TWILIGHT POV

Anxiety festered in our car and leaked into the rest of the train. Even though the princesses had reserved a whole train car for our group, we could not avoid the ponies and the whispers began. It started with a simple "What are so many important ponies doing here?" Then it turned into "It must be because of that Grim guy. He's causing a lot of problems." We didn't notice it at first but as this murmuring chaos ensued in the car in front of us, the reality of Grim's impact on Equestria couldn't be ignored.

"It seems that Grim has made a splash in gossip around Equestria," Tidal said, reading from a book with a white cover and blue water symbol on the front. I had never seen that book before.

"It was much easier to cover up the incident at the Crystal Empire by saying it was just renovation but after Grim's flashy entrance and his attack on Canterlot cannot be excused as a simple 'construction accident' considering the damage and casualties. This was bound to happen," Windy included "That's why you princesses are staying in Equestria, right? To keep spirits up?"

Celestia nodded "Yes. If we were to leave, our ponies may fall into despair and chaos as well as Grim attacking when we are vulnerable. That is why we are preparing these." She summoned four scrolls and gave them to Tidal, Noire and I "If Grim decides to attack while you are away, we have prepared teleportation scrolls to send you straight to Canterlot should we call for you,"

"And what is our next step when we arrive at the Dragonlands?" Tidal asked. I really wanted to ask about that book.

Luna responded "You are meeting with Dragonlord Torch to discuss lending aid to the fight against Grim. We have yet to establish any alliances with the dragons due to some... prejudices but now is the tie to set apart our differences to combat the greater good."

While the rest of the team were talking amongst themselves, Spike tugged at my arm "Twilight? Is that the human you talked about?" He whispered, pointing to the sleeping human in the back seat.

"Yes. He is." I replied quickly, leaving Spike to look at Noire with curiosity. I still didn't know how to feel about him. He seemed to be a good guy but during the ride, he had been particularly silent and cold. It reminded me of how Cadance was behaving when she visited Ponyville "Were they... having problems?" I thought to myself but quickly extinguished such a notion. If Cadance had screwed up her relationship a second time, I don't think I could contain my anger. I distracted myself by asking the two generals about their abilities, especially about Tidal's book.

"The Wave family has grown with the water for decades, centuries even. We have developed our magic to achieve a kind of hydrokinesis to the extent that we can draw from the moisture in the atmosphere to empower our magic. However, most of our family use their magic to guide ships or fish, just living a peaceful life. Only in my mother's and my case did we use our magic affinity for water in combat. As for the book, it's my mother's journal meant to record all of our knowledge concerning our magic. I still don't know why, even with the knowledge of my power, that Cadance thought it was a good idea to send me to the Dragonlands when the high temperature weakens my water magic." She grumbled into her book and continued reading.

I turned to Windy for his response but h left me with more questions than answers. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know much about why my wing strength is so much stronger. All I remember is flapping my wings one day and the stallion who was unfortunate enough to be 3 feet behind me was blown into a stand. Probably just good genes." I hummed in frustration "Sorry, Trottingham doesn't have much in terms of research so I was just the rogue archer with strong wings."

Rainbow decided to chime in by being her overly confident sense "Does that mean you're fast!? 'Cause I've been dying to race against you ever since I heard about you from Twilight."

"Maybe when we're done with our mission. Just remember to be on your best behaviour as we'll be working with the guard already stationed in Manehattan and your timid friend warned me of how reckless you can be," he said, much to Rainbow's dismay. She stood and looked to Fluttershy in shock while the mare hid behind her mane, barely muttering out a 'sorry'. Rainbow sat back down with grumble of annoyance.

"To change the subject, what is he doing back there? He's been back there ever since we left," Rainbow asked, looking back to the sleeping human.

"Sleeping. He's had a rough month and some rest wouldn't hurt before we reach Canterlot." Luna answered "However, when I tried looking into his dreams, there was a mental barrier. This could mean that he is seeing something he doesn't want anyone else seeing or..." Luna paused.

"Or what?" I asked.

"Someone else is in there. Talking to him." We all looked to the sleeping human, wondering what could be roaming inside his mind.

NOIRE POV

It's pitch black again. This may have only happened twice since I arrived here, but it always meant that I was waiting for someone like I was sitting in an office for my boss to enter and tell me some horrible news. "Who is going to appear behind those invisible doors?" I said to myself. She responded. I thought I was never going to hear her again but I received so much more. It was her again. Faust in all her visible glory. She was a tall grey mare wearing a long-sleeved, white dress and a red mane and tail to complete it all. Something about her felt divine but humble at the same time. It was as if we were meeting on equal terms.

"It has been a long time since we last spoke, Noire. It is nice to speak to you again," she smiled warmly. It was apparent where Celestia got her smile.

"I could say the same, however, I fear that this isn't just a little visit for a chat over tea," Faust's smile weakened at my statement. I put a hand to my mouth, realizing how rude I must have sounded "I apologise. I shouldn't have been so rude,"

Faust raised her hands, deflecting my apology "No need for apologies- If anything, I should be. I have been watching you for a while and can see how charging you with this mission has affected you. However, after your last encounter with Grim, you can see why you are the only one who can defeat him." she said apologetically.

"Hey," I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder "I was the one who agreed to do this. As such, I should take responsibility. Now, let's stop with the all the sad talk get onto why you have come," I said sincerely. Faust nodded and began explaining.

"Ever since Grim's attack on Canterlot, his soul has been resounding within yours much more aggressively. By now you must have noticed its influence once or twice over the past month?" I immediately remember the red dress.

"Yeah. What's going to happen to me if this continues?" I asked her. Faust's tone turned dark.

"Your soul may succumb to Grim's control and be swallowed. You may die, fuse with him. Honestly, I know not what will happen exactly but I know it will not end in your favour if your control over your power remains the way it is now." Faust raised both hands and two floating orbs appeared, one red and one blue " While 'the code' is powerful, it is by nature, primal and incomplete. The way it grows is dependent on the user. The red orb represents how Gri uses his power to destroy and manipulate. This is why he has powers such as large-scale magic zones and has better control over dark magic and corruption. The blue orb represents your power to protect and resonate with life itself in a more positive manner. This is the cause of your power to absorb magic from those who ally with you as well as your access to memories and dreams. However, your power is weak and must be properly trained."

"Is this why you're here? To train me?" I said, trying to restrain my excitement. This did not slip past Faust and she giggled at me like she was teaching.

"Yes. This training will not only strengthen your abilities and unlock new ones, but it will also allow you to combat the code os destruction festering inside you, making your soul completely your own." Faust merged the two orbs together, creating one white orb "We will begin once you reach the Dragonlands. You should go back to your friends, they are waiting for you to wake up." As soon as she said that, I was abruptly shaken awake by a bemused Tidal.

"Wake up, Noire!" Tidal rocked me back and forth as my eyes tried to adjust to the light. Once they opened fully, I could see Tidal, Twilight, Spike and the princesses looking at me with concern. The others were nowhere to be seen and I assumed they had already gotten off at their station "Faust, you are just the heaviest sleeper and I've tried waking Windy up. What were you dreaming about? You were muttering weird stuff in your sleep," she asked.

"I was speaking with Faust." Tidal paused and let go of me, her face changing to an expression of embarrassment as if she screwed up big time. Celestia and Luna looked to me in shock "She wants to train me to better use my code of protection." I got up from my seat and went over to sit closer to the group with Tidal next to me.

"You spoke with mother?" Celestia asked.

"And what is this about a 'code of protection'?" Luna asked. I decided to tell them about my talk with Faust; her explanation of how Grim and my powers differ and how Grim's soul and mine are locked in a struggle to which mine was losing and how this training could resolve this. When I finished, everyone was astounded by this development. Twilight was the first to speak and by her tone, she was excited.

"This does make a lot of sense! Magic can become stronger due to powerful emotions- it makes sense that the code, which is a primal form of magic, is subject to the same thing, but to the point where they dictate your powers entirely!" She said, scribbling furiously into a notebook "However, I don't understand the 'incomplete' part. What did she mean by that?" she asked.

"She did not say exactly but I think it has something to do with it becoming more controlled when the user fully adopts a belief or conviction, occasionally during times of emotional stress." Twilight looked confused so I tried explaining "My powers at first were uncontrollable like my magic absorbing ability. It used to happen passively, whether I wanted it to or not but after the battle with Chrysalis, I could control how much I took and by the Chimaera's attack, I could fully control when and how much magic I could take. I saw when Grim first gained his powers as well. When he tried to flee from Celestia, he gave in to anger and directed it towards Equestria, explaining why his magic destroys and manipulates." Twilight was hanging off my every word, scribbling everything down. I laughed at her enthusiasm "I'm going to be starting my training with her when I get to the Dragonlands." I looked to the princesses to see how they would respond and noticed that Celestia was acting particularly fidgety. Even Twilight and Spike noticed her behaviour.

"Um, Celestia, Are you okay? You seem really... flustered all of a sudden." Spike asked. Celestia turned a deep shade of red.

"Uh... Noire? How much of that encounter did you see?" She asked. Now Luna appeared to be curious as to the reason for her behaviour.

"From when Grim found the cave. When he accidentally hurt you and then left. Why?"

"So you heard what I said?"

"Yeah? What about it?" I asked. My mind looked back, through the entire encounter, the conversation That was when it hit me smack in the face.

"I lo-" It resounded in my head over and over like an echo over the mountains.

"Were you... Did you... Are you... Sweet Christ," I looked to her in awe as she looked like the sun itself, burning hot.

"I mean, at the time I was but not anymore," she responded in a whiny, child-like voice.

"What?" Spike asked. The others were just as confused. Celestia looked to me with a longing, pleading look.

"Please don't tell them," she begged in my head.

"Of course not I'm not going to tell your sister and student that you were crushing on a now homicidal megalomaniac! I like living!" I turned to Twilight and Spike "It's nothing to concern yourselves with. She just ripped her dress in a cave and forgot he could teleport so she walked all the way to the castle half-naked," It was a terrible lie but it worked. However, Celestia did not look less embarrassed. In fact, she looked equally embarrassed and pissed. Twilight froze in shock, Spike turned beet red and Luna laughed into her hand. That was a better outcome. Before Celestia could respond, the train conductor announced that we were already in Canterlot. "Saved by the bell. Thank you, random train conductor guy." I thought as we all exited. When we all got off, we headed straight towards the airport and as we walked, my mind roamed into dangerous territory.

"Hey. Do you think Celestia secretly enjoyed being chained up by Grim 10,000 years ago?"

"..."

I prayed the airship had a shower.

Author's Note

Dropping Faust back into the story, exposition drop and a bit of humour to spice things up. I can say I kinda like this chapter. What do you think? Please tell me in the comments. Now that COVID has locked me in my house and my school has stopped setting work, I can focus on writing more chapters and updating more frequently. I hope you all stay safe and enjoyed this chapter.

Stay dizzy. Wuzzy out.