Rites of Ascension

by CvBrony

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Rainbow Dash, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna
Length: 699258

Twilight makes a new spell and starts the gears of fate with her ascension to alicornhood. (Writing started before Season 3.)

A different take on alicorn ascension. Sixteen years after arriving in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is excited to have invented a brand-new kind of spell, but it will come with consequences she cannot possibly anticipate. Meanwhile, threats in shadows around the world conspire to overthrow the Solar Throne. With her world turned upside down, she will have to come to terms with the role that fate has dealt her while straining to keep Celestia in power.

Now with a TVTropes page! Please show it some love! Also check out the official side stories, Designing Intrigue, and Love and Barriers! (With even more in my stories page!)

(Please Note: This story was started before any season three information was available. All episodes in season three and later are non-canon for this story, which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one. In addition, the promotional map released close to the beginning of season three was also not available and is not compatible with this story. While the OC tag is active because there are OCs in the story, they're really just supporting characters. The focus is on Twilight.)

Also be sure to check out the Rites of Ascension Expanded Universe Group! We're working to develop the resources needed for other authors to try their hand at writing stories set in the Rites Universe!

The Book Two cover art was created by the amazing Silfoe! The original cover art can still be found at Violet Squiggle's deviantArt page.

Author's Notes, including proofreader's credits, can be found here!

"This is 100% Approved by Twilight's Library!"

Published 2012-07-22 09:44:04 UTC
Last updated 2024-03-07 09:14:20 UTC

Horseshoes Toward A Mountain Path

“Twilight! We’re going to be late for the dinner!”

Twilight’s head jerked up, the words ringing through her skull like an unexpected explosion. She rubbed her head while glancing over to Spike, her ever-faithful assistant.

The dragon crossed his arms, giving her a little glare. “You know AJ is going to be pissed if we miss this one.”

“In a minute, Spike.” She levitated a quill and put the finishing touches to her document, his yell still echoing in her head. I knew dragons could be loud. I guess I never expected it to happen to my little Spike…

“And just when are you going to tell me what the heck you’re working on, anyway? You’ve been up for four days. I’d think that if the Princess needed you to do something this badly, she’d tell me.” Spike scratched his head.

Twilight chuckled, arranging the papers on her desk. “Actually this is meant to be a bit of a surprise for her, too. I’ve been thinking about the mechanics for a long time, but just this week, I discovered a way to actually pull it off. This is going to be a doozy, Spike.” She stood with a stretch and a yawn. “I’ll tell you more about it on the way to the dinner.”

Spike smirked. “Does this mean we’re ready? And are you sure your stomach won’t just explode from not having eaten anything for ages?” He looked over to the barely touched dinners he’d prepared for her during the study spree.

Twilight’s ears went back against her head. “Uh, heh heh. Sorry, I’ve just been wanting to get this done so badly… I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Spike shrugged. “Fair enough, but you know I’ll hold you to it. Should we get going?”

Twilight arched her back in a stretch and shook her head. “Not quite yet.”

Spike stood in front of her and raised an eyebrow, his gaze traveling slightly downwards to meet her in the eyes.

I am never going to get used to him being taller than me—even if it’s not by much… “Just need to do one quick thing first, Spike. Care to take a letter to Princess Celestia?”

He sighed and deflated a little, but Twilight caught the smile he tried to suppress. “Okay. Let me get a piece of paper.”

You’re always happy to do that, and you know it, Twilight thought, smiling as Spike dipped a quill in ink.

She cleared her throat.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m writing to let you know that I've completed the first version of my latest spell. With luck, it will be the first unicorn spell ever created capable of being cast through one’s hooves, instead of through the horn. I’m very excited by the possibilities this presents! I’m including a copy of the spell script. Let me know what you think!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Thanks again for being at Fluttershy and Big Macintosh’s wedding last month. It meant the world to them. I’m going to their first dinner back from their honeymoon now.”

Spike quickly caught up to the words then grinned as he added another line.

“P.P.S. Spike here. She’s got that look in her eyes again. If you find any new craters in Ponyville, you know what happened to us.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and laughed. “Smart-alecky dragon.”

“You make me late for Apple family food, you get snark in your letter to Celestia.” Spike stuck out his tongue.

“Fair enough. I suppose I deserve a little ribbing after ignoring you like this.” Twilight lifted up the copy of her research and tied a string around it. “Here, send this with the letter.”

Spike took the package in his hands and rolled it up with the letter then stepped over to an open window. Taking a deep breath, he held out the package and brought forth his flames, their bright green light vaporizing the papers and sending them on their way in his spell. “Done and done. Heh. Big package like that? I’m just glad she thought that time with the typewriter was funny.”

“I wouldn’t worry. She adjusted her receiving spell to prevent anything else landing directly on top of her.” Twilight’s hooves clip-clopped as she made her way down the stairs to the library entrance and strapped her saddlebags to her back. Leftovers. There’s always leftovers. “Ready to go?”

“Been ready for an hour now.” Spike jumped from the top of the stairs, landing in a squat. “If we hurry, we might get there in time for the main course.”

Twilight flipped the library’s sign to “closed” and trotted out the door with Spike close behind.

They made their way down the road to Sweet Apple Acres as the final vestiges of the day bled away into the moonlit, starry night. The warmth and humidity of late summer lingered on in the air while the fireflies danced over the fields of corn, wheat, and alfalfa.

Spike stretched, then ran for a moment to catch up to Twilight. He might have been taller than her now, but four legs beat two for walking speed every time. “So,” he started, yawning. “Are you going to share the details of this ‘casting a spell through your hooves’ thing, or leave your number one assistant in the dark?”

Twilight smirked, lowering her tired head a little. “Yeah. Sorry for keeping it from you, Spike, but I wasn’t sure it was going to work at first. I think I’ve got it nailed, though.”

“Nailed, huh?” Spike raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t casting stuff through your hooves, like, impossible?”

Twilight nodded, examining her hoof. “That’s the prevailing theory, yes. I’m aiming to prove it wrong.”

“Are you sure you want to try the impossible again so soon?” Spike shook his head, cringing a little and bracing himself. Twilight trying the impossible wasn't unheard of, but when she wasn't being forced to do it by some disaster, it usually created a disaster itself. “Remember that time you tried to invent a perpetual motion machine?”

Twilight scoffed, waving off the protest with a hoof. “Spike, that was years ago! I’ve learned a lot since then!”

“Soooo much flooding…” He grabbed his arms, the humidity in the air providing a choking reminder of ‘the incident.’

“Besides, this isn’t impossible!”

“That's what you said about the machine.”

“I’ve already tested this spell! Albeit on a small scale, but it works!”

“You said that too.”

Twilight clenched her teeth and rubbed her head, the bags under her eyes becoming more and more clear under the soft light of the moon. “Okay, fine, Mr. Doubtful. I’ll just show you. Here, race me to the farm.”

Spike blinked a few times. “Uh, Twi?”

She grimaced and lit her horn, sparks and lights dancing and bursting to life.

“Look, Twi, I believe you! Are you sure you want to—?”

“Too late! I’ve already started…” Bits of magic popped in the air as the ground started to smoke. “Can’t shut it down now. Get going, Spike! You need to get clear!”

Spike clenched his teeth and ran backwards. Little bits of dirt kicked up from the ground as he kept an eye on Twilight. His pace ground to a halt when the earth underneath her erupted in magical fire.

This is either going to end in a crash or an atomizing explosion. Or Both. Twice. Again!

Twilight relaxed her breathing, letting the air into her lungs more and more slowly as the spell increased its pace. A purple field of ambient magic glowed around her in a circle on the ground, flaring to an inferno as an image of her parents as potted plants invaded her mind. No. No, that won’t happen. It can’t happen. I’m in control. I’m calm. I can do this. I just need to keep… focus…

Another burst of flashes and ash roared to life around her, the soot stinging her nose. Calm. Controlled. Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and is under my command.

The fire died down, coalescing near her hooves as the magic changed direction, exiting from her hooves. All the fury and combustion retreated directly under her, condensing into four glowing, white-hot horseshoes affixed to her hooves. She quickly checked the rest of her body, finding only slight traces of soot and ash. I was right! Flames from combusting mana can’t harm their source, only what’s around the source!

“Uh, Twilight?”

She picked up her hoof and looked at the horseshoe under it. It still glowed white hot, and as she hovered it over a blade of grass, it incinerated instantly. “Ha! See, Spike? It worked perfectly!”

He scratched his head. “You… made magic shoes? Couldn’t you just have visited Rarity’s boutique in Canterlot or something?”

“Oh, these are way more than just shoes. Remember when I said I’d race you to the farm? Well…” She laughed and ducked down, preparing her next test. “On your mark…”

“Aw, man.” Spike bent over and put his hands on the ground. “I don’t care if I have gotten a lot stronger lately. Four legs against two just isn’t fair.”

“Get set…” Twilight’s tail twitched as a warm breeze washed over the field around them.

“And all the way to the farm? I’m going to need a nap after this.”

“Go!” Twilight pushed off the ground with a carefully placed and calculated kick, sending her flying into the air like a boulder out of a Cutie Mark Crusader Catapult.

“Waiiiit uuuuppp!”

Spike’s cry faded into the background as she soared, bouncing higher and higher with each successive landing. The glow of fireflies became streaks of light over the fields, and the wind knocked away the sweat from the humid night air. Halfway to the farm, she soared higher than the treetops at the apex of her bounds, though the birds in them most certainly heard her laughter. “Captain Dash, eat your heart out!”

“Crap oh crap oh crap…” Spike huffed and puffed, pushing his mere two legs to try and keep up. With each jump, Twilight put more and more distance between them. Crap! Come on, Spike! You’re a dragon! You can do better than this!

Spike’s vision blurred out, save for one thing: the fast-moving Twilight. Grays and blacks replaced the green and amber of the farmland fields, yet his mentor only grew brighter. Fire licked out from his nostrils, and the magic of the gems he consumed coursed through his arteries all the way down to his legs. On the next step, he leaned forward.

Things became even more blurry.

The heat in the air was irrelevant. The rocks in the road couldn’t hope to damage the scales on his feet. There was only gravity, traction, and draconic strength. A cloud of dust and dirt kicked up behind him as a new pace took over his legs that even Applejack would have been proud of.

Yet, Twilight was still putting distance between them.

Hang on, Twilight! I’m coming…

“Woohoo!” Twilight spun around in the air, doing little stunts between jumps. “‘Impossible’, eat my dust!” She could see the study she’d submit to Canterlot University already. It had six different colors of paper, logically organized and arranged, and several proofs aimed at a specific subset of her prior professors.

“Ah, there’s the farmhouse!” She pushed off the ground again, watching as her friend’s home grew closer and closer. “Now I just have to… stop… oh horseapples…”

The singular flaw in her brilliant plan exposed, Twilight flailed her hooves around in midair. The next bounce was the last she had. The next would send her into the orchard, and the ones after that she didn’t have time to think about. Avoiding the ground’s eager desire to meet her and preventing becoming a red and purple splotch on Sweet Apple Acre’s welcome sign took a somewhat higher priority.

Turn around and reverse the impact angle? No, I'd just go tumbling. Turn the ground into water? No, that'd need too much power and would take an age to cast. Maybe… Eeeep!

Time was up, the ground was here, and it was very interested to see how she thought she was going to get out of their intimate encounter.

As with so many bad situations, Twilight had only one answer. She closed her eyes, charged her horn, and braced herself for the teleportation shock.

Light and pressure overwhelmed her senses, and air rushed out her lungs as if she were in deep space. She could feel the energy of her spell explode outwards, but it wasn’t until an instant later that the true sound of thunder pounded her ears, the air rushing back as in a lightning strike.

She coughed and heaved, waving a hoof to try and clear the air of dust while trying to think of why and how she remained alive. When her vision finally returned, she froze. Around her was a six-meter-wide crater with her rump dead in the center of it all.

“Twiiiliiight!” A voice cried out, fighting through the ringing in her ears.

“Spike?” She coughed again, spattering some blood on the ground. “Is that you?”

A scaly hand reach down under her chest, helping her stand. “Twilight, are you okay?”

Her vision slowly returned to normal, along with her other senses, as her legs shook and trembled. Little white sparkles popped and fizzled in the ground, vanishing as an idea crept its way into her mind.

“Hey, Twilight, talk to me!” Spike flopped on the ground, rubbing his leg. “Are you alright?”

“S… Spike?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me. Looks like you’re okay. Whew.” He lay down, curling and stretching his legs. “Ow! Ttttthhhhh… Ouch. Don’t do that to me, Twilight. You know I can’t run like that for long!”

“That… that…” The new idea grew and grew inside Twilight’s thoughts, formulas and magic script racing and filling dozens of mental blackboards. Being covered in dirt could barely even find a square centimeter to spare as a grin took over her face by force. “That… was… amazing! Spike! Did you see that? The teleportation must have tried to compress the bounding-mass spell down to the point where it caused a criticality event! Oh, do you know what this means?! I could completely rewrite the rules for creating solidified magic! Tell me we brought paper! I need to start writing this down! Wait, no paper, I’ll just write it here.” She lit her horn and started moving around the soil, scribbling in an arcane sequence of symbols.

“Twilight! Just what in the hay is going on out here?”

Twilight swung her head around just in time for Applejack’s expression to go from one of anger to one of shock. The farmer’s hooves pounded on dirt as she raced towards Twilight and the crater where she sat.

“Landsakes, girl! What in tarnat—”

“Applejack! Did you see? I was casting magic through my hooves! I beat Spike here! There was this most amazing thing when I tried to land. You see, I—”

Applejack grabbed her by the shoulder with one hoof and used the other to muffle her. “Twilight, I’m gonna need ya t’ slow down a mite. First, are you okay?”

Twilight nodded her head, the grin on her face growing ever larger.

“Good. Now, is there any part of my orchard blasted to bits other than the windows and this here crater?”

Twilight looked around a bit at the scene. The windows on the house were all blown out, but for all the ferocity of the blast, the house itself stood strong. Even the new barn in the distance seemed untouched. “I don’t think so…”

Applejack lowered her hooves and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Turning around, she waved at the small crowd of Apple family relatives gathering just outside the front door of the house, including the newly added Fluttershy and the small grouping of animals around her. “It’s okay, everypony!” Applejack yelled. “False alarm, no disaster this time! We can go back inside!”

“No disaster…” Spike groaned, still lying on the ground. “Speak for yourselves.”

“I’m just glad yer both alright. We can talk about the windows after dinner.” Applejack winked at Twilight, who cringed and rubbed the back of her head.

“Heh. Yeah, sorry about that. You too, Spike. I guess I got a little carried away. I’m sure Celestia will be okay with replacing them after I show her what I’ve been working on.” Or when I win some kind of prize for coming up with it.

She opened her mouth to speak again but stopped as her vision was blanketed in a pure, warm, white light so intense she had to cover her eyes. A serene feeling welling up her in stomach followed, but was squelched as soon as she heard the voice accompanying it.

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight didn’t wait for her eyesight to adjust. She could see the tall, white alicorn standing in front of her all too clearly. “P-P-Princess Celestia!” she yelped far more loudly than she’d expected, jolting her back to sit up like she was in a witness stand about to be sentenced to magic kindergarten. A dawning realization that she was still in the middle of a crater hit her, and her nervousness reached new heights as she bit her hoof in a last-ditch attempt to think straight.

“Twilight, my student, what happened here? I didn’t expect Spike’s comment about a crater to be literal.”

Spike groaned and kept rubbing his legs. “Neither did I… Ooowww…”

Applejack tilted her hat. “Heh. I think our little genius here was messin’ with ‘powers beyond her control’ again. Doesn’t look like it worked too well.”

“It worked perfectly!” Twilight said, stomping a hoof. “My work was flawless! I just, well, didn’t think of a way to stop myself is all.”

Celestia looked at her two subjects and sighed as her wings drooped. Even her gaze was off, like she was looking at something far away instead of the student in front of her.

“You told her?” the Princess asked, wincing and wiping away the formula Twilight wrote in the ground with a hoof. “Does anypony else know about the spell being through your hooves? Anypony at all?”

Twilight looked around, recounting the events of her research. “Just you, AJ, and Spike. Why? I mean, I know this could be big, but it’s not like it’s that… I did something wrong, didn’t I?” Her voice squeaked at the last two words.

Her mentor shook her head. “No, not really. However, despite that, I’m afraid there will be consequences. I’m going to have to ask the three of you to accompany me to the castle. Nopony must know of the nature of this spell.”

“The castle? Fer how long? I mean, it’s just a spell. High-falutin’, maybe, but—”

“I’m afraid, my little pony, that this will take at least a few months.”

“Months!?” all three cried out in unison.

“But the farm! I can’t just leave it! There are windows broke, and the first of the harvest is coming, and it’s not like Fluttershy can work too hard, bein’… Oh, oh ponyfeathers… I done spoiled the secret…” Applejack looked down at her hooves.

“Being what, Applejack? Is she sick?” Spike asked through a yawn as he tried to stand.

Celestia looked up at the farmhouse for a moment. “She’s pregnant, I’d imagine. And that utterance is all the more evidence you must come with me. I’m sorry, Applejack. This isn't a request. I’ll send expert farmhooves and a stipend to help; you needn’t worry about the farm. Or the library. All will be taken care of. But we must go, and now.”

None of them had time to protest before the light came again, whisking them away.

Even closing her eyes and covering them with her hooves didn’t help them any. Celestia’s teleportation spell was so bright this time the light still hurt her retinas like staring into a camera flashbulb that didn’t want to turn off. Must be because she’s moving all of us at once…

When it finally subsided, she found herself and her friends in front of the castle gates. An armored Day Guard was already bowing to the Princess.

Celestia held out a hoof with her command. “Soldier, rise. I have orders.”

“My liege,” he said as he stood up. “What is your command?”

“Take these two and arrange quarters for them. In addition, provide some gems and a painkiller for Spike; it looks like he overexerted his legs.”

“Yeah.” Spike leaned against Applejack. “Yeah. Ow. I’m going to feel this for a while…”

Celestia lit her horn and weaved a spell around the dragon. “It will pass in time, and the painkiller will help, as should this. Now, both of you are to stay in the secured areas of the castle and speak of what happened to nopony. I cannot stress that enough. Nopony.” The Princess leaned in close, looking as if her stare alone could set them on fire. “Am I understood?”

Applejack and Spike nodded, crouching down more in fear than in a bow.

“At once, Your Highness.” The soldier waved and pointed to the main doors. “Miss, Sir, if you would follow me.”

The two followed the guard, looking nervously back to Twilight and Celestia as they walked away.

Twilight swallowed, her dry throat protesting with pain as her friends left her sight. “Um, Princess? If we aren’t following them, then where—?”

Celestia was silent as a scroll appeared out of thin air in front of her. Faster than even Twilight could read, words etched themselves in the parchment without so much as a quill to guide them.

All that Twilight could make out before it was rolled up, sealed, and sent on its way was that there was an official order on it.

I guess I’m not meant to know…

The light from Celestia’s teleportation overtook them both once more.

Somewhere high above a desert, a small, purple unicorn mare quietly muttered to herself.

“It is a commonly accepted fact that very high places are not especially friendly environments for a unicorn. However, when a unicorn finds him or herself in such an environment, there are any number of helpful actions to take. Screaming like a little filly and flailing one’s legs about is not one of them, however natural it seems.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Are you done?” Celestia said, her tone as calm and unreadable as ever.

Twilight shivered and shifted over from on her back to her belly, forcing her hooves against the cold cloud to stand up. “Sorry, I’m just embarrassed. You taught me better than that. I should’ve cast those butterfly wings for myself again or something. Thanks for the cloud-walking spell.”

Celestia looked back at her student from the edge of the stratus cloud and smiled. “I could never let you fall, Twilight. Now, look out here. I want you to see this.”

Twilight approached the edge of the cloud to join her mentor, moving cautiously as her hooves sunk slightly into the strangely supportive water vapor. The brilliant light of Luna’s moon seemed especially strong; it was about half as bright as day with nothing but a full moon. When she reached the end of the cloud, she peered over the side and saw why: the solid ground far below reflected the light like a mirror in a dazzling spectacle.

“Do you know where we are, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded. “The Glass Desert… I’ve read about this, but never seen it before. The book said pegasi can’t fly here during the day; they get blinded. Supposedly, at some point, a meteor exploded in the air, melting the sand and cooking it to glass. Incredible!”

The desert stretched out to the horizon, even from the vantage of the cloud. It twisted Twilight’s sense of scale nearly to its breaking point. Giant glass mountains to the north, flat, glazed desert in the south. Every bit of it sparkled and reflected the moon’s light back into her eyes.

Celestia nodded. “Very good, Twilight. But, I’m afraid the books are wrong. It wasn’t a meteor.”

Twilight started to tilt her head before catching herself and righting it. She’d become somewhat self-conscious of the habit after Celestia called it “adorkable” during a Pinkie party.

“Four thousand years or so ago, Discord made his first appearance to our world. He seemed an odd curiosity at first; certainly, we didn’t think him a threat. Then, when we tried to put a stop to his toying with our subjects, we found out just how wrong we were.

“He absolutely ravaged our world. Our civilizations were utterly annihilated, their history wiped clean from the planet. Some remnants can still be found from time to time, but he was quite thorough. Not to say we didn’t try to stop him. Luna and a dozen other alicorns… We all fought to save our ponies in a conflict that spanned centuries. Eventually, we gained the upper hoof, but it wouldn’t last.

“To split us up, Discord did something utterly inconceivable. He increased the size of our world, of Equus itself, blowing it up like a balloon and increasing its diameter by an order of magnitude. Towns and cities were splintered and scattered across the landscape by hundreds or thousands of kilometers, the connections between them pulled apart and snapped like string. Everywhere was isolated, and our nations’ supply lines were cut off. Luna and I were flung thousands and thousands of kilometers away from each other.”

The scientist in Twilight demanded she speak up. “He grew the size of the world? But I have globes that—”

Celestia snorted, almost laughing at the idea. “Our globes and maps are a reasonable guess at the amount of the world we actually know. After all, Luna and I made them. Yet, everypony knows that at their edges, their accuracy is a joke at best. Worse, Discord’s work was more damaging than that. Equus still bears the scars of that day. There are pockets of chaos magic scattered everywhere, many of which are impossible to remove. Even now, deep in the oceans, beyond any point which our ponies have dared yet explore, there are permanent, stationary squalls of chaotic storms that encircle the known lands and bar sea and air travel. To even attempt to sail through them is to invite being whisked away to some other, far-flung corner of the world where there are no maps, no civilizations, nothing but wilderness.

“I imagine ponies will find out about this soon enough. They’re finally back to a point where their ships and explorers can reach these places, and perhaps someday, they’ll find a way to navigate the storms. Luna and I can teleport past them, but that isn’t a thing our subjects can imitate. Until then, our globes will do to help ponies navigate what was left after the Chaos War. I wish they were better and more complete, but there were barely enough resources to keep everything from falling apart, let alone map such a huge expanse.”

Her voice cracked a little as she explained, giving hints as to the depth of the history being summarized.

Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof, taking everything in as it was told to her. “Expanded the world by an order of magnitude… is that what made the Glass Desert?”

Celestia cringed and whispered, “No. That was me.” She swallowed, turning her face from the land below.

“I was with a small scouting force when it happened. Two hundred thirty-five of the bravest ponies I’ve ever known. Since I was the second youngest alicorn with such a small force, Discord must have decided I would be easy pickings, even though he was drastically weakened from altering the world. He marched an army of one hundred thousand discordant ponies, griffons, and all other manner of creatures on us.” The Princess cringed, clenching her teeth and looking out to the mountains. “I can still hear his laughter echoing in the valley. He must have thought forcing our ponies to fight each other some kind of sick joke.”

Celestia paused a moment, taking a few deep breaths. “We couldn’t outrun them. We didn’t even know where we could run to. Before long, they were upon us. We knew they would wipe us out and move on to Luna or some other alicorn. To prevent that, my ponies made the ultimate sacrifice. They told me to fight with my full strength… even though they’d never escape my flames in time.

“So I fought. On that day, in that battle… I created my most destructive spell: Sol Invictus.

“I summoned every ounce of my power in that spell, completely incinerating an entire legion, along with my brave ponies who willingly faced that fate so I could ‘win.’ Their ashes were fused with the sands below them and melted to glass as an eternal monument to my sins. What you see before you is the result of that battle. One hundred thousand lives lost, and all I managed to do was hurt Discord and make him retreat.”

Celestia stopped, wiping away some tears as Twilight continued to soak in the information she’d heard along with the sight before her. It had beauty enough to be a natural wonder, instead of a warning of what the Unconquered Sun was capable of. It seemed inconceivable that the very same loving being now hugging her with a wing was capable of, let alone responsible for, such an act.

“Later, the alicorns split up to defend their own civilizations even though Luna and I pointed out how we’d be vulnerable. They were worried about their ponies—we understood that—but we were right all the same. We fell, one at a time. Nation after nation, our institutions and infrastructure was demolished and burned to the ground. After each, he toyed with the ponies left until he was bored and left them, mad, to die from exposure. Eventually, ours was the sole civilization that remained, ruled by the last two living alicorns, plus one other that retreated to join us, Lord Glacien.

“When it came to be our turn, we nearly lost our civilization, too. In many ways, we did. Almost everything was destroyed, but Glacien stalled Discord long enough for us to summon and connect to the Elements. They were legends back then too, their origins unknown even to us. But our summoning techniques were sloppy and our information on the Elements extremely limited. We had no idea what we were really doing; we were just desperate. It was a true miracle that Luna and I hit on the right ideas and brought them forth to us.

“When we finally sealed Discord away, we saw our friend, the last alicorn other than us, finally succumb to his wounds. Just like dragons, our magic burns when we die; the flames shoot dozens of kilometers into the sky. There’s nothing left when it’s over.”

Celestia sighed slowly, seemingly releasing some of her tension only to have it tighten back up as her lower lip quivered and her eyes poured out a river of soundless tears. “I’ve been alive a long time, Twilight. Few ponies know just how long, so know how much I trust you when I tell you I’m almost ten thousand years old. And every single day I see the faces of those brave ponies and millions of others I’ve either killed directly, sent to die, or seen die because of my mistakes. Their memories are with me every waking moment. It’s the burden of the alicorn. We push forward. We must push forward for those still alive and those yet to live. Yet they all die, and we keep going on while an ever increasing line of ghosts follow us to remind us of every major mistake in our long lives to help us learn from them.”

“It’s allowed me to grow so strong, and so useless. I can’t fight anymore, Twilight. I’ve become far too much like the sun I represent. I can guide my ponies from afar, but when I get too close… it all just burns. Especially if I try to use my magic to fight, and that pains me more than anything. Thank the Heavens you redeemed Luna so she can help me.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Why mention Luna like that? “Umm… Princess?” Twilight nudged her mentor again, this time with a specific motion. It had been a little sign they knew about and had built with each other through experience. Roughly translated, it meant ‘Hey, can I interrupt to ask a question I’m kinda sure is rude without you adding me to the statue garden?’

“Yes, Twilight?” The translated reply there was ‘Of course, I’ll tell the pigeon firing squad to stand down,’ or so Twilight felt. It was hard to tell through her mentor’s tears.

“If your magic causes… that, wouldn’t Luna’s do something similar?” she asked, motioning to the Glass Desert below.

“No, actually. She’s mostly as strong as me, true, but she doesn’t have any spells as destructive as Sol Invictus. She has much finer control, too. She can still fight without collateral costs. Heavens, it sounds awful to call my ponies that… Still, a little colt could be right next to her enemy, and he’d escape unharmed. She’s a true master on the battlefield, Twilight, and perhaps the only one still living. Even if an enemy was twice my strength, I’d still advise betting on Luna to win that fight. I’ve seen her halt an army’s—actually, my army’s—advance and make them turn in terror just from her arrival. I’ve seen her use spells I still cannot prove are actually possible. I’ve even seen her rally forces to march against enemies ten times their number and emerge victorious.”

A wistful smile slowly formed on Celestia’s face as the tears subsided. “And more recently, she’s taken to teaching archeology to an earth pony named Pip. What did I tell you about the bookish ones becoming powerful? You’re certainly becoming a good example of that too, Twilight.”

Twilight took a step back into Celestia’s wing. Something’s not right… She’s praising me, yeah, and that’s awesome, but why mention my power? I should ask—No, if I do, she’ll… she’ll… She’ll talk about what she wants to no matter what I do… Twilight ducked her head down. “Princess, I’m a librarian, not a general. I’m not that powerful.”

“Yes, you are, Twilight. In terms of the depth of your wellspring, the amount of magic you have? You are most powerful unicorn in existence by a wide margin.”

Twilight would have fallen over backwards if not for Celestia’s wing. “What? That’s just not possible, Princess. I mean, Shining can shield all of Canterlot—”

“And he has only roughly a quarter of your wellspring size—although to be fair, he is in a comfortable second place.”

Twilight focused in on Celestia’s face and her newly calm, neutral demeanor. Somewhere in this conversation there was a ton of bricks with Twilight’s name written all over it, but she could only make a rough guess as to what form it would take.

Celestia quickly continued, “It’s quite an achievement, what you’ve done. You should be proud. Hundreds and hundreds of unicorns could band together and not be able to boast of having such magic.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped as the metaphorical bricks landed on her head. “Hundreds? Princess, you can’t be—”

Celestia stood up, her new tone curt and cutting. “I’m completely serious, Twilight. You’ve achieved a level very few dream of, let alone live to see. And now, what you’ve accomplished today with this new spell of yours will mark a turning point in your life.”

Celestia walked in front of her student and sat again with Twilight between her and the edge, the alicorn’s gaze gaze piercing her very soul. Though her eyes saw no light, she felt as if she was mere glass in front of a sun, as though everything about her was being laid bare.

I can’t take it… “Princess,” she began, stomping her hoof in a demand. “Please, tell me what’s really going on! You tear me and my friends from our homes, lock us in the castle, and then whisk me thousands of kilometers away. None of that is something you’d do on a whim. You’re trying to tell me something. Just please, say it!”

Celestia lowered her ears as if she was hurt. “Twilight, you have to understand, no unicorn can cast magic through their hooves. At least, not in a controlled manner. It simply cannot be done.”

Twilight shook her head and stood up in a defensive stance, legs wide apart. “But… I did it… I mean, it didn’t work as well as I wanted, but it worked, mostly. And it took a lot of practice. But I did it, and… I… thought you would be proud…”

“Oh, Twilight, my Twilight. I am infinitely proud of you!” Celestia said, standing up and spreading her wings. “I told you, you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s wonderful that you have performed that spell! It’s just that the fact that you have does not contradict my earlier statement. No unicorn, no matter how talented, can cast magic through her hooves.”

“But I did it! What’s wrong with that? Why all the fuss? So I cast through my hooves, and I'm a unicorn! Why is this such a huge deal?”

Celestia broke her gaze, looking down at the cloud as she began breathing more heavily. “Not anymore…”

Twilight just looked up at her in confusion, watching as the Princess’ face became more and more pained.

”I… how do I…?” The Princess took in a deep breath and sighed, her gaze returning to her pupil as she spoke with more calm and conviction than Twilight had ever heard before.

“Twilight Sparkle, welcome to the alicorn race.”

‘Ton of bricks’ ceased to be an apt metaphor. This was a bombshell, one that knocked her back on her flank then collapsed her front legs too, forcing her all the way down on the cloud. “A-alicorn? No, I— Princess, look at me! Look at you! I can’t be an alicorn! I don’t have the billowy mane or the huge wings. I’m tiny, my mane is definitely not glowing, and I’m—”

“Standing on a stratus cloud without a cloud-walking spell,” Celestia said, her voice as smooth as glass as she turned away from her student. “I never put one on you, Twilight. You didn’t need it.”

Panic hit in an instant as her mind rushed to think of what to do while her jaw did its best to reach the ground. In an impossible moment of clarity, she responded by checking herself and her hooves with magic, her horn alight with a cancel spell, which fizzled instantly when it found nothing to cancel.

Twilight looked back up at her mentor, pupils shrunk, eye twitching, and jaw completely unresponsive to neural commands. Her mind couldn’t form a coherent thought, but the message seemed to get through loud and clear: “Help!”

Celestia closed her eyes and raised her horn. “I suppose, once again, it is better to see and experience.”

Celestia’s words barely registered with Twilight before the coronal glow around Celestia flashed into existence, bathing the sky with light that began to rush towards her. For a split second, she worried about being witness to Sol Invictus, but the magic didn’t burn. Instead, it flowed into and through her.

The sheer amount of magic penetrating her was incomprehensible. She’d just been told she had the power of a thousand unicorns; that was a trifle compared to this. She could feel it warm her as her world warped and her breathing stopped, the flow focusing in her heart and rushing out her limbs and horn. Her back ached, her eyes saw nothing but light, and then her mind expanded.

Blinded by the light, she forced her eyes closed, but that only opened her to a new world of sight, seeing things clear as crystal in a way she never had before. An unreal amount of magic flowed in bright ribbons from Celestia into her body, transforming it into something completely different. Her legs were even longer than her brother’s, her horn as great as Celestia’s, and a new coat of hair more luxurious than anything she’d ever felt. On her back, two great wings with primary feathers the size of most pegasus’ wingspans. While her body glowed and burned, her ears heard a whole symphony as her mentor again began to speak.

“This is you, Twilight, in perhaps ten years’ time. Observe. Reach out with your senses and experience the world for the first time.”

Her mind stretched out as if on instinct and took in more data than should be possible. The intricate structure of the spell her mentor was using appeared in front of her, etching itself into the very fabric of reality. Farther her mind stretched, feeling the exact composition of the air as it expanded around her. Even the rough, worn glass of the desert below could be felt as if she was there on the ground, and the flow of magic in the sky and stars became obvious at once as the very pulse of the planet below lit up the ground with magic currents. She shouldn’t be able to think and feel all this at once, yet her mind moved through it all with effortless ease.

“Alicorns are not born. We ascend. We that reach this level of power are changed, forever. Unable to survive as unicorns any further due to the immense power of our own magic, we take on the aspects of the other races in addition to our own.”

She was telling the truth. Power flowed from her mentor to her, and in turn through her body. Her heart radiated with the warmth of the planet, strengthening her and everything around her. Her spine sent massive amounts of energy out through her hooves and wings. Her horn couldn’t keep up with the amount of power in it, expelling excess energy at random into the sky as she frantically turned about to look at herself and everywhere else.

“We gain new insight and instincts. We lose our age and our ability to have children. And we remove all the limits on our power.”

Once she remembered she had lungs, her breathing resumed at a frantic pace as she looked into her much, much longer mane. She could see the sky though it. Not Equestria’s sky, her sky. A view of a perfect night, deep in space.

“We are not immortal. We can be killed, just not by old age. And we are not gods. Gods are beyond even this. We must never be worshipped, for it drives us mad and makes our worshippers dependent. But we are the guardians of our ponies, a duty our minds and bodies compel us to fulfill.”

The magic subsided, and her form and senses returned to normal. She didn’t feel herself shrink or lose limbs. It was as if the senses she had before just went silent, leaving her cold, scared, and overwhelmed in her tiny frame, thin coat of hair, wingless back, and supremely frazzled but non-luminous mane.

“You’ve only just started this journey, my student. It may take years to reach your first summit, but that in and of itself is a record pace. It took me a millennium to fully ascend.”

Twilight couldn’t remain sitting anymore as her legs gave out and she flopped into the cloud, straining to get her breathing under control as her body screamed in agony over having the entire universe torn out from her.

The world faded with the pain, and the sweet release of sleep washed over her a moment later.

Author's Note

The old (awful) version of this chapter can be found here.

Call to a Brighter Night

"I can't believe I'm not scheduled for three shows!"

"What kind of captain barely trains?"

"I thought you said I'D get to lead that formation!"

Rainbow Dash didn't know where it had all gone wrong. She had worked hard and persevered, pushed her body and flying abilities far beyond what she'd ever dreamed possible. She had gone to boot camp, the Wonderbolts tryouts, her first show, her fiftieth show, and now wore the captain's rank on her shoulder. It was a dream come true: the undisputed best flier in all of Equestria and beyond.

"You can't just ignore us!"

"Don't tell the Captain what to do!"

"Quit brown-nosing, this is important!"

So why was she repeating "Bravo Mike Lima" over and over in her head to drown out the buzzing? Maybe she should've kept repeating the names of the Elements instead of the military euphemism, but somehow the venerated Elements didn't seem appropriately cuss-worthy enough. It didn’t take long for the last vestiges of professionalism in her to quickly wear away and she started thinking the phrase “Buck My Life” properly. Profane, but more soothing.

Oh, wait, that wasn't buzzing she was trying to drown out, it was her "team" whining at her. The Wonderbolts were supposed to be disciplined and professional, but the truth was that the they were filled with the same kind of ponies as her. Prima donnas, showoffs, and glory seekers; all with a spirit boot camp couldn't break.

Soarin' was the first to leave after she joined. She took it personally at first, until he came to visit her in her cloud home. And her bed. And her couch. And her ceiling. It didn't last, but it was fun, and they were still friends.

"Why are you always trying to change the routine?"

"If we don't keep it fresh, ponies will stop coming!"

"It's about tradition, not ticket sales!"

Rainbow took another drink of her cider and gagged. This wasn't cider, it was swill. Not like Sweet Apple Acres' cider. Not even like Flim-Flam cider. She didn't even recognize the label, it just... tasted like she felt. She popped the collar on her brown flyer's jacket and tried to pretend she couldn't see or hear the annoyances around her, crowding her in this false sanctuary.

She thought that, with such a high-end bar, she could get away from such madness here. She had newbies proclaiming themselves to be the best thing to ever happen to flying and then asking her how their flight suits worked. There were no less than three different ponies trying to badmouth her to military command to steal her job. One accused her of sexual harassment, and only failed because he was an idiot who couldn’t keep his story straight. Even the “friendly” veterans she looked up to seemed to have their own hidden agendas.

She let out a loud sigh and tried to give obvious nonverbal hints to let everypony know she didn’t want to be bothered. It wouldn’t work, but damned if she wasn’t going to try. As she looked around, the disharmony between the light, fancy decor and the attitudes of the ponies in it became abundantly apparent. The cloud walls and floor were compacted enough to let anything stand on them, enchanted or not. The iced bar-top, the fancy windows, even the bottles stayed in place without falling through the vapor. Rainbow mused that because they spent so much on the decor they couldn't afford a decent mug of cider. It was a complete bait and switch in her mind, just like the dream she had chased all this time.

"Every pony in this bar is crazy!"

"Well, then welcome to the loony bin, toots."

"Call me toots again..."

It all fell apart after she became captain when Spitfire retired. Rainbow was the best flier, after all. It only made sense for her to step up. They all looked up to her... well, her fans did. The others? Not so much. They all had chips on their shoulders just like she did. She wanted to step down at the first sign of trouble, but the bits that came with the job were mighty enticing. It was only later that she realized she had nowhere to spend them. Everything she owned she carried with her from show to show, and it could all fit in the extensive pockets of her captain's jacket, which doubled as saddlebags. “Listen to your instincts, they're usually right,” her boot camp drill sergeant had said, all that time ago. He was right, and so was that little voice in her head screaming, “told you so.”

Now, she flew less than she did as a weather pony in Ponyville. She spent her days managing rosters, listening to whining from her fliers wanting more show time or more prominent spots or solos, managing back office drama, and generally trying to keep the whole damn thing from going down in flames. She had no idea how Spitfire had put up with it. Or rather, how she’d stomped it out without it coming back a second later. For now, though, she just wanted a tiny piece of quiet.

"Enough! All of you, back to the barracks! That's an order!" Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs, pointing at the door. She might not yet know how to deal with this, but by Celestia that didn't mean she had to put up with it while drinking her ever-so-lovely cider. She watched as her disgruntled, potentially mutinous 'team' filed out the door. It wasn't until her next drink came that she noticed that one of them was standing behind her and on the other side, still there, not leaving. Staring at her. Standing in the Wonderbolts' flight suit, just looking at her. Still not leaving. She didn't want to look at him because he might- oh now she saw him and yep, there was that smug grin on his face that she hated with all the passion of all the stars in Luna's sky twinkling in the windows.

"What do you want, Lieutenant?" The disgust in her voice was as pointed and sharp as she could make.

"Now, is that anyway to talk to the best flier in Equestria?" The grin on his face spoke volumes; he was up to something.

Rainbow found herself looking at his obnoxious blond hair to avoid having to look at his obnoxious eyes or his obnoxious mouth. "Of course not, but if I was talking to myself I'd be committed. Now, why aren't you grumbling off out the door like the rest? Was 'buck off' not clear enough?"

"Oh, I don't recall you saying that."

"You must be deaf, I just did. And I'll do it again. Buck. Off."

"Why, so you can make me leave and then hump me in your bed?"

"What did you just say?" Oh, it was on now. A lieutenant talking to a captain like that? There was friendly banter and teasing, but this...she was going to make him hurt for this insubordination. Maybe ten thousand laps around the track. As a warm-up to pulling the trailer to Appleloosa.

"Well, I just thought that's what you always did when your charming voice makes somepony clear out of the unit."

Rainbow's teeth were starting to grind. He didn't deserve to wear that flight suit. If she had any chips she could cash in at all with Celestia, she would gladly trade them all so that this pony would be a statue on her lawn by the end of the night. If she had a lawn. Okay, revenge plan fail, but this couldn't stand. "Lieutenant, you are about to enter a whole new world of hurt. The beasts of Tartarus are going to fear me after what I do to you."

"No, Captain, they aren't." The son-of-a-mule pulled out a scroll with an official military seal on it, and unfurled it. "I'm here to deliver an official communique from HQ."

"What?" This day just kept getting better. Another chew-out about the state of her unit and it was getting delivered by him? Forget fearing her; the beasts behind the Gates were going to be her new best friends after she fed some ponies to them.

"Yuh-huh. Ahem! Da-da-da-da-da!"

Oh, the smugness. It was overwhelming. Even the fake little horn sounds were mocking her and her uniform. Could her jacket catch fire? She was almost certain her rage was burning that hot.

"Captain Rainbow Danger Dash... Really? Danger is your actual middle name?"

"Keep talking to find out why," she said through her grinding teeth.

"Uh-huh.... Captain Rainbow Danger Dash, by decree of her Royal Majesty Princess Celestia, because of your service blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, you are hereby transferred to the duty of Royal Guard, effective immediately. Report to the Castle Canterlot gates for blah blah blah. Blah blah, Princess Celestia."

Rainbow Dash was never known as the smartest mare in Equestria, but what she lacked in book smarts she made up for in street smarts: the ability to think on her hooves and know her trade. She was almost never caught speechless or flat-hooved. This, however, took her several moments to fully appreciate. The princess had just saved her. She had no idea why she was being pulled into the Guard, she definitely wasn't the type for it, but knowing that the princess knew her personally she must have something fitting in mind. Even if she didn't, anything had to be better than this.

"Uh, Captain? You there?"

Rainbow Dash just blinked. Once. Slowly.

"So, anyway, Captain, I don't take orders from you anymore. Which means I can say whatever I want. And I say you always sucked as a captain."

Rainbow Dash blinked again, and smiled. She smiled so wide she couldn't remember being this happy since she first performed the Rainboom and gotten her cutie mark. "You know what, Lieutenant? You're right!"

Well, that wiped the smug look off his face. Now it was just stunned surprise. "I am?"

"Yup. I may be the best flier, but I'm a lousy Captain."

The wide eyes just got wider. "... You are?"

"You bet!" Rainbow Dash's face now wore a friendly smile, with just a tiny hint of deviousness, not that he was smart enough to detect it. She reached into her jacket's considerable pocket and pulled out a bag of bits with her mouth and poured its contents on the bar-top, showering it in valuable coins. Not the ones, fives, and tens normal ponies carried. These were hundreds and two hundreds pouring out of the bag, sure, but most of them were five hundreds. There was likely a comfortable year’s salary for most ponies right on the table.

"Wow!" The bartender was eyeing them deeply, like he'd never seen that much from one pony. He probably hadn’t. "Are you buying everypony one round or fifty?"

Rainbow Dash let out a laugh. Oh, no, they weren't getting alcohol from her. "Nope, not buying rounds. That’s for the windows."

"Windows?" The bartender pony asked, clearly utterly confused.

"You bet! And hey, Lieutenant, do you know what else you're right about?"

" ... What?"

Oh, he was probably scared now. Good. "You don't have to listen to me anymore! We're in different branches. No more chain of command here."

"I'm right?"

"You're right."

"Oh... right. I'm right! Well, I'm glad you sa—" Crack!

The stallion's body moved in an unnatural tilt as Rainbow's hoof impacted into the side of his face. The sheer force left him completely dazed and with a probable concussion and possible broken jaw. She quickly stuffed the decree scroll into her jacket’s pocket and bent over to lift the dazed flank-hole. With her powerful legs, she started spinning him around until she could feel the inertia pulling at her arms, begging her to release him, and she did, right at one of the fancy design-laden windows the bar had chosen to buy instead of Sweet Apple Acres’ cider. The nearly-unconscious colt turned over once in mid-air before hitting the glass and blasting right through it with a tremendous crash. They might try to arrest her for this on her way to Canterlot, but they'd have to catch her first.

The rest of the bar stood frozen, stunned at the unexpected violence. Rainbow ate it up. It might not have been the admiration she lived for, but it was still some good old fashioned attention, and a type that wasn't whiny. This was a meal she truly missed.

"Looks like the princesses need my help, everypony! Sorry I can't stay and sort through the drama, but I gotta go save the world! Later!" She bent down and spread her wings, looking out the broken window. In an instant, her mind processed some nostalgia. It had been many years since she had helped get water to Cloudsdale and set her 16.0 wing power “record”.

The small crowd that had formed stood speechless as she called upon her primary feathers, and they separated and buzzed, vibrating faster than the eye could see and crackling with the Wonderbolts’ signature lightning. She felt the air and magic around her, and used her pegasus abilities to push it out her wings, creating a massive air current which sent her flying off and out the broken window with precise aim. Her wake tossed glasses and lighter ponies like toys as her rainbow-colored lightning and dark smoke arced behind her and across the night. The takeoff speed was something familiar yet all too uncommon as of late as she aimed for a modest yet steady climb. She had gotten clear of the buildings in less than a second, rocketing higher and higher into the atmosphere.

Sixteen wing-power. Pfft. She understood now why she wasn't allowed into the Wonderbolts back then, or back in the Best Young Flyer's competition. She hadn't been ready yet. She didn't have the strength, and more importantly, she didn't have the magic, which is how the Wonderbolts measured wing power. Back then, she probably had what equated to less than ten wing-power by their standards. Now? Now she would give herself mandatory drills if she fell below one hundred wing-power, and she was going to leave while making certain everypony in that bar... no, everypony in Cloudsdale knew why she was the best as she kept flying upwards, never arcing down.

The patrons of the bar didn't have long to collect themselves before being knocked on their rears again. Less than six seconds after the cyan pegasus blasted off through the window, a mesmerizing blaze of colors seared into their retinas. Every imaginable hue shined forth, and a second later the shock wave hit: the "boom" part of the Sonic Rainboom. The concussive force had all the ponies covering their heads and ears as every window in the bar shattered into splinters.

“I’m sorry if it was painful. I wanted you to truly know what was ahead for you.”

Words, Twilight recognized what those were. She could feel her thoughts slowly coalesce into something resembling “normal”.

“If it’s any consolation, you’ll have two alicorns to guide you, and an abundance of loyal friends to support you. Alicorns need friends even more than normal ponies. They keep us grounded, and remind us why we exist.”

Meanings were starting to fall into place and nerve signals were reaching her extremities again as her hooves began to twitch a little. Progress toward sentience! Now to try moving a limb for real. Success was reported back as her blurry vision started to focus itself and a foreleg moved a bit to get under her.

Her vision shook as she forced herself back up. Focus returned to her and she saw Celestia facing her fireplace, laying down on the ground, her regalia stashed in a corner. Realizing the significance of this would have to wait for another time; she was still too out of it.

Taking a step forward caused the ground to give more than she expected. Waking up more, she looked down to find herself standing on Celestia’s alicorn-sized bed. Her back straightened as a jolt of nerves shot up to her brain and forced her out of it in a jump as her mind started screaming at itself.

Celestia’s bed! I stood on it! Oh no she’s going to-

A telekinetic grip of magic lifted her up and her legs locked below her as the magic placed her back on the bed, laying her down and wrapping the blanket over her again.

“Lay down, Twilight. You’ve just had a lot revealed to you, and there’s much more to come.”

Some relief came to her at first. She’d never actually been in Celestia’s bed before. She’d seen it, but never got to lay down in it. It was practically lulling her to sleep already. Her body then jolted awake when a memory sparked back to life in her mind, rushing to the foreground. “A- Alicorn!?”

“I see you remember now. And yes, it’s true.”

Twilight began shaking again as Celestia got up off the ground next to the fireplace and turned around to approach and face her student. She lay back down at Twilight’s eye level, the soon-to-be alicorn raised ever so slightly on the bed, shaking from nerves and looking down at the blanket. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Celestia as she broke down crying.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, centuries… Alicorns could live forever. Maybe she could cry forever, too. Time certainly seemed to stop having meaning for a while as the tears flowed. After a while, she almost forgot why she was upset, but the tears kept flowing over that. It wasn’t until a pure white cloth moved over her eyes and nose, cleaning her, that she realized Celestia had lain down next to her, and was stroking her back with a wing.

“The emotions are intense, aren’t they? At first you don’t even know where they come from.”

Twilight nodded, pulling as much comfort as she could from her mentor’s voice and presence.

“When the enigma of the alicorn mind realizes itself, a battle begins in the core of your soul. The mere knowledge of what’s happening to your magic and your body causes your emotions and instincts to shift and intensify as the mind tries to reconfigure itself to that of an alicorn. It’s natural that you’ll be scared and confused for a bit, and even experience quick changes in mood, but eventually your alicorn-self will be stronger for it. Oh, you should have seen Luna and I panic when we found out. She flew straight into a wall, she was so distracted.”

One lone laugh came from her before she silenced herself; she didn’t really feel much like laughing. “How did this happen?” she wondered aloud, not expecting an answer. She got one anyway.

“As I said, it’s basically a matter of power. A unicorn that has enough begins to change, and you’ve crossed that threshold. You may have done it a while ago, and your spell was proof. I know it’s scary, but do not feel alone or threatened. When Luna and I ascended, we were looked on as rivals and upstarts by other alicorns; now, for you, the only two alicorns in existence are welcoming you with open wings and hearts as a beloved family member.”

Twilight was almost back asleep, resting her head on the warm super-sized pony next to her and focusing exclusively on the words and her rhythmic breath for a long time before her mind let her actually think on her situation again. This did not provide much comfort, only speculation, which quickly started to drive itself into dark territory. She shook her head and stopped herself before it got out of hoof.

“I still feel so lost here,” she said. “There’s so much I don’t know.”

“It is understandable to have many questions, my dear student. After all, ascendancy is rare and hasn’t been seen in countless lifetimes. Nor has it been documented or explained to the public; it’s always been a thing shrouded in mystery.”

The nod she used was just enough to overcome the shaking and answer affirmatively as Celestia’s naked hoof was placed on her back.

“You can relax, Twilight, I will answer any questions you have of me. In fact…”

Twilight’s gaze went up to meet her mentor’s, her gentle smile putting her slightly more at ease.

“You know I’ve always encouraged you to ask me questions. I’ve loved answering them as much as you loved learning, but if you’ll recall there were certain questions I’ve refused to answer. That ends now. Any question you ever have of me, I will answer. Truthfully and fully. You may not always like the answers, and I may have to delay the answer until I can tell you in private, but anything you ever wish to know from me will be told. On my crown, this I promise you.”

Twilight Sparkle’s precious little world just broke. She was exhausted, scared, nervous, and shy, but also ecstatic. The words that had just been spoken to her were akin to having her library spontaneously quadruple in size, with a fresh shipment of boxed-up ultra-rare books to fill it all. Knowledge, vast sums of it just sitting before her, begging to be read and categorized. It wasn’t just books though, oh no. There were secrets in this world that were privy to Celestia and Celestia alone. Secrets she had just promised to tell her, all she needed to do was ask. The possibilities were endless and were filling her consciousness faster than she could consider them. She sat there, lost in her own mind, eyes wide as dinner plates, contemplating what vast mysteries of the cosmos she might solve with a few simple words. Then, a new voice derailed her train of thought hard enough for the wreckage to skip postal codes.

“Quick! Ask her how much she weighs!”

Twilight’s and Celestia’s heads both turned with enough speed to make the air whoosh as they spied a smiling, pointing Luna standing next to the conspicuously unopened door to Celestia’s chambers.

The princess of the night stood in contrast to her sister in more ways than one. Celestia, from Twilight’s perspective, was as unchanging as a mountain. She always looked and dressed the same. Luna, on the other hoof, had been re-growing ever since being defeated by the Elements. It had been a bit of a shock seeing a new form that Nightmare Night so long ago, but she had kept growing even after that. She now stood taller than ever, though still shorter than Celestia, and her coat had become a mix of dark blue and deep gray. Her ethereal mane had become much larger, and it was darker, too, with more stars visible. Her black regalia had been replaced with a light gray set; a similar color to that of the moon. It was hard to believe this was the same mare as the Princess Luna that was welcomed back so long ago. Even her wings were larger, rivaling those of the sister now giving her a bit of a scowl.

“Luna! That is not appropriate!” Celestia snapped.

Twilight shrunk herself again. She had been about to laugh, too.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh, Tia, lighten up. You deserve it for not telling me we were finally bringing her into the fold tonight!”

Twilight backed up just a bit as Luna trotted up to her and stared her in the eyes from a distance so uncomfortably close she couldn’t see the grin on Luna’s face. Nor could she see the forelegs that had snapped around her and brought her into a hug tight enough to conclusively confirm to Twilight that alicorns did indeed possess crazy earth pony strength.

“EEEEEEEEEEE! Finally! I have a new alicorn to talk to! Oh, it’s been too long!”

“Luna?”

“Yes, Sister?”

“You’re crushing my student.”

Luna looked down at the not-breathing, extra-purple mare in her limbs.

Twilight gasped for breath as the night princess released her, lungs thankful for the gift of air rushing in.

“I apologize, Twilight Sparkle. We ... do not know our own strength. Pray, forgive us.”

After a few deep breaths, her vocal cords starting responding again. “It’s… fine…” Responding, but only just. The words were still much weaker than she wanted.

Either way, Luna shook her head in response. “No, it was careless of me. You’re still starting this journey. For what it’s worth, Twilight, I'm here to help you through this, now and forever. I can't begin to repay you for what you've done for me: saving me, giving me friends and hope, even teaching me how to speak in a modern tongue... most of the time. But I'll always try. Whether you need me to explain something or poke fun at Tia, you can count on me.” She paused for a moment, then grinned mischievously. “Especially for poking fun at Tia. We're sisters. Pushing each other's buttons is our mandatory hobby."

Twilight giggled at this, remembering her brother. Oh, her brother. There was a fun little thought. His dorky little sister was about to show him up by becoming an alicorn. That's just about the ultimate trump card. "Hey, bro, what did you do with your life?" "Well, I became the youngest Captain of the Royal Guard ever and married the most loving princess in the world with an amazing happily ever after! How about you?" "Well, I cooped myself up in a library, didn't learn about friendship until too late in life, and oh yeah, became an ageless prin—" That was when another realization hit her so hard she almost became ill from the mental impact.

"Um... Princess?" she said, choking through the words.

"Yes, Twilight?" Celestia's voice was instantly calm and motherly again, completely recovered from Luna's jokes.

"I'm not going to have to become a princess too, am I?"

The two princesses looked at each other with a strange worry, unspoken in words but clearly communicated. Celestia hesitantly answered, "Not if you don't want to, but..."

"I know it’s customary, but if you two both rule Equestria, can't you change the rules? Make it so alicorns don't have to become royalty?"

Luna lay down to face Twilight, her face hinting at nerves that Celestia may have been better at hiding.

Celestia took a deep breath. "My student, the problem isn't so much that alicorns must become royalty. There is no such law. If you truly wanted, we would be happy to let you live your life, long though it may be, free from such things."

"Really?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head while failing to stop herself from looking ‘adorkable’.

“Truly. Think about it. Once you become a full alicorn, there will be precious little that anypony will be able to force you to do.”

Luna picked up the thread. “But ponies have an internal instinct to revere and respect alicorns while in their presence. It’s suppressible, and only works in their direct presence, but can still be potent. Sometimes ponies even experience it while near winged unicorns like Cadence, though she isn’t a true alicorn. And since you’re starting to become like us...”

"… they'll start bowing to me inside of a few years whether I like it or not." Twilight facehooved, discouraged. "Still, I can live with that. Don't get me wrong, Princess, in many ways being at your side as an equal would be a dream come true for me. I know I felt that way as a filly, seeing you raise the sun for the first time. But I don't want to leave my friends! And I really don't think I have the wisdom or experience I need to rule the country!"

Celestia’s response was so fast it must have been practiced. “True. But we’re also worried about what might happen in an emergency if we weren’t available for some reason. Ponies would look to you instinctively. You would become a de facto leader unless you exiled yourself permanently, which would be extremely ill-advised.”

Twilight’s despondency stoked a desire to bang her head on something, but the ultra-soft cushion Celestia used as a bed would’ve made a poor candidate. “So I’m stuck. Either I become a princess for real, or the second something goes wrong everypony will make me one.”

“No, we think there’s a way we can keep a balance here.” Celestia’s calm helped reassure her a little bit.

That was certainly welcome news. “There is?”

Luna’s playful smile was again in full effect. “Indeed! There have been others, in the past, that began an ascension under our guidance. You already know who they are, Twilight. The Grand Mages Starswirl the Bearded, Crimson Spectre, and Stellar Horizon.”

Hummingbirds had nothing on Twilight’s heart as it beat in excitement as she sat up and bounced just a little. “Starswirl!?” Her heartbeat then started racing for an entirely different reason: fear. “Wait... they all died. Crimson Spectre in battle... against...”

Luna’s playful smile retreated instantly. “Me, yes. Nopony said this would be easy, Twilight Sparkle. A Grand Mage’s job is dangerous, but it will prepare you for the trials that we alicorns inevitably face. Important events have a disturbing way of... gravitating towards us during ascension, even more than what you’ve already been through. This could help us guide you to challenges you’re more suited to.”

“More importantly,” Celestia hurriedly interjected before Twilight could speak, “the position will give you our authority, but keep you enough of an outsider that you may stay with your friends while not on missions. It will also shield you from the more dreary aspects of our job. No court sessions.”

Now things were getting confusing. “Your ‘authority’?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her student. “Quite nearly full authority of the Solar Throne - as if you were me or Luna. You can do anything you need to do, as long as you can justify it to us.”

“But that would still make me...” Twilight looked down at her hooves. Her little, purple hooves. She thought back to when she first became Celestia's pupil. The sheer awe she felt when she approached Celestia for her first lesson. The terror, the trepidation, and the idolization. Princess Celestia, Procer Celestia Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, was asking her to step into shoes her little hooves felt they could never fill. "Princess, " she said. "You are my idol. My hero. And the hero of millions of other ponies. You are the sun, larger than life itself, the beacon which the world follows! You're asking me to become like you. How can I? I'm just—"

Luna cut her off. "Twilight Sparkle, you are not giving yourself the credit you deserve. You lie there afraid of your possible failure, but in less than two decades you have saved both me and the world from the tyranny of Nightmare Moon, sealed Discord, a god of chaos, in stone, saved your village countless times, saved this nation countless times, travelled through time, quelled an Ursa Minor rampage, sent both my sister and the allegedly most learned unicorns in the country scrambling to comprehend your research, and gained more magical power in your short life than any other unicorn has ever amassed in such a time, ever."

Twilight stifled a grin at this. She couldn't help it. She loved praise. She lived for it. This time however, it only made her more scared. She backed up and tried to make herself even smaller, while trying to turn the grin into a bit of a shameful smile, lowering her head.

Luna focused her gaze hard into Twilight's eyes. "Name me one living pony on this great, large world with a better list of achievements. Name me just one, and I shall force my sister to send you home to your library. You'll never worry of this again."

Twilight looked into Luna's eyes, and thought. Really, really thought. It was an enlightening question, to say the least. Try as she might, she couldn't rise to Luna's challenge.

Twilight closed her eyes, laid her head down, and took a deep, long breath. Her inner voice snickered to itself. "Welcome to a larger world, little filly."

Steeling herself, she stood up with her eyes closed, but opened them with a newfound resolve that she prayed she could keep up. "What do I need to do?" she asked.

Celestia smiled with pride. "What you've always done, my brilliant young apprentice: Learn."

Author's Note

Update 08/28/14: I've refreshed the formatting here to fit a little better with the later chapter's style standards. There are, undoubtedly, still mistakes around, but it should still be much easier to read now. Very little content was actually changed, so my style is still very rough and inexperienced here, and will be for several chapters to come. Maybe someday I'll update all these old things with re-writes, but for now, the priority is making new chapters rather than fixing the old.

Drums of a Distant March

Twilight lay down on the stone of Celestia’s balcony, watching the morning sky. The Princess had given her time to gather her thoughts, but in truth they were still running around like a bunch of squirrels on a sugar rush. The consequences of her coming transformation touched on so many aspects of her life it was hard to think properly. Even her beloved lists were failing her, as priorities shifted the instant something new popped into her head.

Despite the reminder of her circumstances, it was still a relief to have Celestia lie down next to her again with another comforting wing draped over her back. The warmth of her mentor was a welcome contrast to the cold stone and marble underneath them.

Looking up at the white figure revealed something unusual indeed. In place of Celestia’s typical billowy mane was a mostly normal one. Pink hair flowed from her head like a waterfall that transitioned to blonde about halfway down.

“It’s been awhile since I had my mane like this. I sort of doubt anypony alive has ever seen it. I don’t find it to be that comfortable, truthfully.”

“I think it’s beautiful, princess!” She actually thought it looked better than her normal hair, despite the sudden craving for strawberries.

“I’m glad you think so. It’s always an untamed mess when I shut off its power. Hehe, look at me, I’ve got split ends everywhere!”

Twilight giggled in relief. “It’s not so bad!”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, but it is! Princess Celestia’s hair a national eyesore! Scandal! Fleur ds Lis distances herself from Canterlot elite; Rarity sees it and sets new record for consecutive dramatic faintings!”

That got a full laugh. The Princess could be quite the sarcastic card when she figuratively, and literally, let her mane down.

“It’s good to hear you laugh, Twilight. I know this isn’t an ideal situation for you.”

Her thoughts from moments ago came rushing back. “Yeah. It’s going to take some getting used to,” Twilight said, lowering her head.

“If it’s any consolation, the physical changes aren’t much to worry about just yet. It’s doubtful, though not impossible, that any will be seriously noticeable in the immediate future. It will be even longer before any are complete. Luna and I have called the completion of these aspects ‘summits’, representing an arrival at a new high point of our ascendancy. These include physical growth, horn growth, the ethereal mane, and the appearance of wings.

“The first three will start to develop gradually and can grow simultaneously during ascension, but which order they’ll start forming and complete themselves in will be random. Some may start happening soon and complete quickly, or drag on throughout your ascendancy while the other properties finish first, despite having started later. The last property, wings, can come at any time, and will happen instantly, and it will most likely be a while. Years, even. Though, I would try to be away from other ponies when any of the summits happen, or at least be outdoors. The completion of a summit tends to be accompanied by a large burst of magic.”

This was comforting. It meant it wasn’t likely for her to suddenly sprout wings or grow taller in an instant tomorrow, and she could still be seen as a unicorn, at least for a while.

“Also, it’s been seven hundred years since there has been a Grand Mage. I doubt civilian ponies will know how to really respond to you at first. I’d imagine that for the time being, they’ll treat you as a normal high-ranking noblepony, which should help since you should already be accustomed to it.”

Twilight sat up a little straighter. “I just realized that I don’t even know how a Grand Mage is supposed to be treated. I can’t recall it in any of the nobility protocol books.”

Celestia nodded. “That’s expected, really. I purposefully suppressed Crimson’s history. And Luna’s, for that matter.” Celestia raised a hoof and touched her student's shoulder. “It sounds odd, I know, but I knew Luna would return someday. When she did, I didn’t want ponies to know about the history, or at least not believe it. I wanted her to have a clean slate. Now that she’s back, we’ve been re-releasing the history, slowly.”

Twilight looked down at the ground. It seemed a little unbelievable that her mentor would actually suppress knowledge, but then, they were sisters.

“So that’s why I didn’t hear about Crimson until a few years ago,” she said.

“Exactly, Twilight. Stellar wasn’t Grand Mage for long, so it’s normal that he wasn’t remembered as much. Starswirl held the title long, long before the Lunar Rebellions. Before Discord, even. Time, as ever, clouds history. It didn’t help that he was very reclusive.

“Anyway, each of them had their own idea of ‘protocol.’ They sort of chose their own in that regard. Starswirl wanted to be bowed to and called ‘master’. Crimson was ever the soldier, wanting to be saluted. I think Stellar might be the most like you, really. He always wanted to go by unnoticed, until he had something important to contribute. He had a hard time with that since his ethereal mane came in almost right away.”

“I didn’t realize Starswirl had an ego like that,” Twilight said, cringing a bit.

“Hmm. I know he was an important role model for you, Twilight, but he was not a gentle stallion. Nor was he... entirely balanced, looking back. An unmatched mind to be sure, but at the cost of emotional stability.”

“I’m not that bad, am I?” Twilight cringed a little more. She remembered her own past “episodes.”

“Are you obsessing over doorknobs and experimenting with temporal mechanics in order to change the color of your owl?”

“No…”

“Then you’re fine. Come talk to me when you’re seeing eyes follow you around.”

“Whoa.”

“Indeed. It’s still hard, though. I still miss him.” Some genuine sadness showed through to Celestia’s face. Twilight could tell that this was the real her, not the face she put forward for all her subjects.

The significance of this revelation about Starswirl didn’t move her like it should. It was the Princess’ last sentence that weighed on her.

“Do you miss everypony you’ve met?” she asked.

“All the time. But the pony heart is a curious thing. Its room isn’t finite. We miss those we’ve lost, yet we still have room for the new ponies that come into our lives. Alicorns even more so. For all we lose, we see what we have, and we can’t trade it for anything.”

“But what happens when you make a mistake? When it’s your fault?”

“The same as when anypony makes a mistake. I learn from it, and try to help as many ponies as I can with that new knowledge. I know it sounds simple and harsh, but if I’m to be any kind of leader, that’s the only thing I can do. No matter how much it hurts.”

Twilight looked back out at the sky for a moment. “Does it ever stop hurting? When you make a mistake and somepony gets hurt?”

Celestia exhaled sharply. “If it ever does, I’ll toss my crown to Luna and abdicate the throne. It’s not about experiencing loss without hurting, Twilight. It’s about having enough of a connection to what you have to be able to overcome it.”

Twilight looked back down at the floor. She’d heard this lesson before, but this provided it a darker context. “I guess having friends really is the key, isn’t it? Is that why you sent me to Ponyville?”

Celestia nodded.

“I suppose I can understand that. It’s just… now I feel like I’m being torn again. The first few nights in Ponyville I felt like I was a part of two worlds. One, this world here in the castle, the other one in that small town of crazy ponies. I’m getting that feeling again now.”

Celestia’s gaze moved away from Twilight and into the sky. “Hmmm. Well, I can understand that. I don’t think it’s about the town, though. Towns come and go, some grow large, some stay small. With new technologies, Ponyville could boom into a metropolis and lose its charm, or bust into just a few farms and become a ghost town. It all changes.

“What matters isn’t the place, it’s the ponies you connect to, that understand you. But there needn’t be just one group or one area you ‘belong’ to. You have your friends in Ponyville, so you feel you ‘belong’ there. If you had another group of friends in Manehatten, you could ‘belong’ there too at the same time. Even if the exact feeling you get from them is different, the friendship can be just as strong. Don’t discount the power of friendship, especially from friends you haven’t yet met.”

Twilight unleashed a melancholy sigh. “I’m still not looking forward to losing the ones I have now. I’m going to watch them die.”

“That would’ve been likely anyway, my student. Powerful unicorns live a long time, powerful unicorn mares even more so.”

“I know,” Twilight groaned. “But at least I would’ve gotten to join them. It wouldn’t have to hurt for as long.”

“Twilight. Loss is a part of life, whether it’s as long as ours or as relatively short as a normal pony’s. Coping with loss is also a part of life. We have to do it for longer, but having a death wish to avoid it is not healthy.”

“I know…”

“I mean it, Twilight. If you ever truly feel this way, seek out me or Luna. We’ll help you, ok? Promise me.”

She looked up into Celestia eyes. The tone implied scolding, but the eyes held nothing but worry.

“I promise.” Twilight crossed her heart. Anything to assuage those worrying eyes.

Celestia gave her a small nuzzle, though Twilight couldn’t quite return it as she began a long yawn, which merely reminded her how tired she was.

“Are you alright, Twilight?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit tired,” she lied. She was very tired, but that wasn’t something she had ever let stop her before.

“Hmm.”

The huge alicorn stood up over Twilight, triggering an appreciation of just how large her mentor really was compared to her. Am I really going to grow? Am I going to be that... huge?

“Come then,” Celestia said, re-igniting her mane. “I have something important to show you.”

Twilight got up and followed her mentor towards the door, the warmth they shared quickly fading in the cold morning air. Even the stone under her hooves seemed much colder now. After exiting through the large double doors, Luna stood up from her waiting place and began to follow them as a book floated itself down next to a small table near the doors.

It didn’t take long for the longer legs of the alicorns to force Twilight to move her pace up to a trot to keep up with their casual stride as they moved through the castle and down the large flight of steps. This early in the morning very few other ponies were around, and the castle's empty halls seemed to take on a new, but familiar atmosphere.

"Princess," she began. "May I ask another question?"

Celestia turned her head and smiled at her, displaying her uncanny ability to not look where she was going down steep steps and not fall, a skill no doubt honed from centuries of repeating the same path. "Of course, Twilight."

"I know that a new…" Twilight paused as she looked around for anypony that might overhear, but chose to be discrete despite not seeing any. "I know that a new you-know-what is a big deal, but why does that mean I have to stay in the castle for so long?"

"Ah, slightly ahead of me, Twilight. We’re going to the basement to answer that very question."

Twilight cringed in panic a little. The castle guards usually said “basement” when they meant dungeon.

Celestia seemed to pick up on the implication and recovered quickly. "I'm not sending you to the dungeon, Twilight, I meant the War Room."

If there was a way to be simultaneously relieved and thoroughly embarrassed, Twilight had just determined the perfect face to make to express the combination. "Oh, of course, I… okay, I didn't know that. But wasn't that one of the rooms that I'm not allowed in?"

Celestia seemed to increase her pace a little through the halls, but if she was nervous, she didn’t show it. "Ah yes, I do recall saying that, when I first took you as a student. Excellent memory as always, Twilight, but things have changed since then."

"Sister," Luna interrupted. "Speaking of government issues, Lieutenant-Commander Sunsail wanted to talk to me about our little project, and I have a new unicorn to orient and integrate into my Night Guard." Luna swung around to Celestia's other side and bent down to speak into Twilight's ear. "I’ll be back later. If she gets too serious, ask her about the diet she had to go on last year."

"Luna!"

"I'm going, I'm going." The blue alicorn used her wings to fly forward, turning around corners and gracefully avoiding all obstacles. It gave Twilight another measure of comfort to once again see the two acting like true sisters.

Celestia sighed, but it was more in relief than exasperation. “She’s gotten a lot more sociable now that ponies are attending her Night Court regularly. Though the cases she handles are different.”

"Different?" Twilight asked, increasing her pace to move alongside Celestia instead of slightly behind.

"Yes, Luna tends to not suffer fools lightly. If both sides are being deceptive, she'll likely come up with a solution that neither side likes. Since deception is part of her domain, the night, she's usually excellent at seeing through it. The ponies have learned this and want to avoid her if that's their aim, but her schedule is relatively free, so if either side requests her instead of me, they'll almost always get her despite whatever protests the other lodges. It's been rather freeing for me."

Twilight had to duck a little as Celestia spread her wings on the word “freeing”. She could easily imagine flight and freedom being connected. Once she got them, wings would definitely be on her “top ten alicorn benefits” list. Maybe Rainbow could even teach her to fly.

Celestia continued, "Since any truthful party could request her and be reasonably assured a victory, it didn’t take long for all the clear-cut cases with an obvious ‘correct’ party to fall to Luna, leaving me for the 'real' ones." Twilight noticed that there was a slight amount of not-quite-disgust in the word "real". "Then, one time Luna took over for my Court while I was off on an emergency diplomatic mission. Halfway through the first day, she made a new decree that anypony that lied to her in court would get arrested."

"Isn't that already the law?" she asked. “I mean, I can’t think of a better example of perjury.”

Celestia’s new grin was almost sly; Twilight felt it was honestly somewhat unnerving on someone so powerful, and she put some lateral distance between them. "Yes, but you see my dear, I have a gentler touch. I usually expose the lie and get them to repent and reach an agreement with the other side more easily. Luna... Luna has the liar arrested and either reschedules the case at the end of the queue or declares the other party victorious. As if by magic, about two-thirds of my cases for the next three months had decided to negotiate between themselves!"

The teacher and student shared a laugh at that as they arrived at the door to the war room and sat down. "Oh, but that isn't even the best part!" the Princess continued. "After that, Luna and I started randomly switching shifts every so often. Our ponies never truly know if they're going to get me or her. It's done wonders to discourage frivolous cases."

The chuckles calmed down a bit as Twilight pondered a different interpretation of the events. "Wait, would that mean that ponies are still afraid of her?"

Celestia nodded. "I'm glad you can see that, and that is the case with some. However, the honest ones have found a true champion, and that has done much to improve her reputation. I remember one case a few months ago where a mining company had tried to buy the land of a small town outside Fillydelphia, but was deceptive in the contract. Luna saw through it immediately and gave the town the money and the land. They have statues of her all over the town now. Anyway, to your question about why you need to stay here."

Celestia knocked in a peculiar pattern on the door, and its opening revealed something Twilight did not expect: a shimmering field of magical energy that could only mean a portal.

"Come, stay close."

Twilight did as she was told, and stepped into the portal directly beside Celestia. She knew all too well what kind of security must be in place for the portal, and kept as close as she could to be shielded by her mentor.

Everything went dark and her heart skipped a beat, then she gasped as the light came back in an instant. She found herself in the middle of an impressively large room, far larger than what should have been possible in the castle. The room was long and about twice as wide as the castle's main corridors, with many alcoves lining the side, each with their own map table and multitude of documents and images on the walls. She looked up, and saw pegasi in military uniforms moving between upper alcoves high above the lower floor, while unicorns and earth ponies all moved about and talked over their respective assignments. Many of them were carrying weapons with them.

The visual aesthetics were different, too. Gone was the marble and the stained glass, except the peach marble tiling on the floor. Dense, dark wood formed the structure, while clear glass and chalkboards lined the walls. Each alcove was abuzz with at least two or three ponies going over features on the textured maps or discussing clusters of papers, pictures, and diagrams on the walls. Some were arguing amongst themselves loudly, others were chatting over coffee, the smell of which permeated the air along with the scent of wood and paper.

"Welcome, Twilight, to the War Room." Twilight jumped a little at the voice. It felt like Celestia hadn't been there until that moment. Depending on how the portal worked, she might not have been.

"This is where Luna and I really run the country. All the known threats to my beloved ponies, foreign and domestic, are tracked and thwarted in this room. It's what occupies the majority of our time, and it signifies the reason you must remain here."

Twilight was still taking it all in. With a cursory glance, she saw pictures of griffons, dragons, ponies, even the princesses on the walls.

"Royalty arrived! Atten-tion!” The booming voice screamed behind her and right in her ears with a sound wave so intense she could swear there was a new tunnel in her head connecting her ears.

In an instant, every single pony in the room stopped what they were doing and bowed to the princess in uncanny synchronization. A split second later, every pegasus in the air hit the ground with a resounding crash of hooves and they too went into a bow.

Celestia responded unfazed, and Twilight wondered if alicorns were supposed to be immune from absurdly loud yelling as well. "At ease, everypony. I'm sure most of you know my student, Twilight Sparkle. As of this moment, I'm giving her full security clearance. She may be here or anywhere else without an escort. Please show her the respect she is due for her service to this country and her new title. That will be all."

The ponies all got back to their work, with some still gazing at their new arrival. She could swear she had seen some of them before, but couldn't match any names.

Celestia interrupted her before she could finish her thoughts. "Now, Twilight, come here. I want to show you something."

She followed Celestia down the hall, and discovered the end of the hall was split into two directions that had yet more halls and alcoves. She wasn't sure entirely how big this facility was. "We're actually inside the mountain, not the castle, if you're wondering. The halls go in a large loop, with an elevator in the back side that leads to half a dozen more levels. We built it after the changeling incident."

Celestia knew her too well.

"Now, here, look in this alcove." She turned right again to a particularly large alcove with three ponies stepping off to the side in silence. Two of them were identical-looking earth stallions large enough to plow Sweet Apple Acres' fields, but otherwise looked very much like they belonged here in their military uniforms. The third was a unicorn mare with a short, blonde mane and looked every bit as military as the stallions, but they were far more nervous than they should have been. Even taking Celestia into account. What really caught her attention was the pictures in the center-back wall of the alcove: they were of herself! Some in her home, some around Ponyville, others in Canterlot or other places she had visited.

Quickly, she glanced at the table, and saw a map that traced out her movements perfectly for the last several years. Every little side trip. There were other ponies' paths marked, too, but she didn't know whose.

Her mind quickly demanded more information, and she turned to the left side of the alcove, and saw images of ponies and dragons and griffins and other species she'd never met before, with lines going in between them on the underlying chalkboard. Some of the pictures had a giant red "X" on them, others a blue "X", others none at all.

Celestia finally explained. "These are pictures of those that have made plans to bring you harm, my student. The ones with a blue 'X' have been captured."

Twilight quickly turned to face her princess, her eyes watering. “Then… what do the red…”

Celestia nodded. "I'm afraid those are less fortunate. We always try to capture when we can, but the ones with a red mark had to be terminated during the course of their investigation. The others are still at large."

Twilight's breathing pace picked up and she began to cry a little. She looked up at Celestia, almost begging to make sense of her world again. "What did I do?"

Sadness and obvious love returned to break the Princess' composure again. "You became important to me. That's all the justification these… despicable beings need. We have ten ponies in the war room alone working in shifts around the clock just on you to analyze and thwart their plans before they ever get close. If they find out about your ascent, well, maybe you should finish that, Intelligentsia.”

The mare with gray fur stood up ramrod straight in a jolt. "Yes, of course Your Majesty. We estimate that roughly a third would abandon their plans for her altogether, but the others would either try to halt her ascent by assassination, or bring her to their side. Her psychological profile indicates…” Intelligentsia looked into Twilight's eyes with a stark hesitation and surprising fear, but Celestia's face demanded a continuation. “… her devotion to you would render any such attempts to get her to betray us utterly futile.”

When Intelligentsia finished, Twilight was shaking, her knees knocking together before she fell on the ground. She couldn't believe so many were trying to harm her, and didn't know what hurt more, that she had so many brushes with death that she didn't know about or that there were some in ponydom that were that cruel.

"And once she completes her ascension?" Celestia asked.

Intelligentsia coughed. "Well, ma'am, we can't fully simulate actions out that far, but if she attains full alicornhood, then only the most powerful of dragons could ever bring her direct harm. And, I know it isn't my place to say this, but, Ms. Sparkle, when you do ascend, we'll still be here for you, no matter what you need us for."

Twilight attempted to breathe in, but only managed a sniffle through her tears. "You will?" she asked, unable to look the unicorn in the eyes and unsure why such a statement from a stranger brought her so much comfort.

"Absolutely," came the reply, confident and strong.

The other two, both earth ponies with brown coats of fur and gray hair and looking uncannily similar, relaxed and spoke up with distinctive accents that Twilight couldn't quite place. "Aye, she's a right kind one, jist as we've always known."

The other chuckled and picked up the line with an eerie smoothness. "And yea know what they say aboot th’ kind ones."

"Hell have mercy on their enemies, 'coz they'll suffer enough when their friends get ahauld of 'em. We're ‘ere for yea, lass. We've ne’er let harm come to ye yit, and if we have our way, it ne’er will."

"And we will have our way."

She looked up at them through her tears and felt safe; just as safe as she did under Celestia's wing. "Thank you. All of you."

That got smiles all around, even from Celestia, and although Twilight couldn't see it from her position, she could feel it.

"All right, enough ah' thes mooshy stuff," the one on Twilight's right said. "Come on then!"

The two earth ponies walked up to either side of her and lifted her up. "Up ye go!" the other said, supporting her adrenaline-crashing body.

Twilight giggled a bit, pleased that these military ponies were far more personable than Celestia's stoic honor guard. "Are you one pony or two?" she asked, jokingly and through a deep yawn.

"Aye, we're two. Yer not seein' double, lass," the one on her left said.

The one on her right picked up the conversation. She was starting to notice a pattern and she wasn't yet sure if it was endearing or annoying. "And before ye ask, nae, we're not brothers, though no one believes us. Tha's Double Blind ower there, and nae, he's not blind, althoogh some here might disagree with that."

Sure enough, the left continued. "And tha's Feint Indication. Feint as in ruse, althoogh don't use ‘at phrase aroond th’ real Ruse or she'll burst ye wit ‘at nasty telekinesis ah hers. Lest time we sparred ‘er TK sent me right throogh a wall!"

Feint gave two short, hard laughs at that. “An’ intae th’ mares’ locker room!”

“Wasn’t mah fault! And Ah was too concussed tae remember anythin’ anyways.”

"How do I tell you two apart?" Twilight asked while giggling, finally recovering from her shock.

"Tha's simple," Feint answered. "Ah'm th’ good looking one!"

"Says whit now? Yea look like a dragon rearranged yer face!"

"Och aye, but Ah've got a mighty fine arse."

Double Blind's eyes widened in panic as he leapt to cover Feint's mouth with a hoof. "FEINT! Nae in front ay th’ princess!"

Celestia chuckled a bit. "It's ok, I don't mind."

Intelligentsia regained her professional composure after face-hoofing at the jokes. "So it's confirmed that our charge has begun her ascension?"

"Yes, it is. We'll proceed mostly as planned, but there's an earth pony in the castle's mess hall that knows too much to let loose for now. I'd like a security detail placed on her to keep her safe and in secured areas. She's an Element of Harmony, Honesty in this case, hence the extra measures. Also, let's see if we can't get her farm some help since she won't be there for it. We can go ahead and tell her family that she's safe and doing something for me, but leave out that she's at the castle."

Intelligentsia bowed. "Understood.”

“Princess, I need to ask you something.” Twilight’s stance was unusually straight, even challenging, though she didn’t feel it happening and Celestia didn’t react.

“Of course, Twilight.”

“How is publicizing my power going to make me less of a target? I mean, I appreciate that you feel I’m ready for this, but I’m going to feel like Rainbow put a ‘kick me’ sign on my back again. If any of these so-called assassins have any clue that unicorns can ascend, they’re going to know what’s up the instant this is announced.

“And that’s another thing. I can defend myself reasonably usually but I’m not good enough to fight like my predecessors. Ponies will see through this façade in an instant. Even if they’re exceptionally thick, all they’d need to do is ask somepony that knows me. My telekinesis is strong, but that’s about it. This all feels like a really bad idea.”

"Och, she's standin' up tae th’ Princess now. She'll be a real alicorn before yea know it," Feint said through somehow accented laughter.

The sound Twilight emitted at that statement was somewhere between an embarrassed squeak and a terrified shriek, and she ducked back down again to make herself tiny, closed her eyes and covered her head with her hooves. "Oh heavens, I really was disrespecting the princess! And she was trying to honor me! I'm going to get banished for sure now. Andwhatifshedoesn'tbanishmetothemoonwhatifit'sfartheraway!Waitwhatifitisn'teveninEquestria!?Whatifit'sanewplaneofexistence!?"

Somewhere in the back of Twilight’s mind, she could tell that Celestia was looking at her with a strange curiosity that at first bordered on incredulity and eventually turned into an exhausted humor. That thought was too far away from her to be paid any due attention, however. She also didn't quite fully grasp that she was using her internal voice externally as she continued to ramble onward to more and more implausible destinations.

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight found a way to cringe down even harder, steeling herself for being sent to the eternal plane of shellfish, which she wasn't sure really existed but she suspected Celestia might make just to send her there.

“You slept a little after our meeting. Before that, how long were you up working on this new spell of yours?”

“Oh, not that long, I—”

“Twilight.”

“I’m getting used to going without sleep, so, four days, give or take.” Twilight didn’t think she could shrink herself down any further.

“I assume, during that time, you had little food or water?”

“Well, I did have those hay fries and a few cherrychongas...” She was wrong, she got smaller, which also seemed to make her voice get higher.

“Over the course of four days?”

Twilight couldn’t help but think that squeaking wasn’t really becoming of the Grand Mage; she’d have to stop that.

Celestia sighed. “Twilight, it’s ok.”

It wasn’t until now that she noticed the war room didn’t seem to exist anymore. The ground didn’t exist anymore. All around her was just a wall of glowing light, mostly gold with some areas of pink. It kept getting brighter, and it was nothing but comforting. Maybe nopony heard the squeaks.

Twilight and tried to regain her composure. “I’m sorry, Princess. I was just—”

“I know, I know. If it’s any consolation, in the future this won’t matter so much. Alicorns, once fully grown, do not need sleep or food. Nor water or air, for that matter. Right now, though, I need you to be at your best. That means real sleep, real food. Once we’ve taken care of that, Luna can train you.”

“Luna, Princess?”

“Yes, Luna. I know being a Grand Mage makes you a tempting target, so Luna will show you how to truly defend yourself. Like I said, there is no more fearsome fighter. I wish she had been able to be there for your brother’s wedding. Queen Chrysalis would have learned that day exactly why my Luna was once called ‘Nightmare Moon’.”

Sleep was quickly reclaiming Twilight, as her eyelids weakened and dropped a little. Maybe rest was a good idea. “I understand, but they’ll still come after me!” A yawn interrupted her. “Do you really think this is safe?”

“Little about a Grand Mage’s job is safe, Twilight, but I do believe you will be able to handle it. Moreover, most should relent and leave you be once they see what my new Grand Mage can do. Few among even these groups have a death wish. Intelligentsia will deal with the rest. Now, go back to sleep, and get a meal when you wake.”

The light shined brighter and a sleep spell hit her like a freight train, sending her to dreamland so fast that Luna would probably hear the 'thud' of her arrival, and if there had been ground under her, a regular thud might have also applied.

There was something different and special about wild weather. It was bigger, with stronger winds and magnificent formations only brought about by random chance. Between the more distant towns and cities of Equestria, giant anvil-shaped thunderstorms roamed the plains whenever the conditions were just right.

These large types of wild storms were extremely dangerous, however. Ponies almost always sought to avoid them, whether on the ground or in the skies. The few that did approach were either trained to destroy them before they arrived in populated areas or were daredevil thrillseekers with a bit of a deathwish. Or, in Rainbow Dash’s case, both.

Even miles away the storm she had been watching looked like a true monster, soaring over 21,000 meters into the air with an updraft punching a semi-spherical dome into the tropopause. Very few ponies ever attempted flying that high, and fewer still survived it. Oxygen becomes limited beyond even what pegasi could tolerate, and the wind shear is incredible. Standing on top of an anvilhead was impossible; one only got dragged along it with the wind.

In comparison, the small puffy cloud Rainbow was sitting on was just bigger than a bed, and perfect for stretching out on. Cloudsdale was a distant memory at this point, with Canterlot a few hours’ journey ahead. If the thunderstorm hadn’t been on track to miss the capital, it’d likely have been torn down already. Such a shame really, it was one of the few natural sources of beauty Rainbow could slow down and appreciate for what it was. Very, very few ponies could build them as well as nature.

Rainbow fished into her pocket and pulled out the decree. It was certainly official, the Celestial seal and everything. She wondered what rank she’d have once the transfer was made. It was doubtful a hot dog like her would keep the rank of “captain”, which, unlike the rest of the military, was the highest rank in both the Wonderbolts and the Guard.

“You there! This airspace is restricted!”

Rainbow blinked in slow motion again at the disturbance, then sat up and peered over the cloud to see two military pegasi in gray armor.

“At ease, fellas!” she yelled back, sitting up over the cloud and showing off the emblems on her jacket. “I’m military too, and I’m here on official business.”

The two strange ponies looked at each other. “He didn’t say anything about her being here…” the right one said.

The other flew up above her and pointed. “You’re coming with us.”

Rainbow held up the transfer decree. “Sorry, boys, I got higher orders. This is from Princess Celestia herself, so unless you-hey!”

The high flying pegasus fired lightning from his wings and destroyed her transfer decree with barely enough time for Rainbow to leap up out of the way and into a hover.

“Do you have any idea what you just did!? That was an official decree from the Princess! You don’t just up and destr-hey!” She dodged another bolt, this one aimed at her head. “Oh you wanna play this game? Fine!”

Rainbow Dash spread her wings fully and sent magic down her feathers, taking flight with a rushing boom towards the thunderstorm as the two gave chase. Okay, so these two know how to fly, and the lightning means they have military training. Let’s see how brave they are.

She amped up the power in her wings to boost her speed, and looked back to find the surprise that not only were they keeping up but one was closing the distance like a bullet. A Wonderbolt trick saved her at the last instant as she altered the air currents around her to jolt herself to the left and dodged the grasp of the impossibly-fast pony. As she watched him fly by, she noticed a magic blue field emanating from his armor. He’s not faster than me - he’s cheating! Alright Rainbow, let’s show’em how a Wonderbolt flies!

She corrected her flight back to the thunderstorm and turned on her own lightning as smoke and rainbow-colored cracks of light spread out behind her. The other pegasus made another attempt to grab her by using that strange blue light, but she deftly dodged it and sent him into her stream of smoke and lightning. An unexpectedly bright blue light erupted behind her, and she made a sharp turn in case the other one was trying to grab her. Instead, she saw the pegasus that was attacking her falling right out of the sky leaving his own trail of smoke behind him. He must have been hit by her lightning trail.

She was about to ponder whether to save him when the other pegasus rushed towards her with the same blue magic. Dodging again but missing him with her lightning, she broke away and put even more power into her wings. Reaching the storm, she circled around and up its edge in a spiral, feeling the tip of her wing cut into the towering cloud as she climbed ever higher into Celestia’s sky.

She watched as the other pegasus circled around in a huge arc for another pass. Clearly, whatever trick they had gave them speed, but at the cost of not being able to turn quickly. She might be able to simply outrace them with a sharp turn and a rainboom, but that wouldn’t be fitting enough for this one.

It was then that she realized could probably just fry him in an instant with a bolt of her own; the lightning they were using was vastly inferior to what she and the other Wonderbolts could summon. It was originally meant to be a weapon instead of a spectacle, and most military pegasi could use it along with cutting wings, but it was still a somewhat strange thought to use it as a weapon so casually. This was in spite of all her training. In truth, she could probably take on a dozen of these guys easily, and if she was actually facing a dozen of them she probably would have used her lightning from the start. That having been noted, these two weren’t really much of a true threat. Plus, firing at the Captain of the Wonderbolts and frying a royal decree needed a special level of humiliation. Zapping them with lightning just wouldn’t do for that.

As the pegasus made another grab for her, she shifted the wind patterns again and dove right into the storm. Rain and hail started to pelt her as the extreme winds within the storm boosted them through her own magic currents, and her coat was soaked almost instantly. She quickly silenced her lightning trail as the sky around her rapidly changed from gray to dark blue with wild lightning crackling all around her. Deeper into the storm she plunged, changing her direction every so often to fool the idiot behind her. She could see the blue light from his armor streak wildly in the wrong direction, right towards the downdraft of the storm where he would no doubt be slammed into the ground in the storm’s rain shadow. Turning away from her attacker, she pushed herself towards the strongest upward winds as she hunted for the storm’s powerful updraft.

Punching through to the center of the storm, she felt a relatively warm and extremely strong blast of air from underneath her wings, and she shot straight up the center of the storm like a rocket as she spread out her primary feathers and brought all of her power to bear. Wind, wings, and magic combined to launch her up and out of the top of the storm in the largest rainboom she’d made to date.

Fierce winds stronger than any she could hope to counter knocked her out of her climb and she began to fall. This was alright, though, as it was all part of the plan. She angled herself towards Canterlot and breathed deeply to keep up her oxygen as she used the wind and gravity to enter a new phase of acceleration.

The downward pull plus her magic not only quickly got her to safe breathing altitude but also sent her rocketing towards Canterlot and well away from any jerkwad pursuers. No more breaks this time. She was now on a nonstop flight to the castle, with a rainboom scheduled to mark the arrival of the most awesome pegasus in Equestria.

Author's Note

Update 08/28/14: Formatting updates to better fit with later chapters. No huge fixes, just a few small formatting tweaks. There are undoubtedly things I missed, but it should still be easier to read than before.

Shattered Doorway, Opened Mirror

Twilight Sparkle's vision was excellent, despite what most ponies would believe of a mare who spends whole nights reading in the dark. She had no need for corrective glasses, even though Rarity insisted she should start wearing them as a fashion accessory. When she last had her eyes tested, the nurse had to ask if she had pegasus in her lineage, to which she insisted she was a pure unicorn.

She truly hated the term "pure unicorn", though. Many of the Canterlot elites put a lot of stock in being purebred unicorn, as if having earth pony or pegasus blood would make them somehow inferior. It was the same kind of isolationist attitude that the Hearth's Warming Tale warned against. Regardless, the fact remained that as far back as her family could trace, she was indeed a pure unicorn, with no hint of the other races. At least, until now.

Moreover, alicorns had all the best attributes of all the races, so it stood to reason that her eyes were not failing her, and that the extreme darkness she was currently seeing was, in fact, an accurate representation of the world around her. Even lighting her horn produced no illumination, as if the very air existed to extinguish all light.

Even more curious was the voice in the darkness. This voice wasn't arriving in her mind through her ears. She could hear it just like her own internal monologue, but she had no control over it. It was talking of a dead pony and blood on bricks, along with a solemn monologue on the futility of life. The prose was alarmingly horrific, but well written. Yet, despite the disturbing imagery now dancing in her head, her ears themselves said there was as little to hear as there was to see.

Two of her other senses were reporting completely contradictory things to what her hearing and sight were sensing. Her nose was actively calling her ears and eyes crazy, because it was able to detect nothing but the smell of old books, which was quite plainly the most comforting and awesome smell in all of existence. Therefore, her sense of sight and hearing were plainly just not doing their jobs. In addition, touch was going on and on about the smooth cloth on her body, mainly how it was restricting her movements to subtle turns. So logically, there had to be something there, her eyes were damn liars, and her ears were no better.

Adding all of this up to explain her current circumstance was a challenge, but remembering the last thing she saw before her sleep let her put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Insulting the princess, the loud voice she used at her, the utter darkness, the maddening words in her mind, the constricted movements and smell of old books. Yes, there was an obvious solution here.

Clearly, Princess Celestia had been so angry at her for her outburst that she took away her eyesight, bound her up, and banished her to a dimension of lost, unholy books and ancient demons where she would be feasted upon every night as a sacrifice to an entity of such horror that it was beyond her feeble comprehension. If there was ever a justified time to have a screaming freakout, this was it. Ready, voice? Ready, limbs? OK!

Twilight Sparkle jolted awake and gave a scream that seemed far beyond the capabilities of such a small mare. Lungs depleted, she filled them again and resumed screaming while her limbs did their thing trying to free her from whatever ingenious torture trap Celestia must have ensnared her in, giving no thought to the process because obviously she was doomed and would never escape. The odd voice talking ominously in her head must have known her, because it was now calling her name over and over, probably to boast of her eternal damnation.

After what seemed like an eternity wrapped into a mere moment, her eyes started reporting back in as a blue light lit up her senses, revealing an unfamiliar room and a very familiar face telling her something also familiar instead of a thousand mind-destroying blasphemies in a daemonic tongue. It was Princess Luna, illogically trying to calm her down. Couldn't she see she was busy being banished in a realm of pure evil? Now wasn't the time to calm down! It was perfectly appropriate to panic when in an alternate dimension of purest, unknowable terror.

Oh, now she was shaking her with magic. That's just rude to do to somepony freaking out for a legitimate reason! The best thing to do for this is to scream louder! Wait, now her mouth was closed with magic. Wonderful. Well, maybe she should at least give Luna a moment of quiet to explain why she was trying to put the brakes on her carefully thought out and totally reasonable plan of action.

"Twilight Sparkle, thou art hale! We- I'm doing it again- I took you to my room. You are in my room! Safe!"

Now that definitely didn't make any sense. How could Princess Luna's room be another dimen—Oh, well, now she just felt silly. Fortunately Luna was loosening the grip on her mouth so she could explain this in a calm and logical manner.

"OhLunaI'msorryIthoughtIwasbanishedtoanotherdimensionwithdemonsandthingsweregoingtoeatmeandIdidn'tknowpleasedon'tactuallysnnnmm—"

Whoops, muzzle again. Now she was really going to get it.

"Twilight Sparkle, it's okay! We're not mad at you. Relax. I brought you here because Tia was worried your tower might not be secure enough. You're safe. Now, have you calmed down?"

Twilight genuinely reflected on the question. Limbs? Not flailing. Horn? Not glowing with uncontrolled magic. Breathing? Heart rate? Steadily decreasing. Could she answer yes? What if she was wrong, and she wasn't calm, and that would only make it worse and she'd be banished for Oh stop doing that to me brain! she screamed in what she hoped was her head.

Taking two more deep breaths, she finally nodded, and Luna released her magic hold on her.

Luna exhaled deeply, too. "I'm glad. Please, stay here a moment. I need to make sure the guards aren't telling Celestia that Nightmare Moon is back or some such nonsense. I'll just be a minute, okay?"

Twilight nodded, not trusting her mouth to not scream again. If she had any other mouths to use it might be given a stern talking to. For now, she was content to breathe a little and look around the room while Luna ran out the door after the guards. She had never seen the inside of Luna's room. It was even more private for Luna than Celestia's room was for her. She felt honored just to be here, but at the same time felt some unease at what her eyes were reporting.

The interior design of the room was completely different from the rest of the palace. There was no gold or silver or bright colors. All the furniture was jet black, but far more ornate than she would have first guessed. The black color hid the sharp corners, spikes, and intricate designs carved into the wood. While not exactly homey, the artistic talent behind it was indisputable, especially highlighted in the moonlight. There was even a drape-covered archway to what she guessed was the closet, with a surrounding façade that made it seem more like the entrance to some underground cult meeting place.

The bed was strange, too. It was higher, firmer, and larger than Celestia's overglorified (but extremely comfortable) cushion, and the sheets underneath the dark purple blanket were the only white things in the entire room. Well, that wasn't quite true. There were eerie blue-white candles in the room that made it hard to tell for certain, but what little she could see of the walls was white, as was the ceiling. The walls, though, were almost entirely covered in bookshelves and other furniture, and each shelf was filled to overflowing with books. OK, maybe she could like this room after all. Luna was obviously as much a fan of books as she was.

Even the balcony and floor were different, with a dark gray stone making up their entirety. There was no paint or intricacy there, just flat gray stone. She could almost feel its chill without touching it. Near the balcony was a large black desk she wouldn't dare touch, though it was overflowing with papers that just cried out to be organized. It had an artistic design it shared with the rest of the furniture, but didn't look especially comfortable. Other items crowded the desk too. Ancient inkwells, a drawing compass, balls of string and rubber bands, even an abacus sat on the desk in a manner looking as if it had all been deliberately placed there to look as haphazard as possible. Her eye twitched a bit as she battled a nearly overwhelming need to organize.

The last piece of furniture was a pair of nightstands by the circular bed. The one on her right had a blown-out candle and an open book. Wait, not a candle… She sniffed at it to test its scent and confirm her suspicion. It was indeed an anti-candle! It would figure that the Princess of the Night would use something meant to siphon the light and sound from a room. How she could read with it was another matter, but at least it explained why she wasn't able to see or hear. Luna must've been using a projection spell to read to her, hence the "voices" in her head.

Speaking of, just what unholy thing was the princess reading? She turned her attention to the book laid open next to her, lifting it in a telekinetic grasp and turning it over to peek at the cover. Was Luna harboring some dark secret of favors owed to unspeakable deities for—oh, it was a noir crime novel. She chastised herself aloud for even thinking of such absurdities.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that I cannot stop imagining sinister motives. Clearly, I need to be institutionalized. Please have the nice ponies in white coats waiting for me at the door.

Your crazed student,

Twilight Sparkle"

"You're not crazed, Twilight Sparkle. Just overtired."

Twilight's head snapped to the left in the panic. Either Luna had managed to enter the room completely silently, even when closing the door behind her, or her ears were indeed damn liars. "Sorry, Princess. This whole thing is just… sorry."

Luna moved to the side of her bed to stand over her guest. "Its fine, Twilight. Tia and I can both understand what you're going through. We ascended too, after all.”

“Thanks, Princess.”

“Please, call me ‘Luna’. We aren’t so different anymore, are we?”

The mare twitched a bit under the covers. Luna had insisted on this before, but it was still hard to drop the honorific. What was even more uncomfortable, though, was not lowering Luna’s status, but dropping the honorific to elevate her own.

“Okay… Luna. That’s going to take getting used to. And I really can’t believe I slept an entire day…”

Luna smiled, showing a hint of the same kind of pride Celestia expressed. "Ah, that. My balcony always looks thus. It's really only eleven in the morning, which is after my normal bedtime, but it matters not. Alicorns have no need for sleep."

“Celestia told me. That’s honestly something about this I’m not going to mind. She also said you would be training me?”

“Indeed! I’m betting that my sister is also rather jealous about me getting to teach you your first alicorn spells, which only makes me happier to oblige.”

Twilight managed to choke and cough despite not having anything in her throat. “Alicorn magic!?”

Luna laughed. “Of course! Were this unicorn magic, you could probably figure it out with a book. But I’m going to teach you spells only we alicorns can do, and that includes battle magic. The spells at my command have sent Celestia's armies stampeding over themselves in retreat! When we're done, we— I promise, you will not fear the assailants Celestia showed you any longer. They will fear you."

"But... I don't want anypony to fear me... I'm not..."

"A monster?"

Twilight hadn't said it, and somehow she still wished she hadn't, but somehow Luna knew what she was going to say and it was a mistake all the same.

"Twilight, look," Luna said, dejected. "If my sister and I were to fight, really fight, without holding anything back... Tia would win. She always would have. Nightmare Moon wasn't even a match for her. Yet the ponies adore her, and fear Nightmare Moon. Luna is winning them over, slowly, but it should be plain to see that having power and being feared need not go hand in hand, as long as you use your power responsibly. Do you understand?"

Twilight nodded, not wanting to interrupt again as another hoof might occupy her mouth, and it was already crowded in there.

"Now, to your next inevitable question. 'If she's stronger, why doesn't she train me?'"

"Actually," Twilight interrupted, and then again yelled at herself in her head to stop doing that. "I was wondering how you were able to read while using an anti-candle."

"…Oh. As the alicorn of the night, I can see perfectly even in pure darkness. I also find darkness comforting. You weren't thinking I wasn't good enough to teach you because my sister is stronger?"

"No, of course not! I'd be honored to be your student!"

"Hmm… Well, that ruins the conversation plan I had. Could you… ask it anyway?"

If Twilight's head tilted anymore she'd be sideways, it would also be an accurate representation of what her nerves were doing to her stomach. "You want me to insult you with that question?"

The grin on Luna's face was almost surreal. "Please!"

She really didn't want to, but it was still a request from a Princess. "OK. Luna, wouldn't it be better for Princess Celestia to teach me if she's stronger than you?" Her voice had just a hint of her signature squeak at the end.

Luna clapped her hooves a little and answered with volume just short of the Royal Canterlot Voice. "AHA! But you see, Twilight Sparkle! It is I who have the skills you need! Power is not everything! … Too loud?"

"A little." She was definitely squeaking there.

"Ah, sorry. You see, Twilight, my sister is a bit of a one-trick pony when it comes to fighting. She only knows one move, and that's overwhelming force. I have nothing that can match her Sol Invictus spell in power, but that spell tends to vaporize everything in an extremely wide radius, even our beloved ponies.

"My spells, however, can wound or disable without killing, or can render armies asunder, or anything in between. I'm more flexible, you could say. It's something you'll need as Grand Mage. Which leads us to the other part of our plan. You recall how we said you need more experience to be able to take on the crown if need be, correct?"

Twilight nodded. No interrupting this time, mouth! I mean it!

"Well, that's what being Grand Mage is for. To give you experience, but in a more controlled manner than just waiting for something to happen. And trust me, if we just wait, something will happen. It’s the nature of ascendancy. Rather, we'll be picking specific missions for you. Ones that we feel will push your limits, but not be beyond you either. At the same time, this will also get ponies used to you having the authority of the throne. And, I know this must be disturbing for you, but this includes the use of lethal force. If you really feel it's needed, we permit you to use it. Sadly, there will be times where you may need it."

Twilight couldn’t quite comprehend that. She had a means of attack with her magic, sure, but lethal force? “Is that really necessary? I really don’t want to do that, Princess. It goes against everything Celestia taught me. There ought to be a way to—”

This time Luna interrupted. “I understand your concern, Twilight. Believe me. But, we trust you. We know you’d never do it unless you had absolutely no other choice. If we didn’t feel this way, we wouldn’t be giving you this responsibility.”

A connection clicked in Twilight’s mind. “No choice. One hundred thousand…”

“Hm?”

“Princess Celestia told me she had to kill a hundred thousand in her battles with Discord. She said her own ponies sacrificed themselves. If we have that instinct—”

“It’s very hard, Twilight. And the overall death toll was far, far greater. But these are the decisions that fate thrusts upon us. Kill some so that others may live, or hold back and watch more die later. I wish you would never have to make this choice, but I know you will. When you do, go to your friends, or to us. Trust me.”

“That’s rather foreboding.”

“As it should be, but I’ll do my best to give you all the tools I can to avoid it as much as possible. So will Tia. Oh! That reminds me.” Twilight’s neck practically got sore from the mood whiplash thanks to Luna’s reappearing smile. “The next time it’s just we alicorns, call Celestia ‘Tia’ or ‘Celly’. I really want to see her reaction!”

Twilight’s brain was screaming at all the world-bending ideas being thrown at her. “I can’t do that! She’s the princess! I’d get banish—”

“She’s not going to banish you, Twilight. She loves you like a daughter. So no more of this talk.”

It was comforting to hear that, even if she’d always sort of known it. “I understand, Pri— Luna.”

“Good!” The pri— Luna took a few steps towards her with another huge grin, until she was right in her face.

“I’m going to get hugged again, aren’t I?”

She was.

Just being clean from a shower was a remarkably refreshing experience after all the emotion of the previous night. With any luck, food will prove equally restoring. She accompanied Luna into the mess hall, where lunch was already beginning by the smell of things.

The sight of the mess hall was always a bit jarring, since it was much more spartan than the dining room or even the rest of the castle. It was meant to serve everypony working in the castle rather than the princesses, but Twilight usually found it a better option to get food. When one ordered food with the princess, it took forever while the chefs made sure everything was “just right”. When she went to the mess hall, she could get what everypony else was eating in less than three minutes. Since she hadn’t eaten in well over a day, food in three minutes was definitely preferable.

“Howdy Twilight! Howdy Princess!” a familiar voice rang out.

“Applejack! There you are! I was worried about you!” Twilight lied. She’d never, ever admit it, but with all that had happened she hadn’t been thinking much about Applejack.

“Aww, shoot Twi. No need ta worry ‘bout little ol’ me! I got a nice little gig here in the kitchens ta keep me busy. What’cha need?”

“How about another food fight?” Luna interjected with a smile.

“Another food fight? Applejack, what did you do?” Twilight glared at her.

“Nothin’!” Applejack was still the worst liar ever.

“Ugh! Fine! I don’t want to know, just—” she levitated a tray over to her. “—put edibles on this. lots of them.”

“… Okay.” Applejack began loading the tray, weighing it down in steps with additional foodstuffs. A pair of apple fritters. A daffodil sandwich. An orange. When Applejack looked at her in a pause, her stomach did the talking for her in a loud growl.

Three donuts. An alicorn-sized glass of iced tea. A walnut salad. Four carrots.

She raised her right eyebrow. Not cutting it, AJ.

Applejack looked around nervously before diving under the counter and pulling out a veggie pot pie, complete with hay bacon strips. Twilight hit the whole assortment of foodstuffs with a telekinetic field and levitated it all around. “Now we’re talkin’!”

“Uh, Twi, are you okay?”

“No, I’m hungry. I’m going to go ‘borrow’ the Princess’s dining room; she doesn’t usually eat there anyway. Have the guards get Spike, then I want the three of you to meet me in there. We need to talk. After I ingest at least seventy percent of this.”

Applejack looked over to Luna, who simply nodded with her trademark playful smile. “Okay then. You sure yer okay, other than the hungry?”

Twilight was already walking right out of the mess hall while eating an apple fritter noisily. “Mm okey! Dn-ng rmm!”

For the first time in a good long while, Applejack’s face showed a hint of real fear. “Is she gonna eat me if I go in there?”

Luna winked at her. “Bring a dessert offering, just in case.”

Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, stared at the giant map on the back wall of the War Room, eyes going over the troop movements again for the fiftieth time. The gryphons to the North seemed to be getting antsy, moving their soldiers around faster than the scout pegasi could keep pace. Worse, one division of troops seemed to be getting lost lately and deploying in the wrong areas. Some drift was always expected, but this was too much to be coincidence.

Shining sighed, looking down at the ground. “General Towers, what are your soldiers doing? Such a lack of discipline in your ranks isn’t like you.”

“Interesting times, Your Majesty.” Shining turned to see Intelligentsia with a bundle of papers in telekinetic tow.

“Very interesting,” he replied. “None of this seems right. We’re missing something huge here, I just know it.”

“I’ve been trying to figure it out, too. Can I show you something on the table?” She waggled the bundle of parchment behind her in her magic.

“Of course.”

The two moved over to a large, long, backlit table in the center of the corridor, and Intelligentsia unfurled the documents all over it. Included in the bundle was a single, large map.

“I’ve been going over the troop movement reports and other sets of data. There are some definite irregularities I need to point out.” She put her forehooves on the map and traced out a path from troop cluster to troop cluster. “What do you find odd about these groups?”

Shining eyed the map carefully, looking for any irregularity without success. Intelligentsia was an expert here, so if she saw something, he must be missing it. “Well, they aren’t quite where they’re supposed to be, but I knew that already. Towers is losing his touch.”

“I’m not so sure the rich old coot is senile just yet.”

A nervous new voice joined the conversation. “Excuse me, Prince Armor?”

The two turned to see a young-looking pegasus stallion in private’s armor.

“This had better be important, Private.” Intelligentsia’s curt manner was justified. Privates didn’t just barge into a conversation between a prince and a lieutenant without a very good reason.

“It is, ma’am. At least I think it is, I mean—”

“Private!”

“Yes ma’am! The Bellerophon is requesting permission to dock at Canterlot’s civilian airship pier!”

The Prince and Lieutenant turned to each other quickly before turning back.

“Care to repeat that, private?” Shining asked.

“Er, yes sir! The Bellerophon is requesting—”

“Permission to dock at Canterlot’s civilian airship pier. That’s what I thought.” Shining said, finishing the sentence for the private. “What in the name of Celestia is it doing out? It’s top secret and not even scheduled for completion for another four months! I know I didn’t sign an order for an engine shakedown; did the princesses?”

“Not that I know of, Your Majesty. That why the dockmaster sent me to get you,” the private replied.

“How far out is it?” Shining asked, his voice starting to show real worry despite his royal training to keep it steady for his subjects.

“Er, about fifteen minutes by now. Maybe less.”

“Sir!” Intelligentsia interjected. “We should have them keep their distance for now. Something really isn’t right here.”

“Agreed.” Shining’s voice grew deeper as his worries escalated. “Relay that order on the double, private. Don’t let it close yet. Make up something if they ask why. I’ll be there in a bit. That’s a Royal Order, understood?”

“Yes sir!” The pegasus saluted and sped off with his wings spread.

“There’s more, sir,” Intelligentsia continued. “The troop stations, look at this.” She picked up a pen with her magic and drew lines in between them. “Take a closer look at the distances between Towers’ troops.”

Shining examined the map for a moment to be sure of his conclusion. “They’re the same. Perfectly evenly spread out.”

“Now in what universe should troop movements in regions with inaccurate maps causing natural drift would you expect sixteen different troop stations to be flawlessly evenly spread? There should be some variation here.”

“You’re right, this is strange.”

“It gets worse.” She levitated additional papers over and in front of him, hanging in the air. “I catalogued the variances for all our troops in the field. For every report for the last six weeks I wrote down the distance between their intended destination and where they reported ending up. Notice anything?”

Shining pored over the numbers, but no pattern in the huge dataset was revealed to his eyes. “Sorry, Gen, nothing that I can see.”

“Oh?” Another paper levitated over. “Take a look at the numbers with only Towers’ soldiers reporting.”

The difference was immediately obvious. “They’re all even numbers! Every single one!”

“I asked one of our math whiz guys downstairs what the odds of this were. He said it’d be more likely for Celestia to sprout tentacles and ban all sweets from Equestria. It’s utterly impossible.”

“Towers fed us bad information? I’d like to think this is just rounding, but… wait a moment.” Shining put his front hooves up on the edge of the map table and used his magic to clear all the marks of Towers’ troops off the map. “Gen, do you have the data on the gryphons’ movements over the last six weeks?”

“Right here,” she said, lifting a new paper over.

Shining’s head moved back and forth between the paper and the map. He couldn’t read as fast as his sister, but he wasn’t a slouch either. Dots appeared on the map in different colors representing gryphon movements, but he didn’t even need to finish plotting the data before he realized what was going on and collapsed down to his haunches.

“The gryphons weren’t responding oddly to our deployments. They were moving around and in because our troops weren’t there at all!” He shot to his hooves like a stallion possessed and ran down the corridor to get a bit closer to the other ponies. He’d only practiced the Royal Canterlot Voice a few times before; he never thought he’d truly need it.

“Attention! Code black! The castle is under attack! All personnel, scramble! Defend the castle and the princesses at all costs! Code black! Scramble, scram—!”

A muffled rumble and momentary rocking motion interrupted him and had all the non-airborne ponies focusing on their balance for a moment before dutifully carrying out the scramble, rushing outside the war room to protect the castle.

Intelligentsia ran up behind Shining Armor, fear now in her eyes. “Was that…”

Prince Armor’s deep voice reverberated through the officer’s ears.

“It’s a coup.”

"Ugh.... So.... Full..."

"I was wondering whether a fast growing alicorn would need more calories. Looks like I was at least a little right."

Luna's scientific observations were not helping the groaning alicorn newbie. Twilight rolled over on the large cushion where Celestia usually sat and struggled to contain her stomach's contents. What she ate might've been hard even for Celestia to down, but by Heavens she had managed to pull it off. Whether it would stay there or whether she'd be able to look at food the same ever again was another matter entirely. She couldn't even open her eyes without her stomach complaining.

"Who's up fer dessert?!" a resounding country voice rang out.

Twilight answered in the only way her body would allow at the moment: a groaning wail.

"Wow Twilight! You managed to eat all this?! I'm impressed! Are you sure you're not part dragon?"

It appeared Spike was here to see her in this state too. Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Okay, that's enough, I think you've learned your lesson."

Twilight felt a wave of magic with Luna's voice, starting at her back hooves and washing over the rest of her in a tingly wave, wiping away the discomfort in a seamless spell. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked upside down at three beings staring at her with grins. Her efforts to right herself went surprisingly smoothly and with nary a stomach comment from either her body or her friends.

"Sorry, everypony. I guess I overdid it. I was just really hungry."

"Tweren't nothin', Twi. Ya should see Big Macintosh after a harvest. It's like we need half the trees just to power that ol' lug. Now, ya did say we need to talk, and I'm guessin’ it's about why we're stuck here. But don't worry about it, y’can take yer time, we won't rush ya. I know I'd be out of it after eatin' all that."

Twilight carefully stood up, then thought better of it and sat back down. Her stomach might have been calmed, but she still felt heavy. "Thanks Applejack, but I think I'm ready. In fact think I feel better now than I have since I got here… Feels like ages ago at this point."

Applejack and Spike walked closer and sat down facing her. The positioning felt somewhat awkward, but Twilight couldn't identify why. She only knew it was alleviated when Luna sat next to her.

"Spike, Applejack... The spell I used yesterday was one I cast through my hooves. I thought it would be a breakthrough, but... I've found out that unicorns can't do this. The Princesses have told me that I’m not a unicorn anymore. Not strictly, anyway. I'm an alicorn. Or, I will be in time. So far all I can do is stand on clouds and cast a sloppy spell through my hooves."

Her sheepish grin deepened as the two gazed at her in silence, Applejack with wide eyes and Spike with an uncharacteristic tear or two. She was wondering if she could go deaf from the sheer lack of sound when Applejack mercifully broke the silence.

"So, uh, yer telling us that yer like Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence now?"

“Luna and Celestia, yes. Cadence is a winged unicorn, not the same.”

“It ain’t?”

“No, they have unicorn and pegasus abilities; they’re rare but not as rare or powerful as alicorns, and they age normally. Alicorns have earth pony abilities along with the other two.”

“So... yer an alicorn.”

“Becoming one, at least.”

“Like Princess Celestia.”

“And Luna.”

“…”

Twilight had anticipated any number of possible responses from her friends when given this news. This was not quite one of them, and it was all the more uncomfortable for it as she squirmed just a little on her oversized cushion while Applejack’s mind looked like it was trying to absorb all this.

“Whoa…” the orange farmer simply said.

“Yeah,” Twilight replied.

“Fluttershy was right…”

“It’s been a shock to me too, I-—Wait, Fluttershy knew?!”

Everyone in the room other than Applejack had wide eyes and open jaws.

“Well, not really, but she said that Princess Celestia was groomin’ ya ta be a princess too! She thought that ‘cause we were gallopin’ all over Equestria, dealing with dragons ‘n’ such, like you were bein’ prepared. She said that maybe Celestia would even give ya... wings...”

Luna greatly brightened at hearing this. “Ha! Well, it seems my dear sister wasn’t as subtle as she thought! Bravo, fair Fluttershy! She didn’t get it all right, since we can’t just give somepony wings, they’re a part of ascension. Still, she truly has hidden depths!”

“Luna! Are you serious? All this time Celestia knew I was an alicorn!?” Twilight’s mouth went dry. She felt like a horned equivalent to Ditzy Doo. “Did anypony else? Am I really the last to know about this?”

Luna shook her head. “No, Twilight. But we knew that you might someday become one. It was never a sure thing, so we didn’t want to get your hopes up. So she subtly tried to put you in situations to think on your hooves to make being a Grand Mage, and possibly, yes, a princess, easier.”

“Subtle like a brick! I can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner! What else has she been—”

“Twilight.” Spike finally said something. Said it while very close. She hadn’t seen him get right in front of her, but two desperate green eyes were now looking at her through what was a layer of either water or mild sulfuric acid.

“Y-yes Spike?” Her words shook from the unexpected shift in attitude in the room, his voice hitting her like an anvil despite being extra soft.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Spike?”

“Don’t lie to me!” Unexpected dragon claws dug into her shoulder blades as Spike grabbed her near the neck and shook her. Spike’s eyes got even more flushed as a smell confirmed their acidic content. “Are you really an alicorn? An actual alicorn?”

The reasons for Spike behavior came into her mind with a sudden explosion, the topic they’d always danced around but never confronted now front and center for both to see and confront. Two hundred twenty years was the longest a female unicorn had ever lived, and stood as a record for non-alicorn ponydom. No one even knew if dragons died of old age, but they had gathered that a dragon wasn’t considered an adult until one thousand.

Now, she might outlive him. No small thing to ponder, and in truth she didn’t quite believe the situation completely herself. For now, it was true enough for a giant hug as she embraced him. “Yes, Spike. I don’t have the wings or the mane yet, but now you’ll always get to be my number one assistant.”

The hug was long, deep, and comforting even as Twilight’s lungs complained about the tears and her back complained about the burning from the sulfuric acid. None of it mattered. She couldn’t imagine a scenario where it mattered less.

So the world decided to show her one instead.

A powerful explosion from just outside the castle rocked the large glass windows to near their breaking point as screams poured in from the outside world. The atmosphere of panic solidified around them as they rushed to the window to see the fighting below.

“No, Heavens above, not now!” Luna’s normally calm, playful voice showing true alarm didn’t do anything to help matters.

“Not now? Princess, what’s gong on?” Applejack’s voiced echoed the panic down below.

“No time!” Luna turned to Twilight and used her magic to hold her in place. “Twilight, heed me well. Go back to my chambers. Check the ceiling, it’s an illusion. It’s actually a cloud, one meter thick. Teleport thyself and thy friends above the cloud. Thou shalt find a set of armor in the corner; it is thine. Don it and hide there. It’s the safest part of the castle with the strongest wards. If the attackers get in, escape. No matter what it takes, escape! There’s an entrance to the caves in the mountain behind one of the waterfalls. Use it if thou must. Dost thou understand?”

Much to Twilight’s frustration, Luna vanished the instant she began to nod. “Guess there’s no time to argue. Follow me, everypony!” With that, they dashed off at top speed towards Luna’s unique chambers.

“Land sakes… Why is it night in here?”

“Whoa, this place is kinda spooky. And I’m saying this as a dragon!”

“Luna does have unique tastes. Everypony gather around, this is going to be tricky since I can’t see where I’m going.” Twilight’s horn was already aglow with magic to probe the air above her. A tendril of magic moved through the ceiling, dispelling a piece of the illusion to see the cloud overhead, but repaired itself when the magic pulled back. “Wow, Luna knows her spells. It’s nearly flawless! OK everypony, I think I’ve got this. First, cloud walking spell.”

She hated casting this one; it always made her horn feel charged with static for a while. Still, it had to be done, so she charged the spell and casted it as her horn sent out a shower of sparks along with a moderately loud crack.

“Next, teleportation. This one might be rough, so watch it.”

The short range hops like this were much easier on the body and stomach than longer range attempts. Either way, however, moving without seeing where one was going could be dangerous. Worse, there were anti-teleportation wards throughout the castle. Anyone other than Celestia and Luna moving any farther than a meter or so could set them off and cause them to give a careless spellcaster an extremely bad day.

Fortunately, fate seemed to think there was enough bad luck going around for now and they teleported without much of an incident. Much more interesting, however, were the contents of the small upper room. Paintings of ponies Twilight had never seen nor known, weapons of times long past, and stacks of books and notes everywhere. This was Luna’s study, and as she had said there was a suit of armor in the corner. Well, not exactly a suit of armor. Rather, it was an mannequin with a deep purple torc, far darker than her own coat of hair.

“This is it?” she asked herself.

“Oof,” Spike replied, standing up. “That? Well, maybe it’s enchanted or something.”

“Hmm… could be. Well, I guess I’ll try putting—“

CRACK!

When she tried levitating it, a spark came from her horn that knocked her back a couple meters, the now obviously-enchanted torc rejecting the telekinesis harshly and landing her on her head.

“Twilight!” the other two screamed out, the domed ceiling bouncing their voices around the room, which was the last thing Twilight’s brand-new headache needed.

“I’m okay, just, ow.” She righted herself again and walked back to the armor. “Looks like this has to go on manually. Lend me a hoof with this.”

The piece was a true masterwork of ornate details, with a gem in the center so dark she swore it was black unless the light hit it just right to reveal its purple luster. Twilight could even see little runes engraved in the strange metal if she looked close enough.

Her friends helped lift the heavy metal over her head, and then slowly lowered it on her. It fit perfectly, and looked quite regal on her. She questioned its protective properties, however.

“Well, it fits at least. Are you sure we’re not missing something?” Spike asked.

“It does seem ta leave ya a bit exposed there, Twi,” Applejack concurred.

“Yeah, somehow I feel more naked with this thing on than off. It feels… strange. Like it’s pulling on my horn somehow. I… ow ow ow ow OW!”

Yelling was about the only thing she could do as she felt the armor start to pull an enormous amount of magic right out of her horn like a pump on a well. The burning heat on her horn was a painful counterpart to the incredible cold the rest of her body was feeling. A dip in a pool of liquid nitrogen might seem like a refreshingly warm sensation compared to the agony firing her nerves. It was several moments into the sensation before she even noticed that her vision had once again been overtaken by bright white light.

By the time it was over, it felt like she had just woken up from an unsatisfactory nap; drowsy and dizzy. Slowly she stood up on her hooves, slightly before her friends. They must have been knocked down too. A yawn certainly seemed appropriate now, and she indulged.

“Whoa… Twilight…”

Hearing Spike’s astonished tone, she forced her eyes open as the yawn retreated, and saw her heavily armored hoof. Quickly she glanced at herself, examining all over. A full suit of armor had grown on her with her magic, covering almost her entire body. The torc’s size had been reduced, but was still present. Almost every square centimeter of her body below it was covered in thick armor. Thinner, flexible pieces were present at strategic spots that put small gaps and joints in the armor, allowing full range of motion.

It was remarkably comfortable. For as heavy as it looked, it didn’t encumber her any as she did a few test motions.

“This has… by far the most advanced enchantments I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even know this kind of thing was possible! Must’ve been astronomically expensive.” Forgetting the dire circumstances outside, Twilight allowed herself a little smile. She might actually look the part of a Grand Mage in this.

“How expensive are we talkin’ ‘bout here, sugar cube?”

Twilight blinked as she ran some guesses in her head. “I think I could use this to buy Ponyville a few times.”

“Whoa.”

Spike was right, this definitely inspired awe. Even the gem was glowing now. Did Celestia’s torc do this? Did Luna’s? Either way, it was some heavy protection; they clearly expected Twilight to run into serious trouble in her new occupation.

A blast of light shone up from the clouds in every imaginable color, reminding her that trouble had already found her; it was waiting in the castle grounds. Shortly thereafter, a deafening boom rattled the walls. The three friends spoke in unison, as this could only mean one thing. “Rainbow!”

“What in tarnation is she doin’ here? Isn’t she supposed ta be off in Cloudsdale or something?”

Twilight shook her head, a single hoof raised slightly in anxiety. “I don’t know, but I’m going down there to help her and the Princesses.”

“But—” they both said, only to be cut off.

“I’m the most powerful unicorn in existence, an alicorn in the making, the Grand Mage of Equestria, and Canterlot is under attack from something. I can’t just sit idle. You two stay here if you want, I’ve got an attack to crush,” she said, vanishing in a burst of light.

Author's Note

Updated Sept 3rd, 2014. Formatting update. Should read a lot easier now.

Hooves, Scales, and Wings

Twilight leapt off the moonlit balcony and out of the illusion into the day. She quickly picked up speed as her eyes scanned for an overhead cloud. Finding one instantly, she teleported onto it and felt her hooves sink into the wet vapor.

“Now to find the Princess.” She opened her eyes wide as she peered over the edge, seeing the chaos below. Multiple skirmishes were unfolding between the guard and the unknown attackers, all ponies. She cursed her luck, wishing that it had been something other than her fellow ponies doing this as she noticed more and more dead on the ground. Most were attackers, but some wore guard uniforms.

Smoke in the distance was a telltale indicator of what had exploded earlier: her tower. It was completely destroyed, crumbled into dust, flame, and smoke. This hadn’t just been an attack on the castle; they had intended to eliminate her in the first shot.

All those lives lost to protect her and the Princesses, who were the last ponies who should need protection. The emotions running through her mind were reasonable to her, but foreign and hugely intense at the same time. There was anger at insolence, fear that more could be hurt, and an overwhelming urge to see this end by any means necessary.

Thunderbolts and shockwaves erupted in the distance, with two sources being much more destructive than the others. One was more powerful than all the others combined. She prayed that one was Luna, averting her eyes to continue the search as wind moved her cloud along. After a moment, another cloud below her moved away and she saw a pinkish-purple dot surrounded by gray dots, with a wall behind it and a giant stairway to its left. Cadence. Celestia would have to wait.

“I sure as Tartarus hope I know what I’m doing.” Twilight stood up straight on the cloud, waiting for the perfect time to drop straight down as she summoned the bounding spell through her hooves again. The flames burned brightly and depleted her cloud as the horseshoes formed on her hooves. The cloud evaporated at just the right time as the spell completed and she arrived directly over her target. She let gravity take hold as her body twisted and turned in the incredible rushing wind. Faster and faster the dots grew, until she could see the hairs on the manes of the attackers immediately below her, right as she teleported again.

She recovered her senses in the middle of another fresh crater, with gray-armored ponies scattered all about on the ground and more slowly appearing as the dust cleared.

“Well, I’m going down to help. You comin’?”

Applejack stood up straight to look the dragon in the eyes, then broke into a grin. “I thought you’d never ask!” She turned around to go out the door, and promptly realized there wasn’t one. “Aw, shoot. We can’t get down.”

“Ahem!” Now it was Spike’s turn to stand up straight with a smile. He took in a deep breath and exhaled white-green fire on the cloud below him. In less than a second under the stream of fire, a series of blue symbols illuminated in the clouds and promptly evaporated, followed shortly thereafter by the cloud itself.

“A dragon’s fire can break enchantments and evaporate clouds. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Well I’ll be. Where’d ya learn ta do that?”

“You really think Twilight didn’t use me as a magic guinea pig from time to time?” Considering what he just admitted to, there was a strangely large amount of pride in Spike’s voice and demeanor.

“Heh. Good point.” She didn’t need any further explanation and promptly jumped down, landing evenly on all four hooves. Spike quickly followed in a tumble.

Nothing further needed to be said as they raced out of the door and down the stairs towards the castle entrance.

Six hostiles. Four. One. Zero.

Most ponies assumed that barriers were only good for defense. Once you mastered them, however, they could be powerful offensive weapons. They could crush or bludgeon, or even bat large swaths of attackers away as toys; just like six unfortunate soldiers had recently found out as they were sent dozens of meters back into a few of their friends.

The attack on the castle was a complete surprise to Prince Armor and his forces. Worse, it was hardly a masterpiece of cunning and subtlety. In hindsight, the indications of the attack were obvious. They simply hadn’t seen them in time.

He looked at the battleground that was his home as smoke and the sounds of battle filled the air. He had snuck out a back exit and fought through to the main entrance to try to circle around the enemy, but that left the castle itself still infested. Worse, he still had no idea where Cadence was or if she was safe, and he still had to warn the pier. He greatly regretted Twilight never finishing her long-distance teleportation spell; it would’ve been perfect for this had she taught it to him. Hesitating for a moment on where to search, he turned to the entrance and ran up to the giant double doors.

It was as if the doors were waiting for this, because they then exploded outwards on cue. However, it was not a sense of dramatic timing but a large group of attackers that poured out, completely ignoring him in their mad rush to get out of the castle.

“And don’t come back, ya hear!”

Standing just inside the castle was an orange mare apparently armed with a purple dragon with small green flames coming out of his nostrils.

“Applejack? Spike?” he stated in an oddly flat, surprised tone.

The orange mare and the dragon turned to him, their faces brightening. “Whew! Thank Celestia yer here, Yer Majesty. These guys barely know when to quit.”

“I dunno about that, AJ. They sure seemed to know to run when a dragon breathes fire. Heh,” Spike said, rubbing his chest a little.

“Yeah, ‘spose they do.” Applejack had to give him that one.

Shining shook his head to regain control of his thoughts. This could be the bit of luck he needed to turn things around. “Applejack, Spike, listen to me. I need you to do something for me; it’s critically important.”

Applejack and Spike looked at each other with a quick grin. “Sure ‘nuff sugarcube. Watcha need?”

Focusing his power on the emblem affixed to his chest, he broke off the miniature shield piece from the straps and floated it to Spike. “Take this, and run to the pier as quick as you can. There’s a ship coming in trying to dock, a huge ship. It’s got a false flag! If that ship docks they’ll get reinforcements, and we can’t let that happen. Tell the dockmaster to open fire on that ship and get every pegasus they have to take it down! Understand?”

Spike rubbed his fist. “One barbequed blimp, coming up! Come on AJ!”

“Right behind ya. Let’s go!”

The two ran off like a shot. Shining turned away from the castle as flashes of magic blasted all around. The real fights were happening on the grounds, and he finally decided that’s where he was needed.

“Cadence,” he said. “Please be ok, and forgive me if you aren’t.”

“Cadence! Are you ok?” Twilight rushed over as soon as she got her bearings back and saw the pink winged unicorn next to the wall.

Cadence clumsily forced herself back up on her hooves and rubbed her head. “Twilight? Oh, thank Celestia it’s you. I thought an artillery piece hit me.”

Twilight backed up a bit and averted her eyes, giving a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, that was kinda my fault. Sorry if I hurt you.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. They nearly had me captured. Here.” A bright blue light emanated from her horn and a blast of energy shot behind and to the side of Twilight. The Grand Mage turned her head just in time to see the blast hit the horn of a hostile unicorn sneaking up on them, blowing out his horn and sending him to the ground twitching. He’d be completely disabled for several hours with that kind of impact.

Turning back, Twilight saw Cadence nearly collapse again and rushed to support her, bracing her sister-in-law’s shoulder. “How much have you been fighting?” she asked.

Winged unicorns were extremely rare, and most were nobility of some level. Every single one of them was capable of using a terrifying amount of magic at once; far more than most unicorns ever dreamt of. In turn, however, most didn’t have much more magic total than a regular unicorn. Cadence was much stronger than most, but if she exhausted her supply of magic, she’d wind up just like the unfortunate soul she blasted.

“Too much,” came the reply. “I’m not going to be much use anymore. Find Celestia. She’s trying to fight some old guy near the mountain. I didn’t get a look at his face, but I’m pretty sure he’s important.”

“Celestia’s fighting!?” she yelled. Images of the Glass Desert flashed in her mind. It was large enough to easily stretch from Canterlot to Ponyville and back again. If she used Sol Invictus...

“I need to get there. Get out of here, hide, or… something! Just don’t fight anymore!”

“I can handle it from here, Twilight. Thanks.”

A short smile was exchanged between the two before Twilight ran off.

Canterlot’s airship pier was a massive open-air structure. Situated on the opposite side of the mountain with a convenient tunnel for easy access, it had been under constant construction over the last few years to accommodate more and ever larger airships. Though mainly the means of transport of those without wings, the military had become more and more interested in them with the advent of new weapons and engine technologies. Most of the port had effectively come under its control, with more funds being pledged but not delivered to expand the civilian side.

It was through this that Commander Lofty Breeze was given charge of the pier. It was the perfect place to wind down towards retirement. A busy pier, lots of friendly faces... he could find himself settling in easily here among the start of a whole new industry.

Now, the castle was under attack, a ship was coming into dock despite orders to stay back, and an orange mare with an actual bucking dragon were telling him to open fire on it. Today had proven to be most interesting.

“And how do I know you two are telling the truth?”

The dragon grabbed the mare’s head and pulled it over to him. “See this? Element of Honesty. And you have Prince Armor’s little shield thingy. What more do you need?”

His teeth began to grind from nerves. “Proof this isn’t all some huge trick!”

He wasn’t being entirely unreasonable, really. There was a coup going on, and deception was a part of warfare. The problem was, if the ship was hostile, they were dead if it docked. If it was friendly, they would be halting reinforcements.

“Commander! We have incoming!” a voice from high in the watchtower screamed out as the whole bay turned to see the ship’s side open up and a few dozen pegasi fly out of it at speed.

“Are you happy now?”

“There’s still no proof! Those could be—” All doubt in the Commander’s mind got erased as the military pegasi launched their assault on the dock. Bolts of lightning began firing from their wings, tearing up the facility and sending his own pegasi scrambling.

The four cannons mounted on the pier began firing on the ship without his orders, blasts of energy from the unicorns manning them striking harmlessly on a purple barrier around the dirigible.

He’d been wrong. He should’ve listened. Turning around to apologize was a futile move as the orange mare and her friend had already run off towards the observation tower, a little platform much like a crow’s nest. Lightning struck behind him and knocked him forward, making him tumble over a few times on the wood desk below him. Two more impacts right in front of him sounded; impacts he recognized as pegasi in a flawlessly executed hard landing with all four hooves of each pony landing at the exact same time.

This was it. They’d finish him here, and Canterlot would fall thanks to his hesitation. He braced for the end, but it didn’t come. Instead, the sounds of fighting retreated from the docks to skies again, and he opened his eyes to look up.

His vision saw two leather flyer’s jackets, but no faces. He didn’t need to see the faces. He only needed to see the name tags with their golden lettering burning into his retinas.

WONDERBOLTS WONDERBOLTS

CAPTAIN (RET.) COMMANDER (RET.)

SPITFIRE SOARIN

The sound of a voice forced his head to move up enough to see their faces.

“Well, looks like you were right, Soarin. Those guys that attacked us were a part of something larger. I owe you a drink.” The bit of gray in her mane and the dry steeliness of her eyes showed her experience.

“Yeah, you can pay up when these guys finish buying me rounds. This one looks like he’s going to owe me a lot.” Soarin even had some tiny hints of gray, but his relatively soft features kept him looking young. Young-looking or no, his voice took on a hidden depth while in a fight.

Spitfire’s wings flapped open in an instant and launched twin lightning bolts behind the dockmaster. He turned his face just in time to witness a fireball engulfing several hostile pegasi where the two bolts met. Spitfire’s signature move.

“You crack that monster’s shield, I’ll thin their numbers.” Spitfire might’ve been retired, but she still gave orders like a captain.

“On it.” Soarin’s voice somehow got even deeper as he spread his own wings, and a golden, crackling field surrounded them and extended out from his feathers. Their takeoff speed was nearly incomprehensible, and just as fast as they had arrived they were off to join the fight. It was only then that Lofty Breeze realized that he’d sat there dumbfounded the entire time. He hadn’t just almost caused Canterlot to fall, he’d stared at two of the greatest Wonderbolts the world had ever known like some newborn foal while his dock got destroyed. His career was going to be over a lot faster than he’d ever thought.

Twilight ran around the outside gardens of the castle, trying to follow the flashes and pulses of magic in the distance to find Celestia. As she ran, the magical blasts of energy became all the more vague, going from a series of powerful concussive blasts to a simmer with an occasional muffled sound wave.

She slowed her speed to a trot and started looking around. What was behind her was the same as what was in front, and where the mountain should be to her right she only found more garden. Each direction she turned, it looked much the same.

“Okay, Twilight, get a grip,” she told herself. “This is obviously an illusion spell, you just have to find a way to break it.”

“Hahahahahaha.... oh, if only it were so simple a spell, Twilight Sparkle. But an illusion spell can’t keep you where I need you.”

That voice. She recognized that voice echoing around her. A voice that would be so friendly-sounding if she didn’t know exactly the horror it came from.

“Ah, you remember me. How touching. And you should be thanking me, really. I’m using all the power I can push out of this stone just to protect you! After all, it’d be a shame if you were to be in the conflagration, too. Dear Celestia always did go overboard.”

She turned and turned but the draconequus was nowhere to be seen. “Stone? So you’re still sealed,” she answered back. “Which means I can still get out. Where are you!?” Her yell was accompanied with a lighting of her horn and a grinding of teeth. She really didn’t have time for this. “Maybe I can put another seal on you.”

“You? Oh, I doubt that. Still, I’m surprised! You don’t want my hospitality? Alright, I’ll let you burn, but I think I should have you stay and chat a while anyway. It’ll be fun! We’ll share stories! What have you been up to, Little Miss Alicorn?”

“Oh crap.” She thought, spinning around again. “You know? How could you possibly know?”

“How could I not? When you feel the magic of three types of ponies in one body, there can only be one answer. I’m happy for you, really. After all, that means we’ll get to see so much more of each other! And who wouldn’t want to see more of little old me?”

“Try all of Equestria.”

“Yes, well, I’ll be sure to change that name once I’m out again. But you must be so excited! I mean, this is a big deal for you! What do your friends think?”

Oh no, he wasn’t going to get into her head that easily. “The ones that know are happy for me. I’d imagine the others will be too.”

“I’m sure they will be.” A lion’s paw rubbed her head and she leapt back. “Jumpy today, aren’t we?” the abomination asked.

Twilight looked at the demon carefully, and then slightly to her right where a familiar statue stood. “How did—”

“I’ll save you the trouble. This is a projection, one that takes quite a lot of power, so appreciate it and my… stunning visage. I’m still in the stone, at least for now.”

The way he squiggled through the air churned Twilight’s stomach. Sealed or not, this was going to be a major problem.

“Now then, let’s you and I talk.”

“No deals, Discord!” Her voice cracked a little with the yell.

“Deals? I’m not here to make a deal. You don’t have anything I want, and that’s obviously a goat behind door number three! I’m just here to help you.”

A couch that looked and felt strangely like one of Rarity’s appeared below her, knocking her over and laying her down on it.

The chaos spirit adjusted the thick glasses he was suddenly wearing and flipped through his notepad. “I mean, let’s face it, what’s happened to you recently is more worthy of one of these than anything Rarity’s ever used them for. But you’re never going to accept things if you keep lying to yourself about what your problems are.”

Twilight jumped off the couch and leveled an accusatory hoof at the draconequus. “Accept things? How the buck do you know anything about what I’ve been going through? And for that matter, why do you even care?”

Discord’s laugh was as sinister as ever. “Hehhehheh... Little pony, do you know how many alicorns I’ve killed? How many of their minds I’ve waltzed my way into and twisted beyond recognition? I know you all too well, even without trying. You are an open book to me, Twilight Sparkle. Don’t ever pretend otherwise. As for helping, well, I’m just a generous soul is all.”

“Gee, I don’t see any reason to distrust such a generous soul. By all means, tear my mind to pieces, you hideous freak of nature.”

Discord swooped down and pinched her cheek a little. “Oh, she can be flatly sarcastic! So cute! But we’re getting off topic, and much as I normally might like that, I need you to focus here. What actually scares you about becoming an alicorn? I mean, other than me of course. Is it being forced to be a princess? Hardly.”

Twilight blasted his hand off her face with some magic and shot a few more blasts at him that he unfortunately dodged. “And what would you know about being a princess? All you do is destroy. I’ve been at her side for years, I’ve seen what she has to do. It’s…” a stunning revelation cracked through her mind. “… awful.”

“Isn’t it though? On a pedestal, all alone, only a sister and a sycophantic brat to open up to.”

The mare sat back down. “Why didn’t she…”

“Tell you? She did, in her own way. Still, that’s neither what you are nor what you should be afraid of. Alicorns don’t have to answer to anything. Again, other than me, eventually. If you don’t want her life, you can tell her to shove it and go find a nice tropical beach to lay back on. Maybe make the locals wait on you knee and hoof. I think that’d be fun, at least for a while. Then when it got boring, you could turn them into lemurs.”

A few more blasts zipped past his head.

“Okay, okay! No dominating inferior species, I get it. Party pooper. Still, that’s not the issue here. The physical changes bother you a little, but I honestly can’t understand why. So you’re tall instead of short, and you get wings. You can give yourself wings these days. You don’t need some mystical metamorphosis to do it for you, though granted the butterfly ones aren’t as… majestic.

“Your friends dying is a scary thought, too, but as sad you already are about that you and I both know that you’ll deal with it. It’s not like other ponies don’t deal with loss of elders and friends over time, after all. So what’s really bothering you?”

“The fact that breaking your statue would probably just let you out instead of hurt you,” she responded through grinding teeth.

The God of Chaos gave her a horseapple-eating grin. “I know, delicious irony isn’t it? Frozen but untouchable? Anyway, that’s not quite it either. There are two things in the back of your mind eating at you, one a trifle, one that’s already swallowing your soul without you even knowing it yet. I bet it’s tasty, too. Such a shame that I never got a sample when I had the chance.”

Twilight got up and ran off, her horn alight and a draconequus floating behind her.

“And just where do you think you’re going young lady?”

She fired a few more blasts at him. “I’m going to find a weakness in this spell and get out of here before you drive me crazy!”

“Fine, go on, see if I care. I’ll just be here. Alone. By myself. Oh, boo-hoo.”

Twilight wasn’t about to argue, even if Discord’s response was ominously sarcastic. She just felt the need to run. Turn after turn she ran, probing everywhere with her magic to find some semblance of a weakness to exploit. After making far too many turns to make sense, she saw something that made her stop in her tracks: that same statue.

The voice started up again behind her. “I told you, I’m not letting you leave. Right now, nothing can enter or leave this place without my say so. No such path exists. Do we understand now?”

Twilight nodded, lying. She didn’t really understand, but she didn’t feel the need to. She was far too busy being terrified. Then, just as she was about to scream, that fear that so quickly welled in her mind vanished. She realized all she had to do was trick Discord into letting her out. It wasn’t one of her normal plans, and she couldn’t quite believe she had the stomach to try it, but there it was: a plan.

“Okay, Discord. You win. What am I afraid of, if you think you know me so well?” The confidence in her voice was unexpected, she had tried to sound scared. She simply couldn’t bring herself to.

“Yourself. Oh sure, there’s a little part of you that’s afraid your friends and others will treat you differently, but the truth is you’ve already settled that. You said it yourself, they’re happy for you, and the way you said it tells me things are alright there. As for others, well, you’ve already been a princess within Canterlot. Just because no one called you that directly doesn’t mean that disobeying you wouldn’t have been like disrespecting Celestia. In all but title, in Canterlot you already are Princess Twilight. You’re used to it, you know how to deal with it.

“What you fear more than anything is yourself. You fear you’ll change. You fear what you could become. You fear that you’ll fail. You fear that it will alter your mind and destroy who you are or worse, become a true Nightmare. Am I right?”

He was. She hadn’t quite realized it until it was explained so clearly, not that she’d had much time to think about it at all, but he was right, or at the very least, she was certainly worried about it now. The fact that she was sitting down again should be signal enough for a response, but she nodded anyway.

“Then look. All you need to do is keep calm. If you let your emotions get the better of you, then I get to see a great show! If you don’t, then you’ll treat it just like any other challenge, and it’ll lead to personal growth and… I don’t know, muffins or something. It’s that simple.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Wait, why am I listening to you?” It was a valid question. Listening to Discord was generally considered fairly high on her “list of things to never do under any circumstances ever.”

“Because I’m making sense? Not that it matters. The point is that you know I’m right. Or you could not listen to me and go nuts! It would certainly be more entertaining than what I normally see around here.”

Now she was just getting frustrated. “Whatever. You’ve said what you wanted to say. Just, let me out!”

Discord stood up straight and took an uncharacteristic and clearly mocking bow. “But of course, Your Highness! Just turn around and go straight, left, right, and left to find your beloved Princess, and do tell her I said hello when you get there, won’t you?”

Twilight took a few more shots at him with her magic. He was strangely good at dodging those. “Oh, I’ll tell her,” she said, using a tone that could be easily construed as threatening. “I’ll tell her everything.”

“Please do! I’d love for her to come by and have a nice chat!” The joy in his words wasn’t even sarcastic, which was just worrying. No time for that, though. The spell was obviously lifted as sounds of battle around the castle resumed for her again, and Celestia’s heat could be felt in the distance.

“Since when does Discord help ponies?” she said to herself.

“Hmph. The answer to that should be obvious, my dear,” the voice responded, stopping Twilight in her tracks. “When it’s in my best interest! Heh. Heh heh. Hehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!”

Applejack just barely managed to lose to Spike in their race up the dock’s watchtower. “Told ya the elevator was faster,” he said.

“And I told ya I wouldn’t even be winded! So there!”

Thunder cracked overhead to remind them of what was going on. Military pegasi of all colors fought each other with lightning and cutting wings. The ship stayed clear of the docks, its own cannons silent. It was clear they were going for a capture instead of bombardment.

A lightning attack hit the rocks above them and debris narrowly avoided crushing their watchtower. Applejack and Spike looked at each other with a clear thought shared between them: they had no idea what they were doing.

“I really hope I live through this so Granny Smith can kill me somethin’ proper when I get back. Spike!”

“Yeah?”

“Lure one o’ them pegasi in. I’ve got an idea.” Applejack tumbled to the edge of the crow’s-nest-style watchtower and ducked next to the concealing railing.

“Is it a good idea?” Spike asked, scratching his head.

“Not in the least. Got any better plans?”

“Nope. Hey, you!” An enemy pegasus in flight turned to see the dragon. “Come get me, you fat feathered freak!”

The tensed look on Spike’s face communicated that the pegasus took the bait. Applejack figured that she wouldn’t have been able to pull that off as a mere earth pony; they wouldn’t think her a threat. A dragon on the other hand, even a small one, could be trouble with fire breath, as she had already seen.

She waited patiently for a figure to zoom above her, and she didn’t have to wait long. The instant the front hooves came into view, she leapt up with all her might and grabbed on. A mere fraction of an instant later she felt Spike do the same as the pegasus dipped again. Wind rushed past them as the pegasus shook and rolled and climbed and dove trying to get her to loosen her grip. He obviously didn’t know what kind of rodeo pony had just latched on, and it looked as if dragons had fairly good grip with their claws as well.

“Let go!” the pegasus yelled through his furiously flapping wings.

“You let go!” she yelled back. Her mind really wasn’t into snappy quips at the moment as she was trying to wrestle him, only to realize there was no ground to wrestle him down towards. Well, there was, but it was a great distance below them. With a hard pull, she forced him to angle towards the ship. He fought her as best as he could, but it was useless for all but the most athletic of pegasi to resist the strength of an earth pony farmer and iron athlete.

Despite the fierce grip, she only knew how to control his direction. Speed was entirely another matter. The pegasus was drastically increasing his velocity as they dove towards the massive gray airship. A blue pegasus with what seemed to be giant, yellow-colored wings of pure electrical light dove past them, his wings impacting on the shimmering purple barrier around it and putting a crack in it.

The incredibly long ship had massive twin balloons, wrapped together in some kind of armor layer while carrying a huge crew area integrated right into the balloons themselves. The armor seemed to have big holes in it though, and there was not a speck of paint to be found anywhere on the surface. One of the huge engines jutting out from the side was belching smoke, and as she got closer she was relieved that the line of imposing guns along the hull were silent. Getting closer was one of the problems, though.

As an impact seemed inevitable, Applejack screamed and pulled hard on the pegasus to line up with the large doors on the side of the craft that were exposed by the pegasus strike, and prayed for a soft landing in the bay.

Her prayers were partially answered as they all soared into the large hangar, just barely managing to get in through the shield’s opening as it quickly closed after them. Her relief was short-lived, however, as they crashed onto the metal floor immediately thereafter with a resounding “crunch” coming from the pegasus she landed on. Spike and Applejack were both thrown clear after the first hit as they bounced down the bay and skidded towards an open lift. From Applejack’s perspective, said open lift was approaching both of them with no indication of quitting this dastardly behavior.

Tumbling over each other into the open maw of the lift, Applejack instinctively grabbed onto the large chain in the center of it, but couldn’t maintain a full grip as she slid down it, Spike following behind. A moment later, they hit the bottom of the ship with a nice, enemy-alerting “thum” sound. Six armored ponies quickly turned their heads to notice in confusion the strange orange earth pony that seemed to fall from the hangar deck. Their confusion only seemed to increase when a small purple dragon landed next to her with a similar sound. Applejack for her part was every bit as shocked, although not quite as confused.

One of the ponies hit a button and the floor beneath Applejack and Spike began to part to reveal an extremely large drop below them. Spike didn’t hesitate for a moment as he grabbed and tossed her into the pony that hit the button while breathing fire at the rest of them on the other side of the open floor. Seeing a chance to run, Applejack didn’t need further encouragement as the two jumped through doorway after doorway, strangely none with actual doors, towards the aft of the ship.

“Do we know where we’re going?” she yelled at her companion.

“Wherever we can cause the most damage!” he yelled back.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Applejack replied, her mind finding a potentially fatal flaw in this plan. “Where’s that?”

“I dunno, but it’s not where a bunch of ponies like that can get us!”

The dragon had a point.

The two rushed through one more doorway, this one with an actual door, and used some kind of lever that caused the door to close with the sound of a large, heavy lock clicking into place. The two leaned against the door to catch their breath, but froze as they looked behind them, finding a half dozen unicorns and pegasi looking at them in a very large, mostly metal room with two huge, humming cylindrical machines.

She looked around at the confused and somewhat irritated ponies staring at her, and saw that there were more up above her as metal stairs to her right lead up to a second level. Underneath the stairs was a large bin of white-glowing metal spike-like objects. Her powers of observation were good, but her ability to come up with a believable lie was as bad as ever.

“I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this,” Applejack bluffed, not that anypony would believe her. “Spike, would you be so kind as to do the honors?”

“I’d be glad to, m’lady.” Spike had a curiously good Canterlot accent when he wanted one. It was unlikely to help here, but grabbing one of the white metal spike thingamabobs and unleashing a draconic roar just might do the trick.

It almost did, as all the non-unicorns in the room dashed off in a frenzy, stumbling over each other. The two unicorns stood their ground and lit their horns. Spike’s reactions proved a bit faster, however, as a quick intake of breath and some fire later provided a very interesting result. His flame shot right through the metal spike, reacting with it and sending a dramatically larger than normal flame right into the two unicorns.

The two interlopers stood wide-eyed and frozen as the unicorns ran screaming up the stairs, sounds of fire extinguishers coming from the upstairs door.

“What in the hay was that?” Applejack asked.

Spike seemed less confused all of a sudden. “Huh! Solidified magic! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize it! Twilight got a small chunk home before to experiment on it, but this is a way bigger piece. Who knew dragon’s fire would do that? I wond—”

He didn’t get a chance to finish as the piece of magic popped and shook out of his hands. More and much louder pops and bright flashes came from the piece in a faster pace as it scattered around the floor, eventually starting to jump about. It was literally bouncing off the metal walls and denting them when a new, unknown voice from up the stairs shouted, “Containment breach! Abandon ship!” followed by a new siren sounding in their ears.

“Run like the dickens?” Applejack asked.

“Oh yeah,” Spike answered, pulling the lever next to him to unlock the door and scrambling through, Applejack just behind him.

The loud explosions behind them made running difficult as they stepped through doorway after doorway. The two desperately kept looking for a way off the ship as the moved towards the bay doors they had escaped earlier. The gaping hole in the floor technically offered a way off the ship, but little in the way of comfort. Between explosions and empty sky, they chose empty sky and jumped right through the opening.

It turned out to not be that huge an improvement.

Applejack and Spike flailed their limbs around in a screaming panic as the ground below them zoomed in for an eager meeting. Their mouths seemed to be as in sync as their legs.

“Catch me Catch me Catch me—”

Two soft impacts knocked the breath out of both of them as they looked up to find a blue pegasus with darker blue hair and a brown fliers’ jacket lifting them back up towards the docks. A quick look back revealed two pegasus wings in a giant envelope of electric yellow light and a smoke and lightning trail behind them.

“Hey, that was a bit dangerous, don’t you think? Storming an enemy ship and then jumping out of it?” a familiar voice asked.

“Hey hey, Soarin! Long time no see, buddy! Thanks for the catch!”

How Spike could say anything right now was utterly beyond Applejack.

“Haha! Not a problem! Couldn’t let Rainbow’s buddies go splat now, could I?”

They landed on what was left of the docks just in time to get knocked on their flanks by a giant explosion from the inside of the ship that tore its rear half asunder. Listing and falling, several subsequent detonations ripped most of the rest of the ship apart and set it alight. Mere moments later, what was left crashed into the base of the extremely steep mountain with a thunderous kaboom.

Applejack, Spike, and Soarin walked up and looked down over the docks at the wreckage as smoke rose from the ship’s new gravesite.

"What in blazes did you two do in there?!” Soarin asked.

“Oh you know, boarded the ship, found their stash of solidified magic, set it on fire, ran like hell out a random door. Nothing too amazing.”

“Are you kiddin’ me!?” Applejack finally regained the ability to speak. “That was downright suicidal!”

“It was your idea!” Spike shot back.

Spitfire’s voice came from behind them as she fluttered down to land. “Damn, I oughta give you two medals or something. That was incredible!”

Her landing effectively signaled the battle’s end as a triumphant cheer came from the soldiers and dockworkers. The enemies were all either dead, captured, or retreating into the sky in a vast panic.

Sore, bruised, exhausted, and half-choked by smoke billowing up from the burning wreck at the bottom of the mountain, Applejack and Spike were both overwhelmed by a feeling of relief and elation as they started laughing and cheering with the dockworkers in spite of their condition. This battle, at least, had been won.

Author's Note

Updated Sept 3rd 2014. Formatting update. Should be easier to read now.

Searing Heights

Sure enough, Discord’s directions saw Twilight quickly catching up to Celestia’s tormentors, approaching them from behind. She stopped at the stairs leading up to the fight and caught her breath while hiding around the end of the stairwell. The atmosphere was uncomfortably hot, and the plants around her were beginning to burn. The grass at Celestia’s hooves was already consumed by flame. Step by step Celestia backed away from her attackers with her wings spread and rage barely contained in her eyes; the tips of her mane resembled fire more than an aurora. Another step saw one of her wing’s primary feathers barely make contact with a tree. The resulting flames and heat were so intense that the entire thing was consumed into nothing but ash in mere seconds. Her golden shoes and torc were so hot they were glowing. It looked as if they could literally melt off her at any second.

Twilight fretted as she pondered what to do. She didn’t have many spells entirely meant to attack things. Her armor would shield her from telekinetic lifts and attacks, and probably had all kinds of other abilities, but she didn’t know about them and didn’t have a chance to learn about them. Worse, soldiers got training to resist the very same telekinetic attacks. They wouldn’t need fancy armor to defend themselves against that. Even with complete surprise, simple blasts of energy would work at most once, and then she’d have the others on her.

She reached out with her mind, and could feel the charged magic of the unicorns around the corner. There were one, four, six regular unicorns, but they were hard to make out against the incomprehensible magical force that was Celestia. One other, though, was clearly stronger than the regular soldiers, if still dwarfed by the alicorn.

Peeking around the corner she confirmed what her horn was telling her. Seven soldiers, and one of them looked much older and quite strong. In fact, the regular soldiers looked nervous and scared and were taking defensive postures despite having the Princess against a wall. The one, though, was clearly looking for an opening. However, he was also standing much closer to Celestia than the others, so if she could figure out some way to get the others out of the picture they’d at least have a numbers advantage again.

An idea popped into her head. I’m really going to have to learn some new combat spells. I can’t keep relying on this.

She looked up above the battleground, but found no clouds to dive off of. The heat from Celestia must have evaporated them. She was going to have to pull this off while in free-fall. The question was, could she teleport high enough?

A unicorn’s magic could be measured in a lot of ways, but the kinds that most often mattered in a fight were how much they had, how much they could output at once, and how much they could control without it exploding before a spell could be cast. Twilight had good properties on all three, but still couldn’t output more at once than Cadence. She knew this would likely change as she grew, but right now she’d have to rely more on capacity and control.

She hid back around the corner of the stairwell and started summoning her magic. She always had a tendency to hold back when grasping huge quantities of it; this was a natural reaction to the thought of having a powerful spell explode during failure. If she wasn’t holding a lot of power, it couldn’t hurt her. Now wasn’t the time, however, and she struggled with her mind to allow her to build up as much power as she could before being noticed.

Brighter and brighter her horn glowed as she pushed more magic into it. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around her grew hotter and hotter. Princess Celestia must have been shielding her; increasing her own power to mask Twilight’s but also risking a real disaster. Still, this meant that the Princess trusted her; she couldn’t let her down now. With a final summons she reached deep into her soul and broke her mental limits in a bright flash of purple.

She didn’t have much time to hope they hadn’t seen that as she found herself well over two kilometers above the castle.

Her legs flailed as she tried to right herself. This had to be done right, and strangely, panic never entered her mind. Slowly, she started forming the white horseshoes on her hooves. This was made harder by the need to be on target. She had to form the horseshoes, steer herself towards the enemies, and prepare the teleportation spell again all at once.

The wind this high up above a mountain was fierce and repeatedly tried to throw her off course. If she had wings this would be much, much easier. The air buffeted her from different directions as she fell, twisting and turning her body to try to stay on a target she was too high up to fully see. Pieces of the horseshoes peeled off as she fell, and it took even more concentration to repair them.

About five hundred meters up she finally got sight of her target again and completed the spell. Leaning forward, she felt the air shift her course right for her target. The dots had all gathered in a circle, possibly to not be surprised by wherever she had been teleported to. One hundred meters up, it became clear to her that this would be the best favor they could have done her.

With a direct impact in the middle of the circle, she teleported at the last possible second and sent the enemies flying. Her ears rattled with the sound of thunder as the air came rushing back into where she wound up, soon followed by the tinkling sound of falling glass from shattered windows. She stood up slowly, finding herself in a crater larger than the last two, and took her time to pick her way out of it as the dust cleared.

When she pulled herself up, she recognized two sources of magic, one much more powerful than the other. As the dust cleared, one particular and very large gray pony was revealed as Celestia’s light shown behind him. Somehow, the big one had survived.

“Good show, Ms. Sparkle!” the traitor spoke. “I’d expect nothing less from somepony who’s supposed to be the next alicorn.”

Buck me, her internal voice yelled as confirmation that her enemies knew what was happening to her rolled across the lips of this towering hostile. Wait… That’s General Towers! The military is in on this?! No, not the whole military, or the attack would be much larger and we’d definitely have seen it coming. He must just have his own division, maybe even less than that.”

The General turned towards her and walked forward slowly but confidently. Twilight steeled herself to confront this thing that now threatened her. It was surprisingly easy. Her whole body called out for her to just attack, but she quelled it. There was still a chance to end this peacefully.

“General Towers, I recognize you. Fifth in a line of generals, hailed as a master of defensive tactics. Ruining your legacy to start a coup? Did Discord put you up to this?” The possibility was there but didn’t seem likely to her for some reason.

His laugh was almost as powerful as Luna’s, and strangely warm for a traitor. “No, no, nothing of the sort. I simply felt that it is time for stronger leadership. Leaders who can actually protect our citizens, rather than supposedly all-powerful alicorns that fail at it time and again. Many others have felt the same way, and a few have asked me to facilitate the transition. This has been coming for years. I just saw an opportunity to strike first.

“Now, that all said, it is a shame you weren’t in your tower, my dear. Unfortunately this means I have to perform this dreadful business myself.”

Twilight’s rage struggled to break free from her containment. She’d never felt anything like this before. The guards being killed today were ponies she knew. She was always kind to them and her majesty’s servants, and in turn they were kind to her. They liked her, she liked them, and this monster was killing them for his own ends.

Right then and there, her boiling rage and need to protect her ponies took over, and she decided that this monster wasn’t a pony anymore.

“Now then, it’d be a shame for one such as yourself to suffer. Please lie down. This will be over quickly.” General Towers was apparently a wordy one, not that Twilight was one to talk.

“I was about to say something similar to you, General.” Celestia startled both with her words, spoken in a perfectly calm, flat tone as the fire around her increased. “Twilight’s in her armor, and Luna is on the attack. Either one spells your doom; both just means it’ll be over much faster.”

“I’m immune to your mind control, Celestia. I would have thought that should be obvious by now. Moreover, since you haven’t attacked yet, it’s plain and obvious you realize I have the upper hoof. I intend to make use of that.” There might have been other words from Towers’ mouth after that, but Twilight didn’t hear it as a powerful explosive spell sent from his horn hit her on her side and shot her back and beyond the stairwell she was hiding behind. It felt like dying, despite whatever the armor might have done to lessen the blow.

She laid there, limp. Her body was reporting all manner of problems. She might even have had internal bleeding. Then, as quickly as the blast came, her vision became purple and the pain vanished as a flame enveloped her whole body. Slowly, she commanded her body to ignore the prior hit and rose to her hooves one at a time as her lungs heaved air in and out of her body.

At first, she thought the flames were the attack spell being dispersed, but now she knew. These were her emotions, expressed as the magic around her resonated with her heart and ignited the atmosphere. The waves of rage and devotion were more intense than anything she’d ever felt, save for her admiration of Celestia, and they were all coming to one final conclusion: Towers had just made his last mistake.

One hoof in front of the other, she turned. Hoof in front of hoof, she moved slowly up the stairs and back to the battle. As she did so, she could see out of the corner of her eyes that Celestia’s visage was calm and gazing at her, while Towers’ was slowly turning to her, his own face that of fear. A primal, natural fear. One that could only be seen when facing an angry alicorn, possibly even only while facing an angry alicorn that was on fire. Whatever technique he was using to resist Celestia, it clearly wasn’t working with her.

She hadn’t yet ascended, but her magic was much greater than Towers’. She could see that now. Her vision had changed into something else entirely. The ground was lit with damaged and eroded symbols, the wards of the castle eroded from the sheer pressure of Celestia’s magic. Lines of energy flowed around Towers as they sought out attacks; an impressive magical shield, but still far inferior to her brother’s. Strands of light and magic rushed into the air in the distance as magical attacks were set off by others in battle. Finally, just to the left of Towers was nothing but the burning, all-encompassing light; a luminary force beyond anything she’d ever witnessed. It was right there, but didn’t blind her or make her flinch. It only served as notice to the differences between alicorns and unicorns, or, at the very least, the difference between Celestia and Towers.

Her vision returned to normal as she pulled the magic back into her hooves, compressing and banishing the flames around her yet again with a modified spell to increase their effective mass instead of decrease it, all the while rushing towards the one causing her ponies so much pain. Towers levitated a spear toward her, but she knocked it away with an enchanted hoof. The spell activated at the moment of impact, and for an instant it gave her hoof as much mass as a large boulder, cracking the spear in two and sending the pieces flying.

She kept pressing the advantage of surprise and shock. The next hit came as she swung around to face the other direction and sent both rear hooves into his side. She barely even felt the resistance as her attack flew through it; the field had shattered the instant she made contact. Even his enchanted armor cracked and buckled from the blow, allowing almost all of the kinetic energy to be transferred right into Towers’ side. The strike sent the elder pony flying horizontally into the wall to force him to absorb a second impact on his opposite side, cracking not only his armor but the stone in the wall as well.

She quickly strode over to the body, only to realize the old coot was still breathing. “Time to fix that,” she thought, stomping her front left hoof on his shoulder, burning it with her spell and lighting her horn. She focused more and more power into it, making sure her next attack would work.

“Twily! Twily, what are you doing!?”

The voice was familiar but couldn’t be that important. Still, there was time to answer. “Ending this creature,” she replied with a voice she wasn’t quite sure was hers.

“Don’t do it, Twily! Please!”

A blue field appeared around the traitor as she stepped back. It was strong, and familiar, but she could get through it. Then she noticed the shape it was taking. A deep blue shield, with a purple star burst center.

“Shining?” she turned and felt the emotions die down, new ones taking their place. There he was, Prince Shining Armor, her brother, with eyes begging her to stop. She stopped her spell in its tracks, letting it fade safely.

“Yeah, it’s me, Twily! Calm down, you got him. We got ’em. They’re retreating. We won.”

She looked back down at the broken general and nearly lost a substantial portion of her lunch. She was about to utterly annihilate him. There wouldn’t have been anything left from that blast.

Her knees shook, and her constitution failed her as she dropped to the ground and started to cry, only noticing the warm aura of her mentor, accompanied by her even warmer voice.

“Yes, Twilight. That’s what I felt too. What all alicorns feel in such situations. Our ponies are precious to us, always. Things that try to hurt them, even when they are ponies themselves, get the focus of our unrivaled ire. I have to keep it in check more than anypony; it’s what summons my flames.”

Her response was whisper quiet, her vocal cords refusing anything greater. “I was going to kill him. I was going to kill them all.”

Her brother snapped her up in a warm embrace. She didn’t feel like she deserved it, but, at the same time, she couldn’t refuse it. She needed it, the nerves in her body were threatening to reject her stomach’s contents unless she took the comforting affection. “Hey, hey it’s ok Twily,” the most comforting non-princess being in the world said.

“How do you do it? How do you manage to keep your calm in the face of… of… all this? How can do you not go insane from it?” she asked through sobs.

Celestia took tentative steps towards her student. Though her regalia had stopped glowing, Twilight could still feel her radiant heat increase with each second she was getting closer. Even the air around her was distorted from the temperature. “Practice. Meditation. Now that you’ve experienced it, I promise you’ll find it easier to control from here on out.”

“Easier to control?!” She broke the hug and turned to her in a mix of anger and fear. “I don’t want to ‘control’ it! I don’t want it to happen at all! I almost killed somepony! How can anypony trust me? How could you trust me?!”

Celestia laid down in the charred grass, spreading ash into the air. “Because I’ve been there before. I know what it was like, what I was like, and I know you. I know you’ll be able to control it now that you know what you’re up against, and unlike me, you won’t burn everything just from feeling it. That’s a challenge only I am burdened with. Trust me, we will help you.”

Twilight stared at her intently. She was looking for something, but she wasn’t sure what. She gazed desperately into Celestia’s eyes, face, wings, body, anything that might give her the feeling of security she needed.

“Okay, I’ll trust you,” she finally said, while her mind kept worrying to itself. But is that just the submission instinct?

Celestia stood back up. “I know this is hard for you. After things settle I’ll give you a few days to simply rest and recuperate. I’m sorry for putting you through so much, but believe me when I say that encountering these emotions with experience can make a world of difference. Better yet, they won’t happen all the time for you until much later.”

An unpleasant and recent memory sprang to life in Twilight’s mind. “Princess! Discord! After I saved Cadence he talked to me in the gardens, trapped me in some kind of spell!”

Shining raised a hoof to his head. “Discord!? Please tell me you’re joking…”

“Heavens Above! Did he hurt you?” the sun mare asked.

“He said he wanted to help me. Told me to keep calm, then let me out. Even gave me directions here.”

The white alicorn sat down and lit up her horn while spreading her wings. Twilight could feel a pulse of magic spread out from the Princess’ horn, and after a moment she could see Celestia exhale in relief as her wings folded back up.

“It’s ok, he’s still sealed. The wards around him just weakened a little, probably from the fighting. I’ll deal with it later.”

“That’s kinda what he said you would do,” Twilight said without thinking.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he said to tell you so you and he could have a ‘chat.’”

Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth for a moment, then put it back down and stood up. “Then I’ll send Luna instead, but later. We have other things to worry about.”

“Tell me about it,” Shining said. “He went right for Twily’s tower. He must’ve known about the ascension. We need to find out how far this has spread.”

“He did,” Twilight said, solemnly, before blinking in realization. “Wait, you know about that too?”

Shining pulled her into another hug, causing her to lean over a bit uncomfortably. “Who do you think created the team in charge of protecting you? Of course I knew.”

That was right; the ponies in the war room knew, and her brother was Captain of the Royal Guard. He’d have the highest security clearance. She started to shed tears of happiness as he released her. Shining Armor, always there for her.

“Everypony okay over here?” That voice could only belong to the Captain of the Wonderbolts herself, which was confirmed when the source got out of the sun and landed. “I saw some magic flash over here and—Twilight?” The cyan pegasus took in the scene. “Whoa. Damn. Good job, Princess! This guy is a wall booger.”

Twilight’s lunch was now storming the gates of her esophagus, and it was a minor miracle it didn’t break through.

“Rainbow, that was Twilight,” Celestia said, flatly.

A loud whistle emanated from Rainbow just after her eyes moved back over to Twilight. “Remind me never to get in a fight with you, Twi.”

Another voice joined in as Luna arrived, flanked by six of her honor guard. “Sister! They broke into our private library! The first few bookcases near the front are empty!”

Celestia facehooved a little. “Did they get any others?”

“No, we caught them before they could get away with more. Two are still trapped inside, we’ve got them cornered.”

“At least they didn’t get the most dangerous documents in the back. Unfortunate though this is, we have other concerns right now. Luna, I need you to have two of your guards take that—” she pointed towards the still-breathing general, “—to the infirmary. I want him alive. Send the rest to find and protect Cadence. We can’t afford to lose her.”

She motioned at them and they went right to work. “Well, um, there was something else…” The tone of her voice had everypony looking at her in an instant. “The Elements of Harmony have been stolen!”

“What?!” The reply was universal.

The most powerful magical artifacts in history, locked away in the most secure and sturdy of vaults. Only once had it been penetrated, and that was by the god of chaos himself. Yet here the vault lay, crumbled to pieces by some unknown force, and its contents had been completely raided. This remained as a mystery to the two alicorns, the alicorn-to-be, the pegasus, and the unicorn.

“How could they have breached the vault? Nothing short of Discord could even get into this room, let alone just break it like this! This just isn’t possible!”

“I share your frustration, Twily, but right now those aren’t the questions we need to be asking ourselves.” Shining said.

Twilight stood silent for a moment, thinking with her jaw still dropped open at the destruction in front of her.

“Yeah, right now we need to be asking who I ought to be frying to get them back,” Rainbow concurred.

Celestia authoritatively strode from the side to the center of the room. “I believe, Rainbow, you mean to ask who took them and where, and maybe even why. Three more questions on top of a mountain of others.”

“‘Why’ is an excellent question.” Prince Armor’s voice was nearly as commanding as the Princess’s. “The Elements can only be used by their bearers, and even then don’t activate unless the situation is dire. If they were stolen, we have to consider and assume that whoever did take them had a need for them beyond merely depriving us of their availability.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “This is true, and I’m certain we’ll find that out eventually. For now, though, we have other worries. Prince Armor, get the castle secured and capture any hostiles you can, then let the ponies of Canterlot know the situation is under control and get your shield up on the city. Call up military reserves while we’re at it.”

“On it, your highness.”

Shining always did have impressive speed with his long legs, but the quickness with which he ran off still surprised Twilight.

“Luna, send more guards to Ponyville, make sure all of Twilight’s friends are safe, and pay a visit to Discord. He had a little ‘chat’ with Twilight. Fix his seal.”

“Discord’s seal is weak?!”

Luna didn’t even run; she just disappeared. No flash, no smoke, not even the magical disturbance normally brought on by teleportation. I need to find out how she does that, Twilight thought.

“Captain Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Kneel.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

That caught Twilight off guard, too. Why is she having her kneel? For that matter, shouldn’t Rainbow have arrived with her whole unit? How’d she even know to come?

With a snap, Celestia spread out her wings. “I need you to repeat after me. ‘For my life I hereby swear…’”

“For my life I hereby swear…”

This sounds familiar somehow… Twilight thought.

“‘My Sovereign’s will shall bind me’…”

“My Sovereign’s will shall bind me…”

This is the Honor Guard’s oath! Is she inducting Rainbow Dash into her Honor Guard? This doesn’t sound right…

“‘Through strength of body, will of mind, depth of soul…’”

“Through strength of body, will of mind, depth of soul…”

She can’t just rip Rainbow away from the job she loves! I’m going to have to protest this…

“‘For eternity I pledge all this to thee…’”

“For eternity I pledge all this to thee…”

Come on, Princess! Stop! Don’t make me argue with you at a time like this…

“‘Twilight Sparkle.’”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Wait, what!?” The exclamation flowed from both mares, and the Princess didn’t miss a beat.

“Congratulations, Rainbow Dash. You are now the first member of our new Grand Mage’s Honor Guard. Traditionally, they get two, but you’re the only one I can think of that would be suited for her for now. Whenever she leaves this castle, you will go where she goes, do as she orders, and protect her with your life. Understand?”

Rainbow looked at Twilight and back at the Princess. “Umm… no?”

“Doesn’t matter. Twilight, fill her in and head to our private library once it’s clear. Go to the back wall. On a podium on the right, you will find three large books: one blue, one red, one green. Take them to Luna’s room and read them; they’ll be a, shall we say, abridged training of sorts for you until we have time to do it directly. Then, go to the War Room and ask your brother to fill you in. He’ll know what you’re talking about. I have to go and make sure civilization doesn’t collapse tonight.”

The white alicorn vanished in a burst of light, leaving two very confused ponies.

“What just happened?” asked the rainbow maned one.

“I think I know, but… I’ll explain on the way. Come on, we need to get to the Princesses’ library.”

“Foul creature. Can you hear me?”

Nothing. The statue stood still.

“Fine, that will make resealing you easier.”

“Oh, so it’s going to be like that? No lovely chat with Celestia? I’m disappointed.”

Ah, so it could indeed speak. Luna started the spell as she talked, walking slowly around the statue. “No, you get me this time. Honestly, I’ve been eager to finally speak to you behind your cage. You killed an awful lot of my ponies. Seems only fitting to taunt you a little.”

“Aha! Well, maybe this will be more fun than I thought. I always figured you for the stuffy type.”

Luna raised a hoof to her chest. “You insult me! I am the alicorn of the night! Romance, intrigue, mystery! I’m all the things too exciting for the day. Just because you have a hard time reading alicorn minds directly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think harder about your master, demon.”

“Master? Oh, that is rich! You are no master, my dear. Not like I know.”

“Hmm… ‘Not like you know.’ So you're saying you do have a master!”

“… You’re no fun anymore.”

“Ah, but it’s only now getting interesting. Celly really should have had me do your interrogation last time. This is certainly more information than we had before. So tell me, who is this master of yours, so I might trap him too?”

“Beyond your feeble understanding.”

“I suppose that’s enough of that topic for now. I’m much more concerned about what you told Twilight.” Luna turned her gaze back down to the ground, looking again at the forming seal and the purple symbols on the ground, arranged in a growing half circle.

“That little thing? I don’t know what you see in her, but I just gave her some friendly advice, that’s all.”

“It had better be just ‘friendly advice,’ or when I’m through with you, you’ll be begging me to put you back in this prison.”

“You? With me? Did we forget who we’re talking to?”

Luna chuckled a bit and added a few new symbols to the seal. “Did you forget what happened last time you got out? You were so weak you could barely take over Ponyville, and then some young mares shoved you right back in your cage like a lost little bird. The only reason Celestia didn’t incinerate you was because it’d hurt her ponies, and the only reason I didn’t destroy you was because I was still recovering from getting hit with the Elements myself. Had I been at full strength as I am now, I would’ve made you my plaything before crushing your head like a particularly distasteful melon. Remember that.”

“Ha! What’s to remember? You’re an amateur at this! Don’t try to get me angry enough to slip up, you miserable little brat. You got lucky once, but that will be it. Remember, I’m the only true immortal here.”

Drat, he saw through her attempt. Oh well, she could still insult him a bit. “Oh, you sound so angry, but your face looks so scared. Why, it looks like you might just be able to serve as a drinking fountain if we installed a little water pump.”

Silence answered her.

“What’s the matter? Silly little ageless mortal make you at a loss for words with her barbs?”

Still no response.

“Awww, and I was having such fun.” A bright flash at the ground and a complete circle signaled the completion of the spell.

“That’s it?” the voice returned. “One layer? Really? That’s what you’re putting me behind? Looks like you did forget who you’re talking to. Now it’s my turn to be insulted.”

“You and I never interacted much beyond fighting and sending armies at each other, so it makes sense you don’t know me well.” Luna got up to leave. “And Celestia was always the one guarding your seal. She would never dream of letting anypony else near you. I’m happy she let me do this, finally; it shows her trust.”

At a calm walk, Luna turned away from the statue as the sky went black and an almost evil grin surfaced on her face. “But it also means you’ve never been subjected to one of my seals.”

At her statement, the circle began to ripple outward, until thirteen glowing rings enveloped Discord. They repeated themselves into the sky again and again, growing every brighter and more powerful with each passing second. At last, they all came rushing down onto the statue. As the day came slowly creeping back into the blue canvas overhead, they connected together.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Luna put a small dance into her step. “Ah, sweet music.”

Author's Note

Updated 15 Oct 2015 for formatting improvements.

State of the Union

“So why do they need their own library anyway?”

The two mares walked down a very steep circular staircase with a magical cylinder of light in the center. The walls, ceiling, steps and floors were old, creaky wood; a clear indication of the incredible age of the steps. Two flights down, they had come across an old, ransacked desk next to a broken wooden door leading into the library. Twilight had only been in here twice before, both under escort by the Princess herself.

“This isn’t a normal library, Rainbow. Every text in here contains knowledge that is either forbidden or classified. Some of it impossibly old and very, very dangerous. Only a scant few ponies have ever been allowed in here. It’s a great honor!”

The reports had been right. As they stepped into the long, wide corridor into the mountain, it was plain to see the books nearest the door were rifled through or missing. Somepony was looking for something. Hooves and boots clopped on stone floors as the surrounding environment became gray stone lit by enchanted torches. Four columns of bookcases stretched dozens of rows deep.

“Yeah, the Grand Mage thing. Care to explain this again? Because I’m having a bit of trouble comprehending everything you just told me. Alicorn, seriously?”

Twilight stopped and sat down, the cold of the stone floor muted by her armor. “I had trouble believing it myself. I stood on a cloud without a cloud-walking spell, Rainbow. I never knew that could be so…”

“Awesome?”

“Scary!”

“Oh,” Rainbow said, looking dejected.

“Don’t take it personally, Rainbow. This has just been all very trying for me. Well, sort of. Oh, this is just so frustrating!” It was fortunate hooves couldn’t grip hair too well, or she might’ve pulled some of her mane out. Instead, she just pressed them against her head in a vain attempt to use pressure to ease the headache. Rainbow’s gentle hoof on her back did a much better job.

“Hey now, it’ll be fine. If the Princess says it’ll be ok, I have faith in her.”

Twilight sighed. “I know, it’s just… this whole ‘alicorn’ thing is completely screwing with my emotions. Things that should shock or terrify me are just making me feel more resolute. The next moment, some little thing goes wrong and I panic. It’s like I’m feeling things more than ever, but some of what I should be feeling is over-ridden by a different feeling. And now I’m saying ‘feeling’ too much and it’s making me angry!”

“Relax! I’m here now, so things can only get more awesome. And I’ll be here as long as you need me.”

Twilight shook her head. “Rainbow, I can’t possibly pull you away from the Wonderbolts. Don’t worry, I’ll talk with the Princess and—”

“No, honestly, don’t worry about that. I’m here for you.”

“But you loved—”

“Being a Wonderbolt. Best job ever. Wonderbolts’ Captain? Worst job ever. I’d rather pluck out my feathers and take Rarity’s job.”

Twilight stared at Rainbow with her mouth hanging open. “Worst job ever? But you wanted that job! It was your dream to make Captain! The best flier in Equestria, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. And do you know what being Captain means? It means I went from being a flier to being a manager. I barely used my wings at all. I did nothing but listen to whining about flight time, fill out mountains of paperwork, attend meetings, it was… ugh. No, that wasn’t my dream. My dream was to be the best, and I made it. Now, you need the best, and that’s me, so I’m here.”

“Rainbow… are you really sure? This has already gotten very dangerous. I mean, lethally dangerous. Neither of us might survive this, and I don’t know if I could forgive myself if something happened to you.”

Rainbow sighed exasperatedly and facehooved. “Look. See these?” Rainbow spread out her wings to their fullest, and small bits of smoke and rainbow lightning crackled between the feathers.

“… Yes?” Twilight tilted her head for a moment and caught herself again, un-tilting it.

“Ever really think about what these mean to pegasi? The whole meaning? Why we tend to be aggressive and live in the moment? Fluttershy not included?”

Twilight looked Rainbow up and down with her eyes very quickly while her mind drew a blank. “You can control air currents?”

Rainbow shook her head.

“You can survive big falls by magically bracing yourself? Shape and disperse clouds?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and began to look impatient.

“Yoooouuuuu can dispense and project lightning by manipulating micro-air currents and static electricity around your primary feathers and dynamically create thick but short-lived clouds using magically enhanced contrails thanks to advanced military training?” Twilight said, sheepishly shrinking herself down.

“Ugh.” Rainbow facehooved again. “Alicorns are immortal. Pegasi…”

“Oh…” The stark reality was staring her right in the face the entire time. Pegasi had fast metabolisms and generally died sooner than unicorns or earth ponies, even when they weren’t killed by flying accidents. A unicorn mare might live to be a hundred sixty, or more if they were exceptionally powerful, while a pegasus stallion would be lucky to see ninety.

“Look, Twi. I’m not going to live very long, that’s just what happens to pegasi like me. The daredevils. If I don’t go out in a blaze of glory, I’ll either die from a mid-air cramp in my seventies, or wither away on a cloud somewhere. I realized this as a filly and nearly lost it. Then one of the instructors took me aside and told me that it doesn’t matter if your life is going to be short, as long as you make it that much brighter. So that’s what I’ve done, and that’s why no matter what’s ahead, I’m ready for it.”

“Rainbow… Thank you.” Twilight gripped Rainbow in a hug the pegasus clearly wasn’t ready for as she stiffened up.

“Don’t mention it. Seriously, I don’t want ponies finding out I’m all philosophical. It’d ruin my reputation.”

Rainbow tried to push her away, but Twilight just held on tighter. “Rainbow, I need you to promise me something.”

“Uuuhhhh you aren’t about to ask me out or something are you? ‘Cause you’re great and all, but—”

That got Twilight to give up the hug. “What? No! No, I meant…” she sighed. “Look, Wonderbolts have military training, right?”

Rainbow nodded. “Full boot camp, then Bolts combat training, then show training. Why do you think I can keep my cool after being told my friend is an alicorn? I mean, that’s kinda freaky!” she said, chuckling. “Anyway, only the few that get through it all actually make into the division. Most don’t get through the first week of the Bolts combat camp.” A not very subtle hint of ego was in her voice.

“So you’re trained to stay calm when you fight, right? And you’ve been trained to know when to use lethal force and when not to?”

“Of course.”

Twilight looked down at the ground as her mane fell over her shoulder in a sag. “Rainbow, I nearly killed that pony earlier.”

Rainbow nodded again in a smile, patting her on the shoulder. “I know! That looked like a serious beating, and against a general! I’m impressed!”

“No!” Twilight put Rainbow’s hoof down with her magic instinctively. “Rainbow, I mean after that! I was going to execute him with enough magic to destroy half the gardens! I didn’t even know I could summon or control that much power, and I couldn’t stop myself! If Shining hadn’t been there to talk sense into me, you'd have followed a mushroom cloud instead of a flash of magic!”

Rainbow eyes got wide but she said nothing as Twilight put both her front hooves on Rainbow’s shoulders. “I need you to promise me to keep me under control, no matter how bad things get. If I’m about to do something like that again, you have to stop me. No matter what.”

Moments passed as Rainbow looked into her eyes, and Twilight’s mind raged with all kinds of possible negative outcomes. Rainbow running, yelling at her, not wanting to be friends. It was absolutely insane to expect that of Loyalty herself, but Twilight’s high-strung and distressed mind couldn’t help it.

It was Twilight’s turn to stiffen on instinct as Rainbow took her into a hug, and she heard the words “You can count on me. Always.”

Twilight relaxed and shared the hug, shedding a few tears. When they finally broke it, no thank yous were even needed as they recovered, stood up, and starting walking again towards the back of the library. “Come on, let’s go find these books. I need to get back to Luna’s room anyway, Spike and Applejack were hiding up there when the coup started.”

Rainbow took a sharp breath in realization. “That’s right! I get to rub it in AJ’s face that me and Fluttershy were right!”

“Rainbow… you thought that too? That Celestia had a destiny for me?”

“Yup! She always knew the Princess had some big plan for ya. Wouldn’t make sense otherwise, really. Whoa, I think we’re here.”

Just as the Princess had said, there were three books laying on a wood podium. Bright torch light illuminated the small alcove, and above the podium hung three paintings: one of each of the former Grand Mages.

Twilight quickly levitated the books over to her and split them open, randomly and quickly switching between them as she read.

“Anything interesting, oh Grand Mage of Equestria?”

“Rainbow, these are the personal memoirs of the Grand Mages! Uncensored! All their travels and missions… There’s even spells here! Spells they wrote!”

“So this is what she meant by ‘training.’”

“I guess so.” She pulled all three into a bundle with her magic. “Alright, mission accomplished. Let’s get to Luna’s chambers. AJ and Spike should still be there, safe and sound.”

“Whoa. This place is—”

“Spooky, yeah, I know.” Twilight rather unceremoniously dropped the books on the bed and brightened the surrounding candles with magic.

“Applejack! Spike! Are you guys okay?”

Twilight’s yells up at the ceiling were met with no response. “This doesn’t make sense, I told them to… oh, I told them to wait if they wanted to.”

“Uh, Twi? Where and why are you yelling?” Rainbow looked very confused.

“Oh, sorry, the ceiling is an illusion. It’s really a cloud. I put a cloudwalking spell on them and teleported them up there,” Twilight explained.

“Oh. So they’re still stuck up there.”

“Nah, we got out.”

Twilight exhaled in relief. “Oh, thank goodne—”

Twilight’s mind had its transmission skip a gear as she realized the voice came from behind her and turned around to see a bruised and slightly burned Applejack next to a nervous-looking Spike and a third figure behind them.

“Soarin? What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked as the three beings walked into the room.

“Well, Spitfire and I were just coming in to save the day when we spotted these two falling from an exploding airship. Seems they blew it up from the inside. Without an escape path.” Twilight noted that Soarin, apparently, had a prideful streak much like Rainbow Dash.

“Uhh heh heh. Yeah, Soarin kind of saved our hides,” Spike said. “Still, it was awesome, there was this huge battle at the dockyard, and Applejack and I rode a bad guy onto this huge blimp and then—”

“Wait, wait, wait… let’s start at the beginning.” Twilight didn’t want to hear something like this. It meant the battle on the grounds was even larger than she thought. “In fact, much as I want to crawl back into that bed, I think we all need to get caught up on everything first. Let’s get to the War Room. The books can come later.” Twilight really never liked saying that phrase, but felt that in this case it was the truth. She teleported the books up to the study for safekeeping and led her ‘team’ out the door.

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Spike, Soarin, and the ever-fearless Rainbow Dash moved through the portal into the War Room, where it almost looked as if an actual war was taking place. Papers and ponies were everywhere, as was the incessant noise. In the center of it, a prince with an obviously strained voice was barking orders in the Royal Canterlot fashion. Once he saw the group, he motioned for them to follow him rather than yell more.

After moving down the corridors to the opposite side of the floor, he opened a door at the rear and held it for them with magic as they filed in. The noise didn’t stop until the door slammed shut.

The room was large and connected to the rest of the war room by a several-meter long hallway. Facing the doorway was a desk with Shining’s name on a placard, and behind that was a huge map table with a giant map of all of Equestria on the wall behind it. The large map had most of the major population centers labelled with different colors and some numbers next to each city name.

“Oh, it’s a disaster out there, Twily. But thank you for saving Cadence. She’s eventually going to be mad at me for not rushing to her rescue right away, but the truth is we were all caught off guard with this,” he finally said once he could talk normally.

“She’ll come around, I’m sure. She handled herself pretty well, considering.” Twilight’s calm voice was almost a lie. She too was relieved to hear Cadence had managed to escape harm, but somehow she knew the winged unicorn would make it.

“Intelligentsia has finally pieced together what’s happened in general but we’re left running damage control and specific reports are still coming in. We’re going to lose territory to the griffons over this, I just know it. At least Canterlot is safe for now.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “It certainly is chaotic out there. How did this even happen? I mean, what kind of general attacks his own leaders?”

Shining looked around the room for a moment and sighed. “Look, I’ll be happy to explain, but first know that everything you’re about to hear is absolutely top secret. Nothing leaves this room, and I mean that, Applejack.”

The entire room’s eyes turned to the suddenly very self-conscious mare. “What?” she said. “I can keep a secret, dangit!”

“Alright, but Celestia might want to put a charm on you just in case. Fair warning.”

Applejack folded her forelegs and grumbled.

“Okay, here it is. Right now, the government—Celestia’s government—is about five years from total collapse.”

For the next few small moments, the entire room stood in stunned silence.

“It started with Nightmare Moon, when Celestia disappeared. Discord made things worse, and after the changelings, we started having towns on the border between the griffons and Equestria actively consider defecting to griffon control. They’re worried Celestia can’t protect them, that she’s too weak.”

“That’s crazy!” Applejack interjected.

“They’re half right.” Twilight interjected right back. “Celestia can’t protect them, but that’s because she’s too strong. I was there when Towers confronted her. Everything around her was on fire, and she wasn’t even using any magic. If she fights, absolutely everything anywhere even near her burns. Plants, ponies, friends, enemies; everything.” She turned back to Shining. “But why lead a coup over it?”

Shining sighed. “Because she’s weak. Or at least looks weak. Ponies look for strong leadership, and if it’s lacking, those that think themselves strong will try to fill what they see as a power vacuum, usually to benefit only themselves. That’s what happened here. We’ve already identified three nobles that helped bankroll Towers, and they’re on the run but we really, really doubt they’re the true leaders. Stuff like this happens, the ones in control look for fall stallions. Other groups we’re already aware of have similar goals, and we’ve been keeping them suppressed for ages. Towers, or rather, whoever was giving him orders, was the first to get this far without us noticing.”

“Nobility. It makes sense; anypony trying something this huge would have to have an awful lot of money to piss away,” Soarin said.

“It gets worse. If Towers was in on it, they had vast access to our military secrets. Some of his men had magic armaments that we’re still not ready to roll out.”

“Oh!” Rainbow interrupted. “That reminds me! On the way here, I got jumped by a couple pegasi with weird armor. It glowed blue and gave them a lot of speed. Heh, not that it did them any good.”

“You too?” Soarin asked. “Spitfire and I both got jumped like that. Looks like they underestimated the Wonderbolts.”

Shining chuckled a bit. “I’m glad they did. Wonderbolts are among the most dangerous regular combatants we have, outside of Luna. We can’t afford to lose any, especially after losing the Bellerophon.”

“Bellerophon?” Spike asked.

“That big ship you two blew up. Good job on that, by the way. You too, Applejack. I would’ve liked to take it back, but better rubble than being used against us.”

“That thing was a monster,” Soarin said. “I hit it with my wings again and again and just made it glow more. What the hell was shielding it?”

“A shield generator designed to mimic the barrier I use for Canterlot. The whole thing was meant to be a show of force against the gryphons, and be able to transport Celestia around. We’re guessing they wanted to capture the dock intact, otherwise they would’ve vaporized it well before you two got there to warn them.” Noise penetrated into the room for a moment as the door opened and closed. “Fifty million bits down the bucking drain.”

“Maybe not.” Intelligentsia nearly pranced into the room. “We just got a report in from Spitfire. The Bellerophon is still in its dock. Its engines aren’t even done yet. Guess what that means!”

The eyes on Twilight and Shining Armor went wide for a moment.

Shining went first. “Towers must have stolen the plans! They didn’t steal the ship, they copied it! Must’ve been a hell of a rush job, and cost them a huge amount of money. They’d have had to have built a dock and the ship, all while handing out enough bribes to keep it quiet. It also means that this is deeper than we thought, with more money behind it.”

Twilight continued. “A large portion of which is now a giant flaming wreck, though, right? That kind of effort is also hard to hide; they might have screwed up. We can use materials purchases and money transfers to track that! And we still have the real ship!”

Intelligentsia grinned. “You’re a natural at this. I already got ponies on the tracking. Finally, some good news, right? But it gets better. Seems this whole thing was a rush job; they weren’t supposed to try this for months. Towers only attacked because he knew our Twilight here was ascending. He’s left us more than a few clues, and, more good news, he survived, albeit barely.”

Twilight exhaled a massive a sigh of relief.

“Yup, he’s going to be in intensive care for a while, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a statue shortly after that, but he made it.”

“Wait.” Rainbow interrupted. “That statue thing. That’s a joke… right?”

“Of course, Rainbow! The Princess would never do that, well, except for Discord. Right, Shiny?” Twilight looked at her brother who just put on a nervous face.

“Shining. Shining Armor. That IS just a rumor, right?”

Nervous looks were being worn by half the ponies in the room, with shock from most of the rest. Twilight just had a very large twinge of irritation. “Shining Armor, answer me!”

Shining took a dry swallow. “Sorry, Twily. Some of those statues are…”

The rest of the words didn’t need to be said.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Whoa,” Spike added. “Frozen forever as a statue…”

“I had a feeling, but, I have to say I’m still surprised. I trust the Princesses, though.” Soarin’s words seemed to be the final authority as the others nodded silently.

Shining continued, “It’s only used in extreme cases; believe me, it isn’t something done without careful consideration. I don’t even think it’s been done in a few generations. She normally even gets the Inner Council’s permission first, though that would be complicated in this case.”

Twilight shook her head. “Doesn’t make it any easier. I wonder if she’s going to expect me to learn that spell.”

“Twilight…” Shining approached his sister. “I know dozens of attack spells. Any one of which could kill outright. Is that really any better?”

“… no, no it isn’t. But it does put things in perspective, I suppose.”

A long uncomfortable silence of contemplations was finally interrupted by Intelligentsia. “Well, the other piece of good news is that it’s probable our Grand Mage here just sent more than a few of these other groups scrambling. We don’t know if the whole secret’s been blown yet, but the way she beat one of the most powerful generals we have so easily means that more than a few will think twice about trying this again, even if it was probably luck. It’ll likely put a few of the weaker groups on the run directly, but we need to be very careful if any of them think we’re vulnerable now.”

“Yeah, let’s keep the pressure up. We can’t just let this stand. The press is going to eat us alive at this rate, and we can’t afford to lose many more cities,” Shining said.

“Lose cities?” Twilight and Rainbow said in perfect synchronization.

“Well, not lose them in combat. I mean in support. Look at the map on the wall.”

The group moved over to the giant map adorning the wall.

“This map shows how much support we have in various towns and cities,” Shining explained. “Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and most of the other large ones in the core of the country are in green. So’s Ponyville. We’ve got big support there. Yellow is borderline, where we’re near 50/50 supportive and unsupportive. Red has active unrest, regardless of support rating. Thank goodness that’s been extremely rare, at least, up until today.”

“And black?” Twilight asked. There was an unsettling amount of black on the edges of the maps, with the largest cluster near the Gryphon Kingdom’s borders.

Shining’s voice cracked a little as the door opened for a moment again. “Black means that they’ve effectively cut ties, officially or not.”

“I had no idea it was that bad,” Twilight said.

“It seems unreal. How can they just do this?” Rainbow was clearly very angry at this. Fitting for Loyalty, really, Twilight thought as she closed her eyes.

“‘Leaders only have the power their followers give them. Without a flock, a shepherd is merely a wanderer.’” Twilight’s words were spoken with a spot-on impression of the Princess herself, although she didn’t realize she was doing it. “Celestia told me that when I was a filly.”

She also didn’t realize the real Princess was the one that had just entered the room, followed by a very windswept-looking Spitfire.

“True words, my student. Words that now guide what’s happening here, as beings in the shadows work to undermine everything we have, so that they may possess some tiny piece of the grand cosmos for a flicker of time.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she saw that the rest of the room was already bowing. She tried to bow too but her spine felt utterly paralyzed.

“You may all rise. Applejack, Spike, I understand you two destroyed the fake Bellerophon from the inside. I’d like for you to talk with Intelligentsia about what you saw. It may help unravel some of our mysteries.”

“You got it.” Spike seemed to be taking the whole thing better than any of them. Applejack just nodded.

“Twilight, until we get new quarters for you I want you to stay in Luna’s.”

“Are demons going to eat her in her sleep?” Rainbow asked. Twilight gave her a slight punch to the shoulder for even saying something like that.

Celestia turned to her left towards the golden Wonderbolt. “Spitfire?”

She stood up at attention at the mention of her name.

“I’ve pulled Rainbow away from her duties to protect Twilight. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to resume your old post.”

“On one condition: I get Soarin back as my next in command.”

“Done.”

“Awww, I was happy being retired.” Soarin hadn’t gotten a chance to protest before Celestia’s response; nor did he get much chance to dodge Rainbow’s hoof and mean glare as the wind got knocked out of him. “I mean,” he wheezed. “Once more into the blue for Princess and country.”

“Shining, Cadence wants to talk to you when you get a chance.”

Shining rolled his eyes nearly back into his head. “Here we go, I’m doomed.”

“I’m sure she’s just worried about you.” Celestia had a warm smile when saying that. For an entity representing the sun, she was a superb liar; Twilight genuinely couldn’t tell if her brother was about to get in very hot water or not.

“Oh, and Twilight?”

She stood up as straight as she could, anticipating the important actions she’d need her for. As Grand Mage, it could be a task to deal with anything.

“Try not to worry about what you’ve seen in this room too much just yet. I’ll need your help with these matters soon enough, but for now, I need you to read those books, ok?”

Ah, book reading. Although it was a comforting idea, it was nonetheless tremendously embarrassing to get caught disobeying orders; especially orders to read books.

She lowered her head appropriately before responding. “Yes, Princess. I’m sorry I disobeyed your orders. I’m—”

“Going to stop worrying and get to reading. I’m not mad, Twilight. Wanting to know what’s going on is natural and taking the initiative to find out is the sign of a good leader. I’ll make sure Shining sends messengers with updates…” A warm smile crossed her face before continuing. “Provided Cadence lets him live.”

Shining sighed. “Knew it.”

Celestia raised her voice just a bit to address everypony at once. “I’m sorry for giving orders and running, but things are still tense and I’m needed elsewhere. Thank you all for what you’ve done today, especially you Twilight. I’m sure I’ll have more to ask of you all soon.”

As Celestia walked out of the room, the friends exchanged glances and began to file out as well. Intelligentsia had Spike and Applejack follow her after a small goodbye to Twilight, while Spitfire and Soarin even started to argue as they walked out.

Shining was left to his work at his desk (even though half of that work was now likely classifiable as “avoiding winged unicorn wrath”) as Twilight and Rainbow exited out into the busy war room as well.

“Hey.” Rainbow nudged Twilight a bit in the shoulder. “I don’t suppose Luna’s room has anything interesting for me to read on those shelves. You know, stuff not filled with dark secrets and horrors.”

“Hmmm. Well, I know she has noir crime novels.”

“No-are what now?”

“Noir. You know, trenchcoats, detectives, gritty murders, shady backroom backstabbings, that kind of thing.”

Rainbow blinked slowly. “Actually that does sound kinda cool. Are we going to get to do anything like that in this gig?”

Twilight laughed a little at that. For all that had happened, and for all she’d been thinking about the distant future, she’d thought remarkably little about what a Grand Mage’s job would actually be like. For some weird reason, she actually got a little excited at the prospect. She’d already gotten to see a lot of Equestria in her adventures with her friends, and now she might well see all the rest of it and even beyond. “From what little I’ve seen so far, Rainbow, I’d say we’re going to have to be ready for anything.”

Last autumn in Canterlot…

“Oh, what a day!” Rarity said to herself. “Seventeen new dress designs, all critically important works, completely ruined!”

Despite her frustration and need to vent, she couldn’t blame the intern too much; the additions she put on some of them would likely have made little sense to anypony but herself. Still, she had made it clear to him and everypony she’d hired: her exquisite designs were to be executed to the most exacting detail with no exceptions. Consistency was important in a business, she’d say, although there were other reasons as well.

She pulled a decorative scarf off with her magic as she approached the brand-new penthouse, revealing a broach with a deep purple gem securing her cloak, cursing herself for choosing a light blue scarf on such a gloomy day. She’d read the weather plans and completely ignored them when choosing her clothes, a dark sweater and beret. It even clashed with the rest of her clothes; she just grabbed it when she felt the chill in the fall mountain air. It was an amateur mistake, which is something she simply could not afford in this line of work.

Without thought, she opened the door to her penthouse and quickly ducked inside. It wasn’t as big a place as she could afford now, but then it didn’t need to be. She’d even considered downgrading, since she spent almost all of her time either at work or travelling. Such was the life of one of the world’s top fashionistas.

Still, it was a nice enough place. The entrance was particularly stunning. After a short hallway, there were a couple of steps going down on the right into a lowered living room. It had giant floor-to-ceiling windows looking out, away from Canterlot and towards the little town where she got her start. In the center of the windows was a nice, magically-regulated fireplace that was always on and had no smoke emissions in order to comply with Canterlot ordinances. There was even a well-stocked bar filled with her favorite wines and liquors, especially her high-end bottles of gin.

She tossed the scarf down on the floor and stopped in her tracks when she heard a sealing spell being cast on the door behind her. Turning to her right, towards the windows, she saw a pony in a black suit resting on the couch by the windows and a sword on the table.

She had just walked into her penthouse without needing to unlock it. Stupid, stupid amateur mistake.

Read the thrilling conclusion in Designing Intrigue, the new Rites of Ascension Side Story from CvBrony!

Author's Note

Updated Sept 3rd, 2014 for formatting improvements.

Poetic Revelations

Although Canterlot was located on the side of a mountain, it never got especially cold in the city itself. Special wards were placed throughout the city to prevent it from getting overly chilly. Moreover, the best weather pegasi outside of Cloudsdale were stationed here. The environment was kept tightly controlled for the elite of pony society.

This made the fog rolling down the stairs leading to the princesses’ private chambers especially odd, and it sent the hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck up on end. Normally she would never think of being tardy willingly, but given all that had happened as of late, the strangeness of the sight allowed her to consider being late to grab her armor. However, she quickly dismissed the idea, remembering that both her lesson and torc were awaiting her in the same place: the chambers up beyond the fog-drenched stairway.

The light filtering in from the floor-to-ceiling windows was a deep orange as the sun set, and as the hues got deeper, the fog began to shimmer; little pinpricks of light dancing in the clouds like stars in the night sky. She inhaled to gather her resolve, which also let her taste the moisture now filling the air. It was not musty as the castle could sometimes be; rather, it was quite crisp. It might’ve been refreshing if she could have appreciated it in the moment.

When she came to the first small landing in the large stairway, more evidence of the special nature of what she was experiencing surfaced. The fog began to sing.

The time has come, and now we stand

Ready, and forever here;

Light burned in the tower's watch,

Striking blind the mystic seer…

Each word, each note sent a burst of light spreading through the speck-sized stars in the fog like a waterfall cascading down the stairs, while the sound itself welled up from the cloud to fill the marble room. Though there was only a voice, the lack of instrumental accompaniment wasn’t missed; rather, the voice was so entrancing that any attempt to add more sound might have only marred its quality. The calm yet forceful mezzo-soprano even rivaled Sweetie Belle, who had taken the world by storm as the superstar singer “Crystal Belle” in recent years.

The deep orange light of the sunset gave the song an almost ominous tone, and forced her to swallow before continuing up the steps.

Silver light, in fallen pyres,

Stoke the hearth and relieve the land;

Break the light, yet do not waste

The path of time that fate demands.

The light faded out slowly as she made her way up the stairs, and although it never became totally dark, it was enough to see the mist begin to shimmer.

When she came to the fork near the top of the stairs, it was clear that the mist was coming from Luna’s room on the left, rather than Celestia’s, which was straight ahead.

Pauseless in our sacred truth,

Faultless we between our horns;

Duty high and ever held,

As the call eternal warns…

The light dimmed even more as she slowly approached Luna’s doors with her head down low. While Luna had, long ago, almost begged Twilight to dispense with protocol around her, she was about to approach her as a student, and that couldn’t help but make her feel a little more intimidated. Celestia had said that Luna possessed unrivaled skill in battle; such a pony would naturally be intimidating to learn battle magic from, although this was tempered somewhat by the fact that said pony had already hugged her while squealing like a schoolfilly. Twice.

With another deep breath to further reinforce her ever-waning resolve, she pulled open the door just a tiny bit and poked her head in. The singing was louder now, and it was plainly clear why; Luna was standing on her balcony in a bathrobe, singing loudly amidst a small pile of books with her horn alight, a thick mist surrounding her, pouring off of her mane and onto the floor.

Crescent form, dreams sustain,

'Til the breach comes 'round again.

As the song ended, the mist stopped flowing from her, and Twilight couldn’t help but clap her hooves together. “That was amazing, Luna! I didn’t know you could sing like that!”

A small, slightly embarrassed smile formed on Luna’s lips. “Thank you, Twilight. Although, I do not like that version so much.”

“Version?” Twilight scratched her head.

“Yes, the lyrics are a very rough translation from it’s original form. It loses so much meaning…”

Celestia’s voice sprang to life in her memory. “I’ve been alive a long time, Twilight. Few ponies know just how long, so know how much I trust you when I tell you I’m almost ten thousand years old.”

“Twilight?” Luna asked.

She shook off her slight trance. “Sorry, I was just thinking. Princess Celestia said you two were nearly ten thousand years old, and that there were other civilizations, other alicorns, in your time. Princess, how old is that song? Was it supposed to be sung in your original language?”

Luna smiled. “Ah, you gathered that this tongue we use today is not our native one. Very astute. However, this song was considered ancient even when I was your age. The language it was originally written in equally so, and it was not what we grew up speaking.” She nervously held one foreleg with her other. “Would you care to hear it with the original lyrics?”

She couldn’t help it, and dove into a fast, deep bow. “I’d be honored!”

Luna smiles with pride and motioned to a clear spot next to her. “Come, sit down and listen.”

Twilight obeyed and quickly trotted over to Luna and laid down. The princess took off her robe, spread her wings slightly, and lit her horn again, repeating the song. The mist resumed flowing from her mane, practically glowing with power. It had only been five days since the coup attempt, and the lingering unease the whole city felt afterwards had still been at the forefront of her mind, until now. It had simply melted under the influence of Luna’s spectacular voice.

When the song finally ended, the face behind the voice told Twilight that Luna did not share her sense of ease.

“I’ll be honest, Twilight. I’m rather nervous about this.”

That was not the statement she had expected to hear, and the wide array of possible reasons didn’t make her own nerves any easier.

“You see,” she continued, “I am unlike my sister in many ways. Our understanding of modern magic script is one of them. I have a firm enough grasp, mind you. I can hold my own. But, I am unsure of how to teach someone so used to these ways of scientific magic. None of my spells have been written down as such.”

This was unexpected, but not entirely surprising to Twilight. “It’s okay, princess,” she said. “I’m reasonably good at copying spells from sight.”

This got a small and only slightly hopeful chuckle from the princess. “I know this, Twilight. But these spells are alicorn spells. They have elements in them from the other races and can’t be copied visually.”

“Oh.” Once again, unexpected but entirely logical.

“There is still a way, but I need you to be open minded. Before spell scripts, there was another method which was used to pass spells from master to apprentice: incantations.”

A red flag went up in the scientist’s mind. “I thought incantations were proven to be ineffective.”

“I appreciate the euphemism, Twilight, but we both know you meant to say the word ‘bunk.’”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. She actually didn’t mean that word specifically but it was remarkably close to the way she actually felt.

Another sigh left the princess. “The scientist mages did come up with a more effective script for passing magical knowledge; this is without question. That does not change the fact that they completely missed the point of incantations.” Luna stood up and assumed a firm, almost defiant stance against the sky as she walked to the edge of the balcony. “They weren’t a simple prayer or a sleight-of-hoof magician’s magic words. They were poems! Words meant to ignite the soul! The magic wasn’t in simply saying the words or the name of the spell, it was in understanding the meaning in the depths of the stanza! This was my domain, Twilight. The world of artists, poets, philosophers, lovers… the world of dreamers! I fear that it is all but lost.” She laid back down as she said that last word, and slowly turned her head to look back at the nascent alicorn.

“But you are a genius as well as an alicorn. In this, we are lucky. It is my hope that you will be able to feel the emotions in my art, and use them to drive the spells.”

Twilight nodded. This was starting to make a bit more sense. “I’ve heard of emotional states having effects on spell performance. Are you saying that the words are clues as to how to move the magical energies?”

Luna brightened considerably, standing and pointing at her. “Yes! Exactly! By the heavens, I might be able to teach you yet.” She cleared away some of the books around her, but her demeanor quickly shifted back to somber. “There is, however, one more thing I need to be clear with you about. In order to guide your magic and teach you, I have to be able to have access to more of my magic.”

This just made her confused again, and such a back and forth was proving frustrating. “Am I blocking you somehow?”

Luna looked over to something that wasn’t there for a moment. “In a way, yes. Well, sister is right, I should just show you. Please, promise not to be scared or run away.”

Twilight nodded, confident but no less confused.

In a moment, Luna’s body was enveloped in light and grew. Seconds later, a familiar and terrifying figure stood before her: Nightmare Moon. For many moments, neither pony moved nor spoke; they merely stared at each other. After all, this was Nightmare Moon, the self-proclaimed Queen of Darkness, at one time the greatest threat to all of Equestria. A being whose very sight always instilled fear in her, even in pictures or when Luna temporarily took the form as a “disguise”.

A possibility occurred to her, and she began to reason it out. Alicorns are supposed to grow larger as they ascend. Luna was much smaller than Celestia right after we first defeated her. She was barely any bigger than a normal stallion! Then, she was larger on her return to Ponyville, and then grew even taller later.

Her head jolted up as the connection was made. Her mouth moved and spoke even though her brain demanded it to be silent, but the only concession it would make was to shout at a whisper.

“Luna is the disguise!”

“I see you have figured it out.” Even her voice was that of Nightmare Moon’s, although somehow a little less intimidating. In fact, it sounded as if it was Nightmare that was scared. Even her exact look was a little different. For instance, her colors had changed; she was a very dark shade of blue or even indigo rather than black. Her wing shape had changed, too, and the fangs were normal teeth. Still, if anypony on the street had seen her, they’d most certainly have identified this as the Nightmare herself. “Yes, this is the real me. It’s Luna here, not the insanity. I have to seal about two-thirds of my power to keep my, well, more approachable form.”

Inside Twilight's mind, a small war was in progress over what to do; logic and reason fighting on whether to be reassuring or nonchalant. There was an even louder voice demanding that she run, but it sounded farther away than it should have. While the voices were arguing, her body did the leading as she simply got up on four hooves, walked over to the dark mare, and gave her a hug. There was no fear in her eyes or in her legs, only caring.

That most terrified of voices in her mind was still screaming out to her What are you doing? This is Nightmare Moon! The embodiment of death and darkness! Bow down or beg for mercy or run away or something!

Her response to this chatter came from a new, vastly powerful internal voice. It simply told the other, Shut up, and amazingly, fear’s unwelcome voice was gone, just like that.

When the hug was finally over, she looked up to see a sight that maybe no one had ever seen before: Nightmare Moon crying. No, not the Nightmare. Twilight reminded herself. Luna. This is Luna.

“Thank you, Twilight. It is gratifying to be accepted as I truly am by somepony such as yourself. I normally only use this form when I have to scare enemy soldiers.”

Twilight giggled. “Or little foals on Nightmare Night.”

“Oh! Well, yes, there is that too.” Luna’s soft laugh, even in this form, was more mischievous than threatening now. “Now, come, it is time for your first lesson.”

The sky-like mist that extended from Luna’s mane and tail whisked around her, and as it left she found they were very high up on a cloud. The teleportation was completely unlike that of Celestia’s spell or her own; there was no warmth or churning of the stomach. She was merely somewhere else in an instant.

“You and your sister both seem to like giving me lessons on clouds.” Twilight said. “Celestia put me on one earlier.”

Luna paced a bit on the cloud, re-orienting herself. “Oh? Well, it makes sense when you think about it. There is more privacy here. I’ve taken us far outside Canterlot for this so we don’t have any spies, and if something goes wrong we won’t harm anypony. Tell me, how did my sister break the news to you? I know it must’ve been a shock.”

The question brought up memories she couldn’t quite entirely process, along with a headache. “She, kind of forced magic into my body and made me change. I had wings, and I could feel so much. I’m not sure how she did it, really.”

“Nightmare Moon”’s eyes went wide as if the Elements were being aimed at her. “Ouch. That must have been painful, especially when you changed back.”

“Honestly, I was just in a state of shock. I passed out right after it ended.”

The indignation on Luna’s face was definitely reminiscent of the Nightmare herself. “And here she was chiding me to be gentle with you! I’m sorry you had to go through that. Remind me to put an ice spell on her shower faucet again.”

The two shared a laugh before a somewhat awkward moment overcame them again. After some nervous waiting, Luna broke the cycle.

“Okay, time for lesson one!” She stomped once on the cloud, and a magic circle appeared below them. There were even a few symbols written into it already. “I’m sure you know what this is.”

Twilight nodded. “Magic circles are made and used for advanced spells to help guide the flow of magic or store it temporarily. Sometimes they even appear as a consequence of the creation or use of powerful spells. But I’ve never seen somepony create such a large one with just a stomp of their hoof!”

“It gets easier with practice, but for now don’t worry about it. You’re just going to focus on the casting. Ready?”

Twilight nodded and was almost shaking she was so happy. A magic circle this large meant they were about to try something really special.

“Then sit in front of me and face where I’m facing.”

Twilight complied, and quickly felt the other alicorn standing over her.

“Do not be alarmed, I need to be close to help guide your magic if need be. Now, remember what I told you about incantations? I need you to listen to my words and repeat them, think about them, and most importantly, lose yourself in them. Let them guide your heart and your magic into the proper movements. Now, open your stream of magic into the circle and don’t worry about having to hold back. This one needs a lot of power.”

Lighting her horn, she started to push power into the circle, only to feel it practically leap up at her and demand more. She increased the power in intervals, but each time the circle just kept demanding more and more magic.

“Remember what I said about not holding back? I’ve built a limiter into the circle so you don’t need to worry about overloading it. Just let it all flow.”

It was very rare for Twilight to be able to really push all of her magic out to her fullest extent. Even when she did, she didn’t feel it was as impressive as some other ponies she’d seen, which was one of the reasons being told she was so powerful was a surprise. Though her recent battles proved that getting used to it would become necessary, there was always a desire to hold back to prevent disaster, since spells one lost control of had a nasty habit of exploding in front of one’s horn. However, if she could really let loose here… She strained her back a little and drastically increased the flow of magic to her horn. It still wasn’t enough. A couple of minutes passed, and by the end the amount of power being stored by the circle would be enough to demolish a large portion of Ponyville. It was beyond anything she’d ever had to use in a single spell before.

It wasn’t until a large majority of her magic reserves had been used by the spell that the circle finally seemed to have enough power.

“Very good. Close your eyes, and repeat my words. Do not worry what the spell should do, let it tell you what it’s doing instead. Do not merely speak, feel. Listen to the meanings, hidden or otherwise, and let them guide your spell. Remember, this is important. You must let your emotions guide you to cast this spell or any other spell recorded with incantations—especially those meant for alicorns.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “Um, but that’s not how magic works. It’s focus and concentration that—”

“Unicorns cast magic with focus and concentration. Do not be deceived by the fact that you’re using mostly unicorn magic. Pegasi and earth ponies use their emotions to control their magic, and this is an alicorn spell. Here, you must have both. For alicorn spells, it is absolutely critical that the correct emotions be used. Now, close your eyes.”

Twilight closed her eyes, but the light from the circle was leaking through her eyelids. She forced herself to ignore it as she listened to the words.

Standing on the edge of endless darkness,

Thirteen paths in heaven’s dance;

Echoes in the sky show perfect starkness,

Right the path of mother’s lance.

Despite her best efforts and her great care to repeat the words exactly as spoken, Twilight could feel Luna completely hijacking her spell and correcting it. The feedback from the correction was so extreme it started to twist her horn. Feeling as if she just got an exam back covered in red ink, her chest tightened and her mouth dried up in the cold air. Swallowing, she tried her best to shake it off and keep up with her fellow alicorn’s pace as the cadence of the incantation shifted to something new.

Mountains, valleys, and plains alike,

Carved by geology’s merciless scythe;

Seas and oceans and lakes alike,

Crests cut the land with a ravaging knife!

Twilight nearly lost control. Not of the spell, but of her thoughts. Luna’s voice wasn’t just speaking the words anymore, it was shouting them. No, not even that. The words were pouring out of her mouth and washing over her ears, striking her back and shaking her hooves. Each new syllable pounded harder than before, and then Twilight finally… let… go…

Oh grant me the strength to raise the oceans,

The grace to dance in the shadow's place,

A poise to repeat unending motions,

And rhythm to keep unceasing pace!

The younger alicorn’s mind gave up. Her mouth was repeating words that made no sense, yet she was belting them out like a life’s creed, or a battle cry. Her legs were bouncing her up and down in the ever rushing tempo, tossing all logic somewhere in the direction of the Everfree. As her brain surrendered, her heart rejoiced, dancing with Luna’s infectious rhythm.

Stars await for fury tempered,

Comets soar through heaven’s sight;

So for all that is remembered,

Bow and tremble, join aright

For thy beacon of the night!

Luna didn’t even say the last line; she stopped just short of it. It didn’t matter. Twilight continued the chant alone, bellowing the final words all on her own, knowing just what to say from the very depth of her power. Lightning cracked through her horn, sparking the spell to complete its destiny. Violent light and power blasted up from the magic circle, knocking her back and choking her lungs. Mouth open and gasping, she struggled and grasped at the cloud underneath her to keep herself in the right position to watch the light rocketing up into the sky. Flipping onto her back, she saw the spell split into innumerable smaller beams before rejoining and arcing across the sky, down over the horizon. A couple of seconds later, she scrambled to her hooves to race to the edge of the cloud in time to see an arc of white light rippling in an ever-expanding shock wave across the heavens.

As a disc of pale light peaked over the horizon, her heart danced and raced with overwhelming joy as she saw the spell was exactly what she had both suspected and prayed.

“Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle,” the smaller, more familiar Luna said. “You just raised the moon.”

In the center of Princess Celestia’s dining room stood a perfectly still Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes were as big as dinner plates, and her smile as wide as the sea. Around her, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Princess Luna stood watching, plainly worried for their friend. Applejack walked up and waved a hoof in front of Twilight to no avail.

“I think I broke her,” the princess said. “Does anypony know how to snap her out of it?”

“What exactly did you do?” Spike asked, scratching his head.

“I had her raise the moon. She did a good job, but then smiled and froze up like this… I broke her, didn’t I?”

The three friends shared wide-eyed looks before Rainbow gave out a loud sigh. “Alright, stand back everypony. I’ll get her out of this.”

She strode right up to the catatonic mare, stuck out her tongue and planted it in Twilight’s ear. Four awkward seconds later, she pulled back out only to receive the strangest looks she’d ever gotten.

“That worked last time, I swear!”

Applejack flailed her forelegs about. “And just how in the hay did ya manage to find that out? Fer that matter, what in tarnation would possess you to—”

“I don’t even want to know,” Spike interrupted, covering his ears.

“We aren’t like that! Really! There was this—”

“Don’t. Want. To. Know,” both Applejack and Spike said in sync.

The night princess broke out into laughing so hard the windows were rattling, only speaking after the rest of the room stood silent for a few moments. “Oh, Gods! Hehe. Okay, I’m done now. Hehehehehehe. Really. I’m going to get Tia, she’ll know what to do. Hehehehehe…”

The three others were almost as frozen as Twilight as Luna strode out of the room laughing.

“Did I just do something embarrassing in front of somepony that will remember it for a few eons?” Rainbow asked.

“Eeyup,” Spike answered. Applejack responded to that with a bop to the back of the head.

Slowly, Twilight began to give signs of breaking out of her frozen state with a small laugh; one that progressively got bigger and bigger. When she was using nearly a third of her lungs per laugh she stopped laughing and started jumping around the room screaming “Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!”

Applejack stepped in front of her and lightly held her with her front legs, trying to stop her jumping but only managing to make her bounce a little in place. “You okay, sugarcube?”

“Hehe, more than okay! I just raised the bucking moon! Me! I did it! Hahahahahaha! Oh, I can’t tell you how awesome this feels! Actually I feel rather tired. That spell takes a lot of power. But I did it! I could see the magic move over the horizon and yank the moon up! You wouldn’t believe the kind of power the princesses wield like nothing! I knew they were strong, but they do this every single day without even feeling winded! I know I’m not that strong yet but I still just raised the bucking moon! Eeeeehehehehehe!”

Twilight resumed jumping with full force, but after two more leaps her right front knee gave into exhaustion and sent her tumbling into the ground face first. “Oww,” she said in a moan.

“You okay?” Spike asked.

Twilight rolled over on her back. “Yeah. Whew, that… That took a lot out of me. I’m shaking a little. Hehe, look at me, the next alicorn ascendant, falling right on my face like a school filly.”

Applejack chuckled a bit. "Eeyup, kinda big contrast compared to the papers."

Twilight's head tilted while upside down. "Papers?"

"You didn't see!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "You're all over the news, Twilight."

Twilight was on her hooves in an instant. "What!?"

"Ahem!" Spike strode into the group waving a copy of a newspaper. "Secret Hero of the Battle of Canterlot. Twi—"

The purple mare tore the newspaper away from him with her magic and read it aloud.

Twilight Sparkle, long known as the personal student of Princess Celestia, has been named by an anonymous source as the true hero of the Battle of Canterlot. This source states that she both defeated dozens of enemy soldiers and personally sent the coup's leader, General Towers, into the hospital in critical condition. Additional sources have informed us that Twilight Sparkle is also under consideration to be the first pony to carry the title of Grand Mage since Stellar Horizon held it over seven hundred years ago.

"How did they find out about this? It was supposed to be classified! Tell me they never mention the word 'alicorn.’”

Spike shook his head. "No, but you should see the editorial section. They're all about you."

"Editorials!?" Twilight flipped through the paper in a scramble. "Oh, why do they always forget to list the editorial columns in the table of contents… Aha!"

Twilight’s eyes moved at an incredible pace as she took in the editorial at her highest reading speed.

"Super soldier?! Ultra-unicorn?! 'Celestia's secret weapon on the battlefield!?’" She tossed the paper down with magic. "They're making me sound like some kind of bloodthirsty, all-powerful, trigger-happy battle mage!"

"Isn't that what yer supposed to be training for here?" Applejack asked, and everyone looked at her in shock. “Er, I mean just the battle mage part.”

"Well, sort of, but not really, I mean, grah! I'm not just a walking weapon! And I'm definitely not—" Twilight lifted the paper back up to read it again. "'A dark, lethal shadow cast over the towers of Canterlot and ponydom.' What does that even mean!?"

"Now calm down, Twi, we both know that these papers can take things a bit out of proportion. And it's the alicorn thing that's important ta keep secret, right? You bein' Grand Mage and all was gonna be announced in a couple months anyway, no big deal." Applejack was doing her best, even giving her a small hug, but Twilight still felt like she was being unfairly judged. Even if some of what they were saying had a bit of truth.

"Yeah, don't pay attention to those wannabes!” Rainbow strode up to her, flying just a bit. “I mean, how many of them have, and I quote from Twilight Sparkle, Faithful Student of Princess Celestia, Lady of the Solar Court, Element of Magic, Grand Mage of Equestria, Alicorn Ascendant, and librarian extraordinaire, 'raised the bucking moon'?"

Twilight couldn't help but cringe at the list of titles, yet she chuckled at the quoting of her own profanity. "You're right, Rainbow. I did just raise the moon. Excuse me, the bucking moon. I've no reason to let this stop me now. Hehehehe… This is just so awesome!" She felt an intense desire to move and jump with joy as she remembered seeing the moonrise. Her body took her mind's yearning to leap and pushed it one step further, completing an in-place and flawless backflip to a momentarily stunned stunned audience.

“Whoa, talk about channelling me! How’d you do that?”

“Do what?” Twilight’s grin hadn’t subsided in the least.

"That backflip! I didn't know you could do that, sugarcube!"

“No, not that,” Rainbow said to curious looks. “You used an air current to boost yourself, like a pegasus would. Here, watch.” Rainbow did a perfect execution of Twilight’s backflip, even while keeping her wings locked. “Did you all feel that? The slight breeze?”

Applejack blinked in realization. “Actually, yeah! I think I felt it with Twilight too.”

“Wow, cool!” Spike said. “Hey Twi, try it again!”

“Ah, repeat an experiment. Okay, let’s give this a shot.”

Twilight jumped up a couple times, only to find gravity relentlessly pulling her down without any hope of a backflip. She wasn’t exactly the most athletic mare in existence, and though she kept her shape reasonable, a backflip would normally be beyond her. As her hooves hit the plush carpet again, frustration began to set in and she struck the carpet before realizing whose carpet it was and trying to make it look like she didn’t just do that.

Rainbow sighed. “You’re not doing it right. Try it again.”

“Just how is she supposed to do it, Rainbow? I know I’d be tryin’ to jump if I were her.”

Rainbow blew a raspberry at Applejack and strode up to Twilight. “It’s not about jumping, it’s pegasus magic. You need to want to be in the air, just like you want, I dunno, your trees to grow or something. Here Twi, jump again, but this time don’t want ‘to do a backflip’. Want ‘to be in the sky’. Really think about it, it’s the first lesson any pegasus learning to fly needs.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay, here goes.”

She closed her eyes and thought of the sky. She’d never flown before, but she’d experienced falling, flying in a hot air balloon, chariot riding, and even walking on clouds. Putting her experiences together, she thought of flight, of being in the sky as part of it. Her imagination took over and she felt the rush of air around her, wind whipping in all directions as it roared. Filling her lungs with fresh air, she took a leap. It wasn’t until the last possible moment that she opened her eyes and found her face right next to the very top of the very, very high ceiling in the dining room.

“Ahhh!” She let out a slight scream as she acted on intuition, turning and placing her hooves on the ceiling for another jump, this time straight towards the floor. With red carpeting fast approaching, she swung her legs back under her and landed with a ground-shaking thud powerful enough to knock over her friends.

Silence draped the room for a solid minute as her friends all looked around and found their footing again. Meanwhile, she stood with her legs locked and upright, stunned both at having been on the ceiling and that she managed to get through such a landing completely unharmed.

“Rainbow?”

“Oooffff.” she said, getting to her hooves.

“That air current I imagined, was it real?”

“You practically summoned a small dust devil.”

Twilight looked around and realized that the room was utterly trashed.

"Uugh, I'm going to get it now. Look at this place!"

"Oh, she won't care." Spike's reassuring words were ineffective. "I mean, you can summon wind! That's gotta have something to do with pegasus powers, right? You'll be as powerful as the Princesses in no time at this rate!"

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "Pegasus powers maybe, but I'm still nothing compared to the princesses, even at a thousand times the average for unicorns."

“Whoa, hold on.” Rainbow came back into the conversation with an incredulous sounding voice. “A thousand times the average? You’re that powerful? The Princesses are that powerful?”

“Makes sense to me,” Spike said. “I mean, we’re talking about ponies that can toss around the sun.”

“It does sound kinda out there, sugarcube. Are you sure?”

Twilight nodded. “Well, think about it. Before the Princesses took control of the sun and moon, hundreds of unicorns were needed to raise and lower them. That’s all they did because it exhausted them, and only strong ones were chosen for the task. The princesses raise and lower the sun and moon each day, and Celestia did both for a thousand years every single day without fail. They aren’t even tired afterwards! A far cry from me. I just raised the moon, and I’m a bit out of it even with Luna helping me.”

Despite the analysis of her own limits, things felt better somehow. "A thousand times an average unicorn… Raising the moon… Maybe it will be okay in the end."

Twilight had just enough time to finish that sentence before the source of a familiar voice ran in, with an equally familiar sister behind her.

“What happened here? Twilight? Are you ok?”

The sight of Celestia running into the room was exactly what Twilight needed to break out of her locked stance, and scrunch down into a small ball.

Spike ran right up to her. “It was so awesome! Twilight can summon wind! She jumped clear to the ceiling!”

Twilight squeaked and got even smaller.

The Princess of the night bellowed. “Ha! I told you she was farther along than you thought, Tia. She’s bound to randomly discover all kinds of things at this rate.”

Applejack came forward and placed herself in front and to the side of Twilight. “We’re powerful sorry about this, Yer Majesty. We pushed her to try.”

Luna just kept giggling. “Oh, Tia’s always hated this room anyway. Maybe we could get rid of this ugly bright red and get something darker. Perhaps—”

Celestia sighed and interrupted. “You aren’t redecorating my dining room, Luna.”

“Foo.” Luna’s expression soured.

The elder princess went up to her pupil and knelt down with a welcoming face. If she was trying to calm her down, it worked; she could feel herself more relaxed by the second.

“I’ve been feeling tense lately as well, my student. Come, I have something special to show you. I assume everypony could excuse us for a little while?”

The group all bowed, save Luna, as the two mares walked out of the room with Twilight dutifully following her mentor out the door, but stopping just before exiting through it.

“Wait,” Twilight asked. “Why is my ear wet?”

Author's Note

Whew! Been a while, huh? Sorry it took so long, but there's some bad news. Next chapter will be quite some time still. I'm currently working on a lot of material in block two, which is only halfway to two-thirds done. But it was taking so long I wanted to give you guys something, which meant releasing this chapter a bit early. Why? Well, because it was vastly, vastly more mature than the other parts of the block, mainly because it was written first and written a long, long time ago. I wrote most of this before block one was even done! Thus, it is far more 'done' than all the other pieces of the block, which are under heavy construction, either with missing pieces, major issues to correct, or even need total rewrites! Follow my blog to hear about updates as they happen.

Also, everyone welcome Fausticorn to the editing team! She's done a lot for the story already, from editing to setting up various resources for the team, including the public IRC channel where I host chats!

You probably also noticed some poetry in this chapter! Well, you should thank AlicornPriest for that, because it would have absolutely sucked had it not been for his guidance. Here's a look at how bad it used to be...

I hope you guys think this is all worth the wait! :)

Updated Sept 3rd, 2014 for formatting improvements.

Brand New Heights, Same Old Lows

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Jon, who recently passed away from a rare form of cancer. He was the kind of person who would grace our role-playing group with a true Paladin, for when he left the table, he didn't leave high ideals behind: kindness, laughter, and understanding. He will be truly missed. This one’s for you, Jon. Rest in Peace.

“Well then,” Luna said, stretching casually. “It seems my lesson for Twilight has ended for the evening. ‘Tis just as well, I’m afraid raising the moon sapped much of her wellspring.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.” Spike threw his hands in the air in mock defeat.

Rainbow nodded, and stretched out as if she was just waking up from one of her signature power naps. “Doing the work of a few hundred ponies? I can’t say I’ve done that much at once, only a few dozen. But yeah, I get it. Our little egghead is something else.”

Applejack looked at her two friends, then scuffed the ground with a forehoof.

“Is something wrong, Applejack?” Luna asked, a pleasant, welcome smile not unlike her sister’s inviting her inquiry.

“Uh, wellspring, Princess?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow nearly snorted. “It’s a pony’s magic source. Like a battery. Come on, even I know that.”

“Oh! That makes sense, I suppose. Must be mighty drainin’. Didn’t know unicorns were batteries.”

Luna shook her head. “You misunderstand, Applejack. All ponies have wellsprings which produce magic. The different tribes simply have different types of magic, which are pushed to different parts of their bodies by their leylines.”

Applejack gave the Princess a blank stare.

“You may think of leylines like arteries of magic. I am surprised they did not teach this to you in school.”

The farm pony lowered her head in deference, and perhaps a little shame. “No ‘fense, Princess, but I was homeschooled. There weren’t no school in Ponyville when I was a filly. Applebloom was the first to get a real education.”

“Really?” Spike scratched his head. “What about Rarity? I thought she got her cutie mark making costumes for a school play.”

“Nu-uh.” Rainbow interjected. “Rarity won’t tell you this unless you ask her point-blank, but she’s not from Ponyville. She moved there after I did. Her family is from a town that could just barely be called a ‘far-off Whinnyapolis suburb’. She only moved to Ponyville ‘cause she couldn’t afford Canterlot back then. Her parents moved a little closer later on.”

Spike snapped his fingers in realization. “That explains her parents’ accent!”

“Not just theirs,” Rainbow leaned in, grabbing the dragon with a foreleg. “If you really get her angry, like when I replaced all her fabrics with light green bedsheets, Rarity will slip into it. Her ‘normal’ accent is fake. She learned it trying to get into the Canterlot marketplace. Heh. That’s how I found out. Good ol’ epic prank number eighty-seven.”

“Sad to say, I feel that shedding her old accent in favor of a Canterlot one was a prudent measure. Some ponies in this city are, well, I shan’t go on, or I might not stop.” Luna shook her head. “Well then, in lieu of a rant, shall we all have dinner together in the Gardens? Their beauty goes so unnoticed at night, and I would love for you all to see it under my, or should I say, Twilight’s moon?”

“Heh. Like you need to convince me to eat dinner.” Spike chuckled.

“I’m with the dragon.” Rainbow started a hover. “You comin’, AJ?”

The farm pony slowly walked up into the now-moving group. “Um, yeah, I suppose I could eat. Wouldn’t be polite to turn down an invite from the Princess, now would it?”

“I have to admit, this is really nice! Reminds me of th’ orchard.” Applejack pranced just a tad as she made her way around the gardens with her friends, letting the grass scrunch under her hooves. It was the only place in the castle where she could feel like herself.

“Ah, here we are.” The Princess rounded a corner, leading them to a clearing already set up with a picnic blanket. “Gentlecolts, if you would be so kind.”

The few butlers that had been following them went to work quickly, refreshing the blanket and lighting a few candles. They even pulled out a couple bottles of wine and quickly served them each a glass. The next things they brought out were a bit odd, however, as an easel and an unfinished painting were set up, along with a brush and palette.

“Princess, you paint?” Applejack asked.

“Indeed! You see, dear Applejack, we alicorns like to take on certain talents and aspects that we feel fit with our titles. I am not merely the mistress of the moon, stars, and night, but of art as well. That includes painting, poetry, all kinds of art.” She took a long sip of wine, resting the glass on her lips for a moment. “Of course, being an alicorn also lets me drink like a fiend. I’m honestly surprised my drinking didn’t get me before I gained earth pony magic to heal from it.”

Applejack blinked.

“Um, Equestria to AJ? You there?” A cyan hoof waved in front of her eyes.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” The farmer swallowed. “I suppose I just never really thought of Yer Majesties bein’ earth ponies too.”

Luna put on a warm smile. “Indeed. We embody the properties of all three tribes. In fact, come here, and look closely.”

The Princess got up and put a hoof in the grass, just off of the blanket. Applejack scratched her head in response.

“Look closely at the grass around my hoof.”

Rainbow and Spike got up and leaned down with Applejack, to which the earth pony breathed an internal sigh of relief. At least she wouldn’t look silly on her own. She looked, but it didn’t seem to be any different from plain old grass.

“It just looks like grass,” Spike blissfully said so she wouldn’t have to.

“Keep looking,” Luna replied, and a very faint glow enveloped the ground around her hoof.

Then, Applejack saw it. The grass was growing! Right before her eyes, she could see it actually grow! Heh. Watching grass grow. Never thought that’d be exciting. Earth pony farmers like herself used the same magic; it was what allowed them to harvest apples multiple times per year instead of just once. This, though, was very far beyond a few extra harvests. If they wanted it, the Princesses could be the best farmers in history.

“Whoa!” Rainbow hovered a bit over the spot. “I knew earth ponies could grow plants by like, caring about them, but I’ve never watched it happen!”

“Alicorns are, by their very definition, the embodiment of all three races. Although both Tia and I were born unicorns, ascension graced us with the other tribal aspects, giving us insight into their existence.”

She took a long sip of wine. “When we finally defeated Discord after centuries of fighting, we were left with a broken, shattered world. Think of it. No homes, no clean running water. Roads were dirt paths trodden by our ponies, and the lingering chaos magic meant they sometimes literally changed where they led, if they led anywhere at all. We were living wild again.”

“Over years, decades, and even centuries, we searched for and gathered our scattered ponies into the nation you see before you. We did all we could to care for all our ponies, and we will continue to do so for all our lives. In you all, we see your ancestors. What we - and more importantly, they - had to go through, no matter their tribe.”

Applejack gave a slight bow. “I never heard about all that. Thanks, Princess. I know some of us earth ponies don’t really get all that you do for us, but the Apples do. It means a lot.”

“No thanks are needed, but I shall accept nonetheless.”

Rainbow opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, then closed it, going back into a ponderous posture. She looked quite concerned.

“Is something wrong, Rainbow?” Spike asked.

“Yes, I’ve not seen you make that face before, Rainbow.” Luna began to look concerned too. “Tell us, what is troubling you?”

Rainbow tapped a forehoof on her chin, then sighed. “Luna, Princess…” she trailed off for a second.

“Come now, Rainbow! I can assure you, I am not nearly as easy to anger as rumors suggest. Feel free to speak your mind.”

The pegasus gritted her teeth, breathing through them. “Princess, are you faster than me?”

A pin dropping could’ve sounded like an explosion in the moment following the question. Yet Rainbow didn’t let up.

“If you’re some super-powered earth pony, wouldn’t that make you a super-powered pegasus too?” Rainbow reasoned. Applejack had to admit, it made sense.

Luna bowed her head. “Yes, Rainbow. I am faster than you. Much faster. Tia is faster still.”

Rainbow dropped her head in what looked like a half bow and half being stabbed in the chest.

Luna shrunk down a little. “I am sorry, Rainbow Dash. Please, I wish to continue being your friend. I could not lie to you!”

Rainbow held up a hoof. “I’m alright. I appreciate the honesty. It’s just… damn hard to hear that. I’ve always been the ‘fastest pegasus’. Turns out it’s a bucking lie.”

“Rainbow!” Applejack yelled under her breath. “Watch that tongue!”

“I forgive her,” Luna quickly interceded. “Truly.”

“Yeah,” Spike agreed. “I mean, it’s gotta be rough after all that work, going from first to fourth like that.”

“Third.” Rainbow snapped. “Nopony else is faster! Only the Princesses! I can at least live with that.”

Spike shook his head. “Remember what Twi did in the dining room?”

Rainbow froze in shock for a second, twitched first her eye, then a hoof.

Spike sighed, then elaborated. “Since pegasus magic comes out via the spine and wings, that’s just with what magic her spine could use. As soon as she gets wings…”

Now her feathers were twitching (or perhaps buzzing). Applejack wasn’t aware that they could do that.

Luna swooped in, stretching forelegs and wings around the pegasus. “It will be okay.” Her words were almost echoing, but in an astonishingly soothing manner. “Neither Tia nor I speak much about our speed or true power. We cannot. It must be hidden, so our ponies will not become dependent on us. It is our wish, our joy for them to strive for their own excellence, as you have. As I know you will continue to. Please, do not be upset. If it is some comfort, know that you are still the fastest ‘true’ pegasus. I—”

Rainbow started to struggle and freed herself from the Princess’ grasp, or rather, was released. “I know, I know all that,” she stammered, somewhat inelegantly rushing away from Luna. “I’ll be fine, really. I just… I just need to get some air time. I’ll talk to you all later.”

“Rainbow!” Luna yelled, but it was too late. The pegasus was already up and away. The Princess looked forlornly at Applejack. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t sweat it too much, Princess.” Applejack kept her head down a bit on instinct, but tried to make her voice as reassuring as she could. “Rainbow always bounces back from stuff like this. It just takes her time is all, and I know she’d never blame ya.”

“I pray you are right, Applejack. Truly.”

A flurry of activity emerged from the hedges as a few butlers rushed in with sandwiches and other small edibles. Applejack mused at how the kitchens must have panicked over something a princess would expect to be served quickly, even if it was something so simple. At least she wasn’t with them this time!

“Well, it seems our dinner has arrived. A bit less delicious than it would have been with another friend, but here all the same. Shall we?”

Luna was right. It would’ve been better with Rainbow there, and it seemed like there was a figurative cloud hanging over the alicorn’s head.

“Applejack.”

The orange mare stood up straight at the mention of her name, though her nerves made her muscles shake ever so slightly from the Princess’ tone.

“I have something to ask of you, but before I do, know that you are completely free to refuse. In fact, I will not be upset if you say no. Nor will there be any repercussions, and I won’t think less of you.”

Luna paused, and took in a long, deep breath; one great enough for Applejack to realize that the Princess made even Big Mac’s freakishly-large lungs look downright reasonable.

“I would like you to be Twilight’s second Honor Guard. I know you don’t have military experience, but you are strong and we can give you some training and advanced armor to aid you. I think having you along would help Twilight tremendously.”

Applejack twitched and squirmed nervously. She was being put on the spot in the most uncomfortable manner possible. She prided herself on being dependable, but here there were two groups she had to be dependable to, and they were mutually exclusive. Going with Twilight meant abandoning her family at their most vulnerable, seeing as their newest member was pregnant. On the other hoof, staying home with them meant leaving a fledgling goddess to fend for herself in her darkest hours.

Applejack reached for the only answer that had served her well throughout her life: family.

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I can’t just leave my family. With Granny gone, I can’t just take off. One season like this would be one thing, but ten years? No, I… I just can’t do that to them. ‘Specially Fluttershy.”

Luna’s sad look was almost unbearable, but a short nod indicated acceptance.

“I’ll do it.”

The two mares slowly turned to look at their purple friend.

“What? I said I’ll do it. She needs me, she always has.” Spike rose to his feet, his greater height and strength giving him a more mature look than either were used to. He was normally always so relaxed in how he carried himself, but now he looked almost… formidable. “If Twilight’s in trouble, I’ll be there to help. No matter what.”

Luna tilted her head much like Twilight when in thought. “Hmmm… I appreciate the offer, Spike, but I don’t think Twilight is going to much care for me sending her baby dragon into battle.”

“Baby dragon, adult pony.” Spike replied, defiantly crossing his arms.

Luna’s eyebrow raised up. “True, you would be old enough for military service as a pony. That’s actually a compelling argument, but I still don’t think Twilight would… like…” Luna turned her head with a snap and squinted, scratching her chin a little before a devious grin started to creep onto her face.

“Spike, it occurs to me that a Grand Mage will be quite busy, and as such she will need someone to assist her. Someone that knows their quirks and needs inside and out, and can follow them wherever they go. I can think of no other better suited than you.”

“Well well!” Spike grinned and took a bow. “Happy to be of service!”

“What made ya change yer mind, Princess?” Applejack asked.

“Dragon mail!” she exclaimed. “Spike’s ability to send messages to Celestia over vast distances will be an unimaginable help for keeping in touch. There are limitations to the spell, but it would be immensely helpful regardless. Also, Spike, you might need to stay behind the scenes or hide for missions needing discretion, since a dragon would attract attention, but otherwise you would be a monumental asset to the team.”

“Glad to be aboard!” Spike raised his hand up to Applejack and she gave it a bump with her hoof. He really was growing up.

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Luna warned. “It’s ultimately Twilight’s decision, and she’s going to be protective of you. Very protective. We’ll need to be careful with how we word the request, but I think she can be convinced.

“Also, we should get you some armor. That’ll have to be custom made; last I checked there aren’t any standard suits of armor for young dragons. This might require some political finesse, too, but I can handle it. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Spike just folded his arms and shot her a confident look.

Luna’s grin widened. “Okay, fair enough!”

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as she kept up the beat with her fellow fliers. A Wonderbolts formation was directly below her. Spitfire was leading the formation; Rainbow was really only tagging along. Granted, most of the time any pegasus attempting to do this would be either arrested or left in the dust, but being a former Captain had its perks. Perks which she fully intended to take advantage of, especially after this night’s revelations.

“Oh yeah,” she cooed. This was bliss. The wind blew its way around her body, peeling off her troubles with its soothing force. With perfect memorization, she pulled up and kicked her rear hooves out, then pushed with magic in the other direction to execute a perfect pinpoint turn. A shiver rattled its way from the very tips of her ears and went all the way down to her tail. “This is more like it.”

Yaw left, right, roll and pull up. She knew all these moves by heart, and they weren’t even show moves. Not these ones, anyway. Shows for the foreseeable future were cancelled as the Wonderbolts were called into active duty. At least she’d get to practice military drills with them a bit in this glorious night air.

Through one of the barrel rolls she spotted a lone Wonderbolt sitting on a cloud watching them: Soarin. She banked hard out of the formation - she was just tagging along anyway - and dove down to join him. It felt kind of surreal seeing him back in the flight suit while she was only in a retired captain’s jacket.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hey,” he replied.

This was going to be awkward for a while.

“Whatever you do, girl, don’t think about that trick he can do while flying. You’ll fall off the cloud laughing,” she thought to herself.

“So…” she said.

“Yeah,” he said.

If Twilight ever invented a device that could calculate levels of awkward, she could probably set its maximum to this right here.

“Wait a minute,” thought Rainbow. “I’m Rainbow Danger Dash. I don’t do awkward!”

“So what’s the deal with you being ‘happy’ with retirement? I thought you went off to do private shows in the tropics or something,” Rainbow demanded.

“Um, yeah, I went to the tropics for private shows…”

The awkward was still off the scales, but this time it was decidedly on one end. Rainbow had an idea on how to pull out the source.

“Private shows for who?” she asked, deliberately leaving the question open ended. Soarin was famous within the Wonderbolts for finding outs both in the sky and in conversation. Making him provide details would leave him less able to maneuver.

“Well… ponies I’d meet. The ones that looked interesting.”

Bingo, Rainbow knew exactly what was up now.

“You mean the ones with sweet flanks?”

“… yes.”

“Ha! I knew it! You weren’t just ‘putting on private shows’, you were chasing tail!”

Soarin looked down at his hooves, dejected. “… sorry.”

Something here did not entirely compute for Rainbow, which in turn further did not compute because she thought she knew Soarin fairly well at this point.

“Um? What? Why sorry? Sounds like you had a great time! Hell of a way to retire. I suppose I can see why you wanted to stay with that.”

Soarin lifted his head a little toward his left. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be?”

Soarin gave an uncharacteristic flop on the cloud and laid down. “Thank Celestia. I thought you’d hate me.”

“Um, hello? We broke it off! I wouldn’t be mad at you even if you were chasing mares all over Equestria! ‘Former Wonderbolt’ does wonders for finding bedmates… or so I’ve been told.”

Soarin let out one soft chuckle. “I should’ve known I was just being worrisome. I’m like that.”

“Yeah, yeah you are. I’m really not mad, Soarin. I’m glad you had a good time. Wait…”

Soarin looked back up at her.

“You aren’t still, you know, in love with me, were you?” Rainbow winced a little as she said it. They’d broken it off, so she was morally in the clear, but she still didn’t like being disloyal.

“I thought so. Celestia, I thought so for the longest time. But I don’t think I ever was, and that left me feeling more guilty than anything. I’m so, so sorry.”

Rainbow thought this over for an instant, but ultimately couldn’t find anything to object over. “Meh!” she yelled, laying down on her back to stare at the sky. “So it didn’t work out. Big deal. At least we had some fun.”

A genuine laugh of relief poured out of Soarin’s lips. “That we did. I owe you so much, Rainbow.”

Rainbow went wide-eyed and rolled over on her side. “Owe me? If anything, I owe you. Your recommendation for the captaincy, even if I hated it. All those private lessons. Heh. All those private lessons. And I did find out about your recommendation for letting me join the Wonderbolts in the first place. Secrets in the unit don’t stay secret long from the Captain, you know.”

“Even less so their second-in-command and his closeness to the unit. And no, I owe you. Without you, without us, I never would’ve figured this out.”

Rainbow rolled back over and sat up. “Figured what out?”

Soarin chuckled. “That I’m a lousy womanizer. It’s not for me. Losing you meant figuring out that I needed somepony, just one somepony, to be with. Yes, you may laugh now.”

Rainbow Dash did laugh, but only a little. “So that’s the big revelation? One of the biggest smooth-talkers in the ‘Bolts needs a ‘special somepony’ to feel complete?”

“Yeah, yeah, big ol’ ego pie, eat it up. Random mares just aren’t the same after you.” Soarin closed his eyes and braced himself a little.

Rainbow couldn’t help herself as she put her head right in front of Soarin’s and gave him her best seductive leer as he re-opened his eyes. “So you wanna find a cloud somewhere and do it?” she asked.

Rainbow expected him to either run or pounce her. He surprised her with his irritated face. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry, Dash, but I’m over you.”

While unexpected, she wasn’t about done teasing him. Rainbow leapt back and laid down on her back with a “poof” as cloud bits erupted and covered her. “That’s fine. I’ve already sworn my life to Twilight anyway.”

That seemed to get his attention. She didn’t even need to open her eyes as she laid back; she could hear it in his voice.

“What? You married her? Just like that?”

Rainbow tossed a ball of cloud at Soarin’s face. He didn’t even try to dodge.

“I didn’t marry her, Soarin. I’m her Honor Guard. The next decade or so, or really as long as she needs me, I’m hers.”

Soarin just looked at her confused for a moment.

“I meant militarily.”

“Oooohhh…” The ever-so-slight grin on Soarin’ face betrayed his understanding, and Rainbow pelted him with another bit of cloud.

Rainbow laid down on her back with her hooves in the air and relaxed. This was why she loved Soarin as a friend. This perfect banter and the level of understanding that could only be forged by fighting alongside someone. This knowing that you’re exposing your most ticklish of spots to someone and not caring as he forces you to empty the air from your lungs in giggles.

“My my, what do we have here? Shirking one’s duty to go play with a mare? This isn’t like you, Soarin… What am I saying, it’s exactly like you.”

Soarin stopped tickling her as they turned to look at Spitfire. Instinct and training told Rainbow to stand at attention, but her recovering lungs and knowledge of not being in the unit anymore let her muscles relax. She answered only to Twilight now, much like Luna’s Night Guard or Celestia’s Day Guard.

“Why, wanna join in?” Rainbow asked. That would’ve been insubordination when she was in the unit, and it felt good to let loose without the threat of rank over her.

Spitfire gave her a sultry glance that genuinely stunned Rainbow for a moment. Rainbow had forgotten just how aggressive and carefree Spitfire could be with her sexuality. “Don’t offer if you don’t mean it. Come on, Soarin, we’ve got a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Hey Spitfire,” Rainbow said before they had a chance to leave. Spitfire turned back to face her. “Sorry about the mess I left you.”

Spitfire smiled a bit and turned the rest of the way around, approaching her. “I’m assuming you didn’t mean just your desk,” she said.

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, letting herself look sullen. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize how much harder leading the team was. Being the best flyer wasn’t enough.”

Spitfire smiled. “Don’t worry about it, it took me a long time to find my wings there too. Besides, Celestia’s expanding the size of the team so much it’s going to be filled with newbies anyway. Whole new bunch to train for military Wonderbolt service. Oh, one more thing.”

Spitfire grabbed her by the shoulders and smashed her lips against Rainbow’s, plunging her uncomfortably long tongue down Dash’s throat for a moment. When she broke it and left her, Rainbow was genuinely gagging a little.

“Until I’m dead and gone, you’re still second best. Remember that, Dashie!”

The force of their takeoff knocked Rainbow clean off the cloud.

Author's Note

Well, enough time has passed that I found a couple scenes I could do right now and hit the button. Sadly, this is the last time I can do that until the whole block is done. I’ve written up through chapter 14, but there’s still a lot that can go wrong if I publish more before finishing the block. I have no idea how many chapters the block will be ultimately. There’s at least 8-10 scenes left to write, at least. Probably more. Also, this chapter is subject to even further edits later.

For those who don’t know, my health has been in a downward spiral these last months. First stomach issues, then pain in my neck, and it turns out that pain was thyroid cancer. I had the organ removed last Friday, and I’m already getting sleepy from lack of the thyroid hormone. I won’t be able to take the supplement hormone until I get radiation treatment to kill the remaining cells. I can’t do that until a month or so after the surgery. Fun. This is going to slow down writing even more, sadly. I likely will not have a chapter ready for the 1-year anniversary, to my great regret. I’m just going to be too exhausted between now and then to pull off that kind of writing speed.

A little bit of work on DI has also been done, but not enough to publish anything yet. I’ve also got a couple other one-shots brewing for you all.

You may have also noticed the chapter header image on this one, made by Fausticorn. It’s a WIP. We’re trying out different styles to see what sticks, and when we come up with a good standard we’ll be updating ALL the chapters with new headers, including this one. Danneh has been a big help there already, so he needs a shout out here, even if he’s probably looking at it right now and pulling out his hair. Thanks Danneh!

And thank you all for your admirable patience; I hope that your trust is not misplaced. I know it's been a long wait.

Fausticorn's Editor's Note:

Now, I’m quite sure that you’re all upset about the absence of Twilight from this chapter. Never fear, Chapter 10 will show our favorite purple ~~unicorn~~ alicorn’s adventures.

In other news, I’ve got exams coming up in three weeks. Yes, I know, ponies take priority over everything else and all that... I hope that update frequency won’t be impacted too much.

It’s been a wild ride so far, and the rollercoaster shows no signs of ending; I’d like to thank all of you for sticking with us so long, notwithstanding the months-long release cycles.
-- Fausticorn

Update Sept 4th 2014: Updated formatting.

Mages of Times Past and Present

One teleportation later and they arrived in a forest clearing which was unnervingly familiar. They were deep in the Everfree, and the cries of unknown entities were clearly advertising the threats of the forest.

“Um, Princess? Is this it?” Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head. “No, of course not, my student. But, I’m afraid teleporting us further into the forest isn’t possible. There’s too much corrupting magic. I could still perform very short range teleportation for us if need be, but any farther is too dangerous without some kind of powerful magic anchor or waypoint.”

Twilight swallowed a little. “So we walk?”

Celestia nodded. “Correct. There should be a path nearby. Also, do not worry about the creatures of the forest. While I might not be able to fight them with magic, few things even in the Everfree would dare approach an alicorn. Fewer still would stay long when I began to gather my power."

The two walked out of the clearing and into the thick of the infamous forest. As they got deeper in, even the light from Luna’s, or for tonight, Twilight’s moon, was being completely blocked out. Twilight lit her horn to provide light, but then extinguished it as a new source overwhelmed it. She turned toward her mentor and saw that her entire body was glowing radiantly, not just her horn. Streams of white magic flowed from her body and out into the forest, not only providing illumination, but causing certain plants, particularly flowers, to glow as well.

“Whoa…”

Celestia looked slightly away from Twilight with a hint of sadness. “Mmm. The last time I did this, I stumbled across a subject who had become lost in the woods. After rescuing and teleporting her back to Canterlot, she pledged to worship me for eternity, and ran off down the street screaming my praises. It was immensely awkward chasing her down to try to explain to her how I wasn’t a god.”

“I might’ve too, after that. You look beautiful!”

“Thank you for saying so, Twilight, but we must be mindful of the consequences of believing ourselves to be more than we are. Ah, here’s the path.”

Celestia used her larger body to power through the thick brush and onto a path, shaking off the leaves that had collected on her body. The brush was a bit taller than Twilight herself, and too thick for her to just push through as her mentor had. “Hmm…” She took a couple of steps back, and raced for the brush. Just before plowing into it, she jumped and tried to give herself a boost with pegasus magic. A fleeting sense of elation came and went as she soared over it and right into the brush on the other side of the path. Groaning in frustration, she pulled herself out and to where she had intended to be in the first place.

“It’s an awful lot like being a foal again, isn’t it? So many new things to learn.”

“So much awkwardness to relive…”

Celestia gave a polite laugh. “Yes, well, it can’t be helped, I’m afraid. Come, our destination shouldn’t be terribly far. While we walk, why don’t you tell me a bit about what you’ve learned from the books. Let’s start with Star Swirl’s.”

Ah, a test! If there was something Twilight could be completely confident in, it was her ability to talk about something she’d read. Maybe saving some grace would be possible here after all. Twilight started walking with her mentor, moving at a trot to keep pace with her longer legs.

“Well, I knew he was a brilliant mage with a wide range of abilities, and the book reinforces that, but I had no idea he had made such drastic discoveries in dimensional magic. It seemed to be his real specialty; I found magic in there I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. Before finding out about the alicorn thing, I mean. But…”

“But?” Celestia glanced down at her after waiting a moment.

“He really was crazy, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, although I didn’t realize how much until it was too late. I’m curious, though, what exactly made you realize this?”

Her gait wavered a little as she prepared a response.

“It just came to me somewhere around page, well, three. He was obsessive, and I know I’m not one to talk, but he went so far and thought nothing of it. I have no idea what the rules were back then, but if I had done these same experiments today, I’d be arrested! Temporal paradoxes, high-risk spells being created in populated areas… He had a singular purpose at any given time, and nothing else mattered to him. Worse, he never explained anything! There were whole, complex spells in that book with absolutely no explanation. I can figure some of them out, like the half-dozen banishing spells to places with names like ‘The Hallows’ and ‘The Dark.’ But a lot of the others are using really antiquated magical script. It makes sense, since he practically invented it, but it still makes things vastly more difficult. So far I don’t know if some of them will light a candle or blow up Manehatten.”

Celestia nodded. “He did overuse that naming convention, didn’t he? And if it helps any, he hated explaining himself to me, too.”

“I wish he had explained himself better. Then maybe I could understand more than half of his ramblings at the end about how he’s going to get to ‘The After.’ He never said why he wanted to go there or what it was! I have a few guesses I really don’t want to believe, but they’re still just guesses because he never actually came out and said it! He just had a huge series of incomplete spell fragments scribbled all over the book. I’m… disillusioned. I knew history books glossed over some truths, but to read first-hoof about all the awful things he’s done…”

Celestia paused for a moment with a blank expression on her face before replying. “He was an important figure, Twilight, but you have to remember that a pony’s mental health and their intelligence aren’t the same thing. Had I been wiser during his life, I would have watched him more closely. With more warning, I might have been able to save him.”

Twilight shuddered. “What really, really scares me is how alike we are. We’re both single minded, we both get lost in our work, and if something goes wrong I collapse into a mess, and—”

“Twilight.”

She looked up at her mentor and melted a bit in the light of her kind expression, not to mention the light of her whole body, but still felt anxiety keeping hold of her shaking lungs.

“Trust me, my student. I knew him better than anypony else, and I know you as well. You have a good heart. I’ve long been grateful to the heavens for that. For all your nerves, they’re always about whether you’ve done well and been a good pony, and you’re always willing to admit a fault and learn from it. That’s an important lesson, and one that is difficult for many. Nopony is infallible.”

“Thanks, Princess. It gives me a bit of comfort to hear that coming from you.”

“I’m glad.” The two stopped just before entering an extremely dark area of the forest. Even Celestia’s light was getting drowned out by the oppressive darkness ahead, almost as if the shadows were able to feed on the light. “Pardon me a moment.”

Celestia dipped her head down and charged her horn, gathering golden light from the air around her. Little sparks that looked like ethereal gems danced around her horn in a helix, then flew out ahead of her, still spinning. The light dissolved areas of the shadow, but left some completely intact.

Twilight felt a wing brush down her back. “Do not worry about touching these shadows. More than one pony has become permanently lost in the forest thanks to these entities, but I have cleared our path. They cannot hurt you directly, only obscure what is within them. ”

Twilight obeyed, hopping a bit to keep up at first. Absentmindedly, she focused on the Princess while walking, and put one leg into an area of gloom. It was chilled, almost reminding her of wet mildew. More than that, the shadow wasn’t coming ‘from’ anything. There was nothing to block the light coming from Celestia. No objects to project the shadow, and no anti-candle to eat at the light. It was merely there.

She lit her horn and started to probe it with a little telekinesis, and found nothing. This is not to say that she found the space to be empty, but rather, she didn’t get any report at all from her magic.

A gentle but large hoof tapped her on the shoulder. “Come, Twilight. I shall give you a book on these creatures later if you desire.”

Her head ducked down, followed by her ears as she added the subject to her mental “to do” list. “Sorry, Princess.”

“No need to be, Twilight, I should have been more clear. Tell me, did you notice anything else about your predecessor’s magic?”

She nodded. "Yes, I did. With a few exceptions, it was all unicorn magic. Highly advanced, complicated, usually specialized, and often beyond my current practical skill level, but still. Only a few spells in there were marked as being alicorn magic, and none of them were something I could sight read no matter how much skill I had. It was abstract. Same with the other Grand Mages, too."

"That is because no pony has ever managed to create magical script that could ’record’ alicorn magic. Starswirl tried, as did Stellar. Neither succeeded. It is difficult to properly express what is needed for it when a large component of such magic is based on emotions, like the magic of earth ponies and pegasi. Often, saying ’cast this while angry’ isn’t enough."

Twilight jumped over a log that Celestia barely had to alter her gait to cross. "And that’s why Luna’s poems are better for alicorn magic, right?"

"Quite so! However, if you believe you can succeed where they failed, feel free to tackle the problem in your spare time."

Twilight stopped and sat for a second, scratching her chin.

"Twilight?"

She shook off her distraction. "Sorry, Princess. I was just considering what you said. I think it would be an amazing challenge, but I don’t think I’m ready for that yet."

The Princess laughed a bit. "I didn’t mean to imply that you were, my student! Take it on your own time. No rush."

She rubbed the back of her head, then resumed walking. "Oh. Ah heh heh. Right. Sorry."

"Quit apologizing so much, Twilight! I’m not angry. Now, tell me about Crimson Spectre. What do you think of him?" She pushed a branch out of Twilight’s way with a wing.

“He’s a brute.”

Celestia laughed, nearly losing control of the branch before Twilight could pass. “Okay, I can see that, but I was looking for more detail.”

Twilight dropped her head down and fell back slightly behind her mentor. “I admit his combat spells are beyond me right now. I might be able to cast them with a lot of undisturbed time, but there’s no way I could do it in a fight. I have no idea how anypony could focus that well in a battle.”

“It can be a great challenge. However, I’m fairly confident that isn’t the reason you used that word to describe him.”

Celestia could still read her, it seemed. “Yeah. I feel as if he might have gone too far going after Nightmare Moon. I had no idea she had so much support during the Lunar Rebellion, but he made it sound like those ponies all deserved death. He’d be a war criminal in the modern age.”

Twilight stopped walking, and sat down, unable to continue just yet. Her heart crushed inward on it’s next beat over the idea of what she was about to do. It was wrong; she shouldn’t even think of it, but this beyond-wrong idea just couldn’t be ignored. She subtly licked her lips to moisten them, and stopped again over the internal fight, delaying her words even more with a dry swallow before Celestia’s past words echoed in her mind.

~~Any question you ever have of me, I will answer. Truthfully and fully.~~

She inhaled through her nose, and exhaled just a little before finally, at long last speaking. “Why didn’t you stop him, Princess?”

Celestia had long since stopped walking, watching her for those moments and sighed before answering. “My little Twilight, in many ways you are more wise now than I was at nearly nine thousand. I suppose I could hide behind the idea of independence. My past Grand Mages were more or less free to act as they chose. Especially Crimson Spectre. But the truth is, I willingly turned a blind eye to their actions, and as such I am culpable.

“We were at war, and the Lunar Rebellions were not as quick or as simple as the history books make it sound. It was long, brutal, utterly destructive, and unimaginably bloody. We were so desperate, both sides, that we forgot about our ponies, and they paid a most horrible price for our negligence and pride. This is a mistake Luna and I shall regret for the rest of our lives, no matter how long they may be. Mountains may erode to plains, seas may boil away, and the tundras may become rainforest. As long as we live, we shall weep waterfalls of tears for our beloved ponies, and it will still never be enough.”

Twilight staggered, despite being seated. Her left knee shook, and eventually it crumbled her down to the ground, rear hoof twitching. She didn’t even notice that Celestia had gone over to her, and placed some of her primary feathers on her back.

“Not all knowledge is pleasant to know, my student, but this is the truth I promised you. Are you feeling okay?”

Twilight nodded, not saying anything, or rather, unable to say anything.

“I do not believe you, yet, so take your time.”

Twilight inhaled and exhaled, focusing on nothing but breathing for quite some time. It was the only thing preventing her from breaking down into tears. It wasn’t until and well after she felt Celestia’s hoof press against her back, keeping her laying down, that she began to calm. Her mentor had done this to her when she was a panicky filly, but she hadn’t needed it in some time. It still felt as calming as ever.

“Are you feeling better now?” Her voice had a slight bit of lightness to it this time; one Twilight knew signaled that Celestia might just believe her response.

“Yeah, I think I’m feeling better now. Wow, though.”

Celestia stood, and motioned for Twilight to do so as well. “Perhaps talking about Horizon’s book would make things easier. Shall we continue our journey?”

She exhaled once again, this time in relief. “Yeah. I like him. He’s calm and collected. I didn’t get a feel for any specialization like the other two, but he really seemed to be good at getting to the heart of matters. He was rather eloquent, as well. The fact that he stressed negotiation over fighting, and succeeded at both, is encouraging. It shows that it’s, well, possible.”

Twilight felt pressure lift off of her and a smile return to her face. Celestia was smiling, too.

“He was, without a doubt, one of the most insightful ponies I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Beautiful singing voice, too. What did you think of his magic?”

The newest Grand Mage could feel a slight headache coming on from that question. “Stunningly complex. Almost needlessly complex, like he was showing off. I’m honestly wondering what happened to him, because history doesn’t mention him much and his book just abruptly ends.”

They paused right before the crest of a hill, and Celestia closed her eyes. “I share some blame there, too. I should have been far more wary when the gryphons cried out for our help.”

“Gryphons? Ask for our help? Aren’t they rather—”

“Prideful? Stubborn? Some might say that of ponies as well, particularly alicorns. However, the situation was far more dire than I thought. A strange type of destructive magic began spreading throughout Gryphonia, and later I found out it likely would have spread to Equestria as well had it not been for Stellar’s courageous sacrifice. Although I doubt the gryphons would have been the aggressors in any war with us even then, his actions earned us vastly improved relations for centuries. He’s remembered better there than here in Equestria, in fact.”

“I see.” Twilight looked down at her hooves. If I had to, could I do that?

“I do not intend to ever put you in that position, Twilight, although I have every confidence in your bravery when it counts.”

A little shiver went up and then back down Twilight’s spine. “I appreciate your confidence, Princess, but—”

“It’s not very comforting, I know,” Celestia finished for her. “I wish I could give you more than words for assurance, but that is why Luna will help prepare you. Ah, here. I believe we are close to our destination, just over that hill.”

Twilight exhaled and resumed her march upwards with her mentor by her side. A short walk later, she recognized where they were going.

“The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters!” She had to stop herself to reflect for an instant. This was where it all began nearly sixteen years ago.

Celestia, however, didn’t stop. She just kept walking towards the palace in silence, her glowing spell fading as the moonlight broke through the trees. Twilight mused briefly on what memories must be hidden there for her to have a sullen face like that as she galloped to catch up. Many more moments passed in silence as she rushed to keep up with her mentor through the corridors of the ruins.

Each turn led them deeper, and each step raised the hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck another degree. Although the forest wasn’t present within the castle and the moonlight plentiful, the very air seemed to whisper of darkness to her mind. Something was wrong here, she just didn’t quite know what. It was exactly as it looked last time. Ruined tapestries adorns the walls, windows, stained glass and clear alike, were broken horribly, some walls had crumbled, and little of the roof remained intact. Nopony but those in the most dire of circumstances could hope to call this ‘shelter’.

Eventually, they exited what seemed to be the other side of the ruins, and Celestia stopped walking. This was far deeper than she’d gone when fighting Nightmare Moon. The stone of the ground ended a few dozen meters in front of her, just before a steep drop off which contained extremely tall, dense, and dark trees. The entire section of forest seemed to be surrounded by the ruins. It took her several moments to realize that the drop off was, in fact, a crater at least a few kilometers in diameter. A shudder went through her as she realized that the ruins weren’t just a castle, but an entire town or possibly even a whole city.

Sighing, Celestia lay down on the ground in a hurry, closing her eyes and folding her legs under her. Twilight cautiously approached and laid down next to her, looking up in slight shock to see a few small tears flowing down her mentor’s muzzle.

“Princess?”

“Forgive me, my student. There is simply… a lot of pain here.”

She nodded and lowered her head, her ears falling back. Slowly, the unnerving surroundings forced her to inch closer to the comfort provided by her teacher. The castle was foreboding when facing Nightmare Moon, but this was something else altogether. The woods in front of her seemed to pulse with dark power, sending vibrations down her horn and back. The smell of moss and fungi wafted up from the pit in front of her, and the air had a corrosive chill. The only thing she could do to block it out was to close her eyes.

A slight shiver went through her back as she felt Celestia’s long primary feathers poke through her coat, but was quickly vanquished by the warm feeling of the hug from the alabaster wing.

“What you’re seeing before us, Twilight, is the consequence of my inattention to Starswirl the Bearded. The palace and the city around it was not destroyed by Luna, nor was it Discord. Starswirl laid waste to my home some few years before we first encountered Discord.”

Her eyes shot open again. “Star… Bu-wha… How?”

“Indeed. Some few decades before Discord’s emergence, we determined that his magical growth had stopped. He would never have completed his ascension. When he learned of this, he started obsessing over ‘The After,’ which was his term for the afterlife. He was convinced that there was a way to arrive at an afterlife without having to suffer the pain of death. This is the result of the spell he used in his attempt.

“The spell did indeed create a portal, though where it really led is anypony’s guess. All I knew was that it was expanding rapidly, consuming more of the castle every second. I tried to close it, and when that failed I tried to put a shield over it. The shield was simply stretched, or pushed outward by the portal like a balloon being pumped full of air. I panicked, so I did the next thing that came to mind: I tried to teleport the entire thing into orbit.”

A stuttering sigh left her lips as she visibly fought back tears. “I didn’t think any of it through, but that didn’t matter, as what happened next I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. Somehow, the spells reacted, and destroyed each other violently. The blast was enormous, but would have been much larger were it not for the shield I cast. Regardless, the damage was done. My home was destroyed, countless ponies lost their lives from the spell’s detonation or were consumed by the portal, and the magical contamination twisted the once-peaceful forest into the corrupt Everfree.”

Twilight whimpered quietly. This was almost too much to take in. The fact that he could cause such widespread destruction meant she could do it too, if she wasn’t careful.

“I brought Crimson and Stellar here, to this very spot, at the start of their terms as Grand Mages. I wanted to show them the dire result of an alicorn ascendent gone mad. Now, you are here, too, yet under much different circumstances.”

“Hmm?”

Celestia had regained much of her poise, and turned again to look at her. Twilight looked deep into her eyes, and saw that the sadness was still there, in spite of the clear attempts to hide the sorrow.

“I am quite confident that you will be able to weather such trials thanks to your wonderful friends. As such, this place serves a different purpose. It is to show you that I, too, make mistakes.”

Twilight blinked. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“Compared to the other Grand Mages, you and I share a very different relationship. I did not help raise them; only you received that attention. However, going forward, the nature of our bond must change. Awful though it sounds, and though it does not diminish the fondness and love I later grew for you, from the moment I met you, I carefully crafted our interactions so you would grow attached to me. So that you would trust me.”

“Was there a reason I shouldn’t have?”

Celestia started back, pain-stricken, but clearly not at Twilight’s words specifically. “No, not really. I just couldn’t afford to fail at that, and I was cynical about it at first, so I was extra careful. I’m a politician, Twilight. By necessity or not, my initial approach towards you is a source of shame for me.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to make wanting to be my friend sound sinister.” She shrugged.

“I… suppose I am. But it’s something I had to confess. I’m grateful to the heavens that we have grown truly close over the years. Nothing about that has been a lie. Yet, as I said, the nature of our relationship must change once again. I can’t help you become my equal by keeping you so far beneath me.”

“I’ve never felt it was like that. I always felt like…” She turned and looked at the wing over her back. “Like I was just under your wing. Sure, I was in your shadow, but you’re the princess. I’m just the faithful student.”

“And that’s exactly what must change.”

Her heart twisted and raced at the comment. “I can’t be your student anymore?”

“You cannot be ‘just’ my student anymore. I do not wish to grow distant from you, Twilight, please do not misunderstand. And I certainly do not wish to stop teaching you, nor shall I ever. I will always be your teacher when you need me to be. Yet, for your sake, Equestria’s, and my own, you must eventually become far more than that: a fully ascended alicorn princess. A pony not in my shadow, but at my side.” The Princess closed her eyes and clenched her teeth for a moment.

“Princess!?” Twilight choked. “But I thought I would just be a Grand Mage!?”

A stern look on Celestia’s face emerged, yet Twilight did not feel it was for her. “If I was being truly fair to you, I would have crowned you as a princess a decade ago. For all you’ve done for everypony, you deserve to be rewarded thus. Yet, I could not bring myself to tear you so easily away from your adoptive home in Ponyville.”

“Princess—” A tug from the wing over her stopped her short.

“It’s the truth, Twilight. However, if you’re still apprehensive about taking on the full weight of royalty, I understand. I truly do. Your current position is yours for as long as you want it. Centuries, even millennia if you truly wish. Whenever you’re ready, though, your crown has already been made.” Celestia leaned in close. “I had it forged the day you got your cutie mark.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “All this time, you’ve known?”

“I prepared!” Celestia smiled, sitting up straight again. “I’ve gotten kind of good at that over the years. Honestly I would have done it even sooner had I not been angry at the Director of the Royal Forge at the time. So I waited for him to retire. That’s one of the perks of agelessness. Still, it could have been earlier. Shortly after a certain small lavender unicorn was born, a young pink princess brought my attention to a talented colt in a middle class Canterlot family. A family I had my eye on from then on out.”

Twilight froze, uncertain of what to say.

Celestia leaned back in. “I told you, Twilight. No more secrets.”

“P-Princess…” Words still wouldn’t come.

Celestia sighed. “But that’s another thing, too. I didn’t do this with the others, but your situation is unique. I need you to stop calling me ‘Princess’ in public.”

“What?” Twilight shot up in reaction, only to lay down again from the weight and resistance of her mentor’s massive wing. “I-I can’t do that! It’s extremely disrespectful! Not to mention that the nobility—”

“Needs a demonstration of your authority with the crown,” Celestia interrupted. “Nopony has been grand mage in several lifetimes, Twilight. Your authority will be challenged by them. They might even try to subvert it. We cannot allow this. If they see you speaking to me as an equal, and then see me speak to you as the same, your own power and presence will be bolstered. What’s more, I—” Celestia stopped speaking, slowly closed her eyes, and began breathing more heavily.

“Pri—, I mean, your ma—…” Twilight looked around nervously as she struggled to find a way to address her.

“‘Tia.’ Call me ‘Tia.’ ‘Celly’ would work just as well, really, but I’ve always preferred ‘Tia.’”

“Ti—” She choked on the name, literally. Her lungs seized up to stop the second syllable. I can’t do it! she desperately thought to herself, growing more nervous as Celestia’s face turned away from her in pain.

What do I do? The very idea of calling her that is revolting. Sure, I could do that for Luna, but that’s because— Twilight Sparkle’s eyes went wide. Because she’s been holding back almost all of her power to appear as Luna! The instinct isn’t as strong with her! On top of that, Luna said that Celestia is far more powerful than even Nightmare Moon at her greatest, and if that’s the case…

She ended her internal monologue and set about trying her idea. Very carefully, she summoned forth some magic into her horn, and directed it back into her body instead of out into a spell. Normally, this would simply be a way to waste perfectly good magic, but here it might just help, even without a direct spell being cast. If an alicorn with greater power has a greater local influence on other ponies’ minds, then buffering my body and mind with more magic might dampen the effect.

She filled her lungs and paced her breathing out to be deep and relaxed, letting the warm, clear magic from her horn push against the panic of being close to the Princess. Tia… Tia… Tia… Her imagination replayed just the scene of her speaking the one word, becoming more comfortable with each try. Panic fled her body like sweat from her pores, and after several attempts to continue the conversation in her mind, she opened her eyes and stood up, partially uncovering herself from the wing.

“Tia,” she spoke, fluidly.

The diarch turned back to her with a hopeful visage.

“I’m going to do my best to be what you—” She stopped herself for just a moment, but not in hesitation. Rather, it was from realization. Celestia was not speaking as a mere mentor or friend this time. They were from Celestia as the Princess. “What Equestria needs me to be.”

She only had time to show her a second of a confident smile before getting dragged into a ribcage-crushing alicorn hug. It felt good, but Twilight couldn’t help noticing Celestia’s distant gaze towards the crater.

“Thank you, Twilight. I must admit, that must have been as difficult for you as it was me.”

She coughed a bit before responding. “How come?” Her voice cracked.

Celestia nodded. “As I said, I’m a politician. I practice living, acting, and even existing within an untouchable and unreachable pedestal. I have to be the image of Equestria itself. I’ve done it so much it has blended into who I am. I’ve only ever been able to confide in and be my ‘true’ self with a scarce few ponies, and you were not among them. You couldn’t be. I needed to be a brighter beacon to you than to any other.”

“Is that what you meant before by a changing relationship?”

“Yes. I need to drop the mask with you, but it’s going to be every bit as hard for me to do that as it is for you to use my name casually. Maybe even harder. I have to stop being the deity you see me to be, and for that I’m terribly, terribly sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? I don’t mind, really. I’d be honored to be one of the ponies you confide in.”

Celestia turned away again. “Because you will be ashamed of me.”

“Tia…” This time she said it without effort or build-up. It merely came. “I already know you’ve had to sacrifice for us. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve had to go through. But a long time ago I learned that we don’t have to go through it alone. I think it was one of my first friendship reports, remember?”

“Yes, I know…” She winced slowly. “But it’s not something I can just… This is unlike anything else you’ve experienced. I can’t honestly expect you to carry— “

“The burden of the alicorn, right? You carried it by yourself for a thousand years. Let me help!”

Celestia shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

Twilight summoned more energy into her horn and through her body to try to continue the effect, then jumped over to Celestia’s other side. I sure hope I know what I’m doing. She gently lifted her hoof up to the bottom of her chin to get her to pay attention as Celestia had done to her so many times.

“You told me that you would reveal anything you knew, any secrets you’ve kept from me. Things you couldn’t tell me before. ‘On my crown, this I promise you,’ you said. Tia, I’m asking now. Please, tell me anything you need somepony, anypony to hear.”

Celestia opened her eyes and looked at her. Twilight had never felt such pain from another pony. It was as if she could feel her mentor’s heart being ripped out and put on display. Twilight nearly felt physically ill from it, and Celestia certainly looked it, from the waterfall of tears streaming down her face.

Celestia closed her eyes again, and began to cry, lifting her head up towards the velvet night sky, then lowering it down to the ground, muffling sobs.

Okay, Twilight, here’s the situation. Your mentor is on the ground, sobbing, and you have no idea why or what to do or say. So, what do we do? I have no idea, I just told myself that! Okay, stay calm, filly, there must be a logical solution here. The ground, yes, look at the ground! It’s all… gray cobblestone and such. Extremely interesting. I wonder why there isn’t any grass growing in between the oh what am I doing?

She only had just enough time to flinch at herself before getting dragged into another crushing alicorn hug. Celestia pulled her in tight, nearly smothering her in her soft, ivory coat.

Getting crushed in a hug by somepony with more earth pony magic than an Apple Family reunion. Definitely the logical course of action, she thought, twisting her body to try to find a position that she could breathe in. Settling on a spot, she waited while the tears flowed. Eventually, she started to cry too, although her anxiety prevented it from sounding as genuine as she’d like.

She wasn’t entirely certain how long this lasted, but it was long enough to lose focus on most of the conversation they had before, and simply exist in the raw emotion of it all, even through the alicorn’s loosening grip. Sleep was threatening to take her when Celestia broke the silence.

“I’m so, so sorry about this, Twilight. I never intended for you to see me so weak. Some part of me is glad you said those words, though I know you have no idea what they mean to me.”

Twilight swallowed a little. “I meant every word.”

“I know you did, but that is not what I meant. Just then, you sounded like him. Whenever he knew somepony was suffering, my son would say something just like that.”

Twilight’s brain skipped a gear. “Son!? But alicorns can’t—”

“No, we can’t. But unicorns can. I led a long life before my ascension, Twilight. It wasn’t like yours. I was an old mare; ancient even. Awaiting the grip of the reaper every day, so that I might be able to see my fallen husband and child once more.” Celestia took a pained, stuttering breath in, fighting more tears. “Then,” she swallowed. “The color began to return to my mane. In a year’s time, Luna and I were back in our prime, and chased out of our village for using banned magics.”

“You had a husband too…”

“A big goofball, and so kind. A masterful musician and a hopeless flirt to his last days. I miss them both so much. I don’t even know where their graves are anymore! And now I’m asking you to—”

“No!”

“Twilight, I—”

Twilight squirmed, interrupting her, and pushed out of the grip with a small kick to the ground. Stumbling, she hopped up and turned back to Celestia.

“You aren’t asking me to do anything. If ascension is as ‘eventful’ as you made it sound, then this isn’t your fault. I don’t think it’s my fault either. I don’t believe in fate or destiny, but I’m willing to accept that if I don’t get involved, and soon, I’ll regret it. My ponies need me. They…”

Twilight stopped, her mind catching up with what she was saying. “I… I…”

Celestia moved back next to her student. “Lulu is right. You are advancing faster than I thought. In a way, that’s comforting. But it also means we need to get you trained as much as we can, and soon. It won’t be quiet for long, and I can’t protect you personally anymore.”

Twilight swallowed roughly, thinking back a few days. “Yeah, the flames. Does it happen every time you fight?”

She paused for a moment. “There was a time when I thought I had a means to be able to do something despite the flames. Then, the one time I tried it, the one time I needed it, I had to hold back too much and a changeling queen scored a direct hit on my horn. You’ll have to watch that; we share the same weakness as unicorns. For all our power, a direct hit there can still render us helpless.” Twilight cringed a little as Celestia’s face registered two very different types of disgust at the same time. “And then we find ourselves in a cocoon.”

“I never realized how important that day was. I never thought I could underestimate its importance.”

“It could be argued that I suffered one of my greatest failures on that day, looking back. I’m also ashamed to say that it was the second most disgusting experience in my long life.”

Twilight blinked for a second. “Second most? Then what was—” She halted her speech when a sudden shudder came from her mentor. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“That day proved that I wasn’t able to fight. My little spell was far too weak. Worse, do you remember that rage you felt confronting Towers?”

Twilight nodded. “I don’t think I could ever forget. That was awful.”

“It’s worse for me.”

Twilight swung her head to look at her more closely.

“It’s hard for me to gauge personally, but both Luna and Lord Glacien, my old friend from the pre-Discord era, have both told me about their experience with it. Luna may lay claim to the title ‘alicorn of passion,’ but even she thinks that nopony feels that instinct more than I do,” she sighed. “Remember when I said I have become too much like the sun I represent? Alicorns can influence the environment, sometimes greatly, with their emotions. When I feel the instinct to protect my ponies, to destroy anything that may harm them, it fuels the fire. It takes every iota of my not inconsiderable will to quell the feeling. If I slip up, even for an instant, or worse, actually engage in fighting…”

“You summon the flames,” Twilight concluded. “How bad does it get?”

Celestia paused for a long time. "Canterlot in ashes."

Twilight swallowed, hard. “But what about my flames? When I was hurt by Towers, I—”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“You wouldn’t?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, Twilight, as strange as it is to say, that’s normal for a young alicorn. Your magic is relatively unstable and unbalanced right now, and may remain so for a while. Once you ascend, you will find that you have your own way of affecting the environment.”

“Really? How?”

“I can’t say yet, Twilight,” she said with a small laugh. “There are many abilities that alicorns get that are unique to the individual. That’s one of them. It’s like asking what your cutie mark will be. I highly doubt you will have flames like mine.”

Twilight exhaled hard, flopping down to the ground. “That’s a relief.”

“Indeed. Two defenseless alicorns would be a true disaster.”

“What!?” Twilight stood back up. “Princess! Don’t say that!”

“I know, Twilight. I’m just venting a little. It’s frustrating, having power and being unable to use it for my ponies. Now I understand a bit how Luna must feel.” Celestia sighed. “After the changeling attack, I tried to pretend everything was alright. That things weren’t falling apart around my fetlocks. Looking back, I feel ashamed at my willful ignorance.”

“But that wasn’t your fault, it—”

“The attack was not my fault. That is solely on Chrysalis. My denial of reality, however, falls squarely on my shoulders, and it was a poor example for a leader to set. Fortunately, your brother reacted in a more mature and productive manner. He led where I failed.”

“What did Shiny do?”

“He started undergoing special training to steel his mind against further attacks, along with key members of his staff. He’s progressed quite a bit with it, actually, and he’s still working on it. It’s not perfect, but he now has means to give himself considerable resistance to brainwashing and mind-altering magic. Luna can still break through into his dreams, though.”

“That sounds like Shiny. Whenever anypony found a weakness in him, he didn’t stop until he removed it.” Twilight looked up at the stars, trying to think back to her foalhood. “He was always there for me, you know? Before I became your student, my parents were always so busy, I didn’t see them much.”

“I seem to recall that you didn’t see them much even after I accepted you as my protégé. I had to encourage you to visit them.”

Her cheeks started to burn. “True. I didn’t want to say anything bad about them to you, but a lot of the time I didn’t because they weren’t there to be visited. Shiny was, though, and he came to see me.”

“I remember. It’s rare for a colt to take such an interest in his little sister’s well being. It speaks to his character, which is why I chose him to be my next Captain of the Royal Guard, in spite of the Council’s protests over selecting a non-noble.”

She scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile and a slight chuckle. “He really did take care of me. I think I was raised more by him than by mom, to tell the truth. Even when I moved to Ponyville, it turns out he was still looking out for me, creating a whole team to protect me. I feel like such a burden. He’s got a hard enough job as it is, and I know Cadence wants to have foals on top of it.”

Her words forced a connection in her mind, and Twilight realized a certain incontrovertible fact that was simply heretofore inconceivable to her. It was a simple truth that froze her body up completely; a revelation that knocked her over on her side while the rest of her body went utterly rigid and left a particular pony princess pretty perplexed.

“Twilight, are you okay?” she asked.

The notion in her brain was rattling around and hitting every emotional center she had like a pinball and the machine was registering a tilt. Desperate, she searched for some kind of clause that would allow for an escape, but her efforts were futile. It was true, and for some reason it shook her to the core. If Princess Celestia had, at one point, a husband and a son, there was no getting around it and her mouth belted it out without heeding any kind of societal safety checks, not even the ones only in place while around the diarch.

“You’ve had sex!?” Her mouth wouldn’t close after finishing the question, it just hung there as a perfectly still contrast to her twitching eyes. Another moment passed between them, with awkwardness that would have been legendary if anypony else had been there to see it. Twilight’s insides twisted in on themselves and her muscles would have refused to acknowledge any and all input if she could bring herself to give them any. The moment abruptly ended with Celestia laughing harder than she’d ever seen her laugh before.

“What? I mean, you’ve… how could… I mean, I know I shouldn’t have assumed, but…”

A hoof on the shoulder silenced only a part of her worries, since Celestia was still laughing.

“I’m sorry, Princess.”

A few more seconds passed before Celestia could regain control of her lungs to speak. “It’s quite alright, Twilight. It honestly never occurred to me that you might have raised me to the level of a…” The Princess’ words paused as she fought back more laughs. “A vestal virgin!”

Twilight groaned and buried her face in Celestia’s side. Just how many more times am I going to embarrass myself?

“Hehe, oh Twilight. It’s fine! Truly, it’s fine. I needed that laugh. And yes, I’m a mare. I’ve done all kinds of things normal for a pony, including marriage and sex.” Celestia gave a calming exhale. “Ah, thank you, Twilight. This wasn’t near as bad as I thought it would be. I’m so, so sorry for not dropping this blasted mask earlier. I hope we can share more moments like this. As friends, not master and student.”

Twilight took a step back and bowed. “Of course, Princess. Er, Tia. It would be an honor.”

The words were automatic, but still rang true to her feelings. It relieved Twilight deeply to see a genuine, even motherly smile from the Princess. However, her relief was short lived. Slowly, Celestia’s face changed, first to a smirk and then a mischievous grin, which started to grow as well. Twilight twisted her hoof inwards a little as she realized what was coming. She was about to be teased.

“Well, now that we’ve settled that, have you had any romantic flings?”

“No, of course not!”

Even if she knew it was teasing, this was thoroughly embarrassing. The surface of the sun had nothing on the burning in her cheeks.

“‘Of course not’? Why, my dear, you are a beautiful mare. Surely you’ve had at least one roll in the hay.”

“I’m not hearing this, not from the Princess, nope, not actually happening!”

“Oh, and I’m still a mare, Twilight. Why, just a few weeks ago I had both Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis up in my chambers for—”

Twilight ducked and put her hooves over her ears. “No! Not possible! Not going to entertain the possibility! Bad thoughts will not reside in my head!”

The Princess clearly didn’t have any mercy today, because she tore Twilight’s hooves from her ears with a strong telekinetic grasp that Twilight couldn’t seem to break, though it should’ve been trivial for her to do so. “Bad thoughts? Why, Twilight, there’s nothing wrong with, shall we say, intimacy. I bet you’ll get asked out more than a few times in your future journeys. Some stallions are attracted to power, after all. Why, I’m surprised your treehouse door hasn’t been banged down by suitors already! Or perhaps it’s because you’re into mares?”

“What? No! At least, I don’t think so, I mean—”

“It’s alright, Twilight, I’ve had a few in my—”

Twilight finally managed to disrupt Celestia’s grip with her own and recovered her ears. “NO! I mean, grah, why is this so much more difficult to explain to you than to Rarity!?” Answered your own question there, filly. “And if you have done all this, why isn’t it in the news or something?! It’s kind of a big deal!”

“Well, my relations need to be discreet, but that’s because of my political position. You aren’t a princess, not yet anyway, so if you find somepony special, you should pursue it! Of course, if you just need a fling, let me know. I know a number of skilled stallions, especially Fancy Pants, that can be quite—”

Twilight put her hooves over her ears again. “No, no, bad thoughts!”

Celestia broke out into another wave of roaring laughter. “Oh, Twilight, you’re too easy to tease! Okay, I promise, no more for a while.”

Twilight flopped over on the ground and breathed in relief. “Ugh.”

“You’ll have to get used to some prodding from us eventually, Twilight. Luna is quite fond of such teasing and pranks, though I dare say it may be awhile before she tries any on you.”

Twilight rolled over on her back and exhaled. “Huh. She did say the next time it was just us, I should call you ‘Tia’ so she could see your reaction. Heh. Guess I kind of blew that one.”

Celestia blinked too, and then smiled. “Oh did she now? Well, I’m afraid I beat her to the punch, as it were. I hope she’s not losing her touch, that truly wouldn’t have bothered me at all. Surprised, maybe, but not bothered. Although the other day she did replace my shampoo with mayonnaise. So I suppose I shouldn’t worry too much.”

Twilight giggled. Yeah, they really are sisters.

“I think we’ve been here long enough now, Twilight. We should start heading back.”

Twilight nodded, getting back up on her hooves. She trotted slowly, taking in the history of the ancient palace and observing the details that had managed to survive the destruction and weathering of time. Some of the walls had ancient script inscribed on them with arrows giving directions, though the letters were too worn or moss-covered to read easily. At a point midway through the castle, she stopped when her hoof fell on an odd spot on the ground. It felt as if there was something sticky and heavy there, but it was visibly smooth stone and didn’t impede her hoof at all as she hovered it over the area.

“Something is wrong here,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Celestia, I… I can’t quite explain it. But here, this exact spot, it’s not right. Somehow. Like the stone is made out of dread… or sorrow.”

“Ah, so you can sense it already!”

“Sense what?”

Celestia put her larger hoof on the wall next to her student’s. “Alicorns gain extra senses during our ascension. One of them is the ability to tell where our ponies have been killed. Normally, we can only sense recent deaths, but the more violent and unfair the loss, and the larger the number, the longer the feeling in a spot may linger.”

Twilight shuddered. Somepony had died, right at that spot. “If I can sense that, then what about in Canterlot? Will I start to sense the attack there?”

“For a little while, at least. Areas with exceptionally high hoof traffic like the castle will see the effect fade much more quickly. It shouldn’t be as intense as here, since this place has been abandoned for millennia, save for a brief time when Luna used it as a covert base in the Lunar Rebellion. I also think it possible that the corruption of the forest may be preserving these tainted areas.”

Celestia motioned for them to keep moving. “Tell me, Twilight, have you had any other extrasensory experiences yet? There’s one more that would be useful for you to have.”

“Yes, actually,” she said, following. “When you transformed me I could see magic with my eyes closed. Not just a little glow, I could see how the spell was put together, even if I can’t remember the details. I also saw it when fighting Towers. Is that something?”

Celestia exhaled in relief, and her wings went limp just a little. “Thank the heavens. None of the other Grand Mages developed our magic sight in their service. I don’t know how to force it out, but keep trying to control it if you can. It would be a huge, huge benefit to you if you can master this.”

“I don’t even know how I did it. It just sort of happened. One of the times my eyes were closed. Does it just happen randomly?”

“No, we can control it and use it with our eyes open. Like now, for instance.”

Twilight’s hair started standing up on end. She could feel her mentor use the ability on her body. It was like a ghost was going through her, or perhaps more like all of Ponyville watching her do something humiliating. She curled up and shivered a bit.

“Wow, that feels creepy!”

The Princess’s eyes went wide. “You can feel it?”

Twilight shuddered again, gripping one foreleg with the other. “Yeah, can’t you? It’s like I’m exposed somehow.”

Just as quickly as the feeling came, it vanished again.

“That is… different,” Celestia said. “I’ve never known anypony who could feel it. Neither Luna nor I can tell when we use it on each other. I’m really not sure what to make of this yet. When did you notice it?”

“When you looked at me on the cloud is when I really felt it first, but looking back, I can see how I might’ve felt it a tiny bit even before that.”

“Hmmm. This could be better than I’d hoped! Each alicorn develops abilities unique to them, and one of yours might be an extremely fine sense of magic. It would make sense for the Element of Magic, I think, and could prove to be unimaginably useful.”

“Hmm… Yeah, if I could determine its accuracy, I might be able to adapt it for experimental use! Although if its accuracy varies depending on my condition and ascendency completion I’d have to find a way to calibrate it.”

Celestia began a laugh. “I meant in your duty as Grand Mage, but yes, I can see that too.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly, and quieted herself as they moved through the castle. Celestia spoke up again when they exited.

“There, I think we’re far enough now. Teleporting out is quite a bit easier than trying to get in. The last time I came here, the Elements’ activation made it easier to teleport directly to the castle. The twisted magic of the Everfree has had ample time to overtake the castle once again. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Princess,” she replied.

The diarch raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, Tia.”

“That’s more like it, although I won’t blame you if we need to work on it over time. I can see how it would be a big adjustment for you. Now then, are you ready?”

Twilight nodded.

A small, royal smile and a burst of magic later, they left the spooky confines of the forest and arrived back in the Canterlot castle gardens. Or rather, what looked like the gardens, only upside down.

“Oof!” A bit of wind knocked out of Twilight from landing on her head and back. The headache was already there from the teleportation.

“Looks like there was still some interference. Are you hurt, Twilight?”

“Ugh,” she said, turning over on her belly. Her stomach didn’t seem to want to follow suit. “I think I’ll be okay.”

“This is a rather undignified position for me, wouldn’t you say?” the Princess said, smiling whilst on her back and legs in the air.

“Hehe. Well, it’s no worse than what Rainbow would be stuck in after a new trick.”

A loud crash sounded behind Twilight, who turned to see a young, peach-colored earth pony mare and a broken clay pot on a nearby stone path.

The newcomer quickly turned around. “I’m so sorry, Princess! I didn’t mean to be spying!”

“You weren’t. I never thought this to be private. Me being upside down is hardly a significant scandal compared to recent events,” she said, righting herself and shaking grass out of her wings.

Twilight got up to her hooves, against her stomach’s protests, and went over towards the earth pony. “Yeah, I suppose when you look at it that way, this is nothing. Doesn’t make the other stuff any more pleasant, though.” Her trot forward came to a premature halt and she felt the ground under her hooves. “Princess, this ground…”

“Yes, it appears this was a place where we lost some ponies.”

Twilight’s heart began to race as she felt around on the ground. “There’s more here.”

“There… there was a major fight here during the coup attempt. I saw it. I hid over there, back behind the bushes,” the peach mare said, pointing. “I had only just started a week ago, and I’m still part-time. I got changed to night work when Hayseed was…”

Although Twilight could hear her mentor moving, she paid no heed to it as she walked around, feeling the stone path on the ground. Something changed as she dragged her hoof along the ground, but she wasn’t quite sure what. The same dark feelings she felt at the castle persisted, but over a certain area, it was weaker. Slowly, she moved her hooves over the grass, feeling it, and then over the stone path.

“There’s a drop in the intensity, I— Ow!” She squinted at the pain on her head above her horn, and her vision was once again overtaken by her other sight. Soft clouds of sparkling magic and blazing hues arcing through the air revealed some intricacies of the magic all around her. The grass itself even had a faint, blurry glow to it. Underneath her, some parts of the stone path was steeped in darkness akin to bubbling molasses despite the bright castle lights. Cutting across the dark area was a path where it was weaker; more morose than sorrowful. “I can see it now! Ha! This is incredible!”

Whatever eerie feeling the black marks on the ground had been giving her was utterly overtaken by her raw curiosity. She couldn’t help but smile as she ran through the possibilities in her head again. The thrill of discovery was completely overtaking the eerie feeling she got from the magic embedded in the stone, and she had a smile nearly as big as the one she held after raising the moon. Her eyes followed the lighter path in the darkness on the ground, and eventually she found herself looking back up at the two other ponies. Celestia was there, bright as ever. Her form was engulfed in power glowing bright enough to make her appear as a pony-shaped star. Moreover, vast undercurrents of power were flowing out of her like coronal mass ejections, spreading out into the environment and back into her in a cycle similar to that of a magnetic field. This wasn’t like the magic of a telekinetic field. It was going through things without any direct observable effects outside of this vision.

~~Alicorns can influence the environment, sometimes greatly, with their emotions. When I feel the instinct to protect my ponies, to destroy anything that may harm them, it fuels the fire.~~

I didn’t see this the last time I used this vision on her. Did I miss it? Was she suppressing it? Or was I unable to see it? And what’s that?

An extremely faint pony form with a tiny star-like point of light in the center was next to the Princess. Although infinitesimal compared to the diarch, it was still brighter than she expected.

Hmmm… Which direction did she come from again? She looked around at where the earth pony was, and thought of her likely paths. No matter which she chose, it was the same. The dark blotches on the ground were lightest where the gardener had been working. More importantly, those closest to Celestia were fading away right before her very eyes.

With a blink, her vision turned back to normal, and a possibility entered into her mind when she saw the earth pony mare where the star had been.

Twilight cleared her throat and addressed the earth pony. “What did you say your name was?”

"Um, Peach Blossom, miss."

“You said you were part-time?”

“Yes, miss.”

“Hmmm…” Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought. Technically, what she was doing wasn’t outside her authority, but it she still felt a little odd about it. “Congratulations, you’re full-time now. I want you to talk to security right away, find out where the battles in the gardens were, and start tending those areas first. Can you do that for me?”

Celestia might’ve been a sun in magic sense, but the young mare’s new smile was almost as bright, even when bowing. “Yes! Oh, thank you so much! I can quit working at that hotel now, and stop living in that awful— just, thank you!”

The Princess laughed a bit, and bent down to her. “Incidentally, everything our Grand Mage just said other than the promotion is classified. I’d advise getting to work.”

Peach Blossom jolted up and started running. “Yes! Of course! Right away! Thank yooooouuu!”

Twilight smiled a bit, and started walking back to the castle with Celestia beside her under the night sky.

“She is quite a powerful earth pony, isn’t she?” her teacher asked.

“Yeah. I think her power might help break down whatever’s giving us these feelings from the battle.”

“You’re right! Earth pony magic erodes it much faster than if it was left on its own. It is fitting that their magic, the magic of life, washes away the stain of death. Sharp as ever, my student!”

Twilight laughed a bit and smiled, looking down a bit while the magic sight dropped out. “Happy as I am about that, I’m happier we can remove the battle scars a bit faster.”

Celestia’s smile was replaced with a small frown. “The scars? Yes.” A lone tear fell down her right cheek as she exhaled and spoke softly.

“But the ghosts will linger forever.”

Author's Note

Wow, took a while huh? At least it wasn't as bad as last time.

I added a status box to my user page so you can see how much I have written. I'll update it whenever I make significant progress. Also, when bigger stuff happens I often blog about it. I post IRC chat invites in the blog from time to time, too.

Anyway, this was an INCREDIBLY difficult chapter to write and went through multiple complete re-writes and monstrously huge changes. It's been in development for over a year, so I hope you all thought it was worth the wait!

As always, minor edits may happen in the future for mistakes I've missed. Also, with this many re-writes, I may need to make more significant edits if I find conflicts with the rest of the block. I already checked twice and found nada, but knowing me I'm missing something. :P With luck, though, that won't happen. (Then again, knowing MY luck…)

Thanks again everyone! You guys are awesome!

-Cv

Update Sept 4th: updated formatting.

Tours and Tests

“Not that way, Twilight. This way. I want to show you something.”

Twilight stopped mid-step and turned left to follow Luna, still shaking off the daze the portal to the war room seemed to leave her with recently. “Okay, but, what? After the war room, I’ve seen basically all of the castle.”

Luna smiled. “You didn’t know we’ve been quietly adding on over the past few months, did you?”

“Really?”

“Indeed! The recent attack did enough damage, however, that we have decided to expand more seriously. Up until now, these recent additions have been small and easily missed. Also, easier to pass in the budget.”

“Ah, so that’s what those construction ponies by Celestia’s chambers were doing!”

Luna hopped a little around a corner. “Indeed! Tia wants to do something with that wall. I’m glad the construction ponies are already there. It means things are, for once, on schedule.”

Twilight allowed herself a little chuckle as they rounded a corner. Further off to her left was indeed a new doorway with sunlight pouring through its glass center. They ducked in, and she saw it was a hallway that, instead of walls, had floor-to-ceiling windows. The “outside” of the hall had a very splendid view of the gardens, though there was still a crater that had yet to be filled in. The “inside” of the hall, to her right, had a small courtyard with some fancy plants and flowers. Ahead of her, the hall made a turn to the right to close the courtyard in.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Luna said, approaching the turn of the hall, her pace slowing before coming to a stop at a corner. “This was actually one of the earlier additions, before the battle. Not only is it a shortcut to the administration offices, it gives a much nicer view.”

“It is nice,” Twilight said, wincing a little. Something’s off here. It does look nice, so why does Luna sound so nervous?

Long seconds passed while Luna’s grin slowly faded, never turning away from the garden view. After it had been gone some time, the Princess finally turned back to Twilight.

“I’m afraid I have some troublesome news, Twilight. I didn’t want to tell you this right after you raised the moon. You just looked so happy. And, well, to be fair you were also catatonic. But I didn’t let you borrow my moon simply for enjoyment. It was an evaluation.”

Twilight’s body froze, and her heart stopped for exactly two seconds, then raced northward of a hundred thirty beats per minute. In all of her life, she had never failed a test. Not once did she ever get a paper returned to her with an “F” on it, nor anything less than an “A-”, and that black mark on her record was an accident that left her traumatized for a month. Even on things that weren’t on paper, she’d never, ever, come back with anything less than flying colors.

Technically, the Princess didn’t say the t-word, nor the f-word, but “evaluation” and “troublesome news” were clear enough.

Luna sunk her head down a little. “Tia warned me about using the word ‘test.’ I guess I didn’t change it enough.”

One hundred forty beats per minute.

Two silver-clad hooves gripped her shoulders, and the hairs on the back of her neck shot up straight. Luna was using her magic sight.

“Twilight, listen to me. Our alicorn senses provide us with tremendous insight into the magic of our world. I can tell that you now have the magic of all three tribes within you, and that all of them are growing. When you first arrived here at the castle, it was so faint I was worried I was imagining it. Now, it’s clear your wellspring is birthing unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic. Your body’s leylines are growing, too. They are brightest for the ones carrying unicorn magic to your horn, but I can see that there are new leylines now. They are carrying your new earth pony and pegasus magic to your skin, hooves, and spine. I can see the very core of your wellspring shining far brighter than that of other ponies, even far beyond that of your friend Rainbow Dash, and of your brother. Yet there are many things these senses cannot do.”

Luna shut off the sight and the hairs on the back of her neck collapsed right in sync with the rest of her, slumping down to the ground. The Princess laid down next to her to look her in the eye.

“The sight cannot tell me how much control you have over your magic. It cannot tell me how well you can understand my poems. And, it cannot tell me how fast you can draw from your wellspring at once. These things I had to see for myself, so I gave you the greatest challenge I could without endangering you: I had you raise the moon.”

The smaller mare swallowed. “Is… is that what you were—” She swallowed again. “Testing me on?”

Luna nodded. “Indeed. I must admit, in the first two fields, control and interpretation, you exceeded all my expectations.”

“But…” she squeaked.

“However,” she replied, softening her voice. “I have drastically overestimated the rate at which you are able to pull magic from your wellspring. I honestly did not expect you to take so long to fill that magic circle. I was guessing thirty seconds, at most. Instead, it was over three and a half minutes. This is my fault, not yours. I used your brother, a soldier, as a baseline.”

“Oh.” Her voice was soft, but her heart was pounding. “I’ve hardly ever let myself use my wellspring like that. When I was a filly, I had an… I had an accident, and temporarily turned my parents into plants. So I always held back. I practiced limiting myself. Tried to get things done with the smallest amount of magic possible. I…” She trailed off for a moment, sniffling and rubbing her stiff, aching neck. “How bad? How behind am I?”

“The truth?” Luna asked.

Twilight tried to nod, but failed from her neck being just that seized up. “The truth,” she whispered.

Luna sighed, her wings drooping a little. “Thou art a fire hose. Respectable in any reasonable sense. Thy brother, on the other hoof, is a hydroelectric dam outflow during a flood.”

Twilight laid her head down on her forelegs, her strength waning.

“Again, this is not your fault, Twilight. I should have realized that a scientist and, in Celly’s words, ‘a ravenous bookworm,’ would be used to taking her time with smaller quantities of magic. Control over power. I forgot that even though you two are as close as any siblings I’ve ever met, your worlds are totally different.”

Twilight tried to stand again, but just slid back down. “So… you can’t teach me?” she asked, fighting back her tears.

Luna sat up and lifted Twilight head with her silver-clad hooves. “Twilight, on my crown, I promise you: I will teach you. You are going to learn more in these three months than you had ever thought possible. The only thing this changes is what I’m going to teach you.”

Luna’s words helped, but only just. Twilight locked her gaze on the Princess’s kind eyes. Only when she saw no hint of anger or disappointment did she managed to calm her shaking.

“The difference here, Twilight, is that you are simply not ready to use my alicorn spells in a combat situation. Since we have a limited amount of time to get you ready, I am going to be teaching you more contemporary unicorn battle magic, and working in alicorn powers when I can. I will also be focusing quite a bit on a rather accelerated program of combat basics. One can know all the spells in the world, but in a battle it’s useless when you don’t understand the timing, the rhythm of battle.”

Twilight put her ears back on her head and looked down at her hooves. “So I’m not going to get to learn your spells.”

The Princess shook her head. “Not yet, I am afraid. However, I am not opposed to teaching you them when the time comes. Be patient.” Luna paused a moment, her body going temporarily rigid. “Ye Gods does it sound awkward for me to be saying that to somepony.”

“You know,” her voice cracked, desperately trying to stay steady in an attempt to save face. “I once lifted an Ursa Minor. Sent it back home.”

That only earned a smirk. “I heard. I also heard that it took every ounce of your might to pull it off.”

“Well, yeah.” She scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. “I mean, it was an Ursa.”

“Ursas are dangerous and nigh-indestructible, yes, but they’re also… What was that delightful phrase Applejack once used? Ah yes, ‘dumber than a sack of hammers.’ But, for the sake of argument, let’s say you were using that much magic in a spell while in combat.” Luna leaned down, putting her muzzle right in front of Twilight’s. “How tempting a target do you think you would be while standing there defenseless, casting away? What if an enemy soldier rushed you, and tried to run a spear through your skull? What if he merely bopped your horn? What would happen?”

She bit her lip. “Well, I’d either be killed, or the spell would fail and, probably, explode.”

Luna kept looking at her.

“Explode, right on the tip of my horn,” she finished.

“Correct!”

Luna raised her neck and Twilight exhaled, grateful for the personal space back.

“In truth, an inexperienced unicorn can only expect a small portion of their might to be available for spells in a battle. This can be increased with experience, but one needs to be able to cast while moving and fighting. Most soldiers are smarter than ursas. They will go after you and look for openings, especially if you’re fully absorbed in casting a spell.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“To wit, I have been discussing the matter with your brother, and we have come up with a training plan that should work for our purposes.”

Uh-oh. Twilight had teased him about his drills in the past. Not maliciously, really, but she had still done it. When he was getting in shape to join the military academy, she had made it a point to bring a cold drink and slurp it while reading near him. A part of it was simply wanting to be with her brother before he left, but the fact remained, she still teased him about it a bit. There could be no doubt in her mind. This was going to be excruciating.

“The good news is that even when only looking at you as a unicorn apprentice, you are still quite strong. The bad news is, spells alone will not be enough, though spells you will learn.”

Yeah, I’m in for it now.

“In fact, I’ve invited—”

Luna’s words were cut off by the sound of a door opening down the hall, followed by a mare with her nose in the air, leading a whole herd of foals. Twilight quickly sat up before they could get close enough to catch her lying down.

“Come quickly, children. Keep up.”

The foals didn’t listen to her teacher at all. The moment they spotted Princess Luna, the ones in the front stopped walking and dropped into a deep bow. The rest of the group quickly followed suit once they could see her, too.

“I said, keep u—” The mare leading them finally opened her eyes and saw what the foals were doing, then snapped back to look in front of her with a sickly, terrified look on her face. Sure enough, a split second later, she was on the ground, too.

“A thousand pardons, your majesty. I didn’t see you there.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Of course not. Your eyes were closed. I’ve never understood that, really.” She turned to Twilight. “When did it become in vogue to walk around and bump into things because one is too self-important to watch where they are going? It’s a wonder we don’t lose dozens from tripping off the edge of the city.”

“Well, don’t look at me!” Twilight laughed. “I walk around bumping into things because my head’s buried in a book.”

“Ha ha! Fair enough. Everypony, you may rise. I apologize for making you bow for so long. Tell me, does this mean my sister has seen fit to restart the school tours of the castle?”

“Er, yes, Your Majesty,” the mare who appeared to be the foals’ teacher replied. “We’re from PS 47 in Manehatten.”

“Manehatten?” Twilight tilted her head. “Your accent is definitely a Canterlot one.”

“I grew up here, yes, but moved a few years ago when my husband was transferred. As Her Majesty said, we’re doing field trips for the classes to see the castle.”

“Well then!” Luna stood up and walked up to the foals, and to the side of the teacher. “Hello, everypony! My name is Princess Luna. Welcome to my home. Before you ask, yes, I am an alicorn. Yes, I was banished to the moon at one point. No, it was not pleasant, and yes, I am thousands of years old.”

Twilight chuckled a little. Clearly, the Princess had done this a million times before.

“And the pony next to me is Twilight Sparkle. She is my sister’s personal student and the next candidate to be Grand Mage. Would anypony like to ask her a question?”

She, however, had not.

A half-dozen hooves went up into the air.

Oh, Tartarus.

“Yes, you in the back!” Luna said, pointing to a unicorn colt.

Princess, why are you doing this to me?

“What’s a Grand Mage?” the foal asked.

Twilight swallowed. It was a simple, but excellent question. She’d yet to really condense the public version of her new title down to a short answer, and telling them that she was an alicorn ascendant was right out.

“Well, that’s a good question,” she stammered. “In a manner of speaking, I’m a sort of agent or proxy for the Princesses. But I suppose that’s a little obtuse, heh heh.” Hurry up and think of something they can understand!

Luna giggled. “It’s like this, children.”

Oh thank you Luna!

“When a pony has proven themselves worthy in heart, mind, and soul, we make them what we call a ‘Grand Mage.’ A Grand Mage has most of the legal power of the crown, except for two important things: they do not get a vote in the Council, and they may not declare war. Although incidentally, if she were to declare war on cauliflower, I’d be behind her one hundred percent.”

Twilight stared at her flatly while the foals all laughed.

“What?” The Princess raised a hoof to her chest. “I hate cauliflower. It is a vegetable most foul, with a bland taste and a texture that only wishes it could be broccoli!”

“I’m not declaring war on a vegetable, Luna. For one, I like cauliflower!”

“Foo. I’ve been waiting for a tie-breaking vote on that with Tia for millennia.”

Twilight sighed and walked up to speak to the chuckling foals more directly. “More or less, kids, a Grand Mage is somepony the Princesses can turn to when very nasty problems pop up. Starswirl was a trusted advisor on matters of the highest forms of magic. Crimson served Celestia in the Lunar Rebellions as a fierce warrior—”

“Pfft. Fierce.” Luna rolled her eyes. “I was there, and I’ve had cats more fierce than he.”

The foals giggled more. I thought Princess Celestia was supposed to be the maternal one!

“And Stellar Horizon was a skilled negotiator and diplomat. I’m not sure what the Princesses have in mind for me yet, but I’m eager to help in any way I can. Next question?” A bunch of them put up their hooves, and Luna pointed to one near the wall. “Yes, you?”

The little foal lowered her hoof. “We saw a big stack of papers in the throne room. Are you going to have to help them with their paperwork?”

“Well…” Twilight trailed off. She hadn’t actually considered that. Would she have to do that?

Luna cut in. “Only if she’s been bad. Then we’ll make her do paperwork!”

Even the teacher giggled at that one. Somepony shoot me.

“Okay, everypony, I think we’ve bothered their highnesses enough. Let’s move along, we have more to see!”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as the foals all started to follow their teacher out the other end of the hall. One foal, however, was still sitting, looking up at the ceiling with his wings twitching slightly. Huh. Odd. If I recall right, the other foals were all unicorns and earth ponies.

“Come along, Sky Painter!” The colt got up and started to walk. “Don’t stare like that around the Princesses! It’s rude!”

“Halt!” Luna yelled, making Twilight jump back a little. The tone wasn’t pleasant like the one a mere moment before. This was sharp, commanding. Almost angry, and certainly enough to get not only the colt but the entire tour group to stop dead in their tracks.

The diarch’s eyes opened and she glared at the teacher. “You walk with your nose in the air. Yet, when you see your young pegasus charge looking up, you fail to even check what he is looking at. Pitiful.”

Wait. I didn’t check what he was looking at, either.

Twilight, the teacher, and all the foals all turned their heads skywards, and gasped.

Painted on the ceiling was a winding mural, covering the surface all the way to both ends of the hall. There were small ponies everywhere, painted with exquisite detail for images so tiny. On the left was Cloudsdale in sunny daylight, with a blue sky, puffy white clouds, and rainbow falls showering down. On the right was Canterlot, steeped in night yet awash with the moon’s light casting shadows from the towers.

How did I miss this!?

Luna motioned with a hoof towards the mural. “It is a most curious thing, but true all the same. Simply put, few earth ponies and unicorns ever bother to look up. They miss so much that pegasi—and alicorns—see, notice, and appreciate.” She moved her hoof around in a little swirl-like pattern as she spoke, then stepped up to the colt.

Twilight gulped.

“You should not scold him for finding something that you could not will yourself to notice. Something that, I hope, you will include in your tour in the future.”

The teacher bowed so deep she was practically laying flat on the floor. “Of course, your highness. Please, forgive me.”

“It is done,” the Princess assured in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, just before the little foal tapped her on the knee. “Yes? Didst thou have a question?”

“Um,” the colt squeaked. “Miss Luna, did you paint that?”

The teacher jumped in. “I’m so, so sorry, your highness. He doesn’t know how rude he’s being. I’ll—”

The Princess’s hoof shot up faster than Twilight’s eye could see, stopping itself right in front of the teacher’s instantly hushed lips. “Stifle.” It was a single word in a simple command, but it was spoken with such force and authority it felt as though the world itself would obey. The teacher silenced, the Princess lowered her head all the way down to the colt’s eye level. “Be not afraid, young one. I shall not hurt thee. You are safe, and I am not mad at you. But, before I answer your question, I must ask you one of my own. Why do you think I was the one to paint this mural?”

The little colt scooted away a bit, his head down and his back arched in fear. “Um, well, it’s just when you waved your hoof around, there’s a little swirl just like it in the painting. Also, there’s a big pony with your color on that one cloud in Cloudsdale, sleeping in the day. So I kinda thought it was supposed to be you, but as a pegasus.”

A few more seconds passed while Luna just stared at him, then finally, she smiled and lifted her head, and the tension just evaporated.

“Well, Sky Painter, I must say, you are very observant. And yes, I did indeed paint this mural! I am also quite impressed that you could see such detail! I was able to add many touches during the slow nights of my Court, and it warms my heart to know that somepony appreciates it as you do. If you are ever in Canterlot again, find one of my Night Guard. If I am available, I would love to give you a tour myself. I promise, my stories of these hallowed halls are far more interesting than what your teacher is telling you.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The colt rebounded almost right away at the praise, smiling and practically bouncing up to his hooves.

“Wonderful! I look forward to it! Now, go along with your teacher. I’ve kept you long enough.” Luna scooted him along a bit with a hoof, and he galloped off towards the group that shortly left the hall and went out of earshot.

“Let me guess,” Twilight started with a grin. “You’ve had foals too?”

Luna snorted. “Heavens no. I couldn’t stand it. I mean, first there’s foalbirth in and of itself, but then, diapers? The crying? No, no no no no. I could never. Tia was always the nurturing one. I’ve just picked up a few things along the way, that’s all.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh. Were you ever married?”

“No again, Twilight Sparkle. It is not in my nature, I’m afraid. I am not a loyal lover. I do not take on a mate for a long period of time. I find somepony I like, I couple, and I move on.”

The ascendant shuddered. “When you say couple, you mean—”

“Intercourse, yes. And yes, I still do it. And no, I won’t tell you who. Even Tia doesn’t know. Well, at least I don’t think she does. I do make quite an effort to be discrete. Open relations with a Princess tends to bring it’s own set of troubles, and if I like a pony enough to be intimate with them, I like them enough to not wish such things on them.”

“I can imagine.” Twilight brought her hooves to her head as a very explicit image popped into her mind. “Unfortunately.”

Luna latched onto that immediately. “Oh my! Having naughty thoughts about thy princess, are we?”

“Gah! No! Well, yes, but not intentionally!”

The Princess just laughed. “Oh, Tia is right! You are easily flustered! Be at ease, Twilight! If it was a crime to have lewd thoughts about a princess, I’d imagine at least a third of Equestria would be behind bars! Perhaps nine-tenths if you count Cadence.”

An equally unfortunate image of Cadence ran through Twilight’s mind as she groaned, giving up. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I know I am, but I shall spare you further thoughts. Come, I have a lesson to teach, and you,” she poked a hoof in Twilight’s chest, “have much to learn.”

Author's Note

Just a short one this time, folks. Next time: The training begins!

Also, I've updated the Author's Notes with the new proofing team members!

As always, last minute edits may happen, don't panic. Oh, and I know there's no title image right now. That'll get fixed at some point, but I didn't even settle on a chapter title until the last minute so we need to give the image makers time to do their thing. :)

Also, I'm writing horse words for NaNoWriMo! You can find a blog post about it here and check out my user page for daily updates on it! :)

The Trials of Heart and Stone

Twilight stumbled forward a bit from the teleportation shock; this transition hadn’t been quite as smooth as Luna’s normal work. When she recovered, she found herself with Luna in the middle of a rather idyllic prairie. Tall green grasses covered its small hills and extended out for miles on end, with mountains she couldn’t recognize barely visible in the far distance. Slow-moving rivers gently flowed and criss-crossed the whole thing, with random small clusters of dense trees providing extra greenery in spots. Even the weather was a perfect late spring warm with a nice brisk breeze and partly cloudy skies. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought Luna had hired several pegasus weather teams to arrange it.

“Where are we, exactly?” she asked.

Luna smiled. “Far, far away, Twilight Sparkle. We are literally tens of thousands of kilometers away from the farthest vestiges of civilization. How far exactly is impossible to determine thanks to Discord’s damage to the world, but to put things in perspective, we are far enough that if Celestia were to perform Sol Invictus here, none of our ponies would feel it.”

“Whoa. No wonder I’m dizzy.”

“I apologize if you felt any discomfort. ‘Twas not my intent. Rather, I brought you here because it is ideal for our first combat lesson. For today, we will be focusing on the basics, which means we should keep matters simple. No complicated use of cover or fighting in close quarters. That the weather is pleasant is just a bonus.”

Twilight stood and walked a few steps up to the top of the nearby hill. “Well, at least it’s a nice bonus. I have to say, this place is something else. What other places do you and Celestia have tucked away in your teleportation spells?”

Luna laughed and covered her mouth with her silver-clad hoof. “Oh Twilight, that’s not how our teleportation works at all. This is simply an easy to find locale along the leylines. It’s just after a major locus, or intersection of several different paths.”

“Leylines? Why do those matter?” she asked, correcting her head tilt just before Luna looked at her.

“First, why don’t you tell me what you know of them?”

Twilight sat down, thinking back to her books while the wind blew through her mane. “They’re currents of magic that run just underneath the ground and form a kind of lattice around the world. I once tried to find a way to tap into them to jumpstart a… project. Eh, heh, heh.” she sighed. “I found out the hard way that my professor was right when he said they’re too powerful and unruly to be controlled.”

The purple mare took a step back upon seeing Luna’s grin.

“That’s not exactly true, Twilight. Alicorns can use them. It’s what Tia and I use to travel around the world with teleportation.”

Wind blew through the scattered trees and grasses underneath her hooves, catching her slightly overgrown mane and wafting it in front of her eyes as her mind ran through a revolution of spell formulas.

Luna broke into a another fit of giggles. “Don’t worry, we’ll show you how we do it after you ascend. Without a complete or near-complete ascension, one cannot hope to control oneself in the flow. That being said, someone else you know uses them regularly.”

“Somepo— wait, you said someone.”

“Indeed I did! Whenever Spike posts a message, it travels through the leylines to us. If Spike is too far from a leyline, I’d imagine the spell would not work.” Luna stepped up to Twilight, and put a wing around her. “You should be able to see them now. Calm your heart, and pull your focus back. Try to see with your magic. Focus with your eyes, but think about your horn.”

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and holding it. There was a bright flash of light as her vision shifted, allowing her sight of that magical plane of reality that overlays the waking world.

“Over there, about a kilometer away. It’s like a… river. A river of magic.” Although she could feel the source as being underneath the ground, the light coming from the surface was bright enough that it really did appear as some kind of a rushing river. Yet, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Green light pulsed and tore along the line with phenomenal speed, and sparks and shockwaves rushed out from it at random points.

She turned back to Luna, and opened her mouth just a little. When she had looked at Celestia with her magic sight, she had appeared as a massive star that was so bright it washed away any other details on her body. Luna’s star shone as if it was under a dark lens meant to look at the sun with detail. Though it was still bright, she could look at her plainly, with its blue surface boiling under pressure. Even the air around her seemed to compress and shake from her power, causing Twilight to blink to get her vision to return to normal.

Luna continued. “It is like a river, although one with ‘water’ moving faster than even our rainbow-maned friend could ever comprehend. We move at that speed in the teleportation. It’s so fast that our spells have to speed up our minds, and even then without some kind of anchor, such as a concentration of magic, it can be tricky to go into an unfamiliar area precisely. So, we use close-range teleportation immediately after exiting the stream to get a precise landing. But, this has a limitation.”

Twilight gulped. “It means you can’t come help me if I’m too far from a leyline.”

“This is correct. I would advise you to always check if you are near a leyline before commencing a mission. If you are not, extra caution would be very much recommended. But, to business.”

Luna raised her horn and sent multiple arcs of lightning crackling from it into the ground. Quickly, mounds of dirt and grass raised themselves from the earth and took on the shape of ponies.

Twilight instantly recognized what they were. “Golems!”

“Indeed, but mine are quite a bit more advanced than what you would normally see. These five here are semi-autonomous and have similar traits to earth ponies. I can also make unicorns, gryphons, and even pegasi.”

More lightning spread out from her horn and struck the ground behind her, forming more earth pony golems. They were remarkably detailed for being made out of dirt and grass, with individual features being easily distinguishable. Their similarity to some of the statues in the garden was unnerving to say the least, but they were all uniform in how they appeared, each a mirror of the other.

“I’m going to have them attack you, and you shall fight them. They’ll be slow at first, but will get smarter and faster as you improve.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. But remember, they have many of the same abilities as earth ponies. Do you know what that means?”

Twilight nodded. “They’re stronger than me and can take more damage than me, and telekinesis probably won’t work, and their hits might crack any shields I put up,” she replied. But they should have all the same vulnerabilities as golems made of dirt.

“Good! Now, fight!”

The small army of golems began a slow march toward her. Twilight started backing away, charging a spell. It took several seconds to fully complete, which was longer than she would have liked. The golems, meanwhile, jumped into a full run, roaring and spitting gravel, moving ever closer together.

Perfect. She grinned as her horn fired a mass of purple and blue magic dead in the center of the golems, triggering the spell. An eruption of water jets splashed up from the ground, slicing many of the golems into pieces and dissolving even more.

“Sender’s Shower, hmm?” Luna chuckled. “Not bad. How about this?” Lightning struck where her spell had felled her foes, and more golems rose from the ground. These, however, were made of solid granite.

“Hey!” Twilight yelled at Luna.

Luna took to the air, laughing. “Our enemies will not give you quarter, Twilight Sparkle, so do not expect such from me!”

Crap! She broke into a gallop to get some distance.

“I’d advise not turning your back!” Luna’s voice rang out.

Pain lanced through Twilight’s side as airborne stone hooves crashed into her and knocked her over. Adrenaline wouldn’t let her stay down for long as she forced herself back up and saw three more pegasus golems flying overhead.

“Eep!”

Lightning cracked from the golem’s wing, blasting the ground next to her and leaving a black scorch mark on the grass.

Of course they shoot lightning. All military pegasi can shoot lightning. Why wouldn’t she know how to do that. Dammit, quit talking to yourself, filly, and run! Twilight pushed herself even harder, running down into the valley. Pegasi are resistant to blunt impacts, but I bet these golems can’t hold themselves together that easily! If I can—

Her thoughts were cut short by a shadow growing beneath her. She rolled to the side as a golem slammed into the ground, shattering on impact and showering her in a plume of rock and dirt. She picked herself back up and kept running, racing towards some tall grass and trees in the distance for cover.

Another shadow appeared, and she dodged again, running clear from the plume. By the time she’d noticed that a shadow was still over her, it was too late. Rock and dust crashed into her armor like a missile, and another blow came from hitting the ground at a full gallop. The scenery rolled by like a chariot’s wheel before landing yet again, sliding to a halt by the edge of the woods.

Coughing, Twilight looked up to see two more pegasi closing fast. She dropped down and covered her head, ready for the worst. It never came. Instead, a familiar yell resounded in the glade, followed by the sound of metal smashing against stone. When she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw Spike wearing a set of armor. He was also holding a halberd and standing amongst a pile of stones.

“Jeez, Twi! Couldn’t you have held out for just a little bit longer? I just lost a bet with Rainbow!” Spike reached down and held out a hand.

“Spike?”

“Who else?” The dragon turned around and helped her back up on her hooves. She stumbled, putting for more weight on him than she intended, but he held her up without so much as a grunt. “Luna teleported me here earlier and said she’d lead you to me. Didn’t think I’d have to save your flank, too.”

Twilight pushed herself up, wincing from the pain in her hind leg. “You… You crushed the golem!?”

Spike twirled the halberd a little. “Like I said, I’m always going to be your number one assistant.”

Luna flew in for a landing next to them. “And now, he is the newest member of your Guard.”

“What!?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I asked Applejack, but she declined, which is understandable. Given that, I feel it a natural choice.”

“No! No no no! Luna, what are you thinking! He’s too young!”

“He’s older than most military recruits,” Luna deadpanned.

Twilight moved in between Spike and Luna, spreading her forelegs. “No. I won’t allow it. His age and ours aren’t the same thing. He’s a dragon.”

“Saying someone is vulnerable because they are a dragon is a poor argument, Twilight Sparkle.”

“He’s my responsibi—” A claw poked at her shoulder, and she froze, smelling sulfur. She slowly turned her head around, coming face to face with the saddest dragon she’d ever seen. The sulfur wasn’t just coming from his eyes, but also as wisps of smoke from his nostrils.

“So that’s it?” he choked. “You’re sending me away?”

No… Her heart jumped into her throat. “Spike, that’s not what I meant. You’re way too important to me to risk losing you like this. What I’m going to be doing is dangerous! Not to mention I’m the one that’s supposed to protect you!”

“So, what, I’m just supposed to stay in the castle? Is that it?” He wiped away the tears with his arm, but more quickly took their place.

She put a hoof on his shoulder, careful to choose the arm not covered in acid. “It would be much, much safer for you. But you can still stay in Ponyville! The library is going to need a full-time librarian after all, and you know the job.”

He practically punched her foreleg off of him, and Twilight jumped back a little from the force. That hurt!

“You just don’t get it, do you!?” Each strained huff of his lungs caused his nose to release more and more smoke. “All these years and you don’t get it! All my life, Twilight! You’ve been there with me all my life! But ever since I found out how long dragons live I’ve known that I’m going to outlive you by thousand of years! Thousands of years, Twilight! Maybe tens of thousands! I thought I’d have to miss you that long! And now you’re saying I have to start missing you now…”

He was yelling enough his breath began to smoke with brimstone. She backed up not just from the smell but from being genuinely ashamed and even fearful of him. Twilight couldn’t go far, though. She backed right into Luna, and looked up at her just for a second before Spike grabbed her head and pulled her back down to face him.

“I finally, finally find out that I’m not going to lose you like the rest, and now you’re sending me away!?”

She was pushing herself back hard enough that if Luna hadn’t been behind her, she’d be falling over backwards. She tried to speak, but her tongue wouldn’t move. Her lungs seemed to be giving her just enough air to stay alive; staying conscious would be decided in a few minutes.

“Ahem.”

She didn’t dare look away from Spike and up at Luna until he did first, and to her great relief, that’s exactly what he did. She looked up a lot faster, though, desperate for advice or somepony to help her.

“Twilight Sparkle, may I interject?”

From her angle and closeness, looking up at the Princess was like looking up at the night sky, as if the alicorn’s face was just a fixture of it.

“I understand your feelings, Twilight. Truly, I do.”

Twilight still couldn’t quite speak. She was lucky she stayed sitting up when the Princess pushed her back onto her haunches.

“However,” the diarch continued, “you must understand that alicorn instincts and dragon instincts are not the same. Alicorns form looser bonds with a multitude of ponies and are driven to protect them. A core few we attach to strongly.”

Luna turned to the dragon, and softened her voice. “Spike, whatever your species, Twilight here views you as ‘her’ pony, and that means she has a powerful protective instinct towards you, even beyond what she would feel as a unicorn. That’s very important for you to understand.”

The Princess’s voice got lower and stronger as she once more addressed the now blushing Twilight, gazing into her with a maternal look that rivaled Celestia. “What you must understand as well, Twilight, is that dragons tend to form such bonds far more rarely, and their protective instincts could be said to be stronger still. As you have near-maternal responsibility for him, we have reached this impasse. As such, I propose a temporary compromise.”

Twilight wanted to object. Her instincts screamed for it. There was no way she wanted to ever risk her little Spike getting hurt. At the same time, her heart wouldn’t let her. She could see Spike crying; he was already being hurt. So, she merely listened.

“Here is my idea. Twilight, allow Spike to stay here and train as your Guard. While I cannot promise that he will be left… unscathed by it, he will survive and be stronger for it. If, at the end of the training, you feel he has not progressed enough to be at your side, he will agree to stand down. If, however, his skills become sharp enough to serve as a Guard, you will allow him to accompany you.”

She stood up in a jolt, but found a silver hoof covering her mouth.

“This does not mean we have to put him in a traditional Guard role. He can be more a kind of seneschal, or assistant if you will, but would be prepared to fight if things go sour. Is this acceptable?”

She looked back and forth between them, torn. On the one hoof, Luna’s proposal was considerably more reasonable than the alternative. On the other, he’d still be in danger. While she was looking at Spike, a large muzzle dropped down by her ear.

“A word of warning, Twilight,” the Princess whispered. “Dragons can carry grudges for an extremely long time. Gryphonic aeries are forgiving compared to them.”

Years flashed before her as she imagined countless lifetimes of a friend lost and hurt. The tears, the sadness. The unrivaled weight of regret. Yet it was nothing compared to the pain of the pleading eye before her.

“Alright,” she whispered, throat as dry and rough as sun-baked sand. “We’ll give it a try.”

Spike leaped up to her and wrapped her in a hug, and she couldn’t help but return it. It seemed fate would have them sticking together for quite some time. She sighed and gave him a nuzzle, just before a burning sensation from a dragon tear seared itself into her foreleg.

“Gah! Ow, ow ow ow ow ow!” She leaped out of the hug and started running, which did absolutely nothing to make the pain go away. She eventually saw the burn on her leg and tried wiping the liquid on it away with her hoof to no avail.

“Hold still, Twilight Sparkle!”

She didn’t really have to hold still. By the time she looked up to find the sounds of the yell, it was too late. She had only the tiniest amount of time to see Luna’s horn alight before the spell hit the ground under her. A ball of water the size of a large boulder erupted from the ground like it had been there all along, waiting and intangible to the dirt. Even though it had phased through the dirt, it knocked her back like it was far more solid than water had any right to be. To add injury to insult, the water didn’t stay airborne long; it just got caught by gravity and did what any normal object under gravity’s influence did: turn around and fall right back to the earth. Where she just happened to be sitting.

She coughed and heaved and spewed, forcefully pushing the water out of her lungs. The dirt under her had already become mud from soaking in the deluge.

“Are you alright, Twilight!?”

She used a hoof to wipe water from her eyes while still coughing. Spike was running down the hill with Luna gliding above.

“Ugh.” Twilight coughed a few more times, then shook to get the water off of her. “Jeez! When did your tears get this concentrated? Thanks for the wash, Luna, but did you really have to go that far?”

It was always a little strange to see the Princess of the Night giggle, but that she did. “It’s quite alright, Twilight. Though they are oddly strong for his age, this is expected. Dragons with green bellies eventually gain powerful acid in their tears, saliva, and even flame.” She smirked a little. “Perhaps we should simply read him a sad story and then have him embrace our enemies.”

“Grah! It still burns!” She kept wiping but it wasn’t helping. The acid had already done its damage.

Luna tapped the gem in the center of her torc. “Push some magic into your bonded armor. It grants regenerative properties.”

Twilight did so, sparking her horn to life and sending her power right into the gem. The armor flared to life, eagerly pulling the power into itself and spreading over her body. Compared to its past deployments, the cold of the process was soothing and cooling rather than shocking and debilitating. When it was over, and she was wrapped in her plating, she could feel it go to work. The burning quickly ebbed, leaving nothing but a tingling sensation.

“Oh, whew. That feels so much better. Thank Celestia!” Twilight’s eyes went wide. Open mouth, insert hoof. “Sorry, force of habit. I mean, thank you, Luna!”

Spike and Luna both shared a laugh.

“‘Tis quite alright, Twilight. I am used to such things after being absent for so long. It is natural ponies would use my sister’s name in such ways.”

She nodded in response. “It’s all I’ve ever been really used to all these years. I—” A little connection went live in the back of her mind. “Princess?”

The night alicorn’s wing twitched a little. “We’ve been over this, Twilight. Call me Luna.”

“Okay then.” She swallowed. “Luna, am I going to have ponies exclaiming ‘Thank Twilight’ around me?”

Spike grabbed his head in realization. “Whoa. Yeah, I forgot about that. Freaky.”

Luna gave her a gentle smile. “It is very possible, Twilight. My sister and I strongly discourage the ponies from worshipping us, and although we’ve been successful at that the vast majority of the time, there are a few habits we’ve never figured out how to break them of. That’s one of them. I suggest you let it slide. In a few centuries, it’ll seem natural.”

Twilight shuddered. “No. No, I’m sorry, that’s never going to seem natural. Nor is the idea of waiting a few centuries.”

A cold shock went through her body, starting from her chin. Slowly, her head lifted up against her will, and she found herself staring deep into a pair of teal eyes with the Princess’s hoof under her head.

Oh Tartarus, did I really just say that in front of somepony that spent a millenium on the moon!?

“We ageless perceive things differently, Twilight Sparkle. You have not truly grasped this yet, but you will, with time. Let it happen.” She almost seemed to dissolve into mist, flowing around her and reforming with a wing lightly over her. “I shall be there to guide both you and Spike in this. Tia shall help, too. Come, it’s time to meet the rest of your training team.”

“Training team?” Twilight asked.

In a blink, Luna disappeared. Before she really had any time to think about it, she reappeared with three new ponies. Two were obscured behind Luna’s wings, while the other was instantly recognizable.

“Whew! Was wondering when we’d get started.” A pegasus with a multi-hued mane lept into the sky and did a few somersaults. “Hey, Twi! Why is your mane soaked? I mean, this time. Which totally isn’t my fault for once.”

“Long story, Rainbow.” She wringed out her bangs with her magic. “So you’re going to be training with me?”

“Hay yeah! Why wouldn’t I? I mean, we’re only going to be fighting side by side. Makes sense to train together.”

“Heh. Good point. And honestly, it’s a relief. You have no idea how good it is to see you.” Twilight held out a hoof and Rainbow gave it a bump. “So who are the others?”

Luna lowered her wings one by one. “Twilight, may I introduce you to two of my Night Guard who will be assisting with your training. To my left is Arcane Edge. He is an Acolyte in my Night Guard, which is the lowest rank. He is skilled with both the creation and use of magical weapons.”

A unicorn stepped forward, clad in the standard armor of the Night. His demeanor instantly struck Twilight as odd, however. Rather than the standard, almost belligerent stoicism of typical Guard, he had his head lowered. He almost looked nervous.

“It… It’s an honor to meet you, Grand Mage Sparkle. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive my inadequacies.”

Okay, that’s just weird. “Um, I’m sure I will?” Twilight said. Please tell me the those newspapers aren’t going to make everypony act like this toward me.

Luna chuckled a little. “Do not be so shy, my Acolyte. I can assure you, Twilight is an excellent friend. To continue our introductions, here to my right is Crusader Starward.”

A rather large, solidly built earth pony stepped forward this time, and he didn’t seem nervous at all. Rather, he simply bowed quickly, his armor clinking a little. “Grand Mage, it is an honor to aid you. Our Sovereign has spoken highly of you.”

Twilight forced out a small, polite smile. One of the things that always struck Twilight as a little intimidating was how Luna’s Night Guard always referred to the Princess as “Sovereign.” While the Day Guard was known to be loyal, professional, and devoted, the Night Guard was widely and correctly seen as fanatical. Like the Day Guard, they were also completely separate from all other military units, answering solely to Luna. On top of that, and unlike the Day Guard, they had a reputation for being ruthless and conducting unauthorized missions, despite the fact that they were legally only supposed to protect their Princess or perform simple tasks for her. Nopony had ever produced proof, but it was still whispered amongst the populace.

“The honor is mine.” She bowed back. “I look forward to working together.”

“And work you shall!” Luna boomed, waving a hoof in the air. “Though they will not be with you on your journeys, they shall help train you. I brought them here because you must know how to fight with not only pegasi and a certain young dragon, but earth ponies and unicorns as well. From ponies and zebras, to diamond dogs, gryphons, and even minotaurs, each race has their strengths and weaknesses. Learning how to use and cover for them is very important in battle. Now then. Fall in!”

Rainbow, Starward, and Arcane Edge jumped and snapped into a line next to Twilight. Spike got the idea a second later and joined in on the end before Luna resumed speaking.

“For the next three months, I am going to teach you lot all I can. I am not soft like my sister and her plump, cake-engorged rear end.”

That earned a few snickers from the Night Guards, but Twilight just faked a smile and flattened her ears.

“This will be a harrowing experience for all of you, but I do not apologize for it. It will teach you more than you could ever expect, and even then it will not be enough to make being a Grand Mage easy. I fear that even with three months, you shall only learn what I consider to be the most basic of skills.

“We shall start here, in this field. Later, we will change locations. We shall fight and train in fields, mountains, shores, clouds, even urban environments. You will have to learn a multitude of skills. These include, but are not limited to, martial arts, weapons training, covert observations, and spells for those of you who are able to cast them. Although you will spar against each other, for the most part you will be fighting my golems. However!”

Lightning arced and cracked from her horn, striking the ground and forging it into a golem. Once it was complete, blue flames engulfed it for a second before fading to reveal a something that looked exactly like somepony Twilight hadn’t seen in ages: Trixie Lulamoon.

“Whoa! That’s incredible!” Spike broke ranks and ran up to the golem. “Check it out, Twi! It looks just like her!”

“Bleck!” Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “Last I heard about that bitch was a few years ago when she got panned in the Canterlot Times for calling Twi ‘Celestia’s harlot’ and then vanished. Guess nopony wanted to see her crappy shows anymore. Why her?”

Twilight leaned forward a bit to study the golem. The illusion was as flawless as that of a changeling.

“You do not approve?” Luna huffed. “Then how about this?”

The blue flame changed the image in a flash, and before them stood a second Rainbow Dash.

The real Dash leapt back. “Oh. Oh horseapples.”

“What?” Spike shrugged. “It’s a great trick!”

Rainbow held her head, obviously already getting a headache. “Duh! She’s going to make more that look like us to screw with us in battle!”

Spike covered his mouth. “Oh horseapples.”

Luna nodded. “Of course! Do not presume that the enemies will always be obvious. Some golems may act as friendlies. Others may seem friendly but actually be hostile. And always remember, I control them, which means they’ll know things none of you do. The only rule here is to not attack me. If you try, you will regret it.

“I will be devious. I will ambush. I will deceive. I will surprise. Never, ever assume you are safe. I can assure you, thou art not!” Luna stomped her hoof, and a bolt of lightning arced across the sky, shattering the peace of the meadow.

She continued. “The one and only exception to this is just before each training session. I will give you all a short breather and the opportunity to ask questions. I will accept any relevant questions, and I encourage you to ask them, even if you are embarrassed for their simplicity. There is no shame in not knowing; there is only shame in remaining willfully ignorant. In addition, although I have higher standards for my Night Guard…” She shot a look at the two stallions. “You may ask questions as well.”

Spike raised his hand.

The Princess strode to him. “Yes, Spike?”

“Can I ask a question now?”

Luna smiled, becoming a bit more friendly looking. “Of course! What do you wish to know?”

“Well,” he said, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Twilight’s always had really good telekinesis, but I heard from a guard it’s not good to use that in battle. Why?”

One of the Night Guards laughed a bit, his bass voice reverberating into the ground.

Luna patted him on the head. “A very basic question, but I will be glad to oblige as this is all new to you. Although, perhaps we should have our Grand Mage answer instead?”

Twilight stepped forward, starting to pace. “I can do that. Well, for one thing, anti-telekinesis spells are pretty easy to enchant into things. It’s been in military armor forever, and police uniforms usually have them, too. Also, a lot of ponies put security spells on their personal weapons that’ll shock unauthorized ponies if they try to pick them up, whether it’s by magic, hoof, or mouth. I’d imagine our enemies will have all these things as well.”

Luna clapped her hooves together. “Truth! But, there are more reasons. Keep going!”

Twilight continued. “Earth pony magic is very good at breaking telekinetic fields, too. Levitating Pinkie Pie when she’s on her way to a party or something is basically impossible. Pegasi can be hard to catch in a field when they’re moving. Oh, and it’s easy for a unicorn to keep a TK field off of their body, and can sometimes disrupt another unicorn’s TK field around unenchanted objects.”

Luna waved a hoof at Arcane Edge. “For instance, observe.” Her horn lit with magic, and a field first surrounded the two Night Guard’s armor, and then the ponies themselves, lifting them up. “I can disable their armor’s security, but that’s because I know the spell’s code, which is sort of spell that acts as a key. Now, if you two would be so kind as to demonstrate.”

Starward twisted and bucked around, quickly shattering the field and dropping back down to the ground. Arcane took even less time, dissolving the field with his own in an instant.

“See?” Luna asked. “The amount of magic necessary to levitate those two whilst they resist would be severely disproportionate compared to the effort they would need to escape. I could hold them, but only by using levels of power well beyond that of Arcane here. There is a possibility that Twilight could manage to hold one of them, but only by focusing all of her effort and magic to the task, leaving her vulnerable.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Spike threw his arms up in defeat. “It’s not enough to just have good telekinesis.”

Luna flapped her wings a little in place. “Indeed! There is, however, one basic telekinetic tool that will be very important. Tell me, Twilight, have you ever used a telekinetic blade?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I have. I tried making one as part of an experiment a few years ago. The experiment didn’t work out so I dropped it. I haven’t tried to summon a blade since.”

Luna stared at her.

“I suppose you want me to try pulling one out now anyway,” Twilight half-squeaked.

“Please!” Luna signaled with her hoof to have the other ponies move away a little, giving her room.

“Alright, here goes nothing.” Twilight summoned her magic and funneled it into the blade shape, casting the spells to hold it together. It wasn’t an especially difficult process, but like anything, one could become rusty without practice. Still, it seemed to work. A thin purple beam of light formed in front of her, slowly seething power while white-hot sparks dripped down from it.

“Whoa.” Rainbow trotted up and looked closely at it, the hairs on her nose almost close enough to get trimmed. “No wonder they put inhibitor rings on unicorns under arrest.”

“As long as they can access their magic, any pony with a horn can be dangerous, even if they’re otherwise tied up.” Twilight stood up, and started another back-and-forth lecture pacing. “Telekinetic blades are basically telekinetic energy suspended in a beam that can cut things if it’s thin enough, or bludgeon if it’s not. I’ve heard that the military teaches unicorns to use them only as a last resort since they can’t usually stand up to enchanted weapons. Some of them can do more than cut, though. Rarity’s, for instance, can freeze things as well as cut.”

“Very good, Twilight, but I want you to practice at this more. You have to be able to draw it out much, much faster. Any more than half a second and you’ll put yourself in grave—”

Luna stopped talking as Twilight’s blade crackled and popped loudly, like a firework with too much powder, calling the entire group’s undivided attention with crackling electricity. White, sparking arcs of power jumped across the purple blade in an excited dance.

“Everypony, get down!”

She didn’t have time to. Nopony did. The blade detonated right in front of them, sending Twilight flying back. She could tell she was still moving, but couldn’t hear from her ears ringing. The blows kept coming as she tumbled end over end, falling clear down the hill and finally coming to a rest at the bottom, the wind completely knocked out of her.

“Report! Is everypony okay?!” That was one of the stallions. Twilight wasn’t sure which. The world was spinning far too much to pay attention to such matters, so she closed her eyes.

“Rainbow One, optimal! Er, sorry, force of habit. I’m fine!” That was clearly Rainbow Dash.

“Spi—” The dragon coughed a bit. “Spike here. Lungs full o’ dust, otherwise fine.”

“Arcane. Ready to serve.”

Okay, that pony is starting to get a bit creepy.

“Starward. Ready to serve.”

… I guess it’s just a Night Guard thing.

“Twilight? Are you okay?”

Twilight let her eyes open up, but quickly closed them when all she saw was a spinning, worried-looking Luna. “I’m sorry, but the world is rotating much too fast to talk right now. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”

A sliver of blue magic pulsed over her eyelids, followed by a slight buzzing in her left ear, causing it to twitch.

“How about now?”

Twilight tentatively opened her eyes again, and found the world had decided to stop dancing. “Was that healing magic?” she asked.

“Indeed.” Luna admitted. “My sister is far better at it than I, but it’s not something we talk about. As a general rule, we never heal our subjects. It makes them dependent, and we could never heal all of them. That being said, I am afraid we do not have the luxury of time here, so I shall make an exception for our training. Are you feeling better?”

Twilight twisted her body a bit and got back up. “Much. What in Tartarus happened there? The spell completed okay, I can confirm that much, but a telekinetic blade isn’t supposed to just explode like that. No spell is supposed to explode like that! Well, except for the ones explicitly meant to explode. Which this is not.”

Luna sat down and regarded her with a somewhat uncomfortable gaze, clearly thinking. “Twilight, could you raise your hoof up so I can see it?”

Twilight lifted her hoof up and held it towards Luna. “Um, okay.”

Then, the gaze got literally uncomfortable as Twilight felt Luna activate her magic sight.

“Um, Princess, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but could you please not use your magic sight on me? It feels really creepy.”

The sensation went away, but now she had a rather stunned-looking Princess to deal with. “Wait a minute. Twilight, are you telling me you can feel it?”

“Feel what?” Spike asked, the first of the group reconverging around her.

“Celestia said it’s an ability alicorns have. It’s like we can switch between normal vision and, well, something else. We still see everything you do, but we can also see magic. Not just the glow from our horns, either. I still don’t have it completely under control. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it just happens on its own.”

Rainbow came in and hovered a bit nearby. “Huh. Weeeird.”

Starward snorted in response to that, and Luna held up a hoof to calm him. “That’s all true, Twilight, but you didn’t answer my question. You said you can actually feel it?”

The ascendant nodded. “Yeah, I can. It feels like, well, being called to the chalkboard in a class of a million fillies, and not knowing the answer.”

Spike chuckled and took a bow. “Fillies and gentlecolts, the nightmares of Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight gave him a light bop on the head.

Luna tilted her head a bit. “Well, that’s… unexpected. In any event, I have a theory as to why the blade self-destructed. Can you use the sight on your hoof?"

"I think so." She stared at her hoof and pulled back on her sight, trying to ’see’ its magic, but only got some eye strain. "Or maybe not. Hold on." She put her head next to the hoof and strained a bit more.

"It’s fine if you can’t control it completely yet," Luna interrupted. "What I’m looking at are your body’s leylines. Your unicorn and pegasus leylines seem fine, but your earth pony leylines are twisted and diverted. A few have even collapsed here, near your hoof."

"Collapsed?" Twilight jerked her hoof away and started looking at it fruitlessly. "Is it okay!? Am I okay!?"

"Well, you are alive."

Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike all just looked at her.

Luna shrugged. "It appears to be similar to the effect of a horn blowout, albeit more severe. But I’ve never heard of an earth pony doing such a thing to themselves. They always tire physically before magically. I think that you shall heal, in time. Until then, your earth pony magic may be unstable or unreliable. In fact…"

The Princess started examining Twilight even more, moving her gaze from right to left and back and forth over her body again and again. All the while, the subject of the examination twisted and squirmed under the magical prodding.

"Ah, yes, that would explain it."

Twilight twisted her body a bit to escape the feeling, but it didn’t help. "Explain what?"

Luna placed her hoof on Twilight and traced it down from her horn to her hoof. "I think, when you performed that spell through your hooves, you forced unicorn magic down through your earth pony leylines. This allowed the spell to work, but damaged them in the process. You now have small amounts of earth pony magic leaking into your unicorn leylines, which may destabilize certain types of spells, particularly ones which require large amounts of telekinesis. I’d avoid lifting large objects until you heal."

Twilight sighed and let herself flop down onto the ground. "Great. Today’s just been setback after setback."

Luna continued, "Your own rapid growth should force things back to normal eventually. Give it time, Twilight Sparkle. In the meantime, dispel and refresh your telekinetic blade every so often during a fight. That should stave off detonation."

Twilight cringed a bit. “And if it doesn’t?”

“Oh, that’s simple!” Rainbow came in for a landing. “Just toss the blade at the enemy!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Twice. “That’s not a solution, Rainbow!”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I was going to suggest, Twilight,” Luna deadpanned.

Twilight just stared at her, eye twitching.

“What?” Luna shrugged. “I think it’s a fairly effective solution. Although, we should get you a better weapon as well. Arcane, do you think you could find a cored weapon for our Grand Mage?”

He bowed all the way to the ground. “Of course, Sovereign. Was there a particular style you desire?”

Luna cut in before Twilight could say anything. “Nothing too fancy, please. A sword should suffice. I want Twilight to use her wits for offense, and not rely on a weapon to do it for her.”

“Is that why I only have a bonded artifact for armor, and not a sword?” the Grand Mage asked.

“Whoa! Time out, wait a minute, hold the airship!” Rainbow leaped into the air in a summersault. “Are you telling me that Twilight’s torc is bonded armor!?”

“Wait a minute yourself. You know about them?” She pointed a purple, accusatory hoof in the the pegasus’ direction.

“Duh! They were in The Trial of Veritas! Only the second-best book ever!”

Twilight snorted. “Pfft. No where near as good as Gene—”

A rainbow blur zoomed in and Rainbow’s head was suddenly invading her personal space.

“You. Take. That. Back.”

“Girls!”

The two jumped back and apart at Luna’s thunderous interruption.

Luna sighed and her wings drooped. “To answer your question, yes, Twilight, that is one reason we haven’t made a bonded blade for you. There is another reason, however. The gems needed are so rare and high quality that no new ones have been found in nearly twenty years. Before that, we found one every five years or so, but we’ve hit a dry spell. I took the last one for my new armor years ago.” She tapped the gem in her torc. “We honestly thought we would’ve found another by now. We’ve even reached out to some of the more reputable Diamond Dog packs in the north near Stalliongrad to look, but to no avail.”

Rainbow chimed in again. “Can’t we find one that’s already made and have her bond with that? The story said that if you find one that’s not being used, somepony else can bond with it.”

Luna’s reply was terse. “Yes, if we had one whose owner had died, and whose magic was similar to Twilight’s, and whose latent empathic sentience agreed to bond with her. We don’t have the luxury of a stockroom of bonded blades, Rainbow. There is a silver lining, at least. It should help her begin to hear her armor a bit sooner. Being pulled by two bonds can be straining. And, well, there’s a reason nopony ever tries bonding with three artifacts. It’s virtually guaranteed to drive all parties insane. Next question?”

The field fell silent.

“Really? That’s it?” Luna asked. “I’m about to attack you all with a small army of golems. You don’t have any others?”

Twilight raised a hoof. “Will you be offering advice while we fight?”

“Of course. So will my Night Guard.” Another moment of silence passed between them. “Any other questions?”

Everyone stayed silent.

“Huh. Well, alright then.” The Princess shrugged. “Everypony, get ready!”

Everypony nodded and moved into a formation around Twilight. She felt a bit relieved that she wasn’t alone, and was more comfortable standing confidently. Maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to pull this off after all.

“Let’s get started,” Luna yelled, flying up into the air and striking the ground far behind her with her magic, summoning dozens of new golems.

Twilight crouched down slightly, ready to run. She wasn’t looking to flee, though. Her aim was to go right into the middle of it, lack of a plan be damned for once.

“Fight!”

Her legs pushed her forward, and her heart raced as she felt the hoof-falls of those at her side. The golems raced forward too, but not an ounce of nervousness was to be found in Twilight’s mind. This time was going to be different. This time, she was ready.

This time, she would fight.

And it didn’t bother her a bit that she started to feel like this might be fun.

“I don’t exactly understand why I gotta do this. I promised I won’t tell nopony about Twilight!”

Intelligentsia facehooved. “It’s not that we do not trust your intentions, Applejack. You have to understand, our enemies are sneaky.”

With a huff the farmer pony leaned back in the chair and crossed her forelegs. “I don’t give a hoot how sneaky they are! I ain’t gonna blab about this to no one!”

Intelligentsia leaned back in her chair. “Will your hat?”

“My hat?” Applejack blinked and pointed an accusatory hoof at her. “Now yer just talkin’ crazy.”

“Hardly.” She smacked Applejack’s hoof away with far more force than the farm pony would have ever expected to come from her, then started pacing around her. “You, Applejack, are honest to a fault. Even your body is honest. In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve detected and catalogued eighteen different body movements you repeat when put in particular situations. From crossing your forelegs, to tipping your hat, you are an open book. All I would need to do to get all the intel I need from you is put a few agents near you and have them say a few key phrases in earshot. Your reactions would give me all I need.”

Applejack choked a little as magic pulled her right in front of the unicorn’s face.

“If you do not get these under control, you could wind up killing Twilight just as if you’d shouted it from the mountaintops.”

Intelligentsia pushed her away, and a desperate grab for the table was the only thing stopped her from falling over.

“The other bearers I’m not worried about. Fluttershy is timid no matter what, Rarity is already known for her amateur acting, and Pinkie can’t act against her own promises. Lastly, Rainbow Dash has security clearance and is already in the Guard, and will be with Twilight for the duration of her ascension. Since you will not be with them to have somepony to keep you quiet, we need to erase your body’s tells, and more importantly, give you control over them. Should you find yourself in a suspicious situation, with an awful lot of luck, you can even use these tells to misinform them.”

“Tells? What in the hay are you talkin’ ‘bout?” Dawning realization struck her like a blacksmith’s hammer on an anvil. “Wait, wait wait… Are you tellin’ me, that I’d be able to fool these creeps by, like, a twitch of my hoof? Like some ponies do when they’re playin’ poker? If I do this ‘training,’ would I be able to beat Rainbow Dash?”

Intelligentsia rolled her eyes. “Though oversimplified, yes, the connection is valid. This could be used at a card game. Although I am dismayed at your lack of concer—”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Applejack pushed her back down into her seat with a wild grin. “Git to the part where I learn how to win back every bit that pegasus has ever taken from me.”

Author's Note

Whew. Sorry this one took a little longer than expected, folks. Lots of editing had to be done in this one. I hope this helps answers some questions about the world, too!

Starting this chapter, Steben has been added to the editing team. Welcome, Steben!

Next chapter will hopefully be out in a couple weeks.

PonyWriMo was a modest success. I didn’t complete the 50k, but I have pulled 38k so far. I hope to hit 40k this weekend. Not as good as I hoped, but not as bad as I’d feared. 50k per month is just a burnout pace for me, to be honest. 40k was more doable. 20k-30k per month in the future would be more likely, though.

December, though, is going to be focused more on editing than writing, so the count will be a little lower. Since I have such an enormous backlog, this shouldn’t prevent new chapters from being released.

January will also be light on writing since I’ll be returning to the US for a couple weeks. While I’m there I’m going to be extremely busy doing things related to my health and moving to Canada.

February and beyond will be more normal. I hope to maintain a pace of 20-30k per month starting then.

Work continues on the side stories but I have to keep going for a while on DI before I can release another chapter. The other side stories are harder, but still on my mind. I am working on them.

Hope you guys have a great thanksgiving!

Minor edits done on 9/9/14.

Broken

“Sever.”

The gem in the sword began to glow blue and purple. Runes and enchantments in the crystal directed the energy through the working of its preset spell in the blink of an eye. The energy rushed forward, arcing through and down the runes on the flat of the blade as the cored weapon itself slashed through the air.

At the apex of the slash, a burst of energy in the shape of an ultra-thin barrier launched forth, flying through the air and striking the golem with the projectiles edge, cutting into the stone and detonating. Ash, pebbles, and dust rained down on Twilight, plinking off of her helmet as she shielded her eyes from hard rain.

Twilight Sparkle twirled the sword in her magical grasp, gazing at her reflection on the polished gemstone set in the hilt. I think I’ve finally figured you out now.

“Twilight!”

Her head snapped upward, and she locked her gaze at the source of the outcry. Spike was tangling with no fewer than three golems on the ridge above her. She pulled her sword back again, focusing her glare at the pegasus golem in the air, and swung. As the blade arced around, her horn shot a spark of power directly into the gem.

Another bolt of magic slammed into the new target, crumbling it. A unicorn golem joined it a second later, crushed under the weight of Spike’s halberd. Twilight ran up the slope, hooves pounding on the loose volcanic soil. Her coat was full of dust and dirt, and her tongue tasted salt from sweat and tropical sea air that filled her lungs.

“Behind you!”

The earth pony golem turned in reaction Twilight's facsimile of the Royal Canterlot Voice, jumping out of the way of her sword swing, leaving her open. This was okay. After all, the golem was open, too.

Spike’s halberd came down once again, its gleaming edge slicing clean through the golem’s neck. Both pieces were sent down the side of the volcano, tumbling and falling apart.

The dragon lifted his blade back up and rested it on his shoulder. “Glad to see you’ve finally figured out that sword. Took you long enough.”

Twilight pushed him to the side and sent another wave of energy down behind him, smashing another golem. “This one is a bit trickier than the others. I shouldn’t need the voice commands anymore, though. The top should be just over the next ridge. You ready to do this?”

“Hey, dragon, remember?” As he spun his polearm a little in his fingers, the weapon began to glow. He slapped the bottom of the pole, and the lower half of it disappeared, collapsing down into more of a small, fancy war axe than a halberd. When it finished, he put it on his back, and it stuck there with a magnetic ‘clang.’ “Not like the lava can hurt me anyway.”

“Yeah, but if this thing blows, the shockwave might. Just, be careful.”

“You bet. Watch my back.” Spike dashed up the side of the volcano, digging his claws into the side and going straight up the edge instead of around the long way on the spiral path.

Twilight, meanwhile, pulled at her horn and refocused her eyes, calling upon and activating her magic sight. One more swing of her sword sent a bolt up the mountain, past Spike, and into a buried golem hiding in the rocks.

“Ha!” Twilight reared up on her hind legs. Spike’s going to make it! She quickly checked around her and did a short pair of teleports up to the ridge to be at his side.

“Really, Twilight?” Spike asked, panting a bit. “Remember what Luna did the last time you tried to teleport?”

She waved a hoof around to fan away the brimstone fumes and smoke from the caldera while her vision returned to normal. “I checked for traps this time, and I’m here, right? Just hurry up and toss that thing in already!”

He pulled out the artifact from his pocket; a gold disk with an extremely large blue gem in the center. The whole thing was roughly the size and shape of a frisbee. His claws danced on the gem, poking it in a few key areas, lighting them up.

“It’s ready. Here goes!” With a great heave, he threw it into the smoldering volcano, where it promptly sank like a rock in the ocean. “Man that thing was heavy!”

Twilight turned away from the caldera. “Well, objective complete. Let’s get going!” She jumped just a bit, landing on the side and sliding down on her hind hooves. Spike followed right after her, and they stopped at the first ledge of the spiral path they came to.

“Say, Twi, anything about that feel too easy to you?”

She scoffed. “Easy? We just took out about twenty of those golems.”

Spike rubbed his upper arms like he was cold. “Yeah, I know. But last time, it was forty. I counted.”

She blinked. “Then, what, she’s going easy on us?”

“You know we’re talking about Princess Luna, right?”

Twilight was about to argue the point, hoof already raised, but lowered it. “You’re right. We need to get the hay out of here.”

Luna’s voice rang in their ears as if there were a million Lunas all around them, speaking at the exact same time. “An excellent idea, novice.”

The ground under their feet rumbled and started to frost over. The sky above them began to boil with dark, lightning-filled clouds, blocking out the sun and casting the entire island in an unnaturally dim light. The birds in the trees in the far distance all took off into the air at once, vacating for someplace unknown.

Twilight’s ears went flat. “We’re bucked, aren’t we?”

Spike nodded. “E-yeah.”

They both leapt off the side, sliding down the mountain, running where the land was stable enough. On one relatively flat point, Twilight grabbed onto Spike and charged for a teleport, sending them down to the next level of the path in a series of three short flashes before stopping. Her legs started to wobble, and the world in her vision flickered in and out of her sight while spinning around. “Ugh, my head! I don’t think we’re going to make it!”

Spike hopped on her back, his weight bringing her butt down to the ground. “Less talky, more sparky!”

Twilight gritted her teeth, pushing another charge into her horn. Two hops this time brought them down to the next level, but Twilight’s legs were giving out under her strained center of balance. “No good! If I teleport again that fast I’ll vomit!”

“Look!” The dragon grabbed her head and turned it back towards the mountain.

The black smoke from the caldera had stopped, but it was replaced by an even greater volume of white smoke. It looked as through a cumulonimbus cloud was being pushed through the volcano with tremendous force. Moreover, the very top of the volcano was covered with ice.

“How in the world…”

Before she could move, the volcano rumbled and finally blew its top. Slush, water, snow, frost, ice, and all manner of things cold started to blast both up into the sky and down the mountain, right at them.

“Ice!? That thing made it spew ice!? That disk barely had any magic in it! There’s no way that could happen!”

“Twilight!” Spike grabbed her shoulders. “Twilight we need to get going!”

She stomped her hooves. “But that shouldn’t be physically possible! There’s just no way! Dammit Luna, stop breaking the laws of magic and physics!”

“Twilight!”

“I know, I know.” The Grand Mage grabbed onto Spike and did another two hops, but the rumble of the approaching liquified glacier just kept getting louder, and Twilight’s head was in no shape to absorb another teleportation shock.

“Come on, we need to keep going!”

“No.” Twilight stomped her hoof, pushing it into the sand and turning to face the onslaught.

Spike leapt in front of her. “Are you crazy!? You can’t stop that!”

She pushed him to the side. “I can. It just requires a sacrifice.” Twilight took the sword in her magic, tossed it into the air a couple times, caught it, then slammed it into the ground, driving it into the soil all the way up to the hilt.

Spike slapped his forehead. “What!? Here!? We’ll never survive that blast! And even if you do, Luna’s going to kill you if you keep blowing up her swords!”

Twilight’s horn flared to life, sending magenta sparks all over and around her, putting up a thin shield around them, leaving the sword just outside. “Oh ye of little faith, number one assistant. Give me a count.”

Spike groaned, but it was almost entirely drowned out by the roar of the coming ice. “Another explosion isn’t what’s needed here!”

The dragon exhaled and began counting while Twilight continued to push magic into her horn, kicking up wind and dust from the sheer pressure of the magic. “Count, Spike! I’m not used to using this much magic yet!”

“One, two, three…”

The Grand Mage watched the oncoming wall of water until count three, then shifted her gaze to the sword.

“Four, five, six…”

Technically she was well beyond six. With Spike’s help counting, she could reasonably figure out how much magic she had summoned into her horn without wasting time thinking about it. It left her free to concentrate.

“Seven… eight… hurry-up-nine!”

Her eyes fixated right on the gem in the sword. The fire blade she blew up earlier shot lava, sulphur, and other flammables over an area the size of half a hoofball field in its detonation. The lightning blade caused a small, short-lived lightning storm.

“Ten! Eleve—”

Twilight cut him off and let loose all the magic she had pulled into her horn. The shield didn’t so much as shimmer as the beam phased right through it and into the center of the gem which blazed with light, crackling and hissing under the strain. Horn empty, she dove on top of Spike, pushing him down to the ground and covering him with her body.

Raging purple and blue light blasted right through her eyelids as the blade detonated just before the ice hit, and Twilight knew what was coming. She didn’t let up for a second, and in fact hunkered down even harder from the sheer sound of the cored weapon exploding.

It was one thing when a cored weapon was rendered inert by cutting its leylines or warping the gem as to be unusable. This, however, was overpowering it and then letting loose all of its magic in one single destructive instant, generating a sound blast akin to a huge bomb. Wind, heat, and a thunderous, near-deafening BOOM roared into and past them, covering them in ambient magic and kicked-up dirt and dust.

Then, just like that, it was all over.

When Twilight finally let herself look up, there was a cracking mass of barriers all around her, redirecting the cryoclastic flow around them. The multi-colored barriers towered into the sky in a titanic cylinder. There was no rhyme or reason as to how they were laid out. Rather, the hundreds of shields intersected each other all over the place, like a honeycomb warped by chaos magic. Instead of blasting the pair apart or cutting them to pieces, the barriers that struck Twilight’s shield merged into it, never penetrating.

Shortly after the ice passed, the shields crumbled and shattered into pieces, splintering and dissolving as they fell to the earth.

Twilight tapped her own barrier, shattering it, too. “A shield made solely with magic meant to link with other barriers. Shiny taught me that trick. Guess we’re lucky it worked on such a huge scale.”

Spike groaned again and slowly got to his feet. “Okay, so, I guess another explosion was what was called for here. Ugh.”

“My, my, my. Another sword, Twilight? What am I going to do with you?” Luna rested her chin on the edge of the cloud, looking down at the scene unfolding.

“Hey, she stopped it, didn’t she?”

Luna turned and looked at the bound pegasus beside her on the cloud. Rainbow Dash was still struggling against the magical restraints, if fruitlessly. The barrier shards wrapped around her glittered and shone with each new twitch. “True, she did. But I don’t think I’ll give her a replacement this time. She needs to learn more strategies outside of huge explosions, despite that fact that I’m quite the fan of them myself.”

Rainbow struggled a bit more. “You know, you didn’t need to trap me.”

Luna ruffled her wings a bit. “Of course I did! I ordered my soldiers to stay back on the island and let those two deal with things on their own. I trust in their loyalty to me. But, such orders to you would have been irrelevant. By personality and oath, you are loyal to Twilight, even over me. Hence, I restrained you. Although if you were to stop struggling, it wouldn’t be quite so uncomfortable.”

“I can’t help it!” She thrashed a bit more. “I hate being trapped! I’m a pegasus! We aren’t supposed to be tied down like this!”

“True,” Luna conceded, sitting up and turning back to watch the scene below. “But I am afraid you shall have to deal with it a little while longer. There are more lessons I must teach her without your aid.”

“Hmph.”

Luna stifled a laugh at the pegasus’ pouting. Oh, this all takes me back to those coliseum days. What was it that my master always said? Other than ‘Give me stronger wine or I’ll toss your head to the crowd as a party favor.’ Heh. Then there was that ti—”

Luna’s mind went to another place for just an instant, her vision getting darker, but lurched back when her left leg gave out completely, dropping her to the cloud. No, heavens above, not now! Please!

“Luna?”

The Princess could only barely tell who was speaking. The cyan pegasus sounded, as if she were being smothered, or was underwater. Her left eyelid started to close of its own accord, and her vision got even darker, like it was turning to night already. No, no, no! I thought I was done with this!

“Luna! Hey! What’s wrong!?”

The alicorn’s other left leg gave out, forcing her to list to her side. Grunting and fighting what was coming with her good legs, she twisted her body for a clear look at Rainbow, then charged her horn as much she could in her state. She fired a beam at the shards holding the pegasus down, shattering them. With her last breath, she tried to speak and give her a command.

Yet she heard nothing, and the pegasus vanished into the distance while the world bled away to black.

Rainbow Dash dove, desperate to catch up. The wind wasn’t what was fighting her. Wind was something she was used to. Something she was a part of. This was something altogether different. Luna’s limp body had fallen right off the cloud after destroying her restraints, yet she couldn’t catch the Princess no matter how hard she tried.

But it wasn’t from the wind.

Luna’s body wasn’t just falling. It was enveloped in crackling lightning, raging magic streams, and white and black bursts of light. Each one lashed out like it was looking for her. If even one of them hit, she was toast.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Rainbow yelled as loud as she could, but it was no use. Her friend was much, much too far away to hear her. She could only hope she noticed in time.

“Well, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, how about you?” Spike cracked his knuckles.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “It’s not like Luna to keep us waiting this long. Ow!” Twilight held up her hooves, recoiling as something seared her skin like a hot frying pan. When it didn’t last more than a second, she froze in place and cracked open an eye, finding no burns on her at all. “What in the world…”

“Twilight! Look!”

She turned her gaze upwards towards where Spike was pointing, and gasped.

A hot, blazing ball of magic with crackling lightning was falling right towards the side of the volcano, with a rainbow-streaked pegasus chasing after it but backing up each time she got close.

“Luna… Spike, stay back!”

“But—”

Twilight took off like a cheetah, letting her legs do the talking and rushing into the ice, mush, and snow the “volcano” left behind. Her hooves slipped and slid, twisting her barrel around, but onward she pressed towards the falling comet.

She was too late.

The Princess of the Night plowed into the ground like a meteorite, sending smoke, dust, ice, and snow flying with a thunderous *CRASH* and knocking Twilight back on her rear.

“Luna!? Luna!” Frigid, choking smoke and ice filled her lungs as she yelled, forcing her to cough and hack while the sound and light died down. Slipping on the snow, she brought herself back to her hooves and pushed forward. Though she couldn’t see anything yet, she could feel the upwards slope of a recently formed crater. “Luna, are you okay!?”

“Twilight!” A strong wind came from above, clearing out a lot of the particulate matter in the air near them. In its place, a rainbow-maned pegasus flew around in circles, searching. “Twilight! There you are! Where’s Luna!? What in the hay happened!?”

“I have no idea!” Twilight jumped up, climbing up and over into the crater’s depression. “We’ve got to make sure she’s alright! We’re Celestia-only-knows how far away from civilization. Without her to teleport us, we’ll never get home!”

“Wait up, guys!” Spike called out.

Twilight could hear his footsteps march up behind her, but she pressed forward, sliding down towards the center of the mess while Rainbow overhead kept clearing out the sky with her magic. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for.

“Whoa, what the hell is that!?”

“Rainbow!” Twilight snapped despite herself. The outburst was justified. There, in front of them, was an unsealed Princess Luna, unconscious on the ground. Covering her was some kind of black mesh netting. It glistened a little, but still looked burned and twisted.

“Is she alright?” Spike asked.

Rainbow flew down and put her ear on the Princess’s chest. “Well, she’s breathing, so there’s that. Doesn’t even look like she was hurt. Except, she kind of looks like—”

“Don’t say it, Rainbow.” Twilight cut her off while examining the substance on the night alicorn. I don’t know if Luna would want me sharing this secret, but at this point, it’s already out. “She’s not the Nightmare. This is Luna. The real Luna. She seals away her power so she can look smaller and more approachable. The seal must’ve broke when, well, all this happened. Whatever ‘this’ is.”

Rainbow landed and sat down next to them, and just stared. “Whoa.”

Spike leaned over and pulled off a piece of whatever was on her coat. “I suppose that makes sense. I can see how looking like this could make ponies nervous.” His voice cracked a little. “I mean, I’m fine, but who knows what others would think.” His voice cracked even more before picking up a piece of the black substance. “Anypony know what this stuff is?”

Twilight shook her head, picking up a piece of it in her magic. “No clue, honestly. I wish I could get it back to my lab and… Hey!”

The ‘stuff,’ whatever it was, defied Twilight’s need for knowledge by spontaneously dissolving into the air.

“Oh, that’s just not fair!” She stomped a hoof. “That was our only clue, and now it’s just up and dissolving away like magic!”

Spike started to try to lift the Princess up. “I’m guessing that’s ‘cause it’s magic.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“What? It’s the truth!” Spike was still trying to push the unconscious alicorn into a standing position. “Give me a hoof, will ya?”

Twilight didn’t even have time to try it before the comatose body flopped to the ground with a ‘flomp,’ limp wings sprawled out to the sides.

“Crap,” Spike shrugged, giving up.

Rainbow took to the air again, hovering over them. “Okay, let me get this straight. We’ve got a princess who has spontaneously knocked herself out, crashed into a mountain, is our only way home, we have no idea when or if she’ll wake up, and the only clue Twilight had to solving this just disappeared into the ether like Pinkie Pie when… well, like Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight sighed and sat down. “That about covers it.”

“So what do we do?” Spike asked.

She opened her mouth and stalled. “I… I don’t know.” The sounds of two more ponies galloping came from behind them, and Twilight continued. “But they might!”

“Sovereign!”

Twilight wasn’t quite sure which one that was, but regardless both of them soon leapt over the crater’s edge and slid right down to their Princess’s side.

Rainbow zoomed in near them. “We didn’t do anything, I swear!”

The two stallions ignored her, going to examine the Princess. After just a couple of seconds, Starward spoke. “What are you three doing just sitting here? Help us get our Sovereign out of this hole! We need to get her someplace comfortable!”

Twilight narrowed her focus on the stallion. “So you do know what’s going on. Care to share?”

He charged right up at her. “Later. Right now we need to take care of her!”

Twilight thought for a moment, not letting her face so much as flinch in front of him, but could find no alternative. “Very well.”

Several hours later, Luna had long since been laid on a makeshift bed of sand and leaves while she slept off the mysterious affliction, watched over at each side by her Night Guards. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, and the warm tropical air was replaced with a cold chill thanks to the eruption of ice. The ponies all sat near the fire, with the dragon even closer, warming his hands.

“Any messages, Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Nothin’,” he said, poking the fire with a stick.

“Doesn’t Princess Celestia normally respond to your letters a lot faster?” Rainbow scratched her head.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, she does. Usually. Sometimes she can’t, though, and we know she’s been very busy lately. It’s not time to panic just yet. Although I’d be a lot more comfortable if Starward here would tell us what’s going on.”

The stallion sighed, half growling. “I told you. My oath prevents me from sharing details. All I can tell you is that the Sovereign is healthy and will wake soon.”

“You said ‘soon’ hours ago.” Rainbow groaned, rolling over. “You mind telling us what ‘soon’ means?”

The entire group froze in shock as the Princess finally began to stir, groaning a little.

“When she is ready. Arcane, aid me.” Starward got up and put his hoof under the Princess, while Arcane Edge did the same, both of them helping her up and supporting her with their shoulders.

“Ugh. NNnnnnngggg… What…” Luna’s wings twitched but otherwise stayed limp. She was clearly trying to lift her head, but all of her standing force was being supplied by her two Night Guard soldiers lifting her with more care than Twilight thought they were capable of.

She inched closer to the Princess, followed shortly by her own guards. “Princess Luna? Are you okay?”

“Wha? Whossa…” Luna lifted her head with a flop, her ethereal mane in the way of one of her eyes. The other opened and its pupil flailed open and closed, until finally settling down. “Twilight?”

She bowed, and signaled her friends to do so, too, at the behest of her old habits. “Yes, Princess.”

Her leg lifted up again and again, each time falling back to Starward’s shoulder, and eventually slipped off and to the ground. “No, no bowing, no…” The rest of the alicorn followed the leg, causing the two Guardsponies to rush to try and pull her back up.

“Princess?” Twilight lifted a hoof.

“No!” Luna’s legs flailed upside-down, struggling to roll her over onto her belly. “No bowing! Don’t… Don’t help me up. I’ll—” Her own yawn interrupted her. “I’ll be okay. Just... Give me a few minutes.”

Twilight’s ears went flat against the back of her head. A glance over at Rainbow revealed she was doing her best to look at everything not Luna, and failing. “Um, okay. We’ll wait for you.”

The next several minutes Twilight and the others sat in silence as Luna twitched and borderline-convulsed, flexing limbs seemingly at random. Eventually, the Princess was finally in a tenable position, laying down but with her legs under her and her head held high. “I think… I think I’m okay now.”

Twilight could see the lump in Luna’s throat being swallowed down. “You don’t have to rush, Princess.”

The night alicorn deflated a bit. “Don’t call me that, Twilight. I much prefer ‘Luna,’ especially coming from you. I don’t like that distance between us.”

She lowered her head. “Sorry. Old Canterlot habits. When a superior noble is sick, you’re supposed to lower yourself to not look above them.”

“Then do not consider me superior!”

Twilight’s neck lurched back from the sheer force of Luna’s voice.

Luna was frozen in place for a second, jaw grinding her teeth, before she opened her eyes and stared at her nervously.

“Um,” Twilight began.

Luna collapsed to the ground and covered her ears with her hooves. “Ugh. Forgive me, Twilight. These episodes always leave me a bit… Well, I think my sister used the term ‘wonky.’”

“Uh, about that.” Rainbow held up a hoof. “What exactly happened back there? You kinda passed out.”

Luna drearily looked over at Rainbow, and then back at her own body, and then to Spike, then back to her own body, and finally back to Twilight. “Damn. I suppose you explained about my seal?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t know if you would have wanted me to tell them, but since they saw…”

“Right. Well, at least I don’t have to explain that part.” She sighed and laid down, gazing into the fire. “Twilight, Rainbow, Spike, how much do you three really know about what the Elements did to me?”

Twilight looked over to Rainbow, who now looked every bit as nervous as Twilight felt. “Well, um, Celestia said they, erm, cleansed you?”

Luna snorted. “‘Cleansed’ is a far, far more gentle term than I would use. That makes it sound like a bath. The Elements are not so gentle. They all but destroyed me.”

Twilight looked over at Rainbow again, who was biting her hoof.

“This is not to say that I am not grateful for what you have done,” Luna continued as her two guards moved closer to lay at her sides, supporting her physically once again. “I am eternally indebted to you and your friends for your actions. But I didn’t emerge from that a whole mare. The Elements did more than just break my armor. They broke my mind, and nearly blew out my wellspring. A shattered mess, only barely able to remember who and what I was, I clung to my sister like a foal to a teat because the only memories I had were of her. She took care of me, helped put my mind back together, and forgave me.”

A lone tear fell to the sand under the diarch. “I owe her more than I can ever repay. She fought tooth and hoof to give me my small Night Guard because she knew my secret. I did not hide away in my chambers because I was shy before the Council and the nobles. I could not care less about what they think of me. I hid because I was weak, not in resolve, but in mind and body. Little things I would experience brought back so many memories. Thousands of years to relive and remember, all locked away and hidden in the back of my own mind. Sometimes, they come so fast, it overwhelms me. So I fall asleep, and dream. When I wake, I feel different. More whole, sometimes, but different, always. Like I’m a somewhat different mare, living many years in but a night.”

The Princess lifted her wings, placing them on her two stallions, and stretching them out. “Do you want to know why I wasn’t at your brother’s wedding, Twilight? The real reason I couldn’t be there to help? I was asleep. Not by choice, but all the same. Napping. Dreaming of things I once knew long ago, and physically locked away by my meager Night Guard to protect me at my most vulnerable hour.”

Twilight swallowed in her dry throat. “Celestia told me you were investigating a threat in Manehattan. She… She lied to me.”

Luna shook her head. “Probably not, actually. Although she would not have have told you this full truth regardless, I did go to Manehattan to do that very thing, but something triggered a memory. This triggered another, and another, until I was overwhelmed by my own mind, entering REM sleep in mere seconds. As here.”

Twilight stood up, stretching her back. “That, honestly makes me feel a little better. At least in some ways. I think I understand why you don’t go to the 'front lines' much, though.”

Luna sneered a bit, but Twilight could tell it wasn’t at her. The Princess was more directing it to herself.

“Yes. Falling asleep in a battle is not how I plan to die. Of course, as an alicorn, that isn’t something I do much planning on, but if I must go, that would not be the way I desire.”

Spike sat up, rotating his shoulder. “Yeah, I can understand the feeling. Still doesn’t explain what that black stuff was, though.”

Luna blinked. “Black stuff?”

“Yeah, there was this weird, black, web-netting stuff on you after you landed in the crater. Sorry about not catching you, by the way.” Rainbow flapped her wings. “You were, like, going crazy with magic and I couldn’t get close.”

Luna blinked again. “‘Weird, black, web-netting stuff.’ I’m not sure what you mean.”

Twilight cleared her throat and started to explain. “It looked like black, burned plastic, but was more brittle, and the surface was smoother than I would have thought. Somewhat reflective, and it dissolved about a minute after impact.”

Luna clopped a hoof on the ground. “Oh! That must have been Lumina deploying a little to protect me.”

“Lumina?” Twilight and Spike asked at the same time.

The Princess tapped the blue gem in the center of her gray-white torc. “My torc. My bonded armor, Lumina.”

“That’s its name?” Rainbow flew up a little for a closer look at the torc.

Luna nodded. “Yes. Each bonded artifact has a name. Often they choose it themselves. Twilight, has your torc contacted you yet?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not yet. Should it have?”

Luna shrugged. “Probably, but there’s no helping it. For all we know it may just have a shy personality. Keep trying.” She looked up at the sky, and the sun setting through the frigid volcanic ‘smoke.’ “I believe it’s time I raised the moon.”

Rainbow flew back into a hover. “Whoa, um, is that a good idea? I mean, in your state—”

“I have been raising the moon for nearly nine thousand years, Rainbow.” Luna stood up and spread her wings, flaring out the smooth, nearly-black feathers.

“Yes, but I’ve raised the moon, too,” Twilight protested. “I know I would not be in any state to use that spell just yet given what I’ve seen.”

Luna smirked a little. “That is not my spell for raising the moon. That was a heavily-modified version of the original spell unicorns used to use, altered so that a single ascendant would be enough. Mine is more… instinctive, at this point. I will be fine. For afterwards, I suggest you all prepare yourselves. We are not yet done today.”

Rainbow, Spike, and Twilight all shared a shudder, but the dragon hunched over as well, gripping his stomach. With a loud burp, a scroll formed from the flames he belched.

“From the Princess?” Twilight asked. “It’s been a while since we sent the message. What’s it say?”

Spike unfurled the scroll and coughed a bit. “Ugh. That one kinda hurt. Ahem. Basically, it’s saying that Luna will be fine, just watch over her, and that not to worry about taking care of the moon. Princess Celestia says she’ll do it.”

The Lunar Princess sighed. “I hate it when I have to lean on her for this. I feel like some kind of coward, hiding behind my soldiers and letting others do the work I should be. Oh well, can’t be helped.”

Spike raised a hand. “Um, she also says that Trail Blazer didn’t check in when he was supposed to and wants to know if she should dispatch a... Wonderbolt SAR. What’s an SAR?”

“Search And Rescue,” Rainbow answered. “If she’s going right for that, they’re either in deep trouble or crazy far away.”

Luna tapped her silver-clad hoof on her lip. “Hmmm…”

“Alright, Pipsqueak! This is it!”

The earth pony bit his lip as they dangled high in the air on a rickety rope bridge. Rumbling Steel had him cornered. In the unicorn’s magic was the object of three months of searching: a lost artifact of gold and rubies made before Discord ravaged the world. A lost, magical, highly unstable and explosive artifact. Worse, Steel also had a cored cannon aimed right at him.

“Here’s what’s going to happen!” Rumbling Steel shouted in his native Trottingham accent, the same type he left behind so long ago. “You’re going to message the Princess—”

“I can’t do that! We’re out of range! It’s limited by—”

“Don’t lie to me, earth pony, I can see through your games!”

He rolled his eyes. This guy wasn’t going to listen. His flare was one-time-use only, and he was way too far away from a leyline for it to reach his mentor.

“You will message Princess Luna and tell her that if she doesn’t hand over her torc, I’m going to turn this into an unparalleled bomb and set it off in downtown Manehatten! If you don’t, I’ll start sending her pieces of you instead!”

“Wait, you’re going to try to hold hostages? Against Princess Luna?” He laughed deep from his belly. This guy is completely off his rocker! The earth pony lifted his sword with his mouth, and cut one of the ropes on the bridge.

“What are you doing?”

He spit the sword out. “Hey, if we’ve got to go, this way’s a lot more pleasant than what Luna would do to you! And by the way, the name’s Trail Blazer!” He picked up the sword again, and sliced through the remaining ropes.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Luna reassured Spike with a pat on his head. “My little Pip is quite resourceful.”

Rainbow threw up her hooves. “Wait, time out! Pip!? As in, the little earth pony colt!?”

The Princess let out a belly laugh, her jovial voice rattling the heavens themselves. “Oh my, yes. ‘Little earth pony colt.’ He calls himself ‘Trail Blazer’ now. If only you could see him, Rainbow Dash. He has grown into a most impressive earth pony stallion.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Really? I haven’t seen him in ages.”

Luna peered right into Twilight’s eyes with a piercing, knowing glare. “I daresay he might even stir you a little, ascendant. He is, well, I believe the mare travelling with him described him as ‘a chiseled god.’”

“Heh. Sounds like quite the fan-filly,” Rainbow mused, stretching herself out.

Luna nodded. “Indeed, but she is good for him, I think. Her name is Scootaloo.”

An iceberg worth of silence dropped right on the heads of Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike. Mouths open, eyes wide, and Rainbow even fell over on her side.

Luna put her ears back. “Oh my. It seems I forgot something important.”

Silence still reigned over the trio as if a mad Celestia had stolen everypony’s voice, along with their ability to move.

“Huh.” Luna smirked a bit. “Starward, it appears our Grand Mage has stopped breathing. Please go give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

Twilight instantly snapped out of it. “Scootaloo said that!?”

“Wait, you said Scootaloo...” Spike held his hands out and then pointed off to his side like there was a past version of Ponyville there. “As in the same Scootaloo that tore through Ponyville on a scooter on a regular basis desperate to find her cutie mark and, more often than not, wound up covered in tree sap?”

Luna shrugged. “I have heard some tales of these exploits, yes. I am afraid I forgot that she had wanted me to not reveal her whereabouts to you all. A promise I have now broken. These memory dreams always mix me up a little. I shall have to make it up to her.”

“Scootaloo’s in trouble!?” Rainbow finally snapped out of it and flew right up to Luna. “Why didn’t you say so!? I need to go after her! She’s—”

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled before running over and pulling her down. “Relax! She’s an adult by now. I doubt she’s in that much trouble.”

Tears started flowing down the pegasus’ face like someone turned on a faucet. “You don’t understand, Twi! I finally know where she is! Well, sort of. I need to talk to her! I—”

“Rainbow Dash.” Luna’s deeper voice cut through the conversation like death’s scythe, ending the former Wonderbolt’s words as the alicorn stood over them. “Give her time. Allow her to come to you. I know this mare, this filly, and she knows me. She knows she could see you anytime she’s ready. I am aware there is some level of heartache for her in regards to Ponyville, and she needs to heal from it before that will happen. In the meantime, as she is... infatuated with the pony who is, at this moment, my student, she is under my protection, and will be as long as she is so connected to my Pip. Understand?”

Rainbow was looking right into Luna’s eyes, and Twilight couldn’t help but look, too. The Princess’s eyes weren’t quite the vertical slits of the Nightmare, but there was a determination and cutting presence to them that sent chills up her spine all the same.

The pegasus wiped her eyes, leaned into Twilight, and nodded.

Twilight sighed, embracing her friend in a hug before pressing Luna on something she had said. “Princess, you said something about Pip being your student? I think Celestia told me something about you teaching him archeology.”

Luna looked off into the distance. “Mmm. Yes. I secretly took him on as a student long ago. Secret because I did not wish to deal with the Council and their blathering about him not being a noble. They eventually found out anyway, but it was still hushed. I decided to teach him history because he loved my stories so. He’s on an archaeological expedition for me. I managed to find evidence of some ruins that predate Discord’s reign.”

Pre-Discordian ruins!? Pre-Discordian ruins! Do they have intact magic samples? I bet I could learn a lot from the architecture of— Twilight shook her head quickly, shoving the thought off to the side, although a large part of her didn’t want to. After all, Pre-Discordian Ruins! No, bad Twilight. Something else is important here.

“Princess,” Twilight started, staring at her. “You said ‘at this moment.’ Does taking me as a student mean you have to drop him?”

Luna looked back at her, seemingly only half paying attention. “Drop? What, oh! No! No, Twilight. I’m not ‘dropping’ him, he’s graduating.”

Twilight jolted back a bit, dragging a stressed Rainbow Dash with her a little. “Graduating? I thought you two took students for their whole lives. Well, I suppose not if they turn into alicorns, but still. Has he really learned all he can from you?”

Luna shook her head. “I could still teach him, true, but he’s going to learn more on his own. I will still guide him and give him ‘assignments’ of sorts, but they will instead be official commissions as an archeologist of the crown. Also, I am not like my sister, Twilight. You should not assume. Celestia takes students for their whole life. I do not. Besides, this move will change little for him. He is still my Pip, no matter what he calls himself, and he’s mostly been on his own lately anyway. Thus, this is necessary, as it is a recognition he deserves. Understand?”

Twilight nodded, smiling. “Yeah, that makes sense I suppose. Are you sure you don’t want to send a rescue party though? Maybe to make Rainbow feel better?”

She couldn’t help but notice her friend look up at the Princess with doe eyes. Heh. Maybe she actually did learn a few things from being friends with Rarity.

Luna sighed. “Very well, I shall send out a pair of my Night Guards. I do not wish to embarrass him with a full rescue. Honestly, you all should feel more worry for anything that’s trying to give him trouble.”

“Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!”

Trail Blazer rolled his eyes. Always so dramatic. He chuckled and put his hooves up to his mouth, taking in a deep breath from the air rushing past them as they fell. “Hey, Steel!”

He watched him carefully as the old stallion turned and flopped around in the free-fall to look at him, and just as he made eye contact, Trail Blazer gave the curmudgeon a wave. A second later, a pair of orange hooves grabbed him, halting his descent almost entirely.

“Ooof! Celestia, you’re heavy!” His savior grunted, losing some of her breath. “And when are you going to learn that someday I might not be able to catch your sorry flank!”

He gave Scootaloo a smile. “Oh come on, you’ve never let anything stop you before. I don’t expect you ever will. Hey, you think that artifact will survive?”

Light, fire, and the thunder of a dozen storms ripped through the air, knocking over many of the tropical trees below them and nearly causing Scootaloo to lose her grip.

“Heh. Guess not.” He grabbed onto her back just below the shoulders. “Think you can set us down over that way?”

“Not on your life!” she grunted in reply. “I can barely keep us in the air. Stunted wings, remember? Fight gravity, or go forward. Not both.”

“Alright, alright. Just keep us out of the fire, and we’ll make a run for your scooter.”

Luna’s warm smile grew, though it looked somewhat odd on her unsealed self. “I’m honestly not worried about them. They’ll be fine.”

Rainbow wiped away another tear. “I just…”

Twilight held her friend close. “Princess, Scootaloo was... is... special to Rainbow. She ran away from Ponyville before she even got her cutie mark. We’d heard she was still alive. She sent letters from time to time, but they never said where she was. Could you give us, or at least Rainbow, some time here? It’s a bit much to absorb.”

Luna pointed at Twilight with a wing. “And yet, you seem to be handling it admirably. That is good. It speaks of your ascension. However, there will be times when you do not get such a reprieve. Hence, I shall give you ten minutes. After that, however…”

The Princess of the Night leaned in close. “You’re mine.”

Author's Note

Hey all! Lots of stuff to say in this here box this time!

** First of all, I’m STILL not settled on Pip’s new name, so I’m going to let you guys sway me a little here. (Even the editing team is split.) Which would you prefer: “Trailblazer” or “El Dorado”? Or, if you have something even better, feel free to suggest that! Let me know in the comments! This has been driving me nuts for over a year! X)

Second, there are still technically a few outstanding comments from the editors in the original doc. Expect minor changes. (Nothing particularly huge story wise, of course, but wording improvements and specific detail changes are bound to happen.)

Third, I’m hoping I’ll be able to get another chapter out before the end of the year, but that may or may not happen. I’m not certain just yet.

Fourth, writing pace has slowed significantly, but this is expected after PonyWriMo, and the editing pace is proceeding decently. It’s not like I don’t have a huge backlog. ;) But, I will try to pick up with some more new words soon.

Fifth, a couple of heretofore completely unmentioned “side stories” are nearing postable status. (These aren’t the ones in the word count box.) These are nothing like Designing Intrigue and will technically be in the NON-CANON EU, but they should prove fun, so keep an eye out. :) Timeframe? Basically whenever Violet manages to get me some cover art. But, she’s rather busy, so it could potentially be a while. The good news is that since these are NON-canon EU, I don’t need as much planning or editing. Also… Well, you’ll see. ;)

Sixth, wow is it painful looking at the old chapters. But, I plan on doing so to refresh them editing wise and make them at least formatted as nice as the recent chapters have been. Once they’re all done I’ll post them all at once. With very few, specific exceptions, which I’ll point out in a story-wide blog post, expect no significant story changes. Just formatting and some wording. For any chapter with significant changes, I'll make a backup gDoc of the original and link it in the author's notes.

That’s about all I have for now. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :)

Brothers and Sisters in The Tides of Time

Spike trudged up the towering, mountainous staircase leading to the Princesses’ private chambers. It had been months since he started training with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. During that time, they’d been teleported all over Equestria and beyond. Princess Luna was an utterly brutal trainer. When they thought they were safe, they were ambushed in surprise attacks. When they failed to look up, they were bombed by pegasus golems. Even lunch wasn’t safe! A fateful plate of sandwiches had been sabotaged with a laxative. While the team suffered the effects, Luna simply asked them what they would have done had it been poison. The worst part, though? Luna had kept that little playful smirk the entire time, never getting angry once.

It was fun for her.

Figures that the Princess of the Night is a sadist, he thought, finally getting to the top of the stairs and halting to catch his breath. Climbing hills and stairs wasn’t that hard for ponies, even when they didn’t have wings. For bipeds like himself, though, it was another story. Going from the general dorms for the workers on the ground level to the highest towers in Canterlot was a serious trek. Normally Twilight came downstairs to see him, but this time she had specifically asked him to join her in Celestia’s room.

Stretching and arching his back, which was tonight blissfully free of his armor, he trod heavily down the hall. A few more steps and he’d be past the hall to Luna’s chambers and at the golden double doors to the elder alicorn’s quarters.

“Hey, Spike!”

He stopped in his tracks and stood for a moment while his mind caught up to what was happening. Somepony had called his name. He felt he should probably do something about this, starting with looking at them. Whether or not he’d be able to do anything more remained to be seen.

Looking over, he spotted a rather stressed-looking Shining Armor. Even his uniform looked unkempt, which was quite unlike him.

Spike stared at him for a moment in silence. Then, his mind caught up a little. Oh, right. I need to respond. “Hey, Shining. What’s up?”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “You look like crap. Luna must have really run you guys ragged.”

“Goes both ways, man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen bags under your eyes like that before.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I’d rather go back to boot than deal with these politicians. That’s not important, though. Can I talk to you real quick? Over here. I need to ask you something.”

Spike shrugged and followed him down the hall to Luna’s room a little before stopping at a tiny door off to the side. It definitely wasn’t one of the royal chambers. What is this? Some kind of secret bedroom for— Oh. Janitorial closet. Right.

Shining shut the door behind them and put some sort of spell over it. “Alright. I know Twilight asked you up, so I’m not going to keep you too long. I just need you to promise you’ll do something for me.”

He scratched his head. “What do you need?”

“Look. I’m a very powerful unicorn. But Twilight? She’s… She’s beyond me in ways I can barely even imagine. Her mind? She—” He started to laugh and chuckle even as he wiped away a tear. “She was reading college-level stuff by the time she was seven. Might’ve been even earlier had we put it in front of her soon enough.” He sighed. “Sorry. Sorry, I’m rambling.”

He stopped, frozen in place for a few second before grabbing Spike by the shoulders and taking a deep breath. “If, somehow, miraculously, everything went perfectly from here on out, I’d have a hundred years left. Of that, maybe seventy I’d be healthy enough to protect her. That’s it. Even if she never gets to a single summit, she’ll never age again. And I’m not going to be able to be there to protect her like she needs to be. Rainbow won’t either. But you will!”

He leaned in close, looking Spike right in the eyes. “She needs someone to keep an eye on her. I need you to promise me that you’ll be there for her. Look after her, keep her safe.”

Spike rotated and fidgeted with his foot. “Technically, I’m not in her Guard yet. This was a trial period. I was hoping she’d be telling me one way or another tonight.”

Shining shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I know her better than even Celestia. She’ll never leave you behind. She’s going to tell you about all kinds of precautions and how she doesn’t want you to have to fight, but ultimately, she’ll want you nearby. What I need from you is that promise.”

Spike gave the stallion a long, hard look. Shining wasn’t the kind of pony to reveal everything on his mind. He was straightforward with what he wanted to say and guarded everything else under the strictest confidence. All Spike could gather was that there was an excruciatingly heavy weight on Shining’s mind. Everything else was left to the wildest of guesses.

Despite all that, there was only one answer he could have given to such a request. “I’m surprised you even thought you had to ask. On my honor, I’ll protect her, ‘til my dying breath.” He crossed his heart as he finished repeating one of the Royal Guard’s creeds.

Shining relaxed almost to the point of melting. “Thank you. I needed to hear that. I won’t keep you any longer. I think we both need some sleep. I know I have a hell of a day coming tomorrow.”

Spike patted him on the shoulder while they left. “Yeah. Can’t say I envy you. At least our training with Luna is supposed to end tomorrow. Politics goes on forever.”

“You have no idea. Oh, and Spike?”

“Yeah?”

Shining deflated a little more and lowered his voice. “Please, don’t tell Twilight what we talked about.”

“Not a problem,” Spike whispered back.

A tiny smile grew on the stallion’s face. “Well, goodnight. I’m beat.”

“‘Night!” Spike waved goodbye to Shining as the stallion walked down the tairs, then turned back to walk down the little hall to the doors of Celestia’s chambers. Well, here’s hoping he’s right. He reached out to knock, but the door opened with a purple shimmer before he even had a chance.

“Come on in, Spike,” he heard Twilight say through the slightly open door.

He had gotten Shining’s assurances and mostly believed them, but that didn’t mean his heart would stop pounding. Making matters worse, each step caused another jolt of pain in his feet, but he kept moving forward towards her. She was sitting down on the balcony overlooking the Duchy, with a light blanket over her body and a cup of tea next to her books.

When he finally got there and sat down, his feet rejoiced like they’d just won freedom after a long prison sentence. Sometimes ponies really don’t know how good they have it with their hooves.

Twilight carefully set down the book she was reading on top of the neatly organized stack then scribbled some notes on parchment. How she still managed to have energy after all that had happened that day, Spike would never know. Several long moments passed between them in silence, dissolving into the slightly breezy mountain air.

She took another drink of her tea and finally spoke. “I’ve decided to welcome you into my Honor Guard.”

Spike did a remarkable impression of Shining Armor from a minute ago, exhaling and melting into the ground. “Whew…”

“There will, however, be some caveats,” she said over another sip.

“Yeah. I figured.” He leaned back into the pillar at the edge of the balcony, letting his back relax. Shining really does know her. “Hit me.”

“Careful, Spike. You never know when Luna is listening!” She winked at him.

“Don’t remind me.” Oh, he’d learned that lesson the hard way. They all had.

Twilight laughed politely. “It was a good lesson—if painful. Then again, it appears all of her lessons are painful. I’m grateful to her, truly, but I feel it will be a long time before I ask her to teach me anything involving fighting ever again.”

Spike rubbed his ankles. “Yeah. I’m about ready to cut off my feet. Put them out of their misery.”

“Well, don’t get too relieved. We still have one more day.”

“Once again, don’t remind me.”

They shared a small chuckle but quickly gave way to silence again. Time passed, and Luna’s stars began to peek out from the velvet void. It wasn’t until at least two constellations were visible that Spike decided to break the silence.

“Can I ask why you decided to let me stay?”

“Hmmm.”

Twilight’s non-answer wasn’t especially encouraging, but at least he already knew he’d be welcome. That was the hard part, blissfully already done.

Twilight got up and gingerly stepped to the edge of the balcony, resting her forelegs on the rail. “Come here, Spike.”

It took him an extra try, but he managed to force himself up and waddle up to her, also leaning on the railing.

“Take a look out there. Can you see the ponies down in the marketplace? Or the lights of the town in the distance?”

Spike squinted a bit. His eyesight wasn’t as good as a pony’s. Evolution had granted him the ability to see movement better, as well as bright, shiny objects, but distance was another story. Still, there was enough light from the town that he could just barely make it out. “Yeah, I think I see it.”

“We’re pretty high up. Tallest towers of Canterlot. This here? This is how Celestia and Luna see things.”

Spike scratched his head. “What do you mean? This is Celestia’s room! Of course she sees this all the time!”

“I mean metaphorically. I’m talking a matter of perspective.”

“Perspective? Like, being this high up?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not quite. Neither of us are this high up. Only the Princesses are.”

“I’m starting to get confused.”

“It’s like this.” She dropped her head, resting it on her forelegs and looking down. “Imagine that this was a tower that went all the way to the base of the mountain. Ponies spend their lives at the base and, every now and then, enter the tower through a door and climb up a little. As they get older, they climb higher. You and I, we’re really not that far apart from each other in height. Up until now, you’ve been on the same balcony as the rest of us, but you’ve been entering a different door and climbing a different set of stairs.”

Spike was thoroughly lost at this point but let her continue speaking.

“Celestia and Luna are at the top of the tower, up here. They’re so high up I wonder if they ever truly go back down. Luna might. I’m not so sure about Celestia. I honestly never really realized all this until just recently, and for that, I’m so, so sorry Spike. I really am. I can’t believe how insensitive I was to just ignore it all and dismiss it. I should’ve talked to you about it.”

He put a hand on her foreleg. “Hey, I don’t really know what you mean yet, but it’s alright. Really. I’m here, aren’t I?”

Twilight blinked, and he saw some tears roll out of her eyes. “You are. And that’s the whole point, Spike. Now, I’m going in the same door you use. I’m using the same stairs. And someday, we might both be standing on top of the tower. Together.”

“Oh.” The whole meaning hit him like a locomotive, one of the solidified magic-powered ones, too, not the ones drawn by earth ponies. The perspective she was talking about was one of experience, of lifetimes. Up until now, he’d been with other ponies and was very young. There were many ponies older than he was. Yet, he was able to reasonably expect that he would keep going long after they had all passed on. More than that, he had continued on that way essentially by himself. He didn’t think anypony other than Celestia and Luna would still be there with him in the long run. They’d be the only ones able to look out over the same balconies he did.

Moreover, Twilight had been with all the other ponies. She’d had no inkling that she would eventually ascend and join Celestia and Luna at the top of the towers. She probably felt she had left him out in the cold. There was a level of loneliness, but Spike couldn’t blame her for that. For him, it was an inevitable, biological fact. For her, though, it was something else entirely.

Before he could think on it further, she had wrapped her forelegs around him and pulled him in tight. He even could feel a couple of tears rolling down his back.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you to climb those stairs alone. I’m not going to do that again. I can’t. We’re the only two in all of Equestria going in that lonely door. We have to stay together. Can you forgive me?”

He hugged her back. “There’s nothing to forgive. Like I said, I’m always going to be your number one assistant.”

“Thank you.”

By the time the hug finally broke, Spike fell back down on his rump again. He was still exceedingly tired. Yet, he couldn’t help but notice the appearance of a set of colored scrolls. “What are these?” he asked.

“These—” she sniffed “—are important pieces of your new job.”

He picked up the red scroll. It was like thin construction paper. He slid off the black tie, noticing there wasn’t any security spell on them. The reason was obvious when he unfurled it. “It’s blank.”

“That’s the idea. Spike, remember when I described how your mail works?”

He nodded. “Sure. Leylines, magic, that sort of thing.”

She re-rolled the red one in her magic. “Right. Well, the Princesses actually use leylines for teleportation, too. I’m not completely certain, but I’m guessing the range for both is similar. The spells probably use similar principles. But, this means they both have a similar limitation.”

“Let me guess. Since leylines aren’t everywhere, if we’re too far, no help’s coming?”

Twilight beamed with some pride. “Exactly! We won’t be able to call for help, and even if we could, it’d be some time before they arrived. Spike, when we’re on a mission and close to a leyline, I want you to hang back, out of sight.”

He started to deflate a bit at this, but she lifted his chin with a hoof.

“You are going to be my lifeline. Take a look at this.” She raised her horn and lit it up, sending a few sparks from it. These sparks were a different color from her normal magic and didn’t fade away. Instead, they scattered on the ground, one for each color scroll, plus a purple one.

Twilight continued, “When you’re hiding out of sight, I want you to have a clear view of the sky. When I send up a flare, you’re to immediately send the matching scroll. Don’t bother with writing anything, just send them.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “This is so you can get help as fast as possible, isn’t it?”

“Precisely! Although, only two are a call for help. Yellow actually means we’ve encountered a complication and need more time, rather than aid. Green means we’re ‘mission complete’ and heading home. Purple means I need you personally where I’m at; that’s why there’s no scroll for it.”

“So, why the two different colors for getting help?” He lifted the black one to check, and it too was blank. “Seems superfluous.”

Twilight grinned. “Excellent vocabulary use, Spike, but it’s not superfluous. I was talking with Luna and realized that we might one day find that not only am I in over my head but that there could be a lot of ponies that need help. Too many for just myself or even Luna to protect. If things are really that dire, I’ll send up a black flare. If that happens, Spike, I need you to follow rule number one of being in an Honor Guard.”

She leaned in close, her eyes suddenly serious. “First and foremost, if you want to be in my Guard, you have to follow all of my orders without hesitation. I feel you’re ready for that, but this one might be hard. Spike, if I fire a black flare, you need to send the scroll right away and then do one more thing. Run.”

Spike opened his mouth but was cut off before he could speak.

“I know you probably don’t like this, Spike, but—”

“Twilight—”

He was cut off again. “Let me finish. This is important. It took a lot for me to even admit to myself how much I’m going to need you on this journey. I really don’t want to see you hurt, but I also recognized that leaving you would leave you deeply hurt emotionally, and—”

“Twilight—”

Spike bopped her lightly on the head with the black scroll.

Twilight stopped and blinked a few times, one hoof slightly raised in the air in disbelief. “Did you seriously just bop me on the head with a scroll?”

“Twilight, I get it!” He twirled the black one in his hand. “You’re telling me that if you fire a black flare, I should send this thing and get the heck out of Dodge Junction. I get it. I agree with it.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, clearly about to argue with him, but then stopped. “You agree?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Come on, Twi! This thing means you’ve found something so awful that you need Luna and a ton of Royal Guards to save your flank. What exactly am I going to do against something like that?”

He obviously hit a logic nerve in her. “Well, I thought that, um…”

Wow. Twilight speechless. Wish I had a camera. He continued, “Look, the way I see it, I’d just get in Luna’s way. There’s really not much I can do in that situation other than summon help and keep my head down. Maybe send a follow-up scroll later.”

Twilight’s eye twitched a little. “Spike! That is— That’s really mature of you! I’m impressed!”

“Come on, Twi.” He allowed himself a little smirk. “I’m not a hatchling anymore!”

She shook her head. “No, you are not. I guess I have to remind myself of that sometimes. Well, this went smoother than I thought it would.”

Spike stood up and started gathering the scrolls. It was a force of habit to do so at this point. “Yep. And, shoot, worst case scenario, I figure, if you fall, I’ll get sucked into a depression for a few decades, get really super strong, learn some dark draconic magic, and go on a roaring revenge rampage! It’ll be fun!”

She playfully bopped him on the head with the scroll. “You little smart-flank.”

“I know you are, but what am I!?” There was a beat, and the full meaning of what he said hit him. “Oh, wait, I… Nuts.”

“Kinda backfired on you there, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he yawned. “But then, I’m exhausted.”

Twilight stood up. “I hear that. I hear that loud and clear. Why don’t you get to bed, Spike. Knowing Luna, she’s got a hell of a day coming for our last lesson.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” He forced himself up and pushed himself mentally to walk to the door as quick as he could. Sleep was coming! “‘Night Twilight. Thanks for letting me be in your Honor Guard.”

Just before he closed the door behind him, he heard her whisper, “Of course, little bro. Sleep well.”

A little while after Spike left, Twilight winced over and over as she slowly made her way to Celestia’s large bed. Each time one of her hooves pressed against the marble tile, it hurt. Oh, sweet Celestia, did it hurt. At least Spike is lucky enough to only have two feet to worry about.

Shining once described his boot camp, and Twilight hadn’t quite believed they’d run ponies so ragged. There was no doubt in her mind now: he was telling the truth. After all, Luna did say he’d helped influence her ‘lesson plan.’ Only somepony subjected to such tortures would be warped enough to want to put others through it too. At this point, Twilight felt an overwhelming desire to use her new status to advocate for more physical education classes in school.

What was worse was that, throughout their training, Luna was cheating, and she admitted it! She kept changing what the golems were made of, making new ones where Twilight wasn’t looking… The absolute worst part, though, was when she made them look and sound like normal ponies. That was just mean, even if she did understand the reasoning behind it.

On her fifth yawn, she finally made it to the bed and flopped over. For once, she knew this night she shouldn’t be forced out of bed by a foghorn or teleported away and dropped in a lake. The reason behind her confidence was simple; Luna was finally restarting her Night Court. To the best of Twilight’s knowledge, the Princesses couldn’t actually be in two places at once, so she might finally be safe.

Seventeen seconds after crawling into the bed, she jolted awake. At least, she thought she was awake. After another yawn, she sat up and looked around.

Overhead was the night sky or, rather, a night sky. She wasn’t sure which, but it wasn’t Equestria’s. The stars took on every imaginable hue and packed the sky in patterns she’d never seen before. Even the “dim” areas were filled with stars.

Something even more remarkable, though, was the cloud she was on. It was huge. Overcast skies were one thing, but this stretched on as far as she could see. Not only was it enormous, it was blue and sparkly. It positively shimmered in the sun, which was unique too, seeing as the rest of the sky was night. Yet, there was the sun, more than three-quarters of the way under the horizon and looking oddly pinkish-purple.

She watched it hang on the horizon for a moment, bobbing up and down slightly from the shifting surface under her, when she realized something. She was on a sparkling,wavy, blue cloud.

“There is no way at all that I can possibly be awake,” she deadpanned.

“Huzzah! Got it in one! You are, in fact, asleep, Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight went tumbling forward from the sudden volume of the pony that had appeared behind her. With a twist, she righted herself and sat back up. “Hey, Luna. Come to torture me some more?”

Luna held a hoof to her chest in shock. “Twilight, you wound me. I know our training has been vigorous, but ‘tis a necessity! And I thought you might like a chance to just talk instead of getting the runaround from my golems.”

“Talk?” she stressed. “Just talk, no crazy training?”

“Just talk,” the Princess reassured.

She exhaled. “Good to know. Yes, I would be fine with talking. What I would really like to know is: one, where are we exactly, and two, didn’t you have Night Court?”

Luna breathed in through her teeth nervously. “I should answer the latter first. Since the coup, rumors have been flying of my involvement. As in, saying I was behind the whole thing.”

Twilight groaned. Of course ponies would start a rumor like that. “Let me guess, nopony showed up in Court?”

“Not a soul. They all rescheduled. ‘Tis most distressing, but they will calm down eventually. Since it left me with some time, I decided to use dream magic to talk to you. This is one of my dream realms, albeit with one addition.” She pointed a hoof at the sun. “Since you are a guest here, I thought it appropriate to add a special something just for you.”

She put it under the horizon… after my name. “It’s beautiful, Luna.”

The Princess flapped her wings a little. “I’m very glad you like it. After all, it’s probably one of the last dream realms in existence, seeing as this school of magic has died out.”

Twilight’s sleep-deprived mind took a moment to catch up with that statement. She was witnessing a form of magic that nopony had seen in ages.

She started to smile, very slowly.

“Let me guess. You want me to teach you dream magic now, too.” Luna smirked.

Twilight rubbed her hooves together a little bit. “It would be nice…”

“Very well. I shall, but later, after you ascend. It takes a long time to master this, even for one as talented as you, and our focus must be elsewhere. For now…” Luna whipped up a lump of cloud, making it more solid. Then, she made another. “Lie down, on your back, then look up at the stars.”

Twilight shrugged and did as she was told. It was certainly no trouble; after all, she found it quite lovely. The little pinpricks of light were flickering in and out, changing color, even vanishing.

Luna flopped down next to her. “These stars, Twilight, are our ponies. All of them that are dreaming.”

Twilight blinked. “All of them? As in, all ponies, everywhere?”

“Well,” the Princess hesitated. “It is true that my reach only extends so far. Yet, most of Equestria is within that, so, yes, all of them. Although, there is no way of knowing who is who without entering the dreams. Unless they are right upstairs.” She winked. “There was a time, though, when that wasn’t an issue. My ponies rejoiced knowing that I might be able to find them in their nightmares and sooth their minds. I dare not do so now. It would only spark more scandal.”

“Wait wait wait,” Twilight interrupted. “You’re telling me that you can spy on ponies’ dreams? As in, all of Equestria?”

“That is so, yet as I said, I dare not anymore. It is easily possible to know I am there, and my ponies are still frightened of me. Should my enemies ever find out, the rumors they would spread could ruin what little reputation I have for decades to come. Instead, I merely watch this sky. I see the nightmares grow, and it terrifies me. Each time I visit, I can sense it getting worse, yet to what end, I dare not contemplate.”

“And you can’t do anything?”

Luna shook her head. “Not directly. I have my ways. I’m sure you have gleaned that my Night Guard doesn’t exactly limit themselves as the Council wishes. It hurts too much to sit completely idle. Yet I am fully aware that getting caught or doing too much would hurt rather than help, so instead, here I sit. A caged princess, but one that shall never turn a blind eye to her ponies again.” She wiped a tear from her face. “I apologize, Twilight. I thought this would be a happy, interesting thing to share.”

“Hey,” she said, getting Luna to look at her. “You’re my friend. I’m sorry I was a little standoffish. I’m just under a lot of stress. We all are. And this? This is gorgeous. I’m very grateful that you showed it to me.”

Her face brightened a little. “I’m very happy to hear that, Twilight Sparkle. However,” she dimmed again. “Do not take this the wrong way, but I was hoping for more.”

“More?” Twilight did not like the sound of that. More than friends? Please tell me that’s not what I think it means. Celestia would kill me for even thinking it. Not to mention, how do I turn down somepony like this? What if she—

“Please, Twilight, allow me to finish before panicking.”

She shrunk herself a bit. I guess she knows me better than I thought.

“As Celestia has no doubt told you, we have been alive for a very long time. For the last several thousand years, we have been alone as alicorns. I did not and could not befriend the few that took up the mantle as Grand Mage in the past. Do not be confused; I love my ponies and love being among them. Seeing them be born and grow and live their lives. Yet, there is something missing from all these relationships. Something that only my sister has been able to provide for me.”

Although the Princess paused, perhaps for Twilight to speak, she dared not interrupt, and Luna continued.

“Understanding. My ponies can appreciate me and love me, but truly understand me? Impossible. I am isolated, on an island with only one other, and I desperately need for somepony else to understand me. I do not want mere friendship from you, Twilight. I want your understanding. I want for you to be my sister.”

And then it all dawned on her, falling down in front of her like an avalanche. Luna wasn’t interested in romance (at least, not with her). She was looking for somepony with the ability to really get her, not just be her friend. She experienced thousands of years going by with only one other to truly open up to. Now, Twilight was faced with the exact same prospect, being alive for millennia on end with very few who could understand the same perspective.

What Luna was offering was quite simple and beneficial, though quite profound. On the surface, it felt like she’d be crazy to say no. At the same time, it was far more complex than that.

“Twilight, I know this isn’t a small thing.”

And she was way ahead of her.

“But we have a lot of time to get there. Bonds like this are forged, slowly, over the fires of shared experience. I would be honored if you would be willing to look forward to the day where we could call each other ‘sister.’”

Luna lifted a silver-clad hoof to her, and Twilight pushed hers against it. “Deal. But in return, I’m going to hold you to that promise to teach me dream magic someday.”

That brought her smile right back out. “All of my knowledge shall be yours, Twilight, this I promise you. In fact, why don’t we start now?”

“Now? I can’t imagine that it’s safe to try to cast magic in my sleep. I am asleep, right?”

“You are indeed fully asleep, with all the benefits that entails. And you are also correct, it wouldn’t be a good idea to practice your magic here. But surely there is some other knowledge I can impart. Celestia has done so for you in the past, correct? I can answer questions just as well as she. Well, maybe not just as well, but certainly I can share something with you. Sisters do that, yes? Share?”

“That they do,” she said, turning back to the stars. “I’m just not quite sure what to ask. Celestia always led our conversations. It’s like going into a library the size of a city. Where do I start?”

“Well, how about the beginning?”

A rumble under the cloud shook it like an earthquake, making her jump to her hooves, only to be barely able to stand. In the distance, the clouds began to bubble and erupt into the sky, spraying cloud, water, and ice in a twisting motion like a tornado leading up into the stars.

And it was heading towards them.

Twilight turned to Luna for an explanation, but the Princess merely smiled. She started to run, but Twilight found her efforts futile as her hooves couldn’t get stable traction in the trembling cloud, and she fell face-first into the sparkles. Before she could get up, Luna was standing over her, smile still in place.

“Be not afraid, Twilight. Remember, we are merely in a dream. As for what you are about to experience…”

The roar of water and wind extinguished Luna’s words, sweeping her up into who-knew where. When Twilight could finally open her eyes again, she found herself underwater. Well, sort of. The water was filled with as many stars as the sky, and she could breathe normally. Moreover, despite being underwater, it looked as if she was in a large field of rolling hills filled with grain. It might’ve looked more like a late afternoon if not for the slight blue tint.

Luna walked up beside her. “Behold— The Tides of Time.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but stopped again for a moment, expecting a mouthful of water. The little star-like specks did tickle a bit, but she otherwise became satisfied it was safe to breathe and continued. “Where are we now?”

“A better question to ask is ‘when.’ If you must know, we’re still technically when we were, and we’re still in the dream realm, but this is no dream. This is a memory. More specifically—”

“Luna! What are you still doing here!?”

Twilight turned around to see who else was there, but the stars got a bit too bright, shimmering and flashing in front of her eyes. When it stopped and her eyes refocused, they were underneath the lone tree in the field. With her bearings regained, Twilight could now see who was speaking. “It can’t be…”

A tall, white unicorn with a pink and gold mane was strolling up to the tree. She wore white and gold robes and carried a large tome in a saddlebag. She looked like Fleur de Lis would if she didn’t starve herself half the time.

“Princess!? Is that you!?”

Princess Luna snickered a bit as the pony ignored her. Instead, the young-looking Celestia walked up to the shade of the tree, seemingly intent on talking to a small blue unicorn about Twilight’s height, lying down in front of a book.

“Luna! What are you still doing here? You’re going to be late! I swear, first you were late for your own graduation, and now you’re late for your first day!?”

The smaller unicorn looked over at the sun for a moment. “Oh come on, Tia, I’ve got at least an hour and a half!”

“This… This is…” Twilight swallowed her words.

“One of my memories from before my ascension. I’m not surprised you’re always afraid of being late. She was always a stickler for timeliness.”

Celestia stomped her hoof. “Lunacea Umbra Astralis!”

“Meimeimeimei Meimei Meimeimei!” The younger Luna teased in a mocking voice.

Twilight had to stifle a laugh.

“Oh, you little—”

Twilight’s jaw dropped as Celestia’s hoof raised up like she was actually going to hit Luna! Then, a burst of heat and light crackled in the field, and a new hooded and robed pony stood before all of them.

“Celestia Caelum Astralis! I know I’m not witnessing you raising a hoof to strike your little sister!”

The young Celestia backed down sheepishly. “I was only trying to close her book…”

“For your sake, I hope so.” The pony took off her hood, revealing a deep golden mane, pure white coat, and golden eyes that looked as if they may as well have been on fire. “But that is not the way we behave. Honestly, you two are adults now. I shouldn’t have to threaten to ground you.”

“Sorry, Mom,” they both said.

“No. Way.” The real Celestia herself couldn’t lift Twilight’s jaw up at this point.

The motion of the scene stopped, and the ‘real’ Luna stepped up next to her. “Indeed, this is our mother, Incendia. And Celestia actually was going to hit me, and me her, and we probably would have rolled around on the ground giving each other some bruises. We tended to squabble and roughhouse a lot. Ponies often wondered if we should’ve been colts!”

“Ah. Ahahahaha. I don’t believe it!” Twilight rejoiced. “I heard Celestia say she was a ‘regular unicorn mare.’ I heard both of you tell me you were once unicorns. But, this! This! Oh, I wish I could take a picture.”

“I would be willing to bet that there are dragons out there who would love proof of our foalhood. However, this exists only in memory. Whether Tia remembers it, I do not know. But this day is rather special to me.”

Twilight nodded. “She said something about your first day?”

“Indeed. Watch.”

The ‘water’ around them shimmered and clouded, becoming opaque and then clearing again, showing a completely different scene. They were on a cumulus cloud high above the fields, with two towns below. Each was like a reflection of the other and arranged to form a perfect circle. Far in the distance, a gigantic stadium loomed in front of a line of storms.

In between the two towns was a smaller, well, Twilight wasn’t sure. Kind of an amphitheatre, maybe? Also, there was a much wider circle surrounding both towns with a wall-like structure.

Luna lay down on the cloud, crossing her hooves and laying her chin on them. “This, Twilight, is Concordia. It was my home as a unicorn— and as a Moonraiser.”

Suddenly, it all made sense. “You were one of the unicorns that raised the moon before Discord!?”

“Yes, along with nearly five hundred other powerful mages. Tia and mother were Sunraisers, naturally. In fact, I was the first Moonraiser in a long line of Sunraisers. This whole city was completely separate from the other alicorns’ nations. It was decided that ponies wanted a neutral body to take control of the sun and moon, and so, the city of Concordia was built. It owed allegiance to no other nation and had no alicorn directly leading it. Their influence could still be felt, but it was more distant. The town’s size was also carefully limited.” She sighed wistfully. “This was my first day as an Acolyte Moonraiser.”

“Hmmm,” Twilight scratched her chin with her hoof. “Acolyte? Like Arcane Edge? Did you name your Night Guard ranks after the Moonraisers?”

“Ever perceptive, Twilight.” With a slight groan, Luna got back up, suddenly moving like a very old mare. “Speaking of, I must attend to the moon. I’ll return in a moment. The tides will disrupt and dissolve. Do not be alarmed; this is expected and perfectly safe.”

Rather than a normal, stark teleportation, the Princess simply faded out. It wasn’t long before the ‘water’ around her started to fade away, too, being replaced with the prior dream realm. Twilight took the quiet moment to lay back on the cloud and stare at the stars. They really were beautiful but also fewer in number now.

“Twilight!”

When she regained her bearings, Twilight was upside down with her back leaning on a ‘hill’ of cloud and stardust with her hind legs dangling near her chin.

“Luna, was that really necessary?” She muttered. The Princess seemed to have this unnerving habit of surprising ponies with the Voice and sending them flying.

“Twilight, I apologize, but there’s no time.” Luna reached out with forehooves, picked her up, and set her right. “I’m going to void the realm; that should wake you up. We cannot waste any time. Make yourself presentable as fast as you can, and meet me in the Empyreal Hall. Ready?”

“Hey, wait!” Twilight grabbed her by the shoulders, pressing down a bit to try to get her to stop. “No, not ready! Luna, what’s going on?!”

“It’s your brother! Your brother’s in trouble!”

Author's Note

Well, it's pretty clear that "Trail Blazer" won on the vote in prior chapter. I've updated it to reflect that.

Also, for those of you who have not seen it, be sure to check out The Rites Encyclopedia! I've added a thing where you guys can vote on options on which topic to talk about! Each time a topic is successfully covered, a list of options is put up for your guys to vote on! So give it a read and vote! :)

As always, things are subject to further edits as I'm sure we've missed some stuff. But the main story up there shouldn't change drastically. Just the wording in random spots.

EDIT: It appears the uploader was REAL wonky this time. Missing some bits, doubling others. I THINK I've tracked all the issues. If you spot more, let me know.

-Cv

Minor edits 9/9/14.

No Good Deed

Twilight Sparkle hadn’t gotten herself presentable or anything remotely resembling it. Crazy bed mane, unbrushed teeth, and even her slightly tangled tail hairs didn’t matter in the slightest. All she had needed to hear was that her brother was in trouble. After that, she had bolted out of the bed and took off running at a full-steam gallop to the Empyreal Hall, the meeting place of the Inner Council of Equestria.

Canterlot was larger than it appeared, even more so in recent years thanks to expansion efforts. The castle hadn’t seen quite as much growth up until just recently, but its halls were convoluted enough already. Spending her formative years in the castle didn’t make the paths any less winding or tedious.

Moreover, with her small tower destroyed, she had been sleeping in a room at the very top of the tallest tower in the entire city. This meant that she had to go all the way down many, many flights of stairs in order to get to the deep, secure areas where the Empyreal Hall awaited. She’d been running for several minutes and was finally getting close after blowing past another set of guards before they could even get their hooves up to salute.

Come on, pick up the pace! Shining’s in trouble, she kept repeating to herself. Each turn down a new hall brought with it a new flight of stairs. When she finally got to a small straightaway, she pushed hard into the floor with her hooves, kicking out with her hind legs into a full gallop on the slippery marble while using her horn to tear at the fabric of space. No, wait! Can’t teleport! Security wards will get me! Come on, earth pony magic!

Railings and decorations blurred in her vision as she poured on the speed to dangerous levels. Even after Luna’s training, her earth pony magic remained unpredictable at best. When she arrived at the next set of stairs, she locked her legs into a braking position, sliding forward on all four hooves as the staircase rushed towards her all too quickly.

“Nononononono—!” On instinct, she curled up to brace herself for what would have been a harmless tumble on a flat surface. However, this was decidedly not a flat surface.

Hard corners tried to crunch their way into her muscles and bones on each tumble, threatening to break a leg, her ribs, or worse. These impacts should’ve left anypony who wasn’t a pegasus in need of a trip to the hospital. The world whirled around each time, a sunlit skylight and shiny steps trading places in her field of vision, accentuated by painful hits. She hit the bottom of the stairs splayed on the ground, bruised, and with the coppery taste of blood on her tongue.

Tenderly, she picked up one leg, ignoring the pain and putting it under her. She followed with two more, hissing and wincing as she pushed herself up. The spill should have had her crying out for a guard or medics, but it wasn’t hurting as much as she suspected. She glanced over her back and body, moving each joint in turn. Some of her muscles were extremely unhappy at the moment, but they were still functional and nothing appeared to be broken. She’d certainly wind up with a number of bruises, but a hospital stay was not in her immediate future.

“Tsk tsk. I had a feeling this would happen.”

Violet rage and power whirled into a ball, revolving around with the Grand Mage as she prepared an attack for whatever was behind her.

Until she saw it was Princess Luna with her forehooves up.

“Easy, Twilight! Easy! This is not part of your training!”

Twilight halted the spell, waving her hooves in the ambient magic to get it to disperse quicker. “I’m so, so, sorry, Princess! I just fell down the stairs, and I’m so used to getting ambushed that—”

“Twilight Sparkle! Calm thyself!”

She took a sharp breath in and held it, giving herself credit for not completely panicking yet.

Luna raised an eyebrow and stared.

Time passed, and they stood there. Twilight looked around a bit. The council chambers were still a few hallways down. Maybe I should just get going. At her first twitch, Luna moved to block her path, maintaining her stare. Or not.

Some more time passed, Twilight walking in place like a filly who needed to use the restroom before her lungs finally gave out and forced her to exhale.

“Feel better?” Luna asked.

“Not really,” she coughed.

The Princess walked up and used her hooves to turn Twilight around to face away from her. “Honestly, you didn’t even put on your torc. What were you thinking?”

“You said Shiny’s in trouble! In fact, I really can’t stay here! I have to go and—”

“You will stay put until I am done with you!” she commanded, a silver-clad hoof clanking on the tile.

Twilight’s haunches shot to the ground like they were suddenly made of lead.

Luna lit her horn for a spell, creating a light-blue ring of magic in the air that very slowly descended over Twilight’s head. “Your brother is in front of the Inner Council. He is not in mortal danger. He is in political danger.”

“All the more reason I should be there!” She tried to stand up, but Luna held her down with a hoof. “I could help him!”

“Yes, a semi-delirious, bed-headed, supremely frazzled mare busting down the doors is sure to win the day in a political argument and sway the minds of the highest nobility of Canterlot.”

“I… I see your point.” Her ears went flat against her head, and Luna gently nudged her to stand while the ring kept moving. “I’m sorry, Princess. I rushed in. You’ve taught me better than that.” The ring of magic passed around her face, making her squint from the glow. As it moved, it tidied and cleaned her face and mane.

“An alicorn’s protective instinct can be powerful. I imagine that there is no pony on this world whom you are more protective of than your brother. Save myself and Celestia, I’ve honestly never seen a pair of siblings with a closer bond. As such, I forgive you, but we must be mindful of our position.”

“Our position?”

A hoof pressed down against her in between her withers. “Twilight, listen to me carefully and do thy best to remain calm. The Council is currently deliberating whether or not to pass a vote of no confidence against your brother. If they succeed, Celestia will be forced to discharge him from the military.”

“What!?”

“I need you to stay calm, because I’m afraid it only gets worse.”

“Worse!? How in Tartarus can it get worse!? Shiny loves his job!”

The ring was in the middle of her barrel now, and Luna leaned in to whisper. “After this, they’re going to try and take away his crown.”

Twilight froze. At that moment, no force could have moved her. Not an invading army, being struck by lightning, not even Luna’s magic. She simply couldn’t.

Luna continued, “I know. It’s unprecedented. I could scarcely believe it myself. That’s a separate item in their docket, though. The vote on his military position will happen very shortly, which is why we need to get you cleaned up. Even if we can’t do anything, I feel you have the right to be present.”

Twilight’s lip trembled as she held back the tears. Strong. I need to be strong, like Shiny. She tried to swallow but failed. Her throat was too dry. “You’ll vote in his favor, right?”

Luna shook her head. “Remember, I have no vote in the Council on military matters. Moreover, they like me even less than your brother. I’m afraid my efforts would be naught but a hindrance. At this point, it’s up to Celestia and Cadence.”

A gust of wind washed over her as the ring progressed, and Twilight turned her head to face the Princess. “Why didn’t Celestia tell me? Why didn’t Shiny? Or Cadence?”

Luna sighed. “A better question would be ‘why didn’t Celestia tell her own sister?’ I imagine they wanted the both of us to focus on your training. Or perhaps they merely wished to spare you the pain for a time. I know that my sister would expect me to barge in there with you just behind.”

“Isn’t that what we’re about to do?”

Luna gave her a wry little smile. “I never said she wasn’t right.” A snap went through the air from the spell finishing. “There, all better. Don’t rely on this spell for grooming, Twilight. In fact, it’s better if you just forget it.”

“Why?”

“Because if you overuse it, your coat, mane, and potentially even your cutie mark will be bleached pure white. Come, we must make haste.”

Twilight followed Luna in the direction of the council chambers, moving at a much more leisurely trot than her earlier full-throttle gallop. Twilight’s mind raced ahead down the halls, starkly contrasting their walking pace. Calm, Twilight. Keep calm. You can’t help Shiny if you don’t stay calm. She took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Calm.

“Princess?” Twilight asked.

“Luna,” came the admonishing reply.

She was still not quite used to that. “Luna, what are we going to do? Do you have a plan? Maybe incriminating evidence we can use to lean on the Council?”

Luna snorted so hard her ethereal mane rippled. “If I had something like that, Twilight, the entire Council would already be in irons. No, I’m afraid this is something that has become inevitable.”

Twilight jumped ahead of her, pleading. “Then what can I do!?”

The Princess leaned down and put her muzzle so close to Twilight’s that she could feel her breath on her face. The teal irises were utterly alien and cold compared to the comforting magenta pools of Celestia’s eyes. “When the time comes and he has surrendered his uniform in dismissal, you run up to him and give him a hug. Understand?”

She shook her head. “No—”

“You will,” Luna assured her, moving past her and around the corner to the doors to the Empyreal Hall.

Twilight followed suit and nearly ran right into the Princess’s rump. When she looked around, she saw why Luna had stopped: three members of Celestia’s elite Day Guard stood watch in front of the locked and magically-sealed council doors.

“Why are we stopping? Aren’t we allowed in?” she asked, lowering one of her ears.

“Look at their numbers and armor. Three guards, not two, and Day Guards at that!” Luna raised her voice, “I’m fairly confident that this is a message from my sister not to interfere. Am I correct, gentlecolts?”

“Correct. Her Great Majesty has given us orders to bar you both from entry.” The Day Guard stood motionless aside from his lips.

Twilight practically jumped back at Luna’s reaction to her sister’s snubbing; she giggled!

And snubbing you, too, don’t forget, she reminded herself. Shining Armor was in trouble behind those doors, and there wasn’t much time. Or, she didn’t think she had time, at any rate. Now, how to get past that seal…?

“Oh, there! You see!” Luna pranced up to the guards, flicking one of them with her ethereal tail. “Don’t you see it? That look on her face? She’s already trying to figure out how to break down the seal!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes, but—”

The Princess flopped down on one of the guards, putting both forelegs over his back. “And do you know what that means?” She put her lips right up to his ear and whispered with a disturbingly delightful tone, “It means that she doesn’t consider you three a threat.” She pushed in a bit closer to them. “Not.” Closer. “At.” Closer. “All.”

The guards stood perfectly still, but the hairs of their manes bristled ever so slightly.

Still giggling, Luna pranced around in front of them like a schoolgirl teasing her classmates. “How would it feel to be the first to fall to our Grand Mage’s wrath? Are you truly willing to risk it all to keep the world’s most powerful unicorn from protecting her brother?”

“Luna!” Twilight yelled. “That’s enough. Quit teasing them.”

“Oh?” Luna smiled. “Do you not wish to get past the shield?”

She shook her head. “I want to get through, but if you’re taking the time to tease them like this instead of knocking them out yourself, that means we have at least a little bit of time. Moreover, Celestia would know that this would not stop us were we truly determined, which I am. I also don’t think she’d carelessly put her Day Guard in harm’s way like this. Which could only mean one thing.” Twilight stepped forward and looked the princess directly in the eyes, daring her to deny the logic. “You know an alternate way I can get in.”

Generally speaking, when confronting somepony in such a manner, especially a princess, a hug is not the anticipated response. Yet, here she was, buried deep in the Lunar Diarch’s embrace.

“And here I was worried that I couldn’t teach you nearly as much as I wanted. I was wrong. You’ll do just fine. Come.”

Although she couldn’t see anything other than dark blue hair and feathers, she could feel a slight teleportation shock around her. Luna had definitely taken them somewhere.

When the wings let her go, she had to rub her eyes. Wherever she was, it looked very old. The fact that there was moonlight coming in from the small windows in the late morning almost certainly meant that it had some connection to the princess, but what was more surprising was how bright it was. The ancient stones around her were illuminated as if it was the afternoon sun. She could even see tiny bits of dust hanging in the air, and they were sparkling. An alicorn-sized vanity mirror and drawers lay behind her, and it looked every bit as ancient as the dull grey stone. It was as if it had been plucked from another era of history altogether.

“Where are we?” she asked, coughing a bit.

Luna shook her body and wings, kicking off some dust. “This is my private ready-room for the council chambers. As you can see, I do not use it much. It is the only way to teleport into the council, and even then, only alicorns can gain access. We’ve put special protections into the wards here to ensure that.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “This— I can’t be here! It’s like sitting on the throne! It’s tantamount to treason!”

“Alicorns do as we must, Twilight.” Silver-clad hooves clicked and scraped on the dusty floor, turning their owner around to tower over the ascendant. The humor from Luna’s face was completely gone, replaced by a seriousness that sent Twilight back to the cloud over the Glass Desert.

~~“I’ve seen her halt an army’s— actually, my army’s advance and make them turn in terror just from her arrival.”~~

“Twilight Sparkle, do you remember when I told you that Celestia loves you as a daughter?”

Her ears went back flat against her head, and she nodded in a half-bow.

“That was not hyperbole. I have never been a mother, but I knew my nephew well. I also know my sister, and I can say with absolute certainty that the way Celestia looks at you is the same as she looked at him. She loves you, Twilight. She put those guards on the door as a message to me, saying to not do that which I am about to. She does not want you to endure the pain of seeing your brother so hurt nor does she want you to struggle uselessly in a vain attempt to shield him.

“More importantly, she does not wish for you to see what she must do. I understand her feelings, but this is a part of being a ruler. I feel you must bear witness to what will transpire. Ultimately, however, the choice is yours.”

Twilight raised a hoof to her chest, expecting to fidget with her torc until she remembered she wasn’t wearing it.

“I cannot force you to enter. If you wish, I will take you back, and you can wait for the session to end. As leaders, we must make such decisions for ourselves. As alicorns, we must live with their consequences— for however long fate decrees it.”

Luna pointed around a corner and into a very dark hallway. When Twilight stuck her head out to look, she noticed none of the omnipresent glow of twinkling lights present in the rest of the room. Instead, there was just a short hall and a large, heavy-looking door at the end.

“One more thing.”

Luna’s voice had gotten more conciliatory, but it wasn’t helping. Twilight was still nervously looking back and forth between the door and the magic circle on the ground where they had arrived.

The Princess continued, “If we enter, I must hide us. We must stay completely silent for the spell to hold, and we must remain so until the end. Were we to reveal ourselves, both Celestia and I will suffer substantial political blowback for sneaking you in. We will be observers only. Do you understand?”

Twilight was barely listening.

I must get through that door. Shining Armor needs my help!

Princess Celestia raised you. She trusts you. You should heed her advice.

Her forehoof fell to the floor and started pushing her forward.

No! You need to listen to the Princess! She’ll be mad at you!

Shining Armor has spent his entire life protecting me. It’s time I acted like an alicorn and returned the favor.

She stepped completely into the hallway’s darkness, making for the door.

You won’t even be able to do anything! Luna said you have to be silent!

Then at least I’ll know which council members to remove.

She was about to open the door herself when a silver hoof pushed against it to keep it closed.

“Remember,” Luna admonished. “Absolute silence.”

A black cloud of magic and ephemeral matter swirled around them, encasing them in a sphere of evanescent darkness. When Twilight let her focus falter, it appeared as if the entire world would be subsumed, yet as long as she paid attention, she could still see out of the field.

A faint click sounded from the lock on the door, and the princess began to open it so slowly it was nearly painful. The care with which she moved and the look on her face reminded Twilight of a naughty foal sneaking out during the night, trying not to wake her parents.

“Sssshhhh,” Luna re-emphasized, stepping through the door with such grace she may as well have been a ghost. Judging by the properties of the spell she was using, they both may have been just that: ghosts.

Quietly, Luna escorted them down another small hall and out an archway directly behind something Twilight hadn’t actually seen in ages: Luna’s throne. As of late, it had gotten a little unnerving seeing the thrones themselves, as they were reminders of her so-called ‘destiny.’

Still, there were other matters to attend to. She quickly stepped around the massive chair and looked out and down into the council chambers. They were four stories if not taller in height. The center of the room was brightly illuminated by an overhead light along with the back and bottom of the room, where there were some dark wooden seats for guests, witnesses, and others approved to be present. These were parted by a purple carpet leading from the main entryway.

The seating for the council and royalty, meanwhile, sat was cloaked in an oppressive, magical darkness. Seeing through it to the ponies in the seats of power was impossible, which lent the entire room as much foreboding as was possible. In the middle of it all, and the very center of the room, was a lone podium with a microphone. This was where Shining Armor sat in his full ceremonial uniform, alone, isolated, and facing the greatest political powers in Equestria. It was as she’d feared; Shining Armor was facing a true inquisition rather than an investigation.

“Stay close,” Luna whispered, nudging Twilight to keep pace with her as they descended a set of exceedingly steep stairs around the outskirt of the large, circular room.

In the center of the chambers, in front of Shining Armor, a single unicorn stood with a deep sky-blue coat and jet black mane. He wore a rather eccentric outfit resembling almost a mix of contemporary Canterlot fashion and Roan Renneighsance wear. Although his mane was slightly more unkempt than most city ponies, the natural way it folded over gave him an effortless air of aggression. There was no doubt in her mind; this was Charlemane, Duke of Roan and Chairpony of the Inner Council of the Equestrian Nobility. The stallion facing her brother had more political power than anypony that didn’t have “Princess” in front of their name.

Behind said stallion was the utter and complete blackness of the Umbra, a special spell obscuring the ponies of the Council.

She’d only been there a few times before, but she knew the layout. There were five levels of seating, with each row towering even higher than its predecessor. The bottom three rows held all twelve of the Dukes and Duchesses of Equestria, which ruled twelve of the thirteen Duchies that made up the nation.

Above them, Prince Blueblood presided over the Duchy of Canterlot, which included the surrounding towns such as Ponyville. Should Blueblood ever become charming enough to take a wife, they would have two representatives. Princess Cadence, meanwhile, cared for the Duchy of the Lost. She was the champion of orphans, the infirm, towns outside of official Duchy borders, and all of those ponies that need an advocate and a voice yet lack one. If this particular meeting hadn’t been specifically about him, Shining Armor himself would be sitting next to her. From what he’d told Twilight, though, he rarely did. Running the Guard was beyond a full-time job.

At the top, the Eternal Sisters presided over the nation of Equestria. At either end sat their thrones in front of their private entrances, each mirroring the other perfectly with Celestia’s throne on the far left and Luna’s on the far right.

Twilight finally arrived on the bottom of the stairs, her last step causing enough noise that she worried about Luna’s spell breaking. Fortunately, it held, and they quietly ducked into the visitors’ seats, the Princess barely fitting in them.

“We are waiting for your answer, Captain.” Charlemane’s voice had a significant Roan accent, and that didn’t do anything to shake the raw intimidation dripping from his very being.

Twilight shuddered a bit. She wasn’t used to the political side of Celestia’s life at all. She was aware of it, and she had extensive knowledge of Equestrian law and protocols. That, however, wasn’t the true nature of it. The politics of Canterlot was about knowing ponies, owing favors, making deals, the projection of political will, and how many bits one had. Overall, it simply wasn’t a game she was used to. She’d never been part of that world; the Princess had made certain of that. Until recently, there had been little in her life but friendship and studies, barring the occasional world-saving adventure.

“I find the question to be insulting, Chairpony.” Shining retorted. “I’m simply attempting to determine an appropriate answer.”

“If this is how long you take in battle—”

“Do not question my combat capabilities, Chairpony.” Shining pounded the podium with a forehoof. “I am the only GR10-ranked unicorn in the past seven hundred years. If you so wish to question what I can do in a battlefield, I could invite the entire Council out to a field to test me!”

A beam of light came on near the top of the chambers, illuminating Princess Celestia, who spoke with her usual calm. “Captain, please do mind your temper. I understand that the question is difficult for you, but this Council requests an answer.”

Shining snapped to a standing attention then bowed. “Yes, Princess. Forgive me.”

“Of course, Captain.”

Twilight caught the tiniest glimpse of Celestia’s eyes before the darkness overtook the Princess’s seat once again.

“Then answer the question.”

A new light had appeared over one of the council members, this one on the middle level, revealing a gray unicorn mare with an even grayer mane: Duchess Bismare of Germane.

“Stand down, Duchess!” Charlemane snapped, charging up his horn. “I will not tolerate usurpation of this Council!”

Thunder echoed in the hall along with a bright blue-green flash which forced Twilight to hold up her forehooves for an instant. When she put them down, Charlemane was up three rows and staring down a shocked-looking Bismare.

He deflected the security wards! That’s impossible! Well, okay, clearly not, but still!

Charlemane slammed his hoof on a little panel on Bismare’s desk, switching off the light over her and returning the space to darkness before trotting back to the center of the room.

Luna whispered next to Twilight’s ear, “If nothing else, I will give Charlemane this: he is fearless. Ponies of power tend to tip-hoof around other ponies of power, yet he commands this chamber without need of such elegant dance. Also, for the life of me I can’t seem to fix the wards so they can stop him.”

“Now then, Captain, I will repeat.” Charlemane cleared his throat. His stare was burning into Twilight, even though he wasn’t looking at her. “Were you complicit in the Summer Revolt?”

“W—!” Luna’s hoof caught Twilight’s mouth just in time, silencing her outburst.

“No, I was not, Chairpony.” Shining said through clenched teeth.

“Then would you mind explaining how the vaunted Royal Guard Intelligence Service, which you oversaw the expansion of, missed all the evidence forewarning of the attack?”

Shining cleared his throat. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, Chairpony. Which evidence are you referring to?”

Oh Celestia! Shining, why did you have to word it like that? Twilight whimpered under her breath. The longer she sat, the more she could feel the magic not only in the chambers in general but also surrounding her and Luna. It was almost as if they were surrounded by a heat haze that slightly distorted their view.

“Very well, Captain, I shall indulge you. Let’s start with the troop movement reports from the disgraced General Towers. Not only are they faked in a manner that is quite clear, but they also report advances from the Gryphonic Empire. That last fact alone should have been enough to summon the Council, yet your report stated that you only realized a problem just before the attack. Care to explain?”

Shining cleared his throat again. “Gladly, Chairpony. Firstly, we had no prior reason to suspect treachery from the ranks of the Generals. Each of their number and near subordinates was thoroughly vetted for loyalty, and there hasn’t been a defection from within the ranks since the Lunar Rebellions.”

Luna visibly winced.

“What’s more, the Gryphonic Empire’s movements are anything but unusual. Not only do gryphons help provide security in numerous northern villages—”

Shining was cut off by a few barely-audible grumbles and murmured sentences from the Councilponies in the shadow.

“As I was saying, gryphon traffic has only increased in recent years thanks to our newest villages being close enough for easier trade. Our scouts are still occasionally erroneously reporting civilian trade traffic as military movements, thanks to the fact that all gryphons tend to be armed, military or otherwise.”

Charlemane stomped his hoof on a panel on the floor, sending a cacophonous crack through the room and tossing up sparks. “Come now, Captain. Do you really expect this Council to believe that the sheer number of gryphons that were reported were all just ‘civilian trade traffic?’”

Shining shook his head, almost grinning. “Chairpony, their numbers are far short of that of a full invasion. Mounting any kind of campaign against our nation would require nothing less than the full brunt of their military might to have any hope of long-term sustainability. Gryphons aren’t stupid. They’re a military culture. They have to know this. Jumping to action over what are, at worst, a few scouts would be extremely unwise.”

Duchess Bismare’s light turned on again. “Then when should we take action, Captain?” She scowled down at him.

Charlemane’s neck swung around so fast Twilight could hear one of his neck vertebrae pop. “The use of gryphons in border town police forces are not within the scope of this hearing, Duchess! I will not let you hijack these proceedings with your personal pet issue!”

“No Chairpony, I’m fine answering a few of her questions,” Shining interrupted with a smile. “First off, Duchess, the gryphons aiding in those towns arrived as civilians. We’ve no cause to turn them away as per the Stalliongrad treaties.”

“No gryphon is a civilian, Captain.” The Duchess sneered. “They all enter their military.”

Shining shook his head. “Only the latter is true. Many of them leave their military formally after a time. Just as in Equestria, those who have left are regarded as civilians by both civilizations. Just because they can fight doesn’t mean every little flock is considered a military force.”

“Yes they are!” Bismare pounded a hoof on her desk, sending a crackling noise reverberating through the Hall. “This council has repeatedly advised the Guard that the non-pony law enforcement members in towns near the Gryphonia border are subverting the edicts lawfully placed upon our towns by the Duchy! The same is happening in Prance! We have effectively lost governance over—”

Shining Armor snorted. “The towns are peaceful, have reasonably low crime, and most of them are at least generally responsive to direct orders from the Crown. They are not truly following Gryphonic law. If they were, your tax collectors would be more than chased out. They’d be dead— or at least scarred for life.”

“A government cannot function without income, Captain! How do you think we pay for—?”

Shining stomped the floor with his hoof, its metal shoe cracking the tile and making the Duchess’ earlier outburst sound like a light cough. “I’ve met your agents, Duchess. My wife has seen how much the Duchy of Germane’s outer colonies have to pay for ‘protective services.’ Fancy Pants pays a lower rate on his income, even before his charity deductions. I’m not surprised they turned to the Gryphons for help and told your officers to go kiss a hydra.”

“How dare you!” She pounded her desk again in response, but it was like a foal in a tantrum compared to the Captain’s thundering hoof. “Those ponies chose to live in the untamed borders! They pay those taxes so I can send forces there to keep them safe!”

“Enough!” Charlemane’s voice cracked, his Roan accent breaking through even more than before. “This hearing is not so you two can—”

“I’m not finished!” Shining roared, appearing right next to Charlemane in a white blur.

Twilight blinked. That wasn’t teleportation. It wasn’t quite what Luna does, either. I think he literally just jumped. Has he always been that fast?

The Chairpony rolled his eyes and waved at Shining to continue.

“Odd,” Luna whispered in her ear. “Charlemane never allows outbursts like this. What is his game?”

Shining turned with a sharp twist and began pacing about the room. “‘Keep them safe,’ Duchess? Who do you think you’re fooling? Up until three months ago, we had two divisions along the border! And you think it’s your so-called ‘police forces’ doing the safekeeping? Even without Towers’ troops, do you really think anything up there is capable of tangling with General Blaze and living to tell the tale?”

Twilight swallowed. His movements were like her own when pacing, but somehow more menacing. Each tap of a hoof on the floor felt like he’d shatter another tile effortlessly.

“Speaking of living, these frontiersponies we’re talking about are mostly earth ponies. They met the call of the North and, together, built communities that can withstand the environment. And they’re thriving! They don’t need soldiers and protectors as much as they need infrastructure and help with building schools. Roads and rail to trade centers. Things you can provide with a wave of your hoof, yet you sit on your haunches! And when they understandably rebel and get pissed, you deem them traitors! It’s no wonder they’re trying to break away!”

Twilight was far enough away that she could barely tell what color Bismare’s eyes were, but she could swear she saw a vein bulging next to the mare’s horn. “You will watch your tone, low-born! I am the only reason those ponies were able to settle those lands in the first place!”

“Granting permission doesn’t give you the right to take credit, Duchess!”

Luna whispered just loud enough for Twilight to hear, “Good job, Shining, don’t let her distract you with rank. Go in for the kill…”

“Furthermore, those ponies know more about being Equestrian than you ever will! I’d have any one of them be a Duchess before you! You’re one of the reasons the situation is bucked to begin with!”

The Chairpony growled. “That language is not—”

“Shove it, Charlemane!” Shining yelled into the hall, his voice bouncing off and echoing over and over. “We tax them into oblivion and give almost nothing in return! We mark the towns as black on our map, but I bet that if they were treated fairly there wouldn’t be any of this! I’ve been to some of these places, Duchess! I went there on my own and wearing my crown! I didn’t get run out of town, spat on, or yelled at like you do! The only thing thrown at me was a hoofball! Those ponies are generous to their neighbors, kind to their visitors, and honest in their needs! They aren’t the traitors!” He turned around and thrust a hoof up at the pony sitting in the light and smoldering in rage. “You are!”

“I will not be compared to mud ponies, you insole—”

All the lights in the room shut off with an audible chunk, dropping darkness unto the entire chambers as they went completely silent. Seconds passed with no sound at all, not even a peep.

When the light finally returned, it was nearly blinding. A searing, radiant aura burst into life near Shining’s normal Princely seat, burning away the entirety of the Umbra and illuminating the entire chambers in glorious light. It even completely drowned out the sun’s light from the skylights and stained glass at the top and back of the Hall above the Council. In the center of it all, the core of the blaze, was the source: Celestia herself, looking down on the Duchess from Germaney.

Twilight blinked and rubbed her eyes, slowing getting used to the brightness.

“Duchess Bismare.” Despite the display, Celestia’s voice was calm and controlled. “I do not yet believe my own ears. Please, clarify for this Council. What was it that you just said?”

Duchess Bismare looked as if she was terrified for her very life. She had already turned towards Celestia, and was cowering so low to the ground she could barely be seen behind her desk. Twilight had only ever seen the Princess’s face like this once before, when she had put all of Ponyville under a “want-it, need-it” spell.

No, wait, Twilight thought as she watched the scene. This is worse. Much worse.

As Luna had shown her, there was a time when some ponies believed that words alone could cast spells. If this had been true, Twilight felt that the tone of Celestia’s question would have been lethal by itself. Yet, Bismare looked as if she had only become a small filly.

“Um, Your Highness, I meant to say that—”

“I did not ask what you meant to say, Duchess Bismare,” Celestia interrupted, her voice echoing throughout the room. “I asked what you did say.”

Silence took the hall for a few moments, reigning over the chambers as even time seemed to pause to wait for her answer, frozen in the light.

Bismare coughed, lifting her water glass with her magic. The water sloshed around as she lifted it to her face, not unlike a foal just learning telekinesis. She took a long drink, a lot longer than what was proper.

“I’m waiting, Duchess.”

The mare bowed so low Twilight couldn’t see her behind her desk anymore. “I’m truly sorry for my hurtful words, Your Majesty. I shan’t repeat them in these most high chambers.”

Celestia’s expression softened a bit, easing the hard lines on her forehead. “That is the correct response, my little pony. However, I will not have anypony use such language in my most prized city. You will pay a sum of two hundred thousand bits to Princess Cadence’s earth pony orphanage network and personally spend a total of two hundred hours of community service to the same network. Only then will you be allowed to return to my home and resume your duties. Do you understand?”

“I… Yes, Your Highness,” came a bodiless reply from behind the desk.

Celestia banged her gavel from across the hall. “Then leave this city at once. This, I command.”

The old mare slinked away from the Princess, head down, ears flat, and tail literally between her legs. The room was silent except for the sounds of her hoofsteps moving down the stairs and then across the center of the chambers towards the main doors. Twilight’s eyes stayed locked on her the entire time.

As Bismare passed by Charlemane and Shining, Twilight’s peripheral vision made out the barest hint of a smile from the Chairpony. Her brother, however, had a grin on his face that a salamander would be proud of.

“So, they were cooperating all along,” Luna mumbled through her own smile. “Well played, Captain.”

The main doors opened and closed with a meek click, and the all-encompassing light faded in seconds as the Umbra reasserted control over the Hall. The lights over Celestia’s usual spot and the center floor were still on, and the Princess had reassumed her position on her throne.

“I apologize for the outbursts, Your Highness.” Charlemane bowed, no longer hiding his smile.

“Somehow I doubt your sincerity, Chairpony,” Celestia countered. “I know you too well. Regardless, please continue the hearing.”

“As you wish. Captain, if you would humor this Council, we had questions regarding the Intelligence Services’ expenditures.”

Shining’s face returned to the stone-like sternness that was the de facto standard for Guardsponies. “And?”

A little stack of papers floated out of the shadows, being held aloft by a strikingly shimmering, sea-blue telekinetic field. “According to its last report, an outlandish ten percent of the entire RGIS budget was being spent on one mare living in a town with a tiny fraction of the population of Canterlot.”

Shining shook his head. “What is your question, Chairpony?”

The stallion shrugged. “Very well, I’ll be direct. Why are you spying on the citizens of Ponyville?”

“Hmph. I suppose it could look like that.”

“It is that!” Charlemane yelled, tossing the papers down with enough force to scatter them all over the floor.

Twilight winced a split-second later as the Chairpony’s horn flashed with light from a spell being cast with stunning speed. Some of the papers rushed up like they were being carried by a tornado, then stopped as they arranged themselves. It was as though they were being pasted on a giant wall only barely made visible by a faint blue-green glow of magic.

One of the papers then ballooned in size so much it blocked the view of the others, and the text on it became clear.

“Secret searches of all postal mail and packages mailed to, from, or carried through Ponyville.”

Shining shook his head again. “All searches were carried out within the confines of the RGIS Charter and only when there was an imminent threat warranting it.”

The page shrank, and was quickly replaced with another as Charlemane continued. “Clandestine recordings of residents—”

Shining interrupted, his expression still solid as granite. “Taken from public areas with no expectation of privacy and destroyed on a regular schedule when no meaningfulness is presented.”

Yet another page. “Over one hundred covert agents stationed in Ponyville—”

Shining interrupted again. “Every single one there is to protect—”

“Your sister!” Charlemane shouted, finally breaking Shining’s expression.

Twilight squeaked a little when Luna’s wing pressed down on her, but she quickly came to welcome its protection from the hostility of the room.

“Captain, believe me when I say I understand the desire to protect one’s loved ones. But this… This has to be the most stunning display of nepotism in the history of Equestria!”

“Clearly he hasn’t met Blueblood,” Luna whispered.

Twilight ignored her. She wasn’t in the mood. This pony was hurting her brother. Not physically, but it was an assault all the same.

“No!” Shining arched his back a little, pushing his head forward in a slight lean. “No, Chairpony, that’s not what’s stunning here. What’s stunning is the sheer number of ponies out there trying to hurt her!”

Grinding his teeth, Shining’s horn lit up and blazed with light. First, it was purple, the same color as both Twilight and their mother. Then, it shifted to a new color: light blue.

Twilight chewed her tongue. Shining’s magic had always been powerful. For that matter, hers had been too, but in different ways. When they were little, their wellsprings were around the same size, or at least comparable to each other. Apparently, she had passed him long ago in that respect, but her brother had always had one thing over her, which was the sheer rate he could output at. Whenever he got serious and really pushed his magic, it always changed color like this to the same shade as his eyes. Cadence even once said he could use more magic at once than her, and she was a winged unicorn, which were known for their ability to expel tremendous amounts of magic in the blink of an eye.

What’s he doing? Wait, his magic is going into the display…

Shining’s horn crackled with power, sending arcs of electric blue magic into the wall that displayed the papers. Within seconds, the wall went from blue-green in color to a light blue.

He took over his spell! Shining… Brother, how did you do that?

A page from the floor flew up and expanded to cover the wall. “Starting six months after Princess Luna’s return, the Nightmare Cult attempted to murder my sister! They tried it seven times over the span of just four weeks!”

Twilight gagged, her shoulders lurching forward like somepony had stomped on her back, but in reality, there was no such impact. It was just Luna brushing her primaries over her calmingly.

“Though I had nothing to do with that, I feel responsible all the same.” Luna whispered. “I truly apologize, Twilight.”

Shining broke into a trot, pacing back and forth. “The only reason they were stopped was because somepony in their ranks grew an actual conscience and warned us.”

“That doesn’t justify all th—”

Shining cut him off again. “Oh, I’m not near finished, Chairpony.” Another page from the floor replaced the one on the wall. “A week after she saved us from Discord, Stalliongrad revolutionaries made an attempt on her life. We learned of that one just in time thanks to some of the covert guards listening in on one of their conversations.”

Charlemane opened his mouth, but Shining barreled onward.

“Thirteen years ago, an earth pony nativist cell decided to kidnap her and hold her for ransom. We found out about it thanks to our ‘outlandish’ Ponyville budget and exhaustive intelligence networks. When they smuggled in weapons to accomplish the task, it was the searches that caught them!”

“Ten years ago!” He didn’t even give the Chairpony an opening this time, kicking up many of the remaining papers on the ground. “A unicorn-supremacist group went after Luna’s student! If not for the intelligence network we put up around Twilight and the use of the word ‘student,’ we might’ve never caught them!”

“I wish Celestia had allowed my Night Guard to conduct the raid,” Luna muttered. “If she had, other would-be kidnappers would have made themselves sick over the merest thought of hurting my little Pip.”

“And you! You!” Shining strode directly up to the Chairpony, each hoofstep a casual utterance of authority, indignation, and rage made all the more potent by his still-glowing horn violating the politician’s personal space. “Twilight has saved this Council, this nation, this world a half-dozen times already. Take that sum we’ve spent, multiply it by a thousand, and we’d still owe her. Yet you stand before me and say that my efforts to protect my sister are nepotism? Look around, Charlemane! Her tower, her sanctuary, the place she called ‘home’ for years under Celestia’s wing is a smoking pile of rubble! Not Celestia’s chambers, not mine, not Blueblood’s, nor this very room! It’s her home that was destroyed! They attacked her first!”

Shining snapped away from the stunned stallion, slowly plodding away back to his podium before turning to speak once more. “And don’t you dare suggest that I don’t feel any responsibility for it. They almost killed my sister! The filly I got my cutie mark for wanting to protect!” He breathed in, holding the air and filling it with his burden before exhaling. “I’m never going to be able to forgive myself for my failure.”

“I never knew…” Twilight sniffed, wiping tears off her face with a fetlock. “I had heard he was protecting me. I never knew just how bad it was.”

“Sssshhh.” Luna’s wing was holding her much like Celestia’s had in the past. It felt different, though. Celestia’s wing was soft and warm, almost like a blanket made out of motherly love. Luna’s was a hard plate of armor, with stiff, oily feathers. Something meant to bear the brunt of any storm. “Thy brother loves you, truly. He didn’t want you to know for fear that you would be too worried about him to learn what you needed.”

Charlemane had regained his composure somewhat, along with control over his spell, which he cleaned up and reorganized.

Luna continued, hushing her voice ever softer. “For a pony of this age, Shining Armor’s resolve is impressive. I’ve never seen Charlemane so flustered. That alone is a feat.”

Twilight jumped a tiny bit in place, twice, at the sound of the Princess’s gavel striking its base.

“Chairpony, this line of questioning has been exhausted, I believe. Further, some of these precautions were approved by my own quill. If you wish to question their usefulness, I request that you direct your inquiries to me. Understand?”

Twilight took a few rapid, deep breaths, then calmed down. It was okay. Celestia was there. She’d protect him.

“Yes, your majesty.” His words were as smooth as glass, his bow equally effortless. “Captain, how many enemy combatants were captured during the Summer Revolt?”

Shining raised an eyebrow in an expression perfectly mirroring Twilight’s own. Where’s he going with this?

“We estimate that approximately two thousand hostiles participated in the Summer Revolt directly,” he replied.

“I asked you how many were captured, Captain.”

“I’m getting to that. Of these two thousand, about a hundred were operating the hostile airship, while the remaining nineteen hundred were engaged in fighting over or near the city. Of these, around a thousand were KIA. Most of the remaining hostiles fled, but we did manage to capture about one hundred of them.”

Another page took over the display, expanding to show a list of names, ranks, and numbers. “The ponies on this list?” the Chairpony inquired.

Shining nodded. “Just so. Most of the assailants were pegasi. I imagine that was needed in order to return to Canterlot as fast as they did. The day after my sister returned.”

Twilight lurched again from the sting. The attack… The whole thing was—

“Not your fault, Twilight,” Luna chimed in with a stern whisper.

The smaller mare deflated a bit. “Am I that obvious?”

“You are you, Twilight. There is no shame in that.”

She nodded and forced herself to pay attention to the hearing again, even though a large part of her didn’t want to.

“What have your learned from your interrogations, Captain?”

Shining closed his eyes with a sigh. “Precious little, although what tiny bits we have discovered have been eye-opening. Most of the captured abandoned the false Bellerophon before it exploded. The rest were from Towers’s command.”

The duke shuffled some of the papers in the stack around, looking at them instead of the captain. “Then let’s start with the ship workers. What have you learned from them?”

“Almost nothing.”

Charlemane looked up. “Do you mean to say that you haven’t interrogated them? Help me understand that response.”

Shining inhaled as if he had gotten a large papercut. “It’s not an easy thing to explain. I’ve done interrogations before. I’ve seen them done. They’ve been not only uncooperative but incredibly resistant to even our best techniques and methods.”

“Perhaps these ‘interrogators’ you use need better training?” Charlemane deadpanned.

Shining snorted. “Well, I requested Council permission to turn them over to the Night Guard, but the motion was denied.”

Twilight looked up at Luna, who was smirking in a rather self-satisfactory manner.

“Quite. It seems that they’re quite a set of believers, then,” the Duke postulated. “Ponies don’t shrug off interrogations so easily without a cause.”

“That’s not what scares me most, honestly,” Shining agreed. “The captured ship workers weren’t soldiers. They don’t have the build real training gets you. The actual soldiers we caught were more forthcoming, but it still hasn’t meant much.”

Charlemane lifted a page up and glanced at the one under it, giving off a little smile. “But your words were carefully chosen there, it seems. You said ‘almost nothing’. So what did you discover?”

“Be careful, Captain,” Luna whispered aloud.

“A number of things. For one, we believe the pseudo-organization that orchestrated the attack to have access to approximately seven billion bits worth of resources.”

The page that he was lifting up floated right back down as the magic field sputtered. “Seven billion? This wasn’t in the report. How do you know this?”

Shining pulled out his own tack of documents from his podium. “I just received an update from RGIS before arriving. We’ve been able to identify a few orphaned ‘shell’ companies that have mysteriously ceased to exist in the past few months. Most of the paperwork we have on them is, to be blunt, useless and often fraudulent, but the numbers they used in their bank accounts before emptying them are real. Based on their activities, the capabilities of the equipment used against us, and the state of their unfinished airship, we’ve come to this estimation.”

Charlemane rubbed his face with a hoof while murmurs came from the Council members shrouded in the darkness. “When were you going to share this information with us, Captain?”

Shining smiled. “I already submitted copies to your seneschals, but you were already in the chambers when that happened, and this meeting is top-secret.”

“You could have opened your mouth and told us,” a random voice from the darkness shouted.

“I just did!” Shining shouted back. “Besides, the beginning of the hearing made things exceptionally clear. I’m only to respond to questions asked, correct?”

Charlemane groaned. “Bismare and her arbitrary rules. Very well, Captain, is there anything else you feel the need to inform us of right away? Like, for instance, how the RGIS missed an organization with seven billion bits in the bank?”

Shining shook his head. “Actually, not bits, Chairpony. Resources. We’re thinking they keep much of their ‘wealth’ in capital. Minerals, real estate, magic artifacts, and other things. We’ve given them the name ‘Robber Barons.’ Of course, some bits are always needed by any organization, which is why we were able to find these companies at all.”

Charlemane shot a glance up and back behind him to the still shrouded council, causing the murmurs to stop like someone pulled a needle off a record. “Indeed. Then, you mentioned the captured soldiers being more forthcoming? What did you learn from them?”

Shining shrugged. “Not much, but there were some things that were at least somewhat helpful. We know most of Towers’ troops had no idea what was going on. They simply followed what they thought were legitimate orders to pull away from the border, and eventually the signal was given for the conspirators to race for Canterlot. The ones not in the know were just left in the North, wondering what was going on.”

“But that doesn’t answer the most important question.” Charlemane shook his head and walked directly up to the Captain. “Why did the conspirators follow Towers?”

Shining glared into him with a stern stoicness before answering. “Money.”

“Money? That’s all?”

He nodded, eyes closed. “About twice the normal salary for the average soldier in the regular military.”

Charlemane turned his back on Shining and enunciated to the darkness. “A salary which has been frozen for how many of the years you have been Captain of the Royal Guard, the pony responsible for setting military expenditure priorities?”

Shining lowered his head. “Eight of the seventeen fiscal years I oversaw have seen frozen salaries. This is truth.”

“And did it not occur to you that perhaps this might be the result of your fiscal policies?”

“I should ask you the same question, Chairpony.”

The Duke turned around, incredulous. “Excuse me?”

Shining sneered, “I set priorities, but it’s this Council that determines my budget. When I first took command of the Guard, we couldn’t have protected a clown from a bunch of disgruntled foals. Even if they had the discipline, they didn’t have the tools.”

“This Council has Sent you hundreds of millions of bits specially marked for new equipment! Where in Equestria do you get off?” Charlemane screamed at Shining’s face, his Roan accent once again completely overtaking his speech.

The Captain’s horn flashed for an instant and sent the duke back on his haunches. “‘Specially marked’ for specific projects that benefit companies owned by Council members or their families. Little fancy baubles so they can trumpet job creation. You know what I spent my money on? Things for my soldiers.

“When I did my first Guard Tour of Facilities, I found veterans’ hospitals in Stalliongrad where the rooms hadn’t been cleaned in years. Another so-called military hospital in Marelaysia was so ill-equipped they were breaking open coconuts and using the water for IV fluid since that was the only clean liquid they could get ahold of. The soldiers under Generals Blaze, Quartz, and Stone were required to purchase their own weapons and armor. We were so short on space in Canterlot Central HQ I had to give up my quarters to expand it. Yet every time my predecessor or even the Princess tried to negotiate for additional funds, all you ponies saw was a way to make yourselves richer, not solve the actual problems.”

Shining pulled his microphone in closer. “So that’s what I did. I solved problems. If you think that’s what caused all this, fine. Fire me. But ask yourselves this question: Who is it that really protects this room? I do,” he said before any of them could answer. “Who is it that protected Canterlot as best he could even while being under the spell of a Changeling Queen? I did,” he answered again. “Somepony or something is out there. Out to destroy and take over this country. What do you think will happen when we get placed in check again? Do you really think that if they’re willing to kill Celestia, they’ll spare you?

“And when that time comes, who do you think will protect you? The mare or stallion cowering in the shadows next to you? Or the second most powerful unicorn of the last seven hundred years, eclipsed only by the very mare you fools think isn’t worth protecting to the best of our ability?”

More murmurs and whispers came from the darkness, and Shining slowly sat back down on the pillow behind the podium.

“Chairpony Charlemane,” Shining spoke sounding exactly like a Captain should. “Call your vote. I’m done with this nonsense.”

Luna shook her head. “While it appears I have underestimated you as a politician, Shining, I’m afraid that still isn’t good enough. You might give a couple of them some nightmares, but that just wasn’t enough.”

Twilight swallowed. “Are they going to fire him? Can they actually do that?”

Charlemane stood back up. “Very well, Captain. Your Highness Princess Celestia, it has been submitted that the Inner Council of the Nobility of Equestria has No Confidence in the abilities of Captain Shining Armor to fulfill his duties to the Crown. In accordance with law and tradition, we will now proceed to poll our members for your Eternal Sight.”

Celestia nodded and banged her gavel once. “Very well, Chairpony. Proceed.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat then ran the next dozen in two seconds. “Already? I thought there was more time…”

Luna wrapped a wing around her, holding her tightly, but it wasn’t enough to stop Twilight from shivering in worry. “I warned you this would not be easy, Twilight Sparkle. Be strong.”

“Can’t you do anything? Please!” she pleaded, tears welling up. “My brother is in trouble!”

“Hush!” Luna admonished. “Any louder and the spell will break. Let the tears fall if you must, but do so softly. Maintain your calm.”

She twitched left and right, trying to see anything that might help, but there was only darkness. Darkness and a sole, distinctive pony in the other side’s observer’s area. Grand General Blueblood? When did… What’s he doing here?

Her mind didn’t take long to formulate a plan. “Psst! Luna! General Blueblood is here! He can speak for Shining’s defense! Can you stall the vote?”

Luna shook her head. “He’s already spoken to the Council at length in your brother’s favor. The ship has sailed, Twilight. All that is left is for the gavel to fall. Be at ease; he will need your strength very soon.”

“Official Vote of the Inner Council of the Nobility of Equestria, Docket Number 1986530. Chairpony Charlemane presiding. How does the Chamber vote?”

A light appeared over the noble in the upper-left. “The Duchy of Marelaysia has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

Celestia, no, please…

The light disappeared, only for a new one to take its place. “The Duchy of Manehatten has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

Down the row the light went. “The Duchy of Neighpon has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

“The Duchy of the Bittish Isles has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

The light shifted and moved up to the next row, washing across noble after noble faster than Twilight could come up with an excuse to stop it. Her lungs pushed air in and out through a pant only tempered by the tightness of Luna’s wing and its cage-bar-like feathers pressing against her.

“The Duchy of Stalliongrad has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

“The Duchy of Shanghay has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

“The Duchy of The Hinterlands has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

“The Duchy of San Palomino has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

Her forehooves danced in place, looking for somewhere to go, something to do to help, and finding nothing as the lights moved to the third and final row of dukes and duchesses.

“The Duchy of Cloudsdale has No Confidence in Captain Shining Armor’s abilities.”

The light over Bismare’s spot shown briefly for just a moment, letting a gasp of air escape from Twilight’s mouth when the rhythm interrupted. This was it. There were only two Dukes left. The last one would’ve been Charlemane himself, but he didn’t vote except in ties. The light lingered longer than normal for the empty seat, then settled on Naponion, the Duke of Prance. The plump unicorn stood up somewhat less than gracefully and cleared his throat.

“The Duchy of Prance respectfully abstains from voting in this matter, Chairpony.”

Charlemane sighed in annoyance. “Very well, so noted. Also noted is the Duchess of Germane’s absence. The Council now requests the votes of the Royal Quarter.”

A teeny, tiny glimmer of hope still remained. The Royal Quarter referred to the maximum possible four ponies with the title of “Prince” or “Princess” that were not alicorns. Right now, there were only three, as Blueblood had no wife. Although Shining couldn’t vote on something directly pertaining to him, that still left Cadence and Blueblood. If they both voted in his favor, there was an incredibly small chance that Celestia would have enough justification to be able to save her brother.

The realization of who the lone Prince up there actually was crushed that tiny bit of hope she had left.

No…

A light appeared above a pink winged unicorn whose mascara was running from tears. After some straining, she weakly announced her vote. “Due to familial ties, the Princess of the Lost must recuse herself from voting. Forgive me.”

“Cady…” Shining whimpered, losing his stoicism.

No… Not even Cadence?

“Have you all gone and lost your minds!?” A light blazed to life over Prince Blueblood’s seat, illuminating him even before Cadence’s went out.

“Please, Your Highness,” Charlemane said. “The hearing is over. We only require your vote as the Prince of Canterlot.”

“Canterlot wouldn’t exist if not for that stallion!” Blueblood raged, slamming his hoof into his desk like he was playing piano with a hammer. “You lot wouldn’t just have lost your damn seats; you’d’ve lost your heads! You sleep safe and sound in your beds each night because this officer spends every waking moment thwarting plots on your hides!”

“That’s quite enough, Your Highness!” Charlemane yelled back, pointing a hoof. “We just need your—”

“You all want my vote, you corrupt sacks of horn-rot!?” Little bits of spittle were raining down on Naponion. “The Duchy of Canterlot has Full Confidence in Captain Shining Armor and the shield he puts over this city every single rutting time one of you imbeciles mistake your damned servants’ green horn aura for a changeling’s! Put that in your docket and smo—”

“Blueblood,” Celestia interrupted, voice as calm as could be.

“Yes, Auntie?” Blueblood stopped his rant and turned around in an instant, looking a bit like a kicked puppy.

“That will be quite enough, nephew.” Celestia smiled slightly, the same motherly glow that she showed to Twilight so many times over the years.

“Yes, Auntie.” He bowed. “The Duchy of Canterlot votes in Full Confidence for Shining Armor.”

Twilight’s jaw was just about ready to wiggle out of its socket to try and get away from the roof of her mouth. Prince Blueblood voted in Shiny’s favor?! He was the only vote!? The same pony that thinks I’m not worthy to be the princess’ student because I wasn’t born a noble!?

“Princess Celestia,” Charlemane began, pausing ever so slightly before continuing. “The Inner Council of the Nobility of Equestria has polled itself and found that Equestria has No Confidence in Shining Armor’s abilities as Captain of the Royal Guard. We hereby formally issue a demand as Representatives of the Ponies of Equestria that he be stripped of his position effective immediately.”

This was it. The Council had substantial political power, but ultimately Celestia had the final say on matters. The rest was a calculation. She could reject their demand, but doing so would have a huge political cost.

Please, Princess… Don’t do it…

Shining Armor turned to the princess, exhaled, and stood up straight and proud. Celestia sighed and lifted her gavel with a neutral expression. “Very well, Chairpony. I have heard the evidence placed before this Council, and the pleas of the ponies.”

Twilight twisted her barrel about, trying to shake loose of Luna’s wing. No, Princess…

“Although I disagree with this Council’s recommendation, I understand their position.”

Twilight lifted her forehooves up and pushed against the powerful alicorn wing.

“Twilight! No!” Luna’s plea went unheeded as the smaller mare broke out of the hold.

“I wish I had another option, Captain, but—”

“Tia! Don’t!” Twilight yelled, shattering the invisibility spell and leaving the entire chamber stunned and slack-jawed.

The entire chamber, that is, except Princess Celestia.

“Twily?” Shining’s voice cracked, a tear already in his eye as he turned to look at his sister. Twilight had her forehooves on the bannister, desperately pleading with her mentor through watering eyes.

“Damn…” Luna whispered behind her.

Princess Celestia’s face grew ever so slightly more sad, but her eyes stayed glued to the stallion before her, never once looking in Twilight’s direction. “I am very sorry, my student. But I do not have a choice. Shining Armor, I hereby strip you of your military rank, duties, and position, and discharge you from the Royal Guard and my armed forces, immediately and permanently.”

Her gavel came down twice, with both Twilight and Shining jolting slightly as if being struck down by the very sound.

Shining turned away from Celestia and slowly walked down from his podium as all the lights in the chamber slowly turned on, lifting the dark ambiance but leaving the dour atmosphere.

Twilight’s mind froze, completely unable to think of what to do as he started walking by, his head held mostly high but lowered ever so slightly from his normal military-style gait. Two soldiers from the main doors walked up to him.

“I’m very sorry sir, but we have to confiscate your uniform,” one said.

“I know,” he replied, unsnapping the buckles with his magic. With a single movement, he took of the jacket, then folded it in his telekinetic field before giving it to them. In the end, he stood naked, watching as they carried it off to parts unknown in the castle.

“Now.” Luna’s single word was accompanied by a hoof to the back, and Twilight finally knew what she had to do. She leapt right over the railing and grabbed him in an embrace that was quickly returned. A blur of pink feathers and forelegs wrapped around the both of them a second later.

Author's Note

Come on guys, you didn’t REALLY think I’d just kill Shining off like that, did you? He’s one of my favorite characters! ;) And for crying out loud, check out Luna’s words at the end of Chapter 15.

Make yourself presentable as fast as you can, and meet me in the Empyreal Hall.

“Make yourself presentable.” If he was really in mortal danger, do you really think Luna would’ve wanted Twilight to get dressed first?

Okay, I’m evil for teasing. Still, the words were chosen carefully.

Speaking of words, this chapter sits at a whopping 11,000 words! That makes it the largest chapter to date! I’m pretty sure it’s larger than any of the other chapters I’ve written, too. On top of that, with this chapter's release, Rites has officially broken the 100,000 posted words mark! I still can't believe I wrote all that...

Anyway, new writing hasn’t happened much as I’m still stateside and quite busy, but as you can see, editing has in fact happened, and I still have a monster backlog of stuff. And, hey, it didn’t take to long to get to this one, right? ;)

I used my custom BBCode converter for this chapter, unlike the last one, so there shouldn't be any missed or duplicated areas. Let me know in the comments if that's not the case.

Honestly, I am so sick of working on this chapter. X) It took a long time to edit and I’ve read it start to finish dozens and dozens of times in the last week, so I hope you all enjoyed it, even if it ended on kind of a down note. Next one will be a bit more chipper, I promise.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a peek at The Rites Encyclopedia! Although voting has closed for the moment, a new chapter is coming very soon (if at all possible), and voting will resume after it’s been posted.

Oh, by the way, with this chapter having been posted, Block TWO is now officially posted and up! That’s right! Block two is DONE! Next chapter marks the start of Block Three! Huzzah! Wow it feels good to get to say that!

Oh, and sorry about the lack of image header for this chapter. Totally my fault. It should be added sometime soon.

Thanks again for reading my crazy ill-planned story everyone! I hope that, against all odds, you guys continue to enjoy it!

-Cv

EDIT: Have some art inspired by the chapter!

Faith and Duty

“Your Highness, the Council requests a few hours’ recess before we begin deliberation on the next docket item,” Charlemane said flatly, without even a hint of remorse.

“So granted, Chairpony.”

The sound of Celestia’s gavel striking its base made Twilight wince, each impact another wound in her heart. Shining must have noticed because he pulled her and Cadence even closer. She could hear Cadence weep softly, and from the sound of Shining’s breathing, he too was on the verge of breaking down.

I’m so sorry, brother. This wasn’t your failure; it was mine. I couldn’t do anything…

She held on to him like a vice, tears streaming down her face. The Council may have been filing out of the room, even passing right by them, but that didn’t matter. Right now, they were only worthy to be ignored, and that’s exactly what she did as time ticked onwards. All that mattered was providing some level of comfort for her brother who so thoroughly deserved it.

“What on Equestria would make you think bringing her here now would be a good idea?”

Twilight twitched. After such a long time, all the others should have been gone. Charlemane, though, seemed to still be here.

“You think keeping us both in the dark a better option?”

Luna as well, apparently. Twilight buried her muzzle further in Shining’s chest, her tears soaking into his coat.

“Of course! Do you have any clue as to how traumatic this is!?”

Twilight could hear Luna’s wings flaring out, her voice dripping with indignation. “There are some things in life we must face, Councilpony. Things we have the right to know, to see, even if it is hard.”

“Try explaining that to her!”

A few seconds later, the doors slammed shut, and they were left alone. Luna walked slowly over to them, head low.

“I don’t blame you.” Twilight lifted her head. “I blame him and the Council. Maybe even Celestia a little bit.”

“It’s not Charlemane’s fault,” Shining interjected, sniffing a bit.

I’ve never seen my brother even come close to crying before…

Cadence put a hoof up to his lips. “Hush, darling. Allow me.”

Shining nodded and placed his chin on her shoulder while she talked.

“Shining struck a deal with Charlemane. If he could—”

Luna placed a hoof on Cadence’s back. “I would advise taking this conversation somewhere more private. Let’s use one of the refreshment rooms.”

Cadence lowered her head in a slight bow. “Of course, Auntie Luna. Come on, sweetie.”

Shining moved to get up, but his hoof slipped back down, and he lowered his head, sighing.

No, come on, Shiny! It’ll be okay! We’ll figure something out! Twilight grabbed onto him, pushing up on his chest to get him to stand up, but he just sat there.

“Allow me.” Cadence stepped over to her, and put a hoof under him as well before a small, subtle rush of wind blew through their manes.

Twilight lifted a hoof in surprise. That’s pegasus magic! How did she use it with just her hoof?

Though he was wobbly, he slowly rose to his hooves, and Cadence used a wing to help him balance. Slowly, they left the chamber, Shining’s heavy, plodding hooves barely making a sound thanks to Cadence’s magic. The group made their way around the corner and entered a small side room.

Luna brought up the rear, and stopped just after passing through the doorway to turn around and call out down the hall. “Acolyte Arcane Edge, Paladin Silhouette, to me!”

Two Night Guards appeared from around a corner, one the stallion she’d known from her training, and one female she’d never seen before. They silently stooped to a deep, supplicating bow, and spoke in unison. “Sovereign, what is your will?”

Luna walked backed into the room and started closing the doors. “Keep guard. My sister, should she deign to show herself, is allowed inside. Should a member of the Council wish to enter, you have my permission to be more forceful in your duties.”

“Yes, Sovereign.” Twilight could see a smile on one of them just before the door closed.

The moment they clacked shut, Shining flopped down on a large cushion, daintily followed by his wife. The sun streamed in through the windows, blanketing their coats in a soft, warm glow.

Twilight took in a deep breath then let it out slowly, releasing some of the tension that had built up in her chest. As the adrenaline drained, she let her muscles relax and dropped down next to her brother, leaning against him.

“I never really thought this would be how it would all end,” Shining half-whispered, his voice cracking. “You know, my career. My crown.”

“Hush, darling.” Cadence squeezed him with a wing. “It’s not over yet. Charlemane keeps his promises. He’ll try to stop them from taking your crown.”

Twilight shuddered. “Can they really do that? Can they force the Princess to take away his nobility?”

Luna scoffed. “In theory,” she said, wandering over and behind a large bar that looked well stocked with liquor. “The Council is supposed to be the voice of the citizens, as Equestria is far, far too large for us to rule on our own. How much they truly are this is neither here nor there on this matter. If they vote in unison on a topic that our ponies are so riled up about, there’s little they cannot get Celestia to concede. And make no mistake, our ponies are quite upset over how weak Canterlot seems due to the attack. Small riots have broken out in Manehatten, Shanghay, Marelaysia—even Cloudsdale has had a disturbance. Naturally, firing the one in charge of Canterlot’s defense is an easy way for the Council to calm things down, even if that decision could later prove short-sighted.

“However, regardless of the future consequences, once the charge was laid and the demand given, had Celestia not acted, the whole thing might have turned into small rebellions rather than just unfocused anger. There is already an organized resistance in Stalliongrad; we cannot risk that spreading.”

Shining deflated even more. “I was trying to do right by our military; right by our soldiers. I never thought—”

“No good deed goes unpunished, Prince,” Luna said, looking around the cabinets behind the bar. “The silver lining is that your wife is correct. Charlemane, politician though he is, will keep his word. In addition, unlike discharging you from the military, the task of taking your crown from you is fraught with danger. Like so many other things the Council may wish to do, this is extremely likely to blow up in their faces, allowing my sister to pick up the pieces and gain an advantage.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at this, though they were sore for having been flat against her head for such a long time. “Why is it so much more difficult? This seems like nothing more than a changeling hunt to me.”

Various objects banged and clattered behind the counter Luna was looking at. “Oh, it is, but you have to understand the precedent here. The reason Charlemane asked Shining if he was complicit in the attack and even tried that angle at all was because the Council wanted him to be guilty of more than merely not seeing the attack coming. If he was somehow involved, there could be a criminal trial, and taking the crown would be easy.”

“Hold on!” Twilight lifted up her hooves, stopping Luna’s explanation. “You said Charlemane was working with Shiny.”

“He is,” Cadence chimed in. “But remember, as Chairpony, he has to represent the Council in official hearings no matter what his personal views are. The position gives him power, but also ties his hooves. Most of his influence lies in the political back channels.”

“Which is why the real fight has yet to come.” Luna pulled out a set of bartending tools and arranged them on the countertop. “Fortunately, issues of nobility are a civilian matter, which means I have a say in the final outcome. For Shining’s sake, however, I shall keep my big mouth shut until the final vote. Any push I make privately is likely to backfire.”

Cadence stood up and stretched out her wings. “Speaking of, I should get going and get to work. Your efforts might backfire, but mine won’t.” She leaned down to give Shining a gentle kiss, which he returned. “Stay here, sweetie. Let me fight for you for a change.”

He silently mouthed some words of thanks, tears welling up in his eyes.

Luna rustled around in some drawers. “I’d clean up a bit first, Cadence. You look like a disaster. Well, all three of you do, honestly.”

Cadence bowed and left the room, the Night Guard closing the doors behind her.

Twilight sighed, shifting her weight so Shining could lean on her a little.

Luna grumbled. “Where is the…? Ah, here it is.” A cocktail shaker floated through the air and landed on the bartop. “Cadence is an effective negotiator, and can read ponies better than anypony save perhaps Celestia. Because of her, there is yet hope.”

“Princess.” Twilight stared at her directly in the eyes. “How bad is it? Give me the truth.”

Luna’s shoulders slumped a bit. “The truth? The truth is that it’s difficult to be certain. If the Council was ignoring all the consequences of what such a decision would do, your brother would already have his title stripped from him.”

“But that’s not what’s going on here, so that’s not what I want to know,” Twilight asserted, pointing a hoof.

“Correct!” Luna started tossing bar implements and liquors around, making them dance and spin in her magic. “Since they failed to convict Shining of any deliberate wrongdoing, and only held a vote of no confidence, this makes things more complicated.”

“Basically, they convicted me of incompetence.” Shining groaned. “And since there are so many there with family members that are actually, factually incompetent, taking the title of ‘Prince’ away from me means that it becomes much, much easier for lesser titles to be taken away under even less pretense. At that point, it would only take one angry Duke to turn the nobility into a circular firing squad.”

Twilight clopped a hoof on the ground. “Which means that if they take away your title, suddenly every single member of the nobility is fair game for almost anything.”

“Just so,” Luna said right before shaking her cocktail vigorously. “I honestly wonder what Celestia has planned for this. I wish she’d share more with me. Still, disaster though this is, either outcome could wind up backfiring on the Council. Either Prince Shining gets more time to dedicate to rebuilding his image and giving the Dukes hell on the civilian stage, or they remove his noble rank too and the Council potentially destroys itself from within. I can’t say I agree with either outcome. He’s been too valuable a military leader to just let go in times like this; even with my restricted military intelligence access I can see that much.” When she was finally done, she poured her drink into a maretini glass and garnished it with a sliver of lime zest.

“Hmph. Or, his effectiveness is exactly why they let him go.” Twilight mused. Yet, despite her anger, she couldn’t help but observe the drink Luna had made. To just casually start making it before lunch like that was like a beacon to her curiosity. There had to be a reason. “What are you making?”

“A cocktail, obviously” Luna replied, grinning. “Almost done.” She placed the bottom of both of her forehooves together, one on top of another, and then separated them. In between them, and resting on the lower hoof, appeared a blue bottle. It was fat and round at the bottom with a long, thin neck. With a slight twist, she pulled out the cork and poured a small amount of the liquid.

The clear liquid in the glass started to change color rapidly, going from clear, to sea green, to dark blue, and finally clear once again. Twilight could hear fizzing, but there were no bubbles. Curiosity getting the better of her, she got up and wandered over to the glass only to find her brother was right beside her.

“It’s still fizzing. Is it fizzing?” he asked, his tears drying up.

“Did it fizz?” Twilight added. Welcome back, brother. It’s good to see that curious side of you again.

“Sort of. Shining, go ahead and take a whiff. Don’t drink. Just smell. Twilight, keep your distance.”

The siblings looked at each other with mirrored expressions, both with one eyebrow up and half a frown. Even their verbal response was the same. “Oooookaaaayyy…”

Twilight looked at it, but didn’t quite keep her distance. Instead, she put her ear up to it. Can’t smell it like this, at least. She didn’t hear fizzing anymore, though. “What the…?”

She heard the ocean. Waves crashing, wind roaring, and under that she could swear she even heard seagulls crying.

“Now, Twilight, give your brother room.” Luna winked.

Shining leaned forward and placed his nose right over the glass. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the air over the drink, followed by jolting backwards right on his side in a coughing fit.

“Shiny! Are you okay?!” Twilight rushed over and used her hooves to stabilize him and get him to stop flailing then lifted him back up on his haunches. “Come on, say something!”

“I’m—” he coughed, “—trying!” He coughed again. “Ugh. Whoa.”

Shining listed and leaned right into Twilight hard enough that she had to push hard to keep him from crushing her. I keep forgetting how heavy he is! So much muscle he might as well be an earth pony!

“Uaaagh. UGH!” He finally readjusted himself and sat balanced on his haunches. “What in Tartarus was in that? Feels like I just downed a couple of ales.”

“Tidewater!” Luna replied, snickering like a schoolgirl. “‘Tis a most potent drink devised by alicorns, for alicorns. Even breathing the vapors can lead a normal pony to become intoxicated. And, it is just about the only drink currently in existence that can get a full alicorn completely drunk. I could imbibe the entire cabinet behind me and only get ever so slightly tipsy. But this!” She held up the bottle. “This divine distillation of magic is the exception. I am the only keeper of the recipe left, though dear sister wishes I had forgotten it. She even tries to destroy my hidden stockpiles! Hmph. Just because her vice of cake and sweets only plumps out her rump and mine makes me intoxicated does not give her the right to judge.”

“That’s not an excuse to get my brother drunk!” She put a foreleg around him. “Look at him!”

Shining shook his head harshly. “I think… I think I’m okay. Wow, though. What would happen if I drank that?”

Luna shrugged and took a sip. “You’d be severely intoxicated to the point of hospitalization, rather than merely a little relaxed.”

“Still!” Twilight protested. “Princess, neither of us drink!”

Luna blinked. “You don’t… drink. I do not comprehend what you are saying.”

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “We. Don’t. Drink. Neither of us!”

“Ever?” Luna asked, sounding a bit like a filly.

“Well,” Shining interjected, “I have an ale or two occasionally, but never any more than that. Ever. This is fading quick, but it might be the most I’ve ever ‘had,’ so to speak.”

Luna blinked again. “I still don’t quite understand this. How can you just not drink?”

“Because we’re powerful!” Twilight yelled then stopped when she realized who she was talking to. “Ugh. I mean, when I was a filly, I had a huge surge of magic. Since Shining’s wellspring was also rather huge, even if not as big as mine, we both swore off getting drunk so we wouldn’t put anypony in danger.”

Her brother raised a hoof. “Eventually, I also had to be ‘on call’ all the time to deploy my shield, so there’s also that. Pheh. They just fired me, but I bet they’ll still expect me to use it.” He sighed and groaned at the same time. “And they’re right. I’d still do it if I needed to. If Canterlot needed me to.”

“That’s because you’re more of a noble than they’ll ever be,” Luna quipped. “And to hold both of yourselves to such a high standard is quite commendable. But, I can assure you, there is no need to deprive yourself of relaxation. In fact, after all this is over, Shining, I might recommend you take a long vacation. Perhaps accompany Cadence on one of her national tours.”

Shining shook his head. “No. Not when Canterlot is this vulnerable. Who would raise a shield in her defense?”

Luna raised her eyebrow. “Ahem. I will.”

“You?” both siblings responded, mouths open.

“I was creating magical barriers thousands of years before either of you even existed. I can shield Canterlot. And just imagine how the Council is going to feel about relying on their shunned Princess for defense. I wonder if they considered that when another attack happens I’m the only other pony capable of that. Hmm.” She swirled the glass and raised it to her lips for a sip.

The brother and sister smirked at each other. “You planned that, didn’t you?”

“Hehe, nay. I just thought of it. But it’s delicious nonetheless. The drink and the idea.”

Even though Shining laughed, Twilight could tell it was forced. “Yeah, but I’d still rather raise the shield myself. I mean, getting to laugh at the Council would be fun for a bit, but… It just wouldn’t be the same as getting to do my…” He swallowed. “Job.”

Luna smiled and came out from behind the bar then placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Thou hast served the crown for many years, Shining Armor. Who knows, in time, they may see their folly, and you may yet serve again. For now, think of this as a vacation, and relax. Enjoy the time with your wife.”

Twilight nodded. “She’s right, Shiny. I bet they’ll come crawling back eventually.”

Luna laughed and raised her drink in the air. “Cowardice often does.” She then proceeded to down the entire concoction in one large gulp before lightly slamming the glass on the bar. “Ahhh…”

Twilight patted his shoulder. “I mean, think about it, Shiny. You’ve always been there for Canterlot, and everypony else too. I honestly can’t believe all the things I’ve been hearing lately about what you’ve done for me. But, I’ve been training with Luna for months now. Let me handle some of this. I’m not a filly anymore.”

Luna laughed and danced back behind the bar. “Ha! Ye art both fillies compared to me!”

Shining raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head with his hoof. “Umm…”

Luna opened her mouth, paused, and then continued. “Eh, ‘tis still true. All of it.”

Twilight clenched her teeth and worried about whether she should ask, but threw caution to the wind and decided to anyway. “Um, Luna, are you…?”

“Pbbbt. No! I am not a real stallion, Twilight Sparkle, and I thought that obvious.”

“Ha!” Shining snickered before breaking out in laughter, slamming his hoof on the ground a few times.

“Ugh, no, Luna!”

“Huzzah! Twilight called me ‘Luna’ again! I win!”

Twilight facehooved as Shining laughed even more. “No! Princess, I meant, ‘are you drunk?’”

“Hehe, oh Twilight.” Her wings fluttered around a bit. “Of course not. I’m just a tiny bit tipsy, and I tend to get a little loopy and happy when I have tidewater.”

Shining snickered, his face brightening at the exchange. “Thanks, Princess. I needed that laugh.”

Luna’s grin went from happy to devious. “My pleasure, Prince. Speaking of, you aren’t in the military anymore. You’re free to call me ‘Auntie’ now. There’s no need to be so formal. As I said, you’ve done much for us, especially for one your age. In fact, I recall the day I met you.”

Shining’s pupils retracted to pinpricks, and Luna’s mischievous grin only widened.

“Although perhaps you should tell the tale, since you no doubt remember it better than I do, seeing as I had just been blasted with the world’s most powerful magical weapons.”

Shining looked over to his sister. “Well, you see…”

Twilight giggled. “Well, now I have to hear about this. What were you doing that day, Shiny? You never did tell me, saying it was all ‘classified.’ Well, I have clearance now, and we’re in a private room.”

Shining slumped back down to the ground. “I’m not getting out of this, am I,” he said rather than asked.

“Nope,” came the reply from both mares anyway.

He sighed. “Alright, get comfy, everypony. Might as well get this over with.”

"What? That’s it?!"

"Ye-yes, sir!" an extremely scared officer replied.

Shining Armor, the newly-minted Captain of the Royal Guard, facehooved. "That’s not a professional report, soldier!"

"It’s all we know!"

"Then get out there, and find out more!" Shining yelled, chasing the subordinate back out of the closet that might, if one squinted and was being very generous, be called a captain’s office. "I swear, this is what happens when you give the captaincy to a noble like some kind of trophy."

"I think you’re being a little harsh on him, Captain. At the very least, we know the Princess is safe now, and the casualty reports have been minimal," came a neutral tone from Intelligentsia, who was sitting on a box with her back against a sharp corner of a free-standing locker. Almost every single spot on the floor of the cramped, beige-wallpapered room was being taken up by some kind of box, filing cabinet, or storage locker filled to bursting with documents and office supplies. Aside from a small tile path to his seat the entire room was packed to the withers.

"Nopony is more thankful everypony is okay, trust me on that! But, Celestia help me, it’s going to take a decade to reform the guard back to where it needs to be. This is my fourth day, and I already have the worst track record in history. Did you know we had three flights of pegasi that are only now launching? Like the emergency orders were just optional. I swear, heads will roll over this."

Intelligentsia sighed. "Ours if we’re not careful."

"Oh, I’m already anticipating that. Come on, we need to get to the Royal Chariot Bay."

The two moved towards the narrow corridor before the door, only to enter at the same time and get stuck.

"Oh, this is just balls."

As if the office was in on the joke, the lights overhead flickered and failed.

"That’s it!" Shining flared his horn and pushed Intelligentsia forward and out of their stuck position. "I swear, I’m not going to rest until we have a proper war room. This is insanity."

"You have my full support, sir," Intelligentsia said as they finally got out of the office.

Shining stopped alongside Intelligentsia. “Did you hear the door click?” he asked.

“I don’t think so—”

He whipped back around and yanked the door open, slamming it shut again and again without success.

"What the hell? It doesn’t even lock!"

"Figures," Intelligentsia groaned. "Just leave it. We—"

The doorframe creaked and groaned, the sound of metal scraping on metal as the screws keeping the door in place popped out or broke from the force of Shining’s telekinetic field. Yanked out of it’s place, the door itself started to screech, squealing under its punishment until it resembled a giant playing card folded in half. Even the door handle popped out of its place like a champagne cork.

"Somepony get me a new door!" he yelled down the narrow hall then turned to a random passing soldier. The Captain hurled the door of steel down the hall just as a guard rounded a corner, making the hapless pony dive for the ground. The half-ton of steel crashed into the hardwood floor, sending a shower of splinters into the air. "And get those pegasi in the sky!"

Shining’s mood only soured as the pony in front of him, whom he’d nearly turned into a pancake, lay there motionless. With a slight, subconscious growl he stomped up to him, not even caring that his hapless subordinate looked ready to wet himself.

"Go!" He yelled right in the subordinate’s face, managing to get him to scramble to his hooves and run down the narrow hallway. Shining gave chase, nipping at his fetlocks and not letting up until they were back in the castle proper and had to go in a different direction.

"I do think you’re being a bit hard on them, sir. We’re used to things being more casual here."

"This is the Royal Guard, Officer. ’Casual’ shouldn’t be in our vocabulary."

"You won’t win friends with that attitude."

Shining stopped and stood by a set of large, open double doors leading to the Chariot Bay. "I’m much more interested in the safety of Canterlot. For instance, this should be closed right now. I’d also like them to be redone in steel rather than wood."

"It’s a design choice," Intelligentsia quipped.

"It’s a security weakness! If you want it to look like wood, fine, but make it a steel core with enchantments." Shining rubbed his forehead. "No, getting distracted won’t help. Let’s focus on the issue at hoof."

The two walked through the doors and into the chariot bay, which was more or less a hollowed-out piece of Canterlot Mountain. At the far end was an opening to the sky with a small runway, while inside the bay itself were a dozen or so slots for official royal chariots. Most of the vehicles were in their place, sitting unused, as their pilots were up in the sky. Well, most of the pilots were up in the sky. Some were standing idle in the bay.

"You four, on me! Celestia is arriving with my sister and a new Princess! Honor Guard formation at the landing site, now!"

The pegasi just stared at him, one with his mouth slightly open.

Intelligentsia spoke up. "In their defense, sir, you did just say ’new Princess,’ and that does sound rather, well, insane."

"Trust me, I know, and I’m going to look like a damn foal if this is inaccurate. Doesn’t excuse anything though. What are you all doing!? I gave an order! Hop to it! Go, go, go!"

The pegasus group scrambled to the landing strip, assembling into formation and snapping to an attentive stance.

"Well at least they can look professional," Shining sighed. "Now, we wait."

They didn’t have to wait long. Shortly thereafter, the chariot descended from the sky, flanked by a dozen more exhausted guards.

"ROYALTY ARRIVED! ATTEN-TION!" Shining’s voice cracked as he yelled, the strain on his own body beginning to become apparent. All the soldiers snapped to and saluted, save for Shining and Intelligentsia, who bowed.

"Arise and be at ease, my ponies," the Princess said while stepping off the chariot, her voice just barely hinting that, perhaps, she too was exhausted.

Upon lifting from his bow, he caught a glimpse of what he assumed was the new royalty. But it was only that, a glimpse of her light blue hair. She seemed to be doing her best at hiding by staying behind Celestia’s flowing mane.

"Do not be afraid, sister. My guards are your guards now."

The pony cautiously stepped out from her hiding place and sat down. Though there was no flowing mane, she clearly possessed a large horn, wings, and was taller than he despite her visage of youth. There could be no doubt; this pony was an alicorn.

"Captain Armor, I’d like you to meet my sister, Princess Luna. She has been redeemed and has agreed to peacefully resume her role at my side."

"Huh," Intelligentsia blurted out. Shining gave her a quick, mean look, and she went back to attention. With a deep breath, Shining approached the smaller alicorn and dropped into a bow once again.

Time passed as he held his head low, the seconds each adding an additional burning sensation in his tired legs. When he finally looked ever so slightly back up at her, he found her staring at him as well, though for what reason he could not discern. She merely looked, with neither malice nor joy nor any other expression in her wide, icy-blue eyes.

After many more uncomfortable heartbeats, the smaller alicorn turned to her sister and spoke.

"He’s strong," she said.

"He is indeed, but it is still rude to keep him kneeling for so long." Celestia winked at her.

The alicorn turned back to him and nodded, allowing him to exit the bow.

Shining cleared his throat. The next few moments would have to be handled delicately. “Your Highness, it is good to see you return safe and unharmed. Forgive my soldiers their failures, as my command is clearly not worthy of your grace. I offer my immediate resignation and surrender for punishment as you see fit.”

Surprisingly, it was the smaller alicorn that reacted first. Her eyes went wide again, and she stepped away from her sister and looked up at her. Celestia gave her only a small glance before responding with the calm, sweet voice she was known for.

“Please, Shining. Such things are unnecessary. I could not, in good conscience, punish you or your soldiers for failing to hold back the assault of an alicorn, especially my own sister. I may as well ask you to move a mountain or halt a river.”

Luna seemed to calm with that and moved back under the shadow of her elder sister. Whatever her reaction, though, the political dance wasn’t yet done. “Nonetheless, this was my failure, and I believe I do have a barrier spell that could halt a small river. I must ask for your judgement of me.”

Celestia didn’t miss a beat. “Then I will give it, and I find you innocent and worthy of your station. Now, no more of this.”

“Of course, your highness,” he said, smiling in a short bow. That was the cover he needed. He’d still have to face calls for his head, but they’d be much quieter now. "If I may, communications have been lackluster since your disappearance. We are uncertain as to the entirety of what has transpired."

"What have you been told?"

Shining looked over to the smaller alicorn for just a moment, trying and failing to determine a polite way of proceeding. "That your sister, Nightmare Moon, imprisoned you in an attempt to usurp the throne but was thwarted by Ponyville mares finding rare magical artifacts and defeating her. We then heard reports that she had surrendered to you."

He had to keep his legs from shaking when he saw the sad look on the younger alicorn’s face. That felt even worse than I thought it would.

"That is close, Captain, although missing crucial details," Celestia replied with a calm, even tone. "My sister was cleansed of malice by the Elements of Harmony. I can assure you, she is no longer a threat. She is truly my sister once more, and shall be treated as such. I trust that is not a problem?"

Shining shook his head. "Of course not, your majesty. The Guard shall serve. Unfortunately, that is all whom I can speak for."

“You refer to the nobility.”

“You have to admit, this is a major political event.”

Celestia’s horn began to glow, and a case from the chariot floated next to her. “I thank you for using restraint in your description, Captain, but I ask that you leave such matters to me.”

A quick look into the rest of the chariot brought something to Shining’s attention. “Of course, Princess, but, if you would forgive my asking, where is my sister? Shouldn’t she have arrived with you?”

Celestia looked genuinely taken aback at the question. “Oh my, forgive me! I thought you had heard!”

Shining’s heart stopped. “Heard what?”

“She decided to stay in Ponyville with her new friends! I’ve honestly never seen her so happy.”

Shining’s heart beat twenty times in rapid succession then stopped again. “Friends!?”

“Indeed! She seems quite taken with them and the town. In fact, she—”

The smaller alicorn interrupted her sister with light tapping on her shoulder. “His sister, is that the one on approach to the summits?”

Celestia looked at her and then back at him before responding. “Yes, but that is personal information.”

Luna snapped back to look at the others and shrunk down with embarrassment. “Oh,” she whispered. “She’s very strong.”

“That’s enough, I think. Captain, my sister and I desire to spend time with each other, privately, as we have much to discuss. If you would be so kind as to clear the halls for us.”

Shining’s heart and other biological functions shocked back into operation. “Friends!?”

Celestia’s tone got just a bit heavier. “Captain?”

A jolt of pain went down his spine from a light punch from Intelligentsia, and he jumped to attention. “Oh, right! Guards! Clear the halls! No one will so much as lay eyes on our princess… er, princesses! Move!”

Smooth, Shining, let force of habit put you on the new alicorn’s “I can’t wait to outlive these ponies” list.

The group moved out back into the castle, with the guards in front clearing out everypony they found and Shining and Intelligentsia just ahead of the princesses.

“Hey, Captain,” Intelligentsia whispered. “I thought your sister wasn’t exactly the social type.”

“She doesn’t make friends that aren’t in hardback. I’m going to have to find out what’s really going on when I get a chance, but at least I know she isn’t hurt… probably.”

“I think you might be worrying a bit much.”

“That’s my job, Officer.”

“Sorry, Captain.”

Awkward silence reigned in the halls as ponies were herded out of sight. Shortly, they reached Celestia’s tower and the double doors to her personal chambers, and Luna quickly moved inside. Celestia levitated the case in with her and turned to face the two Guardsponies.

“Captain, I do not want any interruptions for one week.”

“A week? But, your highness, the Inner Council will—”

“Will heed my commands, my little pony.” She smiled at him. “I am officially declaring the Council and national government on holiday as a celebration of my sister’s return. The Astral Court, Council matters, and all non-essential services are to be closed for the duration of my absence. I apologize for being so brief, but a thousand years is a long time to go without seeing one’s sister, so I must end things here. As for national security, I will leave that in your capable hooves, Captain.”

As the doors began to close, gold arcs of electricity and magic sparked across the entryway, filling the air with the scent of ozone. At the moment they shut, a field of leylines sprang to life within them, generating a shield that easily rivaled any of Shining’s best. Nothing short of another alicorn is going to be able to get through that.

“Well, that went well.”

“Intelligentsia, today has been a disaster, and this just makes it worse! How am I supposed to guard Canterlot with a completely dysfunctional and exhausted force? Not to mention field questions from the ponies about a new Princess?”

She shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I mean, I saw the Nightmare coming, not Princess Luna. Thanks for listening to me on that, by the way.”

“You don’t get to rub it in until you help me figure this all out.” He poked her on the shoulder.

“Why me?”

He smirked. “Because you were the one who saw the Nightmare coming.”

“Your sister saw her coming as well, I might add.” She smirked back.

“Don’t remind me. Somehow, in all of this, I need to find a way to check up on her personally.”

“Why not just send somepony else? You’re as exhausted as the rest of us.”

“No, it has to be me.”

“No it—”

“It has to be me,” he asserted with a glare.

Intelligentsia backed up a little and kept a hoof up. “Okay, okay, it has to be you. Loud and clear.”

Shining backed off a little. “Good. Now I just need to figure out where I’m going to find a few hundred fresh soldiers.”

“Wait!” Intelligentsia interrupted. “You hear that?”

Shining tilted his head a bit, wondering what she was talking about, but then he heard it too. Hoofsteps. Lots of them, marching perfectly in synchronization.

“Either you just got your reinforcements, or we’re being invaded.”

The two peered over the stairwell, awaiting the arrival of whatever was coming. Images of the worst possible scenario danced in his head, as his mind was wont to do, while his heart beat in tempo with the marching.

Intelligentsia must have spotted them first. “Hey, that’s—”

Shining clopped a hoof on the tile in triumph. Long, flowing gold mane, lanky physique, powder-white coat that everypony thinks is dyed, a flower behind the ear, and last but not least a blue, white, and rose-colored, customized uniform that’s so robe-like there’s no way in Equestria it conforms to regs. Yeah, there’s only one stallion that could possibly be. “General Gemstone Quartz! Now there’s a sight for sore eyes!”

The General himself marched at the lead of what must have been three dozen soldiers leading and flanking him, moving to take up position at the doors to Her Majesty’s chambers.

“Captain Armor! Explain yourself!”

“General?” he asked.

“I said, explain yourself!”

Shining’s mouth hung open a little as he looked around a bit nervously. It was unlike Gemstone to be so aggressive. The soft features of his face were hardened and angry. Even his long, wavy, blond mane was tied back in a more in-code manner.

Technically, the General had no authority over him. The Captain of the Royal Guard answered only to the full Inner Council and Princess Celestia herself. Still, he could understand the need for answers.

“General, our princess is safe, and her sister has been redeemed. They have retreated to their chambers and have given orders not to be disturbed for a whole week, during which time the government is on holiday. I was just about to start organizing watches for the city.”

Quartz looked up at the double doors of the entrance. “Open the door, Shining, I need to speak with her.”

“Excuse me, General?” he replied, laughing.

“Princess Celestia? Your Highness? Your Grace?” The General boomed towards the doors then swung around. “Shining, I told you to get this door open!”

Shining took a step back in shock before gathering himself. “General, I’m a master of barrier magic, yes, but that’s Celestia’s spell, and I’m fairly sure it was meant to work with the enchantments already in the doors.”

“I’m well aware of that, Armor. Do it anyway. I must see her!” He snapped around to the door and pounded on it like a snare drum. “Your Highness! Can you hear me? It’s Gemstone! Could you open the door? Please? For me?”

Shining looked up at the door and back at the General. “Go grab all the other generals and fire everything you have at it. Then, maybe, just maybe, they’ll hear the knock.”

Light blazed out from the General’s horn so quickly even Shining Armor didn’t have time to react. By the time his eyes adjusted, he found his hooves encased in crystal and sealed to the floor.

“I’m not interested in excuses, Armor! You will open this door immediately!”

It’s going to be like that, huh?

“Back off, General. Even you don’t get to order me around. That’s not the way it works.”

The General waved at one of his stallions, and they approached him with a scroll. “Captain Shining Armor, by order of the Inner Council, you are hereby relieved of duty and will surrender Canterlot’s defenses to me, immediately.”

Intelligentsia jumped in. “The Princess just ordered the Council on holiday! You can’t just—”

“Yes! I! Can! And you just joined him, Miss…”

“Intelligentsia, you—”

Shining interrupted her this time. “I’m guessing those were drafted and signed before Celestia gave the order. Am I correct, General?”

“Just so. Since you will not open the doors, you may remain here next to them until our princess returns to us. Think long on your failures.”

Shining merely snickered a little at first, but ultimately couldn’t hold back anymore, and broke down into a fit of laughter. At points he laughed so hard the crystal on his hooves was the only thing preventing him from falling over.

“I take it you find something funny, Captain?” General Quartz sneered.

Shining laughed hard a few final times before regaining his composure. “Yeah, yeah, I do. It’s damned hilarious, actually. You and the whole bucking Inner Council just played right into my hooves.” He laughed some more. “And I wasn’t even trying to play you!”

Shining maintained his smile even as the General got right into his face. “Perhaps a few days here without food or water will teach you some humility.”

“Yeah, about that,” he said, powering his own horn and casting a spell. Six beams of purple light shot out from each of his hooves, splitting and shattering the crystals and freeing his limbs. “Relieved of duty or not, you have zero authority over me. Try to trap me again, and I’ll geld your sorry flank right in front of your troops and then gift-wrap your stallionhood for General Blaze as a Hearth’s Warming present!” Shining grinned. “Or at least I would if anyone could find it. Come on, Intelligentsia, we have a chariot to catch. Leave this damn fool to his fate.”

Shining took off at a trot down the stairs and paused just before getting out of eyesight of the top. With another grin, he turned around and yelled up. “By the way, I bet the nobility is just dying to know that Princess Luna will be joining her sister as their ruler, not to mention all the press is probably lined up at the castle gates already, just dying to ask questions of the pony in charge! Have fun with that!” It’s probably the last fun you’ll get to have for a few years.

Shining continued his laugh and even danced a bit as he led his assistant back down the stairs.

“You enjoyed that,” she was laughing too.

“You’re bucking right I enjoyed that! Did that moron actually think he could just seal me? I just got my GR-7 certification!” Shining shook his head. “General Quartz is usually a lot more level-headed.”

Intelligentsia rolled her eyes. “Anytime something comes up that directly threatens the Princess’s safety, he tends to act a bit rashly.”

Shining tilted his head in thought. “Really? Wonder why.”

“Yeah, it’s a mystery,” she deadpanned.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. So where are we going? You said something about a chariot? Wait, we aren’t…?”

“Yes we are!” Shining said as they arrived back at the chariot bay. Fortunately, there were still three pegasi there that didn’t look especially exhausted. In fact, they were lounging about as much as one could in royal guard armor. “You three! Get a chariot ready ASAP!”

The pegasi looked at him. “Um, sir, General Quartz has ordered all chariots grounded. You need an order from a princess, Prince Blueblood, or the Inner Council to get clearance.”

“What—?”

Shining put a hoof over Intelligentsia’s mouth. “That’s exactly what we have.”

“You do?” the pegasus asked.

“We do?” Intelligentsia asked as well, and Shining pressed harder on her mouth.

“I do. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has given me clearance and a command to check up on my little sister, Twilight Sparkle, in Ponyville.”

“Oh!” The pegasus took a step back in surprise. “But I thought you were relieved of command.”

Wow. Juicy gossip? Everypony knows it in five seconds. Actual intel reports? Takes two days. “I hardly think I need to be on duty to check on my little sister, guys. I helped raise her for crying out loud. Just get the chariot ready, and let’s go. I want to be back by sundown.”

“Um, alright. Hey Feathers, go run the clearance for us.”

“On it,” the lone female pegasus replied, flying off to verify the orders.

“It’ll just be a few moments,” the third pegasus said.

Shining chuckled. “Guys, seriously. I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard. Let’s get going here.”

The two remaining pegasi looked at each other nervously. “Well, if you say so, sir.”

“Awesome!” Shining hopped on a nearby chariot. “Come on, Gen!”

Intelligentsia nervously climbed on board while the pegasi hitched themselves on. “Gen? And are you sure you know what you’re doing?” she whispered.

“‘Intelligentsia’ is a mouthful, we’re both off duty, and yes. Yes I do.”

She fell back on her haunches as the soldiers began a rough takeoff out of the bay. A few seconds later they were in the air, flying down the mountain, and being shot at by pegasi.

“What the hell!?” one of the chariot pegasi screamed.

“I know, these guys are lousy shots. I really need to get them better training when I get back.”

“Get back!?” the mare next to him yelled. “When we get back, we’re going to get turned into statues!”

“Five bits says otherwise. Ten bits says Quartz will be bowing to me in apology.”

Gen latched onto the safety bar for dear life as the chariot bucked and weaved to dodge the lightning attacks. “Thirty bits says we’re about to get killed by a dozen angry pegasi enforcing a no fly zone!”

“Meh, don’t worry about them.” With a smile, Shining turned around and lit his horn. Purple energy flowed out like water, gushing and surrounding the chariot in a haze of lavender. As soon as the spell was complete, the lightning started bouncing off the newly formed shield, unable to find a path to the chariot.

“You see, most unicorns just put up a shell of a force field and rely on the spherical shape of the barrier to reinforce its hardness. That just makes it brittle to really hard hits.” He sounded a lot like he was delivering a weather plan. “I, on the other hand, fill the inside space with enough magic that the force is dissipated by the full volume rather than just the outside shell. It takes more energy to set up, but it makes for a much, much more durable shield. Doesn’t work with really huge shields, though. Taxes the wellspring too much.”

“Yeah well that’s great and all, but they’re still going to catch up to us and kill us!”

Shining looked into Intelligentsia’s furious, seething eyes and smiled. “Oh, have some faith. This is nothing.” With a light step, he turned around and relit his horn. There were at least two dozen pegasi making passes at the chariot, firing lightning to try and take them down. If they were yelling anything, the sound was muffled by the shielding.

Shining took a deep breath and poured power into his horn. He had to be calm and careful for this, as he’d wind up hurting his own soldiers if he lost even the slightest bit of control. The spell whizzed around his horn, spiraling into a complex formula dancing and interacting with the shield already around them. Several seconds later, a spark cracked in the air, and a shockwave blasted out from the shield. The purple wave slammed into the pursuing pegasi, knocking them back and locking their momentum so that they’d have no choice but to fly away from the chariot. By the time the spell would wear off, they’d be too far away to give chase.

“Unreal… But we’re still going to be hunted like fugitives!”

“Oof!”

Intelligentsia punched him hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

One of the chariot pegasi spoke up. “She’s right! What’s stopping us from landing right now and turning you in?”

“Relax, you three. We’re going to be just fine. Cadence will back me up.”

“Who?” all three asked.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She’s an old friend; I’ve known her since foalhood.”

“Like a princess is going to stick her neck out for a stunt like this!” Intelligentsia kept yelling. “And even if she did, it wouldn’t change anything!”

“Oh, she will. Wouldn’t be the first time! And I’m surprised at you, Gen!”

“At me?”

“Yeah, you of all ponies should be able to see a larger picture. Here, look at it this way. What would happen if Cadence did go ahead and say she gave that order.”

Intelligentsia stared at him, huffing and angry.

“Come on, think it through.” Shining was smiling like a fiend.

“Well, the treason charges… Oh sweet Celestia, we’re going to be statues—”

“Gen! Focus!”

After a few more calming breaths, she continued. “The charges would be dropped and, most likely, they’d start an ‘investigation’ as to why her orders weren’t followed.”

“You’re sure she’ll come through?” the left pegasus asked.

“Completely, and even if she doesn’t, I’ll take the blame fully. You guys are in the clear. But, still not done.”

“Not done?” Gen asked.

“Nope!” Shining beamed, still unable to contain his grin. “Keep thinking it through!”

He could practically see the gears turning in her head. “Well, odds are the investigation will find the communications deficiencies in the guard and… You! You planned all this, didn’t you?”

Shining let out a huge laugh. “Yup! Well, kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Some of it was spur of the moment, but I knew we’d be okay pretty early on.”

Intelligentsia leaned over the side of the vehicle. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Aw, come on, Gen! Think about how great this is! Quartz is going to have to tell the Princess and the Council one of two things. If he tries to avoid responsibility for letting us get away by saying the Guard is a mess, then he has to side with me in asking for reforms, funding, additional authority, etcetera. If he says everything in the Guard is fine and we’re continuing to uphold a proud tradition, blah blah blah, he looks like a complete blowhard, because we got away. He’s trapped!”

“And if your girlfriend sells us down the river?”

Shining chuckled a little. “She’s not my girlfriend, Gen. She’s just a friend from my foalhood, and I seriously doubt she’ll hang me out to dry. All she’ll need to hear is ‘Twilight Sparkle’ and ‘Shining Armor.’ I’m certain she’ll want me to beg forgiveness after all is said and done, maybe even have me do something for her in exchange, but she’ll help. Trust me.”

The mare seemed to calm down a little and sat back in the chariot. “For somepony who is easily one of the largest worry-worts in Canterlot, you’re awfully calm about what might happen to us after this!”

His smile became a little less cocky and a little more wistful at that. “Well, I always worry more about my family than myself. Anything can happen to me. I’m expendable. Twilight, though? She’s far, far more important than I am.”

“So it’s an inferiority complex then.”

“Tch.” He slumped down next to her hard, his fatigue starting to show. “It’s not an inferiority complex, Intelligentsia. It’s the truth. She’s the Princess’s personal protégé.”

“And you’re the Captain of the Royal Guard. Like it or not, you are a more important piece on the board than she is,” she declared, poking at his chest.

Shining closed his eyes. “You only say that because you haven’t met her. She’s a genius, Gen. Give her some time, and she’ll make discoveries that’ll change the world.”

Several moments passed with nothing but the sound of beating wings, as even the wooshing of the air was blocked by the shielding.

“Um,” one of the pegasi spoke up. “Are we going to get arrested when we land at Ponyville? Why are we still going there? For that matter, why are we still listening to you two?”

“Yes, we’re going to Ponyville.” He sat up with a grunt. “No, we won’t be arrested. They won’t have a clue as to what’s going on. And like I said, I’ll take all the blame if it comes down to it. For all they’ll know, I forced or tricked you guys to do this.”

“You did trick us into doing this!” the other yelled.

“Oh, right!” He chuckled. “Well, that just makes it easier then, doesn’t it? If you could, set us down outside the village.”

“Why are we landing outside the town if they don’t know about our ‘daring escape?’” Intelligentsia asked.

He cleared his throat before responding. “I want to make sure Twilight is okay, and I want to do it without her knowing I’m there. If she sees me, she’ll just say she’s fine even if she’s not.”

“And if she's fine like the Princess says?”

Shining turned to Intelligentsia and gave her a stern look. “Then we’ll leave, and she’ll never be the wiser. Let her stay without thinking I’m worried about her. If she’s really happy, then I want her to stay that way.”

“So you’re going to spy on her.”

“I’m not going to spy on her, Gen.”

She stared at him.

“Okay, I’m going to spy on her. But quit giving me that glare. You look like I’m going to do something lewd.”

“You just lied to our fellow comrades and made them accomplices to violating a no-fly edict so you could see your sister, you dragged me along for the ride, and now you’re telling me you don’t actually want to see her when you get there! I think I’ve earned the right to stare at you like you’re a bucking lunatic!”

Shining shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Intelligentsia stretched her legs, thankful to be off of the rocky chariot and once again on solid, safe, unyielding ground. “Okay, so, what exactly is the plan here? We stalk your sister until, when, exactly?”

Shining rolled his eyes. “It’s not stalking, Gen. We’re going to just observe for a bit. If she’s happy, we can leave.”

“And then get arrested.”

“And then get arrested, yes.” His hooves kept a quick pace on the gravel road leading into town. They had circled around to the southeast and landed far enough outside as to not be so easily noticed.

“And I take it you’ve never served in the intelligence corps.”

Shining blinked. “No, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Intelligentsia stopped and spun around in front of him, jabbing his chest with her hoof. “Because we’re about to enter town and try to be stealthy while wearing our uniforms.”

“Oh! Right, that’s a… That’s a problem there.”

“Take it off, and fold it up. I’ll stash them in the bushes over there, put a spell on them. Then, we’ll split up. Try not to do anything stupid.”

Shining took off his cap. “Which of us is the one leading this again?”

“This isn’t a military op, so there’s no ‘official’ leader,” she flatly said, taking off her own uniform.

“Uh-huh.” Shining smiled, taking his off too. She can’t be that mad if she’s being so matter-of-fact.

“Wait!” Gen raised a hoof, getting Shining to stop mid-strip.

“Um, what?” he asked.

Gen strode up to him and started weaving a spell. “You’re likely to be recognized by the townsponies if you just walk in. You don’t want to have to explain to your sister later on how you snooped on her, do you?”

Shining resumed taking off the uniform. “Ah, right, good point. I suppose that’s a glamour spell?”

“My illusions are too crude for that. Just because it’s an earth pony town doesn’t mean there aren’t unicorns here that can see through it. I’m going to change your coat and mane color instead.”

Shining’s mouth popped open for a moment. “Wait, what? You can—?”

A blast of magic cut him off along with a purple cloud of quickly-dissipating magic fog. Waitaminute… Purple!? As he feared, his coat was now a brilliant, regal shade of purple.

“Oh, Celestia, no! You are not dressing me up in this color!”

Gen waved a dismissive hoof. “It’s fine. No one will know it’s you this way.”

Shining looked himself over again. His mane was now much, much darker. Nearly black. “Are you kidding!? I look like my sister as a guy!”

“Um, you are your sister’s brother, you know that, right?”

Shining towered over her then leaned down to put his face right in front of hers. “And do we want these ponies associating me with her!?”

Gen looked down at him and then back up. “Good point. Hold still.”

He sat back down and sighed. “Make it fast, Gen, before somepony sees us.”

One more spell later and he was dissipating cyan fog this time. Gazing around at his body, he looked as if he should be a pegasus instead of a unicorn, but it would do. “Hmmm, grey and black for the mane? I suppose that works. Give me more warning next time, though.”

The two of them got up and started towards the village.

“Sir, with all due respect, I hope there isn’t a next time we have to do something like this.”

“Same here, Gen. Same here.”

Author's Note

Hi all. Sorry this one took so long. I was in and am still in the process of editing a lot of other stuff, including 18 along with Love and Barriers, a new side story coming soon. I’m honestly even more nervous about this chapter than normal after the… stunned reaction of the last chapter. Hopefully this one explains a few things.

And yes, this one is a two-parter. At least it isn’t as huge a cliffhanger as last time. There’s no anvil hanging over someone’s head. ;) But, given that the next chapter is also nearly 10k words I really felt I had to split it up into two parts.

In truth, given how important the last chapter was to the story and given that this one expands on that, I can’t help but be terrified about whether the story as a whole will go okay. I don’t know if this is just my normal worry wart self or if there’s a larger underlying problem, but… Well, the show must go on. It’s been nearly a month since the last release, so something has to get posted. I hope it’s worth the wait.

I will also say this. In this story, there will be defeats as well as victories, for Twi and other characters. That was an important rule I set for myself when I first started writing this. Twi can’t win all the time. Even when she wins, there can be caveats, and when she loses, there can be silver linings.

Also, there will be political drama, and there will be personal drama. It’s principally going to be adventure, especially starting in block four, but you can bet I’m going to be throwing you some curveballs and big emotional hits. Or at least I’ll be trying to.

Thank you very much for sticking with me this far, and I hope to see you all enjoying my story for many, many chapters to come.

-Cv

Lost Connections

The two split up and went their separate ways, Shining to find his sister and Intelligentsia to find out more information on what, exactly, happened in this town.

“Now then,” Gen whispered to herself, trotting down the main road and eyeing the quaint buildings. “I suppose the easiest thing to do is ask the local authorities. And that means I find the town hall.”

She paused for a moment. Most of these buildings are relatively small. They’d have to pick the largest one to hold the celebration in. That’s where I’ll start my hunt for evidence. Her eyes scanned the rooftops, spotting one building near the center of town that easily dwarfed the rest, and started making her way towards it. “Well, this isn’t taking long. Something to be said for small towns, I suppose.”

The main road led Intelligentsia where she needed to be, the town hall. There were still plenty of ponies in the streets celebrating, though they didn’t seem to pay her much attention. Probably helps that I’m not wearing saddlebags or a purse. No money, no reason for a vendor to bug me.

A couple short minutes later, she strode up to the doors of her destination. It was certainly large for such a small town, although it’s design also lent it to other functions as well. There were several burn marks and torn banners on the outside, along with a hole in the roof, but it was the inside that really caught her attention.

“Wow. Something happened here.” Gingerly, she stepped over the police tape and tip-hoofed her way into the middle of the auditorium, trying carefully to avoid stepping on and thus disturbing any evidence, but gave up about eight steps in. “More like, some tornado happened here.”

Everywhere she turned there was confetti, streamers, plastic cups, spilled refreshments, and every other manner of party paraphernalia a pony could ponder. Hoofprints of every conceivable size were present and going in every possible direction.

“Hello, hello, what’s this?” She swept away some of the debris, revealing a bunch of scorch marks underneath. They were large and jagged, spreading out a few meters into the hardwood floor. “Okay, so we know either pegasus or unicorn lightning was used here. That’s a start, at least.”

“Can I help you?”

Intelligentsia lifted her head up to find a brown-coated earth pony mare, likely a civilian, flanked by two Royal Guard stallions. Her legs tensed, ready to run, but she stopped short. Wait, keep calm. There’s no way they know what happened just yet, and Princess Cadenza may have already called off the search. Just do what you came here to do.

The guardsmare cleared her throat. “Yes. My name is Intelligentsia, and I’m with the Royal Intelligence Services. Communication has been lackluster since last night’s incident, and although we’re relieved everypony is okay, we were hoping you could help us shed some light on the series of events.”

The mare shared a glance with her guards for a moment. “I see. And your credentials?”

“Right he—” She looked down at her chest when she realized her magic couldn’t find a pocket. “Oh. Right. I kind of… hid them, with the uniform, and… Put a spell on them so nopony could find them, and…”

Oh, buck.

Shining took a deep breath and turned the corner, keeping a sharp watch out for his sister. There weren’t any purple bookworms to be found, but there were plenty of other ponies. Though many looked dead tired from being up all night, they didn’t look like they were in the mood to stop celebrating any time soon. A small band was playing at a gazebo for a bunch of dancing locals, and a couple at a cherry stand waved at him, pointing out their wares. Some bottlerockets and other small fireworks were going off from time to time, giving the air a true sense of jubilance. It was almost infectious. Almost.

“Okay, focus,” he said while yawning, “Let’s think this through. Celestia said she’s staying at the library. I can assume she’s still there. Which means…”

He rounded a corner, his legs just itching to break into a gallop, but froze in his place midway down the next street. I have absolutely no idea where the library is, and even if I did, almost every house in this town looks the same. He looked around at the ponies near him and spotted a large, red earth pony pulling a cart.

“Um, excuse me, sir? Sir?”

The red pony with a green apple for a cutie mark ignored him, keeping on his path.

Okay, hard way I guess. Shining strode up and got directly in his path. “Sir? Could you help me?”

The straw in his mouth shifted position. “Oh, you were talkin’ ta me? Don’t reckon’ nopony’s called me ‘sir’ before.”

He nodded. “Yes, right, um, well, I’m terribly sorry, but could you tell me where the library is?”

“You ‘nother Canterlot type?”

Shining blinked. “How did you know?”

“Th’ way ya talk. Library’s on th’ north end of th’ market. Be nice ta Miss Sparkle, now. She saved us.”

So I hear. Guess you’re becoming a bit of a celebrity, Twily. “Of course. Thank you, sir.” He bowed slightly and ran off.

“Ow, hey, watch the rocks!” They don’t even have paved roads here.

Gen was being dragged along the ground by the two large stallions, despite her insistence that she was who she said. They wouldn’t even let her go get her uniform! Apparently the Guard was still on high alert for suspicious characters. Worse, they were dragging her along in a rather undignified manner, and they’d slapped a magic inhibitor ring on her horn.

She sighed and slumped down, letting them carry her. If I have to be arrested, at least I can make them carry me.

As she looked around, more and more ponies gathered to gawk at the mare being carried off to the sheriff’s office in shackles. Oh wonderful! An audience! Maybe they think I worked for Nightmare Moon. One pink mare in particular was walking right beside her, staring intently.

“Can I help you?” Intelligentsia asked, her voice overflowing with sarcasm.

The pink mare jumped in the air, gasped in shock, then ran off.

Huh. Well, it worked, but, still. That was odd.

“Okay, library, library, where is…?” Shining Armor stopped and looked to his left at a sign he wasn’t entirely sure he saw in his peripheral vision. Yet, there it was. It read, plain as day, ”Golden Oaks Library.”

“You have got to be kidding me. They have a living tree building!? And one large enough to be a library!? I thought the last pony that made those died fifty years ago! Oh, this I have to see.”

His march to the front door stopped abruptly several paces away. Hold it. I can’t let her see me. So, how do I go about this… Wait a minute, there’s a note on the door. Actually, two notes.

He glanced left, right, behind him, and even leaned a little to try to peek in the darkened windows before striding up to the tree.

I am currently on lunch break, and will be back in one hour!

-Twilight.

“Well, at least she’s eating, so there’s that. How about the next one…”

I also just realized that it’s a holiday, so the library is supposed to be closed. Hence, I will be away for the rest of the day.

-Twilight

He took in a large breath and let out a sigh. “Back to square one. If she’s still out to lunch, then… Hmm. Given he was probably up all night, Spike’s likely too exhausted to cook, and Twilight’s culinary efforts usually involve smoke and firefighter ponies. So, she’s probably at a restaurant. Time to head to the town square.”

The metal bars swung closed and locked with a reverberating clang. Ponyville only had three cells, and she was the only one in any of them. It was probably a peaceful enough town they only needed that many.

“Hey, guards!” she yelled out. “If you’re gonna lock me away, can I at least get a piece of chalk?!”

A little white stick flew through the air at her, and she caught it deftly in her lips. Benefit of not being able to control magic until late in adolescence, I guess.

Ponies in cells were usually allowed writing implements, and chalk was allowed because even if they marked up the walls, a single unicorn could erase it all in seconds.

Ugh, this is going to suck without magic. Still, might as well be productive. She repositioned the chalk in her lips and started drawing, annoying herself at her lack of precision compared to her hornwriting. First, she created a five-pointed star on the wall large enough to cover most of the available surface area. Then, she put “Nightmare Moon” on one corner, “Celestia” on another, the “Inner Council” on the third, the “Nightmare Cult” on the fourth, and finally, on the last point, she wrote in “Gryphonia.”

“Now then,” she mumbled with the chalk still in her mouth. “Let’s see where the connections are.”

Shining strode through the market, stumbling through the crowd. The square was filled with ponies celebrating the return of the sun, buying and downing vast quantities of food and beverages.

“You there! Don’t forget to buy your official Summer Sun Celebration t-shirt!”

“Wha—?” Shining turned his head only to find a white t-shirt being dropped over his face with somepony trying to get it on the rest of the way. He jumped back, struggling as the fabric caught on his horn. “I don’t even have any money with me!”

The shirt flew off.

“Well, how about you there! Yes, you!”

Shining backed away while the vendor descended on another poor pony, forcibly clothing him. Sorry, buddy, but I don’t have time to save you. Shining dashed off into the crowded market, trying to get his bearings again. Hmmm… Can’t get a good view down here. Going to need to get closer to the restaurants and start a search pattern.

One by one he went to the cluster of restaurants, poking his head in their windows. The foods looked fresh and delicious, but his stomach was still far too worried about his sister to consider stopping to eat.

“Nope, nope, and nope. Damn. She’s not here. This is not looking good.”

“This is not looking good.” Intelligentsia took a few steps back to look at her creation. Her special talent was making these connection grids, looking for commonalities and relations. “Connecting the dots,” as it were, just as the constellation on her cutie mark had lines drawn in. Yet, this one was not going as planned.

There were a few lines connecting things together, but the only two leading to Nightmare Moon were one from Celestia and one from the Nightmare Cult. There were dozens of smaller entities on the wall now, so there should’ve been far more connections.

“So, what is it that I’m miss—?”

“Hiya!”

Intelligentsia spat out her chalk, breaking it on the concrete wall in front of her. Who in the world… She whipped her head around to say something but failed when the pink mare from earlier started talking first.

“I’m Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you around before, and that means you’re new! So I started talking to ponies to put together an official ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ for you! And then nopony knew who you were and didn’t want to come celebrate with me ‘cause you’re in jail, so I was sad. And I said to myself, ‘Pinkie, you need to help this pony!’ And then I said, ‘But how can I? She’s probably all sad-face in jail!’ But after that I was all, ‘And that’s why you have to help her and cheer her up!’ I was so sad, ‘cause I was thinking, ‘But how do I do that if nopony wants to come to my party!?’ So then I told myself, ‘You just party extra hard for her and bring her lots of cupcakes, and when she gets out of jail, introduce her to every pony in town! That way, she’ll have lots of friends and won’t need to do things to be in jail anymore!’ Isn’t that neat!?”

The hyperactive blur had stopped talking and held her forelegs in the air excitedly. Five seconds later, Intelligentsia realized the mare might have said something in there that asked for a response.

“Umm… What?”

Not missing a beat, the other mare inhaled a deep breath and started talking again. “Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you around before, and that means you’re new! So I started talking to ponies to put together an official ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ for you! And then…”

Intelligentsia groaned.

“Excuse me, miss?” Shining waved over to a yellow mare with an interesting, curly, orange mane. “I was wondering if you could tell me if you know where Twilight Sparkle is?”

Kinda risky mentioning her by name, but if I can get a lead quickly, it might be worth it.

The mare stopped and looked him up and down then grew an alluring smile. “Well hello, handsome! I haven’t seen her around, no, but wouldn’t you rather have some fun with me?”

Shining lost a bit of strength in his hind legs. “Umm… What?”

She gave him a light nuzzle on his neck, brushing against his side a little before abandoning the pretense and graduating to rubbing against his side instead. “Twilight’s nice and all, but we earth ponies have, heh, stamina.”

“Ummmm… What?”

The mare draped a foreleg around his neck, giving him a curiously strong and immensely inappropriate hug. "So handsome, I bet you get offers all the time."

Shining lowered his head, stumbling over her hooves as he backed up in an attempt to shake the offending pony. He began twisting himself in awkward positions, while she matched his movements every step of the way. What, does she do this for a living or something?

"Stamina," she let out a hot breath into his ear, "and I just so happen to have this little spot where we could test out that claim…"

“Ummmmmmmm…” Shining’s face flushed as he lit his horn. Please let this spell of Twilight’s work…

There was a flash and a powerful crack of thunder, and then he found himself half a hoofball field away along with a bit of a headache. Ow. Well, it worked. Is she okay?

Shining turned around and looked into the distance, seeing her slowly get to her hooves. She’s fine. Run! He blitzed down the road out of town before other ponies showed up to check out the noise, not looking back.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ugh.

It had taken some time, but Intelligentsia had finally determined that banging her head on the wall was not going to get the living sugar rush in front of her to stop talking. Closing her muzzle with magic wouldn’t work either, as not only would the earth pony break out of it but her magic was sealed anyway.

Thus, a more conventional approach was therefore needed.

She jumped off the wall that had so recently been the target of her aggression and landed directly in front of the bars, all four hooves connecting with the ground in a single, loud, clop. Her face hardened into determination and implacability. Then, Intelligentsia pointed a hoof towards the exit.

“Leave,” she commanded in her harshest, most authoritative tone.

The other mare’s eyes welled up with tears. It was quite possibly the saddest, most pathetic thing Intelligentsia had ever seen, yet her expression held firm.

Not because she was cruel, but rather, she was stunned beyond words.

She can do something other than smile?

The pink pony, whom Intelligentsia had just now remembered was named “Pinkie Pie,” sniffled and wiped away a tear.

“O… okie-dokie. Lokie,” she muttered, crying. Just like that, she was gone.

All before the guardspony could show remorse or apologize.

Damnit, I’m such a bitch.

Shining had to keep up the pace for some time before finally being certain that the mare couldn’t follow him. He even left the road so his hoofprints wouldn’t give him away. Now, he was in an open field just outside of town. Though not out of breath, as this was nothing compared to his military exercises, he still found himself thirsty and winding down from adrenaline.

He let himself stop on the short grass and took a break to stretch his body out to prevent cramping. Can’t stay here long, but I need a moment to regroup my thoughts. I have to get back in town without anypony hitting on me. Worst case, I’ll just wait for Twily to return and watch her from somewhere.

With the rush of adrenaline finally gone, he was able to take a look at the scenery. The hills were lush and green, the surrounding mountains were gorgeous and still snow-capped, and the breeze was brilliant. Summer might have officially started, but spring was still hanging on. Nowhere was this more evident than right before him in the hundreds of rows of apple trees in late bloom.

“This little town really is quite beautiful. It’s not Canterlot, but still. Gorgeous. Heh. It’s hard to believe a place that looks this peaceful could have a crazy mare like that living in it. I hope they’re not all that nu—”

“Excuse me!”

Shining looked over towards the orchard, finding a couple of mares having a picnic under the trees, one of whom was waving at him.

“Could you come here please?”

Uh-oh. Play it cool. See what they want first, maybe tweak your voice a little. He trotted up to them, doing his best to look nonchalant but feeling more awkward than anything. “Can I help you ladies?”

One of the mares, sporting a white coat and violet mane, fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Would you please be so kind as to stand right over there for me, darling?”

Shining raised an eyebrow. The spot was in front of and between the two mares, and covered in harmless-looking grass. There was no hint of any magical trap or other device or ambush, but he still got a chill down his spine as he stepped over to where she pointed.

“Now then, how about this one?”

“Nope.” The rainbow-maned pegasus replied, leaning back on the tree.

“Why not? Rainbow, these are the very colors you said you liked! And he looks so dashing!”

Thanks, I suppose?

“Rainbow” rolled her eyes. “Well, for one, he’s a unicorn.”

Tribalists? Here? And she’s a pegasus? I didn’t expect that.

The other mare huffed. “And just’s what’s wrong with unicorns?”

“Nothing’s wrong with them, Rarity. I just don’t date them. Look.” She fanned out her wings and pointed at the sky. “I spend almost all my time in the air! I don’t want to date a guy that can’t go where I go.”

I suppose one could argue that’s just being practical, not tribalist…

Rainbow continued, “Besides, a draft pony? Look at me! Look at him! He’d probably break me in two!”

He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Um…”

“Hmph.” Rarity lifted a roll of measuring tape out of her bag and started taking the measurements of her ‘guest.’ “Well, I for one find him quite lovely looking. I’ve always liked the form of a draft stallion. So strong and sturdy. Perfect to lean against on a date. Not too many stallions in this town looking for fashionable attire, though.”

“Ummm…” He scratched the back of his head.

Rainbow snickered. “Well, if he’s your type, why don’t you date him?”

Shining slowly started to back away.

“Surely not! We’ve only just met! And besides, my heart is set on… him!” Rarity looked as if she was ready to melt, clasping her hooves together while her eyes focused on something far, far away.

“Him?” Rainbow and Shining asked simultaneously.

She flopped down on the picnic cloth, resting her head on her hooves. “My Prince! Celestia’s nephew, Prince Blueblood!”

He and Rainbow shared a glance and a barely-stifled snicker.

“You’re trying to go after a Prince!?” Rainbow guffawed. “Come on, there’s no way! He’s probably got his pick of any mare he wants! Why’d anypony want to date somepony like that?”

I’m willing to bet a month’s salary that this rainbow-maned mare has absolutely, positively no real experience with Blueblood and yet she’s still absolutely right.

“Oh, hush.” Rarity dismissed Rainbow’s words with a hoof. “It’s meant to be. One day we’ll finally meet, and he’ll sweep me off my hooves. You’ll see.”

Shining, against every last instinct in his body, remained completely still. Ma’am, if I didn’t need to keep my cover, I would save you. I really, really would. There is no way in all Celestia’s heavens that you could possibly be so awful a pony as to deserve a life with that stallion. I wish, I truly wish to all the heavens that I could warn you. I pray you wake up before it’s too late, you poor, poor thing.

Rainbow was still laughing a little. “Yeah, well, send us a postcard when you get with your dreamboat there, Rares.”

“I shall have you know I intend to take very good care of all of my friends when I enter high society. After all, I—”

Her words were cut short by a few loud tolls of a distant bell in the town’s clocktower ringing back in the square.

Rainbow jumped into the air. “Oh, crap, is it time already? Sorry, Rarity, I promised AJ and Twi that I’d do this thing with them. I gotta jet. Later!” Another second later, and she was gone, rocketing into the sky.

Huh. She moves a bit like a Wonderbolt.

“Well, it appears that I am without company. Would you care to share a conversation?” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes again.

I really don’t have time for this. I need to find Twi— Wait! Did that pegasus say somepony and “Twi’”? Could that be—? Shining shook his head, and started to go into a bow but stopped himself. Don’t bow, she’ll figure out you’re from Canterlot! Just, make up something! “Sorry, I’m late, too. Gotta run!”

He didn’t even wait for a response before taking off down the hill, following the pegasus deeper into the farmland.

Intelligentsia sighed. Her shorter piece of chalk was harder to work with, but even if she had her magic, she knew this wasn’t going to work.

What am I missing? She put her hoof up to the wall and traced the connections one more time. “Princess Celestia and Luna are sisters. The Nightmare Cult has been worshipping Luna for centuries and trying to bring her back. She’s back now, but she lost. And the cult has been quiet for decades!”

She slumped down against the wall and covered her eyes in defeat. “If there is a connection here, I can’t see it. Or I’m missing something.”

“Oooooooooh, I am the genie of the light pink hair!”

I do not want to uncover my eyes. Maybe if I don’t look at her, she’ll give up.

She slowly, carefully uncovered an eye, bracing for the worst, and there was Pinkie, dancing on the other side of the bars in a ridiculous genie costume.

Nope, I should not have done that.

“Hehe! You have found my lamp! I shall grant you three extra-special wishes!”

Intelligentsia raised an eyebrow. “Um, I never found any lamp.”

Pinkie just giggled. “Sure you did! It’s right there!”

She looked down, and there was, in fact, a bronze lamp next to her hoof. She lifted it up, staring at it, mouth agape. “How did you do that?”

“Aww, never mind that, silly! You get three wishes now! What do you want? A cupcake? Oh, two cupcakes!? Or an ice cream cake!? Oh, I know! How about a friend! That’s easy! Pick me!”

Intelligentsia rolled her eyes. This mare just doesn’t quit! “Weren’t you running off crying earlier?”

Pinkie smiled. “I got better.”

“… You got better?”

“Yup! ‘Cause I have friends! And as long as they’re with me, I know I’ll never have to stay all sad-facey! Now, hurry up, and make your next wish!”

Intelligentsia slumped back down even further. I do not want to do this, but I really need time to focus. She flopped over on her side and pushed herself up then went over to meet her by the bars. “I know what my wish is.” Pinkie’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Intelligentsia could practically see rainbows in them. “I wish…”

“Yeeeees?” Pinkie squealed.

“I wish for you…”

“Eeeeeee?!”

Intelligentsia resisted the urge to smile. This was going to be mean. “Pinkie, I wish for you to not grant me my wish.”

Pinkie froze in place. “Huh?”

“I wish for you to not grant me my wish. Now, run along and get to work.” She shooed her away, and Pinkie complied, her face wildly switching between all sorts of different and conflicting emotions. It went from incredible joy to sadness to confusion to silly to even what Intelligentsia might call “pensive” then looped back around and did them all again while she slowly walked away.

When the exit door finally closed, she went back to her connection grid. I really hated to do that, but I need to get back to work. Maybe I should try a temporal predictive matrix. It’s going to be a pain in the flank to do without magic and nowhere near as reliable, but it might give me a clue or two…

Shining slunk up towards the barn, creeping from bush to apple tree to entirely too skinny fence post, and generally staying behind any object he could find. It’s not going to be hard to spot me. There’s almost no cover here. Despite the wide open space, there didn’t really seem to be witnesses around other than a few random farm animals. The trees weren’t quite ready to make apples yet, and there was a serene quiet over the land that, in truth, did little to calm Shining’s nerves. The military had taught him that “quiet” usually meant “ambush.”

He pressed his side against the barn, limiting the number of angles he was exposed from. Okay, I need to either find a way to locate Twilight directly, or I need to come up with a more concrete search pattern. All without either her or that “Rainbow” spotting me. Hiding from Twilight should be easy; she always did have a bit of tunnel vision. The pegasus, though, she could be trouble. I wish I had a layout of this place; I could make a search pattern. Hmm… I wonder if there’s a ladder in this barn I could use.

He carefully rounded the outside corner of the building, peering left and right to make certain no one was watching him as he entered. The last thing he needed was to be spotted breaking and entering. Okay, breach the door, check corners. This is a civilian structure, though. No lethal magic, knockouts only.

Shining quickly eyed the latch. It was a simple piece built around a padlock loop that didn’t even have a lock at the moment. Peaceful place. No need to keep things locked up. He took a breath, and counted. One, two, three!

The door swung open and he jumped in, not even needing to check to his sides, as there was already a pony right in front of him. It was the large, red, draft stallion from before, sitting at a table with a drink in his hoof.

Crap! Shining dropped into a defensive stance, and readied a base barrier spell in his horn, flaring it to life. There he stood, crouched and ready. Ready for anything that might happen, like a charge or an earth pony buck. When this stallion attacked, he’d never know what hit him. In fact, he…

“Can I help you?” the farmer pony asked.

Shining blinked. Why isn’t he attacking? I’m trespassing! In Canterlot that’d get you a scream and a fight for sure. His eyes darted around the room, looking for some other explanation. A trap, another pony ready to pounce on him, something.

“Are ya’ll alright? Ya seem to be a bit, well, unhinged.”

Shining raised an eyebrow. “So, you aren’t going to attack me?”

The stallion shook his head. “Wasn’t plannin’ on it. Why?”

Shining cancelled the spell in his horn, rubbing his forehead. “Um, well…”

“Just what were ya expectin’ fer me ta do? Bum rush ya?”

The Captain winced. “Well, yeah, sorta… Kinda… More or less I was expecting you to attack me on sight so I could justify knocking you out and wiping your memory so I could climb up this barn and get a good look at your farm so I could see where Twilight went… Eh heh heh wow I sound crazy…”

The farm pony looked him up and down. “Ya’ll’re one of those military types?”

He nodded.

“Know what ya’ll need?”

Shining raised an eyebrow. “What?”

The stallion chuckled and smiled a bit. “An off switch! Most of th’ time, when a pony comes into my barn, I assume they’re lookin’ fer either me or my little sister Applejack, an’ I assume they gots a good reason. Now, since yer expectin’ a fight, I’m guessin’ yer reason is either really good, or really bad.”

The hairs on Shining’s back stood straight up on end.

“Looks like I’m right, ain’t I? So, which is it?”

Shining sighed and sat down. “The former, but I can’t really say why. The whole point of all this was to not get seen. Especially by Twilight.”

“Well, that’s a shame.” He leaned forward and crossed his forelegs over the table. “I could help ya’ll out. I know where they are. But I’m not about to help ya if’n I can’t be sure you’re not gonna hurt her.”

Shining looked the pony square in the eyes. One of the Summer Sun Celebration’s traditions is to stay up not only all night, but for all of the next day as well. He looks like he’s fully taking part, so he’s probably damn tired, but so am I. I can’t guarantee I won’t slip up and hurt him; which would violate my oath. Even if I succeeded in just knocking him out, that pegasus might spot me. Maybe, if I just— No. No, I can’t. I’ve done enough damage for my own selfishness today.

The Captain stood up and took a deep breath. “You mentioned this ‘Applejack’ is your little sister? Well, Twilight Sparkle is my little sister. I heard she’d moved here suddenly and permanently, and I came here to make sure she isn’t being coerced. I wanted to make sure she’s really happy here.”

The farm pony nodded. “And ya’ll wanted to do it quiet-like so you knew the truth, an’ that she’s safe and sound.”

Shining nodded. “One big brother to another, can you blame me? I got my cutie mark for wanting to protect her. I can’t just let this go. I have to know she’s alright.”

“Ya can’t be her protector forever, ya know. She needs ta be able ta have ‘er own life.”

“I am… aware, of that. And I want to let her stay here as long as she wants, but only if I know she’s safe. Please, help me.” Shining pleaded with his eyes. If he was a fellow big brother, there was a chance he would understand.

The pony shrugged. “Alright, I’ll help ya. AJ, Rainbow, and Twilight are down in the main orchard. Head out the door and hang left down th’ path ’til ya see ‘em.”

“Thank you,” he bowed, deep to the ground. “But please, don’t tell them I was here. Especially not Twilight. She’ll just be worried about me, and I don’t want that. If she’s happy here, I want her to stay that way.”

The stallion got up, and sauntered over to him. “On mah honor as an Apple. I’m Big Macintosh, and this here is our farm.” He held out a hoof, and Shining gave it a bump.

“Captain Shining Armor, Royal Guard. I’d love to stay and chat, but I really need to check on her.” He started to back out of the barn, giving one last bow. “And thank you, for helping me.”

Big Macintosh smiled at him. “Eeyup.”

“Hmmm. Well, this is a bust. Maybe the connections just really aren’t there this time.”

“I’m done!”

Intelligentsia spat her chalk out and spun around to find that, yes, Pinkie was back once again. This mare just doesn’t give up! “Didn’t I send you away with an unresolvable paradox?”

“Nope! I resolved it!”

“You… what?”

She started to bounce up and down while explaining. “Yup! I’m all done not granting your wish! Which means you still have two wishes left!”

Intelligentsia reached for the chalk, ready to ignore her completely, but stopped midway. “Let me guess. You aren’t going to give up no matter what I do.”

She giggled. “Nope! We’re gonna be friends!”

“Why me?”

Pinkie stopped bouncing for a moment and tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

Intelligentsia sighed and walked over to the bars. “I mean, why me? I’m some random pony who, upon entering town, was arrested. Why would you want to be friends with somepony like that?”

“Are you guilty?” Pinkie asked, blinking.

“Am I? Well, no, although I see why they think I’m suspicious. But no, I’m not a criminal. Honest.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Then I can’t think of anypony else who needs a friend more.”

Intelligentsia opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. Try as she might, she just couldn’t find a way to argue against that. “Well then, Pinkie, I suppose thanks are in order.”

She jumped up and screamed “Yay!” and then reached behind her back and pulled out something. “Cupcake?”

“How did you—?” The guardspony eyed the confection, and it looked like a normal cupcake. “Never mind, I don’t think I should be asking.”

“Hehe! Now you’re getting it!”

Intelligentsia took the cupcake in her hooves. “Thank you, Pinkie.” She leaned her back against the bars, off to the side of Pinkie, and started eating. “Actually, this is a really good cupcake.”

“Aww, thankies! Say, whatcha drawin’?”

She swallowed. “I call it a ‘connection grid.’ I draw circles representing ponies or organizations and then add other, smaller circles around them representing ponies related to them. Then, I draw lines wherever I know there’s some kind of meaningful connection or interaction.”

“Huh. How’d’ya know what’s related and what’s not?”

Intelligentsia chuckled with a mouthful of cupcake. “Good m’mry.” She swallowed it. “Excuse me. Good memory. I also have some magic that helps me. I’ve always been good at ‘connecting the dots.’ Hence the cutie mark.”

“Neat-o! That sounds like a super-duper-riffic special talent! You must remember everypony’s birthdays!”

Intelligentsia snorted. “Well, I try to make it a bit more useful than that, but yes. It can be frustrating, though.”

“Like how?”

She slumped down against the bars. “Ponies sometimes don’t believe you when you find well-hidden connections. Like crimes, backroom deals, conspiracies. Nopony believes me about the Cloudsdale Seventeen.”

“Aww, that’s so sad! I thought everypony knew about the Cloudsdale Seventeen!”

Intelligentsia froze and slowly turned around, her left eye twitching. “You know about it?”

“Spluh! Why else would they still say they hoof-carve snowflakes?”

Intelligentsia mulled this over for a moment, then grinned and extended a forehoof. “Alright Pinkie, I give. My name’s Intelligentsia.”

Pinkie gave it a bump. “Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie! Or I guess you already know that, huh. Well, I’m a baker and party pony over at Sugarcube Corner! Oh! And just a while ago, I became an Element of Harmony! Neat huh?!”

The guardspony’s jaw just about hit the floor. “What did you say?”

Pinkie giggled. “And I thought you said you have a good memory! Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie! Or I guess you already know that, huh. Well, I’m a baker and party pony over at Sugarcube Corner! Oh! And just a while ago, I became an Element of Harmony! Neat huh?!”

Gen leapt forward and grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders. “You were there to fight Nightmare Moon!?”

“Hehe! Yup!”

“… I think I know what I want for my second wish.”

“Ah still can’t believe y’all haven’t been on a hay ride before, Twilight!”

Twilight hopped up into the large wagon stuffed with hay, and then kept bouncing with excitement. “Nope! I’ve heard about them, though!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow laughed, doing a backstroke in midair. “Let me guess. In a book!”

“Yup!” She put her forehooves up on the front edge of the wagon, looking out and up at the pegasus. “The History of Rural Pastimes and Celebrations!”

Applejack turned a wrench, tightening up a bolt on a hitch, then wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Well, it’s one thing to read about stuff. It’s another thing to actually get out and do it! Haven’t y’all been outside Canterlot before comin’ here?”

“Well, yeah. I’ve been on a couple of class field trips to major cities before, but that’s about it. Fillydelphia and Whinnyapolis, mainly.”

Rainbow swooped around in a circle and landed next to the wagon. “You really need to get out more, Twi!”

“Well, that’s what I’m doing now!” She levitated her cutie-mark embroidered notebook out of her bag. “I even brought my notebook to make sure to take detailed— hey!”

Rainbow snatched it from her telekinetic grasp and flew up, zooming off to the farmhouse.

“Atta girl!” Applejack yelled. “Y’all can have your book back after we’re done here, Twilight. The point of this is to have fun, not take notes!”

“I can take notes on having fun!” Twilight insisted.

A multi-hued blur zoomed back over them and came to a landing at the front of the wagon.

“Y’all can’t take notes on havin’ fun while havin’ fun, sugarcube! If yer takin’ notes, yer not doin’ it right. Rainbow, it’s all set fer ya!”

“Roger!” Rainbow trotted up to the hitch, bopped it into the air with her muzzle, and let it land on her back. Applejack then put a couple of ropes on the pegasus.

Twilight’s hoof went into the air. “Wait, wait! The book said that earth ponies—”

Applejack cut her off. “Ah could pull it, Twi, but it wouldn’t be near as much fun as a pegasus doin it!” She then hopped into the wagon next to Twilight, knocking them both down into the pile of hay inside.

“Yeah!” Rainbow yelled. “No way it’s as fun on the ground as it is in the air! Hang on tight!’

Twilight’s heartbeat took off almost as fast as Rainbow did. “Waaaaaaaait!” In just a couple of seconds, they were in the air, low over the treetops, and zooming around the whole orchard in wide laps. Wind was rushing through and messing up her mane, little bits of hay were flying right out of the cart. The wagon was creaking and groaning, and it sure sounded like the whole thing was about to fall to pieces, literally.

Yet she didn’t care.

“Wooooooohhhhhooooooooo!”

Some distance from the mares, there was a lone stallion hiding in the bushes, watching the whole thing as they zoomed across the farm. He had tears in his eyes, a spell disguising his coat color, was severely short on sleep…

… and he was getting up to leave.

“That’s quite a story, Pinkie. Thank you for telling me that.”

Pinkie giggled more and jumped up and down. “Of course! It’s always fun meeting new friends!”

Intelligentsia sighed. She knew what she was going to have to do, but once again, she didn’t want to do it. “Pinkie,” she whispered, holding out a hoof to stop her bouncing. “I need to make my third wish. Okay?”

Pinkie nodded. “Okie dokie lokie! Whatcha need?”

“I need you…” She stopped for a moment and considered. Was there a way out? There were all kinds of possibilities in the future. It was cruel to deny somepony a friend this way, yet… No. She’s friends with Twilight. There’s no other way. “Pinkie, I need you to promise me you’ll not tell anypony I was here.”

She instantly deflated, waterworks already going. “What? But why!? Everypony will be super-happy to meet you once the mayor realizes it was all a mistake! We can throw a party and—”

“Pinkie!” She yelled, cringing at the same time from what she was doing to the poor mare. She put another hoof on her shoulder. “Listen, Pinkie, the reason I’m here is that my commanding officer wanted to make certain Twilight was here of her own free will. We weren’t supposed to be noticed by her. If she finds out we were here, it’ll upset her and violate my orders. Please, Pinkie, don’t tell a soul. Especially not Twilight.”

The party pony sniffled then nodded. “Okie dokie lokie. For you.”

“For Twilight,” Intelligentsia emphasized.

“Yeah. Her too. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She sniffed again. “Oh! We were supposed to be having a hay ride today!”

The guardspony shooed her away. “Go. Make sure she’s happy here in Ponyville.”

“Roger-doger!” She saluted and—in a puff of dust—was out the door like a rocket.

The now-alone mare stretched her forelegs out then stood up and stretched her hind legs too. Concrete floors are not fun for sitting down on. Or standing on, for that matter. She looked back up at her chalk grid and then lay down on the marginally more comfortable wooden bench. “Well, mission success, I guess.”

A loud clank from the exit door made Intelligentsia’s ear twitch and jolt her awake. The bright light pouring in from down the hall told her that it was still day outside. Must’ve not been asleep for long. Is Pinkie back?

The slow, strong, sturdy clop of large hooves and a male gait told her otherwise. By the time he finally got into view, she didn’t even need to see him to know who it was. “Hello, Captain.”

He looked down at her without an ounce of levity then floated a key into the lock and opened her door. “Cadence came through. Get up. We’re going home. Now.”

“You found her, I take it. Care to get this off of me?” She tapped the inhibitor ring on her horn.

A second, smaller ring floated over to her horn and slipped on. When it made contact with the larger ring, both of them broke into two pieces and fell off.

She got up off the bed and onto the floor then gave him a salute. “Thank you, Captain.”

Purple light blared from his horn in an extremely wide angle, covering the entire back wall for a few seconds. When it was gone, so too was her drawing. The entire thing had disintegrated into a cloud of chalk dust. “No physical evidence.”

She nodded. “It’s all taken care of on my end.”

The barest of smiles creased his lips. “Then let’s go home.”

“Aaaahhhhh… that’s more like it!”

Shining Armor leaned back in a beach chair in the royal gardens, nestled in a corner next to the castle with a cooler holding ice and a couple bottles of ale. It had taken a few hours to get over the shock, but now he could finally let himself admit it: Twilight was safe and, more importantly, happy. On top of that, the castle’s safety was now General Quartz’ responsibility, so now all he had to do was relax and let the political ramifications play out under the soon-to-set sun.

“Drinking on the job?”

Shining turned to his side to spot Cadence approaching with a rather critical look on her face. Still, he couldn’t help but relax at seeing his old friend.

“Nah, I’m off right now. And, you know me. Two drink max. Besides, since I got ‘relieved of duty’ just after Celestia shut down the whole government and locked herself in her room, this is Gemstone’s mess now. By the way, the sunset really brings out your mane’s colors.”

He couldn’t help but smirk a little with her.

“My my, Shining Armor. Buttering me up for a favor, are we?”

“You could say that!” He chuckled, taking a drink of ale. “You know me, though. When it’s important, sometimes it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Shining Armor, alright,” she admitted, pulling out another chair for herself with her magic and lying back on it. “Give me one of those, will you?”

He smiled more and lifted the other bottle over to her with his magic, opening the top.

Delicately, she took a few sips from it. “You know, I never did much care for ale,” she said.

“It is an acquired taste. Hard to be a soldier and not have it grow on you.”

“As much as it pains me to fit the stereotype, I much prefer champagne.”

“And that sounds like Mi Amore Cadenza! But, seriously, thanks Cadence. I really had to check on Twilight. I would’ve gone crazy worrying about her.”

“Let me get this straight. You risked life and limb, treason charges, the wrath of a general, and potentially not one but two alicorns, one of whom you know nothing about, just to check on Twilight?”

Shining blinked. “Yes.”

“And you did all this without any fear at all, because you knew that I would be there for you?”

“That’s right!”

“Hmm…” She was staring right at him.

“What?” Shining asked, lowering his head a bit.

“Oh, nothing, just wondering what kind of penance I should exact from you.”

He gulped. “That doesn’t sound entirely pleasant.”

“Neither is explaining to the Council that a renegade captain was actually following your orders.”

“Touché. So I guess I should be expecting my first captain’s paycheck to be forfeited?”

Cadence had an almost evil smile. “First few. As I recall, there’s a little, well, actually very large restaurant on La Rue D’Argent.”

He gulped again. “That place that takes a year to get into and costs more than a private’s yearly salary?”

“The Gilded Hoof. I wouldn’t worry about the wait time. Tomorrow, you are going to take me there and let me order whatever I want.”

“Aren’t you a princess? Doesn’t the royal treasury pay for all your meals?”

Cadence looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Sorry,” he said.

“And all the while you’re going to compliment me on how wonderful I look and whisper sweet nothings to me whenever you have a chance.”

“Um, okay.”

“Dress nice, and bring roses. Lots of roses. And chocolates.”

“Dress uniform, roses, chocolates. Got it.”

Cadence rubbed her head with her hoof while her left wing twitched.

“What?” the captain asked.

“Dress nice, Shining. I don’t mean a uniform, I mean formal attire.”

His eyes darted around in confusion. “That is my formal attire.”

“I mean a tuxedo or a suit.”

He looked away nervously and started gulping down the ale from his bottle while Cadence looked at him.

“Shining Armor, I’ve known you entirely too long to not know you’re hiding something.”

“I don’t actually own any civilian clothes.”

Cadence’s mouth hung open. “No tux?”

“No.”

“Not even a suit?”

“Cadence, I’m a soldier stationed in the castle. I own two dress uniforms, three casual uniforms, a set of armor, and a picture of my family. I really don’t have anything else. I’m lucky I managed to get my own private room in the armory.”

She looked genuinely taken aback and even set down her ale. “You’re serious. That’s all you own?”

Shining thought real hard about his tiny room they so generously bestowed on him, trying to think of anything else. “Actually, I take that back. My sister bought me a very nice fountain pen as a gift when I got my promotion. But, yeah, everything else is government-issued.”

“Huh.”

This was new. Cadence at a loss for words. He’d have to tread real carefully in this undiscovered territory.

“Um, but I suppose I could rent a tux!”

“Without a reservation? Doubtful. I suppose a formal uniform will do. This time.”

“This time?” Wow, was it unbecoming of a Captain of the Royal Guard to squeak nervously.

“This time.”

A slight shudder went through his muscles as he thanked Celestia he had the wisdom to avoid wasting away all his paychecks. “Well, I guess that’s a fair trade for making sure my sister is safe. You should have seen her, Cadence. I don’t think she’s ever looked so happy.”

Cadence was looking at him. Exactly what look she was giving him, he wasn’t certain, but she was looking directly into his eyes.

“What?” he asked, frowning.

“You’re jealous!”

“What!?”

“You’re jealous because she replaced you!”

“She didn’t replace me; she found…”

“She found some friends! You should be happy!”

“I am!” he insisted. “It’s great that she’s found some ponies that accept her! It means I don’t have to be the one to… to…”

“And there it is,” she said, taking a drink. “She doesn’t need you to lean on anymore. The tears make it plain to see, Shining.”

He turned away and wiped his eyes. “Sorry, I don’t normally do this.” When he turned back, she had gotten up off the chair and was mere millimeters from his face. I forgot how quiet she could move. Freaking pegasus genes.

She raised a hoof and rubbed him a little on his cheek. “You really are something else. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a big brother care so much for his little sister.”

“I had to,” he exhaled. “It’s not as if you were available as a foal-sitter full time.”

“I can remember a few weeks where I practically was, especially as she was getting older.” She sat back down and took a tiny sip. “If she hadn’t been such a sweet filly to sit for, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“Yeah, she’s really special.” He took a very long drink. “But if you’ll recall, you were mostly there when I couldn’t be. Mom always wanted to be a noble socialite, and getting you to babysit her daughter while she went to a party was a coup. And dad was always busy with work at his practice, being somnologist to the Canterlot elite. When Twily became Celestia’s student, that just made it all worse. I was already a teenager, so I didn’t need the supervision, but Twily… I hate to badmouth my mother, but I stepped in when my parents stepped out. Literally.”

“I remember. Poor thing. I’m glad she’s able to make connections again.”

“Amen to that.” He raised his bottle with magic, and the two clinked a toast. “If there’s anypony in the world that deserves some friends, it’s her.”

“That’s the truth.”

“And we learned about the Elements of Harmony.” He stretched out and yawned. “It’s good we found out about them before her majesty finishes her ‘sabbatical.’ Means we can actually explain things to ponies when they ask.”

“Elements of Harmony?”

“Long, crazy story, I’ll tell you about it later.”

She giggled a little. “You know, this all reminds me of the time you protected Twily from those bullies. You frightened them so bad even Twilight was scared to talk to you for a few days.”

“Yeah, well, they deserved it.” He blushed. “I was always protecting her from… from…”

His pupils shrank to pinpricks.

“Uh, Shiny? Are you okay?”

All his combined efforts to answer her just resulted in a twitch of his eye.

“Shiny?”

“Crap!” He leapt up from the chair and got his hind leg stuck in its straps, causing him to tumble over and land on his jaw before finally shaking it off and getting to his hooves.

“Shiny, what’s wrong!?”

While it was normally a bad idea to ignore a princess, his mind had other priorities at the moment. “Intelligentsia!” Every ounce of his strength was being pumped into his legs to move him through the castle’s halls. He’d have teleported if not for the wards. Rounding another corner, he galloped down the stairs to the war room and opened its door.

“Intelligentsimmmm—!”

An angry limb clamped his mouth shut. It was Intelligentsia. Her left foreleg was completely wrapped around his muzzle and a small mountain of papers were fluttering down to the ground.

“I’m right here, dammit. What the hell is it this time?”

Shining pushed her off his muzzle, falling to his haunches.

“Who is this, Shiny?”

He turned back and saw Cadence right behind him, landing. “This is my aide-de-camp, Intelligentsia.”

“Your Majesty.” She bowed. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Cadence draped a foreleg over him and gave him a little squeeze. “Just following this idiot.”

“Yeah, well, we got a problem, Gen. Huge problem! We just let my little sister, Celestia’s student, stay in Ponyville without a Guard escort.”

Intelligentsia smiled. “Already ahead of you. I talked to Quartz, and he’s pretty shaken. It didn’t take much for him to agree to send some more guards out for her.”

“No! Gen! We can’t just send armored—”

“Unarmored, undercover guard,” she interrupted. “I’m not stupid. I know you want her to be able to live there without tripping over protectors all the time.”

Shining relaxed, exhaling most of his worries along with his breath. “Thank Celestia. I’m sorry for doubting you, Gen.”

Intelligentsia shrugged. “It’s what I’m here for.”

Cadence tapped the two on the shoulder with a pile of papers then all but shoved them under their noses. “Covert, public eavesdropping? Gait analysis? Threat prediction algorithms? Shining, what is this?”

“I…” Shining paused, flipping through the notes himself. “I have no idea.”

“They’re mine.” Intelligentsia started looking about the floor, collecting the scattered pages. “It’s a… kind of proposal, really. You know my connection grids?”

Shining nodded. “What about them?”

The guardsmare swallowed. “I wasn’t sure what to make of my grids in Ponyville, so I tried again here with my magic. And this time, I… added in your sister, and I have to apologize.”

Shining gave her an icy glare. “I don’t like where this is going…” A lone paper floated over to him, and he caught it, finding a large connection grid written down in magic ink. In the very center was Twilight, connected almost everywhere.

She continued, “Your sister is within one degree of separation of, well, almost everything. Strong links, too, not trivial ones. To correct my earlier analogy, she’s the biggest, most important piece on the chessboard other than Celestia herself. These proposals I have? They’re for her.”

“Spying proposals?” Cadence asked, jaw open. “What would spying on Twilight do? She’s not an enemy agent!”

“Not to spy on her.” Intelligentsia shook her head. “To spy on anything looking to hurt her. To find the threats before they act. Before she ever has to find out about them.”

“Gen.” Shining glared at her. “There’s no way you came up with all of this in a couple of hours. Come clean.”

She ducked down, her cheeks red as roses. “I may have thought these up while going after the Cloudsdale Seventeen conspiracy before joining the Guard. I’ve been looking for a way to legitimize the science behind them.”

Shining’s expression grew colder.

Intelligentsia hugged her papers as if she was protecting her foal. “But they’ll work, I swear it! It’ll take some time to get everything in place, but they’ll work! I just need the resources!”

Shining sighed, giving back the paper with the connection grid. “Get a full proposal together. I’ll set up a meeting with Celestia as soon as she’s done with her vacation.”

Cadence leaned in closer to him. “Are you sure about this, Shining?”

“No, I’m not,” he replied. “But I’m too tired to make a rational decision on this now, and there’s little harm in talking about it. And besides,” he gave Intelligentsia a small smile, “I’d prefer paranoid security to lax when it comes to my sister. You’ll get your half-hour, Third Lieutenant.”

Intelligenstia bowed all the way to the ground. “Thank you! I promise I won’t let you…” her head lifted back up in surprise. “Third Lieutenant?”

“Your proposal, your responsibility, your operation.” Shining laughed. “Also, nopony with the rank of ‘Officer First Class’ is going to get to propose a military plan to the Princess.”

“I can’t say I’m completely comfortable with the proposals yet,” Cadence interjected. “But I’ll leave it to Celestia’s wisdom to decide what to do, and make sure the promotion goes through.”

“You will?” Intelligentsia asked.

“If nothing else I’d say you deserve it for putting up with him this long!”

Ouch. “Cadence!”

“Speaking of,” she said, leaning into him and bringing her lips to his ears. “Remember the dinner you owe me.” She planted a heavy kiss on his cheek. “See you tomorrow.”

Shining’s mind ran through a few possibilities as she walked out of the room but dismissed them all as utterly and completely ridiculous. There was only one option left: ask the intelligence expert in the room possibly the most pertinent question he’d ever asked. “Why did she kiss me?”

Intelligentsia groaned, burying her face in both of her hooves. “Stallions…”

Author's Note

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this little flashback into what Shining was doing at the beginning of the show! But, there’s more to the story than just this!! Want to find out how Shining’s date with Cadence went? How they met in the first place? I’ve written a little side story exploring that very concept! It’s been over a year in the making, in fact! Check out Love and Barriers, my first-ever romance story!

Next chapter gets things back to Twi, I promise. These last two were really about setting up the side story.

There won’t be any new chapters for a little bit. I’ve spent like the last two months doing non-stop editing. I need to write new stuff for a while. No guarantees on timeline, of course, but I’m thinking the next chapter may be a month or so. After that, though, I’ll switch back to editing mode to get chapters out the door. :) Also, if you haven't seen it yet, check out The Rites Encyclopedia side-story!

Thanks again for sticking with me, everyone! I appreciate it!

A Bright Light in a Dark Place, Part 1/3

“And there we have it,” Luna said, new cocktail in tow.

Twilight had been crying for half an hour now. She had no idea the lengths to which Shining had already gone to protect her. He even had a few tears in his eyes, though she suspected they were just from seeing her cry. She sat up and punched him lightly in the shoulder. “You are crazy!”

“Runs in the family, little miss Smartypants.” He chuckled and gave her a light noogie.

“Thank you, Shining.” She flopped down onto him and threw her hooves around his neck. “Thank you so, so much.”

“Please don’t, Twily,” he whispered back. “I still failed you. I still failed Canterlot.”

She clung to him, squeezing him as tight as she could. “I don’t buy that. I’m alive, and Celestia is still princess. Both of those things are only true because of you.”

“She is correct, nephew.” Luna sipped her maretini. “Wallowing in regret isn’t becoming of you.”

“Luna, be nice.” Twilight rubbed her brother’s shoulder. “Don’t you realize how hard this has to be on him?”

Luna lifted a hoof up to her chest, eyes wide, then dropped down into an apologetic bow. “Forgive me, Prince. It is sometimes easy to forget that just because I have suffered greatly in my life, it does not mean other pony’s hardships do not wound the mind and soul.”

He shook his head. “I’m not in a position to be forgiving you of anything, Highness.”

“No! Shiny!” Twilight grabbed his head with her hooves and made him look at her. “You’re never like this! As long as I’ve known you, you’ve always fought for what you thought was right, no matter the consequences! Don’t give up now! Cadence will help you! We can win this!”

He slunk farther down to the ground, letting his weight pull him out of his sister’s grip. “Twily… You don’t get it. They’ve been after me for ages. I just don’t have any rabbits left to pull out of my hat.”

“Then join me!” she yelled in his face. “I’ll accept you into my honor guard. Spike’s not even in the military, and he’s in it! They can’t turn stop you from joining me!”

“Absolutely out of the question!” Luna slammed her empty maretini glass on the bartop. “I forbid it, and Tia will as well!”

The blood drained from Twilight’s face. “What? But why!? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“It makes perfect sense,” Shining replied.

Twilight’s ears went flat against her head. “Shiny?”

Her brother sighed. “Think about it, Twily. Even if they take away my crown, I’m still married to Cadence. No matter what the Council would like, in the public eye, I’m royalty.

“Now, suppose something bad happened. One of us dying would be a tragedy. What would happen if somepony managed to succeed in killing the both of us?”

Luna replied first. “Only Cadence and Blueblood would be left to stand in the way of these conspirators. And do not be fooled by his recent bravado. Blueblood is a spineless worm. On top of that, there would be ever more powerful shouts about my sister’s ‘ineffective leadership’ and ‘inability to keep ponies safe.’ It would be a catastrophic, politically fatal loss; one that would even be far worse than the airship accident that took the lives of Cadence and Blueblood’s parents.”

“And if we’re physically together in an unsecured area,” Shining continued, “then we’re a target that may be too tempting to pass up. While we’re in Canterlot, it’s no issue, but until you finish your ascension, Twily, we need to avoid being in the same place at the same time. It’s just too big a risk.”

Twilight whimpered a little, resting her chin on his foreleg. “I’m so sorry. I failed…”

“Not your fault, Twily, although I appreciate the sentiment.”

Luna turned away from them, staring out the window. “There is one other reason, but it is not something I expect you to accept. We told you that ascension is always an eventful time. We are not exaggerating. Each alicorn we talked to had a similarly dramatic tale during the conquering of their summits. It is very important that you face these challenges yourself. Should you allow Shining to take them on for you, you may find yourself underprepared for whatever ascension decides to test you with. Even if you don’t accept the idea of having a destiny, you will be tested, and you will need every ounce of power and experience you can get.”

Luna craned her neck back towards them. “Twilight Sparkle, the Rites of Ascension are yours and yours alone to endure. Anypony else that tries will be ground to dust by the gears of fate.”

“I don’t like the idea of fate, honestly,” Twilight mumbled. “I like being able to decide my own destiny.”

“Then brace yourself, young one,” Luna warned. “For we are in dangerous times, and very soon, many eyes will be watching to see what you do.”

“Right now, what I want to do is figure out a way to stop this insanity!” Twilight grabbed her head, trying to massage away her headache. “My brother is the best soldier in the entire army! What in Tartarus are we doing throwing that away?”

“I wish I could say something to comfort you.” Luna lay down next to them. “This is my sister’s arena. Sometimes I feel I am just another piece on the board to her, and the chess player rarely talks to her pieces. If I had insight to share, I would do so gladly.”

“Honestly, it’s not even getting fired or stripped of my crown that bothers me the most.” Shining shifted his body a little and gave Twilight a small hug. “It’s also not what they did and said to fire me. It’s how badly this is going to shackle my hooves. Even if I stay a prince, every option I’ll have to continue my investigation on who’s behind this will have to go through the Council, and I’m pretty sure they’ll try to stop me or slow me down just on the basis of who I am. And if I lose my crown, all I get to do is sit on my hooves and wait for something to happen. I was so close to figuring something out… And then all this kicked into high gear, and I fell behind.”

Twilight hugged him as hard as she could. “You’ve been watching over me for a long time now, Shiny. It’s time I returned the favor and showed them just who they’re messing with when they hurt my big brother.”

“Spoken well, ascendant.” Luna smiled. “We’ll make you a princess yet.”

“I appreciate it, Twily.” He smiled a little in turn, giving her another hug. “But I’m the one with the cutie mark for wanting to protect. In all honesty, I’d give up my crown right now if it meant I could continue my investigation. I’d even spit-shine it for the Council if it meant having the ability to protect you, to protect everypony again.”

Luna’s head jerked up, her eyes wide. “Dost thou mean that? You would honestly give up almost everything you have just to keep looking into these ‘Robber Barons?’”

“In a heartbeat.” He exhaled. “And yes, I truly mean that.”

“Shining didn’t even go to a normal high school.” Twilight leaned herself into him a little. “He went to Canterlot Military Academy, got early college credits, a physics degree at age twenty, was fast-tracked into the officer ranks… All so he could join the Guard as soon as possible.”

“So I’ve heard. The question is, Shining Armor, just how badly do you want to keep going?”

The siblings looked at each other before looking back at the Princess.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you’ve thought of something, but you don’t want to share it that easily.”

Luna looked away. “I’ve… thought of the option once or twice before. Until Shining said those words, I dismissed it. But if he’s truly that willing to do what’s necessary, then yes, there is a way. It will allow him to keep his crown and, in a manner, allow him to continue his investigation. There is, however, a price to be paid.”

Shining stood up, meeting the princess face to face. “Your Highness, the last I checked, your Night Guard was full.”

The Night Guard! Twilight’s eyes widened. It’s so simple… If he could join them, all disciplinary actions are reserved for Luna herself! But wait, he said it’s full…

“Fifty soldiers, including your newest one,” Shining continued. “That’s the maximum allowed under your compact with the Council, and for that matter, they aren’t supposed to do anything other than protect you, not conduct investigations.”

And there’s that, too…

Luna smirked, looking at him from the corner of her eye. “Come now, Shining Armor. You led the Royal Guard Intelligence Service for sixteen years. Did you not suspect at all that I do not consider myself bound by the Council’s wishes?”

“Hmph,” he grunted. “I did suspect. And some of our intel was a little too easy to get. But Princess Celestia said to trust you, so I directed my operatives to stay away. It’s a little disconcerting to hear, though. If I had caught you, even on accident, that would be it. You’d lose whatever authority you had left, and Celestia’s reputation would be ruined by extension.”

Her smirk grew to a grin, and her head lowered a bit closer to his level. “Please, Captain. I train my guards better than that. That’s no longer the question, however. Now, we must ask: can you be that subtle?”

“No, that’s not the question,” Shining countered. “The question is: do I even want to join your Guard? And more importantly, who would you fire? Your Guard is full.”

“Not quite.” Luna stretched out a wing. “I have forty-nine in my Guard.”

“Your payroll showed fifty,” Shining argued. “I saw it myself!”

“Heh heh. Oh, I know.” Her horn lit up, and one of the doors to the outside hall opened. “Pulsar, would you please come here?”

“Pulsar?” Twilight asked, tilting her head. “Who’s Pulsar?”

A moment later a dark grey-coated unicorn stallion marched through the door, dropping deep into a bow. “You called, Your Highness?”

Twilight eyed him up and down. He’s… surprisingly short. Like, as short as me short. Wait, did he just say “Your Highness?”

“Indeed I did.” Luna bowed slightly in return. “You may rise, my sénéchal.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped open. Princess Luna has a sénéchal!? I thought she just winged everything!

Shining raised an eyebrow. “He called you ‘Highness’…”

Luna’s smirk returned. “Indeed. Though he is on my payroll within the Night Guard, he is legally a civilian. He’s never had to take the Night Guard oath.”

“Make no mistake,” Pulsar said, standing up and looking fairly strong for such a short stallion. “I am loyal to Her Highness as much as the Guard is. But no, I am not her protector. If anything, she is mine.”

“But if there’s no oath…” Shining started.

“Then he’s not legally part of the Guard,” Twilight finished. Although you could have fooled me. He’s wearing light armor with a Night Guard glamor spell, and those eyes look every bit as fierce as a guardspony.

“Precisely. He only appears as though he is in my Guard to keep him safe. There is one spot left, Prince. I offer you the ability to continue your investigation in absolute secret, even as Twilight will undoubtedly be conducting hers. She, the public face of Celestia and justice, and you, the unseen hoof working behind the scenes.”

Shining took in a deep breath. “I am uncertain, Your Highness.”

“You have every reason to be,” Pulsar said, a stray hair from his copper-colored mane dropping in front of his face. “This is not a decision to take lightly.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “True, but Prince, did you not say you would pay most any price to continue your work?”

“It’s not that,” Shining replied. “One thing hasn’t changed. If we get caught, it’s still over. Everything.”

“If we do nothing, it’s all over anyway,” Twilight grumbled. “We’re in a downward spiral as it is. I say go for it, Shining. We aren’t going to win this without knowing who we’re fighting. I saw what Luna’s Guard is capable of during my training. I still don’t understand how they hide like they do. If there are any ponies that can pull this off, it’s them.”

Luna spread her wing out and pointed its feathers at Twilight. “Thy sister speaks truth, Prince. Art thou willing to join me?”

Twilight followed her brother’s eyes as they scanned the room, giving her a rare glimpse of the sheer speed of his thoughts. Years back, when she still lived in Canterlot, he was one of the few ponies that could follow her technical speech flawlessly. Everypony said that she was the prodigy, but that always felt like selling Shining short.

“I’ve come this far,” he finally said. “It’d be a shame to start over again in the ranks, but I cannot let fear or pride get in the way for a chance to save Equestria. I’ll do it. I’ll join your Guard—if you’ll have me. I know I’m not like your normal candidates.”

Luna nodded. “I understand, and I accept you, but you’ve made one critical flaw in your reasoning.”

Shining blinked. “What flaw?”

“In a bit.” Luna turned to her sénéchal with a smirk. “Would you please have the pegasi guards standing outside go and get something from my storage area? It’s a large chest labeled ‘H.P.A. 0047.’”

Pulsar took a step back in shock. “‘H.P.A. 0’— That’s…” He froze and turned to look at Shining, his piercing eyes looking like they were pondering something. Slowly, he turned back towards his employer but kept glancing at Shining. “Very well, Your Majesty. I will comply.”

“It’s not as if you had a choice in the matter,” Luna chuckled. “Still, tell them to be quick. No, that is not strong enough. The tide of souls be at your hooves! As soon as that box is touched, I have no doubt somepony will think to inform my sister.”

Pulsar sprinted out the door without another word, slamming it behind him.

“Well, I’m stumped. What’s ‘H.P.A. 0047?’” Twilight asked, scratching her head.

“Got me.” Shining shrugged. “There’s a mountain of stuff in that storage compartment. I’m pretty sure if you removed something, the rest would fall out like an avalanche.”

Luna waved a dismissive hoof. “They can clean it up later. Right now, I need that chest, and if we are to do this, we must do so quickly. I have no idea exactly how my sister will react, but I shan’t think it will be well. I know this possibility must have occurred to her, but she never mentioned it to me, which tells me she did not wish it to happen.”

Twilight recoiled as if she’d been kicked. “Then should we do this? What if she has other plans?”

“Then she should have shared them with me!” Luna growled.

Twilight lowered her head down and flattened her ears. “Sorry…”

“I do not mean to take out my frustrations on you, ascendant, but I have too long not been a true princess, locked away in this gilded cage! My sister promised me upon my return such would never happen! I shall not tolerate it any further! If I must be outcast or lose my nation, if I must fail, then I shall do it as an alicorn with my head held high and my spirit fighting, not cowering in front of ponies who are but foals to me!”

Shining laughed a bit. “I suppose that’s something I can get behind. I am sick and tired of playing nice for appearance’s sake. After that grilling, I want to return the favor.”

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. “You did, at least to Bismare, but I get what you mean, and I understand it. I kind of want to buck Bismare right in the stomach for saying those things about earth ponies.”

“That’s the alicorn instinct,” Luna replied. “We are alicorns of all of our ponies, not just unicorns. Although I’m afraid she’s built enough experience in the Council to prevent even such an outburst from damaging her overall standing. She’s still going to be the third highest-ranked pony in the Council.”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “How in the world did somepony like that climb so high?”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Shining said, half-whispering in Twilight’s ear. “The rest of the Germane noble houses wet themselves in fear when she so much as glances at them. She’s smart, rich beyond reason, and vicious.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not one of the Germane nobles.” Twilight grumbled, folding her forelegs.

Luna dropped her head down next to Twilight’s. “Just so you know, ascendant, once the secret of your ascendancy is out, you can respond to statements like that with the words ‘and mortal,’ especially if the pony is bragging about themselves. Some of these high-and-mighty ponies get wonderfully terrified faces when you remind them that in a couple hundred years, you will be here, and they will not.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Not what I want to think about right now. “You mentioned a flaw in Shining’s reasoning?”

Luna looked over at the door, and the hairs on Twilight’s back stood up on end for a moment. “A few more seconds…”

The doors blasted open and two Night Guard pegasi carrying a large, heavy-looking black chest like something out of a horror tale. It had a large, light blue gem on the side that appeared to be a very elaborate magical lock and silver trimmings along the edges.

“Finally!” Luna tapped a place on the ground. “Put it down over here, and go back to the doors. Do your best to stall anypony that tries to get in, even my sister!”

The two dropped it at her hooves and soared back outside, slamming the doors shut.

“‘Stall’ them?” Twilight asked.

Luna sat down in front of the chest and lit her horn, sending arcs of magic into the gem. “If my sister finds out I pulled this out of storage, she’ll send a dozen Day Guard to clear out my mere two guards if she must. They’ll be no match for so many, but if they talk and stall, they may be more productive.” She looked over to her. “Maybe.”

“Okay, that’s it.” Shining barked. “You’ve dragged this out enough now, Highness. What did you mean when you said there’s a flaw in my logic?”

Luna smiled, gazing at her work. “Shining, there was a time when my Guard was known by a phrase that would be best translated as ‘The Moonlight Brigade.’ They patrolled my night, yes, but they were not the terrifying face of a would-be usurper princess. They were feared by my enemies not because the whispers said they made ponies vanish, but rather because they found evil and brought it into the bright light of the Full Moon. Those with wickedness in their hearts would have to worry each night as they crawled into the bed if this would be the evening they awoke to find all their terrible secrets laid bare to the world.”

Her hoof slammed into the side of the chest. “Yet now I am forced to sit here on my rump like one of these so-called nobles? No! No more! I started a rebellion over less! Yet I will not now nor ever again wage war on my sister for what are not her own faults. No, this time will be different. I shall not wage war on my sister but on her enemies. I will no longer stand by idle while Celestia fights her battles alone! As she protects me in the Court, so shall I protect her in the field of battle even if she rejects my help!”

The gem flashed white, and Twilight had to shield her eyes. When the light subsided, the top of the chest had vanished completely. Inside was a jet-black set of armor covered in a thin layer of dust.

Luna reached in and picked up the helmet with her hooves and presented it to Shining. “It’s time once again for these mortal demons to gaze into the shadows and forevermore and under every phase of my beacon wonder, ‘what lurks there!’”

“What is this?” He asked, taking the helmet in his own hooves.

Luna leaned in. “The start of a new era, and the return of an old one.”

Twilight blew the dust off the helmet, clearing the air with a hoof and gazing into the armor’s glossy surface. “This is not an acolyte’s armor.”

Shining moved the helmet around as to put it on but stopped. “Not an acolyte… then what?”

Luna blew away the rest of the dust, revealing a subtle purple sheen on its surface. “I am not so foolish as to take a general and ask him to be a private again. This, Prince, is the armor of a High Cardinal of the Night Guard. I do not ask you to merely join my Guard. I ask you to lead them.”

Twilight smiled.

“Lead them? Highness…” Shining put down the helmet. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I am not a pony that’s… Well, what I mean to say is that I rather doubt I’m going to fit in… with…”

“What you are trying to say is that my Night Guard is some collection of blackguard rabble and filth that will no doubt have zero respect for you?” Luna knelt down to him, narrowing her eyes as the light in the room began to fade away. “Leave that to me.”

The sounds of hoofsteps started to build outside the door, growing in number and intensity.

Luna’s horn flared to life, projecting a shield spell over the doors. “The time for a decision has come, Prince. If you do not join me now, it is highly probable you will not be able to. If that is what I think it is, my sister will try to bar you from this if we do not act.”

“Shining,” Twilight put her hoof on his side. “I know you. You helped raise me. If you don’t take this opportunity, you’ll regret it. You shouldn’t be on the sidelines when Equestria is at stake. It isn’t right. And more importantly, I need your help.”

That was it. Twilight watched as her brother’s eyes changed along with his thoughts. Gone was the trepidation, the nervousness and uncertainty. In its place was his unique determination and caring concern for his family.

He reached out and lifted the helmet with his hooves. “Sovereign…” He turned it around, closing his eyes, and slowly lowered it onto his head. A dark purple aura grew from underneath it, pulsing faster and faster as the helmet made contact. A whirlwind of magic rushed out of it, growling and roaring as it enveloped the stallion in a dark hue.

His coat shifted color, from a white on par with Celestia to a deep gray. The color drained from his mane and tail, and the blackened, fuse-like strands left over lit and burned with a smoldering purple glow at the end of the hairs. His hooves started smoking, embers taking and burning away the blue in them until they were pitch black. Spikes of energy jutted out from the helmet in a line down the middle, a barrier-like field linking each one to form a Night Guard crest.

The whirlwind intensified, and Twilight had to shield her eyes with a hoof before her magic sight took over. One by one, she could see the other pieces of armor vanish and reappear on her brother, covering him from horn to hoof.

When the final piece secured itself, the magic ceased. A ethereal cloak on Shining’s back slowly formed into being, obscuring most of his body but fading to a smoky transparency near the floor.

“Sovereign…”

Twilight jumped back a little. The voice came from Shining, but, that was not his voice.

“Sovereign…” His eyes opened, irises burning like melted gold, their feline pupils focused with predatory rage. “I will guard your night!”

Luna’s wings flared open to their fullest, and her body began to glow.

“Luna! Luna open this door right now!” Cracking, intense pounding came from the doors, damaging even the shield put up to reinforce them.

“Um, guys…” Twilight said, lifting a hoof.

Luna’s body shined ever brighter, accompanied by a gust of wind as she returned to her true, unsealed form. She towered over the stallion, who knelt down to the ground.

“Luna, dammit, I know you’re in there!” More hits came, making the shield’s cracks look like a spiderweb, doubling in number again and again.

The Princess of the Night placed her hoof on his back. “I welcome you into my Night Guard. In accordance with our laws, I strip you of your very name. No longer art thou Shining Armor. Rise, Obsidian Armor, High Cardinal of the Night Guard and Hero of the Moon.”

A small smile creased Obsidian Armor’s lips as the shield shattered and the doors flew open.

“Luna, Sister, don’t you dare—!” Celestia stopped, frozen still, eyes darting around the scene in front of her.

Luna turned to her sibling, a Cheshire’s grin growing on her face. Her eyes glimmered with mischievous glory, and her gait striding up to Celestia was smoother than polished ice.

The two sisters locked stares at each other. Each had been alive for longer than any mortal pony’s memory. Each had seen and conquered countless horrors, risen to challenges the likes of which even Twilight could only imagine. Their very presences felt larger than life not only to her, but to ponies around the world. Hundreds of lifetimes of feelings, rivalry, and sisterhood were being laid bare in this single moment of pure, unrivaled honesty as Luna spoke first.

“Too late!” And then the “Nightmare” blew a giant raspberry at the Diarch of the Sun.

Obsidian Armor, the newly minted leader of the Night Guard, was completely flummoxed. His new role was taken on in a remarkably abrupt manner, yet that was fine. Battlefield training and experience demanded he be adaptable. However, there were certain things in life that, no matter what reasonable amount of training and planning one had, simply could not be addressed in a way that felt anywhere near confident and correct.

Seeing his new ‘Sovereign,’ Princess Luna, clad in her rarely-seen true form, shake her rump in her sister’s face was one of these things.

“Luna…” Celestia said through a facehoof.

“What’s wrong, Tia?” Her voice was cheerful and fluttered like a song, but its innate qualities made her sound utterly sinister, even if the visual accompanied by the voice was thoroughly and resolutely ridiculous. “Angry I stole him away from you?”

“Sister, I cannot believe you. Do you not trust me?”

Luna froze mid-shake and tilted her head while looking backwards. “Trust you?” She turned around to face her older sister, nearly at eye level given her larger form. “I ponder, Sister, whatever made you think trust was an issue between us?”

Celestia’s mane flared up and blew like it was in a hurricane, and her halo-like aura from the Empyreal Hall returned. “The fate of Equestria is at stake, and you pick now to have this argument?! Lunacea Umbra Astralis, what in the Heavens were you thinking!?”

Luna’s mane matched her sister’s, bathing the room in stars and mist. “I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, for once my sister of ten thousand years would have shared her plans with me! Since she didn’t, I had to act on my own, again!”

Celestia stomped her hoof, cracking the marble tile. “You want to know about my plans! Fine! Here’s an update, Sister: You may have just cost us everything!”

“Me?!” Luna reared up on her hind legs. “And what about you, Sister? You were the one in charge this past half-century while things collapsed around your fetlocks! I come back to you to find my idea of the Representative Council in place, true, but it’s a corrupt mockery of its ideals! And instead of using my talents and inspiration to help, you let those foals shackle me! I will not stand by and do nothing while you fail, Sister!”

“If that is how you feel, dear sister,” She paused as she made her way around Luna and towards Twilight, who put down her ears. “Then take him. And you two can be the ones to tell the Council.”

The warm, familiar light of Celestia’s teleportation spell began to overtake both the Princess and the Grand Mage.

“I wash my hooves of this.”

Author's Note

My hands still hurt like hell. Also, this is one of the most re-written areas, and also one of the most difficult to get ‘right.’ This particular area has been re-written at LEAST a half-dozen times, if not more, but even in it's current incarnation, it's VERY old, and it shows in my writing style, I feel. I’ve also had to squash dozens of plot holes and adjust things many times to make it all fit, so I’m tremendously nervous about missing one. Just remember, constructive criticism = good. Don’t be rude, especially to other commenters.

Soon I’ll be taking a break from all writing and editing for a couple of weeks for my hands to heal. I have a number of possible purchases in mind to help after that, too. Well, hopefully. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong and I can’t see a doc until June, which is when I return stateside. Note that this is not a “I have burnout” break. I WANT to write. I wake up each day wanting to write, and it’s TORTURE not being able to pound out words like I should be able to. So I’m not leaving, just being quiet to heal.

The next… several chapters are bound to be a little bit controversial. Maybe not as much as 16, but still. That being said, I hope that you all still enjoy them, as I tried to put a lot of feels in there. It’s just, well, not all happy pony cuddles. ;) The missions will start eventually, I promise. Starting in what is currently chapter 26, aka block 4. It was chapter 24, but I had to split 19 a couple of times.

Also, expect a few more chapters to come here soon, within the next few days. Because of how linked they are, we edited a few chapters all at once. After that, it’ll be break time for me.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me. It means a lot that you all still enjoy reading my story. Thank you so, so much.

-Cv

P.S. Don’t forget to check out Love and Barriers! It got a Royal Guard feature!

P.P.S. For those mentioning it, dictation software won't work in this instance for a few reasons. One, I have zero privacy. The wife and I rent just a room with many others in the house. Two, it's $200 on OS X. Three, I write at night, and others are sleeping then. Things might change if and when we move out of here, but that's six months out at a minimum.

A Bright Light in a Dark Place, Part 2/3

“I am so bucked.”

Luna, once again looking more like her public self and less like the Nightmare, rolled her eyes. “Would you calm down? Most mares would be happy their stallion found a new job so quickly.”

Obsidian shuddered. “You don’t have a princess for a wife. Money isn’t a problem for her. The problem is I didn’t talk to her about this!”

The Princess placed a hoof on the door to a gathering room where the Council usually met during recesses. “You’re worrying over nothing. She loves you and fights for you. She wants you to be happy, first and foremost. Now come, we’re wasting time.”

“Wait!” Shining pulled the door shut with his magic and whispered, “You realize I haven’t actually said the Night Guard oath yet either, right?”

Luna smiled. “They need not know that,” she whispered back. “Besides, that comes after your integration, not before. Now, ready yourself.”

With a light push, the door opened, and the two stepped in.

Murmurs and talking echoing in the room slowly ceased as they made their way to its middle. Eventually, the only sound was their hoofsteps muffled by the blue and white carpet leading them to the ponies in the center of it all: Duke Charlemane and Princess Cadence. The rest was pure silence.

The Duke put down his glass and raised an eyebrow. “Your Highness? Unusual to see you in here. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Luna cleared her throat. “It is quite simple. I am here to demand that you cease all further disciplinary actions against Shining Armor.”

The murmurs resumed, this time in high gear.

Charlemane stepped forward. “Excuse me? You demand? Your Highness, you have no such authority over this Council.”

Luna’s nostrils flared. “And you have no such authority over—”

“Shiny?” Cadence interrupted, her eyes instantly growing moist. “Shiny, is that you?”

Obsidian opened his mouth, letting his new, deeper voice reverberate through the room despite its dryness. “Yes, beloved. It’s me, your Armor,” he said, twisting the pronunciation of his name to sound more like ‘Amore.'

“Shining!” She all but plowed into him in her embrace, running her hooves over the small amount of his coat that was exposed before continuing to the glossy, black-and-silver armor. “Shining! What happened to you?!”

“Luna offered me a job,” he chuckled weakly, and the murmurs in the room all but exploded. He paid them no heed.

She pulled him in tight. “Shiny, why didn’t you tell me?”

“We sort of wanted to get it done before the Council caught wind.”

“Indeed, you would,” Charlemane interrupted. “Yet this is not an acceptable outcome. Princess, Prince Armor, this Council cannot tolerate efforts to circumvent its authority. We have a job to do.”

“Ha! Job!?” Luna roared. “You mean that perversion of justice I bore witness to? You dare to accuse a Prince, one of your own, to conspire against the Eternal Sisters?”

Charlemane waved a dismissive hoof. “One of our most decorated generals betrayed us in the attack, Princess. Surely, you do not mean to suggest he did not have help from the inside?”

Luna’s wings flared. “And just how many of them were using weapons made by your companies!? I find it every bit as likely that one of you could have helped him!”

The Duke’s face suddenly became rather smug, enough that it caused the tips of Obsidian’s new, smoldering mane to flare in place of bristling.

“We have extensive evidence that select elements of the regular military and even some Guard members aided Towers in his assault. Do you have evidence that one of our members acted in bad faith?”

Luna ground her teeth and lowered her head to the other pony’s level. “I should think my status would be enough.”

Obsidian grunted and was taken aback by how low and loud his voice was. Not good, not good at all. Walk it back, Luna. I know we’re frustrated, but he’s going to win at this rate.

Charlemane shook his head and smirked. “Your status is a generous gift by this Council, Highness, or did you forget your own attempted coup?”

No! Obsidian jolted forward and out of the grip of his wife then lifted his foreleg to hold his Sovereign back. As he stood between them, ice ran down his spine. Luna looked offended already, and Cadence’s jaw was open not only because she had to suddenly balance herself but because he had let her go.

Damn! “Sovereign, beloved, I ask both of you for your forgiveness for my outburst. But I cannot allow this conversation to continue as it is. If I may, I wish to speak on Luna’s behalf.”

“You?” Charlemane asked. “You do realize that by donning that armor, you have all but forfeited your crown?”

His gaze swung around and locked onto Charlemane’s eyes as he tried to burn a hole in the Chairpony’s head with just his glare. “You are incorrect,” he said with an even deeper voice than before. “My crown is not at risk. According to the compact between the Council and Celestia that restored Luna’s crown, her Night Guard can only be disciplined by Luna herself. This applies for all failures and infractions, past and present. Further disciplinary action taken by this Council against me would be in violation of that, which would result in Princess Celestia dissolving the compact and impeaching every one of your sorry hides for acting in ‘Bad Faith.’”

Charlemane didn’t flinch. “Ponies are looking for punishment for the failure to protect them, Captain.”

“It’s High Cardinal now,” he corrected to even more background discussion. Even Charlemane was taken aback. Looks like they don’t like that. Good.

“So she gave you wholesale command.” He chuckled. “Amusing. Doesn’t change the fact that ponies will be very upset at this. They wanted consequences, not a title change.”

“Interesting. This Council has spent years campaigning against Luna’s restoration and influence and shaping public opinion to this fact. Yet you contend this new position will be viewed as anything but a punishment?”

“Hmph. You forget, Cardinal. The positions granting control of the forces protecting our Princesses are ones of prestige. Disgraced—”

“Save it, Chairpony,” he said, voice booming. “You and I both know such a position elevates Luna’s position and weakens your own, not to mention makes the Council look like liars and hypocrites.” Now that got his attention.

“Regardless, Shin—”

“Obsidian. High Cardinal Obsidian Armor.” Obsidian grinned and showed off his new fangs. “Get it right, Chairpony Charlemane.”

The Chairpony furrowed his brow. “High Cardinal Obsidian Armor, this still leaves you open to political assault. Favoritism and softness in the face of failure? Such nepotism also leaves your sister politically vulnerable, inviting questions about her authority and legitimacy.”

He took a step forward, slamming his hoof down. “You will leave her alone, Chairpony. I know you’re trying to speak for the Council as a whole here rather than yourself, but I don’t care. You will leave her alone, period!”

Charlemane met his gaze evenly. “Or you’ll what?”

No, hold back. I can’t threaten him outright. But what can I do? He twitched a bit at a cold hoof being placed on an exposed part of his coat. He flinched slightly, looking at his wife touching and examining him at random spots. What is she— Wait, that’s it!

“Chairpony, you seem to misunderstand your position. If you attempt to wage a political war against me or Twilight, you expose yourself to counterattack from Cadence.”

The other stallion flopped down to his haunches in laughter. “Ha! Surely, you jest—”

“I am entirely serious. Her full, official title is ‘Princess of the Lost,’ and she lives up to it brilliantly. Hence, she is also immensely popular, the perfect pony to represent a mere student of magic new to political power, who is under assault from forces out to get her from her first days and through no fault of her own. Or perhaps a Captain, discharged despite his best efforts to serve his Princess, now relegated to command of a mere few dozen ponies and being hounded by politicians on a crusade? You see, Chairpony. The optics and spin can work both ways.”

Charlemane waved this off. “Pathetic, Cardinal. Taking such a position weakens your sister’s standing and reduces her authority to an innocent pawn, not a commander in her own right. There is no way this ends well for you, or her.”

Damn. Obsidian furrowed his brow, glaring daggers at his opponent. This is not good. He caught me. Think, Armor, think! You can’t just let him get away with this! There has to be a way to turn this around and protect Twily. Just do what Celestia taught you. Rethink this from the beginning.

He took in a deep, but subtle, breath and focused. Time itself seemed to slow down for him as his mind went into high gear.

First, we know that he can’t go after me or Princess Luna very well right now. I’m protected by her compact, and there’s little he can do to further tarnish Luna’s reputation. It can only go so low, and the few that remain on her side are die-hards. So, why is he talking about going after Twilight to get to me?

…The Council is afraid of Twilight! But why? I know Charlemane is already aware of Twily’s ascension. We had to tell him in order to convince him to go along with helping Twilight become Grand Mage and get the Council deals in place for it. The others should all be in the dark, though, and the Princess gave up a lot of ground in those deals, even considering the massive penalties for the Council if they renege. But he’s known about it for years. That can’t be what he’s afraid of all of a sudden.

Think! What’s different now? Even as Grand Mage, Twilight’s authority in the Council is basically zip. Sure, she’s been trained by Luna, but that’s only three months’ worth, and before that—!

…They aren’t afraid of her because she’s been trained by Luna. They’re afraid of her because she’s been trained by Celestia! But Twily being the Princess’s student isn’t news. It’s been that way all along, including when those deals were signed. So what’s different? What changed when I came through those doo—!?

His eyes snapped all the way open and his jaw dropped open before he could stop it. The whole room could see him sitting there, stunned and eyes wide.

“I see you’ve finally realized it,” Charlemane said with a smug look. “This was a bad move for you, Armor. I honestly can’t believe you willingly stumbled into it.”

The corners of Obsidian’s mouth creased into a grin then grew into an devious Cheshire smile. “Oh, I realized it alright, Chairpony. I realized that I don’t need to worry about Twily. Your threats against her were a distraction.”

The Chairpony raised an eyebrow. “Hardly. She’s in a very vulnerable position right now.”

Obsidian leaned in next to his ear and in his lowest voice rumbled, “Then why are you so afraid of her?”

There were a few gasps in the audience to confirm his theory.

“Excuse me?” Charlemane jerked back and laughed. “Why would we be—?”

“Because she’s smarter than you,” Obsidian interrupted. “And she’s going to have all the tools she needs to be your undoing the instant any of you step out of line again. This isn’t about me becoming High Cardinal. It’s about Luna sneaking Twilight into the Chambers when you went after me in an over-elaborate changeling-hunt. She saw it first-hoof. She had to watch as you passed a vote of no confidence against me and forced her mentor to strip me of my rank, all so you could quietly shut me up and get me out of your mane. What’s the matter? Afraid my anti-corruption investigations will find something damning?”

Charlemane stomped his hoof. “That’s over the line, Card—”

“And now!” Shining yelled over the Chairpony. “Now every single one of you knows that you have a hyper-intelligent Grand Mage out for revenge for her brother. Or, as she’s called me since she was little, ‘Big Brother Best Friend Forever.’ You’re desperate to hobble her, but you know that if you revoke her title without far more ample cause than you used against me, you’ll lose everything.”

He got up with a chuckle and started trotting around him in a rant. “So instead, you’re trying to say you’re going after her for revenge on me? Weak, Charlemane,” he taunted, his grin growing ever wider. “She’ll turn that around so fast your head will spin. She’s going to destroy you all on her own, and you know it. That’s why you’re threatening her. Well, guess what, Chairpony. This is the mare that purged Nightmare Moon, juggled an Ursa Minor, took her friends to face off against a dragon, exposed Chrysalis, crushed General Towers’ coup, and put Discord back in his prison.”

He stopped behind him and put his mouth right next to Charlemane’s ear, but spoke loud enough so the whole room could hear him. “And you think you’re going to be able to stop her?” He laughed, letting his new bass voice vibrate the air before sneering and stepping forward, putting his head right next to the Duke’s. “If you thought Luna training her was bad news, you haven’t seen anything yet. I’ve spent more than sixteen years fighting this Council, and now I’m going to be whispering advice in Twilight’s ear for her entire career. Tactics, magic, politics… I’m at her complete disposal, and I’m willing to tell her absolutely anything she wants to know. She’s the smartest pony alive, Chairpony, and to borrow from a Gryphon expression, you just put a big, red bull’s-eye on your flank and declared it open season. Good. Luck.”

He turned around with a snap, and started striding out of the room. “You’re going to need it.”

The absolute, deafening silence of the room behind him brought a smile to his face, even as he heard Cadence’s and Luna’s hoofsteps behind him.

When the trio was finally around the corner and out of earshot, Luna positively giggled in delight. “Oh, that felt so good! I am going to enjoy having a High Cardinal again!”

“I wouldn’t celebrate just yet, Sovereign,” he warned. “Charlemane won’t take that lightly.”

“Let him take it however he pleases! I may not have any say with them, but that’s also true in reverse! I, or rather, we, are beholden to nopony in there.”

“Mmhmm,” Cadence mumbled, never looking away from her husband, yet not making eye contact with him either.

“Cady, are you alright?” Obsidian asked, stopping and turning to her. “I appreciate the fact that you aren’t beating me into a bloodstain on the floor, but you’re starting to scare me a little.”

“What?” She looked up at him and blinked. “Yes, I’m… I’m fine.”

Luna cut into the conversation. “You most certainly are not. What’s gotten into you?”

“Hmmm,” she murmured.

“Cady?” Obsidian’s voice went higher, almost back to normal.

“What?” Cadence looked up. “Oh, right. Auntie, I’m afraid he can’t join your Night Guard just yet.”

Obsidian raised an eyebrow while his wife started pulling on his foreleg, seemingly trying to get him to move.

“And why is that?” Luna asked with a smirk.

Cadence pulled him even harder, making him walk. “He needs to do… things. To me.”

Luna started to laugh and, just before they rounded a corner, called out, “Just so you know, the glamour spell stays even if you take off the armor! I bet it’ll be a bit more comfortable!”

“Not on your life!” she called back.

Author's Note

Hi all! I have some bad news. I need to fix a major plot hole in the next chapter, and that’s going to take some new writing, which is going to take a while given my injury. :( Once that is done, though, the chapter will go up.

The good news is that I am making some progress on finding items to help with that problem (the injury). I have a new chair on order, and this one has arm-rests, dammit.

Next, I’m researching keyboards. The best one for me is probably this one. http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/sculpt-ergonomic-desktop

Sadly, it’s freaking expensive and you have to buy the mouse with it. :P So I may not be able to get that. But at this point I can’t help but feel it would be the best thing for me. See blog post for more info.

Next couple chapters are going to be… well, interesting, to say the least. I’m both excited for and EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY nervous about people’s reactions. I mean, damn. SERIOUSLY.

As always, thanks for sticking with me, folks. I promise, the missions are coming.

-Cv

A Bright Light in a Dark Place, Part 3/3

Twilight Sparkle wasn’t normally a fan of sherbet. She had been when she was a filly, along with ice cream. Of course, all fillies are fans of ice cream and sherbet. These days, however, her tastes were more aligned with spicy things, thanks to a fateful encounter with a bottle of hot sauce.

All this having been said, Celestia’s private, carefully hidden stash of sherbet was the best sherbet in the universe. This could likely even be proven by science.

She scooped another spoonful of green-apple-blueberry-raspberry and watched her mentor as she tackled the lemon-strawberry. Seeing her with her muzzle half in a large, half-eaten bucket of it somehow made her seem more, for lack of a better word, mortal, even while in her luxurious chambers.

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, gently massaging against the incoming ice cream headache; something apparently alicorns could still have. “So, I take it things didn’t go as planned?”

Celestia stopped eating and froze, causing Twilight to instantly regret her choice of words.

Argh. No, bad Twilight. We do not take that kind of tone with the Princess!

A sigh echoed in the bucket before Celestia gently lowered it to the floor. “That is a mild way of putting it. But, you are correct. Although first and foremost, I must apologize to you. What you see here is more or less pure frustration. It’s wrong to include you in a squabble between me and my sister, but I’m afraid you’re inexorably tied to the situation now.”

Twilight set her own bucket down along with the spoon. “I take it that’s what you tried to prevent by not telling us about the Council.”

Celestia nodded. “I wanted to spare you the pain and perhaps prevent you from becoming too angry with me. I also needed you to be able to focus on your training. Yet, what is done is done. I shall have to simply adapt.”

“Princess, Tia, you’re stalling. Adapt to what?”

The larger alicorn flexed her wings a little and sighed. Twilight gave her a raised eyebrow just in time for Celestia to quickly look at her and away again.

“When the attack on Canterlot came, I knew that even though it would almost certainly be repelled, Shining Armor would lose his position as a result. He was the single most vulnerable major supporter I—” Celestia stopped, her mouth frozen in place.

Several seconds passed while Celestia seemed to merely sit there, transfixed on something Twilight simply couldn’t see.

“Princess?”

Celestia blinked and shook her head. “Forgive me, Twilight. I should come clean better than that. The truth is, I suspected Shining’s days as a Captain were numbered far sooner than this. The sharks have been circling for some time. The attack just poured blood into the water. However, during that time, I laid a trap for the Council. One that my sister, in a childish fit, just thwarted.”

“A trap? So, Shining getting fired was a good thing?” Twilight crossed her forelegs and laid her head down on them. “I have to say, Tia, you’re losing me here.”

Celestia stole a look at Twilight from the corner of her eye, lurching back like she’d been hurt. “I understand and empathize with your feelings, Twilight. Yet, he would have found new purpose in time. Just as I molded you as a filly, so have I been molding him. You saw Shining defend himself in the Empyreal Hall? Ten years ago, that wouldn’t have been possible. They would have destroyed him. Now? If they had tried this four months ago, I’d imagine he would have received a split vote in the Council.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay. You’re saying you’ve been teaching him political skills. But Shining’s cutie mark is a shield. He’s been a soldier since entering adulthood, and that’s been his dream since before I was born. How is allowing his discharge from the Royal Guard fair to him?”

“His cutie mark is a shield because he wanted to protect you. Protecting others need not be done with a magic barrier or through use of warfare. Every single day, as Princess of the Lost, Cadence, protects millions of ponies with her words alone. And your brother? His passion makes him a natural speaker and leader. With my help along with advice from my niece, he would have been an unreal force on the political battlefield. Even Charlemane would fear him.”

Twilight sighed. “Hmmm, I think I get it. You were trying to turn an inevitable loss into a long-term victory, and give him the opportunity to do something his cutie mark calls for. A mercy in the face of certain defeat. But, Shining joining the Night Guard precludes this possibility, because Luna and her soldiers are so feared. Now he looks more like a villain than a protector, figuratively and literally.”

Celestia sighed. “I’m afraid it gets worse.”

She tilted her head, jaw open a bit. “How can it get worse?”

“I’m fully aware that my sister does not and has never limited her Night Guard’s actions as demanded by the Council. She would rather have tea with Discord. Well, that last statement may be hyperbole, but the one before is not. However, Luna trains her soldiers well. They are the epitome of stealth, and I know Luna did limit her activities to much less than she would have liked to lower the risk and keep me happy. Your brother, on the other hoof, is… bombastic in most everything he does. I am not only worried but almost certain he will eventually be caught. If that happens…”

“Ah.” Twilight shuddered. “I think I see what you mean.”

A sherbet bucket twirled in the air a little, Celestia looking down at it. “I love my sister dearly, but she doesn’t think like us. It’s taken me millennia, but I’ve become reasonably adept at political maneuvering and anticipating scenarios. Luna has never mastered that. Political strategy is simply… beyond her bailiwick.”

Twilight shook her head and put a hoof on her mentor’s foreleg. “I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit. She seemed to have a good grasp of what was going on in the Council and what was going to happen. She even knew you’d be upset, although not exactly why.”

Celestia sighed and lit her horn, opening her closet.

Twilight could hear the sound of a drawer opening, and a painting floated into the room, landing before them. She looked over it and gasped.

“It’s beautiful…”

The colors of the night were awash over the whole thing. Blues and grays and purples danced across the features of a cityscape, the details present in the realistic style making it seem more photograph than oil painting.

Celestia smiled, humming slightly. “One of her many works she’s too shy to show the public for fear of rejection. Do not misunderstand, Twilight. Luna is not stupid. Far from it. In fact, in some ways, she’s a genius. Her intelligence is merely different. She does not analyze things objectively like you do. Rather, she uses her intuition, feelings, and most importantly, passion. This allows her some abilities in the political arena, like giving speeches, and she can intuit motives, lies, and initial reactions very well. But, long-term planning simply isn’t something she’s good at.

“If and when Shining is caught, I severely doubt either myself or Luna will be able to counter it politically. At the very least, Luna could lose her crown completely. Even if I refused to give it up and suffer the inevitable insurrection, ponies would no longer wish to follow her authority or mine. They would actively resist it.”

Twilight swallowed. “And then, your only choices are to be a tyrant or lose everything. Best case, return in a few hundred years, try again. If there’s anything left.”

Celestia nodded. “Exactly. Now you understand.”

Twilight blinked and thought, tapping her hoof on her chin. “No, there’re still some things I don’t understand.”

The Princess closed her eyes. “Then ask, and I will answer.”

The student swallowed. Normally, asking questions of her mentor was no big deal. This, however, was an exceptionally touchy subject. “If you’re sure…”

“I take my vow seriously, Twilight.” A large wing unfolded and draped over her. “If you have questions, I wish to answer them.”

Then why aren’t you looking at me? Twilight thought. But, she’ll insist if I back out now, so… She took a deep breath and continued. “If all this is the case, why didn’t you talk to Luna? She’s your sister.”

“Ha!” A laugh exploded form Celestia’s lungs before being muffled by a closed mouth. One of the buckets of sherbet lifted back up into the air and another scoop found itself in the Diarch’s mouth.

Twilight lowered her head. “I don’t see what’s funny…” Crap, did I say that out loud!?

Celestia swallowed her frozen treat. “Ugh. In truth, it is not at all funny. But, the simple reality is that whenever I try to include her in making my plans, we wind up fighting while she desperately tries to put some of her own unworkable ideas in them. It always ends in an argument. One time, we were shouting at each other so loud I’m fairly confident most of the castle heard. Not surprisingly, those plans were ruined.”

“So… it’s a difference of opinion?” Twilight chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head.

Celestia squeezed her with her wing. “We are of different minds, she and I. I’d make the obvious ‘night and day’ comparison, but it’s been done. Ultimately, I simply do not have the time to consult her on all my plans anymore, so… I stopped. I… Well, that’s not entirely true either. I also do not wish to deal with the heartache.”

“Hmmm. Even when it causes more heartache down the line?”

The Princess cringed, lurching like she’d been struck.

“Sorry…” Twilight squeaked, ducking down again.

“No. No, don’t be.” She lowered her head down to Twilight’s level, looking her right in the eyes. “I deserved that. Thoroughly.”

I always forget how much larger she is than me… Twilight exhaled and leaned on her mentor a little, relaxing. “My other question, then, is why not tell Shining? Or me? About your plans, I mean.”

“My reasoning for you is relatively simple, honestly.” Celestia contorted her body a bit, shifting her position. “You needed to be completely focused on your training. Had you learned of any of this sooner, your mind would have been elsewhere. In such a state, you would have been in grave peril in your training, to say nothing of in a real fight later on if you did not learn all you could. I couldn’t allow that. As for Shining…”

A few moments passed in silence, Celestia looking off into the distance.

“Tia?” Twilight asked.

The Princess winced, shedding a lone tear. “Forgive me, my student, but I do not think you will like my response. Shining knew I was training him; he was the one to ask me for advice, after all. But my future plans? The reason I couldn’t tell him was because I needed his reaction in the Empyreal Hall to be absolutely perfect.”

“I’m… not sure I follow, Princess. How could that reaction be ‘perfect?’ He was devastated.” Twilight took in a deep breath. “I’ve never seen him shed a tear before…”

“It was perfect because it would have thrown Charlemane off track.” Celestia levitated a small case in the corner over to them, unpacking it to reveal a marble chess set with glass pieces and a small piece of paper. The pieces all lifted up from their resting place and arranged themselves on the board to match a diagram on the parchment. “Charlemane and I are of different minds politically. Our priorities are different, our methodologies and ideologies are different… but he is not truly an ‘enemy.’ He is an adversary, but we both want Equestria to prosper. We merely have different ideas about how to do that.”

Twilight nodded and tipped over a queen on the board. “So you wanted Charlemane to think Shining no longer a piece on the board. One that had been taken.”

“Yes. I wanted him to think that Shining was politically gelded. Of course, I know Charlemane is not stupid. In fact, he is astoundingly smart. Quite possibly the best politician I’ve met in many generations. We’ve been playing chess for a few decades now. He’s beaten me a number of times. Thus, I knew he would have figured this all out eventually, but all I needed was a little time to catch him off balance. If your brother had given even the slightest flinch to hint at a future plan, my advantage would have been lost. But that’s all moot now.”

Celestia spread out her wings, and wrapped them around Twilight, bringing them close together. “Twilight, understand me, please. I took no pleasure in what I had to do. I did not want it. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I am in the fight of my life, and I don’t even know who all my opponents are.”

Twilight backed up a little, her back brushing up against the primary feathers as Celestia looked ever more pained.

“I know it hurts, but your brother is strong. He’ll recover, and I will help him as much as I can…”

Twilight huffed and sighed. “I’m… I am angry with you, but I… I recognize the odd circumstances. But I want a promise from you that you’ll talk to us more. Me, Shining, Luna, Cadence. We might be pieces on the board to you, but we’re playing the game too. If you don’t talk to us, we’re going to make assumptions based on what we know, not on what you know. We’re more effective working together.”

Celestia slumped to the ground, her wings going limp. “I… I’ve been alone too long. It’s not something I do, anymore.”

Twilight shook her head. “If I ascend and become a princess, I’m going to be involved with this stuff. I’m going to have to make some of the same decisions you do, and I need you to help me with that. What am I supposed to do if you don’t talk to me? We’re going to be back here, doing this whole thing again.”

Celestia sighed, her lip quivering. “You’re right, of course. I know this, logically. Doesn’t make it any easier. ‘Old habits’ are even worse when they’re reinforced over a millennium… or longer, really.”

Twilight slumped back, resting on the oversized pillow. “I know, but…” A chill ran down her spine as she went over what she’d been saying. “I’m sorry, Princess, I shouldn’t be lecturing you. I guess I overstepped my—“

Celestia picked up Twilight’s hoof. “No. You are absolutely right. About everything.”

“So does this mean you’ll talk with her? With Luna? About your plans?”

Celestia looked away, towards her desk. “I…”

She gave the Princess a small poke on the shoulder. “Tia?”

‘Tia’ kept gazing outward, her eyes all but burning holes in the wall. “I… I want to tell you that I will. I know it may end in tears, but I will talk to her… It’s just… I’m afraid that, at the moment, most of my plans have gone up in smoke.”

“Oh! Oh…” Twilight fidgeted with her hooves a little. “So, you don’t have any plans to share anymore.”

“I have… some plans. But, they are doors, windows, and fixtures. Alone, they are salvageable, but the framework of the house has been demolished.”

Twilight buried her head in her forelegs. “Ah. I’m… sorry. I didn’t realize.” Several moments of silence passed, each one amping up Twilight’s nerves a little more. She was shaking by the time she was able to speak again. “What… What are we going to do now?”

“Now?” Celestia stood up, glancing at the cluttered paperwork strewn over her desk. “Now I do something I probably should have done ages ago.” Her horn lit up, and the entire desk floated up and tipped over. All but one of the drawers flew open, dumping paper after paper, scroll after scroll onto the floor.

“Right now, everypony is completely off balance.” Celestia smirked. “I’m reeling from the loss of my next populist politician. I have no doubt that the Council is going to ‘freak out’ over the idea of Shining Armor with the ability to command Luna’s stealthy troops. The conspiracy, whoever is behind it, is going to scramble at finding both of the Sparkle siblings hunting them down. This means that whoever acts first is going to be at an advantage. Which means I need new plans from a clean perspective.”

“So, you’re trashing all your old plans?” Twilight pointed a hoof at the pile. “What’s that going to do?”

“Outside of cathartic relief?” Celestia turned, putting herself in between Twilight and the pile while her teleportation spell bloomed again. “It will force me to think outside the box I’ve put myself in. Come, Twilight. It’s time I showed you Caballo Verde.”

Twilight’s body twisted and flailed in the light, gut wrenching itself into knots before finally getting deposited onto hot, desert soil. She rolled to her hooves, heaving and coughing, tasting some of the sherbet returning for round two.

“I apologize, Twilight. It’s never easy to navigate the leyline stream here.”

She clenched her teeth, breathing slowly to get control of herself again under the dark, sunless sky. “What… Where are we? Why is it already night?”

“As I said,” Celestia flared out her wings, “the city of Caballo Verde. Or rather, what little remains of a once lush canyon. And it is always night here, or at least appears to be.”

A few more heavy breaths and Twilight finally regained most of her composure. At the very least, it was enough to finally gaze at her surroundings. Crimson desert sand was under her hooves, and the night sky all but burned overhead with blood-red stars. Towering mesas dotted the landscape, and there was a path forward leading into a canyon in the center of a particularly large one.

“Come,” Celestia beaconed with a wing. “You have to see this for yourself.”

Twilight shakily nodded, nervous about what was ahead. The last time Celestia had taken her somewhere, it was the crater in the Everfree, which was eerie enough on its own. This time, her nerves were even worse, and it went beyond the fact that it should be daytime or the red stars. Something was very wrong here, and she needed only the sign in front of her to tell her what.

WARNING!! DO NOT ENTER!!

—BY ORDER OF THE ARMY OF THE LUNAR REPUBLIC—

DANGER!! DANGER!! DANGER!!

EVACUATION ORDER #84

CATASTROPHIC THAUMATIC CONTAMINATION AHEAD!!

258X LETHAL LEVELS!!

TURN BACK NOW!!

There were two important revelatory things within the sign. One, despite how important it seemed, was completely overshadowed by the other.

“Th-th-thaumatic contamination!?” Twilight yelled, her voice echoing off the mesa. “We can’t be here! We’re dead if we stay any longer!”

Celestia shook her head and picked up the pile of papers from her room that had accompanied them through the teleport. “No, alicorns do not suffer the effects of this normally mortal danger. In fact, even some exceptionally strong unicorns, those halfway or more to the ascendancy threshold, are resistant to it as well. Just as the pressure of our wellsprings prevents us from bearing foals, it also keeps the contamination out of our bodies, much like how a positive-pressure room will not have airborne pathogens enter it. You and I could wade through ten thousand times this and emerge unharmed.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and exhaled. It would be okay. Still, this left one other point of discussion untouched. Twilight slowly began her march next to her mentor, watching as the alicorn’s telekinesis glowed ever brighter around the papers and allowing some time to pass before asking her question. “The sign says ‘Army of the Lunar Republic.’ This was from the Lunar Rebellions?”

Celestia nodded, leaving her head a little low as they entered the canyon proper. “Yes, that is correct. The Rebellions were, in truth, an all-out civil war that raged for years on end, and this was the site of an epic battle. We are deep in the San Palomino desert, and this was one of my sister’s greatest strongholds. After it fell, the city was abandoned for obvious reasons. The contamination is so thick it blocks out the sunlight, creating a realm of perpetual night.”

The San Palomino Desert, Twilight thought. Some areas are so inundated with flame magic that water literally cannot stay on the surface. It evaporates instantly.

They kept up their walk, passing through the narrow path bordered by wind-eroded, wavy sandstone. Twilight dropped her head down as walls around them closed in more and more. “I can see why it was a stronghold. It’s using the mesas here as natural defenses; that would make this place a fortress. You could only assault openly from the air, and they’d no doubt be ready for it.”

“Quite so, Twilight. This was a costly battle, although for reasons you’ve not yet seen.” Celestia’s voice choked and hushed a little at the last few words, enough that Twilight didn’t want to push any further until her mentor was ready to discuss it.

It didn’t take long for Twilight to see that it wasn’t going to be as long a walk as their last outing, as she could already see an entrance to the center. It also didn’t take long for her to see why the sign was posted. The general feeling of unease in the Everfree was nothing compared to this. Her skin was crawling all over her like it was made out of spiders. Each step forward made her wobble around more like a drunk than a scared mare. The dark red lights from the stars seem to boil down to the ground, overcoming her in a red mist before, at last, a bright white light flooded through her senses, burning away the miasma.

“Curious. You appear to be unharmed, but the contamination still seems to affect you,” the light said, fading softly until Celestia’s form was once again revealed.

Twilight shuddered and shook her whole body, finally able to jettison the feelings the air was giving her. “I think… I think you’re probably right. Thanks for clearing it out.”

Her mentor smiled warmly. “Oh, it’s no trouble, my student. Come, we are nearly there.”

Twilight leapt up to follow directly next to her, staying in the pressure of Celestia’s magic. The miasma burned and rolled away at its edge, creating a safe region for her to walk in.

Now safe, she was able to look around again. They were fast approaching the center of a small city—or at least the remains of one. A few metal cranes jutting out of the rock walls were still recognizable, but the rest was rubble. Only the bottoms of walls remained in most cases, and they didn’t even look like they were made out of anything Twilight recognized.

As they passed nearby one, she reached out with a hoof and gave it a poke. The merest touch set half the remaining wall cracking and crumbling into a brown dust. In fact, all of the walls looked like that slightly compacted brown dust. Not a single one appeared to be anything more substantial.

The red mist began to encroach on her again, and she jumped to get away from it and back into Celestia’s light. A few short city blocks later and they were directly in the center of it all.

“There’s almost nothing left,” Twilight commented. “What happened here?”

“I happened.” Celestia answered, flopping to the ground and kicking up some sand. The papers, too, fluttered down to the ground. “Or rather, I did something to enable it. But just as surely as if I’d used Sol Invictus, I destroyed this city. We’re standing in the battlefield that marked a major turning point in the war.”

She lifted up a wing, signaling for Twilight to approach. Ears ducked down, she complied. Each step closer, though, made the pain on Celestia’s face that much easier to see. She wasn’t hiding as much as she was before. The mask again had cracks.

Celestia’s wing draped over her, holding her tight against her mentor’s side.

“Tia,” she whispered. “Tell me. I can feel your pain already. Please, tell me.”

Celestia inhaled and slowly let the breath go, whimpering. “You are correct, my student,” she whispered back, clearing her throat. “After the Rebellions, I swore a sacred oath to myself. Luna also agreed to it wholeheartedly upon her return. We promised we would never again merely give new magical or technological knowledge to our ponies. They would have to learn it for themselves, always.”

Twilight shuddered with her mentor. The meaning behind her words was all around them. “You gave your ponies something. A weapon, or spell. Something to give them an edge over Luna. And this… This happened?”

Celestia snorted. “Technology. Magically based, but technology. A science, something Luna was never well versed in and wouldn’t be able to reproduce easily. In my arrogance, I thought that Luna would have no means of fighting back, and that it would shock her so thoroughly that she would surrender.”

A tear fell down from her face and evaporated instantly upon touching the sand. “I could not have been more painfully mistaken. She countered by teaching her ponies magic I didn’t even know she remembered. Magic from before Discord.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Is that different from magic today? I thought magic was magic. There are many different kinds, sure, but ultimately it all follows the same rules.”

Celestia pulled her in tighter. “You are correct, but you must understand, Discord destroyed everything. By the end of the Chaos War, we were back to straw huts and nomadic herds. Our ‘brightest minds’ that could have once brought us back quickly had been driven permanently mad, and the rest of our ponies weren’t in much better shape. Only Luna and I kept our minds fully intact. We had to wait for the next generation of ponies to truly begin rebuilding from scratch.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “So before Discord, you were more advanced than we are now. And when you gave your ponies hidden knowledge to fight in the civil war…”

“It was like giving a foal a stick of dynamite and a match,” the Princess sobbed. “They didn’t just use them in combat; they turned on each other in their own petty squabbles, and we both ignored it, carrying on with our stupid, frivolous war. Millions upon millions died while our egos stretched to proportions only an alicorn can have. We were so cocksure, so certain in our righteousness. And when I finally used the Elements, Luna was gone, and my eyes were opened.”

She sniffed and sobbed, steam hissing from the ground as the tears rained. “My ponies… My little ponies… The Elements were not content to simply let me win. A price had to be paid. They made me see; made me watch. I was forced to relive every event leading up to and through Luna’s banishment, now fully aware of the sins I was committing but unable to alter my actions. When the light from the Elements subsided and I caught up to the world, all of my ponies that were left were celebrating. There was this one colt, he…” She reached out with a hoof, stretching to touch the ghost. “He was in a soldier’s uniform. He couldn’t have been older than fourteen. He looked at me with his remaining eye and said, ‘Why are you sad, Princess? We won! We won!’”

Celestia cringed, her teeth grinding as she struggled to breathe. “And they were all so happy. Rejoicing next to the bodies… So happy that their Princess…” She choked on her tears. “No, at that point, Luna wasn’t the only one being worshipped. They were so happy their goddess had emerged victorious…” A creaking sob escaped her lips. “I asked about that colt’s sister lying dead on the ground next to him. He said, ‘It’s okay, Princess. She died for you.’

“‘It’s never okay,’” she barely squeaked. “That’s what I told him. ‘It’s never okay.’ She didn’t have to… My ponies… All my ponies…” Her head reared up to the sky, inhaling deep. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, my ponies! I’m so sorry…”

She collapsed with a flop and an almighty sob, pawing at the ground, wailing in regret.

Twilight did the only thing she could think to, wrap her forelegs around the Princess’s neck, embracing her in a hug. “It’s okay, Tia. I’m here. I’m still here.”

The sob slowly faded to a cry and then a whimper. “It turns out Discord isn’t the only one able to destroy a civilization. In our own petty feud, my sister and I, we… I had to spend centuries to undo the damage. Confiscating books, parchments, anything that held knowledge of the accursed weapons or magic we had used. I even spread rumors of the dangers of the spells to those who used them, some true, others not. And to cap it all off, I turned my sister into a fairytale in a vain hope she might be accepted upon her return.”

“It was so easy at first; my ponies worshipped me, after all. And without their goddess, even most of those who followed my sister gave up in a few short years, willingly having the knowledge locked away by magic in exchange for clemency. I was relentless, and at long last, successful… But by the time I was ‘done,’ we had gone back so far…”

Celestia swallowed, her voice shaking from barely hidden agony. “Looking back now, it was the war itself that did the bulk of the damage, destroying our infrastructure and pushing us back technologically, but none of it could not have happened without my participation. I am still culpable. And after my efforts to wipe away knowledge of those terrible things were done, I kept advancement and reconstruction slow for a while as we rebuilt and otherwise withdrew myself from many state affairs. Although it seemed like it took ages, this eventually did allow my ponies to finally stop worshipping me once and for all. After some time, things stabilized, and Equestria survived, but regardless, it was still the second time I had failed and been left with ruins. First against Discord, and then against my own sister.”

Celestia sniffed and coughed a little, plainly still holding back the tears. “Thus, whenever my plans fail, I like to come here,” she breathed. “I come here to remind myself. I am not infallible. I have failed and been defeated so much already. Despite the contamination, this is, to me, a place of… cleansing.”

Her horn sparked to life again, brightly flaring to reshape the pile of papers and pull one dirty set of them out, floating them over to Twilight.

“Keep a hold of those,” Celestia said, a new fire in her eye. “And stand back.”

Twilight felt a searing heat on her side from her mentor’s body, and she scrambled backwards, the small bundle of papers in tow, though it took far more effort to hold them than it should have.

When she couldn’t feel the heat anymore, she spun around in the miasma, looking back at the Princess, and found her mumbling something under her breath.

“Princess?” she asked, ears back against her head. The corrosive magic around her wasn’t moving anymore. It was rumbling and bubbling but not shifting around like it had been. “Princess, are you okay?”

The mumbling continued, this time louder, and Twilight took a nervous step back followed quickly by another. The words were something completely foreign, but she could feel the power within them.

Alicorn magic!

A last few words all but came in a growl, and she could see the literal fire in Celestia’s eyes.

“Incendus!”

An eruption of white-hot fire blasted into the air from underneath the documents, creating a vortex that vaporized anything that was dragged in, even the miasma. Twilight gripped her own papers in a vice-like hug as they struggled to get away. Smaller explosions and pops danced through the air with little bursts of magic catching light in the flames, the spells being destroyed and turning into what looked like fireworks.

There must have been security spells on the papers. She had to destroy them and the parchment… She’s literally burning magic!

Bits of ash and tiny embers began to rain down on them as the fire subsided. A wave of heat roared past Twilight as her mentor turned to face her, the alicorn’s very hooves burning and melting the sand beneath them.

“I seem to have overdone it a bit,” Celestia sniffed. “Come, let’s leave this dark place and find somewhere I can cool off. Do you still have your papers?”

Twilight nodded, still grasping them with her forelegs.

“Then we should run. I feel… I do not wish to be in this place anymore.” Celestia reared up on her hind legs and took off at a gallop.

Twilight followed, placing the papers in a telekinetic field. They began to fall, and she redoubled her efforts. The miasma must be so strong it’s disrupting my magic…

The documents flapped in the wind as they ran, Twilight only barely able to keep pace with her mentor’s long stride while avoiding the melted glass the Princess’s hoofprints left. Left and right she dodged, landing her hooves on the rough, uneven sandstone. Wind and red mist swept past them, the latter dying out quickly as they left the canyon and mesa behind. Even then, they just kept running, and with the miasma behind them, Twilight’s grip on the papers become far more solid. Despite the oppressive heat, she couldn’t help but smile. Running with her teacher and mentor like this was somehow, for lack of a better word, fun.

Their run continued for some time, going much farther than where they had arived. More signs flew past them as their speed increased, and the stars’ redness overhead faded away while sunlight started to force through the miasma. As they kept going and the mesas in the background started to get larger, Celestia’s light returned.

One teleportation later and Twilight braked hard, bringing her hooves to a skidding halt and tumbling forward, getting a mouthful of beach sand. Princess Celestia, however, kept right on going, right into the huge body of water ahead of them. It hissed and bubbled, her body so unimaginably hot that the water couldn’t actually touch her as she rolled around in the water with her wings flared out. Eventually, she cooled enough for that effect to fade, and the water met her skin, sending a huge cloud of steam into the air.

Twilight couldn’t help but smirk in the tropical sun while watching her teacher splash about like a foal on summer vacation. That’s one way to cool off when your body is the temperature of white-hot steel. Run into an ocean. She took in a breath of the salty air and turned her attention to the few remaining papers. They were tattered, filthy, and slightly singed, although she couldn’t tell if it was from the spell Celestia used or if it had been like that for a while.

Wait a minute… She squinted at the text. This is my hornwriting! Flipping to the next page confirmed it; this was the research from her bounding mass spell she’d written in Shining’s office.

“What the hell!?” she yelled, eye twitching as the sound of wet hoofsteps approached from behind her.

“I was wondering why you did not find better paper, my student.” Celestia chuckled. “If you needed some, any of my guards or servants would have gladly provided it.”

“It was perfect when I wrote it!” She kept flipping through pages, making sure all the notes were intact. “It was good paper! I got it from Shiny’s desk! What in Tartarus happened to it?”

“Hmm. It appears I need to have words with Officer Straight Shot. But, Intelligentsia's seal was intact on it, and I thought you would want to discuss it with me.”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah, I did. And I—” her words stopped and her heart skipped a beat before pounding like thunder, her mind putting together what just happened in the desert with the information here. “You… You’re not going to let me publish it, are you? I know too much, so… so you showed me why I can’t...” She looked up at her in with a quiver.

Celestia smiled. “Actually, because you were able to understand the basis of it before you were made aware of your alicornhood, I shall allow you to publish it as you see fit. However, after this, I’m afraid you’ve read too much of the prior Grand Mages’ books. You are… unfairly ahead of our ponies.”

Twilight looked back down at her papers, watching all of her research in her life flash before her eyes. All the discovery, all the secrets being unlocked passed by in a heartbeat. “But, but…” Twilight sniffed. “That isn't… I mean, that isn't what I wanted! I wanted to learn! I wanted to learn everything! From you! So I could share it! What you do! What I thought you did…"

Celestia leaned in close to her. “That is indeed what I do, Twilight. I know things. I learn them. And I find students and share with them what they are ready to hear. I am not telling you that you cannot continue to learn. I imagine it would be easier to get Discord to reform than to get you to stop learning. What it means is that you must keep what you learn between us until it is time to reveal it to a ready world. Then, when our ponies figure it out for themselves, you may discuss it openly and to your heart’s content.”

Twilight started to calm down and breathe more steady as she realized what was being said. “By teaching a student?”

Celestia gave her a slight nuzzle. “By teaching a student. A wonderful student, deserving of everything you can help her learn.”

The student leaned back into her mentor while she felt her own muscles relax again, her hooves shifting in the sand. “That’s why you only had me read the books and train with Luna instead of just read your library. If I didn’t take the time to learn everything in there correctly, it would’ve been even more dangerous than sending me out unprepared. Even most of Starswirl’s magic, of what I could understand, was obviously dangerous and practically unusable. I might not be able to wield Crimson’s spells in battle yet, but at least they don’t tear holes in reality.”

Celestia stroked Twilight’s back with her wet wing. “Precisely. You see, my student? You have wisdom too. That will serve you very well in the future, I think.”

Twilight inhaled deeply and then slowly let the air out, relaxing as she did so. “Okay. I think I get it. I’m not entirely happy about a lot of it, but I get it.”

Celestia let out a light chuckle. “I think you would be surprised indeed to understand just how many times I’ve had to say something like that either out loud or to myself, Twilight. Life is merely like that oftentimes. It speaks to your maturity that you react in such a manner.”

Twilight thought back to their ‘pre-lunch’ and snickered. “Yeah. Maturity. Say the mares that went through two tubs of sherbet a few hours ago.”

Celestia blushed a little. “You’re never too old for sherbet. Ever. And I’m the Princess, so I’m right.”

The Grand Mage smirked. “Yuh-huh.”

“Although, thinking back to my ponies, I’m reminded of something that, for your sake, I need to ask you to do.”

Twilight grabbed her papers again. “I don’t like the sound of this…”

Celestia leaned her head down to her student’s level. “Since you’re staying in Canterlot and finally trained, I want you to visit your parents. Tell them what’s happening to you. Everything.”

Twilight shuddered. Not what I was expecting, but still. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Princess. My mother and I… aren’t on the best of terms, and to be frank, she’s a bigger gossip than Rarity.”

“Luna has already set up some precautions for them on that.” She wrapped a wing around her. “I know it may be hard, but I miss my own mother and father terribly. It’s been millenia for me, Twilight. You want to build good memories while you can. Trust me on that.”

She sighed. Ten thousand years of wisdom, staring me in the face. “Okay, Princess. I’ll…” She gagged a bit. “I’ll try. But you should talk to Luna, too. She’s probably just as hurt as you are.”

Celestia nodded. “I agree. I know she’ll be waiting for me when we get back. Probably. Whether it’s with a battleaxe in hoof or not remains to be seen.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Battleaxe? Really?”

“The last time we had a tiff like this, our ensuing fight blew up part of a mountain. Granted, nopony was on it at the time, and we hugged and forgave each other afterwards, but it was still quite an argument.” Celestia gave her another hug with her wing. “And I suppose we should have a real lunch after we get back. That is, if you haven’t spoiled your appetite with sherbet.”

“Hehe. Look who’s talking! You ate half that bucket!”

Celestia stood up. “Yes, but you went through a quarter of yours, and I’m four times your size, so you ate twice as much as me.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow in protest. “It doesn’t work that way, and you know it!”

“It does if the Princess says it does! And I’m a Princess. Hence, it does. So there.”

The Grand Mage sighed and shook her head while the teleportation spell began to envelope them again. “I’m going to live for thousands of years, and in every single one of them, you’re going to tease the stuffing out of me, aren’t you?”

“Of course! What’s agelessness if you can’t have a little fun with it?”

“Hello, Tia.” The ‘Nightmare’ Luna growled even before the spell’s light faded.

When she could see again, Twilight found herself and her mentor face to face with the Princess of the Night, who was lying in Celestia’s bed with her forelegs crossed.

Luna continued, “The meeting with the Council was… satisfactory. My new Cardinal is unexpectedly talented in that arena. Your doing, I presume.”

Celestia shook her body, sending water droplets flying all over the room and onto both Luna and Twilight.

“Cute, Sister,” Luna grumbled.

“I’m glad it went well for you, Sister, I truly am. I also presume you’re here to talk about things.”

“Just so.” Luna nodded before turning to Twilight. “However, there’s been another development you should know about first. The treasonous Ex-General Towers is finally awake and has agreed to talk. But only to Twilight.”

Celestia and Twilight looked at each other.

“Trap?” Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head. “While he’s in an iron lung and his magic is restrained? Doubtful. Go, Twilight. See what you can learn. This could be a valuable opportunity.”

“I agree,” Luna said, standing up. “I would ignore his request and interrogate him myself, but to be frank, he looks so frail he might die just from the sight of me. Twilight’s more gentle touch may be what’s needed to get information out of him. I caution you, though, ascendant. Do not push him too hard. His life hangs by a thread as it is.”

Twilight swallowed. “I guess I hurt him more than I realized.”

“He attacked you,” Luna sneered at the doors behind her. “Had he faced me in battle, his head would have been liberated from his shoulders already. He should be grateful for your mercy.”

“Enough, Sister.” Celestia grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and brought her into an embrace before continuing. “You have done nothing wrong. You protected your ponies from an aggressor, just as an alicorn should. But, Towers is a patsy. A pawn. I’m more convinced of this than ever. Now, though, we may have a chance to learn about the masterminds that are still out there.”

Twilight nodded, swallowing. “Yeah. Any advice?” I don’t think any of Luna’s interrogation techniques are going to work on a pony in an iron lung…

Celestia scratched her chin. “Yes. Intelligence has been worried about Towers knowing about your ascension. Leaking that secret early would be a wonderful way to sow dissent and distrust between the crown and our ponies, but so far, these Robber Barons haven’t done it. We need to know why. Other than any information on who is behind this, that’s the most important thing to find out. Focus on those two things. I shall remain here with my sister while we… discuss what must be discussed.”

“On it.” The Grand Mage bowed out of the embrace and started out the door. Time for my first real test.

Author's Note

Whew. Yeah, this one was a doozy. If you had doubts as to whether Tia was a perfect chess master, well, they were justified. She's not. She's stubborn, has trouble asking for help, and has an ego. This has cost her immensely in the past and present, and pains her to this day, despite the brave face she puts on. If she were perfect, there would be no story, and no chance for her to grow as a character. So, here are her flaws, along with her heart, laid bare.

And, well, I'm afraid another doozy is on the way. And then another. And another. Several doozies in a row, folks. Different types of doozies, but doozies all the same. Bear with me.

I'm still out of it medically. I may have to wait to return to the US and get treatment before I can resume writing. (I fly back June 1.) If this is a trapped nerve, they might give me a cortisone shot and that may be the end of it, at least for a while. Here's hoping. Insoles are on their way. I have the chair, table, keyboard, and braces thanks to all of you. Thank you so much!

Time for a bunch of links.

First and foremost, Rites now has a TVTropes page! Please go show it some love and add some tropes! :)

Love and Barriers is a thing, and has been accepted by The Royal Guard. Whoo!

The Rites Encyclopedia should be updated soon. Maybe tonight, if not, within the next few days.

I did a little blog with a bunch of questions circling around on FimFic. 50 questions, 50 Rites head canon answers. Well, nearly 50. Some are redacted 'cause SPOILERS!

A new non-canon EU story (written by me) is also up. Rites of Ascension: Fireside Tales

Also, what happened with Officer Straight Shot and Twi's notes? Well, I'm leaving it as a "noodle incident"... unless anyone wants to write an EU story about it! :) That's why I described his personality several chapters ago. Always tries to follow the rules, but his friends keep convincing him to bend/break them (often as part of a group), and he's the only one that ever gets in trouble.

Oh, remember the food fight that was mentioned waaaaay back in this chapter? If anyone wants to write that as an EU project, go for it! I was originally going to write it, but I couldn't make it funny enough. It's real hard to sit down and write comedy, and since my attempt failed, I never included it.

So, yeah, here be the chapter, folks. Once again, constructive criticism is always welcome. (However, antagonistic criticism is not welcome. Please be respectful not just to me but to other commenters especially.)

-Cv

Last Act of a Traitor

Twilight stood in the heavy doorway of the dark hospital room, knocking on the heavy metal door. “Hello? What’s taking so long?”

“Sorry about the wait. I just finished. He’s ready to see you. Page me when you’re ready to leave.” The nurse bowed, exiting the room and closing the door behind Twilight.

Twilight approached the bed, glaring at the disgraced pony in the iron lung. A raspy noise permeated the room each time he strained to take in a breath and an IV slowly dripped fluids and healing medicines into his body. Small head movements from the traitor indicated that she should come closer, and she slowly did. A few final steps brought her into the light of Luna’s moon, which also illuminated Towers’ face.

“How are you faring, young alicorn?”

Twilight turned her head away from the little puddle of drool forming on his pillow. “My initial training is complete if that’s what you’re asking. Yet I doubt you asked me here to make small talk. But, that leads me to my first question. I was told you didn’t spill about my ascension to anypony else. Why?”

“Because I didn’t believe it until you told me.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “What!?”

“Was a hunch. Putting together pieces. Here and there. Thought it possible, but… I was about to order… my most loyal soldiers to turn traitor. Couldn’t break… their trust, make them think I’m mad… I needed confirmation… before I said anything to them… Or especially anything to my benefactors…” He breathed in again. The sound was already grating on Twilight’s nerves. “They were already… Questioning my competence… They were right. You surprised them, probably. By surviving.”

“‘Them?’ Who, exactly?”

“Who indeed… Ponies ‘in charge’ of me… middle ponies? Maybe fall ponies, now. Can’t say for sure…”

“Who!?” Twilight glared at him, stomping a hoof.

“Very smart ponies. Used memory wipe spells. Can’t remember names, faces.” Another breath. “Thought their plans good for Equestria. Still do. But, are those their true intentions? I don’t know now.”

Twilight facehooved. Memory-altering spells! Damnit, that’s why nopony knows who they are. You meet them, but you never remember anything! “You mention ‘plans,’ but you sound uncertain now. Do you think they told you what you wanted to hear?”

He nodded with another raspy inhalation. “I think, attack was never meant to work. They wanted you dead, Celestia off balance. I was expendable.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still here.”

“I know.” His facial muscles moved with slow twitches for several seconds before giving up. “Smiling has become difficult for me.”

Twilight’s nose flared. “Somehow, I’m not terribly sympathetic. You killed ponies I know.”

“Indeed. Indeed I did. I regret that, now.”

Twilight growled and stomped a hoof on the floor, cracking the tile underneath. “It’s a little late for apologies! I don’t know what Celestia sentenced you to, but I’m not about to try to change her mind.”

“Would mean nothing. Wish to atone for my deeds. However little I can.”

She slammed her forehooves on the bed. “And you thought I would be a sympathetic ear? You. Tried. To. Kill. Me.”

“Not sympathy. Needed to give you a warning: do not trust the Inner Council.”

“And I should trust you instead?”

“Council has been… pulling power away from Celestia. If she resists, they steal more. If she relents, they take more anyway.” He coughed and gasped, spitting out mucus. “Been like this for decades. At least one councilp-p-pony… with the coup.”

A slight shiver ran down her spine, and her mouth went dry. “Who?” Even if I don’t believe him, he might reveal something worthwhile.

“If I knew… I would tell you.” He shifted around, breathing faster. “All I know… at least one. So can’t trust any.” He hacked and coughed. “Celestia does trust some… her undoing.”

“I’ve known Celestia since I got my cutie mark. She’s a good judge of character.”

He coughed violently, and the machine made a grinding sound. “No. No, she isn’t. These ponies… know her too well. Inside source… If right… She is involved with one…”

“Involved with? What do you—!” She spun around to look right in the old stallion’s eyes. “Celestia would neve—!” Brief images of Celestia having sex flashed in her mind but were quickly replaced with her words earlier. Whether that was a mercy or not, she didn’t know. “If she does, that’s her business, not mine. She’s not stupid. She’d never compromise her secrets like that. Plus, I trust her. That’s what counts most.”

“Foolish girl. She is in… over her head. Celestia alone cannot win. Luna isn’t enough either, though she does stall them.” He gasped and coughed, cringing. “She… Luna cheats. She lies, spies, and sabotages. Your enemies get frustrated. She uses their tactics… Not the rules they have with Celestia. But Celestia holds her sister back. She has to.” He coughed and twitched more, straining to breathe outside the rhythm of the machine. “Unrestrained, her deviousness would ruin… what little trust is left… between the diarchy… and the ponies. Neither are able to win. It has to be you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “And what do you think I should do?”

“Restore the ponies’ trust in Celestia… Drive a wedge in the Council.” Towers spasmed a little, coughing up more mucus. “Drive it… between the right ponies. Some of them… on your side. Just, disagree on policy. But some of them… behind this. Or helping it. You must divide the latter. Make them fight… each other. Split them wrong way, you hurt yourself.” He took in a deep breath against the iron lung. “You’ll never win if they stay together.”

Another wave of spasms went through his body, shaking the bed and the machine.

Something’s wrong. “Are you alright? I shouldn’t be straining you like this. Calm down and breathe.” She lifted the chart and looked at it before realizing that although she understood the vast majority of the information it held, she didn’t have the medical training needed to do anything about it in context.

After a few more coughs, Towers responded. “No… Breathing not a worry for me anymore… Nurse put… angel extract… poison… in my IV.”

The chart clattered on the tile.

“Shocked… it took them this long… to kill me. I’m glad we… we could talk.”

“I’ll call a doctor. That poison has an antidote! They have to have some!” She started to the door.

“Not when… it’s intravenous. No antidote, then.”

His words stopped her in her tracks. “I… I can try a healing spell!”

He shook and spasmed, coughing up blood. “Angel extract cannot be--” He turned his head, hacking mucus and blood onto the floor. “Cannot be healed away. Poison… works too quickly. It’s too late now.” Another spasm tore through his body, straining his body against his restraints.

She grabbed him with magic to try and still his movements, even going so far as to add her hooves to the mix. “What do I do?” She shivered.

A few more coughs and the wave settled down, leaving the stallion sagging. “Training… can’t prepare you… for everything… girl… If you… have kindness… left… morphine… in table… use it…”

She rushed to the table next to the bed and rummaged through various medical supplies before finding a bottle labelled ‘morphine’ and some empty syringes, picking one of the latter up. “How much do I use?”

“Dying… as much as… you like…”

She dropped the syringe and picked up a much larger one from the drawer then froze. Am I really going to… She looked back to Towers, wincing at the dark trail of blood oozing from his nose. Her ears went flat against her head, and she picked up the morphine.

Twilight’s telekinetic field shook and flickered, shaking the bottle. Sucking on her upper lip, she lined up the needle and slipped it into the bottle. She pulled back on the stopper, the clear liquid slowly filling the syringe. She took a deep breath and unscrewed the needle. When the syringe’s open tip met the catheter in the IV, her heart started pounding like a series of bombs going off. Her legs shook she buckled to the floor, tears welling up in her eyes. Brushing them out with a forehoof, she connected the syringe to the drip.

Towers shook and convulsed again, coughing and throwing up off to the other side. “Hurry, girl! I can’t… I—”

Her teeth were ready to crumble from her tightly clenched jaw and her forelegs pushed her back up then locked tight. Closing her eyes with the force of a vice, tears fell all the way down her chin as the plunger began to push forward. Twenty-five percent. Dose equivalent, seven hundred fifty milligrams.

Twilight peeked with one eye to make sure she still had hold of the needle and ground her teeth even more as she pushed the plunger in more. Sixty percent. One-point-eight grams. That could be a lethal dose… I… How do I…?

The iron lung began to clatter and grind again as Towers shook and jolted.

Twilight pushed the plunger almost all the way down in one swift motion, trying to swallow, but her throat was completely dry. Two-point-seven grams.

Tower finally began to calm down, his muscles slowing along with his lungs. A puddle of mucus, pus, blood, and vomit lay on the floor next to the bed. She looked at the last ten percent of the drug in the syringe and pushed it in with a slight exhale.

“Thank you… kind girl… merciful ascendant… Don’t lose that spark…” He began to sing ever so softly, a whisper. “Angels from above… sweep thee to rest… Sing the judgement… of the highest…”

“W-what are you singing? Towers?” She pressed her hoof against him, shaking him gently. No… I couldn’t…

She sat there, crying and watching the moon move across the window for some time, water streaming down her face. “I… I…” Every word she tried died in her mouth. Time ticked on in silence. Every breath was a reminder that the pony before her wasn’t breathing, nor moving. Her eyes, still filled with tears, blinked, and she saw him with her magic sight.

His wellspring was gone.

She ran out the door at a full gallop.

Wind tore at Twilight’s eyes, but not from the weather. It was just the air moving past her as she rocketed through the castle on nothing but her four hooves, her limbs propelling her fast enough to streak the tears from her eyes and fling them behind her. A small trail of salt water marked her path through the halls.

She had been heading back to Celestia’s chambers, her path being followed on habit and instinct. She didn’t need to get that far. A white blob topped with wavy pastel colors passed into her water-obscured vision, and she changed direction to run right at it. When she stopped, she didn’t slow. She just put all of her hooves on the ground and sat down, sliding right into the mass of luxurious white hair.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”

Twilight panted, in and out, over and over while she fought back the tears, but it was like trying to fight the tide.

“Something’s not right. I wouldn’t have expected Towers to be able to break her.” She couldn’t see her clearly, but Luna sounded like her ‘public’ self again.

“Twilight, please. Steel yourself. What happened?” Celestia’s wings draped over her.

“Princess… Princess, I had no choice…” She sniffled. “I killed him!”

“What!?” The Princesses asked in unison.

“He was poisoned! I had to!” She cringed and yelled at once, her face drenched in tears. “He was convulsing and there was blood everywhere and… and… I used the morphine…”

Celestia stomped her hoof. “Luna, investigate this. You have the Day Guard’s authority on this matter.”

Luna gave a small bow. “Of course, Sister.” Her mane whipped into a frenzy, and just like that, she was gone.

A gold-clad hoof embraced her as a teleportation spell swallowed them both. “Come, Twilight. It will be okay. Tell me everything.”

“And then he stopped moving, and I ran. I ran like a coward.” Twilight finished her story for the tenth time. A pile of tissues surrounded them, along with more buckets of sherbet and a half-eaten cake.

Celestia’s ethereal mane shifted direction, wafting over Twilight along with her giant wing. “Taking a life is never an easy thing. It never feels ‘good.’ It should never feel good. I know Luna tried to prepare you, but that’s not something anyone is ever truly ready for.”

Twilight nodded. “I think that’s why she used the illusion spell on the golems. Made them look like ‘real’ ponies. But this…”

“Is different, I know. Although Towers was once an enemy combatant, here he was utterly helpless. It would be more surprising, and troubling, if you didn’t experience such turmoil. Given his state, it’s natural for your instinct to want to be his protector even though you might have also hated him for what he did.”

Twilight put her hooves on top of her head. “Sometimes it’s amazing how well you understand…” Warm, white feathers stroked along her back.

“It’s something else when you have to take the life of a pony that is threatening you or loved ones. The same alicorn instinct that compels us to protect our ponies provides a type of psychological cover for times when our ponies are in trouble. The thing you must be careful of is not being unable to fight for your ponies sake but rather falling down a slippery slope of justifications to kill when you need not. I will help you with that. Luna will, too. We, sadly, have experience that will help you.”

“Ugh…” Twilight flopped her head down on the pillow. “I did not want to hear that. Me? A Nightmare? I couldn’t stop myself with Towers. I even wound up killing him even if it was a ‘mercy’ as you say. How am I supposed to calm myself after all of this?”

“Hmm…” Celestia scratched her chin with a primary feather.

“I mean, what if I kill somepony in a fight, and then I freeze up?”

Celestia nodded. “Well, normally adrenaline can help keep you—“

“And then there’s the fact that I thought of that first instead of worrying about the fact that I might have to kill in the first place. What if I start and I can’t stop myself? What if I become a monster?”

The wing hugged her again. “Oh, Twilight, I don’t think—“

“I know that some soldiers have difficulty differentiating between civilian life and the battlefield after traumatic experiences when they’re under stress. What if that happens to me? Or worse, you know how my head is. I can’t unlearn things, and they really like to stick with me. If I really do become proficient at fighting, what if that’s what I try to do all the time?”

“Twilight…”

Twilight buried her head in between her forelegs. “Luna’s always so aggressive. What if I become like her? I mean, she seems to be well restrained most of the time, but the way she talks? It’s like she doesn’t even care about who she’s hurting, even though I know that makes me sound silly when they’re trying to kill her as well. Why do ponies even do this?”

“Twilight…”

She groaned and ducked her head even farther down. “What if I lose all feeling when I fight and just go on a rampage and wind up hurting somepony innocent? What if I start to enjoy it? What if I wind up becoming a Nightmare?”

“Twilight…”

Twilight gasped. “What if I figure out a way to become immune from the Elements!? What if I’m an unstoppable monster that locks the world in a perpetual sunset!? What if I send you to the sun and Luna to the moon in a fit of illogical rage and maniacal laughter and enslave everypony for a thousand years!? What if I—“

A gold glow surrounded her muzzle, locking it open just in time for a large slice of vanilla cake to shove itself into her mouth.

Twilight looked up at her mentor, who was wearing a skeptically raised eyebrow and an ever so slight grin. Lowering her ears, she chewed on the cake and swallowed it, leaving an aftertaste of lemon and vanilla.

“Sorry… I was freaking out again, wasn’t I?” She curled her tail around to grab and stroke it with her forehooves. “Sorry…”

“As I said, it’s normal to be distraught, Twilight.” Celestia leaned down and gave her a slight nuzzle. “But yes, you were freaking out a little more than was, shall we say, logical.”

Twilight blinked. “So… you shoved some cake in my mouth?”

“Well, it always helps me.” Celestia winked. “Although that does usually lead to Luna teasing me a little over it. Truth be told, though, I think she’s just jealous. She couldn’t gain weight if she tried. But, that’s getting off topic. You want reassurance that you won’t become a monster.”

Twilight nodded and put her head back down, shivering.

The wing gripped her tight. “Twilight, you will not become a monster. You are a kind, wonderful pony, and the fact that you’re worried about it at all means just that. Trust me.”

“I do trust you.” Twilight sighed, leaning into her mentor. “I just wish I trusted myself more.”

Celestia looked off towards her closet. “It is in your nature to be worried about things, but I have confidence in you. Yet I gather you’re looking for something more than those words, and I may have something that can help. While the world and I recovered from the Lunar Rebellions, a Zebrican ambassador gave me a gift. Well, several gifts, but the most important one was this.” She lit her horn, and something ruffled in her closet before a small necklace floated over and landed in front of Twilight.

The necklace itself was mere string, but the jewel on it was anything but ordinary. A large, cylindrical emerald coiled over and over in a spiral, and a faint glow ran outward from its center.

“It looks like something Zecora would use to hypnotize somepony.” Twilight deadpanned. “Wait, something else…” She squinted, and the leylines within the object became visible.

“Oh ho, I see you’re beginning to see it now.” Celestia chuckled.

“It’s a core! A cored artifact! A small one, and the tiny bit of gold on it is the least amount of magically conductive material I’ve ever seen on something like this, but it’s definitely a core. What’s it used for?”

“Meditation,” Celestia said, giving her a small nuzzle. “It helps the mind focus. Normally such things are a mere placebo, but this, I can assure you, is authentic.”

Twilight sighed. “Then it’s useless for me. You know I can’t meditate. I’ve never been able to do that. I have to focus on something, even if it’s trivial. I’m just not capable of ‘emptying my mind.’”

“Give it—”

“Give it a try, I know, I know.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s what you always say. And I always try, and I always fail.” She sighed. “But, here I go again anyway.”

Twilight put the gem down and stared at it. She stared at it like it was the only thing in the room, despite the wing over her back, the bed under her, and the slight wind from the balcony and all the other things distracting her. Naturally, this was a process that needed the utmost of focus. …And there’s no way this is going to work. “Sorry, Princess,” she said, lowering her ears.

Celestia leaned down to her. “Hold it in your magic, and try again.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay, here goes.” She did as she was told, lifting it up in front of her face with her magic. The little, glowing sparks in the gem sped up, swirling around. That’s an interesting reaction… She focused in on the gem, following its reaction as it swirled around, carefully monitoring each… little… change…

Twilight yawned, twitching her ears at the strange “whooshing” sound going through them, but elected to keep her eyes shut as she tried to find a more comfortable position on the… whatever it was she was lying on.

You’re not supposed to be here yet. I’m not ready for you.

Her eye popped open at the sound of the voice. It was a familiar one, but she couldn’t place it. This, however, radically dropped in priority to what she saw.

She was in the air or, perhaps more accurately, the sky. That is to say, she was very, very high up in the sky. She was also screaming and flailing her limbs about, flapping her legs like they were wings and getting nowhere. In particular, this last truth was slowly starting to creep into her mind. She was going nowhere, which meant that she was actually not falling to her high-velocity, splatter-filled doom.

Once she realized this, she blinked exactly three times and then stopped moving, followed by looking down. She was still very, very high up in the air and was most certainly not on anything soft, fluffy, and supportive like a cloud. The fact that she now thought of clouds as supportive didn’t enter her mind. Far more important was where she was and why she wasn’t falling.

With a little grunt, Twilight flipped herself over and stood up… on nothing. She was literally standing in midair. Far below her was a small patch of ground visible through a modest hole in the clouds. She could see the greenery in the sunlight, though the trees were mere specks.

The noise of the air was creeping back into the forefront of her mind now. She felt little wind on her face, but this place sounded like a hurricane, and she was in the eye. It wasn’t anything so simple as a thunderstorm or a hurricane. A torrent of wind swirled around her as if she was in the center of a tornado that reached all the way to the stars. The clouds had patches of white, dark blue, and everything in between, yet no black. She watched as it circled her, drifting to the very top of the funnel to make another realization.

There was no sun in the sky.

Sure, the ground below her was bathed in sunlight, and the clouds around her screamed ‘daytime,’ but the opening at the top of this place was all night. A black and dark purple heaven hung above her with little violet stars dotted through. Yet she could only see a maybe twenty degrees worth from the opening of the funnel.

“So…” she muttered to herself. “Just what happened? This isn’t meditation. It’s more like, hypnosis? No, that’s not quite right either.” Perhaps it’s more like a psychotic episode.

The thoughts in her head yelled out into the air rather than stayed put, echoing across the entire skyscape.

Oooookay, guess nothing’s private here, her mind announced to the world.

The wind raged, but there wasn’t anything else happening. The ground below her didn’t appear to move, so she and the funnel were stationary.

A couple more moments passed with nothing but her suspended in midair surrounded by the wind.

“Well, this is boring. Hmm…” She pondered at her position. “The air is surprisingly soft. Is it influenced by the fact that I was on Celestia’s bed? Could I be in some kind of strange, reflective mental state? If that’s true, can I move around in here, maybe fffffffflllllllyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!?”

She flailed her legs, dropping like a stone towards the ground. “Badideabadideabadideabadideaveryverybadidea!”

Revisualize the surface underneath you! the voice from before yelled.

Twilight was not in the habit of hearing, much less listening to strange, disembodied voices. This one odd instance, however, was extreme enough to break both of those rules.

“Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease…” She quickly thought of the air itself as a cloud or bed or something, anything.

Her fall came to a sudden stop as a cloud materialized under her, miraculously cushioning her fall enough to avoid broken legs. Twilight decided to take this in the best way possible.

She hugged the cloud and started kissing it. “Yes! Mwuah! Yes! Oh, thank you, little cloud! Thank you for being illogically solid in the face of all physics! And thank you, pegasus magic! Thank you!”

You cannot be injured here except by yourself. Please don’t do that.

Twilight frowned a little. Hearing voices was very much not something she wanted to add to her list of abilities she kept in her diary. However, as long as it was being obviously helpful, she chose to ignore this inconvenient fact as she grumbled and sat up on her newfound surface.

“Okay, let’s stop dawdling. Why am I here again? Oh, right, Towers, meditation, that stuff.”

The sky around her grew darker.

“Ugh!” She grabbed her head with her hooves. “Stupid Towers. Stupid rebellion. Stupid everything. Why’d he have to go and get poisoned in front of me? Couldn’t he have waited a few moments!?” She gritted her teeth and slowly inhaled. Okay, now I’m just being unreasonable.

She sighed and flopped on her cloud. Tears fell from her eyes as the surroundings grew ever more somber. “What would it have taken to see what that nurse was doing… No, I can’t think like that. I can’t think I’m supposed to be perfect. Celestia’s already taught me that. And I can’t just be suspicious of everypony. That’s not what she taught me, either. It’s just…”

She sighed again and let the feelings flow. If there was anypony below her, they might’ve felt her tears as rain. Even the clouds around her looked like a storm now, and the day was fading. Her heart sat there with her, sobbing.

It will be okay…

“Thank you, strange voice.” Twilight chuckled. “I guess I do feel better… and… rested, I suppose. I can’t bring Towers back, but I can still try to figure out what’s really going on.”

Thunder rumbled in the background.

“And hopefully keep more from being hurt. Hopefully.”

Although she couldn’t see a sun, she could feel its warmth growing stronger, and the light overwhelmed her.

Twilight stretched out and yawned, pushing her hooves against Celestia’s bed.

Celestia’s bed! She snapped open her eyes and quickly looked around, and everything was as it had been when she tried ‘meditation.’ However, there was a critical difference. There were now a couple of tables filled with mostly eaten food, save for one large salad in front of her that hadn’t been touched.

“Aha, you’re awake! Well, technically you were never asleep, but I do find the gem’s meditation to be restful. How are you feeling?”

Twilight turned her head to see Celestia dining on some vanilla cake and smiling at her.

“I feel… better,” Twilight said, feeling the cues from her body. “A little sore, a little tired. But also rested and… calmer? What was that?”

Celestia bit down on another piece of cake. “It is said that the jewel is a mirror for the mind’s eye. What each pony sees in it is unique, personal. I myself find it to be a wonderful stress-reliever. Keep it. You may just find it useful in the future.”

“I heard voices,” Twilight deadpanned. “Not what I would normally classify as ‘stress-relieving.’”

Celetia laughed, covering her mouth with a napkin. “Well, that must have been interesting. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though. Again, each pony is unique. You should reflect on it on your own, however. I shouldn’t taint your interpretation with my own ideas. This is all up to you.”

Twilight sighed. “I was afraid of that. Well, I suppose I should get up and—” She glanced out the window, seeing the sun already almost completely under the horizon. “How long was I out?”

“Several hours, my student. Such is natural, and in each instance you use it, the timespan should decrease. I actually left and performed more duties in the Council, lowered the sun, and returned to find you still entranced. Then, I ordered us dinner. And, well, ate mine.”

Twilight glanced at the salad in front of her, and her stomach grumbled. “Okay, I guess I could eat.”

“Good plan.” Celestia winked. “Although I’m afraid I have to get back to the Empyreal Hall. They’re all panicking over what to do now that they can’t strip Shining, or Obsidian, of his crown anymore. They’ve tried every parliamentary trick in the book at this point, but the compact is absolute. I think they’re finally giving up and going on to new business. After that I have to visit the war room to discuss these memory wipe spells. That’s a possibility we hadn’t considered yet.”

“Ah.” She poked at her salad. “What about Luna?”

Celestia froze for a moment. “We… talked. It went better than I expected, but there are still raw feelings there. We came to an agreement that I would include her more in planning but that she should trust my judgement on them.”

“And what are your plans?” Twilight instantly regretted asking it. “Sorry, sorry! I know that’s not for—”

“No,” Celestia interrupted. “You may know if you like. I don’t have much time to go into details, but Luna made a very astute observation, even if she didn’t realize it at the time. Certain members of the Council have been attacking my strengths in the court of public opinion, and politics is different from a physical battle. In Luna’s fights, she looks for vulnerabilities. My political adversaries, however, have been diminishing my strengths so that ponies perceive only weaknesses. It’s an ingenious ploy, one I intend to use myself, now, along with a few other tricks. Most important is to again try to rebuild Luna’s reputation. Turn a weakness into a strength.”

“And you think my brother might help with that?” Twilight asked. “Since he’s a ‘politician’ you molded?”

“Correct.” Celestia redonned her shoes and decorative torc. “I still think this idea of inducting him into the Night Guard is a mistake, but I believe I have something I can work with now. I can only hope Luna trains him even more thoroughly than she did you.”

“Heh. Poor BBBFF. At least he’s in shape already.” Twilight took a deep breath and sighed.

“Is there something wrong, Twilight?” Celestia stretched her back. “You look like there’s something else on your mind.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I—” Her ears went flat against her head. Fool. You know she can read you better than that. “Actually, there is one thing, but…”

Celestia’s smile was so warm it practically glowed. “You can ask me, Twilight. Anything you wish to know, remember?”

Twilight nodded. “I know. This just isn’t easy to ask. Princess, do you…” She shuddered, swallowing her words. “I mean, Towers, he… He said you were compromised.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Compromised? If he means we have leaks, I already know that. We’re still looking for them.”

“No, not that…” Twilight clenched her teeth. “I mean… He meant…” She swallowed again. Damnit, filly, spit it out! “He said you had sex with a council member!”

Twilight slapped her mouth shut with both hooves, holding him there and ducking down to prepare for Celestia’s seemingly inevitable, harsh reaction.

Instead, Celestia did something Twilight had never seen her do before. She blushed.

“Oh my.” Celestia blinked and lowered her own head. “It appears I was not as discreet as I thought.”

There was no flash, nor thunder, nor smell of ozone, but Twilight still flinched as though struck by lightning. “So it’s true…”

Celestia sighed and nodded. “There is indeed a pony on the Council I have… occasional relations with. But we have a strict rule to never talk about work. It’s little more than stress relief and endorphins for the both of us. I can assure you, I am not ‘compromised.’ If anything, I try my best to make his life, politically, a living hell for it just to ensure otherwise.”

Twilight clenched her eyes shut. “Tia…”

Celestia took a step forward. “Yes, Twilight?”

“That entire room voted against my brother. Whoever you’re seeing, they voted against him.” Twilight opened her eyes, staring directly into Celestia’s pupils. “I’m not going to forget that. Not now, not ever.”

Celestia’s wings dropped a little. “I understand. Truly, I do. If you find conclusive evidence of wrongdoing by any of them, I will impeach them myself, no matter who it is, and I won’t think less of you for it. I promise.”

Twilight stood up and strode over to her. “Are you sure? I don’t want this to come between us in the future. I know you’re the one giving me my missions, but I can’t help but feel Towers was right. Somepony in the Empyreal Hall is behind this. Or at least complicit in it. I am going to go after them.”

“Twilight…” Celestia sat down, bringing herself to Twilight’s level. “I promise you. If you find out that any of the Council is behind this, I won’t care who it is. I will bring the full weight of the crown’s justice upon them, and I won’t hold you back. I am up against a wall, and you are my secret weapon. When I find an opening, I will turn you loose on them such that they will all learn the fury of the alicorns first-hoof.”

Twilight’s gaze locked onto Celestia’s magenta eyes, looking for one all-important thing. No mask. She’s telling the truth. She reached up and gave her mentor a hug. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

Celestia’s wings unfurled and wrapped around Twilight as the hug was returned. “I am on your side, Twilight. Always. We can’t allow these ponies to divide us. We can only win working together.”

A lone tear rolled down Twilight face. Work together. Divide the conspirators. Towers was right about that, at least. “I know. I’m sorry, I just had to know. Thank you for being honest with me.”

The two broke the hug, sharing warm smiles.

“You should probably get going to the Council before they try to pass a law or something without you. If you’re leaving, though, I guess I’m eating alone,” Twilight said, contemplating her salad.

“You may take it with you to your friends if you like.” She donned the last piece of regalia: her crown. “Speaking of, I have some good news I’ve been meaning to share! While you were in training, we began construction on a new fort in Ponyville, equipped with a royal residence just for you. It’s getting close to finished already.”

Twilight blinked. “A royal re— You mean I’m moving out of the library? Although, I suppose a Grand Mage living in a tree isn’t the most normal thing…”

Celestia nodded. “Your tree is also unsecured, unlike the fort. This way, you may live either here or there at the fort as you please when you aren’t out and about. My, or rather our, servants have already started moving your things. The fort itself was actually supposed to be started sooner, but General Blueblood raised a fuss over its design in light of the attack. I half expected him to quibble over the bits, but he actually wanted to expand it. The new design has a catastrophe bunker for the whole town populace now, and he plans to install anti-airship cannons.”

“Aaaahhh, in case another fake Bellerophon comes around, they can try to shoot it down before it even gets to Canterlot. I’m guessing he’s putting in similar forts in the other towns in the area so they can catch things at any angle.” Twilight smiled. “I think I may have misjudged him. He’s just so…”

“Serious? Yes, he is.” Celestia opened her chamber doors and stepped into the archway. “But his heart is in the right place. Anyway, relax for tonight, see your friends, tell them what happened. Shed more tears if you must, for you will need your strength for your coming mission. I’ll make sure the Council can’t pull anymore surprises today. Tomorrow, you and Obsidian can both go visit your parents, and we’ll go through the final ceremony to formally install you as Grand Mage.”

Twilight fell backwards onto the bed. “I do not want to do that. The parents thing, I mean.”

“We had a deal, Twilight. I talk with Luna, and you talk with your parents.” Celestia chuckled.

“I know, I know. I’ll do it. Doesn’t mean it’s not going to suck.”

Author's Note

This is the last chapter I have edited and ready to go. The others are all still in serious need of work, so it may be some time before the next real update. The next three chapters are some of the oldest I have; that’s why they’ll need so much work. They’ll also be somewhat less polished than some of the recent chapters, as I’m thinking you guys want to get to the Adventure part of this Adventure-tagged story and will forgive some slight scuffs and a little lack of polish to get to that goal. So I want to get them out the door and FINALLY done with block three.

Hands still hurt like hell. I’m going to need a doc’s help to fix this, and I don’t head back to the US until June 1. But, I have an appointment set up for June 2nd, so I’ll be getting things going as fast as I can. It may be I won’t be able to write new stuff until July or even August. :( :( At least I have a backlog.

I’d be remiss not to mention the TVTropes page. Go shower it with love and affection! :)

Also, check out this art Violet did! Not just a sketch, but an egg decoration, too! She is awesome. You should all go tell her that. :)

As always, constructive criticism is always welcome. (However, antagonistic criticism is not welcome. Please be respectful not just to me but to other commenters especially.)

Ancestry and Legacies

“You realize this is going to suck, right?”

Twilight Sparkle nodded, keeping close to her brother as they made their way through an open-air market in Canterlot’s wealthy upper level. “Yeah. Yeah I do.” She took in a breath and sighed, taking in the scene on the market street. The white marble avenues and open sky overhead spoke of a peace she’d not known in ages, but they were drowned out by the stares of the ponies around her. Everywhere she looked, it seemed there was another pony pretending they hadn’t just been caught. “Ugh. We’re sticking out like a sore hoof. ‘Why is Twilight Sparkle being followed by a Night Guard? Is she in league with Nightmare Moon?’”

Obsidian chuckled, sounding like a subwoofer at one of Vinyl’s performances.

It’s going to take a while to get used to that new voice of yours, Brother.

“Don’t forget you’re wearing a torc with a giant gem in the center. Even the Duchesses don’t wear something so similar to the Princesses’ regalia.”

She glanced around at the ponies looking at them and grumbled. Dangit.I think he’s right… There are more staring at me.Oh well. It’ll all be announced tonight, and ponies probably just assume the rumors about me being given the title of Grand Mage are true.

They rounded a corner and headed down a series of ramps, each level seeming slightly less ostentation and more within a sensible upper-class budget.

“Do you know what happened to the nurse who—?”

“Not here, Twily. Not secure,” he reminded her.

“Right. Right, sorry. It’s just, I can’t believe I—”

“Not secure. But I completely understand. I’m sorry you had to do that. I think it was the right thing, though. I wouldn’t wish that poison on my worst enemy.” Obsidian’s brow furrowed while his vertical pupils narrowed. “Probably.”

They stopped well before the bottom, turning off at an indoor area with a large number of condos. Though the decor had none of the gold trim and marble of the Rue d’Argent or the fanciest parts of the city, the area was adorned in warm colors and antique touches. There was even a familiar, slightly musty smell that filled her heart with memories: this was home, with all it entailed, good and bad.

“I am really not looking forward to this,” Obsidian mumbled, his head low.

Twilight snorted, deftly avoiding a carelessly placed cord. “What are you complaining about? You’re her favorite!”

“Me!? News flash, Twily, you’re the one Mom brags about!”

“Brags?” Twilight punched him in the shoulder, resulting in a clang as the shallow hit scraped against his armor. She rounded on her brother, and placed a forehoof against his chestplate. “Shiny, she doesn’t brag about me! You’re the son who became prince! I’m the one who can’t do anything right!”

He shook his head and draped an armored leg over her in a light hug. “Hey. You know that’s not true. She talks about you all the time. Element of Harmony, savior of Equestria? She can’t shut up about you.”

Twilights grimaced. “Oh, please. Remember your birthday? When she got you a variety case of ales? Later, when we went out to eat, I ordered a single glass of wine. One. What I always order and never go beyond. Do you remember what she called me?”

Obsidian’s stare went as vacant as one could get when having vertical pupils, obviously struggling to call up the memory.

Twilight leaned in near his ear. “An alcoholic! Me! Fluttershy drinks more than me!”

“Okay! Yeah, I remember now…” He held up his hooves in defeat. “But her standards for you are higher than they are for me, Twily.”

“Her standards are impossible!” She stomped a hoof. “Watch! We’re going to go around that corner, go inside, and after hearing all I have to say she still won’t be happy!”

Obsidian threw his forelegs around her. “And I’ll be on your side.”

Twilight froze then went all but limp. “I’m sorry, Shining. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s not your fault.”

“Hey, I understand.” He gave her a light elbow. “She’s my mother too, after all.”

Twilight sighed. “Sorry. I’m just so… Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Obsidian nodded, before leading the way. Doors, hallway radiators, and lamps passed by as Twilight felt a warm, nostalgic rush go up her spine. The walls, though plain, were decorated by master artisans, and it showed. After one last turn they arrived at the very same set of numbers she’d seen time and again: condo 643.

“Here, let me get that.”

She raised her eyebrow as a key floated past her and into the lock. “You still have a key!?”

Obsidian blinked. “Um, yeah. Why?”

“They made me give up my key when I left for Ponyville!”

Obsidian blinked then put away the key. “Okay, so we knock, then.”

Twilight lifted a hoof, but her brother was faster, and the door shook like it was about to break from its hinges.

There was a scramble of hoofsteps behind the door, followed by a few locks clicking and clacking.

Did they install additional locks?

It swung open, and a unicorn mare with a striped white and purple mane poked her head out. “Twilight!”

“Hi, Mom,” the younger Twilight said, ducking her head down.

“Come in, come in! Celestia’s messenger said you’d be stopping by, and… Oh, my!”

The two siblings gracefully made their way into the condo. Twilight always felt it was a lot more cozy than most of the “showy” places in the city, making the most of a relatively small place. Warm, deep red walls and old, plush couches on deep carpet added to the ambiance.

Never taking her eyes off of Obsidian, Twilight Velvet’s hoof knocked the door closed. “Well, when I heard you were coming, I didn’t expect this! Not only do you look like a star athlete, but this stallion you brought with you…”

Twilight Sparkle’s ears went back against her head. “Um, yeah, it’s a bit of a long story.”

Obsidian turned around and lit his horn, swathing the door and walls in his magic. As the walls were covered the subtle dings and noises of the outside radiators faded away. As he finished, the only trace of magic left was a slight shimmer over the door. Twilight shuddered at seeing his dark violet magic; the changed color a reminder of his new “self.”

Her mother pulled a glass of wine over with her magic and took a sip. “So, when were you going to tell us you had a boyfriend?”

Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat. “Boyfriend!?”

“Lucid, dear!” Her mother yelled out. “Come in here and meet your potential future son-in-law!”

“Vhat!?” came a distant reply.

“Wait, no, you, you don’t understand!”

“Heh heh heh.”

Twilight felt the blood drain from her face. Even through the glamour spell, she could tell he had that look, and even though his voice had changed, she knew that laugh. It had been permanently burned into her mind as a filly and would forever be the bane of her existence.

“Well, what can I say?” He reached out with a foreleg and pulled her close. “She’s quite a catch.”

“Damnit, Mother!” She squirmed and pushed her way out of his grasp. “This is your son!”

The elder Twilight nearly dropped her wine. “Son!?”

“Yes!” the younger mare stomped both forehooves on the ground.

“You…” A tear started in her eye. “You married already!?”

“We thought it best to just go through with it and tell everypony later,” Obsidian chuckled.

The wine spilled on the floor. “You… Twilight, what were you thinking!?”

“That somepony was supposed to be on my side.” She growled.

Hoofsteps muffled on carpet sounded from around the corner as Lucid Dream, Twilight’s father, strode into the room. “Vat was this about a future son-in-laaaaa—?” His words ended the second he laid eyes on Obsidian, and a couple short seconds later, his rear fell straight to the ground. “Celestia im Himmel…”

Velvet cleared her throat. “Dear, meet your new son-in-law.”

“He’s not my husband, damnit!” Twilight grabbed onto Obsidian’s forelegs and pulled, yanking him down and causing him to hit his head on the carpet. She glared white-hot daggers through his stunned feline pupils. “Either you tell them the truth or I’m going to go tell Cadence what you’re doing, and I swear to Celestia, I will use the biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes Canterlot has ever seen!”

Obsidian looked at his parents for a brief second. “You wouldn’t.”

Her own voice dropped a register even through the hiss. “Try. Me.”

He looked over again then wilted in defeat. “Okay, okay, you got me.”

Twilight backed away to let him stand then punched him in the shoulder, her hoof clanking against the armor.

Velvet started using some magic to clean the wine stain while pouring some more in the glass.“Twilight, dear, what’s going on?”

Lucid rubbed his head. “I am confused too. You are not married?”

Obsidian sighed and took off his helmet, shaking his mane around enough to cause some bits of purple fire to fling into the air. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to actually be able to set anything alight. “No, we’re not. I was just being silly. Mom, Dad, it’s me. Shining Armor.”

The wine fell again.

Twilight had been lying on the couch for well over an hour. It was astonishingly rare to see her parents and Shining, or rather, Obsidian, have a legitimate argument, but despite his unfair teasing during their arrival, she had no interest in participating.

“I understand you didn’t want to just be a kept stallion, but the Night Guard!? Really?”

Oh, Mom. We both know what you really mean. Twilight yawned.

“Come on, Mom. It’s more than that. I can’t just let it end like it did. You and I both know that this ‘trial’ was a changeling hunt, and—”

“And so, what, you’re going to go out for revenge on the Council!?” Velvet grabbed him with her forelegs and shook him. “Are you nuts!?”

“She does have a schmal point zere, son.”

Careful, brother, they aren’t meant to know this. Twilight chuckled at herself. Not meant to know? A few short months ago, that would’ve been me, too.

Obsidian stepped out of his mother’s grip. “No, it’s a… Well, I can’t tell you that exactly. But this isn’t some game or some way to save face. I—”

“Of course it wasn’t a way to save face!” Velvet interrupted. “You’ve completely changed it!”

Obsidian shook his head. “Now you’re just being absurd. I’m still me.”

“Ze Nacht Garde isn’t known for being, shall ve say, kindly.”

“That’s putting it mildly!” Velvet downed an entire glass of wine in a single go. “I’m going to be the laughing stock of the garden club!”

And there we are. It’s all about your reputation, isn’t it, Mom? Twilight quipped and stretched out, staring at her hooves. You’re not going to be able to delay forever, filly. Get in that conversation and tell them.

Twilight rolled her eyes.As if that’s something one could call “conversation.” Even Charlemane was more polite.

She buried her face in the couch cushion. Twilight had always been quiet and reserved. While she steered clear of trouble, however, her brother did not. Fighting was his forte, but always with the purpose of defending something. Well intentioned or not, he frequently got punished for it. He even took responsibility for a few of her mistakes, innocent though they were. Such a history made this kind of scene all too common.

“Mom, Dad, I have news, too.” Words left her mouth, but they didn’t feel like her own. Her mind was numb as if she were outside in the dark looking into the warm room through a window. The fact that nopony was responding only reinforced this.

“I’m an alicorn.” She turned her head and glanced at the privacy seal on the wall. “I’m an alicorn,” she whispered.

This would be a lot easier if I had the wings or ethereal mane already. You guys hearing me back there? Her magic sight flickered to life for an instant, allowing her to see her leylines. They sat unchanged and without even the slightest hint of a single feather.

“I’m an alicorn.” Twilight curled up and tucked her tail next to her. She took it in her hooves and stroked it, an old habit returning from its grave. There wasn't as much room as there would have been in a condo in a city with more land to use, but Twilight actually preferred it this way. It was cozy and intimate, which normally made her feel more included. This, however, was not always a good thing, particularly in the midst of a heated argument. The yelling just became that much louder.

She pondered what she would do in this situation if she had already ascended; maybe if she’d just sprouted wings one day while sleeping in her treehome. Such a thought was preposterous, though. Had it happened like that, this conversation would have been very different.

In the past she would slink off to her room and curl up in her blanket with a book—after all, it almost never involved her directly. This time, however, was different. She needed to break through this. The Royal Canterlot Voice would have been perfect, but she hadn’t looked up that magic yet.

“I’m an alicorn.” The third time hadn’t been the charm, and this fourth attempt wasn’t looking so good either. Twilight clearly wasn’t having any success relying on sayings or calm assertiveness. Nopony was listening to her, so she’d have to find a creative way of making herself the center of attention.

Center of attention. I suppose I’d best get used to it at some point. I mean, I suppose I already am in some ways. But more so. As in, never leaving the spotlight. Ever. She grumbled and sighed then sat back up. Spotlight…

The idea was simple and intuitive—if a bit rude. Still, it was unlikely she was going to break through this argument without being at least a little rude. She just didn’t want to yell over them all, as it would only lead to more yelling, and that was not what she wanted right now. Hence, Plan Rudeness was a go.

She closed her eyes, reached out with her magic, and plunged the entire room into darkness.

“Vat ze…? Twilight?”

She opened her eyes, finding only the light of her horn and Obsidian’s dim, flaming mane providing any illumination. Yet, it was just enough to see what she needed to see. She finally had her parents’ attention. Their eyes were on her.

<>

A tiny smile creased her lips. It had been a long time since she’d heard her father call her by that nickname. She’d stay up so late reading (despite his best efforts) that when he got up to use the bathroom, he said that he could find his way from the light of her horn; hence, she was his “night light.”

Along with her father’s horn light, the tingle on her own horn told her that he was trying to wrest control of the light switches. She just shook her head then spoke in the same Germane dialect her father had taught her. <>

“I hate it when they speak in Germane.” Velvet facehooved. “Could you two please use a language the rest of us can understand?”

The subtle glow of Obsidian’s mane moved closer to Velvet. <>

Velvet rubbed her head. “And Roan, really Shining?”

“It’s the language my wife speaks, Mother.”

Velvet switched into her own special language. <>

“Enough!” It wasn’t technically the Royal Canterlot Voice, but she still shook the room with it. When they were finally focused on her again, she turned on some of the lights. “I really need you two to listen to me. This is important. Starting tonight, I’m going to be taking a new position. Their Highnesses Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have seen fit to bestow upon me the title of Grand Mage.”

“Twilight, everypony already knows that!” Velvet protested. “I’m glad for you, really, but you shouldn’t just interrupt us.”

Twilight shook her head. “The implications of being Grand Mage are much greater than you know. It means that—”

“Wait a second, Twily!” Obsidian interrupted, reaching into a small compartment in his armor. “Princess Luna wanted me to do something before we told them this part. Here.” A pair of stone slabs floated out of his pocket, cradled in the stallion's magic. From what Twilight could see they both featured several inlaid gems, which pulsed in various hues of orange and green. As Obsidian placed them on the ground they rang with a light hum before sliding in front of their parents. “I need you to each put a hoof on these.”

“Shiny, what are those?” Twilight asked, examining one more closely while her mother put her hoof on it.

“They’re insurance—of a sort. You two ready?”

Their parents looked at each other. “I think so,” Lucid said weakly. “But you didn’t answer Twilight’s question. Vat are these?”

Obsidian held up a hoof and charged his horn. “Just, hold still. You’re going to see some small clouds form around your hooves. They’re completely harmless.”

Their parents nodded, and the gems in the stones began to glow. A fog formed around them that slowly crept up the two ponies’ legs. Eventually this mist became a ring of green fog that gathered around their fetlocks.

What is he doing? I don’t recognize this spell. Twilight squinted, trying to call on her magic sight, but to no avail.

Obsidian cleared his throat. “Twilight Velvet, Lucid Dream… The information you are about to hear is considered top secret. Do you swear to reveal this information only to those already privy to it?”

Their parents looked at each other once more and nodded.

The High Cardinal stood up straight. “I need you to speak your response.”

“We do,” they both said, and the mist glowed and solidified on their fetlocks, leaving a thin green band that slowly faded from sight.

“What was that, Shiny?” Twilight gave him a bit of a poke.

Obsidian took the slabs back and packed them into his armor. “That was a trigger spell. It’s a little like a geas.”

“Geas!?” the other three ponies yelled.

Twilight grabbed him with her hooves. “Shiny, those have been illegal since, since, well, forever!”

Somehow, a pony in Night Guard armor could look flustered. “Hey, wait, no, I used the wrong word. It’s not mind control. There’s no forcing you to do anything. All it does is send Princess Luna a signal if you break the promise. Which, by the way, would make you guilty of at least a Class-B felony, so I suggest you not repeat this to anypony. And yes, that means your noble friends, mother.”

“I didn’t—”

“You were thinking it.” Obsidian turned to his sister. “Twilight? It’s all yours.”

Twilight relaxed a little. “Twilight Velvet” was infamous for being one of the single biggest gossips in Canterlot. She made Rarity look like somepony who had taken a vow of silence. Now, though, she would have a degree of protection.

“Thanks, Shining. I appreciate it. Mom, Dad, being promoted to Grand Mage is a wonderful honor for me, but there is much more to the position than is known to the public. It’s not just being favored by the Princesses or excelling at spellcasting. It’s much, much more.”

She got up and began to pace using a particular path in the room that she used to trot back and forth as a filly while talking about what she had learned in her studies. “The day before the attack on the castle, I completed a new type of spell: one that simply isn’t possible for unicorns to cast. When Princess Celestia found out, she moved me back into the castle and told me—” The words died in her mouth as she choked on her tongue. Come on, filly, just like we practiced.

She swallowed, the back of her throat feeling like sandpaper. “She told me that… that I had just started to become like her. An alicorn.”

Silence. She couldn’t quite tell if this was better or worse than the arguing.

Her speech almost ended, she stopped pacing and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she saw two dumbfounded and confused ponies staring at her. She could sympathize fairly easily with that; after all, it was happening to her. Worse, she could see the problems in the conundrum of how to respond to a speech from a daughter that was essentially “Hey! I’m a pseudo-divine entity of crazy power now! Isn’t that neat?”

Her forelegs shook as she forced the rest of the words out of her mouth. “I know this wasn’t what you were expecting today, but it’s the truth. She… Princess Celestia said I’d be a true alicorn in ten years. I’ve already started to exhibit some pegasus magic. In time, I’ll be getting wings, too. I know it’s confusing, even overwhelming, but… but…”

She clenched her eyes shut, angling her head down so that just in case she betrayed herself, she’d only see her hooves.

Their eventual response was one that she hadn’t predicted in the slightest. Her father stepped up to her first, and embraced her in a giant hug. Her mother came next, and then Obsidian embraced them all. She was in the center of one of the best group hugs in history.

So why couldn’t she feel any comfort?

She pushed herself out of the hug as gently as she could. “Ex, excuse me, I— I— I need to get to the bathroom!” Crying already, she ducked and pushed herself out of the group and ran.

“Did we do something wrong?”

Obsidian shook his head. “I don’t think so, Mom. This has all been extremely difficult for her lately. She’s already had to do some things before she was ready, and it’s probably just taking its toll. Let’s give her some time. Better to work through it now while she’s with family.”

Lucid looked off in the direction of the bathroom. “Ya, I suppose… But, my daughter? An alicorn? Shining, ponies don’t just change tribes. Zis doesn’t seem possible.”

Velvet gave him a glare. “I swear, Shining, Princess or not, if she’s stringing my daughter along in a lie for some hair-brained political—“

“Three months ago, mother—“ Shining said, his voice all but roaring “—She used pegasus magic for the first time. Literally leapt three stories from the floor of Celestia’s private dining room clear to the ceiling. All from the wind she could summon. And that’s just the beginning. She might not have the wings yet, but she absolutely has the magic. Magic she didn’t have a year ago. This. Is. Real.”

Velvet’s face twisted into a half sneer. “The Obliege family is going to shun me from everything. They’ve been spouting nonsense about ‘breeding’ the next alicorn for centuries. I swear I’m going to get swarmed with jealous backstabbers because of this.”

Obsidian shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s not a question of genetics. It’s a question of wellspring depth. Twilight… Twilight is so far beyond everypony else… She makes a normal unicorn look like a puddle next to an ocean. Me? The Generals? Honestly, I think if you put us all together, then and only then would we be in the same league. Twilight is the first pony in ages to be powerful enough to start the change.”

“Doesn’t matter to the families.” Velvet mumbled, lifting her glass, ready to fill it again. As the liquid neared the spout, she stopped, and put the bottle down with a sigh.

“Dear, really.” Lucid draped a foreleg over her shoulders. “We should be happy for her! This is a dream come true for Twilight!” Lucid looked off towards the bathroom, lifting a worrisome hoof to his chest. “At least, I think it is…”

Twilight slammed the door behind her and locked it in a panic . She scrambled to the mirror, rearing up to place her forehooves on the sink to get a better view of the mare looking back at her. Her mane was frazzled and long, and her bangs were hanging over her eyes. The split ends she so frequently battled had made a triumphant return. She turned on the hot water, filled a bowl made of her magic, and splashed it on her face.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Dad, you remember how you got involved with that Council panel on euthanasia for the terminally ill?”

Lucid nodded. “Ya, zat I do. Years ago. Bit of a waste of time, ya? I’m a somnologist. I knew ven they started talking about near-death experiences and dreams they veren’t being serious.”

Obsidian gritted his teeth a bit. “Well, we had a pony in custody, but somepony slipped angel extract into his IV.”

The doctor’s blue coat went nearly white.

He continued, “Twilight was the only other pony there. He started to, well… Twilight pushed a few grams of morphine into him just before the worst came.”

“A few… grams!?” His haunches hit the floor with a thud. “Celestia have mercy…”

Obsidian sighed. “It was a mercy. Preliminary toxicology suggests he had twice that amount of angel extract in him, all directly injected by IV. He must have been in absolute, unrivaled agony the entire time he was talking to her. You should be proud of her, Dad.”

Lucid’s lip trembled. “I am, absolutely. I vould have done ze same thing, but… it’s just a shock… My poor little filly…”

“Hmph.” Velvet sneered. “From what my friends have told me, I bet it’s that old coot, Towers. Serves him right for trying to hurt my daughter.”

Obsidian kept his face as still as granite. I am going to have words with General Blueblood. Either the Guard or the Council is still leaking like a sieve.

Twilight was fighting tears in her bloodshot eyes, even though she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to. She opened her mouth and checked it along with her ears and nose. She stuck out her tongue and looked at it’s color, and even ran a telekinetic field into her throat to see if anything was amiss. They were just motions, really—things she did when she thought she was sick or there was something wrong with her. She wasn’t even really running comparisons or anything, just doing what came naturally.

What came naturally. Ha! What an awkward phrase that was to her now. Her definition of “natural” was being violently changed as of late.

It should have been something intimate and precious: a feeling of closeness and inclusion only a family could make. She’d felt it before. Even as a filly with no friends or inclination to make them, she loved her parents and brother dearly and would always be overjoyed when they were all together and happy. But that wasn’t the emotion she felt just then.

She gathered up a large ball of water and splashed it on her head…

“And that’s the long and short of it. Twilight’s going to be the Princess’s right hoof for a while. I pray Luna’s prepared her enough.”

“I’m not sure I vant our daughter to be doing this, son. Ve already have one child in the military. Und she’s already had to kill a pony? This is Twilight! My Night Light! She isn’t the type to be able to deal with this!”

Obsidian stood up to match his father’s aggressive stance. It was almost silly to do, since a part of him agreed, but he had to push back a little on this for Twily’s sake. Fortunately, he towered over his father.

“Believe me, Dad, I’m aware of this. All of it. Every. Little. Detail! If I wasn’t, I’d be fighting it tooth, horn, and hoof. But—” he paused and drew a slow breath “—I trust that the Princesses know what they’re doing even if it sounds a little extreme. They had to ascend too, after all.”

“Wait!” Velvet yelled, jumping in between the stallions. “You’re telling me that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna—”

He nodded. “Were both once unicorns. That, by the way, is also top secret. Keep it to yourselves. The tribalists will have a field day if that gets out.”

A wave of water washed over her face, soaking her head thoroughly as she coughed from some of the water going down into her lungs. As she turned and looked to the closet for a towel, her hoof slipped on the wet tile underneath, sending her to the floor. Both her torc and her head hit with a clunk. With a groan, she pushed herself up in the midst of her own mess. Slowly, and with a slight limp, she walked the three steps over to the radiator and flopped back down next to it.

As a filly, it had been a favorite spot of hers. Whenever the condo had gotten too drafty, she’d grab a book and find a hot radiator to lie next to or even lean on if it wasn’t hot enough to burn her. Wearily, she lay down next to it.

No warmth.

She put her ear next to it to confirm that it was on and leaned directly on it. Still nothing. Rubbing against the metal, she started to scratch her shoulder, but froze as still as a statue instead. Her coat was different. It was softer and thicker. Much less like a unicorn’s coat and more like a pegasus or an—

“Alicorn.”

Earth ponies and unicorns normally had coarse coats of hair. It could be made softer with the right shampoos, but even then, no amount of product could get them to be as soft, thick, and comfortable as a that of a weatherproof pegasus coat. It was closer to fur than hair, enough that it let them survive extreme temperatures even when wet, and she had just put her wet coat against a hot radiator and felt not one iota of heat.

In a panic, she rushed to the toilet and started dry heaving over and over. She wanted to throw up so badly, to do something that would give her some kind of release, but her body wasn’t complying. All it did was make her stomach hurt worse when she stopped and lay back down on the wet floor.

“Look, I’m not entirely happy with the situation, either. Every bone in my body wants me to follow her everywhere while she’s in danger, but it’s been made patently clear to me I can’t do that. You want to know the real reason I took this job? It’s so I could keep my ear to the ground and maybe help her out behind the scenes. I promise, I’ll always have her back.”

“And what is it, exactly, that Luna is going to have you do to protect her?” Velvet demanded.

Obsidian narrowed his eyes at her. “Whatever my Sovereign needs of me shall be done.”

There. Her mane was at least presentable again. She hated using her mother’s scratchy brush, but it somehow felt wrong to wear a regal torc and let her mane get bad enough to invite fussing from Rarity.

She sat down and purposefully hit her head on the wall, leaving a small hole from her horn. A mere hug was causing her to panic more than Discord ever could, and it wasn’t just a lack of warmth. She did feel warmth, but it wasn’t the same feeling she was used to. She didn’t feel, “It would all be okay,” from the hug.

She felt, “You need to protect them.”

It terrified her.

“I suppose we could have taken this news better.”

“No, Dad, believe me, this went about as well as could be expected. This is not the kind of thing you expect a daughter to come home and announce. Honestly, this isn’t the kind of thing you ever expect to hear from anypony.”

“True,” his mother said. “It’s not like she’d said she was getting married after all.”

Crap, Obsidian thought. This is going to get really ugly in a few seconds.

“Velvet, dear, you did not just say that.”

He knew his parents extremely well. His mother was about to sit up a little on that tiny, black couch, put her hoof to her chest, and feign innocence.

“What? I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Then, his father was going to point a hoof at her and give a comment that makes his mother drop the act.

“Our daughter is becoming an alicorn, Velvet! I can’t believe you’d think to pressure her into a relationship right now. Stallions and foals are going to be the furthest thing from her mind!”

Sometimes it was awful to be right.

“Well, then I need to remind her! Or don’t you want grandfoals of your own? Being an alicorn doesn’t mean she can’t give us them!”

“Actually, it does.” The very instant the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Now, he had two distressed and concerned parents staring at him instead of each other. His father wasn’t that bad, but his mother… “Alicorns can’t have children,” he said, wincing.

“Who made that stupid rule!? I am going right to Celestia, and I’m going to tell her that just because she hasn’t had anything in between her flanks in a thousand years doesn’t mean that she can tell my daughter—”

The bathroom door swung open. “It’s not a rule, Mom.”

Obsidian’s neck turned so fast it would’ve snapped had he done it any quicker. Oh thank Luna, Twilight’s finally back!

His relief was short lived as he started mentally kicking himself for thinking like that. She was plainly still worried and nervous as she slowly made her way back into the room to rejoin the conversation.

“Mother, it’s not a rule. It’s a biological fact.”

Twilight Velvet’s eye was twitching. “You mean I have to rely on him for grandfoals now!? It’s been over a decade! He’s probably never even touched her!”

“I have sex with Cadence all the ti— I cannot believe I just said that to my parents.”

“Darling, we’ve been over this.” Lucid rubbed his wife’s shoulders. “Ze Princess is a winged unicorn. Zey always have a hard time with pregnancy. It’s natural, ya?”

She knocked his forelegs away. “No it’s not! None of this is natural! What am I supposed to do now!? All of my friends are talking about their grandfoals! When they ask where mine are, am I going to just say, ‘Oh, my daughter is a barren alicorn, and my daughter in law a half-barren love goddess?’ This is insanity! There’s no way I’ll get into the nobility at this rate! Who’s going to sign an elevation petition when my family can’t even make grandfoals!? Let alone form a whole house!”

Twilight growled, her bangs hanging in front of her eyes.

Obsidian winced. Oh Tartarus. Mother, why did you have to—?

Twilight all but stomped up to Velvet. “I always suspected, but there it is, isn’t it? That’s really all we are to you. Some means of making your way into the nobility. Newsflash, Mother dear, nobility only applies to family lines going down. Descendants, not parents or ancestors. We’re not your bucking meal ticket!”

“Twily…” Obsidian whispered. “Hey, come on, she didn’t—”

“She damn well meant it!She meant every word. The only way she can become a Countess is if she gets a bunch of Dukes to sign the petition, and she wants to use our titles to justify it! That’s been her plan all this time!” His sister snap-turned to the door like a soldier in a formation, phasing through and dissolving the ephemeral privacy shield. “I’m not going to listen to another word of this. I’m leaving. Don’t bother following. Oh, and Mom?”

Obsidian recoiled as Twilight turned back towards them, her glare at their mother making the meager indignation the nobility normally exuded look welcoming.

“As Grand Mage, I’m going to make damn certain you never get an elevation petition. Ever.”

The door swung closed and slammed with enough force to crack the frame.

Author's Note

Hey all. Hope you enjoyed this one. It may be a while before I finish the next chapter (maybe as much as another month or even more depending on some stuff coming up). Like this one, there’s a LOT of work to do. In addition, there is a CHANCE (not a huge one, but a chance) that I might be finishing the Canada move soon. If that happens, I’ll need a few weeks of nonstop packing and moving without doing any editing.

June 1st I fly back to the US and start treatment stuff for my hands. If I get the PR (Permanent Residency) visa soon, I have to delay treatment to move. (The upshot of that, though, is that I can get treatment in Canada for free! Rather than $2500 deductible plus $300/month premiums.)

Anyway, have some art Violet sketched for the chapter! :D Also be sure to check out this bit in Fireside Tales if you haven’t already. It makes for a wonderful DI prologue!

Again, sorry for the delays everyone. Once I get treated, wherever that is, I plan on burning rubber on both fanfic and original writing. I mean 5k/day level stuff if I can. Thanks again for putting up with me.

-Cv

Good for the Goose

“And then I ran straight here.” Twilight drank the last of her after-dinner tea at Celestia’s dining table, sitting next to both the Princess and a small bundle of tissues. “At this point, I kind of wish I had stayed. If I run from that, how can I face—?”

“No, I believe you did the right thing.” Celestia took another bite of her alicorn-sized portion of cake. “It’s important to have a clear head in tense situations, and family can bring about intense emotions, alicorn or not. Retreating to cool off was a wise course of action.”

Twilight stretched out and sighed, letting her longer than normal mane flow out onto the carpet. “I suppose. I just wish this was… unique. I mean, yes, this was exceptionally bad, but it’s not the first time I’ve slammed that door and ran out. Still, she’s my mother. I can’t avoid her forever.”

“Hmmm…” Celestia lifted a cup to her lips, pausing before drinking. “Well, the ball is in her court now. Give her some time before trying to talk to her again. Let things calm down before you try to make amends.”

“I’ve been trying to ‘make amends’ for my entire adult life… I don’t know what it’s going to take to get through to her. But, I suppose you’re right. I’ll wait, and try again. I’m still ticked at her for now.”

“Hmm…” Celestia put another piece of cake in her mouth, swallowing delicately with the grace demanded of a princess. “Perhaps we should—” She paused as she glanced over to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. “Oh my. We appear to be late.”

“Late?” Twilight tilted her head. “For what?” A little grin surfaced on her lips from remembering a foalhood lesson. “And didn’t you once tell me that a Princess can’t be late?”

“I did say that. But we are not where others anticipated us to be at this time.” Celestia said, quickly looking around her room, even checking under stacks of books.

“What are you looking for?” Twilight got up and stretched. “If we’re late, shouldn’t we get going?”

“Yes, yes we should.” She ducked her head under the table. “And I’m looking for Luna. You never, ever know where she could be hiding.”

“Why Luna?”

Celestia’s horn lit up and lifted the dinner fork from the table, stabbed the piece of cake, lifted it up to her head, and then stuck the entire thing in her mouth in one giant bite.

Twilight’s mouth hung open, eye twitching, and her pupils were the size of pinpricks.

“What?” Celestia said, with her mouth full. “I’m not going to waste good cake.” After a few massive chews, she swallowed it down and daintily wiped her lips with an embroidered napkin afterward. “Now come. I have a surprise for you. Well, the first of several, actually.”

Twilight shook her head hard enough to rattle her brain inside her skull. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to top that one, Tia. Then again, each time I think that…”

Celestia giggled. “Never underestimate the abilities of a ten-thousand-year-old alicorn when it comes to messing with her subjects. Now, to the banquet hall.”

“Let me guess. It’s a party.”

“Why, Twilight, however did you know?” Celestia asked with a grin.

“Well, let’s see. You’re leading me to the banquet hall for something, and there’s very little light coming from under the door. All I’m seeing is what’s from the sunset. I’m guessing you have the other Elements in there and had Pinkie arrange a surprise party.”

“Observant as always, my student. Inviting Pinkie to a party to celebrate your new title and role was, as they say, a no-brainer.”

“True, but you know it’s hardly a surprise party if I know what’s coming, right?”

“You misunderstand, Twilight!” a new voice shouted from next to her ear.

Twilight spun around so hard she slipped on the tile, nearly bringing her chin to an unfortunate rendezvous with the floor. “Gah! Don’t do that, Luna!”

Luna stepped out of the shadows with a laugh. “Oh, but ‘tis such fun! Now hush, it’s time for the surprise.”

“Surprise? But I know it’s—”

Luna put a hoof to her lips. “This surprise is not for you. It is for them.”

The Princess of the Night lifted head up high, her mane growing dark. Wind rushed through the antechamber and pushed open the doors to the hall, bringing the dark cloud of her ethereal mane with it. The chandeliers and windows in the next room dimmed to nothing, their light extinguished entirely. All was darkness, save for one special, exceptionally bright spotlight pointed at in the very center of the room.

A hoof gave Twilight a gentle shove, telling her exactly what she needed to do. With her ears flat against her head, Twilight strode into the room, her hoofsteps barely making a sound.

Whispers chattered in the darkness as she approached, and for a brief moment her magic sight flickered to life. In front of her, beyond the spotlight, were six wellsprings lined up in a row. No, Twilight thought. Not six wellsprings. Seven. Fluttershy has an extra. That must be how Celestia knew…

She took in a little breath and let it out, pausing for a small moment in front of the light. She lifted her head high and put a single hoof into the light. The moment in time froze as small specks of dust danced in the air, and the hairs on her back stood up on end.

Three months of training… Luna never said how to handle this. No, I can’t think like that. These are my friends. That’s all that matters now.

Ducking her head slightly, she stepped into the light.

“Hello, girls…”

Twilight closed her eyes and puffed out her chest a little, letting her torc shine in the light.

“Twilight… You’re…”

Through brightening light and tears, she could see her friends standing in front of her. Rarity’s mouth hung open mid-sentence, Fluttershy looked awed, and Pinkie’s face was completely unreadable.

“It is pretty crazy.” Twilight wiped her eyes. “I’m—”

“Buff!”

Pinkie’s outburst forced all the ambiance out the window, along with the remaining darkness and maybe a few of the curtains as a chorus of snickers erupted from some of the others.

“What?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Darling, have you looked at yourself?” Rarity trotted up to her. “I mean, my word, dear! Rainbow said you’ve been training, but I thought she just meant magic! Clearly, I was mistaken. You do not have a librarian’s figure anymore!”

Rainbow flexed her foreleg. “Hay, yeah! We’ve been putting her through the wringer. You don’t do what we’ve been doing for three months and not build some muscle!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit before lifting her head in shock at how similar the muscle tone of their bodies’ were. Rainbow was in even better shape than she was, but Twilight hadn’t quite realized how much the gap had closed.

Pinkie clapped her hooves and bounced a little. “Yay! This means I can add ‘and got totally buff’ to the ‘Hey wow you’re Grand Mage now’ party banner I hid under the table!”

Applejack rubbed her head. “Pinkie, how in blazes did ya manage to sneak that in?”

Twilight giggled and smirked. “Don’t ask, Applejack. She’s Manehatten’s premier party planner pony for a reason. Hard to believe it’s been, what, eleven years now?”

“Yup!” Pinkie pulled out a cupcake with an “11” on it and scarfed it down. “Eleven years of awesome parties in Manehatten! Oh, Twilight, you shoulda been there for this one I did last winter! There must’ve been three thousand ponies all partying like it was a new year!”

“Wait.” Rainbow held up her hooves. “You mean that party that spread into Times Square on New Year’s was you?”

“Oh yeah! It was New Year’s! I forgot. I guess even I can’t handle that much alcohol anymore!”

The chorus of laughter was like a dose of hydrocodone to Twilight’s muscles, melting the tension in seconds. Oh Celestia, thank you. You too, Pinkie.

The conversation drifted from topic to topic, the group’s memories churning to the surface. Sixteen years of laughter and antics played back like a photo reel. From Rarity starting her Canterlot studio, to Rainbow’s first days in Basic Training, all the way to a relatively recent incident involving Twilight, a leyline, and an experiment that flooded a not-insignificant portion of the Ponyville.

Twilight let them talk, soaking in the joy in front of her. Rarity had grown into quite the successful businessmare and was wearing something that Twilight assumed must be from her fall line. Fluttershy was as quiet as ever, though her hair was shorter now. She was also showing a bit in her belly.

Pinkie had arguably changed the most. Her mane was just a bit less poofy, and she was wearing a business suit, something that could easily have been found on any executive in Canterlot. Even her voice was about an octave lower than before, though it still carried every last bit of cheerfulness it always had.

Twilight smiled, thinking, I guess we’ve all grown up, in a way.

Pinkie waves her forelegs about. “Oh! Oh! Hey, Dashie! Remember that time we followed Mayor Mare around while belching the Equestrian National Anthem?”

Well, sort of…

Rainbow laughed. “Yeah, and then we spent the afternoon trying to get Twilight here to help us fill her office with kumquats. We need to do that again, but with kiwis this time!”

“Oooh, oh! Great idea! But how are we going to catch that many kiwis?”

Twilight chuckled. “And yet, some things stay the same.”

“What stays the same?” Pinkie scratched her head.

“Er, things, but that’s not important right now.” Twilight said, standing and moving towards the center of the group. “As fun as this is, Celestia didn’t invite you all here just for a chat—though I definitely needed it.”

“I imagine this has something to do with the aforementioned training, n’est-ce pas?” Rarity took a sip of her gin and tonic. “Although, word is abuzz that you’ve been named the next Grand Mage of Equestria. I suppose there must be some truth to the rumor, then.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, it’s true, but… it’s also not the whole truth.”

Rarity jerked her head back and blinked. “Well, now, things are getting interesting.”

“You could say that.” Twilight shrugged. “Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow already know everything I’m about to say since they’ve been here for it all. But, the thing is, being a Grand Mage isn’t just about being an extremely learned or skilled unicorn. It’s not even about being the most powerful unicorn.”

“Wait wait wait.” Rarity held up a hoof in protest. “Are you saying that you are the most powerful unicorn?”

Twilight cringed. “Kind of, but…”

“Pfft. Like any of us doubted it!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight glowered.

“Right, sorry, your thing.” She sat back down, scratching the back of her head with an uneasy grin.

Twilight squeezed her foreleg. “Anyway, Rarity, that’s partially true. I am the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Or, at least, I was.”

“Um, somepony beat you?” Fluttershy ducked her head, her soft voice barely audible.

“No, not that either.” Twilight stood back up, straightening her back and lifting her head. “Unicorns whose wellsprings get to a certain depth start to undergo a change. Over the course of time, we begin to grow taller, our horns get longer, our manes become an expression of our power, and… we get wings.”

An uneasy calm washed over them as the three friends receiving the news for the first time all dropped their jaws. It was only finally broken from the slightest of astonished squeaks from Rarity.

“Twilight,” she whispered, her voice as soft as Fluttershy’s. “Are you saying that…?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded. “Celestia and Luna project that within a decade’s time, give or take a year or so, I will become a full alicorn. I already have some pegasus magic. I can walk freely on clouds without the aid of enchantments or a cloud-walking spell. I have some earth pony magic, too, and, Applejack, I finally, truly understand what you mean when you say you can feel the ground help you run.”

The room stood in silence while Rarity’s grin grew wider and wider. Her eyes were lit up like a chandelier at night. The only sound was the rubbing of her fore hooves together.

“Um, Rares?” Applejack poked her with a hoof.

Rarity bolted forward and grabbed Twilight by her shoulders. “I’m friends with the next alicorn!?”

“Um… yes?” Twilight forced a smile. To her great relief, she had managed to avoid squeaking.

Rarity cleared her throat and resumed her poise, pulling out a brush from her purse and stroking her curls. “You know, Twilight, darling…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. This was not an expected tone of voice. “Yes, Rarity?”

The fashionista fluttered her eyelashes. “I would be willing to, shall we say, switch teams, if the right princess swept me off my—”

A pair of orange hooves pulled Rarity back to the rest of her friends.

“Hold on there, Rares. Twilight’s our friend, not one of your storybook weddin’ prospects. Go on, Twi. You were sayin’?”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and gave Applejack a look of thanks. “Yes. Sorry, Rarity, but honestly, romance is the thing farthest from my mind right now.”

“As normal, then, hmm? Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to make do with my new boyfriend.”

“Rarity, let Twilight talk.” Spike shot her a glare.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Please, continue.” Rarity put away her brush and sat down next to Applejack.

“Anyway.” Twilight sighed. “Three months ago, I completed a new type of spell, one that I didn’t realize could only be cast by alicorns. When I sent Celestia the notes, she pulled me, Spike and—since I had told her about it—Applejack away from Ponyville and kept us in the castle to keep word from getting out… well, prematurely.”

“Change means somepony loses something.” Spike folded his arms. “Big changes means some ponies are going to lose a lot. There’s no way a new alicorn is going to go over smoothly.”

“Exactly, Spike.” Twilight took a few steps towards her friends. “To help protect me, Luna gave Spike and me combat training in her unique styles, but we’re still trying to keep this as quiet as possible, so you can’t tell anypony. And I mean anypony. It’s not for forever, as I’m not going to be able to hide it indefinitely, but if we can keep it under wraps long enough for me to get the Princess's magical durability, it’ll hopefully be too late for any of these organizations to hurt me.

“I’m telling you all this because you’re my friends, and I’m going to need your support and friendship now more than ever. Most of all, though, I need your absolute promise that you will not tell a single soul about any of this.”

Applejack and Fluttershy both nodded, doing the motions of a Pinkie Promise. Pinkie herself was strangely quiet and wide-eyed, and Rarity was… staring at Twilight’s hooves.

“Um… Rarity?”

“Hmm?”

Twilight glanced over to Applejack, who was busy scratching her head, and Spike, who shrugged. Twilight straightened her foreleg and slowly lifted it up to her face, her friend’s lost gaze following until they made eye contact.

“Oh! Twilight! I am sorry, dear! I was just thinking, since they gave you that lovely torc that compliments your colors, why not get some matching shoes! I don’t think something as grandiose as what the princesses have would suit you, truly, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have something that—”

“Rarity!”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“This is serious! I need you to promise me—”

Rarity waves her hoof. “Yes, yes, no gossip about the whole ‘becoming a goddess’ thing. I’m in business, darling, and my business skills aren’t as narrow as they used to be. Certain secrets have to be kept to stay competitive. At least until you’re ready to use it to crush your rivals underhoof.”

A cold silence fell over the room while Rarity shifted her examination to various parts of Twilight, no doubt thinking up any number of possible creations.

I’m not sure what’s worse: Rarity dressing me with her eyes or the way she worded that…

Twilight swallowed. “Anyway, that’s another thing I’ve learned. Alicorns are not gods. They’re…” She stopped herself. “We’re ponies. More powerful, sure, but still ponies. We aren’t omniscient, we do make mistakes, we learn, laugh, cry, and… we still need friends…” She played a bit with her mane.

Applejack approached her slowly. “And we’re going to be there fer ya, sugarcube! Ain’t that right, girls?”

Nods followed from all the girls, even a slight one from Rarity while in the midst of her mental designing spree, with two exceptions. Pinkie Pie had been entirely still the whole time, but it was Fluttershy’s response that got Twilight’s attention.

She was bowing.

Twilight leaned forward and gently tapped her shoulder, shaking her head, and Fluttershy looked up. “Please, don’t.”

Fluttershy ducked down further, backing away before standing.

“Girls, listen to me. I know it’s ‘normal’ to bow to an alicorn, but not you. Not any of you.” She flopped over on Fluttershy, being extra careful to be gentle. “I don’t want any of you to. You’re my friends. Not my subjects.”

“Um, Twi?” Spike poked her in the back with a claw. “You do realize me and Rainbow are your guard, right? We’re going to have to sometimes.”

Twilight nodded. “If it’s a formal thing where you have to, fine. Anytime else, I don’t want you to. Okay?”

Fluttershy squeaked and nodded. “Um, okay. If that’s alright. I mean, you’re…”

Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes. “It’s more than alright. It’s what I need. Please…”

“Then it’s what we shall provide, dear.” Rarity assured with a wave of a hoof. “No bowing, I promise. Even if you are wearing a royal torc. You know, you really should accessorize a little more. Maybe a saddlebag, but what kind of strap…?”

“Rarity…” At least four of them deadpanned, possibly including Spike.

“Oh, hush. It’s not like I… Iiiiiideeeeeaaaa!!”

Four different groans rumbled through the room.

The fashionista pulled out a notebook. “I’ll have advance knowledge of when the next princess is going to be crowned! I can design and make an entire line of themed dresses and outfits and keep them hidden then, when the time comes, have them out the door before any other designer even has a chance to get to a drawing board!”

“Right, well, anyway, that about sums things up I suppose. I just—” Twilight stopped for a moment. Four of them groaning meant there were three that weren’t. One was obviously Rarity, and Fluttershy wouldn’t make that much noise, which left the other…

“Pinkie? Are you with us?” Twilight approached her, but her friend didn’t move. She was as still as the statues in the gardens. “Pinkie?” Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face.

“Twilight…” Pinkie spoke softer than any of them had ever heard before.

“Yes, Pinkie?”

“Alicorn… Twilight…”

A nervous look passed between the rest of the girls before Twilight spoke again. “Right. That’s what I’m becoming. Is something the matter?”

“Can’t… tell anyone…”

Twilight blinked a few times and looked closely at Pinkie. She was shaking. It was hard to see and very subtle, but the conclusion was unmistakable, seeing as she was blurry.

“Um, yeah. That’s the gist. This knowledge is kind of dangerous right now. That’s not a problem, right?”

“Not… a problem…”

Twilight backed away as the Pinkie got more blurry. “Good?”

“Not… a problem… a huge problem!” Although she was moving again, it was the “flailing forelegs” type of movement. “This is the most… The biggest, hugest news of all time! It. Needs. A. Party!”

A few more seconds passed with Pinkie hyperventilating before Applejack spoke up.

“Uh, isn’t that what we’re doin’ now?”

Pinkie was all over her in a split second, her voice rising to its old higher pitch. “No! We’re having a ‘Congrats on becoming Grand Mage’ party! That’s not what we should be doing! We need a ‘Holy Smokes Twilight Is Becoming An Alicorn’ Jubilee Celebration Extrrrrrravaganza. It. Should. Be. Huge!”

Somehow, “hyperventilating” ceased to be a sufficient description for what Pinkie was doing. Each breath seemed to double in volume.

Spike scratched his head. “Um, a ‘Holy Smokes Twilight Is Becoming An Alicorn’ Jubilee Celebration Extravaganza?”

Pinkie was in his face without having the common decency to actually traverse the distance in between them. “No! A ‘Holy Smokes Twilight Is Becoming An Alicorn’ Jubilee Celebration Extrrrrrravaganza’! There has to be a roll in the ‘r’! Has! To! That’s what makes it work!”

“Let me handle this, sugarcube.” Applejack sauntered up to the panicking party pony and put a foreleg across her back. “Pinkie, I think yer goin’ ‘bout this all wrong.”

“I am?”

“Ya are.”

“I don’t think so!” Pinkie rushed out of the room and rushed right back in with a chalkboard on wheels and started writing on it. “I mean, big events need big parties, and it doesn’t really get bigger than ‘Twilight becoming an alicorn.’ Therefore, this needs the biggest party ever!” She double-underlined the solution to her equation of drawings, which was Canterlot buried in confetti, then nodded like a professor.

“Yer right, Pinkie, but you’re missin’ somethin’ too. Somethin’ real important. What’s the only thing better than a big party?”

“Uuuhhh… Two big parties?”

Applejack shook her head. “A big surprise party!”

“That’s right!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together. “We need a big surprise party!”

“Now hold on, sugarcube, yer still missin’ the important part! If this is a secret, Twilight becoming an alicorn is gonna be one big surprise, right?”

Twilight’s eyes lit up as she realized where Applejack was going. “You know, Pinkie, Grand Mages get authority on par with the princesses. I could order up one heck of a party. I mean, I’d be the first new alicorn in ten thousand years. I think I’d be able to justify it. Of course, to give a surprise party to all of Equestria, this needs to stay a secret.”

Pinkie froze up and got quiet again. “All… of Equestria…”

Giving Pinkie the closest thing to a seductive leer she’d ever have, Twilight whispered in her ear. “All of Equestria… simultaneously…” Pinkie’s smile grew so wide she looked like she would’ve been able to swallow a small manticore. “You have less than ten years to plan it. Think you can pull it off, Pinkie?”

Pinkie grew a diabolical grin and cackled under her breath. “Abso-poso-tivo-luet-ly!”

Yet another moment of silence passed, broken this time by Rainbow Dash. “Okay, am I the only pony more scared of Pinkie Pie than I am of some conspiracy with enough political pull to build a war zeppelin?”

“Would our foes only know what they would bring upon themselves for trying to halt the Grand Mage’s ascension and, by extension, the world’s largest Pinkie Pie party, they would run and flee in despair.”

The group all turned and looked up at the two alicorns finally making their entrance.

Celestia gave her sister a smirk. “Luna, you’ve been getting into General Nocturne’s poetry again, haven’t you?”

Luna flapped her wings. “What can I say? It sings to me, Sister!”

“Are you going to join us?” Twilight motioned to her friends.

Celestia smiled at her. “We’d be delighted to, Twilight!”

Luna trotted toward the group, bouncing in her step with a little wing flap. “An understatement, Sister! You couldn’t keep me away!”

“Oh, Your Highness!” Rarity called out. “There was something I had to ask you. Could I—?”

“No, Rarity, I still won’t allow it.” Celestia cut her off.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Won’t allow what?”

Rarity sighed and put away her notebook. “A little business proposal, is all. A bit too much to ask, I guess. Not to worry, business is still booming.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow even more. “Riiiiiight. Well, while we’re here, it’d be a shame to let a good party go to waste!”

“And then I said, ‘Wait, you don’t have a license for that!’”

The room burst with laughter at the joke from the seriously tipsy Pinkie while Luna started drinking or, rather, chugging an entire bottle of Chateau Blueblood 947.

“Ah! While I may not approve of my nephew’s antics, I must admit his family does make decent wine.” She tossed the bottle over her head and let it crash on the ground, shattering into shards. “Decent. But not great.”

Twilight sighed and leaned back a bit. “I still can’t believe he’s the only one in the Council that voted in favor of my brother.”

Celestia waved a hoof. “Oh, he did that because I told him to.”

Twilight and Rarity both blinked. “What?”

Luna smiled. “In the Council, Sister has that stallion wrapped around her hoof. His mouth, but her words.”

“Well, I certainly didn’t tell him to add the part about the ‘corrupt sacks of horn-rot—’”

Luna chuckled and pulled out another bottle of wine. “Okay then, credit where due, that was funny!”

“But yes, I did tell him to make a vigorous statement in Shining’s defense. I couldn’t let the vote be unanimous.”

Twilight exhaled. “Okay, mystery solved. Still, thank you. It helped to have somepony on my side in there.”

Celestia frowned. If one looked carefully, she might have even looked sullen. “This is why I didn’t want you to see it, even if I am sorry for not giving you the choice to be there or not. Being royalty often means being forced by duty to do things we do not enjoy.”

Twilight looked down at her hooves. “I know that, intellectually. It still hurts, but I chose to be there, and…”

“And you must live with that choice. As alicorns, such decisions are a burden we must endure.” Luna shook her head and put away the bottle in favor of another, pulling out it’s cork. “However, I must say, Sister, I am disappointed in you. Only two hundred thousand bits fined to that serpent in the Council? Hardly a weighty sum for one such as Bismare. Did you not update the tribalism law to account for the billionaire class?”

Celestia carefully lifted a glass of champagne to her lips. “In all honesty, though I do recognize that tribalism remains a serious issue, it’s been a long, long time since anypony has been foolish enough to openly speak such words within the castle walls. Changing the penalty scale just slipped my mind as I faced other challenges.”

“Perhaps an adjustment is due, then. Remind ponies of where we stand.”

“Agreed, but it can wait for the morning, I think.”

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow called out from the end of the room by the doors, hovering halfway between the ceiling and the floor. “There’s a guard out here asking for you!”

“Ummm… Okay… Send him over here, Rainbow!” Twilight waved her hoof over her head, and the Guard trotted over, his armor clanking on the tile.

“Your Highnesses,” he said, bowing.

“Ugh.” Twilight facehooved. “I really need to figure out how I want to be addressed.”

Luna laughed and danced in place a bit. “I think, perhaps, he was referring to us as well, Twilight.”

“I know, just getting reminded of it is all.” She turned to the guard. “What did you need?”

“My lady, your mother is here, and is insisting she speak with you and Princess Celestia.”

The hair on her neck stood up on end. “Both of us? Uh-oh.”

Celestia stood up and shook her wings. “I suppose we could oblige her.”

Twilight moved in between them. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Princess. This soon? I don’t know if I’m ready. I doubt she’s really ready.”

Celestia began a walk towards the door. “This may be true, Twilight, but we must sometimes take on problems we are not ready for. In addition, if we wait and deny her an audience, it could get worse.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. Let's go. It’s just… I have a bad feeling about this.”

Twilight’s hoofsteps sounded strange to her. It was as if they had been drained of the emotion they should otherwise have. The hall chandeliers were dimmed for the evening, leaving only a soft orange glow mixed with the cold moonlight. As she rounded a corner with the Princess close behind, her voice took on the same muffled, neutral tone. “Hello, mother.”

Velvet’s head spun around, mouth open and inhaling, readying to say something. Instead, she froze and looked up at the Princess towering over her, ears flat against her head.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. If she meant to rant to me, it was a mistake to bring Celestia here. Maybe she’ll behave herself, given that instinct. “It’s rude to keep the Princess waiting, Mother.”

Velvet blinked then shook her head. “Waiting? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how rude I was being! Certainly, though, nowhere near as rude to play political games with somepony else’s daughter!”

Celestia sat down on the tile right in front of Velvet, lowering her head to bring it her to eye level with the other mare. A sweet smile graced her lips, and Twilight could see the years of experience in her eyes. Velvet posed no threat, and Celestia knew it.

“My li—”

“Don’t you ‘my little pony’ me!” She thrust a hoof in the Princess’s face. “What have you done to my daughter? I want her back, right…” Her words sputtered and failed, her face carrying a multitude of expressions as she tried to stare defiantly into the diarch’s serene, unflinching visage. “Now,” she said, this time sounding far less confident.

“Mother! Listen to yourself! You do not interrupt the Princess! And what exactly do you mean you ‘want me back?’ I’m not anypony’s to trade around.”

“But she took you from me!” Velvet yelled, eyes bloodshot and watering. “Me! The one who gave birth to you! The one who raised you! She took you away from me, and— and— and forced you to go to that po-dunk, backwater mud pony town and—”

Celestia stomped a hoof on the tile, sending a crack through the air. Whatever light that came from the windows before was extinguished in favor of Celestia’s aura and utter silence. Seemingly in slow motion, the Princess inhaled, her lips ready to impart a judgement.

Twilight stepped in between them. “You damn fool.”

“What? Me, the foo—”

Twilight cut her off. “Yes, you, the fool, Mother. Are you really that stupid?”

Velvet opened her mouth again, and Twilight lurched forward to keep her quiet. “You don’t even realize who you’re talking about. Think, Mom. What is Princess Celestia? What are alicorns? They’re the embodiment of the three pony tribes. Celestia considers herself to be all of them in a very real fashion. All alicorns do.”

Velvet recoiled as if struck. “Twilight… No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted my little filly back, that’s all.”

Twilight snorted. “‘Your little filly?’ Mom, let me tell you a little story.”

She began a lecture pace, walking back and forth. “Two years after I became Princess Celestia’s student, one of the other fillies at the school gave me a newspaper. It was a lousy gossip rag, but I was excited nonetheless. You know what it said? That I was secretly the daughter of Celestia, conceived in a forbidden tryst with a nameless stallion.”

Her mother’s mouth hung open, tears of her own starting to flow, but Twilight kept going. “I ran and ran until I could talk to her to ask her if it was true. She told me it wasn’t, and you know what I did, Mom?” She leaned in close. “I begged her to say it was true instead.”

“Twilight,” Celestia interrupted. “Do you think this wise?”

Twilight shook her head. “At this point, Tia, there’s no stopping it, and right now, I don’t really care.”

“‘Tia!?’” Her mother gasped.

Twilight rolled her eyes and kept going. “I remember Tia telling me ‘I could never take away the honor of being your mother from another pony.’ But all I could think of was how much I wanted it to be true. I wanted the mare raising me to tell me I was special to my face instead of just her friends. I wanted her to congratulate and celebrate with me when I did something good or right and only then challenge and encourage me with something new.”

Tears rolled down both of their cheeks, and Twilight’s breathing made speaking more laborious, but she continued. “I wanted that instead of a contemptuous ‘about time’ followed by being told to do something else now. When I was sad, I wanted somepony to hear my sadness and support me instead of a ‘You’re young; it’ll be alright’ followed by leaving for another ‘networking’ party! I wanted all that and so much more from the ponies that raised me! And you know what, Mother? I got it.”

She forced her eyes shut, squeezing another wave of tears down her cheek. “But I didn’t get it from you.”

“Twi—”

“Let me finish!” she yelled, not letting her mother get a word in edgewise for perhaps the first time in her memory. “I didn’t get it from you, but I got it from her!” Twilight pointed a hoof at Celestia. “And you know what? I got it from Shining, from Dad, Cadence! Even Doughnut Joe was there for me more than you ever were! And don’t you give me that ‘Oh, I was trying to make connections to get you more opportunities’ garbage! I was Celestia’s student, Mom! Every single door I ever needed open was unlocked for me the instant I started learning from her, and you know it! It was never about me—it was about you!”

Velvet lowered her head so much she was supplicating herself before her daughter, and her ears were flat against her head. Twilight only had time to pant a little before she saw Velvet lift her head to say something, and potentially dig herself an even deeper hole.

“I—”

“No, Mother.” Twilight’s breathing had calmed, and the tears were drying. “No. You don’t realize how bad this is, so I’m going to explain it to you. Just before Shining was stripped of his rank, Duchess Bismare made a similar comment about earth ponies. Celestia fined her two hundred thousand bits and two hundred hours of community service.”

The color all but drained from Velvet’s coat. “Two hundred thousand bits!? We can’t afford that! Twilight, we’d lose our home, everything!”

Celestia leaned forward and a scowl flashed briefly across her face. “And that is why, the vast majority of the time, nopony is stupid enough to use such horrific language in my home, my little pony. Tribalist slurs are strictly forbidden in my presence and in my castle without exception for anypony. The only reason I didn’t make it two hundred million bits was because there is a legal maximum I can demand."

She fixed Velvet with a hard stare for a long moment. "Your fine will not be quite so steep." She paused briefly, and a tight smile crossed her muzzle. "I am not a tyrant, after all.”

Twilight thrust out a hoof in between Celestia and her mother and turned her head to gaze at her mentor out of one tear-drenched eye. “No, Tia. Her words, her actions… they’re deplorable, but she’s my mother. Even if she was never there for me, I’ll be there for her.”

The Princess shook her head. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I’m afraid I cannot allow this infraction to go unpunished. Even for you.”

Twilight fully turned to face her. “I’m not asking you to let it go, Princess. I’m asking you to allow me to determine the punishment.”

Celestia's expression was inscrutable as her eyes searched Twilight’s face. Twilight looked back levelly, but her heart pounded and her mind rampaged over alternate plans. The typical punishments for this were famously harsh.

“Very well.” Celestia motioned with a hoof. “Proceed, Grand Mage. Know, however, that I possess veto power over your decision.”

“Thank you,” Twilight whispered before turning back to her mother. “Mom… No, Twilight Velvet. What you’ve done to me is…”

She stopped and ground her teeth. It was right here: an opportunity she might never have again. A chance to unload every last injustice off her back and list them in grandiose fashion. But she’s still my pony…

“Mother.” Her throat went dry. “That you have expressed such hatred of your fellow ponies in this place where all ponies are supposed to be represented is inexcusable.” She took a deep breath, her ears going flat against her head while she stopped herself from pawing at the ground. “Hence, I see no choice. I hereby banish you from Canterlot, effective tonight.”

Her mother recoiled as if struck, scrambling backwards. “B-b-banished?”

Twilight took in more air and nodded. “Correct. You will relocate to Ponyville. I have already moved out of the Golden Oaks Library in favor of the new fort being built there, so you will move in and take over for me as librarian. You will interact with the ponies there, who, do not forget, are mostly earth ponies. You will be kind to them. You will befriend them. And you will send me weekly updates on what you have learned. I expect each letter to be postmarked by the end of every Tuesday.”

“Twilight, please!” Her mother threw herself at Twilight’s small, purple hooves. “I’ll be the laughingstock of the nobility! I don’t even know anypony there!”

Twilight shot her head forward and met her gaze bare centimeters away. “That’s the point, Mother. If, and only if, you truly learn of the full nature of your misdeeds, will I allow you to return to Canterlot. This, I command.”

Velvet looked behind Twilight, presumably at Celestia.

“I approve of and uphold my Grand Mage’s decision and add an additional requirement that your stay not be any shorter than three years. Nor may you leave the town for vacations for more than three weeks during any given year. As you are serving a public post, you will be afforded the same salary and free board as my student once held, but you will be expected to fulfill the duties to which it is attached.”

Twilight watched her mother all but lose her lunch at Celestia’s words.

The Princess stood up. “Go to your condominium and gather your things, Mrs. Velvet. It is high time you learned the lessons your daughter did ages ago.”

“Twilight—”

The Grand Mage pointed at the door. “Go.”

Slowly, she walked out of the hallway and around the corner, her soft hoofsteps bleeding out into nothingness.

When Twilight was sure she was out of earshot, she finally allowed herself to collapse on the ground into soft sobs.

Celestia’s wing once again gripped Twilight, clutching her close. “I am proud of you, Twilight. But I am so, so sorry…”

“Same here.” The deep, male voice from behind startled her enough to try to jump, but she was held back by the strong primary feathers of Celestia’s wing as a figure stepped out from the shadows.

“I can’t say I am happy about this, but she brought this on herself. You did what you could, Twily. I’m proud of you too.”

She craned her head around, trying to see the source of the voice through her watery vision. “Shiny?”

The dark stallion smiled at her. “Yeah. Although come to think of it, you might need a new nickname for me, now.”

Twilight shook her head, sending drops of water flying. “No! I refuse! Luna can have you in her Guard, but to me, you’re always going to be Shiny! I need something normal in all of this…”

Celestia squeezed her a bit tighter. “I think this is understandable, Cardinal. I severely doubt Luna would have any objections.”

He shrugged. “I can’t argue with that. ‘Shiny’ it is.” With a gentle hoof, he wiped away some of his sister’s tears. “I knew a blow-up would be unavoidable, but a tribalist slur? Right in front of Princess Celestia?” He huffed. “She needs to thank her lucky stars you’re Grand Mage. Though, I have to admit,” a smirked started to pull at the corners of Obsidian’s mouth, “I never would have thought of sending her to Ponyville to learn the magic of friendship. I think it’ll be good for her.”

Twilight nodded. “It was for me. No, that’s too much of an understatement. It was a blessing greater than anything I can think of. As far as I was concerned, a season ago I was completely content to spend my days being a librarian there. I don’t know if she’ll like being a librarian, but I think the ponies there can help her.”

“It pains me to think of going there as a punishment,” Celestia said, letting go of Twilight. “I hope that’s not how you thought of it.”

Twilight chuckled. “I did. For about twenty hours. Then I spent sixteen years there, thinking it was the best, if weirdest, place in the world.”

“If you believe Ponyville to be ‘weird,’ my student, it merely means you haven’t traveled far enough yet. But don’t worry.” Celestia leaned close to Twilight and winked. “You will.”

Twilight gulped.

“Heh. Well, I’m going to go help Mom and Dad move, maybe get some of my new subordinates to help, get to know them.” Obsidian smiled at her. “If I were you, Twilight, I’d get back to your friends.”

Twilight stood up, using Celestia to help her balance. “Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right. Thanks, Shiny.”

“Always, Twily.”

Celestia led Twilight back to the party, letting her lean against her as she needed through the empty hallways that now felt far too dour. They stood in deep contrast to the party she was walking back into, with streamers now everywhere and six good friends laughing it up. It didn’t seem to take them long to notice something was wrong.

“Girls,” she said, choking up. “I need a favor.”

Author's Note

Next chapter will take at least as long as this one as it needs just as much work as this one did (if not more) and my hands hurt worse than ever. After the next chapter, book one will be done and I’ll need to take a break to get my hands treated. The move to Canada has an official date: July 27. Once I arrive (Aug 3-4 or so), I’ll be able to set up doc appointments.

Book two and beyond shouldn’t need as much work, but… there’s a special thing going on there that’ll delay the start of it. More details later.

Also, I’ll need to find a job when I move up. I’m hoping to get a decent part-time position if possible so I can start writing original work and split writing time between that and Rites. More details to come on that (eventually).

Check out some Violet art here!

If Rarity seems a little… off here, remember she has her own issues to deal with. ;) Also, I’m pretty awful at writing Pinkie, and I don’t normally toot my own horn like this, but I have to say I like my version of her response to Alicorn!Twilight way better than canon’s rushed take.

Fluttershy is even harder to write than Pinkie, which is part of why she’s so quiet here.

Also, we now see more details of Twi’s relationship with her mother. Not the best of relationships there.

This is the last of a series of chapters with emotional punches to the gut. Next one won’t have anything like this, I promise. X) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for sticking with me despite all the delays!

-Cv

Proper Places

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

A large collection of mares plus one dragon all started giggling and hollering, from Fluttershy’s polite chuckle to Pinkie’s belly laugh while rolling on the ground.

“Why are we singing that again?” Rarity asked as Twilight watched her finish her fifth gin and tonic.

“Because that’s what we always sing when Pinkie gets completely sloshed!” Rainbow downed the rest of her cider in a single go.

“Oh. Right.” There was a moment of total silence after Rarity’s realization followed by another burst of random laughter.

Twilight took a sip from her own wine and set it down, the warmth from the alcohol growing in the back of her head. I’m starting to feel it. No more wine for me. “Thanks girls. Thank you so much. These last couple months have been hell.”

The girls nodded and expressed their reassurances, save for Pinkie, who was now passed out, wearing a lampshade, and sleeping on an overturned table.

“Can one of y’all explain ta me how come Pinkie never gets hangovers?”

Twilight set her glass down. “AJ, if I could explain Pinkie, I think the universe might just poof out of existence and recreate itself with an even weirder Pinkie. It has to be some kind of fundamental law. ‘Pinkie shall never be understood.’”

Rainbow cringed. “… How many times do you think that’s happened?”

“I don’t even wanna think about it.” Applejack adjusted her hat. “Princess, didn’t y’all say there were more surprises and such planned fer tonight?”

“Indeed I did, Applejack.” Celestia spread one wing over her sister. “If everything is ready, that is.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Dost thou doubt me, Sister? Our talents are vast, and we finished with plenty of time.”

Celestia shrugged. “I thought you said you were worried about it.”

“Only because it is more impressive if I look pressed for time. In fact, I believe I have outdone myself. Shall we?”

Twilight shook her head. “I take it that you’re talking about another ‘surprise.’ No time to let my heart rest?”

“Oh, I think you will enjoy this one, my student. Your—” a very small smile touched her lips “—conscious friends are welcome to join us, of course. Come, follow us.” Celestia lit her horn and opened the doors of the banquet hall, leading the group through the castle.

They passed through various corridors and up a number of stairwells before arriving at one area very familiar to Twilight. “Um, Princess? These are the stairs to your private chambers…”

“Your private chambers?” Rarity burst forward and put her forelegs on Twilight’s back. “As in the place nopony has supposedly ever seen?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and leaned over, sending Rarity off her back and onto the floor with a thud. “Ponies have seen it, Rarity. The maids are in there all the time, cleaning. Since my tower was destroyed in the Siege, I’ve been sleeping there for the past few months. Well, there or in Luna’s chambers, whichever they weren’t using.”

“Twilight, there are no words for how very jealous I am of you right now.” Rarity said, pointing at the ceiling. “Also, no words for how very upside down I am. I am upside down, right? It isn’t just the gin?”

“Not just the gin, Rarity.” Spike sighed and went to help her up.

“Thank you, dear.”

If Twilight concentrated, she could’ve sworn Rarity sounded like her mother, Pearl, when she said that, but it was too slurred for her to be certain. There were more important things to consider as they walked up the steps.

Just what is Celestia planning? It’d be kinda off to lead several drunk mares into her bedroom… An extraordinarily naughty, evil, and downright inappropriate thought crossed her mind, and she crushed it with all the might she could muster in her overactive imagination.

They continued up the steps, each second seeing a dozen new possibilities running through Twilight’s mind, only to be dismissed as less and less likely. Even when they reached the top, she couldn’t find the answer no matter how much she twisted her face in frustration.

Celestia stretched out her wings and turned around, facing down from the entrance of her chambers. “Do not look so worried, Twilight. All will be revealed shortly.”

Twilight slammed her eyes shut to stomp out the resurging inappropriate thoughts like a mental gestapo.

Celestia continued, “First, everypony, look at the doors behind me.”

Twilight and her friends did so, the entranceway dwarfing them all. The double-doors were ornate, gilded, and emblazoned with a giant version of the Princess’s cutie mark. The sun in the center was made of a giant topaz, while the flames on the outside were solid gold.

“These have served as my chambers for over one thousand years.” Celestia’s voice no longer sounded like the sociable, at-ease mare at the party. It was back to all its regal, controlled splendor. “Now, if you would please, look to your left.”

Everyone turned their heads, peering down the short hallway.The white marble and bronze trimming which made the bulk of canterlot castle faded into rich mahogany and cold, black steel, gently lit in azure hues from the surrounding torches. At the end of the hallway, a huge crescent-shaped pearl was set in the doors to represent Luna’s moon cutie mark.

Celestia continued while Luna moved to stand next to her. “Canterlot was a hostile capital city for Luna during the Rebellions, and when she returned I wanted her to feel as welcome as possible. I wanted it to be home for her once again. Thus, I personally designed these just for her. Now, if you would please, look to the right of my chambers.”

The rest of the group did just that, but Twilight turned her gaze to her mentor instead. “Um, Celestia, that’s a blank wall.”

“Twilight, look.” Luna smirked.

Twilight shrugged and gave it a second look, finding exactly what she expected. “It’s a wall.”

“Wait just a minute!” an excited voice exclaimed.

Twilight’s head whipped around. “Pinkie!? Where did you come from? I thought you were passed out!”

Pinkie grabbed Twilight’s head and forcefully turned it back to the wall. “Never mind that. Look!”

The Grand Mage blinked then squinted. “What is…?” Her jaw dropped to the ground.

The wall in front of her was slowly fading away, seemingly vanishing from existence like it had never been there. More astonishing, however, was what was behind it.

The new hall was one step lower than the hall to Luna’s chambers. The white marble faded to a deep purple hue as it lead to another set of double doors. The wood was carved and lacquered to a dark color while five large, white diamonds shimmered and glowed around the central feature: a giant, six-pointed starburst made of solid amethyst. It was the same symbol that was on her flank, her brother’s, her grandfather’s, and countless others of her ancestors. The Luminar Nova.

Rainbow stumbled forward. “No. Freaking. Way.”

Celestia and Luna stepped beside Twilight.

“Being Grand Mage means being one step below being a Princess, as well as being on the path to becoming one.” Celestia started.

“Thus, you are to be given chambers representative of your prestigious status.” Luna tapped Twilight shoulder and pointed down at the ground. “One step down.”

Twilight stood as if she’d been turned to stone, her jaw still agape.

“Okay. I’m officially jealous.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Princess, is there some kind of… of... form I have to fill out so I can be jealous?”

“Rarity, hush.” Celestia winked.

Luna put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I can never fully repay you for all you’ve done for me, Twilight Sparkle. This, however—I hope—will in some small way put me on that eternal path to repaying that impossible debt.

“I personally designed every aspect of these chambers and poured all my artistic and magical talent into making them. I hope you will feel forever more at home in them.”

Twilight sniffled, wiping some tears away. “L-Luna. I don’t deserve all thi—”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity burst forward, tripping over Pinkie and landing on her back. “You do deserve this! Absolutely!”

“Bu—”

“You will accept this and stop saying you don’t deserve it! Right! Now! … Also, Spike dear, could you help me up again?”

Spike sighed, bending over to pick her up. “You really need to lay off the gin, Rarity. Stuff tastes like a Hearth’s Warming Tree anyway.”

Rainbow jumped into a hover. “Um, what are we doing just standing here? I can’t be the only pony that has to see this!”

“Quite right, Rainbow.” Rarity leaned over on Spike. “May we, Princess?”

“Twilight goes first, girls.” Celestia walked to the entrance with her sister, each of them taking a door in their magic.

Twilight gulped and sheepishly moved towards the entrance. The doors loomed over her like a dense stormcloud. It wasn’t that she was expecting anything bad on the inside. It was their size, their immense, towering size.

She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so… small.

“Twilight, welcome home.”

The doors opened, and a powerful magenta light blazed forth, forcing Twilight to shield her eyes with a hoof. As her eyes adjusted, she stepped through.

The light dimmed almost instantly. Ahead of her was a sun, the same pinkish-purple color as the one Luna had put in the dream realm for her, shining behind what appeared to be a pair of glass balcony doors.

She gazed downward to avoid the light, only to jump back in shock. Underneath her, behind a barely visible marble floor, were a million stars and dozens of nebulae. When she squinted, she could even see galaxies far off in the “distance.” It was the night sky itself.

The ceiling looked much the same, only without any visible barrier at all, just the endless void. Twilight held up her hoof over her head. If she could only fly, she’d be able to pluck Vega out of its celestial seat and hold it in her hoof. Every constellation, star, and planet was right where it should be; even ones she could normally only see with a telescope were bright and clear despite the sun in the balcony.

“My stars! Did I drink myself stupid and wander outside?”

Twilight’s dry throat swallowed her words. The walls weren’t wood, marble, or even anything solid. They were the shimmering blue clouds from the dream realm forming a circular ring around the room with openings for the doors at either end. Mist from them spilled onto the floor, making it visible.

“Oh my! Is this an illusion? Or… The clouds feel real!” Fluttershy ducked down as the Princesses walked into the room and around the group.

“There are illusions at work here, naturally, but the clouds are quite real. This room contains magic that Equestria has not seen in seven thousand years.” Luna spread her wings and stood tall in the room. “But the most important thing, Twilight, is that this is your new home for however often you’d like to stay.”

“It’s… it’s beautiful…” Twilight bowed down to the ground. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Oh, but you haven’t seen anything yet, Twilight!” Celestia chuckled. “I must admit, I didn’t think Luna would be able to do this in such a short amount of time, but…”

“Oh ye of little faith, Sister.” Luna blew a raspberry at her sibling. “Twilight, reach out with your magic, and grab hold of the sun.”

“You can’t possibly mean…” Luna’s look told her that yes, she most certainly did. Twilight expanded a telekinetic field over to the ‘sun’ and yanked it.

The sun responded by arcing across the sky of the room, turning night into bright, warm day with a blue sky. She kept going, and it progressed to night, bathing the room in darkness only cut by the stars. She kept going still, and when the ‘sun’ came back up, it was the moon, giving everything in the room a gentle glow. One more time around, and it was the sun again, settling into its original place between day and night.

“That. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow zoomed up and did some loop-de-loops in midair, stretching out in the “space” that was her ceiling. “Was that the actual sun?”

Luna laughed. “No, of course not. If it was, I imagine some ponies would be very concerned right about now.”

“Yeah, but holy smokes!” Pinkie clapped. “That has to be world’s most super-duper-riffic light switch!”

Luna pouted. “It is not a light switch! It is a complex set of illusion spells and… And… Okay, it’s a light switch.”

Laughter broke out into the room, including from Celestia, who put a wing over her sister. “Cheer up, Luna. It’s still quite the accomplishment. You should be proud.”

“Heck yeah! Most epic light switch ever!” Rainbow’s voice echoed around the room. “Gotta say, Twi, I’m getting more jealous by the minute.”

“Me too! I mean, goodness!” Rarity leaned over on Spike. “I think some of the ponies I serve would spend millions to have a room like this! And that is most certainly not the gin talking.”

Celestia nudged Luna forward. “Go on, don’t be shy now! You’re with friends! And I know you had more to show!”

Luna’s ears went flat against her head and whispered just barely loud enough for Twilight to overhear. “It’s hard because they’re friends.”

“Um, Princess?” Twilight stepped forward. “I mean, Luna, I’d really like to see the rest of the room. Please?”

Luna’s visage softened into a small smile, and she walked to one of the walls. Taking a deep breath, she pushed out to her side with her forelegs and a burst of pegasus magic. The wind all but shredded the clouds on that side of the room into a mere trickle of mist. Inside was a huge, lavish closet filled with drawers, clothes-hanging spaces, cabinets, and bookshelves, each made of a rich, dark wood. The very center also had a large mirror that would be considered full-length even by Celestia.

Also inside were two mannequins, one in the shape of a dragon and the other in the shape of a pony. Each of them was holding a brand new set of dark purple armor with bronze-colored filigree.

“Heh. Doing this takes me back.” Luna blushed a little. “Each side has additional storage. The clouds regenerate in a few minutes. And over here…” Luna flapped her wings, flying over a large cloud in the center of the floor, and landed on the other side. “We have this.”

Another blast of wind ripped through the room, revealing another closet, this one filled with bookshelves utterly packed with hardbacks, along with a large in-wall safe.

Twilight’s mouth hung open again. Some of those books looked amazingly old and thick—exactly her type.

“I thought you’d like that touch, Twilight. Those are from our personal library.” Luna stepped back towards the center of the room. “That’s not what I think is the best part, though. Twilight, hop on your new bed.”

“Bed?” Twilight tilted her head. “Where?”

Luna pointed with a wing. “The big cloud in the center! Trust me, you are going to love being able to walk on clouds without a spell. There is no better bed than a nice, thick, warm cloud.”

“Oh! I get it!” She ran up, jumped, and landed upside-down on what was easily the fluffiest cloud in existence. It felt more substantial than the other clouds she’d been on and much warmer too; most clouds were normally cold mist. Twisting her back left and right, she found herself moving deeper and deeper into it, but the cloud changed shape to support her perfectly no matter what position she took. “Oh yeah, I could see myself sleeping here.”

“Yeah, when she doesn’t fall asleep reading all those books!” Rainbow was flying little laps around the room.

“Rainbow, be nice.” Fluttershy shot a brief glare over to Rainbow, who ducked down in a blush. “Oh, Twilight, I’m so happy for you! Even I have to admit, sometimes I pull clouds down into the farmhouse to sleep on. They’re especially nice when you’re… um, well…”

“Ah, but we are not done yet!” Luna giggled. “Twilight, use your pegasus magic to force an air current downwards on the cloud.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh. Okay. Haven’t tried to summon a current in that direction before. Normally that should lead to, well…”

Rainbow landed next to her. “Downwards currents can be a little weird, too. If you think about air rushing against your back, you’re thinking of going up, so you tend to get upwards currents. If you think about air going up, you’re thinking the air is pushing you up, so you still get an upwards current. Either way, same thing. You have to take it to another level.”

Luna snickered.

Rainbow paused at that but kept going when the Princess managed to stop. “Anyway, think of not just diving down towards the ground, but the wind helping you take that dive. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but if you get it right, it’ll work.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay, worth a shot.” She closed her eyes and pictured herself with wings on that cloud over the glass desert. Then, she leaped off the cloud. Wind rushed past her face and ears, forcing tears out and sending the ground at her. She visualized flapping her allegorical wings as hard as she could, forcing herself faster towards the rough glass below.

“Let the wind help you!” a voice cried out.

Rainbow? Twilight shook it off and imagined a monstrous wind current looping back around behind her and plunging down in a snake-like strike against her backside, launching her forward.

“That’s it! You got it!”

Twilight broke the daydream and looked around. She was in a new room!

“Hey, Twi! Up here!”

Twilight looked above her and saw Rainbow and Spike waving from inside a circle in the ceiling. It was at the very top of the room where her ‘bed’ used to be.

Wait, if that’s there, then… Her head snapped down to look around her, revealing an entire other floor underneath her bedroom.

“It’s… It’s a bathroom! Er, at least, I think it is…” She hopped off the cloud and trotted over to one of the walls. Unlike her bedroom, here there were no cloud walls. The starfield simply seemed to go off into infinity. Gentle lighting from nebulae in the starry ceiling lit the room around her.

To her left was a stone pillar made of the same stuff as the floor but without the embedded stars. Next to it was a toilet sized for a pony the height of Celestia instead of Twilight. Guess they’re planning ahead… She kept moving around it, finding a sink with a spigot that functioned more like a small waterfall than a faucet, along with a large marble basin with faucet handles on either side. It, too, was alicorn-sized, but even more impressive was the stream of water itself. It was wide and perfectly smooth. So much so that she could clearly see her reflection in the water as if it were a mirror.

I really need to trim my mane. At least the bangs. Hmm, what’s that? She turned around, following a glow in the corner of her eye, and walked over to a large gem protruding from the ground on the opposite side of the room. It had a slightly eerie pink aura as magic flowed around it.

That’s weird, she thought, examining it from all sides. Wonder what it—Hey! She lifted her hind hoof up and shook the water off of it. What is…?

Twilight’s attention pulled away from the gem as her hoof continued to splash on some water on the floor. A few steps closer to the horizon gave her the answer she needed, as the stars in the floor began to dance. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding…”

She leapt forward, splashing into deeper water. Moving a foreleg through it felt like swimming in the stars themselves. “Hey, girls!… And Spike!” She grinned, getting ready to say something patently absurd. “My bathtub is the night sky!”

A moment passed before she ready Rainbow’s voice. “Okay, that sounds ridiculous enough that I have to check this out.”

Two pegasi fluttered down from the ‘hole’ in the sky, one wearing a brand new set of armor.

“Oh, oh my!” Fluttershy raised her hooves over her mouth. “Is that dangerous?”

“Nah. Luna wouldn’t put something in here that’d hurt her.” Rainbow dipped a hoof in the water.

“Unless the training was still going on.” Twilight chuckled, now in water up to her chest. “But can you believe this? It’s the size of a swimming pool! At least, I think it is. I have no idea how far out this goes. It could actually be bigger.”

“Let’s find out!” Rainbow launched into the air, did a loop, and then rocketed over Twilight’s head and towards what she could only assume was a wall.

“Rainbow, watch—” A spectral blaze of light launched into the far distance, covering more space than anypony should be capable of. The speed of sound had absolutely nothing on what Twilight just witnessed. “—out?”

“Woooooo-hooooooo!”

A crack of thunder and sound blew Fluttershy into the pool with Twilight and launched a wave of water over Twilight’s head, knocking her over and into deeper water. There, she opened her eyes. There were no clouds. No sun. No sink or toilet, nor any other pony. Just the stars, and her body suspended weightless in them, her body and mind tingling in delight.

Despite the nirvana around her, she pulled herself up and out of the water, coughing some of it up. Looks like I still need oxygen. “Are you alright Fluttershy?”

A nervous, coughing pegasus pulled herself out of the water. “Um, I think so. Was that Rainbow?”

“Wooooooooooooo!” The blaze of spectral light reappeared from the other side of the room, signaling what was coming.

Twilight lowered and charged her horn with as much power as she could bring to bear and poured it into a barrier spell. A shimmering purple wall came into being just in time to stop another blast of compressed air from Rainbow’s powerful wake.

“Rainbow, stop trying to destroy my bathroom!” Twilight tried to stomped a hoof, but the sluggish action in the water muffled it entirely.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Twi. Nothing got broken. Besides, you should have seen it! I was going like a million miles an hour, and then bam, I was back here!”

Twilight stomped out of the water and shook herself off. “‘Bam’ is certainly the word for it. You nearly hurt Fluttershy!”

Rainbow gasped and ran over to a sneezing Fluttershy. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, Fluttershy! I totally forgot! I’ll go find a towel or something!”

“Allow me to help with that!” Princess Luna called out through the ceiling. “There is a ring of bright stars in the ground just outside the bath area. Place a hoof onto it and press down.”

Twilight looked around on the floor and found it. After pressing her hoof in the middle of the meter-wide circle, the stars embedded in it began to glow and spin. What in the…?

A hum overtook the room as a dim magic field enveloped her in a subtle blue glow. The sparks suspended in it didn’t stay put like normal, but instead zipped along towards the circle, along with all the excess water on Twilight’s body and coat. In just a few seconds, it had all pooled into a small puddle and flowed down a drain in the floor as the field and hum faded.

Fluttershy and Rainbow stepped forward to the same ring of stars, looked at each other, and pressed their hooves into it. The field reappeared, and did the same for them.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and sat down. “Welp, I can safely say I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Pieces of the ceiling turned opaque and dropped slightly, one after another, forming a set of stairs leading down from the bedroom and into the bathroom. Princess Luna lead the descent of the rest of the group down the newly formed path.

Applejack whistled as she got to the bottom of the stairs. “Whoa! Well, lookie here. This has got ta be the biggest bathroom I’ve ever laid eyes on!”

“Wheee!” Pinkie jumped down from the hole where Twilight’s bed had been and landed on the tile below, lightly bouncing over to help Rainbow dry off Fluttershy.

“Okay, I take it back.” Rarity was still leaning on Spike as he helped her down. “I think there are a few barons I know that would trade most of their fortunes just to have this suite.”

Twilight swallowed. “I know of Duchy castles that aren’t this nice… Gah, I’m going to be as spoiled as Blueblood at this rate! No, wait, not even the minor royalty get rooms this nice…”

“Well, none of them are alicorns.” Luna smirked, waving her foreleg around the room. “This room is meant only for one pony: you. Although I see Rainbow found the little surprise I put into the walls. If you go through one side, you emerge on the other, at an angle where there aren’t any obstructions. It’s an effect I put in on the first two floors even if you run through the clouds.”

Rainbow stared straight ahead. “Coolest. Wall. Ever!”

Moments later, Twilight was still a bit of a mess—but at least she was a dry mess. “Luna, you said first two floors.”

The Princess’s grin widened. “Indeed I did! But, you haven’t tried the shower yet.”

Applejack rubbed her head. “There’s a shower here too?”

“Of course! You didn’t think I’d leave our Grand Mage without a shower, did you?” Luna lifted a hoof up, feigning being insulted. “Twilight, turn the gem over there with your magic.”

Twilight swallowed as she did so, and the gem began to pulse blue then red. “I’m almost afraid of what’s going to happen.”

Thunder and lightning arced overhead as clouds formed above the miniature sea, bringing a torrential downpour with them. For all it’s fury, however, not a single drop fell outside of the area that already had water on the ground.

“Twilight.” Rarity turned Twilight’s head toward her with a hoof. “Don’t show this to the Duchess of Cloudsdale. She’ll do anything to have that. Anything.”

“Huh.” Applejack scratched her chin. “Fluttershy, is it possible to make a tiny version of this in that outdoor shower by the barn?”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind the towel. “Um, maybe? I’m not very good at weather control. I’d think the lightning would hit us for sure…”

“Talk to Thunderlane about that,” Rainbow said, drying Fluttershy’s feathers. “He should be able to find a way to make it safe.”

Luna switched off the rain with the gem. “Okay, I’m betting you want to see the next floor now. Twilight, go back to your bed, and push down with an air current once more. The cloud will always stop at each level for you. If you want to use the stairs, look for smaller clusters of bright stars on the ground. Those are the switches.”

Twilight nodded and hopped on her bed then closed her eyes. “Okay, second time should be easier.” She played through the mental scene in fast forward, bringing her to the current in just a second or two, and sure enough, she felt herself move downwards again.

Slowly, the cloud descended into another room, this one markedly different from the last two and also much larger than should be possible. The floor was a smooth grey granite and had many engraved leylines in it, forming a sort of permanent magic circle in the shape of a hemisphere. The center had a large, bright gem core in it. The “walls,” if she could call them that, were included in the tangled web of glowing leylines, behind which were more cloud walls.

Luna jumped down from above and circled to a landing. “This, Twilight, is your new laboratory!”

Twilight tilted her head sideways. “This is a lab?”

Luna nodded. “And a sparring center! I knew that you would want to practice your spells, so I set this room up to be extremely well-hardened and reinforced. There are also life-saving spells to prevent mortal wounds to anypony within the room. This way, you could practice whatever you wish without worrying about vaporizing, exploding, or otherwise harming anyone or anything near you. It’s not fool-proof, so check with me if you want to do something truly grandiose. But, for most things, it should suffice. I included some equipment within the closets behind the clouds around us, but naturally, should you wish anything more, just let a guard or servant know, and it shall be yours forthwith.”

Twilight jumped up and down, her hooves landing on the soft cloud over and over. “Yes! Yes yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Oh, I can’t wait to try and—”

“Easy, easy, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna held up her hooves. “You still have much to do in the outside world, remember. We already have a mission in mind for you.”

Twilight stopped and sat down on her bed. “Oh, right. Heh. Sorry, guess I was a little excited.”

Luna smiled and stepped on the bed as well. “‘Tis alright. That you are so happy brings true joy to my heart. Shall we head up and meet the others?”

“Sure!”

“Then I shall aid with the wind.” Luna flapped her wings once, and a powerful updraft pushed them upwards. As they passed the middle floor, she saw the others trotting up the stairs.

Luna hopped off as they reached the top, the cloud stopping seemingly on its own. “Well, what did you think, Twilight?”

Twilight bowed. “I think it’s amazing, Luna. You’ve outdone yourself. If it weren’t for Rarity’s threat I don’t think I… Luna, thank you. I never once dreamed of anything like this!”

A small tear formed in Luna’s eye. “No, thank you. Truly. It means a lot to me.”

“Hey, Twi!” Spike called out. “Check out this armor the Princesses made for us!” He clanked his fist against the dark purple breastplate he was wearing. “Looks like it’s got some serious enchantments. Maybe not like yours, but still! And it’s themed!”

Rainbow flew over and picked up a piece from the mannequin in the closet. “Yeah, it’s gonna be weird wearing armor with something other than the ‘Bolts emblem, but it’ll still be nice to have.”

Celestia stepped into the room with a pair of packages in tow within her magic. “Sorry, I had to leave for a moment to get our next surprise.”

“More stuff?” Twilight yelled. “Tia, you’re going to embarrass me at this rate.”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh please, Twilight. I helped raise you. I don’t need to buy you things to embarrass you.”

Twilight’s cheeks burned like the sun behind her.

Following a few more giggles from everypony and Twilight scrunching down to make herself smaller, Celestia levitated the two objects and presented them to her student.

Twilight knew what they were the instant they nestled into her telekinetic field: books! Nothing felt like this in her magic except for books. They were wrapped in purple wrapping paper, but she knew that they had to be books. One was the size of a large tome, and the other was considerably smaller, like a large notebook.

She flipped the two around and around, undoing the paper with trademark precision. In just a few movements, both books were unwrapped, and the paper was folded and ready to be reused.

Spike sighed. “I’ve never gotten her to not do that. It just ruins all the fun of opening presents!”

“Unicorns, I tell ya.” Rainbow smirked as Rarity shot her an unamused look. “What? Come on, I’m kidding!”

Twilight wasn’t paying attention. She was far too focused on the books. Each matched the color of her coat, had her cutie mark emblazoned on the cover, and was completely blank inside.

Celestia sat in front of her. “It is customary for a Grand Mage to write about his or her discoveries and spells in a journal for future Grand Mages to read. While your predecessors primarily wrote about spells and philosophy, I would like you to look at it as more of a diary, Twilight. You are certainly free to write new spells in it, but it may prove valuable for you to record your thoughts in more detail. Should you fill them, I will be happy to provide more.

“In addition,” she continued, “I shall give you however many of these smaller books that you need. I request that you leave the larger one here, for safekeeping. That way you may write whatever you wish in it without worry about it being stolen or compromised. This smaller one you may take with you to record notes about what you are working on. It also has additional security spells on it for privacy, although I wouldn’t count on them entirely. Best not to lose it at all. I trust this is to your liking?”

Twilight’s eyes were watering up. This is really happening… “Yes!” She leapt forward and grabbed the larger book, pressing it tightly against her chest. “Thank you so much, Princess! I’ll write in it all the time! I promise I won’t disappoint you!”

Celestia leaned in close to her. “I already told you there’s no way you could ever disappoint me. You’ve already exceeded my expectations.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Twilight kept repeating, head bowing lower and lower to the ground.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, gentle as a morning breeze. “You will do just fine. I’m sure of it.”

“I just…” She sniffled. “You don’t understand. This is a dream come true.”

“Well, I understand fully,” Rarity asserted, brushing her hair with a hoof. “Why, I had a similar reaction when I got my first Canterlot studio. But you can’t just let the tears flow forever, darling. There comes a point, and soon, where you have to really seize the dream. Make it all that you can, or it’ll slip through your magic.”

Twilight smiled, and stood up straight. “You’re right. I’m going to do this. Not just for Equestria, but for me.”

“Exactly.” The fashionista helped her up. “That’s the Twilight I know.”

“And we aren’t quite yet done today, either,” Celestia said, standing up with the others.

“We aren’t?” Twilight nearly fell over again. “What else do we have to do? I don’t know if I can take much more.”

“Just one more little thing,” Celestia smiled. “If you’ll all accompany us to the throne room for a few moments, we can get it taken care of.”

“The throne room?” Spike asked.

Luna giggled. “Yes. Why? Do you know of any other?”

The room fell to silence for about four seconds.

“That is a terrible joke, Sister.”

Pinkie blinked. “That was a joke?”

Luna just rolled her eyes and trotted behind Twilight. “Yes. Yes it was. Now come on, I want to see this!”

Twilight hopped up and started walking. “See what?”

Luna opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Celestia. “Don’t you dare ruin my surprise, Sister.”

“Then laugh at my clever jokes!” Luna stomped a hoof.

Celestia gave her a calm smile. “I always do, Lulu.”

Each step towards the throne room made Twilight’s heart pound that much harder. Although the Princesses having “something to do” with her would make that happen anyway, the throne room’s sheer presence always invoked a sense of awe in her. The stained glass telling great stories of Equestria past–which she appeared on more times than she’d like to admit–the tall ceilings, the throne itself… it was all designed to invoke the feeling that the one on the throne was the Sovereign of Equestria. It was one thing to say they were by law, but it was another to have ponies that approach the throne feel it, and that was exactly what was going on in Twilight’s mind right now.

When the group arrived at the golden, sun-emblazoned Solar Throne itself, her heartbeat spiked even more when the Princesses themselves looked confused.

“That's odd. He's usually quite punctual. He did say he’d do this, right, Sister?” Luna asked.

“Indeed, that’s what he told me.”

“Um, who are we waiting for, Princess?” Twilight was already trying to make herself smaller again.

A loud ca-chunk came from behind her as the throne room doors opened.

“Sorry! Sorry I’m late! Some attendants just don’t take kindly to breaks in schedule.”

The group turned to the doors, and Twilight recognized the pony rushing in— Charlemane, Chairpony of the Inner Council—and the unpleasant memories that came in with him.

“What is he doing here?” The words came out of Twilight’s mouth much louder than she had intended.

The smile that grew on the stallion’s face was both kind and somehow altogether intolerable. “I’m here as the Council witness to the ceremony, seeing as I’m your best friend in the Empyreal Hall who isn’t a member of the Royal Quarter.”

“Friend?” Twilight was just about ready to hit him. She was reasonably sure she could get away with it, but Celestia's presence held her back. “You made Shiny look like a—”

“I hate to interrupt, but the real questions the Council wanted to ask him were far worse, I can assure you. I was as gentle as I could be without leaving an opening to allow another to take my place.”

Twilight’s mind skipped gears a bit, causing her mouth to hang open without a proper response.

Charlemane strode up to her and leaned down to meet her at eye level. “I cannot ask that you like me after that. Just give my words careful thought. Right now, you are a disruption in the status quo few on the Council care for. Your future actions will earn you no loyalty from those you benefit, only courtesy. Don’t mistake one for the other.” He kept walking past her and took a spot near the throne. “Oh, one more thing. Naponion might be the only pony in there whom you can take at face value, but I’m afraid he’s useless at and uninterested in anything that isn’t war planning or war history. Now, shall we get this thing on the road?”

Spike scratched his head. “Yeah, what exactly are we doing here?”

“An excellent question, Spike.” Celestia and Luna took a place in front of and to the left of the throne, mirroring Charlemane’s position. “Twilight, take a seat.”

Twilight blinked and tilted her head. “Take a seat? Where? You mean just here on the floor?”

Celestia simply shook her head and point at the throne. The gilded, giant throne emblazoned with the cutie mark of the Princess of the Sun, ruler of all of Equestria, and literally the oldest, most powerful pony in existence. That throne.

Twilight found out that very moment that the heart was indeed a muscle, and like any other, it could indeed be pulled as she grabbed at her chest with a hoof. Further consequences would have followed were it not for the interruption from a very pink pony leaping at the exceptionally exclusive seat.

“Oh, are we taking turns? I wanna go first!”

A bright flash of light nearly blinded Twilight, but her vision recovered quickly to find a mint green aura levitating Pinkie back to her spot, and Charlemane’s horn glowed brightly with the same color. Whatever negative feelings she had for the council pony, she was impressed. Earth ponies were easily able to resist continued telekinetic fields, and Pinkie was a natural at it. Lifting her so easily spoke to his control and power.

“Apologies, Bearer,” he said. “But I’m glad I caught you in time. It’s considered treason for anypony other than the Princesses to sit on the throne.”

“Really? Just for sitting?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight strode in between them and began her lecture pace. “Yes, Pinkie! Only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna may sit on the Solar or Lunar Thrones themselves, as they are the sole rulers of Equestria. The members of the Royal Quarter have their own thrones to sit on, but may not sit here.” She walked up to the throne and sat in front of it.. “They, as well as any regents that take power temporarily, will sit in front of the throne. This shows that they act in proxy for the Princesses and are politically in between them and their subjects.”

She felt Celestia place her hoof on her shoulder. “Very good, Twilight. However, there is one additional pony allowed to place herself on the throne, and I think you can guess who that is.”

Her heart pulled itself again, and she weakly managed to point at herself and whisper “Me?”

Both of the Princesses nodded.

Twilight gulped and turned back to the throne, but looked at Celestia with her best pleading eyes. Luna spoke instead.

“As we said before, Grand Mages carry with them nearly all the authority we do in order to prepare them for ascendency. This means they are able to sit the throne when necessary.”

The words from Luna hung heavily in the air for two reasons. First, it was finally hitting home that at the end of this, her old life would be a distant memory and utterly unrepeatable. She’d really be an alicorn. Functionally immortal, impossibly powerful, and a figure in society that would, by its very nature, isolate her into a position of authority whether she wanted it or not. Worse, if ascension worked as the only available authorities on the subject said it did, her personality would likely have changed to the point where she’d want to be in that position.

The other reason was that there was a pony she did not trust still in the room.

“Yes, I know. The rest of the Council does not, but I had to.”

Twilight’s lip curled. “‘Had to?’ ‘Tia, what does he mean?”

Celestia sighed. “It was necessary to secure the political deals that ensured your place as Grand Mage. I needed a pony on my side, and my other arguments in your favor simply didn’t carry the same weight as alicorn ascension. Charlemane has, however, been discreet about the secret, and, by my compact, it was also necessary to have a Council representative present for this ceremony.

“That having all been said…” Celestia patted the throne a couple of times, and Twilight gulped again.

Luna chuckled. “Careful, I think you’ll find it to be harder than you expect. For some reason, my sister refuses to add padding or a cushion. I personally cannot understand how she can just sit on that for hours on end.”

“I don’t see the problem, honestly.” Celestia shrugged. “I find it to be comfortable enough.”

Luna grumbled. “Yeah, well, not all of us have a thick subcutaneous layer of—”

“What was that, Sister?”

“Nothing!”

“That’s what I thought. Twilight, the time has come.” Celestia walked up to the side of her throne and motioned towards it as Luna did the same. “Sit, assume the role of Grand Mage, and start your journey on the mountain path.”

She took one shaky step with her left forehoof, putting her one step closer to the throne.

No looking back now, filly. Alicornhood awaits.

Her right rear hoof slipped a bit but quickly found a place on the ground, again putting her closer.

Is this truly real?

Her right forehoof landed, and her muscles tensed to keep her standing upright.

You’ve dreamed of this for decades. Ever since you were old enough to understand what a Princess was, you’ve wanted it. You wanted to be her. It’s all in your grasp now. Seize it!

Her left rear hoof hit more solidly, sound echoing through the room.

But will it work? Is it what I really want?

Another step, another doubt.

Will I find happiness like Pinkie Pie?

Another heartbeat, one move closer.

Or regret it like Rainbow?

She put a hoof on the seat, and time stopped like a pegasus flying headfirst into one of Shining’s barriers. She turned back to look at all her friends cheering her on.

You’re being silly, foal. It’s not about what you want anymore. It’s about what they need.

She pushed herself up on the throne, catching her balance with her rear hooves.

What do they need though? Is it really me? What am I?

With her friends arrayed in front of her, she lightly touched the seat with her haunches. She recoiled a bit as if the seat was very hot or very cold, and then she slowly settled into the most powerful seat in all of Equestria as Luna spoke with her booming royal voice.

“All hail the Element of Magic!”

Charlemane matched the power of her voice in kind. “All hail the Grand Mage of Equestria!”

Celestia outdid them both. “All hail Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Ascendant!”

Twilight’s ears fell back down against her head as Celestia and Luna inclined their heads, and the rest followed their lead by going into a full bow.

I am in way over my head.

Author's Note

And so ends book one of Rites of Ascension!

Hi all!

Sorry things are taking so long. Medical issues with my hands and all that. But, I'm up in Canada now, I have provincial insurance, doctors appointments are made, tests are scheduled, I've already had blood tests and x-rays, so things are rolling. (My FimFic blog has more info on that for the curious.) Might still be several months before I get back to full, though. My hands are just getting worse all the time. Good thing I have a bit of a backlog, huh? I can trickle stuff out until I'm better.

Here's the future as it's planned. I'm gearing up for book two, and trying to get healed. Once I am healed, I'll set up a Patreon. That won't just be for here on FimFic, though. I'll be writing non-fiction stuff on a few other sites, and trying my hands at making simple vlogs and such. I'm also going to be working on original fictions that I'll be selling in ebook form. So there are many, many plans.

Book two is nearing launch, though there's still plenty I have to do before it hits. Those who have been following me have seen the checklist I've been using (and how it's growing all the time). I'm praying I get it out before the launch of season five of the show, but, well, no promises. The GOOD news is that my writing style has improved so vastly from 26 onwards that editing should be easier.

Also, I'll be refreshing chapters 2-15 or so to make the formatting easier to read. No major changes, mind, as I'm sure you all want new stuff more than rewritten old stuff. I'm just going to improve readability and correct any major issues that absolutely need it. I've already done chapters two and three.

The prologue and chapter one, however, ARE getting full rewrites. Those rewrites are already done and are being edited. They'll launch with book two. Chapter one has received some minor adjustments and ret-cons (actually more an addition than a take-back), and major POV fixes to keep it in third-person-limited.

One more special note here. This chapter is technically not quite done with editing, but I like releasing on Fridays and didn't want to wait another week. So, some minor changes may still happen. However, even if they do happen, they won't be anything of huge significance to the plot, so no worries. A huge shout out to all my editors for their patience with me in all this. You guys are awesome!

Thank you all so much for sticking with me for so long! I'm so sorry things are taking as much time as they are. Believe me, I want to tell this story. I've just been hit with medical issue after medical issue slowing me down. The support of my fans means the world to me, even if it's just a nice note down in the comments section! Again, thank you all so much!

-Cv

Book Two - Brief Ambrosia

“Four P.M. One hour late. How many are here?” Charlemane asked, leaning against and facing the cold stone wall.

“Only four, my lord. The Duchesses of Germaney, Shanghay, Neighpon, and the Duke of Prance. I’m afraid that Naponion has already fallen asleep, though.”

A chuckle escaped Charlemane’s lips. Four. I call a damned meeting and four of them show up. I expected a few to refuse as a matter of course, but two thirds? Cowards. “And what of Buckheart? This is his castle.”

“He hasn’t arrived yet.”

Charlemane took in a deep breath to sigh but held it at bay as he turned to face his senechal. “Well then, I suppose some more… extreme measures are necessary. I’m going to start the meeting. Tell the others that I am going to be issuing consequences for this. I don’t care how damned scared they are of Armor losing his shackles.”

The stallion in the shadows gave a quick bow. “Yes, my lord. Also, I regret to inform you that our squad tracking the Robber Baron shipment in San Palomino has disappeared.”

Charlemane straightened his shirt and examined himself in a mirror. “So, they’ve managed to pierce th… No matter. Send another. Find their bodies. No interception of the target this time. Reacquire them if you can, and even then, only observe. If we can determine the location of the base, I’ll leak the intel to General Stone. He’ll take care of things for us.”

“Yes, my lord. If they are to observe, what are your orders if they become engaged with the enemy?”

“Any who would dare attack Canterlot and the Princesses deserve no quarter. Now, what of our other target?”

“We should have a solution soon, my lord. Shall I advance the timetable?”

“No. Proceed as planned, and keep me apprised. And don’t let Buckheart’s guards see you on the way out.”

“As you wish.”

Charlemane waited for him to leave before finally letting a sigh out and relaxing his stance. “How much time now…? This is taking far too damned long.”

Down the hall he walked, the cool humidity wafting through the castle with the musty stench of the ancient walls. His hooves clicked on the uneven gray stone tile which was much older than he was. Damnit, Buckheart. Duke of the Hinterlands, The First Duchy, owner of the oldest castle in Equestria, and you can’t be bothered to show up when the Chairpony asks to hold a meeting at your bucking house. We are going to have words, you and I.

Thunder rumbled through the open windows as rain began to trickle down from the dark blue clouds. Small drops of water even fell from the leaky roof. And of course he gives us the most run-down wing. A few hundred years ago, I could have him gelded for an insult like this.

He rounded the corner and shoved open the meeting room doors with a resounding crash. He jumped both steps leading down to the long dining table and landed with all four hooves flat on the floor. Three sets of eyes stared holes into him, but he ignored them in favor of a leftward trot to the side of the table and behind a fat oaf sleeping at the center of it.

Air filled his lungs.

“Wake up, you bloated walrus!” A green telekinetic field flared to life around the chair under Naponion’s generous rump and pulled it out from under him before tossing the three-and-a-half-thousand-year-old wooden chair into the corner. “I’m going to—”

“SNRK—KGGGGZZZ…”

Charlemane buried his face in his forehooves at the sound of the snoring. “Oh sweet stars above…”

“Ahem!”

He looked up to see a pony approximately midway up his list of “top ten ponies I hate.” She held two very empty bottles of plum wine.

“I’m afraid it’s useless, Chairpony,” Bismare said through a smirk. “I would think you could set him on fire and he’d sleep through it.”

Charlemane kicked him in the flank. “I hope you feel that when you wake up. Now then, ladies, let’s get to business.” He doubled back to the end of the table and took a seat, making a mental note to beat Buckheart as well for saddling them with these seats.

“Yes, let’s.” Bismare clasped her hooves together and gave a grin so fake one might call it murderous. “You can start with why you railroaded me in the Empyreal Hall.”

Charlemane returned the smile. “Because you needed to be put in your place, O Duchess of Germaney. I am the Chairpony, not you. Remember that.”

“For now, Charlemane. For now.”

He reached over and poured himself a glass of the wine. “Oh, please. If you were able to be goaded so easily by Shining Armor, of all ponies, then you will never have my seat. Get used to being third place, right behind that.” He pointed over to the passed-out pony on the floor.

“Councilponies, please!” Duchess Suisaiga of Neighpon whispered, holding out one of her snow-white hooves. “This isn’t what we’re here for! At least, I hope that’s not why we’re here.” Her pleading eyes darted over to Charlemane.

Oh, Watercolor. You’re too damn nice for your own good. Charlemane put on his glasses and took out the papers he carried. “No, Duchess, it isn’t. Although, I do find it quite cathartic to mock a certain somepony to tears.”

“Hmph.” Bismare curled her lip.

Duchess Xìngyùn sipped some of her tea and let down her orange mane. “I presume then, Chairpony, you wish to discuss the outburst in the Empyreal Hall the other day. From our new Grand Mage.”

“The very same.” He started to pass out copies of his document to each of the waking members. “Ladies, we have a very big problem.”

“You are the one who said we had to give her that rank, Charlemane.” Bismare sneered, pounding a hoof on the table. “Are you saying you’ve made a mistake?”

“Not as such. These are some intel reports on her current capabilities. I secured them from RGIS.”

“Pfft! What are we worried about?” Xìngyùn tossed the paper away. “Not even GR-1 rated! Honestly, after her performance during the Siege against that traitor, Towers, I half wondered if Celestia had already trained her in fighting. But this?”

Chalremane shook his head. “You misunderstand. This shows it’s impossible to measure her true abilities. Luna is far too unconventional to be measured on our GR scale. On top of that, Twilight may well have the most dangerous qualities of both of the Princesses. Trained in combat by a multi-millennial-year-old warrior, and a mind nurtured by the finest teacher in the land. Those can be a threat in and of themselves, true, but it’s not as big a concern as what happened during the court-martial. Thanks to that, because she saw what we did with her own eyes, she most certainly has it out for us personally. I was able to confirm that during the ceremony. Now is the time for caution.”

“So you say, Duke.” Bismare gazed at the documents, moving swiftly to the second page. “But would it not have been more prudent not to grant her that title in the first place, then?”

“No. Twilight is well-liked.” Suisaiga said, sitting back in her seat and ducking her head down. “There are statues of her in Neighpon, despite the fact that I’m fairly certain she’s never visited. Even I’m a bit of a fan. If we denied her the honor, Celestia would have used that to her advantage immediately.”

Charlemane poured himself a glass of wine from one of the remaining bottles. “Or worse, she could have overridden us and looked like a saint for doing so. Also, it would have put us into sudden death. If she had then managed to convict even a single member of the Council as acting in Bad Faith, our plans could have been ruined for a generation. Since we agreed to this, any of her findings against us can be… compartmentalized.”

The papers dropped of out everypony’s grasp simultaneously.

“Chairpony…” Suisaiga swallowed. “Are you saying that if Twilight brings charges against one of us, the Council won’t stand with them in defense?”

Charlemane gave her an even gaze. “Precisely.”

Xìngyùn smirked at her, light green lips parting to deliver a verbal dagger. “What’s the matter, little Watercolor? Or should I say, Ya. Ku. Za?”

A blur of feathers flashed over the table as the bladed edge of the Neighpon Duchess’s wings spread out, one of them pointing at Xìngyùn and gleaming in the light from the chandelier. “My family broke off ties with them five hundred years ago, you swine!” Her light blue mane swayed in the wind from her magic, voice cracking in strain. Her legs shook slightly, as did the tips of her primaries. “I swear on my soul one day I’ll make you eat those lies!”

“Enough!” Charlemane roared, shaking the windows. “If you two can’t control yourselves, I’ll personally air your dirty laundry for the Princesses tomorrow! Am I clear?”

An icy moment hung in the room as the two slowly withdrew, Suisaiga getting off the table and Xìngyùn pulling her hoof out of her dress, mercifully weapon-free.

Damnit, Watercolor. Don’t make threats like that if you can’t back them up. You look like a scared foal. Charlemane adjusted his tie, loosening its hold around his neck. “Now then, to answer your question, Duchess Suisaiga. You are correct. If somepony gets caught, we’re cutting them loose.”

“You must admit, Chairpony, this sounds drastic.” Xìngyùn picked the paper back up, reading it again, seemingly in earnest this time. “Is it really so perilous?”

Charlemane nodded. “If we close ranks around the one who is caught, the tide turns against us just as easily as if we had denied her the rank in the first place. We seem complicit, if not direct cohorts. Cutting them loose salvages the Council’s reputation.”

“There is another option.” Bismare pocketed her reading glasses. “I know some ponies that could make this problem go away for a given quantity. Or I could raise that quantity and make it open, and mask our involvement in—”

Time slowed down in the world of grey, the distance between Charlemane and Bismare passing by in less than the time one could take to blink. Every action, each subtle movement sped up by orders of magnitude, but passing by with barely a whisper. Before the Duchess of Germaney could get to the next syllable, Charlemane’s telekinetic blade was in her mouth like a harness bit.

“You, dear Duchess, are going to be very, very quiet from here on out.” Charlemane leaned down to her ear to drip his threats directly in her head. “If I ever again hear so much as a peep from you about assassinating a Grand Mage or any government official, I will personally cut out your treasonous tongue and present it to Celestia on a silver platter. Am I understood?”

The barest of nods could be seen from behind a visage that nopony had ever seen on Bismare’s face ever before. Behind all the rage, indignation, and anger, there was the slightest sliver of fear in her nod.

The blade dissipated in a puff of smoke, forcing the mare to cough and gag.

“Fellow nobles,” he said, stepping out from behind the Duchess. “I’ve turned a blind eye to our… internal issues for too long. I did it because I believe in the good that we can bring to Equestria as its rulers, but I also recognize that we must eventually move beyond such problems if we are to succeed in the long term. This is more true now than ever.”

He pulled out his chair and sat, its old wooden joints creaking under the strain. “Twilight Sparkle may well be the smartest pony alive. She’s been trained by Luna, was raised by Celestia, and has the ear of the entire Royal Quarter.” Charlemane paused, eyes slowly traversing the group in front of him. “And the other day, we made an enemy of her. She is going to be personally looking over every financial report, every company we own, and every shred of evidence she can find to take us down—one at a time or all at once. It is time to make sure we are in a defensive position with regards to her. We can still keep the pressure on Celestia, but if we give Ms. Sparkle an inch, she’ll take a mile, I can assure you.”

Xìngyùn furrowed her brow and finished her tea. “So you’re saying we have to make sure everything is on the straight and narrow. Don’t give her any leads.”

“What’s the matter? Sound too difficult, O great Triad leader?” Suisaiga snickered.

“Ladies, please!” Charlemane cleared his throat. “I don’t care what you or your families are involved in. Rein them in and cover your tracks. We have just two and a half years before the Royal Compact is renegotiated as part of its ten-year cycle. As long as we can maintain this progress, I believe it is still possible to force Celestia to relinquish the vast majority of her power then and there. The Council shall rule without a single drop of blood being shed. However!”

Charlemane tapped on the papers in front of him. “Twilight Sparkle could change all that. She doesn’t even need to nail half of us and trigger a dissolution to thwart our plan. Just three would be all it would take to turn the tide, maybe as little as two. This is the mare that defeated a god, Councilponies. We can’t underestimate her. Rein in your subordinates and play nice, or we’ll be set back forty years or more.

“As for my part, since I have Celestia’s ear, I will be trying to persuade her to lead Twilight on missions away from us and to other issues our great nation has. The gryphons, changelings, or any of the other things that crop up like weeds these days. Though she is a threat, she may yet still serve us in this way.”

Suisaiga lifted a napkin to her lips, daintily cleaning them of the subtle stain of plum wine. “Your confidence is reassuring, Chairpony. But what about the ‘Robber Barons?’ Shining Armor had a point. They’re just as likely to come after us as they are the Princesses, and their coup attempt shows they are certainly brazen enough to try it. They even have my brother worried.”

Charlemane waved off her concern with a hoof. “RGIS is already on their trail. Shining Armor slipped up, it’s true, but he organized a good team. They won’t take this lying down. I’d be more worried about whatever poor saps they’re in league with. Such treason is not going to be tolerated, whether it’s now or in the era to come. Whoever they are, and whatever their rank or riches, I plan on launching my own investigation into them so I can personally haul their flanks in front of a Tribunal and sentence them to permanent petrification. It will make walking my dog through the gardens that much more enjoyable.” He shot a glare off to his right. “Don’t you agree, Duchess Bismare?”

She turned up a lip. “You talk as if you aren’t committing treason as well, Duke of Roan. Or as if none of us are.”

“I mean every word I’ve said, Duchess. There is a big difference between political maneuvers within the law and open rebellion. For Equestria to survive as a whole, Celestia must step off the throne herself, peacefully. She will yet be an excellent figurehead for Equestria; she merely needs to readjust her role to what is better for both her and the nation.

“As such, those who try to do bring harm to her or the ponies we all represent will have to go through me.” He tilted his head down to stare daggers at her through his bangs. “And I do so hope they try. Am I understood?”

Bismare laughed, the ice in her veins spilling out through her words. “You’re quite likely to make enemies with that kind of Colt Scout talk, Chairpony.”

He shook his head. “You should know by now, Duchess.” He focused directly on Bismare’s sharp blue eyes. “Fear has no hold on me.”

Bismare’s eyes locked onto his, their pupils doing a silent, motionless swordfight. Her furrowed brow and graying mane slashed at him from her experience, while her custom business suit and its rare threads and silks thrust at his heart.

Yet none of it reached him.

The Duchess of Germaney turned over her glass, spilling its contents on the table before walking out the door.

“That’s what I thought, Duchess. Anyway, speaking of closing ranks, since she’s gone, I should mention something else.” He got up off his chair and packed up his papers. “I’m not above sending our new Grand Mage in anypony’s direction should they begin to act up. Please, everypony, keep that in mind.”

A cold glance passed across the table between the two mares. Charlemane could almost hear the gears turning in their heads as each tried to figure out how to put a nice piece of juicy bait on the other.

“Well then, ladies, if there’s nothing else, this meeting is adjourned. I’ll meet up personally with the other members to spread the news and beat them senseless for missing this.”

“SNRK—KGGGGZZZ…”

Charlemane rolled his eyes. “Ugh. And somepony load that slob on to my airship. I’ll take him home and inform him when he wakes up. With a megaphone. During his hangover. Maybe then he’ll actually give a buck what goes on in the Empyreal Hall for once.”

Suisaiga giggled and took a sip of wine. “A fitting punishment. Arigato, Chairpony. Thank you again for your leadership.”

A small, genuine smile formed on his lips. “You’re welcome, Watercolor. Safe journey home.”

As he turned and left, small grumbles came through the door from Xìngyùn. Complain all you like. We all know I’m the only pony who can pull this off. He charged his horn, appearing outside the walls of the ancient castle of Princess Platinum in a flash of light. Hang on just a while longer, Tia. Soon you shall get the rest you so desperately need. I promise.

Light. Unbelievable, incredible, searing light blazed into Twilight’s eyes, right through her eyelids. Slowly, carefully, she opened one eye ever so slightly.

Then pulled a piece of cloud over her head and groaned.

Okay, clouds are great for sleeping on, but they suck at blocking out daylight.

With a giant yawn, she slowly pushed her head and body up on her new cloud bed, almost accidentally tipping herself over. Time to get going. Today’s the big day. First, though, bath in magical rainstorm-shower. Then, much more importantly, coffee.

Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. Small purple hooves clip-clopped their way across the mess hall tile, only slowing to move around corners in logical, ninety-degree turns. There was no running. There couldn’t be running. Running did not exist in Twilight’s mind. There was only coffee.

Her little hooves kept her moving along, past the window to the kitchen. She was still so short that she had to stand on the tips of her hooves to really see over it like she was supposed to. It had always been that way. Of her six friends, she was shortest, just a hair under Rainbow, with Fluttershy being the tallest. As a filly hunting for “Royal Cookies,” her one-time favorite food, she was small enough to be able to slink around under the window (but still got caught).

She quickly made her way across the entrance to the kitchens and to the huge row of coffee machines, which were all busy brewing for the inevitable breakfast rush that was sure to come in through the doors any minute now. One by one she pulled out the pots and took a sniff.

“Nope. Nuh-uh. Not this one. Definitely not. Why does decaf even exist? Nope. Argh!”

“Can I help you?”

Twilight turned her head towards a yellow pony in a white chef’s jacket. She had freckles and a bright orange mane, but the stranger’s horn quickly dismissed any inklings that she might be related to another mare from Ponyville.

Ignoring her, Twilight kept going down the row until she found a coffee maker that hadn’t been turned on yet and took its pot out before wandering into the kitchen.

“Um, ma’am?”

Twilight did notice that the strange mare was following her. She had a strange voice, too. Well, maybe not, but she was following her. This was a fact, and it was completely insignificant. What was not insignificant was that there was a gryphon in the kitchen as well, and he had a very long mustache and was speaking with a Phrench accent. She knew this gryphon. He was the castle’s head pastry chef. He would know how to solve Twilight’s dilemma.

She strode up to him and bonked his shoulder with the coffee pot hard enough to get his attention but not enough to break the pot. After all, the pot was important. It could hold coffee.

The tall gryphon looked down at her, in all her shortness, and Twilight had to squint a little since, from her angle, his head was right in between her eyes and some fluorescent lights.

“Spice.” Twilight said flatly, half like a zombie and half like a psychopath barely restraining her insanity from surfacing.

“Um, er, ze spices are in the dry storage, Highness.” The gryphon stroked his moustache in a clear nervous tick while pointing with a claw on his other hand.

Twilight nodded and went in the direction the gryphon had pointed, quickly finding the door to the dry storage and opening it. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked. It would’ve been a shame to have to rip the flimsy thing off its hinges.

“Um, ma’am? If you need something, I can get it for you…”

Twilight ignored the strange voice again and wandered into the huge walk-in pantry. Dry goods of all conceivable types and all at their highest quality lined the shelves, but there was one thing in particular she had to have, and it was right there, in the giant tin labeled “Cayenne.”

The container was quickly added to her telekinetic field, and Twilight turned to leave. There was a yellow, pony-shaped obstruction in her way. It was talking.

“I don’t know who you are, but if the Chef finds out about this, he’s going to—”

Mess hall. Low security area. Wards limited. Risk of setting them off with a two-meter teleportation: minimal.

Twilight charged her horn a second before walking into the mare, and just when they were about to collide, hopped from one point of reality to another. Now on the opposite side of the obstruction, she could finally make coffee. After months of forced deprivation of ambrosia imposed on her by Luna, the Grand Mage would finally have proper coffee this morning. Her training was done. She had earned it.

“Wha? How did? But that’s—”

The gryphon’s voice—Gustave, right—interrupted the talking obstruction. “Sacré blue, Citron! Zat is ze new Grand Mage! Celestia’s student! You do not just block ‘er path! Zis is ‘er castle too!”

“What!?”

Twilight kept going to the maker at the end and gathered a filter and a bin of the freshly-ground coffee that the mess hall kept nearby for refills. She opened the maker and assembled it all properly with the right ratio of coffee grounds, water, and just a bit of the cayenne. Moments later, it was almost time for coffee.

“Um, Highness?”

The obstruction was bowing. Odd. Twilight turned her gaze back to the coffee because it was almost time for coffee.

“I’m terribly sorry about before. Could you please forgive me? I really need this job.”

The last, glorious drop of water finally fell from the machine. Coffee! Twilight pulled out the pot and took a mug from the stack, quickly pouring herself a cup and taking a sip, not even minding the still-scalding temperature. “Oh, Celestia that’s better. Coffee!”

“Your Highness?”

Twilight blinked and stared at the bowing mare. “I’m sorry, you are?”

“Lemon Zest, your highness. I’m very, very sorry for getting in your way. Please don’t fire me!”

“Um,” Twilight swallowed another gulp of hot coffee. “What?”

“I didn’t know you were the Grand Mage! I swear it!”

Twilight looked around. “Did this happen before I drank the coffee?”

“Um, yes, your Highness. When you were going into the dry storage and I—”

Twilight sighed. “Okay then, here’s what you do. First, never get in my way when I need coffee.”

“Yes, Majesty! I promise, I—”

“Second, never bow to me unless you’re at some official function. Third, never call me ‘highness’ or ‘majesty.’ I don’t like it. I’m not the Princesses. Fourth, don’t worry about whatever happened. I haven’t had enough coffee yet, so I’m going to forget about this entire conversation in another five minutes. Now, go back to doing whatever it is you were doing. I’m taking this pot of coffee with me to my briefing. I’m going to need all of it.”

“Of course, Your Hi—… Maj—… Er…” The mare looked up at her but didn’t quite get out of the bow. “W—what should…? Um…”

Twilight shook her head. “Haven’t decided yet. Doesn’t matter. Call me ‘Twilight.’ Preferably, ‘Twilight, She Who Has Coffee.’ Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

The Grand Mage, proper coffee in tow, walked around the yellow pony and kept going towards the war room with her mug and the entire pot in magical tow. Yes! Coffee! I wonder who it was I was talking to and what it was they wanted…

Twilight strode into the briefing room with her coffee half-finished and her mind now finally awake. The room itself was on the third-to-last floor of the war room. The two floors below were still under construction, and she felt the vibrations on the floor, but such disturbances disappeared when she entered the briefing room. Must be acoustically isolated via spells.

Much like the rest of the war room, new wood pillars, corkboard walls, and a mixture of fluorescent and traditional lightning gave it a hurried, busy feel. One thing that was unique about it, at least at the moment, was that there was an armored adolescent dragon in the corner arguing with a cream-colored pony with a brown mane done up in a bun.

“I’m telling you, she was gone when I got there!” Spike yelled.

“And you should have been up before her! That’s what a seneschal does!” the cream-colored pony yelled back.

“Hello, everypony!” Twilight beamed. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Raven Quill. How’s Princess Celestia’s senechal holding up lately?”

Raven sighed. “I was just trying to explain to your senechal that he should’ve been up before you! It’s his duty to greet you and—”

“Twilight never wakes up this early!” Spike interrupted, stepping in between the two mares. “Think about it! Her name is Twilight! She is not a morning pony! The only thing that can get her up early is a world catastrophe!”

“Or Luna making some rather creative threats about what she’ll do if we’re late to her training.” Twilight smirked, taking another sip of coffee. “It’s fine, Raven. Spike and I have been side by side in our ‘antics’ for something like twenty years now. We’ll figure out it. Now, what’s on the agenda?”

Raven sighed again and pulled out a stack of papers, giving some to Spike. “Your agenda starts with a briefing with Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Prince Armor. Speaking of, Rainbow Dash should be here by now.”

“She’s even less of a morning pony than I am,” Twilight chuckled. “Give her another few minutes. Then I’ll have a guard dump some water on her.”

“Heh heh. Don’t send a guy to do that.” Spike covered his groin with his hands. “I’m pretty sure if you do, he’ll be coming back as a mare.”

The doors opened behind Twilight, and she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna enter the room, each followed by a member of their guard.

“Good morning, everypony!” Celestia said cheerfully. “Oh my, it appears Rainbow Dash hasn’t joined us yet.” She leaned down to her accompanying pegasus guard. “Would you please go wake up Rainbow Dash for us?”

He saluted, and then bowed. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

Just before he got out of the doors, Twilight couldn’t help but add “Use a bucket of water if you have to!”

The stallion turned and bowed again before taking off.

Twilight took another sip of her coffee and then realized Spike was giving her a dirty look. “What? It’s not like she hasn’t done stuff like that to us.”

Spike shook his head. “Cruelty. Plain, utter, cruelty.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Twilight rolled her eyes and poured her last cup of the pot. Today is going to be a good day. It has coffee!She eyes moved over to a somewhat sleepy looking Luna and her senechal, Pulsar.

I still can’t believe Luna has a senechal. That’s like… like Pinkie Pie taking a meditation break. Or just sitting still for more than seventeen seconds.

The door opened again as Twilight took another sip, and this time, three new ponies walked in: The first two were Princess Cadence, and her brother, Prince Armor. Behind them, however, followed Prince Blueblood.

Somehow her “proper” coffee didn’t quite taste as good anymore.

“Sorry we’re late,” Cadence ducked her head in a small bow. “It’s been a busy morning for us.”

“‘Tis quite alright,” Luna said through a yawn. “It was a busy few days when you truly think about it.”

“Mmm,” Twilight agreed.

“Grand Mage Sparkle?”

“Mmm!” Twilight nearly spit out her coffee into her cup. “What the… Blueblood? Er, Prince Blueblood?” What in Celestia’s mane is he doing!? Did he really just deign to talk to me!? He hates me!

The Prince sighed. “Yes. I’ve… I’ve come to make peace. For my past… behavior.”

Twilight stared at him. “Who in Tartarus let a changeling in here?”

“Twilight, be nice.” Celestia admonished.

Spike shook his head. “Actually, I gotta admit, I’m skeptical too. Are you really Blueblood?”

“Spike!” Celestia gave him a scolding look while Luna chuckled.

Blueblood sighed. “I do realize that I have been somewhat harsh in the past. I had my reasons.”

“Yeah, bad ones.” Spike grumbled.

“Spike! I can speak for myself, thank you!” Twilight warned him then turned back to Blueblood. “Yes. I imagine you did, Prince. Bad ones.”

The Prince cringed a bit. “Yes, but, I want to put that behind us. Auntie Celestia has confidence in you, and, well, our government’s precarious state has been made clear to me. If there’s something you need me to do to help you save it, the Duchy of Canterlot will help.”

In other words, he’s worried he’ll lose his cushy lifestyle if Canterlot falls. Typical. Still, help is help. She gave him a very slight bow. “Thank you, Prince. I appreciate that you are making this effort, and I too would like to put past unpleasantness behind us.”

Celestia started to smile again, and Twilight couldn’t help but mirror it. At least Blueblood wasn’t going to be out to make her life miserable anymore.

The door opened yet again, this time with a wet Rainbow Dash and a limping Royal Guard pony behind her. After he stumbled in the room, he leaned against his post and awkwardly pressed his rear legs together.

“Is everything alright?” Celestia asked the Guard pony.

“No,” he squeaked.

“I told you,” Spike said, holding his hands behind his head. “Absolute cruelty.”

“Never do that to me again,” Rainbow glared then shook off some water onto him. “Now get the buck out of here so we can do this meeting thing! Out!”

He meandered out the doors, wobbling and limping in pain.

Twilight cringed, mouthing a silent apology.

Luna yawned again. “Well then, let’s get started, shall we, sister?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. I know that most of you have been briefed on what’s going to happen in the near future, but Twilight’s group has not, as they have been otherwise occupied. So, here’s a quick run-through.

“First and foremost, I am leaving Canterlot this afternoon for a tour of some of our most dissatisfied cities. Prince Blueblood will be accompanying me.”

Here’s hoping he doesn’t cancel out whatever goodwill Celestia wins, Twilight thought to herself.

Celestia continued, “During this time, Luna will remain here and take over my Day Courts to get ponies to trust her in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Princess Cadence will take over the Night Courts as a regent.”

Luna cut in. “Meanwhile, Prince Armor, my High Cardinal, you will be training with me and your new subordinates in order to truly become a part of my Night Guard.”

Twilight smirked. “Careful if she offers you lunch. The pie has a laxative.”

Luna laughed a bit with a touch of her full, unsealed voice mixed in. “Oh, Twilight, his training will not be the same as yours, I can assure you.”

Rainbow started a hover. “Heh. Well, in that case I’d start packing your own lunches, Obsidian. Or figure out how to live without food, maybe.”

Celestia lifted a hoof to halt the exchange. “As we speak, Twilight, your friends are being escorted to their homes by the Royal Guard. Applejack and Fluttershy should already be home in Ponyville. You needn’t worry about them.”

Twilight gave her a small bow. “Thanks, Princess. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, my student. Also, remember, you have the authority to give similar orders should you ever feel your friends need extra protection. In addition, you now have full use of our chariots. You may use them anytime you wish.

“Anyway, those are the basics of our near-term plans. That having being said, Twilight, your own mission is going to take you quite a distance away from Canterlot, all the way to our northern borders.”

“Near Gryphonia?” Rainbow asked.

“The very same,” Celestia answered with a touch of gravity in her voice. “Before you leave, we will readjust Spike’s mail spell to link directly to Luna. She will be your backup, but be careful all the same. Your destination is rather far from a leyline, which means Spike’s dragon mail may not reach us.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand, and I will be. Thank you for your confidence in me, Princess.”

“You’ll always have it, Twilight. Now then, nephews, niece, Raven Quill, if you would please start your preparations. I would like to brief Twilight’s team on the details of her mission.”

The group all bowed to Celestia and started to leave. The Princess’s implication was clear: this was need-to-know only. The small herd’s worth of ponies all filed out. Though, Cadence and Obsidian both stopped to give Twilight a hug.

“I know you’ll do great,” Cadence whispered in her.

“We both do,” her brother added, squeezing them both with his crazy military strength.

“Thanks, guys.” Twilight nuzzled both of them at the same time while Cadence wrapped her wings around them for a moment. “I won’t let you down.”

They broke the hug to leave and waved to her as they left.

Twilight sighed and turned back to face Celestia and Luna. “I’m ready.”

“Good. I think we have found an appropriate mission for you, especially for your first outing, but always be prepared for the unexpected. Luna, are you ready?”

“Yes, sister.” The Night Princess turned to her senechal, who had remained when all the others had left. “Pulsar, if you would?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” He bowed then levitated some paper up on the wall behind them along with a very large map.

Twilight smirked at the fact that his voice was a little high for a stallion, especially one clad in Night Guard colors. He must not have a glamour spell that changes his voice.

“This is a map of the northern reaches of Germaney and Stalliongrad. As you can see, there’s a large area in between them that’s outside of any recognized Duchy. Next to the mountains, even farther north, is a tiny town by the name of Wintervale. Like many other distant towns in the north that we consider lost from Council and Crown control, we have marked it black on our status map.”

Rainbow landed from her hover and raised a hoof. “So it’s under Gryphon control?”

Pulsar shook his head. “No, they don’t have much control that far west. Even if they were, the towns under Gryphon ‘control’ aren’t fully ruled by them. They just handed over enforcement of law to the Gryphon mercenaries instead of any Equestrian agencies. But that’s enough for the Council to consider them rogue.”

“But you can’t just kick out the Gryphons without risking an all-out war,” Spike pointed out, folding his arms.

“Correct.” Pulsar dragged up a few more papers and distributed them with his magic. “This town, however, seems to have a different issue. It’s not behaving like the others.”

“How so?” Twilight picked up the papers in her magic and started pouring over the data.

Pulsar continued, “Well, we call these towns ‘black,’ but this one has seemingly gone completely dark. Here, look at the data in front of you. Those are listing for post office volume. We track the number of packages and letters leaving and arriving at each one. Normally this is just used so we know how to allocate funding. But this town’s post office? It’s a black hole. There have been some letters and packages coming in, but at a much lower than normal rate. Going out, though? Nada. Zilch. Zero. That just doesn’t happen!”

“That is weird.” Spike flipped through the pages. “Ah, I think I see it. Wintervale, outbound, zero. Freaky. What kind of town doesn’t send mail?”

“That is exactly what we need you to find out.” Celestia stepped forward, her voice suddenly much more serious than normal. “We sent a Royal Guard scouting party already. The ponies were still there, but they more or less kicked the soldiers out right away. As such, Luna will take you to Copeneighgen via teleportation. From there, you will take the train into the city of Denmarek, posing as civilians, and then take the final leg on hoof.”

Spike groaned. “Whoo boy. That’s going to be a serious trek.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, but being more subtle may be to your advantage. Since they were not receptive to Royal Guard members, you should assume identities of a less important stature. For example, perhaps ponies under General Blaze’s command, as she is from that area, but the choice there is yours.

“To help, we have commissioned new armor for both Rainbow and Spike that is identical in function and form but with no identifying marks. You’ll pick them up in Denmarek. We’ll also give you some travelling cloaks, but most important will be an RGIS safe house also located in Denmarek. There, a disguise specialist will apply a temporary dye to your coat and manes.”

“Ah man!” Rainbow flopped over backwards. “I hate putting crap in my mane!”

“It’s just temporary, Rainbow.” Twilight rolled up her papers and levitated them back to Pulsar. “If the ponies there kick out officials on sight, we can’t look like we’re from Canterlot itself. We’re going there to help, but we can’t do that if we don’t know what’s wrong.”

Spike raised a hand. “Um, what are we going to do about the member of the team that doesn’t look like a pony at all?”

Luna laughed a tiny bit. “It’s a small town. I advise that you stay back a reasonable distance as we planned. While you may not be able to send mail immediately, Twilight may need you to run back into range of a leyline and send for help that way. Granted, we hope that will not happen.”

Twilight lifted Rainbow and tried to get her to sit up. It wasn’t working very well. “You and me both, Luna.”

“There are a couple of other things, Twilight.” Celestia pulled out a large bag that sounded like it was full of metal pieces along with a scroll.

There was only one possible choice as to which was more important. “What’s this?” Twilight asked, unfurling the scroll. “The… the Royal Canterlot Voice!?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, you are authorized to use it now. Luna said you’ve been approximating it quite well so far, but this is the real thing.”

Twilight tucked it into her bag and gave her mentor a bow. “I promise I’ll do it justice.”

“I have no doubt of that, my pupil. Now, as for this…” Celestia lifted the bag and floated it over to Twilight. “This is your new salary, so to speak.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she picked up the bag. Even in her telekinesis, it felt heavy. She promptly turned it upside down, and a multitude of gem-encrusted five-hundred-bit pieces fell right out.

“Holy horsefeathers!” Spike all but dove into the pile and picked up a few. “Didn’t Twilight used to get like, a thousand bits a month? There’s gotta be like sixty thousand in here!”

“Sixty thousand bits a year? Meh, I made more as a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow shrugged. “After endorsements, of course. Although to be honest with you, I freaking hate Alpine Cola.”

Luna snickered under her wing. “Actually, Rainbow, it’s closer to sixty thousand per week.”

“Six… per week… Three… mil… year…” Twilight’s eye twitched for a moment before she started to pack up the bits back in the sack. “I can’t accept this! I’m already getting free room and board here! I don’t need this kind of money!”

Luna chuckled. “Grand Mages have a dangerous job, hence they are compensated well. But, there is also another reason. There is a good chance, during your investigations, that you shall need to grease some hooves, as it were.”

“Palms, Luna.” Twilight facehooved. “Grease some palms. It’s a minotaur expression.”

“The point stands. If this is necessary to complete your investigations, feel free to do so, but please be discreet. It could be a bit of a scandal if you are caught. Also, if you do resort to this, make a note of who so we can launch an ‘independent investigation’ later. I despise such corruption, but I have no issue exploiting those receptive to it for a greater good so long as they are pursued later.”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose that makes some sense. But I’d be kind of self-conscious just carrying this around.”

Celestia let out a large laugh, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Oh Twilight. We wouldn’t expect you to carry that. That’s why we have banks, after all.”

Twilight opened her mouth, instincts expecting a counterpoint, only for her brain to completely fail to argue against that logic. “Ah. Banks. Right.”

Celestia was still laughing a bit. “We’ll set up a series of special, discreet accounts for you at some of the major chains so you’ll have access to discretionary funds wherever you go. Try not to go on any spending binges." She winked.

Spike was chuckling, too. “Heh. Twilight only binges on books.”

Twilight poked him in the gut. “At least my binges expand my mind instead of my stomach, Mr. Future Spike’s Problem!’”

Spike pulled out a nail file and sharpened a claw. “You say that now, but I survived and got to eat an entire tub of ice cream!”

“He’s gotcha there, Twi!” Rainbow extended a hoof to Spike and she shared a hoof/fist bump.

Twilight lowered her ears in frustration. “Ugh. Freaking crazy ponies.”

“Pfft. This is nothing.” Luna flapped her wings a little in excitement. “I remember back in in the pre-classical era there was an annual contest to eat the most ice in five minutes. Not ice cream. Ice.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Luna, dearest sister, if I recall correctly, you won that contest three times in a row. And called for the ice to be salted first to drop the temperature.”

“And yet, my point still stands!”

“I. Look. Terrible.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, looking at her own new blue coat. “Well, I look like a blueberry. So suck it up, Rainbow.”

The pegasus zoomed up in front of her. “Better a blueberry than a freaking strawberry. Seriously!? Red!? The sky is not red!”

“Well, at least your mane is nice.” Spike put his hand on her head, and Twilight was only a little unnerved that he had grown enough in the last few months to be easily taller than both of them. “Blonde goes good with that color!”

“Ugh. Blonde.” Rainbow put her forehooves on her head in what Twilight was mostly sure was mock horror. “I’m getting flashbacks to bubble flanks and derp eyes.”

“Rainbow! That is not called for!” Twilight snapped. “Ditzy is probably the only mare in existence nice enough to give Fluttershy a run for her money!”

Spike chuckled. “And her butt breaks solid oak!”

“Spike! Not you too!”

The dragon rubbed his claws on his new generic armor. “Who’s being mean? Sounds like it could be really useful from time to time!”

Twilight sighed and tossed her cloak over her back, hiding her torc. “Let’s just get going, guys. We’ve got all the stuff we needed, plus rations for the trip and camping gear. The sooner we get started, the sooner we get there.”

Spike nodded. “True, but let’s take a leisurely pace, alright?”

“Um, newsflash, Spike.” Rainbow took off into the air and did some loops in the blue sky. “I don’t do leisurely!”

“Yeah, newsflash, Rainbow!” Spike yelled out. “Take a look at me! No wings, two legs. I don’t walk as fast as you!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, too. “Down here, at my side, now!”

The pegasus appeared there in just over a second but with a perplexed look on her face. “Jeez, what’s with you, Twilight?”

Twilight restarted her walk down the dirt road, the city at her back. “We go at Spike’s pace. I’m not going to exhaust him before we even get there. He needs to be able to sprint a long way back to get into range for dragon mail if something goes wrong. Our lives are in his hands, so treat him with respect, okay?”

The pegasus landed, keeping pace just behind them. “Jeez, what’s eating you?”

Twilight swallowed. “Sorry. I suppose I’m just a little nervous. First mission jitters.”

“Ah!” Rainbow took back off into the air. “I totally get that! I mean, first show with the ‘Bolts? I was biting my hooves and about ready to pull out my mane. Seriously about to have a total breakdown. And then Fleetfoot pulled me aside to show me something. Want to know what?”

They made eye contact, Twilight giving her a perplexed look.

Without missing a beat, Rainbow dove to the ground and placed a hoof on her friend. "Okay, just stop. Stop everything you are doing. Look at the sky around us. Well, here I guess that'd be the ground. Or world. Whatever, Twilight. The point is stop... and look!

Twilight dimly nodded. “Okay.”

“See how the sky is so blue? The mountains back there? The green grass all around us? The forest ahead? Do you feel warmth of the sun on our backs? Do you smell the cool breeze? Can you taste the water in the air? The dirt under your hooves?”

“Um, yes?”

Rainbow slapped her on the back. “No you don’t. Not yet. Sit there for a moment, completely still, eyes open.”

“You? Still?” Spike joked.

Rainbow smirked at him. “Quiet, scaly. We’re having a moment here. Twilight?”

She shrugged. “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

She sat down and took in a deep breath. This is actually a bit like those exercises Celestia had me do as a filly… Her lungs pulled in the air. It was ever so slightly cool from the breeze. This far north, the summer was already starting to break from autumn’s influence, but the sun was still bright enough to warm her hooded cloak to the point where she could feel it. The wind could also be plainly heard from the waving grasses and tall trees. Well, at least we’ll have food if we run out of rations. We could just graze…

Twilight shook her head. Focus, filly. Focus. She took another deep breath and redoubled her efforts. The sky was indeed quite blue and mostly clear. Only a few stray puffs were up there along with some extreme high-altitude clouds no pegasi could get to in order to clear. I wonder if alicorns can fly that high… Argh!

Twilight grunted once more and tried yet again. The road ahead was only made of brown dirt with the occasional stone tossed in just to be awkward. The town ahead must have been too small and too infrequently visited to warrant anything more. It wound around the hills, flowing with the terrain and through a deep wooded area. Far in the distance, large mountains could be seen. They were the border between what was generally considered pony lands and gryphon lands, with the mountains themselves too steep and harsh for either to live comfortably. Even the dark clouds above them spoke to their difficult environment. Dark clouds? I would’ve expected a light color. Could it be the angle? It’s also odd for weather to get pushed up them given their orientation, and…

Twilight facehooved. “Sorry, Dash, I just can’t get into it. Each time I try, I start going off on a tangent, and well, start thinking about things.”

Rainbow scratched her head. “Really? That always worked with me. And I’m fairly ADD. I mean, not as ADD as Pinkie, but still.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Yeah, Pinkie’s like A-D-Ultra-Hyper-D.”

Twilight shook her head. “I think she’s actually gotten better since starting her own business. And I’m sorry, Rainbow, but it’s just not working for me. You know how I am. I need structure. I’ve gone without for a while.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Oh, I know! Want me to start a checklist?”

She gave him a hug. “That’s sweet, Spike, but right now there’s only like three things to put on there. That’s not a checklist. That’s a vague idea. What I need is something for my mind to chew on for a bit.”

Rainbow gave Twilight a light push to get them all going again. “What about that journal thing the Princess gave you?”

Twilight glanced over to make sure Spike could keep pace reasonably and found him actually moving fairly well despite being weighed down with armor and a backpack. He really has gotten stronger… She shook her head and brought herself back to the conversation. “Sorry, got distracted. Again. And the journal’s blank, Rainbow. Nothing to read. Should’ve brought a book, I guess.”

“So write something instead!” Rainbow went back into a hover and shrugged. “That’s what it’s there for!”

“Not much to write yet,” Twilight countered, looking at the pocket where her book resided. “Unless…” She lit her horn and pulled out a book and an accompanying pen, flipping several pages in advance. The pen scribbled furiously over the page, inscribing a series of magical scripts and diagrams.

Rainbow peeked over her shoulder. “What the heck is that?”

“Ah, I recognize that!” Spike was peeking too.

Twilight closed her book with a light ‘whap’ coming from its pages. “Dangit, quit looking over my shoulder, you two!”

Spike held up his hands. “Sorry, forgot. But that’s your cipher script, right?”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about one of Starswirl’s spells lately. It’s rather odd, structurally speaking. I actually think it’s one of the few of his I could cast if given enough time. I don’t know if I want to, though.”

“What’s it do? Turn a frog into a grapefruit?” Rainbow chuckled, holding her stomach in her mid-air backstroke.

Twilight cringed. “No. It banishes something or someone to another dimension he described as ‘The Dark.’”

Rainbow faltered in the air, catching herself just a foot or so above the ground. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “It’s a powerful spell.”

“That has to be the single most cliché name for an alternate dimension I’ve ever heard. I mean, how lame can you get?!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight stomped her hoof. “Starswirl was a brilliant magician! Completely insane, yes, but also brilliant! Besides, he lived in the Pre-Classical, Pre-Discordian era. I’m pretty sure you can’t call something cliché when it’s that old.”

Rainbow groaned and shrugged. “Okay, okay, so it gets a pass on ‘cliché’ for being older than dirt.”

“Careful!” Spike wagged his finger at her. “You just called the Princesses older than dirt. And odds are whoever my biological parents are as well.”

Rainbow went rigid for a moment, then facehooved. “I really need to watch what I say around things that get to live as much as they want…”

Twilight nodded and flipped a page in her book, starting a new diagram. “Well, as long as something doesn’t come along and kill us, anyway.”

Rainbow trotted a bit and caught up. “I’m not sure I want to meet the thing that can kill an alicorn.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks, half-closing her book. Do I tell her? Celestia probably kept it hidden for a reason… But Luna also said we need ponies to relate to… “You already have. His name is Discord.”

Rainbow just looked confused. “Um, Discord? But we stopped him. It was awesome! We were all—”

“No, Rainbow, you don’t understand.” Twilight closed her book and held it out to her two guards. “But before I tell you, I need you both to put your hoof and hand on this book and swear to me that you won’t tell another soul.”

Spike scratched his head. “Um, Twilight?”

“Please, Spike.” She looked right in his eyes and pleaded with her own. “I can’t share this with you if you don’t. I’m taking a small risk as it is. I wouldn’t even do this if I couldn’t see reasonably far in this field and see there’s nopony around. I don’t know what this information could do if it got out and was believed. Please, put your hand on the—”

The book jostled a bit, and Twilight turned to see Rainbow’s hoof already on it.

“You can trust me,” she said. “I won’t tell a soul.”

Spike added his hand. “Me too. My lips are sealed. Cross my heart, hope to fly.”

“Stick a cupcake in my eye,” Rainbow finished.

Twilight smiled and wiped away a tear. “Thank you. Both of you.” She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Here goes. “You know how Celestia said Discord used to rule the world? She wasn’t kidding. But the reason she doesn’t tell many ponies how old she is is because Discord didn’t show up until around four thousand years ago. She’s nearly ten thousand years old. For nearly five thousand years, she ruled a nation with Princess Luna.”

“So, Equestria was around before Discord, and he screwed it all up?” Spike shrugged. “Don’t really see how that’s a big deal.”

“That’s the thing, Spike.” Twilight continued. “I don’t even know if it was Equestria they ruled over.”

Rainbow scratched her temple. “What do you mean? What else would they rule over? Saddle Arabia?”

Twilight blew her bangs out of her face and turned a little so the wind wouldn’t keep messing with her mane quite so much. “No, Dash. She ruled over a nation. She never told me what it was called. But she did tell me that there were twelve other alicorns, each with their own nation to rule. When Discord came, Celestia and Luna were the only ones to survive his onslaught.”

Spike grabbed his head. “Twelve other alicorns! Holey moley!”

Twilight gave him a small hug. “I know. Twelve other nations. Twelve other rulers. But, it gets worse.”

Rainbow was still scratching her temple. “Worse? He killed twelve alicorns, and it gets worse!? We were lucky he didn’t kill us too!”

Twilight let the wind blow her bangs around again and let Spike break the hug and sit down. “Yeah. It gets worse. Celestia described the world to me. The world she knew. You can…” Twilight reached into her bags and pulled an orange from her rations. “You can imagine it like this orange. Now, watch.”

Power flowed into her horn, and she placed a very simple glamour spell over the orange, making it look much bigger than it actually was. “Imagine that if instead of just making the orange look bigger that I actually made the rind grow. The land itself grew by an order of magnitude, splitting up all the nations and even the cities within each one. But, that’s not all it did.”

Twilight turned her attention to the actual orange and very carefully pulled on it in all directions with her magic. Eventually, it began to split apart, with the rind splitting into ovaloid pieces. “The expansion wasn’t perfect. Far away from Equestria, deep in the massive oceans we have yet to fully chart, are the borders between each piece of rind.” She pointed at two of them with a hoof. “Storm-like areas of powerful chaos magic that are difficult if not impossible to traverse. In order to get to the rest of the world, you eventually have to cross these, but even attempting to do so can warp you almost anywhere else in Equus. If you aren’t extremely careful, even if you get through, you might not ever get home.”

“Whoa,” both guards said simultaneously.

“Yeah.” Twilight dispelled the glamour and recovered her orange. “Eventually, and probably soon, ponies are going to find these regions. But, for now, they’re too far out. Celestia doesn’t want us to tell them about this. She wants her ponies to discover and conquer them on our own. So we can’t tell anypony. And I mean anypony. If they find out naturally, it’ll be a curiosity. If they learn the full truth, they’ll freak that the statue in her garden could not only kill her and everypony else but pretty much destroy the world with a wave of a paw.”

Spike thumped his chest and belched. “I have heartburn just thinking about it. Makes me wonder how we beat him.”

Twilight motioned with her head to continue their journey, and they all started walking again. “Luna theorizes that growing the world like that took a lot of his power for a long time. She also thinks that when he first got out of his statue, he was at his weakest. Basically, we got lucky. He was overconfident.”

“That’s it.” Spike put his hand out with his palms up. “I don’t want to talk about world-ending catastrophes anymore. Not unless they involve Pinkie Pie getting into the sugar factory again. Let’s change the subject. What was that spell you were working on? Something about banishing?”

“Ah, right.” Twilight pulled out her book and resumed working on it. “Basically, it’s an interdimensional spell. It slowly forces something through to another dimension. I’m trying to memorize it by writing it in an encrypted form.”

“‘Encrypted form?’” Rainbow went into a hover. “Definitely sounds like something out of the military. Can you actually write a spell in code?”

“Twilight can!” Spike laughed. “She created it when she was fourteen. I was there. She tried to explain it to her professor, and they just looked at her funny, said that encrypting it was useless because science is at its best when it’s shared.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide for a moment.

~~Ponies need to discover new magic and new technology on their own.Ultimately, revealing things before they are ready is akin to handing a foal a stick of dynamite and a match. ~~

The ascendant swallowed. “Yeah, I think she just couldn’t understand what I was doing. Anyway, despite what protections are on the book itself, making it encrypted will also help if it gets stolen. Not that I plan on having it stolen, but it pays to prepare.”

Rainbow flew by in a backstroke. “How big a spell is it? What’d you think Spike could count to before you could cast it?”

Twilight tapped the pen in her lips a few times. “I’m not sure. Forty-five maybe? It’s a multi-stage spell. You actually have to cast a few spells before going through with the final stage, and it requires the use of a large, three-dimensional magic circle. Not something I can really do in a fight, just something that’s complex enough to keep me sharp, but also something from his book I can readily grasp. Starswirl had a habit of not explaining himself very well. Or, really, at all.”

Rainbow landed. “Yeah, about that. Thanks for telling us about the Discord stuff.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah. Really?” Spike also asked.

Rainbow put her ears back. “Yeah. Really. It feels good to be with my friends again. The Wonderbolts… They’re a good bunch, individually, and they even look like they’re a team. They fly like they’re a team. But I think Rarity goes through less drama in a year than I had to in a week. I’m finally back with ponies that care about me as much as they do themselves, and that means a lot.”

Twilight smiled and wrapped a foreleg around her friend. “Camaraderie isn’t a one-way street. We need to support each other, selflessly, for it to really work.”

“Loyalty. It’s what I’m all about, according to the Elements of Harmony. I didn’t really get that in the Wonderbolts. No wonder I was miserable, looking back.” Rainbow dropped her head down.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Dash. You’ve got a place as Captain of my Guard, as long as you want it.”

Rainbow brightened at that. “I get to be Captain?”

“Heh, look around, Rainbow!” Spike chuckled. “I’m a non-combat seneschal. You’re the only other member. You can pretty much take whatever rank you want and still have the highest one.”

Rainbow brightened even more, a playful smirk gracing her lips. “Heh. So does that mean I can have the rank ‘Super-Captain?’”

Twilight smirked right back. “Of course not! I want my Guard to be a respectable unit.”

Spike put an arm over Rainbow too. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have chosen a leader who’s been known to make faces at Royal Guards until she either gets bored or they crack a smile.”

“Heh. Keep talking, sulfur-breath.” Rainbow lightly knocked him away with a wing. “You’re cruising for latrine patrol at this rate.”

“What latrine?” Twilight and Spike both asked.

“If there’s no latrine, the latrine patrol then has to make the latrine!” Rainbow stated matter-of-factly. “And we are probably going to have to camp out before we get there, at this rate.”

Spike cringed. “Hey, maybe I can go a little faster after all.”

Twilight shook her head. “No pushing it, Spike. We get there when we get there. Believe me, I want to hurry, too. There could be ponies in distress. But, we can’t help them if we’re exhausted, and you can’t help us if we get in trouble if you’re exhausted too.” She looked off into the distance, at the woods now getting awfully close, and the darker clouds on the horizon. “I just hope we aren’t too late.”

Author's Note

Well. This took a while, didn’t it?

Sorry about that. A lot of stuff is going on. The good news is that I’m starting to get used the voice dictation software. This means that I’m actually outputting words now. In fact, I’ve started putting words into a new, original project that will eventually turn into a commercial novel. As you might imagine, this is just in starting phases, so I don’t have a timeframe for it yet. That being said, I am ABSOLUTELY still working on Rites! In fact, I’ve probably written over fifty thousand words using the voice dictation software for RoA!

Now, how about the new art, huh? My wife wasn’t the artist this time, as she didn’t have enough spare hours to work on another epic picture. Thus, we commissioned Silfoe, who is freaking awesome. For those of you wondering, on the right side of the image we have Charlemane and Bismare. On the left side, we have Trixie and Obsidian Armor. Yes, there will be Trixie. In what capacity and when she’ll show up is yet to be revealed. ;) But there will be Trixie. Eventually.

If you’re worried things will take a Twixie-like bend, don’t be. Twilight will not enter into a romantic relationship in Rites of Ascension, period. She can be hit on, but I’m not going to have her fall in love. There’s already enough going on, I don’t need to add romance to the mix. X)

The original cover art can still be found on my wife’s deviantART page.

Also, big welcome to new editors Nharctic, Sir Rustbucket, and Biker_Dash. With their help new updates will hopefully be able to be posted a little faster than these last few months.

Sorry for the lack of chapter title image. People be busy. ‘Tis the season, after all.

Anyway, I hope you guys really enjoyed this first chapter of the first mission of the second book. ;) As I mentioned in my blog post, this is only the very first layer of an extraordinarily large onion. They’re still an awful lot going on behind the scenes that is yet to be explained, and even when we reach the end of this first mission, will have only barely started to take off that papery wrapping of the monster onion that is this story. And remember, not everything is as it seems. Mwuahahahahahahahaha!

You might have noticed that there is a brand-new information revealed in this chapter by Twilight. This was something that Celestia was originally supposed to mention in the first chapter, but I kinda forgot to put it in. That having been said, with this update, I’ve also posted brand-new versions of both the prologue chapter and chapter 1. These have been heavily rewritten, and the new version of chapter 1 does include this new piece of information. Go give them a read! They’re way better than the old versions. :)

Note, however, that those are the only two chapters that I’m going to rewrite. I figure you guys are far more interested in seeing new chapters from me than rewritten old chapters.

Lastly, I’ve finally set up a Patreon page! Because I don’t make a post every month, the pledges are going to be per chapter. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Patreon, here’s a quick rundown of how works.

When you sign up for Patreon, you can pledge to give support to artists who are giving their work away for free in order to support the work that they do. The amount you pledge can be as little as one dollar, up to however much you want. Some artists will use a monthly pledge, where you contribute once a month regardless of the amount of content they put out, while others, such as myself, accept pledges per creation/chapter. Those who pledge at a certain amount or more receive certain rewards. In my case, those who pledge three dollars or more per chapter will receive a special preview of the next unedited chapter! Pretty cool, huh? Right now, that’s the only reward I can think of, but I am working on getting some others for higher-level donations. If you have any suggestions, feel free to send me a PM! (I'm still working on how to issue rewards. Based on new info from Patreon, the first rewards will probably go out to people who have made pledges when the chapter after this one is released. For those who have already pledged, I'm not going to issue this chapter as a paid one. Also to those who have already pledged, thank you very much! Your support is greatly appreciated!)

Now, to be clear, regardless of the amount pledged by people, Rites itself will always be free. I will always continue to post new chapters of the story here on FimFiction for free. All pledging does is help support me financially, as well as get you the rewards that I post on Patreon. This having been said, naturally, such support is always appreciated. Also, a huge thank you to those who have donated so far in the traditional PayPal tip jar. Again, it’s been a massive help.

With all that having been said, welcome to Rites of Ascension book 2. It’s going to be a heck of a ride. Thank you all for sticking with me and my silly little story.

-Cv

1/1/15: I made some minor edits, but the word count changed more than it should have. If someone finds an area that appears to have words missing, let me know and I'll go back and fix it. FimFic's importer is... less than ideal.

Mundane Made Magical

Twilight waited patiently in her corner, counting the seconds by the grandfather clock behind the bar.

She made it to all of seventeen before pulling out her book to begin writing updates in it, organizing everything she did and did not know about the case, complete with table of contents. She was also planning a glossary and index, but for now, she was back to encrypting the Starswirl spell from before along with some others from his books.

Around the time she finished transcribing the banishing spell, the door to the inn opened, sending her ears up in alert as she peeked from behind the pages.

“Hey, T— Er, Star!”

Her heart sank, followed by a wave of guilt for it. “Hey. How’s Spike?”

The pegasus plodded up to a seat at the table and flopped in it. “He’s doing fine. A little bored, but he’s got a nice camp set up just inside the woods.”

Twilight levitated a mug over. “Good, we’re going to need it. Inn’s full. Here, I got you a drink.”

Rainbow went to take a swig, but stopped. “Did you test it?”

“Oh! Right, sorry. Can’t believe I already forgot. Don’t tell Luna—she’ll put a laxative in my hot sauce again.” Twilight lit her horn, testing both mugs at once with a toxin-detection spell, causing the ale inside to glow white. “It’s just alcohol. Go for it.”

“Whoo!” Rainbow tilted the mug back and downed most of the beverage in a few large gulps. “Ahhh! Needed that. You know, not many ponies can make enough clouds to put out half a town like that.”

“Or so fast! You’re a credit to the Guard. Now, keep an eye on the doors.” Twilight went back to her book.

Rainbow put a hoof on Twilight’s book, pushing it down a little. “On the doors? Why? Are you expecting somepony?”

Twilight shook her head and motioned for Rainbow to lean in close. “I set up an anti-changeling spell. I think the ponies here have been replaced, and I’m hoping that they’ll trigger it and prove me right,” she whispered.

“What, like all of them?” Rainbow whispered back. “That’s weird. Don’t changelings normally just replace one or two ponies and feed off the love of their mates?”

“Normally, yes, but nothing about this case is normal.” Twilight flipped to the page where she had laid out her case notes. “I’m waiting for at least a few to go through those doors. Night’s coming quick, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

Rainbow leaned back. “Cool. Cool. What do we do if the town is full of changelings?”

Twilight froze a moment. “I hadn’t thought about that. Fight like Tartarus and escape?”

Rainbow chuckled. “Sounds like my kind of plan. Oop! Here comes somepony!”

Twilight and Rainbow tensed as a group of ponies walked in. Instead of turning into insectoids, they remained covered in soot. The mare and two of the foals had tears in their eyes, while the stallion and a son both looked utterly shellshocked.

“Does wanting to say ‘darn, just refugees’ make me a bad pony?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight sighed. “If so, we’re both going to Tartarus in a saddlebag. I was hoping for a dramatic reveal. But, the night’s not over yet. Let’s keep waiting. We might actually find something.”

“We’re not going to find anything,” Rainbow deadpanned.

Twilight looked around at the crowded room of ponies, all lifting large steins and filling their bellies with basic fare. “Yeah, I don’t see this as being a productive use of time. Definitely no changelings here. At least, if there are, they don’t come to the bar. We’re going to have to find some other way of figuring out what’s going on.”

Rainbow looked into her empty mug. “So what do we do?”

Twilight hopped off the chair and packed away her book. “Well, I’m going to go take a walk—look around the town some more. Think you could do a quick aerial reconnaissance? Maybe look around the mountains for caves?”

Rainbow nodded, prancing a bit on the hardwood floor. “No sweat. Meet you at the lake?”

“Done.”

The two trotted out the door, with Rainbow taking to the air the instant they got outside. Twilight did a quick check to ensure that her trap hadn’t simply been dispelled, and when she found it in place, she dispelled it herself. No sense in leaving it there even if nopony is likely to detect it.

Night had come, and the overcast skies left the town in complete darkness, save for some relatively dim street lamps and a few last embers glowing in the blackened remains of homes. The scent of smoke lingered in the air as an eye-watering reminder of the day’s events, and a slight chill had overtaken the town. This far north, autumn came earlier, and the faint crispness in the air hinted that it was on its way.

“What I wouldn’t give for some moonlight right about now.” Twilight yawned and stretched her sore, worn-out muscles.

For some time, she took stock of the damage in the tiny town, going around its circular roads and watching the ponies sift through the charred buildings. One always seemed to watch her intently, and often entire groups would look at her like she were a draconequus.

Twilight put her ears back, picking up her pace. “I wonder if this was how Luna felt that first Nightmare Night… No, I can’t compare this to her burdens.” She trotted down one last street, aiming for the exit nearest the lake. Just before turning the last corner, she found a family digging out a very badly burnt home. The stallion and mare were trying to pry apart fallen beams with their hooves, while a small foal slept in a carriage.

Twilight stopped and approached them slowly. When they didn’t seem to notice her presence, she lit her horn and heaved the beam up, lifting her head as her mental field pushed against it. She cleared the debris as it groaned and creaked, leaving a space large enough for a pony to get through to try to salvage anything left unburned by the fire.

When she was done, the entire family was staring at her. The stallion in anger, the mare in terror. Even the foal was eyeing her.

Twilight gave them a very slight bow and with a low, soft voice said, “I’m sorry.”

The family continued staring.

She wasted no time leaving the scene, jogging rather than walking down towards the lake, this time heading for the far end, away from the mountains. The small body of water quickly flowed back to the river surrounding the town, where another bridge sat at the tributary. Looking out, she saw the lights of small houses beyond the fields and even a few barns.

Well, there’s still at least some agriculture here. Let’s take a look.Twilight broke into a light gallop, which felt good despite her fatigue. She felt her hooves bite into the dirt with every drumming thud—slipping and sinking into the soft soil before the ground firmed to support her and drive her onward. She realized she could feel the clods she kicked up as they landed behind her. The earth fed its strength back up to her—more than it took her to run. I guess this is how Applejack feels all the time on her farm. No wonder earth ponies like dirt under their hooves.

Before long, she was laughing to herself, giggling and almost prancing as she ran, like she’d had a whole barrel of cider instead of a few sips. Despite that, her mind felt far clearer than it usually did without something to lock on to.

A few minutes later, she was beginning to sweat, feeling the coolness of the air even more as it rushed against her slightly damp coat. “Huh. Whew. I think I needed that.” She looked around her, the darkness of the night becoming ever more pervasive. “And I think I’m completely lost.”

Twilight cast an illumination spell on her horn. She turned her head left and right, looking around on the winding dirt path leading past small farm after small farm. Wonder what they grow here. Apples would probably tolerate the climate fairly well. She hopped off the path, trod up the small incline towards a field, and stopped right on the edge.

“What the buck is this?” She approached the field and brought a hoof to one of the ears, causing it to snap. “This has to be the saddest corn I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Before her was a corn field that could only generously be described as “modest.” What should have been far taller than her only reached her barrel, and the stalks themselves looked half dead and completely parched.

“This place has a perfect, crystal-clear mountain stream. Probably glacier-fed! They should have all the water they need! Not to mention I saw a ton of earth ponies here. Celestia, this place is probably ninety percent earth pony. There were, what, a couple dozen pegasi and unicorns, at most? Granted, that’s not a lot of pegasi, but that’s still more than enough to make sure there’s rain here from time to time! This doesn’t make any sense!”

“Twilight!”

She whipped her head around back and forth a few times before finally looking up at a pegasus rapidly approaching her from the air. “Rainbow?”

“Good thing you lit your horn like that! I’ve been looking for you!” She flew down, coming to a gliding landing. “I went over by the mountains like you said, right? Found this huge cave. There’s ponies still working in it!”

Twilight jerked her head up in surprise. “Now? I wouldn’t think this town is large enough to operate a 24/7 mine.”

“Yeah, that’s not all. I took a peek in, and it’s pretty dim. Looks dangerous, and some of those ponies? I know mining ponies get covered in dirt and all, but some of them look like they’ve been in there for weeks. Their coats were covered in so much dirt I couldn’t even tell what their coat color was!”

Twilight started to scowl. “Based on these crops, I’d believe it. Look at these, Rainbow! When was the last time you saw an earth pony grow something like this?”

Rainbow looked over at the plants and her rubbed her eyes to look again. “Holy… I haven't seen a plant this sad since the cactus the spa twins gave you!"

Twilight sighed. “Let one aloe plant die, and you never live it down.” She placed a hoof to her forehead. “And aloe aren’t technically cacti, but that’s beside the point. Something is going on here. Did you find anything else?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. Near the cave entrance was this huge crate filled with hobbles. Like, the kind you see on criminals.”

“Irons?” Twilight took out her book and started adding the new information. “Were there any on the ponies working in the mine?”

“Not that I could see, but it was so dark, and they were so dirty I might not have noticed them. You’re right, Twi. Something isn’t adding up here, and I’m not even good at math.”

Twilight added that bit of information to the list. “Dry, dying crops. Houses burning with no pegasi to…”

The book and pen dropped to the ground.

Twilight ran up to Rainbow and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Rainbow! Did you see any pegasi in the air? All the ones I saw in town were walking!”

Rainbow jerked her head back and away. “Um, yeah, but pegasi can walk too, you know.”

“Yes, but did you see any in the air? Before or after the attack?”

“Um, no, not that I remember. Does it matter?”

Twilight slumped back down to the ground and stuffed her book and pen back in her saddlebag. “This… this is serious, Rainbow. Remember that bartender? He served us using his hooves!”

Rainbow looked at the town then back at her. “So?”

“‘So?’ He was a unicorn! And I saw a unicorn stallion trying to pry away a heavy beam using his hooves too! What kind of adult unicorns would try heavy or delicate work with their hooves when they could use their magic? What kind of pegasi wouldn’t move rainclouds to help put out a fire? What kind of earth ponies can’t grow crops to save their lives?”

Rainbow’s eyes shrank with terror. “Wait, Twilight, you’re not saying—”

Twilight cut her off. “Yes, Rainbow, I am saying that. I think these ponies lost their magic!”

“Whoa.” Rainbow looked off towards the town. “Taking a pony’s magic? That’s like… Who’d do that? That’s like cutting off a pony’s wings!”

“Worse. It’s like killing the soul. These ponies should be dead! This is just so strange and needlessly complicated. Not only should ‘taking a pony’s magic’ be damn near impossible, there are also ways to defend against it. Ask Luna about how she slew Tirek—just… not over lunch. Still, if that’s what’s happening… Here, give me your hoof.” Twilight reached out and grabbed Rainbow’s foreleg.

Rainbow jerked her hoof away, covering it with the other one and staring at Twilight like she was a more demonic version of Ahuizotl. “Whoa, whoa, wait! Are you sure whatever it is you’re doing is safe?”

“Positive. I’m just going to look at you, not cast any spells.”

“Okay… If you say so…”

With Rainbow’s leg outstretched and in her hooves, Twilight pulled a bit at her horn and turned her magic sight on. “Everyone has a wellspring at the core of their being. It makes and stores our magic, and one thing I was able to take away from Starswirl’s book was that they are incredibly resilient but not invincible. Regardless, if Starswirl was right, they should be dead. Or will be, once the wellspring is completely empty and unable to make more magic.”

Rainbow shuddered a bit. “Um, that’s awful and all, but what is it you’re looking for? Am I sick?”

Twilight put her friend’s leg back down. “It doesn’t look like it. Your leyline is a light blue, just like your coat. All pegasi seem to have that color. Your wellspring looks normal too. For some reason, we are not dying. Which really makes me curious as to why not.”

“You’re not dying? Don’t tell me you’re disappointed!”

“Rainbow!”

“Snrk! Heh.” Rainbow scratched her head, and started to form a devious grin. “Hmm… Would getting a closer look at one of these ponies with your magic sight help?”

“Probably. It depends on what’s actually going on and how obvious the issue is. Still, it seems a logical next step. I’d want them to be close, but I doubt they’re going to just let me stare at all their leylines an inch from their skin.”

Rainbow reached over and patted Twilight’s head. “Don’t worry your pretty little noggin about it, Twilight. Rainbow Danger Dash has it all taken care of!”

Twilight lowered her head and ears. “Why am I suddenly a lot more worried than before…”

“Why am I even more worried now…?”

Rainbow dismissed Twilight’s worries with a wave of her hoof. “Relax, this is totally going to work.”

“Work? This is crazy!” She stomped her hoof on the cloud, kicking up a small puff of vapor. “For one thing, what’s to say any of those ponies ever come out?”

“‘Cause I saw them do it. One of them even chased me away. I think they have some kind of patrol going.” She leaned over the edge and pointed at the cave entrance around a hundred meters below them, illuminated by a pair of oil lamps. “We just have to wait a few more minutes for the patrol pony to come out and then get to work!”

“I still don’t think this is—”

Rainbow grabbed her head and dragged it down to the edge of the cloud. “There he is! Go time!” She dove straight down off the cloud.

A couple seconds later, a rather familiar sound came to Twilight’s ears: the crashing thud of an out-of-control pegasus careening into an unsuspecting pony just minding their own business. Twilight held her face in her hooves. “Why did I let her talk me into this?”

“Eh heh! Sorry about that, guy! That trick kinda went nuts there! Guess I shouldn’t practice when it’s so dark.”

Twilight’s ear twitched at Rainbow’s acting. Not because it was bad, but because it sounded too good. Like she’d practiced it a lot.

“Oh no! It looks like you’re hurt! Sarge! We need your healing magic!”

That, however, sounded a hell of a lot more forced. Twilight sighed and peeked over the side with her horn charged then teleported down to the ground. When she reappeared, she was right beside a pony covered in a modest amount of soot. He was also clearly still out of it from having an over-excited pegasus slam into him at a high velocity.

“Oh, no!” Twilight tried to act and failed. Not that it mattered. She rushed right to him and lit her horn, creating a very simple illusion spell to light up the area around the unfortunate victim. It wasn’t an actual healing spell, and he clearly wasn’t seriously hurt, but it looked the part. “I’m so sorry! My idiot Corporal here just doesn’t know how to fly properly!”

Rainbow huffed. Twilight was pretty sure it was genuine but kept going, turning her magic sight back on once again. “Corporal! Get the bandages!”

“Right here, Sarge,” she grumbled, handing over a roll from Spike’s first aid kit.

Twilight took it in her magic and started wrapping the stallion’s hoof but didn’t really pay close attention to that. The pony's leylines and wellspring intrigued her far too much.

“Green and red…” Her special vision failed a second later, going back to normal. Twilight quickly kept the bandages going, making it look at least a plausibly bad job at actually trying to do first aid and let him go.

Then, their eyes met, and she saw his face as he shook off his daze.

The stallion started to buck and kick around them, thrashing and attacking wildly, kicking up small rocks and dirt with his hooves.

Rainbow took to the air, out of his reach. “Whoa! Whoa! Sorry, dude! Don’t freak out. We didn’t mean to hurt you!”

With Rainbow too far away, the hooves turned their attention to Twilight. Even though the stallion kicked the air in front of her a few times, Twilight didn’t move. She couldn’t.

An instant before another kick would have connected, a red blur zoomed at her, carrying her up and away from the stallion.

“Jeez, Twi!” Rainbow complained, carrying her back up to the clouds. “What, were you just going to stand there and let him kick your teeth out?”

Twilight inhaled sharply, her lungs taking in the cold air. “Yeah, sorry. I was just stunned. I think I know what’s going on, though. Put me down on the cloud, and I’ll explain.”

Rainbow circled around, coming to a hover above the grey cloud over the cave entrance, and set Twilight down gently. “Okay, spill it,” she said, landing herself.

Twilight swallowed, the dryness in the cooler air parching her throat. “Rainbow, that was the pony I captured.”

Rainbow blinked. “Wait, what? He was attacking the town, and now he’s working for them? Is this a worker rebellion?”

Twilight’s limbs and back shook like she’d been dunked in a tank of arctic water. “No. I wish it was that simple. You know how I said ponies have leylines? Well, those are a lot more vulnerable than wellsprings. Here, give me your leg again.”

Rainbow didn’t hesitate this time and put her foreleg out for Twilight to trace her hoof along.

“I can see your leylines, Rainbow. Like all pegasi, yours run mainly to your back, wings, and spine. But, all ponies have leylines to their hooves even though it’s only earth ponies that have large ones there. That’s why I thought I could use unicorn magic through them. Also, in my sight, the colors of the different tribes are different. Earth ponies’ are a light green. Unicorns’ are violet. That pony down there? Black, green, and red, going all the way up to his wellspring. Just like the miasma I saw earlier.”

Rainbow blinked. “So, he was a zombie?”

Twilight shook her head and started her trademark lecture pacing, staggering every so often as she continued to shake. “If you’re talking undead, no, I don’t think so. There’s never been any documented instance of actual undead in Equestria. I think somepony or someone used some kind of spell to attack these ponies through their leylines.”

“Um, why?” Rainbow leaned into her path but backed off when Twilight didn’t slow down.

“I can’t answer that just yet. The most important question is: what type of spell was it? There aren’t a lot of reasons to go messing about with a pony’s leylines. If you’re out to harm, there are plenty of simpler ways. So, I have to assume their odd behavior is either a desired outcome of the spell or a side-effect they can’t prevent. I have no probable conclusions to draw from the latter, but I have one for the former, and I don’t like it.”

Rainbow watched as Twilight’s pacing began to carve out a circular track on the cloud. “I kinda doubt we were going to like anything you figure out, Twi. Still, hit me. What’s going on?”

Twilight stopped in the little groove she had worn in the cloud and faced her friend dead-on. “I think we’re dealing with some sort of geas. Something to deliberately control these ponies’ behavior. Worse, because of their reaction to me at the lake, I think that whoever is doing it has some level of remote control over them. They might even be able to ‘see’ through their eyes, like a mini hive-mind. Something akin to what the changelings are, but maybe less complex or thorough. The bartender’s inconsistent behavior tells me the control isn’t that absolute.”

Rainbow slumped to the ground. “Whoa. Mind control. Isn’t that, like, comic book stuff? Can you unicorns really do that?”

Twilight cringed, looking sheepish. “Yes. It is possible, but the Princesses have banned it. Like, seriously banned. ‘Get-turned-into-a-statue-for-even-trying-it’ banned. I doubt there’s any documented way to do it left out there.”

“What about that library breach? Princess Celestia said the books they stole were dangerous. Could they have gotten it from one of those?”

“Hmm…” Twilight tapped her hoof on the cloud, focusing. “I kind of doubt it. If they thought something like that was stolen, Luna probably would have tried to teach us how to resist it. It’s a possibility, but I’m thinking something more foreign.”

“Zebra zombie powder?” Rainbow shrugged.

“What? No! Rainbow! That’s just a myth! Well, as far as I know, it’s a myth. I know that there are zebra potions that can make a pony susceptible to suggestions, but there’s no way to maintain exclusive control over them. Anypony can come around and get them to do stuff, and biting doesn’t spread it either. I also doubt the gryphons have anything like this. Any gryphon trying it would be torn apart by their peers three seconds later. They’d see it as an abomination.

“No, there’s only one race in Equus I know about that could possibly have easy access to magic like this. I can’t say for certain, because we know so little about their magic. But I want to find at least one more pony and see their lines before I jump to conclusions.”

“Attention! We know you’re up there! Surrender yourselves, and your lives may be spared!”

Twilight and Rainbow both looked at each other then over the side of the cloud. There, below them, an entire crowd of a couple dozen ponies had formed, all facing their floating platform. Some were completely covered in soot, but others looked like they were from the town.

Rainbow waved at them. “Hey guys, we’re kind of having a conversation here. Can you come back and threaten our lives after a few more minutes so we can spoil your evil plans properly?”

One of the ponies closest to the center of the herd responded, “No! You must surrender now, or we will act!”

“I think I recognize that pony.” Twilight smirked, keeping her voice low. “He’s the one I talked to who was using the bandages by the lake. I think I can get what I need from him.”

Rainbow tapped the tips of her feathers on Twilight’s back. “You sure? It’s not like we can reuse the same plan again with so many ponies here.”

“Eh. That plan was out of a Pinkie fever dream anyway.”

“Fever dream? Pfft. That was Pinkie on a Tuesday morning.”

“True.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “Hmmm…”

“What am I supposed to do if I run into one? I don’t know if I’m a match for something like that in a stand-up fight.” Twilight sighed, slumping down.

“They might not have heard of you specifically, but they know your rank.” Luna tapped on Twilight’s torc. “Thus, if necessary, you can use intimidation to force them to back down.”

“I doubt I can pull something like that—”

“However! To succeed in intimidating them, your resolve must be absolute! Your confidence unshakeable! Threaten, bluster, and scoff—give them no hint of fear, for even the slightest weakness will crumble the façade. Act as if they are so far beneath you that they could be squashed like an insect. That is the secret.”

Twilight nodded, giving her plan a mental stamp of approval. “Tell you what. When I get down there, start a downpour. I have an idea!”

Rainbow looked at the cloud under them, pressing it with a hoof. “Downpour? You sure?”

“Definitely. It’s time to use a little intimidation.” Her horn charged for a moment, and in a flash, she stood face-to-face with the ‘medic’ pony from before.

“Tell your friend to come down and surrender as well,” he said, pointing up at the cloud. Though his voice was old and waivery, it was still full of confidence.

Twilight smiled as the rain came down, drenching them all quickly. “Sorry, she’s busy dumping water on me. Well, on you too. But that’s not as important as the fact that she’s doing it to me.”

The old pony sighed. “Sergeant Hunter, it seems you do not understand the full gravity of the situation. You are outnumbered severely. You cannot run. We will not let you leave. A life in the mines is dangerous, yes, but it is longer than what you will have if you do not obey. We will not hesitate to use force.”

Twilight was going to try to use her sight again, but instead broke out in laughter. A deep, powerful laughter that she hadn’t experienced since her last Pinkie party—although that wasn’t too long ago. Even still, the laughter was boisterous and shook her belly.

“I am afraid I’m at a loss. You are cornered by a superior force. We intend to kill you if you do not surrender. Why are you—?”

“You? Kill me?” She smiled at him, letting her lips make it wider and wider before laughing again.

“That is the general gist, Sergeant, yes,” the old pony was starting to sound a lot more forceful now.

Twilight still just laughed at him. Pour it on, filly, make him believe it. “Oh, that is amusing. You ponies, without any magic at all, kill me?”

Every single one of the ponies went wide eyed and took a step back.

“That’s right. I know.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, sending magic into a telekinetic scrubbing motion on her horn then brought it down over the rest of her body while the water from the rain washed the dye away. “Let me explain something to you, worm.”

She showed off the true colors of her mane and body as she reared back on her hind legs. She added some sparks to the field, lighting her body up. “You shouldn’t call me Sergeant. Or Star Hunter. Those were both lies I told when I thought you were just being paranoid. My real name is Twilight Sparkle, Student of the Sun, Lady of the Court, and Grand Mage of Equestria.”

The telekinetic field finished clearing her tail, and she brought her hooves down in a massive stomp that belied her small size. “And you, dragon, are not a match for me.”

The stallion’s eyes flashed green and red, glowing with the same intensity as his corrupted leylines.

“Interesting,” an entirely new voice said—though it came from the same pony. This one, however, was much lower. “I would not have thought it possible for a mere pony to figure that out. How?”

Twilight restarted her lecture pace, but never let her eyes wander from the representative pony. “Pretty damned obvious once I thought of it. I mean, the reason you force ponies to work in a mine is to get gems and minerals. If a company isn’t getting them and is trying to burn the place down, who is getting what’s being dug up? Also, the only race I know of other than ponies that’s capable of using a geas spell would be the dragons. And dragons love minerals, especially gems. And if companies want what’s being dug up so badly they’re willing to risk incurring Cadence’s wrath, I’m betting it’s not gold or silver. No, what’s down there are charged gems, the kind used in cored artifacts. Crystals with that much magic are prized among dragons as a delicacy.

“But geas spells have serious limitations. I’m betting your wellspring is consistently pretty low. There’s also a strict limit on the number of ponies you can control directly, both in terms of your available magic and your ability to split your attention, which means the others are only following vague directions. That’s why the whole town isn’t here right now, just the couple dozen you can take control of reliably.

“On top of that, using a geas at all means others might notice what’s going on, so you went after the whole town and made them act xenophobic to limit exposure. But if you take on too many ponies overall, or give them orders too complex or contradictory, the whole thing collapses like a building made of toothpicks, and your victims break free. That’s why you started kicking ponies out instead of taking them over. Doing something like this to a larger town would be impossible. Either it would fall apart or it would drive you utterly insane.”

She stopped right in front of him, and leaned forward to whisper, “Am I right?”

The stallion smiled. “Almost.”

Blinding light and pain seared into Twilight’s midsection, blanking out all other sensations until a shocking cold washed over her body. She pushed herself up from the wet soil. “Ugh, what…?”

“Twilight! Twilight, look out!” Thunder and lightning arced through the sky, striking the ground ahead of her, right in the middle of the herd of ponies in front of her. “Send a flare! Get Luna here now!”

She looked at her body, and though her chest was in agony, her armor was deployed and protecting her, dulling the pain. Rainbow was dancing and jinking about the sky, firing lightning at her attackers.

A voice rang out right through the heavens, not spoken by any pony. “These avatars are not defenseless or without magic, Grand Mage! These tasty little morsels have my magic!”

He’s eating them!? Buck. Me! “Rainbow! Run! Fly! Get out of there!” Twilight started to scramble to follow her own advice, her hooves slipping on the slick grass as she finally got traction and took off down the hill. By the time she was halfway down, Rainbow had lifted her up and into the sky, flying far faster than anypony could hope to run.

When she looked back, she couldn’t see them. If they were following, they were already too late. The darkness of the clouds overhead simply squashed any hope of seeing and tracking anything, at least through normal means.

“Think we lost them?”

“Probably, but be prepared for anything. I don’t know if adult dragons have extra senses beyond normal sight and smell. If he’s capable of geas magic, he might be able to sense us with a spell. Head for our camp. We’ll regroup there, and run farther if we have to.”

A few moments of high speed flying was all it took to arrive at the base camp, which was now far too close to the town for comfort.

Spike spotted them as soon as they entered the campfire light. “Hey, guys, what’s up?”

“Bad news, Spike,” Twilight said as she landed, still clutching her chest. “I’m afraid I have to ask you to start running.”

Spike’s spines dropped and his jaw hung open. “Already? Couldn’t we wait until mission two until we have to send an SOS? Or mission three? Or at least after dinner!?”

Twilight quickly wrapped him in a hug. “Sorry, Spike, but we’re heading into some nasty stuff here.”

“Um, why aren’t we all just running like hell?” Rainbow thrust a hoof towards a direction very much away from the town. “I don’t think you saw it, but those ponies were slinging some nasty black-colored magic at me. Even the earth ponies! I think it would’ve killed you if your armor hadn’t deployed!”

Twilight rubbed her chest with her hoof, wheezing and flinching in pain. “Yeah, it might’ve. But he knows Luna is coming now and might try to flee. I can’t let this thing escape. What if it started eating other ponies? It has a geas, Rainbow! It could coerce an entire town to march straight into its mouth, and we would never know about it!”

“Um, what ‘thing?’”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she fumbled for a response. “Well, you see, we ran into this—”

“A dragon. It’s eating ponies and mind-controlling the town into mining gems for it.”

Spike stared at the pegasus for a moment, and then his shoulders slumped. He took a sudden interest in his boots as he shuffled them along the dirt.

Twilight sat down in front of him and wrapped a foreleg around his back. “This dragon is doing a very bad thing, but he is not you. You are a drake, but you are my little brother. I don't want you thinking you are anything like him, okay?”

“I know. I know.” He threw his hands up. “Still, it sucks.”

She took him in a hug “Yes, it does, but right now, I need you to run and get Luna. I’m not a match for an adult dragon.”

Rainbow cut in. “Yeah, your bluff kinda fell apart back there.”

“True, but I can still confront and stall him. If Luna can get back here in time, she can put a stop to it. Which means I need you to run, Spike.”

Rainbow extended her wings and wiggled her primary feathers. “Want me to fly him? I can get there faster than he can run.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I need you for something else. Since that bartender wasn’t completely under control, I’m betting that dragon has to split his attention with so many ponies under the geas. I need you to attack the townsponies. Keep them busy. Avoid using lethal force unless absolutely necessary, but keep them under pressure. Without magic, they can’t fly, so use that to your advantage. If you can distract them enough, I might be able to sneak into the mines—which is where I think this dragon is hiding—and get the drop on him. Clear?”

Rainbow snapped into a salute. “Crystal! I’ll give ‘em such a runaround they’ll be dizzy for weeks!”

“Great. Spike?”

He held up a red scroll and saluted too. “Ready! And, technically willing, but I’m going to grumble about my aching feet later.”

“Fair enough. Alright, guys, let’s save some ponies!”

Author's Note

Quashed a minor plot hole in this one during edits. Hopefully it didn't open any others. If anything glaring is found I'll go back and fix it. If such happens, I apologize in advance. I looked over this chapter a few more times before posting, but I've also done that so many times my mind would auto-correct issues for me anyway, so missing such a thing is possible so... rambling nervously now. Bad Cv.

Writing has been slow lately thanks to throat issues, but I still have quite the backlog, and the doctors know something is up, so progress is being made there. I'm also considering getting voice lessons or something. Oh, and I have an appointment with a physical rehabilitation doc on Tuesday! Awesome sauce!

I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! And to any who think I'm going to do something so simple as to say the main bad guys are trying to geas everyone to mind control them, shame on you. ;) You really think I'd do something so straightforward? No, no, what's actually going on is far more... grandiose. Yeah, that might be a good word for it. :D I did try to make this clear in story, too, but an editor pointed out that by leading with this mission some might think that, and that's not what's going to happen at all. Hence, this A/N clearing that up.

Also, Tirek won't be a thing in Rites. This chapter was written over a YEAR ago, well before the S4 finale. I stuck his name in there and "killed him off" because of how some of the evidence to the mystery presented itself. Also because I wanted to poke some light-hearted fun at canon. ;)

A special thanks to all my Patreon peeps who got to see this chapter early! If you didn't get that reward, shoot me a message on FimFic so I can set up the next chapter for you! The next Patreon sneak peek reward will be set up in the near future.

EDIT: Realized they weren't using cover names. D'oh. Fixed now.

Demon

Twilight charged out of the wooded thicket, a thin bead of sweat rolling down the back of her neck. Her hooves thundered against the ground beneath her, and multi-hued lightning sounded off in the distance as Rainbow occupied the ponies of the town. Though her path was dark, the smooth grass field had few obstacles.

A dragon! I really should have seen this sooner. Those dark clouds in the lower stratosphere? Probably dragon smoke settling and slowly clearing. The red in the leylines? Spike’s leylines are red! Mining that doesn’t export anything? Diamond dogs haven’t been seen in this region for decades! What else could it be?

She steared herself to her right, turning a wide arc towards the cavern. With every crash behind her, the fields and sky lit, providing her with just enough light to see the river off in the distance.

He knew what he was doing when he settled down here. He put up a façade and tried to make the town seem normal. When the raiders attacked, he moved the villagers out of town. If anypony new came into town, he would made them feel unwelcome. Who knows what he did to the ponies who discovered his mine.

Her eyes snapped to the first specks of light on the mountain side, lanterns marking the entrance to the cave. Now directly on target, she poured on as much speed as she could.

But he’s not exceptionally sharp, either. The smoke must be somewhat recent, or somepony would have eventually figured out a dragon was near. He’s also boastful, arrogant; he called me a ‘mere pony.’ I might be able to use that to my advantage. As long as I can keep him talking instead of blasting me… Twilight sucked in more air and leaped over a small hill in a single bound, coming to a landing with a slide in the dirt before rocketing forward again.

“If you face him, I might not be able to protect you.”

Twilight slowed after hearing the voice. The meek soprano didn’t echo off the walls but resonated from inside her head.

“I just wanted you to know. So you would be more careful.”

Twilight blinked. “Who are you?”

Silence.

Shaking it off, she raced forward again. Four small red dots, grouped in pairs, appeared next to the cave entrance.

Guards. Figures. Probably just there as an early warning. Well, that’s all he’ll get.

Twilight’s horn flared to life, firing two solid telekinetic streams directly at the ponies. They both did exactly as she expected: they flew back and hit their heads against the wall, hard.

Letting out a contemptuous snort, she barreled past them and into the cave before planting a hoof into the ground and throwing herself into a pivot. Now facing the entrance, her horn began to glow, and a ring appeared on the ceiling. She brought forward as much magic as she could bear, and a solid purple barrier appeared, covering the cave entrance.

Twilight stepped forward to inspect her work. There are openings on the sides, but not even a foal could fit through there. She swallowed, wishing for a drink of water. I have no idea if this will hold long against draconic magic, but it should at least slow them down.

Lighting her horn to illuminate her path, Twilight moved deeper into the cave. Now, to find the path where this plot-wipe is hiding. Though she wanted to continue running, the cave was slick with condensation. After the modest entrance, the passageway opened up. What would’ve been wide enough to accommodate a few ponies grew to a much larger opening.

She inspected her armored hoof. Time for a personal shield. I wish Shining had been able to be there for my training.His namesake spell would be really useful right about now. She charged her horn again, ready to put up a basic but powerful personal shield spell.

“Most dragons use fire and heat.”

Twilight stopped her casting and froze. The meek voice had again appeared out of nowhere, right in her head. “Apparently, I’m going crazy… but at least it’s a helpful crazy.”

She restarted her spell, this time optimizing the shield to better protect against both environmental heat sources as well as spells utilizing fire. It’d be weaker against everything else, but would give her considerably more protection against high temperatures.

Here’s hoping he doesn’t blast me directly with his fire. Even Spike’s flames can corrode enchantments. I have no idea how a shield like this will fare.

Twilight continued down the passageway, now a little faster as she gained a feel for the slick ground. The deeper she went, the higher the humidity rose, and progressively more and more stalactites appeared, each one glistening and shimmering in the light of her horn. Making her way around a sharp turn, she came to a series of forks in the tunnel. Carefully, she peeked into each entrance and found they all lead down another empty path.

Some have mining equipment, but that’s not really a guarantee of anything. Which way do I go? Rainbow’s out there fighting while I’m stuck in here. So, what do I know about this dragon that can help me? Next to nothing. What about the cave? She sighed. Again, nada. She started to pace back and forth, looking down each passageway while her ears twitched, searching for any possible source of sound.

The sudden rumble was not what she was expecting.

The wet ground under her shook and rattled, the earthquake knocking her hind hooves out from under her, bringing her to her haunches. Dust, pebbles, and soot fell from the cave ceiling like rain, covering her and her armour in a damp coat of dark, sticky debris as the quake subsided.

Twilight wiped her face with her magic, spitting and sneezing the worst offenders out of her system. “Great, now I’m dirty, and I don’t know where to go.”

“Dragons have hoards, usually comprised of gems and gold.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks fast—so fast she nearly tipped over onto her face. “Wow. Keep talking, O mysterious voice, and I might just make it through this alive.” She powered her horn with a spell she’d learned the same year she’d first moved to Ponyville. In fact, it was the spell that had earned her friend Rarity her cutie mark. An energy field bloomed outward from her horn, and gems inside the walls of the cave revealed themselves like bones in an x-ray.

One path clearly had more gems than the others. Spurs of crystals sprouted under the rock, shimmering in the light of the spell. They grew larger as the tunnel went on and eventually erupted through the cave wall.

She wasted no time taking off down the steepest of the paths, the sudden pressure change causing her ears to pop. At one point, the ground was slick enough for her to slide down without taking a step. The deeper she went, the more gems appeared in the walls, and the narrower the passageway became. Eventually, the cave transitioned from rock to crystal.

This is like the abandoned mines under Canterlot! Her spell and the light in her horn danced through the translucent walls, beaming back to her in a dazzling display of colors as she entered a small cavern.

“I am impressed that you managed to find your way here so quickly.” A deep rumbling voice reverberated through the cave. It was the same voice from the possesed pony though much louder now.

Again Twilight stopped, her head swiveling about as her eyes and ears searched for the voice’s source. Her search found a bright source of light illuminating the corner of a passageway off to her left.

Odds are, that’s where he is. Okay, tactical decision time. Stall and wait for Luna, or try to nail him to the wall myself?

She slowly inched her way towards the entrance, taking care to not make any sound. Stalling might not work. It could be over an hour before Luna gets here. I doubt I could last that long even with earth pony magic.

Twilight pushed her body against the wall next to the entrance, pausing to listen carefully for any sign of what lay beyond. There were no dragon sounds coming from the opening, but the light was a blue-white, and there was the clear sound of slow-moving water.

Dragon scales get more resilient as they age. Spike was already extremely tough during training, and this dragon sounds much older. Most unicorn magic might just bounce off, as would environmental hazards. My pegasus magic is still next to useless offensively. Earth pony magic, on the other hoof, that might work, but I’d have to weaponize it. And the only way I know todo that…

“Did you get lost on your last few steps?” The deep voice thrummed and echoed off the walls. “I find that hard to believe. Step out here, Grand Mage.”

“Hmph. Guess I don’t have a choice.” Twilight pushed magic to her horn and then sent it down through her body to her hooves. As the flames enveloped her, and she felt the fire going down her earth pony leylines. I really hope this doesn’t do permanent damage.

The flames subsided, condensing and hardening into four white-hot horseshoes attached to her hooves. The ground under her creaked and popped as the surface of the crystalline floor started to melt from the heat. With the smell of burnt sand wafting into her nose, the Grand Mage cautiously started her way to the next room.

She briefly covered her eyes from the increase of light when rounding the corner. Upon lowering her foreleg, Twilight finally saw the dragon’s lair. Technically, calling this space a cavern would be correct, but it was far larger than the word suggested. It was easily one and a half times the size of a major sports stadium, and like a stadium, was lit by a huge cache of charged magical yellow crystals dotting the ceiling.

The floor had various solid paths in it made of the same mineral as the walls and ceiling, but it partially blended in with the surprisingly deep and calm blue water that made up much of the floor. At the far end, a river flowed from one end of the cave to the other through small openings on each side. Crystal stalagmites and stalactites littered the area with their spear-like points on them.

“So, this tiny thing is the great Grand Mage? Pitiful.” The dragon’s voice echoed over and over off the cave’s walls, vibrating Twilight to her core.

A large mass of shimmering, deep blue scales rose to a sitting position in the center of the cavern. There, sneering back at her with a pair of deep blood red eyes, was a fat blue dragon sporting a white underbelly. He was about the size of a house, which was actually much smaller than the full-size adult she had expected.

Crap. Blue dragon. Water. Not just thick scaled, but he'll regenerate damage in seconds. Okay, time to stall. Remember, Twilight, never show weakness to a dragon. Be boastful, proud. Brag like Rainbow on a massive ego trip. You might not intimidate him, but if you show even a hint of weakness, he’ll stop talking and strike. “What an interesting coincidence, I was thinking the same thing about you,” Twilight retorted with a smirk. “I was expecting an adult, not a child. You’re only what, four, maybe five hundred?”

“Hmph,” snorted the dragon as he stood on his hind legs and cracked his back. “I believe some of you ponies have a saying: ‘Age and excellence are not even cousins.’”

Twilight shook her head. “Never heard it. Though, being a prodigy, I do understand it. Not that I can say it applies to you. Regardless, you’ve done some awful things to my ponies, and I’m here to put an end to it.”

The dragon laughed. “Your ponies? Hardly. They are mine, and they exist to fill my belly.” He stared at her, a haughty, malicious grin covering his face. “One way or another.”

Twilight put her ears flat against the back of her head and pawed at the ground, leaving scorch marks on the crystal. “I am the Grand Mage of Equestria, representing the authority of the Crown! Those are my ponies, my subjects, and their protection is my responsibility! I don’t know how a youngling like yourself managed to learn a complex geas, but your terror ends here!”

The dragon lifted his claw, the black miasma visible between his fingers even without her thaumic sight, and brought it down with a thundering slam, sending dark magic out at her in parallel cutting waves.

Twilight was ready. None of Luna’s golems broadcasted their moves as much as this dragon did. She pushed up and back with her forelegs, her spell propelling her far into the air and onto the wall above the cavern entrance. After a perfectly balanced backflip, she planted four hooves on the wall and pushed off, sending herself hurtling towards the dragon.

With two outstretched forelegs, Twilight slammed into the side of the dragon’s mouth, feeling something inside loosen from the impact. The force was so hard that it knocked his head clear out of the way while she kept flying forward and down, bouncing off the ground where the dragon had rested and springing upward again upwards to a tall ledge on the far side of the cave. Executing a backflip, she turned herself around and used a blast of pegasus magic to create an air current and slow herself down for a landing.

The dragon spat out a tooth into the water and snarled. “I am Bloodtide, of the Abyssal Current, and you will pay for that!”

Twilight scoffed. “Bloodtide, really? Dragons don’t get names like that unless they’ve proven themselves, and I haven’t heard of you, so you’re nothing. In fact, you’re a deadnothing, ‘Bloodtide.’ Luna is on her way, and if I don’t finish you, she will.”

“When she arrives, I will have two ponies filling my stomach!” Bloodtide inhaled and spat a stream of fire at the ledge where Twilight stood.

She ducked back away from the flames, pressing herself against the far wall. The ceiling was just high enough and her path just wide enough to avoid being burned to a crisp directly, and her heat shield stopped the rest of it dead in its tracks.

When the flames subsided, she poked her head over the ledge. “You really are young, aren’t you? Figures you don’t know her, then. She has been gone a thousand years. If I were you, I’d run. Now.”

Bloodtide flapped his wings and jumped up at the ledge, causing Twilight to run down the path to the far end of the cavern.

“Dragons do not run! Dragons eat!”

Damn, I can’t keep this up forever! I need to find an opening! She pumped her legs down the slope and towards the far wall, running through a puddle as she went. The water hissed and turned to steam instantly, cracking one of her horseshoes.

Of course! The water! Twilight smirked at the dragon, who was fumbling through the puddles of water on the floor to get to her. “Hey! Bloodtide! Catch!” She put up a hoof and telekinetically hurled it at the dragon, who was scrambling up onto a thin solid area. The horseshoe was true to its target but merely bounced off his head and plopped into the deep water.

“What was that supposed to do?” The dragon chuckled.

“Ever hear of the Leidenfrost effect?” Twilight smiled. “If not, I wouldn’t worry. Just give it a second.”

TST-TSNT-TSSSUWUWUWUWUWUWUUWUUUUUUU

The noise from the horseshoe started to reach all the way through the deep water and into their ears as bubbles rose to the surface, signaling the ultra-rapid boiling of the water below. Twilight, meanwhile, smirked at him, knowing full well what was coming from the super-heated magic.

The dragon got up and scrambled forward towards her, but it was too late. The water around the horseshoe shot upwards like a geyser, exploding multiple times and blasting so much steam in the air that it quickly filled the entire cavern with warm mist. By the time the dragon had gotten to Twilight’s position, she was long gone, moving back up to the relative safety of the ledge.

Though she could hear the dragon clawing and slapping the ground and water where she had been, it was no longer accompanied by the sounds of the exploding horseshoe. Once the dragon stopped moving, all the sound in the room died, save for the gentle trickle of water in the river refilling the cave floor’s reservoirs.

Twilight pulled on her horn and went back into her magic sight. The magic of the crystal around her was all but impossible to see unless the wall was directly next to her. It was as if the entire cavern was filled with fog, which, of course it was. What was unique here was that the fog itself was teeming with her magic, obscuring even her higher level of vision, with one exception. Towards the end of the cavern was a dark blob of blood red with specks of green, a far cry from Spike’s bright red.

He’s listening. Despite all the echoes in here, I’m going to have to silence my hoof steps if I want to move. Guess this calls for more pegasus magic.

Pushing a mild air current up against her belly, Twilight softly tip-hooved down the path in the opposite direction. Each step was balanced on an ultra-thin cushion of air, hushing it to a strict silence. She had made it to the opposite side of the cavern from the dragon by the time he started to stir again, this time lashing out at everything around him futilely.

At this rate, I’ll be able to keep this up indefinitely. Twilight smirked. He really is young. Well, older than me, but clearly not that bright. So, the question is, then, who taught him the geas spell? There’s no way this dragon should be capable of casting a spell like that, let alone maintain it on so many other minds. Could there be a link to other dragon clans?

She reached the end of the cavern, nestled in a corner a bit lower than the high back edge she was on, and stopped. He’s still looking over there? I keep waiting for the punchline. Or some kind of trick.

Twilight yawned silently, her adrenaline fading.

“You aren’t safe yet.”

The voice from before had returned. I know that! she ‘thought’ back at it. I just have to keep an eye out and oh crap!

She could see the ceiling again and not just the glowing part. With a bit of a rush but still-silenced hooves, she made her way back up the ledge, where the steam was thicker. Damn! There must be too much air going through here for the steam to stay! Or maybe the water is too cold. Either way, I’m not just going to be able to keep hiding!

A deafening, violent sound of fury reverberated through the cavern as the dragon roared, shaking the ground enough to cause Twilight to fall to her side.

“Quit this incessant stalling and fight me!”

And get eaten? No thanks. Twilight detached the shoe on her other forehoof and tossed it across the room, where it landed on the ground with a ‘crack’ before bouncing over and over. Please get in water, please get in water… Silence reigned over the room once more for several seconds. Twilight’s eye twitched while her stomach squeezed itself flat while waiting.

TST-TSNT-TSSSUWUWUWUWUWUWUUWUUUUUUU

Yes! More steam exploded from the refilled pool, completely enshrouding the cavern in the magically-charged vapor once again. Two left. I must make them count. I don’t think I can cast that again without seriously hurting my leylines. I might not even be able to use earth pony magic at all at this point. The question is, how do I get through his scales? Even his belly is likely thick enough to block every spell I have!

Twilight rubbed her face with her forehooves and then squeezed her head to at least justify her headache.

“Wait,” she whispered, the other voice saying it too at the same time. “Not every spell. But could I really? Isn’t that overkill?”

~~ “Your ponies? Hardly. They are mine and they exist to fill my belly. One way or another.”~~

No. It’s too damn good for him. But it’ll have to do. Twilight looked around her and reached out to the edge of the cavern wall. Not enough room here. Circle has to be uninterrupted.

Twilight snapped into a turn, marching straight up the ledge as silently as she could manage. I need at least sixty seconds of uninterrupted casting time. I also need him to be relatively stationary. Ialsoneed to be completely insane. She stopped at the highest point of the ridge, out of the dragon’s reach. Squinting her eyes, she strained to see as much as a hint of his magic. The mist didn’t fade, but new colors did begin to show in brief glimpses. Lines of light washed over the surface of the cavern like waves, tracing out its outline. Faint tendrils of red and green lashed out like whips, cracking at her but missing clumsily. She stood there, studying the illuminated layout from top to bottom while the dragon searched.

Apparently I am completely insane. She pushed a little extra magic into one of her remaining horseshoes then kicked it right at the dragon. When it landed on his side, she felt a flash of radiant energy from the unleashed power, and the dragon crashed into the water from being knocked back.

While he thrashed in the pool, Twilight leapt off the ledge and down towards the very center of the cave, where the dragon had lain when she had arrived. Just before landing, she forced an air current under her to slow her fall, but this time, she allowed her hooves to make a sound. “You want a fight, Bloodtide? Bring it!”

The dragon pulled up out of the water with his arms and launched himself right at his prey, his raw strength alone being enough to force him into the air and halfway across the cavern.

Once again, Twilight was ready.

She watched him as she moved, now able to see every bit of his form in her sight, the radiant red energy glaring like a blight on the universe. She saw his leylines, thick with the green corruption that had poisoned her ponies. She saw his rage pouring power into his claws for another attack.

For all his strength, she would render him impotent. For all his rage, she would render his anger meaningless.

For all his crimes, she would make him pay.

At the last possible instant, Twilight knelt down to the ground, coiled her hind legs, and pushed up with as much force as she could bring to bear on the remaining horseshoe. Her body flew upwards, straight to the ceiling covered in sharp crystal stalactites. They pointed at her like lances, ready to run her through as she approached head-first.

She never quite heard her foe land where she had stood, as the sound of the explosion from her remaining horseshoe roared in her eardrums.

Twilight fell, arcing away from the center of the cavern. Though her body ached, her ears rang, and her nose bled, she managed a sliding impact at the entrance of the lair. Patiently, she waited for the sound she knew was about to come.

At first, there was only one, but a split second later, the rest hit. Dozens of the crystal stalactites had been shaken loose by the explosion, raining down like a hail of spears. The ground shook not only from the impacts but also from the wailing of the dragon. Red flame and ash spewed into the air, mixing with the magic-infused mist.

She could still see him, though, and he was still moving. One shard had crushed a leg, while another had gone through a wing and an arm, pinning him to the ground.

He’s still alive. Guess I get to go through with it. Good.

Her horn flared to life, firing a telekinetic beam into the ceiling, knocking down more stalactites, this time in between the two of them instead of on top of him. Crystal and rock crashed into the ground, forming a small wall. Twilight turned her horn to it, encasing it in a shield spell, this one so dense it was opaque. That won’t hold long, but all I need is a minute.

“This won’t save you, pony! I will find you!”

She smirked. “I’m right here. Get ready. I’m about to pass sentence.”

Twilight leaned down towards the ground, arching her back, then lifting her horn as high as she could, violet magic swirling all around it from the sheer power she was pushing into it. Meanwhile, the book from her bag floated out from its hiding place, opening to the proper page.

Stage one: circles.

With her horn pointing straight up, a thick beam of light fired from it straight into the ground, tracing a purple hexagon into the ground around her, with the sides to her left and right forming slightly longer than the rest. The beam continued, tracing out small circles over each corner.

Stage two: flow regulators.

Here, Twilight started the main spell, quickly decoding the pages as she worked. A symbol appeared within one of the small circles, burned into the ground. It was quickly followed by another and then another. She cast them in quick succession, each one appearing at a different spot around her, etching purple and orange runes into the crystal floor.

Once more, the sound from the dragon reached her ears as the crystal wall began to crumble. Miasma coated the rocks from Bloodtide lashing out with his claws. The corrupted magic was so thick it reacted with the charge in the rock, foaming like an acid meeting a base. There might have been words mixed in with his screeching yells, but Twilight couldn’t make them out, nor did she care.

Stage three: target destination.

The pages in the journal flipped, stopping at the right spot. As the symbols on the paper began to glow, the security spells on the book reacted with Twilight’s powerful magic and the subtle magics in the ink itself. Decoded, corresponding symbols began to appear in the hexagon under her, each one appearing in a deliberate, calculated order. At this stage, failure wasn’t an option. This spell had been created by Starswirl, the stallion who, in his madness, created a spell that had nearly destroyed Equestria and had also created the Everfree forest.

Black, charred, and smoking rock blasted over her head. A large chunk of the crystal wall fell inward, revealing his good eye. Another three or four blows, and he would reach the shield.

Stage four: multicasted projectiles.

Wind whirled around her from the power bleed-off warming the air. The Grand Mage’s horn grew even brighter as the light split into two poles. Very, very few unicorns were capable of casting two different spells at the same time, let alone two small sub-spells as part of a larger, multi-stage one.

Twilight didn’t even flinch.

Her mind blitzed through the symbols, duplicating each in turn twice with the delicate adjustments needed to create two magical projectiles in two different places at the exact same time. A new, final circle appeared as a reaction to the spell being cast, enveloping all the others in a sphere. The symbols on the ground levitated up to meet the new addition and spun around, eventually turning the entire assembly pure white. Two shimmering balls of light appeared on either side of her, a thread-like line connecting them before catching on fire.

A dark blast of power sent more rocks flying overhead, followed by another that crashed directly into the shield, cracking it. One more came, spreading the crack like a windshield under immense strain.

Stage five: flow release.

The pages flipped backwards, and the book listed to the side from the unsteady force holding it up. A white-hot beam fired downwards from her horn into the six small circles around her. This did not trace more arcane symbols, instead forming a star in each, perfectly nestled between the symbols already there.

Two more slashes hit the shield, shattering it to splinters. Twilight turned her thaumic sight off; she didn't need to see what her spell was doing anymore. That, and she wanted to see the look on his face.

His whole body was now free of the binds she had placed on him and ready to be put in a more permanent prison. She looked at him with her violet eyes, unimpressed with his efforts. For all he had done to hurt her ponies, he was pathetic.

Bloodtide roared, shaking the walls and swiping his claws at her in a last ditch attack.

“Stage six: fire.”

The stars in the magic array expanded and spun, releasing the stored energies within the circle like a group of emergency pressure-release valves. The two spheres of light shot forth faster than Rainbow Dash could fly, looking more like a beam than discrete objects. The thread behind them snagged the dragon’s claw like a bolas, halting his attack while snaring him, pulling him back into the mound of crystalline rubble that had buried him. His back hit first, followed by his head whiplashing backwards and cracking the stone.

“You… That will not be enough!” Bloodtide struggled to his feet, rubbing his head. “Your tricks end here!”

The dragon pulled at his claw again, ready to finally bring it down for that attack, yet it did not move.

His eyes widened in shock, finally looking at his arm. Where there once was a claw with long, sharp digits oozing with power, there was naught but a bubbling orange-gray miasma at a stump, and it was expanding up his arm. Over and over, the dragon tugged at his limb like he had gotten it caught in a cookie jar, desperately trying to wrench it free. Each pull waned further as her magic dissolved his.

“Bloodtide of the Abyssal Current!” Twilight yelled into the cavern, her own voice deeper than before and echoing just as much as the dragon’s had. “I, Twilight Sparkle, Grand Mage of Equestria, find you guilty of unforgivable crimes against pony kind! I hereby sentence you to permanent banishment not just from Equestria, but from this very plane of reality! Never again will you bring harm to my ponies!”

The dragon pulled again at his arm, but the spell had now reached passed his elbow. He spat fire and flames at Twilight, but he was much too far away to burn her. With her shield, it was naught but a summer’s breeze. “No! No! The geas should have worked on you! Why didn’t it work!?”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow at the dragon, who was now flat on his rear, still pulling at his arm as the spell ate its way up his bicep. “Fool. You never used one on me.”

He tried to leap at her, his claws carving gashes into the floor, but ultimately went nowhere as he clawed at the ground. “Yes! Yes I did! Over and over while you were up on that ridge! Why didn’t it work!?”

What? He knew I was there? Then how did—?

The other voice returned. “Because I protected you.”

The spell hit his shoulder and sped up dramatically, eating away at his torso. “He swore it would work on you! That unicorn… Ionos! He swore every pony I wanted would be mine! I’ll have his hide! I will devour him! I—”

He stopped as the substance marking the line between one dimension and the other got to his lungs.

Twilight shook her head, turning to leave. “You won’t be eating any more of my ponies, Bloodtide. I will find the one you mentioned and deal with him myself.”

Some flashes of red lashed at her from behind, the last of his breath leaving him.

The Grand Mage merely turned back one last time to look him right in his panicked eyes. “Tell me, Bloodtide of Abyssal Current. Are you afraid of The Dark?” She smiled just a little. “You should be.”

As Bloodtide’s feet, tail, and head dissolved into the abyss, Twilight Sparkle, Grand Mage of Equestria, walked away.

Author's Note

I couldn't find a way to ponify "Leidenfrost." I fail.

Medical news can be found in the blog post. Long story short, I finally have some meds as of tonight. No guarantee they'll work, but I have to try something, you know?

I hope you guys enjoyed the action in this one. I think it marks a nice climax for the first mission (of many, many to come). :) As always, I'm super nervous about sharing this one. Important chapter, wondering if I screwed anything up, etc. But, hey, learning is learning. If anything is that bad, I can fix it, apologize, and move on. One must have courage to grow as a writer, so, here it is!

Patreon peeps, next chapter preview will be up for you shortly.

-Cv

Celebration in Ashes

“Oof,” Twilight groaned, leaning against the cave wall as her vision tilted and warped. The way up the cave was considerably harder than the way down. Not so much because of the terrain, but because she couldn’t seem to keep her balance at all. It was as if she had downed the entire town’s supply of ale in a single sitting, minus the alcohol poisoning.

Could that geas he attempted to put on me be causing this? The thaumic link should have severed with its controller in another dimension. Her legs wobbled and shook as she tried to push forward, and her efforts were rewarded with a heavy lean to the left and a quick trip to the opposing wall. There’s the shield. Still intact. Come on, Twilight. Just a little further.

Her hooves moved out of order, but tiny steps still managed to get her to the barrier. Okay, just bring this thing down. She lit her horn, thankful to whatever gracious force out there that she could still use it. Her counter-spell hit the shield, blowing it away like loose sand. No disruption to unicorn magic. Can’t be the geas. So what is it?

She stumbled over and over again, never quite falling to the ground but needing the cave wall for balance the entire way. The cold, damp stone was smooth against her armor, not providing much in the way of friction. The armor itself was taking it in stride, too, without so much as a scratch in its colors.

The worst part about all this is the fact that I’m going to have to justify what I just did to Celestia. Her eyes went wide. Crap! I am so dead! When she finds out what I did, she’s going to send me there! No! No, calm down, Twilight. It can’t be that bad. Remember what Luna said? She’s not going to do that. Just stay calm, and—

A voice hollered from the cave entrance. “Twilight! Is that you?”

Her forehoof slipped on the damp floor, and she fell forward. She grunted as her jaw took the impact. “Ow! Argh, and of course I fall ten steps from the exit!”

“Ouch! Here!” A pair of red hooves picked Twilight from the ground. “Just lean on me. Are you all right? One moment the ponies were all attacking me, and the next they all just started falling over like… you. What happened?”

“They’re like me?” Twilight blinked, putting most of her weight on her friend. She could feel the fresh outside air blowing in from the cave entrance. “Maybe that dragon did try using the geas on me. Maybe it was on me. Why didn’t it work, then?”

“Whoa, he tried it on you? What happened? Is he still alive?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not exactly sure what happened to me. And the dragon is still alive. Probably. I sort of… banished him with that spell of Starswirl’s. Ooooh, Celestia’s going to kill me!” She bonked her head with a hoof. “No, damnit, Twilight, stop thinking like that.”

Rainbow stopped moving forward. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She blocked one side of her mouth with a hoof and whispered, “Are you telling me you banished a dragon to another dimension for hurting your subjects?”

“Um, yes?” Twilight squeaked.

Rainbow’s grin grew exponentially, and her free wing flapped around. “That. Is. Awesome! I mean, holy crap, Twilight! Once word gets out about this, the ponies behind the coup are going to soil themselves!”

Twilight groaned again. “No! Dash, please don’t blab about this! I don’t want ponies fearing me!”

“Well, okay, but it’s going to be hard to stop the ‘Twilight is bad-flank’ news from spreading.” Rainbow chuckled.

“What? Why? Oh… Buck me…”

They had gotten near the exit, and there was enough light from the lanterns to see what must have been the entire town surrounding it in a semi-circle. Slowly, Twilight and her guard limped out. Most of the ponies around them looked every bit as out of it as she was. Two of the ponies she recognized from earlier were standing in front of the rest, and their heads were bent down low to the ground in a bow.

“Your Highness,” the medical pony from before said with his forelegs shaking. “Please, spare our town. This whole mess was my fault. I am prepared to accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”

“No!” The bartender stomped his hoof. “I am the one that brought the unicorn with the spell to the dragon! I should be the one to be punished!”

Twilight’s legs shook. In her final steps out of the cave her lost her will to stand and collapsed on to her side. The world around her had started to spin. “Dash,” she said, swallowing. “Dash, get me out of here…”

The world went black.

Twilight awoke to the sound of rushing air, but there was no wind blasting her from any direction. In fact, she was very warm, and there was fabric wrapped around her. Her head ached, like somepony was using it as a drum. The floor underneath her vibrated and jostled, and it took her a while to realize that the movement wasn’t just in her mind.

“Ah, good, you are awake. Rainbow told me a little about what happened.”

Twilight jolted upright, knocking the blanket off of her. Beside her was Princess Luna with her horn alight. They were inside Shadow Hawk, the Princess’s sleek, intimidating chariot. Two Night Guard pegasi were hitched to it, pulling them forward at a breakneck pace. Magical energy swirled in front of them, shielding them from the wind.

Luna put the blanket back on Twilight’s shoulders. “Easy, Twilight. The symptoms should wear off soon. Please, tell me what occurred in your own words. What exactly, happened?”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by snoring and a rather hot sensation on her fetlock. In front of them were two lumps covered in blankets. One was Rainbow Dash. Another was an equally unconscious Spike, whose hot breath was making her leg uncomfortably warm. Her ears flattened as she flopped down, shifting herself away from her number one assistant.

“Where do I even begin?” Twilight muttered, leaning back on the chariot’s wall. She recounted the details of the mission, from the strange clouds to the final steps leaving the cave. Each new turn of events left Luna expressionless and still as a statue, which pushing Twilight’s heart rate even higher.

“So you faced him head on hoping I would arrive in time. That was reckless, Twilight.”

“I know that!” Twilight pounded on the chariot floor with a hoof. “But it’s not like I could just let him go! What if he—?”

“Twilight Sparkle. I understand the impulse. Believe me, I understand it very well. For an alicorn ascendant new to her instincts, your choice was a foregone conclusion. Such a dire situation was exactly what we wanted to avoid by giving you missions rather than allow things to happen haphazardly,” Luna stated in a commanding tone.

“As ever, ascension is... eventful,” The Princess said, sighing.

Twilight groaned, shaking as she curled up in the blanket.

Luna lay down next to her. “Be at ease, Twilight. I am not angry with you. I just—I just want you to be more careful.”

“What would you have done?”

“Killed him,” Luna replied nonchalantly. “Also, had I known it was a dragon, I would have gone myself. Celly, had she known, likely would have browbeat me into attempting to arrest him so she could haul his tail in front of the other dragon clans and demand an explanation. He was a dead drake already. He simply did not know it yet.”

Twilight exhaled in relief, deflating almost entirely. “I thought you’d think my actions… abominable. I mean, what Starswirl wrote about that place… I never thought I’d ever actually use that spell.”

Luna shrugged. “’Tis true. It is a harsh punishment. Worse than death, some might say. But then, his actions were grotesque as well, so I have no sympathy for him. I am thinking that is not the only thing bothering you, though. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that you do not really regret it.”

Twilight was still for a moment, looking off to the side. “No. No I don’t. He said he ate ponies. He said he’d eat you.”

Luna tossed her head back in a fit of laughter. “Oh, did he? He must have been young. Any of the dragons alive before my banishment would have left then and there.”

“He was five hundred, tops. And I don’t think he should have been able to cast magic like that. He said that a unicorn gave him that geas.”

The Princess’s eyes flew open. “Are… Twilight, are you sure of that? It was a unicorn that gave him the knowledge?”

“I can’t say for certain he was telling the truth. The geas didn’t have any unicorn signatures, but he did state that it was a deal with a unicorn.”

Luna blinked, once, and furrowed her brow while slapping her head. “How? How in…? Argh. No, I shan’t dwell on it. Yet. Tia will be able to think this through better. Then I can dwell on it.”

One of Twilight’s ears lifted up. “What’s wrong? I mean, they’re banned, and not many ponies know about them, but the existence of geas spells isn’t top-secret.”

Luna ground her teeth then sighed. “No, there is no way to completely censor their existence. They have too many useful and benign offshoot spells. But neither Tia nor I are especially talented with them. I have a few wards to prevent them, and Tia knows a bit on how to detect and break them, but neither of us know how to cast them. At least not a full, true geas. The other alicorns took that knowledge to their fiery graves. If there is a complete geas spell out there, then we’re in deep trouble.”

“Oh.” A tinge of fear pulled at her heart. “What about draconic versions?”

“Dragons have unbound lifespans, just like us, but they are few in number compared to our ponies, and no geas I’ve yet seen can affect an alicorn mind. Thus, the solution was simple. If a dragon used one on a pony, we killed them, breaking the geas. It has been a good method of dissuasion thus far.

“No matter, this is nothing more than idle speculation until Tia is informed. She is the master planner. I will leave it in her capable hooves to figure this out.”

“Isn’t that a little imbalanced?” Twilight said and immediately regretted it, shrinking back into the fetal position. “I mean, you’re supposed to be equals, and—”

Luna held up a hoof, and Twilight instantly shut herself up.

“Yes, we are equals in law. Well, mostly. Actually, not at all, but that is beside the point. After our… disagreement regarding your brother, we had a talk. She agreed to include me more in her plans and even give me more things to do, but in turn, I must trust her judgement on military and geopolitical strategy. This is something that I feel must be finessed by Celestia. I’d likely believe such even if we had not had come to that agreement.”

“Sovereign,” one of the pegasi chimed in, “we are nearing the destination.”

“Understood.” Luna’s horn shut off, and the swirling magic ahead of them vanished in a flash. The chariot rocked for a moment and slowed down dramatically. “Get up, Twilight, and compose yourself. I am not angry with you. Moreover, it does little good to greet our subjects while cowering in fear or hung low in sorrow.”

Twilight stretched out and stood up straight, albeit reluctantly. “Where are we?”

Luna looked over the edge of her chariot, pointing. “Back in Wintervale so I can see this cave for myself. I need to make absolutely certain that you performed Starswirl’s spell properly.”

“Oh.” Twilight swallowed. “I did the best I could.”

“I am sure you did, but even if you followed his notes flawlessly, there could still be unforeseen consequences. The symptoms you were experiencing are a side-effect of the dimensional membrane thinning.”

Luna squinted her eyes. “Acolyte Derecho, look for a cave on the mountainside near the base.’

“As you wish, Sovereign.”

“There should be lanterns,” Twilight added.

“I see it, Sovereign. Adjusting vector.”

The chariot swung around to the side, pitching downward, keeping its occupants on the seat through clever angling and inertia before coming to a stop in a hover over the entrance.

“Follow me,” Luna commanded, hopping off the edge of the chariot.

Twilight followed suit, using her pegasus magic to create an air current to soften her landing. “What about Rainbow and Spike?”

“Leave them. They have earned a rest, and my guards shall protect them. Now—” she pointed down the cave “—show me the place where you confronted this dragon.”

“It’s just around here, through that entryway.” Twilight pointed. Her sudden shift in weight nearly causing her to topple over.

Luna sniffed the air. “I can already sense the dimensional imbalance and smell the ozone. I would imagine that you are experiencing some significant nausea.”

She held her head. “Yeah. It’s… nauseating.”

“’Tis due to your proximity to the spell when it was cast. Rainbow mentioned that the other townsponies also experienced it , though I would surmise that theirs is from the shock of being forcefully freed of the geas. Fortunately, their magic should return in time. A geas such as you described suppresses, rather than removes, a pony’s magic. Their own wellspring pressure will purge their leylines of the miasma.”

Twilight followed Luna as best she could, but it was difficult going. She didn’t have the long legs the Princess had, and the dizziness was worsening. She did, at least, manage to make it to the rubble that had protected her from the dragon’s attacks.

Luna’s eyes seemed to focus on a particular point. With a few great flaps of her wings, she was over the rocks and facing the spot Twilight had banished the dragon. Twilight, however, found herself having to climb over the debris to return to the Princess’s side.

“This is most certainly the spot.”

Twilight nodded, the hairs on her neck starting to stand up on end again. She’s definitely using her sight. I can feel it even though she isn’t even looking at me. “He said his name was Bloodtide of the Abyssal Current. He was pretty cocky.”

“Tia will have a field day with that information if he really is from that clan. It looks like you also dropped a piece of the mountain on him. What color were his scales?”

“Blue,” she replied without hesitation. “Though his flames were red.”

Luna sat down, taking in a deep breath. “Ah. No wonder the stalactites didn’t kill him. Dragons with blue scales regenerate nearly as fast as alicorns. Nothing short of collapsing the entire cave would have phased him for long. I am sorry you had to face him alone, Twilight. I consider it a personal failing to have let you wander into this unprepared.”

Twilight laid down, finding it easier to fight the nausea this way. “It’s okay, Princess.”

“It is not okay if you are calling me that again.” Luna sighed. “Still, there is something to do here. Can you hear it?”

She twitched her ears around, looking for what the Princess was talking about. “Hear what?”

Luna leaned her head down near Twilight’s. “The banging. The rift. If you cannot hear it, nor see it, then it would appear that your sight has not yet fully developed. Put your ear next to mine, close your eyes, and listen. I will show you what I sense.”

Twilight’s left ear twitched and swiveled as it lined up with Luna’s, then she closed her eyes.

She heard a very faint metal clanging sound, like two slabs of steel crashing into one another, or a sledgehammer beating against a metal door, but muffled substantially. It could easily be missed, if one weren’t paying attention.

As Twilight listened, the sound seemed to grow in intensity. It was definitely coming from inside the cavern. There was a hurried pace to it, like a note of desperation.

Twilight opened her eyes and saw exactly what was making that noise. In front of her was a giant gash in reality or a portal that was mostly closed. Blood-red and orange light poured through it, bleeding through into the surrounding environment. The area around the gash was red like inflamed skin.

Luna’s horn swirled with energy and shot out a beam of energy at one end of the gash. “This is the damage Starswirl’s spells do to the fabric of reality—a consequence Starswirl neglected to mention in his journal. They tear open holes to other dimensions, realms which must not be allowed to come into contact with our own.” The blue light forcing its way into the gash started to move along the opening, sealing it as it went, and returning the cavern to its natural blue state.

“Tia and I spent a good deal of time learning how to seal Starswirl’s ‘accidents,’ especially after the Everfree incident. We were ultimately unable to seal that one completely, but the other smaller ones, such as this, are far simpler.”

The clanging began to fall in intensity, sounding more distant with every passing second, and within moments, Twilight could no longer hear it.

“What was that sound?” Twilight asked in a whisper.

Luna huffed. “If I had to guess, it was that dragon trying to pound and claw his way back. Tough. I have no sympathy for such a monster, nor can I allow a full portal to be opened. His fate is sealed. However, do not use this spell or any other of Starswirl’s dimensional spells again unless the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Nor should you risk your life so carelessly as you did here.”

“But he—”

“Control the instinct, or you will not live to complete your ascension. Your worries are natural, but while it would have been a tragedy to let this dragon escape, Sister and I are convinced that you are the key to saving Equestria. More lives hang in the balance than this one little town or even dozens of them.”

Twilight swallowed and ducked her head into a silent bow as the last of the gash was healed away, banishing it, along with the dragon, forever. “But… I couldn’t…”

Luna turned around and signaled for them to leave. “We are finished here. Though I must point out these truths, do not let it weigh down your heart. You survived and saved Wintervale. Ultimately, this was a success. I am certain Tia will agree. That being said, we should return to the town. I have some questions for its mayor, and I imagine you do as well.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and followed, head held low. “Okay…”

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, her throat still sore as they walked through town. “Unnerved, but… still processing everything. It’ll be a while before it all hits.”

“Then stand up straight. You are the Grand Mage, and though I am not an especially good politician, I still understand that image is everything.”

They stopped at a familiar building, the only one making noise in the entire silent town.

“This is the town inn?” Luna asked, eyeing the building. “Why is the sign blank? What kind of establishment does not have even a name?”

Twilight shook her head and shrugged. “I have no clue. Maybe it was the dragon’s idea?”

“Now I almost feel bad for him. I do not like the idea of executing the mentally ill. Come, let us see if these ponies know anything helpful. If not, maybe I can help them name this place.”

“Heh.” Twilight let out a small laugh, feeling the tension loosen. If Luna was in a good mood, it bode well for Celestia’s evaluation of her mission.

The door opened up, blasting them with a few notes from the piano before the room fell into a dead silence. Ponies were crammed into the inn. Some sat on the ground where no cushions or seats were left. Some were on top of the tables, frozen in mid-dance. Each and every soul had their eyes fully transfixed on Twilight and Luna, but unlike before, when their stares were of suspicion and rejection, these were of abject fear.

“We are looking for the operator of this establishment,” Luna declared, unfazed.

I guess she’s used to looks like this.

The soft sound of hooves on the wooden floor broke the silence, moving around the bar until a lone pony came out from behind it with his head held low. Gingerly, Dirty Glass walked around the mass of ponies until he was in front of the two mares and bowed. “I am the owner, Your Majesty. I tried to surrender before, but—”

Luna held out a hoof, silencing him. “We are aware. However, there are many things here left unanswered, things we believe you can shed light upon.”

He swallowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Luna cleared her throat. “For starters, why is there no name for this establishment?”

The bartender stared at her. “… What?”

“Luna!” Twilight jumped in between them. “This is serious!”

“I know! How does he expect any word-of-mouth business? ‘Oh, I stopped at this place in Wintervale, and it was nice! I hath no idea what it was called, though!’ It’s unfathomable! I—”

“Luna!” Twilight yelled again, stomping her hoof. “I mean there are more importa—” Twilight groaned, “Nevermind. Dirty Glass? Please step outside with us.”

Dirty Glass started shaking and whispered, “Okay.”

Luna stepped around Twilight, wrapping him in a foreleg. “Be at ease. She is angry with that dragon and myself. Not you.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “When did I become the scary one?”

Shuffling echoed through the bar, and Twilight’s head turned just in time to see every occupant dive behind whatever cover they could find—save a few who used whatever object they happened to be carrying. Her eyebrow raised as she noted a stallion “hiding” behind a plate.

“Come along, Grand Mage, barkeep.” Luna giggled. “There are more important matters at hoof. Lead the way, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine. Let’s get going.”

The three walked out of the silent room, and even after the doors closed, not a sound emanated from the building while they were in earshot. Twilight led them to the fountain where her shield still stood.

“I believe I saw this from the air.” The Princess ran a hoof along the barrier, watching it shimmer in reaction to her touch.

“I preserved a crime scene here.” Twilight lit her horn and shut down a few of the shields to reveal the body with the drying pool of blood. “This was one of the ponies attacking the town. I hurt him, but after I did so, somepony else came up and slit his throat. This was cold-blooded murder. I don’t suppose you know anything about this, Dirty?”

His legs shook, knocking together. “Oh Celestia… No, I don’t. That’s… that’s disgusting! Please, hide it again!”

Twilight didn’t get a chance to do so. Luna threw up some kind of field of her own, this one looking like a shroud made up entirely of the night sky, complete with stars.

“Who… who was he?” Dirty asked.

“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me,” Twilight said. “Do you know who he is? Who he was working for?”

Dirty shook his head. “There’ve been a lot of companies coming around wanting rights to the mine. Stalliongrad Armory, Westfalen, Crystal Phasic, some Cloudsdale Armories subsidiary, and even Core Mining in San Palomino sent a representative. Mayor Prospects told them all to pound sand.”

Luna chuckled, but Twilight kept going. “Mayor Prospects? Is that the other pony who was with you?”

“Indeed it is.” A new stallion’s voice emerged from the shadow of the night. It was the yellow earth pony from before. “I am Mayor Prospects. Please, Your Majesties. If there will be punishment for anypony’s crimes here, it should all fall on my shoulders.”

“And why is that?” Luna stepped away from her shroud. “From the timeline supplied, I do not believe you are the pony who killed this stallion.”

He shook his head. “No, but I am the one who originally made the deal with Bloodtide for protection. The mind control… He said he had a spell would keep us safe. Said it would give us magic to fight back against the raids. So, we made a deal to share the mine’s profits. And he betrayed us. Took control. I was a damn fool. He made us… Made us...” The stallion choked on his words.

“It’s okay. Right now, what I want to know is: who cut this pony’s throat?” Twilight asked.

“I do not know,” he said, bowing deeply. “But we could not disobey. All I know is that the order was given through the spell.”

“In that instance, Twilight, I do not believe we will be able to prosecute anypony here for wrongdoing. ‘I was just following orders’ only fails as a defense when there is a presumption of free will. With a spell like this, the holder of the geas is the guilty party, and he has already been sentenced.”

“I’m aware of that, but that still doesn’t answer who these ponies were working for. Or who gave that dragon the geas.”

“Somepony calling himself Ionos,” the bartender answered. “I met him when he came to the Bar. I took him into the mines. He… I went into the cave and talked with the dragon, convinced him to meet with Ionos.”

Twilight and Luna looked at each other.

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” The Grand Mage rubbed her hooves together. “In fact, I think the dragon mentioned that name! What did this pony look like?”

“I… can’t say,” Dirty admitting, collapsing to the ground. “He was wearing this hood and looked like nothing more than a shadow. Black. Completely black. His voice echoed everywhere, and he demanded to meet with the dragon immediately. I don’t know how he knew there was a dragon. We didn’t even know! I also don’t know why I took him in the mines. I’d only ever been there once before! I just… did! And then I brought the Mayor, and he made the deal. I’m sorry.”

“Tis not your fault, subject. One moment.” Luna pressed a hoof against her forehead then leaned in to whisper to Twilight. “Power words. A temporary form of geas. This gets worse by the moment. Somehow, there’s a pony out there with knowledge that should have been dead and buried long ago.”

“We aren’t totally lost yet,” Twilight added, motioning towards the river. “There’s a wrecked wagon down by the smaller river. We can check for physical evidence.”

“There’s nothing in there but lanterns, oil, and matches. Common brands, too,” Prospects said, pointing over to it. “There’s never anything but that in there. We’ve captured a few of the wagons before. Nothing traces to any company.”

“Figures.” Twilight huffed. “What about that pony I captured? I found him working in the mines after he escaped the Diamond Light.”

Prospects shook his head. “Took off running into the forest the second the geas broke. None of us were in any shape to stop him, even though he wasn’t moving that fast. We… we all felt it. There was this darkness… When you were fighting him, the spell weakened, and we lost focus on what was happening. We could feel pain, at first. Something heavy. Then, something burned like acid for a second, and after that… I’m not sure how to describe it. It was like millipedes with impossibly cold, razor-sharp legs crawling all over me. And they were, choking us? I felt some kind of blade slash across my stomach and my neck, and then poof, it all went away. We staggered to the cave while the world tossed about.

“Highnesses, there was a mention of a banishing spell? Is that how you won?”

“We cannot speak of it. The details are classified, I’m afraid.” Luna shook her head, then stared down at him, emphasizing the legal and magical distance between their statuses. “I would avoid talking about it.”

“But—”

Luna’s stare didn’t intensify, but it appeared it didn’t need to.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Both of the ponies dropped into a bow.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Princess, any thoughts on how to proceed?”

“Hmm…” Luna draped a wing over Twilight and continued her whispers. “We still have the body of our murder victim, and it still has a visible cutie mark. We should be able to find out who he is and then track down known associates. I shall have my Night Guard pick up the body and deliver it to RGIS. They will be able to comb the Northland Duchies faster than we could. I will make sure they notify you when they find something, Twilight.”

“It’s something, at least.” Twilight leaned in, whispering as well. “Still, this isn’t the way I wanted my first investigation to end.”

“No battle plan ever survives first contact with an enemy, Twilight. I would have thought my training would have taught you that much.”

“True.” She sighed. “Do you think there’s any point in investigating these companies?” She looked over at the shields protecting the body.

“Not yet. At the very least, they will stonewall and cover up any information about it.” Luna curled her lip in disgust as she looked off to the horizon. “The cynic in me says that, since there have been multiple raids, they might even be colluding. With so many ‘offers,’ it’s impossible to point to one company easily. We will need more information before we make a move, or they will make an even bigger effort to cover things up.”

“So, in the meantime, we just wait?” Twilight stomped a hoof, breaking the whisper. “But this town has been through Hell!”

“And they shall receive help.” Luna retracted her wing and stepped towards the mayor. “I will send reconstruction teams to aid rebuilding and pressure Blueblood to send troops to protect you. With your permission, Mayor Prospects.”

“We’ll take any help we can get,” he said, bowing again. “Provided we don’t have to give up the rights to our mine.”

“Of course.” Luna waved away his worry with a hoof. “Incidentally, although you didn’t hear this from me, I would resist any effort by Stalliongrad or Germaney to annex your town. You are better off with Cadence as a representative. Get into contact with her office. She is very kind, Mayor, and will be delighted to help you however she can.”

He dropped down into a bow. “I will… consider your advice, Your Majesty.”

“Then you two are both dismissed. Come, Twilight.”

Luna and Twilight both turned and left, trotting back towards the cave entrance and the chariot before the Princess shouted behind her, “And think of a name for that saloon! Honestly, ponies these days.”

“Luna!”

“Sorry, it just irks me. I happen to like taverns, especially warm, cosy ones like that. To see one unnamed stirs something in me.” The Princess paused looking up into the sky. “I wonder how long that dragon was in there…”

Twilight looked up into the inky canopy with her. “I don’t know. It’s been a while since we talked to that dragon near Ponyville, and he wasn’t there for long. I’ve never seen dragon smoke settle like that.”

“Dragon smoke tends to rise high in the atmosphere far higher than any pegasus is capable of flying.” She furrowed her brow and spread her wings. “My ponies deserve their night. Excuse me.”

The sound of wind filled Twilight’s ears in an instant, kicking dust and soot into her eyes and nose. By the time she wiped them clear, a shockwave of light and fury exploded into the sky, blazing through the heavens. A ring of the purest night expanded overhead, shimmering against the background of dark clouds.

“Rainboom… She did a rainboom… A vertical, climbing rainboom!” Twilight’s whispered words were lost in the boom that followed, yet the clouds remained. “She didn’t even break through the clouds! How high are they?”

A bright star erupted in the clouds, looking like a distant supernova. The clouds boiled and burned outward from the star, giving way to the brilliant night behind them.

A smile grew on the corner of Twilight’s mouth as she caught a faint blue glow from Luna teleporting back to her.

“There. That’s better.” Luna arced her gaze upwards, examining her work. “Now the town can grow food again. I am relieved that I remembered the spell. It’s been thousands of years since I’ve used it.”

“I have to admit, it was beautiful. What’s next?” Twilight asked, resuming their trot back to the chariot.

“Next, Twilight, we give things over to the RGIS. Once they find a thread we can grasp, we pull.” She narrowed her eyes. “And then we see what unravels.”

Author's Note

Hi all. This was a very difficult chapter. Lots of tiny plot holes everywhere to plug. Nothing completely story-breaking long term, but things that would have interfered with the integrity/timeline of the story of this specific mission. I’m hoping that I got all of them. Odds are I’ll have to patch another that I missed, though. It’s like whack-a-mole.

Medical progress hasn’t happened. The medicine isn’t working much. Since my typing has been consistently painful despite the medicine, I’ve been playing a video game to pass the time. The only good news is that while playing, I’ve noticed that the pain I normally get in my right hand from using the mouse has been reduced. I don’t know if it’s from the gabapentin or not. I also don’t know if it’s a fluke or a legit improvement.

I have an appointment with the doc in a week. Hopefully by then I’ll have something more definitive on whether or not the gabapentin is working.

The good news is that if it is working, I’m on a minuscule dose, and I’ve noticed no side-effects so far, so increasing it is definitely an option. I’ve read of people taking TEN TIMES what I am right now.

The other good news is that if it isn’t working, there are two other medications to try.

The bad news, is that as long as it hurts this much I won’t be making much new content progress. I’m still running off of my backlog. However, at my current target once-per-two-weeks pace, I still have at least 12 chapters I can post before I start feeling real uncomfortable. That’s 24 weeks, or about six months of content. That’s enough time to try each of the possible medications for two months, and I can slow down a bit after ~8 more chapters to buy more time if needed.

My voice still isn’t capable of voice dictation anymore. Maybe it’s the cold weather, but I don’t make it past a couple hundred words. No idea what it is. I used to be able to knock out 4k, but now I’m lucky to hit 400. I’ll keep trying from time to time. Maybe warmer, wetter weather will help me there as time goes on.

Anyway, this chapter looks like it marks the end of Mission One! Right? Well, actually, there’s one more chapter of Mission One to go. It’ll help reveal some stuff about the story, but, like I said, this whole mission is only the topmost layer of a very large onion. Same for every mission here on out. Lots of secrets left to go. ;)

Chapter 32 (counting the Prologue as Chapter 0) will mark the start of Mission Two. I think you all will like it. :D

-Cv

Through The Eye Of A Needle

A strange sound was resonating from Twilight’s doors. Granted, somepony was knocking on them, but that wasn’t the strange part. No, the strange part was the accompanying voice and what she was asking.

“Twilight? It’s Celestia. May I come in?”

Twilight lifted herself up and stood on her cloud bed. Celestia? Why is she…? Never mind, it’s Celestia… right? “Come in!”

Princess Celestia did indeed open the doors and step inside. “Hello, Twilight. How are you feeling?”

“As well as can be expected.” Twilight yawned, sweeping away the pile of tissues with her magic. “Though, I am wondering why you’re here instead of on tour. And, um, why did you knock? It’s your castle.”

Celestia then did something Twilight hadn’t ever seen or, at the very least, hadn’t ever noticed her do before. She tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘why did I knock?’ Twilight, this is your room. I’m not about to just barge in, barring an absolute emergency, at least.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she started fidgeting with her tail. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I’m still not used to the whole ‘royal chambers that are actually mine’ thing.”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, Twilight! This is your home too! You needn’t worry so much.” She walked up to her, lay down, and wrapped a wing over Twilight’s back. “Although, I should remember who I’m talking to. Honestly, you’re just like your brother. It took him ages to realize that Cadence wasn’t going to dump him over the slightest offense.”

“That…” Twilight looked away over to her closet. “That sounds a lot like Shiny. And, well, me. I guess we have that in common. Still, I have to ask. What brought you back?”

“You did! Sister messaged me, saying you banished a dragon. Quite the adventure for your first outing. How are you holding up?”

Twilight swallowed. “I’m still having trouble with it. But doing better than I thought I would. I mean, I basically just killed that dragon. But he was hurting ponies, and if he escaped, there’s no telling what he would’ve done. Now I’m sitting here, debating with myself over what I should have done differently, but I’m not really getting anywhere. The worst part is that I’m more unnerved by how calm I am, rather than what I actually did. Although, I suppose I can’t call myself ‘calm’ if I am unnerved and really, really worried about what you’re going to say…”

Celestia shifted around on the cloud, pulling Twilight closer. “Luna filled me on on everything. She already said what I needed to. Protect yourself, Twilight. You are far more important than you give yourself credit for, okay?”

Twilight leaned into the nuzzle, letting her worry melt away. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“And, if it’s any consolation, I just received word back from the clan he claimed to belong to. The dragon was who he said he was. After some prodding, they were quite… well, let’s just say, ‘apologetic’ over the trouble and have agreed to compensate the survivors of the town. They may not need the mine for income anymore.”

Twilight felt herself melt into the cloud. “That, actually, makes me feel a lot better. I’m more sorry I couldn’t save more ponies than I am over the dragon himself. He was a monster. I suppose I’m mostly angry with myself for having been so desperate. When I think of how you or Luna would have handled it, I feel… weak.”

Celestia nodded. “I understand. It is true that, had I sent Luna, she would have killed him without hesitation, and likely in her first strike. A blue dragon simply regenerates too quickly to risk capture. Yet, even with your meager experience, you emerged victorious. That alone is a reason for celebration.

“In addition, this will send a clear message to other young dragons out there: do not harm our ponies.”

“But…” Twilight buried her head in a piece of the cloud. “I feel like Shining here. ‘Is it right?’ That’s what he might ask about this. Is it right that I took a life? More importantly, is it right that I don’t feel like I’ve done something wrong?”

Celestia scratched her chin with a primary feather. “Shining Armor was my Captain of the Royal Guard. Had he been in your place, I imagine he would have killed that dragon, or attempted to, without hesitation. While he’s certainly not at Luna’s level, he’s still more than capable of handling the typical dragon.”

Twilight shuddered. “Shiny’s that skilled? I could barely do anything against Bloodtide...”

“Your brother’s abilities notwithstanding, would it be ‘right’ to allow the dragon to escape and possibly eat or dominate more ponies? This is a deep moral gray area, Twilight, so there’s no ‘right’ answer. I recommend using the gem from earlier to meditate or seeing the castle psychiatrist. Or just talking it through with your friends. Any of those can do wonders.”

“Is that what you do?” Twilight leaned into her. “See a psychiatrist? It seems like something so small for problems this big.”

“Twilight…” She leaned down, showing a glimpse of the true pain behind her eyes. “I banished my sister to the moon for a thousand years. I can assure you, the psychiatrist is not here for the servants. He’s here because Luna and I have… issues. Ones that will take millennia and generations of psychiatrists to get through. But get through them we must, and we will use whatever techniques we can find that are safe and effective.”

Twilight groaned. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I suppose these problems I have are minor to you.”

Celestria stroked Twilight with a wing, letting the primaries dance over her back. “Not at all. The thing you must realize is that though alicorns face difficult problems, our solutions to the emotional havoc they may cause are no different from the solutions that ordinary ponies have, nor are they any less effective, provided you do not allow yourself to stray too far down the path of the Nightmare. And for that, we shall always be here for you.”

Twilight reached up and hugged Celestia around the neck, pulling her deep into an embrace. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

A long white foreleg wrapped around her to return the hug. “Anytime, Twilight.”

The two sat there like that for some time, the tension flowing away from Twilight like water down a river. She knew it could not last, but was still altogether surprised at how it ended when there came a frantic pounding at the door.

“Highness! Highness, come quick! Something is happening in the dungeon!”

They both broke the hug and, with a single look, shared the same important question. “What?”

“Highness, please!”

Twilight remembered, at that point, that these were her chambers and pulled open the door with her magic, letting an armored Day Guard in.

“Thank— Oh! Princess Celestia! You’re here too. Thank Celestia! Er—”

The Princess held up a hoof to calm him. “Out with it, Guardian Steel. What’s happening in the dungeon?”

He pulled off his helmet. “We aren’t exactly sure how, but the prisoners from the Siege of Canterlot are gone!”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Gone?! All of them?”

He swallowed and shook his head. “Well, no, just most of them. They used…” The stallion winced. “My apologies, but words won’t suffice for this. It would be best to see for yourself, Highness.”

Celestia stood and spread her wings. “Very well.”

Twilight was used to Celestia teleporting them places at this point and expected the warm glow that came and whisked her away. However, they stopped short of materializing in the dungeon itself. Instead, she found herself a few corridors away and rushing to keep up with the Princess as they ran.

“What do you think is happening?” Twilight asked between breaths.

“I’m not sure,” Celestia replied, skidding around a corner. “To lose so many prisoners at once? The only way is teleportation, but the wards there are iron-clad. I need to see this with my own eyes.”

One more turn and they were before what were probably the heaviest, sturdiest, and most enchanted doors in Canterlot Castle. One was already cracked open, and a Guard was in front, pushing it the rest of the way.

“Over here, Your Highness!” He waved at them.

Celestia didn’t pay him any heed as she rushed past and down into the holding block. The white marble of the castle gave way to hardened brown stone blocks, and the warm lighting was replaced with fluorescent lamps. Every steel bar making up the prison had subtly visible enchantments etched on it. Combined with the other lighting, it was almost warm, but the spartan contents of the rooms made it plain to see that these were not meant to be comforting.

The third cell Twilight saw held the first clue as to what happened, along with the fourth, fifth, seventh, and almost every single one after that. Maybe only one in four lacked the tell-tale sign the others had on their back walls: a bloody, glowing magic circle inscribed with runes she’d never seen before.

“What… What is going on here? Is that really blood on the walls?” Twilight tried to tear open the door, but the enchantments resisted her telekinesis, forcing it away like she was trying to grab onto water with a hoof.

“Twilight.” Celestia ran back to the cell her student was trying to get into. “Look at the structure of the magic circles. See the penetration lines? The beacon rune at the top?”

Twilight glimpsed at it only for a short second before turning her head away as her blood ran cold and sweat started to leak from her pores. “A teleportation marker? They were trying to break through the wards? I can’t believe they’d be able to escape like that.”

Celestia shook her head, words dripping with anger and worry. “They can’t. Our wards use a recursive spell, among other things, to prevent it. Forcing it like this, I honestly rather doubt any of them survived.”

Twilight cringed. “There’s nothing we can do?”

“I’m afraid not. The deed is already done. The question is, where did they try to teleport to?” Celestia gazed at the circles, her eyes going over them as rapidly as Twilight had ever seen them move. “Guards! Organize patrols! I want the entire ground within ten kilometers checked! Any survivors or suspicious ponies are to be arrested and brought here!”

“Yes ma’am!” The guards saluted and ran out at a full gallop.

Twilight kept looking at the circle. Something was off about it, and it wasn’t just the blood. There was something else, but the blood was as good a place as any to start. “Why are these written in blood rather than magic?”

“Blood contains lots of magic, Twilight. These ponies…” Celestia paused a moment, visibly cringing. “As they were prisoners, we put inhibitor rings on their horns as standard procedure. The only way these ponies had to create the circles was to grind their horns on the walls. Blood from anyplace else wouldn’t have enough magic in it.”

Twilight wobbled and nearly fell over, her legs shaking and knocking together. “You… You’re kidding…”

A remaining prisoner behind her retched in a sink. “It was awful… The worst sound I’d ever heard… They weren’t even screaming! They just.. started scraping… Urk…”

Twilight wished there was an open cell so she could get to one of the sinks. Her stomach was ready to evacuate her dinner all over the dungeon floors. “What… How did they even know to do that? How did they even know to make these runes? I’ve never seen some of them before!”

Celestia’s wings snapped open in shock, her eyes wider than Twilight had ever seen before as they locked onto the runes. “No… No, it can’t be. It just can’t…”

“Tia?” Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof. Don’t talk… Don’t talk yet. Mustn’t open mouth…

“The circles, they are all precisely identical. That shouldn’t happen. If I’m right, and I pray to the heavens I’m not, but if I am, we have a much more serious situation on our hooves. Come.” Celestia leaned down and cast a spell on Twilight, pulling a golden light over her. “This should help with the nausea.”

It did. In fact, she felt like she could eat a record-setting meal and not get sick, and she was still thinking about her ponies’ horns. “I don’t even know if I want to not be sick at the thought of this…”

“No time. Hurry! On me!”

Twilight took off running with her mentor just ahead of her, twisting and turning through the hallways towards the top of the tower that held their private chambers. They didn’t even stop there. Rather, Celestia swung her chamber doors open well ahead of time.

“Twilight, when I tell you to, jump!”

“What? Jump? What are you—”

They didn’t even stop at the chamber doors; they just kept barreling through, over the royal bed and to the balcony.

“Jump!”

“What?”

“Do it!”

Twilight obeyed as she always did. This time, however, she found herself literally leaping off the absolute tallest tower in all of Canterlot, which was itself situated on a mountain.

This was not an especially tenable situation.

“Aaaaaaaiiiiiieeeee!” Twilight flailed her limbs again, forgetting all of her training as she plummeted.

Twilight reached out with her forelegs, desperately reaching for her mentor to catch her. Celestia, however, did more than that. She spread her wings and pulled back, slowing her drop to a glide and catching Twilight directly on her back. There was barely a dip in her flight while Twilight clutched her mentor’s neck for dear life, and with one mighty flap, they were off.

“You could have warned me!” Twilight screamed.

“I apologize, but time is of the essence. I want to see if I can catch them in time! Hold on!”

Another mighty flap from her wings and Celestia was at speeds Rainbow Dash would easily be proud of, and Twilight had the feeling that the Princess was capable of far more.

“Can you see anything, Twilight? Use your sight if you can!”

Twilight swallowed and nodded, trying to call upon her sight but only hurt her eyes. “I can’t! We’re going too fast! Or recklessly! Or something!”

“Never mind! I think I see it!”

Celestia dove left, swooping to the ground in a dive bomb. Only Twilight’s faith in Celestia kept her from screaming out like a little filly while the wind rushed past them in the night sky.

Celestia’s wings flared and tipped, pulling them out of the dive and breaking their speed in time for a swift but smooth landing on one of the hills surrounding the city. Twilight wasted no time getting to the ground but immediately wished she had stayed on the Princess’s back instead.

“This… This is…” Her sight finally came to her, and even in the dark of night, she saw what was under her hooves. “Miasma! Like back in the Everfree! Somepony died here! Wait…” She took another step, and the ground squished under her like there had been a rain. “Is this blood?”

“Indeed. There’s nopony left. Look.” Celestia pointed with a hoof.

Twilight shuddered and ran towards where Celestia was pointing. She didn’t even care what was there; she wanted out of the miasma, out of the blood. Fortunately, the top of the hill proved to be a dry sanctuary, but there was something else: some sort of bronze-colored machine with three glowing white rods sticking out of it and holes for three more. It was the only piece of technology anywhere in sight, abandoned by whomever had been using it.

“They’re long gone. Damn. I could have used confirmation.”

“What…” Twilight swallowed. “Ugh. I hope I never have to see something like this again. What is this thing? Looks like it’s just here to hold these solidified magic rods. Seems there are only three left.”

Celestia leaned over it, examining the device. “Most likely they needed the magic to perform the teleportation. Since they are only half drained, I assume they meant to use the rest in a getaway with all of the ponies they recovered. The circles in their cells were beacons, a means of locating the prisoners. I do not believe they expected their teleportation to fail.”

Twilight steadied herself on the object. She wasn’t so much physically dizzy as overwhelmed, and her hooves itched from the dark magic on the ground. “That still doesn’t answer how those ponies even knew how to make that circle!”

The Princess lit her horn, pouring her aura over the land below them. “They were told how, I think. Or more accurately, forced to do it. I don’t want to admit it, but it all makes sense. I think some of the ponies we captured, the ones from the airship that were resistant to interrogation, were under a geas.”

Twilight’s stumbled back. “A geas? How? I thought you and Luna had talked to them! And the ponies in the town had draconic magic deep in their leylines! The geas was plain as day under the sight!”

“I know. Believe me, I know. We did examine them with our sight. Not all geasa are so obvious, but still, we should have seen it. The fact that we did not, plus the fact that whoever is behind it was able to control so many at once, means that this is a geas spell far beyond any I’ve ever encountered before. Something so subtle our sight cannot see it and so absolute it can force anything from a subtle suggestion to specific commands given over a large distance. It explains far too much to be mere coincidence.”

Twilight felt the blood draining from her face as her cheeks went numb. “So some of those ponies that attacked us… they were innocent…”

Celestia sneered at the horizon. “I imagine that somehow that dragon is connected. Or was. Now I wish we had captured him alive.”

“Ionos,” Twilight said, swallowing. “Somepony named Ionos showed the dragon how to perform a geas. I don’t know how; dragon and unicorn magic are so different, but… if Bloodtide’s spell was an amateur imitation of this geas and if this pony found out I had banished Bloodtide, or killed him…”

Celestia picked up the thread. “He or she would have reasoned that we may have been close to discovering the secret and breaking the geas on our captives to interrogate them. Perhaps even restore the memories. Now we cannot even test a detection spell, let alone a counter-spell. This was desperation on their part, a stop-loss maneuver. And it worked.”

“I think… I think I need to sit down.” Twilight flopped to the ground, which was mercifully free of blood. “This is huge. But… why do all this?”

Celestia dropped down next to her, covering Twilight in the glow of the aura. “Power of some sort, I would think. As to the exact reason? I do not know. But now, finally, we have the beginnings of some answers. We now know why it’s so hard to find leads; the ponies we talk to cannot tell us.”

“Could this be the reason for all of it? The coup? The Robber Barons? The unrest? Towers’ treason?” Twilight ran the numbers in her head. “Could they have thousands of ponies under control like this? Tens of thousands? Could they control everypony?”

Celestia took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Twilight could just barely see her mentor’s pupils bounce around as she thought, considering every angle.

It’s just like she taught me to do…

“No, Twilight. I don’t think they’re out to simply mind-control everypony. Think about it. If they were, why launch the attack at all?”

“That’s right!” Twilight closed her eyes and copied her mentor, letting her mind run down the road her mentor had paved. “If they were out to mind-control everypony, it’d be in their best interest not to be noticed until it was too late. Further, only a portion of the ponies captured are gone—the ones that RGIS couldn’t get any information from. The rest were more cooperative and, more importantly, being paid to join the attack. If they could mind-control any number of ponies with the geas, why bother paying for muscle? It doesn’t make sense.

“That isn’t to say it’s not useful. One could place them on key political figures or those with access to large amounts of bits. They could prevent a pony from spilling their secrets or control a small group that they need to perform certain jobs. Like, say, pilot or build an airship…”

Celestia turned her attention off to the horizon. “Twilight. The dragon you fought… did he put you on anything resembling a geas stone?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think so. Most of his lair was crystal.”

The Princess brought her head down to Twilight’s level. “Think hard and carefully. Was there anywhere in the cave with a dark ore? It could be something you stepped on or rubbed up against. Anything you touched. In its natural form, it would be in thin veins, with a green aura in our sight. It wouldn’t feel like normal rock, either.”

“I didn’t look with my sight, but there was a moment where some dark rocks and dust fell on me. It was… oddly sticky.”

“Hmm… If that’s the case, then…” Celestia peered over Twilight’s head and ran her magic through her mane like a comb, pulling and tugging at the hairs.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, pulling her head away. “You think the dust was a crumbled geas stone?”

“For a relatively crude geas, the psy ore itself can suffice, but that makes the spell less effective. To be of better use, there is a refinement process to create a proper stone. Luna did not mention seeing any of the ore, but even though it may have been mostly mined out, only a little is needed for a short-term spell. Aha.” A speck of a pebble floated up and out of Twilight’s mane, surrounded by Celestia’s powerful aura. “One moment.”

Lines of magic and inscriptions formed in the air around the tiny stone, weaving themselves into a complex magical circle. “It has been some time since I’ve cast this spell, but it should tell us what we’re dealing with.” The space inside the circle hummed, and green glow emanated from the center. Dark lines swiped across the disk, followed by a new series of symbols at the bottom.

“Lato, Ail, Toru, Koan, Chros… Nothing so far. Wait!” Celestia spun the little pebble around, and the symbols shifted again.

♃ ♅ ♆ ♓︎ ♅ ♊︎

“Zuepe, Oran, Maru, Erat, Oran, Daiyo. Twilight, what do you know of—?”

"The base symbol representation for the same class of spells as the geas.” Twilight pointed a hoof at the symbols as they continued to shift and scroll. “If I’m right, and you’re using some kind of analysis spell to figure out the ore’s thaumatic properties, then this ore has a really crude, basic recursive geas spell already embedded into it. Also, I want that analysis spell.”

“You’ll get a copy, and as for your guess, you are precisely correct. A pony must be touching this ore while the spell is cast for a geas to have any kind of long-term effect. That’s one of the secrets about geas spells that we’ve been keeping hidden to prevent their development and use.

“Whoever this ‘Ionos’ is, I’m betting he wanted the ore, not the crystals. And now, he probably has it. What few veins exist are always very small in size, so it was likely recovered quickly, and the rest of the mine and some small amount of the ore left to the dragon.”

“But what about the dragon? He told me about Ionos! And these ponies don’t leave loose ends.”

“True. That’s a hole in their plan. When we finally found him, we would have—”

The conversation froze, and their eyes met. The words passed between them without so much as a whisper.

“While capturing is preferable, had I sent Luna, she still would have killed him without hesitation, and likely in her first strike.”

Celestia’s eyes grew cold. “He knew. This ‘Ionos’ knew we’d find out about the town and the dragon. But he counted on Luna and her impulsiveness, not Grand Mage Sparkle. This was set in motion before we made your promotion public.”

Twilight started to nod but quickly switched to shaking her head. “But what about the ponies of Wintervale? They’d be a loose end!”

Celestia looked off to the side for a moment, but when their eyes met once again, Twilight recoiled like a filly would if struck. Flames licked and spat off the Princess’s torc as she spoke. “You are correct. Which means that the geas, as implemented by Bloodtide, would probably have killed the denizens of the town had the dragon perished, most likely by tearing out their wellsprings. If that is the case, the only reason they are still alive is because we sent you, not Luna. The dragon was alive when he was banished and the thaumic link severed, so a failsafe spell never could have fired and cannot reach our subjects from The Dark.”

Twilight swallowed down a gag that never came, thanks to Celestia’s spell from earlier, as silence fell over them. Her legs marked time as they shook, and her mind struggled to find words in a desperate bid to change the subject. “The… The geas. If there’s somepony that can use one, who else do you think is… being controlled?”

“I don’t think any of the Council are. Or the Generals. Any individual I know well enough would eventually be exposed if they were under the effects of a geas. I’d notice at some point. Still, we can’t judge anypony solely by apparent intentions anymore.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Yes, but… I can’t help but think that this is a very, very fragile plan. Even if we’d never be able to tell if a pony is under its effects through behavior, there’s still a critical flaw. If we find or develop a counterspell that’s easy and safe to use on everypony, mind-controlled or not, this whole thing comes crashing down.”

“I agree. Which begs the question, why go through all the effort? We were bound to find out at some point once they launched their attack. It doesn’t make sense if they were out to influence ponies in our government. I have a theory, but I would like to hear your thoughts, Twilight.”

Twilight blinked. “Me?”

“Yes, you, Twilight. You don’t have a crown yet, but being the Grand Mage means you are well on your way.”

Twilight felt the hair on her back stand on end. “Well… The ponies that didn’t want to talk were on the fake Bellerophon, so maybe they’re using them for labor? They were the ones flying the airship. If they’re ‘only’ labor, it might mean they think the geas ponies are ultimately expendable? Which means this is only one tiny part of their plan!”

The flames on Celestia’s neck and back flickered and died down. “Precisely. Whatever is truly going on, it’s far larger than the geas. My gut says that this is beyond any of my old theories. Though as of yet, I have no proof.

“Worse, the fact that I could not see the geas in those ponies’ leylines tells me this one is indeed different from the one Bloodtide used, and further, it was not cast by an amatuer; there wasn’t even the slightest hint of contamination in their leylines. Whoever this ‘Ionos’ is, he has mastered the spell completely. Even if it’s only a piece of the puzzle, this is monumentally disturbing.”

Twilight took a tentative step closer to her mentor, feeling the heat in the air to see how safe it would be. “Meanwhile, we’re at square one. Actually, square zero. We have no idea how this spell is even structured, so we don’t have a clue as to where to start with building our counter-spell.”

Celestia shook her head. “There is one silver lining. The fact that you could tell which ponies were affected by the dragon’s geas tells me that those responsible are not aware of our thaumic sight. It is something we may be able to use against them.

Twilight shuddered. “Is there anything we can do right now to stop it from being placed on ponies? On alicorns?”

“Alicorns are normally immune… Regardless, I’m going to go ahead and have Luna apply a ward on your body, as well as on Rainbow Dash. Spike’s body can’t support that, so we can’t put a ward on him — though, I’ve never heard of a dragon falling prey to such a spell as a geas, either.

“I considered giving you the ward from the start, but Luna didn’t want you become reliant on them. The discovery of the geas changes this — we can’t take chances now. They need an expensive material to make, so we can’t do it for everypony, but we need to make certain you do not fall victim to it.”

“And they’ll protect me? And what do they need? Only a few spells consume normal matter…”

Celestia nodded. “They should protect you. Though, she’ll have to modify it from her usual ward; normally they only protect a pony against toxins and poisons. I have no idea how effective they’ll be against a geas, especially this one, so be on your guard and take nothing for granted. We’ll need to go to the armory to get the Thanatos Tear that Luna will need in order to apply the ward.”

The colors in Twilight’s vision practically inverted. She’d heard that term before, though never from Celestia. The Thanatos Tear was known to a scant few ponies. Twilight had only ever heard it muttered in the most dire of warnings from one pony: Zecora. Supposedly ‘impossible’ to make, and one of, if not the most, rare substance in the world, it was also the single most horrifyingly deadly poison in all of existence. Unlike all the others known to ponykind, it did not just attack the body.

It also attacked the wellspring directly.

“A Th-th-th-thanatos Tear… Those are…”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “How do you know what they are? Wait, I forget who I’m talking to. I can assure you, the application process is safe. At no point do you ingest the Tear… Ah, finally, the patrols have found us.”

Twilight looked up and saw not a patrol, but at least four wings of five pegasi each approaching at their top speed. Canterlot was starting to light up, too, with the Royal Guard’s searchlights combing the skies.

The first wing arrived in just seconds, but unlike the others, this one was pulling a chariot with an old unicorn riding on it. Even before it landed, a little flash announced his teleportation to the ground.

“Your Majesties,” Grand General Blueblood said, bowing to the ground. “I apologize for this breach of security. Shall we raise Canterlot’s shield?”

“It’s not so much a breach, General,” Celestia replied. “This is a highly unusual scenario, and I doubt the shield will be of any use here. But, there is some… useful news in that we now know a lot more than we did about our enemies. I’ll brief you before I return to my tour and further coordinate efforts while on the go. Prepare courier pegasi for immediate emergency deployment to the other generals and secure the area for an RGIS evidence comb. Right now, I must return to Canterlot to inform my sister.”

“Right away, Highness.” He bowed again. “Let me know if you need further help. The Guard Shall Serve! Wings Alpha and Bravo, perimeter sweep, now!”

He gives orders like my brother… The light of teleportation enveloped them, and they were away.

“I do not approve of this, Sister. We only have two Tears. This will deplete our reserves, and the current Zebrican President is, to put it lightly, uncooperative.” Luna followed her sister through the armory, passing through locked door after locked door, each made of enchanted steel, to progressively more dangerous and rare equipment.

“I’m aware of this, Sister. But we must take every precaution against this threat. It is far worse than I imagined.”

“Um, about that.” Rainbow hovered behind them, flapping her wings lightly.

Twilight’s focus drifted just a moment from a new sensation. I can feel the breeze from her pegasus magic better now. I wonder if that’s from having it myself…

“Can these ponies really control someone?” Rainbow was holding her chest with her forelegs and shivering. “Like, tell them to do anything they want? Even kill themselves?”

“Yes, Rainbow,” Celestia warned. “They appear to even be able to control ponies without a voice command. Even give them complex instructions through mere thought. This is why we need to give you the wards to prevent the geas from being used on you.”

One final set of doors opened into a room filled with heavily secured cabinets, the air around them magically charged. On the back wall was something akin to a medicine cabinet, albeit made of metal with a face dominated by a large gem lock, similar to the one Twilight had seen on the chest containing her brother’s new armor.

Celestia turned around and gave them a warm smile. “Be at ease, my ponies. The warding process is painless, if boring. Sister will do all the work.”

“Hmph. We’re just lucky I ever studied geas counter spells. But I must warn you, Sister.” Luna put her horn to the gem and began to work her magic into it. “My knowledge of them is modest at best. If this geas is as powerful as you say, I don’t know what I’m going to do to stop them or free our ponies.”

Celestia sighed. “Right now, I’m going to settle for finding a way to detect it. If we can get that far, I have confidence one of us, be it you, Twilight, or myself, will be able to figure out a way to analyze and break it. In the meantime, we must take whatever precautions we can.”

“That much I agree with.” The gem vanished, and two clear, nearly empty bottles were revealed to be behind it. Each only had a single drop inside of them. “The Tears are ready. Rainbow Dash, remove your armor.”

Rainbow looked over to Twilight, clearly nervous, but began removing her chestplate.

“Okay, the ward isn’t so much scary as it is… itchy. These glowy blue lines on our bodies will fade, right?” Rainbow was kicking her hoof every few steps like she was trying to shake something off.

Twilight nodded as they walked back to their rooms, their bodies covered in runes and intricate lines. “Yeah, they should vanish in an hour or so, but the protection apparently lasts for decades. They might glow if they have to start working, so let’s be mindful of that. It means we’re being poisoned or somepony is attempting to put a geas on us.”

“And what about Spike? How come he gets outta this?” Rainbow scratched her flank, gritting her teeth.

“Dragons are immune to just about every toxin we know about, and their magic is completely different. He’s probably safer than we are just by being a dragon. Also, Luna’s wards apparently won’t work on them, so I want us to look out for him when we can, just in case.”

“Can do, boss. If this ever stops itching…” Rainbow bit and gnawed at her shoulder. “Seriously!”

“I wouldn’t bite at that if I were you. She used a Thanatos Tear. Those don’t just kill you — they corrode your wellspring.”

Rainbow froze, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. “Whoa. No wonder they had it locked up…”

Nodding, she stopped to look at the final stretch to her chambers. “Time to climb the stairs again. I imagine we’ll have more to do in the morning, so get some rest… if you can.”

Rainbow sighed. “This geas thing is going to get uglier before it gets better, isn’t it?”

Twilight swallowed as she took her next step. “Yes. Yes it is.”

Author's Note

Twi's starting to collect the pieces of the puzzle, but she's still a long, long way from the full picture. There's so much more going on. ;)

That being said, this one is plot-heavy enough that I'm terrified a few plot holes escaped my notice. IF there is any chapter that I've posted lately that I'll have to tweak in the future because I'm a moron, it'll likely be this one. :P

Now then, the next chapter....

... is being posted in a few seconds! :D Surprise! It's fairly short, though, which is why I'm posting it with this one. I'm also not counting the next chapter as a paid one on Patreon for the same reason. But, hey, more horse words! :D

(Un)Expected Retribution

“I regret, Grand Mage Sparkle, that we have uncovered precious little else during the night. You are already up to date on what we have, but our investigations are still ongoing.”

Twilight slumped back in the seat in front of what used to be her brother’s desk. “I was afraid of that.”

Grand General Blueblood flipped a few pages back in his stack of papers. “Personally, however, I am quite concerned about these ‘bandits’ you described that assailed that village. Were you able to determine the culprit behind them?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No. I gave what little evidence I had to Lieutenant Intelligentsia. She promised to get the right ponies on the job. Their teams could comb for a lead faster than I could personally. If they turn something up, I’ll jump on it. I want whoever did this to face justice, sooner rather than later.”

“It is… disappointing you could not uncover more information.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. Who does he think he is? I almost died!

Blueblood pulled out a piece of stationery and began to write. “Hopefully, however, we will be able to discourage any more violence on that town. I am going to order General Blaze to shift her forces west so they’re close by. We will be able to station an elite patrol there that way. Anypony else daring to be so brazen as to burn an entire town will have to answer to the Yellowjackets.”

“Yellowjackets? Are they another elite stunt flying group like the Wonderbolts?” Twilight scratched her chin with her pen.

Blueblood lifted his eyebrow. “You do not know much about our special military units, do you, Grand Mage?”

She tried to summon the will to glare at him but just stared blankly. “Up until a few months ago I was a librarian, General. I know about military history and structure, but if you’re asking about the specific reputation of individual units, no. Not unless they have a storied history I could read about.”

He reached into Shining Armor’s old desk and pulled out a three-ring binder, laying it on the desk and flipping the pages. It was stuffed full of magazine clips, ripped from their parent publications. Each page had some article or picture of different military units.

“Your brother did leave me a small mess here in some respects—”

Twilight huffed and then froze. She didn’t think about doing it—it just came out.

Blueblood continued anyway. “—but one of the things I think he did wisely was to catalogue how Princess Celestia and the military were portrayed and perceived in the media. Look at this.”

Twilight lifted out one of the pages and read the headline. “‘Yellowjackets save kidnapped mare, burn down warehouse in process.’”

“It was actually three warehouses. They are not a pleasant group. Brutal, but effective, and they are most certainly not a ‘stunt’ group. They will get the job done. That being said, I would recommend steering clear of the General herself. She did not much care for your brother. While that is not a surprise, and you do have the right parts, some of that loathing may carry over to you.”

The page she was holding in her magic went limp, folding backwards while Twilight scrutinized him as hard as she had the page. “Right parts?”

“I am afraid that General Blaze does not care much for stallions. Hates them, in fact. Including me. And your brother. And anypony and anything else with a ‘Y’ chromosome. Do not think that makes you alright in her book, though. She hates most mares, too.”

“Cheery.” Twilight put the page back. “How did somepony like that become a General of Equestria?”

“By out-fighting and out-strategizing everypony above her that did not already have four stars on their shoulders. Do not underestimate her simply because you can use magic. Everything about her is ferocious. Rest assured, I will make sure that is made obvious to those carrying out these attacks.”

“As long as they don’t burn the place down in the process. They’ve seen enough fire lately.” Twilight paused for a moment, looking at the large troop movements map behind him. “Wait, if you move Blaze there, the Gryphons have a huge opening since Towers’ troops are on lockdown. I mean, I kind of doubt they’ll try anything—it’s not in their nature—but still. Isn’t that against current doctrine?”

Blueblood turned around to look at the map. “Ah, so you have not heard yet. Remember how I said your brother left me a bit of a mess?”

“Yes,” Twilight said while grinding her teeth.

“Well, I am having a devil of a time determining his successor. He clung to Intelligentsia as an assistant rather than taking and training a proper sub-captain, and I am afraid our resident conspiracy theorist is in no way, shape, or form able to take up leading the Royal Guard. Nor are most of the lieutenant generals really up for the task—except for one: Silver Tempest. Unfortunately for me, she has chosen to take Towers’ old spot instead. Her new troops are being activated as soon as they clear their inspections. Given her experience on the oceans, there is even talk of giving her command of the Bellerophon and changing her title to ‘Admiral.’”

“I take it from your tone that you do not approve,” Twilight noted. “Not that I should be concerned for you, but why?”

Blueblood turned back around. “Well, for one thing, it makes my job more difficult. For another, though, I feel she is too brash. If she is not careful, it will be her undoing. I do not think we should be handing over our brand-new, over-budget warship to her. But that is neither here nor there. Your concern should be this.” He pulled out a scroll from his desk and lifted it over with his magic.

Twilight grabbed and unfurled it with her own telekinesis. “New orders from Celestia?”

“Correct. I shall see you later, Grand Mage, as I have things to do. Please lock the door as you leave.”

She didn’t even pay attention to him as she pored over the words.

Twilight,

By the time you read this, most of the new fort in Ponyville should be completed. You should take the time to go back and visit your friends and family, but more importantly, I want you to tour the fort. In particular, you should review its residence to see if it needs anything more to serve as a secure home for you.

While I have no doubt Luna would prefer you to stay in the chambers she has designed, neither of us are under the illusion that you do not miss Ponyville. You may stay in either place as much as you like while not on missions for us. As such, I want you to be comfortable in both. If you need anything, let the Major in command know. He will get you whatever you want, within reason.

After you return, I will have a rather large task for you. Gather what you will need for an extended mission. Although I am uncertain exactly when I will need you to leave, it will be at least a few days, quite likely longer.

-Tia

“Hmmm…” A pen twirled in Twilight’s magic. “Not looking forward to seeing Mom again. More importantly though, she mentioned an extended mission. But, an extended mission to where?”

She started going through her brother’s old desk again. “Still rightfully Shiny’s desk, as far as I’m concerned. I should be able to steal some of his paper. Aha!” She pulled out a blank piece and got to writing.

Tia,

Twilight shuddered. It still feels weird writing that. Casual words, Twilight. Casual words.

Tia,

I’m on my way.

Is there any way you could give me a hint as to where I’m going on this? Warm, cold, high elevation, deep valley, etc.? Also, is it an extended combat mission or something else? It would help in my preparations.

-Twilight

She rolled it up in her magic and quickly applied her own signature seal. It’s been a while since I needed to use a seal spell on my own letter. I suppose I should get used to it. When she was done, a bunch of glowing lines wrapped around the scroll, sealing it with an elaborate version of her cutie mark in the center.

Turning around, she trotted out the door to the office. Briefly, very briefly, she considered leaving it open, but national security matters came before grudges, and she closed and locked it before heading up the elevator. On her way out through the top floor, she stopped at “her” alcove where two familiar earth ponies were going over a map.

“Hey, Double Blind?” she asked.

Both of the earth stallions looked up and said “Yes, ma’am?”

She raised an eyebrow at them.

“Sorry,” one of them said.

She tossed the scroll at him. “See that this gets sent to Celestia, would you? Quickly, this time. And without damage.”

“Heh. The Lieutenant heard about what happened to the last one. She was right pissed,” Feint chuckled.

Twilight smirked a little. “Well, at least she didn’t try to hide it. It’s good to know there are a few higher ranks here that aren’t politicians. So, any new threats to my wellbeing today?”

Double tapped on the map. “At the moment, nothin’. Most everypony is still trying to figure out what to do after the coup. Word about savin’ Wintervale is slowly startin’ tae spread. We expect most of the nation will know within a couple o’ days.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’ll do wonders for my reputation. ‘She banished a dragon to Tartarus!’ At this rate, mares will weep in the streets and flee in terror when I pass by.”

Feint smiled at her. “Well, the official word is just ‘banished.’ We left out the ‘other dimension’ thing. Some will hear about it, though. That whole town knows, so there’s no keeping it bottled up. But I doubt any of them know what kind of other dimension it is. For all they know, he landed in one filled with nothing but piles of stuffed animals and spiders.”

Double Blind and Twilight cringed, shuddering as they brushed off their coats.

“Why in blazes would you go and say something like that?”

“Gah!” Twilight grabbed her head with her hooves. “I can feel them on my skin, and they aren’t there!”

Feint fell on the ground, holding his stomach in laughter. “You two should see the looks on your faces!”

“Oh, that’s it!” Double finished brushing himself off. “I don’t know how, but I’m going to get you back for that one!”

Twilight shuddered, the skin-crawling feeling fading, and her legs leading her away. “I’m getting out of here before you two put any more autosuggestions in my head.”

“Hey! I didn’t do anything this time!” Double called after her.

“This time?” Feint questioned with a giant grin on his face. “So, what prank are you planning next?”

“Ach, you’re terrible,” Double groaned.

Their words started to obscure from the spells, and Twilight was glad to be out of there. She didn’t even slow down when she said, “at ease,” to the guard at the portal, whisking herself through without stopping. Even the little bit of wooziness from its after-affects wasn’t about to slow her down.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow flew down, landing to walk next to her. “We get new orders yet? Spike’s at the exit, waiting for us.”

“We did, actually!” Twilight changed her stride to match her friend’s. “And this one should pretty easy.”

Rainbow slammed Twilight into the wall, knocking the wind out of her and covering her mouth with a cyan hoof. “Twilight! What the hell’s gotten into you!”

Twilight knocked away the hoof and coughed. “Ugh! What’s gotten in to me?” She stopped for a second, wheezing. “What’s gotten in to you?”

“You never, ever say a mission is going to be easy. Ever! It’s like, daring your ancestors to haunt and curse you! Your wings could get clipped, or, or your horn will get dipped in Poison Joke! Remember the Poison Joke, Twilight? Remember!?”

Twilight gently pushed her away and kept moving towards the exit. “Rainbow, all the Princess wants me to do is go to Ponyville and see if I need anything for the royal residence in the new fort there. What’s so difficult about that?”

Rainbow looked around like someone was about to shoot her with a crossbow bolt. “I’m just warning you, never say a mission is easy. Ever. Something always happens.”

Twilight sighed and spotted Spike waiting in a doorway. “Rainbow, trust me. We’ll be fine. Come on. I’ll treat you to a smoothie at Bon Bon’s.”

“Hey, Twi! What’cha talking about?” Spike waved, starting to walk on the other side of Twilight.

Twilight shook her head. “Nothing huge. Celestia wants us to head back to Ponyville and see how the fort’s coming along. Should be almost done. Ready to go?”

“Ponyville? Heck yeah! Been way too long since I had a Sugarcube Corner cupcake! When do we leave? How do we leave?”

“Now. I figured we’d take the train,” Twilight smiled. “I don’t want to tie up a royal chariot for a simple visit home when Canterlot is still on high alert.”

As they got to the huge main castle doors, Spike opened them ahead of the two mares, and Twilight couldn’t help but smirk. To Twilight's magic, the weight was nothing, but Spike still liked to run ahead of her and hold open the doors if she didn't beat him to it—especially if there were other ponies in their group. Then, she would always say, “Thank you, Spike,” and step through.

They walked down the main path outside the castle and through the immaculately kept garden, finally coming to the extra-wide castle gates guarded by twelve soldiers instead of the standard two. They walked past the gates and down the city streets among all the ponies going about their day, heading towards the train station.

“Not many ponies staring at us this time,” Twilight noted after a while. “Guess we’ve just become another group of soldiers here.”

“Eh, I’ve gotten used to the staring.” Spike shrugged. “Dragon, remember?”

“True enough,” Twilight agreed, stopping for a moment at the center of a large intersection. “Still, it’s nice to be able to walk the city again. I’m beginning to understand why Luna likes to sneak out of the castle in disguise and do her own thing from time to time.”

“Hey, Twilight?” Rainbow poked her in the shoulder. “Take a look over there. Is that who I think it is?”

Twilight and Spike both looked over where she was pointing.

“Whoa.” Spike scratched his head. “And she’s heading this way. Do you really think that’s…”

“Hard to mistake the hat and cape,” Twilight nodded.

The mare trotted right up to the three of them with both remorse and determination on her face. She didn’t change direction or look away after seeing them. Instead, she stared at Twilight the entire way, and when she was within a couple meters, she stopped and bowed.

“Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “The Great And Powerful Trixie… surrenders.”

Author's Note

Yup! To Be Continued! :D :D :D :D :D :D

Yup. I'm evil!

I hope I surprised some folks with this. ;) Why would Trixie surrender? What's going on? Where's she been the last few years?

You'll have to wait and see because I'm eeeeeeeeevil! :D

So, medical stuff. Gabapentin isn't really working for me. Hands still hurt. Hopefully the next medicine will do a better job. If not, it's time to start taking voice lessons so I can do more dictation without my voice hurting as bad as my hands.

The art here in the A/N was done by my wife. She occasionally does little stuff like this because she's awesome! :) I often post it on my FimFic blog or over on her dA.

Warrants Misdirection

“Say what now?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight tried to look over at her guard for a moment, but her eyes couldn’t quite leave Trixie. Not after saying something like that. “Crudely put, but I agree. ‘Say what now?’”

Trixie pulled a newspaper from a pocket in her cape and showed it to Twilight. “Did you not sign a warrant for my arrest? It says so right here.”

Twilight grabbed it with her own magic and started to read aloud. “The Hoofington Post has learned that newly minted Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle has issued her first arrest warrants in a crackdown on dissent. Our paper has obtained copies of these, and first in the list is magician and illusionist Trixie Lulamoon, most famous for… This… This is libel! I never put out these warrants! I haven’t put out any warrants! Where are they getting this garbage from?”

“You mean you didn’t demand the Great and Powerful Trixie turn herself in?” Trixie fidgeted with her hooves, scraping them together. “The paper was a lie?”

Twilight stuffed the paper in her saddlebag, crumpling it with her hoof. “Trixie, I am so sorry.”

“We are?” Rainbow snorted.

“We are!” Twilight snapped. “Truly. I never meant for you to make a trip all the way here like this. I’ll get you a room in a hotel and a train ticket home. Don’t worry about this. I’m going to investigate and demand they print a front-page retraction letter. This is libelous against both of us!”

“No!” Trixie yelled, looking around the plaza, eyes darting every which way. “I mean, no, there’s no need! Heh heh. Trixie will just… just get out of your mane now. Forget Trixie was ever here.”

“Um, are you okay?” Spike asked, scratching his head. “You’re acting a little… odd.”

Trixie’s head whipped around back towards Twilight, but not quite making eye contact with her either. She was looking behind them.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked, waving an arm in front of the mare’s face. “You there?”

“Yes! Yes, Trixie is here. But she must be going.”

“Um, okay?” Twilight looked her right in the eyes, but she was still transfixed on something else. There was also the faintest pink glow on her iris. “Well, if you need help, the offer still stands.”

“Thanks! Gotta go! Bye!” With that, she turned and ran. Not a trot or walk, she was using a full-bore gallop as if the tide of the river Styx was lapping at her fetlocks.

“Anypony else get a weird vibe from that?” Spike asked, rubbing his arms. “I mean, like, really weird?”

Twilight turned around and looked behind her, trying to find anything suspicious. “She was staring behind us. Can anypony see anything off? I can’t.”

The other two looked as well.

“Nada,” Spike said.

“Negative. Want me to fly around?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight paused and sat, considering her options. “No, I want you to find Trixie. Something’s up here, and I want to find out what it is. If you see her, try to get her to come to the castle. Spike and I will follow on hoof.”

“We’re really going to try to help her?” Rainbow scratched her head. “After she dissed all of Ponyville?”

“Yes, Rainbow, we are.” Twilight groaned.

Rainbow hovered in front of Twilight. “Even after she saw you at that Canterlot show and she tried to turn you into a turnip as part of her act?”

Twilight pushed her lightly to the side and started to walk. “Lucky for me, I know spells to prevent ponies from turning into plants, but yes, we are, Rainbow.”

Spike cut in. “Even after she publicly called you ‘Celestia’s harlot’ at a press conference and—”

“Yes, all of that!” Twilight yelled. “Look, I’m not her biggest fan, but somepony must have gone to an awful lot of trouble to get this newspaper article printed, and I want to find out who and why! Right now, she’s our best lead, and she’s clearly terrified about something that isn’t me. I can only assume she’s in some kind of trouble! So get moving! Arrest her for something if you have to! Go!”

“Ugh. Fine. At least I get to arrest her.” Rainbow took off into the air, thunder rolling in her wake.

Twilight turned to her other guard. “Spike? You go down La Rue De L’Argent and cut across that alley to the north. See if you can head her off. She might not know Canterlot as well as we do.”

“Roger!” He saluted, taking off down the avenue at a run.

Twilight, however, ran right where Trixie had gone, but wasn’t going as fast as she expected. Earth pony leylines must still be damaged. I’m going to have to be careful of that. Now, where did she go?

As she neared a corner, she spotted a half-wrecked flower stand with a pony picking up pieces and flower bits, looking rather distraught. Looks like she turned here.

She banked right down the road, hoping that the high hoof traffic would slow the show mare down a bit. Her legs pumped ever harder without adding much to her speed. She didn’t feel any fatigue set in from the exertion. Good thing for Trixie I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. I’d never be able to do this before my training.

The road led out of the market area to one of the denser sections of the city with much narrower streets and taller buildings. Despite the lack of stalls, Twilight spotted fresh scraping on the pavement at three more intersections leading right, left, and then right again into a shady alley.

As she rounded the corner in her own slide, she spotted the mare in question. Trixie had her horn blazing with magic and was reared on her hind legs.

She was also facing away from Twilight.

“Trixie? Are you okay?” the Grand Mage called out. “What’s going on? Are you in tr—?”

A wall of fire swallowed Trixie whole, knocking Twilight backwards and onto her side while smoke and soot engulfed the air.

No! Twilight scrambled to her hooves. Her legs rushed towards the blaze, leaping over the flames in a grand jump. A wave of scorching heat hit her skin, but was followed by soothing cold as her armor deployed automatically. When she landed, Trixie was behind her, unconscious on the ground. The flames left a circle of untouched pavement around them, at least for the time being, and both mares were currently “safe” within that border. Safe was a relative term, however, as Trixie’s body had been riddled with cuts, and an obviously broken leg, as evidenced by the protruding bone of the compound fracture. Shards of pink magic lay scattered about, the remnants of a failed shield spell.

Twilight’s head snapped left and right, looking for the source of the blast, but found nothing. Her synapses fired into overdrive as she activated her magic sight, taking in the current situation. This much fire must be from a unicorn attack spell. Somepony is definitely after her, and they are close. But I can’t see them behind the flames. I—

Twilight’s body rocketed off to the side as a pair of unseen hooves kicked into her, knocking her into the adjacent wall. Her jaw and head slammed into it an instant later, splashing the taste of blood on her tongue. She opened her eyes, looking around for her attackers with such focused intent that time itself seemed to slow. However, nopony could be found. There was nothing but concrete, flame, and soot.

There was nothing there, though the hairs standing up on the back of her neck said otherwise.

Her horn lashed out with random energy strikes. Each bolt was weak, attempting to mark her target without destroying everything around her. The blasts hit the walls and ground, adding new little scorch marks to what was already blackened by smoke. Bolt after bolt shot out, all passing through nothing but air.

Twilight stopped, looking around more carefully. There’s nothing here? How—?

A new series of strikes slammed into her face, impacting the weaker part of her armor and knocking her back into the wall. More hooves punched into her stomach and neck, and others punched her head left and right, pain roaring through her until she finally fell to the ground.

What…? What happened...?

A wave of cold washed over her, dripping down her bloodied face. Her left eye was already swelling, too, and her magic sight had failed completely.

Wait… That cold… It’s water!

She wrenched her gaze to the sky, pushing aside the pain. The sky was dark but not from just smoke. It was a storm cloud. The firefighters are already here!

“Twilight!”

Or maybe…

The rain started to come down in a sheet, and Rainbow flew down from the cloud, landing next to her. “Twilight! Are you okay?”

“Rainbow,” she coughed, barely able to speak. “Run…”

More water poured down, dousing the flames somewhat but mostly just preventing their spread. Yet there was something else, something subtle in the downpour. Nearly invisible and lasting only for the barest moment of time, Twilight could see the water bounce off something.

Something that looked like a pair of hooves.

Twilight put up her forelegs to shield herself from the coming blow, and the two hooves punched into her, landing with nothing more than a “pmoofm” into her armor. It forced her back a little, but it didn’t hurt.

Pegasus magic!

She lashed out with her own hooves, punching away her attacker’s and then launching into a series of blows against an invisible body in front of her. More rain started to sheet over a pony form, giving her a clear target to which she attacked time and time again.

“Rrrrrrrraaaaaaghhhhh!” Her forehooves lashed out, striking as fast as she could pump them, hitting its jaw, its stomach, anything that presented itself as open, which was all of it. Then, as she pulled back for one last strike, a new feature stood out on the figure in the rain.

Horn!

Magic blazed from her in a powerful telekinetic stream, striking the figure directly on its horn. A wave of distortion melted into the air, carrying with it a ripping explosion and bits of alicorn as the body fell limp to the ground. Whatever spell that was around it immediately faded, revealing a blue unicorn stallion in a grey suit with a white mane and tail.

Twilight spat a glob of blood on the ground. “Ha!”

“Twi, little help here!”

Rainbow was blocking a series of blows with another ghost, barely visible in the downpour. She wasn’t even able to counter the attacks, only brace herself at the last moment to absorb the blow like Twilight had.

“Hang on!” Twilight fired up her horn again, pushing magic into a stationary lance, much like her telekinetic blade. Magic circles materialized around the thaumic rod, spinning in opposition and painting her power with strokes of burning darkness.

Meanwhile, Rainbow was doing her best, though the ghost wasn’t letting up or taking hits. Twilight winced at her friend’s pain and tried to speed up, but this spell needed a very specific rhythm. One more solid hit landed in Rainbow’s gut, doubling her over and dropping her to the ground.

Twilight’s eyes flared with magic, the thaumic flames radiating with an energy she could feel as it licked at her ears. Her vision focused on her target. Silence flooded her ears as the magic shot forth, piercing right into another horn causing it to shatter in an explosive blast. The pony figure stumbled and wobbled then finally fell in a heap on the other. Its invisibility spell no longer powered, she could see him in the rain like the other. A blue stallion in a grey suit, with a white mane and tail.

Exactly the same as the other.

“What—?” Rainbow coughed, dry-heaving on the ground. “Ugh. What the hell happened there? Did we just get our flanks handed to us?”

A young, soprano voice echoed in Twilight’s head. “I would have used a different—”

Twilight looked down at her torc and raised an eyebrow.

“Eep!”

We’ll talk later. Twilight spat blood out of her mouth and rubbed her throat. “We’re doing better than they are. Thanks for the rain.”

Rainbow looked around. “Not like it’s doing anything. Look at the fire! It’s not going out!”

Twilight closed her eyes and readied a spell. “Magic fire cannot be put out by normal water. At least not easily. Magic water, on the other hoof…” She fired “Sender’s Shower” on the wall ahead of them, sending a small waterfall down on the flames, dousing them for good. “Rainbow, are other fireponies on their way?”

“Yeah, Guard’s been called. I think—”

Alarm sirens cut Rainbow off as easily as they sliced through the air, warning all of Canterlot to get to cover. The sound of hooves rumbling for safety could be heard even in the relative seclusion of the alley, and the sky was becoming a bright violet.

“Wait, is that what I think it is?” Rainbow asked, pointing.

“Yeah, I think so, but I’m going to make sure.” She sparked her horn and teleported onto the roof of the nearest building. The clouds overhead appeared to warp and shimmer, and a magic circle of metropolitan scale filled the sky with stunning speed. The runes were already inscribed in it. Her brother had said it was an entire magic book’s worth of knowledge carved into the sky, and she believed it. When the circle was finished, it expanded and spun around. The whole process took less than fifteen seconds, and in the end, there was an enormous shield around the entirety of the city.

Rainbow put her ears back in awe. “What do we do?”

Twilight looked over at the fallen enemies and teleported back down. “We stay right here until Shining and the Guard come help.”

“How long is that going to take?”

Twilight smiled.

A bolt of black lightning dropped from the sky, the thunder loud enough to hurt her ears and blow their manes back.

“Twily! Are you alright?!” Obsidian said after appearing, leaping to his sister. “Holy hell. You look like crap. What happened?”

“They happened.” Twilight pointed a hoof at the two bodies. “Appeared right out of nowhere. Literally! They were using some kind of invisibility spell. Not even my thaumic sight could see them. They really hurt us until I got an opening.”

Obsidian looked over at them and snorted then wrapped a barrier around them. “Do you know them?”

Twilight sneered at them. “No. But I’m betting Trixie over there does. She needs immediate medical attention. Can you help?”

Shining cast a shield spell and slid the rectangle underneath Trixie, lifting her up. Slowly and carefully, he levitated her over the two bodies on the ground. “Absolutely. I just need to get her over to the main street, and the paramedics should be here in a minute.”

About halfway down the alley, with the group following carefully behind them, the barrier began to flicker.

“Um, Shining?” Twilight asked, looking at it. “What are you doing?”

Obsidian stopped the barrier’s movement and looked over it too. “I’m not sure. Something’s disrupting—”

The barrier flicked again and failed, collapsing in a shattered heap, and Trixie’s battered body hit the floor.

“Shiny!” Twilight yelled, stomping her hoof. “Come on—your shields are better than that!”

Obsidian held up his forehooves. “I swear, that shouldn’t have happened.”

“Then what was—?” Twilight turned around to point at the beaten stallions on the ground and froze.

“Everypony see what I see?” Rainbow asked in a hush.

“Yeah.” Twilight swallowed.

Obsidian was hushed, too. “They had blown out horns. They should be out for hours or even days! And now…”

“They’re gone.” Twilight finished, still staring at the empty space where they had been, shield still in place. “Shining, area shield, around us, now.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. In under a second, a shield sprung up around them, and in the moment following that, reinforced. “There. Now at least they shouldn’t be able to get through. And I can move it as we go. Let’s get going.”

The group slowly continued down the alley, the shield moving at a relative crawl. Eventually, they reached the main street, now devoid of other ponies.

“Can’t go any faster, Shining?” Rainbow asked, tapping the barrier.

He shook his head. “Not with this solid of a shield around so many ponies, and with my attention split on carrying the injured. Also, it’s Obsidian now. Twily and Cadence are the sole exceptions for using my old name.”

The swift clomping of boots came up behind them. “There you guys are! I’ve been looking everywhere!”

Twilight turned around. “Spike! Are you okay?”

The dragon wiped off a scuff mark on his armor. “Got jumped by a couple stallions. Idiots tried to attack me with ice. I’m a friggin’ purple dragon. I could swim in liquid nitrogen. Idiots. Then they tried to be smart and went and turned invisible.”

Rainbow, Obsidian, and Twilight all looked at each other.

“Did they have white manes and tails?” Twilight asked.

“And blue coats?” Rainbow added.

“And a grey suit with sunglasses?” Obsidian finished.

Spike looked at them and tilted his body a bit to one side. “How did…?”

“Get in here,” Obsidian demanded, opening a hole in the shield.

Spike ran through, and it closed up behind him the instant he was clear. “Well, yeah, as I was saying, they went invisible, and started hitting me. Guess they weren’t used to fighting dragons. When I get the wind knocked out of me, it comes out as flames. Turns out, invisible doesn’t mean fireproo— Whoa, what happened to Trixie?”

“Those goons happened.” Twilight grumbled. “And don’t look now, Shiny, but I think your shield is about to crack again.”

“Son of a—” Obsidian put up another barrier under Trixie just as the other one failed. “Why does that keep happening?”

“Hmm…” Twilight squinted at the mare, and pulled at her horn to reactivate her magic sight. The answer was obvious immediately. “Aha! Well, who would’ve thought.”

“What’s up, Twi?” Spike asked. “She a changeling with anti-magic armor or something?”

Twilight cringed a bit. “First off, no, and that would be terrifying. Second, she has two networks of leylines. One’s for unicorn magic, and the other’s for earth pony magic! She’s a hybrid!”

Rainbow tried to hop into a hover but bounced off the shield. “Ow. Wait, Trixie’s an earth pony?” She said, rubbing her head a little.

Twilight nodded, dismissing her enhanced sight. “Looks like it. Earth pony hybrids can be hard to spot since they don’t always look any different from pegasi and unicorns.”

“At least I know why the shield is failing. Here.” Obsidian’s horn grew a little brighter, and the shield under Trixie began to shimmer a little more. “Now it’s earth-pony resistant. Shouldn’t fail again.”

The group resumed their slow march towards the castle. “Good. Time to start planning. First things first, we need to get her to the medical wing of the castle and put her under lockdown. Think you can help with the ponypower needs there, Shiny?”

“Of course.” Obsidian’s voice was so deep it was practically a growl. “Sable Seer! Arcane Edge! Show yourselves!”

Two Night Guards appeared from a shadow in another alleyway, trailing smoke and bowing before their leader.

The unicorn mare spoke for them. “What is thy command, High Cardinal?” She was not only wearing the Night Guard armor but a black blindfold over her eyes as well.

Obsidian’s stride was still slow but unyielding. “Sable, I want you to coordinate with the soldiers sweeping the city. Whoever set off that explosion did so to attack this mare and my sister. They are using highly effective invisibility spells and are too dangerous to attempt capture. No holding back.”

Rainbow’s wings spread out to her sides. “Whoa, are you sure that’s—?”

Obsidian cut her off. “Unfortunate, but I can’t see a way around it.”

Twilight’s mouth went agape too. “Shiny?”

He shook his head. “This is a matter of national security, Twilight. Or should you have put that dragon you found in irons instead?”

Twilight’s pupils shrank down to dots, and her ears went back. “Well, I mean, if I could have…”

Obsidian’s face grew ever more grim. “If. Just like with you in Wintervale, holding back will only get my ponies killed. Sable, get moving. Arcane, round up three more Night Guards. Make sure at least one is a Paladin. They are going to protect our injured citizen while the doctors heal her.”

The two Night Guard spoke in unison. “Thy command is the will of the Moon.” Their orders received, they moved back into the shadow as one whisp of smoke and vanished.

“Doctor Suture. I am pleased to see you again. Although, I wish it were under better circumstances.” Luna ruffled the feathers in her wings a little. “Tell us, how fares this maiden?”

Twilight fought a snort. Maiden. Right.

The doctor held up a chart in his magic, looking through it. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that she’ll live, and her current injuries will heal just fine, given time.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I am guessing that your use of the phrase ‘current injuries’ is a hint as to the bad news.”

The doctor sighed and took out some x-ray photographs with his magic. “The bad news is that we can’t use healing magic on her to speed it up. We tried, but it just doesn’t have an effect on her.”

“I’ve heard of this before.” Twilight chimed in. “Ponies use overdoses of healing magic to get an artificial high causing them to become resistant. Eventually, healing magic just doesn’t work on them anymore.”

The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m afraid this poor mare wasn’t abusing—she was being abused.” He put the photographs up on the lightboard and switched it on. “Her x-rays show dozens of serious injuries, most sustained within the past two or three years and healed with powerful magic. Multiple fractures to her legs, ribs, even vertebrae. There’s evidence of old cuts, burns, blunt impacts, all manner of damage. You have to examine closely, but I think she’s used a coat growing potion to restore her hair to cover dozens upon dozens of scars.”

“I’m amazed she lasted as long as she has,” Twilight said, reviewing the images. “Some of these wounds look like they could’ve been fatal had they landed in a slightly different spot.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Which means either she was exceptionally lucky, or they were trying to incapacitate her rather than kill her. They could have incinerated her in that attack, but they did not. Why?”

Twilight pulled out her notebook and started scribbling. “I intend to find out. Doctor, when will she be awake?”

The doctor put his glasses back on and looked again at the chart. “Head injuries like this are always iffy, but if things go well, she might be awake as early as tonight. If not, it may be substantially longer.”

“Keep us appraised, doctor. You are dismissed.”

As the stallion left, Twilight and Luna both ducked into an empty room next to Trixie’s, closing the door behind them. The Princess applied a shield on the walls and door.

Luna took a deep breath. “There, now we may speak freely. Twilight, are you certain that the rain only fell on your attackers when they hit you? It fell through them before that?”

Twilight nodded. “Absolutely. It’s like they weren’t even there until then.”

Luna winced. “Damn.”

“I take it you know something.”

She nodded. “Indeed. One of the things stolen from our library during the attempted coup was knowledge of a very old, very powerful form of illusion. One so great it can fool all of a pony’s senses, but it can also feedback onto the caster. That’s why the rain revealed their forms eventually; the caster must not have been able to handle it. I’d imagine they were also stunned when you defeated their projections.

“But, what was taken in the raid was incomplete. This… This does not entirely make sense. If it is Lady Optika’s magic, from what they managed to steal, it should have been decades before they unlocked the secrets, and that is only if they knew exactly what to look for. On top of that, to even train in the use of this magic should have taken a generation! Maybe two! Foals were supposed to practice at this from the moment they could speak!”

Twilight scribed the notes into her book. “So either they were impossibly talented, came up with it independently centuries before its time, or something else. Who’s Lady Optika?”

The pain in Luna’s eyes made Twilight flinch again. “One of the pre-Discordian alicorns. A true master of illusion magic. Changelings are amateurs next to her. She created her entire capital city with nothing more than a manifestation of her willful illusions. But that’s neither here nor there. Time is short. I want you to track down the paper that printed this article. See if you can figure out where they got the information from. If we do not hurry, they may make witnesses ‘disappear.’”

Twilight stopped writing. “Is there any way to break through the illusion? Without some means of doing that, we’re sitting ducks.”

“Yes. Well, maybe. Bring an anti-candle. I have some in my chambers. They destroy most illusion spells quite effectively. If this were truly Lady Optika at her prime, they would be useless, but we may yet luck out.”

After a few last scribbles, Twilight bowed and went to leave through the door. “I’m on it!”

Author's Note

I meant to post it tomorrow, honestly. I wanted to see if there would be a benefit or traffic spike tomorrow from the S5 launch. But, I hit "Publish" instead of Edit.

My bad.

IF YOU ARE SEEING THESE NOTES, THIS IS THE CANON VERSION! I'm very interested to hear what you guys think of this one!

Medical news: I got a cortisone shot yesterday. It will be up to two weeks before I know if it did anything. :( So far there hasn't been much of a benefit, but these early days after it, that's expected.

Family news: Might have to take an emergency trip to the US soon, as my grandfather is ill.

No News Is Good News

“Highness, we’re approaching the town. Do you have a specific address you wished to be dropped off at?”

Twilight rolled her eyes a bit at the Day Guard pulling the chariot. I really need to figure out how I want to be addressed. At this rate, I’ll be an actual princess before I make a decision on what to be called as grand mage.

Spike held up the paper and read something near the bottom. “The newspaper says it’s address is ‘735 Farriers Drive.’ We probably want to head there first. Wherever that is.”

“I am familiar with the area,” one of the two pegasi stated. “Although it has been some time since I have visited, I do know that street. We can drop you off at the front door, Highness.”

“Do it,” Twilight replied, fighting back a grumble. They were every bit as stoic and formal as the Night Guard, just less scary looking. Odds are they’d call me ‘Highness’ no matter what I said. “Spike, give me the paper, and stay with the Guardsponies. I’ll send off a purple flare if I need you. If I do, go ahead and bring the Day Guard with you. I have a feeling intimidation may be called for later.”

Rainbow chuckled, then took off into the air next to the chariot. “Nothing quite like a dragon flanked by some Day Guards for intimidation.”

“Highness, I believe I see the building. We are twelve seconds out.”

Twilight got up on the chariot and stood near the side, letting her mane fly in the breeze. “I see it too. Just get me near. I can jump safely.” With luck, we’ll have arrived before news of the illusionists’ failure reached their associates. Few things can outpace Day Guard charioteers over a distance like this.

The chariot roared down the street, passing just over the rooftops of the modest city. As the paper’s office grew close, Twilight leapt off the chariot, falling about four stories straight down. Using her pegasus magic to create a wind buffer, she landed with all four hooves hitting the ground at the same time with a generous, but nonhazardous *clop*.

Hmm. Buildings are about three stories, packed close together. Cobblestone roads. Well lit. Decent number of ponies on the streets. Vendors serving lunch. Maybe fifty thousand residents total? Just a guess, but certainly larger than Ponyville. Any paper here should know a hell of a lot better than to publish something like this.

Rainbow zoomed by and landed next to her a moment later. “Gotta say, Twi, I’m still not used to you jumping out of a chariot without needing rescuing.”

Twilight smiled a bit. “I’m not entirely used to it either. Even with experience, my heart still skips a beat.”

The door to the newspaper’s office slammed shut, and a plump, light purple unicorn mare glared at the door with searing rage. After a second or two, she opened the door and slammed it again, just for good measure, before storming off.

“Don’t bother going in there. Flank-wipes! Worst customer service I’ve ever seen! Ever!”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow at the mare, but she ignored both of them and stomped down the street.

“Well, that’s encouraging.” Twilight stepped forward, steeling herself for whatever was beyond the door.

It was warmer inside than she expected, and a little humid. The walls looked a little neglected, with a few wallpaper corners starting to peel. A damp stench dominated the air, while a lone fan struggled in vain to keep fresh air circulating, succeeding only in wafting the dusty air into Twilight’s face. The uneven wood flooring groaned and creaked under her hooves. A large wooden counter dominated the room, with both a door and a pony behind it. The pony was an older stallion wearing a green eyeshade and a wholly perverted look in his eye.

“Well, lookie here. Two more tasty trollips come lookin’ for ol’ Juicy. What can I do ya fer?”

Twilight looked at Rainbow and shot her a thought. Is this guy for real?

Despite both mares’ lack of telepathic abilities, Rainbow deflated in just the right manner to seemingly reply with a ‘Sadly, it looks like it.’

Twilight cleared her throat and stood as tall as her tiny frame would allow. This pony might not be from Canterlot, but you are, and you’re representing the crown. You need to at least start off polite. “While I do not appreciate the lewd comments, I do need to ask you some questions. Specifically about the article you ran in your paper this morning titled, ‘Grand Mage Launches Crackdown.’”

“Whoa now, little missy!” The stallion spat into something behind the counter Twilight silently prayed was a bucket. “Yer gunna hafta do yer own reportin’! No stealin’ our work!”

“What work!?” That’s it. Time to up the pressure. Twilight waved the article in his face, including its large picture of herself. “It’s a complete fabrication!”

“Tha’s it! We don’t cottin’ ta’ lyin’ types around here! Git out!”

Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment before Rainbow cut in. “Hey geezer, are you blind or something? She’s got a royal torc, and I’m in Guard armor! Oh, by the way, take a real close look at that picture in the paper. Notice anything familiar?”

The stallion hunched over to look at the paper, adjusted his glasses, and snorted. “Hmph! Nope! Now you two hussies—”

Twilight shot magic into her horn, letting it flare to light with a bright light, but not casting any actual spell. “I am Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle, representing the Crown of Equestria, and if you speak to me like that one more time you’ll get to see what an actual crackdown looks like firsthoof! Now, I demand to know who wrote this article and who the source was that gave you this information.”

His jaw dropped, frozen for a moment before he put up his hooves. “I surrender!”

She growled at him, “You don’t need to surrender, just tell me who wrote it, and where they got this bogus information!”

His perverted smile returned, and he calmed down. “Well now, missy. That there is legally protected information! Law says that law enforcement can’t compel reporters to turn over sources. So Juicy Scoop ain't gots ta tell you anythin'!”

Rainbow sighed. “Damn, I think he’s right, Twi.”

Twilight shook her head. “Actually it’s a lot more complicated than that. Normally, he’d be correct. Libel suits are notoriously difficult to win because of that. A paper could just say they didn’t look into it enough to know they had bad information, and print a tiny retraction in an obscure corner. It makes them look bad, but also legally invincible.” She inhaled, letting the moist air fill her lungs as her mind positioned her argument for checkmate.

“But, this time, he’s dead wrong. When a reporter or reporting agency, such as a newspaper, issues a story about the royal families, higher standards are in place. ‘Not checking’ ceases to be a defense against libel charges, both civil and criminal. In addition, sources that give information leading to libelous information being published about them…” Twilight smirked at him. “Excuse me. Published… about us… are not protected by the law and must be revealed on demand of the Crown, under penalty of perjury.”

His hoof slowly extended out to point at her, visibly shaking. “That… That hasn’t been enforced in centuries!”

Twilight waved the paper in front of him again. “Maybe not, but it’s one thing to call Celestia fat or Luna clueless like any other tabloid. What you’re doing here is making ponies think they’re in real legal trouble with the Crown, when they are, in fact, innocent. This goes beyond the pale and I’m willing to break with precedent to get to the bottom of it so that it doesn’t happen again. Now, answer my questions or I’ll get the rest of my guards to haul your flank in!”

“Okay, okay!” He shivered, his glasses down his face. “I’ll talk! My source is from the police department. I don’t know his name; they use dead drops! He works in the precinct down the street!”

Twilight stomped a hoof on the counter. “And the retraction?”

“As good as done! We’ll get it ready right away!”

“Good! Now, stay here.” She snapped around to trot out the door. “I’m certain I’ll be back with more questions.”

The pair exited the building, Twilight leading Rainbow down the street a little before letting out a frustrated growl. “Can you believe that flank-wipe? I don’t even use language like that very often, but holy crap was he frustrating!”

Rainbow snorted in agreement. “Yeah. I’m sad you didn’t order me to kick his flank a little. Maybe zap him. There are some ponies I just don’t want to share my air with.”

“Yeah, well, we got what we came for. In fact, I think I can see the police station from here. Let’s get in there and find out what they know. Hopefully they’ll be more cooperative. This is turning out to be harder than it should be.”

Rainbow snickered. “Heh. Told ya.”

“Quiet.” Twilight deadpanned while opening the glass door to the police station and trotting inside.

The interior was a short hall with a couple of benches on the walls, and a single desk with a uniformed officer occupying it.

“Can I help you ladies?” the green stallion asked.

“Yes, yes you can,” Twilight began. “I am Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle. Recently, a story ran in one of your local papers that contained information libelous to the Crown and our subjects. I’m investigating the sources of this. I was told that one of them was a pony in this department. I’m aware it’s standard practice to ‘leak’ specific information when it’s beneficial to an investigation, but I’m afraid that in this instance you were wildly off the mark, and that this isn’t something that I can let slide. I must to speak with the pony who revealed this so-called information, immediately.”

The stallion stood up with a grimace on his face. “Ma’am, I can tell you that we do not and have never leaked information to the press in secret, and I do not appreciate your accusations. I’m going to have to ask you to leave, or I’ll be forced to lock you both up.”

Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other, and Rainbow raised her eyebrow.

“Lock us up?” the pegasus asked, pointing at Twilight. “Are you stupid or something? That’s the Grand Mage. You can’t lock her up. That’d be like arresting the Princess.”

The stallion pulled out his club and tapped it on his hoof. “I can, and will. Now, leave.”

“Ugh. I take it back, Rainbow. I won’t say something’s going to be easy again.” Twilight lit up her horn, ready to fire a flare.

“Spell!” The stallion lunged at her, but Twilight didn’t even flinch. A rainbow-colored blur tackled him long before he got close.

“Don’t move, dirtbag!” she said through clenched teeth and a hoof holding him down by his neck.

A purple flare launched up into and through the ceiling, phasing directly through the building and up to the sky.

“You… You can’t do this! I’m a police officer! Argh!”

Rainbow pressed down with her hoof. “Don’t make me repeat myself again. She’s the Grand Mage. What you just did is the same as assaulting Princess Celestia.”

A dragon slammed open the doors, practically strutting as he led the two pegasus guards inside. “That didn’t take long, Twilight. I thought that… Whoa. What happened here?”

“Those… Those are…” the stallion on the floor started sweating and swallowing nervously.

“Yup. A fire-breathing dragon with a couple of Day Guard.” Rainbow twisted his foreleg, restraining him for the other guards. “Congratulations, idiot, you finally got the memo. Hey, guys, this moron tried to assault Twilight. Haul his flank in.”

One of them saluted with his wing while the other swooped in, shackling the police officer’s legs with irons in a single fluid motion.

“Wha—Wait! Please! I’ll talk! I—Oof!” He tried to turn around, but the chains just caught him and sent him falling flat on his face.

“You probably should have thought of that before attacking her.” Rainbow brushed off her shoulder. “Now you get to enjoy a complimentary trip to Canterlot Palace dungeon!”

Actually… Twilight lifted a hoof to her chin in thought. If I let him go, he could prove useful in more ways than one. Hmm…

“Hold!” Twilight commanded, turning around and walking up to the stallion in irons. He was probably about ready to wet himself, but even crouched down as he was, he was still taller than her. A kind grin would probably seem too meek here. If I scowl, though, it might be overkill, and I do not want to see him actually make a mess on the floor. Perhaps… She smirked at him somewhat haughtily. “I think we can help each other out here, actually.”

“Right! I can help! Just—Just don’t arrest me! My wife would kill me, she—”

Twilight held up a hoof to silence him, and he stopped. “It would be rather inconvenient if I have to keep proving my authority. If you help spread the word that my authority is real, and reveal who leaked false data to the press, I’ll drop the charges.”

“Ah, I get it.” Spike snapped his fingers. “And if he doesn’t cooperate, putting a police officer behind bars is a good demonstration anyway!”

“Precisely, Spike! Now then, will you help me, Officer…” Twilight glanced at his badge. “Cuffs?”

He dropped to the ground in a bow. “Yes, yes, I will! It’s Sergeant Patrol Beat! He’s in the squad room over there! I’ll definitely tell everyone you’re real!”

“‘Tell everyone you’re real’? Congrats, Twi.” Rainbow chuckled. “You’ve been elevated to Tooth Fairy status!”

Spike shook his head. “I’m more astonished about that Sergeant’s name. I mean, Patrol Beat? Sergeant Beat? That’s either the best or worst police officer name in history.”

Twilight smirked a little more. “I’d lean towards worst, but that’s me. Okay, you can go. Gentlestallions?”

The guard reached down and opened the shackles, letting the officer pony stretch out his legs. “Thank you! Oh, thank you, Highness! I’m so sorry, I didn’t think it was really you. I mean, why come to a town like this? I thought you’d be in Canterlot and—”

Twilight held up a hoof again. “It’s not complicated. Like I said, I’m conducting an investigation. And it’s not ‘Highness.’ That’s only for the Princesses.”

The officer blinked. “Then should I call you Grand Mage, or…”

“You know, Twi…” Spike examined his claws. “Ponies are going to keep asking you this question until you figure something out.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I know, it’s just frustrating. None of the examples I’ve heard so far sound right…”

“Archmage, maybe?” Rainbow asked.

“Nah, that’s been done to death.” Spike jumped up. “Ooh! I know! 'Archlibrarian!’”

There was a long pause.

“Really? Archlibrarian? Come on Spike, you’re better at this than that.” Rainbow chuckled. “What’s she going to do? Make all libraries her sole domain?”

Twilight had to hide her grin. “I suppose I could do something really absurd like make them all stay open to midnight. But that would just be silly.”

“Okay, okay! Sheesh!” Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “It was just an idea.”

Twilight gave him a one-legged hug to show there were no hard feelings. “Well, how about this. Technically, I also have the title of ‘Lady’ from my brother’s marriage. Maybe I should just use ‘Lady Sparkle?’ What do you guys think?”

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s your call. I can’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Less of a mouthful than ‘Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle’. I say go for it.” Spike gave a thumbs up.

“So… Lady Sparkle, then?” The officer asked. “I should tell ponies to call you that?”

Twilight shrugged. “It’ll do. Your sergeant is in there, right?” She pointed at a wooden door.

He nodded. “Right, that’s the Squad Room. Just go in there and ask.”

Twilight tilted her head over. “Follow me, everypony. I get the feeling they’ll get the point a little faster if I have a couple of armored Day Guards.” She grabbed the handle with her magic and turned, pushing the door open and into the small cacophony inside.

The sounds of typewriters, conversations, and chalkboards being written on quickly filled the air as she stepped into a crowded room of ponies and desks. Almost every single pony had on a police uniform, with a few well-dressed exceptions. Probably prosecutors or detectives… Okay, think Twilight. Look for a Sergeant’s rank on a shoulder.

The sounds quickly died down as she made her way inside, followed by her guards. All the talking quited, the clacking typewriters fell silent, and even some chalk thudded to the ground. Ah, well, I suppose having Royal Guards behind me makes an impression. Since I have their attention… “Pardon me, everypony, but I’m looking for Sergeant Beat. Where might I find him?”

One pony’s ears perked up, and he slowly turned around in his chair and stood up. He was quite the large draft stallion, standing almost as tall as Big Macintosh. “I’m Sergeant Beat. Can I help you, miss?”

“Guess his name fits him after all,” Spike whispered.

“It’s Lady, actually.” Twilight corrected the pony, ignoring Spike. Suppose now’s as good a time as any to start using the title. “Lady Sparkle.”

The policepony’s eyes went wide. “Lady Sparkle? As in—”

Twilight pulled out the paper she was carrying. “Correct. Grand Mage Sparkle is also my title. I’m here to talk to you about this?”

Patrol Beat picked up the paper and examined the pages. “What about it?”

“I was told you were the one to leak the information on the byline. The highly inaccurate, libelous information. Is this true?”

The pony flipped back to the front page and stared at it. “... Nope.”

Twilight’s took a step back in shock. “Come again?”

“I’ve heard of this Trixie character, sure, but the only thing she did here was get a disturbing the peace citation. Even paid the fine right away.” He turned around in an angle that both of them could see the paper. “And, well, this paper? The Hoofington Post? It’s been out of business for the last few years. Where did you get this?”

“Hoofington Post?” One of the other ponies in the room asked. “I think I saw some new issues of that at the newsstand. I thought someone bought them and restarted it or something.”

Twilight’s jaw went to the ground. “No way… Was it just the last couple of days? When was the citation given?”

The sergeant folded his forelegs in thought. “I think the citation was around a week ago. Officer, when did you first see the paper?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Four days ago? Maybe three? I thought it kind of strange.”

Twilight pulled away the paper from the sergeant and looked at the date, eyes wide in realization.

“Before we begin today’s lesson, I wish to offer a word of advice for when you are in the field for an extended time. Twilight, I know you are fond of habits and schedules—”

“When she isn’t busy being obsessed with something.” Spike interrupted, earning him a light bop on the head from Twilight.

“But,” Luna continued, “unless your location is exceptionally secure, vary your schedule as much as you can. Do not go to the same place twice at the same time of day. Eat at different places, etc.”

“How come?” Twilight asked. “Seems… unnecessary.”

Luna shook her head. “It takes three days to pull off a kidnapping. On the first day, a hostile can see what your habits may be, and on the second they confirm it.”

Rainbow cringed. “I think I have a guess what happens on the third day.”

“The third day, you are lost.” Luna confirmed. “Since you are what the enemy would consider a ‘High Priority Target,’ you should be mindful of this. Vary your schedule. It could save your life.”

“This one is from three days ago. This… This cannot be a coincidence. Spike! Rainbow! We have to get back to that paper! Now!”

Twilight turned around and bolted out the door, her guards following closely behind by the sounds of it. Shortly after leaving the building, wingbeats overhead followed in formation, and the sound of a set of strong, pounding hooves pulled up beside her.

“If I might ask, Lady Sparkle!” Patrol Beat hollered, catching up to her. “What’s going on?”

“That paper isn’t what it looks like!” she yelled back. “Spike! Get the anti-candle ready!”

“On it!” Came a yell from overhead.

She brought her hooves to a halt, skidding on the sidewalk and turning to face the doors to the paper. She didn’t even settle for normal telekinesis, and instead sent a stream of power into her horn and blasted the door open before charging in.

The curmudgeon behind the counter looked startled but no less astringent.

“You’re going to have to pay for that!” he yelled, pointing a hoof. “Officer! Arrest her for trespassing and destruction of private property!”

She trotted up to the desk and slammed her hooves on her table. “Stuff it!” she yelled in his face, little bits of spittle going flying. “You lied to me! And I know why! Spike!”

“Right here!” The dragon rushed to the counter and slammed the candle onto it, holding it in a fist.

Twilight lit up her horn, readying a binding spell. “Last chance! Come clean or this candle does it for you!”

The stallion got in her face, slamming his own hooves on the counter. “Come clean? About what! You’re the one barging in here, demanding this, demanding that—”

“Light it!” Twilight commanded, and a stream of green fire arced across the wick of the candle.

Then, all was dark.

One palomino, two palomino, three palomino, four! Twilight blew out the candle, bringing the light back to the room.

The wallpaper around them had been stained and peeled almost entirely off, there were holes in the drywall. A dry wind was blowing through the room and the shattered windows. A rusted-out, ancient fan sat in the corner, its cord cut. The flooring was half-missing and covered in moss. The wooden counter wasn’t even there anymore, replaced by a slightly less worn spot on the ground. If not for Spike's grasp, the candle would have fallen to the ground.

“What in the name of Celestia…” Patrol Beat took off his hat. “How?”

“No time for that!” Twilight leapt over the ground in a single hop and barreled through the door behind it. The frame cracked and busted open on its latch, swinging open and hanging loose. An instant later, another door on the far end of the large room clacked shut, and Twilight tore after her phantom, dodging printing equipment along the way. Her hooves clacked on the cement floor, and her teeth ground at the thought of answers being just on the other side.

A blast of magic all but tore the door off its hinges as she powered through into the alley, turning each way and looking for a pony, any pony with her magic sight.

There were only buildings, darkness, and trash cans.

Twilight ground her teeth and sneered at the empty alley while her magic sight probed it over and over, each time finding nothing.

“Dammit!” She swung around and bucked a dumpster, putting a huge dent in it.

Patrol Beat’s jaw dropped. “Whoa. I heard you were powerful, but…”

Wonderful time for my earth pony magic to come back. Twilight snorted. “Let’s get back inside. Maybe there's some evidence I can use…”

Spike came up behind them both. “Care to explain what’s going on first?”

Twilight froze her head still, thinking over the options. If their illusions are this good, there’s no tailing them… “Yeah, okay. Let’s get back inside, though.”

The small group wandered back in, weaving through the machines and over to where Rainbow was looking at the ground while the two other Royal Guard pegasi guarded the door.

“Hey, Twi, check it out. Some real odd markings in the concrete here. Fresh grease nearby, too. I think the marks are recent.”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow. Rainbow, being observant? This I have to check out. She went over to her and illuminated the floor with her magic. “Hmm…” There were markings in an equilateral shape, and all of them were heavy scrape marks going into some kind of machine grease that dotted the ground in blotches.

“Huh. I think Rainbow’s… right!” Spike held his cheeks in shock. “Did a changeling sneak into our group?”

“Quiet, sulfur breath,” the pegasus muttered. “I can be observant too!”

“I think she’s right, Spike.” Twilight tapped the floor. “ The grease doesn't have any dust accumulation, but it was here when the floor got marked, which means, yes, it's recent. Good eye, Rainbow. I’ll make sure to point it out to RGIS. For now, though, let me bring you all up to speed on what’s going on.”

“Please do,” Patrol demanded. “I want to know what’s happening in my town.”

Twilight looked at him and thought for a moment, narrowing her eyes a little. What to do? Normally protocol would dictate to dismiss him immediately. But that will do little to garner additional support, and could lead to the town becoming politically hostile to the crown’s influence. It could even leave him unnecessarily vulnerable for not knowing what’s going on.

I also have to consider the possibility that he’s aligned with this same organization I’m investigating. Granted, from his reaction, lack of horn, and the fact that he didn’t disappear in the candle’s aura leaves me to believe he genuinely doesn’t know anything. Hmm… Split the difference. Warn him, and don’t reveal anything the group wouldn’t either know already or be able to reasonably figure out. And have him observed by RGIS for a while if possible. “Very well. I do not believe your presence will place you at risk given that you don’t have a formal connection to us. For your sake, however, do not repeat what is said here. Consider the information classified.”

He folded his forelegs. “So you’ll prosecute me if I talk?”

She shook her head. “No. The organization we’re dealing with here is well managed and willing to take lethal action against threats to its existence. If you keep quiet, they’ll probably think none of us know anything, and will leave you alone. Talk, and, well…”

Spike chuckled. “We’re the only ones here that have been trained by Luna. You’re on your own, bucko.”

His coat went pale. “Oh. Right. Fair enough. I’ll keep silent.”

“Very well.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Our ‘friend’ Trixie was attacked by this group in Canterlot, but I don’t think that was their original plan. Remember what Luna said about kidnapping? It takes three days to set up. But if Trixie’s been chased for a long time I’m betting she knows this too. She varied her schedule, and this group wanted to capture her alive. If they didn’t, she’d’ve died in that attack instead of merely being disabled. Hence, I think they set up a trap.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Now I’m getting it. They set up a fake newspaper here and put out the ‘warrant.’ Since Trixie wasn’t a local, she didn’t know it was a fake, and even to the ponies that did live here it’d just be an oddity. So they’d just get her when she surrendered, or tried to clear her name, or maybe even when she ran! They might have figured out her escape routes.”

“But she didn’t run or surrender.” Rainbow countered. “At least, not here. She surrendered to Twi personally.”

“Exactly!” Twilight looked around at the group. “They had to act fast, or I’d get involved. But they weren’t fast enough. Trixie found me. However, she panicked and ran when she realized it was a trap rather than a petty revenge ploy on my part. That let them spring a much more hasty trap that we ultimately broke her out of.”

Patrol nodded. “So, they probably just took up residence in this empty building because it was available and had printing equipment. They’d only need a few days worth. It was a convenient target.”

“And the rude flank-wipe at the front desk?” Rainbow asked.

“I bet the rudeness was to keep ponies from getting back here and realizing it wasn’t a real paper. The illusion magic would do the rest, but the papers themselves had to be ‘real.’ Remember when Trixie looked behind us and panicked? I’m betting she can see through their illusions somehow. That’s probably another reason why they set the trap. They knew she’d see through any simple attempt to take her with illusions.”

“So, ultimately, they failed.” Spike folded his arms. “I mean, we have Trixie and we know about them now. Although we don’t quite know who ‘they’ are.”

“Not yet we don’t,” Twilight smirked. “But I’m going to have RGIS tear this place apart, starting with this mark on the floor here. Hopefully they’ll get us some evidence we can use for a lead. Otherwise, I think we’re done here. We should get back to the Castle and inform them that the anti-candles are an effective counter to their illusions.”

Patrol Beat stepped forward. “What do you need me to do?”

Twilight looked back at him and smiled. “Well, for starters, you’ve already been very helpful. Thank you!” She gave him a slight bow. “It’s refreshing to have somepony take me seriously for once!

“Second, remember what I said about not talking to anypony, and I mean anypony about this. With these ponies, you never really know if what you’re seeing is real. Third and lastly, have your officers keep this building secure. Nopony gets in until the RGIS shows up, but if these guys come back, do not engage them. You won’t win.”

He bowed in return. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Not ‘Highness.’ That’s only for the Princesses. If you have to use an honorific, call me ‘Lady Sparkle.’”

He bowed again. “Of course, Lady Sparkle. Do you need a police escort anywhere?”

She shook her head. “My guards will take care of that. Rainbow? Stay here with the Sergeant until Intelligentsia shows up, then return to base. Light the candle if you suspect even the slightest disturbance. Spike? Let’s get back to the castle. I need to talk to Trixie.”

Author's Note

Hey all!

This chapter has yet to see a technical pass, as my tech editor is rather busy as of late, so expect some roughness. It will be updated later.

This mission is relatively short. There is only one additional chapter. Much like with the first mission, this illusionist thing isn’t going to get resolved so quickly as one simple mission. ;)

As ever, I have to say how grateful I am to all of you for your continued interest in my story, even through all the delays and the medical issues and the canon stuff. That I continue to see people enjoy my story warms my heart and holds the worries and depression at bay. As I mentioned in my blog, I'm NOT one of those authors that thinks comments are only worthwhile if you have some kind of keen insight on how to make things better. Anything that says you still enjoy reading my story and that it's still worth keeping up with is very welcome. I love getting comments, even if it’s as simple as pointing out something in the chapter you thought was awesome. :)

There’s a big blog post going up with a lot more information. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! :)

-Cv

Hole

“Less than ten years, then. Celestia was right. This should be something, indeed.” Charlemane took a long sip from his tea, expecting to taste the hint of whiskey he added, but as he stared at the shield over Canterlot, all he could taste was the heavy echo of Celestia’s words. They played in the center stage of his mind, over and over, so much so that they remained untarnished by the erosion of memory, like a film reel in perfect condition.

“You must understand, Ascension is eventful…”

“My Lord?”

Charlemane held up his hoof, silencing his subordinate. Gently, he set down his tea on the table, watching the steam rise up in the crisp fall air. “The world is a storm in a teacup, an easy place to lose oneself and drown. Yet to live, one need only take the world in one’s grasp, lift it to the lips, and drink.”

“My Lord, if I may—”

“Of course, it helps to spike the drink a little.”

“Sir?”

“Patience.” Charlemane picked up his tea and took it over to the balcony railing, listening intently to the tink sound the fine china made as he set it down. “We are all ever at the edge of the future, but this… The view from here is quite spectacular, don’t you think?”

Charlemane turned his head slightly to look at his confused subordinate’s face, but it wasn’t quite as satisfying as he had expected, and once again turned his attention to the scene below. “If you are wondering why I am calm, I can assure you, I am most frustrated. But in the face of history, it helps to occasionally take a step back to look and remember. The moment may seem small in the face of events like the siege or Discord… But such moments may mean more to the path of our civilization than the outcome of any great war. Indeed, they may decide such conflicts on their own. Savour them.”

“Er, yes, my Lord…”

Even without looking, Charlemane could tell his assistant had bowed to the ground, instead of heeding his advice and watching. Not that it matters. As ever, I shall lead the blind.

Time passed on in silence, allowing Charlemane to enjoy his tea, or at least the whiskey in it. On the final sip, the fading daylight poked its way through the shield over the city. Second by second, pieces of Shining’s — or rather, Obsidian’s — shield faded away, leaving only the crepuscular light of evening.

The Duke couldn’t help but smile as the last drop made its way across his tongue and down his throat. “Fading to twilight… How appropriate.” He waited for his subordinate to try and speak to him again, but found only silence. “Report. What have you heard?”

“My Lord, RGIS says that the Grand Mage intercepted a group attempting to harm and possibly abduct one Trixie Lulamoon. The battle was the cause of the explosion and the subsequent raising of the shield over Canterlot. The Grand Mage was victorious and has launched an investigation. Sir, should I—?”

“Do nothing.”

“Sir? There’s an opportunity here, and a huge risk, so we need to—”

“I said, ‘do nothing.’” Charlemane laid his forelegs on the railing, staring down at the city below. “The fight does generate a potential advantage for us, yes, along with some significant risks. But its importance pales in comparison to that of our new Grand Mage, Twilight Sparkle.”

The brightest first stars appeared in the sky, their light dancing in the Duke’s eyes.

“I know this mare. At least, that is what most would say. I’ve met her, talked with her, read her psychological profile, and even more than that, believe it or not. I should know her inside and out. And yet… Of all the ponies in all the world, this one is unique in an exceptional way, which means that I only know the surface of her. I must delve deeper.

"The storm in the teacup shall provide the stimulus. Only when the time is right shall I add the whiskey. Thus, for now, we do nothing, come what may. Is that understood?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“I need an update, doctor. How is she?”

The doctor looked up from his chart and at Twilight. “Perfect timing. She woke up a few moments ago, albeit in a bit of a panic and quite a lot of pain. The good news is that she didn’t ruin the set on her bones, thanks to the integrity spells on the casts. The breaks on her hind legs should heal, in time. We gave her some morphine to help ease her pain and stress.”

Morphine? Uh-oh… “Is she still lucid enough to talk?”

He nodded. “Of course. But I wouldn’t recommend anything more than that, especially with her injuries. She’s going to be bedridden for quite a while.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “And vulnerable. I’m going to have to add an anti-candle or something to the entrance… Thank you, doctor. I’ll let you know if I need anything more.”

“Of course,” he said, bowing before leaving.

Okay… A bit unnerved that the bowing is becoming normal already, but there’s more important stuff to do. She took in a deep breath and slowly opened the hospital room door. Inside was a single bed and patient. The windows were nearly completely blacked out with a security spell, leaving only a dark blue hue from the moon for lighting and plenty of shadows for hiding.

Twilight carefully stepped forward, closing the door behind her and locking it so nothing would sneak up on her, or at least she hoped as much. “Trixie?” she asked as she approached the bed. Twilight gazed curiously at the broken mare in front of her when she received no response. “Trixie, are you awake?”

The earth unicorn stirred, ruffling the blanket.

“Trixie, I need to talk to you about what happened.” She sat down next to the bed, her gaze unmet by the other mare’s dead, exhausted eyes. “I need to ask you about what you can see, and how you can see it. I’ve got the beginnings of answers here, but I’m not going to get much farther without your help.”

“How does Trixie know you’re real?” Trixie sneered. “You are so pathetic. You don’t even know what’s going on under your nose. Trixie cannot even trust that you aren’t some ghost they’re making to get Trixie to talk.”

Twilight’s ear twitched. That’s a good point. She’s got no reason to think I’m not something meant to trick her. I need something specific. Something only we would know… but all the ‘communicating’ we’ve done over the years is her saying things in tabloids and me denying it. The only time we’ve actually shared… Hmm…

She cleared her throat. “When you came to Ponyville, you turned Rarity’s mane and tail green, and she ran off in the most sorrowful gallop I’ve ever seen. It looked like her hairs were made of moss.”

“Hmph.” Trixie smiled a little. “Yeah. That was funny.”

Twilight’s lip curled. “No. No it wasn’t. She’s my friend. I only held back so I wouldn’t wind up looking like you.”

“Another point!” Trixie finally looked at Twilight. “Trixie is starting to believe it really was you that lifted that Ursa Major.”

Twilight shook her head. “It was an Ursa Minor. The colts you got to practically worship you were named Snips and Snails. And I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t be so casual about hurting my friends’ feelings.”

“And deliberately putting your town in danger? What are you going to do?” Trixie scoffed, motioning to the casts on her rear limbs. “Break Trixie’s legs? Please. You have no more power over Trixie.”

“It wasn’t deliberate. You never meant to unleash an Ursa Minor. You never even tried. It was Snips and Snails that did it.”

Trixie inhaled and sighed. “Damn. Trixie would have almost prefered it if it wasn’t really you. It took every bit of will Trixie had just to surrender. Now you can mock Trixie to your heart’s content.”

Twilight shook her head. “Trixie, I’m not going to do that to you. I—”

“Trixie would have. Were our positions reversed.” Her eyes glared daggers at her. “You ruined Trixie’s life.”

Twilight jerked her head back. “Me!? You’re the one who was bragging about vanquishing an Ursa Major!”

“And the Ursa crushed Trixie’s cart. And you showed Trixie up. Trixie had to go crawl under a mountain of debt to get a new one. Getting a real business loan would have been easy had it not been for word of Trixie’s utter humiliation at your hooves. No, instead, a measly forty thousand bits from the wrong ponies has kept Trixie in debt perpetually. It’s four million now.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “The mob? You took money from the mob? Those are mob ponies after you!?”

“Ha! Hahahahahahaha! Oh, you are so damned naïve. No, Twilight Sparkle.” Each laugh sounded like Trixie’s mind losing it’s grip on something, but whether that was sanity or just her calm, Twilight wasn’t sure. “Do you really think those idiots and fools in the mafia would have illusion magic like that? Ha! No, these ponies showed up years after the mob was after me. Trixie even managed to play them off each other; the mob moves in, Trixie finds a phantom, and escapes while the other two fight. The only reason Trixie is not already dead is because these other ponies want me alive, but for what, Trixie does not know. Now it’s just a race to see which will get here first. The mafia, or these invisible hunters.” One side of her face grinned enough to expose her back molars. “And you think that damned idiot hiding in the corner will be enough to stop either of them?”

Idiot in the corner? What is she—! Twilight jumped back as a figure stepped out of the shadows, his glowing eyes and smouldering mane finally visible.

“It looks like I need further training,” Obsidian chuckled. “I’m still new to this ‘sneaking around’ thing.”

Twilight pinched the bridge of her muzzle with her hooves. “Dammit, Shiny, you practically scared the cutie mark off of me!”

“Then perhaps you need more training as well, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight spun around and stumbled on the tile, catching herself on the edge of Trixie’s bed and seeing yet two more figures in the dark. One was the Princess, and another was a Night Guard mare with a jet-black mane and a blindfold.

“Luna! Is everypony trying to give me a heart attack today?”

Luna waved a dismissive hoof. “Please. If I were trying, I would have surely succeeded by now. Wouldn’t you agree, Trixie Lulamoon?”

Uh-oh. Twilight turned to see what kind of disrespect Trixie was going to show the Princess, but found the mare sitting up as best she could, staring wide-eyed at the ‘new arrivals.’”

“Okay, Trixie admits it and is gracious enough to give credit. She didn’t see you two there. But he needs work.”

Luna’s mane bristled and sparkled in the darkness of the room. “My Cardinal is new to our ways. His inexperience shall not last long, I can assure you.”

Trixie screamed out and slammed a hoof into her bed. “Trixie doesn’t care how much experience he has! You have no idea just what these ponies are capable of, and you have no way of stopping their magic! Either leave Trixie alone or kick her out to die!”

“That’s not true!” Twilight took another step or two closer to her. “Anti-candles can dissolve their illusions. And we ran them out of the abandoned newspaper office they used to trick you. RGIS is on their way to comb for physical evidence as we speak.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “You won’t find any.”

The mare next to Luna stepped forward. “According to Sparkle-denka, we already have. Fresh scrape marks on the concrete. If they left in such a hurry as to damage concrete, we may yet find something.”

“That alone actually signifies more than you realize, Acolyte Seer.” Luna stepped over to the other side of Trixie’s bed. “Given that the object was probably something on a tripod, I believe that it was a device used to project their illusions over a wider area. Most likely a magically charged crystal of some kind.”

Trixie’s jaw fell open. “Impossible… How could you…?”

Luna leaned in. “I am much older than you, young one. Cooperate with us, and we shall wipe your debt and shield you from these phantoms.”

“Ha!” Trixie’s attitude returned like a tsunami. “You? The banished Princess? I’m so grateful, Your Majesty. You talk like you’re some great leader, and yet here you are, begging my help to chase after the ones that nearly tore down your throne!”

Twilight furrowed her brow and thought, She’s dropping the third person, so I’m betting she’s ready to talk. Just one more push. As for whether this is the same organization…

“The doctor said you have years of healed injuries. You’ve been on the run from the illusionists all that time, haven’t you?”

A wince and shiver from the bedridden mare confirmed Twilight’s suspicions.

“Then I rather doubt the illusionists are involved with the coup. If the ponies involved with the Siege had magic like that all this time, why didn’t they use it in the attack? I think this is an unrelated group.” Twilight put her forehooves gently on the bed. “But they’re still after you, and I want to help. I know you’re scared, Trixie, and considering I just fought off a couple ponies I couldn’t see and could barely touch, I think it’s completely understandable.”

Trixie flopped down and buried her head under the pillow. “You understand nothing. Nothing!”

“I understand that you thought I was your only hope.” Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “That’s why you surrendered to me personally, isn’t it? You thought I could shield you. That whatever revenge I had in store couldn’t possibly be worse than what they had in store for you. And when you realized I never had an arrest warrant out for you, that’s when you saw them racing to catch up.”

Trixie cringed and pulled the blankets closer.

“Trixie, let me help. Show us the magic you use to see them. Share it with Princess Luna, if not me. She’ll teach her Night Guard. They’ll teach the Guard, who will teach the military. I wouldn’t be surprised if that will wind up being the largest blow this group has ever had to suffer. We can smoke them out together.”

Trixie buried her head more deeply in the blanket. “Why help Trixie? After all I’ve done…”

Twilight leaned in close. “Because I think we can be friends. I’m Grand Mage now, and these ponies are going after my subjects, including you. I can’t sit by and not act. Even if you don’t help us, I’ll still try to stop them. So what’s stopping you from helping us?”

She stirred more under her covers, shaking and sniffling. “Trixie never… I… never wanted to say those things about you, Twilight Sparkle. It was my manager’s idea. Former manager’s idea. To get my name back out there.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m relieved to hear that, Trixie. Does this mean you’re willing to help us?”

Trixie deflated into the mattress, weeping softly into the pillow. “I’m tired of running. I don’t care about it anymore. If you can provide me safety, great. If not, then I shall fight until I die. Either way, I will help you.”

“Thank you, Trixie.” Twilight gave her a modest bow. Trixie has a huge ego, but it’s been shattered. I should keep a good level of decorum and respect, help build her back up. We’ll need her help.

Luna stepped forward. “We accept your proposal. Tell us which mafia you borrowed money from. They shall not bother you again.”

Trixie shook as she inhaled. “The Scomparsas. In Manehattan. You can find them in a dingy Roan restaurant on Canal St.”

Oh, great. Twilight thought. She borrowed money from a family whose name means ‘disappearance implying death.’

Luna spread a wing over the bed and leaned down next to Twilight and Trixie. “By this time tomorrow their Don will rather mail himself to the Fratellanza family than so much as think of harming you. I have some things I must set up with my sister, and then I shall return shortly to hear what you know of this detection magic. Everypony, let us leave her to rest a while.”

The group all turned to leave, but Twilight made certain to be the last one out. “Trixie, thank you. We’re going to save lives.” She then backed out of the room and gently closed the door.

“The first thing I’m going to have to do is break her of that annoying third-person speech,” Luna grumbled.

“Says the Princess that still uses the ‘royal we’ from time to time.” Twilight smirked. “Although, I do agree it would be nice if she could talk more normally.”

Obsidian sucked in a deep breath. “Well, at the very least we’re gaining leads now. But I hate the idea that there is yet another group that’s been operating under our noses. I take it you want me to deal with the mafia first, correct?”

“That is so, Cardinal. Take Acolyte Seer with you. Her bow should come in useful. Use whatever means you deem fit. I will expect your return to duty will not take too long.”

“Consider it done, Sovereign. Before I leave, though, did Twilight’s investigation tell you anything?”

Luna looked around, then lowered her head and voice. “Yes. This is absolutely magic borne from Lady Optika’s illusions. How in Equestria anypony knows of those is beyond my ability to guess, but I’m certain of it. They used to use large, heavy crystals on tripods to help amplify their abilities over a larger area. Lady Optika herself didn’t need them, of course, but her followers made extensive use of them and similar devices. It’s extremely likely that is what made the scrape marks on the concrete.”

Twilight lowered her voice too. “Makes sense to me. What’s our next move?”

Luna’s wing twitched a little. “First, we need Trixie’s detection spell. Other than that, though it pains me to sit on my hooves, we should wait and see if Intelligentsia’s investigation turns anything up. Thus, I recommend you rest for the night, Twilight. My Night Guard will take care of everything else for the time being, and I will inform my sister that your trip to Ponyville was delayed. We’ll bring you up to date in the morning, and if we have nothing for you, then you can continue to your adoptive hometown. I imagine Applejack and the others are anxious to see you again.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll let my guards know we have the night off. What about Trixie? She’s rather vulnerable here in the hospital. We’ve already had somepony that wasn’t invisible sneak in here and kill Towers.”

Luna looked over them and down the hall, visibly still weary of eavesdroppers. “I agree. I’m going to arrange it so that one of the side rooms in the War Room facility is transformed into a medically-appropriate bedroom for her to stay and heal in. There’s no way to keep an illusion spell active through that portal, even when it’s enchanted into armor. There’s a delay of several seconds before the glamour can reset. That’s the safest place in the world for her right now.”

Twilight stretched her legs and shoulders. “Agreed. Give a copy of any notes Trixie gives us to Spike, and have him deliver it to me in the morning if possible. And let the Guard pegasi that flew me to Hoofington today know I appreciate their help. That was quite a long way to fly a chariot in a single day.”

Acolyte Seer tilted her head. “You show respect for your subordinates. The praises my Sovereign showers you with appear well earned, Sparkle-denka.”

Twilight couldn’t help but tilt her head as well. The blindfold the Night Guard wore looked enchanted and most likely completely blocked her vision. “Um, thanks, I guess?” How in the world does she hide in shadows when she can’t see them?

Luna’s ears twitched. “We should go. Ponies are coming. I have additional Night Guard already in the room that will watch her until she can be moved.”

The group broke up, Twilight going a different direction that the others. One of these days, Princess, I’m going to learn to spot your Guards before they poke their heads out.

Author's Note

Hey all. Been a while, but can’t be helped. My trip to the US was a disaster, as those following my blog know. I’m real nervous about this chapter, to be honest. But then, what else is new?

I’m going to start taking voice lessons to try to get my voice’s resilience up, which should, hopefully, allow me to write more via dictation.

Pre-reader conan helped me set up a Rites Skype text chat for fans of the fic. If you have Skype installed and open, you should, in theory, be able to use this link to add yourself to it. Seems to work, anyway.

For those curious, the "-denka" honorific is supposed to mean non-sovereign royalty.

Starting next chapter, I have to put the same number of words back into the backlog as what I post. So, if I post a 5,500 word chapter, I have to write 5,500 new words.

Also, since this chapter is very short, I’m making it a freebie on Patreon. Next one will have more words and will be a contributing one, but before I post it here, I have to write those new words. Patrons will get their sneak peek as normal, though. Thanks again everyone for sticking with me.

'Til next chapter,
-Cv

Homecoming

Dedicated to my grandfather, who passed away on June 13th after ninety-five years of a remarkable life dedicated to his family. I'll miss you, grandpa.

“Hey, Twilight?”

Twilight’s ear twitched. Somepony was knocking on her door. This was not something she wanted to continue. There was an illogically warm cloud bed under her, and she very much wanted the world to go away so she could stay in it.

“Twilight? It’s Spike. It’s time to get up!”

Ah, Spike. How many times has my faithful assistant woken me up early after I stayed up too late? I’m going to have to repay him someday with a swift kick in the—okay, now I’m just being grumpy. Begrudgingly, she rose to her hooves and stretched with a wide yawn. “Come in, Spike!”

The door latch went ka-chunk and slowly opened up. “Hey, Twi. Intelligentsia said to come wake you. She, Luna, and your brother are going to be meeting in thirty minutes for a briefing. Apparently, Gen’s found something interesting.”

Twilight’s ears perked up on that. “Well, hopefully it’s good news for once. Thanks for the wake-up call, Spike. Oh, do you think you could bring coffee next time? You know how I like it. Bop Gustave on the shoulder or something if needed.”

“Sure thing, Twi!” He gave a little salute and backed out of the room, closing the door.

Okay, time for morning stuff. Bathroom, bath, etc. Mental checklist: ready! Twilight summoned a downward blast of pegasus magic and pushed herself and her bed down to the next level. You know, I think it’s finally hitting me. This room is freaking amazing.

“So, what’s going on?” Twilight said, wandering into the briefing room with coffee, senechal, and Rainbow Dash in tow. “Wow, Gen, you look like hell.”

Intelligentsia yawned. “Somepony had me specifically travel out to Hoofington rather than allow me to delegate. Been up all night helping with evidence.”

Twilight’s ears went flat. “Oh. Right. Sorry, but with who I was up against… Sorry.”

“It may well have been worth it.” Luna stretched and yawned as well. “Such an odd time for me. I don’t need sleep, but I still always feel a sleepy this time of day.”

Obsidian smiled. “Well, one benefit about Celestia’s tour and Cadence taking over the Night Court is that my new schedule matches my wife’s quite well. Anyway, Gen, show Twilight what you showed us.”

Intelligentsia nodded. “Right. Take a look at this.” She pulled out a large rolled-up piece of paper and laid it out on the table in the middle of the room. “It’s a floor plan for the first level of the abandoned newspaper you went to. See the colored areas I added? Notice anything?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. You put a blotch of red right where Rainbow found the scratch marks. The outer edge of the room is in orange, and in the other room and outside is yellow.”

Spike scratched his head. “I see it, but I’m not sure what it is yet.”

“You will. Here’s another map of the same thing, expanded to encompass a city block around the building.” Intelligentsia pulled out another map and laid it out. “Now what do you see?”

Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. “The building is in some kind of hot zone. Whatever it is, it radiates out about fifty yards. What’s this representing?”

Intelligentsia smiled. “Normally we wouldn’t check for this, but with strange magic, I tend to be a little paranoid. It’s paid off. This is a map of thaumic contamination.”

“What!?” Spike gasped. “Are we going to be okay? Did you evacuate everypony!?”

“Relax, Spike.” Intelligentsia chuckled. “It’s no where near danger levels. It’s actually less than the background contamination in the Everfree. But, it is higher than normal for this environment, and obviously it is detectable.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Ooooooh! I get what you’re saying!”

Rainbow blinked. “Well, I don’t. Care to translate for non-eggheads?”

“Basically…” Twilight was grinning from ear to ear. “Since the hot zone was where Luna thinks a booster device for the illusions was located, that device probably caused it. Which means, we can look for unusual areas of thaumic contamination to search for them!”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner! There are, however, a few complications.” Intelligentsia pulled out another map, this one of Equestria. “First, it’s implausible to search the whole country. We need to take readings locally, and we can’t just violate private property on a wide scale to do it. Second, while we do have a transcribed copy of Trixie’s detection spell, it too has a limited range.”

“Can you get me a copy of that spell?” Twilight interrupted. “I’d like to learn it as soon as possible.”

Intelligentsia nodded. “You’ll have it before you leave. Third, there are natural and pollution-based sources for low-level thaumic contamination like this. A massive search would yield many, many false positives. Forth, we need to carefully hide what we’re doing. There is a chance that this group doesn’t know about the contamination since it’s so low.”

Luna cleared her throat. “That plays to our advantage, but we cannot simply perform a massive sweep without our purpose being detected. We need more information on this organization’s goals and methods to perform a more, shall we say, targeted operation.”

Twilight sighed and folded her forelegs. “That was not what I wanted to hear this morning.”

“Yeah! We shouldn’t just wait for them to hit us! We need to strike back!” Rainbow reached over to Twilight’s floating cup and tried to grab it as if it was hers.

Twilight flicked a pen at the thief’s head.

“Ow! Jeez, sorry.”

“My coffee. In fact, Spike, have maintenance install a coffee machine in my closet.”

“Can do!” Spike pulled out his notepad and added it to the checklist.

Obsidian laughed and shook his head. “If only they’d show up and try to steal my little sister’s caffeine source, we’d nail them in a heartbeat. You’re right, though, Twily. I’m not a fan of sitting on my haunches either, but sometimes that’s just what we have to do. Wait, and watch.”

Intelligentsia rubbed the large, dark bags under her eyes and started packing up the documents. “The advantage that we do have is that the military has Trixie’s detection spell. We should work on creating cored amulets with that integrated into them and pass them out to unit leaders. If we put a shield spell in with it, we might be able to hide their real purpose long enough to catch them unawares. Until then, the Cardinal is right. We wait, and watch. Right now, though, I’m afraid I’m going to get going. I have a half-dozen new analyses to write now.”

Twilight blinked. “Um, no. You’re going to get some sleep.”

She shook her head and sucked in a breath, trying and failing to look stoic. “I can’t. Uncovering this means I have a mountain of new work to coordinate, and Grand General Blueblood is seriously breathing down my neck about—”

“Lieutenant, as Grand Mage, I am relieving you of duty until you get eight hours of sleep and a large meal. If Blueblood gives you trouble, tell him he can take it up with me. We have no indication we’re under immediate threat, therefor I’m not willing to risk a case of baked bads involving national security.”

Intelligentsia stared for a moment then deflated, folding her ears back. “I guess I could…”

Twilight put on her best Shining Armor impression. “I’m not satisfied with that answer, Lieutenant.”

Intelligentsia snapped into a salute and shouted way louder than a mare her size had a right to.“Yes, Lady Sparkle!”

Luna clapped her hooves in applause. “Well done, Twilight. I would have done the same, but sadly, I still have no military authority. Oh, they still more or less listen to me because they know Celestia will almost always back me up, but technically…”

Twilight gave her a small bow. “I figured as much. Lieutenant, go to bed. After all, the reason you’re up this late is because of me. All I need for now is that detection spell.”

Intelligentsia ruffled in her pack and floated a piece of paper over. “Here you go. Have at it. It’s a little complex, but I would imagine you of all ponies shouldn’t have too much trouble. Princess Luna, Lady Sparkle, let me know if you need me for anything else.” She trotted out the door, the bags under her eyes all but swaying with each step.

Twilight pulled up the paper, scanning its script and committing it to memory. “Huh. Not bad, Trixie. It is a bit complex, but the only reason it isn’t ten times worse is because she used a rather elegant design. She may be a better illusionist than I thought.”

Rainbow laughed. “Let me guess. You already have it memorized.”

“Yup. Hang on.” Twilight dropped the paper and charged her horn, following the spell instructions and letting the magic swirl around her head and eyes. A tiny magic circle formed around her and spun before collapsing as the casting completed. “There. Done.”

“And that’ll let you see through the illusions, right?” Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Nope. This spell is simpler than I thought. It just tells me when I’m near an illusion of this class, what direction it’s in, and a vague idea of how close it is. I wish it did more, but it’s invaluable nonetheless. At least now we’ll know when one is nearby. And with the rest of the military being alerted, they’ll have ponies all over that can track them down. I think we should start with Canterlot.”

“Agreed, Twily, and already underway. Though we’ve uncovered nothing else so far, I’m afraid.” Obsidian got up, and started to make his way out the door too. “I’m about ready to clock out myself, if my Sovereign allows it, of course.”

Luna smiled at him. “Of course. Go be with your wife. I shall summon you if I have need of your services.”

Obsidian nodded and trotted out the door. Though he gave the appearance of alertness, Twilight saw him lean and sway to one side, revealing his own exhaustion.

He’s exhausted too. Poor Shiny. Hopefully he gets his rest this time. Sleep, Brother. Twilight took a drink from her coffee before continuing. “Have there been any new orders for me, Princess?”

“Back to ‘Princess,’ I see.” The Princess raised an eyebrow, then sighed with a shake of her head. . “No. I did talk with my sister via message, and she knows about your delay in getting to Ponyville. I’ve already arranged a chariot for your journey there.”

Twilight held up a hoof. “I appreciate it, Princess, I mean Luna, but I don’t want to drain our resources like that. I can take the train like I planned to.”

“I appreciate your humility, Twilight Sparkle, but you should take the chariot. If you take a standard commuter train while not undercover, it makes it look like our military is so strained we cannot transport our VIPs. Take the chariot.”

Twilight opened her mouth to counter but stopped before the first syllable could leak out. “Ah. I see your point. Sorry.”

“‘Tis not a problem. As I said, I appreciate your willingness to be humble. I only wish others shared your view. However, the world is what it is, and Ponyville awaits you.”

“Where should we set down, Lady Sparkle?”

“Somewhere near the town square, Officer.” Twilight turned her head to get her bangs out of her face.The town spread out ahead of her, from Sweet Apple Acres in the south to a massive, dark, concrete superstructure in the northwest. That must be the new fort. They sure built that fast. “I need some more coffee. Time for a trip to Bon Bon’s Café.”

Spike snickered. “Twilight Sparkle. First Grand Mage powered exclusively by coffee.”

“Hey, yeah!” Rainbow guffawed. “Just put an IV in her veins. Watch her crush some dragons with the power of caffeine!”

Twilight glared at them. “I’m under a lot of stress, and I’m pretty much royalty. If I want some coffee, I get coffee.”

The chariot dove down to the ground, rolling to a halt in a street with plenty of ponies all around, going about their day. Twilight wasted no time jumping off, making a beeline for the café, but started to slow down the more she noticed something.

She was being watched… by everypony.

She came to a stop, eyes darting about and ears back. A small crowd was already gathering, whispers and murmurs replacing the hustle and bustle. Even having her guards flanking her didn’t help much to shield her from the stares.

“Twilight’s back!” somepony in the crowd shouted.

“Hometown Grand Mage!” somepony else cheered.

“Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!”

The crowd started chanting, and there was no stopping them. Hooves stomped on the ground in applause, pegasi did loops in the air, and some of the unicorns launched little celebratory bolts into the air.

“Dang, Twi, you’re a freaking hero! Again!” Rainbow put her foreleg over the Grand Mage’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen a greeting like this since I was a Wonderbolt!”

Twilight suppressed a smile but utterly failed while a wave of tingles washed over her. She ducked out from under Rainbow and stepped to the crowd.

“Thank you, everypony! I’m so proud to be accepted as Equestria’s next Grand Mage, and I could never have done it without all of you! My friends! I promise to do my very best to represent and protect you and all ponies everywhere! Again, thank you all!”

Another wave of cheers roared through the town square and put a spring in Twilight’s step as she waved for her guards to follow. “Come on, guys, let’s get some coffee and lunch. My treat.”

“Twilight? Is that you?”

Twilight’s smile grew a few sizes as she walked up to the wood counter and its ornate cash register. It’s good to be home. “Hi, Bon Bon! Can I get my usual? Oh, and these two are with me.”

Bon Bon smiled back. “I think I know what they want already. Extra-large raspberry protein smoothie and emerald-flavored tofu wrap, right?”

Rainbow laughed. “Yep, she knows me.”

Spike sighed. “Someday, Bon Bon, I’m going to figure out how you managed to make a glorified sandwich taste like emerald.”

“And until then, he’s going to keep having me buy them.” Twilight tossed a large bit from her saddlebag onto the counter. “Keep the change. Tips for the employees.”

“Oh, my!” Bon Bon picked up the coin. “Looks like Grand Mages are paid well!”

Twilight put on a nervous smile. “Ah, well, it’s got it’s downsides. It’s not exactly the safest job out there.”

“Ah. High risk, high reward. I get it. I’ll have your food ready in a few.” Then, Bon Bon smiled a very specific type of smile. The type one only wore when there was one thing on her mind: profit. “Can I interest you in any candies? I have a whole new assortment ready for the fall!”

Spike rushed up to the counter. “Do you have any more of those blue gumdrops that change your voice!?”

Twilight groaned. “Spike, no! Dragon or not, I don’t want you eating anything laced with poison joke!”

Bon Bon sniffled, her eyes watering. “Nopony wants my candies since they found out that secret ingredient. But that’s the only thing I used it in! And it’s harmless!”

Rainbow tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Hey, maybe we should—”

“Bon Bon, the last I heard, you’re expanding with a new store in Canterlot,” Twilight interrupted. “There’s no way business is bad if you can afford the most expensive retail real estate in Equestria.”

The sad visage broke instantly. “I should’ve known better than to pull the wool over the Grand Mage’s eyes. Alright, you got me. Sales have been through the roof since ponies found out. I’ve got orders as far away as Neighpon! No such thing as bad publicity, right?”

Twilight sighed but couldn’t help keep a smile. Same old Bon Bon. “I’m hesitant to agree, but if it helped, I’m happy for you. We’ll be at my usual seat. Come on, guys.”

“Good to see you all again!” Bon Bon waved as they left.

Twilight and her guards made their way to a corner table that she always favored. She could put her back right against a nice, non-windowed wall and have plenty of privacy to read. It was also near a heat vent in winter. She plopped down on a cushion and leaned back on the wall while her friends took two of the other cushions up and started squabbling over which set of utensils they should have.

They’re like a couple of foals, I swear. “If you two don’t stop, I’m going to see to it that you’re moved in with the general barracks back in Canterlot.”

They both froze, wide-eyed at her, then sheepishly put the bundles back to their original places just in time for their food to get placed at their table.

Twilight took a large bite of her sandwich and washed it down with her ‘special’ spicy coffee blend then took a moment to breathe in the breeze from the window. “Ah…” This is what life is supposed to be. Friends, food, and that amazing scent in the air as the season just starts to shift to fall. She took a large gulp of her coffee, and felt it ease every muscle in her body as it went down. I really missed this place. Feels like it’s been ages already. Canterlot is majestic, and my room there is fantastic, but it’s just not the same.

“Hey, Twilight! Welcome back!”

Twilight opened her eyes to find a mare walking over to join them. She had a yellow coat, a deep red mane and tail, a tool belt, and a hard hat. Most important of all, though, was the cutie mark: a branch with a blossom on it.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!” Twilight smiled. “It’s good to see you again!”

She sat down next to Twilight and gave her hoofbump. “I can’t believe y’all got promoted! O’ course, I didn’t know y’all had a rank, but still!”

Twilight snickered. “Well, it’s a promotion of sorts I guess. How about you? I know about that fort they’re building. Did Celestia contract your company for any of it?”

“Aw, shoot, no. Not our thing, really.” Apple Bloom took off her hard hat and scratched her head. “We really just do houses and shops. Biggest stuff we do would be something like the new orphanage, even though we went and lost the bid on it. But that fort? I wouldn’t even know how to make an armor-reinforced wall like they want.”

“In spite of how often it would’ve been useful for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, am I right?” Rainbow held up a hoof.

“Yeah! Maybe then they could’ve avoided that time they knocked a hole in Roseluck’s house!” Spike gave it a bump.

Apple Bloom laughed. “Well, I’ll say this much: that fort is huge. I hear a thousand ponies are gonna be stationed there! And they’ll need to buy stuff. And that means jobs, which means houses, so I’m still lookin’ at makin’ a mint. Applejack, too. Oh, you should swing by the farm! AJ’s all runnin’ around trying to get things back ta the way she likes it.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s on the list. Spike?”

He held up a fairly decent-sized scroll and unfurled it. “Item number eighteen, in fact. Should I move it up?”

“Nah. We’ve got all day and most of the stuff on there is ea— Won’t take long. We just—”

SLAM!

Twilight and her guests all swung their heads to the sound of the door flying open and a green unicorn scrambling into the restaurant.

“Bon Bon!” Lyra yelled as she ran behind the counter, tears streaming down her face. “Bon Bon! BonBonBonBonBonBonBonBonBonBonBonBon—”

Bon Bon shoved a hoof in her mouth. “Celestia, Lyra! What!?”

Lyra pulled the hoof out. “Muh— Muh— My—” Her eyes locked on to Twilight and went wide with shock, and she ducked down behind the counter. A whisper of “Twilight Sparkle…” could be just barely heard.

Twilight smiled and took another bite of her sandwich, finishing the first half of it off. There’s another one of Ponyville’s… unique individuals.

“Damnit, Lyra! Spit that out! Argh, no, don’t put it back with the others! Just, go ahead and eat it! I can’t sell it now… and just what in Tartarus is wrong this time?”

Twilight purposefully refused to ponder what Lyra had tried to eat.

“My…” The poor thing was on the verge of sobbing. “My lyre was stolen!”

Twilight coughed, sending coffee right up her nose. “Ack!”

Bon Bon sighed. “Calm down, Lyra. You probably just misplaced it again. Where did you see it last?”

“I… I… Bon Bon! Bonbonbonbonbon—”

Bon Bon shook her. “Think, Lyra! Where was it?”

“Right next to me!” She sniffed. “I was playing it, and I set it down to drink some water, and then it was gone!”

“Hmmm…” Twilight quickly started eating the rest of her sandwich.

“Yeah, Twi’s going to jump in and help.” Spike started scarfing down his meal, too.

Twilight swallowed the rest of her meal and chugged her coffee. “What use am I as a Grand Mage if I can’t help a friend find her lyre? Time to hunt down a rogue musical instrument! At least that’s not something liable to kill us.”

“On it!” Spike said with his mouth full, finishing the last of his meal.

Rainbow, meanwhile, started slurping up the rest of her smoothie before going rigid and tipping over under the table. “Brain… freeze…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, drag her out there, would you?”

The dragon bent down and forced her up, keeping her balanced while the effects wore off.

“Hey, Lyra?” Twilight poked her head over the counter. “Where did it go missing? I’d like to help find it if you’ll let me.”

“And don’t forget me!” Apple Bloom waved.

“And us!” Spike chimed in, speaking for the pegasus rolling on the floor under the table.

“So… Cold…”

Lyra’s pupils expanded even as her eyes watered, and she looked over to Bon Bon.

“Shoo!” Bon Bon was practically shoving her out the door. “You’ll never find it here. Go!”

Lyra nodded and sniffled and slunk out the door. Twilight and Apple Bloom followed while Rainbow finished her smoothie in one more giant gulp, sending her back on the ground to be hauled around again by Spike.

The late-morning sun was bright, and the wind was brisk. There was still just a bit of heat from the sun’s direct rays, and it was giving Twilight a nice extra bit of energy, at least emotionally. Finally, she was home.

Lyra quickly led them to the little park in the center of town and to a bench she was known for frequenting while she played. She also scurried underneath the park bench before reaching up with a hoof and pointing at the far side of the seat.

“That’s where you left your lyre?” Twilight eyed the scene and found a water bottle in the center of the bench. “So you took a drink of water, and poof, it was gone?”

Lyra wiped away a tear and nodded.

“Hmmm,” Spike murmured. “That actually sounds like it could be a theft. It’s one thing to misplace it, but you usually stay here most of the day, right, Lyra?”

She nodded again, covering her head with her hooves.

“Let’s not go pointing hooves just yet, Spike.” Twilight started wandering around the bench, looking for the tell-tale shimmer of Lyra’s gold lyre. “Just because it’s gone doesn’t necessarily mean it was stolen.”

“Yeah! I mean, Lyra’s one of the nicest ponies in town!” Apple Bloom said, checking a wastebin. “Who’d do that to her?”

“Brain… freeze…” Rainbow croaked out. “But… so… tasty…”

“When you’re done checking the ground, Rainbow, could you fly up and look around?” Twilight probed the grass with her magic. “We could use your eyes—”

“Argh! Where’d it go?”

Twilight froze in place along with Spike and Apple Bloom.

“That sounds kinda familiar right now.” Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Y’all don’t suppose…”

Twilight turned to look over at the source of the yell, finding Roseluck looking all around her flower stand.

“It was right here! My watering can! Hanging on my stand, where I always keep it!” She kicked the building behind her, cracking a piece of the wood trimming. “What is this town coming to!?”

“Okay…” Twilight folded her forelegs. “Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence… Wait for it…”

“Argh! The list!”

Twilight’s vision shifted immediately to her extra sight. As she slowly turned her head to Spike, her nostril twitched, and her teeth ground. “Spike…” she said through clenched teeth. “You didn’t lose, it, did you?”

Spike ducked behind his backpack, one arm still in it. “Umm, the pack was still closed, I swear, but it’s not here, and—”

Twilight huffed. “Now, it’s personal. Time to hunt down a thief!”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Picked on the wrong Grand Mage, huh?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, finally recovering from the smoothie. “Come on, it’s just a liiiiiiiiiii—”

Twilight’s glare stopped Rainbow’s words in their tracks, dragged them into an alley, and beat them senseless.

“Sorry, sorry! I forgot.” Rainbow chuckled, already sweating. “But how do we track down a thief if nopony has seen them?”

Twilight looked down at the torc around her neck. “Maybe…”

“Please don’t… I don’t want to…”

Twilight’s grin widened. Don’t worry. I can track you. And we still need to have that talk. Unless… you’d rather we do that now?

Silence.

Alright, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want, but we do need to try to do something about this thief. Sit tight, and stay calm. Twilight pulled off her torc and dropped it on the bench with a clang and sat down next to it.

“Um, Twi? What are you doing?” Spike scratched his head. “Isn’t that thing, like, ultra-epically-rare? Won’t Celestia be pissed if you lose it?”

“Oh, I’m not going to lose it, Spike.” Twilight grinned, closing her eyes. Her magic sight was still working, and she could see the leylines and wellsprings of everypony around her. One thing, however, stood apart as being far more powerful than all the rest: her torc. The gem in the center was a power source in and of itself and had the same intensity as her own bright wellspring. “Trust me. Close your eyes, guys.”

Twilight could see them all shrug and assumed they all closed their eyes—although, it was hard to make out in her ‘third eye.’ There she sat, waiting. Yet, nothing happened. Did the thief move on? Or is this too obvious? She looked off to the distance. Maybe I should try something else…

“Twilight!”

Rainbow’s yell snapped her out of it. The torc was gone, and it was moving right over the tops of the buildings.

“After that torc!” Twilight yelled, taking off running right at Sugar Cube Corner. Her horn flared and fired a teleportation spell that sent her to the rooftops. The torc was definitely flying, but it was blindingly obvious to see in her sight. There’d be no escape. “Fourth avenue, heading towards Fluttershy’s old cottage! Rainbow!”

A pair of cyan hooves swept her up into the air, carrying her through the sky and right to her target. “Twi, I can’t see the target. Call it!”

“Dead ahead! Flying into the alley!” Twilight thrust a hoof out to point, and Rainbow followed it as she corrected their course. The former Wonderbolt’s wings beat furiously, gaining on their target like a hawk after a pigeon. Whatever had her torc, she couldn’t make out their wellspring next the shining star of the gem. In seconds, they were diving to the ground as it flew just centimeters above the pavement.

“I still can’t see it! Where is it?” Rainbow yelled.

Twilight’s eyes went wide as the gem hopped from one place to another in a mere blink of an eye. What? Oh, nononono! Her hoof shifted up to follow it back into the sky, but Rainbow overshot the torc, going far beyond it. “Go back! Go back! We need to—”

A grey blur shot through the air next to the torc, slamming into whoever was carrying it and knocking them to the ground in a pile of dust.

“There! That impact!” Twilight pointed, and Rainbow did the rest, shooting them over one more building and into an alley, where they found a rather pissed Ditzy Doo sitting on a green pegasus mare in a dark green overcoat.

“Nice work, Ditzy!” Rainbow set Twilight down next to them. “I didn’t even see her there!”

“Neither did I!” Ditzy rubbed her head. “But then she slowed down, and I started to see her again, so I sat on her!”

“Heavy pegasus sitting on you at high speed. Nothing’ll stop a thief quite like that.” Twilight laughed, noticing Ditzy’s dual-wellspring, containing both earth pony and pegasus magic, making her a hybrid known as a ‘heavy pegasus.’ She leaned over, ripping the large bag on the thief’s back off at the strap.

“Hey!”

Twilight ignored the thief’s protest. “Well, what do we have here. My torc. And my checklist. And a lyre! And a muffin. Here you go, Ditzy.”

“Yay!” The gray mare grabbed it and quickly devoured it.

Twilight continued, “And there’s also a watering can. Kind of an eclectic thief, aren’t you?”

“What’s it to you?” She grumbled and huffed, blowing her jet black mane out of her face.

“Well, I’ll make sure these get returned. Especially this.” She took her torc and dropped it back on over her neck, letting it activate and deploy her armor before forcing a hoof on the thief’s shoulder to keep her down. “The question is, why can’t I… Ahhhh, I see.”

Twilight’s sight was pouring over her target, but found very little. She could see her pony form well enough but no wellspring or leylines.

“What is it, Twi?” Rainbow asked, pulling out some irons from a compartment on her armor and slapping them on the thief’s forelegs. A second later, they glowed, sealing off the pegasus’s magic. “See somethin’?”

“You could say that.” The thief tried to get up, but Twilight just pushed her back down on the cobblestone road. “Neat trick, by the way. Your coat and boots, even that wide-brimmed hat, they’re all enchanted to make you hard to see, aren’t they? They work real well, especially at high speed.”

“Good guess,” she all but growled through her orange-yellow scarf. “But I’m guessing you had some kind of tracking spell on the torc. Can’t believe I missed that. Never saw you cast it.”

“You can think about it in jail. This torc’s worth a lot, so I get to charge you with grand larceny.”

Rainbow grinned at Twilight’s charge. “A Wonderbolt got kicked out for that once. Big scandal a few years back. Last I checked, that’s at least four years’ jail time.”

“Longer for something like this, actually. She’ll be lucky to hit parole in ten.” Twilight shooed Ditzy off the pony and lifted the thief to her hooves. “You picked the wrong target this time.”

The thief looked down at her shackled hooves and smiled. “Sorry, these aren’t my color. Got anything in green?”

Twilight smirked. “Actually, I’m thinking black and white stripes are more your thing.”

“They wouldn’t do a thing for my figure.”

There was wind. Twilight blinked. And the thief was gone.

“... How—?”

“Up here!”

The three of them turned to the rooftop, slack-jawed and stunned to find the thief free of her bonds and staring down at them.

“Twilight Sparkle, this is not over! I’m going to pick this town clean!”

A flash of light knocked her out of her magic sight and onto her haunches, and the thief was gone.

“No!” Twilight rocked back to her hooves and snapped her teleportation spell back to the roof. She turned around again and again, her magic sight flickering in and out while she scanned the sky for the pegasus to no avail. “Damn!”

“No luck, huh?” Rainbow flew up next to her. “Well, we can still get her. We just need new bait.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy, Rainbow.” Twilight sighed, turning off her armor. “Despite her boasting, I’m certain she’ll be more careful now. Probably avoid us and lay low for a while. And if I’m right about how she got around the seal, she’ll be just that much harder to capture.”

“So what do we do? Or rather…” Spike rubbed his chin, looking away in thought. “What do you need us to do?”

Twilight gave it a moment of thought and looked up to the sky. “Spike, go to the police office and let them know what’s going on. See if they need anything. Rainbow, start searching for her from the sky. Let me know if you find anything, and I’ll jump on it. Even if you don’t, I’ve got an idea on how to catch her, but it’s not something I can do just yet. I need to wait a while before I’ll be able to pull it off.”

“What are you going to do in the mean time?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight gave her a wink. “What else? Cross some things off my list.”

Author's Note

Haven’t done enough writing to post this under my new rules, but, as you can see from the box at the top, I needed to post something. It’s not been a good week, and posting chapters helps me emotionally, so… yeah.

As a reminder, everything after the S2 finale of the show is considered non-canon for the show, including the latest episode which sets characters for some of the background ponies I used here in this chapter. The same goes for the gryphons. I have my own head canon for them. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this look at my head canon for the characters! Also, the return of Apple Bloom and the reveal of my cutie mark for her! :D

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Come to Twilight

“So they got away, huh?” Apple Bloom asked, following the group down the road towards the library.

“Yeah. I got everypony’s things back, but…” Twilight sighed. “I think her clothes were enchanted, and I didn’t predict what they could do. She slipped free of the irons, which, now that I think about it, is kind of impressive. If I had a lead, I’d go after her.” She shrugged in annoyance. “Well, I do have other things to do while I’m here. Like visit my parents.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “I heard they moved into the library fer some reason. What’s that about?”

“My mom…” Twilight swallowed and cringed, trying to find the right words. “She said something pretty awful and right in front of Celestia. I had to banish her from the city to prevent the Princess from doing something worse. I love her, but, sometimes I really don’t think she understands her own actions. I thought that spending time here would help to change her attitude a little. See other ponies in a new light.”

Apple Bloom’s ears went flat against her head. “Yer mother’s a unicorn, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” Twilight’s ear twitched at the subtext. “I don’t think it’s hate. At least, not entirely. It’s probably more frustration coupled with a sense of entitlement. And a little booze. That was the first time I’d heard her say what she said, so there’s still hope for her. I just need to open her eyes.”

She couldn’t help but swallow as she saw her old tree home. Her mother would be there. “When I first arrived here, I hated it. But it wasn’t because of anypony’s tribe. It was because I was frustrated over nopony listening to me about Nightmare Moon. I think my mother was frustrated over ‘losing’ me to the town rather than any real tribal issues.”

“So ya sent her here to try an’ change her mind about us?” Apple Bloom asked. Overhead, Rainbow zoomed about in search of the thief while Spike ran around, searching from the ground.

“Yeah. I don’t know how well it’s going to work. But, at the very least, it should erase any thought that it’s something to do with ponies of other tribes—even if she doesn’t find Ponyville as nice as I do. Would you do me a favor, Apple Bloom? I already asked this of AJ and Fluttershy. Don’t hold it against her, and try to be welcoming. We can’t fix this with isolation and glares.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “As long as she doesn’t cast a spell on me or anything, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

“Oh, she doesn’t know that many spells, so I wouldn’t worry about that. She’s not like me.” Twilight sat down outside the tree and sighed. “I am not looking forward to seeing her. Not in the least.”

Apple Bloom put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Worried about how it’s going?”

“All the ponies in this town are crazy!”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at Velvet's outburst from inside the tree. “Actually, there might be more hope for her than I thought!”

Apple Bloom took a step back. “Um, I’d say that doesn’t exactly sound encouraging.”

“Yeah, but the first night I was here, I said the exact same thing. You’re heading to the farm, right?”

Apple Bloom nodded and put on her hat. “‘Round about that area. Got some houses going up nearby. See ya there later?”

Twilight put a hoof up to the door, ready for the worst. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” Apple Bloom trotted off, and Twilight waiting for her to be out of sight before leaning on the door.

“Well, time to do this.” She pushed the door in, swinging it open and bracing for the worst. She didn’t see her mother, at least, not at first. Instead, a sniffling, crying pink mare slowly slunk her way out of the library while a white unicorn huffed in anger.

“Pinkie Pie?”

“Hi, Twilight…” She sniffed. “I… I have to go cry in a corner… See ya…”

She ran off before Twilight could say anything but not before her vision turned red.

“Mother!”

“Tw-Twilight?” Her mother went from anger to shock, one hoof raised meekly in the air while Twilight stomped up to her.

“You. Made. My. Friend. Cry!” Twilight raged right in her face. “How could you? Pinkie Pie took time out from her schedule in Manehattan to come all the way here to make you feel welcome, and you… you… I don’t know what you did, exactly, but it couldn’t possibly have been good if she ran off crying!”

“But—”

Twilight silenced her mother by placing a hoof over her mouth. “Before you respond, think, truly think about your words. For two minutes. In silence. Say anything before that, and I’ll fine you on top of your banishment.” She sat down hard on the floor, staring at the clock so she wouldn’t have to look at her mother’s face.

The little trick of her mentor’s to make a student wait before responding was more than just something for her mother, though. She needed time to think and calm down before she made her mother run out crying just like Pinkie. To her mother’s credit, she lasted one minute and fifty-six seconds.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight.” Her mother placed a hoof on her shoulder, and Twilight fought the instinct to bat it away. “Truly, I am. She was just so… infuriating! She wouldn’t stop trying to throw a party for me!”

Twilight ground her teeth and took a deep breath. Don’t explode on her, don’t explode on her… Remember how irritated you were back when you first got here. “Some ponies would be happy at that, Mother. While I understand your viewpoint—” she said the last few words through clenched teeth “—I also don’t think you reacted appropriately. I pray you didn’t use a slur; I will have to report that to Celestia if you did.”

“No! Heavens, no, Twilight. I can’t believe I used it myself back in the castle. Never again shall such hateful things pass through my lips, I promise you.” Velvet held up her hooves, but Twilight kept up her glare.

“Good. You need to wait for her to come back, and trust me, she will come back, and then apologize. Also, accept the party. It’ll be a bit rowdy, but nothing completely out of hoof, and you’ll get to know a lot of the ponies in town. Back before she left for Manehatten, she basically threw a party for every single pony that moved here.”

Velvet put her ears back and traced a little circle on the floor with her hoof.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I know that look a little too well, Mom. You’re disappointed with something.”

She looked up at her with doe eyes. “I… I guess you didn’t come to say all is forgiven and I can move back…”

Twilight groaned. “No, Mother. You’re in this for the long haul. Period. End of sentence.”

Velvet slumped down to the floor. “It’s just as well. I was right, you know. I’m already a laughingstock back home. Only a couple of my friends will even return my letters.”

“Well…” Twilight hesitated and sighed. She doesn’t deserve that, and it’s not her fault, but… “One of the Council ponies gave me a warning when I officially completed the ceremony to become Grand Mage. He was speaking of the Council specifically, but with your example, I believe it applies to the nobility in general. He said, ‘Your future actions will earn you no loyalty from those you benefit, only courtesy.’ And loyalty is very important to friendship. That’s why there’s an Element of Harmony for it. There’s a big difference between playing the room and building true friendship.”

Twilight lay down next to her mother, putting a foreleg over her back. “Mom, I know you’re hurt, but there are good ponies here. Ones that will be happy to be true friends. The circles you were trying to break into? I hate to say it, but we were never that rich. Dad’s an excellent doctor, yes, but being a doctor is a far cry from an industry mogul. Even Shiny and Cadence can’t really say they’re individually wealthy. They just have a place to stay in the castle and an expense account. It’s specifically set up that way so they can’t just shower their friends and family with bits.

“Here, though? It’s not about bits. It’s about being a good pony. Even introverts like me find friends here. Lots of them. It’s really not so bad.”

Velvet sighed again, deflating even more. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll… give it a try. And apologize to that pink blur.”

Twilight smiled. “She’s also known as ‘the living sugar rush’ and ‘animated frosting.’ You’ll get used to her as long as you don’t question how she ‘works,’ so to speak. Speaking of work, how’s Dad taking this? Shiny didn’t have much time to tell me about it.”

Velvet put her hooves on her head like she was ducking for cover. “That’s probably the worst part of all this. He’s loving it!”

Twilight jerked her head up. “Really? That sounds like good news…”

“He thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Maybe it’s because the air is thicker here, but he’s running around singing the town’s praises. Half of his clients are even willing to travel all the way out here just to keep seeing him. He’s like a tourist that never wants to leave!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

The door burst open and a happy, trotting Lucid Dream all but danced into the room.

He was wearing an “I Love Ponyville” t-shirt.

“Okay, maybe it is that bad.” Twilight chuckled. “Hi, Papa. Mom’s telling me you’re liking the move?”

Lucid smiled and laughed. “Oh, my Night Light, It’s wonderful! I’ve been trying to convince your mother to move out of Canterlot for years now! Zis is the perfect excuse, ya? Can’t ignore a royal order!”

“Somepony shoot me…” Velvet grumbled.

“Oh, really?” Twilight grinned like a cat at her mother, who cringed. “I hadn’t heard that, but I’m glad it worked out.”

“Even better! A charming young mare just invited us to a welcome party tomorrow night! Heh! In Canterlot, ze only time zay throw a party for you is ven you make your first billion bits!”

Velvet groaned. “Let me guess. You accepted…”

Lucid tilted his head. “Of course! Vould be terribly rude to say no, ya?”

Twilight smirked. “Ya, it would! Don’t worry about bringing anything; Pinkie Pie will take care of it.”

“Pinkie—” Lucid blinked. “But, how did you know zat…”

“Papa, of course it’s Pinkie Pie. But, if you must know, not only did I see her leaving the house, I also asked her to come here to help you guys feel more at home. AJ, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all agreed to help as well. For Pinkie, that means taking time off from her schedule in Manehatten. I asked Rarity too, but she’s always crazy busy, so she had to decline.

“And Mother? I expect you to treat them all with the utmost of respect. Clear?”

“Of course, Twilight. As I said, I regret my words earlier.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Twilight looked to her father and asked, “Papa, may I talk to Mom in private?”

“Of course, I have some more setting up to do anyvay. I vill be upstairs if you need me.” Lucid trotted up the stairs, nearly tripping at the top.

Velvet fidgeted with her pearls. “I wasn’t looking forward to this.”

“Yeah, well, it has to happen, Mother. Come on. We’ll use the kitchen.” Twilight led the way, moving to the other room and sitting down at the table with her mother close behind.

“So…” Velvet swallowed. “I suppose you have something you want to ask me?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” Twilight rested her forelegs on the table. “Mother, what were you thinking yelling at the Princess like that?”

“I…” Velvet’s ears went flat against her head. “I admit, I had a little too much to drink that night, but it’s no excuse. I just… I wanted my daughter back.”

“I never left, Mother,” Twilight retorted, anger seeping into her voice. “Not in that sense, anyway. One could make an argument that you were the one that left me!”

Velvet’s eyes widened with shock. “What? Me? Twilight, I would never! I’m your mother!”

Twilight opened her mouth to yell, but stopped short, locking her lungs down to stop the scream. Use the Voice in here and you’ll break every single window above the basement. She took in a deep breath, restraining her anger through clenched teeth. “Let’s back up a step. What, exactly, do you mean by ‘you want your daughter back?’”

“I…” Velvet looked away at the sink. “I want to know that I still have a daughter that loves me.”

Twilight’s stomach lurched like she’d been punched. “Mom… Listen to me. I do love you, but dammit… You seem to always know exactly what to do or say to tick me off! Or push me away, or make me feel like I’m just some… some kind of furniture you show off to your friends!”

Velvet nearly fell out of her chair. “Twilight, I never meant—I mean, I never intended for you to feel like that. I thought you were happy reading your books!”

“I was! I just… Argh…” Twilight covered her face in her hooves. How to word this…? “You know what my favorite memory of us is? My first memory?”

Velvet froze for a minute, leaving the room in an awkward silence before shaking her head.

“It was when I was about four.” Twilight took in a deep breath and let it out along with her memory. “Shining read me a bedtime story since you were getting ready to go out. He showed me the book, and instead of simply following his hoof, I went ahead and started reading bits of it without his help. I can remember him getting all confused and excited because I could read so young. He asked if I wanted to show Mommy. Obviously, I said yes. I was excited that he was excited, and I wanted to share that with you as well.

“After that, I could hear you two arguing with each other in the living room. He yelled at you for ignoring me all the time and said that I was gifted and it was special, and that you should be there to guide me since he was going to leave to go back to the military academy. Then you grounded him for yelling at you, and he said he didn’t care. He said that if you were any kind of mother, you’d be dropping everything to go read with me yourself.”

Velvet was the one to lurch backward like she’d been kicked this time.

Twilight continued. “I went to bed that night scared, alone, and confused. I thought I did something wrong. But the next day… The next day, Mom, you took me to the Canterlot Library and told me I could read any books I wanted all day long. You stayed with me the entire time, reading with me, helping me with words I didn’t know. And... And you looked so proud. Not proud to show me off, just proud of me. There are very, very few times in my life when I’ve been that happy.”

Velvet was already slumped over to lean on the table, but this had her burying her head in her forelegs as she sobbed. “I was wrong. I was so wrong…”

“Mom…” Twilight lowered her ears, looking off at the wall for a moment or two as the sound of her crying mother battered her psyche. Damnit, Mom, you pull the guilt trip so often I don’t know what’s real anymore…

“I… I didn’t go to those parties just to ‘network,’ Twilight.” She lifted her head just enough for Twilight to see the deep red eyes. Velvet’s lungs heaving punctuated the sobs.

Mom…

“I went… I went there to defend you. You wouldn’t believe the things that they said. The rumors that they spread. I had to protect your reputation! Shining's, too! Stars, Twilight. I had to report some of them to the Guard for what they said should happen to you!”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide. “Wait… Report to the Guard? Were they threats?”

Velvet nodded her head. “Half-hearted ones, maybe. Like, 'Somepony should...' I can't even finish it. I was so scared for you… I didn’t want you to know. You were a foal! You deserved your foalhood. Even after that, I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t just try to get you dates or jobs. I did it to keep you safe! And keep doors open for you if Celestia ever let you go!”

“You became important to me. That’s all the justification these… despicable beings need. We have ten ponies in the war room alone working in shifts around the clock just on you to analyze and thwart their plans before they ever get close.”

The memory echoed in her mind like it had been shouted with the Royal Canterlot Voice. “So you went there to fight for me.” Twilight swallowed, her dry throat feeling scratchy.

Velvet put her head back down. “I should’ve listened to Celestia. Damnit, Princess, why didn’t you tell me about all this?!”

“About… You mean my ascension.” Twilight sighed, leaning back in her chair. She didn’t tell you because you’re a huge gossip, Mom. But I get your point.

Velvet lit her horn, floating over some tissues in a flickering telekinetic field. “I suppose she did, in her way. She told me not to worry about the nobles. I thought she was being too lax with your safety. With your future. I didn’t realize how much of this she had planned out. I bet she knew. About everything. The threats, the rumors. She didn’t worry about your future, because she knew you’d outlive them all by centuries.”

“Millenia, more like.” Twilight closed her eyes, steadying her breathing. I need to tell her… “Mom, Celestia didn’t take my safety lightly. I found out a few months ago. There’s an entire team in RGIS that works on keeping me safe around the clock. Even before the fort went in, there were dozens and dozens of undercover Royal Guard here in Ponyville. A lot of them are probably still here.”

Velvet groaned and sobbed, burying her head again.

Damn. Was that the right thing to do?

“Go to her. Give her a hug.”

Twilight stood up from the chair and wrapped her forelegs around her mother, who returned it with a few more sobs. “It’ll be okay, Mom.” She shifted in her spot, feeling the cold metal of the torc pressing against her chest.

“I’ve lost you… I’ve… I’ve lost my baby!”

“No, Mom. I’m here. I’m right here.” She patted her back, letting out a few tears of her own. “I’m right here.”

“No. I’ve… I’m never going to be able to… I should’ve spent that time raising you! Not… Not thi-i-i-is…”

“No, I mean, yes, you should have. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I’m still here.”

“I’m… I’m a—”

“Mother!” Twilight pulled out of the hug and grabbed her mother by the shoulders, looking her in her eyes. “Mom, it’s true we didn’t exactly have an… ideal relationship in the past. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make things better in the future, okay?”

Velvet took in a breath as if to respond, but just nodded and wiped her eyes.

“Okay. This… This is good. Good that we had this talk. But Mom?” Twilight lifted her mother’s chin up with a gentle hoof to see her eyes again. “Mom, I need you to promise me something. No more looking down on ponies, and no more trying to get into the nobility. If they were that mean to me behind my back, I don’t even want to think about what they’d do to you if you tried.”

“I… I don’t want… I mean…”

“Mom, listen to me.” Twilight followed her mom’s gaze off to the door and moved her head to get back in her front and center. “You don’t need to fight this battle anymore. It’s over. You’ve won. You might not be nobility yourself, but your foals made it. I’m Grand Mage; your son is Prince of the Lost and untouchable under Princess Luna’s protection. Any foals he has are guaranteed their own titles, too. If any of those jerks so much as say one bad word in your direction, in ten years’ time or less, all you’ll have to do is say to them, ‘My daughter is an alicorn. Go kiss a lit stove.’”

“Snrk…” Velvet lurched forward and covered her mouth with a hoof.

A little smile grew on Twilight’s face, and she pulled out a tissue from the nearby box to give to her mother. “I think I got you a little there, didn’t it?”

Velvet nodded, blowing her nose. “Oh, ugh. I… You’re right Twilight. I’m just… I’m so sorry I did this to you.”

“It’ll be okay, Mom. We just have to work at it, okay? Come here.” She pulled her into another hug, moving her shoulders forward to support the weight. “It’ll all be okay. You’ll see.”

Velvet sighed and deflated a little, slumping onto her daughter. “I know. Thank you, Twilight.”

Twilight turned and pulled out the chairs for them. “Here, let’s sit and talk for a bit. Just talk, no more drama stuff. And I’m sure there should still be some tea or coffee or something left here.”

“Okay. That… that sounds like it would be… a nice change of pace…”

“So, wait, you’re telling me she can always tell when something’s going to fall on her? How does that even—?”

Twilight cut Velvet off with a wave. “I told you, don’t think about it. You’ll just wind up getting chased by a hydra and going nuts with rage. That’s a lesson of experience.”

Velvet froze still for a moment and then rubbed the bridge of her nose with a hoof. “I’m not even going to ask about the hydra. Something a mother shouldn’t know, I think.”

“Then I guess I shouldn’t mention the dra—”

“No. No, you shouldn’t. Honestly, Twilight, I know you’re in a dangerous new job. I understand that. But, as your mother, I really don’t want to know about any of the dangerous specifics, okay? Especially after knowing about everything else you’ve already been through…”

“Alright, alright.” Twilight held up her hooves in defeat and took a sip of her coffee. “Speaking of, I should really get back to work.” She stood up and stretched out, starting for the door.

“So soon? But you just got here!”

“Yeah, but I still have a lot to do. And now that I’m thinking about it… Papa, could you come in here please?” Twilight called out to the other room, the trio making their way into the living room.

“Is zere something wrong, my Night Light?” Lucid asked, raising an eyebrow. “You never use zat voice unless zere’s something wrong.”

“Actually, there kinda is. There’s a thief going around town at the moment. A highly skilled thief. So be careful when you’re in town, and keep the doors and windows locked outside of library hours.”

Velvet’s ears perked up. “A thief? Here? I thought this town was safe.”

“It generally is. For some reason, though, this thief has decided to target Ponyville. I nearly caught her, but she’s got more tricks up her coat sleeves than I thought. She broke right out of the shackles. Like I said, be careful.”

“Coat? In this weather?” Velvet sat up and tapped her chin. “Is it? It couldn’t be…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Do you know who it is?”

“Maybe. My tabloids—”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Not those again.”

“Ahem!” Velvet stomped a hoof. “My specialist newspapers sometimes talk about a thief called ‘Phantasm.’ A pegasus mare that’s eluded police for over a decade. Dark mane, wears a big hat?”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “That… That might be her!”

Velvet smirked. “Oh, will wonders never cease? My little girl finding my kind of reading useful?”

“Maybe.” Twilight huffed. “It gave me a name. That’s all I need to start.” She charged her horn, lighting up the room with a purple flare before firing it up through the roof and into the sky.

Lucid stepped forward and under where the flare went up, staring at the ceiling. “Intangible spell? So it vill go through ze roof? But vat was it for?”

Twilight stared at the clock. “Give it another twenty seconds.”

Some time passed, with only the sound of the clock ticking to intrude on the waiting ponies.

The door swung open.

“You needed me, Twi?” Spike asked.

Twilight smiled. “Nineteen seconds. Not bad. Yes, I need you to send a note to the Princess. I need her to have RGIS forward all information on a thief known as ‘Phantasm’ via your dragon mail. I think that’s the assumed name of the mare we ran into earlier, and I’d like to confirm it.”

“Ah! A lead! On it!” Spike dropped his backpack and pulled out a pen and paper, quickly scribbling away a note before torching it out the door.

Twilight started again for the door. “I think that’s going to take a bit to get back to us since she’s in Court right now if I remember correctly. We might as well get going to Sweet Apple Acres. Ready, Spike?”

“Do you still want me to keep looking for the thief?” Spike asked, picking up his bag.

“Not until I have more information on her. Oh, Mom?” She stopped and looked back with a smile. “Thank you.”

It was the first time in years she’d seen her mother genuinely, warmly smile at her in return.

“Howdy Twi— No, not that one! The east field! The east!” Applejack bellowed out to the field, practically jumping up and down with frustration. “No, that’s the west, ya varmit! Get over there! Ugh!”

Twilight and Spike chuckled, walking up to Applejack next to the cider stand.

“I take it the help isn’t quite as ‘expert’ as Celestia thought?” Twilight smiled. “If they’re substandard, I can pass that along to the Princess if you like.”

Applejack covered her face with her hat and sighed before putting it right back on. “No. Honestly, they’re better’n most that we get. We’re headin’ face-first inta cider season, and fer once we’re ready fer it. Sorta.”

“Is that why the stand is up already?” Spike asked.

Applejack chuckled. “Actually, that’s mah brother’s bright idea. We’re gonna sell cider ‘pre-orders.’ He read about it in some high-falutin’ business magazine er somethin’.”

“Pre-orders? Like, taking names and deposits?” Spike tilted his head. “You can do that with cider?”

“Well, it’s like this here. See, there’s always this huge line fer the cider, right? Well, if ya pay early, we take down yer name. And you don’t have to wait in the line, jus’ hang out nearby an’ wait for yer name ta be called. Ya don’t have ta camp out none or worry if ya just wanna run an’ stretch yer legs!”

Twilight laughed a bit under her breath. “And, you get the money right away, which you can earn a bit of interest on even if they cancel.”

Applejack tapped her nose. “My brother’s a smart cookie, ain’t he? We’re takin’ pre-orders startin’ tomorrow fer all our cider. Fresh, bottled, and hard. Fresh has the best flavor, but we ain’t gonna turn down business, ya know?”

Twilight pulled out some bits from her back. “Care to allow the Crown first access?”

Applejack hollered in laughter. “Well, now, don’t that beat all! Twilight using her powers fer evil? Rarity’d pull out a faintin’ couch!”

Twilight dangled the bits in front of her. “I’ll pre-order six cases of bottled and two of hard if you make the exception. Just have them sent to the castle, care of Twilight Sparkle.”

The farm pony started to get sweaty. “I don’t know… Doesn’t seem right.”

“Integrity. That’s you, AJ, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, how about this. I’ll give you the money now and tell my parents to swing by and place the order formally later on. They’ll just put the names down since you’ll already have the money. That way I’m not jumping in line, but I can get my name down even if I’m not here personally for it.”

Applejack tapped her chin and looked at the sky for a moment before nodding and taking the bits. “That’ll work. Much obliged, Twi!”

“You’re welcome! Spike? Add that to the checklist, would you?”

“Already done!” He finished a line on the parchment just after Twilight turned her head to talk to him.

“While we’re on the topic of my parents, if you have time, try to drag my mother out of the tree every now and then. She’s… going to have at least as much trouble as I did fitting in. Probably more. My father, well, he should be more outgoing, but I’m afraid he’s every bit as quirky as everypony else here.”

“We ain’t got a shortage of quirky here, Twi. He’ll be just fine. And don’t worry none ‘bout yer ma. I made my promise back at the castle. I won’t hold her words against her. She just needs ta really learn what Ponyville is all about.”

Spike laughed. “Crazy ponies and frequent improbable incidents which nearly destroy the whole town?”

“Half the time caused by Twi herself?” Applejack smirked.

Twilight facehooved. “Yeah, well, now my mother gets to take that title from me and accidently nearly destroy the town. Have fun with that. You—” Twilight’s jaw dropped.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Y’all okay, Twi? Ya look like yer seein’ a ghost.”

“Yeah, what’s the—” Spike’s jaw dropped too.

Applejack scratched her forehead. “What’re ya lookin at—” Now it was Applejack’s turn as she desperately felt her head and neck then looked all around her on the ground. “My… My hat! It’s gone!”

Twilight pulled on her magic and went back into her magic sight, looking all around her. A leyline roared near the town and into the Everfree, and ambient magic from the farm bathed the land in a warm green glow. Yet, there was no sign of a hat or anypony with it.

“Oh, now you’ve done it!” Twilight screamed to the sky. “I don’t know who you think you are, but nopony messes with my friends! Come on, Spike, we have a thief to catch!”

“Thief? Somepony went and took my daddy’s hat? Off my head?” Applejack pulled off her hair tie. “Who? They got too many teeth in their head, and I need to make that number a bit smaller!”

Spike, it seemed, was too busy holding his gut in pain to follow. “Uuuugh… Stomach… Hurts… Uuurp!” A blast of green fire shot into the air like a miniature volcano, and a large stack of papers dropped almost all the way to the ground before getting snared in Twilight’s magical grasp.

“Finally! Don’t worry, AJ, this thief’s number is up. Let’s see who we’re dealing with.” Twilight flipped through the pages, absorbing their contents as fast as she could.

“Twi,” Applejack said through clenched teeth. “Who took my hat? Who was it?”

“A thief we think is named ‘Phantasm.’” Spike coughed and heaved a bit, still doubled over. “Ugh. She already got away once. Don’t worry. We’re gonna nail her. Twi’s on it. Just… Ugh, lemme… catch my breath...”

“Well, we’re in luck.” Twilight tucked the files in her saddlebags. “Based on the description in this file, I do think we’re dealing with Phantasm. Odd that her colors change, but I bet that’s camouflage. Apparently she doesn’t normally stay in one town very long. One, two heists tops, and always targets high-value, irreplaceable items.”

Spike took in a deep breath and let it out before standing the rest of the way up. “Then what’s she doing stealing random junk in Ponyville?”

Applejack grabbed Spike with a foreleg around his neck and squeezed. “You take that back! My daddy’s hat is priceless!”

“AJ, let him go. He didn’t mean it like that. He’s just saying it’s not something she’d go after. Your father’s hat might be valuable to you, but I mean things like artwork masterpieces, so this is definitely outside of her M.O.”

Applejack stopped enough to blink and let Spike wriggle free. “M.O.?”

Twilight smiled. “Modus Operandi, or method of operation. In other words, what she normally does. How she usually works. Ponyville must be a special case for her for some reason.”

“Yeah, but why?” Spike rubbed his neck. “And if we can’t use her past actions against her, how are we going to find her?”

“Hmm… Give me a moment.” Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought. Time to think about this. Just like Celestia taught you.

Phantasm targeted this town for some reason, but she isn’t stealing like her M.O. would normally suggest. She’s taken my checklist, a watering can, a lyre, my torc, and AJ’s hat. What stands out here?

My torc, obviously. AJ’s hat has sentimental value, true, but that doesn’t earn any bits in the black market and has no value to anypony but her. My torc, though, is worth more than the whole town. But nopony but me can use it! I’m missing something here.

Let’s rethink this. Save the torc, she’s gone after sentimental items so far. Not only that, but she’s targeted my friends. Lyra, Spike, AJ, Roseluck, all ponies I know and all items of value to those ponies specifically. It’s certainly enough to make it personal. She even said, specifically to me, that she’s going to ‘pick this town clean.’ Why? What’s so special about this town, especially with Canterlot so close by?

I’m here. The Grand Mage of Equestria. Is it a political angle? To make me look bad? I doubt it. Her file suggests no allegiance to anypony other than herself. There’s no reason to go to the trouble unless she owes somepony or wants something. So what does she gain by going after me?

Twilight’s eyes shot open, and snapped back to the town. “I think I have an idea, guys. Don’t worry, AJ. I’ll get your hat back. Come on, Spike. We have a thief to track.”

Author's Note

Hi all. Sorry it took so long. I had to make sure I wrote enough words to replace the previous chapter. I somehow pulled it off.

I won't be able to write for a little while, though, as it's just too hot here. I don't have air conditioning. Also, in a bit I'll be traveling again, this time to visit in law's and then to go to my grandfather's memorial.

There is some possible good news, however. An MRI of my right wrist and hand showed no tendon, ligament, or nerve damage anywhere in my wrist or hand. What it did show was a fluid buildup called an effusion in the radioscaphoid joint and the trapeziometacarpal joint, both of which are in the wrist. From what I've read, it may be possible that these effusions can cause pain not only in their respective joints, but elsewhere in the hand and arm, too. I can't be sure, though, as I have no source that outright says that, but reading between the lines, this may be the cause of my pain. Maybe. I don't want to get my hopes up. The only thing I know for sure is that these effusions aren't helping anything, and it's past time for some imaging on the other wrist.

I'll know more after another doc visit on Tuesday. I'll post a blog about it.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for sticking with me. Next chapter: "It All Falls Down"

-Cv

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It All Falls Down

“So, Twi, are you going to share the plan yet?” Spike asked as they made it back to the town center. “‘Cause your number one assistant is kinda, you know, curious. You haven’t said a word since the orchard.”

“I don’t know yet for sure, Spike, but I think I can answer why her M.O. has changed. For now, I need to find out where she’s operating. I just hope there’s enough data—” She stopped in her tracks as they approached the town hall. “Actually, I think that may not be a problem.”

“Yeeg!” Spike cringed in surprise at the line of ponies snaking out the town hall doors.

It was as if Applejack was setting up her cider pre-orders in the police station, but the ponies in line looked anything but happy. Most were either sad or seriously distressed.

Twilight snorted. “Looks like she’s making good on her threat. Hopefully, this will be her undoing. Come on, Spike, time to see the mayor.”

They made their way through the line and into the office, seeing that the ponies were indeed lining up to go into the small police station inside the town hall. Twilight had to contort her body a bit to get inside, and up front, the entire Ponyville Police force was busy taking reports.

“Twilight! Oh, thank Celestia, it’s you!” Mayor Mare made her way up to Twilight, her mane looking a little more legitimately grey these days, and the bags under her eyes were a bit more quick to form. “It’s a crime wave! Can you help us organize report-taking? We need all the help we can get! It just won’t stop!”

“Oh, it’ll stop alright. Spike? Go get Rainbow. Then you two start taking reports along with the officers. Make sure you record exactly where they happened, along with any sightings.”

“You got it!” Spike saluted and ran back out the door.

Twilight headed to the old meeting room where she used to plan Winter Wrap-Up. “Mayor? I’m going to need a map of Ponyville, two hundred push pins, a cup of Bon Bon’s coffee, and an extra-powerful set of null-all shackles. I know who’s behind the thefts. All I need now is to figure out where she’s hiding.”

“Right away, Twilight. Er, Your Highness is it, now? Should I be bowing? I—”

Twilight held up a hoof. “‘Lady Sparkle’ will do if you must, but Twilight still works. And no bowing. That’s for the Royal Guard. Also—” she stepped up a put a hoof on Mayor Mare’s shoulder and forced a smile despite how angry she was right now “—don’t worry. I’ll put a stop to this.”

“And that’s report one-seventy through one-eighty-seven.” Spike plopped his papers on the table and rubbed his hand. “How many more of these do we have to take, Twilight? My hand’s getting cramped.”

Twilight sipped from her coffee and picked up one of the reports. “I’m about done. The data’s coming together. Just a few more pins and I’ll have ninety-five percent clarity. She’s as good as caught—she just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Hey, Twilight?” Apple Bloom poked her head into the room. “Are ya in here?”

“Come on in, Apple Bloo—” Twilight stopped when she realized the implication of her friend being here. “Don’t tell me. She got you too.”

She stepped the rest of the way in and sighed. “Plucked my tool belt right off me, an’ I didn’t even notice. That was my cute-ceañera present from Applejack and Big Macintosh. It ain’t much, but it’s special!”

Twilight’s lip curled. “They all are. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s figured out what’s special to hundreds of ponies here and is making off with their most prized possessions like it’s nothing. But, I think I’ve got her nailed.” Twilight lifted a few more reports with her magic and put pins in her map where the thefts happened. “Take a look at this.”

Apple Bloom and Spike walked up to her and the map.

“Yer mappin’ the thefts? Tryin’ ta figure out where she’s workin’ out of?”

Twilight nodded. “Take a close look. What do you see?”

Spike snapped his fingers. “I get you. The majority of the thefts are in the town square, so she must be hiding somewhere there!”

Twilight shook her head. “Points for trying, Spike, but that’s not it. Take another look. What else do you see?”

Apple Bloom lifted up her hard hat and scratched her head. “There’s two big circles of pins. One here in the square, and another in the northeast end of town. If she’s not operating in the square, she’s up there in the corner?”

“That’s what I think, Apple Bloom.” Twilight took another sip of coffee, finishing off the cup. “A thief will operate where they are most familiar with. Normally, this means where they live and where they work, if they have a day job. Most of the time, this wouldn’t work against the Phantasm, because she changes towns after one or two big heists. But now, she’s attacking Ponyville, and hard. We’ve never had this much data on her.”

Spike yawned. “But look at the map! There’s nothing there! The center of that other circle is open field!”

“No, it’s not.” Apple Bloom tapped at the map. “This is probably just old. That’s where they just built the Ponyville Orphanage. It’s supposed to house all the orphans from the towns around Canterlot. There's already a couple dozen that’s moved in.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! They’d barely broken ground when I left.”

“And it’s already done? Sure went up fast.” Spike folded his arms. “So, what’s the connection? I mean, why the orphanage?”

“We don’t have any evidence to speculate on it, yet.” Twilight rolled her neck, popping some joints. “It might be that they just have a convenient storage spot for her. Spike, go get Rainbow then round up the police officers. We have a raid to conduct.”

The sun was starting to set, but Twilight couldn’t feel it anymore from the new cloud cover rolling in from the Everfree. It was thick enough to give everything a grey-blue tint, but brought some fresh, crisp air to the town as she gazed at the new orphanage.

“Are all the foals out?” Twilight asked the policepony next to her. “If there’s a showdown, I don’t want to risk them getting hurt.”

He nodded. “All of them are accounted for. They’re at the schoolhouse on the other side of town.”

“Good. Hey, Dash!” she shouted up the the sky. “You see anything up there?”

“Nada!” Rainbow shouted back. “If she’s here, she’s hiding!”

“Drat. Keep watch! We’ll need you to catch her if she makes a break for it!” Twilight turned to her senechal. “Spike! Do you have the plans for the building?”

“Right here!” He saluted and handed a rolled-up schematic over.

Twilight unfurled it in her magic and looked at them. “Apple Bloom, any insight to offer?”

She shook her head. “Nah, sorry, we didn’t get to build this one. We put in a bid, but we got beat, and we don’t normally make something this big, so they said no.”

“Hmm…” Twilight stared at the blueprint, thinking over all the entrances and exits. “If she weren’t a pegasus, this would be a lot easier. As it is, she could fly out a window and become invisible like she did before. Not even Rainbow could catch her like that.”

The policepony spoke up. “All the windows and doors are closed right now. We don’t know if she’s in there, but if she is, she’ll have to open one to get out. Also, we haven’t had any new ponies get in line lately, so she might well be in there.”

Twilight rolled up the blueprint and rested her head on her hoof. “The question is, can we catch her in time if she opens one? If she’s in there. Unless… Unless I can stop her from every angle. Watch the building, guys. I’m going to seal it up.” She levitated the blueprint back to Spike and marched up to the building, hearing it creak in the wind that was kicking up before charging her horn.

Going to need a lot of power for this. It’s even bigger than the tree. She took a deep breath in and let the magic flow, her horn getting brighter and brighter. It feels a bit easier to use this much magic these days. I guess the training helped. Or maybe after raising the moon, this doesn’t seem quite so hard.

Sparks shot out from her horn as some of the magic leaked. Or maybe I need to keep focus. Come on, Twilight. You’ve done this before. Just like Shining taught you. She let loose a small, high-pressure beam of magic into the ground, starting a large magic circle. As it rounded the building, Twilight began walking to keep a clear line of sight. Moments later, there was a basic magic circle around the building.

Now for the hard part. Focus. She pulled at the rest of the magic in her horn, weaving the spell taught to her and giving the circle a slight spin. Each time it moved enough, she added a new set of runes to it, and it sped up. Keep the timing… The circle moved faster and faster, like a locomotive slowly getting started and building up to a barreling speed as new sections were added on top of old ones.

At some point, brother, I’m going to have to practice these with you again. Okay,the last section is in. Time for the final step! She pulled more magic into her horn and cast the easier part of the spell, feeding it directly into the circle, which began to spin on another axis, arcing over the orphanage again and again until it burst and formed a perfect shimmering sphere around the building just like Canterlot’s shield, albeit much smaller.

“Ha!” Spike shouted. “Let’s see her get out of that!”

“Let’s not get cocky yet, Spike.” Twilight waved a hoof to disperse some of the smoke from her horn. “Right now, we don’t even know if she’s in there, and to be frank, if she can escape shackles, this may only slow her down. I just hope it slows her enough.”

"What do we do if she gets away? Or if she isn't there?" Spike asked.

"Simple. Comb the place for clues and evidence to track her down. Well, okay, it's simple to say, but hard to do. She's probably really good at covering her tracks. I just need to be better, with magic and science!" Twilight smirked to herself. If Pinkie was here, she'd insist on me wearing her Fetlock Holmes hat.

“Um, so how do we get in?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ya kinda locked us out here, Twilight.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not if you know the proper access spell. Everypony, get close to me.”

The group, including the policeponies, all huddled in around her. Next up, access spell. Trickier, but I can take my time on this one, and I don’t need a circle. Here we go… Some more energy went into her horn, and she cast the spell over the next couple of minutes. A crack went through the air, and it enveloped the whole group.

Twilight smirked. “Okay, let’s go catch a thief! Come on, everypony!”

They all ran up to and directly through the shield, phasing through it as though it wasn’t even there.

“You two, cover the rear exits!” One of the police ponies shouted. “We’ll breach in front! Move!”

Twilight grabbed the front door and turned the handle, opening it and charging in, looking both ways for an ambush. Nothing… There were stairs leading to the second floor in front of her, along with a door to a small office. The police ponies with her all fanned out in different directions, checking each room.

“Clear!” one shouted.

“Don’t be so sure!” Twilight shouted back. “Her coat has enchantments! She could be invisible! Keep the doors closed when you’re done!”

“Hmm… If I were a thief, where would I hide stuff?” Apple Bloom pondered aloud while rolling out the blueprints.

Twilight lurched forward a bit. “Apple Bloom? What are you doing here?”

She blinked. “What? Y’all cast the spell on me. I thought ya wanted me here!”

“Erg…” Twilight thought a moment before giving up. “Well, that was… sloppy of me, risking a civilian. Still, you’re here, got any ideas?”

“Yup!” Apple Bloom chuckled. “If I were a filly here, I’d notice a large pile of stuff growin’. I think the thief has to be usin’ places the foals aren’t supposed to be in. Like, the attic or the basement.”

“Good idea! You three!” Twilight thrust a hoof at some of the policeponies. “You all hit the attic! Spike?”

“Yo!” Spike waved from the next door office.

“On me. We’re going to the basement. Apple Bloom, the entrance was back behind this staircase, right?” Twilight got up, deploying her armor.

Apple Bloom rolled the blueprints back up. “Yup! Careful, though. Looks like ya won’t be able to see half the basement when yer goin’ down there. Supposed to be a wall on yer right side.”

“Perfect for an ambush,” Twilight noted as her armor finished covering her. “Although, she’ll run first if she can, I think. Her file didn’t list any violent crimes, besides a few guards getting their heads knocked about. I don’t think she likes to hurt ponies if she doesn’t have to.”

Spike ran up to the door and put his ear up to it then swung around to its side. “I don’t hear anything, but my hearing isn’t as good as yours, Twi.”

“I doubt she’d be making noise. Let’s do this!” Twilight strode up to the door then spun around and kicked it, knocking it clean off its hinges. She sprinted down the stairs after it. Let’s see her ambush this!

The moment she could see a clear spot on the ground to her left, she lit her horn and teleported off to the side, turning mid-stream to look over to the right even as Spike headed in and checked to his left.

Twilight saw nothing of note save a few washing machines. Spike, however, had his eyes wide in surprise.

Damn! She charged her horn and teleported again, spinning back around next to her assistant to get out of the danger.

“Wait, there’s nopony there. It’s…” Twilight blinked a few times. In the middle of the rather dim basement, and around a support beam made of a few wood planks, was a huge pile of random objects including an old yoke that could only have belonged to a very specific red stallion at Sweet Apple Acres. The goods were all just piled there on the raw concrete floor.

“Well, we found the stuff at least.” Spike scratched his head. “See anything with those special eyes of yours, Twilight?”

Twilight pulled magic into her horn, switching to her magic sight, then carefully studied the room while walking around the pile. The unfurnished basement had little to it. She saw a few dangling flickering lights, a large sink, and the washing machines. There was also a water heater and a furnace for a radiator system, but no other ponies. “Nothing. If she’s here, I can’t see her. Looks like she gave us the slip before we even got in. We should have the police come confiscate the stolen goods and get a log going so we can get ponies their things back.”

“Heh. Look at this.” Spike reached into the pile and pulled something gold and shiny out. “Looks like Lyra had her lyre stolen again.”

Apple Bloom ducked into the room then rushed in and grabbed something else in the pile, putting it on. “My tool belt! Thank Celestia! I thought I’d never see it again!”

“Unless we catch this thief for good, you might lose it again like Lyra.” Spike held his head with a claw and tapped his cheek. “I don’t get it, why go after all this stuff? Some of it is valuable, but it’s still way below her usual pay grade.”

Apple Bloom gasped and then swallowed. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh?” Twilight and Spike both asked at the same time before Twilight continued, “What do you mean, ‘uh-oh?’”

Apple Bloom pointed at the beam surrounded by the stuff. “Take a look. Up near the top. There’s a big crack in the support there.”

Twilight went back to her usual sight and lit her horn to see better as the wind began to whistle outside. In her violet light, she could see a large crack running up through the side of one of the planks. “Ouch. You're right, Apple Bloom. That definitely doesn’t look like it belongs there.”

“An’ it gets worse! That support is way too small to be made of wood! You can’t use that ta prop up a building this size! It doesn’t even look like the right kind of timber!”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. She wanted to get my attention… The stolen items are around the support beam… Twilight grabbed Apple Bloom by the shoulders. “Can you find anything else wrong? Is the building unsound?”

“Oh, it’s definitely unsound just from this!” Apple Bloom looked around, speaking up over the thunder. “But I can see other problems, too. Look at th’ nails. There aren’t enough of them on some important joints. Some of the planks t’ain’t spaced right. There’s already a crack in the foundation bigger’n the Appleloosa canyon. This whole thing could jus’ tumble over if’n we ain’t careful!”

“That’s it! That’s what Phantasm wanted! Spike! Get everypony out of the building! Now! We’re leaving before it crushes us!”

“Er, Twi, we need ta walk out. Runnin’ now ain't a good idea.” Apple Bloom started to carefully and slowly make her way for the stairs. “No sense panicking.”

Spike ran up in between them. “No sense walking when we have an instant exit! Twi? Spark us out!”

Twilight nodded and grabbed them both with her forelegs then charged up her horn. “Good idea. Hang on to your stomachs!”

A burst of light and a small crackle later and they were outside. A second after that and a painful sensation in Twilight’s rear told her that she had overshot by roughly a meter and had them exit in midair.

“Ow! Good aim, Twi. Jeez!” Spike stood up and rubbed his hindquarters.

“Sorry, Spike, but if I can’t see where I’m going, I have to take a guess.” She arched her back and cracked it, trying to get the soreness out before standing up. “Going to need to be loud for this one.”

Twilight put up a small barrier in front of her then took in a deep breath. Hope I read the technique scroll right. “Hey! Everypony! The building is unsound! Do not panic, move slowly, and evacuate the building! I repeat, evacuate the building calmly! Cease the operation and evacuate!”

Spike rubbed his eyes. “Gee, Twi, think they heard you?”

Apple Bloom was covering her ears, too. “What?!”

Twilight swallowed, trying to get her throat moist again. “Ack. Sorry, guys, but this is important.”

Sure enough, the police ponies all started filing out of the orphanage, assembling in the front lawn.

Twilight walked up to them. “Everypony accounted for? We need a headcount!”

One of the policeponies nodded. “We’re all here, ma’am. I take it you found something?”

“Yeah. Yeah I did. Stand back, everypony.” Twilight lit up her horn and sent a cancel spell into the shield, melting it away. Wind immediately ripped through the crowd, blowing Twilight's mane in her face and knocking a pony or two off balance.

“Twilight! What are you doing!?” Rainbow zoomed for a landing next to her. “We’ll never catch the Phantasm now!”

“Rainbow.” Twilight turned to her, giving her a look of confidence. “Trust me. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Rainbow lifted up a hoof in protest then dropped it, nodding.

Twilight smiled. Thank you, Rainbow. She took a deep breath and marched towards the building. A storm was brewing in the sky, and the orphanage was creaking and groaning under the strain. Time to settle this. She probably wasn’t in the building, but I know she’s watching.

“Hey!” Twilight yelled out to the orphanage. “I know you’re out there, somewhere!” She paused, looked around while some lightning arced overhead.

Twilight swallowed. “It was never about the things! It wasn’t about the stealing! It’s not what you’re after! You just wanted my attention, didn’t you?”

Thunder rumbled, vibrating the windows of the building before her.

“That’s what this was all about! Why you started stealing when I got here! Why you targeted items dear to my friends! You knew that I wouldn’t be able to resist going after you! So you gave me all I needed to track you down! Well, here I am!”

“Look!” Spike yelled out.

Twilight aimed her eyes up to the roof. There, a silhouette at first against the lightning, but all too soon, a pony’s form was visible. Phantasm, looking down at her.

Twilight took another deep breath. “You wanted me to see the damage to the building! To get everypony out before the orphanage collapsed! I found it! Everypony’s safe!”

The Phantasm reached into her bag and pulled out a brown, dusty old stetson.

“That’s…” Twilight furrowed her brow. “I figured it all out! You can give that back now! It doesn't mean anything to you!”

“Not yet!” Phantasm yelled back. “You’re not done yet!”

“What do you mean, ‘not done’?” Twilight stomped a hoof, ignoring the rain starting to fall. “I did what you wanted. Now give my friend back her hat! It’s important to her!”

“What I want is more important!” The pegasus stuffed the hat back in a bag. “I am not one to spout about justice, Grand Mage Sparkle! I’m an outlaw! Nopony would even think to listen to me, so my warnings went unheeded! But this time I simply cannot sit idle! Do your job, and I’ll return this! Until then, it’s mine!”

A blast of light and smoke erupted from the roof, and by the time Twilight lifted up her hoof to shield her eyes, she knew the Phantasm was already gone.

“Hey, get back here!”

“Rainbow! Don’t bother!” Twilight yelled, not even needing to look to know they’d never catch the thief in time. “We have other issues to worry about.”

Rainbow flew back down and hovered in front of her. “Other issues? Like what? She’s getting away!”

Twilight shook her head. “Don’t worry about that right now. I need you to work with the other pegasi in town to try and break that storm up. Then, use your pegasus magic and the town’s best hoverers to try to clear the stolen articles from the building, along with any of the orphan’s things.”

“But—”

“Dash!” Twilight shouted. “Dash, that’s an order.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to protest, but Twilight shut her down with a glare. She then sighed and flew off.

Twilight turned to her seneschal. “Spike! Get a message to Luna. Update her. Have her inform Cadence that there’s going to be a lot of orphans in Ponyville that will need housing. Talk to Mayor Mare and coordinate getting everypony their things back, but also tell her we’ll need volunteers from the town to loan us tents, camping supplies, donations, and anything else we can use to set up temporary housing for the orphans.”

He stood up straight and saluted. “You can count on me!”

“But stay here for just a moment. I might have another message to send.” She turned to her other old friend. “Apple Bloom?”

Her old friend smiled, giving her another salute. “Watcha need, Twi?

”Do you remember which company it was that got the contract to build this heap?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a Canterlot place. ‘The Neighton Group.’ They out-bid us. I can see why, now.”

“Yeah. They did it by committing fraud.” Twilight grumbled. “Apple Bloom, you know the local building codes enough to be an inspector. If I push the paperwork to get you licensed through, would you be willing to do a formal inspection of this place? I’ll teleport us out if it starts to fall. I want as much documentation as possible.”

She reached into her tool belt and pulled out a pad of paper. “Can do!”

Twilight turned back towards the orphanage and smiled as she saw the storm breaking up. “Fantastic. Spike? Send one more message to Luna. I need to know the address of The Neighton Group, along with the name of the bank they use, their suppliers, and anything else I can get. Then, get our chariot back here. We have a different kind of crook to bust.”

"At the start of this, if you had told me it would take two weeks and seven different police departments to bust a crooked contractor I'd say you were being ridiculous." Twilight peeked around the corner of the alley, eyeing the two-story target building. "And yet, here we are."

"Honestly, this is the smoothest operation of its type that I've ever been involved with." A Sergeant of the Canterlot Police said.

“That just makes it even worse." Twilight took in a breath and sighed. "But we're still getting it done. Everypony ready?” She scanned the assembled group, taking a headcount. "Wait, we're one short."

"That would be Officer Links, ma'am." The Sergeant took off his hat and rubbed his mane. "His doctor said he was in the hospital. Broken leg. Said he 'fell down some stairs.'"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "But he's a pegasus. They don't-- Ah. Well, that just confirms the mafia connection of the companies we've been after. Somepony remind me to lean on Canterlot Internal Affairs to follow up on that.

"Anyway, that's not going to be enough to slow this down. This guy's company damn near killed a bunch of foals in Ponyville, not to mention the other buildings that did collapse. I'm taking him in today, period. Sergeant, are all stations ready?"

The stern unicorn stallion nodded. “We’re green on all vectors, ma’am. Nopony’s leaving this building without getting tossed in shackles first.”

Twilight pushed magic into the gem in her torc, deploying her armor. “Okay, everypony, this is it. Remember, this is an office, and I’m not expecting too much resistance, so hold your fire unless fired on first. But we still have to be careful. This all reeks of mob connections. The Sergeant and I will take point. Everypony in there gets detained. We’ll work out who has to be formally charged afterwards. Ready? On three…”

Twilight turned to the building across the street, steeling herself. “Three!”

She and the polieceponies all rushed out from the alleys and into the street bathed in the sunset. A half-dozen armored unicorns and earth ponies filed to each door, while two dozen more pegasi took to the sky, ready for anypony that might try to fly for it.

One police unicorn ahead of them got to the door first and attached a small device to the doorknob by a chain. It beeped twice then flashed, bouncing off the door and then slamming into it with the force of an earth pony. All of the impact powered into the door’s weak point, knocking it clear open for them while Twilight and the Sergeant strode in.

Ahead was a small hall followed by a reception desk with a blonde-maned secretary behind it.

“Excuse me, what’s going on?” She stood up and yelled, slamming her forehooves on the desktop. “What is—? Hey, you can’t just waltz in here! You need a warrant!”

Twilight and the Sergeant ignored her, save for a motion telling the others to put her in shackles, and made a beeline towards the doorway behind her.

“I said, you need a warrant!” She reached down under the desk and pulled something out.

Twilight froze in place, her eyes darting over and locking onto the object. It was stick-like, with a gem near the middle and a trigger underneath. Cored cannon. Scatter class. She kicked to her side, closing the distance between them and moving off to the receptionist’s left, past the barrel of the scatter cannon. Thrusting her left hoof up and out, she knocked the barrel to point it into the ceiling.

The shot went off, sending a shower of energy and sparks into the tile, blasting it to dust.

Twilight flared her horn, fighting back against the cannon’s weak security spell. The ward buckled under the strength of her magic instantly, letting her push down on the barrel with her hoof still underneath it, “opening” the weapon for reload.

Twilight’s eye flicked over to the other mare, watching her lunge forward for a punch. With a small smile, the Grand Mage kicked backwards, taking the weapon with her just outside the attack’s reach.

The receptionist caught herself just in time, landing on the hoof she had punched with.

A crack went through the air as Twilight swung the butt of the cannon like a golf club, breaking it over the other mare’s head and sending her flying back into her desk.

“No. I don’t.” Twilight popped the crystal out, letting it hit the ground before stomping on it, damaging it beyond repair.

“Irons, now! Don’t let her up!”

The officers leapt at her, slapping on chains while Twilight and the Sergeant continued through the door and into the hall, picking up the pace as she ran in. There was another hallway with several offices to her right and an elevator and a sign to the left. She ran up and put herself on the side of the door to the elevator, hitting the button while the policeponies started breaking down the doors of each of the offices. Small cries of protest could be heard from each of them, just before light impacts and the clacking of irons and magic inhibitors.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and the policeponies swung around from its sides to check the insides.

“Elevator is clear,” the Sergeant barked to the officers. “Let’s move to the stairs.”

Twilight took point again with the lead policepony as he broke down the door to the stairs and they marched up, breaking down the top door too.

The door led to a large office space with numerous cubicles, and ponies all standing up in stunned shock. Twilight paid them little heed, as the officers behind her all filed in and started yelling for them to put their forehooves on their heads.

One of the workers dove out the window, spreading his wings just in time to be tackled.

One more target, Twilight thought. There in front of her was a walled-off corner office with a frosted glass door. “Ready, Sergeant?”

He turned around and looked at his officers, who were leading the captured ponies out of the room. “Looks like we’re clear, Lady Sparkle.”

Twilight put herself up to the wall of the office. “Good. Recon says the boss should be in… Wait…” She put her ear to the wall, hearing a soft, muffled click. “Everypony down! Now!”

Bolts of sound and magic light tore through the wall, their steady stream shredding anything in their path. Bits of glass, paper, and desk went flying into the air as every pony in the room dove for cover behind the flimsy cubicles. Small fires started as electrical appliances were hit, showering the room in sparks.

Twilight ground her teeth, catching a small glimpse of the pony firing a military-grade cored cannon repeater into the room. A burning sensation crept into her horn as her own energy was summoned forth, forming a barrier in between her ponies and the pony very soon to be in an astronomical amount of pain.

Each little bolt put another chip in her shield, but it wasn’t enough. For every crack and impact, her horn put twice as much power back in, growing it and pushing forward.

“Everypony okay back there?” Twilight yelled, keeping her sight trained on her barrier.

“Hit in the leg!” The Sergeant yelled back. “Not as bad as it looks. I’ll live. Just stop those guns!”

“Right!” Twilight focused in on her vision and switched over to her magic sight. Two large points of light danced and pulsed over the wellspring of the pony on the other side. Twin barrels. Back-mounted. Looks like a dogfighting model. How to get past…?”

Another wellspring dipped into her vision from above.

The sound of glass shattering heralded the ending of the guns and was followed by the sound of a bone breaking, likely a skull against something hard.

“He’s out. All clear!” Rainbow’s voice called from inside the room.

Twilight pulled at the shield with her horn, bringing it down and waiting a moment before standing up. “All clear everywhere else?”

“Clear, ma’am. Ugh.” The Sergeant grunted, putting his weight on his other leg. “Looks like I’m the lucky one today.”

“Don’t strain yourself. Officers? On me.” She moved up to the side of the door then grabbed ahold of it and tore it clean of its hinges. On the other side was an unconscious pony, a shattered window, and Rainbow Dash in her armor.

“Take a look at this, Twi.” She pointed at the guns mounted on the back of the pegasus. “Military hardware. ‘Bolts don’t really use it, ‘cause we have awesome lightning on our own and we need maximum speed and maneuverability, but they’ve been rolling this out to a lot of regular soldiers lately. Guess this pony has some connections.”

Twilight craned her neck over to examine the guns. They were long enough that they extended in front of the snout of the pegasus stallion on the floor and fitted onto his back with a stomach strap for stabilization. Two large, charged yellow crystals were fitted on the backside of each. In between, on a plate on his back where a saddle would be, was a logo.

“Cloudsdale Armories. Definitely not meant for civilians. Get these off of him and into evidence. Sergeant, signal the medics to get up here to tend to him and you, but don’t let him wake up until we have him in the dungeon. He has a lot to answer for.”

“Laying there like that, he kinda looks pretty pathetic. You sure this is the same guy?”

Twilight pulled out the dossier once again, matching his face to the photo. “Yeah, this is him. Apple Bloom, are you ready?”

“Eeyup!” She pulled the chair out from under the table, sliding it against the brown stone floor and then sat down. “Ready whenever you are.”

Twilight sat down next to her. “Rainbow, prop him up on the chair, wake him up, then leave the room.”

Rainbow blinked. “Wait, you want me to leave?”

“I can handle this guy. He’s in chains, after all. Besides…” She sat back in the chair, narrowing her eyes at the stallion and resting her forehooves against each other. “I want him to see that I don’t have a ‘guard’ to protect me, then look me in the eyes. I want him to feel like he's dealing with one of the Sisters.”

“Kinda like how the throne room gives you goosebumps?” Apple Bloom shivered.

“Exactly.” A little smirk escaped Twilight’s restraint. “I’ve taken some of Luna’s lessons to heart, I guess.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Your call.” She lifted him up, jangling the shackles on his fetlocks. Catching his head after it dropped to the side, she laid it down as gently as possible on the stainless steel table.

“Rainbow?” Apple Bloom asked.

Rainbow adjusted his head about three inches. “Wait for it.”

Slam!

“Wake up!” Two cyan hooves came crashing down onto the steel table, jolting the stallion awake, off the chair, and sending a bunch of his feathers into the air.

“Was that really necessary?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

The stallion’s limbs flailed about, straining against the irons. “What are you—? Who do you ponies think you are? Your badges are going to—”

Rainbow reached down, lifted him back up, then slammed his head down on the table. “Shut up! You’re lucky she wanted me to show restraint! After what—”

“Rainbow. Orders.” Twilight said, not even blinking.

Rainbow huffed, flaring her wings. “Yes, Lady Sparkle,” she said with a salute before walking out the door and closing it behind her.

Foible Plinth pulled against the chains. “You… You bitch. I’ll have your badge for this. My lawsuits will hit you so hard that—”

“Mr. Plinth, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Grand Mage of Equestria. This is an official investigation by the Crown of Equestria and the Eternal Sisters. You have no legal standing to sue. Your guilt in this matter has already been established. Your punishment has not.”

“What?” He sprang to his feet and tried to thrust a hoof in her face, but fell and had to put one hoof on the table to keep from mashing his face on the metal. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with! I’ll be out in a week!”

Without moving a single muscle, Twilight lit her horn and lifted him up off his chair while forcing his leg down.

“What… How are you…”

“I think you’ll find that your ability to resist my telekinesis has been entirely eliminated by the shackles on your hind legs. Right now, you are nothing more than another inanimate object bending to my will. I don’t like to brag, Mr. Plinth, but I once juggled an ursa minor. If you attack me or my friend, I’ll turn your bones into calcified gelatin. With my mind. Am I understood?” She put a twist into the field, pushing his hoof in a direction it was not meant to go.

“Argh! You… You…” His muscles spasmed against the field, searching out for relief against the pressure.

Twilight dropped him onto the chair like a throw pillow. “I’m glad we understand each other.” She turned her head to the mare to her right. “Apple Bloom? The documents.”

Apple Bloom tipped her hardhat forward then reached into her bag and dumped a tome-sized pile of papers onto the table. “Right here.”

Twilight smiled and took the stack from her, arranging the papers in her magic. “Excellent. Now then, Mr. Plinth. Your company was responsible for constructing the new orphanage in Ponyville, correct?”

The stallion blew some of his red mane out of his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Twilight chuckled. “Oh, tsk tsk tsk. Lying to the Grand Mage about an investigation. There’s another charge. Here’s the paperwork for the order and the work completion certificates. They have your signature.” She dropped the papers on the desk right in front of his face. “Ring a bell now?”

“So what?” He asked, struggling a little in the irons. “We make a lot of buildings!”

“Yeah, but this one here had more problems than a sixth-grade math class.” Apple Bloom picked up one of the pages. “Frankly, I’m amazed y’all got it ta stand up at all.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to torture me!” He struggled and strained more against the shackles. “File a complaint, and we’ll fix it!”

Twilight snorted. “Like hell you will. After seeing what you did there, I looked up the other buildings you’ve done for the Crown. Then, I ordered an independent inspector to each one. Wouldn’t you know, every single one has major deficiencies. Schools, orphanages, homeless shelters… The list goes on.”

“An’ they were all signed off by the same inspection company!” Apple Bloom chuckled. “So we went an’ looked it up! Turns out, it’s owned by another company! Which is owned by another, which is owned by another... So many shells, it's like one of those Stalliongrad nesting dolls. But when we got to the end, we found out something interesting. Care ta take a guess as ta which company owns the inspection outfit?”

“Look, look.” Visible sweat started to bead off his brow. “I’m sorry, really! I didn’t know. I’m sure I can find a way to make this all better!”

“Don’t patronize me, Mr. Plinth.” Twilight sneered. “You’ve put a lot of ponies at risk. Some of your structures have already collapsed, killing some innocents. And you absolutely knew about all of this.”

His face turned from apologetic to combative instantly. “Ha! Like you can prove any of that!”

“Oh, but I can!” Twilight smiled. “I’ve already gone through your bank records and supply orders and compared them against the invoices you gave the Crown. It didn’t take long to spot the discrepancies. Your materials and labor is way under what it should be. Honestly, it’s so far under even wholesale that you’re making out like a bandit! Except, you’re not stealing from your suppliers—you’re just buying sub-standard junk and passing it off as sound, all with your name signed at the bottom.”

“P-purchase orders!?” The sweat was even more profuse now. “T-there’s no way you got that!”

Twilight tapped her torc with the tip of her hoof. “Funnily enough, when you show up with Royal Guard backing you up, companies are more likely to hoof over the real records because they don’t have bribes in place like they do with some of the police in other cities. And, say what you will about Canterlot, but unlike some other places, their local police force is almost beyond reproach.

“Of course, a few of your suppliers still tried to give us fake documents to make us happy, but then, we didn’t really ask them for it so much as we barged in and searched their records directly. Their company officers were quite forthcoming when they realized how much trouble they could be in for lying to me. Not to mention all the officials you bribed to keep ‘unfortunate accidents’ from coming back to you.”

“And boy howdy, are you in fer it!” Apple Bloom pulled out her pad and started reading. “I mean, ya gotta be a real special kinda stupid ta rack up this many charges! I only really know ‘bout the buildin’ ones, but ya got several dozen counts of Class-A felony fraud goin’ here.”

His blue coat went nearly white.

“Oh, it’s much worse than that, Apple Bloom.” Twilight pulled out another sheet of paper and gently set it down in front of him. “This is a list of foals at the Ponyville Orphanage. The way I see it, you have willful foal endangerment charges stemming from every single one of them. Then, I can go through all the other orphanages and schools you built below specifications and add charges for them too. Every single foal that’s ever so much as stepped hoof inside. Then there’s the negligent equicide charges for the ones that died, and I’m sure there are other things I can think up.”

Apple Bloom leaned back in her chair. “Hey Twilight, if’n this guy had to serve all these sentences back to back, how long would he be in jail? If he lived that long, I mean.”

Twilight shook her head and shrugged. “I haven’t even finished tabulating it all, because we’re still waiting on some of the records. Honestly though, AB, I’m pretty sure not even Princess Celestia has been alive that long.”

The irons were clacking he was shaking so bad. “Okay, okay! I get it! Can’t I cut a deal? Please?”

Apple Bloom scratched her chin. “Ain’t prisons supposed to be, like, super-dangerous fer ponies that get tossed in the clink fer harmin’ foals?”

“Apple Bloom, I’m amazed at you!” Twilight held a hoof to her chest in mock surprise. “Celestia and the Duchies take as much care as they can to ensure that prison facilities protect all of a pony’s rights! Cadence herself has extensively campaigned to make prisons safer for inmates!”

“But they still totally get the stuffin’ beat out of ‘em, right?”

“Oh, of course!” Twilight smirked. “There’s only so much you can do when the entire prison population is out to get you. It’s also rather amazing what they can fashion weapons out of…”

“Okay, okay!” The stallion’s tears were soaking the papers on the table. “I confess! We did it! Just don’t let me in with those monsters!”

Twilight’s smile grew ever wider. “An RGIS officer will be by shortly to interrogate you again. When they get here, you’ll write a full confession, outlining everything. Do that, and I’ll ask the Royal Court’s prosecutor to provide some protection for you, if they don’t decide to add you to the statue garden instead. Got it?”

He cringed and frowned, but slowly nodded.

Twilight stood up, collecting their documents. “Very good. Apple Bloom? We’re done here.”

“Shoot, Twi!” Apple Bloom chuckled, getting out of chair. “You aren’t going to call out to th’ ponies outside and say, ‘take him away, officers?’”

Twilight blinked. “Um… He’s already in the dungeon. I don’t need to.”

“I know. I just always wanted ta hear somepony say it!”

Author's Note

Hi all.

I have to apologize again for a long wait. I was busy travelling and attending my grandfather’s memorial. So, yeah, real life.

This chapter had a serious overhaul at one point. I think we caught everything we needed to change to make it all consistent, but goofs can happen.

Those following my FimFic blog know that I’ve lost normal typing ability in my hands, possibly permanently. I can’t even really do video games anymore. Two huge things in my life, gone.

I’m still plugging along, though. In addition to voice dictation, I’ve discovered the wonders of SwiftKey for my iPad. Swiping my finger (or a stylus) along the screen does not seem to produce the same kind of stress on my hands and wrist that typing and normal keyboards do. But, it still hurts a bit and has stress types that typing does not. I do have to take breaks every 600-800 words or so, but so far it’s very promising, especially if I alternate between SwiftKey and voice dictation. That being said, I’m trying not to get my hopes up. As I said in my blog, this could be yet another light at the end of the tunnel that turns out to be a train.

I hope you guys enjoyed the climax of this mission. There will be a bit of an aftermath/cool down next chapter. Then, we start block 5 with missions 4 and 5. However, before I can post anything in block 5, I must finish the whole thing. I’m working on chapter 52. At this rate, the end of chapter 53 will be the end of the block. Once I finish that, I have a metric ton of changes and additions to work into 40-53. These changes will make block five 100x better than it already is.

The bad news is that it will take time to implement the changes. There’s a lot to do. But, on days where it’s cool enough to run the PC with its voice software, I can probably push 2500-3000 words per day now, provided writing happens smoothly. I’m still much better than I was once I get going, but first I have to overcome the psychological fear I have because of the pain I often get with writing. Then I have to make the muse cooperate, which I’m not bad at, but even I have scenes I find really tough.

Anyway, have some art. This is just a quick sketch from Violet. It shows how tall I view the mane six as being at the start of the story.

Thanks again for sticking with me, everyone. Until next chapter!

-Cv

New Homes

Twilight breathed in the post-storm air of the night sky. Since they broke up the last storm, they had to have another one and had rescheduled it for today, giving the tail end of summer a few more hot and humid days.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Applejack ran up to her, galloping down the road in front of the fort, stetson on her head. “Look! My hat! It’s back!”

Twilight smiled. She kept her word! “I can see that! Where’d you find it? Did Phantasm put it back in your room or something?”

“Shoot, no!” Applejack tilted her hat, laughing. “I just turned around, and there it was, right on my head! Darnedest thing. How in blazes does a pony go about stealing the clothes off another pony, and then puttin’ ‘em back without them even noticing?”

“I have no idea!” Twilight laughed. “I honestly wish I could have caught her so I can ask, but at least we nailed a different criminal.”

Applejack’s face fell. “So y’all couldn’t catch her? That’s a shame…”

Twilight sighed. “Well, I kind of doubt it’ll be the last I hear of her. I don’t think she’ll target Ponyville again, though. I let Rainbow and Spike take some off time at Sugarcube Corner so I could walk through town and relax a little. Everything seems so quiet here all of a sudden.”

“Quiet can be good. Can’t have the town in crisis all the time, ya know.” Applejack winked.

“Quiet can be very good indeed.” She took in a deep breath as they approached the heavily-armored blast doors of the fort. The walls were gunmetal gray, easily six meters high, and shaped like a six-pointed star. Heh. They modeled it after my cutie mark. Well, maybe. Actually, probably not at all, I bet it’s made to make it hard to assault from the ground and funnel hostiles into crossfires.

“O’ course, I don’t know how quiet things’re gonna be with this thing ’round.” Applejack tilted her hat. “Seems overkill, if’n ya ask me.”

Twilight couldn’t help but think back on her memories and smirk. “Well, it does have an emergency underground bunker for the whole town. Given how often we’ve nearly been wiped out, I suppose we should’ve had this ages ago.”

Applejack chuckled. “I suppose I could see that. Well, I’m gonna get back to th’ farm. Anything else ya need from me?”

“Tell Fluttershy I said hello, and that I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to visit yet. I should be by later at some point, but you know how things go with me.” Twilight winked. “Crazy ponies can happen at any moment.”

“Will do!” Applejack trotted off down the road, leaving Twilight to her thoughts and the large, steel doors.

Well, I’m finally getting around to doing what I came to Ponyville for. I sure hope the Major in charge here isn’t pissed at me for delaying so many times. Twilight lifted up a hoof, ready to knock, but the doors began opening with a golden glow even before she tapped.

“Hello, Twilight! So good to see you!”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Princess!”

Celestia opened the door the rest of the way and signaled for Twilight to enter. “Luna has been sending me regular updates. After hearing what you’ve been through, I decided to make a stop here for a little while. I thought you might like to hear some updates of my own.”

“Of course!” Twilight dropped into a bow. “But I hope you haven’t been waiting for me too long…”

“Just an hour or so. Come, you’ve had a busy few days.”

Celestia opened her wing and Twilight trotted up beside her, the feathers lightly touching her back as they walked.

“As I said before, Twilight, I was surprised when General Blueblood asked to not only expand this fort, but create additional ones surrounding Canterlot. The idea being that the capitol will be defended in case another large attack comes. I do not think such an event is likely, but then, that’s what I believed before, too.”

They passed through another large set of armored doors, and as they entered the interior of the fort Twilight noticed ponies going about their construction business even during the night. Many were working on electrical or plumbing tasks, while others were attending to wards, cannon emplacements, and a myriad other things. However, it was the large anti-airship cannon that caught her eye.

“Well, the military sure likes big guns. Although I suppose that should that ever get fired, you’d be able to see it all the way from Canterlot. That’s enough time to raise its shield.”

Celestia nodded. “Quite so! They are as much an early warning system as they are a weapons platform.”

Sparks and light shot abruptly from a device on floor as a pony brought a welding torch to it. Twilight had to shield her eyes with a hoof, and even afterwards had to look at it through spots in her vision. “That’s a… shield generator, I think. So the fort itself has both shields and armored walls. Meant to withstand a siege, then?”

“Indeed. Airships like the Bellerophon have powerful weapons and shields of their own. This will allow them to even the odds in the event of an attack. Take a look over there, too.” Celestia pointed to a pony hooking a hose into the wall, pumping it full of some fluid.

“I’m guessing that’s not water, but hot oil has been outlawed by international treaty for a few centuries. So either General Blueblood is willing to commit a war crime, or…” Twilight waited for Celestia’s inevitable chuckle and response.

“Ah! Sharp as ever, my student. The ‘or’ here is a new invention from our labs. It’s a very special oil-like substance. We don’t heat it, and it doesn’t burn easily, as that’s not how it’s meant to work. Instead, when released around the fort it refuses to drain into the soil and forms an extremely slick sheen.”

It wasn’t meant to burn ponies, but Twilight still had to cringe at its purpose. “So anypony assaulting the fort either has to move very slowly or slip and fall. Making them a sitting duck for ponies with cored cannons on the ramparts.”

“It is a bit brutal, but quite effective and may encourage a retreat. The fort was even made on a slight hill so those that fall would slide down. They call it ‘Mega-slip.’ Or at least that’s the brand name. The fort also has more standard gunnery holes in the side that can be covered, along with numerous anti-air emplacements to shoot down hostile fliers. All in all, the design is impressive, although we all hope it is never needed.”

Twilight shuddered. “I’ll say. I’m not a huge fan of so many weapons in Ponyville, but at least the right ponies have them.”

“That is more or less the truth about all weapons, my student.” Celestia stopped as they approached an additional set of blast doors, these embedded into the ground near the far side of the fort, then waved to what looked like a command center of sorts. “Corporal? Could you please lower the door for us?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow after a few seconds passed. “Are you sure they heard you? In fact, those windows are completely opaque from this angle. Are you sure they’re even in there?”

Celestia nodded. “They have to talk to the ponies on the inside as well to open them. Give it a few more—ah, there we go.”

The doors in front of them opened, leading to a ramp going down underneath the facility, which in turn led to one more set of doors. The first set had to close behind them before the next opened, which led them to a large underground space that spiraled downwards. There was no exposed dirt anywhere, and they had to go in a circle a few times before reaching the bottom.

Twilight furrowed her brow and tried her best to scrutinize her surroundings, looking for signs of cracks. “When you said ‘secured residence,’ you meant it. I’m surprised they were able to build all this so fast. In fact, I’m worried about that given how fast the shoddy orphanage went up.”

“Our military building contractors are generally much faster than the civilian ones, primarily because we’re often willing to spend the bits for speed. Magic helps it along, but it’s not cheap. This particular project was deemed to be worth the premium, while the other forts in the network will be constructed a bit more slowly and should be finished in another six months or so. Try not to worry so much, Twilight, as this is meant to be your home. Or rather, this is.” Celestia lit her horn and opened one of the large doors at the end of the tunnel, then stepped inside with Twilight close behind.

“Ah, there you are, Princess!” Grand General Blueblood and a pony Twilight assumed was the base’s commanding officer stepped into a bow in the lavishly-appointed room.

Everything about it screamed ‘antique luxury.’ Twilight even wrinkled her nose at the reds and golds being used. It was like what the castle was decorated in a couple hundred years ago. I sure hope I can tweak things over time…

Blueblood put down his teacup. “Oh my, it seems you don’t quite approve, Grand Mage Sparkle.”

“It’s… luxurious…” Twilight forced herself to admit out loud, switching to a tone and accent she wished hadn’t been trained into her by her mother. “But also not quite what I’m used to. I’m not a Canterlot noble, General. Or rather, I am, but I was not until recently. My family comes from more humble means. A doctor and a housewife rather than a line of land-owning barons. Six months ago, I resided in this town’s library.”

Celestia laughed. “I told you she wasn’t a pony with an eye on wealth, General. It seems that you still need to learn more about our new Grand Mage and her tastes.”

“Quite… I apologize, Lady Sparkle.” He bowed again. “When one runs with the elite, it can become difficult to discern a pony’s true desires when they are experts at professing humility. Most are not genuine.”

And that might well be part of the problem, General. It took everything Twilight had not to say that out loud. “It’s fine, I can adapt and redecorate over time. Although…” She looked around, finding something amiss, or rather, was unnerved at what she didn’t find. “I have to say, it is missing something already.”

The Major stepped forward and saluted. “My name is Major Longsword, Lady Sparkle, and I have served under General Blueblood for twenty years now. We have set aside some leftover bits for just such an occasion. Speak your desire, and I shall see that it is provided for you.”

Twilight looked around more, making sure what she needed wasn’t present. “The two doors over there, one of them is a bedroom?”

Major Longsword nodded, stroking his rather ridiculous—but impressively detailed—facial hair. “Of course. To your right is a bedroom appointed with all the finest materials, and to the left is a kitchen and dining room. Would you care to see them?”

Twilight nodded before trotting towards them. “I would. Just one moment…” She poked her head in each one, finding the decorative theme the same between each. “Yeah, this is definitely missing something.”

When Twilight turned around, she found the Princess to have one of the largest cheshire grins she’d ever seen. Of course, she was also the tallest and largest pony in Equestria, but it was still huge. “I think I have an idea what it is, and I agree. Shame on you two. Have you learned nothing of our Grand Mage?”

The two started to sweat.

“We… apologize, Your Highness.” Blueblood lowered his head. “Grand Mage, please, allow us to correct our transgresion. What is it that you desire? I shall dip into my personal funds if necessary—”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I rather doubt that’ll be needed. It’s just that there are no bookshelves here! I was a librarian, guys. And, well, I still plan on performing magical research from time to time if I can, if nothing else but to improve my skills to help Equestria. I need someplace to store books! It’s a fire hazard to just pile them on the floor all the time.”

“That never stopped you before during your late-night study binges, my student.” Celestia winked.

Twilight’s ears dropped flat against her head. “Well, yeah, but I put them back. Eventually. Still, you have to admit, there’s a critical lack of book storage here.”

Blueblood picked up his hat from the desk and put it on, straightening it. “I shall go out at once and see to it that this home for you has plenty of ‘book storage,’ as you put it. And, Princess, I shall make good on our bet. Your Highnesses. Come, Major, let us leave. I’m sure they have much to discuss. This is their private home, after all.” He bowed, then began a march out the door alongside his subordinate.

Twilight waited for the doors to shut before asking, “Okay, spill, what did you bet him?”

Celestia finally roared with laughter. “‘Tis a small thing. I wagered that your tastes would be simple, and that even living in your new special quarters in the castle couldn’t change that. Blueblood was sure that you had been the type to take to high society and all its trimmings. Oh, how little you know my student, you old fart.”

Twilight couldn’t stop the smile from leaking out the corner of her mouth, but pressed on. “And what was the prize of this ‘wager’ you made?”

Celestia smiled even wider. “You shall see eventually, my student.”

“You said you’d never hide anything from me if I asked. ‘On your crown,’ you said.”

“It’s a surprise, Twilight. I’m allowed to have some fun. And I doubt you’d really want to take my position in any case.”

Should have known not to verbally spar with her. “Alright, I’ll wait. Let’s switch topics, then. I sent you a message a while ago about this ‘extended mission.’ Do you have anything you can share with me yet?”

The mirth drained from Celestia’s face like someone had pulled the plug on a sink, and her eyes darted to the reinforced door. “Yes. Yes I do. I didn’t want to send you so far this early in your ascension, but I’m even more hesitant to trust this to anypony else.”

Twilight swallowed. “Is it that dangerous?”

Celestia shook her head. “If everything goes according to plan, it’s much ado about nothing. Yet I can’t help but shake the feeling that this could be a fool’s endeavour, which is why I want you to oversee things.”

“So… what is it, exactly?”

“The mission is twofold. Your primary objective will be to head the Bellerophon’s maiden voyage, which will take you over the sea to the coast of Zebrica.”

Twilight pulled out her book and started writing. “Isn’t Zebrica kind of… well, not our biggest ally right now? Wouldn’t parking a warship off its coast be seen as a threat?”

“Which is exactly why caution is needed.” Celestia pulled out a piece of paper and floated it over to Twilight. “Here. These are your objectives.”

“This is… a checklist. Plant names, it looks like. I recognize a few from Zecora’s potions.”

“Correct. Zecora originally arrived here on the run from certain elements from within Zebrica. I granted her citizenship in exchange for services to the crown, in particular, access to some of her rare potions and stock of plants. Things we simply cannot get here in Equestria. Unfortunately, there was only so much she brought with her, and we are now disastrously low in supply.”

Twilight started copying the names over. “Let me guess. The Zebrican government isn’t in the mood to share or trade and still has it out for Zecora.”

Celestia waved a hoof in the air. “Yes and no. They are certainly not in the trading or giving mood, but I’m told the new President of Zebrica has nothing to do with said elements. This is small comfort, however. The President has risen to power on a wave of fervent nationalism and aggression, and is rattling sabres for war against Saddle Arabia. The whole place is a powder keg in desperate search for a match, which is why this must be kept relatively quiet. If they find out after the fact, we’ll step in and claim responsibility to avert a war, but if they find out too soon we’ll have to abort the mission and lose access to these potions for a long time.”

“And let me guess. The Bellerophon is well suited to getting there quickly and has the firepower to deal with any threats that emerge, from pirates to flying sea serpents.” Twilight moved to the next page and put away the list. “Yet I’m still not exactly keen on the idea of sending such a large ship into the fray. They might fire on us just because.”

“And if they do, you have my permission to fire back. The good news is that they have no ship that’s a match for Bellerophon. You’ll be safe there. It will also have support teams on board to help protect you and complete your mission. Zecora will be coming with you as well, as only she can quickly identify the plants needed.

“Also, Admiral Tempest will be there with you. She is a talented young warrior and mage, and she’ll be able to use her magic to create a cloud large enough to hide the ship off shore. Plus, the area we’re targeting for the plants is a small inland town surrounded by jungle and far from any major city. If all goes according to plan they’ll never even know the Grand Mage paid them a visit.”

Twilight frowned. “Ah. So, I’m not to interact with anypony there. I was hoping I’d get a chance to—”

“The Grand Mage shouldn’t be seen there,” Celestia said, a devious smile forming on her lips. “However, unicorns have been seen there from time to time, mostly from universities. If you dress properly and use a cover, then you may interact with the locals. In fact, the second part of the mission may require it.” She lit her horn and pulled something wrapped in newspaper out of the desk behind her.

Twilight caught it and unwrapped it, revealing a blue gem the size of a small melon. “It’s… cracked. And burned, somehow. Like somepony put it in a low-pressure incinerator for a while.” She spun it around in her magic, counting the fractures on it’s surface. “I think if I even tried putting a spell or magic in this it’d go off like a grenade.”

“Indeed. But that’s not what’s special about it. This is a broken bond-class core.”

The gem dropped to the floor.

“Bond-class? Whoa.” Twilight picked it back up, looking at it from a new light. “So, this could have been part of a bonded blade, if it wasn’t, you know, broken like crazy. What happened to it?”

“We do not know. However, we have intelligence that suggests it came from or passed through the same area that you’re going to. If this is true, more may be found there. When you pose as a young researcher, you might be able to find the truth of the matter. If it’s at all possible, acquire one. If it’s sufficiently intact, unlike this one, we can verify its origin and see if it’s Zebrican or Equestrian.”

Twilight squinted at the gem, running possibilities in her head. “So you’re going to have me track these down, try to find where they’re really from… You’re thinking these are the gems we should have found over the last few decades, aren’t you? That they’re possibly stolen or otherwise smuggled from Equestrian mines and traded in the black market to Zebrica?”

Celestia looked over to the doors, her mane starting to sway a bit more quickly. “Honestly, lately I’ve been thinking the Robber Barons are behind that, but now I don’t know what to think. If you find the gems, buy one if you can, steal it if not. Go after even more if you’re feeling brave, but we only need one relatively undamaged core to test and find where it came from.”

Twilight tapped her chin. “I’ll try to avoid stealing if I can. I’ve seen enough of that latel—”

Celestia put her hoof on Twilight’s. “Steel yourself, my student. This is the work of a spy, and they don’t always have the option to follow the tenets of harmony. War between Zebrica and Saddle Arabia is a real possibility, and if Zebrica truly does have a wealth of these gems, then the results could be disastrous. We must determine where these gems are coming from, and find out if they pose a threat to peace. Stealing is generally wrong and should be avoided, yes, but politics is rarely so black and white. Getting ahold of one of those gems now could save hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives down the line.”

“Okay, I understand.” Twilight sighed. “Any advice if we are caught?”

“Yes, and this is made all the more important due to the fact that we have reports of armed zebras spotted nearby. If you are caught, leave immediately, but do not hesitate to defend yourself. Zebrica might be willing to scream cries of war to their neighbor, but they are in no position to be a threat to Equestria. Their economy is improving, but their crops are wracked with drought as they have no pegasi to regulate the weather, and their potions are ill-suited to such a task. We have ten times as many ponies under our flag, and twenty-five times their economic activity. Don’t let threats to Equestria coerce you into an immediate concession for your ‘trespass,’ either. With such a wide ocean between us, and given the state of our navies, any threats they make are empty.”

Twilight put away her book, notes completed. “Okay. I think I can handle this. When do I leave?”

A burst of light appeared over Celestia’s head, and a bundle of papers formed into existence and dropped at her hooves. The Princess began unpacking them while she continued. “Whenever the Bellerophon is finally finished. It was originally supposed to be complete by now, but things are behind schedule, and it may be another month. In the meantime, you should do whatever you feel you need to prepare. I may have other work for you as well, but that remains to be seen.

“Also, although our friend Zecora will accompany you, I feel you should brush up on your Zebrican. It may also be wise to give Spike a few lessons as well.”

Twilight nodded. “I can do that. Rainbow’s pretty bad at learning languages, but Spike actually already knows some phrases. What’s in the packet?”

Celestia smiled, and Twilight couldn’t help but relax at finally seeing her mentor looking happy again. “It appears Luna has managed to get ahold of an advanced copy of tomorrow’s Canterlot Times. Take a look.”

CORRUPT CONTRACTOR CAPTURED!

In a series of daring raids, Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle has arrested dozens of ponies suspected of defrauding the Crown of tens of millions of bits. The arrested stand accused of building unsafe structures and passing them off as secure, including many schools and even a new orphanage in Grand Mage Sparkle’s hometown of Ponyville. All foals and ponies have been removed from these buildings as of last night. One structure in Manehatten stands with a large, red “CONDEMNED” sign out front.

Independent inspectors who have visited the Ponyville Orphanage have told the Times that it would not have survived a planned afternoon storm had the Grand Mage not discovered the problems in time.

In addition, sources have told the Times that the company president, one Foible Plinth, has reportedly confessed to the wrongdoing and now faces a staggering number of charges…

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Technically my ‘hometown’ is Canterlot. The way this is written, it’s subtly trying to make me look like I’m playing favorites with a small town…”

Celestia laughed hard enough to have vibrated windows had there been any. “True, Twilight, but most ponies aren’t going to get too far past the ‘Twilight Sparkle saves orphans and busts crooks’ part. I know it seems small to nail a building contractor, but in terms of public opinion, this is a stunning victory! It could buy us months, if not years of time! If I were you, I’d hit the town sometime soon to celebrate. You’ve earned it.”

Twilight allowed herself to smile some. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Even if I didn’t catch Phantasm.”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, we’ve been after her for ages, but honestly I’m content to let her go for now if it means saving the lives of my dear ponies. That you even got shackles on her at all, however, is another thing worth celebrating! Come, I want some pastries from the Cakes. My treat.”

Twilight tossed the newspaper on the desk behind her, then got up to follow her mentor towards the door. “Actually I was just about to go to the Apples and join them for dinner. I’m sure if you wanted, they’d be honored to have you as well.”

“Hmm…” Celestia looked up and off to her right in what Twilight guessed was the direction of the farm.

Twilight tilted her head. Can her magic sight really go through to the surface? Wait, mine kind of does, too… Well, only one story, actually.

“I suppose. I cannot visit too often, lest it become an issue of ‘playing favorites,’ but if my student is there, I have an excuse. Shall we?”

Twilight smiled and got up to follow the Princess. “Right behind you!”

As they walked to the door, something caught the attention of Twilight’s eye, and she turned her head to face some wall scrolls hung on either side of the large room. “Hmm…” Each one was painted like the sky on a sunny, partly cloudy day, and were arranged to appear as if they were windows rather than paintings. In the center one of the set of five, she noticed a familiar little swirl in one of the clouds. Could it be? “Did Luna paint these?”

Celestia put a wing over her. “Sharp eye, my student! She did indeed! She also wanted to decorate the whole room, but didn’t have time, given that it had to be ready the moment the physical building was complete. So, I told her to paint something as a compromise. She’ll be overjoyed to know that you noticed.”

Twilight chuckled to herself. Thank you, Luna. “The Apples always have a ton of leftovers. I’ll make sure to send Luna some. They’re even better after a night in a fridge.”

“I must admit, I do feel somewhat self-conscious imposing on my ponies like this.” Celestia said, walking down the now-paved path to Sweet Apple Acres. “Not just from the stress of having a Princess for dinner, but also the inevitable fit I’m going to hear from Gustave and the others later.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Tia.” Twilight smiled next to her. “You’re practically family to them. You gave them this land, after all. And if the chefs complain about a day off, you could always have them cook for a crowd. Say, an impromptu free dinner at whatever city’s homeless shelters you’re visiting.”

“Oh-ho! I think I’ll have to put that idea into practice. Have to be careful with the media spin on it, though…”

The two turned right onto the dirt road in front of the house, the moonlight giving Celestia’s mane a subtle glow.

“Well, here we are. Shall we knock?”

Twilight smirked and trotted up to the door, opening it into their family room. “Applejack! It’s me, Twilight! I brought a guest!”

“A guest?” Came the reply from her friend in the dining room. “Just who did you bri— Great Horseshoes in the Evenin’!”

Twilight chuckled as Applejack dove into a bow at the sight of Celestia squeezing her large form into the small farmhouse. “Relax, AJ. It’s a social visit. Off the books. I thought maybe you could divert some of the would-be leftovers to the crown.”

“Oh, right! Sure thing!” Applejack swallowed heavily, approaching the Princess with her head still held low. “It’d be a big honor to have you at our table, Princess. I, uh… I think we can take away some of the chairs and find a cushion or somethin’…”

Celestia chuckled while stepping into the house, her heavier than normal frame causing the old wood to creak in protest. “I’m sure anything you have would be fine, my little pony. I’m not so pampered I can’t enjoy things as others do, despite my servants’ best efforts.”

“Eh heh heh…” Applejack wiped her brow. “I’m sure hopin’ that’s the case,” she said just loud enough for Twilight to hear. “Apple Bloom! Big Mac! Go an’ get the company cushions! The nice ones! We uh… We’re having royalty over for dinner!”

“Really?” Apple Bloom poked her head out from around the corner. “So Twilight made i—Oh, horseapples…”

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack stomped a hoof. “You watch your mouth around the Princess!”

“But… I mean, I—”

Celestia let out a belly laugh while the two sisters started arguing over company etiquette.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she watched her mentor take off her shoes. “You enjoy watching ponies do this, don’t you?”

“Oh, Twilight.” The smile on her face grew twice as large. “You have no idea…”

“Okay!” Applejack circled around the table to get back to her seat. They had to play some sort of songless musical chairs from having a full grown alicorn join the group, but wound up having room to spare, even with Rainbow and Spike joining them. “Everypony comfortable? Need anything, Yer Majesty? Majesties?”

“We’re fine, AJ.” Twilight sat back into the chair and started pouring water into glasses. “And you don’t need to call me ‘Majesty.’ I’ve decided my official moniker is going to be ‘Lady Sparkle,’ but even then you don’t have to use that unless you find yourself in a super-formal setting.”

“Right, okay.” Applejack rubbed her head. “Sorry, it’s just done thrown me for a loop here, havin’ the Princess over for dinner an’ all.”

“Oh, I think it’s quite nice!” Fluttershy sipped from her teacup. “I’m not one for large gatherings, but this feels like we’re all family.”

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh reached over for a large mug of cider and tipped it up for a gulp, only to be caught by the most subtle of disapproving looks from his wife.

He froze in an instant and put it down, then returned it to his lips for a much slower, controlled drink.

Spike leaned over to Twilight and whispered, “Ee-yeah, dude’s definitely married now.”

“Hehe. Well, I, for one, am glad to be back in town for a few days, even if I’m not staying in the tree anymore.” Twilight reached over and gave Spike a quick hug with a foreleg. “We’ve definitely missed this place.”

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow lifted up a glass. “To Ponyville, and all the crazy ponies that live here!”

“Cheers!” The group lifted their glasses, some in magic, some in hooves, and drank.

“Whew! Now that’s good cider!” Rainbow said with a belch. “Hey, AJ, there’s this bar in Cloudsdale that needs to order some of this. Next time I’m there I’ll threaten to break a few more of their windows if they don’t stock up.”

“More windows? What did you do? And you shouldn’t go threatening random sub—” Twilight stopped as a knock came from the door, forcing her ear to twitch. “Are we expecting anypony else?”

Applejack gave her a smirk. “Maaaaaaybe. Why don’tch’all answer it, Twi?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked at her and the other ponies in the room. Only Applejack didn’t looked at least a little confused. “Okaaay…”

Twilight turned and hopped off the chair, only to have Applejack follow her through the living room and to the front door. She lit her horn and slowly started to turn the handle, opening it up and finding the last pony she’d ever think to see.

“Oh…” Twilight Velvet said, putting her ears back. “Hi, Twilight.”

She was carrying a basket of sweets in her mouth, rather than her magic.

Carrying it like an earth pony… She’s trying to make peace with the Apples… Although, to be fair, she never slighted them in their presence. “Hello, mom. I take it Applejack was expecting you?”

Applejack slapped Twilight on the back. “Eeyup. Come on in, Mrs. Velvet, and grab a seat.”

“Please, call me Velvet.” She placed the basket on the ground every bit as gently as Fluttershy might have done. “I’m terribly sorry it’s just me. Lucid, my husband, had to go on a housecall. He doesn’t normally do that, but there aren’t a lot of doctors out here, so he’s taking on some general practitioner work.”

“Aw, shucks, Velvet.” Applejack put a hoof over her heart. “Healin’ folks is a rare and mighty fine talent. I’m not ‘bout ta be upset over somepony lookin’ out for another. That’s the height of Harmony, there. Come on in, we’re just about to get started.”

“Thank you, Applejack, I appreciate the invitation. I—Oh!” Velvet lifted the basket up with her magic before catching herself and lifting it with her hooves instead. “I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook, so I brought a basket of sweets from the town’s café instead. Maybe for dessert?”

“Sounds mighty fine. Y’all can set it over on the corner of the table; I think there’s some space there.” Applejack pointed to a spot as Velvet entered the farmhouse, basket in tow. “And, heh, between you and me, Twi’s not much of a cook, either.”

“Hey, at least I come by it honestly.”

“Quite,” Velvet said, rounding the corner. “I’m sorry I seemed to have passed on my lousy coo—”

The basket hit the floor.

Velvet dropped to the ground, at first in a bow but later covered her head with her hooves as if expecting a great blow from above.

Why is she… Oh, right. Celestia is here. Twilight cleared her throat. “Mom, it’s alright. Celestia is here as a guest of the Apples, as are you. I know there’s… history, recent history here, but I’d very much like it if we could get along tonight, okay?”

“I… I…” Velvet started to back up, opening her eyes for only the briefest of seconds before turning away like the Princess was some blinding light.

“Mrs. Velvet,” Celestia said, her voice as sweet as a song. “We would very much enjoy your company this evening. Won’t you please have a seat at the table? The Apple family has graciously provided quite the elaborate spread.”

Velvet jolted forward like her rump has touched something as cold as dry ice. She struggled as she forced her legs forward, one by one.

The instinct. Mom fought it back at the castle and wound up being punished; it must be reinforced in her now. Celestia invited her in, and now she’s caught between wanting to leave for fear of further punishment, and the orders to stay. Twilight turned and switched to her magic sight, squinting in the bright light that was Celestia’s wellspring. And with Luna’s transformations, there’s evidence to suggest that although familiarity and a pony’s own wellspring size provides substantial protection, the feeling also becomes more forceful as the alicorn’s power grows. Tia, just how powerful are you?

Velvet slid out a chair across from the Princess and climbed up onto it, looking a bit like a scolded foal, ears flat against the back of her head. “Um, thank you, for inviting me, especially after…”

“None of that talk now, ya hear?” Applejack got back in her own seat and took off her hair tie. “This here is supposed to be a family gatherin’, not some fancy shmancy Canterlot socialite stuff. Y’all gotta learn that the Canterlot way ain’t the only way ta do things. Come on, Twi, have a seat!”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she moved back to her place at the Princess’ side. Good sign, good sign. Thank you, Applejack. Now I just have to survive the next couple of hours.

“Well said, Applejack.” Celestia lit her horn and floated the basket over to the table. “And it seems you brought an addition to the feast, Mrs Velvet.”

“Just, candies, Your Highness.” Velvet gulped. “I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook.”

“My little pony, there’s nothing wrong at all with sweets. I’m sure you’ve heard I’m quite the fan of them myself. Now then, what sort do we have here today?” Celestia opened the plastic around the goods and pulled out a small wrapped gumdrop of some kind.

“Tia, you’re going to spoil your appetite!” Twilight rubbed Spike on the head a little. “You’re as bad as a dragon!”

“Princesses get to eat sweets whenever they want, Twilight. It’s one of the perks.” Celestia untied the little blue wrapper around the treat.

“Wait…” Spike leaned over Twilight and stared at the scene. “Twi! Blue wrapper! Blue wrapper!”

“Blue… Wra—” Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Princess! Don’t eat tha—”

The candy flew into the diarch’s mouth, followed by a large, royal chew.

“What?” Celestia shrugged. “It’s not the best, but it’s not… bad… Wait, what’s… What’s happening to.. To my…”

The entire table sat in stark, unbelieving silence. The fear from Velvet had all but washed over the table to every single diner at hearing Celestia’s regal, confident, and undeniably ultra-high-pitched voice.

Celestia pulled a card out of the basket that listed the various kinds of candies contained therein, and read along, again in a voice so squeaky even Fluttershy’s mice sounded deeper. “Blue wrapper… Voice Changers…”

The field around the card fizzled, letting it float gently down to the plate in front of the Princess.

Silence ruled the room with an iron hoof. Not even Twilight knew what to do. There was no logical solution. There was only the intense, unparalleled awkwardness.

“SSSRRRRNK-HA! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Just like that, the silence was overthrown by Celestia’s jovial, but still embarrassingly squeaky, laughter that quickly spread to a revolution of chuckles and guffaws as everyone, even Velvet joined her and at long last relaxed.

“Oh, what will my ponies think of next? Hehe…” Celestia brought a napkin up to wipe her mouth. “If Luna were here… Oh, she’d never let me live this down!”

Twilight wiped a tear of laughter from her eyes as she pulled out a green-wrapped candy. “Here, Princess. The green ones are the antidote.”

Celestia quickly popped it in her mouth and chewed. “Ah, I can feel it,” she said, voice returning to normal. “Thank you, Twilight. I haven’t sounded like that since I visited the Helium Caves.”

“There are caves filled with helium?” Apple Bloom asked as Fluttershy poured the princess a cup of tea.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. And indeed there are, my little pony. There are a great many wonders in this world. I do hope, Twilight, that your travels will take you to some of them.”

“And so do I.” Velvet said.

Twilight tilted her head as she turned her gaze to her mother. “You do?”

“I do.” Velvet sighed, a sad smile creasing her lips. “Go, Twilight, and see this world you’re going to inherit. This town is far too small to contain all your genius. But don’t worry; I’ll hold down the fort here for you. It’s the least I can do.”

“Mom…” Twilight sniffled.

Velvet continued, “And thank you, Princess, for letting me stay. I’m—”

“Mrs. Velvet, this is not my home, so it is not my say. I do not go about wantonly forcing and overstepping the authority of my crown on my subjects to satisfy old grudges.” An uncharacteristically devilish grin formed on her face as she picked up one of the blue-wrapped candies, stuffed it in a scroll, and floated it over to Spike.

Spike aimed his breath at the open window and hit the scroll with a flare, sending it off through his mail spell.

Celestia took a sip of her tea. “That, my little pony, is something I reserve exclusively for my sister.”

Another round of laughs passed across the table as the dinner finally started.

I know I’m about to leave again, but for now… It’s so good to be home.

Author's Note

Hi all.

Thus marks the end of block four! About time, right? I hope you guys enjoyed the first three missions! Next up is mission four and block five! Story wise, there is going to be a bit of a time skip between this chapter and the next. It's a big chapter, though, at over 10k words!

But, I can't post 40 just yet! Here's what I have to do first:

-Catch up with Designing Intrigue. This means being through at least four more chapters of it than I have written now, which means around chapter eight. It's possible that it'll need through chapter ten or even later, though, as it's hard to estimate that far out.
-Write around fifteen thousand more words into Rites, which will allow me to replace chapter 40's words twice over. Why do many? Because block six, comprised of missions six and seven, is going to be freaking huge. Seven is likely to be one of the longest missions in the whole fic! So, I need to write a lot to make it so that I finish writing block six around the time five is all posted.
-Crack the whip on my prereader to hurry up and finally read all of block five to make sure it's all fitting together.
-Edit chapter 40.

Quite a lot to do! But, so far, at least using swipe on the iPad is improving my writing speed.

So, quick question for you guys: which has been your favourite mission so far, and why?

Again, thank you all for sticking with me!

-Cv

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All Aboard

“Don’t worry about being too rough. Just do it!” Celestia whispered in Twilight’s ear as the crowd hushed.

With a deep breath, the Grand Mage of Equestria took aim at her target and charged her horn. The projectile hovered in midair, shimmering with her magic before launching forth like a baseball heading for a home run. A second later, it hit the target, shattering it into a thousand pieces, glass shards and champagne glittered in the air like stars as they rained down the ground far below.

The crowd erupted in cheers as dock workers, soldiers, sailors, nobility, and all sorts of other ponies applauded the christening of the newest ship of the Equestrian Air Fleet: The HMS Bellerophon.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile and cheer from the tingly feeling of joy that was spreading throughout her body. She was on a stage with her mentor, doing a job that Celestia normally did. She felt a little bit like a teenage filly getting to try a sip of alcohol, although she couldn’t help but also feel a little awkward. Luna, who was right beside her, had less military authority than she did.

Celestia stepped up to a podium and waved to her ponies. “And with that, our new warship is ready for service!” She yelled out without even needing a microphone. “Sailors, you have trained and honed your skills for a long time now. At last, it is time to put those skills into practice! Admiral, the ship is yours!"

"By Your Majesty's command!" A mare in front of the assembled sailors bowed, then snapped around to face the crew. "Crew, to stations!"

A small formation of soldiers on the dock turned and snapped a salute, all shouting “Aye-aye!” before turning back and marching in unison up the ramp and into the ship. A second group followed them, doing the same thing before the next group. Each batch was progressively lower in rank, until the entire crew had boarded.

The Admiral stepped up to the podium and the microphone, spreading out her blue wings and lighting her horn while her silver mane blew in the wind. “This is Admiral Tempest. Commence engine start!”

A winged unicorn… Just like Cadence, and one of only a few dozen in existence, Twilight thought, shifting a bit in her seat and noticing something on Silver Tempest’s back. Is… Is that a katana?

She closed her eyes and pulled at her wellspring, shifting to her magic sight. There were two very bright points of light in front of her. One was Tempest’s bright dual-magic wellspring, and another was buried in the hilt of the sword. Not just a katana! That’s a bonded blade!

A buzzing sound carried through the air for a moment as power flowed into the ship’s turbines, and was then replaced by the roaring whir of the engines of the world’s largest and most powerful airship.

Tempest turned and bowed to the Princess, and Twilight noticed the four red bars on the sleeves and shoulders of her odd, black uniform. It’s somewhere in between a martial arts uniform and a kimono… I guess generals get the privilege to fully customize their uniforms.

“Your Highness! Your ship stands ready! What are your orders?”

Tempest’s words were part of the standard ceremony, but Twilight felt they were spoken strangely. It was more aggressive than normal, but that aggression was not directed towards the Princesses.

Celestia smiled, her position at the podium having her stand towering over the Admiral even more than normal. “Prepare your ship, Admiral. At oh-eight-hundred hours tomorrow, you set sail!”

“At once! All crew, prepare to take on supplies! We sail tomorrow!” She jumped into action, barking orders as ponies scrambled to begin loading the ship with all the supplies it would need for its extended mission.

“She is a sword eager to be used,” Luna commented as her sister made her way towards the Nobles' tents. “Young and brash. Talented, no doubt, but she still has much to learn.”

“I can’t help but feel I have even more to learn,” Twilight sighed. “This is going to be a tricky mission. I’m not sure how I’m going to remain ‘undetected’ while figuring out where that bonded core came from. If I’m spotted—”

"As Tia no doubt told you, even if you are found out, Zebrica is incapable of posing a threat to Equestria. President Malkia could scream and holler, but little else. Also, if you feel it a lost cause, the source of the gem isn’t something that will save or break us. You may abandon it without fear.”

“Maybe...” Twilight took in a deep breath. “I just really don’t like going into something expecting to fail. I like to have a plan to succeed.”

Luna smirked. “Often times, soldiers like to say ‘failure is not an option.’ This time one of your objectives may be such a wild goose chase that success may not be an option. You needn’t worry. Tia and I are fully aware of this fact.”

“Mmm…” Twilight groaned a little, looking off to the hills in the distance. Fall had come in full swing, painting Canterlot Valley in colors seen only once per year. Hues of gold, crimson, and auburn dotted the landscape inbetween large patches of green grass and fields of crops already harvested. A strong breeze blew through her mane and caressed her ears, but unlike prior years, she didn’t feel its icy sting at all. Though she hadn’t learned to shield herself from wind with her pegasus magic yet, her new, thicker coat was all it took to protect her. Only in her eyes and nose could she still feel the bite of the oncoming winter.

Luna stepped up and joined her with a wing around her back. “‘Tis my second favorite season, after winter. Not so much for the anticipation of snow and the delicate, soft hues of a winter night, but because of the sheer brilliance of the color and the crispness one feels when breathing in. Such weather always gets me in the mood to paint with colors I normally only rarely use.”

“Pardon me, Your Highnesses.”

Twilight’s ears perked at the new voice behind her and she turned around to find Admiral Tempest. I didn’t hear her approach…

The Admiral bowed deeply. “I apologize for interrupting, but I was wondering if I could speak with the Grand Mage privately… with permission from both of you, of course.”

Luna nodded. “I’m sure there’s some alcohol somewhere with my name on it. In case I can’t see you off, Twilight, good luck on your mission. Stay in touch when you can.” Luna jumped into the air and flew off to the nobility's reserved refreshment table.

“Lady Sparkle? Would you please follow me?” Tempest turned, motioning to a more private area behind the stage wall.

Twilight lifted an eyebrow, but relented and followed. What’s her deal?

Once they were out of sight, Tempest began to speak. “Lady Sparkle, are you aware of the current state of Equestria’s navy?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not certain I am to the extent you’re expecting. I know that our naval fighting force is very limited compared to our land and pegasi forces. This is mostly due to the fact that our only potential rivals over the oceans are so far away a sea-based assault would be impractical at best. The Gryphons also have no navy to speak of, so most ponies saw little point in spending bits on a large naval force.”

“You are correct, Grand Mage.” She turned and stopped in front of a cave leading to the other side of the mountain and Canterlot proper. “After the airship that carried the prior Princesses and Princes of Canterlot and the Lost was destroyed, Equestria mostly ceased investing in ships, whether they traversed the oceans or the skies. Except for Neighpon.”

“And the Bittish Isles, don’t forget. They’re both island Duchies. Marelaysia has a bit of a vested interest as well.” Twilight lifted her journal out, checking her notes on the Bellerophon. “And we’ve certainly restarted spending as a nation. Something like sixty million bits so far, not counting training sailors in its operation.”

Tempest nodded. “It’s about time the Council realized the value of these ships as weapon platforms, and I believe we have your brother to thank for that. We’re behind where we should be, but at last there is at least some progress. The issue most heavy on my mind right now, though, is that of experience.

“To be frank, Equestria’s navy does not have anypony whom I feel is qualified to captain the Bellerophon. Not yet, anyway. As such, I have taken command of her myself, and selected an executive officer I believe may have potential.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped a little. “That’s… highly unorthodox. I don’t know much about military procedure, but that can’t be normal.”

“It isn’t. I had to obtain special permission from Her Highness Princess Celestia in order to do this. However, I believe that with better training, we may yet transform our navy into a respectable force, and I am… uniquely qualified to lead this effort.” She lifted her katana and pulled it slightly out of its sheath, staring at the silvery reflection in the blade.

Tempest continued, “I grew up in Neighpon, and my family owns many ships. I’ve spent more time on a deck than on soil or cloud. I killed my first pirate at age fifteen. Sailing is my life, Lady Sparkle. Trust me when I say I have a level of authority on this.”

Twilight shuddered. Taking a life at fifteen… I can’t even imagine… “Okay, I’ll trust you on it. I take it that you’ll be the commanding officer during my mission?”

The Admiral shook her head and sheathed her sword. “No. You are the commanding officer for the mission. I am the commanding officer for the Bellerophon. You tell me what needs to be done, and I will issue the commands needed to the ship and crew to see it through.”

Some wind blew through the tunnel entrance, filling the air with a slight dankness that Twilight wrinkled her nose at. “Sounds good to me. The only experience I really have with airships is my little hot air balloon, and that’s a far cry from a warship. I’d honestly much rather leave command of the ship itself in your hooves.”

Tempest turned away and spread her wings, viewing Twilight through a corner of one of her emerald green eyes. “Then there's only one more thing I need to know."

Twilight froze still as Tempest leaned in close, their muzzles almost touching as Tempest stared into her eyes."Um, what are you--"

"Hush," Tempest hissed. "I need to know. Tell me, why are you here?"

"Um, because Celestia gave me this mission."

"No, not that. Why are you here? What drives you? What does your heart feel that makes you put yourself at risk? Do not speak, show me with your eyes..." Tempest tilted Twilight's head up as she gazed, examining her from several angles. "Yes, I see now. So many possibilities. I think, Lady Sparkle, that we’ll get along just fine. I look forward to working with you. Until tomorrow.”

She flapped her wings and took off into the sky, leaving Twilight to watch her soar back down towards the ship. I wonder if any of the other Generals are that, well, eccentric. I suppose one needs to be exceptional in both skill and personality to go that far up the ranks… Hmm? A trickle of pebbles and dust fell down the cliff face behind her. What's that?

Her eyes snapped to the sight of a pony’s head poking over a rampart above her, and as she squinted she could just barely make out a light blue coat and a large purple hat. Is that… Trixie? What’s she doing outside of the war room? Twilight looked around, checking for an easy way up. Hmm… Wards should be minimal out here.

She lit her horn, pushing a substantial amount of energy into it as the targeting portion of the spell resolved itself, finding a landing point. A crack went through the air as she shifted up to the ramparts in a flash of purple light, her hooves clopping on the stone after dropping a few inches.

“Twilight? Is that you?” Trixie asked.

Twilight was busy holding her head and shaking off the inevitable nausea from teleporting that far, but did manage to open her eyes to find Trixie in a wheelchair. “Ugh. Yup. Me. At least, I think it’s all of me. I’m always a little nervous I might leave a piece behind when I teleport this far.”

“You…” Trixie's eye twitched. “You can teleport?”

Twilight rattled her head, getting her bearings again. “It was one of the first spells Princess Celestia had me learn, though it was years before I could use it. Still, I can say it's the first spell I've truly mastered inside and out. Not that I can go very far. It’s nothing like what the Princesses do.”

Trixie took off her hat with a hoof and slumped down. “Trixie… I’ve been trying to master that spell for ages…”

Twilight walked up to her and sat down, leaning against the rampart. “It’s not easy, but I’ve had a lot of practice at it now. Though, I have to ask, why are you up here instead of in the war room?”

Trixie wheeled herself back over to the rampart wall and looked out to the docks below. “It's been weeks, Twilight Sparkle. I’m grateful for your protection, but honestly, I needed some fresh air. Or at least air that didn’t smell of stale coffee.”

Hey, coffee is one of the best smells ev— okay let’s not judge her too harshly based on that. She did say 'stale.' “I can understand. It must feel good to get out of the war room after all this time. How are the legs healing?”

The sound of hoofsteps approached, and Twilight turned to see a guard marching along the rampart, stopping every so often to look over the edge and scan the countryside.

Trixie sighed and waited for the guard to pass before continuing. “They’re… healing. Slowly. Trixie’s doctor in the castle brought in some kind of potion to help. I’m sure you’ve heard normal healing magic doesn’t work with me anymore.”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. “I did. It must be awful. Trixie, if you need to talk or anything, I—”

Trixie lifted a hoof to stop her. “Trixie… does not wish to speak of this here. The Night Guard is everywhere. Trixie, I, need someplace more private.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “I can help with that. Follow me.”

“Wait, are we even allowed up here?” Trixie squirmed in her wheelchair as Twilight levitated it up the long staircase. “Trixie is sure we’ll get in deep trouble if we try to pass those guards…”

Twilight laughed a little, keeping her magic focused on the gem in Trixie’s chair to keep her telekinetic field active. “Trust me, we’ll be just fine,” Twilight said, a chuckle still going as they breezed past the guards.

“B-But we’re in the highest part of the castle by now! I-Trixie heard this is where the Princesses keep their private chambers! If we intrude, Trixie’s protection will be revoked and she’ll—”

“Trixie, you’re going back into third person. Relax. I’ve got the run of the whole castle. I practically grew up here. As long as you’re with me, the guards won’t trouble you.”

Trixie was still shaking some, but she settled back in her chair and nodded. “Tr—I’ll trust you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight shook her head, going up the penultimate set of stairs. “That’s another thing. You don’t need to use my full name. If you really want to be formal, use ‘Lady Sparkle,’ but I’d prefer it if you’d just use ‘Twilight.’”

“Trixie is…” Trixie sighed. “Very well, Twilight. But, where are you taking me?”

Twilight smirked while going up the last set of steps. I guess this is how Celestia and Luna feel when I’m freaking out over something trivial. “You’ll see.”

Trixie’s eyes grew wider and wider as they approached the top of the stairs and stopped in front of the large double doors to Celestia’s chambers, the sun carved into them making it explicitly clear as to what they were.

Trixie swung her head around to face Twilight. “Y-You can’t possibly be serious! There!? We’ll get put in the dungeon for sure! Trixie shouldn’t even be this close to them!”

Twilight’s grin grew threefold. “No, not there. I mean, I could use that, and I’ve been in there plenty of times. I am her personal student. But, there was another place I had in mind.” Twilight turned Trixie’s chair to the right, showing her a different set of double doors with a different cutie mark emblazoned on them.

Based on her expression, Twilight was sure that, were it physically possible, somepony near the base of the mountain would’ve been hit on the head with Trixie’s jaw. Yeah. This is definitely what Celestia feels like when I’m freaking out over something silly.

“Trixie doesn’t believe it… They gave you your own quarters? Here!?”

Twilight gently pushed Trixie’s chair down the hall towards her room. “One step down, as a representation of my distance from the Sisters,” Twilight noted, lowering the chair gently. “Luna decorated it personally.”

She pushed the doors open and wheeled her in, watching her guest’s face with far more amusement than should be legally possible. “I have to say, she outdid herself. I’m finding new little details all the time.”

“T-T-Trixie is… is…”

Twilight parked the wheelchair, then ran up and dived into her cloud bed, sending a few tufts into the air. “Yup! I was pretty much the same way when I saw it. I know you’re an earth unicorn, but if you have time, learn the cloudwalking spell. Cloud beds are honestly worth it.”

Trixie grabbed her face with both hooves and sighed. “Okay, Trixie admits it. She is… jealous. Severely jealous.”

Twilight stood up and shook off the bits of cloud on her. “I didn’t intend that. Honestly, I was trying to make to feel welcome, included. But, if it makes you feel better, I’m about to spend most of the next week or two cooped up in an airship. Still, this room is private, Trixie.” Twilight lit her horn and closed the doors before laying down on the floor in front of her guest. “I’m here to listen to anything you need to say.”

“Right now I just want to tell you how much I hate you.” Trixie glared for a moment, but seemed to give up right after. “But I can’t. The only reason Trixie isn’t dead or worse is because of you.”

Twilight put her ears down. “You really don’t know anything about the ponies after you?”

“Other than their penchant for illusions? No, Trixie does not. It’s been… Celestia, I don’t even know anymore. Years. I was caught once, but broke free and ran. I don’t intend to ever be captured like that again.” Trixie rubbed her hoof over her cast, staring at her legs.

Twilight sat up and put a hoof on the chair. “I don’t intend to allow it, Trixie. We’ll figure out what’s going on. I want you to be able to go back to doing your shows someday.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “I’m so out of practice, I don’t even know if I can.”

Hmm… Twilight folded her forelegs and tapped her chin with a hoof. “Why not try now? I’m willing to watch if you don’t insult me.”

Trixie scoffed, then winced and rubbed her cast. “I appreciate the gesture, Twilight Sparkle, but Trixie’s cart is back in Hoofington and probably taken away, destroyed, or impounded by now. All of her things are there. All I have is my hat and cape, and I don’t have anything to pull out of either at this point.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m the Grand Mage of Equestria, and we’re in my private chambers next door to those of the Eternal Sisters. Something tells me I have the pull to get some magician’s materials on short notice. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Is this your card?” Trixie pulled out a card from the top of the deck and showed the three of clubs.

Twilight shook her head. “Nope.”

Trixie smiled with an aggressive, mischievous grin. “Then how about the card behind your ear?”

Twilight blinked and instinctively reached up with a hoof. “Behind my—” Her words died in her mouth as her hoof found something and pulled it down to check. “Queen of diamonds… That’s it! How did—”

“Sleight of hoof, misdirection, subtle illusions… It all adds up. Trixie must admit, it feels good to do this again. Do you know how I got started with magic shows?” Trixie took all the cards and started to shuffle.

“No, I don’t. Maybe you saw a magician as a foal? That’s kind of how I knew I wanted to study magic. I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun.”

“I’m afraid not everypony lives as blessed a life as you, Lady Sparkle. I was born in a small Roan village. My mother drank our money away, and I never knew my father. So I started to pick ponies’ pockets. Eventually, Trixie got caught doing so at a travelling carnival, and the ringmaster took pity on me. Showed me a few things. After that, I ran away from home to join the act.”

Twilight cringed. “Oh. I’m so sorry…”

Trixie flourished the cards, adding new and more complicated moves with each shuffle. “I ate better with the carnival ponies than I ever did with mother, so I don’t regret it. It’s the distant past, Twilight. Trixie has other concerns these days.”

“I understand. How are your legs? Will you be able to walk again soon?”

The cards scattered in an eruption of plastic. “Probably… The doctor says that as long as I take the potion and stay off of them, Trixie should be walking again when you get back from your trip. And, provided there isn’t nerve damage, although the pain is a good indicator things will still work.”

“That’s some good news, then. I was going to see if I could find any better potions in Zebrica while I’m there, but it sounds like you’ll be okay. Do you have everything you need otherwise? I’m sure I can arrange it so that the Canterlot Library will send you whatever books you want.”

“You’ve been more help to Trixie than she deserves already,” Trixie said, picking up her cards. “If anything, it’s just frustrating not having anything left to do. I already gave my spell to RGIS. I don’t have much else to offer.”

“What about improving your spell?” Twilight asked. “Right now it detects the illusions, but it only tells us what direction they’re in. What about something to see through them?”

Trixie shook her head and put away her cards. “Impossible! At least, not without knowing the basic structure of their illusions. Trixie has gone through every illusion spell out there, Twilight Sparkle. They’re using something completely different.”

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment. Hmm...

‘Yes. This is absolutely magic borne from Lady Optika’s illusions. How in Equestria anypony knows of those is beyond my ability to guess, but I’m certain of it. They used to use large, heavy crystals on tripods to help amplify their abilities over a larger area. Lady Optika herself didn’t need them, of course, but her followers made extensive use of them and similar devices…’

“What if…” Twilight started, then rechecked her thoughts. “What if there were a way to figure that out? I've tried researching it myself, but I haven’t had time to really dive into their private library, and it's such a mess, the one time I tried I couldn't really find anything on it there anyway. But Luna seemed to have some knowledge of these illusions already. I don't know how much she knows, but if I can convince her to share her knowledge, would it help?”

Trixie’s eye twitched. “You… you have access to the Princesses’ private library?”

Twilight tapped the gem in her torc. “Grand Mage, personal student… Like I said, I basically have free run of the castle. If I was able to get that information for you, could you try working on that spell?”

Trixie leaned back in her chair and held her head like she had a headache. “I… probably could. But… Twilight, if I asked you a question, would you answer it honestly?”

Twilight nodded. “As best I could, but I have a high security clearance now, so there may be some things—”

Trixie stomped her forehooves on her chair. “Did the Princesses choose you to be the next alicorn?”

Twilight froze still, unable to so much as blink.

“I see. Dammit all, Sparkle, you get all the luck.” Trixie slammed her wheelchair again. “It’s been, what, how many thousands of years without anypony becoming an alicorn? And they just choose you?”

Twilight’s nostril twitched ever so slightly. Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap… Do damage control or Luna will lock her away to keep the secret safe. “Wait, Trixie, it’s not that simple. I wasn’t chosen. I just…”

“Then what, pray tell?” Trixie scoffed. “They’ve certainly showered you with gifts. Honestly, after I saw what you did to the Ursa, I suspected it. Then I started noticing things in the war room, like how those two pervert twins refused to even consider aiming their lechery at you. I told myself I was being paranoid, but they’re treating you like a Princess already. And you’re already walking on clouds without a cloudwalking spell, and yes, Trixie can tell. She has a finely tuned sense of magic. There are wards that we passed that should have cancelled that spell, and you never recast it. I'd have noticed. There's this static feeling whenever somepony uses that spell."

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not about being chosen. It’s about magic. A pony whose wellspring crosses a certain size threshold starts the change. It has nothing to do with being chosen by the princesses. I’m an ‘alicorn ascendant.’ It’ll be years before I fully ascend.”

Trixie cringed, then flopped down in her chair, burying her face in her forelegs. “Ugh. Wonderful. So much for ‘great and powerful.’ What a crock.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and let it out. “Nopony is saying you aren’t powerful, Trixie. In fact…” She shifted briefly to her sight to confirm her theory. “Your wellspring is quite large. Not as large as it needs to be for an ascension, but even so, I’d say you’re maybe a tenth of the strength of my brother. That doesn’t sound like much, but considering he’s far and away the most powerful unicorn known other than myself, that’s still saying something. You are powerful, Trixie.”

“But not as powerful as you,” Trixie mumbled.

“Well, no, but…” Think, Twilight! We were so close to making her a friend! Think! “But will it really matter? If I ascend, surely ponies wouldn’t try to compare us anymore, right? Nopony expects a unicorn to be a match for an alicorn…”

Trixie blinked, her stare going wide. “Trixie didn’t think of that. If the rivalry vanished…”

Twilight smiled. Yes, keep going… “You’d be judged on your own merits again, not in comparison to me. It might take a little time, but in the end, I’m sure you’d have your name in lights again. I’d even be willing to help that along.”

Trixie sighed. “Okay, Twilight Sparkle. You win. Trixie forgives you, but she’s going to hold you to that promise.”

“Does that mean you’ll keep this a secret?” Twilight swallowed. “There are ponies out there that would really go after me if they know what was happening. And, honestly, I'm already going to have to tell Luna and RGIS that you know. It's going to take some convincing to stop them from keeping you in the war room until I'm crowned."

Trixie held up one hoof and crossed her heart with the other. “Of course. Trixie swears on her power and her life that she will never reveal that secret. Trixie knows what it is like being hunted. She wouldn’t wish that on anypony. Trixie is also sure that if she spilled that secret, she’d be hunted by the princesses as well as these illusionists, and Princess Luna already placed some kind of tracking spell on me. Trixie would be dead for sure! And… I’ll keep working on the third person thing. It’s difficult, separating myself from my old stage persona. After Ponyville, the two have... They aren't different, anymore.”

“The masks we wear…” Twilight got up and stretched her back. “I know some other ponies that have similar trouble. Ever consider just trying a different persona? Maybe, ‘Trixie the Great, Powerful, and Affable?”

“Ha! Don’t press your luck, Twilight!” She thrust a hoof in Twilight’s direction as a loud grumble emanated from her stomach. “Although, at the moment I appear to be ‘Trixie, the Great, Powerful, and Starving. I should get to the mess hall before they close down lunch.”

Twilight shook her head. “Come on, let’s go to the royal dining room. I’ll have the royal chefs make us something. Perhaps a classical Roan dish for a taste of home? And I'll poke them to be quick about it.”

Trixie chuckled, lighting her horn to control her wheelchair. “At this rate, you’re going to spoil me. Not that I mind, though. But what I really want is that information on their spells.” She tilted her hat forward and grinned like a hungry predator. “It's high time Trixie showed these phantoms what it means to be in the spotlight!”

“Okay guys, everything packed and on the ship?” Twilight checked the final box on her list and packed it away before the breeze on the dock could take it to some faraway land.

“All set, Twi.” Spike gave a little salute then banged his chest plate with a fist. “Even tested the new cushion-fall spell in the armor. Works like a charm. I bet I could jump right out of the ship and not get a scratch.”

“Well, let’s not test that theory just yet, okay?” Twilight said with a smirk. “You ready, Rainbow?”

“Yeah, but I think you’re rubbing off on me with this whole ‘forgetting to get a manecut’ thing.” Rainbow spat, presumably to get some hair out of her mouth. “Think the ship has a barber?”

“A basic one, I think. It is meant to be deployed on extended missions. Well, if that’s all, then you two get on the ship. I need to see Celestia one more time before we take off.”

Her two guards saluted again and started up the ramp, leaving Twilight to herself on the dock. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were tons of ponies and activity, but they paid her no mind in their hustle and bustle to get the ship ready for its first mission, which she would be in command of.

With a dry throat, Twilight swallowed and started a trot back up the ramp to the castle itself. She only got as far as a high rampart, however, before Celestia flew down and landed in front of her.

“Ah! Hello, Princess. Come to see us off?” Twilight said with a bow. “I expected to meet you in the war room.”

“I figured I’d save you the trip.” Celestia smiled. “Besides, I was giving a certain somepony a ride.” The Princess waved her hoof then tapped on the ground, and a small chariot came in for a landing next to her, carrying Ponyville's only zebra.

<> Twilight said using the Zebrican dialect she’d taught her.

<<… No, I can’t say that I am.>> Zecora lowered her ears. <>

<>

Zecora walked towards her and put a hoof on her shoulder. <>

Twilight reached out and gave her a small hug. <>

<> Zecora smiled a little before walking down the ramp behind her with Celestia, the pegasus soldier from the chariot carrying her things.

Twilight had fully intended to watch her leave for a couple more seconds and wave, as she knew Celestia would as well. She did not count on her entire world going dark coupled with a tense grip on her head and a low, bass growl of a voice behind her saying "Don't move. Just guess."

This interruption had a physical form, and judging by the presence of armor pressing on her back, it was a pony.

She elbowed it in the stomach, then grabbed its leg with her hooves and tossed it in front of her, slamming it on the ground and stomping on its chest. The last part would have worked brilliantly if not for the gray-purple cat-eye gem that roared like a puma and projected a shield in front of her hoof.

"Not bad, Twily!" Obsidian Armor held up a hoof for help up. "Good reaction, though you shouldn't let me sneak up on you like that."

Twilight laughed as she grabbed him and pulled him to his hooves. "Night Guard and their crazy hiding abilities. I swear, Shiny, someday you're going to try that and I'm going to actually hurt you without thinking about it."

"Oh, that'll be the day. Cady wouldn't ever let me live that down. But, I think I have a long time before that happens. Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about. Remember to keep practicing on this trip, and reach out to the crew. Keep making friends like you always do." Obsidian pulled her into a hug, which Twilight returned.

“That's the plan, BBBFF. You here to see me off?”

“Yep. And I have a going away present for you.” He reached into a compartment in his armor and took out a small blue book. “Take a peek.”

“Ah, my brother, always knows what to get me for a trip.” Twilight lifted it out of his grasp and opened it up. There was no index or preamble, nor printed letters. Everything was scribbled in with a unique style of hornwriting: his. Magic symbols started almost right away, and the assembled spell took shape in her mind. “Barrier spells?”

Obsidian looked around, seemingly checking for eavesdroppers. “Not just any barriers. My barriers. The personal ones I use when I go into combat. Well, a few of the layers, anyway. I haven’t kept written notes on them in ages, and mine are highly personalized, so these took a bit to put together, and they’re still very incomplete. But, I included the most important basic layers, including the inertial processing submatrix.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Inertial pro… Wait, you don’t mean the layers that—“

“Yeah, those. Once you have them fine-tuned, you could get hit with a locomotive and survive like you’d only been shoved. See this area here?” He turned to a page in the middle of the book. “Right there. It controls how your velocity and acceleration interact with how you get hit. Sure, it might look like you just got tossed into a mountain at barely sub-sonic speeds, but that’s because the shield absorbed, stored, and slowly released the energy at a safe rate. If you collide with something, it’ll transfer the energy into that. It’s saved my life hundreds of times, and now, it can save yours.”

“Shiny… You never give this out! When I asked about it you said it was classif— Oh…”

Obsidian laughed. “Yes, little miss Grand Mage, you have security clearance now. Although it wasn’t really ever classified, just something I didn’t give out. Not even the other Generals have the knowledge in that notebook. After all, the less others know about my shields, the more of an advantage I have. I also put some other tricks I have up my sleeve in there, so, protect that thing, will you?”

Twilight stuffed it in her saddlebag and put a seal on the flap. “I’ll memorize it and burn it right away. If they want the ashes, they’ll have to climb in the Bellerophon’s reactor. The several-thousand-degree, thaumatically radioactive reactor.”

“I don’t think you have to go that far, but knowing you…”

“Hey, you’re my BBBFF. I’m not going to let—“

“—Anything happen to you,” Obsidian finished. “That’s my line, little sis, but thank you.” He leaned forward and gave her a hug, squeezing her hard enough to knock the wind out of her. “You take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yeah.” She gasped, refilling her lungs. “You too.”

Twilight stretched out on her plush, red velvet bed inside the special royal chambers of the Bellerophon, listening to the airship’s turbines thrust them through the sky. This bed is just like Celestia’s. It’s not quite a cloud bed, but it’s still more comfortable than a glorified cushion has any right to be.

“Hey, Twi, is it okay if I take a nap?” Rainbow rolled over and yawned. “Not like there’s much else to do here.”

Twilight nodded and yawned, too. “Yeah. Just, don’t sleep too much. We’re going to be here for a while, remember.”

“I brought the cards,” Spike said, pulling out a deck and leaning back against a locked-shut bookcase. “It’s something at least. Thanks for letting us bunk with you, Twi. I wasn’t looking forward to being crammed in there with the other soldiers. No offense to them, but, well...”

“No problem.” Twilight chuckled. “This room was meant for Celestia, after all. And I think the three of us put together are about her size. Maybe.”

“Heh. Yeah, there are some advantages to being short. Aerody-namic!” Rainbow flopped over on her back, then crawled under the cot’s blanket.

Spike shuffled the cards over his head. “Pfft. You’re not the ones who are supposed to grow ten stories tall. You have any idea how awkward that’s going to be?”

“Pardon me, Grand Mage?” A metal clanging sound came from the hatch-like door, the sound of a hoof tapping it. “It’s Admiral Tempest.”

Twilight lit her horn and opened the door, letting the admiral step in and bow.

“I apologize for bothering you, but I wanted to inform you that we’re currently nearing Manehattan. We’ll be over the sea by the end of the day. Also, I felt that it would be a good time to introduce you to the special teams onboard the ship that will support you on the mission.”

“Sounds good to me,” Twilight said, standing up and stretching. “It’s going to be a long trip. May as well make some friends. Rainbow, Spike, do you two want to come?”

“Nap is priority right now.” Rainbow yawned. “Spent a lot of time flying around a while ago. Need to recover some energy.”

“I’ll pass for now, too. I think I should head down to the cargo bay and practice.” Spike pulled out his halberd. “It’s been too long since I did. I think I’m getting rusty, and Celestia said there’s no leyline where we’re going.”

“Suit yourselves. Admiral? Lead the way.” Twilight and Tempest stepped through the hatchway and walked down the hall, their hooves clanking on the metal grating under them as they walked.

“There’s a secondary bunk area down here, meant to hold specialist teams for just this type of mission.” They stopped at another hatch, and Tempest opened it up.

“Captain on deck!”

They hadn’t even managed to set a single hoof inside before the yell, and by the time Silver had been halfway through the opening, all of the ponies were standing at attention with a salute.

“As you were.”

Twilight ducked into the room as the Admiral’s orders were given, and she looked around. The far wall was painted military black, which meant it had a tinge of green. Yellowish fluorescent lights didn’t do much to make the place any more cheery. A series of bunks, hooflockers, and equipment lockers were laid out to form two individual alcoves. She caught a glimpse of some Day Guard armor in the far one, and a look in a mirror on the wall confirmed the presence of at least two pegasi.

Directly in front of her, however, was a group of ponies of a very different sort that she had never seen before.

“Lady Sparkle, meet some of General Nocturne’s elites.” She pointed with a hoof to the group of ponies, six soldiers strong, all of them in dark camouflage armor.

The group didn’t quite look like Night Guard. They lacked the bat wings and feline eyes, but one could be forgiven for thinking they were under Luna’s charge. Each one had a dark coat of hair and dark manes to go with it. Most of them had been cleaning weapons, armor or other supplies. There were two of each tribe of varying ranks, but only one officer, a unicorn, who was stepping over towards Twilight.

“Lady Sparkle? I’m Lieutenant Precision Strike, first in command of the Spec Ops Team Jungle Thunder.” His lime green eyes were practically beacons compared to the rest of his colors, to say nothing of the dark bulkhead behind him. “We’ve been assigned here to make absolutely certain no harm comes to you. The Day Guard jocks over there can fly you out of anything, but we’re the ones that will provide the exfil route if things turn sour.”

Twilight cringed. “I appreciate the sentiment, Lieutenant, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that.”

Strike smirked. “Well, you see, Lady Sparkle, we in Spec Ops always expect trouble. Hoping for no trouble gets you trouble.” He turned to the ponies behind him. “In fact, those in General Nocturne’s Army have a little saying about hope, don’t we?”

Their response rang out in perfect unison. “We’re damned! We’re damned! No hope for heaven!”

Twilight rubbed her ear. “Cheery…”

“It’s actually a reference to an old Roan proverb, Lady Sparkle.” Tempest cleared her throat. “Una salus victis nu—”

“Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem.” Twilight finished the line for her. “The only hope for the doomed is to not hope for safety. In other words, to accept one’s fate and abandon all hope and fear.”

The unicorn Corporal mare next to him exposed a Cheshire smile. “Well, what do you know? Always heard she was smart.”

“The Captain’s little sister and Celestia’s personal protégé? I expect nothing less.” The Lieutenant gave her a proud smile. “If she has even half the wellspring of her big brother, General Blueblood had better watch out. She'll take his number two spot for largest wellspring in just a few years.”

A nervous, sheepish chuckle escaped her lips while she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Actually, mine is larger. Like, four or five times larger.”

If not for the shuffling activities of the day guard in the other alcove, one could have heard a pin drop on a pillow as the wide-eyed team was stunned into silence.

Aw, crap. I hate it when they do this… Actually there’s a small part of me that kind of likes it and that disturbs me even more. Twilight cleared her throat, racking her brain for a response. “But, I don’t have anywhere near the level of training Shining does, and my horn is like a squirt gun compared to his.”

The soldiers seemed to relax a little at this. The key word there, however, was ‘little.’

“Well,” the Lieutenant said through a sigh. “At the very least you seem to be far more laid-back than he ever was.”

“Chuh. Tell me about it,” one of the other soldiers, an Earth Pony Sergeant, said as he shivered. “The Captain was the toughest, hardest, meanest, strictest CO I’ve ever had. He makes General Blueblood look like a tourist on holiday.”

Twilight's jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me! I know Shining! He helped raise me! There’s no way he was that bad!”

“Atten-tion!”

Two rows of soldiers snapped to attention in perfect unison, standing at the ready for the inspection of their barracks. Recruit Precision Strike was among them, face as unflinching as he could make it given the rumours he had heard.

One by one, the unicorn commander examined each pony’s space, his face growing more sour with each passing glance. As he arrived at Strike’s bed, he held up a hoof, and gently tapped it on the blanket.

“Recruit!”

Almost every muscle in Strike’s body tilted as he gave a salute, no thanks to his heart, which decided to stop working altogether. “Sir!”

“Care to explain why your bed doesn’t meet regulations?”

“Sir?”

A little coin floated in Shining’s magic, waiting in front of the unfortunate soul’s face.

“Heads you lose, tails you lose,” the demon said through clenched teeth.

I’m going to die…

The coin flipped up into the air and landed on the bed with a whump, showing heads up.

“You. Lose.”

At this point, the only thing Strike could see were the two furious eyes of most righteous evil.

I’m… Going to die… Strike reached up to give another salute, this time shaky and weak. “Sir? Is there something —”

He snapped his head to the other bed, flicking the coin at it. It bounced off and hit the floor. "Your bed should be made so tightly, the coin bounces. Heads you lose, tails you lose."

Mother… Strike squeaked softer than any mouse in history.

Shining lit his horn again, casting a spell on the other bed. A magic circle on the bed appeared out of the ether, reacting to and dissolving in the hellspawn’s magic. Whatever enchantment had been there was now thaumic waste.

The coin flipped again. It was tails.

Cerberus’s master was in the other soldier’s face. He didn’t move from Strike to the other pony, yet somehow, he was just there, and defying all rules of physical reality, he was somehow angrier.

“And you lose even more.”

There was now a puddle on the tile.

“Oh come on!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “There’s no way he was that bad!”

Everypony looked at each other.

“Now listen up! My name is Lieutenant Armor! I serve the Princess under the command of Grand General Blueblood!" The wraith in the guise of a pony snapped his attention to some random poor soul. "It is not normal for a Lieutenant to be assigned to drill even the most promising of recruits! So, do you know why I'm here instead of a Drill Sergeant, Recruit Trashbin?"

"Sir, that's not my name, Sir!"

”Are you calling me a liar, Recruit Trashbin?”

A pony in the corner of the room started to chuckle, but by the time he got to his second laugh, Armor was there, and his soul was forfeit.

"What are you laughing at, Recruit Latrine?!"

Latrine's lip quivered. "I'm-I'm not--"

"You are now! So perhaps you'd like to answer the question! Why, Recruit Latrine, is a Lieutenant here instead of a Sergeant?"

"I-I-I..."

"It's because somepony up in command doesn't think my leadership is worth a damn, so they're having me prove otherwise by giving me a group of colts that aren't even fit to eat out of the base dumpsters!

"So, it's up to me to turn you sacks of afterbirth into killing machines brave enough, tough enough, and lethal enough to go up to the Gryphon King and bend her over your lap! And the first step in doing that is to make this barracks sparkle like a diamond in an outhouse pit!"

"Typical stick-brain."

A flash of light overtook the entire barracks, squeezing the recruits like an anaconda and lifting them all into the air.

"Who said that?! Who bucking said that?!"

Strike struggled against the telekinetic field to no avail, even when he tried to disrupt it with his own magic. None of the others were faring any better. The pegasi being caught he could understand; their main defense against telekinesis was their speed, but unicorns and earth ponies could normally stop hostile telekinesis from holding them easily. Yet, this God of Tartarus was crushing them all in blue light as he walked past, releasing them one by one.

"Wasn't you, you're too much of a wimp, no, no, no, aha!" He had stopped at an earth pony who would no doubt be roasted over a volcano to serve some unholy master. "Recruit, do you know how large my wellspring is?!"

It looked like the stallion, possibly soon to be gelding, was getting crushed like an empty soup can. "Sir, no Sir!"

"Can you judge anypony's wellspring size or output by looking at them?!"

"Ack! I mean, Sir, no Sir!"

"That's right, Recruit! So every single enemy bastard you come across you treat like mother-bucking Nightmare Moon herself and you kill, kill, kill! Now, what was it you called me? Stick-brain? Well, guess what, dirt-lover, I am a stick-brain! I am the most powerful stick-brain this side of General Blueblood, and I've insulted more ponies than you have hairs in your mane, with language more foul than the stench that comes out of your momma after she sleeps with her diamond dog lover! If you want to get in a tribalist pissing contest I will leave you dizzier than a cloud-humper in a centrifuge!" The recruit dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.

"Everypony other than Recruit Dirtnap over here, get down on the floor and give me push-ups!"

"How ma--"

"Recruit Dirtnap! Sit on your bed!"

Dirtnap's eyes tried to retreat into their sockets. "Sir?"

"Recruit Dirtnap, are you deaf?!"

Dirtnap's butt missed the bed, twice, before finding a spot.

"Good, now..." He turned back to the rest of the recruits. "Everypony, you will do push-ups until Recruit Dirtnap gets tired! Am I understood?!"

Strike and the rest of the group started repeatedly kissing the concrete floor. "Sir, yes Sir!"

"Damn right I'm understood! Listen up, all of you! Look to your left! Look to your right! Let your heart fill with fear knowing that these ponies will one day be responsible for your very lives! If one of you screws up, the rest of you will suffer! This is as true here in Basic as it is in the field!

"Therefore, I do not care what your tribe is! I do not care if you have a noble pedigree dating back to when Celestia was a bouncing baby foal or if you are a bigger mutt than every dog in a pound put together! You are all worse wastes of space than plastic banana slicers bought by senile old grandmothers, and you are all going to work together like you've been BFFs since the womb, or I will have no trouble drumming you out of my precious Army and leaving you broken in a ditch to walk home!

"Give me a 'Sir, yes Sir' if you understand!"

“Sir, yes sir!”

“I must be getting old! I couldn’t hear a damn thing you said! Now, all of you, say it again like you deserve to serve the Princess!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“That’s not how we do it in this army, soldiers! When I give you an order, you say ‘Sir, yes sir!’”

How can he be louder than all of us put together!? Strike swallowed what might be his very last swallow of all time.

“Now, we’re going to do this once more!" In an instant, the Drill Sergeant of the Gatekeepers of the Underworld vanished and reappeared next to the pony that had made the puddle earlier. "Recruit Bedwetter! Did you know that the road to Tartarus is paved with the bleached bones of recruits that don’t live up to my standards?”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“Well, Cerberus’s balls, I think I actually heard you this time!” He strode to the door, stopping to address them. “Once you are done with push-ups, you sorry sacks of donkey sweat have fifteen minutes to clean like your lives depend on it! However! Bedwetter, you will clean your mess and Recruit Dirtnap's bunk! So help me all, you sorry lot, if I find one speck of dust I will clean and bleach this place using your heads as mops!"

Whether or not a flash bang grenade went off when the door slammed shut, nopony knew for certain.

Now Twilight’s eye was twitching. Not her eyelid, although that was doing a mamba too, but her eye. “I’m going to have to have a little chat with my brother when I get home…”

“No.” Strike shot her a look so sharp Twilight could practically feel the hairs of her mane slice off. “He was completely right to do what he did. Because if we couldn't survive that, couldn't overcome it, then we never would have lived to even see real combat, much less survive it. Hell, with that kind of weakness, we would've gotten our fellow soldiers killed too. He understood that. I didn't. At least, not then."

“But he —”

“-- Led units with the highest readiness and competency scores in the history of the military. It’s why he shot up the ranks so fast.” Strike took off his beret and rubbed a hoof through his short mane. “Yeah, he sucked, but damn if he wasn’t effective.”

Twilight rubbed her temple. “Still…” After a few seconds of contemplating her options she decided to simply go with a groan. “Let’s… let’s just change the subject, shall we? What do you think of our mission? How much have you been told?”

Strike saluted. “Collect some plants, find the source of the gem. Intel doesn’t anticipate significant problems with the plants, as they grow in a sparsely populated area. The gems could be somewhat trickier.”

“That’s… More or less accurate. Since they appear to be easier, I’m thinking we should do the plants first.”

“No complaints here.”

“The gems…” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to think of a way to pull this off, but I have yet to come up with anything solid. It’s just a really, really big area to search. We could be out here a while. Or, I could trip over it as soon as we land on the beach. I honestly have no. Freaking. Clue.”

Corporal Calibre put her foreleg over her and the other ponies. “Whatever you need ma’am, and however many guns it takes, we’re here to help.”

Twilight let out a snicker. It was bad to assume that this would simply end in violence, but that was still a little funny. “Thanks, guys. Dismissed.”

“Ma’am!” The entire group saluted and went back to what they were doing.

Twilight looked around, finding that Admiral Tempest still hadn’t yet returned. Might as well say hello to the day guard ponies. She walked a little off to her left, and poked her head around the corner. “Hello, gentlecolts.”

The two ponies dropped the things in their hooves, letting them hit the ground as they swung around into an attentive salute. “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Twilight was about to comment on the whole Majesty thing again, but she couldn’t help but see something odd. The pony that had spoken was off somehow. It took her a moment, but she finally saw it: a gentle, mischievous smirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Wait a minute… Cloud Burner? Is that you?” Twilight took a tentative step forward, trying to see through the glamour spell.

The smirk grew into a full-blown smile. “Well done, Twily! It’s been a while!”

Twilight returned the smile as a weight lifted off her shoulders. “It has! I haven’t seen you in… What, a couple of years? How have you been?”

“Oh, can’t complain. Although I actually saw you plenty, you just couldn’t tell. Glamour spell on the armor and all that. Plus, you know, they frown on moving when we’re stationed in the castle, so I couldn’t really say hello. Although, since I’m saying hello now, we should probably explain some things to Sea Lance here.” Cloud Burner motioned over to the other Day Guard.

Twilight hid a giggle behind a hoof as she sat down. “It’s okay, Sea Lance. Cloud Burner and I go way back. He helped take care of me and Spike when I first moved into my tower in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, since I was rather young and shy. Also, I’m not as strict as Celestia. You can relax, or, at ease, or whatever. I’d very much like to be friends.”

Sea Lance practically melted, his relief was so palpable. Twilight could actually see little drops of sweat fly when he wiped his brow. “Thank Celestia! I thought we were going to get tied up and tossed out the side hatch!”

Can’t… Resist… “Well, if I did that, I wouldn’t have anypony to haul my tiny unicorn butt into or out of certain, fiery death!”

Sea Lance blinked. “I honestly can’t tell if she’s joking or not.”

“She’s not just joking, Lance. She’s snarky! I’m pretty sure her wellspring is one third pure, unadulterated snark.”

“Heh. I’m pretty sure if my mother were here, she’d say ‘that explains a few things.’ But, anyway, it’s good to know that you’re on this mission. Maybe in the future we’ll get to work together again!”

“Uh, heh, probably not.” Cloud Burner took off his helmet and set it down, sighing wistfully. “This is a last hurrah for me. I’m retiring. Going home to Cloudsdale.”

Oh! Twilight stood frozen for a moment, looking in vain to Sea Lance for a clue as to what to say. “I am… Shocked, honestly. I didn’t know you were that old. You certainly don’t look at it, but then…”

“Glamour spell, yeah. I’m not that old, really, but I am starting to get up there. I was smart with my savings so I’m taking off quite a bit early. It’s not easy keeping up the Day Guard routine as you grow older. But at least I get to play with the new toys before I go.”

Twilight looked around the room at the various articles they had spread out over their cots, but found them all rather familiar. “New toys? Like what?”

Sea Lance looked at her. “They haven’t told you yet?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. Historically, Grand Mages traditionally rely on our smarts, intuition, magic skills, and our ridiculous wellsprings. What kind of new toys did they give you?”

“Better to see them in person! Come on, let’s go down to the launch bay. Newbie, you stay here and finish sorting our gear.”

“Sir!” He saluted.

Twilight watched as Cloud Burner signed off on a particularly large hoof locker and dragged it out to the middle of the bay. “And this is the first of our new little toys.” He put a key into the lock, and each of the seals around the lid popped open, revealing a brand-new set of guns designed to be mounted on the back of a pony.

Twilight put her front hooves on the side of the container and stared at the equipment inside. “This doesn’t look like the Cloudsdale guns I saw earlier.” She ran her hoof across the barrels, noting that each side had two guns instead of just one. The harness seemed much heavier, too.

“That’s because it’s not. A good chunk of the military went with the Cloudsdale models, because they’re light, fire really quickly, and are easy to use. They are especially good for pegasi. The Day Guard, however, has a higher standard for fitness, so we ordered these earth pony models from Westphalian Defensive. Even the pegasi are going to use them. They only fire in bursts to keep from overheating, but they pack a hell of a buck.”

“And hopefully we won’t need to use them.” Twilight made a mental note of the image of the company’s logo. Just like the Cloudsdale guns, it was located in between the barrels on the harness.

“True, but better safe than sorry.” Cloud Burner reached down and pulled the guns out, mounting them on his back with a groan. “Ooofa! And this is one of the reasons why I’m retiring. Ouch. These things are freaking heavy. I’m not a spry young foal anymore, dammit.”

“You don’t have to put it on the rest of the way just to impress me, Cloud. I believe you. Want me to help put that away?” Twilight lit her horn.

Cloud Burner held up his front hooves and shook his head. “No! Don’t touch it, there’s a security spell on it. Unauthorized TK will send a feedback pulse down to your horn and try to blow it out. I’ve seen what happens when ponies do that. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen.”

Twilight shuddered as an image of Celestia during the changeling attack replayed in her mind. “In that case, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Good call.” He took the apparatus off his back and dropped it into the chest with a ‘fwump’. “The other new toy is considerably lighter. Here.” He made a click and whistle sound and waved at one of the other ponies in the bay, who trotted over with a cloth helmet. On the side of the helmet was a strange, small tube with a metal-tipped end.

“That doesn’t look especially protective…”

Cloud Burner chuckled. “No, it’s not supposed to be by itself. You’re supposed to put it inside your helmet, or take off the cloth and wear it by itself. Here, take a look.” He showed her the inside, which had a foam-covered part next to where the ear was supposed to go. “This thing here is a speaker, and the other little doodad next to your mouth is a microphone. When you press your ear, it trips a switch and anything you say in the microphone is transmitted over a range of a couple of kilometres to everypony else with one of these.”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s impossible. Radiant magic in the environment scatters the signal. I performed the experiments on the radio waves myself in school.”

“I know. Neat, isn’t it? Some hotshot egghead found some type of crazy spell and stuffed in it a crystal core that lets it cut through the interference. A pretty short range, granted, but still invaluable.”

Twilight glared at the device as she sat down and gnawed on her hoof. “I suppose, in theory, one could boost the signal strong enough. Maybe with an adaptive matrix to blend in with the ambient magic… I hadn’t considered this before. Kinda wish I had now.”

“Command has come up with a whole new language of code phrases to memorize when you’re speaking over these, too, which is a bit annoying, but all the same I have to say, I’m rather jealous of all these foals coming in with the new gadgets. Maybe not so much the extra heavy guns, but these radios? Man I wish I had these. At least I get to use them once.”

Twilight picked up the radio in her magic and put it on her head, the top curling up a bit from her horn. “So, what, you just press this and talk into it? Testing, testing…”

“Bellerophon control on station. Submit request.”

Twilight jumped back, not expecting someone to actually answer her. “Um, sorry! Just, ummm… testing the equipment?” Crap, I’m going to get in trouble. No, wait, maybe not. “This is Twilight Sparkle, by the way.”

“Roger that. Bellerophon control out.”

Twilight exhaled in relief as she took off the radio. “Almost really messed up there.”

“Snrrrk!” Cloud Burner failed to hold back his laugh. “Twily, you’re the Grand Mage of Equestria. Shoot, even when you were just a student, you were Celestia’s student. Short of deliberately committing a felony, you’re basically untouchable. Always have been.”

“Easy for you to say! You didn’t have to face Celestia personally when you screwed u— wait, right, day guard.”

“Yeah, and we weren’t all but raised by her. Relax, Twily. You’ll be fine.”

“Everypony keeps telling me that. I keep telling me that. At some point, you’d think I’d listen to me.”

“Well, it’s either that or be a nervous wreck all of your life. But again, you are Grand Mage, so if you want to be a nervous wreck, we really don’t have the right to say no. We just have to deal with it.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, if I have to deal with it…”

“Now, that’s the spirit. Come on, let me buy you some coffee.” Cloud Burner turned to leave.

Now it was Twilight’s turn to hold back a laugh. “We’re on a military ship. The coffee is free for all personnel.”

“Yeah, and it tastes like it was worth every bit.”

“So, what are you reading?”

Twilight took a sip of her coffee and looked up at Cloud Burner, her gaze passing just over the notebook. “Can’t really say. Classified spell book.”

“Oh. I see.”

Actually, brother, you’re really onto something here. You might not notice it, but I think there is a basis here for a medium-range teleport. Nothing like what the princesses do, but beyond what I currently have. She turned the page. The problem is keeping the transit path stable. Anything that I try to teleport will be reduced to ambient energy.

Wait, no, there’s another problem. By doing it that way, the path bell becomes asymmetrical, pointing in the wrong direction. As soon as the first few atoms pass through, the whole thing collapses, even if the structure is otherwise sound. It could also seriously disrupt similar spell structures near it…

“So… Studying then, I take it? It always was your thing... ”

Twilight blinked and shook herself out of the daydream. “I’m sorry, Cloud Burner.” She set the book down. “I’m just trying to get this thing memorized as soon as possible. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Not at all, not at all. Again, it is not my place to question what you do. It’s a thing about being in the day guard over the royal guard or any of the other honour guards. No matter how high up you go in rank, the princesses always outrank you. You’re there for them. Although…”

Twilight kept her face still, but only just. Cloud Burner was fidgety and nervous-looking as he scratched the back of his head and twitched his wings, the very opposite of what you’d expect of someone in his position. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really, it’s just that…” He made a face like he had just bit into a lemon. “Heck with it. Okay, this is way out of line for me, but I’m retiring anyway, so… Would you like to get dinner sometime? I mean, after the mission. Of course it’s going to be after the mission, Cloud Burner, you big dummy. I just meant that, I know this nice little restaurant, actually my family owns it, and…”

“I bet you’ll get asked out more than a few times in your future journeys. Some stallions are attracted to power, after all. Why, I’m surprised your treehouse door hasn’t been banged down by suitors already!”

Aw, crap. She was right. How do I… Well, there’s really no other way. Honesty is the best policy here. “I’m very flattered, but I’m afraid I’m not interested in seeing anypony right now.” Twilight rubbed her forehead as she inhaled through her teeth. “Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. I’m just not romantically inclined. Most ponies are, I get that, but romance really isn’t something I’ve ever been interested in.”

Cloud Burner’s odd combination of facial features looked relieved, disappointed, and astonished all at once. “You mean you’ve never been on a date? Or thought about it?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, some ponies are heterosexual, some are homosexual, some are bisexual, but I’m really none of the above. A better term to describe me might be asexual. I very much like having friends, but I don’t like taking it beyond that.”

For all the noise and clanging dishes in the mess hall, it may as well have been utterly silent for all the awkwardness that the space had gathered around them.

“You aren’t going to tell Celestia—”

The tension melted off of Twilight’s shoulders. “No, I won’t. You’ve been so nice to me over the years that I’ll let it slide. Especially since you backed off when I said no. You are a very kind, sweet stallion, and you were a perfect gentlecolt about it. In fact, Celestia mentioned that I would probably be hit on a lot more as Grand Mage, but if everypony is as polite as you, it won’t be a problem.”

“I…” Cloud Burner shrunk down a little. “I don’t think I can speak for any other stallions…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t hold any of them against you.” Twilight smiled as she took a drink of her coffee. “I will, however, be holding them to your standard of politeness. Failure means Rainbow gets to do the rejecting.”

Cloud held his belly with laughter, probably imagining what that would mean. “Well, all the same, if you’re ever in Cloudsdale, look me up. We can get some real coffee. As friends.”

He held out his hoof, and she gave it a bump.

“I’d like that.”

Author's Note

Welp, here we go. Block five, and mission four! As always, let me know what you think, even if it’s just an “I like this!”

I’m thirty thousand words into block six, and I’m writing some scenes I’ve wanted to write for ages now. Gotta keep going!

There’s a lot of new characters here, which I normally try to avoid, but I think it’ll work out just this once. And we get to meet Admiral Tempest! We’ll meet all six of the generals eventually.

This was a mighty long chapter, huh? Gotta hurry up and write more so I can post the next one.

Be sure to check out my blog for news in the world of Rites, including health updates. Today’s entry is my 300th, and has a special question for my Patreon peoples.

Until next time, and thanks again for sticking with me! And a very special thanks to my Patreon supporters, too! This literally would not have been possible without you guys, as I’d never have been able to afford the tablet that’s letting me write without your contributions! Thank you so much!

-Cv

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Harvesting What Was Sown

Twilight stood and stretched, her vertebrae popping from having been in a sitting position for too long. “At least I’ve been able to catch up on some reading on this trip. Still have a day to go, though.” She yawned and put her book back in the pile, then stacked the collection neatly by size. To the left of the little tower was the pile of ashes that was once Shining's notes, now safely destroyed.

A speaker in her room crackled to life. “Attention. Airstream drive has been taken offline for cooldown and maintenance. All pegasi not working on the engines, if you want to stretch your wings, you have one hour.”

Hmmm… Twilight tapped her chin. One, two, three…

A storm of hooves galloped down the hallway outside of her room, keratin banging on steel as what was likely every single pegasus on the ship racing outside the nearest door.

Spike turned a page in his own book. “Heh. Figured as much. Pegasi. Can’t sit still.”

“Unless their name is Fluttershy.” Twilight did some more stretches, her muscles twitching a little. “Though it feels like my body understands it a bit now. I mean, if you’re used to having the whole sky, being cramped like this can’t be pleasant.”

“True enough. Guess I can’t be too harsh on them. We have been in here a while.”

Bang bang bang clang! The series of ‘knocks’, if one could call them that, were followed by the door to their room getting tossed open like it was made of cardboard instead of metal.

“What are you waiting for, Twi!?” Rainbow yelled in through the doorway, flaring her wings out. “Come on!”

“Uh, Rainbow?” Twilight raised her eyebrow. “No wings. We’re over the middle of the ocean. Nowhere for me to go. Well, except down.”

Her friend all but leapt into the room and swung around behind Twilight, then started pushing her out the door. “No wings yet. You’re coming with me, and I’m carrying you. Now, get out that door right now!”

“Okay, okay! Sheesh! Hold down the fort, Spike. Er, ship, anyway.”

A little smirk grew on the dragon’s face. “It’d sink if I held it down, Twi.”

Rainbow didn’t let Twilight retort. They were already out the door and down the hall. When they arrived at a door open to the outside, Twilight put a hoof on the port, stopping herself from being shoved out. “Rainbow, you are aware that I don’t have wings, right? As in, there are no wings on my back. As in, I can't fly. At all. Granted, I’d survive, but still…”

“Come on, Twi! You know me! I’m not trying to make you fall. I wanna show you something! Just, it’s out there, and a window won’t do it. Here, lemme…” Rainbow stretched and put her forelegs around Twilight’s torso. “There. Let go of the ship, and I’ll fly you over to that big cumulous, okay?”

Twilight looked out to the distance, examining the cloud in question before taking in a deep breath. “Okay, Rainbow, you win. Let’s go.” She released her death grip on the doorway and fought back against her nerve, letting Rainbow pick her up and carry her into the blue.

Her purple hooves dangled over the open sky, untold thousands of meters over the ocean. From such a height, in a fall, it wouldn’t matter what would be under her. Even water would feel similar to concrete unless she used pegasus currents to slow herself. Even then, she might get gobbled by a sea wyvern moments later.

Jumping out of a chariot is one thing. This is… I don’t think I’ll ever quite get used to heights like this.

“Hang on!” Rainbow angled her body downward, picking up speed towards the cloud.

“As if there's an alternative!” Twilight twisted her body a little as her torc slid against her coat to relieve the pressure on her chest. Her heartbeat drummed on as they fell, bringing to mind dozens of "incidents" back in Ponyville. “Targeting the cloud!”

“What? What are you—“

Twilight charged up her horn and fired off her teleportation spell in a flash of purple light. When the world reappeared, both Rainbow and Twilight were directly over the cloud and heading down at an altogether inappropriate pace.

Twilight felt Rainbow pull back and flap her wings, but the mouthful of cloud Twilight was chewing a moment later was evidence enough of her miscalculation. Rainbow landed a second later off to her side.

She spat the tuft of cloud out of her mouth, which began to slowly float away from her as a micro-cloud. Well, at least clouds are safe to crash on. Thank you, cloud, for being soft and fluffy.

“Ugh. Next time warn me when you’re about to do that, Twi.” Rainbow rubbed her head and stretched out a wing.

“Sorry, Rainbow. I’m still not quite used to being this high up. You’re going to have to be kind of patient with me until I find my se… er, sky legs? Sky wings? But, all wings are sky wings, to—”

“Eh, it’s okay.” Rainbow shrugged. “You’re honestly doing a lot better than Fluttershy when she was a filly. And you don’t even fly!”

“Well, it helps I can teleport. Speaking of, I’ve been going over my brother’s notes. I honestly had no idea he had tweaked my teleportation spell quite that much. I think I understand now why his teleportations always looked so inefficient. It’s not that he’s simply using more power, but that he’s doing a lot more with each one.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow leaned back on the cloud, staring at the sky above. “What more is there to do? I mean, besides violate the laws of physics.”

“Actually, he violates the laws of physics even more. He has an additional layer embedded within the spell that allows him to change what direction and speed he’s going as he exits the spell. Based on what he’s given me, some of the changes can be fairly extreme. In effect, he can basically fly. Of course, to change direction at all he has to teleport again. And gravity and wind resistance are still a factor. If he doesn’t teleport again, he will eventually start to fall.

“There are also various additional protections built into the spell to prevent somepony from hurting him immediately upon exit. The complexity is, well, surprising. He never talked to me much about his combat spells, because so many of them are classified. I guess I just didn’t realize how much both he and I have grown.”

“You don’t get to be Captain of the Royal Guard and not be a bit of a bad flank. It’s kind of the same with the Wonderbolts, but at the same time, not really.” Rainbow took in a deep breath and sighed. “Twilight, I want to thank you.”

Twilight pulled together a bit of cloud and rested her back against it. “What for?”

“For getting me the hell out of the Wonderbolts. For letting me join your guard.” Rainbow lifted up a hoof as though she was trying to touch the sky itself. “I needed this. I needed this so damn bad. To be in the action. Get to fly again. Yeah, we’ve been cooped up this time, but still. I mean, look. Look at the sky. Look at how huge it is.

“Now, imagine being the best flyer in the world, and being stuck in an office all day. That’s no way to live. We pegasi don’t just fly. Some of us say we’re the masters of the sky, but I don’t really think that way. At least, not anymore. These days, I think of the sky as being an extension of myself. I am the sky.”

A group of pegasi soared overhead, hundreds of meters above them. They split off of a formation and started doing little loops in the air.

“Yeah, just like that.” Rainbow smiled. “We might use different words to describe it, but we all feel it. That calling, that desire to be airborne. Even Fluttershy does! She may not go zooming and soaring around, but you see how she hovers a lot. She’s a bit too shy to do much more, and I know she’ll never admit it, but I know she feels it.”

Twilight stared up into the void of the sky, putting her hoof up as well. All pegasi feel it… A connection to the sky… This is… “It’s your world, isn’t it? The sky. Even when you’re on the ground, it feels like you’re only at the bottom of the sky.”

Rainbow nodded. “More or less, yeah. And now, you’re part of it too. A Pegasus. Even if you don’t have your wings yet.”

Twilight felt a warmth growing in her chest. “Rainbow. Thank you.”

She held out a hoof, and Rainbow gave it a bump.

“Yeah, just don’t go spreading that around. I got a reputation and keep after all. Although, if you want, when you do finally get your wings, I could teach you how to fly. I never really got to with Scootaloo.”

“I’d be honoured! In fact…” Twilight stood up on the cloud. “Why don’t we do some flying right now?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Um, Twi? You’re the one who pointed out to me that you don’t have wings. As in, at all.”

“Yeah, but I can fix that. At least for a little while." Twilight held up her horn and let the ribbons of magic surround her, wrapping her in an orb of pure light. In a final burst, she emerged and spread her new wings. Not pegasus wings, but delicate butterfly wings made of gossamer and morning dew.

“Aww, yeah!” Rainbow leapt up into the air and did a quick backflip. “I totally forgot you could do that!”

“Well, I wouldn’t use them in combat or even this high up, normally. But since the Bellerophon has a wind stabilization spell, just like Cloudsdale, it’s pretty quiet up here. As long as we stay close to the ship, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“We can do that! Just gotta keep things kinda slow so you don’t tear those apart.”

“Can do! Come on, let’s go —”

“What the hell? Unicorns can do this now? I swear it gets worse every day. Wings? Really? Freaking horn-heads have figured out how to give themselves wings?" A nearby petty officer shook his head and started to fly off. "What’s next? Are they going to start controlling the weather for us, too?”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped open. “Did he seriously just say that?"

Twilight's vision tunneled in on the pegasus and scanned him as she memorized his tan and brown colours, cutie mark, and wing type. "Rainbow, get him down here."

Rainbow zoomed up to him like a cannonball, albeit without the normally obligatory explosion.

"Yipe!"

"Damn bucking skippy, 'Yipe!'" Rainbow pushed him back with a light punch to the chest. "You have no bucking clue just how much you screwed the pooch just now, sailor! Get down there and land on that cloud before you spend the rest of the mission in the brig!"

The stallion looked over Rainbow for a moment, then grimaced and got in her face. "No navy uniform? That means you got no authority over me, toots."

Twilight sparked out of and back into existence, coming out of the teleport next to Rainbow and flapping her butterfly wings. She unfolded her forelegs and stuck out her chest to show off her torc, barely even noticing her hind legs were dangling a mile over a sea-serpent infested ocean. "You are not to talk to my Guard Captain like that, Petty Officer 3rd Class..." She glanced at his name tag. "Dustmane."

The stallion blinked and bit his hoof. "You're... You're..."

"The 'horn-head' in command of this mission." Twilight finished the sentence for him. "And you just bought a pair of two-thousand-bit tickets to Princess Cadence's charity gala. Am I clear, Seapony Dustmane?"

The pegasus winced like he'd been kicked, along with his puppy. He looked less like a sailor, and more like a lost foal. "I'm... I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to --"

"I said, am I clear, Seapony?!"

"Crystal Clear, ma'am!" He saluted through a wave of tears.

Rainbow grabbed him and pointed him at the Bellerophon. "Get back on the ship before I tie you up and toss you in the brig, Seapony. Move!"

Twilight scratched her chin with the edge of her hoof as the stallion flew off. "Something wasn't quite right there."

"Ya think?"

"No, I mean, his words weren't random." Twilight reached for her currently-not-present saddlebags and wished she had brought her notebook with her. "He acted like he was... Obsolete, for lack of a better word."

Rainbow slumped over and sighed. "It sucks, but I think that attitude is going to get worse and worse in the future. See, you know that cloudwalking spell you use? Well, it's gotten popular."

Twilight glanced up above her to the deep azure sky and felt an itch, then shook it off. "Isn't that a good thing, though? It means more ponies can visit the Cloudsdale Duchy floating cities."

"And, while they're at it, buy an amulet with a permanent spell on it so they can move there. Unicorns especially are getting a lot of hate because they're taking a lot of desk jobs like clerks. Why hire a pegasus to write with his mouth when you can hire a unicorn that can write ten times as fast?"

"Oooh... I see. And I just gave myself wings, and he probably doesn't know this spell is way beyond what most unicorns can do." Twilight looked off to the horizon in the vague direction of Equestria, which was now well over the horizon. "Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah. Cloudsdale's economy is in the crapper. I know weather ponies that have been on one percent raises for the last ten years."

"And inflation in most Duchies has been at least three percent. Yeah, I think I see where it's coming from now. I know that this kind of thing is almost always done on a Duchy level, but I'll talk to Tia about it if I can."

Rainbow jerked back in surprise, the hit herself on the cheek. "I honestly don't know why I was surprised when you said that. Of course you'd try to help. You're Twilight Sparkle, not those windbag columnists in the papers."

Twilight smiled and put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. “We’re all in this together, even when we’re living in a city in the clouds. It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, no matter what some politicians might say. I wish some ponies would give the other tribes a chance, you know? We’re not out to get them.” An image of Bismare flashed in her head. “Well, okay, there are a few jerks out there, but…”

Rainbow chuckled. “That’s kind of a given. ‘Any sufficiently large population is going to have a few jerks in it.’”

"Bingo." Twilight stretched out like she could embrace the whole sky. "I'll undo that guy's demotion if he stays out of trouble for a while. Right now, though, I want to get in some flying. Ready, Rainbow?"

"Thought you'd never ask!"

Twilight hopped off the chariot, her hooves clanging on the floor of the ship’s launch bay. “What’s going on? We’ve been waiting for a launch signal for a while now.”

Rainbow arched her back and yawned. “Not sure. You’d think they’d keep us in the loop a bit better.”

“Think we should go up and talk to them?” Spike asked, wiping the blade of his halberd. “If they have a reason for delaying us, I think we have a right to know what it is.”

“Agreed. You two stay here. I’m going to talk to Admiral Tempest and find out what's going on. Stay ready in case we have to scramble. Something doesn’t feel quite right.”

“Sure thing,” Spike said, attaching his halberd to his back with a clang.

Twilight walked down to the end of the launch bay, climbing a ramp to the upper deck. Through watertight doors and labyrinthine stairs she progressed, the ship’s layout having been etched in her memory. Eventually, she pushed open a particularly heavy blast door and stepped inside the bridge.

“Attention on de —”

“At ease,” Twilight sighed, stepping up beside the admiral. “Any news?”

“Lady Sparkle, I was about to summon you.” Tempest motioned over towards a wall with a large topographical map. “We’ve just completed updating our maps using pictures that our scouts returned. As expected, there is a large, extinct volcano just to the northwest of our target. Inside, there is a deep caldera with a lake. After you launch, we will take the Bellerophon and hide it there. A few of our pegasi and I will cover the opening with clouds.”

“So what’s the holdup?” Twilight asked.

The XO, the second in command of the ship, took off his hat and rubbed his head. “That’s not all our scouts found. The Zebrican military is flying wyvern patrols along the coast.”

“What? Why? We’re six thousand kilometers away from the border with Saddle Arabia.” Twilight pulled out her notebook and started to copy the map on the wall. “Are they really that concerned about sneak attacks?”

“We don’t know.” Tempest picked up a pointing stick and traced along the coast on the map. “What we do know, however, is their patterns. We’ve been watching them for a while. In ten minutes, we will have a narrow window of opportunity to sneak through to the caldera and get you on shore.

“Hmmm…” Twilight chewed on the cap of her pen. “What are the wyverns’ combat capabilities? Luna never trained me to fight those.”

The XO put his cap back on and straightened it. “Wyverns can fly as fast as pegasi, but despite their relation to dragons and their shared ability to breathe fire, they aren’t intelligent. They also aren’t anywhere near as nimble as ponies, either. Their zebra riders, however, could also be armed with cored cannons.”

The admiral stepped towards the front windows of the bridge, gazing out at the horizon. “I’m not that worried about the threat to the ship. Even when armoured, wyverns will make easy pickings for our guns, though I am curious as to why there are so many patrols here. Their presence makes the threat to you much greater.”

“Perhaps we can find out while we’re here.” Twi finished off her notes and put the book away. “I’m not about to let a few patrols stop me after we’ve come this far.”

“Agreed. Grand Mage, get your team ready. You launch in seven minutes.”

“It’s going to take me a while to get used to this thing in my ear.” Cloud Burner shook his head, clearly uncomfortable with the new device.

“We launch in two.” Rainbow called out as she put her own helmet on, adjusting its radio and microphone. “I just hope these stupid things work.”

A loud buzz ground its way through the launch bay, and the red lights over the main door shifted from red to yellow.

“They’re only good over a short distance anyway,” Twilight grumbled. “The Bellerophon will be out of range while we’re in town. However, it will only be a short flight for you, so this time, you are our lifeline instead of Spike.”

Rainbow affixed the strap with a smile. “You can count on me!”

Twilight turned to Zecora and spoke in her friend’s native language. <>

<>

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. <>

A staticy voice chirped in their ears, “Royal One, this is Bellerophon Control. We are thirty seconds to launch. Ready yourselves.”

Another buzz sounded, and the main door began to open. A cold wind rushed through the bay, threatening to suck out anything not weighed down or bolted to the floor.

Twilight leaned back in the sleek, night guard chariot, Zecora beside her. Rainbow and Spike braced themselves in the front row.

Rainbow leaned forward, seemingly forgetting about the microphone next to her mouth. “Careful, you guys. This isn’t one of Celestia’s chariots. This is one of Luna’s. It’s going to have a much lower centre of gravity.”

Cloud Burner and Sea Lance spread their wings. “We know," Cloud Burner replied. "When Luna returned, we had to train on both. Just hold on tight.”

“Royal One, this is Bellerophon Control. You are go in ten…”

An even stronger wind overtook them as the two pegasi synchronized their magic. Twilight grabbed onto the rail. She was an alicorn ascendant, and could survive anything that could possibly result from this, yet that was of zero comfort.

“Three. Two. One…”

“Launch!” the two pegasi shouted in unison. Wings flapped, chains tightened, and the chariot rocketed out of the bay. Air rushed past them, blowing their manes in a wild frenzy. The cool, humid night air stood in stark contrast to the weather in Canterlot. Small clouds dotted the sky, coming in from the ocean. Soft moonlight glinted off of them as if they were etched in silver.

The chariot swung to the right as the pegasi dragged it off in the other direction towards the shore.

Twilight took in a deep breath. This is it. Here we go. She felt gravity loosen its grip on her, and the chariot all but fell away. Just as her heart stopped, the belt grabbed hold of her, dragging her down with the rest of them. The two pegasi had gone into a steep dive, almost as if they were impersonating an artillery shell. Waves shifted and grew in size as they rapidly descended towards the ocean surface. The smell of salt and surf bombarded Twilight’s nose. The moonlight on the water shimmered in a wide belt ready to envelop them whole.

Gravity reasserted its grasp, pressing down on her like a boulder and pressing her stomach against her hips. In a snap turn she felt the pegasi level off, racing for the shore. Inertia pushed her backwards as they accelerated, and Twilight could now make out the dense foliage on the land. Emerald-coloured leaves dominated the landscape, save for the mountains to the north.

She turned backward and searched for the Bellerophon. It, too, was racing for shore, but towards the volcano instead of the flat land beneath it. Small specks danced around the ship in an escort formation. The military pegasi formed an additional line of defense for their only way home.

“Bellerophon Control, this is Royal One,” one of the guards barked. “We are one minute from landing. Request recon update.”

“Royal One, this is Bellerophon Control. Window is open, proceed with infil.”

“Roger that, Bellerophon Control.” The pegasi feinted right then turned sharply to the left, aiming for a region of the volcano’s foothills.

“When we land, Zecora will show us a place to hide and make camp until daybreak. We won’t be able to see well enough to collect the plants during the night.” Twilight’s ear twitched from the device in her ear. “At the first sign of dawn we’ll wake and start the collection. I want to be done by noon. After that I want to investigate the patrols and find where these gems came from.”

“Ugh, where’s Applejack when you need her?” Rainbow bent over and pulled out some medicinal grass from the ground, then stuffed it into the bale behind her. “Seriously, pegasi just are not cut out for this.”

Twilight plucked a flower from a strange, purple vine and stuffed it into her own bale. She rotated her shoulder blades one at a time and arched her back in a stretch. “I admit we’re not exactly on schedule, but Luna’s training was worse. We’ll be fine.”

“It’s true, this work isn’t fun. But our bales are full, so we are almost done!” Zecora tied off her bale with her mouth, and flung it over her back.

“About time.” Spike slung his own herb-filled sack over his shoulder. “Still one more box on the checklist, though.”

“I know.” Twilight lit her horn and lifted each bale from her friends, arranging them in a neat cluster in a small clearing. “I was actually saving that one for last. I saw it a bit to the south. We need the airtight drum for that one, and Spike, you’re going to have to be the one to harvest it.”

“Why me?”

“Because it’s resistant to telekinesis, and if any of us screw it up, the plant will poison us.”

“And dragons are immune.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that always the way?”

Rainbow chuckled. “Oh, woe is me! I could live for thousands of years and I’m immune to practically everything! What a terrible, cruel life!” Rainbow held a fetlock to her forehead and pretended to faint.

Spike blew a raspberry at her, sending the little sparks of green fire out into the air.

Twilight chuckled a bit, too. “Come on, you guys. It isn’t that far.”

The group made their way through the foliage, stepping over, around, and even under all manner of plants and trees. True to her word, they arrived in just a few moments.

Wrapped around a tree, there was a long green vine with large, vibrant, red flowers. Each had thick petals arranged in a large, wide bell shape. Strange leaves jutted out from underneath each flower that arced in the shape of a scythe.

“There it is,” Twilight said, pointing at the flowers. “The Reaping Rose. Celestia said that it is one of the most deadly plants in all of Equus.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “So, why are we harvesting it again?”

“Because it’s a key ingredient in making the Thanatos Tear. It’s harmless as long as we don’t inhale its pollen.”

“Beware the bell, and do not smell, or you shall permanently doze to the Reaping Rose,” Zecora said, her voice weakening. Even her legs twitched slightly as she gazed at the plant.

“If it’s enough to put Zecora in awe, we better be doubly careful.” Twilight all but glared at the plant, staring at it as sunlight shined down through a small opening in the rain forest canopy. The ponies in the group backed away from the plant. “Spike, do your best to hold your breath. I don’t care if the air in your lungs is thousands of degrees and should burn it up instantly, we should be careful here.”

Spike folded his arms and scratched his head with his tail. “It looks pretty attached to that tree. How do we it get off?”

“Hmmm. Hey Twi, think it’s time to try your telekinetic blade again?”

“On this? Are you nuts? Besides…” Twilight reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a survival knife with her magic. “I can just cut it with this.”

The little blade flew around the tree cutting off the plant’s death grip on its unfortunate arboreal host. A few of the flowers shot tufts of pollen out as she did so, sounding like little plant sneezes. Unfortunately for the plant, the three ponies were well away from its reach. Once all the connections were cut, Twilight chopped off the plant at the base.

“I put the canister down behind that other tree, Spike. Can you see it?”

Spike backtracked a bit into the forest and behind a palm tree, digging around the leaves. “Yeah, found it!” he said, pulling it out from its hiding place. "Hiding stuff in trees? So, what, are you taking lessons from Pinkie Pie now?”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “I had my pick of almost anypony to be in my honour guard, and of my friends, I just had to pick the snarkiest.”

Spike snickered. “Pot, meet kettle.” He unscrewed the top of the steel cylindrical container and approached the plant slowly. Using the bottom, he began to scoop up the plant one bell at a time. As he fed the vine in, each flower sneezed as it entered, the pollen being contained harmlessly. In a couple of minutes, the top was on, and the plant was secured.

Twilight let out a little exhale. “Good work, Spike! Okay, everypony, let’s get back to the shore so our escorts can haul the stuff back to the ship. Also, Spike, you should take a quick dip in the ocean to wash the pollen off both yourself and that container. It’s only harmful if inhaled or eaten, but I don’t want to take any chances here.”

“Fair enough.” Spike shrugged, rubbing his fingers. “The stuff feels kinda grainy anyway.”

“Is this everything?” Cloud Burner grunted, pushing the last of the plant bundles into the chariot. “If we don’t leave soon, we’ll have to wait another hour to get an opening in the patrols.”

“It’s everything,” Twilight said, nodding. “Everything on the checklist is accounted for. Oh, but do not open the sealed canister. In fact, tell the entire ship that I have a standing order in place to not even think about opening that. It’s top secret, and poses an extremely lethal biohazard threat to anyone who does.”

The stallion’s eyes went wide for a moment before regaining his composure and saluting. “Aye aye, ma’am!”

Twilight saluted back as he put himself in the harness with the other Pegasus and took off. Is it weird that I’m already getting used to saluting back like this? She beat back the thought with a mental hammer, then turned to face Spike as he trudged out of the ocean.

“Bleh. Wet. I wonder if my armor would survive me torching it to dry it off?”

“Doubtful. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, though. You’re going to be up in the air with Rainbow.”

“I am?” he asked.

“He is?” Rainbow asked too, mirroring Spike’s expression.

“He is. I want you two to hop in a cloud and follow us into town. I’m not sure how the zebras will react to me, so I want you to be ready to drop in at a moment’s notice.” Twilight pulled the saddlebags off her back. “We didn’t exactly react with grace when Zecora first arrived in Ponyville.”

Zecora sighed. “I ask you, my friend, to worry not. All is forgiven and the past is forgot. As for the town, I do not know. I left in tears, long, long ago.”

Rainbow jumped into the air and started splashing in the sea to gather water vapour for a cloud. “So you said, but we still don’t know why. What happened here?”

“I… Would rather not say. It was a truly painful day.”

“Well, we are going to have to interact at least a little. Somepony knows where this gem came from.” Twilight pulled out the burnt core, along with a tropical Explorers’ jacket and pith helmet. “And for that, I need to look the part.” She pulled off her torc and stuffed it inside her saddlebag before donning the shirt.

Spike hopped on the slowly forming cloud, letting his armor's cloudwalking spell support him as Rainbow continued to build it up. The magic from her pinions sprayed the water into the air as a mist, collecting into a ball. “Hey, worst case scenario? We can hop down to pull you guys out. You already left once, right? If it really is that bad, we have your back.”

Twilight put her forearm across Zecora’s back. “She could’ve put it a little more delicately, but she’s still right. We are here for you. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

Zecora took in a quivering breath and exhaled with a nod.

Twilight gave her a smile and picked up her pith helmet and tried to put it on. “Huh… No horn hole. Not a unicorn-compliant model.” She flipped it over and pulled out her telekinetic blade in a flash of purple light. Slowly, she carved out a small opening and put the hat back on, this time with it sitting properly.

“Um, Twi?”

“Hmmm?” Twilight turned to face Rainbow, head tilted to the side. “What is it?”

Rainbow pointed at the shimmering, purple blade.

Twilight looked over and found it crackling and popping in place, sparks shooting out of one end. “Aww, crap!” She whipped her head around to toss it at the ocean, sending the blade of light into a large wave.

The huge thud roared from the ocean, splashing up a swimming pool’s worth of water a meter into the air.

For a moment, the entire group stood still, watching the event settle.

“Actually, that wasn’t near as bad as I was expecting.” Spike scratched his chin. “You think your magic is getting more stable, Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I think the water absorbed a lot more of the energy. I was kind of hoping it would. I guess I still shouldn’t try using that just yet.”

“Yeah, I don’t think the zebras will be too appreciative of you blowing up a small part of their town. I mean, to us, that’s just a part of being in Ponyville, but I kinda doubt that other towns celebrate new arrivals with explosions.” Rainbow finished the top of the cloud, arcing it over her and Spike so that they would be concealed. “Looks like we’re ready!”

Twilight nodded. “Okay, good luck you two. Watch out for the patrols.”

“Can do!” Spike waved at them as Rainbow began to fly the cloud up into the sky.

Twilight looked over at Zecora who sighed and started the journey towards the town. “Well, at the very least, this should be interesting…”

Twilight and Zecora made their way through the jungle, emerging at one of the town’s outer edges. Soft, sweet smelling grass gave way to dirt under their hooves as they arrived at what appeared to be a major trail to the village.

Huh. I expected the buildings to be more like Zecora’s hut in the Everfree forest. These are… Well, not exactly modern, but not simplistic either.

Twilight’s eyes moved across the scene, first over the white stone wall that surrounded the entire town, and then on to the buildings themselves. Each of the buildings looked much the same, with whitewashed walls and terracotta tile roofs. Most had small windows covered with a type of cloth. A few were two stories tall but most were only one. Cracks, chipped paint, holes, and other issues were telltale signs of lack of upkeep.

The trail intersected the wall at a large, gated opening. The gate itself was painted black with large spots of rust showing through, and one side of it was only barely affixed to the wall with a single corroded bolt.

“Sort of looks like they let the place go since you left…” Twilight furled her brow into a look of concern.

<> Zecora said in her native language. <>

“Heads up, Twi!” Rainbow’s voice crackled over the radio. “There’s a pony, er, zebra approaching fast from your left.”

<> The zebra mare yelled, rushing at them while waving a hoof.

<> Zecora asked, jaw agape.

<>

Zecora raised an eyebrow. <>

Nerise jerked back in shock. <>

<>

<>

Twilight’s eyes went wide. Journey? Did I hear that right? I think I’m missing something here… But if I’m not then that’s even worse.

Zecora’s jaw dropped. <>

<>

Twilight rubbed her head with a hoof. <>

<> Nerise asked with a jovial laugh. <>

Crap, I forgot to think of a name! Crap crap crap crap crap! Think, Twilight! Think think think! <> I really hope my old professor doesn’t mind me ‘borrowing’ her name like this… Not that I particularly care what Professor Never-Gives-An-A thinks.

<>

<> She pointed a hoof at her pith helmet. <> Please buy it please buy it please buy it please buy it…

<> she said, arms open wide. <>

<>

Zecora sighed. <>

<> Nerise gave them a final way before trotting back into town.

<> Twilight muttered under her breath to her friend.

<>

<> Twilight turned to face Zecora directly. <>

<>

Twilight sighed. <>

Zecora winced as if struck. <>

<>

Zecora nodded. <>

<>

<>

<>

<> Twilight looked around, examining the buildings again, this time finding a large building towards the centre of the village. <>

<>

Twilight nodded and pulled down the microphone from her hat. “Rainbow, Spike, we’re moving into that large building down the road. Stay alert. I’ll shoot a flare if I need you.”

“Copy that, Twi! We’ll watch your back!”

“Thanks, Spike.” Twilight tucked the microphone back into her hat. <>

Twilight fidgeted in place on the cushion, checking each and every doorway, window, and corner as if Luna was about to jump out and pounce on her. <>

She looked over to Zecora, who stood frozen in meditation. Even the gentle breeze from the window couldn’t so much as move a hair on her body.

She’s meeting her father for the first time in dozens of years, and I’m the one who looks like a foal that needs to go to the bathroom. I’m honestly starting to wish that I could meditate like that.

A teenage zebra stallion with short hair entered into the room and dropped into a small bow. <>

Zecora got up in a single, smooth motion, her eyes hinting at a zeal Twilight had only seen in the Royal Guard before.

<> Twilight took a deep breath as they followed the stallion into the next room. The interior was every bit as simple as the interior of the previous room: a dirt floor, shoddy, old, semi-rotted furniture, a few thin cushions, and a simple oil lamp.

<> loudly proclaimed their young zebra escort.

<> An old stallion stood up, his long, unkempt white mane hanging to his right side. Even his clothes were simple, being merely an off-white robe.

What Twilight’s gaze snapped to first, however, were the stallion’s blank, grey eyes.

< Zecora stomped her hoof in the dirt. <>

The old stallion shook his head. <> Tears welled up and flowed down his cheeks. <> He sniffed.

Zecora sighed, and stepped in to embrace him. <>

Mipaka pulled back out of the embrace, face sunken and sullen. <>

<>

Mipaka slowly sat down, his joints creaking as he moved. <>

Zecora turned to Twilight and waved her on.

Twilight ducked into the conversation for her friend. <> It’s not a total lie, but it is still somewhat of a lie.

Mipaka stroked his beard. <>

Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow, grateful that he couldn’t see her nervousness. Lighting her horn, she opened up her saddlebags and pulled out the gem core Celestia had given her. <>

An awkward moment of silence passed before the stallion smirked. <>

<> Twilight chuckled nervously. <> She looked at it more intently, thinking about what to say. <>

<>

Twilight blinked, her jaw hanging open as she examined the gash more closely. <>

He nodded. <>

<> Both Zecora and Twilight asked in unison.

<> Mipaka got up, and slowly limped his way towards a large treasure chest in the corner of the room. With a grunt, he moved it away from the wall and towards the two mares. <>

He tapped the top of the chest with his hooves and the lock snapped open, revealing the box’s secrets.

Holy…

Inside was a collection of bond-class cores, and seemingly all of them had some kind of burn, gash, crack, or other major fault. Every conceivable colour of the rainbow was represented. Long, thin, round, fat, and sharp ones, the myriad of options represented more than Twilight had ever considered in gems before.

<>

<> Zecora roared in frustration and pounded her forehooves to the ground. <>

<> Mipaka held out a hoof to stop her, but she had already stormed out of the room.

Twilight kept her gaze on the gems. No wonder we couldn’t find any more bonded cores! This guy’s been stealing them all! Or, buying, maybe. Hard to know for certain, but still. <>

<>

Dang. Twilight moved her hoof around in the chest, parting the precious gems like so many pebbles. There’s actually a few in here that are somewhat intact. Maybe even usable, in the right conditions. Certainly enough that we can find where they are from.

She sat back and tapped her chin with a hoof. <>

The stallion pushed the chest closed with a hoof and locked it. <>

Twilight practically choked on her own spit, sending her into a coughing fit. <>

Mipaka shrugged. <>

<>

<> he said. <>

Twilight smiled at him, though she knew he couldn’t see it. <>

Author's Note

Oh, you don’t think the mission is over already, so you? ‘Course not! We’re just starting!

That being said, this mission is a bit discombobulated. Why? Well, for starters, this chapter is the first one written entirely by voice, so a quality drop is to be expected. Secondly, this mission was supposed to be a lot longer. Like, six times as long as it wound up being. But I couldn’t keep it all straight in my head, and after stepping back, I realized that most of what I had planned just plain wasn’t needed to advance the story. Thus, it got cut dramatically. So things are a little wobbly for this one.

But, with my limited writing capacity and strong desire to move forward, combined with positive feedback from my pre-readers, I decided against rewriting it. I’ve been trying to live by a new credo: “Write without fear. Edit without mercy. Publish without remorse.” I’m not saying I’m pulling it off, mind you. I’m still not watching S4+, and I still hesitate and worry when I write and post, but I’m trying, dang it.

Anyway, the good news is that, yes, there is more to the mission. The other good news is that I’ve determined that block six can end after the interlude between missions six and seven, which means I can already post the next few chapters of this block (five) once they are edited. In a couple weeks at most, I’ll have the interlude finished and all of block five can go up.

I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year, but for original content. Time to work on those novels! After that, I’ll switch back to ponies.

Physiotherapy is helping a lot for my back, allowing me to sit more normally, and when I sit I can write with less stress on my hands, which means I can write more words! My blog has the details about my many medical mishaps.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks again for sticking with me! Patreon peoples, as always, you get to see the next chapter (unedited) almost right away. I’ll be posting it in the usual place in a few moments.

Tune in next time for Chapter 42 - Disquieting Silence!

-Cv

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Disquieting Silence

Despite the large conversation piece floating in Twilight’s magic, the walk back to the extraction site had been devoid of conversation for quite some time. Twilight hadn’t seen Zecora this upset before, even during the time when they had first met and nearly came to blows. Considering that she was carrying what amounted to one whopper of a gift from her friend’s father, she thought it best to allow Zecora to be the one to resume any chitchat.

That being said, by the time they were well into the rainforest, Twilight had no choice but to break the silence. She pulled out the little microphone from her helmet and spoke. “Hey Rainbow, bring Spike back to the extraction site, and relay a message to the Bellerophon. Tell them we have a high priority item that needs to be retrieved and stored in the ship’s hold.”

“Roger that!” Rainbow’s voice said over the radio. The little tuft of cloud that had been following them promptly took off at high speed.

Zecora sighed. <>

<>

<>

<>

<>

Twilight shook her head. <>

<>

<>

Twilight and Zecora both leapt to the side, tumbling into the leaves along with the chest. Twilight’s ears twitched, as the sound of small hoofsteps was oddly familiar. There was also the sound of a rickety wooden contraption that brought back memories from her time in Ponyville.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Zecora. <>

The two poked their heads out of the leaves and watched as a trio of zebra foals ran past, two of them pulling the third in a wooden cart.

<> The one in the vehicle called out, the other two not even so much as flinching as they raced towards the village.

Even on the other side of the known world, foals would be foals. Even Zecora couldn’t help but smile at the sight, but it faded quickly. <>

Twilight’s ears fell, realizing what she was talking about. <>

Zecora’s head fell, crestfallen. <>

Twilight nodded and turned to collect the gems which had spilled out of the chest. <> She flipped the chest back up and started depositing the scattered crystals one by one. When she got to a certain white one she rubbed a hoof on her horn.

“Is something wrong?”

<> Twilight quickly added the rest of the gems to the chest, save for the one she had deemed more important, which went into her saddlebag. <>

Every few moments as they walked back to the chariot, Twilight couldn’t help but look around. There was a slight tingle at the back of her neck making her coat stand on end. Even her mane was getting into the act a little bit.

Hmm… Her eyes darted around as she wondered where the darkness at the edge of her vision kept coming from. Each time she looked at something new, it would vanish, but whenever she let her focus slip, even just a little, it would slowly creep back in.

The air itself seemed heavy, thick. The molecules in her breath felt as though they could be individually perceived. When she looked behind her and gazed at the sun she could almost feel something else there, perhaps on the other side of the star, watching her.

<>

“Waaaaaaoh –!” Twilight’s chin swung to the ground, announcing its arrival with a clack as her teeth came together. Looking up at the last second had prevented a complete face plant, but she had still fallen completely over, her rump pointing at the sky.

Ow. There goes any dignity I thought I’d gain over this mission. Urgh. She righted herself and sat down, finding that they had arrived at the extraction site. The two Royal guard pegasi who had been assigned to her were coming in for a landing with the chariot, ready to carry off their prize. And of course, I bet they saw all that.

To Twilight’s relief, neither the guards commented on her lack of grace. Instead, they simply grabbed hold of the chest and heaved into the chariot's cargo hold.

“I’m assuming this is the high priority package you mentioned,” Cloud Burner said. “Rainbow and Spike are both back on the Bellerophon. Are you ready for exfil?”

“I suppose.” Twilight looked up at the sky, finding only a few clouds. “What about the patrols? Shouldn’t we have to wait for about an hour to find another window?”

He shook his head. “No, for whatever reason they’ve been quiet lately.”

“Yeah, but if you ask me, I don’t count it as a blessing.” The other guard sneered, staring off into the distant blue. “Something’s going on.”

“We can at least make use of it to get the heck out of here. After we regroup, then we can find out what the patrols are for.” Twilight hopped into the chariot, offering a hoof to help Zecora step inside. “Come on, I know Zecora doesn’t want to stay any longer, I can’t say I blame her.”

The stallion saluted and got to the harness, taking off without further delay. The chest bumped and rattled as the air currents around them jostled the chariot. The winds grew stronger and stronger as they climbed, until the pegasi had to purposefully dampen them with magic.

Twilight watched as the two stallions flapped their wings. If she focused her gaze, she could see the slight variations in the pinion positioning as they fought back against the currents. It’s kind of remarkable how they can do that, really. Things like this are the basics for them, but me? I can’t even comprehend having wings yet.

“Royal one, come in. This is Bellerophon actual.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked around, trying to find the mare who was talking to her over the radio. Bellerophon actual means it’s General Tempest herself, but we’re not in range of the ship yet. So where is…

“I repeat, Royal one, come in.”

Twilight shook her head to snap out of it. "Bellerophon actual, this is Royal one. What’s going on?”

“Adjust your vector to intercept the cloud bank to the east southeast of the caldera. I’ll meet you there.”

Twilight looked over to Zecora, who simply shrugged.

“Um, okay.” She looked at her pegasi escorts. “Adjust vector to… That way.” Twilight pointed in the general direction she thought was correct.

The pegasi nodded and accelerated skyward, boosting their speed to the clouds. After another minute, they arrived, and Twilight saw the general standing on top of their destination.

As the chariot circled around for another pass, Twilight got up and put her hooves on the edge of the chariot, coiling her legs for a jump. As they passed, she sprang into action, leaping off of the chariot and landing on the cloud below with the soft ‘whud’.

“Royal one, this is Bellerophon actual. You are cleared to proceed to the ship. I will escort the Grand Mage the rest of the way later.”

“Royal one, copy. Proceeding with exfil.”

The chariot banked and turned, racing back towards the ship’s hiding spot.

“Lady Sparkle.”

Twilight turned to face the winged unicorn, only to see her turn away and draw her sword.

What the… Twilight took a step back, charging her horn.

Tempest swung her sword, but not at Twilight. Rather, her fury was reserved for the cloud underneath them, the blade slicing off a piece of cloud and pushing it away.

“Calm yourself, Grand Mage. I did not ask you out here to attack you. I need to show you something. But I cannot move this entire cloud on my own. Hence, we will use the smaller one.” The general spread her wings, and Twilight noticed that they were smaller than most pegasi. Despite this, there was no hindrance as she gracefully landed on the other cloud.

Twilight took the charge in her horn and shoved it into her teleportation spell, the overuse of energy resulting in a thunderclap as she reappeared on top of the other cloud.

Wind rushed behind them, pushing the cloud further east but significantly north of the village.

Twilight poked her head over the edge of the cloud, looking down as the jungle slowly moved under them. “You’re using the cloud as a chariot. I’m guessing it’s to avoid patrols, but the guard said they stopped.”

“We did observe that the wyvern patrols have left, but we cannot assume that we are safe just yet. Also, and more importantly, one of our scouts had a near run-in with one before they left.”

“Were they spotted?”

“No, miraculously. But when that happened, the scouts made a couple of interesting discoveries. He believes that the wyverns were equipped with Equestrian guns. A model similar to what we are starting to mount on our pegasi.”

Twilight looked back at the ship, her mind rushing back to the memory of the contractor she captured in Canterlot. “Equestrian guns? Those aren’t legal for export…”

“No, they aren’t. What’s more, they managed to follow a patrol to a hidden base in the jungle. Can you see it yet?” The general pointed with a hoof to a dense pocket of jungle in the distance. “It’s fairly well camouflaged, so look close.”

Twilight squinted, trying to make out the shape of any kind of recognizable structure. “No, at least not yet. But that area does look darker… Although…”

With a blink, Twilight tugged at her wellspring and shifted to her thaumic sight. A gentle glow surrounded the entire forest below her, the magic of life itself welling up. But where the general had pointed, the deep emerald green was contaminated with a spotty greyish tinge. Unlike the forest itself, the consistency of the colouring wasn’t static, but flowing and irregular.

“Okay, I definitely think there’s something there. Are you sure it’s a military base?”

“Absolutely.” General Tempest lay down on the cloud, but kept her head held high. “There is no doubt in my mind. That being said, the patrols seem to have moved off to the north, following a ship upriver. This gives us an opening that, should you wish to proceed, we can use to our advantage.”

Twilight tapped her chin, sitting down on the cloud to ponder. “Well, Zebrica is free to place military bases anywhere inside its territory. Normally, we wouldn’t have any right to intervene with that.”

A little grin formed on the general’s face. “Your wording suggests an exception.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. If they’re using Equestrian guns illegally, then we need to investigate. If we can find out where they’re from, maybe we can stop the smuggling.”

“I concur. General Nocturne’s special forces team is waiting outside the base. They could infiltrate on their own, but I thought you might want to see it firsthoof.”

Twilight scanned the perimeter, but whether she was using her special sight or not, she couldn’t quite see them. They were too far up. “Are they radio-equipped?”

“Of course!” The General held a hoof up to her ear. “Shadow One, this is Bellerophon Actual. Do you read?”

A stallion’s voice crackled over the radio. “Loud and clear. We are five hundred meters northwest of the target site, ready for infil.”

“Standby, a special guest will be there shortly.” Tempest smiled at Twilight. “Unfortunately, the chariot has already left, but…”

Testing me, huh? Twilight took off her shirt and hat and stuffed them in her saddlebags, then pulled out her torc and put it on. “Can you take these back to the ship? It’s important they make it back.”

Tempest stood up and gave her a salute with a wing, lifting the bags with her magic and placing them on her back.

Whether it was sarcastic or not, Twilight couldn’t completely tell, but her gut told her it was. With a sigh, she turned around to roll her eyes, then stare back down at the ground. A chariot is one thing, but this… Well, here goes.

Pretending the cloud was a high dive, Twilight jumped up and off the edge, plummeting to the earth below. The wind howled and roared past her and the air grew warmer and denser.

Tempest has a hell of an attitude. As much as I hate to say it, General Blueblood was right. I may have to talk to Tia about this. Twilight shifted her body around, angling herself more to the base. She used the vision again, and this time she could see the faint blips of Equestrian wellsprings underneath forest canopy. At least, she could see it when she wasn’t forced to close her eyes from the wind.

Three, two… She summoned some Pegasus magic, forcing a blast of air underneath her that blew her coat and mane around like a chilly mini-tornado. The air cushion slowed her enough that by the time she had reached the ground, her hooves barely made a sound as they touched down. I think I’m finally getting the hang of this.

“Lady Sparkle!” A voice whispered to her. “Over here!”

Twilight looked in the direction of the voice, making out the wellsprings hidden in the foliage. Violet colour… a unicorn? She stepped forward, finding a group of ponies practically drenched in camouflage.

“Lieutenant Strike, I presume. With team. I gotta say, you guys hide well. I’m surprised I saw you at all.” Twilight had to choke back the fact that she was lying, although it was a only a small one. Without her sight, she doubted she would’ve ever found them.

“It’s all part of the job, ma’am. Did Tempest brief you?”

“A little bit. You find out anything more about the base other than that it is, you know, a base?”

“Yeah.” He lit his horn and pulled out a map, unfolding it and laying it out on the ground. It was covered in hastily sketched topographical lines, along with dots, triangles, squares, and a host of other symbols depicting the town and other important landmarks, including a reasonably sized river.

“Okay, we’re located right here.” Lieutenant Strike said, tapping a spot with a hoof. “On the surface, the base occupies about this much space. He traced out a large rectangle with a pencil, then put in a small circle at one end. And this here is some kind of underground entrance. We think more wyvern patrols are resting there.”

“But why have patrols here at all?” Twilight asked. “We’re really, really far away from the front lines with Saddle Arabia.”

“Our ship-board intel spooks seem to think this is some kind of receiving base, a place to store illegally smuggled goods. Instead of offloading offshore or on a dock, sea-faring ships move just a short ways up the river, and around the bend so they won’t be seen as easily. From here, it could be shipped up river to a major trading city, or over land, and wind up anywhere in Zebrica.”

“Including the front lines, which means that if the war starts, our own weapons could be pointed at our allies.” Twilight sat down and folded her forelegs with a sigh. “At this rate, we could lose the only friend we have in the region. The horses will think we’re supplying the zebras.”

“Which is why this is important. Fortunately, we have an advantage.” He picked the pencil back up and added four more circles on the corners of the base, then two more on one side. “It doesn’t look like they were expecting Equestrians. There are four guard towers, one in each corner of the wall, plus two more guards at the main entrance. The above ground area is only very lightly staffed.”

One of the other spec ops ponies laughed. “We play this right and we’ll be in and out before they notice anything.” As he smiled, Twilight half expected to find a Night Guard fang.

“So, we’re looking for something that ties this in with smuggling operations? Like, the name of the ship or something?” Twilight cringed at the incredulous looks she was getting from the military ponies. “I’m sorry if these questions are somewhat basic; I’m not formally part of the military.”

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow’s voice sounded from overhead. “Are you down there?”

One of the pegasi in the group soared into the air instantly, looping back around and dragging a blue and rainbow coloured blur with him. “Just what do you think you’re doing!?” He whispered harshly as they hit the ground with a thud. “If you’re spotted this whole thing is blown!”

“Hey! Get off of me!” Rainbow twisted and struggled under the stallion’s hold. “I was careful, dammit!”

“Guys!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “Stop fighting! Yelling at each other is just likely to get us spotted, and besides, we’re supposed to be working together here.”

“She’s not camouflaged!” The stallion grumbled, letting Rainbow out of his grip.

“Yeah, well, neither am I.” Twilight lit her horn and pushed magic and her Armour, deploying it in all its purple glory. “So do you guys have a plan to get us in there or not?”

“Stand down, every pony. Arguing won’t get us anywhere.” Lieutenant Strike picked up the map and angled it so Rainbow could see. “If we are going to get in undetected, we are going to need a little more cover. Captain, since you’re here, I want you to work with the Sergeant here to build us a fog bank.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Wouldn’t a fog bank be unusual for this area? And put the guards into alert?”

“It would be a little unusual for this time of year, but not entirely unprecedented. We’re about two weeks away from monsoon season, when it’s common. Besides, like I said, they aren’t expecting Equestrians. Most likely, they just deploy a few extra guards. Guards which we can remove if necessary. There probably aren’t a whole lot of zebras here. It’s the paradox of secret bases. To make it truly secured, you need a lot of personnel. But if you have a lot of personnel, it’s almost certain to be found, so to keep it secret, you can only have so many here. Resistance shouldn’t be that large.

“The problem we really need to focus on is creating a large enough bank with just two pegasi that we can blanket the entire base. Can you two do it?”

Rainbow smirked and shook her tail at the Sergeant. “In my sleep. You guys go chill for a bit; I got this.”

Twilight jumped to the side to get in front of Rainbow and held up her hoof. “Dash, ‘you guys’ go together or not at all. Safety in numbers. Were in hostile territory here.”

Rainbow slumped her shoulders and sighed. “Okay, okay. As long as he doesn’t slow me down.”

Two pegasi took off underneath the tree canopy, dodging branches and glaring at each other.

Twilight turned to face the Lieutenant and put her ears down. “You sent them both away because they’d be the most disruptive and likely to get us caught, didn’t you?”

“Also because they’re the best flyer’s we have, and we're looking to make an awful lot of fog. Once it rolls in, we’ll make our move. Our remaining pegasus, Corporal Silence here, will sneak over the wall and scout out an infiltration route. From there, we need to check out the warehouses. Priority will be to neutralize any interior guards and inspect what they have hiding here.”

“How do we know where the guards are? Especially inside the building…” Twilight asked.

The other unicorn in the group chuckled. “We don’t. We have to deal with that as it comes.”

“Actually…” Twilight looked over at the wall in the distance and shifted to her magic sight once again, but the ambient magic was too strong to see the base itself. “There’s a spell in my repertoire that might be able to help. If you can get me close enough, I can at least tell you where they are in the building. I might not be able to say which way they’re facing, though."

The group all shared an expression of wide eyes and blinking surprise, followed by a sigh of relief.

“Alright then, every pony.” Lieutenant signalled for the group to gather around the map. “Here’s our new plan.”

Twilight took in a deep breath, feeling the moisture in her nose and lungs. The armoured soldiers rested upon the wall as she listened carefully for any sign of additional guards.

“Looks calm,” the lieutenant whispered to the group. “Certain, lift the Grand Mage for us. She can see through the fog, so she is on point.”

The stallion nodded and went to pick up Twilight, wrapping his forelegs around her chest.

As she felt her hooves lift up off the ground, Twilight looked in the direction of the wall. She could just make out the grey smudges of two guards in her sight, one at either end, and neither close enough for them to see her through the cloud that had enveloped the peninsula.

One by one, the rest of the ponies followed her over the wall. When the whole group had arrived, the lieutenant leaned over to her and whispered, “stay low and slink over to the wall of the building. Step against it, and try not to make any noise. We move from cover to cover. Trees scattered about the base should provide additional hiding spots.”

Twilight nodded, her mind flashing back to some of her training with Luna. She ducked down flat, being careful not to step on anything that would make a sound. She leaned over past the edge of the first building, seeing only a single pony’s wellspring in the distance. With only dirt and grass under her, she moved over to the next building, her group close behind.

In cover once again, she took a deep breath, the moist air being the only comfort for her dry throat. She watched the little swirls of moisture dancing around in front of her as she exhaled. Though the mist was cool, and blocked out much the sun’s light, the air itself was still warm enough for sweat to begin dripping down her brow.

“Keep going,” the Lieutenant whispered again. “We’re sitting ducks out here. The warehouse is just on the other side of this building.”

Twilight nodded, and peeked around the next wall. The warehouse sat kitty-corner from her position, and she could already see some trouble. “There are two guards located just inside the main door,” she whispered behind her as she inched forward and continued her scan. “Two, possibly three more on the opposite side, and it looks like there’s one up above.”

The group stacked up behind her, each taking a look.

“I see the one above.” Corporal Silence said, pointing. “In fact he's by an open window. I think I can take him out, get us an ingress route.”

Twilight nodded. “We could do that. Lieutenant, this is your field of expertise, so it’s your call.”

“Go for it, Corporal, but do it silently”, he said, also giving him some hoof signals. “We can’t afford a ruckus right now.”

The stallion nodded and proceeded ahead of the group, his belly so close to the ground Twilight had to wonder just how in the world he could move like that. It was like watching a snake slither along the grass.

Just as he reached the wall of the window, the Pegasus shot up, grabbing his victim by the neck and dragging him straight down to the ground. The only two sounds were a pair of muffled thuds, the first from a rough landing, and the second being a single blow directly between the zebra’s neck and head.

Twilight leaned forward to go and follow, but a hoof on her shoulder held her back.

“Wait for the Corporal to secure the entrance. Then, and only then, do we go in.”

She looked back into the stallion’s eyes, shrinking down at the weight of the experience being projected at her. “Okay. But we don’t have long.”

“We don’t need it. See?”

In a single jump, the Pegasus flew back up to the window and scurried inside. A moment later, a hoof stuck out from the window to signal them to proceed.

Twilight took a breath and exhaled, and licked away some the sweat that had dripped down to her mouth. Here we go… She darted over to the other building, staying flat against the exterior wall. The buildings in the village were made of a cheap concrete. These however, whatever they were made of structurally, were covered in a material resembling bark, letting them blend in easily with the jungle.

One at a time, each pony was carried ever so gently up to the window and into the warehouse itself. Each pony moved as slow as possible to keep their hooves from making a sound on the metal grate floor. The zebra guard they had already knocked out was then carried up with them.

The Lieutenant motioned over to a door next to them, silently asking if any pony was inside.

Twilight shook her head, finding no additional wellspring sources on the upper floor. She did, however, move forward toward the railing that was overlooking the inside of the structure. Numerous large crates sat unopened on a concrete floor, with lights hanging from the ceiling illuminating small parts of the storage area. She saw four wellspring sources, two at a small door to her right, the others guarding a much larger door on her left. Without a sound she pointed out each.

The Lieutenant nodded and grasped the door handle with his mouth. In a slow, singular movement, he opened the door and checked inside, horn alight with a spell at the ready. As he crept inside the small office, each pony followed until all were inside and the door was sealed.

“Okay, four targets are left within the warehouse.” The lieutenant pointed in the direction of each from within the room, looking out through a large overseeing window. “Twilight, do you see any more guards outside the building?”

She shook her head in response.

“Good.” He turned to the Pegasus Corporal. “You and I will take the guards at the large door. Go after the one farther away. Corporal? You take on the far guard on the opposite side. Sergeant? You have the near one. Twilight, you stay here with the other sergeant until it’s clear.”

The Pegasus, unicorn, and earth ponies all saluted, while Twilight merely nodded.

The group split up, two ponies going one way, two going another, and two staying put in the office.

Twilight wasn’t sure exactly when they would make their move, as nothing seemed to happen for a long time. Though, when they did, she wasn’t quite certain what had transpired until it was over. A flutter of feathers, a set of hooves landing on concrete, and a few subtle flashes of light all came at once. By the time the light had faded, so had the guards’ consciousness. Each one lay limp on the ground for but a second before being dragged back up into the office and tied up along with the first guard they had knocked out.

“There, that’s that,” the Lieutenant said, this time his voice slightly above a whisper. “Corporal, do you have the forget-me-juice?”

Corporal Calibre lit her horn and pulled out a small case of something, opening it up to reveal a set of syringes.

Twilight took a step back, wrinkling her nose. “What is that?”

“A cocktail of versed, propofol, and a few other more magical ingredients. Guaranteed to wipe the last twenty minutes or so of your memory, and keep you knocked out for a good long while.” The unicorn lifted one of the syringes out, and started dosing each of the zebras. “When we’re done, we’ll take them back to the ship for interrogation. Also, we’ll use the typewriter over there on the desk to write up a report on how these guys went AWOL. If we’re lucky, it’ll cause a big kerfuffle in their ranks, which could lead to a few juicy leaks.”

The Lieutenant leaned over to the window, again checking the warehouse floor. “If we just kill them, security will only get tighter. Okay, looks clear. Sergeants, you two stay up here and rifle around the paperwork. Try to find anything interesting. Everypony else, downstairs with me. Time to find out what’s here.”

Immediately, the two earth ponies began to open up drawers and scrounge through the documents, one of them seemingly translating for the other. Meanwhile, Twilight and the others moved downstairs to the warehouse floor.

“Corporal, if you would.” The Lieutenant smiled, pointing at one of the large crates.

“Don’t mind if I do”, she laughed, hopping up on a different crate and turning her horn to face the designated box. Five at a time, the nails sealing the top of the crate popped out from her telekinesis, the top panel coming off in almost no time at all.

Twilight reared up on her hind legs, putting her front hooves over the top of the box and taking a peek inside with the others.

“Hello, what have we here?” Silence asked, reaching down and pulling out a set of cored cannons and mounting them on his back. “Hey Lieutenant, these look familiar to you?”

Twilight took a close look at the weapons, spotting a familiar symbol in between them. Cloudsdale armouries. “This is the second time I’ve encountered their weapons being illegally used.”

"If they’re authentic." Lieutenant Strike picked the weapons up off his subordinate’s back and hoofed them over to the Corporal. “What do you think? Are we dealing with the real thing?”

“Hmm…” She scratched her head, looking over both barrels with squinting eyes and her horn alight. Bit by bit, pieces of the weapon came off as it was disassembled completely, each component thoroughly scrutinized. ”Most of its authentic. Or, at least, authentic enough that I can’t tell the difference. But, the firing crystal and the charge crystal are both knockoffs. Sad to say they probably still work, however. Might be a little bit of a drop in output, but still enough to kill.”

“Hey, Lieutenant! Over here, I found something you’re going to want to see.”

The three unicorns looked behind a stack of crates to find Silence overlooking a workbench. By the time they had arrived, a pit had formed in Twilight's stomach.

“What are we looking at here, Corporal?”

“I can answer that,” Twilight said, motioning to the yellow charged core and the glowing orange potion next to it. A funnel, gem carving tools, and a smattering of other devices were also strewn nearby. “Somehow, this potion is capable of carving enhancements into the core. Somepony was customizing this, trying to give it a new function or higher output. Theoretically possible, but also dangerous.”

“What about charging?” The Lieutenant turned to face the crates behind him. “Cores can only be charged by unicorns or special machines hooked up to solidified magic, which also can be only made by unicorns.”

Calibre picked up the bottle of potion in her magic. “It’s expensive, but solidified magic is available on the black market.”

“It also theoretically possible that they’ve developed a potion capable of charging them. In fact, let’s take a look.” Twilight looked over to a small crate next the table, and pried it open with her magic. “Yeah, look at this." She lifted a vial of a bright yellow liquid from the box.

“Same colour.” Silence looked down at the crystal. “What happens if we…?”

“Way ahead of you.” Twilight cleared off the workbench, leaving only the vial. “Somepony get me an uncharged, unmodified crystal. I don’t even want to attempt charging a crystal modified by an amateur.”

A fresh core quickly found his way over to the workbench, and Twilight uncorked the vial.

“Here goes nothing.” She tipped it over, pouring the entire thing onto the gym. Almost like a sponge, the liquid was absorbed and the crystal began to glow with the new found power.

A cold chill ran through the room, each pony fully aware of what just happened.

“How many weapons you think are here?” Calibre turned to face the array of boxes before them. “How many are already on the front lines?”

“Too many," the Lieutenant growled. "This just became a demolitions operation.”

“Wait!” Twilight held out a hoof to block his path. “If we blow this up, Zebrica is going to blame Saddle Arabia. It’ll start a war immediately.”

“And what do you suggest we do?” Silence asked, stepping forward. “We can’t just let these things go.”

Twilight folded her forelegs and closed her eyes, weighing the options in her mind. I’m still right. If we blow this place up, Saddle Arabia will be blamed. If we do nothing, war will probably start anyway, and they’ll have several hundred additional equestrian weapons to fight it with. I need a third option… I wonder if this is one of the situations that Celestia describes as having “no good choices”.

“Ma’am?” One of the ponies asked.

Twilight’s eyes flew open as she snapped her gaze to Calibre. “When the Lieutenant wanted one of these weapons analyzed, he asked you. I assume that means you’re some kind of weapons expert.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” She snapped off a salute.

“Can you sabotage this gun?” Twilight pointed to the weapon in pieces on the floor. “And if so, how quickly can you do it? Can you do it in a way they might not notice?”

A grin formed on all three of the military ponies.

“It’d just take a couple seconds. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah. We’re going to be here awhile longer.” Twilight turned to Silence. “I need you to make a run to Rainbow and her new friend. Tell them we're going to be here awhile, and we need them to keep the fog up. Then, get back here and help the ponies upstairs. We unicorns will get to work sabotaging these as soon as Corporal Calibre shows us how.

“And if we are very, very lucky, a whole bunch of defective weapons are about to be shipped to the front.”

Around thirty minutes in, the three unicorns on the warehouse floor had formed into a relatively efficient sabotage assembly line. Twilight lifted the weapons out and put them in front of Calibre, who sabotaged them and put them in front of the Lieutenant, who arranged them together to be placed back in the crate as if they’d never been disturbed.

Halfway through the twelfth large crate, the door from the room above opened at one of the Earth ponies silently scrambled down the steps to meet with them.

“Lieutenant, I think we have a new problem. Take a look at these documents.”

“I can’t read Zebrican, Sergeant. What do they say?”

“I’ll translate." Twilight took the clipboard in her magic and started flipping through it. "They’re shipping manifests, but this isn’t government letterhead. It looks like… Wow, this is a lot of money changing hooves. It looks like a lot of it was for food… No, wait.”

“What is it?”

“Apparently, there was a shipment that came through here very recently. They dropped off these weapons, but picked up a large shipment of food from the warehouse. At least, that’s what it says.”

“Food?” The Corporal rubbed her hoof on her chest. “Wonder what that’s code for.”

“Actually, I think it’s legit." Twilight pointed at a number of the other entries. "They aren’t hiding the kinds of goods they’re carrying. They’re still a lot of weapons, but much of Zebrica is in the midst of a drought, and an army marches on its stomach. They may well have had to pick up food from here. Most of the rest of the shipments, however, are weapons.

“It’s strange, though. There are payment logs in here as well. It’s like they’re being paid for as they leave this depot. Going to… the Wavu? I’m not sure what that word is…”

“Aw, bucking hell"! Precision Strike stomped his hoof on the ground. "Suddenly, everything’s starting to make sense. The Wavu are a Zebrican criminal organization. They do operate in some areas of Equestria. They must be buying the weapons, shipping them here, and then selling them to the Zebrican government. For all we know, they might be under orders from President Malkia herself.”

Calibre’s lip curled in a sneer. “No wonder security is so lax here. We’re in a mob base, not a military base. This is a smuggling dock!”

Twilight looked up to the room where their captives were held. “They sure look like soldiers…”

Precision rolled his eyes. “That’s because thugs like this like to play soldier, but they’re really just that: thugs. Now, though, my question is, how many weapons are we talking about?”

Twilight flipped through the pages adding up the numbers in her head.

Calibre leaned over to watch. “Please tell me those are all duplicates.”

Twilight shook her head. "No, there’s enough weapons going through here to supply an army. And I don’t think destroying the base would help any. The ships would just go farther up river, directly to the city. This is likely just a checkpoint. Not to mention it’d likely set off the war right away.”

The door to the office swung open again this time with a bit of a clang. “Lieutenant! I found a guard schedule! Shift changes in six minutes!”

"Crap." Precision facehooved. "Looks like we’re Oscar Mike. Twilight, seal up these crates. Silence, get ready to do your thing. You're going to silently fly our captives out to the staging area, hostile exfil. Everypony else, clean up. Make it look like we were never here. As soon as Calibre finishes, we are ghosts. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir!”

Author's Note

Welp, chapter. Chapter is a thing. We're in the thick of where I was using voice dictation, so awkwardness abounded before edits.

Remember, I love reading your comments! It's the support I get from you guys that keeps me going!

Tune in next time for Chapter 43: The One Hope Of The Doomed.

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The One Hope of the Doomed

Chariots and hooves touched down on the metal bay floor, boosting an already impressive racket on the busy airship.

No wonder most of the ponies here tend to wear earplugs, Twilight mused to herself as she dismounted from her chariot.

Small teams of ponies rushed forward to remove the harnesses from the pegasi and gave them water bottles and energy bars to refuel their bodies. Others began examining the chariots themselves, making note of any needed maintenance work. Mist and fog dissipated as the bay doors closed, the warm interior air evaporating the pieces of the ship’s disguise that had leaked inside.

“Hey Twilight!” Spike waved from the door leading to the interior of the vessel. “The Admiral wants to see you. Says she wants to talk about what you found.”

“I figured as much. On my way.” Twilight broke into a trot, moving directly passed Spike and through the twisting guts of the ship. After a wrong turn and a snicker from her assistant, they eventually made it to the bridge.

“Royalty on de—”

“At ease,” Twilight cut the yeoman off, making her way next to the captain’s chair where the admiral sat. “You wanted to see me?”

Tempest spun around in the chair to face her. “Yes. It was mentioned over the radio that you believe the weapons the zebra had were authentic?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. The base we infiltrated contained an intelligence gold mine. The weapons themselves are authentic, and although the crystals they use are not, they apparently found a way to charge them without a unicorn’s help. What’s more, is that there are a lot of them. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of guns have made their way into Zebrican hooves already.

“Also, all the weapons we found were manufactured by Cloudsdale Armouries, and we think the Zebrican government is acquiring them through underground criminal organizations via smuggling. Thus far, I can't determine if the company is complicit or a victim.”

“Hmmm…” Tempest rubbed her chin with a fetlock. “That will be problematic. No company has more sway in the Empyreal Hall. They could stonewall any investigation for some time.

“In any event, the degree of authenticity in the weapons suggests a pony or multiple ponies on the inside. That is… not good. Helm! Prepare for immediate departure! We have to get back in range of a leyline so we can warn the princesses.”

“Aye aye!” The Ensign yelled, flipping a bunch of switches on his control board. “Lift off in two minutes.”

The XO stepped forward to a microphone and sound of the orders throughout the ship. “All stations, prepare for departure! Retract all anchoring lines! Wind up the engines and prepare for cruise speed!”

“One last question, Grand Mage.” Tempest looked back at Twilight, her face unreadable. “Those gems you brought back to the ship. I had them stowed away in the armoury. Are you sure they’re safe?”

“Unless somepony decides to pump a whole bunch of magic into them, yes. They are, for all intents and purposes, completely dead.”

“Very well,” she said, turning back to her work on the ship, seemingly satisfied.

As she walked out of the bridge, Spike put his arm around her. “All done? We’re going home?”

“Yeah, we're going home. Let’s go back to our quarters. I wanted to study that white gem a little more.”

“Sounds good, but while you do that, I’m going to take a freaking nap.”

“Zzzz… Micro noodles… No, no! Prench toast! Zzz…. Not enough egg… Get away!”

Twilight snickered a little at Spike talking in his sleep. I wonder what he’s dreaming about… Sounds like some kind of crazy food dream. Something like Pinkie Pie might have. The quill that had been resting in her magic fell to the paper. Sweet Luna… Pinkie Pie invading dreams… Now that is scary.

Twilight sighed and shook off the thought, returning her attention to the gem, finishing her sketch of the damaged side. It doesn’t look like they were trying to create a bonded item out of it. In fact, it looks like it’s still fresh out of the ground. He never tried to cut it into a shape. There does appear to be microcircuits embedded within it, much like a common cored artifact. But the design used isn’t one I’m familiar with. Hmm…

She lit her horn and lifted up the crystal, pushing it ever so gently with her telekinetic field. Just a little bit of magic… Just enough to light up the circuits…

The crystal took on a white glow, while strands of her violet magic filled in lines in the core.

Perfect, now I can examine… Wait…

“Zzzzz… Three heads! Three heads! No… Two and one… Line broken… Gah! Not the cheese!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. I’m going to have to wake him if this keeps up. She turned her attention back to the crystal, rotating it back to the gash. The purple light continued to course through the circuits like blood through the veins, eventually finding their way to the major arteries of the gem. The glow intensified and shifted, changing color from violet, to red, to a bright fiery orange.

That symbol… She twisted and turned the gem, looking for any other clues. All that was there was that liquid gold colored image that somehow haunted her memory. I know I’ve seen that before… Her peripheral vision faded away as she focused, grinding her teeth to try to remember.

“Whaa! No! Get awa–!” Spike set up in a jolt, looking like he’d be drenched if he actually had sweat glands.

Twilight set the gem down and hopped off her chair, walking over to give him a small hug. “Rough dreams, Spike?”

“Yeah.” He leaned into her, returning the embrace. “Rough, and weird, too. I… I don’t think I’m going back to sleep anytime soon.” He stretched out with a yawn. “How are you doing with your investigation?”

“I made some progress, but I’m still not entirely sure what they were doing with the cores. Though, I think I understand how they were trying to program them, and why it frequently didn’t work, but given the complexities involved I’m not entirely certain that this method could ever work.”

“You mean for what Mipaka was trying to do, right? But what about for finding out where they’re from? Or using it ourselves?”

“I don’t have the equipment here to determine their origin. But…” She floated the crystal over to them. “I do think we would be able to make some pretty decent cores out of some of these. Most of the volume in this one is unused. As for a bonded gem, well, it’s doubtful, but theoretically possible. We’d have to cut away what’s already used, though, and I’m not about to try that here. I’ll leave it to the professionals that Celestia knows.”

“Fair enough. I think I’m going to go get a snack. Settle my stomach.” Spike plodded off out of the room as his stomach growled at approval.

Twilight’s chuckled to herself a little. As if the food on this ship could actually settle a stomach. Giggling at her quip, she got back up on her chair and took a sip of her coffee, but stopped mid-swallow. After staring at the black liquid in the cup, she sat down and pulled out a checklist, adding “Talk to Tia about getting her proper coffee on the Bellerophon” to the end.

Seriously. It’s meant to be a royal ship. You’d think there be better coffee. She took one final gulp, swallowing the rest of it down. Blerg. At least its caffeine. Now, about this symbol…

She turned her object to study over, and scratched her head. I know I’ve seen this before…

“Hey.”

Twilight sat up and turned around, finding that there wasn’t a single other soul in the room with her. “Rainbow, is that you? I thought you were going down to the launch bay to work out…”

Silence.

She switched to her magic sight, checking around and finding no other wellsprings nearby, not even behind the door to the room." Huh. I could’ve sworn…"

“Down here.”

Twilight sat back in the chair and checked under the desk. Even down low, there was nobody there. Not Spike, not Rainbow, not Admiral Tempest, not even a mouse.

Aaaand I’m starting to lose my mind.

“No, it’s me. Around your neck.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide with realization as she stared at her torc. “Oh, that’s right! Sorry, I guess I’m a little out of it right now. Still, you can’t blame me too much. You’re rather quiet.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone.”

“No! No, wait! Please! I’m the one who’s sorry. You been really helpful so far. I should’ve thanked you for that properly, and I apologize. How are you doing? We haven’t talked since I was in Ponyville chasing after Phantasm.”

“I’m okay. It’s just, well… I was going to say I think I recognize that symbol.”

Twilight grabbed her quill and put it to paper, ready to write. “You do? Where from?”

“I’m not sure. I just know that it’s familiar somehow. I thought maybe… we could work on it together? If you use that thing the Princess gave you. It kinda hurts to talk like this…”

“Of course! Just give me a minute to get it.” Twilight hopped off the chair and wandered across the lush carpet to the room’s storage cabinet. "Huh. Didn’t need most of this after all. Now where did… Aha! There you are." She pulled out the swirly gem and went over to the oversized bed, plopping herself down on it. Taking a last look at the dark clouds outside her window, she took in a deep breath, held the gem in her magic, and watched the thaumic energies begin to flow…

Twilight woke up, once again on a large, fluffy cloud. This time, the vortex she was in was quite a bit wider. The cloud wall surrounding her, however, were also much darker. Lightning cracked through them every few seconds, but all she could hear was a slight rumbling.

I wonder what makes the weather change here, she thought, her mental voice echoing throughout the space.

“You do, technically, even if you can’t control it yet.”

Twilight’s ear twitched at the new voice coming from behind her, sounding far more familiar than ever before. She turned her head, and froze. There, behind her, was herself. Not quite herself, however. Rather, it was her as a filly.

“It can’t be…” She turned around to face the newcomer, and lay down on the ground to be at eye level. The resemblance was perfect. It looked exactly like her, just after she had gotten her cutie Mark. The only difference she could find was that this filly was wearing a royal torc — her royal torc.

“Are you… My armour? The torque Celestia gave me?”

The filly nodded. "When I was made, you looked like this. So, I thought I should look like this too. Is that… Is that alright?”

Twilight nodded back. “I suppose, I mean, this is surprising is all. Why would you want to look like me?”

The filly drew little circles in the cloud with her hoof, avoiding eye contact. “Because I am you… Sort of… I was made from you.”

That’s right… Celestia said she used my magic to create… Okay, now it makes a little more sense. Hmm… Twilight squinted at her Armour’s avatar, looking her over while a small gust blew her mane around.

“W-what is it?”

“Could I ask you another question?”

“Um, okay…” The filly ducked her head down and tucked in her tail, going into what her father called “ball mode.”

Twilight slowly held out her hoof and stroked her back. “Hey, it’s okay. I was just curious why you always seemed to like deploying right when I put you on.”

“I…” The filly sniffled. "After I was made, Celestia tried to make me dormant. I tricked her into thinking she'd done it, but I didn't know that... I was in storage so long… I didn’t want you to leave again…”

Twilight covered her mouth with, hiding the little ”oh…” she said in response. “I didn’t realize. I didn’t even know she made you.”

“I know. It’s just…”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t ever intend to stick you in storage again. In fact, it looks like the both of us are in this for a long haul, and I’m definitely going to need your help. So, maybe we could be friends?”

“I… I…” Little filly wiped away some tears and nodded her head before reaching out with both forelegs open.

Twilight smiled and took her into an embrace, stroking her head and back as a few more tears fell. When the little avatar finally calmed down, she let go and held out a forehoof. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“My name is…” She looked up at Twilight, and backed away from the hoof before realizing what to do and giving it a small bump. “My name is Aurora.”

“Aurora? That’s a really pretty name! Did you think of that one?”

Aurora nodded. “I… I know most everything you do. Mostly. Sometimes it's fuzzy. But whenever I heard that word, it made me happy.”

“Well, Aurora it is then.” Twilight sat up, giving her a big, proud smile. “So, Aurora, do you think you can help me figure out what I’m working on?”

“Um… I can try…”

“That’s all I ask. Now, the symbol looked a little like—” Twilight’s speech stop short when an orange glow came from behind her. She turned around, there was a symbol, hanging in midair. “Um, yeah. That.”

“I can see what you see. So I can remember the symbol, and show it here. This is, in a way, my world too.”

Twilight shrugged. “Hey, I’m not going to complain. Do you remember what it looked like on the gem?”

The image shifted to one of the gem floating in midair, symbol still there and the glowing.

“Impressive! I wish I had this kind of thing in the lab. Okay, now, what do we know?”

“Well…" the filly tilted her head and took a step forward, sniffing the air. "We know it’s not the only one. Mipaka said that he was about to receive the ‘final waymarker,’ and that this was a ‘failed waymarker.’”

“That’s true. Although I don’t know what he’s hoping to accomplish with that.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “I mean, just having a bunch is one thing. You can give them to several followers. But if he's trying to use more than one at once... It'd be insane. Using two or more cores in a single artifact is crazy dangerous. If the magics ever cross the wrong way, boom!”

“What if what he’s doing is too complicated? I mean, to do with one. It is possible to use more than one. The elements are an example of that.”

“Well, yeah, but I kinda doubt he’s that good. The Elements are ancient masterworks that are technically in another category, and this,” she pointed a hoof at the image, “is most certainly not a masterwork. It’s actually kind of amateurish, and the circuitry design is strange. I know I’m not exactly an expert in this field, at least not yet, but even I can tell this is weird. And I don’t even know where to start with that symbol. I don’t recognize it, and it’s located near the surface of the gem, not in the actual circuit itself.”

“So what is it used for? If not in the circuit itself, maybe it does something else? Maybe something to do with that giant gash?”

The two of them approached the image and circled around it, both of their heads tilted to the side.

“I think you might be onto something, Aurora. If I knew what the rest of it looked like before it was damaged, that might give me a clue. I wonder if the rest of the gems have symbols like this.”

“Would it look something like this?” The filly waved a hoof, changing the image to a bunch of random gems with different orange symbols arranged in a circle.

“Yeah, but that almost looks like—” Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Of course! That symbol isn’t for inside circuitry, it’s part of a magic circle! It’s… It’s like a rune! A permanent magic circle designed to help guide the energies in the gem once they exit!”

“And they could use a magic circle like that to use more than one gem!” Aurora wagged her tail with happiness. “We’re figuring it out!”

“Maybe…” Twilight bit down on the tip of her hoof. "But it’s still incredibly risky. If done right, they could cast something huge, maybe even something thaumacally equivalent to a unicorn spell. Maybe even an alicorn spell.” Twilight shivered at the possibilities. “But if even the smallest thing went wrong…”

“Anypony trying to use it would die,” Aurora finished for her.

Twilight shook her head. “No, it’s worse than that. If they're using several gems rather than one or two, then it would mean a spell failure on a catastrophic level. Not just a little pop on a typical horn, but a detonation large enough to wipe out a city. A large one, like Manehattan. And that’s about the best case scenario.”

The filly cringed, looking off to to the side as an image of the zebra town formed in midair. "Do you think we should warn them?"

“I… Think so? The question is, would they do anything about it? We’re talking about a religious cult here. They’re probably not going to like us ‘stealing’ their ‘salvation’.”

Aurora kept staring at the image. “But if the town explodes, Zebrica could blame Saddle Arabia…”

“…And it would start a war anyway. But if we go in there, we could start a war between Zebrica and Equestria!” Twilight buried her face in her hooves. “Maybe… Maybe we can figure out what spell they’re trying to cast. Maybe it won’t be as bad as I think.”

“And if it is?”

“Then I’ll turn the ship around. It’s not like Zebrica is in a position to threaten us anyway. Now, look at this and think. What will it be used for? We know it’s supposed to be put in a magic circle, and that changes things a bit, but I still don’t recognize it as being any kind of symbol used in circles.”

“What if that’s not the right symbol?" Aurora turned to walk towards the image of the gems, jumping and ‘landing’ on some invisible something a couple meters in the air, putting her right next to the image. “Or what if it’s something we just don’t recognize? It might need something custom-made.” She lowered her ears and dropped her head. “Or I’m just not remembering it right. The gash kinda made it hard to see.”

All the clouds around them dropped away into darkness in an instant and Twilight’s eyes widened as she focused on the single, lone gem she had been examining earlier. “What did you just say?”

The filly took a few steps back. “Um, I said, the gash made it—”

“Hard to see! Aurora, that symbol…”

“I wish he had explained himself better. Then maybe I could understand more than half of his ramblings at the end about how he’s going to get to ‘The After.’ He never said why he wanted to go there or what it was! I have a few guesses I really don’t want to believe, but they’re still just guesses because he never actually came out and said it!

Some few decades before Discord’s emergence, we determined that his magical growth had stopped. He would never have completed his ascension. When he learned of this, he started obsessing over ‘The After,’ which was his term for the afterlife. He was convinced that there was a way to arrive at an afterlife without having to suffer the pain of death. This is the result of the spell he used in his attempt.

<>

“That symbol! It’s one of Starswirl’s! Look!” Twilight focused on the finish symbol in her mind, completing it over where the gash had destroyed a part of it. “He used symbols and terminology that were never accepted by what was left of the scientific community after the chaos wars! This was one of them!”

Whatever Aurora had been sitting on vanished, and she fell down to the cloud. "But that means…"

Wind rushed around Twilight as her heart began to race, her inner world vanishing as she started to wake up.“It means that Mipaka is trying to get to ‘The After’…”

“…and if we don’t stop him…”

“…Hundreds of millions of ponies are going to die.”

“Are you sure about this, Twi?” Spike asked, huffing a little to keep up with Twilight’s pace.

“Yeah, I don’t know a lot about magic, but you have to admit, it seems a little out there.” Rainbow said as she ducked through an airtight hatch.

“I know what it sounds like, but I’m completely serious. Trust me.” Twilight grabbed onto the door to the bridge, tossing it open and jumping through. The room was darker than normal, the outside of the window having been blackened by deep, powerful storm clouds. Flashes of lightning ripped around the Bellerophon constantly. “Admiral! We have a problem. I need you to turn the ship around!”

The Admiral turned around in her chair with a look of incredulity plastered on her face. “You have to be kidding me. We’re mission complete! On top of that, were in the middle of a hurricane right now. Unless you can give me a damn good explanation…”

Twilight snap turned to the right, marching over to a map table. With a single burst of her magic, dozens of papers, pencils, maps, all manner of other things were washed away and sent flying to the other end of the bridge. Pulling out a drawer, she slammed down some blank sheets of paper, grabbed a pencil from the floor, and laid her gem next to them.

“This is one of the cores I took from Mipaka. See this symbol? It should really look like this.” Twilight quickly to route the full symbol on a piece of paper. “Now, this isn’t just any kind of magic symbol.”

“No kidding,” one of the unicorns on the bridge said. “I don’t recognize it.”

“That’s because Starswirl created it, and the magic community never got behind it. It is unique to him.”

Tempest folded her forelegs. “Not impressing me so far.”

“Oh, I’m just getting started. This symbol? It appears in Starswirl’s private journal. All the Grand Mages have a journal, and I’ve read every one. And you know what? Starswirl was nuts. Especially at the end, he kept ranting about finding a way to what he called ‘The After.’ What’s more, he actually succeeded. He created the spell that, somehow, that doomsday cult back in Zebrica discovered. And now they’re trying to use a bunch of bond class gems to activate it!”

Tempest scoffed and laughed, waving her off with a hoof. “So what? If they’re really trying to use more than one core, they'll just blow themselves up. Problem solved.”

“No, problem not solved!” She tossed the way the papers and pulled up a map of the entire continent of Zebrica and the surrounding areas. “If they manage to succeed, that spell won’t stop at just the town. It won’t be a little portal. Everything it swallows, it’ll use towards making itself grow. And there’s more than enough magic in the environment for to keep going, and going, and going…”

A pencil danced in Twilight’s magic and found its mark on the map, tracing out a circle larger than the continent itself.

“Here,” Twilight said, stabbing the map with a pencil. “That’s how far out the portal will likely grow, swallowing everything inside. At this point, it won’t be able to get enough energy from the environment to sustain itself, and will collapse. Explosively.”

The coats of every pony in the room, and even the color of the scales of the one dragon, all faded out four shades whiter.

Twilight exhaled, driving in her point with the tip of a spear. "If this happens, the force of the detonation will completely destroy not only Zebrica, but Saddle Arabia as well. It will break windows as far away as Canterlot, and send a tsunami towards Equestria that will reach hundreds of kilometres inland."

Everypony stood in stunned silence, the gravity of Twilight’s words crushing all arguement.

“Helm,” Tempest whispered. “Bring us about, take us back to Zebrica at full speed. Disengage all engine safeties.”

“Aye, aye…” The helmspony said with a swallow.

“When will we get there?” Twilight asked. “Mipaka said he was starting the ceremony at noon.”

The XO looked up at the clock. “At full speed? Will be very, very lucky to make it before then.”

“What happens if the portal is already open?” Tempest leaned in to Twilight. “Do you have a way to stop it?”

“The spell did indeed create a portal, though where it really led is anypony’s guess. All I knew was that it was expanding rapidly, consuming more of the castle every second. I tried to close it, and when that failed I tried to put a shield over it. The shield was simply stretched, or pushed outward by the portal like a balloon being pumped full of air. I panicked, so I did the next thing that came to mind: I tried to teleport the entire thing into orbit.”

“I didn’t think any of it through, but that didn’t matter, as what happened next I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. Somehow, the spells reacted, and destroyed each other violently. The blast was enormous, but would have been much larger were it not for the shield I cast. Regardless, the damage was done. My home was destroyed, countless ponies lost their lives from the spell’s detonation or were consumed by the portal, and the magical contamination twisted the once-peaceful forest into the corrupt Everfree.”

“Maybe.” Twilight grimaced. “Just maybe. But it would be better if I can get in a chariot and get there ahead of the ship.”

“In this weather? Are you nuts?” Rainbow pointed a hoof out the window. “There’s no way! Not even I could do it!”

“Dash, if this spell goes off, were talking about hundreds of millions of lives! I’m willing to risk my personal safety to get there faster!”

“It’s not just a matter of safety, Lady Sparkle.” Tempest spread her wings. “Even the most experienced flyer wouldn’t be able to keep their direction straight in this maelstrom. Compasses would be useless from the magic lightning being created. Even if you do manage to keep your bearings, you'll get pelted with wild lightning, rain, and hail over and over. If you take off now, you will never get back to Zebrica alive, let alone before the spell goes off. This time, the ship is faster.”

Twilight took in a deep breath, her guts twisting into a knot. “Then I’m going to go and practice a failsafe spell, but I want that chariot ready now. We’re taking off the instant we’re able to navigate our way out of these storms. And Dash?” The Grand Mage leaned in close to her captain so the others wouldn’t hear. “I need you to follow my orders. To the letter.”

A purple and blue blur blazed out of the cloud bank, the chariot soaring to the shoreline amidst an ocean of scattered thunderheads bringing rain down on anypony unfortunate enough to be under them.

“Faster, Dash! We’re not going to make it at this rate!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice barely overcoming the rush of wind around them. “Rainboom it!”

“I can’t do a rainboom carrying a chariot!” Rainbow yelled back, straining against the wind resistance. “The harness connection isn’t strong enough!”

Twilight ground her teeth and stood up, putting her forehooves over the front of the vehicle. Then we’ll just have to do without it. She lit her horn and fired her teleportation spell, planning directly on top of Rainbow Dash. She spun her hind legs around her friend, and kicked up on the harness at the back of her hooves, knocking the chariot free.

“What are you—?”

“Less talking, more Rainbooming! Punch it!” Twilight thrust a hoof in the direction of the town, barely getting it in front of her friend’s face.

Rainbow arched her back, snapping into a steep dive as they picked up speed. Twilight couldn’t even hear the chariot hit the water, the resulting rainboom was so loud. As they levelled out mere meters above the sea, waves blurred together, making the ocean look like it was a single, calm mass.

Rainbow banked to the left, a cone-shaped cloud forming behind them as they aimed towards the trees. What once was a sapphire sea beneath them turned into an emerald floor of leaves. As the pegasus flared out her wings, they slowed down, the town coming into view.

Twilight grabbed onto her friend, steering her towards the center. Similarly every single zebra in the entire village had congregated in a large park, with a figure Twilight assumed to be Mipaka in the very center. Next to him was a large wooden apparatus over a vat of glowing orange liquid. In the elder’s mouth was a rope attached to the structure, which was holding a very large metal ring fitted with nineteen glowing cores.

“Rainbow! Nail him!”

“Roger!”

Twilight jumped off her friend a moment before impact, her hooves reaching out to the rope. As Rainbow rolled down the hill behind her, she alone stood before the apocalypse. She wrapped herself around the rope grasping it for dear life, yet the ring continued to fall. She gripped it even tighter, pulling back, the thaumatic radiation from the vat feeling like a sunburn on her face.

Time slowed as she watched the ring fall, and the rope grow taut. Lower and lower it fell, causing her heart to stop.

“No…”

She reached out with her telekinesis, feeling the underside of the ring as the protective spells embedded within let it slip through her magic…

Just as the gems dipped inside the fluid.

“Noooooooooooo!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as a shockwave disrupted her magic, and the gems sank to the bottom.

The ground shook, the sky glowed red, and the very fabric of reality cracked.

Grand Mage Starswirl the Bearded’s final spell opened up before her. A magic circle the size of a mountain formed above them, dozens upon dozens of new layers branching out and burning the very air itself.

No… No! She spun around, galloping down the hill. “Dash! Run!” The screaming voice cracked, her lungs heaved, desperate for the oxygen to propel her away.

<>

Twilight and Rainbow ignored the mad zebra rushing to his followers, the two dashing off into the forest.

“Twilight! The failsafe spell!” Aurora’s voice rang in owner’s mind.

The Grand Mage stomped her hooves down, leaving grooves in the dirt as she skidded to a halt. She raised her horn to the sky, a brilliant purple glow surrounded her. A second later, the spell fired, shooting into the center of the circles.

The response never came.

Instead, a line of white-hot energy shot into the ground, splitting the fabric of reality open like the top of a plastic bag. A brilliant, swirling vortex lashed out at everything around it, dragging everything inside.

Twilight’s vision rocked to the side as Rainbow picked her up, pulling her away from the strands of magic grasping at anything that got too close to the expanding vortex.

Once again, the world became a blur as Rainbow sped up, rocketing back over the water and towards the ship.

“What happened? Why didn’t the spell work?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know! But if we don’t stop it, and now, were all done for!”

Another boom roared behind them as Rainbow broke the sound barrier, passing clean over into the water.

“Twilight! The spell can work!” Aurora yelled.

“It can? How?!” Twilight yelled down in her chest.

“Who are you talking to?” Rainbow yelled back.

“Not now, Dash! How can the spell work?!”

“What are you asking me for?” Rainbow screamed.

“We just need a penetration formula to lead into it! Raw telekinesis won’t be enough unless we can puncture the outside circle!”

“Will that be enough?”

“Yes, if we give enough power! Like, a whole lot of power!”

“Twilight, what are you—”

“Nevermind, Dash!” Twilight’s eyes scanned the horizon, finding what she needed. “Set me down on that cloud over there!”

“What!? Set you down!?”

“Yes! Trust me!”

Twilight could feel Rainbow struggle and grind her teeth as she rushed to the cloud, screeching to a halt just in time for Twilight teleport herself onto it. Behind them, she could see the void grow. Slowly, it was sweeping over the land, consuming everything in its path.

“Dash…” The Grand Mage turned her head so one of her eyes could see her friend. “Dash, fly. Get out of here.”

“What!? No way! I can’t just leave–”

“Rainbow!” Twilight her horn, pushing as much magic as she could into it at once. The brilliance of the light completely enveloped her horn, making it all but invisible from the light. “Rainbow, when I fire this spell, it’s going to make the portal explode. If you aren’t out of here by then, you’ll never survive.”

“Me, what about you!? I’m the captain of your guard! I’m supposed to protect you!”

Twilight turned back towards the portal, pushing out a magic circle around her. “Then you need to leave. I won’t be able to focus and cast the spell, knowing that you’ll die too.”

Rainbow zoomed around her to look her in the eyes. “No! No way, I can’t—”

“Captain Rainbow Dash!” she barked, staring her right in the eyes. “That is an order!”

The Pegasus winced and wilted like she been hit, a desperate look in her eyes. “Twilight, I–”

Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Dash… My friend… It’s been an honor.” She gave her a small smile. “Now go, and tell Celestia what happened.”

Even if Twilight had never seen sadness before, she would have recognized it right there, in her friend’s face, as she nodded and took off.

Twilight turned her attention back to the spell, weaving it and inscribing the symbols into her circles.

“We aren’t going to make it, are we?” Aurora asked, this time sounding like she was sitting right beside her.

“No, we aren’t.” Twilight closed her eyes, visions of cities and duchies floating through her mind. Manehattan. The Bittish Isles. Marelaysia. Roan. Prance. The Hinterlands. Even Shanghay… Some of them she’d been to, some of them she hadn’t, but all of them could be washed away from the coming tsunami if she didn’t act.

She leaned down, pointing her horn at the voice, and pulled on her wellspring even more. Pain and lightning ripped through her forehead, threatening to buckle her knees.

“You’re overdrawing! If you keep this up, your horn will—”

“Not like it matters now. The smaller that portal is, the smaller the explosion, and the fewer ponies die, so I’m not holding back.”

Another jolt of pain seared through her head along with a cracking sound. Her gaze snapped to her side, finding one of the rings of her circles cracking under the strain.

“We’re losing it! Seal the leak or we’ll die before we can—”

“I know! I know!” Twilight halted her spell mid-cast and shot energy into the ring to stabilize it, only for four more cracks to appear elsewhere.

“No, wait!“

“If you’ve got any bright ideas, Aurora, now’s the time!” Twilight yelled out, only barely able to keep the ring from breaking apart and detonating then and there.

“Let the energy out into a new spell! Just like Mipaka is doing with the gems!”

Twilight’s mind rushed, symbols and formulae sparking in her mind like a fireworks show. “On it!” She reared up on her hind legs, a bright, white light taking over her whole body just for an instant. When it was gone, a new circle had formed, and she was shunting the old ring’s power into the new.

“We can’t just replace it! It’s too small! If we—”

“Way ahead of you!” Twilight shook her hips in a tiny dance and thrust out her forelegs to her sides, opening up a new, three-dimensional magic circle: a magic sphere. “Here we go!” Power flowed from one state to another as the newest circles expanded and multiplied, storing and spinning the energies in time with Twilight’s thoughts despite the pain rocketing through her head and horn.

Rainbow. Spike. AJ. Fluttershy. Rarity. Pinkie. I’m going to miss you guys… More pain tore at her horn as she finished the spell itself, yet continued to pour on more power to back it up, more than she had ever used before. Her initial surge from her entrance exam was a trickle compared to this. Although this time there aren’t any ponies to turn into potted plants… Heh. A small smile escaped her lips as the image of her parents ran through her mind.

“Spell complete, ready to fire any time… Hey, Twilight?”

Twilight could feel Aurora’s presence, this time next to her instead of in her mind. She even felt the poke of a small, purple hoof. “Yes, Aurora?”

“If we’re not going to make it, I’m glad we could become friends. I think I even thought of a name for our new spell…”

Twilight nodded. “So did I. Not that we need to do it, but… Want to say it together?”

“Yeah. I’d like that.” Aurora jumped at her, merging into Twilight’s form as the armor deployed around her. “Ready?”

“Ready!” Twilight tilted back her head and adjusted the angle of the circle as she drew in a deep breath, watching as the portal creeped towards the volcano, then slammed her forehooves into the cloud as the spell finally fired.

“Una Salus Victis!”

Both of their voices cried out to the universe itself, though they were nothing compared to what came next. Magenta light, as bright as a sun, burst forth in a jagged ray, zig-zagging through the air and turning the sky, clouds, and even the ocean a purple hue. As the leading edge impacted, thunder rumbled the seas and cracked the land. The magic circles above the portal slowed as the beam approached, grinding to a halt as it passed not into the vortex, but into the spell of the portal itself.

The circles cracked like glass.

“Yes!” Twilight yelled out and danced, the spirit of Aurora dancing with her. The jubilation halted but a second later, and Twilight smiled and braced for the inevitable, not even bothering to wipe the blood spilling from her cracked horn.

Sorry I couldn’t make it to the summits, Tia. She closed her eyes, seeing all of her friends in front of her as more and more gathered in her mind. Mom. Dad. Princess Celestia. Luna. Aurora. Cadence… Heh, sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake…

Brother… Shining… She could practically feel his hoof noogie her like he always did, messing up her mane but always giving her a hug afterwards. I’m sorry…

“Twily…” her vision talked back to her in her mind. “Twily, it’s okay…

“…You aren't finished yet.”

Everything faded away, then she snapped her eyes open wide.

“Shining!” Twilight lit her horn again, this time falling to the cloud in pain as more blood spilled onto her face.

“What are you doing!?”

“We aren’t dead yet! There’s a small chance…” She strained against the cloud, pushing herself back up and clenching her eyes shut to keep the blood out of them. She summoned yet more magic as her horn cracked again, unable to take the strain.

“Don’t!” Aurora pleaded, flailing her forelegs about in Twilight’s mind. “You’ll overextend your wellspring!”

Better that than…

The circles over the vortex crumbled like broken glass, falling to the ground for but a second before the portal overwhelmed it with light brighter than the sun itself.

Twilight finished the spell and pushed it out in front of her, forming a sphere around her body as heat from the blast passed right through it. The smell of smoking and burning hair and skin filled her nose as she turned her face away and fell to the cloud, writhing around it.

Time became an illusion. She didn’t know how long she lay there in agony, but it didn’t stop until something hit her. Something massive. Something so much larger and faster than anything she’d experienced before. It wasn’t until she knew she had been falling for a long time that she’d realized…

… she’d been screaming the entire time.

How long was impossible to say. She didn’t even know when she’d stopped falling.

“Twilight! Twilight!”

“Shiny? No… Rainbow?”

She cracked open her eyes.

Before her, an unknown multitude of kilometers away, was a mushroom cloud growing into the mesosphere, looming so large it looked like it could swallow a sunset whole. Red, yellow, and gray dominated the sky as the base of the cloud was on fire.

“Equestria… safe…?”

“Twilight! Hang on!”

Small dots appeared on the horizon, expanding until she saw they had wings. Large ones. Then, they all scattered, yellow-colored bolts flying through the air with multi-hued lightning.

“Dash?”

The image blurred, shook, and twisted as a rumble came from behind her.

“Don’t worry, Dash.” Twilight smiled, the taste of charred skin and blood on her lips as her heartbeat weakened. “We did it… we saved Equestria… one last time…”

She let her breath go, and the darkness came.

Author's Note

Yeah.

That happened.

-Cv

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Spearpoint

“And then, Daring Do raised the golden scepter up, holding it above Ahuizotl’s battered head, ready to deliver a final blow, but stopped, the memory of—”

“Mmmmm…” Twilight groaned. Something hurt. No, to be more accurate, everything hurt. Her skin felt like it had been dipped in molten lead, she could feel a thudding pulse behind her eyes, and her head… Her head felt like it was in a vice, but one that used the edge of axes instead of flat slabs of metal while an anvil weighed down on it. Her throat felt like something had been stabbed into it.

Her ears hurt, too, but that’s not all they were doing. An incessant twitching she couldn’t control jabbed additional needles down in her eardrums, while vague sensations that felt like words drummed on them like a timpani.

“T-Twilight? Was that…”

She groaned again, although this time there was a pinch of a wail in it. Whatever was touching her skin felt like it was trying to embed itself in it. That attempt to open her eyes failed, as if her eyelids were sealed shut with cement. Time and again she tried, finally breaking through as something like sand tumbled down her muzzle. The bright arc of white seared through to her retinas, slowly fading away to just more white. Eventually, however, she could make out a blotch of cerulean blue, and an even smaller blotch of various colours.

“Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh! Doctor! Twilight’s awake! Twilight’s awake!”

The sound of clopping hooves disguised as cannon fire galloped away from her before exploding yet again after some kind of odd clicking sound.

“Dooooooooooctoooooooooooor! Get your fat flank over here! Twilight’s awake!”

More hoofsteps followed, this time firing faster and growing closer, flowing to either side of her. A slight, tingly glow washed over her body for a few moments.

“Excellent. Her vitals are weak, but stable. Now that she’s awake, we can be certain she’ll recover.”

“That means she should be okay, right? I mean, completely okay?”

“Given time, yes. She was lucky to receive medical care when she did. Although, I’m still worried about her horn. I’ve never seen such damage.”

“Her horn will heal in time.”

“Mmmmm?” Twilight groaned again, this time eking out a tone that implied a question.

“Princess!”

That was a nice word. Twilight knew she liked that word. At least, she liked it when it didn’t drive an ice pick into her ears.

Another blotch of light, pastel colours stepped into view, and the tingling feeling repeated itself.

“She’s awake, but still requires much more healing. She certainly isn’t in any kind of shape to talk… Twilight, if you can hear me, rest. Don’t try to talk, don’t try to move. And above all, don’t worry. You are safe now.”

Twilight pried her lips open. “Ssssssss…”

“No, I said not to speak. Nor move.”

Twilight forced herself to nod, ever so slightly.

“Princess, can’t you do anything to help her? Look at her! I don’t even have a horn and I can feel my head splitting just from looking at that!”

“Patience, Captain.”

A couple of seconds passed, and Twilight felt a cold chill rush into her veins, dissolving away the pain as it moved, but also taking away her ability to keep her eyes open.

“Twilight, I just gave you a healing potion. It’ll probably make you very sleepy. Try not to fight it. Go to sleep, and we will talk when you’re finally ready.”

Twilight nodded again, her inner ears telling her she was spinning in a vortex. Before long, the vortex pulled her down and everything turned silent.

Something was twitching. Twilight was fairly sure it was her right forehoof, but her body had a history of lying to her. Still, given the consistency of the data being presented, she felt that at least this time, it was not a lie.

“Good morning, my student.”

The sound of the teacup hitting its saucer punctuated the sentence, and Twilight forced her eyes open to see Celestia smiling at her.

Am I dead? Twilight thought. Am I in the summer lands? But if Celestia’s here…

“It is good to see you back in the land of the living, Twilight. You gave us quite a scare.”

I’m alive? But then… A wave of recent memories crash into her, including one that loomed over her like the darkest of shadows: the mushroom cloud. Her leg started to jolt as she tried to stand, but they only flailed helplessly before being restrained by a golden light.

“Easy! Easy! You’ve been in a coma for nearly a month now. We weren’t certain when you’d wake up.”

“Eq… essss… Ta…” Her throat was as dry, but she managed to hiss out those words, if you could call such sounds that. She could make out a change in her mentor’s features, and her heart sank as he prepared for the worst.

“I have good news, and bad news. The bad news is, the Zebrican town, and the smuggling base you encountered, were both destroyed. In addition, several towns nearby were either destroyed or heavily damaged. Casualties are in the hundreds, if not thousands.”

Twilight whimpered, and shook her head. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear about.

“However, you succeeded in destroying the portal before it grew too large. Equestria did experience a slight tsunami, but it was only a meter high. Damages are at the tens of millions of bits, and climbing, but it is much, much better than it could have been. RGIS estimates that the number of lives you saved is nearly half a billion, at a minimum. The Dukes of the Bittish Isles and Marelaysia have spent the last week and a half yelling at Charlemane to award you the Order of Unity.”

Twilight melted into a puddle, finally recognizing the fact that she was in a hospital bed. I did it… I think… I think I can go back to sleep now.

“Unfortunately, you obviously suffered some great injuries as a result. You’ve blown out your horn severely, there are second-degree burns on over half of your body, third-degree burns on a remaining thirty percent, and even your armor has been severely damaged and has been sent to the Royal Forge for repair. This having been said, given the size of the blast, and Rainbow’s report on how close you were to it, it’s a miracle you survived at all.”

Twilight looked up at her horn, finding it encased in something suspiciously like cement, and wrapped with bandages and a magic inhibitor. She knew she shouldn't quite speak yet, so she just looked at her mentor, and interpreted the movement of the blur in her eyes as a nod.

“Your horn will heal, given time. If you had been only a unicorn, it would have been a total loss. However, your earth pony magic will facilitate its healing, as will your journey to the summits.”

A gilded hoof gently stroked down her foreleg.

“That’s not to say you’re healed yet. Even with healing magic, and your own earth pony magic aiding it, you will probably be spending the next couple weeks or so here in the hospital. After that, you will probably need another few weeks for your horn to fully heal. As of now, and until I feel you are fit to return to duty, you are on mandatory medical leave.”

Somewhere, something in the back of her mind told her she needed to groan and complain, that there were things she needed to do. Yet, all her body could muster was a deflating sigh.

“I know it’s frustrating, but all of your friends have already been here to visit, including your parents on special authorization from the crown. Rainbow and Spike, of course, are nearby and will be at your side while you recover, and even Trixie has volunteered to help you. I have little doubt that the rest of your friends will visit frequently as well, and your brother has assigned the Night Guard’s very best to watch over you. Oh, and I do have one other small bit of good news.”

Twilight’s ear twitched and rotated, pointing itself that Celestia to listen closely to what it so desperately needed to hear.

“The Bellerophon’s crew did a quick search for survivors after recovering you and fighting off a wave of wyvern patrols. There was one ship on the river that was at the edge of their sight, sailing north, and sadly out of reach for interception so we don’t know their status. More importantly, they found three little zebra foals injured, but alive, in the caldera where the ship had once been hiding. Zecora has adopted them, and I hear she and Applejack are working together to build a larger home closer to the edge of the Everfree.”

An image of some foals racing passed in the wheelbarrow replayed in the back of her mind.

Celestia chuckled, taking another sip of her tea. “I do hope Ponyville is ready for the next generation of Cutie Mark Crusaders…”

Some warmth welled up in Twilight’s throat as she drifted back to sleep.

Something was different this time. Twilight was waking up once more, but now she knew exactly where she was. In a hospital bed, in the castle’s mini-hospital, her horn bandage deadlocked, and tubes sticking out of everywhere.

After a few moments of trying to get back to sleep, she decided it was futile and opened her eyes and sat up. The reality presented before her was different than she expected. She was almost right, though now she didn’t quite have tubes sticking out of her everything. Rather, she was down to a simple IV. Most notably, however, was that she had no hair. Not a mane, not a coat. She was nothing but skin.

Celestia said I suffered burns… I guess they had to shave whatever was left. Ugh. How long have I been out? Feels like… Actually, there is no way I can hope to be accurate while finishing that sentence. She tried to groan and mutter something else to herself, but her throat had decided to do an impression of the San Palomino desert. All that came out was a whispered, “Water…”

Defeated, she laid back down and closed her eyes. I’m still kind of exhausted, but I’m also tired of sleeping. A few moments passed, and her desire to sleep quickly waned. Her muscles were weak, but her brain was quite clearly not having any of this sleeping business. Maybe I can—

Tink tinktink tink…

Her ear twitched, a soft noise interrupting her thoughts. When she opened her eyes again, there was a glass of ice water on the nightstand next to her bed, along with a note.

Should you need anything, simply speak it, and it shall be my honor to retrieve it for you.-Cardinal Bloodmoon

At least my vision is back to normal. Wait… Cardinal?

I have little doubt that the rest of your friends will visit frequently as well, and your brother has assigned the Night Guard’s very best to watch over you.

The Night Guard’s best… At the top of the ranks of the night guard was Luna, followed by her brother. Just below that were three cardinals, one from each tribe. Aside from Obsidian, they were the highest-ranking and most powerful ponies under Luna’s command, and there was now certainly one in the room with her, hiding. She tried to tug at her wellspring to use her magic sight, but that only resulted in a disproportionate amount of pain. Wherever he was, he wasn’t about to be found anytime soon.

It’s a little unnerving, but these ponies are under Shiny’s orders. They’ll keep me safe. She grabbed the glass with her hooves and downed the entire thing in a single go, then wiped her lips and cleared her throat. “Ahhhh… Much better. I can actually speak now.”

She did another scan of the room, noticing all the bouquets of flowers and other assorted gifts and cards scattered about. Each new one she saw forced more and more tears to well up in her eyes. Her vision focused on one of the nearby cards, but it was too far away to read. Once again, she reached for her magic and received an awful lot of pain for her trouble.

“Um, could you bring some of the notes over? I’d like to read them…” She had voiced to request, but as she waited, no pony appeared to deliver them. Wait, the water was delivered when I wasn’t looking… “Oh come on, you’re not really going to make me close my eyes to get these, are you?”

“Not if you don’t want to.”

Twilight jerked her head hard enough to rock to the bed, after a Night Guard pegasus stallion stepped out of a subtle shadow on her left. “Jeez! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

His smile softened his blood red eyes. “Of course not, although if you were to have one, you’re in the best possible place.” He flicked his hoof through his crimson mane, its wavy form flowing down to his shoulders. A black jacket, red vest, and white undershirt all covered a layer of thin armour. Most notable, however, were the two dark chains sticking out of his shoulders, as if they were embedded directly into his body.

Twilight laid back down in the bed, now significantly more tired. “Just, could you give me some of the cards, please?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

A small pile of documents was dropped on her lap a few seconds later, all opened and ready for reading.

“There you are. Oh, here, let me make this easier for you.” He reached down and pulled some lever under her bed, and lifted up the top third of the mattress, moving her into any easy sitting position. “That should be more comfortable.”

Twilight covered up her chest with a blanket, locking it down under her foreknees. “Thank you,” she said simply, and opened up the first card.

Twilight,

What you did back there was some kind of amazing. On behalf of Team Jungle Thunder, it was an honor to serve you. From here on out, consider yourself an honorary member of our little group.

Wishing you a quick recovery and all the best,

Lieutenant Precision Strike

Inside the card was a glossy photo of the entire team in the Bellerophon’s launch bay. Gently she grabbed a hold of both, moving them over to the nightstand next to her, being careful not to set the cards in the condensation from her water glass.

Twily,

Get well soon. When you’re ready, feel free to stop by whenever you like. Sky Vineyard is the best restaurant in all Cloudsdale. Granted, I'm a little biased, but still. We'd be honoured to host a hero like you.

Get well soon,

Cloud Burner

Inside was a picture of a large pegasus family posing outside of a cloud building. In the center of the group was a pony that looked like it could be Cloud Burner, though there was no glamour spell on him, so she couldn't be sure. What must have been family members surrounded him, both young and old.

"I'm glad he made it home. He deserves a nice retirement." Twilight picked up the next card.

Darling,

I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. I wish I could’ve been there to help, but it sounds like I wouldn’t have been much aid to you this time.

I never know where I’m going to be more than a week in advance, but if you take this to any of my boutiques, one of my master designers will craft a brand-new dress just for you, and if I’m in Canterlot anytime soon I’ll swing by myself.

Stay sharp,

Rarity

From the card fell a golden ticket. Twilight lifted it up in her hoof, finding it was lighter than any sheet of paper she'd ever felt.

“Impressive,” Bloodmoon cooed. “That’s actual gold leaf. A tenth of a micrometre thick! Five hundred sheets of that would only amount to the thickness of a single sheet of paper.”

“Yeah…” While Twilight had already known that, if Bloodmoon hadn’t said it, she might’ve. This was the world’s ultimate coupon. On it was etched a fancy design with Rarity’s Faerie Tale Boutique logo, her stylized signature, and a unique alphanumeric code. “One complimentary masterwork…”

There was a soft click as the door to the room opened, revealing a blue Pegasus stepping out of the dark void of an anti-candle.

“Twilight! You’re up!” Rainbow shouted zooming over and putting both forelegs around her, followed shortly by a pair of purple scaly arms.

“We thought we lost you,” Spike said, his eyes starting to drip acid on her again.

“Guys…” Twilight embraced them both, their bodies a welcome warmth against the chill of the hospital air on her bare skin.

“I am so sorry, Twilight!” Rainbow said as the both of them broke the hug. “I looked everywhere for you after the blast, and there were these wyvern’s, and then I thought I —”

“Rainbow, it’s okay.” Twilight looked her right in the eyes. “You did the right thing. I don’t hold any of this against you. If I hadn’t missed catching that rig with the gems —”

“No!” Spike snapped. “None of that! No self-recriminations! We’re here, we’re alive, and half a billion ponies are alive, that’s what matters. That flank wipe Mipaka and all his flank wipe followers can celebrate getting blasted to individual atoms all they want, but we are here, alive, and we have every right to celebrate that fact. Period!”

Twilight held her head low, folding her ears back. “It’s not that simple, Spike, but I appreciate the thought, and I agree enough that I won’t dwell on it right now. For the moment, I’m just happy to see you both again.”

Spike deflated in the face of her stubbornness. “Fair enough. I’ll take it. Did you need us to get you anything?”

Twilight looked down at her hairless body. “Maybe a coat growing potion? Zecora has something like that, right?”

“Yeah, she said that when you’re awake and able to eat she’ll come by and give it to you. She said you have to be able to tolerate solid foods.”

“That will be a while yet, I’m afraid.” Bloodmoon picked up a nearby clipboard. “The doctor told us that when you next awoke, he wanted to start you with fluid. If you try to eat anything solid or rich as you are right now, your digestive system will go into a state of shock. As degrading as this fact is for somepony of my stature and glorious lineage, I have experienced this, and can assure you that it is not something you wish to be visited upon you. Appendicitis is forgiving compared to it.”

Twilight cringed. “Yeah, I think I’ll wait on that. Some broth might be good, though. I am starting to get a little hungry.”

“That is good news. It means your systems are starting to regain control, and vegetable broth is a good start. I shall inform the doctor and allow you to spend time with your friends.” He didn’t so much leave the room as vanish in a puff of smoke.

Rainbow didn’t waste a second more. “Twilight, I’m sorry. I couldn’t…”

“No! None of that!” Spike got in her face with a claw. “I’m putting a twenty-four hour minimum moratorium on all extraneous apologies and self-deprecation. Twilight’s alive, and we’re happy about that, end of discussion.”

Twilight leaned back in her hospital bed and buried her head deep in the pillow. “Ordinarily, I’d be the first to defy that rule and engage in a rebellious depressive cycle, but I might just be too tired for it.”

“Did you want us to leave you alone?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight shook her head, rolling it from side to side on the pillow. “No. I’m tired, but I’m also tired of sleeping. I’ve been sleeping for, what, weeks?”

“Closer to a month and a half.” Spike reached over and tucked her blanket in. “You had us really worried for a while. Did you need anything else? I’d be happy to get it for you…”

Twilight closed her eyes and tried to melt into the mattress. “I could probably use another blanket. I’m cold and I don’t have my coat anymore. But what I really need is an update on what’s going on. What’s happened since I’ve been back?”

Spike nodded and dashed off to the closet, leaving behind an even more worried Rainbow.

“I hardly know the first thing about politics and even I know things are seriously messed up.” Rainbow put her forehooves on the bed and rested her head on them. “Zebrica used the explosion as an excuse to start a war with Saddle Arabia.”

Spike covered her with a another blanket as she slumped down deeper into the mattress. “It’s actually a bit worse than that,” he added.

“I don’t know if I want to hear this…”

“Perhaps…” Princess Luna stepped into the room from the dark void outside. “However…”

“Let me guess.” Twilight shivered, knowing the words were coming next. “There are some things I have to know, even if I don’t like it…”

A burst of green smoke erupted in the floor of the throne room, hissing and swirling into a disc over the heads of all those present. Magic and unnatural wind brought the mist tighter together, coalescing into a single smooth surface that bore the image of President Malkia.

“Princess Celestia,” the image spoke. “I’m told you have urgent news to tell me. This had better be true. In case you hadn’t noticed, I have a war to fight.”

Princess Luna’s mane bristled at her exclusion. Nearly 10,000 years old, and she was as unimportant as the other myriad of ponies scattered throughout the throne room. Rainbow, Spike, Charlemagne, Raven Quill, Pulsar, assorted nobles, day guard, and even a pair of invited news ponies armed with a motion picture camera.

She was lumped in with them, and her ego was not happy. Without her, there wouldn’t have been an Equestria. Well, there might have been, but certainly not as it is now.

“I can assure you, Madam President, that this is a matter of utmost urgency.”

The image and the smoke clarified as the dust particles condensed, giving them a clear view of the office behind the zebra, the sun lighting her from the side thanks to a large set of windows.

“Very well.” The image moved slightly, as if the rest of the pony attached to the floating head was sitting down. “You have my attention.”

“Thank you.” Celestia dipped her head slightly. “It concerns the explosion off of your southwestern coast. Saddle Arabia did not cause it.”

The president raise an eyebrow, a subtle sneer barely escaping her lips. “Then just who did?”

“That is a complicated question to answer, but if you are willing to spare the time, I can provide full context, and perhaps put your mind at ease.”

Oh, that little smile. It took every measure of Luna’s not inconsiderable discipline to prevent from rolling on the ground with laughter. She didn’t completely know what her sister had planned, but their conversations had revealed an inkling, which is more than what she usually received. So, progress was progress.

At the same time, that little smile meant something special. Either Celestia was about to absolutely destroy this mare, or something altogether unexpected would happen and the other horseshoe would drop. Either way, the words about to be spoken would be front page news for weeks on end.

“I have grave doubts as to whether or not you could put my mind at ease, alicorn Princess. Yet, this is not something I can ignore. Please, proceed.”

“Very well.” Princess Celestia cleared her throat. “That area has had my intelligence service’s interest for some time. A while ago, we intercepted a powerful, but damaged, bond class core being traded on the black market. Evidence led us to a chain of transactions leading to that region. Since such cores have been very rare lately, we naturally launched an investigation. Ultimately, I chose to send Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle to lead this investigation. She found two very disturbing things.”

“Let me get this straight. You sent your agent into my nation to conduct an illegal investigation?” Malkia locked eyes on Celestia, an angry fire behind them unmatched even by Bismare and Charlemane.

No, Luna thought to herself. That’s not just anger. I’ve seen that look in the mirror countless times. That’s hatred. Jealousy. It doesn’t matter what Celestia says, this war is going forward regardless.

“I regret, Madam President, that this may cause a rift between our nations. But I’m willing to accept that if it averts this war, especially in light of what was found. You see, Twilight discovered an especially odd, impoverished village founded and controlled by an eccentric doomsday cult. Somehow, this leader, Mipaka, used the medicinal wealth of the herbs around his village to fund expeditions to recover bond class gems from all over the world. By the time she was able to determine what, exactly, these gems were being used for, it was too late. Mipaka had opened a portal into what a prior Grand Mage called ‘The After.’”

“And that’s supposed to mean something to me?! You sent an enemy agent into my sovereign territory and—”

“And she averted a catastrophe the likes of which the world would never have recovered from. This portal, first developed by Grand Mage Starswirl the Bearded, is an all-consuming sphere. Once it is open, it begins feeding on the ambient magic inherent in the environment until its own size grows so large that it cannot eat enough to sustain itself. After that, it detonates.”

Malkia’s breathing slowed, and she ran her hoof over her mane, flattening it back down. “So you’re saying the explosion was actually caused by this, Mipaka?”

“Mostly, yes. However, if it was allowed to simply grow, it would have enveloped the entire continent. I don’t know how this Mipaka managed to discover the knowledge of one of our old Grand Mage’s, but we were very fortunate that the current Grand Mage was there to force a premature shutdown. Had she not acted, both your nation and Saddle Arabia would have been wiped off the map, and Equestria would have suffered great losses.”

If Luna looked carefully, she could almost see the little bits of enamel being ground off the president’s teeth. “I see. Thank you for shedding light on this mystery, Princess Celestia.”

“You are most welcome.” Celestia raised a hoof to her chest, and gave the president a slight nod. “I trust this means that the war between Zebrica and Saddle Arabia is to be cancelled?”

“I’m afraid not. My citizens are crying out to me, clambering to give them a war, and I intend to deliver.”

“They are only demanding it because you sold it to them,” Luna spat, not hiding a single drop of the acidic disgust in her voice. “Neither you nor they know anything of war!”

“I will not be spoken to like that, you groveling upstart!” The clouds around the president’s image swirled in the smoke at the outburst. “Know your place!”

“My place?” Luna stomped her hooves on her throne as lightning arced pass the stained-glass windows, rattling them with their roar. “My place is here, leading my nation, even fifty thousand years after the reaper comes and sends your soul to—!” A gilded hoof press lightly against her chest, and she looked up at her sister, whose pleading magenta eyes stopped her entirely.

“Please, Sister, let us not allow this to devolve into a shouting match. After all, there is one more thing to discuss.”

There was that smile again. Luna let out a sigh, surrendering once again to her sister. “Very well, Tia. But you know I’m right.”

“You speak of something to discuss, but I am done talking. My nation—”

“Needs you to listen to what I have to say,” Celestia finished for her, an unusual glare flashing across her face. “The other thing that my Grand Mage found was a sophisticated, organized smuggling ring for Equestrian weaponry. Weaponry marked and labelled for shipment to your military in vast quantities. This, Madam President, is simply unacceptable. I demand the immediate cessation of all hostilities with Saddle Arabia, and the return of all Equestrian enchanted and cored weaponry. I will not allow you to use the fruit of my ponies’ labours in your plans for conquest.”

“Your ponies!? My zebras have the right to defend themselves, Princess. And it is my job to give them the means, which I have done, and for that my citizens are grateful. I will not kowtow any foreign powers, not even yours.”

If Luna didn’t know any better, she’d say that Celestia looked genuinely crestfallen. She could see her torc slide slightly against her chest, her ears lower, and even her wings droop slightly.

However, Luna did know better.

“I am very sorry to hear that, Madam President.” Celestia waved a hoof at her senechal, who brought over a scroll which Celestia then dutifully signed. A small flash of light followed as the scroll was enveloped in a golden smoke that slithered its way out of the window.

“Unfortunately, I too cannot ‘kowtow’ to a foreign leader. Compromise and understanding can be a wonderful thing, but these demands are not something I can bend on. Therefore, I must take action.”

Thunder and light roared through the room once again, this time not from an outburst from Luna, but from something happening outside of Malkia’s window.

“What— what was that? What was on that scroll!?”

Luna fought back against the smile growing on her face with all her might, but she was losing the battle. “If I had to take a guess, Madam President, I would imagine that it is the Michaelides, sister ship of the Bellerophon, turning your capital’s docks and shipyards into driftwood. Am I correct, Sister?”

“Just so, dearest Luna.” Celestia stood up and stepped off of her throne, approaching the gaseous image of the president. “I told you, I cannot allow these weapons to be used against our allies, and I am willing to go to great lengths to right this injustice.”

Malkia spat a series of ineffective curses at the further explosions going off behind her before turning away from Celestia, and towards Charlemane. “You! You told me—”

“I told your ambassador, not you, that my honest assessment of the political reality would be that Equestria could not intervene in a war between Zebrica and Saddle Arabia. I did not know you were smuggling weapons and promoting illegal activities within Equestria.” Charlemane trotted up to the image to stand beside Celestia, his hoof steps bearing as much of the weight of destiny as the alicorn’s. “The Empyreal Hall will not tolerate such a subversion of our authority! Her Highness is acting with the full approval of the Council.”

Now that is unexpected. Luna stood up as well to join her sister, the words being spoken by Celestia and Charlemane swishing around in her ears like a fine wine would in her mouth. “You wanted a war, Madam President? Then you should celebrate, because you are being given one. Art thou ready to bear the consequences of thy actions? For we are ready to deliver them.”

Screams and shouts were heard behind Malkia as what appeared to be one of her assistants opened a door to her room and shouted something in Zebrican to her, followed by another blast of thunder and the shattering of glass that forced the President to duck and cover.

“This… This is impossible! There is an ocean between us!” Her head looked like it was about ready to reach through the portal and bite them like a rabid dog. “You have no way of getting your army here! We have twenty times as many ships!” The lights above her flickered and failed, darkening even the gas that held her image. “What? What’s going—”

“That's for me to know and you to wonder about.” Celestia’s smile had completely vanished, and it had been replaced with a steely gaze that signalled to Luna that the coup de grace was coming. “As for your Navy, you do have more seafaring vessels, but few of them are capable of flying, much less presenting a threat to a Bellerophon class warship. Naponion has already run the simulations. Equestria does not go to war and seek to win, Madam President.”

“Rather,” Charlemagne continued for her, “we win first and then go to war. We need not send an army, we need only enable a victory for our allies. Our ships shall come, and then Saddle Arabia will march its forces over the craters that were once your soldiers.”

Luna felt a gentle tap of her sister’s primary feathers on her back, giving her a subtle signal of what to do. She stepped up to the source of the mist, a pile of dust burning and fizzing on the floor.

“Madam President,” Celestia began, using a tone and volume just short of the Royal Canterlot voice. “Should you wish to cease this war and start negotiations, whether it is to protect your pride or to prevent a cataclysmic loss of life, you need only announce a ceasefire with Saddle Arabia. Until then, I’m afraid, our military operations will continue.”

Princess Luna stomped on the small pile of dust, stamping out the fire and killing its magic.

Malkia’s image flickered and faded, her voice growing distant like a shout over a mountain. “No! You can’t just— I won’t let you!”

“This meeting is concluded.” Celestia spread her wings, blowing away the smoke with a single flap and returning the colours in the throne room to normal.

The two alicorns returned to their thrones, and Charlemane returned to his place beside them. A heavy silence weighed down on everypony present, history being written by the thoughts and feelings of their souls, along with a furious scribble by a lone pegasus mare reporting for the Canterlot Chronicle.

“Miss Print, did you get all that?” Celestia asked, her trademark warm smile returning as she regarded her subject.

“Hmm?” Verity Print looked up, and jumped up and place in surprise before bowing deeply. “Yes, your Majesty! Thank you very much for inviting me to this —”

“Not a problem, Miss Print. However, the Crown must now discuss matters of state, and I must ask every pony, save my sister, Chairpony Charlemane, Captain Dash, and Spike to leave the throne room.”

“Oh! Right, of course.” She bowed again, practically grabbing the camera pony beside her by the shoulders. “Viewfinder, shut that thing off and get going!”

The stallion shook down a nervous swallow as if he was turning away from the gates of Tartarus itself. Slowly, however, he packed up his camera and the two left the throne room, along with a host of other ponies, leaving only the princesses, the chair pony, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.

“Well…” Spike sat down, shaking slightly. “That was a thing. Why did you want us to stay, Princess?”

“You two are here as Twilight’s proxy.” Celestia took in a deep breath. “And there are other details we have to go through in this briefing. Speaking of, Luna, I would like your Night Guard to lead the investigation into routing the Wavu.”

There was a pregnant pause, and it gave birth to a whole litter of little pauses.

“Sister, is something the matter?” Celestia asked, like what she had said earlier was the most normal thing in the world. “I would have thought you would be most eager for something like this.”

Luna didn’t respond with words, but her expression and subtle lean to look over at Charlemane must’ve asked the question for her.

“The Council is willing to grant you an exception in this case, Your Highness.” Charlemane walked up to her, for all the world acting like he was taller. Like he was her superior. “I know the Duchess of Shanghay in particular has been voicing complaints over this group for some time.”

“Then I almost don’t want to do it.” Luna stood up in an attempt to remind the stallion — and perhaps herself — of their proper places. “That still begs the question, why me?”

“I’m afraid RGIS is going to have their hooves full with this endeavor, seeing as now they are both responsible for internal intelligence security issues as well as the external war. They will be stretched to their limits. And I’m afraid my student will need some time to recover from her injuries, so I can’t ask her to do it either.” Celestia leaned over and brought her sister into a hug, putting her mouth next to her ear to pass along a whisper. “Plus, I need somepony to hunt for a link from the Wavu to Cloudsdale Armouries. Doubtless they are going to be scrambling to cover their tracks.”

Luna looked down at the ground with a morose wavering in her legs, despite the fact that every fiber of her being want to shoot Charlemane the most vicious look. And Cloudsdale armouries is majority owned by the Duchess of Cloudsdale… “Very well, sister. It would be my honour to bring these thieves into the light.”

“You have to be kidding me! Celestia actually declared war on them!? I’ve been trying to avoid a war!” Twilight tossed away the covers in front of her and started to climb down the bed. “I’ll go talk to her. Maybe there’s still time to —”

“Twilight, the opening shots were fired weeks ago.” Luna nudged Twilight back into the bed and tucked her in. “Celestia is only trying to end it as swiftly as possible.”

Twilight grumbled and sank into the covers. “I'd prefer it if there was an option that didn't involve turning a large war into a giant one. This reeks of… of… well, I’m not quite sure yet, but it reeks!”

“Reeks of politics, you mean.” Rainbow ruffled her feathers. “Somepony’s going to get rich off of all this.”

“Yeah, that. And what about you?” Twilight pointed a hoof at Luna. “I think it’s fairly obvious that the Council granted this so-called exception just so that you and Shiny would be busy with the Wavu instead of going after them.”

“Huh.” Spike stroked his chin with his claws. “I never thought about it that way.”

“I have no doubt that you’re correct on this, Twilight Sparkle. This was masterful political manoeuvring.” Luna rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “If I deny the request, I look weak, and my efforts to regain my full authority will be set back decades. If I take it and fail, the same happens. If I take it and succeed, then I eliminate an enemy of the Council for them. However, if I succeed, at least I will gain a small win in the eyes of the ponies, and regardless of the politics, Sister was right. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with, and the night guard is the best available tool for the job.”

Bloodmoon wandered back into the room just in time to see Twilight grab one of her pillows and bury her face in it to muffle her frustrated yell.

“Oh my. It sounds as if somepony has heard the bad news.” He set down a bowl of vegetable broth on the sliding tray next to her.

Twilight let her forelegs flop down to her sides, and the pillow soon followed. “I think I’m starting to hate politics.”

Rainbow snickered at her. “Welcome to the club. Meetings are every Tuesday at six, and dues are collected at the first of the month.”

Spike gave the captain a playful nudge with his elbow. “Yeah, and you’ll get your membership card in 6 to 8 weeks.”

“I’ll bring the refreshments,” Luna added with a smile.

Twilight wanted to be angry with them, but they were right, and she was really only angry at the circumstances. She took in a deep breath and scooted the sliding tray over so she could get at the broth. “Still, I can’t help but wonder where that leaves me.”

“In a hospital bed, being looked after by myself, and the other cardinals.” Bloodmoon grabbed her water glass, and started to take it out the door. “I will get you a refill. In the meantime, I suggest you do your best to keep your mind off of the situation. There is little you can do about it at the moment, other than place your trust in the princesses.”

Twilight tried to pick up the spoon as the Pegasus had done to her glass, but after a second it simply fell back to the tray. “And that might just be the hardest thing of all. This…” She took in a deep breath and sighed. “This is a disaster…”

“This is a disaster…” Charlemane grumbled aloud, slipping into the seat in the meeting room. “An absolute disaster all the way around.”He waved a hoof at one of his servants, who brought over the document packet he had requested. The folder plopped against the fine mahogany table, and opened to reveal the intelligence trove that was so vexing him.

“Are you sure there’s no way out of this?” Duchess Suisaiga kept her gaze firmly affixed to her reflection in her tea. “We’re basically giving the Princess a clean win. A war will certainly galvanize her support. Although, if it leads to peace in the long run, I would certainly support it, as the Princess really isn’t so bad, but still… It feels like a lot of our efforts would be going to waste. Couldn’t we try something else?”

Badlands shook his head and ran his dusty, tan hoof through his short, black mane. “No, he’s right. She’d absolutely override the rest of us, and would come out looking like a glorious general for doing so. If we don’t go along, we look like cowards. Is there any way we can go after Twilight for this? Seeing as she did commit a crime by infiltrating Zebrica —”

Charlemane cut him off with a wave of his hoof, and then adjusted the light switch to make one of the larger rooms in his castle somewhat brighter in the midst of the deep night. “That might have been an option, had the mission not been personally approved by the chair pony of the Council. All Celestia would need to do is point that out, and it would all backfire.”

“Well, damn. This bucking sucks.” Badlands slammed his hoof on the table.

“I’ll thank you not to do that.” Charlemagne picked up the other stallion’s glass and splashed its contents all over its user. “This is a Mastercraft table, not the salvage scrap you have at home.”

“Aw, man, not the jacket!” He whined, trying to wipe off the strange black fabric with his hooves.

“I don’t see what the problem is.” Bismare took a long sip of her wine. “There’s nothing that says we have to go along with Celestia on this.”

“Speak for yourself!” Xìngyùn yelled, stepping into the room and to her seat. “I, for one, fully support the Chairpony’s plan.”

“Because it gets Luna to deal with your Wavu problem,” Bismare muttered inside her glass.

“This is true, but I don’t think that makes her any less right.” Suisaiga put her head down on the table and glared at Xìngyùn. “Although I cannot believe I’m agreeing with her…”

“Just because none of you have the courage —”

Charlemane slammed Bismare’s glass back onto the table. “Drop it, Duchess. You’re outvoted.”

Bismare’s haughty laugh was like a monkey playing piano on his nerves. “What’s the matter, chair pony? Out of ideas? Why, at this rate, I’ll be taking your position in no time!”

“Not yet, you old hag.” He spread out the papers from the folder in front of him, and pulled out his pen. “We aren’t finished. Not by a long shot. I still have favours to call in. In a year, this will all turn out to be a wash.”

“Oh, now that I’d like to see! Tell me, how are you going to —”

“All in good time, amateur. For now, we have a more pressing concern to discuss. Duchess Artfeather.”

The name of the Duchess of Cloudsdale captured the attention of the room instantly.

“What about her?” Badlands asked, still shaking booze out of his feathers. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her in a while…”

“The Chairpony probably means all the disturbances and unrest in Cloudsdale lately.” Suisaiga held her nose and scooted away from the Duke of San Palomino. “Last I checked, Artfeather hasn’t done anything about them yet.”

“Actually, it’s worse than that.” Charlemane slid some the papers to his colleagues. “The weapons that our Grand Mage intercepted in Zebrica were manufactured by Cloudsdale Armouries, and if the intel is to be believed, there was a massive quantity of them shipped.”

“Oh, hell.” Badlands rubbed his throat. “Artfeather, what the buck are you doing?”

“Giving Westphalian Defensive some future contracts, it seems.” Bismare looked like a foal at Hearth’s Warming rubbing her hooves together like that.

“Is there any possibility that these are forgeries?” Xìngyùn looked like she was biting her tongue between sentences. “It is possible to manufacture knockoffs of these sorts of weapons…”

“No. Remember, the Grand Mage discovered that these were being shipped to Zebrica via a smuggling ring, which implies that they were manufactured here in Equestria. Even if they were counterfeit, then they are so good that the only way they would have been able to pull it off is with support from company engineers.” Charlemane stood up, placing his forehooves on the table. “Nobles, distance yourselves from this company, and from Artfeather. When the hammer falls, we are cutting. Her. Loose.”

Author's Note

Words can't express how overjoyed I was at the positive reaction to last week. Stress is definitely building in me lately, and it's the wonderful, positive comments that I get that keep me going. Thank you all so much!

I've changed my Patreon page from per-chapter to Monthly, so now you can peek at the next chapter for just $3/month! Your support really does help me tremendously! Without you guys, I never would have been able to get the iPad that has allowed me to resume pursuing writing as a career! If anyone has any ideas for more, better reward tiers, let me know!

So, about the chapter. Sorry, no summit yet. We're only a fourth of the way through book two, guys. ;) I hope everyone enjoyed the continuation to last week's cliffhanger!

Thanks again everyone for sticking with me. It really does mean the world. If I didn't have my writing, I don't know what I would do.

-Cv

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Recovery

It’s kind of ironic, really. Charlemane licked his lips, waiting in the shadows. In truth, he could’ve made his move at almost any point in the last hour, but it was important to leave them wondering after you had left. To do that, there were few better ways than to make it impossible for them to get a timeline on just what had happened.

He lifted his hoof off of the marble floor and placed it behind the ceremonial set of armour standing next to him. On the other side of the round room, the twinkling lights of Luna’s night sky shimmered through the wide, windowless openings. In the middle, a single large desk stood imposingly in the light of the two torches at either end as it served as a dinner table for the lone, large gryphon behind it. The gryphon who held more power in a single claw than any other individual in the Aries. The King of Gryphonia herself: Morvana.

Charlemane smiled to himself, feeling the cold chill of the night’s breeze. This is going to be fun. Ordinarily, manipulating the gryphons was a time-consuming and laborious process, even as talented at it as he was. The current situation, though, required a much more expedient method. As the hour struck, he pushed forward on the armour, sending it to the ground as he cancelled the stealth spell around him.

Had he been intruding on a pony’s inner sanctum, guards would’ve been called immediately.

Morvana was not a pony.

In front of him was a blur of motion so fast and so subtle that had he been anypony else, he would have been dead before noticing it. It was a simple fact: a gryphon King was almost always the single most powerful warrior in any given area, with strength, speed, and precision far beyond the match of any normal pony’s ken.

Charlemane was not a normal pony.

The spear in the king’s talons did indeed find a target, but it crushed marble, not bone. The second attack came with the swing, finding only a pillar, not the pony’s head. The third attack was simply laughable, the tip finding only an unfortunately placed desk.

The gryphoness turned her head, facing squarely in his direction. “Who are you?”

Charlemane gave her a Cheshire’s grin. “My, my. Trying to talk instead of take my head off?”

In the blink of an eye, the king stood before him, swift as lightning, and yet, slow as molasses. “Chairpony Charlemane, I presume. There are very few ponies capable of avoiding a strike like that. I would never have imagined that a fat politician would be among them.”

“Fat? Oh come now, that’s hardly fair. I have a very healthy diet, I can assure you. Aside from the whiskey. Beyond that, though, all I shall say is, like so many, I am more than I appear. Now then.” Charlemane pulled out his telekinetic blade, the sea green light tracing a gash in the floor. “Shall we dance, or would you rather listen to what I have to say?”

The King’s red-highlighted feathers bristled as she puffed herself out, pulling the spear out of the desk and slamming its blunt end on the ground hard enough to leave cracks in the tile. “It is only by curiosity that I am allowing you to live. Speak.”

“It’s quite simple, really. You are going to do me a little favour. You are going to issue a statement saying that you disapprove of Equestria’s war against Zebrica. You will demand that they scale back their operations or face war with Gryphonia.”

There was a slight pause, and though it lasted only a fraction of a second, it may as well have had a telegraphed notice sent a month in advance.

Charlemane tilted his head to the left.

The spear brushed through his mane and landed in the wall behind them.

“Idiocy.” Morvana cracked the knuckles in her forefeet. “President Malkia is a fool, and deserves be left to her fate.”

“Oddly enough, I agree with you. Yet I have my own reasons for requiring this course of action from you.”

Another burst of feathers and speed came towards him, but this time, Charlemane let it come. Talons the size of chef's knives wrapped around his neck as the bumpy, scale-like skin of Morvana’s forefeet closed around his trachea. Upwards he went as she lifted him to his face like some kind of doll.

Charlemane could see the individual fibers of the giant irises in the gryphon’s eyes, and smell the fish flesh on her breath. The individual barbs on her feathers were clear as day this close, and as she spoke, he could tell how strangely superfluous her beak was to speech; her vastly more complex voicebox was doing all the work by itself.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t just choke the life out of you right here instead.”

“For one, even like this, you couldn’t kill me if you tried. But that’s not as important as this.” Moving his head as far forward as he could in the gryphoness’s grip, he whispered his threat into her feathered ear. They were merely words, but no poison had ever been so caustic.

It was such a small little phrase; the span of merely five words. Yet balanced on them was the fate of the nation.

Charlemane’s head whipped back and forwards as Morvana brought him around to face her again.

“No! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Oh, but you know it’s the truth,” Charlemane coughed out through the king’s chokehold. “And should that message ever get to the ears of either Crown Prince, your reign will come to an end. Five hundred years of disgrace will weigh down on your family, and your country.”

“Not if I kill you fir—”

Charlemane walked through the world of grey, laughing to himself over Morvana’s threat. By the time she realized what was going on, he was already behind her, with his blade to her throat. “Follow your orders, little pawn, or be removed from the game.”

The blade vanished, as did Charlemane.

Morvana was crying out; something about an intruder. Lights across the aerie flickered to life, and Charlemane watched on in amusement, safe on his perch on a nearby cliff.

All too predictable. He pulled out his pocket watch and examined the date. His victory over her wouldn’t come overnight, but it would happen all the same. In just days, a couple of weeks at the most, she would break down and issue the proclamation. That, or accuse him without any proof, which would be every bit as self-destructive as if he had carried out his threat.

He turned away and covered his head with a cloak. That was such fun. It’s too bad it will be a while before I can do that again. An image of Celestia flashed in his mind as he made his way down the mountain and into the forest. After all, if you use the same move too many times, any perceptive opponent will eventually see through it.

As beautiful as Twilight thought her room was when it was set to night, it took on a whole new beauty during its day cycle. The sun overhead felt as warm as the real thing; so bright that it could threaten to give her a sunburn, given that her coat had yet to start regrowing. The clouds around her had shed their evening hue, and now it appeared as though a giant, white, fluffy stratus cloud was surrounding her. Given the magics involved with her bathroom, Twilight was fairly certain that if she tried to peek over them, they would stretch on to the illusory horizon.

“Welcome home, Twilight.” Celestia lifted her student up with her magic and gently placed her on her bed. “It is a great relief to see you recovering so quickly.”

“Tell me about it.” Twilight stretched her legs and flopped over on her side, letting her surreally warm bed take over for her missing hairs. She reached up and touched her horn, which was still encased in a cast and inhibitor. “Long way to go, though.”

“At least you will be more comfortable in your own room. Should you need anything, use this.” Celestia pointed over to a small bell next to the bed. “It’s enchanted. Ring it, and a bell downstairs will ring to summon a nurse. It's also linked to a bell in Spike's room. Alternatively, one of Sister’s Night Guards will also be outside twenty-four seven, and will screen any visitors you receive.”

“Sounds good to me. Maybe this will give me some reading time. You know, while there’s a war going on half a world away that I started.” Twilight buried her face in the cloud.

“I know it’s difficult to put it out of your mind, but stay strong. The war between Zebrica and Saddle Arabia probably would have started without your help. All you did was move up the timetable.”

“And did that timetable include Equestria joining the war? Because honestly, I can’t see how that would’ve been part of your plans.”

“It wasn’t. At least, not originally. However, this war is about food as much as greed. Thanks to our airships, Saddle Arabia is proving successful at blunting Zebrica’s advance, and if they’re able to hold them for a couple more weeks, the Zebrican frontline should collapse, and they will sue for peace. It’s the fastest way to end the conflict.”

“How do you do it?” Twilight started to draw something in her cloud, but the squiggles were quickly abandoned. “How do you compartmentalize, abstract away the individual ponies and groups and nations? Make it so that in your heart, this is nothing but numbers?” Twilight sniffled. “I don’t think I could do that.”

Celestia lay down next to her, and wrapped her in one of her wings. “I don’t. I can’t.” She paused momentarily, “I must. It is, by far, the greatest burden of a leader.”

Twilight made a noise somewhere between a groan and a wail, and leaned in hard against Celestia’s side. “So how do I do that?”

“Experience. Will. Heart. It is something that cannot truly be taught, only learned by hard familiarity.” She stroked her pinions against the smaller mare’s side. “Stay strong, my student. I believe in you. And so do your ponies.”

There was a chime at the door, and a pulse of purple light quickly worked its way through the room.

“In fact, I think that’s one of them right there.” Celestia leaned in to Twilight’s ear. “While you were away, Luna installed the doorbell. I’m honestly kind of jealous. You still have to knock at my door.”

Twilight didn’t think she should smile at that, given what was going on in the rest of the world, but her muscles apparently had other ideas. With a nod, she gave in and wiped the tears from her face. “They can come in…”

“Enter!” Celestia cried out, to Twilight’s relief; she didn’t quite have it in her to yell through the door just yet.

An armour-clad hoof pushed open the door, and a striped old friend stepped inside, a large basket being carried in her mouth.

Six steps inside, however, it appeared as though Zecora’s brain had caught up to her body, and both basket and her rump dropped to the floor. “Sweet seedlings…”

<> Twilight chuckled nervously. <>

<> She picked up the basket and walked up next to the cloud. <>

Twilight, choking back tears, nodded her head and mouthed a thank you.

<> She opened up the basket, revealing a thermos, a couple of paintbrushes, and a large tin of some kind of slimy paste. <>

<> Twilight looked down at her body, seeing all the individual little goose bumps rising up. <>

<> She opened the thermos before hoofing it over, which let loose a stench like black mold mixed with turpentine. Even Celestia recoiled, getting up and stepping somewhat away.

Stars above… “I can see why I had to be eating solid foods again… But is that really supposed to restore my spirits?” Twilight held her head as far away from the thermos as she could while still keeping it in her hooves. “It feels like I’m going to have to move into my bathroom after I drink this… Granted, my bathroom is awesome, but still…”

“A moment of discomfort there will be, but it will get better. You’ll see.”

Twilight looked to Celestia who shrugged. Shrugged! Celestia, she who moves the sun, shrugged! Bracing herself, the Grand Mage took in a deep breath and instantly regretted it, gagging and coughing from the smell. After timing out her spasms, she picked a short gap between them and forced the entire contents of the small thermos down her throat.

She would have almost preferred to face the explosion again.

Whatever it was she had just downed, it was black, tasted like tar, quite possibly had its own coat of hair, and Twilight was fairly confident that it was, in fact, alive and moving.

Yet by some miracle it also had a somewhat cool aftertaste, something akin to spritzing some mint oil on a mountain of sewage.

“That’s…” Twilight let the thermos drop clear through the cloud and all the way down to the lowest floor. “I don’t ever want to have to drink that again. Celestia, if I ever go and nuke my coat off a second time, you tell me that I have to just complete my Grand Mage duties without it.”

Celestia, paragon of unflappability, and mare with the mightiest, heaviest, most unbreakable visage in the cosmos, was waving a hoof in front of her face. A couple seconds later, she only stopped so she could switch to her wing. “My student, I do not blame you in the slightest. I am… I’m going to go open the balcony doors and get some air in here. And then get us some tea. I imagine you need something to… Wash that down with.”

“More like, wash out, but yes. Yes I do. Zecora?” She looked her friend directly in the eyes. “You know I love your cooking, but that was—”

“Cures often are as bad as the disease, but I assure you, soon you will feel at ease.” Zecora opened up the tin of paste, and dipped one of the paintbrushes in it before motioning for Twilight to give her one of her legs. After sniffing the air to make certain the new substance didn’t smell like the previous one, she complied, and in short, heavy strokes, the paste was applied.

By the time Zecora was most of the way up her leg, Twilight couldn’t help but watch what was happening on her fetlock. Her skin was eating the paste, absorbing it like a sponge.

Wait… Twilight brought her fetlock closer to her eyes, finding tiny little hairs beginning to grow where the paste had once been. “Amazing! It’s already growing back!”

Zecora set the paintbrush back down in the paste. “You will get a burst of growth, but must wait three days for a full coat.”

“Anything is better than nothing! Thanks, Zecora. I don’t know what I would’ve done…”

“Think nothing of it, my dearest friend. Let us apply more, so your nakedness will end.”

Twilight didn’t need to be told twice. She picked up a brush and started painting herself, and the two had covered her completely in just a few minutes. Extra-large globs of the substance were placed on her head, neck, and dock, restoring the start of a mane and tail in moments instead of months.

<> She trotted over to her closet, pushing aside the cloud doors and pulling out a mirror. <>

<>

Twilight picked up the tin and put it in a drawer. Definitely a good idea.

The chime and purple pulse from before returned just before the doors opened and more ponies walked in.

“I brought the tea.” Celestia floated a tray with a pot and four cups over towards Twilight’s bed. “Something strong to mask the taste of whatever that was. Also, I found a pacing unicorn outside. It appears she has something to ask you, Twilight.”

Pacing unicorn? Twilight walked back to the centre of the room to see what Celestia was talking about, and found a light blue mare carrying a large pile of papers and scrolls.

“That would be me, Lady Sparkle.” Trixie bowed her head and moved a little to the side, away from the Princess. “I was wondering if you could help me with something…”

“Of course.” Twilight motion for her to come closer. “And you don’t need to use my title, Trixie. We’re friends.”

Trixie stole a nervous glance upwards towards the Princess. “Yes, ma’am, if you say so…”

Twilight shook her head. “Celestia won’t mind, trust me.”

The Princess seemingly ignored them, pouring tea for the entire group as Zecora moved closer to join them.

“Now, what did you need help with?” Twilight asked, picking up one of the papers.

“I’ve been working on these illusion spells. Princess Luna was kind enough to give Trixie a sample mock up of the crystals they use, and I’ve had some success, but I’m a long way from where I thought I’d be.”

Twilight looked up at her horn and its cast. “Well, I’d like to help, but as you can see…”

“Trixie doe- I don’t think it’s my execution of the spells. I think I’m casting them as written, but I don’t think the actual formulas are correct. As much as it pains Trix- me to admit it, I am … in over my head. I need… I mean, please, Lady Sparkle, I need help with the academics of the spell.”

Twilight rubbed her hooves together. “Trixie, you just said the magic word.”

Trixie blinked. “You mean, ‘please?’”

Twilight and Celestia shared a look and an answer. “No, academics.”

Author's Note

Hi all!

Just a short chapter this time. I was originally going to include a scene with Twilight’s parents, but when I wrote this it was with voice dictation. I only had so much writing capacity to go around, and the scene didn’t add much to the overall story. I may be able to write it eventually, in which case it’ll be put in Fireside Tales. For now, though, you can take it as canon that they did visit, and her dad pestered the hell out of her doctor with questions (because he’s a doctor, too).

Next chapter will have more to it.

A big thanks to all my patrons on Patreon for helping make the story possible. Without you, I never would have been able to buy my tablet to be able to resume writing via swype.

IMPORTANT!!!

Unfortunately, FimFic has decided to ban using chapter previews as Patreon rewards. This is devastating to me, as without Patreon I wouldn’t have been able to write like a have been. Thus, the rewards are going to have to change, but fear not. Hope is not lost!

Patrons that pledge $3 a month or more will now get access to a special persistent, p2p, patron-only Skype text chat, where I can talk with you guys directly whenever I’m online (which is very, very often). Not only will it be a general chat, but I’ll seek feedback on my writing from my valued supporters. Of course, to get the best feedback, I may have to post links from time to time. These links may or may not have snippets of previews of coming chapters, totalling anywhere between 0-100% of the coming chapter(s?). Hint.

The next Patreon update, which is coming within the next 24 hours, will have a link to the chat. I’ll also update the rewards to the new form.

Can’t afford to sign up for Patreon? For this next chapter, you’re in luck! Again, for this next chapter only, I’m giving out a special opportunity to get access to the Patreon Preview! How do you do it?

See, the Rites tropes page is looking dusty these days. If you have the Tropes-Fu to fix it up, add tropes examples (as well as listing the tropes examples Rites uses on the tropes pages), then you have what it takes to earn that one-time free pass to peek at chapter 46! Anyone that adds a bunch of work to the tropes page for Rites will get that access!

Yup, it’s really just straight-up bribery. (No adding examples from 46 before the chapter is up, though ;) ). Just message me with your tropes handle and the email address you use for gdocs.

Again, this is only valid this one time, for chapter 46.

Thanks everyone for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter, short though it was!

Happy Holidays everyone!

-Cv

Patreon | Open/General Skype Channel | Tropes Page

Snowfight

Twilight rounded the corner, passing through the hall where Luna had painted her impressive motif on the ceiling. A few doorways later she found her way to the Castle Gardens, wandering down the paths of marble and grass to all the more secluded, private areas. There, a pony sat in wait for her under the grey, overcast sky.

Said pony stood up at her arrival, and gave her a slight bow. “Lady Sparkle. I half expected you to refuse my invitation.” Prince Blueblood motioned for her to join him at his private table next to a group of his servants, some of whom were there to attend to his meal, while a few others were farther away playing their instruments.

“I was giving serious consideration to saying no. The last time you invited me someplace it didn’t exactly turn out too well.” She hesitated to sit for a moment, checking the chair for a trap before letting her flank touch it.

“Childish games. We were twelve! I’d like to think I’ve grown since then. In fact, I’d like to think it would be hard not to.” One of his servants came over to him and began brushing his mane.

Another came up to Twilight and offered the same to her, but she turned it down with a wave. “Honestly, I’m kind of surprised you’re out here at all.” She leaned over the edge of the table, confirming that it was indeed over the cold grass. “You don’t normally let your hooves touch dirt, if I recall correctly.”

“Only in the gardens,” Blueblood said, somehow managing to make himself look proud while saying it. “But I didn’t invite you here to trade old barbs that should have long been buried. Everypony!” He clopped his hooves together twice. “Some privacy, if you will.”

Twilight watched as their audience left, leaving her to hold her forelegs against her body, and not from the chilly, early winter air. If he does something, I’m not sure I’m recovered enough to fight back…

“Tell me, Lady Sparkle, have you been keeping yourself appraised on recent events?”

“If you mean the war, yes.” She tightened her scarf, putting her mouth behind it. Celestia’s been keeping me out of loop on the few things lately, though, but I think that’s just so I keep my mind off of them while I get better.

“Actually, I was thinking of things more… Domestic. Here.” He reached down into a bag and gave her a copy of a newspaper whose headline read ‘Unrest in Cloudsdale Intensifies.’

Twilight picked it up in her magic, careful not to tear it to shreds. “I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad. I had heard of a few issues, unemployment and the like…”

“Well, just recently Cloudsdale Armories announced a series of layoffs, and has advised investors that they will miss their earnings benchmarks. Don’t you find that strange? In the middle of a war, an arms manufacturer is saying that they are going to miss their estimates.”

“That tells me that the weapons going to Zebrica actually are manufactured by Cloudsdale Armories. With Luna putting pressure on the Wavu, they aren’t making as much money.” Twilight rested her head on a hoof. “I had hoped that they were actually counterfeit.”

“I agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, this means that things are only going to get worse. Cloudsdale Armories accounts for over 20% of Cloudsdale’s employment. The weather factory, which is owned by a subsidy of CA, accounts for another 30%. If they close those factories, we’re going to see riots that make these protests look like campfire singers.”

“What are you suggesting?” Twilight folded the paper and handed it back to him. “That we back off of the Wavu?”

“Hardly!” Blueblood chuckled. “I’m only saying to expect the unrest. For instance, what do you think of our current Council?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak her mind, but caught herself on the first syllable, thinking back to the training her mother gave her about nobility. “Honestly, such words aren’t meant for polite company.”

Whatever his true feelings, Blueblood’s face wasn’t giving Twilight any clues. “I believe things are more nuanced than that, Lady Sparkle. However, like all politicians, in the right circumstances they turn into sharks, and right now, they are circling. The victim, in this case, is one of their own: Duchess Artfeather.”

“The Duchess of Cloudsdale? Last I heard, she does own a majority of Cloudsdale Armories… You think she’s involved? Rather, the Council thinks she’s involved?”

“Personally, I would say that it is an absolute certainty that she’s involved. But the Council is very careful about moving against its own. To act against a Duke or Duchess without absolute, concrete evidence invites drastic repercussions.

“Now, the Duchess hasn’t been seen in the Empyreal Hall for almost 3 months. She certainly has a good excuse, given the issues that are present in her duchy.” Blueblood held up the paper again. “Eventually, however, she will have to make an appearance, and I honestly have no doubt that she will eventually be facing dire charges.”

“As she should, if all this is true.” Twilight leaned forward, assuming a more aggressive stance but also being careful to avoid getting too close to the stallion. “The question is, though, why tell me this? I know you’ve apologized, but you have to admit there’s still a lot of history between us.”

“History… Yes…” Blueblood paused still for a moment, putting the paper away in his bag. “Lady Sparkle, might I take another moment of your time? To show you something deeper in the garden?”

Twilight backed up in her seat, looking around her and expecting the other horseshoe to drop.

“I promise, no whoopee cushions, no itching powder—”

“Or chairs rigged with electric shock spells!” Twilight snapped.

Blueblood held up his hooves in surrender. “All I want to do is talk. Please?”

Twilight sighed. I have every right to say no… But I imagine I’ll hear it from Tia if I do. “Fine. Lead the way.”

The Prince bowed gracefully, then led them into the hedge maze behind him.

In truth, this area wasn’t much of a maze. It was more of a pathway; it still took them several turns to reach Blueblood’s apparent intended destination: a statue of a pair of unicorns staring into each other’s eyes, their horns meeting at the tips.

The stallion stopped at the statue, sitting down and holding his hoof to its base, cluing Twilight into the significance of the location. She could see him mouth the words “Hello Mother. Hello Father.”

Twilight swallowed, the lump suddenly growing in her throat. “This is… This is where they put your parents to rest, isn’t it? After the airship accident… After the Valentia’s engines exploded.”

“If you believe it to be an accident. Neither Cadence nor I are convinced. Not that we have any evidence to the contrary, despite our best efforts.” He took in a deep breath and sighed, lowering his head in a supplicating bow to the grave. “I miss my parents, Twilight. I miss them more than you could imagine.

“I know you don’t think much of me, and to be honest, I can see how in your eyes that’s justified. Regardless, I want you to know this: I believe in the nobility, in the idea of it, but I also believe that while nobles are rulers, the reverse isn’t always necessarily true.”

He dropped all the way to the ground, burying his chest and belly into the snow-dusted grass and laying his head on his forelegs. Despite the fact that he was taller and more massive than her by a grand amount, he looked for all the world like a foal.

“My parents taught me that truth. We nobles are served by our ponies, pampered and slaved over. That’s fine. We should enjoy these benefits to their fullest, yet we must also be mindful that any ruler can get that. To be a noble, one must give back. If one of our ponies is sick, we must see to their health. If they seek work, yet cannot find it, we must find it for them. If they fear thieves, we must ensure their safety, and punish the wicked. If an enemy army marches to them, we must protect them. That is the code of the noble. Of the just. Of the righteous.”

Blueblood sat up, taking in another breath and snarling. “And that is the code that Artfeather has abandoned, along with too many of the Inner Council! Politics being what they are, Auntie isn’t in a position to rectify this. At least, not easily. Quite frankly, neither am I.”

Though the little voice in the back of her mind was screaming for her not to, Twilight relented to her emotions over her better judgment and sat down next to him. “Blueblood. I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t know—”

“How would you? I thought you unworthy. Even after Nightmare Moon and Discord, I wasn’t entirely convinced, so I pushed you away.”

“Seriously?” Twilight glared at him. “You seriously thought—”

“I am admitting to my mistake, Lady Sparkle.” Blueblood scooted over to his right like he was dodging something. “Your actions in Zebrica convinced me otherwise, and I truly apologize for my past behaviour. Auspicious birth or no, you are a noble. In law and spirit.

“What’s more, we share a common problem: the Inner Council. As such, I am proposing an alliance. If you like, I can be your eyes and ears, just as I am for Auntie Celestia, and can act in your stead, seeing as I have two votes compared to your none.”

~* Your future actions will earn you no loyalty from those you benefit, only courtesy.*~

Charlemane’s words echoed in Twilight’s mind like a siren. “I already have ponies like that in the Council: my brother and Cadence.”

“The Prince and Princess of the Lost. A duchy without borders, without a tax base. The Duchy of Canterlot, while not the richest in absolute terms, is certainly the richest in per capita wealth. While I agree it is all well and good to have your siblings on your side, you would be surprised what moving a bunch of bits at once can do.”

Twilight groaned through her clenched teeth. I really hate to admit it, and I feel dirty doing so, but he’s still right. “My question is, then, what do you get out of this? Politicians don’t normally make an offer like that without some kind of quid pro quo.”

“I’m not looking for any such thing, and certainly nothing as base as what you might be imagining. But if you need a selfish reason from me, here’s one: The Council seeks to undermine Celestia’s authority, and with it, mine, and for that matter, yours. Helping me helps us all.”

A chill and shudder went down Twilight’s spine. Actually, I wasn’t imagining anything base, but thank you for the lovely image. “I suppose I can agree in principle, but I still need more details. What, exactly, are you asking me to do?”

“Nothing, yet. Regrettably. The truth is, I’m still not able to move against Artfeather. But here’s the rub; the really sticky, nasty, thorny issue we have to get around. Right now, the Council is preparing to devour one of their own. If they do, the rest of them come out smelling like roses. Heroes! Paragons of self-policing! But if the Grand Mage were to make a move first…”

Twilight looked up at the statue, uncertain of what to think of making a political deal at a gravesite. “I think I see what you’re saying. If I catch Artfeather, then the Council would be taking the weight of the blame. The question is, then, how do I do that?”

“You can’t. At least, not yet.” Blueblood stood up and shook off the light dusting of snow and dirt he had accumulated. “If there are any two things the nobility has grown very proficient at, it’s talking profusely while saying nothing, and creative accounting. None of the Council’s own investigations, nor mine, nor the RGIS’s can find definitive proof of the Duchess’s wrongdoing. The good news is that it buys us time, seeing as Celestia doesn’t want you back in the field just yet.

“For now, make that little trip to that unkempt village that you love so much, and rest easy, as you have a new friend in high places.” He turned and made his way to one of the exits. “I will have one of my servants alert you if I find anything.”

After he left, Twilight folded her forelegs while fighting the growing headache in her temple. “Why do I feel like I need to go spend a few hours in that rainstorm shower…”

There were certain strands of logic in the world that seemed completely natural. For instance, one would assume that a pony with a very large wellspring could be highly effective in battle just based on that simple fact. When said pony had the largest wellspring outside of the eternal sisters, the logic only seemed to be reinforced.

Combine that with an adolescent dragon and the former captain of the Wonderbolts, and an inexperienced pony would feel completely at ease following that train of thought. This could be especially true if the pony they were facing had a wellspring only a fraction of the size of their opponent.

Such a pony would be wrong.

If they needed any evidence to prove that they were wrong, they would only need to look at the fact that, at the particular instant of time in question, the pony with the massive wellspring, the dragon, and the pegasus were all battered, bruised, and in midflight arcing away from their opponent after a particularly nasty, simultaneous strike.

The little bits of dried grass, snow, and dirt that had shoved their way into Twilight’s mouth as she landed only served to add to the pile of evidence labelled exhibit A.

“Ugh… Ow…” Spike groaned, huffing and puffing as he forced himself up in the snowy hills outside of Ponyville. “When, exactly, did we lose the plot here?

A shockwave of wind, mist, and snow burst forth from where Rainbow had landed. Up and over the pegasus arced her flight, taking to the supposed safety of the sky. “Keep hitting him! He has to have a weak spot!” She stopped before her target, spreading her wings out in a hover. Her pinions danced and fluttered in place, arcs of rainbow-coloured lightning dancing in between them. Thunder cracked through the sky as the electricity raced down to its target.

Each bolt hit true, but was only gathered up by the stallion’s shields. The unicorn waved his hoof, grabbing the electricity against all logic and common decency to science.

“Aw, crap.”

The lightning again roared across the sky, this time finding its way back to the pegasus. The resulting explosion knocked her clean out of the air in a spectacular crash.

Twilight spat out the dirt and worked the blood from her mouth, then pawed at the ground while drawing her telekinetic blade. She rushed forward, slashing at her target.

Her enemy's own telekinetic blade appeared in a fountain of dark flames, the two swords clashing together and sending sparks to the ground. Over and over she pressed her attack, reaching out to wherever he would be vulnerable, but finding only another blade to block her path. Still, she was doing something she’d never done before: push him back.

“You’re slashing too much.”

Up and backwards she jumped, pulling an entire backflip as the tip of his blade neared her horn. Twice more she flipped, followed by a roll to get out of the way of the piercing magic.

“Thrusts are a thing too, you know.”

“Kiiiiyaaa!” Spike ran in from the left, his halberd looking to skewer itself through the stallion’s chest cavity.

With a single step, the stallion moved out of the way, and swung his right foreleg out, smashing Spike’s face with a hoof and knocking him down.

“Spike!” Twilight dove in, thrusting the tip of her blade forward.

The image of the Night Guard stallion blurred, giving way to the backdrop of barren trees, falling powder, and grey skies. A wave of fluffy snow exploded from the ground, tracing a line from where he had been to a place behind her.

Twilight froze, seeing the eerie glow of the violet blade pressed against her armoured neck. Flames from its edge licked up at her chin. Dang it…

“Too slow, Twily. You’re telegraphing. Don’t let the enemy know what you’re up to. Ever.” Obsidian Armor extinguished his blade and stepped away. “Don’t give them a fair fight, and don’t expect one in return. Let them wonder how they lost when they reach the Summerlands.”

Twilight rubbed her hoof against her neck, feeling Aurora’s tough plating in place. “I honestly thought I was improving…”

Rainbow and Spike were limping back towards them, both beaten as soundly as Twilight had been.

“Tell me about it.” The pegasus rubbed her side and winced. “I always knew you had to be tough to make it in the Guard, but I didn’t realize there was such a difference between Captain of the Wonderbolts and Captain of the Royal Guard.”

“Well, don’t take it too hard. Not to toot my own horn, but I always did excel in the combat tests.” Obsidian waved his hoof to a pony in the distance. “Cady! I think we’re done for the day!”

The pink dot in the distance started to gallop towards them, eventually taking off at a glide and landing just as smoothly. “That looked painful. Did anypony hurt something?”

Spike stumbled over to her and sat down in the snow. “Only my everything.”

“Here, let me help.” Cadence raised her horn up into the air, lighting it and bathing them all in a shimmering white light. A magic circle soon appeared in the snow, and each of their injuries started gathering little pinpoints of light.

Spike flopped over on his back, making half of a snow angel. “Seriously man, did you have to be that rough? Maybe we should get an LT or something to do this…”

Obsidian shook his head. “No, it’s better that it’s me. When you fight an opponent that is near your level, you have to give it your all. The potential for serious injury skyrockets. Since I’m more than a match for you three, I have the ability to hold back; fight only hard enough to teach.”

Twilight used her magic to pull gently at the gem in her armor, giving Aurora a signal to undeploy. The plating took on its signature glow, vanishing into the torc. “I honestly don’t know if I’m learning anything. I could actually beat Luna’s golems…”

Obsidian chuckled. “Yeah, well, I don’t have the ability to control an army of golems with my mind like she does. I’m not an alicorn. So, you have to fight me directly, and I’m not about to just let you hurt me. Don’t worry, I do think you’re getting better. Just keep in mind to look for thrusting opportunities as well as slashes.”

Rainbow spat out a mouthful of feather she had preened from her wing. “Would’ve been easier if my lightning actually did anything…”

“And that’s exactly why we’re commissioning the new mounted guns. You can’t redirect their bolts like I did with yours. Speaking of, are you okay?”

Rainbow flapped her wings, watching the healing magic at work. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just, ow. Seriously.”

“It doesn’t look that bad.” Cadence narrowed the healing field, compressing it down to two areas over Spike and Rainbow. “Shining sometimes comes home with bigger injuries from his morning training. I’m not worried.”

“Bigger injuries? Morning training? Dude.” Spike collapsed the shaft of his halberd and latched it onto his back. “Just what the heck do you do?”

“Practice. Every single day, I grind my weaknesses into dust.” His flaming mane flared up a little as he said it. “A captain of the Royal Guard must be ready for anything.” He shot Rainbow a look. “That being said, it’s a little different with you… and maybe me, now, too.”

“Um, how, exactly? We’re both supposed to protect—”

“Protect those under our care, yes. But…” Obsidian pulled Twilight into a small hug. “Twily here is like a captain herself. It’s true you’re supposed to protect her, but just like in Zebrica, you’re going to encounter things that only she can handle. Our job is to deal with the small stuff so that she, or in my case, Luna, can focus on the big things.”

Though she hardly moved, Rainbow almost looked stricken, as if her soul itself had been blown back in surprise. “I never thought about it that way…”

“Me neither…” Twilight whispered. “Is it… Is it kind of the same thing between me and Celestia? I deal with the small stuff, while she deals with the big things?”

Cadence shook her head and applied a little bit more focus on Rainbow Dash’s side. “I’d say you’re both dealing with a large things, it’s just that you’re dealing with two different types of large things. She focuses on policy decisions and the long term consequences of them, while you focus on the more immediate.

“Originally, Grand Mages were supposed to have more responsibility on the former. However, the Equestrian Compact changed over the years, and this balance changed along with it.”

Obsidian took off his helmet, shaking the snow off of his shoulders. “Also,I rather doubt that Celestia is interested in sharing the responsibility for those policy decisions. I don’t think it’s about a base desire for that power, but more of fear from too many unknowns.”

Cadence brushed her mane off to the side. “In other words, Auntie needs to learn to roll with the punches a little bit better. Not everything needs to be planned out a hundred years in advance.”

“Not that Luna is any better,” Obsidian grumbled. “I know that’s sacrilege for a Night Guard member to say, but still. If Celestia over plans, then I think Luna under plans. Fortunately I have some experience working with Celestia, and I think the Night Guard’s starting to find a nice balance between things. We have the leaders of the Wavu nicely bottled up, and we're about to transfer the op to RGIS. Wavu agents can’t clear their throats without us knowing about it.”

“So why not take them out?” Spike thumped his fist in his palm. “I mean, if you got them cornered, why not?”

“Ah, but that’s another area where you have much to learn, young Dragon,” Obsidian noogied Spike’s head. “Criminal organizations are not like snakes. If they were, you could take out the leader by chopping off its head, leaving the rest to die.

“In reality, if we do that, we simply get a million more little snakes. What’s worse, each one suddenly starts to turn on the other, vying for power to become the new leader. Like a hydra trying to eat itself. Unfortunately, innocents always get eaten along with the criminals.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “So by keeping the leaders in place but contained, you still stop the weapons smuggling, but avoid a gang war. I get it.”

“You have learned much.” Obsidian gave him a bow.

“Speaking of learning…” Twilight motioned at Spike, who pulled out her notebook from his pocket. “How did you do that thing where you just appeared behind me? I ask because I’ve seen it a few times before. You did it, I’m pretty sure Luna did it, I think both you and Charlemane did it in the Council, and Phantasm did it too. It’s honestly starting to get annoying.”

“That quick movement thing?” Rainbow rotated her shoulder and lifted her wing to give Cadence better access to her injury. “That’s called Passage. Spitfire can do it too. No clue how she does it, though.”

“She’s right.” Obsidian moved to the centre of the group, lighting his horn for a spell. “I’ve heard pegasi have trouble figuring it out, but to make up for it they can fly. Of course, very few ponies in general are able to do it. For Earth ponies, it’s a bit of an art. For we unicorns, however, it’s a science. Watch.”

The spell spun around his horn and fired, and a bright light shined outward from the centre of his being. Around all those present, a large magic circle formed at about chest level, rotating around them. In addition to inscriptions in the circle itself, large hexagonal nodes appeared tied into the spell.

“What you’re seeing is a shadow representation of layer four of my shield matrix. Twilight, based on what you know about my shields, and what you see in the inscriptions, can you guess what this layer does?”

Twilight nodded her head immediately. “Yeah. It controls the shield’s hardness.”

“Got it in one. Now, as I said, this is a shadow representation. It’s taking my three-dimensional shield and projecting it into a two-dimensional plane for easier understanding. This is the spell I use when I’m tuning my shields. I can see every little detail on the spell, and change what I need accordingly. For Passage, I use a different layer.”

The circle faded out as if it was being outshone by something else, only to be replaced by a new circle. This one, however, was far larger and more complex, taking up not just a ring around them, but the whole spherical space, swallowing the entire group.

“Whoa…” Spike reached out and put his hand through the sphere, phasing it through like it wasn’t even there. “Pretty!”

“Wait, if this is a shadow…” Twilight jumped back in shock, bumping into Obsidian’s chest. “You have a fourth dimensional shield?”

“Exactly. This layer manipulates mass, velocity, time dilation, and other factors. And since it’s fourth dimensional, it cannot be damaged by normal attacks, although nor can it defend against them as a conventional shield would. Using this, and a number of other layers, I can move at extreme speeds for very short bursts, and recover easily afterwards.”

“Geez…” Rainbow eyed the matrix, darting around from spot to spot. “Okay, I don’t know what any of the symbols mean, but there’s like, a jillion of them. And they’re really, really tiny.”

“And therein lies the difficulty.” Obsidian shut off power to his horn, bringing the illusion to an end. “I can’t just give you the spell, Twilight. It wouldn’t work. I have to fine tune it to my exact thaumatic profile, and update it every few weeks for it to keep working. Changing it to work for you would basically involve a complete rewrite, and even then, using it in combat before you’re ready would be disastrous.

“You have to understand the movements, the flow of fighting. Start using this now, and you’re just as likely to Passage your way into impaling yourself on an enemy’s sword as you are to avoid him.”

Twilight grumbled to herself as she scribbled furiously in a notepad. “That’s all well and good, but what do I do if someone else is using it? I might as well slap a target on my flank if I face somepony with that.”

“It’s not foolproof. Use your shields, use your armor, and anticipate based on what you know so far.”

“That’s it?” Twilight grabbed her foreleg with a hoof. “I’m suddenly feeling kind of exposed here, Shiny. And not just because of my thin coat.”

“Hmmm…” Shining lit his horn again, recasting the spell. “There is one thing you could use… Although I’m hesitant to recommend it by itself. It would take a lot of tweaking, but here.” A new magic sphere layer appeared around them with a vastly different structure from the previous one.

“A sensor spell?” Twilight asked, writing down the details of one of the hexagonal nodes. “And the firing mechanism… How many layers did you condense down into this?”

“Fourth dimensional matrices are tricky to write, and even trickier to manage, but you can fit a lot into them. Take a look.” Obsidian pointed with his hoof at the sensor node. “See how this is hooked into all the other nodes? This is called Lead, a subdiscipline of Passage. In my version, I use it to dilate time when the spell detects someone else using Passage or something similar to it. It gives me a chance to react, but it’s also tightly integrated to the rest of my Passage layers.

“Twily…” He leaned down, bringing his head to eye level with hers and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Be very, very careful what you do with this knowledge. I think I’m giving it to you before you’re really ready. That’s why Luna purposefully didn’t teach you about it. It’s why we try to keep this a secret until we know somepony is ready, and warn them against using it if they discover it early. It is incredible how easily this can backfire on you. Don’t use it unless you’re absolutely sure you’re ready, and never, ever use it without a shield active. At least then, in the worst case scenario, the shield will absorb the bulk of the damage for you. Promise me.”

Twilight put down her notebook and reached up to her brother, pulling him into a hug. “I promise, BBBFF.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a squeeze with his foreleg. “Come on. Let’s go to Bon Bon’s and warm up for a while, then I’ll help you get set up with your own shield matrix. Sound good?”

“Sounds good. Come on, everypony. Let’s take a break.”

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Cadence ran towards the town and took off into a glide, Rainbow shortly behind her. “I am going to drink a gallon of hot chocolate!”

Obsidian snorted back a laugh. “Luxurious pegasus coat softer and fuller than any pony I know, wind controlling magic, natural temperature resistance, and she’s still always cold.”

“Girls.” Spike, the purple, cold-proof, ice dragon shrugged. “Whaddya gonna do?”

Author's Note

Not much new to report this time. Just hoping you all love the new chapter! :) The one after this one I'm actually rather proud of.

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

Patreon | General Skype Channel | Tropes Page

The Lance

There was a sound. That’s all she knew. A sound. Unimportant. The visions before her, everything in her mind, that’s what was important. Whatever the sound was, it would—

“Twilight!”

There was a different sound. A whisper. It still wasn’t as important as everything else that was happening. It couldn’t possibly be.

“Twilight!”

It was someone calling her name. There was also movement, along with a slightly cold feeling on her shoulder. Maybe this did warrant investigating…

“Twilight, wake up!”

The basic, semi-comprehending sound emitted from Twilight’s throat was all she was capable of at that second. As her vision returned to focus, she found herself in her chambers in Canterlot, lying down on her cloud bed. In front of her was a pony that she was always happy to see, a pony that she looked up to and respected. However, secretly, it was also a pony she was somewhat frustrated at. This is because said pony was, by definition, a morning pony.

“Celestia? What’re… Hmm?” She tried to speak, but her muscles still contained far too much lead.

“I’m terribly sorry for barging in and waking you, but since this is going to be your first day back as Grand Mage, I thought you might like to watch me raise the sun!”

Lead? What lead? Her body was clearly made of electricity as she shot up with a jump, nearly as awake as she would be with a giant pot of coffee. “Sun? You want me to help, I mean want me to watch you raise the sun? I’d be honored!” She forgot herself, dropping into a bow.

“Watch, yes,” Celestia laughed politely, pride showing through in her voice. “I know you are eager, my student, but the sun is a somewhat more difficult body than the moon. You should wait until later in your ascension before attempting to move it. Despite this, as you are now an ascendant, you’re more than welcome to join Luna or myself as we perform our celestial duties, although I know you usually aren’t up in time for dawn.”

“Um, maybe I can change!” Twilight said as she dashed over to her closet, tossing the cloud to the side and pulling out her notebook. “I’ve been reading up on sleep cycle studies, at least I was a couple of years ago, and there may be some ways I can adjust my circadian rhythm. Of course, alicorns don’t have to sleep either, which means that eventually it may not matter, and—”

“Twilight!”

Twilight snapped her mouth shut instantly, only narrowly avoiding doing the lip zipping routine that Pinkie Pie had practically trademarked as her mentor lowered her head down to her level.

“My student, you need not worry about such things just yet. In the future, I’ll be very happy to teach you how to raise and lower the sun. In fact, I very much look forward to the day where you can join us for a Summer Sun Celebration.”

Twilight squeed. She couldn’t help it.

“However, until then, relax. You need only join us when you’re awake and have the time and desire. Okay?”

“Okay…” Twilight fidgeted in place, alternating which foreleg she put her weight on. “Um… Do you think I could…”

“Yes, you can take notes. Come, Luna has already lowered the moon. We shouldn’t keep our ponies waiting.”

Twilight nodded and followed her mentor out of the room, for all the world looking like an excited foal following a parent. Of course, given the high difference between them, this wasn’t especially difficult.

As she left her room and closed the doors behind her, Twilight had to remind herself that this wasn’t just a dream. That was her room, given to her by Princess Luna, and they really were official, Royal chambers next to the eternal sisters’ meant just for her.

The pair moved down the hall and into Celestia’s chambers, twilight walking at a trot to keep up with her teacher’s long legs. So many possibilities and futures ran through Twilight’s mind at the same time that, when she arrived at the balcony, something strange happened. She wasn’t seeing the sky like she should have. Rather, she was seeing the floor. A second later, she was kissing it.

“Ow.” She pushed herself up off the marble, rubbing her lips and cheek in pain. Way to ruin the moment, Twilight.

“I was going to say that after this you are free to return to sleep, my student. However…”

Twilight finished walking the last few steps her moment of equilibrium deficiency had interrupted. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening. I’m so wired at this point you could probably plug me to the wall and light the whole castle.”

“Well, I think I’ll leave that job to Canterlot Hydroelectric for the time being.” Celestia gave her a wink. “But I’ll keep that in mind in case we ever need a backup generator. Now then…”

Celestia’s horn blazed to life, creating a large, exceptionally bright magic circle around her on the floor, already filled with inscriptions. “I don’t normally need this when I’m raising the sun, but I’ll use it while you’re here, as it may help you to learn.”

“It will!” Twilight tilted her head to get a better view of the golden symbols. “It’s smaller than the one Luna used, but the density here is astonishing. How are you keeping it stable? Is it—”

Brilliant, golden light filled her vision, overtaking everything for a few fateful ticks of the clock. What she saw when it faded was not the glory of the alicorn of the day, but an arc of light racing across the sky. Part way to the horizon, it split and broke up into a million smaller beams, then converged on that hint of light over the horizon.

The sun had risen.

“Sister!” Blue mist and stars shimmered into existence behind them, heralding Princess Luna’s arrival. “Sister! That wasn’t…”

“No.” Celestia’s voice was as dark and dire as night. “That wasn’t me.”

The two alicorns regarded each other, Luna’s eyes filled with shock and fear, and Celestia’s with concern and ire. Twilight could only look on in awe as the silent messages passed between them, saying more in a second she could hope to in a year.

“The library,” both said, taking off out of the room fast enough to drag Twilight along in their wake. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to knock her down the stairs, albeit only barely. After sliding to a halt, Twilight pushed herself to her hooves, taking off after them.

She passed through hallway after hallway, and although she knew where her destination was, it wouldn’t have mattered in this one instance. She didn’t need to stop for directions, or worry about getting lost, or forgetting where the princesses’ private library was. She needed only to follow the trail of destruction the two alicorns had left in their wake: torn curtains, smashed vases, destroyed furniture.

Her hooves slid on the tile leading up to the secret door that she found swung wide open. Down the wooden, circular staircase she went, the column of light in the centre guiding her way. Inside the library, she found Celestia and Luna tearing through their bookshelves faster than she’d ever done herself.

“What are you looking for?” she asked, picking up a few of the tomes in her magic. “What happened back there? Can I help?”

“Somepony other than us raised the sun, Twilight.” Celestia tossed a half a dozen manuscripts behind her. “The only place in the world where that knowledge still resides is here, in the library.”

“We’re trying to find the Astral Codex.” Luna picked up an entire bookshelf in her magic, shaking the books out of it. “That book is the last surviving copy of the original spells the sun raisers and moon raisers used to control the sun and moon in the pre-discordian era. I could have sworn that it was still here after the siege, and that the attackers never managed to steal it.”

“And if it’s not here?” Twilight asked. “What’s it look like?”

“It has a glowing sun and moon on the cover.” Books swirled around Luna as she checked each and every one with assembly line efficiency. “If they have managed to steal it… I don’t even know if I want to think about what might happen.”

“I’d honestly be more worried if they didn’t steal it. It would mean they were able to gain the knowledge through some other means, and that’s an unknown I don’t want to contemplate.” Celestia slammed her hoof into a shelf, knocking all the books down. “Dammit, Luna, didn’t I ask you to reorganize this place?”

“You mean organize it to begin with? You had a thousand years while I was gone, sister.”

“I was busy being the only pony to run the country and, I don’t know, control two major astral bodies by myself! What have you been doing the past decade and a half?”

“Well, what were you even thinking asking me to do this? You know how I am! My idea of organization is dinner, then lunch, and then breakfast. This isn’t a job for me! This is a job for her!” Luna thrust both hooves in Twilight’s direction. “She’s the librarian!”

“Then why didn’t you have her do it?” Celestia asked through clenched teeth.

There was a pause as Luna sat there wide-eyed. “You’re the one always talking about how she is ready or not ready for something!”

“Just tell her not to read any of the books!”

“Her? Not read a book? Do you have any idea who you’re talking about?”

Celestia took a step towards her sister, pounding her hoof into the floor and cracking the stone. “She wouldn’t do it if you’d only tell her that!”

Luna mimicked her sister, creating another crack in the floor and stepping closer. “Gee, it must be so nice to have a student who practically worships the ground you walk on! Not to mention that you should be the last pony talking about actually telling somepony something!”

“Um, princesses?” Twilight squeaked, holding a book in her magic.

“She does not worship me, she just wants me to be proud of her!”

“Princesses?” Twilight squeaked even softer.

“Well, maybe she’d know that you are if you’d just open up once in awhile, you fat, fiery-flanked cow!” Luna took another step closer and stuck out her tongue at her sister. “Nnnyeh!”

“F-fat fi— ! Who do you think you’re talking to, you drunk, hyper-violent tease!”

“Pbbbt!”

“Oh, you want to like that? Fine! Nnnyeh!” Celestia stuck her tongue out too, and took another step forward.

The gears in Twilight’s mind ground to a halt.

“Nnnyeh!” Another step forward.

“Nnnyeh!” And another.

“Nnnyeh!” Another, bringing the entire world to a frozen standstill.

Not even outside the confines of the library could anypony be doing anything anywhere. In Twilight’s mind, the whole planet must’ve stopped, every creature great and small suddenly feeling as if something terrible had happened. Worse than Discord escaping. Worse than a cataclysmic parasprite infestation.

So. Much. Worse.

The princess’s tongues were touching.

For that one moment, every molecule in the room stood perfectly still, yet trembled in anticipation of the horror about to be unleashed. Tartarus might open. The universe could collapse. A black hole could open under their hooves. As the two princesses’ eyes opened and focused on their mouths, the world came apart.

At least, that was Twilight’s theory, given how much screaming had just flooded into the room.

The two diarchs flailed their forelegs while unleashing a torrent of sounds from their lungs, shaking the entire library and letting up only to take in more air.

Celestia was dragging her tongue down with the sides of her gilded hooves, while Luna was busy scraping hers on the various dusty tomes of the nearby bookshelf.

“How could you let this happen?!” Celestia said through the screams, disappearing for a few seconds and reappearing with a bucket of what smelled like seawater, dumping the entire thing in her mouth and gargling.

“Can’t… Get… Clean!” Tears streamed down Luna’s face as she reached the end of the bookshelf. Her foreleg extended wide to her side, pulsing with a dark indigo light. A long, dark, slender blade with a jagged guard and a moon-shaped gem set in the end of the hilt appeared out of the ether and swung around in front of the night Princess’s face, directly above her tongue.

“What—!” Celestia spat out the salt water onto the floor. “What are you doing? You aren’t—”

The blade came down.

A tongue hit the floor… without the rest of the head.

Twilight jumped to Celestia’s bucket, dry heaving inside it.

“Why? Why would you do something like that?” Celestia started dry heaving as well. “That’s disgusting!”

“Eeehhh ould’n et et leen!” Luna screamed, blood dripping from her mouth.

“But why?! How does that help anything?!” The Princess of the sun grabbed Twilight’s bucket away from her, the sound of something wet splashing down inside of it came a second later.

“I couln’t et et clean!” Luna cried out, mouth open as the tongue began to reform in front of them.

Twilight stole the bucket back and heaved.

“I said, I couldn’t get it clean!” Luna smacked her lips, spitting out some more blood. “Oh, thank the stars! That’s better!”

“How?! How is cutting off your own tongue in front of my student better?!”

“Because this tongue hasn’t touched yours!” Luna pointed at her mouth, showing off a tongue that looked like it had never been cut. “Here, let me…” She picked up the blade again.

Celestia covered her mouth with one hoof and held the other out to keep her sister at bay. “No! Get away from me with that thing!”

Twilight flopped to the ground, the room suddenly turning into a merry-go-round.

“See!? Look what you did to my student! Now put that thing away! How did you even get that? The Council made me seal that away right after you came back!”

“Pfffft.” Luna rolled her eyes. “And the very first thing I did after that was break the seal to get her back!” Luna grabbed her sword, hugging it like it was a stuffed animal. “You really think I’d let the Council keep Selene away from me? You and she are all I have left from the old times!”

“Merrrrgle… Urp…” Twilight swallowed, forcing the acid back down.

“Fine, just, don’t let any of the Dukes see that! And put her away before you make Twilight vomit! Again!”

“Okay, okay… It’s just that…” Luna took in a deep breath and released a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, Sister. I shouldn’t have said any of that.”

“I’m… I’m sorry too, Sister. We both… We both overreacted. Can you forgive me?”

“Of course.”

The two stepped towards each other, this time with their tongues firmly in their mouths, and shared an embrace.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to cut off your tongue?”

“Very sure, Luna. Let’s… Let’s just focus on finding the book. I need to know if it’s still here.”

“It’s over there…” Twilight waggled her fetlock, barely able to move from her spot on the ground. At least the ceiling wasn’t quite so spinny right now.

“Wait— Twilight, you saw it?” Celestia dashed over to her, helping her up with a healing field and some telekinesis. “Show us.”

Twilight shuddered at the sudden movement, but nodded and allowed Celestia to place her upright on the ground. She carefully stepped across the floor, avoiding the various fluids that had spilled on it and taking them to where she had found the book in question. “Here. Is this what Luna was talking about?”

“Yes, that’s it! I knew it was still here after the Siege!” Luna lit her horn and pulled the book out of its resting place and into her hooves. Despite its age, it was in flawless condition. Ancient magic was worked into the cover, giving it an eerie astral glow. “See?”

“Damn.” Celestia sat down behind her sister, looking over her shoulder. “This just raises more questions.”

“Uh-oh.” Luna gnawed her lip. “I think we have a problem…”

Twilight and Celestia looked at each other.

“Problem?” Twilight asked. “But we have the book…”

Luna reached out with a hoof and opened the cover. Though the pages were there, their centers had been all cut away. Every piece of text had been removed, leaving only a hollow space inside the book. “After the raid, I… I didn't think to check the books still on the shelf.”

“This… This is a problem. But it explains a few things.” Celestia’s right wing twitched like someone was trying to scratch it. “I hate to admit it, but this was actually extraordinarily clever. This must have been their real target in the raid on the library. Maybe the entire goal of the entire siege. Everything else they took was simply to disguise this one missing thing, and if they managed to snatch anything valuable along the way, all the better.”

“She’s right.” Twilight held her aching stomach. “Why stage a coup against the diarchs that control the sun and moon? It’s suicide, unless you had an alternate way of doing it.”

“So what do we do now?” Luna put the book away in its spot. “We can’t just shuffle around the sunset and sunrise times. The effect on the weather would be catastrophic, and Cloudsdale’s in no shape to keep up with fixing things. We can’t just let them keep doing this. Ponies are bound to figure out something is strange if they keep seeing the Lance coming from somewhere other than Canterlot.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Twilight was about to ask what to do when they snapped open again, clear and confident as ever. “For the moment, we don’t have to do anything. I do not believe they will attempt this again anytime soon. We’ll carry on as if nothing’s happened, only discretely asking key, trusted members of the RGIS to investigate the origin point of the Lance. Not even the Council needs know of this.”

“Stop!” Luna flared out her wings, her voice sounding like thunder. “You always do this. You always make these plans, and expect me to follow along without explaining why we're doing what we're doing, which means I have to guess, and when I'm wrong, you yell at me for doing something that screws it up! Well, guess what, Sister! I’m not letting you get away with it here. No. Absolutely not. You are explaining yourself, right here, right now, to both me and the next Princess of Equestria. We are more than allies or friends. We are your partners, and partners share!

“So, you tell us what you’re thinking right now, or I swear I will cut out your tongue here and now, and Twilight can just deal with it!”

Twilight reached over for the bucket again, but was stopped by a metal-clad hoof.

Celestia nodded and sat down. “Very well, Sister. I shall shed light on my thoughts.” Her chest expanded as she took in air, the princess’s mighty lungs filling to a degree Twilight had never before seen.

“Based on what we know, and the fact that leads are so hard to obtain, the Barons themselves are likely a very small core group. They use a geas to help make up for this fact, but the limited availability of the psy ore required to maintain such a spell over great distances and over a long term period means that the group of ponies under their control must also be relatively small. Likely less than five thousand individuals. The rest are comprised of two groups. The first are corrupt officials, most of whom probably don’t even know who they’re working for, and are simply accepting bribes for things that appear to be relatively benign on the surface. The second are innocent ponies, carrying out seemingly legitimate day-to-day business that they have no idea is helping aid a rebel group.

“However, the geas has demonstrated an ability for extraordinarily fine control over an individual pony, even allowing them to cast specific, complex tasks while under its control. Most likely, the use of the sun raising spell was a test to make certain that they could actually do it, especially with ponies under their mind control.

“Although they were successful, the spell requires ponies with very large wellsprings. In fact, it drains a pony’s wellspring far more than the magic script would normally indicate; a fact I doubt they were aware of. I also find it highly improbable that they would have been able to hire sufficiently talented and powerful unicorns to perform the ceremony willingly without us finding out. Given the small sample size of individuals they must have available to them, it is extraordinarily probable that some, if not most of the unicorns they were controlling to pull this off are currently in a dire medical condition with severely blown out horns. Said ponies couldn’t do this again if they wanted to.

“In addition, as you’ve noticed, the Lance is extraordinarily bright and easy to trace when you know it’s coming. Even if they moved around after each use, we would eventually be able to track where it is originating from, either via heat map or some other means. It would be an invitation for the Royal Guard to come calling.

“So yes, this is a bad thing, but I don’t believe it to be something that we have to worry about happening on a regular basis, nor do I believe it to be something that we are capable of responding to immediately. For now, we try to track the general location, but to prevent panic, keep everybody else in the dark. Metaphorically speaking.”

Celestia stopped, at last taking a breath as the air from her lungs had apparently finally been exhausted. “Is that a sufficient explanation, sister?”

Luna blinked and looked over to Twilight, who was otherwise every bit as still and stiff at the display of Celestia’s intellectual prowess. “Did you know that even before we ascended she could hold her breath underwater for six whole minutes?”

Twilight shook her head.

“It’s true! I don’t know what’s larger: her lungs or her stomach. I’m pretty sure she’s forsaken all the other organs in her chest for just those two. I mean—”

“Sister! You wanted an explanation. There it is. I’m not upset over you asking for it. I promised I would provide it whenever you asked, and I did. But could you please leave the comments on my weight out of your response?”

“And, what, you just thought all that up in those few seconds you had your eyes closed?”

“Yes, Luna. Yes I did. This is what I do.” Celestia rubbed her temples with the tips of her forehooves.

Luna glared at her sister with her eyelids half closed. “Seriously?” She sighed. “That’s it! I’m out.”

“Sister, I—”

“Nope.” Luna turned around and began to walk out the door. “I shan’t even attempt it. ‘Tis no chance I can compete with such a thing as that. I’m going to my room. Come and get me when video games are reinvented.”

The door to the staircase slammed shut, leaving Twilight and Celestia alone in the dark, soiled library.

“Should we—”

“No.” Celestia stepped over to Twilight and put a wing over her. “No, leave her be. She’ll be okay in a few hours, and we’ll talk it out. It’s my fault, really. I should have been more… gentle to her ego. Especially given how fragile it already is. Let’s just go get some breakfast.”

“Oh. Okay.” Twilight looked off to the mess they had left, her whole body shaking as she struggled, unable to quite absorb all that had happened. “Shouldn’t we clean that up first?”

“I’ll have Luna get to it later. Probably. After that, when you find some down time maybe I’ll have you organize this place. Maybe then we can figure out exactly what we do and do not still have here. For now, I think a meal is more important.”

“Um… But what about that?” Twilight pointed over to where Luna’s severed tongue lay on the ground. “Is it really okay to just leave it there?”

Celestia shook her head. “Give it a few more seconds…“

“For wh—”

A fountain of sparks shot up from the flesh lying on the ground as the tongue caught fire, blue flames immolating it and reaching up to the ceiling.

Celestia's words from the Glass Desert echoed in her mind. “Just like dragons, our magic burns when we die; the flames shoot dozens of kilometers into the sky.”

“When a piece of our bodies is forcibly removed from the rest, the separated tissue eventually dies and catches fire just as our bodies would were we to be killed. Fortunately for my sister, ascended alicorns regenerate from their wounds exceptionally fast. Even if you remove an entire limb, we are whole again in minutes, or seconds if the wound is small enough. Luna’s regeneration is much faster than most, though that has its own trade-offs.”

Celestia nudged Twilight to move with her wing. “Come, let’s get some food in you. I know this whole thing has been a major shock to your system. Breakfast, coffee, and some conversation will surely help.”

“Yeah… Yeah I think you’re right.” Twilight followed her mentor up the steps, and away from the scene of what was surely destined to be one of her strangest memories. “Princess?” She asked, closing the door to the library.

“Yes, my student?”

“What are ‘video games’?”

Twilight rounded the corner, sipping her coffee as she opened the door to the briefing room. Inside, along with Celestia, she found two faces she didn’t expect.

“Auntie, I must protest! Sending the Grand Mage on such a frivolous exercise while there are riots in Cloudsdale is an obvious waste of resources!” Blueblood stomped his hoof, then paused to adjust his mane. “We cannot afford further delay! If Cloudsdale gets any worse…”

Charlemane waved him off with a hoof. “I have every confidence in the city’s police force to complete their tasks, Your Highness. Besides, we are redeploying some of Blaze’s units to the city, are we not?”

“They won’t get there for days! Cloudsdale is a powder keg now. Who knows what could happen by the time they’re on station? And don’t even get me started on the news! The reporting film reels they’re playing in theatres now are tearing us to pieces!”

“We, including the Council, don’t forget. Artfeather hasn’t exactly come out looking like a saint.” Charlemane stood up straight, adjusting his cravat and looking down at the Prince as one would a foal. “There’s more than enough blame to go around, and—”

“Ah, there you are, my student!” Celestia calmly sipped her tea, essentially ignoring the two ponies next to her. “Please forgive the intrusion. We are simply discussing your next assignment.”

Twilight opened her mouth, only for the argument to continue without her.

“An assignment that I think is a waste of—”

“I understand where you are coming from, Nephew. In fact, on many of your points, I agree. However, Gryphonia’s recent actions strike me as both strange, and alarming. Given that the Crown Prince has extended an open invitation for Twilight to visit him, I cannot help but feel that her propensity for making friends may just turn things to our advantage. The three aeries aren’t, in my experience, as unified as they would lead others to believe.”

The Prince stepped back as if struck, and rubbed his forehead as if there had been an actual wound there. “And meanwhile, Cloudsdale could burn.”

“Cloudsdale is made of clouds, Your Highness.” Charlemane chuckled. “Clouds that, by definition, don’t burn.”

“It was a metaphor, you ingrate! Argh…” Blueblood and turned to Celestia, pleading with his eyes. “Please Auntie, won’t you reconsider?”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry, Nephew. I do not know why you have taken such an interest all of a sudden in where I send Twilight, and your counsel is appreciated, but I have made my decision. Twilight is going to Gryphonia.”

“An astute, wise decision, Your Highness.” Charlemane said.

Blueblood looked like he wanted to scream, but was drowning under Celestia’s calm, watchful gaze. “Very… Very well, Auntie.” He bowed to her, then turned to leave. As he passed by Twilight’s side, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I tried.”

She gave him a nod in return, but didn’t know if he saw it.

Charlemane was following close behind, but stopped before passing her. “Grand Mage, before you leave, would you be so kind as to see me in my office?”

“Of course, Chairpony.” Twilight gave him with polite nod, too, at the behest of the training her mother had ingrained in her more than out of any real desire, and waited for the stallion to leave before speaking up again. “Well, that was a thing. So, Gryphonia over Cloudsdale, I take it?”

“Blueblood isn’t wrong, per se, but as I said earlier, this is an opportunity that I do not wish to pass up." Celestia glanced over to where Charlemane had been sitting. "In addition, there is another element at play here that I did not wish to discuss with either of them.” She lit her horn, opening the door just long enough for Intelligentsia and one other pony to step through.

“Trixie? What are you doing here?”

“Well…” Trixie winced, bowing her head toward Celestia. “She asked me to…”

Intelligentsia wasted no time marching around them and behind the desk. There, she put up a map of the Arendal Aerie, along with the pictures of a few gryphons. “Simply put, Twilight, we have a lead on the illusionists.”

“And it’s one I’d like to keep Charlemane out of the loop on, if I could.” Celestia finished her tea and put the china set off to the side. “He doesn’t know about this group yet, and I prefer it stay that way.”

“Of course, Tia.” Twilight walked closer to the desk, looking over the pictures Intelligentsia had put up. “I take it, then, the lead is in Gryphonia? Why would they be operating there?”

“We don’t know. Yet. However, a pony working in the aerie capital, Gryphonhelm, was recently airlifted by medical chariot back to Germaney. The gryphons weren’t certain what was wrong with him, but it didn’t take our doctors long to figure it out. Thaumatic contamination poisoning.”

The Lieutenant put up another picture, this one of the stallion in question, and it sent a chill down Twilight’s spine. If Trixie’s shudder was any indication, she felt the exact same way.

Intelligentsia yawned, “He’ll live, but only just. Given the loss of hair, the unexplained bruising, bleeding, and deterioration in his horn, we suspect he was poisoned with long-term, low-dose exposure. Exactly the kind of thing we are looking for. It’s highly probable that another one of the amplification tripods is present somewhere he frequented. We—”

There was a knock at the door, and Rainbow and Spike made their way inside.

“Good, you two are here. You will need to hear this.” Intelligentsia lit her horn and shut the door behind them.

“Sorry about that,” Spike said, taking a bite of a candy bar. “We had to wrestle a vending machine into submission.”

“We ordered the same thing twice and the candy still wouldn’t drop!” Rainbow grumbled, showing Twilight the bent candy bar in her saddlebag. “Seriously, it was — wait, why is Trixie here?”

Spike took a step back, eyes wide at the strange mare in the room.

“Because she’s supposed to be.” Intelligentsia cleared her throat. “As I was telling Twilight, we have a lead on the illusionists, and it’s in Gryphonia. You four will be going there, ostensibly to accept an invitation on behalf of the Crown Prince for a social visit. While you are there, Trixie will use her new detection spell to try to locate any possible illusionist activity, and hopefully disrupt it.

"To that end, here." Intelligentsia pulled out a device from her pocket and tossed it to Spike, who caught it one-handed. "It's a miasmometer. It'll tell you how contaminated the area you're in is."

Spike poked a few buttons on the device and made it beep. “I don’t know. We nearly got our butts kicked last time. What are we going to do if there are more of them?”

“My spell should, in theory, be able to highlight the illusions for everyone.” Trixie moved from the side of the room and turned to face both Rainbow and Spike. “If we know what’s real and what’s not, we might be able to find the source of the illusions and break it. Also…” She dropped her head into a deep bow.

“I need to say this before we go any farther. Spike, Rainbow, I deeply, deeply apologize for what I did in Ponyville, and all the things I’ve said since. I know that we haven’t had a chance to interact much since you rescued me, and I want you to know that it is appreciated. I promise, Trixie won't ever act that way towards you again. I—”

“Eh.” Rainbow shrugged. “I was over that a long time ago. But, here on out, you’d better stay on the straight and narrow. You hurt Twilight again, and I promise the illusionists will be the last thing you’re worried about. Clear?”

“Ditto.” Spike folded his arms.

“Guys, I’ve been working with Trixie since I left the hospital.” Twilight stood beside Trixie, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Trust me, we’re friends now. It will be okay.”

Rainbow held up her hooves in surrender. “I trust you, Twilight. You say to work with Trixie, to give her the benefit of the doubt, and I’ll do it. The old stuff is water under the bridge on your say-so.”

“Ditto again,” Spike said.

“Thank you.” Trixie dropped into another bow. “I promise, I’ll do my best to keep us all safe.”

“Ahem!” Intelligentsia tapped her hoof on the desk. “If we're all done with the lovey-dovey stuff, could we continue the briefing?”

“Lieutenant.” Celestia said, voice as sweet as a song. “Do not interrupt them. Friendship is not only important for harmony, but is especially important to my student, who is your superior. If they wish to take time to mend their fences, we should allow it.”

Intelligentsia backed away, legs shaking as she supplicated herself. “My sincerest apologies, Your Highness. I’m just—”

“Overworked, I understand. I’m pushing the new Captain to train additional analysts to take over some of your workload.”

“What!?” Intelligentsia jerked up, grabbing one of her stacks of papers. “You can’t! I mean, I’m the only one who—”

“That, my little pony, is precisely the problem. You are taking on far too much work. What you have on your plate cannot be completed by a single pony alone. No pony is more grateful for your service than I, but if Shining Armor had any one true fault, it was his stubborn refusal to trust other analysts. As such, seeing as we expect a ceasefire from President Malkia any day now, as soon as the war is over I want you to select some ponies whom you think have potential. Train them, and spread your work out.”

“But—”

“That’s an order, Lieutenant.”

Intelligentsia’s jaw quivered as she slowly placed her papers back on the desk, resting one hoof on them and leaning on it. “I understand, your Majesty. Forgive me.”

Celestia waved a hoof. “You are forgiven. In fact, why don’t you take a short break. I will finish the briefing for you.”

Intelligentsia nodded, never opening her eyes. Instead, she simply took a deep breath and left the room without another word.

“Honestly, that mare will work herself to death if you let her,” Celestia said, the calm in her visage breaking down to one of worry.

“Look who’s talking, Tia.” Twilight walked up next the Princess, sitting down next to her. “You’re just as bad.” Although, still, thank you, Intelligentsia.

“I’m an immortal alicorn that doesn’t need sleep.” Celestia gave her a wink. “Now, your destination will be slightly outside of a leyline due to disruption from a mana krene, a kind of hot spring of magic which saturates the area. The good news is that, should you need help, it's only a short flight to get back in range. In addition, since you are expected, Luna will teleport you and the chariot most of the way. From there, the gryphons will escort you into the city.”

“Spike did bring up one important thing, Princess.” Trixie lit her horn, projecting the image of one of the ponies from the alley. “What do we do if we are attacked? You have to understand, these ponies are evil…”

"First and foremost, I'm issuing you one of these." Celestia pulled out a small device attached to a strap, almost like an oversized watch, and set it on the table. "This is a camouflage shield generator. It's a prohibited construct from the Nightmare Rebellions, one of the last ones remaining."

"Tia... " Twilight breathed, poking it with a hoof. "Didn't you say you destroyed everything like this?"

"I kept a few of the more benign items around, just in case, but we haven't made any new ones since then. This is a one thousand year old artifact, so I'm not sure how reliable it will be, but should you need to escape, use it. It will render you nearly invisible for a short time. I'm afraid, however, that this is the only one of these we have, so keep in mind only one will be able to flee in this manner."

"Heh. Fighting illusionists with illusions!" Rainbow gave Spike a hoof bump. "I like it!"

“There is another option available as well, and that is to simply ask nearby gryphons for help. They have a strong code of honor that is deeply ingrained into their psyche. They won’t be able to resist rushing to help after hearing the cry of a pony in danger.”

“Then explain Gilda.” Spike snapped his fingers and pointed at Dash. “These two were damn near at each other’s throats, and last I heard, she wouldn’t return your letters.”

Rainbow’s mane bristled as she stomped her hoof. “Gilda’s a bitch. I have no idea what her deal is.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight pulled her over. “I know you two had a falling out, but—”

Celestia raised a wing and flapped it, sending a crack through the room. “Please, Rainbow, watch your language. Normally, I’m not so reserved about it, but there is an additional complication regarding Gilda that you need to be made aware of.”

The group shared a look.

“Complication?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know if I like that word.”

“That is understandable. I’m afraid that Princess Gilda has re-assumed her place as next in line under King Morvana.”

Twilight’s group didn’t need to share a look. The silence between them that spoke volumes all its own.

“I am not surprised you all were unaware of this. When Gilda was very young, King Morvana more or less disowned her. A young couple originally from Prince Ragnar’s aerie offered to take her in, and raised her in Cloudsdale, hiding her lineage. For some unknown reason, the King has decided to re-accept her into her family. It may be because the King has yet to conceive an heir with which to replace the Princess.”

“Oh, hell.” Rainbow’s wings drooped down to the floor. “Gilda is going to be the next King? She hates my guts! She might declare war on us just because of that!”

Twilight’s head jerked up, a connection flaring in her mind. “That’s why you ordered the construction of the Bellerophon, isn’t it? Normally, it’d be too big of a giveaway to contractors to so easily justify. But you were hedging your bets. With a fleet of those ships, suddenly a war on Equestria becomes far less feasible.”

Celestia closed her eyes and lowered her head. “You are correct, my student. Princess Gilda has, I believe, suffered a kind of psychological break down. When a gryphon experiences this, the chains binding them to their normally strict code of conduct shake loose. Their point of view twists to become more selfish, and they become very dangerous.

“Fortunately, the lines of succession between King to King in Gryphonia are not as clear-cut as they are, say, for our Royal family. There is a reasonable chance that Gilda will never become King, but rather, one of the princes from the other two aeries will. Since Morvana’s family has ruled Gryphonia for nearly 500 years, however, I felt it prudent to take precautions.

“In any event, this is why I feel you should be careful with your language regarding Princess Gilda. While I know that there are many in Gryphonia who are not a fan of her, and it does not strike me as likely that the King or the Princess should be there, it would not do us any good for our Grand Mage’s party to be disparaging her. Understand?”

“Absolutely.” Twilight turned to her team. “Let’s try to avoid a discussion of politics on this trip, shall we?”

Rainbow and Spike saluted, while Trixie bowed her head.

“Any other advice, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“Yes! If possible, try to have a little fun at some point.”

Twilight looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Have fun? Cloudsdale’s in danger, we are at war, and this strikes me as a high-stakes diplomatic—”

“The war is almost over, we’re reshuffling our forces to deploy General Blaze to Cloudsdale, and this is anything but a high-stakes diplomatic mission. Prince Ragnar is my friend. You are not negotiating any contracts; in fact, I forbid you from doing so, which will give you all the cover you need should some gryphon attempt to. All the Prince wants to do is get to know you, and perhaps see how you handle your alcohol.”

“That’s not good.” Rainbow put her wing over Twilight and leaned into her ear. “Watch the mead. Trust me. You can’t taste the alcohol, but its proof is somewhere between wine and hard liquor. And they serve it in steins.”

“Yeah… I might… I might just have to disappoint them.” Twilight sent a thank you to Rainbow in her look. “They have water in Gryphonia, right?”

“Really?” Trixie took a step forward and tilted her head. “The great Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle can’t handle her alcohol?”

“More like, doesn’t drink ever. She has a rule: maximum one drink per diem.” Spike stood up straight next to Twilight. “Honestly, I’m proud of her. Some of the girls in our group pushed her to try more, and she held firm. It takes strength to push back against peer pressure like that.”

“Thank you, Spike. I don’t think I would have been able to do it without you supporting me. But from the sounds of things, I take it you have more experience with it, Trixie?”

“Pfft,” Trixie scoffed. “I grew up with a travelling circus. Just because they don’t sell alcohol in the concession stand doesn’t mean there wasn’t any. Half the performers were drunk on stage every single night. It took one of them three weeks after we first met to remember I wasn’t a customer because he never stopped drinking in that entire time. And, I admit, after a successful show Trixie likes to… relax. So, yes, I have experience with it, and I don’t think I should be ashamed.”

“I‘m not saying you should be ashamed of it either. In fact, if you like, you can have any of the mead they give me.”

Trixie blushed and tried to hide some of her face under her hat. “I appreciate the offer, but Trixie needs to be able to cast the spell… Although gryphon mead is very good…”

Celestia put a hoof over her mouth as she chuckled. “Oh, that it is. But I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble, Twilight. If nothing else, just wait to finish your ascent. Then, you can go back and drink them all under the table without even trying.”

Author's Note

Hey all. I'm extremely nervous about this chapter, because it's one of my favorites. Writing is still slow due to health and depression (mainly depression), so expect slower updates unless I can fix that. I promise to really try to turn this around this week.

Also, I want everyone to know I’ve taken the last chapter’s criticism to heart. I’m very sorry for my failure on this front, and I promise to make efforts to keep it in mind for future chapters in both writing and editing. Please, stick with me. I’m getting better all the time, and I think there’s a lot of good story I have left to tell.

-Cv

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Royal Greeting

Twilight clenched her teeth as she stared at the doors of Charlemane’s office. I know I said I’d see him, and it would be bad form to break the promise, but… A half-dozen internal justifications waded their way through Twilight’s mind, any one of which would be completely logical, or at least satisfying, to use.

She lifted her hoof to knock, hesitated, then set it back down. Maybe he’s not here… Maybe I can just... She shifted to her magic sight for an instant and found a single wellspring behind the door, one of an earth unicorn. Chairpony Charlemane is a hybrid?!

“You know,” Charlemane said through the door, “waiting outside my office for ten minutes doesn’t qualify as a meeting.”

Crap. Twilight stuck her tongue out at Charlemane’s presumed position for good measure, though she had the good sense to put it back before stepping through. “Sorry. I guess you can tell now that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this.”

Charlemane leaned back in his chair and put his hind hooves on his large, wooden desk. “I don’t blame you. It can be difficult to separate the personal from the political. Understand, Lady Sparkle, I wish neither you nor Celestia any ill will personally. In fact, I care for the Princess quite deeply. We are simply of different minds politically.”

Twilight felt the hair on her back stand on end, but pushed the feeling and the topic aside. “You wanted to see me? Was it about the—”

Her eye caught the mostly empty — and overly fancy — bottle of whiskey on his table, along with a glass filled with ice and the intoxicating caramel-colored fluid. It also caught the bright morning sun outside. “Have you been drinking?”

“Yes. Which, of course, begs the next question: am I drunk? No. I imagine that if I showed up to Council drunk, Bismare would take that opportunity by the throat, and I’m not about to give her that satisfaction.”

“I… see.”

He motioned to the seat across from the desk. “Anyway. Come, sit. We should discuss a few things.”

Twilight did so, fighting against the chair’s comfort in an admittedly ill-advised desire for it to be made of spikes just so she could give him a dirty look. “Like what? My trip to Gryphonia?”

“Indeed. I do hope that Celestia informed you about the newly recrowned Princess Gilda.”

“She did. It strikes me as somewhat hard to believe.”

“As it should.” Charlemane swirled the little glass of whiskey, watching the ice cubes as they danced. “The political situation in Gryphonia is rather interesting. Ordinarily, the gryphons are very easy to predict. Their code of conduct limits the number of actions they can take. Convincing them of something can prove nearly impossible if it goes against their gut reaction, and intimidation only works when the deck is severely stacked in your favor. Morvana, however, has proven to be quite problematic. Unfortunately, knowing their political process as I do, I do not foresee a change in leadership for some time.”

“Celestia seems to think that there’s hope Gilda won’t become King.” Twilight pulled out her notebook, starting a sketch of the gryphonic political hierarchy. “Do you agree?”

Charlemane’s expression soured, like the whiskey he was drinking had turned into turpentine. “I wish I could say. She’s very careful about walking the line of what the gryphons will find acceptable, and their species’ traditions will ensure her spot no matter what happens as long as that remains true. Gilda may not have such finesse. If she does become King, it might not be for long.”

Twilight drew a link between Morvana and the throne. “What traditions keep her on the throne?”

Charlemane lit his horn, picking up a pair of decorative swords out of the place on the wall. “Every so often, one of the Crown princes or princesses and the other aeries can challenge the King. When this happens, all three of the royals meet somewhere secret, and have a battle royale.” The two swords in Charlemane’s grasp clashed, fighting a mock battle with invisible opponents. “In addition, it is not only the fighting skill of the contestants that matter, but also the skill of their blacksmiths. Whomever has the finest weapon of the group carries a significant advantage, as they may set additional terms for the contest.”

Fire surrounded one of the swords, sending sparks into the air with every parry. “These are rarely fatal, but are always decisive. Only a scant few gryphons are allowed as witnesses, and while the results are not secret, everything else that happens is. It’s a bit of a black box for us, but the results have been the same for nearly half a millennia: Morvana’s family wins.”

The fiery sword struck again, knocking the other to the ground. “I personally speculate that Morvana’s family must have some masterwork weapon — something so far ahead of the others that they’ve yet to catch up.”

Twilight added a sword next to Morvana’s crest on her graph. “You have evidence to back this up? Seems to be a wild guess if not.”

Charlemane clapped his hooves together. “Indeed, I do have evidence. Over the past couple hundred years, the other two aerie’s have advanced their weapons craft considerably, while the Kerava’s, the aerie Morvana belongs to, have stagnated. Although, to be fair, as the gryphons have shunned industrialization, we have pulled ahead considerably in mass-market weapons.”

Twilight looked up at him over the top of her notebook. “It’s as if Kerava isn’t trying, because they know they don’t need to in order to win. They can rest on their laurels.”

“Exactly.” Charlemane took a sip of his whiskey and all but melted into the seat. “Celestia said that you were worried you would never become adept at politics. I think you’ll get there. All you need to do is keep your eyes open and pay attention to the right things.” The bottle of whiskey floated up in his magic alongside a second glass. “Care for a drink?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, thank you. I don’t normally drink alcohol, and certainly not this early in the day.”

The stallion reached out with a hoof and opened up a drawer in his desk, taking out a folded piece of paper and giving it to her. “Then, I can assure you, you will want this.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and placed the aged parchment on her book, opening it. “Area of effect inscriptions, offset self targeting, substance exclusive… Is this an anti-alcohol spell? Or… An anti-intoxication spell? Does that mean…”

Charlemane lifted up his glass with a knowing smile.

“You just drank that entire bottle of whiskey, didn’t you?”

“And I’m not even tipsy. The gryphons like alcohol, Lady Sparkle. It is our number one export to Gryphonia, and it’s even in most of the food. Without this, I’d imagine you’d be, as the youth say, completely smashed in short order. And it wouldn’t do to have our Grand Mage publicly intoxicated.”

“This…” Twilight bit down on her pen. I don’t want to say it. I don’t want to say it. I don’t want to say it. “This would actually be very useful. Thank you.”

“‘Tis but a trifle. Although…” Charlemane’s voice grew dark as he sat up in the seat, taking his legs off the desk. “What I have to say now is not. While I share Celestia’s sentiment that improving relations with the Crown Prince could prove to be a boon, I must share this warning.

“Gryphonhelm has… or rather, is a famous coliseum where warriors from all over Gryphonia come to test their strength and settle scores, both political and personal. It operates year-round, and I am absolutely certain the Prince is going to want to show it off. This is fine. What is not fine, is you fighting in one of these matches.”

Twilight added a little picture of a generic coliseum to her book. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

“The Prince will insist. I’m almost sure of it. Do not, under any circumstances, participate. From the reports on your missions, you are not ready to face a true gryphon warrior. You might be able to handle one of their meagre knights or fledglings, but they will almost certainly put you up against a Battlemaster, and you will lose that fight.

“It would be a disaster for Equestria’s pride, and tarnish both the Council and the Crown, even though I admit the majority of the disappointment would be focused on Princess Celestia. Regardless, you must not participate. If they try to force you, say you are under orders from the Crown. That should get them to back off, as they would not want to disgrace themselves by forcing you to disobey your orders.”

Twilight set her pen down. “It’s that big a deal? What should I do if they still insist?”

“Leave. In such an unlikely event, Celestia and I will deal with the fallout.” Charlemane shoved out with his forehooves, pushing himself away from the desk on his rolling chair. “But, I am perhaps getting too serious. You should have a wonderful time. In fact, here. On me.”

Twilight watched as a necklace of sorts levitated towards her, settling in her grasp. It was a long, thick string running through washer-like metal rings. She turned one of them on their side, finding gryphonic symbols on them. “Coins?” she asked. “You’re giving me money? I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that…”

“Approximately equivalent to two hundred bits worth, actually. Trust me, it is a pittance compared to the money that changes hooves in the political back-channels of this country. I’m sure the Prince will provide everything you need free of charge. However, your compatriots may wish to purchase some souvenirs.”

“Souvenirs? Really?” Twilight held up the coins, letting them slide and jangle on the string. “You’re giving me money for souvenirs?”

“It is a coliseum, Lady Sparkle. A sporting arena. The gryphons may seem a proud warrior race, but that doesn’t stop their vendors from overcharging for food and knickknacks at social events. If it makes you feel more comfortable about accepting the money, bring back a T-shirt for me.”

“The Duke of Roan, Chairpony of the Inner Council, wants me to bring him back a T-shirt?” Twilight set everything down on the desk and rubbed her eyes with her hooves.

“Is that really so hard to believe?”

“I suppose I expected it to be.” An image of her father in an “I [Heart] Ponyville” t-shirt played in her mind. “Yet, somehow, it is not.”

“Lady Sparkle… Just because I am a member of the nobility does not mean I am not a pony. And if you seek proof of that…”

Twilight pulled her hooves from her face, finding Charlemane pointing with his horn at the wall to the left. She followed it over to a large picture.

“See what I mean? Go on, take a look.”

Itchy curiosity had already hooked her, pushing her off the chair better than any physical shove. She held a hoof up to the frame, finding a black-and-white image of a group of stallions in various stages of inebriation. In the background was a large cloud structure, and at the top centre was a younger looking Charlemane with his foreleg around another familiar looking pony.

“Is that Naponion?!”

“The same. He was always a drunk, but a polite and happy one. This was taken in our college years, and yes, that is Gryphonhelm. Or rather, a cloud above it.”

“And you’re wearing a—”

“Souvenir T-shirt, yes. They do have them available for tourist ponies. In fact, a long time ago, they even had all-pony tournaments.”

Twilight’s neck felt like a stiff axle as she turned her head to face the stallion. “Ponies would go there to fight too?”

Charlemane ran his hoof along a series of books on his shelf. “Before Morvana’s time. Her mother put a stop to the practice, unfortunately. But, as you can see, there is nothing wrong with being a noble and having a riotous good time.” He pulled out a few of the tomes and floated them over to her. “I can get drunk, enjoy a good fight, and still read Aristrotle, Immanuel Canter, and Horizon.”

“Horizon?” Twilight grabbed the book in question. “You have a book on Stellar Horizon?”

“Written by Stellar Horizon.” He tapped on its cover. “Rare though much of his work is, as you can see, there are benefits to being friends with an immortal alicorn. Actually, I’ve seen a statue of him in Gryphonhelm. He’s apparently a minor hero there.”

A strange type of destructive magic began spreading throughout Gryphonia, and later I found out it likely would have spread to Equestria as well had it not been for Stellar’s courageous sacrifice. Although I doubt the gryphons would have been the aggressors in any war with us even then, his actions earned us vastly improved relations for centuries. He’s remembered better there than here in Equestria, in fact.

She flipped through the pages, noting the index and the somewhat frequent sketches. “Celestia… Celestia said he saved Gryphonia.”

“He did indeed, according to the gryphons. I also know that Celestia blames herself in no small part for his loss. It’s why she’s taken such a personal approach with you. Starswirl was a madman, and Crimson just a soldier. Stellar was a philosopher and mage, which you no doubt remind her of.”

“Me?” Twilight closed the book, thinking back to her predecessor’s journal. “Honestly, I don’t know how true that could be. I’ve read some of his work, including some spells. I’m not anywhere near that good, especially when it comes to diplomacy.”

“Ha! Oh, no, you don’t get to get away with saying that, Lady Sparkle. Not the wielder of the Element of Magic. Perhaps you are not as apt as he was on the political dance floor, but that’s to be expected. Friendship and politics are almost opposites. Friendship is about harmony, unity. Politics is about division, and knowing just where to drive the wedge. Diplomacy is the marriage of the two, but in it, either can be wielded with great effect.

“As for magic, I’m led to believe that he was an old stallion when he achieved the rank of Grand Mage. Casting spells is as much about experience as it is knowledge. Give it time. It’s not like that’s something you’re short on.”

Twilight sighed at the reminder of just how much this pony knew. “I suppose…” She cracked open the book again, peeking at the ancient typeface. “Do you think I could borrow this? I’d really like to read it…”

The Duke snickered and floated over his whiskey glass. “That depends, Librarian Sparkle. This is an old and rare copy. Do you know how to care for such books?” The glass hovered over the rare, dusty hardback.

The whiskey glass that was cold. The glass that had ice in it. The dripping, condensation-covered glass.

Her forelegs snapped out, reaching around the book and pulling it tight to her chest. “Yes. Yes I do.” She snarled through her clenched teeth, ears folded down against the back of her head.

“Hahaha! Well!” Charlemane’s laugh rattled the huge windows behind his desk, and jostled the glass which was once dangerously hovering over a precious, precious book. “Tia was right! You are easy to tease.”

Twilight turned away from him and grumbled, still clasping the book.

“Very well, Lady Sparkle. You may borrow it.” Charlemane trotted back to his desk, laughing all the way. “Please, don’t let me keep your friends waiting. Enjoy your trip!”

Twilight mumbled to herself something roughly equivalent to “I’m not that easy to tease” as she left through the ornate double doors.

“Oh, and Twilight!”

She raised an eyebrow at his casual use of her first name, as well as the smug grin on his face as he lifted his glass.

“My T-shirt size is extra-large!”

“Well, it’s certainly good to be a princess.” Trixie pushed at the red plush seating under her hooves and leaned back into her seat. She stretched out inside the enclosed chariot, demonstrating just how much room the four had by still managing to stay outside of the others’ personal space. “Back in my show days, I was ecstatic to get a real mattress for my cart.”

Rainbow flopped down on her back, bending and twisting like a puppy on a cushion. “Yeah, this is pretty nice stuff. Of course, it’s gotta be big if it’s going to haul around Celestia. Oop! Here we go.”

Twilight grabbed onto one of the side handles with her hoof, expecting the same rattling and jostling she felt in the normal chariots, as well as Luna’s. Yet Princess Celestia’s personal long-range chariot had none of that. Even with a whopping nine Pegasus stallions pulling it forward, the only jolt was at that one instance of takeoff where the wheels left the launch pad. Only the slightest sensations of inertia even told her when they had turned.

“And we’re off! Gotta say, I agree with Trixie! It is nice to be riding in style for once.” Spike pulled open a little cabinet next to his seat and pulled out a small package of chocolates. “So, anyone know what the medevac’d pony was doing in Gryphonia? Like, supposedly working? Doing what?”

“Meh. Probably a filing clerk or something.” Rainbow folded her wings and waved a hoof.

“Actually…” Twilight pulled out the briefing documents and found his file. “Rainbow’s right. Or at least, close enough. His listed title was ‘administrative official.’”

“Yup.” Rainbow yawned. “Gryphons are great at fighting, not so great at paperwork. They hire a lot of ponies to do things. Like, unicorns for recordkeeping, pegasi for couriers, and earth ponies for forestry. I spent some time there when I was real little, so when Gilda showed up in Cloudsdale, I was already used to gryphons.”

“I just hope that the other gryphons aren’t like her.” Spike’s teeth, as ever, crunched through the jawbreakers like they were soft butter, but it sounded like gravel being ground between two metal plates. “I mean, this is a diplomatic mission. How do we deal with that?”

“Like I said, just ask another gryphon for help!” Rainbow sat up and stole one of Spike’s chocolates. “Seriously. In Gryphonia, you could have a bag full of a million bits, trip and spill them all over, and not worry about a single one going missing. In fact, the catbirds closest to you will help you pick them all up, and even count them for you to make sure you have them all!”

“Rainbow… You aren’t saying that this is going to be ea—”

“Ah! No! Bad Twilight!” The pegasus flicked a chocolate at her. “No commenting on the relative lack of difficulty of a mission! Last time you did that, Trixie here practically got put in traction.”

“Really?” Trixie lifted up a hoof in surprise. “You said your mission was going to be easy before Trixie, er, surrendered?”

“Yeah, but we were just supposed to go back to Ponyville for a visit. Even when we did eventually go there, it wasn’t as simple as that.” Twilight sighed. “I’m beginning to think that that’s going to become the norm.”

“Welcome to the military,” Rainbow said. “No mission is just that simple. Speaking of missions, how exactly are we going to figure out what’s an illusion once we get there?”

“Like this.” Trixie held up her horn, weaving a spell in front of them. A point of light appeared in the center of the chariot, spinning and shimmering like a disco ball before condensing down into the form of a pocket watch. “There. Spike, pick it up.”

“Sure, I guess.” The dragon knelt down and picked up the watch, tossing it between his hands. “Something feels… Off.” He held it up to his ear. “Sounds like a watch, though.”

“Trixie has yet to be able to master including the texture of an object. I can make it look like something, but I have to use an extra spell to make it sound like something and give it mass. The feel of the object still eludes me. But it’s good enough for this.” A pulse of light emanated out from Trixie’s horn, washing through the chariot and even continuing outside. In its wake, the watch was left glowing pink, the same colour as Trixie’s magic. Also tinged with colour were the whites of the group’s eyes.

“I think I get it! If it glows, it’s not really there.” Spike cupped the watch in his hands and grimaced. “Wait a minute… It’s all wobbly. Or wibbly.”

“That’s the other issue.” Trixie walked up to Spike and dipped his hand forward with a hoof. “If I can’t see the illusion, I can’t maintain it in my mind. The embedded spells keep working, but the main one does not. Also, the visual illusion itself taxes Trixie’s magic. But in this case…”

Trixie fired up her horn again, shooting little bolts of electricity out at the watch.

“Yowza!” Spike pulled back, and his hands phased through the now ethereal device. There it floated, fuzzy and warped before fading away.

“Twilight knows the disruption spell, too. In fact, she helped Trixie develop it.” Trixie plodded back to her seat. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I never would have figured it out without her help.”

Twilight shook her head. “There’s no shame in asking for help with things, Trixie.”

“Yeah. When you need it, you gotta ask. Or you wind up putting half the town in the hospital with baked bads.” Spike reached under his seat, pulling out a large chest.

“Baked bads?” Trixie asked. “Do I even want to know?”

“Heh. We’re going to have to get her caught up, Twilight.” Rainbow reached under her seat, too, pulling out another chest. “Seriously, somepony should write a book about some of the crazy stuff we’ve done.”

The two hooflockers popped open, revealing the pegasus’s and dragon’s Evening Guard armor. Their purple plating had been recently polished, and had dark chainmail in between the joints. Gold trim accents highlighted some of the pieces, and a Luminar Nova-shaped gem glowed faintly in the center of each chest plate.

“Wow. Custom armor. Cored armor! They spared no expense for you guys.” Trixie rubbed her chest. “Honestly, I’m feeling a little exposed here all of a sudden.”

“You know there’s another locker under your seat, too.” Spike pointed to a place under Trixie’s hooves.

“Well, yeah, but that’s Twilight’s armor, right? I mean, three lockers, three ponies… Er, two ponies, one dragon. I’m not in the guard. I’m a ‘contractor.’”

“Trixie.” Twilight clopped her hoof to get her attention, and when she had it, she gave Aurora some power. The torc shimmered and rose, covering Twilight completely in a couple of seconds.

Trixie’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. “What… What is… Trixie’s never seen anything like that!”

“Bonded armor. A level up from the cored stuff.” Rainbow grunted as she shoved her hoof into a boot. “Crazy rare. That thing she’s wearing? That’s why Twilight survived blowing herself up.”

Twilight giggled. “It even has flaps so I can open up my saddlebags!” She fiddled with the little cap guarding access to the bag.

“I’m glad you like them. When I deployed over the bags, I thought they were important, so I changed shape. It… It kind of hurt doing that.”

I appreciate it, Aurora. Twilight mentally thought at her torc.

“Then… Does that mean…” Trixie pulled out the third chest, opening to find one more set of Evening Guard armor, this one without the holes for pegasi wings. “They made armor for me!”

“Why’s it our colors?” Spike asked. “Like she said, she’s not part of the guard.”

“Probably so she can pass as if she is part of the guard.” Twilight leaned back and folded her hind legs. “We are going to a diplomatic event, and I was the principal invitee. It would be less weird if everyone accompanying me appeared to be a part of my guard. Also, while gryphons aren’t as good at cloud manipulation as pegasi, they do use some cloud structures, and that armor has built-in cloud walking enchantments, among others. Definitely make sense for you and Spike to have it since only Rainbow and I can walk on them natively.”

“Maybe. It’s just that—” Trixie hid her mouth with her hooves. “No one... no one’s ever thought of me enough to give me something like this.”

“Technically, you aren’t being given it. It’s being ‘issued.’” Rainbow did little air quotes with her hooves. “You have to give it back after this is all over.”

“You don’t understand. This means that somepony thought about my safety enough to order it.” Trixie lifted up one of the boots and held it next to her foreleg. The size matched perfectly. She then reached back into the locker and took out a little book. "It even has a manual! Th—this is not something I’m used to, ponies caring about me.”

“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” Rainbow leaned back and shared a hoof/fist pump with Spike. “That’s called friendship.”

“It was probably Celestia who thought of it.” Twilight pulled open the compartment next to her, finding yet more sweets along with a bottle of dessert champagne. “She tends to think of stuff like this. Every little detail you would never have even considered. If it had crossed my mind, I would’ve done the same thing. Welcome to the group, Trixie.“

The newcomer nodded, grasping the chest plate tight and shrinking down into her seat. “Do you… Do you suppose I could, well…” A spell danced on her horn, then showered down on the gem in the Armour. The six pointed star seemed to blush, changing from one color to the next before settling on a light blue, the same color as Trixie’s coat.

“I don’t see why not. In fact, I think it’s a nice touch. Although,” Twilight glanced over to Rainbow trying not to look jealous, “if you’re going to do that, you should share. Think that little glamour spell will work on their armor’s cores to?”

“Trixie can do that. Hold still, you two.” The spell started up once again, this time aiming for the other gems.

Spike’s core shifted to a light emerald green, but Trixie apparently had something more elaborate in mind for Rainbow. Her core shifted color again and again, never quite settling on a full glow of its own. An entire painter’s supply of colours churned in the crystalline tapestry, the ever-changing hues dropping on to the canvas like little drops of rain, each leaving their mark.

“This is officially better than anything I had imagined.” Rainbow’s eyes stayed locked on her gem core. “Approved. In fact, I think this is so approved, I need to find some kind of form to fill out just to show how approved this is.”

“I’d be jealous, but I think mine suits me.” Spike leaned back and cracked his knuckles. “Purple and green scales, you know? Hmmm, wonder how long it will last.”

“Yours and mine should stay for weeks. Rainbow’s will need to be applied every couple of days.” Trixie slipped into her chest plate and secured the latches to her with a click. “Changing a gem’s visual color is fairly simple.”

“Visual color?” Rainbow asked, finally looking up. “As opposed to what?”

“The elemental color, also known as the thaumic profile or elemental alignment.” Twilight’s legs itched to begin a lecture pace, but the chariot was too small. “Everypony, every wellspring, every gem, even every given set of mana has a thaumatic profile. In other words, an illusion spell changing its visual colour won’t change the properties of the core.”

“Oh, yeah! I remember hearing about that in school. Didn’t look too much into it, though. Didn’t have anything to do with flying.”

Twilight winced as she was fairly certain she heard Trixie mutter “At least you got to go to school.”

“Actually, it does,” Twilight continued, getting the subject back on track. “Most pegasi have a thaumatic profile aligned with the wind and water, which is part of what allows you to fly. If I had to wager a guess, I would imagine that Trixie’s profile is light and dark, given her affinity for illusions.”

“Almost spot on, Lady Sparkle.” Trixie and rested her head on her hoof. “But I’m also aligned with silver and earth, from my earth pony side.”

“Silver?” Rainbow asked.

“The magic of life and death, inherent in almost all Earth ponies. It’s their profile that allows them to grow plants as they do.” Twilight smirked as she examined her hoof. “Maybe someday I should try again with a cactus.”

“Okay, I think I’m getting it. But would that mean that you have silver magic too?”

Twilight shrugged. “Probably. I imagine I have a lot of subcategories now, but I think my unicorn side is still dominant. As for my profile for that, well…”

“Hey, Twi.” Spike hopped off his seat and pulled Twilight into a hug with his arm. “This doesn’t honestly still get to you, does it?”

“Not as much anymore,” Twilight sighed. “It’s not something I share very frequently with others, though, so I appreciate it if you two didn’t tell anypony else.”

“Tell them what? Trixie doesn’t think that a pony’s thaumatic profile matters that much.”

“It did to me.” Twilight laid down from the deep seat intended for Celestia. “When I was a filly, all I wanted to do was be like the princess. During my first year as her student, one of my professors ran a test on me to find my thaumatic profile. I was doing so well, I was sure that I would have the same profile as Celestia. I can remember opening up the letter with results and reading through them as fast as I could. For the first two categories I read, my heartbeat just grew faster and faster. Astral, just like the princess. Fire, not in the same order as the Princess, but still, one of hers. Then, I read the last one.

“‘Darkness.’ I was devastated. It was the opposite of Celestia. Her’s is astral, light, and fire. I was so close, but all I could read was that one word. Darkness. The next time I saw her, I begged her not to drop me as a student.”

“I’d like to think the princess wouldn’t drop a student over something so trivial,” Trixie said with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re right. She didn’t. I was being stupid. Stupid, worried, and neurotic. Celestia helped me through it the way she always did. She brought me in her chambers, sat down next to me, put a wing over me, and taught me. She explained everything I could think to ask, and reassured me that not only was she not dropping me as a student, but that I would be learning from her for a long time.”

“Because when she takes a student, that’s a lifetime thing.” Spike reached over with his free hand and mussed up his big sister’s mane. “You learn from her until you’ve got three of four legs in the grave.”

“Unless you become an alicorn, I take it?” Trixie pulled out another piece of her armor, examining it. “I can’t imagine you staying her student if you get the wings and mane.”

“Once I’m crowned Princess, it’s true, I technically won’t be her student anymore and she’s free to take another. But she’s ten thousand years old! I have a feeling that I’m going to be learning from her for a long time to come.”

“Ten thousand!?” Trixie’s hoof slipped on the carpet, sending her to the floor with a soft ‘whump’. “I’ve heard she was old before, at least a thousand, but ten times that?”

“Alicorns have what we call ‘unbounded’ lifespans.” Twilight bent down and lifted Trixie back to her hooves. “We stay at our prime forever, and most diseases can’t touch us. A fully ascended alicorn is also extremely tough, thanks to our earth pony magic. That’s not to say we’re truly immortal, although Celestia is so powerful at this point it’s hard to comprehend anything that could kill her.”

“I don’t think I can imagine living that long.” Trixie popped open one of the side compartments, pulled out a bottle of sparkling water, and started chugging it. “It’s no wonder she takes students for their whole lives. She probably wants those connections to last as long as they can. For the first time, Twilight Sparkle...” Trixie looked at Twilight, eyes cool, but without anger. “I don’t think I can envy you.”

“Yeah, it’s…” Twilight stopped herself, squashing the words before they could come out of her mouth. “Well, it does help that Tia and Luna will be there. It seems like they balance each other really well.”

“Erp. Speaking of…” Spike grabbed his stomach and belched, catching the scroll out of the green flame. “Wow. That felt weird. Ahem!

“Twilight. Luna is still refusing to leave her room, so I’m going to have to be the one to teleport your chariot. Please hang on to something. It has been a long time since I teleported such a large group.”

“Refusing to leave her room?” Trixie turned to Twilight. “Is she being serious?”

“Uh…” Twilight tried to use her nervous chuckle to deflect the question. It wasn’t very effective. “The Princesses once fought each other in open war, and one of them kind of banished the other to the moon for a thousand years. They have… issues. And there was a kind of a tiff this morning…”

“What, does she issue orders from paper slipped under her doors or something? What kind of tiff causes a multi-millennia-old alicorn to lock herself in her room?”

Spike pulled out a file and started cleaning his claws, apparently deliberately not looking at Trixie. “Probably the kind of tiff borne from millennia of jealousy and resentment culminating in a war and an attempt to cause eternal night.”

Trixie blinked. “Okay. Forget I said anything.”

Twilight smirked but her addendum was cut off by a brilliant light shining in through the window. “Looks like we’re up. Hang on, everypony!”

The chariot bucked up and down as the unseen hand of physics tried to toss Twilight off her seat, yet only managed to get her an inch from the ground, with her stomach close behind. “Oof. I guess the more things she has to teleport, the rougher it gets. Everypony in one piece?”

“I think so. Ugh. Makes getting a scroll feel like just a little gas.” Spike’s hand shook as he reached up and grabbed the ledge of the window to pull himself up. “Um, guys? You might want to see this.”

Twilight wobbled her way over to Spike and followed where he was pointing. Six blurs of brown feathers and black talons were diving towards the chariot, swords at the ready. “Uh-oh. You don’t think…”

The chariot rocked like a boat in the wake of the gryphons as they flew by, completely ignoring the pegasi pulling it and circling around to take up a formation with three on either side.

“Eh, no worries guys. See the red shoulder pads?” Rainbow tapped the window with her hoof. “Those are the Gryphonhelm Aerie’s Honor Guard. They’re probably here to escort us in, seeing as we’re VIPs and all.”

“Oh. I suppose that makes… Whoa! Is that the city? Seriously?” Spike plopped down on the floor with a metallic ‘clank’ from his armor.

“Heh. Yup!” Rainbow smirked.

Twilight leaned up against the cool wall of the chariot to try to peek out the window, but only a portion of the city ahead of them was even visible. Still, what was there was, in a sense, a coliseum. “I think I’m going to get a better view. One second.”

“Get a better view? How are you going to—”

Twilight lit her horn and blinked out of the chariot, reappearing with a flash on the chariot’s roof. Even with the pegasi shifting the winds around them, the wind was intense. Twilight lifted up her foreleg to shield herself against the air howling in her face, then fired a shield spell ahead of her instead.

Though the scene was now tinted purple through the field, it was no less impressive. Massive concrete walls linked the mountain peaks themselves, forming a ring around a valley. Each housed a nearly-uncountable number of seats, with more on the sides of the mountains themselves. It was an arena unlike any other, and it dwarfed all of its competition. Supernaturally large pine trees filled the valleys outside the city, providing homes and hunting grounds for the city’s citizens. Cloud structures spiraled into the sky, casting their shadows in the afternoon sun, though they were few and far between compared to the massive superstructures of Cloudsdale. Gryphons didn't usually live in clouds, and instead only used them for specialized purposes.

“Lady Sparkle!” the lead chariot pegasus called out. “We are about to enter a dive! Please return to the chariot and keep your horn, limbs, and entire body inside at all times!”

With a sheepish chuckle Twilight teleported back into the chariot and in the midst of her friends. This was followed by a cyan-colored hoof to the face, though far softer than it could have been.

“Don’t do that!” Rainbow yelled, flapping her wings fruitlessly in the enclosed space. “I’m supposed to protect you, Twilight! I can’t do that if you freaking disappear without telling me where you’re going!”

“Eh, heh…” Twilight could swear her coat was starting to turn into wool at this point. “Sorry, Rainbow. I only went up to the roof, but you’re right, I’ll try to warn you before I teleport.”

The chariot dove towards the ground, pushing the weight of gravity slightly off their backs.

“Speaking of protecting,” Trixie said, stretching in her full set of armor. “I’m guessing I’m supposed to play the part of ‘royal guard’ for this. I don’t know how well I’m going to be able to fool a nation of soldiers, to be honest. I mean, Trixie can act, but this?”

“I think you’ll be fine.” Rainbow shrugged. “We’re rather unconventional as it is. Here’s what you need to know. First, always follow Twilight’s orders. Second, let Twilight do the talking unless someone asks you to speak. Third, I’ll try to stay on Twilight’s left, you stay on her right. If somepony, or some gryphon, decides to get aggressive, give them a death glare like you could end their life in a flash. Like they’re barely even worth the effort to light your horn to turn them into ashes.”

“And if someone does try to attack her? I’m not exactly combat-trained.”

Twilight gave her new ‘guard’ a smile. “Trixie, by your own account, you spent several years running and fighting for your life while still trying to put on your show in small towns all over Canterlot, Manehatten, and the Hinterlands Duchies. It might not be conventional, but I’m certain you can handle yourself well enough.”

“She does have one point, though.” Rainbow trotted up to Trixie and looked her so deep in the eyes she was probably focusing on Canterlot. “If it comes down to it, Twilight is more important than you. With one key exception, she only gets harmed over your dead body. Period! That’s what it means to be a guard.”

Trixie swallowed like there was a whole muffin made entirely of nerves stuck in her throat. “W-what’s the exception?”

“If it’s something beyond either of us. And I mean like, beyond Ursa Major. Some kind of giant monster of incomprehensible doom. Then, all we do is get the hay out of Twilight’s way.”

Trixie turned to Twilight, eyes as big as dinner plates.

Twilight let out a little sigh and held a foreleg out and wide. “One thousand average wellsprings combined,” she said, then pointed at her chest, “all right here. I only wish I could use the magic a bit faster.”

“One… one thousand!?” Trixie slumped down against the wall of the chariot like a sack of potatoes. “No wonder Celestia took you as her student! And the Ursa Minor… I couldn’t have kept that lift up if I tried!”

“Like I said, if we encounter something that turns you into a gibbering fool with a mind broken into pieces, just stay out of Twilight’s way. We’re here to deal with the small stuff Twilight doesn’t have time to.” Rainbow chuckled as the treetops poked their tips into the sight of the window. “We’re getting close. Armor check, everypony. Make sure we’re looking the part.”

“Rainbow, you exit first. Check the sky and roofs for crossbow snipers.” Twilight sat back from the door, signalling the other two to get beside her. “I know you’re not expecting trouble, and really, neither am I, but I want you to act like you’re concerned. It will keep our hosts on their toes to watch for threats. If you found something before they did, it would be an embarrassment to them, and could gain us some favor whenever Tia has to meet them for negotiations again.”

“Was that something the princess asked us to do?” Spike asked.

“No, actually.” Twilight paused, realizing the calculation she was doing. “It… it just came to me, somehow. I guess I picked up something from all those years studying next to Celestia’s throne.”

The chariot slowed and came to a smooth landing on concrete, taxiing for a moment before turning to the side and giving them a view of one of the city’s entrances. Torches lined the ways to doors nearly as tall as one of Canterlot’s many spires. The harsh, square shapes stood in contrast to the rounded elegance of the Equestrian capital. The red and green Gryphon flag hung in rows leading to the city, with one gryphon standing at arms underneath each.

“Looks like they rolled out the red carpet, literally.” Trixie stifled a chuckle. “All these years dreaming of walking on one, and here I am, though I never imagined it would be like this.”

The chariot door opened with a slight hiss from the air pressure equalizing, swinging wide with two Day Guard bowing down to the ground. Rainbow fluttered her wings and jumped out, quickly doing a survey before signaling Twilight that all was safe.

“Should I deploy, just to be safe?”

No, Twilight thought at her torc. Such an act could be misconstrued as hostility. She stepped down from the chariot, carefully poising herself in the best Celestia impression she had. An image of her filly self doing the same. looking immensely silly, and - though she would never admit it - adorkable flashed in her memory and was quickly pushed aside. Real world time, Twilight. Have to make this count.

Each gryphon lowered its head slightly as she walked forward; enough to convey respect, but careful to avoid submission. At the end of the row were the pillars of the city, both literal and figurative. Marble rose from the ground to bear the incredible weight of that section of the city while three key figures, two male and one female, stood under them.

“Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle, welcome.” The center gryphon stroked the red feathers under his beak, gliding the razor-sharp talons across his neck as if they were dull spoons. “I am Prince Ragnar, patriarch and ruler of the Gryphonhelm Aerie. Celestia has spoken of you at length, and with great pride. It is gratifying that she has finally allowed me to meet with you.” Leather stretched and groaned as he dipped his head to honor her, his armor flexing to match his motions. Medals and decorations clinked and clacked along with it in their own special, subtle song.

Twilight couldn’t help but note how his beak was ever so slightly out of sync with his words, which was a common ‘feature’ of gryphons. Their complex voice boxes worked differently from ponies and any other sentient race in Equus, making their words not quite ‘match’ their movements to anyone used to how the other races spoke. Of course, to gryphons, these different movements were natural and all synced up perfectly while the others were strange.

“It is good to be here, Prince Ragnar.” Twilight matched the movements of the gryphons she had passed, a bow meant to show respect, but not submission. Just as she was not his ruler, so too was she not his subject. “I’m honored that you have invited me.”

“The honor is mine, Grand Mage. Or do you prefer Lady Sparkle?”

“Actually, ‘Twilight’ is fine, Prince. I’m not one to stand on formalities. Especially that this is supposedly only a friendly visit, right?”

“Just so. To my right is my bride, Princess Freya.”

The gryphoness next to him bowed her head as her blue plumage swayed in the stiff breeze.

“And to my left is my chief of staff, Enok.”

Enok's feathers ruffled out. “I expected a pony with the title of ‘Grand Mage’ to be… taller.”

“Magical talent and wellspring depth do not correlate to a pony’s physical size, Chief.” Twilight stood up as tall as she could in a futile attempt to make herself bigger in the face of the gryphon several times her height. “Nor does it relate to the trust placed in me by the Princesses.”

“Be that as it may, I—”

“Chief Enok. She is a guest.” The Prince gave the other gryphon what amounted to a stern look, one which was much more directly threatening than the subtle ‘Keep digging your own grave and I’ll throw you in it” kind Celestia was so good at.

Trixie’s glare was even less subtle.

“Of course. My apologies, Lady Sparkle,” he said with a bow, barely acknowledging the veiled threat. “My Prince, shall I show them to their quarters?”

Prince Ragnar stroked a tuft of feathers under his beak. “Indeed, it would be best. Lady Sparkle, I would continue our meeting, but I have pressing matters of state to attend to. I’ve scheduled a dinner feast in your honor for this evening, if that would be alright?”

“Of course, Prince Ragnar.” Twilight pretended to herself that there was a complex political calculation at play in her head, but in truth she couldn’t really see anything past the surface. “Although I was hoping to get a tour of the city at some point.”

“I shall be proud to give you that myself tomorrow morning. Chief?”

He clapped his hand twice, and a pair of the honor guards stepped forward. “The royal guest suite is ready. Please, take their things. Lady Sparkle, if you would follow me?”

Twilight turned her head back and lit her horn, grabbing Horizon’s book out of the chariot before either of the gryphons could touch it. “Right behind you, Chief Enok.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the slow update pace. Bad news happened. Check the blog for more info.

Honestly, I’m rather worried about the next few chapters. At least mission seven is turning out to be relatively high quality, I think.

Still, I hope you all enjoyed this one.

-Cv

Patreon | General Skype Channel | Tropes Page

Tickets to the Games

“Well. Holy crap.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Spike.” Twilight stepped out of the chariot to find the largest gathering of gryphons she had ever seen. They were in the sky, they were on the clouds, they were on the ground, all swarming over the city like bees in a hive, and every single one but the youngest fledglings were much bigger than she was.

“Hey, Twilight!” Spike grabbed Twilight’s shoulder and pointed off to a kiosk. “There’s a t-shirt vendor! And they have pony sizes!”

“Aw, crap. Now I actually have to get Charlemane a T-shirt. Or rather…” Twilight pulled out some coins from her bag. “Spike, do me a favour and get an extra-large, would you?”

“Sure thing, Twi!” He grabbed the coins, gave a salute, and ran off.

Good lackey. You’ll get a gem biscuit when we get home. Twilight rolled her eyes at herself and groaned. Okay, that was a little mean. But it is nice to have my number one assistant here and happy to do things for me. I should get him something at some point. It’s not like I don’t have the money.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?” the Prince chuckled, stroking his beard. “Gryphons from all over the Empire come here to test their mettle and watch those being tested. Legends are written, scores are settled, the very course of the nation is sometimes set right here.”

A shadow passed over Twilight as an enormous flock blotted out the sun. Rough, high-altitude winter winds pierced through her still-regrowing coat, stinging her eyes but carrying with them the scent of food and the sound of cheers and laughter. The light and shadow slowly alternated as clouds traded positions in the sky.

“Would you care to join us in the royal booth, Lady Sparkle?” Princess Freya asked. “The view is quite spectacular, even for ponies.”

“I’d be delighted to! Spike, are you ready?”

Spike, still next to the booth, waved a t-shirt in the air.

“He’s ready,” Rainbow said before leaning in to Twilight, whispering, “Trixie’s almost in position.”

“Good, keep in radio contact.” Twilight whispered back before tapping on Rainbow’s helmet. “After you, Your Highnesses,” Twilight said with a bow.

The group walked through to one of the exterior entrances, this one just as massive as the other she’d gone through earlier. Though it had fewer guards, it did have one additional feature above the doors: a ledge, much smaller and harder to see from her angle, which was protected with gryphon Honor Guard.

“I’m afraid the door to the booth requires flight, Lady Sparkle.” The Prince offered his outstretched claw, palm up. “If you like, I would be happy to carry you and your young dragon assistant.”

Twilight and Spike shared a look. “No need, Prince.” Twilight lit her horn as Spike grabbed hold of her shoulders. “We have this one.” There was a flash, and they were up at the doors, standing on red carpet and staring down two surprised honor guard pointing swords at Twilight’s chest.

Twilight didn’t move a muscle, save for the ones needed to smirk.

“Whoa, easy there, guys!” Spike held up his hands in surrender. “This is the Grand Mage, here. We were invited, see?”

“Well, then! That I did not expect!” Two pairs of massive wings beat down on the air below them, as the Prince and Princess soared through the air to meet them on the ledge. “Passage, perhaps, but actual teleportation? That’s a rare gift!”

“Actually, it was one of the first spells I truly mastered.” Twilight shooed away the swords of the guards with her hoof, and they relaxed and returned to attention with a grimace as Rainbow came in for a landing behind them. “Celestia’s had me working on it since I was a filly.”

“A talent worthy of the title Grand Mage, no doubt. Come, the games await.” Princess Freya led the procession through the doors, cheers and blinding light raging through the opening.

“Olga! Olga is the victor!”

Twilight could just barely make out the Equish words from the translation announcer over the roar of the crowd and the Gryphonic announcer. “Sounds like they’ve already started.”

“Indeed. The games start early in the morning, and continue until nightfall."

The small hallway – at least, small for the coliseum – spilled out into an open-air booth as wide as Canterlot Castle’s main reception hall. Food and drink was laid out on tables, with luxury seats meant for gryphons lining the edge. Six Honor Guards armed with crossbows larger than Twilight on each side of the entrance lined the back wall of the booth, their eyes constantly scanning the skies.

Over the edge of the seating row was a lush, green valley devoid of snow even in winter. It was large enough to house several Ponyvilles quite comfortably, while the stadium seating in between the mountains could probably have accommodated millions of gryphons. In the center stood a sharp, pointed tower as tall as the highest spires of Canterlot from which the referees made their judgements.

There was simply nothing else like it in all the world.

“Oh, snacks!” Spike ran off to the buffet table like he hadn’t eaten in days.

Twilight giggled. Yup. One of the most amazing structures in the world, and he runs off for food. Then again, he is a growing dragon…

“Okay. I know where we should be spending our next vacation.” Rainbow coughed and cleared her throat, play-hacking and leaning over to Twilight. “So, um, can I —”

“No, Rainbow, you cannot go to the betting window.” Twilight sighed as she walked over to one of the guest seats. “Seriously, that gambling habit of yours is going to catch up to you one day.”

“Hmmm…” Rainbow sat and pun on a mock ‘serious thinking’ face. "Nope! I’m just way too fast for that."

"It has nothing to do with speed! It’s all about statisti —"

"Can’t hear you. Too busy winning!" Rainbow pulled out a betting slip.

100 Kroner – Olga

<> 6:1 <>

"Uuuugh." Twilight facehooved. “Whatever. Just, stay here from now on. You can pick up your winnings later.”

"Awesome!" Rainbow did a little loop in the air, then settled down into the seat to the right of Twilight.

“My husband has a point, Lady Sparkle,” Princess Freya said, sitting down next to Twilight in the royal couple’s chairs. “Your guards are quite lively!”

"You’re right, Princess. I do need to implement a new discipline program." Twilight flopped her forelegs onto the railing in front of them, resting her head and gazing towards the dozens of tiny specks fighting below. Seriously, they can see this?

"Here, these might help."

Twilight felt something hard tap on her shoulder, and looked over to see Freya offering a pair of binoculars. “Ah, thank you!” She took them in her magic and put them to her eyes, noticing the faint glow of magic on the lenses. Wherever she looked, the image would zoom in or out, always finding the perfect depth of field and focus. “I’m going to have to buy a pair of these at some point.”

"I can have some sent to Canterlot Palace, if you like." Freya said.

"Can it come with a case of that hot sauce I had yesterday?"

Freya laughed heartily, gently slapping the chair’s armrest. “Of course! With my compliments.”

“Hmm? What is it?” Rainbow pressed a hoof against her helmet and whispered. “Uh-huh. Yeah, that’s not good.”

"Rainbow?" Twilight’s right ear swiveled towards her guard. "Something wrong?"

"Definitely. Trixie said that the detection spell is being scrambled. She stepped out into the stands, and now it’s going crazy, getting pings all over the place."

"That’s not good. Tell her to keep moving, and to try to find a pattern or refine the spell."

"Gotcha. Should we get moving?"

"No, not yet. I don’t want to make a scene in front of our hosts if we don’t have anything definitive. Right now, all we know for sure is that there is something here. We need to find out what, and where."

"Is there something wrong?" Freya asked.

“Hmm? Oh, no. Rainbow and I were just talking.”

“So quiet. It amazes me how you ponies can hear even the smallest detail.”

“It amazes me how you guys can see that,” she pointed down in the valley, and waggled the binoculars, “without any of these!”

“Technically, we do have them.” She pointed to her iris. “They’re just built in.”

“I guess we both have things we can be envious of. Still, eyes like that would be crazy useful.”

“As would the nose of a dog, or the balance of a cat. We are all born with a certain lot in life. It’s all about what you do with it.”

“True enough.”

Freya pointed down to the fighters below. “Right now, we’re watching the Tier 3 Challenge matches.”

Spike plodded up behind them, arms full of plates heavy with food. “What’s Tier 3 mean?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Freya smiled like a school teacher. “There are three categories of matches: challenges, where two gryphons with a grudge settle things with a fight, sanctioned matches, when governments or other organizations within the Empire cannot come to an agreement and they decide to fight it out, and spectacles, where well-known fighters compete for glory for themselves or their team. The last one is really part theater, and the participants have personalities as large as their swords, but the fights are real.

“Now, each category has five tiers, with tier 5 having the most skilled and dangerous combatants. Some matches are for individuals, while others are fought with teams. Sometimes a lower tier team will challenge a single higher tier fighter. Oh, and the challenge matches also have a fledgling tier, for teenagers.”

“For teenagers?” Spike asked while chewing on some kind of cheese pastry. “Isn’t that dangerous? I mean, they could kill each other down there.”

“It’s possible, yes, but very rare. There are healing enchantments within the valley to help prevent fatalities, and death matches have been banned for centuries.”

“Enchantments?” Twilight nearly dropped her binoculars. “How did they get enchantments to cover an area of that size? I mean, I suppose one of the princesses could do it, but still, that’s impressive!”

“It’s actually a fairly simple trick. We engraved them into a few thousand stones, and buried them just under the soil throughout the valley.”

“Huh. Simple, but nonetheless effective. I’m going to have to remember that…” Wait a minute. Trixie was getting more pings than she could count? What if the stadium’s enchantments are affecting her spell? But then, I’m not getting anything up here… Better safe than sorry, I guess.

“Something wrong, boss?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah,” Twilight whispered. “Tell Trixie to try to filter out the stadium enchantments. Anything in the stands, and the binoculars some ponies might be using, and the healing runes buried underneath the valley. It’s possible something might be interfering with her spell.”

“Gotcha.”

“Is something the matter, Twilight? You keep whispering to your guard captain.”

"Oh, no," Twilight chuckled, doing her best to look sincere. “Just discussing a few things. Rainbow is a little nervous about the gryphons up in the clouds, is all. Normally, for ponies, the air space above royalty is generally kept clear, or at least guarded.”

“We could have them moved out, if you like. It’s no trouble.”

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that for me. It’s a different culture, and besides, I like to pretend at least once that not everything is out to get me.”

“As a fellow Royal, I know exactly what you mean.”

“I don’t,” said a new voice behind them.

Spike, Rainbow, Twilight, and Freya all turned to face the gryphoness newcomer. She wore a full set of rose-colored armour, and carried a pike with a tip made out of cut gemstone. Purple colour accented her eyes, talons, and the tips of the feathers on her head. More important, however, was the crown upon her brow.

“Honestly, if you’re that scared, maybe you should go home with the ponies. This place is for Gryphons, not cowards.”

“Gilda? What are you doing here?” Rainbow spat.

“What am I doing here, dweeb? This is the Royal booth. I have a right to be here. You, do not.”

“Princess Gilda, neither I nor my guests will be spoken to that way in my own home.” Freya’s eyelids cracked open ever so slightly. “Hold your tongue, or I will remove it.”

“Pffft.” Gilda brushed off her shoulders. “I’d like to see you try. Oh wait, you can’t. Morvana would —”

Freya snapped her fingers, sending a crack through the air like a whip.

All six of the honour guards behind them stood to attention and brought their weapons forward.

"You will find, young one, that there is nothing I cannot do in my home. Speak that way to me or my guest again, and you'll be facing me in the arena next. Am I clear?"

The two locked eyes on one another, fighting out a silent battle of stares. To a gryphon, every slight movement, every swaying feather, every errant twitch was a thrust, parry, or slash in a war of will. Twilight had no hope of cataloguing each hit, but it was clear who would be the victor.

Gilda huffed, snapping to Dash a silent message Twilight didn't need to be a gryphon to figure out, then took to the skies with a few mighty flaps of her wings.

We'll be watching you, too, gryphon. Nobody hurts my ponies.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, Lady Sparkle." Freya snapped her fingers again, and one of the guards rushed to get her a stein of mead. "I honestly have no idea what Morvana was thinking when she accepted that disgrace back into her family. One of many mysterious moves from the King as of late."

"What else has she done?" Twilight fought with herself to keep from dragging out her notebook. This was off the record.

"Off the top of my head? Antagonized the Equestrian military, which is a fool's endeavour given the sheer size of your populace. She sided with that idiot Malkia in your recent war, and has been sending patrols to chase a phantom enemy no one has ever seen in the frozen wastes to the west."

"Between Gryphonhelm and Stalliongrad? That is strange." Twilight won the battle against the notebook but lost to her pen, picking it up and chewing on the end. "That's nothing but tundra, snow and lichen."

“Exactly. It’s making us wonder about her sanity, but we need more than that to challenge her without a physical contest.”

Spike let out a burp smelling of pastry and sulfur. “Uof. Hey, Twi, that thing Celestia gave us is beeping.” He pulled out the box from his pocket and fiddled with one of the knobs. “Reading valance oh-point-seven.”

Twilight pulled out a black notebook and tossed it to him. “That’s not that high, really, but we could be onto something. Hop down to the stands and start taking readings. Depth first search.”

“Depth first? Really? Ugh.” He held his belly and sighed. “Figures you’d make me run up and down the stairs.”

“Yeah, yeah, biped, I know. I just have a hunch.”

“Okay, but I want some wraps from Bon Bon’s when we get back to Ponyville.” Spike stretched of his shoulder and stepped up on top of the railing.

“What is he do –”

The dragon leapt off, dropping the nearly four stories straight down onto an aisle between the seats with a great bang of metal armour on marble tile. Some poor gryphon nearby was actually startled enough to drop his caramel apple.

Twilight coughed under her breath. “Umm… I can pay for the tile. Honest.”

Freya leaned towards Twilight, her huge eyes looking like they could swallow the mare all on their own. “Okay, Lady Sparkle, I was willing to entertain your excuses up until now, but there is clearly something going on. As the ruler of this aerie, I must know if what you are doing poses a threat to my citizens.”

Twilight looked over to Rainbow, who simply shrugged and said, “Your call, boss.”

“Off the record?” Twilight asked.

“That depends on your response. I have a duty to my populace, just as you have one to your ponies.”

Twilight took in a deep breath, willing the adrenaline in her system to subside. “Our intelligence believes there is a subversive group of ponies operating in the city. They possess illusion magic capable of fooling even gryphon eyes.”

Freya jerked her head back. “Surely, you’re joking!”

“I’m afraid not. Worse, their magic leaves behind a miasma trace when used frequently in one area. A pony working for you was poisoned by this same kind of contamination recently.”

Freya took a thoughtful sip of her mead. “That’s rather circumstantial and flimsy evidence, Lady Sparkle. Surely this could be something else. Your own factories produce such pollution.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “True, but to my knowledge, no such facility exists in Gryphonhelm. He lived and worked here for years, and his symptoms are consistent with long term, low level exposure.”

“I see your point. So, you are here to look for these ponies. Tell me, what will you do if you find them?”

The answer stopped on its way out Twilight’s mouth to punch her in the jaw and send a tendril of ice down her back. The response was automatic, tactically correct, and delivered with as much confidence as Luna herself, but all the same it made her nauseated. “I'll have to kill them.”

Twilight wasn't wondering how wide a gryphon’s iris could stretch, but she had just found out. “I… Had heard you were the Element of Magic, a member of the Elements of Harmony. And yet, such words... I admit I’m stunned.”

“I always prefer peaceful solutions, and friendship over antagonization, but in this case I must go all out. Trixie and I are trained to combat them, but their illusions are extremely dangerous. They are more projection of will than trick of light, and are able to take on mass, texture, even scent. We know of no effective means of fighting them without unicorn magic. If your soldiers encounter them, tell them to retreat. They will die if they do not.”

“Assuming your intelligence is correct, you mean. Also, such orders will be fairly ineffective, Lady Sparkle. Our people do not run from those in need, or those who challenge us. Also, you are not making a case to keep this secret.”

“If I can’t keep this operation under wraps, you can tell the leaders of your security forces. But we’ll be able to tackle them better if we keep their nature a secret. I don’t want to panic my ponies.”

“Or cause them to lose more faith in the crown.”

“That too.”

Rainbow tapped her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Spike is reporting in. He says the contamination gets worse as he goes down the valley.”

Freya blinked. “He’s… Reporting in? Where?”

“From down there,” Twilight said, pointing, then adding when she saw Freya's confusion, “New, classified tech. He’s in constant contact with Rainbow. Trust me.”

Freya sighed and let her wings droop. “I want to, Twilight, but you’re asking a lot right now.”

“Trixie?! What did you say? Slow down, I don’t copy!” Rainbow pressed her earpieces with a hoof on her helmet. “Twi, we gotta go. Trixie is under attack!”

Twilight stood up and fed magic into her torc, transforming it into armor. “Tell Spike to hold position. Rainbow, go fly to Trixie, try to pull her out of there. I doubt their illusions can keep up with your speed. I’m going to destroy their projection crystal. I bet I know where it is.”

“And what do you need from me?” Freya stepped in between Twilight and her guard, spreading a wing. “This is my aerie, my city, my citizens. But if the attackers are who you say they are, you have more experience with this threat. So, what do you need from me?”

Twilight swallowed, mulling the options for a moment. “Evacuate the area. The illusions could fool gryphons into attacking one another. Best to get them all out.”

“It will be done.”

“Rainbow, go!” Twilight shouted, prompting the pegasus to salute and take off like only she could. Freya joined her in the air a second later, followed by the guards from the booth, leaving the Grand Mage alone with her hunch on where the crystal was: the tower in the center of the valley, miles away.

“Aurora, you there? You know as much about magic as I do. What’s your assessment?”

“I agree with your prediction, but to project over such an area, it would need to be a massive instrument.”

“Precisely.” Twilight put her hooves on the rail and stared down the valley. The sheer height and distance made her legs weak and brain dizzy. “What better way to influence a government that makes policy decisions via combat than to use illusions to give one fighter an advantage without them even knowing it?”

Twilight channeled her magic, feeding it into a basic shield matrix. Each layer was a pale shadow of the little masterpieces her brother, Obsidian Armour, used. Despite this, the last layer was something special. She had yet to master the complex set of spells required for Passage, but helpful though that would be, it wasn’t what she needed here. No, what she needed now was to be able to fly.

Since she didn’t have wings yet, she’d use the next best thing, another gift from her BBBFF. The special shield layer by itself wasn’t enough, but it helped take care of some of the math for her. With a calm breath, she charged her new teleportation spell, took hold of the reins of physics, and pulled. Mass, inertia, velocity, speed, they were all bent to her will.

When she sparked back into reality, the ground below her was a blur of red-hued motion, the winter wind was ripping at her ears with needles, and ten thousand gryphons were staring at her with slack beaks.

Hang on, Trixie. Time to see how well they fight without their toys.

It was a subtle thing, sometimes. That burst of air a pegasus could summon to help her fly wasn’t always as dramatic as some ground-bound ponies seemed to assume. At least, it wasn’t for the better flyers. The weaker ones didn’t know how to do it like she did, and the results were always evident to those who knew what to look for.

Gryphons had similar magic for flight. They couldn’t manipulate clouds nearly as well as pegasi, but they could still summon the same currents.

That was how Rainbow knew that Freya was an expert in the air. Her motions were slower and more deliberate than a Wonderbolt’s, but they were every bit as smooth and professional. Plus, if Gilda was afraid to fight her, then Rainbow knew she had to be seriously fierce.

What was most troubling, though, was that Freya turned away from where Trixie was supposedly fighting. This meant that Rainbow was going on without support against unicorn magic she had trouble even fathoming.

But then, that’s why my name is Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash!

A siren blared as she banked to the left, soaring over the crowd, which was now starting to leave their seats and fly off into the sky. Guess she went to pull a fire alarm or something.

The current changed just ahead of her. It was subtle and slight, like it should be, except for one thing: she wasn’t the one who changed it.

Instinct took over, pushing her wings forward in an attempt to brake, and did so just in time for the blade to swing down in front of her head, leaving a yellow streak in the air. A drop of something ran down the pegasus’ nose, leaving behind a familiar, metallic taste on her lips.

Rainbow tumbled backwards in a loop, coming to rest in full view of her attacker: Gilda.

“What in Tartarus are you doing, Gilda!?” Rainbow would have stomped her hoof had there been anything directly under her. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t have time to deal with you right now!”

Gilda twirled the pike in her hands, spinning the massive weapon like a baton while its crystal blade crackled to life. “What I’m doing? You three are the ones assaulting the city!”

Rainbow would’ve frozen stiff at the accusation if doing so wouldn’t cause her to plummet. “You have got to be bucking kidding me.”

“Three gryphons are dead, a room of priceless artifacts is destroyed, and your friend is somehow flying into the arena in full battle armour she got from who-knows-where. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out.”

“No, but only an idiot would think attacking ponies with diplomatic immunity instead of listening to them is a good idea!”

“Take your diplomatic immunity and shove it up your ass! That garbage doesn’t count if you’re attacking us!”

Rainbow ran magic down her pinion, sending sparks of spectral electricity and clouds of smoke behind her. “So, this is how it's gonna be, huh?”

Gilda twirled the pike once more, then aimed it squarely at Rainbows head. “Yeah. It is.”

Lightning popped and buzzed behind the Captain, eager to be unleashed through the air. “Last chance, Gilda. Get out of my way.”

“Make me.”

Rainbow took in a deep breath, tasting the freezing, bone-dry air around her. One of the scattered clouds overhead slowly passed under the sun, darkening the sky. Off in the distance, dots of gryphons fluttered about, no doubt wondering why they’d been evacuated. If they came to Gilda's aid, she’d be in serious trouble. Right now, though, the only thing that mattered was what she was: loyalty. Trixie was under attack, and for all of that mare’s faults, she was still a friend. That could mean only one thing.

It was Gilda who was in trouble.

“Alright then.” Rainbow licked her lips and locked her gaze right on her enemy’s eyes. “Bring. It. On.”

“Hello?! Hello!? Argh! Why isn’t this thing working!? Worthless piece of junk!” Trixie bolted down the corridor inside the stadium city, the walls and floor made of stark, undecorated concrete instead of ornate marble. Maintenance halls apparently didn’t rate any funds for aesthetic appeal. Much of it, though, glowed pink as her magic warned her of illusions, and it was clear that the city’s wards and healing magic weren’t causing it. Worse, they had already shorted out, or perhaps overridden, the camouflage shield.

“Focus, Great and Powerful, focus!” Trixie slid to a halt, panting and sweating in the overheated “tunnel.” It seemed to stretch for a mile ahead of her. “Come on, the exit should be here somewh—“

She froze solid after turning her head behind her. That’s not where I came from. That’s exactly like… She swung back around. Like what’s ahead of me...

Silence. No roar of a crowd. No trumpets sounding a new fighter in the arena. Not even the drip of a leaky pipe or the hum of a vent.

This wasn’t an investigation. It was a trap.

“Hmph,” Trixie sneered, and lit her horn, then put on her magician’s hat just so she could pull down the rim. “Just as I thought. Well, guess what, I’m ready for you this time.”

Yet more power flowed out from her wellspring, reaching out in a sphere around her until it turned into a ball of thaumic light. “I’m not going to run from you anymore! Rivelare!”

The concrete walls shattered like glass, the crashing splinters of magic falling around her in a storm. What was left wasn’t hallway, and the warnings of illusions were gone. Instead, she was a darkened museum filled with display cases of weapons and armour of gryphons long passed. There was carpet in place of concrete, plus marble walls, rich wood accents, and hanging flags of coat-of-arms, all wrapped up in the smell of fresh paint and the roar of the crowd outside.

In the middle of it all, there he was. A stallion in a suit and sunglasses, with a light blue coat and white mane.

“How many years has it been?” Trixie made no effort to hide the bile spewing forth in her voice. “Alone, running scared of you while you chased me. Tricked me. Tortured me. Dangled opportunity in my face only to pull back the curtain and reveal some fresh new Tartarus. I don’t even know who the buck you are!”

Nothing. The stallion stood silent, motionless as the statues around her.

“You don’t have to say anything. I don’t care to hear it, really. But if you do speak, Trixie guarantees you…” Magic burned through her horn, swathing the room in pink light. “Those words will be your last!”

She lunged forward as the blast wave turned the windows and cases into debris, scorched the wood panelling, and burned a line straight to the stallion, shattering the illusions he had tried to make around him. Yet, he had dodged. How, Trixie wasn't sure, but she didn't care. After all, that wasn't the only new trick she had learned. If it was the last thing she did, this stallion would die today.

She readied her next spell while she dashed toward him, a different kind of magic pounding out of her hooves. Upon reaching him, she swerved to his side, magically gripped the floor, and kicked off into a perfect ninety-degree turn. The stallion jumped away, just as Trixie had planned.

A spell lanced out of her horn as she executed the same maneuver again, this time adding in a backflip. Not a single one of her hooves was on the ground when her enemy dodged.

Once again, this was just as planned.

The spell hit the wall behind him. If one had the foresight to look, and had very quick eyes, they would have been able to see the magic circle form, right before the wall exploded inward, shaking the ground and launching debris and shrapnel at the stallion and knocking him clean off his hooves.

Yes! Wait, calm down, GP, this isn’t over yet.

Sure enough, the stallion rose again, nonplussed but covered in dust and cuts.

Cuts which bled crimson.

Her warning spell told her there were still no illusions active, which meant the cuts were real. This stallion was flesh and bone and magic.

This stallion could, and would, die.

"Monster! Get it!”

Trixie kicked off the floor and rolled to the left just in time for the gryphon’s flail to hit where she had been standing, and smirked at the stallion, whose face was looking less and less amused. His tricks were old hat at this point. It was time to turn the tables.

“Rivelare!” The spell spread outward all around her, reaching and searching to find an illusion to crush into thaumic waste.

“I got it!”

What?

Pain. Cutting, razor-sharp pain sliced through the left of her neck, another gryphon’s longsword having punched through her armor and cut open her skin. She reeled back, holding her neck as blood trickled down.

The stallion grinned as the three gryphons approached her without a trace of triumph on their faces, as if unaware of the successful attack.

My spell! It didn’t work! But wh— Her eyes gave her the answer. She could see no pink of her warning spell. He’s using a different class of illusion!

Blood welled around her armoured hoof before spilling to the floor, and Trixie nearly choked at the sight. Keep it together, GP. It’s not spurting. The armour stopped most of the blow.

The three gryphons swung and lunged with sword, flail, and dagger, but they seemed strangely hesitant, letting her dodge when it just shouldn’t have been possible. Whatever they were seeing, it was the first time Trixie had seen any of the race truly scared.

Then Trixie’s rump hit the wall. They were cornering me! She locked her eyes back on the stallion. Two can play that game. Magic rushed out of her horn and surrounded her, pushing her through a plane that shouldn’t exist, through a hole too tiny to measure, and back out again.

She had done it: teleportation.

One swift rear kick later and the illusionist stallion was on the ground.

“Get it! It’s attacking that pony!”

That’s right, come get me! She jumped and stomped down on where the stallion’s head was, only barely missing as he rolled aside. Just a little closer…

She chased after the stallion, closing as much distance as she could while he punched and kicked at her, the gryphons closing on her own tail all the while. Her horn lit up and fired three bolts behind her, though they were unaimed. They weren’t supposed to hurt, after all. They were supposed to get the others to shift their focus. “Riflettere e spargimento!”

Monsters appeared all around her. Horrors too grotesque to exist, masses of black matter with arms and tentacles and arms on tentacles. Each was a perfect copy of the others, and most importantly, the stallion now looked exactly the same as her.

“Stay back! I’ve got them!” The dagger-bearing gryphon yelled, spreading his wings to shield his compatriots and lifting his small blade to the heavens. “Blå bølge!” Magic streaked to the knife’s edge, covering it completely before the gryphon swung it down and let it loose. A burst of blue-white power flew out from the blade, heading directly for the stallion.

“Tch.” Though it was the first word Trixie had ever heard from any of the Illusionists, that wasn’t what she was focusing on. The stallion had lifted a small, collapsible baton from his suit pocket and expanded it out until it sparked to life with a nearly ultraviolet hue.

One swing. That’s all it took. One single swing and the gryphon's wave of magic was redirected back at him with what must have been double the original force. When it hit, the creature was knocked through what was left of the museum wall and just kept going, flying out into the suburbs far away and below, never once spreading his wings. He probably never even noticed the illusory monsters had vanished.

The next gryphon fared no better. It may have thought it dodged the first swing for a split second, but the stallion was only repositioning himself for the real swing upwards into his gut, powering him through the ceiling to points unknown. The third managed to swing his sword three times at something vaguely resembling its attacker’s direction, which, while not nothing, wasn't near enough. The stallion literally climbed up the gryphon’s chest, flipping over him and delivering a blow that saw a head removed from shoulders, followed with another to the back that sent the body directly at Trixie.

The whole thing took less than five seconds.

Fur and feathers whizzed past her body as Trixie shifted herself to the left, ready to re-enter the fight, but the stallion wasn’t there.

“Tch.”

Trixie turned her head and held up her forelegs in time to see the purple starburst flash in front of her eyes and the enemy’s baton.

Wind left her lungs. Pain slammed into her back. Air rushed passed her head, followed by hard concrete slamming into her after another burst of purple light. The sound of hooves landing nearby forced her up, sending blood to flow down her skull and into her eyes.

The gryphons had been convenient to the stallion for a moment, but after she had turned them on him, they had been reduced to nothing but a message: There was nothing that could protect her from them.

“So be it,” she snarled. “Come and get me. I hope you’ll be satisfied with a corpse!” Trixie reared up on her hind legs and slammed her hooves into the marble, cracking an area the size of a small building while the armour on her legs glowed orange. “No more running. This ends now!”

The stallion smiled. “Yes. Yes it does.”

Twilight had never flown before. At least, she hasn’t flown at such an incredible speed on her own before. Also, technically, she still wasn’t flying, just falling with far more control than normal. Regardless, whatever it was she was doing, it was ridiculously fast and headed in a general direction that would best be described as “down-ish.” This was quite problematic seeing as the ground was rather upset that she managed to escape their intimate appointment back when she first started her ascension.

It’d just have to go on being disappointed.

Another flash of magic undid the physics-defying catapult of a spell she performed at the top of the valley, bringing her to a dead stop mere inches from the ground, with barely a cough worth of sound as she touched down on the grass.

“Twilight. I’m detecting elevated thaumic contamination.”

“You can sense that?”

“Yes. It tastes… Smells? Like bitterness. Or maybe mustard. I’m not quite sure. Since I don’t have a tongue or nose, I experience taste and smell second-hoof. But it is here. Valence is two-point-something. Estimated lethal dose for a pony with an average wellspring is twelve years’ exposure. Gryphon fatalities would still take longer than their average lifespan, even accounting for their type of magic use.”

Twilight whistled her approval. “You got all that so quickly? Guess we didn’t need Spike’s doodad.”

“… I didn’t want to make him sad. He makes you happy. Also, it's probably better at finding very low levels of the contamination.”

“Fair enough.” The taste of sweet grass permeated through to Twilight’s tongue, carried on the warmer air of the deep valley. The wind was calmer here, but it was anything but silent. A distant alarm and the flutter of thousands of wings made their way to Twilight’s ears. Most important, though, was what her eyes could, or rather couldn’t, tell her. Purple hues all over the edge of her vision warned of potential illusion use, though she couldn’t tell how accurate it was. Based on what it was telling her, everything was an illusion.

Moreover, the spire ahead of her was enormous, and still quite some distance away, and well beyond the range of a simple teleport. Even if she could go that far, the power consumption of the spell could drain even her massive wellspring. Her “cannonball” teleportation spell could get her there in a hurry, but without a better idea of the scale, she ran the risk of teleporting too close to do so again to correct her flight arc, or worse, running into one of the groups of gryphons still fighting it out in front of her. “Aurora, can you tell me how far or how tall the tower is? I’m betting that’s what we need to hit. If I can get inside I might be able to find the crystal.”

“My ability to process visual information is the same as yours. Your eyes are my eyes.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “I’m going to have to go off the angle and make a guess.“ She sparked her horn back to life, programming the spell to catapult her forward. “Gotta hurry, Trixie is—“

A thud resonated through the ground, violently shaking her legs and core, though she still managed to hold her spell ready and stable in her horn. A shadow towered over her, one sporting wings the size of Celestia and an improbably large warhammer. Bits of dirt flew by, kicked up from the massive gryphon’s landing.

“Well now, what’s this? It has been years since a pony was brave enough to storm the field and challenge me!” The broad face of the beast smiled and laughed, his orange-tipped pinions and face feathers shaking in delight.

“Uuh, I did?”

“Of course! To step onto the field of battle uninvited can mean only to throw down a gauntlet to the Battlemaster of the Gryphonhelm Arena, Aldrik, the Unstoppable! I accept your –“ His eyes went wide; very, very wide. “That armour! Surely, it cannot – it is! The Grand Mage of Equestria! Oh, strålende dag! This shall be immortalized in song!” He lifted up his hammer over his head, which made a “whoosh” as it flew up.

Twilight cleared her throat in a bit of a Fluttershy impression. “I don’t suppose we could take a rainch –“

The hammer came down, and Twilight let loose her spell.

In the distance, as she flew backwards and towards the spire, Twilight could see the earth itself crack open where the gryphon had struck. “Sweet Celestia! Dammit, gotta get to the—“

“Disappointing!”

She’d changed direction again. That was her first thought. She was going back the way she came, with at least as much speed as before. The second thought was that she’d been kicked. The third, that she’d been hit. The fourth, that her spine had been crushed and broken free of the hip. Only that could explain the pain in her backside. Nothing else could be it.

Through her tears, she could still see in front of her. There was blurry grass and blue sky, plus the stadium and mountains. That was all there was. Then, there was the gryphon, and his hammer ramming into her stomach.

And there was pain.

She had been rolling in the grass, that was what she knew next as one of her forehooves pushed her back up, seemingly of its own accord. The sky wasn’t there as much, anymore. It had been replaced by a translucent purple sphere around her that was riddled with cracks.

“Twilight! That’s the biggest cored weapon I've ever seen! We can’t take another hit like that!”

“I…” She coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood. “I… Know…” Somehow, she moved her hind legs beneath her and pushed up, standing again, if only just. The only reason she wasn’t in several crushed, splotchy pieces was because her shield matrix, given to her by her brother, had absorbed most of the blow.

"I can heal you a little, slowly, but I won’t be as strong as normal if I do.”

“Do it,” she said, voice cracking under the strain and horn lighting up once more. “I don’t plan on being hit again. We’re dead if I fail, anyway.”

“Una Salus Victus?”

“Una Salus Victus.”

The gryphon appeared before her. No warning, no sudden attack. Just a static rush of air to announce that he was already there, complete with a frown on his face worthy of being put on a painting somewhere. “So disappointing, Grand Mage. I thought at least, of all the ponies, you would be worthy. Perhaps none of you have the strength I crave. Do not worry, I will go easy on you from here on out so that you may save face.”

“My apologies, Aldrik,” she coughed out.

Her heart beat. That was a phrase one would take for granted. After all, she was still standing, and still breathing. One would assume that her heart was beating, given that information, but it was woefully inadequate to describe what had just happened. Her heart beat, and her eyes opened.

“Get ready, gryphon.” She took in a breath. There was no struggle, no sense of danger or weakness. Just, breath. “I’m going to end you now.”

Author's Note

Hi all!

Health has been so-so lately. They keyboard both is and isn’t working out. My hands and fingers still hurt using it, though this model doesn’t hurt as much as using the laptop keyboard. We’ll see how things go long term.

I’ve updated the word tracker on my userpage for the first time in forever. Over 40k words into mission seven for far.

Here comes the sticky area for mission five! Can’t say I’m not super-worried about this one.

Anyway, only a couple more chapters before we jump right into mission six. Here’s hoping I can keep up a few k per day with the new keyboard to start cranking out chapters faster. Gotta get more motivated, though. It’s actually rather hard to psyche myself up to write due to pain anticipation.

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

[UPDATE] May 30 - new version uploaded. no major plot changes, but it should read way better now! Let me know if FimFic's uploader ate anything.

Battle Royale

"End me, you say? I find that doubtful." He sighed, all but deflating. "You cannot even follow my movements. How is it that the Grand Mage doesn't know anything of Passage? I'm so... disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Twilight spat, getting her knees under control. "Cry me a Celestia-damned river. The only reason I'm down here is because something here is hurting my friend, and right now, you're what's stopping me from saving her." Her horn flared to life, pulling out a telekinetic blade slightly less damaging than her glare. "So guess what? I'm running you over. Get out of the way."

"Such eyes! Now there is the look of a warrior! But you say you're here to save somepony? You are the only pony here, little thing. Lies do not serve warriors. Come, let me show you!"

"Now, Twilight!"

By the time Aurora had given the warning, her horn was already alive and spewing magic. She had jumped into the air, firing bolts of magic ahead of her, above, and to the left and right. The individual bolts were too weak to even hurt an anemic puppy, but that wasn’t the point. With the ground so close, the gryphon had only two options left: get spotted running into the bolts, or attack from behind.

Actually, at such speed, he probably could have plowed through anyway, but he wouldn’t have known the strength of the bolts, and it set up a psychological path her enemy was bound to follow.

Twilight pushed herself up with her pegasus magic, kicking into the air with a backflip.

She’d been right. The gryphon was behind her, taking a massive horizontal swing at what would have been her cutie mark. At the same time her Sight kicked in, and she focused. Glare wasn’t the right word, nor was stare, nor gaze, nor look. It wasn’t just a physical thing. It was heat, passion, an opening of the heart to probability, possibility, theory, and truth. That was when she saw it; the structure of the spell inside the gem.

That was all she needed.

The swing of the hammer had not been during the Gryphon’s use of Passage. It couldn’t have been. The magic in the hammer wouldn’t allow it.

She pushed even harder with her pegasus wind, blasting herself with a current to send her right back at the gryphon at the start of his swing and the smug, crooked beak on his face.

Gryphons look absolutely ridiculous when they’re stunned. That’s what Twilight would have thought if she had time, as her hind hoof reached out and kicked Aldrik’s cheek, slowing her down as her vicious energy and earth pony magic tore into his face. That’s when the gryphon made his move.

He vanished from the scene, once again moving faster than Twilight could see.

But it wasn’t faster than she could think. Not now, when her friend was in trouble. She had been ground almost to a halt by her attack, and there was no time to charge up to fire a hail of bolts. She had only her telekinetic blade, which she brought around from behind her, slashing it around to her right. With her hind legs, she kicked forward, sliding and laying into the dirt like she was trying to make it to base in that sport she read about once. A shadow appeared and foretold the hammer flicking the tips of her ears in the nearest of misses. That was her cue.

The blade continued its arc, deliberately missing the hammer; it wouldn’t have been able to parry such a weapon anyway. Rather, it cut as low as her slide, and flew out and away from her as only a telekinetic weapon could, finding its way through the air, in between the joints of Aldrik’s armour, and into his ankle’s tendon.

The gryphon cried out in pain, screeching so loud Twilight’s ears were hurt worse than her back. He tumbled like a sweater in a clothes dryer, covering his feathers in dust, dirt, and smeared chlorophyll.

Twilight tumbled into a somersault, then jumped into the air with a single hoof, sending her magic into the ground and the earth. It resonated with her as she landed, helping her launch forward in a full-tilt gallop to press her attack, which was met in kind as the gryphon stood and parried her with the haft of his warhammer.

She didn’t let up with that one attack. Her horn flared again, summoning a second blade and bringing it around for his head, to which Aldrik lifted the other end of the hammer like it was made of balsa wood, but blocked the blow as if it was made of enchanted titanium.

This only served to confirm everything in Twilight’s mind. Each blade pulled back and slashed again, clashing with sparks of white hot magic that scorched the grass beneath them.

“You’re good,” she said, wiping some blood off her lips.. “I was hoping after I cut your leg and took away your ability to use Passage, you’d try to fly so I could neutralize you quickly.” Power raged out of her, cracking a stone under her, whipping the wind into a frenzy, and forced black fire from her blades. “If you did, then maybe I could get on with saving my friend!”

The gryphon smiled right back. “Area denial, vector prediction, advantage neutralization, yes, yes!” He swung the hammer at her again, this time hitting both blades so hard the feedback pushed Twilight away enough to make her mane flutter in her own wake. “This is the battle I have longed for, O Grand Mage!”

“Glad to help. Now, get out of my way!” Twilight locked her gaze on that hammer. That was the key. “Or so help me, the next time you miss, whatever Trixie is going through right now will be a fate you will be envious of.”

"Yes! Yes, that's what I'm talking about, O Grand Mage! Your eyes are brilliant!" He lifted his hammer, twirling it over his head like a baton.

"Buck it." Twilight's words came out of her mouth only after she charged forward and jumped, slicing downward with both blades and letting them clash against the hammer. The parry gave her what she needed: a hoof. She stomped down on the scaly appendage where it was gripping the pole, and launched herself into a front flip over him, then brought down the blades on either side of his spine.

Another cry from the gryphon heralded the destruction of his flight muscles, eliminating the second of his major advantages. Smoke and tiny licks of black flame ate into the wound, cauterizing it and most certainly severing nerves in the process.

Twilight's heart pounded as she pressed forward, springing into her enemy from a coiled set of hind leg muscles. She buried her forehooves into his back, punching into the wounded muscles, seeking bones but finding only feathers. She kicked down low, aiming for his wounded leg. He stepped away, leaving her to carry her kick around, spinning on the ground like a breakdancer.

"Twilight!"

It would hurt, but she would have to be close to him for her idea to work. She had to not only see her target, but know it. Nothing else would work.

She let her second blade fizzle and fall, setting the grass on fire. The other blade dimmed and narrowed to a pinpoint tip. Her body moved in partnership with the earth, one helping the other. It was a twitch, not a lunge or a leap. She twirled, moving only slightly to the side, just in time and just at the right angle to watch the hammer come down.

It wasn't an impact. It was an earthquake. The shockwave didn't simply kick dirt and rock into her eyes and mane, it sent a torrent of vibrating heat into her legs. The world around her sunk as she buckled to the ground.

The hammer lifted off the ground. It was now or never.

Twilight locked her eyes on the gem inside the head, and held her breath. The core was key. It was everything. Her Sight came online, and her heart stopped. There it was. She thrust out her blade, aiming for the slightest sliver of a target as it rose.

It hit the metal plate. She had missed.

Her heart restarted, this time at a fever pitch. She was on her back with an enraged gryphon standing and screeching over her, ready to tear her limb from limb with three inch talons.

Yet, he didn't. Instead, he raised the hammer again, eclipsing the sun.

This was it. She slammed her forehooves into the dirt and launched herself forward, pushing closer to the gryphon and inside the range of the wide-swinging hammer. It hit again, just as hard as before. Even her ears burned from its power. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was saving Trixie, and this gryphon was the only thing stopping her.

He just made a critical mistake.

The hammer always hit with far more power than its weight suggested, but there was no hint of earth magic at play. It wouldn't have worked remotely as well against an earth pony like her if that was it. Nor could it have been a simple projection of energy triggered by impact; her armour would have stopped that cold. No, this was something else. This was astral magic, and given what she’d seen the hammer do, that could mean only one thing.

She aimed for a point no wider than a period on a book with exceptionally tiny print. The advantage she had, though, was her horn and the incredible precision it offered. Her blade sunk into the gem like a dart into an apple, finding its way into the control rune, short circuiting the architecture.

The gryphon tried to lift his weapon and stopped dead. The hammer wouldn't budge, but instead shook the ground with ever more force as the dirt compressed and rock buckled.

Twilight kicked with her hind legs directly into his chest plate. No Passage, no hammer, no wings. Now it's an even fight! She resummoned the second blade and shoved energy into both like a firehose. Each burned purple and black with enough heat to melt tin.

She brought both blades to bear on his head, each crackling with a deadly, almost corrosive hymn as they narrowly missed thanks to Aldrik's dodge. Each came around a second later, moving with an unnatural rhythm only possible to those capable of telekinesis. Still, he avoided each slash like he knew just where to be. He even managed to flap a wing and launch himself backwards, out of her reach.

Oh no you don't!

She was late giving chase. Aldrik reared up on his hind legs and smacked his claws together. A silver sheen covered them as folds of metal cascaded down over his fingers and claws. By the time Twilight was moving forward again, so was he.

"Thrusts are a thing too, you know." Twilight put one blade behind her, then raised the other over her head. When the gryphon moved to the side to dodge the slash, she brought the other blade straight forward, aiming for his heart.

Aldrik grabbed her blade. He didn't dodge it, or parry. He reached out and grabbed it, crushing it into pieces like it was made of pumice. Not even the little fires raining down could make him flinch.

Twilight swung the other down low, hoping to catch him off guard. That blade, too, erupted into a shower of flame as it collapsed against the gauntlet.

The gauntlets! They disrupt telekinesis! I need to get--

There was a blur, and something punched into her gut, lifting her off the ground and throwing her back. Only her pegasus magic saved her from breaking her spine on the rock she landed on. She pushed herself up, almost tripping over the same loose stone. It was gray and smooth, with yellow and white arcane script in an ancient gryphon language. The healing stones! I forgot about them! No, even that wouldn’t be enough… Which means...

She got up to run, but was already in the air, lifted by some mysterious force, then slammed down, then once more before getting kicked off into the distance by Aldrik, shattering what little was left of her shield. It didn't hurt as bad as the hammer, but it didn't need to. The world circled around her like she was in the Wonderbolts derby, and her attempt to stand only made her flop to the ground.

"I have to offer my sincerest apologies, Grand Mage. When you first fell to my hammer, I assumed you to be unskilled and let up for you to preserve some honour." The currently-upside-down gryphon folded an arm over his chest and bowed. "I never expected you to rally so well, and to destroy my weapon, no less! But it is now evident, you are not ready to fight here." He cracked his knuckles. "But fear not, there is no dishonour in defeat; only in cowardice."

Twilight pushed one eye closed. The dust and tears in it weren't helping anything. The other was close to swelling itself shut, but she kept it open. She needed to see. She had to watch the Gryphon, and more importantly, the tower behind him.

"I told you, I need to save my friend." She coughed, spitting mucus and blood as she got up. "But if this is what it takes, I'll make things interesting for you. Let's make a bet."

"I'm not interested, Grand Mage. You have nothing to --"

"I'll stop holding back."

Aldrik raised an eyebrow. "Why would you hold back if you were being beaten?"

Time to get creative. Twilight began to walk around him, lining herself up for the shot, but leaving it at an angle. "Princess Celestia put a seal on my power. I'm too dangerous to be allowed in public without it. I can release it, even though she warned me not to. Honestly, you wouldn't last two minutes against me, even without my horn."

Aldrik gave her a flat stare. "You ponies, always so easy to read. You're bluffing. Like I said, lies do not suit one of your--"

"Try me." Twilight opened the floodgates, letting the power feast on freedom by dancing around her horn in a cyclonic torrent. It swirled around like a pulsar, crying out for direction. She met his eyes, breathing deep and slow. With each inhalation her Sight grew brighter, and crimson particles started to dance in the air all over the arena. "I'll humour you, but regardless of whether you fight or surrender, you’ve already lost."

Aldrik vanished in a blur and reappeared in front of her. "I told you, ponies are easy to read. A light show, nothing more."

"You're right, there is no such seal. But it’s no bluff. See, there's a little phrase I've learned for times like this. Una Salus Victis!" Raging power turned the world into a spectrum of violet and rose, a heralding a song of destruction and entropy.

Twilight could have aimed it for her enemy's head, but that wouldn't have solved the issue, even if it would have been cathartic. Instead, she aimed off to the side, at the one thing she'd really been after.

The gryphon reached first to protect himself with his gauntlets, but then as it missed him, he plunged his hands into the beam. Some of it did fizzle and fade, but the beam was too wide and too loose to be grabbed in its entirety.

Checkmate. Her power was sloppy and uncontrolled compared to the spell in Zebrica, but more raw and much faster. Besides that, control wasn't necessary this time. This wasn't a complicated incantation or intricate masterwork.

This was the fury of a young Alicorn Ascendant protecting her ponies.

The lance all but ripped apart the atmosphere as it flew to its target, undeterred by wind or gravity, or by the metal covering the tower in the center of the valley. It punched through like an arrow through an apple, breaking apart the plating to reveal the cylindrical tube of a crystal hidden inside.

In the first instant, it was a translucent blue. The next, it bathed itself a crimson red. Gryphons carrying ponies took off from the top as dozens of small explosions rattled the entire structure. Metal supports groaned their death rattles, collapsing from the loss of their peer. The bottom of the crystal shattered as the entire thing toppled over like a sandcastle that'd been kicked by a bully. Further explosions crawled upwards, breaking the device into shards before it hit the ground.

"What... What have you done?!"

Twilight smirked and turned to him, watching his yellow leylines already starting to bleed. "I just saved my friend, and won this fight."

"Won? Won?!" He thrust a finger towards the fallen tower. "You would start a war just to beat us?!"

If Twilight had fangs, they'd have been devilishly sharp in her smile. "'Us?' Just as I thought. It's a shame we were so close to that crystal - my counter-spell against your illusions almost certainly wouldn't have worked against something that size. Good thing you didn't think to protect it instead of your ‘body.’"

A bubble of red spawned from the base of the fallen tower, spreading out as a shock wave while Aldrik fell to his knees.

"I'll do everything in my power to avoid a war, illusion. But I won't let you hurt Trixie ever again. Take that message to your masters; Trixie Lulamoon is off limits and under my protection."

The “illusory” gryphon let out a chuckle. "I was wrong. You are most interesting indee--" The blast wave passed through him, turning the gryphon into scattered photons and thaumic dust, leaving behind only the equipment, which clattered to the ground in a pile of steel.

A cloud of what looked like gaseous blood bubbled up from the destroyed tower, swelling out and swallowing her as would a storm's rain. This miasma looked like no natural thing, however. It boiled and flowed over her head and sent tendrils out to grasp anything it could reach.

There was a spark, and there was thunder, and then she was flying. It wasn't quite in the direction Twilight wanted, thanks to the miasma interference, but she was above the cloud now, and that was enough. The bottom of the valley had filled like a bowl, though almost all of the seats and buildings in between the mountains were too high for the contamination to reach.

She turned her body in the air and teleported again, this time having her brother's spell catapult her back towards her friend in need. She repeated this several times as she climbed, but the first thing she saw was not Trixie running for her life.

It was Rainbow about to lose hers.

"Did you see what I saw, Highness?"

Prince Ragnar replayed the events in his head, asking himself if he was crazy or if pony magic had actually improved that much without the Gryphons noticing. "Have we grown so complacent?"

"Highness?"

The Prince shook his head, then lay down and peered back over the clouds edge. "Sorry, talking to myself. What was your question?"

The Chief swallowed hard enough that if he could sweat, Ragnar could safely assume that he would already have a gallon of it under him. "I asked if you saw what I saw. If not, then I--"

"Oh, I saw it alright. Monsters popping in and out of reality. The Grand Mage guard-breaking solid objects into nothing, like they were never there. Smoke and mirrors."

"I think they were illusions, but I couldn't find a single giveaway. No illusion is that perfect! Ponies can't even see that much detail!"

Ragnar grinned as he watched the unicorn mare --Trixie, that was her name -- pace around in a circle with the unknown stallion mirroring her. However large the crisis, at least it was interesting. "Never underestimate your opponents, Chief. The ponies may not have the same warrior spirit as gryphons, but that doesn't make them weak. Earth ponies can withstand a lot of punishment, feed a small army with a tiny farm, and break bones like twigs with a single kick. Pegasi can wipe whole cities off the map with tornadoes larger than an entire storm of ancient dragons piled on each other. Unicorns are the trickiest of all. The array of spells at their disposal means you can assume nothing."

The Chief seemed to chew on this a moment, tasting something profound, if bitter. "Yes, Your Highness." He joined his prince at the edge of the cloud, undoubtedly wondering about the fight below. "Shouldn't we intervene? That is the Grand Mage's guard. No matter what we think of them personally, they are guests, and we are obligated to protect them."

"Oh?" Ragnar’s grin grew by an order of magnitude. "Who is to say that she isn't trying to undermine the Empire, and the other pony isn't just trying to help?"

The Chief didn't even entertain the possibility. "I'm not a fledgling anymore, Your Highness. Trixie refused to engage the citizens we couldn't arrive in time to save. The stallion executed them without a second thought."

"Are you sure?"

The Chief froze. "How can you even--"

"If these illusions are so grand as to fool my eyes, then we don't know what we are seeing. For the record, I do believe you are correct that the stallion is the aggressor and an enemy. But if we start the fight now, you could wind up driving your sword into Trixie instead of him, thanks to a well-timed illusion."

Realization dawned on the Chief's face. "But she needs help! And Gryphonhelm needs protecting! What do we do?!"

Ragnar shrugged. "For now, we watch and wait for an opportunity. For the moment when we can be sure of who is who and where they are. Besides," he said, ruffling his feathers and catching a glimpse of a royal set of purple tail feathers fly off and over the edge of the coliseum, "I'm quite interested to see just what the Evening Guard is capable of!"

Trixie angled her hoof, tilting it ever so slightly up from the pavement. She had paced around her enemy to place herself in what should have been the worst possible position; if the stallion hit her with that rod, she'd fly off the edge of the coliseum walkway and fall some thousand meters down a mountainside.

At least, that was what she wanted the stallion to think. With her armor, falls were meaningless. Given that, it was she who had the advantage. He was stuck between a rock -- the mountain -- and a hard place: her hooves.

"Rivelare!" It had been quiet too long. She fired the spell and kicked forward, the armour under her hooves leaving a skid mark of fire. The stallion had shattered where he was, and reappeared in front of her, already rushing in for an attack. The next step had her spinning around his attack and slamming an elbow into his side. It was only a broader at best, but it bought her time.

"Hello?! Hello!? Rainbow, tell Twilight to get her flank over here!" Trixie screamed into the microphone as it crackled to life.

"Trixie?! What did you say? Slow down, I don’t copy!”

"I said I'm under atta--"

A hoof appeared from a cloud of dust and hit her square in the gut, spawning another starburst shield from the armour and punching the wind out of Trixie's lungs. A stallion's body flipped around her and slammed her to the ground. Before she could even inhale again a pair of hooves was lifting her up.

Should've finished me when you had the chance! "Ripulsa!" A little pulse of magic into the gem was all it took to send the stallion reeling back, covered in arcs of purple electricity that danced around him, shimmering and popping like champagne bubbles.

Trixie was on her hooves in a heartbeat, reading the situation and planning her next attack. She still had him against the wall, but the gem in her armor wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. If it failed, there would be no more starburst shields. She looked down at her hooves and the fading glow in their padding. It's not like I can hold back... She stomped on the ground, feeding the armour's enchantments with her earth pony magic and fanning the flames beneath her.

The stallion had already recovered and lit his horn, pushing out another projection, then another and another. In the end, at least two dozen perfect clones of himself stood around Trixie, each as dangerous as the next, each looking down at her through the black, lifeless glasses.

Is this the same kind of projection? Or does he think a simple tweak will protect against my spell? She charged up her horn. Well, he's got another thing comi--" She flipped into the air to dodge the obvious attack from behind, getting a solid view of each of the hostiles, and cancelled her reveal spell. Actually, he's just done me a favour!

A little, crooked grin peeked out from the corner of her mouth as she charged her horn with one of her own illusion spells. She landed and set off the flash, blasting not just light, but also enough sound that it was more explosion than anything. Each and every one of the stallions flew backwards. Some landed on their hooves, others on their side or face. What's the matter? Can't keep focus with so many clones? Oh, but I bet your horn felt that.

Trixie arched her back and popped some joints in her neck. Well, here's something else I'm going to make you feel. A push from a single hind leg was all it took to launch her forward as fast as a pegasus, plowing into the first stallion with an outstretched forehoof, the sound of a breaking jawbone echoing off the coliseum wall.

Trixie's second punch didn't just pound into flesh and bone, it seared it out of existence. The earth pony magic she had put into her armor mixed with the power of the gem on her chest, burning first orange, then silver. Wherever the flames touched, the magic of the illusions warped and broke, sending feedback to the one controlling it and forcing him to dissolve that copy.

She rolled to her left and jumped, rolling again in mid air then landing on the back of a copy and crushing him to shards. Her smile only grew when she saw that the clones all staggered slightly, like they were hit by something she couldn't see. The constructs were so much more than mere illusions; will and feeling were being communicated between them, even if somewhat muted. Her own illusions had no such weakness.

That's right, she thought, punching another one, grabbing it by the neck and throwing it down. Then, she summoned a telekinetic blade and stabbed it in the heart. I'm going to kill you. She brought down her hind hoof on a head, exploding it like a watermelon meeting a flaming hammer. I'm going to kill you over -- she broke a clone's leg and hip -- and over -- her sword sliced one's neck and bisected his horn -- and over again, until you finally understand.

The pure rose light of her blade swung around her in a dance of speed and precision, a rapier of focused desperation responding to a will with nothing to lose and nothing but hate for her targets.

"I am no longer your prey!"

A clone appeared from some unknown, impossible ledge that didn't exist and dove at Trixie, only to meet marble and a blade sweeping through his legs. Another lifted a small quarry's worth of pebbles and stones in a telekinetic grasp and shot them at her, this time finding three different Trixies to shoot at. All three met a hail of calcite, but they weren't Trixie. They were other clones.

Trixie pushed another illusion out of her horn as she rushed forward, practically flying on her hooves. The clones went for the mirror image she had projected to her left, letting her sneak around the group. It wouldn't fool them long, but in the heat of battle, speed was queen.

She spun around and bucked a clone into the air, then backflipped after it, throwing her blade and imbuing it with enough mass and force to toss the clone upwards a second time. As it flew, however, she grabbed hold of the rose-hued sword with her power and pulled it back to her, landing it on her hind hooves and leading it and her into a tumble before smashing him into the ground.

"Do you get it yet? Do you finally bucking get it?!" Trixie leapt back while leaving an after-image illusion in her place, letting two of the attacking clones trip into it and bash their heads together. "You aren't hunting me anymore!" She clapped her front hooves together on the two clones' heads, breaking them into burning splinters of magic.

Trixie dragged her blade along the floor in a wide arc, then lifted it and point the tip at the throat of the nearest clone. "From here on out, I'm hunting you!"

One of the six remaining stallions looked down on her ever so slightly while they all charged, horns blazing with color.

That was just what she needed.

Trixie flared her magic again, almost missing her target, given how close it was. When she practiced, her teleportations were always much farther. That wasn't the goal here. All that she was going for was a slight tick, a momentary shift in the flow of the fight. She pulled back her forehoof and jumped through the impossible plane, re-appearing less than a body length closer.

There was a crunch, and a crack. Her hoof pushed into a face feeling even more solid than the supposedly perfect illusions around her. The flames on her armor didn't dissolve him like they did the others, nor did the beating she'd given his muzzle. Instead, the rest of the clones dissolved away like sugar in water, leaving only one stallion sliding back on all fours, glaring at her.

The eyes. She had never seen their eyes. It was always a pony with the same colours, looking like a perfect mirror image of all the others. If not for certain clues, like location and the rare appearance of females, she might’ve thought them one pony. But no matter what, they had always worn sunglasses, even at night; ones so dark she had never been able to get more than a glimpse of their eyes.

The stallion stood as a statue, time itself seeming to pause in shock. He reached up with a hoof to his broken glasses, and slowly tossed them to the side. His eyes, each a wheel of every colour in the rainbow, practically tore a hole in the air as they reached out to stab Trixie directly in her wellspring.

"The real you. Finally." Trixie lifted up her blade, holding it above her head. "This is it. No backing down. No retreat." She licked away the beads of sweat at the corner of her mouth, and probed the gem in her chest with her magic, finding it mostly drained. "No holding back. Time to die."

The stallion summoned the rod from before, twirling it in his magic before blowing some of his mane out of his eyes. "You have no idea."

Trixie rushed him, ignoring the cold nipping at her ears and the pain in her chest. She reared up and readied a punch to take him down for good.

A sudden pain in her gut stopped her. The stallion had blocked her foreleg and punched her. She never saw a warning from her illusion sensing spell. He was simply there.

He followed this with four more punches into her chest and abdomen. At least, Trixie assumed it was four; with his speed, it might have been four hundred. Each hit like an airship crash, eliciting a whine from the gem in her armour as it strained to absorb the blows.

Trixie managed to block one of the punches with a leg, possibly giving her a hairline fracture for her trouble. Still, it made him open to counterattack, in theory.

Then the rod whipped around and hit her in the chest.

A starburst shield flared once for the rod, and once against the wall she had flown into, though she couldn't remember the sensation of moving through the air at all.

The stallion hit her again, punching her head into the wall. Pain smashed its way through her jaw and scattered stars throughout her vision. He grabbed her body and threw it into the air for something like a pile driver, only for the rod to swing again. A final starburst shield fired, then shattered as the gem finally gave out.

It wasn't until she had landed back-first on the level below where she had been that she realized all this. Pain was a fact of life for every part of her body now. Blood was leaking into her mouth, down her back and chest, and practically flowing down her head and into her eyes. Another wave rocked through her as the stallion landed on her floor, all four hooves hitting not only at the same time but with enough of an impact to leave a crater and nearly buckle the supports under them.

"Impossible... Th-that's impossible!" Trixie choked on her words and her blood, spitting a red puddle on the marble. "I'm not finished yet!"

"Yes, you are." The stallion pulled out some kind of device from his pocket. It was a disc the size of a dinner plate, and covered in glowing runes. It expanded out like an iris, becoming as large and hefty-looking as a sewer grate.

"Like hell!" Trixie summoned telekinetic blade again and aimed it at his head. " I told you, I'm not letting you take me again. I'll die before I surrender!"

The stallion sighed. "Fine. I'll humour you for a while. I can do this just as easily with you beaten unconscious." He lit his horn, summoning two more clones.

Two clones that were six meters tall, and surrounded by floating spears and swords.

Stalagmites burst out of the ground, carving a trail around her as a kind of cage. More materialized above her head; these made of flat quartz that immediately began to fall as the clones and their weapons closed in.

Trixie didn't so much as flinch. If this was to be it, that was fine. She was going out on her terms. She would be free. She would never let these monsters take that precious gift away from her ever again.

She pulled back her blade, ready for the last blow. Twilight Sparkle, thank you. The tension drained from her, spilling down with her blood and sweat as she lunged forward to meet the onslaught with open hooves. Here we --

A barely perceptible wave of magic swept through the walls of the coliseum, its red light almost totally obscured by the blood in her eyes. As it passed, each of the projections it touched dissolved instantly, wiped out of existence. The rumble and explosions came a couple seconds later, while the stallion stumbled over himself.

What just... How? Trixie gaped in awe, watching her tormentor as he rubbed his head. His horn did light up, but the barely-there illusions he tried to conjure only brought a chuckle to Trixie's lips. Twilight... She took out the projection crystal!

The stallion pulled out the rod again, but this time the energy around it wasn't enough to even light one's way through a dark alley. His clenched teeth told Trixie he knew he was in trouble. Then, he did something Trixie never thought she'd see one of these ponies do in a million years.

He ran.

"Oh no you don't!" She tore after him, her hooves kicking up loose marble and dust into a huge cloud. "Do you have any bucking idea what you put me through!?" Her calm boiled over into rage like water falling into lava. The pain in her body vanished, feeding her anger. Even her wellspring seemed to have life breathed into it. No, more than that. Give her a hundred of these bastards, she'd take them all on. This wasn't their time anymore. This was hers. This was her life, and he was about to find out just what he had wrought.

She slashed her blade through the ground and scored a glowing pink line into the marble. The stallion had dodged, but that was according to plan. Three more times she swung, each time missing, but on purpose. She floated her blade into the stallion’s path; it was a weak edge that far out, but he didn't have armour or his illusions to protect him this time. Each time he moved, Trixie blocked his path with blade or body, pulling out all the magic she could into one last spell being etched into the magic square below them.

Trixie leapt back out of the square and clapped her two front hooves together, focusing in on her spell. She knew the stallion would try to run, but that didn't matter since phase two was already beginning. Columns of light, every bit as sharp as her swords, rose up from the square, blocking him in. The square flashed and filled with symbols as it drank greedily from her horn.

"I am not the mare I was before." Trixie resummoned her blade back out and threw it into the air, letting it explode into sparks of magic over the stallion. "I'm not the mare you chased and tortured all over Equestria!"

The stallion reared and whinnied, firing cancelling spells at the cage. Each hit bounced off; this wasn't a simple barrier. This was something so much more. It was meant to be given as a last insult to her tormentors as they finally killed her, a self-destruction spell first thought up and crafted oh so long ago. She was stronger now, thanks to Twilight, which meant that certain modifications were called for.

She wouldn’t be the one the requiem called for. Not today.

"Now, at long last, I can see myself as what I've always tried to be!" Sub-circles formed inside the square, dancing around the lines and floating up into the air around them. "I am light and spectacle, I am celebration and fanfare brought to the masses!"

The stallion fired bolt after bolt from his horn, each passing through the bars but going wide of Trixie as she danced, dodged, and even pirouetted around them.

"Here and now, always and forever!" Trixie jumped up and slammed another blade straight down into the square. The bars erupted into a storm of fireworks and explosions, sending shards and small energy blades up and into the stallion, blasting him higher and higher into the air with each additional burst. "I am the Great and Powerful--" A small star of light overtook the stallion, shining light down like a beacon before detonating in an enormous pink firework blast. "Trixie!"

She turned from his limp body, tilted her hat, and put away her blade. "You can cheer with your final breath."

Prince Ragnar landed on the broken marble flooring, feeling the stone chips from cracked marble on his toes, and started applauding. "Bravo, Miss Lulamoon. Bravo."

The little blue mare in front of him was panting and practically crying, saying "I did it. I finally did it." over and over. She was battered, bruised, and cut, and her armor was singed and dinged just about everywhere.

"It's not good form to lose awareness of your surroundings, Miss," Enok said, pulling out his sword.

"Chief," Ragnar grumbled.

"I was only going to bonk her with the flat of the blade," he said, putting it away.

"What," the mare swallowed, finally seeing them, her knees shaking as she turned. "You... You're real?"

"Indeed. I'm impressed you managed a victory against such odds. We were about to intervene in your fight, but the illusions gave the both of us great pause. We did not wish to attack the wrong pony." Ragnar stroked his beard and examined the body of the stallion, zooming in on it with his eyes to keep his distance. "Tell me, who was that?"

"I..." Trixie took a step back and wiped the blood from her mouth with an armoured fetlock. "I do not know his name. More than that, I am... I can't tell you."

Enok took a step forward. "Can't, or won't?"

"I'm under orders not to." She took another step back, lighting her horn, but it flickered and sputtered, her magic likely depleted. "You'll have to take it up with Lady Sparkle."

"I intend to!"

"Chief! Down boy!" Ragnar snapped, then smiled when he saw Enok grumble and bow. "I understand your situation, Miss Lulamoon, there are evacuation alarms ringing throughout the city, and my home was clearly the site of some kind of attack. I mean you no harm, and want to help you. I also have a duty to defend my city. Please, let us work together." He outstretched his claw, palm up, trying to look as gentle as something with talons and claws could to a herd species.

"I... I..." Trixie sucked in a breath and then deflated. "I can't. Twilight is the best friend I've had since I was a filly. I can't betray her."

"That's interesting to hear." Enok sat up straight and folded his arms. "I did some digging before you arrived. My research said you two had a bitter rivalry going."

"Had. Past tense. And it was one-sided. When I needed help, she saved my life." Trixie shot a glare of steel and stone at them. "If she wants to tell you, fine. That's her call. But the Great and Powerful Trixie will never betray her friends."

Ragnar bowed his head in defeat. "Very well. I can respect that. Perhaps, then, you could tell us where to find the Grand Mage so I might ask her myself?"

"Knowing her, just look for the explosions." Trixie chuckled. "One second, I'll ask the Captain." She raised a hoof up to her helmet, and opened her mouth to speak.

That was when the metal disk clanked underneath her belly.

Gryphons have excellent reaction speeds. They are far faster than most ponies, but even with Passage, they still have their limits when it comes to fighting physics and inertia. If they aren’t moving, they have to get moving, which takes time. There is always that little heartbeat of delay. This was why Ragnar could do nothing but watch as the disk sparked to life in an instant, shooting white electricity into the mare and ensnaring her with ropes made out of electrons before yanking her into the sky. Lines of purple and green magic extended out from her body, looking almost like a diagram of a magnetic field, with a little star as its source.

Ragnar had never heard a mare scream in agony before. He'd heard the screeches of gryphons of both genders and all ages as they were hurt in battle, but this was something different. Even if Trixie could fight, this was a mare at the end of her rope physically and magically, and it came through in her voice as she was pushed past her limits.

"Highness!"

The Prince could barely make out Enok’s voice over the din of the scream, but he did see where he was pointing. There was a mare standing on the coliseum wall like the completely vertical surface was actually a regular floor. Her dress and colouring was exactly like the stallion lying dead below her. In her hooves was a strange device the size of a volleyball. It looked like a camera with a half dozen too many lenses, and the mare was pulling down on some kind of attached lever.

"Go!" The Prince spread his wings and charged into the air, pulling out his sword and slicing into the mare, only to pass through her and hit the solid stone of the coliseum wall. He turned his gaze up, finding the mare, or perhaps another vision, standing above him and putting away the device.

He flapped his wings to push himself upwards, but the lack of momentum meant he had to flap hard to get even a few inches of height. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the lightning around Trixie fade, and her limp and unconscious body falling out of the air and into Enok's waiting arms shortly after.

Ragnar let go of his sword and plunged his talons into the stone wall, pulling his body upwards along with a flap of his wings. His might launched him up at the camera mare as he made ready to tear out her throat.

The mare simply smiled and pulled out a strange, octahedral object with glass faces and steel edges. It dangled on a chain, and each side glowed bright green with an unknown fluid. The suited pony grabbed onto the end of the chain with her magic and threw it at the fallen stallion’s chest.

Ragnar beat his left wing hard, spinning his body to his right fast get clear in case it was a grenade. He followed it with his eyes as it flew, arcing down to the ground and shattering on the nose of the deceased stallion.

Even with his nearly unmatched reflexes, Ragnar couldn't see the liquid actually catch fire. One instant it wasn't burning, and the next it was. Green flames sprayed out from the device, completely covering the body of the stallion.

Ragnar flew backwards away from the radiant heat as Enok rushed away too, still carrying Trixie in his arms. Her body had those strange lines covering her body now, as if they had been ripped out of her very heart, and it was trying to reel them back in. He turned back to the camera mare as he flew in reverse, only to grind his beak as he watched her vanish into nothing.

"Sire, look!"

Enok words snapped him out of his anger and back to the fire. It was consuming the body like water did salt, but that wasn't all. It was burning through the marble floor itself.

"Stay back from it! We don't know what magic is at work here! Put Miss Lulamoon down next to me, then find anyone that didn't evacuate with the alarm and get them out of here!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Ragnar took Trixie's limp body from his Chief, then looked back to the coliseum. "Lady Sparkle, you had better have a good explanation for all this..."

Rainbow watched Gilda's body, looking for any sign of movement, or a hint of where she was going to make her move. The first moment was critical. Technically, every movement was, but Rainbow didn't have to watch the Gryphon’s muscles flex under her fur and feathers to know just how dangerous she was: four inch talons and claws, a beak way too sharp to risk a head butt, and a polearm that definitely had some kind of core in it. Rainbow needed every possible advantage, and not even the siren from the ground was going to distract her. Distraction meant death.

"Not going to make the first move, Dash?"

Rainbow scoffed, not once taking her eyes off of Gilda. "Like I'd give you an opportunity like that."

The gryphon narrowed her eyes. "Fine by me. I'll just wait for reinforcements."

Crap. I don't have any bucking time for this. "You always were a chicken."

"Excuse me?!" Gilda pointed the tip of her weapon at Rainbow, making little jabs with her words.

"You heard me." Rainbow folded her forelegs. "I wrote you letters for years, Gilda. Years. I was ready to patch things up any time, but you were too Celestia-damned afraid to even compromise an inch, so you never once wrote back."

"That's not how it was!" Gilda screeched, lifting the pike and bringing down its glowing blade in Rainbow's direction.

Dash swung to her left, barely moving at all, and felt the wake of a rush of nearly invisible magic fly past her at the speed of sound. "An airblade? Gilda, I'm not bucking stupid. Stop acting like I am. I know why you never wrote back. You're so damned concerned about what others think of y--"

"Like you're one to talk!" Gilda finally rushed forward, each individual beat of her wings sounding like an airship's engine blade beating the air.

Rainbow flew forward, but dove at the last possible second, slowing only enough to ensure the chase began. She raced off into the winter sky, turning with the walls of the stadium to follow the clusters of clouds the Gryphons had been using as perches to watch the action below.

They were empty now; their former occupants were mere dots in the distance as they had heeded the evacuation alarms. Whatever Freya had done, it did the trick. The entire coliseum had cleared out, save for the fighters in the arena. Which meant, Gilda was likely on her own here.

Then again, so was she.

A little tingle formed at the base of Rainbow's spine; her current was being disrupted. She pitched up hard, catching a glimpse of the airblade as it shaved off the tips of her tail hairs. She leaned hard into the turn, pulling two hundred seventy degrees to angle straight down.

Gilda, meanwhile, brought a smile to Rainbow as she struggled in her wake, flapping about to make a hard turn and losing speed.

She never could turn worth a damn. Rainbow boosted her speed and levelled out, aiming for a large seating cloud near the ground. She ducked under it, tipping her body back and putting on the brakes. Her feathers twitched and crackled with power, each moving independently to generate static suspended in magic.

With one more flap she rose above the cloud and aimed her body at the only dot moving towards her. A second later she could see the gold in her former friend's eyes, and the tip of the spear pointed at her.

"Gilda, I'm sorry."

Thunder. That's what always stood out to Rainbow the most when she did this, but it was never really about the sound her lightning made. It was about the current, about the magic. It was about the sheer power behind the hundred arcing bolts shooting out from the edge of her wings, the dance of every prismatic color saturating all of them. The shock wave kicked her back like she was firing an airship cannon instead of something innate, and even vaporized the cloud underneath her. The explosion it could create rivalled that of the strikes of wild Everfree storms.

The only problem was that the explosion never came. Gilda’s pike struck it first, and vacuumed it up in an instant.

Crap! Rainbow turned to fly away, knowing exactly what was coming. Thunder rocked her ears and force punched into her back as yellow arcs shot out from the polearm. The bright, six-pointed star projected into the space around her by her armor was the only reason she wasn't crashing to the ground in a ball of fire.

Come on Rainbow, focus! She bobbed and rocked her body to face a new direction, and let gravity boost her speed back to something resembling "Fluttershy" levels of speed before finally taking off properly into the blue. Her wings flapped to the point of being blurry, and the magic pouring out of the primaries was so dense it was visible. Her normally solid rainbow streak was warped by a shimmering distortion that wafted behind her as she flew.

I said focus, dammit! Time slowed, the once-blurry blotches of clouds came into focus, and the wings of the Gryphoness behind her hung in mid-beat. Even the waves of magic behind her froze. Wait, that's it! Distortion!

Her head darted left and right, scanning the ground beneath her. The coliseum city was surrounded by massive coniferous trees far too large to grow naturally, even with earth ponies to help. They supported the tree homes many of the Gryphons lived in. Snow-covered mountains dotted the landscape in the distance, but that wasn't what she needed. I just need the right spot. The trees mean that’s where the earth mana krene is, which means there's lots of magic, so I just need a... There!

She banked to her left and dove. Jagged rocks on the mountainside reached for her as she flew, each trying to slice open her underside. Even erosion-smoothed boulders would be lethal to clip at this speed, pegasus magic or no. The sun burned ahead of her, but not near enough to do what she needed on its own.

Rainbow followed the very bottom of the valley, and was able to make out her reflection in the frozen river under her belly in places. She could also make out Gilda's.

The river was a source of water, but she needed something larger, something warmer. Her answer was right in front of her; Lake Aerie. Steam rose from it like one of Fluttershy's tea kettles, with not so much as a cube of ice in sight.

She banked into a flat spin over the geothermal lake, pushing the magic of her pinions down and to her right, but pulling air currents around it up, creating an instant cloud. The sheer quantity of vapour swirling around her was growing faster than a parasprite swarm.

Plus, with such a sharp stop, Gilda had to climb and turn around to even get close to Rainbow, and by the time she did, the cloud was the size of a large airship.

Now this is what I'm talking about! Rainbow shot up through the cloud just before Gilda dove in, the pike hitting nothing but air and vapour. She then punched out the side of the cloud and started up a second one to merge and feed into the first. They two formed a single, huge mass in seconds. Static build up reached a fever pitch and raged within the clouds, sparking lightning to life all around her, which was just what she wanted.

"Just what are you doing, Dash?!"

Rainbow's ears swiveled around, locking on to Gilda's voice.

"Stop hiding and fight me, coward!"

Gotcha. Rainbow curved up and around to the rear of the voice's source, then dove at it with all the force she could muster. She couldn't see Gilda, but that was the point. In a cloud this dense, Gilda couldn't see her, either. The single largest advantage a gryphon had was useless here. Rainbow's pony ears, however, were as sharp as ever.

Her hooves hit something soft and furry, but it was only a glancing blow. It still elicited a screech from the cat-bird. The whiff of a pike moving through the air caught her attention, but she was long gone by the time it happened.

"You coward! You bitch! Get back here and face me!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I'm a pony, remember? Of course I'm a 'coward!' But I'd rather be called that by you than die here and fail my friends!" She pushed higher into the cloud, and by the sound of things, Gilda was swinging wildly where she had been a moment ago.

"It didn't have to be this way, Dash! You were supposed to be loyal, remember?! How the hell do you get to spurn me?! I was there first!"

"Because you couldn't take a bucking joke!" Rainbow didn't move to dodge. She flared out her wings and fired a quick lightning bolt in the direction of Gilda’s voice. Another screech filled the cloud, and Rainbow fired again, and again. "You were so stuck up you couldn't bear the thought of not being the coolest thing since dry ice!"

An airblade shot past her head, nicing Rainbow's ear. Blood trickled down, but slowly.

Dash snapped her wings to her side, embracing the pull of gravity to let Gilda flail about some more. "If you could have put your ego aside for even one minute, we could have all been friends!" Rainbow pulled out of the dive and climbed again, weaving left and right to keep Gilda guessing, and waited for the next clue.

There was nothing. No screeches, no voices, no retorts or incomprehensible babble, not even the sound of any wingbeats other than her own. Silence reigned with an icy grip in the cloud, and sent pins up Rainbow's spine.

"You never really got it then, did you, Dash."

Rainbow snapped her head around and fired another bolt into the void, but it just went off into the nothingness.

"You were never a 'friend' to me."

The pegasus went into a corkscrew, scrambling the swirls of her wake to shake the sound of the approaching voice. She stopped again, listening for even the slightest clue.

There was a muffled sound of wind, and the feel of talons gripping her foreleg, and the rage of a golden iris.

"You were family."

The foreleg was yanked, and pain tore through Rainbow's shoulder with the pop of a joint pulled out of place. The rest of her body soon followed, thrown like a hoofball into the distance.

Rainbow burst out of the cloud and careened to the ground. A few desperate flaps of her wings and her innate pegasus magic was the only reason she didn't break a bone, let alone every bone in her body. The pain in her shoulder was, for one brief moment, the second worst she had. The cushioning effect of her magic was small comfort, though, when there was an enraged Gryphoness charging at her with a pike pointed right between her eyes.

Rainbow rolled over and limped and pushed with her good foreleg, then took to the sky. Even in a straight line, she was normally faster than Gilda, but pain and flying didn't mix. Gilda was gaining.

They rocketed through clouds and up the mountainside. With each flap she lost ground. Even uninjured, Gilda had always been better at climbing, and any gryphon was extremely dangerous at close range.

Rainbow zipped over the top of the coliseum, pitching down into the valley to gain speed and race over the stands. She darted her eyes over each row, wishing all the while for gryphonic eyes. She didn't need supervision to see the valley below, though. It was filled with a red miasma cloud; thaumic contamination so thick even she could see it. Twilight did it! Gotta find her, turn the tide--

Light burned into Rainbow's eyes and into her side, the thunder knocking her towards the stands all by itself. Her air current swirled in every direction, sending her into a death spiral and threatening to break her back on the stone seating she was headed for. She spread her wings out as much as she could, keeping them angled parallel to the ground and flapping. She'd stopped her uncontrolled tumble, and slowed her descent somewhat, but not enough.

She put her dislocated foreleg out in front of her, and landed on it.

What she screamed, she couldn't remember, but she'd likely have gotten a public indecency charge for it back in Equestria. The pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She'd experienced all manner of crashes in her life, but none like this. Even with a starburst shield firing from her armor, the force turned her shoulder into agony given physical form as the joint popped back in. The rest of her body soon got a taste of the hell her shoulder was in as she tumbled down two flights of hard, freezing cold stadium stairs.

"Twilight..." She coughed, barely able to eek out that single word.

Three clawed limbs touched down all at once, their owner singed but standing. The fourth carried a pike with a glowing blade that seemed to itch to be used.

"Any last words, Dash?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but the pike was already raised up and coming down. She could see the anger in Gilda's face reflected in the menace of the swing, and her hoof involuntarily pushing against the stone to try to move out of the way. The finishing blow still came.

There was a boom, but it wasn’t anything a gryphon, especially Gilda, could made. It was richer and deeper than something sonic, and resonated to the core of her being. It was the sound of magic.

Rainbow could see something new; something horrible, something far more terrifying than Gilda could ever be, even when the gryphon was about to kill her.

She saw a pony. One with a purple coat, dark mane, a horn, and eyes of fire so black they were eating the light around them. The floating telekinetic blade raised up behind the mare was an impossible fusion of purple and darkness that was warping and burning the very air around it.

She saw Gilda's pike fly out of her hands seemingly of its own accord. She saw the terror in the Gryphon’s face.

She saw the mare, a being of power beyond that of any mortal, charge forward. The entity, the metaphor of life and eternity, was larger than anything she'd ever seen. Larger than Canterlot, larger than Gryphonhelm, larger than the world itself even while being no taller than Rainbow.

Most of all, she saw Twilight’s incomprehensible void of a blade swing down and meet gryphonic flesh.

Author's Note

I apologize for the delay. This chapter still has some editing left to do, but the vast, vast majority is done. A few changes will no doubt happen later, though the plot will be intact. Let me know if the importer ate anything.

I just couldn't do much recently due to one reason or another. Traveling was the big one. But, though this chapter is only 90-95% done, I can't abide a month without a post while running a monthly Patreon. So, here we go. I apologize for the remaining roughness and unexpected issues.

Next chapter shouldn't have such a wait. Again, sorry about that.

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Two Wrongs

Twilight brought her blade down on Gilda's back, slicing into her armor with explosive force. The hawk-like screech in response existed only for a split second before Twilight spun around and kicked with all her might, sending the gryphon careening into a set of stairs. The voice was replaced by breaking bone as Twilight exited another projection teleportation, this time slamming her forehooves into the chestplate and burying the tip of her sword into Gilda's arm.

Twilight's hoof punched into the gryphoness' jaw, forcing the beak closed as she leaned in and met the tear-filled avian eyes. Smoke from burning feathers and cauterized flesh went ignored by her nose, and panic and pain went unmet by mercy.

"What are you--Aaargh!"

Twilight twisted and tilted her blade, then summoned a second one to hold under the gryphoness' beak. Though she was nearly snarling, her voice was clear as crystal, her lips moved with utmost certainty, and neither doubt nor hesitation existed in her voice. "Gilda, if you so much as dream about hurting any of my ponies ever again, I will carve up your tendons and toss you into a hell so dark and incomprehensible, you'll jump into the jaws of the nearest monster you see and burn there for an eternity just so you don't have to look at it anymore. Understood?"

Gilda made some kind of gurgling sound followed by a nod.

"Good. Now get the buck out of this city or the next time Morvana sees you it'll be as thaumic residue in a pine box!"

Slowly, the gryphon's eyes rolled back, and she slumped over.

Twilight used her Sight and peered at Gilda's chest. A yellow wellspring pumped magic slowly but steadily. "Figures." She got up off her and turned to Rainbow. Her friend was hunched over -- no, cowering from her, and shaking like a leaf. "Dash, you okay?"

Rainbow shook her head very, very slowly.

"What's wrong?" Twilight raised her eyebrow. Rainbow was looking like she was roughed up a little, and rather damp, but otherwise no worse for wear. A Wonderbolt wouldn't normally let a few minor cuts and ruffled feathers slow her down. "Did she hurt you? Do you need a medic?"

Nothing. She simply put her hooves over her head and cringed.

Twilight blinked. "What's wrong?" She approached her friend, lightly and cautiously, and rubbed Rainbow's back with a hoof. "Hey, come on, it's me, remember?"

An eye creeped open."T-Twilight?"

"Yeah. It's me. Are you okay? I need to find Trixie. Can you fly?"

Rainbow all but melted into the floor, like some kind of drug-induced terror had vanished in an instant. "I... I think so. Gilda..." Rainbow sat up and rattled her head. "Sorry. Sorry, I just... Wow, Twilight. You were freaking scary! I mean, Sweet Celestia, your eyes!"

Twilight took a step back and gasped. "My eyes? You were scared of my eyes?"

"Yeah! They were, like, black. I mean, black black. Black fire black!"

She winced. “I… I.. I didn’t know. I didn't mean to do that. I didn’t know I could do that…”

The instinct.

“Twilight, is Gilda... dead? Did you actually kill a gryphon princess?"

She struggled to look in Rainbow’s pained eyes. The lump in her throat made it difficult to respond.

“N..n-no. She’s just unconscious.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry Rainbow. I was trying to protect you, and Trixie and… and…everyone … was getting in my way… and… I just blew up!” Twilight hiccuped for air and her chin was quivering.

“I have to go.” She sniffed back a sob. “I understand if you want to stay and get Gilda medical attention.”

Rainbow looked back at her former friend then limped up to standing. “No, I’m with you. Let’s go find Trixie. My wings are good.”

Twilight took a couple deep breaths, steeling herself, and Rainbow returned the back pat. “You were pretty bad-flank back there.”

A smile and a blush creep on Twilight’s face as her horn starts to glow.

Bang!

Twilight re-emerged into physical space flying over the stands at probably thirty meters per second. A second burst moments later solidified the notion in her mind. Wings? Who needs wings? After the third, a suspicious cloud to her right caught her attention. Even without her magic sight, it looked wrong, even putrid. A shift into her higher vision gave her a glimpse of magical fire and corrosion.

"Trixie. Gotta find Trixie." Twilight sparked through a vanilla teleport and appeared over the edge of the stadium. Most of the gryphons were still dots on the horizon, but somewhere beneath her, two of them huddled over a lone pony.

"Trixie!" Twilight burrowed through reality like a mole, leaving little rocks of it scattered about to dissolve into thaumic waste. She popped out next to the figures of Prince Ragnar and Chief Enok, both of whom were over Trixie's body.

"No..." Twilight choked back her tears at the sight of her. Each of her leylines was visible on the surface of her flesh, her armor having been taken off and piled next to her. The traces of magic pumping slowly across her were a mix of violet and green, and shifting back to her Sight revealed additional colours of white, black, and silver.

Most important, though, was the wellspring itself. It was sputtering like an engine about to die, flickering to life one moment and fading the next.

"Her physical wounds aren't that severe, but..." Ragnar put a hand on Trixie's forehead, wiping away some sweat. "I have no idea what those ponies did to her. I've never, ever seen anything like this. Never in a thousand battles."

"Who?" Rainbow asked, growling. "Who was it?"

"Ponies in suits," Enok answered with a glare. "They used illusions the likes of which I can scarcely believe were real. This brave young mare defeated one of them, but another appeared from nowhere and used some kind of device I've never seen before on her. The other mare pointed some kind of device at her for a while and left after dropping a green fire bomb on the stallion that Trixie fell.

"When we left, we carried her out of the fumes with us. The fire was eating through the floor."

"You're kidding..."Twilight's eyes lit up. "Through the stone? And there were fumes and green flames?"

"Why?" Rainbow asked. "What's that mean?"

"I think... I think they used faerie fire. It’s an alchemical substance based on Chlorine Trifluoride. The base substance all by itself is the most effective fluorinating agent in existence, a more effective oxidizer than oxygen, and can burn through almost anything via a fluorine fire. Once transmuted by magic, it becomes faerie fire, which is even worse; it could destroy anything with it’s flames. Though, it gives off fewer fumes.

“Still, we’re talking about the potential for acidic hydrogen fluoride gas. I'd get your lungs checked out after this is over. That stuff is extremely toxic."

Ragnar stood up and leaned on his sword. "Lady Sparkle, I think it's time we had a frank and thorough discussion."

"I agree. But first," Twilight rubbed a hoof on Trixie's chest, feeling her shallow breathing. "Trixie needs immediate medical attention. Her wellspring has been attacked. There's only one pony in the world I know that can help."

Twilight fired off a series of purple flares high into the sky, each exploding into a blossom of fireworks. It wasn't long before a pair of chariots found their way to them, one pulled by nine Day Guard stallions, the other by two of the Night Guard.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled from the darker of the pair, his form among three ponies clad in the armour of the Night. "I brought reinforcements!"

The three Night Guard ponies and Spike jumped off the chariot as it landed. One Twilight recognized right away: the pegasus Cardinal Bloodmoon. The other two were unknown to her.

He probably ran for help as soon as he saw I was fighting. "Excellent work, Spike." She turned to the larger group of soldiers. "Day Guard!"

Each and every one of the Day stallions stood at attention in nearly supernatural synchronization.

"We have a medical emergency. Trixie has been severely injure--"

Two of the stallions leapt out of their harness before Twilight could even finish her sentence, one going for a rather large first aid kit and the other moving to Trixie's side.

"What is..." The stallion next to Trixie asked.

"Her wellspring has been attacked. She should be stable to move. I need you to get her to Princess Celestia right away. She's Trixie's only hope." Twilight signalled another of the ponies to lift her into the chariot. Twenty seconds later, seven of the Day Guard were spreading their wings, and the other two were watching over the mare in their care.

"Move, stallions! By the order of the Sun, we fly!"

Just like that, they were off.

Prince Ragnar stepped forward. "Now that that's been taken care of, we have things to discuss, Lady Sparkle."

"Watch your tone, Ragnar!" Bloodmoon snapped his bat wings out, jangling the chains coming out of his shoulders.

"Easy, Bloodmoon." Twilight held up her hoof towards him. "We need a DE-escalation here, not an escalation." She turned to the Prince and bowed deep. "I apologize for my deception, Prince. It was not meant in hostility to the Empire."

Ragnar raised his eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Rainbow winced as she turned to the Night Guard. "Listen up, ponies! This is highly classified information! Breathe one word of this to anypony and you'll hear from Luna herself!"

The ponies other than Bloodmoon bowed their heads and turned their backs.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Right. Well, to start, up above me in the stands is Princess Gilda. She attacked Rainbow and she was forced to defend herself. Gilda is injured and needs medical attention."

"You must be joking!" Enok stepped between the two. "Highness, are you actually going to listen to --"

Ragnar held up his hand to silence him. "Gilda is a hard headed idiot that has been looking for an excuse to hurt Rainbow for years. I believe her, at least that far. See to her care, Chief."

Enok clenched his beak but sighed in defeat. "Yes, your Highness." With a flap, he was off, only to be replaced by an incoming Princess Freya.

"I think I've managed to evacuate most of the city, but there's a huge red fog consuming the valley! Do we know what's going on?" Freya asked.

Ragnar tightened the grip on his sword. "Not yet. But I think Lady Sparkle does."

Twilight sighed. "I scarcely believe it myself, but here goes." She sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs down to their very bottom.

"Our objective when we came here was to investigate a lead on the presence of a group of ponies subversive to the crown who were known to use powerful mental projections as illusions, and remove them, preferably without casualties or anyone finding out." Twilight lowered her ears against her head. "Obviously that was a catastrophic failure."

"To say the least." Ragnar stroked his beard. "But, I believe you about the illusions. I saw them myself. Go on."

Twilight continued, "Trixie went undercover to root them out, and when she came under attack I realized that there was a massive crystal inside Gryphonhelm Tower, which the illusionists were using to aid in the creation of their projections. My plan was to enter the tower and disable the crystal to give Trixie an advantage until she could be extracted."

Ragnar nodded. "I'm following you so far. I'm guessing that when you arrived in the valley, that idiot Aldrik took it as a challenge."

"Yes. Unfortunately, he didn't listen to me when I told him I didn't want to fight, so I had no choice. I blew up the tower."

To say that the two gryphons were stunned was an understatement, but Twilight plunged forward, if nothing else to avoid a war.

"The entire structure turned out to be a single massive protection crystal disguised by metal plating. It was probably capable of allowing the Illusionists to create whatever reality that they wanted anywhere in the city. When I destroyed it, there was an enormous amount of thaumic contamination, or miasma, released. These crystals seem to generate it when they operate. The cloud you saw is the result.

"In addition, it turned out that Aldrik was nothing more than another of this group's illusions."

The two royal beaks could have plummeted to the valley floor. "You must be joking! I've known Aldrik since we were fledglings!"

"His armor is at the bottom of the valley, if you're brave enough to go down there. That was the only part of him that was real. I don't think you'll ever see him again."

Ragnar leaned on Freya for support and covered his beak. "Sweet Maker Above..."

Twilight continued, "Afterwards, I teleported out of the cloud and saw Gilda about to execute my Guard Captain, so I... intervened. She passed out."

Silence overtook the gryphons. After an entire minute, Twilight bowed her head. "I'm very sorry about this incident. I meant no harm to the Empire or its citizens. If it will avert a war, I'm willing to send immediate aid in the form of ponies trained in handling hazardous thaumic waste to clean up the miasma. Since the source was destroyed, if we act fast we can avoid permanent ecological damage."

"Avert a..." Ragnar covered his eyes and ran his palm down his face.

Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat. It's a damn good thing I have diplomatic immunity. I hope.

Freya looked like someone had just taken something dear from her. "Twilight, Gryphonhelm Tower was five hundred years old."

"Six," Ragnar interrupted.

"And something like that can't be just snuck into the structure, no matter how good their illusions are. That must have been there for the entire history of the city!"

Twilight's eyes widened, as did Rainbow's.

"Which means," Ragnar said, slumping to the ground like he was being crushed by the revelations.

Twilight's eyes opened wide when she saw the weight on his shoulders. "Every single fight that has ever been done here, every score settled, every contract disputed, every family squabble, everything has been completely invalidated. We don't know which fights were fair and which were manipulated by the Illusionists. It's going to take you years to sort it all out!”

Ragnar nodded. "At this point, the internal disputes will be... It's not about whether we want a war or not, Lady Sparkle. At this point, there's no way we could wage any kind of war against anyone. It's going to take an unbelievable effort just to keep the Empire together!"

"Holy crap, Twilight!" Spike said, leaning back on the chariot for support. "You didn't just start a war with Gryphonia!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow grinned. "You conquered them, the entire nation, single hoofed!"

"That's one way of putting it..." Ragnar grumbled.

"Not. Helping." Twilight said under her breath. "I swear, my objective was to investigate and remove the Illusions, not plunge Gryphonia into civil strife." She took in a deep breath. "Not to mention getting myself declared pony non grata."

"We'll..." Freya looked off to the stadium, "get back to you on that. Probably. Maybe."

"One thing, and only one thing, is certain right now." The Prince stood and sheathed his blade. "You have exposed a great dishonour to our city, and cut the cancer out. Perhaps if you had done so maliciously, it would have meant eventual war. Since you did so in the name of honour, even if the results were cataclysmic, I will personally vouch in your favour. Whether or not that will mean anything, I do not know."

An image of Trixie flashed briefly in Twilight's mind, bringing a shiver of worry to her chest. "We... We have prototype spells to detect and eliminate the illusions. I'll ask Princess Celestia if we could maybe train some unicorns in them and have them work with you to make sure they don't come back."

Freya gave her a bow. "I don't know if Morvana will allow it, but we would appreciate the effort."

Twilight looked to her senechal. "Spike, prepare some letters."

"Speaking of," Bloodmoon said, stepping in. "Lady Sparkle, I'm to deliver this letter to you personally. It is of the utmost importance." He reached into his bag and pulled out a scroll sealed with the personal sigil of Celestia herself.

Twilight took it in her telekinesis and broke the seal, then scanned it contents but stopped after the first paragraph. "I'm being recalled?!"

"Wow," Spike whistled. "That was fast... Wait, I just said you were in trouble. She couldn't have wrote that after my letter!"

"Uh-oh..." Twilight swallowed, reading the rest of the letter. "It's not that, Spike. It's, well, internal to Equestria."

"Bad enough to recall you? Well, now you have my attention once more." Ragnar leaned forward, possibly to read the letter from the traces of ink that bled through to the backside. "Just what happened?"

"Promise to keep it to yourselves?" Twilight peeked over the top of the paper to look at the gryphons, who were giving her dirty looks. "At least for half a day or so? There's no way on Equus this is going to stay under wraps for longer than that anyway, if it hasn’t gotten out already. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a few newspapers just ordered extra ink."

Freya shrugged. "If it's internal to Equestria, I don't see why not."

Twilight rolled up the scroll and stuffed it in her bag. "Rainbow, Spike. Board the chariot. We have an investigation to conduct." She turned to follow them. "Duchess Artfeather of Cloudsdale has been assassinated."

Author's Note

And that’s the end of both mission and block five! I hope you guys enjoyed this one!

Be sure to check my blog for news and such, including information on how to join the Rites Skype and Discord chats! I’ll be updating Patreon, soon, too, and seeking feedback on coming chapters for those Patrons in the Patron-only chat.

-Cv

Patreon | Rites Discord Chat | Tropes Page

Oncoming Storm

"Hang on, guys!" Twilight braced herself against the chariot's safety rails as Luna flew towards them, knowing full well what was coming. A bright flash of moonlight blue later, and they had passed through more spacetime than should be possible. Of course, as a result, her stomach was starting to make noises about staging a rebellion, and opinion polls weren't looking too great in her inner ear region, either.

They were now untold thousands of kilometers away from where they had been. A sunny, cool winter day had been replaced with a noticeable increase in temperature (though it was still cold) and clouds on the horizon that were so dark they nearly matched Luna's coat. Yet, they shouldn’t have been quite that ominous, as they had arrived just outside of Cloudsdale and its area of influence.

"Hey, Twilight, am I seeing double, or is it just me?" Spike asked, pointing first left, then right.

"Kind of?" Twilight looked where he had pointed, and found that each direction had a white, covered chariot being pulled by three armoured pegasi. The possibility of more illusions was pushed to the side when she saw their emblems, however. One had the coat of arms of the Duchy of Roan, while the other had Canterlot's. Each opened their side doors as Luna's chariot approached, revealing exactly what she'd expected: Blueblood and Charlemane.

"Um, what's going on?" Rainbow asked. "I assumed we'd get briefed or something."

"That was the plan," Bloodmoon said. "But, I'm not sure by who. We were supposed to meet up with another chariot here, I know that much."

"I'm betting this is politics." Spike pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing. "I'm going to ask what's going on before we fly out of range of the leyline."

"I think Spike is right." Twilight lit her horn, preparing the teleportation spell to adjust for the fact that everything around her still felt like it was moving. "I have a choice to make. Do I work with the Council, or Prince Blueblood?"

Rainbow chuckled and leaned back in her seat. "Isn't that like choosing between a colonoscopy and a tube up your butt?"

The entire chariot shared a round of laughter, even the pegasi pulling it, which only garnered strange looks from the other ponies as their chariots moved closer.

"Lady Sparkle, the Council would like to request your cooperation!" Charlemane yelled, holding up a hoof to block the wind from stinging his eyes. "One of our own has been taken from us, and we implore you for your support!"

"Hoof-rot!" Blueblood yelled back, using some kind of spell to enhance his voice. "I warned you, Chairpony! I warned you all that Cloudsdale was in danger!"

"Prince, now is not the time for recriminations! We are in mourning for our loss, and we seek a full account of the truth!"

"You seek a narrative, not a truth, Chairpony! Cloudsdale was granted great leeway to operate with little oversight at the behest of the Council! Now it is tearing itself apart! The Council has failed, and it is time for the Crown to take the lead!"

"That's enough!" Twilight clanged her hoof on the railing, ringing it like a church bell. "This is my investigation, not the Council's! Charlemane, go home!"

"Lady Sparkle, I'm–"

"You've already planned for my refusal to listen to you!" Twilight sneered. "You knew damn well I would choose Blueblood over you the moment you saw his chariot!"

Charlemane sighed and nodded, then closed the door to his chariot. It flew off a moment later.

"Damn, Twi!" Rainbow clapped her hooves, eliciting even more applause from Spike. "You shut him down!"

"Yeah, well, he fired my brother, and Trixie thinks the new Royal Guard Captain is out to get her. I wouldn't be shocked at all if the Council is connected to that, too. I can't pretend to be the Council's ally when they're constantly out to get my friends and family.

"Wait here, guys, I'll go chat with Blueblood. Bloodmoon, if he does something that makes me throw him overboard, make sure he doesn't splat. After, you know, a good few moments of freefall."

“Oh my!” Bloodmoon hid a rather cheeky grin behind a leather wing. “Sounds to me like there’s some juicy history there!”

“If by ‘juicy’ you mean ‘he’s a completely perverted pig who damn near turned my friend Rarity off stallions forever,’ then yes. Yes it is. Back in a few." Twilight motioned for the chariots to pull up alongside each other, then teleported to Blueblood's side when she had a clear line of sight.

"You know, you could have jumped over." Blueblood rubbed his eyes like someone who had been unprepared for a camera flash.

"Teleportation is less risky when we're this high in the air." Twilight pulled the door to the chariot shut and sealed the chamber with a privacy shield, covering everything from the windows to the seats in an opaque purple hue. "Now, talk. What exactly is going on?"

Blueblood sighed, pulled out a packet and gave it to her. "Last evening, Duchess Artfeather had a business meeting with a garrote wire in her living room. There was also a break-in at Cloudsdale Armories HQ, and more threats of violence have surfaced. Artfeather's husband, Duke Esteem, a trophy husband of a stallion, closed the factories 'until the security threats could be addressed.'"

Sweat started to leak from Twilight's pores, and her colon was making threats nasty enough to make her stomach denounce it. "That's fifty percent of Cloudsdale's work force on idle. Based on their recent losses, I'm betting they aren't paying their workers in the meantime, which means..."

"Cloudsdale is on fire." Blueblood pulled a picture from the packet of ponies with actual pitch forks, torches, and even Maratov Cocktails. "There's a protest, or really more of a mob, outside the Duchy Manor. Other large groups are roaming the airways and cloud lanes, looting and destroying businesses. Some have been contained by the local police, but wherever they aren't overwhelmed, officers are joining in.

"Security at the weather factories is already defeated. Protesters have seized control of the machinery and have helped set up thunderstorms surrounding the city. What police forces are left have concentrated on protecting the Armories' factories, warehouses, Fort Hurricane military base, and the Duchy Manor. Some groups of protesters are hardening cloud pathways so solid objects can rest on them, only to burn said objects."

Twilight looked over the documents, her stomach tying in more knots with each page. "Some of the protestors have military firearms?"

"We think we've confiscated all of them that have gotten loose in the city so far. They weren't hard to spot. But if the warehouses fall, tens of thousands of firearms could fall into civilian hooves. The military base supply is also a concern, but the soldiers there have buttoned up their fortifications. Anypony stupid enough to trespass is in for lethal fire, and the signs around the base state as much."

Twilight opened a compartment under the seats and helped herself to some of Blueblood's hundred-bits-per-bottle spring water, chugging the entire container. "I honestly don't know what I can do about the protesters. I can subdue a small number of civilians at once, but a whole mob? It would take a lethal level of force to scare them off."

"I agree. General Blaze is on her way along with two brigades. With them are police forces from Germaney, Manehatten, and the Bittish Isles. The soldiers will secure critical areas, while police will deal with riots. Your job, meanwhile, is to investigate the Duchess's murder and the break-in at Cloudsdale Armories. Don't engage the protesters unless absolutely necessary. It will take time for your reinforcements to arrive, so until then, don't put yourself in unnecessary risk."

"Got it." Twilight stuffed the packet into her saddlebags. "Anything else for me?"

"Other than the bill for that water?" Blueblood smirked. "Yes, one thing. Auntie says Cloudsdale's current position is outside of a leyline. However, based on its current speed and direction, it's heading for a whole cluster of them. Reinforcements specifically for you are awaiting your signal, and will be available in approximately eight hours, though this can change if the city changes speed."

"Mobile city means leyline status shifts. Makes sense." Twilight hit the privacy shield with a bolt and let it dissolve away. She then opened up the chariot door and aimed her teleportation spell at the Night Guard chariot. "Trixie has been sent to the hospital in Canterlot. Have Celestia give me an update as soon as she can. I'll have Spike send updates on Gryphonia before we leave range of this leyline. My visit was... eventful."

With a spark, she was back with her friends, and their chariot began a climb. She told them of what had happened, and what they had to do.

"And here I was hoping for a nap." Rainbow stretched and yawned, then gave her wings a flap. "We did just get out of a hell of a fight."

Twilight shared a look with Spike. "Well, you know, Rainbow, you aren't going to be joining us right away."

"What?! How come?"

Twilight reached out and poked Rainbow in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"That's why. After we're dropped off at the manor, the Night Guard will take you to Fort Hurricane for treatment. When the doctors there release you, then you can join us."

Rainbow groaned and pretended to roll over dead. "Freaking Gilda. A real murder mystery and I'm missing it!"

"Better than permanent damage to your shoulder." Bloodmoon tapped the chains sticking out of him. "Trust me on that one."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Rainbow blew a raspberry at him. "Doesn't mean it doesn't seriously suck."

Trixie clenched her eyes shut and groaned, stirring from her slumber. Pricks of fire danced all over her body, like little hot needles poking her everywhere. Even her tongue was getting in on the act, though it was her chest that was getting top billing.

There was also a gentle hum moving back and forth over her, and when she opened her eyes she found a blurry green splotch moving with it. Behind it was a bright, fluorescent white light, and a figure of some kind in between them.

"How are your eyes? Can you see?" the figure asked with a voice as soft as a cloud, but still one that sent a chill down Trixie's spine.

After a few blinks, things started to come into focus. The figure had a billowing mane of pastel colours, and a look of genuine concern, rather than the stoic smile usually associated with the Princess of the Sun.

"It's starting to clear up. What happened? Where am I?" Trixie held a hoof in front of her eyes. "What are you doing to me?"

"The 'where' is easy. You are in Canterlot Castle's medical ward. As for what happened, your wellspring was attacked by an unknown method. I honestly don't know what to make of it."

Trixie's heart skipped a beat, then made up for it with a series of thuds hard enough to emulate getting hit in the chest with a hammer. "My... wellspring? Am I dying?"

Celestia shook her head. "No. Whatever they did to you seems to have had no lasting damage. Everything is returning to normal." She clicked off the strange device and held it to her chin. "Twilight was right to request that I personally care for you. This would be beyond any other doctor's ability to treat. However, by the time I would be able to figure this out and devise a treatment, it appears you will have been back to normal for days, if not weeks.

"The wellspring is more durable than many give it credit. It is very difficult to destroy by means other than simply killing the owner. But ultimately, things can be done to it and a pony's leylines. I've lived a long time, and seen many such things, but I must be honest with you." She lifted a glass of water and took a sip. "At this point in time, I have no idea what they did. The only thing I know for sure is that you are recovering. At this rate, after a few days of rest, you should be fine."

Trixie exhaled and issued a demand to her heart to chill out, then gripped onto the blanket covering her. "Okay, okay, that's good. That's good." She turned her focus to the device; it appeared to be cobbled together from a half-dozen other objects, was vaguely cylindrical in shape, and had a small light on either end.

"Don't concern yourself with this little bauble," Celestia said, putting the strange object away. "I shouldn't even have it. It's a rough copy of a relic from long ago, but also the only tool I have that might have given me a clue as to what happened."

"But you said you'd be able to treat me if I wasn't getting better..." Trixie mumbled. "You're a doctor? How?"

"Live as long as I do and you pick up some things." Celestia gave her a sly smirk. "Normally, I do not intervene in medical issues for my subjects. If word truly got out about my medical knowledge, I would have ponies lined up from here to the Hinterlands seeking treatment. I'd never be able to actually run a country like that. So, I keep it relatively secret and don't volunteer my, shall we say, services."

"Then, why me? Why is Trixie not left to–?"

"Well, my little pony, like any rule, I make exceptions in certain circumstances. If it's of great importance to national security, for instance. Or, if the pony was injured performing a great deed for Equestria." Celestia gave her a wink on that one. "The third exception is if it was either through my or my sister's direct error that the injury happened. A few hundred years ago I accidentally sat on one of my subjects and broke a few of his ribs. That was a memorable exception..."

Trixie chuckled and immediately slapped her mouth shut with both hooves. "Sorry..."

"It’s fine, I expected a giggle for that one. Although," Celestia leaned in close, darting her eyes around and checking the room. "I would appreciate it if you didn't mention that little incident to my sister. She'd never let me live it down; not for thousands and thousands of years."

Trixie nodded and crossed her heart. "Thank you. For all you've done. And for the armor. It saved my life."

"We've already recharged it should you ever need it again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have at least three different crises to manage." Celestia got up and opened the door, but stopped to let in a nurse with a food tray. "Oh, I almost forgot. I want you to stay here for a couple of days for observation, just in case. But, other than that, I think you'll be fine."

Trixie made a pseudo bow since she couldn't do a real one in a hospital bed, then let her nerves deflate as a tray of food was placed before her.

I'll be fine? Depends on who you ask. She took a bite of sandwich and chewed. I bested one of them, sure, but only barely. I need to get better. I need to fight.

If I don't, I'll never be free...

If she hadn't done so three times already, Twilight would have whistled. It had taken a little time to get to the city, which meant that they had been able to watch the city "grow" from vague collection of clouds on the horizon to towering mega-city made of clouds. All done while being serenaded by Rainbow's snoring.

"I swear, it seems like this place gets bigger each time I'm here." Spike took out the pair of binoculars he got from Gryphonhelm and scanned around. "This time around it looks like it's made out of thunderstorms."

"That would be the protest blockade." Twilight arched her back and leaned against the side of the chariot and scratched an itch. "Speaking of, this is an open air vehicle. Are we equipped to be flying through supercells? Or should I formulate a shield for us?"

Bloodmoon tapped Spike on the shoulder to get his binoculars and gave them to Twilight. "Take a closer look. Not at the storm itself, but at its sides."

"Okay." She turned to the very edge of the forward-most storm, seeing another one behind it.

"It's a little hard to see like this, but those clouds are really a few miles apart, at a minimum. They can only be so close before their winds interfere with each other and they start to merge, often messily. The magic generated by our flying is more than enough to keep the errant bolt away as long as we stay between the storms."

"Ah! Makes sense. I should have thought of that, really, but I'm not exactly used to flying around and making storms." She zoomed in with the lenses, and tiny, fast moving dots formed at the limit of her vision. "But that also means that's where the protesters will be. Maybe a shield is a good idea after all."

"You would think so, but that is incorrect." Bloodmoon tapped a small flap on his armor, opening a compartment and pulling out a large, red, silken cloth. He waved it open in the wind, then wrapped it around his back. Two clasps secured it to his armor, each just underneath a fringed epaulette. "Take it from an old noble. If you put up a shield, you look scared, and no matter how powerful the barrier, you’ll invite an attack. Not to mention the PR risk; I've no doubt there's media with newsreel cameras everywhere.

"Instead, we fly in like we're utterly unconcerned and in command. If they still try to attack, Rainbow and I will... provide an electrifying performance."

Twilight flopped over on the railing. "I really don't like having to talk about hurting citizens so casually. I mean, I know it's one thing to feign strength, and another to just take abuse. But I'd still prefer to avoid that kind of thing."

"Everypony does."

The flight continued, gaining speed for a time but slowing as they approached the gap between the clouds. A veritable hive of flying pegasi were buzzing about, gathering into formation ahead of them as Spike poked Rainbow to wake up. One by one the protesters linked up and tied ropes between them, forming a kind of net directly in their path.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

A group of pegasi flew down to them, led by a orange-maned stallion with a purple coat and an improvised frock of blue fabric. "This is a pegasus city. No horn-heads allowed. Beat it before we rip off her amulet and send her overboard."

A very large part of Twilight wanted to teleport onto a cloud without her saddlebags or torc, while another large part of her would have preferred to laugh out loud and give herself butterfly wings. But, since Rainbow and Bloodmoon had taken up flanking positions to the chariot, she settled for a yawn. It had already been a long day, after all.

Bloodmoon boomed in a scarlet baritone, "Sir, this is a chariot of the Night Guard, not a commercial craft. We have sworn an oath to fight to the death to protect both Her Sovereign Highness Princess Luna and her Ladyship, Grand Mage Sparkle."

Twilight's ear flicked at that. Me too? Really? Luna must have issued orders to give me the highest consideration in protection. Possibly because she's probably a thousand times more durable than I am.

Bloodmoon continued, "Lethal force has been authorized to protect its occupants, without warning. Attack us, and you will die. Painfully."

"Don't listen to them!" the stallion yelled back. "We are pegasi! This is what we wanted! A city just for ourselves! If we let the freaking Grand Mage in, she'll shut this all down!"

"Hey, leader dude." Spike waved his hand to get his attention. "The Equestrian Compact guarantees freedom of travel and equal rights and access under the law. Plus, I'm pretty sure what you're doing right now counts as ‘unlawful detention,’ which is a Class-C Felony and is a step away from ‘highway robbery.’ Literally. Only reason you aren't under arrest right now is because we got more important things to do than play with you. Things important enough that if you try to stop us from doing them these two will fry your butts and fly through your ashes. Move."

He blew some fire onto his claws and let the sulfur burn on the tips, then rubbed his hands together to flare it up like a match. "And if you go anywhere near this chariot, you'll be lucky to have any flesh left to burn, capisce?"

A few more of the net pegasi broke off, staying close but far enough away to let the chariot pass with room to spare. Yet, enough ponies remained to block the way.

"Get back there you cowards!" The leader flew directly in front of the chariot and held his forelegs out to his sides. "We can do this! We are the moment, here and now, this is what it comes down to! For our tribe, for our families, for our foals! We must stand united and call their bluff!"

"Oh, it is so not a bluff." Rainbow flapped her wings extra hard a couple times, and the air under them boiled with rage. Sparks danced in a cloud of pure black smoke, growing and churning behind her.

"You take the net ponies, Rainbow." Bloodmoon licked his lips, followed by his fangs. Slowly, his mouth creeped open wider as he polished the sharp set of teeth. Then, they grew. What was once an odd but intimidating set of almost primate-like canines now bore more resemblance to the needle-like fangs in the mouth of a large cat. "I want the tough guy over there. I'm thirsty, and he looks delicious."

"Get back here! We have to stay strong! Don't let their lies intimidate you!" The leader huffed, grinding his teeth and screaming at the top of his lungs. In the cold air his breath was literally forming a little cloud of its own. "Two days! Just two more days and we'll win!"

Two days? Twilight stood up in the chariot and lit her horn, letting it flare bright enough to cast a tint on the ponies remaining. "Hey. You. What happens in two days?"

"Uh-oh." Spike chucked, cracking his still-flaming knuckles. "Now you've done it. You went and got her attention. I'd save yourself some trouble and give up now, man. You're freaking toast."

"I'm not saying anything, and you can't make me!" The leader spread out his wings and folded his forelegs, hollering at the sky. "We are still fifty strong! You have eight!"

"We have a Wonderbolt." Twilight pointed a hoof at Rainbow and started weaving her magic into a spell. "I'd take her over a hundred pegasi. And yes, I can legally compel you to talk. As of this moment, you are under arrest. Surrender immediately or I will take you by force."

"Never! We will stand and fight! This is for Cloudsdale! For all pegasi everywhere! We will not bow down to the unicorns and let them take everything from us! Never again will we of the sky be under their hooves!"

Bloodmoon shook his head. "Tch tch tch. And there's your second mistake."

The leader cocked his head to the side, the tiniest hint of fear threatening to break him like a glass bottle dropped from a third story window. "Second?"

Twilight unleashed her spell in a torrent of purple and orange light that slithered through the air and struck like a starving, enraged anaconda. It twisted and contorted itself around the leading pegasus, pulling in ambient wind and water mana to turn into lightning. Flashes and cracks pummelled him, fangs of magic to paralyse and shock. If he was screaming, it was drowned out by both the rumble of the spell and the sympathetic lightning in the storms. When it was done, the spell was a series of glowing ropes binding his limbs to his body. As he started to twitch and fall, Bloodmoon dove into him, reaching through the ropes to put a pair of shackles on his forelegs.

Rainbow guffawed and slapped her knees, rolling around on an invisible floor. "I'm thinking the first mistake was to bloviate like a moron while the bucking Grand Mage was winding up a spell! Ha!"

Even the two normally-silent members of the Night Guard inside the chariot were chuckling.

The captured stallion was tossed in the vague direction of the chariot, letting the charioteers shift to the side to let him land on an open spot.

"Now then," Bloodmoon cooed, licking his fangs once more. "Who's next?"

The entire rest of the flock scattered and scampered away like ducks running from a hound.

"Let's get moving, ponies. Bloodmoon, Rainbow, fly alongside us. Give any other roadblocks the stinkeye." Twilight grabbed on to the chariot as it shot forward, now winding its way between the storms.

"Ohhh... Ugh... My head..."

Spike put out the fire in his hands and gave the captive a thump on the chest. "Hey. Wake up. We've got questions."

"I'm... ugh, I'm not answering a damn thing." He wriggled on the chariot floor, spitting and missing Spike’s boots by an inch. "I have rights."

"Says the pony trying to secede from Equestria, the nation which guarantees those rights." Twilight leaned back in her seat and yawned. "But, whatever. I'm okay with it."

"We are?" Spike and Rainbow asked in turn, their faces having just enough shock in them for Twilight to continue her little game as planned.

"We are. I have more important things to do than interrogate this guy right now. He's already going to jail for assaulting royalty, leading an insurrection, inciting a riot, and impeding a crown investigation. I'll have oodles of time to chat with him whenever I want later." She turned her head ever so slightly, looking at him out of one calm, cool eye. "But since we're apparently on a timetable of two days, I'll just drop him off at Fort Hurricane and let you Night Guard handle the interrogation."

"Oooh, way to screw the pooch there, pal." Spike shook his head in disbelief. "You had the opportunity to work with Twilight Freaking Sparkle, Element of Magic, proponent of friendship and cooperation, friend to countless ponies of all tribes..."

"Oh! Oh oh!" Rainbow danced in mid air, ready to explode with laughter. "And now he gets the ponies even the Council is scared of instead! Ha!"

"Pretty much. Hope you're comfortable down there on the floor." Twilight took out her notebook and began a quick sketch of the captured pony. "It's probably the most comfort you're going to have for a while. I mean, I don't know anything about Luna's interrogation methods, but I do know her teaching methods, and she is one creative pony, let me tell you."

"Okay, okay, I'll talk!" The stallion struggled against the bindings but only got electrocuted again for his trouble. "It's the storms. They're going to pick up a ton of water at Lake Triumvirate and then put down force-five tornadoes in Canterlot!"

Twilight turned a page in her notebook and started a map from memory. "Canterlot Duchy or the city itself?"

"First one, then the other." He struggled again, trying to stand but just flopping about like a fish. "There's a guy. I don't know his name, I've never met him, but I've heard about him. He says we'll demand independence or we'll flatten the whole place."

"Then he's an idiot." Bloodmoon scoffed, flying closer to the chariot. "Soldiers and police are already on their way, and Canterlot has its own military base."

"Yeah, but there's millions of us!" He tugged at the frock on his back with his mouth, loosening it from his chest. "You'll never be able to take us all!"

"Oh, please." Bloodmoon rolled his crimson, cat-like eyes. "Millions? I bet the actual protesters don't even total a half million, and I'm being generous. They're all angry, but also scared. The moment they're confronted with so many ponies, they'll scatter and disperse. Even if you actually had the full support of the populace, we're still bringing in enough police to handle it. And even if that wasn't the case, if it truly came down to defending innocent towns, this would stop being a protest, and turn into a massacre.

"Don't you see? You're doomed one way or another."

"We'll see about that, you–"

"I wouldn't insult him if I were you." Twilight gave him a light kick to secure his attention. "I'm still dropping you off at Fort Hurricane, and you're still under arrest, and you're still getting interrogated by the Night Guard. I'm just not charging you with terrorism now.

"Besides, he looks thirsty."

His pupils became pinpricks as he watched Bloodmoon lick his fangs again. "He's... He's not really a vampire, is he? It's still daylight out..."

"Please. As if a high class vampire such as myself would be affected by something as silly as the sun. Who do you think I am?"

There was a pause, and the stallion looked at Twilight's eyes. "Please tell me he's joking..."

"Well, you know, I've always thought that vampires couldn't exist, but I've seen so much crazy, impossible stuff already, half of it involving Luna, that I'm just not sure anymore." Twilight gave Bloodmoon a little wink. "Don't drain him completely, okay? We could still use more intel."

"Help..."

Twilight hit him with a sleeping spell so he wouldn’t make a further fuss, and he was out like a light.

The chariot surged onwards, threading a needle in between two towering storms. However, they were but an appetizer compared with what was to come. Cloudsdale wasn't like any city on the ground. Cloud structures didn't have to worry about cumulative weight; each level could independently support itself. The city had the entire sky all to itself, and it used it.

The towers that highlighted the city were every bit as tall as the thunderstorms, reaching up to the bottom of the jet stream, where wind stabilization efforts began to fail. They looked down on the skyscrapers of Manehattan like redwood trees looked down on dust mites. Buildings the size of mountains were the starting point, not the end goal like unicorns or earth ponies. The only habitations that were reasonable were the separate cloud homes some pegasi made, which dotted the sky in certain areas like bubbles in a glass of champagne.

Others were more clear by regulation, with spaces between one cloud to the next measured in kilometres, not yards. Pegasi could navigate these spaces in a few minutes, while any earth pony or unicorn would have to either hire a pegasus taxi or take the long, lonely, and potentially dangerous cloud roads.

In the center was a maze of clouds that made up the bulk of the city, larger than any storm short of a hurricane. Its two-dimensional area, just what it could cover on a map, was bigger than the cities of Manehatten, Prairis, and Whinnyapolis combined. Add in the sheer vertical height, and it was far and away the largest city in the world. It was, until recently, with the invention of cloudwalking amulets, the most tribally one-sided. It was the city where pegasi lived, loved, worked, grew up, and grew old. It was sacred "ground" for anything with wings.

The clouds were everything to Cloudsdale and all cities like it. They provided power, water, surfaces to place things, even allowed for the management of garbage and waste. Now, though, everything was shifted by a dark blue lense. What was once the brightest city in all Equestria was now a pit of darkness and gloom, with nearly every cloud taking on the dark blue of the sentinel storms that had been set up to keep interlopers out.

Whether that was merely the result of the clouds blocking the sun coloring things differently, or of the clouds themselves changing, Twilight wasn't sure.

Bloodmoon inched back towards the chariot. "Lady Sparkle, we are currently over the unclaimed land between Canterlot, Stalliongrad, and Germany. Cloudsdale is heading directly for Canterlot. This ruffian was correct, it will arrive in two days' time. I estimate approximately eight hours before we are within range of a leyline. This could change based on the speed of the city itself."

Twilight nodded. "That's about what I expected. How long until we get to the Duchy Manor?"

"It's just beyond the next cloud bank. An RGIS agent is already there. After we drop you off, I recommend you wait for us to pick you up. The Cloudsdale Armories HQ and Fort Hurricane are at opposite sides of the city. Travel on your own will not be safe."

'We'll see." Twilight signalled to Spike, who produced one of Twilight's old, filled notebooks she had worked on during her recovery. "I took out a gryphon battlemaster and Gryphonhelm Tower this morning, Cardinal. 'Not safe' has officially become my standard operating procedure, and I don't know how the timing of things will work out today."

"Good thing, too." Spike pointed out to the distance. "Because I don't think this is going to be anything approaching 'safe.'"

The Manor was coming into view, and it was surrounded. The decorative gates were being swarmed with ponies chanting and clamouring in a sea of protest signs and torches. Fires burned around the perimeter, and it looked like the only reason the pegasi weren't storming the place by flying around things were the armed police hovering in their way.

"Hey, who's that? Down there, on the other side of the gates." Rainbow asked, turning with the chariot and pointing to the speck below.

A voice at the edge of hearing mumbled something, followed by the telltale sign of feedback through a speaker.

"Sounds like somepony trying to give a speech." Twilight said, ear twitching as the tiny voice was quickly drowned out by the boos of the crowd. "And it's not going too well."

The voice grew in volume as they approached, revealing a harried, tired-looking stallion addressing a crowd out for blood. "Please, everypony, remain calm! I can assure you, the Emergency Distribution Plan is not going into effect! Nopony is out for your jobs! We are–"

The crowd erupted into a symphony of jeers, and a wave of small objects flew over the fence, pelting the stallion on the podium and forcing him to flee.

"Wow. I think they're using actual rotten tomatoes down there." Rainbow held a hoof over her mouth as she chuckled. "I know it's mean to laugh at him, but you have to admit, the crowd went above and beyond there."

Twilight smirked, but didn't agree farther than that. "Bloodmoon, take us above the crowd and set us down at the rear entrance. I'm not in the mood to be pelted with fruit."

The chariot circled around behind the Manor, which could probably have housed half of Ponyville's population all by itself. The central tower was lit in gold light, and far taller than the rest of the structure. It had three wings, two to either side of the front, and one leading behind it.

Also behind it was another crowd at least at large as the other.

"Yeah, I don't think avoiding fruit is going to be possible, Twilight." Rainbow landed inside the chariot in one of the few open spots. "What do we do?"

"Hmmm..." Twilight stood up and surrounded herself with a basic shield; not much for combat but more than enough for stones and produce, and it was an invisible type. She did the same for Spike, then leaned over the edge of the chariot. "Rainbow, ride with Bloodmoon and the Night Guard to Fort Hurricane. Drop off our prisoner, get treated, then find us. We'll either be here, the Armories HQ, or somewhere the giant crowds aren't." She pulled out a piece of paper from Spike's bag, then scribbled the name of a pegasus and restaurant. "Bloodmoon, after we leave, go and find this pony. Tell him to find me. He'll probably be at this restaurant; his family owns it. Charioteers, take us in so we're hovering over the landing site. I'll teleport down from there. Maybe that'll startle them into not throwing stuff at us."

"As you wish, Lady Sparkle." Bloodmoon signalled the charioteers, and they went into a short dive, coming to a rest over a leading bay.

"Spike, grab on." Twilight charged her horn for a moment, and when she felt Spike’s claws on her, she tore through that familiar gap in spacetime. Thunder heralded her arrival. The pegasi were no doubt used to the sound, but not when it came from a unicorn suddenly appearing from nothing. Her normal teleportation wasn't enough for the effect; she had used Shining's.

It got the job done.

The crowd hushed in an instant. The small, demure unicorn had violated the very fabric of reality to make her entrance, and she did so standing next to an adolescent dragon.

Step by step Twilight approached the rear entrance, a dingy little cargo door made out of wood that hadn't been stained in ages. A number of police officers guarded it, along with a pair of pegasus MPs – Military Police – armed with heavy cannons. In front of her was a magic barrier, which was just barely keeping the protesters at bay. There was a hole in the shield, blocked by two ponies armed with nasty looking mounted cannons.

"Unicorn, go home!"

"Get her amulet!"

"Hit her horn!"

Twilight glanced at the direction of the threats, cold and cool like a glacial river. The mob, once a living ocean of violence waiting to happen, hushed into a calm lake of scared, nervous ponies worried for their future and uncertain of what to do.

"My ponies," she said, then cleared her throat for something more. She didn't have speakers to help her, so she had to use something else. "My ponies, please, remain calm. I am here, I am with you! The promise of Equestria does not limit itself to a privileged few, but for the freedom of all! I feel your uncertainty, and I understand! Know that there is but one way forward, not as separate tribes, but as one nation, united not by mere blood, but by the ties of friendship and fellowship! Bonds deeper than any politician, stronger than any quarrel!

"I am here to do what I can to make things right! To make us all whole! What that will mean, however, I must discover for myself! For now, hold strong, for this is Cloudsdale! Your home! And it will be heard!"

A tsunami of applause hit her almost as strong as the illusionary gryphon did just hours ago, along with chants of her name that covered her skin with pinpricks of tingles and delight. Holy crap. Did I really just do that? She did her best Cadence impression, putting on a smile and waving to the crowd as she walked towards the manor, flanked by the two MPs.

"Amazing speech, Lady Sparkle!" A pegasus mare in a business suit hovered over the gates, along with a small stallion with a motion picture camera. "My name is Verity Printy with the Canterlot Chronicle. Care to give us an exclusive for our newsreel? Ponies want to know what the Crown is doing about Cloudsdale!"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't comment on my current objectives. When I'm ready to release information, I'll do so. Until then, I ask that ponies remain calm."

"But if we could just have–"

One of the MPs flew up and forced her away, gently.

"Thank you, Sir." Twilight gave him a nod of approval as she entered the manor, and the din of the crowd hushed somewhat as the door closed behind her.

"Wow, Twilight! That was amazing!" Spike bounced in excitement, pumping his fist in the air. "You got the crowd on your side just like that!"

"All things considered, that was something else. Won't last long, though, judging by the mood out there. Being a unicorn isn't buying me any favours. And what was that line about 'get her amulet?' I don't have a... Wait, don't tell me..."

"I'm afraid so, Lady Sparkle." One of the MPs said, his voice hoarse and gruff, like he hadn't slept in a week. "The crowd is targeting non-pegasi, stealing their amulets and letting them fall once the residual spell wears off. We have some ponies trying to catch them, but they're getting chased around by more protesters on the outskirts of the city."

"Ugh. I've already had enough of this tribalist nonsense today." Twilight's stomach growled, interrupting her and complaining about the lack of food lately. "Quiet, I'll feed you later. Anyway, my instincts say they're getting played. I'm not sure by who, but somepony has to be benefiting off of this, and at the expense of the whole city."

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" A pegasus stallion came running up to them with bags under his eyes. He wore a dark blue silk suit likely worth more than Twilight's yearly stipend when she was a librarian, and he had a dark gold mane with a light green coat. He was also the pony that had tried, and failed, to calm the ponies outside with a speech moments ago. "I'm Duke Esteem, husba– former husband of Duchess Artfeather."

"The Crown of Equestria expresses our condolences for your loss, Duke." Twilight bowed her head for a moment, letting her ears fold back. It doesn't matter the rumors I've heard or what I think of this stallion right now. Tread lightly; he just lost his wife.

"Thank you, Lady Sparkle." He returned the bow, going far deeper than most other nobility would. "Please, you must help me. Everything is falling apart! They told me I might have to lead the Duchy one day; they never said anything about putting it back together!"

"First things first, Duke. I need you to take me to the scene of the crime so I can start my investigation. Right now I don't know what I'm dealing with."

"Right, of course, Lady Sparkle. This way." The Duke turned around and led them down a long, fancy hallway that was taller than a hallway had any right to be. Each room they passed had a small table outside of it with an art deco lamp. Chandeliers bathed the path in a warm, golden light for what seemed like a mile, and given where they were, it might just have been that long.

Twilight pulled out a fresh notebook and readied her pen as she trotted alongside the Duke. "I'm sorry I have to ask these questions, Duke Esteem, but it's important that you answer them. Do you know of anypony that wanted to harm your wife?"

"Ugh." The Duke hopped over some invisible object like he'd been tripped. "She was a Duchess, Lady Sparkle. That list would take all day."

"Sounds like Twilight's kind of list!" Whack! "Ow!"

Twilight caught her pen as it bounced off Spike's head. "Sorry about that, Duke. You say she had enemies. Do any of them stand out?"

"Not that I know of. She and I didn't share much. Oh, sure, my name is on a lot of things, but she was the mastermind. I just smiled and tried my best to look handsome."

"I see. I'll need a list of guards and any other ponies that were here at the time of the murder, as well as anypony who had any kind of access to the building but weren’t scheduled to be here. I'll also need to talk to the guards that were on duty last night as soon as possible. And, I know this sounds insensitive, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask this..." Twilight took in a breath and swallowed. "Where were you at the time of the murder?"

Esteem paused in his walk, stock still like a statue. "Here. In my room on the upper level. We don't sleep together. We barely see each other... Saw, pardon. I spend most of my time holed up, reading."

"Do you have anypony who can confirm that?"

"No. No, I suppose I don't. Do... Do you think I was the one who–"

"I don't think anything yet. That will be up to the evidence I collect and organize." Twilight waggled the notebook in her magic. "But I need to be aware of all the facts."

"Of course. I apologize, Your Ladyship. I didn't mean to put words in your mouth."

"I understand. This is a very rough time for you. I took no offense.

"Now, when you were talking to the crowd, I heard you mention an 'Emergency Redistribution Plan.' Care to elaborate?"

"Oh. That nasty business. It was leaked shortly before Artfeather– Wait, does it have something to do with–"

"No idea. Again, I don't want to jump to conclusions. What exactly is it?"

"I've only just heard about it myself. Again, my wife handled all this. Apparently, after the Siege of Canterlot, the military was worried an enemy might try to take out Cloudsdale, or at least the factory. The plan was classified, and called for the resources to be in place to create dozens of smaller factories, each capable of making any kind of weather. Should Cloudsdale fall, they would be created quickly, and scattered across all the Duchies in Equestria."

"Ah, I see." Twilight scribbled down a note in her log. "Which would mean minimal weather control interruption, and make it nearly impossible to shut down all the factories at once. It'd be an extremely redundant system, highly resilient to attack on a national level."

"Right, that's what the paper said. But it was leaked, and everypony thinks it's what we are doing, instead of what we would do only in a catastrophe. Hence, mass protests with ponies that just won't listen, no matter what I do."

"Help is on the way, Duke. They'll bring back the peace, while I'll investigate what happened here."

The pair turned a corner to the right, continuing down an equally absurdly long hallway, this one with the occasional step upwards. As they climbed, the ceiling grew closer, and the lighting darker. By the end, what was once a path of bright, golden light was an indoor alleyway of blues and blacks.

"Is that the room?" Twilight asked, pointing to a door on the right being guarded by an MP.

"Yes. You'll excuse me if I don't enter it with you, Lady Sparkle. She might not have loved me anymore, but I did her."

"I understand. I may need to ask more questions later, however, and given the danger outside I must ask you to stay in the building."

"Of course. I'll be in my room if you need me," Esteem said, bowing and turning to leave as the MP approached Twilight.

"Lady Sparkle," the MP said as he saluted. "A civilian Forensic Investigation team arrived before we did and took photos of the room and carpet in the hallways. There were signs of hoof prints in the carpet." He reached into a pouch on his uniform and pulled out a package. "These are copies of the photos."

Twilight took them in her magic and scanned through them. Each was numbered and had a small ruler next to them for reference.

Spike leaned over her shoulder, watching as the images flicked by. "That's a lot of pictures. Can you get anything from this, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded, the gears in her head already turning at high speed. "Yes. The only hoof prints within the room appear to be either from a pair of stock pony mares, or an exceptionally small stock pony stallion. There is another that is likely either from a draft mare, or a stock stallion. He was only in the hall. The mess in the pictures has all the hallmarks of a struggle."

Spike took one of the pictures in his claws, tilting it and holding it up to a light. "It's a start, I guess. So, two perps, right?"

"Exactly. In fact, here, Spike." She tossed him the notebook and pen. "You take notes. I'll break down the evidence, you put it on record."

"You got it!" Spike gave her a salute and started scribbling on the pages. "Two perps, one stock mare, one stock stallion."

Twilight closed her eyes. Keep calm. There will be a dead pony in there. She was murdered. It's our job to collect evidence, and use that to figure out who it was. We can't do that in the grip of rage, in the shadow of overwhelming instinct. Alicorn or not, only calm logic will do.

Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control of the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and is under my command.

Twilight's eyes opened, stripping away the obfuscation of the physical world, and revealing the metaphysical. The ambient magic in the hall bubbled and flowed like molasses, with multiple elements piling on top of each other. The wellsprings and leylines of the MP and Spike were visible under their translucent bodies. She was ready.

Twilight took a step into the room and took stock. As expected, it was a mess. Books were scattered about, along with glass and blood. Duchess Artfeather lay dead on carpet, her head and neck in a pool of her own blood and her wings broken at her sides. Her pinions were dyed in a rainbow arrangement, somewhat like Dash's mane, although the bases of the feathers were all a golden hue.

Hoof prints were scattered all about, many still with evidence markers. They were exposed by cutting out the carpet, except for where it was holding other evidence, like Artfeather’s body. There was a little furniture, including a wooden table with lamp, a china cabinet, and a bookshelf filled with the kind of trashy romance novels Rarity secretly hoards. Each fit the art deco motif of the building, and was relatively undisturbed. In the center and on the floor was a chain, more broken glass, and some kind of lantern-like frame.

Her magic sight was telling her little, however. Underneath Artfeather was a pool of miasma mixing with the blood, but the rest was covered under the same blanket of rolling, random mana as the hall outside. If anything, it seemed to have a source in the middle of the room, directly over the unknown metal frame and chain.

The most unexpected thing, however, was a pony with a rather elaborate longcoat draped on her back. It was dark blue with yellow accents, including the insignia of the Royal Guard, RGIS Division. On her back was a polearm with two curved blades, one on each end, that were currently folded in on themselves. The unicorn glanced at her with calculating orange eyes.

"Welcome, Lady Sparkle," she said, adjusting her glasses. "I've been expecting you."

"Lieutenant Intelligentsia? What are you doing here?" Twilight took a careful step forward, dancing around the evidence markers. "Didn't Celestia tell you to take on less work, not more?"

"I made her a bargain. I've dropped a number of other projects on some of the 'better' candidates in exchange for this assignment. I've always wanted an excuse to poke around Cloudsdale Manor and Artfeather's businesses. This gives me carte blanche to search whatever I deem worthy of investigation."

"Let me guess." Spike folded his arms and gave her a grin. "Cloudsdale Seventeen?"

Intelligentsia tapped her nose. "I don't know how much you two know, but RGIS was about to come down on Cloudsdale Armories like a ton of bricks. Artfeather did a good job of using politics to hold us off, I'll give her that, but with all the shenanigans we were finding, it was inevitable.

"Now we're adding finding her killer to our to-do list as well, and you'll be taking the lead on that. Anything you need from the Guard, let me know, and I'll see that you get it. Funds are not an issue, but given the situation, personnel will be, for the next little while."

"Fair enough. I'm looking forward to working with you, Lieutenant."

"Likewise, Lady Sparkle. Shall we begin?"

"Absolutely." Twilight set up the scene in her mind, matching the hoof prints in the photographs with the numbers and floor, setting up a sequence. "Artfeather entered first, and moved... there, next to the china cabinet."

"I concur." Intelligentsia pulled out a ruler and laid it out next to a pair of the hoof prints. "Artfeather's hooves are slightly larger than whoever killed her. We're lucky we arrived before the clouds returned to neutral. It allows us to establish their movements to some degree."

"Right. Now, the killer... She entered second, and..." Twilight walked around some, careful not to step on anything important. "This hoof print is different. The killer is standing on her two hind hooves, but see this front print? The hoof mark is thicker than the others. She was bowing, showing respect. If she had time to do that, if she interacted with Artfeather first, it says she either knew her killer, or the killer presented herself as an agent of some kind."

"Uh, Twi? Agent?" Spike tapped the book with the pen. "Care to translate into Equuish?"

"I mean, it’s possible she either was a government or company official, or was impersonating one." Twilight winced as she looked down at the body. "What was Artfeather like? Rarity seemed to think she was the jealous type."

"Jealous, haughty, large ego, greedy... And a bit paranoid." Intelligentsia pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here's her profile in brief."

Twilight took it in, adding it to her knowledge and molding it to the situation. "So, a pony she knew then. That would narrow it down.

"Now, the killer managed to gain her trust somehow, or already had it, because from the hoof prints, she turned around, facing that table..." Twilight squinted, narrowing her focus to the piece of furniture.

"Hold on, hold on!" Spike scribbled with his pen at breakneck pace, or at least "break paper" pace, as the tip poked a hole in a page. "This is a lot of information to take down. Way more to go on than what you found in Wintervale."

"No where near done yet, Spike. Pardon me, Gen, I need to get over there." Twilight tip-hoofed over to where Intelligentsia was, and stood over the table, eyeing it. "There's a ring of condensation residue here."

Intelligentsia pulled out a camera and took a picture of it. "I noticed that as well, Lady Sparkle. I believe it significant, but other than that, I'll let you draw your own conclusions. See if our trains of thought meet at the same station."

"Ah, independent verification. Gotcha. Let's see... Given the size of the ring..." Twilight looked down from the table at the broken glass on the carpet. Some of it was crystal clear and from a wine glass whose bell had been shattered, though there was still a piece of it intact with a few drops of red in it. The rest was green, the remnants of a bottle broken in two large pieces plus a variety of smaller ones.

After Intelligentsia snapped a few more pictures, Twilight picked up the bottom of the bottle and placed it on the residue. "Perfect match. In fact, there’s more. Much more." She brushed the bottle with the very tip of her ear, sensing a slight chill. "The bottle had a spell on it to keep it cold, hence the condensation. This is a cloud building, climate controlled for heat. The high humidity meant the water formed quickly."

"Those spells aren't too hard to come by. Lots of unicorns know it. Some bottles are even sold that way." Spike circled something on the paper and continued, "So we know what caused the ring, but the spell by itself doesn't give us much of a lead... But there's something that doesn't make sense. This is nice and plush carpet on top of cloud. There's no way a wine glass or bottle would break from a little fall like that, not even with a perfect drop."

"Excellent observation, Spike!" Twilight clapped her hooves in applause. "I'm promoting you to Deputy Investigator!"

"Depu– Wait, that means I'm stuck taking notes each time we do this."

"Another excellent observation! It also means you get to make those. In fact, you're expected to!"

Even Intelligentsia couldn't contain a chuckle at that.

"Fine." Spike sighed in defeat and readied himself to write again. "What's next, oh fearless leader."

"Well, look at the carpet under the glass." Twilight knelt down, getting a close look and a whiff of wine. "I don't see any hoof prints here, do you?"

Spike shook his head. "Your eyes are better than mine, Twi. If you say it’s not there, it's not there."

"Fair enough. Now, if the fall didn't break these, and neither did a stomp of a hoof, then something else must have. Given their position and the fact that both of them are broken, I think the bottle fell on top of the glass, which means the glass was on the ground first. Though the wine glass is thicker than what unicorns tend to use, I still think that if it was the other way around the bottle wouldn't be broken. Thus, another piece of the timeline is filed in."

"I'm impressed, Twilight." Intelligentsia rewound and popped out her film roll, swapping it for another. "I came to the same conclusion just before you arrived. Although, there's one more thing I saw, though I don't know if it's relevant."

"Anything could be. What did I miss?"

Intelligentsia picked up a piece of the broken bottle, then peeled off its label, revealing a different label underneath. "This isn't a real bottle of Roan Manor 971. I don't know if the intruder gave this to Artfeather or if she already had it, but it's a fake. The only way to get real Roan 971 is to be a friend or family member of Charlemane's, and he and the Duchess have long been at odds. This is an el cheapo brand with a fake label."

Spike held in a chuckle for a moment before breaking out in full laugher. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I can't help it!"

"Yeah, well, get it out of your system; there's more notes to take." Twilight moved again, placing herself between the body and the bookshelf. "The heavy hoof prints over there look like she was stomping, or more likely, bucking from being choked. Then, there's only one set of prints for a bit, suggesting she tried to fly, but that would only tighten the garrote."

She carefully tilted the head of Artfeather, examining the wound on her neck, then checked her head, including her eyes. "There's petechial hemorrhaging here, consistent with strangulation. There's also a perimortem wound on her head that appears to be blunt force trauma."

"... Wow." Intelligentsia staggered back, rubbing her head like she'd been hit with a ten pound epiphany. "I was going to just tell you that. I have to admit, I never expected a student of Celestia to know stuff like that. Then again, given her medical knowledge, maybe I should have."

Twilight lifted up one of the books on Artfeather's back, along with one of the scattered feathers. "I had a lot of time to read up in the hospital, and I'm a quick study. I brought some spells to help with it, too.

"Not quite done yet, though. The fact that she's underneath the books tells me she had them fall on her. Based on that, the head wound, the feathers scattered in the room, and the missing hoof prints... I think she tried to fly, but was simply tossed into the bookshelf instead. The addition of a head injury knocking her around and disorienting her further likely sealed her fate. The heavy hoof prints under the wings tells me the killer probably stomped on them right here, just before the Duchess died."

"What about the blood under her head?" Spike turned back a few pages and showed her a list of the evidence. "You haven't mentioned that yet."

"That's relatively simple." Twilight tilted Artfeather's head up, exposing the cut on the neck. "There's bruising along where the wire sliced into her throat. In fact..." She gave something a little tug, finding a nearly invisible wire lodged in the skin. "The murder weapon is still here. Only a unicorn could manipulate something so thin with this much precision and force."

"We should keep that to ourselves for now." Intelligentsia turned to the darkened window outside. "The tribalist element out there will have a field day if they find out."

Twilight nodded, half paying attention to her. "Agreed. Now, as far as her cut throat is concerned, I don’t know if that was what killed her, or was just a coup de grace done to make sure of her death if strangulation wasn’t enough. It’s a minor point, though one I’d like clarified. A Medical Examiner will be able to find out for sure, so it’s only a matter of time.

"There's a few things I can't figure out, though. One is the glass and metal in the middle of the room, and the other is why there's so much random ambient magic in here. The latter is especially bad because there's no way I’m going to be able to get a thaumic profile on anything here."

"I think I can answer both of those questions, Lady Sparkle." Intelligentsia pulled out a photograph from a different time and place, showing a kind of glass ball with a glowing mixture of different coloured clouds. "This is a 'mana bomb,' which is what I think the glass and metal was. When shattered, it spews forth a decent amount of random mana types for a while. It does no physical damage, but it's very good at erasing magical traces. Makes it impossible to use thaumic profiles as evidence."

"And there's the last piece of the puzzle, for this room anyway." Twilight signalled for Intelligentsia and Spike to follow as she exited the chamber. "Now, let's talk to the guards."

"These are all of them?" Twilight asked, pacing around the line-up of guards employed by the Duchy to protect the Manor. Each was a pegasus stallion, and most were either ex-military or ex-police, and all of them were draft ponies. "I don't see any signs of a recent fight on any of them."

One of them scoffed at her and poked her in the chest with a hoof. "Like you'd know what a fight looks like."

"Hey, pudding-for-brains." Spike grabbed hold of the stallion's wing and gave it a twist, eliciting a yelping howl. "This morning she defeated a gryphon battlemaster, then followed it up with damn near killing the Gryphonic Princess next in line for the throne."

Intelligentsia dropped her camera to the floor. "She did what?!"

"Made a ton of work for you, I guess." Twilight gave her a whispered "sorry." "And Spike, let him go. I don't want to start a fight before I even interview them."

Spike released him, but then lit one of his claws on fire and shook it in a warning.

"Now then, everypony." Twilight switched into her magic sight, eyeing them all over once more. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go down the line, and you're going to tell me what you saw - anything that you saw. If you lie to me, you'll be in a lot of trouble when I find out. And trust me, if you lie, I will find out.

"We'll start with you. Where were you stationed, and what did you see around the time of the murder?"

"I was guarding the vault room, ma'am. Nothing out of the ordinary. At least, indoors."

"And outdoors?" Twilight asked.

"Protests started getting bad around four last night. Clouds got dark."

"Twilight," Intelligentsia interjected, "that's five hours before our estimated time of death."

"I see." Twilight stepped to the next pony. "Well then, what about you?"

"Upper chariot bay, ma'am. I didn't see anything. I closed the doors after we received news of the Duchess's murder."

Twilight analyzed his face, looking for lies, but finding nothing but a feeling at the back of her mind, and an itch on her back. "Right. Next guard, what did you see?"

"Main hallway,” he said with a flat stare. “I didn't see anything."

"There are windows bigger than my tree house in that hallway. Are you sure you didn't see anything? What about the protests?"

"I didn't see anything."

"You know it's perjury to lie to a Grand Mage, right?" Intelligentsia asked. "We find out you're lying, and you get put away for that, even if you beat an accomplice rap."

"I didn't see anything."

"That so?" Twilight pulled out a photograph and held it up to his face. "Even though the hoof prints led straight past your post?"

"I didn't see anything."

"Sure. Okay. Let's go with that for the moment." Twilight took a step back, following his leylines with her eyes. They were calm and controlled, with no hint of any contamination in the light blue veins.

"Twilight, something is very wrong here. I don't like it. I want to deploy."

Twilight could feel Aurora shiver in fear, even though the torc was still. It was like a terrified filly was hiding among her legs. I agree, something isn't right, but I don't think it's an immediate threat. Don't deploy.

"Okay, next up..."

"That's all of them accounted for and detained." Intelligentsia shut the door and stretched, then put up a privacy shield around the room they had borrowed. "This has turned out to be quite the day, and it's really only getting started."

Twilight hunched over and rubbed her growling stomach. "Don't remind me. Did you get the plans I asked for?"

"Right here." Intelligentsia pulled out a roll of blueprints too long and thick to logically fit in her pouch and put them on the table for Spike to go through.

"Holy crap." Spike started counting the number of pages, but gave up at around twenty. "I knew this place was huge, but damn. What do we need these for again?"

"If I'm right, we really only need the one with the main hall and the upper chariot bay." Twilight pulled out two markers, one black, one red. "These two. Here, spread them out and hold up the list of guards."

"If you're doing what I think you're doing, then it's brilliant." Intelligentsia took off her glasses to wipe them off. "Let me guess, the red X's are going to be the ones that kept repeating 'I didn't see anything.'"

"I was going to use O's, but yes, that's the gist." Twilight marked up the plans, putting in the black marks for the more normal responses first, then the red for the ones that kept repeating that one line. "Now, take a look at this."

"Whoa. It's a path!" Spike traced the series of red marks with his claw, starting with the chariot bay, going down a lift to the main hall, and through the stupidly long walk clear through to the murder room. "We know how they got in!"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah. The only red marks are along this path; the guards stationed anywhere else weren't doing a parrot impression. As a result, I now have enough information to reconstruct the events of the crime. Here's how it went down.

"The culprits, one mare and one stallion, probably both unicorns, landed via chariot in the upper bay. There, they were confronted by the guards, who never stood a chance.

"One of the perpetrators used either a geas, or more likely, Power Words combined with a memory charm, on both of the guards. They told them 'You didn't see anything.' The result was likely a pair of temporary vegetables, giving the intruders enough time to perform their task.

"They then went down the lift and into the main hall, wiping the minds of every guard they came across. The mare then confronted Artfeather, who accepted her as friendly. At some point she turned her back, and the killer struck, draping the wire around her. Artfeather struggled, bucking and trying to fly so hard she sent feathers flying, but only got knocked into the bookcase.

"The murderer then stomped on her wings, breaking them. The Duchess passed out, and the assassin pulled very hard, cutting the throat before leaving for the door. Then, one of the two intruders tossed the mana bomb, erasing quite a lot of evidence. They knew exactly what they were doing. This was calculated."

"I agree with all of your findings, Lady Sparkle." A large stack of forms appeared from inside Intelligentsia's coat pocket, along with a pen. "Don't worry about the paperwork. I can get that. You focus on finding the truth, especially the two big things we're missing here."

"What's that?" Spike asked. "She pretty much figured it out."

"Except for the 'who,' Spike." Twilight seethed over the plans, her mind trying to think of anything she might have missed. "Whoever did this is good. We spent three hours hunting for the smallest clues and interviewing the staff, and we don't have a single lead on their identity. But, that's not what worries me the most. There's a hole here that I can't resolve yet."

"There is?" Spike asked, scratching his head. "It seems solid to me."

Intelligentsia stepped forward, picking up a pen. "Actually, it's enormous, Spike. And it happened right here." She marked a spot at the door to the crime scene. "Just when the killer first encountered Artfeather.

"Query: If these ponies were capable of using a geas or Power Words, why did they not use them on Artfeather? If they had, there would have been no struggle."

Spike was struck, his voice and breath silent in the cool, still room.

Twilight folded her forelegs. "In my mind, there can only be one answer: They couldn't. What we are missing is why.” She rolled up the plans and gave them back to Intelligentsia. "Don't let anypony see this, and don't tell anypony about it that you don't personally trust and is in RGIS. Also, stay here and keep poking around, see what you can find."

Intelligentsia rubbed her hooves together like she was just given a treasure chest. "Oh, I intend to. I take it that you're leaving, then?"

"Yeah. Spike and I are going to let Esteem know that we're going to Fort Hurricane and that he should stay put."

Intelligentsia peeked at her from over the frame of her glasses. "And where are you really going?"

"Cloudsdale Armories HQ. I have a feeling these are connected crimes, and I want to find the link before anypony can cover it up!"

Author's Note

Took longer than I wanted, but here's 54! Patreon will update very soon. Remember, people in the Patreon chat get lots of insight and sneak peaks! :D

Big chapter, huh? I'm always nervous when I put up a chapter, though this one makes me more nervous than most. It's my first crack at a crime investigation scene like this. Remember, I'm writing this story to practice and improve for original writing, and there's no better example of the learning process than a chapter like this! Things may have to be edited further and changed if it turns out I screwed up. :P The basic story will remain intact, though.

I got sick recently, which slowed me down, because... well, being sick means I can't think straight. The hot weather also didn't help any. (I have no A/C.) Next up, tomorrow I'm going on a week-long vacation, though I should still have a little time to do some writing. After that, I'm diving back in full steam on writing.

Remember, Designing Intrigue updated recently! :D

As always, thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Flying On Hoof

Twilight shared a quick look with Spike, a wordless request between two who have shared most of their lives with each other. Translated, the message was simple: "He's yours. Sic him."

In response, Spike turned around and blocked the path of the incessant assistant of Duke Esteem like a boulder in front of a doggie door. "Look, the investigation is ongoing. We need to do what we need to do."

"But this was his wife! Surely, you can tell us what you—"

"No. We can't. When we have something to tell you, we will. Until then, everything is on a ‘need to know’ basis, and right now, you don't need to know."

The little stallion flared his wings like a foal having a tantrum, and fluttered them hard enough to make a breeze in the hallway. "Now see here, you insolent—"

Twilight had to turn away to hide her smile as Spike grabbed the pony by the lips, two claws clamping down from opposite directions. If he had done it a little harder, the Duke's seneschal would have a couple new spots for lip piercings.

"No, you see here. While we're wasting time here yelling at you, the trail is going cold. We're going to Fort Hurricane to plan our next move and get reinforcements, and you're going to stay here with the Duke. You don't have a security clearance, I just freaking met you, I don't know you, you're not coming with us no matter how many times the Duke says otherwise, Twilight outranks the Duke, and if you don't shut that mouth of yours I'm going to burn it off. Got it?"

The assistant nodded and scooted back like a scolded puppy.

"Good." Spike mashed the button on the lift, holding in his breath until the doors finally closed. "Argh! Man that guy was irritating. 'I've been assigned to observe your progress.' Yeah, for all we know, you're a spy."

"I don't think that's too far off, Spike. This whole thing is just so fishy to me. Considering how much trouble Cloudsdale Armories is in, I can't rule out Esteem's involvement."

Spike folded his arms and leaned against the side of the lift. "You know what, Twilight, I'm getting awfully sick of being in the dark so much. We've got at least two separate, massive conspiracies uncovered in the last year, and we still don't know jack squat about them. Just once I'd like to get the bad guys banging their head against the wall in confusion instead of us."

"Roan wasn't built in a day, Spike, but I get where you're coming from. Let's just focus on the task at hoof, because this next part is going to suck."

"Really? I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is next?"

The elevator slowed and dinged, opening to the upper chariot bay and the sound of a hundred thousand angry pegasi ready to tear down the manor and, had it not been made of clouds, set it on fire. The bay was made of undecorated, solidified cloud at every angle, save for the doors straight ahead. There were a few chariots with Artfeather's Coat of Arms parked in some of the stalls, but no pegasi to fly them. Just as well. With that livery they'd be flying targets, Twilight thought. The one ready to launch, however, was Princess Luna's.

"Good tidings, Lady Sparkle." Bloodmoon gave her a bow. "Captain Dash is being treated as we speak. Since we are out of contact with the Princess, I have been assigned this chariot to ferry you to your destinations for this mission."

Twilight looked around for other ponies for a moment, but found none. "Great. Drop us off in the core of the city, point us in the direction of Cloudsdale Armories HQ, and then head to Fort Hurricane."

Bloodmoon froze in place for a second, like his brain had to catch up with what she had said. "You want us to leave you in the middle of a city currently in control of tribalist mobs out to drop every non-pegasus down to a precipitous demise?"

"Eeyup." Twilight hopped in the chariot and helped Spike up. "I want Esteem to think that we're at Fort Hurricane we are while we sneak around places he probably doesn't want us to be. The MPs still have Cloudsdale Armories HQ on solid lock down, right?"

"I… think so? But, I hope you understand, Lady Sparkle, this isn't a normal city. Cloud structures can be several kilometers apart, often with no solid path between them. In fact, the protesters have taken to destroying what paths there were, and your destination is on the opposite end of the city. It'll take you hours to get there on hoof, if you can get there at all."

"Ah, that's what you meant by sucking." Spike flopped back in his seat and started rubbing his ankles. "Yeah, I gotta admit, this is going to be pretty awful."

"But, how will you even get from cloud to cloud? Lady Sparkle, if you are going to intentionally put yourself in danger, I must protest!" Bloodmoon's voice wasn't that of an incredulous subordinate or dark guardian. Here, his cat eyes weren't even threatening. They were soft, worried; the same as Twilight might see in her father if he was wearing Night Guard armour. "If you use that butterfly spell, then mobs will try to tear the wings off! It's suicide!"

"Cardinal, I appreciate the concern, but I need Esteem think I’m not going to Cloudsdale Armories HQ, which means I need his scouts to report seeing my chariot going to Fort Hurricane." Twilight glanced off in the vague direction of the center of the manor. "I'm not convinced he's entirely innocent. I need more evidence to figure out the whole picture, and if he thinks I’m getting close, he may do something reckless to destroy the evidence, such as manipulate the protesters to attack en mass.

"Also, I won't be stuck anywhere. My torc can deploy into armor more than capable of protecting me from a fall even from this height, and my teleportation spell has a maximum range of a few kilometers, provided I can see where I'm going. In fact, the spell can even launch us safely through the air like a cannon."

"Uh, Twi?" Spike poked her in the shoulder. "You do realize that there's no way to use 'launch through the air like a cannon' with 'safely,' right?"

"It'll work. I used it in Gryphonhelm. And it means I can change direction faster than a pegasus. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I need Esteem distracted for a while. Anything you guys can do to keep him and the Cloudsdale police off of me would be helpful."

Bloodmoon sighed. "I can see you're dead set on this. Very well, we will do as you ask. I think I have a few ideas on how to 'frustrate' our friend the Duke, now that I think of it."

"Go for it, just get us to the core as soon as you ca—Oof!" Twilight grabbed onto the rail of the chariot and held on for dear not-wanting-to-fall-off-as-it-would-be-highly-inconvenient as they rocketed out of the bay. A small swarm of a mob was there to greet them, but they sailed through the crowd like a hoofball through a cluster of mosquitoes. None of them were prepared to match the flying speed and skill of the Night Guard, much less able to.

It was afternoon by this point, but there was no telling that from the sky. Everything was the same stormy blue, with occasional flashes of lightning splitting the sky. Flying through it by chariot gave Twilight a slightly better impression of the sheer scale of what she was about to attempt. It was probable that nopony without wings had ever managed to cross so much of Cloudsdale as she was about to.

There was a first time for everything.

Hey, Aurora, are you there? What are your thoughts?

"I would prefer taking the chariot all the way. I understand your objective and goals, but those aren't my goals. My first priority is to keep you safe."

Okay, assume the chariot isn't available. What would be your recommendation, given that scenario?

"In that instance, I would agree that going through the core of the city as much as possible is the best option. There are plenty of narrow alleys and passageways through the clouds that can conceal us, and in such corridors, the strength the protesters have via numbers is drastically diminished.

"However, we don't know our way around. We will either need to find and recruit a sympathetic pegasus guide, or hope that, despite our concealment, one of your pegasus friends finds us."

Rainbow knows me really well, and she knows this city. I'm betting she'll find us within thirty minutes of getting released. Also, I’ve chosen my route carefully to maximize the chance of getting found by Cloud Burner. Twilight felt a tingle climb up her body, giving her a warmth that the chilly air could never deny her. She had friends coming, so she had nothing to fear.

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing through the sky. Though they did get some dirty looks from a few pegasi, none dared challenge the Night Guard chariot. Following a turn around yet another growing storm column, the monstrous, enormous size of Cloudsdale's core was laid bare.

Cities in and of themselves were always sights to behold. The complexity of Shanghay, the art deco towers of Manehatten, the organization of Stalliongrad, they were all marvels. Yet, none held a candle to the sheer, unrivalled size of Cloudsdale. A dome of cloud rose from some predetermined elevation above the ground, and swelled so high it looked like it could very well swallow the stars themselves. The chariot sped towards it at a pace nothing on the ground could ever hope to match, yet all the core did was loom there, seemingly never truly allowing them to arrive at their destination.

Even when they finally did get to a landing space, the scale of the pony and dragon on the edge of the cloud was akin to a grain of sand sitting next to the tallest skyscraper in the world. Much like the rest of the city, the clouds had become heavy from the mobs' weather manipulation, making them a dark blue.

As they hopped off the chariot, a deep, dark, narrow tunnel leading into the cloud stood before them. The landing area had an uncovered, but once they started going in, it wouldn’t be long before they were plunged into darkness. Behind them were more clouds, but they were in the distance, and Twilight had a unique opportunity from her vantage point; she could see the ground.

She could have seen it earlier, true, but this was her about to be on her own. She would have no alicorn, nor pegasus, to help her. In all likelihood, any nearby pegasus might actually try to facilitate her departure for the earth. In this, entering a city that might rightfully be called a force of nature unto itself, so far above the ground that no individuals could be seen, and next to a space so vast and empty it felt like a void, she was all alone.

Alone, save for the loyal, brave, equally-wingless dragon friend by her side, and that one friend might honestly be enough.

Bloodmoon landed himself on the rear seat of the chariot and peered down at them. "Are you sure you want to go through with this, Lady Sparkle? It's not too late to change your mind. Again, we are happy to take you wherever you need to go."

"I'm sure, Cardinal. Again, I really do appreciate the concern, but I've made up my mind. We're sneaking through the core. If you really want to help, find Rainbow and let her know where we are, then make sure Esteem doesn't know what I'm up to. Maybe, after a bit, start spreading rumors of sightings of us away from our real target. Anything you can think of to help us and mess with the Duke."

"Very well. I wish you luck, as I'm afraid you will need it." Bloodmoon turned away for an instant, then swung back around. "Oh! Pardon me, I almost forgot. The pegasus you sent me to find was not at the restaurant, but his family was. I left a message with them, and they said he would return and read it shortly."

Twilight exhaled some of her tension as a tiny bit of weight lifted off her shoulders. "That's good. We'll have one more ally looking out for us then. Thank you, Bloodmoon."

He gave her a nod and a smile. "Please, call me Bloody."

Everypony, Twilight, Spike, even the two charioteers, looked at him like he had just dumped a goldfish bowl on his head and proclaimed himself King of the Sea Monkeys.

"No? Dammit, you're right, that's a terrible nickname."

"Uh, yeah." Spike scratched his head, and given his pointy claws, Twilight wished he'd scratch her head too, because what had been said was so weird she needed it. "No way in hell we're calling you that. 'Bloodmoon' is short enough, dude."

Somehow, it was possible for a Night Guard to blush. "I tried Moony, too, and my Sovereign laughed like a hyena before giving me the sternest 'no' I'd ever heard."

Spike shook his head, but Twilight couldn't tell if it was in exasperation or disappointment. "And she was right, man. But hey, don't sweat it. Remember, nicknames are given, never chosen, right Capsaicin Queen?"

Twilight groaned. "I am never going to live that down."

"Well, duh, a dragon heard it. We live a long, long time, Twilight. Tens of thousands of years from now, when I'm bigger than some mountains I've watched crumble, I'll laugh and think, 'Heh, Capsaicin Queen.'"

Twilight grabbed him by the neck with a foreleg and noogied his giggling head. "Get going, guys. We'll get moving after I deliver some big sister style revenge on this twerp."

"Fair enough, Lady Sparkle. Good luck!" He snapped the reigns, and the chariot was out of sight in seconds.

"Okay, okay, lemme go!" Spike protested, pushing away from her as best he could.

"I ought to tickle the scales off you, but we have work to do." Twilight let him go and turned back towards the dark tunnel ahead. "Come on, let's get started."

"Interesting…"

Twilight and Spike froze at the new, yet somewhat familiar voice. It had come from above them, on the roof of the structures to their sides and before the alleyway turned into a tunnel.

"Abandoning your chariot, perhaps for a ruse of some kind? Interesting, indeed. I had wondered if we would ever meet again, Twilight Sparkle. I should have known that all I would have to do is find the biggest possible ball of trouble and head right for it."

Twilight looked up at the mare speaking to them, finding a pegasus with a blue, wide brimmed hat and a large, matching overcoat. Her coat of hair was now blue as well, rather than the green in Ponyville, but her dark, wavy mane was the same as ever. Even her confident, aggressive smile hadn't changed a bit.

"Phantasm," Twilight said, barely able to hold back the contempt for the mare who had sent her town, her ponies into a panic. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping a friend."

"Helping them do what?" Spike asked, adding to Twilight's glare with his own. "Steal something?"

"Actually, I'm helping her evacuate, if you must know. This place isn't even safe for pegasi anymore. Besides, I'm sure you have a file on me or something. I've already hit Cloudsdale, so I'm not doing it again."

"Which reminds me." Spike cleared his throat and stood up straight like he was giving a speech. "Twilight, why are we not trying to arrest her?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. "And take her where, exactly, Spike? Much as I would like to, we've got more important things to do right now."

"Still frustrating…" Spike grumbled.

"Perhaps, mister dragon," Phantasm said, resting her head on a hoof. "But I'm only even willing to come by and chat because I know she can't arrest me at the moment. Not that I couldn't get away, seeing as I can fly and you two can't, but I learned a long time ago it's unwise to push Celestia's elite too far.

"That being said, I was pleased with your performance in Ponyville, Lady Sparkle. Granted, I had to provide some motivation, but—"

"No you didn't." Spike and Twilight said like twins.

Phantasm grew a face like a school teacher catching a student in a lie. "Please. You political types are all the same. If I didn't get your attention and hold something over you like that, you'd have just pretended to do something while that so-called house fell down around the orphans!"

"First of all, I'm not much of a political type. Whenever possible, I'm about friendship, not division. Second of all, no, you didn't need to run around stealing my friends' things. In fact, Spike, help me illustrate, if you would."

"You got it!" Spike jumped off to the side and sang some mock fanfare music. "Ladies and, well, just ladies, really, presenting a play in one act! How to tell Twilight somepony is in trouble! Aaaand, action!"

Twilight sat down, put on the silliest, goofiest face she could think of, and pretended to be at Bon-Bon's by eating an invisible sandwich that her empty stomach really wished was real. "Gee, what a lovely day! I'm sure glad to be back in Ponyville with all my friends! Oh, what is this? A mysterious stranger is asking for my attention!"

Spike walked up to her, mouth partially covered by his arm in the manner of Phantasm's scarf. "Hello there, royal official! I am a concerned citizen, and not in any way a pretentious thief! I have reliable information and great concern that Ponyville's new orphanage may be unsound, and could collapse at any moment! In fact, I think the company that made it is super corrupt and mobbed up the ying-yang! You should check into it as soon as you can! I don't think that building will survive today's storm!"

Twilight stood up and feigned the most ludicrous pose of concern sure could muster. "Oh, my! That is a matter most grave indeed, citizen! I will look into it right away!"

Spike pretended to pull some curtains closed. "And, scene!"

"Ta-da!" They both yelled, dropping into a bow.

"Seriously. You expect me to just believe that?" Phantasm's eyes all but burned a hole in the cloud under Spike and Twilight. "I had to do what I did! You know how many ponies I tried to do that exact thing with to warn them? How many officials told me to not worry my pretty little head, or asked for a bribe to even look at the problem, or who just thought I was a mare wanting attention? Twenty! Twenty corrupt flankwipes willing to risk the lives of orphan foals over money or incompetence!"

"What are their names?" Twilight asked.

Phantasm froze still, wide eyed and with a wrinkled nose. "Huh?"

"I said, what are their names?" Twilight gave Spike a look, and he pulled out a notebook and pen. "If they're corrupt, I'll have them investigated and see that they are removed from their positions and tried accordingly. And, just to make sure, if the agents I assign to the task fail to find evidence, once I have time I'll perform the investigation myself."

Phantasm blinked. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. I know our government has huge problems, but that doesn't mean I'm turning a blind eye. I do what I can, when I can, to help make this a better place for my ponies. And this is one of those things I can take direct action on, if you'll help me."

"You really expect me to believe you? I have a lifetime of experience telling me otherwise, Sparkle."

"Then what do you have to lose?" Twilight's expression turned cool as the breeze blowing through her mane. "Tell me the names. If nothing ever happens, you get to be proven right. If I fulfill my word, you get revenge on those who wouldn't listen to you. It's win-win."

Phantasm looked down on her like a panther holding contempt for prey, crouching as one about to strike. "Fine, we'll play it your way." She rattled off a list of officials, some within Canterlot, and most in Manehatten. All were recorded in Spike's notebook, ensuring an appointment under a bright spotlight.

"There. Give me a little time, and I'll look into this. Cloudsdale comes first, though. It's a mess out here."

Phantasm nodded. "One of the few things we can agree on, certainly. I once loved this city. It's just a memory to me now."

"Hey, Pr-Er, Phantasm! Are we going or what?"

Phantasm disappeared from the edge of the cloud in a puff. "I told you to stay back until I'm done!"

"Wait a minute," Twilight said. "I think I know that voice. Do you recognize it, Spike?"

"I think so. Want to check it out?"

"Definitely. Grab on!" Twilight sparked her way through reality once Spike was on board, popping back into existence on the upper cloud next to Phantasm and another pegasus, this one hitched to a large cart covered with a tarp.

She was yellow with a frazzled, cream white mane with black highlights, and a bee cutie mark. She was also definitely a Ponyville native.

"Honeybee?! What are you doing here?" Twilight glanced back and forth between her and Phantasm, then went to the cart. "I thought you said you weren't stealing anything this time."

"Way to go, Honeybee." Phantasm mumbled. "Now she knows we're connected."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know, and I was worried! You were taking so long, and some ponies started to stare at me! I had to move!"

"Ugh. Fine. No going back now. And, for the record…" Phantasm tore off the tarp on the cart, revealing an entire load of jars of all kinds of honey, from apricot to wildflower. "We aren't stealing anything."

Honeybee dipped her head down, ears flat against her head. "I only have a little stand and studio apartment in Ponyville, so I keep most of my stock here in Cloudsdale. But I can't anymore! They're breaking up our clouds, tossing our merchandise! Phantasm was just helping keep me safe while we ran…"

Twilight closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Okay. Here's what's going to happen. Honeybee, as long as you promise not to harbor Phantasm, I'll let this issue drop, and you can go on your way. If I find out you're helping her, though, I will have to investigate further."

Honeybee stepped back a pace or two, head still low and scared. "Really? You'll let me go?"

"I know you, Honeybee. You're not a crook."

Phantasm stuck out her tongue. "Neither am I. I'm a thief. There's a difference."

"Thank you, Lady Sparkle." Honeybee dropped to the cloud as best her attachment to her cart would let her.

"We're neighbours, Honeybee. Call me Twilight, same as always."

"Okay! Enough with the sappy stuff already!" Phantasm flared out her wing and gave Honeybee a slap on the flank. "Let's go! This place isn't getting any safer!"

"Right." Honeybee took off to the sky, Phantasm close behind. "Thank you!"

"Avoid the Duchy Manor!" Twilight yelled out, getting a wave in response. "Hope they heard me. Ready to get going, Spike?"

"Yeah. I'm ready. Let's see if we can't find a tavern or something to get some food on the way. Maybe one with a 'non-pegasi welcome' sign. Or at least a 'we don't like unicorns but we'll be nice to them if they have a fire-breathing dragon' sign." Spike hopped back down to the pathway, wiping water off his armor afterwards. "I'm famished."

"It’d be a big risk being seen like that, but if there’s a window open and we can see food, I’ll try to use magic to swap it for some bits. Barring that, though, we press onwards."

"And to think, this is just a tiny slice of the core." Twilight stepped out into the afternoon sun, though it was blocked by a thin layer of cloud, tinting everything blue. A pie-slice-shaped chunk of the core of the cloud was hollow ahead of her, and it was as if a normal, average town was hidden, nestled away inside Cloudsdale's massive form. The only main difference was that this town's buildings were all made out of clouds. Every single one was either built up from the cloud stuff underneath, or was a separate puff ball entirely, floating freely in the odd semi-dome of the neighbourhood.

The built-up structures looked, for all intents and purposes, like a normal large town, except for what they were made of. They also benefited from a shared water and waste transport system in the layers of cloud underneath, again much like a normal town. There was even a road grid for non-pegasi, not that pegasi had any problems bypassing it entirely, but Equestrian law demanded it when practical.

There was a large central "road" leading through the neighbourhood, with many other smaller roads crossing it in a wide arc. Most of the way down the road, however, was something there shouldn't be: a fire. Protesters had amassed flammable objects in the center of the town and set them ablaze. Smaller fires dotted the distance, too, adding a reddish tint to the sky.

"Whoa. Even this place isn't safe." Spike knelt down and felt the cloud making up the ramp ahead of them. It hugged the interior cloudwall of the town, and descended to street level. From where they were, at the top, they had a wonderful vantage point to view the chaos taking place in the distance. "Look at this. The clouds have been thinned out here. Any non-pegasus walking across it without a fully charged, premium quality amulet would fall right through. Possibly to their death."

Twilight took a tentative step forward and planted a hoof firmly in the cloud, feeling it sink down but ultimately support her. "Looks like pegasi can walk it just fine. What about you?"

Spike matched her movement, also sinking a bit into the cloud. "It's like really thick snow, but I'm fine. Celestia didn't skimp on our armor, that's for sure."

"Good to know. I'd rather not lose my number one assistant to flimsy craftsponyship."

"In fact, I bet I could… Stay here a second." Spike rubbed the tips of his claws and licked his lips while eyeing the cloud wall. "I'm gonna try something."

Twilight felt a twinge of nerves run through her stomach. "Okay… Hopefully not something that'll get you killed."

"Nah, if it doesn't work, I'll know right away. Here we go!" Spike punched at the wall, sinking his razor sharp claws into the vaporous material. Whatever he did, exactly, he had a firm grasp. The next punch was higher, as was each one after that. Spike proceeded to literally claw his way up the side of the wall using nothing but his hands until he was roughly seven or eight meters up. "Looks like everypony is out there, being an unruly mob. Over here, it's quiet. I bet if we stayed up against this cloud, we could sneak past."

"Good idea!" Twilight yelled back. "But you should get down before you're spotted!"

Spike let go of the wall, falling straight down and landing with a muffled thump, then banged his armor with a fist. "Feather fall spell works great. Knows just what speed I can handle!"

"Which is about three times faster than my heart can take," Twilight said, trying to calm the rumba going on in her chest. "Avoid doing that if you can. I'd rather not die of a heart attack."

"Heh. Sorry." He chuckled sheepishly.

"Let's get moving. We still have a lot of ground… er… cloud to cover." Twilight walked down the ramp, looking every which way for ponies that might spot her. Random pegasi seeing her weren't necessarily a problem, but could become one if they were networked with the Duke or decided to start a fight.

Even so, the only ones she saw were dots in the sky fluttering about the clouds and smoke, much too far away to see what, let alone who, she was.

"The city being so big means that ponies are spread out, less likely to bump into us." Twilight picked up her speed as the clouds solidified and gave her better footing.

The bottom of the ramp met the end of the main road. Ahead was a slow fade from storm blue to fire red as it got closer to the bonfires set by the protesters. To her left and right were smaller roads along the wall, each dark and abandoned, perfect for sneaking. The right one, however, would take her closer to her destination, so onwards they went. Spike jogged alongside Twilight to keep pace with her fast trot, not once getting winded.

You've come a long way, Spike. I'm proud of you. Twilight felt the warmth and pride well up inside her as they marched, thirsty and famished, but steadfast. The air was smoky, yet cool and damp. The alley dropped deeper into darkness as they moved and smoke built up in the dome to obscure the sun.

Spike's stomach was starting to get as loud as Twilight's as they neared the end of the road and closer to another tunnel. "Hey, Twi? Is that a sign for a tavern? Think we could see if they have a welcome sign for non-pegasi? Or food lying around in plain sight?"

"Hmmm… We have to try to not be seen more than a moment. A random report or two making it to Esteem will just confuse him, which is fine, but too many solid sightings of us will given him a way to figure out where we’re going.

“But, we might be able to do it this way. We’ll take a peek in a window or something. If you spot food, let me know, and I’ll try to swap it for some bits." Twilight leaned a bit too her left, crossing the road and making her way to the last building before the tunnel.

It was more a dive bar than a tavern, with neon lights of beer and cider brands adorning the windowless walls. The neon signs buzzed like static, while a rather dank smell permeated the roadway outside. The door was just a piece of lightweight plywood with an open padlock.

As they arrived, Twilight's vision turned red, and her blood boiled. She'd never been one to grind her teeth, but she was about to pick up the habit at this rate. The only reason she hadn't screamed and stormed inside was her present need for stealth. "You have got to be bucking kidding me."

A wooden door blocked the entrance to the single story, comparatively tiny structure. Above it were a pair of signs. The first read "Wing Warrior's Bar." The second, however, was tailor made to attract an alicorn's rage.

NO GROUNDERS ALLOWED! THIS INCLUDES YOU, STICK BRAINS

AND DIRT LOVERS! GET LOST! WE ARE A PEGASUS BAR ONLY!

VIOLATERS WILL BE TOSSED OUT OF THE CITY WITHOUT AMULET!

“Wow.” Spike said. “They misspelled ‘violators’.”

"It's almost worse than that, Spike. Look!" Twilight pointed at the edge of the sign, where a wooden molding surrounded the faded lettering. "See the wear and tear? That wood hasn't been stained in at least a decade. This sign has been up all that time, and they haven't been fined, sued into oblivion yet, or corrected the spelling."

"Well, I know just the mare to take care of that!" Spike chuckled as he pulled out the notebook, writing down what they saw. "How many bits are they donating to Cadence's charity?"

"All of them."

"…All?"

"All the bits. When I get home I'm going to tear through this place's financials, bank accounts, everything. They're going to have to sell this place when I'm done."

"Isn't there a legal maximum fine?"

Twilight aimed a glare at the bar, loading it up with as much will to set it on fire that she could muster without actually lighting her horn. "Only for individuals. Not for businesses. And this is the most flagrant, long-lasting violation of the Equal Welcome Clause of the Equestrian Compact that I've ever even heard of. It needs to be stomped out as an example to show that it cannot be tolerated."

"You got no argument from me. By their definition, I'm a 'grounder,' too. Never mind that there are those of my species that could eat this place. And I don't mean eat the patrons. I mean they could literally put the entire building in their mouths and swallow."

Twilight laughed and turned away from the rage-inducing sign. It wasn't good for her blood pressure to look at it too long… assuming alicorns had to worry about that. "Well, at least we know where we aren't getting food. Like I'd ever spend bits at a place filled with tribalist reprobates. I'm honestly surprised that they had the collective brain cells to even make that sign. How they could even manage to run a bar for this long is an even bigger miracle."

"Uh, Twi?" Spike asked, looking at something behind her. "I think you should know…"

"Not now, Spike. I'm busy insulting the idiots gathering behind me." Twilight turned around, and set her mouth to maximum snark. "Oh look, it's a bunch of thugs that think they have something to teach me!"

The three draft stallion pegasi coming out of the door were wearing blue bandanas on their forelegs, the same color as the frock on the pony she had captured. Each was also wearing bark-thread jackets — a kind of dark, tough fabric made from tree bark — along with an obvious bad attitude.

The one in the center curled a lip and took off his sunglasses. "Yoos got a problem with our little club here, grounder?"

"Not really, seeing as it's not going to exist much longer. Why, do you have a problem with ponies that weren't 'blessed' enough to be born with wings, or is it just horn envy?"

Spike whistled. "Wow. You really got her pissed off. Normally she's really, really nice. Which of course means she's about to… Well, the last thing that pissed her off this much was a gryphon that she sliced up with burning telekinetic blades. And we were about to just go on our way, too."

"Nah, don't goes yet!" The apparent leader said. "Why don't yoos come inside and has a friendly drink!"

A pulse of fear went through Twilight's body, which was the natural reaction she should have had. It plowed through her entire body, spiking her adrenaline. Then, a second later, it hit a brick wall and stopped dead. "Why yes, that sounds like a lovely idea! Spike, come on, let's have some fun."

Spike's eyes darted to and fro, and his face put on a number of different expressions before settling on one: confidence.

Don’t worry, little bro. We got this. Twilight’s grin as they walked in couldn’t have chewed more scenery if she was a goat and the bar had been filled with kudzu, even though her nose wrinkled at the musty mildew smell that greeted her with a punch in the olfactory nerves. She could see, but that was about as much generosity as she could grant the place. Like with many cloud buildings, small tufts of clouds charged with lightning magic served as lights, although these appeared to be about ready to go on strike.

To her right was a hook shaped bar, to her left a group of pool tables, an illegal pair of slot machines, and more neon signs. Several more stallions in bark-thread jackets were inside, along with a pair behind the bar. After one last break of pool balls, a record playing an old pop hit was all that reached her ears.

One of the ponies sitting at the bar turned and looked at her. His eyes tried in vain to focus on Twilight, and gave off an odor of sweat and alcohol that only intensified with a large belch. Whatever he opened his mouth to say would forever be lost as he slumped over and passed out on the floor.

“Wow,” Twilight said. “What are you serving here, strychnine shooters? That guy needs a hospital.”

“He’ll be fine,” the leader said with a grunt. “Now, what ‘xactly is yoos problem with our club?”

Twilight looked him up and down, cataloguing his dye tattoos and watching his face. There was scorn, dislike, even a bit of hatred. “You’re not the one I’m looking for, really. Let’s see…” She checked another stallion, then another and another. It wasn’t until she arrived at the last one, a pegasus behind a bar, that she found what she needed.

"Not da one yoos lookin’ for? Stick brain, what yoos think—“

“Quiet. I need to speak to him.” Twilight hopped in the stool next to her target, staring him right in his eyes.

His blue bandana and red, stained bark-thread jacket vest hung on him like a part of his skin, battered and wrinkled like the rest of him. His old eyes burned embers at her, and the top of his head had left his mane behind, possibly in disgust. A long grey beard dangled from his chin in a vain attempt to make up for his mane loss. A set of tattered, beaten wings were glued to his sides. “And just why do you want to talk to me instead of Flak, grounder?”

“Because I need to speak with the owner, and you’re him.”

“And what makes you say that?”

Twilight sucked in a breath. “This place has seen as much maintenance as your wings, as much cleaning as your clothes, has a blatantly illegal and horrifically tribalist sign out front, and you’re giving me the biggest stink eye out of anypony in this room. You are definitely the owner, and probably have crippling self-esteem issues. You’ve obviously given up on yourself and your business, and you blame anything without wings for your own failures and faults.”

“Big words for a grounder.” Flak stepped up behind Twilight and loomed behind her. “An’ I was ’bout to let yoos go if yoos apologized.”

“That a fact?” Twilight asked, not bothering to turn around.

“Now I know I didn’t just hear you threaten the Grand Mage, Flakky.” A rumble of powerful pegasus magic pulled at everypony’s mane, sucking in air to a pair of wings and turning it into storm cloud exhaust. The new stallion at the door wasn’t like the others. His wings were pristine and powerful, his skyclad, light grey coat sang of wild clouds roaming the sky, and his metallic blue mane was both mismatched and complementary to his equally metallic red tail. His eyes, though, were by far the most striking. They burned not with hate, but energy, pride, and honor. “If I were you, I’d let her go, right now. Retired or not, my oath still binds me. I’ll protect her to the death.”

“What the buck yoos doin’ here, Cloud Burner?” Flak picked up the chair next to Twilight and held it over his head. “I thought I told yoos to stay outta our bidness!”

“I saw you force Twily in here. You think I’m just going to let you hurt her, you tribalist flank wipe?”

“Enough!” Twilight’s kick cracked the cheap wood on the bar front. “Burner, thank you for finding me, but you’re mistaken. They didn’t force me in here, and I’m not being held here.” She grabbed the owner by the shoulder, turning him so she could see the ice in her eyes. “They’re the ones be being held by me.”

The other pegasi in the bar stood up and took a few steps forward, spreading their wings. The shing and snick-snack of blades hidden in pinions chattered amongst them, and those without picked up chairs, bottles, and even pool cues.

“Lady, yoos think you can take us all on? Yoos even know how many weapons we got?” A soft clank came from Flak’s hoof as he tapped the side Twilight’s torc with a bottle.

“Idiot.” Twilight flashed a look of contempt to Flak, then pointed at the bar owner. “I told you, I’m talking to him. Besides, it doesn’t matter how many of you there are, or how many weapons you have.” Twilight picked up a liquor bottle in her magic, examining the amber fluid in the dim light. “This is a small bar; a tight, enclosed space. And I have a fire-breathing dragon.”

The entire room froze and turned their heads to Spike, who was busy lighting his fists on fire.

“Do the math.” Twilight smiled like she had Bloodmoon’s fangs. “If you even can. I’m the Grand Mage. I’ve faced down Discord. Bottles and chairs don’t frighten me, and the second you try to use them, Spike over there will torch you all to ash. I can teleport to safety. Can you?”

Silence took hold of the group, and the sweat on their brows wasn’t from Spike’s flame. Each looked to the other, checking for something, anything resembling leadership.

“Have I got your attention now?” Twilight asked. “Good. So, here’s what’s going to happen. When I get home, I’m going to prepare paperwork to shut this place down once and for all. Celestia knows how it’s survived this long in the first place.”

“It’s Artfeather,” Cloud Burner said. “She runs interference for this place, and a bunch of others like it, for some forsaken reason. My family has been screaming bloody murder about it for decades. It absolutely kills tourism in this core slice. Makes it harder to run a restaurant.”

“Ah, well, I kind of doubt she’ll be doing it anymore.” Spike chuckled. “And even if somepony else does, Twi outranks them by default.”

“True,” Twilight said, her smile escaping her best containment efforts. And I think you just gave me a piece of the larger puzzle, Cloud Burner. Thanks. “So, barkeep. What’s your name again?”

“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’.” The stallion folded his forelegs and spat into something behind the bar. “So you can just get out of—“

“His name is Wing Warrior. He owns the place, and he’s a complete tool.” Cloud Burner fired off a salute at Twilight.

“Thank you, Cloud. Nice to know I don’t have to get creative to get info. Now, as I said, this place is closing for good. Unless, and this your only chance, each and every pony here does a complete one-eighty. You’re all going to volunteer with Princess Cadence’s charity network, and form a neighbourhood league to support and welcome non-pegasi in Cloudsdale. This bar, once cleaned, will be a focal point for the effort.”

“I’d rather seen it closed down!” Wing Warrior grumped. “You unicorns think you run everything! Not here! Not Cloudsdale!”

“News flash, extra, extra read all about it!” Spike hollered, jumping up on a stool. “Twilight Sparkle is Grand Mage, ranks just under Celestia, has most of her legal powers, basically does run everything!”

“He’s got a point, Dusty Wing.” Twilight jabbed a hoof in Wing Warrior’s direction. She would have given Spike a hoof bump instead if his fists hadn’t been literally on fire.

“That’s not my name!”

“It is now.” Twilight picked up another liquor bottle and held it up to the light. “Although I don’t really need to prosecute you to shut this place down. I mean look at this! Everypony! Yes, you tribalist pegasi, too. Take a closer look at this bottle.”

A few of the gang members hesitated, looking at Spike, but stepped forward.

“See what’s inside here?” Twilight swirled the liquid around and held it even closer to the light.

“There’s… bugs in it.” One of the pegasi said. “How’d they get in there?”

“Fruit flies. Bad sanitary practises attract them like a magnet.” Twilight leaned over on the bar. “I don’t need police or a prosecutor. I just need a health inspector.”

“Pfft. Little unicorn, all weak and helpless.” Flak laughed, putting down his chair. “What, ’fraid of a little dirt? A little germs?”

“Oh, you want to play it that way, huh?” Twilight slammed the bottle on the bar and hopped off the chair, her hooves scrunching down on the cloud as she walked around to the other side of the bar. “I bet I’ll find interesting stuff back here, too. Let’s see… Ah!”

She grabbed hold of a cider bottle and dragged it along the bottom of the metal cooler it was stored in, letting it splash in the inch of water under virtually zero ice. “Well, this is in the putrid liquid your cider is sitting in!” Twilight lifted up the glass and smeared it along the bar, leaving a trail of slime and mold. “Doesn’t that look delicious?”

“Please. Ain't like da bottle didn’t keep da drink safe.” Flak leaned over the bar. “Gonna have to do better than that, dainty daisy.”

“Did I say I was done?” Twilight picked up a rag and shoved it inside a soda gun, giving it a turn like a cotton swab in an ear. “I hope none of you ordered pop, because you got a nice dose of this with it!” The cloth came out with its corner covered in a brown goop. “This is basically a solid mass of bacteria. But wait,” Twilight said with a big grin, “let’s check the kitchen!”

Interruptions couldn’t be abided for this rant, not even trivial things like the physical distance between her and the kitchen door. A quick spark of magic and she was simply there, bypassing things like space and the group of ponies that occupy it. She pushed open the door and found enough violations in two seconds to shut down four restaurants or bars, never mind one.

Flak scoffed. “I’ve eaten here for years, and I’m fine! Yoos can’t scare us!”

“I’m trying to open your eyes, Flak! Our maybe, at least, your friends’. And hey, look at what we have here.” Twilight stood in the doorway, propping it open and addressing her misguided ponies. “This is a cloud city, so I really have to congratulate you. It takes some real screwing up to manage to get a freaking dead rat up here.” Twilight lifted the rodent corpse by the tail, dangling it for all to see.

Flak was barely phased, but the others were talking, whispering amongst themselves. Wing had his back turned, and Cloud was busy holding in either vomit or a laugh; it was hard to tell which.

“That being said, it’s one thing to have a dead rat in a cloud kitchen, but you really went above and beyond here. I mean, bravo. I’m going to have to do a scientific study on this at some point because the odds are just spectacular. You don’t just have a dead rat, you have a whole family of them!” Twilight lifted the other six rats of varying sizes up, shaking the dust off them to pile on the cloud floor. “How in Equus you managed to have and support them long enough that their babies hit at least adolescence I have no clue.”

One of the pegasi choked back some vomit, then rushed out the door. The others, save Flak, were looking green around the gills. Even Spike looked like he’d lost his appetite.

“But wait! I bet I can find even more!” Twilight sparked back to the bar, lifting up all the liquor bottles at once and looking under the mat they were resting on. “Yup. More insects, more goo. And…” Twilight blinked. Something was off. It wasn’t her eyes or nose telling her that, but there was something there, in her magic, that shouldn’t be.

“Wait a minute.” She set them back down, save for one bottle of silver rum. “This isn’t right. This Bacolti Premium is… Well, look at it.” She brought it over under the light. “See what I mean?”

A few of the stallions came over, staring and even poking at it.

“Looks fine to me,” Flak said. “Not even any bugs to upset a prissy stick brain’s stomach. Just a normal, full bottle of rum.”

“Exactly. A little too full, don’t you think?” Twilight pointed at where the rum had been filled to the very top.

The other ponies’ faces became grim, even Flak’s. Wing, though, was sweating and shaking, even as he refused to turn around.

“There’s only one reason a bottle of alcohol could be that full,” Twilight said.

“And that’s if they were refilling it with something other than what was on the label. “Cloud Burner stepped into the crowd, grabbing the bottle with his own hooves. “Cheap booze in place of a premium spirit. Wing, you cheap bastard. You’re not just a tribalist scumbag, you’re a thief!”

“Crook,” Twilight corrected. “Still think I’m an ignorant stick brain? It’s just as I said. No business owner who has pride in himself would leave his place in a state like this.”

The pegasi crowded around the bar, like sharks scenting blood. Many still had their weapons drawn, but they were pointed at Wing, not Twilight. The bartender finally turned around, backing himself up against the wall.

“Fellas, what are you doing?” He splayed himself against the liquor cabinet, as far away as he could be from them. It wouldn’t be enough. “She’s—She’s trying to trick you! To divide us!”

“No, that’s your M.O., not mine.” Twilight slid the bottle down the bar and into one of the pegasi’s hooves. “We are stronger as a nation, and as a culture, when we look past our differences and work together, regardless of tribe. That’s what Harmony means.”

Twilight felt a hoof placed on her shoulder, but it was gentle, not harsh. When she turned to look at Flak, even his expression had softened into something more like cloth than nails.

“Yoos goin’ to wanta leave, grounder. We’ll settle da score with Dusty here. This ain’t yas issue.”

“Please! Please!” Wing cried out, darting from failed escape to failed escape. “Don’t leave me with them!”

“Hold it!” Twilight bellowed, her judgement the only thing keeping her from using the Royal Canterlot Voice. “You’re not going to hurt him. If you want to screw him over good, there’s something else I need you to do.”

Most of the pegasi looked at her like she was suggesting they all go juggle flaming chainsaws, but Flak held up a wing for silence. “And what might that be?”

“Keep him here, safe, for the next twelve hours or so. I’ll send RGIS to pick him up. Until then, stay awhile. But, and this is important, you don’t discuss this, not even my mere presence, with anypony other than RGIS members, or he’ll get off scot free.

“In the meantime, I suppose you could... enjoy Duty Wing’s hospitality.” Twilight looked over at the kitchen. “If you can stomach it.”

“I… suppose we could do something like that. Can’t turn down ‘free’ booze.” Flak smiled and popped a toothpick into his teeth. “Alright then, he’ll live. He might not be too happy ‘bout what we’re gonna do ta dis bar, but he’ll live.”

Twilight glanced over at the whimpering pony and walked out the door, Spike and Cloud Burner close behind.

“Are we really going to leave him?” Spike asked, putting out the fire on his fists. “If he’s connected to Artfeather, I don’t know if we can just leave.”

“I know what you’re saying.” Cloud Burner flew up to the tribalist sign and spat on it. “But Flak won’t tolerate being ripped off like that. He also doesn’t want a murder or felony assault charge, though. It’d be his third strike, so he’d go away for life. So I think he’ll cooperate.”

“I just wish I had some more personnel supporting me so I could have Wing hauled off right now.” Twilight’s ear twitched as she heard the plodding of hooves on cloud that were neither hers nor Cloud’s, and turned around to face them. “Flak? Is something wrong?”

Flak exhaled and took off his sunglasses, revealing a scar on his right eye. “Just wanted ta take a look at things one last time. Maybe pull in the signs, make it look closed. Like it will be, soon. I’m really gonna miss this place. It was a hole, but it was our hole, ya knows?”

“My offer still stands. Do a one-eighty, and I lose the paperwork.” Twilight offered a hoof, but Flak shook his head.

“Can’t trust ol’ Wing anymore. We ain't gonna be back. And, things jus’ don’t change dat quick, ya knows? Even if yoos is right ’bout all that Harmony stuff, yas gotta blink and shield yas eyes when yoos first step out into da sun.”

"Get used to it quick, Flak. This city will tear itself apart without it.” Twilight said, taking off down the next tunnel.

It wasn’t long before all the twists and turns in the cloud took their toll on the light, leaving them with only what could filter through the walls.

“So, I’m assuming you wanted to be out of his earshot when you told me why you needed me.” Cloud trotted out to the lead before stopping to block the way. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, Twily, but you probably shouldn’t be here. This place isn’t safe.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Spike leaned up against the cloud wall and sat down. “Not safe is kinda par for the course for us.”

“Actually, I’d say that ‘serious danger’ is our normal.” Twilight sat down, too, and patted her hungry stomach. “But yes, I do need your help, Cloud. Celestia has assigned me to investigate Artfeather’s assassination.”

“Whoa. So it was murder? I suppose it makes sense they’d send you, but why ask for me? I’m retired, and in case you can’t tell, I have to dye my mane to keep the grey out.”

“Rainbow is injured and being treated at Fort Hurricane. I need a pegasus on my team that knows Cloudsdale inside and out. A native. And it has to be a pony I trust. You’re at the top of my list after Rainbow.”

"I don’t know…”

Twilight gave him the look. The sad, vulnerable filly eyes that managed to put cookie after cookie on her plate during her early years as Celestia’s student.

“Aw, dammit, not that, anything but that!”

It was time for the coup de grace. “Pleeeeease?”

“Ugh. You and those sad eyes. Fine, I’ll help.”

“Well, whatdaya know, Twilight!” Spike took off a boot and rubbed his foot. “You still got it!”

“But, first things first.” Cloud sat down and pointed a wing at Twilight. “Fill me in. What’s going on, and where are you headed?”

Twilight explained what they were up against, and how much work they had ahead of them.

“You’re insane.” Cloud deadpanned. “Nopony can make it across Cloudsdale on hoof, let alone in just a few hours! It would take days, even if it was possible!”

“Oh ye of little faith, Cloud. You should know me by now. I have a plan.” Twilight lit her horn and started the calculations for a new shield matrix. Energy flowed around her like ribbons of silk, wrapping her in protection.

Spike put his boot back on and stretched. “Knowing her, and the fact that she's putting together a shield… It’s probably even more insane and risky than crossing Cloudsdale on hoof in the middle of an uprising.”

“But what’s—” Cloud’s eyes darted to the subtly-moving clouds in the wall, the ones where wind could be heard behind them, and he sucked in a gasp wholly unbecoming of a Day Guard soldier. “No. No way. Nuh-uh. There’s no chance I’m letting you do this. I tried it as a colt and was nearly killed, and the only reason I wasn’t arrested was because my dad’s a Count. You’d be safer marching through the protests holding an ‘I’m an awesome unicorn, neener-neener-neener’ banner.”

Twilight turned the eyes back on. “Pleeeeease?”

“No! N-o-means-no! I let you do this and Celestia will have me skinned and hung over Canterlot Castle’s main doors, or use me as a throw rug.”

Darn. Finally, a request too big. I guess even the puppy eyes have limits. “Oh well, your loss. It would have been easier with a pegasus to help guide me, but I can do it solo. And I am doing it, with or without you.”

Cloud flared out his wings, the pinion feathers dancing with magic and lightning. “Over. My. Dead. Body.”

“Uh, dude?” Spike whistled at him. “Over here. Tight, enclosed space, fire-breathing dragon sworn to protect her.”

His magic died off, and his wings drooped down. “I’m going to be going along, aren’t I?”

“Eeyup.” Spike said.

Cloud facehooved. “I cannot believe I’m doing this.”

Author's Note

If given a do-over, I probably would have done this chapter differently. But, I hate rewriting things as much as you all hate waiting for releases. So, while I’m nervous about it, I’m letting it loose. You guys have stuck with me so far, so I can’t let one potential misstep keep me from pressing onwards. After all, this is writing. I can always retcon if something really flops, and I’ll learn a valuable lesson along the way. Practice makes perfect.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy this one. Whatever my feelings on it now, it was a lot of fun to write. Thanks again for your patience in sticking with me!

Oh, and I have a real link for the Skype chat now. So now there’s two chats, one on Discord, one on Skype, that anyone can join! There’s also the Patron-only chats, where Patreon supporters can talk with me and give me feedback on the previews I hand out there!

Until next time!

-Cv

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Flying (Apart At?) The Seams

“I cannot believe I’m doing this.”

“Dude, that’s all you’ve said for the last fifteen minutes.” Spike gave Cloud a pat on his back. “Relax. Twilight and I are professionals.”

“Professionals at what?” Cloud asked.

“Doing impossibly stupid, risky things and pulling them off in spectacular fashion! I mean, she hasn’t said what her idea is yet, but I’m not worried. It can’t be crazier than facing a dragon one on one.”

Cloud opened his mouth to say something, only to have it freeze for a moment. “You two aren’t just crazy. You’re certifiable.”

“That’s us!” Twilight put her ear up to the cloud wall, pushing her cheek into it. The chill ate its way through her coat, dampening her mane and chin. A gentle hum and howl bubbled up through the mist. Though it was soft, it sent a tingle up her spine and grabbed onto her heart. “I found it. Now we just need to break through the wall and the seam will carry us to the center of the core. Then all we have to do is sneak through that, ride another seam, and pop out the other end.”

“The seam?” Spike asked. “I don’t know what that is, but this sounds crazy dangerous already,” he said with a frown, before looking back at Cloud with a grin. “Should be fun!”

“Crazy dangerous doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Cloud shook his head. “Cloudsdale controls its weather, especially its wind. Up this high, it should be very, very windy. Instead, the weather factory has machines that use pegasus magic to redirect the wind to power our updraft. The seams are part of that system. They’re a series of tubes, paths in the core cloud area where the wind energy is channeled through – at nearly supersonic speeds.

“Twilight wants us to hitch a ride on them, and get every bone in our bodies crushed into dust in the process.”

“Eh, I doubt it’ll be dust.” Spike said, limbering up. “More likely goo. Our bodies are mostly water, after all. Especially you ponies.”

“We’ll be fine. Probably.” Twilight lit her horn, adding a few more layers to her shield. “Honestly I’m more worried about coming out in the right location than I am survival. I’ve run the numbers on the forces at work, and specialized my brother’s shield spell for blunt impacts, which should protect us until we reach the center core.”

“Look, Twilight, your brother is good. Very, very, good. But I doubt even he’d try something this crazy.”

“You don’t know my brother that well, then. Crazy runs in the family!” Twilight lined her hooves up on the wall and aimed for the sound of the seam. Time to try this out. “Stand back! Huah!” She bucked at the wall as hard as she could, getting a tingle at the mixing of earth pony and pegasus magic, followed by an impact like that of one of Applejack’s trees.

The clouds, however, behaved nothing like a tree. A chariot-sized hole puffed into existence in the side of the wall, like something had taken a big bite out of the tunnel. The seam went from a whisper to a banshee, howling with the fiercest winds in all of known Equus.

“Doesn’t look like I got through yet, which I expected.” Twilight stepped into the hole, feeling around the clouds for her second target. “Going to take a few tries, but we have to be ready when I break into the seam. It’ll suck us in for sure, and for my shield to protect you two, we need to be holding each other.”

“Uh, Twilight?” Cloud asked, pointing at the hole. “How did you do that?”

Oh, crap.

“I set records at Cloudsdale Academy for clearing clouds. I’m Cloud Burner, nopony clears more cloud with a single kick than me. And, you just came real close to my level on the first try. Normal pegasi would take at least ten minutes to clear that much out.”

“Spells integrated into my torc let me imitate earth pony and pegasus magic.” Twilight tapped the gem on her chest. “It’s bonded armor. She’s got a lot of tricks up her sleeve.”

“Imitate nothing. More like outperform.” Cloud leaned in to get, putting his face right in front of hers; so close she could count his nose hairs. “And I know you’re lying, Twily. Or at least not telling me the whole truth. I know that look.”

“Can’t say any more.” Twilight turned away from him, going back to the cloud wall and raising her voice over the din. “You don’t have the needed security clearance.”

“I have Indigo-level clearance, Twilight. I’m ex-Day Guard. And if I’m here, helping you, I can make an argument for need to know.”

“You need Indigo-Cosmic clearance,” Twilight said, lining up another buck. “Or higher. Huah!” Another kick, another pocket of cloud popped into the either.

“Wait, higher? As in, Indigo-Cosmic-Magick? That actually exists?!”

“Yup, and you should really keep quiet about it.” Twilight all but yelled as she approached the far back wall. “I think one more should do it. We’re really close.”

“I thought that was just a legend! A myth!”

Twilight grabbed him by both shoulders. “Cloud, I know you’re a bit awestruck right now, but I need you to snap out of it.”

“But… Indigo-Cosmic-Magick… That means you know the secrets of the Sisters! It means you—“

Twilight shook him like a paint can, side to side, then gave him a light slap in the face. “Focus, Cloud Burner! I need you to focus!”

“Uuuuuuuugh—What, oh, sorry, I was just… Yeah. What do I need to focus for again?”

Twilight backed herself up to the inside edge of the cloud, beckoning Cloud with a hoof while Spike grabbed on to her side. After he tenderly, cautiously stepped close enough, she grabbed onto him with a big hug and bucked her legs as hard as she could.

“Wwwwwwwwhhhhhhoooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Twilight flattened her ears at the boys’ yell, not to mention the absolutely absurd wind noise more akin to a train than air. They were in the seam in a blink of an eye, taken by the world’s ultimate vacuum and sent into a dark tunnel only a few meters wide. Tumbling end over end they bounced off the walls at several hundred kilometers per hour. The edges of puffy clouds were just a vague, blue-grey blur. Only the glowing shield around them stood between them and becoming the next winners of the “Thanks for getting out of the gene pool, dumbass” award.

“Focus, Cloud Burner! Open your wings! Stabilize us!”

“I can’t! No pegasus could fight this!”

“Don’t fight it! Just make us stop tumbling! Fly with the current!”

They crashed head-first into a cloud on a rightward turn, punching a dimple into the vaporous structure the size of a couple ponies plus an adolescent dragon. The stop didn’t last, as the wind sucked them through the turn like a bubble going up a straw.

“We’re… We’re not dead.” Cloud Burner swallowed, tightening his grip on Twilight. “How are we not dead!?”

“My shield! It’s working! Just stabilize us so I know where to get us out!”

“Out? Oh, ancestors, we won’t be able to get out! We’ll get killed and—“

“Cloud Burner shut up and stabilize us!”

His wings flapped open, and the world stopped spinning, mostly. They were still moving at speeds anything not named ‘Rainbow Dash’ had no right to attempt, but they were facing forward. The tunnel twisted and turned almost randomly, the product of the cloud core growing haphazardly over the years.

“H-How? There’s no way I could do this on my own!”

“Just shut up and steer!” Twilight smirked. You’re doing it because I’m helping you. She kept watch through the turns, adding her own pegasus magic into the mix when needed. It helped, but the wind was more than anything she’d ever felt, even flying on Rainbow in Zebrica. It howled in her ears like a dozen wolves, screamed like the damned in Tartarus, and hit like a sledgehammer. But I’ve had worse. Just today, in fact.

“Watch for the spiral—Oh crap!” Twilight switched to her magic sight and charged her horn as they entered a consistent turn up and to the left. They were in the updraft wound around the central core, getting spun like a centrifuge. Little blips of pegasus wellsprings flew past them in streaks, a real-time image of a time lapse night sky photograph. What she was looking for, though, was the center, the gap.

“Now!” She fired the spell, teleporting but going no where. There, in that instant, was a void in the field of stars of wellsprings. She could see the center from where everything else wasn’t.

Her second spell fired, punching her upside the head as they moved through the impossible plane. Another hit uppercutted her in the jaw and gut, splaying her legs out to her sides and crushing her under the weight of a stallion and a small dragon.

“Ow.” Twilight knew there were more accurate, detailed words to describe what had just happened, but none were more appropriate. “Everypony okay? Still have all your parts?”

Cloud Burner rolled off of her, then let his limbs flop to the ground. “Unable to comply. Mind shutdown in progress.”

“Ugh, I’m here.” Spike shoved the top of his halberd into the cloud and pushed himself up. “I’m pretty sure that I have all of me. Might’ve left a few atoms behind. I—Holy crap. Where are we?”

Twilight got her footing under her, popping and cracking her spine as she stood. “We should be in the central core. With luck, most ponies should be in their homes.” She walked to where Spike was looking out at the scene, shaking the soreness out of her fetlocks as she went. “It is something, I’ll admit that.”

The central core was an spherical emptiness in the dead center of the cloud they had been travelling in. Canterlot could easily fit inside it with room to spare. The walls were ringed with walkways, each serving as a landing for innumerable shops, offices, and apartments. Tufts of cloud charged with lightning served as lighting, and each level was filled with the yellow star-like points of light. The few shops still open in the chaos, then, were globular clusters. The galaxies, however, were in the top center.

An enormous, yet incomplete funnel cloud dipped down from the “ceiling,” if one could call it that. Its brightness was enough to make it daytime all day, every day, and it even sparkled and gently rumbled with lightning strikes. Small ribbons of electrified vapor shot off from the main cloud, only to return a moment later as the slow moving funnel sucked it back in.

Tunnels and paths leading out dotted various areas of the sphere, though Twilight knew that some ultimately led to halls with even more businesses and homes. At least one of them, however, led to an outward seam, and their ultimate destination.

Twilight rubbed her hooves on the cloud, easily the densest she had ever felt. Any normal object would be able to rest here, enchantment or not. It was part of one of the outside landing rings, and towards the middle vertically. There were pegasi around, but none seemed to pay her any attention, as they were so far away they were little more than dots. To them, she was just another pony in the distance, and they likely didn’t even notice her teleportation with the flashes from the funnel cloud.

“I was right. You are here!”

Except for one.

Twilight turned behind her and searched for the voice. “Rainbow! You found me!”

“Well, duh.” Rainbow Dash did a loop in the air and came down for a landing, but only on three legs. “I just thought, if I was a unicorn, what would the most absurdly dangerous place for me to go to in a city filled with pegasi that hate me right now? Answer, the city center!” She gave Twilight a little jab with her left hoof. “And just what are you doing here?”

“Well, as you can see, there aren't many ponies around right now, as I expected. So, I disagree with your danger assessment. Thus, I'm sneaking through on hoof while Bloodmoon stonewalls Esteem and the MPs keep his thugs out. I’m hoping to get to Cloudsdale Armories without getting spotted in a chariot by police.”

“And you made it all the way here that fast? Not bad, Twilight. I didn’t think that was possible without wings.”

Spike held out a fist for Rainbow to bump. “Well, we had some help.”

Cloud Burner groaned and finally stood up, clutching his stomach. “Yeah. Rode a Celestia-damned seam here. A thousand klicks an hour. I’m a pegasus and even I’m dizzy.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. ”Who’s this guy?”

“Dash, you remember Cloud Burner.” Twilight held back a smile at the Day Guard being wobbly on his legs. “He’s the charioteer we had in Zebrica, and a caretaker I had when I was a filly at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“Oh, right, now I know you.” Rainbow looked him over, tilting her head to different angles. “Didn’t recognize you without the glamour spell. Well, I doubt I would’ve with it, either. You’re all just statues most of the time. Must be boring—Wait, did you just say you rode a seam here? As in, a Cloudsdale seam?!”

“Ugh. Yeah.” Cloud held both sides of his head with his hooves. “And I do not want to do that again.”

“That… Is… So… Cool! Was it cool?! Awesome?! As awesome as I am at a show? Well, nothing is as awesome as me, but that is still immensely awesome! How’d you get in? Can I try it next? How did you get out?”

“Whoa, slow down!” Spike shoved his hand up to her mouth. “Yes, it was nuts, no, you can’t do it without Twilight’s horn to teleport out, the opening is somewhere on the outside of the city, and you don’t need to talk as fast as the winds in a seam. Besides, we still need a way to sneak through the core and find another.”

"Yeah, about that,” Cloud said. “I’m not sure how you’re planning to pull that off. We’re okay for now; most ponies are taking cover in their homes, so it’s mostly empty in here. But there are still a lot of pegasi around, and this place is huge. We’re going to run into somepony eventually.”

Twilight laid down and crossed her forelegs. “Well, yes, but not everypony that sees us is an issue. Just ones that would report to Esteem. The problem is, we don’t know who those are, so we have to avoid all contact if possible.

“Dash, you’re a native like Cloud. Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, we could ask—“ The hair in Rainbow’s mane stood up on end. “Wait, no, forget I said anything.”

Twilight shared a look with Spike. “Rainbow, if you know something, put it on the table. I need all my options in front of me. I think either Artfeather or Esteem or both are behind the unrest, and it may only be a matter of time before he stokes the fires enough to destroy the headquarters and cover his tracks. If I don’t personally get in there, I’m afraid we might wind up never getting the evidence we need.”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Ah, that’s why all the sneaky. If he doesn’t think you’re going to the HQ he won’t trigger a larger riot. If he sees us in there, we won’t have much time before the mob arrives!”

“Bingo. So, options, put them—Wait, do you hear that?” Twilight craned her head over the side of the walkway, watching the scene below. Pegasi, hundreds of them, were marching by on the lower levels. They were knocking on doors, ponies were coming out, crowds gathering. Many had signs, some had improvised weapons. Too many were telling out in anger.

"I'm reassessing the danger level of this location. Rainbow," Twilight said with iron in her voice. "Spill. Now."

Rainbow sighed the longest, most exaggerated sigh since Rarity had left for Canterlot. "Fine. This way. I know a pony that can help us."

They turned back in the vague direction they had come, albeit through a well-lit hall rather than a tunnel of ludicrously fast wind. Most of the rabble rousing was coming from the lower levels, but each step they made, it seemed like the roar of the crowd was two steps closer.

The path curved to the right and widened, entering a residential area. Warm colors and tiny potted plants adorned the sides of the doorways, and some had even more decorations. Small figurines and pictures seemed to be the most popular, with enchanted wind chimes and birdhouses making an occasional appearance. The door they headed towards managed to have a small rainbow fountain.

Rainbow took in another breath, then lifted her hoof to knock while bracing herself like the door was about to explode. She knocked twice, then yelled out, "Guys, it's me! Are you two okay?"

"Who do you know?" Spike asked. "Must be pretty knowledgeable about the city."

"Yeah, you could say that." Rainbow put her ears down. "But I'm going to get an earful, I just know it."

The door clicked, and inched open. "Rainbow? Rainbow, honey, is that you?"

"Honey?" The other three asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, mom, it's me."

"Mom?!" The chorus was still on the same page.

The door opened the rest of the way, with a lone pegasus behind it. She was a dull pink with a mane somewhere between blue and lavender, and was older, but with a healthy look to back it up. "Rainbow, what are you doing here? You don't visit for two years and you choose now to come by?!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. But, look, this is really important. Is dad home? We need to talk to him about the city core."

"And just who are your friends? Are they– Goodness! Is that a dragon?"

"Yes, mom, that's Spike, Twilight, and Cloud Burner, a friend of Twilight's. Can we come in? There's a mob coming this way."

"Yes, of course! Hurry!" Rainbow's mom stepped to the side, waving the group in. Inside was a landing room with a small kitchen to the right and a living room to the left.

Rainbow herself went to the kitchen, so Twilight, and by extension the others, followed. It was cozy, but a bit cramped. A table was on the left side, and a counter and refrigerator to the right. The door closed and locked behind them as Rainbow sat at the table.

"Dear! Could you come here? Our daughter has deigned to visit us!"

"Ugh." Rainbow buried her face in her forelegs. "Here we go."

Heh. Serves you right, Rainbow. Even I visit my mom more than that. Still, she's earned a little help here, I think. Twilight put on her best Canterlot manners and gave her friend's mom a small bow. "It's very nice to meet you! I'm terribly sorry for the imposition today, but it really is a big help. I'm sure I'll find a way to make it up to you, ma'am."

"Oh, such polite manners! And that accent! It's light, but you are definitely from Canterlot. Rainbow's told me all about you, Twilight, and you don't need to call me 'ma'am.' Firefly will do just fine."

"Okay then, Firefly! As I said, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm afraid Rainbow never mentioned much about you. Are you a Wonderbolt like your daughter?"

"Ahahaha! Oh, my, no!" Firefly broke out into more laughter behind her hoof. "I know my daughter wishes I was some legendary flyer–"

Rainbow groaned again.

"–But, no, I'm not. I was an elementary school physical education and flight instructor here in Cloudsdale. I just retired last year. My husband and I wanted to be able to move in case… Well, in case this happened. The mess outside, I mean."

"Sorry about that," a gruffer, masculine voice said as it's owner rounded the corner from the hall. "I was in the bathroom, and—Oh! Dear, you didn't say she brought friends!" The stallion was a medium, dull blue with decently large wings and a rainbow mane and tail. He also sported a brown handle bar moustache. "That torc… Are you Grand Mage Sparkle?"

"Yes, I am!" Twilight gave him a bow as well. "But, you can call me Twilight, or, if you absolutely must use a title, Lady Sparkle. With me is my seneschal and little brother Spike, and Cloud Burner, an old friend of mine."

"Yo!" Spike held up a hand and waved, while Cloud mimicked Twilight's bow.

"Excellent! Splendiferous! I'm Rainbow Blaze, Dashie's father."

"Somepony shoot me." Rainbow moaned from under her forelegs.

"Dear," Firefly said, voice sweet as can be. "Twilight is the third highest ranking noble in all of Equestria. She's basically a princess." Her voice and face turned into something roughly two-thirds as scary as Cadence on a bad day, which actually put her in the top percentile for 'terrifying matron face.' "Drop the silly accent. Now."

"Ah. Right. Sorry about that. Practising for my comedy troupe, actually. So," Rainbow Blaze's face turned about half as grim as his wife's had been a moment ago. "Cloud Burner, was it? You're not here because you have bad news regarding you, my Dashie, and unintended consequences, are you?"

"Mounted cored cannon." Rainbow pointed between her eyes. "Right here. Please, somepony!"

"I can assure you, Sir, that I am unfamiliar with your daughter." Cloud said with a 'Guard Voice.' "I've only met her a couple times, all in a professional capacity. I have no intentions towards her."

"Well, why the heck not?" Blaze asked. "She too short for ya?"

Twilight and Spike couldn't help but start to snicker.

"Ummmm…" Cloud looked around for a way out from between this rock and hard place which was somehow found in a home made out of condensed water vapor.

"Dear…" The scary face was back, but her voice was still a sweet as a cherry fritter. "Do not make the Grand Mage's guards uncomfortable."

"That's it. I going to my old room." Rainbow got up and walked off down the hall Blaze had come from. "Maybe I'll be able to find some cyanide."

Twilight and Spike broke out into laughter, supporting each other while they slid to the floor.

"So, kidding aside," Blaze said, smile returning. "You said 'professional capacity.' Are you one of Twilight's guards, then?"

"Oh, no, just a friend. I'm a retired Day Guard Charioteer. Actually, in a way I did used to be her Guard. Long time back, I was assigned to watch and protect Twilight here when she was Celestia's student at the castle."

Twilight, her giggles settling down, added, "Rainbow was injured, so I asked Cloud to help us out with our mission."

"My baby was injured?!" Firefly pointed her scary face at Twilight. "Who? How?!"

"A fight with a gryphon. She dislocated her shoulder. She's already been treated at Fort Hurricane. She should be just fine, and when we get home I'm going to put her on medical leave with a shiny new purple heart medal. No need to panic, this isn't anything dire."

Firefly winced, pacing around in just a couple steps of space. "My poor baby. My only baby! I knew she'd get hurt in the military. Who was it? I'm going to tear that gryphon apart!"

"Twilight basically already did," Spike said. "Cut her down with a pair of telekinetic blades. Way I hear it, she got it way worse than Rainbow did. She's probably still alive, though. Maybe."

"Ah. Well, saves me a trip then."

"Poor Dashie…" Blaze stood up and looked down the hall to where his daughter was. "You sure she'll be okay? I don't want her to go through what I did."

"Why?" Twilight asked. "What happened?"

"I used to be a racer with a rising star in the semi-pro circuit. Then I got hurt. I can still fly, but not like a racer needs to. Ended my career when I was still in college."

"My gosh!" Twilight covered a gasp. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"Just say my Dashie will be okay. That's all I ask."

"I promise. This won't slow her down for long. I'll make sure she takes care of herself. In fact, Spike, go after her and make sure she's at least physically comfortable."

"Sure thing!" Spike snapped off a salute and ran out of the room.

"Thank you, Lady Sparkle." Firefly sat down next her husband, leaning into him. "Honestly, I worry more about what she has to do now. We couldn't leave in time to evacuate. What's going to happen if she's caught in a riot? Or if..." The sound of the mob grew outside, as thousands of hooves poured through the halls. “Or if we are…”

Twilight lit her horn and put a barrier spell over the door, careful to make sure it wouldn’t be visible from the other sie. "Actually, I had a couple of favors to ask in regards to that."

"Favors? Us?" Firefly and Blaze shared a confused look with each other before Firefly continued, "If we can help, sure, but what can we do? We aren't exactly soldiers."

"Well, for starters, I'm trying to get to Cloudsdale Armories HQ, without getting spotted by police or anypony that might be working for those I'm after. I managed to get this far without getting hassled too bad. There was one group, but I'm not entirely convinced they're connected in a way that will give me trouble. But, to even get in here I had to ride a seam. I'd like to get to the other end of the core without having to do that again."

"Amen, ancestors answer that prayer…" Cloud Burner shuddered.

"Rode a seam?!" Blaze's jaw dropped. "How did you do that?! No, never mind that, how are you not dead?!"

"My big brother is arguably the greatest barrier wizard in history. He showed me a few tricks to protect myself."

"He must be, if you're not a pile of crushed bone!"

"Honey." Firefly gave him a poke. "She asked a favor. Did you even hear it?"

"Hmmm? Oh, right! Getting to CA HQ. Yes, I think that's possible." Blaze twirled his moustache around. "Most of the maintenance crew aren't going to work because of the riots. There are some, but if we hide you in a beat up cart, they won't look twice if I fly you through the access tunnels."

"And you know your way through them?"

"Know them? Please. I helped design them! I'm one of the cloud architects that worked on the progressive design of the core. I could get you through blindfolded and upside down. I might even be able to do it if I wore the blindfold!"

"Puh-huh-huh." Cloud chuckled. "I really shouldn't laugh at that, but you need to laugh when things are tense."

"So you'll help?" Twilight asked.

"Of course!" Blaze gave Firefly a nudge. "Dashie would never let me live it down if I didn't."

"Excellent! Which, brings me to my second favor to ask." Twilight cleared her throat, and stood up as regal as she could. "Do you mind if I raid your fridge until the mob passes? Spike and I haven't eaten since our early breakfast."

"Oh! Of course, help yourself!" Firefly trotted up to Twilight with a sly grin. "But, I do have a little favor to ask in return." She leaned over and whispered something in her ear. It was a simple request, something she had learned how to do long, long ago.

"I think I can help you with that." Twilight charged her horn and fired the spell, blasting Blaze directly in his muzzle.

His moustache promptly disappeared.

"Awww. I liked my moustache."

"Yes! Finally! Finally, it's gone!" Firefly cackled out loud like a mad mare.

Twilight knocked on the door to Rainbow's room. "Spike, your turn with the fridge! I left you some orange juice!"

The door opened and the dragon made a beeline to the kitchen. "Fooooood! Whoooooooo!"

"Heh. Same as always." Twilight craned her head around the door, peeking inside the room. "Hey, Rainbow."

The pegasus was lying on her back in a twin size cloud bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Hey. Sorry about all this. They're just really good at embarrassing me."

"I'd say that's normal for parents." Twilight bowed her head as she stepped inside the room, which was plastered in vintage Wonderbolt posters and paraphernalia. At one corner was a display case that had been stuffed with so many trophies it was glittering. There was also a small, but empty, desk. The whole place was only half a meter wider than Rainbow's wingspan, though its length was twice that. "This is a nice room. Cozy!"

"Tiny, more like. You'd think with dad being an architect we'd have our own independent building, but architects don't make that much unless they're famous." Rainbow sucked in a deep breath and blew away from of the mane in her face. "And they're definitely not famous."

"So?" Twilight picked up one of the trophies and muffled a burp. "Neither are my folks. A lot of ponies I meet seem to think I'm from a rich noble family or something. Maybe have a long line of super amazing mages in it. But that's just not how it is. For Canterlot, we were strictly middle class. Only reason I even tried out for the gifted school was because it's all tuition paid for anypony that goes there. Had it been as costly as a lot of the other private schools around Canterlot, I'd have been in an ordinary public school."

"Yeah, but your brother married a princess. That's nobility, Twilight."

"Married her only after I moved to Ponyville. And the only reason they knew each other is because Cadence demanded to go to public school so she could have more friends. It's not bad to be normal, Rainbow, nor is it bad to come from normal families. None of the Elements are from nobility."

"Yeah, I suppose that says something, there." Rainbow sighed. "But I kind of have the same problem as you. Do you realize that three quarters of the Wonderbolts are nobles?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nope. No idea."

"It's true. Given my abilities, when ponies find out I'm not a noble, they look at me like I'm a mini manticore made out of manure. Like, 'who's this impostor?' I hate it.

"Don't get me wrong. I love my parents to bits. They're caring, they've always supported me and my dreams, and they taught me a lot about flying. But… Argh, I was gonna say something but it'd just make me sound like a jerk." She flopped over, belly-down on her bed. "I love them to death, but they still like to embarrass me."

"And that's still par for course." Twilight turned her attention to the posters all over the walls. Any that weren't of her were mostly of a dark pegasus stallion or of Spitfire. "Who's the guy?"

"Stormrider. Huge star when I was a filly." Rainbow clutched her pillow and turned over again. "Celestia, I had such a crush on him when I was little. I actually told my mom once that I wanted him under my tree for Hearth's Warming."

"Pfft! That's adorable!" Twilight hid her laugh behind a hoof.

"I know, right? I used to daydream about being a Wonderbolt for hours before finally getting to sleep." Rainbow looked around her room, ears folded back. "I spent basically my entire foalhood here. It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but it was good."

"I know the feeling. My room in Canterlot was about the same, only more books! At least until I moved into my tower. I guess we really do have a lot in common."

"Heh, yeah. Who would've thought, the egghead and the jock."

"Well, just think about it." Twilight sat down next to the bed, leaning on the fluffy softness. "We both won tons of awards, albeit in different areas. We were both gifted in our own way, we both come from similar families…"

Rainbow picked up the thread. "We both have the same like of Daring Do, we're both crazy powerful for our tribe, we're both snarky as all heck, we're both really short…"

Twilight laughed. "Shortest adult mares in Ponyville, pretty much. Not that I mind. I like being able to hide behind a stack of books to unwind."

"I hear that. I didn't mind 'cause it means I'm more aerodynamic and have a better power-to-weight ratio. In fact, check this out." Rainbow hopped off the bed and stood up next to the doorway, pointing at a wood moulding. In fact, only that side was made out of something other than cloud. "See the notches here?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, and… There's numbers next to them? Looks like dates."

"Yup. Guess your family didn't do this, but every so often my folks would measure my height and mark it down on the wood here, along with the date. Each time they did it, I prayed to my ancestors that I hadn't grown, so I'd be as fast as possible when I was an adult. Well, I managed to be pretty short, but most families want their foals to be 'big and strong.' Drove my mom nuts each time I cheered for not growing."

Twilight chuckled. "Oh, my mom should've done this with Shiny. She'd've loved it. And hated it with me. I'm even shorter than you!" She stood up straight and lined herself up with the moulding. "See?"

"Yup! I… Wait…" Rainbow pushed Twilight's ears out of the way, eyeing the marks near the top of her head. "Actually, you aren't. Well, not anymore, I think."

Twilight blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. Here, keep standing." Rainbow stood up next to Twilight, squared off in a military stance. "There's a mirror in the upper left drawer in my desk. Can you get it without moving?"

"I wouldn't be much of a Grand Mage if I couldn't open a drawer. One second." Twilight lit her horn, probing the room and finding the object. She floated it over to them, holding it directly in front so they could see each other in it. "Wow. You're right! I've grown! Not much, mind you, but I have. I'm maybe, what, a quarter inch taller than you now?"

"You grew?" Firefly stepped in from across the hall. "How? I thought you were older than that."

"Eavesdropping again, mom?" Rainbow deadpanned. "Gosh, I'm so shocked."

Firefly loaded and fired another glare, though this one was only a warning shot. "Don't be like that, dear. It's a small house, and the office is across the hall. And don't change the subject. You say your friend grew?"

Twilight nodded. "Apparently. I used to be a hair shorter than Rainbow. It's not unheard of for powerful unicorns to resume growing in adulthood, though. Actually, it's kind of expected, although I am doing it rather early. One of my old professors grew twenty centimeters over the course of about five years just before he retired."

"Huh." Firefly tilted her head and folded her forelegs. "I never heard of that. But I don't know too many unicorns. Blaze knows more of them than I do."

Twilight continued, "Powerful unicorns can actually have a lot of weird stuff happen to them. Fast growing manes, horn growth, hooves can get larger, and our metabolisms can go haywire, among other things. Also sometimes means lots of arthritis. Again, I'm a bit young for all that, but it's not totally unheard of."

Rainbow mirrored her mother. "I didn't know any of that, either. That really true?"

"Of course! It's something both my brother and I have to keep in mind. He's not as powerful as I am, but in our family, arthritis is definitely a concern. My grandmother is wheelchair bound her condition is so bad, and she's not that powerful. Luckily her horn still works fine."

"Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that!" Firefly dropped the sceptical look like a potato that was on fire. "Good thing they have better medicines for that these days. Rainbow's grandfather actually died in a flight accident thanks to arthritis."

Twilight winced. "Ouch. Yeah, high speed arthritis is not one of the safer forms. I read about it in—"

"BUUUUUUUURP!"

"Whoops, sounds like Spike's done." Twilight bowed to Firefly. "Thank you again for your hospitality. It really was a huge help!"

"Not at all, dear." Firefly waved off the concern. "It's an honor to have you in our little home!"

"Buuuuuuuuurp! Aw, dang, not near as loud." Rainbow Blaze audibly sulked. "You win, Spike."

Rainbow laughed while Twilight and Firefly rolled their eyes.

"Sounds like my husband found a new friend."

Twilight sighed with a smile, then listened for the sound of marching hooves. It had been there a few minutes ago, but now, all was quiet. "Come on, Rainbow. It sounds like the mob has passed, so we should get going before those two get the police after us for disturbing, or perhaps disgusting, the peace."

Twilight watched as Blaze opened up the storage locker while making a trumpet fanfare noise.

It was a completely normal storage locker with an entirely basic four wheel cart inside it, covered with the world's most nondescript tarp. There was even some impossibly standard wooden, cube-shaped crates scattered about.

"Yeah, I know it's not much," Blaze said. "But that's exactly what we want. A completely normal mode of transit. Nopony will look twice at a pair of stallions hauling this around. A million of them fly around this city every single day, and even in this mess I bet there are thousands of them around."

"It'll work." Twilight tore the tarp off and hopped inside the cramped, hay-covered floor. "Spike, Rainbow, get in. Blaze, Cloud, you're pulling. No offence, but we three are famous enough to get noticed too easily."

The two joined her, with Rainbow stopping to tap a crate strapped in on the driver's seat. "Hey dad. What's in the box?"

"Old kitchen utensils. Helps with this ancient cart's balance. Hurry up and get in!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." She laid down next to Twilight and Spike, both curled up to keep their heads down as Twilight used her magic to seal the tarp over them.

"You two comfortable in there?" Cloud asked.

"As much as we're going to be." Twilight tried to stretch out, but to no avail. I can't even imagine how much Rainbow hates this. She tapped her hoof on the side twice to give them an all clear.

The cart jostled and rocked on the dense, yet not at all smooth cloud layer. The suspensionless wheels didn't help matters, and each hit threatened to either impale her eye with a piece of old hay or shove a few splinters in her cheek.

"Yeeck." Spike ran his claws over the bottom of the cart, scratching up something Twilight really hoped was dirt instead of mold. "When was the last time this was cleaned?"

"Cargo doesn't talk!" Cloud barked. "You're blind in there, so you don't know who's in earshot!"

Twilight rolled her eyes despite the fact that it was the truth. Actually, she thought, I have an even higher truth.

She shifted to her magic sight just as they lifted off. There was the barest outline of the outside walls thanks to the ancient magic packed into the cloud walls when they were formed, as well as the wellspring signatures of their little group. Although it stood to reason she should see many more, as they were undoubtedly there and within a single story, the same magic that allowed her to see the walls was also stopping her from seeing through them beyond one or two layers. Thus, she turned it off to relax for the trip.

The airborne ride was much smoother than the one on cloud, though that was to be expected with a Day Guard Charioteer on the team. Even so, with such a rickety cart, it was impressive. What could have been a bit of a rollercoaster was buttery smooth. Turns and drops felt like soaring through the sky, even though they were actually flying through a tight, winding series of corridors. It was enough that it was lulling Twilight to sleep when they came to a stop.

"What's in the cart?" an unknown stallion said.

"Guys," Twilight whispered while her adrenaline spiked. "Get ready for a fight. They uncover the tarp, take them down."

Her two guards nodded, with Spike giving a thumbs up as well.

"I said, what's in the cart?"

"None of your damn business. Get out of our way. Now." Cloud was still a guard, retired or not.

"Nothin' gets through here without inspection for horn heads and dirt lovers tryin' to escape the city."

Twilight's ears caught fire, and her breath steamed in the chilled air. Open the tarp, flank wipe. I dare you.

"That's illegal as all Tartarus. Let us through, or I'll pull off your wings so you can live the rest of your life as an earth pony. Your choice."

"Fellas, fellas, no need to fight!" Blaze chuckled nervously. "Really, we're all pegasi here, can't we trust each other?"

"I appreciate the de-escalation, but really, I'm in the mood to bust some heads." Cloud must have unleashed himself from the cart, as it slipped backwards on his side a little bit. "I'm sick and tired of this tribalist garbage. So's a lot of this city. If these two don't beat it, I'm going to tear out their tongues and shove them so far up their backsides they'll get to taste their dinners all over again."

"Oh, a tough guy, huh?"

"Punks like you make up sixty percent of my breakfast cereal. You're even softer than the marshmallows. Bring it!"

There was a beat, followed by a great many beats. One might even say it was a "beat down." Twilight wasn't entirely sure who was winning, but given that Cloud was among Equestria's most highly trained soldiers, she was only giving herself one guess. At first, it was just the sound of hooves hitting flesh, but then the cart jumped like something heavy had hit it. A few more times it pounded, and then came the sound of a box of metal implements crashing.

"Spike, take a peek out there." Twilight whispered.

Spike nodded and undid a tiny portion of the tarp, peering out the hole before cringing and sealing it back up. "That is not a socially accepted way to use an egg beater."

Rainbow and Twilight covered their mouths and giggles while the chaos went on outside. In a minute or two, it was over, and they all stuck their heads out of their cover. Two pegasus stallions lay beaten, bloody, and bruised. Blaze was standing still, wide eyed with shock and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. Cloud Burner, meanwhile, was wiping his hooves off and getting back into the harness.

"We here at Cloud Burner Air apologize for the interruption. We will now continue with our scheduled flight."

One of the unconscious stallions slumped over as his body shifted under its own weight, and a glimmer of gold poked its way out of his shirt pocket and sent an arrow of light into Twilight's eyes.

"Wait a minute, guys." Twilight lifted it out of the shirt with her magic, then wiped off what she assumed was the pony's own blood. "This is a Cloudsdale Police Department badge. Number nine-one-nine-three-nine."

Spike picked it out if the air and pressed it with a fang. "It's real. Guess this confirms your theory, Twilight. Esteem is either behind a lot of this, or he's got no control whatsoever."

Twilight pocketed the badge as evidence. "It also means that the Cloudsdale PD is corrupted to the point where we can't trust them. The only reason we'll have a chance at all with our investigation is because the military took over so quickly, and rightfully so.

"Let's get moving again. I want to get to Cloudsdale Armories HQ as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the less advantageous our element of surprise will be." She ducked back down into the chariot and covered it, settling for the upcoming ride.

It wasn't long before the wind kicked up, signalling they had left the core and were now in open sky. Moment by moment, the cart turned more often. Instead of travelling in a straight line, they were weaving through some unknown obstacles. After Twilight took a quick peek through her magic sight, they weren't unknown anymore. They were pegasi, lots of them.

"This is going to prove problematic…" Twilight muttered to herself as a roar of wind grew louder and louder.

Eventually, the cart rumbled and slowed, coming to a halt on a bumpy cloud. As Twilight looked out with her Sight, she knew that they were close, but they couldn’t leave the cart. Not yet, at any rate. Not when tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pegasi surrounded the Cloudsdale Armories complex.

"Stay hidden a moment, guys," Cloud said. "We're going to dig out the cloud so you have cover when getting out."

A sound not quite like that of snow getting dug and stepped on managed to fight the din of the crowd, and the cart dropped a few inches every so often. When the tarp came off, they were covered in an almost bunker-like cloud. The entire thing was hollow and enclosed, save for a small slot they could see the HQ out of.

It had seemed like at least one in ten of the protesters had a torch, lighting up the clouds around them with an ominous orange. The sun was now firmly over the horizon, and the cold was stinging Twilight even through her pegasus coat. Even in Cloudsdale, the weather control could only hold off so much of Winter's might.

The HQ itself was a tower high enough Twilight had to clear out a little of the cloud bunker to actually see the top. It was a near perfect rectangular prism, and a monument to hierarchy. There was also a wide, long path arcing passed the front, in which most of the protesters were standing. Some were in the air, but pegasi couldn't fly forever, and this was a siege.

"They aren't storming in and wrecking the place, which means the military police are holding them back." Twilight held out her hoof at Spike. "Do you still have those binoculars?"

"Right here."

"Thanks." Twilight took them and zoomed in on the crowd. There weren't many regular police left. Nearly all that was left to defend the HQ was the military ponies, each standing sternly against the crowd. Even they wouldn't last forever, though. "Wait, the center of the crowd… It's moving, like a parade or something. And what is that noise?"

Twilight, Cloud, and Rainbow put their ears to the slot, facing the crowd, but Twilight still couldn't quite make it out. It was muddled, a solute in a solution that just wouldn't become a precipitate. All she could hear was the steady beat of the chant.

"Blaze, Cloud, can you two push the cloud closer? You can sit on top afterwards, pretend you just wanted a close seat. That'll keep ponies from wondering about why you went inside."

The two nodded and burrowed out of the cloud and closed it up, then started moving it forward like a giant piece of furniture on wheels. A few minutes later, they were within a football field of the main crowd. Twilight closed up the viewing slot to its narrowest as she heard what the protesters were chanting.

"Heroes! Heroes! Heroes! Heroes live forever! Heroes! Heroes! Heroes! Heroes live forever!"

"Cloud!" Twilight knocked on the roof of the bunker. "Find out what's going on!"

He flew off, returning a few minutes later to peel back a piece of the bunker roof.

"It's bad, Twilight," He said. "Very bad."

"Why? What happened?" Spike asked.

"They're parading a few bodies through the crowd on stretchers. They say a group of police officer unicorns busted into a home and murdered a pegasus family for not having a cloud landing. The bodies are the victims, who’re being called, well, you heard the chant."

"Bringing the crowd to a fever pitch." Twilight turned back to the crowd with her binoculars, scanning through the crowd until she found them. The bodies were being carried above the crowd, held high for all to see. They didn't stay still from the movement, but she could see the wounds on the head and body.

"Looks a bit like blunt force trauma, but pegasi are resistant to that. It would take a lot of force, which is exactly what that impact suggests. The head is partially caved in, like it was hit with something pointy, but very wide and thick. Odd choice for a weapon. This wasn't the same crew as Artfeather's assassination. Her killers were professionals, this is just sloppy."

"Can I see?" Rainbow asked, taking the binoculars as they were given. "Wow, yeah, looks nasty."

"I wonder what could cause an injury like that. A unicorn would have an easier time of it, but it's certainly not something only we could do." Twilight turned to her seneschal. "Any thoughts, Spike?"

"No clue. Can't see it from here."

"Hey, Twilight." Rainbow poked her while still looking through the binoculars. "What about a pickaxe? Could that do it?"

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Actually, yes! Rainbow, that's brilliant!"

"Oh, no, I had a hint." Rainbow gave her the binoculars back. "About six meters back from the lead corpse. Look at the pony marching alongside, the one dressed in black for no apparent reason."

Twilight panned across the crowd back and forth until she found him. He was in an all black outfit, like it was Nightmare Night and he was dressing as a burglar. On his side was a small bag with a handle sticking out of it, and the outline of a pickaxe stretching the fabric. Most important, though, was who the tan and brown pony was. "Seapony Dustmane."

"That guy from the Bellerophon?" Spike asked, trying to see out of the bunker.

"The same." Twilight sneered. "Seapony, you are bucked. You are so bucked, I need to invent a new word for just how bucked you are. You are superhorrifibucked."

"But what do we do?" Spike pulled out a pair of null-all shackles. "We can't just walk up there and toss these on him. The crowd would eat us alive."

"Who says we can't?" Twilight opened her saddlebags and dumped their entire contents into Spike's backpack, then tossed the shackles in her pack and tossed them up to Cloud Burner. "Fly at him, scare him out of the crowd, run him down, and haul his flank to Fort Hurricane. Then get back here as fast as possible so we can plan out how to infiltrate the HQ."

Cloud tossed on the bag and saluted. "One superhorrifibucked, tribalist douche bag, coming up!"

"What about me?" Blaze asked. "I'm not a soldier, but I'd like to help, if I can."

Twilight shook her head."You've been more than enough help already. Thank you. It's getting rather dangerous, so you should head home, wait this out."

"I can't just do nothing… Tell you what, I'll talk to some of my friends. I'm not a noble, but I know ponies in this city. I'll see if I can dig anything up, maybe see if there's a safe way in that building."

Rainbow nodded. "It's true, dad's connected in this city as well as a mid-level noble. He might be able to find things out we can't."

Twilight's ear twitched at the cry of the pegasi outside. "Okay, but don't get in too deep. If I'm right, there are ponies out there who won't hesitate to kill you if they think you're too close."

"Be careful. Gotcha. I'll head back here if I find anything." Blaze flew off back in the direction of the core, zig-zagging his way through the throngs.

"Okay, now we try to find a way past a half million or so particularly perturbed and pissed off pegasi." Twilight pulled out her notebook and pen. "Any ideas, guys?"

Cloud flapped his wings harder as he climbed, flying up in circles over his target. He'd heard about this pony after he had called Twilight a slur. He had gotten off easy that time, in his opinion, which meant it was time for karma to catch up with him.

He turned his feathers and tipped into a dive, going from a standstill to a blur in just a few seconds. Much as it would have been satisfying to just plow into his target, it was plain that Twilight wanted him alive. Still, he needed a good buildup of speed. That hard part would come just before he tackled him. He had to get through the crowd.

Pegasus after pegasus blew passed him, most of whom were hovering at a fixed point or flying very slowly. Each beat of his wings had him turning ever so slightly to avoid breaking the bones of either himself or some unfortunate soul that wasn't looking up. Worse, the sheer number of ponies was going up, and it wasn't long before the number he was flying past could be measured in the dozens per second. Then, he found it; a clear line down. He surged forward, leaving his restraint behind.

No! He pulled back, flapping as hard as he could to avoid the mother and colt that had drifted into his path. "Look out!" He could make out their colors, cutie marks, even the hue of their eyes if they had been facing him. The air around him pushed down, bleeding off his speed and kicking up the manes of the ponies under him.

The parent pulled her foal out of the way at the last second, barely acting in time. "Watch where you're going!" She screamed at him. Tartarus had no fury like that of a mother, but even so, it wasn't enough to reach Cloud while his target was still free.

He didn't even look at the mother he had nearly hurt, but instead kept his focus on Dustmane. The two locked eyes as the Seapony turned to see what had happened, and that was when Cloud realized his actual mistake.

There was a certain look they taught you when you trained to be in the Royal Guard. A stern confidence that made you as much a statue of a myth as a soldier. It was drilled into you until it was a part of your very soul. Once lodged so permanently into your being, it never, ever left your eyes.

That was what Dustmane must have seen, because he took off like a shot.

Damn it all. He tore after him, moving up, over and around pony after pony that got in his way. It was chasing after somepony in a maze, only the maze was moving and innocents got hurt if you ran into a wall. However, if giving himself away was Cloud's mistake, Dustmane made a different one: he left the protesters behind.

The chase turned from maze to open sky, which was exactly was Cloud wanted. Nopony short of a Wonderbolt could match a Day Guard Charioteer on pure, unbridled speed. He opened up his magic, taking in the air in front of him and sending it over his pinions and out behind him with almost explosive ferocity. Each flap of his wings was another little burst of power that had him gobbling up the inches between him and his prey.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as the tops of clouds lit their way with arcs of lightning. They weaved back and forth through the miniature storms, the puffy balls at the tops ready to electrify any pegasus stupid enough to try to land on them.

Another maze came up to them, this one not of ponies, but of their homes. Little clusters of clouds making up fancy, high maintenance, mansions for the wealthy of Cloudsdale filled that section of the sky. Though they were at least a hundred meters apart by regulation, at his speed that was barely a blink of an eye. Unlike ponies, though, these were predictable.

Time to do this smart. Cloud pulled into a climb, letting the little douche gain some ground. His new path was clearer, and he could go faster, all while keeping his prey in sight. Yet, he didn't close the distance; not all the way.

Dustmane looked around to his left and right, his rear and underneath him, even above. There was one angle, though, that not even pegasi usually checked, as it was difficult, if not impossible, for their heads to move that way. It was this spot that Cloud hid in, and Dustmane never looked up and behind him.

Cloud slowed with his target, letting the quarry feel either a measure of safety or a bowlful of paranoia and fear. Either one worked for Cloud. It was only a matter of time, now. They moved through the city, the chasee leading the chaser through a manufacturing district with one of the weather factories facilities—which was strangely devoid of protesters—and into a dense residential area. Though not the core itself, the structure was still the size of a small storm, and likely filled to the brim with apartments and condos and all manner of tunnels. Thus, it had to be now.

He barrelled towards Dustmane as he approached one of the orbiting structures, a smaller cloud just outside the larger one that had a few expensive condos and a large landing area with a tunnel going through it. His quarry was going for said tunnel, so that's where he'd have to get him.

Cloud lined up behind Dustmane and burned up the distance between them like a wildfire, catching up to his tail as they passed through the tunnel.

That was when the pain came.

His hind leg cried out as it was pulled, yanking the muscle hard and tipping him upside down. Wet cloud soaked his head and back as he skidded along the cloud landing, hooves in the air like a foal playing in grass. His rump rammed into a series of trash cans, only barely stopping him in time to save him from a dive into a trash cloud filled with things he really didn't want to contemplate.

"Okay, I don't know who, but somepony is about to get the beating of their lives." He fringed the obligatory banana peel off his head and back into the trash, then stood up and flared out his wings.

"Going a little fast there, aren't you, citizen?" One of four pegasi said as they stepped out of the alleys. "And chasing that boy? What's he done to you?"

"Go to Tartarus. I don't have to tell you anything, and you need to get out of my way."

"I don't quite think you understand your situation, Sir." Another voice said, this one of a unicorn appearing from behind the trash cloud and brandishing a badge. "You're coming with us. Whether it's alive or in a body bag is up to you."

Cloud strode up to the short stallion and let his wings do some of the talking, firing up his magic and building up some static. Even without a single arc of electricity, they still sounded like thunder. "Day Guard Charioteer. Lethal force authorized by the Sun herself. Last chance. Leave or die."

The unicorn answered by lighting his horn.

Burner retorted with a buck to clouds underneath him. The vaporous platform vanished, leaving a house-sized gap right where the unicorn was standing. Cloud walking spells didn't help when you had no cloud to walk on.

He kicked up into the air, flapping his wings to push himself into a backflip, then flew upside down as three of the other pegasi dove for where he was instead of where he was going. The fourth raced after the falling unicorn, taking him out of the picture for now. One of the remaining hostiles plowed into the very same trash cans Cloud had, while the other two were faster.

Cloud pulled back and to his side to dodge the first punch, then returned with a dozen of his own. The second pegasus came in from his side to try his luck with a blow, and Cloud grabbed the first's head and used it to block, then punched the stunned enemy in the nose so hard that the back of his head punched the other one in the nose, too.

The trash pegasus pulled himself out of the garbage and lunged, wings charged with sloppy, unfocused electricity. His forehoof was pulled back in a telegraph so large you'd have to hang it on a billboard.

Cloud Burner flapped once, sending him into the air with a spin and over the attacker. He put all his magic into his outer pinions, a trick only high ranking soldiers knew. The vibration had the feathers singing with a metallic hum, and sharpened their edges to a razor tip. The biological blades cut into his enemy's plumage, cutting through each of the primaries on one wing, then another.

The pegasus tumbled and crashed into a wall, his clipped wings flailing about fruitlessly until their owner decided to run for it. The other two pegasi weren't dissuaded yet, however, as they came back, bloody noses and all.

"This is getting old." Cloud Burner jumped forward, driving a hoof into the stomach of one of his attackers. As that one staggered, he turned away from the other and jumped to the side, allowing him to both dodge a punch and slam his fetlock into the already battered nose of the second pegasus. He then grabbed hold of his enemy's outstretched foreleg, throwing him over his head and into the floor. With his grip still firm, he kicked a hind hoof into the captive's shoulder and twisted the leg. The sickening crack of bone vibrated through their bodies, and Cloud left the pegasus to sleep, knocked out from the pain of the break, which was typical for ponies that received such a great wound to their legs.

The last enemy was stumbling around, trying to line up a hit.

Cloud held out a leg, tripping the stallion to the ground. One stomp to the neck carefully delivered to a specific spot sent a knockout shock to his system, and that was that. When the final pegasus arrived with the unicorn in tow, Cloud greeted them with a bolt of lightning that ripped passed their ears. The look on their faces, though priceless, wasn't near as funny as the drops of yellow moisture that some poor soul far below might interpret as rain. Both fled for their lives after seeing what happened to their friends.

"That slowed me down too much. I've probably lost Dustmane…" Cloud took off into the sky, searching high and low for any kind of clue as to where his target went. He reached the large structure ahead of them, and criss-crossed through many of the tunnels, but found only random, unrelated pegasi and darkness.

"And you're sure you haven't seen him?" Cloud asked.

"Nope. Sorry." The orange mare shrugged, putting her safety vest back on. "Wish I could help ya, but almost nopony showed up to work. Fraidy cats, the lot of them. Somepony has to do the maintenance." She tipped his helmet, flying off at a meandering pace.

"Damn," Cloud said, sighing. "This is taking too long. He's gone. Gotta get back to Twilight, give her an update." He took off down the tunnel, heading for the light, when a bag strap sticking out of a garbage can caught his eye. Wait… He tossed the lid, finding a large bag inside, holding a pickaxe.

He opened it up, pulling out the implement. Blood was covering the tip, and there were teeth marks on the wooden handle. "Guess you didn't have time to clean or ditch the weapon before joining the march, huh? Dustmane, you are bucked - superhorrifibucked."

"Gee, some help you two are," Twilight said as she slumped down against the cloud. "How long have we been here without a single idea?"

"I don't see you contributing." Rainbow stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. "And you're supposed to be the genius!"

"I know, I know. But what are we supposed to do? The place is surrounded!"

"Hey, you three still in there?" A smattering of knocks came from up above as Cloud Burner opened up the cloud. "Figure out a way in yet?"

"Nada." Twilight shook her head. "You capture Dustmane?"

"Some crooked cops ran interference for him and he got away. I looked high and low, couldn't find him." Cloud dangled a bag over the opening. "But I did find this!"

"Is that… The murder weapon?!" Twilight reached out and grabbed it with her hooves, taking a quick peek in the pack. "Bingo, evidence. Get this to Fort Hurricane ASAP. Deliver it to RGIS. I can't be seen with it."

She tossed it back up into Cloud's hooves. "Right on. I'll be back in a jiff." He closed the cloud up, and he was gone. At least, he was gone for fifteen seconds before he opened the hole right back up again. "Hey, guys! You'll want to see this. Take a look down there, to the south!"

Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow all crowded their small viewing slot, trying to get an angle.

Spike pushing Rainbow's head away to see better, though she was fighting back. "I don't see anything!"

"You will!" Cloud resealed the makeshift bunker and flew off again, this time not turning back.

"You guys see anything?" Spike asked.

"I would if you'd quit shoving!"

"Ssh! Quiet!" Twilight pushed them both down into the bunker. "Just listen. You two hear that?"

They all stood silent for a moment, ears peeled for anything. A faint, but growing cadence was coming, heading for the main protest.

"It's a chant." Rainbow peeked back through the slot. "What's the big deal? They've been chanting all night… Wait…"

"Yeah." Twilight blinked, finally seeing something come into view from the long cloud path going into the distance. "It's a separate chant; not what the ponies here have been saying."

Slowly, inexorably, the chant grew closer, as did the army of protesters singing it. They weren't just pegasi, either, though they were there in force. Earth ponies and unicorns were all in the crowd, too, along with some gryphons and even some donkeys. They held signs that said "Love over hate," "My husband is an earth pony," "All Equestria For All Ponies," and "Pegasi For Harmony." The chant even overpowered the other protest.

"No more windegoes! No more windegoes! No more windegoes!"

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at the crowd. "Check out their bandanas!"

The original, tribalist crowd had blue bandanas, or at least pieces of cloth, wrapped around their forelegs. This one, however, had pastel green and violet, the same as the colors in Celestia's mane.

The oceans of ponies in the sky and on the clouds came to meet, pushing against each other with bodies and words and sound. The unity supporters were outnumbered, but wouldn't take a backseat to anypony in spirit. Step by step, they pushed the hate fuelled crowd back.

"Okay, now I have something I can work with." Twilight licked her lips at the opportunity and possibilities. "It'll still take some doing, though."

"Hey-o, I'm back-o!" said a voice from above, eliciting a groan from Rainbow.

"Really, dad? Really?" Rainbow pulled open a hole in the roof. "You can't talk normal instead of embarrass me?"

"Embarrass you? That what you think?" Blaze grinned while hopping inside the bunker. "After I went to all this trouble to mount a counter protest?"

"Wait, this was your doing?" Twilight spun around to look at the crowd and run a few numbers. "There has to be two hundred thousand ponies out there!"

"Yeah, turns out Cloud Burner was right. There are a lot of ponies sick and tired of the tribalist garbage going around, but they were disorganized and scared. I knocked on some doors, distributed some, shall we say, motivational speeches, and those ponies knocked on doors, and so on, and so forth… I bet this crowd is only going to grow."

"Wow." Rainbow blinked, staring at her father. "That's… That's actually really cool."

"Hey, whadya know! My daughter finally thinks I did something cool!"

"Aaaand, you ruined it. Way to go, dad."

"Quiet you two!" Spike yelled, pointing out into the distant sky. "Something is coming!"

The ponies gathered around Spike at the viewing slot, and stared up into the orange sky in the middle of the night.

It was being led at a single point, which was flying at speeds just shy of a rainboom. Behind it and to both sides, the sky was burning. A giant 'V' was boiling away the clouds and painting fire into the air, setting the canvas of night ablaze in a roiling inferno of smoke and flame.

"What is that?" Twilight swallowed as she watched, her throat running dry. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"I have. Once or twice." Rainbow Blaze put a wing over her daughter. "I imagine Dashie has, too."

"Yeah." Dash nodded.

"Well, what is it?" Spike snapped his fingers in front of the pegasi. "Don't keep us waiting!"

"That," Dash said, pointing, "Is what happens when General Running Blaze is pissed."

Author's Note

Standard stuff about nerves applies. ;) I was going to do WAY more surgery on this chapter, ultimately adding stuff, but I'm behind schedule on mission seven, so I'm just going to press forward as it is.

Enjoy!

-Cv

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A Majestic Reveal

"That's General Blaze?!" Twilight watched the fire zoom across the sky, covering the city in an enormous, if temporary, blanket of magical flame. Though the flames died down as Blaze progressed, it was still bright enough to turn night into day. "I thought our reinforcements weren't due for hours!"

"Wait, General Blaze?" Spike scratched his head. "Does that mean you're related, Mr. Blaze?"

"Not at all, but I've seen this a couple times before at Wonderbolt shows."

"Yeah." Rainbow grimaced at the pegasus flying with fire. "She's the general that the Wonderbolts report to. I'm not a fan, but she is a seriously tough customer."

"What do you think she'll... She'll... Urp..." Spike belched out a scroll, nearly singing the hair of everypony in the bunker, and definitely making it smell like gunpowder and sulphur. "Gah. Well, guess we're in range of dragon mail."

Rainbow Blaze blinked. "He just belched up a scroll."

"Yeah, cool, ain't it? Let's see..." Spike scanned through the page. "Ha! Apparently, Luna scouted out a new, small leyline, so those Night Guard you sent to harass the Duke took advantage of it. They broke into the mechanisms that control the city's flight, then deliberately sped it up and changed its direction over time so nopony would notice until it was too late. Luna is teleporting in soldiers and police as we speak, and Royal Guard reinforcements are standing by."

"Excellent!" Twilight poked her head out of the top of the bunker, watching pegasi on both sides run away from General Blaze's display, while many others just looked on in awe. "Spike, message Luna back and have her deploy the Royal Guard to secure the HQ. Nopony other than us gets in.

“Also, and this is critical, have RGIS head to that bar we ran across. Have Flak and his crew leave, but make it looks like our ponies have left them alone. If Wing leaves, have him followed. If he stays, and for that matter, even if he leaves, keep watch over the place for any who enter. Make sure our ponies are not noticed while doing so.

“Send additional teams to watch all the other similar businesses that they know are flaunting that law. I have a feeling those are the first places ponies of interest to my investigation will be heading — if we're lucky, our murderer will seek refuge in one of them.”

Spike was already scribbling a reply as fast as his hand could go. "You got it!"

"Attention! Attention!"

Twilight and the others looked up at a mare with gold and black armor and a megaphone.

"This city is now under martial law! Non-military ponies are to return to their homes immediately! Curfew is in effect! Any attempt to enter protected facilities by unauthorized ponies will be met with lethal force! All protesters will disperse and return to their homes!

"Cloudsdale PD has been disbanded pending Crown review! Non-pegasi that need assistance getting home, do not approach Cloudsdale PD officers! Instead, lie down and put your hooves on your head! You will be transported safely to your home by military personnel!"

"Whoa." Dash poked Twilight on the shoulder. "Do you think this is really necessary? It's going to piss a lot of ponies off."

"True, but we were attacked by Cloudsdale PD, and quite frankly the two groups here were ready to kill each other." Twilight lit her horn and prepared the calculations for a relatively long teleport. "Spike, Dash, you're with me. Mr. Blaze, thank you for all your assistance, but you aren't authorized to be outside now. You should return to your home as soon as you can."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Blaze gave his daughter a quick hug and flew off, making a beeline for home.

"Everypony ready? Grab on!" Twilight aimed her spell for the air above and in between her and the tower. Hands and hooves grabbed onto her shoulders and stomach the second before the spell fired, sending herself and her guards into the air. Pegasi froze or dodged out of the way, all stunned as a unicorn "flew" passed them, soaring to the top of the mountainous cloud tower.

Rainbow took off on her own power after the first teleport, while Spike clinged on for the next. Twilight's legs pawed at the air, reaching for the ground that wasn't anywhere near them. She teleported again, then again and again, each time climbing farther than before and finally zooming over the top of the structure. A slight spin in her body and a burst of pegasus magic tossed her at its roof.

Her hooves squished into the cloud like a soaked mattress, and her knees cried out in pain from supporting both her own weight and Spike's in the impact. "Oof. Spike, either you learn to fly, or remind me to land with a teleport when I'm carrying you. You're freaking heavy."

"Well, I am wearing armor." He climbed off, sinking even deeper into the cloud than Twilight had. "This stuff seems tampered with. The cloud, I mean. Loosened so most amulets wouldn't be enough to support a pony."

"Agreed. Another thing to look into when we have time." Twilight's ears twitched at a buzz, sending a hoof up to swat at something involuntarily. Her tail even swished back and forth. "What is that? There's not many bugs up this high, especially outdoors."

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow shouted. "Nice moves! That new spell is really useful! You can almost— Wait, that noise... Oh, crap."

"You know what it is?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. Look up there." Rainbow pointed at a large, unoccupied cloud high in the now-cooled sky. Seconds later, several wings of pegasi punched through it, diving down into the city. Their buzz droned throughout the sky, pushing other sounds into a bathtub and trying to drown them. They wore gold and black armor, and their wings were a nearly invisible blur. "They're the yellow jackets. General Blaze's elite attack squadron."

"She had better not attack the crowds with them." Twilight thought back to the warehouses the group had destroyed per the newspaper General Blueblood had shown her. "That's the last thing we need right now. Military provocation will just make things worse."

"You there!" A Yellowjacket crashed into the roof next to them, creating a small crater in the cloud. Her wings kept vibrating, charging with electricity. "One chance. Identify yourselves!"

"Grand Mage Sparkle, Lady of the House of the Lost, Element of Magic." Twilight sat down, holding her hooves up and in front of her. "Stand down, I'm authorized to be here. These two are my guards, and they're authorized as well."

"And how do I know you're telling the tru—" WHAM!

A diving pegasus crashed right into the Yellowjacket, deepening the crater and sending tufts of cloud into the air. The new pegasus, also a Yellowjacket, picked up her comrade and forced her head into a bow to Twilight. "We do not threaten the Grand Mage, Corporal! I see you do that again and I'll let her ex-Wonderbolt Captain fry your flank, you hear me!?"

"Y-Yes ma'am…," came the squeak of a reply. "Sorry ma'am."

"Carry on, Lady Sparkle. We'll secure the building." The Yellowjacket flew off, followed by her subordinate, although the latter mostly moved like a partially squashed bug.

"Well, that was something. Come on, you two. Let's check out the CEO's office." Twilight led them into a door leading to a cloud lift. Though intended for pegasi, it had a standard lever that worked well enough like a normal elevator. One floor down, and they arrived to a scene of chaos.

Broken glass was absolutely everywhere, and every single window had been destroyed. The first room was devoid of most decoration, consisting only of a desk by a large window, a painting above the entrance, and a chandelier. The second was to the right of the desk, and consisted a long, wide area directly attached to the first with no door or wall separating the two, only a small set of stairs. It was all broken window on the left and filing cabinets on the right, though several of the cabinets were tossed over on the ground.

The most immediate thing, however, was the stack of papers on the desk yelling, "Hey! Over here! Look at me!"

"Well, I know where I'm looking first. Rainbow, Spike, spread out and look for evidence." Twilight trotted over to the desk and flipped through the pages, reading entry after entry of numbers, deposits, and withdrawals.

"Whoa, Twilight, check this out." Rainbow flew up over the entrance and pulled open the painting over the entryway, revealing a badly damaged safe. The door was warped and scorched, and parts of the cloud wall around it was missing. Most of the damage was contained to the left side, where the latching mechanism was. "Somepony wanted in here bad. Didn't even bother to crack it, just blew it up."

"Yeah. Probably magic-enhanced plastic explosive. Dynamite wouldn't–" Twilight's eye caught a stick of red strapped to the inside of the door. "Dash. Back away. Calmly, slowly, back away."

Rainbow's mane frazzled instantly, and she fell to the floor, then scooted back on her rear.

"Not quite what I said, but close enough." Twilight approached it, slowly, head held low. She switched to her magic sight, and built up a shield in front of her to the best thickness it could go.

"Uh-Oh," Spike said, noticing what was going on. "Careful there. Maybe we should get a bomb squad."

"Probably. In fact, have Luna send a bomb squad through this building STAT.” Twilight arrived directly underneath the painting, gazing at the bomb from below. “That being said, if my suspicions are correct, the safe itself was a booby trap."

The painting was well over her head, in a position only a pegasus could get to. Rather, a pegasus, or a creative unicorn.

Twilight walked back into the other room, grabbing a couple of the undisturbed filing cabinets and stacking them on top of each other. One teleportation later, and she was standing on top of them with a perfect view of the safe and the bomb.

"Safe is empty, and it looks like I was right. The bomb is made of several sticks of incendiary explosive wired into the lock. I'm guessing there's some kind of special combination you have to put in to disarm the bomb before putting in another code to actually unlock it. If you just try to crack it, boom!"

"Whew!" Spike whistled. "Talk about your paranoid security measures."

“Yeah. Hmmm…” She surveyed the damage, poking at the exposed and twisted metal with a hoof. A chunk of formerly solid steel crumbled into sand. “Whatever explosive they used was magic; something that could reduce the molecular cohesion of the metal. I don't see any wards or their remains, so it would have been highly vulnerable to thaumic attack.”

Rainbow chuckled. “So? Most mages would have tried to use a lockpick spell or something on it. Then, like you said, boom!”

"But," Twilight continued, "whoever it was that was here either knew about the trap or was exceptionally lucky. The weakened metal either flung the safe open from the blast, or they could have just pulled it open, and the casing would have turned to dust.

“Either way, blowing the latch like this didn't trigger the bomb, so they could get what they were after. The question is, what were they after?

"Keep looking around, guys. Spike, have a bomb squad get here to sweep the building and then disarm this thing. I don't think it'll blow on us, but better safe than sorry. I'll put up a blast shield."

Twilight hardened a stationary shield around the safe door, and split it into several layers. In the end, six purple bubbles surrounded the safe and part of the painting it was hidden behind.

Job done, she went back to the desk, and looked closer at the papers. It was standard ledger sheet, with unencrypted entries. Now, to address the elephant in the room. If this is a ledger, where is the cover?

She turned it over, finding a bark-thread back cover, but no front. The spine was slit lengthwise, the fabric cut with surgical precision. Each fibre was split cleanly, with a hint of moisture damage in the very edge. "Why would they leave something so valuable here like this? If they wanted to keep this from me, they'd have taken or destroyed the whole thing, which means they wanted me to find it. Specifically, they wanted me to find this part, but not the first half. Why? What was on the first part?"

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow flew into the side room and picked up a chain attached to a metal cage. "We got a mana bomb over here!"

"Lends credibility to the idea that the ponies that murdered Artfeather are either the same pair or are related to those that hit this place. Good find, Rainbow." Twilight flipped through a few pages of her own evidence. "My find is more... untrustworthy? It's hard to tell if this is legit or not. At first glance, I say it is, otherwise why go through the trouble? And if it's real, the sheer number of transactions and accounts would be a huge coup. But given the skill we've seen from various groups so far, it could still be a ruse."

"Any way to verify it?" Spike pulled open a filing cabinet and thumbed through its contents. "I suppose we can cross-reference it with information at the banks. Would be easier if we knew what was on the first half. Find out what they wanted to hide."

Twilight's ears pricked up. "Actually, there is a way to find out! It's one of the spells I read in the CSI books I've been going over. And, it's a brand-new spell. They might not know that we can look back not four pages, but nine. Spike, take a picture of the area around the desk before I move it. I'll need space for this."

Spike's flashbulb went off a few times as he worked, the light imitating the flashes of lightning from the storms outside. Next, the desk was moved off to the side of the room, followed by the start of the spell.

Violet light subsumed the entire floor as Twilight etched a vertical magic circle into the air, constructing it to be as large as the tall room could fit. Twelve sub-circles formed in groups, with three each at the top, left, right, and bottom. Symbols engraved themselves as the spell progressed, with each smaller circle firing a portion of the spell into the very center of the assembly. Each piece bent and curved as it travelled, turning the circle into a funnel "draining" towards the large, broken window.

Twilight then started a second circle behind the first, made up of ten smaller circles with one in the center and the others surrounding it. With the symbols there complete, she finished with the third circle, this one ahead of the other two. It was small and simple, acting as a purple lantern feeding magic light into the rest of the spell.

"Spike, take the first page and put it in the center of middle circle." Twilight readied the next stage as Spike did as she asked. The page stuck there in mid air, affixed to the invisible cork board of magic.

She conjured two basic barriers, and put them on either side of the page. The magic glowed as it came together and squeezed the paper like a vice. The middle circle caught and activated, spinning and analyzing the specimen.

"What's it doing, Twilight?" Spike leaned over, watching each piece of the clockwork spell grind away.

"It's measuring the pressure and thickness on each square micron of each barrier, as well as the electrostatic variance and light filtration rate through the paper. Give it a minute." Twilight walked around her spell to the far circle, watching as line after line of writing appeared from the ether into the center circle.

"Huh. It's like a puzzle." Rainbow tilted her head and folded her forelegs. "Never did like this kind of thing."

"Good thing our Grand Mage is an expert at them, then!" Spike put an arm over Twilight's back. "Whatcha think, Twi?"

"I think I have my work cut out for me, that's what I think." Twilight mirrored Rainbow's expression. "Okay, guard the door and windows. Time to get analytical."

"They have what?!" Esteem kicked the table into one of the officers. "How can they have reinforcements?! We were supposed to have more time!"

"We think the city sped up. Slowly, so we wouldn’t notice. We don't know how they slipped through our guards--"

Esteem bucked again, knocking the wind out of the mare and buckling her to the floor. "And now we have General mother-bucking Blaze knocking on our door!" He punched the wall, growling and tearing out tufts of cloud. He didn't stop until he reached the next room.

"We don't have a choice." He sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Backup plan. Now."

"Spike, you getting all this?" Twilight asked, tossing line after line into the various circles surrounding the center one. Each receptacle was one of the pages that was written on top of the one they had; a canvas to rearrange the paint from the original, even if the result was a violet, fluorescent chicken scratch.

"Writing as fast as I can, Twi." Spike flipped a page in the notebook. "And look at that one! Three hundred thousand units, nearly three billion bits, and the name 'Wavu.' We have a winner! Or loser, plural, I guess. They're going to need to build a whole new prison to house all the ponies we're about to bust."

"Oh, that's not all." Rainbow held up the rest of the book. "I found a listing for Cheval Industries. Prench name, Shanghay company. They'll counterfeit anything. When they're sued, their lawyers drag out the court cases so long they're already on to their next twenty kinds of rip offs by the time they pay out some pocket change to settle.

"One of the Wonderbolts got caught by a tabloid drinking fake Alpine Cola and AlpineCo had an aneurysm that there were fakes out there. Our guy didn't know, he was just at a restaurant, but the picture was solid proof. The letters on the logo weren't spaced right."

"The rabbit hole keeps getting deeper, and here comes the bottom, or at least a twist." Twilight pushed the remaining writing into the final unoccupied circle. "Last entries, but they're fragmented. Pieces of a whole." Twilight grinned. "I was doing ‘connect the dots’ when I was six months old."

"Nail'em, Twi!" Spike gave Rainbow a hoof bump. "Let's see what's behind door number nine!"

Twilight tossed a few lines into the air, just outside the circle to keep them from interacting with the magic. One by one, the probabilities and possibilities collapsed in her mind.

M__E___IC_

_____4__0000

"I'm getting there, just need a bit more time." Twilight hit the lamp spell behind her, shining it's light on the page and letting the magnifying glass of her spell make more guesses.

MA_ES_IC_

2__3_4_90000

"Yeah, keep going! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!" Rainbow led Spike in a chant as the pieces came together, giving her one name, and one very large number.

MAJESTICS 2 324 790 000

"That is a lot of money going to something wonderfully cryptic." Twilight finalized the spell, burning the letters into the air for at least a few hours. "Anypony know what this group or individual is?"

"Nope, but I'm writing it down." Spike said.

"Not a clue." Rainbow looked up and pointed a hoof out the window. "But maybe she does. We have incoming!"

An orange pegasus pulled back on her angle of attack, slowing as she came in through the window. Heat and smoke followed her like a puppy, but blew passed her in a wave of thaumic exhaust. She pulled up her goggles, letting them rest on her head. Her long red mane was as windswept as windswept could get, and the two wing blades on her sides glowed with magical heat. The most important thing, however, was the four stars on her uniform.

"Lady Sparkle, I presume? I'm General Blaze. We have a problem. I hope you aren't going to disappoint me."

Silence dropped over them as Twilight looked to her friends, who were as lost as she was. "Okay, what's the problem, exactly?"

"You are," she said with her old, gravely voice. It sounded like she'd been inhaling smoke for a good portion of her life, and the lines around her eyes wrote stories of her experience. "You come here to this city of pegasi expecting to solve our problems, yet from all I hear you aren't experienced in either sky nor sword. Quite frankly, I don't think you're up for the challenge, and for me, that is a huge problem.

"I honestly wonder if I should disable you now and do Cloudsdale a favour. This isn't your city."

Twilight shifted to her magic sight and looked her over. The weapons on her wings were, at a minimum, powerful, specialized cored blades. She had a strong wellspring, but the pulse of magic through her leylines had a different rhythm than most, and it moved exceptionally fast in her hooves. The sight pierced her clothes enough to note a defined muscle tone, and there was a distinct raucous note to her magic.

"I agree with your assessment, Twilight. But, shall I deploy, just in case?"

Twilight shook her head at both of them. "I'm not here to fight anypony, General Blaze. I'm here to investigate the murder of Duchess Artfeather and any surrounding implications. You are here to secure the city.

"That being said, if you wish to throw your life away, feel free to attack me."

"Brave words, filly." Blaze spread out her wings. "What makes you so confident? That horn on your head doesn't mean everything, you know."

Twilight sucked in a breath, filling every cubic millimetre of air she could find. "Your trick heading into the city indicates your weapons are fire based, and by your cutie mark I'm guessing you're one of the few pegasi with a deviant wellspring. In this case, I think you have fire in your thaumic profile. I'm also guessing you're capable of Passage. Impressive, and ultimately useless.

"Spike's armor is still fully charged and more than capable of taking a few of your hits, and he's immune to any flames you can muster. By the time you try anything, he'll use his superior reaction times to burn you to ash with dragon fire. No scenario involving you attacking me lets you out of here alive."

Twilight let go of the control on her breath. "Any questions?"

General Blaze raised her eyebrow in silent contemplation for a moment, then curled a smile into a smirk. "You know what, I think I like you. Anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, ensure this building stays secure, and sweep it for bombs. We’ve already found one. Also, if a stallion named Cloud Burner comes by, let him in. He's with me, and is ex-Day Guard."

"Stallion? Are you sure you want to trust him?"

Twilight folded her forelegs, and shot a look directly into Blaze's presumably empty head.

"Very well. I shall talk to you later, then, Lady Sparkle." She flew off out the window, hopefully to do something helpful instead of tribalist or sexist.

"Seriously." Spike flashed his claws, pretending to grip something hard. "What's she got against males? What did Cloud Burner and I ever do to her? Not like I had a choice what gender I'd be born as."

"Some ponies are just idiots." Rainbow walked to the desk at the edge of the room and started pulling out drawers and emptying them on the floor. "Help me search in here. You can laugh at Blaze when you're five hundred years old and she's deader than Commander Hurricane."

Twilight joined in with Spike as they tossed the contents, going through everything until they arrived at the top right drawer.

"Huh." Spike yanked on the handle to no avail. "This one's locked. Should we get a locksmith?"

Twilight rubbed his head. "Spike, it's a desk drawer, not a safe. Watch." She grabbed hold of it with her magic, then paused to place a spell on the desk. Yellow light washed over it, then shifted to green before vanishing altogether.

“What was that?” Spike asked.

“Safety precaution. It's a spell to dampen electric voltage, which should disable any bombs in it. As far as the lock goes…” Twilight yanked hard on the drawer, a loud crack smacked into her eardrum. The lock had broke clean off the drawer and now lay inside along with some splinters. "Now, let's see what was worth locking away."

The three pulled out a pile of documents, sharing and going through the bounty of papers, most of which shared a common theme.

"These are insurance papers." Spike quickly thumbed through his batch. "A lot of insurance papers."

"It’s not too unusual for large companies to have thorough insurance on things. Hmmm…" Twilight ran some quick numbers in her head and she added up her pages. "We’re easily talking billions and billions of bits. Every single piece of property the company has, especially the buildings, are insured to the hilt. The weather factories, the weapons and armor plants, the warehouses, the headquarters, they're all covered on everything from animal attack to spontaneous meteors falling from the sky. They even have life insurance policies on key employees."

"And not-so-key employees." Spike held up a page with a long list of names.

“Not as common, but still not unheard of.”

"But that's not all." Rainbow pointed to a part of a page. "Check this out. They changed the policy the day after the Bellerophon got back from Zebrica."

"Interesting. They explicitly added riot and terrorism sections to the plans at that time. Smells off. It's suspicious, but circumstantial at best, and—” Twilight blinked. “Wait a minute. Wait just an apple-bucking minute. Spike, Rainbow! Find that Emergency Redistribution Plan! There has to be details on it in here somewhere!”

“We're on it!” Rainbow saluted and dashed to the cabinets with Spike close behind. The latter rushed back a couple minutes later.

“I think I found them.” Spike handed over a pile of papers as tall as his fist.

Twilight plopped them on the desk and started in on the last pages. “Beauty of government documents is that there's always summaries at the end…” She ran through line after line, turning back to check the hard numbers earlier on. With each sentence, her blood boiled more.

“They're double-dipping,” she said through clenched teeth. “I don't know if it's illegal, but… Basically, everything here is already protected financially through the Crown, so insurance should be moot. In a catastrophic loss, Celestia would step in and cover not just the losses, but the cost of implementing the plan. But they're still buying policies!

“Under this, they'd actually make out like bandits if everything was destroyed. The insurance only has a stop in case other insurance companies are paying for something, so a government bailout would mean the insurance still has to pay!

“This can't be a coincidence. Why buy more insurance when the government is basically insuring you for free?”

Spike folded his arms. “Because you're counting on rioters tearing this place apart. How much you want to bet it was Esteem’s guys amping the rioters?”

“Guaranteed.” Rainbow looked off to her right, like something in her memory was playing out. “Editorials in Cloudsdale papers have been ‘pro-pegasus’ for a while. Some have been downright hateful of other tribes, and they love to complain that Cloudsdale Armories hires non-pegasi.”

“Not to mention that bar!” Spike said. “Artfeather ran interference for it, which only would have made things worse. I bet you're right about the being others, Twilight. This was all part of a plan to make this place a powder keg!”

“And the Emergency Redistribution Plan was the match.” Twilight slapped the papers down on the desk. “It's called ‘stochastic terrorism.’ You use rhetoric to get ponies amped up, knowing some lunatic somewhere will take it to heart enough to do something horrible. You don't know who, so you get to keep your legal distance and stay out of jail.

“So the rioters hate this company, and when the plan is leaked go out of control and destroy stuff. Their stock price falls through the floor — temporarily. Six weeks later, once it’s clear how much cash they’re about to get from both insurance payouts and the crown, it takes off into the stratosphere. Even if they aren’t doing an insider investing scam, they’d make a mind-blowing amount of bits.”

Twilight paused to chew on her lip along with implication, then let out a sigh and pulled all the papers into a neat, organized stack on the table. "This is too much for me to consider a coincidence, but I don’t think there’s enough information here for a smoking gun. Regardless, it’s an incredible lead.

“Let's check the side room next. I have a partial timeline on the greater events, now I want to figure out what happened here specifically."

Twilight led the way, stepping down the small flight of stairs and around the scattered filing cabinets. This room was darker, had no lights on, and was an utter mess. Pockmarks were scattered about the wall where something had dug out pieces of it by the stairs, and large claw marks scratched their way through both the walls and floor. Many of the tossed cabinets were dented or even torn, despite being made of metal. Like the other windows, the ones here were blown out as well, their remains scattered about the carpet like cloud floor.

Spike held his hand up to some of the claw marks. "What do you think? Gryphon? Dragon?"

"A dragon would've likely left evidence of flames, and a gryphon would leave wider marks." Twilight tapped a ruined cabinet. "Also, while gryphons are strong, they’re not this strong. You would need a minotaur to deal this kind of damage, but they don't have claws."

"So, what was it? I'm starting to draw a... Wait..." Rainbow's ear twitched. "Anypony else hear that beep?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah!" Spike reached into his bag and pulled out the miasma detector. "This thing is... Well, I was going to say 'going off,' but it's barely reading anything at all. Like, as minimum of a reading as this thing can sense." He smacked it on his hand. "Maybe it's broken."

"Maybe, but I'm not ready to say it's a coincidence just yet. Rainbow, take the detector and fly around a bit, see if you can find a source."

"One nasty gas scan, coming up!" Rainbow caught the device after Spike tossed it, then flew out the window, looping around in circles.

"Hey, what's Rainbow doing?" Cloud Burner popped his head up over the bottom edge of a window. "And freaking Yellowjackets, man. I feel like I've been roasted on a spit. I probably would've had to fight them if the General herself hadn't come by. Never thought I'd be vouched for by her, that's for sure."

"Hey Cloud, come on in!" Twilight waved. "You're just in time. I was about to crack this thing like a walnut."

"You were?" Spike asked.

"I was. All I need is Rainbow's findings."

Rainbow zoomed in to land as Cloud flew in, then tossed the device back to Spike. "Nothing. Either that thing is broken, or we only have the tiniest trace here."

"Oh, wait!" Cloud scratched his head. "I had something I was going to tell you... Right, now I remember. One of the guys at the base said he has a friend that works security here. He said that last night there was a huge green flash, followed by an explosion that broke the windows. Some ponies even said that they saw a green fireball fall from the sky nearby."

"And that clinches it. Thank you, Cloud Burner." Twilight turned and walked back to the main room. "I now have a general timeline of what happened, even if this place is too much a mess for exact specifics."

"Then enlighten us, oh great and wise sahib." Rainbow and the others gathered around like it was story time. "Was it the butler in the library with the pipe?"

"Ha ha, Rainbow. Just sit down and listen. This one is going to get complicated." Twilight thought about taking in another deep breath, but this was going to take way more than one lungfull. Her Celestia impression would have to wait.

"So, here's what I think happened. Based on the sheer quantity of funds being moved, I'm betting the 'Majestics' are our Robber Barons. We finally have a real name. I think they were being at least partially funded through the sale of weapons to Zebrica through Cloudsdale Armories, probably using Cheval as an intermediary. For all we know, it’s been going on for a long time. But, that's a risky business.

"So, Artfeather went to Celestia with concerns about what would happen to weather control if the company was ever attacked by the Gryphons, who was the boogeypony du jour back then. She used her influence in the Council to workout a sweetheart protection deal in case she ever needed to enact her backup plan — a riot that would destroy her company, along with its assets and all evidence. The most important evidence would be the easiest to destroy; I’m betting that ledger was in the safe. If anypony tried to crack it, the incendiary would have turned the ledger to ash. And because greed knows no bounds, she also insured everything as icing on the cake.

“Thus, she had to keep Cloudsdale a pressure cooker of tribalist activity, just in case, and that’s exactly what she did by enabling bars like Wing Warrior’s. Rainbow’s theory about the papers is sound, too.

“She realized the jig was up when we found her weapons going to the Wavu. That was when she leaked the Emergency Redistribution Plan, which got the ponies hopping mad.

"But, it wasn't enough. The Majestics must have thought her a loose end, and sent assassins to shut her up for good. They killed her, then made their way here. They destroyed or stole what they didn't want us to see. While they were doing that, they got into a fight with…” Twilight glanced over to the damage on some of the cabinets. “Something."

"'Ooooooh, ‘something!' So dramatic!" Spike shared a snicker with Rainbow while Cloud looked on them like a disapproving parent.

Twilight continued, "I'm not exactly sure what attacked them, but it looks like there was a fight. Given the size of the claw marks, it must have been something terrifying they fought.

"Still, they knew what they were doing. Instead of attacking the probably-monstrous illusion head on, they killed the illusionists instead, likely by splitting up. One stayed here to keep the Illusionist’s force on them, while the other quietly slipped out, then went and found them overlooking the office, and killed them."

"Wait, wait wait." Spike held up his hands like Twilight was about to barrel into him. "You're saying the Illusionists were here? Why? Are they not with the Majestics, or Robber Barons or whoever?"

"I've no idea, but the fact that somepony saw a green fireball makes me think another chlorine trifluoride bomb went off, killing them if they weren't dead already. The fact that the windows were broken tells me that the Majestics agent who set it off probably snuck up on the Illusionists, and then used an explosion spell on the bomb to amplify the effects. Which means the Majestics are aware of, and are opposed to, and are capable of fighting, the Illusionists. It does not mean the Illusionists are on our side. It also means they were after something here, but were stopped or at least delayed.

"Now, we're stuck dealing with the fallout. Worse, we don't know how much Esteem is involved. That said, based on the fact that we were attacked by police, I'm betting he's still trying to carry out the plan. This makes secrecy all the more important, and it makes me glad we went through the effort to misdirect him."

"So, what do we do now?" Rainbow did a little flying backflip. "Bust into his house and arrest him?"

"Let's keep gathering evidence. Temporary or not, he's a Duke, so we need to be absolutely sure with as much evidence as possible before we drag his butt into the Empyreal Hall for a tribunal. Speaking of, Spike, collect our evidence so far."

"Already done!" Spike put his notes together with the papers and ledger, holding them in a stack.

"Good, now we..." Twilight froze as she saw the blinding, all-consuming light swallow the room, then fade slowly to a point in the distance. "Get down!" She grabbed her friends and pushed them to the floor, covering them with her body and deploying armor just before the electrified blast wave hit.

"Corporal, hold him!"

The Commander pulled the stallion's wing with her hooves, giving her subordinate a clean grip on him to wrestle him to the ground in a hold.

"Let me go, let me go!" He stained and cried, screaming out as the tears flowed down his face. "You don't understand! You have to let me go!"

"No, we don't. Quit struggling or I'll shoot you." The Commander tapped the barrel of her back mounted gun and walked back down the walkway they had found the intruder. Stacks of weapons crates six rows deep and a mile long, each containing untold guns and munitions. It was only a dozen or so paces to the large metal control unit their quarry had been messing with. The main panel was filled with buttons, lights, and switches, but the box extended higher than that. She'd have to stand on her hind legs to reach the dials and readouts on the top part. It controlled all kinds of things in the warehouse, from temperature to doors to power top the cranes. The lower panel had its screws off, and there was a pile of tools and loose wires on the ground.

"Hey, flank wipe!" The Commander picked up a wrench. "Start talking or I'll try to invent new uses for this thing! What'd you do, sabotage the weather factory controls?"

"I can't tell you! I have to fly! Now!" He bit down on the Corporal's leg, and she screamed, flinching just enough for him to get away.

"Idiot." The Commander flipped up her crosshairs and lined them up on the stallion's rear.

BBRRRRAP!

What was left of the body fell onto the clouds, the only thing keeping the remains from going clear through to the ground miles below was the ultra dense clouds meant to hold up huge stores of heavy weapons.

"Sorry, Commander." The Corporal held her foreleg and rubbed the bite wound, smearing blood on her coat. "Should've watched where his mouth was."

"Don't worry about it. He should have listened to my warning. Besides, less paperwork this way." The Commander jimmied the panel, but it barely budged. "Give me a hoof with this."

The two pegasi punched the cover open, tossing the metal with the buttons onto the floor. Inside was a host of wires, along with a large cylinder tapered at both ends and fins at one side. Next to it was a partially-disassembled clock with a nail in it, which the minute hand was three seconds away from touching.

"Oh, buck."

Twilight felt the shockwave hit after a few more seconds, and all the cells in her body screamed over the electric fire in her body. Every single thing in the office was picked up and tossed into the wall, from glass to ponies. Electricity powered by magic crackled and shot from surface to surface, burning through their bodies with their nerves serving as wires.

Even as it passed, the static fought to keep them affixed to the wall like balloons. Yet, after a time, down they fell, collapsing into a heap on the uneven floor. Some, though not all, of the debris followed. Worse, the entire structure was like a boat in a violent storm, rocking from side to side and trying to attain balance.

"I really didn't want to get blown up again on my first outing since getting blown up the last time." Twilight coughed and blinked, forcing her vision back into focus to check on her ponies. "Everypony okay?"

"I think I burned my everything..." Cloud Burner rolled onto his belly. "What the hell was that?"

"Lightning magic. A lot of lightning magic. Ow." Rainbow grabbed her shoulder after falling to stand. "I think all of us are resistant, but anypony else caught in that is in real trouble."

"Oh, crap..." Spike cupped a pile of ashes in his hands, searching for something in the mess. "Twilight, I think that blast just torched the evidence!"

"What?!" Twilight leapt up, finding nothing left of her forensics spell. She ran back and forth between the two rooms, searching for something, anything that remained. "Check the filing cabinets, maybe we'll..." She pulled one open, releasing a cloud of hot ash. "There's... There's nothing left! We are resistant to lightning, paper isn't!"

"But that doesn't matter, right?" Rainbow limped over, keeping weight off her bad shoulder. "You're the Grand Mage. If you arrest a pony, they're already guilty, case closed."

Twilight shook her head. "Not case closed, Dash. We're talking about going after a Duke. Guilty or not, new or not, we're going to need a mountain of evidence to get anything more than a slap on the fetlock!"

"What the heck just exploded, anyway?" Cloud Burner flapped his wings free of soot as he approached the windows. "That was more lightning magic than a supercell thunderstorm. What could... Oh, that."

The group joined him, looking out at what was once a massive cloud structure. All that remained was a cooling fireball.

"That was Cloudsdale Armories' main warehouse. Employed a ton of ponies." Cloud swallowed. "They... They must have set off every single gun crystal at once. Thousands — no, tens of thousands of guns, complete with ammo."

"Holy crap..." Spike slumped to the floor. "What are we going to do?"

"Twilight. I deployed just in time, and your new microphone is ready. I believe it should have better range than the normal model."

Perfect timing, Aurora. How do I use it?

"Keep calm, and I'll know when you want to transit. It's hard to know your thoughts when you're panicked or thinking too fast."

Got it. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but froze. "Wait, he doesn't know we're here yet, does he? If he didn't get word thanks to the mess outside..." The gears turned in her head like they were powered by the seams. "Actually, I might have another idea..."

"Hold on, Twi... Ugh-Urp!" Silver-green fire belched into existence, along with a scroll. "Let's see... Luna says they managed to disarm a bomb here in the HQ before it went off. But, two of the main weather factories have been destroyed, as has Cloudsdale Armories' factories. No suspects yet. They're sending teams to stop the third and fourth weather factories from being bombed."

Twilight took in a deep breath. "Okay, so, this area is probably safe if the blast from before didn't set it off. Have them continue sweeps here, and we'll need some more paper along with a couple other ponies to set this up. It's high time we set a trap of our own."

Intelligentsia didn't waste any time. After years of searching, she'd finally found her target. The lock handle clicked and opened with a hiss, releasing freezing air that birthed the fog on her glasses. She pressed onwards, not slowing her stride an iota as her magic cleared her vision. She passed freezer after freezer, counting every single one.

Something's wrong, it's not here. Wait… She ran a hoof over the back wall, then tapped it lightly, listening to the clangs. Hollow!

She tore off the thin metal with her magic, popping the weak bolts like little fireworks. One more freezer lay hidden in the exposed secret room, keeping it's forbidden contents safe in the redundant cold.

The padlock was a trifle, really. After all, who'd think to look here but her? Off it fell, and the freezer opened up.

Intelligentsia pulled out one of the canisters inside, pulled off its lid. Slowly, she took out the spoon in her pocket, and extracted a sample of the substance. Years of planning came down to one last thing. She put the cold, smooth substance in her mouth and let it melt and coat her tongue.

"I knew it! There's thirty-two flavours!" She whipped out her camera and snapped pictures of the whole thing, documenting every inch she could before dumping some of the more creamy, concrete proof in an enchanted thermos. "Who's the crazy mare now, Feint? In yo face!"

She closed the door behind her with a light kick, then stopped when she heard a clang far too loud for just the door. More importantly, it came from her right, in the direction of a weather factory that should be empty.

"Duty calls, I guess." Intelligentsia trotted down the hall as fast as she could without running or galloping, hitting the end and a cloud wall where none should be. She felt it with a fetlock, pushing against the magically thick moisture as it chilled her and fought back against her efforts. Well, no matter.

She unsnapped her 'pocket of tricks' and pulled out a pill the size of a plum, then untwisted its top. She pursed her lips and blew, scattering the fire dust ahead of her and melting away the wall.

On the other side was a pegasus mare working on a large control system that had its main panel off. To her side was a pile of tools, and inside the metal casing was a cylindrical object with a clock.

"Oh ho, the game's ahoof, is it?" Intelligentsia asked.

The mare banged her head on the control box.

"I suppose I should try to arrest you or something. This is a real pain in the flank, though. I'm making discoveries left and right, here! And you had to come along and distract me." Intelligentsia adjusted her glasses as the other mare rubbed her head and gave off a death glare. "Don't look at me like that. You didn't pay attention to your surroundings, probably because of the giant bomb you have there. That's military issue, meant only for airships. Where did you get it?"

The mare spun around and flared her wings, revealing a hidden set of pinion blades. "Like I'm going to tell you."

"You will if you ever want to see daylight again."

The mare lunged, striking from Intelligentsia's high left.

Standard attack style, basic training. Not a problem. Intelligentsia swung back and to her left, her coat flowing out with her movements. As the attack missed, she hit back with an uppercut, knocking the mare clear over the control panel and into the factory area.

The pegasus took to the air, circling around and readying a lightning strike.

Mistake. Intelligentsia punched a hole in space time, teleporting to the other end in the blink of an eye. She looked up above her, finding the pegasus looking everywhere but missing the most obvious exit point. She teleported again, this time directly above the mare and with a spin to her movement. The blades on her back answered the call of her magic, detaching from her coat and springing open. The double-ended guan dao twirled around her, adding her fall into the strike.

The pegasus brought her blades up just in time, but couldn't stop the momentum to prevent their fall to the factory floor. She squirmed her way out of a follow up attack, flying back and hovering in the air.

"Look, I'm a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. You're out matched, pure and simple. Surrender, cooperate, and I'll see what I can do for you. If you don't..." Intelligentsia looked around her. She was standing on a raised pathway with intermittent metal rail guards situated in between nearly innumerable rows of machines to her left and right, each longer than several football fields. Ahead of her was the entrance she came in, and behind her was one of the most awesome things in all of Cloudsdale.

The seams funnelled wind energy to the factory, and it all cumulated here. Behind her, inside the mind-blowingly large facility, was a tornado with nearly supersonic winds. Miles wide, yet never touching the ground below, it was the most raw, unrelenting force ponies had ever tamed outside of the Sister's own magic. It was right there, a few miles away, but it didn't make even a breath of wind, nor the slightest whistle of speed. It just sat there, sealing away the force of the seams.

Intelligentsia carved a line into the cloud she was standing on. "If you don't surrender, I can't guarantee that you'll survive this."

"If that means ridding Cloudsdale of your kind, I'm prepared to die!"

Intelligentsia parried with her guan dao, backing away from the strike and leading the mare like a dog in a leash. She swung with the other blade, slicing through her enemy's tail hairs. She hadn't drawn blood, but that wasn't the point. The point was to watch the reaction at such a close, effortless blow.

The other mare didn't so much as flinch. She dove in for another attack, bringing both wings to bare, then kicking with her front legs when those were blocked.

A fast tango of a fight broke out. Intelligentsia dodged each little kick, matching the other mare leg for leg in a flurry of punches, kicks, wing strikes, and feints. One large flutter feint from her pinions tried to lead her eyes away for the follow up kick: a full on buck. Intelligentsia stuck her guan dao into the floor and fired a barrier in front of her. It shattered, sending her flying back, but she grabbed her weapon with her fetlocks and spun around it, returning the kick to the mare twofold.

The pegasus flew back, tumbling from the blow, and a metallic clang resounded in the expansive factory as she landed on the side of a machine. The mare struggled to her hooves, standing upright as a cut bled down her skull.

Intelligentsia teleported again to close the distance, then grabbed the mare's head and banged it on the machine once more. The follow up was smashing her face down on a control panel that managed to get a tooth donated to it. The mare bucked at her, but missed, allowing Intelligentsia to swat her stomach with the flat of her polearm and toss her over the control panel.

The mare took the opportunity to get airborne, swooping around and charging lighting.

Another mistake. Amateur. Intelligentsia rocketed forward in a blink, the world around her stretching into color streaks and smears as she appeared back at the center walkway in an instant.

While the other mare fired at a position that her enemy had long ago vacated, Intelligentsia readied capture spells, filling the bucket of magic it demanded with only a sip of power, then fired it at her hoof. Three more followed in fast succession as her enemy looked on in confusion.

"You... Bound yourself to the floor? You're a sitting duck now!"

"I told you, I'm a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. The only reason I'm not a Star Lieutenant and Captain Candidate is because my wellspring isn't large enough yet. You are out matched. I don't need to move to beat you, let alone kill you.”

Intelligentsia charged her horn, letting the magic flow to her weapon. "And because of that, you should also know that the only reason I haven't cut you in half with my power is because I don't want my beams to go through the cloud walls and hurt an innocent. But I also don't have time to play anymore, so this is it, your final warning. Surrender, cooperate, or die." Light enveloped the guan dao, building a perfect photonic shell around itself. As one of the blades passed the cloud floor, the brilliance boiled a piece of it away.

"And I told you, I'm okay with dying for my cause!" The mare dove at Intelligentsia, hoof outstretched for a killing blow.

Intelligentsia swung her blade, yanking back hard on her magic to bundle it up in one explosive blob instead of a fine cutting beam. It screamed out, a ghost of light looking for a soul to haunt.

The enemy mare ducked her head, bringing her attack to a stop and scorching her mane while dodging the blast. "Ha! Some Lieutenant! You freaking missed, four eyes!"

Intelligentsia put her eyeglasses into her pocket, then snapped it shut. "I'm sorry, truly, but I wasn’t aiming at you."

A flash of light bloomed in the distance, calling the attention of the terrorist, then vanished just as quick. Noise and wind built up from nil to unreal in a scant couple of seconds, drawing everything not sealed to the floor towards the gaping maw that her spell had opened in the hyper-tornado in the distance. Papers, tools, even the vapour making up the clouds were all being swallowed by the dark void.

The pegasus grabbed on for dear life onto one of the walkway's guardrails, only to discover cloud can make for a poor anchoring material. It, too, began to pop loose from its home, each piece flying back and dangling at the tornado like a long piece of spaghetti.

With one step at a time, Intelligentsia prodded towards the helpless mare, reasserting the spell over and over to stay fastened to the flooring. After she got close, she carefully pulled a set of null all shackles and showed them to the mare. "Let me put these on you! They'll let me carry you to safety!" She lowered one of them, only to have the mare refuse, sliding away down the rail.

"Please!" Intelligentsia shouted over the impossible wind whipping at her eyes. "Life in prison beats dying in the seams!"

"Maybe for you!" The mare let go.

She was gone in a blink, possibly flying faster than she had ever before or ever would again.

Intelligentsia sighed and put away her shackles, then started the trek back to the entrance. Each step saw the wind get a little bit weaker as the tornado repaired itself bit by bit. By the time she arrived back at the entrance, there was nought but a breeze.

Before leaving for good, she stopped and examined the bomb at the control panel. The timing mechanism was simple, just a clock with a nail in it and a battery. If the minute hand hit the nail, an electric current would trigger the far more sophisticated warhead.

"It's a Cloudsdale Armories bomb warhead. Figures. Something like this could expose seams and set off some of the machines, start a cascade reaction. The whole place would collapse in on itself, taking out a chunk of the core of the city."

Intelligentsia yanked off the minute hand. "Fortunately, the timing mechanism leaves a lot to be desired. But, I'm willing to speculate that this isn't the only bomb they set. Time to get back to the surface. I presume that's why you're here, Night Guard?" She put her glasses back on, giving the pony in the shallows a wave.

"Lieutenant Intelligentsia," Cardinal Bloodmoon cooed. "Such an honour to work with you once again. And, you speak truth. The Grand Mage has need of your services."

Author's Note

This chapter needed a lot of patching up. There were a few glaring plot holes in it. We think we’ve caught everything, but if not, I’ll go back and patch things more. Life happens, after all. Nopony’s perfect. ;)

This arc has been an incredible learning experience, to be sure. I’m overjoyed most have generally liked it. I hope everyone likes this chapter even more! :D

I’ve also updated my blog with more health news. Suffice it to say, there’s been a major revelation.

Patreon will be updated soon, and as always, there’s links to the chats down below.

Thanks again for sticking with me! Enjoy the chapter!

-Cv

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Twin Gambits

"This is Twilight Sparkle. I'm ready to proceed with the final phase." Esteem held his chest to try and stop the sudden pounding, barely preventing his other hoof from tearing off the radio on his ear. "Intelligence officers, meet me at the main lobby of Cloudsdale Armories HQ in thirty minutes. We've already disabled the bomb in the loading bay. The techs will sweep the CEO's office with detection magic first. After that, we should find what we need there."

"Sir, did you —"

Esteem smacked the police charioteer upside the head. "Of course I heard it, buffoon! Hurry! If the bomb failed we need to get there now!"

The chariot dove and banked around the core, aiming directly for the headquarters. Esteem held onto the rail through the long sequence of turns, ready to fly himself as soon as he could. Artfeather, you old hag. You would go and get killed, making me clean things up.

"Sir, looks like there's an opening we can use if we come in behind that cloud up top. The MPs shouldn't see us."

"Do it." Esteem spread his wings out. "I'll go in, take care of things, and get out. You all take off right away or you'll get me spotted."

"Almost time. Hold very, very still until you get your opportunity, or this won't work." Twilight aimed her horn at Spike, readying the camouflage spell.

"I know, I know. I move, the spell breaks. Just hurry up, I'm getting anxious." Spike squirmed around in place while clutching his halberd. "You sure you want me to do this?"

"I can't think of anyone better. Now hold still." Twilight fired the spell, covering the corner in a thin, dark barrier that oozed into the natural darkness of the room. She could still see him, barely, but there was a way to draw a pony's eyes.

She hopped over to the smashed, broken desk and it's lone, equally smashed and unplugged lamp. First, she hid the cable under the wreckage. Then, she used one of Trixie's illusions. It was nothing like what the Illusionists could perform, though that wouldn't be necessary. Instead, she summoned a tiny ball of violet light, then color shifted it to a soft golden white and put it inside the lamp shade.

Her guards were in place, the distraction ready, and the ponies she needed elsewhere were either ready for action or already doing their jobs. "Show time!"

Twilight teleported to a corner and covered herself in the same camouflage spell, silently wishing she had figured out how the Night Guard did their hiding. The arrival of a pegasus, though, reordered her mental checklist in an instant.

Duke Esteem had landed alone, likely to avoid drawing too much attention, just as Twilight had planned.

Looks like they took the opening I gave them. Perfect. Twilight split her attention between following the Duke and keeping an eye on Spike, who was still ensconced in the far corner under the painting.

Esteem went for the safe first, then blurted out some obscenities not meant for polite company. His head snapped to the lit desk before diving for it. Drawer after drawer was pulled out and looked through, all the while Spike was sneaking up on him. The Duke pulled a hoof-full of ash out of the drawer, examining it in stunned silence.

Then Spike grabbed him by the neck and slammed his head into the wall. "Move and I torch you!"

Rainbow flew in from another corner and slapped a set of null-all shackles on his hind legs. "Duke Esteem, you are under arrest!"

"For what?! Where in Tartarus did you come from?!"

That's my cue. Twilight slipped out of her shadow, breaking the camouflage spell and stepping into the light. "Honestly, Duke, the list of charges is so long it might be faster to say what you aren't charged with. But, for starters, I'm going to go with insurance fraud, inciting riots, impeding a Crown investigation..."

Spike pulled the stallion up to his hooves. "Then there's the bombings, telling the cops to kill non-pegasi, corruption..."

Rainbow joined in and added another set of shackles. "Don't forget bribery, leaking classified government documents, hiring hit ponies to assassinate your wife..."

"Hey! I did not assassinate my wife!"

"I didn't say you did. I said you hired hit ponies to kill your wife, which is actually even worse when it comes to punishments."

"I did no such thing!" Esteem struggled against the chains. "I am a Duke, damn you! I'll have your hide for this-this slander! I did not hire hit ponies to assassinate my wife!"

"Well," Twilight smirked, pulling out a piece of paper Luna had sent her earlier and pretended to check something off. "We know for a fact that you hired a hit pony to kill that pegasus family so you could blame it on unicorns. As soon as we capture the pony that did it, we'll have all the proof we need when the coward rolls over on you like a puppy."

"'As soon as'? Ha!" Esteem laughed to himself. "That's your case? Find a pony willing to bad-mouth me?"

"Testify against, not badmouth." Rainbow gave him a noogie. "There's a really big difference there, Poindexter. Bad-mouthing is me calling you a douche canoe the size of Denmarek. Testifying is me saying, in court, that I saw you do it in the study with a fire poker. And I'm pretty sure your stooge is going to sing like a canary."

Esteem rolled his eyes. "Please. You have nothing! I didn't do it, you can't prove I did, and your only supposed witness doesn't even exist, and if they did, you don't even know where they are!"

"Yeah, about that." Twilight leaned back on the wall in her best impression of Rainbow's "cool loitering pose." "See, I know who you got to do your dirty work. Turns out, it's a small world. We even have a murder weapon! As for finding him to make him testify, well, I was thinking... Where would I go to hide out if I was a dirty, no-good tribalist flank wipe willing to kill to see pegasi supremacy come true in Cloudsdale? Really, there's only one answer to that."

Intelligentsia looked up at the sign over the plywood door to the bar. "No grounders allowed. This means yo— Well that's just rude." She motioned to the two Royal Guard officers behind her. "Go cover the back while I explain things to them."

One of the two pegasi chuckled to himself as they flew off, leaving her on her own against whatever was inside.

Intelligentsia regarded the pad lock with the same level of disgust as the food she had during basic training. "Really? They think this is going to keep anypony, much less a talented unicorn, out?" A half second of spell casting later, and the lock was in her pocket. She then tore the door right off its hinges and tossed it aside like obsolete paperwork.

"What in Tartarus are you doing?!" A badly beaten pegasus yelled at her. "Can't any of you stick brains read?!"

"Dad, calm down," another pegasus with a first aid kit said. "We'll get them, we just have to wait."

"I presume you're 'Wing Warrior.'" Intelligentsia adjusted her glasses at them. With contempt. "Utterly pretentious name, by the way. And I should know. Still, unless you do something stupid while I'm here, I honestly don't care how pretentious you are."

"Get! Out!" Wing through a glass in the vague direction of Intelligentsia's head, missing wildly. This was likely due to the two black eyes he had, and the bloody wads of tissue paper stuffed into his nostrils wasn't helping his slurred speech any. "Your kind isn't welcome here!"

"The Equal Welcome Clause of the Equestrian Compact says otherwise, Mr. Pretentious. Besides..." Intelligentsia pulled out a scroll and unfurled it before them. "By order of the Crown, I come with an intelligence warrant demanding the surrender of Seapony Dustmane for crimes against the diarchy! I have reason to suspect he is hiding here. Let it be known that failure to comply and assist forthwith with demands pertaining to these lawful orders will result in criminal charges for all present!

"Seapony Dustmane, show yourself and surrender by order of Her Most High Majesty, Eternal Ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia!" Intelligentsia smiled. I love that part.

"Nopony here by that name, ya harlot!" Wing's hoof slipped on some blood on the bar, sending him down to bang his chin on the wood. Rubbing the new bruise, he continued, "Now get the buck out before I throw your ass off this cloud!"

"You're lying," Intelligentsia said. "That's a bad idea, in case you were wondering."

"He's telling the truth! There's nopony else here!" The son said, trying to wedge himself in between his father and her.

"Oh?" Intelligentsia counted to four in her head, and a door somewhere in the back slammed. "Then what's that? I'm guessing it's Dustmane finding out that all the exits are covered by Royal Guard pegasi. Did you two really think I came here alone?"

The door to the back room exploded open from a pegasus flying through it and making a beeline for the exit, going right through where Intelligentsia was standing. The dingy, dirty bar melted into streaks around her as she dodged to the side, then deployed and swung down her guan dao in one single motion. With his pinions cut, the pegasus lost power in an instant, crashing into the floor, rolling in a somersault, then smacking into the wall. His limbs splayed every which way, yet he still managed to keep his head pointing up.

Intelligentsia slammed the bar of her polearm into the pegasus' neck with her hooves, pressing him against the wall like he was a lump of dough. She then lit her horn, shining its light in his face. "Seapony Dustmane, I presume. Glad to meet you. RGIS wants to have a little talk. And by little, I mean one lasting the rest of your natural life lived out inside our accommodations. And by accommodations, I mean a spacious and clean jail cell. And by spacious and clean, I mean horribly cramped and even filthier than this bar."

"Go to Tartarus, bitch!" Dustmane hissed from clenched teeth. "No way you can hold me!"

"I already am, but when you say it like that, it sounds like you're asking yourself if Duke Esteem will come through for you somehow. He has his own problems at this point, so you'd best start thinking about your own hide. For example, you could start by asking a different question. Perhaps something like, 'If she's holding her weapon with her forehooves, why is her horn lit?'"

"What?"

The syringe she had fished out of her pocket of tricks stabbed into his neck, delivering the potion directly into his body. Seconds later, the lump of dough was on the floor and in a pair of shackles.

"Well, that was fun." Intelligentsia put away her syringe and weapon. "Boys! We need a pickup!"

The two Royal Guard stallions walked into the bar, and one of them tossed the limp fugitive over his back to carry him to the chariot. The other stopped, eyeing the two behind the bar. "What about these losers?" He asked.

"They're under arrest, too."

"What?!" The son flailed his forelegs about. "You can't do that! We didn't do anything!"

"What part of 'Let it be known that failure to comply and assist forthwith with demands pertaining to these lawful orders will result in criminal charges for all present' did you not understand? You both lied to me. You're finished. Come on, wings at your sides, let the officer get the shackles on. Resist and my guan dao will make short work of you."

Part of Intelligentsia's mind thought they were going to try something, which would have ruined her plans, but thankfully they both complied and were led outside without a fuss. The Royal Guard pegasi loaded the unconscious one into the chariot, then prepared to get the other two in.

Intelligentsia held out a hoof to block them and put away her polearm. "These two are staying here with me. Your orders are to take Dustmane to Fort Hurricane as fast as you can, then return here to secure the scene. He's a much higher priority than these chuckleheads, who have their own transportation coming for them. I'll wait here with them. Go."

The guards saluted, then hitched themselves to the chariot and flew off. In the darkness of the cool evening, it didn't take them long to vanish from sight. Thus, Intelligentsia let out a sigh.

She undid her mane and let it flow over her shoulders, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny flask. The fluid inside was sour and, frankly, disgusting as it went down her throat. But, it was what was necessary.

The two pegasi looked at her with shock. “You're drunk?” Wing asked.

“I never touch alcohol. This is an energy drink, actually.” Intelligentsia took another sip. “You idiots have had me running all over this city all day. It's only natural to need a jolt of sugar and caffeine at this point.”

She chuckled and eyed her two prisoners. “Fortunately for me, I got to be the one to find Dustmane. Makes the paperwork easier than if he showed up at one of the other bars.”

Wing Warrior about had a heart attack. He had gone as white as the dust on his coat would allow, and lurched like he’d been punched. “Other bars? You mean—”

Intelligentsia broke out into a laugh and managed to snort some of her drink up her nose. “Wow. Studies do show that tribalists have lower IQs than normal, but wow. You really didn't guess?”

Wing’s son was shaking, and the stallion himself was about to be sick.

“Yeah, it's true.” Intelligentsia screwed the lid back on and put away the flask. “Haven't you noticed how all your plots have been foiled, every single time? How your influence keeps contained? How every year or so, the police finally manage to shut one of you down, but no faster or slower than that?

“Haven't you thought it weird that Cloud Burner, who spent time in the presence of Her Highness, couldn't get this place shut down?” Intelligentsia raised her head and looked down at them under her glasses to twist the knife. “Every single tribalist bar in the city has been fully infiltrated by RGIS. Including your own. We know everything, and we're the only reason you've stayed out of jail — until now. You, and all those like you in this city, have officially outlived your usefulness.”

Wing retched onto the cloud, and his son just sat there, shaking.

Two chariots pulled up, one with RGIS livery, and other with the Army. Each was built to be fully enclosed, and had bars covering the window.

Intelligentsia snapped to attention and saluted the ponies arriving to pick up her prisoners. “Gentlecolts! The elder stallion here is to be taken to the facilities in Fort Hurricane for holding until he can be transferred to another city's jail. The younger is to be taken to Canterlot Castle's dungeon for further interrogation by RGIS.”

“Canterlot Castle?” Wing Warrior asked. “Why there?”

Intelligentsia scoffed. “Take a wild guess.”

His son put his ears down and turned his head.

Wing Warrior slumped to the cloud, only to be hauled up by the MPs. “Son? It was you? You were the informant?”

“I'm sorry.” The boy stepped into the chariot, silent and in tears.

Intelligentsia waited for the shellshocked Wing to be tossed in the other chariot, then closed the door on him herself. “This is where hatred leads.” She pulled out a business card with anonymized RGIS contact information and tossed it next to Wing. “If you decide to come to your senses and want to cooperate with us, show the officers at your interrogation this card. If you want to keep being a scumbag, throw it away and spend the rest of your life in jail. Either way, I'll get what I need.”

She pounded on the side of the chariot, and both of them took off. After another sip of her drink, she clicked on her radio. “Lieutenant Intelligentsia to Hurricane Relay. Primary Objective complete.”

“And your secondary objective?” The voice on the other end asked.

“That was done when I was in diapers. All that's left is to close in.”

Twilight's ear twitched at the report coming in over her new armour-integrated radio. "And, that's that. Dustmane is secured in an undisclosed location. Duke Esteem, I am formally placing you under arrest for the charges of murder for hire and inciting an insurrection."

Esteem flapped his wings futilely. "You're going to have to do better than that, Sparkle. I'm a Duke, and this is my Duchy. What I say, goes, and there's no way Dustmane will testify... one way or another. You have nothing."

"This guy really doesn't get it, does he?" Spike grabbed Esteem's ear and yelled, "You think we're just going to hold him in a normal jail where you can get to him? Dude, the princesses can teleport almost anywhere in the world. We're going to shove him in a hole nopony has ever even heard of. You aren't even going to be able to travel to this place in time to kill him, much less even find him. You are such toast."

"Yeah, right now it's not a question of whether or not he's going to get punished." Rainbow did her legitimate "cool loitering pose." "It's whether they'll even bother turning him into a statue, or just teleport him into a volcano and be done with it. Me, I vote the former. Funnier that way."

"Yeah, I think we're done here." Twilight yawned. "There's a lot more I want to look into, but it's all Artfeather's crap. Honestly, it's kind of impressive that she managed to keep so much from the crown for so long. I mean, what she did was horrible, with the smuggling, the fraud, the treason, etc. But you can't help but admire how she masterminded it. If nothing else, it took an incredible effort of organization, and I can certainly appreciate that."

"Please." Esteem scoffed. "She was a pretender. Born into wealth and squandered it with her arrogance. I only married her because she was rich. I'm surprised it took her this long to get killed. It was only a matter of time."

"So why didn't you do it sooner?" Spike asked.

"I didn't kill her!" Esteem stomped and kicked out, though the chains held firm. "I don't know who did, but they're going to get theirs, too! I swear it! You three can bluster all you like, but I'm above you! I'm above you all!"

"Pffft. Yeah right." Rainbow put on one of the stupidest looking faces in her goofball repertoire. "Look at me, I'm so important, but I got caught after a day and my wife ran conspiracies for years! I'm a smarty smart, dur-hur-hur."

Esteem tried to step up to Rainbow, but fell to the floor thanks to the shackles. Panting as he got up, he spat venom back at her. "I ran Cloudsdale Armories! You think that bitch did anything with the company other than waste its money? Billions went missing thanks to her!"

"Hey, douche canoe the size of Denmarek, up here." Spike snapped his fingers at him. "Is there some part of, 'you're arrested, we can use what you say against you' that you don't understand?"

"Spike has a point." Twilight stepped closer to him, and help up a hoof to calm her guards. She even gave Esteem a smile. "I am sorry about them. You don't have, well, you have plenty to be ashamed of, really. What you've done is just awful. But you should probably listen to Spike. I do intend to report on everything you say."

"Oh, come on, Twi!" Rainbow flapped her wings and laughed. "Let me at least get a few more licks in! Oh, I know! How about how he totally screwed up Artfeather's plan to get rioters to burn things down by managing to inspire counter protesters preaching love instead of manufactured hate? Or how he had to resort to cheap, poorly made bombs? Or how--"

"Enough!" Esteem practically drooled venom from his mouth as he tried to lunge at Rainbow, only to be stopped by Twilight stepping in between them.

Twilight wrinkled her nose at Esteem's bad breath panting in rage at them, yet stayed as a wall between the Duke and her friends, even with him so close she could count his eyebrow hairs.

"You listen to me, you gaudy low-born!" His lips sprayed little bits of saliva as he reached. "You think she was smart enough for any of that? It was me, all me. I planned the riots, the bombs, the Wavu, all of it! Artfeather just signed off. I needed her. She was convenient, and even though I wasn't the one that had her killed, I'd damn sure like to shake the hoof of the one who did. I'd buy them a castle with the money I'll extract out of your dirt poor family after all this is done. Once my lawyers get ahold of this I'll see you all digging ditches in Stalliongrad. You have nothing, nothing! You're the ones without a prayer, without intelligence!

"A thug wanting a plea bargain? That's just pathetic! It'll never hold up in the Empyreal Hall! The files here are ashes, so you're just reaching for any straw you can grasp! Well, guess what, it's my word against yours, and you're a nobody. Period! I hope you all rot in--"

Twilight silenced him with a pinch of magic on his lips, then pressed the headphone integrated into her armor to the side of her head. "Did you get all that?"

Esteem's confidence died in an instant; petrified, you might say.

"Copy that, Twilight," Cloud Burner said over the radio. "We heard it loud and clear. The evidence is recorded, heading out to deliver now."

Twilight gave Esteem another smile. "Sorry about that, radio built into the suit. I guess it was transmitting. To another pony. Who was with a reporter. Who had a motion camera. With a microphone. Wait, what was it Spike said, something about anything you say can and will be used against you? Well, I guess we'll find out later if that was important."

Esteem froze still, even with Twilight's magic releasing him. Time passed, and drops of drool threatened to fall from his mouth before he was able to speak again. "Bravo, Sparkle. Bravo."

Twilight raised her eyebrow at his smile. What's he up to?

Esteem started clapping his hooves, the chains of his shackles joining in with their light tink-tink-tink. "Bravo. Truly." He pressed a hoof to his chest and bowed. "Recording me via radio to a pony outside with a reporter? Just brilliant, remarkable, even. I bet he was right outside the building, getting ready to carry the tape somewhere. It would be a shame if something happened to it on the way there..."

Twilight yanked his hoof off his chest and knocked him to the ground. Her magic probed through his suit, pulling out a microphone and radio inside a hidden pocket, crushing it in the thaumic grip.

"Too late," Esteem said with a chuckle that mutated into a cackle. "You're not the only one that can hide a radio, it turns out.

"Well, now, we're at an interesting impasse. Shall we see who's outside stallion comes out alive?"

"Cloud Burner is a Day Guard Charioteer." Twilight stomped and ground the radio parts into plastic and metal dust. "My money's on him."

"Day Guard Charioteer? My, my. Not bad!" Esteem's smile only grew. "I am curious to see how he'll fare against a Wonderbolt. Tell me, Captain, how well do you think you trained him?"

Rainbow crashed into the snake and slammed him against the wall. "Who is it? Who's the traitor? Fleetfoot? Lightning? Who?!"

"Oh, I think you know him. He wanted revenge after you sucker punched him and threw him out a window."

"That flank wipe? Ha!" Rainbow let him go and have Esteem a whack in the head. "It's okay, guys. Cloud will eat that loser for breakfast."

Twilight and Spike relaxed, but Esteem didn't seem impressed.

"On the contrary, Captain. You see, I gave our friend a little... advantage. Cloudsdale Armories' latest toy. Boosted Armor."

Twilight flipped on her radio and pressed her hoof against her head. "Cloud! Could, can you hear me?! You have incoming!"

"Oh, it's much too late for that, I'm afraid." Esteem sat back and relaxed like he was on vacation. "They're certainly out of range by now. All that's left is to take me to my lawyer, and watch things unfold."

"The Crown thanks you for your service, guys." Cloud stuffed the film reel into his bag and spread his wings for takeoff.

"Thank you for the first crack at the story, Sir!" Verity Print took out another slip of paper and stuffed it in his bag along with the evidence, 'coincidently' leaning in close enough to peck his cheek. "My address. Give me a visit if you're ever free."

Cloud's cheek burned like the sun. "Urm, Um, yeah, sure, I could--"

"Get a room, you two!" Viewfinder yelled from behind his camera. "We have work to do!"

"Right, right." Cloud cleared his throat and tried to keep a professional appearance. He failed. "Taking off now." Whether or not his launch knocked the other two pegasi off the cloud, he didn't know. He couldn't bring himself to look backwards. A pretty mare hitting on me? That's new.

His magic slowed for a moment as it built up in his wings, then popped out to accelerate him to cruising speed in only a few more seconds. It was a trick they taught him in chariot school, but it worked even when he wasn't hauling a couple tons of wood, metal, and pony behind him.

Dissonance was one of the rules of flight, and it had full effect even in relatively crowded Cloudsdale. He was moving several times faster than anypony on hoof, even the fastest runners in the world, could ever hope to achieve. Yet, clouds were so big and so far away, they could only crawl to him like an infant. At least, that was the case until he got close.

A moonlit cloud structure the size of a small town approached him, then passed him in a blink of an eye. He could hold his breath and sail three miles before needing air. Longer, actually, since he wasn't hauling anything. Ugh, high altitude training. I remember that. Wow did that suck.

Small black dots appeared ahead of him, barely visible against some of the clouds. Each was getting bigger, and more were swarming the sky and he approached. The chariots trying to evade told him what they were for.

Dammit, more tribalists. Pegasus or not, they probably won't like me leaving, or 'abandoning the cause' or some such nonsense. What to do... I could go high, but if there's anypony there that can follow me I'll lose my speed advantage. Which means… Cloud showed his teeth in a grin. Time to take a dive.

Gravity was one harsh, clingy mistress, and would bring anything to the ground that she could. Occasionally, however, a pegasus knew how to tango with her, and Cloud Burner was at the top of her dance card tonight. He tipped his wings, flaring his magic out his pinions to give the mistress a hoof.

What was a blur before was now full-blown streaks of color and greys rushing passed as he fell. Speed was no longer just a number, it was an existence, and he was its body. Clouds and confused, startled pegasi whizzed by so quickly he could barely recognize their existence. Cloud Burner was also pretty sure there was a falcon crying tears of pride, but he didn't have time to think about that.

Even through his incredible dive, Equus was unimpressed. It simply loomed there, barely growing as he plummeted. It was something so huge, so massive and timeless, no mere pony could impress it enough to change its expression. That was fine. He didn't need to impress her. All he had to do was save the day.

Wave after wave of puffy, speed stealing cumulus went by, each trying to sell him on the idea of slowing down, and each getting a "quit trying to push me to buy something, I just want to visit the mall in peace" in reply. He turned and banked and jinked through the field, building up a resistance in the air that every high speed pegasus knew. Magic had a speed limit imposed on everything that flew, and this was its warning. Push it too far, and it would push you back, violently. The only beings in the world that could break this limit are ones powerful enough to spit in the eye of the mana in the air.

That club's membership list was a short one.

There was Rainbow Dash, famously. The Sisters as well, certainly. Rumour had it that some dragons are among those elite. However, today was not the day Cloud Burner would try to join those incredible few. He slowed his wings, bringing himself into a steady, if still brisk, equilibrium. After all, it would be foolish to risk his life or his precious cargo when it wasn't needed. All he had to do was get to safety, and he was getting there exceptionally fast.

But not as fast as the thing that boomed behind him.

Cloud Burner banked hard left as a blue steak of a pegasus cracked through the sound barrier, its shockwave obliterating any clouds to close to it and lighting up the sky like a dark blue sun. He turned as hard as he could, narrowly escaping the onslaught of speed but tumbling in its wake.

Dash?! What the hell, you crazy mare! I... No, Dash does a Rainboom. It has all the colours, not just one. This is somepony else. He turned back into his dive while the other pegasus came around for another pass, still way beyond the sound barrier even while travelling up. Harder he pushed into gravity's waiting arms to get her blessing of speed, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

The other pegasus wasn't impressed. He passed by once more, again narrowly missing and sending Cloud tumbling hooves over head. Smoke bellowed in his wake, as did lightning.

Damn. Not going to win this with speed. Cloud Burner pushed back with his magic, slowing down and making a beeline for a cluster of medium altitude clouds. He turned hard passed the first one, weaving in, out, and through them at random. Needles were threaded, disasters were dodged, and every jink he could think of was thrown out.

The other pegasus roared by, taking out a fifth of the cloud field with nothing more than unbridled speed.

Cloud braced himself for the wake, braking even more and plowing into a large, puffy cumulus. He panted and swallowed, his throat dry even within the cloud. He poked only the minimum possible amount of his head out of the top of the cloud, watching the hostile arc around for another clearing pass as effortlessly as mowing a lawn.

"No time for finesse. Going loud!" Cloud popped out of his hiding hole and sent magic around his pinions, building up the static within his large wingspan. "Time to take out the trash."

One by one, each of the tips of his primaries glowed red. His name was a hint, a clue that few ever looked into that deeply. He was one of a very small group of pegasi with a nearly, but not completely, impossible thaumic profile. General Blaze was one of the others. So was Spitfire. It was a combination that, unlike nearly every other pegasus out there, had an additional attribute: fire.

His pinions burst into flame, pushing the static beyond anypony else without his pseudo secret was capable of. Red lightning danced around the feathers in a celebration of light and death. "Hey, Gryphon lunch! Put this in your pipe and smoke it!"

The blast shattered the sky, evaporating the cloud under him and subsumed his target with electricity and flame. A half a dozen of the clouds ahead of the bogey winked right out of existence. The shockwave was nearly equal to that of the sonic boom from before.

The hostile kept going without so much as a scratch, still glowing a dark blue and still laughing in the face of the speed of sound.

Welp. That didn’t work. While the other pegasus came around, Cloud Burner took off again, gathering speed and static for his next brilliant idea. He was fast, but against an opponent like this, it was just a matter of time before he was lined up for getting shot. In this case, that matter of time was about four seconds.

Cloud faced his attacker, and the two fired. Red and white lightning repulsed each other, spreading out into the sky, giving an unnatural daylight to the land below. Dozens of bolts from their wings sucker punched each other, though at the end, one was winning: the red.

Cloud pushed himself to the side, ready for the wake from the hyper-sonic pegasus as he passed. His eyes could only get a clear picture for an instant, but it was pristine enough to hang on a wall. That's a Wonderbolt! He thought as the wind sent the world spinning like a half dozen tops. I recognize the flight suit! And last I checked, none of them rocked armor, let alone bonded stuff. So that blue aura around him, that's probably a suit of cored armor. Which means it has a finite power supply.

He stopped in the air, braking in the open sky like it was solid ground. You know what they say. There's no kill like overkill. He recharged his wings while the too-fast pegasus had to fight to turn, still seconds away from another attack.

"Gotcha." Cloud fired his lightning, shooting it as fast as he could build the charge. Each arc shook the air and found its target, eliciting a blue counter glow that seemed to swallow them up. Aha, he's shielded, that's why. Well, it's gotta run out sometime. More shots rang out, filling the snow covered valley below with the sounds of a summer storm.

The bogey finished its turn, lining up for another shot.

Bring it, big boy. I can do this all day! Cloud kept the pressure on, burning a red path through the sky, until a blue path burned right back. No! He put up his forelegs, taking the brunt of the force on his knees. Pain, burning, and electricity shocked through his head as he fell, only collecting himself hallway to the ground.

The tide of pain fought him every inch of the way as he reached to check his bag, finding the reel intact. He corkscrewed down, bleeding altitude as fast as he gained speed. His forelegs were burned and singed, but still moved. He'd live, as long as he survived the fight.

Well, you're the one that complained how boring guard duty was, Cloud, so suck it up! Feed on the pain! He used his wings to kick against the turn, shooting backwards and flaring his pinions to bring him to a halt and launch in the other direction. His enemy was ahead, ready to fire again, which is just what he wanted.

Cloud turned on a dime, a near perfect ninety degree angle at the last possible second. Blue lightning arced passed his flank, missing narrowly. The enemy pegasus passed by a second later, and that was the cue Cloud had been waiting for.

He turned again, lining up another shot as he tailed his bogey. He racked up hit after hit, turning with his enemy even as the hostile tried to turn to face him. Speed was King in a dogfight, but kings could always fall to clever insurrections. Even with the armour boosting him to impossible speeds and creating a wake of magic, Cloud stayed with him. Each turn the other made just gave him another shortcut, letting him stay on the enemy's tail the entire time. At least, until the enemy did something heretofore unthinkable for an enemy with a nigh incomprehensible speed advantage: he slowed down.

The blue trail of light vanished, and the bogey went from in the lead to in the dust and lining up a shot.

Damn it! Cloud jumped back into gravity's embrace, dropping, turning, and firing his lightning first, or so he had hoped. Instead, the two bolts met like charging rams with dynamite strapped to their horns. They combined, mixed, and detonated, tossing them both back and hitting Cloud in the face like he'd been punched. Worse, the hostile was already turning around.

That does it! I've had it with this! You want me? Come and get me! He tore away from the bogey, leading him on another chase through the clouds. In seconds, he was being lined up again for another shot, which meant it was time.

Cloud hit his brakes once again, bleeding buckets of speed. The enemy caught up in a blink, well, before his lightning could recharge, and Cloud grabbed on. All four legs wrapped around the Wonderbolt and squeezed, the vice grip ignoring the pain and his wings flapping without restraint, aimed right for the ground.

"What in Tartarus are you doing?!" The Wonderbolt screamed, flailing about. His stock pony frame was built for speed, not the strength of a draft pony like Cloud. "Get off of me!"

"Typical Wonderbolt! What's wrong, big guy, couldn't take me without your little toy?" Cloud felt the stallion try to bend and aim for the sky, but he just squeezed harder and turned their bodies back towards Equus. "You're just like your whole bucking team. Well, guess what, chowderhead, you win. I can't take you on, but I can take you with me!"

"Are you out of your mind?! Let go or we'll both die!" He bucked and kicked, but gravity still touched them on the lips. Small houses and ponies were visible now, and each time the armour tried to boost, they just sank deeper into gravity's bosom. "Aren't you listening?! You'll kill us both!"

"That's the idea, fraidy cat! What, the big bad Wonderbolt scared to die? Yeah, you fools talk game when you demand somepony take out all the black jellybeans in the candy dish in your trailer, and sure you even fly like you give a damn, but when you’re faced with a sure loss you go all to pieces!

"Well, look at that ground, pussycat, we're both about to go all to pieces, literally! And I don't give a buck!"

"You're insane!"

"Yup! I'm just all cuckoo over here! All I need to do to win is get my evidence to the right ponies, and I don't need to live to do that! I'm betting the evidence outlives us both and that my side finds our bodies first! Whadaya say, let's go watch from the Summerlands together, you and me!"

"Help! Somepony get him offa me!" The Wonderbolt scratched at his armor's clasps, unhooking two of them. "Help!"

"All the damn same! Only Wonderbolt I ever met not scared to die is Spitfire. The rest of you are prissy little kitties looking for mama to feed them some milk and attention! But I'm a Day Guard! My life already belongs to Celestia! I live and die at her whim! If my passing means she wins, then my soul is hers to cash in!"

The stallion kicked hard, sending them spinning but still keeping them heading downwards. "Let... Me... Go!" He slapped open the last two clasps and slipped out of the armour as it opened, leaving Cloud to fall with an empty suit.

"Heh." Cloud ignored the fall and tossed the armour while charging his wings and lining up the shot. "Goodbye, puss."

Bang!

Two large, separate, burning pieces of flesh fell out of the explosion, falling silently and solemnly through a growing snowstorm.

Cloud Burner rolled over, orientating himself with the ground. He could see the individual waves in the lake below, and gravity was ready to go all the way with him right then and there. He spread his wings, flapping and pushing as much of his wellspring out that he could. Nothing could stop his speed now, so he went with it, pulling up instead of back. Time slowed down enough he could count down the degrees under the horizon as he corrected himself. His hooves dug into the freezing water as he flew, swallowing him up to his fetlocks as he finally levelled out and took back to the sky.

"Yowza that's freaking cold! I hope my rendezvous has a blanket and hot cocoa. And maybe a burn kit. And really, really nice legs!"

Author's Note

Dunno why I’m nervous about this chapter. Seems like there isn’t anything to worry about… but if something goes wrong, I’ll figure it out and fix it. Like I said last time, life happens. Nopony’s perfect. ;)

I never did come up with a name for the guy Dash tossed out of the window...

Patreon will be updated soon. Thanks again for sticking with me! Enjoy the chapter!

-Cv

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No Rest For the Weary

The canteen shook in Pulsar's sputtering magic as he brought it to his lips, downing the last of the metallic-tasting water. They'd have to make a run to the river for more, and the pain in his horn said that one of the other unicorns would have to be the one to purify it.

“You should be getting sleep, little one.”

Pulsar's hair bristled as he looked up to Cardinal Stiletto, a tall, slender specimen of a unicorn if there ever was one. Genuine concern came through the Roan accent, but the very concept of sympathy was foreign to the mare's eyes. They only ever said one thing to anypony: I can kill you and enjoy it. Her horn was shaped to her namesake, and her purple mohawk mane had a subtle, burning glow.

Her patting him on the head would also have been far more comforting if he hadn't known how quickly she could break a pony's neck.

Pulsar put his ears back. “Luna's going to the front doors of Tartarus. I'll sleep when I know she's safe.”

“You should not be so worried. Luna is strong. She knows what she is doing.”

Pulsar looked up over the rocky, barren mountain landscape, wishing that the night's moon would tell him of Luna's safety. “We're going to run out of rations at this rate. There's no grass here.”

Stiletto chuckled and walked back to the campfire and the cadre of Night Guard nearby. “She will be fine. You'll see.”

Pulsar sighed, looking at the cave behind him. He had to strain to see them, but the walls were lined in blood-red runes. Luna had told him they were a warning written in a tongue long dead to even her. They didn't appear unless one walked close, and even then, a pony would only see them if they were unworthy of entering Tartarus. She'd entered two days ago, and there had been no sign of her since.

Shaking off the subtle terror emanating from the cave, he rummaged in his bag with his hooves, pulling out an enchanted blanket and wrapping it over his back. “If I can't sleep, I can at least be warm. Hopefully she'll be back soon…”

He let his thoughts drift along to the subtle shimmering of the river in the valley, soaking in the bright moonlight and the dancing of a flower in the gentle breeze. Left, right, left, right.

“Pulsar…”

It was a voice. A nice voice. Not entirely warm, like Celestia, but fluid and clear. Still quite comforting.

“Pulsar, are you awake?”

A hoof touched his back, and he jolted up with a snort. His vision was blurry, and there was sleep gunk that was taking more than a little effort to get clear. “Wha? Hmm? I wasn't sleeping!”

The voice tittered, and the mare gave him a slight nuzzle behind his ear. “Stiletto tells me you stayed up late for me.”

“Yeah, I—” Pulsar blinked his sight clear, and found Luna standing over him. At least, he thought it was Luna.

Gone was her ethereal mane; in its place was a mess of light blue hair. She was shorter, and her wings were smaller, their feathers softer. She was walking with a limp, like she'd injured her fetlock. Her coat was beyond dishevelled, and her body twitched as if it was being struck, or bitten by insects.

“Luna, Princess, are you okay?!” Pulsar sprang up as if electricity had shot down his legs, then pulled out the little first aid kit in his bag. “Hang on, I'll get out a splint and—”

Luna stopped him with a gentle hoof to his lips. “You needn't worry. I assure you, despite my appearance, I'm perfectly fine.”

He glanced over at the other Night Guard, now keeping much more attentive watch over the area. “You are not! You're hurt! We can all tell! What's going on?”

“Nothing you need to c—”

“Donkey droppings!” Pulsar spat, earning him heated looks from the rest of the Guard. “You're hurt, and they deserve to know why and how! We need to know so we can better protect you, and—”

Luna silenced him with a raised eyebrow. “Pulsar, dear one, you should know better than anyone that I am the last pony in this world that needs protecting. I am Equestria’s sword, after a—”

“Again, donkey droppings! You're limping! And I am your seneschal! I need to know what's wrong to do my job, and… and… and you're being a huge hypocrite!”

Pulsar had never seen Stiletto shocked before. He never wanted to see it again, either, because he was surprised her eyes hadn't somehow popped out of her skull and cut his throat all on their own. Luna was shocked, too, but she didn't look angry. She merely looked hurt.

“Very well, then.” Luna gingerly sat down, something clearly aching her. “How am I a hypocrite, then?”

“Um, uhaaa…” Pulsar murmured, trying to find his tongue.

“If such is true, I want to hear it. My promise stands, Pulsar. You have nothing to fear from me. I am your protector, now and forever. Speak, child, that I might understand.”

Pulsar rubbed his mane, hoping to not shove his hoof farther down his throat. Just go for it, colt. In for a bit… “You constantly chide Celestia for not communicating. We're not alicorns, but we are supposed to work with you, right?”

Luna pursed her lips. “Oh. Oh, horse apples.” She walked to him, draped a wing over his back, and laid them both down in the dust. “You are correct, my little pony. I apologize.”

Pulsar kept his head down below hers, and shivered at her nuzzle on the back of his neck. “I just want to know why you're hurt. And what I can do to help.”

Luna pulled him in tighter. “Child, Tartarus isn't just some prison where we toss bad ponies. And Cerberus isn't just some mutated dog. It is much, much more than that.

“Tartarus has a sentience, and Cerberus is its name. It is a warden, guard, and judge. But the condemned aren't all it judges.” Luna's body twitched again. “It demands proof of alicorns who send a pony into its realm. Proof that we are serious and committed in our judgement that a pony deserves such a severe punishment. Although it can — and does — make its own judgement as well, it likewise won't tolerate an alicorn weak in resolve.”

Pulsar nodded a little, and Luna rested her head on Pulsar's neck.

“You see, Pulsar, Cerberus binds us to the condemned. In a psychic way, I mean. Right now, I know what feelings are in Esteem’s mind. The hatred, the indignation, the terror. I feel it all. Moreover, I'm feeling the same torture he is.”

Pulsar's heart clenched tight. “No…”

“I'm afraid it's true. Some of it is filtered out, at least. The wisps like to borrow a page from the Elements, and invade a pony's mind, make them live through the deaths of their victims. That pain is not for me. Most everything else, though? I feel every little bit of it.”

“How?” Pulsar sniffed through the sudden onslaught of tears, barely able to fight his shaking. “Why would you do something like that to yourself? He's condemned forever! So that pain won't ever go away! I can't, I—”

Luna squeezed him tight under her wing. “It's not forever, child. I can extract Esteem whenever I so wish… But I will not do so until he is truly ready to leave and be reformed; to truly become a different pony than he was. Cerberus will let me know when he feels such is the case, as to pull him out at any other time would place him in truly eternal peril.”

Pulsar buried his muzzle between his hooves, mind lost in the enormity of it all. His world had exploded, and now felt far, far away.

“You see, Pulsar, the threads of fate that bind a soul to Tartarus will not break if I remove him. From that point forward, he will be watched by Cerberus. Should he stray from the path of Harmony again, Esteem would be dragged back through the gates. But that time, he would have no alicorn linked to him, and the threads will become invincible chains. Nothing and no one would be able to save him, for all eternity.”

“But why?” Pulsar coughed, reaching out with his magic for his tissues, despite the pain of his mana exhaustion. “Why hurt yourself for that… that…”

“I can think of any number of curses for that foul monster. But my reason? It's been ages since a pony so richly deserved it, and… Well, I cannot tell others what I’ve done directly. But we are good at spreading rumors. The mystery will, hopefully, put a kernel of fear into the Council.

“As for Esteem, I'll let him out when the time is right. Secretly put him someplace where he can do some good. After that? His fate will be up to him. Be a good pony, growing old and dying on his own terms. Or, eternal damnation. His choice.”

Pulsar blew his nose, careful not to get any on his Princess. “But… Don't you have those threads? Are you at risk of…”

“These?” Luna cast a spell, showering her shoulder with sparks. Blue threads, breaking off not far from her body, glittered into being, attached at her collarbone. “I was bound to Tartarus by a fiend, and against the will of Tartarus. As such, Cerberus led me to the Broken Blade of Thaumaturgus where I was able to sever the threads forever. Only those bound in such a way can find the blade, and once the threads are cut, Tartarus can never again have a hold on me or attempt to drag me into its bowels.

“So you see, child? You needn't worry. I'm safe.”

Pulsar wiped his eyes with a fresh tissue. “I still don't think he's worth it. You're hurt. You're hurting. How can you…” Pulsar paused on the selfishness of his heart, and cursed it.

“How can I protect you when I'm in such pain?” Luna spread her feathers, stroking Pulsar's side. “Dear one, my injuries are not from my link to Esteem.”

Pulsar blinked. “They… aren't?”

Luna shook her head. “No. Esteem is going through a hell greater than any in Equestria, it is true, but I can hold firm, even from this. After a thousand years fused with the moon, ‘tis but a trifle.”

Pulsar looked back on Luna's battered and beaten body, her lame hoof, and dishevelled mane. “Then… How?”

Luna blushed purple. “My current injuries are the result of a… disagreement I had with Cerberus after banishing Esteem. Seems he didn't like me swatting him on the nose and calling him a bad dog.”

Pulsar's jaw dropped open, and his train of thought plowed through a few concrete barriers before jumping the track and exploding. “Cerberus?! He… He hurt you?!”

Luna blushed even deeper, hiding her face. “You try fighting the invincible avatar of the will of an alternate dimension. It's not as easy as it looks. Especially in close quarters.”

Pulsar's train of thought exploded again. Twice. “You fought it? What did—Ow!”

Luna nipped his ear. “If you're able to yell, you're ready to go home. Come, everypony. It's time I returned and let Celestia know the deed is done.”

“But, but!” Pulsar rubbed his ear as Luna stood to gather her guards. “Your regeneration! Why didn't—”

“It did heal me. It healed me of all manner of injury in the past days, but even that has its limits. I'll be fine after a nap, I promise.” She clapped her hooves together. “And I think we could all use a meal. Tonight, you will all dine with me in the Royal Dining Hall. We shall feast, celebrate the vanquishing of an enemy, and mourn the loss of our ponies in Cloudsdale. For tomorrow, our work begins anew!”

“Hurrah, my Sovereign!”

Pulsar covered his ears, grateful that these ponies, who could shake the ground with the yell of just a few members, were on his side.

"Wow. Ouch. Seriously, it feels like my back is trying to beat me up and take my lunch money." Spike rubbed his lumbar area, where his muscle spasms were playing his spine like a xylophone. One struck his nerve with an ice pick, and he leaned on the hallway wall. "You really have to be that rough, Rainbow?"

"I do if we wanna get better, Spike." Rainbow was stretching and rubbing random muscles as well, her wings hung slack at her sides. "Gilda was tougher than I thought. We aren't up to snuff yet if we wanna roll with Twilight. It's up to us to help her until she can steamroll things like Luna can."

"Yeah, no pain, no gain. I actually heard Twilight talking about a study that said that wasn't true, but either way…" He swallowed half the room's air in a yawn. "Bedtime. Screw brushing teeth. I have exactly enough steps left in me for getting to bed; no further. 'Night."

"I hear that. 'Night, Spike."

Odds were that Rainbow had gone to her room next door, but Spike was too tired to process anything beyond the pain in his back. He opened up his door and plodded inside, heading straight for his bed on the right wall. He didn't even turn on the lights. The dim outline of a stack of paperwork on his desk across the small room mocked him, and was dangerously close to being torched right in its stupid smug face.

He unclasped his chest piece and let it fall on the tile floor. The boots were the next to go, followed by the gauntlets. He reached over to the little chest of drawers and wound the clock on top of it, nearly knocking over Twilight's bell. If it had fallen, the bell in Twilight’s room would have rang in sympathy, and knowing her, she would've rushed down to check on him. That was just not something he had the energy to deal with.

He scooted back square over the bed, laid down in his belly, and was out.

If last night had Spike's muscles doing a rumba, this was heavy mining and construction. "Oooooowwww.... Uuuuuunnnnngggghhh....." Words weren't something to attempt at this point. They could wait. Moaning was far more important.

"Aaaargh!" He lifted up and arm and got a reward of the Diarchy State building smashed into his back, spire first. His heart started joining in on the fun, beating him up from a different angle as panic set in. "Twilight..."

Spike sucked in a breath, bracing himself as he reached for Twilight's bell. If he could just ring it, the other bell in her room would ring, too, letting her know something was wrong. The skyscraper in his back twisted around, getting faster as his fingers nearly made it to the handle. Then, the bell lifted on its own and rang and rang and rang.

"Twilight..." He flopped down on the bed. "Help..."

Twilight snorted something into her nose, and it wasn't fun, especially combined with her snoring. It was easily enough to wake her up, and normally she would have stood up, stretched, checked the clock, and likely have gone back to sleep. This time, however, standing wasn't quite an option. She pushed down on her cloud bed to stand up, but only yanked her tail. This should have meant that she had stood on it, but she was yanking her mane as well, which made things far more curious.

Hence, her mind formed a subcommittee that approved the opening of her eyes before her customary yawn and stretch and then sent the application up to the home office for review. Although it was a divisive topic, when the supplementary information arrived that she was also having difficulty breathing, the motion was at last approved, and Twilight opened her eyes.

She was surrounded by hair. Not hair clippings, but strands of hair an indeterminate number of meters long. Most of them were dark, but there were pink streaks scattered about. Every possible direction was covered in hair so dense, they blocked out nearly all light, and were finding ways into her mouth, nose, and ears. Worse, it was moving, or perhaps growing.

In fact, as she turned and twisted to bat the hair out of the way, she confirmed the latter. The hair was hers, from her mane, which was growing an inch a second. She had to work to part the mass of strands covering her rear, scraping and pulling with hooves since her own magic couldn't affect her hair, but her theory was correct. Her tail was growing just as fast.

The subcommittee on panic attacks rushed through the paperwork for her reaction, sending it up to the home office with a detailed four-thousand word argument on why now was the perfect time for a signature screaming freak-out.

It was approved without delay.

"Spike! Get your scaly butt up here this instant!" Twilight squirmed in her hair, twisting and pulling her mane from areas that it should not be possible to do so. "Hurry! I don't know what's happening!"

She pawed at the strands, parting bunch after bunch, burrowing her way out of the small mountain of hair. Such a statement was one she never thought she’d ever have to say, as it was just too ridiculous—and made no less so by the fact that it was actually happening. After a minute, she was actually making swimming motions to get out of her own mane, finally getting enough stray rays of light to see some of her floor. With it, she spotted the bell linked to Spike's room downstairs.

Twilight pushed her magic out through the nest, feeling it loosen and scatter like she was putting it through a strainer. When she finally got a hold of it, she shook it like she would the neck of whoever played this prank on her. "Spike! Get up here! Help!"

The bell rang nonstop, but Spike never came, and her own hair was again swallowing her whole. She half expected it to burp at some point. "Somepony, anypony, get me out of this!"

"Lady Sparkle, are you alright?!"

It was muffled and faint, but there was definitely somepony on the other side of the door. She reached out with her magic again, this time probing the lock on her chambers until it turned. "I am not okay! Whoever you are, get in here!"

The doors cracked open as a blue unicorn mare plowed her way in, then stopped to gasp in shock. This, of course, was just rude to do to somepony being eaten by their own hair.

"Trixie is... I mean, I am..."

"Now is not the time to worry about pronouns! …Not something I ever thought I'd say." Twilight fell backwards and deeper into the nest as it shifted. The world was growing dim, though there was the faint ringing of a lockdown bell in the background. "Circle in the floor to your left! Stomp on it, go downstairs! There's scissors in the first aid kit in the medicine cabinet! Hurry!"

The ground vibrated as (Twilight presumed) the stairs descended to the bathroom level, and there were two instances of hooves running on them.

"Twilight, where are you?! I don't know where to cut, and if Trixie misses–"

"Less worrying, more cutting!" Twilight shoved and compressed a particularly large wad of hair against the tile floor. "Hurry, before my mane eats me!"

After a few seconds, she finally heard the sound of scissors making their way towards her. Light returned to the world, and a pair of blue hooves reached in and yanked her out of the pile. She landed on her belly, legs splayed outward, and her mane and tail were now growing several centimeters each second.

"Twilight, what in Equus happened?!" Trixie snipped off the hair at what would have been a normal spot, but it just kept growing. "Trixie has travelled all over Equestria, but I've never seen anything like this!"

"I have no freaking idea!" Twilight stood, careful to keep the insanity from swallowing her again. "I woke up and I was in the center of that… that mass! It has to weigh more than I do! This isn't physically possible!"

"I... I think we should get Celestia." Trixie snipped away another couple meters. "She might know what to do. Maybe."

"Good idea. Maybe she can—"

A mare skidded to a landing outside her door. "Twilight! Spike is in… What the heck…?"

"Huh. Still no sign of him." Since Rainbow had been assigned to Twilight, she had gotten used to waking up a bit before her. She'd head down to the cafeteria for some fruit and a latte, and Spike would be there to join her before they had to wake Twilight up. Normally, this involved disturbing her sleep, getting yelled at because she had been up late studying, then letting her sleep another ninety minutes.

This time, however, there was no Spike to be found. "Welp, time to go wake up some sleepy heads." She slammed the last of her coffee and trotted up the winding maze that was Canterlot Castle, first heading back to the wing where she and Spike slept. They didn't rate special custom quarters like Twilight's, but they did get their own private rooms, which in itself was rather special given the premium in space the city struggled with.

She stopped outside Spike's room. "Okay, they say never mess with sleeping dragons, but I'm about to go and break that rule, since you went and forgot to set your alarm. Ready or not, here I come!"

Rainbow slapped open the door knob-handle-thingy and kicked it open, making as much noise as she could. "Rise and shine, pussywillow, we got a lot of training to– ancestors help us..."

Spike winced as he struggled to open his eyes, barely breathing and laying in bed on his stomach. His wind up alarm clock had rang itself out and stopped. On his back were two cysts—or perhaps blisters—the size of grapefruits, where the scales had swollen and turned translucent.

"Rainbow," he croaked out, barely above a whisper. "Help me..."

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap... Just, stay there, don't move! I'm getting help!" Rainbow spread her wings and took off down the hall, passing a dozen "No Flying" signs in the halls as she went. She didn't land until she found a guard standing at his post.

"You there! No flying in the–"

"Shut it!" she yelled in his face, it almost passing her notice that she'd always wanted to do that. "Medical emergency, Spike is hurt! We need Celestia in his room to help him, stat!"

The guard didn't even say anything; he just took off running down the hall in the direction of the throne room. Seconds later, bells started ringing in the hall, signalling a lockdown for the palace. It was standard procedure for a medical emergency to trigger a lockdown in case it was subterfuge, and to clear the halls to allow first responders easy access.

Shutters started rolling down the windows, sealing them off from the outside. The only way for them to open without cancelling the lockdown was to trigger a confirmed fire alarm. Ponies rushed every which way through the castle, ducking into rooms and locking them.

"Okay, step one done. Now I gotta get Twilight." She took off again, flying over stairs and making her way up the towers and into the highest part of the palace. Ahead was Princess Celestia's chambers, and to the right, Twilight's. She banked hard right, coming to a skidding stop as she slid inside the already open doors.

"Twilight! Spike is in..." Rainbow blinked. "What the heck...?"

In her room, where Twilight's bed should be, was a small mountain of hair; Twilight's hair. It probably weighed more than several ponies put together, and it was still growing. Trixie was standing next to Twilight, cutting her friend's mane and tail every few seconds, lopping off a leg’s length of hair each time.

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow's face had locked into an expression she wasn't quite sure was appropriate for the situation. Then again, she wasn't entirely sure there was an appropriate expression for the situation. "Did you try experimenting with potions without Zecora's help again? You know you can't cook, right? And that potion making is basically cooking?"

"Hardy har har, Rainbow." Twilight grimaced. "I'm kind of busy here, in case you can't tell. And for the record, I have no idea what is going on. I thought it might’ve been one of your pranks. If so, you are so dead, by the way."

"I had nothing to do with this!" Rainbow froze for a second. "Even if it would've been an awesome prank. But no, I need your help! Spike is in trouble, he's got some kind of cysts on his back!"

"What?!" Twilight fell to her haunches. "Is he okay? Is that what the lockdown is about?"

"Yeah, I told a guard before I came here. Celestia should be on her way. I think she's the only pony really qualified for this."

"Okay, no choice." Twilight stood up and swished her tail out of her way. "Gotta get down there and help my little brother!" She took one step forward, and ten meters of hair flew out of her head and tail in about two seconds.

"Empty night!" Trixie snipped through the hair after it calmed down. "Is it going to do that every time?!"

"Uuuuuhhhhhh....” Twilight stammered, taking another step. Yet another mass wave of hair flew out, threatening to engulf the entire room and burying her back half.

"Damn it." Twilight sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. Delegation time. Rainbow, you're going to Spike in my stead. If I try to walk, I might drown in my own hair, and that is not a way I'm willing to go out. Explosion that saves Equestria, fine, but suffocating in my own mane, not a chance. Report back to me when you know what's going on, and keep Spike as calm and comfortable as you can. If it gets really bad, let me know and I'll try to figure something out. Otherwise, let Celestia treat Spike, and only then tell her that I might need help too. Got it?"

"Got it!" Rainbow saluted and flew back down the stairs, heading for Spike's room. She descended two large staircases via the air, then banked hard left onto the special, high-security guest quarters where they had their rooms. An EMT pegasus team was already in station, and when Rainbow barged in, they were giving him some kind of gas through a mask.

"Is he all right?" Rainbow asked. "What's going on?"

"Heck if I know," the EMT stallion replied. "I've never seen anything like this. I've never even responded to a call to help a dragon, so I'm extra lost. But we're giving him nitrous oxide, or 'laughing gas.' It can help a lot with pain."

"That is a good start, but I need access to find out what to do to administer treatment." Celestia stepped into the room with a nurse and a cart full of medicines and medical equipment. "Please, clear the way so that I might help my son."

The two EMTs stared in shock, but backed away and left the room to stand outside when Celestia took a step forward. She towered over the dragon, lighting her horn and casting a spell Rainbow couldn't even pretend to understand. A gold-white magic circle appeared, spouting off arcane symbols way too fast for her to read.

"As I suspected." She lowered her head next to Spike's. "I know it hurts, child. Don’t be afraid; you will be fine. Keep breathing the nitrous oxide, it will help. I will prepare a medicine to take away the pain."

Spike nodded, taking in deep breaths of the gas. "It hurts... so bad... Am I dying?"

"Not at all, little one." Celestia pulled over the cart with her magic and popped the lids on a few of the pill bottles. "Nurse, watch closely. He will need a custom dosage."

Rainbow snuck around the Princess to get a look as pills were put into a mortar and ground into dust. First was some kind of heavily-regulated painkiller she’d never learned to pronounce correctly, along with caffeine and aspirin. Then came one she didn't recognize and couldn't pronounce, but the description on the bottle was "anti-spasm" medication.

The Wonderbolt knew some things about medicine and first aid. She wasn't a registered EMT like some in her old group, but they all had to have some ability to stabilize a patient because they could be called on for search and rescue any time, day or night, every day of the year. From that knowledge, she could find something wrong enough to make her say something.

"Princess, I don't mean to be rude..." Rainbow winced as Celestia stopped and trained an eye on her.

"Yes?"

Rainbow swallowed some of her nerves, but not enough to stop shaking under Celestia's gaze. "Oh, Um, I... I mean, isn't that a lethal dose of painkiller? You put four pills in that."

"Ah, you are observant, Captain." Celestia went back to grinding up the pills. "This would be a lethal dose for a pony. However, dragon physiology is quite a bit different from our own. I have to increase the amount for Spike, or it won't have a noticeable effect. They're resistant to most painkillers, but this should still be strong enough to be a therapeutic dose.

"I know what's happening to Spike, and he is in severe pain. The intensity is likely only rivalled by foaling, which means a powerful medicine is called for. This is doubly true since this condition will last much longer than labour would for a mare."

"What's happening..." Spike groaned. "It hurts..."

"Hush. It shall be okay; I promise you." Celestia swirled the crushed pills in her magic, crushing and compressing them into a new, larger pill.

The nurse grabbed a paper cup from the cart and filled it with water from Spike's sink, then gave it to Celestia.

The Princess floated both to Spike's mouth. "Swallow this, my child. There will be side effects, but it will take away your pain."

Spike nodded ever so slightly, and opened his mouth as Celestia placed the pill on his tongue. A drink of water later, and it was done.

"What are the side effects?" Rainbow asked. "Anything I need to watch for?"

Celestia sighed, a visible weight lifting off her shoulders. "Well, in the modern vernacular, he'll be ‘high as a kite.’ It's probable he will also experience drowsiness and lightheadedness. But the pain should be gone in an hour or so, and he'll be able to walk again.

"The condition can last up to a month, given his age, and he'll need to be on the medicine for the duration. I don't like giving patients strong painkillers for such a long time, but nothing less will stop his agony. If this happened when he was older, I would have had to lock him in a cave to wait it out. We're fortunate it’s happening while he’s still small."

"Um..." Rainbow scratched her head. "What is wrong with him? Is it, like, a cancer or something? Or a parasite?"

Celestia let out a light but genuine laugh. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet, Captain? I thought it would have been obvious for you by now, but if you must know..." She leaned down to Rainbow with a cheeky smile on her lips. "We're going to have a student this spring! Spike is getting his wings!"

Rainbow blinked. "That. Is. So. Awesome!"

"So, any thoughts yet on why you're producing enough hair to supply half of Equestria's wig factories?" Trixie snipped off another length of mane. "Or why we get a half ton more whenever you take a step?"

"Not a freaking clue." Twilight facehooved. "And this was going to be a nice, relaxing reading day. Honestly, I should just never expect a day off ever again. I need to invent a spell that can let me read a book at hyper speed or something."

"Mind magic, dangerous stuff. I'd stick to delegation. Much more reliable. Not that I have much experience with it, mind you. For much of my adult life, I’ve lived in my little wagon." Trixie sighed wistfully. "I miss it. The travel, the adventure. Just me, my cart, some maps, and a compass. Yeah, it was roughing it most of the time, but it was... liberating!

"Out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but your own thoughts, I could plan show after show. Then, reach a town, get supplies, and knock 'em dead."

"You know, I could send somepony out to find your cart. Or even have a new one built for you. It's no trouble, really. I have plenty of space in my personal storage unit here in the castle."

Trixie held a hoof to her chest. "You'd do that? A whole new cart?"

Twilight nodded. "Of course! Thanks to your spell, we were able to deal a major blow to the Illusionists, and knocked the Gryphons out of commission for at least a couple years. I also make more money than I know what to do with, honestly. I'm giving most of it to Cadence's charity network. I've probably bought, like, three brand-new orphanages by now."

Trixie laughed and ran a hoof through her mane. "Even when you're being humble, you're making me look bad. Okay, then, Sparkle, I'll take you up on your offer. My old cart is seventeen hundred meters northeast of Hoofington's clock tower, and if it’s there, it’s probably still covered in snow. I did weatherproof it, though, and its spot is well camouflaged. I spent a lot of exciting nights under wild weather in that little thing."

"Sounds fun!" Twilight pulled a notebook out of her open closet and jotted down the location. "I'll see if they can find it. Care to join me at the spa after we get my mane under control?"

The scissors snipped again. "Spa? Here in Canterlot?"

"There are a few public ones in Canterlot, yes, but I was thinking of the Royal Spa."

The scissors slipped out of the magic and clattered on the tile. "The Princesses have their own spa?! That rumour is true?!"

Twilight opened her mouth to say "yes," but rewound back to Trixie's mention of a rumour. "Why? What did you hear?"

Trixie blushed beet red. "That, um, well... Trixie heard that it was full of stallions and, er, mares, too. For the Sisters'... recreational, ah, pleasure."

Twilight couldn't hold it in. Not in a million years. She broke out laughing, falling to the floor and rolling around on her back, which only covered her in more hair. She pushed the new piles off of her and spat some strands out of her mouth, then sucked in a breath so that she could speak again. "Ponies actually think that?!"

Trixie blushed even deeper. "Yes, that is what Trixie... I mean, I heard."

"Oh, nonononononono. Doesn't work that way." Twilight sighed away the giggles, though a few lingered. "Celestia I know has a few ponies she turns to for intimacy, but they aren't a harem. I'm not a hundred percent sure who they are, though. She won't give me a straight answer, but I don't really pry very much, either.

"I'm not as sure about Luna. She claims that she is the alicorn of passion, and all things with it, but Celestia says she's only had one short-term partner since her return. Apparently it's pretty rare for her to find a pony to her liking.

"Really, the Royal Spa is just that: a seriously opulent spa. There's staff there twenty-four-seven even though only a dozen or so ponies have regular access. I've been able to go since I've been Celestia's student, but it's honestly a bit too opulent for me. I feel self-conscious when I'm there. But there's an on-staff mane stylist, which I'll probably need, and I could really go for a massage and a dip in the hot tu…well, it's called a hot tub, but it's really more of a pool with abnormally warm water."

Trixie ducked her head down much like Twilight would do when nervous, her blush still in effect. "I've... never been to a spa.."

Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Well, that settles it, then. You should join me! I'm allowed to bring guests, so as long as you're with me, they can't say no. Beats waiting a month for an appointment elsewhere in the city."

"You win again, Sparkle." Trixie tried to sound indignant, but whatever kernel of jealousy that was there was quickly eroded by laughs and smiles. "I'd be glad to go."

They shared a hoof bump just in time for the doorbell to sound.

"Enter!" Twilight yelled. "It's already unlocked!"

The door opened, and Celestia stepped through with a medical cart and some kind of haphazard gizmo with a couple of lights on it. "Now then, what seems to be the prob– Oh, bugger."

Twilight and Trixie both shared a laugh at seeing Celestia's reaction to the several truckloads of accumulated hair.

"Hi, Tia. Look at me, I don't have an ethereal mane yet, but I have an infinite one! Telegraph the wig factories, I think we have a record-setting donation here."

"Yeah!" Trixie struck a silly catwalk pose. "The Twilight Sparkle look will be so hot this year!"

Celestia looked down at her odd device and then tossed it behind her. "Well, that's going to be useless. Three thousand years, Twilight. That's how long it's been since a medical malady truly stumped me. Then, you and Trixie manage it twice in less than a season."

"So, no idea what is going on with my mane?" Twilight put her ears down. "That's not what I was hoping to hear. It shoots out like crazy everytime I take a step."

"I'm afraid I don't have the faintest idea, my student. I do have a few ideas on where to start looking, though, and who to start talking to."

"That's something, at least." Twilight looked back at the pile behind her. "Any news on Spike?"

"Ah, yes. He'll be fine, Twilight. He's getting his wings!"

Twilight lit up like a firework. "Really?! I thought most purple dragons don't get them?"

"Some do, some don't. He's not a purebred, so there was always a chance. He's going to be in a lot of pain this next month, though, so I gave him some medicine and put him on medical leave. He's not going to be in any condition to travel with you for now."

"No argument here."

Trixie sighed. "You're getting wings, he's getting wings; I bet they'll be selling them on a street corner sooner or later."

"Well..." Twilight folded her forelegs and rubbed her lip with a hoof. "Starswirl the Bearded actually did develop a spell to give anypony a set of real, permanent pegasus wings. The only problem, other than being incredibly difficult to cast with a huge risk of serious injury if something goes wrong, was that without pegasus magic, they're useless. Decorative only; you can't even glide with them. All you could do with them is flap futilely. And don't even try to get me started on the idea for me to use that to get my wings now. I've no idea how that'll interact with the magics involved with the summits, or if the leylines would form right. I could wind up permanently disfigured. Even if–"

"Twilight," Trixie interrupted. "I was being sarcastic."

"Hmm? Oh. Oh! Right, sorry, sometimes my mind takes an idea and runs with it like that." Twilight rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, I–" Tingles waged a surprise war all over her body, poking ticklish, cold pinpricks at every follicle they came across.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked. "Is something wrong?"

FOOMP!

Twilight's coat of hair grew several inches in the span of a house fly's wingbeat. She was now a giant, round, purple puff of pony.

"Celestia," Twilight said through a haze of hair. "Start getting a hold of your contacts. This has officially gotten ridiculous."

"Hey." Rainbow gave Spike a nudge on his hand. "Are you feeling better yet?"

Spike, still lying on his belly, nodded and sucked in more nitrous. "Still hurts, but I can feel the medicine helping."

"Good. How much did you hear Celestia say about what's going on? You were really out of it, there."

"That I'm getting wings. Not much more than that."

"Well..." Rainbow laid down next to the bed, folding her forelegs and putting her ears down. "She said you should avoid putting pressure on the wings as they develop. So you wanna avoid chair backs and lying on your back. She also said you need to keep using the medicine she's made for you, and be patient, 'cause it's gonna take a while for them to be ready. Probably a whole month."

Spike groaned and clutched his pillow. "A whole month?! This hurts, Rainbow!"

"Yeah, true, but you got the best doctor in the world helping you." She gently, carefully rubbed the top of his head. "And I'll be there, too. Don't even worry about training until the wings are ready. I'll help you with whatever you need, and you've basically got an entire castle at your beck and call!"

Spike deflated, though Rainbow couldn't tell if it was from relief or worry. "Thanks, Dash. Anything else I should know?"

Rainbow winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Yeah, some bad news. The Princess says you're not going to be able to fly fly right away. Your wings and magic won't be strong enough 'cause you got them so young."

"But..." Spike's eyes started to water. "Then what am I going through this for?!"

"Easy, easy there." Rainbow nudged him again in lieu of a hug. "You'll still be able to use them to glide. She says that once you learn how to take advantage of thermals, you could glide as well as Princess Cadence! Maybe you won't be as fast as a pegasus, but that's still really cool, and faster than walking, trust me.

"I had to learn gliding in school, and the pegasi that are really good at it can glide for an insanely long time without even flapping their wings once! I knew this one guy, he started at around fifteen thousand feet and pulled off something like twice the distance between here and Ponyville. Again, not near as fast as if I had raced it, but the difference is that he wasn't even the slightest bit winded. Not a bad upgrade to get, if you ask me. And you should, cause I know things about flying."

"I suppose that's not so bad..." He took in another breath of nitrous. "Still hurts. Getting better, though. Was Twilight here?"

"Uuuuuhhhhhh..." Rainbow pursed her lips while her brain dusted off old protocols on breaking things gently. "She kinda had her own medical issue this morning..."

"What?! Is she oka–Ow!" Spike belly flopped back onto the bed after an attempt to push himself off failed miserably. "What happened?"

"You know how crazy, improbable things keep happening to us? Well, this might take the cake for crazy and improbable away from Discord. I mean, she's not in any huge danger or anything, but... Yeah, this is weird."

"Can't be any worse than what I have then. One second..." Slowly, inch by inch, he pushed himself up. One hand on the bedpost, one on the mattress, each minor movement a carefully deliberated process. Finally, he was sitting on his bed instead of lying down. "There, I'm starting to feel better. Lightheaded, but better. Now, what's going on with Twilight?"

Rainbow sat up as well. "You know how manes need to be cut every so often? Well, Twilight's needs to be cut several times a minute right now."

Spike looked like his mind was as broken as his back was at the moment. "Wait, you're telling me that her mane is shooting out of her like a roll of toilet paper hooked up to an industrial fan?"

"That's not... Actually, that is a pretty good way of putting it, yeah."

Spike guffawed and then immediately rubbed his back. "Ouch, oh, don't tell me funny stuff like that right now."

"Gonna be hard not to. According to Celestia, you're going to be 'high as a kite' in a few more minutes. Her words."

Spike reached over for the bedpost again. "I think I'm going to lie down and take a nap before that happens. It'll hurt less. Tell Twilight not to worry, and that I'll be sleeping."

"Good call. I'm going to go steal Twilight's bell. You need anything, ring it."

"If this keeps up, we're going to have to find a new place to store the hair. My room can't handle all this." Twilight tossed another pile of her mane onto the much larger pile already taking over her chambers. "And I'm going to need to use the restroom at some point..."

"Twilight? It's Luna." A voice from behind the door yelled. "I bring good news!"

Twilight pulled open the door while Trixie kept working on her coat.

"Huzzah, I say, huzzah!" Luna pranced into the room bearing a bulbous bottle of bubbling botanical fluid. "On my Sister's hunch, I went to visit our friend Zecora, and behold, a solution!"

"That's great, Luna! So Zecora had heard of, of..." Twilight pointed at her absurd pile of hair. "This?"

"Indeed. She says it is the result of a rare, but not unheard of, delayed allergic reaction to the coat-growing potion that you took after your trip to Zebrica. According to her, this concoction is the cure!"

Twilight took the bottle in her magic, examining the dark liquid with a cautious eye. It doesn't look like it's moving. She popped off the cork and prepared to take a swig. "What's the base of this stuff? Seems familiar..."

"Pomegranate juice!"

A spray of potion splattered on the floor as Twilight, with her tongue's enthusiastic permission, rejected the vile potion out of her mouth. "Ugh! Uhn Uhn!" Her hooves scraped off what bits of the juice that she could, though eventually she resorted to licking the floor instead.

"Um, are you allergic to pomegranate juice?" Trixie asked. "Seems like an extreme reaction..."

"'Tis true, Twilight." Luna stepped forward, trying to keep pace with Twilight's futile efforts to remove as much liquid as possible from her mouth. "Should I get an epinephrine injection?"

"I'm not allergic, it's just foul!" Twilight stomped on the circle for her bathroom stairs and rushed down them, then plunged her head into the sink’s stream like her mane was on fire instead of trailing behind her in a giant mass. "Argh, I can still taste it! Out, out, out! Why is pomegranate juice even legal?!"

"That's... new. Is not such a position illogical for a pony such as yourself?" Luna asked, still behind Twilight while Trixie struggled to get down the mane-covered stairs. "Celestia often calls me such."

"Drink pomegranate juice with my taste buds and then tell me that!" Twilight gurgled under the water. "Discord can see the future. I'm sure of it. He must have created pomegranates and left them here just to mess with me!"

Luna sighed. “Really?”

“Okay, I’m being ridiculous.” Twilight swished her mouth with water once more. “Just, give me a few to mentally prepare myself and I’ll–”

Suddenly, Twilight found herself leaving the sweet, mostly tasteless embrace of the waterfall sink and getting a good view of her ceiling. Luna’s magic around her nose closed her nostrils up like wax, and the same also pried open her mouth with machine force.

A bottle fit into her open mouth like a hose to a spigot, and the most foul, obnoxious, disgusting, unholy of liquids that must never be consumed poured down her throat. After the longest time anypony had ever experienced something foul in the history of history, the bottle was removed.

"There," Luna said, a smile borne of Tartarus on her face. "That's how my mother dealt with me when I didn't take my medicine. And–" Crack!

Twilight's hoof connected with Luna's muzzle, knocking the other mare over and on her back. "You are not my mom!"

"Twilight!" Trixie gasped.

Twilight looked over to Luna's possible co-conspirator. "What?"

"You just punched Princess Luna!"

Twilight's heart skipped a beat, and she slowly looked back to the Princess. She was stunned, had a mark on her chin, and was upside down with her legs and wings splayed.

"Oh, bugger."

Author's Note

Chapter dedicated to Gabby, one of my early fans, a long time friend, and wife to my best friend. RIP.

Here's hoping this chapter goes over better than the last, and eases some of the concerns from it.

And no, sorry, no summit is coming soon. I just like trolling you guys ;)

-Cv

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New Life

Twilight had her ears down during the entire walk to the Royal Spa, including a stop for breakfast. "I still can’t believe that happened. I can’t believe I punched Princess Luna."

Trixie was still looking like she had just witnessed the sinking of the Bellerophon. "I can't believe she started laughing afterwards!"

"I can't believe she was happy I punched her! Or that she's probably still laughing about it!"

"She probably is," said a new voice.

The two mares turned towards the voice as a stallion trotted around the corner. He was a small unicorn in Night Guard armour with a casual air about him.

"Pulsar?" Twilight asked. "What are you doing here?"

He leaned against the gilded outer wall of the spa, his dark colours the antithesis of the rest of this castle wing. "I know we haven't talked much personally, but Luna talks about you all the time. She likes you, wants you to think of her as an equal, rather than a superior. It's lonely at the top, Lady Sparkle, and Luna's heart grapples with that day in and day out.

"Don't worry about hitting her. She won't hold it against you, and all is more than forgiven. Really, you just gave her a gift more precious than anypony else has in thousands of years."

Twilight sighed. "And that just confuses me all the more. I hit her. Why isn't she mad? Why am I not banished?"

Pulsar laughed and shook his head. "If you think, even for an instant, that Celestia hasn't done the same, or worse, to Luna, and vice versa, you don't understand them. You were born into a family where your much older brother got his cutie mark for wanting to protect you. Celestia and Luna were born very close together. They love each other, yes, but they are also opposites on many things, not just day and night.

"They squabble, Lady Sparkle. And I don't just mean the Lunar Rebellion. They fight, argue, deliberately annoy, prank, and even hit each other. All the time. They don't normally show you, because they don't want you to think less of them, and they don't want you to get dragged into their ten-thousand-year-old sibling rivalry.

"Luna tells me that before the Chaos War, they used to find somewhere isolated and duke it out with alicorn-class magic just to relieve their pent-up frustration. I'm pretty sure there's a valley somewhere that owes its existence to that fact. You giving her a frustrated love tap after having a bottle shoved in your face doesn't even register on their scale of sisterly tussles."

"Wait, wait." Trixie held up her hooves. "So Twilight would have to create a new geological feature in order for them to consider something serious?"

Pulsar rubbed a hoof through his copper mane. "More or less, yeah."

"Okay, I guess I can understand that." Twilight folded her forelegs and raised her eyebrow. "How do you know that? That's indigo-cosmic-magick-level knowledge."

"Simple. I have indigo-cosmic-magick clearance." Pulsar turned away from them. "Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not a powerhouse of a unicorn by any stretch. I'm not even a student of one of the Sisters. I told you before, Lady Sparkle, I am not Luna's protector. She is mine. But, much like you and Celestia are as close as family, so to am I to Luna."

He pushed off the wall and started to walk away from the two mares. "But for now, that's all I'm willing to say."

Trixie's legs were made out of soft cheese, possibly Brie. Her back and neck muscles weren't faring much better, with the solidity profile of slightly melted brie. Her hooves slipped a bit on the gold marble, and her legs wobbled enough that she needed to lean on the wall to walk. There was a slight possibility she'd turn into liquid and flow down the drain. That... That was something else.

"Hey, Trixie. How was your massage?"

Trixie shuddered. "Heavenly. Transcendent. I never knew minotaurs could do that with their fingers. I didn't know muscles could ever feel like this. I—" Her half-melted back complained about the impact on the wall as she fell over and slumped. "Wow."

"You like it?" Twilight twirled around, showing off her new manecut. Trixie's earlier half measures to keep the out-of-control hair at bay looked like abominations by comparison. The stylists had precisely trimmed her coat into something full, yet tamed and smooth. Something only a pegasus could really have. Her mane and tail embraced their new length, hovering just far enough above the tile to avoid being soiled by ground or floor. Her mane kept her signature bangs, but the rest fell to one side, flowing over her shoulder like water. A silver hair clip kept it to her right, decorated with three small, shiny metal feathers. "I've always thought I've looked best with a long mane."

Words of pure elegance and extravagance slipped off the back Trixie's tongue and drowned in her stomach, lost forever. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks, I was worried it was a bit much."

"No!" Trixie slapped herself in the mouth, because it deserved it. "I mean, no, it's not too much. Not at all." Stupid sexy straight ponies.

"Wonderful! I'll have to send a picture to Rarity. She'll love it, I think." Twilight turned a corner, gesturing for Trixie to follow. "Come on, let's go to the hot tub area."

Trixie nodded, stepping lightly into the hallway choked with heavy mist. Beyond a large, wooden door seasoned by time was their destination. Lavender danced on her nose while a soft violin and harp duet played over speakers. The heat was just enough to continue what the minotaur masseuse started. Her hooves wanted to slide around on the wet floor, and her eyes protested over what she was seeing. Nothing could be covered in this much gold, and yet, there it was.

The pillars holding up the ceiling were gold-covered stone, the marble tile had huge gold flecks in it, the entire pool was made of gold, gold champagne rested in ice buckets, and at least eight gold alicorn-sized seats sat in various positions in the shallow pool. The gold was so bright it could fit through the steam filled air.

"I feel like they're going to take off a couple of my legs for spending ten minutes in here." Trixie dipped a hoof in the pool, and found that the water must have actually been ambrosia or something. "Are you sure nopony is going to be angry I'm here?"

"Trixie, relax. We can bring guests, and you are my guest. There's really only one rule for this area: If Celestia comes in, we leave. This is her one sanctuary from her nonstop work, but she rarely gets to actually use it. Other than that, as long as we don't deliberately trash the place, we're fine.

"Try one of the chairs. They're amazing. I mean, I love Aloe and Lotus' place in Ponyville, and I feel like I belong there more, but even I have to admit this place has no equal."

"Oh. Okay, I suppose." Trixie put a hoof on the first step down into the pool. Her fetlock turned to goo. The leg buckled, sending her tumbling forward and into the water completely. Her buoy impression was flawless as she bobbed around upside-down in the mineral-enriched mana of the gods.

"Trixie? Are you okay?"

"Trixie is unavailable right now. She is too busy being a liquid dissolving into nothing. Please leave a message, and if she ever takes solid form again, she will get back to you."

Twilight laughed, giggling all the way over to a reclining sofa just outside the pool. "It is something else. I don't want to mess up the stylist's efforts too badly, so I'm going to be over here, reading. But you really should try the chair."

When her body regained enough of its original, non-goo form, she waggled her hoof a little to move her towards a chair near Twilight. The water didn't just embrace her in a warm, sensuous hug, it was tugging her away from her host. There was a small waterfall emptying through the wall and into the pool, and the pool itself was draining on the other end.

Her butt bumped into one of the chairs, and she turned her body to line up and sit. Her head dipped under the water, and she sat up in a snap, flinging water up and over her. The chair itself was comfortable, and adjusted itself so she was leaning back with her hind legs pointing up.

"That's it?" She asked. "I don't see what—"

"Press the switch."

"Switch?" Trixie looked around, finding a little button on the wall next to her chair. It was also gold. "Ah, switch. Let's see what you—"

She pressed it, and dissolved instantly. Warm water was rushing, pulsing into her from all angles. There were no visible jets, just water melting her away like acid. "Best. Chair. Ever."

"Told ya!"

"I, Trixie Lulamoon, hereby surrender all remaining grudges and hostility towards Twilight Sparkle. Anypony that lets me experience this is obviously a good pony."

"Ha! Well, if I knew this was all it would take..."

"Not that there was any left to surrender. But if there was, this would do it. Sweet Celestia, I don't ever want to leeeeeave..."

The door to the spa went ca-chunk, opening with a creek and revealing an exceedingly pink pony. She stepped in and flapped her wings a couple of times, then wrapped her hair in a towel with her magic. "Oh! Pardon me, Twilight. I didn't think you'd be here."

"It's fine, Cadence. I'm not normally here, but after this morning I felt Trixie and I could use it."

"Oh, Trixie is here as well?" Cadence flapped her right wing, clearing out some of the mist. "Ah, there you are. How are you, Miss Lulamoon?"

"Busy being a puddle of goo in the best chair in history, Your Highness." Trixie waved a hoof to greet her. "I would stand and bow, but I think my legs have melted away and washed down the drain."

"Oh my! Twilight, you should know better than to introduce a pony to the chairs first thing! I swear, they're more addictive than chocolate." Cadence flourished her wings as she stepped into the pool, floating in the top like a swan over to the seat across from Trixie's. "Ah, just what I needed. A nice day of rest before my tour continues tomorrow."

"How's that going, by the way?" Twilight turned a page in her book. "I've heard things have been touch and go since Cloudsdale."

"Not a bad way of putting it. Cloudsdale turned the situation on its ear. Before they were mad at Celestia. Now ponies are just mad, period. At everypony. They don't know who to trust. I'm hesitant to say Auntie has gained any ground, but I can most certainly say that the Council has lost some."

"Aren't you a member of the Council?" Trixie shuddered as a burst of water rubbed into her neck. "Wouldn't that drag you down, too?"

Cadence shook her head. "As Princess of the Lost, I'm in a... unique position. I have no defined Duchy in land terms, and control no physical Duchy directly. I represent those who should have a voice, yet otherwise have none. Since my title is also 'Princess,' I'm only loosely connected to Celestia politically. As a result, I'm seen as separate from both the Council and the Diarchy.

"It's strange to think, but I'm probably the most popular national politician at the moment. A long way from the scared little orphaned filly I once was."

"Mmmm..." Trixie's words were just as melted as she was. The relative silence was glorious. Nothing but the playing of music, the bubbling of water, and the occasional page turn from Twilight. She must've died in Gryphonhelm, because this was heaven.

Cadence cleared her throat. "So, Trixie, fancy any stallions you've met in the castle?"

Trixie choked and coughed, on what she wasn't sure, but the results spoke for themselves.

"Oh no you don't, Cadence." Twilight kept reading, but somehow seemed to get a glare across without even looking up. "You're trying to put her in that shipping matrix of yours. She's my friend and I say she's off limits."

"Nopony is off limits to love, Twilight." Cadence opened a panel on one of the pillars, revealing a bowl of sweets. One of the chocolates then floated in a telekinetic field towards her mouth. "You'll learn that someday. It'll take me a while, but I'll find a pony to crack that supposedly asexual façade of yours eventually."

<> Twilight stole away one of the chocolates as she spoke in flawless Roan. <<I'm about friendship, you're about love. You stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on mine.>>

<>

<> Trixie shrank down in her seat. <>

Cadence nodded while biting into a cookie. <>

<>

"Oh, how wonderful!" Cadence tapped the thin torc around her neck, bringing it to life with light. A series of magic circles appeared in the air, spinning slowly as they arranged themselves. The center was the largest, containing a large number of what looked like cutie marks, each of which was connected to others by lines of various colours and thickness.

"Cadence, no! Bad Cadence!"

"Twilight, I'm doing this, and you can't stop me. Trixie, if you would be so kind as to show me your cutie mark?"

Twilight flipped another page. "Don't do it, Trixie. If you do, she will never give up. She will hound you like a diamond dog until she's matched you with somepony. If you're really unlucky, she'll try to match you with Blueblood like she did me."

"I still say you two could work. He could fit you into high society, while you could smack some sense into him, because you won't put up with his garbage ego."

"Never. Ever. Going to happen. I would rather carve out my gall bladder with a spoon. Covered in salt."

"Fair enough, fair enough. But that doesn't mean I won't succeed eventually."

Trixie raised up a hoof. "So you've succeeded before? Making matches, I mean."

"Of course!" Cadence tapped the smaller magic circle, scrolling through a series of parallel horizontal lines, each connecting two different cutie marks. "These are all my hundreds of successful matches, as well as relationships I've saved. And I have hundreds more of available ponies in the matrix, which means I might just have the stallion for you! Care to give it a try?"

Trixie stood up to reveal her mark. "Well, maybe..." The hot water was what was making the Great and Powerful Trixie blush, obviously. "But, could that spell be used to match me with... mares?"

"Oh, certainly! Love doesn't know the difference between genders." Cadence winked, then drew the mark in the air. A smaller version sparked with light, etching itself into the air and the matrix. Lines reached out like feelers from other marks, some attaching, some recoiling, others bonding and deepening. She tapped her hoof on Trixie's icon, revealing another small circle. When she dragged her hoof along the new grid, it changed to a symbol for female, then vanished into the large circle.

The lines shifted again and again as Cadence added ever more information, and she occasionally prodded with more questions about Trixie. One little fact, however, was brought up when discussing how Trixie came to Canterlot.

"Wait, Your Highness... Trixie is..." Trixie ducked down at the amused smile from the Princess at the use of third person. "I don't think this is a good idea, yet."

"Oh?"

Trixie nodded. "I'm still being targeted by the Illusionists. I could be killed or taken at any time, and I don't want an innocent hurt because they got too close."

"Ah. Fair enough. That should be taken into consideration." Cadence dragged her hoof around the edge of the circle, and it spun as it shrunk back into the torc. "I'll just save the details. Whenever you want to give it a shot, let me know. There's plenty of opportunity out there for a unicorn of your talent and origin."

"Earth unicorn, actually." Trixie deflated. "I'm a hybrid. I don't like to advertise it, since a lot of unicorns look down on us, but if I ever do want to find love, I have to be upfront about that."

"Hun," Cadence said as she unfurled her wings. "I'm a hybrid, too. Winged unicorn instead of earth unicorn, which makes me look like an alicorn, sure, but I get plenty of heat for my pegasus heritage, believe me. Anypony that ignorant and bigoted isn't worth your time, and they certainly aren't worth mine. If I know of that kind of attitude in a pony, they don't get put in the shipping matrix."

"Oh, okay. That's, good. Really good. But, I'm..." Trixie tried to wrap her mind around something, only to have it slip away. "Why do you call it a shipping matrix? It sounds like something a parcel company would have."

The other two shared a little laugh before Cadence said, "That's simple enough. It's from the word relationship. If you 'ship' ponies, you want to see them together. From the matrix I have, I can figure out who would be compatible with who. I'm something of a professional shipper."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "More like 'rabid,' if you ask me."

"Which reminds me, I met this dashing young—"

"Not on your life." Twilight turned another page. "You and my mom need to back off. If I ever find love, it'll be on my own terms, period. It's not like I'm short on time."

"Aww, don't you even want to—"

Ka-chunk-slam!

Rainbow burst through the door to the spa, slipping around on the wet tile for a few seconds like a foal learning to walk. "Twilight! Twi-Whooooa... Close one. Twilight, come quick!"

Twilight hopped off the couch and tossed her book on its cushion. "What's wrong, Rainbow? Is Spike hurt again?"

"What? No, he's sleeping like a baby. It's Fluttershy! She's having her baby! Labour started about twenty minutes ago!"

"Oh!" Twilight sparked herself to the other side of the pool and next to Rainbow. "Let's get going! We need to find Luna or Celestia to see if they can teleport us. Trixie, Cadence, you two coming?"

"The other princesses aren't in the city, Twilight." Cadence stood up, dripping with mineral water. "They're both off doing other things at the moment. Luna I think is in Manehattan, Celestia is in Prance. You'll have to take a chariot. I'll catch up once I've dried off."

"I'll stay here." Trixie rubbed her foreleg sheepishly. "I'm not up to going back there, not yet. Not after all that's happened."

"Understood. Rainbow, let's go find a chariot."

"Hang on, Fluttershy, we're coming!" Twilight squinted against the light of the sun, scanning for the farm. Her hooves held firm on the tiny chariot as Rainbow abandoned all pretense of a smooth ride in favour of pure speed. "I think I see Sweet Apple Acres. We're not far now!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Rainbow gave the chariot a buck as she went into a dive. Terminal velocity was scoffed at by her power, the air currents around her drilling through the atmosphere and clearing their way. Within a few minutes, they were landing outside the farmhouse.

Twilight sparked herself to the door, swinging it open and rushing inside. The only sound was her hooves on the wood floor, not the bustling activity or screams of a mare in labour that she expected. "Hello? Anypony here? Is Fluttershy okay?"

"In here, Twilight!" Applejack yelled out from deeper inside.

Twilight followed the source with Rainbow close behind. Rounding through the hall, she found Applejack, Apple Bloom, and three zebra foals being taught to read Equish words by the latter. "What's going on? We heard Fluttershy was in labour!"

"She is! Well, was." Applejack tilted her hat up to scratch her head. "Darndest thing. She only took twenty minutes to give birth. Gotta be some kinda record."

"Wow." Rainbow fell to her haunches. "Twenty minutes? I knew she had foal-bearing hips, but jeez. What, did the kid buck its way out through her stomach or something?"

"Tell me about it. I don't think it's a record, but it's definitely on the far end of the distribution curve." Twilight looked around the modest room, eyeing the zebras on the couch making guesses at Apple Bloom's flash cards. "Where is Fluttershy? At the clinic?"

"Nah, she and Big Mac are taking some time to themselves to be with their new foal. Yer dad and Zecora are in the room across from theirs. They were pretty good at being midwives once they stopped arguing between potions and modern medicine."

"Heh, yeah." Apple Bloom shuffled up her cards. "Fluttershy screamed at them to shut up and help her. It was so loud I think she out-did Luna. Never done seen a stallion as scared as yer dad in that moment."

"Heh, well, as long as everypony is healthy. That's the important thing." Twilight sat down next to Applejack, who offered both newcomers some reserved bottles of cider, only brought out for special occasions. She gulped down the amber spice fluid, feeling it caress her tongue and warm her insides like sunlight itself. "How are the zebras doing?"

"Ya mean those three?" Applejack took a swig of cider. "As well as you could expect. They're shaken, sad, and scared. They're in a strange land, everypony they ever knew is dead... But they're adaptin'. Openin' up, slowly but surely. We're teachin' them Equish fast as we can so they can talk with us.

"Good news is that they've accepted Zecora as a guardian, and they're comin' round ta ponies, too. 'Specially Fluttershy. They're startin' ta see all us as kind of a big, extended family. Which is good, 'cause that's what we are. Family."

"Knock, knock!" Lucid poked his head out of a curtain functioning as a makeshift door to the hallway. "Everypony, ze new mother would like everypony to see the latest member of the Apple Family!"

The entire group silently made their way down the hall, heading into the room on the far right. A large cushion bed dominated the room, with a low table and a lamp next to it. The thick curtains and their enchantments blocked out the light well enough to make it look like night, leaving the lamp as the only illumination. The darkness had a warmth to it, bringing everypony together to share their hearts.

On the red, warm bed was Fluttershy, partially covered with a blanket. Lying next to and behind her was Big Macintosh, nuzzling his wife, providing what comfort he could. Resting in Fluttershy's forelegs was a small, swaddled bundle.

"Everypony," Fluttershy said, her voice even more breathless and hushed than ever. "I'd like you all to meet my daughter." She nudged the cloth, revealing a small earth pony foal, resting comfortably in her mother's care. She had a bright yellow coat and a burnt orange mane. "Apple Butter."

"Awwww," every mare other than Fluttershy herself cooed.

Rainbow blushed and cleared her throat. "I mean, she's awesome, Fluttershy. I bet she'll be running around yelling about her cutie mark in no time!"

The three zebra foals approached, each climbing slowly over the other to get a better look. It didn't take them long to enter a tussle for the right to get closest, and even less time than that for Zecora to put a stop to that with one flare of her nostrils.

<> Twilight stepped back, giving them a clear path.

They didn't approach that way. Ears down, they slunk low to the ground and gingerly crept around behind Twilight. Each made their way through and under her legs, sniffing the air around the foal and cooperatively piling on each other to look at without saying a word.

Three foals, one infant... Look at them. Twilight lowered her head down to Apple Butter and gave her a light nuzzling. Hey there, my little pony. Welcome to Equestria. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Do not worry or want, as you have a loving family. Do not hate or hurt, as it is friendship that is the key to life. Do not fear or cry, for I am an alicorn, and I will protect you. I will protect your family. I will protect all that we hold dear, for as long as my heart still beats.

Author's Note

To those still here: Thank you so much! It really does mean the world to me. Again, thank you.

To those wondering when we found out Flutters was preggers, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in chapter one! Oh so long ago, finally mentioned again.

To those who don't like this shipping pair: don't worry about it too much, we won't see them around very often.

This chapter marks the end of mission six. The next chapter will start mission seven. It's large enough that, even working on my original novel for a time, I can probably up the release pace to greater than 1/month. Hopefully mission eight won't be near as huge. ;)

As always, follow my blog to see what's new with me, my writing, and my anxiety-riddled mind.

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Looking West

"Please, cut them out!" Spike cried, spewing a stream of green fire throughout the cave. The pain was unlike anything he had experienced or could describe. It made the first day they'd started growing feel like a mild annoyance by comparison. Now, he might as well have been run through with a dozen swords."I can't take it anymore!"

"Keep pushing, Spike, you are almost there. The pain will subside soon, as long as you keep pushing."

Had it been anypony else, the words would have fallen on deaf ears. There were many he could have called mother, but Celestia was the most motherly of them all. Only her voice could pierce the blinding agony.

"Follow the pulses. Use them to feel your new muscles,"

Electricity raced down his back, hitting muscles he'd never had before. They convulsed and cried on their own, though that pain was nothing compared to the agony of growing and releasing his wings. Even the painkillers weren't working anymore. At this point, his world was nothing but darkness and agony.

Then a new cutting edge of torture ripped through his back as he tried to follow her advice. There was a splash of liquid soaking his body and the cave floor he was lying on. A strange, cold sensation crystallized on scales and flesh he hadn't felt before.

"Hold still, Spike. Your wings are free. You will feel a burning sensation. As a dragon, it will be new for you, but it will be temporary. Afterwards, the pain will subside."

She hadn't lied. Whatever new hell this was, it was focused and unimaginable, and it was removing his flesh as he screamed out. The cave itself threatened to collapse in a sympathetic earthquake, his cry was so great. The instant the pain faded on his left, it started on his right.

"The Grand General and I are using a solar plasma stream to cut away the dead flesh. Even bloated with fluid, the scales are fireproof. Nothing less can cut them cleanly."

"Please... Make it sto-o-op..." Spike's tears had already burned a hole into the cave floor a meter deep, and the agony just kept coming.

"We're done. Your pain should subside in the next few minutes."

Spike sobbed. Promises meant nothing at the moment. All that mattered was the pain. Yet her words proved prophetic. Slowly, moment by moment, the pain went from “unbridled torture” to “excruciating” to simply “horrific” to finally, at long last, just “terrible”.

"I know this has been hard for you, my son, but the trial is nearly over. You have but one final task to perform to get your new wings."

"Please... The pain..." Spike inhaled, his lip quivering and tears still flowing. "How can I make it stop?"

"As I said, there is only one more thing to do: flap. Flap your wings, hard, and keep going. Now, Spike."

Spike nodded and probed his new muscles, letting them twitch about and flail until somehow, against all odds, they did as he asked. They flapped.

"Again, my child. Keep going, again and again. It will help your pain, and someday, let you fly."

He did just that, flapping them in the heart of the cave, moving them and stirring the ground, but never taking off.

"Just like a duckling in an egg, you had to be the one to hatch your wings. You must be the one to move them now, so that they may grow strong. If you don't, you will never fly, and this will all be for naught. Flap your wings, Spike. Do not worry about whether you lift off from the ground. That will come in time. All that you need to do in the here and now is flap. The rest will come in due time."

Spike flapped again and again. Each movement was easier, each breeze carried some of his pain with it to some unknown place.

"You have beautiful wings, my son. Make them strong and proud."

He would. He had to. He had paid for them, and he intended to collect his due.

"So they have something for us?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight nodded, stretching out on her bed and letting the caffeine refuel her mind. "Yeah. Not sure what it is yet, but Intelligentsia thinks they have something big. They asked for a bit longer to put it all together. I'd get ready if I were you. Remember,—"

"It's never easy." Rainbow finished for her. "Gotta be the unofficial motto of the Evening Guard."

Twilight's ear twitched at the knocking at her door, and the voice that followed.

"Hey, Twilight. It's me, Spike."

"Spike!" She pulled open the door, letting her little brother in her room for the first time in over a month. He had been nearly bedridden the entire time, but now it was time for something different.

He walked in with two huge wings wrapped around his body. Though they weren't as large as Celestia's, they were still impressive. He spread them out one at a time, unfurling their leathery, scale-covered spans.

"What do you guys think?"

"I think it's time you got some lessons from Rainbow." Twilight took him into a huge, strong hug, squeezing him like a giant bottle of hot sauce. "They're magnificent, Spike. I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, gotta say, sulfur breath, you got quite a thing going there!" Rainbow gave him a noogie. "Next thing you know I'll be running you ragged in the air, too!"

"Thanks, guys. Ow. Still kinda hurts."

Twilight let go, not wanting to hurt him any more than he already had been. "How are you feeling other than that? Still tired?"

"Yeah, this whole thing has left me drained. Literally, in a way." Spike sighed and flopped onto a seat, futzing with his wings so he wasn't on them. "Celestia says I can't go with you for a while yet. Apparently, just like a pregnant mare, my body takes resources, minerals, cells, bone material, and a whole bunch of stuff from the rest of me to make these things. I have to rebuild myself before I can come with you. Could take months."

"You focus on recovering." Twilight put her foreleg around his back as gingerly as she could. "Don't worry about us. Just rest, eat, and do light exercise as recommended by Celestia. You'll be back in no time; you'll see."

He wiped away a tear. "Thanks. I needed to hear that."

"Hey, I got an idea!" Rainbow lit up, clopping her forehooves together. "We should head out and do something fun after we get back from our next mission! Just the three of us, and maybe Trixie. Can't just train and fight all the time."

"Now that I can get behind. What do you say, Twilight?"

"Sounds good to me. I could use a real vacation, even if just for a day." Twilight pulled open her closest, then stopped and laughed at what she saw: bookshelves. "Dangit, I was going to look at my clothes for some ideas, but I stashed all of them in my storage unit and filled my closet with books."

"Heh, yup, that's Twilight all right." Spike pulled out one of the spell tomes and flipped through it while Rainbow snickered. "Clothes, in a closet? Pfft. Clearly should be filled with books."

"Well, I'll deal with that later. Time to go poke Intelligentsia about what it was that they found."

"Hey, Gen." Twilight poked Intelligentsia on the shoulder as she was face-down in a stack of papers. "You okay?"

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “You look like you went a few rounds with the sand pony. And lost.”

Intelligentsia groaned and yawned, and a document stuck to her face as she lifted up her head. "I've just been... Busy. Really busy."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "And did you find some ponies to train like the Princess wanted you to?"

"Like I said, busy."

Spike started counting on his fingers. "Twilight relieves her of duty in three, two, one..."

"Exactly, Spike." Twilight plucked off the paper from the Lieutenant's face. "Gen, I think it's time you had another order to get some sleep."

“Later. After the briefing.” Intelligentsia slammed down a tall cup of coffee and gasped. “Okay, ready. Lots of ground to cover. Going to need to fly through things. First and foremost, we’ve finally hooked a lead on the pony that escaped from Wintervale. Everypony, say hello to Slick Dagger.”

She slapped a mugshot picture down on the table and spun it around to face them. The gruff chin, the stubble beard, the scar on the cheek, all kinds of details rushed into Twilight’s mind as it reconstructed and filled in the blanks of the image of the pony in the fall town.

Twilight flipped the picture over, finding another focusing on his cutie mark. “That's him. The pony that escaped Wintervale. Well, I didn't technically get a good look back then, but still. My gut says that's him.”

Intelligentsia laid out a series of additional pictures, including one at a train station. “He was spotted in Prance, and managed to give officers the slip. Then, they received an anonymous tip from a pony that he could vanish into thin air and put up instant brick walls to block pursuers.”

“Aw, crap.” Rainbow rubbed little circles into her temples. “Illusionists.”

“We think so, but the tip was legitimate.” Intelligentsia put down one more picture of the stallion, this time showing him tied up and beaten to death. Miasma lingered over the bloody floor, and crystalline wires ran through his legs. A sign was hung around his neck, which Intelligentsia read aloud. “‘Traitor: Find the Tomb of Evening Tide.’ I've only recently figured out what that means. But there's something much more important here.”

Twilight swallowed her breakfast back down. “More important than his murder?”

“Correct. The picture of him at the train station. He's stepping off a train that departed from Germaney.” Intelligentsia pulled out a map and drew a line down rail line after rail line. “We managed to trace his travel, all the way back… to San Palomino. There, we managed to finally unearth his bio.

“He was a known mercenary and illegal bounty hunter. Did just about anything if you pay him enough. Up until last year, he operated exclusively in the deserts of his home Duchy. We're not sure why he left, but he did, and was next seen by you. He then vanished for a time before returning to San Palomino.”

“And then he decided to go to Prance, presumably to find this ‘tomb.’” Twilight took a sip of her own special blend of coffee, which Bon Bon had begun to package and sell nationwide. Told you my coffee is awesome, BBBFF. “So, we have a pony doing some very bad things that may or may not be connected to the mining companies out in San Palomino, he's on the run, gets murdered by Illusionists, and has a cryptic message around his neck. Who's Evening Tide?”

Intelligentsia smirked and rubbed her hooves together like she'd just found a treasure chest. “The lost Grand Mage!”

“Um, I hate to break it to you… but I'm the current Grand Mage. I know secrets the Sisters haven't told anypony else. There is no ‘lost’ Grand Mage.”

“Well, it took some prying.” Intelligentsia pushed back her glasses. “But Celestia revealed to me the truth. It all adds up, when you really think about it.”

Twilight's jaw went slack. “She had another Grand Mage and didn't tell me?”

SLAM!

“Yes, I promise, I'll be there shortly.” Celestia backed into the room, hounded by no less than a dozen officers needing orders or decisions made. “I'm afraid this is a compartmentalized meeting. Please return to your duties.”

Even Twilight thought Celestia looked like she was about to pull out a chair and beat them back with a whip. “Princess?” she asked after folding her forelegs.

“Ah, I see you've already started.” SLAM! She shut the door and sealed it away in golden magic. “Forgive me; things are still rather hectic.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Hectic enough that you forgot to tell me about a fourth Grand Mage, other than me?”

Celestia sighed, visibly deflating to the point where Rainbow and Spike stepped back in shock. “Yes, and no. It’s more complex than that.”

“I have a genius intellect. I'm sure you can explain it to me, since I'm asking. And you promised.”

“Hey,” Rainbow whispered to Spike. “Should we, like, leave so we don't get incinerated?”

Spike shrugged.

“Quiet.” Twilight stepped up to her mentor, looking up and directly into her eyes. Celestia was as tall as ever, massive compared to any other pony in existence, and yet she seemed so much smaller. “Tia, what's going on?”

“Twilight, you are the fourth Grand Mage to serve Equestria. I did not lie about that. But...” Celestia took out a scroll and unfurled it, revealing the drawing contained inside. The picture wasn't near as detailed as a photograph, but it got the message across well enough. The blood-soaked mare stood in dark armor, and carried a huge sword on her back. Her tan coat was as unassuming as that of any random citizen of Ponyville, but her eyes told whole tomes of stories. Tales of battle, war, and unrestrained, unrelenting bloodlust adorned her irises as plainly as the symbol on her chest.

“That's…” Twilight’s words softened to no harsher than a down feather. “That's the symbol of the Lunar Republic.”

“Indeed. You are the fourth Equestrian Grand Mage, but Luna had one as well, which makes you the fifth post-Discord ascendant, although how anypony other than Luna and those in this room know that is beyond me. I set out a long time ago to destroy every iota of her history so that she could not be used as a martyr to the Rebellion. I thought I had succeeded.”

“Whoa.” Rainbow whistled. “Must’ve been some big-shot to warrant the ‘never-existed’ treatment.”

“Correct. As our new piece of evidence suggests, her name was Evening Tide. Though, it could just as easily have been ‘Blood Tide,’ and it would have been far more fitting for her than for the dragon you banished. She was a murderous, bloodthirsty, psychopathic monster only held back by my sister. She lived for one thing: killing. Even in this mere drawing, you can see it in her eyes, her stance.

“What's worse, is that she was good at it. Unparalleled. Her combat skills were even superior to Luna's. Nothing and nopony in Equestria could stop either of them. It's why the war dragged on for as long as it did.”

“What happened to her?” Spike scratched his chin. “She's not here now, so I'm guessing you found a way. Was it when you used the Elements of Harmony?”

Celestia shook her head. “No. I… I called in a favour from a friend of mine. A dragon.”

Spike froze in place. “W-what happened to them?”

“They killed each other. The Grand Mage of the Lunar Republic, and the eldest dragon alive, both reduced to nothing but a tower of flames that burned for days on end. I never imagined such a thing.” Celestia winced and staggered back from an invisible dagger in her heart. “To this very day I wonder if I did the right thing pressing the fight, or if I should have made a plea for peace.”

“So that's why you didn't tell me.” Twilight rolled the picture back into the scroll. “For all intents and purposes, Evening Tide never existed anyway. And on top of that, it's still an open wound for you. I'm very sorry, Princess. I should have trusted you.” She dropped into a bow.

“You are forgiven, Twilight. In fact, here, come closer.” Celestia lifted up her left wing and motioned her head to point to her side. “Part my coat underneath my sixth rib. Tell me what you find.”

Twilight swallowed. “Ummm….” Her parents had given her untold numbers of lessons on Canterlot High Society Etiquette. While “no messing around with the immortal Princess’ coat” wasn't one of them, she certainly felt it was strongly implied.

“Twilight, trust me.” Celestia tilted herself to the side, though it was anyone's guess if it was to make it easier to reach or if she was that exhausted. “I need to show you this.”

Twilight nodded and approached in silence, save for the little clops her hooves made on the floor. She reach up and felt her mentor's side, counting the ribs and rubbing around with her hoof under the sixth. A small ridge that shouldn't be there bumped her hoof, and she parted the thick coat there. “It's a scar!”

“Indeed. Alicorns regenerate very quickly. Though it was a deep wound, it should have healed in minutes, or at the very most hours, but I was in bandages for months. One thousand years later, the only real injury I've had since Discord, and it's still not vanished. The cut was from the blade you saw on Evening Tide’s back. That's how good she was.

“Now, imagine that strength in the hooves of a pony without mercy or compassion, who was dead set on annihilating Equestria entirely in the name of the Republic. She was a hero to them, so I erased her from history as best I could.”

“Unfortunately, it seems somepony knows.” Intelligentsia rearranged the papers, organizing them with the picture of Slick Dagger on top. “I wish we knew for sure which organization wrote that. It might help us trace the leak. Your Highness, other than those in this room, who else knows of the existence of the Lunar Grand Mage?”

“Only Obsidian Armor. He's the only pony I've told this to in hundreds of years, aside from Luna, of course.”

“Hmmm…” Intelligentsia bit the side of her lip. “That means either the Night Guard knows and has a leak, or the Captain is the leak, or…”

“Hey, Shining wouldn't do that!” both Twilight and Rainbow said, then shared a look.

Twilight continued, “There are other possibilities. Dragons, for instance. It wouldn't be the first one we've had involved with the Majestics, and I'd imagine most alive today were also alive during the Rebellions.”

“True. The dragons are a constant X-factor, and our lack of intelligence on them is a major thorn in my side.” Intelligentsia lit her horn and drew a magic circle in the air that had crisscrossing lines all over its inside. “My connection mapping doesn't work well with dragons even when I do know them. The fact that the Majestics have eluded me for so long suggests that either they, or something else I can't map well, is involved.

“Even more worrisome, however, is what this tomb entails, and why they're looking for it.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “I might be able to shed some light there. I just talked with Luna, and she said that there is a tomb, and she did spread rumours about its existence and the ‘treasure’ within during the Lunar rebellions.”

Twilight felt her throat turn raw. “If there are bonded artifacts there, we have to clear them out immediately.”

“That's the thing…” Celestia raised an eyebrow at another sheet of paper. “According to Luna, we've nothing to worry about. Apparently, she made the Tomb, then sealed it off quite thoroughly, all without putting anything of military value inside, but spread rumours suggesting otherwise. Worse, she laid elaborate and deadly traps throughout the labyrinth.”

“Gah!” Twilight shuddered. “That's… disturbingly clever, actually.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Not really. It's just begging to get somepony killed.”

“Yeah, but back then, it was a time of war.” Twilight gazed into the image of Evening Tide. “And they'd just lost a ‘hero.’ It makes sense to tie up the enemy on a wild goose chase, especially one with a trap at the end.”

Celestia packed up the old drawing. “In any event, Luna covered the entrance even more now, so I doubt they'll ever discover it. What is more important is finding out who wanted to find the Tomb. Thus, we are sending you to San Palomino to find out.” The Princess unfurled a map slightly larger than the table itself and rotated it to face the group. The Duchy was massive, and even with the sizable map, not all of it was shown. A small sliver of a valley at the northwest edge of the Hinterlands separated it from Canterlot. Mountains surrounded it on all sides except the southeast, and the northwest had a violent, everlasting storm line that divided it and the no-pony’s-land beyond.

Nearly all of the Duchy was desert, but there was some arable land in the east, by the Hinterlands, where Appaloosa, “The Gateway to San Palomino,” was founded. Mesas, canyons, and most especially buttes were common sights throughout, and there were areas where the fire magic innate to the land itself was so strong that any loose water that touched the ground evaporated instantly.

“Your mission proper will start here, in Sierra Maredre, the capital of San Palomino.” Celestia tapped a city near the center with a hoof. “Be wary of everything there, Twilight. San Palomino, despite being an official Duchy, has used its vast mineral wealth to influence the Council greatly in order to allow virtual autonomy. There is very little in the way of law and order there.”

“So I've read,” Twilight said while sketching in some notes. “Nearly no public services outside of telegraphs and trains. Everything else is private enterprise, even police. Crime is rampant, safety nonexistent. A pony could get rich quick, or more likely, plunge into unrecoverable debt.”

“Precisely. Note, however, two exceptions that may serve as relative safe havens. The first is here, a few dozen miles west of the capital. Fort Earthborne.” Celestia tapped her hoof on the map again. “It's not on this map, but there is a very large military base located here, under the command of General Stone.

“The second exception is in the north, near the Stormridge mountains. I’m sure you’ve heard of Los Caballos, the new, pre-planned city created by a number of large mining and defense companies. I hear they're having trouble attracting tenants for the more high-class buildings, though they have a wealth of common ponies for the nearby mines.

“Ironically, though large companies might not like regulations that get in the way of their profits, they don't mind things that protect them, like police forces. Though everything is still private, the companies have enacted a number of ‘policies’ in lieu of laws that they can and will enforce with their security services. Things like assault, theft, and murder are all much less common there.

“If you are in trouble and can get to either location, do so and you can find some measure of safety. Since Spike cannot accompany you right now, your lifeline will be the telegraph system, which is well developed in this Duchy and is available in most towns. We will provide you with the necessary telegraph addresses and cyphers needed to contact military aid.”

“Okay, that's a start.” Twilight put down her book as she scanned the map. “So I'm to find out who Slick Dagger was working for and explore their connections from there?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, that is your primary objective, although given the nature of the organizations we’re chasing, I’m not expecting you to uncover everything all at once. I’m merely asking for more clues.

“That being said, there are secondary objectives as well. Lieutenant?”

Intelligentsia floated a list of names and locations to Twilight. “Everypony on that list is a victim of a rash of pirate attacks over the past few years. Entire towns have been destroyed in a few of them. Trains are robbed regularly and ruthlessly. Cargo airships are raided by other airships at least twice per week.

“The military has destroyed and captured a number of rogue, makeshift vessels so far, but the attacks aren't letting up. Intelligence gathering has indicated that most of the ships are actually flying under one of a few flags, each belonging to single individuals. Pirate Commodores, if you will. There's an entire fleet worth of ships out there, and they're not being built in any known shipyard.”

“Just keeps getting better.” Rainbow leaned in over Twilight's shoulder to read the list. “So we're supposed to take these guys on by ourselves?”

Intelligentsia shook her head and adjusted her glasses. “No, but their presence and recent uptick in activity has destabilized the region. Celestia, I think, has something in mind.”

Celestia spread a wing, covering Twilight's back and turning them away from Intelligentsia. “Twilight, there's an opportunity here we must not squander. Duke Badlands is an idiot. He would have been removed long ago if he wasn't a very useful idiot for others on the Council as well as some of Equestria’s largest corporations.

“But his failures to subdue the pirates, along with the fact that Los Caballos is in dire financial straits, has weakened his position. Moreover, the Duchy’s vast wealth of resources makes it some exceptionally juicy low-hanging fruit. In fact, it is likely to be the last of the low-hanging fruit that we can go after on the Council, which makes it all the more important.

“Find me something, anything to discredit him. It doesn't even need to be criminal, just something the press will sink their teeth into like a starving dog on a bone. Something—and this is key—something horrible and out of the ordinary even for San Palomino. If you can do that, I'll do the rest.”

Twilight put her hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “You can count on me, Tia.”

Celestia pulled her in with her wing for a small hug, then resumed the regularly scheduled briefing by getting Intelligentsia’s attention. Dutifully, the analyst had been covering her ears and humming.

“All done with your conversation that I totally didn't hear?” Intelligentsia chuckled.

Celestia winked. “Twilight, there is one other objective for you as well, although it's really more of an errand.” Celestia pulled out a small, orange-sized object wrapped in cloth and set it on the table. After the white sheet was removed, she revealed a clear, cut, and sparkling gem shimmering away in its nest. “Of the gems you retrieved from Zebrica, this is by far the most promising candidate to become a bonded core. Twilight, you are to stop in the Hinterlands on your way to San Palomino and deliver it to Blade Forge, who will attempt to fashion a bonded blade for you. Duke Buckheart’s daughter is expecting you in the capital and will take you to where you need to go.”

Spike licked his lips. “Wow, that looks tasty.”

Twilight ignored him, but smiled on the inside. “How long will it take to make the weapon?”

“Some time, and there is no guarantee that this relatively small core will be enough. It may not even work. After delivery, Forge will want a sample of your magic, and then you are free to go on your way. Waiting days for it to be done would take too long.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she felt a claw tap her shoulder. “Hmm?”

“Um, Twilight?” Spike twirled his clawtips together, like he would when he was small enough to fit in a basket. “Do you think that I could come with you? To the Hinterlands, I mean. I know I'm not ready for the missions yet, but if I could go that far, I'd still feel… useful. Kind of. Please?”

“Well, I don't see why not.” Twilight tapped her chin with her pen. “The Hinterlands Duchy may be impoverished, but it is peaceful, and the second safest in all of Equestria, behind only Canterlot. What do you think, Princess?”

“I don't have a problem with it, so long as he waits with Blade Forge in Minotas for a royal chariot to return him to Canterlot. Blade is a master weaponsmith as well as my friend, and his clan is renowned for their fighting ability. If he can't keep Spike safe, we have even larger issues at hoof.”

Rainbow reached over and gave Spike a turbo-noogie. “Hey, don't you dare feel unwanted or useless. You're on medical leave. This isn't something you can help. We just want you to get better, okay?”

“Ow! Ow! Okay, okay, sheesh!” Spike pried her off and rubbed one of his head-spikes. “Watch the scales!”

Twilight sighed at her ‘foals’ with a smile and put away her notebook. “When do we leave?”

Celestia looked in a coffee cup, and must have been disappointed with its emptiness, based on her expression. “After breakfast. On our current timetable, you will arrive by chariot in the mid-afternoon. I will send a second chariot to take Spike home in the evening. After he leaves, Twilight, you and Rainbow will need to move more low-key. A royal chariot will attract too much attention.

“Thus, you will travel by train from Minotas to Appleoosa, and from there to Sierra Maredre. You will be largely on your own since Spike will not be with you. However, leylines crisscross the desert, and many areas are places where we can teleport reinforcements to if you so request via telegraph. Naturally, there are exceptions, and we won't know where your investigation will take you.

“As such, I recommend you stock up in the Hinterlands with rations, water, clothes, whatever you think you will need. Bring money, and do not expect your rank to carry the same weight as it does in other Duchies. Many will not care. You have full authorization to use lethal force as you see fit, and you may well need it. Mounted guns are becoming commonplace there.”

Intelligentsia chimed in. “Worse, new kinds of contraband are turning up, from drugs, to innovative concealed weaponry and illegal booze that is definitely not made in compliance with national regulations. Even salt isn't guaranteed to be safe there. I've included all the more commonplace hazards you might not expect in my report, along with a full political brief and intelligence on known criminal organizations.”

“Excellent,” Twilight said. “Now go get some sleep, a meal, and then tell Celestia who you'll be training.”

“Ugh.” Intelligentsia head-desked on the table. “I wish you hadn't reminded her of that.”

“My little pony, I don't need to be reminded of it. I was going to ask in a moment anyway, but I'm willing to let it go to allow you some sleep. But only for that, and I expect your answer later today.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Intelligentsia pulled herself up and straightened her uniform. “By your command.”

“Very good. Twilight, get some food. Intelligentsia, get some sleep. I have a ton of orders to dole out over the next few hours. If you need me, I'll be in the command center downstairs.”

Twilight bowed slightly as Celestia left, while the others did so deeply before letting Twilight be the next one out. The entire group was heading out in the same direction, walking through the rows of alcoves on either side of them.

“Lieutenant! Front and Centre!”

Twilight almost jumped into a salute herself the yell was so loud, but thankfully her body settled on merely bouncing up like there had been a mild earthquake.

Intelligentsia, however, did snap into a salute with trained, practiced precision. “Sir, yes sir!”

Captain Dual Strike emerged from one of the alcoves, marching up to her like a steamroller unto a butterfly in a coma. “Lieutenant, care to explain why there are three Dukes crawling up my backside about the delayed Stalliongrad threat assessment?”

“Sir, all projects are continuing according to timelines established by—”

“Not good enough! Get it done or I'll have you cleaning the toilets in the barracks after cabbage soup day, do I make myself clear?!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that.

“Sir, yes sir!” Intelligentsia saluted, holding stiff and firm despite the death glare aimed at her.

The Captain left after a grunt, then stopped when a different pony he came near saluted, to which Dual Strike saluted as well. Then, the next pony he came near saluted, and so on, and so forth until he was out of sight.

Intelligentsia sighed. “That's our little way of telling him to screw off when he yells at us like that. Protocol states he's supposed to salute back, even if we all line up for it to slow him down.”

“Ah.” Twilight shot a sneer at Dual Strike’s general direction. “I'll have to remember that one. Should prove useful.

“That being said, this is all the more reason to assign ponies to take over some of your duties. You obviously have too much on your plate. Go finish that one assessment, then go to bed and don't come back to duty until you have at least one pony chosen. That's a direct order from me, and if Dual Strike tells you to do anything different, those orders are hereby countermanded. Clear?”

“Crystal.” Intelligentsia yawned. “I should be able to finish it in an hour or so. Good luck in San Palomino. I think you'll need it.”

Author's Note

And so begins Mission Seven, by far the largest mission I've written! I sure hope this one works out, as it was QUITE a challenge. Still, it was great practice for writing a novel, as it's of a similar length.

There may be a few minor edits post-release on this one but nothing will change story-wise. Also, I'm not 100% happy with the briefing area, but, live and learn, onwards we go!

The blog has a lot of my recent news, should you wish to hear about how messed up I am. Going to try to blog more often, too (though how often have I said that? :P ).

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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Stone, Wheat, and Oats

“Ready, everypony?” Twilight grabbed hold of the safety rail with a big fat smile on her face. “Here we go!”

The charioteers pulling them kicked out into high gear, hovering barely a meter over the rocky, snowy surface as they rocketed up the mountainside. As they climbed, the warm late-spring air peeled away and surrendered to the thinner crisper air of the higher altitudes. The snowcap popped into view under them, and for a moment, everypony in the chariot was weightless. Limbs dangled in the air, wings were tucked onto sides, and it was as if the planet was breathing out, pausing in its gravitational kiss.

Then the chariot returned to gravity’s inexorable embrace. The charioteers flapped their wings shut and pointed themselves at the ground, then with a single, synchronized, mighty flap, they were screaming towards the hard, crunchy ground. The wind ripped past them ever faster, stinging them with invisible needles and sucking the moisture from their mouths and eyes.

A moment later, the pegasi levelled off to the whoops, laughs, and hollers of their three passengers, who had collapsed all over each other in the back of the chariot.

Twilight let the giggles simmer as she rolled around on her back in the center of the little pile of friends. When the giggling fit finally faded, she stretched out as far as she could, however little that was where she was sitting, and again noted that even her subtle movements could rock the little chariot they were in. It had been her idea, as the only pony on the trip without wings, to turn their vehicle into a mini-rollercoaster, and it was quickly embraced by the others.

“Wow.” Spike clung onto the edge of the vehicle, looking out at the scene below. “So much wheat…”

“Yup!” Twilight joined him and put a foreleg across his back. “Everypony, welcome to the Hinterlands, the breadbasket of Equestria!”

Wheat and oats were the key economic driving factors in the Hinterlands, and it showed. A golden field stretched out nearly as far as Twilight could see, even as high in the air as they were. Little silos dotted the landscape like leopard spots, each collecting the grain that would feed Equestria. A few scattered railroads and depots helped in this, all either going to cities for processing or consumption or to fields even greater than those in front of Twilight.

Behind them were the mountains they had crossed to reach the Hinterlands, ahead and in the far, far distance was the mountain range bordering San Palomino, and to their left was the city of Hearthfire, the Duchy’s oceanside capital.

“Hang tight,” one of the charioteers said. “Adjusting vector!”

Twilight clung to the rail along with her friends, cheering as they fell and banked to the left. The city came into view in seconds, along with the sapphire blue of the vast, great ocean. Hearthfire was built on the edge of a cliff, and there were buildings clumped together all along the face as well as the more gentle slope to the south. Most were made of simple wood but had expressive, sloped, and curved terracotta roofs. Unlike the large cities in other Duchies, this one did not have expensive paved roads. Most were mere dirt, though a few in the center were stone.

A large tower rose above the rest at the highest point of the cliff, and it was the highlight of a tiny compound that was Duke Buckheart’s traditional residence. Princess Platinum’s castle was somewhere to the north, and was maintained by the Duke's family.

As they flew just over the rooftops, Twilight could see ponies and minotaurs go about their daily lives. Many were hauling wheat or other crops, or selling it in a collection of tiny markets. Some others were calling out to shoppers about other goods, like wool and blankets that were hoof-stitched and dyed in traditional colors. Chickens, sheep, and pigs ran loose in the streets and parks, tended to by nearby masters. Foals played in the city freely, often with a dog or puppy close by.

There was a folksiness to it all that sang a similar tune to Ponyville, and the comparisons ran even deeper than that. Very few pegasi or unicorns were anywhere to be seen, with nearly the entire pony population made up of earth ponies. Minotaurs actually outnumbered the winged and horned varieties five-to-one, as they had long ago aligned with Smart Cookie after she had taken over from Puddinghead. This was their home.

The chariot made another slight left to the tower, then came to a gentle landing on the outside of the compound. Well, as gentle as one could expect on such a road and such a small chariot. Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike all hopped off, all three already weighed down with travelling bags.

“Thank you, Sirs!” Twilight gave the charioteers a curtsey, then waved them off to go rest in town. The sun was already a couple of hours from setting, and they had to have been tired. She shielded her face from the dust that was kicked up in their wake and waved her hoof about to clear the air. When it did, there was an earth pony mare with golden eyes standing before them.

“Greetings to you, Lady Sparkle!” She bowed deep and took off her hat. Her mane was grey, and her coat a light clay brown. As she stood back up, the warm, simple, bark-thread clothes on her body noisily stretched and scrunched. Much of it was a natural brown, while the hat and a strap around her chest was dyed white. “My name is Day Lily, and I am the Duchess-in-wings for the Hinterlands. Celestia told us you were coming. I welcome you to our humble city with an open heart.”

“It is a pleasure, Day Lily!” Twilight bowed back, uncertain when her travels would next provide her with a welcome like that. “I've long wanted to see the Hinterlands with my own eyes. Before, I had only seen its wheat fields by train.”

Day Lily chuckled. “Then I am afraid, my Lady, that you have then seen most of what we have to offer. We are not a wealthy Duchy, but what we lack in bits we make up for in kindness and friendship.”

“Sounds like Twilight's kind of place!” Spike gave Rainbow a hoof bump. “But what's a ‘Duchess-in-wings’?”

“It means that when her father passes or otherwise steps down from his position, she has already been selected to succeed him.” Twilight pulled out one of her checklists from her saddlebags and gave it to Lily. “I would very much like to take a quick tour of the city before we go on our way, but I also need some supplies. Do you think you could help me with these?”

“Of course! Let's see here…” She examined the list, breezing through it then tucking it away in her hat. “I don't think any of this will be an issue. Most of it is pretty standard gear we sell to ponies looking to move to, or through, the desert.”

“I bet that's getting the Duchy a nice bit of extra scratch.” Rainbow hopped a couple meters into the air, seemingly scouting the road ahead before going into a mid-air backstroke. “San Palomino’s population is booming, and not just ‘cause the desert is romantic, if you get my meaning.”

“Yes and no.” Day Lily signalled them to move down the road, and the group started a walk up the hill. “Too many here are leaving home to seek a fortune in the arid expanse. The temptation of bits is hard to deny.

“But most never find that fortune. Some lucky few find their way home before it's too late, but many sink into debt so deeply that they can never afford to leave. And when they go, we have fewer workers to care for the land. Food prices therefore rise, which helps those who stay, but also means that it costs more for ponies elsewhere.”

“There's no easy answer, I’m afraid.” Twilight watched a pony dig into a giant bowl of oatmeal, thinking about the journey that the Hinterlands’ oats make to all corners of Equestria. “I'll look into it, see if I can catch Celestia’s ear. But this is an entrenched, systemic problem. I can't promise an easy or fast solution.”

“At this point, Twi, I think you could put that line on a form letter.” Spike spread out his wings in a stretch. “You've said that how many times this last year?”

“Good point.” Twilight said, tripping a little over a rock in the road that absolutely appeared out of nowhere and in no way was the result of her being surprised over Spike's huge wingspan. The latter idea was just silly, because she'd seen it before and thus should have logically been expecting it. After she was done fooling herself and convincing her internal subcommittees to over-ride her memories, she continued, “Still, I'm happy to push the issue, and I'm certain my sister would lend support to you in the Council.”

Day Lily laughed. “Oh, but if the others in the Council would be so friendly! But no, Lady Sparkle. I appreciate the offer, but there are things that I must learn to do for myself.”

“If you insist. I'm still willing to-- Oooooh!” Twilight bolted ahead, galloping to the top of the hill. There was a pristine ocean filling the horizon's canvas with a brilliant blue, but Twilight didn't even give it a second thought. What she was focused on, were rocks.

She ran her hoof over the wide, smooth, squat one, then noticed the “No Touching” sign and hoped it didn't apply to Grand Mages. The boulder next to it was a tall, pointed granite that reached three stories in the air. “Guys, look at this! This is where Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane signed the Windigo Ceasefire! History in the earth itself!”

“I had heard she was an academic.” Day Lily glanced over to Spike and Rainbow. “Is she always like this?”

Spike snickered. “You have no idea. Considering what that is, this reaction is abnormally calm!”

Twilight blew a raspberry at them.

“Ohmigoshohmigoshomigosh! It's Rainbow Dash!” An earth pony colt leading a quintet of foals raced towards Rainbow as fast as their little legs could carry them, quickly surrounding their target of adoration quicker than any foes had ever managed. “It's you! It's really you! I saw you in Manehatten in the Wonderbolts Derby last year! I was in the third row, did you see me?!”

“You guys go do what you need to. I got this.” Rainbow ate up the attention like a hog at a buffet. “I sure did, squirt! I think you had a pennant, maybe?”

The foals’ haunches all hit the ground in awe.

“I did, I did! Ohmigosh, can I have your autograph?!”

“You bet!” Rainbow fished a picture out of her bag. “I always keep a few of these ready in case I meet a fan!”

Twilight noticed Spike's look of “Yeah, to feed your ego” and whapped him on the head.

“Ow! I didn't say anything!”

“You were thinking it. Come on, let's go take a look at the tower. I wanna see what Clover the Clever saw when they were here making history!”

The tour went on from there, with Twilight taking notes like there would be a test later. Rainbow and the foals were always close behind, with the pegasus hero doing a bunch of smaller, safer tricks than her normal repertoire to blow their little minds with.

The tour ended at a large park overlooking the tallest point of the cliff, complete with benches, with a view of the sun setting into the mountains to close the day.

“Your supplies should be ready shortly, Lady Sparkle.” Day Lily took a long sip from her cup of butter tea. “I must say, I'm quite pleased at your enthusiasm for my home! As well as the hospitality your friends are showing our foals.”

Rainbow was off bouncing a soccer ball on her head a few hundred times in a row with a giant grin on her face, and the foals were counting each and every hit into the air out loud.

“Rainbow loves her fans as much as she loves flying.” Twilight took a sip of her tea. “They're loyal to her, and she's loyal to them. Eternally. Hmm?” She felt a small poke at her side, and found a tiny unicorn filly with a pen in her mouth.

Day Lily leaned over to see, too. “Looks like you have your own fan here! We don't have many unicorns, so many of our young of your tribe don't get the education they deserve. More than a few look up to you, seeing how great they could become one day.”

“Hey, there,” Twilight said as gently as she could. “Did you want an autograph, too?”

The filly nodded.

“Spike!” Twilight called out to her brother, who was leaning on a rail and watching the darkening ocean to the east. “Could you come here for a second?”

Spike jumped a bit, startled from his name being called all of a sudden. Still, he composed himself and came over. “What did you need, Twi?”

“Send a message to Luna for me, and ask her to see if the Castle Press Corps has any pictures of me floating around that I can use for an autograph. After all the years I've spent in the castle as the Princess’ student, they have to have at least a few floating around.”

“Auto–” Spike caught a glimpse of the tiny filly with a pen in her mouth. “Oh! Sure, can do!”

Twilight gave her fan a pat on the head. “Go play for five minutes or so, okay? We should have a picture I can use by then.”

The filly beamed and nodded, running off to the other foals with the pen still in her mouth.

“I believe you just made her decade. Maybe even her future cutie mark!” Day Lily laughed. “I do wish we had more unicorn teachers here.”

“I could maybe help with that, you know. I know I'm not the most liked with the Council, but I do have the Princess’ ear, and hiring some teachers is much, much simpler than manipulating macroeconomic systems.”

Day Lily sighed. “Perhaps I should take you up on that offer. My father is stubborn and wouldn't hear of it unless Her Highness brought it up to him directly. If I was Duchess, I'd just get it done myself.”

“But you are not Duchess yet, dear sister.”

Twilight turned to the sound of the smooth baritone, finding an impressively tall earth pony stallion. His coat was a chocolate brown, and his mane a grey counterpoint. His suit would have been worthy to show in Rarity's boutique, and featured a black bark-thread coat, burgundy shirt, and black ribbon tie.

“Lady Sparkle, meet my little brother, Marquis Earthen Pride.”

Twilight got up to bow, but froze and looked the stallion up and down. Though a stock pony, he was taller than even Big Macintosh. “Little brother?”

The siblings shared their chuckles. “Indeed, Lady Sparkle.” Pride hadn't missed a beat. “It is good to finally meet you. I had intended to arrange a meeting earlier, but my days are as busy as ever, given my father's failing health. It is good that you made a visit, as I have very much been interested to see what kind of mare you were.”

“Everypony keeps saying stuff like that.” Twilight sat back down. “Really, I think my actions to date speak for themselves.”

“Indeed! I was initially quite worried that you did not have the courage that it takes to help rule a nation, especially one as large as Equestria. It is not easy for most ponies to make the decisions that need to be made. Looking at you now, without knowledge of your exploits this far, my fears would only deepen.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Oh? And what do you think given that you do know what I've done so far?”

“That you are a great source of contradictions. I can see the kindness, the willingness to spread happiness that your status as an Element of Harmony requires. Yet your actions in Zebrica also show that you are willing to do what must be done, regardless of personal cost. This comforts me greatly.”

Twilight glanced over at Day Lily, but found her expression unreadable. “Out of curiosity, Marquis, what would you have done if I hadn't met your expectations?”

“Fought to discredit you and remove you from power, as that would have been within my abilities as Marquis. If I was Prince, my actions might have been more… severe.”

Twilight blinked. “Seriously? You're telling me this why?”

Earthen Pride's expression grew grim, yet somehow proud. “Because honesty, dear Element, is truly a wonderful policy. It's a fact that in politics, one must be deceitful from time to time at a minimum. Telling the truth and being open more often than not means your enemies start pulling their manes out looking for your lies and weaknesses. They can't comprehend such truth.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “I have to say, that's a damning indictment of the Council if I've ever heard one. Going to have to remember that one.”

“I personally think a larger indictment would be their cowardice. They are unwilling to make personal sacrifices, but sometimes, leaders must shed blood and life for the sake of their followers. It is by that strength that, someday, I will be Duke.”

Twilight froze mid-sip, caught in between waves of hate blasting by her from both siblings. “I, um, really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me, Marquis Pride. Perhaps I'll see you in the castle someday?”

“Oh?” If what he was before was grim, now Pride was gruesome in his stare, mixed with a more than a little stoic. “Afraid of a little spat going on between siblings? The mare who faced Discord?”

“Oh, give me a break.”

All three turned to Spike, who was leaning against a railing.

“Yeah, I heard you over here. I may not be a pony, but I'm not deaf. And Twilight is right to not take sides. This isn't something that'll make or break Equestria if not dealt with immediately, unlike Discord, and she barely knows you two. It'd be idiocy, not cowardice, to take a side. Besides, common etiquette says you two are the jerks for bringing it up in front of her.”

“Well, now. Called out to the carpet by a dragon, of all things.” Pride tightened his tie while his long mane hid some—but only some—of his blush. “You keep interesting, and insightful, company, Lady Sparkle. I believe I shall leave things at that. Good talking to you.”

The sound of Spike receiving a message thankfully and forcefully occupied where an awkward silence would have been as the Marquis walked away, and Twilight wouldn't have it any other way. “Pardon me, I think there's a filly that wants my autograph.”

“Of course, Lady Sparkle.” Day Lily said with a bow.

Twilight got up and trotted over to the group of foals, zeroing in on the filly at the outside, pen still in her mouth. Like the others, she was rapt in attention with how Rainbow was somehow hitting the ball high in the air, doing a mid-air backflip, and managing to be in position to hit the ball again. Twilight had to silently admit to herself that was really impressive.

Shaking her focus from the spectacle, she took out her own pen and tapped the filly on the shoulder the same way she had to her. “Who do I make this out to?”

The filly froze for a moment, then dropped the pen out of her mouth with an interrupted syllable. “Eep!” She dove for the pen, but it was too late. It sank a quarter inch into the pile of dust. She nudged it out of the dirt with her nose, and opened her mouth to pick it back up.

“You don't know how to use your horn yet, do you?” Twilight asked, laying down to be eye level with her.

The filly sniffled and shook her head with tears forming in her eyes.

“Hey now, you don't need to cry. I had some trouble with it when I was young, too!” Twilight left out the part about turning her parents into potted plants. “Here, let me teach you what the Princess taught me. First, close your eyes.”

The filly did so, squeezing out a few more tears.

“It's okay. You just need to be taught. Don't be afraid. Fear is born of ignorance, and learning banishes the darkness of fear and hate. Remember this, and repeat: Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command.”

“My… Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the… the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command.”

Twilight placed a hoof over the filly’s fetlock. “Good. Now, imagine you're on a rock in an ocean. It's a tiny island, just big enough for you to stand on. There's a storm all around you, and the waves are huge. The pen is floating on the waves, and you want to make it float in the air. Here's what you do.

“Repeat the mantra again, and this time, imagine the ocean blasting the pen into the air like a geyser. Just a big squirt gun forcing it up from underneath the water.”

The filly mumbled the words and put her ears down. The pen didn't move.

“Try again, and remember, you have to believe, you have to put all your mind into it. Also, this time, imagine yourself raising your hoof with the water. Or, imagine your horn pulling down a funnel cloud from the sky to lift the pen. Believe, and say the words.”

The filly shook and swallowed, but nodded and tried again. “Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command.”

“Good! Now say it again, keep thinking about the ocean!”

“Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command.”

“Again!”

“Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us. My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command!”

“Again! Believe it!”

“Magic is the source of life, and the horn gives us control over the cosmos around us! My power is one with the universe, and the universe is under my command!”

“Great! Now, take in a breath, and open your eyes.”

The filly cracked open an eyelid, and got to see what Twilight had been watching. There, in front of them, was a pen floating in a faint yellow glow.

“See?” Twilight said. “You can do it. You just needed to be shown how.”

To say that the filly's eyes and face lit up like a firework was like saying Canterlot was a minor architectural achievement. Happiness didn't come in such a concentrated form even when Pinkie was giving it out. “Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!” The filly dropped her pen but just kept dancing and bounding around Twilight in an awkward little dance.

Heh. Okay, now that I see what I look like when… Naw, I can't be embarrassed. Not at something so happy. “Okay, okay, you can settle down. I still need to give you an autograph, remember? Who do I make it out to?”

“Oh, right!” The filly went back into a sheepish ball and made little circles in the dirt with her hoof. “My name is Tiny Twinkle.”

“Alright then. ‘To Tiny Twinkle, my number one fan, and the first pony to ask for my autograph, always remember: Friendship is Magic! -Twilight Sparkle’”

She gave the picture to Twinkle, who named and hugged it like a long-lost parent. “Thank you so much!”

“You're quite welcome! Go, show your friends! Have fun!”

“I will! Thank you!” Twinkle picked up both her picture and the pen in her mouth and ran off, in far too much a hurry to use her horn.

That's okay, though. She knows how to use it now, and the rest will come in due time. Twilight stood up and returned to the benches, which were now being lit from lamps, as the sun had mostly set.

Day Lily clapped her hooves together lightly. “That was most impressive, Lady Sparkle. There are adult unicorns here that never really master their horns. That you so easily taught her is unheard of here.”

“I had the best teacher in Equestria. One that knows more about magic than anypony else alive. But that only makes the need for magic and flight instructors here more important. I'll make sure to send my recommendations to Celestia before we leave. Again, I can't promise anything, but I will try.”

“If anypony can get past my father's protests, it's the Princess. I appreciate it.”

“A wise mare once said, ‘If your plan is for one year, plant hay. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children.’” Twilight's eye caught a cart of supplies being pulled by a pair of pegasi wearing expensive all-hour sunglasses, which adjusted light levels to optimal no matter how bright or dim the sky. Guess there being a shortage means good pay for pegasi here… Hmmm…

Day Lily bowed, motioning to the cart. “Lady Sparkle, your supplies have arrived. Where did you need them sent?”

“We're heading to Minotas, the minotaur village.”

“That's a nice hour’s trot outside the city, and it's already dark. Would you like me to get you a room for the night?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, we've got a schedule to keep. The cart is small, but it can fit Spike and me easily enough. If we fly, we should get there in ten minutes, even at a leisurely pace.”

“As you wish. In that case, I will leave you to your mission. Safe journey, Lady Sparkle.” Turning to the pegasi, she said, “You two, follow the Grand Mage's instructions.” Day Lily bowed to Twilight once more, and left towards the tower.

“Rainbow, Spike, time to go!”

There was a sound as if a large group of foals were crying out in disappointment and were ready to protest much more loudly.

“Sorry, guys, but I'm betting your parents are thinking it's time for you to get inside anyway.” Rainbow gave them hugs and waves goodbye, then watched them walk together into the city. She didn't stop watching until they were well on their way, and Spike had arrived well before her. “I take it we're heading out?”

“Yup. You two will fly next to the cart here, while I fly in it. We'll get to Minotas in just a few minutes.”

“Um, Twilight?” Spike unfurled one of his wings. “You do realize that I haven't actually flown with these things yet, right? And that I can really only glide?”

“You'll be fine.” Twilight lit her horn and felt around the cart with her magic, finding the rope and tossing it to her Captain. “Rainbow here will pull you along for lift and make sure you don't crash and burn. Just hang on to the rope and keep confident. It won't take long, and you'll get some practice!”

“Hey, I get it!” Rainbow tied one end around her belly. “It'll be like a giant kite!”

“Okay, but if I do crash and burn, I'm going to be real disappointed. I always figured I'd get to go out while gorging myself on a mountain of gems.”

“Oh ye of little faith. Trust me, Spike!”

Spike pointed a claw at her. “You said something awfully similar just before you blew a new crater in Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Well, this time I'm not trying something even remotely impossible, so it'll be fine.”

The two cart pegasi looked at each other, and one of them made a little circle motion with his hoof near his temple.

“Come on, we've already burned away our daylight.” Twilight hopped in the cart, nestling herself in between the bags of supplies. “Fly gentle, good Sirs. I'm unsecured back here, and Spike just grew his wings a while ago, so he's new at this. And yes, I'm serious: most dragons don't have their wings at birth; they grow them later. Now quit chatting and let's go!”

The other pegasus made the circle motion, and both took off, with Rainbow and Spike close behind.

“Whoooooooooooaaaaaaa! Rainbow, slow down!”

“No, you mean, ‘speed up!’” Rainbow shouted back.

“Whoooooooooooaaaaaaa!” There was a pause. “What the…”

Twilight giggled as she watched. They were already a few hundred meters over the ground, sailing through the night. Spike had his wings stretched out as far as they could go, and Rainbow was pulling him along just as she said. At the start, he tumbled over and over while hanging on to the rope for dear life. Then, Rainbow sped up, and he straightened out.

“Rainbow is right, Spike! You needed to speed up! If you're unstable, you lack lift, so you need more speed, more air going into and over your wings!”

“Whoa…” Spike lit up every bit as much as the foals from earlier. “Guys, I'm doing it! I'm flying!”

And one day, I'll join you, Spike. Twilight tossed her mane over her shoulder and felt the tingle snake up her body as the cool night air took her in its caress. Until then, there's always the chariots.

“I don't believe it! I never even thought I'd get wings, and I'm flying!”

Rainbow pulled him off to the left, then right, letting him feel the turns. “It's something, ain't it? And it's all yours!”

“Whooooooooooo! Faster, Rainbow!”

“Oh, you want fast? I'll give you–”

Twilight shot a telekinetic bolt across Rainbow's muzzle. “No you won't! First time flyer, no stunts!”

Rainbow sighed. “Spoilsport.”

“My little brother, my mission, my responsibility. And he's still on medical leave to recover from growing those wings. No risky flying.”

“Okay, okay.” Rainbow banked to her left, slicing through the air like a knife. “I think I see the village, anyway. Adjust vector, three-forty mark three-hundred.”

The cart pegasi looked at each other. “What mark what? What's a mark?”

The Wonderbolt practically gagged. “Ugh. You guys wouldn't last ten minutes in Cloudsdale or Canterlot. Just, fly to the village.”

Onwards they flew under the stars, landing in the outskirts of a village of maybe a few hundred minotaurs. Small, rounded homes with decorative, swooping red frames dotted the area. Fire pits roared and crackled both in and outside the houses, seasoning the air with a salty smoke. Wind chimes jingled over many of the doorways, and denizens could be found carrying any variety of objects and goods from place to place. At the far end was a small train station.

“Look out below!” Rainbow tucked herself in underneath Spike as they landed, soaking the impact like a very squishy sponge. “Oof. Ow.”

Twilight facehooved. “You could have just lowered him down. With the rope.”

“Yeah, but—ow, that's sore—where would the fun be in that?” Spike stood up and brushed the dust off his knees. “Besides, I'm fine.”

“Is Rainbow?”

“I think I need reinflation,” Rainbow wheezed.

“Suck it up, Dash. We still got work to do tonight.” Twilight helped her up, but was careful to be as not gentle about it as possible.

“Ow.”

Twilight gave her a snark-infused slap on the back. How that was possible wasn't to be brought up. “Come on, the building we need should be that big one over there. Sirs, you can just leave our supplies next to it. We'll take care of it from there.”

“Hello?” Twilight asked, shouting into the dark hall. There was just enough light to see that it was big; certainly larger than a normal house. Her hoof stepped on a tool of some kind, which made the metal scrape across the wooden floor. “We're looking for Weaponmaster Blade Forge. My name is Twilight Sparkle; he's expecting us. Anyone here?”

A match scraped and lit, and a hand dipped it into a pipe. The figure puffed it a couple of times before standing, towering over the ponies every bit as easily as Celestia, if not more so. The fire behind him roared to life from nothing, twisting in a vortex and climbing up through the hole in the ceiling.

The light revealed the forge’s form, with stations and tools everywhere. There was a mess, but no lack of subtle organization, not to mention the soot leaving behind the stories of use.

“You have found him,” Forge half-mumbled from the pipe in his mouth. “So, you are the fabled Grand Mage. And you do not come alone. That is a complication.”

Twilight looked to Rainbow and Spike behind her. “How, exactly, is that a complication?”

“In order to create your new blade, I must speak to you alone.”

Why is everyone I meet all ‘I want to talk to you alone?’ Seriously, I'm the Grand Mage. I'm supposed to have guards! “Alright, fair enough. Spike, Rainbow? Step outside, please.” She gave them an extra glance meaning, “Stay in earshot.”

“Again? This is starting to get annoying.” Rainbow stuck out her tongue at the minotaur, and Spike followed suit before heading outside.

Twilight lit up her horn and cast a simple light spell, washing the darkness away to uncover the tan minotaurs coat and thick, black apron. “I don't like having conversations with creepers hiding in the shadows. If you want to talk to me, you'll treat me as an equal, not a foal asking permission from her teacher.”

Forge puffed his pipe. “Interesting. Celestia never mentioned such fire.”

“I've met a number of important figures over the past year. Those that approach me warmly I don't generally have a problem with. You, however, used theatrics in an attempt to intimidate me. It makes me wonder about your motives, and this is my way of evening the playing field.” Twilight brushed her mane to the other side with a hoof. “What did you need me alone for?”

“She never mentioned fire, but she did mention insight. Well done.” He stepped over to one of the forges and lifted out a well worn, beaten up hammer. Ashes and embers wafted away from its resting place, spreading yet more dust throughout the hall. “I was hoping to intimidate you so I can get a deep honesty to the reason why you seek a bonded blade, alicorn ascendant.”

The logs in the fire weren't the only things smoldering now. Twilight's vision burned only slightly hotter than the black fire waking at the tip of her horn.

“Do not be so worried, Lady Sparkle. Celestia had no choice but to tell me. I created your armor so that its greatest attribute would be adaptability, at Her Highness’ request. Without that, its bond with you would have broken upon your ascendancy, as it was created when you were only a unicorn.

“Now, however, anything I make for you must start as an alicorn’s weapon. Any attempt to create a bonded artifact expecting only unicorn magic would inevitably lead to a failure. Square peg, round hole.”

Twilight pulled the core out of her saddle bag. It shimmered brilliantly in the red light of the fire, twinkling in its clear crystalline form. “This is what you have to work with.”

Forge picked it up and eyeballed it, then held it up to the light like a prism while chewing on his pipe. “This is it? I'm not sure I can fashion a bonded blade out of such a dinky thing.”

“Princess Celestia asks that you give it your best effort, and accepts that it may not work out. You'll be paid the same fee, either way.”

He clamped onto it with tongs and plunged it into the flame, then turned it slowly to allow the fire to taste each facet. “And what do you request me to do?”

“I'm honestly not sure I trust you yet. Celestia does, but I would have appreciated it if you had been forthright from the start. Again, I ask you, why the theatrics? Why try to scare a pony you know is an alicorn?”

Forge held the crystal near a dry leaf on the dirt floor, setting it alight without touching it. “Good fire response.” He set the it aside in a bucket of wet sand, then emptied out his pipe.

“Mr. Forge?” Twilight pressed.

“I need to know, Lady Sparkle, why it is that you fight.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I spoke clearly, I believe.” Forge plodded over on his heavy hooves to a locker, then opened it and pulled out a sword nearly as tall as he was. A yellow, triangular gem crackled with power in the hilt, though rust had feasted on the blade’s edge. “A bonded blade isn't a mere bauble like a mass-produced cored cannon. It is an extension of the will of its master, a soul welded onto the side of its chosen one. Its form is an expression of the desire of the one who wields it.

“So I say again, Lady Sparkle. Why is it that you fight? Why put yourself in danger? Surely there are ponies better suited for this core than a librarian whose heart is planted firmly in the soil of a small village. Why are you worthy?”

Twilight sat down with a smile. “I'm an alicorn ascendant and the Element of Magic. Protecting my ponies, and helping them thrive, is what I do. If I couldn't or didn't do that, it would be a violation of my existence.

“Being an alicorn isn't some mere title like a Duke or a Count. We are the collective desire of our ponies for leadership and protection, manifested through our magic. We are linked to them inexorably, fused with our nations.”

Forged smiled. “Celestia did not mention such eloquence. You will have your weapon to protect your ponies, provided this crystal proves sufficient. I'm still not certain if I can work with such a small one, but I will try. The only other thing I need from you is a sample of your magic.”

“And how do I do that?”

The Weaponsmaster clasped his hands on the gem, even as it burned him. A faint light rolled over his fingers. “Just hold still.”

“Bzzt.”

“Ow!”

Twilight grinned from Rainbow jumping out of her seat and into the air from her little static shock. It almost made the impossibly frizzy mane worth it.

“What the hay, Twilight? And, well, what the heck happened to you? You look like you just spent an hour in a clothes dryer.”

“Side effect of the bonded blade sampling process. He had to take a piece of my magic, and this,” she said, motioning to her ridiculous state, “was the result. Should go away on its own in a bit. It's really just static.”

More crackles paraded over her coat as Spike ran his hand over her back. “Freaky. This is what Celestia did when you were a filly?”

“Yup.” Twilight sat down on the log next to them and warmed her fetlocks by the roaring campfire. Various minotaurs were around, though none within direct earshot. Most were doing various chores, and more than a few were tending to vegetables on grills well enough to make her mouth water. Regardless, she put up a muffling shield. “Although, apparently it was Weaponsmaster Forge that made my torc, Aurora. The Princess just took the sample for it. At first I thought it a little creepy, but now I understand. She was planning ahead.

“As it all actually happened, I got to keep my foalhood and even most of my young adulthood. But if the threats became too great, she could have given Aurora to me earlier. It was a smart hedging of a bet, really.”

“If you say so. Your body, after all.” Rainbow’s stomach growled loud enough to scare some of the timber wolves in the distant forest. “How much do you think I'd have to pay these guys to get some of what they're making?”

“Did you want some?” A female minotaur asked while stepping over to them. “Sorry if I startled you. I could hear your stomach from over there, even through the shield. My name is Valley Forge, I'm Blade Forge’s daughter and apprentice.”

“Yes, please.” Spike and Rainbow both said the instant Twilight dropped the shield.

Twilight had more restraint, though only just. “So long as it isn't a trouble, Ms. Forge. “

Valley sat on her knees, wiping her hands on her heavy gray apron. “Not at all! Especially since you represent our best client.” She waved at one of the other minotaurs, then pointed at the trio. “Rumour has it that you're ordering a bonded artifact. I hope my father lets me help. We haven't had many orders for those lately, and without practice, I'll never learn how to make them myself.”

“I can't comment on it too much, I'm afraid. But I do hope you get that experience. It should be a challenging order regardless.” Twilight gave her a wink.

“I'm glad! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all!”

A large number of minotaurs began to gather nearby, eventually crowding around the fire with the two ponies and dragon. Food and beer soon followed, the former of which was simple fare, yet was also more delicious than grilled vegetables had any right to be.

Twilight and Rainbow both scarfed down a disproportionately large amount in record time, and on each plate, butter, lemon, and seasoning tangoed with the freshest of fare all the way down their stomachs. The lagers only seemed to add to the mix, playing the accompanying music for their taste buds.

Spike was more reserved, but that was more likely due to his different taste buds, and it was not lost on their hostess.

“Spike, was it?” Valley held up a tray of something just below her ample bosom. “I've heard that cores are a delicacy for dragons. If you like, I have some here you can have.”

“Whoa! Really?!” Spike shot up to his feet and grabbed the tray, which was filled with blackened, varied gems. Most of them were small, but nonetheless valuable.

“That's quite generous of you, Ms. Forge.” Twilight yanked on Spike's tail. “Are you sure it's not a bother? That can't be a small amount there. It has to be worth a fortune.”

“Nah, they're all broken.” Valley held one up to her eye, turning it until a large crack shown. “We make a lot of custom cored weapons here, and apprentices break a lot of them before we really learn our stuff. Once they're this damaged, there's not much to do but to either grind them into powder or throw them out. But if Spike would like them, I see no reason not to share!”

Twilight let go of Spike, who immediately went to town on the pile of crystals. “In that case, I don't see why not either. Celestia did say he needed to have an exceptionally healthy diet for a while, and for him, that means gems.”

“Lots and lots of gems!” Spike said in between chews.

“It does not mean a lack of manners, young drake.” Twilight pulled the tray away and held it aloft with her magic. “Chew, swallow, and thank our host.”

A few tremendous chews later, and Spike bowed to the ground. “Thank you very much for your hospitality!”

“That's be–”

“Can I eat now?”

“Hugh.” Twilight rolled her eyes and gave in, giving him back the tray. “I am sorry for him, Ms. Forge.”

Valley just laughed. “Oh, it's quite alright. We aren't so formal here. Everyone knows everyone else, after all. And please, call me Valley.”

“Okay then, Valley.” Twilight tilted to the side to peek around her, watching as other minotaurs were setting up large bales of hay to her far left and right. “Do you mind if I ask what's going on?”

“Not at all! We're about to have our evening fights.”

“Fights?” Rainbow asked during her two second break between mouthfuls of food and lager. “What kind of fights?”

“Well, each of us tends to specialize in a particular kind of weapon and/or armor.” Valley pointed to a rack of gauntlets being brought in. “But to understand how best to make them, we have to know how best to use them. So, each night one class of armament makers will spar with our latest versions to figure out how to make them better.

“No one ever dies, though we can get hurt, but that's just part of the job. We train in both fighting and forging. At least, those of us who make weapons and armor, which is most of us. But we still have farmers, cooks, and several other professions, too. They don't fight very much, but we all work out with our martial arts. Would you like to watch?”

Twilight glanced up at the stars and moon, tracing its position in the sky. “We still have a couple hours before the train gets here, so I don't see why not.”

Dinner passed quickly, with minotaurs forming small groups on blankets rather than gathering in one big table like gryphons. A few either ate beforehand or skipped it altogether while warming up with various forms of fighting practice.

When it came time for the fights, a single black minotaur took center stage, while many others of both genders lined up on either side. Somewhere off in the distance, a gong resounded throughout the valley, and another minotaur jumped in to the challenge.

He came in with a furious, fast downward lunge, only to be blocked by the first. A flurry of punches slammed into the attacker, each with an extra blast of magic from the gauntlets that sounded less like armor plating and more like cored cannons. Every punch knocked the attacker a few more inches into the air, until a kick cleared him out of the area.

There was no announcement of a winner, nor break in the action. Another minotaur, seemingly at random, just lept into the fray. She, too, led with punches, but hers were faster, either slapping away attempts to block or weaving around them altogether. Several hits connected.

The male fought through the pain, ignoring it all and delivering a single, powerful hit of his own to her mid-chest, just under her breasts. She lifted off the ground, only to have the male slam her down on her back, sending her to the ground.

A third challenger, also female, hit the so far champion before he could even turn around, cracking him on the forehead with two fists merged into one from the magic from the gauntlets. A swing and a second hit knocked him back, followed by the separation of the fused gauntlets and another pair of hits.

The challenger then grabbed the champion by the wrist, spinning him around so his back was exposed. An uppercut lifted him clear off the ground, after which the female kept up the pressure to flip him over her head like a chef flipped a pancake, albeit with far more pain upon impact.

The fight continued thus, with each new succeeding champion instantly faced by a challenger, until one stood victorious, after which it all started again in seconds.

“Hey, Twilight?” Spike poked her in the leg. “Could I ask a favour?”

Twilight swallowed her piece of grilled pepper. “What is it?”

Spike twiddled his fingers around and looked away from her gaze. “I… I want to stay here. While you're on your mission.”

Twilight blinked. “Why? I'm sure we can have the discarded cores delivered.”

Spike sighed. “It's not that, Twilight. I want to stay because they can actually teach me how to fight!”

“Um, Spike, you were there with me when Luna put us through the wringer. She taught us already.”

Spike shook his head. “She doesn't know how to fight like they do.”

Rainbow almost squirted beer out her nostrils. “Yeah, right. No offense to these guys, but Luna's an alicorn. She'd mop the floor with all of them.”

“That's not what I mean! Just, well, look at me!” Spike stood up, motioning to his body. “I'm a biped! So are they! They know how to fight on two legs! Luna's powerful but she's got no clue what it's like for me. They could teach me to really fight like I should be as a bipedal dragon. Please, Twilight. If nothing else, it'll make it so I can protect myself better!”

“I don't know…” Twilight's stomach twisted into a knot, but not from the food. “I'm supposed to care for you. What happens if you get hurt? Celestia said you're weaker than normal right now, and these guys play rough.”

“Not really.” Valley put her ears down when they looked at her. “Sorry, couldn't help but overhear. And training is different from fighting. I'm sure he could find someone here to train him without hurting him, and these sparring matches are for weaponsmiths. Sparring in training is far less brutal.”

Twilight's mind and tongue waged a war over what to say, drawing to a stalemate. “I still just don't know. It still seems too risky.”

“What if I ask Celestia first?” Spike pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. “She's gotta know about this place, and knows what I can and cannot handle. If she says no, I'll go home, no argument.”

The battle over words waged on in Twilight, but this time, logic overpowered everything. “Okay, that's fair. And we are in range of a leyline, so you can get help quickly if need be. But don't strain yourself, and update Celestia every day with what you're doing. Every exercise. If she says don't do something, I don't care what wisdom they try to impart to you here, you listen to the Princess. She knows more about dragons than everypony else combined. Clear?”

“Crystal!” Spike saluted.

Twilight dragged him into a big hug. “And don't you dare get drunk here. You do and I'll make you regret it.”

“You got it. I love you, big sis.”

“I love you, too, little bro.”

Author's Note

Just made it in time for April. Moving is almost complete so hopefully May won't be as crazy.

There may be significant edits made to this chapter post-release, though the basic story will remain the same. Things have been so nuts lately it's probable that I screwed up big in this chapter on something. Well, here goes nothing.

Thanks again for reading, and enjoy! :)

-Cv

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Derailed

Twilight yawned, curling up on the seat as the train rocked and glided over the tracks. Rainbow, briefly illuminated by moonlight, was already snoring up a storm across from her. Giving in to her sleepy desires, Twilight wrapped the cheap blanket around her turning herself into a pony burrito. Looking outside at the vast desert landscape, with its uncountable mesas and buttes, made it seem like the entire world was nothing but an arid, inhospitable desert.

They had boarded the train at nearly midnight, and it would be nearly a day before they arrived at Sierra Maredre, the capital of San Palomino. Such was the incredible size of the desert. Twilight could even feel the heat under her from nothing but the fire magic in the ground. It burned at her horn, like a stream whose water was a bit too hot. On the plus side, it countered the air conditioning vent above her.

Twilight nestled into the pillow, finally warm and calm enough to let her consciousness drain away—only to be caught by rumbling thunder.

Opening her mind’s eye, she found herself standing on a cloud. A cloud in the middle of a dark vortex, with stars above and ground below. She was back in her inner world, a place of her mind, and there to greet her was a filly that looked exactly like a young Twilight.

Aurora held open her forelegs, wide and waiting, and Twilight dove into the hug, picking her up.

“If you want to see me, you can always ask, silly.” Twilight gave her a little noogie like a big sister should. A cold chill crawled over her, which Twilight assumed was her armor deploying from the hug.

“I'm scared.” Aurora sniffled.

“Of what? The desert?”

“No.” She shook her head and buried her muzzle in Twilight's shoulder. “You're getting a bonded blade. There's going to be somepony new here. Somepony that'll hate me.”

“Hate you?” Twilight sat the filly down. “What makes you say that?”

“I'm armor. I exist to protect you. It's all I live for.” Aurora shrunk down into ball mode. “Blades don't think like that. They exist to kill. We're too different.”

“Hey, sword or not, it'll be made from me. It'll exist to protect others, while you exist to protect me. We'll find a balance, okay? I'm not going to let a newbie start up a storm in my head.” Twilight blinked. “Well, other than the one that already exists here for some reason. I really should look into why my inner mind looks like the middle of a giant tornado.”

Aurora giggled and wiped away a tear. “Because Ascension is eventful.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right. How silly of me.” A sudden gust of wind rushed past them, sending their manes flapping about. “Guess the eye of this storm isn't always calm.”

Aurora looked around her, sniffing the air and poking her head over the edge of the cloud. “There isn't supposed to be wind here. That came from outside.”

“Outside? What, you mean like it's something my body felt?” Twilight chewed it over in her mind. “Well, I am under an air conditioning vent. So I suppose it makes sense.”

Aurora shook her head. “That's not what it felt like. That was magic.”

“Magic? That shouldn't be possible. We're in the middle of a desert.”

The cloud, vortex, sky—everything—shook back and forth like the universe was being swung to and fro. “Twilight! Twilight, wake up!”

“That's Rainbow! Something’s happening.” Twilight squinted at her ‘sky.’ “How do I wa—”

“Twilight! Oh, thank Celestia, you're awake. Something's seriously wrong.”

Twilight groaned and blinked, then rubbed her head with an armoured hoof. “What it is, Rainbow? What time is it?”

“Just, well, look!” Rainbow pointed out the window.

The clear northern skies had been replaced with a rolling, boiling, oncoming storm. Lightning was everywhere, accented by the crack of dawn in the east. Clouds as black as smoke approached like a wave.

Rainbow shuddered. “Something's not right with that storm. There shouldn't even be a storm here; the magic shouldn't allow it. Plus, it just feels wrong. I don't even know how else to describe it.”

“I think you're right. Something's up.” Twilight squinted at the clouds, watching a trio of yellow flashes. The thought in her mind matched with Aurora’s instantly. That's not lightning.

A sudden clap of “thunder” blasted Twilight’s eardrums, deafening her for a moment, though through the haze of her mind, she swear she heard steel ripping steel. The world went tumbling, striking her with the walls, the broken glass, and finally hot rock. Her eyes only returned glimpses of visions. Fire burned and smoke smothered, and copper stained her tongue. Sound returning only brought screams and the crack of cored cannons, followed by chains and scraping on the ground.

“Twilight, wake up! Please, please, Celestia, let Twilight wake up…” a voice whispered in prayer.

“I'm up…” Twilight coughed, sputtering out words and blood in equal measure. She could feel Aurora’s healing magic at work, but the first blow clearly came before her armor reacted and deployed. Her head pounded with whatever had hit them earlier, and her legs were sure there was an ongoing earthquake. “What the buck happened?”

“Sssshhhh!” Rainbow held her hoof to her lips and dragged Twilight to the burning wreck of a derailed, overturned train car. She pressed both their backs to the hot, metallic roof. A little hop was all it took for her to peek over the “top” of the train.

Twilight followed suit, keeping her ears down and horn unpowered.

A massive airship had landed, with its maw of a cargo hold open and swallowing whatever the crew had their hooves on. Boxes, crates, bags, mail sacks, even a few families of survivors being led in chains were all devoured by the floating monster.

Twilight ground her teeth and curled up her lip. “Rainbow, we have a new priority. We need to sneak on that ship.”

“We aren't a match for that many guns, Twilight. They're armed to the teeth.”

“Hence the emphasis on sneak. I need to know where they're going. Once I do, I can call in the Bellerophon. These pirates messed with the wrong pony. Come on.” Twilight slunk low to the ground, scraping her belly on the hot, sandy stone. Wind from her magic scooted her past a gap between burning, tossed rail cars, and Rainbow followed suit.

The next car over was unrecognizable, having been reduced to flaming rubble and shrapnel. A shell had blasted a hole the size of a chariot in it, and that was likely just a glancing blow. Bodies littered the ground, some staining the sand an even darker red, while others burned in magic flame. Others still were only pieces of their former selves.

“I think I'm going to be sick…” Rainbow lurched.

“Keep it together. We will make these bastards pay.” Twilight locked onto a second series of cars tossed the opposite direction from theirs, closer to the ship. They were on fire like the others, but otherwise intact, suggesting they were set ablaze rather than hit with shells.

Rainbow ducked her head down and whispered, “Twilight, I think somepony is coming…They're checking for more survivors!”

“We won't be here.” Twilight grabbed hold of Rainbow and charged her horn, sparking them through existence to the other cars. The ship now loomed above them, a gasbag monster with armoured grey canvas skin, devouring the life of innocents.

“I think I see a hatch.”

Twilight followed Rainbow's hoof to a rusty door a third of the way up the beast, which was sealed with a wheel. She then glanced back at the rear engines of the ship. They jutted out like tiny limbs, each a focusing turbine for the flow of magic, with their own crystals for control.

“Previous-generation tech. This thing is older than it looks; probably retrofitted heavily. Good intel to know. It also means that it's likely that any security seals on this door have a key vulnerability... Give me a second.”

“What are you… Twilight?”

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed out as slowly as she could, wiping the desert from her mental mindscape. There were no mesas or sandstone, no dunes or desolation. There was a field, an openness unrivalled by anything in real space. Nothing but fresh air and eternity existed as she reached for a door that didn't exist, because there was only the vast expanse of open space.

“Whoa!”

Twilight opened her eyes, finding the hatch now wide open.

“How did you do that?”

“Stellar Horizon’s book. He talked a bit about alicorn magic and how it intertwines with emotions, but he was kinda cryptic and pedantic about it. After I read the other one Charlemane loaned me, I've been able to start putting the pieces together. This is about the most basic example I know that’s truly alicorn magic... and about the only one I’ve been able to really figure out. It's not like the other high-power ‘alicorn spells’ I know of that are really mostly unicorn magic.” Twilight crouched like she was going to pounce, wiggling her butt around in the air. “Grab on.”

She sparked them both in the hatchway the instant Rainbow put a hoof on her, breaking through spacetime and landing directly on the airlock-like entrance.

“You're getting good with that, Twilight.” Rainbow rubbed her head. “I'm barely even dizzy. And that magic on the locked door? Maybe these guys aren't a match for us. Or rather, you.”

“The latch only worked because it's old. Newer ones are better able to deal with hybrid magic. This thing might not even be able to handle Trixie's telekinesis.”

Twilight peered out of the door, looking down at the scene below. The entire train had been derailed, and much of it was destroyed. Most of the passengers were dead, and those few that had survived were being whipped with lashes to corral them onto the ship. What must have been crew were stealing anything they could get their hooves on. “They're taking slaves, or hostages for ransom. Somepony is going to get added to the garden for this.”

“What's the plan? Where do we hide?”

“Not sure yet. Follow me.” Twilight grabbed the inner hatch wheel with her hooves and pulled, spinning it open and stepping inside. The hall was dimly lit with caged, jaundiced lights and vagrant sparks from exposed wires. Rust and an unexplainable sickness covered the metal grates their hooves banged on as they walked, finally coming to a dead end and a window.

“Looks like that's the storage area.” Rainbow said as she peeked over the bottom edge of the glass. “Lots of ponies down there. Lots with guns, too.”

“This way.” Twilight turned back, pulling open a door on her immediate right. The room was brighter than the hall, and didn't have the stench of miasma. The cleaning chemicals and tools probably helped. As a storage closet for a janitor, it was a place of cleaning, in a way.

“Dead end there, memsahib.” Rainbow pulled the door shut, then wedged the mop in the wheel. “What are we doing?”

“Thinking…” Twilight bit down on her hoof, scanning the room. Some of the chemicals could be hazardous if mixed, but not enough to cause a mass panic. There were too many ponies for a direct assault, and the pirates’ brazen actions meant that intimidation was unlikely to work. The only other things in the room were buckets, shelves, and a large vent. “Wait!”

She sank her magic into the screws of the vent, grabbing them with the force of a wrench and twisting them out of their holes. All four plopped to the ground, and the cover was off. A filly would have to duck slightly to walk in, but a mare like herself had to crawl.

An icy chill sucked at her coat from the metal of the vent as she moved, inch by inch. Not a meter into the vent, and it split with a long path left, and another vent directly in front of her face. While Rainbow crawled into the tunnel behind her, Twilight peered out through the slats, watching the ponies below her in the cargo hold.

“Hey, Twilight, good hiding spot. But, uh, what happens if somepony breaks into the closet?” Rainbow flopped around, flapping her wings against the metal. “Also, terrible hiding spot.”

“It'll have to do.” Twilight put the vent cover back on, and stashed the screws away in her bag. This thing is already half falling apart. They won't notice these. “Get in that corner while I spy on them from here. I don't want them to see your spectral mane; it tends to attract the eye.”

“Ugh, you want me to move more.” Rainbow tumbled again, and as before, was careful to avoid making too much noise. Twilight could even feel the blast of pegasus magic she was using to help her.

The ponies below, however, had no such qualms about noise. Boxes and hooves banged, clanged, gangled, and even crashed all over. From Twilight’s vantage point, she could see that the ship had cargo doors on either side of the bay, and both were open.

“Whoa!” Rainbow whispered as the ship shuddered and lurched, giving off a lazy groan from the engines. “They're in a hurry, I take it.”

“Makes sense. If the military finds them, they're history.” Twilight leaned forward, watching the patterns of the ponies as they moved. A few families huddled, whimpered, and cried together on the far left. A dozen or so pirates were rummaging through the cargo, tallying their haul. In the center was a massive stack of crates, each a couple stories high, going nearly to the ceiling.

Most important, though, was the loud stallion in the hat. His grey coat and black mane were unremarkable save for the latter’s incredible curliness. The thick loops looked professional, and the beard and goatee finished the look. His deep, dark blue formal overcoat over a white shirt matched his hat, though the gold loop earrings were a bit much. It was his voice, drenched in a creole accent, that caught Twilight's attention more than anything. It was yelling constantly, with a stream of threats creative and degrading enough to be in Luna's league.

“I think we found the Captain.” Twilight scanned the rest of him, committing his sabre cutie mark to memory. “How does one even get a cutie mark in piracy? If that isn't a ‘hey, I'm evil’ warning, I don't know what is.”

“Hey, do you feel something funn--Whoa!”

Twilight and Rainbow both cracked their jaws on the vent floor from the sudden pressure, both of them thankful the rest of the ship was just as noisy with banging and cries from startled ponies. Gravity had seemingly become vicious in an instant, pulling down with an invisible, crushing hoof. It was over in less than a minute, and the popping in Twilight's ears told her just what had happened.

“The ship, it climbed… We must have shot up over a mile. But how? Not even the Bellerophon can do that.” Twilight peered back out the vent, watching the continued action below. “I wonder if that's how they've been evading the military so far.”

“Maybe, but I think it was more to do with the clouds we saw. Maybe it's some kind of cover, giving them the element of surprise each time. Ponies just get a moment to wonder what's going on before the shooting starts.”

“Hmmm…” Twilight zeroed in again on the apparent leader, pointing her ears at him and listening as best she could, though the subordinate was just too quiet.

“So, she wasn't there, you said?” The leader, however, was plenty loud. His words covered the entire bay as he paced. “Well now, that sure is interestin’. Especially considering that we knew she was gonna be there. So are y'all suggestin’ that our source was wrong? Or maybe Miss Sparkle just went an’ jumped off the train at some point?”

The pirate subordinate mumbled something.

“What's that, boy? I can't right hear ya. Go on an’ talk a bit louder now. I want the whole ship to hear us.”

The pirate cleared his throat and blushed. “I-I said, maybe she was killed by the ship’s guns.”

The leader took off his hat and rubbed his head for a few seconds. “Well, if that don't beat all. Maybe that's the case! I mean, it certainly would make sense, if'n we were that lucky.” He put his hat back on. “Now, just how stupid do ya think I am, son?”

The blush on the pirate turned into a ghostly pale. “N-no, I didn't say--”

“Oh? You callin’ me a liar now, boy?”

Even a ghostly pale wasn't enough to describe the fear in the stallion’s face. “I-I-I…”

“All y’all, do you think I'm stupid?”

“No, Captain Farriér!”

“Looks like it's just you, Tack. I'm wounded, fo’ sure, that you think so little of me that I might go’n imagine a prized mare like Grand Mage Sparkle would be killed so easily, ’specially after you went an’ tried to warn her!”

Tack’s lip trembled. “Captain, I swear, I would never!”

“There ya go again, callin’ me a liar! And yer callin’ Crown Agent Cob a liar, too!”

Tack froze.

Farriér grinned and glared Tack down from the corner of his eye. “Son, just who d’ya think runs things ‘round ‘ere?”

Tack mouthed something, but the words never came out.

“Tandem, seein’ as how he ain't usin’ them anyhow, be a good lad and blow Tack's brains out.”

Twilight's heart stopped as another pony pointed a mounted, cored cannon at the stallion. No, he can't mean--

Bang!

A body dropped to the blood-stained floor.

“No…” Twilight whimpered, putting a hoof on the vent. “Tack, I'm sorry. You tried to do the right thing. You tried…”

Farriér pulled a lever, and the far bay door screeched and whined as it opened the ship up to the storming, howling wind outside. Two ponies wasted no time picking up the body and tossing it overboard.

“Captain, Tack wasn't wrong about one thing.” Tandem tightened the bandana on his head. “We didn't find her body in the wreckage. We really sure she's alive?”

Another crack broke the air from Farriér’s hoof hitting Tandem's jaw. “O’course she's alive, ya nitwit! Miss Sparkle is the Grand Mage, not some dirt-licker who grew up in a tin shack like you! Y'all best remember who we dealin’ with, lest you end up like Tack!”

Tandem spit a tooth on the floor. “How we find her then, Captain?”

“That's easy, son.” Farriér signalled with one of his wings to a pony in the midst of the captured families, and the pirates pulled a stallion away from the group and next to where they killed Tack.

Twilight clenched her teeth, hoping it would stop her seething from setting fire to the vent under her. “Rainbow, get ready to hide.”

“What? Hide? Are you serious?”

“No matter what happens to me, stay out of sight, spy on them, find where their base is, and report to Celesti--”

“Papa! Papa, no!”

The mare next to the foal, presumably the mother, hushed her child with a hoof drenched in the river of her own tears. The stallion, meanwhile, was made to sit in the still-fresh blood.

“Stay strong, son.” His own tears were there, but he clearly fought back against them. “Daddy loves you.”

Tandem almost looked shocked. “Boss, no!”

Farriér raised an eyebrow. “Boy, you’d better have a good explanation for tellin’ me what to do, less you aimin’ ta join him.”

Tandem just smiled. “I think you should shoot the mother instead.”

Twilight locked eyes on the mare. “Rainbow, hide. Don't get--”

Bang!

The mare slammed into the wall along with her blood, and Farriér smiled as the blades hidden in his wings glowed and crackled. The leading pinion blade on his right lined up to the mare's body, a trace of death through the air. The ponies all, save for the pirates, stood in shock, though none more than the foal.

“M-mama?”

Farriér grabbed onto the stallion and shoved him a few paces to the open cargo door. “Well, my boy, I do declare, I believe you were right! And look, we even got another to--”

Twilight wasn't in the vent anymore. The vent didsn't exist, there was only fire and rage, along with a telekinetic blade screaming out for vengeance. It burned the air around it, but couldn't reach its target from being held back by Farriér’s wing blade. It was all that was between it and cutting off that smug, evil smile of his as he stood before her.

“Well, Lady Sparkle, I presume. Been waitin’ ta make your acquaintance.”

“Die.” The word didsn't come from her mouth, but her heart, and it echoed all the more for it as she drove the blade forward.

“Not bad!” Lightning rolled through the blades, pushing Twilight back, sliding her on her hooves across the floor. “But not good, either. Cataclysm!”

Lightning consumed Farriér, burning around him in a ball, but never touching him. It built up, then pulled back.

Twilight flared her horn ever brighter as her blade burned with dark flames hungry to destroy the sinner. She connected the stream to the house-sized crate next to her, pulling with blind, bloodthirsty rage and lifting it into the air over Farriér. “You want this? Have it!”

She let go.

Lightning cut through the wood, disintegrating it and pushing through with a current arcing into the floor. Metal and splinters flew like bullets, cutting Twilight's cheek and lodging in her armor. More power surged at her in a wave, a living rope of electricity whipping through the room and anything in its path.

Twilight pulled over another, smaller crate, and it popped like a bubble in the path of the magic. She lunged to the side, and the light followed her. She pulled down an avalanche of cargo, burying half the bay, and the lightning pushed through it like a vein. She even threw her blade, but the explosion only cleared the way.

“Electrical Apocalypse!”

Twilight pulled the debris in with her and painted it with her magic. The shell hardened and submerged into a solid, purple shield that followed her as she drove forward, into the maelstrom.

The edge of Farriér’s lightning attack broke Twilight’s shield into splinters, then sank into her chest.

Bang!

She fell, but not to the floor. She simply fell amidst a rainstorm of charred wood, glowing metal, and warped glass. The ship was no longer around her, and though there were storm clouds, those too soared away from her.

“Twilight! We're falling!”

Aurora’s plea rattled in her ears, and Twilight shook her head to clear it. She saw the ship, cloaked in cloud, floating away. Innumerable pieces of debris fell with her in the post-dawn air, some the size of a cart, others no larger than a superheated grain of sand.

The light came again, this time as flickers of yellow light deep in the clouds.

That's not lightning. Twilight pushed to the side with her pegasus magic, narrowly avoiding a hail of anti-aircraft bolts that was the opening crescendo of an entire symphony. Bolts rained down from the storm, followed by the hail of full cannon shot. She kept pushing, flying, moving through the air without wings through the desert sky.

The rain of firepower kept firing, seeking her out in her old spot.

They can't see me through the clouds this far away! I'm too tiny! Twilight snapped her attention to the debris, one piece of which bounced off her back. One large crate hit the ground and exploded under her, forecasting her fate in mere moments. Nail, bottle, wheel… No, that's not wha-, wait, there!

She snagged a crate the size of a small coffee table and ripped off one of the large sides. Here goes nothing! Twilight lit a magic circle on the wood, then turned the side over and fired the spell. Sender's Shower blasted magic and water at the rapidly approaching ground, and Twilight hooked into the circle with her thoughts to send more and more magic its way, reprogramming it as she went. The water caught the air before hitting the ground, slowing the board down for Twilight to approach it.

Twilight grabbed on tight to the board, turned herself upside down, held it against all four hooves, and fought back against gravity with every ounce of pegasus magic she could find. The water from earlier rushed passed her, winning the race to the ground.

“Poomf” was the only sound she made as her back landed on the newly-formed steam cloud just above the desert floor.

It was exactly what Twilight had counted on.

She turned herself over, walking off the hot cloud with board in tow. The ship had only just stopped firing, but that still left the echoes of its guns to ring out in the mesas, warning anypony in earshot of the new craters in the desert. Seconds later, the storm clouds vanished completely, along with the ship. Not even her thaumic sight could find a trace.

Twilight swallowed in her already dry throat. “Tack, everypony, I'm sorry. I couldn't save you.” Only a single tear escaped the growing rage in Twilight's pounding heart. “Rainbow, I'm counting on you. Find their base, and get back to me.”

Aurora gave voice to a thought Twilight didn’t want to confront: “What if she can't get out?”

Rainbow ducked back into the depths of the vent, praying that her pounding heart wasn't beating a warning to the pirates through the metal. “It can't… She can't be…”

Thunder and shocks rocked the entire ship, swaying it left and right and all but shaking it apart.

The guns? They're... firing? Rainbow’s eyes went wide. Of course! That means they don't think she's dead! If she's okay, and can dodge the shots, she'll live! But what if they hit…

The walls in the vent pushed in.

I let her down. I should have pushed out the grate.

The dirty, dusty metal closed around her as the mechanical snake swallowed.

I might’ve only been a distraction, but that's all she needed. I'm the Captain of the Evening Guard. I'm supposed to die, not her.

Her breathing stopped as if fangs dug into her throat. Her heart slowed, squeezing down in her chest.

The guns stopped.

I'm… I'm… Rainbow stopped. She simply stopped. Stopped everything. The world fell away, as did her mind. There was nothing; no pain, no sound, no taste, no light, no planning, no possibilities. There was only her.

There was only loyalty.

Being true to Twilight means trusting her. It means trusting in her abilities. I didn't see her die, I only saw her fall. She's an alicorn. She can survive that. And her armor is incredible. I doubt some little zap like that is enough to take her out. The guns? Pfft. Like they could track a target that can teleport. They just lost sight of her.

Rainbow laid back in the wide, abnormally spacious vent. She even kicked back and yawned. All I gotta do is stay put until they dock somewhere, then fly. They got nothing that can catch me. And if they try to stop me? Tch.

She poked her head into the vent intersection just enough to see the light from outside for when the cargo doors opened again. “If they try to stop me, then Una Salus Victis.”

“Rainbow will be fine. Even if she can't get out, all she has to do is stay put. Eventually, I'll find her. And Farriér.”

Twilight pointed the board at the ground and set off another Sender's Shower, and a geyser of steam bellowed into the air. A swirl of pegasus wind was all it took to make another, smaller cloud.

She hopped on her cloud, grabbing her board before it lifted off. Her pegasus magic pushed them up dozens, then hundreds of meters into the air. She had a perfect view of the desert floor, and the air was much cooler. She was even able to shield her coat from the harsh rays of Celestia’s sun with her multi-talented piece of wood.

Twilight shifted her magic from pushing her up to pushing her forward as she aimed for the railroad tracks in the distance.

“Where are we going?”

“Isn't it obvious? To Sierra Maredre, the capital of San Palomino, to find somepony who knows where Farriér hides.”

Author's Note

Action! Couldn't have fluff forever, could we? :raritywink:

Hope you all like this one. It’s kinda dark and violent, definitely, but Farriér is one dark, violent individual. Bonus points to whoever figures out which real world pirate inspired me to make this character. Note: Unfortunately, just like Whose Line, the points don’t mean a thing. ;)

Big blog post to go along with this one. As always, the blog is a good way to keep tabs on me and get updates on my ~~laziness~~writing. The other way is the Discord chat.

Patreon will update shortly!

-Cv

Patreon – Help support the author! | Discord Chat Channel – Come join us! |Tropes Page – Show it some love!

Flower in the Sand

As Twilight floated along over the sands of fire, kicking her cloud's rear with pegasus wind to push herself along, she hummed to herself to keep her mind focused. The flame magic a couple hundred meters below was hotter on her coat than the sun, even when she wasn't shading herself with a handy-dandy piece of wood.

That same fire magic, combined with the side of the crate and Sender's Shower, meant that Twilight could replenish her little cloud as much as she needed. Her altitude was high enough to avoid most of the blowing sand, and it even tempered the heat from the sands below her. A train chugged along in the far distance, belching smoke as it burned crude solidified magic.

“I'm surprised, Twilight,” Aurora chimed in.”I thought you would be more worried about Rainbow than this.”

“I am worried, but I’m trying to keep the fear moderated,” Twilight replied. “But I have faith in her; Rainbow should be fine. It didn't appear as though Farriér knew about her, and she’s well hidden anyway, which means she's free to infiltrate their base. Once she does, all she needs is a straight shot into the sky and they won't have a prayer in catching her. Only Celestia and Luna can outrace a pony capable of a Rainboom.”

Aurora appeared next to her, albeit faintly and not in the real world. It was merely an illusion that only Twilight could see, and no less adorable for it. She was snuggled down into the cloud and looked off into the distance. “Still, I worry. Especially after what he did to that other mare.”

A stabbing shock cut through Twilight's heart and out her soul, manifesting itself as another ghostly figure. This one, though, was of the mare that was killed before her eyes. Her mouth was moving, and even though there was no voice, Twilight knew what the newest ghost to follow her was saying.

“Save my baby.”

Twilight held her breath against the tears and anger, beating it back with her will until she was blue in the face. “Don't worry. We'll save them. Not only that, we'll stop him from hurting anypony else.”

Aurora nodded and turned into a wisp, then swirled her way into the torc’s gem. “Where do we start?”

“There.” Twilight pointed to a town coming down from the horizon. It was small, and barely worth a dot on a map, but it had something far more important than size. The buzz of telegraph wires below her were the key, and they led straight into town. “I need to get a message to Celestia. From there, we find a way to Sierra Maredre and get help from Duke Badlands.”

“And if he won't help?”

“Then he gets moved up on the ‘problems to deal with’ checklist.” Twilight pulled her armor in, undeploying it back into a torc. She unclipped her saddlebag and unfurled one of the few supplies they had received that weren't either destroyed or stolen by the pirates. The black, heavy-threaded poncho draped over her shoulders and snapped securely at her neck. Next was the hat, which was equally black and had rims every bit as wide, if not wider, than that of Phantasm, the mare who led her to the faulty orphanage in Ponyville. Her ears poked through the holes, letting it rest squarely on her head.

Both shimmered in the light for just an instant, which revealed the subtle lines of silvery enchantments woven into the threads. An icy breeze melted over her back from the magic as it fought the incredible desert heat. The cold only increased when Twilight jumped off the cloud with the piece of wood in her grip.

Her hooves barely made any sound as they touched down on the dense red dirt of the desert. Pegasus magic blasted sand out from her and swept the ground under her as she gathered herself. She tipped her hat down as the magic faded. The town was only a five minutes’ trot away, as was the beginning of the end for Farriér.

“San Palomino. Even one hundred years after being recognized as a Duchy, it's still called The Lawless Frontier. Perhaps it's time for that to change. Aurora, you ready?”

“Structural integrity is nominal. Defensive profiles are being optimized for fire and lightning as we speak. Ready to deploy with as little as one-third of a second's notice.”

Twilight eyed the town, running through her mental to-do checklist. “Then let's do this!”

Desert Rose’s head slammed into the bar. Unlike the “incident” a couple weeks ago, this was her normal dive into a sturdy piece of wood.

“Another long night, huh Rose? Too bad nightmares can't take the place of coffee, huh?”

“Nyug.” Rose eyed the bartender, not even dignifying that idea with a response. Nothing could replace coffee, and if Whiskey Nap didn't shut his face and stop shoving ice picks in her ears with his words, she'd feed him his prostate. “Coffee. Coffee now.”

Whiskey sighed as she poured out a cup of black joe. “One of these days, Rose, you're going to have to go to a doctor about this. Nightmares every night t’ain’t normal.”

“I told you, I am seeing a doctor.” Rose pulled out the little bottle and tapped out a few of the little, white, oblong pills it contained. “Gave me the medicine, even.”

“Yes, medicine! Take medicine, weakling foa–” Rose slammed her eyes shut, screaming at her internal, infernal subconscious that didn't even have the decency to leave her alone when she was awake.

“Yeah, but it's been how many years now? Three? Still done ya no good at all. Yer wastin’ yer money.”

“Pfft. So I should go clear to Sierra Maredre and spend ten times as much for the same advice and medicine? No thanks. Can't afford it. Not even after my next bust.”

“Oh?” Whiskey put a fresh pot of Cayenne Sparkle on. “Sounds like you got something big lined up!”

“Damn straight I do!” Rose gobbled her medicine and washed it down with her still-scalding, jet-black ambrosia. “Ah…”

“Heh. Tell us another one, Rose!” Ol’ Duster spat one of his sunflower seed shells into a disgusting flower pot already filled with them while carefully holding his cards at his chest. The old earth pony was never without his seeds and a salt lick. How he hadn't died of dehydration was anypony’s guess. “Just like that time you were gonna catch Captain Farriér?”

“I had bad intel that time. And I was a teenaged moron. This time will be different. It's going to make my reputation as a bounty hunter! I'm going to haul in the Dagger gang!” Rose stuffed her muzzle into her coffee cup and prayed with her clenched teeth that they wouldn't notice it was already empty. Damnit, Damnit, Damnit! Rose, why did you go and say that! Now one of them could warn the gang and blow the whole op!

“Ha! That'll be the day!” Duster scooped up the hand's winnings like the pro he was—after spitting another seed, of course. “Maybe we should tell the undertaker now, just so he's ready.”

“Hmph. You'll see.” She downed her second cup and tossed some bits on the table. “Can't stay too late today. Got work to d—”

The cracks of cored cannons ripping through wood pounded through the saloon, and everypony dove for cover under the tables, chairs, and any other ineffectual thing they could find. If a bolt headed their way, they were dead all the same, but the splinters were raining down on them, so the guns were being aimed high up. Hitting the deck was the right call.

“Sweet Celestia on water skis, what in tarnation is going on?!” Even through the blasts, Duster kept eating his seeds. “I have half a mind ta—”

Rose held up a hoof to silence the old coot, then peeked out the shattered window across the street of the small town. Green bolts were flying every which way out of the bank. The same bank the Dagger gang was supposed to hit tomorrow. “They're ahead of schedule. Stay here, everypony. I'll take care of this.”

She stomped her huge forehoof on the floor, and the mini cored cannons hidden in her saddle sprung out, one gun on each side. Her wings flared out and flapped, lifting her draft frame up and out the door.

Twilight marched through the blowing dust and heat, one hoof in front of the other past rocks and dead plants that just couldn't handle the fire magic of the desert. The air bent and waved in the sun that hammered down on the land as if it was the mighty hoof of Celestia herself. With each step, her cloak, mane, and tail all waved in time with her trot, and her hat brim was tilted against the slight, but dry and abrasive wind. Ponies milled about in their daily lives, watching her as she strolled into town.

The town was small, with maybe a dozen small shops and a few dozen homes off the main drag. The wood of the older buildings had scorch marks where it met the ground. Wires buzzed between them in a setup that could have been called substandard in only the most generous of manners. A lone water tower was probably the only reliable source of water for miles on end; Sender's Shower was too complex for most ponies to master, let alone cast repeatedly.

The first building on her right had heavy windows and buzzed with wards engraved into the frame. Her first instinct told her that it was a bank, which was what she was looking for. The sign overhead, though, read “Bounty Depot.”

“Bounty?” She shook her head and switched to her thaumic sight, and sure enough, wards were all over the building. On top of that, the ground pulsed red like a swollen wound. Only one other building had such security, and unlike the others, it was made of solid brick. An expensive air conditioning system hummed on top of it, and the windows had glass far thicker than what was normal. The sign overhead confirmed it; thatwas the bank she was looking for.

She stepped inside and let the glorious, nearly sinful joy of cold, crisp air dance and flow over her sweaty back. A hint of the refrigerant fought in an arena against the smell of bulk-purchase coffee left out too long. The ceiling fans were silent in the face of the superior cooling system, and the green paint and blue carpet sucked her away from the reality of where she was.

“Good evening, Miss! How may we help you today?”

Twilight snapped herself out of it and took off her hat before approaching the mare behind the counter. “I need to make a withdrawal. A significant one.”

“Certainly. May I ask you your account number?”

“Yes, one second.” Twilight fished out her notebook and ran through the decryption in her head, then scribbled out the account number, her name, and the pass code to use it. She also added the amount she wanted to withdrawal.

“Oh my.” The mare blinked. “Twenty thousand? It'll take a few minutes to get that together for you. Let me just check the account details first.”

She turned behind her and went to the dozens of large, wooden filing cabinets and pulled a drawer open. After a moment, she took out a page and started reading.

This is the first time I've used this account in the field. I wonder how much Celestia actually put in there.

The mare fell to her haunches.

I'm guessing it's a lot.

“Well, this… This looks to be in order, ma’am.” The clerk came back to the counter with her ears down. “Please have a seat, and we'll bring your funds to you. Would you prefer large or small denominations?”

“A mix, if you would. Also, you wouldn't happen to know where I could commission a pegasus to transport me to Sierra Maredre, would you?”

“There's no such business I know of here, but if you go to the bar, you might find a pony willing to take the job. Maybe even the Bounty Depot would have a bounty hunter willing to make some ‘easy’ bits.”

“Easy bits?” A stallion chewing on an unlit cigar laughed as he stepped in ahead of a few more ponies. His cutie mark was a twisted dagger, and his back was heavy with a Cloudsdale cored cannon. “Speak of Cerberus. That's exactly what we're after!”

“Wow.” Aurora laughed while she deployed.“These stallions have really awful timing, don't they?”

Yup. Twilight locked her gaze on the leader and charged her horn. Let's give them a lecture on the topic.

“Damnit, I should have known not to take that flank-wipe at his word!” Rose’s wings thumped the air and rocketed her down the main drag. Her bee-line came to an abrupt end at the reinforced glass door, which she promptly kicked inwards. “Alright, Dagger, drop the gun and sur–”

Rose’s jaw dropped.

Dagger was down for the count. She'd never seen him roughed up like that before, and what's more, he was covered in some kind of hard light spell that was trapping him on the floor in a chain made of glowing panes of glass. His crew was in just as bad a way. Several teeth were scattered about the floor, and bruises were already growing on them. One of the pegasi on his crew was knocked out cold and draped over a ceiling fan blade.

In the middle of it all was a short, but extremely well-armoured unicorn mare that looked like she belonged more on a battlefield than a desert town in the middle of nowhere. Wait, that's not right. It's only her armor…

For all the enchanted steel she was under, what little Rose could see was anything but soldier-like. Her dark mane was long, flat, and flowing, with a pink stripe running down the center. It tickled the floor as it brushed the carpet, and her tail did the same. Her poise and stance was anything but military. The movements of her legs were closer to that of a dancer, or at least a Canterlot noble.

Most confounding of all, though, were her eyes. Soldiers had a stare that they did when looking off into the past, and it was distant and horrible. They had another when they were in battle mode, and it was absorbed in the present while their training guided every action.

Hers was neither. It was present, but calculating. She was thinking, analyzing, and if she was doing that while fighting Dagger, she could think as fast as a pegasus could fly.

It was only then that Rose realized that the mare was analyzing her.

“Judging by your outburst and your cutie mark, I'm guessing you are some form of law enforcement authority, or what passes for one in San Palomino. Right?”

“Uhhhh…” Rose blinked and poked one of the unconscious gang members with a hoof. “Yeah? I'm a bounty hunter.” She sighed and slumped to the floor, covering her head to protect against the bomb of bad news. “And it looks like I'm out ten thousand bits…”

The mare finished casting some kind of spell, which sealed another of the gang in that strange light. “I'm not after a bounty. These idiots just tried to rob the bank while I was here. If you have the shackles, I'm willing to turn them over to you. I've got more important things to get done while I'm here.”

Rose's jaw dropped again. “Seriously? Even after knowing how much they're worth?”

“Honestly, I don't care at all how much the bounty is. I'm not here for bits. Well, not to earn additional bits, at least.” Her armor glowed white and purple, then peeled off her body, retracting into a slender purple torc not unlike what the princesses wore.

“Not here for...” Whatever convoluted, tortured expression her face had contorted to, it probably wasn't going to change anytime soon. “Who comes to San Palomino for anything but bits? That's kind of the whole shtick here.”

“A Grand Mage doesn't really worry about getting more bits.”

Lightning cracked through Rose's soul, crystallizing her thoughts like sand. The Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle… She looked her over again. The Canterlot properness and poise, the lethality against thugs that don't even rate against threats faced in the past, the mercy shown in letting them live, and even forgoing a bounty all added up. This is the most powerful pony short of the princesses. I… I don't even know what to do now…

“She too strong! Take medicine! Run!” Rose swallowed the voice away, bracing herself against it.

Twilight picked up some of the furniture in her magic, putting things back the way they were. “That being said, we do sometimes need to make withdrawals, same as anypony. Miss, are my funds ready?”

The bank clerk poked her head out from the office door, shaken and frazzled. “Is-Is it safe to come out now?”

“Yes, it's safe. I'll give you some time to collect yourself and get things ready, but I'm afraid I can't wait to long. I have a few other things I need to do, and I need money to do them. Don't worry about the thugs, I'm sure my new acquaintance here can take care of things, right Miss…?” The mare looked to her, waiting with a smile for a blank to be filled.

Rose’s mind ran around in circles for a moment to catch up to what was just in front of her. When it stopped chasing its brainstem, her mouth had already started. “Myuagre… Huh? Oh! Right, Rose. Desert Rose.”

“Ah, right. A rose inside a shield, over a pair of shackles. I suppose I should have guessed from the cutie mark. I'll help you get them restrained for transport. Since you're a heavy pegasus, I assume you can carry them down the road easily enough?”

Lightning struck inside her again, this time jolting her up on her hooves. “H-how did you know I'm part earth pony? I know I'm odd, being a draft mare, but that doesn't mean I'm a hybrid!”

Twilight shrugged. “Again, Grand Mage. I have an extremely fine sense of magic, and you practically radiate a hybrid’s viridian magic. Given you have wings, too, there's only one possibility: heavy pegasus.”

Rose sighed. “Is there anything you can't do?”

“Be two places at once. Come on, let's get to work. I'll help you offload these guys, but after that, I have to get to the telegraph office.”

Twilight hopped on the office chair and slid to the transmitter, then slapped on the headset and opened her notebook.

“Miss, you're not supposed to be back here…”

Twilight flicked one of her new five-hundred-bit pieces at him.

“... But I think we can make an exception. You obviously have important business.”

The door closed, and she was alone in the dusty room to do her work. She pushed herself up and put her hooves on the slightly-too-tall desk and grabbed hold of the lever with her magic. The message had to be encrypted; telegraph lines were easy to tap. What's more, all her instructions in her book were also encrypted. She'd have to solve them, make her message, and re-encrypt them without giving the ponies in the other room a prayer to figure out what she was sending out.

Piece of cake.

The notebook flipped through its pages to the instructions, and the symbols began their serenade in her mind. Piece after piece that wasn't already firmly lodged in memory found its place among the others. Before long, they changed places.

The result was a string of gobbledygook to anypony that didn't know what to look for. The ponies that did were on the military base at the other end of the line. While the message wouldn't be crackable to anypony else other than its intended recipient within any reasonable time frame, that didn't diminish its weight.

TRAIN 913 DESTROYED BY PIRATE AIRSHIP STOP CASUALTIES HEAVY STOP HOSTAGES TAKEN STOP LEADER IS ONE CAPTAIN FARRIÉR STOP CAPTAIN RAINBOW DASH ASSUMED CAPTURED STOP REQUEST MILITARY WONDERBOLT SAR STOP PRIORITY VIOLET STOP

SEARCH GRID R20-R22 M50-67 STOP

REQUEST MILITARY AIRSHIP PATROL ON SAME GRID STOP PRIORITY INDIGO STOP

CONTINUING TO SIERRA MAREDRE STOP REQUEST CROWN AGENT RESOURCE AT DESTINATION STOP PRIORITY BLUE STOP

INVESTIGATE CROWN AGENT COB ASAP FOR POSSIBLE COLLABORATION WITH PIRATE FARRIÉR STOP

CONFIRMATION CODE: ZERO ZERO STRIKE RED ZERO RETRO NINE BLUE STRIKE FIVE NINE FIVE STOP

“Done!” Twilight packed up her notebook and left without a trace left in the room, not even a single thing written down. She swung the door open and walked right by the nervous, gossiping ponies manning the telegraph station. Outside, the bright day made her put her hat and cloak back on.

Money acquired, message sent. Next objective, stock up on water and secure transit to Sierra Maredre. Best bet is the bar, and just in case… Magic curled around her horn and drew itself down into her stomach, ready to convert vast quantities of alcohol into harmless water and sugar at a moment's notice. Let's do this.

She pushed open the almost joyously stereotypical doors to the saloon and strolled in, finding a bartender cleaning and a dozen or so ponies passing the time drinking and playing poker. There was even a stage, though its coating of dust said it hadn't been used in ages. Like the outside, the floor wood was charred over time from the desert’s magic, though the rest was normal wood, even if it wasn't the best-maintained place she'd ever been in. For the town she was in, it was, in a word, adequate.

“Well now, lookie here!” A geezer spat a sunflower seed into a flower pot already filled with them. “Not bad. Why don't you come here and have a seat next to Ol’ Duster. We can--”

“No accosting other customers, Duster, or I'll make you pay your tab today. Use it to fix the cannon holes.”

“Bah!”

“I'm sorry about that, Miss.” The bartender flopped his rag over his shoulder. “What can I get for you?”

Twilight smiled and hopped up on one of the stools, which, despite her recent growth, was still awkwardly tall for her. “I'm looking to buy some permafrost water bottles. Filled, of course. Do you happen to have any?”

“We do! They're seventy-five each.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “MSRP is thirty. What's with the upcharge?”

Duster almost fell out of his seat laughing. “Oh, we got a newbie here! Hehe!”

The bartender grumbled and waggled a piece of paper Twilight could only assume was Duster’s tab, since he shut up fast. “Water is the most precious thing in the desert, Miss, and our water tower hasn't been resupplied in quite a while. It's imported jugs and bottles for water, beer or soda if’n you aren't picky about what you drink, or going thirsty around here. Frankly, there's not even enough of those to go around. Ponies are leaving. Low supply, high demand.”

Twilight pulled out a thousand bit piece and flopped it in the table. “I'll take five. Keep the change if you want, but if you do, sell the next several at MSRP. If I hear that you didn't, I'll have a crown agent investigate resource price gouging, which is a crime against the Crown, i.e., a felony.”

The bartender returned her raised eyebrow. “That's some powerful talk, Miss, but if you'll excuse me, I've heard that kind of threat before. Granted, it didn't have money like that attached to it, but I'm not one to back down over words from a mare too big for her britches. Nopony here is.”

Twilight got off the stool and turned to her side to display her cutie mark. “That bag of Cayenne Sparkle you have over there? That's from Bon Bon’s Café. She made that blend just for me, and it became popular enough that I gave her permission to use a variant of my cutie mark for marketing.”

All card playing in the room stopped.

“Ha!” Rose snickered and chuckled while strolling into the bar. “I heard that hush from out there. What, did Whiskey try to price gouge her or something?”

The silence marched on while Whiskey refused to meet either mare's gaze.

“Holy. Crap. You did. You tried to rip off the Grand Mage. Whiskey, you bucking idiot. I told you that you'd run into the wrong pony with that crap someday.”

“He doesn't have too much to worry about.” Twilight slid the bit closer to Whiskey. “So long as he straightens out. There are much bigger crooks out here that are a lot higher on my list. But, I do need my water. Do we have a deal, Whiskey?”

Whiskey sighed. “Yes, ma'am.” He went to the back room, and brought out five liter-sized bottles, each snow white and covered in frost. Most of the other ponies in the room were licking their lips.

“Those will do nicely.” Twilight pocketed them in her now thoroughly stuffed bag. “But, I do need one more thing.” She turned to face the room of ponies, and took in a deep breath to address them all. “I'm looking for a pegasus who has a cart or chariot and is willing to fly me to Sierra Maredre. I know it's a long flight, but I'm willing to compensate handsomely.”

She floated out a thousand bit piece and slammed it on an empty table. “I wouldn't normally do this, but the matter is urgent. Is there anypony here willing to help me?”

Everypony put their head down, hid their eyes behind hats or cards, or otherwise gave her a big, loud, non-verbal “No.”

“Huh.” Twilight scratched her head. “I would've expected a warmer response than that. Especially for a thousand bits.”

“Hmph.” Duster spat a seed. “Even if I had wings, ya'd have ta pay me more than that ta fly ta that little slice of Tartarus.”

“Seriously?” Twilight peeked at the rest of the money in her bag. “Hmmm…”

“I'll do it.”

Twilight looked up at a smiling Rose. “You will?”

“Sure. You already saved me a ton of work. Sierra Maredre sucks, but I feel like I owe you. And I pay my debts.”

Whiskey twitched his nose and accompanying moustache. “Then when are you going to pay your tab?”

Rose slammed some bits on the table. “Now’s as good a time as any. And besides, a thousand more bits for a day of flying?” She shook and shuddered, pawing at her ear like something was biting it. “Not a bad price. You got yourself a deal.”

“Excellent! Get your cart or chariot ready. I just have one stop left here in town.” Twilight strode back out through the doors, and this time, the heat didn't seem to burn quite as bad. Rose was flying overhead, with her large, outstretched wings. A draft mare. That's not something you see every day. And her wings are rare, too. They're in the same kind of class as Cadence's; not a huge amount of manoeuvrability, but I bet she could glide steady and strong through the heart of a storm.

Onwards she marched through the main street, and by now, the dozens of ponies around her were keenly aware that she wasn't just from out of town. They knew who she was, and they'd all come to get a look. Part of being an alicorn, I suppose. Definitely not my favorite part. This time, her target wasn't a building per se, but was a structure. A short walk down the road, she stopped in front of the town's water tower.

As expected, it was much larger than Ponyville's old model. It was next to the rail lines for easy filling from the tracks, but the bartender said it had been dry for some time.

“Hmmm. I bet I know who's responsible for stealing their water.”

“Farriér.” Twilight sneered. “I can't fix this outright. Not permanently. But I can give them a little relief.” She sparked herself up to a ledge on the tower, then grabbed hold of the top with her magic.

“Hey!” Rose called out from the air with a simple cart in tow. “What're you doing to our water?!”

“That’s just it! There's no water in here! I'm going to fix that!” Twilight clenched her teeth and strained her neck and she pulled on the top of the tower with her magic. Her horn nearly twisted as her force lifted on the roof like a crowbar. The wood creaked and groaned while nails popped from their resting places. One final push, and it came off.

Twilight set it down like a delicate glass weighing a literal ton, then sparked up to the narrow ledge. A black, waterproof seal surrounded the inside of the tower, but it was dry and dusty. Not even a trace amount of moisture was left on the bottom. It had to have been dry for some time.

“Okay, one fill-up, on the house!” She aimed her spell at an interior side of the tower and carved a magic circle into it. Inside that, she wrote the formula for Sender's Shower, and the circle changed colour from purple, to blue. She pushed power into the outside ring; far more than she'd used to pull off the top. Last, she added a simple timing loop, then let the spell go.

Jets of water roared and splashed around the tower, washing the dust down with a small torrent. Seconds later, the spell stopped. At least, it stopped until the magic circle fired again, filling up another portion. It cycled over and over, and would keep doing it for while.

“Holy… She filled the water tower! Everypony, come quick! Get yer water! The tower is full!”

Twilight wasn't sure which stallion it was that sounded the call for the swarm of ponies below her, but her focus was on getting the top back on securely. By the time it was fixed and she had teleported down, half the town was there with buckets.

“I thought I'd seen everything in the desert.” The stallion with a white mane, moustache, and stetson said. “But I've never seen anypony rip off the top of a water tower like a soda bottle before, let alone refill it from nothing.” He took a deep bow. “We're in your debt, Lady Sparkle. Now we can stop paying for those shipments that never come.”

Twilight shook her head. “It's not a permanent solution. The spell will keep firing for thirty minutes or so. Fill up while you can.”

The stallion staggered from the verbal slash to the back. “But… We need water! The town is dying!”

And this is another thing about being an alicorn… “I don't have perfect solutions to everything. I can't wave my horn and fix everything, Grand Mage or not. I gave you a small reprieve because it was something that I could do to help. I'm just one pony in a nation of billions.

“But this at least gives you time. Come together, work together. You'd be surprised what a little organization and grassroots action can do. You might just discover that with some hard work, you're even more powerful than I am.”

The stallion sighed and took off his hat to rub his head. “Things have been so bad for so long. We've written so many letters to the Duke…”

“Based on what I've heard, I wouldn't rely on him. I'm actually headed to the capital now, but political solutions usually take a geological age. This town will be long dead before any solution from this Duchy's government comes around if you don't take action yourselves immediately.”

“What…” The stallion looked up at her with the eyes of a foal. “What would you have us do?”

“Talk to other towns in the same situation, scout the desert for oasis, get in contact with other water companies… You know this land, this Duchy better than I do. I know it looks hard, but you're not as weak as you think. Like I said, come together. Harmony and friendship is more than a match for just about anything.”

With a spark and a pop, she was gone, or at least a hundred or so meters in the air. One more, and she was sitting in the back of Rose's cart.

“Gah!” Rose jerked and lunged forward like she wasn't securely connected to the cart. “Anypony ever tell you to warn them when you're about to do that?”

“Only all the time. I’m afraid you're going to have to get used to that if you're going to travel with me. It's kind of my signature spell.”

“... You and your friends, the Elements. You're all a bunch of crazy weirdos, aren't you.”

Twilight couldn't help but channel Rainbow. “Of course not. We're even cooler than that!”

Rose facehooved. “Me and my big mouth.”

“Hush. Less talking, more flying!” Twilight put one forehoof on the edge of the cart and used the other to dip the edge of her hat. “Next stop, Sierra Maredre!”

Spitfire landed on the deck of the Bellerophon and faced her Wonderbolts. They were the only ones allowed in the bay at the moment, as it was an official briefing, and the cargo bay was the only place big enough on the ship to hold so many pegasi.

“Listen up! We have our orders, and these come from Princess Celestia herself. One of our own has been captured! Captain Dash, currently of the Evening Guard, is assumed captured by criminal pirate forces in San Palomino!”

“Pfft. Figures. If she got captured, it was her own--”

Spitfire opened a wing and sent fire to lick the deck under the stallion.

“Yipe!”

“We do not know the full extent of the situation, only that she is assumed captured! She may be dead, she may be doing something else entirely. That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we are going to show the world what happens when you mess with a Wonderbolt! We are going to save our comrade, find these pirates, and then redefine the phrase ‘death from above’ by writing it on the desert floor with their charred, crusty blood!”

She didn't get the “Oo-rah” she wanted.

“Gotta go out and save her butt then, huh?” Another stallion sorted, clearly not getting her searing warning to the other one. “Ancestors, she always did suck.”

“The only thing sucking around here, Cirrus, is your mother, and I didn't even have to put any drinks in her!” Spitfire waited for the customary chuckles to die down. “Rainbow has her problems, but she's the second-best flyer in the history of the Wonderbolts, and her loyalty is second to none. For all we know, she went down fighting the airship single-hoofed.”

Her flyers shut up in an instant at the mention of what they were up against.

“That's right, pansies. While you diss her and whine that the hotel doesn't have your favourite chocolate, she was fighting a San Palomino pirate airship with only the Grand Mage as backup. And now, we're going to go looking for that same trouble - and there's no guarantee that you'll be in range of the Bellerophon’s support when you run into said trouble.

“Our search grid is huge. The desert is vast. Intel suspects our target has some kind of stealth capability based on how hard they've been to track down. You may be beset by fire with no warning. But we are Wonderbolts, and we will get the job done!”

“Oo-rah!”

Weak, but at least they did it this time. Spitfire took off her sunglasses and stared them all in the eye. “I've been reviewing our performance reports. Our shows are as good as ever, but for combat readiness? Guys, the Yellowjackets are cleaning our clocks. This isn't going to continue.

“There are going to be some changes around here. Changes that are long overdue. Our show schedules are being cut in half. Larger venues, fewer performances. Moreover, very few of you are going to continue to have parts in them.”

Spitfire braced against the onslaught of whining, which was solid enough she could probably have physically leaned against it like a wall. “The rest of you are going to train for service like nothing else. I am going to run you all into the ground if you don't shape up - and two pegasi from the Day Guard are going to help me do it. Only the best of the best in combat are going to be in the shows, and those of you that don't perform in combat?” She dragged a line in the air across her throat. “No more slacking, anywhere or at all, or you're gone.”

“Is that why Lieutenant Barrel Roll isn't here anymore? Was he discharged?”

Spitfire sucked in a breath and put her glasses back on. “What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. Barrel Roll is dead. He turned traitor for a chance at petty revenge on Rainbow Dash during the Cloudsdale Uprising. A former member of the Day Guard, working with the Grand Mage, engaged him in combat and killed him.”

She paused to let her pegasi marinate in that knowledge. “This is a stain our unit will never be able to remove. Ever. There's already talk of disbanding us completely. It is only by Rainbow's plea to Celestia that it hasn't already happened. She believes in us. She is loyal to us, even though we haven't been to her.

“That changes now. From here on out, we are not show ponies, we are soldiers, and soldiers stick by their own. Anypony that disagrees can fly home; I'll file your dishonourable discharge papers later. Anypony that doesn't work like they’re the elite they're supposed to be will find those same papers jammed up their backside as they’re punted out the door.

“Rainbow Dash saved our unit. It's time we returned the favour by saving her. We are Wonderbolts, and we are loyal to our own! Loyal as the sky is blue! And we are going to protect our own!”

“Oo-rah!”

Spitfire smiled. Better. Looks like they get it.

Author's Note

This month sucked. Been in a depressed funk. Couldn't write. To make matters worse, my cancer might be back.

If there's folks out there who still actually enjoy my writing, let me know. I could really use some encouragement these days.

-Cv

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Crashing Metal

Twilight covered her mouth with her cloak and wished she had brought a scarf, and maybe vinegar. Celestia hadn't warned her about this.

Sierra Maredre was deep in the San Palomino desert. The area was rocky and covered in canyons and mesas, but that didn't stop sand and dust from choking the air. Yet even that was only just a part of what she saw.

The ground was painted orange naturally, but there was nothing natural about the city they were approaching. The entire thing was blanketed in a strangling green haze that oozed more than floated through the sky. Entire clouds of the stuff hung around, flipping an obscene gesture to the natural wind that just couldn't seem to dislodge them.

When they got close, things were no better. The buildings themselves were a patchwork of metal, bolted and welded together. Remnants of metal objects of all kinds - chairs, wheels, chariots, light posts, buckets, and more - were all broken down and fused together to create monstrosities of “architecture” that would haunt the nightmares of the ponies that designed the Harmony State Building. The bright neon signs attached all over them were signal beacons for pegasi as much as they were advertising; without them, the polluted smog was so thick that anything with wings risked breaking their skulls on metal walls if they moved at anything faster than a hover. Somehow, defying the odds, and maybe even sanity considering the amount of corrosion on them, the buildings here were every bit as tall as the skyscrapers in Manehatten.

The wind itself was sick with disease. Most ponies that were outside had some kind of mask. A few had full-fledged gas masks, while most used bandanas or construction dust masks. Many had goggles, especially the pegasi.

“Well, we're here.” Rose pulled down her own goggles. “Where did you want to go?”

“The Duchy Government building. I'm assuming it's around here somewhere,” Twilight said between coughs. “Then probably somewhere I can buy a gas mask or something if I'm going to have to be here. How can anypony live like this?”

“We're not pampered princesses out here, Lady Sparkle. It takes a tougher breed to make it in San Palomino. Lotsa ponies don't realize that and wind up running home.”

“More like ‘breed immune to poison.’ This level of pollution cannot be legal!”

“It isn't.” Aurora made a sound like smacking lips that she didn't have. “I'm detecting low-level thaumic contamination. It's oddly weak, despite the density. A pony could survive this, but would have a very high risk of serious health problems over the long term. Either way, it definitely exceeds Crown safety regulations.”

“I don't know what you think the law in San Palomino is, Lady Sparkle, but here it's more of a guideline. Or maybe an optional service.”

Twilight would have dropped her jaw, but didn't want the smog to corrode away teeth. “The law isn't supposed to be optional, Rose. It's why they're called laws.”

“Maybe, but that's not how it works here. Trust me, I know. Here, let me show you.” Rose went into a dive, taking them down to street level near the core of the city. Strangely, the air was slightly clearer and less green than the space a hundred feet or so higher. The dirt and stone boulevard was quite spacious, especially compared to older large cities. Ponies didn't mill about like they did at the markets there or in Ponyville, though. They made beelines from one building to another, going directly to their destinations without slowing down for anything.

Rose led them to the center of a large intersection, in the middle of which was a five-story bulletin board. The pages were normal on the bottom, easy to read for anypony with normal vision. Higher up they were either exclusively for pegasi, or were extra large with huge print for those without wings (or perhaps binoculars). In the middle was another neon sign reading, “Dominion of Dust Bounty Hunters.”

The posts themselves featured just about anything and everything you'd expect of a community bulletin board. There were job offers, job seekers, advertising for rooms, bands, businesses, and any manner of other things. About half, though, were rewards for bounties, which meant there were hundreds of them. Some were nothing but lists of names next to bit values. The cheapest landed at a couple hundred bits, while others easily broke five figures.

“So, let's say your apartment gets robbed.” Rose pulled out a canteen and guzzled some of it. “Here, you don't go and get the police. There's no police to get, really. You—”

“I'm aware of the general state of things.” Twilight pulled off one of the bounty ads and scanned it. “Public services are minimal here. Law enforcement agencies are largely limited to either private entities or Crown agents, the latter of which is usually only concerned with major crimes. The former are largely bounty hunters, who are often loosely organized into associations such as Dominion of Dust. Quite frankly, this system is a catastrophic failure.”

Rose dropped her jaw despite the pollution all around. “But… It's how we do things! You aren't going to stop it, are you? There's a lot of bounty hunters that rely on this for a job!”

Twilight put the paper back. “I'm not saying bounty hunters can't somehow be part of the solution. What I am saying is that this…” Twilight motioned to the buildings around her. “... is completely unacceptable. Not even Shanghay has this kind of pollution, or general lack of public safety.”

Rose sighed. “Maybe, but you can't just go tearing everything apart. It's already here, you know? If you start pulling stuff out, it'll hurt. There's nothing we can do about it.”

“Sometimes it's necessary to go through a little pain for greater long-term gain, like getting an injection.

“Also, I can understand how you might feel there's nothing you can do about this. Me, though? That's another story.” Twilight turned to the top of the large tower in the distance. It was far more solid than any of the others, like it was made by a pony that had some clue of what they were doing rather than slapped together with whatever was lying around. That would be where the Duke would live and work, if the nature of the nobility had taught her anything. “Time to go have a talk with the Duke!”

The ground rumbled.

Twilight shared a look with Rose. “I didn't think I wasthat loud. Earthquake, maybe?”

Metal groaned and cried out. Pieces fell from the tower ahead and to their left.

No… No, tell me this isn't…

Twenty stories of metal and wood and objects screamed out as the entire thing listed to the side from some failing point a few levels up, only to be joined by the chorus of terror from the ponies inside. Pegasi jumped out of windows and flittered away, and a stampede rushed out from the doors.

“Hold it up! I'm going to try and catch some of them!” Rose was gone in an instant, pulling ponies out of windows and getting them to safety.

Twilight lashed out with her horn, grabbing hold of the tower itself and pulling on one side to even it out. The building laughed at her feeble magic; this was no mere water tower.

With a blink, she shifted to her magic sight. The green smoke was replaced with red, and it slathered itself on her corneas. The faintest of pinpoints were in front of her, but those were the wellsprings of the ponies already outside the tower. She needed much more.

She lit her horn and sparked her way through reality, but the smog grabbed her and tossed her about like a cat playing on the control panel of her magic. My spell! She fell through the air, now six stories up and with nothing to stand on. There was plenty of space, though, inside the tower.

Twilight locked onto the sight of a frightened pony inside a window. She sparked her spell again, this time slamming her body into the interior wall of the room while the miasma laughed at her miscalculation. Her hoof scraped against a rough metal floor as she recovered, launching herself at the mare she saw desperately grasping a sofa for stability. As her hooves made contact, she teleported one last time, exciting somewhere roughly close to the ground. At least, it was close enough to land without dying.

“Run!” Twilight screamed, firing her horn once more while the tower continued its listing. Whether the pony actually moved or not after that point was irrelevant; the Grand Mage was already back in the air, looking for another scared pony, magic distortion be damned.

She had found one, and another, and another. Purple blips of magic crackled through the sky one after another as ponies found a saviour tearing spacetime asunder to bring them to safety despite the odds.

Yet said odds were too great for some.

A crack broke through the polluted air, and debris exploded out from the side of the tower even though no bomb ever went off. Random chunks of metal spewed forth, powered by the sheer, unsustainable weight of the monstrosity. The sky was falling.

Twilight's heart pumped only tears as a second crack exploded up above her. The tower broke into three pieces, folding in on itself as it fell. More and more ponies jumped from windows, but not all of them had wings.

She sparked her horn again, ignoring her inner ear as it turned her stomach and vision into a whirl. Another pony was saved, followed by another and another.

Dozens more hit the ground, somewhere in the cloud birthed from the formation of untold thousands of tons of rubble. Icy death reached out in silence, muffled by the roaring destruction.

“Medic!” The smoke ripped apart her lungs as Twilight screamed out. “Get medics here! Get them here now!”

Rose was somewhere in the cloud. “They’re on their way. Count on it. There's a fortune to be made on it.”

“To Tartarus with the bills! I'll pay them myself if it'll get them here faster! Just get me some medics!” Twilight sparked forward once more, and found herself standing atop the brand-new mountain of debris. Sharp metal and concrete was everywhere. Twisted, pointed steel reached out for anypony stupid and unlucky enough to climb onto it. Sight, please, don't let me down… “There's one here!”

A tiny point of violet light pulsed in her vision. There was a unicorn buried underneath her hooves. Piece by piece, she tossed away the rubble, lifting entire water towers’ worth of weight at a time with her magic until, at last, an adolescent stallion coughed and cried in the sickly green sunlight.

A couple of brave ponies came up behind them, carefully tip-hoofing around the makeshift swords jutting out of the fallen building. They went to carry the pony out and add him to the growing number of injured. About the only saving grace was that he wasn't added to the list of deaths.

Most of the other ponies weren't so lucky.

Within minutes, ponies from a nearby hospital were triaging the wounded and organizing them. Some, dressed in suits, were loading the less fortunate onto carts. All the while, Twilight found countless blips of light, pulling them out even as their wellsprings faded. Eventually, though, the lights went out.

“That's all of them…” Twilight panted and licked her dry, cracked lips. “I don't see any more.”

“Are you sure.” Rose sucked on her long since dry canteen, presumably out of habit. “How can you even tell?”

Twilight started to spin some lie in her mind, but gave up. There just didn't seem to be a point. “I can see wellsprings, even through a few walls. There's nopony left alive in there. No more wellsprings still shining.”

Even without her water, Rose swallowed. “Whoa. That's… Whoa.”

“Yeah. Keep quiet about it. Or don't. I don't really care much right now.” Twilight climbed off the rubble, then made her way through an entire maze of debris that had been cleared off by ponies. Outside that, at the makeshift ER, were even more bodies. Nurses, doctors, and medics were scattered about, but there wasn't near enough to cover everypony.

Twilight's ear twitched.

“Do you have employment or means to pay your bill?”

You have got to be kidding me. Twilight followed the sound, making her way to a mare with a clipboard hovering over a wounded stallion. “I wasn't aware asking somepony for their bank details was part of medical treatment, Miss.”

The mare tilted her glasses at her. “It's standard procedure. We aren't a charity. If they can't afford to pay for their care, we send them on their way.”

“Not anymore.” Twilight sucked in a full breath of the putrid, dust-filled air and beat back the need to cough with a mental baseball bat. “Attention! As Grand Mage, I am making an emergency decree! Henceforth, it shall be unlawful to the degree of a felony to refuse medical evaluation and emergency treatment to anypony, regardless of their ability to pay! It shall be unlawful to the degree of a felony to medially triage anypony by ability to pay or by any other measure except by medical need! Anypony needing financial assistance for medical bills relating to this disaster should contact Canterlot Castle!”

“You can't--”

Twilight glared at her and flared her nostrils. “I just did. Grand Mages have the ability to issue laws by decree in emergency situations. Oh, sure, the Council might counteract me, but they won't be in session again for a few more weeks. Odds are Celestia will uphold it for at least the duration of this disaster.

“But if you really want to push it…” Twilight pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and started scribbling on it.

---- WANTED!!!! ----

REWARD! INFORMATION LEADING TO ARREST AND CONVICTION OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN VIOLATION OF THE DECREE OF THE GRAND MAGE REGARDING TREATMENT OF THE INJURED DUE TO TOWER COLLAPSES!

INFORMATION REWARD: 10,000 BITS
CAPTURE BOUNTY: 15,000 BITS

INQUIRE AT CANTERLOT CASTLE!

One spell later, and the page was affixed to the bulletin board.

“There.” Twilight shot one last glare to the mare. “Disobey me at your own risk. That kind of money will have ponies all over you the moment you step out of line. And if I hear of you or anypony else breaking this law, you'll go from ‘source of frustration’ to ‘actionable objective.’ Clear?”

The mare sighed and grumbled, then packed up her things and left in a huff.

“What now?” Rose shook out her wings. “You know healing magic?”

Twilight shook her head. “I know a little, but nothing that would help much here. My thaumic profile isn't very well attuned to it. The doctors here will do far more than I ever could.

“Come on, I'm going to go hunt down Badlands and scare the piss out of him for letting things get this bad. Follow me and look tough; they'll think you're a member of my Guard.”

“I'd ask if I was getting paid for this, but at this point I'm more afraid of you tearing my wellspring out of my chest.”

Twilight froze just as the words hit home. It didn't help that her adrenaline was fading, too. “I'm not like that. You can go if you want.”

Rose did something akin to cringing, but not quite. Even Twilight's vocabulary wasn't able to really describe the reaction succinctly, but the message was clear: she was surprised. “I'm… I'm not one to leave somepony hanging, or hurt them for no reason,” Rose said. “I won't even take most of the jobs in the board; don't like the idea of nabbing somepony innocent. The ponies that call themselves bandits are a lot easier on the conscience. Pay better, too.”

“So you'll help me?”

“Why not?” Rose shrugged. “I don't have anything better to do. Besides, walking around with the Grand Mage will be huge for my reputat—” Her ear twitched, and her teeth clenched down.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry, little twitch I have. It's worse on the nights with the really bad nightmares. Like I said, being seen with you will help my reputation, so I don't really see a downside here.”

Twilight smiled as wistfully as one could in the middle of the world's worst pollution cloud. “Glad to hear it. Come on, let's get going.”

They left the scene of carnage behind, though it refused to leave Twilight. The ghosts behind her followed, just as they would forever.

“Whoa. This place isn't half bad. Never been here before.”

Twilight curled her lip at the sight. She wanted to be way more angry than she was. She wanted to agree with Rose and be impressed at the opulence so that she could scorn Badlands for living high on the hog while his ponies died. After growing up at the side of the Princess, though, she just couldn't find a way to do it.

The decor of the building was a step up from the others, but it was still scrap cobbled together from the waste of broken trash Manehatten would throw out. Desks, tables, chairs, lamps, they all had telltale damage and wear from age. Some of them were literally created from trash welded and nailed together. A series of machines in the wall pumped in filtered air, though they couldn't remove all of the miasma.

Was it nice? Certainly not by Canterlot standards. By San Palomino standards, though, it was luxury.

“Wow,” Rose whistled. “The walls are painted drywall! Don't see that much in this city.”

Twilight fought against raising an eyebrow and merely grunted in agreement as they made their way to a lobby with a sign and a set of elevators. Some hired security guards, or more accurately, thugs, eyed them both as they approached. “Duke's office, floor sixty. Figures, he's on the top level.”

“Pardon me, Miss.” One of the thugs half-growled. “Nopony sees the boss without an appointment. And you're definitely not on the list.”

Rose dropped into a combat stance, but Twilight held her off with a raised hoof.

Hmmm… Twilight eyed the elevator. It looked as cobbled together as anything else in the tower, but there was something else that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “Alright, I'll go. For now. But he and I are going to have words very soon. Tell him that I'll be back - unannounced - and we will talk then.”

She left the tower and the smug, amused thugs, a confused Rose close behind. When they were outside, the heavy pegasus cleared her throat to demand attention.

“Ahem! Mind filling me in here? You looked like you were ready to break his door down a few minutes ago.” Rose scratched her head with a wing tip. “And you dealt with Dagger’s crew without breaking a sweat. Those guys wouldn't have stood a chance.”

“Maybe not, but I'm not eager to go up that building’s elevator.” Twilight folded her forelegs and closed one eye to look at the tower in the setting sun. “I imagine this wouldn't come naturally to a pegasus, but creaky elevators are freaky to those of us without wings. But that's not what I'm most worried about.

“Going in there could be committing suicide. If they wanted to off us, they could cut the cable. Without line of sight, teleporting is extremely risky, and this pollution is messing with my spell, so even if we tried to escape that way, we would probably die. They could even stop it at a floor they wanted and just fire a ton of cored cannons at it, filling us with holes. It's a literal death trap.”

Rose shuddered. “I didn't even think of that. This is why I don't like bounty hunting in the city. Too many variables. I prefer to catch my bad guys out in the desert. Nowhere to hide.”

“I doubt Badlands is going to give us the luxury of falling into a trap like that. Besides…” Twilight looked aaround to keep an eye out for the thugs, making sure she was out of earshot. “Right now I can't do anything to him directly. Not enough evidence. But I can try to shake him up, see if he screws up down the line.

“Meanwhile, I need to track down any leads on Farriér. If I find his base, I'll find my friend. First things first, though. I need to get a gas mask. Any ideas where I can buy one?”

“Yeah, follow me.”

Twilight did so, pushing against the polluted wind as a sandstorm birthed into being around them. Ponies fled into doors and even windows as the monster kicked up so much dirt, dust, and debris that Twilight had to fight to keep Aurora from deploying. Eventually, they arrived under a pair of glowing pink and green neon signs. The pink read “Hunter's Hovel,” while the green was a stylized outline of a small mounted gun, some classes of which were legal in San Palomino.

The other classes were sold anyway.

There was a grid of bars over the tiny, round window in the door. The larger storefront windows had a display hiding the inside of the shop, and were also covered in makeshift bars welded out of pipes. What rust was left on the walls would certainly be sandblasted away by the storm: a twisted convenience in a punishing landscape.

Twilight tucked her cloak in tight to cover up her torc as they marched inside. A little bell over the door rang as it opened, then kept ringing from the wind until the entryway was sealed up once again.

The inside was as worn and improvised as the outside. Old wood counters and tables with fading, peeling paint were the norm. Behind the counter, cubbie holes of various sizes held equally diverse pieces of equipment for sale. Along the walls were heavier pieces like mounted cannons and even full suits of enchanted armor. All of it was being watched over from behind the counter by a lanky salespony with more piercings than teeth.

“Hey, Topper.” Rose sat down next to one of the displays. “Heck of a day, huh? Don't suppose you got any gas masks that can put up with the weather today?”

“Sure thing!” Topper pressed something under the counter. “You're right. She's here!”

The lights cut out.

Twilight's armor replaced them, burning bright as Aurora deployed. Something long and round, like a pipe, cut through the darkness and flew at her quicker than she could blink. Her spell charged in her horn, ready to put up a shield for battle, but the object already filled her vision. Pain ran down her head and into each of her limbs, setting every nerve on fire.

It had hit her horn.

Twilight swam in the pain, paddling in her mind to surface to fight for her life. More blows came, eventually beating through her half-formed shield. Aurora hardened, trapping Twilight in place, blocking every bit of damage they could dish out. Just as the fog of agony was lifting, a glass bottle shoved its way into her mouth. Foamy, fizzy light poured over her tongue and cheered the sounds of struggle from the other side of the room. It played like campers around a campfire who had too many tambourines and bongos, but more and more gathered until the waving, laughing lights pulled a psychedelic canopy over her her eyes as she finished every last drop.

“Freeze! Down on the ground!”

The sounds of cannons ripped through the room and Twilight's otherworldly haze. She felt herself dragged along, limp and choking on blue while something metal pressed against her head.

Another shot rang out, and she was free. Free as a--

Light burned through the haze, leaving nothing but ash in its wake. Twilight blinked a few times, bringing the real world back a little more each time. The bodies of four ponies lay on the floor, each pumped full of gunshot, save for one that only had a single hole in his head. Her own body was blessedly free of such violation, though her skin and armor were screaming about another problem.

Lines of magic power and enchantment were lit along her body like a living magic circle, or even a Hearth’s Warming tree. The intricacies and detail flaring in sky-blue light could only mean one thing: she had been poisoned, and Luna's protective ward had to fight to keep up. The magic bore through Aurora like she'd been made of glass instead of opaque metal. The fact that it was fading without sending her back into a psychedelic episode meant that even if it was late, it was working.

Rose, meanwhile, was choking and spitting out as much of the stuff as she could while a stallion wearing a Crown Agent’s badge looked over her. Behind her was a secret door left open to a dingy back room, which was no doubt where the ambush came from.

“Hold still!” The officer pony, clad in a trench coat, jabbed a needle into Rose’s side and pressed down on the syringe. “This’ll counteract the Elixir.”

“Elixir?” Twilight asked, spitting up the traces of the poison.

“It's okay. Ow…” Rose sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth as the needle came out. “I only downed a few drops. But I think she had a whole bottle.”

“I'll be fine.” Twilight rubbed the enchantments on her body. “A gift from Princess Luna. It took a moment to kick in, but it put a hard stop to whatever that was.”

“Everfree Elixir. Nasty stuff. It'll send youze on a trip, then give youze an energetic high like nothin’ else. Then comes the crash, and youze realize jus’ how addictive dat stuff is,” a mare in a stetson, also equipped with a badge, said in a curious accent. Her light brown coat and red mane were decidedly familiar, as was the large shield cutie mark. Her trench coat and saddle bags with a smoking gun poking out of one side, however, were new. “What up, Sparkle? Long time no see.”

“Babs?!” Twilight rubbed her eyes in case the Elixir was still messing with her. “Babs Seed?! Is that you?”

Babs took off her stetson and smiled. “In da flesh.”

Author's Note

So you're probably wondering what Babs is doing here. After all, she's from season three!

Truth be told, I just really liked her. I gave her a law enforcement anti-bullying cutie mark and decided to make her a kind of sheriff. Then the show gave her a different mark. Well, I reject that reality and substitute my own! So she's here as a bit of a cameo. Enjoy!

There's probably a few hiccups in the formating in this chapter as I'm posting it with my phone. I'll try to fix them as soon as I can. I'm off visiting in laws this week so I don't have all my usual tech on me.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Cv

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Mandatory Perspective

“Wow, are you a sight for sore eyes!” Twilight exchanged a hoof bump with Babs, a Special Agent for the Royal Police. “I can't believe I let them get the jump on me like that. For that matter, how did they even know I was coming here?”

“Maybe the same way we found you. Followed ya after ya left the tower. Or if you discussed gettin’ gear, this is the best place. Perfect for an ambush.”

“Damn.” Twilight looked over to the bodies. She didn't even need her sight to see the miasma growing on the floor. More concerning, though, was the high-grade gear on their bodies. These ponies were professionals, not random goons. “At least you're here now. Not a great idea to take on the Royal Police, so we might be safe.”

Babs tilted down her stetson. “This is San Palomino. You're nevah safe. Evah. Also, da simple fact that you are here means you’re is gonna to be in da crosshairs a lot. Yer a pain in da flank to a lot of ponies, and dey all have connections here. Remember, Badlands is a moron, but he's a useful moron, and to all da wrong ponies. Dat means he's way more dangerous than youse’ll ever guess.”

“Uuuugh…” Rose groaned and flopped to the floor while her wings twitched and flapped.

“Boss!” The stallion whipped out another syringe and pushed it in her. “The serum isn't working!”

“She musta swallowed a lot more than she thought. Let's get her in a cell back at HQ.”

“A cell?” Twilight stood up between them and undeployed Aurora. “She's not a part of this. She's a bounty hunter I hired, and she's been with me the entire time. Unless she's able to be in two places at once, she's done nothing wrong.”

“I ain't charging her with nothin’. It's just safer for her if she sleeps it out someplace she can't get out. She might try to fly while she's outta of her mind, and that ain't good for anypony. Cob, pick her up.”

Twilight's eyes locked on the stallion. She'd heard that name before. He had a green coat and yellow mane, and looked like as normal an earth pony as one could otherwise guess, save for the badge around his neck. “Cob, was it? What exactly was that serum you gave her?”

“Oof!” Cob tossed the draft mare over his back. “Neutralizes the Elixir, or at least it should. I've no idea what they make it with. Empties are in my left coat pocket.”

Twilight took one out with the implicit permission and held it in her magic before switching to her thaumic sight. After a quick detection spell the traces left glowed white and grey, but there wasn't much to go on. The latter could have been any number of potions or substances, while the former was usually just alcohol. Neither registered as red, black, or blue, all of which could have told of something far more sinister. With such a small sample, though, even the reading she was getting could be woefully inaccurate.

“Lady Sparkle? You coming?”

Twilight pocketed the syringe and followed them back into the storm, and this time, with only earth ponies leading the way, it was much worse. The sand was tearing at her eyes and punching right through her coat. She might as well have shaved herself naked and jumped in front of a firehose.

“Shall I deploy again?”

Let me try something first. She pushed out with her pegasus magic, but that only built up a larger cloud to punch her in the face with a second later. “Gah!” Argh! Why’d I open my mouth? That just makes it worse!

This time, she didn't just push forward with her wind, but out to the sides as well. The sand still struck her, but a large portion moved around her instead. Ha! I’m getting the hang of this! At this rate I'll already know how to fly by the time I actually get wings.

They kept up a march for longer than any sane pony would have liked in such weather, and eventually arrived at a building that had no business in the San Palomino skyline. It was only three stories tall, and was solidly and competently made of brick. The expensive air conditioning units and lack of haphazard wires attached to the building spoke of an internal solidified magic generator, and for all Twilight knew, a shield generator as well.

“It figures the Crown wouldn't accept having one of their offices in a tower ready to fall down,” Twilight said after they had made their way inside. There was a guarded front desk with a stallion secretary and two mares with heavy mounted cannons protecting the entrance.

The two agents went inside with the unconscious, twitchy Rose while Twilight waited at the front to get a VIP visitor pass. She didn't technically have to, but it was easier on everypony to follow their set procedure. At least the lanyard ID she received meant the other agents wouldn't be wondering if she was an intruder.

Five minutes later, Rose was tucked into a bed in a secure cell, and Twilight was sipping slightly stale coffee in the corner of a squad room. Scrambling wards similar to those in the Canterlot War Room were in place, so they could speak privately even in the open office.

The surroundings were actually nicer than even the Duke's building, probably because who ever built it actually imported good materials instead of using scrap. Short but comfortable carpet covered the floor, the desks were modern, and they even had fancy magnetic chalkboards to display case materials. The walls had carpeting creeping up on their lower half, while the tops were painted a nice, warm brown.

Even the coffee wasn't that bad. She'd certainly had worse.

“So, now that we're all here, why the code blue request? Ya gotta be in some kind big thing to send a telegraph like that.”

Twilight perked up at that. They got my message! But then why… Signals might have gotten crossed in the bureaucracy. “Yeah, I've got a lot to get done here. Before we get to that, though, I want to say that I appreciate you coming to my rescue back there. I also appreciate responding to my request for aid. I know that, being stationed here, you have to be insanely busy.”

“Busy doesn't even begin to describe it. If Cob hadn't been paying attention, everypony here would have missed the message,” a new pony said, this one a mare even shorter than Twilight. She was a neutral grey with a white mane and a black blouse. The only actual colour on her was her cyan eyes and purple lipstick. “Got the report done, boss. Long story short, it's another negative. He slipped away again.”

“Damn.” Babs sighed through a sip of coffee. “Lady Sparkle, meet Squeakers. Best dang forensic scientist in the west.”

“Pleasure!” Squeakers bowed.

“Likewise!” Twilight gave one back. “Is this your whole team? The three of you?”

“Yep! If you’re is good at yer job, ya get sent here. ’Cause we gotta do miracles with nothin’.”

Cob stirred some cream into his own coffee. “That or you're terrible at it and they want to punish you by throwing you down into this hellhole. Either way, you find yourself on a train.”

“Sounds about right, knowing what I do about the situation. Speaking of, things are… Complicated.” Twilight eyed a side meeting room. “Babs, I'm going to have to talk to you alone first.”

Babs shook her head. “Anything ya can say to me, ya can say to all of us. We're a team here. Have been for years.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Not a—” She cut herself off as her mind raced. She was about to say it wasn't a request, but now her thoughts were clamouring over what to do afterwards. “Okay then, we'll do it your way.

“Agent Cob, your name was mentioned by Captain Farriér while I was spying on him. He said you were his informant.”

To say he was stunned was an understatement. He was wide eyed with shock, and the sounds he made were of a pony whose tongue had been tied in knots. “Um, huh?”

“You're sure?” Babs stood up from her chair. “Dat’s one hell of an accusation, Sparkle. Like I said, we're a team here. Not sure I like where this is going’.

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, Babs. I must assume the worst until the truth comes out - no matter what it is. However, I can accept that Farriér might be leading me on a changeling hunt. In fact, I'd bet he's just trying to get you off his case for a while. But there's a protocol here, and if I don't follow it, I'll catch all kinds of Tartarus from the Council and probably from Celestia herself, and then other ponies will follow through on this anyway.

“I'm very sorry, Babs, but there's no choice for me here. So, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to send for an RGIS team from Fort Earthborne. I need all three of you to stay here until they arrive. You will then accompany them to the Fort, where they will investigate this possibility.

“If you're innocent, you should look at it as easy bits - I'm not suspending your pay or putting you in a cell since I only have the one piece of evidence. Therefore, RGIS will watch you until you are formally cleared. In such a circumstance, no negative mark will be put on your record.

“However, if you're notinnocent… Well, I'll leave that to RGIS. Everypony clear?”

“Hmph.” Squeakers turned up her nose and spun around. “See how out of my way I go to help you, team breaker!”

“Can it, Squeakers!” Babs swatted her on the back of her head.

“Ow!”

Babs sighed. “This is well within protocol. In fact, it's freakin’ lenient. If dis was from HQ, we'd probably be hauled into Canterlot in shackles on suspicion of treason.” Babs crushed hey empty paper coffee cup under a hoof. “Not that I like dis, you understand. You comin’ in here, sayin’ we're dirty.”

Well, Cob certainly doesn't look dirty. Twilight thought, watching him get even more shocked. “Unfortunately, I have evidence that requires further investigation. Understand, I don't like this, and I don't think you're actually in cahoots with them. I trust you. But the rules can't be broken this time. For the time being, there's no other choice but to be relieved of duty.”

“Yeah,” Cob said, smacking his lips. “Yeah, guess you gotta do what you gotta do.”

A Scottish brogue broke into the conversation. “Exactly.”

Twilight and the others turned to the newcomers, three stallions in RGIS uniforms. The leader’s Scottish accent could only have belonged to one of two ponies.

“Feint.” Twilight tilted her head. “Or are you Double Blind?”

“It's Feint.” He took off his sunglasses and pocketed them. “I was sent to Fort Earthborne behind ye to offer intel analysis assistance, seeing as Intelligentsia just promoted me to her old spot. When I got there, the RGIS agents there were having a fit over your previous telegraph. We're gonnae be thoroughly investigating the allegations. Agents Cob, Squeakers, and Seed are hereby relieved of duty by order of Princess Celestia and are to accompany us to Fort Earthborne. How you three got assigned to meet Twilight at all is also going to be investigated.”

“You'll never take us alive, copper!” Squeakers stuck out her tongue, which only earned her another whack. “Ow! Dammit…”

Cob sighed, putting his light back-mounted gun and badge on his desk. The other two followed suit shortly thereafter.

Babs pulled him in with a foreleg. “Stay strong, Cob. This ain't the end. Like Lady Sparkle said, easy bits. Answer some questions, snark at RGIS types, it'll be… Well, it won't be fun, but again, not the end.”

“Yeah. Thanks boss.” Cob slinked off next to the RGIS agents. When Squeakers was done glaring, she joined him, along with Babs.

“Are you sure ya want to do this?” Babs took off her hat. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are.” Twilight put her ears back. “In fact, I could really use your help. If it was up to me, we'd all be working together on this right now. I need to find where—”

“Ahem.” Feint’s look screamed disapproval.

Babs shook her head. “If you can't trust my team, you can’t trust me.” She turned and left with the agents minus Feint.

“But ye can trust me,” Feint said, stepping up. “What's been happening?”

Rainbow licked her lips and thought, Wait for it… Wait for it…

Crack!

Her hooves landed right on the neck and back of the unfortunate pirate that had wandered under her section of the air duct, and didn't notice the missing grate. Sorry about that. But you probably should have realized that going hoof to hoof with soldiers is a risk when you became a scumbag pirate.

She grabbed the body and hauled it over to the closet she had originally hidden in and stuffed it into an empty barrel. They'd start wondering eventually, but he was the only pony blocking her way for the past three hours, and some things just had to be done.

She poked her head out of the doorway, and silently hovered her way through the now empty hall. The wind she made with her magic returned in short order, sending her wobbling about the corridor. She tilted back and forth, side to side, moving about more like a flying top than, say, Fluttershy.

Part of it was her wings. They were great for power and good for turning, and could even let her hover in one place easy enough, but hyper-precise hovering? She could do it well enough, given how much practice she'd had, but she needed some space for it. Her wing type just didn't take to it, especially in such narrow confinements. If the hall was wider, she would just zoom through.

The random objects strewn about wouldn't let that happen, though. First was a barrel of some kind of grease, followed by a large number of tools resting against the wall. There were even sparking, hot exposed wires dangling from light fixtures.

Even if this wasn't a pirate ship, I think they'd be in jail just from the safety hazards.

At the hallway intersection was a number spray painted on the bulkhead. N92? Isn't that like a… Oh… The particular piece of hull was off-colour from the rest, and was welded into place. As she looked farther down, more such pieces filled the corridor. This is like Twilight's old doll after she tried repairing it without Rarity's help. It's put together with just… random parts. ‘N92’ must be a section number from an old cargo ship they cannibalized.

She looked down both empty halls. Question is, what can I use to get me where I need to go?

Several seconds went by.

Bored. Can't think of anything. Time to guess. She turned right, floating down the next hall, and the next, checking each for ponies that might see her. The end of her path came soon enough, which meant the ship wasn't as large as the Bellerophon. It also meant the ladder to her right was the best option.

Down one level, and it was more of the same. Yet, there was something different. Something that tickled her nose, and punched her stomach. Worse yet, it reminded her of Boot camp. Food.

She picked up her pace through the corridor, turning into a mess hall the size of a luxury kitchen. In fact, the kitchen and dining area was literally a luxury kitchen and dining room from somepony’s house, but torn out and slapped onto the ship. How wasn't something Rainbow wanted to contemplate. It was just too stupid.

What wasn't stupid was the giant walk-in fridge where a normal fridge would be. Actually, it was stupid, but at least it might have food. She tip-hoofed inside, checking each angle for hostiles before opening up the door.

There was food, yes. Technically. Most of it, though, was surplus military rations, also known as “meals ready-to-eat,” or MREs. A small section was the good stuff, though. Fruits, vegetables, grains; everything a pony could want.

Rainbow took a good, longing look at the feast in front of her, then tore right into the military rations. They were bland, unappetizing, and not something a sane pony would normally choose. But they were also extremely calorie dense, and balanced for a soldier to have plenty of long-term energy while feeling full. If a pony didn't know where their next meal would be, military MREs were the best possible thing to have, taste notwithstanding.

Never thought I'd be thankful for these things… Mleh. She scarfed down the last of her second one, and started on the third, though her stomach was telling her to stop and her tongue was just about ready to hop out of her skull and slap her around.

“Is somepony here?”

Crap. Rainbow jumped back, hiding under the small window of the refrigerator's door. A pony walked closer, each hoof lightly clopping on the hardwood flooring, and making Rainbow’s ear twitch.

Clang!

She kicked out as hard as she could into the door, smashing it into the pony’s muzzle. She rolled out of the doorway as he staggered, and delivered an uppercut to the unicorn’s jaw. A lunge to his throat aimed to end it, but pain punched into her shoulders as the stallion dodged, his hooves raising up and connecting, knocking her back.

She slid on her own rear hooves, standing upright with wings spread and forehooves ready to bring the pain.

That's when the first knife came.

Time slowed slightly as she watched the orange-enveloped blade aim for her head and fly. The steel was all but invisible until she tilted her head at the last second. Pieces of her coat sloughed off, separated by the flying edge. Then the pain came from her foreleg as the second knife flew too slow to trigger the armor’s emergency shield, but plenty fast enough to score a hit in the joint of her armor.

Rainbow dove to her left and heaved up a cutting board, holding it aloft in front of her in time for a half-dozen thunks to sink into the wood. Never, ever fight a unicorn in a kitchen…

The next hit knocked it away, and the stallion had pulled open two more drawers filled with unnecessarily sharp, pointy objects.

How many knives does this kitchen even have?! The blades all lined up on her at once, and Rainbow wrapped her wings around her torso and pulled hard on her heart. Wind ripped through the air, sewing seams of water into the fabric of reality. The knives flew at her, and her wings flew open.

Her magic whipped at the blades, washing them away with air and water as fierce as any storm. A steel hail exploded away from her, puncturing cabinets and scraping other metal.

“Argh!”

Rainbow dove forward, landing a left hook at over a hundred klicks an hour and coming to a stop on top of the stallion. Blow after blow sunk into him, crushing bone and flesh, until at long last he stopped moving. Her lungs heaved almost as hard as her stomach wanted to from the MREs, and there was a cut on her lip that she had no idea where it had come from.

She put an ear up to his chest. Nothing. “It's been awhile since I've had to kill in the line of duty. Even longer since I've had to do it twice in one day.” Grabbing him by the jacket, she hauled him into the walk-in freezer and closed the door. “Maybe one day you'll get a real burial. But right now, I have things to do.” She spun the dial next to the door, cranking the cooling unit to maximum. “And top of my list is protecting other ponies from pirates like you.”

“So that's the situation. I don't know where she is, or where Farriér is. I need to rectify that, then rectify Farriér’s existence.” Twilight said, finishing her coffee. “Any thoughts?”

“Good luck.” Feint poured himself a fresh cup. “We've been after him forever. A Wonderbolt SAR will help, but I can't help but wonder what you're going to do that we couldn't.”

“I'm going to go rattle the cage of a pony who you likely couldn't; one who most certainly knows something one way or another.”

Rattling the Cages

Twilight peered through the binoculars, focusing and zooming in on the stallion in the top floor office. “I was right. He's there, and he's alone.”

“One, two, twelve...” Feint tightened the strap on his gas mask. “Hate to break it to you, but I count twenty goons on various floors, and that's only in rooms with open windows. I doubt they're actual military. They'll have no trouble on their conscience taking you on. You're not going to just waltz in there.”

“I'm not waltzing anywhere, but I am going to make him talk to me. I don't know if he'll be helpful, but if anypony knows what's going on with such a huge problem in this Duchy, it's the Duke, and since Badlands doesn't want to pencil me in, I'll just have to force the issue.” Twilight licked her lips. The calculations should have been easy, but the pollution added a random element she didn't like.

“And get killed in the process? Or ‘disappeared?’”

“Won't happen. At the moment, he's alone, which will give me the edge I need.”

“I don't know…”

“Dash still hasn't found me yet, or tried to get into contact. I need information, and this is the most likely source. I'm not about to sit around and hope the Wonderbolts find something.” Twilight packed away her binoculars and gas mask into her bag. Her muscles positively tingled with anticipation, even as a primitive part of her mind was ranting about how insane her idea was. “Besides, it's not a real mission unless I do something stupidly risky.”

“What do you--”

Twilight stood up on tip-hoof, leaned forward, and fell.

“--INSANE?!”

A little chuckle escaped her lips. A year ago, she would have thought herself just that. Now, though, she was something completely different. She was something that could survive the impact of falling off one of the tallest of towers in all of Sierra Maredre, even if she didn't use a single iota of wind magic. The intimate embrace of the earth would hurt, but for her, was never going to be lethal, much to gravity’s disappointment. Moreover, she had no intention of simply falling to the ground. Wings or not, she was going to fly.

Of course, the miasma in the air had other thoughts on the matter.

Exiting the spatial rift of her teleport all but broke the air around her like a twig, such as the thunder announcing her spell. This time it wasn't the ground opening its arms, but another building. The energy in her horn cracked again, and the atmosphere punched her in the nose upon exit.

Twilight spread her limbs, braking against the air around her. Each leg dangled over the dirty, smoky ground while the skyscrapers passed her by. Pegasi looked on in wonder, and the ground ponies were probably wondering what the heck was going on with the sky.I've got to get this under control.

She flipped herself around and teleported again, this time intentionally going nowhere, but slowing herself down. She blinked sand out of her eyes as her hooves landed on the side of a building, standing horizontally for a split second.

Though the far distance was obscured in the pollution, there was something there. A dark, grainy molasses eating the horizon, growing larger each second. Another sandstorm. I'll only have another five to ten minutes.

Twilight kicked off the building, denting and cracking the flimsy metal “beneath” her. Sand kissed her cheek, taunting her about the weather soon to come. The next spark sent her straight up, a full ninety degrees off where she had intended. This is getting ridiculous.

She spun in mid air, readying the next spark. Wind rumbled and resonated with her core, crumbling the resistance at her head. A jet stream of power pushed her, lifting her on feathers she didn't yet have. She was lined up. The next spark through spacetime had to be it. Except for one, every value in the spell was neutral; distance, time correction, direction, it all took no action, except for one thing. Speed.

After the teleport, nothing was going to stop her. She was arcing directly to the window hiding Badlands, which meant that it was her next target. The spell she needed was ready almost before she thought of it, and its firing left a magic circle on the glass that was counting down to zero.

Her pegasus magic pushed against the jaws of the ground and spears of the buildings, gently guiding her to her quarry. A bright red light pulsed in the circle and pulled on the glass, shattering it into splinters as she passed through. Her front left hoof touched down on shaggy carpet, the one contact of stability before she ducked into a roll. By the time she was out, her telekinetic blade was already at Badlands’ throat.

“What in--” The stallion threw up his forelegs. “I haven't done anything!”

“No, but you were going to.” Twilight eyed his saddle and the telltale seams housing a hidden cannon compartment. “I didn't come here to fight, just to talk, but your goons downstairs were making that rather difficult. So I decided to bypass them. Now, call them off, and we can have a nice chat.”

“But I haven't—”

Bang bang bang! A loud, heavy hoof put dents into the metal door. “Boss, are you okay?”

Twilight motioned at them.

Badlands swallowed and nodded. “I'm fine! A window just blew out. Get a repair team ready, I'll be fine until then. Move.”

Silence passed. “If you say so…”

After a few moments, Twilight let the tension in her legs drain and the telekinetic blade disperse. “Glad to see you're willing to work with me, Duke Badlands.” She wound up a spell and fired it at the door, sealing it and the walls in a privacy shield. “Now we can converse privately.”

Badlands rubbed his throat and slowly sat down. He wore a strange black coat that looked like bark-thread, but wasn't quite right. His coat of hair was maroon, while his mane was a sandy brown. He had several piercings in his ears and nose, and a smell of sweat and too much cologne. “You know, you could have mailed me or something.”

“Too slow. The situation is urgent. Pirates attacked my train and took captives. I need to get them back.”

“Pfft. Is that all?” Badlands waved off the concern with a hoof. “Look around, Sparkle. This is San Palomino! Land of fire, opportunity, and danger. You step hoof in this place, you know what you're in for. Safety isn't guaranteed.”

Twilight rested her elbows on Badlands’ shoddy, uneven desk. “I've read the entire Equestrian Compact, Duke, and promoting the general safety and welfare of a Duchy is the entire reason the nobility exists!”

“So naïve.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Badlands waved her over to the broken window and pointed down to the street below. “Take a look, Sparkle. A good, long, look.”

“What, at the pollution?”

“At the freedom! In San Palomino, we have the ultimate experiment: a land free from alicorns.”

“That's what you think.” Aurora muttered in Twilight's ear.

Badlands sighed like he was looking at the world's greatest work of art. “I know you're under their influence, and I bet if you stayed here for a while, you'd realize it yourself. But I understand if you'd rather not. It's comforting in their embrace. But I much prefer to stand on my own four hooves.

“Here, we're charting our own course. Come what may. No alicorn to twist our minds, or look down on us for being mortal, or pretend to understand us. Thanks to the crystals in the ground, I am as powerful as the Princess herself. She can't move against me without risking her entire economy, which at this point is totally dependant on our magic cores.

“So, no, I don't need to help you, or listen to you. And there isn't a thing you can do about it.”

Twilight's cheeks burned red while the floor under her turned to mush. “Wow. That was so stupid I actually got dizzy.”

“Excuse me?”

“There's no excusing that, Duke. I don't care what you think about the Princesses. Really. I couldn't care less at this point. It's not possible.

“But right now, there are ponies that need our help, and you are entrusted with the power of the Duchy for that very purpose. Even outside of that, you're the leader of San Palomino, and it falls on you to keep this place functional. Piracy is antithetical to that objective. However much somepony or some company is paying you to look the other way for whatever they are doing here is completely irrelevant. Unless they're the ones doing the piracy, there's no way going after pirates is something they'll object to. I'm willing to bet some company lost millions of bits in the attack I was hit with.

“Quite frankly, unless you help me, that title of yours is the only reason you won't be leaving here in shackles for hindering a Crown Investigation.”

Badlands spread his wings. “You really think you can come into my home, filled with guards, and haul me away?”

Twilight looked at the sealed away door for a moment. “Are you asking me if I think I'm physically capable of kicking your flank, putting you in shackles, and taking you to jail while kicking the collective flanks of all your guards?”

Badlands grinned. “Yup.”

Twilight grinned back. “Yup.”

The stallion staggered back, jaw open.

“The only reason I didn't take the front door is that I’m not stupid enough to put myself in literal crosshairs like that. Instead, I flew up here, without wings, busted your office’s wards and window, and rolled right in while you were…” Twilight picked up one of the booklets that was on his desk. “Reading Spider-Mare? Really? Ponies’ lives are at stake and you're reading comics?”

“Hey, this is a classic!”

Twilight groaned, “Ugh. Whatever. Look, right now I don't even care about your vision or whatever. We can hash that out later. I just need to know where Farriér is hiding so I can add him to the statue garden in Canterlot, and like I said, I bet there are some companies here that would love to see that happen. Do you think we can at least work together on that?”

Badlands plopped his rump down in his chair, picked up his comic, and pointed at the broken window. “You can show yourself out. In other words…” He glared at her from over the pages. “Go take a flying leap.”

Twilight ripped the comic out of his hooves.

“Hey!”

Heat built up in her magic as the small spell burned in her anger, finally setting the comic alight. “Welp, I asked nicely. Come here,” she said as she stepped towards the window.

“You… You burned it! That was vintage! What are you—”

“I said come here!” Twilight grabbed him by the neck and rolled him and his cheap office chair to the window. His rump thudded against the carpet as she slammed him down on the floor.

“What is wrong with you?!” Badlands coughed out.

“Look down there!” Twilight squeezed his head with two hooves, twisting his neck and body around to point him at the destruction below. “Earlier today I spent over an hour rescuing ponies from a building that collapsed. An event I'm told is disturbingly common in Sierra Maredre. I only need to look at what these things are made of to guess why: if a company or pony wants their building taller, they just weld whatever they find lying around to what they have already. They probably hire some random idiot unicorn to enhance it with wards, and call it done.

“It's not like most have a choice in where to stay. Most ponies here are broke. The refineries that make the crystal cores for half of Equestria are at the edge of the city, and they're one of the few reliable large-scale employers in the Duchy. They only pay poverty wages, but that's better than nothing. Thus, anypony in the desert who gets desperate comes here if they can't afford to get back where they came from. They're stuck, because in an absolute fit of irony, the same pollution that's poisoning them is what's stopping the extremely high concentrations of magic in the ground from spewing out random firestorms. This is the only place remotely nearby where they won't get burned in fire or buried in sandstorms. Leaving isn't an option.

“The end result? Ponies that can't afford to live anywhere else take up residence here, not knowing if they're going to die in their sleep when the whole thing tumbles over. The worst thing is that you could have stopped this with a wave of your hoof. Simple building standards. Laws so common you could have copied them from any other Duchy, but you sat on your rump and read comic books!

“If this isn't a dereliction of duty, of decency, I don't know what is. Do you even care? Do you have even the smallest piece of sympathy? If so, why don't you help me save ponies that are still alive?”

Badlands paused for a moment, as if to stoke some ember of consideration. “Honestly, it's not my problem.”

Twilight's vision burned hot enough to make the desert blush. She had already kicked Badlands out of the window and was flying, or rather, falling after him. Plumes of pollution snaked by her, raking her nostrils while sand blasted into her coat.

Badlands had spread his wings. It was exactly what she was counting on.

She plowed into him like Rainbow failing a new trick. Her forelegs wrapped around his neck, and she pushed, forcing him into a dive.

“What are you doing?!”

“Landing!” Twilight hit him on the head, getting him to duck and dive further, only to pull him up for a landing by a large tent. Though she got off him, she kept one foreleg on his neck to drag him inside.

The entire thing was filled with cots and injured ponies. Doctors and nurses were busy, and covered in blood from operations. Not a single IV was anywhere. Syringes were being reused. Flies choked the air almost as much as the pollution.

“These are your ponies, Duke Badlands!” Twilight hit his name with enough of a verbal thrust to pierce an eardrum. “I dare you to say to their face what you said to me: that their suffering at your failure is not your problem.”

Every single pony that was awake and could move turned to watch him, silently pleading through their shock. On such words could rest the fate of a nation, let alone a Duchy.

Badlands sighed. “It's not my problem. Now, leave me alone, Lady Sparkle. I have more important things to do.”

Twilight stood still in the breeze that kicked up from Badlands leaving, letting the wind blow her mane into her face. “I'm sorry, everypony. I tried to get him to help.”

“Not like he ever does,” one of the doctors said.

“Still…” Twilight brushed away her mane and turned around, peeking through the gap in between the flaps. “How can somepony be so heartless? Nopony is served by piracy. All I wanted to do was save some of his citizens! Even the greediest, most vile corporation imaginable should hate pirates!”

“What if he's not in the pocket of any company?”

Twilight lurched like she'd been hit while the lightning in the idea sent a shiver up her spine. She took a breath, and time slowed. Her mind went to a blue sky, and flew.

Aurora's suggesting that he he may not have been bought by any company. That's starting to make sense; if he was, he would help me. But what would that leave? Being in no one's pocket wouldn't exclaim this...callousness towards his ponies.

What if he's being bought by the pirates?

Wait, I'm not so sure about that. His office was nearly as shoddy as the rest of San Palomino. Wouldn't that mean he's like the rest of the Duchy? Why would a rich pony have a crooked desk? Even if he was just trying to keep up appearances to not look bought, nopony would so much as blink at a freaking Duke having a nice desk.

The lightning hit again, and the pieces fell into place.

He's not being bought. Those thugs aren't protecting him, they're watching him. He probably can't go anywhere without their permission. He's being controlled — almost certainly by a geas, given that he's had plenty of opportunity to ask the Princess for help.

Twilight opened her eyes, and time started up again.

“Don't do that! I can't follow your thoughts when you think that fast! How am I supposed to be your armor if I don't know your thoughts? This place is too dangerous!”

Sorry, Aurora, but I think I just figured it out. Come on, Badlands might be in danger. Twilight dashed out of the tent and sparked her way into the sky, letting the random spell carry her through the air. All she needed was a little height, a shield against the sand, and the direction of the Duchy Tower.

“Are you sure about this?”

Twilight peered over the edge of the three-story building next door to the Duchy Tower. The rough, concrete edge rubbed against her chin, but didn't drop any rocks or dust down below to warn the thugs. Her shield was still glowing, despite her best efforts, but at least it was down to a faint glow from the blowing sand. Yeah, look at them. They're in a semi-circle around Badlands, and they don't look happy. They aren't subservient to him; he's subservient to them.

“Ssssshhhh, they're talking!”

“And you're sure she doesn't know anything?”

“Yeah. She's just pissed I won't help. I don't think she's as smart as everypony says. We're fine.”

Twilight stifled a grumble under her breath.

“Good to hear. I'm glad you understand the situation, Duke. You can go back to your comics.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Badlands trotted back into the service entrance of the tower, but whether his head was hung low from worry or shame, Twilight couldn't tell. The thing that struck her heart most, though, was his dead, blank eyes.

Okay, I got what I need for now. Time to get back to the Crown Investigation HQ.

“But we still don't know where Farriér is. What do we do now?”

Twilight rolled into her back and smiled at the sky. We're not done yet. Despite Badlands’ best efforts, this was actually productive!

Twilight nibbled on a ration and suppressed a yawn while she walked into the squad room.

Feint was in Babs’ section of the bullpen, going through her things and files, waiting for Twilight to come back. “How’d it go?”

“On the one hoof, about as well as you thought. On the other, way, way better.” She filled him in.

“That would explain some things.” Feint rubbed his lips with a fetlock. “If Badlands is in cahoots with Farriér and controlled by a geas, our job just got more complicated. You really know how to kick up a storm, Lady Sparkle.”

“I haven't even begun to cause trouble,” Twilight said with a wink. “Speaking of trouble, how's Rose doing?”

“She's done tripping balls now. She's going to have a monster headache and a case of the shakes for a wee few hours, which she'll probably nap off. One of the medics gave her a painkiller and more counter-agent. She'll be just fine as long as she avoids the Elixir from here on out.”

“Good. I'll see her in a few. First I want to send a telegraph to Canterlot to give them an update.”

“Oh! That reminds me. You got a telegraph while you were out.” He fished out an envelope. “Here.”

“Thanks!” Twilight tore it open and read.

THIS IS OBSIDIAN STOP YOUR TELEGRAM WAS RECEIVED STOP A NEARBY NIGHT GUARD TEAM HAS COMPLETED THEIR MISSION AND IS AVAILABLE FOR BACKUP STOP

A COURIER IS EN ROUTE WITH ALL AVAILABLE INTEL ON FARRIÉR STOP BELLEROPHON HAS BEEN DISPATCHED TO AID IN SEARCH AND RESCUE STOP

THREE WONDERBOLT SAR UNITS HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED STOP CAPTAIN SPITFIRE ON STATION STOP

FORT EARTHBORNE IS ON HIGH ALERT THANKS TO YOUR EXPERIENCE STOP I AM CURRENTLY ON STATION AT THE FORT ON OTHER BUSINESS BUT CAN BE DIVERTED TO HELP IF NEED BE STOP FORT EARTHBORNE IS AT YOUR DISPOSAL STOP

“Huh. So Shiny is in the area. Good, I have more resources.” Twilight pulled out her paper and notebook, ready to make a new telegram. “I don't have anything for him to do, though. At least not yet. Once I know where Farriér is, though, I wouldn't mind having him on the assault team. There's no force multiplier like a GR-10 High Cardinal.”

“Aye, damn right. I’ve seen him in action. The Cap’n can teach these pirates what firepower is all about.”

Twilight started her work calculating her new confirmation code. “Here's hoping I get to see Farriér's face when he realizes what he's up against. He's earned a bit of payback for hurting my ponies.”

Feint laughed. “Wanna send him a telegraph?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How? If we could do that, tracking him should be easy.”

“We aren't sure how he does it, exactly.” Feint pulled out a map of San Palomino absolutely covered in criss-crossed lines. “According to Babs’ investigation, he's got this crazy courier network. As far as we can tell, then you send him a message, only one courier actually gets where to really go. The rest are decoys, and none of them wind up at his base. They probably wait for the ship to show up. Every time we try to infiltrate it, he finds out and shifts things around. But, that does mean that if you send it, he'll get it, just don't expect following the couriers to work.”

“Clever. Too clever. But that won't be enough. I'll close in on him yet. Give me a few minutes to create the messages.”

She opened her book and made her message, then walked down the hall to the station’s telegraph room. She got a dirty looking kicking one of the officers out of a booth, but this had to be done.

THIS IS LADY SPARKLE STOP PRIOR TELEGRAM RECEIVED STOP

NEW INTEL UNCOVERED STOP DUKE BADLANDS COMPROMISED STOP UNDER CONTROL OF CAPTAIN FARRIÉR STOP DO NOT TRUST STOP HIGH PROBABILITY OF GEAS STOP DO NOT INTERVENE AS IT WILL TIP OFF FARRIÉR STOP PRIVATE FORCES ANSWER TO FARRIÉR STOP REQUEST NIGHT GUARD OBSERVATION STOP

INVESTIGATION CONTINUING STOP CONTINUE SAR OPERATIONS STOP

CONFIRMATION CODE: NINE FIVE OVER SEVEN BLUE FIVE TEN BREAK ALPHA STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STOP

Twilight tapped her pen on her nose. A message to Farriér, huh? What to say…

I'M ALIVE FARRIÉR STOP I'M COMING AFTER YOU STOP

SURRENDER AND I'LL ADD YOU TO THE STATUE GARDEN STOP

DON'T SURRENDER AND I'LL GET CREATIVE STOP

SPARKLE

“That ought to do it.” Twilight took off the headphones and stepped out of the booth. “Now then, next up, I need to dig around through some files to see who I can get to turn on Farriér. Then, after she gets up, I need to talk to Rose.”

“I frigging hate the whole frigging world right now.” Rose rubbed her temples with hooves that must have been sledgehammers, and that still made her hurt less than the apocalypse inside her head. “Next pony I see had better have more painkillers on them if they want to live.”

The sound of paper, or perhaps her muscles, tearing in two threatened to do the same to her eardrums. The fact that it wasn't coming from her own body was the only reason she didn't think she had torn off one of her own limbs. That meant, though, she had somepony to kill.

“Congratulations, you're about to die. Say your–” Rose blinked from her upside down position lying on a cold, concrete floor, and found herself staring up at Twilight Sparkle. Said pony was holding a single use baggie of medicine and a glass of water.

“It's just aspirin, but it's all my first aid kit had.” Twilight smiled. “So do I get to live?”

Rose itched and shook with the desire to make something, anything pay for what she had gone through. But, there was aspirin to be had. “Yes. Yes you do. Place the pills on the floor, back away, and nopony gets hurt.”

“Yes, O criminal mastermind.” Twilight opened the cell bar door and stepped inside, then placed the medicine on the ground. Her cloak was filled with the hot sand of the desert, as was her coat and mane. If one wasn't watching her movements, they could easily mistake her for a San Palomino native by this point.

Rose downed the painkiller as fast as she could, along with the water. “How long was I out?”

“A good portion of the day. Not long enough to be truly worried, although I am curious as to why the counter agent didn't work on you as well as it should have.”

“I think it did work. I’m not jumping you for more Elixir, so it must have done something. Other than that, I guess passing out is just my bad luck. Maybe it has something to do with all the potions I had as a kid. One of my dads is good at them.”

“Sounds like an interesting family. I'd love to hear more about them sometime. Right now, though, I need to know more about what you know about the gangs in the desert.” Twilight stole the cell's oh-so-amazing wooden plank of a seat and sat down. “I've been digging around for intel on them in the files here. Read some dossiers. But I'm betting you can help even more, especially if you know where any of them are.”

“What makes you think I know anything like that?”

Twilight gave her a look that translated as “Come on, really? It's me. Of course I figured it out.”

“Humour me.” Rose deadpanned.

“If you insist.” Twilight sucked down a deep breath. “You said you ambush ponies in the desert for bounties. This means you have to know where the gangs are so you don't run into them, or so you do, depending on the bounty. It also means you know their tactics and customs, because according to the records I've dug up, you've caught your fair share of them, and dropped them off at depots all over San Palomino.

“I could go on, but really, that's all I needed to make the conclusions. Simple enough?”

“Yeah.” Rose sighed and flopped back over on the concrete which would have been comfortably cool in anywhere but San Palomino. “I'm beginning to think helping you is a bad idea.”

“If you travel with me… Well, I can guarantee it won't be boring. Speaking of, I don't think we discussed your fee.”

Rose's ear perked up. “Fee?”

“You are a bounty hunter, right? This is a bit of an extended job, so I wouldn't feel right not paying you. How about… Two thousand per day, plus expenses? Would that be reasonable?”

Rose flipped onto her belly. If her life was one of those fancy animated movies, there would be slot machine wheels spinning in her eyes, ending in “Jackpot.” “Yes, I believe that's reasonable. Who do you want me to—” Rose's memory bulldozed the piles of bits in her mind off a cliff. “Wait, Farriér? No, nononononono. No way. I learned my lesson on him a long time ago. It's suicide! Nopony crosses that guy! I was fine with flying you to the city and hanging out, but this is something else entirely. There's no way I'm stepping into the crosshairs for—”

“Four thousand bits.” Twilight dropped a small sack of coins on the ground. “Per day, plus expenses plus ten percent, maximum six days.”

The bulldozer in Rose's mind got buried in bits. “Damn. I… I don't know…”

“Five thousand.”

There was a pause.

Rose swallowed. “I am so going to live to regret this.”

“That's better than not living to regret it.” Twilight motioned to the open cell door. “Welcome aboard. Come on, we have a trip to the desert to prepare for.”

“Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?”

Twilight nodded to Feint. “I'm sure. I appreciate the concern, but having a Crown Agent with me will just guarantee a poor reception, and it’s too far outside a leyline for me to bother Luna. I'm sure I'll be back before too long. Let my brother know where I went, though, just in case.”

“Will do. Good luck!” Feint put on his sunglasses in an obvious attempt to look cool. “I'm pretty sure you'll need it.”

“I don't like to rely on luck. But it sure doesn't hurt to have.” Twilight waved, and they were off into the sky with Rose pulling the wagon they had flown into town on. The sunset loomed large at the horizon, painting the sky red, orange, pink, purple, and even indigo to the east.

As she leaned back in what passed for a seat, Twilight started going over her notes and maps. “How long do you think it'll take to get there?”

“We'll be camping tonight for sure. I don't have the energy to get there tonight, and even if I did, we'd only be dealing with gangsters cranky that we woke them up at three AM. But we should be there sometime before noon tomorrow, which is good, because most gangs in the desert schedule their activities for late afternoon, just a bit before sunset.”

“See? Knowledgeable. Exactly what I need here.” Twilight fiddled with her schedule, not that she expected it to be a solid one. “I've read a bit about this gang in the intel file the Crown has on them. Care to add anything?”

“Yeah. Diamond Reign is absolutely bonkers. Normally, I wouldn't want to get near her or her crew. Are you really sure you want to try talking to them?”

“Their territory is close to Farriér's operating area, and the data suggests the two aren't friends. So, yes, I'm sure.”

“Well, here's hoping they don't kill us. Normally, only stallions get to walk into their compound. If they're lucky, mares just get turned away.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really? I haven't read the whole file yet, but it looks like the pony in charge is a mare.”

“Check if there is a list of other known members. Every single one will be a stallion. She doesn't let other mares get close to her boys. I'm guessing it's a jealousy thing, but who knows with her.”

“Like I said, working with me is never boring.”

The two flew on well into the night, stopping only after the sun had completely vanished over the horizon. They built a fire, though there was no wood. Instead, Twilight used a pile of rocks and their natural fire magic to heat them to the point that they glowed with a thaumic hum. No tent was available; it had been captured or destroyed with the rest of their supplies at the start of the day. Instead, a shield and sleeping bags would have to do.

“Another night in the desert.” Rose stretched out and yawned. “It's really not as bad as some ponies think. At least for some areas. The sand stays warm for you to lie on, and most of the really dangerous things out here sleep at night.”

“Sounds like you have a lot of experience,” Twilight said while getting into her bag. “Have you always lived out here?”

“Yup. Born and raised. My mom and my dads taught me how to survive. How to fight. It was up to me to figure out how to bounty hunt, though.”

“I honestly can't imagine it.” Twilight took a swig from her canteen. “I grew up in Canterlot. My parents weren't rich, but we weren't poor by any stretch. Some ponies think I always had whatever I wanted, but that's not really true. Any book I wanted, maybe, thanks to the castle's extensive library. For everything else, though, even as Celestia's student, I was expected to make do with a modest stipend.

“However, I have to acknowledge that I still had it pretty well off. No worries over food, water, or shelter. The best education in Canterlot. These things are significant, so I know how hollow it sounds when I say I don't think I'm spoiled.”

Rose chuckled. “You did just hire me for more money than I'd ever seen in my life.”

“Yeah, well, that's a recent thing. They pay Grand Mages exceptionally well, because sometimes we find problems that can only be solved by tossing money at it. Most don't work that way, but some do, and when lives are on the line, I'll spend a bit more for expediency.”

“I can't argue with that. If tossing around a few bits saves some ponies, I'm happy to hoof over my tax bits. Wish a few bits would make Farriér go away.”

“If only.” Twilight yawned. “One things for sure, I'm not going to stop until Farriér is caught. After that, I need to see to it that Badlands is dealt with.”

“Good luck. The guy is crazy well connected. You’re going to be pissing off a lot of ponies.”

“There are no words to say how little I care about his connections. He’s going to be gone.” Twilight dampened the spell on the rocks, dimming them down. “That's later, though. First comes Farriér. And for that, we need some rest. Good night, Rose. Sweet dreams.”

“Yeah, dreams.” Rose popped a couple pills. “Right…”

So, just where am I? Rainbow gently slid open the cover to her new hidey-hole, which was another vent unit she had found. Three times I try to get out, and three times I get lost. Almost as if there's some kind of magic— She resisted the urge to bang her head on the metal wall. Duh. Confusion magic. Makes a pony go in circles when they aren't supposed to be somewhere. Stupid, stupid pegasus. We're up against unicorns. You gotta think like you have a horn.

She reached out and grabbed hold of the door handle, grinding her teeth at the hinges’ creaking. This whole place needs a few barrels of grease. Okay, key to fighting confusion magic? Think like you belong here, and focus on simple thoughts, over and over, and eventually its hold loosens.

She walked out the door, keeping her stride as smooth and natural as possible. No rushing to attract attention, no fancy hoofwork. She just walked. Dur, I'm a stupid pirate, yar! Okay, enough of that. Simple thoughts. Right at the intersection. Right at the intersection. She followed her thought, making a square right turn. Keep going this way. Keep going this way.

It was two more turns, but she found something no confusion magic would keep from her: an exit hatch. She grabbed hold and gave the wheel a spin.

Ha! Time to find out where I—

Rainbow swallowed as the door opened. Outside was a harbour, but there wasn't a speck of sky to be found. Ponies worked to offload cargo — including other ponies — and serviced random machines. Metal was everywhere, except for much of the walls, which were solid red stone.

This was why their base was so hard to find. It was underground. Which meant: so was she.

Getting out of here just got a lot more difficult.

Author's Note

Well, here goes nothing.

Since the last chapter wasn't received well, I posted two this month for you guys. I won't lie, I'm super nervous about them. I really hope you guys like them.

I've made a ton of fixes to these two chapters, and I'm almost certain I'm missing something important. Thus my nerves. But, forward I go. I hope you all will stick with me, as I have learned a lot this mission so far, and it's all being applied going forward. If there really is something catastrophic in error, I'll go back and fix it. This mission, mission seven, has been a truly humbling experience in a large number of ways.

Hopefully the chapter after these will be well received. It's kind of an important one.

I'm limping along for mission eight, and I think it'll be better received than this one. I might have bit off too much for one mission on seven, but eight is simpler.

Again, thank you all for sticking with me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It truly means the world to me that there are people that like my writing.

-Cv

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Attack on a Titan

“Hey. Are you awake?”

Twilight groaned and blinked, flopping over on a cloud. All around her was a vortex of silent wind, with stars above and land far below. “I'm guessing no, since I'm here.”

Aurora giggled. “More or less. You’re still getting rest, so don’t worry about that.”

“Okay then.” Twilight turned over and stood with a yawn. “What's up?”

An image of Farriér appeared over them, frozen in the moment he fired an electrical attack at them. “I wanted to talk to you about Farriér’s bonded blade.”

“Bonded? I suspected as much. You have proof?”

“I just… know. From the moment we clashed, I could tell. It was definitely a bonded blade. But…” Aurora put her forelegs behind her and blushed like a lamb. “This isn't… What I have to say isn't very nice.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and laid down next to her. “You can tell me. I Pinkie Promise I won't tell anypony else what you said.”

“Well… I think…” Aurora blushed even harder. “I think his blade might be… Mentally deficient.”

Twilight sorted back a laugh. “Wait, you're saying that his bonded blade is stupid?”

“‘Stupid’ doesn't quite begin to cover it.” Aurora scratched her head. “I really think there's some kind of handicap involved here. I'm not sure how, but I think it's intelligence is… probably around that of a moderately stupid dog.”

There was a pause.

“Wait, are you saying that the weapon he has is defective? With that much power?”

“’Defective’ is probably not the right word. In all likelihood, it was simply not created to the same standard as I was. Fortunately, this offers us an advantage.” Aurora waved her hoof, changing the floating image to a partial magic circle. “Both of the attacks used against us had this base formula. I also detected it at seventeen cycles per second within its core, which is unusual. I have a theory as to why, though.”

“Way ahead of you.” Twilight pulled up dozens of circles, each powerless but detailed, and all bearing the same base formula. “It just knows dog tricks. Sure, a dog could master dozens of commands, but they’re all just little things based on a limited mind. It’s a poor pony’s bonded blade. All of its abilities probably stem from this one core idea, matched to an oversized power source. All brute force, no finesse.” She smiled at her partner. “And I’m guessing that since I already have some ideas on how to counter it, you probably do, too.”

“I do. Although, adapting my damage enchantments is relatively difficult. My thaumic profile is the same as yours, and changing resistances requires a whole new outer shell of runes. I think that by the time I am done, the mission will be long since over. It would be easier to adapt your combat barriers.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Twilight brought up the spells Shining had taught her and put them each overhead. “My BBBFF gave me a good start. His barriers are the best, bar none. But, I still have a lot of work to do if I'm going to get my matrix to his level. He was right; his own matrix is far too customized to his own profile for me to use.”

“I wouldn't think that adding specific resistances would be very difficult. Especially when all the spells we're looking at share the same base.”

“No, it's not. But I want to cast a wider net than that. Other ponies aren't the only threats in San Palomino, or Equestria. For now, let's try to add fire resistance in addition to lightning. Given where we are, that seems most appropriate.”

Aurora fidgeted with her hooves. “Um, there was something else I wanted to ask.”

“Hmm?” Twilight tilted her head and chewed on the pen that had suddenly appeared in her mouth.

“The gas mask you received from the Crown Agents? I think I can integrate it into myself. I've been thinking about doing something completely sealed, but that's really hard. A filter would be much easier.”

Twilight nodded. “Great idea! First thing tomorrow, I'll ‘feed’ it to you. Then I won't have to worry about the dust storms and pollution anymore!”

“Yep!” Aurora held her forelegs out wide, and Twilight pulled her into a hug.

“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”

The two shared a look.

“Wasn't me,” Aurora said with a shrug.

“And it wasn't me…” Twilight paused for an instant before she and Aurora both finished with “Rose!”

Aurora clenched her eyes shut. “I don't detect hostile magic, but still. Better wake up. I'll deploy, just in case.”

“You got it.” Twilight stared up into the starry sky, willing herself awake.

“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”

Twilight flung off her blanket while Aurora covered her in metal. In one swift move, she was up, armoured, blade drawn, and ready to face whatever. The only problem was that ‘whatever’ was just a screaming Rose. Her wards were all intact, as was her shield she had placed over them last night.

“Rose?” Twilight put her blade away. Rose was writhing in agony in her sleeping bag, but it wasn't from wounds. As much as Twilight tried to find something wrong, there was only screaming. “Must be one incredible nightmare.”

She walked around the still-glowing rocks that made up their pseudo-campfire and grabbed Rose by her shoulders. “Hey! Wake up! It's just a nightmare!” Twilight gave her a single, hard shake.

“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”

“Okay, plan B.” Twilight lit her horn and grabbed the piece of wood she had brought with her, then pointed it straight up. “Sender's Shower!”

The water rocketed into the heavens, then fell straight down.

In just a couple seconds, they were soaked to the bone, surrounded by fog, and very much awake.

“Huh? Whuh? Ack!” Rose coughed at the last of the deluge that found its way down her throat and possibly her nostrils. “What… What was…”

“You are having a nightmare.” Twilight laid down on the hot desert floor, basking in the warmth of the clay and sand. “Sounded like a bad one. Do you want to talk about it?”

Rose clenched her eyes shut, her breath nearly at a panting stage. She didn’t speak until it had calmed down. “Talking won't do any good. Where's my medicine?” Rose tossed off her blanket with a wet flop and dashed to her bag. “Where is it?”

“What kind of medicine is it?”

Rose pulled out a bottle and downed three pills without so much as a drop to drink. “Evaneir. Helps me sleep. Keeps the nightmares away.”

“Never heard of it.” Aurora pinged Twilight with a nonverbal confirmation; neither of them knew of it. “And it doesn't look like it works very well,” Twilight continued. “Even Rarity doesn't scream like that for a nightmare, and she can make anything dramatic.”

“Look, all I know is that if I don't take it, things get even worse, okay?” Rose snarled and rung out her tail. “Everypony needs to butt out of this. I'm doing what I can!”

“Whoa, okay!” Twilight held up her hooves. “We're friends here. Just trying to help.”

Rose facehooved. “Sorry, I… Sorry. You live out here, you learn to manage on your own. I have a doctor. He's the best I can afford. Yes, the nightmares are bad and happen every night, but they get a lot worse if I stop taking it. No, I can't afford to go to the capital. Yes, I'm managing, so stop yelling!”

Twilight blinked.

“Wait, you weren't…” Rose groaned. “Sorry again. I'm used to idiots telling me what to do right about there.”

“I won't tell you what to do. It's your health, your business.”

Rose opened her mouth, but only stuttered. “A-b, ni, buh… Huh. That's new. Most try to get me to try some crazy remedy or something.”

Twilight shook her head. “What you're experiencing is something that should be evaluated, monitored, and treated by a medical professional. That's one thing I am not.

“That being said, I also think you should get a second opinion to compare against your current one. But that's just my recommendation. Whether you follow it or not is your business.”

“Nope.” Rose folded her forelegs. “Can't afford to.”

“I'll pay for your ticket.”

Rose took in a breath, then stopped to raise her eyebrow. “‘Ticket’?”

“My father is a somnologist, which is a doctor specializing in sleep disorders. One of the best alive. I can convince him to waive his out-of-Duchy fee, so you just need a train ticket to Ponyville. Really, given the circumstances and the severity of your condition, you might be a case study.” Twilight mentally thought at Aurora, Not tomention his most stubborn patient since me.

“Wait.” Rose pointed a sneakily suspicious hoof at Twilight. “Isn't your father supposed to be some high-muckity-muck noble with like three mistresses?”

Twilight snorted back a laugh. “Yeah, right. He's a good doctor, but nopony in our family was nobility until my brother managed to marry Cadence. My mom wishes he was a noble. And he's as romantically dense as my brother. Even if a mare tried to get him into an affair, he wouldn't realize it.

“In short, don't pay too much attention to the tabloids. Their accuracy is, at best, woefully lacking.”

“Ah.” Rose pursed her lips. “Well, crap. Guess I'm out of excuses. I'll… think about it. I hate going to new doctors.”

“You've got nothing to worry about, trust me. Worst case scenario, you have to listen to some of his puns.” Twilight shuddered. “Or he goes to work in one of his tourist T-shirts.”

“Sounds like I'm not the only mare with at least one ‘character’ for a father.”

“Yeah.” Twilight yawned and walked back to her sleeping bag. “Stallions are weird.”

“So are mares, really.” Rose pulled her blanket over her. “We're just more interesting about it.”

“Ow.” Spike flopped onto the bare dirt. The afternoon sky was pretty and peaceful, with far fewer pegasi than one would expect. The warm dirt was a nice contrast to the cool breeze, and there was a nice touch of smoke in the air as the minotaurs were starting up the cooking fires. All in all, this was a nice place to be.

“Come on, Spike. I think you're done for the day.”

It was certainly better than getting his scaly behind handed to him time and again. Why aren't we hiring these guys into the Royal Guard? Spike wondered. They can seriously fight.

“Spike?” Valley asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said. At least he thought he said it. It might have been a string of garbled groans and grumbles.

“Okay, you. No more today, and no more tomorrow.” Valley grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Celestia will blow this place to smithereens if we let you get too hurt.”

Spike’s world wobbled like pudding. His legs were giving the world a good run for its money —not that he would be doing any real running anytime soon. “Mrglefrgle.” And he was quoting Twilight's grumbles now. Psychiatrists the world over would have a field day with that.

“Come on, let's get some water in you. Dragons can get dehydrated, right?” Valley was nice enough to let him lean on her while he did something vaguely resembling walking.

“No idea.” Spike said. “Hasn't been an issue before. But water and food sounds nice.”

Another minute or so went by until they arrived at a picnic table which was already set for dinner. Valley had left to deal with something or other. Spike wasn't quite awake enough to pay attention. Yeah, he thought. Definitely overdid it.

He flexed his arm and felt the muscles under his scales. They weren't any bigger, not that he expected them to be. Some of the minotaurs had biceps the size of watermelons, and powerful though they were, he didn't quite want to be that bulked out. At least, not until he was the size of a small house.

The more important thing was what he had learned. Twilight was right: knowledge was power, and practice made perfect. He'd learned simple things. Stances, better ways to punch, ways to block a pony's kick… and how ridiculously strong minotaurs were. He was also exhausted, and soundly lost his last bout, but there was something else, too.

He'd managed to block Valley a couple times, and even landed a blow on her. When he started, he couldn't have done that even with a miracle on his side. Less than two days, and he'd already gone that far.

I need to stay here. Spike drank from a mug that had appeared next to him, probably from Valley or one of the other minotaurs. I was right. Luna may be crazy strong, but she doesn't know how to be a biped. How to fight like one. They do. I need to learn more. I don't have long until Twilight is powerful enough that it might not matter, but even a little while longer could mean a lot.

And, even alicorns can't be in two places at once. Maybe one day she'll need me to be able to fight someplace she can't be.

“Mmmmmphle!” Spike coughed out water from his lungs that was trying to sneak down and have a party by his diaphragm. A second later, he pulled the mug off his face and swatted away Valley’s hand, which was pushing his glass on his face.

“Paying attention yet, scale-butt?” Valley gave him a wink. “I was calling your name and you weren't responding.”

“Sorry.” Spike yawned through a cough of steam. “Kinda out of it.”

“Like I said, no fighting tomorrow. Right now, though, Weaponsmaster Forge wants to see you in the Core Smithy.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Me? What about?”

Valley shrugged. “Nothing strenuous, I'm sure. But what Weaponsmaster wants…”

“Weaponsmaster gets. I know that feel.” Spike stood up, this time under his own power, and his legs had a slightly lower pudding content than before.

The village wasn't any larger than Ponyville had been when he and Twilight had first moved there, and it didn't take him long to wobble his way over to the building in question. Like the others, it was round with an exposed, red-painted wooden frame, and thick, dense stone walls draped in a tough cloth.

Inside, it was completely open, with various workstations. Weaponsmaster Forge was at a firepit in the center, which was filled with dark flame. Crash after crash hit from his hammer, each enough for Spike to feel through the ground. How the core hadn't exploded or broken yet, Spike had no idea.

The whole place reeked of smoke, though that didn't bother Spike any. It was the darkness that unnerved him. A skylight was letting in plenty of sunlight, but it was so bright the rest of the room was too dim for him to make out any great detail. Even the dark flames didn't provide more than a faint violet glow. If the dirt floor wasn't clear, he could trip and fall into something unfortunate.

“Come on in, boy.” Forge doused the gem in a vat of oil, then set it on a stone table and took off his mask. “We have a decision to make.”

“What kind of decision?” Spike went to lean on the table, but stopped as he thought better of getting too close to the core. “I don't have the same legal powers as Twilight does, so don't ask for anything... governmental. Not my call.”

“It's not that. It's this core.” Forge reached out with a fireproof-glove-covered hand and held the gem up to the light. It had taken on a diluted purple hue. “It's tasted your master’s power, but… The spark of light it needs to be a bonded blade isn't forming. I can still try, but I only have a one in twenty chance of pulling this off. Even I have limits. If I fail, the core will break.”

Spike folded his arms and scratched his chin. “What's the alternative?”

“I stop trying to make it a bonded blade, and make it into an oversized cored blade instead. It wouldn't be on par with a well-made bonded artifact, but it would easily be able to match any cored equipment she came across.” He tapped the gem in the table. “At least, it would be for anything I've come across.”

“Hmmm…” Spike narrowed his eyes on the core. What would Twilight want? The threats we’re going up against aren't getting any weaker. And she was supposed to have a bonded blade from the get go.

But a broken core is useless. At that point, it might as well be food… His stomach growled, and he had to pull back on his instinct to give it a punch. Quiet, you.

He sucked in a breath and sighed. Plus, while we take big risks in our missions, this seems like an unnecessary roll of the dice. We can always make do until we get a new core, which could be any day now, since Mipaka blew himself to kingdom come. So…

“Make the cored blade. We can try again for a bonded blade later. If our improbable travels don't bring us face to face with a new high-powered core, I'd be shocked.”

Weaponsmaster Forge nodded and grunted in approval. “I'll get started right away. Since the process is simpler, I should finish tonight.”

“Sounds awesome.” Spike yawned. “I'm going to take a nap. And find some aspirin.”

“Rest well. From what Celestia had told me, you never know when you'll next get to.”

“Ain't that the truth…”

They flew on through the day, staying just high enough to keep out of the worst of the heat. The ground never stopped being desolate, but that didn't stop Twilight from writing and drawing everything she could. Below their little cart was a land unspoiled by development, much like the Everfree, and in many ways even more dangerous.

Just like in the fabled forest, creatures roamed everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it was a wonder she hadn't seen more before this stage of her journey. Many were tiny, so much so that she needed her binoculars to see them from so far up. Some, however, were the size of hydras, such as the sand crabs, which were made of the desert itself.

The ground shifted over time, too. Some places had dunes as red as blood, while others had bare brown rock. For the first part of their flight, only a few dotted buttes marred the landscape, but that soon gave way to sand, which gave way to the canyons and peaks they now found themselves over. As Twilight looked up from one interesting formation to find another, she found one canyon in particular that caught her eye. Primarily, it was due to the smoke coming from it.

Twilight sighed. “Please tell me that isn't the compound that we’re looking for. Please tell me that it isn't on fire.” The ripping sound of anti-aircraft fire tore through the desert. “Ugh. It is, isn't it? It's on fire. Why are half my destinations always on fire?”

“Actually…” Rose squinted. “The compound is beyond that canyon. I mean, I was about to land anyway, because Diamond Reign is a crazy, out of her mind, banana-balls ‘I’m-going-to-shoot-anything-that-flies-and-gets-near-my-home’ kind of mare. But I don't think that it's the compound making that smoke. It's too close.”

“Then land us. Last thing I want is to get shot before we even get there.”

“Going down!” Rose dove for the desert floor, levelling out inches over the sand and rock. The cart nearly shook itself apart as they skidded towards the edge of the canyon. With one last stomp, the vehicle swung left, halting in the perfect position to get a wonderful view of the valley below—and the creature in it.

Twilight swallowed. “Rose? Wh-what is that?”

“Th-th-tha—” Rose's eyes twitched as if she was being electrocuted. “Th-th-th-th-th-th-th—”

“RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWWGGGGGHHHHHRRRRRR!” The monster, whatever it was, bellowed like nothing Twilight had ever heard. A tower of stone next to it crumbled just from the force of sound. A huge, turtle-like shell covered its back, easily twelve stories high. The monster's ten stump legs lumbered forward one at a time. Instead of a tail, there was only a second head.

What Twilight saw most, though, was that it didn't have skin. The entire thing was nothing more than bleached bone, oozing miasma, and a choking, living darkness.

Wait… Twilight’s teeth chattered along with the guns of the ponies in the valley and the bolts harmlessly bouncing off the thing’s shell. The miasma… I can see it! But I'm not using my thaumic sight! Which means, it's so thick, I don't need it! And worse… She looked to Rose, who was still frozen in fear. They can see it, too.

“Twilight! Heavy artillery!”

Twilight shot her gaze down to a new group of ponies running in, each pulling a single heavy cannon behind them. The guns weren't the anti-aircraft, anti-personnel kind worn on the back. These were so heavy they were being dragged on wheels, and looked like they were pulled off of light airships at some point.

Maybe those will do some damage, at least. Twilight pushed at her torc with magic, deploying into its new form after having absorbed a gas mask. The new functionality wasn’t complete, but Aurora had already made significant changes. Twilight’s entire body was now sealed off from the outside, save for her mouth, nose, and horn, the latter of which had to be completely uncovered to use magic. Even her eyes were covered with something that looked like glass, but was actually more metal enchanted to be transparent. Shields up! She twisted her magic around her horn, putting up layer after layer of shielding, each with its own job to do.

Boom! BOOM!

The force of the artillery knocked Twilight out of the chariot. Gravity took hold. She was a third of the way down the canyon before it all caught up to her. The heavy cannon shell had ricocheted off the monstrosity and hit the rocks underneath them, crumbling the cliff they were standing on into nothing. Rose was upside down, flailing about uselessly.

Twilight, meanwhile, was calm, focused, and ready. She took in a breath, choking just a little on the dusty air. Aurora hadn't finished her filters yet. Hopefully, she wouldn't need them. Her shields weren't quite ready, either, but some were up. It would have to do. She lit her horn and fired her first spell, rocketing herself forward through teleportation.

Rose hit the ground, and hard. The crash of wood on rock was a symphony of splinters and cracks playing a concerto of worry into Twilight’s ears.

Stay focused. Rose is a heavy pegasus. It'll take way more than that to hurt her. Twilight teleported again, launching upwards and pulling out her telekinetic blade. Down she slashed, cutting into bone and carving a line several stories tall down clear to its belly.

The only problem was, the cut wasn't there.

I know I connected… No matter how hard she looked, there was nothing. No gash, no blood, not even a trace of her attack.

“Look out!”

Twilight tore through reality once more, sliding backwards on all four hooves upon exit. A heavy, flat, bony foot crunched down into the sand where she had been just a moment ago.

Twilight sneered. “Okay, plan B.”

The thing lifted up one of its heads, and everypony braced themselves. A roar second only to the explosion in Zebrica blasted through the valley and the skulls of anypony unlucky enough to be too close. Black miasma bellowed into the air like smoke from a chimney, but only for a few seconds. As everypony’s ears rang and squealed, the vaporious evil congealed into a rain of hatred. That the monster's attackers had already fled the danger zone was either a minor miracle, or it meant something Twilight didn't want to contemplate.

“Hey, big, dumb, and ugly!” Twilight pulled out a second blade while her words rang bells inside her brain case. “Eat this!” She swung both blades out, flinging them at the monster. They twirled like fireworks as black lightning arced along their form, ready to explode like she was still in training.

They hit true, landing in between two plates of bone. The miasma reached out to greet them with tendrils, embracing both like old friends. Space itself oozed around the blades, farting out some obscene noise as the swords disappeared into the monster without the slightest complaint.

“It…” Twilight's eye twitched. “It ate them!”

“Look!”

Twilight switched to her magic sight, and as always, everything was laid bare. The magic in the creature was as solid as any shield, with no visible core or center, and without leylines. Instead, there was a seemingly solid mass of magic, or at least an opaque shell of one.

Worse, though, was the thaumic profile. “Astral, darkness… Pure, unreal darkness.”

“If you can't help, leave!”

Twilight didn’t know which stallion said it, and she didn't care. She teleported backwards, leaping into the air. Below was Rose, stunned and scared, but unharmed.

Her armoured hooves hit canyon wall, and gravity took over to help her slide down the rocks to her hired help and new friend. “Rose! Rose, are you okay?!”

“Hammab… Hammanubulid…” Rose sat, shaking and staring at the abomination.

“Rose, snap out if it!” Twilight jumped over some rocks and landed next to her. She grabbed Rose by the shoulders and gave her a great big shake. “I need you awake to help me fight this thing!”

“Fight? Fight?!” Rose shrieked as she scrambled to her hooves, slipping in the sand. “I'm going to run! I've never seen anything like that, and even I can tell that nopony can stand up to something like that, much less hurt it!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes to slits. “I can. All I need you to do is help distract it!”

“Distract it? Distract it?! How in Tartarus are you supposed to distract a demon?!”

“Shoot at it, make it mad, and dodge!”

“Look out below, boys!”

Twilight and Rose both turned to the sky, watching as a mare fell out of the blue. A pegasus stallion had obviously been carrying her, and had dropped the earth pony like a bomb.

Rose shook her head in disbelief. “Wait…”

Twilight continued the thought. “She's not really about to… Is she?”

“Open wide, dinner’s coming to give you the world's worst ulcer!” The mare dove straight for one of the creature's mouths. In particular, she was aimed at the one looking at her with its maw wide open. “Welcome to pain!”

One chomp later, there was nothing.

If not for the raging battle, complete with both mounted and heavy cannons firing and ricocheting shells everywhere, Twilight and Rose would have been sitting in stunned silence.

“Okay, that… That's what not to do.” Twilight stood up and charged her horn. “But I do need you to fight. Trust me, I have a plan.”

“... You’re insane. You’re absolutely insane!”

“That’s what we keep telling ourselves. Hasn’t changed anything yet. Now, get flying and distract it!” Twilight charged her horn and licked her lips. “I’m going to blow this thing to kingdom come!”

If Rose said anything in reply, it was too late. Twilight had already teleported and sent herself into the air, earning her a blast of sand up her nose for her lack of consideration. Despite that, the spell went off without a hitch, and she was back on top of the canyon.

“Are you going to use… you know… even when they’re looking?”

Yeah. They’ve never seen this power before, and it’s mostly still unicorn magic. Which means that my horn will still be lit, so they shouldn’t know the difference. Besides...

Twilight stomped her hoof, spawning a magic circle of pure darkness.

I’m an alicorn. It’s about time I started using Our magic.

She ducked her head to the side, and a medium shell whizzed by. Her mane and tail flapped in the wind it dragged behind it. On second thought, I need more data. What is that thing made of?

Twilight switched to her sight, looking for every detail she could gather to help her pick what spell to use. Yet, it looked exactly the same, even in her sight. Magic. It’s made out of magic…

A second stomp put up another circle, this one a blank slate of white light. She grabbed both with her magic and tossed them above her, with the dark one below the light one. A blast from her horn carved another ring above both, this one of purest gold.

Boom!

Twilight covered her eyes from the explosion while bits of shrapnel plinked off her armor. She blinked and wiped her eyes free of the dust. Chaos reigned in the canyon just as surely as if Discord himself were present. Not here. Not in Equestria. I won’t let monsters like this roam free!

Magic flowed from not just her horn, but her whole body. The torrent enveloped her wholly, forming a column of black light shooting into the bottom circle. What few symbols that were in the bottom two circles lit up along with her, though only the bottom filled up. An orb of her magic coalesced into a miniature planet of power.

Twilight sucked in a breath. “Convert!”

The orb rose, floating slowly to the top of the rings. The black void inside shifted from the destructive hardness of her native magic, to a neutral grey, to finally a golden light as it reached the top.

Thunder ripped into the final ring from an exploded shell, but it wasn’t enough to break such an overwhelmingly dense structure, even with the powder’s magical enhancements. At this rate, the attack on this thing is more dangerous than the actual monster! The battle was raging with hundreds of smaller rounds being fired every minute, and a dozen heavy stallion-drawn cannons raging as fast as they could. Even Rose was fighting, though she was keeping a distance as she had the weakest guns on her back out of all the skirmishers.

Let’s do this. Twilight locked her gaze on it with her sight, and a roar of power threatened to give her a bleeding ulcer then and there. It was a lion’s head the size of an observatory, ready to form from nothing and swallow the monster whole. There. That’s what I need.

She lifted her hoof to the sky, and the ground cracked under her. “O mighty light of the world beyond this, assemble and be guided by my will! O power written of in the hearts of life, fill my soul to pour unto an unending river!”

The upper circle blossomed out into something far grander, yet it too was but a pale imitation of what appeared over the body of the monstrosity below. Golden light brighter than the sun swirled over it and grew a set of seven fangs larger than any dragon’s.

“Thou who dwellest in the land forever unknown, bear witness unto the clarion and ready to strike! Purity be thy sustenance, virtue thy ambrosia! Look thee hither at the evil that tries mares’ souls!”

The tiny stones below her hooves rose to the heavens from just the wind at her face, created solely by the power seeping from the magic circles. The monster looked up at her and howled, either knowing what was to come or already being burned by the opposing magic already bearing down on its form. The golden fangs over it broke free of the plane of the circle, now pointing at an angle towards its body.

Cover your eyes, ponies. This is going to be bright. “O Trident of the Sun! Strike down and wipe clean the stain of Tartarus! Ain Soph Aur!”

The fangs dropped, singeing into the being of the monster and setting it alight. The light that fell from within the circle, though, made that all but invisible as it struck straight down from the center of the spell. Blazing, scorching light etched shadows permanently into the desert floor, yet would not burn the flesh of ponies. This spell was incapable of that. It was exclusively meant for one kind of thing: monstrosities born of darkness.

Even the roar of the beast as it wailed in pain was muted to near incomprehensibility by the sheer force of the magic being brought down upon it. It was the single brightest thing Twilight had ever witnessed, even beyond that of the explosion in Zebrica.

That had been the point.

White magic, along with silver, was anathema to miasma. Thus it stood to reason that the best course of action was to drown the demon in it… while ramming a lance of the stuff through its heart.

As the light died down, so too did the burbling sob of the monster. The magic circles faded from existence, and the smell of ozone permeated the air.

Twilight lost count of how many times she had to blink to clear the bloom of the spell from her eyes. The spots would likely be there for several minutes. Well, that was exciting. I wonder what’s left of the–

The monster was still there. Her ponies were all behind rocks for cover and rubbing their eyes, but the monster was still there, and moving. It inhaled air, and roared out miasma, pain, and hatred. Some of its attackers screamed and ran from the hot miasma burning their skin, and pegasi wobbled to the sky to get away or help those caught.

“No… That’s impossible. It should have all been burned away! Nothing made of miasma should have survived that!”

“Hey!”

Twilight’s ear flapped from the powerful voice coming from somewhere down below.

“Hey! Over here!” came the voice again. Ain Soph Aur had managed to put a hole in the monster, and now a pony was sticking its head out of the hole It was waving and shouting. “Whoever you are, do that again! I almost got this thing!” The mare’s head dropped back down, out of sight.

“Again?!” Twilight’s eye twitched. “But I— But it— It should have—”

“That’s the mare that was ‘eaten.’ How is she still alive?” Aurora’s head would have tilted if she had one. “Scratch that. Don’t care. Monster is getting up again!”

One giant foot thomped on the canyon floor and pushed the giant up. One leg after the other followed suit in a grotesque wave. It lumbered to the side, placed a foot on the canyon wall, and climbed.

“That doesn’t seem physically pos–”

The monster roared and spewed bilious miasma up the canyon and over the side.

Twilight jumped back with her pegasus magic giving her a boost, and slid on all four hooves to a stop. The thaumic black tar dripped and hissed on the ground, and burned through at least a centimeter of dirt. “Okay, round two!” She broke through spacetime and teleported into the air, rocketing along faster than any of the pegasi in the air.

Half a kilometer into the air, she realized that her relatively safe domain of the sky had one key issue: no clouds. There were technically a few, but they were thin, icy, and so high up no pegasus could hope to reach them. Even if they could, and were able to breathe the insanely thin air, the obscenely fierce winds would knock them clear off.

The ground still wasn’t an option. The creature was still climbing straight up the side of the canyon, defying all decency to logic and physics. Worse, it was speeding up, going far faster than before now that it had a legitimate threat to face. The closest Twilight could describe it was “an elephantine tortoise of a centipede straight from Tartarus.”

With no clouds, no safety on the ground, and no other spells she could turn to, she had only one option left.

Again and again she teleported straight up, gaining speed with each burst. Wind tried to drive its stingers into her eyes, and would have succeeded if not for Aurora’s new visor. When she gave in to the thinning atmosphere by finally halting her ascent, the ponies below her were so small they couldn’t be seen. The monster couldn't be, either, even though it should have still been visible. She'd have to adjust her targeting literally on the fly.

She’d just have to hope she had enough time.

Twilight clopped her forehooves together and flung three magic circles behind her as she started her fall. She snaked a tendril of magic through all three, grabbing hold so they would follow behind her. Now I just need…

A huge black splotch of miasma spilled out from the monster, suddenly visible from nothing. Those were her ponies down there, including Rose, fighting utterly impossible odds. At least, impossible without her.

“Convert!”

Twilight started the process early, but with such a single started stage, she could afford it. A trail of dark magic blossomed behind her, like a burst of ink in the sea being blasted by an ocean current. Each iota was gathered up for the first magic circle, converted by the second, and held by the third.

“O mighty light of the world beyond this, assemble and be guided by my will! O power written of in the hearts of life, fill my soul to pour unto an unending river! Thou who dwellest in the land forever unknown, bear witness unto the clarion and ready to strike! Purity be thy sustenance, virtue thy ambrosia! Look thee hither at the evil that tries mares’ souls!”

The practical upshot of repeating the same spell twice in a row was that it was easier to cast the second time. There was no hesitant worry of precision or correctness. She had already done it once; she could do it again.

The pain cutting through her cheek in a beam of purplish-black was far more worrisome.

She dodged left and right with what pegasus magic she could bring to bear while casting an alicorn spell, stopping and starting as needed. She could see the monster again, and it wasn't sitting still this time. An entire hail of small, stinging beams zipped passed her and through the air, emanating from the hole she had blasted in it. One hit her square in the chest, and a small sliver pierced her shield and phased through her armor. Pain ran along her insides, though faded into heartburn in a second.

“I’ve never heard of this magic before. Adapting, but it will take a while.”

“Better idea: don’t get hit!” Twilight could see the final circle form over the monster, and the desert heat had come back in force. Ponies were clearly visible now, and ricocheting rounds joined the magic beams in their swarm. Time for take two!

Twilight slammed under her with pegasus magic and raised her hoof. “O Trident of the Sun! Strike down and wipe clean the stain of Tartarus! Ain Soph Aur!”

Light swallowed the desert and her vision, bearing down on the monster with a purity and ferocity even greater than the previous spell. The only way Twilight even knew which way was “up” so she could teleport out of an unceremonious meeting with the ground was gravity itself.

Even when she did land, she didn’t know where she was or if she had succeeded. There was only the rough, sandy embrace of the desert, and boundless light. When her vision finally returned, she found herself on the other side of the canyon from where she had started, and only inches from the edge. Ponies were once again taking cover, blinking and stumbling around from the sheer volume of light they’d been exposed to. The canyon floor had dozens of shadows permanently bleached into the ground, and much of the spilled miasma had been burned away.

The monster was getting back up.

“No! That’s not possible! A blast like that should’ve left nothing but ash! I could have leveled several city blocks with that much power!” Twilight spooled up another spell, this time something a bit more conventional, though it wouldn’t be easy to use. She’d have to clear out all the stallions fighting, or they’d never survive.

Then, the monster froze stiff, and Twilight followed suit.

“What is…”

It howled and roared, spewing miasma from both heads. Seconds passed, and still it came, each tick of the clock flooding the canyon faster than before. Even when it should have, by all logic and decency, stopped, the miasma started flowing from the joints of its bones. Shell plating sloughed off like dandruff, leaving a pile of goo to splash down and bubble on the desert floor.

Bone after bone saw its joints explode with black, tar-like magic and fall off. Even its heads weren’t spared. They simply fell off like they hadn’t really been attached in the first place, eventually collapsing into a shape only vaguely reminiscent of what it had once been.

“How?” Twilight sat. “Nothing about this makes even the slightest bit of sense. I mean, I’m glad it’s dead, but it shouldn’t have even survived a single use of Ain Soph Aur, let alone two. And I kind of doubt either one was what really killed it.”

A large, biological mass flew out of the hole in the top of the monster and splattered on the tainted desert floor with a sickening squish. It was a black heart, or perhaps several hearts merged into one, the mass beaten and burst on the side.

“Wow!” A miasma-coated pony jumped out of the hole and shook herself off, although most of the goop stuck to her like molasses. “That was the toughest one yet! Great job, boys!”

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” The stallions all cheered and crowded around the mare as she slid down the side of the remains, and that was when Twilight noticed that the entire crowd wasn’t just stallion heavy. Literally every single pony other than herself, Rose, and the mad mare climbing out of the monster was male.

“Diamond Reign…” Twilight swallowed and finally realized how thirsty she was. She pulled out her canteen and downed a swig of cold, icy water before making her way to the canyon floor. Each one of her steps squished like something from the bowels of Tartarus, and she could feel Aurora’s ethereal form shudder.

As she approached the crowd, the stallions all parted, or perhaps bolted out of her way. None would make eye contact with her, nor get within a few meters of her. They either trotted away when they saw her coming, or leapt if they were late picking up on the cues. Another common trait was the white or red lines painted on their bodies. Each only had one or two, and in different places, but all went all the way around whatever body part they were on.

At the center of it all was a mare standing just outside the miasma plastered on the ground, getting ‘cleaned’ by a unicorn stallion burning away the taint with a spell. The caster was obviously a medic of some type given the medical supplies jam-packed onto his back, and he was also the only stallion that didn’t avoid Twilight as she approached. The rest avoided her as if she were covered in bubonic plague, and Rose got a similar treatment as she approached.

The lead mare clopped her hooves together, and another stallion approached to dump a bucket of water on her. It was likely enchanted, given how it dissolved the miasma in her coat and mane. There was still plenty left, but she was now more pony than blob of goo. At least, enough that she could wring her streaky pink mane out. She had a few straps with enchanted items strapped to her navy-blue coat, which Twilight surmised included something to amplify her voice.

I feel like I’m making first contact with an alien culture. Twilight sucked up what resolve was left after blasting an abomination of unspeakable terror with one of her most powerful spells – twice – and looked the mare in the eyes. “Diamond Reign, I presume?”

The stallions all snapped to her with a unified look that screamed “How dare she?”

“Stand down, boys, I think she’s earned a little courtesy after lending a hoof back there.” She blew them a kiss. “And yes, I am Diamond Reign. What can I do for you, Lady Sparkle?”

“Well, for starters…” Twilight’s mind played a game of chess against itself to decide whether to ask about the monster or Farriér’s base. The side playing for Farriér gave up immediately and said she was insane for not asking about the monster. “Just what in Tartarus was that thing we just fought?”

“‘What in Tartarus’ is right.” Reign spat out a bit of miasma. “They’ve been showing up for the past few years. Or maybe they’ve always been here, I don’t know. Huge as they are, you can’t see them until you get close, and by the time you see the faint shimmer, they’re ready to attack.”

“This is…” Twilight pulled out her notebook and scribbled a quick sketch of what it looked like. “We’re going to need to mount an organized response. And airships. A lot more airships.”

“Won’t work.” Reign pointed to the creature’s heart. “You can’t kill them from the outside. Believe me, we’ve tried. It’s best to just run. If you have to fight, you have to do what I did: Dive in, find the heart, and crush it with your bare hooves. I’m pretty sure the heart is immune to magic.

“Credit where due, though. I’m impressed you managed to blast a hole in it. I mean, it wasn’t enough to kill it, but that’s still one crazy awesome achievement. Way more than we’ve ever managed. What kind of spell what that?”

“Ain Soph Aur. Translated, it means ‘Light Without Limit.’” Twilight rubbed her chest, wishing she had an antacid. “It’s a powerful white magic spell Celestia and Luna gave me access to. Given that the… thing appeared to be sustaining itself on, and in fact be made of, miasma, it seemed appropriate to use a spell of an opposite quality.”

“Miasma?” Reign raised an eyebrow. “So that’s what that stuff is called. We named it ‘tar,’ for obvious reasons. Speaking of, I could really use a bath, and I bet you two could use a washing off as well. Follow us; I’ll let you borrow my compound.”

Every single stallion there gasped.

“Easy, boys, don’t get excited. This is a one-time deal, and trust me.” Reign chuckled as she took a towel from her medic pony. “Pissing off the Grand Mage is heat that we don’t need here in the desert.”

Bones cracked in Rainbow’s death grip, and she silently increased her count while the unfortunate pony who saw her dropped limp to the ground.

Ten. Ten ponies. Rainbow grabbed the body and hauled it to a closet. Ugh. I've already used this one. She put it on top of the other body. Both of their heads hung limp and disconnected from their spines.

I'm running out of time. They have to know their guys are vanishing—or gone, if they found the bodies. She swallowed a burp of bile, and closed the door behind her.

The exit was just around the corner. She sat on the metal grid floor and stared at it. It stared back.

The rest of everything in the base was bog-standard equipment. This, however, was not. It was thicker than the armour plating on the Bellerophon, and the hatch wheel refused to even budge. The only way she knew it was an exit was because of the tiny, barred window in the door. To its right was a small, stone slab made of some kind of obsidian with green streaks in it.

Nothing she could do would open the hatch, not even a flying kick. She'd already explored most of the base, and learned the codes they used for getting around. They were basically the same idea as the section codes in the Bellerophon, but they were scrawled in with marker.

Even after all that, the only other way out she could find were the doors the pirate ship used, and that meant flying through a swarm of hostiles, opening them enough to fly out, and trying to leave without getting shot.

Rainbow sighed. Just another day at the office.

A soft banging made her ear twitch. It was coming closer.

Time to vanish. She started a trot — not a run, or gallop, but a trot — away from the hoofsteps. Can't sound out of the ordinary.

The whole time, she was completely normal. The hoofsteps, however, were not. They were starting to bang, rather than clop, and they were getting closer.

Rainbow put on some speed, but the pony behind her did the same.

I'm made. No point in trying to fit in. She broke into a gallop, and raced around a corner. Gotta hide, gotta hide. Her heart raced and pounded harder than her hooves on the metal. She tried every door on the way, and none were open.

One more corner, and she could see the door grip to the base's control room in front of her. Damn! Out of— She looked around one last time. There was another door to her right, with the word “Bathroom” scrawled over it. Good enough!

She grabbed the handle and pulled it open, then flung herself into the door and slammed it behind her in one fell swoop.

“Oh, horseapples…” Rainbow’s heart dropped out of her chest.

“Well now, what have we here?” Captain Farriér smiled and stroked his beard in a conference room that very much was not a bathroom. Twenty tough looking ponies surrounded him. “Seems we found our little spy!”

There was the sound of something metal opening, then pain.

Then, only darkness.

Twilight followed behind the group a fair distance behind, mainly because the crowd of stallions would scatter if she got too close. With a small look to Rose, she swallowed back her attempts to question just what in Tartarus kind of group they were. I have to say, though: Rose's information was dead on. Diamond Reign is nuts.

They had ascended the canyon, and were making their way around the side of a small mesa. Before long, a flimsy compound made of old, scrap wood came into view. Either tin or aluminum was the name of the game for the roofs, and though it had a smattering of wards here and there, they were all about keeping the elements out and the insides comfortable. The only structure taller than one floor was a barn, which was utterly devoid of paint. In fact, there wasn't a drop of paint anywhere, nor sign indicating what was what.

The anti-air guns scattered throughout, at least, needed no such clarification.

The other stallions that had stayed at the compound during the battle rushed out to greet their lead mare, cheering and laughing. Diamond returned their adoration with love and enthusiasm, then let them carry her inside. Only a wave of her hoof was given for an indication as for what Twilight should do.

The males all regarded the visiting mares with caution, suspicion, scepticism, indignation, or some combination of the above. They still poked their heads in from the doorways in the narrow hallways the two mares passed through, either to steal a look or to silently express that the newcomers shouldn't be here.

A stallion, the one with three lines on his body, signalled them to follow him to a throne room of sorts. The floor was just dirt, and there was a grungy mattress off in the corner, but the ornate and large chair could only be serving as a throne.

“Huh.” Rose scratched her lip and sat down. “Never thought I'd be—” She stuttered and cringed like something hit her in the back of her head. “Sorry. As I was saying, never thought I'd actually ever get to be here. It's kind of exciting. Normally only stallions are allowed in.”

A door at the back of the room swung open via a stallion’s magic. “Presenting the most holy, most wonderful, most divine mare in the world: Herd Leader Diamond Reign!”

Seriously? In the name of diplomacy, Twilight bit back the words banging on her lips to get out. Why am I running into cults left and right lately?

The stallion shuffled out of the way of a precession of other stallions, all six moving in slow, synchronized steps while carrying a big plywood board. On said board was Diamond Reign.

Wow. They're really into this. Twilight stood up, and tapped Rose to do so as well. She wouldn't normally entertain this… craziness, but diplomacy was important if she ever wanted to find Dash.

The board was set down in front of the throne, after which the stallions lifted their leader onto her perch. They left with the same, slow, perfectly-in-step movements that they'd entered with.

“Please, sit and be welcome!” Diamond said while fluttering her eyelashes. “It is rare to have mare visitors. Mostly because we tend to shoot at them. Your actions today, however, have earned an audience. Tell me, what brings you so far afield?”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “Farriér. I’m going to crush him. I need your help to do so.”

Reign raised her eyebrow. “That’s a… surprising reason. Also, specious. You are the Grand Mage. I have little doubt you could command enough of the Equestrian military to crush his little operation.”

“Normally, you’d be right. But to get him, I need to know where he hides when he’s not killing and enslaving innocents. I was hoping that you might have some information along those lines.”

One corner of Reign’s mouth curled into a smirk. “And what do I get in return? Information like that isn’t just valuable. Revealing it could earn me backlash.”

“I’m willing to pay handsomely for it.” Twilight tore a page out of her notebook. “Also, I have intel that he’s hit your… ‘organization’ in the past. With him gone, you’d be under less pressure. The entire area will see improved and more reliable trade, as well.”

“Tempting…” Reign looked off in the distance.

“The same intel shows your group engaging in less-than-legal activities. Seeing as they aren’t remotely as heinous as Farriér’s, I’ll see that any efforts to stop or arrest you have… an unusually low priority in the Crown Agencies, if you cooperate.”

“That’s the carrot, but it sounds like a stick is coming.”

“The ‘stick’ is that if you don’t, you jump up the priorities list. I might even send a Night Guard squad to break up and suppress your little cult.”

“Cult!?” Diamond Reign laughed. “Is that what you think this is, Lady Sparkle? Oh, don’t be so close-minded!”

Twilight shared a look with Rose. “After an introduction like the one I just got, I can’t accept this as anything less. Otherwise, why shoot at mares? Or keep a few dozen stallions captive?”

“Captive? Is that what you believe?” Reign called out to the door, “Maroon? Could you come here, please?”

The stallion with three lines stepped through the door with a curious look on his face. A “come hither” look from Reign melted that into a suave confidence instantly, and he stepped up to her. He shuddered with pleasure as she stroked his muzzle and drew him into the deepest, hardest, most passionate kiss Twilight had ever seen from anypony outside of Cadence. Their tongues tangled together, and he pressed her back across the rests of her chair as they struggled to breathe through their noses.

“Ahem!” Twilight coughed before it turned x-rated.

The two broke their embrace, leaving Maroon with a goofy, satisfied look on his face.

Reign licked a bit of spittle off his lip, then waved him to leave. After he did so, she sighed deeply and wistfully. “I love my stallions, Lady Sparkle, and they love me back. I don’t force them to stay. They are free to leave anytime. Some have, and I wish them well.

“This isn’t a cult. This is a marriage. A herd! I would never trap my boys here. I love them too much. Not to mention that it would make our ‘activities,’ as you describe them, impossible.”

Rose raised her hoof. “Then why don’t you let mares near them?”

“So they aren’t led astray, of course!” Reign lowered her eyes. “After all, no mare other than myself would treat them as well as they deserve.”

That’s a matter of opinion. I better not let Cadence find out what’s going on here. Twilight tapped her notebook. “For now, I’m willing to accept all that. It’s honestly pretty far down on the list of my concerns. Farriér tops my list.”

“How come?” Reign asked.

Twilight blinked. “I should think that obvious.”

“Pfft. Please.” Reign leaned back in her seat and waggled her hind hooves. “He’s been operating in Palomino for years. It’s only now you’re showing up to deal with him. Sure, he’s stepped up his attacks lately, but even that’s been going on for months. Something had to have changed. So, why now? What brought him to the attention of the Grand Mage at long last?”

Twilight chewed up a grimace. “He destroyed the train I was on, took prisoners, and killed innocents.”

“And?” Reign fluttered her eyelashes. “I can tell you're holding back.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “I am. There is more. But, I’m afraid that those elements aren’t something I’m at liberty to divulge. Suffice it to say, if I had known how bad things were, I would have acted much sooner. Normally I simply follow whatever orders and missions Celestia gives me; though I admit, it's becoming apparent I need to be more proactive.

“Look, in the end, I'm going to nail Farriér to the wall, one way or another, with or without your help. How I approach things afterwards is dependent on your acceptance of my offer.”

Reign sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. “I’m not sure I believe you, Lady Sparkle. I think you’re hiding something big. But, as herd leader, I must balance costs and threats to our home. Here, the cost-benefit analysis for me is simple. I’ll help you out. Where have you been searching so far?”

Twilight flipped her the hasty sketch of a map in her notebook. “Here. East of Sierra Madre.”

Reign shook her head. “That is where he operates, but not his home base. We’ve tracked him trying to sneak around Sierra Mardre by passing north of it. He’s based somewhere in the west.”

“Are you sure about that?” Twilight flipped pages to something more detailed. “That would put him close to Fort Earthborne. Or at least, closer than if he was hiding in the east.”

“Positive. I don’t know where exactly he’s hiding, but it’s something we’ve been trying to find out so we can blackmail him into leaving us alone. We know that he has to have[ a base somewhere. The old engines he's using need a lot of maintenance, so he needs a place to have them worked on. He can’t be going much farther than that.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s still an enormous area to search, but now I have a clue. I was searching in the wrong spot before. Thank you for your help, Diamond Reign. I'll make sure the Royal Police are aware of your assistance.” She pulled out some of her bits and tossed them on the floor in front of Diamond Reign.

“Your consideration is much appreciated, Lady Sparkle.” Diamond Reign clopped her hooves, and a stallion came out and put a veil on her head, while another collected the bits. “You are welcome to stay and bathe here in our oasis, but you may not try to tempt my stallions.”

Twilight shuddered. “I assure you, it's the last thing on my mind. Again, thank you.” She got up, curtsied, and left the room.

Rose finished chugging her canteen down to empty. “So what’s next, Lady Sparkle?”

“Next, we start narrowing things down. Oh, and you can call me ‘Twilight.’”

Author's Note

Whew. I'm super nervous about this one, though I'm not entirely sure why. But, I can say that it revealed something I've been itching to reveal for ages - the titans. We can absolutely expect there will be more of these. ^^ That being said, I just know I'm missing something from the edits. Some fix I forgot. Hopefully it doesn't bite me in the butt.

I need to blog and write more, and to that end, the medicine my doctor has given me has helped. It's easier to get started now. And if I get started, I can usually get stuff done. I recently wrote another scene I've been wanting to write for literally years, and my mind is still blown that I actually wrote it.

Now to plunge forward.

Again, thank you all for sticking with me. Hearing that you guys still enjoy my writing is what keeps my anxiety riddled mind going.

-Cv

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Helping Hoof That Can't Be Touched

Twilight pulled off the headphones and breathed a sigh of relief. She'd just sent out another communique after “commandeering” the nearest town’s telegraph station. This telegraph had been longer than the others, but then again, a rampaging monster from the deepest, darkest abyss was something that she felt she had to report in detail. Hopefully, the pony decrypting her message on the other side didn't think her report was faulty, or that she was high and on a bad trip.

Looks like my “alicorn stamina” isn't here yet; I'm tired. But I can’t rest yet. I've got just enough of a lead on Farriér that I don't want to give up and sleep, not until he's behind bars and Rainbow is safe.

A meek little stallion poked his head in the room. “M-ma’am, are you done with the room? I've got a line, and they're getting impatient…”

“Yeah, I'm done. Sorry to barge in like that, but it was important.” Twilight hopped off the wobbly stool and popped a few vertebrae, then tossed some coins on the counter before taking her notes. “There's a tip for you.” She saw his eyes water at the size of the coin as she left the little booth and trotted by a line of five or six ponies waiting their turn.

The town that greeted her outside was larger than the little one she first visited in San Palomino; perhaps the size that Ponyville had been when she first moved there. It even seemed to have a more reliable water supply than the first town, if the hygiene of the locals was any indication.

“So,” Rose said as she came in for a landing. “Where to next, boss?”

“I'm not sure.” Twilight flipped to her map in her notebook. “We're pretty far from Los Caballos. I'd like to go there, but it would be night by the time we got there, and I'd prefer it if we could finish tracking him down before sunset. Hopefully RGIS gets back to me within the next hour or so, in which case I'd like to be near the telegraph station to get the message.

“To be honest, I'm tempted to send another message to ask Luna to teleport us over and skip the flight.”

Rose's mind seemed to skip a gear on that. “Wait, you mean teleport us to Los Caballos? She can do that?”

“Both the Princesses can. There are limits, but it's still crazy useful. I try to avoid asking them for it, since I'm supposed to make an effort to do things independently, but I think this situation is going to require the extra speed.”

Rose blinked. Twilight surmised that her brain just snapped a few neurons. “Ooookay…,” Rose eventually managed to say. “Then why don't we get lunch? I'm starved.”

Twilight nodded. “Good idea. I can't have you flying while hungry or dehydrated, especially in San Palomino. That's just asking for trouble.”

The two walked a short ways under the afternoon sun, ducking into the first restaurant with air conditioning they found. It was fancier than most places in the Duchy. The owners had to have imported a lot of materials and built the establishment with a plan in mind. It played to its location well, especially with the mural of settlers’ wagons telling the romanticized tale of hardy pioneers moving west.

Twilight asked for a table in the corner, which the hostess provided. The location would prevent attacks from behind her, and would allow her to watch the small crowd in case any of the customers were in the pocket of Farriér. While that seemed improbable, she didn't want to take any chances. “Improbable,” after all, was what happened to her every single day.

As she sat down, she shot a look at the suited stallion in the table next to her, but he was nose deep in the laminated menu and didn't seem to notice her. The other nearby tables were empty, and most of the rest of the tables had at least one patron eating at them and chatting away over the piano being played.

Rose looked around and scratched her chin. “I think I'm going to hit the little fillies’ room first. My hooves are a mess, and I'm willing to bet my mane needs a serious brushing. Back in a few.”

Twilight scooped up her own menu. “Fair enough. I'll be here.” She waited a minute or so, just long enough to ensure that her mercenary was out of earshot, before putting the menu down and yawning. Then, she smacked her lips, turned to the stallion in the suit next to her, and said, “So, you're really just going to ignore me, Illusionist? Nothing to say at all?”

The stallion put his menu down, revealing a knowing smirk. “Actually, I was going to let you eat first. Take care not to talk too loud; nopony but you can see or hear me.” He wore the same suit all the Illusionists did, and had the same colours, too: white mane, light blue coat, dark sunglasses. “Despite what you might think, I'm not here to fight. In fact, all of the Knights Templar have explicit orders not to kill you.”

“‘Knights Templar’? So that's what you call yourselves.” Twilight scribbled that into her notebook. “Any other information you want to divulge?”

“Believe it or not, that's exactly what I'm here to do.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Not so much about us, naturally, but about a mutual enemy: the Majestics. Farriér, your current target, is in league with them.”

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane and pretended to talk to her notes. “I find that hard to believe. Farriér seemed to have loyalty issues with his pirates, so they aren't under a geas, and the stallion himself definitely doesn't strike me as a pony that is willing to be at the beck and call of anypony, no matter how powerful they are. And I certainly can't see the control-loving Majestics aligning with such a chaotic element.”

The Templar stole a coffee from a nearby table and stirred in some cream. “The pirates are under a geas, but Farriér doesn’t have the resources to use a complete one, and the Majestics don't have any to lend. I'm not sure what the geas on them does, but I can say with certainty Farriér does have some level of the spell at his disposal.

“Beyond that, his involvement with the Majestics is relatively periphery. He is not their subordinate. He is a business partner. They allow him to use one of their old bases, and provide him with technology and the geas, and he goes after certain targets to steal resources for them. He gets to keep anything beyond what they designate. It's a mutually beneficial, if shaky, arrangement.”

Twilight put down her notebook and sucked in a breath, then whispered, “Okay. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to give me the location of that base, or I'm going to stop caring about how crazy I’ll look blowing this place up while kicking the crap out of you.”

The stallion held up his hooves. “If I knew, I would gladly tell you. In fact, I would gift wrap it in a card addressed to Celestia herself, complete with bow. And glitter.

“Unfortunately, I don't know. What I can tell you is that it's in the buttes and mesas west of Sierra Maredre. In fact, we're rather certain that the base is concealed and built inside one of the buttes. Figure out which, and you'll have Farriér on a platter. Who knows? Maybe you'll even find information on the Majestics.” He grabbed the coffee, a couple sugar packets, and got up to leave.

“Wait,” Twilight commanded. “What about Trixie? Why are you after her? Why torture her?”

The stallion snorted. “I'm not at liberty to discuss everything, nor do I know all the details. I can tell you that we are… no longer interested in her. You can tell her as much. Good day.”

“Wa-!” By the time the syllable left her mouth, he was gone. She fired the reveal spell a second later, but it was no use; nothing changed. Either the counter spell doesn't work anymore, he managed to teleport away, or he was never really there to begin with.

Twilight leaned back and sighed. I really don't need to add the Illusionists—or should I say the “Templars”—to the pile of crazy here. Especially if they aren't getting in the way this time. She glanced at the menu and made a quick decision on what to eat, and before long, Rose was with her as they ate and drank their fill. Twilight spent the meal sketching the monster from earlier — carefully to scale, naturally — and collecting her notes.

On their twelfth glass of iced tea, Rose belched and asked, “What's wrong? I haven't known you long, but even I can tell you're thinking about something.”

Twilight leaned her head on her hoof. “A normally hostile group contacted me while you were in the restroom. They gave me information on our target. The base we're looking for is hidden inside one of the mesas or buttes.”

“And?” Rose asked. “That's a good thing, right?”

“Information is good, but I hate being used like this. On the one hoof, I am not their puppet. But on the other, I have to prioritize. They aren't as big a deal as what we're after now, and if the intel is actually good, I’d be a fool to pass it up just because of the source. Which means it's time to see if I have any messages at the tele--”

Boom!

Twilight and Rose shared a look while the windows rattled, then rushed outside. Clouds covered the sky in mere moments, and on a few occasions, lightning and thunder rent the heavens.

Rose stomped her hoof to deploy her guns. “We're ready for them this time!”

“Wait!” Twilight yelled, holding back her friend with a foreleg. “I don't think that was a cannon. I think…”

Krack-pow!

A chariot raced out of the swirling clouds, and it was every bit as dark and foreboding as the storm itself. Princess Luna wasted no time in leaping off it, then soared directly to Twilight while flanked by half a dozen members of the Night Guard.

She threw her hood back and looked Twilight in the eyes. “The monster in the canyon. Show me.”

“Ugh. What in the world…” Rainbow fought back against the pounding in her head, but it was futile. She could still feel a heavy steel pounding on her skull. Dried blood was on her teeth, and her thirst was great enough to split the flesh in the back of her mouth.

She tried to rub her head, or reach for her canteen, or do something, but her foreleg wouldn't move more than a few inches. All her efforts just caused a chain to jangle. “Aw, crap.”

“Well now, what have we he-ah?” a stallion with a thick accent asked. Farriér wasn't the most handsome of ponies up close. Scars crossed his cheeks, though most of them were hiding under his dense, dark, curly mane and beard. His red eyes glistened with a surprising intelligence, but they were devoid of mercy. There was only a cold cruelty in them. “Finally got our little stow-way. Or should I say spy?”

Rainbow winced at the sounds. His voice was loud—booming even. It wasn't the Royal Canterlot Voice by any means, but with her headache, it might as well have been. Then again, had it really been that, her head might have caved in and her heart exploded out of her chest. At least then her head would have stopped hurting.

She squinted and looked around. She was chained to a wall with her belly exposed, and locked in a cell with Farriér. She was still wearing her armor, but probably only because of the security locks on it. Anypony other than her or Twilight trying to pry it off was in for a literal shock.

That didn't stop a few pirates waiting outside the bars from grinning in ways she did not want to think about.

As far as the room itself, there was rust everywhere. The walls, ceiling, floor, bars, chains, binds: it was all rusty metal. A few tugs on her binds, though, told her that they hadn't decayed enough to be able to just break through them. Worse, there were magic suppressors built into the restraints keeping her on the wall. Lightning wouldn't help her now.

A good number of other ponies were in the other cells, though they weren't chained up as bad as she was. A few ideas on how they could help ran through her mind, but then her stomach sank and howled in rage. She could see tags attached to the other ponies’ irons and chains. Tags with numbers on them. Price tags.

Farriér stroked his beard with a wicked smile. “Don't you worry none about them. You're just too valuable to be selling off like that! I'd be a sure fool to just let you go! Why, I can scarcely believe my luck, getting a Wonderbolt like yourself!

“After all, I knew Twilight was in our midst when we took off. Wasn't rightly sure ‘bout anypony else. At least, not ‘til the bodies started turning up. Now that y'all are here, you can tell me all sorts-a things. Don't you worry none ‘bout what your friends might think. Y'all ain't never gonna see them again. I'm your only friend now, ya hear?”

Rainbow spat at his face. She missed.

“Well, that wasn't polite. Y'all done dirtied my little prison!” Farriér stood up and straightened his suit. “But don't y'all mind it none. It's your new home, after all. Oh, but where are my manners? I need to give you your housewarming gift!” He chuckled and eyed his pirates. “Bring it.”

Two of them walked in, one carrying a funnel attached to a tube, and another with a huge bucket.

Rainbow tried to fight. She tried to kick and squirm and bite and spit and scream, but one of the unicorns had her. Without her magic, she might as well have been a giant stuffed doll. The only thing she could fight while the tube was stuffed down her throat were the tears Spitfire had taught her never to show to her enemy.

“This here is my finest Elixir. Tastes good, don't it? Loosens the tongue and goes down smooth.” Farriér laughed. “Y'all might be stuck here, but y'all are still ‘bout to go on a trip! I'll let you soil yourself for a day or two. Let you see things y'all never thought you would.”

The binds tying her to the wall clicked loose, and she flopped limp to the ground. She coughed and gasped like a fish out of water, sucking in air now that her throat had been freed. With the air, though, came colours that bled into her vision, dancing like faeries.

“When y'all come back, you'll do anything for just one more drop. Then I'll be your very best friend.” Farriér cackled and howled with laughter as he left, locking both her cell door and the door to the prison behind him.

Rainbow twitched her wings while the colours faded. There were still the cuffs on her legs blocking her magic, and the other ponies looked as high as she would have been.

Unlike the others, though, she had Luna for a friend. The colours died out as quickly as they came, replaced with glowing blue lines on her body. Each was a little piece of art placed there by the Princess of the Night. The Elixir could try its hardest, but to her, it may as well have been water. Even her thirst was gone.

Big mistake, buttwipe. Rainbow pushed herself up on her hooves, and started examining her cage for weaknesses. “S.E.R.E.,” she whispered to herself. “Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape.”

It was a camp in the swampy, southern region of Manehatten; likely the same area Farriér was from. Every single Wonderbolt had to pass that camp to wear the uniform, and she did better than most. Farriér didn't count on her enchantments, and didn't keep her tied to the wall.

He was smart, and he had intel he shouldn't. He’d known just where and when to strike to get to Twilight, and had led Rainbow right into a trap. But... he was just a pony. There were things he didn't know, which meant she could beat him, get out, and call in the cavalry. All she needed was a little time, and that was exactly what he'd given her.

“Let’s do this.”

Twilight had never been to Stalliongrad, but at this point she was busy making vacation plans for it in her head. The canyon valley was hot. Actually, that statement was woefully inadequate. Summer in Ponyville was hot. Here, you could stir-fry dinner on the right rock.

Luna had been examining the aftermath for around ten minutes in complete silence. Some of Diamond Reign’s stallions had come by to try and be intimidating around their “turf,” but backed off the instant they realized they were up against the forces of the Night.

What was left was only a small portion of what the monster had been. Fire usually tended to be something of a purifying force, and the magic in the ground was eating away at the miasma sludge fairly quickly. On top of that, the bones of the entity were dissolving into more goo, which was, in turn, also being burned away.

“How big was it?” Luna asked, looking over her shoulder. “Be as accurate as possible.”

Twilight took out her notebook and showed Luna her sketch.

“Ah.” Luna breathed a sigh of relief. “Just a baby, then.”

“A baby?!” Rose choked on her canteen water. “That thing was a baby?! I nearly went insane when I saw it!”

“A baby, yes. And it isn't unheard of to go insane looking at them. Count yourself lucky.” Luna waved Twilight to a boulder a few dozen paces away. “Come, Grand Mage. We must speak privately.”

Twilight nodded and followed, leaving Rose under the ample protection of the Night Guard. Luna wasted no time placing a privacy shield over them.

“Empty Night!” Luna swore, suddenly looking sick to her stomach. “I thought the Titans extinct!”

“Titans?” Twilight asked, adding to her notebook. “Is that what they're called?”

“Yes, they were a… relatively common nuisance in the Old World, before Discord. In fact, there was a time when many ponies believed alicorns to be a gift sent from the heavens specifically to protect them from these monsters. They don't often go near population centers, for some reason, but when they do, they can wipe entire cities from the map if left unchallenged.

“For all our knowledge and wisdom, we've never learned where they come from, or what they are, other than that they exist and must be fought. A full grown Titan is more than a match for anything short of an ascendant well on his or her way to full alicornhood. Should you encounter one, Twilight, run. Even if it's about to hit a city, run. That's an order.”

Twilight's ears drooped. “But—”

“No buts. Any Titan more advanced than the one you faced will kill you, pure and simple. Better you live and let ponies run for themselves, than that you die along with the others. Get word to me, and I'll deal with it. I have thousands of years of experience with these monsters. You don't. What you faced was only a taste of their power.”

Twilight felt the colour drain from her face as she nodded. “D-Diamond Reign said they'd found them before. She dove in its mouth and crushed its heart.”

Luna's colour drained away. “Then it's confirmed. They're back.” She fought against a shudder. “Stars and stones and Summerlands preserve us.”

Twilight nudged a pebble on the ground. “Is that really the only way to beat them? From inside?”

The Princess shook her head. “It's one way, and never a certain thing. Most of the others involve copious firepower. Your instinct to use purifying light was a good one - but that spell is too costly for you to have won with it outright. You could have drained yourself dry and not finished it off. I'll review the documents on them that are left, and talk with Sister. She is better at fighting them than I am... or she was, then.”

“Yeah, but…” Twilight swallowed, thinking about all the little towns across San Palomino. “We need something more than that. Just in case.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I don't know. Yet. Give me some time, I have a lot to work on here.” Twilight put her notebook away. “Speaking of, I need your help. Can you teleport Rose and me?”

“Of course, though I won't be able to stay for very long after that. I have much to do in light of these events.” Luna moved to dispel the shield, but paused. “Who is this ‘Rose,’ by the way? A new friend?”

“Yes. She's a bounty hunter I bumped into out here. The circumstances of our meeting tell me she's on the level, and she knows a lot about this region. I hired her in the short term to fly me around and advise me.”

“Fair enough. I'll have RGIS look into her, just in case, but I'll trust your instincts.” Luna dispelled the shield with a wave of her hoof. “Come, there is work to be done.”

They walked back to the group, and only Rose seemed curious as to what was going on. The Night Guard knew they would be told what they needed to know, and accepted it with an almost unnerving casualness.

“Twilight,” Rose said, shaking. “W-what was this thing? Are we going to have to fight more of them? Because if so, I don't think I can follow you anymore.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at Twilight, which was shrugged off.

Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Rose's shoulder. “It’s called a Titan. There may be more, though we won't fight them unless it is absolutely necessary. And if we do, your role will be to run as fast as you can, probably with me next to you, so we can get Luna. You can— well, I shouldn't say ‘relax,’ but at least you can put them out of your mind for now. As much as you can.”

“Are—” Rose cringed and grabbed her head, flinching like something was about to hit it. “Are you sure? I'm going to have nightmares about that for ages. And the ones I already have are bad enough already!”

Luna's horn flashed to life for an instant, then bathed Rose in a blue glow.

“What the?” Rose rubbed her legs like she was trying to touch the glow.

“Thou mentioned nightmares, didst thou not?” Luna smiled. “That spell should keep them away; for a time, at least. However, unless you take action on the root of them, they shall return. I recommend seeing an accredited physician or psychiatrist.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “Just like that? A one-second spell?”

Luna puffed out with pride. “We are the Alicorn of the Night, which includes dreams. We have known and cast that spell for many, many centuries. ‘Tis second nature by now.”

“Wow.” Rose watched as the glow faded. “You alicorns are something else. I think I see now why you're a princess.”

“We are a princess because We created this nation, my little pony. We forged it from naught but mud and grit. Though, We will admit agelessness and power are a part of things.” Luna clopped her hooves to signal her guards. “Come, my little ponies. We depart for Los Caballos.

“Rose, you will want to stay within five meters of the rear of my chariot, and prepare thyself. Mass teleportation is less stable than moving one or two ponies, and often results in some nausea. ‘Tis unpleasant, but it passes quickly.”

Rose swallowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Moments later, the two chariots took off through the air, then through Luna's vortex of power to Los Caballos.

Twilight waited for her stomach to settle before opening her eyes. She had an idea of what to expect from the city, though the descriptions didn't quite do it justice.

Los Caballos was a monument to private industry. The major mining, defense, logistics, and pharmaceutical companies had relocated their headquarters here in order to dodge the higher taxes of the other Duchies. The amount they wound up spending to build the city, however, and the amount they'd wind up spending to maintain it, mostly negated the savings.

Regardless, the actual, physical city itself was a marvel. Tall skyscrapers stood atop a mesa, seemingly reaching all new heights simply by virtue of being built on the high ground. Each was designed to complement the philosophy and brand of the parent company, though most chose some kind of art deco design, as it was en vogue.

Below the mesa was an extension of the town that was far less shiny and impressive. A major mining operation had been built next to the city (though not under it, at least, as it would have imperiled the skyscrapers). The buildings in the mining area were dingy and minimalist to the point of hazardous, much like in Sierra Maredre, although none were so tall that they would be a major hazard in a collapse. Only the actual facilities for the mining looked like something more than hastily-put-together sheet metal. Ponies were actively toiling away under the hot sun, removing layer after layer of stone from the ground in backbreaking work.

They had one luxury most labourer ponies in San Palomino didn't, though: plentiful water. The city was not only built on a mesa, but over a river. The entirety of the mesa part of the city was lifted up over the surface of the ground to allow the river underneath to flow. It cascaded over the edge of the mesa in a grand waterfall, chilling the air with icy water. Los Caballos had no worries about hydration, and it flaunted that wealth with water features on the skyscrapers and numerous plaza fountains.

“Wow.” Rose yelled to Twilight. “She really did get us to Los Caballos! Thousands of kilometers in an instant…”

Twilight let herself have a smirk. “Yeah. You get used to it, eventually. I can see how it's pretty incredible, though.”

“I don't think I'd ever be able to ‘get used to it.’ But we have a job to do right now. Where to?”

“See if you can find the headquarters of the Core Mining Company. They're the company with the highest profit margins on their mines. They likely have good data I can use.”

“Gotcha. Heading in.”

They zoomed up and down the roads, threading through the towers before finding their target. It was a relatively short tower nestled near the outer edge of the city, done up in one-way glass and a gold-painted facade. Bright spotlights were in place to light it up during the night, though they would be useless now in the middle of the day. A small water feature was out front, adding to a constant background noise of running water.

They pulled in front of the tower and parked their little cart on the street. Ponies walked to and fro, and chariot taxis hauled passengers around. By all appearances, it was a regular city. Regardless, Twilight couldn't help but feel an emptiness about it. There was something missing, though she couldn't put her hoof on it.

“Ahem!” A pony coughed at them to get their attention. “What do you think you're doing? You can't park that piece of junk the—”

Twilight turned to face the stallion, and found a pegasus in something akin to an officer's uniform, though the shield he wore said “Security” rather than “Police.” The colour was draining right out of his coat as his eyes locked on to Twilight's torc.

“You're… You're… The Grand Mage?!”

“Yup,” Twilight said, taking off her cloak and hat and stuffing them in her bags. “And thus, allowed to park my ‘piece of junk’ here. Go ahead and tow it if you want, but be prepared for RGIS to descend on this place like a swarm of locusts if you do. Rose, follow me.”

They left the security guard blinking and scratching his head, likely wondering what the heck to do and why it wasn't covered in the corporate employee manual which must never, ever be deviated from.

“I kinda feel sorry for that guy.” Rose chuckled. “We pull up in my ancient, beaten up old cart, he gets ready to chew us out, and then out steps the freaking Grand Mage of Equestria. I think we broke him. Do you think we broke him?”

“He’ll be okay. A random ‘illegally’ parked cart he can't ticket isn't the worst thing that can ruin your day.” Twilight pushed open the front doors of a tower, stepping into a vast reception area. Curved staircases led up on either side to a mezzanine with small shops and restaurants, while a welcome desk stood steadfast in the center to direct visitors. “First things first.”

“Hello, how can I—I—” The receptionist mare blinked. “Holy horseapples…”

“Yeah, it's me.” Twilight let herself have some self-satisfaction. Finally, some recognition to make her job easier. “I need to speak to whomever is in charge of your prospecting. It's urgent.”

“Oh! Um, okay, let's see…” The mare pulled out a planner and flipped through some pages. “I… don't think that's going to be possible.”

“How come?” Twilight folded her forelegs. “This is a top priority, ma'am. National security matters. If he or she is busy, they need to make time. Immediately.”

“It's not that. According to this, Mr. Goals is on site at one of our mines today. Site 47.” The mare slid out a large map, one of many stacked in her desk. “It's some time away, I'm afraid. Even by chariot.”

“Ah.” Twilight made note of the location on her notebook and grabbed the map for good measure. “That's unfortunate, but we have means to get there. Thank you for your help. Rose? On me.”

The two left out the doors and back to the cobbled-together pieces of wood generously called a cart. Rose strapped herself in. “So, Twilight, are we going to fly to the top and bust in that way?”

“Nah.” Twilight drew a line on the map, guesstimating where the nearest leyline ran, which happened to be right next to Site 47. “Nothing there struck me as particularly nefarious. I bet this Mr. Goals really is just out on site. Besides…” She glanced up at a lone dark cloud hovering high overhead. “It'll just take us a moment to get there.”

Author's Note

Not much to say here this time. Chapter up, Patreon will be updated soon, couple blogs up, ordered a new keyboard I hope will help with my hands, and I’m still a anxious wreck! In particular, I'm not 100% sure of this chapter's title. Ah well, deadlines. I would've posted earlier but I was so tired it hurt, so I needed a nap so I could do a final check on things with a clear head.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Happy Halloween, and thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Scorched Ambition

Twilight fought off the inevitable wave of nausea as they exited the teleportation bloom, then forced down some water from her canteen. The air here was more moist than she would have expected, even so far up.

“We must depart now, Twilight!” Luna called from her chariot. “There is a telegraph station here. If you need us, send Canterlot a message, and my sister shall summon me. Night Guard, break for the south! Tonight, we hunt Titans!”

There was a flash, and the Princess was gone.

“I do not envy those guys,” Rose said with a shudder. “Where do you want me to land?”

“Good question.” Twilight craned her neck over the edge of the cart and looked over the site. The mountains at the border of San Palomino were just barely visible to the far north. To the west was a monstrous hole in the ground, easily the largest quarry she'd ever seen. The reason for the company's success was evident — the walls of the mine positively shimmered with core-quality gems.

To the east were a few small office buildings, a large depot for shipping out material, and a huge cluster of tents. However, the word “tent” didn't quite do them justice. They were somewhere in between tents and real buildings. Groups of ponies gathered under canopies, each with a kitchen serving food.

Around the entire thing was a fence with multiple security towers and a heavily guarded entrance to the south. Hundreds more ponies were waiting outside the gates, gathered into a single crowd.

“Put us down at the gate. No sense in being obstinate unless we have to be. Besides, maybe the guards will know where Goals is.”

“Roger. Headin’ down.”

By the time they were a few meters overhead, the boos and jeers had already reached a fever pitch.

“Turn around and go home!” one stallion yelled.

“There's enough competition for jobs already!” A mare sneered at them.

“What do you think you're doing, cutting in line?! Get to the back!” That one started a chant, with “Get to the back” being repeated ad nauseum. Then came the rocks, and Twilight decided that was quite enough of that.

Aurora, deploy. Make it noisy.

“Happy to!”

Light swallowed Twilight whole, blazing like a fire and rumbling the ground. When it died down, armor covered nearly every square centimetre of her body, and the crowd was murmuring in awe.

“What's going on here?” One of the guards, a large, male gryphon, opened the gate and stepped through. “What have I told you ponies? You behave, you can camp out here. You cause trouble, you can take your chances in the desert.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Twilight said as the crowd parted a path between her and the gryphon. “But I'm not here looking for a job. My name is Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle, and this is an official investigation of the Crown. I have it on good information that a Mr. Lofty Goals is present at this mine. I need to speak with him, immediately.”

The gryphon, whose name tag said “Baldur,” folded his forelegs. “I assume you have a warrant?”

“Do we?” Rose asked, whispering.

Twilight shook her head. “You are foreign to Equestria, so I'll cut you some slack for not knowing. Grand Mages are the sole law enforcement entity able to operate in Equestria with the powers of the Princesses themselves. Neither warrants nor probable cause are factors in where I want to go or what I want to search. I answer only to Celestia, and have carte blanche to do whatever I need to in order to complete my missions. Which means, if I have to barge in, I have that legal ability. I'm asking that you get him, or allow me entrance to speak with him.”

Baldur scratched his head. “I wasn't informed of any such thing. I'll have to send for somepony to get management permission.”

Twilight sat down in front of the gate. “Do so, quickly. If I start to think you're stringing me along, I'll be forced to take action and enter, whether or not I have permission.”

“I can't allow you to—”

“You won't be able to stop me.”

Baldur staggered at the bravado. “I'll… get a manager.”

Twilight nodded, and started a mental clock as she waited for the gryphon to return. She was about to polish off her fifth gulp of water and tear the gate off its hinges when the metal door cla-chunked and started a slow slide open. On the other side was a medium-sized stock stallion. He had a coat the colour of rust, and eyes of a cold, deep ocean. A formal mane style and suit more expensive than a month’s rent in a luxury Canterlot penthouse told her that this was the stallion she was looking for.

“Lady Sparkle, I presume?” He straightened his tie and bowed. “My name is Lofty Goals. I am the Vice President of Land Acquisitions for the Core Mining Company. You are here about...?”

Twilight signalled Aurora, and the armour glowed and retracted. “I need specific information that your company is likely to posses. It's there somewhere more private we can talk?”

“Of course. My temporary office. Please, follow me.” Goals turned and waved them through, ignoring Baldur's stink-eye. The door closed behind them, and they turned to travel through a series of the tent-buildings.

“Are the ponies outside the gates that much of a problem?” Twilight asked. “It seems odd to have that much security.”

“Well,” Goals began, mulling over his words. “I don't blame them, to be honest. Of all the major mining companies in San Palomino, we treat our employees the best. Come, see for yourself.”

He turned and led them down another row, towards the center of the cluster. A series of pipes had sprouted from the ground in front of them, forming something like a jungle gym, but with vastly more space inside. More than enough for dozens of ponies, as evidenced by the crowd inside. The pipes had holes in them, and cold water was spraying out. Workers, some wearing gear, some not, were basking in the cooling mist.

“After all is said and done, we don't really pay the best.” Goals took a drink from a nearby water fountain. “But, we offer much safer and more comfortable working and living areas than any other company in the Duchy. Ponies don't die of dehydration or hyperthermia on our watch. We have a maximum workday of eight hours, a maximum workweek of forty-eight hours, and living quarters you can sleep in without sweltering.

“Other companies pay by the kilogram mined. Some even have an auction system for their prospective hires to compete against each other, lowering their wages. Worse, they’ll let miners work as much as they want under the hot sun or baking earth. It's why some have secret mass graves near their sites.”

Twilight's cheeks burned with anger. She nearly broke her pen writing a note to herself to investigate this later.

Goals turned back towards the offices and continued his explanation. “We pay by the hour. Unproductive workers are just fired, rather than paid less. It's still hard work, but at least with our way it's livable. But, it means ponies are always trying to sneak into the camp to try and get hired. Baldur is one of our security officers in charge of making sure that doesn't happen. It's hard to sneak past a gryphon’s sight.”

Rose shook out her feathers. “I imagine so. So they're just looking for work? And they throw rocks at ponies joining the line?”

Goals shrugged. “Sometimes. A lot of them are desperate, but we only have so many spots. We try to keep order, give out water. But the crowd just keeps getting bigger. The company is considering hiring a security firm to kick them out, start taking applications only at certain locations. Off-site locations.”

As they went by another misting station, the cool droplets sent a shiver down Twilight's spine. “Speaking of, how do you get so much water out here? It seems a large cost.”

Goals smiled, and his blond mane only served to make his eyes mad with confidence. “Site 47 is the first of our locations to connect to our own private aqueduct to the Stormlands to the north. Soon, all our sites will. Until then, the others have water shipped in. In another two years, we'll be San Palomino’s largest water management organization.”

Twilight followed Goals in through a pair of glass doors to an air-conditioned office building and passed the reception, then turned to Rose in a whisper. “Stay outside. Make a ruckus if you suspect an ambush.”

Rose saluted with a smile, left the building, and took off to the sky, staggering a bit in her climb.

The remaining two ponies climbed a couple stories and ducked into an office. There wasn't a reception desk, per se, but there was a waiting area of sorts. A pair of blue couches on opposite green walls faced each other, with a rectangular coffee table in between them. Beyond them, a pair of frosted glass doors marked the entryway to Goals’ office.

Also in the room was a large, muscled draft pegasus stallion sipping water from a paper cup next to a water cooler. He had nearly opaque aviator sunglasses, and a suit Rarity might have designed. Moreover, he was white on a level only Celestia could hope to match. Even his mane was an untarnished, pure-as-the-driven-snow white.

“Lady Sparkle,” Goals said, turning to face the other ponies. “May I introduce Arctic Snow, President of the Arctic Security Company.”

Twilight bowed with a smile. “A pleasure.”

Arctic bowed back. “No, if anything it's mine. It's a delight to finally meet the little sister Shining Armor has gone on and on about. And to think, I was going to give Goals here an earful for letting something interrupt our meeting.” He leaned in to not-so-subtly mutter an aside. “Actually, I was going to give him an earful just to annoy him regardless, but now you went and gave me an excuse for it.”

Goals rolled his eyes.

“Um…” Twilight blinked. “You're welcome?”

“Now then, Lady Sparkle, you said you had questions for me about something?” Goals opened the doors to his office and motioned for her to enter, which she did. Inside was a fairly ordinary office for a Vice President, with a desk, bookshelf filled with nondescript books, and filing cabinets.

After taking a seat and putting up a privacy barrier, Twilight cleared her throat and pulled out her notebook. “I'll get right to the point. I have reasonably reliable intelligence that a major pirate operating in San Palomino has a base inside a hollowed out mesa. Your company is the most successful in the Duchy, with by far the richest mines. I'm assuming you have geological data on the mesas west of Sierra Maredre that could help me narrow down which mesa they're hiding in.”

Goals blinked and leaned back in his chair. “Wow. That is rather unexpected, Lady Sparkle. I'm assuming you are referring to Farriér?”

“The same.” Twilight held up her notebook's map and circled the area she needed. “I'm not going to sugarcoat this, Mr. Goals. Lives are at stake; recent hostages. And we both know that the longer we take to take this bastard down, the more likely he'll wind up targeting one of your mines. If this is your best-equipped site, his airship’s guns will tear this place apart in minutes.”

Goals rubbed his chin with a hoof. “I… don't really need convincing, Lady Sparkle. Your word is law. If you want the data, I have to surrender it. But he's been a thorn in the Duchy's side for some time. Why stop him now?”

Twilight took her notebook back and folded her forelegs. “I only just recently learned about him. I did so at the point of a gun. He attacked the train I was on, and he was looking for me.”

Goals’ rusty coat grew two shades darker. “If he's willing to attack you, he deserves what's coming to him.” The stallion pushed back from his desk and went through the unlabelled books on the shelf. After a time, he had several of them pulled down. “These have the data. I'll start going through the reports and mark down which are viable. You can go through the others if you want.”

“I will. Thank you.” Twilight tore through the data, which, thankfully, was rich and well organized. There were even charts. Neither Goals’ name nor his cutie mark suggested a geology background, but he clearly had his company pursue everything he was involved in with an incredible dedication to detail. The reason for his company’s success was clear: based on the data, they already had the richest mines in the Duchy.

The treasure trove included information on which buttes were minable internally, which had riches underneath, and which were stable enough to support it all. Still, the sheer number of them in the vast, wild landscape was incredible. There were thousands of buttes scattered about her target zone, and even that was but a small piece of the Duchy.

Discord, Twilight thought. Four thousand years later and his actions are still a pain in the rear. “Okay, I think that's all of them. Two hundred ten viable candidates.”

“I'm sorry I couldn't nail it down further for you.” Goals sighed and plopped his pen on the desk. “That's still going to take you a long time to search.”

“Maybe, but we still eliminated the vast majority of candidates in the region. We'll get him, even if we have to search these one by one. A few Wonderbolt teams will comb through them in a few days, tops. Farriér’s number is up. He just doesn't realize it yet.”

Ka-chu-fzzzzzz!

The buzz faded, and everything went black.

Rose yawned and leaned back against a building, wiping tears from her eyes. “You'd think I'd get used to having sand in my eyes, seeing as I've lived all my life in a desert. You'd be completely wrong.”

She then held down a burp and scratched her back on the edge of a building across from the one Twilight had entered. You'd also think I'd be used to the boredom of stakeouts and waiting in general. Wrong again. Maybe it's because I'm a pegasus, but this still sucks.

She took a few steps from the building, out into the middle of the dusty street, and spread her wings. She didn't take off; she just sat there, feathers spread wide.

Non-pegasi didn't really appreciate streets in the same way pegasi did. Sure, the ground ponies used streets. They were made by and likely invented by them. And sure, pegasi didn't use streets as much, but there was one magical thing about them that those without feathers couldn't quite gap: the wind.

Buildings in a grid layout had a tendency to push air along in a wind tunnel, and the tingle it could give one’s feathers was something else, even among tiny buildings like these.

“Yeah, there we go…” Her feathers and skin twitched while the tingle danced up her back, and the mist from a nearby cooling station added an icy prick to each pin. “That's nice.”

“Wow. You got…” A random earth pony stallion blinked, looking at her wings. “Quite the wingspan there, missy.”

Rose blushed hot enough to melt the ice on her back, then gave him a burning glare. “Not cool. You don't just say things like—”

Rose stopped. Something had changed. It was subtle, but it there was definitely a difference in her sight. Pegasi had sight finely tuned to three dimensions, which needed an accurate sense of light, and that sense told her something got darker. Something to the left, where Twilight was.

She turned, and the other shoe dropped. The building that Twilight had entered didn't just turn off its lights. The entire thing was a black mass; a perfect rectangular prism the size of a city block. No light was coming out, or even being reflected by it. It was a pure, cold void.

“Twilight!” Rose flapped her wings, flying forward and blasting the pony behind her off his hooves. Though she was there in a second, it was too late. The mass was solid as rock, and freezing under her hooves. “Twilight! It's an ambush!”

She hollered and pounded on the darkness with every ounce of magic she could bring to bear, brought up the sound of a full stampede to thunder through her body and the valley, and nothing. Nothing from the void that had swallowed her first friend in years.

Plenty, however, came from the sky.

The ground shook hard enough for Rose to feel it even in the air, and more, closer explosions of fire punched her eardrums seconds later. An airship appeared out of nothing to scorch the earth, raining down shells that erupted with flame on each blast. Two monster turrets were turning the mine into slag, and dozens of ponies were flying out of the bay of the ship.

“Run!”

Rose winced and cringed at the voice, and fell to the ground.

“Run! Fly! They'll kill you if they know you're with Twilight!”

“Argh!” Rose punched herself in the face, pain being the next best thing to cold water. “Shut up shut up shut up!”

“Fly! They'll take you away!”

Rose hit herself again and screamed. Whether it was her ‘inner’ voice leaking out our just her own terror and frustration, it still broke through the sound of shells and panicking ponies, overtaking it all. One mighty flap had her in the air, and surrounded.

Ponies were everywhere. Most were running away from the fire on the ground, but plenty were in the air, some flying for their lives, some flying to take lives.

A knock on her saddle had Rose's cannons dropping open at the ready. They were squirt guns compared to the cannons on the backs of the pirates, but in a furball, “unconscious” was as good as “dead.”

The first pony in her sights found that out the hard way.

A little pair of bolts arced out haphazardly, reaching for something with tendrils of light. When they found the pony in their path, they wound around and into him, racing up his spine and into his brain.

The stallion vibrated for a second, then fell to the ground, kicking up a nice cloud of dust as he hit.

Pegasi were remarkably resistant to blunt force impacts, like the ones sustained from falls. This protection, however, was based on knowing what was coming. Being knocked out on a fall, while not as lethal for pegasi as others, was still life-threatening. With a heavy-duty cannon like the one that stallion was carrying, anypony taking a hit like that was going to wind up dead.

Rose swallowed back vomit, then said through clenched teeth, “Live by the sword…”

She banked hard left, lining up on a second, then a third pegasus, knocking them all out of the sky before one of them finally woke up and turned his guns on her.

BBBBBRRRRRAAAAAPPP!

Bolts of pure, explosive power ripped under her hooves. If any of them had so much as nicked her, they'd have taken her legs clean off. Best case, she'd bleed out in seconds. Worse, she didn't need to look behind her to know that her bogey was fixing his aim for another burst.

She banked again, this time hard right, and another BBBBBRRRRRAAAAAPPP! nearly announced the removal and destruction of her head. Despite her best efforts to shake him off, moving left, right, and every which way possible, the third burst only missed because the pirate behind her had lousy aim.

Rose dove for the streets below her, lining up with as narrow an alley as her large wings would fit down. Her primaries were brushing on walls, her follower had no trouble firing, and that was just the start. She had “cruising” wings, best for stability and gliding. Wonderbolt turns were literally impossible with wings like hers, and she had just given every advantage to her attacker.

Which meant she had to be perfect, and he had to be sloppy like a tiny pony carrying a gun that was too big for his hide to handle.

She dove to the ground just as the next burst ripped through where she had been, then she snapped her wings to her sides and jumped. She twisted and tumbled about in mid air, leaping into a perpendicular alley. While the pegasus behind her raced ahead and overshot her, she jumped off the wall of a building and back into the air. The other pegasus was stuck circling around, and she had a bead on him.

“Sleep tight!” A crack of lightning went through the air, and just like that, her enemy fell.

“Not bad!”

She snapped around and fired, not waiting to see whether it was a friend or foe.

The stallion grabbed her lightning with a hoof and tossed it aside. His coat was grey, and his mane and beard, jet black and curly. His grin could stab ponies in the heart all by itself, and the look in his eyes would cut them in twain. This was Farriér.

The stallion smacked his lips, electricity arcing over his primaries as he laughed. “I could use a pony like you on my crew. ‘Course, my spy caught you calling for a certain Grand Mage. I bet when she gets out of our little cage, she'll be mighty angry. Best not to be ‘round when that happens; after all, we can always deal with her later. Just about any time we want, in fact.

“So, why don't y'all come with us, now?”

Rose's heart beat faster than an airship engine could spin. This was the pirate of San Palomino, and she was about to say no to him.

“Say yes! Fly! Do anything!”

“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!” Rose dove forward, and her vision went white.

She was lying on something warm. That was the last thing she felt while the world went away and a voice cackled in her ear.

“That's mighty disappointing. But then, we have ways of negotiating I think y'all will find persuasive. Bring her on board. Gently. Wouldn't want to damage the merchandise, ya hear?”

Twilight blinked. Everything had gone black. The lights in the room, gone. The sun in the window, vanished. There was nothing but void everywhere, and lighting her horn produced only a token amount of illumination; far less than it should have.

“Lady Sparkle, are you still there?”

Her hearing, at least, was fine. “I'm here…” Vibrations rumbled through the floor and into her hooves. “There's no way this is natural. I'm not that lucky. Hang on.” She called forth her magic, and a narrow slice of it, at that. Fighting the Titan, she had to convert her dark magic to light, but here, no conversion was needed. She merely needed a magic circle filled with only one kind of her power: fire.

A red circle hummed to life in the floor, slowly leaking hot, fiery magic. Nearly microscopic motes of flame ate away at something in the air, and in seconds they could see again, at least inside the office.

“What is this?” Goals swatted at the motes with a hoof. “It's everywhere!”

Twilight turned up her nose at the smell of sewage. “Murkyr. A supernatural darkness that absorbs light. By itself, it's harmless. But since it's here, somepony wants us in the dark, figuratively and literally. Come on, let's get out of here and find out what's going on!”

She marched to the door, stubbing her hoof on a table and nearly tripping on a step. There's the real danger of murkyr — not being able to see where in Tartarus you're going. It forces you to slow down, which is likely just what they want. She put more fire magic in her horn and let it leak out to clear the way.

“You two!” a voice that sounded like Arctic Snow said. “Just what is going on here? You never mentioned this place sometimes spontaneously got darker than my ex-wife’s heart. That is, if she had one.”

“We're under attack. You're going to help me fend it off.” Twilight said flatly.

“Attack? Who in their right mind launches a coordinated assault on a mine of all things?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, not once stopping her pace. “I can think of just one pony to fit that description.” How she didn't wind up falling down the stairs, she'd never know, but she did it. The three of them left the building while the receptionist cowered under her desk, which was just as well. She was safer there than outside during an attack.

The only problem was getting outside the myrkur to repel it. As Twilight stepped outside, she realized there was no way to know for sure how far it went. The sky, the horizon, everything was pitch black. Then, she bumped her nose on something. “Ow!”

“Something the matter?” Goals asked.

Twilight held up a hoof to stop them from bumping into the same wall, then reached out with it to feel what was ahead of her. Inside the myrkur was a solid black barrier, a shield configured to absorb all the light that hit it. The vibrations outside had picked up — explosions, she had guessed — but the shield itself had a steady, low-frequency throb.

“Can you break it down? Or blow it up?”

“Yes. And we would die in the backlash.” Twilight licked her lips and started digging into the barrier with an analysis spell, and in a few moments she had a trio of circles up representing the barrier’s formula. “Tricky, high powered spell. Whoever did this was pretty good. The formula itself is encrypted, although a better word might be ‘obscured.’ There's a lot of additional, unnecessary steps put in to try to make it hard to comprehend, and thus hard to find a weak point. And before you ask, yes, I can crack it. I just need a little time.”

“I don't know how much we have. A pirate operation can be done in minutes. Which means my employees are dying.” Goals put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Please, hurry.”

Snow pulled him back. “Ease off and let her work, Goals. If anypony can break this, it's her.”

“Aha!” Twilight smiled and started working a drill of a counter-spell. “Just as I thought, there's a time limit on this spell, and it's being refreshed part by part in a specific pattern. All I need to do is block the right part from getting refreshed at the right time, and it'll start falling apart on its own.”

She brought the spell to bear and pushed it into the barrier like a knife to a gut, and waited.

Nothing happened.

“Was that it?” Snow asked.

“No spell is perfect. Something went wrong, but what?” Twilight spun her analysis spell circles around a bit, looking for clues. It didn't take her long. “The pattern changed. Just as I was about to break it, somehow the spell adapted itself to my subterfuge and changed patterns.”

“A self-adapting spell?” Goals sat, stunned. “Are we sure this is a pirate attack? I'd think only the best spell casters in the world could pull this off.”

“He's right.” Snow finally took off his sunglasses and put them in his suit pocket. “The only pony I know of who’s capable of a barrier like this is Armor.”

Twilight shook her head. “When you hear wingbeats, think robins, not dragons. It doesn't have to be ‘self-adapting’ if there's another pony on the other side working against us, making the changes to the spell as we fight it. Much easier that way.”

“And how do we fight it successfully?” Goals was fuming, but it was well hidden. A seething, volcanic hatred boiling so far underwater the bubbles almost didn't break the surface. “I have some flank to kick. And of all times for our security chief to be on vacation…”

“Simple,” Twilight said. “If it's a pony on the other end, we don't just exploit the weaknesses in the spell. We exploit the nature of the pony mind, like how it's really hard for us to be truly random… unless your name is Pinkie Pie, but I doubt she's behind this.”

The circles started pulsing and shifting form, one at a time, almost like a slot machine. However, while those had randomness and the law of large numbers to make sure the house always won, this was being shifted around by a pony in real time. Somewhere, some unicorn was trying to stay one step ahead of her.

“There, he's favouring a Lem sigil. Three, two, one, now!” She pushed her counterspell into the circle, and a crack resounded through the barrier. A spiderweb of cracks grew in the void, and crimson light seeped through. Red? It's not sunset yet… Not good. Very not good.

Light flowed over her body as Aurora embraced her and deployed. She pulled back a hoof, and smashed it into the barrier. Shards flew, the spell failed, and sound, light, and fury slammed into her nearly as furiously as a real attack. Instead, it was made only of horror. Screaming was everywhere, and every building she could see, save the office she was in, was on fire.

And there was an airship overhead, cloaked in a storm and firing its engines.

“No… No! Rose!” Twilight cracked through a teleport, launching herself at the ship. Wind whipped at her eyes and tears, her heart tore at itself, and rage filled her soul to well into her horn. Violet light ripped through the air and exploded on a solid wall of a shield.

The shock blew her back, but she turned her pegasus magic on her back and rocketed forward once again. Her eyes caught an unconscious pink pony just before the bay doors closed, and vitriol flowed out in the form of raw power instantly, reaching out for a target. Clouds wrapped around her magic and the ship, swallowing both before a wave of sound crashed into her body.

When the bells stopped ringing in her ears, she was on the ground in the middle of a crater. Pain, pins, and needles drew lines up her forelegs as she got them under her. The sky was filled with smoke, but there was no ship, and no Rose.

Twilight sucked in a breath through her teeth and wiped blood off her lips. “That does it. I'm not leaving this desert until I wipe that piss stain out of existence.”

Author's Note

Last few days have been crazy stressful, and not from writing, amazingly enough. But that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about writing. On the contrary, we’re getting close to the mission seven climax, so I’m very much nervous about my posts.

That other stuff is overwhelming the writing issues only tells me how messed up I am at the moment. :/

Hope you all like this one, and thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Strong as the Earth

Spike leaned against the train car window, listening to the gentle clickity-clack of the tracks rocking him back and forth. A big part of him wanted to fall asleep, but each time he drifted off, lightning ran through his spine. He clutched the package in his arms ever tighter with each jolt, ready to burn anyone and anything that dared try taking it from him in lawless San Palomino.

He had received a telegram shortly before Blade Forge had completed his work. Rainbow had been captured, and Twilight was alone, racing against a clock to save her from the cruelest pirate in the Duchy.

No matter how weak he was, Spike had to find her. If nothing else, then he could deliver the package in his care. With luck, that and his flames would turn the odds against whatever they were facing.

“Stupid formula… Why don't you resolve!” Trixie chewed up and swallowed the rest of the apple that she was eating, and it went down her throat like a tennis ball. “Argh. What am I doing wrong?” She put her head down on her table and eyed the equations on her paper, then sighed and looked around the room for a distraction.

It didn't work. It was a three meter by three meter former storage room that the Royal Guard had deigned to give her to work in. The walls were institution beige, and the carpet institution brown. The lights were institution fluorescent, and the ceiling tiles institution white. The chalkboard behind her made it look like the world's smallest classroom, and its green colour matched the filing cabinets to her right. Even the door was oppressivelyboring. The whole place was made to round up inspiration and march it into a prison camp.

“That does it. I need some air before they lock me in a real institution.” She grabbed her papers, stuffed them in her bags, and stomped out the door.

“Having trouble, are we?”

Trixie froze at Captain Dual Strike’s words.

“If you can't perform, perhaps it's time for you to go on your way, Ms. Lulamoon.” Strike loomed over her. “I'm sure we can arrange some security to travel with you on your… shows.”

Trixie swallowed, even though she knew she shouldn't have. It gave away her nerves, and a cold reader like her knew what that could mean when she was up against a stallion like Dual Strike. Not only was he one of the worst examples of ponykind she'd ever met, but the air around him carried a metallic buzz of power. Captains were never weak.

However, the power he had was nothing compared to Obsidian Armor’s. His wasn't just a buzz, but a burning wall that pushed her back if she got too close. Combined with the fact that he wasn't a jerk, it was easy to see why Princess Celestia chose him over Dual Strike.

“Captain,” she said, flat as the plains of Stalliongrad. “I am taking a small break. As I understand it, that is within my rights under the terms of my ‘employment’ with the Crown. Surely, even you do such things.” Trixie let the corner of her mouth not facing Dual Strike turn up slightly. “After all, you're not Shining Armor.”

The din of the War Room quieted to a hush.

“No, I am not.” The Captain turned around to leave. “I suppose we can discuss your ‘employment,’ as you put it, another time.”

Trixie stayed frozen there, waiting, until he had left and the noise of ponies working had resumed. Even when she moved, she shook like a fish on a hook. By the time she made it to a vending machine in the castle proper, she felt sucked dry of any energy. Even her favourite super-sugary candy bar wasn't likely to fix that anytime soon, despite the orange soda she chased it down with.

I can't keep this up. I know Twilight has a plan in place, and I trust her, but still. She finished off her soda and chucked the can in a recycling bin. I don't think she fully understands what I'm stuck in here, helpful though she tries to be. So! I have to do something, but what?

She sighed and leaned back in her bench, looking up at the artwork on the tall, marble walls. There were ponies in armor, pictures of honored soldiers long since passed. “Heh. Can't believe I pretended to be—”

Trixie blinked, and several times at that. “Empty Night! I could… Was that her idea? Was she going to…?” She pulled out her papers to see if she had enough to justify going to the Princess, then decided it didn't matter. If Her Highness was like Twilight said, Trixie could stretch the truth a little to get an audience, ask the favor, and probably not be in too much trouble for her audacity.

She trashed the candy bar wrapper and hauled her butt and her incomplete papers to the Throne Room. Every few turns saw more and more Royal Guard checkpoints to pass through, and a different spell or test she had to pass through to continue onwards. It wasn't like when she was next to Twilight; the Princess’ student could run through unimpeded. Trixie had to prove herself, over and over.

That is, until she reached the final checkpoint at the doors to her destination, this time protected by Day Guard. There was no checkpoint, not even a glance in her direction. She just walked through, like everypony else seemed to do. A normal pony would have assumed they were just for decoration, then. Trixie knew better. Not in any explainable way, but in the deepest part of her gut. The Day Guard pegasi were where they were for a reason, and she dared not test them.

Inside was a room that was a testament to the glory of Equestria and its Princesses. The stained glass, the long hall, the grandiose, elevated throne, it was all meant to instill reverence in ponies, and it was very effective. Trixie was no different in that regard.

There was a small crowd inside, filled with ponies that had business to air in front of Celestia, to seek guidance or a decision from one who has lived for countless lifetimes. Trixie didn't have an appointment, but a Princess’s job was varied and pressing, and interruptions were commonplace. In that way, she was just one of the crowd.

She inched her way through the herd, shuffling and apologizing to ponies as she waded through. Eventually, she was at the front. The annoyed looks she earned sent the hairs on her neck into attention enough for her to need to push them down with a hoof. That didn't stop the glares from continuing.

Technically the glaring ponies had a point; she was cutting in line. The order of petitioners was fixed, with names called on a list. That being said, there were definitely certain prerogatives to being a pony that came from the War Room.

After finishing a ruling, Celestia cleared her throat. “I believe it's time for a small recess. We shall reconvene in ten minutes, everypony. Please feel free to use the facilities or find a snack.”

The loud kachunk of doors opening announced the entrance of two more Day Guard, and nopony missed the cue to clear out. In a moment, only the Princess, her seneschal, and Trixie remained.

Celestia took a cup of tea that Raven Quill had brought, and sipped from it. “I take it, my little pony, that you have something for me?”

Trixie swallowed again. While it was dangerous to give a clue like that to Dual Strike, with Celestia, there was no point in even trying to hide. She'd see through her anyway. “Mostly. It's not complete yet, but I think Twilight and I could get it working together. It's… I don't have a name for the spell yet, but it makes a magic square. A really, really big one. Something on the size of a city.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “That kind of spell is beyond you, little one. I find it curious that you pursued a solution of such magnitude. Take care to remember that alicorns are not yours to use at will.”

“I mean no disrespect, Your Highness.” Trixie bowed as low as she could, and the shaking started again. “This can be accomplished by unicorns, with emphasis on the plural. At least with the proper planning.” She pointed to her horn. “If I may?”

Celestia nodded, and Trixie started her spell.

Even though it was just a miniature version, it pulled on her horn in all directions as it spread. The square was simple, and a lot of the guts of the spell just weren't there. Of course, the guts were broken, so she couldn't include them. All that was left were the grid lines criss crossing the inside.

“Basically, it's a detection grid. Set up by trained unicorn teams, and spread out over the size of a small city, it can pinpoint levels of thaumic contamination throughout. Each line will respond by changing colour based on the amount it finds. With two dimensions, we can determine the exact position of each bit of pollution in moments… at ground level. I haven't gotten the actual spell working yet, so I haven't dared try three dimensions yet.”

“Interesting…” Celestia put down her empty teacup. “Properly set up, we could scan entire cities before the Illusionists could even realize what’s happening. And we could detect illegal thaumic dumping at the same time. Excellent work, Ms. Lulamoon.”

“I'm not done yet, Your Majesty, but I think I'm on the right track.” Trixie’s ears went back against her head, and her hind legs gave out from the shaking. Try as she might, she couldn't meet the Princess’ eyes. “And… I…”

“Miss Lulamoon.”

The words were soft, but they were an order, and Trixie's gaze locked onto the alicorn’s eyes of their own accord.

The Princess, for her part, was the picture of tranquillity. “I know what a pony looks like when they have something uncomfortable on their minds, my little pony. In fact, I feel safe wagering that whatever you have to say, it was the real reason you came to see me. Am I wrong?”

Trixie swallowed as a chill rushed down her neck. “No… No, you aren't. I… I have a favor to ask.”

Celestia nodded serenely as the glow of her magic took a fresh teacup from Raven Quill. “Go ahead,” she gestured slightly with the cup, and there was the ghost of a smile on her lips, “You are hardly alone, nor nearly the first. Regardless, you are performing a valuable service for the Crown. Tell me, my subject, what can I do to make that job easier?”

“Well… I…” Trixie stammered. Celestia was clearly trying to put her at ease. Given that Trixie had waged years of slander against her beloved student, this was far easier said than done. She clenched her teeth and bowed her head, holding in her tears as much as she could. “I…”

She flinched away from a touch on her shoulder, ready for it to be a strike. Instead, she opened her eyes to find Raven Quill, who wasn't ready to give up on her.

Raven put her hoof back on Trixie’s shoulder, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Don't be afraid. You are Twilight's pony, and Celestia would never jeopardize their relationship. To her, you’re untouchable, okay?”

The world went crystal, locking Trixie in place. Her mind ran over the words again and again. “I'm her… what?”

Raven adjusted her glasses and smiled, speaking softly, though there was no way the Princess wouldn't hear. “Alicorns have a protective instinct for their subjects, just as you have an instinct to obey Celestia when in her direct presence. Regular ponies gain resistance to it through familiarity with an alicorn, but for them, the closer to their heart you are, the stronger their instinct burns.

“Twilight will be Celestia’s equal soon enough. In many ways, she already is. You are under the protection of an alicorn ascendant; one who has already fought and bled for your sake. Harming you for any reason would be...” there was a pause as Raven summoned a politician’s gift for understatement, “Impolitic.”

“Raven…” Celestia’s smile veiled nothing of her disapproval, though the seneschal didn't do much as blink.

“I…” Trixie swallowed again, waiting for Raven to return to her place. “I… I want…” She clenched her teeth while her words boiled to bursting. Her heart pounded, sweat leaked down her brow, and she was ready to bite her tongue.

Go, filly! Now or never! Trixie sucked in a last breath. “I want to become a member of Twilight's Evening Guard!”

Celestia froze mid-sip, and for a time, all was silent.

No, Trixie thought while her heart pounded. She's going to—

“It's about time,” Celestia chuckled.

What?

“My little pony, I was wondering how long it would be until you asked one of us that.” Celestia put down her tea and stepped down from her throne to tower over Trixie more directly. “Before I approve or deny your request, however, I must ask you why you wish such a thing.”

She… She knew… Trixie slumped to the ground and deflated. She knew this whole time. I'm such an idiot.

“Miss Lulamoon?” Celestia prompted. “I need an answer.”

“I…” Trixie shuddered. Don't lie. She'll know. “I can't go on unless it happens. Captain Dual Strike is out to get me. So is General Gemstone. I need cover, and this would provide it. So yes, I'm just being selfish. But, that's not the only reason.

“Doing so would… repay her. For the trouble I caused. Not to mention, I could get more done with the others off my back. Which means I could hurt these bastards. Root them out. Hopefully before anypony else is hurt like I was.”

Celestia seemed to mull this over for a moment. “Normally, I look for more altruistic reasons, but given your history, I find this acceptable. I will approve the assignment.”

Trixie's eyes widened and welled up with tears. “Thank—”

“Don't celebrate just yet, my little pony. Doing this means giving your very life to Twilight. You will live, and possibly die,by her command.” Celestia paused to let her words sink in. Once Trixie managed to nod jerkily, she continued, “Also, although I have approved the placement, you must swear an oath to Twilight herself before it takes effect. I would take you to her right now, but I'm afraid I can't. I don't know where she is, other than ‘somewhere in San Palomino.’ You'll have to wait until she gets back.”

“Oh…” Trixie swallowed a curse. “I don't suppose you could take me to Fort Earthborne, then? Wouldn't she be likely to go there at some point?”

Celestia scratched her chin with a pinion. “Not a bad idea. Very well, brace yourself for teleport, little one.”

An idea punched the back of Trixie’s head. “Wait!”

Celestia stopped and tilted her head. “What is it, my little pony?”

Trixie tapped the tips of her forehooves together tentatively. “Do you think you could maybe keep this a secret? You know, until I get back in the War Room, so I can… tell… Captain Dual Strike myself?”

Celestia did something Trixie never thought she'd see on a paragon of patience like the Princess: put on a devious, mirthful smile. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Status update?” Twilight asked while wiping soot off her face with a damp washcloth. The cool water in it was a small but welcome comfort in the heat.

Lofty Goals was even more covered in dust and dirt than Twilight was, but then again, he didn't have the advantage of armor covering nearly every inch of his body. His suit had been deliberately torn to shreds to serve as first-aid bandages for ponies hurt in the attack.

“We've completed a headcount,” Goals said. “Just over a dozen ponies were taken. We have hundreds hurt, only six dead by some miracle. It looks like they were mostly after equipment. It could have been a lot worse.” He sighed and looked at the fires still raging around him. “Though it certainly doesn't look like it could have been worse. I'm told, though, that if not for your guard scattering their forces, our security ponies and gryphons would have been taken out completely. We're in her debt.”

Twilight winced at the thought of her lost friends. “She's actually a bounty hunter I hired. She didn't have to fight back like that. But… I'm glad she did. It tells me I was right to bet on her.” She ground her teeth and seethed. “And all the more reason I need to rescue her and make Farriér pay. How are we coming on the telegraph system?”

Lofty motioned for her to follow, so she did, and the two of them made their way outside the compound towards some broken power poles, only to stop before they got there.

“Lady Sparkle, something else very sensitive was taken, and it was meant for the Crown. However, I'm under explicit order from the Crown to only discuss it with royalty, and even then only if directly asked about it by name. Violating this order would constitute treason. Do you know what I'm talking about?”

Twilight's heart thudded in her chest. “No. But at this point I'm guessing it's why you were targeted. I am the Grand Mage, so I can assure you, whatever it is, you can tell me.”

He shook his head. “No. The warning was extreme, Lady Sparkle. I recommend asking the Princess. Hopefully the wires are fixed now.”

They continued on to the usable poles, stepping through the splinters of the ones that were destroyed. After passing several half-standing ones, they arrived at a group of ponies working on one that was intact.

One pegasus stallion, dressed in twin work belts and a hard hat, looked exactly like he should have: like a pony that had just seen a massacre. He had a short beard and his eyes looked like he hadn't slept in days. Still, he worked as smoothly as any pony Twilight had seen. In moments, he'd managed to finish tapping into the telegraph wires.

This was why Twilight had to encrypt her messages over the wires; anypony that knew what they were doing could tap into one of the lines. And out in the desert, with very few potential witnesses, nopony on either end of the communiqué would be any the wiser.

“I think we're ready,” the stallion said. “What do we send? Celestia, what does anypony send after something like this?”

“Here.” Twilight tore a page out of her notebook and floated it over to him. “I've already made and encrypted the message for Fort Earthborne. Send it to the address shown, and we should have relief forces here by the end of the day.”

“That's something, I guess.” He grabbed it in his primaries and went to work, while everypony else either lined up to send their own messages to loved ones or went back to helping those who were hurt.

All the while, Lofty Goals and Arctic Snow coordinated and gave orders to ponies running to and fro.

Twilight stomped a pebble in her way into dust, then flopped to the warm ground. “Just what am I doing? How many ponies am I going to get killed?”

A building in flames collapsed in on itself, sending ponies running to avoid the spewing embers.

“I should be helping…” Twilight wiped more soot off her face, but it just smeared, damp. Water left over by the washcloth, surely. Twilight didn’t have time for tears.

“You can't do everything for them.” Aurora appeared in front of Twilight, though she was only a faint presence, like a ghost. Nopony else would see her, certainly. She had no real body, but appeared as stressed as any of the ponies in the camp. There were bags under her eyes, and her mane was a mess.

Maybe that's what I look like, Twilight thought.

“More or less,” Aurora replied. “But my worries are for you, not them.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. I'm an ageless alicorn. I'll be fine. I should be in there, helping—

“Sender's Shower won't work here and you know it. Their cannon shells had fire dust in them. A water spell with a very high mana concentration might help douse the flames, but everything currently on fire is already destroyed beyond salvage. Their normal water hoses will be enough to contain things on their own, and that's the best course of action right now.”

Twilight put her ears back. So many were hurt…

“Even if you knew any of the incredibly difficult mass healing spells Celestia knows, you wouldn't do much more than what the medics are already doing. Our thaumic profile just isn't attuned to healing. If you knew more focused healing spells, it might help, but we haven't seen anypony in that kind of need yet. They're either already beyond help or well within the means of the healers already here.”

Twilight grumbled and kicked another pebble so half heartedly it barely turned over twice. Why must you be so good with logic when I'm trying to feel sorry for myself?

“Because my ultimate desire is your well-being. I can shield you from physical attack, but emotional injury is something I have to heal with words. Besides, you're missing something important.”

I am?

Aurora nodded. “Think back. What happened when the myrkur first appeared? What was the order of events?”

Well… Twilight wished she had water left. I was talking with Lofty Goals, then the myrkur just appeared. There was also a barrier, and we…

Aurora smiled while Twilight's jaw dropped from her realization.

The other pony adjusting the shield was hooked into it with his magic when I smashed it! The feedback on that would have blown out his horn, or at the very least knocked him out! If their forces were scattered, there's a chance they left their agent behind.

Aurora vanished in a puff, and said, “He must have been close to the barrier to adjust it like that. Look near the building you were at.”

“Already ahead of you.” Twilight shot through the air with her cannonball spell, aiming for the one large building still completely intact. The air was filled with smoke that ate at her lungs, and there were ponies everywhere.

She switched to her magic sight and told Aurora, “Help me look. Check for large wellsprings that… Wait…”

“I see it too. I think we found our pony.”

She blasted herself back down towards the ground, coming to a reasonably gentle landing in a tiny alleyway near where the shield had been. Shadows danced all around her, thanks to the fires still raging, but they couldn't hide the bright wellspring from her sight.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? In there?”

“Well, I wouldn't have looked for a pony there if I hadn't seen them with your sight.”

“Yeah, but…” Twilight grabbed the lid of the dumpster and swung it open. “I never would have picked a place like this to hide.”

Inside were a few bags of trash, upon which a young, yellow stallion lay unconscious. He was kind of short, had only a small, one-sided saddlebag, and his mouth hung open enough to let his tongue rest on something unfortunate. Worse, his horn was chipped and burnt.

“I read about the kinds of things forensics techs have to dig through in those textbooks. I'd hoped I'd never have to experience it myself. Okay, Mr. Pirate, let's get you out of there and get you some medical help. You can't help me if you die.”

Twilight grabbed him with her magic, since his own couldn't block her due to his damaged horn, and pulled him out along with some of the rest of the trash, just in case there was evidence.

As she stepped out into the street, a red sun peeked out of the smoke, which only made her sweat even more than she had been. It didn't do much for the smell of the garbage, either. More important, it highlighted a shadow along the ground. A line had been drawn in the dirt, and it was going all around the building.

“Aha. They used a physical drawing in the ground to help create a magic square. What do you have to say about that, Mr. Pirate?”

She rummaged around in his pockets, finding a variety of magic implements and a few pieces of mining equipment. One item stood out, though: a foreman’s ID badge for Site 47.

“Ahhhhhh! Stop thinking that fast!”

Sorry, Aurora, but I think I just figured it all out. The only thing I don't know for certain at this point is where, exactly, his hideout is. But I have a list of candidates I can get through very quickly. Too fast for him to finish his plans. Farriér's number is up.

A rumble of thunder had Twilight look to the sky. Through the smoke, haze, and hellfire, a beam of moonlight tore open a hole in space. A legion of pegasi pulling chariots poured through, the first few being Night Guard. After that came the ones in desert camouflage. The Army of Equestria had arrived, and with it, no fewer than a hundred and fifty ponies ready to help.

Luna was the first to find her and land. “We received your message. How bad is it?”

“Not as bad as it could have been, but…” Twilight swallowed some bile. “They took Rose. She helped fight them off.”

“And the shipment?” Luna asked like she was being held over the edge of a cliff. “Is it secure?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Shipment? What shipment? Oh, you mean the thing you didn't tell me? Lofty Goals didn't want to say what it was, but he did say it was taken.”

“It was…” Luna shivered. Luna, the Princess of the Night, shivered. “Cardinal! Find whomever is in charge!”

“Uh, hello?” Twilight raised a hoof. “Care to clue me in?”

“Psy Ore. The mineral used for a long term, highly intrusive geas. This mine found some a few hours ago, and was instructed to secure it while a chariot was dispatched to recover it.” Luna pressed her forehooves to her temples. “They must have the ability to break some of our encryption… Yours isn't used much, but we don't share the top level methods with mining companies, of all things.”

“Hours? That is quite a turnaround.” Twilight started a pace back and forth, kicking up dust and ash with each step. “No wonder I wasn't told; you didn't know yet. Though now I know how they did it. But first…

“If you'll recall, earlier I received intelligence from an Illusionist, a member of what he called the ‘Knights Templar.’

“He vanished before I could detain him, but not before claiming that there was a business connection between the pirate I'm after, Farriér, and the group behind the coup attempt last year. This supports that intelligence.”

Luna waved at one of her guards, and sighed. “I remember that RGIS had some interest in this company, though I don't believe that their investigation went anywhere. I shall have the files forwarded to you.

“More importantly, however, you appear to be carrying an injured stallion and… and a pile of garbage. Why?”

Twilight unceremoniously dropped the pile of refuse — pirate included — at Luna's hooves. “This young colt is with the pirates that attacked. After what you said about the psy ore, I have it figured out. He's a plant by either the Majestics or one of their agents to watch for possible new sources of Psy Ore, and probably signalled Farriér. But then I showed up and met with Mr. Goals. So he waited for us to enter a building. Arctic Snow, a former military officer and current head of a private security company, was also there, and he looks like he could definitely have handled himself in a fight.

“Once we were all inside, it was the perfect time to trap us to keep us busy. He set up a powerful, opaque barrier to confine us. He likely also signalled for the attack to commence, since he had neutralized the top two threats. But I broke out just before the ship escaped, and the feedback probably knocked him on his flank.

“I want him in a cell in Fort Earthborne. He's got a lot to answer for. I also need you to take me there. I've got a way to find Farriér, and I'll need an army to assault his base of operations before he runs.”

Luna blinked. “Runs?”

“Oh yeah. He's been a step ahead until now, but at this point I've got him figured out. He never wanted to take me on; the Majestics made him. He left the doors of his airship open because he knew my barrier and armor would try to convert his attack to a manageable amount of kinetic energy via acceleration, and he aimed for me to get launched out the side. Then he could either try to finish me with airship guns; and if that failed, it was a plausible excuse to the Majestics.

“It adds up. That impact from his weapon? I got knocked and stunned by the light, and a little shocked, but Aurora still blocked almost all the actual damage. Had I not been tossed out, I'm pretty sure I could have adapted and taken him down then and there. When he saw my power, he threw me out to escape from me.

“And think of this. He should have thought he had me dead to rights with his airship guns when he attacked the mines. He certainly had the rest of this place under control. So why not press the attack when I got out? Because he knew I had a solid chance of winning, even with the ship on his side.

“So he took Rose, who he knows of because we've doubtless been seen together for a while at this point. She's another hostage to make me think twice while he plans to run away from both the Majestics and myself. He has to be pissing himself with fear. Of course, that raises the obvious question: Where to?”

By this point a small crowd of Night Guard were either keeping other ponies away or sitting at attention like they were in a class.

Twilight lit her horn and drew a basic map of the Duchy and its neighbours into the dirt. “To the South is Shanghay, beyond the Glass Desert, but the Triads would never trust a pony with his reputation. They'd either rat him out or try to kill him and take his ship.

“To the west are the Border Lands near the coast, but it's not as lawless as San Palomino. Cadence has done a remarkable job grooming the early colonies there, and the environment is less hostile. Odds are we would catch him there pretty quick.

“To the east are the Hinterlands, and for obvious reasons, that's right out, which leaves the north. If they can either make it through the Stormlands, or go around via the ocean, they can make it to the remote areas of Stalliongrad. All kinds of terrain, few settlements, and train lines ripe for robbing. That's where he's going to go.

“Yet it's easier said than done. That's a long journey for a ship that needs as much maintenance as his does, and he needs supplies to get settled and set up. So... his plan is likely to hit a few more trains and towns for supplies, but then ultimately run back to base as fast as possible to load up the goods, fix their engines to last as long as possible, then run for it. All we have to do is find his base and hit them while their engines are in pieces, and thanks to Mr. Goals, I have a short list of base candidates!”

Twilight froze for a moment, waiting for Luna to speak. The Princess and her guards stood still, looking at her.

Twilight put her ears back. “What?”

Luna and her guards broke out into applause.

“Great speech!” one yelled while another whistled.

“I was spellbound!”

“Truly an orator for our time!”

Twilight blushed redder than the desert. “Sh-shut up, I was doing well! I figured it out!”

Luna raised a wing and whistled for a chariot. “Oh, we're just teasing, Twilight. But fear not! I shall rally my guards, my sister's, and anypony and anything trustworthy and with wings. We'll find that base in hours, not days. Tonight, we shall rescue your friends, and deliver some much needed justice to the untamed desert!”

Twilight reached for her gas mask, but stopped when she realized the air around her was safe to breathe. Considering what was in front of her, she didn't feel silly in the slightest.

Fort Earthborne was at the southern edge of the Firestorm Valley, and the latter lived up to the name. Half the desert below had such a high concentration of fire magic, it was spontaneously combusting. Fire raged below her, as it had for millennia, and would continue for millennia more. It gathered in pools, literal lakes of flame, that only creatures whose life force thrived on heat could survive in.

The sky was nearly pitch black. Only a setting, blood red sun broke through the smoke. Three hundred and sixty five days a year, this land was blanketed in heat and soot.

None of that compared to where the “storm” part of the name “Firestorm Valley” came from. As far as Twilight could see, great funnel clouds made of nothing but fire swirled into the layer of soot miles above the ground. They tilted and danced endlessly over the vast mana krene — a fountain of magic below the ground — that gave the valley its fiery properties. Any pegasus that didn't take this place seriously could be swallowed by them at any point and consumed.

Seconds after exiting the teleportation, Twilight had already broken out into a sweat. How she wasn't choking on ash, she didn't quite know, though she assumed it had something to do with the interaction of the natural magic of the area and the pegasi pulling her chariot. Regardless, of all the places she'd ever seen, this was the one that most resembled her mental picture of Tartarus; a true hell on Equus.

Yet, the ponies in Fort Earthborne lived in this day after day. Thrived in it, even. By all accounts, they included the best earth pony units in existence. They did have some pegasi and unicorns, naturally, but over eighty percent were hornless and wingless.

Twilight held on to the canteen the chariot pegasi had given her while they entered a dive towards the base. Smoke started to fill her nostrils, though they were above the blanket of smoke over the ground. It was still enough to nearly choke her when she gasped.

Fort Earthborne was enormous.

She had already known this for some time. It was the largest non-airborne military base in the world, after all. However, one had to at least see it to know it. Anything less wouldn't do.

Originally, the first fortifications brought in hundreds of years ago were done so at then-unimaginable expense to provide a counter to a clan of dragons. They were threatening to wage war if not granted the desert and tribute from the Hinterlands, so Celestia created the Fort as a message: We Shall Stand. Though a peace accord was struck, the initial fort stayed as a reminder. Though, only relatively recently had it been built to its current size.

From those small beginnings rose a military institution perhaps grander than any other in the world. Poking out of the smoke were dozens of shield domes, each a bowl of cerulean light covering many, many acres. Inside each were dozens of buildings, some tall, some wide, others just a covering for artillery guns. All were jet black, likely covered in soot.

In the middle of it all was a dome larger than any other, housing several different biomes alien to the desert. There were no buildings in it, or at least, none she could see. Trees, however, were plentiful. There was even snow in one corner, opposite a mountain. All of it was artificially brought into being for the express purpose of training recruits.

In total, the shielded land area was over a thousand square kilometres, or nearly two hundred fifty thousand acres.

Twilight grabbed her stomach as it protested against the sight. All that, all those ponies, all that equipment, all those buildings, all those weapons, all those lives, were under her command.

And she was about to point them at other ponies who were technically her subjects.

“You don't become a pirate without acknowledging certain risks,” Aurora said, appearing next to her. “I can understand being desperate enough to turn to stealing, but these ponies are participating in mass murder and slavery. There's no grey here, subjects or not. Moreover, they have your friends.

“I'm supposed to protect you, so I have to know.” Aurora stared Twilight in the eyes like she was as old as an alicorn herself. “Are you going to hesitate?”

“Not even for a second.” Twilight snapped, then put her ears down in apology to Aurora. “Farriér is pure evil. There's only two ways this ends. One is him captured and in jail for all eternity. The second is in his death. He's far too dangerous for any other acceptable outcome.”

Aurora nodded and disappeared. “I agree.” The rest of the ride was silence, save for the subtle roar of flames burning in the background.

They swooped down to the entrance, which was a hole in the steel wall surrounding the base. It had a thinner shield than the domes, one that would keep the smoke out, but allow other things to enter. After phasing through the opening, the first thing she noticed wasn't the strangely soot-free buildings or hundreds of recruits marching and exercising in formation. It was a lone stallion, clad in the armor of the Night Guard. Specifically, the armor of a High Cardinal.

“Shiny?” Twilight jumped off the chariot before the pegasi pulling it even had a chance to line up for a landing, then leapt at her waiting brother’s embrace. “Shiny!”

“Oof!” Shining chuckled as he braced himself for the impact, taking in stride despite clearly not being entirely prepared for it. “Hey, there. About time you arrived. I—” He stopped and sniffed the air. “Wow. You need a shower worse than some of these recruits.”

Twilight broke the hug and punched him in the leg. “Hardy har har. Where's General Stone? I need to coordinate new search parameters. Farriér took a friend I made out here, but I know how to find him now.”

“He's in Earthborne Operations Command. It's in the next dome over. I'll walk you.”

They marched along the pavement, which was much cooler to the touch than the desert floor. To prevent the domes from cooking the inhabitants like a steamer, there was heavy insulation underneath the asphalt. Twilight also noted that the cooling systems throughout the base were rigged to regulate the temperature by pumping heat out of the domes. It was still hot, though, and the sweat on the recruits made it feel worse than it was.

The groups all bowed as they passed, and Twilight waited a few seconds before letting them up. It was a small mark of mercy, to give them a little break in their routine —; one that made her brother smirk and roll his eyes.

The building they entered was large and square, with a pyramidal roof. The main doors were of the heavy blast variety, meant to withstand bombardment from high yield warheads. When Obsidian got them open, they didn't merely lead in, they led down.

They didn't get to an actual room until they were several stories down, and even that was behind another set of blast doors. But then, what did I expect? Twilight thought to herself. Fort Earthborne is the command hub for a huge portion of the military. They're going to keep it protected.

Inside, it was nearly a single room; a space the size of several hoofball fields. Twilight assumed there was a bathroom or something somewhere, but it wasn't obvious. There were alcoves lining the wall, like the castle War Room, but the feel was entirely different. While the War Room was bright, cramped, and smelled of coffee and paper, this place was dark. The ceiling was entirely cloaked in darkness, as was most of the floor. Spaced out, bright spotlights illuminated key areas, while smaller lights kept the alcove bright enough to read the papers festooned on the walls.

The center was the second most interesting thing about the room. It had a series of map tables to put all other map tables to shame. Each table was at least a dozen meters in length, and they were arranged in a grid large enough to take up most of the floor.

The thing that drew her eyes most, however, was a… pony, if she could call him that. He was a medium green, with a dark green mane and beard. He wore a desert camouflage uniform faded more gray than normal, and spoke with a loud, reverberating Scottish brogue that had Twilight's ears facing away from him to avoid the onslaught of his yells. His normal speaking voice could probably give orders to the entire place without a problem.

What struck her most, though, was the fact that as she approached, she had to look farther and farther up. She thought back to when Princess Luna had first returned to Ponyville.

This pony was taller, and by a not-insignificant margin. Given the four stars on his shoulder, there was only one pony he could be.

“Sis,” her brother said, “meet General Stone.”

Twilight blinked, then looked at Obsidian. “Are his parents ‘Mountain’ and ‘Boulder’?”

“Nah, he's just a freak.” Obsidian all but shouted.

“Whit?” Stone snapped his gaze to Obsidian.

WHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUDWHUD!

Each of his steps was a tiny avalanche shaking the ground, rattling Twilight's teeth harder as he grew closer.

“Jist whit was ‘at noo?” Stone towered over both of them, and glared at Obsidian with the eyeball of a demon. The only reason he wasn't using two was because one was hidden behind an eyepatch. “When did ye forgit whit happens tae smart tongues oan mah base?”

Twilight blinked and rattled her head. Stone’s accent was thick enough to be the main mast on a galleon, though she was pretty sure she got all that. It'd just take her a moment or two to process, or so her Mental Committee on Abnormal Sounds and her Mental Committee on Language Processing told her.

“Mebbe ye need a reminder?” Stone continued, leaning forward and over Obsidian enough to even get him to back away a little. “Or would ye rather rephrase 'at?”

Obsidian put on a Cheshire smile, sucked in a breath, and said, “You're right, I would.” He cleared his throat in the most hackneyed way possible, gathering the attention of the entire place, then boomed with his bass Night Guard voice. “What I meant to say, was, ‘General Stone is such a freak of pituitary nature, he—” WHA-WHAM!

General Stone didn't throw Obsidian Armor into the wall. He didn't need to. All he had to do was raise his foreleg in his direction mind-bogglingly quickly. The impact did the rest.

A blink later, and the General was on top of him, pressing against his windpipe with a hoof the size of a chariot wheel.

Shiny! Twilight dropped into a battle stance and lit her horn while Aurora deployed, recovering her body in a tight fit of newly-modified armor. Wait! Twilight yelled at herself, stopping the kinetic bolt before it tore off Stone's head.

He's an ally, and I'm not supposed to… Oh, what do I do? He's hurting Shiny!

“Now, seeing as how I cannae give ye push-ups until ye die, I'll just have tae embarrass ye until ye die. Git out ay this, if you can, laddie.” Stone pressed down, while Obsidian's horn dimmed, and his struggle slowed.

Twilight’s vision went red, and fire burned down her skin, from the tip of her horn to the bottom of her tail. “Let. Him. Go!” Her words echoed with the shot, the bolt striking center mass and flinging Stone into the wall of an alcove as easily as he had tossed her brother.

A burst of magic later, and she appeared next to the prone General, towering over him for a change. “Hurt him again, and next time I won't miss your head.”

The entire base was silence. Every single pony in the room was stock still. What few numbers of pegasi there were had landed, and the four or five unicorns’ horns had died.

Aw, crap.

Thunder rose from the ground to overtake everything in a grand display of… laughter?

It was laughing. All of them were laughing their heads off. If Discord had been around, he wouldn't have had to expend even a trifle of power to make it literal. Several ponies were rolling around on the ground, and even the base guards were into it.

Aw, double crap.

“Whit in blazes burst me?” Stone slowly, shakily climbed to his hooves, then wobbled around like a mountain with legs.

“That, General Stone…” Obsidian rubbed his throat and coughed. “Was you getting roughed up by my little sister!”

The laughter was dying down, but dozens were still taunting, singing at their general.

“Alright, ye idiots. I cannae give him push-ups until he dies, but I can give them te you! Get back to work or you'll be digging latrines out in the wastes!”

With that, the tidal wave of laughter subsided and drew back from whence it came. Stone even wandered towards the center table, which was off alignment from the others.

“Now, then, Lass.” Even as far away as he was, and even though he was clearly just “talking” to her, it still felt like General Stone yelling in her face. Everything about him was just that huge. “What was this about new information for me?”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, and trotted to the middle table. The others were all maps of some segment of the Duchy, while this was a map of the entire thing. She pulled out her notes and laid them out. “I need you to redeploy the search teams. I've narrowed down Farriér's possible bases to these mesas and buttes. Spread out the teams into five, get the Bellerophon on station, and hit them one by one.

“Don't get them get too close unless they need to, and tell them to stay alert. Odds are there are defenses in place, likely heavy AA guns. But get them there, and clear each location one by one. If we do this right, then within a day, we’ll know where Farriér is, and we can take him out and possibly rescue dozens of hostages along the way. Rainbow Dash and Desert Rose included.”

Twilight picked up a pen and stared at the map, looking for proper paths through the terrain. “If we deploy land forces here—”

“Twily.” Obsidian grabbed her with a foreleg and proceeded to noogie her through her helmet.

Freaking older brother powers.Can you adapt to that, Aurora?

“Neither of us know how ‘freaking older brother powers’ work, so no. Not a chance.”

Triple crap.

“Come on, Twily, we need to talk real quick.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and followed him out a ways to an unused table. “What is it? We need to start looking, or—”

“Twilight, General Stone is a freak of nature, yes, but he's the best pony in the world when it comes to leading open warfare. And you're sitting there, trying to do his job.”

Twilight opened her mouth, and when she froze, dead words sloughed off her tongue. “Mfgerthuga…”

“I know it's hard. You're used to doing things yourself as Grand Mage. But this part of your job is more like Celestia’s. You have a job for these ponies because you can't take on an airship and all its pirates by yourself. But you've given your side what they need to succeed at that job.

“So, here's what you do. You tell them to do their jobs, and they'll get it done. Meanwhile, you'll go get a shower and a meal.”

Twilight opened her mouth again, and Obsidian just covered it with a hoof.

“Being a high rank in the military often just means you sit on your duff while waiting for results. It's the name of the game, Twily. Give them the order, and take care of yourself. We'll run and get you as soon as we have news, okay?”

Twilight sighed, but stayed silent and nodded lest she get another lecture. Slowly, she walked back to the center table, the one with General Stone eyeing her in silence.

She put her ears back, and pulled her notes together in a neat stack. “General, you have all the information I do here in these pages. Find where Farriér is hiding. Shut him down, permanently. Mission success is only possible if he is killed or captured.

“Also, find the ponies wrongfully taken by them. All of them you can, Rainbow Dash and Desert Rose included. Especially those two. Spare no expense.

“Notify me the instant you know where Farrier is.

“Those are your orders. Carry them out.”

A little twinkle sparkled in General Stone’s pupil. “Aye, Lass. Ye have my word.”

“Okay, this cage is pretty well made…” Rainbow slumped back against the wall, wishing for a window. She was surrounded by metal bars, and beyond that were metal doors and concrete. A kick against the lock did nothing but threaten to chip her hoof, which was the last thing she needed.

The other ponies she'd been with were already gone; probably sold to some nefarious something-or-other she and Twilight would have to go break up later. Now was the time for action!

And there was nothing she could do.

Rainbow screamed and thrashed around in place, flapping her wings for all their worth and kicking the bars. “Aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhh! I'm not just captured! I'm bored! Come on, you walking dumpster fires! Open this cage and come at me in a fair fight! Or try to drug me again! Something!”

She flopped down, splayed out on the floor, and thunked her head on the ground repeatedly. “This. Sucks.”

Ka-chunk!

Rainbow's ear twitched at the sound. Somepony's coming. Play dead or intimidate? … Intimidate.

She rolled to her hooves and sat, looking dead ahead, and froze.

One pegasus opened the door, and four more and a unicorn came through. The last two were carrying an unconscious pegasus.

Dammit, should have played dead. Too many to take in tight quarters.Hope they open my cage to dump her in.

The lead stallion walked past her and opened the cage next to her.

Drat.

Rainbow's eyes caught the unconscious mare's cutie mark. A police-type shield… Is she a lawpony? If so, when I escape, she's coming with me.

Rainbow tilted her head, breaking her concentration on being a statue. She's a draft mare… That's kinda rare. Those hooves are big, too. Might be a heavy pegasus. Maybe she can break the bars…

A flash of silver came out of the unicorn’s pocket as he pulled out a syringe with a blue liquid.

“Hey, douchebag.” Rainbow tapped the bars. “Don't do what you're thinking of doing.”

The stallions looked at her like she was nuts, and the unicorn put the needle in the mare's leg and pushed the plunger down.

“Okay, I've killed…” Rainbow ran up the total in her head. “About ten of your friends so far. You—” She pointed at the unicorn “—had better hope I don't run into you when I break out of this place. Because I will kill you.”

The stallions broke out into laughter and locked the mare in her cage. A glimmer of glowing red on the key caught Rainbow's eye.

The locks are magic. Can I use that to my advantage?

The group all filed out, taunting her and laughing more. The unicorn was last in line.

“You and me, bucko. We got a date, and it's not ending well for you. Count your seconds. Each one you have left is another way I know how to kill a pony, got me?”

“Oh, like I'm scared, caged little birdie.” The stallion gave her a rude gesture you'd expect from a pirate. “Maybe after you go nuts from the Elixir we pumped into you you'll be a bit more respectful. And maybe, if you're very nice, I'll buy you with my cut off our latest haul.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Come over here and say that.”

He stepped forward and grabbed hold of the bars. “Cocky little bitch. I'll teach you to—”

KRA-KOW!

Rainbow blew the smoke off her wings while the remaining pirates turned around, stunned. “Whaddya know. I got him even before I busted out of here. Add that to the pile, boys. One more and I'm up to an even dozen.”

Her grin only grew while they gingerly, carefully lifted their friend from off the ground.

Those lessons about Faraday cages from Twilight came in handy. I can't shoot them on the other side of the bars, but if they're touching the bars? Zap.

“I'd hurry if I were you.” Rainbow wiped the gem on her armor with a fetlock. “If you want him to live, you only have another couple minutes to restart his heart before brain damage sets in.”

They picked up the pace a bit, and eventually left her alone.

“About time.” Rainbow kicked the gate again, but it held. “Damn. That wasn't enough to bust the lock. Maybe it doesn't have a core?” She squinted at the keyhole, putting her eye as close to a potentially critical core as she dared. A little glimmer of red pulsed inside the lock. “There's a core, but if it survived that, it's well hardened to electric shock. Still, that's one step closer to getting out. Just gotta puzzle this out a while…”

Twilight stepped onto the dusty tile, each hoof gliding her along the shared shower of an unused mares’ barracks. There was a must in the air from disuse, and it was sharing space with a quiet cacophony that was an active military base. Not a bunker, fort, castle, or outpost. A true, honest-to-Celestia military base.

There was more power around her under her control than she'd ever had before. Her horn couldn't hope to match the combined might of a modern, industrialized war machine. At least, not yet.

The one thing that it didn't have ready for her were private quarters. She was making do with what she could find—a shower in a barracks abandoned for the season. The place was dark, and she hadn't bothered to turn on the lights. There was plenty of that blood-red light left in the sky for an hour or two, and it lit her way just fine.

She stood there, silent for a time. A little peace might do her wonders, but it wasn't to be found. Outside was marching, yelling, singing, loud pegasi roaring by at a few hundred klicks an hour, and even some distant rumbles of explosions from ponies training on artillery. The walls did little to stifle them, and a shield wasn't an option if she wanted to be informed of the enemy's discovery.

Twilight grabbed her torc and shook while taking her off. It had been days since she had last done that, and when she tried to put her down, it wasn't until the clanking of metal breaking tile hurt her ears that she even realized she had dropped it. “Sorry, Aurora.”

“No worries. The tile got hurt more than me.”

Twilight couldn't help but imagining Aurora winking at her.

She took a step towards the faucet, and turned it on. For good measure, she turned on the ones next to her, too. Recruits had ten minutes to shower, dress, and make their bed to perfection. She had no such limitations, and she was grateful. The first splash of water going down the drain was opaque brown.

The shower was warm, naturally. This base didn't spend energy heating water; it just came that way. Cold water was a luxury for high-ranking officers and the medical tents.

Regardless, warm was fine by her. It was still water, dirt's natural enemy in a cleaning environment. There was some basic shampoo left by somepony in the corner, and she squeezed a mound of the goo on her head and back, draining the bottle.

She lost track of how long she spent standing in the water, letting the soap rinse out. The bubbles had long since stopped, that much she knew. The feeling of cleanliness hadn't come like normal. It just taunted her with how close it was.

The fact that she was on four hooves was the only reason she wasn't stumbling around when she finally got out. Even after drying off, all she felt was dizzy. She dragged her torc over to one bed, tossed her down, and then flopped into the one next to her.

The blanket was thin and breezy, which was fine given the fire-tornado-spawning climate, but it was as itchy as Shining always said they were. It was enough to make her squirm around like a fish, until something in her mind finally gave in and fell fast asleep.

“Are you okay?” Aurora asked within Twilight's slumber.

“I don't know.” Twilight didn't bother opening her eyes. “Did I do the right thing leaving Rainbow behind? And now he has Rose, too.”

“I think hiding was the right choice for her at the time.”

Twilight sighed. “Some alicorn I am. Celestia would have—”

“Glassed the desert in a rage.”

Twilight curled up even more into a ball. “Why are you so logical and smart? I'm supposed to be logical and smart!”

“No, you're supposed to be an alicorn caring for her ponies. Even before then, you were a neurotic worrywart, though you are doing better lately. And I'm smart because you're smart. I have most of your memories and knowledge. I just think a little differently than you do.”

“Then what do you think I should do?”

Twilight felt a hoof on her back. It was small, and gentle. It was also a warmth in her heart, pressing her deeper into sleep. On an exhale, she fell into the void.

There was a sound. It was kind of loud. Not important. She'd finally gotten used to the blanket, after all.

“Twilight?”

Stupid alarm clock. Twilight bopped the stupid alarm clock to make it shut up.

“Uh, Twilight? That's my nose.”

Twilight blinked and opened her eyes. There was no stupid alarm clock. There was, however, Trixie, and Twilight had her hoof on the mare's nose.

“Oh!” Twilight jolted up, tossing the blanket aside and putting one hoof on the floor. The rest of her followed in a way that was not at all orderly or alicorn-like.

She had fallen on her face.

“Ow.”

“Errr… Sorry? I hadn't expected that.” Trixie grabbed Twilight's foreleg and pulled her up. “Are you okay? You look like a mess.”

Twilight yawned and finally found an equilibrium in sitting that her Mental Committee on Balance found acceptable. “Ye-yeah. Was just in a deep sleep. What's…” Her eyes caught what Trixie was wearing: Evening Guard armor. “Are you okay? Did Dual Strike try to throw you out?”

Trixie blushed and drooped her ears. “Um, not exactly…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Not exactly? What did happen, then?”

“Well…” Trixie scrunched her eyes closed. “I…”

Twilight fought the urge to fold her legs. If it was life or death, her friend would have been in more of a rush. Instead, she kept calm, and waited. “Trixie, you can tell me anything. Don't be afraid.”

“I…” Trixie shook as she took off her hat and wrung it. “I want to join your Guard!”

Twilight blinked. “Oh. Okay.”

Trixie looked like she couldn't been shattered with a lightly flung pebble. “Th-... Huh? Th-that’s it?”

“Honestly? That was my backup plan all along.” Twilight stood up and stretched. “Guard members answer solely to the pony they're sworn to. They're immune from prosecution and not required to follow the orders of anypony outside of their own chain of command. With you in my Guard, there's not a thing anypony can do to make you leave your place in the castle.”

“So… You're, I mean, you're okay with it? With me…” Trixie blushed more red than the fire outside. “Being your guard?”

“Yep. We've already fought on the same side, Trixie. I trust you.” Twilight stretched one leg at a time while walking towards the bed her torc was resting. “Besides, you're a natural fit. You've gotten along with us since we found you, you have magic dedicated to combating one of my main enemies, which is also your enemy, and we could certainly use another mage on the team.

“The reason I didn't do it right off the bat was twofold. One, if I mentioned it, I would be effectively pressuring you into it by offering such a promising way out. Two, this is a big deal. Do you remember what Rainbow told you in Gryphonhelm?”

Trixie rubbed one of her forelegs with the other. “I remember.”

Twilight put on her torc and took in a breath. “Everything she said was true. Your life for mine, if it comes to it. But she didn't get into all of it. If it comes down to it..." She turned away from Trixie's gaze, "If it's... necessary, I may have to give you an order that will mean your death, even if there's no direct threat to me."

Twilight's ear twitched at Trixie’s gasp and she continued softly, "It's not something I could ever do lightly. It's not something I would ever want to do at all... but you would have a duty to me, and I have a duty to everypony. If I let my ponies die when I could have sent you into the fire to save them, then I would be betraying..." she let her breath out in a soft whoosh, "...Equestria. Celestia. Myself, my friends... everyone, really. So that's something you need to keep in mind."

Trixie hid her eyes under the lip of her hat as her lower lip quivered in silence.

“It's your choice, Trixie. And if we ever eliminate the Illusionists forever, I'll be happy to release you from service. But while you wear the armour, it means you have to place the lives of others — including mine — above your own.” Twilight walked to the door, and stopped before leaving. “I'll respect whatever you choose, and even if you decide not to join, I'll still protect you from Dual Strike and whoever his cronies are.

“Take some time to think about it. I'm going to get coffee and a meal. After that, I'll be in the EOC. If you decide to join, find me, and I'll swear you in.” With that, she picked up her bags, and left her friend to choose her path.

Author's Note

Tune in next time for the epic climax! Twilight Sparkle vs the Pirate Farrier!

I hope you all liked this one, and thanks again for sticking with me, and Happy New Year!

-Cv

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Standing in the Ashes

“Ooooowwwwww…” Twilight groaned and shifted under what she assumed were hospital sheets. She tried opening her eyes, but the photons in the room had the mass and shape of ice picks. “I have got to stop passing out in the middle of battles.”

“Ah, you're awake.”

Twilight held a foreleg over her eyes to hide the daggers she was glaring at the pony that dared put a megaphone to her ear and yell. Somewhere in her mind, a voice told her that the other mare was speaking normally, and it was just her headache that made the sound hurt. That voice was running a risk of being lined up to a brick wall and shot.

“My name is Dr. Full. I'm the Chief Medical Officer of the Bellerophon, and you're in the sick bay.”

Twilight swallowed in her sandy, dry throat. “How bad is it?”

“Could be worse. You didn't actually blow out your horn, so there's no permanent or long-term damage. You did, however, drain your wellspring almost entirely. I'd avoid using magic for the next day or so, or that headache you have will get worse very quickly.”

“I don't suppose you have any aspirin or codeine or something…”

Dr. Full chuckled. “I already put a couple painkillers and a glass of water on the table next to you. When you can open your eyes and see normally, you can take them, but not before.”

“Thanks.” Twilight blinked, and quickly thought better of the action of opening her eyes just yet. “Is the battle over? How many casualties?”

“Yes.” There was a flip of a page nearby. “We lost seven ponies, but the pirates lost much more. We can account for two hundred of them having been involved in the battle, and more than eighty were killed. But…”

Dr. Full paused, and what Twilight could hear of her breathing told of a heavy weight on her. “The ones that lived are in a vegetative state. Nothing we've done seems to be able to wake them, even in ponies that are otherwise healthy.”

Twilight opened her eyes, and allowed the pain to come. She deserved it. “It's a geas. Farriér tried to use his whole crew as hostages against me. Tried to force me to let him go.”

Dr. Full’s eyes went wide, and her hind legs gave out. She had cat’s eye glasses, but they didn't do a thing to hide the shock. “Let a monster go, and risk the lives of our soldiers, and untold more civilians later…”

“Or put a couple hundred pirates into a permanent coma,” Twilight finished for her. “I made my choice. I have no regrets.” She sat up, downed her medicine, and slipped out of the bed. “We'll do our best to reverse it, but I couldn't let a stallion like that go.”

Twilight's hooves clanked on the metal of the deck, and she gave the room a few seconds to stop spinning. It was cramped inside the sick bay, filled with draped-off beds, medical equipment, and storage cabinets. Every one of the beds had a pony in it, and the place was thick with medics and nurses.

Hanging on the wall next to her was Aurora, who Twilight promptly donned. “Where's the ship right now? And how long was I out?”

“Over the enemy base.” Dr. Full adjusted her glasses. “So we can help clean up the mess. They've already built a makeshift camp to aid the investigation.

“You were only unconscious a few hours. I'd tell you to go back to bed, but you officers don't like to listen to doctors. And frankly, we could use the bed space.”

“Then I'll get out of your mane.” Twilight started a slow, easy walk to the door. “One last thing. Were Rainbow Dash, Trixie Lulamoon, or Spike among the casualties?”

Dr. Full shook her head. “There were none by those names. All of the casualties were under General Stone’s command.”

“I see.” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, but it quickly turned into a dagger in her side. I shouldn’t be happy about that. Ponies still died. “Thank you, Doctor. And I promise: no heavy lifting. I'm in no mood for it, anyway.”

Every few steps, Twilight was dodging a medic, crewpony, or intelligence officer as she meandered her way through the bowels of the Bellerophon. Though it was the middle of the night, the ship was busier than she'd ever seen. A tingle went down her back at the pulsing red lighting. It wasn't a full battlestations call, but the Bellerophon was still on alert.

She made a left turn, grabbed hold of the outside door with her hooves, and spun the wheel open. The ship was still a few hundred feet in the air, though anchored to the ground. The outside air was filled with a thin smoke, and small rain clouds were clustered about the area to fight fires. A much larger cloud covered the sky, blocking the moon and stars and producing a light rain.

Over the base was the scar from her attack, a split in space-time still leaking thaumic radiation. It was a sickly light green, with a bright but thin vertical cut hanging in the air. Though clearly much smaller than it was, it was still there.

Twilight steeled herself by taking in a breath, continuing to survey the view.

Portable lighting had been brought in already. The units were basically stadium lights on wheels. The area around the base was lit up more brightly than Manehattan, making the outside world seem pitch black by comparison. Tents had sprouted on the ground like weeds, and hundreds of ponies were covering the grounds. The one she wanted to see, however, was laying on one of the rain clouds, facing away.

Twilight sucked in a breath to yell and get her attention, but stopped when her head threatened to simulate the pain of a sledgehammer on her skull. Crap. Which will hurt less… I'm guessing magic.

She charged her horn, which only proved her sadly, horribly wrong. Already committed, she said some things which would have made her mom wash her mouth out with soap, and flung a little flare in Rainbow's general direction.

If Twilight hadn't already been used to Rainbow’s speed, she'd have ducked for cover.

“Hey!” Rainbow flew up and squeezed Twilight in a hug worthy of Applejack. “You need to stop passing out after a fight! We were worried about you!”

“You know, I was just telling myself that.” Twilight returned the hug. “But I'm okay. Just a little mana exhaustion. It means I can't really use magic for a bit, though. Think you can fly me down?”

“Sure thing! Hang on!” Rainbow grabbed on even tighter, lifting them off for a smooth landing on the hot desert ground.

After taking her first few steps on solid ground in some time, she noticed a few things that gave her some relief. The first was the sheer number of guards around. Anypony looking to take advantage of her weakened state was in for a lethal shock.

The second was the small army of forensic investigators working at the site. The sheer quantity of evidence the base contained must have been astronomical to call in so many ponies. Moreover, they were from all kinds of places other than San Palomino. Germaney, Manehatten, Prance, and the Bittish Isles were all represented. Luna had to have been working overtime, which also meant they were near a leyline.

“Twilight!”

Twilight turned her head and found a dragon racing towards her. “Hey, Spike. Guess what!”

Spike skidded to a stop in front of her, holding a stack of documents. He blinked. “Uhhhh… What?”

“You're grounded!” Twilight said as cheerfully as she could manage along with a big smile. “Fly into a fight that dangerous again and I'll have Celestia clip your wings, got me?”

Spike practically keeled over in tears. “But… But I just thought you'd need your sword…”

Twilight's smile evaporated. “I had him just fine, which tells me you didn't evaluate the situation at all. And you nearly got yourself shot. So, yeah, grounded. Until I know you're both healthy and ready, you're hanging out at either the castle or the Minotaur village.”

“I… I…” Spike sniffled and sat on the ground. “I just wanted to help…”

Twilight gave him a little hug. “And you'll get your chance. But that stunt isn't something I can just ignore. And if you want to help for the time being, I need a situation report. What's been happening?”

Spike sniffled, sitting down on the ground. “There… There was a pony that…” He stopped to pull out a neckerchief and wipe his nose. “Sorry. Sorry, I—”

“Spike…” Twilight put his notes back in his bag. “You know I'm only doing this to protect you, right? It's from a place of love.”

He turned away from her, clasping his claws and staring at the ground. A couple of tears hit the ground, and evaporated into acidic gas.

“Why don't you go take a rest? It's late, and you should be getting sleep.” Twilight gave him a peck on the head. “It'll be okay, you'll see.”

“Yeah. Whatever.” Spike got up and started to plod away, stopping only to blow his nose.

Twilight waited until he was out of earshot before speaking. “I hated to do that, but I can't encourage that kind of recklessness. Especially when he's not recovered yet.”

“I’d’ve done even more.” Rainbow said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the comment.

“Luna taught us to fight, but he still doesn't have a soldier's discipline,” Rainbow said. “If he were a ‘Bolt, pulling a reckless stunt would have had Spitfire on his tail.”

“He'll be okay,” Twilight said, unsure whether she was talking to Rainbow or herself. “We have to remember that although he's old enough to be an adult in pony terms, he's still an adolescent in dragon terms. He might make some rash decisions from time to time, but he's not normally in combat, so I'm not too worried.”

“Fair ‘nough,” Rainbow answered. “So, what's the plan now? ‘Cause I have no idea what's going on here. I didn't get released from the hospital until a couple hours ago, and found out you broke time to kill Farriér. Bucking awesome, by the way.”

“Thanks, though I hope that temporal rift closes soon,” Twilight said, casting a worried look at the tear in the sky. “No telling what can come through.”

Turning back to Rainbow, Twilight continued, “Anyway, right now the plan is to find a high ranking pony and ask them what’s going on.

“Come on, I bet they're farther in the base.”

Twilight led the way towards the rubble that was once an enormous hidden door; it was now a pile of stone and twisted metal. Along the way were a couple hundred tents, some small for ponies to sleep in, others large enough to house a mountain of evidence. Off a ways to the north, concrete mixers were starting up, about to lay a foundation for a new building.

“Huh.” Twilight tilted her head, not breaking her stride. “Guess they're going to build a mini processing facility right here. Not a bad idea; it’ll give us a head start on things. I still want them to double-check forensics and investigations at other places, though.”

Rainbow hopped into a low flutter. “They definitely got a lot to go through. I heard they're pulling in techs from all over and having them all check each other's work. Like they're worried about ponies on the take.”

“Not unreasonable. This is connected to the Majestics, after all.”

Twilight's ear twitched at a rough, nigh-incomprehensible brogue that sounded like cursing, even though most of the words she'd never have a hope of translating. “And that would be the nearest pony in charge,” Twilight observed. “This way.”

The sound led through a small crowd that was just dispersing, likely having received orders somewhere within the tirade. In the middle was General Stone, with a look that made him even more grouchy than he sounded.

“General Stone?” Twilight asked, getting a glare that hit her in the gut, reawakening the guilt she felt. “I understand that you lost some ponies. You have my sincerest condolences. If necessary, I will take on the duty of informing their families, as you were acting under my command.”

Stone turned to putty as his voice and face softened with a sigh. “Nah, lass. Ye needn't have offered. We've ponies who do that as their job. Saints, they are. Celestia knows I cannae do it.”

“Ah. I see.” Twilight put her ears back, and her heart sank further. “In that case, can you give me a situation update? I need to know what's happening, and what, if anything, I can do.”

“Well…” Stone signaled from them to walk, and they started towards the base. “The area is secure, that ye can be sure of. All the pirates up and collapsed as soon as Farriér died… Except one.”

“Who?” Twilight asked. “And why the exception?”

“Not sure. He doesn't want ta say. Maybe he thinks that'll help him in court, fer all I know. He was teleported to Canterlot and is being held in the castle dungeon, under constant guard.

“We can't find the psychestone, so if they had it, they moved it already. To where and who, we don't know. What we did find, so far, was a bounty of goods, weapons, and ship parts.”

“Ship parts?” Rainbow asked from above.

“Aye. Tons and tons of ‘em. Exceptin’ the hulls and frames, it’s nearly enough to build another few vessels, to be sure.”

Twilight froze in place, and looked up to the enemy fortress. The lighting inside revealed machines and catwalks, which, along with the parts, put a big piece of puzzle right into place. “It's not just a base! It's a shipyard!”

“Whit was that now, lass?”

“The base! It's a shipyard!” Twilight pulled out her notebook and scribbled like a madmare. “My intel says that Farriér was connected to the Majestics. This is just a guess so far, but I'm willing to bet that this was where the Majestics made the fake Bellerophon. After the attack on Canterlot, they must have ‘leased’ it to Farriér on the condition that he steal what they need from time to time. And if he gets caught, there's nothing left to lead to directly to them.

“I’m betting that they’re also why Farriér put a geas on his pirates — to erase any potential evidence. Likely, the Majestics threatened that they would wipe out all their minds if he didn’t. They still might have had such a safety on Farrier himself.

“Whatever the reason, it let him keep control of his sailors… though I don't know if they were aware of it or not.”

General Stone nodded and stroked his moustache. “I'll run it by RGIS, see what they think. We're still digging into things. Some of the base collapsed when they used the explosives on the door, and it'll take time to excavate without causing even more damage.”

“As long as you have things under control here, we can take our time and be careful.” Twilight lost the fight against a monster of a yawn, and surrendered with a stretch. “One last question. Spike gave me a weapon in the battle. Where is it?”

Stone pointed to the ship. “The Bellerophon’s armory. In the safe. That was quite the little beastie. Three of my stallions tried to pick it up, only to have their wellsprings drained. We had to use thaumically insulated suits to move it.”

“Interesting. But I'll look into it later. If anything big happens, let me know. I'll be sleeping off my headache in the royal suite on the Bellerophon.”

“But we just got started!” Rainbow flapped her wings in protest. “There's so much here we have to do! What about that guy we came here looking for?”

“The guy that was beaten and killed by the Templars? We're looking for where he came from. We know where he is: the morgue. And I'm still really drained, I can't use magic, and I have a headache the size of a cumulonimbus. The only cure is sleep. So, I sleep. And you're coming with me. We both had a hell of a time, and we both need rest.

“Before we do, though, do either of you happen to know where Trixie is?”

Stone grunted. “Your other guards are sleeping in our barracks tent.”

Twilight turned and marched towards the ship. “Good enough. Come on, Dash. If I don't get back soon, I'll fall asleep on my hooves.”

“The best thing about travelling with the military: there is always coffee.” Twilight leaned back in her seat, basking in the air conditioning of the officers’ mess that had been set up outside the former pirate base. It was a delicious counterpoint to the hot, bitter drink in her magic. “See, Dash? Plenty of time for investigating.”

Dash yawned, which only made her face and mane look like more of a mess. “Yeah, yeah. But you slept too long. It's already three in the afternoon. Now it's gonna take me a week to fix my sleep schedule.”

“Small price for putting Farriér in his place.” Twilight slumped down the last of her coffee, and felt it settle down with her breakfast sandwich in her stomach. “Speaking of, I want to try and visit Rose today if possible. See how she's doing.”

Rainbow looked down into her own coffee. “She might not be okay for a while. I got the bastard who did it, but he put a lot of Elixir into her. With a needle.”

Silence draped over them for a long while, even in the midst of hundreds of soldiers.

Twilight silently wished for more coffee. “She… she has the best of care now. If anypony can make her okay again, the doctors she has now will.”

“Yeah. I suppose…” Rainbow took a bite of an alfalfa bar. “Then what's first?”

“We get Luna to poof us to the Canterlot Dungeon. I want to talk to the pirate that didn't get mind-wiped. He may know something worthwhile. After that, I confront the Duke, and his ‘security guards.’”

“What about proof?” Rainbow started on another bar, this one with chocolate. “He's a Duke, and not a replacement like Esteem was. We're going to need solid evidence.”

“We already have it.” Twilight felt her mouth turn up into a smile. “I'm going to detain his goons and get them to flip on him — provided their brains aren't already mush. And if they are, then I use that for proof.

“And even if I didn't have anything else, there's the simple state of his Duchy. Lawlessness everywhere, to the point where a pirate like Farriér went unmolested. There's no way that he's keeping his seat. I'm going to take it away and give it back to Celestia.”

“Actually, I'd prefer you leave that to us.”

Twilight choked on imaginary coffee and started coughing out her tongue. She spun around, nearly falling out of her chair and catching herself with a hoof. Behind her was the Princess of the Night, snickering.

“Hehe. I wondered if you would notice me sneaking up on you. Perhaps you need more training?”

“About as much as I need a heart attack!” Twilight scooted herself back onto her chair. “Don't do that!”

Luna acted like she was actually thinking it over. “Hmmm… Nope! Too much fun!”

“Ugh!” Twilight rolled her eyes and ignored Rainbow’s laugh. “Fine. If you want to deal with Badlands, go right ahead. I have other things I still need to do.”

“Well, not so much myself as my sister.” Luna lit her horn, and cast a privacy shield around them. “Tia has been moving pieces into place against Badlands since before you moved to Ponyville. Los Caballos is nearing bankruptcy, and the companies that made it their home are crying uncle.

“They don't know the full results of your investigation just yet, and Sister is looking to break the back of the nobility here in San Palomino.”

“What does that mean?” Rainbow popped the top of a canned green smoothie and sipped at it. “I'm assuming she's not going to literally break his back.”

Luna smiled, and in the depths of her blue eyes, Twilight could see a bright twinkle. “By this time tomorrow, if all goes as planned, San Palomino will not have any nobility. The role of Duke will either be one of Sister's choosing, or more likely, be an elected one for this Duchy.”

Rainbow spat smoothie over the table and coughed hard enough to dislodge a lung. “Are you serious?!”

Twilight leaned back and folded her forelegs. “Actually, it makes sense. Ponies here have an independent streak. Letting them choose some of their leaders will at least give them agency and responsibility in the choice.”

“You're not thinking at the proper level, Twilight.” Luna pushed aside a chair and sat next to them, still every bit as tall as the ponies actually using the seats. “Ultimately, there's a simple truth to being a ruler: we don't do it alone. We need others to cooperate with us, to carry out our words. Those ponies—the nobility—then need to be compensated proportionally to their importance, or they will revolt.”

“The keys of power.” Twilight said. “I know. It was in one of my lessons with Celestia.”

“Just so. As tempting as it is to burn everything down and start anew, that…” Luna’s smile vanished, replaced with a weighty sigh and frown. “that is what I tried in the Lunar Revolts, Twilight. I failed, miserably. Sister is playing a longer game. She's trying to shatter the keys.”

“Isn't that just burning it down, though?” Rainbow asked.

“No, it's different.” Twilight motioned with her hooves like she had modelling clay in them. “Keys are like putty. You can't destroy them, or rather, you can't without severely damaging civilization. You can, however, mush pieces of it together to make a bigger piece. You can also break it apart into smaller pieces.”

“And that's exactly Celestia’s goal.” Luna stole some of Rainbow’s drink.

“Hey!”

The Princess ignored her, save for a returning smile. “The nobility are well aware of this overall trend, and are fighting wing and hoof to stop her. This coming shift will be key, so leave it to us.”

Twilight swallowed. “What if we don't succeed?”

“Then either Equestria will collapse into multiple states, or her plan will be delayed for decades at a minimum, or anywhere in between. Hard to say which at this point. After all, no plan survives first contact with reality.” Luna stood up and stretched, spreading her wings. “Let me know when you wish to interrogate your prisoner, Twilight. I shall be ready to take you wherever you need to go, until and unless my Guards find a Titan. I'm afraid those take priority."

Twilight nodded. "Understood. Speaking of priority issues, what about the temporal rift over the pirate base? I didn't expect my short time jumps to produce that. How dangerous is it?”

Luna groaned and rubbed her temples. “I hate temporal mechanics. I… do not understand all of the details, but Sister says this rift should be… symmetric? I think that's what she said. Basically, as long as we station ponies near it to keep anything from going in or out, it'll fade in time.

“Also, one second.” Luna picked up a small stack of nearby papers, rolled them up, and swung at Twilight.

THWACK!

Rainbow broke down laughing and rolling around on the ground.

“Ow!” Twilight held up a hoof. “What was that for?”

Luna ruffled her feathers. “I hate temporal mechanics. Don't do time travel again. Even small jumps can be dangerous if the paradox fail safes don't trigger, and going back multiple times so fast can make something way worse than this rift. Timequakes, chronostorms, all manner of anomalies that could have done permanent damage to the area. Things Discord made with glee.

“Also, time itself doesn't like being messed with so gravely. ‘Tis one thing to slow thyself or speed thyself up, but to go back or forwards instantly? There's a variety of consequences on thyself as well, the foremost being an exponential increase in the power needed to perform another jump.

“Most gravely, though, is What Lies Beyond. We know thou knowest that there are things beyond our world, places over the horizon of reality. Thou hast read Starswirl's book, neigh? Trust Us, he was understating the danger. Open not that door, Twilight. What thou mayest see on the other side may verily drive thee mad. Are We clear?”

Twilight put her ears back and swallowed. “Okay,” she squeaked.

Rainbow tugged at her armor’s collar. “Nothing good can be called What Lies Beyond.”

Luna deflated. “I apologize for being so harsh. But you need to be aware of these things. I shall leave you to your work.”

“Wait!” Twilight scrambled to her hooves and went to a bow. “I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused.”

“I am not angry, Twilight. Not truly. And you've no doubt caused far more trouble for our enemies. Should you need teleportation to continue to do so, please ask. The iron is hot, and the Majestics believe you have played into their hooves. But Tia doesn’t think they expected a pirate survivor, or for the pirate base to not be blown to smithereens. ‘Tis a perfect time to subvert expectations.”

“Agreed, and for that I do need to be teleported.” Twilight bowed her head slightly. “Give me some time to assemble my team."

Finding Spike took longer than she thought; he'd already returned to the minotaur village. Trixie, meanwhile, was in her armor and helping sort evidence.

As soon as Trixie was within earshot, Rainbow said, "I’m still not enthusiastic about you joining us."

ApparentlyI’m going to have to give Rainbow a little push, Twilight thought.

"Wh-Why not?" Trixie shrunk down and put her ears back. "Twilight was okay with it. I've already taken the oath."

Rainbow went from "enraged" to "exasperated" with a facehoof and a groan. "You're not military!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Curious. Not what I expected. "So what? I’m not military. Her illusions would screw with Royal Guard officers, Dash. She's got the chops."

"But this isn't just about fighting, Twilight! It's about discipline!" Rainbow pointed in the general direction of the Hinterlands. "Remember what I said about Spike?"

Twilight scratched her chin and wiped her brow. "Okay, you have a point there. So I'll address it."

Rainbow huffed. "How, exactly? Toss her in boot?"

Twilight looked around the base, thinking back to the soldiers she saw in training. “If it comes to it, I might just do that. But that’s later. We have higher priorities right now.” She waved at Trixie to fall in at her side. “We need to find Luna and interrogate us a pirate."

Rainbow flared her wings out. "Oh! Can I use pirate speak at them? I really want to get some licks in, and since we don't torture..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "And amazingly, Rainbow is the one saying Trixie lacks discipline."

Twilight stepped out of the teleportation and onto the brown stone tile of the Royal Dungeon. Fantasy books had always depicted it as some decrepit, dank, dark place of torture and woe. In reality, it was well lit and very modern. There was a strange warmth about it that was foreign to most prisons.

The walls were solid stone, but not of the mountain they were in. Rather, they were decorative, and hid the real rock, and the extensive wards, underneath. Warm lighting behind armored glass hung over plants, and there was a receptionist at the front. If said receptionist wasn't also a heavily armored member of the Royal Guard, one might have confused the entrance for one to a spa.

The soldier stood up and gave them some files Twilight had requested, then opened the door for them, making the metal clang on itself. The entryway had been upgraded in recent weeks, and now sported two sets of doors. Neither could be open when the other set was.

Inside was decorated much the same as the outside, and the blood from the geas-jailbreak incident last year had long since been cleaned. Each cell was now sealed not with bars, but with thick, enchanted glass drilled with holes. At the end of the hall was their pony, a stock unicorn stallion.

He had a grey mohawk of a mane, and a grungy green coat. Twilight noted the scar on his forehead, and two burns on the back side of his right front fetlock. He had numerous bandages on his body, and a sour note of hate on his face as he stared back at her.

Then, he jumped up and pointed at Rainbow Dash standing behind her. "You!"

Twilight's ear twitched from Rainbow yelling the same thing at the same time. "There's already enough of an echo in here, ponies. Let's try to use our indoor voices, okay?"

“I didn't say anything.” Trixie wound up a spell in her horn. “But I can make it quieter in here, if you like.”

Rainbow ran up to the glass and flared her wings. "Twilight, this is the douche that stuck Rose with the Elixir!"

"Big deal!" the pirate snarled, punching the cell walls. "That bitch nearly killed me! She bucking electrocuted me!"

Rainbow pawed the ground and static crackled over her wings. "You nearly killed my friend and threatened to make me a sex slave! I oughta zap you again!"

Twilight bopped Rainbow on the head.

"Ow!"

"I will not have my interrogation degrade into violence. And if either of you cause it, I'll personally finish it."

The stallion spat on the glass. "Why should I help you?"

Twilight flipped through the files in her magic. "Steel Dagger, age thirty-three. Known pirate for at least two years, big brother of the leader of the Dagger gang, whom I arrested a few days ago as he tried to rob a bank."

The stallion’s eyes widened in shock.

She slapped the files closed, then opened the glass, stepped inside with her guards, and closed it behind her with an added privacy shield. "Listen, Steel. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your friends, every single one of them, is a vegetable. Their minds are either wiped or forcibly shut down by a geas we can't combat yet. So, you're the only game in town."

Steel Dagger sat down smiling and tapping his forehooves together. "So, you need me, and don't have anypony to play against me. Here I thought you were supposed to be smart!"

Twilight shook her head. “You're the one lacking smarts. Everypony else connected to this is either dead or brain dead. The atrocities committed by your, shall we say, treasonous terrorist organization, are going to be front page news for weeks. Which means, all the consequences are going on your head. You're the only one left to make an example out of!”

Steel Dagger broke out into a shaking sweat.

“So, here's what’s going to happen. You’re going to spend the rest of your life on our leash. How tight your collar is depends on how good a little doggy you are. Clear?”

Steel Dagger swallowed and nodded his head.

“Good. Now, first question.” Twilight pulled out her notebook and pen. “Why aren't you a vegetable like the rest of your pirate friends? Did Farriér never put a geas on you?”

He looked out to a distance for a moment, then raised his hoof.

Twilight facehooved. “This isn't school. I take it you have a question?”

He put his ears back. “Um, what's a geas?”

Twilight's mind skipped a gear. Okay, this pony obviously isn't a ringleader. He's just a goon. Dang. “A geas is a powerful, forbidden spell that places a mental compulsion on somepony, either to do something, or have something happen to their mind. It can either take effect immediately, or be triggered by something. In this case, Farriér's death wiped the minds of the pirates under his control. Except for you. Why?”

Steel Dagger stammered a bit, shaking some sweat onto the ground, then shrugged. “I-I don't know. I was a boarder! I'd steal stuff! You just keep your head down, and do your job. That's how it went under Farriér, if you wanted to stay alive.”

Time to attack this from a different angle. “Permanent geas spells such as these need a special kind of enhancer. It's called psychstone. It's black and green, and you would have to have physical contact with it to affect you. Does it ring a bell?”

He lit up with recognition before gripping his heart. “It does! Sweet Celestia, that's the swearing stone!”

“‘Swearing stone’?” Trixie scoffed. “Don't tell me. He had you swear fealty to him by putting your hoof on it?”

“Y-yeah…” He slipped to the floor, eyes locked on something far away. “What's going to happen to me?”

Twilight added the information to her notes. “If it hasn't blanked your mind yet, I doubt it'll ever happen.”

Trixie tilted her hat forward. “He's a pirate. What's to say there's a mind to wipe?”

“Quiet.” Twilight tapped Trixie on the temple with her pen, then continued. “So, what's the thing that makes you special, then? Why them, but not you?”

“How should I know?!” Steel Dagger panted and wheezed, clutching his chest. “Everything was going okay until she showed up! I finally found a way to make money, and then rainbow-hair over there kills me and everything goes to pot! The only reason I'm alive is because another pirate saved my life!”

“Calm down, subject.” Twilight added another line to her notes, and kept as calm as possible. She even shifted to be under the air conditioning because she was hot, and certainly not because she just realized something that was freaking her out and about to make her break into a cold sweat. “Let's change the topic. Your piracy involved capturing innocent ponies and selling them as slaves. To whom did you sell them?”

Steel Dagger panted more, staying silent as he calmed, and wiped his brow several times. “I… I don't know for sure. They were rich, and looking for cheap labour. I heard the word ‘disposable’ more than once.”

Twilight clamped down hard on her magic after a crack appeared in her pen. “Possibly the mining companies in San Palomino?”

“Maybe…” Steel Dagger rubbed his head. “Some of them had strong accents, though. Shanghay, I think.”

“Doesn't necessarily mean anything, especially in San Palomino, but I'll look into it.” Twilight added a line in her notes about a potential Coeval link.

“Hey, Lady Sparkle.” Trixie folded her forelegs. “I recall one of San Palomino’s few true laws is significant here. ‘No foals in mines.’ I hear they enforce it pretty hardcore, too. Like, ponies-with-large-sticks-beating-up-foreman hardcore.”

“Which means,” Twilight finished for her, “that since foals were taken in the attacks, they almost certainly didn't go to mines. Any input, Steel?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we tried to sell them to the mines, but even Farriér couldn't have stopped a mutiny if he went through with it. So he sold them to rich folks looking for cheap housekeeping.”

Twilight clenched her teeth. “What?!”

Steel Dagger ducked down. “Hey, it was that or something worse! And it wasn't my idea. I wasn't even there yet when they figured that out!

“And before you ask, they used an intermediary to sell them. I've no idea where they went!”

“Isn't that convenient…” Twilight said through clenched teeth.

“Hey, if I knew, I'd tell you! Honest!”

Twilight sighed. “Let's move on. Somehow, I don't think you guys made that base. Who gave it to you?”

The stallion gulped. “Farriér had some scary contacts, but I only know that by word of mouth and reputation… except for one. He came by quite a bit. This guy was bucking terrifying. Made me want to steer clear whenever I could. I think even Farriér was scared of him. Just… no joy there at all. No laughter. He wanted us to just execute the ponies we caught.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Okay, that gets us somewhere. I’ll come back to that in a moment.” She pulled out a picture of the quarry she'd originally been after in San Palomino, Slick Dagger, and put it in front of him. “Do you know this pony? I’m guessing you do, considering your name.”

Steel Dagger blinked and swallowed. “Yeah. That's my brother.”

Twilight's pen went still. “Intelligence suggested he wasn’t related to the gang leader I caught, but was instead taking the name for reputation reasons. Regardless, do you know who he was working for?”

He sighed. “He… He’s my big brother. Adopted. He…” Steel rubbed his cheeks. “How to say this? He never was any good at the mercenary life.

“I tried to get him on the crew, you know? Help him out. But Farriér hated him instantly, and anypony Farriér hates has a real short life expectancy. When one of his backers, the guy I mentioned earlier, came around, I thought maybe I could send him away, out of Farriér’s sights. I mean, these guys were scary, but so was Farriér, and unlike the Captain, these guys seemed rich as hell. So, I asked if he had anything Steel could do.”

Steel sniffed and wiped his eyes. “I never saw him after that. Never knew what happened…”

“Do you know the backer’s name?”

Steel Dagger shrugged a little. “I overheard him being called ‘Mortius.’ Dunno if that was his real name.”

“And what did he look like?”

Steel Dagger blinked, then looked off to the right. “Ugly. His colors didn’t go well together. Maroon coat, hot pink mane. Stock stallion, unicorn, average height, bit chubby. Angry eyes. Just, always angry. Made even the captain cautious.”

Twilight folded her notebook and put it away, then stood up and opened the glass to the outside. “Your cooperation has been noted. If you don't want to be tossed in the darkest hole I can find, I'd keep it up. A Crown Prosecutor will eventually be around to interrogate you further.”

The three stepped through the door, and locked the glass behind them. They were outside the dungeon and into a secure, quiet area of the castle before Rainbow broke their silence.

“So, what's next?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not entirely sure. These ponies know how to manipulate events to force me to play into their hooves, and we’ve exhausted direct leads in San Palomino unless we find forensics in the pirate base, which could take ages.”

“What about the ponies that were kidnapped?” Trixie asked. “We can't just leave them.”

“We can't, no, but my solutions there are going to be dependent on what Celestia’s response to all this is. The foals are going to be easier; most rich ponies like to be seen and brag about what they have. I'll start the investigation formally, then give it to the RGIS agents, since they can cover a wide area faster than me. I can only be in one place at a time, and I have confidence in their abilities.”

Trixie and Rainbow shared a look.

“So, then…” Rainbow leaned into Twilight’s shoulder. “What is next on the agenda?”

Twilight groaned, shuddered, and bonked her head on the wall repeatedly, in that order.

“Uuuuhhhhh…” both other mares stammered.

Twilight stopped before her horn dug into the stone wall, and only slightly regretted it. “Girls, I think I've figured out how to undo the geas.”

“Really? That's great!” Rainbow looked at the scratches in the paint where Twilight's horn hit the wall. “So why are you hurting yourself?”

“Because, it's a method we can't use!” Twilight pulled out her notebook and showed Rainbow her notes on her captive. “You said you zapped him, right? And he said they did CPR, right?”

Trixie's eyes widened in shock. “You're joking…”

Rainbow stepped back before sitting down and lowering her ears. “I'm guessing you aren't talking about CPR being the answer.”

“No, Rainbow.” Twilight put the book away. “I'm saying, to remove the geas, we need to stop their hearts, and hope we can bring them back. And we have to hope they were dead for long enough to remove the geas.”

Rainbow tugged at her collar. “Yeesh. I never thought zapping that guy… I mean, I was just trying to thin their numbers for when I made a break for it.”

Twilight pressed her hooves on the headache growing in her temples. “Discoveries are often made by accident or serendipity, but this? I don't want to kill anypony if I don’t have to. Now, we might have to in order to save them. There has to be a better way.”

Rainbow leaned against the wall. “Doesn't Celestia know a resurrection spell? Couldn't we use that?”

Trixie blinked and turned to Twilight. “Princess Celestia can bring ponies back from the dead?!”

Twilight groaned and pressed harder on her temples. “The recently killed, yes. It only works in the first few minutes after death, and even then, the spell often fails, even if performed perfectly. Celestia herself told me it only works perfectly about forty percent of the time under ideal circumstances. Others that live will have traumatic side effects. Only a few will be restored to full physical health.”

Rainbow gagged a bit. “Okay, so that's out.”

Trixie stomped a hoof on the tile. “It has to be the wellspring! Weaken it until the geas fails, then bring it back! Is there a way to do that without killing the patient?”

“Not safely. But Celestia knows more about this than I do. I'll file my report, and leave the rest in her hooves whenever she gets back and has a chance to read it.” Twilight turned towards the Castle's armory, and marched forward. “In the meantime, get your canteens ready, girls. As soon as my report is done, we're going digging for evidence at the enemy base.”

“Luna, I truly wish you wouldn't read comics at a time like this.”

Luna's ear twitched at Celestia's admonishment, and she rolled her eyes behind the pages. “We'll see him coming, Tia. Especially with how much you rely on your Sight.”

“It's not how a Princess should act. Especially given how important this meeting is.”

Luna looked up at the filthy room around her, and to the broken window behind her sister. They were in Badlands’ office, waiting to ambush and intimidate him. Well, at least Celestia was. Not like I really need to be here. So I might as well read. “I can't help it if the Duke has abnormally good taste in comics. Besides, you never let me read them at the palace, either.”

“And for good reason. To be a guiding light for our ponies, we must appear to be wise beyond all their years.”

“Yes, stars forbid we seem relatable.” Luna blew a raspberry at her sister. “I find it curious that the way to seem ‘wise’ has everything to do with the activities you enjoy and nothing to do with the ones I enjoy.”

“It's not like that!”

Luna slapped the comic on the ground. “Oh please! It is like that! Ponies have had a thousand years with one alicorn to look to, and you played the part of the ever-constant sun perfectly, Tia. It's been ingrained in them that Princess Celestia is a wise matron, so everything you like is associated with it.

“You can't keep me caged forever. Eventually I'll need my own identity, my own wisdom. And I. Like. Comics. And music, and art, and acting! And I'll be damned if you're going to turn me into a robotic replica of yourself, sister.”

“Luna!” Celestia lifted a hoof as if struck. “I never intended to—” Her ear twitched. “He's coming. Put it away.”

Luna sighed and stretched, then sat next to her sister, doing her best to sit up straight. If nothing else, Celestia was correct about posture and body language being important when meeting a Duke.

The elevator doors opened, and Duke Badlands marched out, muttering something to himself angrily. His eyes were aimed squarely at the ground, which was odd for a pegasus, but he was clearly preoccupied. He made it halfway to his desk before he even noticed they were there.

“P-p-princess?!” He stuttered and failed, flapping his wings hard enough to lose feathers.

Just as well, Luna thought, taking in the scattered mess of the office without breaking her locked gaze on Badlands. No other Duke would be caught dead with a home like this. Silhouette would have a fit if she saw this place.

“Indeed, my little pony.” Celestia’s voice was, as ever, a motherly song, full of kindness and caring. It's been said to be simultaneously the most relaxing and terrifying thing in Equestria. “ I apologize for not making an appointment. Given recent events, I thought it important to see you as soon possible. Please, have a seat.”

Badlands looked at where Celestia was sitting, which was behind his desk. “But that's my…” He looked up to Celestia, and her warm, loving smile, which instantly forced him into a bow and a shiver. He stayed low, slinking to a spot in front of them.

Luna felt a hot flash up her spine, and switched to her Sight. Magic was leaking out of her sister, washing over them all. It was an old trick, but Celestia had done it at just the right time and strength.

The Instinct ponies felt in the immediate presence of an alicorn was a curious thing. Powerful ponies felt it less, and even weak ones would eventually get used to and overcome it. Moreover, if a pony knew what was happening, it wasn't hard to break through the effects.

However, if one flooded the area with their magic, without it getting so dense as to be visible, an alicorn could tip a pony's mind over the edge, pushing the Instinct into overdrive temporarily, albeit at the risk of them being totally immune to it going forward.

I'll give you this much, Sister. You didn't lose your touch while I was away. Not even one little bit.

Badlands bowed again. “W-what did you need to talk to me about?”

“Oh, did you not know, my little pony? Surely you should have heard of such news within your Duchy?”

“I-I… Are you…”

Luna regarded him without moving a muscle. He was panicked, sweating. It was nothing like he was in the Empyreal Hall. He's colluding with the pirates, not just a victim of them. He most certainly knows why we're here. Yet Twilight’s intel suggests he’s under a geas, which is far more worrisome.

“Are you here because of the pirates?” he finally asked.

“Indeed, my Duke.” Celestia's mane shifted direction for a moment, the only clue she gave to her frustration. “In fact, we have it on good authority that your own security service has been infiltrated by them.”

“O-oh?” Badlands swallowed. “I have a mole?”

If this pony wore pants, they'd be on fire. Luna glanced briefly at Celestia's chiselled expression. I hate this dance. But, I promised to let it play out. So get on with it, Tia.

“I should say that would be an understatement. I have been led to understand that your entire security force may be comprised. But, rest assured, we shall get to the bottom of this. As we speak, Military Police from Fort Earthborne are entering the building and detaining all ponies in the building. We shall find out who is who, rest assured.”

“Oh.” Badlands shrunk down. “Oh. Um, there may be a lot of them.”

“Indeed? What makes you say that?”

“I-I… They have guns. Guns I didn't buy them.”

I want to smack this guy. Or at least lock him in a tiny room with a big, angry skunk.

“Is that all?” Celestia tilted her head. “I would think there are better examples than that. This is San Palomino, after all.”

“Well…”

Oh, what's wrong, tough, independent stallion? Cowed when you have to face the music? Wait...

Badlands was frozen still, and his eyes were far away. Even though he was standing in front of them, he seemed to drop away into a dimensional sinkhole, leaving behind only a burnt husk. Bring him back, Tia, or he'll break.

“I noticed, my little pony, that you have quite a few comics in your office.” Celestia waved to the piles of books scattered about. “You must spend quite some time reading them?”

“Well, it course! One has to be dedicated.” He went on for a bit, seemingly proud of the fact. Celestia listened like a mother listening to an excited foal, only responding after silence had taken over.

“My, my. Sounds like quite the hobby! It reminds me of a pony I met some time ago. I believe he owns a shop now, in Manehatten. Neptuna Comics.”

“Really? That place is famous!” Badlands started shaking again. “I'd like to visit, but I'm rather busy. I should really get back to work…”

“Work does come first, this is true. I was hoping, however, that we could oversee the investigation in your security forces. Perhaps you’d like to witness the interviews?”

Up and down, up and down. In silent amusement, Luna watched Badlands nearly have a heart attack. I wonder if she'll shake him loose like this.

“Interviews?!” Badlands choked out. “Now?”

“Of course! Old memories are often of bad quality. Based on my intuition, it's been some time since the issue has started, so we mustn't delay. Tell me, have you noticed anything unusual?”

“Well…” Badlands stammered, then sank again, flopping into a mushy mess on the floor.

Luna waved a hoof in front of his dead eyes. “I think we've found his limit, Sister. The geas has locked his mind.”

Celestia scratched her chin. “Indeed. Yet it's strange. I thought the Majestics’ geas more flexible than that. Perhaps his is of a different type? Or from a different group?”

Luna folded her forelegs and burrowed into him with her Sight, but found nothing save a chilling silence. “It's plausible, but my instinct says no. My guess is that it's the same geas, but somehow applied poorly. Or perhaps one that's been shaken ever so slightly loose somehow.”

A squad of Royal Guard enforcers cracked the door open, then swept into the room to cuff the Duke and carry him off. Celestia allowed them to do so, as he was little more than a statue at that point, and would remain so until the internal pressure to break his control was removed.

“Luna, I think we're done here. RGIS will remain to collect evidence for us, and it will take some time to discover how to track the spell that's been placed on our poor pony.”

Luna's eyes softened, and she leaned into her sister’s warm embrace. Their feathers intertwined, sending a prickly chill down their spines.

“I worry, Tia. How many more are under this spell? How many close to us? How many have anything of their original personality left? How long have they been gone?”

Celestia squeezed her tight. “I don't know. If it's any consolation, I've known Badlands for a long time, and he's always been a bit of an arse.”

Luna choked on her own spit from laughter, and pushed away from her. “Tia! Don't do that!”

Celestia smiled. “Sorry, Lulu,” she obviously lied. “Let's go home. I'm starting to get rather peckish.”

Luna started her teleport a moment after her sister, following her as she had so many times in the past. In the light of subspace, she could see the little filly she once was, following her sister through the fields of Concordia. From Celestia's wake inside the leyline, their teleport led to the gardens, where there was a dinner waiting for them.

“Come, Luna, join me. It has been a while since we've eaten together, has it not?”

Luna checked around with her Sight for eavesdroppers, but found none, and sat down across from her. “Why did you need me there? You had that whole thing planned out.”

Celestia paused post-sip, then set down her teacup. “You weren't there for interrogation, Luna. You were there in case the pirates downstairs started shooting. I didn't dare bring in Day Guards. Strong though my ponies have grown, they are too few in number to handle such an assault, and their mere presence would have encouraged our wayward ponies to start shooting.

“And, honestly, Sister?” Celestia looked at her with a visage of bare worry Luna hadn't seen in ages. “You're the only one I would have trusted in a fight like that. I am… I have been rather disturbed by some reports lately. Mounted guns aren't the only things spilling onto the black market.”

Luna's heart skipped a beat, then pounded in her chest. “You're talking about bonded blades.”

“Yes. Nothing confirmed, but enough clues in the reports that I have to take it seriously. And since Twilight suspects the base she found was the launch point of the false Bellerophon, I didn't want to take chances in close quarters with these pirates. I had a pony ready to signal me if things went south, but I thought it best for you to stay with me, since their top priority target would have been Badlands.”

“I see. I wish you would have said something, Tia. I'm going to have to ding you for that at some point. I'm always happy to fight for you. But in that case, I'm glad I was there.” Luna picked up one of the fancy cucumber sandwiches and started munching, then said, “And I'm still going to start sneaking in some comics, damn you.”

Author's Note

This has not been a productive month, and that has to not be a pattern starting March. I'm running low on backlog. Goal for March is 20k new words.

Also, the copy/paste of the chapter revealed a few odd formatting bits. I *think* I got them all, but feel free to point out any I might have missed.

As always, I'm anxious and nervous as hell when posting a chapter. I hope you all like this one!

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

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Pride Cometh

“I'm telling you, there's something there.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “Trust me on this one.”

The two military detectives looked at the blank, stone wall and shook their heads.

One even took off his hat and scratched his head. “Ma'am, with all due respect, that's just a wall. We've already analyzed the outside walls of the base, and it's solid stone.”

Twilight shook her head. “I have means you don't have access to — or clearance to know about — and I say there's something there. Get ponies here to clear the stone and make a tunnel. If you're worried about it, just say this was an order from the Grand Mage. I'll take any heat for the decision, but I'm telling you, there's a power source back there.”

“If you say so, Ma'am, we'll get it done.” The stallion sighed and nodded, then saluted and walked off with his subordinate.

Twilight, meanwhile, kept staring at the little cluster of lights on the other side of the rock. They must have been deep into the stone to be missed by the inspection, yet they were bright enough to shine through the red haze of magic in the ground. Whatever was there, it wasn't a pony — the colours were all wrong — but it had to have been substantial to create a shine like that.

“Twilight!” Trixie trotted through the bottom of the docking bay, over to Twilight. Her armor was covered in dirt and grease from rummaging through things for evidence. “We're about half done cataloguing the stolen goods. There's a cache of blank cores we just turned up, too.”

Twilight perked her ears up. “Any bonded?”

Trixie shook her head. “No such luck. Just from what I can see, we have a lot of stuff that tells us what we already know. Pirates bad, should have been stopped ages ago, yadda yadda. It doesn't tell us who our mystery group is.”

“Well…” Twilight stole a quick glance at the rapidly growing piles of goods being brought up from below and catalogued. “It might. I need this stuff catalogued so we know what trains were hit, what was taken, and what isn't accounted for.”

Trixie pulled out her canteen and emptied down her throat. “Won't that only tell us what they've fenced?”

“For older stuff, yes, but I'm thinking that over the last few days there's a chance they haven't had an opportunity to move much yet. But we're reasonably sure that the Majestics came by to at least get the psychstone, and maybe something else. If we figure out what, it could give us a clue… Maybe, anyway. I know it's a stretch, but I'll take that over nothing at all.

“That being said, I'm certain there's something behind this wall.” Twilight pointed in the direction of the lights. “But it's going to take time to dig it out safely. Hours, if not days. It's buried so deep, the normal detection spells the agents used couldn't find it. Whatever is there, somepony wanted it sealed off completely.”

“Hours?” Trixie’s face twisted in incredulous frustration. “Oh boy, more cataloguing, my favourite thing.”

“Okay, okay, you can come with me. I was just about to visit a friend and get something to eat.”

“I'm up for anything that isn't paperwork. Where to?”

“The Bellerophon. Follow me.” Twilight marched to a doorway and up some stairs, then to the main docking bay. The bay’s doors had been blown off in the battle, and there was a clear path to the desert floor. The rubble of the doors had crumbled, being partially made of rock, and formed a steep slope of stone for them to slide down.

The ship was a short walk away, powered down and anchored to the ground. It was serving as both hospital and command center of the operation, now largely led by General Stone.

After arriving at the ship, Twilight lit her horn and sparked herself up to one of the entry ports. Her chest welled with a bit of pride when Trixie followed suit with her own teleportation, and the two made their way inside.

A blast of cool air greeted them; obviously the engine core was running enough to provide for the environmental systems, and likely the defensive guns as well. It was a welcome change from the hot base and desert.

Before long, they were close to the sick bay, which brought with it something else: screaming. Wretched, panicked screaming of a mare desperate for her life scraping against the metal walls and striking Twilight in her heart.

Twilight broke into a run, banging dents into the metal floor with her hooves as she rounded the corner into the hospital. Rose was the one screaming, eyes closed, flailing and fighting the nurses and orderlies, tossing them about like dolls. One flew through a privacy curtain, only to land on an injured pony who cried out in pain.

“Rose! Calm down!” Twilight watched and yelled while her heart sank inside her chest. Tears seemed to come from nowhere, or perhaps a phantom blade in her stomach.

Rose picked up a bedpan and hit a nurse over the head, and swung at anypony near her.

“Rose, please, it's me! Twilight! I'm your friend!”

Her only answer was more screaming, as Rose turned her weapon on herself, bending the metal with blows to her head.

“Twilight, we have to stop her!”

“I know,” Twilight whispered through the tears. She lit her horn, and sniffled through the spell. “Rose, forgive me. Diamond Light!”

Triangular planes of light spun into existence around Rose, then slammed into her, pinning her against the wall. All the same, her screams rattled bottles off tables, and she fought and struggled against the light holding her down.

Dr. Full burst through the chaos, a syringe in her magic, and pressed the needle into Rose's leg. All the ponies in the sick bay watched the two as the trapped mare cried out. It took a few minutes, but eventually, Rose was sound asleep.

Twilight gathered herself, breathing and focusing on the newfound silence. “Doctor, what happened?”

Dr. Full grabbed a clipboard that had fallen to the ground, and said, “This happened. She woke up as I was reading her lab reports. You said she'd been injected with Everfree Elixir?”

Twilight's heart thumped the inside of her ribs. “The Elixir did that?”

Trixie whistled. “Just how much did the pirates stick her with? Trixie thinks it was… excessive, to say the least!”

Dr. Full flipped to the third page of the report. “Yes, but not the dose you're thinking of. We ran a test of her mane hairs along with a full toxicology panel. The results are conclusive: she's been on Elixir for years.”

Twilight sucked in a breath to yell a denial, but it died before she could even form the words. “I… I get it now!”

Trixie tilted her head. “Get what?”

Twilight walked to the doctor’s side to peek at the test results. “If I'm right… Rose told me she suffered from nightmares every single night, and couldn't get much sleep. She said she was seeing a doctor that gave her pills to help her, and couldn't afford a trip out of the Duchy to see a specialist. I'm betting that the pills were Elixir in dry form.”

Dr. Full pulled out her pen to make a note in the chart. “Makes perfect sense to me. The pills would help her stay awake, if they were a low dose, but would eventually lead to a crash, which could contribute to vivid ‘experiences’ during sleep. If she steadily increased her dose, she would have built a partial tolerance — but Elixir isn't kind enough to let you get away with that totally. Eventually, she would have succumbed to hallucinations and paranoia, followed by a total mental breakdown. The large dose from the pirates probably sped that up.”

Twilight stepped up to the trapped Rose, who was snoozing soundly despite the magic pressing into her. She brought a hoof to the mare's muzzle, and stroked her. “I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner, Rose. I would have brought you to a real doctor right away, had I known.”

Dr. Full cleared her throat. “My Lady, could you please release your spell on her? We’ll put her on anesthizine gas until we’re sure she'll be safe to wake.”

Twilight nodded, cancelling her spell and allowing Rose to fall into the waiting care of three stallion orderlies, who carried her to her bed.

Trixie helped them, tucking the poor mare into her bed. “What's her prognosis?”

Dr. Full adjusted her glasses. “Under the gas, she'll be out of immediate danger, but honestly? She's going to have to be sent to a better facility, and the sooner, the better. We're equipped for combat trauma and common medical emergencies, not things like this.”

“Have her transferred to Canterlot Castle's medical wing, and let me know if there's any paperwork obstacles. I'll bulldoze them for you. And if Luna turns up anytime soon, tell her I said she needs to be teleported. I don't want to wait around on this if I don't have to.”

Dr. Full blinked and leaned to the side. “I don't think that will be too much of an issue.”

Twilight put her ears flat. “She's right behind me, isn't she?”

Trixie must have jumped out in shock, because she careened into a small table and scrambled like a cat to get her legs under her. “Empty night!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Well, I'm glad I meet with your approval, ‘Specialist!’” Luna's grin melted along with her laugh. “Alas, my being here is not for good news. Twilight, I need you to return with me to the Empyreal Hall. Sister's gambit has hit a bit of a wall.”

Dr. Full turned and marched away. “I'm not hearing anything. Do whatever you need.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “I'm not leaving without Rose. You're taking her with us.”

Luna shrugged. “There's no time to argue, so I won't. Pull her over here.”

Twilight grabbed Rose's bed, removed the IV, and moved her over to Luna, alongside Trixie. Seconds later, they were in Canterlot Castle, though whether Twilight's stomach had accompanied them was up for debate. At the very least, she knew they were near the Empyreal Hall, and the area was empty.

“Mergle…” Twilight held back a burp.

“Sorry. That wasn't an easy teleportation.” Luna clapped her hooves lightly, and a half-dozen members of the Night Guard stepped out of the shadows. “Take Ms. Rose to the hospital, Gentlecolts. Trixie, you may go with them. This is for Twilight.”

Trixie looked briefly to Twilight, then nodded and walked away with the rest of the group.

“Okay, what's going on?” Twilight looked up to the Princess, who only lowered her ears. “It's that bad?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. I'm not a lawyer, and I was never any good at parliamentary maneuvers. All I know for certain is that word of your exploits reached Charlemane earlier than expected; he moved to formally oust Badlands before we could.

“Celestia tried to explain the detailed ramifications of this to me, but she might as well have spoken in tongues. All I've gleaned is that the Council is moving to replace the Duke with a pony of their own choosing.”

“Oof.” Twilight got up and started a pace around the hall. “Celestia wanted to replace the Duke with an elected Premier, and I have no doubt they'd want to put a stop to that. But how did they know of that plan? Who else knew?”

“Nopony.”

Twilight froze in place, and stood silent for some time. “That… There's no leak?”

“Well, no conventional leak.” Luna lit her horn, drawing a magic circle on the ground. “There are ways to perform divinations, or attempt to listen in on something far away. However, these methods are unreliable at best.”

A mist pooled in the circle, coalescing into a liquid mirror. Inside was a blurry vision of foals playing, of shouts in games of tag. One foal managed to touch another, but got no further as the circle shredded itself into chunks.

Luna pursed her lips in annoyance. “I'm not very good at it, I'm afraid. But even if somepony else out there is trying to spy on us, the wards in the castle should shut them out. Alicorns in particular are hard to divine, though you'll have to talk to Tia about the particulars.”

Twilight resumed her pace, but her mind ran in circles as much as her body. “So either they have a way to circumvent all that, or… Maybe Charlemane is just that good at reading Celestia? Or maybe they're just being difficult for the sake for being difficult?”

“It's not impossible. He may have suspected Badlands to be compromised in some way, and had everything in motion just waiting for you to get him.” Luna's mane bristled at some unpleasant thought. “But this may be too much a coincidence.”

“True. But…” Twilight clopped her forehooves together. “No, Celestia said she's had plans in place for a while. It's logical to assume Charlemane has plans around this as well.

“Either way, it's a bit moot now,” Twilight reasoned. “I can't stop them directly… If I recall, any Duke removed by the Council can be replaced by them. Celestia can counteract that, but it'd be an unprecedented move, seen as a power grab. She'd need to make a deal with them for that kind of move.”

Luna blew a raspberry in the Council general direction. “That's what I think of any deal. The price tag would be much too high.”

“Yeah, we'd get sticker shock for sure.” Twilight froze again, perking her head up. “Unless… Unless we prove they knew of the corruption! Then they're just as culpable as Badlands is!”

“Pfft.” Luna waved off the idea with a hoof. “There's no way you're going to be able to do that in the next half hour, Twilight, and I doubt Sister could stall them longer than that.”

“Maybe not, but… What if we could show they knew of the general problems in the Duchy, and did nothing? I certainly didn't know how bad piracy had gotten, and it's been downplayed in the papers, characterized as robberies rather than the destruction of trains. But if they knew what was happening, they should have forced the issue in front of the Council, and I know for a fact that they didn't. It's not enough to completely outweigh their leverage, but it could force a compromise.”

Luna scratched her chin with the edge of her metal shoe. “Maybe? But how would you prove something like that?”

“Through Westfalen Defensive! They move so much material to Fort Earthborne, I'd bet bits to donuts that they had a train that was robbed. If we find anything from one of them in that pirate base, and it wasn't reported, we have them! Can you take us back to San Palomino real quick?”

Luna lit her horn, and they found themselves back in the heat of the desert. They were in the encampment, and just outside that, several acres of goods had been arranged in the ground, complete with evidence tags.

“There we go.” Twilight rubbed her hooves together. “Let's get started. You go deep, I'll go across. Look for new military hardware from Westfalen.”

“Oh, is that all?” A pony with a Scottish brogue chuckled. Double Blind stepped up to them through the morass of ponies picking apart the base. Like the rest, he was covered in dust, though it didn't show up very well on his brown coat. Despite the oppressive heat, he wore the same goofy grin as always. “If it's Westfalen hardware you're looking for, I got just the thing. Follow me!”

Twelve rows in, they stopped, and Double banged a hoof on a huge metal something-or-other. It was a shiny chrome, with a cylindrical tube sticking up out of it. Ports for wires were all over, as were mounting points intended for welding.

“This here is a Westfalen weapon - a bucking torpedo launcher. Found it in the base’s hold. It was meant to be replacement parts for the Bellerophon ships, if any ever needed repairs at Earthborne. We're drawing up the orders to cross-check with the fort’s inventory, see if any are missing, but I doubt it was reported. Intelligentsia would've had kittens the moment word came in.”

Luna crushed a rock under her hoof. “I cannot believe pirates got their hooves on a weapon like this. It could kill hundreds, or even thousands!”

Twilight groaned, wishing for a camera just so she could take a picture of Bismare’s face when she dropped this bombshell. “Okay, that's step one. Thank you, Feint.

“Now, time for step two. Luna, can you teleport us to the Hinterlands? I need to speak with a pony in the capital.”

Twilight marched towards the Empyreal Hall, not even bothering to talk to the two Day Guard standing at the doors. She reached out with her magic, undid the lock, and pushed them open with a resounding ka-chunk. The echo slammed into the conversation inside, interrupting it, though only for a moment.

The back and forth between Council members, plus Princess Celestia, kept plodding on, meandering from point of order to argument to baseless claim to rule citing.

Twilight, meanwhile, sat back at the podium reserved for outsiders who were addressing them. They could argue and pretend she wasn't there for a while, but eventually, she'd be too big an elephant to ignore.

Charlemane stood at his place near the top of hall, looking like he wanted to fire a spitball at Bismare. “Please note, Your Highness, there is no direct provision in the Equestrian Compact for what you propose. I would request that you wait for the appropriate time to renegotiate it to insert such a provision.”

Twilight yawned, covering her mouth with her hoof. Unless pandering. After a stretch, she took more note of the other ponies. Not all of the Dukes were present. Buckheart, the Duke of the Hinterlands, was absent, as were Cadence and Obsidian. The Dukes of the Bittish Isles, Marelaysia, and Shanghay were all absent as well.

Celestia, clad in her trademark calm despite the situation, gazed down at him and sipped at her tea. “You'll find, Chairpony, that there is also no provision explicitly limiting me from such a course of action.”

The others were all accounted for, at least physically. Some were quietly chatting between themselves, and Naponion was lightly snoring in a dream. Whether he was drunk was indeterminate at the time.

Charlemane shook his head. “There is, Your Highness. The Equestrian Compact is quite clear about the form of the leadership of the Duchies, and—”

“Unless, Chairpony, there are no acceptable candidates from said Duchy.” Celestia interrupted. “As I've said, the entirety of the nobility of San Palomino, thin though the bench is, has been placed under formal investigation by RGIS. None of them may assume the post.”

“I would suggest, then, that we wait for the conclusion of the investigations. Afterwards, the highest ranking noble that has been inevitably cleared shall—”

Wham! “Unacceptable!” Twilight slammed her hooves on her podium, earning the attention of the entire room. “Chairpony, my report isn't complete yet, but rest assured, what I witnessed in San Palomino disgusted me. It was nothing short of dereliction of duty by the entire nobility!”

Charlemane's eyes of cold steel gazed into her. “That's quite a claim, Grand Mage. Do you have—”

“Damn straight I have evidence.” Twilight pulled out her notebook and flipped through the pages. “My notes are all here, Chairpony. Everything from slavery to towns dying of thirst. Not to mention I uncovered a piracy problem allowed to grow so large that a vicious, merciless pirate was allowed free rein for so long that he managed to build one incredible ship. He had firepower second only to the Bellerophon, and a cloaking device that our military still hasn't figured out.

“It's an unqualified failure of governance, period. That the distress of our ponies did not reach the Council’s ears is a disaster on every single level. So shove your hierarchy, Celestia is absolutely right to reject it.”

Bismare rose up and clicked on her microphone. “I suggest you retract your words, Grand Mage, lest you face censure.”

Duchess Demesne of Manehatten was also eyeing Twilight carefully, and the chatting quickly hushed.

“I'm sorry, Duchess.” Twilight bowed her head slightly. “I retract the words, but not the overall point. This was an unimaginable failure. You have no right to determine the next leader of San Palomino.”

“Yes we do.” Bismare scoffed. “Don't disrespect the Compact, Grand Mage.”

“Right back at you!” Twilight thrust a hoof on her direction. “You're the one disrespecting it! You've failed to live up to your end of the bargain to serve the nation in support of her ponies!”

“I am not the one in charge of San Palomino.” Bismare flicked her mane with a hoof. “Maybe if Badlands were here, we could ask him about it.”

“I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about you!”

“Objection!” Charlemane banged his gavel. “That is out of line, Grand Mage Sparkle! We are discussing San Palomino and Duke Badlands, not Germaney! Leave your baseless accusations at the door, or I shall have them and you removed! Is that clear?”

“Well then, good thing I didn't bring any baseless accusations with me. All I have is grounded accusations and evidence.” Twilight pulled out her documents and smacked them down on her podium. “Duchess Bismare, you are in majority control of Westfalen Defensive Systems, are you not?”

Bismare blinked and stammered. “W-what? What in Tartarus are you even talking about? This doesn't even make any sense!”

Twilight drank on her target’s confusion. There was no fear in her voice — though Twilight hoped it would come. It was mere, simple confusion, and such suited her just fine. “Dukes and Duchesses of the Empyreal Hall, the pirate known as Farriér has been carrying out a campaign of terror on our ponies for years. Entire cargo trains have been hit, with cannons destroying their locomotives, ponies captured to be sold into slavery, and their goods plundered.”

“We are aware.” Charlemane leaned his head on a hoof. “It's been rather a major topic here for a while, Grand Mage. Especially the last few days.”

“And were you aware they've been regularly attacking shipments meant for Fort Earthborne?”

Silence chilled the Hall for a moment. “Go on…” Charlemane said.

“I found a weapon in the pirate base: a torpedo launcher. The kind intended for a Bellerophon-class warship. It was manufactured by Westfalen Defensive Systems.”

Bismare broke out into an instant sweat. “What…”

Twilight smiled and stepped down from the podium to approach the stands of the Dukes. “Here's a copy of the exact model, its picture, serial number, and manufacture date.” She gave out several copies to the lower Dukes, who passed the rest upwards. “It was made over half a year ago. Luna teleported me back to Fort Earthborne to check their records. It was declared a warehouse mix-up that it never arrived. The train also apparently had engine trouble, as it showed up late. Very late.”

Charlemane took a copy, but didn't even look at it. “Bismare, you…” He practically snarled at her. “How many ponies did you lose, Duchess? An attack like that must be reported!”

“None!” Bismare snapped. “They were left near the tracks, and we recovered them all. The attack went unreported to protect the interests of Westfalen. Had we reported it, the collapse in stock price would have mandated layoffs. I would not subject my ponies to that.”

Suisaiga flapped her wings, striking her desk with a thunk. “They took a torpedo launcher! A weapon like that on the black market needed to be intercepted at all cost!”

“A launcher, Watercolour.” Bismare rolled her eyes. “They didn't get any torpedoes. Without the warheads, it's just a fancy hunk of metal.”

“Regardless!” Charlemane slapped Bismare upside her head with the papers.

The wide-eyed mare rubbed her cheek and seethed. “You… Insolent…”

“An attack on that scale must be reported, Duchess!” Charlemane banged his gavel, breaking the piece of wood under it. “You will face consequences for this.”

“Indeed!” Celestia's mane flared with pastel fire, leaving burn marks on her throne and driving every single pony in the room to jump back. “Duchess Bismare, I hereby censure you, and reduce your rank in this Empyreal Hall to twelfth! Further consequences may come from further investigation. By order of the Crown, you are not to leave the city without my permission. Is that understood?”

For an instant, a fire in Bismare's eyes blazed as hot as the one in Celestia’s mane. Yet, it was only for that instant, as it died like a match under a waterfall. “Understood, Your Highness.” Ears back, she picked up her things, and the entire room began a shuffle. Each pony under her moved one seat, leaving space for her at the very bottom.

The Princess’ power waned, returning to its normal, comforting, wavy self. The tea she sipped from, though, was still boiling, and the carpet under her was smoking. “I apologize for my outburst. Would somepony mind retrieving some fresh tea for me? Mine is now quite bitter.”

A Day Guard member marched up and took the tea set from her.

“Thank you. Now, to the matter at hoof.

“Mr. Chairpony, I am refusing your selection of a new Duke. This Council has failed San Palomino at every turn. The ponies of this great nation deserve representation chosen by themselves, not those who abandoned them for so long.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I couldn't agree more, Your Highness. However, if I may be so bold, the implementation of such a system is fraught with hazards. Leadership is still needed to guide our subjects through to election day, and to organize the election itself. Furthermore, there are pressing issues in the Duchy that must be addressed as soon as possible. I am sceptical that elections are something we can hope to implement anytime soon.”

Celestia looked at her with something somewhere in between shock, hurt, confusion, and incredulity as if Twilight had started wearing a possum for a hat. The rest of the Council wasn't much different.

Twilight swallowed and hoped they didn't see it. “To that end, I've reached out to a pony willing to take the steps necessary to make this vision a reality. Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I introduce Marquis Earthen Pride of the Hinterlands.”

The doors behind her opened on cue, and the tall stallion strode in.

The Empyreal Hall was, much like the throne room, designed to instill a sense of awe into a pony when they entered. It was meant to be a humbling experience to step into the presence of the Sisters and those who helped them rule. It was a reminder of one's place in the world.

Marquis Earthen Pride stood there, in the middle of it all, and crushed that humility under his hoof. “Your Highness, you have failed. Mr. Chairpony, you have failed. Dukes and Duchesses of the Council, you have failed. You have all failed.”

After a brief pause, he added “And indeed, I too have failed.

“While I am not a Marquis of San Palomino, I am a Marquis. I am a leader ponies have placed their trust in, and I have failed to call out the injustices of that state. In fact, it is in such a state of failure that no comparison can be drawn to it in modern history. This is unacceptable.”

He thrusted a hoof towards the entrance. “When I leave through those doors, I am going to San Palomino, and I will save it. I do not care if you hate me. I do not care if you strip me of my rank and assets here and now. I cannot be stopped. You have but two choices: aid me, or be crushed under my advance.

“Which will you choose?”

If Celestia looked surprised before, now she was shocked to her core. However, that was nothing compared to the range of emotions from the Council. Most were astounded out enraged. Naponion, against all odds, still appeared to be dozing, but there was one who was smiling.

“I like him!” Bismare rubbed her hooves together. “He'll need to be brought to heel, of course, but I’ll have him. Somepony have him sent to my—”

Charlemane pinched the bridge of his muzzle. “Finish that sentence, Bismare, and I'll find you in contempt.

“And you, Grand Mage, what bizarre spectacle is this? Some play at a compromise? What do you think—” WHACK!

Earthen Pride had pulled off his boot and thrown it at Charlemane in one remarkable movement.

The Chairpony, wide-eyed, rubbed his cheek. “You… You dare?”

Pride stomped his bare hoof on the ground. “No, Chairpony, it is you who is guilty of brazen behaviour. You speak past me to the Grand Mage without thinking to acknowledge my challenge to this Council. I will not be belittled in such a manner!” Orange eyes every bit as fearless as those of Charlemane himself threatened to set the Empyreal Hall on fire.

Charlemane seethed and hissed. “I refuse. Even if it would keep San Palomino under Council control, I refuse. Nopony such as you should be in our number.”

“Then fight, coward!” The ground rumbled under Earthen Pride, and his horseshoes glowed red.

Bonded artifact! Twilight’s breath stopped. This is bad. Charlemane is unarmed. If—

“I hereby invalidate the challenge issued by Marquis Earthen Pride.” Celestia banged her gavel while a Day Guard calmly served her a fresh pot of tea. “Challenges may not be fought in the Empyreal Hall, Marquis. But since emotions are running high right now, I’ll forgive you that trespass provided you avoid further such outbursts.

“Furthermore, I would hear of your thoughts. Tell me, if I gave you the seat of Duke—”

“Princess!”

She hushed Charlemane with a bang of a gavel. “If I did, what would you do?”

The Marquis smiled. “Your Highness, I would stop at nothing to save San Palomino. No, not just save it. Make it the crown jewel of Equestria. But, I am assuming you meant to refer to those nobles serving the Duke.”

He took in a breath and closed his eyes. “They would be allowed to stay.”

The nobles stood silent at that, and Celestia frowned.

“Provided, of course,” Earthen Pride said with a devilish grin, “that they sell all their assets except for their houses, and work for me full time. I have no use for corrupt, idiotic layabouts that refuse their full commitment to the Duchy. Anypony who refuses will be replaced first by an interim manager, followed by an elected official.

“And before you ask, no, I won't be limiting elections to nobles. Quite frankly, there are only a hoofful of them in the Duchy in the first place. Worse, so many have had or are most certainly going to have their titles stripped that even if I hired all of the San Palomino nobles left, I wouldn't have near enough ponies. You have all failed that thoroughly.”

“If you are quite done maligning us, you can leave now.” Charlemane stretched his jaw. “Go do whatever it is you think you're doing.”

Celestia sipped her tea and nodded. “Indeed, Duke Earthen Pride. You have much to do.”

If a record had been playing, it would have scratched to a halt and shattered into a dozen pieces. Every other pony in the room had their jaws open, including Twilight.

“What?” Celestia asked, waving a stack of papers. “He's the only candidate who recognized our failure to date, and he spoke of the need to help the Duchy instead of the boilerplate ‘duty to crown and country’ I read from ponies every time there's a spot open.”

She flipped to a page, seemingly hunting for a specific passage. “Honestly, I think I've read a few of these exact paragraphs at least seven times in the last century. Do you really think flowery language is enough to satisfy me when I know it's pulled from a stock pool that the nobility has used for ages?

“Now, I know you all have consultants for this telling you to do it, seemingly forgetting that I’m older than all of them put together. The only reason I put up with it is because of all the time it saves. I can skip all the parts I've seen before.

“The Honourable Earthen Pride showed me pride in his work instead of merely in himself, determination against insurmountable odds, and a willingness to accept both nobles and civilians based on their dedication to the Duchy. That's better than anything you've shown me thus far.

“I gave Duke Badlands and the Council wide latitude and authority in San Palomino as part of a bargain, and they promised it would be a magnificent success. Through failure or negligence, that promise has been broken. More than that, this Council tried to downplay the situation in front of the Crown, to the point of lies by omission.

“And yet, Earthen Pride is a noble. One of your own is taking the seat. Be happy about this, Chairpony. It's the best deal you'll get all day.” The Princess banged her gavel twice. “This docket is closed. The Council will now take a thirty-minute recess.”

Twilight blinked and chuckled to herself. Wow. Either Celestia has a ton of trust in me or I just managed the luckiest political move in over a century. Or she was just that ticked at them that she put him in just to annoy Charlemane…

Her thoughts jumped back on track, and she watched the Council stream out for the recess. Moreover, she waited for Duke Pride to join them, but he strode out of the room only after the others had left. She hopped up from her seat and gave chase, catching him when he stopped in the mezzanine. “Duke! Congratulations!”

Earthen Pride closed his eyes and smiled. “You know, I meant every word I said in there, but I still never expected Her Highness to grant me a seat.” He paused and looked down. “I appear to be quite stunned. Somehow, I left without my boot.”

“Well, the real work starts now, so I hope those boots are comfortable.” Twilight turned her leg ever so slightly, feeling the need for a shower catching up to her. “San Palomino is a mess, Duke. I don't envy your task. But, I was wondering if you would be willing to listen to an idea real quick. Something that may help you in your new Duchy.”

Pride straightened his tie. “Allow me to retrieve my boot, and we have a deal.”

Moments later, they found themselves in Badlands’ old office, which was appropriately covered in dust from misuse. Otherwise, it was much like Charlemane’s, only smaller, and with blue paint on the walls instead of wallpaper.

Pride wiped away dust on the desk with a rag, but thought better of sitting down. “Before we begin, I am curious, Lady Sparkle. Why me? Why not my sister?”

Twilight started dusting with her magic. One way or another, the books in the bookshelf would be clean when she left. “One, while I find you rather severe and extreme, I admire your dedication. Two, your sister is basically guaranteed a seat in the Empyreal Hall. Giving her one early does her no favors.”

Pride sighed. “And giving me one does, which you expect a return on. And here I thought you weren't like the others.”

“I'm still rather new to the game, I'm afraid.” She carried on her dusting to some comics. “But truthfully, I didn't hope it would buy me a favour; I hoped it would earn me a friend. I'm very short on those in the Empyreal Hall.”

He grabbed the cord to the blinds and pulled them up, only to have the entire assembly fall to the ground. Sunlight burned in, lighting the whole room. “Well now, that's a good omen.”

Twilight tilted her head. “It is?”

“My dear Lady, sunlight disinfects. Now, what was this idea of yours?”

“To get the cleaning staff in here ASAP.” Twilight sneezed. “Ugh. Anyway, what do you know of mage guilds?”

Pride became grim. “They were outlawed two hundred years ago. Unicorns were abusing them to maintain a tribalist superiority.”

“Correct. But what if we could rectify that?”

He raised an eyebrow. ”As an earth pony, I find that impossible.”

“I'm not so sure. You see, there are some incredible earth ponies at Fort Earthborne. I saw General Stone take out a bunker emplacement on his own, by crumbling the earth below it with nothing but a stomp of his hooves.

“Now, I'm aware that not everypony is capable of such things. But most unicorns aren't especially powerful, either. Overall, I'm starting to think pegasi and earth ponies aren't as magically weak as some think. I'm actually thinking it's the opposite. The real difference is that we unicorns have an intuitive and flexible way to tap into our power.

“But what if we could level the playing field?” Twilight swiped her magic over the desk, clearing and cleaning it off. One by one, she put tiny dots of light on the surface, each representing a city or town of San Palomino. “Guilds, this time led by earth ponies and pegasi of our choosing, could establish themselves in towns, which in turn could protect and help grow the towns. Though, unlike before when they were quasi-authoritarian agencies, I have a different idea this time around.

“Each town faces unique issues, but all face the untamed wilds. There are numerous hazards in the desert, not least of which are the creatures therein. Instead of having the guilds be overglorified brute squads, this time I want them to be rescue teams!

“They could patrol near their host towns, rescuing ponies from heat stroke, sand traps, sand crabs, or any of the dangers nearby. Search and rescue, not enforcement. Or, if need be, town evacuation in the face of a disaster. All the while under the watchful eye of military representatives, and a caring Duke, of course.”

Pride stroked his chin. “I'm weary of it, to be honest. San Palomino is already rife with corruption. The justice system—”

“I'm not talking about the justice system. I'm talking about protecting towns, or at least the ponies in them.”

There was a pause. “I'm afraid I don't follow.”

Twilight pulled out a blank sheet of paper from the disused desk. “I'm afraid, Duke, that ponies aren't your only worry. I found… something in the desert. Something awful. And, I'm worried it may have been the tip of the iceberg.”

Luna chafed in her seat, shifting around while waiting for the Empyreal Hall to get their collective rears together and get on with the next docket. Celestia had told them they had thirty minutes for their break, not forty.

She scoffed at herself. Like you're one to talk. Calm down, mare. Just because you feel the torture Esteem is going through doesn't mean you should take it out on them. She then remembered who she was talking about. Okay, you should take it out on them, that's just not the reason why.

“Order! Order! This Council is now resuming its session!” Charlemane banged his gavel, now on a new piece of wood. “Next docket is—”

“Pardon me, Chairpony,” Celestia said, now with another fresh pot of water for tea. “There's an urgent matter to attend to. Would the Sergeant at Arms please seal the chambers?”

Lights clicked off, guards led the ponies here for the next docket out, and doors sealed themselves afterwards. Spotlights illuminated the members, but beyond them was darkness.

“I assume we aren't talking about tariffs?” Charlemane asked, folding his forelegs.

“No, Chairpony. Sister?”

Here we go. Luna spread her wings, gliding to the floor of the chambers. Her skin crawled at the idea of what she had to do, but it was necessary. “Fillies and Gentlecolts of the Empyreal Hall, what I am about to tell you is currently classified to Indigo-Cosmic-Magick. Under no circumstances are you to share this with anypony without authorization from the Crown, under penalty of treason.”

She picked the paper in her binder, and put it on the floor. Magic rhythms and words poured from her horn and lips, summoning a spell long since lost to time. Ink on the page glowed blue, and rose from its prison. It grew like a tumor, bubbling out with belches until a form of a beast two stories tall hovered above her.

It was the spitting image of Twilight's drawing.

“This, Dukes and Duchesses of the Empyreal Hall, is a grave threat to Equestria.” Luna eyed them, locking eye contact with a few. Even Naponion was paying attention. “It is a scale representation of what is known as a Titan. What you see before you is but a fraction of the size of the real thing.”

“Surely you're joking!” Suisaiga looked like she lost several shades of colour. “That would make it half as tall as Mount Canterlot!”

“I am not. Fortunately, these beings have been heretofore nonexistent for the last four thousand years.”

“The Chaos War.” Charlemane wiped his brow with a neckerchief. “Summerlands preserve us.”

“Just so, Chairpony.” Luna continued her spell, summoning an outline of Equestria. “They used to be much more common, even before Discord. He wiped them all out for unknown reasons. Now, however, one was detected here, in Northern San Palomino.”

She lit a star at its approximate location, and continued. “Worse, intelligence gathered by Twilight Sparkle during her recent mission indicates there have been yet further sightings. Much as I don't want to admit it, the Titans have returned.

“Our saving grace is time. Titans do not usually approach populated areas… But that's not a rule. Eventually, one will attack our ponies, and you can trust me when I say their destructive potential is catastrophic.”

Bismare fidgeted with her pen. “Can we destroy them with the Bellerophon’s cannons?”

Luna shook her head. “Our current weaponry is not up to the task of engaging a Titan. Twilight Sparkle fought one head-on, and used powerful, devastating magic the likes of which haven't been seen from a unicorn in centuries. She only gave it moderate injuries. It was only by a stroke of purest luck that it was felled. Other ponies were fighting it, and an extremely fortunate citizen was able to destroy it from the inside after she was eaten.

“Obviously, that is not a reliable method of attack. Only some Titans can be destroyed in such a manner. Had it been different, that pony would merely have been digested.”

The Duke of the Bittish Isles was clutching his top hat and shaking. Such was the presence of a Titan. Alicorns had a limited ability to affect their ponies into submission, but it had many limitations. Titans could chill ponies to the bone, or possibly drive them mad from an encounter. Even the image of one was enough to terrify.

Blueblood raised his hoof like a schoolcolt. “How do we defeat them? For that matter, how many are there?”

Luna exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. “In the old days, they sometimes simply appeared in the wilderness when we weren't looking. Their numbers fluctuate, and always replenish.

“As for defeating them, that fell to an alicorn.”

“You.” Charlemane's word rang like a hammer on steel. “You were the one who did it, weren't you? You're going to ask for your blade back.”

I wasn’t usually the one, but there’s no reason to reveal that here. Luna closed her eyes. “Yes. That is what I must ask of you.” I already have Selene back, ingrates. But I can't keep it a secret and fight the Titans.

Suisaiga glared at her. “And how do we know you won't turn it on us?”

Silence draped over the chambers.

“What? That is what we're all thinking.”

“No, Watercolour, that's not it.” Charlemane locked eyes with Luna. “Think about it. If she really fought these things, then whether she has her sword is immaterial. If she were planning on turning on us, she's already powerful enough to wipe us all out with a mere thought.”

Their reactions churned Luna's stomach. “Such is truth, my little pony.” But you knew that already, Charlemane. So why the show?

“Then why do you need your sword?” Bismare asked. “If you're that powerful?”

Well, what do you know, an intelligent question from Bismare. Luna pointed to the image of the titan. “I am afraid that what you see here is a… juvenile, for lack of a better term. It's much smaller and weaker than most.”

Somepony retched, though Luna wasn't sure who. She continued, “If one is spotted too close to a city, even I will have great difficulty defeating it without substantial collateral damage. Selene, my blade, would go a long way to avoiding that.”

A quiet stillness overtook the Empyreal Hall. Luna sat in it, feeling Esteem's torture wracking her back all the while. Yet she didn't so much as twitch.

Charlemagne audibly swallowed. “All in favour of the return of bonded blade Selene to Princess Luna, raise your hoof.”

All the ponies present raised their hooves.

“The decision is unanimous.” Celestia banged her gavel. “Selene will be restored to Princess Luna. However, I believe that it is not all you require, is it, sister?”

“It is not.” Luna pointed to her map. “Titans appear in unpopulated areas. We are woefully ill-prepared to detect them early. I am requesting that you grant me command over a scouting force. I currently estimate I'll need approximately three thousand pegasi to be fully effective — but that number may change. In a pinch, one thousand may suffice, but a Titan could then slip through.”

Blueblood leaned forward. “And you can train them to fight the Titans?”

“Fight? No, that would be madness.” Luna put her hoof on her chest. “I will bear that burden for Equestria. Their task would be to locate, track, and report. The fighting would be left to me.”

“You'll have them.” Charlemane sighed and rubbed his eyes. “But they won't be Night Guard. They'll fall under joint operational command of General Blaze and yourself.”

“That is acceptable.” Luna broke the spell keeping the titan of ink in the air, and it turned to dust. “I thank you for your time, honourable Council. I shall get to work immediately.”

Author's Note

Chapter time!

March wasn't very productive. But it was better than February. So things are getting better with time.

I'm always a bit nervous about posting a chapter, but I wasn't too nervous on this one. Which meant that my subconscious needed to inform me that not being nervous is the best reason to be nervous.

My subconscious is a jerk.

Hope you all liked this one, and thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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What We Get Ourselves Into

“How did your meeting go?”

Twilight turned her head to see Trixie coming in beside her as they made their way through the castle halls. “Very well. I think that our newest Duke will be on our side in most things. He's also taking the job, and the presence of Titans, very seriously. How did your ‘meeting’ go?”

“I don't know him as well as you do, but I think it's safe to say Spike's still sulking, but slowly coming around. He also said that a pony came by looking for you and said Intelligentsia wants to talk. She's in the Night Guard area of the War Room.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “Odd that she'd be in there… though I have to say, I haven't been there yet myself. Well, best not to keep her waiting. Come on, let's go.”

Trixie blinked. “Me too?”

“Yup. You're a member of my Guard now, so you need to know what I'm doing and why. And Rainbow is coordinating what I need back at the pirate base, so you're all I have here.

“After we're done with that, though, I want to visit Rose, see how she's doing. Hopefully she'll be awake and lucid soon and I can ask her some questions.”

“You're the boss…” Trixie chuckled. “You know, I never imagined I'd be saying those words to you. The me from a year ago would think me insane.”

“A little over a year ago, I never imagined I'd be Grand Mage.” Twilight pulled open the door to the War Room portal and stepped inside.

“Royalty A—”

“As you were,” Twilight said, pre-empting the guard on duty, striding through the room as ponies went back to work.

She passed the alcoves and cubbies, rounded the square hall in the back and punched the button for the elevator.

“And just why is that mare wearing Evening Guard armor again?”

Twilight grinned like a madmare at hearing the voice behind her. She couldn't help it. That was just the tiny leak of a grin compared to ocean of smug satisfaction being held back by an epic dam of training and etiquette from growing up in Canterlot. Something had to give.

“Captain Strike.” Twilight had to sit down to hold back the snicker. “Why would it be unusual for her to be wearing it?”

“Why would it be usual for her to be wearing it? She's the target of an internal investigation.”

Twilight's smile vanished, and she snap-turned to see a Captain who just realized he screwed up. He had already shifted his weight back, and Twilight leaned into that. “I wasn't informed of this. What, exactly, it's she being investigated for?”

Captain Strike adjusted his tie, possibly to loosen it up around the lump Twilight hoped he had in his throat. “Intelligence obtained in a background check revealed that her family has had extensive ties to the Nightmare Moon cult. In other words, terrorists.”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “Whoa.”

Twilight motioned towards her friend. “Well, she seems surprised at that. But given what I know about her background, you're going to have to come up with some hard evidence that she is involved with them.”

The Captain scoffed. “Hmph. The investigation is ongoing. We've been able to confirm that her grandmother was a member, and that her mother most likely had involvement as well.”

Twilight was about to say something, but Trixie put a hoof on her shoulder to balance herself. “Trixie?”

“Sorry. A whole lot of stuff in Trixie's childhood just started to make a disturbing amount of sense.” She straightened herself, and glared at the Captain. “But I ran away from home before I even had my cutie mark. Getting beaten by a drunk mother can drive a filly to that.

“Regardless, I never knew of their involvement, and I haven't seen them since I left. I have never had contact with the cult. Do whatever background checks you want.”

Captain Strike lowered his voice. “Are you sure about that? There's a long period where you had no permanent address, and after your humiliation, you were in dire straights. If you have something to admit, now is the time.”

Trixie shook her head. “My life belongs to Grand Mage Sparkle. If I had ever been involved with the Nightmare Moon cult, I would tell her. I owe her everything.”

The Captain took a step back in shock. “Your life belongs to… You didn't…”

Twilight stepped in between them. “If you have any further questions for Specialist Lulamoon of the Evening Guard, you can direct them to my lawyer. Also, I will be expecting that regular updates on this ‘background check’ be delivered to my quarters. Who knows, maybe you might find something that I can use to track them down.

“But if you hinder her from carrying out her duties as an Evening Guard, or otherwise harass her ever again, you can expect a court-martial. Dismissed, Captain.”

The Captain straightened his tie again, and bowed. “Yes, Your Ladyship.”

Twilight waited until he was out of sight before mashing the elevator button again, and the doors opened right away this time.

“Twilight, thank you.”

Twilight softened her face back into a smile. “It was my pleasure, Trixie. Let me know if he gives you any more trouble, or if you can remember anything of use to track down the Nightmare Moon cult.

“For now, let's go see what Luna's little command center in the War Room is like.”

The “War Room” wasn't an entirely appropriate name for where they were. It wasn't a singular room, but an entire ten-floor complex built inside Mount Canterlot. The bottom level, labelled with Luna's cutie mark on the elevator button, was reserved exclusively for the Night Guard. The crescent moon button even lit up with a foggy glow when Twilight pressed it.

Trixie sat while the lift dropped down. “I hope they don't mind us just dropping in. Princess Luna seems like a pony who plays things close to her chest.”

“Eh. We'll be fine. If Intelligentsia is there, they’ll be expecting us.”

The lift came to a halt, and the doors opened to an extremely gruff-looking acolyte eyeing them.

Twilight eyed him right back.

He smiled and nodded, stepping aside to let them through.

The Night Guard’s headquarters was unlike the rest of the complex. Gone were the warm colours of beige paint and brown wood. Blues mixed with and into dark greys took center stage in Luna's domain. No fluorescent lights were to be found anywhere, and the magic torches with purplish-blue lights kept things darker than any other office building would dare to have them. Carpet was nowhere to be found, leaving bare stone to be the star of the show on the floors, walls, and high ceiling.

Despite being for the Night Guard, most of the ponies inside were from RGIS. Only a couple wore the dark armor of Luna's personal forces. A quick listen to one of the ongoing conversations confirmed Twilight's suspicion: they were there to coordinate efforts to stop threats to the Princess.

The center had no alcoves, and instead had a large table in the middle. Oddly, there was no paper or cloth map on it. Instead, behind it, on the wall, was a massive stained glass window. Light shown through it, projecting an image of Equestria onto the table. Looking at it was like looking at the world from far, far above the clouds.

One of the Night Guard unicorns moved a piece of the window with his magic. The piece moved through the other parts of the glass as if they were liquid,. He moved a second piece, and then it was the solid. The whole thing was mutable, changing the continent on the table as a god would shape the earth.

The pieces moved, though, weren't mountains or plains. Rather, they merely highlighted certain areas. At least, that was all they did until he cleared out an entire third of the map. Piece by piece, he quickly assembled a new map, this one of the terrain of Manhattan.

Trixie whistled. “Now that's some serious magic.”

“Luna is very good at aesthetic manipulations.” Twilight scratched her chin. “But it's unlikely this can be accurate at a low level.”

The stallion at the window smiled. “You'd be surprised.” He picked up a nearby red-handled paintbrush and wiped it a few times over one piece. Each time, the area zoomed in, eventually looking like a photograph of the city taken maybe a few hundred meters over the tops of the skyscrapers.

Twilight blinked. “Huh. Let me guess, the pieces of stained glass are mated to various pictures rather than actually painted a particular color.”

“I've no idea how it's made, ma'am. I just know how to use it.” He pointed to a door to Twilight's right, which was one of four on the side walls. “Intelligentsia is waiting for you in there.”

“Thanks.” Twilight pressed the panel on the door. There was a hiss, after which the door slid open. Inside was a sleepy Intelligentsia at a mahogany desk, and a mountain of papers. Trixie came in behind Twilight and closed the door.

“The one universal constant of government: paperwork.” Intelligentsia yawned. “The Captain is on my back to finish my backlog, so giving responsibility for your protection detail up to Feint Indication just replaced one kind of work for another.”

Twilight's eyes twitched and she started putting the documents in a slightly more organized pile. “I could order you to go to bed again, if you need.”

“Let me get through some of this first. It's not going away anytime soon. Besides, we have some business to address first.

“To start us off, we're going to be moving our non-potato pirate to a hidden location as soon as we're confident we have somewhere the Majestics can't get to, even if he has a geas still on him somehow.

“Speaking of, the presence of the geas on the pirates is a firm link to the Majestics. Also, remember that pony we found killed by the Templars? The one we sent you to San Palomino to find links to in the first place? I can buy that he was meant to be a distraction for you. If he was successful in luring you to the other side of the country, Farriér might have been able to sort his crap undisturbed.

“But when he was intercepted by the Templars, beaten to death, and left for us to find, the Majestics probably labelled Farriér as ‘expendable.’ It all fits.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “I really hate being used like that. But I doubt they foresaw me leaving the base intact, or getting Badlands before he could be neutralized.”

Trixie flicked her hair. “Well, with Earthen Pride coming in as the new Duke, I think that a lot of the shady shenanigans in that Duchy are going to come to a swift end.”

Twilight started ruffling through Intelligentsia’s papers. “That's something, at least. Do we have anything more from the pirate base?”

“We will, I promise you that. But we're sifting through a literal mountain of evidence, so it's going to take time. We’re going to be sending a lot of it out to other Duchies for processing, as San Palomino is not anywhere near up to the task by themselves.”

Twilight looked back in the general direction of the desert she'd been in. “Yeah, about that. There was team of Crown agents I placed under suspicion and observation. Did you hear anything about that?”

Intelligentsia adjusted her glasses. “Yes. Squeakers is actually a friend of mine, so I had to recuse myself of any direct involvement in the investigation. I did, however, make sure to get updates on it.

“The officer in charge of the investigation swooped in and took a lot of her evidence from past investigations away and arranged for Luna to teleport it to Manehattan—arguably the best forensics team in existence for re-evaluation. If there was any shady business, the labs in Manehattan will find it. But from what I hear, they haven't found anything yet.”

Twilight's stomach churned at the pain on Intelligentsia’s face. “Gen, I'm sorry. But you know I had to.”

“I'm honestly still in shock about it.” She sipped from a cup of cold coffee. “I know her. She'd never do something like that, unless…”

“Unless compelled.” Trixie finished for her. “Either by geas or some other means.”

“Yeah.” Twilight dropped her gaze down to the floor. “I'm honestly feeling the same way about Babs. Just, hoping she wasn't involved, too. But we’ll get to the bottom of it. It's all exposed now, so it's just a matter of time.”

Intelligentsia sighed. “True enough…”

Silence fell over the trio for a long, painful series of breaths. Only after they had time to feel the depths of their unsettled hearts did a sound break their focus. It certainly helped that the sound was a perfectly out of place “meow.”

All three mares blinked, and Twilight added a flat “What?”

“Neutrino!” Intelligentsia reached under the table and pulled out a jet-black cat. “How did you— wait, look who I'm talking to. It's not even worth asking.”

Twilight's internal mental committee members all stood up and yelled “Kitty!”

Trixie cooed and inched closer to the feline. “Aww, you have a cat?”

“He's not mine.” Intelligentsia plopped the little thing on the table, and he proceeded to lick his leg. “He's the unofficial mascot of the Night Guard. This is his home, and he's the stealthiest cat in the world. He's not supposed to be let out of Luna's floor unsupervised, and yet, he's made it as far as her quarters undetected. I guess that's why they named him ‘Neutrino,’ but damn if his propensity to show up in random spots isn't unnerving.”

Twilight held out a hoof to pet him, but froze a few centimetres away. “Does he bite? He is the mascot of the feared Night Guard.”

“No, he's actually one of the sweetest cats I've ever—”

Twilight pulled him into a cuddle and scratched his widdle head, and Trixie had a turn not long after, earning them both some adorable purrs. The verdict was in: this tom was a total cuddleslut.

Twilight took Neutrino back and gave him another cuddle. “Speaking of the Night Guard HQ, what are you doing down here instead of up on floor one?”

Intelligentsia waved at her stacks of documents. “Like I said, the Captain has been riding my rear lately. I'm pretty sure he has it out for me, since my career has been linked to your brother's. So I became friends with Cardinal Stiletto, and she lets me down here when I need some quiet time to work.”

“Ha!” Trixie tilted her hat and leaned back in her chair. “Big, bad Dual Strike is afraid of the Night Guard.”

Intelligentsia smirked. “More that they can deny him access to this level and there isn't a thing he can do about it but whine.”

“Hehe.” Twilight hid a giggle behind a hoof. “Well, let me know if he gets to be more than you can handle, and I'll run interference for you.”

“Your brother told me the same thing.” Intelligentsia pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Apparently his best friend, Arctic Snow, knows Dual Strike really well, and is skilled at getting under his skin.”

Twilight smiled, and in her mind, it looked just like Celestia’s. “Oh? I'll have to remember that nugget for later.

“Last thing, then. How are you coming with choosing the ponies to take over some of your duties?”

Intelligentsia picked up Neutrino and held him in her embrace. “Well, I told you about Feint. I'm still struggling with the other two. It's just… I'm not sure, actually. How to put it in words.”

Trixie chuckled. “Oh, but I do. You're the best, and you can't stand seeing these foals screw up things that are so important. You can't let go.”

Intelligentsia glared. “I should be mad at you, but you called me the best, so now I have to just be mildly irritated.”

Trixie leaned back in her chair. “It's a gift!”

“She has a point, though, Gen. You have to let some things go.” Twilight laughed at herself and slapped her cheek. “And I'm a huge hypocrite for saying it, because just a bit ago I struggled to do the same thing, but it's true all the same. You're a First Lieutenant, which means managing the ones who do the grunt work, not taking it all on yourself.

“Ultimately the decision is yours, but you have to decide. Do you want to stay at your current rank and embrace being a leader? If so, you'll have to give up being an analyst first and foremost, and be a manager of the ones doing the work. If you just want to be an analyst, I can make it happen, but that means giving up your rank.”

Intelligentsia sighed. “I know all that. I just didn't want to have to face it all laid out. But now that you've said it, I don't have a choice.”

“Let us know sooner rather than later.” Twilight pushed away from the desk and stood up with a stretch. “Or Celestia will choose for you. Come on, Trixie. Let's go visit Rose.”

Twilight turned the corner with Trixie close behind, and came to a stop in front of the double doors leading to the Castle's hospital. She'd have just gone right through, but Celestia was sitting in front of them.

“Hello, Twilight. I thought you'd be by to visit your new friend, so I thought I'd meet you here. How are you holding up?”

Twilight bowed. “About as well as can be expected. But if you're here, does that mean something is wrong with Rose?”

Celestia shook her head and smiled. “Not at all. In fact, I was going to offer an opportunity for her. As I understand it, she led a desperate, one-mare fight against the pirates assaulting the mine you were visiting, and she was under your employ at the time. Is that correct?”

Twilight nodded.

“I see. Please, follow me.” Celestia pushed open one of the doors with a wing, and the trio stepped through, walking down the halls.

Twilight couldn't help but notice the path to Rose's new room was completely empty, save for a few Day Guard. When they finally reached the room, across from a suspiciously empty nurse's station, Celestia stopped and stood outside it.

“Twilight, there's a special place we have hidden away that's dedicated specifically to treating soldiers of Equestria who suffer a great burden in service to the Crown. It's nestled inside a steep mountain range, far away from all contact with the rest of the world.

“There, our heroes may recover in peace and safety, and with the best mental health care in the world. It's especially built for psychiatric treatment to aid those suffering from harm to the mind, as I believe has happened to Ms. Rose. If you approve, I will take her there.”

“Of course!” Twilight peeked through the door’s window to catch a glimpse of a sleeping, but bound, Rose. “She deserves it, I think. And, hopefully, if they can find a good treatment for her, we can use that knowledge to help others hurt by Everfree Elixir.”

“My thoughts exactly. Come, they're expecting us.” Celestia pulled open the door, and the trio stepped inside to gather around the sleeping mare. Light washed over them, and when it left, they were standing on a decorated marble floor.

The Seal of the Royal Sisters was embellished on a circular emblem, inside of which was a starfield made of gemstones. The border was actual gold, and the marble beyond it, of quality seen only in the palace itself.

Crystal pillars not only held up the ceiling, but glowed and hummed with a kind of music that plucked strings in Twilight's soul. It was as if somepony had injected her with anti-anxiety medication, and every tense bit in her muscles melted instantly.

Ahead of them was a waiting room, though calling it that was an insult. There were chairs and cushions, yes, but also a small stream running through it. The gentle gurgling of water only made things even more relaxing. A bamboo bridge covered it at one point, and Twilight found herself walking across it.

At the far end of the room was a ledge of a wall barely as high as her knees, and the rest was all window. At least, it would have been had there been glass there. Instead, it was simply open, and outside was a frigid land she'd never seen before. It stretched out to the horizon, and in every direction. There was nothing but more dark, frozen mountains made of naught but rock and snow and glacier. They were high up, and the facility was attached to a particularly tall mountain, as she could see over most of the others. The air was cool and crisp, but not near as cold or thin as it should have been.

Twilight surmised the wards on the place had something to do with that, as she could feel their energy without even trying. Magic saturated the air, and not just from the protections placed there by the princesses. Even standing under a vent belching warm air, she felt a slight chill dancing along her skin. “We're over an ice krene, aren't we?”

“Indeed.” Celestia finished signing some paperwork and gave the clipboard to a nurse in pink scrubs. “There, she's signed in. She'll be safe here; nopony other than myself and Luna know where we are. In fact, I personally bring supplies here via teleportation once per week, and the staff live on site. She'll have round-the-clock care, and I have hoof-picked every single pony that works here.”

“Trixie likes it.” Trixie took one of the candies from a dish on the nearby nurse’s station. “I would vacation here if it didn't mean being injured or having my mind nearly destroyed. I've seen resort hotels that weren't this nice.”

“I appreciate you doing this, Tia.” Twilight watched as the nurses carted Rose away, presumably to a room. “I know she wasn't military.”

“Perhaps, but she was with you at the time, and acted heroically. Hopefully she'll be awake and lucid soon, and you can visit her then. I’ve also passed your theory about her pills along to RGIS, and I understand Luna took an interest in the case. As I understand it, we already have solid leads. We should have the fake doctor who supplied Rose with the poison captured at the end of the day.” Celestia extended a wing to signal them to stay close, and lit her horn. “For now, allow me take you wherever you feel you need to be.”

“The pirate base.” Twilight took a spot next to Trixie and Celestia, and prepared herself to be plunged into the desert’s heat once again. “Now that the situation is stable, I want to help hunt for evidence.”

Not to mention see what's behind that wall…

Obsidian put away his intel report, stuffing it in the bag built into his armor. “This is the place. Moon Petal, scout around. Sable, with me.”

Moon Petal took off, and the blindfolded Sable lowered her head into a bow.

“As you command, High Cardinal,” Sable spoke with her usual smoky voice. “How shall we interact with the target?”

“I see no reason to give a fake doctor any leeway. We have a legal warrant to seize everything and arrest him and anypony associated with his enterprise. Restrain him at first sight.”

Obsidian eyed the building in front of him, nestled at the foot of a butte. Aside from the tin roof, it was well constructed for something in the desert of San Palomino. It was easily eighty kilometres away from the nearest settlement, and the terrain had hills everywhere. “Odd for a supposed doctor's office to be so far off the beaten path. Good place to stay out of sight.”

Sable Seer huffed. “He thinks he's outside the reach of our Sovereign, safe to harm her subjects to make a profit.”

Obsidian strode to the wooden door with the “walk-ins welcome” sign. “Let's educate this scumbag.” He pushed the handle, but it failed to click, and the door stayed put. “Oh, gee, locked. However shall we proceed?”

Sable tilted her head. “Cardinal? Are you well?”

Obsidian sighed. “One of these days, Sable, I'll teach you the ways of humor.”

“Cardinal, I found something.”

Obsidian put his hoof to his ear. “Go ahead, Petal.”

“There's a scout overlooking the building. He's eyeing you, but I don't think he's being employed by the good doctor.”

“What makes you say that?”

“His gear. I've seen Nightmare Night costumes that scream ‘pirate’ less than this. He's also armed with a flare gun, but that would be useless from this angle. Nopony in the office would be able to see a flare fired from there.

“Cardinal, I think we just interrupted a raid. Somepony knows what this guy is up to, and wants his supply. Five bits says an airship or pegasus raid is en route to crash our party.”

“Even better!” Obsidian licked his lips. “Taking out a drug dealer and a pirate gang? Must be my lucky day. Let them come, Petal. Hopefully they'll surround the place to give us a target rich environment.”

“And if it's an airship?”

“Then I have some new spells to test their defenses. After it's over, scare the scout away so he can spread the word: piracy is a dying industry in San Palomino.”

“Copy that, Cardinal. Go get ‘em!”

Obsidian grabbed hold of the door, pulling and twisting on it. The hinges cried out in warping agony, and the frame exploded into splinters as the door broke free of its place.

“Cardinal,” Sable said, eyebrow raised. “That door opens inward.”

“Not anymore it doesn't.” He tossed it aside and trotted into the lobby. Credit where due, he thought. Sure looks like a doctor's office. Inside was a room lined in wood panelling, thin carpet, and a musty odour. Cheap metal chairs circled the perimeter, and a coffee table resembling a solid block of painted wood even had old magazines piled on it. In the corner was another door next to a window that revealed a nurse's station.

“What is going on out there?! Who—” A mare with her mane in a bun and glasses necklace poked her head through the window. “What did you do to the—”

Obsidian lit his horn. “Diamond Light.” A magic circle flashed into life in front of him, shaped not by any conscious effort on Obsidian's part, but by the sheer speed with which the spell was cast. Before it had even achieved full brightness, golden panels of shimmering glass burst forth from under the mare, covering her in the sharp panels.

“Wha-ah…” The mare struggled to speak, her sharp inhale cutting her chest on the restraining spell.

Obsidian held up the relevant paper. “Warrant. Night Guard. You're boned. Stay put.”

The mare was still in a state of stock when he grabbed hold of the other door and yanked that one out, too, with similar results.

“Cardinal, I believe that one was unlocked.”

“It sure is.” He winked. “Come on. Let's see what the doctor has to say for himself.”

Behind the doorway was a small hallway with several other doors labelled as exam rooms, and the walls had the same dark wood panelling as the waiting room. One door had a stallion’s head poking out, and the bowler hat and moustache fit the warrant description perfectly. A quick “Yipe!” later, and said head zipped back into the room, followed by a “click.”

“Oh, come on.” Obsidian trotted to the door and wrapped his magic around the handle. “I'm basically a professional at breaking down doors at this point.”

“Cardinal.”

Obsidian sighed. “What is it, Sable?”

Sable smiled and tapped the wall next to the door.

“Oh, good idea! See, you're getting it!” Obsidian lit his horn, and eyed the piece of wall.

SLAM!

One square barrier plunged into the wall, cutting clean through it like a blade.

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!

Three more followed suit, forming a square containing a chunk of wall that was now detached from the rest. Another barrier slammed flush with the cutout, crashing in like a wrecking ball and leaving a passageway into the room.

Obsidian took a few steps inside. “Eh, what's up, doc?”

KRA-KOW!

Twenty little bolts of energy screamed out in a cone, hungry to rend flesh off bone and shred internal organs like tissue paper. The flew through the air, sights firmly set on Obsidian Armor’s chest. One by one, they arrived a hoof length away, shimmered on a glowing plane of hard light, and vanished.

Obsidian turned up one side of his lips in a smirk. “Ye-ah, that's not going to work. You didn't think I wouldn't put up my barriers before going into enemy territory, did you?”

The pegasus doctor dropped his rear to the floor, mouth agape as the cannon on his back smoked. “H-how?”

“How did I get in? Through the wall, dummy.” He shot another barrier into the mechanism of the doctor’s gun, sabotaging it permanently. “After all, some damn fool locked the door.

“Now then, Sable, if you would?”

Sable opened a cabinet to reveal a pile of white-painted glass pill bottles. She poured the contents of one out on the countertop, spilling around a hundred little white pills. “Description from the warrant is accurate.”

She took out a small bottle of water, and sprinkled some of her indicator powder into it, followed by one of the pills. It fizzed like baking soda in vinegar and quickly dyed the water purple.

“Confirmed: this is powdered Elixir.”

Obsidian chuckled. “Wow, you're so boned.”

The doctor was shaking so hard the bowler on his head was audibly knocking on his head. “H-how did you find… Nevermind, I'm dead. Farriér is going to have my hide.”

“I wouldn't worry too much about him at this point.” Obsidian pulled out a pair of sealing hobbles and put them on the doctor, then pulled the gun off of him. “My little sister burned him to ash. If you don't want to share his fate, come along quietly.”

He stayed quiet as he was led out, followed by the nurse. A few minutes later, they had a stack of pill bottles ready for transport as evidence, and the Elixir and the two suspects were locked behind a soundproof, two-hoof-thick shield dome, mercifully complete with a chilling spell to counteract the heat.

“Cardinal, smoke signal confirmed. Royal Police are en route to take control of the scene. ETA thirty minutes.”

“Got it, Acolyte Moon Petal. Hang back in case—”

“Cardinal, the scout fired an IR flare. I don't think he sees me, but there are two wings of pegasi inbound from the canyon, plus an airship. It's an old model, detached airbag type.”

“Copy that. Neutralize the scout for the fight, then stay hidden for a flank attack in case it becomes necessary.” Obsidian lit his horn and backed up to where his two prisoners were bound, with Sable close behind. He modified the spell, putting up a dome of a shield around them all. “Sable, be ready with suppression fire.”

Sable reached behind her and pulled her silver bow off her back. It was a solid piece of metal, with a single gem focusing core in the middle, and no string. For her purposes, no string was necessary, nor charge in the crystal. “Ready to engage.”

Moon Petal came to light next to the enemy scout without making a sound, and could have even if her Night Guard armor didn’t enhance her stealth abilities. Without so much as a bothered pebble, the wind of her wings died out, and there were no clinks of metal as she took out a pair of hobbles. A quick lunge and a snap later, the scout was caught by the hind legs.

“What the?”

She flopped on him. Bodies made contact, belly to back, cloth to armor plating.

“Off!”

“Hiya!” She gleefully jammed her words in his ear while kicking away the flare gun.

He squirmed like a caterpillar in a bird’s mouth. “What, what are you—”

“Naughty naughty!” Moon Petal pulled out a rag and tied it around his mouth. A warm, familiar thrill traveled down her body as he fought back, trying to buck her or smack her with his wings. “Aw, yeah,” she moaned. “That's the stuff!”

Muffled yells desperately cracked his voice box, and Moon Petal could feel it happen, each little wiggle a sensual protest against inevitability that made the mare giggle like a school filly.

“You know just how to treat a girl, I see!” She clamped down hard with a foreleg around his neck. “But the main event hasn't even started yet.”

He blew a contemptuous snort out his nose, and motioned his head to her Cardinal below.

“Oh, you think your little pirate friends are going to save you? Sorry, but they're never going to make it past us. That stallion down there? Did you think him a nobody?”

Moon Petal felt his sweat start leaking out on her chest, and could see the hot nerves light up in his ear. She laughed, and put her mouth next to his ear. “That there isn't an Acolyte like me. That's the Prince of the Lost.”

His heart pounded against her, like it was fighting to get her off him, too.

“That's right, little pirate. You're up against not just the Night Guard, but the High Cardinal himself. The most talented combatant of Equestria since Grand Mage Stellar Horizon. The only non-alicorn to ever defeat Grand General Blueblood in single combat. The stallion nicknamed ‘The Invincible Shining Armor.’”

She smacked her lips, feasting on his shaking fear. “He hates that nickname, but I can assure you, he lives up to it. And we have VIP seats! So watch, so you can tell everypony you meet, never to cross the Sovereign Princess of the Night.”

Spirits, hear my plea: show me the battlefield.

Sixteen dots of blue lit up in the mind-eye of Sable Seer, complete with trajectories, along with one large ship and the colour of sadness. Do not worry. I know you can't hurt the ship very well. The High Cardinal will take care of it. Now, who is their leader?

One dot became the colour of anger. I see. Do not target her. The Cardinal will want to take that one alive. The dot blinked in acknowledgement.

The leader landed in front of them, brandishing a cored cannon on her back. The other fifteen dots had similar weaponry. The ship came to a stop well behind the pirates, three large cannons aiming at the Night Guards in a broadside.

I see. Red bandana on her head, peach coat, blond hair. No, I do not recognize her.

“Well, look what we have here!” The mare licked the left cannon on her back. “A whole pile of Everfree pills, courtesy of Farriér's corpse and the good doctor. And some high-value hostages as a bonus!”

The pirates all laughed, as did Obsidian.

The Cardinal took a few steps towards the barrier. “I see no reason we can't be civil about this. Come, let's discuss the terms of your surrender.”

There was a beat, then all the pirates broke into uproarious laughter.

“Us, surrender?” The enemy was bowled over with laughter.

“I accept!” Obsidian beamed, and the laughter died. He scanned the crowd, meeting the eyes of all of them. “After all, you're hopelessly outmatched. No shame in surrendering to save your lives. If you surrender, I will guarantee your safety. If you don’t, odds are none of you will be leaving this alive.”

The enemy mare stepped up to the shield. “Are you stupid? Try counting. You're outnumbered thirty to two. One word from me and those guns dust you and this barrier.”

Obsidian smiled. “So you're the captain, I take it?”

She spat on the shield. “Damn bucking right I'm the captain. Ain't I boys?”

The pirates howled in unison.

“See?”

“Good to know.” His horn pinged with a single twinkle, and waves of energy rippled through the shield, spinning around them in a dance. A second later, the pirate captain was inside the perimeter.

“Wha-ah the the buck? Oh, clever trick.” The pirate pointed her gun at them. “Not that it's going to do you any good.”

Raise. Aim. Fire. Total elapsed time was zero-point-one seconds, according to the spirits. Sable stood, bow raised and smoking, and the enemy's gun barrel melted and twisted.

“What…” The captain scooted back, bumping into the barrier. “How did…” The colour of anger flashed on the mare's face. “You two have some nerve. Doesn't matter. We still outnumber you, we still outgun you. Surrender, or we light you up.”

“You don't understand what's going on here.” Obsidian flashed his rank lapel at her. “My name is Obsidian Armor. I am the High Cardinal of the Night Guard. I am ten times more powerful than all of you and your airship put together, and if you test me in combat, I will kill you. All of you. This is your final warning.”

The Captain licked her teeth. “All I see is a law man that needs to be put in his place.”

“Feuerviper.” Obsidian’s horn twinkled again, and a snake of violet magic burst out of the ground, coiled around the captain, and sank its fangs in.

Most ponies would scream at the pain of the spell, or even pass out. Sable turned her head ever so slightly in respect for the mare who stood there and took it without so much as a yip.

“That all you got?” She spat at them in defiance, but it fell short, and the pain was laid bare in her voice. “I've been tortured by Farriér. You're nothing. Boys, educate him.”

Gun fire flooded the desert in a hailstorm, each bolt bouncing off the shield like they were rocks tossed by foals. Heavy blasts from the ship put cracks into it, but not enough.

Obsidian sighed, and lit his horn. Violet magic turned to navy blue, and the sound of a monster could be heard outside the shield and under the ship, etching a magic circle in the desert with its claws in the span of a couple seconds.

“Gothic Blade.”

The sunset vanished and the ground under them all turned jet black as a sword of purest violet flames erupted from the circle, splitting clouds miles above the ground before anypony could even flinch at the heat. Thunder overtook the desert valley, and two huge pieces of what was once a single ship fell to the ground, with one side detonating, only to have its explosion devoured by the sword. All of the fire magic in the earth had been sucked out through the circle, sacrificed to make the blade, a skill very few had ever mastered.

While the pirates were staring in shock at the vanishing blade, Sable aimed her bow upwards. Spirits, concussive rounds, full spread. Dozens of little stars shot out of her bow, soaring miles into the sky and raining down just as fast. Little pops and booms dug small craters in the desert sands, and the pirates scattered like foals.

“Stay focused, damn you all!” The captain screamed over the cacophony. “Get him, he's right there!”

Obsidian Armor vanished from where she was pointing.

“Where’d he g—”

Six more pirates unlucky enough to have lined up in a row were falling down, likely all dead before their slayer reappeared at the other end of the line.

Three other pirates got a line on him, and pressed the fire bit on their guns.

“Voided.”

A blank barrier appeared between Obsidian and the guns, swallowing up the bolts. The High Cardinal put his hoof on the barrier. “Shred.”

Bolts spewed out from the shield, mauling all three pirates in their path.

Three of the remaining five pirates backed up into a group of four, flank to flank, to cover every possible angle of attack. They didn't realize the fourth was Obsidian, horn lit, eyeing them over his shoulder.

“Donnergott.”

A tsunami of blue light crashed over them, reaching higher than a mountain and blasting the charred forms of the pirates over the butte behind them.

The remaining two pirate pegasi took off and flew for their lives, never looking back. Thus, they didn't see it coming when two bladed barriers sliced through their gun packs like melted butter. The force still knocked them out of the air, and when they still tried to fly, they ran headlong into a barrier wall that sprang to life just inches from their nose.

“Feuerviper.” Two more snakes of power burst from the ground, wrapping up the pirates as they fell and crashed into the desert below.

Obsidian turned and trotted back to the dome, dispelling it as he arrived. He towered over the pirate captain, lowering his head to get his eyes as close to the mare's as possible. “I. Warned. You.”

The mare was frozen in fear, mouth open, eyes locked in the wreckage of the ship even as tears started to fill them.

Sable put away her bow. She could taste the anger of Obsidian Armor, so bright was his outline of rage. The spirits themselves were weak with terror. “Orders, High Cardinal?”

“Check for survivors. Triage protocol. Save who you can. Hopefully the smoke and light put a sense of urgency into the Royal Police teams, which means they should be here in a few minutes. If we're lucky, we'll have a half dozen survivors. I managed to avoid instant-killing cuts on a few of them, but they'll still bleed out or die from shock if we don't get help here soon.”

The pirate captain whimpered. “Y-you…” Tears streamed down her face, and she never turned away from the wreckage. “W-who, or what, are you?”

“I told you,” he growled. “I am High Cardinal Obsidian Armor, Guardian of the Night.”

Twilight wiped the sweat off her brow and checked off the next item on her checklist, silently thanking the engineers that designed the Bellerophon with showers. If she had been without one during the last few days out in the desert, she doubted she would have been able to stand her own smell by now.

“Um, Twilight?”

She turned around, finding a sheepish Spike with his wings drooping at his sides.

He bowed his head, avoiding looking her in the eyes. “I'm sorry, Twilight. You were right, I should have stayed out of the battle. Or given the sword to somepony to give to you.”

Twilight grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. “You're forgiven, Spike. I was just mad because I love you. We'll work on this together, okay? Like I said, you'll always be my number one assistant.”

Spike sniffled and nodded.

“Okay.” Twilight let go before she got his acidic tears on her. I’m standing in the middle of the San Palomino desert at noon. Last thing I need right now are acid burns to go along with the sunburns. “Want to help me organize the evidence to have it shipped to Manhattan?”

Spike nodded. “Okay. How much is left?”

“We honestly haven't been able to mo—” Twilight cringed and fell to the ground, her muscles locking her in place as hooks that didn't exist plunged into her skin all up and down her legs. It was as if her nerves were being pulled out of her body to use as strings on a marionette.

“Twilight? Twilight, are you okay?! Answer me!”

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!” Twilight cried out with her mind, and her armor deployed over her skin. There was a click, and air was pushed in through Aurora’s new filter. Slowly, Twilight's world of crimson pain faded away, replaced by one with medics looking for latches on her armor.

“What… What happened?” Twilight rubbed her head through her helmet. “That hurt… I've never felt anything like that…”

“I don't know!” Spike's voice was muffled. Aurora had almost completely sealed her off from the outside world. “You just collapsed and started screaming!”

“Lady Sparkle, how do we remove your armor?” One of the medics waved to get her attention. “We need to make sure you're okay!”

Don't! Aurora mentally grabbed onto Twilight. I feel it too. Something… Something is wrong here! I don't know what, but it's… It's just wrong!

Twilight wobbled up on her hooves. “I'm not taking my armor off. I think it's the only thing protecting me. Quick, what changed here? I need a status report from all divisions, stat!”

One by one, ponies in charge of various areas reported in with nothing out of the ordinary. Then, one report came in over her radio.

“This is the basement sector. We've broken through that wall, Lady Sparkle. I think we found a chamber of some—”

“Get all your ponies out of there, now!” Twilight broke into a gallop for the inside of the base, popping through teleportations to get over the large rocks and skip whole flights of stairs. Her armored hooves banged on the metal without remorse, and found the drill team standing around looking confused. “I said get out! Move your flanks, go, go, go!”

They scampered off, and Twilight faced the red light coming from a hole at the end of the tunnel. They had dug carefully and professionally where she had told them to, building structure into the hole. Had they not, it would have collapsed in on them.

Maybe a collapse wouldn't have been so bad, if they had gotten out in time. Twilight swallowed, and inched forward. There was only a small hole at the end, perhaps the size of a grapefruit, but it was enough to peek inside. As she did, the pain returned, albeit muted compared to before.

She reached out with her magic, only for it to fizzle on the rocks. Her heart pounded, and even with Aurora trying to cool her, she was sweating bullets. She raised a hoof and punched the hole, widening it. Next was digging into the soil and rocks, pushing debris aside until she'd entered the chamber.

It was fairly large, at least the size of a small house. There was a large work desk at the far end, with papers and designs pinned to a cork board behind it on the wall. Further papers were strewn about everywhere, as were half-finished metal devices and doodads. A lone light was still functioning over the desk, likely powered by a simple crystal core.

She stepped to the desk, looking over some of the papers. The writing was chicken scratch, but too consistent to be from hoof or mouth. It had to have been from a horn. At the top of one page was a name, which she spoke out loud.

The light flickered and failed for a second, then came back on. Writing, every bit as incomprehensible as what was on the papers, appeared on the walls in a blood red font. It was everywhere, even in the ceiling and floor. They weren't runes or wards, but a single word, repeated over and over. It was then Twilight realized that it wasn't merely bad horn writing, but a foreign, unknown alphabet of a maddening tongue.

Worse, even though she'd never seen it before, or could hope to make a guess as to where it had come from, an ache, or perhaps itch in the back of her mind told her what the word was.

“Ionos…”

Author's Note

See blog for more important notes.

It's not a Rites mission without a bunch of explosions, so have some extra! The section with Armor was actually added relatively recently. I always wanted to have that plot thread resolved in there but couldn't figure out how to insert it until a couple months ago.

And no, this isn't the last we'll see of Rose. ;)

For those wondering, "krene" is an old Greek word for spring (the water type, not the season). As far as I'm aware, it's pronounced "kren-ay." In the context of Rites, they are sources of magic bubbling up from extremely deep underground. They can dominate the local terrain. For instance, a fire one could turn what should be a arctic tundra into a superheated desert. San Palomino sits atop an absolutely enormous fire krene.

So, yeah, new chap. I hope you all liked this one! :)

-Cv

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Swift Wings of Mercy

“Spike! Where are y— Oh, there you are. Thank goodness!” Twilight rubbed her neck at the scratching in her throat. Yelling in the dry, dusty air hadn't done her any good, especially given that her brother hadn't really been hiding.

“Is it safe yet?” Spike peeked from around the edge of the broken bay doors of the pirate base. “I'm pretty sure everypony’s evacuated the base. What's going on?”

Twilight shuddered as she felt a terrifyingly visceral length of smoke snake up her spine. Even though Twilight knew there wasn't anything physically there, the shiver still put her on edge. “I'm not sure there's an active threat, but whatever is down there, only you can deal with.”

Spike pointed a claw at his chest. “Me? Why me?”

“Come on, I'll show you, just don't freak out. It's…” Twilight winced. “I was going to sugarcoat it and say ‘freaky,’ but that just doesn't do it any justice. This way.”

She walked alongside Spike, making sure her side was touching his wing the whole time to be certain he was still there. Her stomach was lurching and her spine crying out from the cold by the time they arrived in the chamber, and Spike was faring no better.

“T-Twilight, what is this?” he said, whimpering in a voice Twilight hadn't heard since he was a baby.

“Evil,” she spat. “That's about all I know — and it's far too dangerous and risky to study it further. It must be destroyed, thoroughly. Burying it isn't enough. We need dragonfire, and you're my best and only source. Torch it.”

“O-okay. Here goes nothing… Sure hope it doesn't explode.” He sucked in a breath, and brought his fire. Green flame smothered the wall, filling the air with a corrosive heat.

Twilight took a step back, waving her hoof around even though it was pointless in such a confined space. The heat warped the air while pieces of magic from the wards broke off and burned. After a few seconds Spike lost his breath, as did Twilight.

“No…” Twilight didn't dare use her magic sight, so she stepped closer to the hellish script on the wall. “That's not possible!”

The script was still there, and the piece Spike had hit was barely smudged.

“Spike, hit it again!”

He huffed a couple times, then opened up with a flame brighter than Twilight had ever seen from him. It was a thin, focused jet of fire that should have melted the stone it touched. Yet, in the end, only a single one of the hundreds of wards put in the cave wall had even eroded.

“I…” Spike gasped. “I don't think I have anything left right now.”

Twilight rubbed her forelegs. “You sure? I don't like just leaving this be.”

“I'm sure,” he panted. “Asking a dragon to keep going after they're empty is like asking a pony to keep going to the bathroom — it just doesn't work that way. We have limits!”

Twilight folded her forelegs and glared at the wall. “That complicates things. Spike, return to camp and use whatever flames you have left to summon Luna. She needs to see this immediately.”

“On it. Might take a few minutes.” Spike dashed out of the chamber, leaving Twilight alone with the red script.

“What are you?” Twilight closed her eyes, listening to the sounds in the distance, then pushing them away to be alone with her thoughts. This is too strange to only have a normal pony involved.

Aurora ‘nodded.’ “It does seem improbable that a normal pony, even one as brilliant as Shifting Current, through research of what's known at large, could arrive at such knowledge. Even those with full military access would certainly not be capable of whatever this is.”

Exactly. Twilight furrowed her brow. Which limits the number of potential sources considerably. There's Discord, but he's a remote possibility given his imprisonment.

Aurora grew cold, her metallic form chilling Twilight. “Dragons?”

Twilight sighed. That does seem the most probable. But I'm not looking forward to having to confront one of them. Even if I did have concrete evidence, there's plenty of them that won't see anypony less than a full alicorn as anything more than a snack. I've pulled off some amazing things in the past year, but going up against an adult dragon who isn't a moron is seriously pressing my luck.

That being said, there are other possibilities. One is the changelings. Current intelligence says they have something of a shared consciousness. If that's been unbroken for long enough, they may have knowledge of magic lost after the Chaos War. Perhaps some that they can't use, but can share with ponies that they may have some influence over.

Aurora hummed and shook her head. “That doesn't fit their M.O. Nothing in recent interactions suggests anything of the sort. I do admit they may be playing at a feint, though. It's a lot easier to maintain a conspiracy of thousands if they all share a hive mind. But it just doesn't feel right.”

Twilight opened her eyes and focused in on one set of the runes. Then that leaves only one other possibility I can think of: the unknown. Some force we're as yet unaware of, and thus cannot accurately prepare for. I don't know what's more frightening: that, or dragons. Give me an idiot mob boss or psychopathic changeling queen any day.

“Stars and stones!”

Twilight turned to her head to find Luna walking in, every bit as stunned as she herself had been moments ago. That does not bode well.

“Who did this? I felt it from kilometres away!” Luna asked.

“I don't know. The notes have Shifting Current's name on them, but I'm hesitant to believe he was capable of this. Which only makes it more terrifying. Spike could only remove one of them before running out of fire. I don't even know what it really is. The spellwork is just too dense.”

Luna nodded. “Dragonfire was the right call. Now we know how bad it is.” She pointed a wing at the desks and papers. “Let's get everything out of here and put a shield around the entrance. Nopony other than us and Spike enter.”

“Agreed.”

“Rainbow! Change of plans!” Twilight poked her head into the chow tent, finding Rainbow sitting at a table, rubbing her forehead. “You okay? I have news.”

“Not so loud,” Rainbow whimpered. “Headache.”

“Are you okay?” Twilight whispered. “You don't look so good. Do you need to go back to the sick bay?”

“I'm fine. Just a migraine.” Rainbow clenched her eyes shut. “Stop talking.”

Spike poked Twilight on her shoulder and whispered, “She doesn't look fine. I'm getting Luna.”

“Go.” Twilight focused her Sight on Rainbow while Spike ran off. Her wellspring is normal. However, there's an unusual amount of thaumic contamination in the air, which could be masking something from me.

“Let's see…” Luna moved like living smoke in behind Rainbow, her voice soft as a bird’s wing flap, with Spike close behind. Her horn was already lit, and a magic circle quickly closed around Rainbow, who didn't seem to notice a thing.

The spell fired waves of light over her, each one lighting up an area of her head in red.

Luna craned her neck around the mare, looking at various angles before walking up next to Twilight and lowering her voice even more. “I do not have my sister's skills with healing, but I can say that there's something there. I dare not speculate on what, nor dare I try healing her. Head injuries are often… complicated.”

“I can hear you, you know.” Rainbow grumbled. “And I'm fine. Just give me some medicine.”

“Twilight, something else is up. Look around.”

Twilight darted her eyes to and fro, and Aurora was right. One pony was sitting next to an evidence crate, sweating far more than he should have been given he was in a climate-controlled area. Another was hovering over a trash bin, as if he was anticipating losing his lunch. A mare came over to join him, and another was passed out cold. Dozens of ponies were looking sick as diamond dogs, even the medics.

Twilight tapped Luna's shoulder. “Princess? Get Tia. Like, now.”

Luna looked up and gaped. “That power in the cave… worse than I thought. You're right, I'll get my sister.”

Luna vanished in a twinkle of light, and returned a moment later with her sister. Both were standing in the middle of the makeshift base, horns alight.

Luna's spell was cast first, furiously racing towards the butte before blooming and washing over it like a tsunami. As it splashed on the rock and drained into the ground, a blue done was left over the butte, sealing it off completely.

Celestia’s magic was next, at first only looking like a white flare climbing into the sky. A few seconds later, it exploded like a Summer Sun Celebration firework, showering everything and everypony around them in little white sparks. Every pony that the sparks touched started to glow with a faint white light.

“Attention, my little ponies!” Celestia announced, not quite using the Voice. “This area is under quarantine for the time being. The spell I cast a moment ago should make it safe for you to be around others, but we must make haste. I will be teleporting all of you to various hospitals around the world for treatment. Please come together in groups of no more than twenty, and I will move you one batch at a time.”

Rainbow just groaned.

Luna huffed, striding over to them. She grabbed hold of Rainbow’s chin with her ethereal mane and forced her eyes open to meet her gaze. “You, on the other hoof, are going with me to Canterlot Medical. Immediately. Or I use the Voice.”

Rainbow blinked, then rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Light enveloped them, pulling them together and through time and space. When it faded, Twilight found herself and her friends standing on a relief etched into the stone floor of the Canterlot Hospital Emergency Room.

“Wow.” Spike whistled. “Good aim.”

“There's a core stone in the tile that makes for an excellent guidepost in the teleportation stream.” Luna waved to the nurses. “Priority one. I require a doctor to look over Rainbow Dash immediately.”

They didn't waste time with a bow, and instead pulled over a gurney and loaded Rainbow onto it, despite the pegasus’ grumbling. They wheeled Rainbow over to an empty alcove labelled “Exam Six,” and a unicorn doctor with glasses came striding in before they even had the curtains pulled.

“So, Your Highness, another pony you let skip in the line?” The mare smirked.

To be that glib, Twilight thought, she must be familiar with Luna. Perhaps Night Guard have been patched up by her?

“A head injury, Doctor. Potentially serious.”

“Potentially. Uh-huh. I see.” She pulled out a small flashlight with her magic and forced Rainbow’s eye open.

“Hey!” Rainbow batted at the light. “Get that thing out of my face!”

The doctor grabbed onto Rainbow's head with her magic and shined the light directly down Dash’s pupil. “Sensitivity to light, check. Pupils are dilated. Any other pain?”

Rainbow struggled, but it was futile. The doctor was obviously practiced in holding combative pegasi. “Yeah, like I told them, I have a migraine!”

“I'll be the judge of that. Lie back and hold still or you'll get a tetanus booster with a giant needle to go with your exam.”

Rainbow scoffed and flopped back on the bed in her best Rarity impression. “Whatever. Do what you have to do so I can go.”

The doctor lit her horn and a spell similar to Luna's wrapped around the pegasus, this time moving horizontally across her. This one, too, lit up her head in red.

“Hmmm.” The doctor tilted her head and tweaked the spell, focusing on with a smaller circle. Each pulse narrowed down the circle a little more, until a large portion of it was inside Rainbow’s cranium. Finally, the border changed symbols and flashed red.

The doctor didn't flinch, but Twilight could tell that her heart had skipped a beat. An instant later, the mare mashed a large brown button on the wall.

“Attention!” a voice over the intercom sounded. “General surgeons to OR 4. Prep cart to Exam Six. Repeat, surgeons to OR 4 immediately. Prep cart to Exam Six.”

Twilight's heart jumped, too. “What is it, doctor?” Even Rainbow was starting to shake in fear.

“Rainbow, listen to me.” The doctor looked her in her now-wide eyes. “We're getting you to surgery. You have a fusiform brain aneurysm that’s large and ready to burst.”

Rainbow’s pupils turned to pinpricks. “What?!”

“As it stands, since we caught it now, your odds of survival are about eighty percent. Complications are probable. If it bursts, your odds of survival are much lower. We need to treat you right away.” Nurses with a cart filled with tools and medicines rushed in and started stripping Rainbow of her armor. “Say what you need to your friends. We don't have much time.”

Rainbow was ready to burst into tears. “I… I…”

Twilight leapt forward, pulling Rainbow into a gentle embrace. Spike followed suit.

“Wha-what do I do?” Rainbow sniffled. “This can't be happening!”

The bottom of Twilight's stomach fell out, and the tears seeped through even though her eyes were closed. “It'll be okay, Rainbow. We love you. I'll be right here waiting. I know Loyalty can pull through.”

“Twilight, I…” Rainbow choked and sobbed. “I love you guys, too! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I was so rude today! I’m sorry!”

“It's okay; you weren't yourself.” Twilight squeezed her tighter. “It'll be okay. I promise.”

Spike pulled back and wiped away his tear before it touched either of them. “I'm sorry for complaining so much, Rainbow. But, hey, you're in Canterlot! If anywhere can heal you, this place can!”

“Wait!” Luna stepped forward, leaning down to press her horn against Rainbow’s foreleg. With a flick, the anti-poison wards on Rainbow’s skin glowed and shattered, leaving bits of magic fizzing out in the air. “The anaesthesia should work now. But I have something to say as well.

“Rainbow, you are an excellent soldier. One could scarcely imagine a better bearer for the Element of Loyalty. Whatever happens, it's been an honour. And, thank you.”

Rainbow wiped away eye fulls of tears, nodding while a nurse put in an IV.

They all walked to the OR, Twilight keeping eye contact with the shaking Rainbow until she vanished behind doors she couldn't follow through. Even a Grand Mage dare not trot into a clean OR against protocol.

The next hours were excruciating ticks of the waiting room clock, spent in silence between Spike and Twilight huddled alone on the marble floor. They’d lost track of how long they'd stared at the austere walls and random medical posters. Spike had cards they tried to play, but it devolved into working together — slowly — on solitaire. Each little flip of a card flailed uselessly against the mechanical hands of the timepiece, begging it to move faster.

“Twilight?” a new voice said after some time. A dusty Trixie walked into the room, still sweaty from the heat of the desert. “Luna told me what happened. I'm so sorry. Rainbow doesn't deserve this, but she's a survivor. I think she'll pull through.”

Twilight sniffed. “Thanks. It means a lot.”

Trixie flopped down next to them. “I'm your friend. Stars, I'm your guard now; the only one not on medical leave, even. I'm here for you. No matter what it is. Trixie owes you nothing less.”

Twilight pulled her into a hug. “I stopped keeping track a long time ago. Thank you, Trixie. I know I can count on you.”

“Always. Oh, speaking of: here.” Trixie reached into her bag and pulled out some Alpine Cola cans and some energy bars. “I figured you probably didn't get anything to eat.”

Twilight smiled and peeled back the wrapper of one of the bars. “I'm… not all that hungry, but… yeah, I should eat.”

Spike had already scarfed his down.

Twilight ate gingerly, slowly picking apart the oat chunks and chewing each one to pass the time. Long past that, Twilight lost count of how many rounds of the card game “War” her guards had played. Trixie, surprisingly, lost more often than not.

“Lady Sparkle?”

Twilight looked up to a nurse who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“I'm here to let you know the surgery is going well. The Princess has relieved the aneurysm, and they're getting ready to patch Rainbow up.”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “The Princess?!”

The nurse nodded. “Yes, Her Highness insisted on doing the operation personally.”

Twilight mentally facehooved. Of course. There's probably a standing order to inform her of any major injuries to the Bearers ASAP so she could step in for the good of the nation. If nothing else, this boosts Rainbow’s odds considerably. There's no better healer than Princess Celestia.

Spike picked up his cards. “How long until we can see her?”

“If all goes well, it should only be a few more hours. I'll check back when we have an update.”

Twilight stood up on her numb, sleeping legs and forced them into a slight bow. “I appreciate it. Thank you for your service.”

“All part of the job.”

Twilight let herself fall down after the nurse left, then rolled over to get the pins and needles out of her legs. “The Princess is here. Rainbow will be okay.”

Trixie looked over to the doors of the room. “You have a lot of faith in her.”

“She's like a second mom to me. And she's the best doctor in Equestria. She has thousands of years of practice and access to medical knowledge lost to the Chaos War. If anypony can save Rainbow, it's her.”

“Makes sense. But…” Trixie blushed. “I suppose it's you I have faith in most. You saved me when you could have, by all rights, thrown me in a dungeon to rot. I've never known such kindness.”

Spike shuffled the deck. “You still haven't spent any time with Fluttershy.”

There was a knock at the double doors. “Lady Sparkle?” A stallion poked his head in, revealing Prince Blueblood. “I heard about your guard. You have my sincerest sympathies — nopony deserves such a malady. I do hope Auntie can heal her.”

Twilight put her ears back. “Thank you, Your Highness. I appreciate you coming all the way down here to say that.”

Blueblood cleared his throat. “Actually, there was another issue I had to discuss.”

“Called it.” Spike shared a chuckle with Trixie.

Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off the cold floor. “While I suspected as much, I also know you wouldn't time something like this unless it was important. Let's find an empty room. Spike, Trixie? Stay here in case there are any updates.”

It didn't take them long to find an empty ward room, though they had to convince a sassy nurse from the Bittish Isles they weren't ducking in for a “quick snog.”

After getting a drink of water to wash down the bit of vomit that found its way up after the nurse’s accusation, Twilight eyed the papers folded under Blueblood's suit. “I take it you have something for me?”

Blueblood nodded and produced the folder. “Duchess Demesne of Manehatten. Don't let her low-key nature in the Council fool you. She's sharp as a Neighponese blade — and decidedly not a fan of Celestia and Luna, much less of myself.”

Twilight pulled out a picture of the Duchess. She was a heavy-set earth pony with a dark chocolate coat and maroon mane. Her demeanour was stern, though not as cold as that of Bismare. She wore a modern blue pantsuit and stood before her desk in her office. Behind her were large windows with a view of one of Manehatten’s monster skyscrapers, the pride and joy of the Duchy.

Twilight put the picture back in the pile. “I take it removing her won't be as easy as Esteem...”

“To say the least. Don't waste time even trying it in one go. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and I think I have the first few steps. The rest of the documents are a series of routine police reports. If you read only one or two, they're standard changeling sightings. Things police departments across Equestria fill out, supposedly investigate, and ,most often, stuff in a cabinet somewhere, never to be seen again.

“Some time ago, though, the reports started to be taken very seriously in the city of Manehatten, right when they significantly increased in number.”

Twilight's blood ran cold. “That's a serious threat. A large number of changelings in a hard-to-defend city like Manehatten could spell thousands of deaths in the unlikely event of an open attack. Even if it's just an infestation, we could be looking at a steady stream of missing and captured. There are military assets within range of there, too. What's RGIS doing about it so far?”

Blueblood put on a smile devious enough for Luna to be proud of it. “That's just it — Duchess Demesne hasn't reported it so far. She's supposed to, but that might make her seem weak, and though she's smart, she has thousands of other nobles in her Duchy that would love to see her fall. She'll hold off until she cannot deny it any longer, then claim her subordinates were trying to take care of it on their own. This gives us an opportunity.”

Twilight picked up the bundle of files. “If I go in now, and put a stop to the changelings without her being able to take credit, she looks like a fool. Have you informed Celestia?”

“Not yet. I—”

Twilight gave him a light whack on the head with the papers. “And just how am I supposed to do this without telling her? We don't hide stuff from each other! That's not how it's supposed to work!”

Blueblood huffed. “RGIS is compromised, and we still don't know how.”

“So? She's the Princess, and I'm the Grand Mage. I act on her say-so.”

Blueblood stepped forward, towering over her. “No. You are Grand Mage. Your authority gives you power to act on your own whims, stopping only when Celestia contradicts you.” He stepped back, and held up his forehooves. “But I cannot force you. Ultimately, the choice is yours. Are you a Grand Mage, wielder of the powers of the cosmos, or just a tool for Celestia to use as she sees fit? I'll leave you to decide.”

Twilight broke eye contact, and held the twisted knot in her stomach. By the time she could look back at him, he was already gone.

“What do we do?”

She curled herself up on the ground, tucking in her tail. “I wish I knew. In a way, Blueblood is right, but on the other hoof, communication is key to trust. Celestia must be able to trust her Grand Mage, especially since we have so much power. I… I feel like I need a nap. I'm just so tired.”

“Twilight?” Trixie poked her head in the door. “Are you okay? I saw the Prince leave.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say yes, but only wound up shaking her head. By the time she remembered to blink, Trixie was laying beside her.

“Do you need me to chase him down and drag him back here? It is technically my job to protect you now.”

Twilight put her ears back. “No, I need… I need advice, and for once the pony I turn to most for it I can't consult. Blueblood, he… he told me about an opportunity in Manehatten.”

Trixie's mane bristled. “If there's bits involved, you should tell him to—”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Twilight leaned in to Trixie, pushing some of the weight on her heart onto her friend. “There's reports of serious Changeling activity there, which Duchess Demesne hasn't reported to the Council yet. If we can put a stop to it before she reports, it'll be a major victory.

“But he doesn't want me to tell Celestia. He says RGIS has a leak, and if she gets involved, there's no way we'll pull this off.”

Trixie laid her head on a hoof. “Couldn't we tell her and just get her to not tell anypony?”

“Possibly. But everything Celestia does is followed closely by dozens of ponies. She never has time to herself. Eventually, my actions will be revealed, and keeping secrets from her closest aides like that could, at the very least, introduce morale problems. At worst, it could lead to political ramifications of their own. What if the Council uses that action to justify more ‘oversight’ of the military? We'll lose key authority over it to them.”

Trixie whistled softly. “And if we act on our own, all the blame — or praise — is on us.”

“Exactly.” Twilight grimaced at the bitterness of her memory. “In trying to convince me, Blueblood asked me if I was a Grand Mage, or just a tool of Celestia’s. I hate it when he's insightful, but I think he might be right this time.”

Trixie giggled. “Pfft. What a jerk!”

“I know, right?” Twilight shared in Trixie’s giggling. “But that just makes all this harder. Worse, we have to let Luna know where we're going because she's the only one who can get us there quickly. Otherwise we'll be on a train for a day.”

“True, but from all I've heard, I think we can trust her to be discreet. The question is, when do we leave?”

Twilight stood up and stretched, her joints creaking in protest. “Not until we see Rainbow. Once she's out of the woods, you and I will head out, and Spike can watch over her.”

“I guess this is what it was like when I came back from Zebrica.” Twilight stared at the sleeping Rainbow, unable to swallow the lump in her throat. “But, she's alive. That's what matters most.”

Rainbow was covered in a warm blanket, snoozing away. Below her neck, it was mostly as she always was, aside from the IV in her leg. Her head, however, was totally shaved, and she was completely bandaged above her eyebrows. Her muzzle was inside an oxygen mask, and each breath left steam on the plastic for just a second before vanishing.

Spike stepped up and sat next to Rainbow’s bed, then unpacked his things to stay near her. “She helped me a lot when I was getting my wings. Seems right to return the favour.”

Trixie put her ears back. “Any word on the prognosis?”

“Sort of.”

Twilight and Trixie jumped together from the sudden, new voice coming from behind. When they turned around, Princess Celestia, still in surgery scrubs, was stepping into the room. I swear, she's every bit as good as Luna at doing that. Is sneaking up on subjects an alicorn thing or something?

Celestia loomed over Rainbow, checking her vitals and bathing her in healing magic. “I was able to fix the aneurysm before it could do any substantial or obvious damage. However, we won't know what side effects she'll have until she wakes up.

“Proper procedures in this era would have been extremely risky given the aneurysm's location, so I used some lost artes. One was chronomancy. Essentially, I used that to reverse the aneurysm into nonexistence, then used another spell to reinforce that area of her blood vessels. Although effective, it can lead to… Shall we say, odd mental complications, most of which are temporary. It'll be some time before we know for sure.”

Twilight gingerly stepped forward next to her mentor, watching each of her movements. She could only guess at the makeup of the spells, but such was the gulf between them on the subject of medicine.

It was another hour before Rainbow opened her eyes.

“T-Twilight?” Rainbow whispered. Her eyelids had only barely raised, but it was enough to see the darkness behind them. Her pegasus friend was awake, but there was a dead stillness about her, and none of the light that was once there.

“Hey there,” Twilight said through some tears. “You made it, Rainbow. You're okay. We stopped the aneurysm.”

“Don't try to speak, Rainbow.” Celestia fired a another shower of healing magic over the pegasus, covering her subject in golden light. “It'll take some time for the anaesthesia to wear off. Don't fight it, go back to sleep. You're safe.”

Rainbow nodded, closed her eyes, and was out instantly.

Twilight nudged Celestia on her leg. “Was it that bad?”

“Worse. Put your fears aside, my student. I'm now confident your friend will be okay, given time. What she needs now, more than anything else, is rest.”

Twilight nodded and tried to do as she was told, but there was one fact she could not budge, even with all her might. “Princess, I have a thing in my investigation that I need to follow up on. It's… something of a hunch. Would it be okay if Trixie and I left to pursue it?”

Celestia regarded her with a raised yet stern eyebrow that twisted Twilight's gall bladder into knots for a moment. “Of course, Twilight. Whatever you feel you need to do. I assume Spike will be staying for the time being?”

Spike flourished his deck of cards.

“Then I see no reason why not. I'll check in on Rainbow from time to time as well. She should be up and about in a few days.”

Twilight bowed to the ground, and Trixie followed her lead. “Thank you. I'll update you when I have something more substantial. Come on, Trixie, let's see if my ‘hunch’ is worth anything.”

Author's Note

May was almost a total loss, falling just barely short of replacing the words I'm posting. Hopefully I'll do better in June and be less of a blob. I just keep telling myself, "Come on, Cv, you pathetic idiot. Just 1k a day, that's all you need."

I was in a dark place when writing this chapter, channeling the visits to hospitals I've had. All the surgeries. This event with Rainbow had been planned for a good long while, but I didn't expect all the feels that came out of me when it was finally time to do it.

Wish me luck for June!
-Cv

Hard Rain Falling

Twilight yawned as the elevator started up and carried them into the lower levels of the mountain. She silently wished for a nice cup of spicy coffee and made a mental note to get one before they left for Manehattan.

“What's this place?” Trixie asked. “I don't think I've ever taken this elevator.”

“Storage.” Twilight said simply. “Space is at a premium in Canterlot, but this is still the capitol. There are critical things here that must be kept secure… Also, the princesses are thousands of years old, so they have a ton of sentimental junk to store. I've got my own slot here, too — I’ve actually had one since I was a student.”

The elevator thumped and opened its doors, revealing a huge crystalline cavern that had been chiseled out into something slightly unnatural, yet nonetheless sparkly. The quartz ground was well-worn, more like a warehouse than a piece of the palace.

Ahead of them were a series of heavy doors, each at least four stories high and wide enough that Celestia could probably pass through with her wings fully extended. Each was shaped like an arch with a pointed top, and layered with bronze-like metal and the subtle glow of powerful, complex warding.

The hall of doors extended the length of a hoofball field, and there were shorter doors opposite them. The walls and ceiling were either crystalline or, in other areas, dark grey stone. A few ponies were scattered around the facility, all of whom were wearing the armor of the Royal Guard.

“Lady Sparkle?” one of the guards said with a bow. “So good to see you again. Princess Luna dropped off your sword along with some of the items from San Palomino that needed decontamination. Would you like your locker opened?”

“Yes, I would.” Twilight eyed the other doors while the word “decontamination” echoed through her head. “Has my sword been cleansed of any possible contamination yet?”

“Didn't need it. It was locked away in a magic-tight case.” The guard scratched his head, looking sheepish. “The Princess took it out in a safe place and left the container behind when transporting the sword. She told us to be careful with it, but, when we, uh, tried to put it away, it sucked a few ponies’ wellsprings dry. They're alive, don't worry. But I wouldn't touch it without protection. Like, lots of protection.”

Twilight cringed a bit, making a mental note to send the hurt soldiers some apology bouquets. “Sorry about that. Don't worry; I'm pretty sure I can handle it safely. I'll take it off your hooves so it doesn't hurt anypony else.”

The guard blinked and shivered. “Okay, if you say so. This way, ma'am.” He snap-turned and led them about halfway down the hall before taking out his keys. There were locks beside each of the smaller doors, and one of them had Twilight's cutie mark on it.

The guard pulled out a key — also with her cutie mark — and clicked the lock open. These doors, despite being smaller, were actually thicker and heavier to move, owing to their greater age.

“You know...” Trixie smiled and folded her forelegs. “I'm actually rather curious to see what the Grand Mage of Equestria has stored away under lock and key.”

Twilight snorted in a laugh. “Honestly, most of it is really boring. Family photos, old assignments I'm proud of, the uniform I wore as a filly at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, boxes of important documents like my tax forms… Though there is one thing you might be interested in.”

Trixie poked her head inside the unit and lit up like a firework. “My cart!”

“Yup!” Twilight walked in, following Trixie as the unicorn ran to the dilapidated cart. “I was going to surprise you by restoring it, but I haven't had time yet. Still, it's here, for whenever you need it.”

Trixie gave it a giant hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much! You don't know what this means to me!”

“Well, I knew that it was important to you. That's more than enough reason to keep it safe. But, I'm here for a sword. Stand back.”

Twilight's unit was rather spartan compared to the Princesses’. Bare walls, a few metal shelves, cardboard boxes, and a few display cases of diplomas. In the middle, however, was a barrel-shaped artifact meant to store dangerous magical items. It was black and silver, etched all over with wards.

On the side, near the top, was a simple crank. Twilight grabbed hold of it and spun it around, opening the top of the barrel. A soft white light glowed from inside as the two panels on the top split apart and Twilight’s sword levitated up and outside of its container.

“There we go. Time to see if I can hold this without something blowing up.”

Trixie blinked. “You… don't know that yet?”

“Nope.” Twilight snagged it with her magic, pointed it up, and experienced a sensation like hooks digging into her skin and sucking out mana.

The gem in the sword glowed bright purple, and the blade spewed out a purple fire.

“Aha!” Twilight cut off the flow of mana to the sword and let the sword settle back in the barrel. “Also, ouch, but I know what's going on here. You know how they give unicorn foals magic wands to practice with?”

Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but paused before speaking. “Yeah, but what does that have to do with your sword?”

Twilight reached out a tentative hoof to the blade, with in turn reached for the magic in her leylines. “This sword is like that. Look close at the gem. Most of it is blank, just a huge pipe for mana, not even storing any in itself. But it's pulling from my wellspring without going through my horn — and using every aspect of my magic!

“Nearly every core out there has a set few functions etched into it. This one has only one function: suck in magic and spit it out. Horrifically inefficient, but it can use tons of magic, and I should be able to influence the magic as it exits the sword to cast spells with it. No horn limitation!

“I'll need to practice a ton with it to really get the hang of things, but for now?” Twilight grabbed hold of the sword with both forehooves, then clamped down hard on the magic it was trying to eat from her. The flames still came for a moment, but only as bright as a candle, not the fountain that just scorched the top of her storage unit.

Eventually, that fire faded as well, and Twilight put the sword in her saddlebag. “There. Good sword. No burning unless I tell you to.”

Trixie chuckled. “Well, let's hope it doesn't set your flank on fire the second you lose control.”

Twilight smirked. “It's dangerous, but I'm actually not holding it back anymore. Like I suspected, it seems to remember what I ‘told’ it. I’ll need to push magic into it to turn it back on.”

Trixie sighed. “Would be nice if you didn't ever need to do that. I mean, make really dangerous guesses like that.”

“Yeah, but I'm the Grand Mage. Risk and danger are part of the job.” Twilight turned around and headed out the door. “Come on, Luna is waiting for us in the chariot bay. Next stop, the biggest city in the world!

Twilight yawned, then recalled her mental note. “But first, some coffee.”

“Here we are. Manehatten.”

Twilight’s hooves touched down on the familiar feeling of a small but thick cloud, and she opened her eyes, revealing the majesty of Equestria’s largest terrestrial city below her. Trixie landed behind her, the cloudwalking spell in her armor keeping her upright. Luna had teleported them to the southern edge of the endless expanse of buildings.

Unlike Ponyville and many smaller towns, there were no cloud buildings. Manehatten forbade them within city limits. This didn't stop pegasi from flocking there en masse both before and after the destruction of Cloudsdale, and they could be seen flying to and from every possible point. Many of them were taxis carrying ground-bound ponies to their destinations under the afternoon sky.

Luna dropped her head down to Twilight’s level. “Are you sure you don't want extra help? I have guards stationed here all the time. They can help if you tell me what you're looking for.”

Twilight shook her head. “No. I'm sorry, but for the time being, I want to try this on my own, without telling anypony in the military my specific objectives.”

Luna seemed to shrink a few inches. “Or me, apparently.”

“It's not going to be a regular thing, Princess. It's something of an experiment. We know there are leaks in RGIS, so I want to try to do something unpredictable. One step in a chain of tracking down the leak.”

“I… suppose I can accept that. Still, if you find yourself needing a place to stay, here.” Luna pulled out an envelope and gave it to Twilight. “Follow the directions inside. It'll take you to a secret place of my own.”

Twilight ran a hoof over the glowing, embossed runes of the paper, quickly deciphering them as something that would trigger a self-destruct if a non-alicorn opened the envelope. She embraced it, then tucked it safe and sound in her saddlebag. “Thank you, Luna. It means a lot.”

The Princess gave a hint of a sad smile, then vanished.

“Whew.” Trixie wiped her brow. “That was kinda tense. I thought she'd order you to tell her what's going on.”

Twilight pulled out a map of the city from her saddlebag. “I think she understands the value of having a little independence from time to time. I wasn't all that worried. For now, though, we should focus on getting our bearings and starting our investigation.”

Trixie rested her chin on her hoof. “An investigation for which we have no real starting point. Just a lot of random reports we can't ask the police about without revealing our mission.”

“Au contraire! We have the perfect starting point.” Twilight pinpointed their location, then looked out to her destination. Most of the buildings under her were shorter, low-income buildings in an old section of the town, and not too far was a huge industrial area near the bay. Several miles ahead, though, was the ever-beating heart of the city, and the tallest skyscrapers anywhere. “Come on, we need to flag down a taxi.”

“Oooh-kay…” Trixie kept an eyebrow raised, but went ahead and waved at a few taxis until one pulled beside them.

Twilight hopped over the yellow door and landed on some soft cloth seats that were in desperate need of cleaning. “Corner of 5th Avenue and 41st Street, please.”

“Oof.” Trixie tried to step over the door instead of opening it and landed face-first on the seat for her trouble. She pushed herself up and wiped her mouth with her foreleg. “Eeeyuck. What did I land on? Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not.” Twilight blew her mane out of her eyes as the taxi took off, racing across the city. She leaned in towards Trixie to whisper in her ear. “We're going to meet a friend of mine. I don't know if she knows that you're in my Guard yet, so be on your best behaviour and be prepared to re-apologize for your past transgressions.”

Trixie turned a few shades lighter and nodded. “Right. Sorry.”

“Not to me. Her. Don't worry, as long as you're honestly apologetic, she'll accept you.” Twilight gave her a pat on the shoulder and went back to watching the city.

They'd started in a low-density residential and industrial area, filled with cheap and poorly-kept single-story buildings. The speed of the chariot meant Twilight was already fighting her sense of balance over the growing structures under them. In seconds, they’d gone from a dingy working area to a bustling art-deco metropolitan center. They weren’t even in the densest part of the city, but the sheer quantity of ponies on the streets was already mind-boggling. No matter where one looked, they saw a multitude of ponies going about their day.

I always liked this city, Twilight thought to herself. Even if I never liked being in the crowds, it’s always been fascinating to watch.

“We're getting close,” the cabbie hollered over the wind. “Fare is six bits.”

Twilight nodded at him. “Ready, Trixie?”

“As I'll ever be. Who… Who are we going to see?”

She chuckled and said, “You'll know when we get there.”

The taxi flew down onto the street, coming to a landing in front of a seven-story mixed-use building, with apartments up above and a storefront at the ground level. Twilight let Trixie get out and soak in the advertising while she paid the cabbie, then walked up beside her.

The store was a fairly large size for the area, and every streetlight next to it had balloons tied to it. Pastel paint formed more balloons on the window, along with an assortment of colourful cannons and a smiling pink pony. Up above the windows, in large neon letters, was a sign reading “Pinkie Pie’s Custom Party Cannons!” The proclamations in the windows promised customized parties packed into powerful artillery.

“You're kidding…” Trixie’s eye twitched. “She has to be kidding.”

“Nope!” Twilight grinned.

“But… how?! How does she—?”

Twilight leaned over, put her foreleg over Trixie’s back, and sighed. “Trust me: don't ask those questions. Down that road lies only madness. Just roll with it, and you'll be much happier. Or at least, you know, saner.”

As Twilight led the way through the door, a little bell rang, catching the attention of a freckled mare behind the counter. Before the employee could even finish inhaling for the first word, though, a blur of pure pink energy catapulted up in front of her.

“Twilight! Wowie zowie, I knew I'd be getting an extra-special, super-duper visitor today because I had an itchy knee and rhythmic ear flap, and I said to—”

Twilight grabbed hold of the pink party pony with her forehooves and clamped her mouth shut. “I'm glad to see you too, Pinkie. It's been too long.”

The two shared a hug in relative silence, which really just meant Twilight stopped paying total attention to the deluge of words coming from her friend. There was a rhythm to those things, and she knew when Pinkie would calm down enough to start saying things that weren't wholly unfollowable.

Pinkie pulled out a tray of cupcakes from seemingly nowhere. “So, why are you… Wait a minute…” She leaned over to look behind Twilight.

Trixie put her ears back, then went into a bow. “Bearer, please forgive me for my past transgressions. I deeply regret what I did to you and Twilight those years ago, and wish to make amends.”

Pinkie blinked. “Twilight, where did you find a changeling Trixie?”

A laugh broke out of Twilight's mouth in spite of her best efforts. “No, Pinkie, this is the real Trixie. She's been in my care for the last year or so, and in my Guard for the last few days. We've become friends, and even trained and fought in battle together. And since we're here, she really is apologizing.”

Pinkie blinked, then smiled with a wave of her hoof. “Okie dokie lokie. Cupcake?” She shoved the confectionery plate in front of Trixie’s nose.

“Oh! Uh, sure.” Trixie took one, then looked to Twilight as if to say “That's it?”

Twilight nodded to respond “That's it.” and took a cupcake as well. “Much as I'd love for this to be a strictly social visit, Pinkie, I actually have Crown business to talk to you about. Is there someplace we can go to talk?”

Pinkie bounced with what was likely a mixture of pure sugar and pure happy. “Sure! Follow me!”

They walked through the showroom floor, passing innumerable demonstration cannons and walls lined with pre-loaded models “ready to take home,” towards a back room that was surprisingly normal. Some little bit in the back of Twilight's mind felt like she was about to sign up for a loan for a house. Pinkie even had a typewriter and a mechanical calculator on a sensible-looking desk.

A nod from Twilight as they sat down had Trixie sealing the room to prevent eavesdropping.

“Okay, Pinkie, first things first. This is sensitive stuff, okay? Don't tell anypony about what we're going to talk about.”

Pinkie nodded, zippered her lips, locked them, broke the key, then buried her head in cement.

She's been reading too many mobster comics. “Okay. I'm investigating a possible significant changeling presence in the city. I know you have an extensive social network. Have you noticed anypony acting out of the ordinary? Any relationships that have heated up suddenly, or anypony that's seemed far more tired than normal?”

“Hmmm.” Pinkie leaned back and folded her hind legs. “Now that you mentioned it, Vinyl has been quiet lately, and Octavia more tired than usual. I hear they've been having troubles, too.”

“That's go— er, well, that's terrible, but it's a possible lead.” Twilight pulled out her notebook and wrote their names in. “Do they still live in the same apartment?”

“Yeah, but they're probably not there now. Vinyl is probably setting up at her club, and Octavia is probably at practice.” Pinkie scribbled out a quick map showing the location of a spot in Central Park, and labelled all the ice cream vendors around it. The spot was a gazebo on the outer edge of the park, where trees met pavement and towers. “Octavia likes to practice in the park. If you hurry, I bet you can catch her.”

“Great! We'll be by again later, in case you remember anypony else. Thanks, Pinkie. I knew I could count on you.” Twilight dispelled the privacy wards and stepped through the door, but stopped as a pain ran through her stomach. “Actually, you may wish to go to Canterlot. Dash is… She's sick, and in the hospital. Spike is there, but she could use—”

Pinkie was gone, then back with three suitcases and two party cannons in tow. The time span in between was arguably nonexistent. “SorrygottagoseeDashiePepperminttakecareofthingsbye!” At that, Pinkie sped off, the remaining dust cloud the only reminder that a pony was even there.

“Just think: thirty years ago, this whole place was as dangerous as San Palomino.”

Twilight shuddered a little at mention of the desert, but as much as she'd hate to think of such a beautiful place having such a nasty underbelly, Trixie was right. Central Park was a magnificent beacon of nature's beauty in this day and age. Years ago, however, enough unsavoury characters gravitated to the night’s shadows to turn Manehattan into a corrupt mockery of its sunlit self.

Today, though, it was a bright, pleasant, summer afternoon. Ponies were laughing and playing on the grass and studying under the trees. A mare napped with her colt under her wing. An ice cream vendor — whose treats Pinkie had declared to be a nine out of ten — was quickly hoofing over popsicles to impatient foals. Traffic rushed down the street to their left opposite a bank, and overhead, hundreds of chariots soared to and fro with clients.

“I think that's the gazebo.” Trixie stuffed the map in her bag. “Where's our mare?”

Twilight looked around, but only really saw a crowd. The area was pretty dense with ponies, and that only served to highlight how far she had to go with her Ascension. “I'm… I'm not tall enough to see into the crowd. Give me a second.”

She put some power in her horn, then stood on tip-hoof to see the gazebo roof. With a spark she appeared there, and soon found her bearings, and her pony. Another spark had her right in front of Octavia. “Hi, Octavia!”

Octavia lurched back as if something had kicked a heart attack into her chest. “Aaargh! T… Twilight?! What the actual Tartarus?! How did… Why? What…”

Heh, so that's what it's like being Pinkie Pie. “Sorry, I couldn't see you through the crowd, so I teleported up to the gazebo and then down to you.”

Octavia flopped down to sit, though the cello case stayed dutifully on her back. As always, she was dressed impeccably. Her black tux with purple bow tie perfectly complemented her coat, mane, and irises, and the same could be said of her grey trilby hat with its purple ribbon. “It's okay, I guess. But sweet Celestia, my doctor is going to wonder where my newfound high blood pressure came from. Speaking of, where the heck did you come from? Do Grand Mages always just poof themselves in front of unsuspecting ponies?”

“Only when it's funny!” Trixie yelled, making her way through the crowd.

Twilight chuckled and shrugged. “She's basically right. But I'm sorry for scaring you.”

“Let her play!” somepony shouted.

Trixie fumbled her way to the group through the crowd. “You're really popular, it seems.”

“Curse of having a predictable schedule.” Octavia straightened her bow tie. “And it's a nice promotional vehicle. Something tells me you aren't here for music, though.”

Twilight put her ears back. “I'm afraid not. Is there somewhere we could—”

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggggg!

An alarm bell from across the street pierced the air, jabbing icicles into ears and fear into the ponies gathered. Some stood stunned, but quickly broke into a run upon seeing those quicker on the uptake fleeing the premises.

Twilight groaned. “Not another bank robbery. Get going, Octavia. We got thi—”

BBBBBRRRRAAAAPPP!

Twilight dropped to the ground and fired magic ahead of her, forcing it into a half-circle barricade of a barrier. She twisted the magic to a proper shield as bolts blasted pockmarks in it. Her horn never let up, pushing enough magic into it to turn it opaque with power. Trixie and Octavia dove in to join her behind it.

The assault didn't let up, even though the bolts were bouncing off her shield like little rocks whenever they weren't sailing overhead. Screams and pings in the distance signalled the desperation of the robbers. They weren't aiming for her specifically, they were just shooting in the general area of anything that moved in an attempt to clear the way.

She lifted her head up an inch, then dropped it back into the grass. No good. That's a powerful gun, and the first thing a bolt will hit is my horn. But I need line of sight to teleport. Going to have to build up a heck of a personal shield first. After that, I can see six — no, seven combat solutions with a high likelihood of success.

“Trixie, do you think you could—” Twilight blinked. There was movement behind her.

Octavia stood up, hefting her cello case up with her. She popped the top open, and bolts pinged off it like thick armor. Twilight caught a quick glimpse of the musical instrument before Octavia slammed the lid shut so hard the whole case bounced. On the way back down, Octavia caught it on a single hoof, then tossed it up a meter or so in the air. A bolt intended for the earth pony’s head sent the case into a turn, the case landing upside down as its owner slammed her hoof down on it.

The back of the case flew open, and an automatic-fire cored cannon popped out and into Octavia's hooves. A bloodcurdling scream silenced the other guns while Octavia let loose at the robbers with a stream of bolts, chipping into the stairs they were standing on.

Twilight popped her head over the barricade, locking her sights on the robbers. One was behind a pillar near the entrance, and the other two were each hiding behind statues at either side of the staircase. “Or... that. That works too. Trixie, with me. Let's do this.”

“On it, boss!”

Twilight sparked herself up and into the air, far above where the guns were firing. Her legs reached for a ground that wasn't there while her eyes tracked their targets. As Trixie emerged from her own teleport behind her, Twilight sparked again, launching herself near the robber on the left.

All four of her hooves slammed into concrete at the same time, earth-pony strength rending deep cracks upon the stone. The force reverberated in a dark, low rumble that sent Twilight’s target a half meter in the air.

Borrowing a note from Octavia, Twilight lifted both of her forelegs up and slammed her hooves into the robber’s back, smashing his face into the concrete and breaking the cannon mechanism he was carrying. She grabbed hold of the cannon barrels and rolled, landing on her side and dragging the robber with her. With a strike augmented by earth-pony magic , she bent the cannon barrels into a curve.

As Twilight got up, she noticed Trixie had just finished on her end, and had already tossed the other robber's smoking cored cannon off to the side, out of reach. The robber himself was out cold, having puked his guts out and presumably having been hit with a powerful sleep spell.

That left one, who had been in the center and was now swinging his head left and right in the confusion. He finally started to turn towards Twilight, and Trixie lit her horn in response.

“Cast in Harmony!” Twilight bucked off the ground with her hind legs, lighting her own horn. Trixie was in the air, too, and they passed each other over the head of the robber. Their magic touched as they did, humming in a bright, shining resonance that only the exact same spell could have.

Twilight twisted her body in mid air, targeting the last robber on the ground, and Trixie matched her movements. The robber, however, was wavering between them and wincing in the light, which was exactly what they wanted.

An instant formed between the two mares, their magic cycling with their heartbeats in a sympathetic rhythm. In one cohesive, clear, and infinite moment, their casting merged as both finished the combined spell as one.

“Double diamond!”

An eruption of light spilled over the robber, submerging him in what looked like molten glass. The flow rushed out, covering the other two robbers in kind, and came to a halt shortly thereafter. The glass crystallized into glowing panes, the triangular pieces locking each of the three hostiles safely in place, and not at all burned despite what it looked like.

The last of the robbers was stuck still, and fired his gun where he was last able to aim, but found only a solid wall to chip away at.

Twilight stuck a telekinetic blade in the mechanism's works, silencing it permanently. “I'd give up at this point if I were you.”

The mustachioed robber stared at her with steel in his eyes, and spoke with a gravelly voice. “Fine. Jail won't hold me anyway.”

“Good to know.” Twilight added a mental note to tell the Royal Police to keep an eye on him.

At that point, several dozen police ponies were landing nearby, including several paddy wagons. At the same time, ambulances were landing farther out to treat any wounded. In all, from the time the alarm bell rang to the time the first officer arrived was about thirty seconds. The only reason it was even that long was likely due to the police having a cautious approach towards gunfire.

Twilight folded her arms in thought as the badges swarmed in. How in Equestria these idiots thought they'd get away with a bank robbery here is beyond me. In San Palomino, sure, I could easily see it. But Manehatten? This place has its problems, but its police and disaster-response capacity is the best in the entire world, bar none.

“Twilight!” Trixie walked over, carrying a piece of metal in her magic. “Check it out. It's a piece from one of the guns. Cloudsdale Armories crest. I think these weapons are from the uprising.”

Twilight took it and held it against the sunlight. “It's possible. Manehatten PD will be able to trace it for sure. This is their turf.”

“Which is why I'd appreciate it if you didn't contaminate evidence,” a burly stallion in a trench coat muttered at them. “Dis here is a crime scene, capisce? And we're going to have to ask you and the music mare down there to come with us for interviews.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “No. My objectives take priority. I'll submit a written report for you later, and agree to an interview if I have time. In the meantime,Trixie and Octavia are coming with me.”

The stallion huffed and spat out his toothpick. “Maybe you didn't hear me. You and—”

Another officer pulled him just a bit to the side. “Bullet, that's the Grand Mage. She'll bring the palace down on our ears if you don't back off.”

Bullet stared her down for a second, then sighed; wandering off muttering something about politics and being too old.

Twilight let herself have a self-satisfied smirk, and breathed in the city. Civilization. Well-built towers crafted by professionals. Officials that usually try to actually do their job, and that respect her position.

Her eyes moved over the scene as emergency responders poured in, and spotted Octavia sobbing her eyes out behind the shield Twilight had put up.

“Trixie, on me.” Twilight led the way through the throng and down the stairs, then dashed across the street. She laid down by her friend, who had her head buried in her forelegs while resting on her cello case.

“Octavia?” Twilight asked. “Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?”

Octavia shook her head. “No. I'm not okay. I mean, I'm not hit. But this is not okay. I... I need a drink.”

Clearly, there's more to the story that I'm not aware of. Twilight turned to Trixie. “Help her up. We'll walk her to her apartment.”

The two lifted the crying mare and leaned against her, steadying her as they slowly left the scene, cello in tow within Trixie’s magic. Behind them was a swarm of ponies descending on the bank, including press ponies who, thankfully, were too late to notice the Grand Mage and her unusual entourage.

A few blocks away, Octavia was walking much more steadily as they sighted her apartment. The buildings were tan brick and had the feel of old Manehatten. The area was much more affluent than the neighbourhood’s age would let on. Trees lined the streets, and fancy new street lights screamed out that this place had bits to burn.

Twilight followed as Octavia unlocked the front glass door and led them up a few flights of stairs. The apartment was at the top floor, and even had a double-door entrance.

Immediately inside was a kitchen with a bar, and beyond that the open-plan luxury of a classy lady’s home. The living room was down a step, and featured floor-to-ceiling windows with a door leading to a small patio. A music stand, a stool, and another cello rested by the couch, and a dining room was off to the left. A hall to the right led to the bedrooms and bathroom. Some of the walls were the same colour brick as the outside, though there was a different colour for the fireplace.

As soon as the doors were closed behind them, Octavia went to her bar, poured a glass of wine, and chugged the whole thing.

“I'm sorry about that. Really, I am.” Octavia grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “I just hoped that part of my life was over.”

Twilight and Trixie took seats opposite her, facing the exit.

“Octavia,” Twilight began. “What just happened would have been stressful for anypony. You needn't apologize or be embarrassed about it, and I genuinely want to help. But to do that, I need to understand what's going on, and, well…”

Trixie poured Octavia another glass. “Why do you have a tommy gun in a secret compartment in your cello case?”

Twilight rolled her eyes at Trixie. “Yeah, that.”

Octavia took another gulp of wine and sighed. “My mom is a yakuza leader. My father is Roan and runs one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world. I was an… attempt at peace between them. It didn't work out, so I went to the Bittish Isles to study when I was young, and fell in love with music.”

Just like that, everything clicked info place in Twilight's mind. “Ah, I see.”

Octavia scoffed. “Do you?”

“Probably. Based on what you just said, I'm guessing that since that bank isn't a national chain, it's probably owned by your father.”

Octavia scoffed again, but this time it wasn't aimed at Twilight. “He bought the damn thing after he learned I practiced in public across the street. I tried to move, but that just cost me fans when they got confused, so I moved back.”

Twilight nodded. “Makes sense. Moreover, I bet the robbery was actually done by a rival organization with the intent of making him look weak, and that you were a bonus target.

“Knowing you could be targeted at some point, your father gave you the gun and the dimensional pocket in the cello case, at great expense.”

Octavia buried her head in her forelegs. “Freaking smart ponies.”

“And,” Twilight continued, “you resent him for it. You kept them because you knew you'd need to for your own protection, but they're an anchor to a world you want no part of.”

Octavia chugged the rest of her glass. “I guess you do get it. I'm sorry for being rude. I've… I've had a hard day. Hard few weeks, actually.”

Twilight swallowed hard. “About that, I have…”

There was a knock at the door. It was a gentle knock, one that seemed as normal, polite, and unassuming as one ever heard.

It put the hairs on the back of Twilight's neck up on alert. She nearly sprang into action to stop Octavia from opening the door, but ultimately kept still. When Octavia did open it, Twilight was surprised to find a lanky stallion in an extremely expensive three-piece suit.

“Daddy?” Octavia choked out. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you were attacked.” The stallion grabbed her gently on both shoulders as Octavia turned away from him. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I… No, daddy. I'm fine.” She wiped away her lingering tears, smearing some of her makeup. “Twilight, she… She protected me.”

The stallion leaned to one side, eyeing both of the other mares.

Alarm bells rang out in Twilight's soul. He was sizing her up, and knew she was doing the same.

He was a somewhat tall earth pony stallion, and rather thin, the lack of fat betraying tough, wiry muscle atypical for his pony tribe. His coat was a dusty blue, with his mane occupying a much lighter shade of the same. His suit was a dark grey pinstripe, fitted to perfection without so much as a wrinkle popping up or stitch out of place. What was most prevalent, though, were his dark green eyes. His irises felt like cold, liquid cloth that had been stretched taut without mercy.

“This stallion is dangerous.” Aurora shivered. “I don't like him.”

He walked around his daughter, moving closer to them like a shark. “Well now. This is a most pleasant surprise. My name is Tailored Trade, and I am a local entrepreneur.”

Octavia snorted. “Is that what they call gangsters these days?”

“Indeed!” Tailored Trade said with a smile that made Twilight shiver. “Especially since there's never been proof I'm anything but!”

“Now then, Lady Sparkle. I must thank you for saving my daughter. Perhaps we could come to an arrangement of—”

Twilight held up a hoof for him to stop. “Thank you, but no. I'm already well compensated by the Crown, and my actions would have been the same for anypony in that situation.”

His smile only grew, digging into Twilight’s mind so she'd never forget. “A regular idealist, I see. Regardless, it seems I owe you a favour. Should you ever have need of my services, please don't hesitate to contact me.” He pulled out a business card and placed it on the granite countertop.

“I'll keep it in mind,” Twilight said as she put it in Trixie’s pocket. She resisted the urge to add “far in the back of” to the middle of the sentence.

“Now then!” He put his forehooves together. “Octavia, I want to see you for dinner tonight. You know where.”

Octavia turned up her nose. “No.”

Twilight put one of her ears down. “Octavia, I recommend taking him up on his offer.”

Tailored Trade didn't so much as flinch, but Octavia's look could have killed. “Excuse me?”

“I can't force you,” Twilight said, holding up her hooves. “But I do recommend it.”

“Thank you, Lady Sparkle.” Tailored Trade tipped his hat. “I'm glad to see somepony understands respecting one's elders. Octavia, I'll see you tonight.”

Tailored Trade left, closing the doors behind him. Ten seconds later, Octavia snapped her head to Twilight.

“Just what the buck are you doing?! You had no right to—”

Twilight leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. “Octavia, listen to me closely. Trixie? Seal the room.”

Trixie raised her horn and covered the walls in a soundproof barrier, turning every outside surface pink. “Ready.”

Octavia blinked, jaw agape. “What are you—”

Twilight held up a hoof. “Octavia, I talked to Pinkie. I asked her if she knew anypony with odd relationship trouble, and she mentioned you.”

Octavia slammed her hooves on her counter, causing Twilight to jump and a knot to form in her stomach. “What right do you have to—”

“Changelings.” Twilight said.

Octavia went pale. “What?”

Twilight sucked in a breath. “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, Octavia. But, I’m here on a mission to investigate changelings in the city. I know this comes at the worst time, but I talked to Pinkie. Her… ability to spot coincidences is something I have faith in, and she led me here.

“I think there’s a good chance Vinyl has been taken by them, and one or more changelings have been feeding on you. If you’ve been feeling out of sorts lately, it’s entirely possible that the changeling is the cause.”

Octavia slumped down, and her hair frayed in real time. “I… I would know. Vinyl and I are just going through a rough—”

Twilight’s throat went dry. Memories of Chrysalis laughed in her head, and Twilight suppressed her own tears so Octavia could shed hers. “Changelings are able to confuse the minds of their victims. Obvious conflicts in your memories are smoothed over, your will to fight back against them is sapped, and you're left an absolute mess.

“I'm not saying I'm one hundred percent certain Vinyl has been captured. I can't say that until I meet with Vinyl. But Pinkie has good instincts — supernaturally good. So I must follow up on this.”

“Oh…” Octavia squeezed her eyes closed, and folded her hooves in prayer. “Oh Luna… Why…?”

Twilight forced down a bit of heartburn in the back of her throat. “I can't answer that. But I can say this: changelings don't normally kill those they capture and replace. Vinyl is almost certainly alive, likely being held somewhere in a cocoon and fed on.

“I want to try to capture the changeling alive. Even if they don't cooperate with an interrogation, I may find physical evidence that could help me save her. All I need is to get the changeling where I've set up a trap. Tell me, Octavia. Where is she?”

Octavia wasn't there. Or rather, she was there physically, but her eyes and mind were focused on something far away. The shock in her heart painted the room.

“Octavia?” Twilight tilted her head. “Octavia, I need to know, please. Where—”

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!” Octavia fell to the floor screaming, her cries rattling the windows. Collapsed, she shook and twitched in a fit.

“Uh-oh.” Twilight jumped over the counter, landing next to the mare as she stopped screaming. “Celestia... she's seizing.”

“Seizing?”

“A grand mal seizure. Potentially serious.” Twilight grabbed Octavia with a hoof, pushing the mare onto her side. “I don't know the cause yet. Maybe just stress. Go into her bathroom and get me some towels stat!”

“On it!” Trixie ran, bumping into the wall as she turned.

“Hang on, Tavi. It'll be okay.” Twilight wanted to pull her into a hug, but that would just hurt them both. Instead, she looked up at the clock.

Trixie ran back in with what was presumably all the towels in her magical grip. “This okay?”

“Plenty.” Twilight rolled a few up and put them under Octavia's head to cushion it. “She's been seizing for about thirty seconds. If it hits two minutes, we need emergency medical help.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “How do you know so much about this?”

Twilight sighed. “My grandpa is epileptic. And… Well, I'm not a doctor, but I know first aid and generally a lot about the pony body. And I know about a decent number of medicines and such. Just not enough to practice medicine. Not near enough.”

Trixie bit her hoof. “I know some healing spells. Several, actually. Only reason I survived the last few years. Should I…?”

“No!” Twilight caught herself, gesturing an apology to Trixie. “Sorry, Trixie, not a good idea. Most healing spells are stimulants, and that's the opposite of what she needs. Right now, there's a lightning storm going on in her brain, and it's making all her muscle neurons fire randomly. All we need is time. Hopefully.”

Both mares stood over Octavia, relaxing as the symptoms faded. Before long, Octavia was snoozing gently on the kitchen floor.

“Do we wake her?” Trixie asked. “I mean, is it safe?”

“Should be.” Twilight pushed on Octavia's shoulder. “Octavia? Are you there?”

“Mmmm…” Octavia groaned. “What… What happened?”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “We… We sort of deluged you with bad news. You panicked and had a seizure. How are you feeling now? Do you want us to get an ambulance?”

Octavia pushed herself up with a hoof. “A seizure? I haven't had one of those since I was a filly. What did… Wait. Vinyl! I have to go!” She bolted to the bedroom, and made an awful lot of noise looking for something.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and went to the doorway. Octavia was flank-deep in a box, ruffling through it a while before cursing and going to the next box in a long line of storage objects. Each container was filled with cored and enchanted objects, many of which Twilight was reasonably sure weren't entirely legal for civilians to possess.

“Octavia, you are not going to head out to try and rescue Vinyl,” Twilight said.

Octavia glared at Twilight with enough force to metaphorically melt a hole in the wall behind her. “Try and stop me.”

Twilight lit her horn. “You may wish to rethink that phrase, seeing as how you're dealing with a Grand Mage.”

Octavia paused, looking at her, then Trixie, then the window, seemingly calculating her odds and routes.

“Ahem.” Trixie coughed. “Also, you seem to be forgetting that even if Vinyl has been replaced by a changeling, we don't know where she is. You have nowhere to go to mount a rescue mission.”

Octavia scoffed. “Vinyl needs me for once, and not the other way around. I'll search the whole city door to door if I have to.”

“Not advisable.” Trixie smirked. “After all, who says she's even in the city?”

“I'll search the whole world if I have to!” Octavia slammed the top on the box that she had finished rummaging through and slung a bag over her back. “Nothing will stop me.”

“Or,” Twilight said with a smile, “you could cooperate with us. All we need to know is where changeling Vinyl should be right now to keep up appearances, and where she's going next. Then, we can set up a trap, catch her, and interrogate her. A whole lot easier than searching the whole city, right?”

Octavia narrowed her eyes, then slumped over and sighed. “You're right, you're right. I'm not thinking clearly. Too much wine. Getting tired, too.”

Twilight relaxed and smiled. “You did just have a major medical episode. Being tired is a normal symptom.”

“Yeah…” Octavia’s eyes darted around as she paused. “Normally, Vinyl comes home for dinner, and we, uh…”

“Noted.” Twilight turned to Trixie and whispered, “Let's start setting up a capture ward. We’ll set the trap here. After Vinyl comes in, she won't be able to both fight us and break the ward. We should be able to capture her easily then. After that, with any luck we'll have a starting point.”

Author's Note

Hey there!

As a heads up, my editor had a run-in with Real Life™ and couldn’t finish this one completely. When he has time to go back over it I’ll put up a refresh. Sorry about that!

Backlog is still dwindling, but there is hope on the horizon. I switched antidepressant medications recently, and this new one IS helping. Certainly more than the other. Makes it easier to start writing lately. If only I didn’t get yet another cold… Well, even this cold is rather mild compared to the last few. I have high hopes for next month.

As always, thank you for sticking with me! :)

-Cv

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EDIT: Updated 13 July 2018

In Plain Sight

“Think she'll be okay?”

“I think so.” Twilight yawned and stretched, fighting her own exhaustion. Whatever happened today, she needed a long appointment with her cloud bed afterwards. “Freaky though her father is, nothing I've seen or heard indicates that he is a danger to her. Frankly, I feel it's the opposite. Odds are that anything trying to get to her in the next few days will be in a world of hurt.”

“Hmmm.” Trixie peeked through the curtain again, peering out through the narrow slit at the far edge of the window. “And all the illegal stuff in her room? The Tommy Gun? Aren't we going to arrest her?”

Twilight snorted back a laugh. “She's the daughter of two mafia bosses who no doubt have connections and leverage everywhere. Arresting her would cause more problems than it solves. Besides that, I know her. I highly doubt that she's a significant threat to the public at large.”

“If you say so.” Trixie hugged her belly. “Just makes me nervous. Like we're leaving ourselves vulnerable.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “We're about to try to lock ourselves in with a changeling.”

Trixie laughed. “Good point.”

Twilight peeked through the other side of the window, and waited. This was the toughest part of a trap: waiting. It was almost certain that their target would enter via the front doors, which the apartment overlooked. Based on where Vinyl’s club was, she'd likely approach from a highly visible angle. So they knew the where, but not the when.

Some coffee would be great right now. Twilight smacked her lips. I wonder if I can plunder Octavia’s stash. She's a musician; they basically run on caffeine. I can leave some bits behind in compensation…

“Twilight, twelve o'clock.”

Twilight blinked and focused in. Far below, Twilight spotted the unmistakable neon-blue mane and purple sunglasses. “That's Vinyl. We got her.” She switched to her magic sight and locked on to the wellspring. “Normal unicorn wellspring, at least as far as I can see… which means she’s definitely a changeling. I know Vinyl; she’s a lot more powerful than she looks. There’s no way her wellspring is so bog-standard.”

“Uh, she's stopped…”

Twilight let go of the magic sight, and let herself meet the purple lenses. She felt a mental knife in her chest — ‘Vinyl’ was looking right at her. “Damn, I think we've been made.” Somehow, Twilight could feel Vinyl's eyes narrow.

Trixie lit her horn. “Craaaaap…”

“Yep, we've been made!” Twilight powered her horn while her target turned and ran. A crucial couple seconds and ten pounding heartbeats later, Twilight tore through spacetime. Her vision smeared and streaked as her teleportation spell crashed into the ward intended to capture the changeling. Her heart felt as if a sledgehammer was smashing into it, but she would not be stopped. Small explosions rippled through the air around her, Twilight’s arcane senses interpreting the magical feedback as a sound like glass and metal cracking and shattering .

A moment later, Twilight was outside the window and falling.

Pavement crumbled and burst under her armored hooves from the landing, sending a shockwave through her joints. Shards of glass-like magic—parts of magic circles that had been broken—fell around her. They evaporated as soon as they hit the ground, leaving no physical debris.

“Stop!” Twilight relit her horn as “Vinyl” disappeared around the corner. With a thunderous crack, Twilight magically launched herself through the air. Pink, purple, and black streaked behind her in a rainbow, leaving stardust in her wake. She flew straight ahead, paying no heed to gravity.

Vinyl was dead ahead now, and Twilight was closing despite her quarry being in a full gallop. Inside the changeling’s body, the wellspring grew brighter in the same muted blue-purple color as before. In the next moment, green light consumed it, and a changeling took flight.

Two more cracks of thunder, and Twilight slammed into the ground ahead of the changeling. Concrete flew into the air, peppering both of them with rocks. She watched the changeling tumble in the air, but her smirk faded as it took control of its flight again. “Oh no you don't!”

The changeling took off with a burst of speed, dragging small bits of debris in its wake. A shrill buzz from its wings took over the air.

Twilight hit the ground, galloped twice, then jumped back into the air. A teleport later, she was back in the race. Ponies with shocked faces blurred by her as she teleported twice more, rushing through the air. She caught up to the point where she could count the holes in the hind legs of the changeling, and then it turned.

Her eyes followed it into an alley, but her body kept going. The world spun around, boxing her head and ribs as she tumbled. She gripped the ground with her hind leg, and kicked herself back in the other direction. She quickly initiated a teleport, then another, to bring herself into the alley.

Twilight landed on her hooves, and slid to the end of the alley as she saw what was in her path. Before her was a sea of ponies, packed to standing room only. Every spare bit of space on either side of the road was positively crammed with earth ponies and unicorns. The only reason pegasi weren't there is because they were on low-hanging clouds. However, what really had Twilight's jaw agape and her eye twitching was what was in the middle of the road. “You have got to be kidding me.”

A blast of music from a band removed all doubt: this was a parade.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Twilight screamed and kicked in frustration, knocking a few bricks out of the building next to her and earning more than a few strange looks.

She switched to her magic sight, but all she saw was a sky’s worth of lit dots. Sighing, she turned and marched off back down the alley. “A parade. It had to be a parade. Here. Now.” Twilight smacked herself upside her head. “Duh. It's freaking Emergence Day. Of course there’s a parade! There's going to be parades all day and celebrations all night.”

“I can't think of a more perfect changeling hiding spot.” Aurora was hiding a laugh, which would have earned a look from Twilight if she had a body for it to be aimed at. “I think it's safe to say we lost it.”

And it's already getting close to the end of the day. Twilight thought. We're going to need a fresh approach, since the hive knows I'm here now.

Trixie ran up to them, short of breath and panting. “Bad news, Twilight. There's ponies everywhere. I couldn't cut it off.”

“Yeah, I know.” Twilight's leg stomped another crack in the pavement. “Just had to be the anniversary of the formal truce between earth ponies and pegasi. We really picked a great day to be looking for a shapeshifter.”

“What do we do now? That was our best lead. And your friend is off in Canterlot.”

Twilight closed her eyes, took in a breath, and let it out slow. “I have a few ideas. First, though, we need to leave a note for Octavia. Then… then we need to get some food and find a place to think and settle on a new plan.”

Trixie rubbed her foreleg like a shy debutante. “Shouldn't we be a bit more rushed on this? We just confirmed a changeling presence.”

“A presence that's likely been in place for a while. I don't have any evidence to suggest we're looking at an imminent large-scale attack, and I'm not worried about casualties since changelings almost never actually kill ponies. Much better to keep them around and suck love from them.”

Trixie covered her mouth to hide a snort.

Twilight just rolled her eyes but didn't hide her smile. “Oh, grow up.”

“You sure it's this way?” Twilight asked, following Trixie down the theatre district of Manehatten in the late afternoon. Unlike the strong mix of backgrounds in Central Park, the ponies here were mostly rich, or at least upper middle class. The sheer number of fancy dresses alone made her bare coat shiver with self-consciousness. Even her armor torc didn't quite feel the same as having a dress to fit in.

On top of that, the evening life was just getting started. Manehatten never slept, but it was most alive in the hours just after sunset. Encircling the theatres near them were nightclubs and enough restaurants to feed an army. It was to one of those restaurants that they were headed.

“I'm sure.” Trixie reaffirmed. “Trust me. I looked up every restaurant hidey hole of every mob organization in the city when I was desperate for a loan. Octavia’s dad runs an organization on the rise, and was my second choice.”

Twilight's ear twitched. “I'm almost afraid to ask, but, what made you choose the organization that you did?”

“Honestly? I thought Tailored Trade would turn me down. Not enough money in it. I was small potatoes. The Scomparsas family was known for making smaller loans. I sure paid for it in the end, though.”

Twilight’s throat ached in sympathy to the tears she knew Trixie was fighting. “Well, don't worry about that anymore. I'm certain Shining took care of it.”

“Ha!” Trixie tilted her hat forward. “Working with you, I have all new reasons to worry. But they're good reasons. Causes worth worrying over.”

“That's the spirit! Come on, let's go contact Octavia, then go find us some trouble.”

“Oh, I'm sure if we sit still it'll find us.”

They walked into a large park area that was a bit of a shortcut through the block. It was mostly lush grass with some sparse maple trees scattered about, and a little artificial pond near a picturesque gazebo and bridge. The main attraction, though, was the center of the park, where an outdoor theatre capable of seating a few thousand ponies stood. It was famous for the dome’s futuristic solid steel look and the frequency and variety of shows.

The sun had just dipped below the horizon as they marched through the scattering of ponies that were either waiting to get in or hanging around the periphery to listen for free. One group on particular, though, made Twilight tilt her head in curiosity.

It was a small gaggle of mares, each dressed like a teenager’s idea of Luna's Night Guard. None got the uniform right, but that was probably the point given the customization on each costume. Nearby was an earth pony stallion paying keen attention to them; he had a utility belt and a yellow shirt with “SECURITY” stenciled in black on it.

Trixie was staring at them, too. “What's with the fan squad?”

“Fan squad?” Twilight blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I was in entertainment long enough to recognize dedicated fans when I see them. They're here for somepony, or something.”

One of the mares squealed hard enough to box Twilight's eardrums. “There he is! There he is! Bloodmoon, over here!”

Bloodmoon? Twilight followed their gaze, and she enough, as the crowd parted a little, she saw the pegasus standing there, still clad in his Night Guard armor.

He shot them a wink.

Twilight had to hold Aurora back from deploying from the sonic attack of all four mares screaming their lungs out. Trixie had covered her ears early, evidently seeing it coming.

Bloodmoon looked up, and his eyes went wide. “Lady Sparkle!” He made a beeline for her, then dropped into a bow. “I didn't expect to see you here. Do you require my assistance? Are you in trouble?”

Twilight giggled and motioned for him to rise. “No, and always, in that order. What are you doing here, out of curiosity? And what's with the fangirls?”

“Oh, don't mind them.” Bloodmoon ran a hoof through his crimson mane. “Luna allows us time off to rest and recover from the rigours of our work, so each month I come to a show here. It seems some young ladies have figured out my little schedule.”

“Come on, he's right there!” One of the mares, this one with a pixie cut of a mane, yelled at the security guard. “We won't cause trouble, we just want to meet him, that's it!”

“Speak for yourself, girl,” the one with pigtails and glasses said, biting her lip.

“No accosting the VIPs, period,” the guard barked back.

Twilight smiled and turned back to Bloodmoon, speaking with a soft voice. “It seems you're quite popular. That's part of the plan, isn't it? Come to shows regularly, get fans, show ponies that you aren't monsters or Nightmare Moon's storm troopers. Luna ends up looking better in the end.”

“Surely I have no idea what you'd mean by something so sneaky.” Bloodmoon gave her a wink.

“Uh-huh.” Trixie smiled and rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

“Oh, Bloody!” A stock stallion earth pony, this one dressed in a frilly suit, waved at Bloodmoon and ran up to them. “There you are!”

Who's this? Twilight looked over at the mares as the new stallion approached, and they all looked pale as ghosts. And why’d he use that awful nickname? Wait…

“Oh, Danish, it's been too long!” Cardinal Bloodmoon pulled Danish into a deep, full kiss. The kind of kiss lovers made after a long time apart to reunite their hearts and souls. “How are you, darling?”

Twilight smirked and looked over to the mares.

The earth pony nearest the tree grabbed hold of it and started banging her head into it over and over. “Why!” Bang! “Does!” Bang! “This!” Bang! “Always!” Bang! “Happen!” Bang! “To!” Bang! “Me!”

The second did a Rarity-like faint, falling over backwards-minus the couch. “This is awful!”

The third flopped to the ground and covered her head with her hooves. “This is a catastrophe!”

The fourth, the one with the glasses and pigtails, was smiling and giving her tail a happy swish. “This is better!”

Twilight and Trixie both broke into snickers as the two lovers went off to see the show, and the fan girls left wanting so much more.

“Well, that was a nice diversion.” Trixie waved to Twilight to follow her. “Hopefully Octavia is still at the restaurant by the time we get there.”

“Should be.” Twilight trotted up next to Trixie as they turned a corner down towards another street. “That or back at her apartment.”

“Hmmm.” Trixie took in a breath, and hesitated as they reached the road they were looking for. “How do you want to play this? It's going to be a big deal if the Grand Mage is seen going into a mob hangout. Ponies could assume corruption.”

“Good point.” Twilight fished around in her saddlebags for a manila envelope. “Anypony asks, I'm conducting a search.”

“Sounds like a plan. It's the third place on the right, the fancy one with the patio seating.”

“The one that looks totally packed?”

“Yup.”

They arrived at The Nosh, which was apparently trendy to a fault. There was a line going out the door, despite the ample seating. The sign on the wall said the maximum occupancy was three hundred. Twilight did a little math in her head and guessed at a probable hour and a half wait if they were getting a seat like any normal visitor.

Twilight eyed a route through the crowd and to the reception desk. “Okay, heads held high, and just roll with whatever I go with.”

“Gotcha.”

Twilight marched into the line, weaving her way left and right, cutting through the line like a fish through water. Unlike the work camp a few days ago, the ponies around her essentially ignored her. One had to get their name on the list before getting a seat, after all. Unless, of course, one were the Grand Mage.

“Excuse me.” Twilight looked the mare at the desk directly in her eyes, holding her envelope in her magic.

The mare sighed. “Search or arrest?”

Wow. I guess she's used to officers showing up with warrants. “That depends. Let's start by talking with your boss — Tailored Trade. I have reliable information that he's here.”

The mare sighed and pointed to the far back of the restaurant. “See the big guys by that door? Go talk to them.”

Oh, fun. Twilight motioned for Trixie to follow, and they made their way through a sea of diners enjoying what actually looked like good food.

“Interesting.” Trixie whispered. “I’m actually kind of surprised. This isn’t a money laundering operation like I've ever seen before at Scomparsas’ setup. Those places will serve you ten-bit stale crackers.”

Twilight’s stomach growled at the scent of a Hollandaise sauce that looked so delicious she would likely eat an old boot if it was served with a side of it. “They could still have overpriced wine, and even if not, everypony needs to eat. It's not like the wealthy to eat out every day, after all.”

Trixie “hmm”ed an agreement as they arrived at the door. Two minotaurs with hands that looked like they could crush coal into diamonds were standing guard over an otherwise unassuming door painted the same light blue as the wall.

Twilight cleared her throat. Here goes nothing. “Good evening. My name is Lady Sparkle. I have an urgent matter to discuss with Octavia, and I've been told she's here.”

The minotaur on the left reached over to the door and gave the handle a turn, opening it to reveal a small hallway. “Last door on the right, ma'am.”

Twilight blinked. Huh. Did not expect that. “Thank you.”

Trixie followed as they walked in and the door shut behind them. The hall was relatively unremarkable, save for the somehow-even-larger minotaur guarding their target door. He was standing in an area wider and taller than the rest of the hall; the minotaur probably had to crawl through in order to take his post.

However, this one, too, opened the door without a fuss, and they stepped into a room of luxury worthy of Canterlot. Marble floors and pillars, water features, plush cushions and seating, and even a sunroof all gathered to anoint the wealth of a stallion who made millions off the suffering of others.

Then again, Twilight thought, there's plenty of ponies that do that legally, too, which is just as depressing.

The man himself stood up. “Lady Sparkle. Welcome to my restaurant. I do hope you bring good news.”

Octavia was next to him, and her mascara was running in a river of tears. Nearby was a wastebasket filled to overflowing with tissues.

Twilight put her ears back. “I'm sorry, Octavia. She was a changeling, and the drone sensed my presence long before it could walk into my trap.”

Octavia wailed and sobbed into a pile of silk napkins.

Looks like the weight of things hit her. Twilight swallowed. “I still think the real Vinyl is alive. Changelings almost never kill their captives. What I have to do is find their hideaway and rescue her, along with anypony else they may have captive.”

“Sounds good.” Tailored Trade stood as solid and strong as a soldier in his prime. “What do you need from me?”

Trixie tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Uh, should we have told him about the—”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I just chased a changeling down a crowded avenue. I'd be shocked if the newspapers weren't printing a special edition right now.”

“Ah. Good point.”

“As for what I need from you, Mr. Trade, I'm afraid there's little to discuss. The political ramifications of—”

“You don't have foals, do you, Lady Sparkle?”

Trixie twitched a bit, lowering into a combat stance.

Twilight held up a hoof to stop her. “No, I don't, and I don't see how that's relevant.”

Tailored Trade nodded a bit and sighed. “No, I suppose you wouldn't, then. So let me educate you.

“When you have a foal, your mind undergoes… changes. You literally become a different pony. Priorities shift around, and everything you thought you cared about moves aside and makes way for one thing: them.”

He pointed his hoof at his crying daughter. “These creatures made my filly cry worse than I've ever seen, Lady Sparkle. And you tried to bring back her happiness. It didn't work, true, but I firmly believe it was an earnest attempt, and you've made your intentions going forward clear. So allow me to me make my own intentions clear.

“I intend to see her smile again. I'll do whatever it takes to reach that goal, and neither you nor a bunch of insects are going to stand in my way. Now, I'm offering to work together, to do things your way. If you say no, I'll be doing things my way, no matter how messy that may be. Do you understand?”

Twilight sucked in a breath, closed her eyes, and time slowed.

The political assessment isn't good. If anypony catches wind of us working together, both Celestia and myself will suffer catastrophic damage to our public support.

That's long-term. In the short term, what I'm looking at is the nastiest gang war in history. An all-out hunt from his enforcers could see hundreds of casualties in collateral damage alone. As much as I can see he inspires discipline in his employees, they're still freaking goons. They won't care if innocents die.

What's more, the changelings in this city are still largely an unknown factor. While they don't usually kill, I've no doubt they would if they have to, like when faced with an army of killers hunting them down.

So, lives of innocents and the guilty alike, versus the standing of myself and Celestia. Like that's even a choice.

Twilight opened her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Trade. We'll work together — to an extent. For now, please hold your ponies back. I still have a few plans. If those fail, I'll be in touch.”

He clasped his hooves together. “Out of respect for you and the Crown, I will be patient. However, that patience has a limit.”

Twilight hit him with a glare backed by a flare-up of her wellspring. “As does mine.” Before he could respond, she continued, “But prudence dictates caution and common sense. First and foremost, Mr. Trade, your ponies should start getting a bit nosy. Find out if anypony they know is having unusual relationship problems or are experiencing symptoms such as unexpected sleepiness, memory loss, or persistent headaches. Should you suspect a changeling, attempt to capture only, not kill. We need information first and foremost.

“If you succeed, contact me via telegram at this address.” Twilight pulled out a page of her notebook and scribbled a note on it, then passed it to Tailored.

“Consider it already done,” he replied, pocketing the note. “Anything else?”

“Yes, and this is most important. Your ponies? They should be in groups of three or more. They should never be alone or in pairs. If a changeling is in your organization, a pairing will leave the non-changeling vulnerable. But they have a hard time messing with the minds of two ponies at once, so trios offer more safety.”

He stroked his chin.”I was thinking as much myself. I'll see to it immediately.”

“Good. And Octavia?”

Octavia looked up from her napkins, and a sliver of her eyes was all it took to speak of true despair.

Twilight took a step closer. “Octavia, I am going to get Vinyl back, one way or another. I promise.”

Twilight stopped in the small park, and turned up her nose. Not that there was anything wrong with the park, it just wasn't what she needed at the moment, which was privacy.

“We could take Luna up on her offer.” Trixie pulled out the letter the Princess had given them. “I'm sure the Night Guard would offer sanctuary.”

“More than that, if we needed it.” Twilight's neck itched, and she moved Aurora’s torc form back and forth over it. “But I don't know how long it'd take to find them. I doubt they're hiding in plain sight in a city this dense.”

Trixie shrugged. “That's our problem, though. Dense city, no privacy.”

“And I'm sure the clock is ticking at this point. There's no doubt in my mind that not only are the changelings aware of our presence, but so is the Duchess. How to find a quiet spot… I just need to think laterally.” Something tugged at the depths of Twilight’s mind, pulling her eyes to an old, modest skyscraper. “Or vertically!”

Trixie took off her hat and looked at the same skyscraper as Twilight. “You could soar up there easily, but that'll take a big chunk out of my wellspring. And we'd risk attracting unwanted attention if we barge in there with our metaphorical badges.”

“All true, but look at the sign. That building is a hotel, and an old one at that.” Twilight smiled and wished she had a hat like Trixie’s to tilt like a badflank. “Come on, I’ve got an idea.”

They marched on through the late evening, now with a semi-dark sky no longer lit by the sun, but instead the cumulative light output of the city that never sleeps. They were in a part of Manehatten that was both old and new. Some of the skyscrapers were so young they weren't even finished yet, but they rested on the foundations of older towers. Others were among the first to reach for the sky, and those without a historical marker were just waiting to be replaced by something larger and newer.

The hotel they'd aimed for was one of the latter type of building, but it stood with stately, gothic resolve as the bigger neighbours moved in. An Equestrian flag wafted around in the air a few stories up, where the floors became progressively less wide as one approached the spire at the top.

“Uh-huh, thought so.” Twilight marched to the glass doors and found a veritable crowd waiting to be checked in. After tipping the door pony, she leaned over to Trixie and whispered, “Act like we've already checked in and we're just going to our room, like we belong here.”

Trixie chuckled. “You're talking to an entertainer, remember? Acting is my thing.”

The two walked past the line, weaving through the small crowd. Trixie even stopped to pour herself some coffee. The place was decorated for what luxury was twenty-five years ago, with gold trim, plush carpets, marble tile, and needlessly elaborate designs on the wallpaper. At the back of the lobby were two large elevators, which were just where Twilight wanted to be.

She pressed the button with the up arrow on it, thinking about its small size and how they must have been grandfathered in over the regulations mandating they be large enough for non-unicorns to easily push. This was one of the first buildings with large scale elevators, which only made the hairs on Twilight's back shoot up at attention. Freaking ancient elevators are creepy.

The doors dinged and opened, revealing a rather sad-looking teenage stallion. His face was wrinkled with enough sadness to make him look almost elderly. “Going up, ma'am?” he half-asked, half-moaned.

“Er, yes, please.” Twilight stepped in, Trixie close behind.

“Floor?” He groaned.

Crap. I was just going to go to the top floor penthouse, but that might raise suspicion with this guy… Although, the way he looks, I could probably toss him off the building only to get a “thank you”. “Twenty-fifth, please.”

The words felt like a lie, since she wanted the twenty-eighth floor, and were a weight sitting in her stomach as the elevator started. It wasn't the pseudo-dishonesty that tasted foul on her tongue as much as who she was saying it to. When a quick glance at his flank revealed a cutie mark with a lever on it, things became clear. He'd been laid off and made obsolete by the new control crystals that have started springing up all over Equestria and that would eventually take his job here, and anywhere else he'd ever think to apply. Poor guy. Who gets an elevator-operator cutie mark?

“Here we are.” The stallion radiated depression as he spoke and the elevator came to a stop. Trixie was out of the doors as soon as they opened.

Twilight put some bits in the guy’s pocket. “Elevator repair training. Think about it,” she said, stepping off into the hallway as the doors closed behind them.

The hall was far less depressing than the elevator, and had similar decoration as the lobby. It gave Twilight the feeling of being wrapped in a blanket, likely because it was the kind of decoration her mother adored. If nothing else, the deep carpet did muffle their steps, and made the whole place that much quieter.

After a couple turns, they found a rather bland door under a red “EXIT” sign.

“Bingo.” Twilight leaned against it, and started up the stairs. “Now all I need is roof access… like that door there.” They'd arrived at another bland door at the top, and Twilight could hear the wind around them.

Trixie batted a lock on a chain blocking the door’s lever from working. “That's kinda problematic.”

Twilight put her hoof on the lock, then closed her eyes. She reached out with her mind and felt the high wind on the other side of the door, the wide open sky, the freedom it promised with a kiss of ice.

Click!

Twilight pulled off the open lock and gingerly took the chain off, trying her level best not to make too much noise. “Twilight two, locks zero!” she whispered to Trixie. “Come on, we've got work to do. Put up a stealth shield. I don't want anypony nosing around us if I can help it.”

“You got it. One ‘I'm not interesting’ dome coming up.” Trixie lit her horn, weaving the complex magic of photon manipulation. An orb of fuzzy, translucent blackness formed between them, growing a few dozen centimetres every second.

As it passed Twilight, she weaved an additional spell into Trixie’s. It glowed briefly, then was subsumed into the other. When it was done, they had a hemisphere of a shield around them that followed as they moved out onto the roof.

Twilight sat down when they reached the center of the roof, and looked up at the muddy shield. It didn't totally obscure them, as that wouldn't do for her purposes. It also wasn't a combat shield; anything tossed at them would pass right through it. What it did accomplish was make them hard to see, and anypony that did see them would be hit with a suggestion that they weren't interesting and that the observer’s attention was better spent elsewhere. Such spells danced directly on the line between sometimes forgiven and get-added-to-the-garden-level banned, but the military special forces were allowed to employ them. As such, so was Twilight.

Trixie sat down opposite Twilight. “What exactly is your plan?”

Twilight smirked, then held her forehooves out in front of her. “First things first. Calibration matrices. You, too.”

Trixie shrugged and held out her forehooves as well.

Moments later they each had a complex magic circle in front of them. They consisted of several concentric rings with symbols between them, and a large open area in the middle.

Twilight gave her circle a spin. “Okay, time to make some magic.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow at the same time, then pulled out a granola bar to toss at Twilight. “Booooooo!”

Twilight just chuckled. “You can blame Celestia for that one. She put it in my head.

“Anyway, my plan is to make a changeling detection spell. I got a good look at the fake Vinyl with my magic sight; her wellspring looked like that of a normal unicorn.”

Trixie looked around her, apparently for a clue to grasp on to. “How does that help us? Wouldn't that be bad news?”

“Maybe.” Twilight drew a rough graph in the air with her magic. “Wellspring size and elemental alignment in the populace as a whole are highly variable, especially among unicorns. But for any random individual, that set of variables will fall somewhere on a known probability curve.

“For instance, nearly half of all ponies have a ‘normal’ wellspring size. What that actually means is that the size of their wellspring is within one standard deviation from the mean. To have a wellspring size exactly at the mean, or at least so close it's hard to tell otherwise, is a little rare.

“The fake Vinyl also had a fairly common elemental alignment that was a bit… muted and evenly mixed. For unicorns, that's actually pretty uncommon. Almost all of us have three to four primary elemental alignments and several more that are in the background, but one is usually dominant. Still, it’s not unheard of or even super rare.

“However, I saw something interesting when the changeling ran away. When it called on its power, the wellspring flared to life, and regenerated all its magic evenly across its profile. The color didn’t change.”

The light dawned in Trixie's eyes. “That is weird. Usually the dominant one regenerates magic faster.”

“Right! I'm guessing your everyday drone doesn't, or can't, do anything different than just mimic that average wellspring, regenerating the elemental types evenly.

“There are, no doubt, some ponies in this city that really do have bang-on normal wellsprings that are evenly spread and regen more or less evenly, but only a few dozen. If there's a significant changeling presence in this city, any pony this filter finds will, more likely than not, be a changeling.”

Trixie started filling up her matrix with symbols. “Gotcha. Then all we have to do is test any targets this finds.” She paused a moment. “We do have a means to do that, right?”

“Yes.” Twilight added a few symbols to her own matrix. “A low-strength, wide-angle thaumic beam from your horn can disrupt their magic and reveal them for who they are. It'll sting a bit, but we only need to wash it over their leg or something, and there's no permanent damage. They'll be right as rain in a minute or so.”

Twilight started assembling the detector spell, bit by bit in her matrix. “Trixie, I need you to start a thaumic emission spell to create a background to test against. Keep it low volume so you don't exhaust yourself, and so it stays invisible.”

“On it.”

Twilight pulled together her thoughts, combining them in the matrix.

The magic circles they were using functioned as a sort of test. They were useful when trying to determine what, if any, effect a user’s particular thaumic profile would have on a spell, and what changes they might have to make to get it to work. The common spells that most ponies knew, however, needed no such adjustment, and thus the technique was lost to most unicorns about four years out of high school.

They had other uses, however, and here it was to judge how the environment around them would affect each piece of the spell as they put it together. When the first component was ready, Twilight put it through the paces. What face she made at the result, Twilight wasn't sure, but Aurora silently made her wish for a camera known.

“Trixie, are you having a problem with interference in your calibration matrix?”

Trixie leaned to the side, eyes wide in surprise. “You too? I just spent the last five minutes trying to find the problem in my circles. I thought it was just me screwing up.”

Twilight shook her head. “Nuh-uh. And the odds of both of us screwing up in the same way are minuscule. Our environment must have a contaminate that the background doesn't.”

Trixie looked up at her barrier and squinted. “Did I mess up the barrier spell?”

“I don't think so. And I don't smell or see any thaumic contamination or miasma where we're at.”

“Confirmed.” Aurora said. “If it was here, I should be able to detect it. What we are in is just normal Manehatten pollution. There's nothing that should affect the spell.”

Twilight stood up and whipped her head around, switching to her magic sight. “And there's nopony nearby. Not even in the top couple floors of the hotel. But there has to be something. Spread out, look around and under everything. There could be something hidden from my sight.”

“It would have to be very close to both produce interference at that level and not be rather bright in your sight.”

True. Which means… Twilight brushed away the dirt and debris on the roof, cleaning the tiles underneath her. They were packed close together, with only a minimal barrier of grout between them. “Trixie, back up. I need to try something.”

She grabbed a tile with her magic, pulling on the entire side of it like a giant suction cup. She wiggled the aura on the edge to sneak underneath it, and pulled. The tile came apart, but most of it was removed. Underneath wasn't just the normal adhesive. Between that and the tile was a muddy blackness not unlike Trixie’s barrier, but much thicker and darker. The smell of must gave away what it was.

Twilight tossed the pieces of tile aside. “Murkyr. Perfect for hiding something you don't want found, and it even blocks my Sight. Hang on while I blast this.”

She pushed magic into her horn, pressing it into a tiny point, then fired at the murkyr. The beam hit a barrier of sorts, but it soon broke like sugar glass, and the murkyr evaporated into the air.

Underneath was another mystery, and it sent a shiver down Twilight's spine that clumped into a bit of ice at her dock. A dark green ooze, nearly solidified, was present under the murkyr. There was just a few thin lines of it, but deep inside was the thin, nearly imperceptible glow of magic.

“Trixie, help me pull up the other tiles. There's more to this; I know it.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

The two went to work, and in minutes the hotel roof was bare, and the murkyr dispelled. Underneath it all was a three-meter-wide magic circle of green that turned Twilight's nerves into ice.

Trixie took off her hat and wiped her brow. “There have to be at least a dozen symbols in this I don't even recognize, let alone comprehend. And I've also never seen a circle created from… whatever this is. It's.. it's like a sticky, jade amber. Some kind of custom gem substance, maybe?”

“No,” Twilight said, putting her hoof over a symbol she'd never seen before. “I don't know how it got here, or what the spell is doing, but I know what it's made of.”

Trixie hugged her hat and mumbled into it. “I take it by your expression I don't want to know…”

Twilight looked her in the eyes. “It's blood, Trixie. Dried. Changeling. Blood.”

Author's Note

Hey all! I got bad news and good news.

The bad news is my backlog is almost dry.

The good news is that I have a new writing setup to test. I got a decent-quality laser keyboard, which is a device that uses a laser to project the image of a keyboard on a flat surface. My plan is to project it on a piece of flat cloth covering some furniture foam. I actually have all the individual parts to this already…

But I can’t test it just yet. I’m away from home, visiting in-laws. I won’t be home for at least a couple more days.

(This also means that I wasn’t able to focus on editing quite as much as normal, so this chapter could also see minor updates in a few days.)

In principle, though, there’s no reason this new keyboard idea shouldn’t work. We’ll know for certain in a week or so. If this does work, I might be able to go back to writing a whole ton each day, rebuilding the backlog very quickly. If it doesn’t… I’ll probably go curl up in a fetal position and cry or something. And then modify the approach or find something new and try again.

Wish me luck, and thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Mind Matters

“Twilight, what should we do?”

A small voice in Twilight's mind shouted about the question, but the rest of her yelled back about seventeen other things going on. Sweat was beading on her head, and her knee was shaking like she was on a live wire. Tactical option: destroy the circle. Probability of significant structural damage to hotel: seventy-eight percent. Breaking circle first may spare the hotel damage, but may detonate the circle. Power storage unknown. Power emanations are not strongly detected, but blood is very magic-dense. Symbol three looks like a tri-lemma, but could be something else entirely. Power draw is internal, and the blood must have been highly concentrated to support the magic and stay solid.

“Twilight?

“Twilight!”

Twilight blinked after a ration bar bopped her in the face. “Hmmm?”

Trixie was standing there, pointing to the circle with both hooves. “What. Do. We. Do?”

Twilight looked back at the circle, and opened her mouth when another ration bar was lifted into the air. “I don't know. I can't resolve these symbols. I'm out of my depth, which is saying something. We need help.”

“Luna?”

“Luna. Let's go find her hidey hole here in Manehatten.”

“Uuuhhhh… Are we sure this is right?”

“Pretty sure.” Twilight looked up from her paper, then at Trixie and the mountains of garbage around them. The warehouse before her had been abandoned for years, and was never fully torn down when the site became a dump. The back of it was covered in dirt and trash. In fact, the path to get to where they were ran over part of the building, hiding it from view on approach. Somehow, there was still a power line to the building, and from the buzz, it seemed live.

“It just doesn't seem… Luna-y,” Trixie said. “She's a princess, after all.”

“Ah, but that's exactly what it should be! I'm pretty sure she's kept this a secret from the Council. Besides, this is just the first step.” Twilight held up the paper for Trixie. “This is less a map and more a scavenger hunt. To get where we're going, there's a fair amount of travel left.”

Trixie took the paper and made a face like a pony who hadn't studied for a final. “Underground? In a dump?”

“Apparently there's a tunnel here. Come on, let's go find the entrance.” Twilight marched forward to the large sliding door of the decrepit warehouse. The rust and garbage water combined to make a smell that laughed at those without a tetanus shot. The door resisted her magic grip through the sheer amount of thaumic waste in the dirt, to say nothing of the sorry state of its mechanism.

Twilight managed to get her armored head and neck inside, and pushed with her shoulders. The door budged a little, but not enough to get all the way through with her armor deployed.

“What's it look like in there?”

Twilight turned up her nose as it itched. “It looks like… like…” She held back her breath as much as she could, but to no avail. “AAAAA-CHOO!” She sniffled.

“Don't you have a filter in your armor now?”

Twilight swallowed something unpleasant. “I do, but psychosomatic effects are a big part of sneezing. There's about two inches of dust on the floor. Hang on.”

She grabbed hold of the sliding mechanism and forced it directly, opening the door another few centimetres and stumbling in, Trixie close behind.

Trixie waved her hoof to clear the dust, but just stirred up more. “Ugh! This is disgusting! And we just came from a literal dump!”

Twilight eyed the piles of stinking goo scattered about, each of which looked like a mixture of random biological matter well into biodegradation and thick dust. The floor was otherwise clear, and made of concrete that was chipped and cracked everywhere.

To their left was an elevated area, with a large ramp in the middle granting access to it. It was railed off with steel, as if safety was a thing that could be had in a place like this.

The windows above the door let in just enough light that they could see, while those on the opposite side revealed only the dirt and trash that was slowly consuming the building. Twilight thanked her lucky stars Aurora could filter out most of the stench as Trixie rooted around in her bag and pulled out her own gas mask.

“Good thing I picked this thing up when I found out I was heading to San Palomino.” Trixie said, her voice muffled. “What's next?”

“Next is solving the riddle she left me. See the border in between the steps?” Twilight held up the paper. “Those are instructions. To proceed, we need to read that, somehow.”

Trixie blinked so hard Twilight could hear it. “Uh, I thought that was just a fancy page break or something. How does a pony read that?”

“I'm not sure, but I have a few ideas.” Twilight lit her horn, conjuring a little spell to create an orb of light. Leaving the paper on a relatively clear spot on the ground, she poked the orb and let it do its thing. It shifted through colours, tweaking the wavelength and composition of light ever so slightly each second.

After the spell poofed away from being complete, Twilight at first decided to mentally swear at it, but the motion was held up by the decency committee in her brain. Instead, she went to step two: barriers.

One by one the two mares summoned weak barriers of different colours, blocking out narrow wavelengths to try to reveal a hidden message. It wasn't until Trixie's stomach growled that either said anything.

“Yeah, I'm not seeing it, Twilight. And we've been at this a while. It might have been quicker to just send a telegram.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Trixie. “And leave a puzzle from the Princess unsolved? Not happening. I like puzzles, and I'm not about to let Luna beat me in—” Angels started singing in her head, followed by glorious trumpets and a release of doves. “That's it!”

“What's it?”

“It's a puzzle!”

There was a beat.

“Uh, Twilight, we know that.” Trixie said, scratching her head through the mask.

“No, don't you see?” Twilight pulled out her telekinetic blade, then forced it down in size to the thickness of a needle. “The puzzle is to cut out the pieces along these lines and rearrange them to form the message!”

“But if you're wrong, you'll be destroying our clue.”

“I am not wrong, and I'll prove it!” Twilight sliced up the paper, piece at a time, careful to avoid going off the lines by feeling the subtle rip as her blade cut through the fibers. Eventually, she had a few dozen little pieces of paper dancing in her magic. One by one, she found matches, forming letters out of the lines she didn't cut.

SPIN YELLOW

Trixie nudged the last little piece in place. “Well, that's delightfully cryptic. Amazed that it was a puzzle, though.”

“Told you so. And…” Twilight scanned the warehouse for anything yellow, settling on a splash of paint on a railing. “Looks like we found the yellow. But how to spin it?”

The two trotted to the rail, and the colored piece was attached to one of the vertical poles holding up the railing. It was an end piece resting at the bottom of the ramp to the elevated area, and was fastened to the rest by a piece of plastic piping.

“I think I got it.” Twilight grabbed hold of the metal ring, pulling out away from the pole. Steel groaned in protest, but yielded to the strength in her legs. It gave way after only a moment, and a tingle up her spine told her this was it. She then clamped down on the pole with her magic and twisted. Despite being half buried in concrete, it turned.

The sound of rusted gears and chains clamored in the warehouse, followed by the wails of startled crows and seagulls. The clinks and clanks of metal felt less like a mechanism and more like an earthquake. In jerks and spurts, the concrete ramp dropped down into the earth, kicking up a fountain of dust and a hole in the ground.

“Well, I’m glad I put on my gas mask.” Trixie waved around her hoof and coughed like she had a hairball.

“I can't even see inside it yet. What possessed Luna to build something like this? Wait, stupid question. It’s Luna! Theatrical craziness is her bread and butter, and possibly jam. So, the question is, what do we have here?”

“You mean other than enough dust to choke an elephant?”

“A herd of elephants. But I think what we’re looking at is a tunnel entrance.” Twilight aimed her horn down the hole, firing a thin line of magic into the void. It flew straight and true, scattering the darkness and revealing a deep tunnel. “Yep! What we’re looking at is one of the original tunnels used by the earth ponies in the city during the period before reunification. Built brick by brick to shelter untold thousands from pegasus attacks.”

“Eeyuck. And now used as a sewer.” Trixie gagged.

“Actually, that’s a common misconception. The lower, center area can occasionally be filled with water, but it's not sewage. It’s rainwater, and some river water as well, from the rare occasions when the rivers flood. If the weather is dry, the floor is just damp.”

“I just hate underground spaces. Your escape options get cut down to a nub.” Trixie paused for a moment. “Wait, if these tunnels are so extensive, what if the changelings are hiding down here?”

Twilight scanned an upcoming intersection with her light. “Possible, but very unlikely. These tunnels are not abandoned. It's estimated that there are up to two-and-a-half thousand homeless ponies living in them, but many think that's a painful underestimation. They are mostly tolerated by the Duchy, but their presence means the police regularly patrol the network. Not to mention, if the homeless found themselves targeted by the changelings, they might try to solve it themselves, which means getting violent. Not only would that be high-risk for the changelings, it would put the changelings under a spotlight.

“That doesn't make this place safe, though. Stay on guard.”

Trixie lit her horn. “Makes sense to me. Let's hurry and find our exit.”

“Thankfully our map is simpler now, but we still have a long way to go.”

Cloud Burner stretched and yawned as he landed in front of the restaurant, folding his wings after giving them a good shake. “And that's that. Shift over. Smooth Sailing, your turn.” He hopped out of the chariot, and the young lad scrambled over to him.

“Yes sir!” He beamed. “Thanks again for this chance.”

“Gotta stick together if we’re going to rebuild. Just stick to the script, and be your usual nice self, and you’ll rake in the tips.” Cloud refilled the takeout-menu pouch on the side of the chariot, then waved the kid off into the sky.

With another yawn, he wiped some sweat off his brow. Cloudsdale was still a huge city, but his family restaurant now had a new feature: direct sunlight. The core, the monster center of the city, had shed most of its outer layers. What was once tightly controlled and contained was now spreading out into the sky. Ironically, that now meant that non-pegasi were reliant on pegasi to get around, and pegasi were reliant on non-pegasi for fares and economic stability. The extremists had actually brought the city closer together than ever before.

“Time for dinner!” He trotted into the restaurant and ordered a glass of wine and his favorite pasta dish: fettuccine alfredo. It had all the fat and carbs for a pegasus clearly still in the prime of his life and not at all about to spiral into a mid-life crisis.

Afterwards, he ordered one more glass of white, took it in, savoured it, and slumped down in the booth as his worries melted away.

“It's only 6:30 and you're drinking. Typical.”

The worries staged a counter-attack and took all new territory. He looked up at his ex-wife and that sexy little red dress she wore to torment him. “Jazzy, you're full of it. For my entire adult life, until recently, I was in the military. To become Celestia’s Guard, I had to be an outstanding soldier, which included never getting drunk, always being ready for battle. Quite frankly, I've had more wine in the past few months than I've had all my life.” He put on a grin and aimed it right in her green eyes. “Though I suppose I should credit you for that.”

Jazzy flicked a hoof through her golden mane. “Don’t lump me in with you. While you play chauffeur, I still serve the Crown as Countess.”

“Dad gave you a piece of the restaurant and a seat on the city council which you didn't use until half the city was destroyed. Some Countess.”

“When that happened, I stepped up. But you’re just checking out.” Jazzy put a plate of cheesecake down in front of him. “Enjoy your dessert.”

Cloud twisted his lips as Jazzy walked away. My dessert. She ruined my favorite dessert. She didn't even touch it! Witchcraft! He pulled out his napkin, wiped his mouth, and placed it over the dead cheesecake.

By the time his mind caught up to his body, he was already doing push-ups in his upstairs apartment. After the two hundredth, he lost count and started over. A million different responses to Jazzy ran through his mind, and they all sucked. Even after he finished a storm shower, he didn't feel clean. He just flopped into bed and wallowed.

The orange sunset filtered into his bedroom, illuminating little dust motes in its beams. His alarm clock ticked away the time, and the sun settled down on his dresser and mirror, and the award display on top of it.

“Yeah, that's about right.” He dove into his closet, grabbed his largest saddlebags, and started stuffing them with the gear he’d need.

“What are you doing making all this noise?”

Cloud turned to Jazzy, shirt still in mouth. After he stuffed it into his bag, he said, “You were right. The title of Countess does suit you. Certainly more than Count ever could me. There’s only one title that ever fit me: Guard.”

Jazzy raised an eyebrow. “Surely you’re not thinking of going back. It's not like there’s a place for you anymore. It was probably filled before you even left.”

“You’re probably right. But, I still have a standing job offer in Canterlot. She may not be a princess, but I’d sooner follow her into the gates of Tartarus than take one more piece of abuse from you.

“You can tell Dad that I don't care if he gives you my share of the restaurant. Or even the whole damned estate. It's not worth it.”

Whatever Jazzy said to him in response, it never made it to his mind. His shoulder bumped into her on the way out, and before he knew it, he was standing at the entrance of the restaurant.

Cloud took in a breath. “Am I really going to do this?” The wind blew through his mane, and he looked back at the restaurant. He saw the vines on the cloud walls, the bottles of wine in the window, and the happy customers inside. Most of all, though, he saw Jazzy, and his wings told him what he needed to do.

The wind caught him by the feathers, and he was gone. He had his bag, a destination, and hours to go before he’d be home.

“So, this is it?”

Twilight held up the paper to the entryway, scanning the lettering on the wall written in arcane runes only visible in her sight, or with a special light filter. “‘You shouldn't be here.’ Yup, I’m pretty sure this is the place. Question is, what now? Knock?”

Twilight squinted at the little corridor, lit by a red emergency light. It couldn't have been more than six meters long, and was otherwise perfectly unassuming and made of the same stone brick as the rest of the tunnel.

She stepped to the runes, and put her hoof on the word “here,” pushing it into the wall. The same sounds as in the dump echoed through the tunnel, and a door appeared at the end of the little corridor.

“How’d you do that?” Trixie asked?

Twilight shrugged. “Just came to me, really. Come on, let’s do this.”

They stepped through the door, leading to a rather anticlimactic additional six meters of corridor.

Twilight smacked her lips. “Welp, that's all I had. Any thoughts?”

WHAM!

They spun around, finding the door sealed shut. If one hadn't already seen it, there would have been no way to tell that it had even been there. Red runes pulsed in the room, scanning around them as a voice echoed in their minds.

“Unidentified intruders, if you want to live, speak the password.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m the Grand Mage. Open up if you want to live.”

There was a beat.

The runes stopped and died, and another door, this one ahead of them, opened. On the other side, four members of the Night Guard were pointing heavy mounted cannons at them.

“Holy crap!” Arcane Edge’s butt hit the floor while the others breathed a sigh of relief. “It really is her! Lady Sparkle, that is one of the ballsiest things I’ve ever seen!”

"Well, I saw a little piece of the runes that carved out an exception. Luna must have had that in mind for me." Twilight half smiled. "But Trixie would have been dead for sure. Had you allowed that, I would have been... upset."

Trixie coughed. "Um, what was that?"

"Relax, Trixie, I wouldn't have let that happen. But, now that we're here, we need your help. I uncovered a magic circle with symbols even I'm not familiar with. I need Luna's help in figuring it out. Are you able to contact her?"

The other ponies left to go back to work, while Arcane winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Not really. She swings by every few hours if she possibly can, but we don't have a telegraph here yet. But you're welcome to come in and wait for her!"

"Thanks!" Twilight went inside as Arcane stepped out of the way, with Trixie close behind her. "Kinda stinky out there."

Trixie ripped off her gas mask, and sucked in a fresh breath. "Empty night! I am glad to be out of there! Why is that the entrance?"

"Well, this place is secret even from Celestia, so we had to take precautions. Even if they are paranoid."

Twilight looked around as Aurora undeployed. They were in a warehouse, but the skylight overhead swirled with a barrier that blocked outside light. The ground was bare concrete, but impeccably clean. There was a smattering of tables around, most with weapons, others with papers. In the center was a boxing ring, and across the room from Twilight were a few doors and a staircase to a second floor.

"Huh." Trixie pulled off her saddlebags and stretched out like a cat. “I kind of thought a secret base run by the Princess of the Night would be... grander?"

"Eh." Arcane opened up a large hoof locker for their things. "It still works. Remember, this is a black site. Strictly off record and off the books. We don't have normal government funding. Everything here is on a shoestring budget, save for our concealment efforts, most of which were made by Luna herself."

Trixie popped her shoulder joint. "And just what do you do here?"

"Can't tell you. Luna needs to give me specific permission for that. What I can tell you is that the Sovereign authorized and instructed us to render whatever aid you require. So, how can I help?"

Twilight opened her mouth, but her stomach spoke first and rumbled the concrete under them.

Arcane chuckled. "Sandwiches it is. Hey, Moon Petal, food run!"

The slender thestral mare licked her fangs. "Roan or hinterlands?"

"Hinterlands. Extra mustard on mine."

"Back in fifteen, unless there's still a line." She flapped her wings and zipped to Arcane, embracing him in a hug and nuzzle. “Cuddle toll!”

“Ack!” Arcane struggled like a worm in a bird’s mouth. “Get off!”

“Boo. You're no fun.” She stuck out her tongue and took off, zipping through a little hole in the floor.

"High speed pegasus access." Arcane said, straightening his mane. "Takes a while for the rest of us to get here, but with wings you can take that tube in just a couple minutes. Let's hope she doesn't find too much of a line."

Trixie's stomach joined in the hunger parade. "A line at this time of night?"

“Yup!” Arcane walked over to the weapons table. “Manehatten: the city that never sleeps. Best food in the world, from all over the world, and half of it is available twenty-four seven. Being the holiday, even more should be open.

“But I know you're not just here for a meal. So other than sandwiches, how can I help?”

Twilight pulled out her notebook and showed him a transcription of the magic circle that she found on the hotel roof. “Do you recognize these symbols?”

Arcane took it in his magic, his stare hardening as he continued looking at the paper. Eventually his right eye bulged in surprise. “Wow… No, I don't. That hasn't happened to me in years. Where did you see this?”

“On the roof of the Bee’s Wick Hotel. I'm worried about what it does, and if there's more of them. This one was hidden beneath the roof tile and a layer of murkyr.”

Arcane whistled. “Somepony didn't want you, or anypony, to find this.”

“Somepony, or some organization.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “What's worse, it was inscribed in changeling blood.”

A hush draped over the warehouse as all half dozen or so Night Guard froze in place. Arcane Edge broke into a sweat, and the air gained the pressure of the sea.

“Empty night…” Arcane cursed under his breath. “What do the changelings have to do with this? Do they know? Did they do it, or do they want to stage a counter-attack on the city, or whoever did this?”

“All questions I want to answer.” Twilight took her notebook back. “But the best way to do that is to figure out what this circle does without calling undue attention by destroying it.”

“Understood.” Arcane dropped into a bow. “Best to wait for Moon Petal to return. She's our… expert on changelings.

“There is a rest area in the back. I'd imagine it would be a more comfortable place to wait for the Sovereign. Feel free to help yourself to the snacks there.”

“Much appreciated, Acolyte.” Twilight bowed back. “Come on, Trixie. My hooves could use a rest.”

The back room was dingy with a pair of couches that were probably salvaged from the trash and cleaned, and the table was a literal bunch of two-by-fours glued together. The flickering fluorescent light was threatening to give Twilight a headache, and the available coffee was terrible.

The sandwiches were heaven on Equestria. Twilight’s mouth was still watering fifteen minutes after finishing it, and she was sure Trixie felt the same. Food having been eaten, they both called for Moon Petal to ask her some questions.

Moon Petal was a playful-looking thestral, slender and medium height. Her short red mane was reminiscent of Bloodmoon’s, but in a shaggy pixie cut. “What's up?”

Twilight pulled out her notes. “Arcane Edge said you were the Night Guard’s expert on changelings. I was wondering if we could pick your brain on the hive mind.”

Moon Petal blushed a deep violet. “Uh, sensitive topic, but yeah. They didn't tell you?”

Twilight's eyes lit up. “Oh, were you taken by them at some point?”

“You could say that.” Petal put her hoof to the gem on her chestplate, and gave it a twist. A purple flame whooshed around her, collapsing as fast as it formed. Where once was a thestral now stood a purple-tinted changeling.

Twilight and Trixie both jumped onto the couch. “You're a changeling?!”

Petal pointed to her head, and the stub that was there in place of a horn. “Luna… She…” Petal took a deep breath and started again. “I was born into the hive, and Chrysalis had me fight the Sovereign to distract her while we evacuated a hive in the borderlands. She moved so fast, I didn't see it happen. One moment I was connected to the hive, and the next, my horn was cut off. I nearly died, alone, empty.

“Luna brought me to the castle. Captured to interrogate. But without my horn, I couldn't hear Chrysalis in my mind anymore. I had to make decisions on my own. When I didn't cooperate, your brother was about to execute me. The hatred in his eyes... I was so scared.

“That's when the Sovereign intervened. She saved me, offered me a place. Obsidian still doesn't really trust me, I know that much. But the others? They taught me to be myself. To become something that was a self. I owe her my life twice over, so I tell her what I know about the hive.”

Twilight swallowed, and leaned against Trixie as they both calmed and eventually sat back down.

“Wow.” Twilight wondered how six cups of coffee found a way to inject their caffeine into her veins. “I— I didn't know! Why didn't anypony tell me?”

Petal turned her armor’s disguise back on, and the thestral was back. “I think only six or seven ponies outside of the Night Guard know. I made them promise not to tell anypony without my permission. It's… Not a lot of ponies are very understanding about this. The new Captain of the Royal Guard wanted to kill me just like the old one.”

“Whew. Wow.” Twilight shivered inside her armor. “I'm so sorry. I never expected... If you don't want to answer the questions, I can skip this and just talk to Luna.”

“It's fine.” Moon Petal scooted to right to get to the water cooler. How they got the water delivered was a mystery for the ages, but that apparently didn't stop Moon Petal from pouring herself a cup without thinking about it. “Part of the deal is telling ponies what I know, so you can ask.

“Before you do, though, you should know something. I don't know everything. When you're in the hive, memory doesn't work like it does with ponies. Short term memory does, and we get to keep a chunk of our personal memories, but long term? It's like they're all part of an ocean sloshing and swirling around the different minds in the hive, and bits of them are filtered out until only the ‘necessary’ parts remain and are accessible to the whole hive, and even then, not all memories are in the minds of all the changelings all the time.

“Basically, I'll do my best, but there are gaps. ‘K?”

“Understood.” Twilight boggled her mind for a moment, then showed Moon Petal the page. “Do you recognize these symbols?”

Moon Petal tilted her head. “Uuuhhhh, nope. What are they?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. I found it on the roof of a building, made out of dried changeling blood.”

Moon froze and dropped her jaw, then looked like she was trying to hold down a lunch.

Can changelings even eat? Twilight put down her ears. “Sorry, I know this must be disturbing.”

“Understatement of the year. Who would do that? I've never heard of changelings doing that.”

Twilight put the page away. “Knowing that actually does help, as it narrows the possibilities a lot. No more questions for now; you can go for a fly to clear your mind. I know this was unsettling, but thank you for answering me.”

“Yeah, sure, don't mention it.” Moon Petal stumbled to her legs. “I'm… I'm going to go and try to get my head back on straight.”

Twilight waited for her to leave, then gave Trixie a copy of the circle to try and puzzle out with her, though they both sat in unproductive silence.

With a sigh, Twilight closed her eyes and laid out the information in her mind, possibility after possibility jockeying and fighting for prevalence in answering what the circle was and what they should do about it. Her thoughts drifted from point to point, each little mental tussle somehow relaxing her more than riling her up.

“Twilight?”

At least, that was true until she felt a poke on her shoulder. Light poured over her poor, aching retina as her eyelids cracked open to find Luna staring at her. “Princess?”

“You said you needed to see me?”

“Oh, right. That.” A yawn took over control of her mouth, forcing it open by crowbar. “I must have drifted off. I need to ask you about what's in my notes.”

She grabbed her notebook, found the page, and showed Luna while Trixie snored away. “It was inscribed in changeling blood, of all things.”

Luna turned it sideways and squinted. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then glared at it while turning it different orientations. “Incredible. Twilight, I have no idea what to tell you. ‘Tis as foreign to me as anything I've ever seen in magic. Where did you say you found it?”

A few of Twilight's neuroses ran around screaming from not even Luna recognizing her problem, but the others all tackled them and held them down - for now. “On the roof of the Bee’s Wick Hotel, under roof tile and a thin layer of murkyr. Can you help?”

“Certainly. Come, let us investigate together. This is serious enough to warrant my direct attention.” Luna lifted her horn, and a couple flashes later, they were in the air over Manehatten, on a small cloud. “So many buildings in this city. Where is what we are looking for?”

Twilight peeked out from the cloud and fought back against the buildings trying to be all wobbly to make her dizzy. “Over there, near that park.”

“I see it. Hold on.” One more flash, and they were back on the roof, next to the magic circle. “Stars, you were serious about the blood. What would be the purpose of that?”

“I haven't the faintest idea.” Twilight poked it with a hoof. A gentle thrum went through her, but did nothing else. “It's active, that's for sure, but whatever it's doing has to be subtle to not set off my other senses. But if I break it, it might explode, and that's not something I want to see happen in the middle of Manehatten.”

“Understandable…” Luna scratched her chin, peering into the depths of the circle and her thoughts. “My question is, if they went to such trouble to hide this little bauble, do we want it to keep doing what it's doing?”

A shiver played Twilight's spine like a xylophone. “Probably not, but the crystallized blood is likely delicate. I don't know how to remove it without causing damage.”

“We cannot. But we can minimize the damage. We shall pull it up all at once by cutting into the roof with a barrier, and lifting the cut segment up. Then we will put it behind an extra thick shield and allow it to explode. In the best-case scenario, we'll just be looking at a bit of roof damage.”

Twilight put her ears back. “Um, the best-case scenario doesn't usually pan out in my adventures.”

The Princess stood up straight and tall, towering like the alicorn she was. “If my plan fails, I shall accept full responsibility. But I cannot allow this unknown magic to keep functioning in my city. Stand back. I shall lift it up, and we shall both apply the shield.”

Twilight bowed, then scampered backwards while her heart started thumping her sternum about how bad an idea this was. “Understood. I'll deploy Aurora, just in case.”

“A sensible precaution. Hold fast to your senses, I don't know what will happen, exactly.” Luna's horn burst into a small star, bathing the roof in light and turning night into day.

Aurora grabbed tight to Twilight, deploying over every inch of her partner.

A hard light barrier formed over the top of the circle, followed by another magic circle much larger than the one formed in blood. Light cut through the roof tiles, slicing through the grout and ceramic as if it was a graham cracker. Inch by inch, Luna lifted the piece of roof and the circle up off the structure.

“Shields,” Luna said.

The two put layer after layer around the circle, eventually adding enough of a barrier to withstand a medium-sized military warhead. The spheres shimmered, and began to shrink. What was the size of a beach ball was soon the size of watermelon, then a cantaloupe.

A pop hit Twilight's ears, and the light overtook the rooftop. In her mind, it was as if a bell the size of a skyscraper descended over them and rang. Her ears were boxed by minotaurs, and her whole body vibrated with the bell. When the light faded, her head was ready to split open.

Luna's wobbly legs said that the Princess was affected the same way as she.

“What was that?” Twilight whispered.

“Quit yelling,” Luna must have screamed back. “Either we just got hit with a psychic shockwave, or I have a hangover to shame all previous hangovers.”

“Did anypony else get hit?” Twilight stumbled over to the edge of the tower, and flopped on her belly to look over. Ponies were stumbling around on the ground, which could only mean one thing. “Luna? Luna, we need to get out of here!”

“I know, I know, put away the megaphone! Here, let me just…” Luna hobbled her way over, then lit her horn with a shower of sparks.

Four or five teleports later, and the concrete floor of Luna's warehouse punched Twilight square on the top of her head.

“Ow.” Twilight went to rub the bump on her noggin, and realized she was upside down. Rolling over, she grumbled and wished she had a painkiller pill the size of a chariot. “There are so many words I could use to describe that. I'm going to stick with ow.”

“Moon Petal!” Luna cried out. “Did you feel that, too?”

“Uuuhhhh…” The pegasus landed next to them. “I got some bad tinnitus a moment ago. What happened?”

The ponies there all crowded around them to help the Princess up, while Trixie rushed to Twilight's side.

“We blew up the magic circle.” Twilight coughed out. “Got hit with a psychic shockwave. Wow that hurt.”

Trixie put a hoof to Twilight's chin and turned her head to examine it. “You already look like hell. What happened? Didn't you put a shield on it?”

Luna leaned on Arcane Edge. “Most barriers, shields, and armor are totally ineffective against psychic effects. There are exceptions, but I didn't think to try any. In fact, I doubt I have any that would have been worthwhile. I haven't seen psychic power like that since long before the Chaos War.”

Twilight racked her brain, sorting her thoughts while getting whipped with the lingering psionic flail. “I can think of only two reasons that circle would exist and hold that much energy. Scenario one: The circle is there to limit the ability of the changelings to communicate with their hive mind. In which case, we just did them a huge favour.

“Scenario two: the circle is there to improve the ability of the changelings to communicate with the hive mind. In which case, we just hurt them.”

“Hmmm.” Moon Petal rubbed her chin. “I seriously doubt the latter. Chrysalis always has an ear in our heads and strings on our hearts and minds. But the former? I've never heard of something that can block out the hive mind. The amount of energy it would take would be unimaginable.”

Twilight stood, finally shaking free of the ringing her ear. “Then it's the former, and there may be more of those circles to make the spell more effective. Question is, who put them there?”

Moon Petal shrugged. “No idea. But if they've just been sitting here, then the hive doesn't know about them. Chrysalis wouldn't stand for it.”

Twilight squeezed her temples and winced. “I need some aspirin, and a rest. Luna, can you take us home to Canterlot? I want to check on Dash and get to bed.”

“Yes, but…” Luna shook her wings. “Give Us a moment. Our head is still spinning.”

Twilight had to stop herself from raiding the pharmaceutical cabinet to find something for her headache. She technically could get away with it, but she could just see the look Celestia would give her. Instead, she found her way back to Rainbow's room. She lifted up a hoof to knock, and —

“Come in!”

Twilight blinked at Rainbow’s voice. It was bright and alert, but there was still something off.

“Aw heck, I did it again, didn't I?”

Twilight pushed open the door and poked her head in the room. “Hey, Rainbow. Are you okay?”

Rainbow’s coat was poofed out in frustration, and her feathers were a mess. The bandage on her head was fresh, and glowing with restorative magic. Her face, though, was deflated from frustration. “Hey Twilight. Looks like I lived, huh?”

Spike pulled open the door and let her in, then closed it behind her. “Don't sound so happy, Rainbow.”

Twilight jumped to the bed and pulled Rainbow into a gentle hug. “You're too stubborn to die that easy. But words can't express how relieved I am.” She sucked in a breath and shivered as she let it go. “You'll be okay. The Princess will see to it.”

“I know. I just wish this didn't happen. Bastard Farriér or his goons must have hit me in the head while I was out.”

Twilight broke the hug and fluffed Rainbow’s pillow. “Well, we—”

“Yeah, but the Majestics are still out there. And they're worse. They employed him,” Rainbow said.

Twilight looked over to Spike, who shrugged and sighed.

“Damn it!” Rainbow whacked herself with her pillow and covered her head with it. “I can't stop it!”

“Uuuhhhh…” Twilight murmured. “Do I want to know?”

“Yes,” Spike said, standing up.”Rainbow's been jumping around through time. Like, she'll go a few seconds into the future, then without realizing it, snap back.”

Rainbow groaned. “It's like, every so often, I jump a few seconds. And if I don't see a big change around me, I don't know I've done it.”

Twilight bit her hoof. “Celestia did say there would be side effects, but I never expected this. We could use this to our advantage, though.”

“I know, right?!” Rainbow flopped on her back. “But so far all I've done is make conversations awkward. Sometimes I wind up skipping whole sentences. I mean, I say them, but then it gets wiped out when I skip back in— No idea how I'm going to fly like this.”

Twilight blinked. “Well, have you asked Celestia about it?”

Spike yawned. “Yeah. She said it'll probably go away with time.”

“Pfft,” Rainbow scoffed. “Probably. Might be stuck with this forever. Going to have to get used to this, find a way to tell when I jump, how far back I go.”

Twilight gave her another hug. “We'll find a way to work it out. For now, just follow the doctor’s instructions so you can get back on duty. I miss having my captain available, even if Trixie's done very well so far.

“Tomorrow I'm heading back to Manehatten. There's something odd going on, and I've not gotten to the bottom of it yet. I'll get some rest and tackle it in the first thing in the morning.”

Rainbow grumbled. “Well, good luck. I'd come with, but…”

“You just had your head cut open, yeah. Don't worry about it. Spike, you stay here with Rainbow, help her get better. Pinkie is on her way by train, so expect her sooner rather than later. If I don't have this solved by tomorrow, I'll drag you out there and see what changelings think of dragon flame.”

Author's Note

Didn't break even again this month. I really need to up my writing game, backlog is down to just a few chapters.

But, this month I actually came within a few hundred words of breaking even, so, progress! Also, I'm back to using voice software starting today. I've been dreading it because my old profile got corrupted and I lost all my custom terms. :P Gotta do it, though. If I finally get my crap together I should be able to easily catch up to my backlog with just 1.5k words a day, which even my voice should be able to do. Here's hoping!

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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Giving Chase

“So it's confirmed?”

“Memoranda” twitched her ears, listening intently to the conversation behind the closed doors of the Empyreal Tower in Manehatten.

“Yes, the Grand Mage is here.”

“Damn. I was hoping not to have to deal with her for some time. But what’s done is done, and we have contingency plans for this. Execute them; get our key player in place for our tertiary plan.”

Inside “Memoranda”’s mind, the Hive spoke, and her path was chosen even though the words sounded like they came from underwater. “INVESTIGATE TERTIARY PLAN. DELAY REINFORCEMENTS. IDENTIFY HOSTILE FORCE LOCATION.”

“Memoranda” nodded to herself, grinding her teeth while a mental buzzsaw ground against her skull. Each word from the Hive was like chewing on aluminum foil while drowning. It was the same for all changelings in the city, and the Hive knew not why. It only knew that it must be stopped, and so stop it they would.

Duchess Demesne of Manehatten barged through the golden double doors to her office, and adjusted her glasses as she eyed Memoranda. “Transmit these orders immediately, Memo.”

“Right away, Your Eminence.” Memo took the page into her hoof and pushed herself in her chair to a little table at the side of her desk. Her ear twitched at the Duchess retreating back to her office, and she switched the cables on the telegraph machine. She readied to send two messages: both Demesne’s and her own.

With a glance, she took in the encrypted message in full.

“DECRYPTING. THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS ORDERS FOR HOSTILE TEAMS. ORDERS ARE FOR AGENT F TO TRAVEL TO MANEHATTEN. AGENT F MUST NOT ARRIVE IN MANEHATTEN UNTIL OUR OBJECTIVES ARE COMPLETE. DIVERT BY INCLUDING EXCESS STOPS. DRONE SWARMS WILL INTERCEPT TO SABOTAGE RAIL LINES.

“DOCUMENT ORDERS INCLUDE DIRECTIVES FOR SCIENCE TEAM ONE TO TAKE WHAT THEY CAN CARRY AND PROCEED EVACUATION THROUGH EXFIL ROUTE 3, AND TO NOT DESTROY IRREPLACEABLE EQUIPMENT. THE ROUTE THEY ARE TAKING IS UNKNOWN TO THE HIVE. TIME TO INVESTIGATE INSUFFICIENT. SWARM 220 WILL ATTEMPT INTERCEPTION REGARDLESS, THOUGH SUCCESS IS NOT EXPECTED.

ORDERS ARE FOR A FIRE TEAM TO ARRIVE TO ELIMINATE EXPENDABLE RESOURCES AND EVIDENCE. THEIR CURRENT LOCATION IS LISTED IN THE DOCUMENT AND IT'S KNOWN TO THE HIVE TO BE IN SUBGRID 917-224, BUT THEIR DESTINATION LOCATION IS STILL UNKNOWN.

“THE GRAND MAGE’S PRESENCE GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY. BASED ON HER KNOWN PROFILE, THE ODDS OF HER SUCCEEDING IN HER OBJECTIVES ARE HIGH. WITH THE CORRECT ORCHESTRATION, HER OBJECTIVES AND OURS CAN COINCIDE.

“THE FIRE TEAM MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS. SWARM 115, INTERCEPT BEFORE THEY ENTER THE UNDERGROUND.”

Memo finished sending the messages, then put the paper into a thaumic incinerator next to her desk. She could feel the trepidation of the drones on the ground, even through the stabbing haze blanketing the city.

She put her hooves on her typewriter, and light overtook her.

A screaming, ringing, crushing wave of sound twisted her mind inside out, and she didn't hear the rest of the hive going through the same until it started to fade. Her lungs heaved as she panted, wheezing out her gasps against her will. When she could see again, she grabbed the papers she'd drooled on and stuffed them in the wastebasket.

The hive spoke again, this time clearer. “UNKNOWN EXPLOSION. TRANSMISSION NOISE REDUCED. NEW SEARCH GRID FOR PRIMARY GOAL: 300-900, 500-1300. SEARCH GRID REDUCED BY FIFTEEN PERCENT. SWARM 116, INVESTIGATE SOURCE.

“ALERT. SWARM 117 HAS DETECTED THE GRAND MAGE AND PRINCESS LUNA ENTERING TELEPORTS. TWO TELEPORTS DETECTED. THE— SWARM HAS LOST CONTACT. MOVE TO REESTABLISH CON—”

“Belay that.” Chrysalis, the Queen herself, spoke in her mind, as well as the minds of all the drones. “Avoid all contact with them. Princess Luna would slaughter you all in a blink if she detects you, and the Grand Mage could easily defeat a large number of you herself.”

Images of Twilight Sparkle fighting in the failed attempt to take over Canterlot more than a decade and a half ago appeared in her head. Bolts streamed from her horn, knocking dozens of changelings out of the fight.

“I'm fairly certain she was holding back then, and she is at least an order of magnitude more powerful now. Reports are that she literally ripped a hole in time just a little while ago. Under no circumstances will you allow yourself to come into contact with her or Luna. Your Queen has commanded you.”

The hive cowered before her. “ORDERS UPDATED. SWARM 117, PULL BACK. STAY IN RESERVE. SWARM 115, BE ADVISED, TARGET TOO DANGEROUS TO ATTEMPT CAPTURE. ENGAGE TO DESTROY.”

The battle between the swarm and fire team took ages, even if the clock told her it was over in under ten seconds. Normally, she should be able to feel, see, and hear everything the six changelings in Swarm 115 experienced. Under the haze, though, only the pain made it through.

In the end, all six minds were extinguished. Each line to the drones grew cold, and vanished.

“SWARM 115 HAS BEEN DESTROYED. HOWEVER, THEIR TARGET WAS ALSO DESTROYED. SWARM 118, DIVERT TO GRID.”

Memo shivered and pressed her hooves to her forehead. The pain from 115 lasted only moments, but the background metallic grinding ever-present in the city hadn't faded. If anything, it was worse.

The Hive pressed its influence in the back of her mind, releasing pain-blocking chemicals to ease her. Yet to her senses, it was as effective as trying to drown out a meat grinder with only a few soft words. But she couldn't stop now. The Hive wouldn't allow it. The Queen wouldn't allow it. She would be Memoranda for as long as it took.

Twilight sipped her coffee in Luna's floor of the war room, waiting for Intelligentsia to read her report. With each sip, another possibility ran through her mind, and was put into a pile labelled “What the heck am I doing I don't have enough information to speculate right now.”

“Well, this is a fine mess.” Intelligentsia leaned back in her chair. “I wasn't aware that changelings had dug so deep into Manehatten.”

“And that blood circle? Something is up.” Twilight pulled a loose thread off Intelligentsia’s uniform. “I feel like all I've got is this. I don't have sight of the whole garment. But… what's interesting is that, so far, I don't have any evidence that the changelings are doing anything other than their usual shtick. What do you think, Gen?”

“I agree with you so far. But I need more information to do a connection map.” Intelligentsia unscrewed her energy-drink flask and took a swig. “One thing I want to know is if there are more of those blood circles. Many spells like that work with more than one.

“Another thing I want to know is what, if anything, Duchess Demesne is doing about the changelings. I absolutely understand wanting to keep things quiet. No need to cause a panic. But the Crown needs to know about these things. We have resources she doesn't.”

Twilight leaned back and folded her forelegs. “Yeah. Like me. About the only solace I have is that I have no evidence that any ponies that have been taken are in mortal danger. That will change if we’re looking at an invasion, though.”

“I seriously doubt that's what's up,” Intelligentsia answered. “The only reason they nearly succeeded all those years ago was because they nearly had Celestia, Armor, Cadence, and yourself all at once. That's enough of a hostage situation to stay Luna's hoof.

“But taking on Manehatten? I doubt they have the numbers to really pull that off, and quite frankly, if it comes down to it, the Crown will be happy to sacrifice the life of a Duchess to save such a large city. Luna would charge in and start some carnage, and Chrysalis knows it.

“No, there's something else going on. Something we can't imagine yet. Whether it's the changelings or some other group, I have no idea.”

Twilight tapped her hoof on her chin. “What I need is a way to find those other circles, if they exist. I only stumbled upon the first one. Maybe that's the whole ‘Ascension is eventful’ thing at play, or maybe it was a subconscious pull in my magic that noticed it, but I kinda doubt I'll pull that off twice. Problem is, I don't know any magic that would help here. The powers at work are just so different from anything I've seen before.”

Intelligentsia took off her glasses and sighed. “Not my area of expertise. You'll have to ask the Sisters, but I don't know if even they know anything that would help.”

“Then I suppose I need to look at another resource. I'll be back to check in later. Right now, I need a mountain of caffeine.”

Intelligentsia yawned and picked up some of her work. “Go for it. I have a priority chariot to catch to get to Manehatten. The Princess wants me to ruffle some feathers at MPD. I'll probably meet you there.”

Twilight giggled as her mind turned more and more towards coffee. “Good luck!”

Twilight sat down next to the fireplace and her giant carafe of coffee, then pulled the first book from her stack. Normally, she'd do this with her guards, particularly next to Rainbow, who was still in the hospital. However, these books could not leave the Sisters’ private library.

The ancient walls and floor were made of stone hundreds of years old, and despite being cool to the touch, they were dry as a desert. The bookshelves were much older than her, and not as well-maintained as she would have liked. Though she supposed Celestia was too busy for such matters, that didn't excuse Luna for the last decade and a half.

It took her an hour just to comb through the shelves to find some books that looked like they might help. The only reason it was even done that quickly was that many of the books were written in languages utterly lost to time, and the Princesses were too busy to sit there and translate for her.

Halfway into the first book, a message from the throne room arrived.

Twilight,

What you are describing is called Hemothaumaturgy. It's not officially banned, but only because doing so would announce its existence to the world. The prisoners from the coup attempt who escaped were using a crude variant of it. Though mostly the work of the outside agent, the circles had enough magic to form a kind of beacon.

Yet, that isn't the end of that school of magic. It is ancient and powerful, but easily leads to places dark and evil. With fresh blood from the right ponies, anyone could cast spells derived from the magic taken from the blood. Earth pony, unicorn, zebra, gryphon: it matters not who is casting, but only whose blood is used.

I know that there exist some notes on the topic in our library, but for the life of me, I cannot remember which book they're in. You'll have to search the library yourself. When you do find it, please take careful heed of the warnings within.

My own knowledge is generally limited to how to defend against it, though the truth is that the best defense against the worst of those spells is simply to deny the enemy a sample of your blood.

Still, there are examples of Hemothaumaturgy spells in there somewhere; it's just been too long for me to remember where off the top of my head. Should you find it, you have my express permission to use any of them that you feel you must, but I would request that you only do so when you absolutely must. I tremble at the thought of losing you to the temptations of dark magic.

-Tia

Twilight shuddered at what she may be about to find, and set herself to work.

By the time she finished the third pile, Twilight was half asleep and thinking about the coming dawn, and had long ago drank the last drop of her coffee. There was enough caffeine in her system to bring back the dead, but that didn't stop her eyelids from weighing as much as an anvil. It would have helped if more of the books had indexes or tables of contents. Most, though, were collections of notes from mages long since passed, along with a few written by the Princesses themselves.

At least my guards are probably getting some good sleep for once. Wish I could say the same. She fought her yawns, but her defenses were quickly overwhelmed. Note to self: have Celestia cast that wake-up spell on you again. You're going to need it to not waste the coming daylight.

She eyed the books she'd gone through. It was a respectable cross-section of high-level magic across many fields, and some looked like props in a horror play. Others less so, but none had anything of use.

I need to change up my approach. Twilight stood, swallowing her yawn down, only for it to become an inevitable burp later. I've been looking at topics and schools so far, trying to find stuff that might be in the same ballpark. That's gotten me nada so far. What can I look for instead?

Authors.

What ponies, what mages of times past do I know of who sound like the kind of deranged minds that would love this stuff? Starswirl was nuts, but he was mainly looking into, or rather obsessed with, higher-dimensional magic. Crimson Spectre wasn't the type. He was home on the battlefield, and Stellar Horizon was too level-headed.

That leaves the non-ascendants.

Twilight went through the shelves, adding book after book to a growing cloud of magic. The books on the shelves were stored in what could be called a haphazard manner, if one was being extremely generous. It was a mass of entropy hastily thrown together in an effort to “clean” up after the Siege of Canterlot, and neither Twilight nor the Sisters really had time to sort through the mess.

It was the perfect time to separate what was written by the Princesses, what was notes from an individual pony, those she didn't know the language of, and everything else. Anything from the first category was lovingly placed back on a shelf, while all the books from the second were quickly examined and placed in piles alphabetised by the author’s name. Naturally, the ones in an unknown tongue had their own pile.

The thought of the phrase “unknown tongue” made Twilight dizzy until she could shudder hard enough to put the incident where Luna sliced off a part of herself out of her mind. Sorting! She had to focus on sorting, especially on books and notes from individual mages. Those were placed in reserve for her own, more thorough examination.

Midway through, though, a singular book caught her eye. It was small, and recent if the typeface had anything to say about it. The cover depicted a tall, almost comically handsome stallion with a rose in his mane and a blade on his back.

Twilight swallowed as she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. This can't be… Tell me this isn't. She opened to a random page, and read. Her head burned from her blush, and it threatened to set her mane on fire from embarrassment. Swallowing, she flipped the page. They actually included a picture of—

The staircase to the outside groaned a bit, and Twilight’s heart stopped, dropping all the books in hey magic to the floor. Her mental committees were screaming in a panic, and only the silence of the next few seconds restarted her heart.

Sweet Celestia, that was close. Okay, no more of that. She dropped the book into a new pile she mentally labelled “fiction” and continued her sorting algorithm, growing her piles at a solid two books per second. When that was done, her ear twitched at the fact that the “fiction” pile had grown. She didn't remember putting anything there, at which point her brand new mental committee on maintaining alicorn sanity told her that the associated memories must have been deleted for her own safety.

This explanation was accepted without argument.

The next task focused on the books written by individual mages, especially the personal notes. Those few written by her predecessors were quickly sorted out, and the next filter was anything with titles or authors that were highly unlikely to be involved with blood magic. In the process, though, some dirt caught her eye.

It was very fine and crusty, and seemed to infest the edges of the book. This… Twilight opened it up, flipping through pages until she found a drawing of a magic circle. Though the symbols were nothing like those in the changeling circle, she still couldn't take her eyes off it. Particularly because it was written in blood.

“Tia!” Twilight yelled, holding up her notebook. “I have a plan I need your help with!”

The crowd in the throne room all turned to her, murmuring about what the Grand Mage was talking about. What earth shattering thing was about to happen?

Celestia sipped her tea. “I do apologize, everypony, but I'm afraid this must be done in private. Please file out in an orderly fashion; this shouldn't be long.”

The ponies leaving grumbled about leaving when they finally had an audience with Her Highness, but they left nonetheless. In a moment, only the Princess, Raven, a Day Guard, and Twilight herself were left.

“Princess,” Twilight said, bowing formally as the throne room all but forced her to. “I found the spell book, and I have the start of a plan. But I've been up all night and I'm dead on my hooves. I need you to cast the wakefulness spell on me so I can continue for another day or so.”

Celestia frowned. “I will do so if you wish, but there's a limit to how far the spell can push things. Be warned, after it wears off, it will feel as if the air weighs like water, and you will pass out shortly thereafter.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand and accept the risk. But I must put things into motion.”

“Very well.” Celestia lit her horn, and a moment later, Twilight felt liquid energy course through her veins, lighting her nerves up like the Manehatten skyline.

“Thank you, Tia.” Twilight tapped her book. “And don't worry about me with this magic. I've figured out a trick I can do without resorting to direct Hemothamauturgy.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Twilight smiled. “Yup. All I need to finish it is to visit a very particular pony.”

CLACK!

“Ow!”

Twilight let go of the trigger and pulled out the needle from Moon Petal. “Got it! This should be plenty!”

Luna turned up an amused smile, but stayed silent next to Trixie and the other ponies in her secret base in Manehatten.

Moon Petal rubbed the spot between her chitin plates. “Freaking hurt.”

“Sorry.” Twilight pulled out the vial and eyed the neon green goo inside. “Never did that before. And even if I had, it wouldn't have been on a changeling. Until yesterday I didn't even know we had a changeling friend. But this should let me start figuring out what the heck is going on in this city.”

A gold flare appeared over Luna's head, and unfurled into a scroll. “Oh, Sister has a message.” She opened it up and read, then twisted her smile into a frown. “For the love of Mystery… Twilight, we must away; there's a pony waiting for us in the city.”

Trixie automatically moved closer to Luna. “Glad I got sleep. My stomach might not have been up for teleportation if I hadn't.”

Twilight waggled her notebook. “Yeah, took me a while to find the book because somepony didn't organize the private library.”

Luna chuckled as the bloom of teleportation overtook them. “I admit nothing!”

It took a few jumps for Luna to home in on the target, but once they did, they found themselves on a nearly empty rooftop café. A couple at a table and the employees were somewhat shocked at first, but kept things to quiet whispers.

The other pony at the café was just finishing a breakfast, but stood and bowed at the presence of royalty. “Thank you for coming, Your Highness.” Intelligentsia said, rising. “I apologize for springing this on you.”

Luna stood, raised her horn, and cast a blue privacy spell around the group to block eavesdropping and spies. “Something must be urgent for a summons like this.”

Intelligentsia pulled out a manila folder. “Duchess Demesne is being catty. Yesterday evening, a group of changelings attacked a group of ponies. Nopony on either side survived. The authorities were on the scene in moments, and sanitized the scene extremely quickly, referring to the changeling remains as an undisclosed “biohazard” on official paperwork.

“The morning papers claimed it was a mafia shootout with many casualties, which didn't set off alarm bells for us at first. But a smaller paper claimed there was a changeling in the mix, and now extra editions from the other papers are agreeing.

“The Duchess should have notified us immediately, but delayed until the papers had the story. Her office claims it was a miscommunication and they didn't know until just before we did, but given Manehatten’s bureaucracy, I find that suspicious despite its believability.

“Moreover, the ponies killed belonged to a small security company whose address is a P.O. box and didn't seem to have a real, physical location for a headquarters… at first. But we tracked it to a larger company. RGIS is questioning them now, but there’s a good chance it’s a red herring.

“As for me, Princess Celestia sent me here to launch a concurrent, separate, but parallel investigation with Lady Sparkle. That Captain Armor trained me in tactics to counter changelings makes me a natural choice. With both of us here, odds are that one of us is going to be overlooked. And if worse comes to worst, I can provide material military reinforcement.”

Twilight skimmed over the documents. “Stranger and stranger still. Doesn't change my plans, but I'll keep in touch. Any advice on how to deal with changelings?”

“Yeah, keep back to back with your teammate, and use area-of-effect magic. Preferably a kind that can puncture chitin armor. They’re tricky but squishy. Friendly fire might happen, but any civilian ponies with any sense will be running for their lives.”

Twilight nodded. “Squishy. Gotcha.”

Trixie held up a hoof. “Um, does that mean we're going to be breaking down the door of a Duchess?”

Twilight gave back the documents to Intelligentsia and shook her head. “Nope. I'm not going to make a move as obvious as that. She's likely already prepared for me, so it would probably be a waste of time. Thus, we continue my original plan… after coffee and a croissant or two, since we're at a café and I'm hungry.”

“So, what's the plan, exactly?”

Breaking away from staring off the edge of the building, Twilight opened the flap of her saddlebags, then found the vial of Moon Petal’s blood. “This. Changeling magic is rather uniform, and I have a hot sample right here. We're going to cast a linear detection spell together, using this vial to tell the spell what to look for. Then, we'll walk down the road on opposite sides. If we pass a changeling, it'll ping us, and we can close in and try to catch them.

“If we're really lucky, we'll be able to interrogate them, maybe sever their connection to the hive like Luna did to Moon Petal. That should help us find their hidden base of operations, and save the victims.”

Trixie nodded. “And then we nail Duchess Demesne?”

“If possible. Though right now, my priority is the kidnapped ponies.” Twilight pulled out Trixie’s copy of the spell. “Here. Your end is pretty simple; mine is the part that needs the vial.”

“Gotcha. Shall we head down?”

“Let's!” Twilight opened the roof access door behind them and led the pair down the stairs. The building was an unremarkable office tower, one of hundreds in the city, but also one attached to an especially busy street in downtown Manehatten. At all hours of the day, there would be thousands of ponies coming and going every which way.

Though yesterday had been a local holiday, today was a workday, and nowhere was that more clear than at the ground-level lobby. Ponies were walking in a steady stream, clocking in to their jobs.

Nudging past and against the flow, Twilight made her way outside and into the late summer's day. The sun had a good dollop of edge to it, enough for Twilight to know that it would be a hot one. The sweat sticking to her legs almost immediately told Twilight that this wasn't the desert, but that the city weather would find still find a way to be miserable.

Trixie took off across the street and through the flowing crowd, horn subtly aglow with magic.

Twilight turned right, keeping pace with Trixie as they went down the street. She tried to hide her vial, but sighed as some immediately gave her odd looks. No point hiding it. She started her walk, finishing and tying her spell to Trixie’s. Amazingly enough, after she stopped trying to not be creepy, ponies stopped paying her any mind.

The gold glow of morning had already long given way to a bright, sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky, at least so far. With all this humidity, I bet the weather response teams are going to have a busy afternoon.

Passing the third falafel cart of the walk made her thankful she'd already eaten at a café. When she'd been a filly, she got to see where the home base for the city’s food carts were when she was on a field trip. “Never again” was what she had sworn to herself. Not even when they looked stupendously mouth-water—You stop that, brain!

They passed from a largely office-filled area to a more mixed commercial zone, which really just meant the office buildings had lucrative retail space at the bottom level. The mix of businesses was as diverse as the city itself, and many of the shops were just opening their doors for the day.

Ping!

Twilight perked her ears up, and slowed her pace to a crawl. The next clop of her hooves on the pavement was painstakingly made to reconnect with that sound only audible to herself and her guard.

Trixie had slowed, too, and an instant later, it came again.

Ping!

Twilight's eyes darted to the left, but her head stayed frozen stiff. There were a few ponies lined up between them, but they could only go after one target. Moreover, in all likelihood, only one was even a changeling.

Noticing that Trixie was slowing down, Twilight picked up the pace, eventually lining up to just one of the original trio.

Ping!

Target confirmed. Twilight nodded so Trixie could see, and the two angled just a bit inwards to come alongside the target, getting closer with each step. The sea of ponies seemed to sense what was coming, and parted a way for them through the crowd.

The changeling perked up as if coming out of a daze, and met eyes with the Grand Mage.

Twilight leaned into him. “Keep walking. Don't make a scene, don't try to run. Cooperate and I'll be willing to negotiate. Don't, and—”

In a flash of green, the changeling took off into the air without its disguise. It weaved through a few pegasi, leaving a streak of green behind it.

Twilight sighed, and powered her horn. A moment later, she appeared in the path of the changeling, and braced herself for the impact. Hot wind and an insectoid buzz tickled her ear as her target narrowly avoided her tackle, and Twilight reached out to swat its leg as it passed.

The changeling tumbled in mid air, landing on the back of its head with a CRACK and went into a roll on the pavement. Wobbling and chittering, it tried desperately to enter a run while little stars of green magic sputtered around its head.

Twilight ran after it, horn charged and ready. Sweat turned to ice as Aurora deployed, and lightning kicked through her hind legs. Scenery blurred as she focused in on her target. She grabbed hold of it at the abdomen, yanking as she fell and pulling it to the pavement. Her horn lit, and she squeezed harder as the changeling kicked and bucked.

“No you don't!” Twilight twisted her spell and fired it, only to feel the changeling squish and twist itself at an angle no pony could manage. The spell hit the ground and fizzled, while the changeling flexed its chitin and managed to make a literal pop as it escaped from her grasp.

Twilight followed the changeling through the air with her teleports, soaring by the crowds and reaching a small plaza with a fountain. She pushed her magic hard, coming out of her teleport ahead of the changeling. She landed on all fours and pushed down hard on one side, spinning around as she slid.

The changeling turned and bolted towards one of the shops around the plaza, and Twilight followed suit.

She burst into a fancy, high-end kitchenware store. Normally, the warm wood walls, the scent of cookies baking, and the careful arrangement of goods would either put a pony at ease or in concern solely about her wallet. But suddenly, the place was overcome by chaos, with most of the customers screaming and running out where Twilight had entered. A few others cowered in a corner, and the lone employee hid behind the cashiers’ counter. One blue unicorn stallion was still staring wide-eyed at a wall of expensive frying pans, so blissfully unaware of what was going on around him that he didn't even try to move his blond mane, which had fallen in front of his eyes.

The changeling was trying to buck at the door to the storeroom and was lighting its horn. It blasted at the door, buckling the wood and splashing a magic shockwave back behind it.

Twilight dove to the counter, and the blast soared overhead and slammed into all the walls, knocking almost all the merchandise off the walls in a thunderous cacophony of clanging metal. The entranced stallion had been thrown into the wall, and at least half a dozen frying pans landed square on his head.

Twilight let out a growl and leapt over the counter and registers, racing into the back storeroom. The inside was more like a small office, narrow and a depressing grey. To the left was an employee bathroom, and to the right was the office and a metal emergency exit, which the changeling was aiming its horn at.

The changeling tried to blast it like the other door, but its magic had gotten weaker with the pursuit, and the heavy door only groaned in response. The changeling bucked at it, then pushed with all its might, flailing and pounding its forehooves on it in desperation.

“Hey,” Twilight said in a hushed voice. “It's okay. Let's just talk about this. I don't want to hurt you.”

The changeling rammed a shoulder into the door, and the lock finally clicked, but the door still would not budge, so the changeling returned to kicking it.

Twilight gave it a second look and noticed that it was a delayed fire door. A pony would have to push the lever for ten seconds before it would unlock, but the box that was locking the door had been twisted by the spell. It panicked and tried to blast its way to freedom, but that just sealed the door shut.

“Look, I know you know who I am.” Twilight pulled at Aurora, and undeployed her armor. “You should know through the hive that I always prefer talking over fighting. There's no reason for this to end in bloodshed. I can assure your safety and release if you cooperate.”

The changeling gave her a look of sorrow and sniffed.

“I know it looks bad, bu—” Twilight's jaw fell open, and her heart squeezed itself in her chest.

The changeling’s chitin grew pustules and cuts, and its body swelled up like a balloon. Cracks and impossible, horrible sounds sent Twilight's ears back, and the changeling’s limbs merged into its body. In one final act, it burst with a ground-shaking boom, the whole corpse instantly dissolving into a green goo that splattered and covered every surface in the tiny office, save for a vaguely Twilight-shaped gap behind her.

Twilight stood still for several more moments while her heart either calmed down or restarted; she wasn't sure which.

“I can't comprehend this…” Aurora said through tears. “It didn't want to do that. You could see it in its eyes. It just… did…”

Twilight finally closed her mouth, then spat out some of the goo. “Celestia wept… Queen Chrysalis…she must have seen this happen over the hive mind and forced the poor thing to take its own life.”

Aurora paused, and if she had tear ducts, they would have been overflowing. “Twilight… I think I want us to go after Chrysalis. She has to answer for this.”

If we ever get the chance, I'll face her, Twilight replied. Without question. And I'll bring my brother. If you think we're angry at her, it's nothing compared to him.

But as for right now, my plans just shifted. We don't have a reliable way to capture a changeling and interrogate it. In a combat situation, we may not have the luxury of being able to focus on merely cutting off the horn instead of incapacitating the changeling.

We're going to have to turn this case on its head, and the first step is… She looked down at herself. The goo was slimy, runny, and was already leaving a tacky, sticky feeling as it was drying. Getting clean. By the way, why didn't you redeploy?

Aurora sniffled. “I was caught off guard! I… I just couldn't believe what we were seeing…”

That makes two of us. Twilight turned and marched out of the office and back out into the store. She winced at the eyes on her. “The changeling has been… neutralized. Sorry about the mess.”

Trixie had stepped into the store at that moment, quickly taking in the situation with her wide eyes. “Sorry Trixie was late, Lady Sparkle…”

“It's okay; just let me pass,” Twilight said, nudging her way past and making a beeline for the nearest fountain. The crowd was already at a minimum of a hundred strong and growing ever larger, and looking up, she saw that police pegasi were already in a dive. Time for Sender's Shower.

She cast it in the fountain, and hopped in before the waterfall fell on her. The goo readily washed off, dissolving in the universal solvent, though she still had to splash around to get her underside.

“Lady Sparkle!” Trixie had pulled out the blue stallion from before, and he was still completely out of it, groaning and drooling. “I think he's really hurt!”

Twilight motioned to a nearby flarewell as the police landed and took the stallion off her hooves. “Trixie, fire a flare and get some medics here.” As Twilight finished her impromptu shower, she watched Trixie rush over to the flarewell.

Trixie pumped her legs down the street, though she didn't have to go far, as the nearest flarewell was under a block away.

Flarewells were an invention Manehatten had invested in heavily. Each was a trio of little boxes on top of a short pole, and they lined the streets all over the city. There was at least one between every intersection of road, and they were the crown jewel of the city's public safety.

Each of the three boxes were a different colour. Blue stood for police, while red was for firefighters, and white for medics. On the side of each box was a little door, and when Trixie pulled the white one open, it revealed a lever with the text “PULL FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE — PENALTY FOR MISUSE.”

She yanked it out hard, and there was a barely audible hiss for only a second before a white flare shot up from a tube on top of the box. It flew higher than any of the mighty buildings of Manehatten, its bright light silently crying out help.

Several ambulance chariots were on the ground and following Trixie’s direction to the injured stallion in under thirty seconds. This was why obvious, noisy crimes that drew attention to the criminals — such as the bank robbery from the other day — were so rare in Manehatten. Police, fire, and medical ponies were always orbiting high above the neighbourhoods. If somepony used a flarewell, emergency assistance could be nearly guaranteed to arrive in a minute or less, to say nothing about the flying personnel just straight-up seeing something wrong and heading down to check.

All this combined to give Manehatten the finest emergency services anywhere in the entire world.

It also meant crime had become more stealthy. Mob attacks weren't done with drive-by spells or guns like they had been in the past — now they had to resort to poison or time bombs. The city also had more pickpockets than anywhere else, along with so much white-collar crime that the police had thousands of ponies investigating nothing but that.

Trixie swallowed a lump in her throat at the sight of it all. The flying in of bearers of help, compassion, and unconditional aid at the pull off a lever. At the very least, that poor stallion with a quill and scroll cutie mark would be alright. That was a pretty nasty bump on his head. The frying pans must have fallen off the wall and right onto his skull. It's too easy to forget that not every unicorn has my earth pony magic to prevent injuries like that.

Trixie nudged her way through the first few layers of the now huge crowd, then gave up on that idea. Ponies could be stubbornly curious, at times. As Twilight says, time for some lateral thinking. Or in this case, vertical!

She charged her horn, and ran through the calculations. There were two major parts to Twilight's short range teleportation spell, and the first was literally a bunch of math that Trixie just didn't have much practice with, and it was the main reason her own attempts at teleportation had failed for so long. It took Twilight to teach her the right way to do it, albeit while Rainbow complained about being bored.

The second was what she thought she could already do, but Twilight showed her a better way. She took the math, and turned it into a point in space where she wanted to be, which was what she always did before. Then, she imagined space around her pushing her through to her destination, like a surfer who braved the waves of spacetime instead of water.

Pink light overcame her, and she popped into existence above the opening in the crowd. Her hooves touched down next to a soaked but clean Twilight, and she got a few looks from the police before they realized from her armor that she was obviously with the Grand Mage herself. Afterwards, they started marching out to clear the crowd from the area.

Ears back, Trixie stood next to the Grand Mage. She glanced at Twilight, but quickly gave herself a mental slap to the back of the head to stand straight. She was a member of the Evening Guard, and had to act the part.

Still, her chest was shivering. Something happened in there, and Twilight had to destroy the changeling completely. The rage in Twilight's eyes was the same she had for Farriér, and he wound up disintegrated through a temporal wound in space-time. Whatever she was angry at was in for it, and Trixie wanted to make sure she wasn't in the crossfire, be it emotional or otherwise.

“L-Lady Sparkle?” Trixie whispered. “What now?”

“Now we change up our strategy. I want to get back to our base of operations, maybe find Luna and talk to the Night Guard again. Among other things…” Twilight narrowed her eyes at an incoming chariot, this one long and black. The four pegasi pulling it had suits instead of uniforms, and it came in for a much smoother landing than most cabbies would ever bother attempting.

Trixie glanced from her friend to the chariot and back again. What is in an alicorn’s eyes that we can't see? “What's wrong?”

“Nothing, not yet. I'm pretty sure that vehicle is for us. Come on, let's go.”

Trixie hopped into a trot to follow Twilight to the vehicle. Ice ran through her veins and froze one of her legs as a pair of stallions exited, each also wearing a fancy suit.

Get it together, GP. Trixie sucked in a breath and moved to Twilight's side to meet the newcomers. Every Templar I’ve ever seen had the same colour coats and manes, but these guys have different heights and colours, and even their suits are all wrong.

“Gentlecolts, how may we help you today?” Twilight asked, a formal if insincere smile on her face. “We are rather busy today, as you can see.”

The tan earth pony smiled back. “Yes, catastrophic messes don't make themselves. Allow me to introduce myself, Lady Sparkle. I'm Mr. Clock, special assistant and security detail of Duchess Demesne. She has attempted to reach you lately, but apparently our messages could not reach you.

“Our sincerest apologies on that front. To rectify this, she has sent us to find you to take you to her office downtown. The Duchess wishes to meet with you, urgently.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow and huffed. “And if we refuse?”

Mr. Clock shrugged. “Normally at this point I'd get aggressive and say ‘I insist,’ but I know quite well that won't work this time. But understand that refusal would be a grave insult.”

“That's quite alright, Mr. Clock.” Twilight motioned to the open chariot door. “In fact, I would love to formally meet Duchess Demesne. May we trouble you for a lift?”

Mr. Clock bowed his head. “Of course, My Lady. It would be our honour. Please, step inside and make yourself comfortable.”

Trixie’s eyebrow shot to the sky. “Are you certain, Lady Sparkle?”

Twilight nodded. “Quite so. I've already scanned them, and they are unarmed. If they were going to cause trouble, they wouldn't have come like that when dealing with a protected Grand Mage. Come, we have a noble to meet.”

Trixie fought the urge to shrug. “By your command, Lady Sparkle.” She ducked inside after the others, and in seconds, they were in the air, off to meet the Duchess of Manehatten.

Author's Note

Must... write... more...

The Back & Forth

Trixie sank like a stone into the deep, soft seats of Duchess Demesne’s chariot. Almost immediately, she was about to either drift off to sleep or just daydream due to the sheer comfort of what was under her rump. Keep your head, GP! she admonished herself.

The inside was appointed well enough to be fit for a Princess—aside from the ceiling being too low for Her Highness to fit. The chariot was adorned with plush black cloth and real polished mahogany accents, and it had champagne chilled in an enchanted permafrost bucket, a sunroof, and even a bowl of molasses candies that Trixie totally didn't immediately avail herself of.

The stallions sat across from them, and with enough space between to have a large kitchen table set up if they'd wanted it. The one who spoke earlier still had a bit of a smile, which seemed to be hiding some relief. The other one was stone grey, garbed in a tan suit and wearing sunglasses, and may as well have been carved out of granite for how stiff he was.

Not to mention those muscles. I may not be into guys, but I can still appreciate the kind of work it takes for even an earth pony to basically be a mound of strength.

“So,” Twilight began as the chariot took off into the sky. “What urgent matter does the Duchess want to discuss?”

Mr. Clock shook his head. “I am not privileged enough to know, Lady Sparkle. It is not my job to ask questions, but to obey.

“However, I am also not a complete idiot. Given what's been in the papers and what has been discussed in the office lately, I'd imagine it's the changelings you've been chasing up and down Manehatten. You have this city worried, and let me tell you, ponies in this city don't worry easily.”

Twilight nodded slightly. “That's fair. I aim to keep everypony safe, though, so with any luck, I should be able to alleviate those worries. Moreover, I have every confidence in this city's resilience. It will take more than a few changelings to rattle it.”

Mr. Clock bowed his head. “On that, I agree.

“Ah, look, we've arrived.”

The chariot pulled up to the Empyreal building, a giant gold skyscraper that was a testament to not only the prosperity of the city, but the skill of its engineers. The arches at the top were engraved with images of the Princesses, though one had to be close to tell. Had this been night, it would have been lit with purple to honour Princess Luna. In the sun, though, all one could see was gold-tinted stone.

They weren’t at the very top of the structure, as it would have been silly to pull up to a dome with nowhere to stand. Rather, they were at the base of the dome at the top of the building, where a small landing area jutted out from the edge to service priority chariots.

As Trixie exited after the others, she took in the somewhat chilled air and listened to the sound of tiny fountains sloshing their water about. Potted plants and small patches of impeccably-manicured grass were strewn about in a symmetrical enough fashion to keep anypony's OCD from going off. The landing pad felt more like a luxurious garden than anything else.

Inside was the starkest possible contrast with San Palomino. Air conditioning was there to greet them with a kiss of ice on her nose. The walls were painted a warm off-white that put the idea of gold in her head without actually being gold. The carpet was likely clean enough to perform operations on, and each light fixture was ornate wood and glass.

The elevator was hushed into library silence and silken movement, and the reception area it opened into was furnished with plush couches and a secretary’s desk made of deep mohagany with a subtle gold trim only visible from the correct angle.

“Memoranda?” Demesne stopped just before entering her office. “Could you be a dear and get us some coffee?”

The secretary pony bowed her head. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

Trixie kept her eyes on Twilight, stopping when she came to a stop. She noticed the Grand Mage’s ear flutter and a tiny glow in the runes of her torc. It faded after a moment, and she followed the Duchess into her office.

“Trixie, I need you to stay out here for a bit. I'll call you if I need you.”

“Um, sure, if that's what you want.” Trixie looked over to the couch and an end table with a donut box. “Can I—”

“Clean her out if you want.” Twilight winked before closing the doors behind her.

I hope you know what you're doing, Twilight. Trixie plopped her rump on the couch and proceeded to decrease the Duchy's official donut supply.

Twilight sat back in the guest chair, wondering if she should have stolen a few of those donuts herself. There was, however, business to attend to. “So, Duchess, how may I help you? Certainly you didn't send out a search party to offer me coffee.”

“No, I didn't,” said Demesne. “Tell me, when do you plan on leaving Manehatten?”

“When I'm done with my mission. Is that a problem?”

“Frankly, yes.” Demesne took a sip of her coffee. “I've noticed a concerning pattern, Lady Sparkle. Wherever you go, upheaval follows. Sometimes you bring cleansing fire in your wake, and other times, you just bring fire. You're even worse than the Princesses, and I have a duty to protect this duchy. So, I called you here to ask of you this: Go. Home. Leave the changelings to me.”

“Allow me to answer that with a question: how long have you known the changelings had infiltrated your city?”

“Six months. I was trying to keep it quiet to avoid a panic among the populace, but thanks to your bungling methods, I fear mass protests are inevitable.”

“Okay, first of all: if you knew you should have reported it to the—.”

“And have those gasbags leak the issue immediately? Please. Canterlot is a sieve, and information flows like water, if not from the Crown itself, then from other dukes who would love to break that story wide open.”

“Whether that's true or not is immaterial. The law and Compact mandate this cooperation, Duchess. You are duty bound to inform us.”

“Forgive me if I put my duty to my duchy over a duty to an ineffective Crown.”

“Really? You know, I seem to remember the previous renegotiations of the Compact being little more than the Council doing their best to hobble the Crown at every opportunity so they could take power for themselves. Your argument is specious, Duchess. You don't get to take a carpenter’s tools and then complain when their work isn't up to snuff.”

Demesne huffed. “How things were in the past isn't of much use now. The fact of the matter is that preventing panic is critically important, and your efforts have undermined that. If you really want to help, tell the press that you're done with your mission and will be leaving immediately.”

“No. The only reason I'm here is because you kept this information from the Crown, Duchess. When we saw the pattern we came to the conclusion that it could be only one of two possibilities. One was that you were unaware and needed help. The other was that you were unlawfully withholding this military-grade intelligence. I see that the latter was correct.

“Had you been forthright, odds are the Princess would have only sent me if the situation was dire. Even then, in such a situation, I would have integrated my approach with the Manehatten PD. Instead, when I discovered what was happening, I came of my own volition to take on a potentially city-sized infestation with nothing but what I could carry and a single member of the Evening Guard.

“Complain all you like, but this situation is entirely of your own making.”

“No, this is still largely on you,” Demesne countered. “You came here to investigate my city, my Duchy, and didn't even come by for coffee until now. Lady Sparkle, had you sought me out and asked me, I would have been happy to clear my calendar and give you my undivided attention.

“But I see that the Princess has rubbed off on you too much.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked.

“Attempting to solve these issues on your own when it's better done through cooperation and trust, and in the process leaving a trail of ash and destruction in your wake. When called out, you blame others for not being in on the know when you've made no effort to include them.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to include the ponies who are quite literally trying to kill me? I don't know if you've noticed, Duchess, but one of your number was caught literally being a traitor, and another? Mind controlled into it. I have every reason to be guarded. “

“We're up against a geas, Lady Sparkle. You can either get paranoid for the rest of this, and trust no one while you slink into a hole like Celestia, or you can reach out and gain the strength of others.

“And, quite frankly, Artfeather was corrupt for ages and the Crown begrudgingly accepted it in favour of stability. It was only her idiot husband that destroyed the city. Even in her treason, Artfeather never would have been so insane.

“As for Badlands, he's a moron. I'm not surprised he was sucked in. I'm only surprised that he didn't literally have strings attached to his legs leading to every corporation and con man within a thousand miles of a desert. The Princess knew this as well. She didn't move against him until he was ready for a hard fall, and she used you as the instrument of that fall.

“She's playing by her own rules, Lady Sparkle. We're just game pieces to her. Ones that disappear over time, to be replaced by others who will also disappear. An immortal in a match against opponents who have to hand off their games when they inevitably wither away.

“But when she takes a piece, ponies die, cities crumble, eras change. She doesn't like to call herself a goddess, but she is one in all but name, and if we don't keep her at bay, it endangers all of Equestria.”

“Now that I don't buy at all.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “I know the Princess. She helped raise me. She genuinely cares for ponies. I know this because I've felt her love, and it's warm and kind and nurturing.”

“You know the mask, Sparkle,” Demesne countered. “The avatar she uses to interact with us. But her true self sees us all as blurs, as blips in time. A mess of little lights she just wants to put in place to make her painting. But I and the rest of the actually competent members of the Council know one hard truth: life doesn't let you do that.

“Life, Sparkle, is messy and chaotic. It will never be the paradise the Sisters want. If we are to make the world a better place, it will be up to ourselves to do it together, on our own.

“More importantly, we need to establish an order that removes the Princesses from control.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Careful, Duchess. You're treading dangerously close to treason with this talk.”

“It's not treason to discuss where the Compact should go next, Lady Sparkle, especially for Council members. Princess Celestia herself made that ruling. Look up Crown v. Barnyard. Besides, I'm saying that absolute control should be removed, not that they should lose their crowns. There's a difference.

“I'm not stupid enough to think it wise to try to completely depose a goddess. Besides, we need them to move the sun and moon, and there are plenty of ponies that revere them. That's fine. I've no problem with them getting to be symbols and living in a palace with nice things and servants. I would encourage it, in fact, as not allowing it could lead to Armageddon.

Demesne poured another cup of coffee and stirred in some cream. “But therein lies the problem.”

Twilight put an ear down. “I don't entirely follow. You say it's a problem, when in the previous breath you said you encourage the Princesses to be princesses.”

“The problem is their tight hold on control, their need for it. Not just that, but for love, adoration, validation, all while holding absolute power.

“A decade and a half ago, an immortal goddess returned to us with hurt feelings and immediately tried to murder us all. Had you not stopped her, we’d all be dead right now.

“Then, because she's immortal and more powerful than all of us put together, we have to accept her as being cured and a new, secondary ruler. One we know full well has a history of trying to end the world when she gets depressed.”

“That's not—”

“It is the truth, Lady Sparkle, and it extends to Celestia herself. When she is angry, she can't help but set fire to everything around her. Did you know that Council regulations mandate that all our equipment, tables, and chairs have to be fire resistant? Or that Celestia herself ordered that firefighters be always on standby near the Empyreal Hall, just in case?

“We're at the mercy of gods with the emotional stability of teenagers, whose feelings disrupt the environment around them. My goal, as is the goal of most of the Council, is to disconnect the Princesses from ruling, not just because it is the right thing to do to let us mortals choose our course, but to relieve them of the stresses of being rulers. Once they are free of that ability, of that responsibility, they can go about doing whatever else.

“Princess Luna can dive headfirst into her painting, her music, even messing around with the stars for all I care. Princess Celestia can be a teacher full time, or eat a mountain of cakes. But they cannot be allowed to keep us at their mercy.”

If Twilight raised her eyebrow any more it was pop off her head and hit the ceiling. “You know the Princesses aren't that stupid, right? They know what you are doing.”

“Considering the fact that we cannot move the sky without them, nor can we hope to stand up to them by force, we have little other recourse. Besides, if all ponies, or at least enough ponies, all demand freedom, the Sisters will be left with but one choice to make: acquiesce, or be left with nopony to rule anyway.”

“And yet, without them we would be nothing,” Twilight countered. “We beat Discord with the Elements of Harmony, but what of the Titans? And don’t forget that we lost the Elements in the coup attempt and that they still haven’t been recovered yet. What do we do if another mythic-level threat emerges? Luna is our only hope at this rate.

“And what of that immortality? Thousands of years of experience and knowledge! What madness would we have to have to not take advantage of that?

“Not to mention Princess Celestia's track record. Over a thousand years of managing the sun and moon without fail.”

“Certainly they have useful perspectives, Lady Sparkle, but that's no reason to dominate us mortals. One of the purposes of government is to protect the weak against exploitation from the strong. And, quite frankly, I can think of no extremes that rival the gulf in power between an average pony and an alicorn.

“That's one of the reasons the Compact exists. It doesn't just outline the sharing of power between the Crown and the nobility, it outlines what neither has the legal power to do. An example is the freedom of speech and worship. It protects the commoners and nobility from Celestia, and the commoners from nobility.

“But that protection is woefully incomplete. Power must shift to the Council, if not for the freedom of mortals, then to relieve Celestia from the sheer organizational nightmare that is running such as large country as a powerful monarch.”

Twilight’s mind flashed back, and she was under her mentor's wing, looking over the ruins at the heart of the Everfree Forest. It all just burns. “If there's one thing I can agree with you on, Duchess, it's that Celestia does have too much of a workload. Perhaps it's time to allow Luna more responsibility?”

“I see what you're doing there, although you certainly expected as much. But no, I am not ready to give such power to a goddess that nearly destroyed us all, even if she was supposedly cleansed by the Elements of Harmony. And even if I was ready, I rather doubt she would be useful in such an area. She has little patience for protocol.”

Twilight opened her mouth, then paused as her comeback died on her tongue. “True, and she's heavily focused on finding Titans at this point.”

“A role which I believe she will excel in. I honestly do sleep better at night knowing we have Her Highness to counter that threat, if they are as bad as advertised.”

“They're worse. Trust me on that one.”

“I shall. But beyond all this philosophy, Lady Sparkle, I need to know what, exactly, you plan on doing in my Duchy. If for no other reason than to keep the citizens safe.”

“That much is simple. You have a changeling problem. I'm here to fumigate.”

Demesne paused mid-sip. “I was hoping for specifics, honestly.”

“If I had specifics, I might share them. Unfortunately, it looks like the hive mind of the changelings is more powerful than I thought, which means that my prior plans aren't especially tenable. I found that out just before your hired guards caught up with me.

“That being said, I see some time in the City Archives coming up.”

Demesne sighed. “I see. And I can't convince you to leave this to my police?”

“No. You decided to keep quiet about this, so you get me. Whether you like it or not.”

Duchess Demesne narrowed her eyes. “Understand, Lady Sparkle, that if I had any political leverage at all I could use to kick you out right now, I would use it. In fact, I know for certain I have certain favours I could promise or call in to get that done. Celestia herself would be here to recall you.

“But I see no way that doesn't ultimately backfire politically. It would be a short-term solution, with eventually far more dire long-term costs than I'm willing to pay.

“So, let me make this as clear as possible. I will use the bully pulpit to its greatest effect against you if any of my citizens die because of your actions. Clear?”

Twilight nodded. “What was your secretary’s name?”

There was a pause. “Memoranda.”

Twilight turned and yelled at the door. “Trixie! Memoranda! Could you come in here please?”

As the two entered, Twilight unlatched one of the side doors that led to an outside patio, leaving a clear path to the outside.

The Duchess stood up. “What's this about, Lady Sparkle?”

“You'll see.” Twilight grabbed hold of the two, manoeuvring them so Trixie was to her right and a shaking Memoranda her left, the latter being next to the door. “There, that should do.”

Trixie looked around. “Uh… What?”

Twilight flopped back in her seat, resting her head on her forelegs. “I'll make this simple, ‘Memoranda.’ If you release all the ponies being held by the changelings in Manehatten, I'll grant all the changelings in the Duchy safe passage back into the Gold Desert.”

The Duchess slammed her forehooves on her desk. “What?! A changeling couldn't—”

Twilight silenced her with a held up hoof.

Memoranda was backing herself up, and eventually her rump was kissing the wall. She was shaking so hard the rubbing against the wall was readily audible.

Twilight continued, “Of course, this assumes you remove every member of the Hive from the Duchy. Do that, and I'll stop looking for your local hives more than long enough to get them all out. That's the deal.

“If I find out you didn't fully follow through, of course, the Bellerophon and I will go hunting for your hidey hole in the desert, and you and I will have words. Whether mine are written on explosive shells will depend on how well you behave.

“If you reject my offer, I'm going to keep going until I find every last hive in the city, and at each one I find, I might just send my brother in. You remember him, don't you, Chrysalis? The one you hurt. I happen to know for a fact that he's itching to pay you back. He'll exterminate every changeling he finds just in the hope you can feel their pain through the hive. Clear?”

“This…” Duchess Demesne marched around her desk to Memoranda, looming over her like a storm cloud ready to drop a tornado. “How long? How long have you had her?!”

Memoranda squeaked and slid along the wall, backing up towards the door. “I— I—”

“Spit it out! Where is she?!”

Memoranda’s rear met with the open doorway, and she tumbled haunch over fetlocks twice before coming to a rest on the patio. After a flash of green, ‘Memoranda’ was no more, replaced with a changeling.

The concrete floor of the patio cracked and groaned from the Duchess’s stomp. Little bits that shook loose flew back behind her as she pawed the ground. “Give her back, insect! Tell me where she is! Right now! Or I swear I will make your whole hive regret it for decades!”

The changeling yelped, then zipped into the air, zooming away in a streak of green.

“Sparkle!” Demesne roared, shaking a pen all the way over on the desk. “What in Tartarus were you thinking?!”

Twilight shook her head. “Trust me when I say that I just saved you from a very expensive cleaning bill. There's no way to intimidate or hold a changeling for interrogation. Chrysalis’ command over them is so great that she can order them to self-destruct.

“What I did was give Chrysalis a way out that didn't involve the loss of untold numbers of her hive. But I meant every word I said. If they take my offer, I'll let them escape under guard, and sweep the city for stragglers and any further ponies that are still captive.

“If she cheats me, I'll launch an expedition to hunt her down. If she rejects the offer—heck, even if she accepts it too slowly—I'm going to bring all the forces I can muster to extinguish every last hive in the city.”

The Duchess folded her forelegs. “And how do you expect to find them all?”

“I'm working on it. There's a few lines of inquiry I'm about to jump on. If I'm right, I’ll need to borrow some of your officers to pull this off.”

“Oh?” Duchess Demesne huffed. “I'm not particularly inclined to help, given the destruction you seem to leave in your wake.”

Twilight shrugged. “If you don't want to, I won't make you. But I’d think your police would lead to less destruction than my backup plan.”

“And what is your backup plan?”

“I'm not particularly inclined to divulge that information, given how prone to changeling infiltration your office is. If you change your mind, send the castle a telegraph. In the meantime, I'm going to go ruin the day of some poor ponies at the Manehatten Hall of Records by deluging them with information requests.

“Trixie? Let's go.” Twilight hopped off her seat, leaving the fuming Duchess behind in her office. She paused briefly next to Memoranda’s desk. One more to rescue. Hang on, Memoranda. I'm coming.

The early afternoon sun was beginning to bake the atmosphere properly by the time Twilight and Trixie arrived at the Hall of Records, and for not the first time, Twilight was wishing for a mission somewhere that wasn't baking hot.

“No clouds,” Trixie said after downing water from her canteen. “No Cloudsdale, no weather resources plentiful enough to micromanage the weather, no cloud cover for hot days.”

“Yeah. It's easy to forget that a little inconvenience like this isn't something to really pout over. Ponies lost their lives in Cloudsdale.” Twilight pulled open the glass and brass door to the Hall of Records, and stepped inside. She was greeted with a rush of arctic air conditioning, and then a knot in her stomach. “Is it wrong, then, to enjoy a building’s HVAC this much?”

“Nope,” Trixie said while making a beeline for a water fountain.

Twilight rolled her eyes and made for the front desk. Like much of the city, it was adorned with gold, or at least brass pretending to be gold. Behind the gilding was dark, heavy, old wood, large enough for three different lines to the counter. At the moment, though, nopony was in queue.

Behind the desk, to both the left and right, were curving staircases going both up and down, as well as hallways leading further into the main floor. The only city that kept better records than Manehatten was Canterlot, and the national capital was much smaller than the sprawling supermetropolis she was currently in.

“May I help you, Miss?” An elderly pony with glasses and a mane done up in a bun was behind the front desk. Her blouse had a green ribbon on it that said “VOLUNTEER,” and she appeared armed with more pamphlets than a doctor’s office.

“Yes, hello.” Twilight had to stretch her neck a bit to get tall enough to look official. The mare behind the desk was old, but tall. And a Grand Mage shouldn't look like a foal when demanding records. It could help cut down on paperwork. “I need access to historical maps of the city, especially of the shelter tunnels underneath it.”

“Ah. Upstairs, your left side. Make sure to be gentle with the papers and put them in the return stack when you're done, or ol’ Hairy will get upset again.”

“Well, that was easier than expected.” Aurora murmured to herself. “Maybe what we're looking for has already been removed?”

Nah, probably just Manehatten’s open records habit. Twilight gave the lady at the desk a polite nod. “Thank you, ma'am. And I'll be careful. I used to be a librarian, so I know how it works.”

The upstairs gave Twilight a tingle at the back of her mind. It was a library. It may have been specialized to specific, dry tasks, but the rows and rows of books and scrolls couldn't be wrong. The brown carpet and boring white industrial walls aside, she felt at home.

The opening area had another front desk, but it was empty, so she let herself in. Snaking through the bookshelves, she cursed the lack of a Dewey Decimal system, but found the maps quick enough regardless. She certainly didn't stop to breathe in the utterly delightful scent of many books brought together in one place, because that would be silly and unprofessional.

“What do you want me to do?” Trixie asked with her ears back, having returned from refilling her canteen. “I'm not so good at book research…”

“Remember, maps, not books. I need to compare what we had mapped out underground in years past to what we have now.”

“Sure. Uhhhh… Why?”

Twilight cracked a smile. “It occurs to me that, over the years, parts of the underground shelter tunnels have likely been closed off and sealed, but not necessarily filled in or thaumically vitrified to be unusable. If I can find where they are, I can find likely changeling nests.

“After I send in a couple squads to those spots, we'll know if I'm right. If I am, it'll show Chrysalis that I'm serious, and able to find her drones.”

“Ah.” Trixie tilted her head. “That's still trying to do something like get a kink out of a rug. To get them all we need a better way of finding them.”

Twilight froze for a second, then pulled a meter-wide map out of the shelf. “Yeah, what I need to do is figure out a way to expose them all in one go. All the hiding spots and all the drones hiding amidst the populace.”

Trixie looked like Twilight had asked her to put a hoof on a lit stove. “Haven't the Crown agents and the defence industries all been trying to do that for something like seventeen years?”

Twilight chuckled. “Beating insurmountable odds is basically my job description. For now, let's focus on this. Go commandeer a big table, and get us some coffee. This is going to take a while, so when you get back, I’m going to message the castle with an update.”

“Table, coffee. Got it.”

Cloud Burner banged his head on the table over and over. Donut Joe’s had the absolute best tables for that. You could always smell the coffee and baked goods, which meant you were awake and hungry and focused on the pain you were punishing yourself with.

“Been a while, Burner,” a voice that Cloud Burner assumed was from Donut Joe said. “I also haven't seen you bang your head that many times in ages. What's wrong?”

“I'm a moron,” Cloud murmured into the table.

“What was that?”

Cloud lifted his head up and growled, “I'm a moron!”

Donut Joe blinked and looked at the other customers in the shop, along with the employees, who were all staring at Cloud.

Cloud Burner banged his head on the table again. “Moron. Moron.”

“Hey, hey, quit that.” Joe put a donut in the path of his head-desking, which stopped him, but only because he couldn't do that to the poor donut. “This isn't like you. What happened?”

Cloud sighed and eyed the donut and it's chocolate frosting with sprinkles. “I'm so used to being able to more or less waltz into the castle. But I'm a civilian now. I tried to go see Princess Celestia and was told to make an appointment.”

“Oh, ouch. How long?”

“Five years.” Cloud grumbled and inched his head closer to the donut, absorbing more of the cold from the new spot on the table. “Her backlog is nuts. I could send a letter to speed up the process but that would still take at least a week. I don't suppose you have a time machine? Or a place to crash? The hotels around the city are always full.”

Joe slid into the other side of the booth. “Okay, what happened? Hate retirement that much?”

“You could say that.” Cloud stretched a wing, nudging the plate with the donut a few inches closer to his mouth. “Wanted to come back. Or at least get away from Jazzy. Had a job offer from Twilight Sparkle.”

Joe’s eyes lit up at the mention of Twilight. “Well now, that's high praise. She's a smart filly. Well, “mare”, I suppose. Though I'll always remember her as that awkward night-owl filly of Celestia’s that would come in here and study all night.”

There was a bite shaped piece of the donut missing. Where it went was a mystery, and it certainly wasn't Cloud’s stomach. Couldn't be. “Yeah. She asked me to be her charioteer in the Evening Guard. Jazzy ruined my dessert, so I stormed out to go take her up on it.”

“Uuuhhhh…” Joe scratched his head. “Seems kind of extreme for a dessert.”

“Just the latest in a long string of abuses.” The donut in front of Cloud had another piece missing from it. Joe should really look into that. Disappearing confectionery couldn't be good for business. “But when I got to the castle, she wasn't in, so they couldn't clear me. And even if she was here, I have to talk to the Princess before I can accept.”

“So no Twilight, no queue jumping.”

“Yep.” The donut had completely vanished without a trace.

“Well,” Joe said, pulling out a newspaper. “You could always try to find her in Manehatten. Seems she's been chasing changelings.”

Cloud Burner’s ears stood up, followed shortly by the rest of him, and he grabbed the paper. “Twily is in Manehatten, huh? And changelings?”

“I wish her luck. I still remember the attack on Canterlot during the wedding. Dealing with those horrors? Game of whack-a-parasprite.”

Cloud clopped his forehooves together with a devilish grin. “Oh, she can do it. I believe in her. And I think I know how she'll do it.

“I have to get going, hire an express chariot. If I'm lucky, I'll be there in a few hours. Thanks, Joe; you're a lifesaver.”

Joe chuckled and stood up. “Nope. I just sell donuts.”

Author's Note

Did okay this month, despite the panic attacks. About broke even. Last few days have been quite productive.

Whoo boy that was one long conversation! Not to mention hard to write.

I hope you all enjoyed this one, and thanks again for sticking with me! :)

-Cv

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Setting Up

“That is a lot of possibilities.”

Twilight groaned in agreement with Trixie. “Yeah. I didn't expect there to be so many. I can eliminate some for being too small, but even then we're looking at having to check almost a thousand different spots. I need a way to filter this faster, and I'm not sure how just yet.”

“That, or we need a way to drive them out all at once,” Trixie said, passively nibbling on a protein bar. “Or a way to knock some sense into Chrysalis.”

“I’m expected to beat long odds, not perform miracles.” Twilight pulled in a yawn, and fought against the idea of a nap. “I need a break. Pack up the maps; we're commandeering them for the time being. Next step is field research. I want to find one of these spots to see if I can expedite things.”

“You're what?!” An old stallion without a mane hobbled up to them. “Those are Hall property! You can't just—”

Trixie stepped in between them, and stared down the old guy. “Try and stop us. I dare you.”

Twilight put a hoof on Trixie’s barrel and pushed her aside gently. “Sir, my name is Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle. These maps are now seized in the name of national security. I do plan on returning them, but for now, they belong to the Crown.”

The stallion Twilight assumed was “ol’ Hairy” stomped up to her, spreading his halitosis cloud over them. “Like spit you're taking them! I've been caring for this place for fifty years, and they haven't left once in all that time!”

Twilight glared into his eyes, snorting less at his stink and more at his insolence. “I'm taking them. End of discussion.”

He wilted into a mound of fear. “Ye-yes ma'am.”

Twilight passed him, leaving him whimpering in his little domain without his maps.

At the bottom of the stairs, Trixie whispered to her. “How did you do that?”

Twilight shrugged. “Just a little firmness. Trying to be intimidating. Hard to do when I'm short.”

“No, I mean the eye thing.”

She stopped in her tracks. “What eye thing?”

Trixie sat and grabbed her foreleg, shaking as she spoke. “Your eyes. They were glowing… Your whites turned black, but your irises were glowing white.”

Twilight blinked. “I… didn't mean to do that. Are they still…”

“N-no, they went back to normal after you, well, made him give up.”

“Ah. Well.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Best not talk about it here, but let me know if it happens again.”

Realization dawned on Trixie. “Oh, right. Right. Sorry.”

“No worries. Come on, we need food. We've been at this for hours.” Twilight pushed open the door to the outside, then immediately gagged. “Gah! What is this? Is the air water?”

Trixie leaned around her to test the air. “Eh, I've been in worse,” she said, smiling. “Mountain living keep the humidity away? Cause this is actually normal for Manehatten in summer.”

Twilight mentally poked at Aurora, who poked back in a way that implied that Twilight was being a wuss. How Aurora accomplished this was quickly decided to not be something to be thought on and was filed away in the deepest, darkest piece of her memory that her mental committees could find. “Madness. Pure madness. I need to have a word with the Council to make sure their efforts at replacing the weather capacity they lost from Cloudsdale are keeping pace. Because this is clearly cruel to our ponies.”

“Aha!”

Twilight and Trixie looked up to a pegasus coming in for a landing in front of them. He had a metallic blue mane, metallic red tail, and grey coat. His muscles showed that he was in top shape, and he landed with all four hooves at once.

“I knew that you'd either be here or the library, Twily. Why beat an enemy with kicks when you can beat them with books?”

“Cloud Burner!” Twilight jumped into him in a big, glomping hug. “It's so good to see you! What are you even doing here?”

Trixie huffed. “And are you a changeling?”

Cloud Burner gave Twilight a hug back, then broke it to drop into a bow. “Test me however you wish, I—”

PEWOOSH!

A wave of pink magic swept over Cloud, washing over him and knocking him down the stairs in a tumble.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Trixie. “Really? We could have used the new spell.”

Trixie fanned herself with her hat. “Was faster this way. Besides, I thought it suspicious he would just drop in like that.”

“Ugh,” Twilight groaned in reluctant agreement. She powered her horn and popped through reality back to Cloud Burner’s side, helping him to his hooves. “I'm really sorry about that. She's just being careful. But at least now we know he's real, right, Trixie?”

Trixie trotted down the stairs to help. “Real enough, I guess. But it's still odd. Why are you here, Cloud?”

Cloud was standing, but rubbing his head. “Ow. I'm seeing stars. Anypony get the licence plate of that chariot that ran me over?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah. TR1X13. Who really should warn ponies before doing that.

“But you didn't answer my question. What's up? Not that I’m not glad to see you, of course.”

Cloud shook his head to clear the rattling. “Oof. Right. Sorry. I was hoping that job offer you gave me was still open.”

Twilight beamed. “Of course! I would love to bring you on board! Though if I may ask, what made you change your mind?”

Cloud looked sick to his stomach, and his wings drooped. “My ex. The family gave the Count title to her, which I was fine with. I was happy to just hang out at the restaurant in retirement, but she just couldn't resist making my life miserable.

“She was right about something, though. I shouldn't have been happy sitting on my duff all day. I need something to do. A cause. And if I'm too old for the Day Guard, then I'm more than happy to haul your unicorn butt into and out of whatever fresh hell you manage to find.”

Twilight jumped forward and gave him a quick, sharp hug. “Welcome aboard! I'll have to get Celestia to release you from your oath to her, but I'm sure that can be arranged later. For now, I'd love your help here in Manehatten.”

Cloud Burner stood at attention and saluted. “Yes, ma'am! Anything I can do to help.”

Twilight snickered. “Know any good restaurants? Our priority right now is food. After that…” A bell chimed in Twilight's mind. “Actually. After food, I think I have the perfect thing you can help with.”

Twilight grabbed hold of the safety bar in the chariot as they banked hard to the right.

“Anything yet, Twilight?” Cloud Burner called out behind him. “I'm not complaining, naturally, but ‘All of Manehatten’ is a damn big search area.”

“Not yet!” Twilight traced their route on the map as they soared south down a large road. Though it was still a sunny late afternoon, her horn would have provided plenty of light if it had been night. “The spell matrix is holding as is. At this point, fiddling with it would either break it or make it not sensitive enough. We're stuck with a couple blocks at a time, I think.”

She pushed down a corner of the map with a hoof to stop it from flying away. “But we might not have to check the whole city. If I can find one or two more, there's a chance I'll be able to figure out a pattern to speed things up.”

“Hope so. We'll be at this for days otherwise.”

“Twilight!” Trixie’s voice crackled over the radio. “Head back. I lost your signal completely back there for an instant. I think we found one.”

“Good work, Trixie! Cloud, come to a stop.” Twilight gently circled the area on the map with a pencil. “We have a lead. Go back two blocks and start weaving through the buildings. Trixie, keep the line open and say something when the signal vanishes again.”

“Got it.”

“Changing vector.” Cloud swung them around on a dime and spread his wings out in a stretch.

They shot forward, coasting and slowing at the target block. At the first alleyway, he banked left, turning the chariot a sharp ninety degrees, perfectly aligned with the space that offered only a few inches to spare.

The proximity of the walls made Twilight's heart thud in her chest for a second. The speed was still blowing her mane around, and keeping her relatively cool in the heat thanks to Cloud’s pegasus magic leaving a cold trail. Her eyes focused in on her charioteer’s wings.

Cloud had Flyven-class wings. Their innate shape meant that he shouldn't be especially good with turns, as they favour power a bit more than manoeuvrability. Yet, as with so many things, practice and experience won out over such limitations. Even retired, he was a Day Guard pegasus. He had to be able to do it all — from turning a heavy chariot to flying at speed for hours on end.

There was no one else out there Twilight would rather have hauling her around.

“There! That one!”

“We have a candidate! Cloud, put us down on the roof.” Twilight kept hold of the rail, expecting another sharp turn, but Cloud just had them rise vertically, move to their left, and settle down.

Damn. Twilight put a dot on her map. I knew Cloud had training, but I still seriously underestimated him. Even Rainbow couldn't pull that off.

She shook off the thought and hopped out. There was an empty feeling in her stomach, which for once wasn't from lack of food. I'm more in tune with it now. I didn't just stumble on the last one. Subconscious instinct led me to it.

She shut off the search spell, and switched to just spraying the area with idle energy. After a second, she stopped. “Wait. No, I can do better. Cloud?”

“Yes, Ladyship?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Two things. First, don't call me that unless we're at a very formal function. Even if I was stuck up about that kind of thing, you've earned the right to call me ‘Twilight.’

“Second, I'll need a few seconds of quiet here. I'm going to try something.”

Cloud chuckled and ran a hoof through his metallic blue mane. “You got it, Twilight.”

Twilight closed her eyes, sucked in a breath, and let it out in a trickle. My magic is attuned to the cosmos. Greater than mind, greater than heart, I am one with the fabric of the universe… She repeated the mantra in her mind, tapping into her wellspring, but keeping her horn silent.

Under her hooves, she pooled her power, pushing it ever tighter into a plane below her. She opened her eyes, loosening her grip on the power ever so slightly while still pouring more in.

The roof under her glowed with violet power, rays of light piercing even the opaque roofing tar in places. The air crackled and shook with the will of an alicorn, distorting her sight.

Yet the distortion wasn't enough to hide the black spot in the middle of the roof, and Twilight strode towards it. Each step burned the blackness a little more, until it finally evaporated and revealed an outline of the blood circle hiding under a tile.

“Gotcha!” Twilight rubbed her forehooves together while turning off the fireworks. “I knew there had to be more. Cloud, let's get—”

Cloud was staring at her, wide eyed and mouth agape. “Twily… How?”

A little bell in the back of her head rang in Morse code, You Are A Moron. “How what?” Twilight deflected. “It was a spell.”

“Twilight, your eyes were on fire, and that level of… of just sheer radiative power? The only ponies I've ever seen do that are the Princesses.”

“Yeah, I was inspired by them.” Twilight blinked a few times. “The eye thing might be a side effect. Didn't hurt, though.”

Cloud held his chest and wheezed. “Scared the piss out of me. I thought the spell was backfiring! Celestia would’ve had my hide as a rug if I let anything happen to you.”

“Well, don't worry about it too hard.” Twilight went up to him and pulled him into a little hug, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Remember my clearance level? Trust me, that spell is kindergarten-level compared to some I've learned. So let me worry about the casting, okay?”

Cloud nodded. “As long as you promise to not blow yourself up.”

Twilight hid a smirk, then crossed her heart. “I promise to never blow myself up from an accidental miscast.”

He sighed in relief. “Okay. I feel bett—wait: Why were you that specific?”

Twilight hopped back in the chariot. “Let's get moving; we have more of the city to check! Trixie, get your end of the spell ready again. We found a circle here, so let's hunt down some more.”

“Twily, you didn't answer my question.”

“And you technically don't have clearance right now. Come on, we're burning daylight!”

Cloud Burner rolled his eyes. “You've been hanging around Princess Celestia too much.”

“I studied under her wing. I mean, literally under her wing. Even fell asleep a few times. I suppose it's inevitable I'd adopt a few of her quirks.” Twilight unfolded her map.

Cloud hooked himself back up to the harness. “Continue the same pattern?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nuh-uh. We have two circles now. That's enough to start to form a pattern. Give me a few seconds here.”

She marked the new circle in the map, and chewed on the end of her pen. “Two points form a line, but it strikes me as unlikely that there are more circles that happen to all be in a straight line. But the distance between these two can still form a guide.”

She marked two new spots away from the two she had, each the same distance from the ends as the first two points were from each other. On the outer two points, she drew two arcs, one northwards, and one southwards. “We have two new search grids. We’ll pick up Trixie and head to the southwest first, and if we find one there, the next, if there is one, should be much easier to find.”

Cloud Burner put a hoof to his ear. “Trixie, you copy?”

“I heard her. Ready for pickup.”

Twilight stared at her map, pondering what she'd drawn on it. After a yawn, she looked up and watched the sunset instead. Pink light was radiating from the horizon, and the first bright stars had already appeared above her. They paled in comparison to the lights below, however.

Manehatten was the city that never slept, and aside from that garnering a lot of love from Luna, it meant that the lights never went out. Gold hues took over for the sun as it set, and the art deco stylings of many of the buildings turned the city center into a gilded wonderland. The outer areas weren't so lit up, but even so, life was stirring.

Canterlot was a wonder of architecture, but Manehatten was a wonder of life.

Shaking off the daydream and coming back to the humid reality, the map had a grim message. Five magic circles of dried changeling blood had been installed in the city without the knowledge of any of the levels of government. They'd been arranged equidistant from each other in a pentagon, effectively creating the points of a pentagram enveloping a huge portion of the populace.

The memory of the westernmost circle—the one she and Luna already destroyed—put a shiver down her spine. Even if her plan worked, that would leave a hole in a good sized area. Not much choice now, filly. “Cloud?”

The stallion stood at attention. “Yes?”

“I need you to make a delivery for me. Since Duchess Demesne isn't especially cooperative, I need to appeal to somepony who has a deeply-vested interest in the success of this operation.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped. “You're actually going to ask a mobster for help? Twilight, please tell me you're not.”

“Help? No, I can't do that.” Twilight bit her hoof and thought. “But if he happened to get a document telling him my plan, he might just act on his own.”

Trixie took off her hat and screamed in it for a moment.

“Twilight,” Cloud said, voice low and rumbling. “This is a dangerous move. It could well work now, but it could come back to bite you. Hard.”

Twilight closed her eyes. “I hear you. If it comes out that I worked with him, that would be a major political blow to both myself and the Princess. But working with Demesne has pitfalls, too.

“I think the best option here is to try to force Demesne’s hoof to help, but even if I don't wind up needing Trade, he's already put his goons on high alert. I'm going to have to tell him to keep his ponies under control while I execute the plan.”

Her eyes opened with new focus. “Trixie, I need you to go to a store and get me a camera and a stack of carbon paper. Cloud? See if you can find a reputable reporter and get them to Demesne’s office.”

Cloud smiled and pulled out a paper with an address on it. “Oh, I know just the mare for the job.”

“Good. Meet me there in an hour. I'll need a bit of time to work out the details of this spell.”

Twilight watched them leave, then popped a few joints in her neck before opening her notebook, studying the changeling-blood magic circle she'd sketched before.

“I still don't recognize these symbols. Aurora, is there anything I’m missing that you remember?”

Aurora appeared next to her and shook her head. “No. Strange though it is to say, this has to be a foreign school of magic.

“I'm curious, though. Your thoughts are nebulous to me right now. Do you think you can work with such a foreign magic in such a short time?”

“Well, I think so. I'm not trying to create a spell that hooks into the mechanics of the circle. That would be… uh, bad, let's say. But what I can do is use the explosion from it breaking as a power source. Even though most of the energy is psychic, there is still an enormous amount of magic power in them. If I can set up a spell capable of tapping into that, I can temporarily bring the entirety of the changeling force in Manehatten to its knees.”

“And what happens when the effect wears off?”

“With luck, they'll have police on them by then. Unless the infestation is even larger than I thought, which is why I'm debating getting help from Trade. However, I'm hoping that the paper from Linear Matrix a few years back was right, and that there's a proportional, mathematical limit to how many changelings can be in a given population before they start getting discovered en masse.

“But there is one thing I'm still curious about…” Twilight put a red circle towards a spot on her map, equidistant from all five magic circles. “It's this. What's special about the center? Is there anything special about it? Is it coincidence, or is it possible that the circles were deliberately laid out in a way to offer maximum coverage of this exact spot?”

“Hmmm. It's on the south side of Manehatten Island, and looks like an industrial and sea port area. Manages ship-based cargo transit for both sea and air shipping. Perhaps it's something being hidden?”

“That's entirely possible, but I'm not sure I want to just go stomping around. The location may not be exact, and it's a ton of space to go snooping through. It would take some time, and I want the changelings gone tonight.”

“What happens to it when we break the circles?”

Twilight's brain choked on some neurotransmitters and yelled at her prefrontal cortex to knock off the silliness already. “That's a good question… I want to be coordinating this, but we need some real power there just in case things get nuts. Which means I need the Night Guard again, and preferably at least one Cardinal, like Bloodmoon. And maybe I can bring Intelligentsia along as well; I'm sure she'd be interested in this, too.”

Twilight folded up her map and stuffed all her gear into her saddlebags. “Let's get moving. I need to send a telegraph to Canterlot and go knock on Duchess Demesne's door.”

Cloud Burner counted the doors as he trotted down the hall of a modest apartment building in Manehatten. It was an older building, but well kept and with a certain charm, even if the air wasn't as fresh as that of Cloudsdale or Canterlot. At number two-one-four, he stopped and double checked the little piece of paper he had.

“Yep, this is the place.” He cleared his throat a couple times, then pulled out the rose he bought on the way before knocking on the door. Wait, should I find a bathroom and fix up my mane?

Locks in the door clicked open.

Nope. No time. Hope she remembers me. Cloud put on what he hoped was a friendly smile; they never really taught that in the military.

The door creaked open, and the reporter mare that had helped them in Cloudsdale poked her head out. Her face lit up like a firework. “Cloud! It's that really you?”

Cloud held up the rose in his hoof and kept his face locked in what he really hoped was the setting for “happy” instead of “creepy.” “Uh, yep. Hi!”

She pulled the door open the rest of the way. “Please, come in! I'm surprised, I mean, I thought that—”

Cloud held up a hoof. “Before I do that, I should warn you I need a little favour.”

Verity Print looked like something inside her shattered. “I don't have much money, and I—”

“What? No!” Cloud’s wings flapped open. “Nothing like that. It's for Twilight Sparkle. You know, the Grand Mage?”

“Oh,” she said plainly. “Are you and she—”

“Nuh-uh. Shot me down a long time ago. It's more of a reporting favour. In a bit she's going to try to, uh, ‘negotiate’ with Duchess Demesne over something, and she wants to give you first access to the news just in case the Duchess backstabs her.”

The light returned behind the mare's eyes, along with a little twinkle. “Oh! Well, far be it for me to pass on a scoop. I was just hoping you were here for—”

Cloud’s cheeks caught fire. “Well, I'm not not here because of that.”

If there was a twinkle before, now it was all the way up to sparkling. “So, you are interested…”

“Well, maybe.” Cloud swallowed. “I mean, you're hot, but you should also know I'm in Twilight's Evening Guard now, so I'll be travelling and—”

Verity leaned forward and plucked the rose out of his hoof. “And know all the juicy stories before anypony else? You do know the nicest things to say to a girl.”

Cloud caught her in his forelegs as she swooned up to him. “Um, yeah, you could put it that way, though a lot of it would be classified to high heaven…”

“First out the declassified gate is still first, usually. Even without pictures.” She traced a circle on his chest with a hoof. “I'll be happy to help you, but I need a little favour first.”

His heart went thu-thump. Twilight was counting on him. “Um, actually, Twilight wants you to be at the Duchess’ place in like forty minutes, so—”

Verity licked her lips. “I only need fifteen…”

Somewhere in Cloud Burner's brain a little switched flipped and a sign reading “You Are A Moron” lit up as he realized what she was talking about. But I need to make sure she’s not a changeling first… Oh, there’s a kitchen! That gives me an idea. It’s makeshift, but it should work. With a big, silly grin he trotted in and closed the door behind him. “The things I do for Equestria…”

“Okay, I've got the mini-contract drawn up, just in case.” Twilight rolled up the carbon paper and stuffed it in Trixie's saddlebags. “I don't want to use it if I don't have to, though. Here's hoping the Duchess will be reasonable after we exposed her secretary as a changeling.”

Trixie looked up at the darkening sky and the top of [] tower. “You'd think, but sometimes I think an unreasonable stubbornness is a prerequisite for being a noble.”

“After seeing what Earthen Pride did in the Empyreal Hall? I'm certain of it. Especially considering that being a Duchess or Duke means you not only have to run a Duchy, but watch your back against the lower nobility who would love to have the seat for themselves.”

Twilight leaned over the edge of the rooftop they were on, watching the ponies below. There were fewer at night, but in downtown, the streets were never empty. The tower was just a few blocks away, and the Duchess’ office was still lit up. Odds are she's going to be pulling an all-nighter trying to deal with the fallout I dropped on her lap.

“Where's Cloud Burner?” Trixie asked. “He was supposed to be back by now.”

“Right here!” A pair of pegasi came in for a landing, first Cloud Burner, then a pegasus mare in business attire.

“Lady Sparkle,” Cloud said with a bow. “Allow me to introduce Verity Print. She's a reporter for the Cloudsdale Chronicle’s Manehatten division, and the one who worked with us to bust Duke Esteem.”

Twilight's eyes lit up. ”Oh, excellent! I'm pleased to finally meet you, Miss Print. And I'm sorry to trouble you at this hour.”

Verity bowed, blushing. “Not at all, Your Ladyship. The news doesn't sleep, but it does seem to follow you around, and I'm always ready for a scoop. Are we taking down another Duke today?”

I wish, she thought with a giggle. “No, I just need you here to ensure Duchess Demesne's cooperation with my current operation. I'm afraid I must ask you to stay with us and not report anything until I give the okay. However, once I do, you'll be able to submit a much more complete report than anypony else. Deal?” Twilight held out a hoof.

“Deal!” Verity gave her a hoofbump, then immediately took out a notebook and started scribbling something.

“Wait a moment.” Trixie lit her horn. “We just split up and reunited. We need to verify we're who we say we are. Cloud?”

Cloud’s pupils turned into pinpricks. “Aw, heck.”

BZZZOW!

Cloud took a direct hit of pink magic to the face, and fell back like a sack of hammers. “Owie.”

“Squeak…” Verity froze into a squeaking statue.

“Trixie,” Twilight said with a groan. “You don't need to be that rough. Here, watch this.” She lit her horn, and set up a simple magic circle under them. It spun itself into a sphere, then shot small beams criss-crossing the interior space. Some hit the occupants, feeling like a mild punch on her flesh.

The beams, while not harmful, were dense enough to disrupt any changeling illusion. It was basically the same magic she used during the changeling assault on Canterlot years ago, just more carefully tuned and controlled.

A few seconds later, the circle vanished, and the three mares started rubbing the spots where they'd been hit.

Verity flexed forward one of her wings, rubbing what was likely a sore spot. “I think I'm going to be a bit sore in the morning.”

Cloud Burner flopped over. “You? I'm going to need more physical therapy.”

“You'll be fine. Come on, let's go meet with the Duchess.” Twilight jumped off the ledge with Trixie close behind, both teleporting near the bottom to land. After a few strides, the pegasi caught up.

Verity hopped a little to stop herself from tripping while putting away her notebook. “How did you… I've never seen a unicorn jump off a building like that!”

Twilight gave her guest a warm smile. “I'm full of surprises at this point. But teleportation has been a spell I've been practicing for many years now. It's been very helpful to me as Grand Mage.”

“And I've only learned it recently,” Trixie added. “But I never would have figured it out without Lady Sparkle’s guidance.”

“Sounds like you two have a good working relationship! Although I suppose I should expect that of the Evening Guard.” Verity looked like she wanted to get her notebook out again. “What exactly are we going to do at the Duchess’ office?”

Twilight grabbed hold of the door to [] tower. “Magic.”

It took some talking, but they were eventually allowed back up the tower to the office of the Duchess. When the lift opened its doors, the Duchess was waiting for them, staring Twilight in the eyes.

Her demeanour would be generously called “gruff”, but a more accurate term would be “outright contemptuous”. “Give me one reason I shouldn't toss you out the window,” Demesne demanded.

Twilight’s smile only grew. “One, my teleportation spell means I'd be right back up here in two seconds. Two, I have a plan to purge the city of changelings by around ninety percent overnight, and I'm betting that's better than anything you have.”

Duchess Demesne’s eyes betrayed her resignation as she waved them in. The entrance to her personal office had police going over Memoranda's desk with a fine-toothed comb and a few other officers who silenced themselves as the group walked through.

The doors to the office clicked shut behind them, and the Duchess pressed a crystal button on the wall, turning on a ward of some kind. “First question,” she said, not yet turning to face Twilight. “Why do you have a reporter with you?

Twilight smirked. “Independent documentation of important events. She's agreed not to publish anything until this is all said and done. If you're uncomfortable, I can still execute the plan without you, but I'll have to allow for a much greater margin of error.”

The Duchess huffed. “Fine, she can stay. But I'll be holding you personally responsible if she leaks sensitive information.”

“Deal. Shall we?”

The Duchess motioned to her large desk, and the group gathered around.

Twilight unfurled her map on the desk, anchored the ends, and cleared her throat. She paused for a second to take in the Duchess’ shocked look at the map, which was covered in Twilight’s hornwriting, the locations of the changeling blood circles, and various arcane symbols.

“What is this?” Duchess Demesne asked. “Those aren't the city wards…”

“They are indeed not,” Twilight said. “These are the locations of five incredibly powerful magic circles that I have uncovered in the city. They were well hidden and are created using changeling blood. However, data discovered over the course of my investigation suggests that they were not put there by changelings, but by some other force, one which is likely opposed to them.”

Demesne flopped back in her chair. “If they were so well hidden, how did you find them, or know where to look?”

“Magic.” Twilight smirked. “But the truly important thing is the sheer amount of psychic force embedded in them. Hundreds, if not thousands of times greater than I've ever seen before. Our working hypothesis is that these may be disrupting the changeling hivemind — but at a cost.

“Whatever they are doing, it is also drawing changelings to the city for some reason, hence the greater-than-normal number of reports. If I had to guess, it may be affecting changelings outside the city in an uncomfortable way, which means they are also here to put a stop to these machinations.”

Demesne scratched her chin. “So, if these are disrupting the hivemind, wouldn't that be an advantage?”

“No; the cost of drawing in more changelings is too great in and of itself. In addition, they are unlawfully placed spells affecting the whole city, and we don't know if they are capable of a secondary purpose. So I'm going to destroy them.”

Demesne went into a coughing fit. “Are you nuts? You just said they're packed with psychic energy!”

“Energy tuned to changelings. I'm certain it will be safe.” Twilight tilted her head and lowered one ear. “After all, we've already destroyed one.”

Duchess Demesne hushed herself. “That light earlier…”

“I admit I didn't expect such an energetic reaction, but even those close to the epicentre seem just fine, apart from a few headaches. It's simply not attuned to ponies. But changelings? If I'm right, any of them within their radius of effect will be incapacitated for at least a few moments.”

Twilight sucked in a breath. “Which is why I need your help. I need every available emergency responder you have to be ready and waiting above the city. They need to be able to respond in less than a minute. Call up forces from the military on top of it, if there are capable units nearby. The more ponies we have ready to pounce, the better.

“And most importantly, don't tell them what we're doing. Keep it all a secret until just before I set things off. If any changelings are in the ranks, we want them so surprised when this happens that they get caught before they can cause trouble.”

The Duchess eyed the map. “You'll have everything I can manage to call up. But there's still one issue.

“After these explosions go off, how do we know where changelings are? It'll be hard to see them at night, and that's if they are outside when this happens.”

“Just leave that to my spell.” Twilight winked. “Trust me, it'll expose not just changelings, but any of their mini-hives in range. In a few hours, the changelings are going to suffer their greatest loss since Canterlot.”

Author's Note

Not a productive month. Super high anxiety month. Gonna try to finish strong in December.

Also, my editor had real life happen and couldn't completely finish this one at the time of posting. Thus, the back half is still rough and unedited. We'll be finishing it in the next handful of days and updating things once we do. Sorry about that!

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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Center of Convergence

Still don't understand how this freaking armor works. I mean, it clearly does, but the thaumic calculations it's doing are ridiculous. Obsidian Armor stifled a grumble before it could get out. A sound from him now would violate the contract, and it wasn't time for that yet. I mean, seriously. Might as well be “ten plus apple cart equals translucence” as far as I can understand it!

He put his back to the door and looked down the hall each way. The thugs guarding the last door were out of sight, and even in this shadow realm he could tell the place was dark. Without looking, he turned and cleared his mind as he walked into the wall.

The pain was always there. Each time he or any of his number violated the basic principles of the world—in this case, occupying space already filled—there was a searing, maddening price to pay. The only way through was to pay it no mind in your heart and keep going. Hope was not part of the equation. It wasn't a normal calculation like math or modern unicorn magic. It was accepting the reality you wanted as already true, in spite of the universe itself using pain and your own senses to say how crazy it all was.

In a way, it was delusion. Pure madness. Yet, there he was, on the other side of the wall without having to go through any door.

The inside was like a Roan luxury furniture store puked in it. Gaudy sofas, wallpaper, decorative columns, and the works all came together like a peacock’s feathers in a display of status.

Yet the stallion he was here to see didn't fit into that particular piece of the puzzle. His suit was immaculate and fitted to perfection, sure. It probably cost a small fortune. Yet, it was a professional look with no embellishments.

When Tailored Trade’s ear twitched, Obsidian froze and iced over his heart, detaching his mind from the room. The contract reinforced, he faded back into the shadow of the room.

Luna had taught him how theatricality was one of the Night Guard's tools. To show up at the right moment maintained the mystique of the unit, which, for example, made convincing others to cooperate that much easier.

In this realm of shadow, though, it was hard to listen to things. His sight was filled with smears of inky black paint that vanished in microseconds, only to be replaced by another streak in the next instant. It was if flames made of shadows were reaching for him at the corner of his vision, but couldn't quite become reality.

If he gave himself completely to the contract the armor demanded, would he ever exist again? Were the shadows the ponies that couldn't keep their minds their own? Luna refused to answer those questions, which was her prerogative, but that didn't make the knots in his liver any less severe.

The hour is late. Waiting for the right beat in the conversation may not be… prudent. With a breath, he lit his horn and cast a spell as he stepped out of the shadows. A shimmering indigo fog followed in his wake, half filling the room. The other half was filled with the startled stares of the ponies in the room save for Tailored Trade, who didn't so much as flinch.

The mare next to the boss stood up, hidden guns in her saddle popping out.

Tailored Trade kicked the mare's legs out from under her. “Don't be that foolish in my presence again. That's Obsidian Armor. No weapons we have here will penetrate his shields. Attack the Prince so recklessly and you'll deserve the flank tanning he gives you.”

“Ugh,” the mare groaned as she held her stomach in pain. “Sorry, boss.”

“Hmmm,” Obsidian mused. “Twilight was right. You're smarter than the typical mob boss. How have you not taken over the city yet?”

Tailored Trade smirked. “All things in their own time. But you didn't come here to compliment me. Nor did you come to rough me up like you did Paster, or you would have made a more… violent entrance. So, to what do I owe the attention of the Prince of the Lost?”

“I could say I'm here on behalf of your victims, but not tonight. Tonight, I'm here to deliver a warning. Twilight's making her move. You know about what. Keep. Your. Ponies. Out. They get involved and they'll either get hurt or cause confusion in our ranks, hurting somepony else.”

Trade nodded, clopped a hoof on the table, and pointed another pony to spread the word. The underling left with room with a wind of urgency at his back.

“Oof.” The mare climbed back to the table. “Just like that? What if it's a trap?”

Trade rolled his eyes. “If it was, they wouldn't send the Prince for that. Not when he could just as easily take us all down, like those pirates in San Palomino.”

Obsidian felt his chest puff out. “Good. You heard about that.

“Now, fun as this has been, I'm afraid I have something else to look into.”

Trade motioned to the door. “Please, don't let me keep you.”

With a few steps into the shadows, and a few whispers to his own heart, the black flames in his vision returned. Unseen, he left the room and the building. Good luck, sis. This one I can't help you with.

“All stations, report in.” Twilight pressed the radio to her ear, listening over the wind and the slight hum of the four magic circles in front of her. She had unfurled her map to match up with the city in front of her. The night sky paled under the influence of the city lights, its clouds illuminated in gold. Masses of pegasus-led emergency response teams surrounded her, hovering and waiting for her word. Dozens more waited underground in the tunnels of the city.

“Team Alpha One, ready.”

“This is Team Alpha Two, ready and waiting.”

“Team Alpha Three, ready…”

She marked each team off on her checklist as they reported in, eventually getting to over one hundred response teams. Police, fire, medical, and military ponies organized together to breach, clear, and rescue in every hiding spot the changelings had.

“There's no way the changelings don't know something is up.” Aurora added a dash of admonishment in her voice. “Your hazy thoughts just mean you know I'm right. How do you know this will work?”

I don't. But I think I've forced them into an inevitable checkmate. With most of my teams orbiting above, they can't move all their captives en masse without at least a few getting spotted. With more teams underground in the tunnels, odds are at least a few will get caught there. Plus, the police should have gotten the word out to fire a police flare if any of the homeless down there find changelings.

They can't move, and I'm about to spot them all. Plus, the individual teams don't know my full plan yet, so they shouldn't have had a chance to plan for what I'm about to do. Speaking of which…

“Team Omega, are you ready?”

Bloodmoon’s voice crackled in the radio. “And waiting. There's not much here but warehouses and dumped garbage, though. Not sure what you're expecting.”

“Neither am I, but I need you there in case it's something significant. As for everypony else, listen up, I'm only going to say this once before it's go time.

“Changelings have infiltrated the city in numbers greater than what we'd expect for a city this size. My investigation has confirmed that this is not normal, and is likely spurred by enemy action.

“However, I've found a way to turn that action against them and the changelings. In a few moments, I will detonate a series of high energy spells around the city. Do not look directly at the blasts, as they will be extremely bright. Outside of that, no major adverse effects are expected on citizens or buildings.

“Immediately following the explosions, the magic I've added will mix with changeling magic in an area, creating some short lived thaumic contamination. This contamination will be readily visible to your naked eye, and will mark the location of a changeling. Large concentrations of the miasma will signify that a mini hive is located there. Dimmer, smaller concentrations likely mean only one or two changelings. Police teams without medics, respond to those. All teams, react appropriately and save any ponies you find.

“Do not worry about the contamination. While energetic, it will not last long enough to cause any medical harm.

“Unlike ponies, the changelings should be temporarily incapacitated by the blasts, and even lose their disguises. This won't last long, though, so move swiftly. Once they recover, they will likely be compelled by the Hive to fight if cornered. Do not hesitate to use lethal force on one. They will not allow themselves to be taken alive! Keep your wits about you.”

Twilight licked the sweat off her upper lip, looking down at the four little magic circles in front of her. Well, let's not keep these bugs waiting. “Ready? Here we go.”

She smashed the first circle, and the sky lit up with a new, miniature, green-and-purple sun. The northwest circle sent a magic blast wave out in all directions, while a visible shockwave of air grew ahead of it.

Thunder boxed Twilight's ears and shook her chariot, though Cloud Burner dutifully stayed at attention through it all. Ponies below were likely confused and panicked, but the city itself had no obvious damage.

What it did have, though, were spots of green in the streets. A half dozen of them were bright enough to look like someone had splattered a swimming pool’s worth of glow-in-the-dark paint everywhere.

Gotcha! Somewhere in her heart, she wanted to smile, but her mind now had the final say, and would only allow concern and concentration.“Alpha teams one through six, disperse to the bright spots. Police-only Bravo teams one through twenty, go after the dim ones.”

“Alpha One, diving in.”

“This is Alpha Two, already on our way…”

The radio exploded with chatter as the teams gave running reports, and Twilight reached out to the second circle. Not going to give you time to get your bearings, Chrysalis! She smashed it, and light bloomed out in the North. This circle was farther away, so less loud where she was, but was centred in a largely residential area.

“Damn,” Twilight swore under her breath at the growing miasma. “Alpha teams seven through fifteen, you have your targets. Charlie teams, target the lone changelings. Watch for innocent ponies!”

A few dozen more teams dove towards the ground, spreading out through the city's north side. The radio, though, was getting more chatter from the Northwest.

“This is Alpha One! We've found a full-blown nest. Twenty changelings are down. A good number more of them flew for it, and we're chasing them. We're still counting how many ponies are in pods, but I'd guess at least fifty, maybe more if we find a second level.”

Twilight's stomach twisted into a knot. “Copy that. Start informing the hospitals that we're going to be bringing in mass casualties.”

“Which hospitals?” somepony slow on the uptake asked over the radio.

“All of them.” Twilight smashed the east circle, and the sky lit up once more. She blinked the spots out of her eyes, and watched for the miasma. “Alphas sixteen and seventeen, you're up. Delta teams, go for the individual changelings.”

“Understood. Engaging.”

“Twilight, this is Intelligentsia. I've been listening on the other channel. A large number of the fleeing changelings are heading in directions that will have them converge on one location: mine. We're ready for them, but that also means…”

“Something important really is there. Copy that.” Twilight took out a red pen and circled the spot. “Let me know when you engage. I'll arrive when I can. That area should be devoid of civilians this time of night. You are clear for weapons free.”

“Understood. Intelligentsia, out.”

Twilight cracked and shattered the remaining circle, setting off the last of the spells. The industrial southeast lit up, bathed in a light that left a strong green afterglow. Nests of green looked like pegasi had dropped swimming pools of paint from a hundred meters up.

“Well, crap.” A pit in her stomach stomach dropped. “Alphas eighteen, nineteen, and twenty, go for the nests. Epsilon, back then up. Ignore individual changelings that don't directly get in your way. November, change of plans. Go back up Alpha and Epsilon.”

“You sure?” the Night Guard voice asked.

Twilight pursed her lips.”No. No I am not. But I don't see any other options. You have your orders.”

“What about us?” Cloud Burner asked from his harness. “Feels like we should be down there.”

Twilight pulled in a breath, held it, and sighed. “It does, doesn't it? But I need to coordinate from here, and I'll need you here in case of surprises. For now, they're on their own.”

“This is Alpha Twelve, VIP located. She's in a pod, still alive.”

Twilight's ears twitched with her pounding heart. “Copy that! Take her out slowly, and keep her asleep. She's kinda strong and if she reacts violently on waking, you might get hurt.”

“Roger that!”

Yes! Found Vinyl! Chalk one up for the Ponyville Winter Wrap-Up All-Team Organizer! “Alpha lead, give me a status update on the first teams!”

“Alphas One, Two, and Four have successfully secured their hives and are in the process of rescuing ponies. The bugs put up a fight, but whatever you did really scrambled them. They didn't find their wings until it was already over. Three and Five found hives with lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. Will take time to fully clear.”

“Understood.” A dot of colour caught Twilight's eye, and she looked up towards where it was. She had to look around as the dot tried to hide from her, but it was there, followed by dozens of others. “Intelligentsia, heads up. They'll be in attack range in a few seconds.”

“Oh, I know. And we've got the party all ready. I even brought cupcakes.”

Always one step ahead, Twilight thought with a smile. “Moonspeed, Gen.”

Intelligentsia chugged the last of her soda and tossed the can aside. The little law-abider in her screamed about littering, but given that the whole place around her was made of litter, it hardly mattered. Technically the few decrepit buildings around her were warehouses, but the proximity of the landfill meant ponies often snuck in at night and dumped garbage all around to avoid paying for large-item-removal fees. And if you're already breaking that law, might as well clean out your cart while you were at it. The end result was a warehouse district covered in trash.

The faint buzzing of insect wings pricked at her ear, and she took a step back to be rump-to-rump with Cardinal Bloodmoon and Acolyte Sable Seer, the latter of whom was Obsidian Armor’s new right hoof.

The opening wave was in front of her, seventeen by her count. Memories of the hive swarming Canterlot pounded at her thoughts, only to be stabbed in the gut. No. I've been training for years. This time will be different.

Seven of the changelings clumped up next to each other, grabbing hold of each other and glowing green. Flames consumed them, leaving behind the smoldering, hulking, angry mass of a single, enormous changeling. The buzz from its new wings was more of a roar, and it shook the ground as it landed.

“Well now,” Bloodmoon said with a smirk. “That's different.”

“Shut it!” Intelligentsia pulled out her guan dao, and the blades clicked open. “I got the big one, you take the little ones!”

“Acknowledged.” Bloodmoon flapped his wings and disappeared into the night. A second later, one of the changelings had his head go missing.

My turn. Intelligentsia swung her guan dao as the monster changeling roared, sending a cutting wave of energy at its mouth.

The changeling bit down on it, breaking the spell into pieces.

Chitin armor profile seems the same as the others’, just thicker. She reached out with her magic, grabbing hold of every bit of trash around her. Everything from the can of soda she discarded earlier to a pair of old, full-size sofas was floating in her golden magic.

The giant changeling pawed at the ground and roared, then charged her at full speed.

Just what I needed. She launched the debris as a stream of trash chasing her quarry, some parts hitting head on, while others missed as the changeling dodged. The sofa hit true, only to be shrugged off by thick armor.

Intelligentsia ducked, narrowly missing a stream of green telekinetic force that would have put a new hole in her head. Her follow-up was a backflip, and she could feel the air rush as the changeling swept with its somewhat undersized legs right where she was standing.

“Interesting,” she said as she backflipped away several more times. “You're quicker than you look.” She pulled back with her guan dao, and with a twinkle of her horn, the world blurred. Space moved around her in the blink of an eye, and her blade thrust forward.

The changeling had tossed itself sideways by instinct, but not fast enough against a pony capable of Passage. Her weapon sliced into the side of the armor rather than a true hit with a thrust, but the edge still eagerly cut into the chitin. A two-inch-deep gash was left in its barrel, a scar and weak spot on her foe.

The changeling had lunged forward to get out of range of a second strike, but Intelligentsia was still smiling. She twisted the polearm around, and struck it again with the other blade as it fled. Her ears flinched from the screech it let out from the hit, and she turned to keep facing it as it moved.

The changeling also turned back around to face her, angry and wounded, and thus, all the more dangerous.

Intelligentsia held up her blade to show it the dripping green blood, even going so far as to sniff the acrid goo as it sparkled in the flashes of combat magic going off around her. “That chitin has a diminishing return as armor as it gets thicker. Interes—”

Her eyes went wide as she watched the first gash she put in her enemy seal up and vanish. “High-speed regeneration. Buck me with a telescope. Guess it's time to get serious.”

She grabbed hold of the mantle covering her body, and tossed it aside. Underneath was the brand new set of purple and gold armor now being issued to the Royal Guard. Adorned on her shoulders were the bars of a First Lieutenant, the highest rank a pony could achieve in the division without becoming a Captain candidate.

Even her legs were armoured, and every piece was imbued with enchantments specific to her tribe. Before her mantle had even touched the ground, the world around her blurred again, and she thrust down from above the changeling, aiming for the neck.

The changeling shimmered, dashing out of the way at the last millisecond, and her blade crashed into the ground with the force of a grand piano falling from a few hundred meters.

Intelligentsia leapt up into the air immediately after, watching as the changeling plowed through where she had just been. Trying to learn Passage, are we? Green beams of light shot past her, each bolt a probing from the changeling on the ground.

When the dust cleared a split second later, the beam had her dead to rights.

Intelligentsia struck down with her guan dao, cutting into the changeling’s beam of magic. The bright steel of the blade scattered the magic in several other directions, letting her twist her body out of the way. She landed on her hind hooves first, cracking the concrete under them and kicking up another cloud.

She spun her guan dao, and thrust it ahead and to the sky just as the changeling appeared in front of her. The blade pierced into a weak spot of the chitin, plunging into its body.

“Hrk…” was the only sound it made as she tossed it aside to be with the rest of the garbage.

“That was disappointing… Wait…”

The changeling stirred, coming back to its hooves while the hole in it closed up. A second later, it was roaring again.

Intelligentsia tilted her head. “Well, that's new. Did you move your heart?”

“Problem, Lieutenant?” The voice of Captain Dual Strike came over her radio. “Do I need to save you?”

The Captain’s here? “No, Sir. I've got it handled.”

“Then hurry it up and handle it. A new wave is coming.”

“Understood.” Intelligentsia stepped through Passage, thrusting ahead into the changeling's chest, only for it to dodge again. She let herself get carried by the momentum, then used Passage once more to turn herself around and attack. Over and over it dodged her death blows, if only narrowly.

Finally, she feinted with a strike, and instead pierced the ground and used the blade to fling dirt at its face. It shook it off with a supremely pissed look on its face, which only made Intelligentsia smile. She poured power into the polearm, spinning it like a blender, moving it left, right, and all manner of other directions around her to throw more dirt.

The changeling backed off, seemingly looking for a new angle of attack away from the literal mudslinging.

Intelligentsia stepped into Passage, dragging her blade along the ground to throw even more disgusting trash dirt, this time along with some discarded wrappers. She followed it up with more spinning, more flinging, and another Passage jump to keep the bug in range.

She repeated this twice more, only for the changeling to finally charge through her foal’s tactic and go for her throat. She could almost feel the teeth on her neck before whisking herself away through Passage, arriving at her destination to her right and still facing her enemy.

She resumed her strategy of throwing up rocks and carving up the landscape, fully aware the giant changeling wasn't going to be fazed at all by it anymore. If anything, it was now eager to rage through it, coming at her as soon as it had its bearings again.

She stepped away again, this time to her right again, and the cycle repeated once more with a move forward. On the last one, though, the changeling didn't chase her. Rather, it charged its horn, picking up all the rocks she'd thrown in the last moments and hurling them her way in a horizontal hail storm.

Intelligentsia charged her horn, too, but this time Passage would only see the rocks hit harder. Having studied and sparred with Captain Armor, though, meant Passage wasn't her only means of moving around. She ripped through spacetime, teleporting next to the changeling to deliver an uppercut. When she reappeared, though, the changeling wasn't there, only an overwhelming green light.

Thunder struck her ears, and some huge force drove into her back and sent her flying. Pain thudded in her spine as she hit the ground and tumbled, rolling in the dirt again and again. Her kick off the ground to move again was just in the nick of time, as the changeling pounced into the spot where she had been.

When it turned towards her, she was already standing and ready again. This obviously pissed the changeling off to no end as it roared louder than ever before.

“What are you so angry about?” She scoffed. “I'm a Lieutenant. Did you think I wouldn't have my personal shields up? Or that I wouldn't add extra protection to blind spots? Start taking me seriously.”

The changeling charged, and Intelligentsia jumped back in the direction she wanted to lead it. It lunged at her with its horn pointed forward, and when that missed, it did it again a tiny fraction of a second later. Each move it made missed by millimetres, each step forward countered with one step backward by Intelligentsia.

Eventually, Intelligentsia took an opening to swing at its horn with her guan dao, missing as narrowly as the changeling had missed her. But her heart had no disappointment, as that attack wasn't the point. Rather, it made the changeling flinch, giving her just enough time to plunge her weapon into the ground and channel magic into it as fast as her horn would allow.

The dirt under them lit up, and gold ropes snapped up to ensnare the changeling. It dodged the first, but that only led it right into the grasp of the second. The original plus five more sprang up, eventually pulling it to a specific spot to be bound by all seven.

“I had this battle won ages ago, you know.” Intelligentsia said with a smile. Seven magic circles grew underneath them, with one glowing at each of the spots she had stopped at to fling dirt at the changeling. Each jump of Passage between them was glowing, too, linking them all in a constellation. “I guess you just weren't able to connect the dots!”

Intelligentsia pushed more power into her weapon, completing the spell before pulling it out and teleporting out of the way. “Seven stars to carry you to judgement.” She straightened her glasses and watched her “Grand Chariot” spell come to life.

All seven circles grew and spewed out hot golden magic, each made of thousands of piercing beams of light. Eventually they grew enough to merge together into one thunderous spell before detonating. The blast wave lit up her shields, but being made of magic from the same source meant even such a devastating attack wouldn't faze it.

When the light faded, nothing of the giant changeling was left, save for the large amount of information collected and memorized in Intelligentsia’s mind.

Her ear twitched from the buzz of changeling wings overhead as Bloodmoon and Sable fought. Even hideously outnumbered, their fighting was an inspiration to the soldier in her.

Bloodmoon was in the air, leading a swarm on a chase between buildings. Wind was being stirred up by their flight, spreading garbage and a thick, foul odour over the area. Three different possibilities ran through Intelligentsia's mind, and none were good for the changelings.

Sable was having a rougher time of things. The changelings were using their flight as an advantage, living up to the name “swarm” by coming at her from all angles. Killing a member of Luna's Night Guard was not so simple, however.

Each draw of her bow spewed forth a torrent of magic arrows; as many as a hundred at a time. Any changelings caught in the hail were skewered a dozen times. When one tried to get behind her, though, the arrows that missed from before turned themselves around and hit the sneaky bugs at supersonic speed.

Intelligentsia turned her head towards where she figured Bloodmoon would be making his stand, and sure enough, he was rounding a corner back towards the main street. With one mighty flap of his wings, he lunged ahead between two buildings and put distance between himself and his chasers. In the next instant, he had all four hooves on the ground and was skidding backwards to face the swarm.

The chains sticking out of his shoulders flashed violet and shot into the ground as if they were reaching, clawing for something under the pavement.

As the swarm followed him between the buildings, hundreds of chains erupted from the walls, crisscrossing the entire space. Every single changeling following him was entangled in the trap, and now struggling to get out.

The darkest of clouds formed around Bloodmoon’s wings, rumbling with what sounded like distant thunder. Purple lightning from his pinions cracked the sky apart, catching the metal chains and running through them as if they were wires. Tens of strikes hit within seconds, turning everything caught in the chains into nothing but ash.

Wish I had more of my energy drink. Intelligentsia stepped into a formation with Bloodmoon on the ground, followed soon after by Sable Seer. A couple dozen changelings were left, but they were taking cover behind a variety of solid, sturdy objects.

“Well, shoot.” Intelligentsia smirked. “Now they went and started being annoying. Thoughts, guys?”

“Don't tell me you're having trouble with a few insects, Lieutenant.”

Intelligentsia groaned, her heart squeezing in her chest. “Captain?”

Lightning hit the ground nearby, and when the light faded, an armored Captain Dual Strike stood ready for battle. Each plate was an off-color gold, well worn but expertly maintained. The blue galea was bright and new, with some of the hairs having been gilded to denote his rank. Attached to his side was a cored rapier, thin and wicked sharp, with a gem in the hilt.

Bloodmoon raised an eyebrow. “There was no need for you to come, Captain. We have this well in hoof.”

The hostile smile on his face could eat through titanium. “And miss a chance to help dig Lady Sparkle out of this hole she made for herself? Not on your life, Cardinal.”

Intelligentsia felt her mane stand up on end at that. If he's trying to undermine a future princess— Wait! “Captain, behind you!”

The grin on his face never faltered as he whipped around and brought down his blade on the changeling sneaking up behind him with no hesitation, as if he knew where it was the entire time. As the blade made contact, there was a flash of darkness around them, making the surroundings hard to see, but it didn't touch either of their bodies.

The Captain followed the first strike an instant later with a solid thrust to its chest, accompanied by another burst of darkness. Another thrust followed, and then another, over and over, each with more darkness, until the changeling should have been reduced to a pile of mush.

However, when he stopped, light returned to the junk-filled yard, and there was a very much intact and extremely confused-looking changeling still alive and breathing.

Intelligentsia swallowed the lump in her throat. “The Dual Strike…”

The Captain swung his blade out and to the side, bringing darkness to the entire area. In that instant, gold light circled and cut through every single changeling left of the battlefield, with the one Dual Strike was fighting practically subsumed by the glow.

Then, it was over. Light came back once again, and all the changelings around them had been either slashed in twain or stabbed through the chest.

Intelligentsia pretended to be nonplussed, adjusting her glasses while she put away her guan dao. I've never seen it before. His signature move. The spell stores the damage his sword deals, doubles it, and delivers two strikes for every one he physically performs. The secondary hits are spread out to other enemies. He can literally take on an army by fighting just one opponent.

“Well, I suppose I can't complain about the help.” Intelligentsia was already writing the report in her head. “Thank you, Captain. We will now fulfill the Grand Mage’s orders and secure the scene, including underground. Will you be departing now?”

“Are you kidding?” Dual Strike looked back at her. “The changelings could have run away and hid if they wanted to. Instead, they came here. I intend to find out why.

“On me, Lieutenant. Let's go find out what's so interesting about this dump.”

Author's Note

Welp, 2018 was a mess. Here's hoping I can be more productive in 2019.

Also, the first scene isn't edited yet. I added it in last minute 'cause I've been thinking about it for ages, uncertain of whether it needed to be there or not. I chose to just go ahead and write it today anyway. We'll update that when we get a chance.

Also, this month has been a record for anxiety for me. Just, ugh. On new medicine now, hopefully things get better.

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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Digging Down

“This is Alpha Twelve. Site is secured. Forty-three victims recovered. They're covered in that goo, but they don't look any worse for wear.”

“Excellent. Tape off the area, and keep civilians and the press away until we can decontaminate the area.” Twilight marked the site off of her map. That was a big one. Decontamination may not be possible. We might have to thaumically vitrify the area and remove the whole thing in chunks.

“Lady Sparkle? This is Captain Dual Strike.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and suppressed the urge to groan. “What is it, Captain?”

“I've led your Omega team underground to try to find what the changelings were so interested in down here. We've searched everywhere and found nothing but a few spots of murkyr; nothing we can't handle. There is, however, a large area we can't access. It should be nothing but concrete, but I can't shake the feeling that it's just large enough to hide something.

“Intelligentsia is looking for a hidden entrance trigger, magic or otherwise. But I thought you might want to check for yourself.”

“Copy that.” At least he's being helpful. “Keep the—”

“One other thing, Lady Sparkle.”

Twilight's ear twitched. “Yes?”

“General Gemstone Quartz is rather upset you didn't include him in this plan of yours, given that he commands the military in this Duchy. I hear he's on his way with the additional forces you requested.”

Oh, joy. “Understood. I'll be down when I can.”

“I'm on my way up to relieve you so you can investigate this yourself. I'll continue the coordination in your stead.”

Twilight shared a look with Trixie, part commiseration, part order. If I didn't want to check that place out myself this bad, I would chew him out right over the radio. “That's acceptable, Captain. Teams, switch Command and Control to Captain Dual Strike in three minutes.”

Cloud Burner, still hooked to the little cart, practically growled. “Interrupting you like that? Passive-aggressive punk. Somepony needs to pull the bug out of that guy's butt.”

“That would likely require surgery.” Twilight hastily scribbled some notes on the map for the Captain, leaving out the rude drawing she was tempted to leave for him. “But I think he's on something like the right track. I can find hidden magic better than Intelligentsia, or anypony else for that matter. I should get down there as soon as he arrives.”

Trixie looked like she had been sucking on a lemon. “Can't you, like, order him to do push-ups or something?”

Twilight double checked to make sure the radio was definitely still off. “It's complicated. The Captain of the Royal Guard can really only be disciplined by Celestia. I can order around soldiers under him, but as long as we're talking about soldiers actually in the Royal Guard or one of its divisions, he generally has the authority to countermand any orders I give, as long as he personally issues the counter-order.”

Cloud grunted in agreement. “Same goes for that old fogey Grand General Blueblood. Technically, in the military, he and Twilight are the same rank. But in just about any situation imaginable, he'd carry out the orders of the Grand Mage. Only exception is if Princess Celestia personally grants him full operational control, because in that case, he would have the final say.”

“And the Princess can order me around. In the military, her commands are absolute.” Twilight leaned over the cart and scanned the area. “I think I see the Captain coming.”

“Imma make funny faces at him when he's not looking.” Cloud chuckled. “Going back to ranks, Twilight’s authority is a bit more complicated than just military. She has civilian, noble, and law-enforcement powers on top of her military status. In terms of law enforcement, a duke can control their own forces and have them be generally uncooperative… but they still have to comply with things like giving her requested documents or locking up those she arrests.

“Also, insubordination to the Grand Mage can be something that comes back to bite them when Celestia questions them about it. If a duke is being obstinate to cover their own hide or just be a jerk, there's probably going to be consequences.”

Cloud clapped his mouth shut as Captain Dual Strike came into earshot upon his own chariot. True to word, as the Captain got out to address Twilight with his back to Cloud, the pegasus was sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes.

Twilight picked up her map and relevant notes in her magic. “There's still a lot of coordination and reports to do. Are you certain you want to take over this duty, Captain?”

The Captain’s smile had the feel of cold steel in it. “Of course, Lady Sparkle. Though, next time you start an investigation into a major changeling infestation, I do hope you'll include the Royal Guard in your plans.”

“If I feel like it's necessary and beneficial. My operations ars need to know — and I'm the one who determines who needs to know, with Celestia being the only one who can meaningfully disagree. For now, I am content to give this over to you. First, though: Trixie?”

Twilight looked over to her unicorn Guard, who promptly charged up and fired a blast of magic that hit Dual Strike right on his rump and flowed over him like a pressure washer.

The Captain was stunned, and, judging by his pupils, thoroughly dazed, but conscious. A second later, he was pushing himself back on his hooves and growling like a lion, ready to sink his teeth in Trixie.

“Huh. Guess he's not a changeling in disguise,” Twilight said before Dual Strike could form his words. “Can't be too careful with the bugs around. Good luck, Captain. Trixie, in the cart. Cloud, take us down.”

They left the Captain fuming so bad on the cloud he could spontaneously combust, and with his charioteers barely holding in a snicker.

Their little trolling done, Cloud Burner had them on the ground in just a moment. The actual entrance to the underground tunnels looked like an oversized elevator sticking out of the ground, and up until recently, it was sealed with welded metal and heavy chains. However, such measures, even when reinforced with wards, weren't enough to keep Royal Guard operatives out. Twilight could still see little spots of Intelligentsia’s orange magic where she had cut through to break in.

The hole led to a slope of dirt, followed by the same style of tunnels as before. The similarities between one hall and the next were just another hazard of the underground; it was easy to get lost. It wasn't until Twilight tried to swallow that she realized there was a difference.

“Why is the air so dry in here?” Twilight murmured to the guards following her. “Even if it was sealed, this place should be damp and musty.”

“She's right.” Cloud pawed at the dust under him, kicking up a little puff of dirt. “This place should be mildew’s dream home. But it's as dry as San Palomino.”

“Wards?” Trixie guessed. “Certain kinds of long lasting spells can affect their environment, especially if it's sealed off like this place was.”

“That only begs the question: what kind of wards are down here?” Twilight narrowed her vision and tilted her ears forward towards an especially dark corridor. “Eyes and ears open. Not sure I like this.”

“I'm already certain I don't like it.” Trixie lit her horn and fired a flare down the hall, which was promptly swallowed by the dark.

“That must be the murkyr the Captain mentioned.” Twilight pulled out her sword and aimed it down the hall. The blade immediately hooked into her heart, glowing with the violet power of an alicorn ascendant. “Hit the deck, ponies; I'm improvising.”

Twilight could hear Cloud's and Trixie's eyes widen before they ducked.

The fire came through a sieve this time, orderly and fine, before swirling into a ball at the end of the blade. Tiny bits of power orbited the center like some giant atom, and she let go of it with a breath and a tiny push. “Go.”

The fire orb drifted forward in a hush, inching forward to meet with the murkyr. Tendrils from the dark reached out to swallow the light, but burned as it came into contact.

The orb grabbed hold of the dark motes, pulling them in and feasting. The murkyr gave off a screech as it fell into fire, pulling so hard as to create a tiny shockwave from the collapse. The interaction was like a black hole feeding on a nebula, and soon, there was nothing left. At least, nothing but the wall Twilight's spell was about to run into.

“What was that?” a voice like Intelligentsia’s asked from around the corner.

“Duck!” Twilight yelled before putting up a barrier.

An instant before the orb hit the wall, a magic circle on the stone surface of the tunnel flashed into existence before being consumed by the orb. In the next heartbeat, the ground shook as if a metric-ton anvil had landed in front of them. Chunks of concrete exploded out from the wall, along with a big cloud of dust. Charged magic sizzled through the air like lightning going from cloud to cloud, only fading when met with the sound of a very frustrated officer of the Royal Guard.

“Seriously?!” Intelligentsia poked her head out from behind a corner to the left. “Did you really need to blow up the murkyr instead of burning it away slowly?”

Trixie tried to clear some smoke away by waving her hat around. “Lady Sparkle says it's not a real mission without an accidental explosion.”

“I did not say that!” Twilight choked out. “... but that doesn't make it untrue. I definitely didn't intend for that spell to form as it did. I'm still new to using my sword.

“More importantly, have you found anything yet?”

Intelligentsia took off her glasses, wiped them off, and used them to stare beyond the cloud of dust. “No, but I think you did. I saw an embedded ward just before the spell hit, and… Oh. Well, this is interesting.”

“Hmmm?” Twilight tilted her head and walked into the slowly-thinning cloud, eventually getting to see the wall behind it. Or rather, the vertical crater she'd put into said wall. Most important was the bit of metal at the very center, at the deepest part of the crater.

“That's weird,” Cloud said through a wing covering his mouth. “It looks like there's a metal wall on the other side of the concrete. What's above this place?”

“A half-collapsed maintenance building.” Twilight pawed at the wall a little, knocking free a few more chunks. “Not something I would rate as needing a reinforced basement wall. And as far as I aware, RGIS doesn't have any secret facilities nearby.”

“We don't,” Intelligentsia said. “I'd know.”

Bloodmoon's voice growled low and deep, nothing like his usual flirty self. “The Night Guard maintains a permanent presence in Manehatten, but we are not aware of anything at this location. That concerns me. How was this undetected?”

Twilight switched to her magic sight, and only found a dark void. This isn't just the absence of magic. The wall is actively blocking my senses. Aurora, did you catch that magic circle before I blew it up? I couldn't read it all in time.

“Only a partial. I definitely saw some symbols that could do space manipulation. We… might have just blown up the door.”

Oh, wonderful. “Whatever it is, I'm going to see what’s on the other side. The only question is what method will cause the least damage.”

Trixie chuckled. “Since when are we concerned about not doing damage?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just because my adventures tend to cause coincidental explosions doesn't mean I'm not—okay, this sentence is starting to sound crazy even to me.”

Cloud Burner grunted. “I hate to say it, but we should wait for those reinforcements from Gemstone Quartz. The military has special tools for just this kind of situation, and if those don't do it…” Cloud looked like he had just vigorously rubbed his tongue with manure. “General Quartz is a very talented mage, especially with wards and stuff. If there's anything like that stopping us, he can get through them.”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose we could wait rather than risking extensive damage. After all, if we just blew up the only door, then anything inside is likely as trapped in there as we are stuck out here. But let's get more ponies to surround this thing, just in case.”

Cloud saluted before taking off back towards the exit, leaving the other four ponies to explore the area. Twilight, however, stayed put to think and ponder the void in her sight. Her thoughts drifted around her brain, occasionally touched by a word or feeling from Aurora. Wild theories came and crashed themselves on the shore of her mind, crashing into pieces when no direct evidence came to support them.

From time to time, one of her companions came to report what she had expected. There was indeed a tunnel path surrounding the void, but no other magic circles or alternate ways in.

Twilight was about to start chewing her hoof — while still covered in armor — when Cloud arrived with a small cadre behind him.

She noticed that most of them were combat engineers — the unsung heroes of the Equestrian military. The ones who were trained to go into an area to design and build stuff, often while under fire, so that the rest of the military could come in with their complex supply chains. If there was a need to build something, even if that meant blowing up something in their way, the engineers were the ones the Crown sent.

In this case, one particularly large earth stallion with a welding mask was carrying a circular saw on his back that was at least a half-meter in diameter. The blade was even reinforced with glowing red runes, and the assembly was dragging the longest extension cord Twilight had ever seen.

The was also, however, a unicorn she was trying to avoid locking eyes with. Ultimately, though, that was impossible.

The robes he was wearing were a bit tighter than a martial arts uniform, and awash in pastel colours. His mane was pink, flowing, and a little curly, while his coat was an off-white. His height was that of a draft pony, but his legs were lanky and thin. He moved with a delicate femininity that somehow matched the touch of makeup on his face, but the charged air around this unicorn was anything but delicate.

“General Gemstone Quartz,” Twilight finally said in surrender to her inner not-wanting-to-do-this. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow your engi—”

“Thank you for telling me what you were up to in Equestria’s largest city.” General Quartz stuck his snout in the air, looking down on her. “Oh wait, you didn't. What were you thinking? I was told not even Her Highness Princess Celestia wasn't told! This kind of insolence should not be—”

Crack! Twilight stomped the ground, sending a spiderweb crack out under everypony in the tunnel. “General Quartz, you will not address me in such a tone. Her Highness has placed her trust in me to operate independently when I so deem it necessary. I am under no obligation to inform you about my operations.

“You, however, are obligated to aid me when I so order it. I was going to be all nice and polite, but if you're going to go down this route, I'll have Cloud Burner here shove that circular saw so far up your flank it'll tickle your tonsils.”

One of the engineers snorted out a laugh, earning him a momentary death glare from the General before he turned back to Twilight. “Well, if you're saying you don't need my help…”

Twilight put magic in her horn and teleported to be right in his face. “Let's get something straight. I don't need your help. I can get this done without you — but that tool you're having your engineer parade around will get it done faster and more safely. Now, if you want to be a different sort of tool and leave, go ahead. Try me. It'll be in my report. You know, the ones I give to Princess Celestia. The pony that taught me. The pony whose wing I've literally spent time under.”

General Quartz looked as if he was about to breathe fire, or maybe bile. The twisted visage imprinted on Twilight's retinas just long enough to rattle her when it vanished, replaced by an amused, if defeated and deflated smile. Whatever hostility there was before was a melted goo by now.

“So like your brother,” General Quartz sighed. “A shame, really. It won't do you any favors in the Council.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “I couldn't really care less about that, especially right now.”

“Maybe not now. But someday, you may change your tune. For now, though, I recommend stepping back around the corner.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.”Why?”

“Because this gets quite bright. And noisy. Boys? Let's turn this wall into a door.” General Quartz motioned to the engineers, who immediately started setting up.

When Twilight saw the sound-blocking headphones getting pulled out along with more welding glasses, caution transformed into the better part of valour and she dashed around the corner to her guards. She had even lit her horn to put up a barrier, but General Quartz had beaten her to the punch.

Rather than a field of energy like the barriers she had, Gemstone’s barrier lived up to his namesake as a wall of foggy crystal sprouted from the ground. In a few seconds, it had sealed off the passageway.

Aurora, do you think it possible that his ponies are trying to trick us into letting them destroy evidence? Could he be involved with whatever is going on?

“It's probably prudent to be a little paranoid given who we're dealing with. However, I severely doubt that. It would likely require taking on you, Trixie, and Cloud when you discover what happened.”

Twilight let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. You're right. In fact, I think I remember something about everypony thinking he has a hopeless, long-running crush on Princess Celestia. I doubt he would have anything to do with the Majestics.

The ground started to rumble as if they were in an earthquake, and the crystals lit up like a fireworks show. Barrier-shmarrier, Twilight thought while covering her ears. I'm pretty sure everypony in the tunnels can hear this.

“Well, I know one thing for certain!” General Quartz yelled over the noise. “See the light? It only gets that brought when cutting through wards! Powerful ones, too!”

Trixie and Cloud were ducked down and covering their ears. In fact, Trixie had pulled her hat down around her head for extra muffling, and Cloud was “borrowing” her cape to cover his ears with.

Aurora, how much are you deadening the noise for me?

“If General Quartz really has done this a bunch before, I'm amazed that he isn't completely deaf. That's how much.”

Noted.

The noise died down for a moment, and the voice of one of the engineers crackled over her radio. “First cut of four complete. There's a very dim green light coming from the crack. Possibly changeling-related, but it's hard to tell right now. Our thaumic-contamination sensors aren't reading anything, so we're proceeding.”

Twilight blasted up another barrier behind them to stop the echo from bouncing around the tunnels and finding them that way. It helped, but Trixie was still putting little bubbles of magic around her ears and Cloud’s. The look of relief on Cloud's face made it look like he just took a huge dose of happy pills.

Twilight immediately put the same spell on her own ears. Even then, she could hear the saw clear as day, but at least it no longer felt like the blade was cutting her eardrums open.

Three more cuts later, all the shields could finally drop.. More importantly, there were now slits cut into the wall, opening the way to whatever was inside.

General Quartz grabbed hold of the free slab of concrete with his rose-coloured magic, hefting it up and out of the way without so much as a grunt of effort. Little sparks of green power crackled from the cut wards, crystallizing into shards when they encountered the stallion’s power.

“What… is this?” Twilight took a few tentative steps inside the chamber, nose turned up in disgust.

Even with a piece carved out of them, the wards on the walls were mainly intact and filling the entire area with a haunting green light. Dozens of magic circles covered the space , some active enough to be spinning.

“Twilight!” Trixie pointed a hoof at one of the circles. “This is one of those symbols we saw earlier!”

Twilight nodded slightly. Her eyes were still taking everything in. The chamber was maybe the size of a house, yet it was all one room. Each wall had a dense concentration of wards, and each of those had enough power in them to turn a pony to dust. Despite the light the wards were putting out, every side of the chamber was pitch black, like it was covered in a paint that absorbed light.

Scientific equipment was scattered about in a dense pattern, from simple filing cabinets to complex thaumic sensors. There was even a THACT camera, which was as big as a chariot and functioned as sort of a crude attempt to replicate an alicorn’s Sight. The “film” for it cost ten thousand bits per picture.

Twilight just about tripped over a cable on the ground, catching herself on a large gem-core engraving unit. She blinked when she recognized the model – a Crystal Phasic Wishmate 3500D. That’s new, just came out two months ago. This lab has been keeping up with new technologies, so it was probably used recently. So where are the workers?

“I think I found a light switch!” General Quartz called out. “Brace yourselves, ponies, in case I’m wrong.”

Twilight’s mane bristled at the thought of flicking a switch in the midst of such magic. She scanned the room, following the wires to find the switch near the General, and threw a telekinetic blade at the part nearest to her. The resulting shower of sparks left a scorch mark on the floor and would have set her mane on fire had it not been hiding under her armor.

“What in-“ General Quartz yelped. “Problem, Lady Sparkle?”

“Don’t turn anything on. There’s just too much magic in here, and many of these machines use magic to function. Turning on the lights might also turn some of the machines on, and there could be booby traps. Safer to use flares.” She lit her horn and wrapped a simple flare in a careful spell to isolate it from the rest of the magic in the chamber.

The flare flew up to the ceiling, hovering just below it, and glowed white. The center of the chamber lit up like a spotlight had been turned on. Much of what was in the room was still muted, as if color itself had been sucked out of it. The glow of green, however, was brighter than ever before.

“Empty Night!” Trixie gasped.

Twilight dodged her way past machines and cables to the middle of the room, and shared in Trixie’s astonishment.

The center held six pods, much like what changelings held their victims in, only these were made artificially. Inside of each was a single changeling, strapped down tightly. Spikes had been added near the straps, each one just touching their chitin. If any of them had moved even slightly, they'd have been punctured somewhere on their bodies. None could speak from the gags in their mouths.

Every changeling had an IV placed in between their chitin plates on one of their forelegs. The tubes didn’t lead to a saline bag. There was, however, a sort of tap near the needles in their legs. Green blood had stained the floor nearby, and there was a bag of blood on a table nearby.

The thing that made Twilight sick the most, however, was the sickly green magic circles in between each of the pods. All of them were made from solidified changeling blood, and still glowing brightly.

The changelings all regarded her with an unstable mixture of desperation and hate. They squirmed in agony, moving ever so slightly under the torturous implements.

They're being tortured… Twilight’s wellspring poured magma into her veins, begging to be unleashed. It was chilled by the memory of the changeling that self-destructed rather than be captured. Wait… How come they didn't die by suicide?

“Hey Twilight!” Trixie held up a cardboard box that had been soiled with changeling blood. “There's some kind of amulet in here!”

Amulet? Twilight eyed the box, but also the equipment all around her. “Boys, make sure everything here is fully disconnected and safe. Trixie, dump the amulet on this cart.” She grabbed a metal cart with a bunch of tools on it and wheeled it over to her.

Trixie turned the box upside down, spilling the contents of goo, metal shavings, a chisel, and a golden amulet no bigger than a ten-bit coin. It was infused with changeling blood, and bore the same kind of symbols that all the other unfamiliar magic she'd encountered in this mission had. Unlike the rest, though, this had even more symbols she didn't know, and the spell was very different in structure.

The lead of the engineers came over to them. “Well, this place is like something out of a horror novel. What should we do with the captives?”

Twilight bit her hoof. “I don't know yet. Right now I want to know what this amulet does. It could be the key to everything, but we don't know what it does yet.”

The engineer chuckled. “Oy, Beanpole, over here!”

A lanky engineer with a mop for a cutie mark sauntered over. “Yeah?” he asked with a voice higher than one would expect for a stallion his age.

The lead held up a coin. “Give ya five bits if you put on this untested amulet from our little mad science cave.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Like anypony would be stupid enough to—

“Beanpole” grabbed the amulet in one swift motion, and had it on by the time Twilight opened her mouth to yell.

Green fire overcame the stallion for a moment, and when it was gone, a different stallion stood in his place. One who was stout, dark coloured, and even in different clothes.

“Whoa,” the newcomer said, voice raspy. “What did that do to me?”

Sweet sunflowers! It's a changeling’s powers in amulet form! Twilight yanked the amulet off him, and sure enough, the green fire appeared again, transforming him back to normal.

Trixie blinked. “This… This is big. Who knows what mysteries this might solve.”

Twilight's synapses crackled with life, and she took a deep breath.

First, the circles on the buildings. We didn't know who put them there at first, but now it's clear that whoever ran this lab did it. But why? What purpose did they have? Why did the changelings come running here when we blew them up?

The circles kept them from knowing for certain where the captured members of their hive were being kept! Yet, there was a clear increase in changeling activity for some time in this city. Obviously, that wasn't a coincidence. Which meant that they knew their drones had been captured. But Chrysalis doesn't seem worried about sacrificing her drones when necessary, so why care about these who were being tortured?

Because they could feel it, and couldn't stop it! The building circles must have kept their location hidden, but not the pain of the torture! That's why all the changelings came rushing here, to get the pain to stop!

But again, Chrysalis has no trouble killing her drones for the sake of the hive at large. So why didn't she do it as soon as we blew up the circles?

Because she couldn't! The small circles here aren't to keep the hive from finding them, but to keep the hive from giving them orders! Right now, they're just individuals, largely cut off from their psychic network, scared and getting hurt for who knows how long.

The hive felt their distress, but these drones didn't seem to know that the rest were coming for them. Which also means… this wasn't an invasion. This was a rescue mission!

But Chrysalis couldn't just mount an attack on the largest city in the world, not even with the entire hive. It would be the literal end of the changelings. So she did what changelings always did — infiltration! She caught more ponies not just for the love from them, but also to try to discover this lab’s location.

And that explains why they went after Duchess Demesne’s assistant. The hive placed a bet the Duchess might know something, but going after Demesne herself would have been too high a risk given her security and Manehatten’s infrastructure. The assistant was a much easier target, but either the assistant didn't know, or the Duchess didn't reveal it, or neither had anything to do with this.

And let's not forget Vinyl. Going after the beloved daughter of a crime lord would have been risky. What if goons were following her? They'd be even more trigger happy against changelings than the police! But Vinyl? A free spirit like that probably didn't have much protection. Get Vinyl, get a potential in near Tailored Trade himself.

Yet in the end, it wasn't the crime lord or the Duchy’s government behind this. As far as I can tell, there's only two possibilities that come to mind. Two that have the resources, organization, and ruthlessness to pull this off, both of which would be nearly impossible for the changelings to directly target: the Templar Illusionists, or the Majestics.

The Templars I can cross out immediately. Why bother with changeling amulets when their own techniques are so superior? Not just illusions, but hard-light magic that effectively makes the illusions real. It doesn't make sense.

Which means there's only one possibility: the Majestics. They were behind it all. They created the lab in the place the changelings would have the hardest time assaulting, and the place their agents could operate in most freely. They tried to catch the drones, which would have just self-destructed, giving them all the changeling blood they needed to set up the circles and catch more, this time bringing them in alive.

When I got to the city, the techs working here likely took what they could conceal and bailed. The security team that got killed by changelings was the clean-up crew for this place, and they went down fighting. There's no way to prove how the changelings knew who to target, but if this place is still intact, it means they had no other ponies here who could do the deed. That speaks to the actual size of the operation: just a scant few ponies in the largest city in Equestria.

Still, this lab could have been here for years — who knows how many of these amulets are out there? Or how many times they've already been used?

I can't even begin to answer that. All I know right now… Twilight picked up the amulet. …is that once I crack the secrets of this magic, this will be one trick they won't be able to use anymore.

Author's Note

I am addicted to Tales of Vesperia.

Halp. Backlog is low.

-Cv

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Breaking Binds

Earthen Pride, newly minted Duke of San Palomino, grumbled and drank the last of his iced coffee. Something wasn't sitting quite right in his stomach. Even if he wasn't used to the cold drinks that were, for obvious reasons, extremely popular in the desert, he knew it wasn't the beverage. Nor was it the gentle rocking of the brand-new chariot he was riding in for the first time.

He flipped to the last page of the stack of paperwork in his hooves. It, like all of the rest, had “CLASSIFIED — VIOLET” stamped on it near the top. Word by word he chewed through it, finally getting through the back end of the summarizing conclusion.

“This pony is thorough.” Earthen Pride rumbled. “Even for a Crown Prosecutor. Makes one wonder how long they'd been building a case like this… and how Badlands managed to avoid getting caught up in it for so long. This is going to send a lot of ponies to jail, probably for the rest of their lives.”

“Unless they repent and tell all to the Sovereign,” the smoke-voiced mare sitting across from him purred. “I applaud such thoroughness. Powerful ponies are octopi. They get their tentacles on everything, and can slip away through the tiniest of openings.”

The duke grunted, lifting his gaze from the paper only briefly. “And am I a cephalopod?”

A wisp of smoke stirred under the mare's dark hood, the barest hint of what was under it. All that could really be seen from the outside was the dark purple lipstick she wore. “A young one, perhaps. The questions that remain are to what ends would you use such abilities, and whether you can out-compete your opponents.”

“Well, that last one is why I brought you here.”

Those purple lips twisted a little. “I have been ordered by the Sovereign to aid you. It is by her generosity that I am here.”

He laughed inwardly, keeping all but a smile at bay. “No, Moondust, she sent you because aiding me in this is in her best interest. Bonus for me that her best interests and mine currently run parallel. Perhaps her generosity was a factor, but it is folly to rely on it from anypony. Generous or not, you would be here.”

The brief moment of silence that passed wasn't quite as satisfying as he'd hoped. Like pudding, it was sweet, but left nothing in one's stomach. The mare's refusal to continue the conversation left his appetite searching for something more.

Mercifully, the chariot bumped as it came in for a landing on the rough, rocky desert floor that was San Palomino. He glanced out the window for a moment, squinting to make out the scene. Through the wavy air, he saw a long fence, likely electrified, surrounding a vast area. Only a few buildings were present, and only the one directly connected to a railroad was of any substantial size.

The duke punched the chariot's latch open a full second before it came to a complete stop, ignoring the newfangled seatbelt light they put in. It was his very first outward, public action as Duke of San Palomino, and of utmost importance.

Had he delayed, he'd be a city fop unable to handle the harsh environment of the desert. Had he waited for the driver to open the door, he'd only be an aristocrat here to lord over them. Instead, he burst out of the chariot and broke into a full stride towards the mine. He wasn't here to sit on his flank, be pampered, or even merely push policy.

He was here to set things right.

Before he was even halfway to the gate, six gryphons were descending in front of him. He kept his stride, letting the big leader of them get in his way. As the lead gryphon opened his mouth, the duke pulled out a scroll and shoved it his beak.

“Open the gate and let me in, or I'll shove these warrants so far down your throat you'll be crapping confetti.”

A few of the others reached for their weapons, which was Earthen Pride’s cue to blink. Not figuratively in this case, but quite literally. A white-purple light flashed brighter than the sun for an instant, sending all of the birds reeling back to rub their sensitive, telescopic eyes.

“Do not raise your weapons in the presence of a servant of her Sovereign Highness!” Moondust boomed, horn alight and hood back. She had a white mane with a single purple stripe down the center, and her breath was a living, ethereal smoke. One couldn't see her mouth when she yelled. “Should you do that again in front of me or your new duke, I shall leave you naught but ash.”

Duke Pride resumed his stride, shoving over the lead gryphon to keep moving straight.

Another twelve chariots, all new, landed behind them and a small swarm of armed, uniformed ponies filed out. Many were pegasi, and all had formal military training. Their uniforms had “DEPUTY” stenciled in blue on their backs, and their sunglasses were the same as the ones the Wonderbolts used. By the time the duke reached the chained-up gate, they had surrounded all of the mine’s guards and confiscated their weapons.

Duke Pride eyed the heavy, enchanted padlock on the gate. He lifted it to look at the keyhole, and the subtle orange twinkle inside. “If I cut this, it'll probably explode or something. Definitely not legal.” He clicked his tongue, and one of the uniformed ponies stepped forward, a giant bolt-cutter in his magic.

One snip later, and the chain itself was cut. The lock fell, still locked and intact, and another uniform pony scooped it into a bag marked “EVIDENCE.”

Moondust tsked and wrote notes on a clipboard. “Chaining an exit shut. Using an illegal spell on the lock. That's two charges and we aren't even through the entrance yet.”

“Not to mention the main event.” Duke Pride shoved open the doors and strode into the mine’s land. “Moondust, go set up your spell.”

“Of course. I shall be ready in a few moments.”

The area was relatively standard for a frontier mine, but the tents, buildings, and even paths had seen better days. Odds are good those ‘better days’ weren't all that long ago. Nothing survives this desert without maintenance.

The ponies nearest him looked on with a hushed silence, while those father away whispered theories as to who this new stallion was. Only a portion were wearing proper safety equipment, though above the mine that wasn't as much a concern. What was a concern was the cracked helmet on one, and the missing headlight on another.

The largest gathering of ponies was closer to the mine, all crowded around a tank attached to a giant chariot. The miners were exchanging slips of paper for rations of water. Judging by the crowd size, this can't be all of the workers.

“Your Grace!” one of the deputies called out, drawing the eyes of dozens to the only pony in the area with a fifteen-thousand-bit suit.

The duke's eyes, though, locked on to the officer, and then the pony next to him. He released a low grumble and waved them over.

The pony following the deputy was short and lanky, and had a burgundy coat and freckles one could only barely make out through the dirt.

“Sir,” the deputy said, bowing. “I believe I've found an underaged miner.”

“I can see that, deputy.” He looked the colt in the eyes. “How old are you, son?”

“Old enough,” the colt huffed.

The duke raised an eyebrow, and the colt’s legs started to shake.

“Fourteen,” he finally said.

The duke leaned down to the teenager, gazing into his eyes. “I'm not angry at you. You were trying to survive. There is no shame in that. Tell me who the boss is, and I'll get you someplace safe to work and study. Deal?”

He put his ears back. “If I do, they might come after—”

“If they do, they’ll never live to regret it. Now, who is it?”

The colt leaned over, and nodded in the direction of a greyish-blue stallion with a whistle and a clipboard.

“That's a good lad.” The duke rubbed the poor thing’s head to mess up his mane a little for his “punishment” for breaking the law. “Deputy, take him to the chariots, get him some cold water and a snack. And get the new Sheriff over here.”

As he watched them go, his ear twitched at the approaching clops of the pointed-out stallion. The duke took a few steps forward to block the supervisor’s way, and stood tall to remind the bastard of his station. Not that it was difficult, as Earthen Pride was a couple hooves taller than most ponies.

“You don't look like you belong here,” the supervisor said with gravel in his voice. “What's your business?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” The duke turned to face him head on. “I recently went over a list of all the extraction facilities in the duchy, and examined their paperwork. Imagine my surprise when I discovered some were operating without registering a business license with the Crown or the Duchy — including this one.”

“Above my pay grade.” The stallion rubbed his tongue on his teeth, like he was searching for something caught between two of them. “You should go take that up with the bosses.”

The duke raised an eyebrow. “You're rather missing the point. This place is unregistered, which is unlawful. No taxes have been filed for it, but my conversations with RGIS seem to indicate that this mine has been operating for well over a year.

“So here's what's going to happen. You're going to get your miners — all of them — up here to line up for interviews with my deputies. Immediately. Then, you're going to turn over all of your documents to the Sheriff.”

The stallion folded his forelegs. “And why would I do that? You don't seem understand how things work in San Palomino. If you want to shake us down, then fine, but you go after the ponies with the actual bits.”

“Ahem,” a mare coughed, stepping up to the two stallions. She had a light brown coat, a red mane, a wide brimmed hat, and a shiny new star on her chest. “Youse gotta have some kinda screw loose, pal. Ain't youse heard the news?”

“News? The heck you talking about?” said the foreman.

“I rather doubt an unregistered mine gets newspapers,” Duke Pride grumbled.

Sheriff Babs Seed spat on the ground. “Th’ old Duke got his sorry butt locked up. Dis here is the new Duke of San Palomino, and he ain't on the take. I wouldn'ta signed up with him if he was. And youse should’ve bowed your head first thing after coming up to him.”

The stallion’s eyes went wide, then he cringed while clamping his temples with his forehooves. “You have got to be kidding me… Why didn't they send a message?”

The duke straightened his shirt. “Sheriff, I think it's time we broke into the office and had a look at things..”

“Wait!” The stallion held up his forehooves. “I can't stop you, so I'll open it up. But—”

Babs spat again.”If youse try to tell me ‘I was only following orders,’ I'm going to lock you up with nothing but stale bread to eat, coward.”

“No!” He yelled, then sighed. “You don't understand. I'm one of the miners. All the foremen are. I started work just a bit ago, and my straw got called almost right away. See, we just take turns every few weeks. It's the gryphons that tell us to ‘make sure things are dealt with.’ We don't get a lot of specific instructions, just occasional shipments of bits, food, and water.”

“Shipments from who?” The duke looked at the large building to his right, which had a small rail depot attached. “Do they have their own locomotives?”

“Nah, it's just United Pony Shipments. They come by every few days, drop a shipment off, and leave with some ore.”

Babs scratched her head. “That ought to be traceable. Sorta. It's the biggest private freight company, full stop. So I betcha they got records.”

The duke grunted in agreement. “And deniability. They've no way to scrutinize every transaction for issues like this. There's not going to be any proof that they knew this wasn't on the level — and indeed there's an excellent chance that they didn't. But it's a lead.

“Sheriff, you are directed to seize this mine and everything in it. All security personnel are to be held and interviewed to see what they know, and charged with unlawful detention for that stunt with the lock on the gates. All workers are likewise to be interviewed and statements taken before being released.

“This entire place is evidence, and a crime scene. Only deputies and Royal Police with business here are allowed access.”

“You can't!” The stallion ran to get in between them. “You're killing us! It may not be much, but at least we have enough to get food here!”

The duke raised an eyebrow. “I'm killing you? My staff has analyzed the intelligence available here and found some trends that suggest otherwise. Follow me.”

He led them just outside of the mine's fenced area, where Moondust was meditating. A complex magic circle had formed on the ground under her, purple in colour and featuring a crescent moon. Her horn was shining with a light that made the duke happy he invested in a new pair of sunglasses.

The duke held up a foreleg for the others to stay back. “Moondust, you may complete your spell at any time.”

“Understood.” Moondust stood and rose her staff to the sky before slamming it halfway into the ground. “Those who have departed on their final journey, show us your hoof prints!”

A wave of purple splashed out from the circle, changing the tint of the dirt for kilometres around the spell. As it spread, points of light erupted out from the ground, swirling and burning in a specific region near the mine. The points grew to form poles several meters tall, and the tops of those blossomed into flowers in the shape of crescent moons.

At the end of the spell, there were at least a hundred spectral flowers wafting in the breeze, if not far more. The duke couldn't really tell from his angle.

“A mass grave.” Sheriff Seed seared. “A motherbucking mass grave. Somepony needs to hang for this.”

“Indeed.” Moondust wobbled to her hooves. “The spell wouldn't work for one or two. Dozens, at a minimum, must be buried here for it to function at all. But with this many? ‘Twas trivial. Mr. Goals was telling the truth.”

The foreman pony looked like he was ready to soil himself. “I didn't know…” He squeaked. “You have to believe me!”

“This one is impudent, and culpable.” Hephaestus grew warm, summoning power into the two horseshoes on Earthen Pride's forelegs. “Shall we deal with him now?”

No. To fulfill our promise, we must do this lawfully. The duke eyed the foreman, drilling his gaze into the pony's skull. “I don't have to believe anything anypony says. I'll let the evidence decide. For now, as you're the one in charge, you're under arrest and the mine is seized. We'll see if any company comes forward to claim it and responsibility for the failures here. If not, I'll have it sold to the highest bidder to help fund the new Duchy government. Sheriff, if you would?”

Babs Seed slapped hobbles on him in one smooth, lightning fast action. They immediately glowed with a seal blocking the strength he would have had as an earth pony.

The foreman's eyes turned into pinpricks leaking out nothing but despair and disbelief.

Sheriff Seed gave him a light smack to get him walking, and read off the standard rights as they walked. “You are under arrest by order of the Duchy. The Crown grants you the absolute right to remain silent and refuse to self-incriminate. Everything you henceforth say and do can and will be used against you in a court of law.

“The Crown grants you the absolute right of access to an attorney to serve in your defense. If you are impoverished, one will be provided to you free of charge. Likewise, if you are not fluent in Equish Common, the Crown grants you the absolute right to have an interpreter present, free of charge, at all legal proceedings.

“Do you understand these rights as I've read them to you?”

If the foreman said anything, the duke didn't hear it. His attention turned to the mine he'd just put under control of the Crown.

“Deputy!” He flagged down one of his new officers, who flapped his wings and glided over.

“Yes, sir?” he asked.

“In the trunk of my chariot is a stack of papers. They're job application forms for the San Palomino Department of Infrastructure. As you interview ponies, those who aren't culpable for major crimes should be given an application. Help them fill them out if they need it.”

The deputy took off his blue cap and scratched his head. “This place was a black site, and you want to give the workers here jobs?”

The duke slowly made for his chariot while the deputy followed. “I've little doubt that most of them were simply trying to earn a living out here. Even if an individual has a… checkered past, let's say, I won't hold it against them for low-level work.

“Quite frankly, if I were to be so strict, I'd never be able to get positions filled. This is San Palomino, after all. And one needn't be a saint to lift a hammer. I'll save the tough scrutiny for the executive positions.”

The deputy nodded. “I understand, sir. I'll see that the miners get applications and transport to Sierra Maredre. Will there be anything else?”

The duke’s lips curled up into a smile. “Yes, I think it's time I took a trip to Los Caballos. The stuffed shirts that own these mines need to be shown their proper place.”

Twilight finished her list of everything in the hidden lab just as the rest of the crew arrived to haul it all away. While they were being vetted by a stone-faced Cloud Burner at the entrance, her plan was forming. She was about to start organizing an orderly, well-documented extraction of the evidence when somepony raised the question that she was totally not just trying to avoid.

“What do we do with the changelings?” one of the engineers asked.

She sighed and massaged her temples. “I don't know yet. I adjusted their restraints and took out the spikes and IVs, and I applied some first aid. They shouldn't be in as much pain now, so hopefully we won't get more of them rushing in.

“But, it could be all for nothing if I destroy the magic circles blocking their connection to the hive. For all I know they'll self-destruct as soon as I they get Chrysalis back in their heads.”

The combat engineer blinked. “Um, ‘self-destruct’? Like, commit suicide? We could just keep them restrained.”

“Won't stop them from having their queen force them to blow themselves up like a balloon and explode. I've seen it happen, and it isn't pretty. Chrysalis is an absolute sicko.”

The engineer, who was covered in grey dust, somehow turned five shades whiter. “Celestia! You've gotta be kidding.”

“No, I'm not. Let's get everything else out first, and I'll…ask Celestia for advice.” Twilight took out another sheet to write a note to her teacher, slowly wandering over to the entrance as she wrote.

“Okay, everypony!” she said as she finished her writing and turned back to the list. “Here's what's going to happen. There's a half dozen Royal Police wagons up there, ready to haul this stuff out. I need you all to bag one piece of evidence, get in line, and show me what you have and your IDs, one at a time. I'll log it as we go. When you drop it off in the wagon, they'll log it in there, and you'll come back here for another round. We keep going until the room is clear. Ready? Okay, begin!”

Over the first ten ponies that came up, her ear was twitching once per few seconds. If wasn't a physical touch, but a heavy looming presence that tickled her left eardrum.

“Wait a moment, ponies. Cloud?”

“Hmmm?” Cloud looked around like he was trying to figure out what he did wrong. “You… don't want me to stand guard?”

Twilight pulled out a sheet of paper and scribbled a note on it. “No. Take this, go to a telegraph station, and send it to Canterlot so Celestia gets it. Nopony else sees it, clear?”

He stuffed it in his saddlebag and snapped off a salute. “Understood, Lady Sparkle. I shall return momentarily.” Dust spiralled through the air in his wake.

Gonna have to get him to be a bit less formal. But that is later. Right now, I have a list to finish. “Next!”

The process went smoothly from there, Twilight categorizing and organizing every last scrap of evidence they could find. It was a small mountain of stuff that, when put together, would hopefully reveal the truth of what happened here. However, there was one gaping hole in the truth the objects revealed.

We still don't know who worked here, Twilight thought as she chewed on her pen.

“It's still a victory that we put a stop to it. And the magic circles here could give us insights into magic that could screw with the changelings.”

Yes, but that research is tainted. With blood.Literally, in this case. The ethics behind it are… dubious at best. Even if using it saves lives, it feels like saying the ends justify the means. If there's anything Celestia has taught me, it's that thinking such things can lead one down a very dark path.

Twilight felt Aurora start to respond, but both went silent at the warm light blooming from outside. The dust in the air danced in pools of light, and they both knew who had arrived.

“Princess!” Twilight called out through the entrance. “Over here!”

Sure enough, Princess Celestia stepped into view, her hooves barely making a sound on the tunnel floor. “My apologies for the light show, Twilight. It is dark down here, and there are wards that do not like my magic. I am… pushing back, for lack of a better term.”

The soldiers in the room dropped into a bow, save for Cloud Burner, who was following behind the Princess.

Twilight smiled, her insides settling into the warm feeling Celestia was projecting. “As you were, everypony. In fact, drop your evidence bags and file out for a while.” She waited for them to leave before shooting a glance at Cloud Burner and adding to Celestia, “I see you found my new hire, too.”

“Indeed, we bumped into each other at the entrance. He was gracious enough to show me the way.”

Cloud Burner bowed his head slightly. “It was nothing, Your Highness. I am still bound to you, after all. Your will is expressed through my actions.”

Princess Celestia responded to him with a warm smile. “Not for long, I should expect. Though that's for later. Right now, I need to see…”

The Princess poked her head into the chamber and looked around, eyeing the machines, wards, and naturally, the changelings.

“Summerlands preserve us,” she whispered. “If I ever find out who did this, I'll need to let Luna deal with them. I don't think I'd be able to control the flames.”

Twilight grumbled. “This is a perversion of science. If I ever find them they'll have my flames to deal with.”

“Come,” Celestia said. “We need to talk in private.”

Twilight followed her out of the immediate area, still in the tunnels but away from the wards.

When they were far enough, Celestia lit her horn, swallowing them both in the light of teleportation. When it faded, they were on a cloud far above a rolling plain.

“Cloud meeting.” Twilight swallowed. “How bad did I screw up?”

The Princess seemed to choke back a laugh. “You mean not telling me what you were doing in Manehatten?”

Twilight put back her ears, and closed her eyes to hold back the tears.

“Luna talked to me about what you told her. It didn't take long to piece together what you were trying to do. I'm not angry, so dry your eyes. Quite frankly, I'm impressed.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh?”

Celestia leaned over and scooped her into her wing. “I didn't expect you to set off on your own so quickly.”

Twilight blinked again. “What?”

“It’s only normal for an alicorn to want to be somewhat independent. It… may be one of the reasons Luna and I are so often adversarial. Or it could just be because we’re sisters; it’s hard to tell. Either way, I am happy you took the initiative, even if I am saddened by the fact that you did not choose to include me.

“Going forward, I shall give you more latitude in where you go and what mission you wish to take. But that’s the future.

“Right now, I am most concerned about the changelings we found. It would be obscene to keep them as they are now. Which leaves us, really, with only two choices. Execution, or setting them free.”

A high-altitude gust sent ice up Twilight’s spine, cutting right through her coat. “Are those really our only options? I don’t especially care for either—especially since they are basically one and the same.

“They were tortured, Celestia. Changelings or no, that isn’t something I can condone, and as they are, they aren’t a threat. How can I justify killing them at this point?”

Celestia pulled in a breath and let it out slow. “I understand your concerns, which is why we are here. This is something that deserves serious consideration, which is why I’m going to get the rest of us.

Twilight opened her mouth, only to have her mentor vanish in a flash of light. Rest of us? Doesn’t she just mean Luna? I hate it when she’s cryptic like that. She sat down on the cloud, taking in the dry, cold air and listening to the empty wind rush around her.

The sky above her was clear as crystal, and the world below was wild and untamed. Wherever they were, it hadn’t been touched by civilization. There were no city lights, no roads or rails. There weren’t even any pegasus cloud homes one could often see at the edge of civilization. The fields below were a forest of prairie grasses with little spots of trees growing where water pooled up.

She brushed her mane from her face, while thoughts drifted back to the lab she found. The fate of those five changelings, tortured and experimented on, was now directly in her hooves.

The light returned, and Celestia had returned with Luna in tow, along with three others: Princess Cadence, Prince Blueblood, and Shining Armor.

“Haven’t had this happen in a while, Auntie.” Blueblood wiped sweat off an unusually pale brow. “What happened that requires all of the royal family to be whisked away?”

The Princess silently looked to Twilight, waiting through a pregnant pause.

“Oh! Right, I should…” Twilight gulped. “What happened was that I found a secret lab under Manehatten. A lab that the changelings were desperate to reach. After we put a stop to their attack, I investigated it, and found five changelings captured and bound in a twisted version of a science lab. They've been tortured, experimented on, and had their blood harvested. The only reason they’re still alive is due to a series of magic circles made from that blood that’s probably cutting them off from the hive.

“We’ve already removed everything from the lab, save for the changelings and the equipment binding them there. Given the intricacies of the wards and spells there, it’s likely that moving them at all will re-establish their link to the hive. I found out firsthoof that Chrysalis would sooner order a changeling to self-destruct than allow it to be captured. The moment we move them, we’re going to have an enormous mess instead of actionable intelligence sources.

“So, we have a choice to discuss. Do we let them go, or execute them?”

Obsidian almost growled. “What’s to discuss? Execute them. They aren’t individuals. They are an extension of Chrysalis’ will. If we let them go, they’re either going to get killed by the hive anyway, or they’ll come back at us and foalnap other ponies.”

Celestia drooped into a sigh. “It is not something I normally support, but, in this case I agree. Execution is the best option to protect our ponies.”

Cadence’s jaw dropped. “Auntie!”

“I’m sorry, Cadence.” Celestia stared off into the distance. “It’s the most logical path. If they return, they will just add to the Hive’s assets. It will mean more ponies will be hurt. If they are to be killed by the Hive, then we can gift them a painless death, unlike their ‘self-destruction’ method.”

The cloud underneath Princess Luna shimmered, foretelling the cold that came from the air around her. “I could not disagree more. Influenced by the hive or not, they have lives, Sister. Lives we should respect enough to see that what has been done to them by ponies is wrong.”

“I had a feeling you would say that, Luna.” Celestia slumped to the cloud surface. “But even if what other ponies did was wrong, would we not be abandoning our station to let them go and allow them to harm others? That is what will happen if they live.”

“Our station is more than protecting our ponies physically.” Luna placed a hoof on her chest. “Our actions speak for and guide civilization itself. Tia, thou art a beacon. One far brighter than myself. Executing these changelings will inevitably nudge the course of the country. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, but nudge the country it will. Doubly so since we can't keep this a secret. The changelings will know, and will be fine leaking it if the Hive feels it to be in their interest.”

Prince Blueblood took a step forward. “I don't normally say this, but I side with Princess Luna on this manner.”

Celestia huffed from her nose. “Do you now, nephew?” she asked, placing special emphasis on the familial title.

Luna stuck out her tongue at her. “He's my nephew, too, Tia.”

“What I mean is,” Blueblood interjected, “that we do have to view the moral angle here.”

“You mean letting these things go hurt other ponies?” Obsidian said through clenched teeth.

Blueblood blurted out a scoff so large he nearly choked on it. “Take off your purity badge, hypocrite.”

A flame lit in Obsidian’s eyes, and Cadence stepped between the stallions, though she saved her stare for Blueblood. “Cousin, explain yourself.”

“Gladly. We use a cost-benefit analysis every single day as rulers. How many died in San Palomino on our watch while the nobility scarfed its vast resources down their collective, gross gullets? Hmmm? Thousands, certainly.

“The justification? Our economy desperately needed those resources. Without them, shortages would have inevitably led to mass instability years ago, and more could have died. So for the sake of speed, we opened the frontier to anypony who wanted to make a few bits. Uncontrolled anarchy took hold, and look what happened.”

Blueblood broke into a laugh, though a tear had streaked down his face. “And now, when we have to chance to spare a few lives, you worry about what they'll do to us? Changelings? Five are a drop in a bucket, a burp in a tornado. If we kill them, Chrysalis will see four times that many eggs hatch in moments.”

Obsidian put down his ears and narrowed his eyes. “And she'll have to spend resources on those eggs.”

“Bull plockey.” Blueblood wiped his face with a cloth. “Raising a foal, er, larva in a hive mind has to be the easiest damn thing ever. And RGIS knows they need very little physical resources to survive. Love is that powerful, and we have billions of ponies in our nation, in cities so large that walls have become too unwieldy to use centuries ago.

“So I say let them go. Kill them when they try something and our police or our Grand Mage inevitably find them. I’d rather take such a negligible risk in the face of losing our soul.”

Obsidian huffed, but otherwise said nothing.

“So then,” Celestia said after a pregnant pause. “Three to two. But the pony most involved has yet to vote. Twilight, your thoughts?”

Twilight gulped. “I, uh…” A chill ran down her. All too suddenly, she was that nervous little filly she remembered, blanket over her head, curled up by a radiator. Lost in her own room, not knowing what to do about something until she asked the pony she trusted most for advice.

Only this time, her soul was rejecting what advice had already been given. Instead, she saw the face of Moon Petal. A silly, happy member of Luna's Night Guard, serving the Crown even when the so-called natural order would normally never even consider it.

“I can't…” She squeaked.

“Hmmm?” Celestia tilted her head just a tad, and aimed an ear at her.

Twilight closed her eyes, pulled in air, held it, and counted. We have to listen to her… One, two. But she's wrong this time. Three, four. She's always been there for us. Five, six. Helped to guide us. Seven, eight. But this time… Nine, ten.

This time, she's wrong. Twilight let out the breath, slowly, pushing out all the air, along with the fear.

“You're wrong, Princess.” Twilight looked her mentor in her shocked eyes. “I won't execute someone utterly at my mercy. Doubly since they don't have full control of their own actions.

“I've no trouble killing a changeling in battle. That's a situation where I must defend myself. But this isn't battle. They're restrained, cut off from the hive, tortured, and barely alive as it is. If the hive decides to kill them anyway, fine, I've zero control over that.

“But I do have control over my own actions, and I absolutely refuse to execute them or endorse their deaths. Period.”

Celestia watched her for an age, the others silent and walled off from the emotional aura around the two. Her wing lifted an inch off her body, frozen stiff even within her warm ethereal mane. “What would you have me do, then?”

Twilight stood up, almost brandishing the pride in her chest, and pretended she had wings to spread. “I wouldn’t have you do anything. I’ll do it. I started this investigation; this is my mess. I’m going to clean it up.”

Celestia stood up, and took a step towards her. “Very well, Lady Sparkle. Our course, and the consequences, are now on your shoulders.”

Twilight nodded. “Just as it should be.”

An entire cadre of ponies were following behind Twilight through the tunnels under Manehatten. All the evidence in the secret laboratory had already been removed, save for the changelings and the measures taken to bind them to that room. Since they couldn’t be moved without connecting them to the hive, the Grand Mage had to take her plan to them.

The combat engineers and investigators made way for them, and one by one they filed into the room. Her, followed by four surgeons and a dozen nurses, all pushing in medical supplies.

Twilight put her cart in the corner, and then stepped into the middle of the ring of captives. “I’m sure you know who I am. The ponies who did this to you were not acting under the authority of the Crown. At this point, I very much doubt you care, but I had to make this clear. The battle we fought earlier did not need to happen. Had the hive talked to us, let us know you were here, undergoing such torture, I would have immediately intervened.”

The changelings just hissed at her, squirming on their beds and in their restraints. Even without pupils, hate radiated from their eyes.

“But that was then. I’m here now, to deal with the situation at hoof. The Crown has decided to give you a choice. We will not execute you, nor keep you captive. Should you choose, we shall escort you out of this demonic lab and teleport you to the edge of the wastes. You will rejoin the hive, and no doubt meet whatever fate — good or bad — that Chrysalis has in store for you. I should mention that one changeling I nearly captured earlier on in my mission was forced to self-destruct. It wasn’t pretty.

“So, we’re offering you an alternative. If you so desire, you can join us instead.”

That only brought forth more hissing, and two even attempted to spit at her, though both fell well short.

“If you decide to join us, our doctors will safely remove your horn. You will lose the ability to shapeshift. You will lose the ability to use unicorn-style magic. And you will lose your connection to the hivemind. However, you will also gain independence from it. We will shelter you. You will be given a means to disguise yourself, sustenance for your unique appetite, and an open place in pony society.”

One of the changelings spoke in an alien tongue, a screeching that scraped against Twilight’s eardrums. The specifics weren’t important; the profane insult in the message got through clear enough.

I don’t know why I thought this would work, Twilight grumbled to herself. But, at least I’m giving them the choice. “Well, I know what one of you thinks. The rest of you? Stay silent if you want to rejoin the hive. If you want to come with us, speak up now. It’s your last chance.”

The changelings did their best to turn up their noses in unison, though strapped down as they were, their success was limited. They all stared up at the ceiling, pretending to ignore her.

Twilight’s guts twisted into a knot. Figures. “All right then. If that’s your choice, I will respect it. For your safety, were going to try to move you into the tunnel with the blood circles intact, and —”

“I’ll join you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the changeling to her left, and her breath froze. “What did you say?”

The changeling shivered under the furious gaze of the others, rattling her metal pod. “I’m scared of her. Of Chrysalis. I know what she’s done. What she’s made me do. I don’t know if they have those memories right now, but I do. Even before that, I’ve always been afraid of her. Of her power. Of her stare.”

Green tears streaked on her face, the straps holding her creaking as she tried to curl up into a ball. “And when I get scared, she frightens me even more. On purpose, I mean. And the others approve when she does. I can feel it. I don’t want to feel that anymore.”

The others hissed at the frightened drone, screeching and spitting at her, wings buzzing against the bindings. The scared one tried to flinch, lowering her head as much as she could and squeezing shut her eyes.

“Enough!” Twilight lit her horn, throwing up barriers in front of the four angry changelings. One after another, walls of purple cut her and the frightened one off from the others. She walked towards the scared one, each step a quiet hush to the outside world. “Are you sure about this? Once done, this is absolutely permanent. No going back, no matter what.”

The changeling nodded. “I’m more scared of her than I am of you or the ponies that did this to us. You don’t understand what it’s like to be in the hive, when you’re terrified and everyone knows it and looks down on you for it. You can feel their disappointment. Right in your heart.”

Twilight gave her a smile that she hoped washed away the fear in a tide of warmth. “What is your name?”

The changeling sniffed. “I… don’t have one. Drones don’t have names.”

Twilight waved over the doctors, and the anesthesiologist immediately put an air mask on the patient. Nurses cleansed the floor around them and unpacked equipment, setting up a makeshift operating room in moments.

The Grand Mage leaned in next to the changeling’s ears. “Take in a deep breath and think of one. When you wake up, you’ll forever be beyond Chrysalis’ reach.”

Author's Note

Backlog is running dry. If I don't write two chapters this coming month I'll have to decrease the pace of releases. :\

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Catching Up

Dedicated to my grandmother. I've never known anyone with a bigger heart.

“I need a report, ponies!” Twilight said as she landed on a cloud, from which she had overseen the clearing of changelings from Manehatten. The air had a slight chill, but as the sun was due to rise soon, the summer heat was due back in mere hours.

The crowd looked to each other, eventually settling on the former member of the Day Guard. Shrugging, Cloud Burner waved her over. “Been talking with folks. No pony casualties this time; the Hive was caught completely off-guard. Whatever you did scrambled them so bad they had no chance.

“A few hundred ponies have been recovered and are being brought out of the pods at basically every hospital in the city. Among them are Vinyl Scratch and Duchess Demesne's assistant. None appear seriously hurt. Physically, I mean.”

Twilight nodded and made a prayer that coffee would happen soon. “And the populace at large?”

“Police are dealing with a lot of confused ponies. Confused, but unhurt beyond reports of headaches and nausea. Not a pleasant experience for anypony, I'd imagine.”

A chill went through Twilight’s body. “Good, good. I'll trade a slight bump in aspirin sales for kicking the changelings out of Manehatten. And we now know that the anti-changeling tactics put into place after the attack on Canterlot have proven themselves. If that doesn't make Chrysalis a bit more cautious and restrained, I don't know what will.”

Cloud smiled. “How about a giant bomb in the middle of her hive?”

“Pfft. Much as I'd like to see that, I think it would just make her panic. I know that's what I would do.”

“Because you like to be the one causing the explosion?”

“Well… that too. But no more explosions today if I can help it. And by today, I mean the day it technically is, because the night isn't over but by the clock it's—”

Twilight heard a sound like glass breaking , and lost the sense of balance in her inner ear, sending the world spinning. A dozen straws attached themselves to her muscles, sucking away at her adrenaline and strength like a thick milkshake. Her hind hoof lost traction on the cloud, sending her rump into the curiously solid condensed water vapour.

“Aw, crap.” Twilight grabbed her head to keep it from falling off her body and going for a walk.

Cloud Burner snapped to attention. “Are you okay? Should I send for an ambulance?”

“No, no, I don't need that,” Twilight said through the yawn of the century. “Celestia put a spell on me to keep me awake and alert. It just ran out of steam, and that means I'm about to collapse for half a day or more. I need you to get my shleepy… sleepy flank to a safe place to nap this off.”

She yawned again, stretching open her jaw like a snake. “And maybe take over the investigation cleanup. Just until this… This stuff…” Twilight forced her eyes open, washing at the sleep coalescing around her. “You know, it goes… away…”

Cloud snapped off a salute. “You can count on me, Lady Sparkle. Always. Rest without worry.”

The next yawn punched Twilight in the nose and sent her on her back. “Okie… Nightie night…”

A strangeness stirred within consciousness. Repetition, vibration… a quiet engine. At idle.

One covered in… fur?

Twilight’s eyes pried themselves open with crowbars, finally coming to some form of focus on a bundle of black fur making a purring noise while it slept.

Must… not… snuggle… sleeping… kitty…

Despite her inner monologue, Neutrino was already being cuddled by her forelegs in a warm, fuzzy hug that only made the purring motor in the cat that much louder.

“Hey, you're awake.”

Twilight blinked and pushed more of the sleep out of her eyes, finding Rainbow Dash, still in a hospital bed and gown, eating what appeared to be lunch. “Wait… where am I?”

“Canterlot Castle’s Medical Wing.” Rainbow slurped down some soup. “My room. ‘Parrently Celestia showed up after that spell of hers expired. Took you here and tucked you in. At least, that's what I heard. I was asleep when it happened.”

Twilight indulged in a yawn and systematically stretched every muscle group she could think of. A few of them threatened to break, and one in a hind leg was even more asleep than she was moments ago. “Well, at least I got the important stuff done before I collapsed. How are you holding up?”

“Pretty good.” Rainbow munched on her sandwich. “Got the time jumps under control a little. Or at least I can spot them easier.

“Pinkie was here earlier. Had a little party, then the nurses made her clean up and kicked her out for a while.”

“Snerk. Sounds like Pinkie, all right,” Twilight said. “She's probably in a room in the castle staring at a clock until she can come back and throw another party.

“I'll swing around and say hi when I have a chance. Right now I need to get my flank to the War Room to get an update. Hopefully Manehatten didn't catch on fire without me.”

Rainbow belched from probably somewhere deep like the duodenum. “You know, I'd like to come with you. The docs say it's time for me to start walking around. Cause, you know, blood clots are a thing.”

“I don't think they'll be happy with me if I let you go that far. But I'd be glad to send up some of my paperwork for you,” she said with a wink.

Rainbow sighed, “I knew you'd say that. Literally, I knew it. Saw it happen. Still had to try.”

“Get well soon, Rainbow.” Twilight stepped out of the room and started her journey through the labyrinthine maze of hallways to the War Room. Leaving the medical wing took several minutes, and she spent a lot of that time debating taking a shower before diving back into the thick of things.

Then dancing coffee pots tangoed through her head and led her nostrils straight to the War Room’s dispensary of the finest organic suspension ever devised. At the third gulp, though, reality ensued and she finally noticed the chaos around her.

Ponies were buzzing around like they were being chased by Ursa Minors. One was carrying a stack of papers a half meter tall, another was zooming from alcove to alcove, and yet another was trying to figure out which pony needed what telegram. The place reeked of sweat and worry, and Twilight was reasonably certain it wasn't all coming from her.

Welp, time to find the center of the action—which usually means Celestia. With a mug in front of her lips, she wandered the halls of the War Room, turning each time towards the higher density of ponies. The cascading cacophony eventually concentrated around a cornucopia of cartography and communications. And as predicted, there was Celestia in the middle of it all.

It was the Map Room, the same place where Her Highness had planned and executed the aid to Saddle Arabia, and where Twilight had met General Nocturne. Then, the room was tense, but controlled. Now, she could feel the confusion dance a jig on her horn.

“Ah, Twilight, you're here.” Celestia sipped not from her normal tiny teacups, but from a stein of steaming tea, most likely Earl Grey. “Mind the madness, my student. Things are… not as controlled as I'd like them to be.”

A few ponies made room for her next to the Princess, and Twilight took her spot at the side of the nation's leader. She put down her ears while her stomach whimpered. “Princess, about earlier, I'm sorry—”

“No need to apologize, Twilight. I think your judgement was the correct one.” The Princess took a gulp of tea that would choke any other pony. “Even if I didn't, we have other, much more pressing issues to worry about.

“While you were asleep, Gryphonia spiralled into civil war.”

Twilight held back a gasp, looking over the map on the big table. This time, it wasn't of Equestria or Zebrica, but of Gryphonia. Also unlike before, very few pins and markers had been placed.

Twilight’s vision slowly blurred from tears, and her heart put itself into a vice. “This is my fault, isn't it?”

“No.”

A wave of heat painted onto Twilight’s skin like a thermal brush, and her leg pushed her back on its own.

Celestia stopped breathing for a moment, and the heat subsided. The floor under her, though, was charred. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to… Twilight, this is not your fault. Things were stable until Morvana brought a new challenge to Ragnar. RGIS thinks it wasn’t even the challenge itself, but the terms of victory that set things off, but we’ve no specifics on either.

“What matters is that Ragnar and his aerie saw this as a grave insult, and everything spiraled from there. We don’t know much else yet beyond ‘civil war.’”

Twilight wiped her eyes dry, for the most part. “I learned in school that gryphons don’t fight wars like we do. No large fronts or huge armies. They assemble into small groups, no more than twenty, and set out to attack critical infrastructure or infiltrate cities. When clashes happen, they’re over in minutes, and the victors will take the losers’ breastplates before setting the corpses on fire.”

Celestia grabbed a report from a message runner. “Indeed. That’s how they’ve done things since before even I can remember. Which means, we’re in a pickle. Unlike the war across the ocean, we have no allies. We have no agents who can quickly and accurately gather intelligence on troop movement, battles, or infrastructure status. We can’t even watch from above, as we’d quickly be discovered if we tried.”

Twilight laid her head down on the table. “So since we’re not in the fight directly, we don’t really have any idea what’s going on. We’re reliant on diplomatic communiqués from either side. Is this going to be my next mission? Find a way to gather intelligence?”

Celestia choked on her tea, sending her into a coughing fit. “No! Heavens, no. You are to stay out of Gryphon lands. The presence of a Grand Mage in this conflict could be misconstrued as a sign that Equestria intends to take a side. Barring some drastic, unforeseen development, we cannot allow that to happen.

“Our diplomats will continue to plead for peace every hour of every day, but our forces will stay out of this war unless, and until, Equestria itself is threatened.”

A random officer came up to them and poured fresh coffee into Twilight’s mug. Twilight didn't know whether to give her a hug or a medal, but settled on a bow of thanks.

“That leaves one question, then.” Twilight sipped her ambrosia and took a moment to let the scent saturate her nostrils. “What about our ponies who live in Gryphonia?”

Celestia started putting pins in the map after getting some telegrams delivered to her attention. “We've put out an advisory that all ponies are not to travel there, and that those already present must return to Equestria. Those who don't heed the warning do so at their own risk. Our military cannot help them there.

“That's about all we can do, sadly. My decrees have zero legal effect there, so it's not like I can punish them for staying. Nor do I intend to. But they are on their own if they get in trouble, unless they can get to our embassy or one of our consulates.”

Twilight grumbled into her folded forelegs. “Better than nothing, I suppose. Just wish there was something I could do.”

“I fully understand your feelings, Twilight.” Celestia finished her stein as a soldier stepped into the room with another. “For now, focus on Equestria. We've no shortage of places you can help, and I'm sure you’ll want to get to writing your reports for San Palomino and Manehatten. I've no doubt the Council will want to debrief you.”

Just like that, Twilight’s coffee had the life sucked out of it. “Oh, joy. Imagine my excitement.”

Celestia tore off a corner of a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. “Here. Go talk to this stallion; he's an attorney.”

Twilight took the paper and eyed it. “Justice Will Do you really think I need an attorney for this?”

“I'm not saying you're liable or exposed. But he's an experienced attorney that knows the ins and outs of addressing the Council. He can help you write you reports and word your testimony to stymie any of their attempts to make you look bad.”

Twilight stuffed the little note in her mane, since she didn't have her saddlebags on her. “Fair enough. Any word on Manehatten?”

Celestia motioned to one of the ponies next to the map, who cleared her throat and read off a clipboard. “Cleanup is expected to take approximately six months, though no critical infrastructure was damaged. All rescued ponies have been successfully resuscitated and are being treated for side effects. The Duchess is spinning this as a win for the Duchy and the city, though I think we both know that she and I are going to have quite the heart to heart later. For now, word is that ponies are freaked out at how many changelings there were.”

Twilight chewed on her lip. “Yeah. It's weird, isn't it? We expect changelings to be in every city in the country, and we do find some and clear them out from time to time. But when we actually get rid of them somewhere, and the numbers are shown, that's when ponies freak out.”

“Out of sight…” Celestia started.

“Out of mind.” Twilight finished. “There's also something to be said about normalization being a factor. We try to portray whatever our day-to-day existence may be as ‘normal’ as long as we aren't in imminent danger.”

“Pardon if I speak out of turn, Lady Sparkle, but there's also the blood magic circles you recovered.” The officer flipped a page on her clipboard. “We showed it to some researchers at Crystal Phasic — ones with reliable security clearance — and they just about went nuts trying to explain it off the cuff. One says he might be able to detect changelings in a wide area if he gets funding for research.

“Another said, and it's quoted here, ‘You're a daft bloody loon with delusions of grandeur if you think it'll be that easy.’ Apparently there's now an office pool to see who will be right, and it's exceeded five figures.”

Twilight giggled to herself. “Well, I say we let them try. A little competition is good motivation. And a way to detect changelings? It could force the Hive to commit to peace.”

“That would be nice, Twilight, though I remain… unconvinced.” Celestia looked up at a few more ponies filling in with more documents.

Twilight bowed and backed away. “I'll leave you to it, then. Please keep me up to date.”

By the time she left the secure confines of the War Room, the sheer amount of activity that was around her in there had drained whatever energy she had gained from the coffee. Thus she decided to head to her room, which of course now had a coffeemaker.

She pushed aside the clouds hiding her closet and mini-library and eyed the shelf reserved for bags of ground beans. Picking one out, she turned one-eighty and sat in front of the tiny table she'd scrounged up from excess storage and the little coffee maker on top of it.

When she first requested a coffeemaker, they'd tried to get her some barista-level monster her room didn't even have the pipes to actually use. So she went out to a department store and bought a basic six-cup model for forty bits, and the castle butler practically fainted when he saw it.

As she flipped the little device on, she couldn't help but muse that someday, when she least expected it, the staff would replace it with some top-of-the-line model covered in gold. Yet that didn't matter. What mattered was waking back up and making a plan.

“How long have they been waiting?” Earthen Pride asked, eyes still glued to the financial reports Badlands apparently never read.

“Thirty minutes, Your Grace.”

He gave his temp a grunt and nod in acknowledgement. “I suppose that's good enough. Time for the show.”

The duke picked up his little notepad and walked out of his “office,” if one could call it that. It was one thing to be humble, but the entire tower had a slight odor of sewage mixed with depraved indifference. The carpets had likely never been cleaned — and might have been purchased secondhoof. The wallpaper wasn't just peeling; if one tried to smooth it back down, the adhesive would echo a banshee’s scream as the paper curled back up.

That this particular building had plumbing was a small miracle made possible by a water tower and pump next door. Most others in the city weren't so lucky.

Pride's pace crashed into the metal gates across the hall from his office and ground to an instant halt. His mind flipped through the pages of his personal history, rereading the lessons of his position. Weakness could not be tolerated. Cowardice was fatally worse. When one moved, one must have the sheer presence to have the world move out of the way instinctively.

Bravery and confidence, though, meant nothing in the face of physics. Stepping through the metal gates meant taking an elevator not even Badlands had trusted, and that moron was a pegasus. He let his stride turn him to his right and took the stairs down one level, even if some tiny piece of pride was being left behind.

The tiny conference room he quickly entered was much like the rest of the tower. Pollution had painted its own sheen on most every surface, save for the brand new table he had shipped in. At the current rate of things, though, even that was fated to join the garbage it was placed in.

Noises were being made at his entrance, but none of consequence. He knew what they were: complaints about making them wait, indignation at how he was an upstart. In his mind, he rejected the very existence of the other ponies in the room until he had sat down and slapped his notebook on the table.

Silence, his silence, ruled the table once more. He pulled out a folded up map from the book, and spread it out so they could all see its big red X.

“Representatives,” he began, keeping his tone low enough to shake the table as it danced over it. “There is an unregistered mine located at that mark. I have every reason to believe it's owned by one of you. Which of you had responsibility for it?”

Earthen Pride finally eyed the five ponies across from him, examining their reactions as a doctor might a cancer. To each, there was no need for a name for the pony. They were just there as representatives of the five largest mining companies in San Palomino.

None seemed to do so much as breathe a hint of familiarity with what he was talking about. That was just fine. “None of you? I find that hard to believe.”

The mare representing Mineral Extractions, Inc. took out a paper fan and tried to cool herself. “There are any number of independent mines out there. What makes you—”

“Expensive gryphon mercenary guards keeping everypony in along with an unmapped direct rail connection. Not to mention the expensive mining equipment.

“I'm not here for petty accusations, madam. I don't have the time for them. Now, one of you needs to own up to having this mine off-books, and I'm going to give extra attention to Mineral Extractions and Gem Harvest, because you're the only fully private entities. The others are corporations whose books I have better access to.”

The ponies looked at each other. Three mares, two stallions.

Earthen Pride scraped the taste of their fear off his tongue. These weren't the top executives he requested, but a rank below. He'd expected that insult, but not the ignorance bouncing from one glance to another.

The Duke adjusted his tie and sat up to be ears above them all. “None of you? Figures. Then we go to the next step.”

The door behind them opened, and his new assistant laid a five page contract next to him before darting out again.

Pride cleared his throat. “This mine wasn't being run within regulations, and that's an understatement. Due to egregious violations of Crown and Duchy rules, it's been seized by the Duchy. Internal documents seized on site suggest it has a fair amount of wealth ready to be tapped.

“The papers just brought to me are a purchase contract. We'll start the bidding at one billion bits plus ten percent extraction royalty.”

“Now?!” one mare exclaimed, her wine glass slipping out of her magic and spilling on the floor.

“Now.” Earthen Pride pulled out a pen to lay next to the contract. “I did command your companies to send their top executives. The fact that they didn't means you all will have to grow a spine and take action on your own — or your competitors will stand to gain a lot of wealth.

“Take note, this bidding process is binding. Go back on your word and I'll sue, and I'm sure your competitors will be eager witnesses.”

“One point one billion, ten royalty.” The stallion from Core Mining had one of his own books open, and had shifted position to the end of the table so others couldn't see into it.

“Well,” Earthen Pride said through a smile. “I see at least one pony here isn't a cowardly waste of space. I hear one point one plus ten. Anypony else?”

“Are you mad?!” The mare representing Arcane Minerals threw her purse at the stallion who bid, which landed with a satisfying enough whump that Pride had to stifle a chuckle. “This is San Palomino! We don't pay royalties here, that was the whole point of the Duchy!”

Duke Pride pushed his lips together and let out a cutting whistle, getting them all back to focusing on him. “The point of the Duchy was an infrastructure explosion to supply a desperately resource-hungry nation. We've done that, and you made out like bandits. Time for this place to put on the big pony's clothes and grow the buck up.

“Now, I hear one point one. Do I hear one point two?”

“Mineral Extractions bids one point seven plus twelve.”

The Arcane Minerals pony sat back in the seat like she'd been punched. “Et tu, Doily?”

“Get with the program, Candy. It’s Business 101: adapt or die.”

That earned a little smile from the Duke. “Well said. I hear one point seven plus twelve. Do I hear one point eight?”

“Candy” huffed. “One point nine, plus thirteen.” Under her breath, she muttered, “The President is going to kill me for this.”

“Two, plus fifteen,” the stallion from Core Mining said, his voice flat as he scribbled what were likely back-of-the-napkin–style calculations in his notebook.

“Gem Harvest bids two point four!” The stallion representing them could have been a hundred twenty years old, and previously looked like he was already dead in the seat. Perhaps there was life left in him after all.

“Doily” scoffed. “I'll not be outbid by a walking corpse! Two point five!”

“Two point eight plus twenty.” The Core Mining stallion scribbled more, emotionally flat as a pancake.

“Hmmm…” Earthen Pride scratched his chin. This unicorn… I believe his name was Lofty Goals? Definitely the sharpest of the bunch. “I hear two point eight plus twenty. Do I—”

“Three!” If Doily had fangs, they'd be bared at Lofty.

“Three point two.” Lofty struck out a line. “Plus twenty two percent extraction royalty.”

Doily slammed a hoof on the table. “Three point three plus twenty-five percent!”

Lofty Goals was silent, still as ice and looking like his book was a magazine in a doctor's waiting room.

“Huh.” Earthen Pride mused to himself. “I hear three point three plus twenty-five percent. Do I hear three point four?”

The room was still as death, save for the subtle miasma in the air the filters couldn't entirely get out. A portrait of two swords clashing, frozen in the moment of impact.

“Three point three plus twenty-five percent going once… Going twice…” Pride paused a moment, watching the breath stop in everypony. “Sold! Mineral Extractions gets the mine for three billion, three hundred million bits plus an ongoing extraction royalty of twenty-five percent.”

Doily sat back in her seat, staring at her competitor from Core Mining and looking like she just went ten rounds with Cerberus. “... crap. You son of a…”

Earthen Pride slid the papers over. “Here's your contract. Sign, then wire the money to the account listed on the last page. You’ll have one hour after the end of the meeting to complete the process before I get angry.”

Doily pulled out a pen. “Lofty, you bastard. You knew, didn't you. You knew how much that area was worth and you led me on to bid too much. Buck me to Tartarus, my hide is toasted.”

Earthen Pride raised an eyebrow. “Did you know? I'm very curious as to how.”

Lofty Goals smiled. “We have the absolute best intelligence when to comes to what area is worth what terms of mining. As for how we know, well, that's company confidential information.”

Earthen Pride shrugged. “I can accept that, for now. I'm sure RGIS will be more interested, though.”

Lofty leaned back and put his hind hooves on the table. “I'm sure they will.”

Pride opened his mouth to skin him alive with his words for doing that to his table, but when the foul maw of the pollution in the air hit his tongue, he surrendered. I'll be replacing it within a month anyway.

“So then.” Pride thumped the ground with a hind hoof, summoning his secretary again with a new batch of documents. “Next order of business. When the hell are you ponies going to stop polluting my city?”

The group looked at each other, except for Lofty.

“Pardon?” Candy furrowed her brow.”You're not really going to ask us to rebuild our refineries just after our business models stabilized, are you?”

“Of course not!” Duke Pride smiled.”I'm going to force you to. One way or another, you're going to stop poisoning this place, and no amount of quid pro quo you set up in the Council is going to change that.”

“Pfft!” The ancient stallion wheezed out a laugh. “Stupid whippersnapper. You can't just change what's been in place for ages.”

The Duke lowered his voice to a growl. “Your businesses have been highly profitable for years. You have no excuse for this travesty.

“As for changing the status quo, I swore an oath before Her Highness to turn this place into Equestria’s Crown Jewel. I won't be made a liar by the likes of you. I will stop at nothing to see that realized. So you lot have two options: follow my lead or get trampled.”

“Ahem!” Lofty Goals fake-coughed. “Core Mining does not operate refineries within San Palomino, Your Grace, so we do not contribute to the pollution here. We would appreciate leniency in this matter.”

Earthen Pride's ear twitched. “Understood, Mr. Goals.”

Goals smiled wide. “However, should you bankrupt our rivals with fines, we would be happy to take over the facilities and run them as clean as technologically possible.”

“Oy!” Doily stole a wrapper from Candy and tossed it at him. “What are you trying to do?”

Goals hummed. “What was it you said earlier? Oh yes: adapt or die.”

Earthen Pride's hoof itched like there was something under it. A little hard bit of truth he couldn't get to. “I didn't know you were an environmentalist, Mr. Goals.”

Goals huffed. “We got screwed in the initial negotiations for San Palomino. Our contracts wouldn't let us build refineries in the Duchy. So we built them in Stalliongrad instead, and the bureaucracy there wasn't just annoying, it was treacherous. Not to mention the obscene supply-chain costs.

“So you'll forgive me if I have little patience for my… colleagues in the industry.”

“I see.” Earthen Pride’s spine flashed cold, like a demon was licking it, tasting him for a future meal. Something's not right. Don't fall for crocodile tears, Pride. “I shall keep that in mind for the future. As for the rest of you, I need timelines. In two weeks, I want estimates on when you can eliminate or contain the emissions from your facilities in the basin.

“Tell your superiors I'm not joking when I say that if I'm not happy with your answers, I'll start levying fines right away and will ramp them up to the moon within months.”

There were grumbles from the lot, save for the old man who apparently fell asleep, but no futile flailing.

“Good!” Pride let himself sound chipper, or what passes for it in lions. “You understand who's in charge now.

“Speaking of charges, I'm putting in place a five-percent value-added tax starting next month—which is still the lowest in the nation, so I don't want to hear so much as a groan. There's also going to be new user fees for freight rail, and a flat profit tax on businesses starting next year.”

Candy folded her forelegs and huffed. “Why not just charge us more taxes for last year, too?”

Pride ran his tongue over his teeth. “Considering how much poison you've dumped in my city, I ought to, but that would be a clear violation of the Compact.

“Now, we move on to the last issue. Specifically, the city itself. It's a mess, and I don't just mean the pollution. I can't have buildings collapsing at random, and there's almost no infrastructure to speak of.

“At the same time, I can't mass condemn the place. It would render everypony homeless. Which means, things have to be done in phases, and rebuilt accordingly.

“With that in mind, tell me, which of your refineries could be repurposed to recycle and purify metal?”

The group blinked and looked at each other, each of them spinning different gears in their heads.

Goals shook his head. “None of Core Mining facilities are capable of that, I'm afraid.”

Doily stared off into the distance. “I think we could convert the secondaries in the basin to that function. The primary refinery wouldn't be able to pull it off. It's too much power; regular metal would get, uh, vaporized.”

Candy popped some kind of bon bon into her mouth. “The question is, why?”

“Don't be stupid, Candy.” Goals waggled his book in her direction. “The city buildings are mostly scrap metal welded together haphazardly. He's thinking of taking one down at a time, recycling the metal, and using it to make real structures. Having a recycling facility literally right next door would save hundreds of millions of bits. He could put pieces in place minutes after they're made.”

“Precisely!” The duke pushed back on his chair and stood, pacing around the group while looming over them like a cloud. “I'm not here to drive you out of business. Quite the opposite: my plans would see you all making quite a lot of money. You're going to be a critical part of the future of San Palomino — you just aren't going to get to have free rein to do whatever despicable thing you want to line your pockets.

“It's a new era, ponies. You can either dive in headfirst, or be dragged in kicking and screaming. Your choice. Which do you think will be more profitable?”

Author's Note

Hey folks!

I'm real sorry this was late. I just had a hell of a month. I lost my grandmother, who I was very close to. On top of that, my computer (which I rely on for voice dictation) completely failed. The motherboard died and took the CPU and RAM with it. Worse, it took nearly a week for the shop to get through the backlog and take a look at it.

I'm back up and running now. Next chapter should be out at the end of the month.

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Carried By A New Oath

“Okay. I have a checklist. Things are… slightly more right with the world.” Twilight stood up and stretched like a cat, popping a few vertebrae and almost pulling a leg muscle. She was bathed in a dark golden light from her balcony as the sun was setting, along with the artificial light from the ersatz sun that was her chandelier.

List made and dinner eaten, she pushed open her doors and trotted down the stairs. Despite the chaos that was in the war room, the rest of the castle was as quiet as ever. It wasn't until she reached the medical wing that she saw significant activity, and even that was rather sedate.

Except, that is, for the immediate area around one room that looked like somepony had loaded a bunch of party paraphernalia into a cannon and fired it haphazardly at the door. Ducking inside, Twilight opened with “Let me guess. I missed Pinkie Pie.”

Rainbow, Spike, Cloud Burner, and Trixie were all in Rainbow's room, all wearing party hats. At least three dozen cupcake wrappers were strewn around, a punch bowl was on the table, and there was a mercifully silent record player with “Merry-go-round Broke Down” loaded.

“By about two hours,” Rainbow replied. “Nurses gave her ninety minutes this time before kicking her out. I think she bribed a doctor with pastries. She's on her way back to Manehatten, said there was a bunch of changeling victims that needed parties.”

“Can't argue with that.” Twilight took a seat next to Trixie. “But they'll be alright. Manehatten is the toughest city in the world. Nothing will stop it.”

Cloud Burner grunted in approval. “True. What I'm worried about right now is Gryphonia. It’s true that they’re behind us technologically, and they use old-school-style artisan weapons rather than our mass-produced guns. But gryphons fight hard. It could get real ugly.”

“And then some.” Twilight put her ears back. “But Princess Celestia has given me very explicit orders. We are to stay out of Gryphonia at all costs. We can't afford to have them thinking that Equestria is taking sides.”

Trixie munched on a cookie. “No argument here.”

“Or here!” Spike spread his wings in a stretch. “So, what is our next move?”

“Well, first…” Twilight looked to Cloud Burner. “You and I need to go see Tia to make your transfer official. You're still bound by oath to her, and as long as that's the case, you can't officially join the Evening Guard.”

Cloud nodded. “I figured as much. From what I read, a Grand Mage’s guards are treated like those in the service of the Sisters. You can't swear an oath to both at once. You can cooperate, of course, but our numbers are small specifically because we are loyal only to one thing: our sworn Princess.”

Rainbow flopped back in her bed. “I heard it's a really big deal to ask to back out of that oath. Like, something that's hardly ever done. You're supposed to only be released posthumously.”

Cloud shook his head. “There's an important exception, and that's if you're transferring to the service of the other Princess — or the Grand Mage, I suppose. Luna's initial cadre of Night Guard after her return were all volunteers from the Day Guard, so this isn't unprecedented.”

“Let's go get that done then,” Twilight said as she started out the door, Cloud close behind, before turning around for one last question. “By the—”

“Tomorrow,” Rainbow answered. “Doc cleared me for light duty starting tomorrow. Like, really light duty.”

Twilight smirked. “Paperwork it is, then!”

One could hear Rainbow deflate. “Oh. Joy. My favourite thing in the whole world.”

Trixie and Spike burst into giggles as the door closed, and Twilight shared in them a little as she walked. As they grew closer to the throne room, the number of ponies grew from a few to a crowd that looked more like one waiting for a concert. The waiting area was so packed that the line was spilling out into the hall. Two Day Guard pegasi were controlling the crowd, keeping more ponies from going into the already-crowded throne room.

“Huh.” Cloud Burner stood on his hind legs and gazed over the crowd. “Looks like she's trying to sneak in petitions to keep ponies calm. Give them a sense of normalcy.”

“Dang. I know she likes these. Should we wait for later?” Twilight leaned left and right, trying to see through the crowd, but there was one inescapable fact she couldn't get around. “Dangit, being short stinks sometimes.”

“Heh. You always were a little squirt. Leave it to me.” Cloud sucked in a breath, filling his lungs. “Hey, Hightower! Was that your mom I saw last night?”

The entire crowd hushed and turned to him, eyes wide and mouths silent. One particularly tall pegasus strode slowly through them, adorned in the ceremonial gold armor of the Day Guard.

“Is there a problem, Sir?” the pegasus said through clenched teeth.

Cloud smiled. “You heard what I said. Last night, was that your mom? Cause she was a classy lady who I had a nice conversation with.”

Hightower sighed. “Damn you, Cloud. Now I can't beat you to death and leave you in the gutter.”

“It's not my fault that's where your mind is!” Cloud motioned to Twilight. “Besides, I had to get your attention so our shrimp of a Grand Mage could get through without causing an even bigger ruckus. Seems everypony is focused on Her Highness today.”

“Lady Sparkle,” Hightower said with a bow. “I apologize for this idiot. It would be my pleasure to escort you to the throne.”

Twilight bowed her head back to him. “I would appreciate it. Hopefully she can spare a moment for me.”

“For the Grand Mage and Celestia’s faithful student, we would move heaven and earth to reunite you. Follow me.” Hightower turned to the crowd. “Make a path, ponies! Move!”

Ponies parted like they were getting tossed around like a wave. Twilight kept close to the guard, with Cloud following behind her. After they passed, the crowd closed the gap, filling the space to the equilibrium nature always favours.

Inside the throne room, it was standing room only until one arrived at the front desks where ponies petitioned the Crown, sometimes with two petitions on opposite sides. The open gap between those and the thrones — sometimes called the well — was a strict no-pony’s-land. Anypony that entered it without explicit permission from a Princess could expect to get tackled by Day or Night Guard — in the best-case scenario.

Unless you were the Grand Mage.

“Princess!” Twilight hopped up so Celestia would get a brief glimpse of her over the throng.

“Twilight?” Celestia made a motion with a hoof, and Day Guard pulled the two of them out of the mass of ponies and into the well. “My apologies, everypony, my Grand Mage takes priority.”

Twilight gave her a bow. “This'll only take a minute. I—”

“Cloud Burner!” Celestia’s eyes lit up a bit, even if only from taking a hammer to her boredom. “Oops, I'm sorry for interrupting, Twilight.”

Cloud Burner stiffened into the soldier he was, the silly, happy face vanishing into nothingness. He bowed down to the ground, spreading out his wings. “Your Highness. I hope you are well.”

Twilight stepped in front of him. “He’s actually why we're here. I want to steal him from you so I can make him my charioteer in the Evening Guard. But I can't do that as long as his oath is to you. Would you be willing to release him?”

Celestia smiled at them both, covering them in a warmth only the Princess of the Sun could bestow. “I would. But don't think this means you can just take whomever you want from my ranks,” she said with a wink, eliciting polite laughter from the crowd.

“I promise, it'll just be him.” Twilight crossed her heart.

“Very well, we can perform the ceremony immediately. Cloud, please kneel before me.”

Cloud stepped in front of the throne, bowing low with wings spread.

Celestia spread her wings as well, feathers alight with power. Golden magic traced circles around them both in a dance on the ground and in the air. It spread from the Princess, swirling an embrace with her Day Guard.

Cloud’s lip trembled. “Your Highness, this one has failed you. It is my eternal shame that I must beg you to release my oath. I shall forever walk this world in dishonour, separated from you.”

Celestia’s soft voice plucked notes on the heartstrings of everypony in the room, a song embedded into words. “There is no shame in your request. You are continuing your service to me in a new way. Go in peace and freedom, holding your head high, for you carry my pride in you at all times.”

Cloud stood and folded his wings, taking in a breath of air laden with the Princess’ power. “Thank you, Your Highness. I am surely not worthy of your mercy.”

“You are worthy of that and so much more. Your service has been exemplary. Henceforth, you are released from your oath, so sayeth the Princess of the Sun.”

The magic flared into a star, then burst into a shower of sparks that blanketed the room and everypony in it.

I know it's just for show, Twilight grumbled to herself. But how am I supposed to match that? I'm going to have to work on my version of that.

“Lady Sparkle?” Cloud turned to her. “I'm ready to take your oath.”

“Mmm.” Twilight nodded, shaking off her thoughts. “I'm ready. Let's do this.” She positioned herself next to the Princess, but carefully in front of the throne. Lighting her horn, she did her own impression of Celestia's magic. She didn't have the feathers or the gold colouring, but she did have the design in mind.

Magic poured out her horn, tracing the lines along the ground. One at a time she etched the first shapes into the ground. She layered on the magic for the outer circle, making it a barrier for the others. She put an inner circle just inside that one, filling the narrow space with a sufficiently fancy design.

The inside, though, was her real focus. In the middle she put the Luminar Nova, the center of her cutie mark. Around that were the starbursts. She didn't carve them into the ground, but painted them onto the air and gave them a nudge.

With the correct angle used, they bounced around inside the circle in an orbit around the center, eliciting a few noises from the audience. After a few more flourishes, it was time, and Cloud Burner bowed to the ground, the same as he did for Celestia. Words appeared for Cloud to read in the magic circles, and he did so, taking the oath.

“I, Cloud Burner, have heard the call of Harmony. I pledge my life to Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle, to take up her path, to protect her from our enemies, to shield her ponies from harm, and accept whatever may happen to me on this journey.

“I swear to follow the tenets of Harmony when I can, and to lead others to do so as well. I swear I shall use force only with wisdom and restraint, and only when I must.

“I swear to uphold the light of knowledge to banish darkness, of courage to banish fear, of will to banish weakness.

“I swear I shall do whatever I must to fulfill the promise Equestria holds.

“I swear all of this to you, Grand Mage Sparkle. My life, my will, is yours.”

The magic burst into a crescendo of light, thaumic glitter spreading through the hall. “Now rise, Lieutenant Cloud Burner!”

He stood in the midst of applause and ponies stomping the ground. If confetti had showered them, it wouldn't have surprised anypony.

Twilight walked up and gave him a little hug. “Welcome to the crew, Lieutenant.”

“I am honored, My Lady.” Cloud stiffened at the contact, but melted soon after and returned the hug. “I didn't expect a rank, to be honest. I thought I'd just be a charioteer.”

Twilight shook her head. “Nopony is ‘just’ anything in the Evening Guard. You're all special to me. Besides, the only other pony in the Evening Guard with anywhere even near your level of training and experience is Rainbow, my Captain. But, the day is just starting!” Twilight turned back to the Princess. “Your Highness, you wouldn't happen to know where Luna is, would you?”

Celestia glanced out the window at the sun. “Unless I miss my guess, she should be in a RGIS briefing. Planning to go rescue her?” she asked with a wink.

“Something like that. Thanks, Your Highness. Come on, Cloud, there's lots more on the checklist!”

“Heh. Checklists. Classic Twilight. Right behind you.”

Twilight poked her head out of the elevator, ears to the center of the Night Guard’s floor of the War Room. “Luna! You in here?”

“Oh, thank Mystery!”

Poof!

Luna popped into reality in front of her and dove to the ground, grabbing Twilight’s legs. “Save me!”

Twilight put back her ears. “Um, I was just going to ask you take teleport me to Manehatten…”

“Sovereign!” Obsidian Armor rushed up the stairs. “Sovereign, this briefing is important! I need to—”

Luna tumbled forward in a somersault, yanking both Twilight and Cloud Burner info the grasp of her forelegs. Wings spread and back against the wall, she was holding both of them like giant plushies. “Too late! Twilight needs me! Away we go! Mwuahahahaha!”

“Sorry, Shiny!” Twilight tried to make the apology sound sincere, though the bloom of teleportation swallowed up her words. When it faded, she was in the middle of Manehatten, near the Duchess’s tower.

“Oof.” Cloud rattled his head. “I did not see that coming.”

“Oh sweet release!” Luna flopped to the ground. “I've been in there for hours. It should be illegal to make anypony be in one of those meetings that long.”

Twilight blinked in the light of the sun. The afternoon was starting, and the city was hot as ever. “Luna, could you come get us in about an hour or so? I'm going to visit Vinyl, but it'll be a few before I find out where she is.”

“Awwwwwwww…” Luna groaned. “But if I leave I don't have an excuse to skip the briefing…” She flopped on her back.

“Luna…” Twilight chuckled. “Try taking notes.”

Luna blew a raspberry.

Cloud stretched out his wings. “Nah. Re-explain all the main points back to Obsidian using puns. You'll remember things better and annoy him.”

Luna’s pupils opened like a pair of black holes. “Oooohh… I like that idea!”

I'll have to remember that one, thought Twilight. “Okay, one hour. Deal?”

Luna grinned. “Deal!” She shimmered and vanished, likely back to the War Room.

Cloud flapped his wings a couple times. “Little trick I learned at my own briefings. As a Day Guard, I couldn't actually say the puns, but I got to amuse myself with them.”

“It's fair. Not everypony has the natural temperament to focus on something dry like that for long periods of time.” Twilight yawned. “So, first stop: hospital.”

“Mmm-hmm. Which one? There's, like, a hundred of them in the city, and hundreds more in the Duchy.”

Twilight smirked. “I know where she was found, so I know the list of possible locations, and I've ascertained probabilities for each. Come on, betcha five bits I'll get it in the first three.”

“Ha!” Cloud jumped and took off into the air. “If I've learned anything recently, it's ‘don't bet against Twilight Sparkle’!”

Twilight wrinkled her nose from the ever-present scent of antiseptic and the fading fumes of changeling goo. Rounding a corner, she entered a ward with several patients on beds on either side of the wall. The nurse's station in the distance was in front of some windows, giving the place some light. The curtains that could give “privacy” to individuals were mostly unused, with a few exceptions.

The fact that they were open, though, made it easier to find who she was looking for.

“Vinyl!” Twilight bounced forward, landing next to the musician's bed and giving her a hug. “You’re okay!”

“Oof!” Vinyl coughed. “Gentle! My everything is still sore!”

“Oh, don't listen to her,” Octavia tittered in a chair next to the bed. “She deserves a bit more soreness.”

“Heh.” Twilight let go after another squish. “And you're a bit sticky still. Guess they’ve had you for a while.”

Vinyl pressed her mane between two hooves, squeezing out some of the residue. “Yeah. Gonna need more baths. The more we get out, the more we find. I wanted to try setting the stuff on fire, but the docs won't let me.”

“Fire?” Cloud Burner asked. “I didn't think the goo was combustible.”

The three mares shared a laugh.

“Oh, I have a ton to fill you in on, Cloud.” Twilight cleared her throat. “For now, though, just know that Vinyl here is one of very, very few ponies in the world with a permanently overcharged wellspring.”

Cloud’s eyes darted around like they were looking for a definition. “Uh, yeah, I totally understand that.”

Vinyl and Octavia burst into giggles.

Twilight suppressed the urge. After all, there was explaining to do! “A wellspring has a normal point where it’s considered ‘full,’ and will stop generating new magic until some is drained. This cap usually raises over time.

“Vinyl’s is different. It keeps going past one hundred percent and just won’t stop, which overcharges the wellspring. She has to bleed off magic every so often or it could be dangerous for her, possibly damaging her wellspring.”

“Pfft!” Vinyl lit her horn, and it shifted from violet to an orange flame. “Apparently I almost set a few ponies on fire when they took me out. Lucky they all ran away so I could blast a hole in the pavement. Take care of that extra energy.”

”Even luckier that that's where the blast went, dear.” Octavia gave Vinyl a peck on the forehead. “But you can make all the potholes you want if it means you're home safe.”

“Thanks, Octy.” Vinyl all but melted into the bed, at least for a moment. Then she lit up like a firecracker. “Oh, oh! Idea for the club!”

She took in a breath, holding out her hooves as if putting her words onto a marquee. “Changeling-Themed Nightmare Night Bash!”

Octavia pulled the pillow out from under the DJ and wholloped her upside the head before pinning her head to the bed with it. “Doctor, I think you screwed up! This one is still a changeling!”

Even Cloud broke out into laughs with the mares this time, and a nurse had to come by to free Vinyl and tell them to keep it down. An hour or so passed, each moment filled with laughter and reminiscing. It was the best way to be in a hospital when one had no choice.

The goodbyes had to come eventually, though, but at least this one came with a warning that Pinkie Pie was inevitably on her way and would likely appear when they least expected her.

As Twilight and her new guard rounded a few corners to find an exit, they ran into a particular stallion with an entourage of at least a half dozen others behind him. Hospitals were always rather stark and sterile, but seeing this pony put a particular metallic chill into the air.

“Tailored Trade,” Twilight said as she approached. “I had wondered why you weren’t already there when I visited Vinyl.”

Trade held up a hoof to stop one of his bodyguards from advancing. “It’s no secret that my relationship with my daughter is… not as close as I would like. But her happiness is my greatest desire, and I felt it best that she be with her love for a while before I darkened her doorstep. But after all that’s happened, perhaps some old hurts can be mended.

“That’s neither here nor there, though. What’s more important is that the changeling presence in this city has been well and truly routed, at least for the time being. And with no pony fatalities currently known. I’m impressed, Lady Sparkle, and I do not impress easily.”

Twilight felt the shadow of Cloud Burner cover her from her left, a subtle message from her Guard containing a promise to remove the gangster if needed. “I didn’t do it to impress you, sir, though I appreciate the compliment. I do what I do in service to the ponies of Equestria.”

“Regardless,” Trade said, straightening his tie. “I consider what you need beneficial enough to me personally to be repaid through a debt of gratitude. I can assure you, my businesses have a wide variety of capabilities.

“And before you say anything, know that my ears are everywhere. I know that the needs of a Grand Mage are every bit as varied and extreme as anything in this world is, and someday you may well need my help. Know that I will be happy to oblige when that time inevitably comes. Don’t be afraid to reach out, even through an... intermediary.”

Cloud Burner snorted. “Let me guess, you’re still trying to find out how a Night Guard snuck into your safehouse and you want to catch them in the act next time?”

Tailored Trade’s eye focused in on the new Evening Guard, the taut green iris showing neither fear nor contempt, only a cold calculation. “Who she uses as an intermediary doesn’t really concern me any.”

Cloud snickered. “No, but how they got in def-”

“Cloud,” Twilight cut in. “I appreciate the offer, sir. I do not anticipate requiring your services, though if I find a legitimate need that only you can fulfill, I shall be in touch.”

Trade tipped his hat. “I look forward to it.”

Twilight nudged past him, Cloud close behind. She kept her tongue planted firmly in her mouth, despite the seething words burning a hole in the tip of it. Mercifully, they were soon out in the street and the relatively nice weather.

Cloud stretched out his wings. “I really don't like that guy. Not just cause he's a mobster. It's cause he's good at it and he knows it.”

“Agreed.” Twilight put her ears back. “His connections and power make it hard to stand against him directly. Worse, current intelligence suggests he actually avoids the kind of violence the others are known for. That's frustrating for three reasons.

“One, it means there's less pressure from authorities to topple him. Two, it means he gets to exploit others in exchange for their lives, getting him even more money. Third, each time a mobster does a hit, that's a chance to collect evidence and bring them down. Fewer hits, fewer opportunities for us.”

“Well, that does mean fewer ponies dying.”

“True. But you know what's scary? His file also suggests he's just a few years away from completely taking over the Manehatten underworld. He's doing that without resorting to a gang war. Another five years, he might just own it all through mostly financial moves.”

Cloud grew a few shades darker. “That's not good. A unified criminal element would be a much tougher nut to crack than one more focused on each other than on police efforts. Do you think the Grand Mage should shift her focus to him?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not after all my interactions with him this week. Too many questions could be asked that we don't want publicly answered. We'll have to rely on others for that one.”

“Gotcha. What’s the next move, then?”

“Find Luna. I want her to take me somewhere to visit a friend I made while you were gone.”

A chill swirled into Twilight’s lungs as the teleportation effect faded. The ice mana krene below the facility kissed her skin gently, a constant reminder that the building, even with all it’s wards, could only do so much She was in nature’s domain, and here, ice magic ruled the land. That didn’t stop the heating system in the building, though, and the vents along the wall were working full time to keep things reasonably comfortable.

As before, they had arrived on a relief built into the floor. A reception desk was on their left, and just beyond that an entrance to a hallway. Beyond that was something between a lounge and a waiting area, complete with seating and a grand piano. In between that and the reception desk was something like a tiny river, smaller than even a creek, running through the room. It wasn’t deep; probably a dozen centimeters or so, and was in a trench in the floor. There was even a bamboo bridge over it, and a subtle purple glow along the edge told of security barriers to prevent ponies from falling in.

The most important feature, though, was the pony seated on a cushion near the giant window overlooking the ice mountain range. Desert Rose had an art brush in her mouth, a paint pallet on a stand next to her, and a half-covered canvas in front of her. A blue blanket with red runes was wrapped around her, and a lightly steaming cup was on a nearby table. There was also a nurse reading a book nearby, no doubt keeping watch over her patient.

Twilight, Luna, and Cloud Burner were sitting down next to Rose by the time she noticed them.

“Oh!” Rose put down her brush, then stood for a bow. “I'm sorry, I didn't notice you. The medicine, it—”

Luna hushed her with an extended wing. “You need not stand or bow for us here, little one. This is a place where We honour our wounded heroes, not the other way around.”

Rose tilted her head. “But I'm not wounded, or a—”

“Yes, you are.” Twilight smiled at her, even though she heard the same kind of thing told to her so many times. “You fought the pirates at that mine against hopeless odds, and your mind was hurt by a drug dealer posing as a doctor. We brought you to this place to recover. You've earned the right to stay seated in our presence.”

“Um…” Rose put her ears back, looking around the room at anything that wasn't the three of them. Eventually she locked her sight to the nurse, who nodded like a kind old grandmother. “Okay, if you say so.”

Twilight sat next to her, but jolted up a few inches when her rear hit the floor. “Yow, it's like a toilet seat in Stalliongrad.”

“Hehe.” Rose's eyes went fuzzy. “Yeah. That's why they have these enchanted blankets. I've kinda been living in them since I got here. Though… I'm not sure when I got here.”

Twilight sighed. “You were captured by Farriér. They pumped you full of Everfree Elixir, and you wouldn't wake up. Rainbow Dash, my friend, was there with you because she was captured too. When she broke out, she took you with her.

“After you were stabilized at Fort Earthborne, we took you here to recover. It's the best help you can get, even if it is over an ice mana krene.”

Rose snatched her cup of hot chocolate and chugged it. “Yeah. About that… I stress out thinking about how much this costs.”

Luna's ear twitched. “You needn't. This place is run by the Crown. There's no bill.”

“I know.” Rose shuddered. “But I grew up in the desert. Everything costs something. Even if they say ‘don't worry about it; it's free,’ there's always a catch.

“I will admit, everypony here is really nice. And I feel a lot better than I did in a long time. But I also feel… like I'm not really here.”

Cloud Burner grunted. “That would be the meds they got you on. Calms you down, but messes with your head.”

Rose nodded and hiccupped. “Yeah, but it beats the voices.”

Twilight motioned at the nurse and the cup, and the nurse went to refill the drink. “What voices?”

Rose looked like her heart just twisted in two. “Uh, I hear—heard voices. They mock me and tell me to do things. I… I should have told you. But it's hard to get hired when ponies think you're crazy.”

“Elixir.” Luna’s feathers ruffled themselves. “The mental side effects are myriad, and can trigger issues that one is prone to but never actually experienced.

“Rest easy. The dealer who hooked you was personally captured by High Cardinal Obsidian Armor, and he cut down the pirates that tried to steal his supply.”

Rose nodded, then froze. “Wait, you said he posed as a doctor? He wasn't one?”

“No, he wasn't, though I'm told he put on a good show.” Luna laid down, bringing her head more or less to eye level with the others. “You need not fear Farriér anymore, either. Twilight saw fit to eliminate him by breaking a hole in space-time and turning him to ash. It was days before we found his bonded artifact, which was damaged beyond repair.”

Twilight's nerves triggered a blush worthy of countering the ice krene under them. “Yeah, well, it was him or me.”

Rose stared at Twilight for a few seconds. “You… I can't understand what she just said. Maybe it's my medicine.”

Cloud chuckled. “There's a hole in the sky over Farriér’s base. Her attack was so powerful, it opened something like a portal and now we have to guard it to stop anything going in or coming out. Though my buddy says that the mages that looked at it don't think anything going through would make it without being torn into tiny little atom-sized bits.”

“It wasn't my attack, Cloud.” Twilight rubbed her fetlock. “I went back in time through multiple instances to exist in six places at once so I could deliver one attack that could overwhelm his defenses.”

Rose's jaw dropped. “You… went back in time?! Now I know it's the medicine.”

“Lady, you don't know Twilight.” Cloud Burner sat next to the wall, looking up at the ceiling and back in time. “This is the mare that humiliated the old Duke of the Bittish Isles when she was twelve.”

Twilight blinked. “I did?”

Luna tilted her head. “She did?”

“Oh, Princess Celestia didn't tell you?” Cloud grinned. ”It was in the Empyreal Hall. Twilight here was studying next to the Princess, minding nothing but her book. The Duke objected to her presence, and Celestia insisted that she was fine and wasn't even paying attention to the proceedings. To prove it, she spent two whole dang minutes calling her name, a bit more loud each time, before Twilight looked up from her book.

“Then the Duke got all huffy that there was no way that an educational book was keeping a commoner filly’s attention so raptly. So Celestia had Twilight here summarize the content of it. I swear to my ancestors, I had no earthly idea what the hell she was actually saying. To me it was ‘Blah blah blah tidal wave blah blah blah magic theory blah blah blah mystical anachronism.’ And you know what? The unicorn Duke looked even more lost.

“I'm pretty sure that was the first time I'd seen a pony actually glow with pride, and on top of that, Her Highness had this grin that was somehow both her normal smile and wider than her wingspan. It was like some kind of Schrödinger’s grin, I swear.

“The nobles might have grumbled about a commoner being Princess Celestia's protégée, but after that, none of the high-ranking ones dared say she wasn't smart enough. The others would laugh them out of the room if one tried.”

Twilight shrank down into ball mode. “I remember that! But… I didn't know I humiliated him. I just answered a question from the Princess.”

Cloud laughed. “He retired three days later!”

“He was old!” Twilight turned to Rose. “I swear I thought he just retired because he was old!”

Luna threw open her wings and cackled with laughter, bringing thunder that rumbled their seats and probably caused an avalanche or two. “Oh, that's my sister, without doubt! I wish she had told me.”

“Wow.” Rose looked out the window. “So time travel is real?”

“Eh…” Twilight grumbled into her chest floof. “Kinda.”

Luna held up a hoof for quiet as the nurse returned for tea for the group, only resuming when she had ducked out. “Time travel is possible, but the universe loathes it. Doing it to radically change the past is nigh impossible, as things will almost always fall into place as they did before anyway. Worse, the spells are dangerous to cast. The power requirements scale exponentially with how far back you go, and you only have brief moments before the spells pull you back into your correct time. Staying in the wrong time means certain death as the universe shreds your atoms to get you back to where you should be.

“Time dilation is much easier. That simply makes your time move faster or slower than normal. However, the spells for that are delicate. You might not die from a failure, but the magic will stop working fairly easily. Mess up, and a moth will cough on you and the sudden adjustment to real time could send you tumbling into something unfortunate.”

Rose chewed on her cheek. “Princesses have a lot of secrets, don't they?”

“A ton.” Twilight said with a nod. “But I don't want you to worry about that. After all, that's my job. I just want to see that you're doing okay. See if you need anything.”

Tears welled up in Rose's eyes. “I… I want the nightmares to stop. Why can't the medicine make them stop?”

Luna's wings flapped open. “Are you saying they haven't? Even after the spell I put on you?”

Rose nodded silently.

“She did get dosed with a massive quantity of Elixir,” Twilight noted. “That's bound to mess anypony up. Not to mention what she's been through.”

Luna's muzzle twisted into a knot. “Even if my spell was insufficient to combat that drug, it should still be active at this point. The nightmares should be subsiding, at the very least. The fact that they aren't means something else is wrong.”

“Sooooooo… What do we do?” Twilight asked.

The Princess moved close to Rose, gently pulling off her blanket. “Hold still. I'm going to get to the bottom of this.”

Rose sniffled. “I don't deserve—”

“We disagree, and even if We didn't, no mere drug is going to laugh off Our sleep spells. We are going to get to the bottom of this so that We are not forced to wonder about it for the next thousand years.” Luna's horn flashed to life, beaming an inky stream of magic directly onto Rose's skin. A single rune was tattooed on her shoulder, shining bold and brilliant against her pinkish coat. “There. This will allow me to find you in the dreamscape. The next time we're both asleep, I'll be able to enter your dream and intervene directly.”

Rose was shaking as if the cold mountains had put her in a vice. “So, no more nightmares? What happens if it doesn't work?”

Luna deflated. “If I fail, I shall ask my sister. She doesn't have my magic with dreams, but she's still the best doctor out there. For now, try to get some rest, but know that I may or may not be there when you sleep. I'm very busy lately, and have little time to rest. But I'll still get some from time to time.”

“Thank you,” Rose whispered. Her legs shook, and ultimately gave out as she slid to the floor.

Twilight flopped down next to Rose, and pulled her into a hug. The pegasus had a thin layer of sweat covering her back, and was shaking despite being warm to the touch.

“Nurse?” Twilight called out, then waited for her to arrive. “Rose seems stressed; might be experiencing side effects. Could you please take her to her room?”

“Of course,” the nurse said with a bow. “Come on, young one. We'll get you to the doctor.”

Rose nodded and leaned on the nurse as she stood and walked off down the hall, one step at a time. Twilight followed behind, staying outside Rose's room to keep watch as her friend fell fast asleep in her bed.

Twilight tilted her head to look up at Luna. “Think you can jump in now?”

“Not quite yet.” Luna kept eyes on Rose. “My gut says she won't be in REM this time. Medicine can do that. Shall we leave?”

Twilight muttered in the affirmative. “I need to go back to the castle. All that's happened lately? I need to fill out a stack of reports for Celestia and RGIS, and catch up in my journal.

“Cloud? I'll need you, Rainbow, Trixie, and Spike for a couple things there as well. Bring them to my chambers when we get there. Rainbow should be good to at least move around the castle by now.”

Cloud snapped off a salute with his wing. “By your command.”

Twilight snickered. “And don't be so formal.”

As the teleportation bloom overtook them, Cloud twisted his face into something resembling an abstract painting. “Errr, yessie I will yer greaty Ladybugship!”

They spent three minutes somewhere a few hundred klicks north of Roan while Luna laughed her wings off.

Author's Note

If things go well, next month should be on time.

Lots of stuff happening soon, so I gotta get productive.

-Cv

Cool Comfort

“Okay, we all here?” Twilight looked around her room at her friends, and put on a smile. “Good! Now we can begin Cloud's merciless hazing.”

Cloud's eyes turned into pinpricks. “Wut?”

Everypony else caught on in a nanosecond, and a spontaneous chant of “New-bie! New-bie!” materialized from the group.

Twilight silenced them with a raised hoof. “Lieutenant Cloud Burner, your initiation task shall be to fetch us… a shrubbery!”

Cloud blinked. “Huh?”

“Gasp!” Trixie blanched. “How cruel!”

“You monster!” Spike stomped his foot.”How could you?”

“Not the shrubbery!” Rainbow wept.

“Back up a second.” Cloud said with a tilted noggin. “Did Trixie literally just say ‘gasp?’”

At that, the dam broke, and the entire group save Cloud detonated in a fit of giggles.

“Am I missing something here?” Cloud’s wings drooped. “I really feel like I’m being left out of the joke.”

“Kind of the point, really.” Twilight swallowed back the rest of her snickers. “We’re just being silly. It’s kind of our thing. Going to have to use that, working with us.”

“Oh, man.” Rainbow sighed. “If snark could kill, we’d all be dead a million times over.”

“If snark could kill, Twilight here would already be Empress of Equestria.” Spike said, examining his claws. “Instead of, you know, waiting for the alicorn summits.”

Cloud looked around. “Um, 'alicorn summits'? Did I hear you right?”

Twilight wished she had a rolled-up newspaper handy. “Yes, you did, though revealing that was supposed to be my job. They're the process by which a powerful pony transforms into an alicorn. Very few ever get the chance to do it, and most don't seem to survive.”

Cloud Burner stared off into the distance, gears spinning at Mach speed in his head. “Uhhhh…”

“It's not something you're ‘chosen’ for. It just happens after your wellspring hits a certain threshold, though actually going through all four summits can take centuries in some cases. It's even possible to have them slip away, leaving you in a limbo between being a full alicorn and a regular pony.

“The princesses think I'm well on my way. Less than a decade to go to complete the process, which only increases the danger. Danger I'm going to be relying on you all to help me face.”

Cloud’s jaw hit the floor. “You're kidding me. You have got to be kidding me. There's only — I mean, there was one, then two, but they were sisters and—”

“They're ten thousand years old.” Twilight interrupted. “Nine of which have been spent as full alicorns. They are sisters by blood, yes, but at their Ascension they were only two among many others. Discord eliminated the rest during the Chaos Wars, and all the other candidates since have failed to achieve full Ascension.”

Cloud’s wings went from 'professionally groomed' to 'raging mess' in three flaps. “Other candidates? What, did the other Grand Mages all get to—” He paused to read Twilight’s expression. “Oh Frick on a Stick, that's what happened, wasn't it? They were all... and then…”

Twilight sighed and slunk to her bedroom floor. “Starswirl went insane after he learned he'd never complete his Ascension. The end result was a catastrophic spell that detonated and created the Everfree Forest. It's the same spell that I stopped in Zebrica, though we still don't know how the zebras found it.

“Crimson’s death was much more… simple. Luna defeated him during the Lunar Rebellions. Stellar Horizon, meanwhile, perished stopping a massive wave of thaumic contamination that threatened to subsume nearly all of Gryphonia. All of them died heroes.

“I don't intend to die. I'm prepared to lay down my life if I absolutely have to. Almost did in Zebrica. But I certainly won't just let it happen. That's where you guys come in.

“I know there are some things we'll run into that only an alicorn ascendant can handle. Leave those to me. For everything else, though, I'm counting on this team to help me through. There's only a few of us, but the talent we have here is something special. Together, I want us to show the Majestics what happens when you hurt our ponies.”

While the rest clapped — with only a bit of sarcasm — Cloud Burner put his ears back and bowed. “You'll have my everything, Lady Sparkle.”

“Good. Cause I'm going to need it at some point. For now, though? Spike, would you get my big sketch pad?”

Spike saluted and dashed to the cloud closet, pushed it open, and pulled out a stack of blank paper almost as tall as he was.

“Wow.” Cloud whistled. “Who the hell made this place?”

“Luna.” Twilight pulled out a sheet and laid it on the smooth floor. “Okay, so, I've been flying around in basically whatever I could get my hooves on, including a cart in San Palomino that was held together with twine and a prayer. I'm thinking it's time for me to get an upgrade appropriate for a Grand Mage. Celestia knows I got the funds for it.

“So, Rainbow, Cloud: you two are the flyers in the group. I'll need your input on a new chariot design, since you'll be hooked to it. It'll need to be able to be flown with just one of you in a pinch.

“Trixie? I'll need you to double-check the wards and spells I want on it.”

Trixie scratch her head. “You want me to double-check your work? I'm no Grand Mage.”

“Don't sell yourself short. You're talented. Far more so than most unicorns. And besides, I'm good, not flawless. Even I make goofs sometimes.”

Spike snorted. “Especially when cooking.”

“Speaking of, Mr. Loudmouth…” Twilight poked him with her pencil. “you're on snack duty. Go to the kitchen and bother some ponies. We need coffee, lemonade, and cookies.”

Twilight took a step forward into the beams, the spells rubbing a mild bruise against her skin as any changeling illusions that might have been suspected were disproven. It was a crude mechanism, but necessary given the special guest in the dungeon. Nopony knew what Chrysalis would do to recover or destroy a drone that had left the Hive.

Moon Petal had combat training and left the Hive after a swift strike from Luna. That one the Queen could assume lost.

This latest defector, however, had no such luxury.

She was in the cell farthest back, beyond multiple sets of guards. Undoubtedly they were there at least partially to keep their guest confined for the time being, but it was far more to prevent infiltration from outside. The being lying on the hospital bed was in no shape to be moving, let alone attempting to make a daring escape.

Much like in Rainbow's case, her head was covered in bandages. Unlike Rainbow, though, she had a mini cast where the remaining part of her horn was. A tiny hole had been dug into her thorax to insert the specialized IV drip, and a cabinet on wheels had been brought in to hold all kinds of medical tools and supplies for any number of possible scenarios.

“Is this how you treat all your guests at the castle?” the patient choked out.

Twilight waved a guard over, and he opened the door so that she could step inside the cell. “Only when we think Chrysalis might be after them. This is temporary until we can get you on your hooves and into a place where you can go incognito. Until then, we need to take precautions so you can stay safe.

“Besides, that was a major surgery. You shouldn't be going anywhere just yet. You could wind up bleeding out through your horn, and that does not sound like a particularly pleasant way to go.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

Twilight sat down and put on a smile she hoped would give the same kind of warm reassurance she always got from Celestia. “Have you thought of a name?”

The drone shook her head, though it was a little hard to tell; it was so slight. “I think I did right before I fell asleep, but I can't remember it now. It's too fuzzy.”

“That's anaesthetics for you. My dad told me that they can make it so that you can't form long term memories until it's mostly out of your system. He's a doctor, so I assume he would know.”

“It's frustrating,” the drone grumbled. “I wanna finally be me.”

“Just keep at it; I'm sure it'll come to you. In the meantime, can I get you anything? Any special requests that the nurses couldn't do?”

The changeling started to shake, trembling in her blankets. “Love. I need love to heal. And more painkillers.”

Twilight chuckled to herself. “Oh, don't worry too much about that. I arranged for a very special pony to come by to help nurse you back to health.”

The drone’s eyes opened all the way for the first time. “You did?”

The lightest of hoof steps echoed from down the hall.

“In fact, I think I hear her now.”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy swooped through the hall when she saw the drone lying in the hospital bed. “This looks far worse than I imagined. Had I known, I would have taken the earlier train.”

“It's unfortunate, but necessary. Had we not removed her horn, Chrysalis absolutely would have forced her to self-destruct.”

“Well, I don't want you to worry about a thing, Miss Drone. I'm going to help the nurses take very good care of you.” Fluttershy pulled out a hot water bottle out of her large bag. “And the first step is some nice, topical, herbal medicines.”

A lump of pride swelled in Twilight's chest. “Meet Fluttershy, Element of Kindness. When it comes to tender, loving care, there's nopony better. Bonus, she has medical training and an extensive knowledge of herbal medicines. And sewing, oddly enough.”

The drone hugged the hot water bottle through her blanket. “She's trained in medicine?”

“Yes, she’s a, erm, veterinary nurse,” Twilight coughed and mumbled under her breath.

If the world ever doubted that a changeling could convey indignation with a single look, it doubted it no longer.

“But she’s spent her whole life caring for other creatures without reservation, and that comes straight from her heart. I don’t think you’ll find love like that anywhere else in the whole world.”

The drone sighed, melting into the bed. “I suppose you’re right. If nothing else, I can feel it.”

Twilight blinked and switched to her magic sight. There was a subtle aura around both of them, cycling around like a weak convective current. She couldn’t quite peg the colour down, as if it was something that wasn’t really there. Something that she couldn’t see when looking directly at it, much like a dim star in the night sky. Huh, she thought. I didn’t think an alicorn could actually see the feeding process of a changeling with the Sight. If I could document this, I might be able to write a paper — no, no. We can leave that for later. There are other things to do.

Even if Fluttershy wasn’t a nurse for ponies, she could have fooled most anypony the way she was moving around the cell, checking every last little thing from the state of the bandages to a full reading of the chart. “Oh, um, Miss? The name here just says ‘patient.’ Don’t you have a name?”

The drone shook her head. “I haven't thought of one yet. Only the queen gets a name in the Hive.”

“Oh no, that simply won’t do!” Fluttershy opened the tap on the IV a tad. “Everypony needs a name, and you’re one of us now, so you do, too. What do you like to do?”

The changeling looked at her as if she just asked her to juggle flaming chainsaws covered in cyanide. “I’m an infiltrator drone. I infiltrate. That’s just kind of what we do.”

“Well, you’re not that anymore. Is there anything you’d like to do for fun?”

“That’s not how it works in the Hive. There’s no clear ending to our minds, no clear beginning to the others’ minds. We don’t do what we ‘like.’ We do what the Hive needs of us. Recreation is a… foreign concept.”

Twilight stifled a giggle mixed with a dollop of horror. “Sounds like you need to talk to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Fluttershy nodded. “That sounds like a wonderful idea! I’ll get Apple Bloom to help you find something you’re good at. Then we can get you a cutie mark, too!”

Some unknown, chittering sound came from the changeling. “I’ll still need a name before then,” she sighed. “This is just all new territory. I mean, I know some of it, because we have to pretend when we infiltrate. But doing it for real? Just, wasting time on something for fun? This is all so new.”

Twilight stood up, trying to look strong for her new subject, though her brain said that was silly given her vertically-challenged nature. “It’s a new day, with new challenges aplenty.” A little bell rang in her mind. “Hey, how about ‘New Dawn?’ That’s an appropriately pony name. You can always change it later if you really want.”

The drone presumably did the changeling equivalent of a “hmm” for a few seconds. “It’ll work. Maybe just ‘Dawn’ for short?”

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “Welcome to Equestria, Dawn.”

Twilight was wearing pyjamas. This much she knew.

She also knew coffee hadn't happened yet. Which meant she should not be walking around, let alone doing anything of importance. However, she also knew that she was following both of the princesses, so odds were that it was important.

The cold shock of an ice krene’s presence drove her eyes open. She might as well have dived into a giant tub of ice water. They must have teleported at some point.

When she thought back on it, she did remember a bright light.

Nonetheless, they were clearly now in Sanctuary. Thus, they were there to see one pony in particular.

“Is Rose okay?” Twilight said through a yawn. “I think I might have missed any conversation before now.”

There was the barest of a hum from Celestia, but little else in the way of reassurance. “We aren't sure. If Luna was correct about what she found, I'm not certain what to make of things.”

They arrived at Rose's room and went right in, strolling by the nurse watching them. Rose herself was twisting and writhing in her bed, but not screaming. Rather, she merely whimpered into her pillow.

“Poor Rose…” Twilight wanted to cry in sympathy. “Can we do anything?”

Celestia spread her wings out, pinions touching Luna's side. “That's what we're here to attempt. Are you certain of what you saw, Sister?”

“Dead certain.” Luna's skin rippled, crawling up her back. “Wraiths. An endless sky of pain. Lightning that stretches for hundreds of skies. And the final proof? Blue threads of fate attached to her body. There is no question, Tia.

“Rose isn't just having a nightmare. She's dreaming of Tartarus. To her, she is in that realm, that hell.”

Sweat dripped from Twilight’s brow as her heart twisted inside itself. “You have to be kidding. How is this even possible? Nopony just knows what's in Tartarus. Not unless you've… been…”

“Impossible.” Celestia rubbed a clinical hoof along Rose's side, then felt along the way with magic. “A regular pony can't escape Tartarus without far worse physical and psychological damage, and even if they could, there would be another sign.

“They need to cut their threads of fate to escape, and when that happens, there's always some left on you. Like a loose thread you can't get rid of no matter how much you pull.

“Simple fact is, she's never been there physically. Yet somehow, she's there mentally. The question is, why?”

Twilight plopped her rump down onto the cold floor. “Elixir has magic in it. Magic supposedly including ingredients from the Everfree Forest, which was created by an explosion from a dimensional portal that was destroyed. Could it all be linked?”

Both of the princesses looked away, gears obviously turning in their heads. Celestia was counting something, while Luna was making a few dozen faces at different things.

“No,” Celestia said after some time. “At least, it doesn't seem likely that she built up enough power for that to happen. The amount of energy needed to break into Tartarus is many orders of magnitude greater than for most other hyperdimensional realms. If she had absorbed that much power, we'd be able to see it in our Sight.”

“'See it', nothing.” Luna blew a quick raspberry. “That kind of energy condensed into one pony’s wellspring would threaten to create a Kugelblitz singularity!”

“I think you're mathematically off-base there, Lulu," Celestia replied, "but you'd be correct to say that it would be painfully obvious.”

Twilight chewed on her lip. “Back up a moment. What if it's not her that's linked, but the magic elements of the ingredients? An explosion like the one that created the Everfree would have plenty of power to connect small pieces of matter with the Tartarus realm. She eats those pieces, and then…”

Celestia lit up her horn. “That's a possibility, but why aren't others that are addicted going through the same? Have they not ingested enough, or is there some other connection we're missing?”

“She was on it for a long time, I think…” Twilight shivered, wishing she could give Rose a hug. “How do we stop it?”

“First, I want to see something.” Celestia pulled out a little, blinking cylinder-ish device from under her wing and waved it over Rose. It beeped and whirred and made all manner of quiet noises, and the lights on either end shifted colours every couple seconds. “Okay, one moment.”

A spell formed around Celestia's horn, tiny symbols etched into the circle orbiting it. The device whirred in a kind of harmony, and a matching circle appeared around it. After a few more beeps, the oddity floated into the air on its own and an image bloomed around it.

The image was a spherical area, with a little star in the center that had tendrils stretching out to the outer edge of the sphere. Some of the light was silver, and the rest was a light blue. A cluster of lines danced between each point where the tendrils crossed each other or the outer edge of the image. The vertices often had alien text next to them. In the center, however, more text appeared in an ominous red.

“Princess…” Twilight swallowed. “Where did you get that gadget?”

Celestia closed her eyes, cheeks red in embarrassment. “I shouldn't even have it. Somehow, against all odds, it survived the end times of the Chaos War. Normally such technology would not be something I would allow to continue to exist, but it's too useful a diagnostic tool to abandon.

“Besides that, Luna and I are the only two who can even read the output, let alone use it. I felt it harmless enough to keep, and it's saved a number of lives along the way.”

Twilight folded her forelegs. “Diagnostic tool? And those colours? We're looking at Rose's wellspring, aren't we? Literally the interior structure of something to date only described in abstract thaumic script.”

Luna smiled. “I knew she'd figure it out.”

Celestia sighed. “Correct. Most importantly, the device has detected an anomaly in its core, here.” The Princess waved her hooves, zooming in on the center. A tiny thread of red light was attached to the wellspring’s core. “And I've never seen anything like it.”

“Wait!” Twilight stood up, and mimicked what Celestia did. The imaged zoomed in a little farther, though not at much as she liked. She put her head in the hologram, and squinted.

The thread wasn't just vanishing into thin air. Rather, the other end led to a tiny point in space that formed a frustratingly dim spiralling cloud. She had to not quite look directly at it to see what was happening.

Luna put her face next to Twilight's. “It… It looks like the accretion disc around a black hole. Only… It's going in reverse, somehow. A white hole, perhaps? But it's hard to see...”

Twilight paced around the little room, going back and forth after just a few steps. “Black holes and white holes are two sides of the same coin. Much like a magic portal, they can be a bridge through spacetime. However, no matter can get through either in one piece without magic to intervene and reduce the stress on the particles from the gravitational forces at their center.

“But magic itself? Just energy. It can slip through no problem, as long as the hole is rotating at an appropriate speed to maintain a size larger than a few Planck lengths. Since this is likely a magic portal instead of a real white hole, I'm very certain that her wellspring is being contaminated from energy leaking into our realm via that.”

The princesses shared a look, then lit their horns. A series of small magic circles appeared on the ground around Rose, each golden with enough Chron symbols to tell Twilight that the spells had something to do with time.

Celestia spoke first. “If your theory is correct, Twilight, then we have an easy way to stop the nightmares. Portals like that, even when small, interact with time. There is, however small, always some level of dilation. It needs to be there to exist.”

“Which means,” Luna continued, “we can use the same spells we use to prevent a pony from using Passage in an area. Basically, a quick and dirty temporal anchor. Puts the brakes on anything trying to mess with time.”

“I get it!” Twilight quickly put the circles to memory. “This will likely eat a lot of magic over time, and could be overwhelmed by something more powerful. But this portal is tiny, and the power consumption of the anchor is tied to its area of effect. A small area like this will be much more efficient. And I'm guessing you tied the versions in the castle to the nearby mana krenes to keep it functional.”

Celestia almost beamed. “Correct, Twilight. We can come in a couple days to recharge the spell easily enough. But for now? What I want to see is if this works.”

Moments later, the spell was complete. A subtle gold glow danced continuously on the floor, encircling the sleeping pony. In seconds, the tortured Rose was still and quiet, breathing at a slow, steady pace. Moreover, the hologram no longer had the tiny portal at its center.

Twilight whispered, “I think we finally cured her nightmares.”

“About time, too.” Luna cast another quick spell over her. “This should give her good dreams tonight. She's been through enough, and it chafes me to no end how long this took. I'm going to investigate this further. Something just doesn't smell right about all this.”

“Agreed.” Twilight tucked Rose’s blanket back in, getting her as snug as possible. “Let's get going. Hopefully she gets all the sleep she could want.”

“Thorough, as always, Twilight.” Celestia put the final report of Twilight's adventure in Manehatten on the meeting room table. The two of them were alone, save for Raven, Celestia's seneschal. “I concur with your recommendation for the Duchess. However, what should happen and what can and does happen are often two different things in politics.”

Twilight put her ears down in a pout. “So you're not going to kick her out of the Empyreal Hall?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Celestia pursed her lips as she sipped her tea. “It will depend on what the rest of both the Hall and the Manehatten nobility are willing to accept without raising too much of a stink.”

“Let them raise as much of a stink as they want. It's not as if they aren't doing it already!” said Twilight “Besides that, there needs to be accountability if the Compact is going to actually mean anything. Seriously, how many of these guys do I need to throw in jail before we get to trigger an emergency dissolution?”

“Don't be hasty, Twilight. Dissolving them only means they get replaced, and under the current Compact, I must choose other nobles from their Duchies before I renegotiate a new Compact. I'm deliberately trying to avoid that.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Okay, Princess. It's time to put your cards on the table. It's just us; I promise not to leak your plans. What is your goal here?”

Celestia frowned before looking around the room, then lit her horn to saturate the chamber with magic. “I'm pretty sure you've gathered that I want to reduce the power of the nobility, correct?”

Twilight nodded. “That much is obvious.”

“Herein is the conundrum. Replacing a pony or two might help some, but the power they hold pales in comparison to the power of the system. Changing a system is much harder than changing who is in charge.

“Right now, most power is situated at the level of the Duchy. This is the case for both Duchy-level decisions and Crown-level decisions. If a Duchy wants to make a law for themselves, it falls to a Duke's perview. If ponies want a Crown law changed, it's the same perview. I want to separate the link. That's the key conflict I've been working on for the last few decades.”

Twilight chewed on her cheek a little. “That's… I fail to see how this will solve all our problems.”

Celestia sighed and laid down in front of Twilight, wings drooping and ears flat. “This is something most ponies don't understand, Twilight. Politics isn't a sprint, it's a never-ending marathon. A generation of ponies might fight and struggle for one key change, but that won't ever be enough.

“Cultures change over time. We, as immortals, can guide things, but we can't control it. Not totally at least, and after a certain point, you get extremely diminishing returns. Not to mention the change technology can bring.

“As a result, the needs of the ponies change all the time, and thus, new movements are created while old ones either die or try to keep things the way they are.

“What I'm trying to do won't solve all our problems, no. It's a subtle change, but an important one, and it's a step towards progress.”

Twilight murmured something to herself. She wasn't sure what. It was likely her thoughts overspilling her mind and getting extra rumination in her mouth. “So, what's the new structure supposed to look like?”

“In its simplest, there would be two different ponies per Duchy. One represents the region in the Empyreal Hall, another stays home and manages the region directly.

“But that isn't enough, I'm afraid. There's one other element missing, and that's responsiveness.”

A chime sounded in Twilight's head. “You're going to make the Dukes democratically elected, aren't you?”

There was a glistening in Celestia's eyes. “Kind of. Before a few hundred years ago, a more... pseudo-feudal system was more effective, especially given the wild threats that existed at the time. The ratio of workers to nobles was more equitable. Rule by fiat was fast and simple.”

“The ratio got out of hoof, didn't it?” Twilight ran numbers in her head. “Faster than you predicted.”

“Much faster. My ponies proved far more capable than I gave them credit for. For one, the wild threats - giant timberwolves and the like - were crushed earlier than I thought they would be. They also got an earlier-than-expected lead on health, as I didn't expect the Empyreal Hall to be so gung-ho on getting sewers and clean water installed. I was planning a phase-in, but they went and did it on their own in almost every city outside San Palomino.”

“So now what?” Twilight took out her notebook and drew a quick chart of the organization of the Manehatten government. “I can't imagine having a hierarchy with ratios like that of times past. The depth would be… um… unwieldy.”

“No, that wouldn't do. The current system is untenable-long-term, but sudden change would be unworkable in the short term. Fortunately, innovations in both technology and legislation make larger ratios feasible with the correct systems in place.

“My plan was to use San Palomino to test this, but somepony went and found an acceptable Duke before I could do that.”

Twilight stuck out her tongue. “Your fault for not including me.”

“I suppose so. But your actions in Manehatten give me another test bed, and just in time. The difficult thing will be to get the new system in place there. Organizations tend to have… inertia, for lack of a better word.

“But a democratic system in a large territory won't take long to out-compete the likes of, say, Prance, which is almost exclusively controlled by nobility.”

Another chime sounded in Twilight's head. “You're going to play the inequality against them, aren't you? Manehatten gets catapulted ahead, the reforms get popular, and ponies literally everywhere else start clamouring for the same rights and abilities.”

Celestia almost cringed. “Yes, I am. I don't like that tactic, even if it will work. And Charlemane knows this by now, so he’ll likely fight me on it.”

“It's hard to believe your support hasn't climbed more than a few points. After all that's happened? It should be sky high by now.”

“I know from your perspective, this all seems so obvious. However, we must remember the perspective of the everyday pony. They don't know most of what you do; they only know of the public fallout. Some things we can trumpet about, and some things are too obvious to deny. But some of your actions as they happen must remain at least reasonably secret for your protection and your missions’ success.

“Also, I'm afraid it's not a zero-sum game. Just because the nobility has stumbled does not mean that the common pony likes me any more. Rather, lately, polling seems to indicate that they like neither them nor me. It is at times like these that political risk is at its greatest—but so are the rewards to the pony who’s shrewd enough. Large changes can go through in an instant if the time is right. We must be ready to act when that time comes, but unfortunately, predicting exactly when that time will be is next to impossible.”

“Just let me know when you need me and what you need me to do.” Twilight stuffed her notebook away in her bag. “In fact, keep me up-to-date on those things ahead of time. Guess if you have to. If I don't know what you're planning, I can't act in concert with you.”

Celestia stood and stretched her wings. “I understand. Come, let's go talk to Charlemane about what to do with our naughty Duchess.”

“Roast her over a spit for all I care.”

Twilight looked over to Celestia, who seemed as stunned as she did. “Come again?” Twilight asked.

Charlemane plopped his rear down in his chair. “I'm getting as frustrated as you over these idiots. I've told them time and again to rein in the nonsense, but clearly I'm not getting through to some of them. If Demesne won't be a model, make her an example.”

Celestia scratched her chin with a feather. “Charles, if you don't stand up for them, they could rightly call for a vote of No Confidence.”

“Let them!” Charlemane shrugged. “There's only two… three of them that are either talented or connected enough to be my match, and guess what? One tried to cover up a changeling invasion, another used a slur in the Hall and would go into office as the least popular Chairpony in history, and the third wouldn't take my job for all the wine in Prance.

“So let them cry crocodile tears and boo-hoo-woe-is-us all they want. Either they shape up under me, or they get crushed under your gilded hoof. I win either way.”

Celestia’s face looked like she had just eaten a bowl of lemons. “I ran through two dozen scenarios on how this conversation would play out. This wasn't even remotely in any of them.”

“It's not so bad, though, right?” Twilight asked. “This gives you carte blanche, pretty much.”

“Not without consequences, though. I don't know for sure how the rest of the nobility will act as a result of this. I might have to keep Demesne around in the Hall to keep things balanced… or not? I'm not even sure right now.”

Charlemane yawned and stood up like a ton of time lag was about to hit him with a hammer. “Just let me know what you're doing at some point. My back is sore from the train ride over, and I need sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Tia.”

Twilight watched him leave, then turned to her teacher, who was still as a statue for quite some time.

Finally, Celestia let out a sigh. “Well, now I'm really lost.”

Twilight put her ears back. “I can't say I have much insight to offer. What does Luna think?”

Now it was Celestia’s turn to put her ears back, apparently.

“You haven't told her, have you?” Twilight gave her a poke. “Tia, you promised.”

Celestia slipped down to the floor. “I did. But I very much do not want to broach this topic with her. It is… sensitive.”

“Tough. You're going to. Because if you don't, I will.”

“It has to do with the Lunar Rebellions.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but every possibility, from all possible universes, for things she had thought she was about to say collided together in a train wreck of a noise. “U-buh-watdo?”

At the very least, that embarrassment served to elicit a chuckle from the Princess. “The central issue that started the war was this: when to transition to full democracy. I argued for a measured approach over centuries, with the pair of us as absolute rulers until we could put the pieces in place a little at a time. This would have the advantage of being the least economically disruptive, and protect against backlash if something unexpected happened to throw a monkey wrench in the works.

“Luna all but wanted to abdicate her crown then and there to install full democracy immediately. No compromises. I refused, and the nobility as it was supported me.

“When Luna seemed to accept the decision, I thought that was the end of it. But she did something I hadn't foreseen. She bypassed the current power structures entirely.”

Twilight blinked at that. “How?”

“Well, at towns she visited, she showed the communities how to organize together. They started making their own unwritten rules, meeting at night to decide on the goals the town had, working together on them.

“It went undetected for months. It might have lasted years had it not been so successful. A few of the towns had so removed themselves from the need of their nobility — save for military protection — that they started to laugh when their nobles made new rules. Laugh right to their faces and ignore them.

“Somehow, without even really trying, Luna had sparked a revolution. When the nobility tried to crush this auxiliary power structure, she flew into a rage and personally intervened. News of this quickly spread, and towns began replicating on their own what Luna had started.

“To her, it was proof. Proof that her way could work. I scoffed at her. It was proof of nothing at the scale we needed, and like a fool I sided with the nobility instead of reaching a compromise.”

Twilight pressed against her panicking stomach. “And Luna sided with the peasants. Neither of you would budge, so they took up arms and rebelled against their masters with an alicorn at their side.”

Celestia nodded, lowering her head to the floor. “The revolution spread like wildfire. Entire cities were lost in days. We—I had the military, but the knights at the time were very wary of fighting mere peasants. Worse, Luna had the bulk of the blacksmiths and others who the knights relied on. Those that I had didn't exactly support me enthusiastically.

“Eventually, I started sending Crimson into the battle to put down the rebellion where it was spreading. I had hesitated up until that point because I knew he could be brutal. Yet, he was effective. At least until Luna sent… her.”

Twilight wondered if she should back out of the conversation then and there, but the only thing she could think to say was her guess as to who Celestia meant. “The Lunar Grand Mage. Evening Tide. She stopped him cold, didn't she?”

Celestia nodded. “I never thought it possible. A brand new ascendant out of nowhere. One who laughed at the training and experience of Crimson Spectre and nearly killed him multiple times — and each time, I'm convinced she missed deliberately.

“That couldn't stand. It was dangerous, but I had to enter the battle personally. We manoeuvred our armies so Luna's rag-tag mass of peasants would be facing off against us in two groups. I gave Crimson spells and tech he shouldn't have had at the time in order to give him an edge, and I knew I could beat my sister if I had to. With luck, we knew we could beat both of them and put a stop to the madness.

“I was a complete failure that day. I met my sister, and a hundred kilometres away, Crimson met Spectre. We offered a peace deal if they surrendered, and they refused. My side ran so that I could step into the fight without them getting hurt, and I lunged forward.

“Luna flew at me, and in the shock of my life, the illusion around her broke. It wasn't Luna I was fighting — it was Evening Tide. She brought her sword against me, cutting my side. All of my spells short of ones that would destroy my army and the city nearby were useless against her. She cut through them or shrugged them off with an adaptive shield. A moment in, I realized what they were really up to.

“I teleported to Crimson Spectre, but I was too late. All those advantages I gave him were utterly useless against a pony of Luna's skill and knowledge. He lay dead, engulfed in the enormous fire of his own wellspring, his blood dripping down Selene.

“If I had any sense at all, it would have ended there. Maybe admitted that Luna had a point. But we were both too far gone at that stage.”

“Agreed.”

Both Twilight and Celestia turned to the corner of the room, where Luna stood, watching them.

“You couldn't have stopped me then, Tia. Not without killing me. I was bound and determined at that point. You would have been proud of Crimson, though. He faced me with true courage, and had I not caught him by surprise, I daresay some of the things you gave him might have wounded me.”

Celestia closed her eyes, shedding the tears welling up. “We were such fools.”

“Indeed. Our ponies would have been better off without us then.”

Twilight put her ears all the way back when she tried to say she disagreed. The words never came out.

“Perhaps you are correct, Sister,” said Celestia. “But all the more reason to make things right. Tell me, do you still have your hobby from a few years back? I know you were thinking up various democratic structures for our Duchies.”

Luna's eyes widened. “Oh! Do… do you really need them? Are you… going to use them?”

Celestia pushed herself to a sitting position. “Perhaps. I want to put one in place for Manehatten, and we have a prime opportunity in the here and now. I don't know which to choose, but you have many available, if I recall correctly.”

“I do! Just, give me one moment.”

Luna dashed from Celestia’s chambers, presumably to her own for a second, before returning with a few legal-sized notebooks. “I'm afraid they aren't organized at all.”

A voice in the back of Twilight's mind said “Ew.”

“That's okay, it needn't be pretty.” Celestia opened the first, and an avalanche of papers fell out of it. “Twilight is going to have to give you lessons on organizing, Luna.”

Luna blew a raspberry in response.

Celestia skimmed a few of the sheets, quickly discarding several. Most weren't especially detailed, but included diagrams and light philosophical musings on the margins. “This one will do.”

Luna craned her head over to see. “The bicameral parliamentary one? You skipped over a lot of others…”

“I could do a deep analysis on all of them, but this has all we need for now. The important thing is to change the power structure so there's more democracy. Exactly how it’s structured isn't as important as whether it accomplishes the task and whether it can be changed in the future if we need it to be.

“Of course, we'll probably make a few changes as we translate this into formal legal language. I rather doubt we should include the line ‘Throwing a bone to the nobles ugh’ next to the House of Lords’ responsibilities.”

Twilight snickered. “I dunno, I'd probably pay money to see their reaction to that.”

Luna lit up. “Oh! I should have my Guard take a picture so we can sell copies!”

Celestia let out a happy sigh. “What am I going to do with you two?”

“And thus concludes my report. Thank you for your time.” Twilight switched off her microphone in the Empyreal Hall and sat back in her seat, Spike next to her.

Charlemane pulled his chair forward. “The Council appreciates your efforts, Lady Sparkle. Your cross-examination will happen at a later date. Right now, I would like to immediately deal with one clear fact: Duchess Demesne failed to fulfill her obligations under the Compact. She knew of a threat from the changelings, and failed to inform the Crown.”

“I reject your framing, Chairpony.” Demesne yelled before turning on her microphone. “The threat never gave an indication of being as bad as it was. Moreover, given the propensity of RGIS to leak to our enemies, there was the risk of the information getting out, leading to a panic. From our perspective, things were well in hoof.”

Luna flapped her wings. “So you admit the central issue — that you withheld information from us.”

Demesne sat up straight and nodded. “I do. I felt that action prudent given the circumstances.”

Celestia's gavel rang out twice. “Whether or not it's prudent isn't your choice. If you were really so worried about it, you could have asked for a private audience with me and I would have taken whatever precautions needed. Instead, you kept it all hidden and placed the whole city at risk, including your secretary.”

Demesne pulled in a breath. “I stand by my judgement, Your Highness. So do the nobility of Manehatten.” She reached under her desk, and pulled out a letter. “I have here a letter signed by the entirety of the nobility within my Duchy. They demand I remain as Duchess, and refuse to nominate any of their number for a replacement.”

Luna's horn aura snatched up the letter, bringing it to her perch at the top of the Empyreal Hall. “Bluffs don't impress me much, Duchess. They're sharks. They'll feast on your carcass the minute we throw it to them.”

The Duchess replied with a subtle “harumph.” “I'm better at managing my Duchy than anypony else in this room, and that includes my subordinates.”

“Nonsense!” Suisaiga - the Duchess of Neighpon, also known as Watercolour - slurped at her tea. “The best of us there is—”

Naponion interrupted with a loud, rumbling snore.

Watercolour flopped her head into her desk and covered her ears. “Ugh. And the thought is depressing beyond reason.”

Celestia’s horn aura wrestled against Luna's for a moment, before the younger sister yielded and allowed her elder to read the note. “I see.” The letter floated down to Spike and Twilight. “Spike, be a dear and show the Duchess what I think of her bluster.”

Spike picked it up and blushed from the weight of the eyes of the entire Empyreal Hall watching him. “Um…”

Twilight leaned over to him. “Torch it,” she whispered.

Spike froze. “Really?”

Twilight nodded.

Spike shrugged. “Alrighty then.” With a single breath, the green flames turned the paper to ash.

The colour in Demesne's coat drained out, followed by that of the rest of the dukes.

Celestia banged her gavel. “I have some small measure of respect for how your subordinates view you, Duchess, but your actions mean I can no longer trust you to manage your Duchy in accordance with the Compact. That's not something I can overlook. As such, I have no choice but to remove you from control of your Duchy.

“Out of respect for your service thus far, however, I'm willing to allow you to stay at your post within the Empyreal Hall, albeit at a reduced rank of 11th.”

The entire gaggle of politicians within the Hall looked like they wanted to explode into gossip like a high school assembly. Even Charlemane was whispering to Duke Buckheart of the Hinterlands.

Celestia sipped her tea, and somehow did so in a way that told the room, “Yes I said that.” It was an ellipsis before she dropped the next horseshoe. “Since the nobility won't see fit to give me a pony I can rely on to fulfil their obligations, I shall have to find a different solution.

“Duchess, you will remain in your current position for three months. At that point, the Duchy of Manehatten will hold elections for representatives in a new Parliament that will serve as the civilian authority for that region, and you will transfer control to that Parliament and their new Premier over a period of two weeks.”

Watercolour spit out her tea, raining down saliva onto the Duke of Marelaysia.

“Hey!” The duke stole her napkin to wipe himself off.

“Sorry…” Watercolour meeped.

Charlemane stood frozen for a moment. He wasn't at a loss; caught off guard, certainly, but his gaze was thoughtful, calculated. “I'm assuming you won't be limiting the election candidates to only the nobility.”

The ground shook from Luna's laughter. “Oh, you assume correct, Chairpony. After all, the nobility refused to nominate any of their own.”

“Congratulations, Demesne, you old tart.” Bismare slammed her copy of Twilight's report down on her desk, sending a strangely satisfying slap through the air. “You played right into Celestia's strategy. Want to lick her hooves next?”

“Shut it,” Demesne growled through clenched teeth.

Bismare was about to open her mouth again when Celestia banged her gavel. “Order! Save the insults for later, ladies.

“The qualifications for candidacy are as follows: A pony or other citizen must be at least thirty years of age, not be currently incarcerated for a crime, must have principally resided in Manehatten for at least the last three years, and must submit at least one thousand signatures of the citizenry in support of the candidate within one month’s time from now. They must also liquidate all their assets, save for a primary residence, to prevent conflicts of interest.

“The election will be ranked choice, so you are ordered to have sufficient personnel to conduct this operation. I expect the election to go smoothly. Once the members are elected they will elect a Premier to lead the Duchy domestically, while the Duchess will be charged only with representing the Duchy here in the Empyreal Hall. You will convey the will of the Parliament, not just your own desires. If you fail at this, the Parliament will nominate a new Duchess.

“As for other details, Luna, if you would?”

Luna nodded and pulled out a large stack of documents before passing them around to everypony. “This is the formal charter for the new government, along with outlines and support diagrams and documents.”

“Princess,” Duchess Bismare asked. “Is this what we can all look forward to? Obsolescence of our great traditions in the nobility?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “One can only hope.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “There are no such plans at this time, Duchess.”

“And if we object?”

Celestia leaned forward in her seat. “Considering all that's happened in the last year or so, you have two choices. Either accept this solution and get your act together, or I will issue an emergency dissolution of the Compact here and now and fire every single one of you.”

“Your Highness!” Duke Earthen Pride stood. “I have had no time to fulfill my—”

“And I regret that, Duke, but it's not my fault this batch of nobles has been infested by incompetence and literal treason. Know that if I must go to such lengths I will not hold you to your promise, as this is well outside your control. But I'm not going to sit back and just let this Council dishonour the Empyreal Hall any further. Am I understood?”

The duke bowed. “Yes, Your Highness. Please forgive my outburst.”

“Of course, Duke Pride.” Celestia sat back with a small sigh, and a little tendril of smoke rose from her back. “I think that's enough for today. You all need time to digest this change and, in the case of Demesne, inform your citizens.

“Please see Pulsar or Raven if you need any additional documentation. This meeting is adjourned.”

Time for the moment of truth. Twilight sipped from her tea, and it was from a teacup she hadn't used in ages. It was even in a little kitchen she hadn't used in quite some time.

A couple years ago, this had been her home. A living tree-house, which was also the area’s library, nestled in a sleepy town. She had her friends and all the books she could cram into her head. Being back left a note of sadness crying in her heart.

Even the tea was playing a different song on her tongue than what she was used to. Maybe it was from being brewed in a tea bag instead of an infuser? No, such a thing was too simple a solution. The tannins agreed, sharing in her melancholy.

She shook herself in a fake shiver to throw off her listless thoughts. She had a judgement to pass. “Not bad, mother.”

Twilight Velvet all but melted in relief. “So, you're not mad?”

“Mad? No, not at all.” Twilight flipped to the next letter. “If Celestia were the one doing this, she'd be ‘disappointed.’ But she's obscenely busy, so you get me, and I know you better. I honestly expected less, but you've proven my pessimism wrong.”

The relief looked like it had turned into a whirlwind in Velvet’s stomach. “‘Disappointed…’ I suppose I deserve that.”

“Maybe. Progress is progress, but I’m afraid I’m not comfortable authorizing your return to Canterlot. If I did, Celestia could well overrule me.”

Velvet sighed. “It’s just as well. I can’t go back there. Not after what happened, and especially not now.”

“The so-called friends of yours who won’t welcome you back were never really your friends, mother. You were a shark in a ocean filled with sharks.”

“No, it’s more than that.” Velvet took in a deep breath. “Twilight, I’ve been diagnosed with Sungold’s Syndrome.”

A metaphorical bolt of lightning struck Twilight in the gut, punching a hole right through her. “No… Mother, why didn’t you tell me?”

“The fate of the nation rests on your shoulders. This is not something you should be concerned about.”

“Like hell it’s not! You’re my mother, and even if I am Grand Mage, that doesn’t stop me from caring about my friends or family. Does Dad know?”

“He does. Having a doctor for a husband means it’s hard to hide medical things. But it also means he can help me figure this all out. And one of the things is that I can’t go back to Canterlot. Thin air exacerbates the symptoms.”

Twilight squeezed her midsection with her forelegs. “And Canterlot is on a mountain. You might as well be living in a cloud city if you live there.”

Velvet nodded. “Ponyville isn’t really ideal either, nestled in all these mountains. At some point I might have to move to Manehattan, but for now, ‘better than Canterlot’ is sufficient.”

“How… Have the mental symptoms started yet? Like, aphasia?”

“No! No, thank the stars. And I’m on the new medications.”

Twilight sighed out an enormous ball of anxiety, letting her muscles relax. “Good. The new medications are said to delay symptoms by 20 years or more. With any luck, even better medicines will be available by then.”

“And I’ll have an in-house doctor to care for your senile old mother. I bet that’s what you are thinking.”

“More that I’ll have another few decades with you, as a minimum. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a doctorate and find the cure myself.”

Velvet raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need to go changing careers on account of your mother being sick. You’re the Grand Mage. That’s way more important than just one more doctor in the world.”

“Hey, it’s not any less likely than some of the other things I’ve been doing lately. Last week I was dining with griffins trying to bring a cease-fire to the civil war. Last month I protected Fillydelphia from a parasprite infestation. Last summer, I led an operation that wiped out basically the entire population of changelings within the city of Manehatten. Oh, and did I ever tell you I’ve ridden the seams within Cloudsdale? Didn’t even wind up dying.”

Velvet turned a few shades whiter. “There are some things a mother just isn’t meant to know.”

Twilight giggled. “When this is all over, I’ll let you read a redacted version of my journal. Give Dad a crash cart to keep next to your bed.”

“Well, at least you’re in good spirits. Suppose that’s a positive sign.”

“It is, but we’re getting away from the more important topic at hand. Your letters. As I said, you’ve exceeded my expectations. However, you are near what Celestia would expect. There are some hidden truths I would’ve hoped to have covered by now.”

“Hidden truths? About friendship? Twilight, dear, I’m twice your age. What could I possibly—”

“Don’t argue with the ultra-studious pony who did this for more than a decade under the explicit direction of Princess Celestia. I say, if there’s anypony in the world who qualifies as an expert on this, it would have to be me. You’ll just have to figure out these facts on your own. They’ll mean more that way.”

“I suppose…”

“Indeed.” Twilight finished her tea, which had grown cold during their talk. “I should get going. That winter storm is coming, and the weather ponies say there’s little they can do to stop it. You’re well stocked on food?”

Velvet nodded. “I think I stuffed your little fridge to capacity. And your father learned a new spell to help clear our walkway.”

“Good. Sorry to run so soon, Mom, but the weather doesn’t wait for anypony anymore. Not even the Grand Mage.”

“Oh, wait just one moment!” Velvet sprang up and dashed to the cupboards before rummaging through a few dozen cans of stuff. Eventually she pulled out a glass jar of a dark golden honey with an envelope attached to it. “Almost forgot this. Honeybee came by, said you helped her get out of Cloudsdale. She wanted you to have this and said it's ‘orange honey.’”

Twilight picked up the jar, mulling over its heft in her magic. “Aw, that's sweet! No pun intended… mostly. I'll put it in the Royal Kitchens and ask the chefs if they can do anything special with it. Thanks, Mom.”

The two shared a hug before Twilight stepped through the door and waved goodbye.

Outside the library was Celestia’s chariot, on loan for the time being, along with four of her Day Guard charioteers. Her own guards were inside, save for Cloud Burner, who was standing by the door to the library.

“All clear to go?” he asked.

“Yup. Next stop, Canterlot. I want to be next to a fireplace when this storm hits.”

As she approached, Spike hopped out of the chariot, holding the door open for her.

“Thanks, Spike.” Twilight shivered as she climbed into the vehicle. Even though her coat could protect her from really getting cold, the wind and dark clouds on the horizon were enough to make her hindbrain sound an alarm.

Inside the chariot, the rest of her guards were already sitting and waiting for her return. There was an oddly cozy element to it all. It wasn’t the plush seats, though. Each time she sat in the seat that was meant for her mentor, the little voices in her head cried out “Impostor!” Rather, her heart was warmed at having so many friends around her at once. They may not have been the Elements – save Rainbow, of course – but that didn’t stop the feelings from rushing through her veins.

“Oh, looks like you got a treat! Come to Rainbow!”

Spike planted himself between the pegasus and the jar of honey. “Nope. It’s hers. She gets to decide what to do with it.”

“What’s with the envelope?” Trixie asked.

“Prolly just a thank you card.” Twilight held it up to the light, then pulled it open with her magic. Inside, however, had no design, signature, or declaration of gratitude. Instead, the only words were a time and place, three hours from that moment and at a café in a little town on the other side of Canterlot.

“Knew it!” Rainbow laughed.

“You did not.” Cloud Burner huffed. “You just saw it in your precognition.”

“And that means I knew it.”

“Quiet, you two.” Twilight got up and opened the little window facing the Day Guard pulling the chariot. “Gents? Change of plans. Head to Point Crowne. I have an appointment.”

“Who do you think wrote it?” Trixie said, eying the note. “Smells like a trap.”

“I don’t think it is,” Twilight said, sitting back down. “If it’s who I think it is, then this is a meeting I won’t want to miss. I’ve got some questions for them.”

Author's Note

Hey folks!

On time this chapter. Cool, huh?

Except, not quite. I wanted to put in a scene directly addressing what's doing to happen with Demesne and such here. The *original* plan was to do it in a later chapter but some folks advised me to do it sooner, and I came around to their way of thinking, just too late to include it this time.

So, current plan is to have that scene written and edited with the next chapter, and I'll just shove that specific scene in this one and notify everyone in the A/N to go check the previous chapter for the update. Cool? Cool.

Despite that hiccup, I hope you all enjoyed this one :)

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

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Trust Where None Have Tread

Point Crowne was much like Ponyville, a satellite town of Canterlot. Many of the not-super-wealthy ponies who worked in the capital lived in these villages and commuted into the city. This one was closer and thus, wealthier, than most of the others. One little café in particular — The Velvet Room — had nearly the same level of fame as some of the shops in Canterlot itself.

It was this café that Twilight found herself in, yawning as she followed a waiter to a private VIP booth in a little tower. At the table was a pegasus who was dressed very much like any noble from the area. Her blouse was white and kinda poofy, with the formal, business-like outer jacket a light green. She had a collar with a bright red gem in it, and the dress had dark green on the fringes. She also wore a very large white hat with long green feathers stuck in one side.

Twilight sat on the cushion opposite the mare, with Spike standing and facing the door. They both kept silent until the waiter finally left and Twilight could put up a privacy field to scramble their speech to any potential eavesdroppers. “I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t quite this.”

“Oh?” The mare took a sip of tea. “You didn’t expect me in my work clothes, did you?”

“I suppose not, but I also didn’t expect to see the Phantasm to be dressed as a noble. Although I definitely anticipated the hat. After all, a winged unicorn would naturally draw attention.”

Phantasm froze for a second. “Ah. Of course. I was wondering if I would be able to keep that under wraps if I met you. But it was worth it to save the foals’ lives.”

Twilight poured herself a cup of tea, though she made sure to use magic to test it for contamination.

“Don’t trust me?”

“No. Though I would imagine you could understand that. Grand Mages grow enemies like weeds.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”

“So,” Twilight said, taking a sip. “Were you an orphan? Was that why a thief felt so compelled to bring the orphanage to my attention?”

“If you must know, yes.” Phantasm nibbled on a tiny cake. “Though my backstory isn’t why I asked to meet you here. It’s been some time, Twilight. Last we met, I gave you a list of names. I want to see if you passed the test.”

“Let’s get one thing straight. Much as I don’t put too much stock in noble ranks, I also don’t put myself under anypony that doesn’t have the title of ‘Princess.’ I am not subject to your approval. I do not take orders from you. I personally didn’t even do anything to investigate the ponies you mentioned. I gave it to RGIS, who gave it to the Crown Police.

“As for the results, Spike, if you would?”

Spike pulled a large binder out from his bag, and flipped to page three. “Of the twenty names you gave us, ten could not be found to have done anything criminal. They simply didn’t trust you. They’ve been disciplined to always launch investigations on such accusations, and many local- to Duchy-level organizations have put in new procedures to make sure such investigations will happen when somepony makes that kind of complaint.

“A further five were found to be generally incompetent for multiple reasons. Four were terminated, one demoted.

“Four more were found to be taking bribes and kickbacks. They’re either already in prison or are being tried for their crimes.”

“Hmm.” Phantasm’s gaze was colder than the incoming breeze, and she ignored the snowflake falling into her tea. “And the last? That’s only nineteen.”

Spike grimaced. “Marinara Spice. Minor noble. Dead before the investigation launched. Heart attack.”

Phantasm blinked. “Oh. Well, yes, I do suppose that’s a good excuse for not being prosecuted.”

Twilight motioned to Spike. “That’s the end result, at least as far as those twenty are concerned. I’ve also talked with Cadence, and she’s put in place a process to ensure all future buildings meant to house orphans are given a once-over by her own inspectors before being cleared.”

“And ten go basically unpunished.” Phantasm sighed. “You vex me so, Lady Sparkle. I had fully expected you to either do nothing, or crush them all underhoof. That’s all the nobility ever seems good for.

“Lo and behold, you do neither and both, at the same time. I’ve run through what I thought this conversation would be so many times, and this… this was not like anything I had feared. Or hoped.”

Twilight sipped tea through a smile. “And that’s surprising to me. The greatest thief in the world, vexed because something is unexpected?”

“Oof.” The thief flinched as if struck. “And the knife gets twisted with a kiss. How to respond to that? It defies my experience. I suppose it’s enough that I’ll ignore the fact that you’ve almost certainly brought half of Canterlot PD here with you.”

“Ha!” Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof to not spray her tea guest with spittle. “What good would they be against you? No, I didn’t call on the Canterlot Police.”

Phantasm tipped her hat. “Then who did you call?”

Just like that, a shadow loomed over the thief. A stallion with a burning indigo mane and horn sharp as a spear all but growled in Phantasm’s ear. “Me.”

In the very next instant, the greatest thief in the world plowed nose-first into an invisible barrier put up by Obsidian Armor.

Twilight sipped more tea. “I knew Canterlot PD wouldn’t be up to the task. Not even most of the Night Guard could catch you. So I called on my brother. By the time I had asked Spike to give you the report, there were already fifteen layers of barriers around us. At this point, the Bellerophon could start shooting us, and we would have time for another cup of tea before they got through.”

Armor chuckled. “Teleportation also isn’t an option. I included spatial and temporal anchors in the layers.”

Phantasm all but oozed down the side of the barrier, some very un-ladylike drool left in place where her face met the hard light. After a moment, she wobbled to her hooves, rubbing her nose and holding her head. “You couldn't have made it a bit softer?”

Twilight smirked. “You didn't have to try to Passage into it! Though, this was just a demonstration. If I really wanted to go after you, I could catch you. The monsters I've been after lately are way scarier than anything you've ever been.

“Now that I've accomplished that, I have a proposal for you.” She motioned to her brother, who gave her an exasperated look asking for confirmation. After an additional nod, he dropped the barriers.

Phantasm pulled out a hankie and wiped her face. “I wish you'd have just asked me or made a few threats.”

Twilight shook her head. “Needed to do this. Even if it's outside my normal purview, if I'm ever asked about this, I'll need a good reason why I didn't just slap hobbles on you. Now: I want your help.”

“What do you need me for?” Phantasm adjusted her clothes, straightening them from the close encounter with physics. “I'm a thief, Lady Sparkle. You don't need to steal anything. Just confiscate it.”

“‘It’ has already been stolen. From the single most secure vault in the world. Something that should have been impossible to steal.” Twilight put her glare straight through Phantasm’s head. “I need to know how they did it, and I'm confident you're the only one who can figure this out.”

Phantasm licked her lips.”Impossible to steal? Nothing’s impossible to steal. But I have to admit, you've piqued my interest.”

“One more thing before we proceed.” Twilight leaned back and crossed her forelegs. “This is classified and confidential. You tell anypony, anyone, anything about what you're about to see, and you'll be dealing with me, my brother, and Luna herself after you. Clear?”

“Quit teasing, you've already got my attention.” The thief was all but squirming in her seat. “If it means that much to you, I promise to keep the secret. I can already taste the challenge!”

So she's motivated more by challenges than wealth? Interesting. “Okay then. Follow me. And remember, tell no one.”

Twilight hopped up after leaving a few bits on the table, paying for them both and then some. Phantasm was close behind her. Obsidian, meanwhile, followed them both, no doubt keeping a watchful eye on their thief. If she tried anything, the wrath of the Night Guard would be on her before she could blink.

They entered her borrowed chariot in silence, and Phantasm suddenly had the entire Evening Guard watching her. Spike tried to strike up a conversation with Obsidian, but the High Cardinal’s response had more than enough of a hint that he was busy that the entire rest of the ride was in silence.

They docked at a high balcony of Canterlot Castle, away from the usual chariot bay. It wasn't the closest spot to their destination, but under no circumstances was Twilight about to let a legendary thief inside her quarters or in the other sensitive areas that would be closer.

Not that their destination could be considered “insensitive.” The six sets of guards and the police tape blocking it off was proof of that.

“This is…” Phantasm gasped.

Twilight nodded. “The Vault of the Elements, the near-sacred place where the Elements of Harmony are stored. Or, where they were stored.”

The Vault had been broken since the coup attempt from General Towers and the Majestics, and ever since, color had been leaking from it in a slow drip. The whole hall had barely been touched since the incident, save for some extremely careful investigators collecting evidence. Yet, from the brilliance of the stained glass to the very coats of hair the ponies around her possessed, grey was taking over in her mind’s eye.

Perhaps a part of that could be explained away by the dust now collecting on every surface. The maids of the castle weren’t allowed in after the coup attempt. It couldn't be so simple, however. The desecrated remains of the Vault were scattered around the ground, and without the Elements themselves, the heart had been ripped from the place.

Phantasm almost had tears in her eyes. “Somepony stole the Elements…”

“Yes,” Twilight sighed. “During the coup. We believe this to have been their true objective. The attempt to seize power would have almost certainly failed. But this? We didn't even know what happened until after the fighting was over.”

Phantasm swallowed. “That's… quite the distraction, I will admit. Not my style, however. Ponies died.”

Twilight shivered as the memories of Discord and the battle in the gardens played out in her memories. “The thing we don't understand is how the Vault was breached. The wards here were without compromise or care of expense. The stone itself was infused with powerful magic capable of withstanding direct attacks from airship-grade weaponry. And yet…”

Twilight put a hoof over one of the crumbled pieces of the Vault on the floor, and pressed down. It crumbled like it was made of sugar.

Anger burned in Phantasm’s eyes. “Balefire. I never thought I'd see that again.”

Twilight’s ear twitched. “‘Again’? And more importantly, what is ‘balefire’?”

The thief picked up a chunk of the Vault, and it turned to dust in her magic. “Ever hear of Faerie Fire?”

Twilight nodded.

“It's that, but worse. I don't know how it's made, exactly, but I do have a few thoughts on how it works. From what I can tell? It's liquid entropy. Anything that touches it is aged thousands of years or more in a heartbeat.

“I first encountered it six years ago I took a job to steal the Tenth Wave by Iron Aviary, and—”

“Hold up.” Obsidian rose, putting himself between the two mares. “I saw that painting last year with my own eyes in a museum in Germaney. It's been there for decades. Are you telling me that—”

“A fake.” Phantasm’s tail swooshed with pride. “A very good fake, no doubt, but still a fake. The real deal has been in the private collections of various rich ponies for ages. In fact, you'd be shocked at how many museum paintings are phonies. No museum wants to report a theft, as no one would loan them any more pieces if they couldn't be kept safe.”

Twilight held out a hoof, silencing her brother for the moment. “But you stole the real one, is that right?”

Phantasm nodded. “I don't normally take jobs for hire, especially when the contractor makes me take another pony along, but the challenge was just too good, especially given that I would be streaking from some pretentious Prench pony. Baroness Orn-something.

“Now, getting into a basement underneath an underground nightclub filled with security was almost like drinking ambrosia, and that wasn't even the hard part. Booby-trapped tunnels, guards, wards, and a thirtyton door. The safe was almost as good as this place. Better, even, in one respect: it had a self-destruct mechanism.”

Obsidian groaned and rubbed his temple. “If they can't have it, nopony can.”

“Exactly.” Phantasm stepped towards the Vault, gingerly avoiding the burned rubble and coming to rest in between two of the stained glass windows. “I did the job. Smooth as silk, too, except for one hitch. To get through the safe, my contact gave me this magic bottle. I only later found out what the hell it was. Ate through the door like water splashed on cotton candy. That tripped the alarm, but we had a backup plan and still managed to succeed.

“But when I make the delivery? The contract agent handling it shot my forced partner and hit her with another bottle of that stuff. She was ash in an instant. If I hadn't run, hadn't known how to use Passage? I'd be ash, too.”

A bell rang in Twilight's mind. “Your randomness… I couldn't find much of a pattern in where you would strike. That was deliberate, wasn't it? You used dice or something to dictate where to go, leaving your would-be murderers guessing, just in case they were still after you.”

Phantasm reached into her pocket, pulling out a map of Equestria and a little bag filled with dice. “Yeah, I did. I don't even know if they're still after me, but I didn't want to take that chance. But now… Now I don't have a choice, do I?”

Twilight tilted her head. “Um, what? I'm not asking you to fight them. I just needed a lead, and I have one now. We can take the rest from here.”

The thief roared with laughter that struggled through tears. “Are you high? Do you suffer from delusions? Soon as the Crown starts looking, they'll know, and then you'll never find them.”

Obsidian stood up straight. “Don't underestimate the Night Guard.”

Phantasm pulled out a wallet — Obsidian's wallet — and tossed it at him. While he sputtered, she backed up, rump against the wall, between the windows. Phantom's sniffles punctuated her words, along with coughs from breathing in dust. “There's only one pony that can get this job done: me. It could well be a death sentence. As soon as I start looking, they'll see the change in my movements. They'll know I'm coming. And they'll try to kill me.”

“Which is why you should leave this to us.” Twilight deployed her armor, telling Aurora to let her runes glow. “Risk is our business.”

Phantasm shook her head. “Not doing this myself makes this everypony's risk. Look!” She pointed at the Vault. “The Elements of Harmony are gone. They have been for, what, a year and a half, at least? At any moment, that monster you morons keep in a bucking garden could break loose, and without the Elements, we're all going to go mad and die. And what if some other alicorn or demon out there still exists and the Princesses can't stop them? Who will then, you? You and what army? We're all going to die, and it will be because I was too afraid.”

Through a quivering lip, she stood and wiped her tears. After a few steps towards the Vault, she stood in the sun’s light. “I refuse to be written in whatever history is left that it was my cowardice that doomed us all. I will fight. I will sneak. I will do whatever, go wherever, scam whoever I need to in order to get the Elements of Harmony back.

“This isn't just about the challenge anymore, and it isn't about my fame or fortune. Isn't even about taking some bauble because I think it's neat. This is about the future survival of ponykind, full stop. I won't be able to sleep at night until all of the Elements are back in the possession of their Bearers. So, congratulations, Lady Sparkle. You just hired yourself a thief, whether you like it or not.”

Twilight smiled, giving her a small bow. “How can I say no to an offer like that? Alright, we'll play it your way. Two rules, though. First, if you find them, you let us know who took them.

“Second, I want you to touch base with me from time to time. You needn't give details. Like you said, we still have leaks we haven't plugged. But I need to know that you're still alive, and if you've made any progress. My brother will set you up with the telegraph address details, provided you don't steal his stuff again.”

“Agreed. I will refrain from stealing anything from you or your allies, unless it's absolutely necessary for this mission.”

Twilight chuckled. “If you really need something from us, you could, you know, just ask.”

Phantasm tipped her hat. “Where's the fun in that? But I suppose I could play by those rules for now. And, if you like, you can call me Prim. It's my real name. Prim Petal.”

“And you can call me Twilight.” She held out a hoof for her to shake. “Welcome to the team, Prim. I'm eager to see what the Phantasm can really do.”

Prim licked her lips.”Oh, if I do it right, nopony will see it.”

Dawn shivered in the winter cold blowing in from the chariot bay opening. This far up, the wind might as well have been made out of ice. Worse, while the illusion medallion the ponies had given her did make her look like a pegasus, it didn't give her the coat that her lost shapeshifting ability would have granted her. She was left with only chitin, which just wasn't up to the task.

Thus, it was all the better when a heated blanket was wrapped around her shoulders by the butter-yellow pegasus who had helped tend to her these last few months.

“Poor thing. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now. Are you shivering from the cold or just nervous about going to live with us ponies?” Fluttershy tucked in the blanket around Dawn, trying to minimize drafts.

“Both.” The heat of the blanket was melting the ice crystals Dawn was sure had formed in her blood, but she couldn't stop her body from shaking. “And, Chrysalis is going to kill me if she finds me.”

“Maybe,” a voice drenched in darkness grumbled.

To Dawn, Obsidian Armor was a dark cloud of fire wherever he went. Even being near him felt like she was in danger of being drenched in napalm. His power may not have been as great as that of Chrysalis — as far as the Hive knew — but he struck blind terror in the hearts of every ‘ling other than the Queen. So great was their trepidation that twice now the Hive had somehow managed to refuse Her order to attack him.

Granted, it did so by pleading and persuasion, but it was still unprecedented. They didn't even refuse orders to make assassination attempts on the alicorn Princesses. The plans were thought to be almost certainly doomed to failure — and indeed, they failed spectacularly. Yet the orders were carried out. For Armor, however? No changeling wanted to even be near him, let alone try to best him in combat.

And here he was, the pony supposedly escorting her to her new home. Instead of, as her heart thought, murdering her outright. Logic told her that he wouldn't just kill her after his own sister gave her this chance. It didn't stop her from shaking like a twig in a tornado.

“We don't know how Chrysalis will react to you.” Obsidian loomed over her, signalling to various charioteers to get ready. “We're hoping she'll ignore you, based on past experience. If not, we have backup plans. Significant numbers of soldiers now reside in Ponyville, after all. And if—”

“Why?” Dawn all but punched herself in the mouth to stop the question, but it had already come out.

Obsidian did something Dawn never thought she'd see: he looked confused. “Why wouldn't we put operatives where Bearers live? And the fort is for—”

“No!” Dawn's tears couldn't be stopped, and neither could the words. “Why are they going to protect me? Why are you protecting me? You hate me! I can feel it from across the room!”

Obsidian grunted and lowered his eyelids. “You're right. I do hate you. I hate you, Chrysalis, and every changeling in existence. Every once of my instinct is telling me to crush your head right now to stop you from betraying us.”

Dawn's heart stopped as he stepped towards her, bearing down on her with sheer presence.

Obsidian continued, “But you know what? I'm more than my instincts. You can't become a captain relying on nothing but your gut. You can't just dismiss it, but a good captain must be aware of their own biases and act with honour.

“So as long as you behave, you have nothing to fear from me. If you don't, well…” Obsidian smiled. “I am sticking you in the middle of a town filled with soldiers.”

Dawn made a little peep. That she was able to respond at all was a minor miracle.

“That's enough, mister!” Fluttershy fluttered above and between them. “You shouldn't say such mean things, or try to scare a pony who's clearly already terrified.”

Obsidian's visage softened, which was the first time Dawn had seen him be anything outside the spectrum between “stern” and “terrifying.” “Very well, Bearer. Let’s make our way to Ponyville.”

The rest of the trip was basically small talk, and almost all of it from Fluttershy of all ponies. Yet Dawn couldn't help but be grateful. The kindness from her was a bubble of peace and safety inside that chariot. Without that, and without the enchanted blanket, she probably would have frozen to death in the ride to the small town.

When they landed, Dawn’s lip was already quivering. “Is… is that...?”

“Your new home!” Fluttershy answered with a smile. “Welcome!”

A house. She was being given a house. Not an apartment, not a shack, but a brand new two-story house. It wasn't very big, and was narrow to accommodate the town's growing density, but still. Her own house, private and (hopefully) secure.

It was everything being a changeling wasn't. However, there was one thing very challenging about what was also before her: a crowd. It looked like half the town had shown up to welcome her. Near her new home were even a few cannons with confetti streamers hanging off them, and against all logic, given the way they were aimed, it looked like they were where the decorations came from.

More telling than that, though, were the signs. They said they would welcome her. That they would help her. That they accepted her.

In spite of being a changeling. They knew. They all knew. Half of Dawn wanted to run screaming, while the other wanted to melt into a puddle. “Why?” she asked.

“Because Ponyville is a welcoming place,” Fluttershy said as the chariot landed. “And if there's ever going to be peace, it should start here… or, so said Pinkie Pie. She also said she's sorry she can't be here but will visit later.”

Obsidian’s chuckle felt like it could break Dawn's spine. “She also added ‘when you least expect it,’ though knowing her, that's probably supposed to be a good thing.”

Dawn sniffled. “You think there could be peace?”

“Not in the slightest.” Obsidian grabbed hold of the chariot handle. “But against all odds, you chose our side. If the others want to try it by welcoming you, I have no justification to stop them. Now, go on and say hello.”

The door opened, and she was almost deafened by the cheers from the crowd. Some otherworldly flow had led her through the crowd which swarmed around her, greeting her, giving her gifts, and asking her questions. She didn’t even really get to appreciate her new house, as there were already ponies inside, ready for a party. Many had told her of what they did to get the place ready, and that they were there to help her if she needed it.

Even more had volunteered to look out for her well-being in case the anypony gave her problems. It was like being in the Hive again, only without the iron-clad directives. Kindness might not have been as potent a source of nutrition as actual love, but after so much of it, she was utterly stuffed. Every ‘ling had a maximum amount of emotional energy they could carry in them, and she hit her limit after just thirty minutes.

Several hours later, the party died down, and she was finally alone. Though she had seen them walk out the door, it still felt like the crowd had just evaporated when she wasn't looking. It was late at night, and she was finally by herself.

The voices didn't quite stop, though. They weren't the drone of the Hive, at least, but of memories. The events of the last few hours were playing all at once in her head, without the good decency to stay in chronological order. It was all just as jumbled as her body felt as she crawled into bed.

Though her new clock said she'd been asleep for two hours, she couldn't trust it. The buzzing sound at her window came right when she put her head on the pillow. They found me already? What do I do?

She zipped underneath the bed, shaking but silent. For minutes, all that she heard was deadly silence and the sound of her chitin rubbing on the underside of the bed. Her shaking slowed a tiny bit in a prayer that it was over. The answer came in the form of a shattering window.

She scrambled out of her hiding spot and plowed through the surprised changelings in her room, knocking them over. Her bedroom door was closed. She opened it with a shoulder and a crash, then tumbled down the stairs. Three more changelings were waiting for her on the ground level, and only the adrenaline-fueled strength in her muscles let her dash through the room fast enough to avoid them.

In one swift motion, she threw open the door and ran outside into the cold, snowy air. As she spread her wings, her hoof cried out in pain as it ran into a solid lump in the snow. The world twisted around and upside down as she fell, doing a forward flip and landing on her back in the cold. The sky above was a black void, bereft of stars or even clouds. What few twinkles of light that existed were just snowflakes drifting down and reflecting the street lights.

Buzzing and hisses surrounded her as her mind cleared back up. She gasped in a lump of iced air and scrambled to run back inside, but stopped in a skid when she saw the door closed and sealed with changeling goo. So this is it…

She turned to face the swarm, tears in her eyes. At least a couple dozen drones had surrounded her, some in the air, some in the ground, all pushing her back to her house. “You couldn't just leave me alone?”

The center changeling spoke in their native chittering. <>

“Like hell!” The words came out before she could even process what the changeling had said. However, she agreed with her instincts. “She kills us the moment she thinks we'll be captured!”

<>

“Clop off, Chrysalis! I know you're in there, listening! You want to kill me? Fine, then do it right here in front of the whole town! Show them who you really are! Make them want to end you even more than they already do! But these ponies have already welcomed me, and I'll be damned to Tartarus if I'm going to go back with you just to be killed and dumped in the wastes!”

A small chuckle froze Dawn in her tracks. What she didn't expect was that the changelings froze as well.

A tall, slender unicorn stepped out from the shadows. She wore the armour of the Night Guard, and carried a large longbow on her back. Most prominent, though, was the black blindfold over her eyes. This was Acolyte Sable Seer, the right hoof of the feared Obsidian Armor. “That was well said, Dawn, if a bit crude.”

The changelings leapt up, diving into action. A split second later, barriers of black and light blue sprang to life, stretching into the void above. Every single one of the changelings surrounding Dawn was intercepted by a barrier. How they weren't cut in two already was beyond her. Instead, they were all trapped in place.

Bolts of green rained down from the horns of the few ‘lings close to the Night Guard. Each plinked harmlessly off her personal shields.

“What, did somepony shut down the Hive? Oh, I see. That's just individual instinct. There's no way the collective would assume that I would neglect my defenses after going through all the trouble to lay down this trap. Right?”

The lead changeling hissed in reply. Dawn thought it best to not translate.

Sable cut through the noise with a piercing whistle. “Okay, everybug! Listen up! This little darling is under the protection of the Princess of the Night! She'd be here herself to tell you, but she's been very busy lately.

“And you know the thing about being busy? She's not had much time to dedicate to making the Hive’s collective heinies miserable. You're just not the priority.” Sable bared her fangs like a wolf. “But if you go hurting this one any further, you're going to go up several notches on the naughty list, got it? Buck off, or what we'll do to you will make what we did to the Zebras look like a mercy.”

The changelings spoke as one. “We will ta—”

“Rending Tempest!”

Sable’s movements were less a blur and more written directly into history. A violet arrow of energy two meters long sped through the first changeling, passing through it before splitting in two and hitting a pair behind it. Upon each hit, the arrow split again, cascading through the group and executing every single one of them.

Dawn stood, mouth open and silent as the shields shut down and the bodies fell.

Sable put away her bow. “You can come out now.”

Dawn wanted to ask what she meant by coming out. She wanted to say anything, do anything. Nothing in her body would listen to her.

The front door to the next house unlocked, and a half dozen ponies in construction gear filed out.

“Jeepers,” the first one said. “How? Why’d you kill them like that?”

“They were attempting to charge energy for a self-destruct.” Sable walked to Dawn's door, and almost seemed to examine it despite having a blindfold. She shot energy into the goo holding it shut, cutting it like a knife. “I wasn't about to let them threaten me or Dawn like that.”

Sable gave the door a kick, knocking it open. “Gentlecolts? I believe our intruders did some damage, and our friend deserves a warm place to sleep.”

One of the ponies lifted a hammer. “Give us fifteen minutes. Let's get it done, boys!”

A couple of them yee-hawed as they ran in and got to work.

“Ma’am?” Dawn finally asked. “What's happening?”

Sable smiled at her. “I do apologize for not informing you. We didn't know if the Hive could still obtain a psychic imprint from you and learn of our plans. So we deliberately kept you in the dark and set the trap.”

“Trap…” Dawn said through a sneeze.

Sable nudged Dawn to move inside, and there was tea before the former changeling could really process things.

“We set up a trap to see if Chrysalis would attempt to bring harm to you. Sadly, we were correct in guessing that she would. I did not expect them to go directly for self destruction, but was prepared for the eventuality.”

Dawn sipped the tea, feeling the warmth in her belly grow. “How did you know that's what they were doing?”

Sable tapped her blindfold. “For punishment of my failure, I have given up my sight. To work toward redemption, I have taken an Oath. Not a mere promise of words, but a binding to my soul. As long as I keep true to this, the spirits tell me what to see.”

Dawn blinked. “Um…”

Sable sighed, sinking into her seat. “It matters not if you believe in spirits. Believe in my bow. You've seen that with your own eyes.”

Dawn gulped down a bunch of tea. “What failure did you mean?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Sable’s ears perked up, then fell even lower. “It was before this life. Before I became Sable Seer, during the changeling invasion. Do you remember that day?”

“Yes… sorta?” A ripple of discomfort rocked her. “I wasn't born yet, but in the Hive, memories are shared, so…”

“Understood. Well, during the invasion, I was a Royal Guard on lookout at an outpost. One in the forests around the capitol. I saw the changelings coming, but they were disguised as pegasi. So I didn't fire my flare.” Sable winced at a sour taste in her mouth. “Even if they were pegasi, I should have fired it. That number of pegasi was clearly out of the ordinary, and the wedding was going on. It was due to my failure that the city was caught so totally by surprise.”

Dawn leaned back in her chair. “Actually, I don't think the Hive saw you. But I'm pretty sure they would have killed you if you did shoot a flare.”

“Irrelevant. I was a member of the Royal Guard. If I had to die to fulfil my duty, so be it. Yet I failed, and deserved my court-martial. I pled guilty, and on the evening before I was to be sentenced, threw myself off the capitol city I had failed.”

Dawn sipped her tea, running through a million things to say on her mind and liking none of them. If there was still a residual link to the Hive, it definitely wasn't helping her.

“My Sovereign, Her Highness Princess Luna, saved me. She helped me, eased my pain, and gave me a second chance, even though I deserved none.

“I learned that such was normal for us. The Night Guard, I mean. We're all on a second chance from a failed past. She finds us, somehow. She soothes our hearts, and trusts us with everything despite the fact that we should never be trusted for anything.

“We follow her because she's just like us. We're all walking along an ocean path to a sunset, a redemption, that we can never reach. But she shows us that despite that, we're still together, and stronger for it. That's why every one of us believes in her and follows her with every fibre of our being. It's the only way we can ever believe in ourselves.”

Dawn wanted to curl into a ball and cry. “I didn't know that.”

“Most don't.”

Crash!

Dawn's first instinct was to duck under the table, but she couldn't do that because she was somehow already there.

“It sounds as if they managed to remove your broken window. We already have spares available. The new one should be installed in moments, and you can get back to sleep.

“Rest well. The Night is watching over you.”

Dawn poked her head out and slowly crawled back into the chair. She craned her head around the corner to see Sable about to leave. Somewhere deep in her, she pulled up what courage she had left, pushing through the shivers from the cold. “Um, thank you. For everything. I don't know why you did it. I mean, Obsidian obviously hates my guts, but you still helped me. So, yeah, thanks.”

“I should think the ‘why’ would be obvious,” Sable replied just before closing the door on her way out. “You're on a second chance, too.”

Author's Note

**REMINDER** I've added a scene to the previous chapter. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/39849/90/rites-of-ascension/cool-comfort Go check it out!

Really sorry about missing last month. I'll try to get an extra chapter up sometime this coming month to make up for it.

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

Train Ride Through The Void

The system was, to put it mildly, imperfect. Duke Rasbuckin knew that. He accepted it.

With imperfection, there came complaints. Such was only natural, and in a way was quite useful. Complaints could usually be followed to find the roots of imperfection, and things could become better.

Perhaps it was a Sisyphean task. Perfection could well be impossible. If it was possible, then it was certain he'd have to see it from the Summerlands, long after his death.

And things had hardly been perfect lately. Granted, much of the problem had been well outside his control, and absolutely outside the control of the Duchy. The blame for the disastrous weather that created the present food shortages could be placed squarely at the foot of the rebels all but destroying Cloudsdale.

Yet, if the system could not handle these events, then was that not more evidence of how it had to be improved? Surely even leniency might be argued for?

Perhaps in less desperate hours, the duke could entertain such thoughts. Now, though, in his tiny shed on the lake, north from Moscolt, he had but the one goal of protecting his system. To do that, he had to protect his citizens, and for that, they needed Harmony.

His course was set.

He stood up and wrapped himself in his red ducal robes, warming his body and mind as the wind howled in concert with the timberwolves outside. The shack creaked as he walked, and the burning incense tickled his nose. When he opened the door to the other room, two of the three ponies inside stood at attention. The third, bound and gagged, could only mumble as he approached.

The room was filled with all the little tools a woodworker or carpenter would want, combined with the isolation yearned for in a hermit’s heart. The floor was just the ice of the lake, covered with a throw rug, save for a big hole in the middle.

The other party in the shed was a gryphon female. Even now the duke's mind told him to be wary of her. They could see too much. This one, though, had proven able to keep her beak firmly shut when needed.

“Roller, ungag him.” The duke pulled up a cushion to sit in front of the captive, with the hole in the ice in between them covered by some plywood.

One of the two stallion officers pulled the gag off the gang member and gave him a swat to the back of the head. “Ready to talk?”

The prisoner spat out a blob of blood. “Go die in a fire.”

“Hmph. How dare you insult Claddin’s ideals so.” Rasbuckin pulled out the picture from his robe and laid it out on the plywood. “After all, it was a supporter of the system that found this.”

The officers removed the blindfold on the gang member. The picture was of him and two others in a warehouse, taken from the skylight on the roof. They had a myriad of tools and instruments strewn about, all meant for testing magical artifacts. The artifact in question was a necklace with a ruby-red apple-shaped gem.

The gang member smiled. “Don't know what you're talking about.”

“Funny.” Rasbuckin waved to the officer, a bulked-out earth pony if there ever was one.

The officer, casual as a day on the beach, walked over to the captive, grabbed his front fetlock, and broke it.

“Argh!” The gang member sucked in the yell, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.

“I doubt you'll be able to walk normally again after that.” The Duke tapped the picture. “Your friends got away. For now, at least. It's only a matter of time until the system catches up to them. You can save yourself a lot of pain by telling us where they went, or where the Element is.”

“Ha!” The gang member drooled as he laughed. “Last I heard she was on some farm in Canterlot.”

“Funny guy.” The gryphoness rolled her eyes. “Maybe we should dock his tail next. I could use a new necktie.”

The Duke held up a hoof for silence. “You realize, young man, that if attempting to get information from you proves a waste of time, you'll be at the bottom of this lake in short order. You're not just a hooligan. That you were seen with the stolen Element makes you are a traitor. Nopony will lose sleep over your summary execution.”

The gang member laughed some more. “You don't have a clue what death even is, old man.”

“I'm a hundred and two, young one. I've watched more ponies die than you've ever known in your life. You, however, are about to lose yours if you don't see reason.

“Now, tell us what you know. This is your last chance. Blow it, and maybe we'll just give the photograph, and you, to the Grand Mage. Defy her… well, she breaks holes in space-time for fun. I'm certain she's far more creative than this old man. If she decides that talking to you isn't worth her time, we’ll dump you in the water and move on to the next lead.”

“Hehehehehehehe…”

Breya put her hand on her sword hilt. “He's cracked. Put the binds back on him.”

The captive slurped up his drool. “He's coming…”

Everyone froze solid.

The Duke wanted to take a cautious step forward. Wanted to. His hoof had him back up instead. “Who is coming?”

“He's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming!” The gang member stopped still, then gasped in half the air in the room as he threw his head to the sky. “Ionos!”

The floor under them ripped like liquid and spread to the wall as an inky black something overtook the captive from the bottom of his hooves. It flowed like living tar over him, engulfing him entirely. An instant after it compressed into a ball the size of a melon, before exploding out with a dozen tentacles.

The ooze lashed out like whips, crashing into the walls, furniture, and anything not fast enough to dodge them. That would have included the Duke, but the gryphoness he hired earned her pay by blocking the hit for him. In the next second, she earned a bonus by slashing the monster in half at least a half dozen times.

Apparently not content with getting itself cut just a few times, the filth coalesced into an orb, perhaps the size of a hoofball. Hilda, the gryphoness, seemed to be waiting for that moment, as she brought her blade down directly through the center. Ice exploded out from the center, flash freezing the mass before a flame overtook the whole thing from inside.

The fire burned with a dark blue hue, and wasted no time in setting the carpet on fire. Before they could get the fire extinguisher, though, the mass melted into the ice underneath, boring a whole straight through in seconds. The entire thing, carpet and all, was falling into the lake before the fire could spread.

“You know…” Hilda rested on her sword. “I wasn't down with the whole torture thing to begin with, but I knew this was important. I didn't think that's what ponies did when you hurt them.”

“That was not normal.” The Duke wiped his brow, which was already drenched with sweat despite the freezing temperature. “I don't know what that was. But I know what it reminded me of.”

The police chief stumbled to his feet, wheezing out his breath. “I think that broke my ribs. I… I don't know if we should tell the Princess about this.”

The Duke peeked into the hole in the ice. “We tell them. We… omit the torture, of course. It was an interrogation. Everything else, though? They must know. They're the only ones who can protect the system.”

Over the past months, Twilight’s winter coat had come in like never before. There were a few days where she had to visit the castle spa every single day to keep her coat tamed. She was a very fluffy pegasus--minus the wings, of course.

She was still freezing her little unicorn butt off, even as the engine next to her burned off solidified magic to power the locomotive she was in.

“We're getting close,” Spike said over the radio. “Everypony get ready!”

Twilight pushed at Aurora, who deployed over her. This was followed by an immensely fluffy jacket and other bits of winter gear that would bake her in minutes if she stayed in the engine room. Sadly, the safety of the little compartment was not where she was supposed to stay.

Winter gear on, she lit her horn until it bathed the room in crimson light from the fire magic she was summoning, and then pulled the lever next to her. The special modification to the engine room opened the roof, and a giant piston lifted her up and outside into the cold.

We have got to get full weather control back up and running. I don't care if there's a giant ice mana krene in Stalliongrad. Minus sixty-five is just obscene.

The exhaust stack for the engine had been modified to push heat to the sides instead of up and in her face. Additionally, a giant plow had been fitted to the front to run through thick snow when it appeared.

Behind her was the longest train ever put together. Three kilometres of cars linked together to save Moscolt from the disaster of Cloudsdale. The only thing stopping them was nature run rampant.

Not that you could tell that at the moment. It was so early in the morning the sun hadn't even hinted at being near the horizon. Everything was darkness wrapped in an unnatural snowfall on an infinite flat plane. Visibility was a hundred meters at best before sinking into purest black. The moon was no help, being completely invisible behind the thick clouds up above.

To her right was a brand new chariot being pulled by both Rainbow Dash and Cloud Burner. It wore the purples and dark blues of the Evening Guard, and a rounded front and rear with an enclosed roof. On the bottom was a silver lump of metal and steel which was extending as Twilight watched it, turning into a single-barrelled cannon capable of blowing up a small house with one shot. However, it wasn't the biggest source of external firepower at her disposal.

Twilight pressed against her helmet. “Attention, all wings. Moscolt is starving. The out-of-control weather devastated this year's crops and cut the Duchy off from most supply routes. Millions need the food that this train and those behind it are carrying. Failure is not an option.

“I know many of you have never seen a snow crab before. They're bigger than the books say, because this year has set records for snowfall already. That size gives them considerable striking distance, and though they are clumsy, their stride makes them faster than they look.

“They hate heat sources. That includes your body, but most importantly includes this train.

“They'll go for the engine first, but after we pass them by, they'll be more than happy to go after the cars. It only takes one hit from their multi-ton claws to literally derail this entire operation. They can't be allowed to even get close.

“Do not waste time shooting their eyes, body, or claws. Your weapons cannot penetrate their armor there. Targeting their legs is useless as well. They can move at up to forty percent speed on only two legs, and regenerate in minutes. To kill them, you must shoot them in the mouth. Open or closed, it's a weak point. A few solid bursts will shred their insides, fatally disrupting the magic that holds them together.

“Ready yourselves for launch. Steel your nerves. Moscolt is counting on us!”

“Hoo-rah!”

Twilight nodded in satisfaction. Without the twenty wings of pegasi that she had hidden away in the train — five ponies per wing — , this would have been impossible. Snow crabs were four stories tall when active, but perfectly camouflaged in the deep snow when sleeping.

“Hey Twilight, the scope you designed is working. I can't find where they are exactly, but we definitely have an increase in ice magic coming up. Maybe ninety seconds out.”

Perfectly camouflaged unless you know exactly what to look for. Even still, she could only get it so that they could find the general area rather than specific spots.

“Good work, Spike. All wings, launch at will!”

Behind her, scattered about the train, were numerous cars configured not to carry food, but pegasi. Each had two ramps on either side that folded out to forty-five degrees, and the cars also had a spell that catapulted out any unauthorised pony that tried to get in. She could hear the ka-chunk of each launch even over the wind and noise of the engine. Within seconds, dozens of professional flyers were in the air to greet the threat and punch it in the mouth.

Twilight, for her part, started weaving a spell matrix to contain the power she had summoned into her horn. Points of hot red light formed around her within the magic circle and started to orbit. Each was a spell ready to cast instantaneously, but degraded quickly once in the matrix.

They were also a giant “kick me” sign for anything that hated heat.

“Almost there!” Spike said. “Arming the cannon.”

“Steady!” Twilight shifted her spell to the side for a moment. There was another spell she needed. Seconds later, she launched a mini sun of a flare forward into the night, illuminating several kilometres all around.

The crabs didn't like that one bit. Dozens of mounds of snow and ice, each the size of an apartment building, dug themselves out of the tundra. With coal-black eyes glittering in the flarelight, they started their march towards the tracks, ready to crush with claws bigger than any of the train cars. Standing up as high as possible on their legs, they were tall enough to have the train run directly under them.

“Ponies? You are weapons free.”

A roar like thunder overtook the plains as dozens of guns cracked and growled. Most of the bolts missed and plinked harmlessly off of thick ice — inevitable given the wind and motion. A few, however, found purchase in the mouths of the crabs. Each had a punch like being hit with a mach-speed anvil… that was also on fire… and exploded, for good measure. The ones that were hit struggled for a brief moment before collapsing into a lifeless pile of snow and ice.

A boom followed the little guns as Spike pulled the trigger on the chariot’s cannon. His shot missed — barely — but it didn't matter. The chariot had a much larger shell than the saddle guns of the pegasi. A second explosion boxed Twilight's ears, and as the light cleared, there was a crab missing about sixty percent of its body mass. It never stood a chance.

Guess it's my turn. Twilight pulled out her blade and held it by her head, aiming directly down the tracks and through at least three crabs. She thrust it forward, cutting one of the little orbs circling her. The sword slurped up the power like a hungry snake an instant before it fired. A pure crimson light shot forward faster than the speed of sound, stopping for neither crabs, snow, nor anything else but entropy.

The first crab hit was vaporised entirely, save for perhaps the tips of its legs. The second looked as if it had been hit by Spike’s cannon, albeit with a cleaner edge. The third and final one was intact, but dead. Its internal magic had been too greatly disrupted. When the train reached it, the plow left no remains.

“Left side, car twenty,” Rainbow warned.

Twilight spun to the left and thrust her blade again, firing another beam after a crab that had somehow passed through their defenses unscathed. Its right side vanished in the blink of an eye, followed by an explosion a few hundred metres behind it. A chariot would have easily been tossed by the shockwave, but fortunately, the train was heavy enough to stay on its track.

“Good call, Rainbow!”

Spike’s cannon fired again, and once again missed, but the explosion was easily big enough to do damage. The beastie was missing all of its limbs on that side, making it easy pickings for a pegasus that followed up.

Twilight twirled the sword in her grasp. “Time to get serious.”

This time, she slashed in three different directions, each slash launching a wave of energy at the crabs. They cut in deep, sending up plumes of steam. They weren't lethal, but they left the crabs wide open for the flyers. She pulled in five of the orbs, making them dance in orbit around the blade. The power of an alicorn given time to store magic exploded out in a kaleidoscopic ball of beams, each too weak to be lethal to a crab, but more than enough to carve into them and leave them stunned and still.

The time she bought doing that was spent building more power for more orbs. Halfway through the gap, the wind kicked up to something ferocious, and Twilight slid back on the metal platform. The grips on the bottom of her armor struggled to find purchase on the steel, but she was able to stop before falling clear off the locomotive.

“Guys, the wind’s here. We’re already approaching the river. The largest group is coming; keep them off the train. We get to the bridge and we’re home free. Trixie, you and Stiletto read me? Are you ready?”

“Copy that, Lady Sparkle. They haven’t spotted us. I’m about to freeze my nose off, though.”

“We’ll pick you up as we pass. Everypony, get ready!” Twilight upped the power she pulled, letting her horn burn with pain at the sheer quantity of fire magic she was summoning at once. She’d lost count how many times she had to pause to fire another beam, and her heart punched her in the chest when she realized she was out of orbs.

“Right side!”

She held her breath as she turned to find a smaller crab that had snuck in and no pegasi to cover it. Its claw came down on the train, making it tilt to the side. The whole world seemed to stop as the train teetered on the edge of falling, only to slam back onto the tracks.

A second later, one of Spike’s rounds ended the crab’s existence entirely, shaking the cars and threatening to do what the crab failed to do. The car closest to the blast actually caught on fire, but it was put out in seconds by the sheer cold and wind.

“Big one, coming up!”

Twilight spun to face forward, and found the mother of all snow crabs blocking their path. Eight stories tall, and somehow looking hungry, it threatened to crush the engine with a single squat. Twilight pushed power into her horn and fired an immediate beam, but without the time to save up energy, it wasn't anywhere near as strong as the others. However, it was digging in. Chunks of slush were flying out, and six of her pegasi were joining in. Their rounds smashed into the hole that she had made, followed by one from Spike. The crab fell to the ground in a heap an instant before the train reached it.

A shockwave ran through the entire train as the plow crashed into the crab’s remains, and each car jumped up in succession as it hit. Miraculously, none of the hits were enough to derail the heavy cars from their tracks.

“Watch your fire, Spike! That was too close.”

“Sorry, Twilight.”

“There's another big one coming from the right. Hit it!”

“On it!”

Twilight summoned more power, but stopped as the bridge came into view. “Here it comes, ponies! Watch the sides of the train and stay clear!”

The Volco river was steaming, as it always was. The water wasn't potable, as it was rich in fire dust. The source was a volcano to the north, which was over a fire krene. The result was a river almost always near the boiling point, and a heat source the crabs could neither attack nor cross. Once Twilight and her ponies crossed the bridge, they were home free.

A casual observer might have been curious about the two giant mounds of snow piled up on either side of the bridge’s entrance. They were obviously unnatural, and not from the crabs. They were, however, excellent camouflage.

“Do it, Trixie!”

One of the piles gained a subtle glow, but that wasn't what got the remaining crabs’ attention. Rather, it was the explosion of hard, purple ice from within the river. The crystal quickly overtook the entire width of the water, making a rough second bridge of sorts. The ice continued to shift, getting a more perfect shape with each passing second. As the train engine reached the entrance to the regular bridge, the crabs took their opportunity to finally cross the boiling river.

It was a veritable stampede of crustaceans. Several dozen of the snow crabs scrambled for the bridge to chase after the hot train locomotive. Another dozen or so couldn't make it past the train to get to the crossing. The pegasi dove on them, swarming them with their now superior numbers. That group was destroyed in seconds.

Those closer to the bridge were crawling over each other for a chance at crossing. When the lead crab got a third of the way across, the ice under it erupted into a hill, sending it tumbling down and crashing into those behind it. Hundreds of legs scrambled to find purchase on the ice, crawling over each other to get up the hill. When they got over, another hill formed beyond it, but the crab was ready this time. The formation of rough terrain did little more than slow them down. Of course, that was the point.

When the lead crab was near the other bank of the river, it flew backwards as a small mountain came into being underneath it. The critter went flying, which was no small feat given its mass. It probably crushed a few of its smaller brethren when it landed.

“OK, Trixie. Close the trap.”

Even faster than it had appeared, the ice bridge buckled and shattered. It didn't so much melt as dissolve into the ether. Dozens of snow crabs fell directly into the boiling Volca river. They scrambled and flailed about, trying to crawl over one another. It was no use. At the location of the bridge, the river was fast, deep, and more than able to pick up the crabs and carry them. They were made of ice, after all, which tended to float.

Even worse for them, rapidly moving water imparted energy at a far greater rate than standing water. In seconds, most of the crabs had melted enough to die. Their remains floated and bobbed along, breaking apart again and again. A few that had been near the starting bank had managed to crawl back on to land, only to be met with a hail of pegasus gunfire.

By this time, the mound of snow that had been glowing was shining like a star. This was because the illusion tower they'd cobbled together from guesses on how the Templar worked had melted away all the snow on top of it. Even though the illusion had ended, it was still heating up, and the top detonated in what was probably best described as a little hissy fit. At least, it was that compared to the explosions that had been seen in the battle just moments before.

“Lady Sparkle, I do believe the day is won. The remaining crabs are running away.”

Twilight pressed a hoof to her ear. “Follow up, Lieutenant. Have your wings destroy all you can, but don’t lose sight of the train or you’ll get lost in the tundra. Once you are done, regroup and come back in for a landing. Dash? Swing around and pick up Trixie and Stiletto, then come in for a landing yourselves at our special caboose. I think we've all earned some nice hot cocoa.”

If there was anything succeeding on a mission in ridiculous wind chill against giant living masses of ice and snow called for, it was a giant mug of hot cocoa.

Especially one spiked with a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

It was a comforting warmth in the cold, but there in the train car filled with rowdy military pegasi wrestling each other for fun, it was actually a bit much. The body heat and breath actually made it rather stuffy.

“You know,” Rainbow said, flopping down next to her. “Steamed crab is a delicacy in Gryphonia. They serve it with butter.”

Spike scratched his chin. “That sounds kinda good, actually.”

Twilight stuck out her tongue. “Ew. No thanks. Not that the ones we steamed could even be served. Without the magic sustaining them, they're just water.”

Spike took a sip of cocoa. “So wouldn't eating them just be drinking a glass of water?”

“With fire dust mixed in, don't forget.” Twilight glanced at her hot chocolate. “Not even I want that kind of spice.”

One of the pegasi soldiers burped. “What happens if you do drink it?”

“You suffer internal burns,” Spike answered. "Unless you're me. I think it's delicious.”

Rainbow stretched her face with her hooves and put on a silly voice. “I'm Spike, I'm immune to everything and my burps corrode solid steel!”

“Shut up!” Spike gave her a little shove. “And they do not—UUURP!”

Celestia's and Luna's messages had impeccable timing, as always. The green and silver flames erupted from his mouth and swirled into a ball that just happened to touch the wall of the train car. When it turned into a letter and fell to the floor, it left behind a hole in the steel that was letting in the wind.

The entire car erupted into laughter, and Twilight pulled him into a hug as his wings drooped. “It's okay, Spike. It's just another cool thing you can do. What does the letter say?”

He handed it over, and she opened it up for a read. “Uh-oh…”

Rainbow hushed the other pegasi. “What is it?”

“Can't say here. Classified. But our trip to Stalliongrad just got more complicated.”

Author's Note

Sorry this one was a little late. Things got out of hand. I'll try to be better next time.

Thanks again for sticking with me, especially my patrons because WOW you guys are awesome for putting up with these delays. Thank you thank you thank you!

-Cv

Reception Of The Cold

Twilight sucked in her breath, letting it out slowly to drain her nerves as the train finally came to a stop. She knew Moscolt was in a bad way, with the looming threat of starvation hanging over them and an active riot in the northeast turning into a full-on rebellion. Celestia's approval rating was rather low in the city, especially when compared to her ratings in other large population centers. As a representative of the Crown, they probably wouldn't be all that happy to see her. After all, the Crown was where the bit stopped.

She held her breath, and with her guards behind her, slid open the train car door.

A giant crowd of ponies, from all classes of society, immediately cheered. Those near her set off party poppers that launched a ton of confetti, and a band in the back started playing the national anthem while everypony sang.

Or, you know, they could throw a party for me. That works, I suppose.

As she walked through the crowd, her guards kept the general throng away just enough to give them a bubble to move through. That didn't stop her from giving hoofshakes and bumps, giving quick hellos to everypony she could. One thing she couldn't help but notice, though, was the gauntness of the ponies. It wasn't even confined to the lower classes. She noticed several nobles she had met in the castle years earlier, and they were now definitely thinner than they had been back then. Some even had goiters — easily curable with iodized salt.

“Things are even worse than we thought.” Aurora was on the verge of tears as the crowd switched to the Stalliongrad anthem.

From what Prince Blueblood told me, the Duke is a prideful old stallion. Odds are he waited too long to ask for help. But we're here now, and we've thinned the numbers of the snow crabs enough that food should be able to reach the city reliably without having to have the Grand Mage in the lead.

Speaking of the Duke…

Twilight arrived at the back of the crowd as they started singing "Katyusha," and saw they had literally rolled out a red carpet for her. At the end was the Duke himself, standing before an extra-large chariot.

Whatever colour he had — possibly a blue-green — had long been dulled by old age. It was now a mostly a shade of grey, and his mane and long, poorly kept beard were a pure white. He was quite tall for a stock pony, and lanky as the summer days were long. Unlike many of the dukes, Rasbuckin wore very traditional red robes that were common a couple hundred years ago.

“Lady Sparkle…” Even his voice had an old-fashioned quality to it, including a wariness that made it seem like his voice itself had long been tired of speaking. “You have saved our city, and with it, the ideals of Claddin and his system. We are grateful beyond words. This will be written in the history books about Moscolt. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

He held out his hoof in a bow, and she put her own hoof on his for him to kiss.

She had to hold back a shiver from the gesture. It was somewhat old-fashioned, but the age difference alone made it rather creepy. It could also have been the minus-thirty weather, though that was a major sight better than what she had just been in.

“It was my honour to serve, Duke Rasbuckin. When Equestria needs me, I am there.”

“I would wager there are no ponies that need your help more than ours, to my great shame. We have much to do. Please, come with me.”

The group filed into the chariot, and it moved down the road as soon as the door was closed. The charioteers were armed earth ponies in uniform, rather than pegasi.

The roads were strewn with potholes, and there was a lack of ponies around. There were some, but certainly not what one would expect from a major city. Security, however, was present on every single corner. Large, armed stallions were dressed in uniform and checking the papers of random civilians.

“Umm…” Spike was looking out the window next to her. “Aren't checkpoints like this a violation of the Equestrian Compact?”

Twilight pointed to a plume of smoke in the distance. It was tinged orange from fire. “Emergency. Martial law is clearly in effect. Duke, how much of the city is in rebel control?”

The Duke stroked his beard. “About fifteen percent, but it fluctuates hour to hour. Our police are stretched to the limit. The law limits our military. They must not engage civilians, even rebels. The system forbids it. But they can help keep order outside the combat area.”

“Have you tried negotiations?”

The Duke coughed like he was ready to choke on something, even though he wasn't eating or drinking. “Unimaginable! We cannot tolerate such violence!”

“Fastest way to end it.” Cloud Burner folded his forelegs. “It's not pleasant. But you have to weigh it against the cost of ongoing unrest. This isn't a normal situation or a sports riot.”

“Claddin's ideals are absolute. I cannot, in good conscience, entertain such extremists.”

Twilight stifled a sigh. Blueblood's analysis seems to be on the mark. Old. Stubborn. But a stickler for his particular code.

Mercifully, they'd arrived at the Duma building, ending the current conversation thread. They went straight to the Duke's office, and the guards let them in.

“I'll be right back,” said Rasbuckin. “Please do have a seat.”

The group complied, each finding a seat among a large number of comfy chairs. Twilight, naturally, was in the center.

“Hey.” Trixie played with one of the two pens on the Duke's desk, each equidistant from the middle. “Anypony else think there's something odd about this room?”

Twilight gazed around. The room had gold-painted walls and a pair of very tall, dark wooden bookcases filled with tomes and pictures. Two lamps were on either side of the large desk, and the room had a large, ornate red rug oriented exactly in the center of the floor.

She took another look at the bookcases. The pictures on either side were exactly the same. “Oh, I see. The room is symmetric. The Duke must have a case of obsessive compulsive disorder.”

The doors went ka-chunk and the Duke strode in with a pile of papers. “My apologies for the delay, but this is important enough to keep fully confidential.” He took his seat and promptly started distributing a form. “Please read and sign these authorization forms. It’s really just a formal notice that you are operating within the Duchy.”

“Oh. Joy.” Rainbow melted. “More paperwork.”

“Documentation is the difference between chaotic stagnation and organized advancement,” the Duke responded.

“Claddin’s seventh maxim.” Twilight filled out the form and turned it in. “Been a while since I heard it. I can’t really say I disagree.”

Rasbuckin’s eyes lit up. “You read the right books.”

Spike chuckled. “She reads all the books.”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but gave up and shrugged.

“Twilight wouldn’t tell us how bad things were from the message she got. Too many ears.” Rainbow turned serious. “Oh. That’s bad.”

“How did —”

Twilight cut him off. “Don’t worry about her. The message stated you found both an Element of Harmony and a potential link to the Titans?”

The duke sighed and shuddered. “Yes. A worker noticed unusual activity at an abandoned warehouse adjacent to an old grain storage facility. It was due to be demolished next year and rebuilt.

“The police arrived, and spied on them from a skylight. They took this picture, confirming the presence of the Element of Honesty.” He slid the picture to the group.

“Unfortunately, the culprits fled when reinforcements arrived. We think there were about five to seven ponies in total, but we can’t be sure. Only one was captured.”

Twilight’s ears shot up. “You have a prisoner? I want to interrogate them immediately.”

“That’s the problem.” The Duke broke into a sweat. “We sent notification to the castle, but attempted to begin the interrogation ourselves right away. We took him to a shack out on the lake. During the questioning, he… an earth pony... transformed…”

The group exchanged glances.

“Continue.” Twilight leaned forward.

Rasbuckin swallowed. “He… screamed a name, then collapsed into a ball of black tar. Tentacles sprouted out and lashed at us. One of my personal guards cut it down, and it caught fire. It was so hot it melted through the ice. Whatever’s left of him is at the bottom of the lake.”

“That…” Twilight gnawed at her lip. “That does sound like a Titan’s, err, skin, for lack of a better term. What was the name he screamed?”

Rasbuckin slid a paper towards her, and she picked it up and read it aloud.

“Ionos.”

A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine like a buffalo stampede. She wasn’t alone, as her entire entourage visibly shook. Rainbow and Spike literally vibrated out of their chairs.

“That’s why I wrote it down.” The Duke wiped his brow. “Every time we say it, that happens.”

“Understandable.” Twilight pulled out a map of the city. “Mark down where that warehouse is. I'm afraid dealing with the rebels will have to wait. This takes priority.”

The Duke exhaled. “I understand. Do you require any assistance?”

“Not at this time. In fact, I would ask that you keep this as quiet as possible. We can't let this get out.”

“Of course.”

Possibilities and plans flooded Twilight's mind, each clashing in battle before sloshing together into a general unease. It's the northwest under rebel control. Our destination is to the northeast. Odds of running into resistance fighters are moderately high… depending on how smart they are.

The train depot is in the southeast, and the single most important commodity in the city right now is the food there that's being distributed. If I were them, I'd try to secretly disrupt the distribution of food. Hungry ponies will quickly lay blame upon those in charge.

However, Rasbuckin might be a stubborn old goat, but he's not a complete idiot. He'll know that's exactly what the rebels would plan and would take countermeasures. The police force here is known to be corrupt, but only within certain limits. It's corrupted to serve his vaunted “system.” It will protect the system, and the food.

The rebels will know this, and if they're smart, they'll use the opportunity to gain ground in the city. The duke won't like it, but he's between a rock and a hard place on this one. The police will protect the food in the south, and the north will be sapped of strength. Which means no matter what we do, we'll be noticed. But will we be a target, or will they avoid us? Hmmm…

“Rainbow?” Twilight came to an abrupt stop in her pace and spun to face her captain. “I need you and Cloud to go back and get my chariot. Spike, go with them. I want you three to keep a lookout for ponies that decide they want to approach us, and be ready to open fire with the cannon. We might need a show of force.”

Rainbow snapped off a salute. “You can count on us! Come on, Spike, spread those wings! We'll tow you through the air; it's faster.”

Spike pumped his fist and tried to remain calm, but his eyes were shimmering. The three quickly flew off.

“And me?” Trixie asked.

“By my side. Those three have their biggest tactical advantage in the air. We have it through coordinating our spellcasting. Come on; we've got a cold walk ahead of us.”

Naturally, “cold” was a bit of an understatement at minus thirty degrees Centigrade — before factoring in wind chill. The city, however, was built for it. Every couple of blocks, each side of the street had warming stations, which were basically little glass sheds with firedust-powered radiative heaters inside. They were activated by the press of a button, and were free for anypony (or even non-pony) to use at any time. Moreover, the city had an “open lobby” law. All commercial buildings and apartments had to have a lobby that ponies could seek shelter in temporarily during business hours. If a citizen was getting too cold, they could loiter in the warmth for a while to protect themselves, and the businesses could not throw them out just for being there.

The buildings themselves were rather drab, but that was by modern tastes. Most were made a century ago, and put up with stunning speed. As a result, many of them had the exact same design, all produced en masse for the sake of getting it done ASAP. To help counter this, many exterior walls were clad with murals, and only maybe thirty percent were transparent propaganda. Duke Claddin was a weirdo, but his “system” turned a frozen backwater into an economic powerhouse to rival Germaney in just a few decades.

When they finally reached the north side, things started to take a turn. Though she was still in a residential and commercial area rather than industrial, scars of the uprising were beginning to show. Chunks were missing from some walls, and a few alleys had police tape that had yet to be cleaned up. At one particular intersection, a cafe had a front entrance that had crumbled. The stories above bore char marks, and the dining area was mostly filled with shattered debris.

“How many innocent ponies died here?” Twilight switched to her Sight, but found very little of the dark ooze that was the telltale sign of a violent death. “Interesting. Either the area was cleaned thoroughly, which seems to be impossible given the debris, or casualties were avoided somehow.”

Trixie caught up to Twilight’s side. “I've actually been reading about the Winter Revolt in some newspaper specials, and from what I hear, that's been common. Storefronts, factories, machines, they either steal the valuables, set the place on fire, or blow it up. But they avoid killing ponies.”

“Huh. My intelligence reports focus more on the casualties that do happen. Score one for the free press, I suppose.”

The newspaper story Trixie talked of played out as they walked north, told in the debris of broken machines and burnt factories. There was very little in the way of holes from mounted guns. Most of the fires had long since burned out, but in the distance, to the northeast of the city, the sky was orange and black from flame and smoke.

“How much farther?” Trixie shivered and sneezed before pulling out a some hankies and blowing her nose. “I'm about ready to turn into a Popsicle.”

“Oh, we have somewhere warm, if you need.”

Twilight froze mid-step, mouth open as her reply to Trixie croaked and fell off her tongue. About a dozen and a half ponies rounded the corners and converged on them. Trixie jumped around to cover Twilight's rear, so they had eyes on all of them.

They all wore something white on their bodies. Scarves, sashes, hats, shirts: each of them had one item that was pure white. They moved to clear a path for one particular pony. He was tall and lanky, with a green coat and white mane. His thin face wore a smile under his stubble.

“Well, well, well. I always knew it was only a matter of time until the Grand Mage showed up.” As Twilight sat down, she got a closer look at him. He had a scar on his left temple, and the twin guns on his back had one barrel that was bent. “Quite frankly, I thought it would be sooner. Might’ve been easier to kill us all when our numbers were less.”

“Twilight!” Spike's voice crackled over the radio. “We're in position for a surprise takedown on the leader. Give us a signal if you want us to nail him.”

Twilight shook her head. “You don't rate as a high enough threat to top my ‘to do’ list, and even if you did, I'd try to settle things without violence if possible. Wantonly killing isn't my M.O.

“But since you're here, I can only think of a few reasons you’d want to show yourself. One is that you want to be theatrical before attacking, but that doesn't fit with what I already know about you.”

The stallion broke out into a laugh. “Oh, no, that's not the plan at all, Your Highness. Ol’ Jack's not stupid enough to directly attack a pony that takes on pirates for fun.”

“Jack?” Trixie tilted her head. “Odd name.”

“Short for ‘jackrabbit.’” He gave her a grin. “Among other things.”

“In that case,” Twilight continued, “You're here to tell me something. Possibly to ask for help.”

Jack started clapping with wide, deliberate clops. “Told you guys she was smart. You're right, I am here to ask for help. Well, sort of. I'm actually here to warn you that we got a big operation planned, and I honestly doubt you can do anything about it.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I'm about to say ‘challenge accepted.’”

He held up a hoof. “But, maybe we don't have to. Maybe we can work something out.”

“You're holding this city hostage.” Twilight eyes blazed with heat. “I don't like hostage takers.”

“Hey now,” he said, rubbing his mane. “We don't kill unless we got to. We will do it if it's needed, but I'm hoping it's not. All I'm asking is for a chance to negotiate with the Duke. You tell me you'll make that happen, our plan gets put on hold, and we all walk away from here.”

“That simple?” Twilight asked.

“Yup. What can I say? I'm a simple guy!”

“Done.” Twilight held out a hoof. “I'll get you your chance to negotiate. Understand, though, that I can't guarantee the negotiations will succeed.”

Jack gave her hoof a bump. “Deal. You heard the lady, everypony! We're on break. Let's go find someplace not frozen.”

Twilight and Trixie stood still, ready for the other horseshoe to drop as the group filed out as quiet and quickly as they came. They waited a few moments after the last one vanished from sight before relaxing.

“Spike, you watching them leave?”

“I was. A big cloud of fog overtook them, and they vanished. The fog was opaque to the scope. They probably slipped into one or more of the buildings. Want me to investigate?”

“That's okay; let them go. I technically don't have much hard evidence against them, so there's no point wasting time on that. Besides, I anticipated their visit.”

“You did?”

“Kinda. I knew they'd notice us. That's one of the reasons why I wanted you in the air. The Kitalpha has enough firepower to make them think twice once it opens up on something.

“But since they're willing to be reasonable, I'll let them go for now. Besides, I got a good look at their leader. Might help RGIS.”

Trixie poked her shoulder. “I don't like it, Twilight. Their offer to negotiate might be a trap.”

“Oh, don't worry. I'm cynical enough to suspect that, too. We'll prepare, just in case. For now, let's keep moving. We're almost where we need to be.”

“Think this is it?”

Twilight tilted her head. “It looks like it. Only one way to know for sure, though. Come on, let's go take a look.”

The building was old and mostly made out of brick. The roof was maybe three stories up, and half of it had a series of triangular slopes jutting up. There were also two large smokestacks rising for maybe two more stories out of the structure.

There was a big door on the side, but it was chained shut with a lock bigger than Twilight's head. Another entrance on the side was boarded up. Fortunately, neither was what she was looking for. Her real target was the metal spiral staircase on the side of the building, which only had a barely-locked gate to stop her.

“Hey, Twilight. We've got wards.”

Twilight looked at where Trixie was pointing, and sure enough, some orange wards were dimly glowing in the bricks. “That's weird. Normally only sensitive industries bother with those, and nopony usually spends money on those for an empty building. Think you can break them?”

“Me?” Trixie’s hat fell off. “Can't you do it?”

“Of course. But I'd rather see you do it. I can't just handle everything myself. I have to promote your growth as well.”

Trixie picked up her hat and stuck it back on her head, making sure to tuck in her ears. “Okay, I guess. Give me a few to read them all.”

They’d circled the whole building before Trixie was ready, which was the right thing to do as the wards all turned out to be interconnected. They were also relatively simple individually, and some were literally scratched into the brick instead of properly inscribed. The back side had four grain silos that were a sneeze from falling over, and infested with mold.

“Okay, I think I’m ready. I’d keep the structural wards if I could, but I think I have to break them all.”

Twilight nodded. “Very good. I agree; they’re interdependent. Now, how do you break them?”

“Ivaran interference pattern. Simultaneous engagement.” Trixie lit her horn and started putting mini-wards into strategic points in the existing structure. “Am I doing this right?”

Twilight smiled. “Yup! I’m proud. You’ve learned a lot in these last months.”

Trixie’s cheeks turned red. “Th-thank you.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually Trixie managed to embed several more tiny spells into the structure of wards over the building. Each was a little sledgehammer waiting for her signal. When she gave it, each one burst and punched the wall, leaving cracks in some of the bricks. The wards flashed with energy for a moment before overloading and going dark.

Trixie swallowed. “I hope that doesn't topple this place.”

“In a decade or so? Maybe. But Stalliongrad brick structures like this were built tough. It should be fine for the next few hours. Come on, let's see what we're dealing with.”

The duo traipsed around to another side of the building and opened a rusty gate that blocked a black, iron, spiral staircase. Even Twilight had to angle her barrel a little to climb up; how stallions were supposed to use it was beyond her. The roof had tarps over much of it, but the skylights on the triangular slopes were uncovered.

Twilight pulled out the photo she got from Rasbuckin, and lined it up with what she saw down below. There was a table down inside the building, and it's size and location matched the picture. “No question, the Element was here. Let's take a look.”

She pulled power into her horn and teleported down, poofing into existence in the middle of the building. Her vision blurred, then snapped back into focus. “Um, something happened there…”

Trixie was beside her in moments and rattled her head. “What was that?”

“I lost a second or two when I came out of the teleportation. It felt… familiar, somehow. Did it happen to you, too?”

Trixie rubbed her cheek. “You know what? I think it did. What was that?”

“No idea. Let's look at what's here; maybe we'll find a clue.” Twilight made a beeline for the area where the Element had been, and switched to her magic Sight. There were traces of silver and gold magical auras on the table, adding more evidence to the pile, but very little otherwise. The other “hotspots” couldn't even be called such, as they barely had anything to them.

“A hammer and sandpaper…” Trixie picked up the implements from the table. “Not exactly the secret lab in Manehatten, is it?”

“Actually…” Twilight locked in to what Trixie had found, then tab through a quick inventory of the area. “I think this is a lab. Not high-tech like that one we found in Manehatten, but a lab nonetheless. And that's not sandpaper. Here, let me show you.”

She took the hammer and scrap of “sandpaper” from Trixie, and placed the latter on her armoured fetlock. Sorry if this hurts, Aurora. She brought the hammer down on her leg, and a shower of sparks burst from the impact. It sounded a bit like quiet fireworks. A few more hits spread hundreds of sparks over the floor.

“Hehe, that tickles!”

Unlike most sparks, these didn't fade right away. They were all still glowing in an arrangement of gold, dark violet, and red.

“Pretty.” Trixie spread them around with her hoof. “So that helps you determine what kind of magic is in something, right? Those sparks match your magic profile, and Aurora was made from you.”

“Exactly! And it's cheap. This place was definitely operating on a budget. The scoring paper is like ten bits.” Twilight tossed the hammer aside and reached for a box in the corner. She plopped it on the table and opened the lid, revealing a series of implements that resembled large tuning forks. Each was the same size and had a handle on the end meant for either mouth or magic gripping. “Watch this.”

She pinged the fork against Trixie’s armor and held it up so both could listen. The ringing pulsed in an uneven pattern, something like in a telegraph. “You hear the loud bits? It's reacting to the strenta gates in the spells in your armor, pulsing along relative to where they are in the specific spell I hit. The set in the box has a fork for the vast majority of known symbols. A box like this might be a few thousand bits, but you can find them used for much less. Or steal them from a big high school or something.”

“So they were trying to figure out the magic inside the Element?” Trixie's coat went pale. “If they pull that off, what can they do with it?”

“Pfft. ‘Figure out the Elements of Harmony’ is something I could spend centuries on and probably never finish. It doesn't use magic as we know it. This is amateur hour, which is what really scares me.

“The technical capability of the Majestics is much higher than this. Did an Element get away from them? Were they unable to get whatever infrastructure they have to Stalliongrad? This raises all kinds of questions and I need to get to the bottom of what's going on here.

“Get Spike down here and then spread out through the building. Try to find anything that might be linked to another location. We need to know where these bandits ran off to when they were chased. We find them, we find our answers.”

Author's Note

Took longer than anticipated, but it's done. I'm doing pretty good with writing pace last few days, let's see if I can keep it up. New medicine has helped.

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

P.S. As I said in my blog post, you should definitely go check out "No Evil" by Betsy Lee. It's awesome.

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Ghost Breath

“Well, this was largely a bust.” Twilight felt like chucking something off a cliff, but unfortunately the geography of Stalliongrad wasn't going to oblige her with anything more than a hill. “I found a feather. Not even a pinion, either. You got anything?”

“Actually, I think so.” Trixie pulled at a tool locker in the corner of the room. “This is empty, but I just saw a piece of paper behind it.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “Sounds like a potential lead to me. Let's see it.”

Trixie grabbed it with her magic and slipped it out from behind the metal cabinets, then laid it out before both of them. “It's… music. About Luna? Could this be…”

“A giant red herring.” Twilight turned up her nose at the dirt-covered page labelled “The Moon Is Our Light.” “A red herring so big I'm surprised this whole block doesn't stink like dead fish.

“Oh, the song is real, if I recall right, but there's no way in Tartarus that this is the Nightmare Moon cult, or the 'Lunarian Church', as they like to call themselves.”

Trixie put her ears back and twisted her hat in her hooves. “Are you sure? Because if Captain Dual Strike suspects me at all and they're involved…”

“Now I know you don't have a clue about them. Look.” Twilight held up the sheet music. “The church expresses their worship through song. When a foal in the church reaches puberty, they're given their very own hymnal, hoof-made by everypony in their congregation. They usually spend a fair sum on the materials.

“That hymnal is a faithful's most precious, cherished possession in the whole world. They wouldn't even let a page get dog-eared, much less disrespect one of the hymns by leaving it behind like this. Somepony is trying — and utterly failing — to lead us down the wrong path.

“Which is all the more suspicious. The Majestics are almost never this amateurish. What is going on here?”

Trixie slumped her head down, her sigh condensing in the cold. “Sorry I wasn't more help.”

“I'm not exactly a fountain of leads here either.” Twilight put her hoof on her ear to turn on Aurora's radio. “Hey, Dash? You and Spike get down here. We're going to need extra sets of eyes.”

The Kitalpha made a bit of crunchy noise as it touched down on the snow outside and two of her three flyers shivered their way inside.

“And just why are you shaking?” Rainbow flapped some ice off her wings. “You're an ice dragon.”

“You look cold!” Spike blew some fire to the floor, which raised the temperature at least a few degrees. “Sympathetic response!”

“Well at least I'm out of the wind. What did you need, Twilight?”

Twilight’s left ear went down. “Well, you can warm up in here first, but we need to expand our search for evidence. So far all we got is a feather and an obviously fake Lunarian hymn sheet. They're trying to lead us down the wrong path, but I'm not falling for it.”

Rainbow sighed. “Well, at least we got a fire-breathing ice dragon to help dig through the snow. What's the colour of the feather? That might be a hint.”

“White. Here, take a look.” Twilight grabbed the little thing and floated it over to her. “Not much to go on, really.”

Rainbow eyed it, and poked at it with her hoof before stroking it. “That's not a pony feather.”

Trixie snorted back a sneeze. “Ugh. Um, how do you know?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Really? Gonna doubt the Wonderbolt who had to spend an absurd number of hours studying feathers and wing types?”

Trixie sneezed again. “Sorry, not doubting you. Just curious.”

Rainbow sighed and gave her wings a flap. “Okay, so, for starters, the barbs are at the wrong angles and proportional length. The size is also weird. Honestly, if this is from a common bird you’d find around here, I think we're looking at a duck feather.”

A light went off in Twilight's head. “And just like that, we got a lead. I knew they were too amateur to not leave behind some evidence. To the Kitalpha, let's go get some maps.

“Okay, either ducks aren't the most popular livestock in Stalliongrad, or the on-the-map categories don't include them.” Twilight crossed another goose farm off her map, then flopped over on the seat on the Kitalpha. The rest of her crew were warming up in the heated cabin, save for Spike, who was smarting over the nasty looks they all gave him when he said he wanted iced tea. “Should have figured goose down would be the most popular here. But one of these has to have ducks.”

“What happens if it's from a pet?” Spike asked.

“Unlikely.” Twilight meandered her pen over the map to choose another location. “That would be unlawful in the city, and the farms here are organized by the Duchy…”

Twilight and Trixie both looked up at each other.

“Trixie, are you pondering what I'm pondering?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. We're looking for something outside Rasbuckin's beloved ‘system.’

Spike coughed. “Um, would he even allow that? I'm surprised he didn't tear down the city just to rebuild it symmetrically.”

Twilight pulled out a different map, one comprised of pictures taken from the air by pegasi. “He might not have a choice. The nobility didn't just start with ponies that had gained Celestia's confidence for leadership. They were given land to go with those titles. In modern times they don't need land to be a noble, but back then it was a requirement. They owned the territory; the commoners just worked it.

“Claddin upended all this with his ‘system.’ Unlike the other Duchies, most of that land is now centrally managed. But I'm willing to bet that the politics of that meant concessions, and that we're looking for an exception. A noble that refused to give up a farm. A farm like… this one. I don't see it listed on the official Stalliongrad plans.”

Rainbow rubbed her forelegs together. “Back out into the cold, then.”

“Eh, it's not so bad.” Cloud Burner flapped his wings, his fire magic warning the cabin another few degrees. “But then again, I do have some advantages.”

Rainbow grumbled and steeled herself as she put her hoof on the door handle. “Let's get going so we're outside as little as possible.”

“Can't argue that.” Cloud followed her as they hooked back up to the chariot and took off.

The trip was relatively short. Though the trip was well outside and north of the city limits, Moscolt had much more defined boundaries than most large cities. One moment they were amongst tall buildings, the next, farmland.

At least one would assume it was farmland thanks to the barns and grain silos. If not for those, it would just be an endless blanket of pure white snow. The grey, overcast skies did nothing to break up the monotony.

It didn't take very long to spot what they were looking for once it was in range. The other farms were run by the Duchy and had a common layout and set of buildings. They were basically all clones of each other.

This one, however, was older - much older. The main house was an old castle, albeit a small one. Modern mansions would dwarf it. The barn was newer, but the other structure was a large triangular burdei - a kind of large shed made of earth instead of wood or stone.

They came to a landing at the front door of the castle, and the pegasi unhooked themselves.

Twilight hopped out and took a glance at the old, undoubtedly drafty castle. “Okay, you two get inside the chariot and warm yourselves up. Trixie, Spike, us three will head inside and investigate. Hopefully whoever is home will cooperate.”

“And if they don't?” Spike asked, following her out of the warm cabin.

“That's why I have a dragon. Well, one of many reasons.”

“Yay, warmth!” Rainbow dashed inside the cabin, pulling Cloud inside before slamming the door.

Twilight snickered to herself before trotting up to the main entrance. It was a pair of old wooden doors with black iron trim, each half of an arch, and each bearing a gargoyle doorknocker.

Trixie picked one of them and gave the door a generous thumping.

The only thing to reply was a howl of wind through the trees.

Trixie hugged herself and shivered. “What are the odds that nopony is home and nothing is wrong?”

Twilight switched to her Sight, but saw nothing additional of note, not even any wards on the door. “Nopony being home is probable. Nothing being wrong, I'm not so sure about.” She pulled at the door, rattling it and its lock.

“Do we break in?” Trixie asked.

“Yes. I don't see any magic reinforcing the locking mechanism. Think you can open it?”

“With no wards to worry about? Piece of cake.” Trixie lined up her eyeball with the keyhole and flooded it with her magic, poking and prodding at the innards like a true locksmith. She clicked her tongue at the exact same time as the door opened.

“Good work. Let me take point in case there are traps or hostiles.” Twilight nudged the door open, peeking inside the darkened house. Inside was much more modern than the outside would suggest, with expensive dark wood furniture and black marble flooring. Across the entryway was an entertaining area, complete with a bar stocked with liquor.

“Hello?” Twilight called out. Only a light echo answered. “Crown Agents coming in! If there's anypony here, come out peacefully!”

“So we're not going for an ambush?” Trixie asked.

“We're going into an unknown location. We don't know the layout. An ambush by them is more likely. However…” Twilight briefly switched to her Sight again. “I still don't see any wellsprings. There's a teeny, tiny bit of random, non-ice ambient magic in the air but nothing to write home about. Could just be home to a unicorn good at magic.”

The trio opened the door wide and strode in, their breath still making little clouds from the cold.

“It's still freezing in here.” Spike blew a bit of flame. “I don't like it. I've heard that a lot of the rural areas of Stalliongrad are still poor and use wood-burning stoves for heating, but a place this fancy? Makes no sense.”

“Excellent point, Spike. Trixie, you check through that kitchen and dining area. Spike, that living area. I'll check the hall down to the left.”

“Aye!” Spike saluted with a couple fingers and they all split up.

The split lasted all of twelve seconds. “Twilight? I found somepony.”

Twilight snapped to her left and rushed to the living area. In a giant, plush chair was an old earth pony stallion. His short beard was grey and his coat a matte, dingy gold. He was laying down on his belly, head between his forelegs, eyes closed. Nearby was a book and a cup of tea that had frozen solid.

One look through her Sight told her what she needed to know. “He's dead. No sign of a wellspring at all. And…” She gave him a nudge, and his whole body moved like he was a statue. “Yeah, he's frozen solid. The heating must have shut off somehow. We probably won't be able to determine a narrow time of death.”

Trixie took off her hat in a little bow to the stallion. “Did he freeze in his sleep?”

“No idea.” Twilight looked around his body to check his underside. “I don't see any wounds or obvious signs of foul play. Could be poison, or given his age, he might well have just died in his slumber. We'll need an actual autopsy to find out, and given the state of the city, we could be looking at days or even weeks before that happens.”

“So what do we do?” Spike scratched his leg. “Are we investigating his death, or…”

“No. That'll be up to local police. We're still looking for Honesty. Let's split up. Trixie, you check downstairs if there is one; Spike, upstairs. Look for anything obviously out of the ordinary. Meet at the front door when you're done.”

“Welp. That was a bigger bust than some of the statues in the Royal Gardens.”

Twilight grumbled at Spike's words but couldn't argue against him. “The house itself was normal, but we still have to check the barn. The one where the ducks, if there are any, should be. After all, a feather is what lead us here.”

Trixie chuckled. “Watch: the barn’ll be empty.”

“Nah.” Spike brushed his claws on his chest. “It'll be full of emus.”

“Why emus?” Trixie asked.

“Because they're funnier than geese!”

Twilight sighed and stepped back out into the cold wind of the outdoors. The sky was almost crystal clear, save from a few cirrus clouds. Celestia's sun was high in the sky, giving a warm counterbalance to the freezing crisp air. She asked Aurora to amp up her warmth enchantments as she trotted out back to the barn. “I doubt there will be emus, but I really hope there aren't any geese.”

“How come?” Trixie pulled her hat down around her ears.

“Geese are jerks.” Twilight snorted. “Ever have a picnic interrupted by a flock? They're nature's natural-born trolls.”

“Honk.” Spike agreed. “Remember when that goose stole Roseluck’s keys and locked her out of her own garden?”

“Yeah, that left her in a funk for a few days straight.” As she strode up to the earth-covered barn, Twilight did a quick check with her Sight. “I can't see into the barn with my ‘ability.’ But there's a good number of wards on this structure… Odd. Why none on the main house? Although the big one here seems to be to keep things warm, but there's definitely one to isolate magic to keep it out… or in.”

“Which means emus!” Spike clapped with a laugh. “Or, you know, stuff relevant to the case.”

Twilight grabbed the barn door handle and pulled open the door, unleashing an absolute avalanche of quacks. A wave of a few hundred ducks came pouring out of the door. Instead of running away, though, they all surrounded the group and quacked like it was their last chance to do so. Perhaps because it was just that.

“Ew.” Spike poked one of the ducks. They all had damaged or missing feathers and looked sick as dogs. “I feel like throwing up just looking at them.”

Twilight poked her head inside the barn, finding a few large sacks of feed up high where the flightless domestic ducks couldn't get them. The inside stunk like a pit of Tartarus due to the feces covering the floor. By some miracle the giant container of water still had some left for them to drink, but that's all they had.

Staying well outside the barn, she lifted a bag of feed with her magic and floated it outside. The ducks reached a feverish cacophony when they realized there was about to be food, jumping and nipping at the burlap. With a swipe of her sword, the hole she made started raining duck feed, burying a few of the waterfowl - though they didn't seem to mind being covered in food.

“Damn.” Trixie pulled out another bag. “I've seen ducks go to town on food before, but these guys are going to go through this in a couple minutes.”

“Ducks are pigs, in a manner of speaking.” Spike stretched out his wings with a yawn. “I used to help feed some at Applejack’s farm. They do not mess around when it comes to eating. Just ‘get it in my belly now!’”

Twilight gave him a pat on the head. “Sounds like a certain dragon I know!”

“Hey, I can't help it! I'm still growing!”

“Twilight!” Aurora cried out. “I'm sensing thaumic contamination! Valence is spiking at twenty five, effective dose exceeds one milli-Blue per hour and rising!”

Twilight's gaze snapped to the inside of the barn and switched to her Sight. It wasn't only bird poop the ground was covered with. A thin fog of thaumic contamination was wafting out of the barn, the red mist enveloping just about all of the ducks as they fed. It wasn't thick enough to be seen unaided yet, but the typing gave it plenty of energy to do damage to anything breathing it without the right equipment. Worse, in the center of the barn was a bubbling mass of the miasma pouring like a tiny fountain.

“Trixie, deploy an environment shield around yourself and then Spike. After that, set up a shield perimeter. None of these ducks can escape.”

Trixie’s eyes shrank, and her heart hit her chest with an audible thump. “What's… I mean, yes ma’am.”

“Twilight?” Spike asked, holding one of the sick ducks. “Something wrong?”

“This barn is, somehow, an active source of thaumic contamination. The ducks aren't just stick from lack of food, they're completely contaminated. Anypony who eats one of their eggs or uses their feathers for something is likely to get sick too. There's no choice—when we leave here, we'll have to destroy them all.”

Trixie’s horn sputtered aa her spell failed. “Are-are you sure? How bad is it?”

“The ducks have likely already hit a half Blue dose, which would ultimately prove agonizingly fatal for them in another couple of weeks. The two of you are safe for now, but your time here without adequate shielding has to be limited, so Trixie, hurry up!”

Trixie spun up her magic again. “Right, I understand.”

“Let them eat in the meantime. It'll be a last comfort. I'm going to check out what in the world can cause this.” Twilight forced magic into her horn, powering through the contamination disruption and fashioning a pair of shields into a bulldozer blade. It grinded against the stone floor, popping sparks wherever there wasn't enough hay and poop to stop it.

When the blade reached the center, where the contamination was bubbling up from, it came to a resounding clunk of a stop. Peeking out of the mess was an iron loop embedded into the concrete. A few more scrapes revealed a half-inch gap in the floor in the shape of a square.

“Found something!” Twilight grabbed hold with her magic, saying a little thank-you to the universe that she had said magic for this, and lifted. Stone ground against stone as a block rose from the floor. A half meter of concrete was pulled out, straight up, before it popped open like a soda bottle. The hole left behind was just big enough for a pony to fit through, though the only thing going through at the moment was more contamination. In seconds, it was dense enough to become visible to the naked eye.

“Readings are now up to a hundred milli-Blue an hour. This would be lethal within—”

Days, I know. Twilight waved her hoof around in the smoke, but that only spread out the red mist a little. “Rainbow, do you hear me?”

“Yup. What's up? I see Trixie putting up a shield.”

“We found something interesting. A secret hole in the barn floor, and it's emanating a large amount of high-energy thaumic contamination. Do not approach; it'll get you and anypony without a proper shield sick. I'll going to need you to keep everypony out once Trixie's shield goes up. I'm going to hop into this hole and find out what the source is, if I can.”

“Will you be okay in there?” Cloud chimed in. “I don't want you to go in there alone.”

“I'll be fine, and Trixie and Spike now have shields and will be following me. My own wellspring has the kind of pressure needed to protect me from this level of contamination, but I'm... unusual.

“I do understand your concern, though. This could be stepping into a hornets’ nest, which is why I want you two up here to defend the exit and keep ponies away. Oh, and don't let the ducks escape either. They're contaminated.”

The radio hissed with silence and static for a moment, yet she could feel the implications of her last sentence sinking in.

“Understood, we're on our way.” Rainbow could be heard opening the chariot door over the radio before it turned off.

“Trixie, you done?”

Trixie almost strode into the barn before stopping at the sight of the floor. “I think so. Three meters high should be enough, right?”

“I think so!”

Spike ran up behind her, waving a device in his hand. “Got a tau-meter. We can find out how bad this is while we go, uh, spelunking.”

Twilight turned up her nose at the hole. Through her Sight, she could barely see a meter down as the contamination was much too dense. Turning it off, she grumbled a little. “Yet another tunnel. Maybe. Technically, I'm not sure if this is a tunnel, a cave, or one leading to another.”

“Probably tunnel.” Spike tried to find the relatively clean spots on the floor to walk on. “Probably, but not guaranteed. If I recall right, there're no natural caves in this area. Or at least none we know of.”

“Might be adding a first to the list, then.” Twilight looked down the hole and saw a ground of sorts just a couple meters down. “Time to get started. Let's go.”

She jumped in, all four hooves hitting on the stone at once. The new ground was dirty, but with dirt instead of bird poop. The inside was natural stone, carved out artificially. Carbon scoring was scorched on the walls randomly, as if someone blasted flame at them in rage. Ahead of her was an opening leading down, and she took her first steps in that direction when Spike jumped down.

His tau meter began screaming immediately. “Jeez! Gotta adjust the multiplier. We're already at five hundred milli-Blue!”

Trixie landed behind him. “Gee, I always wanted to go swimming in pure thaumic contamination. Thanks, Twilight.”

“You're welcome, though it's not that thick. Yet, anyway. Will likely get worse as we move.” Twilight marched through the opening, careful not to start sliding on the smooth stone. The path banked right and down, heading deeper into the earth. She supposed they were a few hundred meters underground when they came to a cheap, wooden door that was no match for dragon fire.

“Oh.” Twilight blinked some ash out of her eyes. “Well, this is interesting.” She walked forward maybe a dozen body lengths before the ground just stopped at a ledge with the width of a house and a perfectly squared edge. She peered over the side, finding the ground below maybe ten meters down.

“Do we keep going?” Spike sat down on the ledge. “I can glide down, but what about you two?”

“Well, the spells inside Trixie's armor should function as normal, as they're pretty well insulated just by being in the armour. And Aurora’s protections are enough for me to take a fall like that without trouble. So, yeah, we keep going.” Twilight hopped off the ledge, hitting the ground with a crouch and roll. It was like some of the tumbles she took at recess when she was a filly and the teachers made her go outside and play.

Trixie landed much more softly, the spells in her armor bringing her to a gentle stop. Spike was perhaps the most graceful of them, gliding in circles until landing.

“We all here okay? Good? Let's keep—” Twilight jerked her head back as the path ahead became clear. It was another ledge, exactly the same as the first, except now the ceiling expanded and rose well out of sight. Lighting her horn, she fired a blinding flare into the cave.

When it flew far enough away that she could once again see, she realized it wasn't just a cave. It was a monstrous cave wide and deep enough to hold the city of Canterlot.

“Empty night…” Trixie gasped.

Below them, what they had already started to climb down, was ledge after ledge plunging ever farther into the deep.

“Guys?” Twilight swallowed. “These… these aren't ledges. They're steps.”

Author's Note

Hey look! I'm on time! (If only barely.) Writing is doing better. Not as fast as I'd like, but still better. Backlog is slowly starting to rebuild!

Thank you guys so much for sticking with me! Now let's see if I can speed up even more! :D

-Cv

P.S. Happy Halloween!

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Secrets in the Depths

“Okay, obvious question time.”

Twilight's ear twitched at Spike's statement.

“What in the world uses steps this big?”

Trixie poked him. “Dragons, DUH.”

“Bzzt, nope!” Spike folded his arms. “Dragons don't usually bother with stairs when we get this big. We either fly or just crush rocks into slopes.”

An arc of electricity ran down the nerves in Twilight's spine and she spun around to face the step behind her. Deeply embedded in the de facto wall were jet-black, waxy stones with a liquid red aura outlining them. They had no eyes, but she could feel something watching her. No, that wasn't quite right. It was gazing into her, burrowing into her heart. Beat by beat, it twisted barbed wire around her chest, twisting like a tourniquet--

“Twilight!”

Twilight had pulled a lifetime's worth of air into her lungs before her body said she had enough, though the panting that came afterwards expelled almost all of it. “What… what was that?”

“Trixie's out of it, too.” Spike ran over to her, giving her frozen form a big shake.

Trixie gave her own gasp, then fell to the ground on her side, legs pumping like she was running for her life.

“What the buck is going on here?!” Twilight punched at one of the stones, but it didn't budge. She spun around and bucked at it, kicking with the full force of an earth pony engaged. Thunder rang out through the cave, and the normal stone of the stairs cracked, crumbled, and rained down on them. The black rock she'd meant to smash fell out of the wall intact, clattering onto the ground.

Twilight reached out with her magic to pick it up, only for the magic to dissolve in a snap and skitter the rock across the floor and over the next step. She landed next to it before she even realized she'd followed it, and her two guards landed a moment later.

She picked it up with her armoured hooves and held it to her lit horn, looking at it, smelling it, and finally, looking at it with her Sight.

“These rocks are the source of the contamination,” said Aurora. “I can feel it emanating from it. An unshielded pony holding this would get sick for sure.”

“Worse than that.” Twilight watched as the magic oozed off the stone, giving off little flickers of light blue light as it did so.

“What's worse than what?” Trixie asked.

“Sorry, was responding to Aurora. See this rock?” Twilight held it up. “I have no idea what it is, but not only is it impossible to hold with my magic, it seems to be actively corrupting any magic it comes into contact with. The ice magic in the air in Moscolt is being turned into high-energy contamination at a nearly perfect efficiency rate.”

Spike whistled. “And there's gotta be tons and tons of it down here. Enough to poison the whole city… well, if we don't even try to evacuate. Seems to be really slow, though.”

“Whatever we do, we can't let this stuff spill out into the city. It would be…” Twilight froze, words dying in her throat.

“Yeah.” Trixie poked at another piece in the wall. “What I want to know is: how did it get here? Doesn't seem natural. And if it's not, how long has it been here?”

Twilight stuffed the rock into her saddlebags. “No idea. Maybe we'll find out at the bottom of these stairs.”

Spike looked down the staircase. “Think so?”

“Oh, we'll find something. You don't build a giant staircase like this only to have it lead nowhere. The only question now is whatwewill find…” Twilight joined Spike in looking over the edge and raised an eyebrow. “Scratch that. The real question is: how do we get down there in a non-geologic time span?”

Spike spread out his wings, turning the stale cave air into a gale. “I'll glide us down.”

Trixie’s coat drained a few shades of colour. “You're kidding me. There's no way you can carry us both and fly like that.”

“You're right, I can't fly. But I'm getting pretty darn good at gliding. And I don't have to hold you both for very long. I can even just let the three of us fall most of the way and spread my wings at the last moment to bleed off most of our speed. The spells in our armor suits should take care of the rest.”

Twilight hummed to herself for a moment. “That would likely work, if you can keep hold of us when you open your wings… Wait, don't you keep some rope in your bag?”

Spike snapped his fingers. “Yeah! We could tie you two to me, and then we don't have to worry about my arm strength!”

“Just the rope strength.” Trixie shivered.

Twilight reached into Spike's bag. “It should hold us if I put a spell on it. Just gotta be careful so it doesn't get messed up by the pollution in here. Come on, let's do it.”

Trixie sighed. “I'm going to lose my lunch, I just know it.”

“I'm afraid lunches are an acceptable casualty.” Twilight spun the rope around them, wrapping the two ponies to the dragon’s sides. It felt like being forced into a bad yoga position while wearing sandpaper, but it would do. With a few extra knots and spells put in for safety, Spike lifted them both and plodded over to the edge.

“On three. Secure your lunches!” Spike chuckled.

“Ugh.” Trixie groaned.

“One, two, three!” Spike tipped forward with his wings spread wide.

They dropped like a stone, ready to splat on the ground. A hair before impact, Spike twisted his body in some odd way and they soared. The quick drop put all kinds of extra wind under his wings, sending them nearly to the ceiling.

He angled down, picking up even more speed before banking right, passing step after step with only inches to spare. Dozens flew by, then hundreds. The heat soared as Spike continued flying, the temperatures quickly climbing beyond summer.

Twilight's horn blazed with light to keep up so they could see. The scene was the same no matter how far down they went, until at last they were close to what could be considered “ground.” The stone of the earth was replaced with light blue, glowing crystal. Red mist was replaced with a fog of the same light blue colour, and the temperature plunged.

Spike flapped hard, putting on the brakes but ultimately flailing. His wings hit one of the giant crystals, and they spun into a spiral. The world tumbled over itself as Trixie screamed.

He pulled in one wing, sending them towards a wall. Twisting to have his sides vertical, he swung his feet forward and kicked off the cavern wall. Somehow, this put him level as he came in for a landing. Both ponies put out their legs like they were a chariot, skidding to a stop and holding Spike up instead of the other way around.

“Well.” Trixie shook like an airship engine in desperate need of a tune-up. “Let's never do that again.”

“Hey, I thought it was fun!” Spike pulled lose one of the knots.

Twilight pulled out the rest of them with her magic. “What's not going to be fun is getting back up.”

Now it was Spike's turn to lose some colour from his scales. “Oh.”

“We'll burn that bridge when we get there. What's the reading on the meter?”

Spike pulled it out and gave it a snack on the side, then turned one of the dials. “‘Zero’. Guess it overflowed and broke. That's not good.”

“Actually, the meter is correct.” Aurora made a noise like she was smacking her lips. “The contamination is zero here. We're directly above the ice mana krene here. The environment shields will protect us from it, but if they fail, everypony here will freeze to death in seconds.”

Twilight gulped, and relayed that information to her compatriots, who responded the same way. “Yeah, let's get moving before we turn into pony-shaped Popsicles. Exits…”

Spike pointed a claw behind her. “Looks like that's the only one.”

“If that's the only one, that's the only one. Let's go.” Twilight walked around a large crystal in the center of the chamber, finding the exit Spike was pointing at. It looked more or less like a natural cave path, and even had stone instead of crystal after a few strides inside. The light from the mana in the air was more than enough to see, though she had to be careful to not exhale directly ahead lest it turn into an opaque cloud right in her face. They walked for several more minutes, when a fork in the path popped into her vision.

“... Twilight?”

Spike's voice made her jump, then shake her head to clear the mental fog. “Did it happen again?”

Trixie rubbed her head. “Yeah, we froze up. Something isn't right here.”

“But it isn't affecting me.” Spike scratched his chin. “Is it a pony-only thing, or maybe a unicorn-only thing?”

Twilight’s ear twitched. “It's an annoying thing, that's for sure. Spike, you're our backup. Bonk us if it happens again.”

“Will do, but which way do we go?”

Twilight looked to the extra path to her right, then the main one ahead. “I'm not sure. I--” Her ear twitched again, and she shut her mouth.

Holding up a hoof, she heard a beating just louder than the one being made by her heart. The sound of a hoof in a violent confrontation with a pony's body. More, there was another rhythm, that of hoofsteps on stone down the side path.

She waved at her guards, and they scurried quiet as mice beyond the rightward path, then pressed themselves against the stone.

With a wave from Twilight, Spike took the spot closest to the entryway and crouched low. His legs and claws were compressed springs as the pony walking towards them approached, the hoofbeats now louder than ever and echoing through the tunnel.

The instant a nose came into view, Twilight blasted a shield into place around the group and the new pony. At the same time, Spike exploded around the corner, grabbing the pony and swinging him around in a half circle to kiss the wall.

Trixie was next with a syringe in her magic that plunged into the pony's neck, making him squeal as something or other was put directly into his system.

He tried to shake Spike off, but wobbled and fell over almost immediately. In seconds, he was out like a light.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked, eyebrow raised. “Why do you have a needle?”

“Well…” Her cheeks turned pink with blush. “I was having trouble with non-lethal knockout spells, and then remembered anaesthetics were a thing. So I might have borrowed some from the medical wing? After asking a doctor.”

Twilight chewed on this, and her tongue, for a moment. “Okay, fine. But keep working on those spells and let me know about anything like that next time. I was hoping to interrogate this guy.”

Trixie looked down at the knocked-out magenta stallion. “Oh. Well, he'll be up in a bit.”

“No time to wait. I heard a fight or something up ahead. You two follow behind; I'll take the lead. Keep quiet so we can ambush if possible.” Twilight dropped her shield and strode through the tunnel as much as she could while keeping her hooves from telegraphing her presence. The ground was rock and crystal, but the rubber on the bottom of her armor made nary a squeak as she pushed forward.

The sound of fighting wasn't there anymore, but there were voices. All were stallions, that was clear. It was also plain to hear that they were from Stalliongrad, and speaking the local language. Beyond that, there was no telling who they were. Majestics, Templars, Lunarians, mutated Arctic guppies, anything was possible, and it sent Twilight's mind into a frantic overdrive.

A silence dropped onto her for a moment, freezing her hooves to the ground. Her ears twitched under her helmet, reaching out for any sound waves. A few came, powering her legs to move forward bit by bit. The path turned sharply to the right, with the junction having a heavy security door left open. It was lifted up to be flush with the ceiling, but could be dropped in an instant, and its heavy locks would take quite a bit of time to get through even with magic.

One of the stallions around the corner finally spoke up, speaking Rush. <>

Twilight held up a hoof to stop her guards from moving.

<>

Resist? Resist what? This can't be good, and teleportation is out of the question with these time losses and near a mana krene.

“Try using your Sight?”

Listening to Aurora, she engaged her Sight, and it looked like swimming in blueberry soup. Just a sea of coloured murkiness. Squinting, she pushed forward and felt her nose boop the wall. She leaned forward a bit more, tried to focus farther away, and five little off-color points appeared, one being surrounded by the others.

She turned to Trixie and Spike, and made four pawing motions on the ground without touching anything. Spike put his hand on Trixie's shoulder to explain the plan, as he'd been there during rather similar training scenarios with Luna: Twilight goes in with a bang, they follow in the confusion.

Twilight burst through the doorway, ready to grab the first hostile and break them in two. But she stopped. Tied up in the midst of four stallions was a mare with a brilliant white coat, a stylized purple mane, a restraint ring on her horn, and three blue diamonds in her flank. One of her stylish saddles was on a table nearby, along with a dress. Their gaze met, and in a flash, the mare's eyes went from “bored” to terror.

“Rarity?!”

A burst of light exploded from Rarity’s horn, and a blade shot through the air, turning only at the last millisecond to avoid Twilight's head, which turned to follow it. Instead of hitting her, it hit a large button on the wall, and the security door came crashing down, trapping the six ponies with a crunching wham!

Twilight turned her head back to Rarity, only to see her already out of her restraints, including the sealing ring that was on her horn. One of the stallions was choking on a throwing knife lodged in his voice box. The others were getting out blades, and in one case, loading a saddlegun. Rarity was already back in her dress.

Shaking off her shock, Twilight pulled out her sword and cut into the saddlegun being loaded, cracking the mechanism. The follow up attack was to cut his leg to disable him, but he fell before her blade could strike. A throwing knife was embedded halfway into his forehead.

It was then that she finally noticed the two wooden walls opposite each other, both lined with hung tools, and that more knives were flying into them, suspended by a blue aura. They punctured the walls like paper, then burst out from them a few centimetres away from the entrance holes before puncturing the opposite walls, perforating the hostile caught in between and suspending them on nearly invisible wires.

By the time Twilight turned to face the final hostile, Rarity already had a brilliant ice-blue telekinetic sword plunged into him. The seamstress had moved without hesitation, and no remorse was written on her face.

Twilight's heart had stopped, just like time itself had seemed to do, and Rarity was rushing towards her. Rarity had just killed four ponies. Rarity. And she was still moving.

Twilight lifted her sword.

A tiny pink crystal emerged in Rarity's magic, and as the two came face to face, the fashionista smashed it on the ground. Pink dust swarmed around them, engulfing the both of them in an opaque cloud of swirling pink gas as Twilight dropped her sword.

“R-Rarity?” Twilight sniffled as Rarity finally stood stock still, mane covering her eyes as she looked to the ground. “Is that—”

“I didn't want you to find out this way, but fate seems to have other plans.” When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes, but fire in her words. “Pay close attention, Twilight, I have a lot to say and this field will only last for a very short time.”

“Rarity, you just killed some ponies!”

“Yes. I did.” Rarity put her hoof to Twilight's lips. “Time is short. Darling, listen, I am a spy. I've been working for Celestia for years now, trying to break this conspiracy from within.”

Twilight’s mouth dropped open, squeaking but otherwise silent.

“The dead ponies here are former employees of one of the Majestics. I don't know how or why they did it, but they stole Honesty. The Majestic Twelve have the rest locked up somewhere, and I’ve no idea where or why they need them. But when the renegades stole Honesty, I saw an opening. I was tracking it, hoping to get it before Agent F or you got here, but I obviously failed.”

“Rar—” Twilight squeaked, but Rarity pressed her hoof harder.

“Twilight, listen to me. The Majestic Twelve are not united. They're backstabbing bastards and that's their weak spot, and they know it. They, or more likely One, sent Agent F to kill these ponies, and she would have succeeded without question.”

Twilight’s mind almost broke in two, one half wanting to cry with Rarity over a bottle of red and the other racing to pull at the rope offered. “There are twelve? You know them? Who are they?”

“Were twelve. You neutralized number Eleven, the Duke of San Palomino, and Ten, General Towers. I neutralized Six, Duchess of Cloudsdale, and flipped Twelve. He's working with me, but we have to be careful or we're both dead.”

The blades that punched holes in the walls just now replayed in her mind, then replayed again in the Duchess’ office in Cloudsdale. “That… that was you? You were the assassin?”

“Spies don't show mercy, Twilight. I've been trying to uncover the identities of the others but they always use those damn changeling amulets and refer to each other by number.

“I don't know what their final plan is yet, but it's only maybe half complete. They needed the Elements for… something, and they would have stopped at nothing to get them.

“I've been in too deep too long to back out now. If I'm discovered, they'll send Agent F, and not even Luna could protect me from her. Which means you cannot, ever discuss what I'm telling with anyone or anything, not even Celestia, because somehow it doesn't matter if it's just you two when you talk. This field I put up right now is the only reason I can speak freely.”

Twilight glanced at the pink fog, reaching out with her senses and Sight to figure it out, but got nothing. Only a void.

Rarity continued, “I've been able to keep them from finding out that you're an alicorn, but it's getting harder by the day. That… thing they made contact with knows things that should be impossible. Even actions taken by Celestia alone, but there's no rhyme or reason I can find behind what they're able to uncover and what they're not.”

Twilight looked at Rarity's disgust. “Thing?”

“Starts with an I, has two O’s, and ends with an S. I know you know it, and whatever you do, do not say the name! Ever!You'll not just break this shield but attract its attention, and there's nothing you want less than that.

“I'm stunned it doesn't realize what I'm up to at this point, or maybe it does and approves? I'm not even sure. The Majestic Twelve think they're using it to their own ends. I think it's the opposite.”

“Are you sure they aren't just using you?” Twilight covered her mouth. The words had just come out.

“That's all in the life of a spy, Twilight. But I'll admit, the only reason they haven't killed me is that they think I'm well under the influence of the geas. As long as they think I'm useful, I'm safe. And a pony that can meet with Celestia anytime? Always useful.

“Beyond that, I know they have another base like Farriér’s hidden away somewhere, I just don't know where. Every time I think I figure it out, I'm dead wrong. And if I keep it up I might just get dead.”

Twilight grabbed Rarity’s hoof, her heart filled with tears she just couldn't shed yet. “Rarity, come with me, we can figure out where they are and what to do together!”

Rarity shook her head. “No. Agent F — Flicker — she's unstoppable. I tried looking into her weakness, and not even the Majestics know of one. She's the one that killed Towers before you hit him with morphine. Mystery only knows how One keeps her in line.”

Twilight picked her sword back up. “I can handle the danger.”

“Twilight, you let Rainbow get caught by Farriér and locked up until I let her out.”

Lightning hit Twilight square in the chest. “That was…”

Rarity pulled out a green crystal and golden amulet from her pocket. “I know you broke up the harvesting lab under Manehatten, but they already have quite a few, and I managed to acquire one for my own uses.

“But that's not going to matter in the slightest if Flicker gets here. She's not fooled by the amulets and she's on a mission to exterminate this splinter group and take back the Element. I was hoping to trick these four into telling me something interesting, but since you showed up, I had to act prematurely. Now I don't know where they're keeping it and don't know which of the Majestic Twelve they're working for, but Flicker…

“Twilight, there's several members of the Majestic Twelve that want you dead now. The only reason Flicker hasn't killed you is that One has issued an edict to let you live for some reason. Flicker has been an obedient lapdog for One up until now, but she doesn't agree with the orders and will likely kill you if she sees you.

“She's on her way. Follow me out, pretend you're after me, head straight, and then leave this city as soon as you can. If you don't, you'll die.” Rarity reached out pulled her tight into a hug, squeezing her around her sides and whimpering in her ear.

Still holding and shaking, Rarity continued, “Now, last chance to ask questions. This bubble has about twenty seconds left.”

Twilight didn't want to ask questions. She wanted to tell Rarity it would be okay. That she would make it all better. That she would crush those who would dare hurt or subvert a Bearer, one of her dear friends.

If not even conversations with Celestia herself are safe, though…

“Twilight, the rock in your bag!”

Rarity was squeezing the mysterious rock into Twilight’s side, tingling her right through Aurora.

“Rarity, do you know anything about these rocks?” Twilight broke the hug and pulled out her “hot sample” from the stairs.

Rarity looked down and sighed. “Disrupters. Or the ore they're made out of. Charged, they can make anypony with a horn stunned for a few seconds. I know they've tried to use them against you before, the ones that want you dead. They used intermediaries to stay anonymous while still handing the disrupters out to mercenaries. I hear that if you give these things enough power any of the tribes can be affected, but I don't know how they do it. I only know there's a ward you can use against them.” She pulled her dress up to reveal a blue symbol on her side. It looked like a triangle wave with a vertical arrow through the middle.

“I don't recogni—”

“No time.”

The pink mist was giving way to the brown wood and grey stone of the cave, along with the heavy banging of ponies trying to wreck a security door. Twilight put a hoof through the mist, and it parted. Leaping through it, she pulled on the locks to get them open.

“Sorry, darling, but you're going to have to do better than that if you want to catch me red-hoofed!”

Twilight looked back, and Rarity had all her gear back on, and was laughing behind a fetlock like a purebred noble.

“After all, who would believe Generosity would be so greedy? Tata!” Rarity pulled open a door leading to a black void. The little throwing knives under her saddle fluttered out and gathered in her back, just under her shoulders. They linked together, forming a mesh in a very particular shape.

“Wings…” Twilight whispered.

Rarity jumped, fell, and vanished into the black.

She turned back to the locks, which Spike's flame was starting to eat through. One at a time they popped under the strain of her magic, and she jumped back as the dragon pushed it open.

“Are you okay?!” Trixie jumped through the door, horn alight like a sparkler fountain.

“Fine, and I found the way out. This way!” Twilight ran to the door Rarity had dashed out of and took in what was there to see, which wasn't much. Some of the cave ceiling could be seen immediately above her, but everything else was darkness.

A clawed hand on her shoulder made her back muscles jump.

“Twilight, I heard Rarity. Was that her?”

“Likely. I'll explain what I can later. But she flew out this door somehow, and we need to follow her. Ready to fly us again?”

Trixie whimpered.

“No time to complain. Spike, rope!” Twilight yanked it out of his bag and tied the three of them together once more.

“I'm going to have a fear of heights after this. Trixie just knows it.”

“Ready?”

“No.”

“Too bad. Jump, Spike!”

Spike gulped. “Okay. Never flew in pure darkness before, but here we go!”

Gravity took hold, pulling them into the stale, damp air and allowing the darkness to consume their world. Every second was wind blowing in their faces and darkness. Even Twilight's Sight couldn't pierce it.

It was a minute or two before they saw anything at all. Ahead, the cave was coming to an end, with one exception. There was a gap in the wall directly ahead of them. Beyond, only more darkness.

“Go through the hole?” Spike asked.

“Go through the hole.”

The stone blew by them with a low whoosh, rocking Spike and making him wobble.

“You okay, Spike?” Twilight yelled over the breeze.

“On it. Was just unexpected is all. So, where are we going?”

Twilight blinked, then pointed dead ahead. “Another hole! There must be a path in the air leading through the cave!”

“Going in!” Spike grabbed them both and squeezed as they passed through, the wind once again giving them a love tap on the face. The moment they cleared the hole, yet another appeared ahead of them.

“Trixie thinks she's going to be sick.”

“Twilight, is it just me, or is that the same hole?” Spike asked as they soared through it. “I don't think I'm flying in circles.”

Twilight shook her head and switched on her Sight. “We're not! And I can see some differences in each one, but not huge differences. Another one incoming!”

It whooshed by them, and Spike rocked a little in the air. “I think I'm getting the hang of this!”

“Twilight! There is definitely a spell of some sort going on here. The odds of these lining up like this…”

Twilight looked around, seeing mostly darkness along with another hole in the cave wall. And naturally? Just for ponies? In this location? Unlikely.

“Anypony see that?” Trixie yelled.

“See whaaaaaaaaa—!” The cave bloomed with light, revealing an interior space large enough to fit a city. No, not a city. Twilight gulped down her awe. An entire Duchy!

The cave space was akin to an enormous geode, the inside lined with crystals ranging in colour from purple to pearly white. Giant stone staircases, dwarfing the ones leading down the cave from before, were scattered throughout the walls. They went every which way, overlapping themselves in ways that danced on the grave of three dimensional geometry. Giant obelisks made out of the disrupter stone jutted out from the ovoid wall, each pointing to the shimmering light source in the center that felt like a summer sun. Though they soared, it looked as if they were standing still in the massive space.

“Whoa.” Spike wobbled a bit in mid air. “Guys, I don't think we're just underground anymore. There's no way this was just… underneath Moscolt.”

“I think you're right.” Twilight shielded her eyes from the brightness at the core with her fetlock. “Somewhere after we got to the krene, we must have passed through a fold in space without realizing it. Like a portal whose edges were all in the rock, so we couldn't see it. We could be anywhere at this point, even in another plane of existence. Theoretically. I don't actually have much else to go on.”

“Another plane of existence.” Trixie whimpered. “I think I'm going to faint.”

A gust of wind beat them all on their rear, pushing them forward. “Crap. Twilight, I just looked behind us, and I can't see where we came from. Where should I land?”

“Does it matter? Without more information, any guess is as good as any other. Find someplace you think you can set down on and head for it.”

“How?” Trixie yelled. “Everything has to be a thousand kilometres away! Even the stuff below us!”

“Maybe, maybe not. This is too far for our minds to really tell. And there still seems to be gravity, so, let's use that! That's almost ten meters per second squared.”

“So we dive?” Spike asked.

Trixie whimpered again.

“We dive.”

Spike pulled in his wings, and they fell. Wind started rushing passed them, putting them at terminal velocity in seconds. The wind was the only clue that they were even really moving, but that's not what punched Twilight in the heart. Spike had turned and dove alright, aiming straight down, but they were still heading for the light.

“What's going on? I turned! I know I turned!”

“Double back!” Twilight switched to her Sight for only a split second before the light overwhelmed her and she had to switch back. “Fly back the way we came!”

“I'm trying!”

No matter which way he turned, the light was always there, growing larger, getting closer.

“We aren't in normal space! Every path leads to the center!”

“It's like a singularity?!” Twilight grabbed hold of Spike. “What in the name of Mystery kind of magic is going on here! There's no way this should be possible without a dimensional collapse!”

Trixie just started screaming.

Spike tried to turn in a vertical loop, to no avail. “I don't think the spells here care about that, Twilight!”

“Twilight! Look!”

The center light was a flickering mass of yellow, orange, and purple on its outline. The centre, however, was Equestria. All of it, and everywhere all at once. Blinking could sometimes isolate six or seven snapshots of life, from cities to forests and ponies she'd never seen before.

It's a long shot, but… “Head inside, Spike!”

Trixie stopped screaming just long enough to yell “Are you nuts?!”

Spike spread his wings to catch the tail wind. “Trixie, I don't think we have a choice. I hope you know what you're doing, Twilight!”

“So do I!”

A riptide of gravity took hold of them, pulling them forward. The wind rode it along with them. Everything just sped up, or rather, the core grabbed onto everything and pulled it in. The heat was about to set them all on fire when they finally plunged into the orb.

Where am I? Twilight opened her eyes. No. That wasn't right. They were already open, right? She was certainly seeing something. Many somethings, at that. She was back home in Ponyville, resting on Celestia’s pillow, soaring in Canterlot, sunbathing in Marelaysia, all at once. As she gazed deeper, she found herself in Manehatten at a Pinkie Party. One that was held years ago as a housewarming event for Pinkie's move to the city to start her own business. The laughs and tears came all at once, like at the party, but different.

Then she was at the wake for Granny Smith. The sorrow there was felt by everypony, and as much as she felt it then, she was even more sure of it now. That was followed by Big Mac and Fluttershy finally admitting their feelings to each other, and the brief but ridiculous feud between Carrot Top and Applejack involving produce artillery guns.

The pigs ate well that week.

She reached out, or at least that's what it felt like. She was grabbing into something, either the feelings she had or something more tangible. Maybe feelings were tangible here.

Trixie's voice called to her, or maybe it was just the memory of the pony. Spike joined in a second later with some snarky quip. She had trained him well, but she wanted to stay. If she left, there would be no telling what would happen. And after all, Applejack was here, so it couldn't be all bad.

“You have to let go.”

That couldn't be right. That was Applejack's voice. She wouldn't tell her to leave.

“You're not meant to be here. Don't worry, you can leave. It's okay.”

What did that mean? What even was this place? And why would Applejack — no, not her. Not her friend. Not exactly, anyway. It could have her face and voice, but she could see her for what she was now.

Honesty.

“You have to leave. It will be okay. Trust me. Let go, and you'll be safe.”

She wanted to stay. It was warm here. Open. But was Applejack telling the truth? Did she really have to leave?

She mentally punched herself. If she doubted Honesty, what point would there be in anything?

So she let go.

More scenes of Equestria past and present floated by, running ever faster as the sound of roaring water filled her ears, and then, her lungs.

She choked on the cool water. It was refreshing in a drowning kind of way, if such a thing were possible. Her body gagged, but her heart was fine. After all, Applejack promised her, and a promise from Honesty was always kept. Then came the light.

There was screaming, all right. Lots of it, from both Spike and Trixie. It started the very instant they were ejected from the strangely vertical, small-town-width cylinder of water. Twilight joined in after she was done exhaling water. The world was tumbling over itself as they fell, plunging through a few clouds that obviously had no respect for her pegasus magic or the spells in their armor. As Twilight lit her horn for a spell, all that came out was a sputtering of sparks.

Below them was a verdant field with lush green grass, bordering the ocean. A warm sun was in the afternoon sky, and the temperature was that of a pleasant late summer day rather than the dead of winter. Rich brown rock was exposed wherever the grass hadn't taken hold, and mountains lay beyond the grass opposite the sea.

The column of water gracious enough to spit them out was emerging from a permanent mass of clouds over the edge of the land, forever dumping untold millions of gallons into an enormous lake that immediately drained into the sea. This repeated over and over, so many waterfalls from nothing but a dense but thin cloud, all draining either directly into the sea or on the coast. It stretched into the horizon along the beach in both direction.

A dragon’s hand squeezed her side tight as Spike pulled in his wings and pointed the three straight down. They plummeted through the air as one would normally expect of physics, which was notable given how much the rules of nature had been sleeping on the job lately.

Unlike before, however, Spike was in control of the terms of engagement. The moment they stabilized in the general direction of “eating dirt,” he spread open his wings and pulled up. They caught the air like one would catch a ledge, bleeding away speed and changing their direction to something not destined to end with a permanent dirt nap.

Now in a steady glide, Spike was dutifully aiming for shore instead of the brilliant blue lake directly underneath them. The only problem was that while Twilight's magic was seemingly on the fritz, her mind wasn't, and every calculation she did told her the same thing: they were in for a water landing anyway.

If her horn wouldn't work, the next step was her pegasus magic. With all her will and might, she tried to summon a tailwind, but it unfortunately only resulted in a different kind of tail wind.

“Really, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I was trying to use magic!” Forget the sun. Her blush could warm Equestria from now on.

Although that wouldn't be very true for very long as they splashed down into the drink. The water was cool, but not the cold one would expect given where they were just a few hours ago. On instinct, Twilight started to paddle with her legs, and somehow they managed to float instead of sink; their heads were back up above water in just a moment.

Shaking, shaken, and soaked, they crawled their way onto a dirty shore before flopping onto the warm grass. Spike let go of the ponies, the likely bruises on their sides a fair trade for saving them: the rope had gone limp during the surreal voyage, its spell gone much like the other magic they had.

Aurora, are you still there?

“Unable to respond. Safety mode engaged. Systems reforming. ETC two hours.”

Wow. It even knocked out Aurora. But it sounds like she was smart enough to protect herself. Twilight blinked and looked down at her armoured body. But I'm stuck in deployment until she wakes up.

Trixie pulled at the still-tangled ropes with her teeth. “Where the hell are we, anyway? What was that?”

“In order?” Twilight nudged Spike to help them get free, but he looked like he was going to pass out on the grass. “We're at the Eternal Falls. It's a protected wilderness park at the far west end of Equestria, north of San Palomino but well south of Stalliongrad. We just got thrown several thousand kilometres away from where we were.

“As to what in Tartarus that portal was in that what in Tartarus chamber, I don't know. I've never seen, never felt anything like it. But I think Honesty had been there — I could hear it talking to me.”

“Are you sure you weren't dreaming?” One of Trixie's ropes snapped. “I only heard us screaming.”

“No, I'm not, but that's what my gut says and that's all I have to go on right now. I'll ask Celestia but I would bet all the donuts at Sugarcube Corner that the Sisters don't know either. And then there's the matter of Rarity.”

“Rarity?!” Spike pushed himself up, and more water from his wings drenched the two ponies. “Twilight, what happened to Rarity?!”

Crap. She had wanted to avoid that topic. No avoiding it now. She sighed and looked for a way to explain without putting her in danger. The sun, though, reminded her of Honesty. Maybe the Element was watching her, and truth was the only option in her heart. Yet, she couldn't say everything. It would get Rarity killed for certain, and Spike would never forgive her for that, to say nothing of her own conscience.

“She's mixed up in this somehow. She wouldn't tell me everything, except to have faith in her and leave her be. And to not tell anypony. She might be compromised by the Majestics, but I'm going to take her word. I'm only telling you two because you were there and there's no getting around you knowing. But neither of you can tell anypony, anyone, or anything that she was there. She's made it clear that even breathing the words could put her at risk, and there's no place safe enough to be an exception. Got it?”

Spike, free of the ropes, sat and hugged his stomach. “Rarity…”

“I can't bend on this one. You both have to promise.”

Trixie splayed out on her belly and sighed, still panting from adrenaline. “I swear. Not like anypony would believe me.”

“If it's for her.” Spike sniffled. “But I'm worried.”

“You and me both, Spike. But right now we need to get back to Stalliongrad.” Twilight lit her horn again, and this time managed to keep a telekinetic field going for ten seconds or so. “My magic is still kinda fritzy from that… whatever it was. But it looks like it's coming back. Spike, do you still have your pages? If I recall correctly, this area is near a leyline.”

Spike pulled off his backpack and took out a stack of soaked papers. “I don't think I can send these.”

“They're wet, but not destroyed. There's trees over that ridge there. Worst case, my magic is messed up for a good while and we use wood to make a fire and dry them out. Better case, I recover faster and use magic to restore them. With any luck, we'll be back within the hour.” And hopefully, there before this “Agent F.” If not, we'll see how unstoppable she really is.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry about missing another chapter! This was just a tough one and ugh I've been out of it all month. But, it's up, and here's to 2020 being better and way more productive.

Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me, especially my incredible patrons and remarkable editors!
-Cv

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Deeper Understanding

“Got your magic back yet?”

Twilight squeezed her mane with a towel, ignoring Spike for just a moment while testing her horn. “Mostly. There's still a higher-than-acceptable failure rate, but it seems to be fading quickly. I should be back to normal in an hour or so.”

Spike munched on a cookie while leaning back on Twilight’s bed back in Canterlot Castle. Luna had brought them back to the capital, but it took seven tries to get the exit point correct thanks to the disruption effect lingering on their bodies. “So what're we gonna do? Our best lead kinda exploded. I mean, yeah, it was incredible, but also a dead end.”

“We're not out of options just yet. I want to look over our maps again. That portal definitely had something to do with Honesty. I could hear it speak to me when we were there.”

Spike chuckled. “You gonna map-fu this problem like the rest?”

“Never underestimate the power of a good map. And kinda. I don't know if it'll help this time. We're talking about a literal underground network as vast as entire Duchies and possibly disjointed from our dimension.

“That last part is important. We might be able to cross reference the geology or pollution profile of the city to find the areas most likely to have other entrances. If that doesn't work, the Duchy’s security forces are already swarming the point where the entrance was found. We can get prepped and go back in.”

Spike sneezed. “Gah. More pollution. Fun.”

“Well, we won't be the only ones to ever go down there. The contamination is severe enough that the Duchy has to intervene to prevent a future disaster.”

“You think maybe that was the rebels’ plan? Start a disaster and blame the Duke?”

“Nah. Nothing to take over if they do that. And anything that monstrous would mean Crown intervention, and they aren't looking to pick that kind of fight. Way easier to keep things low-level, poaching the city instead of deep-frying.

“Also, I don't know how they would be able to trigger something like that. A mana krene isn't something you can easily influence. Many have their own natural cycles, like the one in Stalliongrad, and artificially trying to make it more or less active would be extremely difficult. Like trying to use a blowtorch to shrink a glacier, the power differences are just too great.”

Twilight pulled out her brush as a knock sounded at her door. “Enter!”

Trixie pushed it open, carrying a bundle of papers in her mouth that she placed on front of Twilight. “Okay, we have confirmation via telegraph that Rainbow and Cloud have been updated. The police are stretched thin, but they still stationed twenty officers at that barn, and a military detachment from the Moscolt Army Base, including HAZMAT teams, is en route to lock it down.

“Princess Celestia will teleport us as far as she can once we're ready, but it's still going to take an hour or two on a Guard chariot. It's just too far from a leyline for a direct jump. She also asked me what you wanted to do about the disruption ore in that secret tunnel.”

Twilight stopped mid-brush-stroke for a good grimace. “Getting it all out would be practically impossible. Let's have the workers focus on getting the exposed pieces out. Any that are completely sealed in the rock are less of a concern because mana can only go so fast through solid rock. Going through that much rock would be several orders of magnitude slower than going through air.”

Trixie coughed into her foreleg. “And what do we do about who we found?”

“Leave that to me. It's going to require a more delicate touch. For now, let's gear back up and get to the chariot. There should be spare armor for you two in the armoury. Something tells me we might need it.”

“Rainbow, I'm calling it: this isn't working. Head for the Duchy building.” Twilight flopped back in the seat in her chariot and kicked the scope to put it down. “Two hours and no sign of the magic from the Element yet. Map-fu failed this time, I think.”

Trixie didn't look up from her scratch paper already filled with magic formulas. “So do you think it's in the labyrinth underground?”

“Probably? It's hard to be certain. It could be a hundred kilometres away by now, or just twelve meters underground.”

The chariot banked into a hard turn and dropped to line up for a landing. Spike, meanwhile, packed up all the papers and maps. “So we need a new lead.”

“Basically, yes.” Twilight fought a wave of nausea in her core. Before this “Flicker” gets here.

The chariot thumped as it hit the ground, rolling to a stop a moment later. Twilight wrapped her face with a scarf as she stepped outside, her guards just behind her. They all ducked inside the heated building as soon as they could. Though it was only mid-afternoon, in Stalliongrad during winter, that meant late sunset. It also meant plunging temperatures. In an hour it would be minus-thirty or worse, and that was before factoring in wind chill.

The inside of the Duchy building, however, was a pleasant twenty-two degrees Centigrade with rich gold lighting and soft red carpets. There was also Twilight's overactive imagination, which told her that her mother would scold her if she dared drag mud and snow on said carpets. Thus she spent some extra time in the doorway wiping her hooves.

Their destination was one of the many meeting rooms the government building had. All manner of Duchy affairs were discussed behind those doors, and they would likely have to kick some ponies out since it wasn't four-thirty yet.

“Lady Sparkle!”

Twilight's right ear pointed at the voice, and then pulled her head along for the ride. The Duke himself was heading towards her, maintaining a purposeful stride. Fighting a yawn, she greeted him. “Tell me you have good news, Duke.”

“I'm afraid I cannot say. Earlier, Generosity approached me, and gave me a scroll to give to you.”

Twilight's eyes shot open. “Let me see it.”

“Of course.” He pulled out a scroll locked with a magic seal bearing Rarity's cutie mark. The lines of magic holding it could be broken by anypony, but that wasn't the point. Nopony else could have made the seal, so nopony had put eyes on the content yet. At least, in practice that was true. Such enchantments could be falsified, but the effort was delicate, time-consuming, and almost never worth the hassle. Moreover, Rarity had likely enchanted it such that anypony too far removed from Twilight's rare magic profile would be unable to open it without triggering a self-destruct.

Twilight took it from him and tore apart the seal, unfurling it.

Twilight,

Let me just say I'm making a big risk doing this. I don't know if our “friend” can sense writing like it can speech.

All my sources say our lady friend will be there by the time you get this. Her teleportation makes ours look like something from a toddler. It's instant and can't be blocked. Armor is useless. Shields are too, I'd imagine. But I know you're not going to give up on just my advice. You're like me: stubborn.

Kindness couldn't even convince the agent at large to back off. She'd see it as a weakness. But I think she's a bully. If anypony can figure out her moves, it's you. Punch her in the nose and I bet she'll freak out. But be careful, she always brags about “having an exit strategy.” Sadly I'm not sure where exactly she's off to.

Even so, I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of your mystery. Especially if you look carefully and deep. But remember, be careful!

Stay sharp,
Rarity

Twilight stuffed the letter in her bag. “I need a secure room immediately.”

The Duke nodded. “This way.”

They were led into a bare-bones basement room made of cold, grey concrete. It had a shoddy table and cruddy bookshelf of rote census and other data.

Twilight sneezed at the chill in the air. “Good enough, though I wish the floor was painted Indigo. Pardon us, Duke. You can go back to your duties. And this letter never existed, clear?”

“As crystal. By your leave, my lady.”

After watching to make sure he left, Twilight put up privacy shields around all the walls, as well as the ceiling and floor. “Ok, I think we got a lead, but... Ugh, I can't say it all outright.”

Cloud cleared his throat. “Why?”

“Can't tell you anything beyond what I already said about our unexpected encounter below ground. And I never got this letter. This is Indigo Cosmic Magick stuff. Everypony, look at this and see if you see the same message I did.”

The group crowded around and read through it.

Rainbow shrugged. “I don't see anything secret in there, but…” She blinked a few times, staring off at the wall. “Ah, I see?”

Trixie smirked at that. “Then what is it?”

“If you don't know, I won't say.” Rainbow stuck out her tongue.

“Big pony pants time, guys.” Twilight sighed. “What do you see?”

Spike and Cloud looked at each other. “Bottom of the lake,” they said in unison.

Trixie’s mouth opened a little. “Where'd you get that from?”

Twilight tapped the page. “Check the first letters of each paragraph. Then check the last paragraph.”

Trixie squeaked. “Oh. Well, don't I feel dumb now.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Obvious when you think about it.”

Twilight snorted back a chuckle. “Says the pony that used temporal shenanigans to figure it out. But still, this presents a problem.”

Spike folded his arms. “Yeah. Lake Konnista, the big lake to the north? It's glacier-carved and deep. Like, three-thousand-meters deep.”

Twilight sighed. “Which means nearly three hundred atmospheres of pressure. We don't have any equipment that can handle that.”

“I think I can do it.”

Twilight held up a hoof to interrupt her guards. “One moment. I think Aurora is awake.”

“I am. Mostly. That portal hurt. Most of the custom systems I made for you have been destroyed, but that also means I'm a bit of a blank slate. it would be very easy for me to optimize for an underwater journey, even up to extreme pressure. But that also means my ability to protect you in combat would be limited. You'll have to rely on shields.”

That'll have to do. I'm glad you're okay. “Alright, ponies, we have a means of getting me to the bottom of the lake. The bad news is that I'll have to go alone.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain you want to do that? This could be extremely dangerous.”

“I'm absolutely certain it'll be dangerous, but unless you know of a way to get other ponies safely to the bottom of an extremely deep lake, I don't see how we have much choice. If there's even a chance of Honesty being there, I have to go.”

“I don't actually have to do this, right?” Twilight asked aloud while standing in the middle of frozen-over Lake Konnista. “Because I'm pretty sure this is an awful idea.”

Spike gave her a tut-tut. “Twilight, you said you had to. Unless you figured out something else, which I'm sure we'd all be in favour of.”

The others nodded their agreement, and Twilight groaned. She'd never been one for being on the ice. As a filly, she had multiple opportunities to go ice skating, but refused. Her mother's insistence that the ice would not break under her wasn't an especially warm reassurance given that wasn't what she worried about. Rather, it was the fact that the laws of nature had insisted that her sense of balance not function while she was on ice. Aurora’s supernaturally grippy boots were the only reason she wasn't flat on her back or belly already.

Regardless, there was a good reason to not desire a trip into the water beneath the ice. It took dedicated equipment for rescue ponies to swim in that cold, and the ice krene had the annoying habit of regenerating holes in the ice within moments.

“Don't worry about getting sealed up.” Cloud trotted to the chariot and rummaged inside for a moment. “We restocked our fire shells when you were out. Trixie can crack them open and use the fire dust inside to keep a hole open. You just focus on breathing. And, uh, sinking.”

“I can take care of the sinking. And making air. Just make sure your shields are set up to let the water pass through.”

On it. Twilight lit her horn and started setting up her shield - with a few tweaks. “Okay, I'm going to be out of communication range within minutes. The signal won’t travel well in water. Much as I would love to stay in radio contact, that’s not going to be an option. We’re going to have to suffer in silence.”

Rainbow got a cruel glimmer in her eye. “You mean pulling a Discord?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but the others shared a somewhat mean-spirited, if deserved, chuckle. With a breath, she looked up at the crystal-clear night sky. “You guys can hide out in the chariot if you want. I just need Trixie to pop out once in a while to keep my exit route open. Notify the Princesses if I’m not back in a couple of hours.”

Spike outstretched his wings to cover the shivering Trixie from the wind. “Will Aurora be able to take that much pressure for that long?”

“She told me she estimates being able to take four hours before her magic fails. But even if not, we should have the margin of safety needed to swim up in time. Any other questions?”

The group paused before shaking their heads.

“Okay then. Trixie, start the spell.” Twilight finished her shields just as Trixie’s magic came together. The pink magic circle under Twilight took on a red hue and started eating into the ice. It looked like the red syrup on a snow cone from the fair, but there was no mistaking the heat coming from it. It wasn’t long before the magic spread inside the circle, scoring the ice into chunks. Blue water was visible through the ice under her hooves within minutes.

“Here I go. See you guys in a bit!” Twilight tried to look as warm as possible to her obviously worried guards, despite the fact that they were on a frozen lake. She took in a breath, and jumped.

The world was a lot colder a split second later, and divided into gradients with white ice above and black water below. She took a moment to think, observe, and be still. It was cold, but tolerable. She was dropping slowly into the deep, at maybe a few centimetres a second.

Okay. So far, so good. The water pulled at her, welcoming her into the deep. Her heart pounded, and her lungs cried out. It was only then that she realized she was holding her breath. She screamed and gasped, instinct telling her she was about to inhale a few litres of lake water. Instead, she got warm air.

Ugh. There's no way I’m ever getting used to this.

Aurora giggled and somehow rolled eyes at her. “Just breathe. I'm using some electric magic to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen, and venting the former while cooling the latter with the ambient ice magic.”

Twilight let out a breath full of her panic, letting her limbs settle down from flailing. Knowing the science… makes me feel better.

“Naturally! Are you ready to dive?”

She looked up at the fading ice, and the reddish hole in it as it shrank. Yeah. Let's do this.

Some magic inside Aurora shifted, and they dropped. Instead of a few centimetres a second, they were plunging into the dark much faster than Twilight could estimate. The light couldn't reach very far under the ice and through the water, and in seconds, there was nothing but inky blackness.

Twilight lit her horn, but it didn't do much good. Every now and then some fish, critter, or piece of garbage floated by her, and that was the only way she could tell how far her light was reaching.

The time they took to reach the bottom wasn't real time as far as Twilight could tell. There was barely an up or down, and definitely no left, right, forward, or backwards. Something told her it wasn't that long a time, but for all she knew, she might as well have just spent an hour floating. It would have been peaceful if it wasn't existentially terrifying. Even her Sight saw nothing but the ambient blueberry soup of ice and water magic.

When they did hit bottom, they found sticky mud. She had to swim up a little to get out of it, and chose to keep herself swimming just a tad above the bottom. She fired dozens of the brightest flares she'd ever made in all directions, illuminating a place that hadn't seen light in eons, if ever. Not that there was much to see — it was just mud all around her, along with a few very confused fish.

Okay, time to start the search pattern. She lit her horn and fired a beam behind her. It didn't make much light, but that was because she went for efficiency over anything else, meaning the beam was almost pure kinetic force. Not a ton of it, as powerful blasts tended to be less efficient, and she wasn't looking for that. It was just enough to move her through the water at a nice glide, perhaps like Fluttershy moving through the air.

“What's that thing?”

Twilight tilted her head towards where Aurora was mentally pointing her. It was an anomaly in her eyes at first, like trying to look directly at a star in the night sky. Her brain didn't have the information to fill in the gap. As they got closer, an obelisk of sorts came into view. It was made of mud, or perhaps just covered in it. The top was clearly broken off.

This has to be artificial, Twilight realized.

As they approached, more became visible in the mud. Everywhere ahead of them had strange, unnatural shapes half-buried in the bottom of the lake. She grabbed onto the obelisk as they were about to zoom past, and wiped away the mud. A blue-grey, hard substance was underneath. It was like off-color ice, but with a rougher texture than it should have had for frozen water.

She floated from spot to spot, uncovering piece after piece of the substance, along with metal, wood, and stone. After firing more flares, she found herself in a vast field of debris - one that hadn’t been noticed from the outside world in who knows how long.

“What is this place? There’s no record of any other cities in this area in the known archeological record.”

I don’t know. I don’t even know what all this is made of. A little voice in her mental committee started jumping up and down, screaming, “Pre-Discordian ruins! Pre-Discordian ruins!” The rest were telling her to save it for when they weren’t a few kilometres underwater.

I need a better view, Twilight told Aurora. Can you raise us a bit?

She swam up, buoyed by Aurora, firing flares to spread the light around as much as she could, making them as bright as could be maintained in the water. Though their range was still limited, she could see a good portion of the vast field, including where it ended. Some distance in, the ruins were replaced by a deep crater, easily several stories deep.

“Want to investigate the curiously placed crater?” Aurora asked.

Who wouldn’t? Twilight chuckled.

She made for the cavity, spending several moments just coasting with her magic as she flew over it. Like the rest of the lake, it was filled with mud, but no structure was left inside. Whatever had caused the crater, it left nothing standing inside it.

At least, that’s what she thought until she found a mound a bit off the center. It was maybe two stories tall and had a cave-like hole in it.

“You know, caves have historically led us into big trouble. Want to go in?”

Sure seems like a bad idea, which is probably my M.O. at this point. Let's go tickle a dragon or something, I guess. She swam down, and inside. Of course, it was completely dark. A few flares lit up the pathway, revealing a rough stone pathway just big enough for a large pony to swim through.

This isn’t a natural tunnel. The stone has been dug out and hasn’t had a chance to get covered in mud. Who in their right mind would head down here, and how in Tartarus did they manage to get here without getting crushed like a soda can?

The answers, if there were any, laid inside. She swam down, holding her breath again before Aurora gave her a little zap of a reminder to breathe. At one point she stopped to think, and found herself still moving forward. There's suction here, like an underground river. This may be a problem.

The speed picked up, but it hit a maximum that was a comfortable pace. It was like a swift swim, guiding her down to whatever awaited her. It didn't take too long to run headlong into a barrier.

It was a neutral-toned magical barrier pulsing with ripples of light. Little tendrils extended off it like sea anemones, reaching and grabbing for something… for her.

The shivers in her back and legs had her wriggling and writhing like struck prey even before the tendrils touched her. The water pulled down into an abyss instead of forward into the barrier, but the tendrils had her and were pressing her against the magic field. She was about to tear things apart with her own magic when her ears popped and she found herself on the other side of the barrier. Inside it was more tunnel, but not one filled with water.

It was dry, or at most a bit damp, and there was a machine about the size of a dishwasher next to her. It was painted yellow and was illuminated by a floodlight hooked up to it. In the top was a hole with a rod of solidified magic sticking out, and facing the barrier was a large core crystal.

So this machine is keeping the barrier up by feeding it power from the magic rod. Down the tunnel, she saw a barrel of more rods, enough to keep the barrier going for some time, as long as ponies were around to put in fresh rods.

“Okay, so, this is kinda just banged together. It’ll work thanks to where it is in the tunnel and how the water is being diverted rather than being held up. I’m actually a little impressed — when you have very little resources, you make do.”

“This seems consistent with the bare-bones nature of the tools back in that factory.”

“Yeah. No idea how they made the tunnel, though. Let's go find out what's on the other end that they're so interested in.”

The tunnel continued its twisting, turning ways for maybe five minutes. The stone was damp and had occasional bits of slippery mud on it. Light-blue ice mana glowed along the ground, both floating in the air and ingrained into the stone. The drops of magic looked like glow-in-the-dark spray paint.

Each step brought more magic to the air, and the ground soon had a layer of the blue-white building substance she'd found in the rubble outside. Moments later, and the whole tunnel was lined with it, turning it square instead of rounded. Lines of ice mana ran through it like veins, pulsing slowly with power.

It was eventually bright enough that she didn’t need to light the way with her horn. The tunnel led to some steps—normal-sized instead of dragon-sized—that led upwards.

“Holy…” Twilight gulped as she reached the top.

Before her was a massive underground city. It was easily the size of Manehatten, and probably larger. All of the buildings and even the streets were made of that blue-grey-white substance from the ruins. The ice-mana veins ran through the street and into the bottoms of the buildings, and up into what were probably once streetlights.

The structures near her were smaller, but there were skyscrapers in the distance easily larger than any she’d seen before, and the center had a castle that made Canterlot’s look like a dollhouse. The streets were arranged in a radial fashion, all leading to or circling the obvious center of power.

Her hoofsteps shimmered as she trotted, making a twinkling sound that scratched, nay, directly tickled her auditory cortex. Many of the buildings’ windows were broken and scattered around with other rubble. The basic structures were all still intact, but a lot of walls were broken. Strange items were everywhere, from random small spheres on the ground to odd rectangular metal boxes at some street corners.

Above the city was a crystalline cavern, a dome of mana-infused ice. It was so high it would have been invisible if not for both the ice mana running through it and a powerful searchlight shining into it from one side of the city.

Need to pick up the pace. Twilight lit her horn and shot herself into the air and down the street with a teleport, magic-hopping downtown to the castle. Her eye caught something in front of the main entrance, and she let herself come to a stop. Ears back, she took tiny steps forward towards the grandiose staircase and what was in front of it.

She sat on the cold ground, ears back and head down, gazing up at a statue. It depicted a draft stallion of massive proportions, with thick muscles like wrapped iron. His wings were spread wide, and their type was made for maximum power. If his true height could be reasonably assumed by starting with Celestia and scaling up proportionally from mare to stallion, his horn would be as long as Twilight was tall, and she could probably walk under him like he was some kind of bridge.

His tail was relatively simple in shape, and his mane was short and was shaped kind of like the top of an iceberg, coming to a tip on the back of his head. His beard was less a beard and more a piece of a glacier attached to his steel jaw. His gaze was proud, determined, defiant… yet somehow, also hopeful. Though the statue was weathered, it was clearly a masterwork of some legendary sculptor. There was a plaque on the base, and though the writing was long since gone, she didn't need it. She knew exactly who this was a statue of.

“Lord Glacien.” Twilight whispered. “The Alicorn of Ice and Winter.”

Author's Note

Oh this one took a while. Really tricky areas of the story to write, but I'm coming up on segments that should be a lot easier. As always, thanks to my wonderful patrons, fans, and everyone who reads my silly story for sticking with me. If you want to chat with other readers and maybe cheer me on when my anxiety inevitably overwhelms me, come join us on Discord!

-Cv

Cold Fire Shining A Buried Light

“A lost city… right under Moscolt! Well, under the lake. There's only one entity that could pull this off: Discord. Celestia did say that this used to be a trade city in the ocean. But the timeline doesn't quite work…”

Her mental committees started yelling hypotheses at her, and her frontal cortex had to tell them all to shut their collective axons.

“There will be time for that later,” Twilight mused aloud. “The more important thing is finding out what the Majestics are doing here.”

“I bet the spotlight shining on the roof of this place is a good place to start,” said Aurora. “Nice, convenient beacon.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go.” Twilight broke into a gallop and fired up her teleportation again, catapulting herself down the streets towards the light.

The buildings came in all shapes and sizes, some close together, others with wide gaps enough to be small parks. Most were generally intact, save for windows. Some had signs that were still legible, save for the fact that she didn't know the language. Every so often she'd find sparks showering out of some wire that was sticking out.

Amazing. Electric power is still functioning after thousands of years. The streets became somewhat disjointed, making her zig-zag around. The buildings here were larger and more universally rectangular. The one that dominated, though, was the height of a skyscraper with the width and depth of a warehouse. The top was darkened with soot, and pieces of it looked like they were blasted out with artillery shells. Yet it stood like it was built to be a bunker.

Its size messed with her perception of how far away it was. The underground cavern was even greater than she first thought. When she did arrive, though, the source of the light was easy to find, and it proved to be of a much more recent vintage. A typical searchlight was being used, a kind one could find in any city in Equestria. Another generator of the kind she found at the underwater entrance was hooked up to it, and a series of utility lights led inside the massive structure.

She entered the building through an opening, which looked like it was recently blasted open with TNT, or perhaps painstakingly carved in (given the tools lying around) and then blasted open. The wall she walked through was easily five times as thick as the other walls. The hall she entered was generally untouched, and the same building substance as everywhere else was all she could see for a while. It wasn't too long before she found another hole, and given that the lights went in that direction, she followed.

The walls were now pulsing with the same veins of magic as outside, but this time they were more like arteries, and she could feel the cold, fresh magic of a mana krene going through them. Unlike the other veins, these seemed to have much more of a pattern to them. Or at the very least, they were orderly.

The next turn threw whatever sense of order she had out the window, as she found a body. It was a stock stallion, not older than thirty, and a blade had been run through his chest, judging by the gaping hole in it. She retracted Aurora and touched him with her fetlock, feeling perhaps the last of his body's warmth before it faded. He hasn't been dead long. A few hours, tops, and likely not even that. Much less if the ice mana in the veins is leaking anywhere. Agent F must be here. Are we too late?

She hushed her movements to a careful, deliberate pace to silence her hoofbeats. At the next corner, she poked her head around the corner to check for hostiles, only continuing after a few seconds of silence. The doorways down the next hall were all open, their doors being smashed in despite being made of the same material as the walls. Inside were desks, or what looked like them. The style was distinctly different from any she had seen before, and on top of that, there were strange devices in each room. They did not move, but they clearly took electrical power, as a few were still sparking. How this place hadn’t burned down yet was a real mystery.

As she moved, a strange, pulsing hum began to fill the air. It was as if some enormous drummer was pounding the floor far away at a stupendously quick pace, only to slow down before repeating.

She had passed a few signs on the walls, but the language was completely different from any she had seen before. There were arrows, but without knowing what they were pointing at, she could find herself wandering into a bathroom, a closet, or for all she knew, a biohazard storage facility containing a super intelligent gelatinous cube left very hungry after 4000 years. So she followed the hum.

After a few turns, she had the general layout of the floor figured out. The intruders had broken several walls, likely confused about how to get to where they were going. The structure had been organized to have the halls not only snake back-and-forth, but maximize the number of walls on the outside perimeter. When she had that in her mind, finding the center was easy. The hard part was picking her jaw up off the floor.

Beyond the massive glass double doors was a chamber at least a dozen stories tall and the area of a double-height hoofball field. Pathways lined the perimeter for every story, and each pathway, guarded by a glass railing, was filled with machinery and unknown mechanical objects. In the middle of all this was an exposed piece of the ice krene. A crystal structure at least half the height of the chamber and probably two-thirds as wide was growing out of the floor like an enormous Hearth’s Warming tree. The entire thing had a glass shield around it in the shape of a circular pyramid. At least, she thought it looked like glass, but regular silicate panes would have been shattered by the ice mana by now.

At the top of the pyramid was some kind of house-sized metal device capping it off. Blue and white circles shimmered in the center of the device, and enormous, transparent tubes easily large enough for an alicorn to walk through sprouted from the left, right, and rear of the device. One more tube, larger than the others, was going up from the core and into the ceiling.

“Are they… did they harvest magic from the krene? How? And more importantly, how’d they keep it from becoming unbalanced? From, just, flooding everything with ice mana?”

If Aurora had a stomach, it would be queasy in sympathy with Twilight’s. “Also, I think it’s still active! It’s still drawing an enormous amount of power and pushing it through the city. I can feel it!”

Ka-chunk! Pssssssst. A door on the third level and off to Twilight’s left opened up, and a pony stepped through. She was a unicorn mare, medium height, with a green coat and vibrant orange mane and tail. She had basic saddlebags, and out of one of them was the handle for what was most likely a short sword. Her face was a little chubby, but not by much. It was just enough to make her look rather young, and helping that along were a smattering of orange freckles on her face. But her demeanor was angry, even contemptuous. A killing stare descended from her down to Twilight, but only for a moment; it was quickly replaced by a look of surprise and warmth.

“Oh, hey there!” The mare smiled and started down the stairs. “I honestly didn’t expect you to find your way down here. Congrats. Seriously.”

Twilight forced her ears to stay in place as her heart started racing. Well, she’s confident. I’m guessing this is Agent F? Best not to let her know that I know. “I take it you’re with this crew? Or are you here to kill them like the pony I saw coming in?”

“A little bit of both, actually!” She said it as a pleasantry, like a casual conversation. “Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t fun. But you can’t just betray us like they did and not expect retribution. Not when they endangered everything we’ve worked for. I’ve already got them all, and whoever hired them is going to be hearing from me once I figure it out, I promise you that.”

“Everything you’ve worked for? Like what? Overthrowing Celestia?”

The mare paused on the second floor and winked, then made a “hush” motion with a hoof to her mouth. “Can’t tell you. But, hey, since you’re here, I’ll make you a deal.”

Twilight watched her as she moved down the steps, stopped, and paused to look at something on the wall. “I’m not sure how interested I am in making a deal with the Majestics,” Twilight said.

“Eh, not them per se. Just me, and just a little thing,” the other mare replied. “You see the center of that chamber way up there? Where the pipes converge? That’s the core of the reactor. These morons put the Element of Honesty in there.”

Twilight boggled. Not just her mind, but her whole body somehow managed to “boggle.” How is a question best left to historians. “Why would they do that?”

“And that's where the deal comes in. See, to get it out, we have to shut this thing down. Oh, it's not operating like it used to. It's already in a minimum-power state, but that's still an enormous amount of magic being concentrated in one point. If we cracked that open now?”

Twilight swallowed. “We die, and the ruins get destroyed with us.”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner! I'm pretty sure I can get this thing shut down with what I already know, but it would be faster if I had competent help.” She pulled a panel off the wall and tossed it aside, then poked her head in the resulting hole. “So, that's the deal. You help me shut down the core, and I'll answer a few of your questions. Afterwards, we can go ahead and fight it out for the Element one on one. Or we could fight now and risk cracking open the reactor, which would destroy us both—and even if that doesn't happen, you still don't know how to turn this thing off.”

Twilight chewed on her hoof. “I hate to admit it, but that does sound reasonable. Okay, but no tricks.”

“Hey, I promise to fulfill my end of the bargain. I really don't have a reason not to. After all, I'm pretty confident I can take you. But I don't have any confidence that our fight wouldn't damage this thing, and I doubt even I could survive a core breach. Hell, I kind of doubt Moscolt would survive the breach. I'm not entirely sure where this place is sitting under, after all.”

Twilight pulled in a breath. “Okay then, deal. Question one, what should I call you?”

The mare grumbled and pulled her head out of the hole. “Dang, wrong panel. Oh, you can call me Flicker. One and her posse might like their code names, but I have no doubt you'd eventually figure out who I am if you survive this. If.”

“That's an awful lot of confidence,” Twilight admitted.

“Extrapolation based on past trends. I don't lose.” She pointed a hoof across the room. “Can you get to the third floor over there? Look for a square outline in the wall.”

Twilight glanced over quickly, then back to Flicker. “Yeah, sure.” With every step she took, she glanced back at the very corners of her eyes, ready for the backstab.

It never came. She was up the stairs and at the third floor without so much as a hint of hostility.

After she carried on down the catwalk, she saw a blank area along the wall, with a square outline maybe a meter on each side near the floor. “I think I found it.”

“Good! Grab onto it with your magic, and pull off the panel.”

Twilight did so, and found a little tunnel. She’d have to either crawl or lie on her side to get in, but it was very much a tunnel. “OK, what now?”

“Take a look inside. Do you see a bunch of machines, or do you see a tunnel with a big stream of blue light on one side?”

Twilight poked her head in, and laid on her side. Surprisingly, she didn't hit the metal grating that was the tunnel’s “floor.” Rather, she floated a few millimeters over it. Most of the ceiling and the walls were made of the same grating, but on the left side was a hole be big enough to fit a watermelon inside. It was, indeed, filled with ice mana. “The latter!”

“Good! That's what we're looking for! Head down there, and look for something that might be a valve or a switch. We need to shut off the flow.”

Ooookay. Twilight scooted herself down the tunnel. No big deal, just messing with technology a thousand years more advanced than anything I could conceive of. Perfectly normal. Eventually, she came to a section of tubing with a red sign over it. The words might as well have told her to go do something lewd with her mother, because there was no way she could hope to translate them. However, the pictographic representation of the tube being turned and the mana flow stopping was clear enough.

“So, want to go play Stalliongrad Roulette after this?” Aurora shivered.

That or buy a lottery ticket. Twilight grabbed hold of the tube and turned it, and the magic inside dimmed. At least, one side of it did. The mana was flowing from her left to right, and the left side was now brighter. As she turned, the imbalance grew, and a click signified a total flow stoppage. All of the tube before the strange valve was now glowing a brilliant ice blue, enough for Twilight to have to shield her eyes. After the valve, it was clear. More importantly, it was also not exploding.

I… think we did it. Twilight thought. Aloud, she mused, “You know, there’s been a curious lack of explosions so far this mission.”

“Don’t you dare jinx this.”

“Okay, okay, just saying.”

Twilight pushed against the floor, zipping out of the tunnel like she was on wheels. Due to this, of course, she landed on her butt when she exited. However, since no one saw her, it didn't count. “Hey, Flicker! I think I got it!”

“Great!” Flicker had been looking around the floor, and finally found something to pull up on. When she opened the trap door, a glass spiral staircase appeared underneath. “I think I found what I needed, too.”

“What, exactly, were you looking for, and how do you know about it?”

“I can't answer the latter, but I can tell you this. Supposedly, when you shut off some of the flow, another pipe should open, letting the excess magic drain away. It's a safety system. I need to make sure it's working, or we go kaboom.”

“Right. Not going kaboom. Good thing. So, next question. Why are the Majestics doing what they're doing?”

Flicker scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Sparkle. You know I can't answer that. Think of something else, and go find the next pipe.”

“All right…” Twilight went to find some stairs up to the next floor. “So what were these guys doing here? And why did they put the Element inside the core?

“Now that's more like it! One moment.” Flicker disappeared down the staircase, returning after a minute or so. “It looks like the sink pipe for that one is working. We can shut off the next one now.”

“And my question?”

“Turn off the next pipe, and I'll answer the next question.”

Twilight grumbled, but complied. The next pipe was exactly where she expected, exactly one story above the last one, down one of those strange tunnels. “Got it! Your turn.”

Flicker blew some hair out of her face. “Okay, good deal. These idiots were trying to use the concentrated magic in the core and the properties of the Element to open a gateway into the Ginnungagap.”

“Gesundheit.” Twilight said, one eyebrow raised.

Flicker grew a toothy grin. “I kind of figured you guys didn't know about that yet. Weird, considering how much the Princesses know and don't tell us.”

“I have found that to be a recurring theme, but I've also seen firsthoof why they don’t pull back the curtain on everything.” Twilight leaned on the railing, one foreleg crossed over the other. “So, what is the Ginnungagap?”

Flicker looked off and to the right. “Hmmm. How do I explain this simply… OK, so, imagine a vase filled with marbles. Now, I know you know about other dimensions, because you sent that dragon to one. Those marbles are like the other dimensions, or perhaps ‘planes’ is a better term? Either way, those are the other places. Now, fill the vase with water. The Ginnungagap is that water. The space between everything.”

Twilight’s mind raced, trying to square what she'd been told with the magic she'd already known. The formulas did the thaumic equivalent of dividing by zero and she could feel her eyes being sucked deep into her sockets as her brain threatened to implode. “That's impossible. I have studied some of the works from the old masters who knew, and they never mentioned anything like that. In fact, the rules of reality should forbid that.”

“And yet, it's real. And I know for a fact that you've been there. Recently, as in earlier in the day. How you got there I'm not certain, though.” Her squinted eyes joined a Cheshire smile. “Care to enlighten me?”

“Sorry, can't answer that one.” Twilight shot the same smile back. “Next pipe?”

“Next pipe.”

After she closed the next pipe, a strange buzz filled the air for a moment. It was followed by something mumbling and distorted. It was like a strange language being spoken while a pony grabbed the speaker’s cheeks and jiggled them. “OK, what the heck was that?”

“Sorry! Sorry about that!” Flicker called out as Twilight crawled out of the tunnel. “One of the vent pipes wouldn't open. I managed to force it. I suppose I should be impressed. I mean, so much of this stuff still works after so long. Having something go wrong should be par for the course.”

Twilight gave a begrudging nod. “It's a testament to the design and craftsmanship.”

“Or just the technology level. I can’t help but wonder what this place looked like in its prime.”

“Based on the notes I found, I'm guessing you have a few top-notch researchers. Shifting Current, perhaps?”

Flicker shrugged. “Maybe we're just really smart?”

“Oh, please.” Twilight hopped off the catwalk and landed with a clang. “Even if you understood the basic principles of what this thing is doing, it would still take years and millions of bits to put it to practical use, much less all the other machines here that aren’t even working. Which means: you have a source.”

Flicker scowled. “You have one too–the Princesses. The difference is, they keep everything a secret. We take that knowledge and use it to benefit our side. Once we win, it'll benefit everypony.”

Twilight thought back to the crater in the desert, filled with thaumic contamination. “You're playing with matches. You could burn us all to ash.”

“Possible. And what about the misery in the meantime? What we are doing could end everything as we know it, but even then, we’d be able to replace it with a paradise.”

Twilight set on the cold floor, holding her head as high as she could. She was still somewhat shorter than the other mare, but body language was the unwritten words in a sentence. This wasn't a discussion she wanted to have on an even level socially. This was one between an alicorn and her subject, rebellious though that subject was. “That is not something you want to risk. You're playing with power far beyond what you understand.”

“What, like you? Please.” Flicker thrust a hoof in her direction. “You've literally slept in the Princess’ bed. I know you’re powerful, but you don't amount to an ant compared to them. All that knowledge, all that power, all for one purpose: maintaining their control over us.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, and sighed. “I guess I overestimated you. Your inexplicable knowledge only goes so far. You don't know anything about the real motives of the alicorns.”

“Yeah, well, don’t ever underestimate me. It’ll be your last mistake.”

“Same to you.” Twilight turned to go to the next pipe, but kept an eye on her opponent. “It’s a shame. You seem nice. I thought—”

“That what? We could be friends?” Flicker spat on the ground. “Don't misunderstand me. I respect your intelligence, and your accomplishments. But I do not like you. I hate you. I hate you more than anypony on this planet.”

A sharp jab poked into Twilight’s heart, as if the tip of a knife just kissed a ventricle. “I wasn't going to say ‘friends,’” she insisted. “I was going to say I thought I could talk you down, get you to surrender. You killed some ponies here—and mercilessly, I might add. So 'friends' isn't something I can go for.”

“They deserved it.” Flicker pulled out a telekinetic blade and swung it around. “And more. And my respect for you only goes so far. After we shut down the core and secure the Element, I am going to kill you.”

“We’ll see about that. After all, quite a few have tried so far.”

Flicker turned to march back down her stairs. “Yeah. But none of them were me.”

Author's Note

I'm running a bit behind on writing, as the next chap after this isn't done quite yet. But, over the last week or so I've gotten quite a bit done, so I'm actually on a really good pace lately! Also, I know that many people are sheltering in place to avoid getting sick. Thus, you need stuff to read! As such, I'm gonna go ahead and release this chapter.

I gotta be honest, I'm real worried about Covid. According to Kurzgesagt, it makes your immune system go into a raging banzai, and given how sick normal colds can make me, I worry about what this could do to me. Thus, I'm a nervous wreck. If you want you can come join the Discord chat for Rites. It helps me write when I have folks to chat with.

Stay safe, everyone. Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Last Bastion On A Knife's Edge

Spike pressed his face to the window. “Well, that's not something you see every day.”

Twilight looked out of another window of her chariot and wiped away the icy fog with a fetlock. Two meteors were screaming towards the ground, lighting up the night with blue and white streaks of light. She squinted and then covered her eyes as the light bloomed, and seconds after she blinked away the lingering spots in her eyes, a pair of sonic booms had the chariot rocking back and forth.

“Yeesh.” Spike dug into the seats with his claws. “I knew alicorns were fast, but damn! We're hundreds of kilometres from a leyline and they still got here just a few minutes after we got back together.”

Trixie huddled next to the air vent that was belching heat into the chariot. “Trixie would be grateful for more time in the chariot.”

“I don't see any reason we can't have the meeting in here.” Cloud Burner wedged himself into the corner of the seat and the chariot wall. “It'll be a tight fit, but this thing was made to fit an alicorn.”

“That was the idea.” Twilight stretched and prepared to get squished by two fully-grown alicorns entering her chariot. A glance at Rainbow, the other shorter-than-normal pony in her group, said that she was right to be worried.

Celestia and Luna knocked at their door and waited only a heartbeat before climbing in. Luna put up a dome shield before closing the door, though that did nothing for the chariot’s groaning suspension. Spike and Rainbow were relegated to the chariot floor by the demands of geometry.

Twilight took a breath and told her tale. Rainbow and Cloud Burner paid attention like it was a military briefing, while Spike’s and Trixie’s eyes glossed over during the part about quantum mechanics. Luna was almost in tears, while Celestia carried herself with a stoicism anypony could tell was fake.

A pause overtook the cabin after the tale was over. “So that's the situation. Moscolt will be destroyed in a few days unless we act immediately, which means messing with a mana krene in a way nopony has in the post-Discord era. Any ideas?”

The Sisters looked at each other. “Luna, it's going to be up to you, I think. Can you do it?”

Luna put her ears back. “Maybe? I'm awful at that spell, though.”

“You're better at it than I am, though.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Care to explain?”

Luna’s right ear drooped. “If the Syphon has been destroyed, odds are most of the defenses the city has are offline. Tia should be able to use a mid-range teleport to get us in… but first, I need to use a scrying spell to find where it is so that we don't pop into existence inside bedrock.”

“Huh.” Rainbow tried to lean back but stiffened when she bumped her head on Cloud’s legs. “I would have thought you'd be good at that kind of thing.”

Luna sighed.”It fits Our style, true, but things are what they are. Neither Tia nor We are very good at it. But if the krene is out of control, at least that could be a beacon to home in on. A lighthouse, so to speak. Much harder to do it with something ordinary.”

Cloud grunted. “Okay, but what do we do when we get there?”

Celestia flinched. “Luna and I are familiar with the city and the technology it has. I shudder to think what the Majestics are doing with it, but we'll deal with that after the current crisis.

“More importantly, towards the end of the war with Discord, Glacien allied with us, and gave us full access to his palace. If we can get into the command center, there may be mechanisms we can use to stabilize the krene. But only myself and Luna speak the language of that place, which means we have to go ourselves.”

Twilight pointed at Spike. “You're immune to ice magic, so you're coming with us, just in case we need your fire. Rainbow, Trixie, Cloud, you'll stay here and organize with the Duke in case we fail and have to evacuate the city.”

Spike pumped his fist and almost hit Trixie. “Nice!”

Rainbow stuck out her lip. “Aww, I wanted to see the ice city.”

“It's probably saturated with ice mana at this point.” Twilight reached for the door. “Rainbow, Cloud, hook up to the chariot. It'll be faster that way since Trixie can't fly. Let's do this.”

Almost all of them piled out, and the chariot was taking off by the time Luna was getting ready to cast. She was writing symbols into a magic circle in the air, finishing with four concentric rings and a glowing, flickering orb in the center.

Twilight trotted up behind her, gazing and squinting at the orb, which was face level with Luna. She crouched and jumped, finding images of symbols flashing and rolling inside, but only when she was looking at it with the same angle as Luna. “Interesting. Wonder how that works…”

Luna shrugged. “I know the formula, but I'll be damned if I can explain it. Just give me a few minutes.”

Twilight stepped sideways to be under Celestia, who wrapped her under a warm wing. “Do you need Tia to flood the zone with fire mana for contrast?”

“You're thinking a bit too scientific, honestly.” Luna squinted and murmured to herself. “There, I think I have it. Huge ice source, two hundred north, seventeen fifty east… nine thousand down.”

Celestia lit her horn and started putting together a magic circle underneath them. “There's bound to be interference. The good news is I can build the spell to place us somewhere above it. That should be a safe place to exit the teleport. Be prepared for a sudden drop.”

Luna tilted her head at her scrying spell. “Weird, there’s a smaller spike in the city.”

A bell rang in Twilight's ear. “Where at?”

“Don’t know, but we can find it later. I want to see Crystalvale again. It’s been too long.”

Spike opened up a bag of candies and crunched one. “Sounds like you two have a real attachment to this place.”

Celestia gazed to the sky as the light of teleportation overtook them. “More than either of you know.”

The ground fell out from Twilight, and she flailed her legs as the ground of the ice city approached. Somehow she had her legs under her an instant before she hit, and even had her pegasus magic slow her to a relatively smooth landing. The fresh layer of ice she landed on, however, wanted nothing to do with being a landing pad.

Her legs splayed out and she landed on her stomach. “Oof!” she wheezed as the wind rushed out of her.

“Jeez, Twi.” Spike landed with a crack as his armoured talons dug into the ice. “She did say to expect a drop.”

Celestia was still falling like a feather, suspended by her outstretched wings. “It's harder without wings, Spike. And the ground is—”

The instant Celestia's hind hooves touched the ice, they slipped and had the Princess of the Sun on her back and sliding a half block down the road they'd landed on.

Roaring laughter echoed in the cave with thunderous rumbles, as Luna about lost it. She was on a nearby building and rolling around on its roof.

Celestia snorted at her. “Oh, go lick a frozen flagpole, Lulu.”

Twilight giggled and coughed to get air back in her lungs. She flopped over on her back and eyed the road she was on. The cave entrance she'd originally found wasn't very far away, and it was filled with ice. The barrier must have failed, but when the water rushed in, the ice mana turned it into a big plug. Well, a win is a win.

She pointed this out to the Princesses, although it was doubtful Luna heard her over her own laughter. Celestia quickly took in the scene while still upside-down, then righted herself enough to sit on her belly. With a flap of her wings, flame spiralled around her, melting the thin layer of ice nearby so she could stand. “In truth, I'm much more worried about the status of the Syphon and the command center. If the latter is operational, we might be able to save the city. Come; let's get to the palace.”

After Luna finally calmed down, the group made way for the palace near the center of the city. The stairs in front of the entrance were made of a material that felt the same as that which made up most of the rest of the city, but was much clearer. It looked more like sapphire than stone, and continued into the floor of the palace proper.

The inside looked similar to that of Canterlot Castle, although with a different colour motif and widespread usage of the strange building material the rest of the city had. Had Twilight not known better, she'd have thought it inspired by Equestria’s capitol, not the other way around.

They made their way through a series of halls before reaching a three-story-tall pair of doors that looked like they were literally made of diamond. As they grew near, a hidden speaker crackled to life and put a live wire into Twilight's heart as it spoke something.

“Is… Is there somepony still alive here?” Twilight swung her head around looking for the sound’s source. “That should be impossible!”

Celestia shook her head. “No, that's an automated recording asking for our security code.”

Luna groaned, her wings drooping. “I really didn't want to try testing myself against Glacien’s security today. But I suppose I can try to find a weakness in the spells somewhere.”

“No need.” Celestia placed a hoof on the door. “Tölva. Viðurkenna. A C 5 K T 9. Celestia.”

A buzz vibrated the ground, and the doors moaned as they opened outwards.

Luna’s jaw hung open. “You still remember the security code he gave us?! That was four thousand years ago! And we only had use of the place for a short time…”

“Well, I did remember to write it down. And created a mnemonic device for it.”

“But four thousand years! I couldn't even—“ Luna was interrupted by the roar of an alarm and the flashing of red lights beyond the doors. “Is it still in condition red?”

Twilight swallowed. “Please tell me that isn't an intruder alarm.”

Celestia pressed forward through the doors. “No, the code was valid. This is a state of general alarm, which could possibly have been going on since the final battle with Discord. If not, the disconnection of the Syphon would certainly have caused it. Honestly, I'm more surprised that such systems are still operational, but that's a good thing. It means we may have more options once we reach the command center.”

The inside reminded twilight of the War Room back in Canterlot, though it was larger and wider. The halls still had what appeared to be offices behind locked doors, and wide open areas with many alcoves. Gone, however, was the smell of stale coffee and paper. In its place was ice and dust wrapped in a dryness that laughed at the locked-up water all around. Moreover, not a single scrap of paper was to be found, nor pen or pencil. There were no maps or documents, nor cork-board or chalk, but there were some seats and tables.

After another set of diamond doors, their path opened to a cavernous room. In the center was a table with a steel base; it looked like a top made of diamond. It was as if the entire thing was one enormous gem mounted into the stand. There were seats placed around it, along with one much larger than the rest: a throne of clear crystal.

The rest of the room was filled with miniature mimics of the center, more diamond tables with seats, but there were no thrones, and the whole thing was sized down.

“I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess this is the command center.” Spike looked up, down, and around the area. “Any way to kick on more lights that aren’t pulsing red? I don't see a light switch.”

“That depends on if the systems here are still operational.” Celestia turned her head to look at her sister. “If you could, translate what I say for Twilight and Spike. It'll help them understand.”

Luna nodded. “Certainly.”

Celestia spread her wings and spoke again in that other tongue. <>

A voice, clearly feminine, responded from everywhere and nowhere. <>

“Rats.” Celestia looked like she had bit into a lemon. “Without the automation system here, I don't know if we'll be able to fix this.”

“Hang on.” Luna trotted to a door towards the back. “Troubleshooting 101: make sure everything is plugged in. The server stack should be back here. Give me a few.”

The door opened as she approached, and the princess trotted into the dark room. Minutes passed, and they were accompanied by copious amounts of un-Princess-like swears from the other room.

Spike cringed after a particularly foul string of words. “Doesn't sound like it's going too well.”

The ground began to hum and vibrate, and lights hidden in various nooks and crannies came to life in a warm white hue. Letters, symbols, diagrams, maps, and all manner of information just sprang up all around them. Most of the information was showing on the walls, but over each of the gem tables, holographic displays of various sizes sprang to life.

Twilight’s and Spike’s jaws nearly hit the floor. “What is this?” they both asked.

Twilight shook her head right and left to try to settle the marbles bouncing around inside her skull. “The amount of magic that must have been used to create this—!”

“Not magic.” Luna emerged from the back room, closing the door behind her. “Most of this is pure technology, just thousands of years more advanced than what Equestria has currently. The fact that most of it is still working is a testament to how far we came before Discord tore it all away. This may be the last remaining city of the old world. Somehow, the old fart saved it, but couldn't save his own ponies.”

Most of the displays flashed red with a single word over them, repeated over and over: skekkja.

“I'm guessing that's not good.” Twilight put her ears back.

“It says ‘error.’” Celestia placed a hoof on the center table. <>

All of the displays went blank for several seconds, then flickered back to life one at a time. If Twilight had some months, she might be able to figure out what all of them said. The sheer amount of information flashing in front of her on all the screens was like a book per second, whole stories being told in the blink of an eye. Finally, the main display settled on a single screen. Much of the text was blue, but a substantial portion was in red.

“Hmmm…” Celestia murmured to herself as she read over what was being shown. “Only the core of the city survived the trip down here. There wasn’t much of a manufacturing base here to begin with, and none of it is down here. Good. As for the Syphon… it might have survived intact and functional until Flicker’s sabotage, but an awful lot of other equipment did not. I don't know if it will be able to stabilize the krene.”

“No backup systems?” Twilight tilted her head. “Flicker said that this place was built with a lot of redundancies.”

Celestia’s eyes lit up. “Of course! The secondaries.” She lifted her head to speak to the room. <>

A map of the city appeared in the air, along with dozens of red dots and a pair of green.

Luna sighed. “No good. Looks like most of them are no longer functional. Two small secondary syphons won't be enough to stabilize the krene.”

Spike raised his hand. “Uh, can't we fix them? Like you did with whatever was back there?”

Luna snorted back a chuckle. “You might as well ask a woodworker to fix an airship engine. It's just too different.”

Celestia sprang up to her hooves. “You might not know how, but the system does! The repair drones!” <>

The screen started beeping while a circle slowly filled.

“Drones?” Spike asked. “Like, changeling drones?”

“No, they are…” Celestia cringed a little, like some distasteful word was caught in her teeth. “Okay, both of you. You know how a mechanical calculator works? Like what accountants have? These machines around us—‘computers’—can perform trillions of trillions of calculations per second, and they don't need a pony for every input. They can be programmed with ‘algorithms’—a recipe of mathematical functions, one feeding into the next. The big one in the back room is simply extremely powerful, but we can make small ones that are less powerful, yet are still able to do more math in one second than an entire Duchy’s school children will do in 100 years.

“The drones are machines, like robots in science-fiction novels. They have smaller computers in them, and they know exactly how to repair an awful lot of the systems in the city.”

The screen beeped again.

Luna swore something in a language Twilight didn't recognize. “Only 4 of 50 industrial repair drones are functional. “

Celestia shook her head. “That’s not going to be enough to fix all the syphons in time.”

Twilight bit down on her hoof for a moment. “Can… can the repair drones fix repair drones?”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

Luna put her ears back. “We’re dummies.”

“Big dummies too used to the post-Discord world.” <>

<>

Twilight almost choked on what must have been a piece of ice that spontaneously appeared in her throat. “That’s not going to be fast enough… My spell will lose power in three days.”

Celestia half-spread one of her wings. “Accounted for in my plans. Luna can refresh the spell once every other day until the pressure subsides, and then we can plug the whole with concrete. That’s not the thing I’m most worried about, though.” <>

A burst of sweat from Twilight’s brow froze over. ”Stored weaponry… That's right… if they could get here, they could potentially steal weaponry. What else could they have gotten their hooves on?”

<>

Celestia’s breath was fire compared to the chill in the air. “I don't know. But on that front, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is they shouldn't be able to reverse-engineer anything, and if the vaults are still vitrified so Discord-crazed ponies can't get them, then neither could the Majestics, even Flicker. Her little trick wouldn’t bypass a giant block of enchanted glass.

“The bad news is, if they got hold of something that can make other things, or worse, weapons, they could manufacture equipment that would be beyond most ponies’ ability to deal with. At the very least, it would require direct intervention by high-level combatants like Generals or Night Guard.”

Luna's eyes went wide and her ear twitched. “Oh! Wait a minute. Armor and weaponry from this era would have a very unique energy signature. It would be trivial to create something to detect it if we make the device here. It could lead us right to them.”

Celestia ground her teeth for a moment. “Damn. Damn, damn, damn. I really didn't want to have to resort to this. Giving ponies technology beyond their means is a recipe for disaster, but if the Majestics have anything from here, I don't see a choice. We're also going to have to kick-start Equestria’s technological development, starting with those sensors.

“We can start by hammering out a crude version of it that our ponies can make themselves. That will require some other inventions to build up to it, but not many. We can put the patents under Twilight; ponies won't be surprised if she invents new things.”

Twilight held up a hoof. “Um, I'm not sure how comfortable I am doing that kind of thing. It's one thing to go undercover, but this will be taking credit from a pony who might actually discover this in time.”

“Desperate times, Twilight.” Celestia’s smile grew a new hint of warmth. “Also, as I recall, you're sitting on a new way to make solidified magic, no?”

Twilight put her ears back. “I have the patent, yes, but I haven't been sure how or when to reveal it.”

“Now is as good a time as any. Run it by Intelligentsia first; I want to light a fire under the butts of those who can roll this technology out.”

Luna tapped on one of the displays. “We should also bring a few bits from here with us, in case we need to immediately counter whatever the Majestics stole.”

“Not yet.” Celestia waved her hooves about, and the displays reacted like she was touching them. <>

<>

A series of symbols popped up on the display, and Twilight and Spike repeated Luna’s explanations to memorize the code.

Luna giggled. “Without having these codes, if any of those Majestics come back, they get a one-way trip to a cell and we can interrogate them! Should still bring stuff back with us...”

Twilight tapped on one of the displays, and tilted her head when she couldn't understand what it told her. “Can this thing locate the primary Syphon? That's where the Element will be.”

“Maybe,” Celestia said. <>

The computer beeped and displayed what Twilight assumed were numbers.

Spike leaned against one of the chairs. “Well, that's cryptic.”

Celestia smiled, and the room grew warmer. “Actually, it's not. That's a relative vector. We can use that to figure out where the Syphon should be. If I'm reading this correctly, it should have been dumped somewhere south of Stalliongrad, in the Raging Mountains. That's a bit of a pain, but nothing overwhelming. With a little luck, we can beat them to it.”

Luna stood up and trotted towards one of the exits. “Before we go, there's one last thing I want to check. We should make sure they didn't get access to the degenerate bombs.”

Spike’s belly jiggled as he laughed. “What do those do? Cause everyone to hide in their room in a pile of comics?”

Twilight gave him a poke. “You're one to talk.”

The princesses both put their ears back. With a sigh, Celestia stood to follow her sister. “No, Twilight. Do you remember the destroyed city in the desert? What I did, in my shame, was teach a select few of my ponies how to build a very crude degenerate-magic warhead. It was supposed to bring the war to an end without ever having been used — but they used it anyway. They did it while I was sleeping. To impress me. To earn the favor of their goddess.”

Twilight and Spike both cringed before they ran to catch up to the Sisters, who had already gone through the doorway.

Luna continued: “Glacien—heck, all of the old alicorns—had a small supply of sophisticated versions of those warheads. They're meant to be theoretically capable of taking out an alicorn in a single hit. In practice, we could simply teleport away, but the devastation left behind from one of these is unimaginable. It meant no alicorn could openly attack another without risk of losing their entire civilization. If the Majestics have one, the Elements aren't going to be our biggest worry.”

“Actually, we have a saving grace there.” Celestia took the lead. “The solidified degenerate magic in the warheads only has a half-life of a few decades at best, so after four thousand years, they should be largely useless. The missiles themselves, as well as the explosives, could do some damage, but there would be no need to get their hooves on these for that. Dynamite is cheap.”

Spike ran up to her. “But if everything here is automatic, wouldn't the machines try to fix that?”

Celestia shuddered. “Fortunately, the creation of degenerate magic is something you need an alicorn or alicorn ascendant to do, at least to kick-start it. The machines wouldn't be capable of it.”

They continued down the halls, now lined with more displays. They eventually came to a door the size of a barn wall and probably twice as thick as one, and it opened after Celestia yelled at it a bit. On the other side was something that looked like an airship torpedo, but an order of magnitude larger. The room was cylindrical to fit the missile, but more halls split off from it.

Celestia barked out, <>

The computer made a few beeps. <>

“Well, everything should be accounted for.” Celestia etched a bit of a spell in the ground. “We should get going to find Honesty.”

Luna spread her wings. “You can go. I'm going to scavenge a bit here.”

“Lulu.” Celestia said in a stern tone. “Leave the tech alone.”

Luna stuck out her tongue. “If they have access to this stuff, we need some in our back pocket to pull out when they think they have the upper hoof. You can’t stop me, Tia. I’ll keep it safe. And I promise that I won’t be bringing a weapon of mass destruction.”

Celestia turned her head as if struck. “Very well. Meet us back at the castle.”

Twilight and Spike scrambled under Celestia’s wings as she brought them first to the surface, and then to their chariot. They had some travelling to do before they were in range of a leyline.

The Raging Mountains lived up to their name. Many of them were active volcanoes. Although sudden eruptions were rare, lava aplenty bubbled and oozed from their peaks. Furthermore, steaming lakes of molten rock nestled in the valleys, and there were maelstroms that drew the lava back down. Overhead, constant storms danced about, creating an eternally boiling rage of thunder and mud. It was a region of fire-, water-, and lightning-mana krenes all mixed up with each other. It was geographic and thaumaturgical madness.

In the northeast corner of the region, however, was a curious new feature. A city-sized iceberg had gobbled up an entire valley and silenced the storms above in the process. Blue light casted a strange glow over the valley, contrasting with the red and white lightning normally found there.

“Welp,” Twilight said, falling back in her seat. “I think we’re there. Only question now is who got here first.”

The chariot followed Celestia in a dive, coming to rest on the ice. The chill in the air mixed in with the volcanic heat like swirls in soft-serve ice cream. Spike and Trixie piled out first, with Twilight right behind. A quick flash of Sight confirmed that the glacier was infused with a crazy amount of ice mana.

“Anybody got a pickaxe?” Spike asked while cracking his knuckles. “I don't have anywhere near enough fire in my belly to melt our way into this.”

“I do.” Celestia raised both wings along with her horn. “It'll be extremely bright, however. I must ask all of you to face away. Even you, Twilight. Without the proper protections, this will blind you.”

Trixie’s back hair stood on end as she snapped around and covered her eyes. The others followed suit, and then Twilight. She could still see light leaking through her covered eyes until Aurora stepped in and covered them with metal.

The heat from it was like sitting under a heat lamp for hay fries, except this lamp was meant to do the frying as well. The whole group inched father away as the ice hissed and popped from the heat. Water ran underneath them as Celestia melted the glacier.

It was several minutes before the sound stopped and Celestia called them over. She'd carved a slope down into the dark bowels of the glacier, and it was at once some kind of ravenous maw and the slide every foal dreams of having at recess.

“I'm going first.” Spike rushed forward only to have Rainbow tackle him, and rather than pinning him down, she dove down the slope first.

Twilight buried her face in a hoof and groaned. “My guards are little foals.”

Celestia tittered. “Oh, let them have some fun. I'll head down next, you follow. Trixie, Cloud, protect the chariot, just in case.”

Cloud snapped off a salute while Trixie did a little bow.

It took every ounce of Twilight's restraint not to squee and giggle like a school filly. Her rump was almost frostbitten by the end, but most of her mental committee members were dancing as she slid into a hallway within the Syphon building, then kept going until she bumped into a wall. The whole structure was leaning to the side and a little back, making the corner of the floor and wall the new walking space.

Twilight deployed Aurora and carefully put each hoof on what was hopefully a surface with some friction, one at a time. “The Element should be at the core. Do you know the way, Tia? This place is a bit of a maze to me.”

Celestia lit her horn and drilled into the wall with light and fire, this spell not as strong as the one prior. “It was made to be confusing on purpose. Those who looked lost were either new or not supposed to be there, and always got extra scrutiny. Most of us copied that idea for sensitive installations. Sadly, I've never visited this specific place before, but since it's already wrecked, I see no harm in making my own shortcut.”

They busted through quite a few walls before reaching the core, and the last few before it had them walking over twisted pipes, wires, and all manner of sun-alicorn-mangled equipment before they got to where they needed to be. Once in the main chamber, Rainbow took off and flew to the core.

“Found it! Ungh!” She grabbed it with her hooves and pulled. “Wow, that's really stuck on there.”

Spike was using his claws to dig into and crawl up one of the side walls. “Think we might need our horn-equipped ponies for that, if she really did use that tape.”

Celestia stood still for a moment as she slid on all for hooves, then spread her wings and stabilized herself with wind magic. “I think it'll be up to you, Twilight. I might damage something important if I tried to cut it out. The Elements are resilient, but I dare not test them with my power.”

Twilight nodded and teleported herself up to the walkway. The Element of Honesty was still there, stuck to the core with clear tape. Grabbing onto an edge with her magic, she pulled at it.

It slipped out of her grasp immediately.

“This is going to take a while.”

True to Flicker's word and then some, it took two hours to peel the tape off the Element enough to get it off. After nearly two years, the Element of Honesty was back in royal possession. It was covered in glue and tape, but it was finally again in the hooves of a fellow Element bearer. Tears froze as they exited Twilight's eyes. “Welcome home, Honesty.”

Author's Note

Hey everyone! It's freaking hot here. Drags my writing to a crawl. But I shall forever keep plugging away!

Quite worried about how this chap will be received, to be honest. I hope you all enjoy it!

Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

Cauterize

The blast could be heard as far away as Shanghay, if one was in one of the quieter parts of that Duchy.

The ancient city nestled underground was made reasonably safe from infiltration by the reactivated security systems from another era, but the self-teleported Syphon and its advanced technology was above-ground and could be found by anypony. To prevent this, a spell only used once before was cast from within the main chamber of the Syphon. Granted, it was cast without as much effort or desperation as before, but that still wouldn't stop the whole nation from wondering what the sound was.

The answer was Sol Invictus. Not even the advanced materials of the pre-Discord era would be able to survive it. The entire Syphon complex—and quite a bit of Raging Mountains landscape around it—was vaporized into dust. Unlike the other time this spell was cast, there would be no glass desert. The magma would melt and eat the leftovers by the time anypony got there to investigate.

While the spell would certainly rattle ponies, the valley in which it was cast—along with the mountains around it—would absorb enough of the blast to prevent casualties. The light would likely confuse and disorient anypony too close, which in this case would likely be measured in hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres. The column of light and fire that was spawned by it reached high into the firmament, far above where any clouds had dared reach.

Even deep in the Canterlot War Room, the whud from the blast rattled everypony's ears. It was all they were talking about as Twilight brought the Element of Honesty to a safe deep in the secure area, now under constant guard.

With a spin and a ka-chunk, the safe closed tight. Wards sprang to life, dancing with light over the metal. It wasn’t as grand or as powerful a container as where they were once kept, but time didn’t allow for an improved version just yet.

Rainbow yawned and asked, “What’s next?”

Twilight’s ear twitched. “Next, we get some rest and hit the archives. We’re not done with the issues in Stalliongrad, and I have some threads to pull.”

The next morning, there was coffee. Sitting amongst a pile of paper, record books, and scrolls in the Royal Library was an entire pot of blonde roast, which had more caffeine than the usual dark stuff. The liquid awakening rushed through Twilight’s system in minutes, and eventually, she realized there was a pony with glasses talking to her.

“Oh, Intelligentsia.” Twilight paused mid-sip. “Were you saying something? I wasn't awake yet.”

The officer adjusted her glasses with a smile and took out one of many file packets. “I figured as much. I was just reciting poetry to see how long it would take you to notice. Now that you're awake, or at least caffeinated, I thought you might like some updates on some of the things you've passed to us to investigate.”

“Sure thing.” Twilight re-rolled a scroll that she had allegedly read but whose contents she had no memory of. “What do you have for me?”

“Well, that cult you found in the desert that fought the titan? The all-male one aside from the female leader? I'm afraid there's not a whole lot we can do about them. The Compact provides extremely strong protections for religious freedom, provided we're not talking about the worship of alicorns.”

Twilight grumbled. “And since the rumours of them firing on ponies flying through are still just rumours, there's not a lot else we can get them on.”

“Right. We gave them a stern talking-to so that they know we're watching. Hopefully they behave now.” Gen put away the first packet and pulled out another. “The next one is a bit more grim. We've investigated and cleared Agent Cobb… but we've found definitive evidence that Agent Squeakers is compromised.”

Twilight coughed up some coffee that went down her esophagus. “Really?”

Gen pulled out a few summary pages of a rather large report. “Basically, we ran through her work from throughout the last few years. We've found deliberate errors in a number of cases that would have been harmful to investigations.

“The fact that she was selective and extremely clever about the sabotage—her errors would have been possibly innocent if they only happened once or twice—tells us this is a pattern. We're conducting tests on her in the castle’s dungeon to determine if she is under a geas, but for minor applications of the geas, we still don't have a reliable way to tell.”

“Huh.” Twilight sipped more coffee. “So, Farriér mentioning Cobb was a lame ruse to misdirect us? Good thing I had the whole team investigated. Keep her in the dungeon, and keep trying to find a way to detect the geas on her and the others we have in custody. If we can find a way to do that, it might lead to a way to remove it without risking the life of the victim.”

“Already done.” Gen went to the next file. “You'll be pleased to know that Earthen Pride has been running over a lot of ponies in San Palomino. Figuratively, of course. He's stripped the titles of no fewer than a dozen ponies found to be engaging in ‘creative accounting’ to try and get around his new taxes.

“When some companies tried to renege on their deal to reduce pollution, he gave them a choice. Either the owners move their primary residence directly downwind of the factories or get fined to the full penalty the contracts called for. The boards accepted the former.”

Twilight giggled into her cup.

Gen put away the file and stole one of Twilight's breakfast cookies. “He seems to be good at the job. He's getting the nobility and large companies all riled up, but each time one makes a move, the good Duke has been one step ahead. He keeps this up and he'll climb to the chair of the Empyreal Hall in a couple decades by using the others as stepping stones.”

“Well, we can't fault his zeal,” Twilight answered. “But the others can be vicious in their own right. I hope he's ready. What about Manehatten? Any updates there?”

Gen nodded. “I don't have the file with me, but cleanup and repairs are ahead of schedule. Manehatten does infrastructure like nowhere else, and I'm told Demesne is on an anti-changeling warpath. She's fired the police chief and put up rewards for the first to develop technology that can thwart their disguises.

“Changelings aside, they're certainly doing better than Cloudsdale. I've heard rumours that Cloudsdale’s going to give up on a full rebuild and instead decentralize weather control using several smaller cities.”

Twilight paused her cookie munching. “Long-term, that may be wise. I'm told more land is going to be annexed to the west of San Palomino and the northwest of Shanghay. We might even get new Duchies out of them. Such a shame, though. There was nowhere like Cloudsdale.”

“Too true.” Gen got up with a bow. “That's about all I have for the moment. Did you need help here?”

“Nah. I know you're busy, and Spike should be back soon with more of the documents I need. Take care of yourself, Gen.”

Gen bowed again and turned to go. “By your leave.”

She almost bumped into Spike as he entered the room with a pile of scrolls, but he shuffled around her. “Oops! Sorry, Gen. Hey Twi, I got the stuff you were looking for.”

“Excellent! Put it over by me.” Twilight motioned towards the old map she borrowed from Blueblood. “It's time to finish our business in Stalliongrad.”

“Are you sure you want to go through with this meeting?” Duke Rasbuckin grumbled at Twilight. “These terrorists should be locked up, not talked with as equals.”

Twilight put the box she was carrying underneath the dining table, finishing off the last bit of her plan before sampling one of the cookies on the dinner spread. “Normally, I would agree. However, given the state of the city, we need everypony working together. I'm willing to reach a compromise for the greater good, but only if they can engage in good faith. I won't tolerate additional duplicity.”

The rental hall they'd secured was plush with traditional red colors on the carpet, drapes, and seats. The kitchen was granted access to some of the food reserves held by the Duke to whip up a modest feast, even though it was mainly common ingredients that their train had transported from the reserves.

Still, that meant there were cookies, and that was enough. The surprise she had waiting was the icing on the cake.

The rebel forces arrived moments later, still clad in white. The ones in the back were young and scrawnier than one would normally imagine gruff rebels to be, but Jack himself had some significant muscle. A mare at his side had a white mane and coat, and her face was entirely covered except for her eyes. Some of her bangs were poking out of the wrap covering her, though. Her irises were the colour of a deep, cold sea; one could almost see the icebergs in them.

Twilight stood and cleared her throat. “Everypony, have a seat. Help yourself, and let's get this done for the sake of the city.”

Jack smiled and hopped into a seat. “Didn't know you'd be feeding us. Not poisoned, is it?”

A burble of indignation escaped the duke's mouth.

“Of course not.” Twilight bit into another cookie. “Not my style. If I wanted you gone, Jackrabbit, I would have borrowed some of Luna's guards. You'd never see it coming. But I'd much rather work with you to rebuild.”

“Yes, this city does need that.” Jack started putting together a sandwich. “To that end, I want to negotiate for ownership control of the following facilities.” He clopped his hooves, and one of the rebels produced a list.

Twilight took it and skimmed through the lot. “This represents a not-insignificant portion of the remaining industry in the city. What makes you think I'm ready to entertain such a demand?”

Jack laughed through a bite of food. “You mean besides the state of the city? I know these places. Studied them and industrial management for years. I can have them up and running in record time.”

Twilight held up a hoof to stop the Duke from yelling at him. “I'm sure you could. After all, your group was the one that did the damage in the first place. Given this list, I wouldn't be surprised if you were quite deliberate about what to damage.”

Jack did a little bow. “Of course. I'm not cruel, Lady Sparkle. The city can recover with what we have planned out, but only if you agree to my terms. If not, well…” He waved at one of the goons, who cast a spell.

The silent pause was ready to have kittens by the time Jack looked at his thug to ask what was wrong. The rebel shrugged and cast it again.

The box underneath Twilight's spot at the table started beeping.

“What is…” Jack went as cold as the weather outside, and his struggle told Twilight all she needed to know.

“Looking for this?” Twilight pulled out the box and opened it. Inside were slightly conical crystals bundled together with a steel band, with a simple core embedded inside the bundle. “I found it under one of the more moderately-damaged factories. Once I knew which buildings you wanted control of, it was pretty easy to figure out which others were disposable to you, find the bombs, and disable them.

“Your real name is Jackhammer Kick. Your ancestor, Jackrabbit Kick, was a noble who controlled much of Stalliongrad’s early industry, before the current line of Dukes took control and put in place its centralized system, which is what this is all about. Control of the means of production.

“Odds are this operation was something you've been planning for some time now. When the mana krene first started acting strange at the start of winter, you saw your chance. The disruption to food, combined with your sabotage, brought the city to the brink. The system in place, managed by the Duke, along with your own efforts to be careful, all combined to minimize losses while advancing your goals.

“Your plan was to hide these bombs in the factories you didn't need, and hold them hostage. I believe we have found all of them, as they were generally buried underneath or next to the buildings. Had they detonated, they would not go bang like a typical gunpowder bomb. Rather, they would overcharge the crystals, and the ice that sprouted from them would have moved slowly enough to allow ponies to escape, but would have wrecked the structures.

“So, how am I doing?”

Jack blinked and turned a corner of his mouth into a smile. “Not bad! But, I still hold the advantage here. You don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle.”

Spike elbowed Cloud Burner and whispered, “He don’t know her very well, do he?”

Twilight munched on another cookie and washed it down with some milk. “Oh, I’m not done yet!

“Your family’s coat of arms predominantly features the color white, which is what inspired your pseudo-uniform here. Once I realized that, I looked into your family’s finances. You don't have the kind of money that would be needed to finance this operation. Or at least you shouldn't. Luck, however, was on your side. A relative of yours passed away somewhat recently, perhaps of natural causes, perhaps not. Either way, with no foals of his own, ownership of the property defaulted to you. You didn't need this on paper. Without the old man, all you needed was the key to the property, and someone willing to pay for that. And at this point, enter the Majestics.”

Some of Jack's crew looks like they were about ready to pass a bowling ball out through where the sun didn't shine. “Wait, aren't those the guys they say tried to stage the coup?” one of them asked another under his breath.

Rainbow gave them a look. “That's kind of what you guys are trying to do yourselves, you know.”

“Quiet!” Jack growled. “Let her speak.”

“Why bother?” The duke stood up and stroked his long beard. “If you are in league with them, we should have no business dealing with you. If enough guards were here as I asked, I would have had them gun you down right now. But I suppose I can leave that to the Grand Mage.”

The entire table jumped when Twilight slammed her hoof into it. “Sit. Down. I am the one calling the shots here, not you. You will wait for me to finish. That is not negotiable.”

The duke took a step back as if Twilight had shocked him with a riot prod, then she herself sat back down.

“As I was saying.” Twilight took another drink of milk, and licked off the inevitable mustache. “Enter the Majestics. Somehow they caught wind of your idea and made you an offer you couldn't refuse. They would provide the warheads and the money, and all you had to do was turn over the keys to the property.

“Suddenly, your plan had sprung into action. For almost nothing, you had everything you needed to take back what you saw as rightfully yours, and the Majestics got to feed off of the chaos that ensued, in more ways than one. I'm not certain how much you know about them, but I can tell you this.

“These giant crystals that have been fashioned into bombs? They were chunks of the ice-mana krene itself. Their removal was likely what caused the initial problems with it at the very beginning, and I'm guessing the Majestics only did it to experiment on them. Once those were done, they needed a way to get rid of them before I caught wind and started using them to track them down. And they just happened to know of a certain noble burned by the Stalliongrad system.”

Jack broke out in laughter and clopped his hooves together in wide, slow strokes. “Not bad. Only thing I'd bring up was that I got the ice bombs from a known diamond dog dealer. Didn't understand why he wanted those keys. But that still leaves us at the same place. I can run the factories better than this old coot can, and my guys will only back off on my say so.”

Twilight leaned back in her chair and scowled. “You do realize the only reason I'm even listening to you is because of the state of the city, right? Any other scenario, and you'd already be in the dungeon in the capitol. You'd never see daylight again.”

“But we're here, aren't we?” Jack pulled his chair in. “Wouldn't it be easier to work with me instead of fighting? I'm not really asking all that much.”

“What you're asking is I ignore your incredibly long list of crimes.” Twilight sighed. “But the situation is the situation. I'll agree to your terms, if—”

“Are you mad?!” Rasbuckin kicked the table, and the cookies all jumped. “This is insanity! You're giving permission to every radical group out there to attack the Crown! It'll be anarchy!”

Twilight glared, lighting her horn. “Leave. Now.”

The Duke was all but foaming at the mouth. “You can't exclude me from this! It's my Duchy! The system must be protected!”

Jack stood, and the rest of his posse followed suit. “Your ‘system’ is much too rigid. It's basically slavery, and it can't handle what's been happening to this city!”

“Enough!” The Voice had everypony's eyes open in shock, and Twilight pointed a hoof at Jack. “You, shut up. Duke, leave now or I'll have Rainbow drag you out by your beard.

“Fah!” Rasbuckin tossed one of the plates and stormed out, leaving a trail of foul curses behind him before slamming the door behind him.

“As I was saying.” Twilight sighed and clopped her hoof, which had Spike produce some sheets of paper. “I'll agree to your terms, but I'm going to place strict expectations on your progress, and you will be paid fair, Crown-set prices for what you produce. If you don't perform, you're going to jail. If you continue your insurrection, you're going to jail. You and your crew are going to be the absolute best pillars of the community, or you'll all be going to jail. And I promise you, if you cross the Crown ever again, I'll find the deepest, darkest hole I can find and stuff you in it permanently. Clear?”

Jack smiled and gave her a bow. “Those terms are acceptable. You have my word.”

Twilight pulled out a pen. “And it's going to be in writing.”

Signed contract in her bag, Twilight left the room and the celebrating rebels behind. Spike and Cloud were staying behind to keep an eye on them, while Rainbow and Trixie were flanking her as she marched to the other side of the building. Inside a secure room with a privacy shield, the Duke was waiting over a plate with crumbs on it.

“Did they buy it?” he asked.

“Starter, main, and dessert.” Twilight chuckled. “RGIS is going to have a field day watching them. Hopefully we get some great intel out of this. If the Majestics try to silence them, we should make sure we have some surprises ready. Think your police have any ponies we can trust?”

Rasbuckin stroked his beard. “Oh yes, I know some.”

It was still winter and very cold in Canterlot, but nowhere near as bad as Stalliongrad. The warmth of the castle was a supremely welcome change from the last few days. Twilight was knee-deep in reports and logs to record what had happened in the red Duchy and to follow up with questions from RGIS. With luck, she'd get some time to spend in Ponyville soon. But for the time being, she was content with being warm and fuzzy and buried in blankets.

Probability suggested that the knock Twilight heard at the door wasn't the first one, lost as she was in her focus. “Enter!”

The door went ka-chunk and a muzzle poked itself in. “Lady Sparkle? It's Arcane Edge. We, uh, have a little problem and could use your help.”

Twilight pushed down a blanket to get a better view of the door. “A problem you need me for? I don't hear any panic in your voice, so I doubt it's an immediate life-threatening thing. What's up?”

“Uuuhhh…” Arcane swallowed. “This is embarrassing, but our Sovereign is in her room and not answering our knocks. Not even for Pulsar. We dare not enter her domain without her permission, and her sister is busy in the Empyreal Hall and has asked for her presence.

“You two are close, so maybe you could enter and talk to her?”

Twilight chewed on her pen. “That's unlike her. Yeah, I'll go see if she's in there or left for some reason.”

Fortunately, Arcane had bowed and backed away before he could see Twilight trip on a blanket and fall flat on her face. She might have had to do something unpleasant to swear him to secrecy.

Kicking her legs free, she trotted down the hall, past a statue-like Arcane and past Celestia’s room, and knocked on Luna's door. As reported, there was no answer. “Luna?” She grabbed hold of the door and gave it a little push. The inside had a flickering glow, but not that of fire. “Luna? Are you in here?”

She leaned on the door to push it open, and took a few steps inside. She had to blink a few times to get her eyes to adjust to the darker lighting, and found Luna sitting on her bed, eyes focused entirely on a screen obviously taken from Glacien’s city of Crystalvale. She had her forehooves on two holographic panels, and was moving them around. On the screen was something like a movie, though it didn't take long for Twilight to connect that Luna's movement and the movies were connected.

“Luna?”

No response. After another blink, she saw some kind of devices on her ears. So, she stood in front of her. “Luna! Wake up!”

Luna leaned left and right to try to see around her. “Outta the way, Twilight! I'm almost to the boss.”

There was a beat.

“Oh, ponyfeathers!” Luna tore off the ear devices and said some things you wouldn't expect of a princess if you didn't know Luna. “What time is it? I was supposed to be in the Empyreal Hall at three!”

A large, white princess cleared her throat behind Twilight. “It's four-thirty.”

Twilight looked straight up at the chin of an angry sister.

“I should have known you'd find some video games to smuggle in from Crystalvale. Did you even do all the things you said you'd do? Establish a time-locked teleport beacon? Repair the defenses? Set up protocols that could counter Flicker? Update Canterlot’s wards?”

Luna threw her head back in a groan. “Stars, yes, yes, yes, and yes! It's been four thousand years, Tia! Four thousand years! One millennium of which was spent in the moon! I'd like to think I've earned a little time with the Super Plumber Brothers.”

THUD.

Twilight flinched from a solar hoof slamming into the marble floor next to her.

“Not at the expense of managing the country! Brush your mane and tail and get your sorry flank on your throne before I toss your toy into a volcano!”

Luna pressed a pillow down on her head. “Ffffine! I'll be there in five.”

Celestia leaned down and met Twilight's eyes. “I do apologize that you had to see that, Twilight. If you have time, the Hall would hear your testimony on Stalliongrad later this evening. Do you think you could have something ready after supper recess?”

Twilight blinked and rearranged her marbles. “Uh, yeah. I mean, yes. My reports are basically done; I can have some copies made and talk about it.”

“Wonderful. I'll see you then.” Celestia glanced back at Luna. “Five. Minutes.”

Author's Note

A chapter posted on time!? Is Cv getting back on schedule!? Here's hoping, folks! Next chapter starts the next mission, which is the final mission of book two! I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Burning Sorrow For The World To See

“Yet more snow,” Twilight murmured into her scarf as she and her entourage trotted from Ponyville to Applejack’s farm on the outskirts of the town. A flurry was starting, and though not severe by any stretch, it was only adding to the large amount of the white stuff that was already on the ground. The saving grace was her pegasus coat, which took a lot of the bite out of the cold. This was doubly true here, after experiencing what a Stalliongradi winter could bring.

Still, she was ready for Winter Wrap Up and for the Spring.

Ponyville had grown quite a bit in the last few years. Applejack’s farm wasn't as far from town anymore, but it had grown outward as Big Mac had led them to new success. However, it still had the same cozy old farmhouse.

“Fire!”

Twilight flashed up some shields as her crew lept into action, ready to take a bolt for her if need be.

The projectile landed in front of them, and Twilight pushed more power into her shield to stop an explosion. The purple and white object, however, merely sat there in the snow.

“Wait…” Twilight pulled down her shields and gave the object a poke. “That's a rutabaga.”

“Aim higher, Applebloom! Fire!”

A cabbage flew out of the upstairs window of Applejack’s farmhouse, this time flying much farther before landing on the roof of Golden Harvest's new house across the street.

A moment later, a growling scream from the assaulted house heralded the launch of tomatoes through the air to splatter on the side of Applejack’s house.

“Well now.” Spike picked up a wad of snow. “Looks like the feud has finally evolved into a shooting war. It was quiet for a while there. Should we join in?”

“No. Cover your ears, everypony.” Twilight cleared out her throat. “Applejack, Applebloom, Golden Harvest, Green Herb, get your butts out here right now!”

“Ponyfeathers…” came a voice from Applejack’s house.

A moment later, all four ponies were slinking out of the houses, heads down, and lined up in front of Twilight.

“So.” Twilight folded her forelegs. “What am I going to say?”

Applebloom swallowed. “That we shouldn't have let it get this far.”

“Correct. And?”

Green Herb, a stock pony as verdant as his namesake, and Golden Harvest's uncle, shivered in the snow. “That we should have talked it out and gotten others to mediate.”

“Good.” Twilight sighed. “What else?”

Applejack took off her hat. “Uh, we should have tried to see things from their perspective.”

Golden Harvest drew a little circle in the snow. “And we should have taken time to calm down and then found a compromise.”

“Very good.” Twilight deflated, letting her anger leak out with her breath. “Sorry for exploding a little there. I've been kind of stressed. I will want you all to clean the others’ yards of veggie debris, but for now, I'm hungry and want that pie Applejack promised. Golden, Green, you can go. Let's just all eat something and calm down.”

“Sorry, Miss Sparkle.” Green Herb said through his moustache.

“Sorry, Applejack.” Golden agreed before they left.

Twilight and crew followed the Apples to their house in silence, but the darkness of the outside lifted instantly by means of a greeting from a tiny filly in a diaper holding out her forelegs for a hug.

“Awww!” was the immediate response from Spike and every female in the group.

Applejack swooped in to pick her up. “She's a smartie pants. Figured out how to roll around like a log real quiet-like. Filly gets everywhere in the house if you so much as blink.”

Twilight gave the filly’s nose a boop. “Reminds me of the Night Guard’s sneaky cat.”

“The Night Guard has a cat?” Applebloom put on an apron. “Shoulda figured.”

Cloud shook off some snow on his wings before entering. “It's a tiny black cat named Neutrino. Found him in the city once. How it got out of the secure enclave, I have no clue.”

Twilight poked her head into the kitchen, where her mother was helping Fluttershy cook. “Let's not talk about the Night Guard. I just want an evening of food, family, and friends. No work stuff.”

Rainbow popped off her armoured chest plate. “No complaints from me! You want some rolls, Trixie?”

Trixie took off her hat and sheepishly stepped in from the entranceway. “Is that the buttery smell? Because if so, yes. I want to feel my arteries harden a bit. I'm sick of the cold.”

One evening, Universe. Twilight prayed as she ate a roll. That's all I ask.

The knock came at eight in the morning, so technically, her prayers from last night were answered affirmatively. That didn't relieve the headache or get rid of the lead in her muscles, though. She turned and groaned as she wiggled under the blankets, then poked her muzzle out from under the warmth, but kept her eyes and horn toasty in the realm of fleecy warmth.

“This had better be important!” Twilight had tried to make that a grumble, but it came out as a yell that echoed off the walls of her home away from home. The fact that she was in the underground bunker beneath the fort in Ponyville was a tidbit slowly oozing back into her brain.

“Uh, Twilight?” Spike pushed open the door. “I think we could use your help. A dragon is trying to destroy the fort.”

Twilight flopped over and wrapped herself in her blankets. “Yeah, right, Spike. Rainbow put you up to this?”

“No, actually, Cloud sent me down here to get you. Apparently the alarms aren't working this far down, ‘cause the rest of the place is jumping. I already sent a message to Luna, but she's not answered me yet.”

Because you're playing a prank, right? Twilight’s heart decided now was the time for some palpitations, right as the rest of the body was trying to stand only to tumble over in the bed. “You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding.”

Spike turned and showed her an armor panel on his back. It was a charred, burned panel. “Some of his fire gets through the shield, but so far it's holding. The commander wanted to beat him without us, but Cloud told me to come get you.”

Twilight pulled at her sword in the corner, and her magic burned around its handle. “You're telling me there's a dragon attacking Ponyville. Not only that, but it's attacking a Fort of the Crown while I just happen to be here for the first time in months.

“This dragon is either too dumb to survive or has a death wish. Nothing attacks my ponies or my home without getting an answer. Luna can kill this dragon only if she beats me to it. Stay behind me.”

Halfway up the spiraling tunnel, the lead in her legs had melted and burst into flame. The sound of the impacts on the shield rumbled the ground, and the lights flickered on each impact. As she opened the bunker door, she squinted at a bright explosion bouncing off the shield of the fort.

A blue dragon twelve stories tall was circling overhead, flinging spells and fireballs at the rose-colored dome protecting them. The anti-air guns around the edges of the fort were firing streams of bolts that bounced off his scales without leaving so much as a bruise, while the heavy anti-ship cannons had crews desperately swivelling around, trying to get a shot lined up. The few times they did fire were pathetic misses.

“Twilight!” Cloud flew down for a landing next to her. “Rainbow and I have been trying to organize the teams here, but I don't think we're a match for this thing. Trixie has been working with the mayor to evacuate the town's population into Whitetail Woods.”

Twilight watched another shot from her ponies miss, and another fireball from the dragon put a crack in the overhead shield. A stream of dragon fire leaked through it like watery lava, scoring the ground underneath. “The fort’s defenses were intended to fight something akin to an enemy airship, maybe with pegasus or gryphon support. The small guns can't hurt an adult dragon, and the big guns are too slow to target something this fast. We need another plan.

“Cloud, tell the ponies on the small guns to get underground, they won't be of much help here. We need the big guns to aim towards the center of the fort, and about forty meters in the air. They'll know when to shoot.”

Cloud tilted his head in surprise, but saluted and flew off. Spike, meanwhile, tapped on her shoulder.

“Anything I can do?”

Twilight poked Aurora, who deployed over her. “Yes, Spike. Get me today's resonance frequency for that shield.”

Spike snapped. “Seven hundred twenty-five cycles! Already got that.”

She pulled back on her sword, pushing power into it. “And that's why you're my seneschal. Let's show this guy why you don't randomly attack ponies.”

Spike saluted and ran off, saying something about making sure the ponies on the guns knew what to do.

Aurora deployed while Twilight synced her shield and teleportation spells with the cycle speed of the shield. She launched herself through the barrier with a burst of light to get the dragon's attention.

When that didn't work, she released the energy in her sword in an arc directly into its chest as she flew by. Light and smoke crackled in the sky, yet the dragon’s roar was one of anger and fury instead of pain.

The dragon flipped around, wings spread, its brilliant blue scales almost purple in the morning's light. A spewing line of emerald flame lashed out at her and flew wide. A second shot would have hit Twilight, had pegasus magic not been able to launch her to the side. After the flame passed, obsidian glass almost as long as Twilight's body slashed through the air, missing only as the Grand Mage somersaulted over the outstretched hand to kick the dragon square in the chest with her hind legs.

As she slid over the dragon's chest, she grabbed onto its left wing and swung around to its back. “Congratulations!” She yelled into their ear. “You have one chance to surrender and explain yourself. Use it or I'll end you.”

The dragon roared and flipped over, tossing Twilight free and into the air. “I have no reason to ever surrender! I shall die killing you all!”

The booming base of the now obviously male dragon shook the air around him. The size of the monster made it clear: this was an adult, centuries older than the dragon she faced in Wintervale… and it had a death wish.

She tore through spacetime to rocket back to the dragon, driving her sword towards his chest. When he dodged left, she slashed at him with the energy stored in the sword.

A single draconic claw was sliced off and sent flying.

The other hand crashed down on her, blue light cutting into her shields from the tips of his claws. Shards of her barrier crumbled like frost, and the wind left her lungs as she fell like a shooting star. A teleport slowed her down, but she still created a crater on landing. Still on four hooves despite the impact, the taste of blood stained her teeth, and power crackled like lightning around her.

Her teleportation ripped another hole in the ground and a dark pink energy scythe sliced at the dragon as she exited. Pegasus magic pushed her up over the dragon’s claws, and she thrust at his head a dozen times in a second.

On his inhale, she popped around to his rear and drove her sword into his tail. The roar of pain detonated into a cloud of blue fire, so she had her teleportation magic launch her directly towards it. The dragon turned to crush a pony avoiding the fire, but his face found a sharp blade cutting a gouge into his jaw.

Twilight spun in the air as she passed by, letting physics do the work as she soared over the fort. He cracked the air with his wings to charge her, belching fire all the way.

She popped through a teleport behind him, slashing at his tail again. When he turned, she sparked back to below where she was before, slashing at him again. The dragon followed, diving down as Twilight kept up with the dance. Dodge, slice, dodge, it didn't matter if her attacks fully connected or did any real damage. She just wanted him closer to the ground.

She dove directly between him and the earth, spun around and charged up a kill shot in her sword. Something that could, if aimed right in his mouth, tear the dragon in two. No dark mana, only astral mana manifested in pure kinetic force put together over seconds of warping the power flowing in her lifelines.

The dragon responded in kind with an instant, streaming, white hot jet of magic-burning fire. It spat out like an upside-down geyser, ready to flash-fry her, her armor, and even her wellspring to a crisp. The light bloomed and overtook the sky, but the clock in Twilight's mind already had the countdown running.

The power in her blade snapped like a crossbow, cutting into the flames and pushing them to either side. Dragon fire could burn away most spells, but what left her sword was only kinetic force, and his flames were helpless against F=ma. Her strike powered through and detonated probably somewhere on his nose, which absolutely meant he was still alive.

A split second later, the flames were pushed away, and the dragon was suspended in one place by the blast. The fear in his eyes came at the exact moment her ponies pulled their triggers. Six anti-airship cannons roared at the same time, all aimed at the same point.

All but one of the shells found their target, ripping a hole in the air and throwing the dragon up like a served volleyball. He tumbled like a ragdoll, end over end. Twilight landed on the fort’s dome shield and watched him land off the side of the structure.

She slid down the dome and hopped off the bottom, coming to rest near the wheezing dragon's head. “This didn't have to happen. It was your choice to fight, not mine.”

A tiny flame shot from his nostrils with his next wheeze, and blood was already pooling on the ground underneath him. His torso was riddled with golf-ball-sized holes where the hundred-millimetre shells put all of their forces. “Without my egg, there is no reason to live. I only wish I could have killed you.”

Egg? “I'm not sure what you mean. What happened to your egg?”

“You tiny things… stole it… again…”

Her heart thumped as his eyes started to roll. “Hey! Stay with me a minute!” She grabbed his left eye and pointed it at her, then gave him a magic zap of electricity. “Who took your eggs? What kind of being? Unicorn? Zebra? What did they look like?”

A short shot of flame came out of one of the holes in his chest. “All you tiny things look the same. Are the same.”

Twilight cringed after scoffing like her mother. “If there's one of us tiny things taking dragon eggs, I need to know about it so I can put a stop to it. Did they have hooves? How many? Did they have claws instead? Wings? A horn? What kind of tail?”

His eyes drifted out of focus. “Tufted… tail…” Sparks shot out of all the holes that had been punched in him, and his leylines glowed hot even within Twilight's normal sight.

She snapped her head around to the ponies gathering behind her. “Get back! All of you!”

Her own leap backwards was just in time, narrowly escaping the eruption of flame as both the dragon's body and wellspring erupted in a volcano of blue fire. A column of fire as wide as a small mansion spewed directly upwards, pulling air inwards with the strength of a weak tornado.

Other ponies kept rushing back along with her, eventually getting out of range of the vortex. The fire was a near perfect cylinder of blue, with a bright star at the bottom center illuminating the morning sky. In moments it reached the clouds and burned them away. A few moments later, and the jet hit the firmament above the atmosphere, torching it like a gas burner.

“Twilight!” Rainbow came in for a landing next to Spike, who was running up to her. “What the heck happened to him? What's with the fire?”

Twilight flopped to the ground as her adrenaline decayed away. “Dragons… their wellspring combusts when they die. This will go on for however long it takes for all his magic to burn away.”

One of the soldiers hushed… “Lady Sparkle just murdered a dragon…”

“I did not!” she said, sitting up. “This was self-defense. Besides that, it was the fort's guns that delivered the killing blows, not me.”

Spike wrapped his wings around his body. “Whoa. I knew what it was supposed to be like, but I've never seen it.”

Dark blue light behind them bloomed, and Princess Luna stepped through. “Twilight!” Her eyes, for a split second, turned into Nightmare Moon's, but changed back when she saw Twilight sitting nearby. “Oh thank the Stars!”

“Hey, Luna.” Twilight said while all the other ponies dropped into a bow. “You're a tad late.”

“My apologies. Everypony, you may rise. Twilight, I'm overjoyed that you are not hurt, but I am afraid there's no time to rest just yet. Come, I have news to share. Spike, you can come too. Everypony else, make sure all civilians are accounted for and safe.”

Twilight gave a nod and wobbled to get to her legs, then stepped into the teleportation bloom while the others hurried to their tasks.

“Ouchies.” Spike could feel pain. Lots of pain. He was pretty sure that his body wasn't supposed to bend in the way it currently was. He definitely wasn't supposed to be hanging off the edge of a building in the hidden ice city Twilight found.

“Oof.” Twilight stumbled around on the ground, while Luna was groaning and stuck in the ground by her horn.

Spike rolled over and dropped off the edge, which was thankfully only perhaps one and a half stories up. By the time he was on his feet, Luna was righting herself.

“Sorry, both of you. The krene here is far from a leyline, and even with the beacon I placed, aiming a teleport is… difficult.”

Her horn came out of the street with a “pop.”

Twilight shook off the woozy with a quick head shake. “I'm learning more and more that long-range teleportation is more of an art than a science.”

“In a way.” Luna raised her head to the cave roof. <>

Three flying machines were heading directly for them. One almost looked like a flying sled, but with a more pointy front. The others were more bird-like, with glowing wings that pointed forward. Each made a very gentle hum, and had no visible moving parts.

A blue light came from the sled one, and it spoke. <>

Spike raised an eyebrow. “That is so freaky. They're just machines?”

“And equipped with weapons.” Luna added. “Come; Tia is waiting.”

They rushed through the city to the palace, and down to the command center, all the while filling Luna in on the dragon attack in Ponyville. Inside the command center, Celestia was watching something on one of those freaky screen things.

“There you all are,” Celestia said without looking back. “Come take a look at this.”

“Actually,” Twilight started. “We have news of our own.”

Twilight explained what happened and what she did, and in the middle of the report, Celestia wrapped a wing around Spike.

Spike didn't need the coddling. The dragon was dumb enough to attack Ponyville. He got what was coming. What he literally asked for. Looking at Celestia’s face, though, Spike figured that maybe it wasn't for him. Maybe it was for her.

“I see.” Celestia finally sighed. “This complicates things considerably. When we get home, I'll summon the Mountain Pact reps. But first, I want you to see this. Computer, restart playback in holo mode.”

They were back in the city. Or, it kind of looked like it. There was a translucent version of the city in the command center, only smaller. Spike could almost stomp on the buildings.

Some kind of magic — displayed by the computer, not actually happening — bloomed into life at an intersection. A moment later, a pony with a purple coat and green mane was standing in the road.

Except, was it a pony? Spike leaned close to watch it walk. It was stiff, pausing at odd moments. Seconds later, those same flying machines came in and hovered near the odd-pony. They almost seemed to stare at each other for a while.

Then, a blue beam shot out at one of the bird machines, and the pony exploded.

“Holy frijoles!” Spike covered his view of the carnage with his hand. “What the heck, Princess?”

“Look closer.” Celestia pointed. “There's no blood.”

Spike blinked and put down his hand. The “pony” was in pieces, but the lower half of the torso and legs were intact and still standing. “Pony” chunks were all around, but they looked more like burned wood or something else artificial.

Inside the pony's barrel was a black mass of wriggling ... ick. He wasn't sure how else to describe it. The ick even had tentacles like an octopus. As fast as any pony could gallop, it rushed out of its faux-pony shell and ran down the street with the machines chasing after it.

The display of the city moved as the ick ran, and the drones were close behind. Another blue beam struck the ick, but it kept moving. A follow up beam was brighter, and a third brighter still. The ick was slower now, but still moving.

“Computer, freeze playback.” Celestia pointed at it.”Watch this, Luna. Computer, show the moment of impact of the high intensity nadion beam.”

In an instant, it was back to showing the brightest blue beam. The part of the ick that was being hit was glowing red like magma.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “A full-stream class-two nadion beam directly hit it, and that only slowed it down. It ran after magic-firing drones arrived and started putting craters in the street by shooting at it, then teleported out where it came in.”

Spike raised his hand. “Um, what's a nadion?”

“I'm curious about that, too.” Twilight took a step forward for a better look. “Obviously it's a weapon, but I don't know more than that.”

Luna had a grin as wide as the moon. “Yes, tell us, Tia. I want to watch Twilight vibrate again.”

“Hey!” Twilight poked the night princess. “I do not ‘vibrate.’”

“Well…” Spike rubbed the back of his head and regretted saying anything when Twilight scowled and put her ears down.

Celestia sighed. “I don't think we have time for this… but I did promise…”

Everyone gathered around to listen to “storytime” and Spike had a feeling it would go over his head.

Celestia pulled in a breath.

“A nadion is a type of subatomic particle that is not included in the standard model. It can only be generated by magic, but once created, it follows normal physics, not metaphysics. When it strikes any atom heavier than hydrogen, there is a not-insignificant chance of the atom undergoing spontaneous fission, even if it isn’t supposed to be radioactive. The heavier the atom, the greater the chance it will split and release energy.

When it does so, it creates an extremely powerful, though very localized, electromagnetic field. It’s so powerful that it can interfere with the nerves in a being. A weak stream will cause pain and mild radiation burns. A stronger one will give you hallucinations for a brief second before you pass out. When you wake up, you’ll have one of the biggest headaches you’ve ever had in your life, but you’ll live. Unless the beam was from close range and aimed at the head, which can be lethal even if the beam isn’t that strong.”

Twilight wasn’t just vibrating. She was blurry.

Spike sighed and put his hands on her shoulders to slow her down to a visible speed.

Celestia continued, “After a certain point, the beam becomes strong enough to equate to being electrocuted with a powerful current, and is fatal from the field alone, to say nothing of the radiation burns.

“Many of the energy weapons used by civilizations before the Chaos War used nadions, and some were powerful enough to level small cities. But they were useless against Titans, and actually hitting Discord with one was impossible. He always saw it coming.”

Luna tilted her head. “Given the tar-like substance this… thing seems to be made of, I’m betting it’s related to the Titans somehow. But the Titans have never shown this kind of intelligence before. Maybe the Majestics have managed to do something with the tar?”

Celestia shuddered. “I sincerely hope not. That could prove catastrophic. But if you see anything like this, Twilight, focus on using light magic as much as you can. Trixie should be able to fight these fairly effectively.”

“Hee… new particle…” Twilight was leaning over with glee.

Spike snapped his claws in front of her face. “Focus, Twilight!”

“Heee… Um, ahem!” Twilight straightened up and went fuzzy. “Urm, yes, light magic. Titans. Bad bad.”

None of the others could suppress a tiny smile.

Celestia stood up and stretched, audibly cracking her back. “Let’s get home. I need to summon the Mountain Pack reps. They should all be here by the evening, which means I have to let our staff know that we have dragons coming.”

Author's Note

can't note now

gotta go to work

blog post tomorrow

The Mountain Pact

They had to change the meeting place. The draconic representatives were too large to fit in the clearing made in the Royal Gardens.

Instead, Applejack’s farm was chosen, or at least a clearing next to a pond on its outskirts. Dozens of Royal Guard members encircled the chosen site, along with every member of the Day Guard, and a few Night Guard probably hidden in the trees. Ten gryphon warriors, two of them battlemasters, joined the group. A few zebra and Saddle Arabian house mages were even present to protect their representatives, and Twilight’s own guards were somewhere in the trees. Spike, however, was next to Twilight herself.

Bad blood between the various factions wasn't the reason for the security. None of the representatives were dumb enough to cause trouble. Ponies from outside the perimeter, however, could be that crazy, so such precautions were needed. If something did happen, it was the guards’ job to make it so the dragons didn't need to lift a claw.

As the sun was setting, the last of the representatives were arriving and finding seats around a large bonfire. The snow had been cleared and wards set up to make everyone comfortable despite the winter weather. To Twilight's immediate left was the Zebrican representative, who was a mare of a certain age, and to the right of the rep was a veteran wyvern rider.

Beyond her was a buffalo male, the newest official signatory to the Mountain Pact. Though they could be represented by Equestria, Celestia’s efforts to preserve buffalo culture and semi-independence included allowing them separate diplomatic representatives in most world affairs. Twilight kept her lips sealed as she thought about how the stone face of the buffalo couldn't hide his nervousness. It was possible he'd never seen an adult dragon before, much less an elder, and that he certainly never attended one of these meetings. The last time such an emergency call was made for such a meeting was before either Twilight or the buffalo representative was born.

The next was the most awkward for everyone involved: a dark blue mare with a white mane, draped in a black hood and cloak that hid most of her form. A unicorn's horn poked out of the hood, and when she moved, silver embossings in the fabric shimmered. She was the representative of the Lunar Republic, or at this point, the Lunarian Church.

None of the other nations recognized the Republic’s authority or existence. They had no claim on any territory. For the last few centuries, save for a brief window of time before and after Luna's return, they had been extremely secretive and quiet. Yet, there she was, for a simple reason: The Lunar Republic had signed the Pact, and while dragons had long memories and lifespans, they didn't pay much attention to the news.

Were this any other time, Obsidian Armour would have dragged the mare off to the dungeon for interrogation, but the safe-travel terms of the Pact were crystal clear. If they did such a thing…well, the dragons probably wouldn’t do anything, but it's never a good idea to risk giving the absolute pinnacle of the food chain any reason to hold a grudge.

Across from Twilight and the Sisters were two enormous dragons...or there would be in moments, anyway. The opening in the circle for them meant that it was really more of an egg shape, but it was either that or be a seat for something that weighed as much as most airships. The last dragon to serve as a representative was older than Celestia, though he had slept through more than half his lifespan. It remained to be seen if that one would be here this time, but dragons rarely died, so it was reasonable to make that guess.

Continuing clockwise from the gap was a husband-and-wife pair of Saddle Arabian horses. Both were an off-white color and wore silk outfits and jewelry. They had set up a kind of half-tent with a hill’s worth of silken cushions underneath them, and seemed more interested in each other than the goings-on around them.

The displays of wealth were expected. Saddle Arabia was rich because of their access to special silkworms that only thrived in their territory, as well as with ample supplies of gold and gems. The worms could weave silk that was supreme in terms not only of its general quality, but because of its receptivity to storing magic. None of the other nations, save Zebrica, wanted to make them especially angry, lest their own wealthy classes become upset.

Then came the “terrible two”, or perhaps “one point five.” With a civil war active in Gryphonia, two representatives were present: an older male representing the Western faction led by Ragnar, and an older female representing Morvana. They looked civil enough, but the animosity between the two should've melted the snow around them.

Wingbeats thumped overhead.

The whole group turned to watch the sky as two enormous, shadowy figures flew in the night sky. Seconds passed as the figures grew larger. The thump from the landing bumped Twilight into the air for a second.

“Whoa.”

Twilight put a hoof on Spike to remind him to be silent.

The older dragon's scales were a mixture of green, brown, and rock. Not merely rock colouration, but actual boulders serving as scales. A final flap of his massive wings blew dust and snow into Twilight's face. His exhale pulled a feather out of Celestia’s wing. The largest non-dragon there, the Buffalo representative, was maybe a third the size of the dragon's foot, if one was feeling generous.

His snout was, proportionally, quite long, and could probably eat several train cars in one gulp. He didn't have any webbing in the spines on his back, though whether that was from them being worn from age or never existing in the first place was anypony’s guess.

The other dragon was smaller than the blue one that attacked in the morning. They were dark blue, and of indeterminate gender. Certain scales on them glowed a haunting white color. The gills and webbing on them confirmed that it was an ocean type — not just elementally water-aligned, but adapted to live and thrive in the ocean. This one was at home anywhere from the beach to the bottom of the deepest underwater canyons, where some of the most dangerous feral monsters of Equestria lurked. It probably helped that they were one of those monsters.

The lead dragon didn't so much “speak” as “rumble the air in a manner that formed words”. “Which of you has invoked the Pact?”

Twilight lifted a hoof to raise it, but Celestia spoke first.

“We did, old one. I'm afraid this is a matter that required it.”

“Then speak.”

Twilight swallowed in the silence that followed, only to be nudged by Celestia.

“Oh, right.” She lit her horn and conjured up a projection spell for the photos Spike had. It essentially made anything on the focal point show up in the middle of the circle as a giant image of itself. The first photo was of flames crashing into the shields of the fort. “Early this morning, a dragon of unknown name attacked Fort Ponyville with clear lethal intent. These pictures were taken by an Equestrian Army journalist stationed at the fort.

“Further investigation revealed he attacked several small towns on the way, killing five and wounding thirty-nine.”

The smaller dragon stepped forward. “If this was merely over weregild, you could have settled this via courier.”

Celestia held out a wing to separate Twilight and the dragons while she spoke. “There's more. Twilight, please continue.”

Twilight swallowed down some cold air. “Yes, Princess.”

She put some more photos of the battle in the projector, these of her fight, the killing blows, and the aftermath. “I asked him why he attacked. Once defeated, he told me that someone stole his egg…‘again’.”

The other representatives gasped. Had the big dragon done so, he might have inhaled everypony else, yet he remained, for lack of a better phrase, stone-faced.

Twilight dispelled the images. “The only lead I could get from him before his fatal conflagration was ‘tufted tail.’”

“Hmph.” The Ragnar representative grumbled. “Could be any of us, then. Dragons aren't the most observant beings of other races.”

The zebra rep chuffed. “And gryphons are?”

“I can count the pores on your nose from here. So yes, we are.”

The buffalo cleared his throat. “Um, I'm pretty confident it wasn't us. We're a fairly tight knit collection of groups. Something like a dragon's egg would be hard to hide.”

The gryphon hen chirped. “There's several hundred thousand of you. More than enough to hide nefarious deeds. The same goes for the rest of us, being far more populous.”

“Well, it's not us.” The Arabians leaned into one another. “We've always had good relations with our dragon neighbours. Plus, I can't even think of a reason any horse could have to steal such a thing. It would be suicide.”

Twilight chewed on her lip. She had narrowed down the possibilities, but one didn't just start pointing hooves at other nations without proof.

“It wasn't the horses, true.” The mare had a voice like a bell, and it rang the others into silence. The words from the Lunarian might as well have been sung, rather than spoken.

“And…” Twilight forced out the obvious question. “How do you know?”

“Isn't it obvious?” The mare giggled. “Aside from not having said kind of tails, it's their magic!

“Sand manipulation and water tricks don't really mix with what one might do with a dragon's egg. The key is that dragon eggs can absorb, redirect, and convert mana in vast quantities. The horses just don't have a use for it.”

Twilight blinked. “Uh, I suppose that's true.”

The mare tittered. “Oh, come now. You needn't lie like that. You knew all of this already.”

Twilight really hoped they couldn't see her flush face. Well, yeah, but I wasn't about to just out and say it. Who is this girl?

“So let's narrow it down further, shall we? 🎵”

Twilight's mouth dropped open. I could hear the little music note she put at the end of that. How?!

“Buffalo are out; their magic is too similar to that of earth ponies. Same with donkeys, they have the tail but not the magic type. Ultimately, there are only two groups who have both of what we're looking for: gryphons and zebras.”

The Zebrica representative cleared her throat. “Not all of us have that type of tail.”

The eye roll of the cultist could be felt through the fabric over her eyes. “I would think seventy percent of a half billion zebra are enough to include you. But, I don't think it's a zebra, unless they are living on this side of the ocean, and there are precious few of you here.”

Twilight's leg wanted her to jump in front of the mare, but she settled for interrupting. “Transporting a dragon's egg to Zebrica without detection would be possible, but the effort would be ridiculous given that dragons exist there as well.

“I am still worried about this being done either by or in service of unicorns, or maybe by those in disguises. The dragon who attacked didn't seem very attentive to us ‘tiny things.’”

The elder dragon clawed at the earth, digging trenches with his claws and probably setting off the seismic recorders in Ponyville. “One of our young has been stolen. This is worthy of attention. How do you all plead?”

Celestia raised her wings. “This is not a matter settled enough for judgement at this time, old one. You know this. What we need is an investigation. To issue a punishment before the egg is recovered would be foolish. Or are you so sleepy that you would give up on saving your young, killing one of us, and calling it a millennium?”

A giant rock must have slammed into Twilight's stomach. That was the only logical conclusion to what Twilight just felt. One of us would have to die to satisfy the Mountain Pact? And Celestia just insulted him?

The dragon lowered his head and breathed on Celestia, hot steam streaming from his nostrils. Twilight had to jump back to escape the heat; had Celestia not been who she was, her skin would have just been seared off.

The dragon gingerly picked up a nearby boulder and crushed it between his fingers. “You dare mock me?”

“Pot, meet kettle, Volcanus.” A swath of light wreathed around Celestia, beckoning a dawn not due for hours. “I am she who created a desert of glass. Who so wounded the God of Chaos that he doubled back. If you are so confident in your strength as a dragon, come and test it at your leisure.”

Twilight gulped. Oh, ponyfeathers. What is she doing?

The dragon licked one of his yellow, filthy fangs. “A bluff. If you fought, your ponies in this valley would die.”

A white glow swirled around Luna, who stood up and pulled out Selene. “She would not have to. Yet you are a fool if you think it that simple. You know Our sister. Ask yourself, why did she choose this place for a capital? What was it the Grand Mage just showed you earlier?”

Twilight blinked. Those two questions don't seem connected. I'm missing something.

Celestia took in a breath, and spewed a small stream of golden flame at the dragon. More importantly, the dragon flinched.

“I chose this spot because it is in a valley surrounded by mountains. If it burned, most of my ponies would be safe in other Duchies. And Volcanus? Whatever they think of me now, if I fell here, they would want revenge. A revenge they don't need me to deliver.”

Two gears came together in Twilight's mind and nearly tore their teeth off. She chose this place four thousand years ago to protect most of the ponies elsewhere from her in case something happened. And when we started making our own artillery, she made sure we had rounds that could punch through a dragon's defences.

I came into this thinking the dragons were an existential threat to Equestria if riled. A pseudo-nation on par with our own. But Celestia basically just told him to shove his bluster up his plot and cooperate! He doesn't have anywhere near the leverage he thought he had!

Volcanus scooped up a sizable chunk of Applejack’s farmland in his hand and crunched it like a stress doll. “We cannot trust that you would conduct any ‘investigation’ into yourself fairly. One cannot judge oneself objectively.”

A tittering bell laughed at him, and the Lunarian offered her smile. “We are not all aligned with each other, old one. Just have one faction investigate the other.”

The Zebrica representative, who was just about all white now, raised a hoof. “We… we would welcome that arrangement.”

The gryphon female grumbled. “You're asking us to open our doors at a sensitive time.”

“Oh go pull that stick out of your tail, Greta.” The male gryphon did some kind of gesture Twilight was pretty sure was meant to be rude. “We welcome the idea as well. Zebrica can send a team any time.”

“Not acceptable.” The smaller of the dragons pulled out an emerald the size of a watermelon and chewed on it. “With gryphons and Zebras being the most likely culprits, we would demand that the horses investigate the zebras, and the ponies investigate the gryphons. The horses and Zebras can investigate the ponies together.”

Celestia folded her wings, and her glow faded. “That is acceptable. Twilight will launch her rescue efforts immediately.”

Oops, that rock was back, and this time aiming for Twilight's kidneys. “If those are your orders, I can start right away, but wouldn't a… less politically charged pony be a better choice?” Hint hint take the hint I'm not supposed to go there and make the civil war worse.

Celestia gave her a smile. “I have every confidence in you, Twilight. And in our gryphon partners to give you full access and not do anything that may force you to take sides in their conflict.”

Well, that's a diplomatic shot across the bow. Twilight watched the cat-birds bristle their feathers. Or maybe right into the hull; I'm not certain.

The Zebrica representative pulled out a cloth and wiped her brow. “I will convey this arrangement to our government. And probably get an earful, but this should work.”

Twilight gave her heart a mental thump to get it back in rhythm. “I'll notify my team. We'll be airborne within the hour.”

“I don't have much time, Your Highness. What was it you needed to speak to me about?” Twilight stopped herself from sitting and kept count of the ticks from the grandfather clock. Prince Blueblood’s office was immaculate as always, with nary a speck of dust to be found amidst the frankly gaudy decorations popular with much of the nobility.

The prince himself was dressed as spotlessly as the room, but a darker pale was under his eyes. “I just finished talking with Intelligentsia. Neither of us are happy about you going to Gryphonia.”

“I'm afraid you're overruled on that.” Twilight pulled out a scroll. “I have official orders and everything.”

“I’m aware. What you should be aware of is that both of us are very concerned about some… anomalies that are rumored to exist on the outskirts of the country.”

That caught Twilight’s attention even more than the marble mini-statue of Prince Blueblood in the corner. “Why wasn’t this in my daily briefings?”

“Because they are rumors, and often aren’t congruent with each other. RGIS even had an undercover agent investigate two of them, and couldn’t find anything. But I remain unconvinced. There’s been a definite uptick in their numbers over the past three months, more than what should be explainable by clashes in the war.

“I tried to have a real survey team sent out, but was turned down by both Kings. I don’t necessarily blame them for this; I have no evidence they’re behind anything relevant, and there is a war going on which could make things dangerous. Yet I can’t help but feel echoes from seven hundred years ago, when another Grand Mage visited Gryphonia.”

“Oh.” Twilight finally sat down. “He was killed there when another ‘anomaly’ threatened to destroy the whole civilization. You found links between what’s happening now and then?”

“Nothing direct.” Blueblood pressed his forehooves together before his muzzle. “The ‘anomaly’ then was a shadowy ooze in the form of a mist. What’s been reported now are light shows, thaumaturgic contamination and miasma spikes, areas with inexplicable neutron and beta radiation, and even temporal incongruities.”

Ears back, Twilight chewed on the comparison. “Yeah, nothing springs to mind that could link the two eras, but at the same time, we don’t have a whole lot to go on for the events Stellar Horizon investigated. He didn’t live to give a report. Have you talked about this with the Princess?”

Blueblood turned a shade darker. “Briefly. She’s been very busy, as you can imagine, but I don’t think that’s the real reason she’s shrugged me off on this. I think she doesn’t want to face the idea that there could be a link. She can’t bear it, which I don’t really blame her for. Stellar and she were quite close, much like you two are. Hence I needed to give you this warning myself.

“Now, we could be wrong. This could be much ado about nothing…but it could also be much ado about something just as serious but also completely different. Either way, above all else, history must not repeat itself.”

Author's Note

Been real busy with work lately. Even though I'm only part time, grocery work is physically demanding. It's not uncommon for me to need a full day to recover from two days of work. Be nice to retail peoples, especially grocery folks. It is genuinely hard work, doubly so in a pandemic.

My wife and I are moving to a new city to be closer to her family in the next couple weeks. However, this means moving, and moving always sucks. I may be able to transfer my work to a new store, I may not. It's unknown right now. if not, I'll have a lot of time for writing and streaming. Been spending a lot of time preparing. About half the stuff is already boxed.

As you might imagine, it's stressful as all hell. Definitely more anxiety than normal lately. Moreover, the first place we're going is likely a temporary location with a more permanent one to follow in the following months, which is double stressful. And I lose access to an ice machine and dishwasher in the meantime. :(

First world problems, amirite?

After the move is completed, I swear I'm going to go through my stuff and get rid of a lot of it so future moves are easier. I normally like having physical books for certain categories of books, but ebooks have one big advantage: they don't take up physical volume and don't have mass. :P Easy to move. Sorry Twi, but it's true.

Somehow, despite working at a grocery store, I avoided covid long enough to get fully vaccinated. I thank my lucky stars about every day for that fact.

You can find my Discord over here, if anyone wants to join. https://discord.gg/uQ22Ykdh Having folks cheer me on is always a huge help.

One more thing, since this is asked a lot. There are five books planned for Rites (god I need to get more productivity), and we're nearing the end of book 2. This mission Twi is on now is the last of book 2. Hope that helps. :)

Thanks again for sticking with me, everyone!
-Cv

Shade in the Tree of Life

Shortly after a teleportation to the eastern half of Gryphonia, Spike belched up a letter from Celestia that almost scorched the ceiling of the chariot. As it was several pages long, he had to reach for water after it was over.

Twilight got out her own water as she sorted the pages to read. Cloud and Rainbow were pulling the chariot, so she made a mental note to update them later. “Okay, let’s see what Celestia has for us.”

Twilight,

I apologize for how abrupt this mission is. You can rest first once you get to the Great Aerie, should you deem it necessary.

Diplomacy with dragons is harder than with any other nation, partly because of the nature of the Mountain Pact, partly because they aren't really a nation at all, and partly because their representative is the very definition of an old curmudgeon. In one of our weaker moments, Luna and I had his name put in dictionaries in the examples to make it literal. I spent six centuries apologizing to him for that.

Twilight snickered and blushed from the strange looks from Trixie and Spike. “Sorry; still reading. I'll explain in a moment.”

I want to warn you against copying my actions today when talking with other dragons, or even Volcanus himself. It can be very tricky knowing which track to take with them. On other days, I might have handled that very differently. Unlike most other bullies, he knows when he is being one. Like other bullies, though, he still crumbles when punched in the nose, whether that's figurative or not.

I also want to clearly define the consequences of failure on this mission. Volcanus is often a blowhard, and his demand for a life in exchange for the loss of a dragon egg is unlikely to meet with much agreement even with other dragons.

The real threat isn't from the Pact. It's from what could theoretically be done with a dragon's egg. There are a number of dark possibilities that make me go numb.

Normally, this isn't much of a worry, as nopony is usually dumb enough to steal one. Even if they survived the retribution from the dragons, every nation would treat them as a paramount threat. Yet here we are.

It's an odd feeling I have about this situation. If the thief knows what they are doing, the theoretical devastation would be unmatched by anything you've encountered since Zebrica. Yet I remain unconvinced that our thief has that level of insight.

My nephew just finished giving me an earful about not telling you of the anomalies in Gryphonia. I disagree with him, although I understand his point. I wanted you to uncover them yourself to approach the problem with as open a mind as possible, as I have full faith in your abilities to handle them. I'm also not convinced that they are related to the problem at hoof. This world is no stranger to such outbursts of magic, though it's been relatively calm for the last few hundred years.

Be advised that if we are entering a more active period, we could begin to see more troublesome beasts such as the snow crabs. You have full permission to give such creatures the mercy of death, as they are almost always uncontrollable, violent, and beyond saving.

For now, however, I must worry about what's happening to that poor unborn dragon. Note that it's entirely possible for the thief to go too far in using magic on the egg. This would result in the loss of the young life inside at a minimum, and could also result in leaving an area contaminated for centuries.

It could also result in the egg hatching, much like with Spike. However, Spike was nearly done incubating when your magic finished the job, and we have no such indication that's the case here. Too much magic too fast would be like tossing a chicken egg into a fire to keep it warm, rather than using a hen or lamp. The results would be… messy.

I'm enclosing a letter with signatures of all the representatives of the Pact, which should give you the ability to go anywhere in the world, even Gryphonia, in search of your answers. You have my permission, and supposedly the support of the diplomatic corps of all these nations, to use force to gain entry to anywhere you are denied. I've also called in an extra favor to help you, though I don't know if it'll get there in time.

One last thing. It's possible that, when you find the egg, it will be corrupted beyond saving. A corrupted dragon, even a newborn, is a threat to life all over Equestria. If this is the case, my orders are to destroy the egg rather than risk recovering it.

Good luck.
-Celestia

“Okay, that's some more info.” Twilight yawned. “We'll catch some sleep first, but we'll have to get going early in the morning. Before dawn, if possible.”

Trixie pulled a blanket from one of the storage cubbies in the chariot. “Are we sleeping in here? I'm not sure how much I trust a hotel or gryphon guest room.”

“We'll be a guest of the King. She won't do anything untoward directly like that. At least, I doubt she would. It would mean open war between Equestria and her faction. If the gryphon nation was still united, we would be on much more even terms. But with half of her subjects on the side of Ragnar? That's not a war, that's a slaughter.”

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow’s voice crackled over the radio. “I know you've never seen the Great Aerie before, so you might want to take a look.”

Twilight turned around and pulled open the armoured shutter on the window as the others crowded around her.

The Great Aerie was smack in the middle of a massive, mountainous, alpine forest. Underneath the ground was a potent mana krene that bubbled up life-supporting magic, nourishing the trees to let them grow to obscene heights. The big granddaddy of them all was Yggdrasil, which was rooted directly above the krene.

At the size of a mountain, the mythical Yggdrasil held the Great Aerie in much the same way Mount Canterlot held, well, Canterlot. The actual amount of walkable horizontal space was much smaller than in Equestria’s capitol, but it was much more spread out, making it look larger visually.

From the outside, the leaves were dense enough to obscure much of the structures.

What could be seen was the twinkle of lights throughout. The gryphons weren't much for electricity, though there were some lines installed—very carefully, by expert pony civil and electrical engineers. The gryphons were, however, pretty good using the ambient magic for lighting using spells, runes, and simple artifacts. Parts of the trees themselves served as lighting, yet somehow Luna's dark and jeweled sky was as brilliant as though they were in the middle of nowhere.

When they landed, it was at the Equestrian Embassy, which was the closest landing pad to the King's throne that could handle a chariot of the Kitalpha’s size. There were ponies waiting for them, and they quickly and quietly rushed her team into the Great Aerie Palace.

Unlike the marble and gold of Canterlot, almost everything in the Great Aerie was wooden. There was some steel and fabric, but wood was the order of the day. Many of the pillars and moulding had carvings that had to have taken untold years to complete. Some were random decorations, but many were pictographic stories or runic lists of names.

A trio of gryphons had joined them as guards and escorts, the leader of which “expressed regret” that the King was not in the city at the moment, and that they would be staying at a guest room modified for ponies. By the time they arrived on hoof rather than wing, Twilight had completed a nice, healthy list.

Standing at the door to the guest room, Twilight quickly eyed the lead gryphon up and down, then gave him the list she'd been working on. “I'm going to need ready access to any government documents you have on these topics, as well as a list of gryphons with very high proficiency in the same. We'll be getting started early, so I must insist that this be worked on immediately.”

The gryphon took the list in his claws and nodded. “I'll pass this on to a gryphon that can help and make sure that the Royal Librarian is ready to assist you. I trust you can keep this quiet?”

Twilight thought back to the morning, which by her internal clock felt like months ago. “Well, there's already been an explosion this mission, so maybe.”

The gryphon turned to Rainbow. “Was that a joke?”

“Nope!” Rainbow fluttered over to a bed and melted into it.

“Oh.” The gryphon cleared his throat. “I'm going to make sure firefighters are on alert… just in case.”

“That's probably wise. Good night.” Twilight closed the door on him and shielded the room. She shuffled into the largest bed and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

She was moving. Twilight knew that. Probably walking under her own power, which should have been impossible, but she knew better to dismiss the impossible. There was also a smell. A kind of smell that created a pseudo-magnetic field that drew her in, seeking it out. In a moment, a warm sensation filled her belly and spread throughout her nervous system. There was also the presence of feathers around her.

She was hugging the small gryphon that brought her coffee.

“Um, you're welcome?” he said, eyes darting around the room.

“Did you bring me the things on my list?” Something in the back of Twilight's mind was taking care of the job of existing, because she was still at least ninety-two point four percent asleep.

“Not yet, but we're almost done. And your embassy wanted to see you?”

“Oh. Okay.” Twilight yawned and took the giant pot of coffee in her telekenetic grasp to accompany her mug. Ambrosia secured, she moved towards Trixie and Spike, giving them each a poke on the shoulder. “Hey, guys. Time to wake up.”

Trixie groaned. “Ugh. Still tired.”

Twilight downed another mug of coffee in one gulp. “So am I. That’s why there’s caffeine. Come on.”

In a couple of minutes, the two zombies shambled to something resembling standing, and then the three were on their way.

Trixie started her own cup of coffee. “Why aren’t Cloud and Dash coming?”

“We’re eventually going to the library to review documents related to advanced magic. Only you, me, and Spike are knowledgeable enough in this kind of stuff to really be able to add anything, so they’re going to get some more rest. If there’s time, us three can get a nap later.”

“I’ll try,” Spike said through a fiery yawn. “But most of what I know is from osmosis from being around you.”

“Which should be good enough, hopefully.” Twilight waved them towards their destination. “First, though, the embassy wanted to see me. Hopefully that’s just a pit stop.”

When they arrived at the embassy after going through twisting walkways in the branches, ponies were already waiting for her. The ambassador himself wasn’t there, but given the obscenely early hour, that wasn’t surprising. Instead, there was a security chief and a few subordinates.

“Lady Sparkle?” The security chief was an old pegasus mare with a stern look in her eye and a military uniform to back it up. “My apologies for waking you, but there’s a concern with your chariot, and we didn’t want to risk opening it without you present.”

That got Twilight’s head to tilt. “The Kitalpha? What’s wrong with it?”

The chief opened her mouth to speak but one of the ponies behind her was first. “It’s meowing.”

An assortment of scenarios ran through Twilight’s head at light speed. Metamorphosis? No, that’s too much. Gryphon locked themself in? Unlikely; they shouldn’t be able to defeat the security wards so easily. Templar trick? Possible, but– A simplifying razor split through the noise. “Oh. Oh, I think I know what’s going on. Take me to it.”

When they arrived, Twilight opened the door to confirm her suspicions, and was greeted with a “mrooow” from under one of the seats. Opening the little cubby, she pulled out the stowaway black fuzzball. “Neutrino, you little booger!”

“Neutrino?” the chief asked.

“Yup.” Spike gave the kitty cat some chin scratches. “Princess Luna's cat. Or the Night Guard's. He's a troublemaker.”

Twilight gave the cat a hug to bother it. “He's the stealthiest feline I've ever heard of. How he even got into the Kitalpha, I have no idea. I'm afraid I can't watch over him, though, so I'm going to have to ask the embassy to watch him until Luna can pick him up.

“And I mean watch him. Constantly. If you don't, he will escape.”

The chief waved over one of the guards, who grabbed the fuzzball and gave him some pets, which was always a sure way to get Neutrino to melt into a puddle. Today was no different, and his purr only became louder when his jaw went slack.

Sighing, the chief took off her beret. “I'm very sorry to bother you for that, your ladyship.”

Twilight shrugged. “It's fine. Just another stop on the way. Which direction is the library?”

“A pair of gryphons will arrive at the front gates in a short while to lead you there. We’ll show you the way.” The chief waved to one of the guards, who silently led her away.

It was still an hour or so before dawn, which meant sunlight was extremely scarce, and cold still gripped the air. However, it also meant that fires had started in fireplaces throughout the city, filling nostrils with cooking smoke. Eventually that would mean the smell of rabbits and fish being roasted, though for now it was mercifully just wood.

Before long, two gryphons decked out in the colours of the gryphons’ royal guard arrived. With no chariot or wings of her own, they were walking to the library, which suited her just fine. It gave her a little time to be a tourist and take in the sights and smells of a city unlike any other…and to drink more coffee.

The library didn't turn out to be very far, and a little like her old home, it was one of the areas built directly into the side of a big tree. This library was larger, naturally, having been built into Yggdrasil. From what she understood, that also meant that it had to be rebuilt and changed from time to time; Yggdrasil was still alive and regrew what it lost.

Though nowhere near as large or grand as the libraries in Manehatten or Canterlot, the Aerie’s library had them all beat in coziness by a long shot, with warm wood everywhere, ornate carvings and decorations, and artisan rugs rich ponies would fight a battlemaster for the opportunity to purchase. The aisles and ceilings were also surprisingly generous. Most important, though, was the free coffee and doughnuts in the corner of the mezzanine.

Her nose pulled her on a beeline to the coffee, and as she charged her neurons with sweet, sweet caffeine, another smell hit her: brimstone. The coffee molecules in her nervous system did a dance line that hit her in the chest and forced her to scan her surroundings once more and finally acknowledge the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the dragon.

A female dragon easily the size of the Kitalpha, dressed in a white blouse that must have been custom-made for its size, was putting books and scrolls back on shelves, using some form of spell to handle the (relatively) tiny texts. Her scales were a mix of brown and burgundy, and her head sported a trio of horns pointed backwards. The dark dress on her lower half took a moment to recognize, as it blended well with her natural colours and oddly slender belly.

“Huh.” Twilight sipped more coffee, fully acknowledging to herself that a spit-take or mini freak out would likely be justified. Only problem with that would be the waste of actually fairly good coffee.

“You must be Lady Sparkle.” The dragoness had a sultry, smoky voice. “My name is Deep Index, and I hoard the knowledge in these walls on behalf of the King. You have been granted access by her order, and the documents you have requested are in meeting room three, up the stairs and to the left.”

“Oh!” Twilight glugged more coffee. “Alrighty then. Do I pay for the coffee, or…”

Deep Index smoked a chuckle through her nostrils. “Even if we charged, I'd imagine diplomatic immunity would cover you. But I shall order extra, just for you and your team.”

The librarian shifted her gaze towards Spike. “I had heard you've a drake in your entourage, but I did not expect one so young. I do hope you've learned to control your flame.”

Spike licked his knuckles, and they licked back with a green flame. “I've been using it in spells for a long time now.”

Index eased her back and nodded. “Very well. Should you require anything, please ask. I will be putting away yesterday's scrolls.”

Twilight refilled her drink and bowed her head a little. “Thank you, Deep Index. We'll be upstairs.”

It wasn't until they were in their room and a privacy shield was in place that Trixie exhaled. “Empty Night! I didn't know there would be a dragon here, too!”

Twilight frowned as she sat down at the table. “Neither did I.”

Spike cleared his throat. “Well, on the plus side, she's really hot.”

The two mares gave him a look that translated into “Really?”

“Hey, come on! I'm a dragon, too, you know. But I will admit, this seems a little sketchy. She knows magic and has access to whatever knowledge the gryphons have. Quite the coincidence.”

Twilight leaned back and stared at the piles of books and scrolls. “I admit, I was just thinking the same. But I don't know if the King would just dangle the solution in front of our noses like that. She seems much more guarded than that.

“Can't ignore it, though. So, here's my plan. We'll comb through all this to get some possible leads, and then I'll take Cloud and Rainbow to follow them up. You two are going to stay here and keep researching, but keep an eye on that librarian.”

Spike rubbed his hands together. “Don't have to tell me twice!”

Twilight sighed. “Cool it, cassanova; she's a hundred years too old for you. Also, she's probably too powerful for you two to take on without backup. Observe and report; that's all.”

Trixie pulled over a book. “Stay out of danger and read. Got no problem with that.”

The morning was giving way to noon by the time Twilight left, list in bag. Cloud and Rainbow were waiting for her in the Kitalpha back at the embassy, along with one gryphon visitor in a staring contest with Dash.

Crap. Twilight puffed up her chest and strode in between Rainbow Dash and Princess Gilda. “I’m happy to see you survived, Princess. I regret the circumstances in which we last met, however, I will always act to defend my friends. Always. Now, is there a problem?”

“Yes.” Gilda said through a closed beak, looking over her shoulder at the faded scar on her back. “But also no. Much as I don't want to, I've been ordered to escort you on whatever it is you're doing. So let's get that done so I can go home.”

“No.” Twilight sat herself down to join the staring contest. “Last time we met, you dislocated Dash’s leg. I'm going to need more than your word if you think you're going to be following us around. Now, both of you, sit down and sort this nonsense out.”

Rainbow’s ears went back. “What, just like that? This isn't something that can be fixed in a single con—”

“Of course not.” Twilight clopped a forehoof on the floor. “But we can resolve a chunk of it and stabilize things enough that I don't have to send her away and cause a diplomatic incident. Now, talk.”

Gilda opened her beak first. “You were family. My family.”

Rainbow stepped back in surprise. “Yeah, you said that. So why—”

“And you rejected me for that pink annoyance.”

Twilight thrust a hoof between them. “Her name is Pinkie Pie. She is a bit much, granted, but I ask that you show more respect for a Bearer.”

“A ‘bit much’ isn't the problem.” Gilda laid down, wings lax. In terms of gryphon body language, this was a signal of no hostile intent. “My mom is a jerk, King or not. I wasn't good enough for her when I was young, so she sent me to be raised by couple after couple. Only good thing that came out of that was meeting Dash.

“The only good thing in my life, and she chooses that other pony over me.”

Cloud puffed out his chest. “The way I heard it, you were pretty mean to Pinkie Pie.”

Gilda scratched the ground as she made a fist. “Is it wrong to want to spend time with my best friend after I finally break free from that woman’s talons? Why is it my fault the other Bearer couldn’t take a hint?”

Rainbow huffed. “She was just trying to—”

“Wait a minute!” Twilight chewed her lip for a moment. “I think this is… Yeah, okay. So, I’m no psychiatrist, but I do know that there are differences between how pony and gryphon minds are set up. Gryphons tend to have fewer friends in their social groups, but the bonds are very strong. Ponies tend to have more friends, and their bonds are also strong, but it’s easier for us to form those bonds.”

Rainbow crossed her forelegs. “Not a very good excuse. What, I’m supposed to just be okay with what she did?”

Twilight turned Rainbow to face her. “No, you’re supposed to use it to understand her. Look, what she did was wrong, but she was also going through a lot. You don't excuse it; you understand the reasons and use it to make amends and fix things.” If for no other reason than I really don’t want to rock the boat too hard right now. Also, given that she seems to have a grudge against her mother, having her here might just prove advantageous.

“Dash.” Gilda lowered her head into a bow. “I'm sorry.”

Rainbow winced. “I… don't know if I can accept. The pony you need to apologize to is Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You and I both know she'd accept it in the first half a heartbeat and conjure a cupcake out of the ether in the other.”

Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, yeah she would. I'm just… very uneasy about this.”

“And that's okay!” Twilight pulled out a piece of chocolate and offered it to Dash. “Canterlot wasn't built in a day, and emotional wounds don't close after a few words and an apology. They require real work. This is just the first step, and I'd be delighted to help you two mend fences.”

Rainbow rubbed her foreleg, then took the chocolate and offered it to Gilda instead. “Let's… try again, okay?”

Gilda took the treat and pulled Rainbow into a hug. “Thank you.”

Author's Note

Where have I been? Long story short, work is kicking my butt all up and down the great north. It takes a TON out of me. Will try to do better.

A blog post with more info will be coming soon, gotta head to work right now.

Oh, and here's a new link to the Discord! https://discord.gg/wpsMjyD

Hope you all enjoy, and thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

Anomalous Frontier

“Okay, now that we have that settled, it's time for step one,” Twilight said, relieved that she managed to make some progress in reconciling Dash and Gilda. Turning to Gilda, she continued, “I need to speak to some of your top mages, including the ones I've designated on this list. In addition, I need to speak with those that work on magic items. Seems most of them are weaponsmiths.”

Gilda blinked. “That last one… why do you need to talk with those dum-dums?”

Twilight glanced back at her notes just to make sure she wasn't nuts. “Um, okay, first things first. How much have you been read into what we need to do?”

Gilda gave them a quick rundown, and while she apparently had not heard the detail about the dragon dying, she otherwise knew what they were tasked with.

“Okay, so…” Twilight picked up a stick and started a list in the snow. “I need to see anywhere you research and develop weaponry, as well as anywhere that makes weapons and has sophisticated magic tools. I also need to talk to whoever your best mages are, combat or otherwise. I already have a list of names from RGIS, but it's pretty short.”

“Uh…” Gilda scratched the back of her head in a way that actually made Twilight kind of jealous. “So, I probably didn’t mean to say that I think our weaponsmiths are actually stupid. But they aren't the type to be able to do what you're talking about. Honestly, I hate to break it to you, but your list is pretty complete, at least on this side of the war. Also, there's only like ten places in our kingdom that can possibly do what you're talking about, and only four of them make weapons.”

Rainbow gave her wings a flap. “Don't be surprised that we can't take your word on that. You did try to kill me last time we were here. Also, gryphons are known for making weapons. You really gonna tell us there's only four places to look at?”

“Well…” Gilda’s feathers puffed out, but her tail was between her legs. “The kind and level of stuff you’re talking about, you’re only talking about a maximum of a few dozen gryphons, most of which are here in the capital. But most of our weapon production… Basically, we've taken a page out of the ponies’ book lately when it comes to weapons. We have some smiths that make fancy stuff, but outside of your list? It's decorative half the time, and the other half is often some kind of copy of something already made or just not on the level of what you’re looking for. We're refining what we know; we don't have anything like what you guys do. Yet.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t entirely make sense of that. Maybe you should show me instead.”

Gilda’s left wing went limp. “Ugh. Was afraid of that. Okay, follow me. It’s on the far west edge of the city, just on the other side of Mount Balding. It's hard to miss; just look for the smoke.”

Twilight motioned for her pegasi to hitch to the Kitalpha and took a position at the front seat, outside the protection of the carriage. This was normally a violation of protocol, but she wanted any funny business or shenanigans from the gryphons to be met with instant alicorn fury. Indeed, on the short trip, they were met with several interceptions, although they all left peaceably once they realized who and what they were dealing with.

True to Gilda’s word, it was hard to miss what they were looking for. Built into the side of the mountain was a stone structure with enough smokestacks to trigger someone with trypophobia in about four seconds.

Huh. Twilight tilted her head at both the sight and smell of the stacks. Not as much smoke as I would have initially thought. Still a good amount, though. If we spend too long here, I'm going to smell like a wildfire when I get back.

Though there was a small number of actual guards in the area, the bulk of the protection was composed of a few hundred gryphons fighting each other. Their swords flashed in various colors as they clashed amongst themselves, with bursts of elemental magic popping off between them. Twilight wasn’t close enough to see things in detail, but the lack of dying amongst them was enough to tell her that this was training. As the Kitalpha came in for a landing, she could hear a couple of them screaming comments about the combatants’ form.

The actual door to their destination was less ornate than what gryphons normally liked. Even the structure was fairly basic stonework mixed with clay and covered in stucco of all things. As they came in for a landing, the crashing of swords filled the air.

Gilda waved them over to the door, then gave it a good yank to get it open. “In here. It's where we're making a lot of our weapons now.”

Twilight hopped out of her chariot and walked slowly so that her pegasi could catch up. The air around her was slathered in the scent of burning wood and hot oil, and it only got worse when she looked inside. A tsunami of heat punched her in the face the moment she stepped inside the dim, sooty structure. Rows of blacksmiths’ stations lined the walls of the building, each with their own forced air furnace. Many even had motorized hammers.

After a few moments spent blinking and getting used to the heat, a bell sounded and each worker passed an object to a fellow worker beside them.

“Oh!” Twilight tapped her hoof on the sandy ground. “You’re setting up assembly lines! I’m guessing you’re short on viable weapons, so you’re looking to mass production to fill in the gaps.”

Gilda half-shrugged. “Yeah. That. It's not something we're proud of, but if it works…”

Cloud wrinkled his nose and sneezed. “Ugh. Well, if it's stupid but works, it's not stupid.”

Gilda pointed to a raised area in the back. “I'm pretty sure that's the thing you want to see.”

The doors closed behind them as Twilight trotted to the back and up roughly half a flight of stairs. The area at the top was illuminated by what looked like a few holes in the roof but were actually a set of bright runes that may as well have been directed sunlight. The station in the middle was not a blacksmith's, but a runesmith’s. The bottom was a cylindrical shape made of earthen clay, with a parabolic depression on top. Inside the depression was a silvery, almost mirror-like metal coating.

The top was also a clay, mostly cylindrical object affixed to the ceiling. Rather than a depression, the bottom of it was a silvery cone with a fine point. Both parts of it had the same metal etched into designs on the side, with tracks going between both parts. Three gryphons were manning the station, and a sword was placed in between the top and bottom stations.

While one gryphon each held onto the top and bottom, the third put on goggles and carefully held the blade as magic was sent into the station. A beam no wider than a pinhead shot down from the tip of the cone, blasting straight through the sword. The magic not absorbed by the weapon hit the depression and was redirected back to the cone to be reused.

Twilight watched them work, but kept her eyes away from the actual point of contact of the beam. She didn't have goggles, after all. After a few moments, a freshly engraved sword was ready to spit fire whenever its owner wanted.

Twilight clopped her hooves in approval. “Nicely done! The tools are obviously hastily put up, but your movements are very steady and the quality of the work can't be denied.”

The three gryphons just kind of looked at each other.

“Um, thank you?” one said.

Twilight turned to Gilda and gave her a little bow. “I appreciate the transparency, showing me this. And you're right, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. But I doubt this particular station would be useful for what we're suspecting. I don't see a way to control the amount of power used to the degree that would be necessary, and the platinum you used as a reflector is probably too effective for anything not… uh… scrambled. Also, it seems this can only really use one type of mana at a time. But yes, I need to see stuff like this.”

Gilda ruffled her head feathers. “It's the biggest type I know of. We have a half dozen or so of these factories and they're all mostly the same. So you need something… what, more sophisticated?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. If you could come up with a list of such locations, that would be great. I'll send Trixie to check the others; she's more than qualified for that.”

“Oh.” Gilda blinked. “That was easier than I expected. I think I can get you that stuff. So, that's all for here?”

“Yup. Let's go see these ‘anomalies’ you were talking about, since I'm confident Trixie can handle this part. Let's go.”

A loud “ka-chunk” from the doors echoed through the factory, and Twilight sized up the trouble sitting in front of them. Waving to her guards, she approached the male gryphon who was obviously waiting for her.

He was a bit bigger than Gilda and had a lot of blue paint on his head feathers. He only had a short sword for a weapon but held a smug look on his face.

As Twilight and her entourage arrived, her guards stepped ahead of her, one on each side. Then, Gilda flew up to get right in his face.

“Logan, this isn't the time. Get out of the way,” Gilda growled.

“Oh?” Logan grinned. “You can't expect me to not want to meet the Equestrian Grand Mage, can you?”

Gilda seethed for a moment, then spun around. “Twilight, meet our hostage from Ragnar’s side. His name is Logan and he's a butthole.”

Cloud snapped to meet Gilda's gaze. “Hostage? That doesn't sound gryphon-like.”

Rainbow stepped closer to her comrade. “Old tradition. When clans go to war, they trade one hostage each to make sure each side follows the rules. And yeah, they usually send the troublemakers.”

“I resent that,” Logan pretended to grumble. “I mean, it's true, but I still resent the remark.”

Gilda poked him with a claw. “I think you mean ‘resemble.’ Now get out of our way; we're here on behalf of the dragons. Means I can gut you if you don't behave.”

Logan grabbed her talon and pulled. “See how scared I am?”

Twilight nodded her head at Logan. “Cloud. Rainbow.”

In a rushing blur of feathers and wind, the two pegasi launched forward. After a mere blink, Rainbow had pulled him to the side of the doors by his hind leg and was holding on, ready to break it if need be. For his part, Cloud had pressed the gryphon’s face into the wall with his hoof, and had energized pinion feathers ready to burn and electrocute his throat.

Ka-chunk.

Twilight unlocked and pulled open the doors to the factory, then walked over to Logan, meeting his panicked eye. “I'm very sorry about that, but I'm getting just a little sick of the ‘hey let's see what the Grand Mage is made of’ routine. If you like, I'll be happy to arrange a more formal meeting later. Until then, accept these words of advice.

“When an emissary of the dragons is working, don't get in their way, no matter who they are. Whatever you think of me doesn't matter compared to what the dragons are going to think of you.

“Cloud, Rainbow, let's get going. I want to see these anomalies already.”

Twilight undid the lock and pulled open the door, shivering as the comparatively cold air punched her in the nose. She was sneezing by the time Rainbow, a snickering Gilda, and Cloud were letting Logan go and exiting the factory themselves, with the former kicking the door shut.

Logan coughed like he was horking up a hairball. “Holy Hell. I think I'm in l-” WUNK!

“Gotta give it to you, Sparkle.” Gilda’s tail was twitching like she was ready to pounce. “That was pretty good. I'm glad you didn't actually hurt him, though. That would be a real pain. Politically, I mean. Not that I don't know what it's like to be on the receiving end.”

Twilight fought back an unsatisfied grumble from somewhere in her gut. “As I said, I am sorry about that.”

Rainbow blew a raspberry at those words. “I'm not. Maybe next time don't be a-”

Gilda coughed. “It's okay. I got better, and seeing Logan almost create a puddle like that was worth it. So, are we off to the east, then?”

“Almost.” Twilight hopped into her chariot. “First, we need to get back to the embassy.”

Cloud picked up the Kitaplha’s harness and wiggled in. “Let me guess, passing orders to Trixie and Spike?”

“Yup. Fly slow so I can write it all out.”

“Hey, looks like we have a welcoming party.”

Twilight finished putting the seal on her orders to Trixie, then pressed her head against the window. A few of the embassy workers were already on the landing pad. At their hooves was a small box with a lock on it.

When she opened the door, they all went into a bow.

“At ease, everypony. I gather that your presence here means something has happened.”

One of the workers shook his head. “We don't know. This contains messages from Celestia to you. None of us were told what's inside.” He leaned over and unlocked the box, revealing two scrolls, sealed with magic.

“Ah.” Twilight pulled out her own scroll. “I'll trade you. This is for Trixie and Spike.”

“Of course.” He bowed, picked up the order, and trotted off with the group.

Cloud, still pulling the chariot, walked up beside her, dragging Rainbow with him. “New orders? World coming to an end? Ban on sugar exports?”

Rainbow cringed. “I hope not. If we're going to be up here and fighting, I need fuel.”

Twilight allowed herself a little smile before diving into the text of the first scroll. The first words alone raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. Duke Buckheart of the Hinterlands has passed away.”

Rainbow turned to look at the chariot behind her. “Um, we're kinda busy here. How are we going to investigate that and the egg?”

Twilight shook her head. “We're not. No foul play is suspected, but they are going to do an autopsy. Current cause of death is suspected to be cardiac arrest in his sleep, which isn't that much of a stretch, really. He was the oldest of all of the Dukes and Duchesses, and known to be withdrawn and sickly the last decade or so. I think I've seen him, like, four times since becoming Grand Mage, and he didn't speak to me once in any of them.

“They do want me at the funeral, which is surprising, but not unreasonable given our positions. His daughter, as Duchess-in-wings, has already stepped into her new role. Unless the autopsy finds something remarkable, this is just letting us know ahead of time. It'll be formally announced tomorrow in the papers.”

Cloud scratched his chin with a pinion. “Honestly, I expected that old bastard to hang on for another decade or so. He's stubborn as all hell. Death probably needed a crowbar to pry that stallion’s soul from his body.”

Twilight exhaled, releasing a lot of the tension that she hadn't realized had been building. “Okay, next scroll…”

After a moment, Gilda poked her in the shoulder. “You okay? You look about five shades paler.”

Twilight gulped. “About four hundred kilometers west-southwest of here, just inside gryphon lands, Luna’s scouts found a Titan. She's heading there personally to engage and destroy it. She's asked me to ask Gryphonia to evacuate any citizens it has in the area and declare the region off limits.”

Gilda’s beak dropped open. “A what now?”

Rainbow grabbed her by the throat feathers and pulled her down to whisper in her ear.

This time it was Gilda's turn to get pale. “Crap on a cracker. Okay, I'll go tell Her Highness. She's going to be pissed that Luna wants to do it instead of leaving it to us, though.”

Twilight rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it in her saddlebag. “Trust me, you guys have enough to occupy your warriors in dealing with Ragnar. You'll almost certainly lose a lot of them if you try to take on this thing conventionally. Let Luna deal with this; she has the experience.”

“Okay then,” Gilda relented. “I'll head right back here afterwards, and we can get going. Sound good?”

Twilight nodded. “Deal.”

Twilight switched off the Kitalpha’s climate control. They'd been flying in the cold for well over an hour at this point, although her reading and theoretical ponderings over using a dragon’s egg in magic had her thoroughly lose track of time. Even though all the ponies present, including herself, had a pegasus coat, the outside air was still unusually cold for the time of year. If her friends had to fly in it, she could at least go without her heater.

“Hey Magey, you hearing this?”

Twilight looked around for a few seconds. Wait, was that Gilda? And was she talking to me?

Aurora gave her a mental poke. “She used the radio. I think she's talking to you?”

One of the pieces of gear added to the Kitalpha recently was an internal radio piece. It had a greater range than the head units, but only when the antenna was raised. That still left one question, though.

Twilight held down the button for the radio and cleared her throat. “Gilda? Did Rainbow give you her radio?”

“Huh? No, this is mine.”

“I am pretty sure that Equestria hasn't released those to the general market yet. Where'd you get it?”

“From you guys? We got a shipment from some company a while ago. Pretty sure Ragnar got some, too. They're pretty handy when you don't have line of sight. But we have to be careful because the other side can hear us, too.”

“Oh, joy.” Twilight grumbled. “Gonna have to investigate that at some point, too, but the cat's out of the bag now and we have more pressing issues for the moment. How close are we to our destination?”

“See for yourself!”

Twilight rolled herself over to the side window and looked out. When she didn't see anything, she opened it and looked forward. Ahead was a massive dome of what could only be described as fog. As they flew toward it, the fog barely seemed to get bigger, which could only mean one thing: whatever this was, it was massive.

“Holy moly.” Twilight gulped in some of the dry, cold air. Switching to her Sight, she could see that the dome had a definite magical structure to it. She was still too far away to see any informative details, but she could see a clear pulsing of power, as if a tide was rhythmically pulling in and pushing out of the border. “I don't think I've ever seen fog do that. And I'm not sure what magic could have caused it.”

Rainbow’s voice crackled on the radio and struggled in the wind. “Think we found our egg?”

“Maybe. But it's not guaranteed. There are natural magic forces that can do this kind of thing, at least in terms of power output. Never seen a configuration like this before, though. Can we get closer? I want to see what the magic is doing in there.”

Cloud asked, “Is it safe?”

Twilight chuckled. “No, it's obscenely dangerous.”

Rainbow laughed at him. “When is it ever safe?”

“Only in my dreams, heh.”

The Kitalpha lunged forward as they all picked up speed. Overhead, Twilight heard clunks as claws grabbed hold. Gilda was hanging on to the roof, stabilizing the chariot in the face of increasing headwinds.

“Hey, Gilda!” Twilight yelled over the wind. “Was this one of your anomalies?”

“No! This is easily bigger than anything I've heard of!”

Twilight dove to one of the storage compartments in the Kitalpha, pulling out a new sensor pod that she had ordered. It was a bronze rectangular thing, with a tube attached by a cord that could be docked with a couple big hooks at the top of the device. After smashing the On button, she dangled the tube part out of the window, and some of the lights and gauges on the face of the device flickered.

“I'm not getting any real sign of contamination or radiation here!”

Rainbow groaned. “Are you saying this isn't something to do with the egg?”

“Too soon to tell, but that's one less thing to worry abooooUUUUUUUU—!”

Twilight grabbed onto the chariot via the open window as they all rocketed forward, gaining easily a hundred kilometres per hour in velocity.

Cloud turned the chariot hard left, banking to face away from the anomaly. “Twilight, the dome! It's moving!”

Raising a foreleg to shield her eyes, she squinted back to see the whole mass moving north. It looked like it had a glacial pace, but at this scale, that meant terrifying speed. Even worse, it was gaining on them, even as two of Equestria’s best flyers were fighting to get away.

Twilight paused for a second as an idea popped into her head. “Guys, turn around!”

“Are you nuts?!” Gilda yelled, making the Kitalpha groan from her grip. “That thing is a monster!”

“And its magic is pulling us in faster than Rainbow can fly with a chariot! Turn around and aim for its south end, full throttle!”

Twilight once again held on tight as they turned, this time picking up even more incredible speed. A magic shock field — the same that forms when a pegasus tries to break the sound barrier — was manifesting ahead of them. They were already at the maximum possible speed for any chariot. At least, any chariot that wasn't the Kitalpha.

Twilight popped off a teleport, grabbing hold of her ride right next to Gilda. She lit her horn, hooves, back, anything on her fledgling alicorn body that could express magic and pushed it into the Kitalpha’s protective wards. The protection the chariot offered its occupants pushed outward into a bubble, eventually meeting with and pushing back the shock field.

The magic in Twilight’s body sizzled near her hindquarters, and she pulled it from her back to her front. The barrier from the Kitalpha warped and rippled, shifting its shape into a cone, pointy end forward. As the tip solidified, the shock field broke. In an instant, they were launched from a black and purple explosion—a rainboom that had never been seen before.

At supersonic speeds, they rushed towards the southern edge of the fog dome, the magics around it pulling them forward. Rainbow and Cloud rolled the group right as they met it, mere centimeters above the event horizon, now more or less flying as if the dome was the ground and the chariot was just rolling along on a cloud. Pulses of magic tried to pull them in, but each time, it was turned into more speed that kept them just this side of the anomaly.

Breathless moments later, Twilight remembered to inhale as they pulled away from the dome on its eastern side, finally shrinking as the distance to it grew. The rainboom had faded as the pull from the dome slowed them, but they were still escaping.

“Orbital mechanics!” Twilight shouted. “Used the pull from that thing to give us the speed we needed… to…”

Gilda hushed out an “Oh no…”

Twilight’s magic faded as she watched the dome stop moving north. It was now moving east, right towards them. “Fly! All of you! Take the reins off and get ou—!”

The dome had caught up. Fog enveloped them, even as they tried a blind dive to pick up speed.

“What now?” Gilda put a wing over Twilight as bits of dirt and plant debris pelted them.

“Now we pick a direction and head that way and up!”

Cloud spat out something that was likely a small rock. “What if it keeps following us?”

“Then it's time to set a new altitude record! Don't worry; as long as we can tell which way is up, and nothing else weird happens, we can still get out of this!”

Strange blue magic washed over them like a wave, warping space, nullifying gravity, and pulling them along whatever thaumic riptide was at work inside the fog. In an instant, direction had no meaning.

Twilight put her ears back. “Aw, ponyfeathers.”

Author's Note

So much to go through, so little time. I'm writing this with voice dictation, so please excuse any typos or formatting issues. Though on the plus side, as I’m writing this, I have a cat on my lap.

First off, writing with my hands has become more painful over the last year, so I’m switching back to voice. (See my blog post.) Sadly, my laptop has been very slow lately. At first, I thought there was something wrong with it, but then I realized it was almost 5 years old, and it wasn't exactly top-of-the-line when it came out. So, I'm aiming to get a new one soon. Fortunately, Apple is coming out with new MacBook airs this week.

Originally, I was hoping to get an apple vision pro, but unfortunately, it seems that it does not have what I need quite yet. I was hoping it would have a virtual, floating, zero impact keyboard that I could use to type with. It does have that, but it can only use one finger on each hand. Also, it's expensive as hell. Hopefully in the coming years, there will be next generation products that can use multiple fingers, and I'll have a true zero impact keyboard that hopefully costs less than an arm and a leg.

Voice dictation always stresses out my voice, and I'm not entirely sure why. I can always talk with friends for far longer than I can with voice dictation. Even when I try to not enunciate, I can feel the stress in my voice. Emotionally, it's quite distressing. But, I can usually get at least 750 to 1000 words down without too much trouble. It's not a ton, but it's not too bad.

Fun fact, I've tried four different methods of voice dictation. I've tried the dragon type on both Mac and PC, and I've tried the built-in on both Mac and PC. The dragon type on Mac is absolute garbage, and is much better on PC. However, the PC version is also still quite unstable. I've lost custom dictionaries on it multiple times. I've since stopped using it. The built in dictation on PC is absolute garbage. The built-in dictation on the Mac is honestly the best out of the four. That's why I try to have some kind of Macintosh computer available.

So, yeah, I'm going to try to do better with writing using voice. It's not gonna be an amazing amount of throughput, but it will be at least some. And hey, within the next few weeks I should have a new laptop that isn't five years old and chugging through molasses.

In the meantime, here's a link to the discord server. Feel free to stop by and encourage me to write more. I do better when I have some company in the channel. https://discord.gg/egJKccEND4

Also, I'm going to post some of my other writings up on Wattpad. This is non-pony stuff. First I'm going to post it for the Patreon peoples, and then I'll put it up on Wattpad. Here is a link to my Wattpad account, and there's one very short story that's already up there. Be warned, it is extremely old. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a 10-year-old piece of writing. The other stuff I have stored is newer, though still old. Still, it's stuff I wrote in the era when I was writing with voice around mission four-five of Rites. https://www.wattpad.com/user/JABenson

Also also, My name is R did a reading of Rites of Ascension (first few chaps at least) over on YouTube. You should go and check it out. Here's a link. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWOBnZxwfYWVWWbAM9-J1U70OaJ8LcLK6

Also times three, a friend of mine is open for art commissions. She's quite the talented artist. Go check her out. https://www.echohunters.net/commissions/

Here's hoping next time won't take so long, eh? (Oh yeah, I got Canadian citizenship now!) Thanks again for sticking with me.

-Cv

(P.S. Still not sure about this chapter's title. Oh well.)

Book One - Prologue: The Shadows That Keep

“Hey, boss, isn’t it—?”

The toll of the town’s clock tower interrupted Swordrunner’s subordinate, each chime causing a slight twitch in his eyebrow. “Nine o’clock.” He held himself still, laying in the alleyway behind a confectioner’s that smelled of sugar so strongly he could feel the cavities form in his teeth.

“Think he got lost? Our maps are out of date. The town’s much bigger than we thought.”

“It’s not that big. I don’t like this.”

A snort barely muffled itself inside Swordrunner’s nose. They were right, of course, but their words were laughably late. The question isn’t whether or not he’s caught. The question is: who gave us up to whom? He pulled out the picture of their target, the paper soaked in sweat from the hot summer day. The image and the biographical data had already been burned into the back of his mind: short unicorn mare, purple coat, dark flat mane with purple stripe, starburst cutie mark. Just below the image, the name was spelled out in bold: Twilight Sparkle. Even heroes can have enemies, eh, little miss?

A hushed shuffle sounded from around the corner behind him, and his team swung around to point their blades at an alley cat rustling through garbage.

Amateurs. They’re scared stiff. He grunted and lifted himself off the ground, looking one last time at the picture in his telekinesis. “Twenty-five million isn’t worth this.”

“Sir?”

He turned around to his team. “Get ready, all of you. We’re leaving. Don’t leave anything on the ground, no alley dust or garbage smear on your armor. No physical evidence.”

One of the earth ponies next to him raised an eyebrow. “Why the extra effort?”

Swordrunner curled his lip. “You think she’s being protected by a bunch of San Palomino thugs? The Royal Guard gets wind of this and they’ll comb over every inch and every lead to hunt us down and turn us into statues. Get that dirt off your breastplate, now!”

The small group started picking up anything left on the ground and cleaning themselves off, Swordrunner included. Every nook and cranny of his armor was washed over with his magic, picking up the most minute traces and removing them, even in the large gem core that gave him his shield.

It wasn’t until he progressed to his boots that he’d realized that none of his “comrades” were moving. Instead, they are all staring at him, or rather, something behind him.

Silver-colored steel swung through the air like the scythe of death itself. Arcs of magic and fire ripped the town’s quiet asunder as Swordrunner’s blade raced to his enemy. All the might and fury he could bring to the ambush behind him, though, was hushed like an infant as he struck a barrier that may as well have been a mountain.

There, before him, stood the Princess of the Night herself, as tall as Celestia and as black as the void. This was not the Luna in the newspapers that ridiculed her or her sister’s weakness. It was something more, something stronger, older, and vastly more terrifying.

He furrowed his brow and took a step back.

Panicked, stomping, galloping hooves exploded in a frenzy behind them as his team ran for their very lives.

Swordrunner rolled his eyes. “Idiots.”

As certain as the cycle of day and night, several muffled, blunt impacts reached his ears as they rounded the corner.

He spread out his hind legs into a defensive position and backed away from the alicorn, never once letting her leave his sight. “That was just to scare them into the trap, wasn’t it? Maybe it’s true, then. About you alicorns being weaker than you look.”

The Nightmare smiled and spread her wings. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Trap or no, I am more than a match for a foal such as yourself. Still, it would appear there is some, tiny, infinitesimal iota of wisdom and experience in you. I am… happy that you stayed. It will give us a chance to talk.”

Swordrunner swallowed. There was something there, something about her voice. He couldn’t put a hoof on it, but it still sent a chill down his sweat-drenched spine. “Definitely not an awkward little princess… I didn’t realize the Nightmare was back.”

The laughter from the alicorn sent thunder and lightning crackling through the sky, and her smile felt like it had frozen the alleyway better than any blizzard could ever hope. “Oh, who said I ever left? Not that it matters what title you give me; I’ve acquired so many these past millennia. No, what matters right now is: You’ve been offered a reward to harm somepony dear to me, and I intend to find out who’s behind it.”

Swordrunner’s eyes went wide. We weren’t sold out to the Royal Guard! We were sold out to the Night Guard! He turned slowly, blade at the ready as he checked behind him.

There was no alley. There was no town or sky. Behind him was a lone dumpster and the corner of the bakery, and behind that, there was naught but darkness.

“Now then,” Nightmare said, one corner of her mouth stretching into a smile. “Come, tell me who is paying you to hurt my Twilight.”

Damn, can’t fight her, can’t run, what am I—? Ice and pain shot up his hind leg, and he slashed behind him, cutting a tendril of a shadow creeping up his fetlock. Still the blackness advanced, reaching up, clawing, grabbing at him as he slashed and retreated from something that wasn’t there, that couldn’t be there.

His flank ran into something.

He turned around.

There was the Alicorn of the Night, ethereal mane whipping around him like a hurricane and stretching out into the infinite void.

“You, my little pony…”

Her icy, piercing eyes stared through him, a current of power and grace washing past his mental defenses like a tide. There was nothing but those eyes…

“You are going to tell me everything.”

His sword dropped from his grasp, falling into nothingness.

Stars… Stars! They’re so… beautiful…

Author's Note

Hi everyone! Thank you very much for reading my story! Here's a link to the full author's notes.

This is an updated version of the prologue. If you want to read the old (awful) version, you can find it here.

Industrial Revolution, Revised

It was a field so wide it seemed to stretch forever in all directions, flowing out with fresh grasses and crystal clear streams while a distant but loud, thunderous rumble resounded throughout the grasslands. The sun’s bright warmth saturated Twilight’s vision, blurring everything a little as she squinted, yet that didn’t stop her from taking in all that was around her. Her legs pumped as she ran through the wide-open space, but they only barely touched the ground. She was more hovering than galloping, which made the feeling all the more invigorating.

“Excellent, my student! Come, keep up with us!” Celestia shouted, running alongside her. On the other side, Luna ran, too, laughing and smiling. The three rushed through the grasses, leaping whole bodies of water as they came. With a blink, she noticed something very briefly in the corner of her eye, and then suddenly they were everywhere. Millions, if not billions, of her little ponies, keeping perfect pace. The roar of hooves and beating of wings filled the air, drowning out all other sounds as if they were underwater. She could see them, or rather their forms, all around her, but their colors and cutie marks were all smudged together. Although they surrounded her, the ponies never got too close, giving her plenty of room. Only the two Princesses ran next to her.

With a small smile, she got an idea and quickly changed her direction, speeding up.

The ponies matched her, following precisely, even the Princesses.

Each quick, little change she made, the whole herd made the exact same turn. It was glorious, liberating even. Her smile grew wide and open as she laughed and hollered, happier than she could ever remember being while the light bloomed to fill her vision…

Twilight Sparkle groaned and opened her eyes just a bit, slamming them shut an instant later from the shock of having woken up.

As far as she was concerned, there were three types of sleep. The most common type was when it was either too short or too light to achieve any level of real rest. The second most common type, even if it was sadly all too rare, left her refreshed and ready to face a day. Finally, there was the deepest, most entrancing form of sleep. This kind was where various factors managed to align themselves in a manner as to create such comfort that it rendered her body unable to do much of anything except long for a return to this state.

It was this third type that Twilight awoke from on this glorious day, deep in the sheets of Celestia’s bed. She could still feel her mentor’s wing over her despite her fellow alicorn not being present, a fact which she felt broke the sacred contract of supreme sleep she felt the universe had given her for the night. The incredibly intense morning sun was also breaking this most holy of contracts as it utterly bathed Celestia’s chambers in the purest light, leaking through her eyelids.

“When I become a princess… If. If I become a princess, because I’m definitely not resigning to that yet, nope, no way, still a big ‘If’… could I make a law that states the sun isn’t allowed to be bright until 10AM? Because that’s awfully tempting right now.”

She turned over a full three hundred sixty degrees as she further wrapped herself in Celestia’s fine silk sheets and attempted to return to the most blessed dreamland she’d ever visited. Her body, however, seemed to have other plans entirely. A vibration moved through her back for exactly two seconds. The frequency was very fast and tickled like a bunch of parasprites rolling up her spine.

This traitorous movement from her backside did not go unnoticed, but it did go ignored as she cuddled deeper into Celestia’s bed. She was utterly bound and determined to get back to sleep.

Until the vibration came back and actually did tickle her.

She grimaced as she stifled a laugh and opened her eyes back up. This was hopeless. “Alright, body, I’m up! I’m up!” she said to nopony, forcing herself out of the cocoon she’d made in the sheets. Slowly, she stretched out all her muscles to get ready for the day. Celestia had to work long into the night, so Twilight had used her more comfortable bed. Groggily, she stepped into the Princess’s bathroom, which was adjacent to the main room.

It was a little awkward maneuvering, truthfully, and brought what was happening to Twilight back into her main focus. The white porcelain and gold-laden, well, everything in the room was barely a distraction from the other overwhelming feature; every single piece in it was sized specifically for Celestia’s massive body type. To brush her teeth, she had to put her forehooves way up on the sink to just barely see herself in the mirror. To shower, she teleported herself into the tub rather than risk awkwardly stepping over the high rim. The tub itself was also easily wide enough for Celestia to lie down in: it was practically a swimming pool to Twilight. She wasn’t even about to contemplate the toilet. That could be solved with any of the public restrooms in the castle.

Yet, all that just constantly reminded her of one simple fact: it was highly likely she’d wind up just as huge in less than ten years. All the bright, reflective gold-leaf trim in the world couldn’t overcome the nerves she felt from her future staring her in her face. She’d never felt so relieved to be done with her morning routine.

As she stepped back out into the light beaming into the main room, the drowsy remnants of the night drained away with record speed, her energy returning. She breathed in deeply, and the air itself felt charged as it filled her lungs. She could even feel power warming her hooves as she felt the floor below. Whatever this new wind was, she liked it a lot. Nothing could even slow her down as she confidently took her first steps towards the giant double doors. Well, nothing except getting tickled again by her own body.

Her nose fell just short of kissing the floor below as her knees buckled from the sensation. Whatever this was, it was annoying beyond all reason and had to be stopped. She lifted herself back up and away from the compromising position and resumed her movement towards the door. Just before she got there, she noticed a piece of parchment stuck on the handle. Parchment on the outside of the door would be from a servant; since it was on the inside of the chambers, this must be from Celestia herself.

Twilight,

I moved your torc to my closet. When you wake, put it on and go meet your brother in his office. I want you to be at the general’s security briefing today. It will help you get up to speed.

Also, I want you to wear your torc anytime when you’re outside of our chambers, just in case anypony tries anything again. You can make it stay in torc form by being careful not to put any power into the gem in the center. That may take some getting used to.

— Celestia

The note struck Twilight as oddly informal for the Princess, but considering her new status and what Celestia had shared with her, it made a bit more sense. Regardless, orders were orders. She turned with a trot towards Celestia’s closet and then froze.

“Celestia’s closet.” She had to say the words out loud because they were just that important. The little room behind the door in front of her was perhaps one of the castle’s biggest secrets. For all she knew at this instance, it could be a portal to a place the size of Ponyville, holding a multi-millennial lifetime accumulation of clothing. Feelings from her first lesson with Celestia came rushing back to her as she gingerly opened and walked through the door to who-knew-where.

Torches lit automatically as she tip-hooved into… a walk-in closet. A few dresses were hung up, but there was nothing particularly special here; it was just a closet with a few large shelves and drawers. Two more steps into the closet and more torches lit the end of it. Now there was something special.

At the end of the closet was a magnificent golden dress arranged on a ponyquin so large it could only be modelling an alicorn. It shone so brightly in the torchlight Twilight had to avert her eyes or be blinded. A few steps closer let her see, through shielded eyes, that the reason it was so reflective was that the entire thing was made out of gold leaf. She couldn’t have even guessed as to its weight, there were so many layers. Enchantments and runes were etched directly into the metal. She hazarded a guess they were to increase durability, since gold leaf was notoriously fragile.

Rarity would either have a field day gushing over this thing or faint at the mere sight of it, and Twilight wasn’t sure which because it reflected too much light to get a good enough look at it.

She shook her head a little and focused on the much smaller ponyquin in front of her that held her torc. She really, really hated this part despite only having done it once before. Carefully, she lifted it up with her hooves so it wouldn’t send her flying and placed it gently around her neck. The cold, dark metal warmed a bit at the contact with her body, and the gem in the bottom center began to glow.

She yanked back on her magic and tried to completely stifle it, but the gem wasn’t having that. It actively pulled on her power, and before long, Twilight gave in and submitted to her unfortunate fate. The gem quickly absorbed magic from her body, and the wave of power she was already intimately familiar with washed over her body with its extreme chill and gut-wrenching nausea. She dropped her stance to get close to the ground and avoid a huge fall.

Panting, her muscles finally relaxed as the process completed. Whew. At least this time wasn’t quite as bad. She stood up in her full armor, trying to stretch in it. As before, its great weight and stiffness was completely overcome by its built-in magics, encumbering her very little and offering her nearly the full range of her movement. Annoying and even painful though it was to put on, once done, it was quite comfortable. The tickling in her back wasn’t, though, and it not only came back but did so under the armor which seemed to just make it worse.

Twilight shook it off and left, pausing only to realize that she just gotten to see in Princess Celestia’s personal closet. When she got to the chamber exit, she was smiling so wide she thought her grin might hit both sides of the door on the way out.

Trotting at a comfortable pace, she flung open the right of the double doors and exited the chambers, getting about halfway out before the powerful vibrations returned, painful instead of playful this time.

“Dammit, would you stop that!” she yelled to nopony in particular. Nopony in particular, this time, took the form of three construction unicorns working on the wall to her left that were now staring right at her.

“Oh, sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t mean… Wait, what are you ponies doing? This is a secure area. Or it should be.”

The blue one off to the side of the other two spoke. He was clearly a supervisor based on his dress and demeanor. “Um, construction orders, ma’am. We’re supposed to be here.” He floated a document over to Twilight, which she picked up with her own magic.

The security certificate checked out, but these three were still far too nervous, and Twilight gave them a bit of a glare looking them over. She had a right to be nervous, given recent events.

“Looks like this checks out, but I’m still going to ask about it downstairs. That okay with you?”

The three nervously nodded under Twilight’s watchful gaze before returning to work. A spell blazed from one of the unicorns’ horn, drilling into the wall and destroying the ward on the large concrete-like brick. As the spell worked, Twilight stood frozen as a shot of pain ripped through her back. Just as the pony finished, the pain left her, and Twilight made the connection. It’s the spell they’re using! I can feel it! She spun around to face the ponies.

“What the hay are you three doing?!” she yelled.

The unicorns stopped and turned around, more nervous than before. The supervisor even swallowed before answering.

“The construction order said the wall needs to be removed. We need to break the wards on it before we can do that.”

“Wall removal? That’s fairly extreme. What for?”

“We don’t know. Different groups do small pieces of work in the castle. We don’t know, and we’re not supposed to know the whole plan! Honest!”

Twilight raised an accusatory hoof at them. “Then why are you three so nervous?” She blinked once and then looked at her armored hoof. “Oh. Angry, yelling, heavily-armored Grand Mage walking out of the Princess’s chamber. Right. Sorry, carry on, but I will be checking with the Guard anyway.”

She quickly turned away so they wouldn’t see her blush. Looks like that paper already solidified my reputation. My parents must be worried sick, she thought, running down the stairs of the tower. Whenever I’m in this armor, I’m going to have to remember that, in most respects, I’ve got the same authority as Celestia herself, not to mention the fact that I look prepared for a fight. It’s bound to make ponies nervous.

Even reaching the war room was proving to be a nerve-racking experience. Although the sensation in her spine faded and disappeared as she got farther from the ward-breaking ponies, the others still gave her nervous looks. She could almost feel them staring at her. That alone wasn’t enough to unnerve her, though. Ponies stared at Celestia’s pupil all the time. It wasn’t the same here. This was fear.

What’s going through their minds? she wondered. ‘Look out, here comes the prodigy of Celestia. Who knows what she’ll do?’ At least the normal castle ponies weren’t looking at her like that. They knew her well enough; it was only the temporary help that was so nervous.

As she rounded the corner towards the war room, oddly eager to be surrounded by military ponies, an urgent need sprang to mind. Something she absolutely had to do before going any farther.

She went around another corner and ducked in a public restroom.

Shining Armor was late. That wasn’t entirely unlike him, but most of the memories Twilight drew from came from before he joined the military. It was enough to make her restless and start rooting around his desk for spare paper. Twenty minutes later and she had finally completed the new spell formulation for the creation of solidified magic that crossed her mind after breaking half of Sweet Apple Acres’ windows.

She was about to roll it into a scroll and send it to the Princess when she remembered that Spike wasn’t there at the moment. Chuckling at her mistake, she went back to triple-check her work, yet found herself thinking more about its implications than the accuracy. This wasn’t some minor discovery, after all.

She sighed and slumped down in Shining’s chair. For a Guard Captain, he still kept his office spartan. His chair didn’t even have wheels or cushioning. Frustrated, she kicked it away and took a spot on the hardwood floor instead.

Papers laid out around her, she redoubled her efforts to triple-check, but again had her thoughts drift. Currently, solidified magic was used as fuel in large-scale generators and engines for airships in particular along with other industrial applications. It had to be stored carefully, or it could destabilize and detonate. More importantly, it was hugely expensive. To make a single rod of it took days of work from several unicorns, each of whom needed to have significant control over their magic.

This new method could be as much as ten times faster and drastically easier. This was the kind of thing that could send Equestria’s current Industrial Revolution into overdrive. The consequences to the economy and the entire nation would be drastic, and it was all in her hooves.

“This is way over my head. I need guidance from Celestia.” Resigned, she picked up the papers and poked her head out of her brother’s office. She looked around a little bit, her head low, and and finally walked out, convinced that there wasn’t a random guard that was going to yell “Royalty Arrived” in her ear again.

She kept low to the ground, moving around more like a cat than a pony. She managed to get in silently only by asking a castle guard to go in first and ask the war room door guard not to yell. Ducking around a corner, she found her second attempt to be less than successful as she came nose to nose with another guard.

Time slowed down, and the rest of the world waited as she watched his lungs fill up. Without even thinking, she rushed her hoof up and put it in front of his mouth. She shrunk a little lower and pleaded with her eyes, even putting her ears back on her head. His eyes darted around the room, leaving Twilight to wonder what he was thinking and whether training would win out.

Somehow, someone must have been looking out for her, as he relaxed his shoulders and nodded. Twilight practically flopped to the ground in relief. She still wasn’t used to the idea of ponies bowing to her, and her legs quivered in relief from not having to go through the entire floor of the war room doing it at once. She even gave him a small hug! Leaving the guard and his appreciative, yet goofy, grin behind, she set about searching for her brother, Celestia, or somepony else who could help.

She stood up sharply when she came to ‘her’ area, one of the most unnerving places in the whole world. The place where, for the last several years, probably since the war room was built after the changeling invasion, threats to her person were tracked and thwarted.

And the mare leading the team, Intelligentsia, just spotted her.

“Your majesty,” she said, bowing and causing the other two soldiers around the table to bow as well.

Damn, almost got away with it, she thought. “Please don’t bow, guys. I’m not comfortable with it. Or with being called ‘majesty.’”

Intelligentsia smiled. “Then you should probably issue a decree about how to address you. Grand Mages get to set their own addressing protocol until their final ascension. At that point, though, I’m afraid you may have to get used to it.”

She sighed again. “I have ten years before that happens. Let’s… go slow, please?”

The analyst smirked a bit. “You don’t have to ask. You outrank everypony in this room. To us, your word is a command that must be followed. For the Royal Guard, your rank is equivalent to ‘Captain,’ and in the regular military, it’s akin to ‘Grand General.’ The Day Guard will probably react about the same, but the Night Guard’s a different story, so be careful with them. They won’t be disrespectful… Well, probably anyway. They’re a rough lot, and they answer only to Princess Luna. Not even Celestia can give them orders.”

“I know all that.” She nodded, swallowing. “And it’s amazingly nerve wracking. I have no trouble leading my friends, but they want to follow me because I’m their friend. And on top of that, you’re all military ponies. If I give an order and screw up, ponies could get hurt.”

“Aye, ‘tis a risk,” one of the two Scotsponies spoke up. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was Double Blind or Feint Indication, but the other continued.

“An’ we already know all ‘at. We’d dae it anyway. It’s part ‘n’ parcel of th’ job.”

Twilight shook her head. “Still. I have to consider so much more now. Even fighting Discord, it was… It was like a pass-or-fail test. If I failed, then Equestria fell. What Celestia does is so much more complex. Even successes could lead to deaths. The decisions she has to make on a day-to-day basis, it’s just unreal.”

Intelligentsia walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Try analysing thousands of intelligence sources to find subtle clues hinting at threats to Princess Celestia’s prized student and devising ways to thwart them without said student ever finding out.”

Twilight cringed a bit. “I guess I’m preaching to the choir a little bit.”

“It’s honestly just a relief to know I don’t have to hide it from you anymore. But I’m sure you’re not here to just blow off steam. Was there anything we could help you with?”

Twilight perked up a bit. Help, that’s exactly what she needed. “Yes, actually!” She floated her new spell sheets over to her. “I need to know if it’s a good idea to publish this or not.”

“What is it?” one of the Scotsponies asked.

“It’s…” Twilight blinked. “Sorry, but which one are you?”

The two laughed together.

“I’m Double Blind,” one said.

“I’m Feint,” continued the other.

“Lying to the Grand Mage is an offense punishable by court-martial, dishonorable discharge, and imprisonment,” Intelligentsia quipped without even looking.

The two blinked. “Haw did ye know we were lying?” Feint asked.

“You just told me,” she deadpanned.

Both of them folded their ears back against their heads. “Sorry, ma’am,” they said in unison.

Twilight just rolled her eyes. “Eh, it’s not like anypony other than Intelligentsia could tell.”

The Lieutenant flipped a page in the bundle of papers. “Call me ‘Gen’ if you like. The Captain does.”

“That would actually bring me a lot of comfort, Gen. And thank you. For protecting me all these years.”

“It’s what we do, lass!” Feint smiled.

“Aye! Bein’ in th’ military is about protectin’ those ‘at need it. An’ ye needed it.”

Twilight lifted up a bit as if a weight had been taken from her. “I can’t believe I had ten ponies dedicated just to protecting me. It’s an honor, really.”

“Well, ten analysts.” Double motioned to the paper-covered walls. “The actual team in Ponyville protectin’ th’ Elements is a lot larger.”

“Wait, wait.” Twilight held a hoof up. “Hold on. There are more than ten ponies, ten Royal Guard, in Ponyville, right now?”

“Well,” Feint hesitated. “If ye really want tae know, there are one hundred fifty undercover Royal Guard stationed in Ponyville at this time, up from one hundred forty-five last year.”

“It takes a hundred and fifty ponies to protect us in Ponyville!?”

“Now, aye.” Double Blind pulled out a map of Ponyville and laid it out on the table. “They aren’t jist guards, though. They’re monitors. They go undercover an’ really watch th’ populace, looking for things ‘at are out of place. Each one looks like an ordinary citizen, but they’re checkin’ for things loch keywords in conversations, gaits, strangers, all sorts of things.”

Feint picked up the thread. “Each one is situated at a key location tae be able tae monitor an’ intercept potential threats. Many are pegasi,” he noted, pointing at various blue dots scattered about. “But we dae fae unicorns an’ earth ponies present as well. It started out with a much smaller team, but as th’ town’s grown, we’ve needed tae add more. It doesn’t look like it, but Ponyville’s honestly a more secure place tae live right noo than Canterlot, except for th’ castle itself.”

“But what about Pinkie Pie! She’s in Manehatten! And Rarity! She travels all over the world!”

Feint rushed over to her. “Hey, hey, relax. We’ve got it. There’s anither team of analysts dedicated tae th’ other Bearers, and let me tell ya, they aren’t in anywhere near th’ same level of danger. There’s anither field squad that follows Pinkie, an’ Ah hear that’s a huge challenge in an’ of itself.”

“And Rarity?” Twilight voice had far more force in it than she had anticipated.

“Her fencin’ skills aside, Rarity contracts out tae a reputable private security firm for protection. She’s in good hooves, Ah can promise ye.”

Twilight’s teeth ground together while her mind almost desperately searched for some kind of flaw, some avenue of vulnerability to her friends. Several seconds later, she relented and sighed, dropping her shoulders. “Alright, I trust you. I’m just, you know, worried about them.”

“Completely understandable, lass. Th’ last few weeks notwithstanding, we’ve got a good track record sae far. They’ll all be jist fi—”

A loud thump coming from Intelligentsia’s hoof hitting the table interrupted Double Blind, and the other three ponies looked at her with not a small amount of worry, especially Twilight. She was straining to keep herself upright by leaning on it but failing just a bit. Even the orange glow of her magic was flickering.

“Lieutenant? Are ye alright?” asked Feint, walking up to her.

“Twilight.” She coughed and swallowed, shaking the papers a little and turning the page to face their author. “Are these estimates accurate?”

Twilight blinked. “Well, I haven’t run a full analysis yet, and there are a lot of variables that can affect things, but I’d say it’s within at least one point five sigma.”

The color ran right out of Intelligentsia’s face.

“Um, what’s a sigma?” Feint asked.

“Pfft. Ye ne’er studied, did ye?” Double Blind groaned.

“What? Ye two are th’ math ponies. I’m psy-ops. Sae what’s a sigma?”

“What she means,” Double said, reaching over and putting on some glasses, “is ‘at whatever she’s estimatin’ in those papers will be within er guesses at least eighty-six percent of th’ time.”

“Oh come on,” he snorted. “There’s nae way under Celestia’s sun ye jist knew ‘at number off th’ top of yer head.”

“‘Course Ah did. I know how tae do math. You’re th’ one who couldn’t calculate yer way out of a paper bag.”

“Enough!” Intelligentsia screamed then straightened and composed herself. “Ma’am, I’m afraid I can’t advise you on your discovery in terms of whether to publicly release it. If you weren’t the Grand Mage and this was a more casual conversation, I’d advise you to start up your own company. You’d be rich beyond your wildest dreams in weeks. As it stands, I have to recommend you pass this on to the Princess.”

Twilight sighed. “I was afraid of that. Does anypony know where she is?”

“Aye,” Double replied. “She’s in a cooncil hearing with yer brother. They’re investigatin’ th’ coup attempt.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, crap. That explains where Shiny was at instead of at our scheduled meeting. And I suppose I’m now legally able to wander into that, but it would be kind of rude to do for something like this.”

Intelligentsia smiled. “Now that I can help you with. Just give me a few seconds…”

An orange light swirled around her horn and the bundle of papers, now wrapped into a tube. Twilight recognized it as a weak seal with a built-in magical ‘signature.’ It would keep the bundle together, but it wasn’t meant as a lock. Rather, the signature was meant to be complex enough to be exceedingly difficult to forge. If anypony got ahold of the papers, they could easily open it but wouldn’t be able to restore the seal in a way that would have anypony that knew Intelligentsia’s seal believe it.

“There. Now then.” She picked up the bundle and walked out of the alcove, waving towards the exit.

“Smuka la dolat! Shimmel!”

Twilight scratched her head. “That doesn’t sound like any language I know…”

“Tha’s ‘cuz it isn’t!” Double interjected.

“Yeah, there’s spells on each alcove here for privacy,” Feint continued. “A lot of stuff that we work on is need-to-know, sae if you’re to far out of th’ alcove you can’t tell what we’re sayin’, or vice versa. It all jist sounds like background noise, or scrambled speech if it’s tay loud. Only thin’ ‘at gets through is th’ room guards’ yell ‘cause of a spell on ‘em. In fact, we gab about your ascension here from time ta time, but of all th’ war room ponies, only th’ ten of us know about it.”

“Hmmm… What about when I came here right after the attack?”

Double smiled. “Gud question! Th’ spells can be shut doon for disasters sae we can all communicate easier. Other things took priority ‘at day, I’m afraid.”

Intelligentsia stepped back in, an armored pegasus guard member in tow. “Officer, introduce yourself.”

His wing snapped into a salute. “Ma’am! Straight Shot, officer second class, ma’am!”

“Very good! Now then.” She put Twilight’s notes into a small compartment in the guard’s armor. “Straight Shot, here are your orders: you are to take these to the Princess’ chambers, and wait there for her until she returns to them. When she does, you are to deliver these papers to the Princess and state that they are from our Grand Mage and they need to be reviewed at her earliest convenience.”

“Actually.” Twilight put a hoof up. “Just when she has the free time. I don’t think it’s important enough for her to drop other things for, given what’s going on.”

“Fair enough,” Intelligentsia replied. “Now then. You are not to make any detours. You are not to show the papers to anypony, no matter what, and you are not to discuss what your mission is with anypony else. Is that clear?”

His wing snapped into another salute.

“Very good. Get moving.”

After he left the alcove, Twilight couldn’t help but ask, “Why all the strictness?”

Intelligentsia shook her head. “You just outlined a way to make solidified magic a couple orders of magnitude faster and cheaper than current methods, Twilight. That’s explosive stuff, even if it’s made of paper. We’re talking about taking an expensive source of magical power storage and making it cheap. Airships will be able to operate at a fifth the current cost if not less.”

The two stallions in the room stumbled back.

“Bloody heel!” Feint choked. “So, what, our Grand Mage upends civilization in ‘er spare time?”

“It sure seems that way.” Gen smirked. “Imagine what she’ll do once Luna trains her.”

Double’s jaw was just hanging open while his doppelganger kept going. “Buck me. Tha’s it, I’m gettin’ outta th’ stock market for good.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “That still doesn’t quite answer my question, though. You were abnormally specific to Straight, far more so than I would have thought.”

The analyst took off her uniform hat and stretched. “Have you ever gotten caught for breaking a rule, even though everypony around you was doing the same thing?”

The ascendant shuddered. “Oh, yes. Definitely. I remember this one time back when I was a filly at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. They had just put in this new cafeteria, and it had one set of doors you were only supposed to use to enter and one set for an exit. But, there weren’t any signs, so I didn’t know. This one group of older fillies, teenagers, walked right in the cafeteria through the exit doors, saying hello to the vice principal as they did it. He waved at them and said hello back. When I tried to go in after them, I got yelled at, saying I couldn’t break the rules just because I was the Princess’ student. I mean, come on! I’m smart, not psychic!”

“Just the kind of example I’m talking about!” Gen smiled. “Straight Shot is like that, only taken to an extreme. Whenever he breaks the rules, even slightly, he’s always caught in one way or another. So his personality is as by-the-book as you get. Your papers are in excellent hooves, Twilight.”

Feint chuckled. “If those fillies were ‘at much older, Ah can think of a reason he let them in.”

Twilight could feel her eyes go wide at the realization. “Ugh! EW! I didn’t even think of— That just makes it worse!”

“Perverts are everywhere, lass,” Double laughed. “Best git used to it.”

“Perverts, you mean males, right?” Gen quipped.

“Hey now!” Feint protested, grappling Double by the shoulders. “It’s not fair ta judge all stallions based jist on Dub ‘ere.”

“Whit!?” He slapped his forehooves off of him. “Two words, Feint. Mint. Toothpaste.”

“That’s jist an unfounded rumor!”

“Yeah, ‘cause I know ye use cinnamon toothpaste!”

“Ahem!” Intelligentsia barked, silencing them then dropping into a bow at something behind Twilight. “I am sorry about them, Your Highness.”

Twilight froze and slowly turned around. Princess Luna had indeed stepped into the alcove along with a rather large, older stallion she didn’t recognize at first. His uniform, however, told her exactly who he was. The white shirt with red stash, gold tassels on his shoulders, five gold stars on the left side of his chest, and the scimitar on his side could only add up to one thing: this was Grand General Blueblood, grandfather to the Prince, a Count of Canterlot, and the supreme commander of all the Equestrian military, answering only to Princess Celestia herself.

She took a cautious step back, uncertain of exactly what to say to him. His grandson had made it extremely clear that he thought she was undeserving of being Celestia’s student along with other feelings of indignation based on her family’s nonexistent nobility status. This stallion, however, was more of a mystery. She knew he was old, at over a century, but was still an immensely powerful mage. She also knew his somewhat-long facial hair was kind of silly with his sideburns meeting his mustache in a curve. His white coat and totally grey mane gave him the true appearance of an aged noble, but the few times they had interacted was when she was a filly, and that was barely even small talk and only a couple of sentences at that.

Fortunately, Luna broke her concentration with a laugh.

“Ha! ‘Tis quite alright, Lieutenant. I got a good laugh from it, and—”

“Is that a bonded artifact!?”

Twilight’s jaw dropped open. Grand General Blueblood had just interrupted Princess Luna, and she did not look pleased. She was so stunned it took her several seconds to realize the general wasn’t talking to the Princess, he was talking to her!

“Oh, um.” She coughed, trying to catch up to the actual question. He was plainly looking at the gem embedded in her armor, and something clicked. “Yeah, it might be…”

Luna swatted the general upside his head with a forehoof. “We wanted her to figure it out on her own!”

Twilight swallowed. Bonded artifacts were among the rarest and most powerful of magical artifacts. Before, she had assumed it was a cored artifact with extensive enhancements, given the gem power source, but bonded artifacts also used ultra-high-quality gems as a core. “Wait.” She held up a hoof. “I thought bonded artifacts were empathic with their owners, and had to be made using their owner’s own magic. That’s how the bond is formed.”

“You are correct,” Luna said, rubbing her temple. “That torc was created for you when you first became Celestia’s student. She took samples of your magic as you slept. It’s been in storage ever since, although, over the course of time, both Sister and myself have been adding extra enchantments. The time spent apart from you meant it would take a while for the connection to really establish itself, but we hoped it would happen faster and more naturally if you discovered it on your own. A luxury which we don’t have anymore.” She glared at Blueblood, who was still intently staring at the gem.

“My apologies,” he replied, not even turning his head. “My great-grandfather owned a bonded blade. I still have it. It’s extremely rare to see a new one.”

Twilight covered the gem with her hoof to get him to stop staring. “I’m not surprised. They tend to be powerful and kept out of sight by their owners unless they need them. I’ve read about them, but never seen one before. Not even in a museum. Or at least, I thought I hadn’t seen one before. It’s hard to believe I’ve ‘had’ one all this time. And I wish I knew how to make it stop deploying whenever I put it on.”

“Well,” Luna coughed. “Technically you’ve seen another before. My torc is, indeed, a piece of bonded armor, made to replace the armor you shattered with the Elements of Harmony. And, since the secret is out, I suppose I can let you in on another secret. Your torc will grow and change as you do, and your connection with it, as it develops, will let you command it more easily. For now, though, you can force it into dormancy by yanking back hard on the power it takes from you.”

“Wait, what?!” Twilight protested. “Wouldn’t that just break the gem?”

“Bonded artifacts are considerably more durable than mere cored weapons.” The general was still staring a bit. “Cored artifacts are physical things housing pre-made spells with a trigger and a power source. Powerful, but rudimentary compared to what you’re wearing. It will take a lot more than that to break your torc. I’m honestly surprised they gave you yours already, given how little the Princesses use theirs. Luna’s is real, but Celestia only rarely dons her real torc.”

“That, General,” Luna sneered at him, “is because when Tia deploys her armor, even accidentally, she vaporizes everything nearby.”

Twilight swallowed. “Everything? But then will—”

“No, your torc is perfectly safe for those around you, Twilight. You do not yet possess enough power to be so passively destructive. In fact, there’s no way to even tell if it will ever be destructive at all. It is utterly unique to you. As for the matter of it deploying automatically, that is odd, but also fixable. Here, allow me.” Luna knelt down and pointed her horn at the deployed torc’s gem and started siphoning some power out of it.

Twilight jumped a little at the light and the cold feeling as if her armor had turned to glowing ice water and was flowing back into her torc. Just a couple of seconds later, it was over, and her torc rested undeployed on her shoulders while a strand of purple magic spat out of the gem before fizzling into nothingness. She got the feeling the torc didn’t much like that, but she didn’t care. She was finally able to wear it without looking like she was ready to walk into a war zone.

She dipped into a quick bow. “Thank you, Luna!”

“Huzzah! She called me Luna!” the Princess said with a laugh, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “We’ll make an alicorn of you yet!”

Twilight smiled and then jolted a bit in shock, remembering Blueblood was within the alcove’s borders.

Luna looked up at Blueblood for a moment and then turned back to Twilight. “Yes, he knows. The other generals do not nor does most of the council. More to the point, though, he’s here because your brother is going to be extremely busy in the near future. The council has launched a thorough and aggressive inquisition into the attack on Canterlot, and I’m afraid Shining Armor is going to have to devote nearly all of his time to that. As such, Grand General Blueblood here will be temporarily taking over the Royal Guard so Shining Armor can focus. While we train, I will be providing the briefings he was to give you, summarized to save time.”

“Oh. Okay. I hadn’t realized things were getting that serious.” She squirmed a little in place over worry for her brother.

“I’m afraid so. As I understand it, he was the first non-noble to lead the Guard in hundreds of years. I hear it caused quite a bit of an uproar when sister chose him.”

“That is an understatement!” Blueblood stomped a hoof. “Celestia defied the Council to have him installed. Regardless of his marriage to a princess, I’m afraid they will not be gentle.”

Luna nodded. “Perhaps. Sister is confident in him, though, and she should be able to shield him politically.”

“Um,” Twilight scuffed a hoof on the floor. “Aren’t you confident in him, too?”

“Indeed I am!” the Princess yelled. “However, I do not have any vote nor any say with the council in military matters. Also, if you were seeking endorsements, I would imagine that getting a cheese sandwich to vouch for him would do more good than Us. We are only a nine-thousand-year-old alicorn with incomparable combat experience. The pampered council of hedonists does not consider Us to be a worthy source of consult. Nay, they cower before Us like mewling foals, demanding that We have no military command, save our meager Night Guard! Tell us, how are We supposed to protected Our beloved ponies in the nighttime with a pittance of fifty soldiers!?”

The Grand Mage chuckled nervously. “Sorry. I forgot about your… status.”

Luna’s wings went a little limp. “Forgive me, Twilight. You do not deserve such, most of all from me. I am merely frustrated, nothing more.”

She nodded. “I understand. It’s never simple, I guess.”

“No, never,” both the Princess and the General said in unison, looking briefly at each other afterward.

Blueblood broke the awkwardness first by turning to leave. “I shall see you later, then, Grand Mage. I look forward to seeing how you perform as a leader.”

“Careful, General.” Luna warned. “You’re going to be bowing to her and calling her ‘Majesty’ within a decade.”

“Indeed,” he said, walking away.

A few more seconds passed before anypony said anything more.

“Who went an’ stuck a bug up his butt?” Double Blind asked.

“Blind!” Gen snapped while Luna laughed.

“Proper context is required, I suppose. When I returned as Nightmare Moon, one of my first actions was to humiliate him in front of his troops. Classified though the event is, he’s never quite forgiven me. Still, we are wasting time here. Twilight, if you would accompany me? You have much to learn and little time to do it in.”

Twilight chuckled a little. “Luna, you just basically described my whole life.”

Author's Note

See, this one didn't take as long! :D

If you've been following my blog and the status box on my user page, you can see there's a lot of pre-written stuff now. All that's left in all of block two AND three is a very, very difficult part of chapter 22. Seriously, that little bit might take me a while. Everything else, though? Written. Just needs editing.

On another note, DI 2 might just be coming out soon too! It's still in editing. Violet just tore it apart with her edits, so I gotta go fix it to make it not suck. (She's crazy insightful, which makes her a much better proofreader than she'll ever admit to. (And that's on top of being an amazing artist!) Rites wouldn't be half of what it is today without her. I have the best special somepony ever! :D )

My next plan is to knock out a few of these side story one-shots I've been working on. Now, Love and Barriers is almost done but cannot be released until Chapter 18 of Rites is released because it has main story spoilers. Another is also restricted in the same way and can't be released until Chapter 19. A third story could be released whenever I finish it and have art for it, but damn the first chapter of that is kicking my butt. So is the third. The second is done already. The fourth should be easier 'cause it's just an epilogue. Just, the first and third, argh. Still, that's the side story I want to work on next (alongside DI).

Now, fair warning, since I'm not writing very far ahead in DI there's a greater chance I'll have to change stuff, but I'm hoping I won't have to.

Also, another project I have is re-editing all the prior RoA chapters. These won't be major changes in story. Just fixing typos, formatting, etc. However, Chapter 1 (not the prologue, the real chapter 1) will be getting some changes. I want to tweak Tia's dialogue a bit and get better POV separation between Spike and Twilight in the first half. But again, nothing that'll change the whole course of the story or anything like that. So no huge worries about that or about it being a major time suck.

Also, new editors! I forgot about this last chapter so I need to make sure I don't today. JustAnotherTimeLord, conantheimp, and Pencraft all helped with this one along with some members of the older crew.

EU news. I haven't forgotten that wiki project, but I've been so far behind on writing that just getting new writing out has been the priority. With a backlog present I can re-start EU structure work. That being said, when really thought on, I'm not behind on that in some ways. EU stories will be a lot easier to write once block four is out and we've seen a couple missions.

That's all the news I have off the top of my head right now. Thanks again everyone for your patience with my slow writing!

-Cv

EDIT: 3/17/14, minor fixes, but a lot of them. More on 9/9/14.

The Living Ghost Town

“Hey, Twilight, is it just me, or are those clouds really weird?”

Twilight turned her gaze to where Spike pointed, up through the treetops of the woods. “Maybe. I’m not sure. It’s kind of hard to tell through the trees. They’re certainly darker than normal. Maybe there’s a storm coming?”

Rainbow scratched her chin. “Hmmm. I dunno. It is the season for it, and this town is probably too small to have any real weather pegasi. But they seem really, really high up there. They shouldn’t be so dark.”

“I agree.” Twilight furrowed her brow and sniffed the air. “Something is off.”

“Want me to go check it out?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah. See if you can see the village, too. We should be close by now.”

She gave a salute. “One weather recon, coming up!”

Twilight staggered from the force of Rainbow’s takeoff. “You’d think I’d be used to that by now. Yet, here I am, nearly getting blown over.”

“I don’t think you can get used to that. It’s like getting used to having a stomach ache. It just never happens.” Spike gripped his stomach.

“True enough.”

A small boom crackled in the sky, shaking the leaves in the trees. The breeze blowing through had Twilight instinctively clutching her cloak, despite her new pegasus coat.

“Uuuummmm, Twilight, do you think we should have told her to stay with us?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘we?’ I’m the Grand Mage, which means it’s my responsibility.”

Spike gasped and pointed up at the sky. “Oh, crap, look out!”

They dove off to the side of the road in opposite directions, Twilight covering her head and gritting her teeth. A few heart-stopping seconds later, nothing happened.

“What in the world are you two doing?” a familiar voice asked.

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked, carefully uncovering her head to see her friend hovering there. “Where was the crash?”

Rainbow sighed and flopped on her back in midair. “Give me some credit; I’m a little more professional these days.”

Spike scoffed. “Says the pony that nearly blasted us to kingdom come.”

Rainbow snapped her head over. “Well, you guys should know by now that— No, you know what? Nevermind, no time. We have a problem.”

“What’s going on?” Twilight started to brush off the dirt and grass.

“Okay, so, those clouds? No way they’re normal. It’s like they’re ultra dense, and way, way up there. Higher than almost any cloud I’ve seen before. I would have tried, but there are other dark clouds to worry about. ”

Twilight heart started to race, and her eyes narrowed. “Other clouds? What’s wrong?”

“Smoke. The town is on fire!”

“What?” Twilight didn’t wait for a response. Before she knew what was happening, her hooves were hitting the path. She could see Dash out of the corner of her eye, and Spike's boots were not far behind.

The road darkened, not just because the clouds were blocking the sun—the dirt of the road itself changed as they got closer to town. The air was dry and carried a familiar, crisp aftertaste. The kind one would find when burning wood… or ponies’ houses.

She crested a hill and slid down the opposite slope in a shower of sediment. A rock found itself in the way of her descent, and she reacted automatically: the muscles of her legs coiled underneath her, and she leapt with all her might to clear the obstacle without shedding precious speed.

Her body sailed much farther than she had intended. Earth pony magic! My leylines! They’re working! She twisted her body and landed squarely on the opposing and much taller hill and took off right up it.

“Spike! Get to a point where you can see the town and stay put! Rainbow! The map showed a lake nearby! Start making some rainclouds!”

“Already on it!” Rainbow shot into the sky, leaving a red and yellow trail in her wake.

“Okay!” Spike’s voice already sounded far away and winded.

Take it easy, Spike. We’re counting on you. Twilight slowed as she got her first clear look at the town. “No…”

The forest had ended and the road descended into a grass-filled valley. To the north, where the red streak led, was a large lake fed by a mountain river. The mountains skirted the edge of the town, much closer now than before. A thick cloud of black smoke obscured the mighty peaks.

Flames burned the roofs of buildings, and the sounds of screaming and running ponies filled Twilight’s ears. Embers danced in the air above ponies’ homes but were quickly engulfed by a thick layer of haze.

~~Training... can’t prepare you... for everything... girl…~~

Twilight’s horn flared with energy, pulsing with anger. She reared up on her hind legs and brought her forelegs down with a powerful stomp, kicking off down the hill faster than she’d ever gone before. Bits of ash, grass, and even bugs blazed by her, occasionally striking her face.

She wrapped a shielding spell around a telekinetic bolt and fired it, deploying it ahead of her like an umbrella and binding it to her body so it would advance as she ran. Its faint purple glow formed a square in front of her, blocking the smoke and the larger debris and insects. Sheltered by its wind wake, her speed picked up even more. What would have taken her three minutes before her training now only took one, and as she rounded the corner and crossed a bridge over a small river, the cause of the fire laid itself bare.

Time slowed down for Twilight as she scanned the town, still at a full-throttle gallop. At least three wagons filled with ponies in dark robes were tossing lit torches on the thatch roofs of nearby homes. Some were using magic, while others used their mouths. There could be no question as to which ponies she was looking for.

Her eyes narrowed. There would be a reckoning.

A unicorn in the group spotted her and drew out a bright silver sword before leaping off of the wagon. Twilight didn’t hesitate. She pulled at her cloak with her telekinesis, yanking it off and firing it right at the pony along with a telekinetic blast.

The other pony countered it, using the flat of the blade to deflect the blast before flinging the cloak at the ground. With practiced ease, the pony raised his sword to her neck and charged it with a venomous orange-glowing magic.

Twilight leapt forward into a flying tackle, and the gem in her torc flared to life. Cold magic flowed across her coat with a purple-white glow, brighter than a small sun. Armor formed at her head and swept down to cover her entire body. The impending blade struck her neck with a metallic clang before deflecting towards the ground.

The pony staggered, and Twilight pressed her attack. A quick blast knocked the weapon from her attacker’s telekinetic grasp. Before the pony could register what happened, Twilight grabbed onto his neck with both forehooves and twisted her body into a twirl.

Her pegasus magic sparked to life. The attacker suddenly felt much lighter, and her hooves and fetlocks much stronger. Part of her mind caught up to how crazy she was acting, while the other part simply didn't care.

A large gust of wind pushed into her side to aid in her twirl, lifting the unicorn off the ground. She hung in the air for a moment, spinning like a top. Then she let go.

The hostile went flying, tumbling head over hooves several times before crashing back-first into the base of a multi-level fountain. The top of it cracked off and crumbled from the force, and the pony flopped to the ground, unmoving.

Twilight’s hooves caught the ground at the same time, shredding the road and leaving deep gouges in the cobblestone pavement. Her teeth clenched, and her head whipped around to face the other ponies on the wagon, pawing the ground like a feral horse.

The assailants quickly turned tail racing back the way she had come as Twilight gave chase. The earth ponies were fast, but they were weighed down by a large wagon with two unicorns sitting in the back. The wagon bounced and jostled on the cobblestone road.

Twilight noted a small opening to jump onboard, but didn’t take it. She didn’t just want them stopped. She wanted satisfaction. Instead of blasting the wagon with a telekinetic bolt, she raced forward after them, her unburdened frame and powerful earth pony wellspring launching her forward at a breakneck pace.

By the time they neared a small bridge at the edge of the town, Twilight had caught up with them. She threw her weight to the side, pulled up her hind legs, and with a single, powerful buck, kicked its wooden rear wheel right where it connected to the axle, bursting it into splinters instantly in an ear-splitting crack.

The wagon’s side crashed to the ground and scraped along in the dirt, the two earth ponies still running frantically. The extra drag sent the carriage careening off the bridge and into the river, ponies and all.

Twilight trotted up to the side of the water, taking her time to prepare a spell she had been saving for the occasion. Several seconds later, a single earth pony splashed out of the water, gasping for air and pulling himself up over its sharp, rock-lined edge. The moment he was on stable ground, he looked into Twilight’s eyes.

In his gaze, she saw fear, a terror more frigid than anything the glacier-fed waters could have possibly caused.

She cast the spell.

Purple light flared to life before quickly turning to white, shooting right at her target before breaking off in hard angles. Over and over the light bounced around the pony, until it had completely surrounded him. When the spell was done, dozens of sharp, diamond-white barriers restrained the tan earth pony in a spiky, cramped cage.

“Don’t move,” she commanded him flatly and watched as the other ponies on the wagon emerged on the other side of the river and raced away towards the forest. She lifted a hoof to follow, but stopped and turned to face back towards the town as one of the buildings cracked and crumbled into a pile of embers. Hang on, my ponies.She raced towards the town, coughing from the traces of smoke in the air.

Rainclouds were already pouring over some of the burning buildings, but at least a dozen others needed their own. “Rainbow!” Twilight cried out, looking to the sky. She pumped her legs faster down the main street to the center of town. She spotted an inn, a restaurant, and an administration building, among others.

She looked around at the surrounding ponies. Some were fruitlessly dumping buckets of water on their homes. One pony in particular staring at a burning stand with a dazed look on his face. But as closely as she looked them over, she couldn’t find anypony looking suspicious.

“Hey, Twilight!”

Her head snapped to the sky to see a red pegasus pushing a large raincloud above a house. She gave it a firm buck, and it started a downpour.

“All those ponies turned tail and ran the second you started kicking flank! I think you scared them off!”

“Damn.” Twilight stomped the ground. “I wanted to capture more of them. I only have one that can talk and… the other is probably going to need medical attention.” She took a deep breath and yelled so her next line would definitely be heard. “Have you seen a town doctor anywhere!?”

“I think I saw one near the lake! Dunno if he’s a doctor, but he was putting bandages on ponies!” Rainbow yelled back.

“Okay! Keep up the pressure on the fires! I’m going to head over to the lake and see if I can help the injured!” Twilight took off down the road ahead of her, hooves clopping over the stones past the homes and businesses. She slid slightly as the cobblestone pavement transitioned to a dirt path. I’m still not used to this speed.

Once past the buildings, it didn’t take long to find the injured, and the older yellow earth pony stallion tending to them. She trotted up to him.

He didn’t even look up. “Is it not enough that you repeatedly burn our village? Must you now attack our injured?”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m Sergeant Star Hunter, of Team Seventeen in the Second Battalion under General Running Blaze. We saw your village under attack during patrol and responded in kind to the attackers. I incapacitated two, and the others have fled. Do you know who they are?”

He looked up at her but only briefly. The stallion’s green eyes showed only skepticism and mistrust, and his gray mane spoke of experience. “More soldiers. I told your kind to stay out. You will bring us nothing but disaster.”

“I don’t know if you saw it, but without me arriving when I did, Wintervale would be ashes within the hour. Corporal Sunset over there is busting her flank to put out the fires. Now, I’m willing to help put a stop to this, but I need your cooperation.”

“Ha! Put a stop to it? Who do you think you are?” He finished with a bandage and got up to go to another victim. “No, no, there’s no help for us. Thank you for stopping the fires. It will make rebuilding easier, but you had best just leave.”

Damnit, I should’ve dropped the disguise. ‘Grand Mage’ would’ve made me look more helpful. Gotta stick with it now, though. Being a liar wouldn’t endear me either.

Twilight sighed. “Very well, but I will not leave until I have interrogated the remaining attackers. If you can, try to treat the one I injured as well. If necessary, I am able to send for medics, but it will be some time before they’ll arrive.”

The stallion glared at her. “No. No more soldiers. Take them and leave. There is no place for you here.”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow. Seriously? What is he thinking? She shook off the thought and cleared her throat. “That would contradict my orders. I will complete my investigation and attempt to ensure the safety of the Equestrian citizens residing here before I leave.”

The stallion huffed, flaring his nostrils. Then, another on the ground did the same thing, standing up despite his injuries. Then another stood, and another.

Twilight's heart jumped in her chest as the injured ponies followed suit, seemingly unfazed by their injures, and glared at her. Oooooookay. Yeah. This place is officially getting renamed “Creepy-town.”She turned to leave but kept an eye on all of them until she was back inside the village.

Clouds were now over all the buildings Twilight could see, and the downpour was putting out the fires quickly. Creepy though it was, Wintervale wasn’t getting burned down today. Not on her watch.

“Hey, Twi! I think I’ve got enough clouds up now!” Rainbow flew down and landed in front of her, stretching out. “But I’m beat! I could really use a nap at this point.”

Twilight smirked a bit. “Even after Boot Camp, you still think about naps.”

“Can’t help it. High metabolism, even for a pegasus. Naps just come naturally. But, I imagine you still have things we need to do.”

“Yeah. Follow me.” Twilight started her way down the cobblestone road back towards the entrance she used when she arrived as the cavalry.

“So, what’s the situation at the lake?” Rainbow asked through a yawn.

Twilight huffed through her nostrils, mimicking the stallion deliberately. “Odd. Very odd. Something suspicious is definitely going on here. Oh, and until I say otherwise, I’m Sergeant Star Hunter, and you’re Corporal Sunset. I screwed up and tried to maintain our cover, but I think we should’ve just went with the truth this time. Gotta stick to it now, though.”

Rainbow’s ears flattened as they neared the center of the town. “Ugh. Back down to ‘Corporal?’ Not cool. At least you didn’t add another lame name on there, like, ‘Shimmer’ or something.”

“It’s just a cover, ‘Sunset’. When we’re done here, we’ll be able to get rid of this stupid dye and—”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.

“Um, Twi? Er, ‘Star Hunter’? Ugh, that name is awful too.” Rainbow poked her shoulder. “You’re terrible at naming things, you know that?”

Twilight swallowed. “Rainbow…”

“Um, you mean ‘Sunset’?”

“Look!” Twilight pulled her over and pointed at the body lying next to the fountain, now in a pool of its own blood. “I— I think I’m going to be sick.”

The two mares raced over, side by side, and the cause was obvious.

“Whoa. Twi, this is brutal. Why did you—?”

“I didn’t!” She covered her mouth with one hoof and batted at the air with the other as if trying to swat away the both the accusation and the sight. “I-I hurt his back, yes, but cutting his throat!? He was not like this when I left, I swear!”

“I wonder how many crime drama novels have that line…”

Twilight gave her a glare and a subtle growl.

“I believe you. I believe you! Still, this means somepony came here and cut his throat after you knocked him out? Hate to say it, but I don’t think we’re going to figure out who.”

Twilight took in a long breath and ground her teeth. “The entire town is filled with suspects, and I can’t help but think there’s more to the story they aren’t telling us. Back away. I’m going to set up a perimeter around the crime scene.”

Rainbow retreated a few steps, but with a curious look on her face. “With what? We didn’t exactly bring any police tape. I mean, you aren’t a detective.”

Twilight smirked at her. “Just because I didn’t bring the hat doesn’t mean I’m not up to the task, no matter what Pinkie might say. Watch this.” She lit her horn and started a special barrier spell. One by one, a series of six barriers arranged themselves in a wide hexagon around both the body and the fountain, with one more large shield about a story up to cover the top. A short teleport later, and she was outside of the crime scene.

“See?” Twilight asked. “Who needs crime scene tape? I even tweaked them so that if an earth pony bucks it down, it’ll make a huge ‘bang’. Not enough to hurt, but enough to startle and be heard no matter where in town we are.”

Rainbow punched one of the fields, and it responded with a shimmering ripple but did not break. “Okay, gotta admit, that’s pretty cool!”

“We’re not done yet, though. Come on!” Twilight grabbed a hold of Rainbow’s hoof and teleported them both back into the crime scene. “We have to get to work to figure this out.”

Twilight pulled out her notebook and started a sketch of the body, her pen flowing over the page.

“Um, Twi? I hate to doubt you and all, but even if we do figure out who did it, what’re we going to do with them? We aren’t equipped to deal with prisoners. Especially a large number of them.”

The pen stopped in its tracks then started tapping its owner’s lip. “Damn, you’re right. Hmmm…” Twilight squinted, going over the possibilities in her mind.

“Twi? Er, Star Hunter? What exactly are we going to do, here?”

Twilight sighed. “There’s just too much we don’t know. Why were there ponies trying to burn this village down? Who is this pony, and given that I didn’t see anypony looting anything, who sent him? Why are the ponies here acting weird?”

Rainbow added, “And how does investigating this guy’s murder help answer any of those?”

“Now that, I think I can answer.” Twilight went back to sketching. “I am interested in who the murderer is, but not as much as I’m interested in the reason for starting the fires. The arson was pretty blatant, and that stallion I talked to near the lake seemed to indicate there have been incidents like this in the past. Furthermore, if I can get an accurate account of this pony, like dimensions, colors, and cutie mark, RGIS might be able to identify him. If we know who he is, we might be able to find out who he’s employed by, whom he associates with, etc. Then, we start pulling that thread to see what unravels.”

Rainbow nodded. “Huh. I guess that makes sense. Wait, you can draw?”

She tossed her book over, and Rainbow caught it effortlessly before flipping it open. “Whoa. Not bad.”

Twilight brought her head down closer to the fatal wound to examine it, and then her mind caught up to what she was doing. Gagging and forcing her lunch back down her throat, she steeled herself to, with the absolute minimal amount of magic, move the body to get a better angle to, unfortunately, see the cut as well as her stomach would allow. “I’m… Ugh, now I wish I had taken those medical courses. Urg.”

“You okay, Twi?”

“I’ll… I’ll be fine. And you’re right, I have gotten better at drawing. I’m not exactly a professional artist, but close enough for scientific documentation. I’ve been working on it over the past decade or so after reading some stuff about Leoneagle da Kitty. I hadn’t realized how much drawing could help one’s understanding of, well, everything.”

“I’m serious, Twi, this is some good work! You should, like, go back through your old stuff and save it. Somepony will probably put it in a museum. ‘Early works of the Great—’”

“Please don’t compare me to the old Maestros, Rainbow. I’m really not comfortable with it.” She lifted up the pony’s head a little, letting the wound separate. “Hmm… Looks like a rather rough cut. Serrated edge, perhaps? Or just an improvised weapon? I should’ve brought Latent Print’s The Science of Investigations with me.”

“Well, you’ve got a sketch of him. Not a lot more we can do at the moment, other than request an actual patrol to pick up the body for examination once Spike can send letters again.”

Rainbow tossed the book back, and Twilight caught it in a violet hue.

“I agree. This definitely calls for a larger investigation force. For now, though, I’ll be happy to squeeze a few more answers out of that other pony I captured.”

Rainbow blinked. “Wait a minute, timeout. You have another pony captured? Is he safe?”

Twilight made a few more notes in her book and tossed it back in her pocket. “Well, he’s certainly not going anywhere. He’s in a binding spell.”

Rainbow dragged her over with a foreleg and pointed to the buildings behind the translucent shields. “Bound up in a town with a bunch of crazy ponies?”

“Ah, crap!” Twilight flared her horn to life and brought them both outside the shield then took off running down the road towards the pony she captured. “This way! I tied him up near the creek on the other side of town!”

A reddish gold blur blitzed in front of her, going right for the river. While Rainbow went on ahead, Twilight kept her legs pumping while her mind ran just as fast. Damnit! I shouldn’t have left him alone! The moment I saw that other pony dead, I should have checked to see if he was alright! That spell has holes in it for breathing! They could just as easily be used to get a spear through!

The red blur zoomed back towards her. “Um, are you sure you captured somepony over here?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I—” Twilight slid to a stop near the river. Its banks were completely devoid of any ponies, captured or otherwise. “What!? How in the hay did he get out!?”

Rainbow landed and looked around and under the bridge. “Was he an earth pony? Could he have just bucked his way out?”

Twilight shook her head. “No way. I used ‘Diamond Light,’ which is highly resistant to earth pony magic. Somepony with knowledge of that spell or an awful lot of magical force would have had to break it.”

“Well, he’s definitely not here now. What’s next?”

“Ugh.” Twilight gripped her head with her armored hooves. “I’m getting a headache. What in Tartarus is up with this town!?”

Rainbow stopped for a moment and started sniffing the air. First a little high, then gradually getting lower until she was right over the grass where the earth pony was. “Hey, do you smell that?”

Twilight took a sniff from where she was sitting. “Smell what?”

Rainbow waved her hoof around. “It smells like ozone over here. As in, fresh lightning strike. Big one. But, lightning like that is something we definitely would’ve heard. I know I didn’t. Did you?”

Twilight shook her head and trotted over. “No, I definitely didn’t. Let me smell.” She closed her eyes and took a large whiff in then immediately gagged, coughing, choking, and stumbling backwards.

Rainbow circled around and caught her. “Whoa! You okay!? I didn’t think it was that bad!”

Twilight hunched over while her diaphragm wailed in pain. She felt herself set down on the ground gently by Rainbow, and eventually, she calmed down. “Uuuuuugh. That. HURT. Something is definitely there.”

“It hurt, so something’s there?”

Twilight pushed herself up then pushed on her horn and eyes, successfully switching to her magic sight. “A-ha! Over here! Where I caught him!”

Rainbow walked back over to the spot. “What is it? I just see grass.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t quite like what she’d seen in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.“I see… miasma. Sort of.”

“Miasma?”

“It’s a sort of corrupted magic left behind when ponies die. But, this isn’t normal. It’s not quite black.” She put her hoof out over it but withdrew it quickly. “I see… green in it. Swirled in the black. Green... and a little bit of red? And it’s not a thick, semi-solid substance like before. This is more liquid-looking. And it’s bubbling.”

“Hmmm…” Rainbow put both hooves into the spot. “What happens when I do this?”

Twilight looked closely and shook her head. “Nothing. I don’t think pegasi or unicorns can affect it. Earth pony magic, though, can help clear it up.”

“So does this mean whoever you captured was killed?”

“It sure looks that way. But with the green stuff there? I have no idea what that means. Wait… Rainbow, move over a little.” Twilight pushed Rainbow gently aside and kept looking over the grass, finding more of the miasma. “There’s more over here. Smaller blotches of it. And more, here, leading away. Rainbow, these are hoofprints!”

Rainbow leapt into a hover. “Aw yeah, super-awesome secret-magic hoofprints! The kind the bad guys don’t know about! Let’s go get’em!”

“Agreed!” Twilight got up and started running, following the hoof-shaped dots down the river. Each didn’t appear until she got very close, limiting how fast she could go. Eventually, the dots made a turn into town, leading down a smaller road. “Well, they definitely went into the village. Let’s see if— Aw, crap!”

“What is it?”

Twilight stared at the last set of dots under her, looking all around for more to no avail. “I can’t find any. They faded out these last few sets. Looks like the effect doesn’t last forever. And they’re still right in the middle of the road, too. For all we know they kept going out of town.”

Rainbow landed, fluttering her wings in annoyance. “Well, that’s a downer. Anything else we can use?”

“Hmm…” Twilight looked at one of the spots next to her hoof. “Maybe. The spot’s kind of large. A bit bigger than my hoof inside its armor. Which means it’s probably not a stock mare or foal. It’s not big enough to be a draft stallion either. So maybe a stock pony stallion or a draft mare.”

“Draft mare? I didn’t see any here, and they kinda stick out. They’re really rare. I mean, the only one I actually know personally is Fluttershy’s mom, so they have to be like, what, a bajillionth of a percent of ponies?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and her vision returned to normal. “More like a tenth of a percent of all mares. Rare, yes, but not unprecedented. Though you’re right, we’re probably looking for a stock stallion. The question is, what did he do, exactly? It looks like some kind of murder in my sight, but, there’s no body! No blood! No tracks from dragging the body! And what was with the green stuff? I have way too many unanswered questions at this point.”

Rainbow dragged her hoof over the stones where the trail ended. “Well, there’s always the bar.”

“I doubt they would’ve dragged the body to a public place like that, Rainbow.” Twilight looked behind her towards where she had captured the other pony. “Then again, for all we know, it’s on display in the town center by now. This place just makes no sense.”

“Well, I don’t mean finding the body there. I mean, getting some drinks and sitting in the corner, nursing them. You never know what you’re going to overhear if you listen carefully.”

Twilight blinked. “That works?”

“Where do you think most of the gossip magazines get their garbage? Most of the dirt that winds up there was from somepony getting sloshed and talking too much or too loudly. Happened all the time in the ‘Bolts. Caught my fair share of snoops writing notes, let me tell ya.”

Twilight looked at the sky and noted the sun was finishing its descent over the horizon. “Well, either way, we need lodging for the night, and in small towns like these, the inn is the saloon. I’m going to head over and get us a room… if I don’t get chased out first. Tell Spike to set up camp. Then meet me there. Something tells me we’ll want a backup rendezvous point if things take a turn for the worse. I mean, worse than it already is.”

“Can do, boss!” Rainbow took off into the air in a rush, leaving Twilight to her thoughts as she walked towards the town’s center.

Disappearing bodies. Murdered ponies. Mass arson. Creepy, unusually universal hostility. What is going on here?

Twilight huffed a bit and rounded a corner, looking for the cloak she had tossed at the now-dead unicorn. On the way, she saw that the rest of the ponies were back in the town, most looking rather morose over the fire damage. Some others didn’t seem to care at all, going about their regular business now that the attack was over.

Her lungs cried out for fresh, clean air but found only the lingering scent of smoke. She shook it off and continued her survey of the town at the foot of the northern mountains. Nearly every building had some kind of damage. Only a few of the larger, more modern buildings had escaped unscathed. Ponies were piling up debris and charred wood in the streets, organizing everything to be thrown away or salvaged. They’ve done this before…

A short ways down the road, she spotted her cloak. Well, at least that’s still here. She picked it up in her magic and turned back towards the center of town, letting her telekinesis put it back on automatically. Once that was done, she retracted her armor. No sense in looking like I’m about to raid the place. For now, I “just want a room and a drink.”

She stopped in front of the inn, underneath the cracked wooden sign.

“Blank. Who in their right mind doesn’t even name their inn? What, is this ‘The Blank Inn?’ Or do they just call it ‘The Inn’ here because there’s no place else?” Twilight’s eyes went wide. Disappearing ponies. Hive-mind like behavior. No. Freaking. Way.

Her legs pushed back against the ground like a grasshopper, sending her backwards with an extra gust of wind from her magic for good measure.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looking around to make sure there weren’t any ponies watching her before charging up her horn. Changeling magic is vulnerable when exposed to many micro-disruptions. I can set up a barrier field to take advantage of that without blocking the exit.

Twilight first engraved a small magic circle then added a few spells to it. First, a special barrier to keep the spell shards I’m creating in place then another to keep them cycling in the air. Then, one more to create the low-power shards, and a last one to give them the right oscillation. There!

Her horn flashed one last time, and the circle under her hooves vanished. Her barrier had completely covered the door area. Any changeling walking in or out would be instantly exposed. Now, all that’s left is to sit back and watch some fireworks!

She trotted through the doorway; the spell fragments comprising the barrier shards in the air were completely invisible and intangible to her. If her disguise had been a glamour spell, it might have been disrupted depending on what type it was. With dye, however, she went right through.

The inside was actually rather cozy. A warm fireplace roared in the lobby, with a full bar on the right. There were a few patrons already inside, and they all hushed the moment she walked in. A brown unicorn stallion was manning the bar itself, standing in front of several large kegs with taps in them. One large staircase led upstairs to a few rooms.

The walls were all exposed wood with a light stain, except for stone around the fireplace. In fact, wood was basically everywhere and all the same color. Makes sense, I guess. Lots of forest around.

“Can I help you?”

Twilight dropped her hood and looked over at the bartender giving her the stink eye. A few more glances revealed that the entire bar was giving her the stink eye. Par forthe course, Twilight thought before clearing her throat. “Yes, I need to purchase a room for the night. For two ponies.”

The gray-bearded pony shook his head. “Sorry, all full for the night. Gotta house the ponies whose homes have burned.”

Twilight facehooved. “Ah, right. Sorry. In that case, here.” She pulled out a few of her large five hundred-bit coins and dropped them on the counter. “I’d like a couple of drinks for myself and my subordinate who should be here shortly. Use the rest to help feed ponies that need help.” That is, if they aren’t all changelings.

The bartender used a hoof to pick up the coin and examine it. “That’s… mighty kind of you ma’am. We aren’t used to such generosity from outsiders.”

“I’m here to help.” She smiled at him like he was from Ponyville itself. Time to win some goodwill—if I can. And if they aren’t changelings. “I was honestly rather shocked to see ponies deliberately setting fires here. If I can, I’m going to put a stop to it, Mr…” Twilight looked at his name tag. “Dirty Glass.” Oh hell. Changeling or no, that is not a name I want to see in a bartender.

Dirty scoffed. “Well, I highly doubt that, ma’am. Remote mining town like this sees its fair share of trouble from the Duchies. You’re not going to stop it. Mind you, I wouldn’t be sad to be proven wrong.”

Twilight took out her notebook. “Mining town? I thought this area was mainly agricultural. At least, most outskirts towns like this are.”

Dirty Glass reached down under the bar and used his hooves to pull out two surprisingly clean-looking glasses and started filling them from one of the kegs. “Used to be. Well, still is, really. But the companies want the minerals in the mountains. We just want to farm.”

Twilight quickly looked around the inn, spotting pickaxes and other mining implements on the wall. He’s lying. This is a mining town, or at least it is now. It’s decorated like it. That’s pride there. So why backtrack?

Twilight took both of the mugs in her magic. “Hmm. I can understand that they’d be wanting the minerals under your town if you have them, but usually they try buyouts or legal maneuvers. Arson is just beyond the pale.” Don’t press him on his inconsistency just yet. We might find out more by listening. “Still, if it is them, I want to get proof. I have more than a few friends in Canterlot that might be willing to help. If you hear anything, let me know.”

“Miss, let me level with you.” He leaned over onto the bar top. “You really don’t want to stay here. The locals won’t like you for it. I won’t like you for it. I appreciate the thought, but you should leave. Soon.”

Twilight shook her head, slumping off the bar stool. “Not yet. I promise I’ll leave soon enough. But not until I catch these attackers. If I’m lucky, I might even be able to get an audience with Princess Cadence. I know for a fact she won’t tolerate one of her towns being burned down by a corporation. Trust me, Dirty Glass. When I find out what’s going on here, there will be hell to pay.”

She walked away from him, looking around the bar. Most of the ponies in the seating area had gotten up and left, but the ones that remained were still glaring at her. Hello to you too, my little ponies. She cleared away a path to a table in the corner and sat down. Now, let’s see where this gets us.

Author's Note

Hi all! I hope you're enjoying the first mission so far! :)

This chapter is the first one to be supported by my Patreon peoples! Thank you all so much for your pledges! Rewards will be forthcoming within a few days (based on how long Patreon takes to do it's thing)! Remember, rewards people, get in contact with me on FimFic so I can get you access to your sneak peek!

Less news to go around this time. Chapter 28 hasn't seen much editing yet, so it could take longer to post. I went back to the previous chapter and fixed some stuff but I think the uploader might've eaten something. If you find a missing bit of text or screwed-up formatting (in either the previous chapter or this one), let me know.

Sooo... yeah. Can't think of anything else to post in the A/N this time. Hope you enjoyed it!

-Cv

Consequences

“Now, brace yourself.”

Twilight grabbed onto the provided railings with both hooves, locking them in place and clenching her teeth as she heard the drill spin up. This was the moment that every filly dreaded when their parents warned them not to use too much magic. For all the scare tactics of all the parents the world, actually experiencing it first hoof was far more terrifying.

As the blade sank into the cast, it felt more like a jackhammer on her skull than a sharp edge. Despite that, she had to keep absolutely still so it wouldn’t simply bisect her now-supposedly-healed horn. She wasn’t sure how long it took, as looking back it didn’t seem all that long, but someone had forgotten to tell her heart that.

“There we go.”

Right as the doctor said those words, the two halves of the cast fell off of Twilight’s horn like a pair of bad apples--only these shattered once they hit the ground.

Twilight looked up to her now free horn, giving it a gentle stroke as the organ at its base throbbed in pain. There were still little bits of the magic plaster stuck to it; tiny barnacles that were affixed to her and would disrupt her magic if left alone. Fortunately, the nurse next to her was prepared with a file and began scraping them off, although that only made it hurt worse.

“Now, I want you to use a light touch with your magic for the next few days. Single item telekinesis only, and only light objects at that. You should have full use of it again in another month or so.” The doctor lifted up a brush and swiped across her forehead, clearing away some of the dried plaster that had embedded itself within her coat.

Twilight turned to look at the mirror in the doctor’s office to get a better view of her horn. The pain was quickly subsiding, and her head felt a few pounds lighter. Although, this was most likely because it really was a few pounds lighter. Something else, however, still struck her as amiss.

Is it… Longer? Twilight ran her hoof along the length, finding that not only did it feel longer, but the tip was sharper as well.

“Ah, yes. Her Highness told me she used some powerful healing magic on you when you were being offloaded from the Bellerophon, and that this could be a side effect.”

Or she was covering for me and my alicorn ascendant butt… Twilight thought to herself.

When the last little bits of plaster were filed off, the doctor signalled the nurse to place the metal implement she was using on the table at the side of the room.

“Now then, Lady Sparkle, let’s try a test, shall we?” The doctor adjusted his glasses and picked up the clipboard. “Use your magic to lift the file and slowly bring it over to you.”

Twilight nodded and braced herself for the inevitable pain as she lit her horn, and just as she had expected, the pain came. Unlike before, however, it faded almost as fast, the magic once again flowing freely through her mind. With the tip of her tongue sticking out, she turned her focus to the file, and put her field around it.

Thud! “Ow!” The file nailed her in the chest like someone had thrown a medicine ball at her. What in the…

“Oh my!” The doctor put his clipboard down. “I’ve never seen that happen before. A field that’s stronger after one’s horn has been in a cast for weeks?”

Crap. Twilight gave him a nervous chuckle. “Well, it’s always been strong, I guess I just don’t remember my own strength…” Please buy it please buy it please buy it please buy it…

“I, well, in that case…” He picked up the file and put it back on the table. “Let’s try again, but more gently this time.”

Crap. Twilight took in a deep breath and lit her horn again, this time trying to slow the magic down. Nice floodgate. Gentle floodgate. No launching metal implements at my head. The file jiggled and shook, but was slowly encased in her magic and lifted into the air, drifting ever so gently into her hooves.

“Splendid! Why, I don’t think I’ve seen such a recovery! Perhaps we should have taken your horn cast off sooner… Oh well, no harm done. Quite the opposite, it seems. Tell me, overall, how do you feel? Anything?”

“A little sore, but it seems to be going away. Although…” Twilight leaned over and looked in the mirror again. “The short mane is still bugging me. I mean, look at me! I look like a guy! Like… Like… Like my name should be Dusk Shine or something…”

There was a small pause as the room fell silent.

“Actually, strike that. That would be a terrible name for me as a guy. Just…” Twilight rubbed her head, headache starting to return. “Forget I said anything.”

“Of course, of course. Patient confidentiality, and all that.” The doctor winked at her. “But, I think I’ve seen all I need to see. Is there anything else you're worried about that you need to ask me?”

Twilight hopped off the examination bed, and stretched her shoulders. “No, I think I’m finally starting to feel more like myself. Thank you, Doctor.”

“My pleasure, Lady Sparkle,” he said with a bow. “By the way, if you’re done, Princess Celestia said she wanted to see you in the war room.”

“What for?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t plan how or why to send soldiers to get injured. I just patch them up when they get back.”

“Right. Of course. I’ll just get going then…”

Twilight walked out the door, making her way through the winding hallways of the castle hospital and towards the portal she hadn’t been through in over a month.

Why is she asking me to go there? It’s not like I’m ready to go back out in the field yet… Although, come to think of it, given what she’s training me to become, I suppose I need to keep myself apprised on new events. It’s probably some kind of intelligence briefing, not that I can do anything right now.

Her hooves stopped just before she reached the portal, instead trotting over to a nearby window to look at the faint outline of her reflection. Doesn’t matter how many times I brush it, the mane won’t look right until it gets longer. At least I have enough of a coat that I don’t look naked. She gave up on fixing it for the time being, and stepped through the vortex.

The other side was much as she expected. Ponies were in overdrive due to the war, just as they were after the siege of Canterlot. Yet, despite how busy they must all have been, she knew that in just a moment, there’d be a loud yell announcing her arrival, and they’d all stop and bow.

Just as she predicted, all activity in the room ceased. What was once a dull murmur of constant talking became a void without sound, and all the ponies stopped to look at her.

But there was no announcement. There wasn’t a single pony saluting, or bowing. Instead, there was only silence, save for one particular pony. That pony was clapping. Then there was a second pony clapping, and the third and fourth and twelfth. The entire floor of the war room had erupted in cheers and applause, whistles and hollers; a storm of joy that threatened to shake Canterlot right off its mountain.

Given how thin her coat was right now, Twilight was fairly certain that she was no longer purple; she was beet red.

One step at a time, she made her way through the crowd, bowing, nodding, waving, and any other acknowledgements she could think of as she desperately tried to guess where Celestia could be.

Fortunately, the cheers died down on their own well before she made it to her mentor, and her walk turned into just that: something to get her from point ‘a’ to ‘b’. One thing did, however, stand out to her on her way; The door to the captain’s office was open.

Thus, it was begging her to knock on it. “Hello? Is there someone in here?”

“Whoever that is had better grow a spine and knock like a soldier.” The door between her and the gruff voice slammed shut, followed by a somewhat more muffled, “Now, try that again!”

Twilight lifted her hoof to comply and froze just before the keratin made contact. Wait. What the heck am I doing? She rolled her eyes at herself and flung open the door, trotting inside like she owned the place, as there was a legitimate argument to that being the case.

“Whoever that is is about to d— Oh. It’s you.” The short stallion adjusted his glasses and sat back down in his chair. “I was wondering what all that useless commotion was about outside. So, you decided to join us here in the land of the not-lazy.”

“Sorry, getting hit with an explosion larger than any Equus has seen in four thousand years just takes everything out of me.” Set Snark to maximum. She pulled out the chair on the other side of his desk — Shiny’s desk — and sat down. “It looked like someone was in here, and I assume from the fact that you’re sitting in the captain’s chair, along with the emblem on your shoulders, that you are who Celestia selected to be the next captain.”

“If you think that impresses me, you’re mistaken. But yes, I am the one they coerced out of retirement to fix your brother’s mess.” He waved his tan hoof across the desk to the myriad of papers strewn across it.

Twilight glanced down and scanned the documents upside down, but found the most interesting thing was not the words on them. Being very careful not to use too much power, she lifted up a few of the graying, dark brown hairs from his mane that were left on top of the sheets. “This suggests that you weren’t actually doing anything with these. I think you’re keeping them here to make Shiny look bad. That or you just like to complain.”

She smiled at him. “I can empathize the with latter.” The smile vanished. “But not the former.”

“Believe me, young miss, after the siege, your brother doesn’t need my help to make him look bad. But that’s neither here nor there. You came to introduce yourself to the new Captain. Well, here I am, so let’s get this over with.” He stood up on the chair and swung his flank over, showing her his Cutie Mark: a pair of rapiers striking each other. “My name is Captain Duel Strike, Baron of the Bittish Isles, and I like whores.”

Twilight’s face froze. Not necessarily because she lost control, but because there was no way on earth she could think of an appropriate expression to have after hearing that. “Excuse me?”

“You’re going to hear about it eventually, so you might as well hear it from me. One of the reasons I was passed over in favour of your brother is because of my predilection for a specific vice. More accurately, it’s because I was caught.”

Twilight’s face still hadn’t changed expression.

He ran his hoof down his neck, messing up his already unkempt mane. “I’m an old stallion, Grand Mage Sparkle. I don’t give a diamond dog’s ass about what ponies think of me, so you can expect me to be as blunt as possible, and yes, the Princess knows me and my reputation very well. I was pulled out of retirement for this, so the worst they can do is fire me and I go right back to what I was very happy to be doing. So threatening to talk to Celestia about me is useless.”

Crap. Twilight rubbed her temple. “And why the hostility? This isn’t exactly a great way to make friends.”

“Ah, but I’m not interested in making friends. You get to experience pure, unfiltered Duel Strike.” He leaned forward and put his forehooves together. “Like I said, I don’t care what ponies think of me. In the end, the reaper takes us all…” He narrowed his gaze directly into her eyes. "Except, perhaps, you?”

She folded her forelegs and stared back at him. “I really wish she hadn’t told you that.”

“Comes with the job. A captain must be aware of all the angles to make the best possible decisions. If nothing else, Grand Mage Sparkle, I will admit this: it was your brother who taught me that. Now, I believe Celestia is waiting for you, but there is one last thing before you go.” He reached into his drawer and pulled out a small case, setting it down in front of her. “Compliments of the Inner Council.”

Twilight picked it up with her hooves, testing its weight. “From the Council? It’s not a bomb, is it?”

Duel let out a series of sharp laughs. “No, I don’t believe so, although I wouldn’t put it past a few of them. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said, collecting the papers on his desk. “It appears I need to find something new to complain about now that you’ve seen through me. Go! Her Highness is waiting for you in the main map room. Get! Out!”

Twilight grumbled but left the office as she had more important things to do. The first of these was to investigate the case. She picked it up and spun it around in her magic, orienting it towards her and popping it open.

No…

The case hit the ground, but its contents were narrowly saved.

This… This is why they were clapping. Her telekinetic field faded away, leaving the small object to rest in her hooves. The Order of Unity… The medal had a heavily stylized sun and moon imprinted on the metal, attached to a blue and gold ribbon. In the Equestrian military, there was no higher honour, save knighthood, which she was technically ineligible for anyway as Grand Mage was an even higher noble rank.

Gently, she placed the award back in its container, and closed the lid. I don’t deserve this… She sighed. But I also don’t know what it would mean politically if I tried to reject it… Guess I don’t have a choice.

She continued through the halls and down towards the map room, her hooves plodding along the carpet. She didn’t even notice the passage of time until she had arrived at the doors the map room. With a deep breath, she pushed the doors open to reveal the Princess, along with a multitude of ponies going over documents and making changes on various maps on tables and across the walls.

“Ah, you made it, Twilight. Tell me, did you meet the new—”

Twilight held up the little case with the medal inside.

“I see. Try not to let him get to you. Come, pull up a chair next to me.” The Princess moved a little to her right, patting the ground next to her with a hoof.

Twilight wordlessly complied, picking a chair across the room and floating it over. Neither Celestia nor the dark pony next to her were using chairs, but Twilight was shorter than either of them and wouldn’t have been able to see on top of the table without it.

She sat down, now in between the two ponies, but paid no mind to the table. Instead, she put the medal in front of the Princess. “Tia, I don’t know if I—”

“If you’re about to say that you don’t deserve that after what you pulled off over there, I will take that medal out of its case and pin it to your flesh.”

Twilight turned around to face the stallion behind her, the unicorn whose coat was roughly the same dark blue as a powerful thunderstorm cloud, and whose camouflage uniform bore four stars on its shoulder.

“A bit too curt to be proper around our Grand Mage, but I agree with the sentiments.” Celestia put a wing over Twilight’s back. “My student, allow me to introduce you to General Nocturne, leader of Equestria’s Special Forces.”

The stallion snapped off a salute. “Ma’am! It’s a pleasure. The Lieutenant told me all about what happened in Zebrica.”

“I…” Twilight scooted back in her chair. “I suppose everybody’s heard about it by now. I kinda wish it wasn’t that big a deal.”

“You have to excuse my student, General Nocturne. She can be humble to a fault.”

Twilight felt that she was shifting colour back to red. “So, um… What’s going on over here…” She turned to look at the table, finding a large map of the area between Zebrica and Saddle Arabia with pins denoting what she assumed to be the front lines about 100 km inside of traditional Saddle Arabia territory.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going well…” Twilight tried to find something else to add, but the words all died on her tongue.

“Actually, up until this morning, I would have considered this to be among our best case scenarios.” The General pointed at a stack of binders, each labelled with “Plan Eventuality” and a number. “The Equestrian military is superior to the Zebrican one, but outside of our new airships we can’t really project that power across the ocean, and the Saddle Arabian military is woefully outgunned.”

The General picked up a pencil in his orange hued magic and pointed out several small red X’s on the map behind Zebrican lines. “But the zebras have a weakness too, and that’s in their supply lines. They’re short on food, and with Luna’s efforts to confound the Wavu, they’re running low on munitions as well. My teams have been hitting their supply points, and if this keeps up, pretty soon they’re going to have to resort to throwing rocks at the horses.”

“So what happened this morning?” Twilight asked, trying to keep the topic nailed down.

Celestia made a strange face, Twilight surmising it to be a rare glimpse of true frustration from her mentor. “I received a communiqué from the Gryphon Ambassador. The Gryphon King has made it known that she feels that our actions are those of a bully, and if we do not withdraw, there will be ‘consequences.’”

“Oh…” Twilight slowed down in her chair. “So we’re looking at another war… Unless it’s a bluff?”

“Gryphons don’t bluff, Twilight.” Celestia picked up one of the pins over the ocean, and moved it into deeper waters. “I’ve spent most the day trying to determine a strategy that will buy the horses time, while still making the gryphons hesitant to intervene.”

Twilight folded her forelegs and rested her chin on a hoof. “This still strikes me as strange. Most gryphons despise bullies, and if anything it was Zebrica that was acting like a giant bully. Why not go after them? Why us?”

“The running theory, Ma’am, is that gryphons like to be the ones who decide who’s being a bully. Hypocritical, maybe, but it would fit within the cat-birds’ mindset.”

“Maybe, but…” Twilight bit down on her hoof. “I don’t know. This just seems really strange for them. Was this message meant to be from the nation as a whole, or just the aerie that the king is from?”

“As a whole, although we haven’t been able to ascertain the feelings of the Crown Princes of the other aeries. I’m hoping that at least one of them will find this as odd as we do. If so, we can—”

The door slamming open interrupted the Princess, and the panicked-looking young soldier clambered up to the table. “Your Highness! I have an important dispatch—”

Celestia held up a hoof. “I gathered as much, my little pony. Though, I must ask why were you running.”

The smile she gave him was so warm and radiant Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if there weren’t a legion of cats out there about to fight over the rights to take a nap on that spot. This did not stop the young soldier's legs from shaking in her presence.

“Um, I was told it was urgent, your Majesty, and I—”

“Private.” The general reared up, placing his forehooves on the table and scaring little pony half to death. “When delivering a communiqué to a higher ranking officer, you do not run unless there is a grave, imminent danger to said officer, or to the facilities the officer is in. Do you understand?”

The pony nodded, jaw agape.

“I can’t hear that response, Private.”

“Sir, yes, Sir!” He snapped to attention with a salute, but failed to change his face to anything but one of terror.

“Good. Now let’s have it, and get out of my sight.” The general snatched the file out of the private’s hooves and laid it on the table. “Dismissed.”

The private saluted again, and began to scramble away, before freezing in place and correcting his gait to a slow walk.

Nocturne adjusted his cap. “Shining got things started, but we still have a long way to go to become a true professional military. Tell me you’re making the new Captain keep the reforms in place, your Highness.”

“And expanding them. I made it quite clear that those are no longer Shining’s reforms, but mine.” Celestia picked up the first of the papers. “Oh my. Well, this is somewhat interesting.”

“What is it, Princess?” Twilight leaned over to peek at the paper. “New troop positions?”

“To say the least.” Celestia lit her horn and picked up a series of pins and the Zebrican frontline, removing them from the board. She then added a bunch of new Saddle Arabia pins and placed them on the opposite side of the front lines.

“You’re kidding me…” The general picked up the papers, seemingly verifying them for himself. “They broke through? That’s a huge gap! How did—”

“According to the report, a very large group of Zebrican soldiers along the front lines turned tail and ran after they discovered their weapons were not working, giving Saddle Arabia a prime opportunity. The work of an intelligent Equestrian saboteur, perhaps?”

Celestia gave her a wink, and Twilight’s blush came back.

“With this, we may not need to worry about the gryphons after all.” Celestia picked up the Equestrian special forces team pins from the table, removing them from play. “Backing away like this will still come with a significant political cost, leaving me not far ahead of where I was, but it’s one I’m willing to pay.”

The general nodded. “Unless the Zebrican military can pull a miracle out of their hat, this is it. They’re toast. Should I give the orders?”

“Make it so, but keep your forces on the continent and tell them to stay out of sight until a peace treaty is signed. Just in case.”

He went into a deep bow, then walked off to parts unknown.

Twilight put her head down on the table. “That’s what you have to do, isn’t it? Prepare for every contingency, even when you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“It is indeed. Being a Princess isn’t easy, Twilight; nor is being Grand Mage. But you are new to this, so nopony is expecting you to be able to do what I do.” Celestia motioned to the room around them. “Leave all this, the wargames and politics, to me. Ask questions whenever you wish, but trust in my experience. In the long run, I have faith it will all work out.”

Twilight ducked down and shuffled towards her mentor, close enough to feel her radiant magic.

“I was originally going to brief you on the new development with the gryphons, along with my short-term plans for dealing with them, but thanks to your sabotage, I have to rethink them all over again. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. I suppose some additional congratulations are in order, Twilight. You may feel that you are the cause of this war, but in truth, your quick thinking in the Wavu warehouse just put a swift end to a war that promised to be a massacre. If I had a more prestigious medal to give you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“Mrglefrgle” was the response from Twilight’s alicorn-coat-buried muzzle. Roughly translated, it meant “Stop embarrassing me,” and the Grand Mage silently prayed that Celestia understood her.

“Since we’ve finished a bit early, I’m going to let you go on your way. However, I’ve been told that amongst the many ponies and provisions Luna has been teleporting all over the world lately, is a particular unicorn stallion that’s very eager to see you.”

Twilight groaned again. “Not another suitor…”

Celestia froze for a moment. “Another suitor? Twilight, I never sent any…”

“Oh…” Twilight hit herself on the head. “Sorry. It’s just that ‘very eager to see you’ is a line my mom uses when she wants me to meet some noble looking for a wife, and I had a pony hit on me earlier…”

Celestia leaned forward, her face suddenly deathly serious. “This ‘suitor’… He didn’t hurt—”

“No, no, nothing like that. He was honestly very polite about it and took it graciously when I turned him down, although he did ask me to not tell you who he was.”

The Princess’s demeanor shifted back to its usual cheerful self. “So long as he was polite, he has nothing to fear. Let me know if one of the nobility decides to get pushy, though. There are certain protocols in place for courtship of a pony at your rank, and although I personally don’t like them enough that they’ve halfway fallen out of use, I can still use them against an offender.”

“I will. I’m honestly not looking for any…” Twilight’s tongue rolled around in her mouth as she thought of how to word it. “Romantic entanglements right now. Not that I ever am. I mean, I really only look for friends, but if I was to start looking for romance, doing so while Equestria is about to collapse around me and everything and its mother is out to get me is not the time to do it.”

Celestia rubbed her student’s head with a wing. “I sympathize completely. Actually, the stallion I was speaking of was your brother.”

“Shiny’s here!?” Twilight all but jumped out of the chair. “Where is he?”

“Well, he should be here soon. He wanted to meet you in the Royal Courtroom. Do you remember the pony you arrested for those unsafe buildings? His sentencing is today, and Shining, or should I say Obsidian, figured you’d want him to be there with you for that.”

A small wave of memories barged into the forefront of Twilight’s mind. “Oh… I didn’t even know that was today…”

“To be fair, you are recovering from nearly dying, so you’re officially excused from your duties. I imagine Spike is more concerned with keeping you happy and healthy than up to date on your schedule.”

“He and Rainbow have been training like crazy lately. In fact, they’re both outside doing that right now. I think he’s trying to ‘make it up to me.’ About the fact that he couldn’t protect me. We’re all kinda shaken up, but it helps that we can talk it out. Or in Rainbow’s case, fly it out.

“Shining, though, I really missed him. I know he’s been on some kind of deep cover thing, but still…”

“I’m sure he’s every bit as eager to see you as you are to see him. Go. I’ll hold things down over here.”

Twilight gave her a quick hug and started out the door. "Let me know if there’s anything I can do," she said before exiting. She knew what the response would be, but it felt wrong to not at least leave the door open to help.

Before long she was back in the castle proper, walking through the halls and regarding the tall, stained-glass windows brightening the rooms with their multi-hued displays.

As she passed one of them, a bright flash of light made it even more colourful than normal, causing her to walk up to it and open it. Far up in the sky was a little dot moving around making bright flashes of rainbow-tinted light.

"Dash…" The name left Twilight’s lips with but a whimper as she regarded her friend soaring high in the sky. Her friend had spent every waking moment either caring for her, guarding her, or training herself like she was back in boot camp. She only managed to steal one or two glances of this training, each time finding both Rainbow and Spike pushing themselves every bit as hard as Luna had.

She put her head and forelegs on the ledge with a sigh, feeling a squeezing in her heart. “They shouldn’t have to do that…”

“No. No they shouldn’t.”

Twilight turned around, finding the source of the familiar voice: her brother, looking fairly ragged but otherwise no worse for wear.

No words had to be exchanged as they rushed to each other and embraced, her thin coat pushing up against his cold armor. The moment hung in place, the both of them fighting back tears and failing.

“I am so, so proud of you, Twily. So proud. And I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“You were there.” She sniffled. “You were right there with me. Your spell. Your shield. It saved me. I never would’ve survived without it…”

Whether Obsidian’s coughing sound was a near breakdown into tears or appointive laughter, Twilight couldn’t tell. “You know I had to fight myself to allow you to see that? Cadence had to yell at me, too.” He squeezed her tighter than ever. “I should’ve shown you so many years ago…”

“It’s okay. I’m still here. And I understand why you kept it secret. Don’t worry. I destroyed the pages, just like you asked.” She broke the embrace, but kept a hold of him at the shoulders. “Besides, you’re back, and I have a little time. Maybe you can show me more!”

Obsidian rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, pretty soon I’ll have to go back on tour with Cadence. But I do have a little time, at least. And maybe when you’re better I can talk Luna into teleporting me back for a day or two, maybe teach you a few of my moves.”

Twilight relaxed, bringing her hooves back to the floor. “I’d like that. I haven't actually lost a fight yet, but they were all close calls. Feels like I'm just barely making it, you know?”

Obsidian draped his foreleg over her shoulders. “I know what you mean. Besides, you have a little more experience now, and I think you’re ready for some more advanced tricks.”

Twilight instinctively went to brush her mane out of her eyes, momentarily forgetting that it was too short for such a thing. “I kinda wish I had known that from the start, but only had so much time…”

“You cannot teach a student something they are not ready for. I learned this the hard way. If you try, they usually wind up hurting themselves. But, like I said, I think you’re ready for some new stuff.”

Obsidian gave her a poke in the shoulder, causing Twilight to scoot away as he somehow found that one little spot for which she was supremely ticklish; a spot no other pony had ever been able to find.

“Okay, okay!” She laughed, blocking him with her hooves. “I give!” As her brother backed away with a smug little grin, she rubbed her shoulder, reminding herself of something completely absent: Aurora.

“Hey, Shiny, do you know what they did with my torc? Celestia said my armor was damaged, and they needed to repair it, but I'm not sure what that really means for something like that."

Obsidian rubbed his chin. “That torc of yours is bonded armor. It will need time to heal, just like a pony would. Odds are they have it in the Royal Forge downstairs. There’s a special furnace there… Well, it’s not really a furnace. It’s kind of a chamber. The walls are reinforced and warded, and when they seal it up, they carefully vaporize solidified magic until the whole space is nothing but very high density ambient magic. The bonded artifact is left in the middle of the room.”

“How in the world is that supposed to help?” Twilight made a mental note to read up more on bonded armor. I really should have studied this…

“It’s not exactly common knowledge. You won’t find it in most libraries.” He reached over and mussed up her short mane. “But from what I understand, bonded artifacts are able to kinda ‘eat’ ambient magic, as long as said magic is either completely neutral and colourless with regards to its elemental type, or closely aligned to that of its owner’s. Since it has its own wellspring, it will still recover on its own given time, but this way is faster.”

“Oh. At least this means she’s probably okay.” Twilight looked down at the floor, not so much at the tiling itself, but at her mental image of the downstairs Forge.

“She?” Obsidian asked. “You mean your torc?”

“Her name is Aurora. I finally got her to talk to me just before…”

The silence finished the sentence for her.

“I see. If you like, I’d be happy to take you down there.” Obsidian motioned with his head towards the staircase leading down. “Although we really should be there for Plinth’s sentencing. Politically, it would send a strong message. But there’s nothing wrong with heading to the Forge afterwards.”

“I don’t know…” Twilight closed her eyes, stroking her chest with a hoof at where Aurora’s gem core was supposed to be.

“I’m okay.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. Aurora, is that you? She mentally ‘talked’ to her.

“It’s me. Like I said, it kind of hurts to talk like this, but you’re close enough that I can feel you. I think I’m where Obsidian said. There’s a lot of magic around me. It’s helping. But I can’t really see. I don’t actually have eyes, so I have to use yours.”

But you’ll… You’ll be okay?

“Yes. I’m still damaged, and I was unconscious for a long time, but I think I’ll recover. Just, give me some more time. You can make sure the bad guy goes to jail. I’m not ready to be worn yet anyway.”

Okay… I suppose… Twilight rubbed her chest again, feeling like she had been stabbed. Rather, she just stabbed Aurora. In her heart, she knew Aurora meant it, and that there was no point to try and ‘bust her out’ of her metaphorical hospital room, but it still felt strange.

“Don’t be sad. The magic around me is so strong… I don’t think you’d be able to see me anyway, it’s probably very bright. Besides, just having you close means I can feel you here.”

If you’re sure…

“Twilight? Are you okay?” Obsidian was tapping her on her shoulder.

“Sorry, Aurora just got in touch with me. We can kind of… It’s actually a little like telepathy. That or I’m just hearing voices in my head and going completely crazy.”

“I understand. Princess Luna has both a bonded torc and blade, and I’ve been able to ask her about them. Shoot, I was supposed to get some bonded armor when I became Captain, but we didn’t have any cores to spare. At least I had my shields to get me by.

“So, which shall it be? The Forge, or the courtroom? I’ll follow you.” Obsidian motioned to both paths.

“I suppose we should go to the courtroom. Aurora says she’s okay.” Twilight started towards the courts, still feeling a bit of shame that was hanging her head low.

“Attention. Court will resume in approximately fifteen minutes. Please be advised, press are not allowed in the courtroom at this time. Thank you.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and sighed, leaning against the seatback in the courtroom’s visitor’s section, and staring up at the tall, gold-painted ceiling. Across from her, in the defendant’s seat, sat the pony she’d arrested several months ago for defrauding the crown and building a number of unsafe schools and orphanages. The defendant’s lawyer and the prosecutor were also there, but the number of other ponies inside the courtroom was strictly limited due to the case’s high profile in the media.

“You sure you’re okay?” Obsidian leaned in against her, speaking softly enough that only she could hear him. “I can handle this on my own if you need…”

“I’m sure,” she whispered back. “I think… I think Aurora wants me to be here right now, and she might be right. I want to see this. I want to see that I’ve done at least one good, solid thing during my time as Grand Mage so far. Something I can say was a clear victory.” Twilight looked over to Plinth and glared icy daggers at the back of his head. “Something I can be proud of.”

“I’d say you have plenty to be proud of already, but you’re so stubbornly humble that I doubt you’d listen. In fact, I know you don’t see it that way, but you should be especially proud of what you did in Zebrica.”

Twilight scoffed. “You weren’t there. I was so close. If I had caught that ring, I could’ve—”

Obsidian lit his horn, casting a spell that projected barrier after barrier around them, eventually sealing them off from the rest of the room in an eerie, indigo glow. “There. Complete privacy. You can say whatever you want now.”

Twilight’s head dropped even further. “And I almost said that in an open court… I swear, I’m as bad as Applejack sometimes.”

“I think they were paying more attention to their last-minute, last-ditch defence, but I still wouldn’t worry about it. Now, what were you going to say?”

“I was going to say that I’d almost caught this ring, the one that had all the bonded gems. But it was just moving too fast… If I had caught it, there wouldn’t have been an explosion at all.”

“That’s not the way you should be thinking. Granted, it’s completely natural to think like that, but if you let it go too far it’ll eat you alive.” Obsidian reached out with a hoof and turned her head, linking their gazes. "Trust me. I’ve been there. In fact, I was there very early on in my military career.”

“You were? But I don’t…” Twilight sighed, her mind catching up. “Let me guess. It was classified, and you couldn’t tell me about it. But now you can, and you’re going to make me listen.”

“Bingo. Story time. But first… Give me a second here.” He let his horn again, sending a little magic into the gem in the centre of his Night Guard chest plate. “Testing… Test— , here we go.”

His voice cracked and returned to what was before he donned the mantle of High Cardinal and became Obsidian Armor. Despite still looking like a terror of the night, he sounded like the Shining Twilight always knew.

“Where was I,” he coughed, his voice still cracking. “Do you remember where I was first deployed to?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Some island in Marelaysia.”

Obsidian gave her a light noogie. “And do you know what’s in Marelaysia? I mean, aside from tropical diseases, absolutely obscene amounts of humidity, and the best beaches anywhere.”

"Marelaysia has any number of unique landscapes, flora, and fauna. I'm afraid you're going to have to be more spe—"

"Typhoons," Obsidian answered for her. "Lots of them. Around a couple dozen each and every year. The locals generally know how to deal with them, but there's always something unexpected. The main issue is that they're too far away and too poor to afford real weather control, so they rely on a few local daredevils to provide reactionary coverage; dealing with stuff as it comes rather than planning everything out. Only problem is, typhoons are much too large to simply 'deal with.' I found that out the hard way."

Twilight's head jerked back. “That’s right, I remember you writing about having to hunker down in a shelter… You weren’t in a shelter, were you…”

“I was eventually. The stuff before that? That’s the stuff that was classified. See, me and my buddy Arctic Snow just got stationed there with a ton of other baby-faced recruits fresh out of BASIC—"

Twilight laughed. "You? Baby-faced? Sorry, BBBFF, but I think Cadence would say you've always had a lantern jaw."

Obsidian smiled. "Good to hear you laugh again, sis. Anyway, we were there for a day and already we knew we had the worst base commander in history. Huge flank-wipe. What's worse, he goes and gets sick and drunk, not sick drunk, but tropical-disease sick and drunk on our third day when a category four typhoon gets spotted flying at us like a Wonderbolt. We've got a few hours tops before it makes landfall, and the commander is KO.

"To make matters worse, most of the command chain were coming down with symptoms. In other words, all the ponies that were there before us. So Arctic and I stepped up. He took flight with the local weather pegasi and the other pegasi recruits and did his best to lead them in the air. While they fought the storm head-on, I hit the town to move everypony to shelter as best I could."

Twilight put her ears down. "Sounds... awful. What happened?"

Obsidian took in a deep breath. "Arctic and his team somehow knocked the storm down to a category two. We lost around twenty ponies, all civilians on the ground."

She pulled him tight in a hug. "I'm sorry..."

"The thing is, we found out later that normally a cat-two storm results in around forty casualties. Cat-fours are in the hundreds. Also, usually at least one pegasus dies fighting a storm like that, but Arctic kept them all alive. Not to mention that you're extremely lucky to knock a category-four down just one level, never mind two. Command thought it was a damned spectacular success and gave Arctic a medal and me a written commendation, then classified much of the incident to protect the commander from outrage from the locals."

Twilight winced, finally understanding his message. "Ponies still died, but you saved some. You're saying I should think destroying a whole town a success, brother?"

He gave her a light nuzzle. "Twily, I'm saying you should view it as saving Zebrica, Saddle Arabia, and even Equestria, not failing to save the one that was lost. Those pegasi that went up there? They do it time and time again, every single typhoon. They're bigger heroes than any of the generals, and all they're doing is trying to get the fatalities down. They're sad when they lose anypony, yes, but they keep going, because they understand what would happen if they didn't. That's what it means to serve."

He lifted her chin with his hoof and turned her gaze directly into his. "With things like this, don't beat yourself up over who you couldn't save. Remember them, yes, but remember that you did save ponies. Lots of ponies. Over and over again, you've stepped up to defend Equestria and beyond. You're a hero too, Twily. Don't ever let anypony tell you otherwise, especially Twilight Sparkle."

She grabbed him, pulling him into a deep hug and letting her tears fall on his back.

"It'll be okay, Twily," he whispered. "We're all here for you."

“Thank you,” she sniffled, feeling the weight ease off of her back. “Thank you so much…”

Minutes passed with her simply resting there, recollecting herself. Obsidian had even took out a neckerchief to help dry her eyes. When they finally dropped all the shields, the court session was about to begin.

Twilight leaned back in her seat, staring up at the judge’s position with curiosity. Since she was the one who arrested him, one of the Royal Family would have to be the pony to ultimately pass sentence. Since both of the alicorn Princesses were busy, that left the Royal quarter, and since her brother was next to her instead of presiding, that left only one possible judge left in her mind.

I’ve never seen Cadence in a court setting before… I wonder how she runs — no. Twilight’s eyes went wide as she noticed the particular throne being moved in position. It did not bear the seal of Celestia, or Luna, nor the seal of the Duchy of the Lost. Instead, the seat gilded in rose gold bore a seal that was entirely different: the Duchy of Canterlot.

“Blueblood’s going to be the one to pass sentence!?” Twilight hissed in a whisper at her brother. “He hates me! Why isn’t Cadence doing it?”

“Cadence’s, or rather our Duchy was the one defrauded by this stallion. Both of us are too close to the case to meet impartiality standards.” Obsidian said, his voice returning to the Night Guard bass. He even ran his hoof along Twilight’s back, presumably to reassure her.

It didn’t work.

“Yeah, but… It’s Blueblood!”

“He did try to reconcile with you, Twilight.”

“Yeah, because his own butt was on the line. I didn’t buy that for a second.”

“Actually, I hear he had a ‘come to Celestia’ moment with, well, Celestia. I’m honestly not worried.”

“But if he—”

“Twily.” He covered her mouth with the tip of his hoof. “Relax. If Blueblood screws this up, we’ll go to Celestia together and demand an appeal.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and let out a fake, exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll give him a chance.” She folded her forelegs. “One chance.”

“Attention! Attention! Court is now in session! All rise for his Honourable Highness, Prince Blueblood.”

Pfft. Honourable. Twilight rolled her eyes as she stood up along with her brother. Neither of them technically had to afford him such an honor, but even in Twilight’s inexperience, she knew that not doing so might cause a political kerfuffle.

“Okay then, let’s get this underway, shall we?” Blueblood said as he strode in and plopped his rear down on his ill-deserved throne. “I’ve been reading the case notes. List of charges is fairly hefty. I understand, however, that there is a plea agreement in place?”

The prosecutor, an earth pony mare, bowed her head. “Yes, Your Highness. The prosecution is satisfied with the arrangement.”

“And you, Mister Plinth,” Blueblood said, turning slightly in his throne to face the stallion. “I assume that your lawyer has advised you as to what accepting a plea agreement entails? That by doing so, you are admitting complete guilt to these crimes, which will forever be on your record? That you will be incarcerated for the agreed-upon time, without a possibility of parole?”

Plinth stood up and bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I see…” Blueblood twirled his gavel in his magic and stroked his chin. “Prosecutor, I am led to believe that there are continuing obligations for Mister Plinth as a part of this plea agreement?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The defendant has agreed to continue to supply the government with information regarding his criminal ties in exchange for leniency in sentencing.”

“Indeed, but…” Blueblood made a face at the documents before him, one that Twilight had seen and made many times before: one of disgust. “Only five years? For a list of charges including attempted murder of a peace officer? I must admit, I’m a little curious as to how you arrived at that number.”

“Five years!? That’s it!?” Twilight shot up, slamming her forehooves down on the backrest in front of her. “That stallion endangered thousands of lives, shot at me, shot a police sergeant, defrauded the government, and you’re only giving him five years!?”

“Order! Order!” Blueblood slammed his gavel down. “Grand Mage Sparkle, I appreciate where you are coming from, but please, allow me to conduct my own courtroom.”

Plinth leaned into the defence’s microphone. “Your Highness, I request a mistrial! She’s clearly out to get me!”

His lawyer shoved him back down into his seat. “My apologies, Your Highness. That outburst was not made with my recommendation.”

Blueblood slammed his gavel down again, setting it aside only after the courtroom had fallen into silence. “Mister Plinth, you request a mistrial?” he asked, eyebrow raised and voice full of incredulity. “To be frank, you are already trying my patience. If I toss this to another one of the royals, it would mean passing it to Princess Cadence, seeing as both of the eternal sisters have already passed on the opportunity to oversee this hearing. I rather doubt you want the one who you’ve defrauded to make this decision, don’t you agree?”

“He does agree, Your Honor,” the lawyer answered for him before he had a chance to open his mouth.

“Very good. Now, prosecutor, I ask you once again. Is the prosecution satisfied with this plea agreement?”

“Um…” The mare wiped some sweat off her brow. “Yes, Your Majesty. Given the value of the information, and—”

“Well, I am not satisfied.” Blueblood banged his gavel nearly hard enough to break it. “I’m not about to toss a light sentence at somepony who attempted to murder a de facto member of the Royal Family, whether they realized who was on the other side of the door or not!”

“Your Highness, please!” The defence lawyer bowed down low. “The value of the intelligence my client is providing—”

“Is utterly insignificant compared to the lives of the Royal Family.” Blueblood’s gavel came down again.

Twilight wasn’t sure what kind of face she was making, but she was sure it wasn’t appropriate for a courtroom setting. Somehow, Blueblood is managing to be both on my side and completely full of himself. I don’t know if I should be disgusted or impressed…

“Foible Plinth, as you were arrested by the Grand Mage, your guilt is automatically assumed. In addition, the evidence available leaves me no room to doubt your culpability. As such, I hereby sentence you to seventy-five years at the Stalliongrad Remote Incarceration Complex."

“Your Highness!” The prosecutor called out, reaching up with a hoof like a foal trying to ask a question of its teacher. “The intelligence provided is important! We need—”

“If the convicted continues to provide intelligence as demanded of him, and maintains good behaviour while he’s incarcerated, I will allow parole in twenty-five years, and provide the additional protection measures as outlined in the original plea agreement. Failure to comply will mean being held with the general population.”

“But—” both lawyers cried out, only to be silenced by the final fall of the gavel.

“I have made my decision, and it shall stand. Court adjourned.” He got up off of this throne and left the room through the judge’s door, leaving the courtroom in silence, save for the bailiff coming to escort away the condemned.

Twilight sat there, utterly silent as all the other ponies eventually left her alone with her brother.

“I told you to give him a chance.” Obsidian stood up, motioning for Twilight to follow him. “There was no way Blueblood wasn’t going to throw the book at a pony in a case like this.”

“How?” Twilight stood up to move, but it was more automatic than a conscious desire. “How did you know? Was it just to get on my good side? Does he know about… You know…”

Obsidian shook his head. “I doubt it. But what you’re forgetting, is that this was a case involving orphans. Cadence and I are the Royals of the Lost, but Blueblood lost his parents, too, when the Valentia was destroyed.”

Twilight froze in place, everything becoming as clear as crystal in an instant. “Blueblood is an orphan too…”

“Exactly. He’s a complete, egotistical jerk, don’t get me wrong. Absolutely full of himself. Genuinely thinks he’s better than anypony else save Celestia. But he’s also not completely without compassion. When it comes to governing, at least.”

“I suppose I can accept that much,” Twilight grumbled. “Still feels really weird to think of him as anything but completely self-absorbed. I still can't see how this is anything but a political disaster. He completely torpedoed any idea that he was impartial.”

“Therein lies the genius of giving Blueblood this particular case. It's because everypony already knows he's a complete jerk. They expect him to be a complete jerk. It would be news if he wasn't. As it is, this is just normal. Barely newsworthy at all. The results of this will be on page B20 of the papers, buried under a story about a rescued puppy finding a permanent home.”

The light of dawn hit Twilight in the face like a kick from a draft stallion. “Wait… That means… Blueblood is Celestia's bulldog! He can be as belligerent and rude as he wants, even as he pushes for Celestia’s policies, and there's nothing the Council can do about it! If they complain, to everypony else, it's just Blueblood being his typical self! There's no political traction to the story!”

“Bingo! Welcome to realpolitik. Perception, expectations, the news cycles, phrasing, it all trumps reality in the game of popular support. It's insane, but it's how the world works. Somepony complains about Blueblood being a douche to the press, and everypony rolls their eyes and asks what else is new. At the same time, though, he's fighting tooth, hoof, and horn for Celestia, and for his Duchy.

“Like I said, there was no way in hell he was going to let Plinth off light. A pony that endangered orphans and managed to dig his corruption in deep in Canterlot? He was doomed, pure and simple.

“So don't be too hard on Bluey. Give him a chance to show his good side. It's there, just buried.” Obsidian gave her a little nudge to get her walking again. “After all, isn’t forgiveness a cornerstone of friendship?”

“Yes, but…” Twilight was about to say she didn’t want to be friends with him, but an image of a very disappointed looking Celestia popped into her mind. “But nothing, you’re right. I’ll give him another chance, it’s just… I’m honestly not holding out much hope.”

“I’m not asking you to be unrealistic, just open-minded to adjusting your perceptions a little. But hey, that’s enough drama for one day. Come on, let’s go visit the forge, and then we’ll get some coffee at Donut Joe’s and talk about magic. Just like old times. Rainbow and Spike can come, too. I’d drag Cadence along, but she’s off doing some Council stuff.”

“I think… I think I’d like that.” Twilight said, stretching. “I think I’d like that a lot.” Her mind drifted a bit, reminding her of one of her newest friends. “Can we invite Trixie, too? She’s also been through alot, and could probably use it.”

“You’re the Grand Mage, Twilight. Whatever you say, goes. Even if it means the kitchen has to make that disgusting cayenne-spiked coffee of yours.”

“Shows what you know. My coffee is awesome.” Twilight giggled and stuck out her tongue at him. “Still, thanks Shiny. For everything.”

“Anytime, Twily. Anytime.”

Author's Note

Aurora survived! Yay!

Thanks to all the Patreon peoples for helping make this series possible and giving me hope for my writing career. Due to new FimFic rules, I had to change how the rewards work, but it’s all good. Those who join at $3+ per month can join our exclusive Skype Patreon channel, where I am free to post links to upcoming stuff if I so choose. ;) Be sure to check my latest blog post for more potential news on my Patreon.

As you might have guessed, this is my attempt to make Blueblood three dimensional. Don’t know if it worked or not, but I tried.

Oh, crap. I’m almost out of chapters I have names for. Going to have to catch up. Tune in next time for Chapter 47: Snowfight! Thanks again for sticking with me!

-Cv

Patreon | General Skype Channel | Tropes Page

Questionable Procedures

“I trust this will suffice, Lady Sparkle.”

As Twilight returned the chief’s small bow and stepped into the chambers, the faint scent of smoke wafted into her nostrils. Rich, earthy stone and bronze adorned the walls, lit by a pair of crackling torches with a number of fire-control runes engraved in them. It wasn’t quite a true suite, but was more a single, large room for many purposes. On the right, a series of hammocks hung in place of beds. The left had a kitchenette, the center a dining area, and far away from the door what amounted to a living room sat underneath a huge, wide, glassless window.

There was also a bookshelf.

“Yes, this will do nicely. We’ll see you at dinner?”

“Of course,” the chief said with a bow. “I must take my leave now, though there are guards down the hall should you need anything. Please, enjoy your stay.” The door latched with a click as he closed it behind him, leaving Twilight and her companions alone, theoretically.

Twilight wasted no time in placing security barriers along all the walls, the window, the door, and even a mirror. After all were in place, she focused on tuning each one in sequence and turning them from a bright purple wall into a sheen that was only barely visible.

“I don’t think the gryphons usually do spying, Twilight.” Rainbow stiffened and scowled, mimicking gryphons standing at attention. “It wouldn’t be honorable!” she groused like the chief.

“Just because the gryphons wouldn’t doesn’t mean others wouldn’t as well. I’m not so worried about what the gryphons are up to here. Honestly, they seem to be on the level. Or, at least, the Prince does. Everypony else, though?”

“Yeah, good point.” Spike opened up some cabinets, inspecting them for anything suspicious. “Trixie was attacked by ponies, not gryphons. Yet we think the illusionists are operating here. I don’t think they’re doing it with the gryphons’ permission.”

“Exactly. If they’re here, I’m betting the gryphons don’t know about it. We might wind up having to tell them, but unless it’s necessary, don’t breathe a word of this to them. Also, don’t write about any of this. Not while we’re here.”

“Write?” Trixie asked. “What do you mean?”

“Gryphons have crazy awesome vision.” Rainbow pretended to hold up binoculars to her face. “Like, ridiculously awesome. You know how this place is a coliseum? The fights take place from the valley below, up to the sky above, and the gryphons can see all of it. They see it as well as we would see something five meters away. If you write something down, not only could they see it over your shoulder, but they could see it in the little grooves your writing makes on anything you put under the piece of paper. Like, the next in a stack of seats, or the table you were writing on.”

“And they can zoom like a telescope,” Twilight added. “So try not to write anything sensitive while you’re here. Instead, use whispers. As good as their eyes are, their ears can’t hold a candle to ours. Non sensitive stuff is fine to write, though. I know Spike brought a crossword puzzle book.”

“No writing classified stuff, got it.” Trixie saluted, though it was somewhat sloppy compared to those of the Royal Guard. “What happens if we have to fight them?”

“Don’t.” Twilight replied with the sternness in her voice that she didn’t expect. “Seriously, I don’t think any of us are going to be able to win a fight with a higher ranking gryphon.”

“Ahem!” Rainbow practically hacked up a hairball her cough was so fake.

“Okay, Rainbow might win. Maybe. At least, she stands a better chance than any of us. If they try to fight, surrender. Any gryphon trying to harm a pony that has legitimately surrendered will almost certainly be torn apart in a few seconds by any other gryphons standing nearby.”

Rainbow chuckled and then drew an invisible line across her neck. “Yeah, nothing cheeses off a gryphon quite like seeing a bully about to kill someone.”

“Wouldn’t that be tarnishing the pride of the Evening Guard?” Spike asked.

“Yes and no.” Twilight began to pace around the room, her hooves clicking softly on the stone. “It would be, at least initially, but once it’s discovered there was no reason for the fight, and the gryphon was the aggressor, the shame would be heaped upon the gryphon. Ultimately, you would be held up with pride for having a cool head in a tense situation. If you absolutely must to defend your life, be efficient. Especially you, Trixie.

“You see, gryphon wellsprings aren’t like ours. When they use magic, they don’t draw on them. Instead, their wellsprings gather the ambient magic around them and use that to perform whatever task they have in mind. They do this for everything, from flying to offensive spells.”

“Empty night!” Trixie’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, realizing the implication. “Which means that whenever a unicorn isn’t absolutely, perfectly efficient in the spell, she leaks magic into the environment, wasting it, which means…”

“That’s right. Any magic you don’t use in the spell, they can absorb and use against you, and that’s on top of what was already in the environment. Now, not all gryphons can cast spells, but unless they’re wearing a mage’s uniform, you can’t tell which ones can and which ones can’t just from a glance. So, always assume that they can.”

“Also, always assume that they can just cut you into pieces with their giant swords.” Rainbow made a few slicing movements with her forelegs. “Or just beat you into a bloodied pulp. Remember, each and every gryphon is either in or has been in the military. Well, almost all of them. But like, ninety-nine percent. Seriously, it’s like, compulsory. By swordpoint compulsory.”

“Ugh. So what’s the plan then?” Trixie climbed into one of the hammocks, her left rear leg hanging out. “Just hang out here for a while? Shouldn’t we be going out looking?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t want to do that just yet. It would seem suspicious. Let’s use tomorrow as an excuse. The Prince will give us a tour, and you and Rainbow will be out ‘looking for threats.’ We’ll pull a few radios from the Princess’s chariot and coordinate. The charioteers that brought us here will be on standby, though I don’t know if they’ll be useful in a fight against these illusionists, given that only you and I can break their illusions. We’ll have to play it by ear if it happens.

“For now, let’s take a nice break.” She lifted up Stellar Horizon’s book and gave it a little shake. “After all, I’ve got something that needs reading.”

“To our honoured guests, that the peace between us may last for all time.”

“Hear, hear!” Their steins were raised and toasted over a vast table made of a single piece of solid, polished wood. To Twilight’s surprise, the gryphons started chugging their drinks as fast as they could. Twilight followed suit and brought her own slightly smaller — yet still oversized for her — stein to her lips.

After a quick drink, the Prince bowed to the table and said, “I know that ponies do not have our fortitude for alcohol, so I do not expect you to—”

Twilight kept drinking.

“Um, Twilight?” Spike asked.

The amber liquid flowed down Twilight’s throat, sweet notes of honey and flowers dancing on her tongue and mingling with the notes of smoke from the torches lighting the hall. I sure hope this spell works. Out of breath, she set down the stein and exhaled. “This is good stuff, I have to admit.”

Trixie, Rainbow, and Spike sat at their seats, slack-jawed and silenced.

Twilight put her ears back. “Um, I can explain…”

“My, my. That I did not expect,” the Prince said, stroking his beard. “Perhaps tonight will be more interesting than I suspected.”

“Well, I am kind of cheating a little.” Twilight picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth, the aroma of the mead tingling her senses once more. “I used an anti-intoxication spell when I was in the restroom.”

Rainbow exhaled in relief. "Whew! I thought we had a changeling there for a moment. Although, I'm not sure if changelings actually eat solid food or not..."

“Hmph.” The chief ruffled his feathers. “A dishonest Grand Mage? I suppose I should have expect—”

“Not dishonest. Dishonest would be to challenge someone to a drinking contest and use the spell to win. Simply to use it to avoid intoxication in a social setting, and to admit to it, is merely being cautious, if not courteous. Do not use such harsh words for our guests, Chief." The Prince snapped his talons, summoning the first course and mercifully dampening the awkwardness smothering the room.

"My apologies again, Lady Sparkle," the chief said with a small bow of his head. "I've often been criticized for my quick tongue. I prefer to think of it as a type of earnestness."

"It's okay. I honestly think it's kind of cheating myself, but I don't think I would've been able to take more than a few mouthfuls without the spell." Twilight took another gulp of the mead as the first plate of the dinner was placed in front of her. It was a small dish of some kind of noodle, most likely wheat-based, if her knowledge of local flora was anything to go by, plus a pinkish-red sauce of some kind. Shortly after, three small bottles of condiments and a bowl of shredded cheese joined them.

Hmmm... What's this? Twilight picked up the first one and took a whiff of something vinegary, yet robust. Not quite what I'm looking for. The next was creamier, yet pungent with a hint of something that may or may not have been mushroom. Nope, not that one either.

"I think the next one is the one you want, Twi," Spike said with a wink.

Aha! "Thank you, Spike." Twilight picked up the bottle and sniffed to confirm its strength, then turned it upside down.

"I would be careful with that, Lady Sparkle." Princess Freya picked up her own bottle, holding it delicately in her talons. "This is called Embersia, named after fire embers, and it can be very—"

Twilight shook the bottle and promptly dumped the entire contents out on the noodles.

"—spicy."

Sauce and starch wrapped around her fork, then made their way into her mouth and down her throat, leaving behind a furious, smoky heat. “This is good stuff!" she said after a swallow. “I don't suppose I could get a crate of this sent to the castle?”

"Another safeguard spell, perhaps?" Prince Ragnar gave his beard a stroke.

"Nah, she just likes spicy things." Spike’s own bottle of whatever the spicy stuff was also half-empty, along with one of the others. "So do I, really, but when you can breathe fire I suppose that's expected."

"Back when I first moved to Ponyville I accidentally poured hot sauce in a cup and drank it straight." Twilight dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "Ever since then, I've been eating spicier and spicier things. I even have Spike beat at this point."

"Feh!" The Chief shook out his wings while Twilight marveled at his ability to say that without any lips. "This is a transparent attempt to curry favor with his highness. No mere pony could be capable of eating Embersia like that without the aid of a spell."

"Twilight can." Spike raised his hand. "I was there. I watched her descend into capsaicin madness."

"Same." Rainbow raised her hoof.

Enok pointed talon at Trixie. "Then why is she working on such a spell?"

Trixie didn't even look up from her notebook, instead choosing to wave off the chief and continue her scribbles. "Quiet, I've almost got it figured out. Anything Twilight can do, I should be able to do."

"Mistaaaaake…" Rainbow muttered, giving the mare an eyeroll.

"It is remarkable, but I don't think it's anywhere near impossible, Chief." the Prince said.

Enok grumbled. “I’m not so sure, my Prince.”

"Unless you're just jealous, Enok. What you think, dear?" The Princess gave her husband a wink.

"Well now, there's a theory." If Twilight didn't know any better, she’d have described the Prince’s smile as mischievous, perhaps even Celestia–like.

"Please. I have nothing to be jealous over."

"Prove it."

Enok’s eyes widened and darted to the little bottle, freezing for only an instant before he reached out and dumped its contents onto his plate.

At the same time, a spark from Trixie's horn had Twilight switching to her magic sight just in time to see the structure of the spell. A damage soak? But that won't—

"Ha ha! Trixie has done it!" She too dumped over the bottle and heaved a helping into her mouth just as the chief finished swallowing his.

Spike shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled something out, and slammed it on the table hard enough to bounce the plates. "Five bits says Trixie runs out of the room screaming before Enok!"

"Spike!" Twilight glared at him.

Two forks clattered on their plates, dropped as their owners covered their mouth and beak.

More bits hit the table from a cerulean hoof. "Ten says Enok runs first!"

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, reorienting her glare while Trixie squeezed tears from her eyes and pounded her hoof on her armrest, and Enok twisted his head almost entirely backwards while rocking back and forth. At this rate, we're going to cause an international inci—

An even larger thud rang out from the end of the table, the wood all but cracking under the strain of the Prince’s fist. "Fifteen more on Trixie running!"

"Dear!" Based on her husband’s reaction, Freya could probably give Shining lessons on how to intimidate someone.

"I can’t take it anymore!" Trixie screamed, falling to the stone floor, sending her stein of mead clattering across the floor.

"Come on, Trixie! You can do it!" Rainbow flapped her wings in a small hover. "We believe in you! Or at least I do! And that’s what’s important!"

Enok had already finished his stein and was getting slapped away from the Prince’s.

"Pride comes before a fall, chief." Ragnar guzzled the entire contents of the stein in a few quick gulps, denying Enok any hope of more liquid.

Twilight imagined that if the chief had teeth to grind, he probably would have cracked one by now. She also imagined that Trixie would have a mighty headache from banging her head on the table leg like that.

<> the chief swore in one of the few profanities Twilight could recognize in their language, tearing out of the room and leaving a rush of wind behind him.

"Wait for Trrrriiiixxxxiiieeeeeee!" Trixie screamed, running after him in a full blown gallop.

"Yes!" Rainbow leapt into the air, doing a somersault under the vast, tall ceiling. "What am I? Element of Loyalty! L-O-Y-A-L-T-Y! That's why I win every time!"

"Yeah, yeah. Take your money." Spike tossed his coins to Rainbow. "And here I thought the birds were immune to capsaicin."

"We are, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other substances that taste spicy to us." The Prince turned to Twilight. "I must say, Lady Sparkle, I like your guards! A breath of fresh air compared to Celestia’s stuffy Day Guard."

"Wanna trade?" Twilight grumbled.

"Much as I would find that interesting, it’s fairly obvious that political circumstances wouldn’t allow it."

"What a shame." Twilight's eyes launched volleys of disapproval at Rainbow and Spike, but they were too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice. "Rainbow, get going and make sure nothing happens to Trixie."

"Heh. Sure thing. I mean, she did just win me thirty bits!" Rainbow flew off after them.

The Prince rubbed his hands together like Bon Bon during Hearts and Hooves day. "So, what should we wager on next?"

“Hey there, how are you doing?” Twilight stepped past Rainbow and Spike guarding the door and poked her head into the guest suite, finding Trixie laying on a bed alone, with a glass of water and some baking soda. There was a privacy shield on the window, and her armor manual on her lap.

“Miserable,” Trixie groaned, turning over to face Twilight. “Their doctors gave me some milk and antacid, but I think I’m going to need some aspirin, too. My stomach is killing me. Trixie is never eating spicy food again.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad, I think. After I first overdid it, I came to like it!” Twilight stepped into the room, approaching slowly and with a smile on her face. “And the Prince seems pleased about how things went. I tried to apologize, but he just laughed. Said it was about time Chief Enok got hoisted by his own petard.”

“Not to mention myself.” Trixie rested her head on her hooves and lowered her ears as Twilight moved closer. “I bet you enjoyed watching that.”

“Not at all, Trixie.” Twilight climbed into the hammock next to the showmare’s, letting it swing as one of her hind legs dangled. “I admit, I was mostly concerned about diplomatic issues, but I was also concerned about you.”

“Trixie will be okay. My stomach is getting better, though I imagine I have a long appointment with the toilet tomorrow.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Twilight looked her straight in her tired, bloodshot eyes. “I mean, you only did that to beat me at something. I understand why you're jealous, and I accept it. But Trixie, I never meant to lord anything over you, and I’ve never meant you any harm.”

“I know. And honestly, it might have been easier for me if you had. It would have been so simple if you insulted me back, responded to my barbs in the media, or had been as snooty as Blueblood. I could hate you and be done with it.

“But I can’t do that. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, saved my life, given me so much. Yes, you've done a couple of insensitive things, but your intentions have always been pure. Still, I thought I had something tonight. I thought I had caught you doing something dishonest, and I thought I could finally show you up, Even if it was the something so…” Trixie’s eyes froze for a moment, and then rolled with her body as she shifted onto her back. “Immature. Pedantic. I really am a loser, I guess.”

“Nopony is saying that, Trixie. I do wish you had exercised more restraint, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

"Then why is the Captain trying to get rid of me?"

Twilight’s head jerked back in surprise, and her tail twitched. "Rainbow? I find that hard to—”

“Not that captain. The other one. In the Royal Guard.” Trixie rolled back onto her stomach, curling up and hiding her nose behind her tail. “He keeps telling me to keep my things packed, even though I don’t really have much of anything. My cart is still back in Hoofington in the woods somewhere. And Trixie knows he’s been talking to others to get her moved. She— I, overheard him calling me a ‘security risk’ to some general who keeps giving me a look of disgust every time I see her.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed into slits. "Which general?"

"I’m not sure. Tall, blonde, flowy robes, rose in her hair…"

“Gemstone. That’s Gemstone Quartz. I’ve never met him, but my brother says he’s as big a fop as Prince Blueblood, but with the magic power to actually mean something in a fight. He’s supposed to be the second most powerful of the Generals, and leads the largest number of unicorn mages.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “‘He?’ That’s supposed to be a stallion?”

Twilight shrugged. “Apparently.”

“I mean, I suppose I never actually saw his, you know, through all the robes. But still, Trixie could've sworn that was a ‘mare looking down on another mare’ look.”

“The generals apparently have a lot of latitude in terms of how they dress, as long as they get certain insignia on their clothes.” Twilight lit her horn and pulled out her journal and pen. “The question is, why is Quartz working with Captain Strike on this? Strike I could see doing this, if for no other reason than because he’s a jerk. But Shiny seems to think that Quartz is one of Celestia’s loyalists. It doesn’t make sense.”

“And how do we stop it?" Trixie pulled a pillow over her head. “I feel like I'm being thrown to the wolves."

“Hmm.” Twilight closed her eyes, the political chessboard laid out in her mind. Square after square grew dark as unknowns filled the board. Damn. I still don’t have the connections, the political capital. I need more allies… No, what I need more of are friends…

“Do not interrupt them. Friendship is not only important for harmony, but is especially important to my student, who is your superior. If they wish to take time to mend their fences, we should allow it.”

“For now, make that little trip to the unkempt village that you love so much, and rest easy, as you have a new friend in high places.”

Okay, so it isn’t hopeless yet. I would prefer not to have to rely on Blueblood, which leaves one option. Twilight hopped off the hammock and held Trixie's hoof with her own. "Trixie, if they throw you out, here’s what you do. Come and get me. Just head straight for wherever I am. I can take care of it."

“W-What if they throw me out of the castle and I can't get to you?” Trixie sniffled. “I don't think they’re going to run this by you first.”

“Then make a break for Ponyville. Take the train, a chariot if you can get one, or just run there as fast as you can. Get to either the library or Sweet Apple Acres. Either my parents or the Apples will shelter you until they can get word to me, and each has a Royal Guard watching undercover every single second of the day. They will not stand by if the Illusionists attack, and once I get there, I’ll be able to override the Captain’s orders.”

Twilight leaned in close and put her foreleg over the mare’s back. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I consider you my friend. I won’t abandon you. Trust me.”

Trixie bowed her head. “I do trust you. It’s funny, because I know I shouldn’t. At least, I would think I shouldn’t, but I do.” She looked down at the gem in her armor. “It’s been decades since I’ve had a friend…”

Twilight smiled. “Then I’m glad you found me when you did.”

"As am I. Even though at the time I thought for sure you had something terrible planned for me..." Trixie looked off to the side of the room, clutching her leg and staring into a mirror. "Twilight, I have something I need to ask you."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I..." Trixie clenched her teeth, steeling herself. "I need to tell you. This mission is a trap.”

Twilight put her ears down. “A trap? For me?”

“No. For me.” Trixie shivered and sniffed. “It’s how it always goes. Some hope gets dangled in front of me. But it's a trap. Just to show they're in control. Every single time…” Tears dropped down her cheeks and to the floor.

“Trixie…”

“Whatever you have planned, they know it already. They're going to take me away.”

Twilight pulled her into a hug. “I won't let that happen. I promise you.”

“I want you to let them.”

Twilight gasped.What?

“I've been running so long I don't remember what it's like to not be afraid. To not have to wonder about every corner. If it's going to be the last one I turn. I can't do this anymore!”

Twilight let her go, trying to see her eyes, but they wouldn't open.

“I have one hope left: the counter spell. If it fails, I won't let them take me alive. But if it works, what do I even do? Keep running until they figure out how to beat it? There's no way I can win by myself. I don’t even know what to do! I need you to tell me there’s a way...”

Twilight pushed Trixie’s chin up and squeezed it, forcing her to look her in the eyes. “Trixie, listen to me. There is a way. Starting tomorrow, no, starting right now, they're on the run from us.”

Trixie's lip quivered.

“You've been fighting so long and losing. What you need, more than anything, is a victory. I'm going to give it to you. Here's what we're going to do.” Twilight checked the privacy shield once more, making sure all was intact. “We're going to work all night on your spell. It'll be better than ever. Then, you're going to take point in the search. When they confront you, you'll tear them and their little parlour trick to pieces while I shut down their amplification crystal. I bet it'll be easier to detect than ever while they flail about, trying to keep their advantage.

“Once that's done, Rainbow will fly you out so fast they won't even have time to react, and then they'll be completely exposed. Ripe pickings for hundreds of gryphons.”

Twilight gave her another hug. “This isn't a trap for you. This is a trap for them. I'm going to see to it.”

“Twilight…” Trixie squeezed her hard enough to pop a few joints. “Thank you… Friend…”

“You're welcome, Trixie.” Twilight sighed and looked into her friend's purple eyes. "Don't worry. We'll get these guys. All you have to do is promise to stay with us and never give up."

"Trixie will! And I'll do even better than that!" Trixie scrambled to her armor locker, took out a boot, and tossed it at Twilight. "Abusing my stomach isn't all I've been doing tonight. I've also been reading the manual for this stuff. This armor is incredible! A reactive shield, customized components for an earth unicorn, and take a look at the bottom part of that piece."

Twilight turned the part around, looking at the fetlock piece. "There's a new enchantment here. Did you do that?"

"Yes! It included a few slots for customization. Trixie can use it to mix my earth pony and unicorn magic!"

Twilight scratched her chin. "There's room left. Maybe we can use this to give the Illusionists an even better surprise."

Thud, thud!

Twilight pulled down the privacy shield. “What’s up, Rainbow?”

Rainbow’s poked her head in through the doorway. “The Prince is here for you.”

“The Prince? Odd.” Twilight walked to the center of the room, keeping her head held high. “Send him in, Rainbow.”

The door swung open the rest of the way, revealing the large form of Prince Ragnar. His light metal armor was replaced with softer clothes in hues of blue, white, and purple. Gold irises locked on Twilight, shifting and dancing to view her in a clarity Twilight couldn’t even comprehend. One thing she could be certain of, however, was the dark gravity that had consumed the chamber.

“I take it this isn’t a friendly visit.” Twilight glanced over at Trixie for an instant, finding her already off the hammock and collected, ready for a fight.

“Not quite friendly, no. But not hostile.” The Prince reached down to his side, taking out his sword and placing it on the ground with the handle facing Twilight.

“Then what are you here for?” Trixie asked.

“I need to speak with the Grand Mage, alone, and off-record.”

“Not happening, pal.” Rainbow flared out her wings. “If you have something to say, say it here where I can see you.”

“Rainbow! Manners!” Twilight pounded a hoof. “Let me deal with this.” She turned back to the Prince and cleared her throat. “My sincerest apologies, Prince Ragnar. However, given the degree of the threats against me, my Captain is not unwarranted in her caution.”

“I can appreciate that, Grand Mage Sparkle. However, I can assure you, I have extraordinarily compelling reasons for you to join me.”

“Like what?”

“Rainbow!” Twilight snapped again. “Very well, Prince. Where would you like to meet?”

“You do not know the way. Follow me, and I will take us someplace safe.” The Gryphon bowed his head, turning around and walking out the door.

“Are you sure about this, Lady Sparkle?” Trixie asked, stepping up to her.

“Yes. Rainbow, Trixie, Spike, take a walk outside and enjoy the scenery. I’ll be back soon.” Twilight marched past the door, following the Gryphon in his swift wake. In a dark and cold of the winter night, the Coliseum’s torches glowed blue, painting the tan stone in an altogether new light. Paintings of kings long past looked down upon her, while empty suits of armour guarded great stone archways.

Based on the sheer number of stairs they had climbed, Twilight assumed they were somewhere near the top of the superstructure when they finally came to a lone room with nothing in it but a single stained glass window. The figure in the window quickly caught her attention.

“Stellar Horizon.” The name left Twilight’s lips on reflex, as there was no mistaking it. His gentle jawline, azure coat, ethereal mane depicting a sunrise, and cutie mark with three stars over an upward facing crescent.

“The very same. He saved this city, and though he is long dead, his actions still ripple through time to the present day.”

“I’m assuming the choice of this room isn’t coincidence.” Twilight tapped on her torc. “You should know, he may be my predecessor, but that was seven hundred years ago, and by all accounts he had far more experience than I when he earned the title.”

“Yet, Princess Celestia deemed you worthy, and I respect that opinion. However, first things first. I need to know I can trust you. What I tell you here, you cannot tell anyone. Not your friends, not your personal guard, not even Celestia.”

Twilight turned her back on him, but kept one ear trained on his position. “You’re asking me to betray those I hold dearest to me. You had better have a damn good reason for even suggesting such a thing.”

“As I said, I have a compelling reason. The geas.”

Her ear twitched. “I’m listening.”

“For as much information Celestia’s RGIS can collect, it is leaking like a sieve. It is not in our nature to do much spying, yet even this news has reached our Royal family. If you tell Celestia, she will no doubt inform your soldiers, and this is one piece of news that I cannot risk getting loose. But its nature means that I am compelled to share it with somepony from Equestria, and given your position, I can think of no one better than you. If you agree to the terms.”

Twilight clenched her teeth while her mind ruminated on the possibilities. “I don’t like this, Prince Ragnar, but I’m willing to agree to your terms under one additional condition.”

“Which is?”

Twilight turned her head back towards him. “If this poses an imminent danger to Equestria, I am telling Celestia. She narrowed her eyes and focused directly into his. I don’t know you that well. To me, your trust is not worth the lives of my ponies. Period.”

“That is acceptable. Come, look at this.” The Prince reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked like a heavily enchanted jewelry box. Inside was a lone photograph. “I’m afraid I cannot risk giving you a copy, but when you see what’s on it, you will understand my caution. Be careful, this—”

Twilight lit her horn on instinct and reached out with her magic. “Yowch!” Magic from the photograph lashed out at her, sending a shock back through her head and crashing her into the wall.

“My apologies, but I tried to warn you.” The Prince bowed, placing the picture on the floor in front of her.

“Apologies? That hurt!” Twilight sucked in air through her teeth. “What was that?”

“My… additional apologies. As gryphons, we assume a certain resilience to pain. Though you are Grand Mage, I should be mindful that there is a cultural difference at work.” He bowed again. “But, as I said, I tried to warn you. This photograph has been Touched.”

“‘Touched?’ You don’t mean…” Twilight rubbed the base of her horn while peering down. The image was of a lone dark room, a single pedestal, and a book with a magic aura so strong that it wasn’t just visible; the photograph itself was still soaked in power. “That’s a grimoire!”

The Prince nodded. “And it is in possession of King Morvana. This picture was taken in her personal vault.”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. “Princess Celestia doesn’t even keep grimoires in her personal library. They are so powerful, they have to be made by tearing out pieces of your wellspring to use as ink. To even open one you have to be in total isolation, because just reading the words can trigger spells spontaneously, no matter what your race is. If you skip a word, or even misinterpret a meaning, the spell can backfire in an explosion, or warp your mind to the point of insanity. Only the greatest of unicorn mages can even hope to control one, let alone write one.”

“Which is precisely why I am so concerned.” Sparks jumped around the Prince’s talons as he picked up the picture with a silver-lined neckerchief and put it back into the box. “Morvana’s decisions as of late have become more and more irrational. The other royals and I fear she is being influenced. The revelations of this evidence suggest it may be from the book, but news of a geas being used on ponies forces us to entertain other possibilities.”

“If it’s that bad, can you challenge her for the throne? The Chairpony informed me of some of your succession rules. Surely there is a way to unseat her if—”

“There is, but it requires a ground shaking event. Something so overwhelming that every gryphon and every aerie views it as repugnant. Questionable, I’m afraid, just doesn’t cut it.”

Twilight scratched her chin. “And the combat ritual? Could you succeed there?”

The Prince turned to his left, staring off into space. “I’m afraid that’s out of the question.”

“Charlemane was right. She has something, doesn’t she?”

The gryphon’s head snapped back front and center.

“Something so powerful that you don’t have a hope of winning. If that’s the case, perhaps we should work together. With Celestia’s magical knowledge, and your forges, we could— ”

“Please, Lady Sparkle, do not insult me by suggesting such dishonesty again. All armaments using the challenge must be of gryphon make, exclusively.”

“My sincerest apologies.” Twilight bowed low. “I didn’t mean to insinuate anything, and I was unaware of the rules. I am the element of magic, and for me, friendship and cooperation are always preferable.”

“I can appreciate that you were merely offering to help. But as I said, that is not an option.”

Twilight lifted her head back up. “Then perhaps there some other way I can help.”

The Prince winked at her. “Perhaps. If, during your travels, you should find proof of undue influence on the throne, then we could take appropriate action. Only if you run into something. I can’t ask you to deliberately search for it.”

"I think I can keep an eye out."

Twilight slunk around a corner of the hall, ready for anything. Her spell hadn't detected anything, but she was on her own at the moment, and didn't want to take chances. Fortunately, no gryphon saw her attempt to hide behind a display case of transparent glass.

"I'm overthinking this. I need to trust that Trixie's spell will work." She took in a deep breath and sauntered, taking in the paintings, statues, and other art in the palace. "This actually is quite lovely."

"Psst. Twilight."

What's up, Aurora?

"I can't shake a bad feeling about this city. I want to help keep you safe, and I have an idea to help."

Twilight gave Aurora a mental pat on the head. Sure thing! What did you have in mind?

"One of my abilities is self-metamorphosis. Like when I changed to accommodate your saddlebags. I can also add enchantments to myself, but it's difficult and time consuming. Doesn't feel that good, either."

Neat! Twilight pretended to stare at an empty suit of armor. But I don't want you to hurt yourself on my account.

"It does hurt, but only for a while. I can take breaks whenever I want, too. After it's over, I'm... Better. I can be more useful. And I think I've figured out something I can do quickly. Well, in a day or so, anyway.

"If you let me absorb one of the radios, I can reverse engineer it and integrate it into myself. You'd be able to use one whenever I'm deployed, and nopony could take it away from you without taking me away, too, which is impossible as long as I'm deployed. But you won't be able to use it until I'm done."

Twilight clapped her hooves together. Wow! That's really amazing! Yeah, I'd be happy to trade a radio for a while to be able to do that with you! Are you sure you want to endure the pain, though?

"Yes. Being able to protect you is my only motivation, and I think this is a way I can be better at it. And... I'm glad you think I'm amazing."

Don't ever think anything less of yourself, Aurora. You're not just my armor, you're my friend. I'll get you that radio when we're back in the room.

Author's Note

Ugh. Sorry for the lack of chapters and blogs lately. I'm going to try to do better. I've a Cherry MX Blue keyboard coming in soon. I tried one in the mall, and I could type lightly for 1200 words without any significant pain. Here's hoping that helps.

As ever, I'm nervous like crazy about this mission. At least seven is shaping up nicely so far.

Thanks for sticking with me through all this, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Cv

Stepping Through The Gates

Twilight opened the doors to her chambers in Canterlot Castle, yawned, and plodded her way inside. Somehow, against all odds, the room finally stopped wowing her each time she stepped in it. Though, that may have been because her mind's capacity was completely overtaken with other matters. When she got to her bed, she flopped down and melted into its illogical but incredibly welcome warmth, and closed her doors.

Sleep never came. It certainly didn't feel like she'd reached the point in her ascension where she didn't need it, though that was little comfort. Years had passed since her father's techniques had failed to work, but she was rapidly going through her mental checklist of things to try.

Maybe that's the problem. Too much going on in my head. She reached out through her magic, probing the inside of her closet before finding her Grand Mage journal and matching quill set and hauling them out and over to her. She parted the book’s pages, dipped the quill in the ink, and began to write.

Reader,

I haven't written anything in a long while. Celestia once told me, "Ascension is eventful." I didn't really believe her at first. The idea that it's my fault that things keep happening didn't sit well with me, and it still doesn't. If there is something about Ascension that sets something in motion, then it's bigger than me, than the Sisters, than everything.

I certainly wasn't the one who committed heinous crimes against Equestria. I didn't steal everypony's prized possessions in Ponyville, or hypnotize an entire town. I haven't been running a secret society based on illusions for what appears to be hundreds of years, or leading a cult for dozens. All I did was seek to find truth and protect my ponies, which put me in the right places at the right times.

Yet despite how exhausting it is, I'm glad I found those places when I did. Things have certainly been eventful, and though it has also been trying, it was definitely worthwhile.

The last couple months, however, have been especially bad.

Twilight's ear rang with the memory of Celestia's words.

"Duke Esteem, you stand accused of crimes against ponykind, and of treason to the crown. If you are found guilty by this tribunal of the Empyreal Hall, let it be known that the diarchy will be considering our most severe punishments."

Twilight shook off the thought and continued.

I didn't actually succeed in my original mission. In fact, neither of my recent missions went the way I expected. Both, however, led to something more than I could have ever anticipated. The corruption in Cloudsdale resulted in the firing of the entire city's police department, so I enlisted an army of Crown Agents after I arrested Esteem. Arrests are already in the thousands, and may climb higher before this is all over. Most ponies are eager for a plea deal.

And yet we are no closer to uncovering who, or what, the Majestics are, nor their goals. Nopony seems to know anything, and with an untraceable geas in play, that may well be the case.

She paused, as more memories spilt forth.

"I couldn't do anything! I had orders, and a knife to my back!"

"And it was his fault! He was the one!"

"Yes, I saw him. That stallion there, Seapony Dustmane!"

"The bite marks are conclusive. They match perfectly."

Cloudsdale is doomed, at least as it is right now. I wish you could have seen it, reader. Perhaps someday it'll be something even greater, but for all its faults, it was still a city in a scale of size and beauty like no other.

Though we stopped a pair of the bombs, the weather factories are a total loss, and the Cloudsdale Armories’ facilities fared no better. The Emergency Redistribution Plan was only really supposed to be used in a dire time of war, and that's exactly what happened. We are in a war for the soul of a nation, and our facilities have been destroyed.

In the coming years, food and water will be relatively short. Wild weather will reassert itself. Our weather control will be reactionary, rather than proactive. However, since we already have a plan in place, it will be manageable. Ponies will live, and there should be no mass starvation. Better still, it will be exceptionally difficult for any foe to ever do this again once we are done.

Twilight exhaled, breathing out the nerves and tension.

"I swear, before this tribunal, my words are true. It was the honourable Duke Esteem!"

"Cheval Industries refutes the allegations that we are forging anything. Duchess Artfeather authorized and subcontracted us explicitly. We did not know who the weapons were going to."

"At least twenty thousand mounted guns are now on the black market."

"Duke Esteem. He ordered non-pegasi fleeing the city to be killed."

Rebuilding efforts are underway, but millions of former residents of Cloudsdale are fleeing for greener pastures. Since they generally have wings, it's not hard for them to move. Much like Duke Esteem's excuses in court, a lot of the city is going to evaporate. Abandoned cloud homes deteriorate over time, turning back into regular clouds. Many homes will be stripped of their solid belongings and reprocessed for rain to hold back drought conditions.

The nobility of Cloudsdale is similarly being dissolved. A few select ponies that can prove their worth will keep their titles, while the rest are seeing their corruption brought to light. It is a mighty blow to both the Council and Celestia's reign. Ponies aren't sure who to trust.

For my part, I know that I trust Celestia. I trust Luna. I trust my brother. I trust my friends and family.

Anypony else is up for debate.

I know that doesn't follow the tenets of harmony per se, but this is a world apart from Ponyville. This is politics. The halls of power. Of greed. Of corruption.

Honestly, it disgusts me. I don't know what we'd do without Celestia, without a counterbalance to the breakdown of harmony itself. She's the linchpin. Without her, there is no Equestria, pure and simple.

"Duke Esteem, this tribunal finds you guilty of heinous crimes against ponykind."

The tip of the quill snapped, and Twilight pulled out the next.

That's not to say that there are no forces of good to aid her. My sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, is quite possibly the greatest to ever hold the position, even at her relatively young age. My brother does his part as well, though he mostly works through his military positions.

As much as I hate to admit it, even Prince Blueblood is an overall force for good politically. Oh, don't misunderstand me, reader. He's arrogant, full of himself, spoiled beyond reason, and whiny, and any mare willing to put up with him romantically is either out for some favor or is out of her mind. Yet I have to say that politically, Celestia has no stauncher ally. When there is a decision on something in the Empyreal Hall, he can be counted to do the right thing consistently.

Princess Luna butts heads with her sister occasionally, but it's usually not because she sides with the Council. Rather, she likes her own solutions, even when they aren't workable. She thinks with her heart, and that puts her at odds with everypony. She speaks without thinking, and often puts her hoof in her mouth. Figuratively, of course. I can't be sure if that will be an expression in hundreds of years. Maybe I'll be there to explain it, but... I'm rambling.

She's not much of a politician, and is often without tact, but she is honest and forthright. She's also frustrated. I can say that her heart is in the right place, but that I also see where Princess Celestia is coming from. Whatever may come from her outbursts today, I'll face it, though part of me wishes she wouldn't kick the hornets' nests for fun…

Twilight switched off the presentation spell, and the lights in the Empyreal Hall returned to normal. "This concludes my findings thus far. Thank you for your time, Council Members." She bowed and returned to the seat at the desk at the bottom of the chambers, readying herself for the inevitable questions.

"The Council thanks you for your service in this matter, Grand Mage Sparkle." Charlemane flipped through his copy of the documents. "Tell me, do you believe that the accused, Duke Esteem, was responsible in any way for the death of Duchess Artfeather?"

Twilight shook her head. "I found no evidence directly linking him. Everything is circumstantial at best, and even that is a stretch."

"But, what do you think? Do you believe him guilty of the act, and you simply were unable to find the evidence, or is he innocent?"

"He's hardly innocent, Chairpony."

Twilight managed to get a laugh out of the Council with that one, although the bound and gagged Esteem did nothing but glare at her.

"However, if you are asking what my instincts tell me, they're saying that Esteem did not contract to have his wife eliminated. The crew that killed Duchess Artfeather was professional, while the pony we know he hired was an amateur. He is innocent of the murder of his wife, but guilty of a great many other things."

"And do you know who did murder the Duchess?" Charlemane asked. "You do have a rather large evidence list, but no suspects."

"I do not."

"Why not?" Duke Badlands of San Palomino pounded a hoof on his desk. "Why do we allow you such a prestigious rank if you can't get results?"

Twilight leaned forward into her microphone. "I just exposed an international conspiracy perpetrated by one of your own. One which has cost the lives of hundreds of ponies and untold thousands of horses, I might add. If that doesn't qualify as 'results,' Your Grace, what does?

"If you truly believe me incompetent, then you are free to request a specific investigator within RGIS to review my findings and come to a definitive solution for the case. But if they don't get significantly farther than I did, then perhaps you will agree that I did the best possible job."

Charlemane banged his gavel. "That's enough, you two. Time for the next question.

"Your report includes a description of a now-destroyed ledger with a transfer of over two billion bits to something listed as the 'Majestics.' Do you know for certain who, or what, that is?"

"No. However, based on the amounts and the subsequent investigation into their accounts, I believe it reasonable to assume that it is the same organization that conducted the Siege of Canterlot."

The Duchess of Shanghay flipped her microphone on. "Are you accusing Artfeather of being the one in charge of the coup attempt?"

"I don't have enough evidence to formally make that accusation, but from an intelligence and investigation standpoint, it bears keeping in mind. It's certainly enough to form the basis of further inquiries and warrants.

"Also, your words bear careful scrutiny, Duchess. You said 'one in charge,' but there is nothing to suggest anything beyond being a source of funding. At least, so far. Neither I nor RGIS intend to drop this anytime soon."

"I can't believe I'm listening to this." Badlands tossed his papers behind him. "Artfeather was my friend, and you're slandering her! She wouldn't--"

"Let me in!"

The doors to the outside crashed open, probably from a pair of Day Guard being thrown into them. A large gryphon strode in wearing a crown and the most elaborate armor Twilight had ever seen short of her own. It was covered in shades of silver, gold, and purple, and the accompanying crown was similar, with gems of lavender. Her eyeshadow was also dark purple, but her feathers were brown and white.

She walked directly to the center of the Empyreal Hall, glanced around, and bellowed, "I demand to know why I have been kept waiting for reparations for the destruction of one of my cities!"

"King Morvana, my apologies," Celestia said, calm as a winter's night. "We have been dealing with the fallout of a major domestic event. I ask for your patience. Our intelligence service is actively engaged with your consulate with regards to relief efforts."

"Relief? Relief?! That mare--" Morvana thrust a claw at Twilight "-- destroyed a historical treasure and put my daughter in the hospital!"

Yeah, I think I'm equus non grata at this point. Twilight leaned her head on her hoof. On the bright side, her doing this means the Council will basically have to back me up. They're politicians. They won't take to being yelled at like this.

"King Morvana, please do watch your tone." Celestia rested her forelegs on her desk. "The tower that was destroyed was subverting your government, your businesses, and every major institution in Gryphonia. Your daughter, meanwhile, was attacking Twilight's Guard Captain without cause."

"Which means what to me?!" King Morvana only yelled louder. "Gryphonhelm Valley is poisoned, and it was you ponies making illusions in our fights! We demand retribution! We demand to be made whole!"

"Or what?"

For all the silence in the moment following Luna's question, one would have thought somepony had lit an anti-candle in the Empyreal Hall. Even King Morvana was stunned.

"Luna, that was not appropriate for a diplomatic setting." Celestia still sounded calm, but Twilight could pick up on the subtle disturbance in her mane. "We should discuss this later."

"Diplomatic? Sister, she burst in here, injured your guards, and made demands. That's a threat." Luna rested her head on her folded hooves, making her throne more a perch than a chair. "So tell me, King. If I were to tell you to take your threats and shove them, what would you do?"

The King stumbled with her beak for a moment. "This, this is an outrage! Some of my citizens died!"

"Lots of ours died in our issues, and one of ours was injured defending Gryphonhelm. You are avoiding the question." Either the lights over Luna were dimming, or her mane was eating some of the light. "What, exactly, would you do?"

"Luna, that's enough." Celestia was no Ionger matron, but big sister about to lay down the law. "You are making things worse."

"I am still a princess, am I not?"

Luna vanished in a wisp, reappearing in front of the King. "Your threats are empty. You dismiss Grand Mage Sparkle's offer of help, cry about your injuries, and threaten us in order to look tough to the gryphons wanting to hold you accountable. It's like a pony falling down, rejecting EMT efforts, then trying to beat up the first responders with a wet noodle for not getting enough help.

"You can't eject all the ponies from your lands. Your economy would collapse. You can't exercise an embargo without hurting both economies. You can't declare war; your government is in chaos. Even if you could unite the aeries against us, that would take time. Time we could use to build dozens of Bellerophon-class warships."

"I second her motion to build more ships!" the Duke of Stalliongrad blurted out. "There's clearly a threat here we must respond to!"

"And that would get your companies more money," said the Duchess of Manehatten.

"Shut it!" Luna barked. "This is my time. And you, King Morvana. You're trying to get Celestia to be... diplomatic. That's not hard. My sister is always diplomatic. Because she's a nice pony.

"But We are not. You want our Sister to be diplomatic because her kindness will be mistaken for weakness by your gryphons. Yet We see through you. We know how threats work. We have made a few in our time."

Morvana gripped one of the audience chairs and crushed the back into splinters in her palm. "You... Arrogant, insolent…"

"We've been called worse. Much worse. But this only proves our point. Thou art uncovered by thy refusal to make real threats, because thou canst not follow through. Here's one thou canst take home: If thou hurtest Our ponies, the explosion of the tower will seem as but a kernel of popcorn. Also..."

Luna's mane flared out, sucking even more light from the Empyreal Hall. A blue mist enveloped the alicorn's lower half, and she seemed to grow a few inches to look down on the Gryphon King.

"If thou dost declare war, We shall win. We shall show mercy for thy gryphons, but not for thee. We shall stuff thy cavities and serve thee for a meal to the dragons." Luna's lip turned up in a grin. "That, little gryphon, is how one maketh a threat."

Morvana didn't have teeth, but Twilight was sure she was grinding something before storming off, muttering a string of Gryphonic curse words.

Twilight and the entire Empyreal Hall was stunned, staring at Luna as she returned to normal and walked her way back to her seat. Had Twilight not looked to Celestia a second earlier than the rest, she would never have caught the subtle wink Celestia gave her.

She knew this would happen! Twilight looked over at a similarly happy Luna. They worked together and planned it all out! She exhaled and laughed under her breath. At least they're communicating.

"Well, that was... something." Charlemane cleared his throat a few times, likely trying to regain a train of thought. "Shall we proceed, then, to questions about the financial statements of Cloudsdale Armories and the Cloudsdale Weather Factories? There was something that--"

"Chairpony." Celestia said, voice returning to her smooth, glass-like calm. "We are avoiding an issue. We have established what Esteem was and was not guilty of, yes? Then I wish to come to an accord for a sentence. He has not been forthcoming with testimony, and I doubt he ever will. Thus, I want him removed from my presence, and my city."

Charlemane looked like he was groaning on the inside. "Yes, Your Majesty. Do you have a recommendation as to your preferred sentence for the convicted?"

"I leave that in the hooves of the Grand Mage."

Twilight was exceptionally thankful she hadn't been drinking anything. The entire Council would have been soaked. "Me?!"

"Indeed, my student. I apologize for springing this on you. But, I believe it is experience you will, someday, think useful. Take a few minutes if you need it. In fact, why don't we call a five-minute recess? We have been here for quite some time; a break is warranted, I believe."

Somewhere in the back of Twilight's mind, there were some rogue neurons paying attention to the ponies filling out of the Hall to use the restroom or just get some fresh air and stretch their legs or wings. The rest of her, however, was weighing the options at a mile a minute.

Any possible legal punishment was open for her to recommend, from life imprisonment to immediate execution. Even various time frames of petrification were on the table. Nothing was beyond her say-so.

Something reasonably strong is warranted... If I choose a light sentence, the diarchy will look weak. If I go too far, though, we may look tyrannical. It has to be somewhere in between.

She looked over to the condemned stallion sitting in his cage. He was surrounded by four guards, wrapped in a straitjacket, shackled, and had a gag over his mouth. All that could speak were his eyes.

There was no mercy or kindness to be had there. No generosity, or loyalty. It was all anger, hate, indignation; a sense of rage contained only by his bindings.

"I've decided..." she said, only realizing a few seconds too late that it had been out loud.

"Have you?" Celestia asked, sipping some tea from her throne. "That was faster than I imagined. We still have a moment of recess. Are you sure you are ready?"

"I am." Twilight looked away from Esteem, focusing instead on the hall itself. "Completely sure."

"Very well. It will only take a short while to reconvene the Council."

Twilight barely paid attention to the ponies returning. She certainly didn't pay attention to the one in the cage. She didn't regard the outside world at all until Charlemane spoke into his microphone.

"I said, are you ready to proceed, Lady Sparkle?"

"Yes." She sat up as straight as she could on her seat. "My recommendation is one thousand years petrification, the stripping of all assets and titles, and the further imprisonment beyond that for thirty years."

Charlemane scratched his chin while the Council conversed amongst themselves. "That's a surprisingly... merciful recommendation, Lady Sparkle."

"Is it?" Twilight asked. "I don't think so. I want him to see, after all that time and progress, an Equestria filled with peace and prosperity. One where tribalism, if not eliminated entirely, has been reduced to background noise and is no longer an accepted way of life. One where his callousness, cruelty, and corruption alone render him a pariah to society.

"And I fully intend to spend my life towards achieving that goal, so that I will know he'll open his eyes one day to a world without his type, one that will retch at the pony he once was."

More murmurs scattered about the chambers, most of which sounded vaguely like surprise. Charlemane didn't seem as impressed.

"I see," He said. "I can understand where you are coming from, then, Lady Sparkle. However, I believe the Council has a different recommendation." He shuffled some note cards, briefly looking them over.

"Your Majesties, this Council has been polled during the break. It is our recommendation that the accused be sentenced to permanent petrification, with no hope of restoration in the course of eternal time."

Celestia considered this for a moment, then banged her gavel. "I have heard the recommendations of both parties, and will take both into consideration. Before my sentence is decided, it is customary to allow the convicted the opportunity to speak one final time. Bailiffs, if you would please remove the gag."

The cage was unlocked, and the bailiffs removed the bit gag before locking the cage back up.

Celestia didn't even look at the stallion as she spoke. "Esteem, do you understand the seriousness of the recommended sentences?"

"Don't patronize me, your supposed highness. I'm not stupid."

"Then, do you have anything to say on your own behalf before I decide your fate?"

"Yeah. Where do you get off?"

Celestia still didn't look at him. "Pardon me, but such outbursts will do you no favours in this proceeding. Do you wish to amend your words?"

"No, I want to add to them. So you're immortal. How does that give you the authority to rule over us?"

"What gives you the authority to order ponies killed for the ‘crime’ of fleeing Cloudsdale?" Twilight didn't expect her own outburst. It just came out. She wouldn't have trouble sleeping over it, though.

Esteem struggled in his straight jacket, possibly to make an obscene gesture. "Shut it; I'm talking here. Why is it that we bow down to you when you don't even know what it's like to be us? Why pamper you and ask for your blessing instead of ruling ourselves?"

"My little pony," Celestia said, taking a sip of tea. "My sister and I don't just rule Equestria. We created it out of the ashes of the Chaos War."

"Like that matters anymore? That was thousands of years ago. Any sane pony would have retired by now, if not died. And yet you're here, the biggest hypocrite in history! You condemn me, but there isn't a single pony in this room that isn't just like me! Every single member of the Council is guilty of just as much!"

"Asinine." Prince Blueblood scoffed. "Nopony else here has been shown to blow up civilian and military assets en masse in a way that threatens the stability of the whole country."

"I must also object." Duchess Suisaiga raised her hoof. "Nopony here has a better anti-corruption task force than I do. Neighpon has seen a drastic, RGIS-documented reduction in corruption since my assumption to the Duchy Chair."

"That's all well and good, Duchess Suisaiga." A pony unusually rotund for a pegasus stood up, though it took him a wobbly moment. "Marelaysia has, consistently, been renowned for its fairness and rule of law since its founding. Cracking down on corruption is one thing. Not having it to begin with is another."

Celestia banged her gavel a few times. "That is enough. This is Esteem's chance to speak. Possibly his last chance, so let us allow him to say his piece."

"You shouldn't be allowed to dictate who can speak, hypocrite." Esteem struggled some more. "You talk of crimes, yet the biggest criminal of them all is still here! That mare, your sister, tried to destroy the entire world!"

"Watch your tone," Luna warned, voice as soft as Fluttershy's. "You know not of what you speak."

"What's there to know? You tried to kill us all! Billions of attempted murder charges, that's what you should have faced! And now we're expected to call you Princess? Or what, you'll try to bring eternal night again? Is that what this is? Let her rule or we die?"

"Do not continue, Duke." Luna again warned. "I still have a say in your sentence if that is my desire."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Nightmare Moon. Don't stop the raising of the sun and freeze me, not to mention the billions of other ponies you nearly exterminated! What, you spend some alone time on the moon and we're supposed to believe it's all better now? That we should still bow before you because you had a time out? You're immortal, a thousand years is nothing for you! A slap on the fetlock!

"Yet here I sit, supposedly guilty of far less crimes, and you're talking about killing me? Where's the justice in that?"

"How... dare you..." Luna's voice retreated even further, yet grew far more acidic.

"Yes, how dare I! How dare I tell the truth! The truth we all know and ignore because we might get killed if we don't!"

"How... Dare... Yoooouuuu!" Luna screamed, appearing at the cage in a flash, grabbing the stallion by the neck with her magic. "A slap on the fetlock? Is that what you think? Well, let me explain to you what that ‘slap on the fetlock’ was!

"It was the tearing apart, the disintegration, of my wellspring, my soul, my essence! It was the banishment not to the moon, but becoming the moon, and feeling all of it! One thousand years of a hell you couldn't survive, much less understand! Pulled apart and crushed at the same time! Burned on one end by the heat of my sister's sun, and frozen by the void on the other! Knowing that the world forgot about you through the dreams of foals, yet being unable to experience anything but hatred, sorrow, and pain the likes of which would break you in an instant!

"And at the end of all that, to be 'cleansed' by experiencing the pain you put others through first hoof, then shattered mentally and emotionally until nothing but your core and a few key memories remain! Knowing everything about your sin while expecting to become nothing but a trophy to be held up by your vanquisher!"

Twilight lowered her head, trying to make herself small.

"That was my penance! Yes, alicorns live for a long, long time. But my punishment fit my crime, yet neither of what was thought up here today fits yours!" Luna dropped him on the floor of his cage and turned her back as he coughed and gasped. "Sister, allow me to decide how he is punished."

Celestia finally looked at the condemned. "For insulting you?"

Luna shook her head. "For my ponies that were hurt."

"If you do this, he won't be made a real example. His punishment will have to be classified."

"Then let the mystery fuel the imagination, Sister."

Celestia looked between the two one last time. "Done. But remember, this will haunt even you."

"Shide danna brune ien."

Twilight looked away and pretended not to know what was said. She truly didn't know the translation, only knowing that it was Luna's native tongue. However, her secret message to her sister was decodable from the tone and the knowledge of what it means to be an alicorn: "I will bear it."

Luna broke open the cage, ripped apart Esteem's straitjacket, and even unlocked his shackles.

Esteem stumbled backwards in his container. "W-what are you--"

"I am not cruel enough to strip you of your magic given where you are going." She pulled him out, forcing his face to the Hall and the members of the Council. "We're going to take an exceptionally good look at Equestria, Esteem. Savour it. Remember it. You are never, ever going to see it again."

She kept a magical grip on his neck, leading him out the doors, then vanished with him to parts unknown.

Twilight was the last out of the Empyreal Hall for the evening, albeit not to the degree of how late she would stay in her classes -- provided that didn't make her late for something else. The only two left in the area were a pair of Day Guard pegasi standing at attention as she walked past, plus one additional, retired Day Guard.

"Hey, Twilight! How did it go?"

"Hey, Cloud Burner. It went... well, it's hard to say." Twilight yawned, pulling a muscle in her jaw. "I never knew how exhausting just talking could be. The Council grilled me. I'm kind of surprised I'm not charred black at this point."

"Yeah, they'll do that. It's one of the things they're best at: talking in a way that makes themselves look good and others look bad. Still, I saw Luna hauling Esteem around like a foal. What happened?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Twilight thought back to Luna's words in that strange tongue. "All I know is that he's in for something pretty awful. The Crown threw the book at him. I kind of doubt we'll ever see or hear from him again."

"If we ever do, it'll be too soon."

"I hear that." Twilight glanced down to his bandage-wrapped forelegs. "How are you fairing? Any permanent damage?"

"Nah, doc says I'll be fit as a fiddle in no time. They're making me do physio anyway, though. Not that I mind. The therapist is a serious hottie. Like, wow. She can massage my legs anytime. She– Oh, crap, I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?"

Twilight laughed and shook her head. "No, not at all. Just because I'm not interested in such things personally doesn't mean I don't appreciate and accept that others are. Although, I wouldn't hit on her now, if I were you. You're patient and healer, which means there are ethical limits."

"I know. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy things in the back of my mind!"

"Naturally. And I'm glad you're healing okay. In fact, Rainbow and I have a surprise to say thank you for your help. Come, follow me."

Twilight led him through the castle, stopping to say hello to his old comrades at a few points. Eventually, they came to the tallest tower, and started the climb.

Dang it, Twilight thought. Guess I should have expected him not to freak out from coming here. He's ex-Day Guard, after all. He's probably been here plenty of times. A vice of realization crushed her pupils to tiny dots. Aw, crap. I'm turning into Celestia. Bad Twilight! No plotting to make your subjects uncomfortable!

They made the right turn to her chambers, and stepped inside.

The fact that Cloud Burner stopped in awe at her room didn't make Twilight giggle like a filly in her head at all. Nope. Not one bit.

"Pretty nice, huh? Luna did the decorations." Twilight stopped and turned to face Cloud, then motioned for Rainbow to come in from the balcony.

"'Nice' doesn't even begin to describe this. It's... Impossible. I've never seen anything like this, and I've been all over Equestria and beyond." Cloud hopped a couple meters into the air, peeking over her cloud walls. "It... It just goes on forever! But we're inside! Aren't we?"

Twilight chuckled. "In a manner of speaking, it does go on forever. Sadly, though, my closets aren't infinite. Oh, to think of all the books I could store..."

Rainbow have her a poke. "Ahem."

"Oh, right! Cloud, if you could come down here, please." Twilight took the box from Rainbow as Cloud leaned. She faced it towards him, and pulled back on the velvet lid. "Cloud Burner, on behalf of the Evening Guard, I am awarding you a purple heart and bronze star for your service and sacrifice. You went above and beyond the call of duty, and you deserve this."

"Congrats, big guy!" said Rainbow.

Cloud took the box in his hooves, holding the treasure like it was made of millimetre-thin glass. "This... Holy... Day Guard almost never get medals. Nopony is usually stupid enough to mess with us. I... I don't know what to say!"

"You don't have to say anything. In fact, we aren't quite done." Twilight took out the large scroll from Rainbow's pouch and unfurled it onto the floor between them.

The design scribbled onto it wasn't anything more than back-of-napkin work, but that didn't stop Cloud Burner from blinking in surprise.

Twilight continued, "Up until now, I've been borrowing chariots from one of the other Guard units. I think it's time I had one of my own built, which means I'll need a trained charioteer or two capable of long-range flight. I honestly can't think of anypony else I would want to haul my tiny unicorn butt into or out of certain, fiery death."

Rainbow chortled. "In other words: 'How's retirement treating ya? Bored yet?'"

"Wow. I mean, wow. I, uh, I'm still not sure what to say. I mean, I'm honoured, but I'm also old. Like I said, I'm not a spry young foal anymore."

"I can promise, no super-heavy mounted guns." Twilight held up a hoof and crossed her heart. "I can make Rainbow do that part."

"Yeah, we—Hey!"

Twilight's mental jack boot suppressed a laugh. "And, if you join, I can upgrade your clearance to Indigo-Cosmic. You kind of need it to go where I go."

Cloud Burner whistled as he looked over the chariot plans. "That's... That's really tempting, but... Well, I don't mean to impugn the honour of the Day Guard. They are the absolute best, but we also did a lot of standing around like statues. I'm not really up to doing that again. It's, well, rather boring."

Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment, then broke out laughing. The air squeezed out of their lungs as they collapsed onto each other, getting a little bit of support but eventually falling down on the heated starry floor.

"Um..." Cloud may as well have been talking to Rainbow Blaze. "Did I say something funny?"

"Hehehe... Trust me, Cloud Burner." Twilight fell back into a fit of giggles for a moment. "If you join us, your life will be anything but boring."

"Yeah! What was the word Celestia used?" Rainbow giggled as she stood up. "‘Eventful’. Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

"Oh, er, well, I..." Cloud sighed and let his wings droop. "I'm still not sure. Could I have some time to think about it?"

"Absolutely." Twilight held out a hoof and Rainbow helped her up. "Take some time, think about things. You can even do a trial run with us if you want. My chariot will take some time to be fully designed and built, anyway."

"Thanks." Cloud Burner have them a bow. "For the medals, and the opportunity. I'm honoured, and I promise, I'll get back to you."

Twilight gave him a small bow in return. "We'll be waiting."

"Why is it getting hot?" Esteem asked, tripping over a rock on the cave floor. He stayed as close to Luna as he could, not that he had a choice. Pegasi were supposed to be too fast to get so thoroughly caught in unicorn magic. Alicorns must have been an exception. Moreover, she was the only source of light he'd seen for miles. "Are we really that deep?"

"Such questions. You sound like a curious little foal. Aren't you scared?"

"Not especially. You're good with threats, I'll give you that. But nopony had ever really fulfilled them to me, in my experience." Esteem ate her indignant smugness with a grin. "Wherever we're going, I'll know somepony. You'd have to follow me around forever to keep me banished."

"Who says I'm not just going to find some dark hole to dump your body in?"

"If that was the case, you wouldn't have bothered taking me this far. I'm guessing this is a tunnel, rather than a simple cave."

"So there's some cleverness in you. 'Tis a shame it wasn't harnessed for good instead of evil."

"Who says I'm evil? I'm just out for myself."

"Hold onto that attitude. You'll need it, where you're going. Though, I doubt it will do you much good."

"Yeah, whatever." Esteem sniffed in some kind of fume and coughed. "What is that smell? And is it getting even hotter? Just how deep are we?"

"I'm afraid that conventional metrics are no longer sufficient to answer that question. And truthfully, I do not know the exact answer. The magic in this place causes it to shift its location from time to time, and I haven’t been here in a few thousand years." Luna froze and punched the wall next to her.

The wall, in turn, growled so deeply it could only be felt, not heard. Esteem's leg muscles turned to liquid, bringing him to the ground while a door opened and scorched his nostrils with sulfur.

"What was that?" Esteem struggled to stand, pushing away the pain to resolidify his legs. "You could have warned me!"

"I see no reason to offer sympathy to a monster such as yourself."

"Like my body count is higher than yours."

"I paid for the lives I took unjustly. The others were in defence of myself or others." A second wall fell, raising the mercury further and painting Luna in crimson gold. "Come. This is but the first of three gates."

Esteem rolled his eyes and turned the corner. Below him, a field of glowing red and amber stretched for miles, a veritable lake of molten rock and fire. It painted a scar on his soul, burning away something that had once been part of him. Tendrils of ash snaked their way into his nose, sinking fangs of venom in his lungs. He reared up and ran back, only to slam face first into the ground as his magical collar tightened on his neck.

Luna pulled him back to the doorway, scraping his belly along the stone. "Down, boy. Heel."

"You have got to be bucking kidding me!" Esteem wrapped his hooves around the magic, his muscles futile against the diamond strength of her power. "If I go in there, I'll be dead for sure!"

"You must be confusing me with somepony concerned with your well-being." She yanked again, pulling him to the ledge.

Esteem held fast to the rock for dear life. His wings pushed against the infinite force of the goddess' magic, doing naught but swirling the heat around him. It wrapped him like a blanket of flame, singeing his coat and feathers. Pain whipped at his body and heart, driving him beyond anything he'd ever felt. His body's meager might soared, pushing him an inch back into the cooler cave.

Then Luna tugged again.

Fire didn't just lick at his body as he fell, it consumed him. Skin and muscle was gobbled up as a feast, liquid bone washing down the taste, with organs as a dessert. Each millisecond was worse than the last as he was devoured, screaming while he was transformed into ash and fuel for the infinite fire of the magma.

Esteem was standing on a cave floor. The magma was far behind him. He was alive, intact, physically unscathed. His mind, though, told him that everything was anything but alright, and his shaking body agreed wholeheartedly.

"H—how? How am I alive?"

"You'll see." Luna tugged him again, and onwards they walked.

Esteem wanted to run. No, he wanted to fly. More than anything, he wanted to turn back, but the only thing waiting for him there was the lake of fire. So, onwards he went, down the dark cave of brown stone. His hooves moved in time with Luna's, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Even his ear twitched to the rhythm.

"Wait, what's that sound?"

"The second gate. The gate of rhythm and blades."

"Like, rhythm and blues?"

"No." Luna punched open another gate, revealing another ledge. This one led to a small maze of paths to a distant solid "shore" where the cave continued. Above the whole thing were swinging and chopping blades, some the shape of axes, others swords or knives. Each was the height of a three-story building, and each was moving almost too fast to see. "Rhythm and blades."

One of the blades, or something like it, must have stabbed his heart, as it had stopped beating. "I-I can't get through that! Can't you teleport us through?!"

"If I try, we won't get through the gate. Where's that boundless confidence?"

"Confidence and stupidity are not the same thing."

"Says the pony brave enough to betray alicorns, then insult them in their home. Or would that be stupidity?

“Come, we must pass through the second gate."

Luna pulled his leash again, dragging him down to the start of the maze despite every step he made trying to turn back. One more tug brought him to her side. "Move as I do."

Each second had a hoof-full of snicks and snacks of the blades, moving in a rhythm too impossible to exist, much less predict. Yet, as they walked, not a single blade so much as clipped one of their hairs.

Left, right, right, left. They turned time and again. They even retraced steps, always dodging the metal as it hushed out of the void and through the air, always where they had just been or were about to be.

Hallway through the maze, there was a particularly fast blade, although “particularly fast” wasn’t enough to do its speed justice. It could not be seen. The wind could be felt, its passing could be heard, the rust and dirt that flew off of it could be tasted, but it could not be seen.

Esteem fell back a step, now standing one step behind Luna and off to her right. "You have to be joking."

Luna didn't slow down one iota. "Don't fall behind."

Esteem fell behind, then shoved the mare's rear as hard as he could. "Maybe I want to!"

Luna held out her left forehoof to her side. The blade stopped.

It didn't crash, or cut her in two, or even get caught by her limb. It simply tapped her silver-clad hoof, and stopped.

Luna turned her head to look at him.

Two hoof-shaped hammers of pain cracked his bones and turned his organs into mush. His ragged body and broken spine flew like a doll tossed by an impertinent foal, while pain danced through what parts of his body he could still feel. Piece after piece of him was removed by the blades as his anguish and blood spilled out into the cave.

Esteem was standing on the far side of the maze. He was intact, whole, and physically unscathed. "W-what in Tartarus is going on here?!"

"The second gate." Luna took a few more steps, and punched another gate open. "And, quite honestly, you had a rather accurate choice of words."

"Accurate choice of... What are you talking about? That makes no sense! Let me out of he—" He turned around to run, and his words died as though they'd been cut by the blades, despite the fact that the blades weren't there. Nothing was there save a wall of rock three inches from his face.

Luna yanked his leash again, pulling him into the opening. "There is no path that way. Even if you could dig through this solid stone, it simply doesn't exist. One can only ever proceed farther into the gates past this point."

Esteem nodded, as his mouth wouldn't move. He looked through the next gate, and this time, there was no drop, or magma, or blades. There was simply a large opening in the cave, containing a three-headed dog the size of a large house.

"T-t-t-t-t-t-that's not possible!" Esteem's jaw hung open, save for the times he tried to swallow futilely. "That's Cerberus!"

"Guardian of the Gates of Tartarus, yes. That is where we are, condemned. That is where you are going." Luna pulled again, dragging him across the ground as he slid on all four hooves.

"You can't be serious! This place doesn't even exist! It's a fairytale! He's supposed to be something we tell foals so they think all the monsters are locked up! He's a fairytale!"

"Indeed, there are monsters here. And as for fairytales, recall that I was one, once. Yet here I am, one fairytale dragging you into another."

Cerberus looked down on them with its three heads, growling and drooling, ready to eat them both with a single chomp.

"Oh, and Cerberus isn't here to keep the monsters in. They simply have no way to leave. The puppy is here to keep foolish ponies out. He's the only thing that can escort a soul unjustly here to safety." Luna swatted the center head's nose. "Bad dog! No growling!"

Cerberus whimpered and scooted back and to the side.

"N-no way, it just can't be real!" Tears streamed down Esteem's face as his chest collapsed in on itself. "It can't be real!"

Two doors made from thousands of skulls of every conceivable creature from pony to dragon lay before them. Glowing, neon blood poured from the eye sockets of each. They drained to the bottom of the cave, then flowed up the wall to fill in burning runes surrounding the structure.

Magic circles appeared in front of the doors, spinning and warping, adding dimension after dimension until they were warped beyond recognition. They stretched out to infinity, vanishing as the gateway opened.

Inside, countless blood-red clouds twisted into impossible shapes, splashing themselves on a background of every possible foreboding, evil color. Hues that simply could not exist chilled Esteem's soul as they stretched into an unending expanse. Lightning chains longer than Equestria itself danced through the hellscape, some striking islands made out of torture and hatred as much as rock. There was no sea they were sticking out of save for the eternal sky itself, stretching out in all directions, even straight down.

Glowing will-o'-wisps haunted everything, screaming and moaning of misery untold by mortal lips. Threads of blue light whipped through a living wind, striking up at Esteem and melting into his flesh. Then, they tugged.

Esteem dug his hooves into the stone, and flapped his now-free wings as hard and as fast as he ever had. "What's happening to me?!"

"The threads of fate. They bind a soul to Tartarus forever. It's too late for you now. But what do you have to worry about? Here, you're immortal, just like me. Well, not quite like me. Tartarus doesn't let you die, no matter how gravely you are wounded, how badly you are parched, how empty your stomach, or how great your age. By no force in existence will death's bony hoof touch you, for all of eternity. No matter how much you're going to want it."

The wisps howled and swarmed around him, digging thread after thread into him. His body burned, but there was no flame. His flesh split, but there were no cuts. His fear strangled him, but there was nothing on his neck. Inch by inch, the wisps pulled him into Tartarus itself as he tried to pull himself back, tried to fly, tried to flee. He was afraid.

Esteem's back legs slipped over the edge of the gate and into the void. "Please! Spare me! Spare my soul! I'll do anything!" Esteem cried out to Luna, then to Cerberus. The dog only tilted his heads, while Luna shook hers.

"How many ponies cried out that very thing as you sent them to their deaths? See, Cerberus doesn't move, doesn't help you." She stomped on Esteem’s front fetlocks, pressing him down and anchoring him to the ground. "Even the dog knows that this is where monsters like you belong."

Esteem's heart died in his chest, over and over again. It tried, oh how it tried, but it wouldn't beat. In fact, it hadn't done so since they’d entered the second gate. "Please! I'm sorry!" Through tears of sand, he saw more blue threads. They were weak, frayed. They ended quickly instead of flying out into Tartarus forever, and they were attached to Luna. "H-how...?"

Luna's grin ate at his soul. "Didn't I tell you?" She leaned in, bringing her lips to his ears, and kissed them with a curse. "I am the only pony that has ever escaped from Tartarus."

Esteem's heart beat, just once. There's a way out?

Luna let go.

Esteem screamed out from his heart, his soul, any piece of his being that ever existed as the wisps howled with glee. The island with the cave, the entrance, the only way out fell away from him. It was enormous, and the gates were but a pinprick on a stone empire.

One blink later, and it, the cave, Luna, the exit, were all gone. Vanished. Yet, “gone” was something he would never be, no matter how much he screamed. No matter how much he wanted it.

Author's Note

The end scene here is one that I enjoyed writing, and I think it’s some of my best work, dark though it is.

Patreon will be updated soon. Thanks again for sticking with me! Enjoy the chapter!

-Cv

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Did she who made the lamb make thee?

“Okay, this could work…” Rainbow blew more dust from the keyhole, trying to keep a clear view of the core. “Oh, who am I kidding. I have to be crazy to try this.”

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!”

Rainbow winced at the ear-splitting yell from the mare in the other cell. Whatever she was seeing, she was screaming from it once every seven minutes or so. “You better not do that while we're sneaking out, or you'll get us caught.”

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!”

“Tell me another one.” She backed up from the gate until her rump touched the concrete wall, then spread her wings and looked down at the core in her armor. The pirates had tried to take it off, but due to a security enchantment placed on it, it couldn’t be taken off unless the wearer let them take it off—something that Rainbow Dash clearly wasn’t going to do.

“Ugh, what to do.” She rubbed the back of her head, and felt two little bumps that felt like they were on fire, and her head started pounding. Guess they electrocuted me back there or something. Just a punch or pipe would’ve set off the–

A little zap pulsed through the back of her mind. “Heeeeeyyy… Wait a minute…” She looked down at the gem, only partially visible beyond her snout. There was still a decent glow in it, which meant it could still put up a shield to try to save her from a powerful impact.

Rainbow kicked off the ground and flug herself at the gate, her armor and the cage ringing out just before her head joined in the chorus, growing a brand new bump from the impact. “Ow. Ow ow ow… Bad idea.” She sucked in air and rubbed her head. “Well, good idea, but… pegasus.”

She pushed herself back up, and cursed the custom armor. Shield won’t do it’s thing unless it’s an impact that’ll hurt a pegasus, and pegasi can resist getting hurt from blunt impacts we see coming. Which means… I have to go even faster!

Dash wobbled to her hooves, then tapped the core in her armor. “You ready for this? Hope you have charge left, because I’m about to bash my brains in if not.”

Rainbow called forth her magic, pressing it into her pinions without letting it out. The air around her raged and rumbled at the indignity, vibrating the bars and sending tendrils of lightning out at her cage. She reached for the sky with her pinions, stretching out her mind to join the infinite heavens and ask for its power.

She was ready. She'd ram her body into the gate at full speed, and see if her armor had enough juice left to smash her way open.

“Twilight, whatever happens, thank you.”

She took in one last breath, and—

Ka-chunk!

—froze in place, apparently. The magic she'd held belched out in an omnidirectional breeze, dying as easily as it had been called into being.

“Eep!” Whatever stallion had been on the other side of the door, he'd yelped like a total girl when it slammed back in his face.

Rainbow smirked. “Heh. Gonna have to remember that.”

The stallion must have been a unicorn, as the door was quickly engulfed in a green aura and pushed open surprisingly gently for the rough crowd that lived in this place. The pony that stepped in was equally out of place.

He was lithe and groomed to great detail. His clothes looked like something out of Rarity's boutique, though his colors didn't quite match. Gold just didn't really go with a green mane; even Rainbow could tell that much.

“You are so not a pirate.” Rainbow deadpanned. “So then, who the buck are you?”

The stallion tilted his head to look at her, then jumped back with another yelp even girlier than the last. “Rainbow Dash?!”

“Yeah.” Rainbow folded her forelegs. “What's it to you?”

The stallion didn't so much “stomp” as “scamper” up to the bars. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for a way out. Seemed like a fun challenge. Of course, once I do get out, any pirate in my way is going to have a worse day than the guy I electrocuted to death earlier. Care to—”

“Hush. There's a simple solution here: we help each other.” He pulled out a red-cored key from his froofy clothes, and opened up the cell. “Wait twenty seconds, then get out of here. If you can open the bay door, you'll distract them enough to be able to get out.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. A trap is why I'm in here already… “Why, exactly, are you helping me?”

The stallion huffed. “The business arrangement with these cretins is at an end. Their continued operation is a… liability, of sorts. And everypony knows who you are, Wonderbolt turned protector of the Grand Mage. If you escape, I’m certain Grand Mage Sparkle will shut them down. Our goals are aligned. Again, wait twenty seconds, then leave as quick as you can. Farriér will rally his pirates quickly once he realizes what's going on.”

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!”

“Celestia wept!” The stallion jumped up and back, then pulled out a neckerchief to wipe his brow. “What is with that mare?”

“Douchebag pumped her full of a drug. She's having night terrors inside a bad trip.” Rainbow motioned to the policemare’s cage. “And I'm taking her with me. Unlock her cage, too.”

“Surely not!” He stared at the thrashing mare as she let out another scream. “There's no way you could carry her out! This place is crawling with pirates!”

“I am. Either you unlock the cage, or I beat you up until you give up the key and then I unlock the cage. Your call.”

“Okay, okay, no need to descend to brutish violence. But you'll need more than threats to get out of here while carrying around a draft mare.” He took out the key and unlocked the other mare’s cage. “Why her, though? What's her name? What is she to you?”

Rainbow put a hoof through the door of her cage, just in case there was a trap there that she couldn't see, but nothing happened. “I honestly don't know her, but she looks like she's in law enforcement. So she's coming with me. No telling what these bastards will do to her if I'm not there to protect her.”

She pushed forward, trotting through the door and to the salmon-pink mare. “You should get going. It'll take me about twenty seconds to get her on my back. Then, we're leaving, no matter what you do. Clear?”

“Crystal.” The stallion trotted out, leaving the way open and the hallway silent.

“Here we go. One prison escape, coming—OOF you're heavy!” Rainbow grunted as her hind hoof slipped, sending her new rescuee sliding off her back. “Wow. Definitely a heavy. No normal pegasus weighs that much.

“Okay, take two: action!” She grabbed a couple of the other mare's legs and heaved, sliding the poor thing onto her back while Rainbow’s hind legs dug in to stand. At the end, Rainbow Dash had a monster of a draft heavy pegasus on her back.

“I am so going to need physiotherapy after this. Hoffa.”

A trot wouldn't do here; she'd lose her charge for sure. One step at a time, she walked out of the prison and instantly knew where she was. It had been behind one of the locked doors she'd encountered earlier, and it wasn't long before she also found herself at the side door to the outside. Unfortunately, it was still locked tight.

“Only one option then: time to find the control room,” she whispered.

She rounded the corner, and found herself right behind a pirate rummaging in a closet, rear end out and begging for a swift kick. Gotta be careful. And sneaky. Can't afford a big ruckus or fracas right now.

“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and took off forward, leaving the screaming pony behind and slamming a hoof right in the pirate’s chest. Whatever scream he was going to add to the mess only came out as a wheeze.

Rainbow grabbed him by the neck and squeezed, then slammed his head against the wall. “Control room! Where is it?!”

The pirate coughed and wheezed some more, spewing drool. “Wh-what—”

Wham! She slammed him again and twisted one of his legs. “‘What’ isn't a direction! Tell me how to get to the control room! Or I start breaking things!”

“It's over there!” The pony whimpered, nodding his head in a vague direction.

“Words! Use them!” Rainbow wrenched his leg, and he cried out with the other screaming pony she'd been hauling.

“Four halls down!” The pirate sobbed. “Last door on the right! Please don't—”

Wham! Rainbow knocked the pony's skull, rendering him unconscious at the very least. As she left the closet and picked up the lawpony, she looked back at the pirate. “You chose the pirate life. Yo-ho, motherbucker.

“Come on, girl, up you go.” Rainbow heaved the heavy pegasus back on her back, and made off down the hall, taking a right and following the knocked-out pony’s directions. The door at the end was unlabeled, and like all the others, made of metal. Now, who's hiding in there?

She slid the lawpony off her back, and flattened herself against the wall. Three, two, one, breach!

She grabbed the handle and flung the door open at the same time as her wings, ready to shoot anypony she found. Instead, she found nothing.

More accurately, she found a room devoid of ponies but lined with a row of control panels, each with an array of buttons and levers. Above the panels was a window overlooking the landing bay where the pirate airship sat idle. Below the ship were stacks upon stacks upon stacks of stolen goods, and probably every pirate in the base unloading more from the ship. At the other end of the room from her was another door, presumably a way to get to the bay. Opposite the windows were boxes of random supplies, possibly overflow from their raids.

“Okay, time for a plan.” Rainbow grabbed her charge by the legs and hauled her inside, then got to work tossing aside a few of the crates that were standing between her and the control panel. . “First, let's see which of the buttons are the shiniest.”

Rainbow looked over the panels, which, thankfully, had plenty of labels scrawled in marker. It was the giant lever on the left, though, that caught her attention, especially given that somepony had written “Main Door” next to it.

“Okay, that's step one. Now to find a distraction…” She turned around and started rummaging through the crates for anything useful. “Shovels, dish detergent, flares — those could be useful — some kind of gribble refiner, binoculars, rubber chickens — probably addressed to Pinkie Pie — a large amount of spaghetti… Dang. Not much that'll help.”

The unconscious mare coughed in her sleep, practically hacking, but she nonetheless remained in dreamland.

“Tell me about it,” Rainbow said, as if replying to the unconscious mare. “We're so close! They have carts down there. All that we need is a distraction. Then all I have to do is open the door and fly us out in the chaos.”

Rainbow tapped her chin. “What else is here? Anything else I can use in this hot box?”

She moved more boxes, scouring the room for any clues. Everything was just consumer goods. For whatever reason, they didn't keep big distraction bombs in the control room. All she uncovered was a vent grate.

“Wonderfully useless. I can't hide there with my ‘passenger,’ and it's the first place they'll look when they realize I’m gone. What am I— wait a minute.” Rainbow put a hoof to the grate, feeling the air flow. “That's why it was covered. It's taking air in for some reason. Might be why it's kinda hot in here. But if it's going in, where's it heading? Hmmm…”

Rainbow dove back into the boxes, finding the binoculars she saw earlier. She pointed them at the airship across the way, specifically at the large glass windows at the bridge. It took quite a few adjustments, but she found just the right angle to see a bit of a reflection in the glass. Below her was a large fan built into the wall, almost certainly blowing fresh air into the bay. “Betcha that's where the grate leads. Now, where were those flares?”

She tore open the packaging, pulling out a box of a dozen combustible sticks. “Ooooooh, smoke flares! Even better! Hang tight, girl. I know how we're getting out of here.”

Rainbow stacked as many boxes as she could on the opposite door from where she came, then picked all the flares up and stuffed them under a wing. Plan at the ready, she headed back out from where she came. She wandered nearly back to the prison, stopping one hall short. She picked out one flare, pulled the top, and tossed it down the hall. Red smoke bellowed and filled the hall, gobbling it up in seconds, making sight impossible.

Rainbow immediately pulled the top off another and dropped it at her hooves, followed by a dash back to the control room. At each hall, she tossed another down the way and one at the intersection. When she got back to the room, she noted that the little extra hall in the other direction had a left turn, likely giving access to the main bay. “Perfect!”

She tossed a flare in its direction, then jumped in the control room. “Time for a party.” She grabbed hold of one of the shovels she found in the boxes, and plowed the blade in between the grate and the floor, prying off the metal. Once the opening was big enough, she started popping flare after flare and tossing them down the hole.

It wasn't long before an alarm sounding was the only thing louder than panicking ponies.

“Time for the finale!” Rainbow pulled down on the main door lever, and machinery groaned to life over the sound of yet another klaxon. Siren lights kicked on, and the door started to move. “That's our cue!”

She sat down with her back to the lawpony and grabbed her legs, ready to pull her onto her back. But then, a shower of glass and fierce, deep power blasted her back, knocking her into a somersault. Her ears rang like she was in a church bell before she realized what the source of the noise was: something had exploded in the ship bay.

Half deaf and wobbling left and right, she stumbled to her feet and looked out the window that had been shattered into nothing. Smoke and flame burned in the far corner, where the machinery for the door had been. Raw rock was exposed where concrete had once been.

“There was a bomb in the gears… Must've gone off when they turned too far. Ugh, that hurt.” She could barely hear herself over the ringing and the commotion, but she could stand, so she could fly.

The main doors were open, even if only partially. It was enough for a pony with a cart, though it might never fully open or close again.

“Time for part two!” Rainbow pulled the lawpony onto her back, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The hall was solid with smoke, and the ex-Wonderbolt dove right in. She counted her steps, and turned left down the little hall. As predicted, ponies opened that door to check, found the hall filled with smoke, and doubled back to try another way, leaving her path wide open.

The pirates were so panicked, most were just flying out the door. Some were running into the opposite door, trying to get to the control room from the hall with slightly less smoke, only to find the door blocked.

She didn't even hide her footsteps down the clangy metal catwalk leading down the the bay floor. Nothing her hooves could do would overpower the noise, and the pirates weren't even paying enough attention to even notice that she was mid-escape. She had her heavy pegasus friend inside the back of a cart before any of them even called out to her.

“What are you doing!?”

Rainbow grabbed a box and tossed it at his head. “This!”

It hit square in his temple with a bone-breaking crunch, knocking him on his back.

She took the split second to toss the harness of the cart on her back and spread her wings, pushing power into them and lifting off. Pirates were skipping on their guns, and no fewer than a dozen pegasi attempted to flight and try to pursue.

“Amateurs.” Rainbow had breached through the main door in the time it took the pirates to take off, her precious cargo safe in back. Night was falling as she fled away from a blood-red sunset, and finally, the sky welcomed her home.

BBBBBRRRRAAAAPPP!

Bolts of white-hot death ripped through the air above her head, which she turned to find no fewer than five pirates following her.

She flapped her wings back, dropping a shockwave behind her and racing forward. The cart behind her groaned and whined under the strain, each of its parts rattling apart with every turn.

BBBBBRRRRAAAAPPP!

“Damn…” She banked and turned, though with the cart it was like flying in molasses.

BBBBBRRRRAAAA-crack!

Bits of wood went flying, and Rainbow turned back to see a corner of the cart gone, including the wheel. She was losing her pursuers, but they kept firing.

BBBBBRRRRAAAAPPP!

At this rate, I'll—

KRA-KOW!

No wood exploded. There was no pain, and no bolts flew over her head. She dared not slow, but she did turn her head to see.

KRA-KOW!

A formation of three pegasi dove in, striking down two of the pirates and entering into a dogfight with the rest. It wouldn't take long for her rescuers to win. Rainbow knew this, deep in her heart, for she recognized their uniforms.

“Dash!” A stallion dove in next to her, dragging a line of smoke behind him. He wore a Wonderbolt SAR uniform, had a dark blue mane, and Commander's bars.

“Soarin’? Soarin’!” Tears welled up in Rainbow's eyes instantly. “How'd you find me?”

“We’ve been searching for forever when Twilight issued new orders! She narrowed down where Farriér’s base could be hiding!” He pointed at the pony in the cart. “Who's she?”

“Prisoner of the pirates. They drugged her! We need to get her to Fort Earthborne!” Rainbow squinted at the high altitudes, finding the ambulance chariot diving in to meet them. “Can you get her in there? She's a heavy!”

“Consider it done!” Soarin’ landed in the cart just long enough to heft the unconscious mare into his forelegs, then took off for the ambulance.

Ponies there took her in, and Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed off her harness, letting the cart fall to its death amidst the rock and sand below. Spreading her legs and wings, she rolled over and over, playing with gravity while tingles of euphoria ate away at her body.

“You too, Dash!” Soarin yelled, having returned without her even seeing him.

“What about me?” Dash asked.

Soarin gave her a stare. “In the ambulance. Now.”

Rainbow glared right back. “Like hell! I'm going to go back there and kick some flank! Then I'm going to go get Twilight, and we're going to kick all their flanks!”

“Not a request, Dash! It's an order!”

“You—”

“Different divisions mean nothing. I'm the lead of an operation to rescue you, so I do have the say here! Get in the ambulance; you're going to Fort Earthborn.”

Rainbow felt kicked in the hocks. Soarin’ was right, and the euphoria she had drained away, leaving her ill and dizzy. She had the sky, and now, she had to go back in a little box.

Soarin’ inched closer. “Just for a bit. You're safe now. I promise.”

Rainbow sighed, and made for the ambulance. Two medics reached out to catch her, and she let them. It wasn't their fault, after all. They led her to one of the stretchers in the chariot, while the other was occupied by the screaming law pony

The unicorn was a brown-coated, tall stallion wearing military camouflage. He wasn't a Wonderbolt, but was likely borrowed from Fort Earthborne. His insignia was from General Stone’s division, and there was a red sun on his helmet – military for combat medic. He pointed a flashlight in her eyes, and pulled out a needle for an IV.

“You don't need to,” Rainbow said and she laid down. “I'm fine.”

“Standard procedure for rescues, especially in the desert. You're probably dehydrated like crazy at this point. Just relax, and pop the armor. You don't need it now.”

“Yeah… Saved my life, though.” Rainbow sighed and took off one of the pieces on her legs, and the IV went in. Cold water coursed through her veins, and pressure on her head eased. “Whoa. You put something in that?”

“Just cold saline. See? Dehydrated. Don't worry, though, you don't look too worse for wear. A meal, some rest, and you should be good as new for the inevitable debriefing. Though the doctors will have final say.” He pointed at the unconscious mare. “Any idea what they did to her?”

“Everfree Elixir, right in her vein. She needs a hospital.”

“She'll get it.” He pulled out a pre-packaged injector pen and pressed it into the lawpony’s leg. “Generalized anti-toxin potion. It'll keep her stable. You try to get some rest. We'll be back at base in a couple hours.”

Twilight munched away on the energy bar, hoping that it would live up to the promises of filling her up a little and keeping her going for a few hours. It was designed and used by the military for just that purpose — which meant it tasted like school glue mixed with raw oats. At the very least, however, the claims were more likely to not be simple marketing hyperbole.

She had passed on a full meal from the Officer’s Club — she had things to do, after all. Even if General Stone was supposed to be excellent at ground warfare, and far more experienced than her in such matters, that didn't mean she couldn't be there and stay informed.

She made her way through the blast doors and into the EOC, looking for the General. He was still there, coordinating between a dozen other ponies leading the search. Next to him, though, was a pony she hasn't expected to see yet.

Trixie Lulamoon wasted no time when she saw Twilight. She marched straight to her, and used a smooth confident trot.

“You've decided, then?” Twilight asked. “You still have time. There's no huge rush if you want to think about it more.”

Trixie shook her head. “There's nopony in this world I would trust my life with more. If I carry on, I'll either go crazy or be thrown to political wolves. If I leave, I risk another trap by the Illusionists, no matter what their so-called representative said.

“But if I stay? Then someday, I have a chance to be free.” Trixie took off her hat and laid it before her. “The irony of giving up my freedom to gain it later isn't lost on me, but nopony else deserves to be put in my position. And I'm confident that with you, I can make sure it never happens again.

“So, my life is yours. Take good care of it.” Trixie was about to throw an enormous weight off her shoulders, and she looked it. Moreover, her anger was still there. There, behind her eyes, was a fire desperate for oxygen.

“Alright then, let's do this.” Twilight pulled out her notebook, and summoned her magic. Violet power flowed in a river around both of them, caressing the book and flipping the pages like a gale. Ghosts of pages flittered up, little squares of light floating around them, building up a simple magic circle entrapping them both.

A second circle formed between them, this one vertical and filled with ornate flourish around the edges. Ponies had stopped their work to watch the lines fill in, some guessing at the meaning, others cheering.

Twilight touched her voice with power to fill the room. “Trixie Lulamoon, you have been charged by Harmony to take up the quests of the Grand Mage of Equestria. Are you ready to accept it?”

Trixie stood up straight. “I am.”

“Then kneel, and speak the pledge of the Evening Guard.” Twilight wrote the words on the circle between them, which were reflected on the ground for Trixie to see. Both circles spun faster, synced to each other perfectly. Then, Trixie bowed to the ground.

“I, Trixie Lulamoon, have heard the call of Harmony. I pledge my life to Grand Mage Twilight Sparkle, to take up her path, to protect her from our enemies, to shield her ponies from harm, and accept whatever may happen to me on this journey.

“I swear to follow the tenets of Harmony when I can, and to lead others to do so as well. I swear I shall use force only with wisdom and restraint, and only when I must.

“I swear to uphold the light of knowledge to banish darkness, of courage to banish fear, of will to banish weakness.

“I swear I shall do whatever I must to fulfill the promise Equestria holds.

“I swear all of this to you, Grand Mage Sparkle. My life, my will, is yours.”

The words in the circle faded, and silence fell across the EOC before new words appeared.

“Trixie Lulamoon,” Twilight said, standing over her friend. “I have heard and accept your pledge. In accordance with the tradition of the Evening Guard, I shall pledge to you in return.

“I shall lead you to the best of my ability, and help you to honor your promises. I shall shield you in kind as I can, and treat your commitment with the utmost of respect. You are my precious friend, and shall be treated as such.

“We march forward into the world together, stronger than either alone, more powerful than ever before.

“Rise, Specialist Lulamoon of the Evening Guard.” Twilight gave her a smile. “We have work to do.”

The small crowd cheered and applauded, stomping their hooves and flapping their wings. The wind blew away the magic in the air; with the spell complete, there was nothing to hold it together.

Trixie stood up amidst the calming cheers, shaking but proud. “What's our first order of business?”

“Find out how close we are to uncovering Farriér's hideout.” Twilight waved her over, and they walked to the table with General Stone. “Gentle colts?

Stone motioned to the map. An area in the shape of a crescent moon was shaded in over Firestorm Valley, with the thinnest area opposite the base. “We've got them surrounded, if they're there. In addition to the scouting teams, there are sentries placed all over, within sight of each other, and fire teams standing by to respond to any sightings.”

“And a giant hole on one end,” Trixie said, folding her forelegs. “What's to stop them from slipping by through that gap?”

“The Bellerophon, I'm guessing.” Twilight picked up a pencil and lightly traced a line from the edge of the map to the opening of the crescent. “Given the last position I saw for it, I'm betting that's where it's coming in. The General wants them to head for the gap — that's where they'll run into our most powerful asset.”

“Aye, ye get a bonnie mind there, lass.” Stone grabbed a large, triangle-shaped piece of paper and laid it on the map, with one point at the thickest end of the crescent. “That's not all, though.” Stone took another triangle and placed it on the map. “The Michaelides is taking position here, and is sweeping through with another scouting force. One way or another, they'll be come face to face with one or both of our largest warships.”

“Good. There's only one thing I'm worried about with this plan.” Twilight took out her pen and started chewing on the cap. “The enemy ship had a device that could render it invisible. What's to stop it from sneaking by that way?”

“The weather.” Stone pulled out a large blueprint and spread it out, revealing the design for an incredibly complicated machine. “I was only read intae thes project hours ago, but, th’ cloakin’ device is… something the military has bin working on fur ages. Every time we gave up, some hotshot wood come up tae us with ideas prancing aboot in their head, an’ we moved forward.

“The last fool tae dae that was Shifting Current, an’ he was supposed to be good. But he's been missing fur over ten years, and presumed deid. Somehaw this pirate got the darn thing working, but there's a limit tae how far it'll go.”

“The fire,” Twilight said, having digested the plans. “The fire magic reacts with the water magic the device uses. But nopony travels in Firestorm Valley, so they only had to use it outside of the worst of the flames. And actually…”

She picked up a nearby red pencil and started shading the search zone, stopping at the eastern edge to leave a specific area untouched. “The Valley’s effects wax and wane on a roughly fifty-year cycle. Usually. We're actually at a low point right now, so this area would be someplace the cloak could work, at least for a time.

“General, have the teams focus on the unshaded area of the map. Have the Bellerophon shoot incendiary shells with fire dust into the air. That could disrupt the cloak over a wide area.”

“Wait!” An earth pony soldier had trotted to them during Twilight's orders, and she was pressing a hoof on the speaker in her ear. “I'm getting a report. The base has been sighted, right…” She picked up a pencil and placed an X over a large butte in an unshaded region. “Here. There's a huge door built into the stone. The door is half open and spewing smoke. And…”

Twilight's heart pounded and leapt into her throat. We have them! I can save Rainbow and Rose!

The mare continued, “General Stone, I have a report of two ponies being rescued by a Wonderbolt SAR team. Captain Rainbow Dash and one other were seen fleeing the base after an explosion drew the attention of the team.”

Twilight's jaw just about hit the floor. Or, they could go rescue themselves before I even get a chance. Go Rainbow.

“You were the one to say to have faith in them,” Aurora said, giggling. “You were right.”

“It sounds like the Captain is dehydrated, tired, and hungry, but otherwise okay.” The mare started writing things down. “The other is a pink heavy pegasus, and is unconscious and drugged.”

Twilight's heart started pounding. “This base has an ER, right?”

“Aye. We'll get things ready for their arrival.” The General turned to a pair of lieutenants. “You, inf’rm the hospital we hae emergency incoming. And ye, have our forces close in as one. Tighten the noose, leave no chance of escape. Have the artillery deploy from the sootheast and northeast, and have th’ Black Berets make ready for a rescue operation deploying from the soothwest. If we can rescue all remaining civilians, we can freely destroy their ship an’ infrastructure an’, if necessary, pit them under siege them until they surrender.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You have everything in hoof, General.” Twilight picked up her things and turned for the exit. “I'm going to go make sure my friends are okay.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight sparked her horn and popped back into space and time next to her friend on the hospital bed. They weren't in a room, just an enormous tent sectioned off by curtains. That there was a real floor and not dirt was the ER’s signature luxury.

“Hey, Twilight. Bring me any food?” Rainbow chuckled with bag-laden eyes. Her wings were drooping and dirty, and there was an old cut on her head. She tapped the metal pole holding up her IV. “This just isn't all that filling.”

“Just sit back. I'll make sure they get you something.” Twilight exhaled, dropping several boulders of metaphorical weight off her back. “I'm just glad you're okay. Is Rose with you?”

“Rose?” Rainbow tilted her head.

“The reports said you came in with a heavy pegasus. Pink coat, cutie mark with a shield?”

“Oh! So that's her name.” Rainbow then looked like her train of thought hit an unceremonious barrier at the end of the rail. “How did you know that?”

“First things first. Where is she?”

“Next door. She's… She's calmed down a lot since they gave her medicine.” Rainbow shuddered. “I got the guy that injected her with the Elixir, but ancestors help her. I don't know what she was seeing, Twi, but she was screaming. Screaming like she was facing Discord’s black sire.”

Twilight pulled back the white curtain behind her, and there was Rose, sleeping like a baby. Whatever they had given her had worked, at least for the short term. Her legs, though, were still restrained with enchanted straps. Drool was leaking from her mouth, and there was a faint snore coming from her mouth.

Twilight grabbed a blanket and put it over the sleeping bounty hunter, then put the curtain back where it was. “After you and I got separated, we bumped into each other. She's a bounty hunter, and a local. She knew the desert and its ponies, and I needed a ride. So I hired her, and she wound up getting captured when Farriér launched a surprise attack on a mine we were investigating to try and track him down. He took several others...

“Speaking of, how many innocents were locked up there?” Twilight asked. “We have to save them.”

“None that can be saved, now.” Rainbow put her ears back. “After I got caught, I tried to get out, but couldn't. The doors were locked, and I got lost trying to find the control room. Killed a bunch of pirates, but they caught me. Farriér, I mean.

“Next thing I knew, I woke up in a jail cell in their base. They force-fed me Elixir. They didn't realize I had protection, and left me to trip. There were others, in other cells. They got sold off before I escaped.

“When I left, a bomb blew up the gears of the main door. I don't think the ship is going anywhere soon, so there's probably not any civilians in the line of fire anymore.”

Twilight blinked. “Hold up, reverse that. ‘A bomb blew up the gears of the main door.’ That implies you weren't the one to set it.”

“I wasn't.” Rainbow's eyes lost focus, looking at something in the past. “It's the weirdest thing. Just before I was ready to make my own break, a guy came up to me and let me go.”

“A guy?” Twilight got out her notebook. “Can you describe him?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow ran through the details, from his odd colors to his clothes. “I asked him why, and he said that his business with the pirates was ending, and that they were a loose end. Now that I think about it, he had hinted about the bomb, but I didn't get it until after the explosion knocked me on my plot.”

Twilight ground her teeth, and nearly snapped her pen in two. “Celestia damn it! I'm being used! Again! Just when I think I'm going to do something good with nopony pulling my strings, this comes along!”

Rainbow buried her muzzle into her pillow. “Sorry…”

“Not your fault, Dash. In fact, given what was recently stolen by the pirates, I'm willing to bet you met a member of the Majestics. They let you go so I would get mad and blow up the pirate base.

“In fact, I bet they don't care what I do with Farriér, so long as I stop him from operating against them. He knows what they want, so he can keep them from it. Without the piracy, they can get it through shell games instead. Or they're switching regions or something. Could be any number of things. I'd even be willing to bet a lot of money we won't find any evidence leading to them at that base, even if we take it intact.”

“So what do we do?” Rainbow sat up, tossing aside her blanket. “I'm itching for some payback.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “We aren't doing anything. You're going to stay here, rest, and follow the doctor's orders to a T.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to protest, but stopped and deflated instead. “I'm not going to convince you to let me come, am I?”

“Nope. Don't worry about me, Dash. I'm not alone in this one. The Bellerophon, the Michaelides, and the entire might of Fort Earthborne are going to descend on Farriér's head. I don't care if he has a couple hundred pirates; I'm bringing tens of thousands of ponies into this operation.”

“Heh. No kill like overkill.” Rainbow lay back down, and pulled the light blanket over her. “I guess I can let you have this one, then.”

Twilight felt a twinkle form in her eye. “Besides, I have the other combat-capable member of the Evening Guard here with me.”

Rainbow sat up a tad. “You're letting Spike fight?”

“Don't be silly!” Twilight opened up the curtain and stepped through, then added, “Specialist Lulamoon will be backing me up.”

Twilight closed the curtain.

“Whaaaaaaaaat?”

Hehehe. Oh, if you could see me now, Tia!

“Status report?” Twilight walked into the bridge of the Michaelides, marking the first time in ages real carpet had touched her hooves. The warm lighting was positively luxurious compared to the rest of the Duchy.

“All initial assault forces are in position,” a mare at the communications station replied. “Princess Luna is assisting with teleportations; support personnel are being put in place now. Artillery pieces are ready to fire on command.”

“Captain...” Twilight took a place at the forward window to stare out at the night sky. The smoke behind her was giving way to starlight, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. “It's time. Let's bring it.”

“Battlestations!” With the single order from the stallion, the lights dimmed to red and a klaxon ground into the ears of every pony on the ship, followed by a broadcast from the comms mare.

“Red Alert! Battlestations! Battlestations! This is not a drill! All hooves to their posts! Battle stations!

The thunder of hooves storming to their designations overpowered even the alarm, though only for a moment. Everypony knew what was coming.

“Sir! The enemy base is within range!” a gunnery officer yelled. “Visual available with binoculars. Scouts report confirmed damage to the main door. The ship appears to… Wait…”

Bolts of fire filled the sky from the base of the butte, then exploded in a cacophony of magic. A few fizzled on the shields of the ship, and contrails zipped into being while pegs scattered.””

“Target zone is hot!” The comms mare flicked several switches on her panel. “I'm getting reports of trenches being uncovered! Pill boxes sighted!”

Twilight craned her head around to face the mare. “Signal the artillery. Deploy Sakura shells to cover our ground forces coming in from the west.”

“Aye! Artillery, come in! Request fire mission, deploy Sakura shells at planned target alpha!”

Seconds later, the shriek of shells pierced the air, and burst before impact on the ground. Pink blossoms burst from the warheads, raining down into the battlefield.

Twilight held her stomach to try and calm its butterflies. “Trixie, stay safe…”

“Let's move!” Trixie held her spell in her horn, its twisting giving her a migraine for the ages, all in the name of timing. The chariot under her was not pulled by a pegasus, but by an earth pony running on the bumpy, rock-covered ground. Though this part of the valley wasn't a pure inferno, smoke still leaked from the sediment and smoldered in her nose.

It didn't help that the large majority of light they had was coming from guns firing at them.

Bolts of yellow and red crackled through the air, not only at the pegasi supporting them, but at the ground, too. Two buttes near their target lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree, spewing heavy fire that immediately hit three ponies, tearing through their shields.

Trixie didn't know if they were alive or dead, just that they were hit and flew back. Their armor wasn't as good as hers, but...

“Sakura shells, incoming!”

Trixie grabbed hold of her chariot as the bumps threatened to toss her overboard. The onslaught of ponies picked up speed, not daring to be too far behind when the shells hit.

Explosions popped in the sky, and each warhead burst into a pink, flat oval that slammed into the ground. They sunk in halfway with hundreds of THUDs, leaving the top halves exposed. The soldiers all rushed to them, including Trixie and her charioteer, who put their backs to them to hide.

The bolts from the enemy guns plinked off the translucent sakura, each a shed-sized shield for a small team.

“Trixie!” one soldier yelled, though she couldn't tell who. “We need that secret weapon of yours!”

“Then silence those guns!” Trixie’s heart stopped for an instant while a bolt slammed into the shield opposite her head. “I need uninterrupted line of sight!”

“Drop me here, Private!”

Trixie looked up at the pony that screamed those words, and found a maniacal looking stallion being carried by a pegasus at least a couple hoofball fields up. They were weaving between shots fired by the anti-air guns with practiced ease.

“You got it, Sir!”

“Look out below!” The stallion, definitely an earth pony, fell like an anvil into the ground.

The earth rocked and split open, cracking and grinding dirt and stone in a straight line towards the pillbox, only to stop short. A split second later, a dozen more earth ponies landed near the fault, triggering a focused earthquake.

“You're not going to hog all the fun this time, pea brain!” Another earth pony landed, and the ground under him exploded, launching him even higher into the sky than the other had been. The parabolic course sent him over the line of fire of the pillbox, and directly down on top of the butte.

He had put one hoof down first, and the side of the butte exploded. Dust and rocks filled the air, and a small landslide covered their path to the enemy base with solid stone. The pillbox fell with it all, crashing below into a heap of twisted metal. A shock wave followed suit a second later, heralding a shower of sparks from detonating cores.

“Empty night!” Trixie rubbed her head before coughing on the dust. “Earth ponies can do that?”

The mare that had been pulling Trixie's chariot pulled out a pair of gas masks and tossed one to her. “Nopony trains earth ponies like General Stone. We all have magic to help things grow and keep ourselves healthy, but most of us also have magic that can interact with the ground. We’ve been exploring the tactical side of that. We're at the forefront of what's possible with earth magic. Stuff even unicorns have a hard time with.”

“So I see…” Trixie put on the mask just in time for the stallion himself, General Stone, to run up to the group.

“What in blazes are ye doing? Why is that other pillbox still in one piece?” Stone reared up on his hind legs.

Uh-oh… Trixie ducked for cover, ready for yet more explosions.

He slammed both forehooves down, creating another earthquake that snaked to the other butte. Only a few other earth ponies landed to help him. That was all it took to make the line of cracked earth plunge into the stone under the pillbox, crumbling it all and bringing it down.

“With just one stomp? Wow…”

“Trixie!” ‘Smiles’ yelled. “You're clear! Do your thing!”

“R-right!” Trixie popped out from the sakura shield, and poured more power into her spell. She didn't even notice the pain anymore. “Pure light, illuminate my mind to this world!”

The spell fired, and an arm the size of several train cars appeared up from the ground and clawed at the dirt. A monster, nay, demon rose from nothing and roared, sending pebbles flying. Screaming could be heard on the opposite side of the rocks, and the soldiers ignored it, rushing in to mop up the pirates in the trenches.

“Now see, to me, that's impressive.” The chariot mare chuckled. “Looks freaking real from here, at least!”

Trixie let go of the spell and the illusion while her stomach started doing jumping jacks, a sure sign she was in danger of overextending herself. The demon faded, but its real damage had been done; the enemy line had been shattered by surprise. “I think I need some water.”

“Let's get you out of here. We—”

THU-KOW! THU-KOW!

Two more explosions ripped through the valley, though these were softer than the huge plumes of dust would have suggested. They came from the enemy base, and were completely outdone by the sound of the base's main door breaking free and falling to the ground. A long, armored airship floated out before the dust even had a chance to think about settling.

“I did my part, Twilight.” Trixie hopped on her chariot. “Your turn!”

“Captain, they're making a run for it!” Twilight felt Aurora deploy even before she finished her words. They were safe behind shields, but the armor no doubt figured out what her plan was. “I've got to hit them now, before they cloak!”

“That may not be necessary.” The Captain straightened his hat. “Ensign, signal the Bellerophon!”

“Aye!”

The enemy ship rose, floating into the sky while smoke and lightning danced around it. The cloak was ready, but so was the Bellerophon.

The hulking flagship of Equestria climbed up from behind its hiding post behind a nearby butte. Two batteries trained on the pirate vessel, then fired in blooms of yellow fury. Through the shields of the Michaelides, the explosions were naught but soft WHUDs, but were still enough to make the pirate vessel wince and list to the side.

Undaunted, it continued to cloak, covering itself in smoke and cloud.

“Sir, the Bellerophon is reporting!” The comms mare pressed her headphones to her ears. “They've secured grappling cables to the pirate airship and are reeling them in!”

A smile grew on Twilight’s face. “Ha! Now cloaking won't do them any good!”

Every second, the Bellerophon inched closer. The pirate ship pulled away as best it could, but it was caught like a fish on a hook, so it turned its guns on its captor. Red fireballs belched forth from all of its cannons, bathing the port side of the vessel in flames that licked at the Bellerophon’s shield.

Twilight paced and thought out loud. “If the Bellerophon fires on the pirate ship that close, the detonation could destroy both ships. The reverse is also true, though I don't they'll break through the shields anytime soon. So, why the suicidal action? Unless…”

Twilight jumped to her feet and wound up her cannonball spell. “Captain! Drop the shields so I can get through! Then launch boarding parties to silence their guns!”

“Grand Mage! You can't be—”

“Do it!” Twilight waited for the tell-tale shimmering by the window which signaled the shields dropping momentarily, then ripped through space and time. The silence of the bridge was destroyed by the unreal sounds of war. Guns fired in a nonstop roar of thunder, sending countless rounds of energy in every direction. Twilight’s shields shimmered, reacting to the power in the air. She charged her horn, readying her attack.

The pirate vessel fired on the Bellerophon with flame and shot, though it only crashed on hard shields. The Bellerophon returned the favor, though with a flood of lightning that, instead of striking in a bolt, washed over the ship in a wave, taking the hostile shields down with it.

Now! Twilight teleported again, zooming towards the enemy ship. She zigged left, aiming to its side, and her target appeared. Three pegasi flew out of the bay, doing the aerial equivalent of tip-hoofing out to not be spotted.

“Farriér!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs, slinging a hot, unfocused stream of magic from her horn.

Farriér pulled up, looping around the flames while a cloud of lightning covered his wings. The other two pegasi fell from the sky, leaving only the Captain.

Twilight launched herself once more, this time appearing behind Farriér as he tried to aim at her. She launched a hail of bolts, closing on the pegasus but missing with each shot as he danced around them with the ease of a master.

“Electric apocalypse!”

Tch. Twilight kicked in her cannonball spell again, ready to take him down from behind. Then she caught his eye. It was seething with cold confidence, devoid of mercy and respect. He meant to kill her, and he knew how to kill.

She teleported again, appearing away and to his side. As she did, lightning flooded out behind Farriér, looking like the Bellerophon’s ability in miniature.

“O god of the far north sea, cover this land in your ice!”

The voice was louder than the cannons on either ship, and crushed the entire battle for a single, solitary moment.

Admiral Silver Tempest stood on her ship, katana held high and encased in rime. Water exploded from its tip, covering the sky in a tsunami of power.

“Let’s bring it all to a close! Sekai no Owari!” Storm clouds formed instantly in its wake, birthing a thunderhead the San Palomino desert had likely not seen in a thousand years. Perhaps it was one never seen by most ponies, either, as this one opened up with not just rain, but snow. Most of what fell was snow, the kind that caked on things and froze into a sheet of ice.

It had all unfolded in a few seconds. What was once the hottest place in Equestria was now as cold as Stalliongrad. Snow fell from the sky, some crystals the size of dinner plates. Wherever the oversized flakes landed, they exploded into a tower of ice covered in frozen spikes.

In the wake of this, even Farriér's eyes changed. He eyed the Admiral with none of the contempt reserved for Twilight, then turned to fly.

Twilight's eyes went wide. That's it! She charged her horn and materialized a blade, firing one bolt and throwing the sword.

Farriér dodged the first as easy as the others, and then dodged the blade, only to have it explode next to him.

Twilight teleported to the surface of the pirate airship, standing atop it while Farriér crashed into it at other end. He jumped and flipped to his hooves, singed but alive and well. Only then did he look at her, and only then was there some glimmer of something new: respect.

“I do declare, Miss Sparkle, you're even luckier than I thought! That colorful one beat my guards and escaped to lead you straight to me. Though I admit, I've no idea where she got the bomb that kept me here.” He stroked his beard with a wicked grin. “Had she not done that, you'd never have caught me.”

Twilight pulled out two swords and held them low. “I had your base figured out before Rainbow even came back. It was easy, Farriér. Just leg work. But it was something I could do — ponies I could talk to — that the police couldn’t. Still, I doubt you had much time left. That’s why you implicated Cobb – you needed the team closest to finding you stalled.”

The stallion lifted his leg slightly. He may as well have let Twilight see his entire hand of cards.

Twilight looked down on him, even though he was taller. “You thought I wouldn't figure it out? Blathering that piece of ‘intel’ was just too convenient. And after that, those idiots you have around Badlands made it all too obvious what was going on, so uncovering Badlands’ weakness was a simple snoop job.”

“That's not the funny thing, though. You wanna know what that is?” Power flowed out Twilight's horn and into her blades, deepening their wells to a black fire. The smallest of cocky smiles upturned Twilight's lips. “Rainbow never set a bomb, you loser.”

Farriér blurred and snarled, slashing at Twilight's neck.

Twilight jumped in a backflip, dodging the electric wave as easily as he had dodged her bolts. Farriér blurred again, and Twilight smiled as she teleported away and up. She plunged down on Farriér's head, slashing with the fire of her blades. They carved into the hull of the ship, and she pulled them out to stand tall.

Farriér had used Passage again, and stood at the other end of the ship again. “You…” He huffed and panted. “You lie!”

“Nope!” Twilight stretched her neck. “Whoever you were working with, they're pretty clearly eager for me to clean your clock. Of course, that’s something for me to worry about later. Right now, I'm focused on you. So here's your last chance, Farrier!

“There's two generals, two airships, and thousands of soldiers all here, just for you! It's over, and there's no escape!” Twilight pointed a blade at him. “Surrender, or I will cut you down!”

The contemptful confidence returned, and Farriér spread his wings. Metal buzzed on his primaries, and magic coursed through the weapon. “No. No, I think you'll let me go.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You've got to be kidding me. No way in Tartarus am I going to do that.”

“If you kill me, every one of my crew turns into a vegetable.”

Twilight's heart squeezed itself inside her chest. “The geas. It's so you can hold them hostage!”

“That's right!” Farriér licked his lips. “I can even trigger it without dying. The right thought from me, and their brains are soup.”

Twilight stared him in the eyes, listening to the battle rage around her. Snow landed on her nose, and she huffed to knock it free. “So, what you're saying is, if I kill you…” Power crackled in her blades as she raised one to the sky. She exhaled, and gave Farriér the same look he had her. Contempt. Confidence. Commitment to a path. It was all there. “If I kill you, this whole battle is over?”

Farriér's eyes widened in shock, and he lunged forward. Twilight followed suit, plowing into his advance.

Twilight’s telekinetic swords clashed with the bonded weapon in a shower of electricity and sparks, and Twilight pressed her attack. She leaned in, pushing forward and swinging her blades to cut whatever she could. She nicked him a few times, but barely drew blood. Yet she was pushing him back.

Lightning coursed through her leg as Farriér’s weapon hit her shoulder, grounding itself in the blimp. It burned and locked her leg down for a second, but she knocked him off with a shoulder to his chest.

“Profile confirmed. Resistance now at seventy-five percent and climbing rapidly.”

Farriér charged up, and his feathers buzzed with power.

“No you don't!” Twilight jumped at him, slicing upwards and cutting the rim of his hat in two. She brought another at his head, burning his eyelashes as he stumbled back. “What the buck is wrong with you? Parents not love you? Sore that your wings are good at turning and not speed?”

Farriér caught fire with hate, and screamed an unintelligible curse.

Twilight swung at his foreleg, and cut him just over his knee.

Farriér never stopped, he just rolled and jumped, flying over her head and landing on the other end of the zeppelin. “Hammer of Light!” The lightning of an entire storm engulfed him, swirling around him and turning night to day. “Electrical Apocalypse!”

He flared his wings, and the lightning cracked the air to its target with a metallic, venomous, demonic bite.

“Tch.” Twilight braced herself and held out a hoof. The power slammed into her, and her shields. The latter buckled and bent, but ultimately held, and all Farriér’s pathetic fury balled up in the frog of her hoof, contained there at her will. “Did you really think that would work again? Against me?”

Twilight lifted her hoof and the power she'd collected, just so she could finally see fear in those heartless eyes of his. Then, she brought it down, and sent his rage back to him. “Absolute Mirror!”

Power lashed back down along Twilight's foreleg, searing down her nerves, all while enough electricity to run Manehatten’s lights for a full ten seconds rose up like a snake before crashing into her target. Power washed over him for seconds, bathing him in lightning.

When it finally faded, Twilight was panting, and she was tasting blood. I bit my cheek, and I didn't even notice. The armour on her foreleg had areas where it was glowing and melted, though she could still feel it, so the nerves hadn't been destroyed. She took a step forward, and the twisted, melted plating wouldn't move right, giving her a limp.

“I'll be okay. Stay focused.”

Farriér was still standing, though barely. He was panting and nearly choking on his own tongue. Blood oozed from his forehead and wings, and much of his coat and mane had been burned away. His clothes were nowhere to be found, and Twilight could see his weapon’s core around a piece of armor on his chest.

So that's how he lived. His bonded artifact is a weapon and armor!

“Who… Who would have thought…” Farriér choked out, coughing up blood. “Some little girl like you could do that to me. I’d laugh, but my throat is a bit dry.”

Twilight limped a few steps to him, mindful to keep some distance, then pointed her sword at his head. “It's over, Farriér. No ship, no element of surprise, no hostages I'm not willing to risk. I've won. Surrender.”

Farriér coughed up a laugh. “Are you sure about that last part?”

“Twilight!”

The voice flash chilled Twilight's flesh down to her core. “Spike?” She turned her head to see Spike flying in, soaring under his own wings. “Spike, run!”

“Too late.”

Fwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The gem on Farriér's chest crackled with life, and Farriér spread his wings. “I win, you little bitch! You're going to let me go, with your little friend, or I'll shoot him out of the sky!”

“Twilight!” Spike pulled something out from his pack, and threw it at her hooves.

She plucked it out of the air, spinning it around to point its tip to the sky.

The hilt was made of pure mythril, with a chain-link texture that seemed to pull in and hug her telekinetic grip. The guard was simple, and modeled after a scimitar's. Both were a simple silver color, and the blade was much smaller than she expected given the heft.

The core she'd given Blade Forge made up part of the blade, and half of it was covered in metal. Together, they formed a short sword, or perhaps a half-length rapier.

Twilight plunged the blade into the hull of the ship. In a flash of light, she vanished and reappeared in midair between Spike and Farriér. She watched as the pirate lashed out with electricity, then swatted it away like she would a fly. A second attack came, this one desperate and flailing with power in the shape of a skull, will and intent made physical.

Aurora’s gem glowed, and a diamond shield projected in front of her. It smashed into the skull of light like a fist, smothering the power out.

“Spike…” Twilight grabbed hold of her brother as gravity took hold. “What were you thinking?!”

Spike swallowed. “I thought that—”

She spun round and round, then let go, tossing him clear of the ship and the fight. “Get out of here, you moron!”

The gem in Farriér's artifact flickered and sputtered, trying for another attack.

Twilight cut through spacetime, appearing behind Farriér. “And as for you, you park ride reject!”

Farriér bucked out, and Twilight ducked, then punched between his legs. He winced and stumbled forward, spewing a tirade of sewage not fit for any company.

Twilight teleported again, this time in front of him. “I'm all out of last chances for you. You're too evil for this world. It's time you were removed.”

Farriér punched toward her, only for Twilight to dodge right and grab his leg. Power flowed from his weapon and wings, but refused to ground in her armor, falling to the ship instead.

Twilight delivered an uppercut that sent his light pegasus frame into the air, then backed up two steps. As her target fell, she lunged forward, striking blow after blow into his body, then bringing both forehooves down on his head so hard his body bounced back into the air after hitting the ship. She clenched her back muscles, summoning pegasus magic into her own jump, turning it into a backflip that sent her hind hooves into his jaw.

She lit her horn, and entered a teleport. She reappeared in the same place she was, but launching forward like a cannonball, plunging her hoof into his chest. Her fetlock felt a crunch of bone as his sternum broke, and she turned her body to pass him by. Then, she teleported again, sending her back the way she came to hit his backside. She teleported over and over, each time coming from a different angle, and breaking something new. After the seventh or eighth time, she appeared below him, and punched him into the air.

My ponies are fighting for their lives down below. Time to end this. Her horn reached out for her new blade, and pulled it from the ship’s armor. She brought it to Farriér's neck, and somehow, beyond all expectations, he managed to cross his wings in front of him to parry her.

Twilight’s horn shown as a new star, and she brought them both through a teleport, launching them together into the sky, followed by another and another to send them soaring into the storm clouds.

Farriér spit up some blood in a cough. “I'm not done yet. I won't let you—”

Twilight gripped her sword as tightly as she could. That was when it exploded.

Flames and fire spewed upwards in a volcano of violet power. The edges were the same translucent hue of her telekinesis, which became opaque further in. At the core was a black void filled with sparkles of astral power. Though the sword she had held was the same, the plume was five times taller than her.

Twilight swung it out, the arc of energy clashing with his bonded blade. She pushed him ever forward, ready to break through his defence, looking him dead in his eyes. Eyes that still spoke only of rage, hatred, and an intent to kill.

An idea entered her mind, and just like that, a portal opened behind Farriér, and Twilight watched as she herself emerged from it. Four more portals, two on each flank, opened up, and four more Twilights came from them. Six of her voices called out together as they wound up their attack, “Power etched into the laws of the cosmos, secret hidden in ages past, fill my blade to cut through time and space!”

They all screamed again as their blades came down, the name of an attack pulled from the very core of her being. It hit true, but to make it stick, Twilight had work to do. After all, just one attack from one of her was far less than what was obviously called for.

She summoned her power and memory as she fell, calculating the physics of Starswirl’s spell to travel back in time just a few seconds. She disappeared from the world, appearing to Farriér's right just before the others of her delivered their attacks. She brought the sword together with theirs, screaming as she did. She repeated the process five more times, finally appearing behind and above him for the finale.

She raised her sword behind her and pushed as much power into it as she could, and it drank from her wellspring like a stallion at a desert oasis. It didn't even reach for her horn, but took from her core directly.

In time with her previous selves, she dove in, screaming from the bottom of her soul, and brought the blade down on his head.

“Luminar Nova!”

A violet, six pointed explosion of astral power tore a hole in reality, blasting away the storm and clearing the sky. Next to the moon, the Luminar Nova dominated, bathing the desert in purple light. Shockwaves blasted out in rings from the epicentre, setting off smaller, bright white explosions around the star as they formed violent eddies in spacetime.

Twilight came into a landing on the ground with all four hooves hitting at the same time, sliding on them until she came to a stop. She spun her sword a couple times, then sank it into the desert soil. “It is done.”

Pegasi were falling from the sky around her, and the pirate ship was listing to the side, its guns silent as the Luminar Nova faded. The sounds of battle around her faded away, settling into a silence that chilled her nerves far more than the unusual, cold air.

A shooting star fell out of the sky, burning with magic as it slammed into the ground. Farriér's bonded artifact, drained of magic and warped, landed next to her. Chunks of burned flesh were still attached, but turned to stone, then dust in front of her eyes. All that was left of Farriér was putrid smoke.

In seconds, the only remaining light was the moon and stars, both sparkling in the towers of ice around her. Spotlights under the Bellerophon turned on, and reports of “All Clear” sounded in her radio.

“Twilight!” Spike came in for a landing next to her, tripping and falling on the landing. He rose to his feet as if he meant to fall. “That was incredible! Are you okay?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. And don't worry. I'll be back in a moment.”

Spike clutched his chest. “Are — are you going somewhere?”

“More like somewhen.” Light overtook her, thrusting her forward in time as Starswirl's spell ended, trying to align the fractured timeline. Her surroundings blinked as she was flung forward in time several moments, and she reappeared in the same location, though now with a dozen waiting soldiers surrounding her.

“Lady Sparkle!” One medic pony bowed. “Do you require assistance?”

“No, I'm fi—” Her legs turned to mush, and the ground under her rocked like the ocean while her head felt like it split open. She leaned on her sword, and her haunches spontaneously found soil. “On second thought, I might need a nap. That took a lot out of me.”

“Get a stretcher!” the medic yelled behind him, triggering a flurry of activity.

Twilight let herself flop on her back, looking up at the sky and the thousands of stars. In one spot, where she had launched her final attack, was a blue-green rip in the air beginning to pulse and swirl.

“Oh, great, a temporal rift.” Twilight yawned as she let sleep take her. “I really hope Luna knows how to take care of that…”

Author's Note

Welp, here it is. The climax of mission seven! I hope you all enjoyed this one. I tried to turn the epic up to 11 on this chapter to make it satisfying. I know you've all been itching for a real round 2 between Twilight and Farriér, and here it is.

There will be a few more chapters in this mission as the fallout happens, then on to mission eight!

Don't forget to check out my latest blog for an awesome pic from my wife. Also, cat pictures.

Thanks again for sticking with me!
-Cv

Blades That Cut In A Direction That Doesn't Exist

“Well, look at this.” Twilight hopped down through the hole, under the floor where Flicker had been working.

Flicker gave Twilight a foul look.

“What, you didn’t think I’d just let you do whatever you wanted down here, did you?” Twilight responded. “For all I know, you were trying to sabotage this thing.”

“That would be like trying to sabotage a time bomb that's set to go off. You're as likely to kill yourself as your intended target.” Flicker pointed at the scene in front of them. “It's as much a marvel as it is a freaking maze.”

Underneath the floor of the reactor room was an uncountable number of pipes. The larger ones flowed with ice-blue mana, but most were smaller and opaque. There was a catwalk of sorts leading back behind them, and many pipes were running alongside it. Most of the pipes, however, were following the ice-mana ones, plunging down into a bottomless pit. Some of them were leaking ice magic, lighting the whole of the underground area but also obscuring where the pit led. The sheer torrent of magic getting pumped to who knows where would be more than enough to power all of Equestria, if it could be converted to electricity efficiently.

Questions automatically filled Twilight's mind, ones that she voiced aloud. “How deep is it? And where does the mana go?”

Flicker leaned on a railing overlooking the pit. “No idea. I mean, I know there's a sink of some kind. Something to dump out the mana safely, but how that works wasn't revealed to me.”

Twilight leaned on the rail next to her. “Which begs the question: Revealed to you by whom?”

“Well, I can't exactly tell you.” Flicker narrowed her gaze. “But I bet you can guess, to an extent.”

Twilight swallowed, images of the sealed off underground lab underneath the pirate base. “Yeah. Can't forget the letters.”

Flicker looked like she was about to say something but she fell off her train of thought as it was leaving the station. “Say what now?”

“Flicker. Where's Shifting Current? What happened to him?”

Flicker’s mouth made an”oh” shape. “That guy. What, did you find some journal of his or something?”

“In a manner of speaking. What did you do to him? Where is he?”

“Gave him funding, and then he…” Flicker pulled out a piece of cherry gum and popped it in her mouth. “I don't know all the details. Not my business. But he went bonkers despite our—my— efforts to keep him functional. Nothing we did was meant to hurt him. He was valuable! Honestly, I think something went really wrong in his brain. Some chemical imbalance we couldn't figure out, maybe? Piss, it could have been a tumour or something, come to think of it. But once his mind was gone, his body followed.”

Flicker almost choked on her gum. “Ack! Bad wording. He's still alive. Or he was when we last had him with us. He just… ran away, and we couldn't find him. You'd think a nutbar like that would be easy to find, but there's billions of ponies out there, and if you haven't noticed, a good chunk of them are crazy already.”

Twilight set her tongue to “snark.” “Yeah, some of them worship dark gods and try to overthrow benevolent immortal leaders.”

Flicker huffed. “If that's what you really think, then you don't know anything at all. But I swear to you, Shifting Current was alive and physically healthy last I saw him. We wouldn't hurt him; he was making incredible breakthroughs for us. He was the one that figured out how to get into the Ginnungagap.”

Twilight's eyebrow stayed raised. “Uh-huh. But why would he work with you?”

“He was crazy?”

“Says a lot about who he worked for, I suppose, but let's be real for a moment. Given what happens when you say the name that starts with I and ends with nos, you can't be surprised that he went nuts.”

Flicker’s tail swished in irritation. “Let's just get on with this. Come on, it's time to get the Element.”

“One moment. I need to check for something.” Twilight switched to her Sight and looked around the pipes, looking for spells.

“Still don't trust me?”

Twilight pulled back on her vision and squinted. “We are about to fight, probably to the death. I have to make sure you didn't set up a trap with these machines to take me with you if you lose. And that alarm sound earlier was sketchy, you have to admit.”

“Oh, that!” Flicker turned and trotted down one of the paths, then grabbed onto one of the blue mana pipes with her hooves and turned it. The mana flow shut off immediately, and the same alarm as before sounded. She opened and closed the pipe a few more times, then did the same to another one to the same effect before returning. “I think it's something that should happen automatically. Flow in the core stops, the drain should start. I think some of them just aren't working quite right.”

“Logical. But I still want to check.” She turned to the depths, gazing down into the hole. There were paths down there, set up in a kind of spiral. I can't see it all at once… Going to have to go down there and look around, maybe check Flicker's body language as I go. “Follow me.”

They walked down the winding way, Twilight both checking the walls with her Sight and noting Flicker's reactions. Both, however, were cold as cucumbers in a freezer. There was an unreal amount of power flowing around them, which meant the potential for mass destruction. Since the means with which the machines moved that power was opaque to her, there was little to check. No runes or wards could be found, and if any active spells were around, they were impossible to find. Still, she only turned around when the ice mana concentration started to form crystals on the bottom of her hooves.

“Ok, I'm…” Twilight chewed on her words. “I wouldn't say satisfied, but I acknowledge that I'm probably not going to be able to find anything on any timescale faster than geologic. So, if you did do something, well done: I'm not able to find it.”

Flicker clapped her hooves. “Still not trusting me. But I get it. I wouldn't trust me either, if I was in your position. Ready to get the Element?”

“Yeah. Let's go.”

It took several minutes to climb the stairs, but eventually they were on the second-highest level of the main chamber, and Flicker was messing with some lever behind a panel in the wall. “One thing I heard about this place is ‘redundant.’ At first I thought that this whole building was a backup for something, but then I found these.” She took out a book with a bunch of loose papers in it from her bag. “Notes from the traitors. I pretty quickly figured out it meant that this place has a ton of backup systems, and backups for those backups. This was in the notes.”

She started pumping the lever, and a glass bridge started to unfold from under the catwalks and extend to the middle of the reactor core. The core itself had no colour in it anymore, except for the bottom part, which was brighter than ever.

Twilight smiled and folded her forelegs. “Well, that bridge is convenient, at least. I was honestly thinking they'd use ice magic to make a staircase or something. I mean, I could do it, but it would've taken a bit to be careful to not screw up next to this much power.”

Flicker chuckled as she put the panel back. “I seriously wouldn't bet against this place having something like that back in its day. But hey, redundancy.”

“Probably the only reason this place is still standing!” Twilight pressed a hoof on the bridge, pushing down to try and make it crack, but it held without so much as a squeak. “There's no way this is just glass.”

“The notes say there's aluminum in it? I dunno, but as long as it holds, I don't care for the moment.” Flicker marched towards the core, and Twilight made sure to stay right next to her. “Here goes nothing.”

Twilight's stomach twisted itself. “I sure hope we aren't encased in ice magic for a thousand years or something. That's a lot of power in the bottom part.”

“Oh ye of little faith!” Flicker grabbed the center part of the core and twisted it, then pulled. An assembly of sorts slid out, obviously meant to hold something that wasn't in there now. What was in there was the brilliant, orange, apple-shaped gem of Honesty, still on its necklace.

Twilight let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. “There it is. Honesty. It's been a while since I've seen it. There's really nothing that can compare to these masterworks.”

Flicker picked it up with her hooves and held it so they could both see. “Agreed. I've only seen them twice before, and by the heavens I could stare at this thing all day if you let me. It's like I see a new detail each time I blink.”

“Question is, what do we do with it while we fight?” Twilight asked.

An ice cold chill went up Twilight's spine, and she knew it wasn't from the mana. It was from Flicker, and it wasn't something so complex as magic. It was a pure killing intent from the bottom of her soul.

“Oh, leave that to me,” said Flicker.

Twilight readied to pull her sword as Flicker reached into her bag, but the other mare didn't pull a weapon. Instead, it was a roll of tape on a handle. There was only one possible response: “What?”

“Mega Muck’s Magic Mega Tape!” Flicker held the Element on the core, just above the assembly they had removed, and ran the tape over it. “Resistant to spells and attempts to strip it by telekinesis! Stickier than a diamond dog's thieving paw! Cold can't degrade the glue, and water can't dissolve it! Heat resistant to three hundred degrees! You could build a boat out of it and a few sticks and it would float!”

Flicker put another piece of tape over it to make an “X” shape. Then, she put a piece of purple plastic or something on the end of the tape roll, which was likely there to grip it without getting stuck in a spider web of one's own making. “There. Which means when I win I'm going to have to spend an hour trying to peel it off.”

“Uhhh…” Twilight's mouth was hanging open. “Are you, like, an owner of that company? Or are they in cahoots with the Majestics somehow?”

“Nah, I'm just a big fan. You'd be surprised how useful I've found this stuff.” Flicker stuffed the roll back into her bag, then pushed the assembly back into the core. “Let's head outside. We can have our fight in the city. Like I said, I don't wanna blow this thing up.”

“Understandable. I hope you're ready to bring your A-game. Everypony that's underestimated me so far has had a really bad time when I crossed their path, and you will be paying for the ponies you've killed.”

Flicker froze, looking up. “Maybe one day, you'll be right about that last part. I've got a lot of red in my ledger. But what I'm fighting for is worth it.” She locked eyes with Twilight, revealing that same killing intent. “Which means, I can't afford to lose.”

The outside was much as Twilight left it, except that the light was running low. Flicker must have noticed it, too, as she dropped another piece of solidified magic into the generator powering the spotlight.

“No sense in fighting in the dark.” Flicker rotated her right shoulder. “I'm sure we could use our magic to compensate, but since we'd be on even ground there, might as well charge up the light.”

“I have no objections to that.” Twilight pointed in a direction she hoped she was remembering right. “I think I saw a hint of an open area a few kilometres that way. It should be far enough that we can fight there without risk to the reactor.”

Flicker's smile had a little fang in it. “Oh? Just how much magic are you throwing around these days? Our intel says you should be more limited than that.”

“You could ask Farriér — but you'll have to reassemble his atoms, which are likely scattered throughout not just the San Palomino desert, but time as well.”

That got raised eyebrows from Agent F. “And you say I'm a murderer? Yeesh.”

Twilight sighed. “Let's not go down the ethics rabbit hole again; we won't get anywhere with each other that way. Follow me; I think I remember the way.”

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, each mare keeping a regular pace. No hints could be given about any weaknesses. When they were a few minutes out, Flicker started charging a spell.

“Shields time. Or are you going to be relying on your bonded armor?”

Twilight grimaced, then pulled the emotion back with a hard yank. No weakness. She started up her own defensive spells, putting them through some extra complications to hide her exact formulas. Flicker might have been able to guess at a few of them, but she had so many layers going through the spell, some already heavily encrypted and memorized, that there was no reasonable way for her enemy to compromise them by seeing them deployed.

She put up a few dummy layers anyway.

Not long after they were both done, they were taking up positions on either end of what was likely once a small park. No plants were left, but bare dirt just wasn't likely in a city such as that. To Twilight's back, in the far distance, were the palace of Lord Glacien and the strange reactor building. Ahead of her was Agent F and a large collection of medium-sized buildings all made of the same odd material that the rest of the city was made of.

The two mares stood opposite each other, maybe twenty meters apart, stances wide and hearts ready for battle in the still air of the underground.

Twilight looked at Aurora, who deployed while the Grand Mage drew her blade, pointing it squarely at her enemy. “Last chance, Flicker. Not just to avoid my wrath, but probably One’s as well.”

Flicker’s youthful face had no joy left in it. All that was left was the contempt Twilight had seen when she first laid eyes on her. “How do you figure?”

“We never found the one who managed to kill General Towers. Given where he was, I’m betting that they'd send a pro to infiltrate Canterlot Castle when it was in high security mode. Given that they likely don't have many true ringers at that level, probability suggests that was you. Which means we've met before, and you didn't kill me.

“There's only one way that series of events could have unfolded as they did — you were under orders to leave me alone. An order like that could only come from One.”

Flicker licked her teeth. “Bravo, Lady Sparkle. That's some solid deductive reasoning. You're correct; that was me. And yes, I'm supposed to leave you alone. But I'm not under a geas, and you've proven too resourceful to risk keeping around, in my opinion. What's the old phrase? ‘Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission?’”

Twilight let out a little breath, and locked eyes on the sword handle sticking out of Flicker's bag. “You're not even going to do me the honour of fighting me with your sword?”

Flicker whipped out an orange telekinetic blade and some kind of bauble from her bag that was not the sword handle, combining the two items into a fiercely hot telekinetic blade. “Nah. What you see on my left isn't a weapon, it's a tool. This is my blade. It's all the extra weaponry I've ever needed outside of my own mind.”

“Suit yourself.” Twilight put power into her sword. No spells, only power. Then, she reached out with her heart to hook her magic into her shields.

“You're going to try it? Here? Now?”

If not now, when? Twilight bent her knees for the style. “This is a mess of your own making, Flicker. I'd say I hope you find it all to be worth it in the end, but that would be a lie.”

“Enough talk, bitch!” Flicker growled and pawed at the ground. “Bring it!”

Twilight's magic flared, and the world rushed towards her. In the blink of an eye and a rush of wind, she was behind Flicker and bringing her blade down on her back. It was logical to use Passage against someone with the name of “Flicker,” as surprise would be paramount.

Flicker was behind Twilight.

Twilight turned her head, only to catch sight of the kick to her rear. The impact was no mere unicorn kick, or even that of an earth pony. Her shield flared and belched heat even as Twilight went flying, crashing into an empty building and reducing it to rubble.

“That was a bad hit!” Auroracried out. “I'm going to try adjusting the shield for impact and fire damage.”

“Ugh.” Twilight pulled herself up and pushed off some of the rubble, feeling the chill of leaking ice magic welling up. “How in Tartarus did she do that?”

“That's for me to know—” Flicker appeared on a remaining piece of the roof. “—and for you to ponder in the Summerlands.”

“Keep dreaming.” Twilight rose to her hooves. “I'm not even close to being out of tricks yet.”

Flicker laughed through a grin too wide to exist on a head her size. “By all means, pull out all the stops. I'll crush them one by one, you spoiled brat!”

The air cracked with thunder, and Twilight launched herself through a teleport that had her popping back into reality on Flicker's left and flying at a few hundred kilometres an hour.

Flicker didn't use Passage, or teleportation. In one tiny fraction of a second, she was one place. The next, she was somewhere else. Even how she was standing was different, somehow balancing herself on the edge of Twilight's blade. The following kick to the face felt like getting run into by a train.

This is going to get repetitive real quick if I don't try something new. Twilight pulled herself out of more rubble, then lifted the surrounding material all together in a mass telekinetic field. A literal ton of material hard as rocks floated around her, and she gave it a spin. In seconds, a donut shaped kill field was ready to bash in anything unlucky enough to find itself in the way.

“Blind spot up above!”

Oh, it's not blind. Twilight broke into a gallop, rushing headlong back into the battle. Flicker leaned to one side and smiled as the full force of the debris was about to rain down on her. When the mare disappeared, Twilight kicked off her spell that brought all the chunks of building bits up in a cone over her head.

When Flicker appeared in front of her, Twilight reached out to grab her and drag her under the falling debris. When the mare vanished instead, Twilight turned the grab into a leading punch, then turned that into a roll to get herself out of the way. She twisted her sword with magic pulsing through it, swinging it behind her and sending out an arc of energy where Flicker was likely to be.

Flicker appeared in mid-air a dozen meters away and landed with a laugh. “Ha! Good instincts! But you’re still nowhere near my league.”

“We'll see about that.” Twilight fired off magic all around, the little sparkling stars landing on the ground and sticking. One landed near Flicker and immediately burst with a cracking pop. By themselves, they weren't much. Flicker rubbing her ear after that, however, told her that the hundreds she was firing off could work.

Twilight rushed forward, leading with another thrust and letting her opponent dodge - right into one of her traps. It went off with another bang, and Flicker stumbled. Her instinctive move away from the noise put her right into another one. One by one they went off, ringing in their ears.

Twilight's shield, however, was already adjusted to accommodate shockwaves from loud noises. She could still stand, run, and drive her blade home. It plunged forward, ready to tear through Flicker's shield and chest.

Flicker vanished again, but only just. Her body was now millimetres away from the blade, and Twilight pulled right to cut through her. Flicker moved again and again, perhaps a hundred times in a second, always to just outside the strike.

“It's automatic,” Twilight said, stopping still. “A shield matrix that's moving you so you don't intercept anything ever. Clever, but not good enough. I'd be willing to bet it'll run out of juice long before my shields do.”

Flicker grunted and shook her head like she was trying to dislodge water from her ear. “In your dreams.”

Twilight pointed her blade at her again. “Your wobbling says otherwise.”

“You're not the only one who can adapt their shields!” Flicker pointed her blade in kind. “That trick won't work anymore.”

“Oh, I have tricks for days.” Twilight put power into her horn. I hope. Don’t choke, filly.

Flicker was at Twilight's side, and an enemy blade was grinding into her shield.

What should have been Twilight instinctively kicking Flicker directly in her muzzle was a complete whiff, and her enemy simply switched sides. Can't intercept her like this… Twilight pulled as much magic as she could into her horn, and let it sputter about with only a barely cohesive string of casting. Magic spewed out from her and decayed, bathing the underground in light as she jumped away.

Flicker was stock still, eyes closed, ears twitching. She kept forward, blade aiming for Twilight's heart. It struck only air as Twilight teleported to her side and struck with a splash of fire magic. The heat should have bypassed a shield not built for it, but Flicker merely popped into existence a few meters away. So it's not entirely based on her perception, either. Fully automatic, but can be controlled manually too.

In another blink, Flicker was grinding her blade into Twilight's shield again. She responded with a ring of fire blossoming from her horn like a flower, which only had Flicker backing off for an instant before she was at it again.

“Twilight, something’s off about her attacks. Her blade isn't doing much to your shields. They could take this for quite some time.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and stopped. “Huh.” She put out more fire, then followed up with a basic barrier outside of her combat shields, making it an encompassing dome around her. Flicker was immediately back at her combat shields, inside the still intact basic barrier.

Barriers don't stop her, but my combat shields do. Why? And why attack with so weak a hit I can stand here and ignore it? The connection in her mind clicked together. The fourth dimensional shift! She doesn't know where I am in 4D, so she's trying to decode the final dimensional coordinate!

“Gotcha!” Flicker pulled back, thrusting forward like she was flying.

Twilight teleported away in an instant, leaking magic to make sure it was as bright and booming as possible, then followed it up five more times to let the roar echo off the dome.

“That's not going to work anymore.”

Twilight's eyes opened wide as she turned to see the voice behind her. Her teleportation was only a millisecond before Flicker would have struck home, and when she reappeared there was a column of light where she had been. Flicker appeared in front of her a second later, licking her lips.

“I told you, that's not going to work anymore. It's checkmate.”

Another lunge, and this time Twilight pulled on her shield and the world moved around her. She was two city blocks down the road in the blink of an eye with no teleportation bloom, and Flicker was still after her without even having to open her eyes. Three more times she escaped, and three more times Flicker was following her easily, laughing all the way and leaving behind blasts of magic that were spewing columns of blue and gold energy.

“This is it!”

Twilight brought forth the power to teleport again, but the spell snapped in two, blasting magic out in a ring around her. The columns of power blinked from where they were to spots all around her, holding the ring in place. It grabbed her and kicked Twilight in the gut, lifting her up into the air.

A searing light burst from Flicker's blade as she soared to meet Twilight. Spell circles appeared around Twilight, holding her in place above the city and aiming lances of energy at her heart.

“Your tyranny ends now!” Anger, hatred, rage, and determination were all words needed to describe what Flicker looked like in that moment as she readied the strike, yet they were all woefully inadequate.

Twilight sighed as the blade came. “I'm sorry.”

Flicker screamed and landed her blow, right after Twilight reached into her shields, found one of the layers, and gave it a spin.

“Quantum Tear!”

Heat and light blasted in a detonation that shook the very foundation of the city, raining down radioactive fire and thaumic contamination. Buildings infused with ice mana caught fire, and those that were too close crumbled into little chunks. A rip in spacetime closed, sending off one last crescendo of photons across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Seconds later, bits of rock were still falling down onto the ground. There was no way to tell if they were from buildings or the dome ceiling. Dust choked the area beneath the blast, mostly some smoke and steam from vaporized structures.

“I did it…” Flicker said through her pants. “I really did it.”

“Sorry to be the Bearer of Bad News.” Twilight stepped through the smoke, blasting it away with a swing of her sword. “But you missed.”

Flicker froze, eyes wide and jaw open. “That's… that's im—”

“Impossible?” Twilight smiled. “That's what I was thinking about you a minute ago. You, my dear enemy, are a macroscopic quantum cloud.”

Flicker's heart was stabbed with a knife made out of pure fear.

“You're not actually where I'm seeing you. You're everywhere around us, in every possible orientation and pose simultaneously. I'm guessing there's a radius of what, ten meters? Twenty five? A hundred at most, but I doubt it’s anywhere near that wide.

“Anyway, what I'm seeing is just your most likely position resolving as you're being ‘observed.’ Somehow, your shield matrix allows you to quickly shift what is ‘most probable,’ even doing so automatically when needed to avoid getting a hit landed on you. I have to admit, that is one hell of a trick. I see now why you've been so effective.”

Flicker was once again grinding her sword against Twilight's shield, and sweating like she was in a sauna. “You can't be alive! I saw it hit!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and reached out to her shields again. One of the layers separated and showed itself, and Twilight spun it so Flicker could watch the variables blink and change.

The mare dropped her sword.

“But you need to know exactly where I am to get by my fourth-dimensional shield, don't you? A normal barrier would be easy to bypass, just change the probability of where you are. But if you goof up against my barrier, you'd get ejected. Sorry to tell you: it's easy for me to change the exact value of that coordinate. I can even set it to cycle around.”

Flicker’s leg shook as a tear ran down her nose. “Fine, then. The first time I found you, the shift was only point four seven micrometres. So the range isn't that great. I'll just have to rework the math, cut across it all at once!”

Twilight yawned at the mare picking up her sword. “If you could have done that, you would have beaten me in seconds. But now that I know your trick, let me show you one of mine.” She poured a beam of fire magic into a vein of ice mana, then twisted it and embedded a spiralling spell. Magic balled up into a vortex of red and blue. Ice burst forth from the vein, blossoming out a flower of crystal the size of a sports stadium. Each little piece of it was made of an ice sheet only a few molecules thick, crumbling when it hit a solid object.

Flicker, true to her name, wasn't solid. At least, she wasn't until she slammed into the city's rock ceiling. A sonic boom cracked and echoed throughout the city before the mare fell and landed hard on the ground.

Twilight approached with a trot, finding Flicker struggling to stand and coughing up blood. “Looks like I was right about the quantum cloud thing. I learned a ton about it from Neighsenberg himself about six years ago at a conference. An increase in certainty in position will decrease certainty in momentum, and vice versa. Which means, if I deny you the ability to manipulate your configuration in your bubble, your momentum becomes impossible to control.”

The Grand Mage chuckled as the ice melted in seconds, raining down on her and coating everything in a thin layer of water destined to freeze in minutes. “I don't even need to work hard to do it. This ice is so thin, any other opponent would've been completely unharmed, even with no shields or armor. I could do it with this, with fire, with itty bitty barriers…”

Flicker barely rose to her hooves as a cut on her head dripped blood and her breath bore curses.

“It's foals’ play for me, really.” Twilight lit her horn and put up a few extra barriers around her. Triangular and spinning, they were arranged in a cube around her in just the right spots to stop a particle mare from being able to resolve herself near her actual barriers. The little smile that was growing on her sent a delightful chill to the back of her head and down her spine. “Now that I’ve figured it out, I’m betting you won’t be able to land any more hits on me.”

“That's a bet you'll lose!” Flicker all but vanished from sight as she rocketed forward, hoof out to deliver a locomotive blow.

A face of Twilight's shield exploded on contact, sending out a shower of tiny — and solid — shards. The wind from Flicker going flying pulled Twilight up into the air for a moment, and she decided to use a teleportation to follow it. A visceral whud echoed in the cavern and kicked up dust and debris from a building down below. At her command, wind pushed Twilight left and down to meet ground zero while her horn charged with red power.

Landing evenly on all fours, Twilight trotted to the crushed building and waited out front. When a green hoof pushed open the front door and she locked eyes with Flicker, she let go of the power she was holding. “I call this one Pyrostorm.”

Flames rushed out of her like a waterfall, splashing and swirling down the street. Heat yanked up in them, twisting the blaze into a tornado of fire. When Twilight strode out of the maelstrom, rocks were crumbling on the outside city dome ahead of her. A few teleports later, and she was there.

Flicker was under the rocks, but was not buried alive. Rather, she was emerging from them with grunts and staggers.

Twilight smirked at her. “You shut off your quantum cloud spell. Otherwise getting buried like that would have set it off again. Think you can take me without it?”

“If I have to fight dirty…” Flicker pursed her lips, then spat out a tooth. “I don't mind playing in the mud.”

Twilight turned slightly, then pawed at the ground. “Bring it.”

Flicker blurred out of existence.

Twilight pulled herself to the right, and led with a punch. It caught Flicker's chest as she came out of her Passage jump, breaking something, though Twilight didn't know what. Flicker was wheezing out all the air in her lungs as she was knocked back. Somehow, the mare had stayed standing, though desperately panting for air. Let's change that.

Twilight ran at her, knocking away the punch Flicker lunged her way and followed it up with another punch to the chest, keeping her foreleg out and lifting the mare off her hooves. With a yell and grunt she tossed the mare, swinging around and kicking her with both hind legs before she could hit the ground.

Flicker slid back into the rubble, then curled up in pain. She spat up blood, and coughed as she rose back to her hooves.

Twilight shook her head, exhaling into the damp air. The flames in the distance were dying out, dimming the world around them. Flicker's horn sputtered with magic, but fizzled out save for a few sparks that fell to the ground, the bits of dancing orange light a pale reflection of her wellspring.

Twilight shot a beam of magic across the ground, drawing a line between them. “This line between us? It represents a thousand steps. I'll give you credit for a masterful trick, but now, you're out of magic, out-gunned, and left with nowhere to run. Surrender.”

Flicker roared and lunged, tears leaving her eyes in a stream.

Twilight swatted her away with the back of her hoof. What little was left of Flicker's shield broke into splinters, and the exhausted mare hit the ground a couple meters away.

“Last chance, Flicker.” Twilight drew her sword and pointed it at the mare’s head. “You're too dangerous to try and capture without surrendering and putting the hobble seal on yourself. If you don't, you'll be leaving me with no choice but to kill you, since I don't know if you have any tricks left.”

Flicker pushed herself up again, but her leg gave way and she flopped on her side. “Damn you. I hate you so much. Why does somepony weak enough to offer mercy to me get to be a pampered hero.”

“Because if I didn't offer mercy, I wouldn't be the hero. Killing you now would be easy. It's a much bigger pain to try and secure you for capture.”

“So you're a hero for being inconvenienced? Go buck yourself, Sparkle. You're no hero. You're some brat that got everything given to her.” Flicker broke into a coughing fit, heaving up a lung in the process but managing to sit up despite that. “Besides, I got one last trick in me, and you got no way to stop it.”

Twilight swung her head to look at the giant reactor syphon almost on instinct, and only felt the vibrations afterwards.

Flicker tried to laugh but only coughed more. “Your instinct to look for a bomb was basically on the money. But I didn't do crap to the core. I didn't need to, because whenever this city got sent underground like this, it lost the connection to its emergency mana sink, the Volca volcano.”

Twilight's eyes shrank with her gasp. “Then that means…”

“Yup.” Flicker’s bloody grin regrew on a face painted in swelling and bruises. “And it's just about time.”

Brilliant blue light overtook the giant building, and in a flash it vanished. This, however, was no mere explosion. What replaced it were cubes inside cubes - millions of blue tesseract shapes floating away in the air before dissipating. There wasn't even a ‘bang.’

“Okay.” Twilight tried to swallow, but the inside of her mouth had turned into sandpaper. “Here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me everything you know about what just happened, or you'll wish you were next to that thing just now.”

More chuckle-coughs escaped Flicker's mouth. “Emergency teleportation. The whole building. I told you, there's redundancy after redundancy in that place. Even if everything went wrong, it would use the power buildup to perform some kind of dimension shift automatically. Maybe it was supposed to go somewhere in particular, but who knows if that still worked after what Discord did to the world.”

Twilight's heart thumped her chest with a hammer. “So you don't know where it went. Odds are it sent it somewhere far away to protect the city. The spell would have found someplace… wait…”

Everything about Twilight’s insides twisted around like a wet rag. “The core was drawing away a huge amount of power from the krene, and without it there to do so…”

Flicker wobbled up to being able to sit. “Now you get it. Without the core here, a whole crap-ton of ice magic is going to flood out and freeze Moscolt solid… unless it goes up that giant, ancient staircase under that farm. Guess what happens then.”

The blood in Twilight’s veins turned colder than the krene herself. “The whole region gets flooded with contamination. It'll be uninhabitable, permanently. Probably within days, maybe just hours.” She ran her blade's edge across the ground, fire carving a slow groove. “But that still gives me an awful lot of time to deal with you.”

Flicker's smile was painted with her own blood from her eyes to her chin. “Or, you could put a stop to it now, before anypony else gets hurt. But that means letting me go.”

“And let you get the Element?” Twilight put her sword’s tip an inch away being between Flicker's eyes. “I should end you right now and go find Honesty.”

Flicker grabbed hold of the blade with her hooves and pushed the tip in a little. “Go ahead. The teleport range of that thing has to be enormous. In fact, I bet that to use up the power built up in it, we're talking a minimum radius of a few thousand kilometres. Could be across one of the rifts in the ocean. Gonna be hard for either of us, even with a head start.

“Or, I could open up the Ginnungagap. You could walk out of it in Moscolt’s Red Circle. Plenty of time to save a city from the miasma, maybe even find a way to stabilize the krene.”

Twilight huffed. “If it works that well, what's to stop you from traveling to the place where the Element wound up?”

“Good question. Rule number one of Ginnungagap travel: if you try to go too far, you'll miss. By a lot. Going from one end of a big city to another is pretty reliable for me, but if I tried to go from Canterlot to Shanghay, I could wind up in Manehatten or even Prairie. The farther you try to go in one trip, the more likely you'll screw it up, and the more likely that screw up will cost you big. This probability skyrockets if you try to go someplace you haven't already been to, which is another reason I can't use it to find the Element. I know of the building, but not where it is.

“But if we're just talking about getting back to somewhere near Moscolt from here? Cake, even for a newbie. You get to save the city, I get to run away… and maybe get killed by One, but hey, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. The sword in my head is more important right now.”

Twilight shook her head. “That still leaves too much of a chance you get the Element.”

“There's also rule number two. I don't know where it is. You need to try to travel to something fixed, that's been somewhere for a while. The core just teleported by tesseract who knows where. Trying to go right there would be a guaranteed failure. Might even get lost in the gap, and I wouldn't wish that fate even on you.”

Twilight snorted back a laugh. Her very first thought was I can't believe I'm even thinking about taking this deal. I must be crazy, this sounds utterly impossible.

“Twilight,” Aurora spoke in her head, or perhaps her heart. “Celestia taught us to err towards mercy. Besides, this could get us something almost as valuable: Intel on the Ginnungagap! We need to know how they're moving around, and maybe find out how to shut it down, or use it ourselves.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay. Deal. But if I sense you're about to double cross me, I'll kill you. You won't even see it coming.”

“I'm out of backstabbing tricks at this point.” Flicker pulled her head away, and a fresh river of red flowed from the wound. “I'm going to reach in my bag, okay? Gonna pull out a potion and the little sword.”

“Do it slowly.”

Flicker nodded and did as she said, cautiously getting out a flask and the short sword sticking out of her bag. The sword’s surface had no real edge to it, though the tip could still wound a pony with a strong thrust. Its surface was mainly light blue, but it had a rainbow of colours all over it that seemed to swish around. It could have been made of cloudy water with a thin coat of oil.

The flask itself was nothing out of the ordinary. Bare-bones steel, available from anywhere. It didn’t even have an engraving. Flicker unscrewed it and took a swig. In seconds, her wounds sealed up, though only just. “That's better. Gotta stop the bleeding.”

“No stalling.” Twilight pointed at the sword. “Is that what you use to travel the Ginnungagap?”

“Yeah.” Flicker exhaled a spicy cloud. “It opens the way. But traveling it is up to you.

“Once you enter, at first it looks like you haven't gone anywhere. But you keep going, because if you don't, you can get lost. Reality will start to look weird, and as you go you'll get choices. Left, right, up, down, forward, back, slightly up and to the right, all kinds of choices. Often two, sometimes many more.

“And here's the crazy thing: every direction is potentially correct. They're in a superposition. What makes something right or wrong is your choice. If you decide that one way is the correct way to your destination, and believe in it, it'll be correct. Then you do it again and again, until you either get to where you're going or fall back out into the real world someplace else. Or get lost. Don't do that. Keep focusing on your destination, no matter what.”

Twilight folded her forelegs at her. “I'd call you insane, but that lines up disturbingly well. Did you come up with your shield matrix using that as inspiration?”

“Nope. Before that. But that's not important now. Whatever you do, don't stop moving. If you stop, it'll be like a dream, your options keep changing, and your ability to choose a correct path will vanish.” Flicker sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled while shivering. “You broke my shields, so I’m getting cold. Let's do this.”

She picked up the sword with her mouth, carried it over to the door of the nearest intact building, and then kicked said door open. She grabbed the blade’s handle with her hooves. With a flick of her fetlock, the edge made a “snick” sound as she cut horizontally across the doorway. A crack popped off as she finished.

Almost nothing appeared different at first, but as Twilight looked on with her Sight, she saw a black line in the air within the doorway. Air rushed in, including puffy bits of frozen fog rising off the ground. The edges of the line peeled away like curling wallpaper, spreading out to an opening that looked like a big smile with long black teeth that folded in on themselves. As it widened, the other side looked exactly as it had before, just leading into the building.

Twilight gestured at the portal. “That is creepy. After you.”

Flicker shook her head and put away the blade. “It'll close after I go through. We step in together. On the count of three. And remember, no matter how weird it gets, keep moving.”

Twilight lined up next to her. “Alright then. One, two…”

“THREE!” The two yelled together and stepped in, striding forward. Two doors were on the other side of the room, and they each chose a different one.

Twilight almost stopped to ask something, but caught herself and pressed on. The next room had three doors to identical rooms, and she chose the right one. Will this only be doorways to rooms? The next had a staircase going up or down. Welp, that answers that. Gotta keep focus. Gotta make it to Moscolt… Gotta go to that mansion with the barn.

She climbed up the stairs, and found a hall with several doors, and pressed on forward to the door in front of her. It led to a tunnel in a cave, which had an assortment of paths in various directions. If what she said was true, then I don't need to think too hard about this. I just point and go. She chose the one leading up, and several other options after that.

This could be harder than I thought… The next area didn't want anything to do with Euclidean geometry. The window to Twilight's right clearly led to the room to her left, given the unique red flower on a table — no vase, it was growing from the table — dancing in the wind in perfect synchronization. There was also the fact that she could see her own rump at the top of the staircase to her far left.

She chose the doorway to the right, because why not, and did her best to keep that mansion in her mind. However, the next room after that looked more like the palace in Moscolt, but at least it was a bit more normal.

Whichever version of Twilight on her internal mental committee who made that observation was immediately sent to her room upon entering the next area. The wall to her left was covered in mirrors, and the furniture was on the ceiling. There were no walls to her right, it just ended and opened up to an infinite twisted sky.

Since leaping into the sky wasn't on her to do list, she followed the hallway. As she walked, the hall kept stretching into the horizon. So where's the… Wait… She looked to her left, and the mirror didn't show her reflection. Well, when in Roan… Putting her forelegs in first, she tumbled over as she entered the next room on the other side of the mirror and into a basement bar, or at least one from a pony who had eaten too many “medicinal” mushrooms. It was mirrored with identical areas to the left and right, and even on the ceiling.

Each side was also rotating around like they were attached to different gears. The floor was splitting and opening up, and the door at the other end was in pieces. More identical areas were below in the area opening up, and Twilight dropped down into it right away to find purchase on the floor of the next room. She ran to the other side and plowed into the door as the pieces of it came together.

The living room beyond was cold, and hallways went every which way, but the big doors caught her attention the most. Pressing the door, she stepped through.

She was in Moscolt. She'd just walked through the front door of the mansion where they found the frozen, dead stallion noble, and the barn nearby was cordoned off with police panicking and backing off from red miasma pouring out like there was a giant fog machine inside. The sky was now well and truly dark, with stars shimmering overhead. The police had brought lights with them, which was about the only reason she could see anything at that point.

Twilight pushed back against her instinct to look behind her, but her muscles pulled her head like there was a rope attached to her nose. Behind her was that same black smile, its gaping maw closing the way to the Ginnungagap behind her.

Holy moly. It worked… Flicker wasn't lying! I'm here! The sound of quacking and freaked out ducks broke her shock and brought her to focus on the barn.

She popped through a teleport to appear next to the police. “You all! Get word to Canterlot!”

Some of the police pointed saddle guns at her, while others just stumbled back in surprise. One even sighted her with crosshairs. Speaking in Stalliongradi, he said, <>

Twilight sighed. <>

Another cop tapped him on his shoulder and said something in his ear, and he stood down.

A mare officer in a face mask called out to her. “Lady Sparkle? We didn't know you were still here.”

Twilight trotted up to her and shivered as she waded through a cloud of ice magic. “Long story, no time. Get in contact with Canterlot; tell them we have a catastrophic emergency brewing and we need the princesses here immediately. I'll contain the crisis for the time being.”

Some of the police looked at each other. “What's going on here?”

“Weirdness.” Twilight lit her horn and ran towards the barn. “Go! I need their help!”

One by one, she put up panels of magic barriers to surround the barn. They were basic, but kept the miasma from flowing out any farther. When the barn was locked in, she pushed the barriers forward and melded them with a new dome barrier. When the barriers ran into the barn roof, she pushed down on the magic and crushed the barn. Wood cracked and exploded to splinters under the barrier. Nails hit like bullets, but the magic was already too strong. By the time she was done, the barn had been flattened and the barrier dome was a red swollen bump on a tiny hill.

Aurora squeaked like she was hiding behind something. “I don't think that'll hold for long. Maybe ten minutes?”

Yeah, and after that, it'll pop like a giant pimple. I need to decrease the miasma’s upwards pressure… The idea crept into both of their minds at the same time, and Twilight set about creating a magic circle around the entire dome, filling it exclusively with golden astral magic.

“You're going to need to flatten the structure to—”

I know. Twilight opened the floodgates and the rush of astral magic had her floating a few inches above the ground. Well, this is new. But I've never tried to use this kind of magic in quite this way before. Keeping the tips of her hooves on the ground, or at least a bit in the snow, she finished the circle and put yet another one around it just to hold the power it was going to require. It took five minutes before the “battery” was full, and the spell started to wind up.

The police ponies down the hill started to get tugged towards the spell.

“Get back! All of you!” Twilight put up another barrier to catch a pony about to tumble forward, then ran up to him and yanked him by his collar to drag him away. They didn't have to run far, but a few of the ducks were too close and were pulled in.

Twilight winced and turned away from watching. Well, they had to be destroyed anyway, and this will be quick. Sorry, duckies!

After a flash of light, the spell fired in earnest as gravity pulled down on the barn. Snow rushed to the dome and compressed into ice, and wind rushed past them to gather on top of it.

“What did you do?” one of the police ponies asked.

Twilight wished for a coffee as her dry tongue scraped against her parched mouth. “Gravity well. A high level astral spell that increases the gravity over a given area. I just ramped up the pull off the earth by a factor of twenty for the next three days. It gives us some time to stop the spread of the contamination, and save Moscolt.”

Author's Note

Yay, I finished it! And it's pretty meaty at over 8k!

Now, on to the next one! In the meantime, come chat in the Discord!

Once again, thank you so much for sticking with me!
-Cv