. "I'm the one who should apologize. I didn't mean to offend you, but I realize I overstepped my bounds." She sighed. "I'm... not used to being around others, especially not children, and etiquette has never been my strong suit."

"Yeah, I guess we've got that in common," Scootaloo said. "The etiquette thing, I mean."

She glanced at Fang. Fang glanced back. All of a sudden, they both started chuckling.

The doors suddenly opened, revealing Princess Twilight Sparkle with a somewhat unkempt mane and an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to make you wait, we've had a bit of a rough night. Oh! Hello, Scootaloo! And..." She looked at Fang, cocking her head. "...Um, have we met?"

"Twilight!" Fang smiled brightly. "It's me! We met back in magic school, remember?"

Twilight kept looking at her for a moment, then something clicked in her head and her eyes widened in recognition. "Madam Fang? Oh my gosh! Is that really you?"

"Madam?" Scootaloo was about to ask about that, but had to take a step back when Twilight reached out and gave Fang a sudden hug.

"Told you I knew her," Fang laughed.

Letting go of Fang, Twilight beamed a happy smile. "I can't believe it! It must have been, what, ten years?"

"Give or take, yes," Fang nodded. She gestured at Scootaloo. "Last time I saw you, you weren't much older than this kid here. And now look at you, an alicorn princess! Celestia sure knows how to pick them."

"Please, come inside!" Twilight said, waving them in with one of her wings. "We have so much to talk about."

Fang wasted no time stepping inside, followed by Scootaloo who felt a bit forgotten in all the excitement. As Twilight led them through the throne room, Fang looked around with great interest.

"Quite the place you have here," she said, casually letting the tip of her tail sweep across the dormant Friendship Map. "It seems very new, but it's full of primal magic. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's sort of a long story," Twilight said. "I wish I could show you my library, but we had a bit of an incursion yesterday and I don't think it's safe just yet."

Fang arched an eyebrow. "Incursion?"

"Accident," Twilight said. "I meant to say accident."

"I would have gone for 'cataclysm'," Spike said, having just entered from one of the side doors. "But I guess accident works too. Hey Scootaloo! Ma'am."

"Why hello, Spike!" Fang greeted. "I see you're growing up into a strapping young dragon."

"Ah, thanks?" Spike seemed unsure if he should recognize the stranger and cast a nervous look towards Twilight for help.

Twilight giggled. "It's okay, Spike. This is Fang, she's a friend of Celestia. You were too young at the time to remember her, but we met back when I was still in magic school. Best substitute teacher ever!"

"Oh." Spike turned to Fang. "Well, nice to meet you, Fang. Uh, again? Sorry I don't remember you, but any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine."

"Likewise, Spike," Fang said, smiling.

Scootaloo gave Fang a puzzled look. "So, when you said you two met in school, you meant you were teaching her? How old are you, anyway?"

Fang grinned. "Don't be rude, young lady."

"We have so much to talk about," Twilight said. "Spike, make us some tea. The good stuff."

Spike made a quick salute. "Can do!"

The cushioned stool was quite comfortable, Scootaloo not so much. She rested her hooves against the table, silently wondering if there was even any point to her being there. She had followed Twilight and Fang into another crystal room serving as a lounge, idly listening to the two of them chatting. So far she hadn't had a chance to say anything to Twilight, and was starting to suspect the princess had simply forgotten she was there.

Twilight did most of the chatting, bordering on ranting, apparently trying to cover the events of several years of her life in as few minutes as possible.

"...Did I mention I have an apprentice now? Well, technically I'm not teaching her anymore, so she's more of a colleague slash housemate these days. Her name is Starlight Glimmer and she's one of the most talented spellcasters I've ever known! I'd love for her to meet you but I gave her the time off for some R&R at the spa, since yesterday was a bit rough on her. Well, it was actually pretty rough on all of us, but..."

Fang, meanwhile, seemed to avoid talking about herself, skillfully dodging questions regarding her affairs and whereabouts over the past decade. Scootaloo wondered how much Twilight really knew about her old friend.

Before long Spike appeared carrying a tea set. It looked almost comically oversized in his small claws, but he carried it steadily and without effort, placing it on the table in front of them.

"Thank you, Spike," Twilight said, levitating the kettle to pour them all some tea.

"Don't mention it," Spike chuckled. "Number one assistant, remember? Speaking of which, anything else you need me to do?"

Twilight shook her head. “No, I don't think so. You already finished your chores for today, right? I think you can take some time off now."

"Are you sure?" Spike prodded. "I could go tidy up the library a bit. I'll be careful."

"I'd rather you don't," Twilight said. "It's nice of you to offer, but I haven't finished making sure it's safe to enter. I'll let you know when I do, so for now you can just relax."

"Oh, okay." Spike didn't look entirely satisfied with the answer. "And you're sure there's nothing else for me to do?"

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes slightly. "Yes, Spike, I'm sure."

Spike shrugged. "Well, I guess I'll go see if Rarity needs any help around the boutique. You guys enjoy the tea."

As he left the room, Fang followed him with her eyes, looking thoughtful. Once he closed the door behind him, she raised her cup to her lips and took a sip. "Hm. I have to say, Twilight, this is rather nice stuff."

"Coming from you, that's high praise," Twilight said. "I seem to recall you even taught Princess Celestia a thing or two about tea."

Scootaloo took her own cup and tasted the warm beverage, but found she had no particular opinion on the flavor. Tea was not really her thing.

Fang took another sip, then lowered her cup. "So, have you told Spike yet? That he's your familiar?"

Twilight's eyes widened slightly at the question. She swallowed a mouthful of tea and her ears drooped. "Um... No. No, I haven't."

Fang frowned. "Twilight, he needs to know."

"I know," Twilight sighed. "I know I've been putting it off for too long. I-I'm just not ready yet."

"Hold on," Scootaloo finally spoke up. “What's a familiar?”

"A familiar is a magically bound servant," Fang explained. "Normally, a magician will form a mutually beneficial pact with a magical creature of some sort. The creature acts as an aide, performing tasks on behalf of the magician. An assistant, if you will." Hearing that, Twilight cringed a bit. Fang carried on: "In return the magician shares magical influence, knowledge and guidance. These days it's rare to see that sort of arrangement in Equestria, but it's quite common elsewhere."

Twilight hung her head, staring into her tea. "Scootaloo, you remember the story of how I got my cutie mark, right? I hatched Spike's egg while my magic was going out of control, so I don't really know how it happened, but somehow he became bound to me as my familiar. I always felt I had a special connection to him, but I didn't know how true that was until Fang told me."

"Huh. That... actually explains a lot," Scootaloo said. “But it's some sort of spell, right? Can it be broken?"

"Probably," Twilight said. "But he's been my familiar his entire life. By now it's part of his personality and I don't really know what calling it off would do to him. It's not a decision I can make on my own, but I just... I just don't know how to break it to him."

"Twilight," Fang gave the young alicorn a stern look, "he just asked you three times if you had any chores for him to do. That's not normal behavior for an adolescent dragon. You have to tell him, and soon."

"I know." Twilight nodded slowly, her expression a mess of worry and apprehension. "A-And I will! I promise. It's just... he's family, you know? I don't want him to think he was just some magically conditioned servant all this time. He's like a little brother to me, and maybe I take him for granted sometimes, but he's always been there when I needed him. I guess it just scares me, not knowing how much of that is really him and how much is just the pact." She fell silent and downed a large gulp of tea, as if to calm herself.

Scootaloo felt uncomfortable again. She hadn't expected the mood to turn so heavy. "Um, I know what it's like, having stuff you don't want to talk about," she said, scratching her mane. "But I think Spike will understand. I can tell he cares about you a lot, Twilight, and I don't think it's just that familiar thing. I'm sure you'll get through this together. Like, that's what families do, right?"

"Thanks, Scootaloo," Twilight whispered and managed to smile a little. "Ah, I hope you can keep this a secret for now. It's kind of a sensitive issue and I want Spike to find out from me first."

"Don't worry," Scootaloo said. "I won't tell anypony, promise."

"Thank you." Twilight looked up and suddenly seemed to really notice the pegasus. "...Oh! Scootaloo, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to ask why you came to see me today!"

"Yeah, about that..." Scootaloo wasn't even sure where to begin. "Something kinda happened to me yesterday."

Twilight nodded, pouring herself another cup of tea. "Go on."

"Well..."

"She was attacked by a gaunthound," Fang said.

Twilight froze, the cup halfway to her mouth. She set it down and stared at them. "A gaunthound? Here, in Ponyville? Why didn't you say so right away?"

Fang shrugged. "You seemed so excited to see me, I didn't want to spoil the moment."

"But..." Twilight kept staring in disbelief. "Gaunthounds are real? I thought they were mythological."

"Oh, they're real," Fang said. "You don't need to worry, though. I chased it off myself, and there's been no sign of it since then."

"Nevermind that," Twilight turned to Scootaloo with a concerned frown. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you?"

"Um, I'm fine now," Scootaloo replied. "Fang saved me."

"It nearly killed her, as a matter of fact," Fang said. "But I was able to fix her up, good as new. Nothing to worry about, really. But then she said something that bothered me a bit."

Scootaloo looked confused. "I did?"

"You told me you can't fly because you were born with a magical deficiency," Fang said. "Rince Wind Syndrome, I believe it was called?"

"Oh dear." Twilight raised a hoof to her mouth. "Scootaloo, is that true?"

Scootaloo didn't answer, but gave a small nod.

"I did suspect it might've been something like that, but I didn't know..." Twilight sighed. "Scootaloo, I'm so sorry to hear that."

Scootaloo shrugged. She'd never liked being pitied.

"Right, but that didn't seem to add up to me," Fang said. "So I decided to run some tests on her internal magic flow." She lit her horn and pulled a familiar brass cylinder out of her saddlebags, levitating it over to Twilight. "I think you need to see this."

Twilight looked at the device as her magenta glow replaced Fang's golden one. "A thaumascope? Isn't that a bit old-fashioned?"

"Yes, well, my thaumatic spectrometer blew up on me." Fang shrugged. "Not important. Scootaloo, would you stand over there and let Twilight have a look at you with the scope?"

Scootaloo hesitated for a moment, then hopped off her stool and stood on the spot Fang had been pointing at, at the side of the table in front of Twilight. She didn't like this at all: It was clear now that Fang had indeed kept something important from her, and she felt like she should probably say something about that. "What's going on? You said there wasn't anything wrong with my magic."

"No, I said it hadn't been damaged by the gaunthound," Fang corrected. "Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle looked just as puzzled as Scootaloo felt, but folded the scope out and pointed it as Scootaloo, repeating the same procedure as Fang had the night before. Once the scope did it's whirring thing, Twilight's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "Wait, what? This is... Fang, is this what I think it is?"

"What?" Scootaloo asked. "Is what what you think it is?"

"Here, it'll be easier if I show you." Fang took the thaumascope from Twilight. Still pointing it at Scootaloo, she pushed a button, making it emit a shutter sound like from a camera. "Twilight, if you don't mind?"

Twilight looked distraught but nodded when Fang turned the scope towards her. Another push of the button resulted in the same sound. Fang levitated the scope to Scootaloo, presenting the monitor. "This is a picture of Twilight's magical aura, or at least as close as we can get to actually seeing it."

Scootaloo looked at the picture. It definitely depicted Twilight, except the alicorn in the picture was entirely lit up in a bright magenta glow that seemed to shine from within her body, radiating into a large wispy corona around her. The glow was especially bright around her horn, wings, flank and chest. Looking closer, Scootaloo could see swirling patterns of light running through Twilight's body like rivers.

"Wow," she said quietly. "That's... really pretty."

"It's a bit brighter than normal since she's an alicorn, but you get the idea." Fang turned a dial on the scope. "This is your aura."

The image changed. Scootaloo looked at herself, but this image was completely different from the previous one. The corona around her was much smaller and fainter; a deep, stygian purple that turned darker, ever darker towards the core of her body. At the center of her chest was a spot of blackest black, surrounded by a cage of orbiting rings made up of strange glowing runes and geometrical lines. Dark jagged tendrils spread from that inky blackness throughout her torso and limbs, making it look like her whole body was cracked, revealing nothing but darkness beneath her skin. The faint swirls of her magic flow seemed twisted around those cracks into an unnatural-looking spiral with the black spot at the center. Scootaloo had no idea what she was looking at, but the sight disturbed her on a fundamental level, as if she could tell by instinct that it was very, very wrong.

"What..." she croaked, the words getting caught in her throat. "What is that?"

"It's not Rince Wind Syndrome," Fang said. "I'll tell you that for nothing."

"It's not natural at all," Twilight said. She took the scope back, much to Scootaloo's relief, and studied the picture with a furled brow. "This is advanced magic. I've never seen anything like it before." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, these symbols here, they almost look like Weathersky's seal of polarity reversal, but not quite."

"Arcane convergence," Fang mused. "Same underlying principle, but devised by a different magician."

"Wait a minute, I don't understand!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Are you saying somepony put a spell on me?"

Twilight and Fang fell silent and exchanged an apprehensive look.

"Scootaloo, it's more than that," Twilight said. "Practicing this kind of magic is illegal in Equestria. It's interfering directly with your magical pathways, turning them the wrong way. A spell like this..."

"It's what we call a curse," Fang said.

"A... A curse?" Scootaloo stammered. "I'm cursed?"

"Fang, this is serious!" Twilight said, holding the scope up for them both to see. "Cursing an innocent filly to this degree is... It's not just criminal, it's completely deranged! I mean, look at this! I don't even understand what most of these spell components are supposed to do!"

"Well, it's definitely what's keeping her from flying," Fang said, stroking her chin. "See, it's been woven around her heart, where her cardinal channels converge."

Scootaloo suddenly felt dizzy and weak, her legs quivering and threatening to give in under her weight. Her breath quickened yet she felt like she was choking. Her thoughts raced, repeating those words over and over: It was a curse. A literal curse was keeping her from flying. She felt nauseous and her chest hurt.

Twilight and Fang didn't seem to notice her, too busy studying the picture.

"It looks like her cardinal magic flow is being turned back into her core," Twilight's eyes narrowed. "The curse is using her own magic to power itself?"

Fang nodded. "It's completely self-sustaining. She has enough peripheral magic in her system to function normally; moving around, staying healthy, even developing a cutie mark. But the cardinal magic she would use to fly has been completely sealed. If you didn't look close enough, she would appear to suffer from a natural magic deficiency."

"Hey..."

"But a curse this complex just to keep her from using her cardinals? There has to be more to it than that. Look at this part. Is that... something to do with gravity?"

"Maybe, it's hard to make out. We need a larger..."

"HEY!" Scootaloo yelled, snapping the other two out of their discussion. "Who cares about any of that? You've got to get it out of me, right now! Twilight, you can fix this, right?"

"I..." Twilight's shook her head slowly, her ears drooping again. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo. I don't know how."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Scootaloo asked. "You're Princess Twilight Sparkle! Nopony knows more about magic than you!"

"I wish that was true," Twilight sighed. "But I'm still just a pony. In all my years of studying magic, I've never come across anything remotely like this spell. I can't even attempt to break it until I understand what it is, or I'll be putting you at risk. Scootaloo, I promise I'll try, but right now I don't even know where to start."

Scootaloo didn't believe what she was hearing. Wasn't Twilight Sparkle supposed to be a genius and a hero? Wasn't she supposed to know what to do, not just stand there looking helpless and sad? Hopelessness washed over Scootaloo like a crushing wave. She realized she was crying.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something more, but Scootaloo had already turned on her hooves, running for the door.

"Scootaloo, wait!" Twilight cried, but it was too late – Scootaloo had already slammed the door behind her. Twilight moved to follow, but Fang put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Let her go for now," the sorceress said. "Don't worry, she just needs time to accept it."

"I messed up," Twilight mumbled. "Fang, I totally messed up just now. I should have comforted her. I should have told her she'll be okay. I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, but I couldn't even... Oh, Fang, what do I do?"

"Stay calm, for starters." Fang levitated a cup of tea and offered it to Twilight. The princess drew a deep breath and downed the whole cup. Fang cocked her head. "That girl, did you know she's an orphan?"

"What?" Twilight blinked. "I mean, yes, I've been told she lost her parents when she was really young. I've never talked to her about it, though. I didn't think it was my place to ask."

"She told me she's still living alone in her parents house," Fang said. "Is that common practice around here?"

Twilight frowned. "No, that can't be right. She should be living with relatives or at least a foster family. Are you sure she wasn't just exaggerating?"

"Hm, maybe." Fang didn't look entirely convinced, but shook her head. "Well, that's not important right now. What do you plan to do about the curse?"

Twilight thought about it for a moment. "I need to write to Princess Celestia, maybe she will know something. And I'll have to check around to see if there are any books on exotic curses I haven't read. Moondancer or Sunburst might be able to help..." She groaned and hung her head. "But what about Scootaloo? We can't just leave her to deal with something like this on her own."

"I'll talk to her," Fang offered.

Twilight looked up. "Are you sure?"

Fang nodded. "I had planned to spend my time in Equestria just relaxing for a while, but now I'm simply too curious about this affair to leave it alone. Plus, I want to take a shot at figuring that curse out myself. No offense, but I'm a bit more experienced than you."

Twilight managed a wry smile. "You know, I never did figure out what you really are."

Fang grinned back at her. "Maybe some day I'll tell you."

Twilight did her best to quell her curiosity, knowing it would be pointless to press that particular matter. "Well, if you think you'll be able to help, you are welcome to try," she said, returning the cup to the table. "I know Celestia trusts you and that's good enough for me. But I do hope you'll be careful."

Fang chuckled. "There's no need to worry, Twilight. I'm more than qualified to deal with curses."

"That's not what I meant. Scootaloo isn't some odd magical anomaly for us to study. She's a girl."

Fang looked mildly puzzled. "Yes?"

"A girl," Twilight repeated. "With feelings."

"Yeah, I know." Fang turned to leave. "It was nice seeing you again, Twilight Sparkle. When you write to Celestia, do let her know I'll be dropping by."

"I hope I'll get to see more of you around here," Twilight said.

Fang turned her head and smiled. "Oh, don't you worry. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time in Ponyville from now on."

Author's Note

Just a head's up: I've decided to shift the upload schedule to Saturdays. As such, chapter 4 will be published three days from now as opposed to a week.

Four: Familiar.

Scootaloo hugged her knees, having curled up under a lonely tree after fleeing Twilight's castle on her scooter only to find she had nowhere to go. She could avoid Twilight and Fang, but there was no running away from the truth.

She was cursed.

The initial shock and panic had faded somewhat, only to give way to a storm of emotions raging inside her, too many for her to sort out. She couldn't even cry anymore. It felt like there was a hole inside her, a wound in her heart. Realizing this wasn't far from the truth, she felt sick again and struggled not to think about it. But that horrible picture was burned into her mind.

She still remembered when the doctor told her she had a condition. She had been pretty sure that was the single worst moment in her life, until today. The overwhelming anxiety was the same, but there was something more mixed in this time. She felt... violated.

Her body shivered, and the hole inside her seemed to grow larger. The light of the sun seemed to dim and dark shadows danced before her eyes. Was she going crazy?

She heard the sound of hooves against the grass, breaking her out of her daze. Suddenly Fang sat down right beside her. "Hey."

"How did you find me?" Scootaloo asked.

"I followed the smell," Fang replied.

Scootaloo glared at her. "I don't smell."

"If you say so."

There was a brief silence as Scootaloo stayed huddled, resolving not to look at Fang. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"No, but maybe you need to talk about it," Fang said. "Listen, I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but this is a good thing."

"Good?" Scootaloo snapped, finally turning her head to stare at the sorceress. "How is any of this good?"

"Well, now you know the truth," Fang explained. "If we hadn't told you about the curse, you would have just gone on living the rest of your life thinking you were born with stunted magic. At least now you know what the real problem is. That's progress."

"You've known about it since last night," Scootaloo pointed out, making no attempt to hide her bitterness. "Why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because you had already gone through a traumatic experience," Fang said, "and I thought you had enough on your mind for one night."

As much as it annoyed her, Scootaloo couldn't really argue with that.

"So, how are you feeling?" Fang asked.

"I don't know," Scootaloo mumbled.

"I don't believe that's true."

Scootaloo was silent for a moment. "I feel angry. When... When they told me I don't have enough magic to fly, I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. But I thought I was just born that way, you know? I just got unlucky, and I'd almost started to accept that. But if I'm cursed, that means somepony did this to me. On purpose! This is somepony's fault! I've never been this mad about anything in my whole life, and I don't even know who to blame!"

"You have every right to be angry," Fang said, her tone turning gentle. "But being angry isn't productive right now. It's not going to solve the problem. There will be a time for rage and vengeance, but right now you have to stay calm so we can figure this out."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one with a curse," Scootaloo muttered. But as much as she hated to admit it, Fang did have a point. She sighed. "So, how long do you think I've had it?"

Fang shrugged. "How long have you felt there was something wrong with you? Like an important part of you were missing?"

Scootaloo thought back on her life. She couldn't even remember a time when her parents were still around. She'd been raised by strangers who came and went, left alone in an empty house, looked over by a pony who only cared for her because it was his job. She never had a real friend until the day she met Sweetie Belle. She idolized Rainbow Dash, the pony who had everything she had been denied. Time and time again she had stubbornly struggled to fly, only to be brought down by the reality of her condition. For how long had she felt there was something wrong with her? When had she not felt that way?

"I... I don't know," she answered in a quiet voice.

Fang turned her head up, gazing at a cloud passing by high above them. The sun shone through the leaves of the tree, casting speckled shadows across her perfect features. "Two thousand years."

Scootaloo blinked in sudden confusion. "What?"

"Back in the castle, you asked about my age," Fang reminded her. "I'm a bit over two thousand years old."

Scootaloo's mouth fell open. "...Two thousand?"

Fang nodded. "And in all that time, I don't think I've ever seen a curse this complex before. It must have been deliberate and would have taken a lot of preparation. There would have been a ritual of some sort. And being cursed is usually quite unpleasant, so it's not the sort of thing you don't notice or forget about. You should be able to recall when it happened. Has there been any strange event in your life? Something you didn't understand? Something involving magic?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Not really. I mean, not to me, at least. There's been a lot of weird magic stuff going on around here since Twilight moved in, but it's not like some evil wizard ever put a spell on me or anything."

"Hm." Fang scratched her chin, her brow furled in thought.

"So what does that mean?" Scootaloo prodded.

Fang looked at her. "You said you're twelve years old?"

Scootaloo fidgeted. "Well, twelve this winter."

"So eleven, then?" Fang nodded slowly. "I think you may have had this curse for most of your life. If you were cursed as an infant, that would explain... a lot."

"I was cursed as a baby?" Scootaloo looked horrified. "Who'd do something like that? Why would anypony do that?"

"Good question," Fang said. "Did your parents have any enemies?"

"I... I don't know," Scootaloo shook her head. "I mean, I don't think so. I was only a year old when... when they died. I know my dad was a teacher and my mom was a weather pony. I think they were pretty ordinary."

"They were pegasi, I presume?" Fang asked.

"Mom was," Scootaloo replied. "Dad was a unicorn. He went to Celestia's magic school, just like Twilight."

"Interesting," Fang mumbled. "And... how did they die?"

Scootaloo hesitated. She hadn't talked to anypony about that in years. "They went into the Everfree Forest together while a neighbor looked after me. Dad wanted to collect ingredients for potions or something, I guess mom was helping him. But... they didn't come home. They were found the next day, but they were..." She drew a shaky breath. "They were attacked by something, might have been timberwolves, the police never figured that out. They think mom and dad tried to fight back, 'cause the whole place was messed up like there'd been a big fight.” Her voiced shrunk to a whisper. "Guess they lost."

Fang listened closely, though her expression didn't betray her thoughts. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said.

Scootaloo shrugged. "I don't even remember them. It's just stuff ponies told me once I got older. Anyway, I guess it doesn't help us figure out the whole curse thing, huh?" She looked at Fang and sighed. "So now what do I do?"

The corner of Fang's mouth curved into a smile. "Well, for starters, why don't you become my familiar?"

"Huh?" Scootaloo looked confused. "Your familiar? What, like Spike and Twilight?"

"Well, not exactly like that," Fang said. "Twilight bound Spike to her own heart by accident, so there were no safeguards. Spike was also much too young when it happened, and there seems to have been some side-effects over time. You are just old enough and it will be a standard pact, quite formal and much safer. And if you change your mind, we can always call it off. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to."

Scootaloo seemed somewhat doubtful. "And how will that help breaking the curse?"

"Honestly? It won't," Fang admitted. "But it's not like you can't use any of your magic. You still have access to some of it, and I can teach you how to use what you have. You may not become a great magician, but you can expand your current abilities and even learn new ones. Meanwhile, I can look into the curse and see what I can learn about it."

"I dunno," Scootaloo said. "I mean, why me?"

"Because I'm curious," Fang answered. "Between this curse and the gaunthound, there's obviously something very intriguing going on with you, Scootaloo, and I could never leave a good mystery alone."

"But I'm just a pegasus," Scootaloo argued. "Isn't magic for unicorns? Like Sweetie Belle, or..."

"Eh." Fang waved her hoof, dismissing the question. "It's true unicorns have a natural advantage, but pegasi are magical creatures too. Ever heard of Somnambula?"

"Um, I think so," Scootaloo answered. The name did ring a bell: She was pretty sure Cheerilee had mentioned it during one of her history lessons, but since it had been about magic Scootaloo hadn't bothered to listen too closely. "She's some famous historical unicorn, right?"

"Somnambula invented the spell of Weather Abjuration and practically created an entire field of magical study all by herself," Fang said. "Last time I checked her methods were still taught in Celestia's school. And she was a pegasus, not a unicorn."

Scootaloo's mouth fell open. "R-Really?"

"Really. Honestly, this is the problem with you ponies." Fang pointed her hoof at Scootaloo's muzzle, causing the filly to lean back slightly. "Pound for pound you are the most magically potent species in this world, but if you aren't born with a horn on your head you don't bother to reach your full potential." She grinned. "Teaching a unicorn would be easy, but I like a challenge. Anyway, I haven't had a familiar in a while and I wouldn't mind the company."

"You don't even know anything about me," Scootaloo said. Nor did she know anything about Fang, but she opted to not say that part out loud.

"Sure I do!" Fang chuckled. "I'm a very good judge of character. I know you're brave, loyal, honest and surprisingly smart. You're not afraid to speak your mind but you have a good heart, and you don't give up once you've set your mind to something."

Scootaloo scoffed. "Now you're just trying to sweet talk me."

"Is it working?"

Scootaloo was still hesitant, but the offer did seem strangely tempting. She had never imagined herself learning anything about real magic – that had always seemed like a world she would never belong to. Then again, she would never be able to fly as long as she had the curse, so perhaps she might as well try something different? Fang did say she could always quit if she wanted to. It couldn't hurt, could it?

"Oh, and by the way," Fang's grin widened, "if you do become my familiar, I think there may be a way to get you flying even with the curse."

Scootaloo instantly snapped to attention. "Wait, really? There's a way I can still fly? For real?"

Fang nodded. "For real."

It had been a cheap shot, Scootaloo knew that, but in that moment she didn't care. She stood up straight and looked Fang dead in the eyes. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Then we have a deal," Fang said, looking pleased with the arrangement. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. But if you do want to fly, you better not slack off. It will take a lot of hard work."

"No sweat! I'm the toughest little pony in town." Scootaloo made some dramatic gestures with her hooves for emphasis, suddenly full of newfound enthusiasm. "I got the moves! Got the mojo! No harder working pony around!"

"Start singing and I'll turn your tail green."

The two of them shared a laugh. Scootaloo didn't really know what she had just gotten herself into, but somehow she wasn't worried. If being a Cutie Mark Crusader had taught her anything, it was that sometimes you just had to be a bit reckless and trust it would work out in the end.

"I'm not gonna make you tea or clean your house, though," she said.

"That's fine," Fang said. "I make my own tea, and I prefer the Rook just the way it is. You know, my previous familiar kept trying to clean the place even though I told him not to. Almost drove me crazy. This one time he re-arranged my potions and I ended up turning my hair bright red by mistake."

Scootaloo burst into another fit of laughter. "Wow, that must have been hilarious. So, what happened to that guy?"

Fang's smile suddenly faded away and for a brief moment Scootaloo saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. The filly sensed she had said something wrong and opened her mouth to apologize, but in the next moment a blue shape crossed the sky in a familiar rainbow streak, distracting both of them.

The pegasus flew a half circle around the tree before stopping in front of them, still hovering above the ground rather than landing. "Hey, Scootaloo!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo exclaimed, smiling at the sight of her favorite pony.

"The one and only!" Rainbow said, sticking her chest out and beaming with pride. "And how's my number one fan doing?"

Scootaloo's smile turned a bit stiffer. "I'm... awesome. Especially now that you're here."

"Yeah, I tend to have that effect." Rainbow touched down and turned to Fang. "Uh, hey there. Haven't seen you around before."

"Oh, I just arrived last night," Fang said with a pleasant smile. "Rainbow Dash, right? I'm Fang, pleased to meet you."

"Likewise," Rainbow said. "Fang, huh? Cool name. So, how are you liking Ponyville?"

"Oh, it's been very interesting," Fang replied. "I think I'll be staying here for some time, in fact."

"That's great! I'm sure you'll feel right at home in no time." Rainbow leaned forward and put a hoof behind her mouth as if to whisper something. "Fair warning, though. You'll probably run into a pink earth pony, and she will throw you an awesome welcoming party."

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Ah. Thanks for the warning?"

"Don't mention it." Rainbow turned to the filly again. "So, Scootaloo, I have the rest of the day off, and I've thought of some sweet new tricks I haven't shown anypony yet. Wanna come along and watch me practice?” She gave Scootaloo a nudge with her elbow. “Maybe give me some pointers?"

"That sounds great!" Scootaloo immediately picked her scooter up from the ground, but then recalled her agreement with Fang. She looked to the sorceress. "Um, about that thing we talked about..."

Fang just waved her hoof. "Oh, there's no rush. I need to make some preparations first anyway, so you can run along and spend time with your friend. How about we start your tenure tomorrow morning?"

Scootaloo recalled it was Friday, meaning there would be no school the following day. She nodded. "Yeah, that works. Thanks, Fang."

"Have fun!" Fang waved after the two pegasi as they left, the younger one scooting along the road with the older one floating through the air by her side.

"Tenure?" Rainbow asked with a puzzled look.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. "It's a bit complicated. I'll tell you later."

Turning her head, Rainbow cast a glance back at Fang who was still sitting under the tree. "Well, alright, if you say so."

Left alone, Fang the Sorceress smirked. Convincing Scootaloo had been easier than she'd anticipated – she had expected the filly to at least want to think the offer over, but apparently the promise of flight had been all it really took.

So far, everything was proceeding according to plan.

"Well, stuff me in a box and forget where you put me!" said a voice right next to her ear. "Fang Jinhuo, is that you?"

Fang turned her head in surprise and looked straight into a pair of red eyes. They were attached to an upside-down, debatably equine face which was in turn attached to a serpentine body hanging down from one of the branches of the tree.

"Discord!" Fang reacted immediately, flying off her hooves in an unnatural leap, momentarily floating across the ground before landing a few feet away in a crouched stance, her horn glowing in preparation for a spell and her tail unconsciously raised in the air like a cobra.

The draconequus released the branch he'd been gripping with his tail and gently turned in the air. His head remained upside down for a moment before swiveling around to it's correct position. Discord raised his mismatched frontal limbs in a calming gesture. "Now, now, my dear. Is that any way to greet an old..." he hesitated, stroking his beard with his feline paw. "...Well, we were never really friends, were we? Competitors? Rivals? Enemies of our enemy but still not really friends? Well, whatever. Love what you've done with your, ah, everything. I must say, you look just adorable as a pony."

"You're supposed to be imprisoned in stone," Fang said, still on edge. "What are you doing here, Discord?"

"Why, I live here!" Discord said. "Haven't you heard? I'm a changed draconequus these days."

Fang blinked and the light of her horn went out. "...You're a what?"

"I've been redeemed!" Discord clarified. He clasped his paw and talon together and a pillar of light suddenly shone down on him out of nowhere, accompanied by an unseen choir of ethereal soprano song. "I've seen the light and changed my ways. You are looking at a reformed, penitent, almost virtuous Discord. I've turned over a new leaf and become a productive member of society. I'm down with the whole friendship deal, as the kids say."

Fang gawked at him. "You? Redeemed? You can't be serious. You're telling me Celestia actually managed to win you over, after all this time?"

"Well, not Celestia personally," Discord shrugged his shoulders. "But yes, something like that. What can I say? They talked me into it, so sue me."

Fang kept staring at him for a moment. A small snort escaped her and then she threw her head back, laughing. "Oh my goodness! That's hilarious!" As Discord regarded her with an annoyed look on his face, she relaxed her stance and calmed down somewhat. "Well, since I'm not seeing any candy storms or levitating buildings, I guess I believe you for now. It's still really funny, though."

"Yes, quite," Discord said. "But enough about me. What are you doing back in Equestria? Here to cause trouble again? Looking to pick a fight with my pony pals?” There was a flash and the next moment he was dressed as a stereotypical western sheriff, complete with an oversized star-shaped badge on his vest and bananas stuffed into the holsters on his hips. He slowly reached for the deadly fruit, claws twitching dramatically to the trilling of a lonely flute. "Because as the friendly neighborhood Lord of Disorder around these parts, I may have to take issue with that."

Fang shook her head. "No, it's fine. Truth to be told, they managed to, heh, redeem me as well. I stopped picking fights with ponies centuries ago."

"...Oh." Discord remained in his pose for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. Then the costume vanished and he crossed his forelegs. "Well, isn't that nice? I suppose we have no quarrel, then." One of his eyes suddenly extended like a telescope, pointing right at her. "But I'm keeping my eye on you, Jinhuo."

"Please, call me Fang." She turned to leave. "It was nice catching up with you, Discord, but I have business to..."

"Hold on a moment!" Discord teleported to her side, suddenly looking serious. "Look, I'm thrilled to hear we're now apparently all good and chummy with each other. Absolutely delightful! Maybe we can get Celestia and Luna and have a big old ancient-immortals-only slumber party together? But you didn't answer my question. Why did you come back?"

Fang rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I'm here on vacation. Well, more like convalescence, really."

"Oh?" Discord cocked his head. "I did sense there's something off about you now. It's not contagious, I hope?"

"I was injured a while back," Fang said. "I'll live, but it still hasn't healed completely. Equestria seemed like a nice place to lay low and relax while I recover."

"I see," Discord said. "Yes, an excellent choice! Pastoral views, plenty of friendly faces, only the occasional deranged warlock or ancient being of unfathomable power running amok every once in a while. Speaking of which, I take it you're here by yourself, then? Or can I expect to see anyone else from your, ah, little club?" He cast a few paranoid glances around and lowered his voice. "...She's not here, is she?"

"If you mean Seitr, you don't need to worry," Fang said in an even tone, her eyes turning cold. "She's dead."

"Really?" Discord's face momentarily split in a huge gleeful smile, but when he saw Fang's grim expression he coughed and quickly assumed a more somber look. "I mean, how dreadful. And surprising! Honestly, I wasn't even sure the old snake could die. What happened?"

Fang sighed deeply. "Baphomet. He tried to achieve the Tenth."

"Th... The Tenth!" Discord sputtered, his eyes widening while his pupils shrunk into pinpricks. There weren't many things that could inspire true terror in a being such as him, but those words were one of them. "B-But... Impossible, that's... Well? Then what?"

"Well, what do you think?" Fang replied. "Seitr threw a huge fit, of course! Then she rounded up the rest of us and next thing we know, we're all fighting our way through Baphomet's fortress trying to stop him! He..." She fell silent, gritting her teeth. "...We won, but Seitr and Baphomet both died in the battle. After that it just wasn't the same anymore, so the rest of us decided to go our separate ways. I haven't really heard anything from most of them in a decade now."

"Ah, the band broke up, huh?" Discord concluded. "So, the Tenth...?"

"We're not even sure if Baphomet could really have pulled it off," Fang said, "but we had Bermuda destroy his research just in case. If he was on to something, it doesn't exist anymore."

Discord nodded. "Good, good. And that injury of yours? I take it that's not unrelated?"

Fang didn't look at him. "We were fighting Baphomet. I got careless. Let's just leave it at that."

Discord studied her for a moment, then clapped his paw and talon together. "Well! That little story sure was a roller-coaster of mind-numbing terror and overwhelming relief! All well that ends well, don't you agree?"

"I suppose that's one way to put it," Fang muttered.

Discord patted her shoulder. "And here we both are in lovely, friendly Equestria. We should hang out sometimes. Maybe cause some mischief for old time's sake?"

Fang shot him a bemused smile. "I thought you said you were a good guy now."

"Good, yes, but not boring." Discord winked at her. "Think about it."

He disappeared in a flash of light. After a short moment passed, he reappeared in another flash, glaring sharply at Fang. "But seriously. Don't mess with Fluttershy, or else." Then he vanished again.

Left alone, Fang Jinhuo frowned. "...Who the hell is Fluttershy?"

Author's Note

Five: Heart to Heart.

On Saturday, Scootaloo awoke from a deep, mostly dreamless slumber. Yesterday had been quite emotional and once she got to bed, worry and excitement in equal measure had kept her from falling asleep. Eventually exhaustion had won out, however, and thankfully no nightmares had disturbed her this time.

Yawning, she peered at her alarm clock, which she hadn't bothered to set the previous night. As her blurry vision focused, she found that noon was not so far off – apparently she had needed more rest than she'd thought. She was grateful that Fang hadn't shown up and roused her from her sleep at sunrise. That did seem like the kind of well-intentioned cruelty a master magician might inflict upon a new apprentice. Then again, Fang hadn't specified an exact time and 'morning' could mean a lot of things, especially on a weekend. Maybe she preferred to sleep in as well?

Climbing out of her bed, Scootaloo mentally reviewed the previous day: She had learned that she was cursed, which totally sucked. She had agreed to become Fang's familiar, a decision that seemed a bit impulsive in retrospect. Still, Fang had hinted that there was still a way for Scootaloo to attain flight, so the filly remained convinced she had made the right call.

After parting with Fang, Scootaloo had spent some quality time with Rainbow Dash, watching her hero and honorary sister perform her new stunts with the usual bittersweet mix of awe and envy. Afterwards, Rainbow had asked about Fang. Scootaloo had only intended to tell her the basic gist, but Rainbow soon noticed something was off and Scootaloo ended up spilling the entire story.

Rainbow had been shocked to hear about the curse, of course, declaring she would find the ones responsible and do something unmentionable to them. She hadn't seemed to fully understand what becoming a familiar meant, but while she appeared somewhat skeptical of Fang's involvement, she had still told Scootaloo to do what she felt was right.

For the rest of the day, Rainbow seemed to go out of her way to spend time with Scootaloo, perhaps out of guilt for not being there in her time of need. Scootaloo didn't mind at all. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't possible to spend too much time with Rainbow Dash.

Still a bit groggy, Scootaloo made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She almost didn't notice the figure sitting by the table, face obscured by an open newspaper. She yawned. "Fang?"

The newspaper lowered, revealing the face of a pony stallion looking at her over the steel brim of a pair of square glasses. "Good morning, Scootaloo."

"Oh," Scootaloo blinked in surprise, suddenly much more awake and a bit nervous. She tried not to let the latter show. "Hello, Mr Warden."

"Who's 'Fang'?" Warden asked.

"What? Oh, never mind. I'm still half asleep." Scootaloo scratched her mane and tried to look innocent. "Um, I didn't expect to see you around so soon. It's only been, what, a week?"

"Ten days," the stallion corrected, folding the newspaper and placing it on the table. Stately Warden was a slim unicorn, slightly taller than average, with a dim blue coat and ice-blue eyes. His neatly combed mane and the short, impeccably trimmed goatee on his chin were coal black. His cutie mark was a black lantern with a deep red flame – the only warm color in his otherwise somber appearance. Even his voice was cold; a monotone droning void of real emotion. "I had an unexpected opening in my schedule and I figured it couldn't hurt to check in on you."

"Oh, I see." Scootaloo found it somewhat odd he would be working on a Saturday, but decided not to bring that up.

"Not happy to see me?" Warden asked. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

"Ah, no, it's cool," Scootaloo lied. "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Well then," Warden said. "You seem as healthy as last time I saw you. Are you eating well?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uh, I've been having some trouble sleeping lately, but it's getting better now."

"That's a relief." As usual, Warden made no effort to make that statement sound sincere. "And has anything in particular happened around here?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Oh, you know. Hanging out with the Crusaders, helping ponies with their cutie mark problems, the usual."

"I see." As she spoke, Warden had placed his hooves together in front of his mouth, his head slightly tilted forward. The sunlight shining through the nearby window glared across his glasses, obscuring his gaze. Scootaloo had never liked those chilly, piercing eyes of his, but somehow it was worse when she couldn't see them. "So you are still spending time with those other two fillies?"

Scootaloo frowned slightly. "Well, of course I am, we're best friends. It's just..." She fell silent and her ears drooped a little. She had said to much, and she hoped Warden hadn't noticed.

"It's just what?" Warden asked.

"...We're just in a bit of a slump, that's all," Scootaloo said. "There aren't as many ponies with cutie mark problems as we hoped there'd be. Plus, Apple Bloom's been kinda busy lately since it's harvest season, and Sweetie Belle is getting magic lessons now, so we don't see each other as much as we used to."

Warden cocked his head. "Well, these things do happen. It's natural for friends to grow apart over time. To be honest I didn't expect that little club of yours to last long once you finally got your marks."

"We are not growing apart!" Scootaloo said, perhaps a bit sharper than intended.

There was a brief silence as Warden simply looked at her for a moment. Then he corrected his glasses with a small sigh. "If you say so. I suppose there isn't much more to talk about, then. Unless there is anything else you forgot to mention?"

"Well..." Scootaloo struggled to think of a good answer. Bringing up her curse was right out – it was still a fresh wound and she really didn't feel comfortable talking to him about something that personal. And if she told Warden about Fang and their arrangement, she had a feeling he would probably object. But on the other hoof, no matter how disinterested he was in her everyday life, she probably wouldn't be able to keep him from finding out for very long. Lying about it might cause more trouble in the long run, but she just wanted him to wrap the meeting up and leave before...

She heard the sound of the front door opening and a familiar voice call out: "Scootaloo? Are you up?"

"Who is that?" Warden asked.

"Oh oh," Scootaloo mumbled under her breath.

A few moments later Fang appeared through the kitchen door and smiled towards the filly. "Ah, there you are." Then she noticed the other pony. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company."

"Uh, it's okay," Scootaloo said and gestured at the stallion. "I told you about Mr Warden, right?"

"Stately Warden, Department of Foal Protective Services," Warden said. "I am the appointed legal guardian, in loco parentis, of Scootaloo here. And... who might you be?"

"This is F..."

"Golden Fragrance," Fang cut Scootaloo off. "So you are the elusive Mr Warden? How fortunate, I had been meaning to talk to you but Scootaloo never told me how to get in touch." She turned to Scootaloo. "Why don't you run along and get your things while the two of us have a little chat?"

Scootaloo wasn't sure what kind of things she would need to bring, aside from perhaps her scooter and helmet, though considering Fang's magical doorways she doubted they would be necessary. But then she noticed the look Fang was giving her from the corner of her eye, and decided not to question her. "Um, okay."

She trotted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, but stopped outside of her room. Just to play it safe, she opened the door and then shut it, after which she snuck back to the head of the stairs and sat down. From there she knew she would be able to hear anything said in the kitchen. She wasn't sure what was going on between Fang and Warden, but figured she might as well take the chance to listen in on the conversation.

"So, Miss Fragrance?" Warden said. "How do you know Scootaloo?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say I know her very well," Fang replied. "I just ran into her yesterday when I visited my old friend Twilight Sparkle."

Her tone had changed, Scootaloo realized. It was subtle, but she sounded... snootier was the only word that came to mind, like some of those fancy ponies who sometimes showed up at Rarity's boutique.

Warden raised an eyebrow. "The princess?"

Fang chuckled. "Well, she wasn't a princess when I got to know her, but yes. Scootaloo was there to ask Twilight about something and we ended up chatting for a bit." She turned her head slightly, giving the room in general a critical look. "I must ask, Mr Warden, isn't it a bit unconventional for an orphan filly to be living alone like this?"

"The situation is hardly ideal, no," Warden said. "I'm not proud to admit it, but there was a bit of a bureaucratic snafu with Scootaloo's case that prevented us from placing her with a new family. Red tape getting tangled up, so to speak, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in the details. At any rate, she is strongly opposed to being sent to an orphanage and at this point we feel uprooting her from her old life would be detrimental to her well-being."

Fang nodded. "I see. Well, I'm sure your organization knows better than anypony when it comes to caring for unfortunates. Anyway, as I was saying, the two of us traded a few words and Scootaloo somehow managed to talk me into... I guess you would call it an apprenticeship? In the end I didn't have the heart to turn her down."

"An apprenticeship? And what is it that you do, exactly?" Warden asked.

"Oh, I'm a magical scholar,” Fang replied. "I recently returned to Equestria after researching exotic arcane theory, and I'm currently looking to publish a paper on rare magical afflictions. That's part of why I went to see Twilight Sparkle, you see. There was a certain case study I wanted her opinion on. Tell me, Stately, do you have any experience in magical academia?"

"As I matter of fact, I did study magic once," Warden said. Though his neutral tone didn't change, the question seemed to make him slightly uncomfortable. "That was a long time ago, however, and the results weren't satisfactory."

"Really?" Fang grinned. "What happened?"

Warden cleared his throat. "I don't want to discuss that matter."

"Oh forgive me, I didn't mean to pry." Fang winked at him. "Ponies always tell me that's a bad habit of mine."

"It's quite alright," Warden said. "But getting back to the subject, you do realize Scootaloo is a pegasus? Also, she may not have told you, but she suffers from a condition that limits her ability to generate magic. I rather doubt you will be able to teach her anything worthwhile."

"Augh, tell me about it!" Fang rolled her eyes. "Rince Wind Syndrome, right? She wouldn't shut up about it. You see, the poor thing has gotten it into her head that my work might help her find some sort of cure. It's quite a ludicrous fantasy, of course. I tried to tell her that it it's unlikely to work, but she simply wouldn't take no for an answer." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Still, I suppose she might be good for running errands and sorting books until she grows bored and quits on her own."

"I imagine that will be quite disheartening for her," Warden pointed out.

"Yes, but she'll have to come to terms with it one way or another," Fang replied. "Giving up on your childish dreams in the face of cold, crushing reality just builds character, I've always said."

"Hm." Warden nodded slowly. "Well, Miss Fragrance, I wish we could have discussed this matter before you agreed to anything, but I understand your circumstances and I suppose I have no particular reason to object."

"Splendid! I'm glad we got that sorted out." Fang turned her head up, casting a glance at the ceiling. "Now then, what is taking that girl so long?"

Hearing this, Scootaloo got on her hooves and hurried to her room as quietly as she could. She opened the door, grabbed her scooter and helmet, then returned down the stairs while trying to ignore the cold feeling in her abdomen.

She was mostly sure Fang had simply been putting up an act in front of Warden for reasons she didn't quite understand, but those words had still stung a bit. Had there been any truth to it? Did Fang secretly consider her a lost cause? No, that didn't make sense. After all, it was Fang who had made the offer in the first place. Still, Scootaloo had a nagging feeling she was missing something.

"I got my stuff," she declared once she made it to the kitchen door.

"Then let's not dally," Fang said, still speaking in that fake snooty voice. "I have important work to do and we don't have all day." She gave Warden a look as if to say: Kids these days, am I right?

"I should get going as well," Warden said, following Fang and Scootaloo to the front door. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Fragrance."

Fang smiled. "The pleasure was all mine, Mr Warden."

They parted ways on the sidewalk outside the house, wandering off in opposite directions. Warden didn't even say goodbye to Scootaloo, though he turned and gave the pair one last look through narrowed eyes before continuing on his way.

As they made it to the end of the street, Fang seemed to relax a bit. "Good grief. That was interesting."

Scootaloo gave her a cautious look. "So, what you said back there..."

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit, you know?" Fang said. "But I'll let it slide this time."

"Where you lying?" Scootaloo asked.

"What, to Mr Warden?" Fang snorted. "Obviously."

"Well, yeah, but why?"

"Like I told you yesterday," Fang said, "I'm a very good judge of character. And frankly, I don't trust that pony at all. Call it a gut feeling. I'd rather keep him out of the loop as much as possible."

"What about the whole 'me getting my dreams crushed by reality' thing?" Scootaloo prodded, slipping into a slightly accusatory tone. "It kinda sounded like you wanted him to say no."

"I was testing him," Fang said, her expression turning to one of concern. "Scootaloo, I don't think that pony cares about your happiness at all."

"Oh, big surprise," Scootaloo muttered. "He's always been like that. I mean, it's not like he's ever been cruel to me, he just isn't the caring and loving type. I know I should be grateful that he's at least doing his job and keeping me alive, but he's kinda hard to talk to and something about him always really weirded me out."

"You've got good instincts," Fang said.

"Yeah, maybe." Scootaloo shrugged. "You know, I used to think all grown-ups were like him, until I started school and got to know Miss Cheerilee."

"That explains the attitude," Fang mumbled.

Scootaloo shot her an annoyed look, but decided to ignore that remark. She was starting to realize that letting things slide would be required if she wanted to keep getting along with Fang. "So what would you have done if he didn't allow it?"

"I would have made you my familiar anyway." Fang smiled and winked at her. "We'd just have to be sneakier about it."

Before she knew it, Scootaloo was smiling as well. All things considered, she definitely liked Fang better than Mr Warden.

Stepping through the magic door leading into Fang's tower still felt very strange to Scootaloo. This time Fang had placed the portal somewhat closer to her house, hidden away inside an alleyway between Hay's Hardware and Mr Breezy's Fan Emporium. Though Scootaloo knew about teleportation, it was still hard to grasp the thought of entering a room that was not supposed to be in that particular place and, as far as she understood the concept, was really some other place altogether.

But there she was, standing in the same round room she'd left from the other night, still full of machinery. She parked her scooter next to the door and put the helmet down on the deck. She had been right about not really needing either for the trip. "So, now what?" she asked.

"I think we should go through some ground rules before we move on to the ritual itself," Fang said. "Don't worry, I won't ask much of you."

Scootaloo nodded. "Fair enough."

Fang approached the large control panel and pulled a lever with her telekinesis, sending a brief shudder through the room – making the doorway in Ponyville disappear, Scootaloo assumed. "First of all, I would like you to refrain from touching this device without my supervision. It's the central control system for the entire Rook and you might end up sending us somewhere dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

"Dangerous how?" Scootaloo asked.

"Let me put it this way: Did you know there are worlds out there where touching anything at all will cause you to explode?"

Scootaloo took a step away from the control panel. "Okay. Don't mess with the big bronze thing. Got it."

"Good to know you're paying attention," Fang chuckled and gestured for Scootaloo to follow her. "In the same vein, you should probably leave the rest of these machines alone as well. Most of them should be harmless but better safe than sorry. Same goes for any potions I have lying around..."

"Wouldn't want to turn your mane red," Scootaloo quipped.

Fang rolled her eyes but still cracked a smile. "Yes, very funny. In fact, if you don't know what something is, you'd best stay clear of it. Feel free to ask me about it, though. I'm not opposed to healthy curiosity."

They entered the large study where Fang seemed to have accumulated most of her worldy possessions in the least ordered fashion possible. "We already went through this yesterday," she said, "but don't bother trying to tidy anything up. I find that a bit of a mess helps me think, and it's taken me years to get this place the way I want it."

Scootaloo had another look at the bewildering collection of random items. "...I believe you."

"Now, as my familiar you would normally have certain duties to fulfill," Fang carried on, "such as assisting me in magical rituals, running errands, spying on enemy magicians or guarding my home from intruders..."

Scootaloo frowned. "Wait, what?"

Fang ignored her. "...However, since I intend to take it easy while staying in Equestria, we'll just be focusing on teaching you basic magic skills and investigating your curse. I'm not about to ask anything unreasonable of you."

"Okay." Scootaloo wasn't sure what else to say, but then she recalled something. "Wait, so the reason Spike is always asking Twilight for stuff to do is because he's her familiar, right? Won't that happen to me as well?"

Fang shrugged. "It varies depending on the type of familiar. It's possible you may feel some level of compulsion to be useful to me, but it should be easy to ignore. Especially for one with your, heh, temperament."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Again, Fang ignored the question, instead picking up an old book seemingly at random. "Eventually I'll be giving you certain books to read, and I do expect you to read them thoroughly."

"Figures there'd be homework," Scootaloo sighed. Somehow she doubted Fang would be hoofing her Daring Do novels.

"You want to learn how to fly, don't you?" Fang said. "I told you it would take a lot of work."

That made Scootaloo perk up. Finally getting to fly was easily worth making it through a few boring magic books. "I suppose a bit of reading never hurt anypony."

Fang smiled. "That's the spirit."

Passing through the room, Fang suddenly stopped next to a door Scootaloo hadn't noticed before. It was nestled inside a stone alcove near the stairs and looked like it might lead to a cellar of some kind. Unlike the other doors Scootaloo had seen, this one was decorated with the same circle of comma-like symbols as the mark on Fang's flank.

"Ah yes, one more thing," Fang said. "This door will be locked, and I'm the only one who can open it. Don't bother trying to go in there, that room is off limits."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"Because that room is off limits," Fang repeated, then turning to head up the stairs without elaborating further.

"Glad we got that sorted out," Scootaloo sighed and followed.

They ascended the stairs, passing by the corridor with the room Scootaloo had previously recovered in, and up a second flight of stairs. Finally they passed through a door into what, judging by the layout, must have been a tower room. That is, at least in whatever regard that word made sense in a building where the interior didn't even begin to match the exterior.

The room had no furniture except for a series of round wooden frames – one for each of the four walls – within which ropes had been bound to form a web-like pattern. The entire ceiling was decorated with a giant compass rose, and from its center hung a device that looked a bit like a strange steel chandelier with glowing yellow orbs. Whether this was a magical device or just a lighting apparatus, Scootaloo couldn't tell. Looking closely, she noticed that all corners in the room had been rounded off, as if to eliminate any right angles. There was also a glass box on one of the walls, containing what looked like a cross between a wizard's staff and a battle axe, with a sign above it reading: “BREAK IN CASE OF TULPA.”

The open floor was almost entirely taken up by a huge circle drawn in chalk, within which were two smaller circles with star-shaped patterns that looked like pentagrams, only with many more points. Every inch of remaining space within the larger circle was covered in strange symbols.

"As you can see, I've already made all the preparations," Fang said and pointed at one of the star drawings. "We won't try anything fancy, so just stand in one of those magic circles and I'll perform the binding spell."

Scootaloo gave the circle an apprehensive look. This all looked a bit too much like the exploding spectrometer. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"In layman's terms, I'm going to form a magical link between our hearts, so that a bit of my magic will pass into you and vice versa."

"Our hearts will be linked?" Scootaloo frowned. "I don't get it."

Fang scratched her chin. "Right, I forgot to mention that. When we talk about 'hearts' in a magical context, we don't mean the physical organ but rather our metaphysical and spiritual cores. Your 'heart' in this case is what makes you, well, you. It governs not only magic but also your feelings, your sense of self and, put very simply, what you might call your soul."

Hearing this just made Scootaloo feel more cautious. "Doesn't that mean you'll be able to tell what I'm thinking and feeling?"

"In theory, sure," Fang said, looking amused at the idea. "But in practice, that's not something we need to worry about. We'll be able to have a vague sense of each other, yes, and perhaps share some basic superficial feelings over time. But for something more intimate than that, we would have to completely open our hearts to one another. That requires an exceptional level of trust, so it basically never happens."

"What, you don't think I trust you?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm the one letting you put weird spells on me, remember?"

"You don't understand." Fang sighed, tapping her chin. "Put it like this: That colorful pegasus from the other day, Rainbow Dash? You two are pretty close, right?"

"You bet we are!" Scootaloo beamed with pride. "We're pretty much sisters, you know?"

"And would you say you trust her?" Fang asked.

"Absolutely!"

Fang cocked her head. "Really? Can you honestly say you don't have any secrets you don't want her to know about? No sides of you that you won't show her? If it was possible for her to know everything there is to know about you, can you say that wouldn't bother you?"

Scootaloo hesitated. She recalled their first camping trip and how desperate she'd been to hide her anxiety from Rainbow. True, they had opened up a lot since then, but there were plenty of subjects she still didn't feel comfortable discussing with her idol, aspects of herself she didn't want Rainbow to see. The more she thought about it, the more she realized Fang had a point. "...I guess not."

"There you go, then," Fang said. "Absolute trust is very rare. We all hide what we really are to some degree, and there's no shame in that. Did you have any other questions?"

Scootaloo thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, yesterday when you and Twilight were talking about my curse, you said it was around my heart." At the time, she had assumed it meant her actual heart. Now it all made a bit more sense. “So, um, are you sure this is even going to work?"

"I see no reason it wouldn't," Fang said. "Your curse is an impressive piece of work, but it's very specialized. It only seems to keep you from accessing your own cardinal magic, so I doubt it will interfere with the link."

"And you're sure this spell is harmless?" Scootaloo insisted.

Fang nodded. "Positive. You'll hardly even feel it."

Scootaloo drew a deep breath to steady herself and walked over to the nearest magic circle. "Okay, let's do this."

Fang stepped into the circle in front of her, then paused. "So you are certain this is what you want?"

Scootaloo gave her a bemused look. "What, after all that?"

"I was just addressing your concerns, not trying to persuade you," Fang pointed out. "Like I said, I won't force you into this. You can still back out."

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, I've made up my mind. I become your familiar, then you teach me to fly and help me with the curse. That was the deal."

"Very well." Fang raised her head and her horn started glowing in a golden light. "I'll cast the spell now, just relax and try to clear your mind."

While Scootaloo did her best to do so, the light around Fang's horn started to swirl, forming a shining band that spiraled around her before reaching out to the filly. It touched Scootaloo's chest and seemed to flow into her, while at the same time connecting to Fang's chest at the other end.

"O, serpent of future and past, bite thy own tail," Fang said. "O, elder star, weave thy white thread. Bind two worlds together at the root, until the day all chains are broken. The echo resounds. Two mirrors reflect each other. The briar embraces the rose. Scootaloo the Pegasus, walk with me."

The chalk drawings on the floor started glowing white and the band of light between the two brightened. Scootaloo felt a surging warmth and a strange pulsing rhythm through the magical bond.

Then, all of a sudden, the band flashed bright white with sparks of purple and red lightning dancing around it. Scootaloo felt a lance of pain run through her – hot as fire, cold as death, deep red as fresh blood. Though it only lasted a moment, the agony completely overwhelmed her, filling her mind, making it impossible to think about anything else. The world turned black and crimson before her eyes. She heard a piercing scream and dimly realized it was her own. But beyond that scream was another; a strange, unnatural scream unlike anything she had ever heard. Not quite the voice of a pony, not quite the howl of an animal.

Once that terrible moment finally passed, the spell abruptly dissolved and Scootaloo's legs buckled underneath her. As she collapsed, gasping, she looked up and saw Fang.

The sorceress staggered on her hooves, barely keeping herself upright, and her entire body seemed to flicker and distort like a flame. After several seconds Fang finally managed to stabilize her shape and she allowed herself to slump to the floor.

Wincing, Scootaloo rolled over on her back. "W-What the hay, Fang?" she groaned. "You said it wouldn't hurt!"

"It... wasn't... supposed to," Fang groaned back. "Cut me... some slack, okay? I've never had to factor in... such a powerful curse before. I guess... there was some kind of backlash."

Scootaloo gritted her teeth, struggling to breathe properly. "My chest feels like it's on fire."

"Well... if it's any consolation... I'm pretty sure I feel ten times worse... than you do right now."

Fortunately, the lingering pain quickly faded and Scootaloo managed to stand up on unsteady hooves. "Please tell me that worked."

Fang was getting up as well, squinting through the locks of her now ruffled mane. "Yeah... I think it did. Try focusing on me, you should be able to sense the connection now."

Scootaloo wasn't sure how she was supposed to do that, so she simply searched within herself for anything that felt different. She found it almost right away – she could sense it, a presence that was vaguely yet unmistakably Fang. She closed her eyes and it became even clearer. It was like the feeling of sunlight on her coat or a sound almost too faint and soft to hear, except not at all like either of those things.

She opened her eyes again and looked at Fang. "Wow, that is weird. Does Spike feel this all the time? How come he doesn't notice it?"

Fang shrugged, pulling a hoof through her mane to correct it. "My guess is that it's because he feels it all the time. He's been bonded with Twilight since the day he was born. I doubt he's even consciously aware of it, same way you can't hear the sound of your own pulse passing by your eardrums. Even if he has noticed it, he probably thinks it's something everyone feels."

"So, now what?" Scootaloo asked.

Fang smiled. "Well, since you are now officially my familiar, I suppose I should teach you some magic."

"Awesome!" Scootaloo made a little hop in delight and hovered over the floor for a moment, her wings buzzing. "Is this where you teach me to fly?"

"Heh, hold your horses," Fang chuckled. "That comes later. You're going to need to learn the basics first."

Scootaloo frowned. "Aw."

Walking over to her, Fang lit her horn up. There was a sudden flash and in the next moment Scootaloo found that they had teleported to the study. She blinked, momentarily disoriented. "Hey, warn me before you do that, okay?"

Rather than answering, Fang levitated a stack of books out of the seat of an old armchair, unceremoniously dumping them on the nearby table. "Right then, have a seat and we'll begin your first lesson."

Scootaloo did as told, climbing into the slightly dusty seat while Fang liberated a similar chair from a stack of scrolls and an old wooden statue of a cat. Pulling it closer, the sorceress sat down across from Scootaloo. "I guess I should start with a quick overview of the different fields of magic."

"There's more than one kind of magic?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, magic is magic," Fang replied. "But when teaching it, we typically divide it into nine types based on how the principles behind the spells grow increasingly esoteric. Generally speaking, the first type is the simplest to master, and the ninth is hardest."

"So, the higher the number the more powerful the spell is?" Scootaloo guessed.

Fang shook her head. "Not necessarily. How powerful it is still depends mostly on the complexity of the spell itself and how much magic the caster can put into it. It's more about how easy the idea of the spell is to grasp. You study math at your school, right?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah."

"Then think of it this way: When you start learning math you will begin with addition and subtraction, then once you understand that you will move on to multiplication and division and so on. It's all math, of course, but having an understanding of the easy parts is needed to learn the harder parts. Are you with me so far."

Scootaloo nodded again. "I think so."

"Good," Fang said. "Well then, the First Magic is magic that is intuitive and internalized. It's any form of magic you can perform by instinct or by following instructions without understanding exactly how it works."

"So, like the way we pegasi can stand on clouds and control the weather?" Scootaloo asked. "And the stuff earth ponies can do?"

Fang nodded. "Exactly. First Magic also includes various forms of simple folk magic and things like alchemy." Seeing that Scootaloo understood, she carried on: "The Second Magic is any projected spell that affects the physical world directly but without affecting the natural properties of the target. The one you should be most familiar with is the basic levitation spell."

To illustrate, she levitated a quill off the table and held it in the air for Scootaloo to see. "This is the simplest type of spell that ponies think of as 'proper' magic. Other spells of this type include shields, focused attack beams, creating magical lights and so on. Most unicorns in Equestria only bother to learn Second Magic spells."

"The Third Magic is what we call enchanting. This is when you apply magic to the target in order to change certain properties, but without changing what it is. For instance, enchanting a knife so that it never dulls, or making the steel stronger. It could also be used to animate objects so that they move around on their own, and other things like that."

"That doesn't seem very different from the second one," Scootaloo pointed out.

"It can be difficult for novices to distinguish between them," Fang said. "However, Third Magic is inherently more advanced." A golden spark flew from her horn and swirled around the quill. The glow surrounding it faded, but the quill remained hanging in the air. "See, I just put a spell on that quill, making it float on its own. This may not seem very different from levitating it directly, but in practice it is a lot more difficult."

"Next up, the Fourth Magic covers spells that affect the mind, such as creating illusions, manipulating memories or dreams, or compelling others to think or feel certain things."

Scootaloo immediately recalled the incident with Twilight's disastrous Want It Need It spell. She shuddered. "Yeah, I know about that one."

Fang raised an eyebrow at this, but continued the lecture. "Now we're getting to the more complicated stuff. Fifth Magic spells change the shape and physical nature of the target. Most common are spells that transform an object into a different object, like say turning a rock into a flower, but there are also spells that can create duplicates of the target and other variations. Since it involves directly interfering with the physical reality of the object, Fifth Magic is considered fairly advanced."

Scootaloo nodded to show she was paying attention. These were all things she had seen Twilight do on occasion, but she still found Fang's explanation surprisingly interesting.

"The Sixth Magic is the magic of space-time. The most common application is the basic teleportation spell, moving from one point in space to another, though there are many other ways a skilled magician can use magic to manipulate space and time." Fang's face suddenly bore a slightly prideful smile. "On a related note: This building, the Rook, was constructed using particularly advanced Sixth Magic."

"I guess that explains all the weird doors," Scootaloo said.

"Quite. Moving on, Seventh Magic involves the manipulation of probability, causality and, to some extent, what you would call fate or destiny. Simply put, it is the magic discerning or changing the likelihood of certain events to occur, and it can be used for such things as predicting the future or giving yourself or others good luck. Or bad luck, for that matter.”

Scootaloo considered this for a moment and raised her hoof. "So, say you have a spell that lets you travel through time, and you go back and change something. Would that be Sixth or Seventh? I mean, technically you'd be changing how things turn out, right?"

"Ah, now we're getting into the difficult subjects," Fang chuckled. "The act of time traveling would be Sixth Magic. As for changing the course of events, that is much harder than you'd think. Turns out destiny doesn't like it when you meddle with it. In fact, I have personally never even heard of a magician who actually managed to alter the past directly. In theory it may be possible for a very skilled mage to use both the Sixth and Seventh Magic to achieve some minor change, but it's such a notoriously tricky field to work with that most don't bother with that sort of thing."

"This is getting kinda hard to follow," Scootaloo pointed out.

"That's what you get for asking advanced questions on your first lesson," Fang said with a wink. "Where was I? Oh yes. The Eighth Magic is the magic of manipulating vital forces. That is to say, spells that somehow affect living things on a spiritual or metaphysical level, rather than the physical one. When such spells are used for the benefit of others, we refer to them as blessings. When they are used to cause harm, we call them curses."

Scootaloo frowned. "...So whoever put this curse on me was that good, huh?"

"Yes, at the very least." Fang looked thoughtful and her eyes narrowed somewhat. "Considering how advanced your curse is, that magician must have been a true master of the Eighth."

Scootaloo said nothing, but felt a growing apprehension within her. The fact that she had been cursed meant she had an enemy, and going by what Fang had told her, that enemy was not only ruthless but apparently also immensely powerful. A part of her still wanted to find her mysterious nemesis, administer righteous vengeance and demand an explanation. But now, another part of her hoped they'd never meet at all.

If Fang noticed her feelings, she didn't comment on them. "Finally, there's the Ninth Magic. This one can be very difficult to grasp but I'll do my best to explain it in simple terms. Essentially, it's magic applied via concepts. Such spells are different from others because their effects are determined by the particular concept the spell is based on, which overrides all other spell attributes. This makes Ninth Magic spells incredibly powerful."

"Uh, you've already lost me," Scootaloo said. "What does any of that even mean?"

Fang hummed and thought for a moment. "Let's say we have a chest with something valuable inside, and we want to put a spell on it that keeps others from opening it. Your average mage would probably just create a magic lock or place a shield around the chest, something like that. But with Ninth Magic, you could use a spell based on the concept of 'closed' or maybe 'forbidden.' This would make it impossible for anyone to open the chest, because the very concept of 'opening' no longer applies to it. The chest wouldn't even need to be locked, nothing in particular would be keeping it closed. And yet, you wouldn't be able to make the lid budge and no lesser spell could change the fact that it can't be opened."

Scootaloo blinked. "That doesn't even make sense!"

"And that's exactly why those spells are so rare," Fang declared. "The entire idea is difficult to get your head around. I've studied the arcane arts for two millennia but even I can't actually use Ninth Magic. It requires a transcendental understanding of the specific concept, abstracting it down to the purest insight of the idea itself. Even among magicians of the very highest order, most only ever master one conceptual spell." She paused for a moment and leaned back in her chair. "So, those are all the nine types of magic. Can you remember them all?"

"Um...” Scootaloo hesitated. "No? Sorry, it's just a lot to keep track of. I should probably have written them down..."

Fang grinned. "I'm just teasing you, Scootaloo. I did say it was just a brief overview, there's no need for you to memorize them right away. We can go through them in more detail later."

Scootaloo shot her a look of annoyance, wondering what the point of that lecture had even been. Sometimes it seemed Fang simply enjoyed talking a lot.

"To recap," Fang said, "First magic is what you do when you stand on clouds. As a pony you should already have a natural affinity for it, so there's probably not much left to teach. For now we'll be focusing on Second magic. We won't be getting anywhere until you learn to deliberately project a spell."

Scootaloo scratched her mane. "You're going to teach me to levitate stuff?"

Fang shook her head. "That would be a good place to start if you were a unicorn, but as a pegasus I think we should begin with astral projection."

"Astra what?"

"Astral projection. That's when you create an ethereal form and use it to send your psyche into..." Fang noticed the look on Scootaloo's face and sighed. "...It means you go outside your body and float around. You know, like a ghost?"

"Oh." Scootaloo's eyes widened. "That actually sounds kinda cool. So how do I start?"

"The first step is meditation techniques," Fang explained. "You will need to refine your focus and concentration ability as much as possible. I'm going to teach you how to sit and breathe properly, and then I want you to create a picture in your mind and only think about that specific picture for as long as possible."

"I just sit around and think about one thing?" Scootaloo chuckled. "That's easy!"

At this rate, she would be flying in no time.

What felt like an eternity later, Scootaloo grit her teeth, put her head in her hooves and groaned. "Nnngraaah!"

Turns out, meditation was not easy.

"I think you're actually getting worse at it," Fang pointed out.

"I don't get it!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "How can thinking about one thing be this hard?!"

She had chosen to focus on the mental image of Rainbow Dash flying through the air while striking an awesome pose. Thinking about Rainbow being awesome was second nature to her, after all. But no matter how hard she tried to focus, she'd find her mind subtly drifting to other thoughts: How much she wanted to fly herself, the unfairness of her curse holding her down, her friends and how she would explain all of this to them, various daydreams and so on. She kept feeling itchy in random spots, or had overwhelming urges to stretch her muscles, all kinds of little distractions she normally wouldn't have noticed. It didn't help that the position Fang had told her to sit in seemed intended to be uncomfortable, plus she needed to mind her breathing on top of it all.

Not to mention, it was all so boring.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Fang who was passing the time reading an old book in her armchair. "So, how long am I gonna need to keep this up, anyway?"

"Hm," Fang looked up. "For practical purposes, long enough for you to devote your full concentration to the spell. The longer you can do it the better, but at least a few minutes, I'd say."

Scootaloo's heart sank and her shoulders slumped. She was never going to learn how to fly. "I don't think I can do this," she mumbled.

Fang put the book away and got out of the chair. She walked over to Scootaloo and gave the filly a pat on the shoulder. "Sounds like you need a break. Getting frustrated will just make it harder for you to concentrate. Don't worry, I don't expect miracles on your first day."

Scootaloo's just let out a surly grunt in response. She knew she was being impatient and putting her expectations too high. Of course learning actual magic would be hard – even Sweetie Belle had struggled a lot before she finally got the hang of levitation, and she had a natural advantage. But Scootaloo still thought it seemed incredibly unfair she had to go through all this effort for something other pegasi could do instinctively by her age.

"I guess I'm going to be doing this meditation stuff for a while, huh?" she asked.

"Not just meditation," Fang said. "We'll be complementing it with lucid dreaming. Ah, that's when you dream, but you are aware of it and can control the dream. It's similar in principle to astral projection so it will help you build the skills you need."

That got Scootaloo's attention. "Wait, so basically like when Princess Luna visits us in our sleep?"

"...Ah. Yes." Fang's expression turned to a thoughtful frown. "I didn't think about that."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Fang averted her eyes and for some reason she looked a bit sheepish. "Well, it's just that now that Luna is back, I should probably talk to her before we start messing with your dreams. I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstandings."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Fang sighed. "It's... complicated. Never mind that for now. How about we grab something to eat?"

"I am starting to feel kinda hungry," Scootaloo admitted. Come to think of it, she had ended up skipping breakfast thanks to the unannounced appearance of Mr Warden – she had been too relieved to part with him and too excited about all the magic stuff to notice. No wonder she couldn't focus her mind very well.

Besides, the thought of sharing another meal with Fang seemed to lift her spirits and made her strangely warm inside.

"Great! I hope you like baked potatoes." Fang smiled. "And after we've eaten, what do you say we go visit Twilight to see if she's made any progress with her research?"

Scootaloo perked up. Somewhere along the line she had nearly forgotten about Twilight's promise to help her dispel the curse. She smiled back at Fang. "Okay."

Some time later, Scootaloo trotted along the street towards Twilight's castle with Fang by her side and a belly full of potatoes. The meal had done wonders to help her muster up a bit of optimism. True, she had considerable obstacles to overcome, but she also had powerful allies to help her.

"Do you think Twilight has figured something out?" she asked.

Fang chuckled. "If she's half as driven as when she was your age, she's probably read every book on curses she's managed to get her hooves on by now. Of course, I've never seen her in action outside of a classroom, so I'm curious as well."

They soon reached the castle and Fang gave the doors a couple of knocks. "Hm, I wonder if we should have let her know we were dropping by?" she mused. "I hope we're not interrupting..."

The doors suddenly flung open and an excited Twilight stuck her head out to smile at them. "You're here! I was just about to send Spike to find you, Scootaloo! Come in, both of you!"

They followed the excited alicorn inside. Fang smiled, recognizing the fervor in Twilight's eyes. "So you've figured something out?"

"Not exactly," Twilight replied. "I mean, I still don't understand the structure of the curse, but I think we'll be able to shed some light on that now." Looking at the pegasus, some of her enthusiasm gave way for concern. "Are you... okay, Scootaloo? I'm really sorry about last time, I shouldn't have been so blunt."

"I'm fine now,” Scootaloo said. “Don't worry about it. I mean, it still sucks having a curse, but Fang told me it's better I know about it. I haven't given up yet!"

Twilight smiled. "That's a relief."

As they passed through the throne room they were approached by Starlight Glimmer and Spike. "You showed up at just the right time, Scootaloo," Starlight said. "And you must be Fang?"

"Twilight, I'm shocked!" Fang cast a glance at the princess and grinned. "You never mentioned having a sister."

Starlight's eyes widened and Spike smothered a giggle. Twilight let out an embarrassed laugh. "Ah, no. This is Starlight, I mentioned her before."

Fang nodded. "Right, the former apprentice turned colleague. It's a pleasure."

"Likewise," Starlight said. "Twilight speaks very highly of you, Fang."

"She spoke very highly of you as well," Fang replied. "One of the most talented spellcasters she's ever met, I believe was the phrase she used."

Starlight blushed, somehow managing to look bashful while at the same time beaming with pride. "Oh, I may have mastered a lot of magic, but thanks to Twilight I know I still have a lot to learn."

"Yeah," Spike said. "She used to be awful at friendship. This one time..." Starlight gave him a quick smack on the arm, shutting him up.

"Is it true you stole the cutie marks from an entire village of ponies?" Scootaloo asked.

Starlight suddenly froze, looking uncomfortable. "Well, yes, but..."

"Hold on, you did what?" Fang looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't even know that was possible."

Noticing the unicorn's distress, Twilight quickly spoke up. "Starlight used to have some... issues, but that's all in the past. She's proven herself to be a good friend, and I have complete trust in her."

"I see." Grinning, Fang gave Starlight a curious look. "Interesting."

"Ehehe," Starlight chuckled nervously. "W-Why don't we go see what Twilight and I have set up for Scootaloo? It's this way."

Led by Twilight and Starlight, the group proceeded deeper into the castle. It still fascinated Scootaloo just how large the place was, especially since the exterior didn't seem big enough to house so many corridors and rooms. It occurred to her that it was similar to Fang's tower in that regard.

Soon they entered a room where a large device had been set up in the middle of the crystal floor. It consisted of a big round platform with three metal arches holding up a parabolic metal disk above it, a cable connecting the machine to a control panel. In the middle of the platform, a number of interlocking triangles formed a vaguely star-shaped pattern.

The moment she saw the contraption, Scootaloo stopped in her tracks. "Oh," she said with a deadpan look on her face. "It's one of those."

Twilight turned to her, looking surprised. "You... know what it is?"

"It's one of those spectrum-thingies, right?" Scootaloo guessed.

"Oh, a thaumatic spectrometer?" Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think we'd get any useful data out of one of those. This is more like a scaled-up version of the thaumascope."

Fang walked over to the platform and gave it a closer look. "Is this Mandrake's greater diagram?"

"That's right," Starlight replied. "As you can see we're using a resonance modulator as the base, but we've reconfigured it to use a variable hexa-field as a lens."

"That way we can project a magnified image of the aura of whoever is standing inside the field," Twilight concluded.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Scootaloo whispered to Spike.

"You'd think I would after living with those two," Spike replied. "But no."

"I must say, I'm impressed," Fang said. "You managed to put this together in just a day? How did you get the resonance strong enough without collapsing the field?"

"Oh, that was all Twilight's idea," Starlight said. "She tuned the emitter so the resonance of the field is the same as that of the modulator, except in the negative values. Normally there'd be no reason you'd want a hexa-field to do that, but in this case they balance out."

Twilight shrugged. "Just a little trick I picked up back in magic school."

"A harmonic resonance bypass?" Fang raised an eyebrow. "That would work, but only if you do it just right. Really, what kind of irresponsible maniac taught you that?"

"You did."

"...Oh." Fang turned to the princess and smiled. "Good job, Twilight."

"And you're sure this thing works?" Scootaloo asked, still eyeing the machine with suspicion. "It's not going to explode or anything?"

"It's perfectly safe," Twilight assured her. "I already tested it on myself and it works like a charm. I can give you a demonstration if you're nervous."

Scootaloo sighed. "No, let's just get it over with. I'm sure it's fine." It probably was, but aside from resembling Fang's spectrometer, it also reminded her a bit too much of the very painful ritual she had gone through earlier that day. It just seemed to Scootaloo that every time she stepped into some kind of circle with a star in it, something would go wrong.

Twilight gave her shoulder a reassuring pat with her wing. "Okay, just go stand on..."

"...On the star thingy, yeah." Scootaloo took a deep breath and walked over to the platform. "I think I know how this works by now."

Noticing that the filly seemed worried, Starlight approached her. "You'll be fine, Scootaloo. Twilight and I will take it from here."

"Thanks, Starlight," Scootaloo said, managing to smile a little. "Honestly, I feel a bit bad about having you guys do all of this just for me."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Starlight let out a small sigh. "Compared to teaching Sweetie Belle, this was almost relaxing."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Scootaloo's expression turned serious. "On behalf of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I apologize for the trouble she caused." Though the Crusaders had been responsible for their share of mischief and minor disasters in their days, Scootaloo liked to think they still had some standards.

"I'm going to turn it on now," Twilight declared from the control panel. She flipped a switch and the platform started to glow with a soft hum. Scootaloo braced herself, but nothing dramatic seemed to occur. No sparks or explosions, no horrible pain, just a slight tingling sensation and a faint vibration running through her entire body. It actually felt a bit relaxing.

"I'll need to calibrate it to your magic signature," Twilight carried on. "Starlight, you should step back so I get a clear reading."

"Roger that." Starlight retreated, taking position next to Fang and Spike while Twilight fiddled with the controls.

Fang glanced at her. "So, when you say you stole cutie marks, you mean...?"

Starlight sighed. "Literally. I used a spell to pluck them straight off the pony's flank. I kept them in a secret vault, locked away in crystal boxes like a bug collection."

"Huh. That is actually pretty fascinating," Fang commented.

"If you say so." Starlight hung her head. "Like Twilight said, I had issues. I'm not proud of how I acted back then."

Fang shrugged. "Well, we've all done things we probably shouldn't have. You know, this one time I set Celestia's castle on fire."

Starlight raised her head and stared at the taller unicorn for a moment. "What, on purpose?"

Fang just smiled and winked at her.

"That should do it," Twilight reported from the controls. "Scootaloo, I'm turning the hexa-field on now."

She pulled a lever and Scootaloo braced herself for the second time. If something scary was going to happen, she was pretty sure this would be the most likely time. But all she felt was a charge in the air around her, causing her fur to stand on end. Compared to her previous experiences, this was a relief. She noticed that she seemed to be glowing – the same dark purple glow as on the picture Fang had shown her. Looking down at her body, she could see that her entire aura was now visible, along with the curse. She could see the black cracks running throughout her body, the rings of glowing runes and symbols orbiting her, and at the center – superimposed on but at the same time within her chest – that perfect, intensely black sphere at the core of her being.

Just like before, she was struck by how wrong it looked. Only it was more obvious this time, the three-dimensional display making it seem all the more real. She began feeling sick and turned her eyes away, trying desperately not to think about it.

On the sidelines, Starlight gasped. "That's the curse? Now I see why Twilight was so upset about it."

"I don't even know what I'm looking at," Spike commented. "But that does not look right."

"Everything seems to be working the way it should," Twilight said. "I'm going to enlarge it now so we can get a better look."

She turned a dial and the aura seemed to grow around Scootaloo's body. Before long she was standing inside an outline of her magical channels, vaguely shaped like a larger version of her own body. The glowing circles now occupied most of the machine's interior, and the black orb had grown until it nearly reached Scootaloo's face. She instinctively raised her chin and stretched her neck up as much as possible, struck by the sudden fear that if that blackness reached her eyes she would go blind or – even worse – see something she didn't want to see.

"It's okay, Scootaloo," Twilight quickly said, her voice soft and calming. "It's not real. All of it is still inside you."

"R-Right," Scootaloo said and struggled to stay calm. She still didn't lower her head, however.

Twilight started to pace around the platform, inspecting the image with a look of deep concentration. "Well, I was right before. The spell is definitely diverting the flow of your cardinal channels, so that explains why you can't fly, but there is a lot of other functions in there I don't understand. This part here is definitely something to do with gravity, but that doesn't make much sense. And these parts don't even seem to do anything, at least not right now. Maybe they are triggered by certain stimuli? I wonder if..."

As Twilight kept talking, the others present studied the image of Scootaloo's aura in silence. Starlight looked at it with an equal mix of confusion, fascination and concern, like a virologist who had just discovered a whole new and particularly nasty disease.

"Quite a piece of work, isn't it?" Fang said to her.

"I'll say," Starlight replied. "I've never even seen a spell like this before."

Fang looked at the structure of the curse with a thoughtful expression, her eyes slightly narrowed. "I have," she mumbled.

Starlight gave her a surprised look. "You have?"

"Hm?" Fang blinked. She hadn't even realized she'd spoken out loud. "Ah, not this specifically, no. It's just that it reminds me of an old colleague of mine. This spellwork looks a bit like his style, that's all."

"Really? In that case, maybe we should show it to him?" Starlight suggested. "He might have some useful advice."

"Believe me, I would love to ask him about it," Fang said and sighed. "Unfortunately, he's been dead for many years now."

"Oh." Starlight frowned and her ears drooped. "I'm... I'm very sorry to hear that."

Fang shrugged. "Yes, well, nothing to do about that now."

"Aha!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing at a particular formulation of runes. "I'm pretty sure this is what keeps the primary part of the curse together. If we can dismantle it, at the very least her main flow should start returning to normal."

"So you can break the curse?" Scootaloo asked, hope swelling inside her.

"Probably," Twilight said. Her horn started glowing. "I'll have to be careful, though. I'm going to start by probing it a bit, just to see how it reacts. Scootaloo, try to stay still. This might feel a bit strange, but it shouldn't hurt."

Scootaloo nearly blurted out what happened last time somepony said that, but stopped herself in the last moment. Instead, she simply nodded.

A tendril of magenta light reached out from Twilight's horn and passed into Scootaloo's chest. It tickled a bit, but Scootaloo did her best not to move. At the same time, she could see a larger version of Twilight's spell appearing in the magnified projection. As it neared the part of the curse that Twilight had singled out, the tip sharpened into the shape of a scalpel.

"Gently now," Fang cautioned.

"You can do it, Twilight!" Starlight said.

"Shush, I need to focus," Twilight mumbled, her brow furled in concentration. The magical scalpel slowly floated closer to the runes, then made contact.

In that moment, the symbols suddenly flashed brighter and seemed to pull Twilight's magic in. The magenta stream rushed along the rim like electricity through a conductor only to be sucked into the black central core, twisting into a spiral. Scootaloo let out a small shriek as she felt a jolt running through her body.

It only lasted for a moment. Twilight immediately extinguished her spell and stumbled backwards. "Whoa! What in the hay!?"

"W-What happened?" Scootaloo asked.

"...I don't know," Twilight replied. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?"

"I think so," Scootaloo replied, even though she wasn't so sure that was true. She felt cold, as if the temperature of the room had dropped. "But I'd really like to get out of this thing now."

"Ah, yes, of course," Twilight said. "One moment." Using her magic, she pulled another lever on the control panel. "Okay, you can get out now."

Scootaloo quickly jumped off the platform. Turning around, she saw that the device still displayed the projection of her aura. Presumably Twilight had locked it in there as a kind of still image, but at that point Scootaloo didn't care about the specifics.

Starlight raised a hoof. "Wait, did I see that right? It looked like the curse absorbed Twilight's spell."

"I think so," Twilight said. "It wasn't much, but I could feel it draining me."

Fang stroked her chin. "So, this curse is capable of defending itself."

"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Does that mean we can't do anything about it?" Starlight asked. "Any magic we try to apply on Scootaloo just gets diverted and pulled in?"

"Hm, I wouldn't say that," Fang said. "My healing magic worked fine on her, and the familiar bond was able to connect with her heart. So it's not like the curse reacts to all spells, it's more likely it absorbs any spell trying to directly alter it. Theoretically..."

"Wait, wait!" Twilight interrupted, suddenly staring at Fang. "What did you just say?"

"It most likely only absorbs spells that directly..."

"No, before that."

"Ah... It didn't react to the familiar bond?" Fang averted her eyes. "Right, I guess I forgot to mention that."

"You made Scootaloo your familiar?" Twilight almost shouted.

"Well, yes," Fang said. "Is that a problem?"

Twilight groaned and put a hoof to her temple. "Fang, she's just a kid."

Fang shrugged. "She's old enough."

"You've known each other for two days!"

"What are you guys even talking about?" Spike asked, looking confused. "What's a familiar?"

"Nngh!" Twilight's entire body visibly tensed up and her eyes filled with horror as she realized the dragon was, in fact, standing right next to her.

"Yes, Twilight." Fang gave the alicorn a sharp glance. "Why don't you go ahead and tell him?"

With monumental effort, Twilight somehow avoided panicking. She turned and gave the dragon a stiff smile. "It... It's a magic thing, Spike. I-I'll tell you all about it later, promise."

"Um, okay?" Spike said and scratched his spines, still not really sure what was going on.

"Look, Twilight, it's okay," Scootaloo said. "Fang explained the whole thing and we made a deal."

Twilight still looked at her with concern. "Scootaloo, are you sure about this? It's a big commitment, especially under your circumstances."

Scootaloo nodded. "I have to learn how to use whatever magic I have, and this seemed like the best way to do it. I told you before, I'm not giving up! Besides, Fang said I can back out of it whenever I want."

Twilight held her gaze for a moment, then drew a deep breath to calm herself. "Well, if you're both in agreement, then I guess it's settled." She gave Fang a look of annoyance. "Still, I wish you'd at least discussed the matter with me first."

Fang scoffed. "Hey, if you'd rather it be your job..."

"Okay, let's just put that issue aside for now!" Starlight interjected. "So, um, what do we know about the curse so far?"

"Well, it's blocking Scootaloo's access to the majority of her magic," Fang said. "Specifically her ability to fly. She doesn't remember being cursed, which means it must have happened when she was very young."

"Right," Twilight nodded. "And it uses her own magic to power itself, which is why it hasn't faded over time. It also defends itself by absorbing any external magic trying to interfere with the spellwork. And finally, it appears to have other functions we still haven't figured out."

"Well, that's just great!" Scootaloo groaned. "So basically, it's not going away on its own, you can't use magic to get rid of it, and we don't even know what all of it does? Are there any good news?"

Cocking her head, Fang gave the projection another look. "...Maybe. Twilight, Starlight, all things considered, don't you think her aura looks a bit brighter than it should be?"

The two unicorns turned their heads to look. "Actually, yes," Twilight said. "It is pretty dim, but now that I think about it, we should barely be able to see it at all."

"And look at her peripheral channels," Fang continued, pointing her hoof. "They are pretty well developed and seem to work just fine, even though her whole system should be compromised by a low output. Going by just that, you'd think she was a filly with normal magic levels. A bit above average, even."

"You're right," Starlight said. "But how could that..." She fell silent and turned to Twilight. The two shared a look as if they had both reached the same conclusion. "Oooh!"

"What?" Scootaloo asked. "What does that mean?"

"From what I've seen, you're a pretty active girl," Fang said. "Plenty of energy, moves around a lot. But I'm guessing that wasn't always the case? You must have been much more lethargic when you were younger, correct?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Scootaloo scratched her mane. "I used to be tired all the time, if that's what you mean, and I had a hard time getting motivated to do stuff. When I first got my scooter I'd just roll around on it, I was pretty slow back then. But it was the most fun thing I had to do, so I kept at it and after a while I started to feel stronger. After that I met Rainbow Dash and, well, that just made me put more effort into it." She gave Fang a puzzled look. "How did you know about that?"

"I thought it was a bit odd," Fang replied. "You just seemed way healthier than I would have expected. I think your magic is actually fighting back against the curse."

"It makes sense," Twilight nodded. "Her body could tell she didn't have enough magic so it started to produce more of it to compensate."

"Like working a muscle!" Starlight added.

"Right." Fang smiled at Scootaloo. "By now, it wouldn't surprise me if your natural magic output is on par with that of an adult pony, maybe even stronger."

Scootaloo's eyes widened as this information sunk in. "So, if we do find a way to break this curse...?"

Twilight reached out her wing and ruffled the filly's mane. "You'll be quite the powerhouse. You might even end up faster than Rainbow Dash!"

Scootaloo made up her mind. Somehow, one way or another, the curse had got to go.

Starlight had to smile, seeing the little filly's eyes light up like that. But then she looked up and noticed that Fang had walked over to the machine, staring intently at the image of the curse. "...Fang? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Fang replied. She pointed at the central black spot. "Twilight, can you enlarge this part? As big as it can go."

Twilight frowned, but nodded. "Of course." Using her magic, she turned the dial on the control panel all the way to the top. The black sphere grew in size until it matched the circumference of the platform, hovering there as a dark planet or an empty hole into nothing. Scootaloo shivered.

"There," Fang pointed. "Do you see that?"

The others moved closer. At first they saw only black, but then they noticed it: At the very center of the blackness, a tiny speck of white light shone like a lonely star in an empty night sky. A single fractal shape, like a crystal or snowflake, too small and complex to discern properly, glowing in the purest white.

Twilight squinted. "What... What is that? A part of the curse?"

Fang slowly shook her head. "I have no idea."

No real progress was made after that, much to Scootaloo's disappointment. Studying the curse further proved mostly fruitless since none of the three magicians could discern its hidden functions beyond more guesswork.

At one point, Fang took Twilight aside and they spoke to one another in hushed tones. Scootaloo had been a bit worried that the previous argument had soured their friendship, but to her relief the two returned from their talk looking more relaxed and smiling at each other. She figured Twilight didn't become the Princess of Friendship by being bad at staying friends. Not long after that, Fang declared they would be departing.

"I really wish we could have made more progress," Twilight sighed as she escorted them to the doors. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo."

"It's not your fault, Twilight," Scootaloo said. "You and Starlight did your best, and I'm grateful for that."

"At least now we know a bit more than we did before," Fang commented. "That's something."

"I guess you're right," Twilight said. "I'll keep researching the curse, there has got to be a way to break it. I'm sure we'll find a solution eventually."

"Twilight, you are one of the most brilliant ponies I've ever met," Fang said, smiling gently at the princess. "That was easy to see even when you were a filly. If anypony can help me figure this out, it's you."

"Thank you, Fang." Twilight blushed slightly. "And sorry again for snapping at you back there."

"It's fine." As they reached the front doors, Fang swung them open with her magic and she and Scootaloo stepped outside.

Scootaloo turned to wave. "Bye, Twilight!"

"Goodbye, Scootaloo, Fang," Twilight waved back. "And have a nice trip!"

The doors closed behind them and Scootaloo turned to Fang. "What did she mean by that?"

Rather than answering, Fang turned her head to the sky. The sun had long since passed its zenith and was now slowly descending towards the western horizon. "Hm, that must have taken longer than I thought," she said. "It's getting pretty late. Come along, Scootaloo. We'll need to hurry if we want to catch the train."

"Train? What train?" Scootaloo frowned in confusion, trotting to keep up with Fang who had already started walking. "Aren't we going back to the Rook for more magic lessons?"

Fang shook her head. "Nope, because I have a little surprise for you."

"And what's that?" Scootaloo asked.

Fang grinned at her. "We are going to Canterlot!"

Author's Note

This chapter gave me a bit of trouble and even though I moved an entire scene further down the storyline, it ended up quite long. Still, I think it turned out fairly well.

Next chapter is one of my favorites and I'm looking forward to publishing it. It's going to be blast.

Six: Friends and Enemies.

The Friendship Express huffed along its tracks towards Canterlot, having long since left Ponyville behind. Beyond the towering mountain, the sun was getting close to setting and even though it wasn't a long trip by train, Scootaloo expected it would be dark by the time they arrived.

Sitting across from her, Fang silently gazed out the window at the scenery passing by with a faint smile on her lips. Not a lot of ponies had reason to visit the capital at this hour, so they had the car for themselves.

"So, are we really going to visit Princess Celestia?" Scootaloo asked. "Just like that?"

"That's the plan," Fang replied.

Scootaloo couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. She had spoken to Luna on occasion, but while she had seen Celestia in person a few times they had never been formally introduced. Somehow the thought of just suddenly dropping by for a chat with the sun princess felt slightly impudent. "I mean, I get why you're going to see her, since you two are friends and all, but why are you bringing me along?"

"Because it's not just a courtesy call," Fang replied, still looking out the windows. "You are Celestia's subject, after all, so if you are to be my familiar I would like her blessing."

"Didn't stop you from going through with it before you went to see her," Scootaloo pointed out.

"Well, apologizing is preferable to asking permission," Fang chuckled. Then her expression turned more serious. "But more importantly, there is also the issue of your curse. Twilight was right, it's a very serious crime. Celestia needs to be informed of what we've learned so far, and as the victim I think you have every right to be there."

Scootaloo felt uncomfortable being referred to as 'the victim', even though it was true. What Fang said did make sense, however. "So why are we taking the train? Couldn't we just have used the Rook to teleport there or something?"

"The Rook is fine where it is," Fang said. "True, it's very useful for getting around, but I don't want to rely on it too much. Ponyville is right next to Canterlot, after all, and it's not like we're in much of a hurry."

Scootaloo studied Fang's expression for a moment, then cracked a smile. "You just wanted to ride a train, didn't you?"

Fang blinked, let out a small cough and – to Scootaloo's delight – actually looked a bit embarrassed. "...Well, there's nothing wrong with taking it easy and enjoying the scenery."

"If you say so," Scootaloo giggled. "So, what's the deal with that tower, anyway?"

"The Rook?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah. You said it used some really awesome space magic, right? Did you make it yourself?"

"Ah, no," Fang shook her head. "I'm good, but not that good. Actually, I won it in a game of Mahjong."

"Seriously?"

"It was very high stakes Mahjong."

"Okay." Scootaloo made a mental note to get the full story later. "So who did build it?"

"The Rooks are ancient artifacts," Fang explained. "It's pretty rare to find one and they're quite valuable since we don't really know how to make more of them. They were originally created by a people called the Wayfarers. They were an advanced culture with a deep understanding of magic, which they used to perfect the art of dimensional travel. Since they were an adventurous species with a strong wanderlust, they quickly spread out across many worlds in many universes.” She cocked her head. “Unfortunately, they got a bit too caught up with exploring the practically infinite number of worlds they'd gained access to and eventually forgot the location of their original homeworld. Not to mention, at that point they'd spread themselves so thin it had become very rare for a Wayfarer to ever run into one of their own. It's said they've roamed all of creation ever since: the lonely wanderers, moving from world to world, looking for their lost home."

Scootaloo frowned. "That's... kinda sad."

"Well," Fang shrugged, "that's the legend, anyway. I've never even met an actual Wayfarer, so who's to say it's even true?” She turned to look at the pegasus. “So now you know about my house. What about yours?"

"My house?" Scootaloo wasn't sure what to make of that question. "What about it?"

"What Warden said this morning," Fang specified, "is that correct?"

Scootaloo sighed. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I've been told. I don't really get all the complicated technical stuff, but Foal Services weren't able to move me somewhere else for some reason, so I've lived in that house all my life."

"What about relatives?" Fang asked. "Or a foster family?"

Scootaloo fidgeted with her hooves. She didn't particularly like talking about this stuff, but she couldn't bring herself to shut the discussion down either. At least Fang seemed to be taking an interest in her situation, unlike most adults. "Seems they haven't been able to find any relatives, and there aren't any available foster families nearby. At this point I'm just glad I don't have to leave Ponyville. If you asked me a few years ago I might not have minded so much, but now I have Rainbow Dash and Sweetie and Apple Bloom and all my other friends." She smiled, but there was a certain melancholy behind it. "I guess they're my family now."

Fang looked thoughtful. "It still seems strange to me, though. Did that Warden fellow really raise you himself? I can't exactly picture him caring for an infant."

"I don't think he did," Scootaloo said, not sure if she found that mental image humorous or disturbing. "I'm pretty sure there were other ponies looking after me early on, but when I got older they all left except for Mr Warden. He doesn't live in Ponyville himself, though, and he's busy most of the time so I don't see him very often these days."

"Hm. And how often is that?" Fang asked.

"Once every two weeks, usually," Scootaloo said. "He showed up early today. Sometimes it takes even longer than two weeks."

"He must be very busy, then," Fang muttered, her eyes narrowing. "So, do you enjoy living in that house?"

Scootaloo wrinkled her muzzle. "Not really. I mean, I suppose I should be grateful I have a house. Like, at least I'm not living in a cardboard box or something. But I dunno, I always thought it felt too..."

"...Empty?" Fang guessed.

"Yeah," Scootaloo mumbled. "It's too empty and too quiet and it all just kinda gets to me somehow. To be honest, that's probably why I spend so much time outdoors, riding my scooter or whatever. I guess most kids would love having a whole house all to themselves, but whenever I go back there..." She sighed again. "...It just makes me feel small. It's like there's too many rooms and not enough... me."

Fang was silent for a moment. She'd gone back to looking out the window. The sun had nearly reached the horizon. The train rounded the mountain and started its climb up the winding slope, cutting the fading sunlight off and engulfing the car in shadow.

"Yeah," Fang said under her breath. "I thought so as well."

They arrived to the castle just as the sun was setting, casting a soft red glow on the white marble towers. With Scootaloo in tow, Fang marched straight up to the gates where two armored pegasi stood guard.

Seeing them approach, one of the guards took a step forward and addressed Fang: "Halt. What is your business here?"

"Good evening," Fang replied, smiling sweetly at him. "My companion and I would like to see Princess Celestia."

The guard maintained his stoic expression, only a slight furrowing of his brow under the helmet revealing his disposition. "Sorry, ma'am, but the court is closed for the day and the princess is not to be disturbed. If you wish to meet with her you must petition for an audience just like everypony else."

Fang sighed. "Look, just tell Celestia that Fang has come to visit her. That should be enough."

The guard narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "Listen here, I don't think you understand. You can't just..."

But before he could finished that sentence, his colleague leaned over and quickly whispered something in his ear. He blinked and momentarily displayed a look of surprise. "Really?" he asked in a hushed tone. The other guard nodded.

Clearing his throat, the pegasus turned to Fang once more. "A thousand apologies, Lady Fang. It appears you are expected. My orders are to escort you to Princess Celestia immediately. This way, please."

"Much obliged," Fang said and gestured to Scootaloo while the guards opened the gate. Scootaloo followed, not entirely sure what had just happened. As the guard led them into the castle, she started trotting to keep pace with their strides.

"How did Princess Celestia know we were coming?" she asked.

"Twilight wrote her a letter last night explaining what's been going on and that I'm back in Equestria," Fang replied. "I'm not really one for making appointments, so I expect Celestia simply told the guards to let me in whenever I showed up. How's that?" The last part was directed at the guard. "Did I get that right?"

"I'm afraid I'm not privy to the correspondence between the princesses," the guard answered. His tone had turned much more respectful now. "But I presume that is the case, yes. Again, my apologies for the misunderstanding."

After ascending a few wide staircases they were brought to a pair of polished hardwood doors. "Princess Celestia's chamber lies beyond," the guard said. He opened the doors and the trio stepped inside.

The room was smaller than Scootaloo had expected and very sparsely furnished, but it still had a certain air of unembellished majesty. There were a few tasteful potted plants and some ornamental banners hung from the walls, which had been painted to resemble a stylized clouded sky at twilight – a style that reminded Scootaloo of pegasus aesthetics.

Nested on a fine seating mattress, reclining against a long pillow of golden silk, sat Princess Celestia gazing into the flames burning within a modestly sized yet elaborately designed fireplace. She must have just finished lowering the sun, and she had a serene look on her face. Her flowing ethereal mane shone brightly in the soft light. To Scootaloo, she seemed the perfect image of relaxed dignity.

She turned her head to look at them, first in mild surprise, then dawning recognition. Her mouth parted slowly.

The guard took a step back and made gesture towards the two guests. "Your Highness, Lady Fang with company to see you."

Fang raised her hoof and waved. "Hello, Cele..."

There was a blur of white and a flutter of wings. Celestia somehow managed to cross the room in the blink of an eye and immediately caught Fang in a massive bear hug, almost lifting the sorceress off her hooves. "Fang!" she squealed. "Oh, it's been so long, old friend! I missed you!"

"Hrgh!" Fang seemed to struggle to breathe in the crushing glomp. "Yeah, nice to see you too."

Scootaloo had stumbled back in surprise and stared at the scene in front of her with wide eyes. The mood had changed so suddenly that for a moment her stunned mind had no idea what to feel. So much for relaxed dignity.

The guard coughed. "I see everything is in order here. I will excuse myself now." He backed out of the room and closed the doors, making sure to show no emotional reaction to Celestia's enthusiastic greeting.

The princess finally released Fang and beamed a bright smile. "It's been over ten years, and you left so suddenly."

"Well, I had some business to attend to," Fang said, catching her breath. "Long story. It's good to be back and we have a lot to talk about. But before we get into anything else I just have to ask, because I still don't really believe it: Did you seriously rehabilitate Discord?"

Celestia laughed. "Oh yes. It was quite a challenge of course, but he's mostly harmless now. I can't take credit for that, though. It was all Fluttershy's doing."

"Right. I still don't know who that is," Fang said, "but this Fluttershy must be quite a formidable pony."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Celestia turned her head slightly and winked at Scootaloo, who immediately choked on a giggle.

"Ah, I almost forgot," Fang gestured towards the pegasus. "This is..."

"Scootaloo, right?" Celestia cut in. "I'm glad we finally got a chance to speak to one another."

"Um, thank you, Princess Celestia," Scootaloo bowed her head. "I guess Twilight must have told you about me, huh?"

"Oh, I've heard much about you and your friends," Celestia replied. "Plus, the three of you were Cadence's flower girls at her and Shining Armor's wedding, and you accompanied Rainbow Dash to the last galloping gala."

Scootaloo's eyes lit up in awe. "You remember!"

Celestia smiled. "It would be hard not to, after all the stories Twilight and the girls told me."

Fang witnessed the exchange with a look of idle curiosity, then turned to Celestia. "I take it Twilight informed you about her curse as well?"

Celestia's smile faded. "Yes, of course. That is a very serious matter. Part of me still doesn't want to believe something so atrocious would be done to one of our children. Fang, is it really as bad as Twilight led me to believe?"

Fang nodded. "I'm afraid so. Twilight and I got a good look at it today. It's practically flawless and extraordinarily intricate. In a way it's fortunate all it seems to do is render her flightless, but that's also what worries me. Twilight and I agree that there is much more to it, but we don't know what."

When Fang put it like that, Scootaloo felt worried as well. On a subconscious level she had avoided thinking about it, but it was very possible that the true purpose of the curse had yet to take effect – that it had something even worse in store for her. Her heart started racing and yet she felt cold.

Celestia seemed to notice and reached a wing down to caress her cheek. "Scootaloo, I promise, I will do everything in my power to help you. We will get to the bottom of this and find a way to break the curse."

Her feathers were soft and her voice was sad but still full of warmth. Scootaloo wondered if her mother would have done the same, had she still been with them. It was just a random thought, but it nearly made her cry. She still felt a bit embarrassed, being comforted by Princess Celestia herself, having all these important and amazing ponies devote themselves to her. A small part of her wondered if she was really worth it all. But at the same time she felt vindicated. Her previous diagnosis had earned her nothing but impotent pity, serving only to remind her of her own helplessness. Now, everypony acted as if her problems could be solved, and that doing so really mattered. This did, in fact, bring her some comfort.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," she said, barely holding back a display of very uncool emotions. "I know you will. Don't worry, I'm not going to let this break me."

Fang spoke up: "Celestia, let me cut to the chase. I've made Scootaloo my familiar."

"Oh?" Celestia looked surprised. "I must say, I didn't expect that. Scootaloo, you agreed to this? You know what it means?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, Fang explained it to me. We did the heart-linking thing, and now I'm basically her apprentice, I guess? She's going to teach me to use my magic. The magic I can use, anyway." She frowned. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Well, it's a bit old-fashioned," Celestia replied, "but it is a valid approach for getting faster results, so I see no reason to object.” She turned to Fang. “What spells are you teaching her?"

"For now, we're aiming for astral projection," Fang said.

Celestia hummed. "Not a conventional choice for a first spell, but then you are hardly a conventional teacher."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Fang chuckled. "But this reminds me, I heard Luna is back. Is she here? I need to speak with her."

Celestia suddenly tensed up and went silent for a moment. "Ah. Yes," she mumbled, averting her eyes. "Luna."

Fang's eyes narrowed. "...Celestia, you did remember to tell Luna about me, right?"

"W-Well..."

"Sister, are you in there?" a voice spoke to the sound of a door opening behind them. Princess Luna sauntered into the room with a smile on her face. "I have finished raising the moon for the evening and I was told we had... visitors..."

She stopped dead in her tracks and recoiled when she saw Fang, her eyes wide in shock and pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "Fang Jinhuo!" The moon princess immediately fell into a battle stance, her horn lowered and brimming with magic. "Get away from my sister, demon!"

"Of course you didn't," Fang deadpanned.

"Sorry," Celestia mumbled, looking quite embarrassed. "I was putting it off..."

"Celestia, I have her dead to rights!" Luna hollered. "Stand back so that I may smite her!"

"Wait, wait!" Celestia quickly stepped between them. "Luna, you've got it all wrong. Fang is here as my guest."

"Hey Luna." Fang waved her hoof. "Long time no see?"

"Guest?" Luna extinguished her magic and stared at Celestia in complete confusion. "Sister, what is the meaning of this?"

"Fang has changed," Celestia explained. "I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier. She's no longer our enemy. She's my friend."

"Friend?" Luna marched past Celestia, glaring daggers at Fang. "You expect me to believe that you have befriended this... this vile, conniving, malevolent creature?"

Scootaloo gave Fang a bewildered look. "Wait, you were a bad guy?"

"Weeell, I guess I may have ended up causing a bit of trouble." Fang shrugged. "It was a long time ago, I was young and impulsive."

Luna glowered at her. "You were a thousand years old!"

"Right, and I may have been a bit mischievous back then..."

"You almost burned our castle down!"

"Yes, but in my defense..."

"Your crimes are legion! Destruction of private and government property! Reckless endangerment! Grand theft of arcane artifacts! Assault and battery! Arson! Sabotage! Kidnapping! Extortion! Conspiracy against the Crown! Disorderly conduct! Impersonating a foreign dignitary! Impersonating a princess of Equestria! Piracy! Attempted regicide!"

Fang leaned towards Scootaloo. "It sounds worse than it is."

"You tried to kill my sister!" Luna roared.

"Yes, yes, she did." Once again, Celestia hurriedly stepped in, using her wings to gently but firmly push the two apart. "There's no denying that Fang has done a lot of bad things in the past. But as she said, it was a long time ago and she is very sorry about all of that. Aren't you, Fang?"

"Oh yes," Fang chuckled. "I was completely out of line, shame on me. But really, Luna, I expected the two of us to get along better now that we have something in common."

"Fang..." Celestia began, already shaking her head.

"I mean," Fang continued happily, "isn't this a little hypocritical coming from you, Nightmare Moon?"

"How dare you?!" Luna growled.

"Stop it, both of you!" Celestia cried. "Fang, you are not helping!"

Meanwhile, Scootaloo just stared at the scene in stunned silence.

Finally, Celestia managed to separate the two belligerents and turned to her sister with a pleading look. "Luna, please, listen to me. After... After I banished you, I was in a very dark place. I blamed myself for everything that happened. I kept thinking I had failed you – that I should have payed more attention, that I could have found a better way to stop you."

"Celestia, that's not..." Luna mumbled, but her sister raised her hoof to silence her.

"I kept doing my duty as ruler," Celestia carried on, "but it all felt empty and meaningless. I was surrounded by ponies yet felt completely alone. I went through the same routine every day with no end in sight, all while my guilt was slowly crushing me. I just wanted to go numb and stop feeling... anything."

She raised a wing, pointing at Fang. "But then she returned to Equestria, and though she was still hostile and aggressive, something had changed. She kept provoking me, breaking down the walls I had built around my heart. She forced me to feel something again. At the time I hated her for it. I thought it was revenge, that she just wanted to see me in pain, but in the end I had to confront that pain so that I could start healing."

"Well, I always saw you as a worthy opponent," Fang cast an idle glance at nothing in particular, "so seeing you turn into such a pathetic mess was really annoying."

Celestia smiled. "Before I knew it, we were getting along. We stopped fighting and started talking instead, and I desperately needed somepony to talk to. Throughout the centuries, Fang was one of the few constants in my life and it was thanks to her I could find the hope to see you again one day. For that I am very grateful to her. All I ask is that you give her a chance, Luna. For me?"

Luna was silent. She still looked doubtful, but Celestia's words seemed to have dulled her anger. "...Do you really trust her?"

"I do," Celestia said. "Just as much as I trust you."

Luna drew a deep sigh. She turned to Fang. "Very well. I suppose I did overreact. Fang Jinhuo, I still cannot claim that I am happy to see you, but as you are my sister's guest it was unbecoming of me to threaten you unprovoked. Out of respect for Celestia I shall endeavor to at least be courteous with you, so long as you give me no reason to doubt your sincerity."

"Understood," Fang replied. "Sorry if I got a bit personal there. I guess I got carried away by all the nostalgia."

Luna huffed. "Be that as it may, know that you are forbidden to trespass within the dreams of my subjects. You may be free to walk among ponies in the waking world, but the realm of dreams is where I draw the line!"

"Riiight," Fang scratched her neck. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about..."

"So I heard that Fang pony actually showed up?"

Out on the castle ramparts, some of the royal guards waiting to be relieved for the night had struck a conversation. Naturally, Princess Celestia's somewhat unusual decree had quickly become the topic.

"Yeah," one of the pegasi leaned on his spear. "I didn't see her myself, but Rush was there. He said she's a unicorn. Real looker, too."

"I never get the pretty ones," his colleague sighed.

A cloud passed over the moon, casting a shadow over the castle.

"Apparently she had a kid with her. Just showed up and asked to see the princess, no appointment or anything. They nearly turned her away."

"That's a bit weird. So, who do you suppose she is?"

The pegasus shrugged. "Probably a noble or some other dignitary visiting from abroad? Maybe from Maretonia or something."

"I dunno. They still need to book an audience, don't they?"

"Well, you know, Celestia can be a bit..."

A third guard, who had simply been listening to the other two, leaned on the railing and gazed idly into the night. He suddenly frowned. "Hey, what's that?"

Snapping out of the conversation, the other two looked to where he pointed. Out there, barely visible against the dark sky, winged shapes approached them.

"Is that the Night Guard?" one of the pegasi asked. "They're early."

The other shook his head. "No, they wouldn't come from that direction."

"Guys," the third one said as the shapes kept growing larger. "...I don't think those are ponies."

They all fell silent, suddenly alert. The cloud passed by the moon, letting it spread its light once more, and they saw...

"Sound the alarm!"

A large, bulbous shape swooped over them as the cry echoed against the stone walls, and many more followed.

"You want to do what?" Luna exclaimed. "Absolutely not!"

"Oh, come on," Fang pleaded. "I promise to be careful."

"I said no, and that is final!" Luna put her hoof down hard against the floor. "It is worrying enough that you have convinced Scootaloo to become your familiar of all things. I cannot allow you to go running wild into her dreams as well."

"Luna, I do believe that learning from Fang would benefit her," Celestia said.

"Perhaps, but neither of you understand dreams like I do," Luna replied. "Even if I am to believe that Fang has nothing but good intentions, the mind of a child is much too fragile."

"Don't I have any say in this?" Scootaloo asked. "I've already agreed to all of this. Princess Luna, I get that it could be dangerous, but I'm willing to risk it. I have to try!"

Luna sighed. "I understand your feelings, Scootaloo. I really do. But as your princess I have a responsibility to keep you safe, and you do not know Fang Jinhuo the way I do."

"I know that she saved my life," Scootaloo said. "I know that she's been trying to help me ever since we met, even though she doesn't have to. And I know that Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle trusts her. Isn't that enough?"

Looking into the filly's earnest eyes, Princess Luna hesitated. "I just..."

Her words were interrupted by the sound of running hooves and clanking armor. The doors slammed open and several guards rushed into the room. "Your highnesses!" one of them cried. "Intruders in the castle! We're under attack!"

"Aha!" Luna twirled around and pointed at fang. "I knew it! It was a ruse!"

Fang blinked in surprise and quickly shook her head. "Ah, no. Whatever this is, I'm not in on it. Honest."

"A likely story!"

"Let's continue this discussion after we deal with the emergency," Celestia firmly declared, directing them to follow her. Luna and Fang exchanged a glare, but did so without further argument. Scootaloo quickly fell in by Fang's side.

"Stay close," Fang told her. Scootaloo just nodded in response.

"I had better not regret this," Luna mumbled.

"Lieutenant Hammerfall!" Celestia called out to one of the guards who had taken a defensive position by the door. "Report, who is attacking us?"

The unicorn officer snapped a quick salute. "We don't know, your Highness. We believe they are some kind of magical constructs. They came flying out of the night and caught us by surprise. I don't know their exact number, but we believe there are at least several dozen of them. Commander Sabaton is leading the attempt to fortify the main entrance as we speak, but some may have entered the castle already."

"Thank you, lieutenant," Celestia said. "For now, we should find a more advantageous position and try to learn more. Everypony, follow me!"

The group left the room, guards and all, and hurried down the corridor towards the main staircase. Scootaloo had to run to keep up and wished she had her scooter, no matter how inappropriate it would have been to bring it into the castle. Her heart pounded and she tried to keep calm. It was not her first time facing danger – memories of Nightmare Moon's return and the Changeling invasion flashed through her mind – but usually she would just find a place to hide until the adults worked everything out. She wanted to see Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom again.

Once they reached the stairs more guards came rushing, and suddenly there was a crashing of broken glass as the invaders smashed through some of the windows. Their bodies seemed to have been crudely stitched together from old canvas sacks and stuffed with something, bulging and pulsating in an unnatural way. They had four limbs like a pony, rudimentary heads without features, and large flaps forming wings on their backs. Their stumpy arms held short spear-like weapons, sparking with electricity at the tips, and their canvas hides had been painted with arcane glyphs in bewildering patterns. They flew into the room, clumsy yet deceptively fast, and through the din and the yelling Scootaloo could hear a strange humming sound emanating from within the creatures.

"They've breached!" Hammerfall shouted. "Protect the princesses!"

"Are those..." Luna began.

Fang frowned. "...Hivers?"

"For Equestria!" one of the guards cried and lunged his spear at one of the creatures.

"No, don't!" Celestia called out, realizing in the same moment it was too late.

"Hiyaaaa...." The spear easily pierced the cloth. The creature seemed to burst and collapse as a large cloud of bees spilled out and swarmed the valiant guard. "...aaaaAAAAAAAH! NO, NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEEEEEES! AAAAAAAH!"

"I tried to warn you," Celestia sighed.

"THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAAAAAAAH!"

Fang quickly cast a spell forming a golden bubble around the unfortunate soldier. The bubble floated up, passing through his body while still trapping the bees inside. Fang's horn flashed again and the bubble turned into a solid chunk of amber falling to the floor with a thud.

Another hiver came flying at them from the side and Fang turned her head, but in the same moment a blue ray of magic shot past her face and struck the enemy, freezing it solid.

Grinning, Fang glanced at Luna whose horn was still glowing after the spell. "I see you still got it."

Before Luna could say anything in response, Fang had fired off a beam of her own. It struck a third hiver which burst into flame, quickly incinerating.

"...As do you," Luna muttered.

"Everypony, be careful!" Celestia called out. "Unicorns, use spells to hold or destroy them! The rest of you, try your best to subdue them, but do not breach their hides!"

A large number of hivers had now entered the room and the battle intensified. Those of the guards who were unicorns formed a rough circle around the princesses, mostly casting levitation and shield spells to hold or trap the hivers. Celestia, Luna and Fang, meanwhile, unleashed their own magic while forming a smaller circle around Scootaloo, who could do little but stay put and hope none of the attackers would make it through. The rest of the guards did their best to keep the swarm from overwhelming the casters – some of them even dropping their spears and resolving to wrestle their foes into submission. A couple of the craftier earth pony guards had managed to produce rope from somewhere and attempted to lasso and bind the hivers together.

Wherever Scootaloo looked, the air was filled with a dazzling lightshow as spells were flung in every direction. Fang and Luna almost seemed to be competing over which one of them could strike down the most attackers, whereas Celestia fired her spells with calm, calculated precision.

Though chaotic, the battle proved fairly brief. Before long the assault died down as the hivers were either incapacitated or destroyed. Some had been petrified into ghoulish statues, some were frozen solid, others transmuted into less harmful containers such as large jars or bottles, still with the bees trapped inside. A fair number had simply been reduced to fine ashes, mainly by Fang. Some of the guards had been struck by the hiver weapons and were badly stunned by the current, but it seemed no lives had been lost. Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief.

But before the defenders could celebrate, dark shadows swooped by outside the windows and the sound of further battles echoed through the castle halls. The mood fell as they all realized that there were still more intruders on the prowl.

"How many of them are there?" Luna asked.

Celestia furled her brow in thought. "Hivers are just primitive golems. To coordinate this many all at once, the spellcaster who sent them must be relatively nearby."

"That, or there's a control unit," Fang added. She closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate for a few moments. Then her eyes snapped open and she turned her head to the ceiling. "Found it!"

"Go then," Celestia said. "The sooner we end this the better."

Fang nodded. "Come along, Scootaloo. We have work to do."

"What do you mean weeaaah!" Scootaloo yelped in surprise as Fang's levitation spell lifted her off her hooves, dropping her off on the sorceress' back.

"Hold on tight!" Fang reared and before Scootaloo could protest she had started running.

"Wait a minute..." Luna began, but at that point Fang had already galloped out of the room. Luna glared after her. "...She took the foal with her."

"Well, it's not like Scootaloo is much safer with us," Celestia said, clearly struggling to be diplomatic.

Luna gave her sister a serious look. "And you are certain that Fang won't put her in any danger?"

"Um..." Celestia turned to see another squadron of hivers advancing on their position. "Heads up! There's more of them!"

"Celestia!"

Fang's hooves rattled against the checkered floor tiles as she galloped through the halls with Scootaloo clinging on to her. A few hivers tried to get in their way but Fang simply blasted them away with her fire spells without slowing down.

"Where are we going?" Scootaloo asked. "This isn't the way to the exit!"

"There is a powerful magical signal coming from above the castle," Fang replied. "We need to go up."

She made a sharp turn and cut through a room. Scootaloo's eyes widened when she saw what lay in front of them. "Fang, that's a balcony!"

"I know!" Fang kept powering on, heading straight for the open doors. Beyond them, stars shone on a clear evening sky.

"Then why aren't you stopping?" Scootaloo shrieked. "Fang, we're on a mountain!" But the sorceress had already leapt onto the railing and kicked off. "Fang!"

For a short moment, Scootaloo felt the sinking sensation in her abdomen as they passed the zenith of the leap and gravity started kicking in. Far below them all of Equestria stretched out as far as the eye could see. Then Fang seemed to kick off once more in mid-air, and suddenly they were rising again, shooting higher into the sky like a rocket.

"You can fly?" Scootaloo gasped.

"Surprise!"

"Oh, that is so unfair!" Scootaloo exclaimed, clinging to Fang as hard as she could. And still, she felt laughter bubbling up inside. "But also totally awesome!"

Fang made a turn in the air, circling the castle while climbing higher. Once the initial surprise had settled, Scootaloo got a better look at their surroundings. The entire castle seemed to crawl with hivers in groups of various sizes.

"That looks like more than just a few dozen," she pointed out with a gulp. As she spoke, several hiver squadrons broke away and congealed into one larger swarm, moving to pursue them.

"Seems like they've noticed us," Fang said. "Hang on tight, this is going to get a bit tricky."

Her horn lit up in a spell and a circle of flames appeared around it. She turned in the air and for a moment they were flying backwards. Fang lowered her horn and sent the flames hurtling towards the pursuers. The fireballs each struck a hiver, causing them to explode in clouds of flame and smoke. The next moment Fang and Scootaloo shot straight up and the remaining hivers passed beneath them, struggling to adjust their course.

"I hope you're not afraid of heights!" Fang said as they kept ascending.

"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo replied and actually felt a bit offended. "I'm still a pegasus!"

Another swarm of hivers tried to flank them, but Fang had already prepared a second fire ring. She made an evasive turn and fired off the salvo, destroying another handful of their foes.

Scootaloo's heart was racing. She felt scared and excited at the same time. But then, all of a sudden, she noticed that it wasn't just her feelings. Beyond them she could sense another set of emotions through the familiar bond. The bond between Fang's heart and her own.

Fang was... enjoying herself. She honestly enjoyed the fight, Scootaloo was sure of it. Not in a reckless way; she was still completely focused and aware of the danger, yet she relished the challenge and the rush. She was having fun. And once Scootaloo became aware of this, that feeling turned infectious. Was it brave or foolish to feel that way? She couldn't tell.

Fang grew bolder, torching several hivers without evading and passing straight through the rest of the group. They had almost reached the highest tower now. "There!" she pointed.

Above the castle a lone hiver floated in the air. It looked different than the others – larger and with several long metal spikes or rods sticking out of its body, blue lightning arcing between them.

"That's the swarm moderator," Fang declared. "We take that one out and the rest will just be sacks full of bees."

Her horn glowed again and she fired an intense beam straight for the creature. But the hiver moderator had reacted to their presence and sent a bolt of electricity at the same time. The two attacks collided in the air with an explosion of magic energies.

"Guess we'll have to get closer and find an opening," Fang muttered.

"Fang, look!" Scootaloo called out just as a loud humming filled the air. The various groups of hivers that had pursued them, along with many more from the castle, rose into the air and formed one massive swarm moving to block them from reaching their leader. There must have been several hundred of them.

"Dammit," Fang cursed. "It's protecting itself. Hang on!"

Some of the hivers had moved in to attack while the majority held position defending the moderator. Fang attempted to advance, making a spiraling turn to outmaneuver the attackers while raining fireballs on them as she moved. She tried to fly around the main swarm but they were moving differently now, attempting to surround their prey. It seemed that their proximity to the moderator had improved their coordination, and no matter what she did she couldn't get through. Worse, they were closing in and Fang's attacks were not reducing their numbers fast enough.

"This isn't working," Scootaloo said.

"I know," Fang replied. "I'll just have to take it up a notch!"

She summoned another ring of flames, but this time they all merged together forming a large fireball at the very tip of her horn. Through the bond Scootaloo could feel Fang's focus sharpening, pushing her magic to its limits. Fang saw an opening and generated a sudden burst of speed, separating them from the swarm. Just as it started to give chase, Fang turned and released her spell.

A massive, roaring blast of fire erupted from her horn. It engulfed the entire swarm, burning them all at once. The bright glare made Scootaloo squint and she felt the intense heat radiating from the inferno on her face. Then the fire dissipated and the hivers were simply gone.

"You did it!" Scootaloo cheered. But Fang had stopped moving, hanging still in the air and breathing heavily. Scootaloo could tell something was wrong – she felt it through the bond, not an emotion like before but rather an unpleasant pressure against the side of her chest: sharp, hot and red. "Fang, are you okay?"

"Just need to catch my breath," Fang gasped. "That took a lot out of me."

Scootaloo had a feeling it was more than just exhaustion, but before she could say anything more she noticed another glaring light in the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw that the large hiver seemed to be charging some kind of attack, the metal rods covering its body channeling large amounts of energy.

"Fang, look out!" she cried. Fang turned her head up just as the moderator unleashed several huge blue thunderbolts towards them, but she seemed too dazed to react in time. Acting on instinct, Scootaloo flapped her wings as hard as she could while clinging to Fang for dear life. Somehow she managed to put out enough thrust to push them out of the way of the first bolt.

As they rolled in the air, Fang was able to cast a spell in the nick of time and a golden shield enveloped them. A second bolt struck the shield hard enough to push them back and Fang gritted her teeth from the strain, but the shield held.

"That was a close one!" she said once the attack subsided. The moderator wasn't done, however, already charging up again.

"Fang, there's more of them on their way," Scootaloo warned. Below them many more hivers were rising from the castle.

"Then we'll have to act fast," Fang said and accelerated straight for the moderator. "Hey, remember when you told me to warn you before teleporting?"

"Yeah?" No sooner had the word left Scootaloo's mouth before the moderator unleashed another bolt of lightning. But Fang was ready this time and the pair vanished in a flash, teleporting a few feet out of the way. The moderator fired more bolts at them, now in quicker succession, but Fang kept teleporting, dancing around them. Scootaloo could barely make sense of where they were and would probably have screamed if she hadn't unconsciously been holding her breath.

They closed the distance and Fang powered up a spell. The next time the moderator fired at them, she dodged rather than teleport and simultaneously shot a wide beam from her horn.

The beam struck true, piercing the great hiver completely. For a moment it seemed to bulge and inflate like a balloon, then it violently erupted in flames. The canvas skin and the bees inside burned away, leaving only the metal framework that held the rods in place. It fell out of the sky like a burning skeleton. The lesser hivers instantly turned inanimate and started falling as well.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo let out a cry of excitement and triumph. "We did it! We did it!"

"We sure did," Fang laughed and turned them around, flying back to the castle.

Back in the palace, Celestia and Luna oversaw the guards rounding up the remaining hivers after the abrupt end to the battle. Lieutenant Hammerfall approached them and saluted.

"Princess Celestia," he said. "I'm happy to inform that the attack has ceased completely and that no casualties or severe injuries have been reported."

"What about the city?" Celestia asked with a worried frown.

"Perfectly safe, your Highness," Hammerfall replied. "It appears the attack was limited to just the castle. On that note, the castle grounds are still littered with those things, but they have all stopped moving about."

"That's a relief," Celestia sighed. "Thank you, lieutenant. Do be careful when collecting them. I guess we'll have to figure out what to do with all those bees, but at least they should be harmless as long as they don't escape. Please report to the captain that security is to be elevated across Canterlot for the time being. We need to be better prepared in case this happens again."

"Yes, your Highness!" Hammerfall snapped another salute.

Celestia addressed the room at large. "Gentlecolts, you all fought bravely tonight and are to be commended."

One of the guards, who was having numerous bee stings tended to, slowly raised a hoof. "Um..."

Celestia smiled. "Yes, Private Wicker, including you."

Once it was clear that the guards had the situation handled, the two princesses retreated into the throne room.

"Seems Fang pulled it off," Celestia said.

"Indeed," Luna grudgingly replied. "Assuming of course she did not arrange the attack in the first place, as a diversion perhaps?"

"You still believe that?" Celestia asked.

Luna shrugged. "Can you really blame me?"

"Perhaps not, but..." Celestia paused. "Luna, maybe Fang had a point?"

"What do you mean?"

"Please don't take this the wrong way," Celestia said, "but are you sure you aren't... projecting, just a little?"

"P-Projecting?" Taken aback, Luna turned away in a huff. "Don't be ridiculous! I... I'm not..."

"Woohoooo!" She was interrupted by Scootaloo, still riding on Fang's back as the two of them flew into the room through the open doors. As they touched down the pegasus jumped off and danced in a little circle like an excited puppy, clearly still feeling the adrenaline. "We beat the thing! Fang blew it up!"

"Are you unharmed, Scootaloo?" Luna asked. She glared at Fang. "Was it really necessary to bring her along? What were you thinking?"

"Are you kidding?" Scootaloo exclaimed. "It was awesome!"

Contrary to her familiar, Fang seemed a bit weary from the exertion. She smiled sheepishly. "I suppose, in hindsight, it was a bit rash of me. I didn't mean to put you in danger, Scootaloo. Still, thanks for saving my tail back there." She raised a hoof at the filly. "Guess you and I are a pretty good team, huh?"

"You bet we are!" Scootaloo beamed and bumped her hoof against Fang's.

Seeing the two of them smile at each other, Luna's grim expression softened. After a moment of hesitation she made her decision and stepped closer. "Scootaloo, may I speak with you in private?"

"Sure, Princess Luna!" Scootaloo replied happily. Luna made a gesture with her head and the two walked over to the end of the room where the bright moon shone through one of the large windows.

Meanwhile, Celestia approached Fang. "Can I have a word?"

"Of course," Fang said and followed the alicorn aside towards the throne, so that both pairs were at opposite ends of the room.

"I said I trust you, Fang," Celestia said, "and I stand by it. That said, this mysterious attack occurring just as you decided to visit for the first time in a decade does seem unlikely to be a coincidence."

"I guess that's fair," Fang replied.

"So?" Celestia asked. "Did this have anything to do with you?"

Fang shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea."

Celestia gave her an even look, one of her eyebrows arching.

Fang sighed. "Okay, fine. I have no conclusive idea. It's not like I haven't made a lot of enemies over the years, and these hivers could have been sent by any decent enchanter. All you really need is a bunch of sacks, some paint and access to a bee farm." She frowned. "More importantly, nobody is supposed to even know I'm in Equestria, much less that I would visit Canterlot today. If I was the target, that means whoever is behind this is watching me."

Celestia hummed, then turned to look over to Luna and Scootaloo conversing silently. "Maybe it's not you who is being watched?"

Fang followed her gaze. "The child?"

"Twilight mentioned in her letter that you saved Scootaloo from a gaunthound," Celestia said. "Such a creature appearing in Equestria is highly improbable, and that it would attack a foal is equally baffling. Unless, of course, it was commanded to do so by a powerful magician. Perhaps whoever cursed Scootaloo is still paying attention?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing." Fang scratched her chin. "That would explain a lot, but it still doesn't add up. Why use something as crude as hivers? That curse is a masterpiece, and it would take an exceptional magician to even consider controlling something as dangerous as a gaunthound. And why curse her all those years ago only to send the hound to kill her? Not to mention, if it's the same mastermind behind all of this, then we're talking about a plot at least ten years in the making. This attack was way too clumsy for someone of that caliber. We are definitely missing something here."

"Then I suppose we have no choice but to remain vigilant," Celestia concluded. She glanced at Fang with a concerned look in her eyes. "Fang... are you okay?"

"What?" Fang scoffed. "Of course I am. They were just sacks full of bugs. If they were really meant for me, then frankly I'm a little bit insulted."

Celestia frowned. "That's not what I meant, and I think you know that. I've seen you in battle. I've fought you myself, remember? You weren't just holding back, were you? Something has weakened you."

"You're as annoyingly perceptive as ever." Fang sighed. "It's nothing to worry about, okay? Just an old wound that still hasn't healed properly. I actually came to Equestria to relax for a while, but this little utopia of yours is proving to be more exciting than I expected."

"I'm sorry I've yet to completely rid my realm of danger." Celestia smiled but still looked worried. "As for your injury, I won't press the matter if you don't want to talk about it. I just hope you won't do anything reckless, old friend."

"Me, reckless?" Fang grinned. "It's like you don't know me at all."

"I know that beneath that flippant exterior of yours, you do have a good heart." The princess placed a gentle wing on Fang's shoulder. "I just wish you would be trusting enough to show it to others."

"Heh." Fang chuckled, though her grin faded somewhat. "A thousand years and you're still trying to psychoanalyze me."

She turned her head to give Scootaloo another look. The filly was saying something to Luna, smiling and making emphatic gestures with her hooves. "Getting back to the subject of Scootaloo, there's something I want to ask you about. Did you know she's an orphan?"

"Oh? I was not aware, no." Celestia frowned. "It pains me to hear that. I wish all children of Equestria could be spared from such fates, but tragedies will occur non the less. I can only hope she is living with good ponies who care for her."

"Yeah, about that," Fang said. "Apparently she's living alone, and has for most of her life. Something about bureaucracy getting in the way. There is a pony from Foal Services looking after her, but from what I understand he's mostly absent. That girl hasn't had a real family for as long as she can remember."

"What?" Celestia looked surprised, then distressed. She shook her head in disbelief. "No, that can't be right. Neglecting a child to that degree... that would be inexcusable, no matter the circumstances!"

"That matches what Twilight told me," Fang said. "I'm not a hundred percent certain but it's possible Scootaloo is being neglected on purpose. Though, what that purpose is, I can't say."

"First the curse and now this?" Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "Haven't that girl suffered enough?"

"There's also something... off about that house she lives in," Fang added. "At least I think so, but I'll need to take a closer look at it to be sure."

"You do that, and I shall have her case investigated," Celestia said. "And if what you say is correct, then on my word, somepony will answer for it."

Fang recognized the look on Celestia's face, the glare in her eyes. A long time ago, Fang had been on the receiving end of that look. Princess Celestia was a pony born with a kind heart, one for whom violence and retribution did not come naturally. And yet, Fang knew that somepony out there had made a dire enemy. "Yeah," she said. "I bet they will."

At this point Luna and Scootaloo had finished their conversation and approached them. Scootaloo was smiling brightly whereas Luna bore an inscrutable expression.

"Fang Jinhuo," the night princess said. "I have conversed with Scootaloo, and I would like to apologize for what I said to you earlier. You were right; regardless of our history together, I should have known better. Based on your behavior thus far and my sister's endorsement, I have decided to give you a chance."

"I guess that's all I can ask for," Fang replied. "Don't worry, I'm sure you and I will be good friends in no-time."

Luna rolled her eyes. "That said, I am still loath to allowing you access to the dreams of my subjects, including Scootaloo here."

"Sister..." Celestia began, but Luna raised a hoof to silence her.

"Thus I am offering a compromise," Luna carried on. "I will personally teach Scootaloo to control her dreams, starting tonight. Meanwhile you may continue to instruct her in the ways of magic during her waking hours. Do you find these terms acceptable?"

"Huh." Fang looked mildly surprised by the offer, but nodded. "Yes, that should work. In fact, that's even better than what I had originally planned."

"Then we have an agreement!" Luna declared.

"Yes!" Scootaloo hoof-pumped. Seeing her excitement, Celestia, Fang and Luna shared a smile.

"I shall see you tonight when you dream, my little pony," Luna told her.

Scootaloo could barely believe her luck, getting to be instructed by both Fang and Luna. She felt giddy and hyped, even a little lightheaded. "Oh man! I just hope I'll be able to sleep!"

As it was getting late, Fang and Scootaloo soon excused themselves. Luna appeared to have softened up to Fang quite a bit, even though she did her best to hide it, and suggested they spend the night in the castle. However, Celestia and Fang both agreed that they would be safer in Ponyville considering the hiver attack, and Luna admitted they had a point. Scootaloo couldn't really argue with that either, though she did feel a bit disappointed. After Celestia forced a promise of more frequent visits out of Fang, the two guests left the sisters to return home.

"Well, that was an adventure," Fang said as they exited the castle, stepping out into the autumn night with Canterlot laying silent before them.

"I'll say!" Scootaloo replied with a smile. "You know, at first I thought you were just the brainy, book-worm type like Twilight, but you're actually kind of a badass, aren't you?"

"I've been in my share of fights, yes." Fang said. Then her expression turned serious. "So, um, about all those things Luna said..."

"Oh, yeah." Scootaloo suddenly dropped the smile and looked sharply at Fang from the corner of her eye. "You mean that stuff about how you used to be a super-villain, which you conveniently forgot to tell me about? Guess you didn't think that was important, huh?"

"It's not like I..." Fang cut herself short and sighed. "...Okay, look, I'm sorry. It's just not an easy subject to bring up and I didn't want to scare you away or anything. It's true I wasn't very nice in the past, but..."

"Aw, relax," Scootaloo grinned. "I'm just teasing you, Fang."

Fang fell silent for a moment, blinking in surprise. Then she chuckled. "Touché."

"It's not like we're not used to that sort of thing," Scootaloo said. "There's this girl at school who used to bully me and my friends a lot, I mean she was a real nightmare most of the time, but then we got to know each other better and these days we're getting along. And Luna was really scary the first time I saw her, all like 'The night will last forever! Mwahaha!' But now she's one of the nicest ponies I've ever met. Then there's Discord, and Starlight Glimmer too, apparently. We're even friends with the changelings now, and those guys were bug monsters who ate love." She smiled at Fang. "You don't have to explain, I don't care who you used to be a thousand years ago or whatever. What matters is who you are right now."

Fang didn't answer. She just looked at the little filly with softness in her amber eyes, and for a moment Scootaloo felt a feather-light touch of warmth through their bond. Then Fang stopped walking and knelt down. "Hop on, kid."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's a bit late to ride the train back anyway," Fang winked. "Let's take the scenic route."

Smiling even wider than before, Scootaloo wasted no time climbing up on Fang's back, holding on to her barrel just like before. Fang rose to her hooves, then kept rising into the air. They soared over Canterlot and down the mountain with the moon shining silver above them.

They flew through the night, gently this time, and far below them Ponyville lay barely visible. Fang's soft mane brushed against Scootaloo's face and she felt that happy-sad feeling again. One day she would fly by her own power. But for now, this was enough.

Unseen by Fang and Scootaloo, a small black spider crawled across a rooftop on metalic legs. Tiny clockwork whirred inside it as its mechanical eye followed their flight.

Flying to Ponyville was faster than taking the train, but Scootaloo was sure it still had to be past bedtime when Fang touched down on the street outside of her house.

"Well, here we are," Fang said. "Better not keep Luna waiting."

"I still don't know if I'll be able to sleep," Scootaloo commented. She did feel a bit tired, but it was the clear-headed, still somewhat alert tiredness that came with an eventful experience, not the heavy drowsiness that beckoned her to shut her eyes and drift away. "So much happened today, my head won't calm down. Wow, I can't wait to tell my friends about all of this! I don't care if Sweetie is some kind of dark magic genius and Apple Bloom turns into a wolf, this has got to beat whatever they've been up to!"

"Sounds like you have some pretty interesting friends." Fang reached her hoof out. "Hold still for a moment, you have something on your neck."

"Huh? I don't..." Scootaloo began as Fang pushed the edge of her hoof into a spot just below the filly's ear. "...feel... anything..."

Scootaloo's eyes glazed over and her mind immediately fell into the dark embrace of sleep. Her body toppled, but Fang's levitation caught her before she hit the ground.

"Sweet dreams," Fang said. "Give my regards to Luna."

The sorceress turned to look at the building in front of them, a determined look on her face.

"Now then," she said to herself. "Let's figure out what's wrong with this house."

The great beast studied the large video screen in front of him, his tails swishing to and fro in excitement. On the screen, transmitted from the eye of a mechanical spider, played the image of a pale gold unicorn flying across a starry faraway sky, carrying an orange pegasus foal on her back.

The beast made a gesture with his clawed paw. The video froze, then zoomed in on the pair.

He grinned, baring gleaming pointed teeth. "I finally found her."

A glowing purple rectangle suddenly flickered into existence, floating in the air next to him. A moment later, written words appeared within it.

[ guess this means its time for the endgame huh ]

[ you sure you dont need any help dealing with jinhuo?? ]

"That won't be necessary," the beast said. "It would seem your intel was correct. She's nowhere near her former strength."

[ lol yeah shes totally weaksauce now tbh ]

[ pathetic!!! ;D ]

"Besides, you have already done more than enough." The beast's paw crackled with blue lightning. He slammed it into the floor, sending a surge of static through the screen. "I've waited a long time to face her again. This is my fight!"

[ figured youd say that ]

[ knock em dead tiger! xoxo ]

The glowing text window disappeared. The beast turned back to face the screen, his glinting ice-blue eyes focused on the image of the sorceress.

"Oh, I will."

Author's Note

Surprise! Turns out there are actual bad guys in this story.

Seven: Hopes and Dreams.

Fang Jinhuo slowly paced through the empty house, her ear twitching in the deafening silence. None of the lights were on, but the moon and stars shining through the windows were more than enough for her sensitive eyes to navigate in the gloom.

Other, less mundane senses provided further insight. She hadn't even begun the true investigation, but she was already feeling sure that her suspicion had been correct: Scootaloo's house – even in her mind, Fang couldn't bring herself to call it a home – was certainly not normal.

Passing through the kitchen, Fang opened the refrigerator and looked inside. Nothing unusual – milk and eggs, some cheese, an assortment of reasonably fresh fruits and vegetables, a half-eaten cupcake saved for later. At least Scootaloo wasn't starving.

Fang closed the fridge and left the kitchen, moving silently out of habit and lingering instinct. Even so her hoofsteps echoed against the walls, as were she exploring some forgotten cave or ruin. The house was very neat and tidy. Perhaps too neat: There were no personal touches, no little disturbances or peculiarities, not a single picture awry that would signify the presence of a living soul. Entering the living room, Fang stopped for a moment and frowned. Did Scootaloo really spend all her time in just her own room?

Fang levitated a framed picture off a shelf and looked at it. The photo depicted two smiling ponies. The pegasus mare had a saffron coat and dark orange mane, her warm eyes the color of dark amber, almost red. The steel blue unicorn stallion had a bright purple mane and matching eyes behind a pair of large round glasses. Scootaloo's late parents, Fang presumed. They looked happy. Fang put the picture back where she'd found it. Everything was wrong.

That picture, the furniture, the paintings on the walls and all the various other possessions of the family who had once lived there – they seemed like nothing more than display pieces. The entire house felt artificial, a simulacrum never intended to be lived in. A fake.

Fang summoned a spell at the point of her horn and it emitted a flat triangular beam of light. She let it sweep across the room, scanning every inch, passing over every item.

Nothing.

This surprised her. She had expected abnormally low values but she hadn't expected nothing at all. Just to make sure she intensified the spell and gave the room a more thorough scan, but the results were the same.

Puzzled, Fang continued her investigation, moving from room to room, methodically scanning each one. Before she even cleared the bottom floor and moved up the stairs, she began to realize that it was even worse than she had suspected.

Finally, she entered Scootaloo's room. She imagined the girl might have disapproved of the intrusion, but Scootaloo was in Luna's care for the next few hours, and Fang had to make sure.

At a glance it looked like the sort of room she would have expected from an eleven year-old tomboy. There were some posters and flags on the wall, most relating to flying. A few books and comics, potted plants, a large picture of that rainbow pegasus the girl was so fond of. A blue teddy bear had been propped up on a shelf in a manner clearly meant to emphasize that it was a treasured keepsake rather than a mere toy. Still, it all seemed somewhat sparse, a veneer of what few true belongings Scootaloo owned, covering up yet another empty room.

Fang wasn't very interested in that, however. Instead she swept her spell across the room just like she had done with all the others. She had hoped at least this one would be different, but while she did get some readings, they were still insignificant. Accounting for the items Scootaloo must have acquired fairly recently, this room was essentially the same as all the rest.

"Nothing," Fang muttered to herself. "How is this possible?"

She would need to have a serious talk with Scootaloo come morning.

In her dream, Scootaloo was flying. She was light as a feather and felt the wind through her mane. Below her the hills and treetops of Equestria rushed by. She was completely free, no longer held down by the oppressive tyranny of gravity, and it felt wonderful.

Of course she knew it was just a dream – that was the entire point of the exercise, after all. But that didn't stop her from enjoying it.

Lucid dreaming had turned out to be fairly tricky, and Scootaloo was starting to understand the purpose of Fang's concentration exercises. Consciously controlling the dream took a lot of focus and it was easy to forget that she was dreaming. Once that happened, her mind would start drifting and the dream would take over completely.

It was a challenge, but Scootaloo was determined to master this technique. Aside from it being a prerequisite for eventually flying for real, it was also just a cool ability in general.

She recalled all the times she'd tried her hardest to fly only to be pulled back down, all the times she'd watched Rainbow and the other pegasi doing it with no effort at all, the despair when she learned she would never get off the ground. All of a sudden the dream seemed so unreal to her, just another fantasy. She didn't even know what flying really felt like...

"Uh oh."

Once that thought invaded her mind she felt the merciless tug of gravity again. Scootaloo had no personal experience with flying, but she was intimately familiar with the sensation of falling. She struggled against it but her wings just couldn't lift her up. She plummeted to the ground, screaming in desperation, having already forgotten it wasn't real.

A blue aura of magic caught her and Luna appeared next to her, setting the girl down on a soft white cloud.

"Darnit! That was the fifth time. This is hard!" Scootaloo groaned as her mind cleared up again. Apparently Luna was able to keep the dream stable for her, which Scootaloo guessed explained all the other times she'd been conscious while dreaming.

"You did manage to hold on for longer this time," the princess commented. "To be honest, I am rather impressed at your quick progress."

"I guess getting to fly has a way of motivating me," Scootaloo said. She wasn't sure if lucid dreaming was easier than meditation, but at least it was a whole lot more fun.

"Let us try something different," Luna said. "I want you to bring us somewhere specific. A place where you feel at ease, preferably."

Scootaloo nodded and focused on the first place that came to mind, trying to make it as real as possible. The scenery around them changed and within moments they were in the Cutie Mark Crusader club house.

Luna looked around. "This is where you spend your time with your friends, correct?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of fond memories of this place," Scootaloo said. "I know it's silly, but sometimes I wish I could just live here."

Luna raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment on it. "Very well, now I want you to keep us in this location for as long as possible."

"Okay." Scootaloo set her mind to staying aware of their surroundings. It seemed a bit absurd to be sitting around in the old tree house with Princess Luna, but she tried to ignore that feeling. Instead she looked for something to talk about to pass the time. "So, why wouldn't you let Fang teach me this? Don't get me wrong, this is awesome, but you've got to be busy with all the other dreams."

"Like I said before, the manipulation of dreams is a delicate matter," Luna replied. "Did you know that not too long ago, Starlight Glimmer temporarily switched my cutie mark with that of my sister, leaving Celestia in charge of the dream realm for the night?"

"Wow, really?" Scootaloo frowned. "Why would she do that?"

"...It's a long story," Luna said, looking a bit evasive. "Suffice to say that Celestia and I had some issues to work out, and Starlight Glimmer tried to help in her own unique way. She was so distraught by the matter that once she fell asleep, she had the most terrible nightmare. She dreamt I turned into Nightmare Moon once more, and worse, that Celestia turned to evil as well, transforming into the terrible Daybreaker!"

"Woah!" Scootaloo gasped. "That must have been pretty intense."

"It was indeed," Luna nodded, "but here is the important part: Starlight Glimmer never witnessed me in that form, yet its portrayal in the dream was flawless. I do not think that was Starlight's own creation, and I strongly suspect neither was Daybreaker."

"Then where did they come from?" Scootaloo asked.

"Most likely, they were born out of the memories and fears of Celestia herself," Luna explained. "You see the implications, yes? When I enter your dreams, I must take care that my own subconscious does not influence them. I dare say my skills in this field are second to none, but...” she shook her head. “Even I have made dire mistakes, as I'm sure you can recall."

"What, you mean that Tantabus thing? That was actually kinda cool..." Scootaloo chuckled, but then noticed Luna's disapproving glance and quickly revised her sentence: "...that you managed to stop it, I mean. Heh."

"The point that I am trying to make," Luna stressed, "is that I dare not risk Fang getting careless. Even with good intentions, a being of such power could easily cause damage to your dreams by accident, or worse, even rupture the very border between dream and waking."

Scootaloo cocked her head. "So, what is she, anyway?"

Luna paused for a moment. "What is Fang Jinhuo?" she repeated, as if in part to herself. "She is a shapeshifter, a trickster, ancient and cunning. She is a powerful magician and a warrior who has raged through countless battles like a wild fire. She has the ability to sense things from a great distance and can enter dreams like I do. Some even say she can steal the hearts of others and possess them to do her bidding."

"But she's been nice to me," Scootaloo argued. "I don't think she's evil."

"I did not say she is," Luna said.

"Okay, but what does she actually look like?" Scootaloo pressed on. "Why won't she show her real face? Is she some kind of horribly ugly monster?"

"It is not my place to reveal her secrets," Luna replied. "To her credit, she does seem to be making an effort to fit in, and I want to encourage that. I only hope she will decide to tell you herself, when you are both ready. But I can say this much: If Fang Jinhuo is a monster, then so am I."

Scootaloo frowned. "You're not Nightmare Moon anymore."

"No, I am not." Luna sighed. "...She was right, you know? I, of all ponies, should have been willing to give her a chance. Then again, perhaps it is because we are so alike that I find it hard to trust her. What does that say about me, I wonder?"

Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "Well, if Fang is like you, then she definitely isn't a monster," she declared with conviction.

Luna gave her a somewhat sad smile. "Scootaloo, do you know what the word monster means? It is derived from monere, which means 'to warn or instruct'. This is also the source of the word 'demonstrate'. Monsters caution us to see our own fearsome potential, and teach us to recognize what we could become... or remember what we used to be." She turned her head up. "Look around you."

Scootaloo did. She was no longer in the club house, but instead sitting on her bed. Her room was darker than usual and the colors seemed muted, as if a shadow lingered over the place. "This is my house. Why did we end up in here?"

"Perhaps there is something here that your mind has been dwelling on?" Luna replied. She made a nod with her head. "Look."

Scootaloo saw. In one of the corners of the room sat another Scootaloo, facing the wall with her head turned down. The other Scootaloo seemed to be whispering something too low to hear clearly.

Scootaloo jumped off her bed and, not knowing why, slowly approached her double. As she got closer, the words became clearer.

"...It's cold. It's dark. It's empty. It's cold. It's dark. It's empty. It's cold..."

The double kept repeating those words, over and over like a mantra. Slowly, Scootaloo reached her hoof out to touch her shoulder.

The other Scootaloo whipped her head around. Her eyes were pitch black. She opened her mouth, just a hole into utter darkness, and shrieked. The real Scootaloo jerked back in panic, falling on her flank and kicking at the floorboards to get away.

"That's enough!" Luna sent a pulse of light from her horn and the other Scootaloo immediately vanished like smoke.

Scootaloo was still shaken, drawing her breath in quick gasps. Her heart raced. It was a wonder she hadn't woken up. "W-What was that thing?"

"I do not know," Luna said, giving the filly a concerned look. "Something from within you."

"That came from inside me?" Scootaloo got off the floor and moved closer to the princess just in case.

Luna nodded. "I must confess, there is another reason I chose to instruct you personally. I have watched over you in your sleep for some time, and what I have seen worries me. You seem such a cheerful child, Scootaloo, yet you have so many troubled dreams."

"Yeah, I guess I've always had a lot of nightmares," Scootaloo said. "Probably why I don't like scary stuff. I think it's been getting worse, too." She looked up at Luna and managed to smile. "Guess I was lucky you came back to Equestria, or I'd be a total insomniac by now."

"I'm glad that I did," said Luna softly. "Well now, you did well for your first lesson, but I think it is best you spend the rest of the night sleeping normally."

"Already?" Scootaloo pouted a bit.

"Don't worry, little one," Luna said and gently stroked her mane. "You will only have pleasant dreams tonight, I promise." Then she flapped her wings and floated into the night, fading away until only the stars in her mane were left twinkling in the sky. "Now let go and allow yourself to rest."

Scootaloo sighed. At least it had been fun while it lasted.

With nothing better to do, she was just about to start polishing her collection of flying trophies and the medals she'd earned for saving Equestria all those times, when suddenly the door to the club house slammed open. A frantic-looking Sweetie Belle stormed inside, followed by a yellow corgi with a familiar-looking bow on its head.

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie cried. "Thank Celestia! We're in big trouble and only you can save us!"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. Sometimes it seemed the entire country would fall apart if she wasn't around. "What is it this time?"

"My dark magic went out of control and I accidentally turned Apple Bloom into a dog!" Sweetie explained. "I want to keep her, but my parents said we can't afford a pet!"

"Woof!" Apple Bloom the corgi added.

"Oh, is that all?" Scootaloo said with her trademark cocky smile. "Don't worry girls. I've got this."

"Mmmmnnnnh... No, Sweetie... it's your turn to walk her..."

Scootaloo's eyes fluttered opened and she felt warm sunlight on her muzzle. She sat up in her bed and yawned, stretching her forelegs to the ceiling. "...Wow, that was a weird one. Either Luna's got an odd sense of humor or my brain is going strange."

Still, she felt completely refreshed for once. Aside from the unsettling encounter with her creepy dream clone, she hadn't slept that well in a long time.

Blinking the last bit of sleep out of her eyes, Scootaloo looked around and noticed she wasn't in her house. The room was similar to the one she had woken up in after the incident with the gaunthound, except it didn't have the smell of incense clinging to everything. This room also had a window, letting the light of the morning sun spill in. Scootaloo frowned. She was in the Rook?

Still squinting, she climbed out of bed and looked outside. Judging by the elevation she was on the second floor. She saw a wide clearing surrounded by the large, wild trees of the Everfree Forest, transformed by the changing season into a vast sea of rust red and gold, only a rare few patches still hanging on to the fading green of summer.

Turning around to face the door, she found a paper note attached to it. She walked closer and read the message written on it.

Scootaloo
When you leave, go right and through the door straight ahead.
– F

Still puzzled, Scootaloo left the room and found herself in a corridor. Following the instructions she turned right and opened the large hardwood door at the end. To her surprise, she found that it led straight into the main hallway on the bottom floor of her own house.

The door had been placed right next to the stairs. She closed it behind her, noting that from the other side it looked no different from the other doors in her house. If she hadn't known it actually led to the second floor of a magical stone tower somewhere in the Everfree, she might even have overlooked the addition.

She heard the sound of somepony moving about nearby and smelled a sweet aroma in the air. Wandering into the kitchen, she found Fang by the stove, brandishing a spatula and pouring batter into a frying pan.

"Good morning, Scootaloo," she greeted. "Did your lesson with Luna go well?"

"Um, yeah, it was pretty awesome," Scootaloo replied. "So, you put a doorway into my house?"

Fang nodded. "I hope you don't mind. Since we'll be spending a lot of time together I figured it would be convenient if I just linked the Rook directly to this place. Less walking that way."

"No, it's cool," Scootaloo said. "Not sure if Mr Warden will like it, though."

"That's why we're not telling him." Fang winked at her. "Don't worry, I've made it so only you and I can see that door. Oh, and I'm making pancakes for breakfast. Ponies eat pancakes, right?"

"Yeah, we do," Scootaloo chuckled and took a seat at the table which had already been set. She scratched her mane. "Geez, I must have been more tired than I thought last night. I don't even remember falling asleep."

"Yes, you pretty much just passed out once we got back to Ponyville so I went ahead and tucked you in. Here you go." Fang dropped a pancake off on Scootaloo's plate, placing the rest on the table stacked in a pile.

Scootaloo didn't find any berries or syrup on the table, but there was some whipped cream in a bowl and a jar of a yellow substance that looked like marmalade except with small seeds in it. She gave it a dubious look but then caught a whiff of it and found that it at least smelled nice. Shrugging, she poured some over her pancake and took a bite.

She paused. "This is delicious. What is that stuff?"

"Jam made from cloudberries," Fang said as she sat down across from Scootaloo and helped herself to the food. "They grow a bit up north where it's colder. Glad you like it."

Scootaloo wolfed down several mouthfuls before speaking again. "So, why'd you let me sleep in the Rook?"

Fang chewed on her pancake for a moment before answering. "I wanted to confirm a theory of mine, and I needed to be alone in this house to do it. It was a good opportunity to get it out of the way."

"Huh?" Scootaloo frowned. "What do you mean, confirm a theory?"

"Yesterday on the train you told me this house made you uncomfortable," Fang said. "Remember?"

"Yeah?"

"I feel it too," Fang said, looking around the kitchen with a slight frown. "The moment I first stepped inside this place I could tell something wasn't right. At the time I wasn't sure what exactly, but it felt too cold, too dark, too... empty."

"It's cold. It's dark. It's empty."

The memory of the nightmare flashed through Scootaloo's mind and she shivered. She realized she'd stopped eating with her mouth still full, so she swallowed.

Fang folded her hooves on the table and gave the filly a serious look. "Scootaloo, I don't mean to alarm you, but there is something very wrong with this house."

Naturally, Scootaloo found this quite alarming. "W-What do you mean, wrong? Don't tell me it's haunted!" She wasn't sure she could handle both a curse and ghosts.

Fang shook her head. "No, that's not it. If anything, it's more like the opposite."

"Wait, how can it be the opposite of haunted?" Scootaloo asked, now more confused than anything. "Isn't that just a normal house?"

"You'd think so," Fang said, "but no, it's a bit more complicated than that. You know when you enter someone's house for the first time, and you get this vague feeling in the back of your mind that you don't belong there? Maybe not in a bad way, but everything – the sounds, the smells, the air – it all seems a bit off. But then, if you spend some time in that place, that sensation goes away and you feel more at home. You know what I mean?"

Scootaloo scratched her neck with a thoughtful look. "...I've never really thought about it before, but yeah, I think so."

"That's because most living beings leave a sort of metaphysical imprint on the places they inhabit," Fang explained. "A bit of your life rubs off on it over time. That's what makes it feel like a home. Most 'haunted' houses aren't actually haunted, they just have a lot of strong memories. Sometimes very bad and painful memories, but there's nothing really unnatural about them."

She made a sweeping gesture with her hoof. "This place is different. It doesn't have any of that. There isn't even a hint of such an imprint anywhere in this house. On a spiritual level, the entire space within these walls is just a void. It's like nothing living has ever entered this place."

Scootaloo found all of this very unsettling. "But... But I've been living here."

"I know." Fang stroked her chin. "It's really strange. Even if this house was brand new there should be something left behind just from the ponies who built it, the little critters nesting in the walls, things like that. This was the home of your parents and you've lived here for almost twelve years, and yet there's nothing. It shouldn't even be possible, a house like this shouldn't exist. That's why it feels so wrong."

Scootaloo frowned. All along she'd thought she hated spending time in the house because she was lonely and because it served as a reminder of everything she'd lost. This information gave it all a new perspective, to put it mildly. "You think it has something to do with my curse?"

Fang hummed. "Maybe. We already know the curse can absorb external magic. Living here for over a decade with that thing inside you... I guess it could be some sort of side-effect."

"Well, that's just great," Scootaloo sighed. "So what do we do about it?"

"I'm not sure there's much we can do," Fang shrugged. "This is pretty unprecedented even for me. But at least for now, I'd suggest you start living in the Rook instead. Staying here can't be healthy for you."

Scootaloo blinked. "Wait... Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Well, yes," Fang said. "You'll still have to spend some time here, you know, to keep up appearances for Warden. But that shouldn't be much trouble." She noticed that Scootaloo was staring at her with an odd look on her face. "Of course, if you don't want to, I guess we could just get you a new house. It'll be trickier to explain, but...”

"No! No!" Scootaloo quickly put her hooves up. "The Rook is fine. It's just..."

Fang cocked her head. "Just what?"

"No, it's nothing." Smiling, Scootaloo looked down at the table to hide a blush. "...Thank you, Fang."

Fang still looked a bit puzzled, but decided not to press the matter. "You're welcome. We can pick out a room and move your things in after today's training. I think the sooner you're out of this place the better. Now, let's finish up this breakfast, shall we?"

Scootaloo just nodded. Still smiling, she continued eating. The pancakes were a bit cold by then, but she didn't care. They still tasted amazing.

With the pancakes consumed, they relocated to the Rook for more meditation lessons. Scootaloo felt extra confident, but unfortunately this did not result in more impressive results than last time. While Fang settled in with another book, Scootaloo sat in the still very uncomfortable lotus position struggling to maintain a single image in her mind.

After she failed thinking about only Rainbow Dash so many times she lost count, she decided to adopt a new strategy: Each time her mind drifted she would try to focus on the new image as long as possible hoping one of them would stick somehow. Thus, after Rainbow she focused on the image of her friends, and it occurred to her that she hadn't seen them all weekend. She hoped they didn't worry about her or think she was avoiding them. She'd have to explain everything when they met at school the next day, if not sooner. At this point she realized her thoughts had drifted again and she let out a small sigh.

Next she tried to focus on the clubhouse, since that was the last thing she had thought about. This eventually led her to think about Princess Luna, and she was starting to have her doubts about this strategy. The thought of Luna drifted to their conversation, and from there Scootaloo finally ended up thinking about Fang.

She envisioned Fang's beautiful face looking at her with that playful smile of hers, seeing those mysterious golden eyes looking into hers. For some reason this seemed to work a bit better than the previous attempts, as if it made her mind clearer. Maybe being a familiar just made it easy to focus on her master? Eventually, however, Scootaloo found herself thinking about the spell binding their hearts together.

She could still feel it, though she could not detect any emotions like she had the other night. Fang was just there – in a way it was like looking at her, only without looking. Scootaloo started focusing on the bond itself. She felt that if she concentrated it became clearer, but it was elusive and she knew that if she thought about anything else it would slip out of her mental grasp. It should have been difficult, but something about that feeling just made her mind even sharper. She could tell it was there: The core of Fang's being, very close, yet very far away. Trying to reach it was like running her hoof through water...

Fang closed the book and looked at her. "Scootaloo, are you trying to see into my heart?"

"Huh?" Scootaloo's eyes snapped open and she was back in the study. It occurred to her that she may just have done something rude. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just..."

Fang shook her head, smiling. "It's quite alright, I just didn't expect you to try something like that. You were doing well, too. For a while there you were completely concentrated."

"I don't even know what I just did," Scootaloo sighed. "Are you sure it's okay? I don't want to invade your privacy or anything."

Fang chuckled. "Oh, don't you worry. You could have kept that up all day and you still wouldn't have pried my heart open. It doesn't work that way. Though, I guess this has potential as a more effective training method."

Scootaloo hesitated, not sure if the subject she wanted to bring up was polite or not. "...So, yesterday when we fought the hivers, I could kinda feel what you were feeling."

"Oh?" Fang arched her eyebrow. "Huh. Well, I suppose I'm just more honest with myself under pressure. Still, I'm a bit surprised the bond is already that strong."

"So can you ever feel what I'm feeling?" Scootaloo asked.

Fang shook her head. "Not at all. I can sense your presence, so it's not like your heart is completely closed to me, but I can't discern anything more than that." She got out of her chair. "At any rate, I think that's enough meditation for now."

"But I was just getting the hang of it," Scootaloo argued.

"Yes, and that's very good," Fang said. "But your mind needs the proper stimulation as well. Come on, we're going out."

Scootaloo got to her hooves and followed the sorceress. "Are we going to see Twilight again?"

Fang shook her head. "No, I have something different in mind for today."

They left out of a door in the study that hadn't been there during Scootaloo's last visit, and the other side of it turned out to be the front door of Scootaloo's house. Fang explained that it would lead inside the house as normal, but they could also use it to enter the study by picturing the Rook in their minds while turning the handle. Scootaloo had a bit of trouble getting her head around that idea, but once she did she had to admit that having one door for two places was a pretty useful setup.

"So where are we going?" she asked as they walked down the street.

"We're going to watch birds," Fang replied. "Or rather, you are."

"Watch birds?" Scootaloo frowned. "What's the point of that?"

"You want to learn how to fly, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but I've watched Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi fly countless times."

"I'm sure you have," Fang said, "but you told me yourself when we first met: The reason you can't fly is because pegasi use their magic to lift them up. Birds don't."

Scootaloo hadn't thought about it that way. She'd assumed anything with wings flew the same way, but she didn't feel like admitting that to Fang. "I'm not a bird, though."

"Not the point," Fang said. "I just want you to get a wider perspective of what you are trying to achieve."

Scootaloo still didn't really see how looking at birds would help, but decided not to argue. Fang hopefully knew what she was doing.

They turned a corner and Scootaloo immediately dropped that train of thought when she spotted Rainbow Dash chatting with Pinkie and Maud. She waved at them. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow turned her head and smiled at them. "Oh, hey Scoot. And, uh, Fang, right?"

"That's me," Fang said. She looked to the other two. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

"Yeah," Rainbow said, "this is..."

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Before the pegasus could finish the sentence, Pinkie had zoomed over to Fang, looking her over closely while jumping up and down in excitement. "I'm Rainbow's friend and work at the bakery and I like smiles and parties and making friends and that's my sister Maud over there!"

"Hello," Maud said.

"So your name is Fang?" Pinkie continued. "That's such an unusual name! I've never met a Fang before, but there's sooo many ponies I haven't met! I haven't even met you before! Until right now, I mean! And I've met everypony in Ponyville, which means you must be new in town! I really, really, really hope you like it here and that you like parties because we're having a party!"

Fang blinked a few times. "We are? Oh. You're that pink pony."

"That's right!" Pinkie laughed. "I'm the pink pony who's going to throw you the best Welcome To Ponyville Party you've ever been to! You like parties, right?"

"I suppose I do, but..."

"Great!" Pinkie cheered. "I'm may be a liiiittle overbooked this week but I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze you in, I just need to go back to my secret party-planning cave so I can start the party planning! In fact I think I'll do that right now! Girls, it was nice chatting with you, gotta run! Bye! Lalalalala..."

Fang stared at Pinkie bouncing happily down the street. "Huh. She sure is something, isn't she?"

"You'll get used to her," Rainbow said.

"Will I really?"

"No promises." Rainbow turned to Scootaloo. "Hey, kid, can I talk to you for a moment over here?"

"Of course," Scootaloo said and followed.

As the two pegasi wandered off, Fang looked to the one remaining pony. "So, you're Maud?"

"Yes," Maud said.

There was a brief silence. Fang realized Maud wasn't going to elaborate. "That's an unusual name for a pony," she said.

"So is Fang," the monotone mare pointed out.

"Well, yes. I supposed I walked right into that one."

"You're standing still."

"...Right," Fang said slowly. "So, Maud, anything you like to talk about?"

"I like rocks," Maud said.

Fang chuckled. "Of course you do."

Meanwhile, Rainbow had led Scootaloo aside to what she estimated was far enough for a private conversation.

"So, um, you go through with it?" she asked. "That family thing?"

"Familiar," Scootaloo corrected. "Yeah, we did."

"Uh-huh." Rainbow didn't look overly happy about that. "And how's that working out for you?"

"It's been pretty exciting," Scootaloo said. "I haven't been able to learn much about magic yet, but Twilight and Starlight are helping Fang figure out my curse. Oh, and I got to talk to Celestia yesterday, and Luna is giving me lessons on controlling my dreams!" She opted to conveniently forget about the hiver attack and Fang's past, since she wasn't even sure how to explain it all without freaking Rainbow out.

"Wow, sounds like you've got a lot of stuff done already," Rainbow chuckled. "That's cool. I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you and that pony, you know?"

Scootaloo frowned slightly. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Well, I know you've been through a lot lately," Rainbow said, scratching her ear. "Like, the whole thing with the curse. And now you're trying to learn stuff about magic all of a sudden. Honestly, I kinda thought you'd think it over a bit first. Look, all I'm saying is, you know you can always come talk to me if anything's bothering you, right?"

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Rainbow, are you jealous?"

"What? No!" Rainbow hesitated, then sighed. "Okay, maybe a little. But that's not the point, I'm just trying to look out for you. Look, I know you, Scootaloo. I remember the way you were when we first met. You can get a bit... carried away when you meet somepony you take a liking to."

"Carried away?" Scootaloo wasn't sure how to take that.

"Not in a bad way," Rainbow quickly added. "At least, I don't mind. I just worry somepony might take advantage of it."

"Somepony like Fang, you mean?" Scootaloo deadpanned. "She's not a bad pony, Rainbow." Technically speaking, she knew that was completely true.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," Rainbow clarified. "What I mean is, well, when you started hanging around me, you'd look at me as if I was this perfect super-pony and you acted like I couldn't do anything wrong. And hey, I'm awesome but not that awesome." She smiled and patted Scootaloo's shoulder. "It took a while for us both to let our guards down enough to really get to know each other. And I can tell you're looking at Fang the same way you used to look at me, and that's not a bad thing, but maybe you're seeing something in her that isn't there? I just think you should be careful so you don't end up disappointed."

"I guess you have a point," Scootaloo mumbled, looking over to where Fang and Maud were standing. "There's still a lot I don't know about her, but she's been pretty cool so far. You know, she kinda reminds me of you in a way."

"Really?" Rainbow looked skeptical. "I thought she was the brainy type like Twilight."

"Oh, she definitely is," Scootaloo said. "But when she's not talking about magic stuff, I dunno, I just get the feeling you two have a lot in common. I'm sure you'll get along once you get to know her better."

Rainbow glanced at Fang and shrugged. "Hm. Maybe."

"Anyway," Scootaloo carried on, "you don't need to worry about getting replaced. You're still the most awesome pony I know and you'll always be my favorite pretty-much-big sister."

"Aw," Rainbow smiled and gave her mane and affectionate tussle. "And you're my favorite pretty-much-little sister."

With that sorted out, the two of them wandered back to Fang and Maud. Fang was apparently in the midst of relating some kind of anecdote. “...So I told them, guys, that's not basalt or andesite, it's basaltic andesite. You should have seen the look on their faces!"

Meanwhile, Maud was listening in silence. Her expression hadn't changed, though her jaw had lowered slightly, leaving her mouth open.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Rainbow said. "Everything cool with you guys?"

"I made a new friend," Maud declared, sidling up to Fang.

"Good job," Rainbow said, not sure what else to make of it, and turned to Fang. "So, where were you guys heading anyway?"

"We're going birdwatching," Scootaloo answered. "Apparently."

"Birds, huh?" Rainbow said. "Then you'll probably want to talk to Fluttershy."

"Ah yes, I've been hearing that name a lot," Fang said. "I'm rather curious to finally meet her."

"Come on, I can show you where she lives," Rainbow offered. "Maud, you wanna come along too?"

"Thanks, but I'm not good with birds," Maud replied. "They don't seem to appreciate geology."

Rainbow shrugged. "Alright then, see you around."

"Yes," Maud said. She gave Fang the faintest smile as they parted with her. "It was nice talking to you."

They made their way down the street, Rainbow Dash hovering next to Fang and Scootaloo. "You sure made an impression on her," Rainbow commented.

"It's simple to get along with ponies once you know what makes them tick," Fang said. "Some are easier to figure out than others."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You're pretty sly, aint'cha?"

"You have no idea," Fang grinned.

Scootaloo observed them as they spoke. Rainbow still seemed a bit on edge, but Fang either didn't notice or pretended she didn't. Scootaloo really hoped they could be friends.

"So, why birds?" Rainbow asked.

"Fang thinks it will help me learn how to fly," Scootaloo explained.

"Visualization is important when it comes to spells," Fang added. "I figure she already knows everything there is to know about pegasus flight, but some variation can't hurt."

"I don't really get it, but magic isn't really my thing," Rainbow admitted. Looking ahead, she raised her hoof to point. "Hey, Scoot, isn't that the guy who takes care of you?"

"What?" Scootaloo turned her head to look. "Oh oh."

It was indeed Stately Warden, who seemed to have noticed them as well and was now coming to meet them. Scootaloo quickly turned to Fang who gave her a glance that seemed to say: Stay calm and roll with it.

"Good day, Scootaloo," Warden said. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Hello, Mr Warden," Scootaloo greeted him. "I, um, didn't know you were still in Ponyville."

"Oh, I'm just passing through on my way to a meeting in Canterlot," Warden said. "To be honest I didn't think I would have time speaking to you today." He turned his cold eyes to the other pegasus. "Miss Rainbow Dash."

"Hey," Rainbow replied.

Warden didn't pay her a second glance, turning to Fang. "And... Miss Golden Fragrance, yes?"

"Stately! Such a pleasure to meet again," Fang replied with a smile.

"Huh? I thought your name was..." Rainbow began, only to be struck swiftly in the side by Scootaloo's wing. "...Nevermind, guess I was wrong."

Fortunately, Warden seemed to have set his mind to ignoring Rainbow as much as possible. "And how goes your little apprenticeship?" he asked.

"Well, I haven't really learned anything yet," Scootaloo said, trying to look appropriately disappointed. "It's a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Seeing her expression, Rainbow frowned. She pulled Scootaloo in for a sideways hug. "Aw, don't say that. You're a smart kid and I know you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Plus, didn't you just tell me you guys were already making progress?"

Scootaloo just smiled stiffly. For the first time ever, she wished Rainbow wasn't quite so supportive.

Warden glanced at Fang. "Indeed?"

Fang shrugged. "Well, what can I say? She's very tenacious and surprisingly talented, for a pegasus."

Warden remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "I see. Well, I would love to stay and chat but I really must be going if I am to catch my train. I'm sure you understand."

"Certainly," Fang said. "Come now, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash. I think we've used up enough of Mr Warden's valuable time."

They parted ways. After a few steps Rainbow leaned closer to Fang. "Golden Fragrance?" she whispered.

"It's an alias," Fang said. "It means I'm not using my real name."

"Yeah, I know that," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I mean, what was that all about?"

"We're kinda pretending I talked Fang into teaching me magic even though it's pointless and she's just waiting for me to give up," Scootaloo said.

Rainbow blinked a few times. "Why?"

"It's complicated," Fang and Scootaloo chorused as one, then shared a look and chuckled.

"You know what, I'm not even going to ask," Rainbow sighed. "That guy always gave me the creeps anyway."

Behind them, Stately Warden had stopped and turned to look at the trio from afar. His eyes narrowed and he let out a snort.

Before long they were passing through the outskirts of Ponyville where the thached roofs of the houses made way for the trees reaching out from the forest ahead. The leaves were glowing red and orange in the sunlight. Most foals preferred the summer, but Scootaloo really liked the colorful spectacle of autumn. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't recall exactly what.

"So, Scootaloo," Rainbow said. "You ready for your first real Running of the Leaves?"

Scootaloo gasped. "Oh, that's right! I'd almost forgotten!" So far she had always run the smaller race for the children, but this year she was technically old enough for the main one. She had really been looking forward to it, but with everything else going on it had managed to slip her mind. "Well, shoot! I haven't even been training or anything!"

"You still have time for a couple of practice runs," Rainbow said. "I'm heading out to White Tail Woods tomorrow to help with the preparations. You could come along after school and, you know, get a feel for it."

"That would be great!" Scootaloo smiled brightly for a moment, but then frowned and looked to Fang. "Um, if that's okay with you, I mean. I know our magic practice is important, but..."

"Actually, I think it's a great idea," Fang said.

Scootaloo perked up again. "Really?"

Fang nodded. "I see no harm in taking a day off for some fresh air and a bit of exercise. And besides, it should be good for your magic flow. In fact, I think I'll join you. I've always loved the Equestrian forests."

"Awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Thanks, Fang!"

Unnoticed by the two of them, Rainbow smiled a little and looked at Fang with burgeoning respect.

"I just hope it'll be enough to keep up with Apple Bloom," Scootaloo carried on. "It's not like either of us will win, probably, but we've sorta made a big deal about who of us will get to the finish first."

"I'm sure you'll give her a run for her bits," Rainbow chuckled. "Just, um, don't get carried away. Don't want that competitiveness to get to your head, you know?"

By then they were crossing one of the southern bridges over the river curving around Ponyville, and they could see Fluttershy's cottage up ahead. Just like the trees, her leaf-covered roof shone a warm shade of bronze.

"So, about Fluttershy," Rainbow said to Fang. "I should probably tell you, she's a bit special."

"From what I've heard, I believe you," Fang replied.

"Don't get me wrong, she's the nicest pony I know," Rainbow elaborated. "But she can be a bit hard to talk to if you don't know her well. Just be patient with her, okay?"

As it happened, they found Fluttershy outside her house raking up some of the leaves that had already blown to the ground. When they approached she turned and smiled at them. "Oh, hello, Rainbow, Scootaloo."

"Hey Shy," Rainbow said. "Got somepony here I'd like you to meet."

"Oh!" The moment Fluttershy saw Fang her eyes widened and seemed to shimmer somehow. She immediately dropped her rake and trotted over to them, looking strangely fascinated by the sorceress. "How do you do? I don't believe we've met? I'm Fluttershy, and I tend to the animals around here."

"Why, thank you," Fang replied. "I'm Fang. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy giggled. "Oh no! The pleasure is all mine!"

Rainbow stared at her, baffled. "Wuh?" She turned to Scootaloo who shrugged, just as surprised.

"Would you like to come inside?" Fluttershy asked, still looking almost mesmerized by Fang. "Oh dear, if I knew you were dropping by I would have prepared something, but I'm sure I can make us a nice cup of tea. Do you like tea?"

"Actually, they're here so Scootaloo can look at some birds," Rainbow said.

"I see!" Fluttershy smiled at the filly. "You want to get a pet? That's wonderful!" She turned back to Fang. "I helped Rainbow find her pet, you know? She also wanted one that could fly, but she ended up with something quite different." She winked. "It's such a good story, I simply must tell you about it!"

"That... sounds nice," Fang said. It was clear by the look on her face that Fluttershy wasn't the pony she had expected.

"Fluttershy, I'm not looking for a pet," Scootaloo clarified. "Fang just wants me to watch birds so I can understand how they fly."

"What a wonderful idea!" Fluttershy gushed. "Do you like birds, Fang? I wish more ponies would take an interest in our little feathered friends. They have wings just like us pegasi but the way they use them is quite different, it's so fascinating..."

"Right, so why don't you go round some of them up for us?" Rainbow suggested.

"Oh, absolutely!" Fluttershy flapped her wings and rose into the air. "I'm afraid some of them have already migrated but there's still plenty left and I know they'll be delighted to put on a demonstration for you. Just wait here, this won't take a minute. Oh, this is so exciting!"

As Fluttershy fluttered off to find the birds, Rainbow turned to Fang. "Okay. What did you do to Fluttershy?"

"What?" Fang frowned. "I haven't..."

Behind Rainbow and Scootaloo, she suddenly spotted Discord poking his head out from behind a tree that should have been too narrow to hide him. Glaring, the draconequus pointed two claws at his eyes, then pointed at Fang, then slowly slid behind the tree without breaking eye-contact until he disappeared completely behind the trunk.

"...I haven't done anything," Fang finished.

"Actually, I'm with Rainbow on this," Scootaloo said. "Like, did you use some kind of spell?"

Fang looked very confused. "No, why would you say that?"

"Because she's acting weird!" Rainbow stressed.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked. "She seems like a very friendly and sociable pony. She's not usually like that?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No! Fluttershy is the opposite of that! She's super-shy and scared of everything and she can't say two words to a stranger without mumbling. I mean, she's better about it these days but this is still really strange."

"I don't think I've ever seen her talk that much all at once," Scootaloo added.

Fang was silent for a moment. "...Huh. I honestly don't know what to say about that."

A moment later Fluttershy swooped over to them. "Okay, they're all waiting in the garden behind the house. This way, please!"

As they followed her around the house, Fang gave the pegasus a curious look. "So, I understand you know Discord?"

"Oh yes, we're very good friends," Fluttershy replied. "Do you know him too?"

"...We've met," Fang said. "Wouldn't exactly call us friends, though."

"I know he can be a bit intense," Fluttershy giggled. "But he's really a sweetheart deep down. The trick is being patient with him, but also knowing where to draw the line."

When they arrived to Fluttershy's garden, a group of birds in different sizes were waiting for them. "Alright, all of you, please get in position," Fluttershy told them and gestured for Scootaloo to come closer. "Now, Scootaloo, this is Mr Bullfinch, and here's Mr Falcon, Mr and Mrs Meadowlark, Mr Blue Jay, Miss Owl..."

Recognizing the falcon, Rainbow looked a bit awkward. "Hey, um, no hard feelings, right?"

The falcon shrugged his wings, shaking his head briefly before resuming his stoic pose.

While Fluttershy continued introducing the birds, Rainbow took a step back and leaned towards Fang. "Level with me here," she said in a hushed voice. "You really think you can get Scootaloo to fly?"

"That mostly depends on her," Fang replied. "But if you're asking if it's possible, then yes, I'm quite certain."

"And... this'll help?"

"It won't hurt."

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Over by the birds, Fluttershy had started explaining the basics of bird anatomy. "As you can see, Scootaloo, unlike us pegasi, birds have tail feathers for steering..." Scootaloo listened closely, looking rather more interested now than she had been at the start of the lesson.

"So what do you get out of this?" Rainbow asked.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to get anything out of it?"

"That's dodging the question," Rainbow deadpanned.

"Fair enough," Fang said. "Frankly, Scootaloo is a very interesting case. There's much about her situation that just doesn't add up and I'm curious about it, so I want to stick around and see how it all turns out. And if I can help her while I'm at it, why not?"

"I guess that's as good a reason as any," Rainbow muttered. "You know, she asked me if I'm jealous of you guys. And honestly, I kinda am."

Fang glanced at her and frowned. "I think you give me too much credit. I see how she looks at you, and I doubt she likes me that much."

"That's not what I meant." Rainbow sighed. "Scootaloo means the world to me, but I can't help her. And I hate it. I'm supposed to be like a sister to her, and I hate feeling powerless when so much bad stuff keeps happening to such a great kid. That curse she has, the flying, I can't do anything about it. You can. That's what I'm jealous about." She looked down at her hooves. "I guess what I'm saying is... thank you."

There was a flapping of wings as some of the birds took flight, circling low in the air while Fluttershy directed them. Scootaloo studied their movements with great interest now. She had a smile on her face, her troubles momentarily forgotten.

Fang looked at the filly and hesitated, a glimmer of doubt in her eyes. "Don't thank me just yet," she mumbled.

Scootaloo spent quite some time watching the birds, after which Fluttershy convinced her guests to join her for tea after all. Still uncharacteristically talkative, she insisted Fang not be a stranger and that she was welcome to visit again whenever she wanted. When they finally left her cottage, all three of them still wondered what had put her in such a sociable mood.

Scootaloo was relieved to find that Rainbow had started warming up to Fang. The two of them chatted some on the way back to town, albeit without really finding a common interest. Fang avoided talking about herself as usual, she had been away for too long to have been introduced to the stories of Daring Do, and didn't seem to entirely understand the purpose of the Wonderbolts. Rainbow meanwhile couldn't grasp the intricacies of magic well enough to feign interest, and neither of them felt very enthusiastic about discussing the weather.

Deciding to intervene before things got awkward again, Scootaloo suggested that Rainbow tell Fang about how she got to know Twilight and their adventures together. Rainbow was happy to oblige, though she may have exaggerated her own role somewhat. Fang appeared to find the stories entertaining and in return she regaled them with anecdotes about her friendship with Celestia and Twilight's days in magic school.

Back in Ponyville they enjoyed lunch together at the Hay Burger and by then the atmosphere had turned from tense to amicable. They made plans for the outing the following day and when Fang and Scootaloo parted with Rainbow, the pegasus smiled as she waved them off.

Scootaloo was in a very good mood once they made it back to the Rook late in the afternoon, and even more so when Fang reminded her that she still needed to pick out a room of her own. After a tour of the guest rooms, of which there were quite a lot, Scootaloo finally chose the same room she had woken up in that morning since she liked the view from the window and the location was convenient for getting in and out of her original home.

Once that was settled Fang helped her move some of her things out of her old room. They left most of the furniture, focusing on Scootaloo's personal belongings – the posters and books; her picture of Rainbow Dash; the treasured teddy bear. Placing the stuffed toy at its seat of honor on one of the shelves, Scootaloo looked around and found that she was already starting to feel at home. It was a strange thing to consider: She never would have imagined living in the middle of the Everfree Forest of all places. It was made even stranger by knowing that she was only three doors away from her old street.

Entering the room, Fang approached her levitating a small object. She presented it to Scootaloo who immediately recognized it: The framed photo of her parents that used to be in her living room.

"I thought you'd like to have this as well," Fang said.

Scootaloo took the picture, smiling sadly as she looked at the two ponies in the photo. "Thanks. You know, it's weird. I don't remember them at all, but... I still miss them."

"There are some things nobody can take away from you," Fang said. "As long as you hold on to them."

Scootaloo placed the picture on the shelf next to the teddy bear. She sniffed a little. "Fang, you know, all this means a lot to me. Really, thank you."

"Hey, it's fine. You don't need to keep thanking me all the time." Fang ran a hoof across her neck, looking almost embarrassed. There was a brief, awkward moment when neither of them seemed to know what to say. Fang cleared her throat. "So... do you like your new room?"

Scootaloo smiled. "Yeah, it's great."

"Is the size and shape okay?" Fang asked. "I can tweak the dimensions a bit if you'd like. I'm pretty sure I could change the color of the walls too, though to be honest I've never actually tried that."

Scootaloo shook her head. "It's fine the way it is."

Fang nodded. "Okay."

"So, now what?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, there is still some time before dinner," Fang said. "We might as well make good use of it."

Smiling, Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. Meditation practice?"

Fang nodded. "Meditation practice."

During the lesson, Fang decided to test the method Scootaloo had accidentally discovered earlier that day: Scootaloo would focus on the magical bond between them and try to keep her concentration on Fang's heart. Once it slipped out of her grasp, she would alternate to the regular exercise, then repeat the process. Perhaps Scootaloo was just nervous now that she understood what she was doing, but somehow it just didn't feel as easy as it had before. Even so, Fang believed she was making noticeable, even remarkable progress.

They took a break for dinner and then went back to training. This continued until the hour grew late and Scootaloo had grown thoroughly drowsy from the mental exertion, at which point Fang decided it was time for bed.

And so Scootaloo found herself in her new room, curled up under a soft blanket, barely able to keep her heavy eyelids up. She'd made sure to set her alarm clock, since she needed to be up for school in the morning. There was so much she wanted to tell her friends, not to mention the trip to White Tail Woods. Scootaloo felt excited, though not enough to affect the overpowering need for sleep.

Standing next to the bed, Fang used her magic to tuck the filly in. "Have fun with Luna tonight."

"I will." Scootaloo yawned widely, then added in a low mumble: "Fang? Thanks... for letting me stay here..."

Fang chuckled. "I told you, enough with the..." She fell silent, noticing that Scootaloo had already drifted off to sleep. "...Good night, little one."

Retreating out of the room and gently closing the door behind her, Fang paced down the corridor with a faint smile on her face. For one who had grown so accustomed to being alone, she found Scootaloo's presence enlivening. There were still considerable challenges to overcome, but everything seemed to be going well.

Scootaloo seemed to trust her now, and that was of course a favorable outcome. However, for some reason Fang felt a small sliver of doubt deep inside and it caused her smile to fade. The fact that the filly could already glimpse her heart was not a factor she had accounted for, and she suddenly wondered if encouraging it was a good idea. Had she been careless, allowing the filly to grow too close to her too soon?

Just as she reached the study a sharp pain shot through Fang's chest, blossoming red inside her. Overcome with sudden fatigue, she grunted and slumped against the door frame for support. It had been acting up more often lately, seemingly at random. Fortunately, Scootaloo didn't appear to have noticed yet. But why now of all times?

Fang suspected she had simply overexerted herself since coming to Equestria. Driving away the gaunthound had been a far more demanding task than she had let on, and the battle against the hivers certainly hadn't helped. At least she hoped that was it. The alternative, that her condition was more unstable than she had believed, was even more worrying.

She considered her options. Should she accelerate her plans? Perhaps even alter her approach?

No, it was still too early for desperate measures. As long as she proceeded with caution, it was unlikely to become a serious issue. She simply had to keep it together for now.

Forcing her body to move, she walked through the room on unsteady hooves until she reached the locked door bearing her symbol. Her eyes flashed golden for a moment and the symbol started glowing red.

The lock clicked and the door opened. Fang Jinhuo slipped inside and it closed behind her.

Author's Note

Cloudberry jam is best jam.

Eight: Scootaloo Makes A Friend.

Scootaloo's leg kicked in her sleep, pushing her blanket down. The sun had already been raised and cast a bright light through the window. It made Scootaloo's eye twitch, but wasn't enough to rouse her.

"Mmmm...." she mumbled. "...No, she's... she's a good dog. She didn't kidnap the princess..."

On the nightstand next to the bed, her Wonderbolt alarm clock steadily counted down the seconds remaining until it was set to wake her up. Oblivious to this, Scootaloo kept mumbling, still preoccupied with her dream.

"Shmmmm... Shesagood..."

The final minute was up and the alarm went off. With a sudden, reflexive jerk, Scootaloo immediately sat up in the bed and slammed her hoof unto the clock. "I said she's a good dog, darnit!"

She blinked and looked around, momentarily wondering what happened to her room. "Uh..."

Recalling that she was now living at Fang's place, she yawned and stretched her hooves to the ceiling. "...Seriously, what's the deal with the dog dreams? I really need to ask Luna about that."

Blinking the last bit of sleep out of her eyes, she climbed out of bed and wandered into the corridor outside of her room, trying to recall how to find the bathroom. As strange of a place as it was, Scootaloo was already starting to feel more at home in the Rook than she had in her old house. That did make sense, though, since 'feeling at home' in that place was apparently impossible.

Be that as it may, Scootaloo still hadn't quite memorized the layout of the Rook's surprisingly expansive interior and she opened the wrong door twice. The first one revealed a room with walls full of exposed clockwork, pipes and strange pumps and levers coming out out of every available inch not occupied by slowly turning gears and strange machinery. Recalling Fang's advice to not mess with anything she didn't understand, Scootaloo closed the door and moved on. The second one led to a room with red walls displaying a large collection of masks of varied and highly stylized designs. Their painted-on eyes turned to look at Scootaloo when she peeked inside. She closed that door a lot quicker than the previous one.

She finally found the right door and warm steam washed over her when she opened it – presumably Fang had used the bath earlier while Scootaloo was still asleep.

Calling the place a "bathroom", while technically correct, seemed like an understatement: The room was fairly large and fashioned out of beige marble, lit up from the ceiling by a sun-shaped inlay of glowing yellow crystals. At the end of the room a round pool had been constructed directly into the floor, easily large enough to accommodate half a dozen ponies. Directly behind it, within an alcove in the far wall, towered a marble fountain in the shape of a roaring dragon. On the wall next to the alcove was a brass control panel with two levers and several knobs.

To Scootaloo, who was used to showers or a one-pony bathtub at the most, this seemed almost excessively extravagant. Not that she was going to complain about it. No matter what the Rook looked like from the outside, it was essentially a small castle, even if Fang's preference for keeping her possessions in complete disarray had robbed it of some of its splendor.

Hopping into the pool, Scootaloo trotted over to the control panel. She knew from the previous tour that the two levers opened and closed the water flow and drain, respectively. Two of the color-coded knobs were for hot and cold water, and the rest supposedly added stuff like bath salts and ointments, but Scootaloo didn't care to experiment with them. She did feel tempted to fill the whole pool with water and just soak for a while, but decided against it as she didn't want to lose track of time. Instead she just pulled one of the levers, causing hot water to spray out of the marble dragon's open mouth.

Too hot, as it turned out. The moment Scootaloo tried to step into the stream she let out a little yelp and quickly adjusted the levers. Once she had achieved a more tolerable temperature, she relaxed and just let it wash over her for a while. It was like standing in a small, cozy waterfall.

While standing there she turned her inner eye towards the bond and looked for Fang. As far as she could tell, the sorceress was somewhere in the vicinity of the grand study – probably in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Scootaloo guessed. It seemed that her perception of their bond had grown clearer now, but at the same time it also felt more natural than before and it was easy to forget it was even there. Scootaloo was starting to see how Spike could have remained unaware of his own bond with Twilight.

She wondered if Twilight had mustered the courage to tell him about it yet, and part of her hoped she had. Having another familiar to talk to about their experiences might be nice. She just hoped those two would be able to keep the ensuing drama to a minimum.

A short while later the young pegasus had finished cleaning and drying herself and, feeling hunger start to set in, trotted through the stone corridors towards the kitchen. Even as she passed through the study her nose picked up a lovely scent hanging over all the usual smells and when she stepped into the kitchen she had to stop to take it all in for a moment. The roomed smelled like a bakery.

Fang turned her head and smiled. She seemed to have just finished setting the table, and it was covered in baked goods of various types. "Good morning, Scootaloo."

"Morning, Fang," Scootaloo replied. "Sure smells nice in here. What's for breakfast?"

"Oh, I just pulled out whatever I could find this time," Fang said. "We have some crostatas with juniper berries, a bunch of apple dumplings, a few assorted breads and cheeses, exotic butters... Just help yourself to whatever strikes your fancy."

They both sat down and Scootaloo reached for some of the bread that had already been sliced, put some butter on it an bit in. It had a certain character of potato, and she hummed in appreciation upon finding that it seemed freshly baked. "That pantry of yours is pretty handy, isn't it?"

"True," Fang said, having just devoured a piece of crostata. She eyed the pantry with a slight frown. "I really should have restocked it sooner, though. We're starting to run out of vegetarian cuisine."

"Down to the chicken and deer meat, huh?" Scootaloo said.

She'd tried to make it sound like a joke, but Fang averted her eyes and gave an awkward cough. "Yes."

Scootaloo paused for a moment to finish her bread. "So, you normally eat meat?" she asked.

"...I'm what you would call an omnivore," Fang replied. "My kind eats a wide variety of things."

Scootaloo was getting the distinct feeling that Fang was trying to avoid the question. "Including meat?" she prodded.

Shrugging, Fang sighed. "Fine, yes."

"Hey, it's okay," Scootaloo said. "Like, I'm not dumb, I know some creatures have to eat that stuff. I just don't want to keep you from eating what's healthy for you just 'cause it makes me a bit uncomfortable."

Fang blinked a few times, then broke into a chuckle. "Aw, you're worried about my health? That's sweet of you, but it won't be a problem. Suffice to say, I can survive just fine on anything you can eat. Especially in this form."

"Oh. Well, that's good to know." Scootaloo felt relieved for more reasons than one.

Still, the exchange had just made her more curious about her teacher's true nature, and it frustrated her that she still had no clue what Fang really was. Luna had said she hoped Fang would tell her eventually, but Fang herself still seemed intent on keeping it a mystery. Scootaloo could only think of two reasons for this: Either Fang was personally ashamed of what she was for some reason, which seemed unlikely given her personality, or she was concerned about Scootaloo's reaction. The theory that Fang was actually something really ugly or frightening – by pony standards, at least – still seemed like the most likely candidate. Scootaloo wondered if she should try to reassure Fang that she wouldn't mind. Then again, if Fang didn't feel ready, pressuring her probably wasn't a good idea.

Before she could come to a decision, Fang decided to change the subject: "So, looking forward to our trip today?"

Scootaloo perked up: "You bet! I can hardly wait to get through school so we can be off."

"Speaking of school, you better hurry up with your breakfast," Fang pointed out. "Don't want to be late."

Realizing she had allowed her musings to distract her, Scootaloo continued eating. Whatever Fang really was, that issue would just have to wait, and Scootaloo had a feeling the truth would be revealed sooner or later.

Scootaloo left the Rook via the front door of her house and got on her scooter. It was a nice day in Ponyville, the warm sunlight making up for the slightly brisk morning air, and various ponies were already going about their business. Despite the eventful weekend, Scootaloo experienced a pleasant feeling of normalcy as she started buzzing down the familiar street.

It occurred to her that it had been two whole days since last she saw her friends, and she had a lot to tell them. She hoped they'd had better luck staying out of trouble than she had: Scootaloo had no idea what sort of outcome she could expect from Sweetie's magic lessons, but since the full moon had passed on Saturday she assumed that Apple Bloom's werewolf problem at least wouldn't be an issue for another month.

She approach a crossing and, preoccupied with these thoughts, barely noticed a young colt appearing from behind a corner and trotting into her path. Snapping to attention, she managed to turn her scooter into a skidding halt just before colliding with the boy, who stumbled backwards and almost fell over in surprise.

"Whoa!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Just got a bit startled. Sorry, I didn't mean to get in your way."

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, my bad. I didn't pay attention."

"Oh, it's okay," the colt said. "At least nopony got hurt."

He was an earth pony and looked to be about Scootaloo's age, maybe a year or so younger. Mostly out of habit, she noted that he still didn't have a cutie mark. His coat was a brilliant snow white, as was his mane and tail with the exception of a few stripes of dark grey. His eyes were bright blue like a clear sky. Scootaloo didn't recognize him, and it occurred to her that he seemed to be heading away from the school.

"I haven't seen you around before," she said. "I'm Scootaloo, what's your name?"

"I'm Caboozle," the colt replied, now with a nervous smile on his face. "I'm just visiting Ponyville with my family. We're here for the Running of the Leaves, you see."

"Cool," Scootaloo said. "I'll be in the race this year, you know."

"Wow, really?" Caboozle looked suitably impressed. "Heh, maybe we'll run into each other again?"

Scootaloo chuckled at the pun. "Yeah, maybe. So, anyway, I need to get to school now..."

"Oh, right!" Caboozle nodded. "Didn't mean to hold you up. Have a nice day, Scootaloo."

"You too, Caboozle," Scootaloo said and continued on her way.

He seemed nice, she thought. And who knows, maybe he needed help getting his cutie mark? Turning the corner she looked back to where he'd been standing, only to find that he was no longer there. Scootaloo figured he must have been in a hurry.

It didn't take long for Scootaloo to reach the schoolhouse. Many of the other foals had also just arrived, and she spotted Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara among them. Scootaloo hopped off her scooter and waved at them. "Hey girls!"

"Hi Scootaloo!" Sweetie replied. She seemed to be her normal cheerful self. "You have got to hear about my last magic lesson, you guys won't believe what happened!"

"Going by last time, you're probably right," Diamond commented dryly.

Sweetie ignored her, still facing Scootaloo. "What have you been up to, anyway? I haven't seen you since Friday."

"Yeah, I kinda had a really crazy weekend," Scootaloo scratched her mane. "Lots of stuff happened."

Diamond's eyes narrowed. "You don't say? Don't tell me you got into another fight with some horrible monster?"

"Heh, well... I'll tell you all about it later," Scootaloo said, not meeting her eyes. "It's kind of a lot to go over. Anyway, where's Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon?"

"I don't think they've..." Sweetie began, then raised her hoof. "Wait, there they are, over there!"

Scootaloo turned her head to see her other two friends approach the school, walking together along the road. Apple Bloom... didn't look well. Not like last time – her mane and coat were clean and brushed, but she walked slowly with her head sagging, almost dragging herself along on unsteady hooves. Silver Spoon wandered beside her with a worried look on her face, seemingly ready to brace the other filly in the event of a sudden collapse.

"Hey girls," Apple Bloom said as the two came closer, her words a bit slurred. She seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes focused and a faint yet sharp and pungent smell hung over her, making Scootaloo involuntarily wrinkle her muzzle.

The girls took a moment to exchange looks, silently agreeing that whatever this was, it had to be cause for worry.

"Uh, hey Apple Bloom," Sweetie said. "You look, um..."

"Yeah, Ah know," Apple Bloom sighed. "Nothin' to worry 'bout, Ah'm okay."

"You are most certainly not okay," Silver Spoon said, looking at Apple Bloom in open disapproval. "You shouldn't even be at school in this condition."

"What are ya, my mom?" Apple Bloom growled. She was sweating. "Ah told ya, Ah ain't missin' classes over this."

"No, seriously," Diamond Tiara said. "You look like you're actually sick. And what's that awful smell?"

"That'd be garlic," Apple Bloom shrugged. "Mostly. Look, it's..." She suddenly jerked forward and seemed on the verge of throwing up, but managed to hold it back. "...It's fine. Ah ain't sick, 'less ya count bein' a werewolf. Now let's stop yappin' an' get to class."

She began walking to the schoolhouse and almost stumbled. Silver Spoon hurried to her side but Apple Bloom brushed her off and continued on her way, apparently determined to managed on her own. Still worried, her friends followed in silence.

Cheerilee nearly sent Apple Bloom home once she saw the state the filly was in, but Apple Bloom insisted on staying, claiming she was just a bit overworked. In the end, Cheerilee relented even though she didn't look entirely convinced. Scootaloo did her best to keep and eye on her friend during the lesson, and the usually chipper earth pony was clearly struggling to stay focused.

During recess the group assembled in their usual spot and while they all wanted to know what was going on with Apple Bloom, she simply groaned and asked that Sweetie Belle tell them about her magic lesson first. As usual, Sweetie didn't need much convincing and soon the entire story was pouring out of her.

"...But Starlight couldn't cast the spell, since the squid-thing was still messing with her head or something, so I had to do it. So I zapped it straight into its ugly, tentacled face! Then it screamed something weird I can't really remember and turned into green smoke and got sucked right back into the portal!"

Her friends just stared at her.

"Is... Is Starlight going to be okay?" Scootaloo finally asked.

"I think so," Sweetie Belle replied. "Apparently you're not even supposed to look at something like that, but Twilight said she wasn't exposed long enough for any permanent damage and she should be fine now that Twilight erased her memory."

"Then why didn't you go crazy?" Diamond Tiara asked, her tone suggesting she still didn't believe the story.

Sweetie shrugged. "I dunno? Maybe my magic protected me somehow? Twilight wasn't sure either."

"What about that portal thing?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Oh, it's still there," Sweetie explained. "We couldn't figure out a way to get rid of it."

"So let me get this straight," Diamond said. "You tried to cast a spell for boiling water, got it wrong, and now there's a mysterious and possibly evil stone gateway in Twilight's basement leading into some kind of bizarre extra-dimensional labyrinth which may or may not have a horrific squid-dragon monster inside it?"

Sweetie nodded. "Basically, yeah."

Diamond's mouth kept moving without making any sounds, her mind momentarily jammed by several conflicting statements trying to come out at once.

"So, what have you been up to, Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked happily.

Scootaloo frowned. "Before I get into that, I kinda want to know what in the hay is wrong with Apple Bloom."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with me," Apple Bloom groaned, trying to sit very still for fear of provoking another vomit attack.

"It's that awful potion she's drinking," Silver Spoon said. "She managed to talk Zecora into teaching her the recipe. It's supposed to suppress her lycanthropy."

"But there's no full moon," Scootaloo pointed out. "So shouldn't you be okay for now?"

"Yeah, well," Apple Bloom sighed, "turns out Ah ain't that kinda werewolf."

"What kind of werewolf are you, then?" Sweetie asked.

"The kind that don't need no full moon."

"We're... not really sure what she is, honestly," Silver said, giving Apple Bloom a worried glance. "I've been looking through the family chronicles but I can't figure it out."

"An' that's why Ah need the potion," Apple Bloom said firmly.

"Is that why you smell like garlic?" Diamond asked. "I thought that was for vampires, not werewolves."

"Oh, it ain't all garlic," Apple Bloom said. "Actually, it's mostly wolfsbane."

There was a brief silence.

"Um, isn't wolfsbane, like, really poisonous?" Sweetie asked.

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Sure, Ah guess."

"Apple Bloom, what are you thinking!?" Scootaloo almost shouted. "You've got to stop drinking that stuff!"

"It's fine!" Apple Bloom insisted. "Zecora said it was okay to drink."

"No, she said it was risky and only for emergencies," Silver Spoon corrected.

"Well, my whole dang life is a darned emergency now!" Apple Bloom argued. "Without the potion, Ah could transform any time! Like, right here, at school! Ah could really hurt somepony, and Ah'm not gonna take that chance."

Diamond Tiara raised a hoof to her face and groaned. "You girls are seriously the weirdest friends ever."

Apple Bloom shrugged, turning to Scootaloo. "Speakin' of which, yer turn."

Scootaloo wasn't sure she was ready to drop the whole 'Apple Bloom drinking poison' subject, but the farm girl had now huddled up with her hooves crossed, evidently not in the mood to discuss the matter further. Scootaloo sighed. "Alright. Where do I even start? Remember Fang, that sorceress I told you about? Some stuff happened and I ended up becoming her familiar."

"What's that?" Diamond asked.

"Oh, I know that!" Sweetie piped up. "A familiar is, like, you know how witches in storybooks always have a talking cat or a raven or something? Like that."

Diamond gave Scootaloo a puzzled look. "So, you're her pet?"

"No, Diamond," Scootaloo replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm not her pet. I'm more like an apprentice. She's teaching me about magic."

Sweetie Belle let out a little squeak, all wide smile and sparkling eyes. "That's so cool! Now we'll both be magical fillies!" She reached out her hoof and lifted Scootaloo's mane, inspecting her forehead. "You didn't grow a horn, did you?"

Scootaloo chuckled. "Nah, I'm not an alicorn just yet. I mostly just signed up because Fang says she can teach me how to fly."

"But I thought you..." Sweetie caught herself and hesitated. She knew this was a touchy subject. "I mean, you told us you don't have enough magic to fly."

Diamond blinked. "What?"

"That's the thing," Scootaloo had been unsure of how to break this next part to them, but it seemed she had no choice now. "Turns out I don't have Rince Wind Syndrome at all. The reason I can't fly is because I'm cursed."

"What?" Diamond repeated.

"Are ya bein' melodramatic now?" Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, I mean I'm literally cursed. Apparently some evil magician put a spell on me or something, and it's messing with my magic, so..."

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute!" Diamond interrupted. "Curse? Rinse-Whatever Syndrome? Scootaloo, what are you talking about?"

Scootaloo frowned. Come to think of it, she'd never had the opportunity to tell Diamond and Silver about it. "Well, basically, some doctors did tests on me when I was younger and told me I couldn't fly because I was born with defective magic. Only now I know my magic is fine, it's just that I'm cursed so I can't use it. Fang promised she could show me a way to fly anyway, and she's working with Twilight to find a way to break the curse."

"But..." Diamond just stared at her for a moment. Then she put her face into her hooves. "Aaaaaaaaargh!"

"Oh my," Silver Spoon mumbled.

"Gaaaaaaargh! Daaaaammmiiiit!"

Scootaloo blinked in confusion. "Um, Diamond? You okay?"

"Nooo!” Diamond cried, looking genuinely distraught. "I... That one time, I made fun of you because you couldn't fly, remember?"

"What, you mean the time you and Silver messed with my head and almost ruined my self-esteem because you wanted to win a talent show?" Scootaloo didn't try to hide the sarcasm. "No, I'd completely forgotten about that."

"Aaaaargh!" Diamond actually started hitting her hooves against her head. "Stupid! Stupid!"

"Hey, hey," Scootaloo said in a gentler tone, now getting a little bit worried. "It's okay. I forgave you for that and we're friends now, remember?"

"That's not the point!" Diamond snapped. "I thought you just hadn't figured it out yet!"

"So?"

"I've never made fun of ponies with disabilities, Scootaloo! That's like making fun of Apple Bloom for not having any parents!" Diamond waved her hoof at the earth pony for emphasis.

"Yeah, yer a real angel," Apple Bloom muttered.

"I know I could be kinda mean to you guys, but I have standards!" Diamond carried on. "I can't believe I messed up that badly!"

"But I'm not disabled," Scootaloo said, mostly just to get Diamond to calm down. She opted not to mention that she didn't have parents either, just in case it made things worse. "Like I said, it's this dark magic kind of thing."

"Again, not the point!" Diamond put her head back into her hooves, practically shaking with frustration. "Ugh! This is really going to bother me now!"

Scootaloo suddenly felt an urge to laugh. Not in a mean-spirited or vengeful way, as she may have done in the past – the sheer overblown absurdity of Diamond's reaction just struck her as comical. Struggling and mostly failing not to giggle, she patted her former arch-enemy on the shoulder and tried to find words of comfort.

They really were a bunch of weirdos.

Scootaloo continued to tell them about her weekend, which took some time even though she omitted some of it for the sake of privacy. For example, she didn't feel it would be proper to share the details of Fang's past with her friends, nor was she comfortable elaborating on some of the more emotional – and therefore uncool – moments. The fillies marveled at the account, highlights such as the meeting with Celestia, the subsequent battle with the hivers, and Scootaloo's personal tutoring under Luna being especially appreciated. Even Diamond Tiara seemed impressed, albeit still mildly skeptical.

School carried on. At one point Apple Bloom excused herself to visit the girl's bathroom. She returned looking a bit shaky and Scootaloo suspected she finally did throw up. Her physical condition seemed to improve somewhat after that, though her mood did not. When the group left the schoolhouse for the day a few hours later, the other four decided to make one last attempt to talk some sense into the stubborn farmgirl.

"You're going to end up in the hospital if you keep this up," Diamond said. "You know that, right?"

"Or worse," Silver said under her breath.

"Ah'll take my chances," Apple Bloom muttered.

"How is Applejack possibly okay with this?" Sweetie asked.

"Haven't exactly told her 'bout the potion yet."

"But don't you still have work to do on the farm?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Nah, not really. Applejack's cut back on my chores seein' as the critters are all scared of me now, an' last time Ah tried bucking apples Ah snapped one of the trees clean in half. AJ won't say it, but I reckon she'd rather Ah stay out of the way for now."

"What about the Running of the Leaves?" Scootaloo tried, knowing Apple Bloom had been looking forward to that just as much as she had. "I doubt you'll be able to keep up with me in this state."

Apple Bloom hesitated, then sighed. "Y'all wouldn't keep up with me without the potion, Scootaloo. Trust me."

Scootaloo meant to keep arguing, but in the same moment she heard a familiar voice call out: "Hey, Scootaloo!"

Fang came trotting down the road to meet them, her mane flowing in the breeze. She smiled. "It was getting time to rendezvous with Rainbow Dash, so I decided to come pick you up right away. I hope you don't mind."

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, that's fine."

Next to her, Sweetie and Diamond made wide eyes at the tall golden mare. "Woah," the both whispered in admiration. Silver Spoon stared as well, but remained silent.

"Oh, these are my friends," Scootaloo said, gesturing towards them. "Girls, this is Fang."

"Hi," Sweetie Belle said, looking a bit nervous. "Nice to meet you, Miss Fang. Scootaloo's told us a lot about you."

"Hello," Diamond Tiara greeted, while Apple Bloom managed a: "Hey."

"My pleasure. I've heard a bit about you girls too," Fang replied. When she laid eyes on Apple Bloom, she suddenly looked thoughtful and stepped closer, silently regarding the filly for a moment. "Hm?"

Apple Bloom frowned. "...What?"

"You've been drinking wolfsbane potion, haven't you?" Fang asked.

Apple Bloom's eyes widened. "How did you...?"

"The wolfsbane flowers you use, are they small, violet and shaped sort of like a funny hat?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"That's aconite," Fang said. "They are quite toxic and notoriously difficult to dose properly. You want to use arnica instead, since they have basically the same effect and are much safer. They look like tiny sunflowers, bright yellow. Make sure to compensate for your weight as well, you don't want to be taking doses meant for adult ponies." She sniffed. "Probably safe to cut down on the garlic too. It's mostly to improve the flavor anyway."

"Oh." Apple Bloom looked a bit surprised at the unexpected advice. "Um, thanks."

Fang just grinned slightly and turned to Scootaloo. "So, ready for our trip?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I am." Scootaloo realized she was smiling. Maybe Apple Bloom would be okay now? Falling in at Fang's side, she looked to her friends over her shoulder. "Gotta run, you guys. See you later, okay?"

"You girls have a nice day," Fang added.

The four fillies watched Scootaloo and Fang trot off side by side, none of them saying anything until the pair was out of earshot.

"Wow, " Sweetie Belle finally said. "She looked like a model or something."

"I don't think she was even wearing makeup," Diamond commented. "That's just unfair."

"Ah guess," Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes. "Sure seems smart, though. Arnica, huh..."

They noticed that Silver Spoon was still staring quietly in Fang's direction, having taken a few cautious steps backwards during the previous conversation. The earth pony looked tense and had a worried – even frightened – expression on her face.

"Silver?" Diamond frowned. "You okay?"

Silver Spoon shivered slightly. "That... wasn't a pony," she said in a quiet voice.

"Well, yeah," Apple Bloom said. "We knew that already. So?"

Silver Spoon didn't answer, her brow furling as she kept looking at the pair heading down the road ahead. "I just hope Scootaloo knows what she's doing."

White Tail Woods was practically glowing in fiery shades of red and orange when Scootaloo, Fang and Rainbow Dash arrived. It was almost a shame, Scootaloo thought, that it would all soon be shaken down by the thundering hooves of racing ponies, even if to give way for the gleaming white purity of winter. The weather was perfect for a trip to the woods and the crisp air smelled of earth, mushrooms and sleepy trees. Scootaloo felt invigorated, looking forward to forgetting her troubles and just enjoying herself for a while. Fang and Rainbow were both in a good mood as well and there was no sign of yesterday's tension. It was looking to be a perfect day.

A few other ponies were already at the site when they arrived. Scootaloo spotted Applejack, who seemed to be organizing the others. Rainbow swooped ahead and waved at her. "Yo, AJ!"

Applejack turned her head and smiled at her friend. "Glad to see ya finally showed up, Rainbow."

"Well, I had these two tagging along," Rainbow gestured at her two companions. "Gotta give 'em a chance to keep up, you know?"

Applejack chuckled. "Hey there, Scootaloo, hope y'all have fun today. And..." she looked at Fang. "Well, howdy. Don't think Ah've had the pleasure? Applejack's the name."

"A pleasure to meet you, Applejack," the sorceress greeted. "You can call me Fang."

"Turns out she's an old friend of Twilight," Rainbow said. "And she's teaching Scootaloo magic."

"Ya don't say?" Applejack's eyes widened somewhat. "Huh. Didn't reckon y'all pegasi could do that magic stuff. But hey, Ah'm just a simple farmgirl, so what do Ah know?"

"Let's just say I enjoy a challenge," Fang said with a wink. "So, you have a farm?"

"That's right!" Applejack stood a little straighter, raising her head in pride. "Sweet Apple Acres, the best darned apple farm this side of Macintosh Hills, an' don't ya forget it."

"You know my friend Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo said to Fang. "Applejack's her big sister."

"Um, yeah..." Applejack's expression turned to one of concern and she averted her eyes. It was clear that the mention of Apple Bloom made her uncomfortable, and Scootaloo silently wondered how much Applejack already knew about her sister's condition. Quickly regaining her composure, Applejack gave Fang a slightly strained smile. "So, Fang, yer gonna join us for the Runnin' of the Leaves?"

"Well, I haven't made any plans," Fang said, drawing a breath of the fresh air while letting the breeze caress her features. "But I could never resist a beautiful forest."

"Ah know what ya mean," Applejack said. "Sure is somethin' special 'bout the woods this time a' year."

"So what are these preparations you're up to?" Fang asked.

"Oh, nothin' much," Applejack replied. "Just makin' sure everythin's set for the race. Ya know, checking that all the paths are clear, getting' fallen branches outta the way..." She glanced at Rainbow. "...Makin' sure the signs point the right way."

"Ehehe," Rainbow scratched her mane, looking awkward. "Yeah, don't wanna go taking a wrong turn out here."

Scootaloo had begun to feel a bit antsy. All this talk about the race was making her legs itch and standing around wasn't helping. "Um, is it okay if I go for a practice run now?"

"Don't see why not," Applejack said. "We've cleared most of the route in this here area. Just follow the path an' don't take any of the turns we've marked off and ya'll be fine."

"Want me to come with you?" Rainbow offered.

"Oh no, ya don't," Applejack said before Scootaloo had a chance to accept. "Yer supposed to be helpin' us out, remember?"

"Drat," Rainbow mumbled.

Scootaloo turned to give Fang a questioning look. Fang smiled. "You run along, have fun. Maybe I'll catch up with you?"

Scootaloo grinned and started trotting. "Yeah, good luck with that." She headed off down the path, her trot steadily building up to a gallop.

"Remember to pace yourself!" Rainbow shouted after her.

Applejack smiled as she watched the filly run off. "That girl sure got a lot 'a spunk."

"Heh, you got that right," Rainbow chuckled. She turned to Fang. "You know, she's seemed happier since you showed up. Or, I dunno... More sure of herself, I guess. Whatever you're doing, I think it's working."

Fang raised her eyebrows at this, then shook her head. "Oh, I haven't done anything much. Scootaloo is just stronger than she seems, that's all."

"Yeah, sometimes Ah forget how much them kids've grown," Applejack sighed. "Well, enough chattin'. Come on, Rainbow, we've got work to do."

Rainbow sighed. "Fine." She caught a glance of Fang and noticed that the sorceress was standing still, looking into the forest with a thoughtful expression. "Hey, Fang? You okay?"

"Hm?" The words brought Fang out of her reverie. She shook her head. "Ah, it's nothing. I just had this strange feeling of... nostalgia, I guess. I'm fine."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. Come on, knowing AJ I'm going to need you along for moral support."

"Hey, what in tarnation is that supposed to mean?"

Wandering off together, the two ponies quickly descended into friendly ribbing. Following them, Fang looked over her shoulder towards the path where Scootaloo had already disappeared behind a bend. Fang said nothing, but her eyes narrowed.

Scootaloo raced along the path, her gallop having reached a steady rhythm – quick but not enough to truly push her stamina. Her small hooves hammering against the ground were not enough to fell any leaves, though she thought she noticed a slight shiver through the trees as she passed them by. Then again, perhaps she was just imagining things.

Regardless, it felt nice to run without a care in the world. She was more used to getting around on her scooter, but she was still in good shape and couldn't wait to test herself in the real race. The adrenaline started to kick in and she felt a desire for more speed. With the wind in her back she spread her wings and flapped them.

It was something she had figured out earlier that year: Though she couldn't fly, she could still use her wings while running to generate thrust, much like what she did with her scooter. It made her feel lighter and dramatically increased her speed. It almost felt like flying, except without the flying part.

Of course, she didn't intend to use this trick in the actual Running of the Leaves, since it felt like cheating. Then again, if Apple Bloom had been serious about her increased physical abilities, perhaps she would have to. Assuming Apple Bloom had stopped poisoning herself by then, of course.

Lost in thought and letting her body move on instinct, she soon found that she had made it fairly deep into the woods. The path had been curving for a while and she wondered if she was already halfway, perhaps more. She folded her wings together and began running normally again. She was supposed to be training her legs and enjoying the scenery, after all. Rushing wasn't the point.

"Somepony..."

Scootaloo's ear twitched. She wasn't sure, but she could swear she heard a voice. Where there other ponies nearby? Applejack had said they'd already cleared that part of the forest.

"Somepony! Please! I need help!"

Scootaloo stopped, suddenly taking care to listen. She had definitely heard that, and it sounded like a foal's voice. "Hello?" she called out. "Is there anypony there?"

"Yeah! Over here! I really need some help!"

Definitely a young colt, Scootaloo figured, and the voice sounded familiar to her. It was coming from deeper within the forest, well beyond the path. Scootaloo hesitated for a moment. He couldn't be too far away. As long as she could remember her trajectory and the position of the sun, Scootaloo felt sure she would be able to find the path again. Besides, worst case scenario, Rainbow and the other ponies probably wouldn't have much trouble finding her. Fang could probably just sense her location through the bond. By the sound of it, the colt might be in danger, so that took priority.

Having successfully rationalized her decision, Scootaloo left the path and made her way into the woods. "Okay, I'm on my way!"

"Thank you! Please hurry!"

"Keep talking so I know where you are!"

"I'm straight ahead of you, I think! I'm heading towards your voice too!"

Scootaloo could tell by his voice that they were closing in on each other. She was just about to call out again when she heard the sound of twigs and branches snapping from some bushes ahead. In the next moment a white colt stumbled out of the vegetation right in front of her, his blue eyes widening when he spotted her.

"Oh," he said. "Hey. You're that girl from this morning. Scootaloo, right?"

Scootaloo recognized him as well, the same colt she almost ran into on her way to school. He looked a bit disheveled and tired, and he had streaks of grey-brown dirt in his snowy coat, but he seemed unharmed. "Um, yeah. You're... Caboozle?"

Caboozle nodded. "Yep. Wow, when I said we might run into each other again, this wasn't what I had in mind."

"No kidding?" Scootaloo frowned. "What are you doing out here?"

Caboozle scratched his mane. "Well, see, my parents found out we need to go back to Manehattan early, so we'll be missing out of the Running of the Leaves this year. But we figured that since we came all this way, we'd at least visit White Tail Woods before we leave.” He paused, deflating somewhat and continued in a smaller voice: “So when we got here I, um, kinda got a bit too excited. So I sorta... got a little bit lost?"

Scootaloo cocked her head. "A little bit lost?"

Caboozle sighed. "Well, okay, more than a little. Very much lost, actually."

"Well, you don't need to worry," Scootaloo said, trotting over to him and giving him a comforting smile. She pointed in the direction she had arrived. "The path is just a bit over that way, and if we follow it there's grown-ups who can handle the rest."

"That's great," Caboozle said. "But there's another problem. My little brother was with me and he's still out there."

Scootaloo stared at him. "You left your brother alone in the woods?"

"I know! I know!" Caboozle groaned. "Look, he hurt his leg and I wasn't sure it was okay for him to walk, so I told him to stay still while I went looking for help or landmarks or something. I was just about to head back when you found me. I'm pretty sure I know the way back to him, it's not very far. Please, we need to go pick him up. I can't just leave him there."

Scootaloo didn't really like the idea of going even deeper into the forest. Still, she remained confident that she could find the way back and all the previous reassurances she had given herself remained valid. She'd just have to trust that Caboozle wouldn't get himself lost all over again, and her along with him.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "I guess we should go find him, then. You lead the way."

"Thanks," Caboozle said and turned around. "It's this way, hurry!"

Scootaloo followed the colt, who wasted no time starting to trot at a brisk pace, jumping over tree rocks and tree roots as he went. His previous fatigue seemed to be gone now – Scootaloo assumed he had just been stressed and frightened, and that the prospect of getting himself and his brother back safely had reinvigorated him. She smiled a little, allowing herself a bit of pride for doing a good deed. Caboozle was obviously to blame for this incident, but he seemed like a nice enough pony. She just hoped his parents wouldn't scold him too much once they were reunited. Granted, she had no personal experience with such matters but from what little she'd seen, that was how parents usually expressed relief.

They kept going for several minutes, further than Scootaloo had expected. Along the way she tried her best to keep track of the sun and the direction they were heading, though she was growing increasingly worried that wouldn't be enough to bring them back to the path. Given Caboozle's story, she wasn't sure she trusted his sense of direction much either.

"Hey, how much further is it?" she asked the colt trotting in front of her. "You sure you know where you're going?"

They'd reached a small clearing and suddenly Caboozle stopped. "I think this is far enough."

Scootaloo looked around, but couldn't see anypony besides the two of them. "What do you mean? Where's your brother?"

Caboozle chuckled. "Oh, I don't have a brother. I just made that up."

"What?" Scootaloo frowned. "Why would you..."

She fell silent, the words catching in her throat. The colt had turned around to face her, but he had changed. His pupils had shrunk into small black dots while the blue of his irises expanded to nearly cover the eyes completely, leaving only a hint of sclera that had turned from white to black. His mouth widened into a grin that seemed to split his face in two, with rows of sharp pointed teeth gleaming.

Scootaloo took a stumbling step backwards on shaking legs while a wordless voice in the back of her head screamed at her to run. "...W-What are you?"

"I'll give you a hint," the creature said, the timbre of his voice shifting and deepening as he spoke. "I'm not a pony."

He stepped forward and his entire body seemed to ripple, shifting and morphing. His coat grew thicker and gained stripes. Hooves turned into clawed paws. He kept growing larger and larger. Scootaloo stared, terrified yet too mesmerized by the display to move.

The transformation only lasted a few moments and then the earth pony colt was gone. Instead, Scootaloo found herself standing in front of a great beast: a large tiger, white as snow with silver-grey stripes. It towered over her, radiating power and menace, two long serpentine tails swaying behind him. It opened its jaws, baring ivory fangs, and roared.

Scootaloo snapped out of it and immediately turned to run.

"Oh, no you don't." The tiger raised its tails and a blue glow appeared between the tips. An aura of magic enveloped Scootaloo and yanked her off her hooves. She swung around in the air as the tiger levitated her, pressing her against one of the trees and holding her in place.

"I can't have you running away on me, Scootaloo," he said. His voice was deep but soft, like faraway thunder. "Not after I went through all this trouble to lure you here."

"W-Who are you?" Scootaloo's heart was hammering in her chest. She struggled against the spell and felt her panic rising when it proved fruitless. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything much from you, little pony," the tiger replied. "You see, you and I have a common acquaintance whom I am just dying to meet again. You are just the messenger, so to speak." He leaned forward and locked his cold blue eyes with hers. "I want you to call Fang Jinhuo."

"What?" Scootaloo tried to stay calm even as her mind raced, trying to make sense of what was happening, trying to find some way – any way – to escape. "You know Fang?"

"Oh yes!" The tiger grinned. "I know all about her. Far more than you, I reckon. For instance, I know that since you are her familiar, her heart is bound to yours. She should be able to sense you, and if you call out to her in your heart I'm sure she'll come running to find you. She's predictable like that."

"What... What do you want with her?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's a personal matter between me and her," the tiger said. "You don't need to know more than that. No more questions, Scootaloo. Call out to Fang, now."

"I can't!" Scootaloo cried. "The bond doesn't work that way."

The tiger rolled his eyes. "This is really not a good time for you to lie to me, pony. I told you, I know perfectly well how familiars 'work'."

"It's true!" Scootaloo said. "Fang can't sense me that way."

"Did she tell you that?" the tiger asked. "Because Fang is quite the liar as well, you know."

Scootaloo hesitated. Had Fang lied to her? Had she been able to see into Scootaloo's heart all along? Once again, Scootaloo was reminded how little she really knew about the sorceress. Fang definitely hadn't said anything about a giant magical monster tiger, at any rate.

Scootaloo shook her head, trying to clear it of doubt. "Well, whatever! Even if I could call her, I wouldn't. Ponyfeathers, I don't even know how to do that!"

The tiger regarded her in silence for a moment. Then he sighed. "You do seem to be telling the truth. Or what you think is the truth, at least. But that puts me in quite a predicament. Quite a predicament indeed." He cocked his head. "Still, perhaps you're just lacking the proper motivation? Sometimes the bond simply needs a bit of a jolt..."

Pacing to the side he raised his tails again and electricity sparked between them, ending with a large blue arc crackling and dancing between the tips. He pointed them at Scootaloo, who immediately started to struggle again. However, she remained trapped by his previous spell, just as helpless as before. She felt terror like an ice-cold grip around her heart when she realized what he meant to do.

Fang!

"Fair warning," the tiger said. "This will hurt a lot."

FANG!

In a different part of the forest, Fang suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her head snapping around and her ears twitching as if she caught a sound only she could hear.

"Scootaloo," she mumbled under her breath.

"Somethin' the matter?" Applejack asked, turning around along with Rainbow when the two of them noticed their companion stopping.

Fang shook her head. "...No, it's nothing. I was just thinking that Scootaloo has been gone for a while now. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to go meet up with her now."

Applejack and Rainbow shared a frown. Applejack shrugged. "Ah guess Ah don't mind."

"Want me to go with you?" Rainbow asked. "That's okay, right Applejack? Just long enough to check up on Scoots, I mean."

"Ah suppose..." Applejack began.

"Oh, there's no need," Fang interrupted. "I'm sure Scootaloo is fine. You two should carry on with your duties, I'll be right back once I've found her." She turned her back to them so they couldn't see the grim look on her face. “I have a pretty good hunch where to look."

Her horn lit up and she vanished in a golden flash, teleporting away.

"Huh," Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Ya know, Rainbow, she's awfully fussy 'bout that filly. You sure she's just Scootaloo's magic teacher or whatever?"

Rainbow frowned. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Shucks." Applejack shrugged. "Ah don't right know what Ah mean. Just a feelin' Ah got, is all. Anyhoo, she's right, there's probably nothin' to worry about. Less just wait for 'em to get back."

"Yeah..." Rainbow still looked a bit doubtful. "Nothing to worry about."

It vaguely occurred to Scootaloo that, as far as getting herself into trouble, this was probably her crowning achievement so far.

The bright arcing current between the tiger's tails had yet to actually touch her. He kept it poised in front of her, slowly bringing it closer, occasionally making little jabbing motions and briefly intensifying the sparks.

"I know you may find this hard to believe," he said, "but I'm not the bad guy here, and I'd rather not have to go this far. Last chance, kid."

He brought the current closer than ever before. It was almost touching Scootaloo's chest now. She braced herself and hoped she'd be able to endure it. She shivered and her eyes were tearing up.

There was a bright flash and Fang materialized a few yards behind them. "Scootaloo!"

"Fang!" Scootaloo cried just as the tears started running down her cheeks. "You came!"

The tiger lowered his tails and the current disappeared. "Finally," he whispered.

"I don't know who you are," Fang growled through her teeth, "but if you don't release my familiar right now I'm going to..."

She fell silent as the tiger turned around and looked at her. A gasp escaped her lips. "...No. Impossible."

"Hello, master," the tiger said. "It's been a while."

Fang just stared at him, her previous angered expression gone, replaced by one of shock and disbelief.

"...Byakkasha!"

Author's Note

Please do not consume wolfsbane, even if you think you may be a werewolf.

Byakkasha's Theme:

Nine: Tails.

"...Byakkasha!" Fang exclaimed. Her expression was one Scootaloo had never seen on her before: Shock, confusion, even outright disbelief.

"So, you remember my name, at least," the tiger said. "Then again, a mere decade isn't that long for creatures like us, is it? I certainly haven't forgotten about you."

"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked. "Fang, who is he?"

"Really, have you told her nothing?" Byakkasha turned to glance at her. "I am your predecessor, girl."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "You're... Fang's familiar?"

"Her former familiar," Byakkasha corrected, his tone cold and hard as stone. He faced Fang again. "And while on the subject, I must say I'm a bit offended. I could accept being replaced, but by a mortal, deficient pony child of all things? Seriously, in ten years this is the best you could find?"

Scootaloo frowned, fear momentarily giving way for indignation. "Hey!"

Byakkasha completely ignored her, keeping his eyes on Fang while slowly pacing towards her. "I never did understand your bizarre fascination with these creatures. I see you're even masquerading as one full time now. I would have hoped you'd at least grant me enough respect to show me your real face, or are you too afraid of what this pathetic creature will think of you if she sees it?"

Fang had regained her composure by then, but she still appeared uneasy, as if just looking at the twin-tailed tiger caused her discomfort. "I thought you were dead," she said in a quiet voice.

"No, you left me for dead!" Byakkasha snapped. "Ten years ago, on Sakloth. After the battle I woke up buried under the ruins of the temple, bleeding and alone with the darkness crushing down on me, and you left me there!"

Fang shook her head. "You're wrong. I thought I had lost you, I couldn't sense you anymore..."

"You couldn't sense me because you closed your heart to me!" Byakkasha roared, his tails crackling with blue lightning. "I felt it! You, with your vaunted power of clairvoyance, you didn't even try to find me! You never cared about me at all, did you? All those years I tried so hard to win your approval but all along I was just another tool for you to use, another pawn for your games. And then, in the moment I needed you the most, you simply turned away and abandoned me!"

Fang recoiled as if stung by his words. "That's not how it happened. Byakkasha, you don't understand..."

"Bah! I didn't come here to listen to your excuses!" Byakkasha growled. "I came to settle things with you once and for all."

Fang's eyes narrowed and when she spoke her voice had sharpened. "Revenge, is it? That's pretty ambitious for an upstart runt like you, Byakkasha. You of all should know just how little your magic amounts to my own."

"Spare me your empty posturing, Fang," Byakkasha snorted. "Do you really think I came here without a plan? I have spent ten years tracking you down, so believe me when I say that I've had time to prepare for this meeting. I've already tested you, and you never even realized."

"The attack on the castle," Fang said slowly. "That was your doing?"

The tiger grinned. "Correct. It wasn't meant to be a serious challenge, of course, but I was still disappointed by your performance. Your powers are weak and your spirit has dulled. You are just a shadow of what you used to be." He crouched down in a battle stance, his tails raised, his claws digging into the ground. "Now, let's cease these pointless games. Face me, Hunting Beast! Marshal whatever magic you still can! Show me your true form! All I want, all I have left, is this final battle!"

Fang sighed deeply. "You can't be serious. I don't know how you got this ludicrous idea into that thick skull of yours, Byakkasha, but I am not going to fight you."

Byakkasha paused for a moment. Then his tails charged a spell, forming an orb of lightning which he aimed at Scootaloo. "Motivation it is, then."

Fang reacted immediately, disappearing in a flash and appearing right in front of Scootaloo. She raised a magic shield just in time for a blue thunderbolt to collide with it. At the same time, the blue aura holding Scootaloo in place was ripped away by Fang's own spell. Pulling the pegasus into her hooves, Fang teleported again, bringing them out of the way of Byakkasha's attack which scorched the trunk of the tree.

They appeared a few yards away and Fang put her familiar down on the ground. "Are you okay, Scoo..."

There was another flash, this one bright blue, and Byakkasha appeared right next to them already poised to strike. His paw, surging with magical lightning, struck Fang across the side of her face and sent her flying. She rolled across to ground, sparks dancing across her body.

"Fang!" Scootaloo cried. Byakkasha, meanwhile, ignored the pony and advanced on his former master. Fang struggled to get up, but the tiger had already caught her in his levitation spell. He lifted her into the air only to slam her back down on the ground hard enough to dent it. Then he pulled her up again and flung her, sending her hurtling through the air. She struck one of the trees hard enough to snap it in half, sending dying leaves whirling everywhere. The impact did little to slow her down and she landed near the edge of the clearing.

Lying on the ground, Fang winced and groaned through her teeth. In the next moment, she saw something come flying towards her. Byakkasha had levitated the broken tree and thrown it at her. It landed on top of Fang, burying her under its branches.

For a moment, the fallen tree lay still. Then a small explosion of invisible force blasted the last remaining leaves away and Fang emerged from the branches, violently snapping them as she moved.

Fang was enraged. Her pupils turned into narrow slits. Her gritted teeth began to sharpen as a growl made its way through them. "Why... that... little..."

"Is that all you've got, Fang?" Byakkasha shouted. "Don't tell me you've already reached your limits?"

"Stop!"

Before she could think about what she was doing, Scootaloo had run past the tiger. Standing in his way, she flared her wings in defiance. "She doesn't want to fight you! Just leave us alone!"

Byakkasha looked genuinely surprised. "Oh? This is unexpected. You aren't afraid of me?"

She was. Scootaloo was terrified and wanted nothing more than to run away. But even so, something she didn't understand – a small spark of fire deep inside her – made her stand her ground. "I... I won't let you hurt Fang!"

Byakkasha rolled his eyes. "Listen, kid, I'm doing you a favor here. She would just end up breaking your heart like she broke mine. I have no further interest in you, so just run home to the other ponies and live your life. Forget about all of this."

"No!" Scootaloo shook her head. "Whatever happened between you two, I know Fang would never do something like that!"

"You know nothing, little pony," Byakkasha growled. "She is Fang Jinhuo, the Hunting Beast of the Citadel! She is the Destroyer of Cadmea and the Ninth of the Nine Great Masters. She is a true monster, and you have no idea what she is capable of." He raised his head. "But you're about to find out."

A clawed paw struck the ground hard right next to Scootaloo. Around it, a few stray leaves caught fire and turned into ash. Scootaloo stared at the unfamiliar leg for a moment before slowly turning her eyes up. What she saw made her stumble backwards.

Before her stood a giant fox with fur of pale gold and nine long tails spread out like a sunburst. It was easily as large as the tiger, perhaps even larger. Its amber eyes locked unto him in a furious glare and its lips were pulled back into a snarl full of sharp fangs.

Scootaloo's mind went numb. Ancient primal instincts erupted within her. "Danger!" they warned. "Predator!" they cried to her. "Run! Run away!" But she couldn't move, stunned by the sight, paralyzed by the truth before her eyes.

"You said something about my limits, Byakkasha," the fox said, and it spoke in Fang's voice. "Very well! Let me remind you what happens when I'm pushed to my limits!"

Her tails lunged forward and each of the nine tips transformed into gaping dragon heads blasting fire at the tiger. Byakkasha leaped straight up into the air, dodging the inferno that burned the vegetation into a large, black swathe of charred ground. He came to a rest high above them, hovering in the air, and laughed.

"That's the spirit!" he called out, his tails powering up another spell. "Finally you're taking this seriously!"

"Scootaloo," the fox said.

"W-Wha...?" Scootaloo mumbled in confusion, still dazed.

"Scootaloo!" Fang repeated. "Get away from here, it's not safe to be near us!"

Something about those words snapped Scootaloo out of it and her legs started moving, stumbling at first, then as quick as she could make them. She turned and ran, stopping at the edge of the clearing and taking cover behind one of the larger trees. Part of her wanted to keep running, far away from the battle, to find Rainbow Dash or anypony else that could tell her what to do. But she couldn't leave. Somehow she knew that if she did, she would always regret it.

In the air above, Byakkasha had summoned a ring of blue flames circling him before merging into a large fireball floating between his tails. Looking up at him, Fang scoffed. "Trying to use my own spell against me?"

"You taught me well!" Byakkasha replied, releasing the spell and firing a huge blast of blue fire towards her. "Let me show you!"

As the fire approached her, Fang drew a quick breath. Turning her head up, she let out a deafening cry, part roar and part scream. It resounded throughout the forest, rattling the trees and shaking leaves off their branches. The sheer pressure of the sound caused the fire to disperse before it reached her.

"What in the hay was that?" Rainbow asked.

"Ah have no idea," Applejack replied. "Ah've never heard anythin' like it."

All around them, the ponies had stopped what they were doing when the strange sound echoed across the forest.

"It sounded like some kind of animal," Golden Harvest pointed out.

"What if it's a timberwolf?" Caramel asked, looking around nervously. A murmur rose from the crowd of ponies. They all looked worried.

Applejack raised her hoof. "Now just calm down, everypony! There ain't no timberwolves in White Tail Woods. 'Sides, Ah've heard 'em howlin' plenty of times and they don't sound like that."

"Well, whatever it was, it sounded really big," Caramel said. "And really dangerous."

"He's right," Cherry Berry said. "Maybe we should call this off and get to safety?"

The murmur increased and took on a tone of agreement. "I say we get out of here!" somepony said. "Yeah, I didn't sign up for this," said another.

Biting down on a curse, Applejack realized something had to be done before they all panicked. "Alright, alright! If that's how y'all feel, we'll leave as soon as all ponies are accounted for. But Ah need y'all to keep yer heads cool and vacate the forest in a calm and ordered fashion, okay?"

Her declaration calmed the crowd down a bit and the crisis seemed averted, at least for now. Applejack sighed in relief, then noticed Rainbow gazing into the woods with a frown on her face. "Dash?"

"Scootaloo and Fang are still out there," Rainbow said.

Applejack walked over to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Go," she said. "Ah'll make sure everypony gets home safely."

The pegasus smiled at her. "Thanks, Applejack." Then she spread her wings and shot into the air like a rocket, leaving her trademark rainbow trail as she went.

"Just be careful!" Applejack shouted after her. "...An' don't do anythin' stupid."

The tiger swooped through the air, sending a barrage of magical orbs raining down. The nine-tailed fox dashed out of the way, gliding across the ground as they exploded behind her, leaving craters marring the earth. She teleported, appearing in the air next to her opponent, swinging one of her tails at him. It struck Byakkasha in the side and sent him tumbling through the air until he slammed into a tree.

Fang wasted no time closing the distance and struck at him with her paw. He only barely managed to teleport out of the way of her claws. The trunk of the tree was slashed to pieces.

Reappearing some distance behind Fang, Byakkasha fired several large lightning bolts at her. Fang shot higher into the air, avoiding them. Turning as she moved, she opened her mouth and a ball of energy started to form between her jaws. Realizing what was coming, Byakkasha cast a shield around himself just as a bright beam of golden magic lanced out from Fang's maw. As it struck the shield, pushing Byakkasha backwards, it split into several smaller rays curving around him. They burned through several trees, mowing them down, leaving only burnt stumps standing.

From her hiding place, Scootaloo watched the battle in awe and trepidation. The two fighters seemed evenly matched, each pushing the other to the edge yet neither gaining the upper hand. It was not an elegant duel – this was a heated, brutal clash between enemies; a furious storm of fire and lightning.

Beyond her own feelings, Scootaloo found she could sense emotions that were not her own: Just as in the battle with the hivers, she had begun to feel Fang's emotions through their bond. Back when they fought in the sky over the castle, Fang had found the battle exciting. But it was different this time. All Scootaloo could discern was fury and desperation. Fang was not enjoying this fight at all.

And something else was different as well. The feelings flowing through the bond seemed jumbled, conflicting, dissonant. Once Scootaloo noticed, that sensation started to grow stronger.

Fang and Byakkasha raced towards each other in the air, their paws blazing with magic. They collided and waves of light flashed blue and gold around them, pushing against each other.

Growling, Fang focused her power and her aura grew in size and intensity. For a moment it seemed it would overwhelm Byakkasha. But then, all of a sudden, Scootaloo felt a hot, red pressure in the side of her chest – the same she had felt when they faced the hiver swarm moderator. Fang's aura rapidly started to fade.

Byakkasha saw his chance and doubled his efforts. His aura surged and a shockwave of magical energy sent Fang crashing to the ground. Byakkasha followed up by throwing a fireball that struck the fox, exploding and engulfing her in flame.

"Getting a bit winded, old-timer?" he taunted. "You know, if you're this infirm I almost feel bad about beating you up!"

A pulse of magic erupted from within the fire, extinguishing it and revealing Fang getting back on her paws, breathing heavily.

"Your jokes... are as terrible as ever," she grunted. "A bit of a handicap just makes fighting a pretentious, immature brat like you more fair!"

She launched off the ground once more, and Byakkasha immediately fired several lightning orbs at her. But rather than attempting to evade, Fang turned in the air and swung her tails, simply batting the projectiles out of the way. Taken by surprise by the maneuver, Byakkasha couldn't react in time and Fang's last tail wrapped around his neck. Dragging him along, she spun around in the air, swinging the tiger in a circle while quickly building speed. After three rotations she let out a mighty battle cry and released him, slamming him into the ground.

Byakkasha immediately rolled out of the way, perhaps on instinct, and in the next moment Fang embedded her tails into the ground where he had just been. Cracks formed in the earth, fire seeping out of them moments before the ground violently exploded.

Back in her hiding spot, Scootaloo was growing increasingly confused. The feelings flooding into her were now so clear to her that they were almost overwhelming, but they didn't make sense. She felt triumph mixed with trepidation, worry and relief at the same time, burning fury and cold rage. It was like hearing two different voices screaming at each other, as if she was feeling two...

...Two hearts.

Suddenly Scootaloo understood everything. It was the bond. Even now, after all those years, Byakkasha's heart was still bound to Fang's, just as Fang's heart was bound to Scootaloo's own. Master and apprentice, she was sensing them both at the same time; their hidden feelings unveiled as they battled one another, echoing each other, synchronizing.

Without thinking, Scootaloo started to move. She left the relative safety behind the tree, wandering into the battlefield like a sleepwalker, those terrible feelings whirling inside her.

"Stop..."

She could feel their anger, burning like a wildfire, raging like a storm.

"Stop!"

But beneath the anger: Resentment. Frustration. Regret that had lingered for too long, turned putrid and bitter, a slow and terrible poison.

"You have to stop fighting!"

And beneath the bitterness: Sorrow, vast and dark and crushing like the ocean depths. Desperate longing for something so very precious lost long ago. Unbearable anguish tearing at two lonely hearts.

"Please, stop... This is all wrong..."

Misery. Despair. Heartbreak. Pain.

Not malice. Not hatred. Just ordinary pain.

Scootaloo had fallen silent. She was crying, huddled on the ground, not even looking at the fighters anymore. The feelings flowing through the bond overwhelmed her and she could no longer tell them apart from her own. She didn't want to feel those things. She didn't want to feel anything.

Dark shadows danced before her eyes, painting her world in shades of black and grey. Her sobbing stopped. A hole had opened up inside her – a dark maelstrom swallowing up all those painful feelings. In their place, the darkness filled her entire being until it spilled over and flowed out of her. Her mind slipped and fell into that endless void.

It was cold. It was dark. It was empty.

The fox and the tiger collided in the air, spells and technique forgotten. They wrestled and clawed at each other like savage beasts. Byakkasha clenched his jaws around Fang's neck and she choked on a scream as she struggled to breathe. Her tails coiled around him and sharpened into spears aimed to strike at his back.

Then the air around them shuddered and they both felt an unseen force press down on them, heavy and unyielding. It pulled them out of the air and smashed them into the ground, the shock causing them to let go of each other and separate. They quickly rolled back on their paws, neither sure what had just happened.

"What..." Fang coughed, catching her breath.

"...the hell?" Byakkasha wasn't looking at her. He was staring at something to the side of them with an expression of utter confusion. Fang turned her head to follow his gaze.

And then she saw Scootaloo.

The pegasus filly stood a few yards away facing them. Her whole body flashed in a black aura of negative light and the very space around her vibrated with some unknown power. At the center of her chest was a single dark spot: A hole into nothing that seemed to siphon raw magic directly out of the surrounding air, drawing it into a swirling vortex. Her eyes were a pair of glaring purple lights surrounded by utter blackness.

The thing looking back at them from behind those eyes was not Scootaloo.

It was a monster.

Author's Note

One: Ice and Fire.

FAMILIARITY

By Fervidor

"...And with that, Ah declare this Cutie Mark Crusader meeting adjourned," Apple Bloom slammed her gavel down a few times on the podium. "Time to call it a day, girls."

"Aw, already?" Scootaloo asked. "It feels like we didn't really get much done today."

"We did help Diamond and Silver," Sweetie Belle said. "That's something, at least."

"That doesn't count," Scootaloo deadpanned. "Accessorizing is not a cutie mark problem, I don't care what Diamond Tiara says."

In truth, it really seemed that the daily crusading activities had lost momentum ever since the trio finally earned their cutie marks. Of course, they now had a new agenda – actually putting their special talents to good use – but they no longer had that definitive goal to strive for. Without that edge of desperation driving them on, Scootaloo felt that the days had started to pass slower. She wondered if maybe that wasn't a good thing.

"Well, Ah'd love to stick around an' hang out some more," Apple Bloom said, "but Ah promised Applejack Ah'd do some extra chores today an' Ah need to get them done before dinner."

"I guess that can't be helped," Scootaloo said. She turned to her other friend. "What about you, Sweetie?"

Sweetie Belle's face suddenly lit up in an excited smile. "Oh! I totally forgot to tell you guys! Rarity and Twilight arranged for me to get magic lessons from Starlight Glimmer! Twilight said it would be a good learning experience for both of us."

"Wow, really?" Apple Bloom said. "Congratulations, Sweetie!"

"That is pretty awesome," Scootaloo agreed. "Isn't Starlight, like, almost as powerful as Twilight?"

"I know, right?" Sweetie giggled in excitement. "Did you know Starlight once stole all the cutie marks from an entire village?"

There was a pause as the other two processed this information.

"That's actually possible?" Apple Bloom looked a bit paler than usual.

"That is terrifying," Scootaloo mumbled.

Sweetie frowned slightly. "Well, yeah, I guess it is. But she's a good pony now! Twilight said so. Plus, if she can pull something like that off, I bet she knows all kinds of stuff about cutie marks."

"Yeah, you don't want to miss out on that, I guess." Scootaloo let out a tiny sigh before she could stop it.

"Um, you want to come with me?" Sweetie suggested, noticing the look on Scootaloo's face. "I'm sure Starlight wouldn't mind."

"Thanks, but magic isn't really my thing." Scootaloo wiggled her wings a bit for emphasis. "Unless I happen to turn into an alicorn on the way there, I don't think I'd get much out of it."

Despite her concern, Sweetie Belle laughed at the joke. "That would be so cool. You sure?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Yeah, I'm starting to feel hungry anyway, so I guess I'll just head home and grab something to eat. Maybe I can hang out with Rainbow Dash for the rest of the day, or read comics or something. Don't worry about me."

Since there was nothing more to discuss, the three Crusaders left their club house and soon parted ways. Buzzing along on her scooter, Scootaloo headed towards the other side of town where the house she called home waited for her. Summer had long since turned to autumn, turning the green of the trees into hues of red and yellow. The Running of the Leaves was less than a week away. Scootaloo had been looking forward to participating this year, but that was not what occupied her mind as she buzzed along the road.

The day wasn't a very nice one by any measure – the sky was covered with heavy clouds and Scootaloo hoped she'd make it back before the storm started. It was supposed to be a major one, and with a heavy heart Scootaloo acknowledged that Rainbow would be too busy managing the weather to spend time with her. Scootaloo hadn't wanted to fully admit it to her friends, but the prospect of spending the rest of the day at home really did bother her. While she had long since resigned herself to her situation, she never liked returning to that place.

She reached the edge of town, the Everfree Forest still looming to the south. Ponyville was unusually quiet that afternoon, the residents having already retreated to their homes to avoid the oncoming storm. With only the sound of her wings, the wheels of the scooter against the dirt road and the wind whistling in her ears, Scootaloo tried to look on the bright side.

At least she had a home. At least she had a house with walls and a roof over her head, even if it was only a place for her to sleep and eat. It sure would have sucked to be homeless, especially on days like this one. She imagined herself huddling up inside an old cardboard box, or under a bridge, trying to shelter herself from the pouring rain and the biting wind. At least, that was how she imagined it was like. Scootaloo had never even seen a homeless pony, so she was just guessing.

She had just entered the town when she felt the first little drop of water on her muzzle. "Drat, already?" Still, she didn't have that far to go, so she would probably make it before getting completely soaked. The air was getting colder, too. In fact, it was freezing.

An unexpected sound broke Scootaloo out of her musings: A constant, repeating plinking, like tiny shards of glass hitting something hard. There was something off with the rain – it felt sharp and hard and not as wet as she'd expected.

Puzzled, she stopped her scooter by an alleyway and looked around. The street around her were strewn with tiny fragments of ice – the sound was from them hitting the roofs of the nearby buildings. At first she thought it was hail, but when she looked closer she saw that the raindrops were simply frozen solid before they hit ground. At the same time she realized that she could see her own breath. The chill in the air gnawed at her skin straight through her coat and she started to shiver. “Huh, this is weird. It's nowhere near time for winter...”

Then there was another sound. It was unlike anything Scootaloo had ever heard before: A sharp dissonant screeching, like crystal glass being torn apart like paper. She turned to look down the alley and saw a great something materialize seemingly out of nowhere. For a moment space itself seemed to warp like water, turning the apparition into a blotchy mess. Then it cleared up and Scootaloo saw the monster.

It was huge, at least twice the size of the largest pony Scootaloo had ever seen. It resembled a dog or wolf in build, but only vaguely. It had no fur and the skin was dark bluish grey, almost black. It shimmered strangely in the dim light like oil on water. The body looked emaciated, little more than skin stretched over bones. It had no visible ears or nose, save six small holes along its snout that may have been nostrils. The tail was long and tapered like a snake or lizard. The creature stood on four spindly legs ending in three-toed talons with long curved claws, more like those of a bird of prey than the paws of a canine. Its eyes were just two round holes, glowing with a pale blue light.

The cold hit Scootaloo like a wall of ice. It was nothing like what she had felt a few moments ago. This cold burrowed its way down to her bones and seemed to freeze her very soul. It was an overwhelming, unnatural cold, primordial like the touch of death. The ground and walls around the creature were instantly covered in frost.

It looked at her and opened its mouth, letting out a sound that wasn't quite a roar nor quite a shriek. It had no tongue, only rows of sharp icicle teeth and a gullet like a dark hole into nothing.

Scootaloo fled. It wasn't a conscious decision, her body simply moved on its own, turning her scooter around and – powering through the numbing chill – flapping her wings harder than she ever had before. Her scooter raced down the street like a rocket and she heard the creature wail again behind her, distressingly close. She dared to throw a glance behind her and saw to her horror that it had left the alley and was pursuing her with mighty strides. The terror made Scootaloo push herself even harder, ignoring the strain, her wings a buzzing blur.

The weather had grown worse. Luckily, she had the wind in her back, and even the rain seemed to be pushing her forward. Even so, she somehow knew the monster was fast enough to catch up. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was dimly aware that she was heading away from home, down the same road she came, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was escaping. Running away. To where wasn't important.

On pure instinct, she made a sharp turn into another alley. For a moment she felt the creature's icy breath on her neck, then she heard a crashing sound. She'd lucked out: The creature's own cold had frozen the damp ground, causing it to slide and fall when it tried to adjust to her change in direction. Scootaloo knew she had only won a few moments and raced down the alley. It was narrower than the previous one and she hoped the creature would be too large to fit through it. But when she made another turn on the opposing street, she caught a glimpse of it skittering across the wall like a spider. Scootaloo kept going.

The houses were growing scarcer as the chase brought Scootaloo out of town. She knew it would be impossible to evade the monster out in the open, but it was too late to change the route now. She took some comfort in the fact that she was leading it away from Ponyville. If nothing else, the other ponies would be safer that way. The rain had turned the road into a muddy mess, making the scooter harder to control. Scootaloo abandoned the road and headed down a grassy hill. In front of her she saw a dense mass of trees. The Everfree Forest. It was a longshot, but perhaps she could lose the creature in there?

She felt the cold on her back again as her pursuer came sprinting down the hill after her and she could hear the snapping of its jaws. Her heart hammered in her chest and her lungs and muscles burned. Almost blinded by the rain, she barely managed to swerve around a rock in her way. The creature was less nimble and tripped again, causing it to tumble and roll down the hill. Scootaloo didn't bother to check if it got up. She had nearly reached the forest now. Ten yards. Five yards! One!

She dove into the Everfree. The canopy provided some protection from the rain, but that was the last thing on her mind. She still felt the terrible cold behind her, heard the sound of clawed feet running and the snapping of jaws. Worse, she found that her speed made it difficult to maneuver among the trees, and she realized she had made a mistake. The creature could navigate this terrain better than she could.

She ducked under the trunk of an old, half-fallen tree, narrowly avoiding hitting her head. But her panic made her careless and suddenly the front wheel of her scooter got caught in a root sticking out from the ground. The sudden stop and her own momentum flung Scootaloo off her vehicle. She landed hard and rolled across the ground. Her head banged against a moss-covered rock and only her helmet prevented her from immediately passing out.

Her head spinning, she struggled to get up on her hooves, but it was as if all her strength was spent. She saw the monster approach, freezing any plant in its way and shattering them with each step. Entire trees withered in its wake. When it reached the fallen log it dug its claws into the wood and – with strength that seemed impossible for its skeletal frame – casually flung it aside. It struck another tree and broke into pieces like glass. As the creature advanced it stepped on the fallen scooter, breaking it like a twig.

Scootaloo understood. This was the end, and she had never stood a chance to begin with. But even so, a part of her still refused to give up. She struggled to move, crawling slowly forward even though the creature was nearly upon her. Every movement was pain. Digging her hooves into the ground, she saw her rain-soaked coat shimmer with a layer of frost. She had never been so cold in her life. Dark shadows danced before her eyes and she could feel her consciousness slipping away.

Then, all of a sudden, something changed. The air in front of her quivered for a moment, and in the empty space between the trees a structure seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was a small stone tower, old but well maintained, bizarrely out of place in the middle of the wilderness. Scootaloo didn't know if it was a mirage or a dream, but mustering the last of her strength, she reached out with her numb, frozen hoof towards the tower and tried to scream. All she managed was a pathetic croak.

The door to the tower flung open and a figure emerged. It was dressed in a hooded cloak and Scootaloo couldn't see it clearly, but it was tall and walked upright on two legs like a minotaur. However, as it approached the fallen pegasus its shape seemed to shift, bending over and assuming a quadruped gait. The monster let out another shriek. The figure suddenly blazed in a bright golden aura of magic.

Just before she blacked out, Scootaloo felt a wave of warmth washing all the cold away.

Author's Note

That's right, I finally decided to write my own Scootadopt story. Orphan Scootaloo is a bit of a weird concept for me, as it has never made sense in my personal headcanon, but at the same time I do love the stories. At any rate, I just liked this idea too much not to write it.

Now, I know what some of you guys are yelling into your computer screens right now: "Fervidor, you deranged, brilliant madman! What are you doing, starting another novel-length fanfic? You're terrible at keeping those going! Shouldn't you just be focusing on one-shots?"

Good point, hypothetical reader. But thing is, I've been very motivated to write this story and already have, like, a third of it completed. I will be publishing one chapter on a weekly basis. Hopefully that will provide a balance between that sweet gratification I crave and enough time to get the rest written. Besides, I'm not letting all that work go to waste.

Anyway, I really hope you'll all come to like it as much as I do. :twilightsmile:

Kudos goes to MrAskAPirate and Arcum42 for helping me iron out a few early problems.

Two: Fang the Sorceress

Scootaloo's mind drifted on the edge of consciousness, occasionally dipping into oblivion only to float back to the twilight between dream and waking. She didn't know where she was, but though her body felt numb, she was surrounded by warmth. She could vaguely tell she was wrapped up in something soft and fluffy, like the warmest, comfiest blanket she had ever slept in. There was no pain, and the deathly cold of that monstrous thing seemed like a hazy nightmare.

"Tougher than you look, huh?" she thought she heard somepony say. For a moment she believed she saw a pair of golden eyes looking into hers. She tried to speak, but her mouth made no sound, and her mind could find no words to utter.

Wherever she was, she felt completely safe. Protected. Content with this, Scootaloo drifted back to sleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, Scootaloo found herself in a bed under a soft blanket. For a few moments she believed she was back in her own bed and that everything had been just a vivid dream. Blinking as her head slowly cleared up, she pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around. She was not in her home – the room was completely unfamiliar to her.

The walls were plain stone masonry with no windows and only one door. The floor was wooden, as was the ceiling, with large exposed beams. There were a few paintings with flower motifs, blossoming trees and mountainous landscapes, but otherwise the room was sparsely furnished. A few lanterns along the walls spread a dim yellow glow that couldn't quite chase the shadows away. Everything looked very old but well-maintained.

The air smelled strange; fragrant yet smokey, like burnt wood mixed with perfumes, thick and heavy and dry. It was a very potent, ever-lingering smell that flooded her mind as she breathed it in, but at the same time she found it soothing. Looking around, she noticed a pot on a nightstand next to the bed. It was filled with sand and had narrow wooden sticks standing on end, burning slowly at the top. Incense, she figured.

While Scootaloo took all of this in, the memories came flooding back. She shivered at the recollection of being chased by the monster, now anything but dreamlike. Realizing how close she'd come to dying made her feel nauseous and she struggled to push that thought away.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recalled the loss of her scooter. It saddened her, of course, but it was a calm, dull sadness. It seemed strange she wasn't more upset – it had been her most treasured possession, after all. Perhaps she was just too dazed and bewildered to cry over it. At any rate, it was just a thing. It would be difficult to replace, but at least she was still alive.

How did she survive, anyway? She gently moved her body, checking for injuries. Every muscle felt stiff but she appeared to be completely unharmed.

"H-Hello?" she called out, weakly at first, then with a firmer voice. "Hello? Is there anypony here?"

A few heartbeats passed, then the wooden door opened and an unfamiliar pony stepped inside. An earth pony mare; taller than average, slender and beautiful like the models on the magazine covers. Her flowing mane and large, fluffy tail were light blonde, almost white, and her coat was pale gold. Her ears were long and somewhat pointy, and her eyes gleamed like amber in the light. Scootaloo couldn't see the cutie mark clearly from her angle, but it looked to her like a red sun.

"Oh, good, you're awake," the mare said. "You almost had me worried there, child. You've been sleeping for the last three hours."

"Three hours?" Scootaloo scratched her mane in confusion. "What happened to me?"

"A nasty case of frostbite," the mare explained. Her voice was soft and melodic, her tone dry and aloof. "Plus a few scratches and bruises, a mild concussion and a couple of sprains. I was able to heal you up, but you were still pretty exhausted so I just let you sleep it off. You're welcome, by the way."

"Sorry," Scootaloo mumbled, feeling sheepish all of a sudden. "Thank you."

There was a pause. The mare cocked her head. "So? Do you have a name, or should I just keep calling you 'child'?"

"Oh, right. I'm Scootaloo."

"Well, Scootaloo," the mare grinned slightly, "it appears you are both a very unlucky and incredibly fortunate little pony. It's rare for anyone to run across a gaunthound, much less live to tell about it."

"Gaunthound?" Scootaloo frowned. "Is that what that monster was? I've never heard of those before."

"To be honest, I'm not even sure what it was doing in Equestria to begin with," the mare said in a musing tone, gazing into nothing as if in deep thought. "They don't really belong on this plane of reality, you see. They are creatures born from negative dimensions, hunting in the chaos spheres beyond normal space and feeding off wild magic. Normally they wouldn't pay attention to a world like this. It's quite unusual..."

"Wait, hold on," Scootaloo interrupted. "I'm really confused now. Who are you, anyway, and where am I?"

"Ah, yes," the mare said, "I forgot we were still doing introductions. I am Fang, the great sorceress. And this..." she made a sweeping gesture with her hoof. "...is the Rook, my humble home."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "You're a sorceress?"

"Yes?" Fang gave her a puzzled look. "Isn't that obvious, seeing as I just saved your life with magic?"

"Well..." Scootaloo hesitated, then shook her head. Best to stay on Fang's good side for now. "Nevermind. So, why did that, uh, gaunthound come after me?"

"That's what I can't figure out," Fang said. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Scootaloo still didn't want to think too hard about the encounter, but still managed to give an accurate if somewhat laconic account of what had happened from the moment the hound appeared up to the point where she blacked out.

"So," Fang said once she'd finished, "you're telling me that creature just showed up out of nowhere, then actually chased you all the way from your town and into the forest?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Pretty much."

Fang frowned and scratched her chin. "That is really strange."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"Because a gaunthound attacking a single pegasus child doesn't make any sense," Fang said. "It should barely have been able to notice you, much less consider you prey. It's like a tiger hunting a mosquito." She glanced at Scootaloo. "Speaking of which, why didn't you just fly away?"

Scootaloo tensed up. She'd hoped to be able to avoid that question. "...I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?" Fang raised an eyebrow. "Isn't flying the whole point of your kind? You never learned how?"

"No, I mean I literally can't." Scootaloo hung her head, trying to fight off the bitterness welling up inside her. "I have a condition, okay? It's called Rince Wind Syndrome. We pegasi fly by using our natural magic to lift us up, but my body doesn't produce enough of it. So I can't fly, and there's a good chance I never will."

"Huh?" Fang leaned in, giving the filly a closer look. "And yet you were able to outrun a gaunthound on a scooter. Most adult pegasi wouldn't have been able to pull that off. You are a rather intriguing pony, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo looked up from her pout, seeing the mare look at her with genuine interest. Fang had strange eyes, she realized. The color wasn't unheard of among ponies, but there was something about the way Fang's pupils dilated in the gloom and a sort of focused curiosity in her gaze, like a cat observing potential prey. Scootaloo suddenly wondered what she had gotten herself into, and what this strange pony's true intentions where.

Then her stomach growled loudly, immediately breaking the tension.

"Oh, are you hungry?" Fang asked. "Nevermind, silly question. You're obviously hungry. Won't you join me for dinner?"

"I... don't want to impose," Scootaloo replied, still feeling cautious.

"Nonsense!" Fang said. "You are my guest, after all. Besides, you need to eat if you are to regain your strength. Come along now."

Beckoning Scootaloo to follow her, she turned to the door and a bright saffron glow of magic turned the handle. It seemed she wouldn't take no for an answer, so Scootaloo climbed out of the bed, ignoring the lingering stiffness in her body. In truth, she was pretty hungry.

Beyond the door was a short hallway with stairs leading up in one end and an open archway in the other. Fang closed the door behind them, cutting off the incense before much could escape. The air was much cooler and fresher outside of the room, but still carried a faint scent of candle wax, old paper, strange herbs and dust. Fang led them through the open passage and into a large round room that seemed to be a combination of library, study and workshop.

The place was a wonderful mess: There were bookcases packed full of old, worn tomes. There were tables covered with alchemy equipment, quills and ink bottles, scrolls and more books, some of which had been left open mid-reading. Scootaloo spotted a metronome and an orrery, several clockwork devices with no apparent purpose, and statuettes depicting the strangest creatures. She saw an old blackboard covered in diagrams, formulas and symbols she couldn't read. There were cabinets and chests overflowing with vials, bottles and jars, and strange tools made from old brass and slightly rusted steel. Expensive-looking porcelain vases had been unceremoniously stuffed with even more random trinkets. A pair of broad-bladed bronze swords hung somewhat haphazardly on an improvised rack made from a pair of large antlers, though Scootaloo couldn't tell what sort of animal they had originated from.

Looking past the disarray, she noted a certain theme in the furniture and decor: Many round shapes decorated with geometrical patterns, clashing somewhat with the plain, square stone walls of the building itself. The style made Scootaloo think of those martial arts movies Rainbow had taken her to see on occasion. Turning her head up, she saw that the domed ceiling of the room had been painted to resemble a star map, and imposed upon it were four creatures: A tiger, a turtle, a bird, and a coiling snake-like dragon. The latter reminded her a little of Discord.

Without a word, Fang led them through the room and to another door, once again turning the handle with magic rather than using her hooves. Cautiously eyeing her host, Scootaloo could now tell that Fang's cutie mark was not in fact a sun, but rather a circle of red dots with pointed tails curving outwards. They mostly looked like commas to her eye. She had no clue what the mark was supposed to mean. Maybe Fang was really good at punctuation?

The next room appeared to be a kitchen, marginally tidier than the previous one if only due to having less clutter. Fang gestured to a table by a large fireplace where a stack of dry logs lay unlit among old ashes. "Have a seat. I don't do much cooking myself, but I have a lot of food stored away so I'm sure I can find something."

Scootaloo sat down by the table. She wasn't quite sure what Fang meant by "stored away", but the mare opened a small pantry and stuck her head and hooves into it, her entire upper body disappearing from view. Scootaloo couldn't see what she was doing, but she could hear Fang rummage around inside, humming to herself.

After a few moments Fang pulled her head out. "How about chicken? Everybody likes chicken."

Scootaloo blinked. "...Chicken? As in the bird?"

Fang cocked her head. "There's another kind of chicken?"

"And... you expect me to eat one?" Scootaloo asked, her face involuntarily scrunching up in a grimace at the mere thought.

"Okay. Everybody does not like chicken. Good to know." Fang stuck her head back into the pantry. "I think I have some venison stew in here, if I can remember where I put it..."

"What's venison?" Scootaloo asked, already dreading the answer.

"It's deer meat."

Scootaloo was starting to feel less hungry now. "Um, ponies don't eat meat," she pointed out.

Fang pulled her head out of the pantry and frowned. "...Oh. Right." She nodded slowly. "Herbivores. Silly me. Well, that's fine, I can work with that." She dived back in and the rummaging sounds intensified. "Let's see, carrots, apples... Hey, I've got some tomato soup in here. Do you eat tomato soup?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Scootaloo quietly sighed in relief. At this point, she was happy to eat anything that didn't use to have a face.

Fang retreated from the pantry, bringing along a large tureen along with some plates with bread and cheese, all of which she levitated to the table. As she set it down, she threw a glance at the fireplace and her eyes flashed slightly. The logs suddenly burst into flame, causing Scootaloo to jump in her seat from surprise.

Fang proceeded to lift the tureen lid, revealing it to be full of soup that was somehow steaming hot. She then levitated a pair of bowls, some spoons and knives and a ladle out of the cupboards. Just as she was about to place them on the table, she noticed that Scootaloo was sitting very still, staring at her.

Her eyes narrowing, Fang finished setting the table. "You seem nervous, Scootaloo," she said. "Something on your mind?"

Scootaloo kept looking at her in silence for a moment before answering. "You're not really a pony, are you?"

Fang seemed taken aback by the question, raising an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think that?"

"Well... For starters, you don't seem to really know what ponies eat," Scootaloo replied. "And you've been using words like 'everybody' instead of 'everypony'."

"Oh, is that all?" Fang shrugged. "I just haven't been around other ponies in a long time. I just got back to Equestria after traveling abroad for many years. I must have picked up a lot of local habits and customs along the way."

"I guess that would make sense," Scootaloo admitted, "but I'm pretty sure I saw you transform before, just before I passed out. You were walking on two legs and then suddenly you were walking on four."

"I told you, I'm a sorceress," Fang said. "It's not unheard of for magicians to change form on occasion. And anyway, just because I can shapeshift it doesn't mean I'm not a pony."

"Speaking of magic," Scootaloo carried on, "you've been using spells to levitate stuff, but you're an earth pony, not a unicorn."

"Ah..." Fang suddenly raised her hoof to her forehead, then let it slid down across her eyes. She groaned. "Damn it all, I forgot the horn! I can't believe I missed that."

"And, well..." Scootaloo raised her hoof to point. "Your shadow is acting weird."

Fang turned her head to look at the wall behind her. The shadow she cast from the light of the fireplace was much larger than it should have been, and full of strange shapes that should not have been there.

Almost immediately, the shadow shrunk down and formed a more appropriate silhouette. At the same time, a long horn grew out of Fang's head like a wisp of smoke. She sighed. "Fine, you got me. I'm not a pony. Good grief, I'm really getting sloppy."

"So, if you're not a pony, what are you?" Scootaloo asked. "Some kind of changeling?"

Fang broke into a hearty chuckle. "Oh goodness, no. I'm something much more... exotic than that. Still, I'd like to keep at least some of my secrets for now." She turned serious, but gave Scootaloo a gentle look. "Are you afraid of me?"

Scootaloo frowned, then shook her head. "Not really. I mean, you did save my life. And I guess if you wanted to eat me or whatever, you could have done that while I was knocked out. You're a bit strange, but you don't seem very scary."

Fang grinned. "Brave and sharp. I like that." Sitting down opposite of the pegasus, she levitated the ladle and poured them each a bowlful of soup. "Now, let's eat before we both starve to death."

Scootaloo took the spoon and scooped up some of the hot red soup, blowing on it before putting it in her mouth. It wasn't a dish she was used to, but she was surprised at how good it was. It was just salty enough to bring out the taste of the tomatoes, slightly spicy and with a noticeable hint of garlic. She felt something slightly hard and chewed on it, finding it to be a piece of leek.

A strange feeling came over her, warm and turbulent, like she was happy and sad at the same time. She soon recognized it as the same feeling she got whenever Rainbow would take time off to hang out with her, or when she was around Sweetie and Apple Bloom and remembered how lucky she was to have met them. It seemed strange she would feel that way now, in this strange house with this mysterious creature she just met. But eating with somepony else felt... nice.

Was she really that lonely?

"Fang?" she said quietly.

"Hm?" Fang looked up from her soup, of which she had already devoured several spoonfuls. A few red smudges stained her muzzle.

"I..." Scootaloo drew a deep breath. "Thank you. For saving me, I mean. I know I already said it, but I seriously thought I was going to die back there. So... really, thank you."

It seemed a silly thing to say. Those words didn't even begin to describe what she truly felt.

But Fang just smiled. "Hey, didn't I tell you? You're welcome."

"Yeah." Scootaloo didn't know what else to say, so she went back to eating.

"By the way," Fang said, "are you a boy pony or a girl pony?"

Scootaloo nearly choked on her soup.

The rest of the meal passed without incident and a good mood was quickly established. Fang used her magic to levitate the cheese and bread, and conjured flames to make grilled cheese sandwiches. She was an odd character: Blunt and aloof, but relaxed and playful at the same time. Scootaloo felt comfortable in her company, and what little unease she still harbored melted away.

"So you told me you'd been away for a while," she said. "Why did you come back to Equestria?"

"I'm here for..." Fang paused and seemed to search for the right word. "...let's call it a vacation. I've had a pretty stressful couple of years and I need to recuperate. So I figured I'd set up shop here for a while and do some magical research, maybe get in touch with a couple of old friends."

"That's nice," Scootaloo said. "Do you still know where they live?"

"Oh, they shouldn't be hard to find," Fang chuckled. "The sun is still rising and setting, so I'm guessing Celestia is still calling the shots around here, at least."

Scootaloo's mouth fell open. "You're friends with Princess Celestia?"

"Why yes!" Fang seemed thoroughly amused by the reaction. "We go way back. And I know Princess Cadence too. Is she still around?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded. "Sorta. She's the ruler of the Crystal Empire now, but she sometimes visits Princess Twilight here in Ponyville."

"Princess Twilight?" Fang's eyes widened and she suddenly leaned closer. "Wait, that wouldn't be Princess Twilight Sparkle, by any chance? Purple unicorn, huge nerd?"

"Yeah, but she's an alicorn now," Scootaloo clarified. "You know her too?"

Fang laughed. "Yeah, I know her. We met back in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns last time I was in Canterlot. Goodness me, I can't believe that little bookworm actually became an alicorn princess! So you're saying not only has the Crystal Empire returned, but there's now three alicorns around?"

"Four," Scootaloo said. "Princess Luna came back a while ago."

"Luna's back?" Fang grinned widely. "This just keeps getting better and better."

"Actually, make that five alicorns," Scootaloo corrected. "I almost forgot about Princess Flurry Heart. She's Cadence's baby."

Fang's stopped grinning, looking confused instead. "Hold on. The baby turned into an alicorn?"

"Nah, she was born that way," Scootaloo said. "At least, that's what I heard. I think she nearly blew up the Crystal Empire or something, but apparently they've got her under control now."

Fang turned silent for a moment. "...Well, I'll be damned. Now I wish I came back sooner. Sounds like I missed out on some pretty interesting times."

"Yeah, these last couple of years have been really crazy, now that I think about it," Scootaloo mused.

It didn't take much longer to finish the meal, and once the food had been depleted Scootaloo put her spoon down with a content sigh. "Thanks for the soup and the sandwiches. It was delicious."

"So, how are you feeling now?" Fang asked.

"I feel fine," Scootaloo said, but then wobbled slightly when she stood up from the table. "Um, a bit drowsy, I guess, and my legs feel a bit weak."

"Hm?" Fang gave her a critical look. "Your vitality should be fully restored by now. It may just be that you ate too much, but perhaps I should measure your thaumatic spectrum just to be safe."

Scootaloo frowned. "Yeah, I have no idea what you just said."

"It means I check your magic signature for irregularities," Fang explained. "I'm certain your body is completely healthy, but gaunthounds are powerful mystic creatures and it's possible it did some metaphysical damage as well."

"Metaphysical...?" Scootaloo felt a spike of icy dread through her heart when she pieced together what Fang was saying. "Are you telling me it might have hurt my magic?"

Fang shrugged. "Like I said, it may be nothing. To be honest I don't exactly know how pony magic reacts to them. But at least in theory..."

"Let's do it!"

Fang led Scootaloo into another large chamber – this one was some sort of laboratory and looked more serious than the study. The center of the room was dominated by a device that looked like an octagonal bronze pillar with the top angled down at chest height, presenting what seemed to be a control panel. It had a big glass lens in the middle and was covered in glowing buttons, dials and levers sticking out.

Along the walls were a few tables and lockers, but most of the space was occupied by other machines of various designs, all of which looked incomprehensible to Scootaloo. The only thing she could compare it to was the equally baffling scientific equipment she had seen at Twilight's place. She recalled that Twilight had supposedly met Fang as a filly, and she briefly wondered if that had something to do with how the young princess had turned out.

Ignoring the centerpiece, Fang approached one of the larger machines. It was mostly just a big metal box covered in blinking lights and buttons, but it was also coupled to a platform with an intricate star-shaped seal drawn on it. "Alright, let's do some mad science!"

Scootaloo hesitated. "Um..."

"That was a joke." Fang pointed at the platform. "Just sit down here, this won't take long."

Scootaloo swallowed. She was not a filly who would easily admit to being scared, but for the second time that day she was utterly terrified. What if the machine said she was even more magically crippled than before? She absolutely couldn't afford that. It wouldn't be fair. Part of her wondered if it would be better to go on not knowing, but she realized thinking about it would just drive her crazy. Better to find out for sure. Trying to keep her legs from shaking, she stepped unto the platform and sat down at the center. "Okay, now what?"

"Now I'm going to scan your magical aura," Fang said. "This might tickle a bit, but it won't hurt you." She flipped a switch and pushed a few buttons on the machine, causing it to start humming. The seal underneath Scootaloo started to glow faintly white, and she felt a prickling sensation across her entire body. It was mildly uncomfortable, but nothing she couldn't put up with.

After a short while, the machine went bing and spat out a long piece of paper from a slot. Fang tore the paper off and looked at it, mumbling as she read: "Theta spectrum general value twenty five, stable. Cardinal pathway resonance negative zero error? Peak magnitude negative ten by the power of five error?" She looked up from the readings with a puzzled expression. "Well, that can't possibly be right."

"What does that mean?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nothing, it's complete nonsense." Fang tossed the paper aside and started pushing buttons. "The machine clearly isn't reading you correctly, I need to calibrate it. Stay put and don't worry about it."

Scootaloo did as told, though the whole thing was starting to make her nervous. Fang turned a dial on the machine all the way around. It started to hum louder and the prickling feeling grew more intense. Scootaloo shivered but forced herself to stay calm.

All of a sudden the seal blazed in a bright purple light, sparks dancing along the rim. Fang jerked back as every single light on the machine exploded at once. The next moment, the seal went dark and the machine was silenced. Black smoke started to seep out of it.

"Um, whoops?" Fang said. She lit a spell with her horn, spraying the machine with a cold stream of gas. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Are you okay, Scootaloo?"

"I-I'm fine, I think," Scootaloo stammered. The event had spooked her, but she seemed unharmed. "What was that?"

"Aaah..." Fang glanced at her, then the machine. "Old piece of junk must have short-circuited or something. Guess this was a bust."

Scootaloo stepped off the platform with slightly shaky knees. "So, now what?"

"We'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way." Fang opened a nearby locker and started digging around inside. "I think I put it somewhere... Aha! Here it is."

She pulled out a cylindrical brass device about the size of a lunchbox, with a dial and a few buttons on the side. Pushing a button caused hatches to open in both ends – a short telescopic lens folded out from one side and a small round monitor appeared from the other.

Scootaloo gave the object a dubious look. It mostly resembled a cross between a bizarre camera and an oversized spyglass. "What's that?"

"This is a thaumascope," Fang replied. "A bit more primitive than the spectral scanner but it should give me a good look at your aura and at least it won't explode on me. Hold still, please." She pointed the device at Scootaloo and looked into the monitor while the lens adjusted itself with a whirring sound.

Scootaloo fidgeted, waiting for the verdict. Fang remained silent for a moment, but her eyes narrowed. "..Huh."

"What?" Scootaloo asked.

Fang didn't answer. After another brief pause she abruptly folded the thaumascope back in on itself. "Well, at any rate, it doesn't seem the gaunthound did any damage to your magic."

"R-Really?" Scootaloo felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"Really," Fang nodded. "I can practically guarantee that your magic is no weaker now than it was before the attack."

"Thank goodness!" Scootaloo sighed. "I was really worried for a while there."

Fang chuckled and placed the thaumascope on a nearby table. Giving Scootaloo a glance from the corner of her eye, she asked: "So what will you do now?"

Scootaloo recalled that she had been unconscious for three hours. Factoring in the time she had spent in Fang's company since... "Well, it must be getting pretty late, and I have school tomorrow so I probably shouldn't stay up much longer."

"You're welcome to stay the night if you want," Fang said. "I have several guest rooms."

Scootaloo felt tempted to accept the offer, but hesitated. The accident with the scanner had put her on edge, and her previous unease returned. Fang was still a stranger to her - she didn't even know what this sorceress really was, much less who she was. Scootaloo's eyes wandered across the cold scientific equipment and realized that ever since the subject of her magic came up, Fang seemed to have taken an interest in her. And somehow Scootaloo knew there was something Fang wasn't telling her.

"Ah, thanks," she said, "but I should really be getting home."

Fang looked a bit disappointed, but nodded. "Yes, of course. What was I thinking? Your parents must be worried sick about you."

"Y-Yeah," Scootaloo mumbled, looking away.

"Well, at least let me escort you home," Fang said. "Make sure you get there without any hassle. You do seem to have a certain talent for getting into trouble."

"Oh, you don't need to do that!" Scootaloo said, perhaps a little too fast. "I mean, I know the way and I'm sure you have important magic stuff to do..."

"Nonsense, I insist." Fang walked over to the pillar-like machine at the center of the room. "Ponyville, correct?"

"Um, yeah?" Scootaloo wasn't sure what she meant by that.

Fang twisted two of the dials and pulled a lever. A very faint shudder seemed to run through the entire building. Fang headed towards the door. "There we go. Come along, Scootaloo. Let's get you home."

Scootaloo followed her, still trying to think of a way to avoid having Fang follow her all the way to the house. Perhaps she could convince her to turn back once they reached town? But when Fang opened the door and stepped through, Scootaloo's plans came to a sudden halt. She stopped at the threshold and stared.

The hallway on the other side was gone, replaced by what seemed to be a Ponyville street.

Fang looked over her shoulder and grinned. "Are you coming?"

Still not quite believing what she was seeing, Scootaloo stepped outside. She knew this neighborhood: They were just behind Quills and Sofas. Turning around, she saw the doorway leading back to Fang's laboratory through a wall she was sure wasn't supposed to have a door. A moment later it closed behind her on its own.

Fang looked up at the great tree-shaped crystal palace towering over the town. "I'm guessing that's where Twilight lives these days?" She chuckled. "I know you ponies like putting your cutie marks on everything, but that's a bit excessive, don't you think?"

Scootaloo wasn't really listening, still trying to figure out what just happened. "Wait, how did we get here?"

"My tower's position in local space is a bit subjective," Fang said. "It's how I travel most of the time. It can appear anywhere I want, and I can arrange the doors so they lead to different places if they're relatively nearby. I don't know exactly where you live, though, so I just opened that one at the town center. You'll have to show the way from here."

"Oh. Okay." Too dazed to protest, Scootaloo started walking.

It seemed it was even later than she had estimated – the sun had retreated and evening was steadily approaching night. Fortunately, the storm from earlier had already been cleared away by the weather team, leaving only damp streets and a slightly overcast sky. Scootaloo led them down the streets in the direction of her house, resigned to the fact that she would not be able to ditch Fang. A cold wind blew past and caused her to shiver.

"Fang?" she said. "Do... Do you think the gaunthound is still around?"

"Hm?" Fang shook her head. "No, I wouldn't worry about that. The fact that one appeared at all was astronomically unlikely, and I shot it up with enough magic to give it a serious heartburn. It won't be back. Besides, I'll be monitoring the area from now on. If it does show up again, I'll know about it."

"Oh. Good," Scootaloo said. At least that was a silver lining. "Well, in that case, don't you think I'll be fine from here?"

"True," Fang said, "but I should at least help you explain to your family where you've been these past few hours. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble with them on top of everything else."

"I seriously doubt that," Scootaloo tried. "They're very... understanding."

"That's nice," Fang said, showing absolutely no sign of having changed her mind on the issue.

Scootaloo suppressed a sigh. She could already see the facade of her house – they had reached it far too soon for her liking. Her home was not too different than any of the other ponyville residences. It had the same thatched roof and the same pastel painted walls. It was a bit smaller than average, though, and the two pillars by the front door suggested an influence of traditional pegasus architecture. A purple picket fence surrounded a lawn and garden that had gone unattended for a long time. The house stood silent at the end of the street, and the windows were dark.

"Well, here we are," Scootaloo said, stopping by the fence and wishing one last time Fang would just turn and leave.

Fang simply stood there and looked at the house for a moment. She had a half puzzled, half critical look on her face, as if she had expected something different. "This is where you live?"

"Yep, home sweet home!" Scootaloo forced a smile.

"I see." Fang suddenly walked up to the front door and pulled it open.

"Wha- Hey! Hold on a minute!" Scootaloo tried to protest, but Fang had already entered.

"Hello?" the sorceress shouted, looking around the entryway. "I brought your kid back! Anypony home?"

Scootaloo followed her inside with a hanging head and dragging hooves. Everything was falling apart. "...There's nopony here."

"What do you mean?" Fang asked. "Where are your parents?"

"They're... not here," Scootaloo mumbled.

Fang rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've established that. I'm asking where they are."

Scootaloo ground her teeth, her patience finally wearing thin. "I don't have any parents, okay? I'm an orphan. My mom and dad are dead."

Fang blinked and stared at her. "What? Both of them?"

"Yes! Both of them!" Scootaloo snapped. "That's what being an orphan means!"

Fang frowned. "Well, why didn't you just say so?"

"Because it's kinda private and I don't like talking about it," Scootaloo said, hoping the sharp emphasis would be enough for Fang to finally get the hint.

If she did, Fang didn't show it. She just went back to pacing around the room, inspecting at the walls and furniture with the same critical look. "Still, there has to be somebody around who's taking care of you."

"There's Mr Warden," Scootaloo muttered. "He checks in on me once in a while, makes sure I'm not sick and have food and stuff. Most of the time it's just me, though."

Fang stopped pacing. "You can't be serious. How old are you, eight?"

"I'm twelve," Scootaloo growled.

"And you're telling me they're just letting you live here alone? In this house?" Fang wrinkled her muzzle, as if she'd smelled something unpleasant. "I thought you ponies were supposed to care about each other."

Her words stuck Scootaloo like a knife. Anger started welling out like blood from an open wound. "Hey! I don't need anypony to look after me! I've managed just fine so far and I can take care of myself!"

Fang let out a snort. "Except for today, you mean?"

"Arrgh!" Scootaloo stomped her hoof in frustration. She'd had enough of this. "I think it's time for you to leave!"

The outburst actually made Fang jerk back slightly in surprise, her eyes widening. "...You're kicking me out?"

"I suppose I am," Scootaloo huffed, raising her face in defiance. "'Cause this is my house and I want to be alone now."

For a moment they just stood there, looking at each other – Fang in mild bewilderment, Scootaloo glaring angrily, a tense silence between them.

Then Fang shrugged. "Very well, if that's how you feel." She turned around and lit her horn, her magic glow turning the handle of the door. She didn't look back as she left. "It was nice meeting you, Scootaloo. While it lasted, anyway."

Her words were calm and measured, with none of the condescending edge Scootaloo had come to expect from adults she talked back to. She didn't slam the door behind her, but the sound of it closing still seemed to echo throughout the house. It was the hard, definitive sound of something ending.

Scootaloo remained standing in the same spot for a moment, still fuming. Then she drew a deep breath, trying to calm down a bit, and turned around. Without really thinking about it she wandered into the kitchen, but then remembered she had already eaten earlier. The break from her normal routines threw her off a little, and suddenly she wasn't sure what to do. She supposed she might as well retreat to her room, maybe read something before going to bed.

Her room. It occurred to her how absurd it was to call it that. Every room in the house was 'her room', really. The one she called her own was just the place where she kept her stuff, and somewhere she could shut the door behind her to keep the rest of the emptiness out.

Too many rooms. It was a small house, but it was still too large for her, plain and simple. The rage that had burned inside her just a minute ago quickly faded away, and then she felt the emptiness all around her – cloying, crushing. She was drowning in it. The silence hurt her ears.

Before she knew it, she had turned on her hoofs and galloped back to the entryway. Maybe it wasn't too late? She threw the door wide open and...

Fang was gone. Ponyville lay silent in the early autumn evening. Standing there in the doorway, Scootaloo felt a breeze blow across her face, chilly and moist from the previous storm.

At the base of the doorsteps, leaning against one of the white stone pillars, stood her scooter.

Dumbfounded, Scootaloo walked down the steps and slowly reached out to it, as if fearing it was some kind of trick and would vanish in a puff of smoke. But it was solid to the touch. It was real. There was no sign of damage from when the gaunthound trampled it. In fact, it looked pristine. Even the old scruffs and scratches it had accumulated over the years were gone. Her helmet was there as well, resting on the deck, as good as new.

Scootaloo bit her lips and felt her eyes stinging. What exactly had her plan been, anyway? Beg Fang to stay, after blowing up on her like that? Apologize for yelling and asking if spending the night in her magic tower was still on the table? Everything was so confusing. Fang was rude and nosy and insensitive and apparently didn't grasp the concept of privacy at all. So why did Scootaloo feel bad about her leaving? Was she just desperate for company? Could they have been... friends?

Scootaloo sighed. Not anymore, she wagered. After all that, she doubted Fang would want to see her again. Anyway, why should she care? She had friends. She had Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and she had Rainbow Dash. She even got along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon these days, for crying out loud. What more could she want? She didn't need Fang.

Scootaloo retreated into her home, taking her scooter and helmet with her. The house at the end of the street lay dark and silent like a tomb.

Scootaloo didn't sleep well that night. Though she had managed to avoid thinking about the gaunthound attack up to that point, it seemed she couldn't close her eyes without seeing its unearthly blue glare in the darkness and that terrible maw snapping after her. As soon as she managed to drift off into an uneasy slumber, she would wake up in a jolt of panic, convinced she'd heard the distant echo of its shriek or sound of clawed talons pacing just beyond her walls.

The third time it happened, she just sat up in her bed with her blanket around her shoulders and struggled to calm herself down. It didn't seem Luna would pay her a visit this night. Perhaps Scootaloo just couldn't sleep long enough for the night princess to notice.

There was a full moon out that night. The silvery light shone through Scootaloo's window and illuminated her sparse possessions adorning the room. A few posters and flags, some old toys she had outgrown but kept around for sentimental value, a picture of Rainbow Dash. They gave her comfort and made at least that one corner of the house feel something like a home, but they did not make it seem safer.

Her thoughts returned to Fang, but her feelings were still confused. In retrospect she should probably have been more forgiving, out of gratitude to Fang for saving her if nothing else. But the fact remained that she knew nothing about the sorceress, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Fang hadn't told her the whole truth about her magic. The only thing Scootaloo had really learned was that Fang was not a pony, that she had been away from Equestria for a long time, and that she was apparently friends with the princesses.

Then it occurred to Scootaloo: Twilight Sparkle was a great magician too, and really smart. Not to mention, she was used to dealing with monsters and weird things like that. Talking to her would probably be a good idea. She definitely ought to know a dangerous monster had shown up in Ponyville, at any rate, and Scootaloo could ask her about Fang while she was at it.

Yes, Twilight would know what to do. Scootaloo decided to go see her the next day first thing after school. Somehow, having a plan made her feel more at ease, so she lay back down and tried to push all other thoughts away. Eventually, she managed to fall asleep.

Author's Note

Introducing my OC, Fang. As I'm sure you can already tell, she's totally a blatant Mary Sue.

...But seriously, I do hope you guys will like her. Otherwise we're in for a bit of a rough ride.

Ten: Monster.

Fang and Byakkasha could only stare at the creature, feeling the raw power it emited pressing against them. The pony stood still, her face void of any expression, all while the aura of shadow kept dancing around her body.

"Scootaloo?" Fang said, but the filly didn't react.

"Fang, what the hell did you do to that kid?" Byakkasha hissed.

When he spoke, the monster turned its head to look at him. It raised a hoof and took a step forward, and the ground shook as if by a terrible weight. Byakkasha was overwhelmed by an unnatural feeling of dread, as if it was death itself that approached him.

"H-Hey! You stay away!" he cried and, panicking, fired a bolt of lightning at the pony from his tails.

The bolt swerved in the air, twisting into a spiral before being sucked into the black spot at the center of the monster's chest and disappearing completely. The monster was unharmed. Its expression didn't change, but it spread its wings and the black aura surged, forming two much larger wings flaring from its back – wings made out of jagged shadow, each one as large as the monster's own body.

The ground under the monster's hooves was suddenly crushed into a deep crater, as if struck by something large and heavy. But the creature itself remained exactly where it was, hovering for a moment before rising into the air. It raised a hoof, pointing at the tiger.

Sensing the build of power, Fang immediately leapt away from Byakkasha just as a terrible force was brought down on him, pressing him against the ground. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to push against it with all his strength, but even so he could only barely remain on his paws.

The monster made another gesture with its hoof. The force abruptly reversed and Byakkasha was pulled into the air, only to be slammed back down like a ragdoll. The monster made a pulling motion and the tiger was once again lifted upwards, this time flung into a collision course with the dark creature. As he closed in, the monster struck him hard in the abdomen with an uppercut. For a moment nothing happened, then all the power behind the blow seemed to release at once. It launched Byakkasha into a wide arc and he landed hard on the ground, rolling a few times before stopping. He let out a pained whimper, then lay still, out for the count.

Still hovering above the ground, the monster turned its head and looked at the nine-tailed fox, as if trying to judge if she too posed a threat.

Fang had faced many dangers and encountered many strange powers in her long life, but she could sense that this was beyond even her understanding. Her supernatural senses didn't even register this dark creature as a pony at all. Its magic was immensely heavy and felt unnatural and warped. Even so, Fang still sensed Scootaloo through their bond, though the girl seemed distant and silent.

Hesitating for but a moment, Fang took a step forward. "Scootaloo?" she said. There was no response. Fang focused her will on the bond and tried again. "Scootaloo, can you hear me? I know you're still in there. It's over. We've won. You don't need to do this anymore. Whatever is happening to you, wherever you are right now, you need to come back to me!"

For a few more moments, the creature just kept looking at her. Then the black aura faded along with the oppressive power. Fang could see Scootaloo's eyes return to normal just before they closed, and then the filly simply dropped out of the air.

Fang quickly caught Scootaloo with her tails, gently curling them around the little pony before setting her down on the ground. Bending over, the fox looked down at her familiar with a worried look on her face. "Scootaloo? Are you alright?"

"I'm... cold..." Scootaloo's eyes flittered open and she groaned. "...Fang? What happened?"

"I was rather hoping you could tell me that," Fang replied.

Sitting up, Scootaloo gently shook her head to clear it. "I don't know. That's never happened to me before. It was as if... as if I was stuck inside myself while something else was controlling me. I could see you and Byakkasha but I couldn't do anything to stop myself. Or, I dunno, more like I didn't want to do anything about it. I didn't want to think about any of it, like it didn't matter. I hurt Byakkasha..." She looked up at the fox and frowned. "Fang... I-I think I was about to hurt you too!"

Letting out a sigh, Fang smiled at her. "Well, you didn't, and that's what counts."

"It was the curse," Scootaloo whispered, looking down at her hooves. "Wasn't it?"

Fang nodded. "More than likely. A sort of... defense mechanism, perhaps? It was designed to protect itself, after all. But we can figure that out later. You're safe now, it's over."

"It's... not... over!"

They both turned their heads to see Byakkasha struggling to his paws, gritting his fangs and digging his claws into the dirt. Small sparks shot from his tail as he tried in vain to summon magic for a spell. "It's... It's not over yet, Fang!"

Fang opened her mouth to speak, but in the same moment Scootaloo stood up and started to walk over to the tiger. Fang frowned. "Scootaloo?"

"Give it a rest, Byakkasha," Scootaloo said as she approached him without even a hint of fear. "You're just being stubborn now. Fang's right, it's over."

"No!" Byakkasha growled. "I can't give up now! I've waited too long for this! You don't understand! You don't know what she did to me!"

"You're right," Scootaloo said. "I guess I don't. But I do know what it feels like to be left behind. I know what it's like to be alone. It hurts, and sometimes you get angry at everything because you don't know how to deal with it. But I don't think you hate Fang, and I don't think hurting her is what you really want. I could feel it while you two were fighting. You still care about her, don't you?"

"No, I don't!" Byakkasha yelled. "I never mattered to her, so why should she matter to me? I only cared because I was weak, and now I'm stronger than ever! I don't need her anymore!"

"Then why are you crying?" Scootaloo asked.

"...W-What?" Stunned, Byakkasha raised a paw to his face. Tears were running from his sky-blue eyes, slowly dripping unto the fallen leaves on the ground. "N-No, I don't... This can't be..."

"Byakkasha." Fang walked passed Scootaloo and sat down on the ground in front of the tiger. "...I'm sorry."

"What?" Byakkasha snarled. "After all this, you... you think you can just apologize?"

"You don't have to forgive me," Fang said gently. "But even so, I'm sorry. You were right. I did close myself off from you, even before Sakloth, perhaps years before that. All of this is my fault."

She sighed. "...I was always a solitary creature, a wild fox born out of some dark, nameless forest far in the distant past. I came from nothing and relied on nobody, and I thought that was my nature. Even after I met others who taught me about camaraderie and friendship, I never truly believed I needed anyone but myself. Then you came along. I met you by chance and made you my familiar on a whim, but... The truth is, it scared me. Being able to feel how much I came to matter to you, and then starting to realize just how much you mattered to me. That precious, fragile closeness, I had never felt that way before and it terrified me. I didn't know how to handle those feelings, so I chose to distance myself from you, refusing to show you the affection you deserved. I was a coward, and because of my cowardice I caused you suffering."

She paused, raising her face to the sky and drawing a deep breath. "After that battle, when I thought I had lost you, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. There was so much I should have told you, so many words you deserved to hear from me. But once again, I was too cowardly to look for you. I couldn't bear the thought of finding you among the dead, knowing it was my fault for dragging you into a fight you were not prepared for. Perhaps, on some level, I hoped that if you had survived, you might find a better life without me around to ruin you further. And yes, I know that's just another excuse from a worthless coward of a master."

She turned her head down a looked at him with a sad smile. "But whatever else you might feel about me, I want you to know this: You were a magnificent familiar, Byakkasha. Far, far better than I deserved. I was, and still am, very proud of you."

Byakkasha just stared at her in silence, his tears still falling.

"Fang..." he wispered. "That's all I ever wanted you to say."

Then he turned his head back and cried. And as he cried his massive form grew diffuse, dispersing and vanishing like smoke. A moment later the tiger was gone. All that remained was a two-tailed white tabby cat, sitting there among the leaves, bawling like a child.

Fang reached her paw out and gently stroked his head. "Hey. Hey, it's okay."

"I-I'm sorry, F-Fang!" the cat mewled between deep sobs. His voice had lost its rumbling base, replaced by trembling tenor. "I'm s-so sorry!"

"Shhhh," Fang hushed. "It's okay. It's okay."

Scootaloo had watched the heartfelt exchange in silence, her own eyes having teared up somewhere along the way. "Huh. He turned into a cat," she mumbled.

"This is his true form," Fang said, still stroking Byakkasha's head. "There, there, Xiaogui. There, there."

Scootaloo had never seen a cat actually cry before. It was strange, yet heartbreaking. Not knowing what to say, she kept watching them in silence. Soon, Byakkasha seemed to calm down, sniffling with his head turned down as if too ashamed to look at Fang. Scootaloo could only faintly sense their hearts by then, but she could tell their enmity had completely evaporated.

In a sudden attack of self-awareness, she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof and looked up at the giant fox. "So... is that your true form?"

Fang hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. Are you afraid of me?"

Scootaloo chuckled. "How many times are you going to have to save me before you stop asking that?"

Fang blinked, then gave her an awkward smile. "I just wasn't sure how you'd react to seeing me like this. I know this form is... intimidating to ponies."

"I guess you're a bit scary," Scootaloo shrugged. "But it's, like, a cool kind of scary. Honestly, I expected something worse. Like a giant bug or a squid-monster or something."

"Oh, I'm not scary enough for you?" With a grin full of sharp teeth, Fang reached out with a tail and tussled the filly's mane. She raised a paw and wiggled her claws in a jokingly threatening gesture, winking. "Well, I am a shapeshifter, so who knows? Maybe for my next trick."

Scootaloo laughed...

...then she felt something pull her along in a sudden flash of bright rainbow colors and for a moment the world zoomed past her eyes. Next thing she knew, she found herself held in the hooves of Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air a distance away from Fang. Scootaloo vaguely realized that Rainbow must have swooped out of the sky and grabbed her.

The older pegasus quickly put her down on the ground, then took a defensive stance in front of her facing the fox. "Scoots, you okay? It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"What?" As the momentary confusion cleared, Scootaloo suddenly realized what the situation must have looked like and immediately launched into a frantic explanation: "Ah, no! Hold on, Rainbow, you've got it all wrong! That's not some kinda monster! I mean, yeah, it kinda is, but that's Fang!"

Still looking at the fox, Rainbow's eyes widened. "That's Fang?"

"Yeah, I sorta got kidnapped by a magic tiger who was actually just a talking cat," Scootaloo said, hearing how crazy that sounded as she said it. Telling the truth was really difficult sometimes. "It's complicated, okay? Anyway, Fang saved me. I know she looks scary, but she's still the same as before! Um, kinda."

Frowning, Rainbow looked at the clearing. It mostly resembled the aftermath of a small war: Every single leaf in the area had been knocked to the ground, many trees had been shattered, cut down or burned into coal, and the ground was scarred by multiple gashes and craters.

Rainbow looked at Fang again. Her eyes narrowed and she started moving forward. "Scootaloo, stay back."

"But..." Scootaloo began.

"I said stay back!" Rainbow snapped. She kept advancing with a determined look on her face. Fang moved to meet her, transforming back into her unicorn form as she walked. The two of them stopped in front of each other.

"I guess I owe you an explanation?" Fang asked.

"I dunno about that," Rainbow said. "I think I pretty much get what's going on here. So, what are you? Some kinda fox monster?"

"Yeah, basically," Fang replied. "Don't worry, though. I'm not going to hurt anypony."

"Oh, is that right?" Rainbow said.

Then she punched Fang straight across the face. Fang's head snapped sharply to the side and she staggered on her hooves, her expression one of genuine surprise.

"...What?" Scootaloo said.

Fang turned her head back to calmly face Rainbow's angry scowl. "Okay, I'm going to be the adult here and let you have that one, but..."

Rainbow threw another punch, but this time Fang got her own hooves up and deflected the blow. Rainbow tried again only to be deflected a second time, but managed to land a surprise kick to Fang's abdomen. Fang grunted and threw a punch of her own. Rainbow only barely dodged it.

"Hey... Hey, hold on a minute!" Scootaloo said, her voice rising to a shout as the scuffle quickly turned into a full-blown hoof-fight before her eyes. "What are you two doing!? You don't have to fight each other!"

Neither Rainbow nor Fang seemed to be listening. They were both going all out now: Rainbow with straightforward, explosive karate moves; Fang responding with what looked like kung fu, graceful and precise but no less forceful. Grunts turned into battle cries as the fight intensified.

"Darn it, you two!" Scootaloo shouted and stomped her hoof. "Stop fighting and listen to me!"

"Crane Kick!"

"Brilliant Ancestor Eagle Claw!"

"Rising Dragon Hoof!"

"Reverse Fragrant Lotus of Two Mountains!"

"Ponies' Elbow!"

"That rainbow one ain't half bad," said a voice next to Scootaloo. "For a pony, anyway. Still, call me biased but if we're taking bets, my money's on Fang."

Scootaloo looked down to see that Byakkasha had sat down next to her, watching the fight with a neutral, almost bored expression. Scootaloo frowned. "You're still here?"

The cat shrugged. "It's not like I have anywhere left to go."

"Well, if you're going to stick around then make yourself useful and help me stop them!" Scootaloo said.

"Why?"

"Because they're being stupid!"

Byakkasha chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. But they're both grown-ups, so if they want to be stupid and punch each other for a bit, that's their decision." He shrugged. "Let them fight."

"Oh come on!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "What is wrong with everypony? We just got this mess sorted out and now Rainbow's gone and started a new one all over again!"

"Oh relax, kid," Byakkasha said. "Fang isn't taking it seriously. She's not even using magic, much less her true form. As for the pegasus, she seems to have something personal to work out with our dear master. Knowing Fang, she probably did something to deserve it. Just let them get it out of their system for now."

Meanwhile, Fang had managed to get behind Rainbow and attempted to lock her into a hold, but Rainbow countered by throwing Fang over her shoulder. Rather than hitting the ground, Fang started floating in the air, trying to gain distance.

"What the...?" Rainbow shot away from the ground like a rocket. "Oh no you don't!"

She hit Fang in a flying tackle and the two rolled through the air, still trying to grapple and pummel each other. The furious ball of punching and kicking hooves quickly floated away above the treetops, away from the two familiars.

"Well, there they go," Scootaloo sighed. "I just hope they don't hurt each other too much."

Byakkasha glanced at her. "So, Scootaloo? Mind if I ask you something?"

"I've got a feeling you will either way," Scootaloo muttered.

"What are you, exactly?"

"Who, me?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "I'm just a deficient mortal pony kid, remember?"

Byakkasha looked at her in silence for a moment, then let out a chuckle. "Right. I think I'm starting to see why Fang took a liking to you."

The air battle over the forest continued with unabated intensity. Fang found it fruitless to attempt escaping the faster Rainbow and opted to focus on defense in close quarters, but without solid footing it was difficult for either of them to fight efficiently at that range.

Fang hadn't expected a difficult fight, but she was already worn out from her previous clash with Byakkasha and she grudgingly admitted to herself that her martial arts skills were rusty to boot. Rainbow meanwhile made up for her recklessness and somewhat unpolished technique with relentless energy and aggression fueled by her anger.

Fang struck out with her hoof but Rainbow caught it, spun around and used the momentum to fling the sorceress at a downward angle. Passing through the canopy of the forest, Fang corrected herself just before landing, her hooves sliding and cutting into the soil before coming to a stop. Rainbow wasted no time swooping down towards her, launching into a combo of punches as she closed the distance.

Realizing she had to seal Rainbow's movements somehow, Fang intercepted both of her opponent's hooves and locked them together with her own, pulling the pegasus closer and holding her firmly in place.

"Not bad, pony!" Fang grinned. "But you're a hundred years too early to be a match for..."

Rainbow cut her off with a headbutt to the face. As the two broke away from each other, Fang stumbling back in surprise, Rainbow saw an opening and launched herself into a flying kick. At the same time, Fang regained her balance just in time to throw a hard punch.

Their hooves passed each other and they both struck the other in the face. Momentarily reeling from the cross-counter, they toppled and fell to the ground at the same time.

For a few moments they both lay there on their backs, groaning from their bruises and spinning heads.

"...Tell you what," Fang said, "let's call it a draw."

"I'll show you a draw!" Rainbow growled, already starting to get back on her hooves.

Getting up as well, Fang sighed. "Look, I get that you're protective of Scootaloo, but I'm not going to eat her or anything."

"Oh, shut up!" Rainbow snapped. "That's not the point! I don't give a flying feather if you're a monster fox!"

Fang paused, looking confused. "You don't?"

"No! You could be a two-headed minotaur in a pink tutu for all I care!"

"Then what were we fighting about?"

"'It's nothing', you said!" Rainbow spat. "'I'm sure Scootaloo is fine', you said! Back there, you knew she was in trouble, didn't you?"

"Well, yes."

"And you didn't tell me!" Furious, Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at Fang. "You just lied about it and ran off on your own! What, to protect your stupid secret identity or whatever? Do you think you're the only one who cares about her? Horseapples, that girl's like a sister to me! What in the absolute hay made you think it was okay to keep me out of something that important?!"

"Ah..." Fang suddenly looked sheepish. "Would you believe old habit?"

"You unbelievable egotist!"

"No, no," Fang raised her hoof in a calming gesture. "You're absolutely right, Scootaloo's safety is not my personal business and I shouldn't have acted like it was. What I did was really inconsiderate and I apologize." She sighed. "Wow, first Byakkasha and now this. Today sure turned into one big humble pie buffet just for me. Look, if you want to punch me again, go right ahead. I won't try to stop you."

Rainbow grit her teeth and raised her hoof, letting it hang in the air for a moment. Then she put it down with a grunt and turned away from Fang. "Whatever."

Taking a moment to relax, Fang willed her body to mend itself. All the bruises, sprains and other minor injuries she had accumulated in the brawl quickly faded. Rainbow was still pretty roughed up, however, and Fang approached the pegasus who still simmered in silence.

"Your eye is starting to swell," Fang said as her horn started glowing. "Let me fix you up."

"I don't need your fixing," Rainbow muttered.

"Please," Fang insisted. "Consider it part of my apology."

Rainbow glared at her for a moment, then shrugged without a word. Taking that as a concession, Fang began to beam a ray of healing magic at her.

After another few moments of tense silence, Fang spoke: "I realize this is probably a stupid question, but you know that Scootaloo is an orphan, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Rainbow replied. "What about it?"

"Have you ever thought about trying to adopt her?"

Rainbow remained quiet for a moment. "Of course I have."

"And?"

"Me, a mom?" Rainbow sighed. "It's a nice fantasy, but I'm like the last pony in Equestria who should be caring for a kid."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'd suck at it," Rainbow snorted. "I can barely take care of my pet tortoise, for pony's sake. Besides, I live in a cloud and even if we figured out a way around that, I'd worry she'd fall off some day. Even if I moved to a regular house, I finally made it into the Wonderbolts now so I won't be able to spend as much time with her as she deserves. And yeah, all that stuff sounds selfish but that's the point. I'm just not parent material, not yet anyway. Scootaloo needs a real family who cares about her above everything else. Like, Applejack could totally do it, maybe even Fluttershy or Twilight. But me?" She shook her head. "I can't be the mom she deserves."

Having finished healing the pegasus, Fang extinguished her spell. "I understand. Though, I think you are a far more responsible pony than you seem to believe, Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow stood up and gently stretched her limbs. "I guess you're okay. For a fox. Um, sorry for losing my cool back there. I don't usually get that violent but, you know..."

"It's alright," Fang chuckled. "I've gotten into worse fights for much dumber reasons. But we should get back to Scootaloo now, so she doesn't think we've killed each other." She suddenly frowned. "Come to think of it, leaving her alone with Byakkasha was probably not the best idea."

Hearing this, Rainbow tensed up. "Oh, shoot! I kinda forgot about that! You think he'll try something again?"

Fang shook her head. "No, I rather doubt it. More likely he's telling her embarrassing stories about me. We should get going."

Rainbow nodded and gave a flap with her wings, rising to the sky. Fang followed suit, levitating off her hooves and floating up next to the pony. Rainbow gave her a curious look. "So, is that a spell or something?"

"Not really," Fang said. "It's a fox monster thing."

"Showoff," Rainbow scoffed.

They flew side by side above the trees, an awkward silence lingering between them until Fang broke it: "Do you mind if I ask one more question?"

"Sure, why stop now?" Rainbow replied.

"Yesterday, when we ran into Stately Warden," Fang said. "You asked why we were lying to him, but then you just dropped the subject all of a sudden. Why?"

Rainbow looked a bit surprised by the question. "What, that? I told you, I don't exactly like Warden anyway so I guess I don't really care if you lie to him. So what?"

Fang raised an eyebrow. "He is Scootaloo's legal guardian and we flat out admitted that we were deliberately deceiving him, yet you didn't seem concerned about it at all. I just find that a bit odd."

Rainbow frowned, and for a moment she seemed uncertain how to answer. "I dunno. When you put it like that I'm not even sure what I was thinking back there. Just didn't seem like it was my place to ask, is all."

Fang studied the pegasus in silence for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. "...I see."

Before either could continue the conversation, they found that they had reached the clearing where Scootaloo and Byakkasha were waiting. As they landed, the filly ran over to them with the cat trailing after her.

"Fang! Rainbow!" Scootaloo called out. "You're not fighting anymore? You two okay now?"

Fang and Rainbow shared a glance. Rainbow nodded. "We sorted it out, I guess."

Scootaloo sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Just don't do that again, okay? I don't want you guys to fight each other."

"What about you two?" Fang asked.

Scootaloo and Byakkasha looked at each other and suddenly they were both grinning. "Heh, yeah, we're cool," Scootaloo chuckled. She seemed to be restraining herself from laughing.

Fang frowned. "What's so funny?"

"...Fried tofu," Scootaloo mumbled, then broke down in a fit of giggles.

Fang turned to Byakkasha. "You didn't."

Byakkasha shrugged, cocking his head with an innocent look on his face. "What? Just getting to know my successor a bit better."

Fang groaned. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"So, this is the bad guy, huh?" Rainbow looked at the cat with an amused grin. "I expected you to be taller."

"Watch your tongue, pony," Byakkasha said, his eyes narrowing. "I am a noble mystic beast, and I command great power!"

"Oh yeah, you're so scary!" Rainbow laughed, pretending to shy back. "I'm shaking!"

Glaring at her for a moment, Byakkasha suddenly transformed into his tiger form again, letting out a low rumbling growl. Rainbow stopped laughing, having to turn her head to adjust to his new stature. She blinked.

"Okay," she said. "That is actually pretty awesome."

Fang gave the tiger a sharp look. "Speaking of your great power, Byakkasha, I was wondering about that. Care to tell me who has been helping you with this roaring rampage of revenge of yours?"

"Um..." Byakkasha immediately shrunk back into his true form, averting his eyes. "Helped me? I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Fang rolled her eyes. "Come on, Xiaogui, don't play coy with me. I may be weaker than I used to be, but I'm not so weak that a half-baked nekomata like you should have been able to match me. I don't believe for a moment you could have grown this powerful in a mere decade all on your own." She bent down and looked him dead in the eyes. "So, I think someone gave your magic a rather significant boost, and I'd like to know who."

Byakkasha nervously fidgeted with his paws. "...I'm not sure I should tell you."

Fang paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh well. I suppose I'll just have to bring you over to Celestia and Luna, then."

"What?" Byakkasha's eyes widened. "Now hold on, Fang..."

"You did attack their castle," Fang carried on. "Which, if I'm not mistaken, counts as an act of war."

"He what?" Rainbow said.

"At any rate," Fang continued without missing a beat, "I bet they'd be very interested in all of this."

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" Byakkasha sighed. "It was Nancy."

"Nancy?" Fang seemed surprised. "Aunt Nancy? Are you serious?"

Scootaloo gave Fang a confused look. "Your aunt?"

Fang shook her head. "Oh, she's not my aunt. Goodness, no. That's just her name." She turned to Byakkasha again. "But that doesn't make sense. What would Aunt Nancy possibly have to gain from setting you up to attack me?"

"She didn't 'set me up', Fang." Byakkasha looked a bit offended. "I chose to go after you on my own. She just found me on Sakloth and took me in for a while. Once I recovered I went looking for you, but I couldn't find you. Then a while ago she got in touch and said she knew where you were and, I dunno, she decided to help me out a bit."

"What, out of the kindness of her heart? Because she felt sorry for you?" Fang asked, her voice full of sarcasm. "Are we talking about the same Aunt Nancy? I know you're not that naive."

Byakkasha shrugged. "Fair enough. I don't really know why she did it. I mean, I didn't bother to ask and I doubt she would have told me the truth anyway. I just figured you'd done something to get on her bad side and she wanted a bit of payback, you know?"

Looking thoughtful, Fang cast a glance at her other familiar. "What about Scootaloo?"

"What about her?" Byakkasha frowned. "How's she involved in this? I just thought she'd be good bait."

"Watch it, cat," Rainbow muttered, putting a wing over Scootaloo. "So who's this Nancy anyway? Friend of yours, Fang?"

"I honestly don't think she has any friends," Fang said. "Still, this is rather strange. Last time I saw her we were allies, and that was ten years ago. I can't imagine a reason she would have it out for me now." She shrugged. "Oh well. If I know Aunt Nancy she won't try anything this soon after a gambit, so we can probably relax for now. We should get back to the other ponies."

"About that," Rainbow said. "We heard this loud roar type of sound and it kinda got everypony spooked, so they've all left by now."

"...Ah," Fang nodded. "I see. Then I guess we can all just go home." She nudged Scootaloo and grinned at her. "I think we've all had enough exercise today."

Managing a tired smile, Scootaloo chuckled. "Yeah, today got a bit more exciting than I expected."

The group started moving out of the clearing when Fang noticed Byakkasha sitting still with his head hanging. She turned to face him. "Well? Are you coming?"

Byakkasha hesitated. "...You already have a familiar," he muttered.

"No, I have two familiars," Fang corrected. "There's no rule that says I can't keep both of you around. Scootaloo, what do you think?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I don't mind."

Byakkasha turned his head up with a hopeful look on his feline face. "Really?"

"Really." Fang smiled. "Let's go home."

Suddenly smiling, the two-tailed cat quickly lept into the air and floated over to them, landing on Fang's back. "Thank you," he mumbled.

"You sure about this?" Rainbow whispered to Scootaloo. "He did kinda kidnap you."

Scootaloo glanced at Fang and Byakkasha. Seeing the look in their eyes, she smiled. "...Yeah. I think it's going to be okay now."

And so, their strange little group headed home. Unnoticed by them, hidden among the branches of one of the trees, a black clockwork spider watched them leave.

"Are you sure it wasn't like a bird or something?" Lucky Clover asked.

"Yes, Lucky," Caramel said, looking slightly annoyed. "It definitely wasn't a bird. It was like... a roar or a howl or something. I'm telling you, it had to be some kind of big animal. I've never heard anything like it."

As the day began to turn to evening, various ponies had found their way to Ponyville's local tavern. Though business was slower on a Monday compared to the weekends, a few patrons still assembled after work for a relaxing time with friends and a few beverages. After his experience in White Tail Woods that day, Caramel had felt a pressing need for both. Thus he, Lucky Clover and Thunderlane were seated by a table, drinking cider and discussing the matter.

"So, what about the Running of the Leaves?" Thunderlane asked.

Caramel shrugged. "We've sent a request to Canterlot to investigate if the woods are safe. I guess the race will be delayed until they've made sure, at least."

"Well, that's just great," Lucky scoffed. "I still think you ponies just got spooked by some woodland critter and overreacted."

"I don't know, Lucky," Thunderlane said. "There's been a lot of strange stuff going on lately."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like, you know that storm we rolled out last Thursday? I talked to some ponies afterwards and several of them swear they heard some kind of weird screaming and the sound of something big running past their houses."

Lucky rolled his eyes. "It was a storm. Storms make a lot of noise and sometimes ponies get scared of 'em."

"Yeah, but here's the freaky part," Thunderlane continued. "Afterwards they found tracks in the streets. Like, not from hooves, they looked like some kind of huge claw marks. Supposedly they headed straight into the Everfree."

Lucky frowned. "...Okay, yeah, that is pretty weird."

"Huh, that reminds me of something," Caramel said. "I was talking to Golden Harvest a while ago and she said she'd heard howling coming from Sweet Apple Acres that night, right after the storm passed."

"Timberwolves?" Thunderlane asked.

Caramel shrugged. "Normally I'd think so too, except Golden Harvest said she looked out the window and she saw something big and furry running past her house. She didn't get a good look at it but she said it looked like a huge dog or something. I tried asking Applejack about it but I couldn't get a straight answer out of her." His brow furled. "...Actually, AJ's been acting weird lately. She seems pretty worked up about something and, like, you know how she gets when she's trying to hide something but it's obvious she's trying to hide something? Like that."

"This is getting spooky," Lucky commented. "So, giant dogs running loose in Ponyville? That's where we're going with this?"

"I don't know," Caramel admitted. "But you've got to admit, it sure sounds like something strange is going on."

While they were talking, a tall dim-blue unicorn a few tables away listened in silence. They hadn't noticed the volume of their conversation rising and it was not difficult for his ears to pick up every word.

"Speaking of ponies acting odd," Thunderlane said, "I hear Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer have both been kinda on edge lately, like they're stressed or worried about something. You don't think Princess Twilight knows something we don't?"

"Oh come on!" Lucky exclaimed. "Now you're just sounding like a conspiracy nut. Twilight is the Princess of Friendship and she's been looking out for us ever since Nightmare Moon showed up. If she knew about something dangerous, why would she keep it from us?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to cause a panic?" Caramel suggested. "A lot of ponies around here are pretty skittish."

"Look who's talking," Lucky deadpanned.

"Excuse me, gentlecolts?"

The trio fell silent and looked up to see that the tall unicorn stallion had silently approached their table, levitating a mug of cider in a pale blue aura of magic.

Caramel frowned slightly, trying to determine if he recognized the newcomer. "Uh, can we help you, Mr..."

"Stately Warden, at your service," Warden said, correcting his glasses. "Pardon the intrusion, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. May I?" He made a gesture to one of the empty chairs and, barely waiting for the others to nod, took a seat. "Is it true, then? There have been sightings of a creature, and other strange happenings?"

"Seems that way," Thunderlane said. "What, you know something about it?"

Warden shook his head. "No more than you, I'm afraid. I know about the rumor, of course, but I didn't think there was anything to it until now. That's why I took an interest in your discussion."

Caramel, Lucky and Thunderlane shared a puzzled look. "Wait, what rumor?" Caramel asked.

Warden looked surprised. "Oh, you haven't heard?"

"About what?" Lucky asked.

Warden leaned forward slightly, causing the other three to unconsciously do the same. "Well, word is that there is a monster in Ponyville."

"A monster?" Lucky frowned. "What kind of monster?"

Warden shrugged. "Nopony seems to know for sure, but I've heard a lot of ponies of late talk about strange sounds in the night, clawed pawprints in the streets, that sort of thing. Supposedly this monster is hiding itself somehow, perhaps in disguise."

"Sounds like a changeling to me," Thunderlane commented.

Lucky shook his head. "Can't be, those guys are pretty much harmless these days and don't even bother hiding anymore. Hay, I hear some of them are looking to move here."

"True," Warden said, "but there are other beings capable of using magical disguises. I recall reading about such creatures back when I studied magic, and some are even more dangerous than the changelings ever were."

Thunderlane gulped. "That doesn't sound good. So, it could be anypony?"

"Perhaps." Warden cocked his head slightly. "Though if I remember correctly, they would typically enter a community disguised as a traveler of some sort. That way, they could quickly move on if the local ponies grew too suspicious."

Caramel stroked his chin. "That would make a lot of sense. And if there is a monster in Ponyville pretending to be a pony, it would explain a lot."

Thunderlane seemed to think of something. "Hey, you know that unicorn mare who showed up a while ago?"

"The tall, gorgeous one?" Lucky grinned slightly. "Oh yeah."

Thunderlane nodded. "Yeah, her. I was just thinking, didn't all of this start around the same time she came to town?"

Lucky's grin died away and he frowned. "Wait, are you saying she's the monster?"

"No? I'm just saying she might be, that's all."

Caramel suddenly looked thoughtful. "...Now that you mention it, she was with us in White Tail Woods today. I saw her talking to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I'm sure of it. Only, when we heard that weird roar, she wasn't around anymore."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, shoot," Lucky sighed. "There goes asking her out, I guess."

"Okay, but seriously," Thunderlane said. "If she is some kind of dangerous monster, shouldn't we do something?"

"Like what?" Lucky asked. "We don't even know that for sure. It's not like we can just chase her out of town with pitchforks and torches on a suspicion."

"No," Caramel said, "but maybe we should, like, at least warn our friends and families about it? Tell everypony to be careful if they see her around town, you know, just in case?"

As the three of them kept discussing the matter, Warden casually raised his cider mug to his mouth so that they couldn't see him grinning.

Author's Note

Well, this wraps up the first act of the story. (Or the first arc, or whatever you want to call it.)

This puts me into a bit of a predicament, however. Like I said at the start of this, I had hoped I would have sufficient time for my productivity to stay ahead of the publishing schedule for a while longer. However, I had forgotten an important detail: For reasons I have yet to comprehend, I basically can't write much at all during the first months of the year.

Because of this, I am now out of pre-written chapters and I don't really know how quickly I can produce new ones.

I don't think there is any cause to be worried about this story in the long term - it's still the only project I have going at this time and I haven't lost interest in telling it at all. So, it's probably safe to say there will be more chapters eventually. I just don't know how quickly I will be able to finish them.

I could go about this in two ways. The first is to simply publish a new chapter whenever I get it finished and hope the delays won't get too long. The other is to put the story on hiatus for now until I've finished at least most of Act 2, then start publishing them once a week again. The latter might be more motivating for me, but it also means you guys will have to wait longer for new chapters.

I'm currently undecided on that issue. Do let me know what you would find preferable. And whatever I end up doing, I want to thank you all for the support and compliments so far.