Machina Cor Armageddon

Chapters

A Trot Forward Into Terror
The Beast
Aim For the Top!
Race Like You Want to Win!
Learning Curve
Armed Intervention
Blood from the Stone
Killer Queen
The Shooting Star She Saw
Beyond Her Heart
In The Still Darkness
Weaving A Story
Daring Do Dies In Magma!
White Reflection
Where The Sweet Bird Sang
The Last Stand of the Wonderbolts
The Dreaming Stone
The Value of a Miracle Is
Tumbling Down
Fourth Gear
In The Very Beginning
The End of Equestria
(Death) and Re:Birth
The Pony Who Shouted "I" At The Heart Of The World
Prologue
Absolute Borderline
At Least, Be Equine

A Trot Forward Into Terror

Doctor Twilight Sparkle stared intently at the thaumometer, not daring to look away at this stage of the experiment. The unicorn inched closer to the glowing display like she was afraid to miss even the smallest twitch of the needle.

“Connecting the test unit to the dummy body,” reported her assistant. Sunburst looked over at the intimidating mare, but couldn't make out her expression past the light reflecting from her thick glasses.

Beyond the thick wall of safety glass, a complicated mechanism bolted together from a half-dozen types of metal and gems was connected with thick tubes to a ponyquin, the modified dressform wearing a half-finished suit of armor. The plates gleamed darkly in the harsh lights, a wet sheen on their surface like they'd been sprayed down with thick oil.

“Leylines are forming in the test unit as expected,” Sunburst reported. Twilight watched the needle as it fluctuated, vibrating and wiggling back and forth as the power started to climb.

“Increase the gain,” Doctor Sparkle ordered, not looking up. "Give me sixty percent."

Sunburst nodded. “Activating secondary contacts. SS-10 leyline connections to the simulated network are normal. Thaumatic energy is starting to circulate.”

The needle jumped, hitting the peak and staying there. One of the thick lines connecting the device to the armor burst, cracking open like a rupturing pipe. The air filled with acid-green sparks as the ambient magical field fought the pressure.

“Shut it down!” Sparkle snapped. Sunburst started wildly flipping switches, but the damage was already done, wires smoking and crystals blackened from the heat. “Even the test set I used managed to get to sixty-five before the flow got that turbulent. What did we do wrong?"

“Ma'am? What should we do?” Sunburst asked.

“Run it at one-third power for now. Find the parts that aren’t letting the energy flow freely. Pull them and analyze them for defects. I need to know if it’s a manufacturing flaw or design errors.” Doctor Sparkle threw her clipboard down and let Sunburst get to work, stomping out of the test lab and back to her office, already picturing the report she was going to have to write up, the hours of work wasted, the materials and manufacturing that had gone into it.

The Institute was on the other side of the Canterhorn from the city, to help keep the research there a secret and protect civilians from potentially explosive experiments. It left her with a view right down into the forest and valley below the mountain. And somewhere far to the north, the front lines. Sometimes she felt like she could almost see it from here, on a clear day.

Sparkle took off her glasses, rubbing her tired eyes. She hadn't slept in two days and the bags under her eyes were developing into a full set of luggage.

“Another failure?” Asked a gentle voice. Sparkle glanced to the side. Moondancer was there, with two cups of coffee hovering in her magic. Doctor Sparkle grabbed one with her hoof.

“It should work. There’s no reason it wouldn’t,” Doctor Sparkle said.

“And you should rest, but neither you nor the suit are doing what you need. You’ve been burning yourself at both ends lately,” Moondancer said. “Take a day off. You need to decompress. Your heart almost stopped and you didn't even spend one full day in bed. You're not immortal.”

Doctor Sparkle looked up at the moon, shining overhead, a pale and almost featureless disk. When she’d been a foal, it had been half-covered with darkness.

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” she said. “It was a night like this when we set things into motion. If we can’t move on to the next stage soon, all that work will be for nothing.”

A shadow passed over the moon, an airship moving from Canterlot towards the front, probably loaded with supplies and fresh troops.

“I've got almost no time left,” She muttered.

“He played hoofball for Canterlot U,” Moondancer reported, putting a file in front of her superior. “Ranked first among his peers at school. Thirteen championships. I think Flash Sentry is exactly the kind of stallion you’re looking for. His strength, physical aptitude, and constitution likely exceed even what you see here.”

“There’s a note of commendation in his file,” Doctor Sparkle muttered.

“He’s attending West Hoof now. Top of his class. General Nickel Plated has him earmarked for special duty after he completes his training.”

“He’s useless.” Sparkle flipped the file closed and shoved it across the table. “I don’t want somepony who will follow orders blindly!”

“This is the three-hundred ninety-fourth candidate you’ve rejected,” Moondancer said. She had either been keeping track or, more likely, had looked it up after months of constant rejections.

"We need somepony who can handle the equipment," Doctor Sparkle said. "I still don't have all the feeling back in my left forehoof."

There was a knock on the door. Sparkle glanced up. Sunburst opened the door and looked into the room.

“Ma’am? The Princess wanted me to remind you that you have a meeting with her--”

“It can wait!” Doctor Sparkle shouted, Sunburst fleeing her wrath and closing the door behind him. She turned back to Moondancer. “I need ponies that have a strong will! Strong hooves aren’t enough.”

“You’ve rejected combat veterans, top recruits, even Wonderbolts members. There’s nowhere left to look!” Moondancer frowned, meeting her gaze.

“I don’t care if there’s nowhere left to look!” Sparkle yelled. “I need somepony who can handle this without breaking down! That’s the job you were given! You need to realize the gravity of the situation! Try the military files again. Go through the medical discharges."

"There aren't going to be a lot of ponies there we can use. Anypony able-bodied will be reassigned instead of discharged."

"If they're just missing a limb or two we can put them back together. See if our contacts can get you prison records."

"Prison records?"

"If nothing else, getting somepony out of military prison might make them more willing to cooperate with us, and they aren't likely to be missed if something goes wrong."

There was another timid knock. Sunburst looked in, slightly pale. “Um, Doctor Sparkle? The Princess said there’s no hurry.” Sunburst said, his voice shaky.

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. Moondancer sighed. Sunburst scurried out of the room, more than bright enough to know that he was only going to get screamed at if he didn't flee.

“I’ll scour the records for anypony that might meet your qualifications,” she said.

The Doctor nodded. Moondancer started to leave.

“Wait,” Sparkle said, calm now. “I’m counting on you. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves.”

“I’ll do my best,” Moondancer assured her. Doctor Sparkle nodded.

“Ma’am?” Sunburst coughed, looking back into the room, pale and shaking. “Princess Celestia--”

“Tch,” Sparkle huffed, annoyed. She looked out at the rain. She could feel it, from somewhere close by. She was being watched. “Fine. I’m coming. Get the tea started.”

It was raining. It rained a lot these days, in uncontrolled, wild weather. There weren’t any weather teams here to clean it up. The few ponies from the weather department that weren’t reassigned to active duty had been moved to secure farms and try to head off a growing famine. They certainly weren’t going to bother watching the weather in a city like Neigh Orleans, where even weeds had trouble growing among the crowded buildings.

There were a few inches of water in the streets, sloshing around the hooves of the few that needed to get somewhere and couldn’t wait for a break in the rain. It would have been a disaster, but these days it was just business as usual. Ponies had gotten used to moving things upstairs and wading through muddy water. The whole town was falling apart.

Lightning Dust downed another shot of cheap, bathtub gin. It was getting impossible to find anything to drink these days. Everything was rationed, and what little there was went to the front, and the war with the Crystal Empire.

She should have been at the front. She had been, until everything went wrong. Her poncho was proof enough of that, the dull green rainwear still showing the fading logos and print of military gear.

Lightning Dust grimaced and tapped her hoof on the bar, the bartender silently pouring her another. She didn’t have the money for it, but who did, these days?

The door opened, and ponies trotted in, laughing and splashing through the murky tide.

“Bartender! We’ll take whatever ya got, and dry seats if you have ‘em.”

Lightning Dust glanced back and wished she hadn’t.

“Great,” she muttered. “Of all the ponies to walk in here…”

“Endless Night.” Rainbow Dash smirked. ”What do we have here? Pinks, Maud, look at this. We got us a piece of trash that thinks she can drink in the same bar as the Stormbreakers!”

“Clop off, Dash,” Lightning Dust growled.

“Is that what you told Spitfire before you decked her in the face and went AWOL?” Dash asked.

Lightning Dust hopped down from her barstool, resting a hoof on it and trying to look casual. “I didn’t go AWOL. She wanted to surrender. I wasn’t gonna become one of Sombra’s bucking crystal slaves!”

“That’s not what her report says. And no one else from the 108th is around to dispute it. But guess what, Dust? Spitfire’s my friend, and I trust her.” Dash cracked her neck. “Now, I think I owe you a few bruises from her. Apparently they didn’t bother giving you fifty lashes when you were drummed out, but I can fix that.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Lightning Dust waited for Dash to get closer, then grabbed the stool with two hooves and swung it like a bat. It smashed into Dash’s bad side, her technomagic wing sparking and cracking.

“Buck!” Dash swore, as electricity crackled along her left flank from ruptured power lines.

“Leave her alone!” Pinkamina yelled, galloping into Lightning Dust and body-slamming her back into the bar. Lightning Dust ducked to the side, using the edge of the bar to swing herself into the air as the pink pony followed up with a hoof-strike that smashed entirely through the wood.

“Hey!” the bartender yelled.

“You asked for it,” Lightning Dust said, landing on Pinkie’s back. She grabbed around her neck, choking her from behind.

A hoof slammed into the side of her head, and Dust was knocked free, smashing through a table. Maud lowered her hoof and helped Pinkie back up.

“Too scared to face me alone? That’s fine. Come on.” Dust reared up, taunting them.

“You cannot cut my funding,” Doctor Sparkle said, coldly.

“You’ve had years to produce something,” Princess Celestia noted. “So far all you’ve done is spend time and energy with nothing to show for it, Doctor Sparkle. If we were at peace it would merely be wasteful, but we are stretched thinly.” Celestia frowned and looked at her tea. It was awful, poorly-filtered water and teabags left to boil in a pan and steeped until what was left was as bitter and dark as Sombra. She wondered if it was intentional or if Twilight Sparkle was simply that bad at making tea.

“This research will change everything,” Sparkle said, glaring across the conference table.

“Your theories on magical circulation are fascinating,” Celestia said. “But they’re just theory.”

“It is not theory!” Twilight snapped. “If you cut my funding, we will lose this war. That is a fact. Only the Unity suits can give us the edge we need.”

“Even if you can make it work, the cost is astonishing,” Celestia continued. “When you proposed this research project, the intent was to get soldiers that could spearhead an attack against Sombra. But now the cost overruns--”

“Irrelevant,” Twilight snapped.

“Are they? And the other items? The experiments on animals? On ponies? The cadavers you appropriated?"

Sparkle didn't flinch at the mention of the cadavers. Celestia was impressed by that. The EIS had spent a lot of effort undoing Sparkle's efforts to conceal it, but didn't react at all when Celestia brought it up.

“They are necessary. We have several working prototypes, and we’re searching for a candidate for the Engine Heart. The prototypes work fine as a proof of concept, at least while their magical condensers have fuel.”

“Doctor Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said, softly. “Both of us know what this is really about. I know you’re sensitive about your condition, but--”

“Irrelevant,” the unicorn growled.

“I’ll give you two weeks to shut things down gracefully. Then your materials and supplies will be given to the Iron Pegasus project.”

Doctor Sparkle scoffed. “That doll that Flim and Flam made? Useless.”

“They’ve already put models in the field. They work. Commander Leaf Raker has sent glowing reports of their performance in combat.”

Sparkle laughed. “I’ve seen the pictures. Working is a very generous way to put it. They’re little better than toys.”

“If you assisted with the project--”

Sparkle cut her off again. “No. This is important. More important than bits. This is about the future.”

“If we lose this war, we won’t have one. Two weeks, Doctor.” Celestia got up. “I’ll be back then, and we can discuss your reassignment.”

Sparkle watched her go, then threw her cup across the room, the mug shattering.

“Moondancer! Get me the files! I need a candidate and I need it now!”

Lightning Dust kicked open the door to her house. It was a dilapidated mess. The constant rain meant it needed maintenance, and she didn’t have the bits to even replace the lead that had been stolen from the roof. She’d patched it with clouds, but they were, surprisingly, not all that great at keeping the rain out. They just soaked it up like a sponge until it leaked through,

“I’m home,” she muttered, spitting out a clot of blood, her mouth torn up from a few lucky punches. Not that she expected anypony to be there to answer. Even the rats had left Neigh Orleans as it slowly sunk back into the swamp.

This one time, though, she wasn’t entirely alone. A half-dozen steel stars flashed out of the darkness, barely missing her and hitting the wall with enough force to bury themselves into the plaster. Lightning Dust glanced at them. She was vaguely aware of what they were. Unicorn weapons, blades with no handle that were designed to be used with a telekinetic throw.

“Who’s there?!” She demanded. “Come out here and fight me!”

A scruffy-looking unicorn stepped out of the shadows and charged Dust, holding two more of the blades in his acid-green magical grip. She jumped into the air, cracking a front hoof into his horn and making him drop the knives as she vaulted over him.

She landed on her hooves and spun to face him, skidding on the tile floor, the faded ceramic slick with a layer of muck from the constant rain.

The wall behind Lightning Dust exploded as a huge earth pony burst through the cracked plaster, grabbing her and squeezing hard enough that she felt a rib crack. She braced her hooves and used her wings to push up, flipping him over her head and into the unicorn.

“Who in Tartarus are you two? Crash wouldn’t have sent ponies after me. She’d do it on her own.” Lightning Dust circled them. She’d done something stupid and reckless and put them between her and the way out. No problem, of course. She’d just go through them.

Lightning Dust jumped into the air, avoiding the Earth Pony as he tried to tackle her, and landed on the unicorn's back while he was standing, sending him back to the ground. Hopping away, she charged through the door, flaring her wings to stop short as steel flashed in front of her, an edge like a razor blade opening a shallow cut on her neck. If she'd kept moving she would have run right into the killing blow.

Another pegasus was waiting outside, wearing cheap-looking wingblades that had been worked to a deadly sharpness.

“Oh wow, full house today, huh?” Dust asked. She dodged under a second swipe and caught the third with her hooves, the blade digging into her frog painfully and drawing blood, red dripping onto the ground while she held it at bay, the other pegasus sneering as he used leverage and his wings - naturally stronger than Dust’s hooves - to slowly push her back.

The earth pony loomed behind her, and Dust twisted her grip, ignoring the pain and driving the caught wingblade into his neck, snapping bones in the wing the blade was strapped to at the same time. The earth pony gurgled and fell, and the pegasus screamed as his wing was mangled. It was a bad enough break that he might never fly again with it.

Lightning Dust breathed heavily for a moment, until a star-shaped blade slashed past her cheek, narrowly missing.

“Oh right, that guy,” she muttered. She sensed something behind her, swooping through the air, and ducked, the spinning blade boomeranging around and still held in the grip of the unicorn’s magic.

Dust jumped up and grabbed it in her teeth, breaking his grasp and jumping towards him, twisting her neck and slamming it into his snout. The unicorn screamed and fell, clutching his face. Dust spat the knife out, her lip cut and dripping blood.

“That’s right, clophole,” Dust said, panting. “No one feathering messes with me. Now I wanna know who the buck sent you here--”

There was a soft sound, and a sharp moment of pain. Lightning Dust blinked and looked at her flank. There was a dart sticking out of her cutie mark. She turned to look, and saw a purple unicorn in a labcoat glaring at her, flanked by one dark-suited pony with a brace of darts and a white-coated mare in a military uniform.

Lightning Dust charged, trying to fight off a wave of sudden tiredness. A third dart hit her, and she punched one of the suited ponies. As she stepped over to the unicorn, still filled with rage, the purple pony slapped her. Lightning Dust stopped, surprised, and touched her cheek. It hadn’t hurt at all, but it had distracted her for just a moment.

The drugged darts finally kicked in, and she fell.

Doctor Sparkle smiled. “Well. That was exciting. Get her to the lab, and get rid of the bodies before they change back and ponies start asking questions.”

Princess Celestia sat back, trying to resist the urge to just close her eyes and take a nap. It probably wouldn't look good to fall asleep in the middle of the War Room during a report. She certainly wouldn't want ponies following that bad example.

"Ma'am?" A voice prompted from nearby, little more than a whisper.

"Mm?" Celestia turned to look. A tall unicorn mare in uniform was carrying a plate of tea and biscuits.

"I know you didn't order it, but I thought you might want a cup," she replied quietly.

"That would be lovely. I didn't catch your name."

"Ensign Alias." The mare saluted smartly "I just got transferred here, Ma'am."

Celestia nodded and turned back to what she should have been paying attention to. One of General Nickel's lieutenants was going over proposed changes to Canterlot's defenses and a schedule for rotating exhausted troops away from the front to be replaced.

"Lieutenant," Celestia said, interrupting him. He snapped into a salute, almost falling over in surprise. "I'll go over the troop movements later once we have word from the field. I know they're tired, but this is a war. I'm afraid we can't rotate troops away unless they're severely under strength."

"Ma'am, with all due respect morale is going to drop to nothing with orders like that," Captain Armor said. "I know we can't pull everypony, but maybe we could look at sending exhausted troops back in limited numbers? They could pull guard duty for prisoner transports, get a little rest and hot foot, then go back as guards on supply trains. If we rotate the duty among the troops it'll mean everypony gets a chance to get home once in a while."

Celestia mulled it over. "The danger is that we'll have exhausted troops with prisoners. In the event of a breakout they'll be mostly useless."

"Knowing they're heading home will give them a second wind," Shining Armor countered. "And this will mean the troops we're sending with supply trains will be rested and ready. With how many we've lost just this month, having extra ponies there might be worth having them away from the front, especially if they're too tired to do any good there."

The Princess tapped a hoof against the floor in thought. "I do see some wisdom in your plan, Captain Armor, but there's another flaw. Moving ponies from duty to duty like that means none of them will have experience. We'll still have to keep some ponies assigned permanently to make sure things are done by the book. Fresh eyes on the supply line won't be good if they don't know how to keep a caravan safe."

"Might I suggest the officers, ma'am?" Captain Armor said. "They'll be in charge anyway, and if we keep the seargeants with their squads, they'll be able to advise them on how to use the troops rotating through their command."

"Excellent. Have a proposal written up and on my desk in the morning." Celestia smiled. "And this tea is excellent, Ensign. Thank you."

Princess Cadance pecked Shining Armor's cheek once he'd escaped the meeting.

"You always smell like cigar smoke after you spend time in there," she complained.

"Commander Raker and General Nickel smoke like they have chimney cutie marks," Shining Armor said. "I hear it's pretty cool and manly. Maybe I should try it so the soldiers see me as being a big tough soldier."

"Don't you dare!" Cadance huffed. "I'm not kissing an ashtray!"

"I'm only kidding, Cady! I swear!"

Cadance stuck out her tongue. "You know you don't have to go in there. You're my Guard Captain! You get to choose your own duty."

"I stayed here in Canterlot because I promised you I'd stay safe," Armor said, nuzzling Cadance's neck. "I still want to help out."

"You are helping."

"I know. Celestia would want you there if I wasn't going in your place, and I don't think General Nickel likes you very much after he caught you making his troop markers kiss."

"I thought they were dolls!"

"He does, too, and that's the problem," Shiny sighed. "I can't imagine how much trouble we'd get into if Princess Celestia and I weren't there to make sure he didn't do something, um, brave."

"You mean stupid."

"If you're in a war, brave and stupid can mean the same thing," Armor smiled. "I'm going to head over to Twily's place to see how she's getting along."

"She had another fight with Auntie." Cadance sighed. "I'm really worried about them. They never had a good relationship, but Princess Celestia has been under a lot of stress lately, and I'm worried either she or Twilight will do something they'll regret later."

"I'll tell her to take it easy," Armor assured her. "We're all on the same team."

"Excuse me, Captain Armor, Sir?" A pony cleared their throat.

Shining Armor turned to the unicorn that had appeared behind him. Cadance looked over his shoulder.

Ensign Alias presented a file folder to him. "Sir, Princess Celestia wanted you to take the latest data from the Iron Pegasus tests over to Doctor Sparkle. She said you'd be leaving soon."

"Thanks," Armor took the papers, stuffing them into a saddlebag.

"Sir, if I may?"

Shining Armor nodded. "Go ahead."

Alias smiled sweetly. "I just wanted to congratulate you. I heard that you finally proposed to Princess Cadance. You two make a lovely couple."

Author's Note

What is an Alicorn?

Ask a foal, they'll tell you it's a pony with wings and a horn. An adult might give the more correct answer that they can use the magic of all three pony tribes.

Neither answer is correct because foals are uneducated and most adults are educated badly.

Alicorns look like ponies. But a biologist would define a pony or, indeed, any animal by way of its anatomy. An alicorn's anatomy, especially internally, is incompatable with any real definition of the typical pony. The closest comparison would in fact be between an Alicorn and a dragon.

Dragons are famous for their thaumobiological dependence. A normal animal cannot breathe fire, and normal bone and muscle simply couldn't support the massive frame of an adult dragon. Dragons can survive - and even enjoy! - conditions that should be almost instantly fatal. Almost no poisons will work on a dragon, and those that do are notably magical in their effect or source.

All of these facts (save size, despite the easy jokes involving one subject and her posterior) are also true of alicorns.

- Doctor Twilight Sparkle, Notes on Project A, Universal Harmony Theory

The Beast

Lightning Dust snapped awake, still in a foggy haze from the sedatives she'd been hit with. Every thought felt like it was swimming in a sea of cotton, and her stomach was quietly and slowly trying to twist itself into a knot. It was halfway between a really bad hangover and an awful dream.

The room didn't help her feel any better. It was the kind of sterile room you only found in a hospital, painted all in pastels and - given the growing soreness in her hips and wings - it had the same awful beds as an army barracks.

"Couldn't even put me on my side," Lightning Dust mumbled, trying to shake feeling back into her wings. Between the stiff mattress and having her weight on them for Celestia knew how long, she could barely move them.

As she stood, she felt a tug on her chest. She looked down. Bandages had been wrapped around her barrel where a few of her ribs had snapped, and a cautious sniff indicated some kind of poultice had been applied.

"Great. But I don't think I'm gonna stick around to hit on the nurse." She walked to the door and tested the handle. Locked. She looked at the door. Steel security door, probably an inch thick, with a tiny shatterproof window at eye level. She couldn't just break it down. Even an earth pony couldn't dent it.

Given enough time she could probably figure something out, but she wasn't planning on spending the night.

Dust tapped the wall next to the door with a hoof.

"What's she doing?" Sunburst asked, looking over Doctor Sparkle's shoulder. They were watching Lightning Dust on a monitor, the enchanted pane of glass connected to a small spell token up near the center of Dust's hospital room and enchanted with a scrying spell.

"She should have been out for three days," Doctor Sparkle noted, smiling faintly. “She fought it off in a few hours. Impressive. Maybe I should have doubled the dose.”

"Captain Armor is still waiting in the lounge," Sunburst said. "Should we have Moondancer get rid of him?"

"Asking him to leave will only make him more suspicious," Sparkle muttered. "Besides, he's my brother. Just make sure he stays out of the restricted areas."

On the screen, Lightning Dust punched through the wall, breaking through to the other side in seconds and escaping into the hallway.

"What?" Sunburst narrowed his eyes.

"We didn't reinforce the interior walls," Doctor Sparkle said. "It took Miss Dust seconds to figure out that weakness. Most ponies would focus on the door, but she ignored it when she realized it was locked."

"I suppose that's good, but causing that much damage..."

"Is irrelevant. I don't want a pony too afraid of breaking things and causing a mess to get the job done."

"She certainly did cause a mess," Sunburst agreed.

"This is why I rejected so many of Moondancer's candidates. She sent me sheep - strong sheep, but sheep nonetheless. I need a wolf. Somepony who can swallow the sun."

Dust burst through the plaster and, somewhat ironically, coughed as dust filled her throat, looking both ways in the hallway she'd ended up in. No alarms yet, and no guards on her room. She couldn't trust that luck to hold for long. Avoiding the door bypassed any alarms on opening it, but the second anypony walked into the hallway and saw a hole in the wall they'd know something was wrong.

She quietly trotted around the next corner. The more distance she had, the better. From ahead of her, she heard running hooves. Dust swore under her breath and ducked into the first doorway, silently closing the door behind her.

"What the hay?" She whispered, looking around. She'd expected another hospital room, maybe an office if she was lucky. This was something else. The room was somewhere between a lab and a storage area, with strange shapes floating in sample jars and bigger things hidden under tarps. She walked in, breath clouding the air. It was freezing cold. Not a problem for a pegasus, but surprising. Air conditioning was expensive, and not something most ponies could afford on a scale larger than the inside of an enchanted icebox.

"Maybe there's a weapon in here somewhere..." Lightning Dust whispered. She wasn't expecting a wingblade or anything, but a wrench or screwdriver would go a long way to evening the odds if she ran into more armed ponies.

She started rummaging through drawers, and slipped on a patch of ice. On instinct she grabbed for something to steady herself. The tarp fell down with her, coming free instead of catching her.

Her eyes went wide when she saw what it had been concealing. Dark eyes glared into her own from a face equal parts scale, armor, and black crystal. Fangs glistened in the half-light. Lightning Dust grabbed for the first thing at hoof and held up a book, ready to throw it at the apparition.

"It's already dead," said a voice from the doorway. The lights in the room flickered on to full strength.

Lightning Dust turned to look at Doctor Sparkle. The unicorn glared at her from the doorway and nodded to the shape, motioning for her to look again.

The creature, whatever it was, was only half-complete. Something had cut it in half, and Lightning Dust could see a twist of organs and spine where the body abruptly ended.

"What in Tartarus is that?" Lightning Dust demanded. "And who are you?"

"It's one of Sombra's creations," Doctor Sparkle said, walking closer. "It's called a Linnorm. I wanted to call them Crystalsaurii, but the Princess hated that name." She huffed. "Baby dragons will grow very quickly when exposed to enough magic, you see. He uses dark magic to force eggs to hatch and grow around weapons and armor. The crystals are attached directly to their leylines and serve as a control method."

"I've never seen one of these," Lightning Dust frowned. "And I've been in the war."

"He hasn't used many yet," Doctor Sparkle said. She walked over to a shelf and pulled one of the jars down. Dust noted that she was using her hooves, despite being a unicorn. She opened the jar and pulled out a talon, the longest claw replaced by a scythe blade. "This was recovered from Lunavale. I'm sure you've heard of the massacre."

"One hundred ponies dead overnight, way behind friendly lines."

"They fought back. It didn't help much. There was also the attack on our shipping at Manehattan. A supply train carrying battle plans. The airship Millennium. In every case, no sign of Sombra's army. But!" Doctor Sparkle gestured to the room at large. "He left us signs of what he was doing."

"Horse apples. Now you're gonna tell me how to get the buck outta here--" Lightning Dust's threat was drowned out by a blaring siren.

"What do you mean, a monster in the woods?" Shining Armor demanded.

"It's true, sir," Private Orb said. "We formed a perimeter according to regulations about officers in an unsecured location. Private Blue alerted us. We think there are two or three targets. It's hard to tell with the woods and darkness. He took a shot with his crossbow to no effect, then we pulled back and I came to inform you."

"Have everypony get to defensive positions," Captain Armor ordered, his horn glowing as he projected a shield around the lab.

"I thought we'd have more time," Sparkle muttered.

"More time for what?!"

"Use your brain. I know you have one." Doctor Sparkle glared. "Sombra is attacking. One of his creatures has been watching the lab for days. The damned thing got my scent and tracked me across half a country. If I'd just been a little more compatible with the Unity armor I could have finished it off, but I just ended up making it angry." She opened the door. "Come on. It's not complete, but maybe we can do something."

"What's not complete?"

"A weapon. The only weapon that can end this war for good." Sparkle walked out of the room, not even looking to see if Lightning Dust was following. The pegasus looked at the things around her, the monstrous forms suspended in glass, trying to imagine them living and on the battlefield.

Lightning Dust stepped out into the hallway and stumbled as the entire building shook. Doctor Sparkle stopped and looked up, like she was seeing through the walls.

"What was that?" Dust asked, catching up with her.

"Structural damage. They've broken Shining Armor's barrier," Doctor Sparkle said. "I expected him to last longer. Cadance is always bragging about his stamina." She pushed open a heavy door with her head and kept going. Lightning Dust heard something shatter in the distance.

"Look, if Sombra's attacking this place we need to run," Lightning Dust said. She'd followed Twilight into a lab space the size of a cloudball pitch, with tables and crates all arranged in a rough circle and an area cordoned off with heavy barriers, the walls beyond it scorched and blackened.

"There's a thaumautic pulse gun on the bench over there." Twilight pointed, ignoring Lightning Dust's comment. "Take it and hold off anything trying to get through the door. I need to get the suit switched over to use condenser tanks. Sunburst! Get the tanks from experiment delta-five! I'm preparing the prototype."

"A what now?" Lightning Dust asked. Twilight pointed again. She walked over and found something like a series of tubes bolted onto a crossbow mechanism, ending in two flat rails of silver. A gem pulsed at the heart of the machine, held in place with a clamp.

"Point it at the target and pull the trigger," Doctor Sparkle said. "I'm sure you can manage it." She rolled a ponyquin over to where her assistant was working and started stripping cables from the unpainted armor.

"Are you sure it'll work without the Engine?" Sunburst asked.

"You saw the results we got in the test. It will work. For a few minutes, then the condenser will be spent." Doctor Sparkle struggled with one of the cables. "Detach this." She pointed, and Sunburst freed it with a telekinetic twist.

Lightning Dust hefted the odd weapon in her hooves, rearing up and balancing with her wings. "Okay, so, how many soldiers are coming? Are we talking like a platoon, or--"

She shut up when the heavy security door bent inwards under a blow that sounded like a volcano erupting.

"Linnorm," Twilight said. "I only expected one, but from the sound of things we warranted special attention."

"And you didn’t tell anypony?" Sunburst asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell the Princess while she was here?!"

"We don't need her help," Doctor Sparkle said.

"But they're--"

"They're exactly what this is designed to fight!" Doctor Sparkle snapped, slapping her hoof against the armored suit. She glanced over at Lightning Dust and glared. "Keep your eyes on the door!"

"Look, I-" Lightning Dust started. The door popped out of its frame. Something huge and awful stepped through a cloud of rising dust from shattered plaster and concrete, and Dust pulled the trigger. The gun shook in her hooves, vibrating and heating up, and for a moment she didn't think it was working at all. The tip sparked, and there was a burst of arcane energy as a spellbolt was thrown into the Linnorm, the force of the blast slamming it back.

"Woah!" Lightning Dust yelled. "This is awesome!"

Doctor Sparkle smiled grimly. "You haven't seen anything yet."

A roar sounded from just outside the door.

"That shot didn't kill it?" Dust asked, surprised.

"A Linnorm is part dragon, part construct," Doctor Sparkle said. "They're very difficult to put down permanently. It's why we only have partial remains. As long as enough of it is intact, it will keep moving."

"Got it," Lightning Dust said, holding the gun higher. "So aim for the head?"

"Sometimes even that isn't enough," Doctor Sparkle grumbled, struggling with one of the tanks until Sunburst helped her attach it to the armor.

The floor shook as the Linnorm crawled into the room. Lightning Dust could see it clearly now. It was a bizarre creature, pale skin pulled so tight over its bones that it looked like little more than a dragon's skeleton. Huge steel scythes extended from the back of its skull like horns, the edges honed and shining. Hateful eyes glimmered from deep-set, dark sockets, and it limped closer, bleeding from a chest wound that dripped half-clotted blood. Lightning Dust could see the shine of steel and glowing crystals inside the wound, buried in its body.

Lightning Dust took aim and fired. The bolt of energy tore through the monster's head, one of the blades clattering to the ground. The air filled with the stink of burning flesh. The weapon in her hooves flared with heat, and Lightning Dust dropped it in surprise.

"What the hay?!" She hissed, waving a hoof in the air.

"It gets hot," Doctor Sparkle warned, far too late to help. "Make sure it's dead, then get over here."

"How do I know?" Lightning Dust asked, walking over to the prone figure.

"Be creative!" Sparkle snapped.

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and grabbed a stool from one of the lab tables, holding it like a club as she flew closer. The thing's skull was exposed all along the left side of its head, the flesh torn and steaming around the wound.

"I'm pretty sure-" The monster roared and jerked up, trying to impale Lightning Dust with its remaining horn-scythe. "Never mind!" She tried to parry it with the stool, and the blade slashed through the wood, barely even slowing down. Lightning Dust tucked her wings, letting gravity carry her away from the deadly attack, and grabbed for the first decent weapon she spotted, the blade that had torn free from the monster. It was bigger than she was, made of solid steel, and she was barely able to lift it off the ground. She swung, and the weight of it carried her around in a full circle, meeting only a slight resistance as it caught the Linnorm in the neck, tearing down at an angle into the chest, cutting through bone and thin, tough flesh.

The monster's roar turned into a gurgle and it collapsed, the light from inside it sputtering and going out as it went limp.

Lightning Dust panted with exertion, almost turned away, then thought better of it and swung the huge blade again, nearly cutting the monster in half. She left the weapon buried there, too tired to lift it again.

"Clumsy, but effective," Doctor Sparkle noted. "If you're done, get over here and put this on."

"I don't think armor would help much against a monster like that," Lightning Dust panted.

"Not normal armor, no," Doctor Sparkle agreed. "This isn't normal armor. This is the future." She smiled, showing teeth that for a moment looked more like fangs.

"What is it?" Lightning Dust asked, as Sunburst pushed her closer to the armor and started unstrapping it from the ponyquin. It was almost similar to the armor that Special Forces units wore, a underlayer that covered the whole body and hardened plates over it protecting vulnerable spots.

That was where the similarities ended. There were strips of some kind of flexible material like thick silk or spiderweb stitched into the surface of the underlayer, which was itself treated and rubberized in a way Lightning Dust hadn't seen before. The armored plates were set with crystal plates that revealed complex mechanisms and etchings.

Doctor Sparkle started strapping it to her, her hooves fumbling with the catches.

"Wouldn't that be easier with magic?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Yes, it would be," Doctor Sparkle mumbled. The tanks that they'd been working with before were a heavy weight between her wings, and after a moment of consideration, Doctor Sparkle grabbed another belt from a bench and strapped them down tighter.

"That should keep them from moving too much while you're flying," She explained.

"What is all this?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Do you know how magic works?" Sparkle asked, tersely.

"Basically. Travels along leylines, and the shape determines what the magic does."

"Mm. The leylines in your body let you walk on clouds, manipulate the weather, and fly." Sparkle checked a few connections, making displeased noises. "Hopefully this will last long enough. The suit you're wearing is a prototype. It has artificial leylines in it that mimic earth pony magic, running from the condenser tanks on your back. They hold a slurry of powdered crystal and alchemical reagents that serve as a magical battery. Traditional enchantments aren't enough to make the leylines work."

"Okay... so what does it do?" Lightning Dust asked.

"While the suit is working, you'll be as strong and tough as an Earth Pony. It's a stopgap measure - the actual project will only use the suit as a booster, and the artificial leylines will be generated by that." She pointed to a complicated piece of machinery the size of a grapefruit, like a squat prism of glass capped with metal hemispheres studded with lenses.

"What is it? Better battery?"

"It's called an Engine Heart. I want to put it in your chest."

"What?!" Lightning Dust recoiled.

"It would provide a permanent power source, like an artifical wellspring. I need test subjects who can handle the stress. We can discuss this later. There's still another Linnorm loose in this facility."

"Fine. But I don't like the idea of you doing weird surgery on me." Lightning Dust asked.

"We need to find out if you're even compatible with the equipment. If your body can't manage the thaumatic pressure it causes internal damage, similar to the Bends that divers experience if they return to the surface too quickly."

"That sounds incredibly painful."

"Mm. My personal experience was bad enough to put me off trying again. Even if it works, with this setup you'll only have a few minutes of runtime with it. Get the thaumatic pulse gun and we'll find the enemy. We can't afford to waste any of the time you'll have."

She looked back to her assistant.

"Sunburst, keep this lab secure. Equestria depends on it."

Lightning Dust struggled with the armor as she limped down the corridor on three legs, holding the pulse gun with one forehoof and using her wings to keep her balance. The metal and polymer strapped to her probably weighed more than she did.

"So you really can't use magic?" Lightning Dust asked.

"This is not the time," Doctor Sparkle growled.

"Let me guess, horn rot?" Lightning Dust smirked. "I hear that happens when a unicorn rubs it too much."

"What we should be discussing is your suit," Doctor Sparkle snapped. "There's a switch on the belt going around your waist. Hit it, and the tanks will start dumping their thaumatic load into the suit. The leylines should form in your body and you'll feel the effects immediately."

"And I have what, a couple minutes before it runs out?" Dust asked.

"Don't waste it," Sparkle said. "And make sure not to break anything. I'll want the data from this test run."

"You sound more worried about the suit than about-"

Lightning Dust was going to say 'me' (and she would have been correct), but she was cut off by the timely arrival of an explosion, which saved Doctor Sparkle the trouble of explaining things - not that it would have helped.

A billowing dust cloud filled the hallway ahead of them as another Linnorm smashed through a door. Even if it had been polite enough to use a door, this one was too large to fit through a normal doorframe. It was taller than Celestia, with two heads with dripping maws, long necks, and a single cyclopean eye on each, glowing with baleful light. The body was shaped almost like a pony's, but plated with metal and ending in a single, powerful leg with bladed talons sticking out of it at odd angles.

"Hey, ugly!" Lightning Dust yelled, and pulled the trigger on the pulse gun. It immediately bloomed with heat, the frame glowing red-hot like a stovetop before she dropped it, hissing in pain.

The shot smashed into the beast, but her aim was off, the overheating weapon throwing her shot into the thing's chest instead of a neck. The bolt dented it, the metal crumpling, but the Linnorm was more annoyed than injured.

"Focus!" Doctor Sparkle yelled, as Lightning Dust rubbed her burned hoof. She looked up and dodged to the side, armor making an awful rattle when she rolled on the floor as the Linnorm fired its own beam of energy from one of those glowing eyes, the thin stream of heat dancing wildly through the air like it could only barely aim it.

"Feathering monsters..." Lightning Dust grunted, picking herself off the ground only to see the second head turning to face her.

She braced herself for pain, until a pink shield suddenly erupted in front of her like a wall, blocking the attack.

"Wha?" Lightning Dust looked back at Doctor Sparkle. There wasn't an aura around her horn.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Shining Armor said, as he circled around from the monster's other side. "Sorry. I was trying to get a message to the Royal Guard to get more troops. The ones I brought weren't ready for this kind of fight so I sent them back before they could get hurt."

"They won't help," Doctor Sparkle said.

"What are you talking about?" Shining Armor frowned. "Of course they'll help. We're right outside Canterlot!"

"You're right. I should have said that they're useless," Sparkle noted, flatly. "Lightning Dust, take care of this."

"But the gun--" Dust started

"Use the suit! You're trained in hoof-to-hoof combat!" Doctor Sparkle snapped.

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and slapped the switch. The tanks on her back started to vibrate and she braced herself. From Doctor Sparkle's explanation, she was expecting that the suit would make her stronger, but the reality was totally different.

Magic burned through her body, and her eyes went wide as the shock hit her. It wasn't at all what she'd anticipated. The world yawned beneath her, abruptly as endless and open as the sky. It was an ocean under her hooves, strata of rock like waves frozen in place. Gems stood out like lumps in a mattress. She could feel caves in the mountain next to them, like yawning voids.

"Oh buck me," Lightning Dust whispered. The suit wasn't strong. She was strong. She could feel it in every part of her body, even her wings.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Doctor Sparkle said. Lightning Dust looked back at her. She was smiling, the most genuine smile Dust had seen from her. Her eyes twinkled with joy. "That is the power that will change the world."

"It's gonna do something, that's for sure," Lightning Dust said. She looked up at the monster. She felt like she could take on the world. One Linnorm? No problem.

Shining Armor's shield dropped, and she charged, the wind blasting away from her wings. She'd always been fast, but this was completely different. She felt like she could do anything. She hit the monster right in the center of its chest, and the tackle alone was enough to make it stumble back awkwardly on its three legs, the uneven gait unsuited for quick maneuvers in a small area.

"Yes!" Doctor Sparkle yelled. "That's it! Break it apart!"

Lightning Dust planted her rear hooves on the ground and grabbed one of the Linnorm' legs. The armor plates bent under her grasp, her grip augmented with an earth pony's natural hoofstrength. With what felt like hardly any effort at all, she lifted the entire monster and spun in a circle, throwing it bodily.

"Celestia's beard..." Shining Armor swore. The creature landed with a crash, one neck snapping loudly and going limp. The other writhed as the monster spasmed, something inside it clearly rent and torn.

"Finish it before it regenerates," Sparkle ordered.

"I've got this," Shining Armor said. He stepped closer. "If they're helpless like this, you just need to destroy the main crystal control node--" Before he could explain further, the creature's intact neck wrapped around him like a constrictor, pulling him closer.

"Oh buck..." Lightning Dust whispered.

"Let go of me you--" Shining Armor swore. The beast's fangs sank into his shoulder, blood pouring down his chest. He screamed and his horn flared up, a bubble shield appearing around him and tossing him free.

Lightning Dust charged over his head, grabbing the Linnorm by the jaw and forcing it open until something snapped, thick blood pouring down. The monster warbled, and Lightning Dust punched it in the eye just as it tried to fire another beam of heat. There was a burst of energy as the magic misfired in its skull, and the entire neck exploded all the way down to the base, the monster going still.

"Damn..." Lightning Dust panted. "You said there were only two, right?" She asked.

Before Doctor Sparkle could answer, Shining Armor bucked Dust across the room.

"What in Tartarus was that for?!" She demanded, flipping back to her hooves.

Shining Armor glared at her, gritting his teeth so hard one of them cracked. A dark aura started to pour from his eyes, and crystals grew along the edges of his wound.

Lightning Dust hesitated, and Shining Armor fired a bolt of dark magic at her, knocking her onto her back right next to the fallen Linnorm. One of the tanks on her back shattered, and the feeling of power and energy flowing through her body started to fade.

"He's been taken over!" Doctor Sparkle yelled.

"They can do that?" Dust whispered, standing. Crushed gems and something like mucus flowed down her side from where the tank had broken.

"It's how Sombra grows his army! He takes over normal ponies and turns them into crystal slaves!"

"Okay. I can handle one unicorn. No problem," Lightning Dust whispered. There was a thud, and she felt something slam into her back. There was a cold, sharp pain, a sense of wrongness that meant she was hurt so badly the shock was keeping her from feeling it yet. She coughed. Blood dripped from her lips.

"You idiot! The Linnorm wasn't dead yet!" Sparkle sounded some equal combination of annoyed and terrified.

Lightning Dust looked down at the blade jammed through her chest. The monster had kicked her, the thing's hind leg moving like a scorpion's tail, twisting in ways that would have been impossible for anything with a normal biology. It tore free, and blood drained from the wound.

"Not when we're this close!" Doctor Sparkle hissed.

Lightning Dust was still standing. She shouldn't have been. She'd never been hurt this badly before, but sometimes you just knew that you were really messed up. This was one of those times. Something was keeping her moving, though. A rapidly draining strength. It was her, but it was the suit, too. Her life was measured by how long the magic held out.

Knowing she was going to die focused her wonderfully. She'd probably be able to manage one thing, and killing a monster seemed like revenge and a good deed wrapped up all in one.

"Control node?" She coughed, spitting up blood.

"Chest. Near the heart!" Sparkle answered, understanding instantly.

Lightning Dust nodded and flew drunkenly, dodging another bolt of black magic from Shining Armor more by luck than intent, grabbing the armor plate she'd dented in before. There was a raised edge where it was trying to cover the joint of the neck on that side, and she snagged it there, pulling with all of her dwindling strength.

It was like peeling the world's biggest orange, the armor tearing free with a wet sucking sensation, the Linnorm' bare flesh and bone exposed underneath. Pulsing and glowing from within its ribs she could see a crystal sphere, not so different from the odd machine she'd seen in Doctor Sparkle's lab.

Lightning Dust grabbed a rib and tore it free before using it like a spear, jamming the broken end into the crystal sphere. The crystal cracked, and the monster shivered. Lighting Dust rammed it home again, and the entire thing split in half, the magic glow fading.

She dropped the rib, and a bolt of dark magic caught her in the back, almost right on top of where she'd been stabbed. She fell to the ground, the magic finally giving out.

Shining Armor loomed over her. His horn charged up with light. This was going to be a deathblow. Not that he needed to do much more.

A blast of energy slammed into him, and his head vanished in a rush of heat.

Lightning Dust looked to the side, and saw Doctor Sparkle holding the red-hot pulse gun, her hooves smoking. She threw the weapon aside and limped closer, wincing as she put weight on her burned forelegs.

"You see what he does to us?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "Sombra's making us fight ourselves. That's why we can't win without something new. He'd love nothing more than to make us all slaves or corpses." She pointed at Shining Armor's body. "That's the future for all of us if Celestia shuts this project down!"

Lightning Dust spat out a clot of blood, looking up at Sparkle.

"I can save you," Sparkle said. "But I can't do it with normal medicine. Do you want to live?"

Lightning Dust nodded. Everything was turning grey.

"Good. It will be a pleasure working with you."

Lightning Dust closed her eyes, the blood loss finally taking her under.

Author's Note

I had a dream last night.

I don't usually take note of my dreams. I always thought a dream journal was silly. Maybe I was wrong.

In my dream I knew it was far in the future in the way you can just know a thing in a dream. I was in a city. Every building was a marvel, and every pony was an alicorn. I walked along crystal streets until I came to the very edge of the world.

The road simply trailed off into the abyss. When I looked out over the edge, I saw there was nothing beyond the city except a terrible void.

I fell over the edge, and I saw the city's foundations as I tumbled.

That grand city was supported by bones, a graveyard the size of a country.

Aim For the Top!

Several very expensive and entirely magic-free instruments beeped in a slow, steady rhythm. Getting the operating theatre prepared had been a not insignificant part of the budget, but one that couldn't be avoided. It was a cleanroom, cut off from outside leylines and background magic, with specially-made scalpels ground from scraps of cold iron.

"Insert the Heart opposite her actual heart," Doctor Sparkle instructed, not that she needed to. They'd gone over the operation in detail, her obsessive attention to detail demanding that they use a cadaver for the dry run, which hadn’t prepared Sunburst for just how much throbbed and moved inside a living subject.

“You realize none of us have medical degrees?” Sunburst asked, for the third time.

“It’s just... wet engineering,” Sparkle assured him. “No different from changing the focusing disc on an interocitor.”

Sunburst worked with her to lower it gently into place, the lump of metal and gems looking out of place against the pulsing red and pink around it.

"Her vitals are starting to fluctuate," Moondancer reported. "I'm going to give her another unit of plasma to try and bring her blood pressure up."

Doctor Sparkle nodded, trusting Moondancer to do her job.

"Once the Heart is anchored, start it up at low power," Doctor Sparkle added. "The effects should help stabilize her."

"Ready," Sunburst said, stepping away from the patient. "Bringing the power up to ten percent." He attached a slim glass probe into the Heart, the other end leading to a squat, bulky machine. Sunburst turned the dial, and the room filled with a hum more felt than heard, making the unicorns' horns ache with resonance before it faded.

"Make it fifteen," Sparkle said, glancing at one of the displays. The lines rose and stabilized, and red slowly turned to yellow and then green. "Excellent. Let's get her closed up."

Lightning Dust woke slowly, her chest feeling tight and broken, like she'd gotten on the bad side of an earth pony who really knew how to throw her weight around. Something was beeping, the sound annoying enough to make her crack her eyes open in search of the source.

"...This isn't a hospital room," she said, weakly. Everything felt heavy. She knew the feeling - she'd been drugged, unconscious for a while. And looking at the ceiling, and the recently-patched hole in the wall next to the door, she had a pretty good idea of where she was.

"I'd prefer if you didn't break out of the room this time," Doctor Sparkle said, as the door slid open. She limped on bandaged hooves, sitting down next to the bed to get weight off of her front legs.

"So Doc, am I gonna live?" Lightning Dust asked, smirking.

"It seems so," Doctor Sparkle said. "It would actually be quite difficult to kill you, now."

"How do you figure that?" Lightning Dust asked.

"That depends on how much you know about metaphysical biology." Doctor Sparkle took a sheaf of papers out of her labcoat and flipped through them.

"Let's pretend I didn't go to college--"

"We don't have to pretend on that count," Doctor Sparkle mumbled.

"Owch. You know, I was planning on getting a degree. I had all kinds of scholarships lined up and I was totally gonna get in but, well, you know. The war."

"Mm. The war, indeed." Sparkle turned the papers around so Lightning Dust could see what she was looking at. It was a diagram, an ancient one, showing a pony with a horn and wings with eight legs in different positions within a circle and a square.

"I've seen that one. The Vitruvian Alicorn, right?" Lightning Dust shrugged. "It was in Lionheart d'Veneigh's sketchbooks. I saw them at the Canterlot Art Museum once."

Doctor Sparkle blinked once, slowly. "I wasn't aware you had an interest in art."

"I don't, but I was dating this really hot mare at the time. A little older than me, that kind of mature type you know? You kind of pick things up. Like there was this one artist, Cutie Reinko. Did the most amazing things with color. There'd just be a couple of rough squares of color on a canvas and it'd have this weird beauty behind it." She laughed. "Man, these drugs are making me talk way too much."

"A near-death experience does that to some ponies. You're right, though. It's the Vitruvian Alicorn. A print of it, anyway. For a long time, it was debated if it represented an overlapping view of all three tribes or a single alicorn."

"I think they eventually decided it was the same thing either way, right?" Lightning Dust tried to shrug, and immediately regretted it.

"It's neither of those." Sparkle tapped her hoof against the background. "A square and a circle. Drawn so accurately that they have almost precisely the same area, to a degree that would require machine-like precision."

"d'Veneigh was talented," Dust shrugged.

"A genius, if we're being pedantic," Doctor Sparkle smiled a little. "There's been a lot of study on this diagram, but I suspect very few have seen the second version."

"Second version?" Lightning Dust sat up, ignoring the pain in her chest and back.

"I was given a few of Lionheart's journals by..." She scrunched up her nose, trying to decide on the right term to use. "I hesitate to say patron, but an interested party. She'd been holding onto it for some time because of the information inside it."

"He's been dead for centuries," Lightning Dust said. "I don't think he had anything really earth-shattering to say."

"You'd be surprised," Sparkle said. She flipped to the next page. It was a diagram similar to the Vitruvian Alicorn, but with more to it, like he had tried to capture something on the page that couldn't even be constrained to three dimensions, much less two. A grid of something like constellations, notated in a language Lightning Dust couldn't read, was captured inside the pony.

"What's that supposed to be?" She asked.

"The leylines inside a pony. He tried to convey where they merged, where they terminated, where they'd grow and change. These points--" she tapped one of the star-like shapes. "Are the chakras. The larger circle in the center is a wellspring."

"Which is where magic comes from," Lightning Dust said, sure of herself.

"Correct. It's where the astral body and the physical body intersect, but your description is more or less accurate for a laypony."

"There's something strange in the corner." Lightning Dust narrowed her eyes, leaning in. There was a figure there, twisted and black, just a sketch, a suggestion of plates of hardened armor.

"It's nothing. Lionheart drew a lot of odd things," Sparkle said, dismissively.

"So what's all this about? I can't read any of it."

"He wrote in backwards Horse Latin to keep his thoughts a secret," Doctor Sparkle said. "But in general, he found that the greater a pony's magical strength, the more they diverged from what we might call normal biology."

"What's that mean?"

"Beyond a certain magical strength, your body changes. Look at dragons - no natural creature can breathe fire, and nothing that large should be able to fly. Even a pegasus shouldn't get off the ground with how tiny your wingspans are."

"Hey, I can fly like crazy!" Lightning Dust huffed, annoyed.

Doctor Sparkle nodded. "Indeed. Because you use magic for it. And your high base magical talent means your biology has adjusted for it. Without getting into detail you couldn't appreciate while you're on opiates, partly sedated, and entirely uneducated, think of it like... physics and biology is a rulebook, and the stronger your magic, the fewer of those rules apply to you. Beyond a certain point, you become totally dependent on magic to survive. Dragons, for example, cannot enter dead magic zones or else they tend to, ah, fail explosively. It's like deep sea fish being brought up to the surface."

"Is that why the Princess is immortal?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Princesses," Doctor Sparkle corrected. "There are more than one. But yes. Alicorns are immortal because their personal magic is so strong that they no longer have cellular processes as we would normally understand them."

"I think I'm in a little over my head."

"Mm." Doctor Sparkle shrugged. "I doubt you'd appreciate the irony of Lionheart d'Veneighs trying to describe alicorn anatomy in light of their separation from baseline reality, then."

Lightning Dust shook her head, shrugging.

"To the point, then. You're somewhere between the average pony and an alicorn. Not quite immortal but... harder to kill. You could say that your will keeps you in the world longer than a mere body would allow it."

Doctor Sparkle paused, trying to think of a better explanation. As she was working through dumbing down an explanation of Magical Territory fields to use words with few enough syllables that even Lightning Dust could explain them, she heard a distinctive buzzing sound.

She looked up and saw Lightning Dust sitting on the bed, eyes closed, drooling and asleep. Doctor Sparkle rolled her eyes and pushed the pegasus gently, letting her fall back onto the pillows.

"Sleep while you can. There might be a lot of long nights ahead for all of us."

Lightning Dust saw the wall coming, not that she could have missed it in any sense of the word 'missed'. She tried to stop herself, but instead she found herself hitting plaster, then wood, then out into a hallway before coming to a stop. Stitches tore on her chest and back, blood dripping from her coat.

"Okay, that one was my fault," she admitted.

"Don't move!" Sunburst yelled, alarmed. He rushed over with a first aid kit and examined the surgical wounds. "You shouldn't even be out of bed. The average recovery time for open-heart surgery is--"

"Irrelevant," Doctor Sparkle said, cutting him off. "Glue her shut. I don't want her bleeding everywhere. I doubt the Young Mares Celestian Association are going to be happy about cleaning this up."

"Such amazing bedside manner," Lightning Dust snorted. "Do all your patients get this special treatment?"

"We're not at a bedside, and I'd have to go to medical school to learn it," Doctor Sparkle said.

"Wait, you operated on me without a medical license?" Lightning Dust's wings flared up, knocking Sunburst over while he tried to get her back wound closed. “I thought you were a doctor!”

"A doctor of thaumatic engineering. But don’t worry yourself - I made sure to read several medical texts while getting ready for your surgery. You're alive, so you don't have anything to complain about."

"She's joking," Sunburst said. "Sort of."

"You're healing at an astonishing rate," Doctor Sparkle said, smiling slightly. "Not fast enough that you can smash through walls without hurting yourself, though."

"Well I didn't know trying to take off was going to do that!" Lightning Dust pointed back through the hole to the track beyond it. Curious ponies were already looking, heads peering around the edges of the broken wall. "We should have done this outside!"

"It's too dangerous," Doctor Sparkle said. "Indoors we can keep you contained." She paused and reexamined the debris. "Mostly contained."

"The wall did eventually stop her," Sunburst said with a shrug.

"Make a note to add a track and physical fitness area to the lab," Doctor Sparkle said. "We could armor and pad the walls to make them safer to crash into at higher velocity--"

"Hey!" A mule pushing a cart yelled, waving a broom. "What are you kids doing?!"

"It's time for us to leave," Sparkle said, backing away.

"Cheese it!" Lightning Dust yelled, flapping her wings and immediately going out of control, smashing through a water fountain, broken pipes spraying into the air. "My bad!"

"This is so stupid! I can't even get off the ground!" Lightning Dust muttered. "I could fly better than this when I was a foal!" She winced as Sunburst re-stitched the wound in her back. She wasn't complaining about it - he wasn't doing a bad job and it needed to get done, but it was just yet another thing adding to her frustration with the world in general.

Doctor Sparkle snorted. "That's the complete opposite of the truth." She watched Sunburst's work intently. "When you were a foal you had to build up strength to match your instincts. Now you have to build your instincts to match your strength."

"Huh?" Lightning Dust frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"A normal pony trying to get better at flying trains both mentally and physically, yes?" Doctor Sparkle asked.

"Of course." Lightning Dust shrugged. "Some ponies go in for the whole waterfalls and meditation thing. I know this one mare I went to school with tried it with a rainbow waterfall and went blind for a week."

"Before, you were able to adjust to those changes faster than they accumulated. With the Heart inside you, your wingpower is vastly increased." Sparkle paused. "No, more than that. Just look at your wings." She stepped closer to lift one up. "They're already growing proportionally larger and stronger. When you flap your wings, not only is there more magic behind them, but your balance is off - the larger surface and greater strength gives them much more lift than you're used to getting."

“So what, I have to grow into them?”

“If you like. Consider it physical therapy after your life-threatening injury. Take it slow and you’ll be in the air in no time.”

“I’m not big into taking things slow.”

“Mm. I do have one idea, then, if you’d rather push things to the limit. How would you feel about a little friendly competition?”

“Welcome to the 1006 Summer Cloudsdale Games! I’m your host, Funky Flashmare, and with me today is Fire Streak, a senior member of the storied Wonderbolts! Let’s all give him a round of applause!”

“Thanks, Funky. I’m just glad I was invited to be here today. It’s been a long time since I competed in the games myself but they’re some of my happiest memories, even if I didn’t get quite as many gold medals as I’d like.”

“Five isn’t enough?”

“As any of the ponies out there can tell you, when you’re a Wonderbolt, you’re always looking to the next goal.”

“Well said, Fire Streak. And as I understand it, you trained quite a few of the ponies who are going to be showing us their best today?”

“That’s right, Funky. I’ve been focusing more on instructing the next generation of heroes and athletes, and I can tell you we have a good number of amazing competitors out there today. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do under pressure - having the crowd watching you can be an amazing motivator to bring out the best of the best.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Fire Streak. And with that, let’s all stand for the Cloudsdale Anthem.”

Hark! When the rain is falling!
Hark! Hear the thunder calling!
Stormclouds roll from our outpouring;
We pegasus few and proud;
Now our mighty wings are soaring;
And we feel our hearts are roaring;
Our spirits high as our home in the sky!

“And here comes the Parade of Communities. It seems like we’ve got representatives from almost every town and city in Equestria, Fire Streak.”

“Even with the war on, you can’t stop the spirit of competition. I’d like to take a moment to thank the members of the EUP who are still on deployment and unable to attend today - your sacrifice is keeping us all safe. Until you can come home safely, we’ll be carrying the torch and hopefully setting some new records!”

“Very large contingent from Cloudsdale, and Las Pegasus isn’t far behind. Hopefully all those sequins aren’t going to hurt the aerodynamics.”

“Knowing that team, they’ve probably got something skintight on under those jackets. In the 984 games the judges made them change uniforms before an event because they were distracting the other competitors.”

“Too many sequins and beads?”

“Too much and too little at the same time. There were foals in the audience, after all.”

“Well what happens in Las Pegasus stays there, right?”

“We can only hope.”

“Unless I’m mistaken, that’s Thunderlane leading the Ponyville team. Isn’t he one of your personal students?”

“Indeed he is. He’s a favorite to win this year in most of the events - he’d be a member of the Wonderbolts right now if we were accepting applications. To anypony in the audience, I’d recommend trying to get an autograph. They’re going to be worth a lot in a few years when he’s got some gold under his belt.”

“Any tips on his strongest events?”

“He’s an endurance flyer, Funky. He’s set an unofficial record for the marathon that I expect him to beat today, and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win the wrestling competition. No offense to the other brave ponies competing, but that stallion is as strong as an earth pony!”

“It looks like we have one last group entering the stadium. And they’re from… Canterlot? I wasn’t aware we had a team from there this year.”

“Well traditionally they send a few guards purely for exhibition rounds, but they’re all understandably busy. I was down with the judges when this team came in, though I’m not sure if it’s really a team. They only sent one pony, a rather infamous one, I’m afraid.”

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that…?”

“Lightning Dust. Didn’t think she’d have the gumption to show up after some of the things she’s accused of. I expect the judges will be watching her very carefully.”

“From the booing I think the fans in the stadium tonight recognize her.”

“She has a bad reputation after, well, this is a happy event, folks. Let’s try to focus on the competition and the sport instead of past accusations. In ancient Pegasopilan tradition, we’ll let the games decide if she’s worthy of them or not.”

“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Lightning Dust grumbled, as she walked back to the small locker room they’d been assigned. “All those ponies hate me!”

“I can assure you it isn’t the dumbest thing you’ve ever done,” Sparkle corrected. “It's not even the dumbest thing you've done since I've met you. This is one of my ideas, so it’s automatically a good one.”

“Explain to me again how competing in the Cloudsdale Games right after I was dead on the slab is a great idea. I'm half stitches and glue!”

Doctor Sparkle adjusted her glasses. “You were barely dead for ten minutes before we got your heart working again, stop complaining. The timing could be slightly better, but the Games give us a few unique opportunities that won’t come around again for two years.”

“And those opportunities are…?”

“I think we can both agree that we needed a larger arena to test your new limits?” Sparkle asked. Dust nodded in agreement. “This is one of the largest in the world. More importantly, it was cheap to enter. The entry fees for Canterlot were already paid, and I just had to have my agents grease a few hooves to get you on the list.”

“I’m still not sure about that part. Couldn’t we use an alias?”

“Don’t be silly. I know you want to set records in your own name. And since we’ll have some of the most sensitive equipment and skilled judges in the world measuring your achievements, we’ll be able to get a real sense of what you can do. It’s win-win.”

“Okay, look, what I’m worried about is a mob of angry ponies trying to drag me out of here. After the thing with the Wonderbolts and Spitfire, I have a lot of ponies angry with me.”

“Irrelevant. There’s security in place if they try anything, as if you’d need it to fight off a crowd of civilians.” She fixed Lightning Dust with a look. “And the crowd loves a winner. Don’t forget that. Show them you can defeat any normal pony. Crush the records. Show them the results of my genius.”

“You mean my skills.”

“If it makes you feel better to call it that. Don’t hold back.”

Dust swallowed. Her chest felt tight, partly because she had a big lump of metal in there and partly because of the stitches and also partly because she was standing in front of a crowd of ponies that really didn’t like her very much.

“You have a lot of gall showing up now,” growled the pegasus in the lane next to her. “I’ve been training for years for this, and somepony like you is just dishonoring the Games.”

Dust glared at her.

“We all heard about how you signed up at the last minute. What, you think you can just waltz in and win because you were a Wonderbolt? The Wonderbolt that got the rest of them killed?” She spat. “That attitude is why you’ll lose.”

The starting buzzer sounded while Dust was trying to come up with a response.

The other ponies took off, ready for it.

“Get moving, you idiot!” Sparkle yelled, from the sidelines.

Lightning Dust kicked off the line, already ten meters behind the others thanks to her hesitation. It was a bone-headed move, the kind of thing that would, for most ponies, ensure they lost the race. At this level the finishing times for the racers were usually tightly grouped, often requiring a photo finish.

Dust reached for the power inside her, the reserve every athlete has, pulling at her magic. Instead of the well of strength she’d always had inside, she found a wild, roaring storm.

Acid-green lightning filled her contrail, and she jetted ahead of the others, her wake throwing the nearest ponies out of their lanes as she careened ahead, crossing the finish line before she was ready for it and skidding to a stop, kicking up wide troughs in the clouds as she steadied herself, trying to fight down that surge of power that was burning inside her.

“What in Tartarus was that?” One of the judges yelled.

“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Dust groaned.

“You set a new record, even with that awful start,” Doctor Sparkle said, as Dust sipped on a bottle of Hydrade (the official sports drink of the Las Pegasus Hydras). “Two of the three judges watching the event were in position to see that you weren’t intentionally attacking the ponies next to you. They got themselves knocked out of the race by the turbulence you caused, which isn’t against the rules.”

“That wasn’t quite what I was expecting,” Dust admitted.

“We’re here so you can get used to that power somewhere safe,” Doctor Sparkle assured her. “You’ll figure it out.”

“It isn’t like my own magic,” Dust said. “I thought it would just be me, but more of it, you know? Instead, it was…”

“I tried to explain this to you while you were in recovery.”

“I’m still in recovery. I just had open-heart surgery. I should get a medal just for being here!”

“You’re already getting a gold medal, don’t get greedy and demand a damn participation trophy too.” Sparkle smirked. “Just remember, that magic inside you, half of it is yours and the other half you need to make yours. Don’t fight it, use it. Use every bit of it. The more you embrace it, the easier it will get.”

“What about the armor?”

“Unfortunately we couldn’t use it,” Sparkle’s smirk faded. “I checked and the uniform regulations are surprisingly strict, especially as regards enchanted or thaumotechnical items. Apparently, there was a scandal with Stalliongrad… anyway, the armor isn’t important for now. It will help focus your magic, but the most important component is inside you already.”

“My bravery and belief in myself?”

“Don’t be stupid. I mean the Engine Heart and you know it.” Sparkle patted her on the back. “Now go out there and push yourself to the limit or else I’ll find a pegasus who can.”

“Well, Fire Streak, I have to admit that this isn’t exactly what I was expecting from the track and cloudfield events.”

“No, Funky, I don’t think anypony was expecting it. But I’m not as surprised as you might think.”

“You knew Lightning Dust personally, didn’t you?”

“That’s correct, Funky. I helped train her. She set quite a few academy records that still stand to this day. While we might all have some opinions on her personal conduct, I can’t say she’s a pony who slacks off. She was always willing to push herself to the edge.”

“Some of these records she’s setting today are beyond belief, though, Fire Streak. She’s set the world record in every single sprint event!”

“Aside from the 75 meter.”

“That’s only because the judges had her drug tested while that event was going on and she didn’t have a chance to compete. For the record, folks, everything came back clean, and despite her unicorn coach, there’s no spellcasting involved. As far as we can tell, she’s doing all of this legitimately.”

“We’ve got the 50 meter event, the last of the sprint events for today, coming up in a few moments. I’ve also got word here from the medical teams that apparently, Lightning Dust is still in recovery from surgery. They’re not even sure she should be competing at all with her injuries, but since she’s signed a waiver there isn’t anything barring her.”

“Surgery? Well, even I, Funky Flashmare, have to give her some credit for deciding to compete despite that handicap.”

“Not much of one, apparently, since she keeps winning. And there she is on the starting line. They’ve put her on an outside lane this time to try and minimize the wake effects she keeps generating. Apparently, it’s unavoidable with the amount of wingpower she’s generating.”

“Do we have a number on that, Fire Streak?”

“Well, as you know, my own wingpower was measured at almost twenty when I was at my best, and Spitfire managed almost twenty-five. Ten or so is about average for a pegasus.”

“I went to Flight School too, Fire Streak.”

“I’m just walking the audience through things, Funky. We’re getting readings in three digits for Lightning Dust, which means either she’s found an amazing new workout routine, or we need to calibrate things.”

“Want to place a bet on which?”

“Not on your life.”

“Here comes the starting bell and- stars and garters, what was that?!”

“You broke the sound barrier from a standing start,” Doctor Sparkle said. “Not bad at all.”

“Not just the sound barrier. I broke some of the stadium.”

“They’ll fix it,” Sparkle said, dismissively. “If they weren’t ready for supersonic ponies they’re the ones at fault. The important thing is you definitely set the record there, and I think you’re finally starting to draw out the Heart’s full power.”

“I gotta admit it felt good,” Dust said. “Everypony else might as well be standing still.”

“When ponies talk about you from now on, they’re going to remember the pony that won all those gold medals.”

“So are we done?”

“Don’t be silly. You’re up in the javelin throw next.”

“I’ve never thrown a javelin,” Dust hissed, as she watched the ponies ahead of her.

“So?” Sparkle shrugged. “You get three tries. You’ll figure it out. How hard can it be to throw a stick?”

“Ponies literally train for years!”

“Mm. Learn quickly, then.”

Dust glared at Sparkle as the judges escorted her into the field.

“Stupid doctor thinks she knows what it takes,” Dust grumbled, taking a javelin from a judge and hefting it, trying to match the form the others had used. “I don’t even know what I’m doing!”

She ran forward and threw it as hard as she could.

There was a crack as the spear left her hoof. The clouds overhead vanished in its hypersonic wake.

“...” Dust bit her lip. “Huh.”

Author's Note

Every pony tribe has its own magic. Let us call each of these types of magic a string on some great cosmic instrument. Every earth pony is on one string. Every pegasus pony is on a second string. Every unicorn pony on a third.

Each of those ponies plays their one string differently. Perhaps they tune it a little higher or lower, or they pluck it particularly hard, or play so softly it can barely be heard, but they can never play a different string.

In this tortured metaphor, which is distressingly inaccurate but easy to grasp, imagine a pony that can play all three strings. Not only is their range of notes far wider than any single tribe could manage on their own, but they can do something no tribe can.

An alicorn plays three notes all at once, and in doing so, creates a chord. A unique signature. Something greater than the sum of its parts.

Race Like You Want to Win!

“You shouldn’t complain. You still got a medal on your third try,” Sparkle said. “Even if you did have to hold back to keep it in the stadium.”

“Where did the javelin even go?” Dust asked.

“Mm. Given the speed, there’s a good chance it went into orbit. Technically, since you left the field before it landed, the throw is disqualified.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It isn’t,” interrupted a pony pushing between Sparkle and Dust. Thunderlane glared at Dust, getting into her face in exactly the way a smart pony wouldn’t. “Because you’re a cheater. Fair play apparently doesn’t come into it.”

“I’m not a cheater,” Dust said, puffing up her chest and wincing when the stitches pulled.

“Just because the judges couldn’t find any drugs or magic doesn’t mean you’re not cheating. I don’t know if it’s something your little horn-headed friend came up with, or if you did something else clever, but it won’t stand. No matter what happens I’m gonna make sure your records aren't in the books.”

“Why don’t you try beating them before you complain?” Dust suggested.

“I will. But first I’m gonna beat you in the ring. Pego-Romane Wrestling is my best event, and your tricks aren’t going to work when you’re fighting a real expert instead of a clock. I’m gonna make sure your coach isn’t allowed anywhere near you, too. You’re not getting any outside help, punk.”

“Punk?” Dust snorted. “Punk? Is that really the best insult you’ve got?”

“I don’t need to insult you. Your reputation does that all by itself.” Thunderlane looked down his snout at Dust and walked away.

“What an ass,” Dust muttered.

“Stop looking at his flank and get ready. He’s right that wrestling is his best event and, technically, your ribs are still healing. Try not to get punched in the chest. I’m not entirely sure your heart won’t stop if it gets too much of a shock.”

“I wasn’t looking at his butt!” Dust blushed. “What was that about my heart?”

“I know this is the event I was looking forward to the most, Funky.”

“You’re not the only one, Fire Streak. The wrestling competition is one of the most exciting events in the entire games! Some ponies like to talk about the artistry of the sky ballet, but this has just as much technical work.”

“That’s true, but what I like is the real spirit of competition it breeds, the one-on-one fights to get to the top. It’s one thing to beat a clock or a number, it’s another thing to have another pony there, trying their hardest to beat you.”

“Thunderlane is the favorite to win this by a wide margin. We’re told he’s been seeded into the top eight based on the qualifying rounds.”

“Traditionally the finals have the former champion seeded, but she retired from the event and is currently serving in Manehattan’s defense force - and I’d just like to say that I know Windblade personally and she’s one of the bravest ponies in Equestria. I suspect once the war is over she’ll be back here to try and get her title back.”

“No doubt, Fire Streak.”

“For the benefit of the audience, we should go over the rules. I’m sure we have a few ponies in the stands who are seeing this event for the first time.”

“That’s a great idea! Everypony, if you’ll look to the center of the arena you’ll see the Cloudsdale Games Martial Arts Ring, made of construction-grade clouds that can withstand just about anything you can throw at them - and they need to! The top eight competitors are going to fight in one-on-one duels in three rounds. In each round the loser is the first to touch the clouds anywhere except the ring surface, get knocked out, or surrender. Unsportsmarelike conduct will, of course, get a pony dismissed - no intentional attacks to the eyes or groin, no attacking an unconscious opponent or one who has surrendered, and most of all, no killing your opponent.”

“Of course the last time we had a fatality in the ring was Silverbolt in the 948 games. His opponent, Sky Lynx, put him in a sleeper hold and held it improperly, accidentally breaking his neck. It was a real tragedy.”

“Let’s just hope nothing like that happens today. I know there are some ponies out there that would love to get their hooves around a certain competitor’s neck…”

Dust looked up at her first opponent.

“YEAH!” He screamed, flexing. He was huge. Probably the most muscular pony Lightning Dust had ever seen. Not the tallest, though. That went to Princess Celestia, who loomed ever larger in her mind’s eye since the last time she’d seen the alicorn she had been sitting far above her in a golden throne and telling Lightning Dust how disappointed she was.

Compared to that, maybe this guy wasn’t so bad.

“Bulk Biceps, are you ready?” The judge asked.

“YEAH!”

“Lightning Dust, are you ready?”

“Sure,” she said, shrugging.

“Begin!”

Bulk Biceps immediately punched Lightning Dust in the face, before the Judge had even finished speaking. His hoof slammed into her jaw with force that would shatter bricks.

Dust barely felt it.

“...yeah?” Bulk looked confused. According to his experiences in the past, ponies who took a punch like that were supposed to fall to the ground or get launched outside the ring and then fall to the ground. They definitely weren’t supposed to stand there like they were waiting for him to try harder.

Unfortunately for Bulk, the small cluster of muscles that resided in his skull took a lot of time to make decisions in place of the brain matter that would usually be there, so instead of evaluating his chances wisely, he punched Lightning Dust in the face again, this time with a big left hook.

When it landed and Dust’s only reaction was a step to the side to keep her balance, his muscle memory had found a few nerve cells to rub together and was desperately trying to get smoke signals out to alert him to some basic facts about his chances.

It was too late.

Lightning Dust grabbed his hoof and twisted. There was a snapping sound as things went horribly wrong under his skin.

“Oh stars! I was supposed to- I’m so sorry! I was trying to twist your hoof!”

Bulk looked at his hoof for a long moment and made a sound so high pitched only certain species of bat could actually detect it. He passed out a few seconds later when the pain hit.

“Don’t worry, folks, the doctors are reporting Mister Biceps will almost certainly make a full recovery once they get everything reattached!”

“Let’s just move on to the next round, Funky.”

“Your last opponent was a fool,” Dust’s second opponent was smaller, but she looked much more dangerous, a black mare whose gray mane was struck through with yellow streaks. “He wasn’t worthy of being in this competition but clearly the field was empty with so many soldiers serving in the field.”

“You’re probably right,” Dust agreed. “I didn’t get your name.”

“Skydive,” she said, holding out a hoof for Dust to shake. “Of course I already know who you are.”

“I doubt you’ve heard flattering things.”

“No.”

“I haven’t heard of you at all.”

“Perhaps worse. I'd rather be spoken of poorly than be totally unknown. Good luck.”

Dust shook her hoof.

“Are you ready?” The judge asked, looking at each of them. They nodded and separated, taking a few steps away from each other and turning. “Begin!”

Lightning Dust barely reacted in time to stop the first blow, Skydive rushing and attacking so quickly it was like she’d teleported across the ring to strike with the back of her hoof in a spinning surge that put her whole bodyweight and wingpower behind it.

“I know those moves,” Dust said, using both forehooves to block the attack, digging her rear hooves into the ground to keep steady. “Krav Pega?”

“Krav Pega is a lesser shadow of my style,” Skydive corrected, using her blocked hoof as a fulcrum to leap away and avoid Dust’s wing buffet. “There is a school of martial arts descended from Princess Celestia herself, passed down to only a worthy few.”

She dropped into a different stance, and lightning surrounded her wings.

“The School of the Undefeated of the East!”

“Never heard of it,” Dust said.

Skydive charged, the electricity on her wings forming a red-hot sheath as dangerous as any wingblade. “Sunshine Feather!”

She seemed shocked when Lightning Dust caught the blade with her hooves, the lightning grounding between them.

“How?!” Skydive gasped.

“I don’t really know any fancy techniques, but my Dad, Thunderwing, he taught me that in a real fight you don’t go around telling your opponent what you’re about to do.” She pulled Skydive in with a jerk and slammed their foreheads together in a headbutt that sounded like a landslide.

Skydive slumped to the ground, dazed.

“Only an earth pony can stop that attack with their hooves,” Skydive said. “It should have gone right through your guard!”

“Maybe I’m just special,” Dust said, before bucking her right out of the ring.

“That was a big upset, Funky. I expected Skydive to win that. She really showed some impressive stuff. She was the only mare I thought might really give Thunderlane a challenge in the finals.”

“She sure did keep things exciting for the fans! I had a chance to speak to her while she was getting looked at by the medics - Skydive says she just got overconfident, and that the lesson was worth the price of admission.”

“Overconfidence is always a danger. I bet she’d love a second chance.”

“She’ll be competing for third place in the runner-up match after the main event, so she’s still got a chance at a medal. Let’s all give a round of applause for her and Thunderlane’s opponent, Stratosphere. He put up a great aerial match with Thunderlane but the danger of taking the fight to the air is you open yourself up to being knocked out of the ring as we saw today.”

“Despite her performance in the sprints today, Dust seems to be keeping it grounded, so I doubt she’ll make the same mistake.”

Thunderlane glared at Lightning Dust from across the arena. He looked at the official next to him and nodded to her.

“Okay, you’ve been watching her matches. What kind of tricks is she using?”

“Tricks?” the official asked, looking up from his clipboard.

“I know her official record. She’s good, but she’s not special. And she hasn’t been in training or active duty in years! She has to be using some kind of trick, especially with that unicorn that’s been following her around.” Thunderlane huffed. “It’s a disgrace to the spirit of the games and all the fans know it. She should be disqualified!”

“We can’t just disqualify a pony because the fans don’t like them.”

“Then figure out how she’s cheating and disqualify her for that!”

“If she’s cheating, we’ll do just that.”

“Good. You get to work on that, and I’ll go and beat her using some real combat skills. See, I figured out the big weakness she has - she keeps letting her opponents make the first move. She’s not sure of herself. Classic sign of a cheater is that they don’t have confidence. All I have to do is make sure my first attack is one that’ll take her down and she won’t even have a chance to use her tricks.”

“Great plan, sir.”

“Of course it is. That’s why I’m gonna be the champ. You just wait and see.”

Thunderlane strutted towards the ring, the official shaking his head in disbelief.

“And here he is folks, Thunderlane, the great hope of Ponyville and three-time winner of the mixed-tribe division of the annual Stalliongrad Kumate! Let’s get a round of applause!”

“If they cheer any harder, the stadium might shake itself apart! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd this unified.”

“That’s probably because they all want to see him take down his opponent - those cheers are going away pretty quickly now that Lightning Dust is entering the arena.”

Dust tapped her hoof impatiently as Thunderlane circled the ring, working the crowd and getting them pumped up for the match.

“You don’t have what it takes, Dust!” Thunderlane yelled into the microphone he’d taken from the judge. “You’ve been using lame tricks and I’m going to show you they don’t work on a pony with real skills!”

“Can we just get on with it?” Dust groaned as Thunderlane launched into another speech, the crowd roaring approval. She looked at the judge, who was watching and waiting to get his microphone back.

“Word from the top is to let him talk,” the judge said.

“If he doesn’t stop soon I’m gonna start the match early,” she grumbled.

“You’ll be disqualified if you attack him before the start--”

“I know that!” Dust snapped.

“You hear all that, Lightning Dust? The heavens cry out! The earth cries out! The crowd roars! All calling on me to beat you! Listen up, I’m Thunderlane, and in two minutes I’m gonna be the champion!”

“Are you done?” Dust asked. “Because I’m getting pretty bored.”

Thunderlane tossed the judge the microphone he’d been holding.

“You’re gonna be done. Hope you like second place,” he said.

“Yeah, sure. Are you done with the wrestling promo? Because I’m looking forward to punching your snout out the other side of your head.”

Thunderlane dropped into a fighting stance. “Anytime you are.”

The judge stepped between them. “I want a clean match. This is the finals, so nothing funny. We’ll be watching this twice as closely. Ready? Begin!”

Thunderlane jumped over him to get to Lightning Dust before she could put up any kind of defense.

She wasn’t there.

“What-” he looked around, confused, and four hooves landed on his back.

“Kinda slow, Thunderlane,” Dust said, standing on him. “Is that why you didn’t bother with the track and field events?”

Thunderlane dropped down and used his wings to spin upside-down, kicking straight up, hitting only air.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you a free hit,” Dust offered. “I don’t want you complaining later.” She landed in the middle of the arena. “How about it?”

“I don’t need your permission!” Thunderlane charged, putting everything into one giant blow. “Dynamite Kick!”

Thunderlane’s kick hit Dust in the chest. Specifically, right in the line of stitches and staples holding her together. He felt her ribs shift from the force, and she backed up a step, coughing and spitting out a blood clot.

“Ow,” she groaned, wincing when she touched her side. “Well, you’re the first pony smart enough to go for the obvious weak spot, I’ll give you that.”

“You should give up. I’ll let you off easy if you concede. Otherwise, I’ll have to beat you to a pulp.”

“Give up?” Dust smirked. “I’m not sure what those words mean.” She spread her wings and blurred with speed, bursting past Thunderlane. He spread his wings to follow, and the supersonic shockwave caught him with his guard down, sending him into a tumble. A hoof grabbed his tail, and he was jerked the other way, swung like a hammer toss into the center of the arena floor, half his tail torn out.

Dust landed on his chest, and he gasped, the air driven from his lungs.

“Sparkle says I should be a better student, so let’s see if we can figure out the definition if we try really hard,” Dust said. Like a cat, she seemed to somehow double in weight as she shifted to press her hooves harder into his chest. He couldn’t get a breath, and struggled, trying to push her off to no effect.

“I- I-” Thunderlane gasped, his vision going black around the edges.

“What was that?” Dust asked. She pressed harder.

“I give!”

“What in Tartarus is the problem?” Dust growled, as the officials led her back into the offices. “He gave up! The judge heard it just fine!”

“Miss Lightning Dust, Doctor Sparkle, I don’t think we’ve met,” A brown earth pony looked up at them from a neatly organized pile of forms. “My name is Harshwhinny. I was asked to organize this event and your last-minute entry was something that I haven’t been able to examine in detail until now.”

“You organize the Equestria Games,” Doctor Sparkle noted. “I’ve seen your name come up before. I didn’t think the Cloudsdale games were part of your purview.”

“They usually aren’t, but one does what one must to help. These games are important for morale in these troubling times, you see.”

Dust snorted. “If you say so.”

“I do say so. That is the entire point of these games. Ponies need to be able to forget the war and their troubles, but your presence is not helping.” She glared at Lightning Dust and Doctor Sparkle. “I’m also troubled by your performance.”

“You’re upset I’m winning, you mean,” Dust corrected.

“I’m troubled that you’re winning by such large margins. It isn’t natural. It would be one thing if you beat records by a few percent, shaved a fraction of a second here or there. That would simply be the result of training and talent. We expect records to be broken. That’s why we have them to begin with - to give ponies a goal to reach for. You didn’t merely beat the records, you beat them by such wide margins that nopony could possibly accept the results.”

“That sounds like sour grapes,” Sparkle said.

“It’s hardly sour grapes. I strongly suspect you of cheating, though I can’t divine the method.”

“It isn’t cheating,” Sparkle spat. “She’s simply beyond the bounds of normal ponies now. The reason she’s beating your records so easily is the same reason an adult would crush foals.”

“And we have separate divisions for foals and adults for just that reason. The games are supposed to uplift ponies’ spirits. You’re hardly doing that.”

“Irrelevant. If there’s nothing important to discuss, we’ll be leaving. I believe we have a marathon scheduled to begin soon.”

“I will be reviewing the rules, Miss Sparkle. I warn you now that I’ll be looking for even the smallest reason to ask you to leave.”

“Doctor. Not Miss. Unlike you.” Sparkle turned on her heels and left, Dust following along behind with an apologetic shrug.

“Well, Fire Steak, it’s a new day here at the Games and I’m happy to have you with me here in the booth once again. For anypony just joining us, I’m Funky Flashmare, and today we have the biggest event of the games - or at least the longest!”

“That’s right, Funky. Today there is only one major event scheduled, but it’s the event that most ponies would say really defined the games from the start. The Mustang Marathon!”

“The Mustang Marathon is a test of endurance, flying skill, speed, and endurance. And Funky Flashmare didn’t make a mistake, folks! I said endurance twice for a reason - the race is over forty-two kilometers in length! Just being able to fly that distance without rest requires a huge amount of training and willpower.”

“My good friend, Wind Rider, holds the record for this event at just under one hour, a record he set and improved on several times to its current standing of fifty-nine minutes and twenty-two seconds. I’d be curious to see if any ponies here today will be able to come close to his time.”

“As is tradition, every pony registered for the games is on the starting line today. Usually, we only see a small percentage of finishes, but the parade of athletes around Cloudsdale has always been a symbol of unity.”

“Despite how many ponies have to drop out early, the opening stretch is a critical part of the race. The first two laps around the stadium are taken together as a flock, and then the serious competitors will follow the race markers out across the city. As you know, there are medals for the quarter, half, and full marathon length checkpoints - and only a few ponies have ever managed more than one medal in a single Mustang Marathon.”

“And why is that, Fire Streak?”

“Ponies going for the full distance have to hold back some of their energy to ensure they can make it to the last checkpoints. Speaking from experience, if you’re going for that quarter or half marathon medal? You need to use that energy to get ahead of the pack, and you burn out. Most ponies simply can’t keep up that kind of pace for a whole race.”

“Any predictions for the crowd?”

“Normally I’d be willing to put my bits on a few seasoned ponies, but this year we have a real wildcard in the mix. Ask me again halfway through the race.”

Dust struggled to keep herself in check and stay with the flock as they circled the stadium. Formation flying had never been her strongest skill, and this was painfully slow. Half the ponies were exhausted from their own events, and Dust was bursting with energy. Almost literally. She had to make sure her wake wasn’t going to knock anypony out of the air.

There was something dangerous in the air, too. A sense that something was after her.

Aside from all the ponies that wanted her to lose, which was just about everypony in the world, it seemed.

The second lap concluded with a huge round of applause and the Cloudsdale Anthem, and most of the ponies in the flock peeled off towards the stadium field. The air cleared, and the tight quarters were suddenly full of open sky.

“Here we go,” Dust grinned.

A dark shape, huge and angular, swept past her.

“Huh?”

Dust only caught a glimpse of scales and black crystal plating as it swept into a bank of clouds and disappeared from sight. Two of the ponies that had been ahead of her had vanished along with it.

“What was that?!” Asked the pony next to her. Dust glanced at her. Skydive was there, the black pony flying closer.

“I think we have a party crasher,” Dust said.

“Funky, did you see that?”

“I don’t want to alarm anypony, but I saw something out there on the marathon course and that was not a pony.”

“Hey, you can’t come in here-”

“Shut up. Lightning Dust, this is Doctor Sparkle. I’m in the announcer’s booth. I just got word from Moondancer that our contacts in the EUP say a Linnorm was detected in Cloudsdale airspace. You need to destroy it quickly!”

“Ma’am, you’re not allowed to- ow! She hit me!”

“I’ll provide support from here. Do what you can to keep it away from other ponies and look for a weakness. I’ll let you know what we find out from long-range scrying.”

“While you’re here, could you explain what’s happening?”

“What?”

“Well we like to provide running commentary on events.”

“This is a crisis situation, not a sporting event!”

"Technically it's both!"

“A Linnorm?” Skydive asked.

“Big monster dragon thing,” Dust said. “No time to explain. Everypony needs to scatter and get away-”

“Don’t be silly,” Skydive scoffed, her wings flickering with light. “We can fight.”

“The only place I’m running is towards the finish line,” Thunderlane added, as he formed up on Dust. “You really think I’m gonna let you take all the credit? I have a reputation to protect!”

“If the other ponies scatter, that monster could go anywhere,” Skydive added.

“You want to use everypony as bait?” Dust asked. She grinned. “You’re more ruthless than I thought.”

“The School of the Undefeated of the East teaches that victory comes from planning without emotion. You must think five steps ahead of your opponent, and then five steps ahead of yourself to see the flaws in your own plan.”

“Well I see one big flaw already,” Thunderlane said. “We’re all unarmed.”

“Says the pony who made it to the finals of the martial arts competition,” Dust said. “You can’t fight a dragon without a magic sword?”

“My Dynamite Kick could knock it right out of the air!”

“Then stop complaining and keep your eyes open. That thing could be-”

A shadow passed over them, and Dust got a good look at the beast for the first time. Its wings were plated like slabs of obsidian, barely moving as it swept through the air silently, clearly relying entirely on magic to keep it from crashing.

“It’s going after the ponies in the lead!” Skydive yelled, climbing to go after it, the lightning dancing among her feathers hardening into a cutting arc of electricity.

She slammed into it, the blade cracking the crystalline plating over the Linnorm’s wing. It swooped to the side, exposing its belly to her, and a harsh purple light flared from inside an open steel ribcage.

Dust grabbed Skydive, flaring her wings and braking hard, barely dodging a spray of violet bolts.

“Don’t underestimate it! They don’t go down easy!” She kept holding onto her, guiding her into the Linnorm’s draft. “I had to fight two of these already and they just get angry when you hurt ‘em! You have to go all-out!”

“Got a plan?” Thunderlane asked.

“We need to get it away from other ponies! If it wounds anypony, they’ll turn into crystal slaves!”

“It already took a few ponies out!”

“They’ll be back, if they’re not entirely dead.”

“This broadcast can be heard everywhere in Cloudsdale?”

“It goes over the public announcement system during the Mustang Marathon so ponies know when the racers are approaching. A lot of businesses schedule breaks for when the flock is close to-”

“Lightning Dust, I’m looking at the course map. If you stay on it, you’ll be near the most populated areas of the city. You need to keep on top of it!”

“Tell me what I don’t already know!” Dust yelled.

“Do you know we’ve got three ponies on our six, and they don’t look friendly?” Thunderlane asked.

Dust glanced back. Three ponies. Glowing eyes. Open wounds overgrown with crystals.

“Think you two can keep them off my back while I deal with the big one?” Dust asked. “Don’t bother being gentle.”

“Those three?” Thunderlane smirked. “They should know better. I don’t know if you heard, but I’m the champion three times running-”

“Okay, Silver Medal, I gotcha. You’ll manage. Skydive, try to keep him alive. I don’t think you can save those ponies. You might have to kill them to keep them down.”

“It won’t come to that,” Skydive said. “Princess Celestia’s teachings are about how to disable an opponent without killing.”

“Cool. You do you. I’m gonna kill a Linnorm.”

Dust swept her wings back, watching the creature ahead of her, and tapped into the storm inside her. The world blurred as she shot ahead, passing the Linnorm and getting its attention.

The creature turned its head to look at her and banked, following Dust away from the race course and towards the city. For the Games, practically every shop had put out a display showing their enthusiasm and support. And the great deals they were offering on prices so inflated you could use them to suspend Canterlot among the clouds.

Main Street looked like a particularly enthusiastic spider had strung a web like a roof between the buildings, if said spider’s silk came in every shade of the rainbow and trapped pennants and lights instead of flies.

They shot through the shopping district, tearing through the banners and flags, the Linnorm not slowing as it tore them from their moorings, a small airship’s anchoring line catching in its maw for a moment before snapping, the ends trailing from both sides of its fanged mouth. Banners snagged on the creature’s horns, covering its eyes as they ripped free.

Dust grabbed the ends of the mooring cable, tugging the steel wire to the left, and the blinded Linnorm slowly responded, turning with her. She grinned.

“What is she doing?”

“Something stupid and reckless, I think, but that is precisely why I offered her the job in the first place.”

“They’re headed right for the weather factory!”

The weather factory was probably the most solidly-built structure in Cloudsdale, most of it made of enchanted and storm-forged materials to give it enough strength to hold industrial equipment aloft on a foundation of clouds.

Lightning Dust rode the Linnorm through the roof, barely holding on as they careened into the storm generator. Steam pipes tore free, and boilers exploded, metal fragments tearing through the monster, shrapnel opening a long cut on Dust’s right leg, right over her cutie mark. She slipped, and the Linnorm pulled up out of the dive, fighting for altitude.

Unfortunately, it aimed poorly, hitting a tank of liquid oxygen. Under no circumstances would this be a good thing, but it was a particularly poor thing to hit given the raging fire, which the oxygen was very excited to meet.

“By Celestia’s golden throne, I felt the shockwave from here!”

“Mm.”

“You’re smiling?”

“I’m impressed by her ability to improvise.”

“You say that like she’s still alive after that!”

“Funky, look! Something’s coming right for us!”

Everything was on fire. The Linnorm. The air. Dust was pretty sure she was on fire, too, but she was still holding on to the steel reins, and she’d gotten her balance back. The Linnorm was starting to slow, getting more sluggish.

As the smoke and flame cleared, it was obvious why. It was like a kite that had been ravaged by a dog, the exploding boiler and flames having torn its wings to ribbons. It was barely gliding now, leaving a contrail of blood and shed scales as it careened through the air on momentum alone.

Dust grinned and tugged it to the right, aiming for the stadium.

“Whatever it is, it’s like some kind of black comet!”

“Is she really- hmph. At least I’ll be able to examine it.”

“Stars, she’s riding it, folk! It looks like she’s holding onto some kind of rope around that monster’s neck! My feathers, that thing is burning up! It’s trailing flames like a rocket! I have no idea how it’s staying in the air folks, but it’s coming in hotter and faster than anything I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“I calculate the decaying glide angle is going to take her through the bleachers. I suggest anypony in the cheap seats immediately evacuates.”

“Folks, get out of there! Get out!”

“Oh Celestia! She’s just put it right through the bleachers and taken out half the stadium wall! Oh the equinity! There was no way to get out! It’s a terrific crash, ladies and gentlestallions! It’s smoke and it’s in flames now and I can hear the screaming from here!”

“I’m going!”

“Fire Streak just left us, I think he’s going- yes, he’s going out there to help get ponies out of that rubble! The monster has come to a standstill in the middle of the field, and I can’t see anything through the flames, but it’s just laying there, a mass of smoking wreckage. Everypony can hardly breathe and talk and the screaming-”

“Mm. I can see movement.”

“It’s- yes, it’s Lightning Dust! And she’s dragging something behind her! It’s the monster’s head! She tore it off! What a horrible sight!”

“It’s the only way to be sure.”

“And she’s- yes, she’s crossing the finish line, folks! She’s actually finishing the race after all that! And in second place!”

“Second place?”

“How did that count as second place?!” Dust demanded, looking at the silver medal.

“Miss Derpy Hooves beat your time by almost a full minute. Apparently she never noticed the monster attacking the course,” Sparkle said. She sounded amused. “She seemed surprised by all the commotion at the end.”

“I killed a monster! I should get extra points!” Dust huffed.

“Unfortunately, according to the Cloudsdale Games rules, slaying monsters does not give you extra time for the marathon,” Sparkle noted. “It does, oddly, count in the freestyle sky ballet. We should have had you enter that.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”

“You did get one extra trophy to take home,” Sparkle noted, looking at the head of the Linnorm. “If you ask nicely I’ll have Moondancer help you mount it up on the wall.”

“That’s not a bad idea… think we can have it with its mouth open, like it’s gonna bite ya?”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

“You’re in a weirdly good mood.”

“Mm. We got a lot of good data, and you saved the Cloudsdale games from a monster. What’s not to be happy about?” Sparkle huffed. “Even if we aren’t ever allowed to attend or compete again.”

“We’ll find some other event to crash. Maybe your next candidate can test her powers at the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“That would be amusing. Speaking of which, I do have somepony in mind. Have you ever heard of Sunset Shimmer?"

“Who?”

Learning Curve

"Have you spoken to Princess Celestia yet?" Moondancer asked. Doctor Sparkle was half-slumped at the head of the conference table, the other seats empty. Most of them had never been used.

Twilight grunted and grabbed for the cup of tea Moondancer was making, not even letting her finish the pour. Stains spread across the scattered papers across her desk, and Moondancer just sighed and started moving things to contain the spill.

Doctor Sparkle rarely slept, anymore. Instead, she just spent hours working, pouring over documents and blueprints when she wasn't busy building prototypes or tearing down failed projects to find what hadn't worked. The last time she'd seen Sparkle asleep was two days ago, and she'd been at her desk, head down on a pile of forms, tossing and turning in the grip of some nightmare.

"Of course not," Doctor Sparkle mumbled, taking a long sip of the steaming tea, not bothering with sugar or lemon. "In the art of war, the key to victory is deception. I don't know which of us is lying more to the other, at this point. I'm sure she has a few questions about Cloudsdale but she hasn't actually asked them yet."

"You're not going to report what you're doing?" Moondancer raised her eyebrows.

"What would be the point? At this stage, we're still collecting data. My test subject is recovering from surgery. When Celestia sees what I’ve created, it’s going to be at a time and place of my choosing, and she will be forced to recognize my work. I'd put the armor on and walk up to her myself if I thought my heart could take the strain.”

“If you say so,” Moondancer said, quietly.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Doctor Sparkle said. “It’s time for a meeting with our investors.”

Moondancer nodded and left like there were hounds at her heels.

Doctor Sparkle waited in the conference room, leaning on the table and waiting, the tea growing cold at her side. She was being made to wait, to prove that the person she was meeting with had the power to command her time and presence.

A black mirror gleamed at the far end of the long table, the surface like a pool of ink, Doctor Sparkle's reflection a tableau of shadow and glare from the spotlight beating down on her. Something shifted in its depths, not quite like a ripple, the angles of the reflection shifting.

"Was the public display really required?" Asked a voice from the darkness, somewhere between the hiss of a snake and the tinkling of glass bells. The mirror didn't reflect Doctor Sparkle now. It was so dark it was like an open doorway into the void.

"It was necessary," Doctor Sparkle said.

"One subject is not enough," the voice said. "Not even if they had the strength of the Sun. More must be found."

"I have a pony in mind."

Lightning Dust prodded her chest with a hoof, feeling the line of stitches going from her sternum all the way down to her liver. They were healing nicely, even with how much stress she'd put on her healing body during the Games.

She stretched out a wing, expecting muscles to complain and tug where they'd been torn, but instead it just felt a little stiff.

"One of the many benefits," Moondancer said, as she checked Lightning Dust's back, making sure the stitches weren't tearing and applying an ointment along the line where her wound had been closed.

"...Are you reading my mind?" Lightning Dust asked.

"No, but you're a very physical pony," Moondancer said. "I don't need to read your mind when I can read your muscles." She patted Lightning Dust's shoulder. "You're healing well. A day or two and your coat will even grow back in."

"That's not just healing well, that's impossibly fast," Lightning Dust said.

"Not impossible," Doctor Sparkle said, from the doorway. "The Princesses heal even faster than that. I once saw Princess Cadance heal from a cut so quickly you could watch the wound close."

Lightning Dust looked over at her. Doctor Sparkle seemed at ease. That probably meant something terrible was about to happen. The unicorn seemed more at home in the middle of a disaster than anywhere at peace.

"How do you feel?" Doctor Sparkle asked.

"Like I'm in the best shape of my life," Dust said, stretching out a leg. She'd swear her muscles were more toned than they had been even a few hours ago. "Part of me just wants to run another marathon or fly until my wings can't hold me."

"Good. I need you to bring in a new candidate," Doctor Sparkle said. "Evaluate her. Drag her in by the ear if you have to."

"The same way you had me evaluated?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Mm. It might come down to a fight," Doctor Sparkle admitted. "Try not to damage her permanently."

"I could use a little fun," Lightning Dust said, hopping down from the table. "So where are we going?"

The Manehattan Archives were one of the most secure locations outside of Canterlot. They were a repository of restricted information, artifacts of dark magic and sinister purpose, and occasionally of entities that couldn't be contained through mundane means.

The guards took their jobs seriously. They were impossible to bribe or blackmail. That's why, at the service entrance underneath Manehattan Station, two guards were already lying face-down in the dirt with their manes standing on end from the strength of the stun spell that had been used on them. Three ponies waited around the lock, their leader leaning against the wall and watching back the way they came.

"I hate magical locks," said the pony working the locking mechanism. "Normal locks, you just get a key or a few bits of wire and you can pop it open."

"How hard can it be?" another asked.

"Parts of it don't completely exist here," the first pony said. "It's using skewed geometry. Inside the mechanism, you have to turn around two and a half times to get back to where you started."

"What in Tartarus does that mean?" the second pony asked.

"It means shut up and let him work," the third said, looking nervously at their fiery employer. She was watching them and tapping her hoof, her expression clearly saying mistakes meant they'd be lucky if they only got the same treatment as the guards. "The boss wouldn't have chosen him if he couldn't do the job."

"I think I got it," the first pony said, levitating a tuning fork up and tapping it against the mechanism, turning it in two directions at once at the same time, struggling to manipulate five tools simultaneously. Something inside the lock struggled and then turned, the tools slipping through each other as they shifted around.

The door hissed open, revealing a dark corridor.

"Let's go!" the second pony rushed forwards, picking up a crossbow.

The pony in charge walked casually behind the other three, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"You probably won't remember her, but she was fairly famous a decade or so ago," Doctor Sparkle said, opening a file and giving it to Lightning Dust. A young pony was pictured inside, glaring defiantly at the camera.

"Who is she?" Dust asked, flipping through the pages. School transcripts, a few police reports, but no military papers.

"Her name is Sunset Shimmer. She was Princess Celestia's personal student, before she disappeared into thin air."

"Most of these papers are almost old enough to drink," Lightning Dust said.

"She vanished a few years ago, after having some kind of falling out with the Princess."

Lightning Dust flipped to the end. The reports abruptly stopped with a heavily-censored report from the Equestrian Intelligence Service, everything blacked out except a few words here and there and a final report.

'As per HRH Princess Celestia's testimony, we have suspended operations to locate Sunset Shimmer. Her assumed location is beyond the scope of operation of EIS and its assets.'

"Where did she go?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Irrelevant. We know where she is now," Doctor Sparkle said. "This was taken from a security camera last night in Manehattan." She gave Lightning Dust an envelope. Inside, there was a picture of Sunset Shimmer.

"The heck?" Lightning Dust picked up the cover picture from the report, comparing the two. "There's no way these were taken more than a decade apart."

"Interesting, isn't it?" Doctor Sparkle smiled. "It even makes me curious about just where she's been."

"And why she came back. What was she doing in Manehattan?" Lightning Dust asked.

"Open the door," Sunset said, holding the clerk in her magic and pushing him against the magically-reinforced gate.

"D-do you know what's in there?" The clerk winced in pain as the force holding him in place shifted, making his bones creak. "It's dangerous! The books alone--"

"I know how dangerous it is," Sunset said, her voice like ice. "Open the door."

"If these fall into Sombra's hooves..."

"They'll be too busy falling into mine," Sunset noted. The door opened as the clerk keyed the complex spell-lock. Sunset pushed it open, then threw a stun spell at the guard that would put him in a coma for weeks, leaving the unconscious pony in the doorway to make sure it didn't close behind her.

"What are we looking for?" One of Sunset's minions asked. She glanced back at him.

"Secure our escape route," Sunset said, not bothering to answer the question. She scanned the shelves. If there was one good thing about the Manehattan Archive it was that they were meticulous about labeling things.

She pulled down a box.

"Let's see what you've been keeping under wraps, Princess..." she muttered.

Lightning Dust bit into the falafel and watched the hotel from across the street. She chewed a few times before putting down her binoculars and looking at it the food in surprise.

"Wow, that's good," she said. It didn't look any different from the street food she'd had a hundred times before.

"Earth ponies have considerably better senses of taste than pegasi," Doctor Sparkle said, through the crystal radio earpiece Dust was wearing. "Your body is adapting well to the Engine."

"Does that mean everything's going to taste better?" Dust asked.

"Mm. I wouldn't say better," Doctor Sparkle said. "More intense. If I'm wearing my glasses and I look at an ugly painting, the glasses don't make the painting look better, they just let me see more details."

"You sound like you're in a good mood," Dust noted, taking another bite of her lunch.

"Of course. Things are going according to plan. For once. Sunset Shimmer is staying in the penthouse of this hotel under an assumed name."

"I'm surprised the Princess hasn't had her arrested."

"She doesn't know yet. My sources are delaying the reports as long as possible. We'll have a few days before she's aware that Miss Shimmer is back in Equestria."

"Keeping secrets, huh?" Dust picked the binoculars up again, and looked through them into slitted, dragon-like eyes in a black face, staring right into her. She jumped in shock, dropping them and backing up a step.

"What's wrong?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "I just saw your thaum readings spike."

"I thought I saw--" Lightning Dust's wings flexed as she looked around, still ready to flee. "--something," she finished lamely. Whatever she'd seen, it wasn't there now. "I don't know what that was."

"Focus on the mission for now and include it in the report later."

"Report? You're going to make me fill out paperwork?" Lightning Dust frowned.

"You were in the military. You’ve written after-action reports before."

"I was dishonorably discharged!"

"Not because of poor penmanship!"

"I'm--" Lightning Dust dropped what she was about to say when she saw movement. "Hold on. I see her."

Sunset paced back and forth in the penthouse, reading the report she'd taken. It was dense and full of implications with very few actual facts. It was clear that somepony had been following in her hoofsteps. And just like her own research, it was locked away somewhere nopony could look at it.

"Sealed and classified like every other clue on how to make an alicorn,” Sunset muttered. “That’s just like you, Celestia. You can’t stand the idea of anyone else sharing the view from the top.”

"Hey, boss?" One of her henchponies asked. Sunset glanced at him. She hadn't bothered learning his name. Names made things complicated. All she cared was that he very rarely asked questions more complicated than 'can I go to the bathroom?'

"What?" She asked, pausing for a moment.

"There's, uh. There's a pegasus on the balcony." He looked to the glass door. Sunset followed his gaze. A cyan pony smirked at her through the glass door.

"Thanks," Sunset said. She gave him the file. "Hold this. I'm gonna go fry up a chicken." She opened the door and pushed the pegasus back, stepping outside.

"Wow, rude. Not even going to invite me in?" Lightning Dust's wings twitched as she hopped back a little. Not that she was afraid of Sunset Shimmer, just that she didn't want to be so close that they'd kiss if one of them moved the wrong way.

Sunset said nothing, eyes looking over her body before fixing on her ear and narrowing. She smiled grimly.

"You know, I didn't think EIS was this smart," she said. "I figured I had at least two more days before they found me."

"EIS?" Lightning Dust snorted. "Are you kidding? The only spooks I've met spent most of their time trying to get me to confess to a bunch of bullshit charges."

"So what, the radio is just for show?" Sunset started walking calmly, circling Lightning Dust and glancing over the edge of the balcony like she expected to see something below.

"Unfortunately not. I have a pretty annoying boss these days. She wants to meet you and offer you a job."

"An offer I can't refuse?" Sunset sniped, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I shouldn't have expected you to get that reference." Sunset waved a hoof dismissively. "Tell your boss I don't need a new job. I'm self-employed. No princesses, no superiors. Just me."

"Cool," Lightning Dust nodded. "That means I get to drag you in." She grinned and reared up, cracking her neck.

"You think you can?" Sunset asked. She stood up on her hind legs, mirroring Lightning Dust's stance. That made the pegasus blink in surprise. It was one thing to balance on two hooves with wings, but most ponies couldn't manage to stay on their hind legs for long.

Sunset clearly saw the surprise on her face. "I spent a lot of time on two legs. You get used to it pretty quickly." She lunged before explaining more. Dust was ready to block a hoof-strike, but the magical blade wasn’t something she expected.

She barely ducked out of the way as the crackling edge of arcane energy swept past her, drawing a long, shallow cut along her cheek.

"You're pretty good for some pampered unicorn brat," Lightning Dust said, hopping back. Sunset had a clear range advantage with that blade, hovering next to her hoof and hissing as it boiled the air. The ragged edge of cyan magic was a blur of movement, like the blade of a chainsaw.

"Please. I was never pampered." Sunset raised her blade up. "Not for one moment of my life."

She lunged, forcing Lightning Dust back.

"Not by the bullies in the orphanage!"

She swept to the side, actually flipping over Dust's kick to land on the railing.

"Not by Celestia and her endless testing!"

Sunset used the railing to kick off, ramming into Lightning Dust with a shoulder and seeming surprised when the pegasus didn't budge.

"I'm no lightweight," Dust said, shoving Sunset back.

"I guess not," Sunset admitted. "Fatso."

Dust frowned, ears folding back.

"What did you call me?"

"I said you're a big stuffed goose--" Sunset stopped as the glass door slid open, one of her henchponies falling out, bleeding badly. Her eyes went wide and she fell back down to four hooves, running over to him. One of his forelegs was just gone, torn off at the joint. He grabbed her, looking into her eyes.

"M-monster! There's a monster..." His eyes started leaking black energy, and the wounds along his body clotted with dark crystals.

"What the hell?!" Sunset dropped him, backing away.

"Damn. I guess we're only half a step ahead of King Mule-face," Lightning Dust huffed. The wounded pony got to his remaining hooves, dragged up like a puppet on a string.

"What is this?!" Sunset demanded.

"It's what Sombra does to ponies," Dust said. "He's basically dead already."

Sunset reformed her blade and stabbed him through the chest. He lurched forwards, driving the blade deeper like he couldn't even feel it.

"The Doc says that you can't just use half-measures," Dust said, leaning back casually on the railing. "You need to go all out and destroy the head. It's the only way to be sure."

Sunset fired a blast of flame, incinerating everything above the pony's neck. Dust whistled.

"That'll do. Glad you didn't try that on me."

"There's always time for it later," Sunset said.

Dust shook her head. "We've got bigger worries." She slipped inside, looking around the penthouse. Sunset followed her, keeping out of reach in case it was some kind of trick. A trail of blood led back towards the front door, presumably towards whatever had divested Sunset's minion of his limb.

The leg was probably still there too, as they generally didn't get up and about on their own without the rest of the pony attached.

"Doc, I think we've got a Linnorm in here," Lightning Dust said, after prodding her radio to turn it back on.

"Get the target and pull out of the hotel if needed," Sparkle said.

"I'll take a look first," Dust said.

"Fine. I'll trust your judgment."

"That seems like a mistake."

"Not the worst I've made," Sparkle mumbled.

"Who are you talking to?" Sunset asked, having only heard half of the conversation.

"My boss. Not going to ask about the Linnorm?"

"No. With a name like that, I'll probably know it when I see it."

"Smarter than you look," Dust smirked. She followed the trail of blood to the front door. Well, where the front door had been. Now there were splinters and a doorframe and a surprising lack of monsters.

Dust cautiously stepped forward. She hadn't expected that she'd have to go looking for vicious monsters.

"Stop," Sunset said, sharply, turning around to look. Sunset was charging up a spell, her horn glowing with sharp light.

"Hang on, don't tell me you're-" Dust braced herself. Sunset fired a bolt of sparkling energy, the spell going right past Lightning Dust and into the wall. Dust thought it was a near miss, until the wall screamed. The wallpaper shifted as a shape like a huge, flattened turtle with a shield-shaped shell peeled away from the wall, the edges sharpening as it pulled itself together. Sunset's blast had raised a line of black along its shell, which remained burned in even as the Linnorm' plating changed color, changing almost as fast as it moved, looking like a lizard squashed under a magical mirror.

"Good catch!" Lightning Dust said. The beast jumped for Sunset, and Lightning caught it in midair, hooves wrapping around its neck. She pumped her wings and got it off balance, sending it over a coffee table and smashing into a mirror. Shards of glass dug into her as she rolled with the monster, straining herself until something snapped loudly and the beast went limp, the salamander's head twisted almost completely around.

Lightning Dust backed up quickly, keeping her eye on the twitching thing.

"Burn it," she said. "You have to destroy the whole--"

The Linnorm flashed white-hot, roaring and screaming as it burned.

"Huh. That was easier than usual," Dust muttered.

"So tell me more about this job offer," Sunset said.

"The Engine Heart is the key," Doctor Sparkle said, tapping a diagram. "It's an artificial wellspring." The small space had been an office once, thought it looked like it hadn't been used in some time, desks and chairs and boxes of office supplies left in place under a slowly settling blanket of dust.

Sunset Shimmer looked at it. Then she turned the paper around like it would make more sense from another angle. Unfortunately, this only made the scribbled notes in Doctor Sparkle's awful hoofwriting even more difficult to read.

"Is this in code?" She asked, finally.

"Do I look like Starswirl the Bearded?" Sparkle asked, glaring. Not a full glare, which she reserved for stupid ponies that she had no use for, but the sort of half-glare that she used when somepony was merely annoying her at the moment but that she couldn't afford to scare off.

"No, he'd have bells on," Sunset said, tossing the paper down. "From what I can make out, this looks like one hell of a piece of engineering. I'm not even sure some parts of it are possible. I can't see how any material could have the properties you'd need for this proposed 'thaumatic distortion blanket'."

"It's very possible," Doctor Sparkle said. "How much did you study thaumobiology when you were studying under Celestia?" She smiled a little like she already knew the answer. Which she did. It was starting to grate on Sunset's patience. Celestia did the same thing - she only asked a question when she was sure that she knew what your answer would be.

Sunset took a deep breath. "Quite a bit. As you know. Most of it was independent study."

"All organisms that can sense or manipulate magic in some way have a wellspring. Ponies, griffons, twittermites, even many plants." Sparkle paced around the small room, displacing dust bunnies from the floor as she walked. "As I'm sure you're aware, it's not a real, physical organ that you can hold. It's more like... a standing wave, or a gateway, or both at once."

"I know the principle," Sunset said. "Do you want me to give you a lecture on how power is collected in a higher dimensional bubble or depression that forms the phase-space of the wellspring? Or I could give a speech on the way leylines appear as a three-dimensional lattice but are actually a higher-dimensional shadow. Oh right, that's what you wrote your thesis on! It was a little derivative."

Doctor Sparkle gave her a long look, as if evaluating something new. It was another expression Sunset knew well. It was the look a smart pony used while deciding what direction to steer the conversation and a dumb pony used while totally perplexed and hoping that fate would intervene and save them from having to reveal their ignorance.

"I know what you want," Sparkle said, bluntly, apparently having made a decision.

"I could really go a hayburger and fries."

Doctor Sparkle smiled a little at that. "Mm. Sunset Shimmer. I want to give you wings. I suppose we could manage a hayburger as well, if you behave yourself."

"I've been studying that for years. I doubt you've figured out a way to force an ascension. And if you could, you'd use it on yourself first." Sunset's smirk twisted. "Or maybe you can't. After all, it must be hard for a blank flank like you to get anything done."

Doctor Sparkle's gaze twitched for a moment towards her flank, covered by her long white coat.

"I noticed it when you were pacing," Sunset explained. "Though I suspected it earlier when you weren't using magic to pick up the pages."

Doctor Sparkle closed her eyes, frowning. "It's a medical condition. My personal leylines never developed properly. I was able to use a little magic as a foal, but as I got older they atrophied."

"And let me guess, you went to the Princess for help and kept getting told it was part of your destiny, or something about friendship."

"I sought out a second opinion," Doctor Sparkle said.

"Does Sunbutt know you're doing this?"

Sparkle snorted, smirking. She didn't bother answering. They shared a knowing look, and the building shook under them.

"What was that?" Sunset asked. Sparkle touched her ear, listening to something on her crystal radio.

"Another Linnorm. If you're in, come with me. If not, get out." Doctor Sparkle walked into the back room, Sunset following her. It had, at one point, been a workshop of some kind. Old tools had been thrown in piles on the side, and three ponyquins were set out, each of them with a set of armor.

"Moondancer, get the P-type equipment ready for Miss Shimmer. Sunburst, make sure the E-type suit is-" She turned to the suit and frowned. "Who painted it red? Where in Tartarus is Lightning Dust?" Doctor Sparkle looked around, annoyed.

"Up here, boss," Lightning Dust said. Sparkle looked up. The pegasus was hanging from the rafters by her hind legs, doing inverted sit-ups. "Gotta stretch before exercise, right?"

"Why did you paint the armor? I didn't give you authorization for that!"

"Well I was thinking that we want to go as fast as possible, right? And everypony knows red means fast."

"I just..." Doctor Sparkle took a deep, bracing breath. "Fine. Whatever. Red."

"Very professional operation you've got here," Sunset muttered.

Doctor Sparkle grumbled and tossed her head, motioning for Sunset to follow her over to a white and blue set of armor. "Moondancer will help you with this. Don't touch anything until I tell you."

"What, you don't trust me not to break anything?" Sunset asked.

"I would just appreciate it if you would read the manual before you attempt to steal it, hm?"

Sunset tugged at the straps. Doctor Sparkle's voice blared in her ear through the radio she'd been given. She looked over the edge of the building she was standing on, mentally preparing herself to jump off of the roof. Unlike most unicorns jumping from a roof, this wasn't a result of a stock market crash.

"The P-type strike equipment will give you five minutes of activation time at normal output," Doctor Sparkle said. "Consider it a sort of free sample."

Sunset looked back at her sides. There were wings there, of a sort, a light framework of metal and feathers made of copper.
"If I just wanted fake wings, I could have made them myself," Sunset said. "I've got a couple of spells that would do it. I can't even move these."

"They have the same design core as off-the-shelf prosthetics," Sparkle said. "The mounting is somewhat different. Once you activate the suit, the forced leylines will move the wings. You'll be able to feel them."

"That doesn't seem right. Not without nerve induction."

"Feedback through the induced magical flow. Stop worrying about the details! Ponies are dying while you ask useless questions."

"Do you really care about that?" Sunset asked.

"I want this done before the EUP can move in and make a hash of it," Doctor Sparkle growled.

"I could do that without the suit."

"Oh, I'm sure you could," Doctor Sparkle agreed. Below Sunset, the street cracked as something started pushing up out of it. "Here we go. Prepare yourselves. Lightning Dust?"

"I'm ready. I wish I was a little more heavily armed, though."

She hovered across the street, holding an axe that looked like it was sized more for a minotaur than a pony.

"It's the best I can do for massive tissue damage and shock," Doctor Sparkle said.

"What about that magic cannon thing you had in the lab?"

"The one that got red-hot after a few shots? The one that goes out of alignment if it's jostled too hard? The one that breaks if dirt gets into the mechanism? That cannon?"

"Yeah! It'd be great to have!"

"I see why you needed somepony with brains on your team," Sunset said.

"Hey, I'm smart! And I've got experience! I've killed a couple of these things already!" Dust waved her axe from across the street, gesturing rudely as best a pony could. "Just remember not to let it bite you or I'll have to take you out, too!"

"That won't be an issue," Doctor Sparkle said. "The suits will provide protection against encroachment effects and dark magic. The doubled leylines cause a type of resonance effect that prevents control crystals from forming."

"So what happened to Shining Armor won't..." Lightning Dust asked, trailing off.

"Correct. It's not a concern for you." Doctor Sparkle paused. "The readings are increasing. I expect a good showing."

The asphalt finally gave way as a long body pulled itself out of the ground, a serpentine shape with two small, clawed limbs. The pale hide was covered in scales the size of a pony, shifting color as it came into the light and reflecting the buildings around it. It was hard to focus on, like a slithering hall of mirrors.

"Let see if this thing works..." Sunset hit the switch on her suit, and the copper-colored wings shot out to full extension, green energy sparking between the feathers as magic surged through her body, leylines forming and stretching out of her body and into the metal.

Sunset's eyes flashed green, and everything was so obvious. It had been invisible before, the currents and motion of the air. Now she could feel it. Not like the spells she'd tried before that just let her float or levitate through the air. It was the difference between hearing the ocean in a seashell and swimming in it, buoyed up by it, the salt and surf surging around you.

"I don't have time to give you flying lessons," Lightning Dust shouted. "So you better learn quickly!"

Sunset slowly flapped the wings. It felt natural. She shot a grin at the pegasus and dove off of the building towards the Linnorm below.

Vertigo surged in her chest, battling with the feeling of freedom. The wind was strong enough to push her ears back, and got in her eyes, making her tear up until she realized she could just push it aside, the wind listening to her like the friend she’d never had and leaving her vision clear.

The Linnorm looked up at her and opened its mouth. Streams of dark energy tore out of it, curving around and seeking her like tendrils from some deep-sea creature. Sunset curved her path with a twist of her wings, grinning at the sheer novelty of it, the acid-green magic stretching behind her in a wake of crackling, wet fire.

One came too close, snapping through her mane, only missing her neck by luck instead of skill. That close, she could see the crystalline spike at the end, a crossbow bolt made of stone. Sunset threw a forcefield in front of herself, the next volley bouncing away and the turbulence throwing her off-course. She could feel the wind stopping dead at the flat magical barrier, curling around the edges and slowing her course.

She focused, and the force-field changed shape, from a wall to a sphere to a cone, the airflow smoothing out around her. Sunset's path cleared as her wings caught the air again, the copper feathers flaring with light.

"This is amazing!" She yelled.

"You have to do more than just dodge if you want to win!" Lightning Dust yelled. She charged the titanic creature, slamming her axe into the mirrored scales. The blade bit deep, slicing into the soft flesh underneath. The scale's luster faded to black, and it came loose, falling free and almost taking Dust with it, her blade stuck fast.

"Watch out!" Sparkle yelled. "Something's happening!"

"Hold on, I just have to-" Dust grunted and twisted the axe. "Come on you stupid-"

A half-dozen claws grabbed for Dust, emerging from the scales around Dust as they shifted around.

Dust swore and dropped the weapon to flit back out of their reach, three of the closest creatures dislodging themselves from the larger linnorm to lunge at her.

A bolt of fire and thunder caught them halfway to the pegasus, blasting them out of the air.

"Looks like the same thing that attacked the hotel," Sunset said, flapping her wings in an effort to hover next to Lightning Dust. "Guess this is where it came from."

"And why it was so easy to kill," Sparkle agreed. "It must be some kind of parasite or sub-creature. I can see more of them dropping off the linnorm from here. Sombra must have brought it here to conquer the city in one fell swoop."

"If he's smart, he probably decided to attack early to get rid of the most powerful unicorn in Equestria."

"Mm?" Sparkle made an amused sound. "That's quite a boast."

"It's not boasting if I can prove it," Sunset said. "How do I kill this thing?"

"There should be a big crystal ball thing," Dust said.

"A central crystal core," Doctor Sparkle corrected, her voice steady over the radio link. "The dark magic will keep the rest moving and eventually regenerate it unless you destroy the focus."

"How do I find that?" Sunset flared her wings and shot upwards, turning her dive into a swoop. The creature turned to follow her, its long tail smashing through the facade of the building Lightning Dust had been standing on, the pegasus launching into the air as the structure collapsed.

"You're going to have to improvise. You might be able to use scrying spells or auguries to try and pinpoint it."

"I've got a better idea," Sunset said. She raised her hoof and a magical blade sprang out, hovering parallel to her foreleg. "I'm gonna carve it like a Thanksgiving turkey and look for the wishbone."

"Like a what?" Lightning Dust asked.

Sunset rolled as she dove back towards the monster, leading with her blade. The beast's mouth opened, and Sunset twitched her path to the side by a fraction of a degree, the edge of the blade biting into the Linnorm' hide and splitting its grin wide open, carving down the neck and along the back before Sunset had to twist aside and fly up to avoid the spike-covered tail. Blood as black as oil spilled onto the ground in a torrent, splattering and hissing on Sunset's armor.

"I think I made it angry," she reported.

"You need me to save your butt?" Lightning Dust asked.

"I can handle it," Sunset said, her expression hardening. "I never needed help from anypony."

"You've only got one minute left of activation time," Doctor Sparkle said. "You're burning through the thaumatic batteries more quickly than expected. Find somewhere safe to land and let Lightning Dust deal with it."

"No way," Sunset said. "Sixty seconds is more than long enough."

Below, ponies were pouring into the streets from the damaged buildings, trying to flee from the wounded monster.

Sunset swooped down, snapping to a halt with a burst of green magic from her wings, flaring bright enough to dazzle the ponies on the road. She stabbed her blade into the Linnorm' neck, piercing it through to the other side, and spun around, slicing its throat open and then coming all the way back around to slash through the spine, the head falling away from the neck.

Dozens of monsters reached for her, and she shoved them away with a wall of force, her eye-catching a pulsing light from inside the creature.

"Take this!" She yelled, pushing as much magic as she could into her magical blade, the whirring edge doubling in length. Sunset slashed through pitted steel and dark bone, exposing the core and, with a flourish, stabbing it through neatly.

The creature went limp, collapsing in a heap against a skyscraper and sliding down, shattering windows as it went. The parasites it carried screamed and seized up, littering the streets with blackened, dead monsters.

"They look like cockroaches from here," Dust said. "Nice work. Maybe you should be an exterminator!"

"Come over here and I'll squash you, too," Sunset growled.

Sparkle coughed into the radio. "Try to look like you get along in front of the public," she said.

"What public?" Sunset looked down.

Ponies were slowly emerging from where they'd hidden during the fight, pouring into the street from their shelters in coffee shops and office buildings and subway stations. One of them kicked one of the fallen creatures, and it didn't react.

Somepony started cheering.

"What should I do?" she mumbled, color coming to her cheeks.

"Whatever you do, you've got about fifteen seconds before you do it while crashing," Sparkle warned. "Finish up and get back here."

"Yeah, right," Sunset said, subdued. She turned to the crowd, waves of lime energy pulsing from her wings like an erratic heartbeat. She saluted with her blade and took off, the ponies behind her still cheering.

Celestia looked at the paper. It had hit the presses within an hour of her own intelligence agents rushing a report to her door. They'd been caught unprepared in a way that suggested either deliberate sabotage or incredible negligence, and either way it meant that heads would roll.

'Mystery Alicorn Saves Manehattan: Princess Celestia's Secret Weapon?'

She stared at the headline for a few more moments, a number of emotions welling up. The only picture of the presumed alicorn had been taken with an unsteady hoof, showing a blurry, out-of-focus armored shape.

"Raven," Celestia said, calmly. "Cancel my meetings for today."

Author's Note

After my daughter's accident, I had a lot of questions, and I didn't like the answers I found.

Obviously, her health was my first concern. The doctors told me her life wasn't in danger. She'd never be able to use magic again. In the long term? There was a strong chance I'd end up outliving her. It was well-known that unicorns with a lot of magic had longer lives. Having no magic was a terminal diagnosis.

It was the worst news I could have gotten.

And then there were the other questions. It had happened in Celestia's school, and the Princess was evasive about too many details. I started to dig with the help of my friends and contacts, and one name came up again and again. Sunset Shimmer.

She was the Princess' personal student, and she'd vanished in strange circumstances.

Some ponies said she'd been banished. I never found any evidence to support it. Others said the Princess had been afraid of Sunset's magical talent.

There hadn't been any effort to find her. No official statements. Even asking about her was forbidden.

If Celestia had been afraid of Sunset, had she decided to act? What really happened to my daughter during her exam? Was her offer to help simply kindness, or was it an admission of guilt?

Armed Intervention

"Twilight, it's good to see you." The voice was a fragile sugar shell over a bitter center.

Doctor Sparkle forced herself to smile before turning to look at the pony that had spoken, deliberately juggling her glass from one hoof to the other to give herself an extra moment to brace herself.

She bowed a fraction more than she would for Celestia, enough that it was actually polite. The dry grass under her hooves crunched as she moved. There hadn't been enough rain in this part of Equestria for weeks. Ponies able-bodied enough to work the weather were needed on the front lines. Large stretches of what had been Equestria's breadbasket were turning into wasteland.

"Princess Cadance," She said a little more stiffly than she might have before... before. She hadn't seen her old foalsitter in weeks, and even then they hadn't parted on the best of terms.

"You didn't go to the funeral," Cadance said, quietly. She was wearing a black sash.

"I didn't see the point," Doctor Sparkle said. "Funerals are for the living, not the dead. I don't have time to sit around and mourn."

"But you had time to come here?" Cadance asked. Her tone was somewhere between accusing and suspicious. In the end, it was reasonable. Doctor Sparkle rarely attended public events if she could help it. Especially when they were for a rival trying to take her funding.

Today's demonstration of Flim and Flam's Iron Pegasus was very public, out in the sunshine, and attended mostly by ponies who saw Twilight's project as a waste of bits.

"I was given very politely worded orders to attend this little demonstration," Doctor Sparkle said. "Princess Celestia won't sign the budget unless I come here to discuss recent events." She shook her head and snorted at the surroundings, tents in bright colors erected in the mostly-dead field, like a carnival of poorly-designed inventions and promises that would never be kept.

"I felt that you needed to meet others in your field," Princess Celestia said, appearing in the way that a huge, white pony shouldn't be able to, slipping out of the crowd like the sun emerging from behind a bank of clouds.

"There are no others in my field," Doctor Sparkle said, frowning up at her. "I want my budget approved."

“Doctor Sparkle, please," Princess Celestia said. "I don't want to talk business. Besides, I think you should stay here and watch the demonstration. You might be impressed."

"I've seen the reports. I'm not impressed by..." Sparkle gritted her teeth, holding back less kind words before settling on something neutral. "Clockwork dolls."

"If they had you helping them, I think they'd be even more impressive," Princess Celestia said. "Helping Professors Flim and Flam would be a sign to me that you were a team player, at a time when we all need to come together."

"I won't abandon my work," Sparkle said, flatly.

"The damage to your facility, and the casualties--"

"Irrelevant," Sparkle interrupted. "The project is too important. As long as I and my test subjects are alive, it can continue."

"More important than your brother?" Princess Cadance asked.

Doctor Sparkle frowned and glanced between her and Celestia, coming to an abrupt understanding about why Cadance was here when she was clearly still in mourning.

"I see," Doctor Sparkle said. "According to the schedule, the pre-demonstration presentation will be starting soon." She looked towards the open-air pavilion. "I don't have time to argue. We can discuss this later."

"Very well," Princess Celestia said. "But we will have this discussion."

"Oh yes, I look forward to it," Sparkle muttered.

A half dozen tables were staggered around the pavilion, the huge circular tables mostly stuffed full of ponies sharing drinks and samples of the fair fare from the stands surrounding it. The Princesses were, of course, in the best seat in the house. Sparkle was sitting in a corner and trying to ignore the ponies around her while the two hucksters on stage patted each other on the back. They'd spent the better part of an hour describing their project in only the vaguest terms and - to her dismay - singing.

"And now we'll open it up to the audience," Flim declared. "I'm sure there are things you'd like to know, like where to get an order form for yourself!"

"I have some questions," Doctor Sparkle said, standing up.

"Flim, could you help the poor filly with a voice amplification spell? She can't do it for herself and I can barely hear her," Flam said.

"Of course, brother."

"Your Iron Pegasus--" Sparkle winced for a moment, feedback from the spell Flam had cast making her ears ring. "It's totally automated?"

"That's half the point," Flim said. "Deploying them doesn't involve putting ponies at risk."

"We feel that there have been enough losses in the war already," Flam added. "Additionally - Everypony here is cleared for information on the Imperial troops, yes?"

Princess Celestia nodded.

"Thank you, Princess. As I was about to say, reports on the Imperial forces indicate that the EUP is mostly fighting themselves. Whenever they take losses, the enemy recovers them, patches them up, and enslaves them."

"There's likely some small corps of loyal lieutenants who aren't brainwashed, but they're surrounded by waves of our own mind-controlled ponies," Flim said.

"It's turned the war into a slow grind. By removing our own ponies from the front lines, we can ensure the Empire can't replace the losses they take and we can take advantage of their smaller population."

Doctor Sparkle adjusted her glasses "I thought the EUP was maintaining a non-lethal engagement policy with them for exactly the reasons you've outlined. Your weapon is armed with a repeating crossbow and sword. Hardly less than lethal."

"That's the default configuration," Flam said, shrugging.

Flim held up some papers. "We can also outfit them with nets, launchers for alchemical concoctions--"

"--Such as our own Flim Flam Patented Triple-Z Gas Grenades!"

"And of course, even the base model can simply use its hooves to grapple and restrain ponies, if needed."

"Then there's the supply line issue," Sparkle continued. "Your creation runs on black oil, an expensive import from Saddle Arabia. After the damage to the merchant fleet at Manehattan, the reserve in Equestria is very low."

"We're working on solutions to that," Flam said.

Flim nodded and cut in. "We already have prototypes that can run on any flammable liquid. Black oil, ethanol, coal oil, even some types of cooking grease!"

"If you use the grease it tends to smell like a Hayburger Princess," Flam joked.

Flim grinned. "You know, Doctor Sparkle, you do have some very valid points. Princess Celestia has told us you'll be joining our team to solve some of these issues for us."

"She's mistaken," Sparkle growled, shooting Celestia a look. "I've seen what you made, and I'm not impressed."

"Let's see if you change your mind after the live demonstration. Would everypony like to move to the stands? We're sure you'll be singing a different tune soon."

Sparkle spat and walked away from the pavilion, turning to step behind one of the tents. The salespony in the booth immediately started on a scripted demonstration of the way the 'Amazing Flim Flam Brand Jingo Knife' could cut through cans, branches, and still remain sharp enough to thinly dice a tomato without crushing it. Twilight tuned her out and touched her ear.

"It's settled. Operation Cold Turkey is go." She smiled grimly and started towards the stands. The show was going to be very interesting.

"Begin pre-flight check, Flim!" Flam yelled, over the drone of the engine.

"Boiler pressure is good," Flim reported, tapping a gauge a few times before closing an armored panel.

"Wing surfaces are in good repair," Flam said, running a hoof along the huge, bat-like wings.

"Central animation matrix checks out," Flim shouted, after a quick diagnostic spell.

"The Iron Pegasus seems ready to fly, Flim!"

"That it does, Flam!"

The two stepped back to look at their creation. One of a half-dozen prototypes, most of the temperamental machines shipped to the battlefield before they were properly tested, the Iron Pegasus was like a pony the size of Princess Celestia, constructed of brass and iron over a skeleton of enchanted wood spars, with a magical boiler for a heart and a matrix of come-to-life spells for a brain.

This one was special, the most refined and updated version the two had yet produced. They'd even managed to figure out why some of them got stuck marching in place for hours at a time.

"After this demonstration, we'll be sure to get that funding increase," Flim said, grinning at his brother.

"That we will, brother." Flaim nodded. "Iron Pegasus, launch!"

An intern (paid entirely in Jingo Knives) waved a flag, and the come-to-life spells triggered at the signal, the Iron Pegasus lurching into motion and trailing black smoke from the smokestacks along its back as it surged into the air.

"Mares and gentlestallions, if you'll look to the east, you can see the majestic sight of the Iron Pegasus taking to the air!" The announcer made it sound like this was the greatest sight in the world.

Sparkle watched impassively as it caromed through an obstacle course, making turns and spins that were admittedly impressive for a machine. A small mock town had been constructed out of scrap wood and tarps, and the Iron Pegasus expertly maneuvered in the tight quarters.

Targets popped up on springs, and the Iron Pegasus' front hooves unfolded into repeating crossbows, firing steel bolts through the garishly-colored wooden dummies.

Doctor Sparkle leaned back in her seat in the stands, glancing up to the royal box where Celestia and Cadance were seated. Celestia's eye caught hers, and the two watched each other for a long few moments.

"The Iron Pegasus, everypony!" The announcer announced, as it landed in front of the crowd and snapped a salute.

"This is Sunset Shimmer," hissed from Doctor Sparkle's radio earpiece. "Beginning the operation."

It was Cadance that spotted it first. A gleam of green in the sky. She nudged Celestia and pointed. The larger Princess looked away from Doctor Sparkle and frowned as she focused on the rapidly approaching shape.

Doctor Sparkle caught a few snippets of conversation as the Royal Guards formed a defensive perimeter around the Royal Box.

"--at what speed?"

"--can't track it--"

"--not responding to orders to halt--"

Celestia looked down at Doctor Sparkle in alarm. Sparkle tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Celestia's expression twisted into a frown.

A cone of teal magic trailing green energy struck down like a meteor, flaring into an explosion of light just above the ground, revealing the white and copper armor of Sunset Shimmer's suit, wings crackling and flared to full extension as she used the magic to hover in place. A full-head helmet covered her distinctive mane, a smoked glass visor only allowing a dim glow from her eyes within.

The crowd froze for a moment, then started all talking at once, confused. They could see the horn and wings, but little else. The armored pony floated in the air, balanced on updrafts of air, waiting for something.

"What is that?" Flam asked, watching through binoculars.

"Somepony trying to use our fame and ruin our chance at more investors!" Flim yelled. "Set the Iron Pegasus to attack mode!"

"That's a pony, Flim. We can't just attack a pony."

"They're not part of the Royal Guard, and they're not one of ours. If there's trouble later, we can say we were protecting the Princess."

The Iron Pegasus' eyes flashed and the boiler kicked into gear, a blade snapping out of its hoof as it lunged for Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset Shimmer turned, wings tucking in as she flashed past the clumsy construct. The bladed metal hoof went flying through the air, severed in a single blow from Sunset's magical blade. The hissing energy construct shimmered in the air for a moment before Sunset dismissed it.

"Finish it," Doctor Sparkle ordered.

"This is about sending a message, Sparkle," Sunset said. "Let me make sure they get the point." The Iron Pegasus took to the air, the remaining forehoof unfolding into a crossbow. It took aim and fired a barrage of bolts.

Sunset's wings swept forward, and the air shifted, the bolts deflecting around her as powerful gusts caught them and threw them off-course. There was a pause as the Iron Pegasus reloaded, and a glowing energy construct grabbed the weapon, the shape like a dragon's claw, squeezing around the Iron Pegasus' hoof and deforming the armor in a wail of shearing bolts and tortured metal.

With a flick of her hoof, the Iron Pegasus was tossed aside, smashing into the fake town. The plywood buildings collapsed in a cloud of dust as the broken construct rolled to a halt. It started to move, struggling to rise, and a bolt of flame slammed down like the hammer of an angry goddess, rupturing the boiler.

The Iron Pegasus exploded in a cloud of flame, steam, and shrapnel.

"Operation complete," Doctor Sparkle said. "Get back to the lab."

"What, not going to tell me I did a good job?"

"I didn't know you cared that much about my praise." Doctor Sparkle paused. "Good work, though."

"Good luck with your part."

Sunset saluted the crowd and took off. Royal Guards surged into the air after her, the unicorn quickly outpacing them.

"Doctor Sparkle," Princess Celestia said, very close now. The crystal radio was tugged out of Sparkle's ear. "I believe we were going to have a chat. Now."

"Explain," Celestia said, her voice chilly. She'd taken over one of the few solid buildings, the garage for the Iron Pegasus. Replacement parts lined the walls along with the tools needed to install them. Royal guards lurked at every door, securing the building.

"Project A has come along quite well," Doctor Sparkle said. "It's foal steps, of course, but significant progress."

"You destroyed an extremely expensive piece of equipment," Princess Celestia said. "One which was funded by the crown."

"It attacked first," Doctor Sparkle said, calmly, watching the Princess pace. "My test subject was merely defending herself."

"Yes, your test subject." Celestia frowned more. Usually she was relatively expressionless. She'd gone right through angry and into livid, glaring at Doctor Sparkle. "I'm not a foal, Twilight Sparkle. I know who that was."

"Oh?" Sparkle waited as Celestia stomped around the garage, wings twitching.

"The spell she used. The Star Sabre." Celestia stopped and raised a hoof, a magical blade of golden light springing forth. Unlike Sunset's, it was hard golden light, with sharp edges instead of the sputtering chainsaw Sunset produced. "I taught it to her."

"Ah, I see." Doctor Sparkle smiled. "It's a very distinctive spell."

"Why are you working with Sunset Shimmer?"

"She was eminently suited to be a part of Project A," Sparkle said, her smile dropping. "She has strong willpower and a naturally high magical ability."

"Sunset Shimmer is an ambitious and dangerous mare."

"I hope so," Doctor Sparkle said. "She would be useless if she wasn't dangerous."

"What are you planning, Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia shot her with a gaze that could pierce stone.

"I'm going to save Equestria." Sparkle met her gaze, impassive as a tower of iron.

"I want Sunset Shimmer."

"Do you?" Doctor Sparkle asked, sharply. "Perhaps if you ask her nicely she'll agree to meet with you."

"She can't be allowed to run around with that kind of power."

"She hasn't been formally accused of any crime," Doctor Sparkle said. "I wasn't aware that you were in the habit of arresting ponies for your own personal pleasure."

"I would do anything for the good of Equestria."

"The good of Equestria, yes. You can justify quite a few things like that." Sparkle said.

"Do you know what she'll do?" Celestia asked. "She lusts after power for power's own sake."

"And I've given it to her," Doctor Sparkle said. "Half the power of a goddess, or a demon, perhaps. I wonder which she'll choose..." She laughed.

"I intend to find out."

"This is stupid," Sunset Shimmer said, poking the restraining ring on her horn. Among the many conditions to avoid being arrested on sight was that Sunset Shimmer would have her magic restrained for the entire time they were in Canterlot.

"Mm. The situation, the conditions, or the circumstances?" Sparkle asked. She had a restraining ring on her own horn, which amused her to no end. The dozen guards surrounding them as they were marched to the meeting room amused her significantly less.

"The stupidest thing is that you dragged me along," Lightning Dust said. "Why am I even involved in this?"

"I have my reasons," Doctor Sparkle said.

"She means you're a distraction," Sunset explained. "Sunbutt likes to plan everything out in advance. The more Sparkle can throw her off her game, the easier things will be for us."

"Oh yeah, because I'm really looking forward to meeting her again. You know I was dishonorably discharged, right? In a time of war? The Princess told me herself that I was lucky the death penalty had been abolished."

"Yes. She does make a lot of threats," Doctor Sparkle said. "It's all stick and carrot with her."

"No, it's all carrots with her. She'll beat you with them until you flinch when she smiles," Sunset cautioned. "Don't believe a word she says."

"Excellent advice," Sparkle mumbled. Their guard escort pushed open the doors ahead of them, marching them into a large, open room. It didn't look like a meeting room. The bare stone had cracks and fading scorch marks layered across it, hinting at long abuse from spellcraft.

A low, circular table had been placed in the center of the space, surrounded by cushions and with a tea set resting in the middle. Princess Celestia didn't look up at them when they walked in, remaining silent. She gestured with a hoof, and the guards left, closing the doors behind them.

"I remember this," Sunset said. "This was where you used to take me to have me blow off steam." She stepped over to a particularly long scratch on the floor, running her hoof along it.

"It's been twelve years," Celestia said, her voice so carefully controlled that a carpenter could use a recording of it to level boards.

"Significantly less for me," Sunset replied. "I have to admit, Equestria was in much better shape before I left. By the time I found out how bad it was, it was too late for me to go back."

Doctor Sparkle trotted over to the cushions and sat down heavily, with exactly as much grace as an anvil. Lightning Dust sniffed at the biscuits and small sandwiches before sitting politely, with military precision mostly forced out of her by habit and a tiny insignificant amount of overwhelming dread.

Sunset didn't bother sitting, just circling around the room. Celestia finally looked up, watching her walk, as if searching for some kind of sign.

"I see." Celestia studied Sunset for a long moment, and her horn lit up with golden light. "What was your plan?"

"I was going to--" Sunset's mouth twisted as she tried to form the words of a sarcastic response and wasn't able to.

"No lies," Celestia said. "I don't have the time for them now."

"I was going to study magic!" Sunset spat. "Even the kinds you restrict!"

"And after that?"

"Prove you wrong!" Sunset said. A thin stream of blood dripped from her nose as she tried to resist, the words being pulled out of her. "I'll-- save Equestria and make you get down on your knees and beg me for forgiveness!"

"Stop this," Doctor Sparkle snapped. "You have no right to interrogate her!"

"I have every right!" Princess Celestia shouted.

Sunset Shimmers eyes flared with green light, and a wind kicked up, a gust as strong as a hurricane that flung the table between them into Celestia, the tea service shattering as it scattered across the room.

Celestia's concentration faltered, and the truth spell ended.

"Nice!" Lightning Dust said. "Kinda sloppy, but you got one heck of a wind shear for such an enclosed area." She clapped politely in approval.

"How did you do that?" Celestia asked, frowning. "The restraining ring--"

"Is irrelevant. If you'd ever taken my research seriously, you would understand." Doctor Sparkle said. "The ring blocks unicorn magic, and she has an entire secondary leyline system."

Ghostly flickers of light waved from Sunset's sides, green lines only barely visible as they shifted, like a spider web occasionally catching the sunshine.

The doors burst open, and guards stormed into the room, weapons at the ready. Sparkle didn't even bother looking at them, her gaze fixed on Celestia.

One of the royal guards lunged before any order was given. Lightning Dust deflected the spear with her bare hooves, kicking him so hard his armor crumpled and he was sent sideways into the mass of guards, knocking a half-dozen of the packed ranks to the floor.

"Stop!" Celestia ordered. The other guards halted in place. "Return to your posts."

"Princess, Lance Commander Shoe--" The most senior member of the guard started, before a look from Celestia silenced him.

"Take him to the infirmary," she said, more quietly.

"I'm formally requesting an increase to my budget," Doctor Sparkle said. "You wanted proof that Project A worked. Here is that proof. They're the only ones who can handle the new threat Sombra is posing."

"I'm curious, Doctor Sparkle. What would you do if I said no?"

Doctor Sparkle paused, as if she'd never seriously considered that. "I'd continue anyway."

"With no funding?"

"I would do what is necessary." Doctor Sparkle tapped a hoof on the ground, thinking. "It's an investment for the future. The Iron Pegasus is just a doll. A distraction. Maybe a hundred or a thousand of them would win the war. It's not important."

Sparkle looked to the side, frowning. She paused for a long moment.

"My father once told me, you could be penny smart and still be bit foolish. If you spend ten bits on a jacket, and you have to replace it every year, in a few years you'll have spent more than the pony who invested fifty bits on a better one that would last a decade."

Twilight Sparkle looked at Lightning Dust and Sunset Shimmer.

"My project costs bits. A lot of them. It's expensive. Dangerous. Ponies have died for it. Ten years from now, the Iron Pegasus will only give you better dolls. Project A will give you better ponies." She stopped to pick up a broken teacup. "Dolls can't make a decision between right and wrong. They can only follow orders. They can't build a future."

"And what kind of future do you intend to build?" Celestia asked.

"I can only forge the tools to enable others to impose their will on the world." Doctor Sparkle's tapping stopped. "Project A is that tool."

"Have your budget proposal sent along the normal lines," Princess Celestia said, eventually. "There will be conditions."

"Mm," Doctor Sparkle nodded.

"If either of your test subjects causes an issue, it will be very bad for you."

"I understand."

"I don't think you do," Celestia sighed. "Go. I don't think I can stop you, so I'll settle for keeping an eye on you. And I want you to know that I will be keeping that eye on you. It's clear that you're very resourceful and dangerous if left to your own devices."

"Thank you," Doctor Sparkle said. She nodded to the others, and the doors opened at their approach, Celestia not watching them go as the three were marched away.

“A break?” Cadance asked, confused.

“Ma’am, if I might be so bold, you haven’t seemed like yourself since... for a while now,” Ensign Alias said. Cadance flinched even though the Ensign had danced around using Shining Armor's name.

Cadance shook her head. “There's all these papers to sign and things to approve.” She swallowed. "I never knew he did all this. He always seemed to have time to spend with me..."

“You have a duty to others, but you have a duty to yourself first.”

“So what you’re saying is, I should assign you to do all my paperwork?” Cadance asked, smiling just a little.

Ensign Alias saluted and pretended Cadance's eyes weren't watering with military efficiency. “If you wish, Ma’am. I’ll need your signature for some of it, but--”

“I was only kidding, Ensign.” Cadance looked at the pile on her desk and threw it into the trash can.

“Ma’am--”

“If any of it is actually important, they’ll send me another copy,” Cadance said, firmly. “I think most of it is just busywork that nopony actually looks at. Princess Celestia likes to work to keep her mind off things, but I don’t.”

“Of course, Ma’am. I’ll let ponies know you’ve cleared your schedule and are unavailable.”

Cadance rubbed her chin, looking at Alias. “I’ve got a better idea. You’re going to come with me!”

“...I'm sorry?”

“This isn’t a good idea,” Ensign Alias muttered, as she walked alongside Cadance down Canterlot’s main street. Ponies were staring at them. Alias didn’t like being stared at. Not like this, anyway.

“Sure it is! You work even more than I do,” Cadance assured her. “If I deserve a break, you deserve one too.”

“I’m on active duty.”

“And I’m your commanding officer!”

“That makes things more inappropriate, not less.”

"I just need to get out of the palace for a while," Cadance said, quietly. "I spend all my time there and now it just reminds me too much of-- of everything that's happened."

Ensign Alias' expression tightened. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." Cadance forced herself to smile. "I'm the one who should apologize. I don't have a lot of friends here in Canterlot, so I ended up dragging you along instead."

Alias shook her head. "Your highness--"

“Just Cadance, please. I'm trying to get my mind off of things. I’d prefer to avoid formality.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Ma’am. For now, I’ll consider myself your official escort.”

Cadance snorted.

“Military escort,” Alias specified. “Not the other kind.”

“The kind that teleports ponies where they need to go?”

“I can’t teleport so… the other, other kind.” Alias sighed. “Though I think they've all gone to the front for quote-unquote 'morale boosting operations' and taking a significant part of our military budget home as tips."

"That's too bad."

A blush spread across Alias' cheeks.

"I don't mean-- I knew them professionally!" Cadance protested.

"I wasn't aware you were a member of the Guild of Entertainers."

"No, I mean-- I'm the Princess of Love! They kept coming to me asking for blessings or advice!" Cadance puffed out her cheeks. "Are you teasing me?"

Alias tittered. "Just a little. So what did you want to shop for?"

"I'm surprised the EIS doesn't have a list of of likes and dislikes."

"I'm not a member of the Service."

Cadance smiled. "That's what all the secret agents say. But the truth is, usually I end up doing what other ponies like. When I was foalsitting I spent all day at the library. With Shiny I went to some music shows and dances - he did it because he wanted a very proper, formal sort of relationship, like a fairy tale or one of his roleplaying games. I can barely remember the last thing I actually did on my own.”

“I know what that’s like,” Alias said, quietly.

“Really?”

Alias nodded slowly. “When you have an important job, you end up… well, I suppose it’s like playing a part in a play. I try to do what an ideal officer would do, instead of what’s natural or what I would want to do. I imagine it’s the same for you.”

“It’s even harder when ponies have different ideas about the way a princess should act. Some of them expect me to be a miniature Celestia, others just treat me like a kid.”

“If it helps, you’re my favorite princess.”

Cadance giggled. “Not a wide field but very strong competition, so I’m flattered.”

“What do you think?” Cadance asked, pulling the wide brim of the hat down on one side.

“I’m worried if I tell you the truth it’ll affect my chances at a promotion,” Alias muttered.

Cadance gasped, hoof to her chest. “Is it because my charms are driving you to do things unbecoming of a military officer?”

“If I say yes, will you try a hat that doesn’t look like you’re wearing an umbrella?”

“Spoilsport!” Cadance stuck out her tongue. “Half the fun of trying on hats is finding the silliest ones to wear!”

“Your silly hats are an inspiration to us all,” Alias said. “I thought you came in here to look at the dresses?”

“We’re here to have a good time! You have to admit it’s more fun than shuffling papers around.”

Alias nodded. “It is. I just enjoy throwing myself into the role. There’s a visceral joy in being a fly on the wall in all the important meetings.”

Cadance giggled. “If you’re a fly on the wall, I must be one caught in the spider’s web! Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck there while they drain the life out of me.”

“You are a sweet treat,” Alias agreed. Cadance’s cheeks turned pink. “Maybe we should find you a nice wrapper? I’m sure there are a few good dresses if we go through the racks.”

“The racks?!” A voice squeaked in alarm.

Alias reared back in surprise as a white unicorn pushed her way between them and the hanging dresses with the same self-sacrificing gravitas as a soldier throwing themselves on a live grenade.

“You can’t!” she gasped. “A Princess, buying a dress off the rack?!”

"Is there something wrong with the clothing here?" Cadance asked, confused. "Who are you?"

"To answer your first question, yes, to answer your second question, I am merely a poor seamstress cursed with a devastatingly powerful sense of style!" The unicorn swooned. "A beauty such as yourself should never wear common clothing like this!"

"I don't know if I could. My measurements are a little..."

"Are to be envied! To try on something as ill-fitting as this?" She pulled a dress free from the rack. "It would lower you. No, no, no. You need something custom-tailored. Something graceful. Something... blue."

"Blue?"

"It would fit your color scheme," the white unicorn explained. "I'd recommend navy and something lighter and with good contrast, perhaps an ivory. Yes. Navy and ivory. It would go well with your pastels..."

"She sounds like an expert," Alias said. "I'll just try a few things on while you chat."

Alias grabbed a dress off the rack, a second-hand dress that had been in style a few seasons ago.

"That isn't your size," the unicorn said. She'd produced a sketchpad from somewhere and was showing Cadance some designs. "It's too long and slim."

Alias paused halfway to the dressing room.

"You'd be surprised what I can slip into," Alias retorted.

"Things are proceeding as planned," the voice said, from the black mirror. "Sombra will move against you soon."

"Mm. No doubt," Doctor Sparkle muttered.

"We're pleased with your recent successes. How goes the last part of the puzzle?"

"The last component of Project A is still being refined. I haven't found a prospect for it, and the requirements are more severe than the others." Sparkle sat back, looking at the mirror. She could just barely see her own reflection in the gloom, though something about the ebon glass made it seem like it wasn't quite following her movements exactly.

"You will succeed. We have faith in you."

"I'll require additional materials for the next stage," Doctor Sparkle said.

"They'll be delivered through the usual means."

"The usual means may not be secure enough. Princess Celestia has a personal interest in this."

"The eye of the Sun has always searched for the Court and only rarely has it seen even our shadow. We will ensure that it does not draw attention."

Something in the mirror changed, and Sparkle knew that she was alone again, the conversation abruptly concluded.

"Not until it's too late for her to stop," Doctor Sparkle said, to herself.

Author's Note

Why aren't there more alicorns?

If Celestia was the only alicorn, if one hadn't been born in living memory, I might think that it was simply a fact of a world. Something lost to time that we couldn't replicate.

What are the chances, though, that I'd be born so close to one alicorn's birth, and that there haven't been any in a thousand years or more? Some old books suggest there were others, but where have they gone? Old age can't have claimed them. Even if it's only once a generation there should be dozens. Hundreds.

There are two facts that I can point to that suggest an answer.

First, the alicorn I read about in those books from some forgotten era was Celestia's enemy, and she banished her forever.

Second, the newest alicorn, the only one save Celestia to be known to exist, was born and raised and ascended all outside of Equestria.

Outside of where Celestia's watching eye could find her.

Blood from the Stone

"How does it feel?" Doctor Sparkle asked, her voice distorted slightly by the crystal radio.

"Kind of heavy," Flash Sentry said, adjusting his stance in the purple and orange armor. He tried to cross his eyes to look at the metal horn protruding from the helmet. "And it's tight across my chest."

"Mm. The U-type equipment is still in the prototype stage. The final suit will be modified for the wearer."

"Is this safe?" Flash asked. He raised an armored leg, looking at the sloshing metal tanks hanging from his chest.

"That's an interesting and unique question that I've never been asked before," Doctor Sparkle said. She looked at Sunburst. "Are the diagnostic spells ready?"

"The divination effects are at full strength," Sunburst reported.

"Is there supposed to be that much interference?" Sunset Shimmer asked, leaning closer to the readouts. "I didn't see power cycling variations like that with my readings."

"E-type equipment, for earth pony magic, has four focus points," Doctor Sparkle said. "Through the hooves. P-type equipment has two, with wing nodes. U-type, like this, only has the one." She tapped her horn.

"So it's a power balancing issue?" Sunset asked.

"Among other things. The point of this is to give unicorn magic to a pony without it. With no experience." Doctor Sparkle frowned. "It's probably more dangerous to us than him."

"What, like a foal having magic surges?"

"Like a foal with ten thousand thaums being pumped through its horn," Sparkle muttered. "There's a minimum threshold before forced leyline synchronization will take place. Unfortunately, it's two orders of magnitude larger than I'd like."

"What if it surges back through his brain?" Sunset asked.

"Well, he's a Royal Guard recruit. He probably wasn't using it anyway," Sparkle said.

"What was that about my brain?" Flash asked.

"Start the activation sequence," Doctor Sparkle ordered. "Once the leylines have formed, cut the feed from the thaumatic batteries to the minimum sustained level."

"Beginning SS-10 leyline connection," Sunburst said, adjusting his glasses and pulling a lever. "Raising thaumatic pressure levels."

"Hm..." Sunset's horn lit with a dim light as she extended her magical senses.

"I felt something," Flash reported.

"That was the leyline induction starting," Doctor Sparkle said. She tapped a hoof on one of the gauges. "Mm..."

"Approaching the absolute borderline," Sunburst slowly turned a dial. "Five, four, three, two, one..."

Flash Sentry screamed, and both wings lit up with discharging magic for a moment before erupting into green flame.

"Cut the leyline synchronization!" Sparkle ordered, grabbing a fire extinguisher and kicking open the door to the test chamber. Sunset ran with her, pulling at the armor with her magic while Doctor Sparkle sprayed foam over the pegasus.

"Is he...?" Sunset asked.

"Mm. No." Doctor Sparkle held up a wing. It was only scorched around the edges. "The fire was uncontrolled magical discharge. Fairie fire. Almost no real heat at all. Lucky for him."

"His leylines are totally blown out," Sunburst reported, from the control room. "He'll be fine, but won't be flying anywhere for a week or two."

"I told Moondancer he belonged in the reject pile," Doctor Sparkle sighed. "Clean up this mess. I'll be in my office."

Doctor Sparkle sat in her office, looking at the blueprints for the U-type equipment, pages and pages of them, pinned to the walls and dense with arcane script.

"You know the Seelie aren't going to like that you're letting Celestia dictate terms to you," Moondancer said.

"I've already spoken to the Court. They understand." Doctor Sparkle rested her chin on her hoof, thinking.

"If she starts asking too many questions, you're going to have to start giving her answers. The materials alone would be a clue." Moondancer followed Sparkle's gaze to a diagram of unicorn leylines, a branching structure along the spine focused on the single point of the horn.

"They don't show up in the official expense report." Doctor Sparkle snorted. "Though I'm sure if it did, it would just be another line item for the accountants."

"Do you want me to send you a list of the other candidates Celestia put forward?" Moondancer asked. "There's a file on my desk that was sent over this morning."

"She wants to have a pony she can trust on the team," Sparkle said. "I'll look over her list of spies and soldiers. Maybe we'll get lucky. If any of them are suited to Project A I'd be happy to have them."

"Really?" Moondancer seemed surprised.

"The qualifications are rare. One in a million. I'd even take one of her spies if it meant getting a little closer to the goal."

Lightning Dust perched on top of the lab, watching Sunset Shimmer. The facility was shaped almost like a horseshoe, with an artificial pond full of koi in the center and a garden wrapping around it. The only connections to Canterlot proper were a precarious trail that led around the mountain and a train that came twice a day on a circuitous route through the nearest pass.

Sunset closed her eyes and focused, the wind circling around her as pale, glittering wings of energy stretched from her sides. She rose up into the air, just an inch, before she started to tilt and panicked, dropping back to the ground.

"Trying to fly without the suit?" Lightning Dust asked, from the roof.

Sunset turned, scowling.

"Did the doctor tell you to follow me? For someone younger than I am she can act like an old nag sometimes." Sunset snorted.

"Nah. I just don't like hanging out in her lab. Something about it gives me the creeps." Lightning Dust hopped down, landing without even spreading her wings. The stone tiles cracked under her. "I figured I should give you some pointers."

"I don't need your help," Sunset snapped.

"Come on. We're part of a team." Lightning Dust grinned. "We should work together."

"You think we're a team? What a joke." Sunset smirked. "I was already the strongest unicorn in Equestria, and now I've got pegasus magic. All you've got is muscle."

"So you think you can beat me in a race?" Lightning Dust asked.

Sunset opened her mouth to say something, then she stopped and smiled. "You know what? I think I can."

"Fine. We'll make it short and sweet. We'll race to that cloud." Lightning Dust pointed. "See it?"

"The dark one?" Sunset asked. Wild rain clouds were becoming an unfortunately common sight across Equestria, even this close to the capital.

"That's it. If you want, I'll give you a head start."

"I've got a better idea," Sunset said. "How about we make it interesting?"

"Ma'am?" Moondancer knocked on the door to the lab. Doctor Sparkle looked up from what she was doing, fetlock deep in revising the U-type equipment, her hooves dripping with green slime.

"What is it?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "I trust it's important."

"Some of our sources intercepted an EUP dispatch. The scouting reports are inconclusive, but preliminary analysis suggests a Linnorm coming this way."

"I see." Sparkle sighed and stepped back, stripping the protective socks from her front hooves and tossing them to the side into a sink. "Sombra is very persistent, isn't he? How long do we have?"

"The EUP scout reported it near the D7 point on the Canterlot security perimeter." Moondancer pulled a map out of the documents floating at her side and pointed. "It seems like it's following the river upstream. It must have gotten this close by staying underwater."

"We'll intercept it at the falls here." Sparkle tapped a hoof on the floating map. "It's going to have to leave the water there. Get the idiot and the hothead suited up."

"Yes, Ma'am. And the EUP?"

"See that they're notified of our operation. I'm sure they'll want to have their own soldiers posted. They won't be much use, but... it should be a good learning experience for somepony."

"It doesn't count," Lightning Dust grumbled, adjusting one of the straps across her leg. She was used to getting herself ready for battle in a tent in the middle of nowhere, but having to put up with Sunset Shimmer being smug was breaking her patience in ways she hadn't known was possible.

"Maybe someone should have thought of that rule before we raced," Sunset said, smiling to herself. "I mean, it's not my fault that teleportation is the fastest way to travel."

"It's cheating! I'm not paying up."

"I got there before you," Sunset pointed out. Not that she was worried about the fifty bits. It wasn't about that. It was just about winning, and making sure that ponies remembered that she was the winner.

In a way, it was even sweeter that she'd done it this way, with Lightning Dust accusing her of cheating. It made her feel smart. She'd thought around the problem instead of brute-forcing a solution.

Technically. Teleportation itself was something of a brute-force solution, requiring magical talent far in excess of the average unicorn and the will to punch a hole in spacetime. But it was still clever, and even more to the point, it was something Lightning Dust couldn't do, another reminder from Sunset to Sunset that she was superior.

"It's not a race if you don't even pass through the space between the start and end," Lightning Dust grumbled. "I don't care if you got there first, Princess."

"Don't call me Princess," Sunset said, though she did smirk a little.

"Both of you stop complaining," Doctor Sparkle said, as she pushed open the tent flap. "The commander of the EUP forces has, after considerable persuasion--"

"You threatened him," Sunset corrected.

"Mm. After considerable threats," Doctor Sparkle acknowledged. "I was briefed on the plan. Such as it is. She pulled a rolled-up scroll out of her white labcoat. "Hold this."

Sunset unrolled it, holding it in the air at eye level with her magic. It was a map of the local area, roughly divided in half by a cliff face from east to west and the river from north to south. In the center of the map, at the bottom of the cliff where the river turned briefly into a waterfall, was a deep pool of water where the soft limestone had been beaten down by ages of erosion.

"There are scrying sensors placed along the path of the river," Twilight Sparkle said. "The Linnorm is hard to miss, but the EUP simply isn't equipped for underwater combat. The plan they've put forward has two stages."

Twilight gestured to the river mouth where it widened into the pool at the base of the cliff. "Phase one begins when the Linnorm passes this net of scrying sensors. A limited number of pegasi will deploy from the clifftops and drop demolition charges into the water to act as improvised depth charges and force the Linnorm out into the open."

"Assuming it isn't already out in the open by then," Lightning Dust noted. "What if it comes ashore early?"

"For phase two, earth pony forces are deployed around the pond in four phalanxes, and are going to engage the Linnorm and delay it while the unicorn artillery, safe on the clifftop, cast restraining spells to attempt to capture it alive."

"That seems like a terrible decision," Sunset said.

"Princess Celestia doesn't like to kill when she doesn't have to," Doctor Sparkle said. "She wants to capture a Linnorm to try and... free it from Sombra's control, or at least study it."

"Don't you have enough parts of them already?" Lightning Dust asked. "You had a whole lab full, plus all the ones we've killed."

Doctor Sparkle shrugged. "I wouldn't mind getting my hooves on an intact crystal control core, but I'm not naive enough to think we have enough of a margin for error to attempt it."

"What's our part in this amazing plan?" Sunset asked.

"We're on standby," Doctor Sparkle said. "Officially, our previous actions were unsanctioned and just undertaken in self-defense. This is our first official deployment and the EUP doesn't trust us. That last part, by the way, is in writing. I believe the General added it himself."

"A mad scientist, a dishonorable discharge, and a wanted criminal," Lightning Dust said. "I can't imagine why they're not putting us in charge."

"I wish them the best of luck with their operation," Doctor Sparkle said. "We are ordered, by the Princess, not to interfere. If we receive an official request, we will render aid."

"They'll be slaughtered," Sunset warned.

"Are you saying you don't have faith in our armed forces, Sunset Shimmer?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "That's a very negative view of things. I look forward to them having an exciting and eventful learning experience."

General Nickel Plated crumpled up the scroll he'd received from the Princess. She'd suggested that he use Doctor Sparkle and her test subjects as a key component of the operation.

It wasn't quite an order. Nickel was glad about that, because he'd have felt awful about disregarding an order from his direct superior.

He would have felt responsible to his troops to disobey it if it had been an order. It was still an insane request - he'd rather apologize to the Princess later about disobeying her wishes than risk his soldiers by relying on unstable elements.

"Sir," Lieutenant Raker stood at the open flap of the tent and saluted. "The target has passed the second marker. We estimate five minutes until it reaches our final sensor net."

"Tell the pegasi to get into the air. As soon as the scouting teams have confirmed that the target is in the combat zone, begin the operation."

Lieutenant Raker saluted again and trotted away to relay the orders. The General tossed the crumpled scroll aside and walked out into the sunshine, looking across the river to where Doctor Sparkle's tent had been set up. The young mare was watching him from across the river with an intense gaze, the weight of it making him shiver despite the warmth of the day.

He forced himself to look away to where the pegasi were circling over the area where the pool narrowed and turned back into a river after its journey over the falls.

Horns sounded, and General Nickel could see a pony waving semaphore flags below. A dark shape surged through the water, the river splashing against its banks as the monster swam through the current.

"Force it out of the water!" Nickel Plated yelled. One of the ponies nearby started signaling the pegasus squad. The circling ponies dropped their satchel charges, the packages falling into the water. There was a dull roar of thunder as they went off, bright flashes beneath the murky turbulence of the river's surface.

The monster breached the rapids, roaring as it revealed itself, its skin smooth like a salamander and the orange color of rust. It was huge, broad shoulders as wide as a house and with a fat, bulbous tail dragging behind it.

"Move the phalanxes in to flank it! Hit it from both sides and pin it while the battle magi restrain it!" General Nickel yelled. The two phalanxes on that side of the river closed in on the Linnorm, moving as organized, unified blocks of soldiers.

The beast was still disoriented from the blasts, stumbling forwards and ignoring them. The earth pony ranks pressed it, pushing the monster towards the cliff just as planned. With a wall behind it, it would be easier to keep it from escaping and keep it in range of the spells from the battle magi.

Rings of light formed around the monster's limbs, each a different color, the battle magi coordinating flawlessly and each working to restrain a single limb, making sure no mage was a single point of failure for containment.

It was a simple, reliable method. Like most things that were simple and reliable, things went wrong almost immediately.

The Linnorm finally took notice of the ponies around it and roared before spitting a hissing silvery paste, splattering against the shields of the phalanxes arrayed against it. It didn't seem to do anything for a long moment, then it all erupted at once in a chain of explosions.

"What in Tartarus was that?" Lightning Dust swore.

"I believe that the Linnorm is breathing liquid sodium metal." Doctor Sparkle narrowed her gaze. "Interesting. I wonder- Ah." She nodded as greenish gas seeped from the monster and rolled across the ground, the remaining earth ponies breaking formation and scattering.

"Chlorine gas," Sunset Shimmer said. "It must be breaking salt down into its component elements."

"Should we help them?" Lightning Dust asked. "They're getting slaughtered out there."

"Mm. Let's go speak to the General," Sparkle said. "You'll have to carry me over."

Sunset Shimmer gave Lightning Dust a look and took off, leaving the pegasus to carry Doctor Sparkle over to where the EUP officers were trying to yell orders loudly enough to regain control of the situation, in the great tradition of all military commands close enough to the front to be caught in the confusion but not so close that they would be distracted by having to fight the enemy themselves when they were busy arguing about who was going to be blamed.

"Perhaps we can assist?" Doctor Sparkle asked, not really raising her voice but managing a tone that cut through the barked orders.

"The last thing we need is your damn pet projects getting in the way!" Nickel Plated snapped. "Get out of here! Ponies are dying!"

"Mm." Doctor Sparkle frowned.

"This is stupid," Sunset Shimmer said. "I'm going to take care of this."

"Don't you dare!" General Nickel Plated took a step towards her as the unicorn dove off the ledge, copper wings catching the air and jetting her forwards on green magic.

"Lightning Dust," Doctor Sparkle said. She didn't even need to give an order. The pegasus took off without a word, chasing after Sunset.

"I'll have you arrested!" Nickel Plated hissed.

"The traditional response would be to ask 'you and what army?'" Doctor Sparkle said, her voice calm.

"I have an army right--"

"You won't for much longer unless you sit down, shut up, and let them take care of this," Sparkle said. There was so much edge in her tone that if she'd directed it toward a bakery the loaves would have come out of the oven pre-sliced.

When confronting an enemy that had, moments ago, defeated a small army, most ponies (and, frankly, also most people that weren't ponies, though dragons and badgers are notably excluded from this list) would want to devise a plan before starting an attack.

The key difference between most ponies and Sunset Shimmer was enough self-assurance and foolhardy, bloodthirsty confidence to push any thoughts of failure right out of her head.

"Take this!" Sunset's star saber slashed through the monster's flesh easily, going right through bone and muscle and blubber and dividing it neatly in two parts that slumped off to the sides.

Sunset landed smartly and looked back at the bisected monster. It hadn't actually bled at all. It had just sort of fallen apart like a ripe fruit, splitting apart at the seams.

"Huh. That wasn't such a task," she said, apparently unaware of all the dead and dying that the creature had left on the battlefield. Or, more accurately, dismissing them as unimportant.

"You actually did it," Lightning Dust said. "That was... kind of impressive."

"Easy," Sunset said. The two piles of monster quivered behind her. The first shiver, sure, maybe that was a corpse finally understanding that it was a corpse and trying briefly to fight it with a few spasms and tremors.

The second time, when the skin split and tore, the creature shivering back into motion, Sunset regretted her words. The two halves peeled open, slightly smaller versions of the original creature emerging from the discarded skin of the old.

Lighting Dust was faster into the air, Sunset caught flat-footed and almost hit by metallic gunk that splattered to the ground around her, hissing briefly before exploding in a wave of chemical nastiness.

"That's interesting," Doctor Sparkle said over the radio, her voice detached.

"I don't know if I'd really call it interesting, Doc!" Lightning Dust shouted. She circled one, swooping low and trying to kick it in the vulnerables, not that a Linnorm really had vulnerables. Something in its narrow hips broke, and the scales split in a spray of blood.

The other monster paused for a moment, and its body flashed with purple light. The injuries on the first Linnorm sealed up in an instant, hip popping back into place.

"You have to hit them hard, remember?" Sunset said. She fired a burst of flame at the second Linnorm, blowing its head off. The monster slumped for a moment, before both pulsed with light, the skull regenerating in less than a second.

"I see," Doctor Sparkle said. "That's really interesting. I assume you're familiar with the concept of a lich?"

"An undead pony that keeps moving through force of will," Sunset said.

"A zombie?" Lightning Dust asked, only picking up on the word 'undead'.

"Mm. Not quite. A zombie is a corpse animated with negative energy. A lich is a pony where the soul has been separated from the body and placed in something else. Typically a book or some ritual object."

Lightning Dust was so far out of her depth she needed a lifeguard. "So the monsters are books?"

"No," Doctor Sparkle said, her voice taking on the subtle grinding edge of someone deeply annoyed and unable to do anything about it.

"She means that their bodies and souls aren't strongly linked," Sunset said. "That's why they're so hard to kill."

"In this case it's even worse," Sparkle said. "The crystal core is the key component that animates a Linnorm. I believe that creature has two cores."

"That's no big deal," Lightning Dust said.

"It wouldn't be a big deal except the core for each creature is contained in the other!" Sparkle snapped. "It's why they're healing so quickly!"

"Then all we have to do is take out both of them at once!" Lightning Dust said. "No problem!"

"You'll have to defeat both within a fraction of a second of each other," Doctor Sparkle said. "The regeneration is almost instantaneous at these high energy levels."

A wave of pale green gas surged from the Linnormes below, flooding the river valley. Lightning Dust and Sunset circled around, watching the retreating EUP forces, or at least what was left of them.

"I can't get both of them at once with any of my spells," Sunset said. "Well... maybe if they were lined up perfectly and held still for a minute or two while I charged up something that could go through two monsters."

"I doubt they'll cooperate. You'll need a better plan than being lucky," Sparkle retorted.

"Maybe I could... blast a hole in front of them, and they'll fall in? We could keep them contained until-"

"They'll dig their way out. I have an idea, but I can't do it alone," Lightning Dust said, cutting Sunset off. "We can use a tornado to hold them in place, then hit both of them at once. If they're off the ground, they won't be able to dodge."

"And I won't be able to hit both of them, because they'll be in the middle of a tornado, you idiot!" Sunset snapped.

"You only have to hit one," Lightning Dust clarified. "I'll take the other. If we have perfect timing, we can take them out."

"Oh great, perfect timing." Sunset mumbled, the radio thankfully not picking up her sarcasm, as the device wasn't designed to handle such large amounts at once and would undoubtedly explode violently.

"If you fail, you probably won't get a second try," Doctor Sparkle said. "So don't fail."

"Right, so, what do we do?" Sunset asked. "Just fly around it as fast as we can?"

"Are you asking me for flying lessons?" Lightning Dust grinned.

"It's your stupid plan, so you better explain it!"

"Alright, so there are two ways to make a tornado," Lightning Dust said. "The safe way, you push really hot and really cold fronts together like a big wave of air then draw one end down to the ground. It's kinda slow and imprecise, but even a small weather team can do it."

"Slow and imprecise won't work," Sunset said, as she dodged to the side to avoid a spray of liquid sodium metal.

"Right. So we're gonna have to do this like tornado day. Pure pegasus magic. It's gonna be tough with just two of us. Usually it takes a couple hundred pegasi working together, not just me and a rookie who couldn't do a split-s if her life depended on it unless she was allowed to cheat midway through."

"What in the hell is tornado day?" Sunset asked.

"Tornado day! You know, when Cloudsdale picks a city and the local weather teams make a tornado to refill Cloudsdale's water reservoirs to redistribute rain from areas with a lot of precipitation to areas without it?"

"Never heard of it," Sunset said. She would have shrugged but that was difficult to do while still trying to fly evasively.

"The point is, Tornado Day tornados are made vertically from the start. You need a lot of wingpower to do it. You grab as much air as you can and, uh, go really fast in a circle." Lightning Dust flipped over. "The big thing is to create a magic gradient between the top and bottom of the funnel cloud. It draws magic from the ground towards the sky and makes the tornado self-sustaining for a while."

"That seems really inefficient. Couldn't you just use wild clouds or some safer method than a tornado to get the water?"

"It also replenishes leylines in the air that get depleted by overmanaged weather," Doctor Sparkle explained. "Without the occasional large thunderstorm or tornado, it would eventually become impossible to manage the weather at all in some areas."

"We're gonna have a lot of drag, and we need to maintain a constant speed," Lightning Dust said. "You can't minimize the turbulence or drag because you need it there to get the funnel cloud forming. We have to match our speeds as closely as possible, too."

"This plan sounds better all the time," Sunset complained.

"Stay on opposites sides of the Linnorm." Lightning Dust banked away to circle lower, closer to the ground. "We'll start further out and spiral inwards once the walls start to form!"

Sunset tried to match her. Lightning Dust wasn't going at nearly her top speed, letting the unicorn catch up. She spread her new pegasus magic out, not quite like telekinesis, more like a gossamer net. When she'd just been a unicorn, Sunset Shimmer hadn't really thought of the air at all except as empty space. Intellectually, she knew it was there (and she probably knew more about it on a purely scientific level than any other pony alive thanks to her unique experiences) but it was like pure math - there might be some applications in the real world, but most of the time it was invisible and all in your head.

Now, she could see it for the sea it really was, the currents and flow, the fluid motion of the air, the weight and resistance of it all. It was almost humbling to know how blind she'd been, though of course it would take much more than that to actually humble Sunset.

Sunset suddenly realized she was starting to fall behind, her pace lagging. She swore under her breath and fought to keep up with Lightning Dust, copper wings straining. Even with as much as Doctor Sparkle had reinforced them, making a tornado wasn't something they'd ever been intended for.

A funnel started to form, the air circulating in a rising twist threaded with magic.

The drag increased. Sunset felt herself blown to the side by a crosswind. She slowed for a moment, enough that Lightning Dust had to do the same to keep her distance. The tornado started to break apart, the winds escaping the magical hold they had on it.

"Focus!" Lightning Dust yelled. "You can't let the weather tell you what to do! Smash through it!"

Sunset grit her teeth, forcing herself forwards. A green trail of flames flickered behind her as her backwash ignited. Her magic expanded, bumping up against the wall of wind Lightning Dust was pulling along behind her. Sparks started to form as the ambient magic collided, green bolts of lightning grounding at random.

Lightning Dust and Sunset felt it at the same time. A connection that hadn't been there before.

Doctor Sparkle turned from the display to look at the assembled officers. Here and there, unseen by the others watching the cataclysmic display, eyes flashed with green energy.

"A resonance effect?" Sparkle muttered.

The twin Linnorms lifted from the dirt, the strong winds overcoming gravity in their giant swell, pulling them up along with dozens of trees, boulders, and a spray of water. Green gas swirled away from them, dispersing harmlessly into the air.

Wordlessly, Sunset Shimmer and Lightning Dust knew what they had to do. They could feel what the other was thinking. For the span of a few seconds they were greater than just the sum of their parts, a single mind with two bodies.

The linnorms were slammed together by the vortex, and Lightning Dust was the first to move, green and yellow electric force surging around her hooves as she spun in the air to angle a flying kick into one of the monsters.

An instant before she hit, Sunset teleported in front of the other, swinging her star sabre through the soft flesh.

The crystal cores at the heart of both monsters cracked, energy surging as they tried to repair each other, the scattering energy building up as it failed to discharge until the Linnorms were blown apart in a sphere of fire, debris falling to the ground and crackling, the sodium sputtering and burning in noxious clouds.

Lightning Dust's momentum carried her through where the Linnorm had been. Unfortunately, while the monster wasn't there, Sunset Shimmer still was, and she'd lost all her momentum after the teleportation, leaving her wide open.

They looked at each other with perfect understanding of each other and that there was absolutely nothing they could do to prevent what was about to happen.

Lightning Dust slammed into Sunset Shimmer and both of them tumbled down into the pool of ice-cold water, the tornado breaking apart as the magic faded.

Lightning Dust pulled herself out of the freezing water, shivering from the chilly mountain stream.

"You're an idiot," Sunset said, helping her out onto the beach. Both of them collapsed after a moment, exhausted.

"Not bad for a rookie," Lightning Dust said, when she stopped coughing up water. "Too bad we couldn't stick the landing."

"What's this we part of it?" Sunset asked. "I would have been fine. It was your fat flank that crashed into me."

"If you hadn't stalled out in mid-air, I wouldn't have hit you!" Lightning Dust stood up, shaking a hoof at Sunset. "You stupid bonehead!"

Sunset rolled to her hooves and stood at her full height, raising her chin to look down at Lightning Dust. "What was that? Did you just call me a bonehead, you featherbrain?"

"Featherbrain?! I'll feathering- knock your stupid feathering horn right up your stupid feathering flank!"

"Did you run out of vocabulary already?" Sunset asked.

Lightning Dust jumped at her, tackling her to the ground and reaching for her throat.

Doctor Sparkle sighed, watching the two grapple in the rocks and sand. "How is it that they can be older than I am and as mature as foals?"

Author's Note

It's notable that a dragon doesn't grow simply through age. Some elder dragons can be quite small. They grow because the size of their hoard increases.

I spoke to experts at length, and the process is fascinating. A hoard is more than just property. It becomes an extension of the dragon itself. A dragon with a large hoard will grow on its own in a relationship that seems more related to how much the dragon values its possessions instead of any real monetary consideration.

The current theory is that the hoard acts as a kind of external wellspring, though I myself believe it has more to do with a dragon's sense of self. The important thing is that regardless of why it happens, large piles of treasure always belong to large dragons, and their relationship means dragons will do anything to protect their wealth.

Why doesn't this work for ponies? The rich are no more powerful than the poor. Many of the strongest unicorns in the last few generations have come from humble backgrounds.

The simple answer is that we are not dragons.

Killer Queen

"The Princess really wants us to test with her?" Sunburst asked, looking at the dossier and comparing it to the readings they were getting from the test chamber.

"She's next on her list of candidates," Doctor Sparkle said, calmly. "I can hardly be blamed for following orders. I'm sure Miss Marble Pie would be a valuable addition to our team."

"But look at these synchro readings," Sunburst said, pointing a hoof at a spinning geometric form being projected by a simple illusion spell. "There's no way she'll be able to manage the artificial leylines. They're completely out of phase."

"And when she fails and ends up in the hospital, I'll be able to send the Princess another report about my concerns regarding her selection," Sparkle said, firmly.

"You don't want her to succeed," Sunburst muttered.

"I would be happy if she did. I just don't expect it," Sparkle shrugged. "She's very... nice."

"And cute," Sunburst added without thinking, his cheeks burning as he realized what he'd said.

"Mm." Doctor Sparkle smiled faintly. "We'll take it easy on her, then. Once we have enough data to show it won't work, you can take her out to dinner to apologize for wasting her time."

"R-really?" Sunburst asked, surprised.

"Pick somewhere that isn't expensive and I'll bill it back to the crown," Doctor Sparkle said. "Begin the test starting at step 108 of the activation sequence."

"Miss Pie, are you ready?" Sunburst asked, switching on the intercom.

"Mmm..." Marble nodded.

"Beginning activation sequence," Sunburst said. "Starting thaumatic circulation. Leylines are starting to form."

"Very slowly," Doctor Sparkle said, though Sunburst wasn't sure if it was an instruction or an observation.

"Approaching the critical point for SS-10 leyline synchronization." Sunburst swallowed, watching the gauges rise. The two sets of leylines could only exist for so long independently before the circulating magic in the small area would make a jump, joining them together into one system.

The needles edged towards the green. The hanging geometric form grew, starting to form a single point.

Later, Sunburst wasn't sure what happened first. The gauges went wild, the alarms went off, and the single point suddenly inverted, the illusion collapsing into a fractal shape like spreading wings before failing entirely. All of them seemed to happen at once and his attention was on the mare in the test chamber.

Marble Pie screamed, clutching her head. Her mane stood on end as if a massive static charge was building, the strands swimming in the air and lengthening, a mist of blue magic forming around them like a nebula. Sparkles like tiny stars shimmered in the navy depths.

"Cut the thaumatic flow!" Doctor Sparkle ordered. She took a step back as Marble Pie looked up, the screaming turning from cries of fear to howls of rage. Her eyes had changed, turning teal, the pupils slits in her dragon-like gaze. She lunged at the window to the observation chamber, slamming a hoof into the reinforced glass.

Doctor Sparkle frowned as a long crack formed from the heavy blow. The window would have withstood siege weaponry without scratching, but the pony on the other side was much stronger than that.

"I can't control it!" Sunburst said, flinching as a second blow threw glass shards into the room. "There's still thirty seconds until the thaumatic battery is drained entirely!"

The frame started to bend as the window was pushed inwards by a third blow, streams of blue energy starting to seep through the cracks.

"Slow her down! Activate the fire suppression system!"

"But--" Sunburst started, before the keening from inside the room cut him off. The sound grew louder and louder as the glass was pulled away, the gas-like mane tearing away at the barrier, reaching towards Doctor Sparkle. Sunburst yelped as a tendril as thick as his leg swept over him, ducking to avoid it.

The red lever for the sprinklers lit up as he pulled it down with his magic, and the holding tanks above the test chamber rumbled as they dumped hundreds of gallons of treated water and chemicals into the room, the sprinklers turning the mix into thick foam.

"Fifteen seconds!" Sunburst yelled, as he scrambled back away from the danger. Marble Pie's struggles started to slow as she fought against the foam.

Doctor Sparkle winced as broken glass flew past her face, leaving a shallow cut in her cheek and a nick in her ear.

"Ten seconds!" Sunburst gasped. The window caved in entirely, Marble Pie crawling through the twisted frame towards Doctor Sparkle, her mane reaching towards the unicorn.

"Five!" Marble stepped forward, unsteady, the magical flow starting to sputter.

"Four!" Part of the mane grabbed at Twilight's throat, twisting around it like a noose. Doctor Sparkle just watched, stoic, not flinching in the face of danger.

"Three!" Marble forced herself closer, the noose tightening.

"Two!" Marble's eyes flared. She opened her mouth, showing fangs, trying to say something.

"One!" The mane sputtered and died like the pilot light going out on a stove, the magic that had been letting it act like a limb fading.

"Zero!" Marble's eyes flickered back to normal and rolled back in her head as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Doctor Sparkle felt at her throat for a moment, her skin tender where, for a moment, she'd felt something like steel wires wrapped around her neck.

"Take her to the medical wing," Doctor Sparkle said, before descending into coughing, her voice weak. "She might be more useful than I thought."

Sunburst knelt next to the earth pony, making sure she was breathing. "What was she saying? It sounded like--"

"Irrelevant," Doctor Sparkle snapped. She stalked towards the door. "And get somepony to clean up this mess."

Alarms blared across the base, the harsh bell of a fire alarm and the ominous siren of a red alert. Ponies yelled and ran towards their duty stations, stumbling when the ground under them suddenly shuddered. With shared looks, the pace became more frantic, just on the edge of panic and stampede, instincts only held back by training.

Three earth ponies were at the head of the command room, standing at the lowest level with their eyes closed, hooves resting on bare rock and soil instead of the tile floor of the rest of the room.

"Abnormal heat readings in the primary mineshaft," the first reported.

"I can feel movement," the second said. "It's hard to tell with how many ponies are running around, but I think the target is moving through the third Malebolgia barrier."

Hexagonal steel pillars, covered in runes and glowing slightly in the low light, formed a barrier like prison bars across the angled path leading town to the permafrost below. Each was as thick as a hoof and almost unbreakable, the enchantments locking them into place in space, rendering the rods totally immovable by any normal means.

There was a pounding, growing louder, as something huge ran up the spiraling corridor, sparks raising as metal claws scraped on the stone floor, still marked from where the mine corridors had been widened for use as an impromptu prison.

The steel bars shuddered, more alarms going off as they were disturbed. talons raked against them for a moment, then a flash of light, the bars twisting as a blast of dark magic weakened the spells on them, the feedback creating enough heat to turn the metal red.

A half-dissected Linnorm, parts still cut open and pinned in place from the work of the dissection team, smashed through the softened metal, roaring as it charged up the corridor towards - freedom, targets, revenge - everything it wanted.

"Barrier number two has failed," the earth ponies reported.

"Why aren't we using scrying spells?" A dark unicorn asked, watching the command crew from the back of the room.

"The reports suggested active spells might cause the Linnorm to awaken, so we have to rely on dowsing." General Salad said. "I just can't believe it's going through our defenses like they're nothing..."

A voice from the back of the room spoke over the chaos. "This was always within the realm of possibility. A living subject was more valuable for information gathering, but it might be impossible to contain them by any normal means."

"Don't you have somewhere better to be, Mister... Kevin, was it?" The military pony frowned at the unusual name. "I don't need some EIS spook being sarcastic at me in the middle of an emergency!"

"Of course. I'll leave you to your fun," Kevin said, hefting his bag and walking out.

"Starlight, I'm sorry we don't have more support to give you," General Salad said, over the radio. It was a bulky model compared to the more modern crystal radios, requiring a small backpack and antenna that stretched an extra meter past the end of her flank. It did, however, have the benefit of being able to broadcast through dozens of meters of solid rock.

"Two Iron Pegasus units are good enough," she said. Starlight adjusted her night-vision goggles, looking down into the darkness.

"You need to stop it before it gets outside. This mine is within visual range of the town and the civilians are still being evacuated." General Salad sounded nervous.

"I know. Don't worry." Starlight caught movement in the shadows. "It's coming."

"Good luck," Salad replied, the channel filling with static and cutting off anything else he might have wanted to say. Starlight's vision went white as the light-amplification spell failed, one of the Iron Pegasus units flying back, the torso a ruin of molten metal.

The Linnorm slammed into her magical barrier before she'd even gotten the broken goggles off of her face, smirking at the monster. Fangs augmented by steel points tore at the shimmering shield, sliding across without finding purchase.

The monster's maw opened, and it fired a point-blank burst of dark magic, the purple beam hitting the shield and breaking up, motes of energy skittering across the surface like droplets of water on a hot pan, finding their way over the edges like ball lightning and burning holes in the rock around them.

"This is going to be fun. The old nag never lets me cut loose!" Starlight's horn flared, and the Linnorm was flung back into the supports keeping the roof over their heads, well, over their heads. The wooden braces cracked, almost immediately starting to buckle where they were damaged.

The monster rolled back to its feet, crossbow bolts from the remaining Iron Pegasus slamming into its shoulders, half bouncing off of armored plates of bone and scale and the other half driving deep into exposed flesh. The Linnorm didn't seem to notice them.

"Just as tough as the reports suggested," Starlight said, quietly. A second beam of dark magic lanced at her, her shield starting to flicker with the strain.

The Linnorm rumbled with annoyance and twisted its head, the beam cutting up into the rock above. Starlight teleported herself to the side as the rocks fell, dropping her shield in the process and wincing as her horn surged with pain, like it was being squeezed in a vice. A check with her hoof confirmed her fears. Black crystals were forming along it like salt crystallizing out of brine.

"I'm going to have to end this quickly before I'm completely cut off," Starlight said. A drip of water landed on her face and she looked up to see a patch of open sky and stormclouds.

"It shot right through to the outside!" She swore. "That was twenty-two meters of solid rock!"

The Linnorm followed her gaze, looking up at the brewing storm, and jumped for the hole. Starlight blasted it back towards the damaged support beams, the Linnorm' skull bouncing harshly off of the rock. It turned empty eye sockets to look at her, growling.

Before it could attack again, Starlight fired a bolt at the support beams around them, shattering the wood. The entire section of the mine started to cave in, rocks falling around them.

A shadow fell over her, and she looked up at the second Iron Pegasus unit, shielding her with its massive steel body. It grabbed her with both front hooves and threw her, Starlight flailing in the air until she landed, rolling, her eyes closed as he waited for the end.

The rocks fell with a final slam of stone against stone, the sound petering off until it was just a trickle of pebbles and sand coming to rest. Starlight opened her eyes. The Iron Pegasus had thrown her clear.

"Thanks," she said, quietly, looking at where it had fallen.

The machine made a low chiming sound of acknowledgment before going silent. Above them, in the red-hot edged skylight the linnorm had carved out, the storm broke. The rain fell on her, and the black crystals around her horn started to flake away.

Starlight smiled. "Well, that was fun!"

A dark form buzzed away from the collapsed mine, carrying a heavy duffel bag.

Cadance walked out of Day Court, hanging her head now that she was out of the public eye. In front of her subjects she had to keep up a brave face and keep the peace, but alone, she was free to surrender to her own sorrow. With Celestia leading from the front more often than not, Cadance was left to maintain appearances in Canterlot, which she would have called a thankless job if not for all the ponies thanking her for the work she was doing.

She was so busy staring at her hooves and walking without thinking about where she was going that she didn't notice the mare watching her until she spoke up.

"Cadance," said a voice that the Princess hadn't heard in more than a decade. She turned in alarm to look.

Sunset Shimmer was taller and leaner than she had been, the last time she'd seen her. She'd also aged surprisingly well. For a mare that should be pushing thirty, she looked like she was still a teenager.

There was an odd expression in her eyes that worried Cadance because she couldn't quite place it. She was used to seeing two expressions on Sunset's face and since this wasn't smug or angry it was totally unfamiliar. She hopped down from the open windowsill that she was standing in, like she'd flown in, or, more likely since she didn't have wings, teleported to.

The last time Cadance had seen her, Sunset had told her in no uncertain terms that they were enemies.

"I heard about what happened with Shining Armor," Sunset said. She frowned. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Cadance wasn't sure what was more shocking - that Sunset had reappeared, or that she apparently had some sympathy buried under all the crusted-on layers of spite and sarcasm.

"I-- You're back?" Cadance asked, not sure what to say. It was hard to get words out when some primal part of her wanted to turn heel and run.

"Celestia already knows," Sunset said, guessing Cadance's next question. "Don't worry. I'm not coming back as her student, or staying in the castle."

"Why are you here, then? What happened to you?" Cadance watched her move. Sunset got closer cautiously, stopping a few paces away when royal guards moved to try and cut her off.

"I just came to offer my condolences. We weren't ever friends, but..." She shrugged. "Eh. I know Sparkle's brother was special to you. She doesn't talk about it much but I think she's pretty messed up about it too."

Somehow, it felt like Sunset was being genuine. There really was a first time for everything. "Thank you," Cadance said, a smile blooming and her worry starting to fade.

"If you need to talk..." Sunset stopped herself, and laughed a little. "I'd probably be an awful shoulder to cry on, actually. But it's what you're supposed to say, isn't it?" She shook her head and turned back to the window, putting a hoof on the edge.

"I suppose it is," Cadance said. "But it's nice to know that other ponies are there for you, even if there's not really anything they can do to help."

"Do you remember what Celestia and I fought about, towards the end?" Sunset asked.

"She wanted you to make friends," Cadance said.

"Yeah. I was never good at that. I don't think she's very good at it, either. Celestia's good at being obeyed, and being a figurehead." Sunset frowned. "All I ever made were... enemies. Not even rivals. Well... maybe I've got one of those now." She shook her head. "I don't know. I came back to Equestria and the only ponies I know are you and Celestia. Maybe there are some maids or something that remember me, but I never even got their names."

"You've changed," Cadance said.

"More than you know." She smirked and looked back at Cadance. "It's funny. I guess old enemies are the same as old friends when you're the only ones who understand each other."

"We were never really enemies."

"You're right," Sunset admitted. "You were just..." She shrugged. "A symbol of everything going wrong with my life. I wanted to see you to, well... I guess I needed to know if I was still jealous. It's hard to keep hating you now that you've lost that perfect princess sheen."

Cadance hesitated, then smiled warmly, walking towards her. "It's never too late to start fixing things, you know. I don't have anything planned for the rest of the day, and a friend of mine recently reminded me I need to take more breaks."

Sunset raised her eyebrows, turning away from the window.

"Over a hundred ponies," Celestia said, flatly, looking at the casualty reports that had been sent to her. "This would never have happened if I was there."

"With all due respect ma'am," Raven, her personal assistant and, in this time of troubles, aide-de-camp, started. "You can't be everywhere. Defending Trottingham saved a lot of innocent lives. You made the right choice being there instead of being present for the dissection test at the facility."

"It doesn't excuse the incompetence," Celestia sighed and put the reports aside before she did something unseemly like setting them on fire from sheer frustration. "And we lost that entire facility."

"The Linnorm was stopped, though," Raven pointed out. "If we hadn't had somepony like Starlight Glimmer on-site..."

"And if luck wasn't on our side, the casualty reports would be an order of magnitude worse," Princess Celestia said. "We can't rely on that. Is there any word on what made the creature wake up? When we found it in the lake it had frozen completely solid."

"None yet, ma'am," Raven said. "The scientific and support staff were taking samples at the time and--" she shivered. "They were unable to evacuate. The ponies who would know why it woke up were the first victims of the event. I have a proposal from the Engineering Corps to do some prospective drilling to sink a new mineshaft to link up with the lower levels of the facility. The Lieutenant-General seems to think we could do it with only two dozen ponies and a few weeks, three months at worst."

"We don't have time to pull them off of the front," Celestia sighed. "Have the mine sealed permanently, and keep a small staff on-site until we're sure the Linnorm is entirely dead."

"Do you want me to send a report to Doctor Twilight Sparkle?"

"Hm?" Celestia looked up, surprised at the request.

"Forgive me if I misunderstood, your highness. I assumed that since she's the leading expert on Linnorm biology, inasmuch as there are experts, you might want her to be informed."

"I don't think there's any need," Celestia said. Her expression was dark as she looked at the photographs of the area, and the EIS report that had accompanied it. "I suspect she already knows more than we do."

Moondancer's pen (she couldn't stand quills, with the way they kept breaking, and had used pencils until she finally found a fountain pen that met her approval) scratched across the paper as she condensed the reports from the hospital staff into a usable summary for Doctor Sparkle.

Black hooves settled on her shoulders, and she felt a warm nuzzle from behind.

"I should have known that I'd find you working even at this hour," Kevin said. "It's a tragedy. Wouldn't you rather take a break and share a bottle of wine or two with somepony special?"

"That does sound nice," Moondancer admitted. "It's too bad you're not my type." She stopped writing but didn't make a motion to push Kevin away.

"I could be," Kevin pointed out.

"I've got my heart set on another," Moondancer said. "And I don't think she'd be happy to know that you're trying to bed her number one assistant."

"Ah, the tragedy of it all," Kevin sighed, pulling away and leaning on the wall, the black pony looking entirely too at ease. "I suppose I'll never be able to steal you away from Twilight."

"You know she prefers Doctor Sparkle," Moondancer corrected, fighting back a giggle.

"That's because she doesn't like getting too close to ponies," Kevin said. "I do wish you luck, though. Perhaps I can give you a few tips?" He leaned closer. "I've heard from a very reliable source that she loves butterscotch."

Moondancer laughed like it was a joke and very carefully filed that away for later, when she could look up some recipes. "Why are you really here, Kevin?"

"I can't just come down to the lab and spend some time with a few of my favorite ponies?" Kevin smiled broadly.

"I'd be tempted to believe you just so I could avoid worrying about it, but past experience has shown that you've always got an agenda." Moondancer adjusted her glasses. "Or have you slipped your mistress' chain?"

"Oh, no. You know how it is with royalty," Kevin said. "I have a little more leeway than most of her agents, but there are responsibilities that come with that trust."

"What kind of responsibilities?" Moondancer asked.

"I'd like to meet the ponies you've chosen," Kevin said. "Just a social call, really. Call it an informal evaluation after recent events. Don't worry! Doctor Sparkle would approve."

Sunset looked at the tea Cadance had made. It wasn't like the type Celestia favored, which tended to the floral and herbal with little that could actually be called tea.

"Powdered tea?" Sunset asked again, looking at the green stuff cautiously.

"I know it sounds a little strange," Cadance admitted.

"Don't tell me the war's so bad Celestia can't even get her favorite supplies in," Sunset quipped. She tried the tea. It had a strange, vegetal flavor, not really bitter but definitely with a taste of fresh leaves.

"I think there's enough tea in Canterlot castle alone to supply all of Equestria for a decade," Cadance said. "There's tea that's so old it puts wine to shame."

"You know, you handle things pretty well around here," Sunset said, changing the subject. "Did Sunbutt teach you to raise the sun yet?"

Cadance shook her head. "There hasn't been a need."

"I guess she wants you to take it slow. You've got forever to learn, after all." Sunset swirled the cup around, watching as bits of tea stuck to the cup like algae.

"Sunset, can I ask you..." Cadance trailed off for a moment. "What happened? Between you and Celestia? She wouldn't ever tell me."

"We fought," Sunset shrugged. "She fired me. I left."

"Left for where?" Cadance pressed. "The badlands? Griffonstone?"

"Much further away than that. You couldn't find it on a map. It..." Sunset tapped a hoof on the floor. "It was difficult. I had to start from scratch. I managed to survive without magic, in a place where all the rules are different..." She shook her head.

"Without magic?"

"Very far away," Sunset said, quietly.

"And you came back?"

"I'd have come back earlier but it took a while to figure passage out. Things don't... line up perfectly. Thirty moons here, a rotation around the sun there..." She shrugged.

"Around the sun?" Cadance blinked. That didn't make any sense at all.

"Don't ask."

Lightning Dust punched a training dummy, trying to take out some of her restless stress. She needed to move and do something, but she was being told to stand still. The dummy took the first hit well, but the second and third broke the frame inside it, and the fourth hit, a kick as Lightning Dust spun and bucked with lightning wreathing her hooves, set it on fire.

Fire alarms went off, and sprinklers drenched the small gym. Lightning Dust breathed heavily, the unexpected shower helping to cool her temper.

"That was a little much for an opponent that can't fight back," said a voice she didn't recognize. She looked up to see a black unicorn watching her with a wry grin of amusement. His horn lit up with green light, and the sprinklers turned off, the bell silencing, as he reset the alarm.

"Who the buck are you?" Lightning Dust asked, tossing her head to get her soaked bangs out of her eyes.

"I'm one of Doctor Sparkle's associates. Call me Kevin." He offered a hoof to shake.

"Kevin? That's a strange name." Lightning Dust shook his hoof and tried to get a look at his cutie mark. An emerald tracing of an eye within a triangle didn't offer any assistance with any meaning behind the odd name.

"It is," Kevin agreed. "But you know, I got some really good advice once from my mother - always be a little bit foreign, no matter where you are."

"That's some strange advice, too."

"Good advice, though. Doctor Sparkle's reports had a lot to say about you, but I'm much more impressed in person than I am with the numbers." Kevin circled her. "Raw statistics on muscle growth don't quite tell the tale. I'd love a chance to examine you in detail."

"Oh wow, wait, are you hitting on me?" Lightning Dust laughed.

"That depends, is it working?" Kevin raised an eyebrow, still smirking. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is getting a date with a cute mare these days. Work is always getting in the way. Perhaps I could treat you to dinner?"

"You're a brave little guy," Lightning Dust snorted.

"How about we bet on it?" Kevin asked. "There's a dry mat on the other side of the gym. First one on the ground loses?"

“Sorry, you’re not my type,” Dust shrugged, grabbing a towel and frowning when she found it was just as soaked as she was from the sprinklers. “Besides, I’m pretty sure I’d put you in the ground, not just on it.” She smirked. “I’m pretty strong, you know.”

“Ah well, can’t blame a stallion for trying.” He smiled and held up a bottle of juice. “Could I at least buy you a drink?”

Marble woke up slowly, her head pounding. She'd been having a horrible dream, the kind of nightmare where you couldn't even remember it in the morning, just the feeling of terror it left behind.

She opened her eyes with trepidation. That moment of uncertainty, half-dreaming and half-awake, unable to tell the night terror from reality, paralyzed her with indecision. There was that foalish desire to stay hidden, that staying still and pretending to be asleep would make the monsters go away.

“I can tell you’re awake,” somepony said.

Marble’s eyes snapped open. She was looking at an off-white ceiling, one she didn’t recognize. Her chest felt heavy. She looked for the source of the voice and found a purple mare sitting on a chair next to the window, reading using the light.

“You’re a lot of trouble,” the mare said. She turned the pages by hoof even though she was a unicorn. She looked up. “How much do you remember about what happened?”

“Mmm…” Marble looked down.

“Not very talkative,” the mare said, after a few silent seconds. “Fine. I’ll tell you what happened. You had a magic surge. A big one. Destroyed a lot of equipment and you almost killed me.”

Marble’s eyes went wide.

“Do you want the good news or bad news?” The unicorn asked. Marble froze, and after a few moments the unicorn continued without her input. “Bad news first, then. Your magical pathways were damaged. More accurately, you had new leylines forced into your body and then blown out with an overcharge of magical force. It’s actually quite interesting. It won’t interfere with your earth pony magic at all, but with no natural way to heal them, and the ambient magic leakage…” The unicorn paused and looked at her.

Marble was shivering and shaking with fear.

“Mm. It’s a bit advanced. Even most doctors wouldn’t understand what was wrong with you. Thaumobiology is a tricky subject. But you could say… it would be like having an open wound that wouldn’t heal. You’d eventually bleed out or succumb to infection without intervention.”

Marble gasped, pulling the covers over her head.

“There’s good news, though,” the unicorn continued. “Because of the nature of the accident I was able to treat it. You’ll be right as rain in…” she stopped, and Marble could almost hear her thinking. “...Mm. I don’t have a large enough sample size to be sure. A unicorn would take a few weeks to recover, but you’ve got an earth pony’s more naturally resilient magic, and then the thaumatic component of your biology is far greater than normal… a week at most.”

“I’m… okay?” Marble asked, quietly, whispering and lowering the scratchy hospital blanket.

“Better than okay,” the unicorn assured her. “But there are a few things you need to know. Like staying off a broken leg until it heals, you understand. Are you calm enough to pay attention?”

Marble nodded.

“Good. First, you’ll note bandages around your barrel. We had to perform surgery to help you. If you feel tightness in your chest, that’s from the Engine Heart we installed. It’s like an artificial wellspring. Having it in you is putting magic into your new unicorn leylines, and that’s the only way they’ll heal.”

Marble touched her chest, and aside from the bandages there was also something made out of dark metal, like a collar.

“That is a control yoke,” the unicorn noted. “It’s going to prevent any future magical surges. In theory.” She shrugged. “I had to hack it together. It’s actually a rejected part of the armored suit I was making, and creates a huge amount of resistance…” She sighed. “The point is, it’s like a cast for a broken bone, but for your magic. Don’t take it off.”

Marble nodded. “I-I’ll get hurt again if I do, won’t I?”

“Mm.” The unicorn made a noncommittal noise. “You’re also being transferred to my research facility. I’m going to make the best of a bad situation. Keep tabs on your recovery and run tests at the same time. Nothing stressful.”

“But, I- I only agreed to this because there was a reward and my family--” She shivered. “I need to... Mmm...”

“They’ll be given whatever money they need,” the unicorn shrugged. “I’ll see to it. You don’t want to go back until you’re healed and no longer a danger to them.”

Marble opened her mouth to disagree, but the flashes of memory she had, the power pouring through her, the hate, the rage, lashing out and destroying things…

She nodded.

“Good,” the unicorn said. “My name is Doctor Sparkle. I’m sure we’ll be…” she frowned, as if tasting something sour. “...colleagues.”

“So the recruitment went well?” Kevin asked.

Doctor Sparkle grunted as the elevator descended. It was a long way down, the trip taking almost ten minutes to descend into the rock of the Canterhorn.

“Well enough,” she eventually admitted. “She’s not enthusiastic. I don’t know if she’ll fight.”

“And you still made her a part of this little… operation?” Kevin raised an eyebrow, leaning casually against the steel wall.

“After that magical surge…” Twilight gave a lopsided grin like a predator, turning to Kevin. “You should have seen it. Her compatibility must be off the charts, even if she’s so timid she can barely speak a word without half an hour to prepare herself!”

“I did read the report,” Kevin said. “Are you sure you want her involved? I mean it’s one thing for there to be mood swings - we knew that was going to happen. But full-on possession?”

“Look at it another way,” Sparkle offered. “If it really is possession, she’ll need less training, and I don’t have to worry about her loyalties to Celestia.”

Kevin laughed. “You do have a way of turning lemons into lemonade.”

The elevator stopped with a lurch. The doors opened to a corridor only a few paces long, ending in a security door covered in runes and bands of cold iron and stronger materials, enough that it could survive even an alicorn-level attempt to blast through it.

From either side.

Hopefully.

Doctor Sparkle stepped up to the door. Two waves of magic washed through the room, the first a powerful effect meant to dispel active spells and disguises, the second a scrying spell following so closely on the first spell’s heels that no one would be able to recast spells. In theory.

She was dimly aware of a burst of green light behind her and to her left, but ignored it. The door slid open, bands of metal sliding in different directions like a puzzle-knot unraveling itself.

Within, a cavern stretched in every direction farther than the light from the open door carried. The only lights within it were spotlights, focused on the single item secured within the vault.

“I don’t see any damage to the containment,” Kevin noted, stepping towards the room’s focus.

“Double check it,” Sparkle ordered. “Do a full magical sweep. We can’t afford to have her get loose. We expected psychic contamination and possible possession, but we need to make sure it isn’t reflected here.”

Kevin circled the item, running a hoof along the lumpy, organic shape, the outer surface somewhere between wax and steel in texture.

“It’s possible there are weaknesses that aren’t going to show up,” Kevin said, stepping away. “But I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”

“Mm. Arrange for another layer,” Sparkle said. “I don’t trust it. She can be patient. The best defense against a smart opponent is to change the game faster than they can move.”

She looked through the transparent side of the cocoon at the inhabitant, still sleeping thanks to the sedatives and magical dampeners flowing through the green fluid around her.

“She spent a thousand years on the moon,” Sparkle muttered. “I doubt she’ll be happy about being locked up again already.”

Author's Note

ENGINE HEART A-00

Main casing composition: Forged high-strength copper alloy, similar properties to standard alchemy alloys used to avoid magical cross-contamination.

Base core: Corundum, natural, no visible flaws.

Test result: Casing breached during initial start-up. Residuum in debris indicates connection to aetherial plane prior to equipment failure.

ENGINE HEART A-01

Main casing composition: Reinforced copper casing with additional steel bands.

Base core: Corundum, natural, no visible flaws.

Test result: Casing degrades quickly. Equipment shut down before failure. Inner layer of casing is being subjected to extreme thaumatic stress. Despite its use in alchemy, the copper alloy is still reactive at non-trivial thaumatic pressure.

ENGINE HEART A-02

Main casing composition: Reinforced copper casing. Innermost layer replaced with Lunar Titanium. (Thank you to our friends at the Tabitha base - TS)

Base core: Same gem as test A-01.

Test result: Lunar Titanium acting as thaumatic distortion blanket. Peak output unsteady, issues related to gem quality. Acceptable as a bench model. Test successful.

The Shooting Star She Saw

“What’s her condition?” Doctor Sparkle asked, her voice muffled by the surgical mask.

“Her heart rhythm is irregular, and we’re detecting spikes in her thaumatic field,” Sunburst said.

“Hm.” Sparkle touched Lightning Dust’s chest with her hoof. The pegasus was covered in burns. Parts of her armor were still attached, the sensors integrated into it plugged into the crystal displays around the operating theatre. A shield spell cut them off from outside interference, and the air was heavy with ozone - a side-effect of the decontamination spells.

“That scar never quite went away,” Sunburst noted. “It’s where the Linnorm that invaded the lab stabbed her.”

“She didn’t have the Engine Heart in her body yet,” Sparkle noted. “She was just running the armor with external magical tanks. Merely a mortal, and the wound was nearly mortal as well.”

“Do you think it’s related?”

“The Linnorm damaged her heart. Not enough to kill her outright, at least right away, but…” Doctor Sparkle sighed. “You have a degree in thaumobiology. I don’t need to explain it to you. With the higher intrinsic magical field from the Engine Heart, her body was simply ignoring her biology. It’s the same reason alicorns are immortal.”

“It makes sense. The thaumatic field spikes and heart rhythm are definitely linked,” Sunburst said. “Look.” He pointed to a shimmering display. “Every time her magic field drops, her heart spasms.”

“We’ll need to open her up and repair whatever damage was done,” Sparkle said. “I can’t afford to lose her. I think we can make some improvements to the prototype while we have her open. We might as well use the opportunity.” The Doctor reached for a scalpel with her hoof.

“Hold on,” Sunburst said, watching the crystal display. “Something’s-- she’s flatlining!”

Alarms sounded as Lightning Dust’s vitals started to drop, damaged parts of the armor sparking, magical energy starting to surge.

“It’s a flare,” Sparkle said, She swore under her breath. “Hit her with a stun bolt!”

“But if we actively cast spells in here--”

“If she dies on the table it won’t matter if we maintained a cleanroom environment or not! We need to shock her heart into beating! Do it!”

Lightning Dust groaned, her head pounding. The wind rushed around her, a trace of wispy cloud buffeting her to the side, like falling through a sheet of gauze.

Falling?

Her eyes snapped open, wings flaring on instinct, the ground a blur from speed and shock, approaching quickly - too quickly. Mud and water rushed up towards her, even as she fought to slow herself. It wasn’t enough, and she hit the ground, tumbling head over hooves and smashing into and through a wall before she came to a splashing halt.

“What in Tartarus happened?” Dust groaned, getting up and shaking herself off.

A familiar weight was settled around her body, and she looked at her hooves. She was still wearing her armor, and it seemed intact, if filthy.

“Last thing I remember, I was scouting out some monster. Then…” She hesitated, looking around. “Well, I sure wasn’t here.”

Something was familiar, but it wasn’t until she stepped into the street, muddy, lukewarm river water splashing around her hooves, that she realized why it was tickling her memories.

“This is the Prench Quarter!” Dust looked up and down the streets. “How the feathering buck did I get to Neigh Orleans?”

The ground rumbled under her. Dust could feel it, faintly, the water and mud making it difficult for her rudimentary earth pony senses to focus on the cause, like trying to peer through smoke and heat haze to see something on the other side of a bonfire. But she had something bigger to worry about.

“And everypony’s gone,” she muttered. She stopped and tapped the radio in her helmet. “Can anypony hear me?” She asked. The line was silent, aside from a faint static, getting worse when she tried to transmit.

Dust growled, turning it off.

“Figures. Nothing ever works when you really need it. Doc Sparkle might be smart but some things never change.”

The street ahead was blocked by a fallen building, the bricks crumbling in the damp heat. Dust could feel the magic here, so thick it was like walking at the bottom of a lake. She’d felt it before, but not as extreme. It happened when the weather was overworked, saturated with pegasus magic until it was completely untameable.

“There’s no way it could get this bad. I was here just a couple weeks ago and it was fine.” She paused. “Okay, it was half-flooded, but that's not really that weird when you build a city below sea level. It definitely didn't look this bad.”

Dust turned around, looking through the streets. It wasn’t quiet - the whole city rumbled like it was on the edge of a thunderstorm. Thick layers of clouds obscured the sky, and an odd half-light filtered through.

She spread her wings, then stopped, hesitating. Something bad had happened here. Maybe being in the sky and visible wasn’t a great plan for right now. Dust turned and started walking, ducking into a back alley. She couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched.

“Not everypony would leave the city,” she mumbled to herself. “Even when the rainy season hit and whole blocks went underwater, some ponies just started making trips to the marketplace in boats and putting an extra floor on their houses like a discount Veneighs.”

The alleyway led her towards higher ground, the ankle-deep river water turning to puddles and finally actually dry land.

“That’s a little better,” she mumbled.

Something crunched under her hooves. Lightning Dust looked down and immediately took a step back. It was a bone, long and dry and filthy, and what worried her the most was the rotting hoof lying next to it. In the protected alleyway she could just make out a faded blotch where, once, there had been a dark stain splashed across the wall and cobblestones.

“And that’s somepony’s leg,” she said. “Okay.” Something fluttering caught her eye, and Lightning Dust stepped over the bones to pick up the faded, dirty newspaper, most of it rotten from exposure to weather.

She wasn’t usually one for reading, but the headline caught her attention.

'Manehattan Lost'

Under it was a picture of… it took her a few moments to really figure it out. Between the condition of the paper and the subject matter, it didn’t click until she spotted the familiar shape of the Brookside Bridge.

The bridge ended abruptly, one side shorn off and hanging over the water. It was too small to tell for sure but the metal looked like it was sagging and distorted by some great heat. Where the island of Manehattan had been was just open water.

“What in Tartarus…” Dust whispered. “What the buck did I miss?”

And then she saw the date. October 23rd, 1017. Over a decade since the last thing she remembered and the paper was likely far older than that. It must have sat out for years or decades to get as brittle and faded from the sun as it was.

She was so distracted by the implications that she completely missed the surge of movement from above her until it was too late.

Something hit her with the force of a catapult. If Lightning Dust had been a normal pegasus, she’d have been killed instantly on impact. If she’d just been a tough military mare, she’d have bled out from internal injuries after being flung through the brick wall next to her and into the room beyond. Even if she’d been a particularly tough earth pony with a decent suit of combat armor, the roof collapsing on top of her would have crushed and suffocated her.

Before the dust even settled, she smashed upwards through the rubble like she was just breaking through a light cloud cover, angry and looking for something to take it out on.

“I told you it would take more than one shot,” said a voice with as much inflection as a brick, the speaker obscured by the dust rising from the rapidly crumbling building.

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered a second, raspy voice. “I didn’t think that old gear would hold up. You can have dibs on her wings.”

“Get out here so I can kick your ass!” Dust yelled, hovering and trying to pinpoint her attackers. Something about the voices seemed familiar.

“No way,” the raspy voice said. The wind spiraled out in a short-lived windstorm from the center of the dust cloud, the edges sparking with green embers. Dust shielded her eyes and felt her stomach twist as she saw the two ponies that were revealed.

“I’m also surprised,” Maud noted. At least Dust assumed it was Maud. The gray pony had changed. She was wrapped in bulky armor, layered in red and yellow plates that were tarnished and chipped, looking half-finished. Wires and bolts were left exposed along it, a flickering glow coming faintly from within. A withered wing twitched on one side of her body, too small for her frame, like a foal’s.

“How’d you survive the Eclipse, Dust? I heard from a pretty reliable source you were gone for good,” Rainbow Dash said. The pegasus looked unhinged, wearing purple and black armor with yellow lightning bolts crudely painted on like the old Wonderbolts uniforms they’d worn before the war. A spike of metal erupted from her forehead like a horrific shrapnel wound, too far off to one side to look like a unicorn’s horn, though a green aura of magic surrounded it, pulsing like the beating of a heart.

“I’m pretty sure at this point that the universe just hates me,” Lightning Dust muttered.

“She’s probably one of the fakes,” Maud said. “You know they like to impersonate ponies.”

Dash snorted, flapping her wings. The metal one was… different than Dust remembered. It looked like the prosthetic had grown, as impossible as that should have been, like the steel had warped and twisted along with the pony wearing it.

“They eat love, Maud,” Dash said. “The only thing I love about finding her is that I finally get to settle an old score.”

“I guess you’re right,” Maud agreed. “I still want her wings though.” She looked at the small one at her side. “These didn’t work out.”

Dust almost dropped out of the sky when Maud grabbed the tiny, malformed limb in her teeth and tore it free, tossing it aside.

“What the buck?!” Dust gasped. It was the only reason Dash got a drop on her. The rainbow-maned mare had always been just a little slower, a little more careful. But with Dust distracted, that edge disintegrated. Dash slammed into her, wrapping her hooves around Dust and grinning as she pulled her out of the air, flying her down into the street to slam her into the pavement hard enough to break bone.

Dash’s metal wing twisted, the feathers wrapping around each other, forming into a thin, deadly spike. It came down like a scorpion tail, Dust kicking and twisting, throwing her aim off enough that it went into the ground instead of her head.

“Hold still and I’ll kill you quickly,” Dash said, trying to pin her down. Her horn flared with light, and Dust felt something clamp down around her neck like a firey claw. “I’m getting pretty good with this magic stuff.”

“You know, we’ve done this dance before,” Dust said, spitting her words out as she struggled against the crude spell. “I remember that the last time we ran into each other in this town I kicked both of your flanks.”

“Shut up,” Dash said, her eyes narrowing. Dust glared into them. There was something wrong with her eyes. The pupils. They were slit like a cat’s.

“And in the end, you didn’t just lose,” Dust continued. “You were crying.”

“Shut up!” Dash yelled, the spell fading as she lost concentration.

“Like a mule!” Dust screamed. Dash roared and drove her wing-spike down. Dust was faster. She grabbed Dash’s right forehoof and twisted, something under the skin snapping like piano wire. The pegasus howled and tried to flap her wings instinctively, but with one wing twisted into a weapon, she ended up flinging herself to the side from the unbalanced thrust.

“Hah!” Dust said, hopping to her feet. “You never could take critic--”

Dust was cut off as a torrent of gravel and wind slammed into her, paint peeling from her armor as she was buffeted.

“Guess I have to take care of things like always,” Maud said. She reared up and her forehooves shot out, armor stretching at the joints into steel tentacles.

“The feathering--” Dust gasped as she was wrapped up in an embrace like twin pythons, her ribs creaking. “Your legs--”

“I had them replaced,” Maud said. “If you want to go to that place, you need to be strong.” She squeezed harder, and Dust screamed, half in pain and half in frustration. “You need the best parts, and more magic. Always more and more.”

With a twist, Maud sent Dust flying, her extended arms snapping back into place. The pegasus hit a flagpole, the tatters of the Equestrian flag still flying at half-mast, and fell to the ground stunned, the metal pole having nearly shattered her spine.

“I’ll make it quick,” Maud said. “If you don’t struggle I’ll make sure you can walk away.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Dust groaned, rolling onto her hooves and standing. “But I’ve got a better deal for you.”

“What’s that?” Maud asked, hesitating.

Dust shot across the space between them faster than the eye could follow, her earth pony strength launching her into the air and pegasus magic accelerating her further, like a two-stage rocket. Flying into Maud was like running into a mountain.

Maud’s hooves peeled from the street reluctantly, and Dust could feel it - she was channeling pegasus magic in reverse, trying to anchor herself instead of taking to the air.

With no wings, the second she was airborne Maud started to panic, the airflow around her turning into confused turbulence.

“Let her go!” Dash yelled, closing from behind. Dust smirked and looked back at her, then up to the clouds.

“Sure! You take her!” She spun and flung Maud down, kicking off her to get to the stormy layer of gray. When she hit it, she could feel the potential, the tingle around her as she passed through the vapor.

And then she turned and reached for the sound barrier. It used to be hard. It had once been impossible. But with the magic flowing through her, it was foal’s play. She flashed past the tumbling Maud and Rainbow Dash, her wake buffeting them, a trail of vapor and sparks behind her.

“Try this one on for size, Dash!” Dust yelled, not that the rainbow-maned pegasus could hear her over the sonic boom.

Lightning Dust reached her magic back along the trail she’d blazed down from the clouds, and the storm answered. A bolt slammed down along the ionized path she’d created, hitting Dash and Maud on its way to the ground.

Dust watched them fall in a smoking heap, smirking.

“Still got it,” she said, posing. Not that anypony was there to see her. She hoped nopony was there to see her if they were all going to be as friendly as Dash and Maud. Dust looked up at the sky, a patch of clouds slowly clearing where she’d slammed through the cloud cover at supersonic speeds.

Her eyes went wide.

The sun and moon were both in the sky. Or at least most of them. They were broken, shattered and cracked and hanging in the sky like corpses.

“This might be above my paygrade,” Dust whispered.

“Wake up,” Dust growled, kicking Dash under the chin to wake her up. She realized a moment later that inflicting head trauma was possibly counterproductive to getting coherent answers, but luckily the cyan pegasus stirred, slowly coming around.

“Guess it wasn’t a nightmare after all,” Dash muttered. “I really did lose again.”

“Yeah, that’s the sad face of reality,” Dust snorted. “Now tell me what the buck happened! Why is the feathering sun broken? Why the buck are you two…” she huffed. “Enhanced. Whatever it is that Doctor Sparkle calls it.”

“What? Are you just playing stupid?” Dash asked, weakly, surprised. "Because I already thought you were stupid, so it's working really well."

“Did Sombra do all this?” Dust asked. “Did we lose the war?”

“Sombra?” Dash started laughing. “You really-- you don’t know?”

“I want answers,” Dust said, kicking her again. Dash quieted, but couldn’t stop giggling, even after taking a blow hard enough to make her spit out a broken tooth.

“If you really want answers, go to Canterlot,” Dash said. “You’re probably strong enough to get there.” Dash looked around and spotted Maud, either unconscious or dead, not far from her. “Hey, before you go, could you just push her a little closer?”

“Huh?” Dust glanced over at the earth pony.

“I think my back legs are broken, and if I can get hers before she wakes up--” Dash started. Dust kicked her again, hard enough to knock her out.

Dust took to the air, flying just below the layer of clouds. It would have been safer to stay above it, but she couldn’t bear to look at that broken sky. It shouldn’t have been possible.

“Did something happen to Celestia?” Dust wondered. It was the only explanation. It was hard to imagine anything could actually kill the immortal princess, but it was hard to imagine anything that could turn the entire world into a nightmare, either.

The buildings ahead of her were wrong, in a way Dust couldn’t figure out for a moment, the wood and brick abruptly turning gray in a wide area like some huge can of paint had been spilled from above, enough to coat entire city blocks in a layer of flat color.

It wasn’t until she spotted the ponies in the street, the same color as everything else, that Dust understood. It was all stone. An entire neighborhood, ponies and pets and plants and even the road and buildings, all of it had been turned into smooth marble.

“A cockatrice couldn’t do that,” Dust whispered. She couldn’t imagine anything that could. All the ponies, frozen like (very much like) statues, were staring in one direction. What had they seen, just before the end? What doom had caught them, too quickly for them to panic, but not so slow that they didn’t see it coming?

Dust flew on faster, towards a distant glow. There had to be something. Living ponies. Sane ones. Neigh Orleans might have been a disaster zone, but no matter how bad the war had gotten, something would have survived.

The sky cleared above her as she neared the glow, revealing a twisted night sky, swirls of black and misshapen stars. There were too many stars, too bright and too close, some shining enough to show as disks instead of points of light.

She passed over a lake, and the source of the glow. A huge chunk of stone, a mountain torn free and glimmering with silvery light, the edge slightly curved like a fraction of a broken sphere.

It was part of the moon.

“This is the end of the world, isn’t it?” Dust whispered.

Canterlot wasn’t any better. Half of the city wasn’t even there anymore, the foundations torn away from the mountain, the Canterhorn surrounded by a wide field of rubble. A few streets and neighborhoods stubbornly clung on, all centered around a single, huge building.

The Castle. Despite the destruction all around it, it still stood. The white walls looked untouched. Dust had half-expected the castle to be a ruin, but when she landed in the courtyard it was pristine. There wasn’t even dirt, like everything had been cleaned only moments ago by unseen maids. Maybe it meant somepony was expecting her.

Sets of armor were lying in front of the doors, polished and glittering in the half-light. Spears lay next to them. Dust walked past them, expecting to find bones among the metal plates, but they were empty. She pushed open the front doors.

A shirt and jacket were crumpled up on the floor like somepony had gotten undressed right there. Dust glanced down at it, then carefully around the hall. More empty suits of armor. A dress lying on a chair.

It was like all the ponies had vanished where they stood. Somehow it was worse than the entire neighborhood of petrified ponies she’d found.

She gingerly stepped over the clothing, careful not to disturb it. It was too much like somepony’s corpse. Dust wasn’t sure she wanted to know what had happened here.

Something drifted across her vision, a mote of green light, falling like snow. Dust looked up at the sky, where black clouds were starting to swirl in a slow, threatening pattern, less like a tornado and more like a hurricane, a calm center around almost impossible power. Lightning crackled between the clouds, the bolts hanging just a little too long, shattering into those motes instead of vanishing.

“What happened?” Dust demanded, of the empty palace. “I’m here! They told me I’d find answers here!”

She only half expected an answer and was almost caught off-guard when the ground shook slightly, like the castle was about to succumb to whatever plunged the rest of the city down the mountain. Instead, the heavy front doors opened, sparks flying as broken hinges were forced into motion.

“You’ve come such a long, long way,” said a voice from within, echoing too much in the huge empty halls for Dust to place the speaker. “Longer than you know.”

“Are you going to explain things or just say cryptic bull and waste my time?” Dust demanded, stomping towards the doors, ready to take to the air if it was a trap.

“I’ve been accused of being quite indirect. Come to the throne room and we’ll talk. I don’t intend to attack you. You no longer have anything I want.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dust asked, but the voice was silent on the matter. Thankfully, the pegasus did know the way to the throne room. After all, she’d faced a court-martial there.

Dust could still remember it. Being half-dragged along these halls in chains. The way the Royal Guards had glared at her. It had all seemed like a giant nightmare. She remembered the step up before the doors, this time. When she’d been going to her trial, she’d been so disoriented by the iron chains and the wing bindings they’d slapped on her that she hadn’t seen it before going face-first into the white marble floor.

She hesitated with one hoof on the innermost doors. Last time these had been opened for her, and Celestia had glared down at her. It had been a short trial. There were no arguments, no appeals. The Princess had just dispensed justice, too busy with winning a war to care about the truth.

Dust wondered if she could face that again.

Something in her chest flared with warmth, filling her with confidence and waking her out of her daydream. She touched the scar on her sternum, or at least her armored chest over it.

“Never again,” Dust muttered, like a distant voice was telling her what to say. “I have the power to make her listen this time. I’m not just one of her little ponies.”

She punched the door, slamming it open.

“Right!” Dust yelled. “I want some answers, Princess Celes…” Her anger drained as she saw the mare on the throne.

“Not quite,” said the purple mare. She was easily as tall as Celestia, but the similarities ended there. Her mane flowed around her in the same colors as the broken sky above, trailing motes of green magic as it moved. Instead of simple regalia, she wore dark armor, not so different from Dust’s, but even sleeker, pulsing veins of light covering it, conveying waves of magic from somewhere within. Her wings flared out as she stood, looming over Lightning Dust with an aura of power that nearly had the pegasus kneel on the spot.

“Doctor Sparkle?” Dust whispered.

“Twilight is fine,” Sparkle said. Dust couldn’t help but glance at her cutie mark, half-expecting it to be a broken sun and moon. Instead, it was a six-pointed star. "We're friends, after all."

“How-- what--?!” Dust swallowed, trying to figure out where to even start.

“Three questions,” Twilight said, raising a hoof. “But I’ll give you that first one for free.”

“Only three questions? I mean-- buck!”

Twilight laughed. “That always happens. I won’t count that either.”

“Fine,” Dust took a deep breath, thinking. She could just beat more answers out of the mare later. Probably.

“I wouldn’t advise it,” Sparkle said, casually reading her mind.

Dust swallowed. “What happened to Equestria?”

“That question is a little too broad. In a general sense, though, it’s gone.”

“Did we lose the war?”

Sparkle’s gaze became calculating. “Oh no. We won. And it was glorious. A little close at the end, but I knew everything would work out.”

“Then… Darnit, I wish Sunset was here. The mule is annoying but she’d know the right questions to ask.” Dust took a deep breath. “Who caused all this? Who destroyed the world? Was it you?”

Twilight smiled.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Dust asked, her coat bristling.

“You already know it wasn’t. You can feel it, can’t you?” Sparkle looked up towards the gathering storm. “It’s all so beautiful.”

The windows, still unbroken, glared with white light as lightning crashed down around the palace. Dust could feel her feathers tingle. The metal heart in her chest vibrated, like a tuning fork. Resonating.

“Harmony,” Twilight said. “Three hearts beating as one.”

“I--I don’t--” Dust gasped, clutching her chest as the feeling redoubled.

“It’s time for you to go back,” Twilight said, stepping down towards Dust. The pegasus cringed as she realized just how much bigger the alicorn was. “You don’t belong here.”

Twilight’s horn flared with pink light.

Dust gasped, her chest feeling like it was on fire. Something was beeping. She started to struggle, her wings and legs feeling like the strength had drained out of them. A bright light was in her face, blinding her.

“She’s awake.”

“At least the sedatives kept her out until we were done,” a grumpy voice mumbled. The light was eclipsed by a head. Doctor Sparkle, wearing glasses and scrubs and looking annoyed. She pulled the mask down with her hoof.

“Where…” Dust started, her mouth dry.

“Your heart stopped,” Sparkle said. “You’re fine now. You can thank me later.”

“My heart?” Dust mumbled. “Then I wasn’t in Canterlot?”

Sparkle snorted. “The only place you’ve been is my operating theatre. Rest. That’s an order.”

Dust nodded and closed her eyes, drifting back into a drug-induced sleep.

“A hallucination?” Dust asked, a few hours later. Most ponies would need longer to recover after open-heart surgery but she was stubborn enough that Sparkle was trying to accommodate her and have a chat now in the hopes that it’d keep the pegasus from doing anything stupid and hurt herself without adult supervision.

“A lot of ponies have near-death experiences,” Sparkle shrugged. “You certainly weren’t in some dark future. You flatlined for almost a full minute on the table. It probably happened then. The sensation of falling, dreaming of familiar places, the dream-logic of a broken world. I'm glad to know you look up to me enough to imagine I could take over for Celestia, though. Very flattering.”

“And I still came back?”

“You’re halfway immortal,” Sparkle scoffed. “If you couldn’t come back from a little thing like cardiac arrest it would be embarrassing.”

“The things I saw, though--”

“It was all in your head,” Sparkle repeated. “At least in your fantasies I get to be a princess. Complete with cutie mark.” She looked at her own blank flank. “Hmph.”

“It was just so real…”

“It would never happen,” Sparkle reassured her. “I promise.” She paused, then held out a hoof. “Do you know what the original purpose of this project was?”

Dust shook her head.

“Originally, we were developing technology to help disabled ponies. Pegasi with missing wings like your friend Rainbow Dash, unicorns with broken horns. That’s what this is all about. Helping ponies. And if we can help them regain what they’ve lost, we can make them better than before. Look at how strong you are! Sunset can fly! Marble can cast spells! The world is on the cusp of changing. You know it, deep down. You’re worried about what it’s going to look like. Ponies are afraid of change. I don’t blame you. But it won’t be Armageddon. It’s going to be... beautiful.”

Dust was silent for a few moments. “You rehearsed that,” she said, with a wry grin.

Sparkle returned it. “I’ve had a lot of grant meetings over the years.”

“She’s calmed down,” Doctor Sparkle said, as she walked alongside Moondancer, her assistant helpfully carrying several folders and a cup of tea, pressing it to Sparkle’s lips for her with her magical aura so they could drink and walk. Sparkle motioned with her hoof to take it away after a few sips.

“Is it possible there’s any merit to what she said?” Moondancer flipped open one of the folders. “There were some very unusual field spikes.”

“Normally I’d dismiss it out of hand,” Sparkle said. “But there was one thing she mentioned… you have the classified report from Cloudsdale that I pulled, yes?”

“Yes, but it’s two decades old,” Moondancer said, shuffling manilla folders around to find the lightly-yellowed dossier. “She said she went to the future.”

“Mm. Time is a funny thing.” Sparkle nodded to it, and Moondancer opened it. “This report was almost impossible to get. Even the Court had trouble getting it out of the archives undetected. Take a look at Photograph H.”

Moondancer found the labeled picture. “It’s a blurry photo of…” She hesitated. “It’s hard to make out, but--”

“An alicorn,” Sparkle said. “In Cloudsdale, twenty years ago. One nopony had ever seen before or since. Unfortunately, none of the photos are terribly clear - most are incidental. But in that one, you can clearly see the mare’s cutie mark.”

“A six-pointed star,” Moondancer said, quietly.

“Just like what Lightning Dust described,” Sparkle smiled. She looked over at the folder. The picture had been taken from a distance, the photographer’s hooves had been shaky. But even so, the alicorn in the photo looked like nothing quite so much as Twilight Sparkle.

Author's Note

EIS Incident Report CLD079

EVENT SKYSHOCK AURORA

This is an ALL ASSETS IMPERATIVE

As of 1300 a RED CLOCKTOWER EVENT was detected in the operational area. No elements on site for initiating event. Remote element SCRY OVERSIGHT determined RED CLOCKTOWER EVENT was ANTICLOCK TRAVEL.

Element INVICTUS arrived 1310. INVICTUS reports no contact.

EIS dispatches RRT-12 WINDERS AND MINDERS for cleanup and civilian debriefing.

Civilian debriefing indicates unknown actors in RED CLOCKTOWER EVENT.

Subject 1: Unicorn. Significant magical strength. Name unknown. No photo available.

Subject 2: Alicorn. Name unknown. See attached file photo.

S1 and S2 arrived via ANTICLOCK TRAVEL. Purpose unknown. No witnesses had direct contact with S1 or S2. RED CLOCKTOWER EVENT ended after S1 and S2 made contact.

Under SKYSHOCK directive, all information about Subject 2 redacted from public reports.

Recommendation of EIS under SKYSHOCK protocols: RRT-12 is to use any necessary means to prevent witnesses of RED CLOCKTOWER EVENT from reporting events.

Beyond Her Heart

“I think the most surprising thing is that you couldn’t find a better date than me,” Sunset said, smirking at Cadance. “Don’t get me wrong -- I know I look good in red, but you could have asked anypony and they’d say yes just to get a chance to spend time with you.”

Cadance smiled faintly. “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” She asked. Her voice was barely audible over the crowd. “You know the one thing I never wanted was to be a, a trophy for some stallion or mare to put on their shelf.”

“I know.” Sunset put a hoof on her shoulder. “But I am flattered. I don’t get invited to a lot of social events. Even if this is kind of, um, a depressing one.” She looked around. The castle garden was full of ponies, a mix of nobility and high-ranking military. It was one of the many events that had been organized out of a necessity to try and foster harmony in Equestria from the top down.

"Thank Ensign Alias. She suggested I bring you along."

Sunset shrugged. "Never heard of her. Guess it just means she's one of my loyal fans."

This event’s excuse was a memorial for Shining Armor, dedicating a military airship in his name. The vessel in question was anchored behind the palace, a sleek shape hanging under an armored gasbag. Gilded decor and alabaster armor plates couldn’t disguise the purely military lines of the vessel. Purple banners emblazoned with Shining Armor’s cutie mark hung from the deck just below the flag of Equestria.

There was a sound like ringing glass as a pony in an elaborate military dress uniform stepped onto the platform at the bow of the ship. The crowd quieted as he stepped up to the podium. Cadance nodded to Sunset and walked up to take her place at the podium, shaking the aging admiral's hoof before turning to the crowd, glancing down at the notes that had been left for her.

"Everypony, thank you for coming. There have been many ships launched without ceremony in this time of war, and many brave heroes serve on ships whose only official name is a number written in a ledger. This ship's keep was laid down on the day my own hero, a stallion who guarded me for years, lost his life."

Cadance took a deep, shuddering breath, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Over the last five years we've all lost somepony or something to the war. Maybe it was a home, or a family member, or a friend. The important thing for all of us is to remember the things we cherish and gain strength from them. I won't get to see my love again, but his bravery lives on in everypony who knew him"

Cadance stepped away from the podium and accepted a bottle of champaign from the senior admiral.

“I dedicate this ship as the Shining Armor. May it continue to inspire us with his honor, his sacrifice, and the legacy he left behind in those he protected.” Cadance broke the bottle on the bow of the ship.

The crowd applauded, and Cadance took her bows before returning to where Sunset stood, most of the crowd giving her a wide berth.

“Do you think we could go for a walk?” she asked, weakly. Cadance’s hoof shook slightly when she took a glass from a passing waiter, the smile she gave him not reaching her eyes. “I didn’t think I’d still be this fragile about…”

“Yeah,” Sunset said. She grabbed Cadance’s glass with her magic and, after a moment, a tray of the bite-sized pastries she’d been nibbling at, then led her away from the crowd. Some of the hangers-on that tried to follow found themselves walking into a wall of teal magic as Sunset cut off the pursuit.

The two spent a few minutes walking in silence. Mostly silence. Sunset took a few more bites of the pastries.

“What are in those?” Cadance asked.

“I think it’s smoked salmon and herb cream cheese,” Sunset said. “It’s funny, I didn’t like this stuff before. I don’t know when my palette changed.”

“Most ponies don’t,” Cadance sighed. “My parents were fisherponies. We mostly sold to griffons and pegasi.”

“That probably explains it. Or… well, it’s not like I can order a hamburger and find out about that.” She shrugged.

“A hamburger? Like eating pigs?”

“There’s no ham in--” Sunset sighed. “It’s not important. You just miss things when you travel.” She offered one of them to Cadance. “Here. Try one. They’re good.”

“I don’t feel much like eating, but thank you.” Cadance stopped, looking up as the Shining Armor passed between them and the morning sun. “Celestia told me you did some terrible things.”

“Trying to kill my appetite?” Sunset asked. Cadance started to apologize, and Sunset waved her off. “She’s right. I have done awful things. I could make a list of them. All the way from being petty and stupid to getting ponies killed.”

“Have you hurt ponies?” Cadance asked, quietly.

“Yes,” Sunset said, without hesitation. “I’ve even had to kill one or two. Some of them didn’t deserve it. But I had to do it, and I’d do it again. I’ve been fighting for survival.”

“Even in Manehattan? That was survival?”

Sunset put the tray down on a bench and drank her glass of wine, tossing the empty glass into the bushes and not caring if it broke. “Celestia has the keys to immortality and she refuses to share them. That’s the same as killing ponies, as far as I’m concerned.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do!” Sunset snapped. “I saw it, before I was--” She took a deep breath. “Before I left. You weren’t born an alicorn. I don’t think Celestia was, either. She could have turned me into an alicorn and she didn’t. She refused.”

“She didn’t turn me into an alicorn. It happened after I defeated--”

“I know. I studied it extensively,” Sunset said. “What happened to you was luck. Beautiful luck.” Sunset smiled. “One pony in… how long? A thousand years? More?” Her smiled faded. “Think about what the world would be like if Star Swirl was still around, or General Hurricane.” She looked up at the hovering airship as it slowly circled the palace. “Or Shining Armor.”

“That’s not fair,” Cadance whispered, rubbing her eyes.

“No, it isn’t,” Sunset sighed. “Sorry.”

“If you keep apologizing ponies are going to say you’re going soft,” Cadance joked, her eyes still teary.

“Maybe I am,” Sunset said. “I think I’m even starting to get friends, even if they are jerks.” She laughed. “I’m not going to stop. I’ll get what I deserve, one way or the other.”

“How are the readings?” Doctor Sparkle asked, looking through the armored glass at the dark casing inside the test chamber. A knot of technology and magic sat there, curled up in a spiked ring somewhere between a twisted donut and a sea urchin. It was precise and hideous in equal measure.

“The Lunar Titanium chassis is holding,” Sunburst said. His horn lit up as he cast a monitoring spell through the array of crystals. “The vector trap is showing as stable. No spikes like we were getting with the number three heart.”

“That’s good,” Sparkle muttered. “The new booster array will increase power dramatically. The last thing we need is a meltdown.”

“I’ve got green across the board. Harmonics are strong.” Sunburst reported.

“We’re getting better at making these,” Sparkle noted. “We’ll run some shakedown tests over the next few days and see if we can replace Miss Pie’s current Heart with this one.” She glanced at Sunburst and smiled. “I think I’m starting to come around on your argument about it being too unstable to keep using.”

“Thank you,” Sunburst said, quietly.

“Doctor?” Moondancer asked, from the doorway. “I’ve been knocking for a few minutes. You’ve got a meeting with the Princess.”

“I don’t remember scheduling anything,” Sparkle frowned.

“You didn’t,” Moondancer said. She glanced behind herself. “She’s, ah--”

“Right behind you,” Sparkle guessed. “Fine. Let her in.”

“Are you sure--?” Sunburst asked quietly.

“I believe I have any security clearances needed,” Celestia said, as the door swung open the rest of the way, outlined in her golden magic. “I wanted to discuss next steps with you.”

“I’m a bit busy at the moment,” Sparkle said. “I'm in the middle of--”

“I am aware,” Celestia said, cutting her off. Sparkle frowned at that. “I’m your patron, Doctor. I do try to keep tabs on what you’re doing, though you have made a concerted effort to make that difficult for me. I’ve decided on your next candidate.”

Doctor Sparkle had to take a moment to adjust to the change in topic. “This is a planned upgrade for--”

“I’ll be giving it to a decorated war hero. Your choices of test subjects have been lacking in the most vital thing to the war effort. Loyalty.” Celestia completely ignored Sparkle, walking over to the shielded test chamber to look at the Engine Heart. She shuddered slightly, closing her eyes and turning away.

“My choices have saved Equestria,” Doctor Sparkle stated firmly.

“At a very high price,” Celestia said. “Captain Spitfire will be an asset to you.”

“Spitfire,” Sparkle said. “Formerly of the Wonderbolts. Won the best young flyer’s competition when she was a filly. Awarded the Sol Shield for Bravery.”

“You’re familiar with her, then? Good.” Celestia smiled and turned to the door, starting to walk out. “She’s already agreed. I’ll let her know you’ll be ready for her.”

“I refuse,” Sparkle spat out. Celestia stopped, not turning, her left ear twitching back to focus on the unicorn. “I already reviewed her file extensively. She isn’t an acceptable candidate.”

“And why is that?” Celestia asked.

“There are too many questions about what happened during the Stalliongrad Offensive, for one thing.”

“She was cleared of all charges. Lightning Dust was not. If you have an objection about one, you should have it of both. Spitfire is more experienced and capable than any other candidate you can name.”

“There are more considerations than just her military file!” Doctor Sparkle objected.

“So you have other sources of information?” Celestia asked, turning her head. “I’d be curious where you were getting some of your dossiers. I believe you have sources even the Equestiran Intelligence Service can’t match. Would you like to discuss them?”

Sparkle growled.

“I thought not,” Celestia sighed. “This is why I decided to choose for you. Equestria is bigger than whatever game you’re playing. There are millions of lives at stake. I will take your objection under consideration, but if you’re refusing-”

“I am,” Sparkle said, her voice low and dangerous.

“I see. Flim? Flam?” Celestia stepped aside, and the two unicorn brothers stepped into the room. “Can you perform the operation?”

“Well of course, Princess,” Flim said, bowing.

“It’ll be as easy as turning pears into cider!” Flam noted, proudly.

“Except with less juice,” Flim corrected.

“And more sutures,” Flam agreed.

“You can’t be serious,” Sparkle said, flatly.

Sunset touched her ear, crystal radio earpiece buzzing. “Right. I got it. Canterlot General.” She sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Cadance asked. The party, such as it was, had officially ended, the last few guests just making their way out of the garden as servants began the task of cleaning the huge mess left behind.

“Celestia just stole the fourth Engine Heart from the Doc,” Sunset said. “I warned her that Sunbutt would put her hoof down if she pushed too hard. If there’s anything she likes more than cake it’s getting her own way on things.”

“But what if she’s right? You don’t know how much Twilight has changed. She used to be such a happy foal, but…” Cadance looked down. “She’s gotten so bitter and hurt over the years. I keep trying to help her, but it seems like she just keeps withdrawing into herself.”

Sunset shrugged. “Maybe. But she’s also trying her best. I don’t say this about many ponies, but I respect her.”

“So where are we going?” Cadance asked.

“We?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to go to Canterlot General to watch this disaster explode in everypony’s faces.”

Sparkle folded her hooves and watched as Flim and Flam worked on Spitfire below, in the hospital’s old operating theatre. It was of a design that had fallen out of favor, with seats above the room itself, behind windows. It was kept in use only for the benefit of medical students. Twilight herself had spent weeks here as part of her study of thaumobiology.

“I can’t believe they picked her, of all ponies,” Dust muttered.

“She’s a war hero though, isn’t she?” Marble asked. “Even I’ve heard of her.”

“Hero,” Dust spat. “You have no idea. She’s just a figurehead. Spitfire was fine as long as she was on top of things and didn’t have to put her own flank on the line, but she wasn’t a soldier. The second things went bad she folded like Neighponese origami.”

“What did happen?” Doctor Sparkle asked. “I looked into it, but the records were sealed. No, more than that. They were removed. Like they’d never existed.”

“That’s because they never did exist,” Dust said. “They wouldn’t even listen to me when I tried to tell them what happened. I even went to the press once. I got halfway there before EIS pulled me off the street, put a ticket to Neigh Orleans in my hooves, and told me not to come back. They didn’t want anypony tarnishing Spitfire’s record.”

“We’ve got time to listen now,” Sparkle shrugged.

“Well, it was during a big offensive push…”

Admittedly, we didn’t handle the war well, at first. We didn’t mobilize quickly enough. Nopony knew that Sombra was gaining strength with every battle. At the start we thought he’d just have whatever army was around from a thousand years ago and he’d run out of steam, but instead, every time he rolled over a town, he gained more troops.

That was bad, but what was worse was our morale. The EUP forces haven’t fought other ponies in a real war for close to a thousand years. Asking them to fight against innocent, mind-controlled ponies was a disaster.

We’d had a defensive line, but once we started taking real losses, it collapsed around us. We tried to hold firm but I don’t know if that made us better than the deserters or just stupider. There were a dozen of us, then six, then three, and then Soarin took a hit and it was just me and Spitfire on that hill, dug into a trench. It was the worst way for a pegasus to die, in some stupid hole in the middle of nowhere.

“Can you see their commander?” I asked, counting the bolts left in my crossbow again. It didn’t matter. I could have had a thousand bolts stuffed into the magazine and it wouldn’t have really been enough.

“No,” Spitfire said. “And we need to get out of here or Soarin is…” she looked at the fallen stallion. One wing was burned black, and we’d given him all our whiskey to knock him out until we could get him real first aid.

“Well if we can get the leader then they’ll all freak out for a few minutes,” I said. “It’s the only way.”

“It’s not the only way,” Spitfire said, eyes narrowing. “We have to surrender.”

“Surrender--” I balked. I almost fainted when she said that. Surrender was the absolute worst option. “They mind-control everypony they take alive!”

“We might be able to negotiate for medical care for Soarin and… it’s better than just dying here! If we’re taken prisoner, maybe they’ll find some spell to free us.”

“You’re insane,” I said. I figured I was gonna have to knock some sense into her, so I got closer. She flared her wings the second I started moving. “No way am I going to give up!”

“Soarin means a heck of a lot more to me than you do,” Spitfire said, raising her crossbow, pointing it at me instead of the enemy.

“You’re going to get all of us killed,” I said. With how close I was, I just had to dodge the first shot and I’d be able to take her out. Hoof-to-hoof I was probably at least her match, and the way her grip was shaking I had a good chance.

“Don’t do it,” croaked a voice from the ground. Spitfire looked down when Soarin grabbed her rear hoof. I don’t know how much of our conversation her heard, but it was the distraction I needed. Before she could properly react, I bucked her in the chin, and Spitfire went down for the count.

“Thanks,” I said, kicking Spitfire’s crossbow away. Soarin picked it up and tried to stand, collapsing in a heap when he started to stumble and found he couldn’t keep himself steady with one wing.

“You get her out of here. I’ll give you girls some cover,” Soarin said, coughing. “I’ve got one last surprise.” He picked something out of his uniform. A squat metal sphere with a pressure-triggered detonator.

“That what I think it is?” I asked.

“Yep. I saved a little something in case we needed to breach a door or put a hole in a wall. It should keep them busy."

“Maybe,” I said. “But I can’t carry both of you out of here.”

“I’m not getting out,” Soarin said. “My wing is shredded. I’m never going to fly again. All I’m good for now is being a wild goose for them to chase. You just promise me you’ll keep Spitfire safe.”

“I promise,” I said. He nodded and forced himself to his hooves, hobbling to the edge and standing up.

“I’m the last one left,” Soarin yelled, loudly, standing up and showing his weapon before putting it down. “I want to surrender!” He looked back at us for a second, then started down the hill.

When I heard the explosion, I flew out of there with Spitfire in my hooves and never looked back.

“If I’d known the bucking mule was going to bring me up on charges for saving her life, I never would have bothered,” Dust said.

“Hmph,” Doctor Sparkle smiled. “I have a feeling you would have done it anyway.”

“Why, do I have the word ‘sucker’ tattooed on my flank over my cutie mark?” Dust asked. “Then again I’ve started to trust Sunset Shimmer, and she’s a feathering monster. Maybe I really have terrible taste in friends.”

“Don’t ask me for an objective analysis. I picked you because you had a strong will, not because you were good at making friends and influencing ponies,” Doctor Sparkle said.

“Where is Sunset?” Marble asked, quietly. “Isn’t this something she’d be interested in?”

“She’ll join us soon. She was on another mission,” Sparkle said. “I’m hoping she can keep something like this from happening again.”

“Once is bad enough,” Dust agreed.

“Flim,” Flam said. “Pass me the Filet-o-Matic.”

“Of course, brother mine,” Flim said, passing over the blade. “I must say, convincing the hospital to buy our products for the surgery was a stroke of genius. Another ten thousand bits added to our tally.”

“Not nearly as important as the fact we’re getting one up on that Doctor Sparkle,” Flam said. “After that product demonstration went awry I was nearly so upset as to take the matter to a court of law!”

“You did copy down the schematics for the, ah, device?” Flim whispered, nodding to the Engine Heart.

“Of course. We’ll be mass-producing them in a month’s time,” Flam assured him. “I didn’t learn Lefthoof’s Reverse Engineering Diagrammatic for nothing.”

Flim nodded and smirked, watching as the device anchored itself into Spitfire. His smile faded as he watched. “Flam, is it just me or is the device in question moving on its own?”

“It’s probably supposed to do that,” Flam said. “This one was built by the expert, after all. We should assume whatever it’s doing is normal.”

“That’s fair,” Flim said. “Let’s close up these incisions.” He reached for the Quik-Close Staple Gun SE (Surgical Edition), but just as his hoof closed on it, Spitfire’s eyes opened, and the very expensive Machine That Goes Beep started making very alarming non-beeping noises.

“Something’s wrong!” Flam yelled. He stepped back to look at the readings on the devices arrayed around Spitfire. It saved his life.

Spitfire’s entire body was cloaked in a black aura like a roiling cloud of darkness, and her eyes burned with purple fire as she started to scream. Flim froze as Spitfire stood, tearing free from the surgical bed, her chest still open, the dark heart beating within. Her wings lashed out, feathers coated in a layer of black crystal, and Flim’s blood sprayed into the air, the unicorn stumbling back, clutching at his ruined throat.

“Flim!” Flam screamed.

Spitfire roared. An explosion of dark magic sent the surgical equipment flying in a chaotic storm of energy, and Flam went along with it, slamming into the brick wall and blacking out.

“Oh flying feathers,” Dust gasped, watching Spitfire storm out of the surgical theatre, glowing with an aura of dark menace.

“I should have known those two would screw this up,” Sparkle said. “There’s no time to get the Unity suits. We need to stop her--”

Dust flashed into action, hitting the glass observation window and rebounding.

“Don’t be stupid!” Sparkle yelled. “Those windows are armored! We need to go around through surgical prep.”

“Lead the way,” Dust said. She and the Doctor started out the door. A moment later, Dust opened it back up and looked back at the last pony in the room. “Marble, come on! We need to catch up to her!”

“But it’s another pony!” Marble said. “I can’t--”

“This whole war we’ve been fighting ponies Sombra controlled,” Dust said. “I’ve seen what happens if we don’t stop them. Trust me, if there’s anything left of Spitfire in there, she’d want us to take her down.”

Marble looked down, hiding her face with her mane and mumbling something incoherent.

“There’s no time to debate this!” Dust yelled. “Come on!” She grabbed Marble’s hoof and dragged her into the hallway.

“We need to get through here,” Doctor Sparkle said, stopped in front of a door. She kicked it, and winced, almost falling over. “Endless Night!” She winced. “I think I broke my ankle.”

“That happens when you buck a steel door wrong,” Lightning Dust said. She let go of Marble’s hoof and squared up with the door, kicking it just under the lock. The doorfame squealed as it popped out of shape, the locked door opening up.

“You two go and stop Spitfire,” Sparkle said, nursing her ankle. “I’ll try and provide some support over the radio.”

“Don’t worry, Doc, I wouldn’t ask you to fight anyway,” Dust said. “Come on, Mumbles.”

“M-maybe I should stay with--” Marble started.

“Go,” Sparkle ordered. “You wanted to save ponies? There’s a whole hospital of sick civilians here. The longer you delay the more of them are going to get hurt.”

“Right,” Marble said, unsure, following Dust through the side corridor.

“Then take the next left and you’ll be in the main corridor,” Sparkle said, over the radio. Dust followed, charging through the halls. She wasn’t sure exactly what path she was on, but the Doc had assured her it was the best way to go. She was more impressed that the unicorn had memorized the hospital layout.

She was, in fact, going to compliment her on it until she took the turn and skidded into the opposite wall, hydroplaning in a pool of warm blood.

“Oh buck,” Dust muttered. A dozen ponies in golden armor were scattered through the corridor, none of them moving. At least she assumed it was a dozen. Some of them were in pieces, so it was really anywhere from ten to fourteen and things were only getting worse by the minute if she couldn’t even count the bodies.

“Tell me what you’re seeing,” Sparkle said.

“Dead royal guards,” Dust reported.

“That’s what I was afraid of. They were providing security. They were supposed to be watching for spies and threats from outside. Nopony told them the attack might come from the thing they were guarding.”

“I think I hear her ahead of me,” Dust said. “Got any advice?”

“Try to ambush her,” Sparkle said. “The Engine Heart she has is optimzied for Unicorn magic. Without a horn she’s going to be very limited. If you can get in close, you can use your Earth Pony strength to disable her. Not having the armor is a liability, but it’s a much bigger one for her than it is for you. This should be relatively easy.”

“That’s some good news-- and that’s the bad news,” Dust said, her eyes going wide as she saw the sign at the next corridor. “Sparkle, she’s heading towards the maternity ward!”

“Stop her at all costs!” Sparkle yelled.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Dust agreed, charging forwards. She burst through a set of double-doors, the color of paint changing as she moved from one hospital ward to another.

Spitfire was just ahead of her, the bladed edges of her wings digging into the gap between the next set of doors, trying to force the locked doors apart. They squealed as the latch started to give under the force.

“Hey, featherbrain!” Dust yelled, throwing the first thing at hoof at the corrupted pegasus. Spitfire turned and slashed with her wing, pulling it free of the door. There was a dull explosive thud as the tank of oxygen ruptured, shattering the obsidian encrusting her primaries.

Spitfire roared, stumbling back, bleeding from shrapnel wounds.

“You never did have good instincts,” Dust said.

Spitfire looked up at her, glaring with eyes poisoned a hateful red and green. She started to growl, sounding like an angry dragon.

“Not much for conversation?” Dust guessed. “Just like Shining Armor. I’ll try and make this quick, because--”

“LIGHTNING DUST!” Spitfire screeched.

“You remember me, then?” Dust asked, before Spitfire leapt at her.

“Oh no,” Cadance gasped, as she saw the blood pooling in the corridor.

“Things are getting bad,” Sunset agreed. “Sparkle, you there?” She touched her ear, toggling her radio.

“You’re at the hospital?” Sparkle guessed. “Things have gone awry.”

“I can tell,” Sunset said. “Where’s the enemy?”

“Don’t worry about that for now,” Sparkle said. “You need to focus on evacuation. There are a lot of ponies who need to be moved. Even if it’s dangerous, it’s probably better than staying here.”

“What’s Twilight saying?” Cadance asked.

“Is that Princess Cadance?” Doctor Sparkle asked. “Good. She’ll be able to convince them to move. Work with her, as planned.”

“Don’t tell me ‘as planned’,” Sunset said. “This is not as planned and you know it.”

“Just get it done!” Sparkle snapped.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Ordering me around…” She grumbled. “Sparkle wants us on evacuation duty. Something bad’s in the hospital… which should be obvious at this point,” Sunset gestured to the fallen guards. “She wants us getting the civilians out of the way.”

“I’m glad she has her priorities in order,” Cadance sighed.

“I’ve waited months for this,” Dust said, as she circled Spitfire. It might have just been her imagination, but Spitfire seemed larger somehow, like something was growing in her skin. It could have just been the aura of dark magic that was pouring out of her, though. If nothing else, her rage had made it easy to lead her away from the fleeing patients. Phones were ringing off the hook around them in the ruined nurses’ station, ignored as the two soldiers focused on each other.

“Kill you…” Spitfire growled. The obsidian blades on her wings were already regrowing.

“You can take your best shot, but better ponies than you have tried and failed. Better monsters, too.”

Like a matador, Dust ducked to the side when Spitfire pounced, dodging by inches. The wonderbolt slammed into the wall and rebounded, leaving hoof-prints in the plaster as she used the surface to turn.

Dust spun and kicked a fallen chair into Spitfire’s path, her former commander batting it aside, leaving her guard down for just long enough that Dust could hit her in the face.

“Hah!” Dust crowed, as Spitfire stumbled back, her momentum gone. “I bet you weren’t expecting--”

Spitfire’s wings flapped, and the air filled with razors. Obsidian shards filled the air like a storm of black butterflies. Dust tried to batter the wind currents away from her body, but even her best efforts couldn’t clear enough space, the blades opening up cuts along her wings and legs that left her bleeding freely.

“Okay I admit you have a few new tricks,” Dust hissed, the thin cuts incredibly painful.

“You ruined me…” Spitfire rumbled.

“Ruined you?!” Dust yelled. “I got discharged! I lost everything!”

“You’re the reason he’s dead,” Spitfire continued, eyes burning with hate. “He’d still be alive if you didn’t let him die.”

“Who? Soarin? He died saving your stupid life!”

“He was supposed to stay with me!” Spitfire yelled. “I was having his foal!”

“You were--” Dust froze at that. Spitfire charged, head down, and put her through the weakened wall behind them, some of the embedded blades slicing into her back as they tumbled through.

“Annoying,” Sparkle mumbled, as she walked into the operating room, listening over the radio. “I suppose that explains why it was sealed. They couldn’t let ponies know the real face of their war heroes.”

“H-help me…” croaked Flam, from where he was lying, his back right leg broken.

“You’ve caused me no end of trouble,” Doctor Sparkle said, turning her radio off so she wouldn’t be overheard. “You tried to steal my funding, you stole one of my greatest creations, and you’ve all been so incompetent that-”

Something moaned behind her, and Sparkle turned to see Flim standing up.

“Brother?” Flam asked. Flim responded only with a keening moan, stumbling forwards, his throat ruined, black crystals encrusting the wound. He bared his teeth, showing growing fangs, and lunged for Flam, mindless and hungry.

“This again,” Sparkle mumbled. She looked around, then grabbed the electric knife they’d been using on Spitfire.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Flam demanded, trying to stand, as Sparkle trotted over to his brother, not even hesitating as she stabbed the corrupted unicorn.

Blood sprayed over her white jacket, and she stabbed again, the whirling edge of the blade cutting tendons and bone. Flim fell, and Twilight adjusted her aim.

“Stop it!” Flam screamed.

Sparkle drove the edge into what was left of his neck, sawing the blade back and forth, the unicorn going limp as his spine was severed.

“You have to be very detailed in this business,” Sparkle said. She kept cutting until the knife made it through the other end, then gave the tool a closer look. “Not bad. Maybe you do have some natural talent at artifice.”

She kicked Flim’s head towards Flam, tossing the knife aside.

“I got advance warning about Celestia’s little visit. I couldn’t let her just take this project from me. I think my after-action report is going to call into question her choice of candidate, her choice of doctors, and her failure to listen to the project director.”

“You knew?” Flam whispered. “You sabotaged it, didn’t you? This was all--”

Sparkle walked over to him. “Never interfere in my work again,” She warned, leaning down to look him in the eyes. He flinched. She stood and walked away, turning her radio back on.

“Dust, are you finished yet? We need to wrap this up.”

“I’m busy!” Dust groaned. One eye was swollen shut from where Spitfire had hit her, and every time she moved or breathed or thought too hard about moving or breathing her back felt like she was being stabbed in half a dozen places, mostly because she had blades of glass stabbing her in, well, half a dozen places.

“Marble, get in there and help her!” Sparkle ordered.

“I-- I can’t--” Marble whispered. Dust looked around, trying to spot the earth pony.

“If you don’t, a lot of ponies are going to die!” Sparkle retorted. “Get out there and do something!”

“Forget it, she’s useless,” Dust said. “This is how it’s supposed to be. Me and Spitfire, one on one. It’s destiny!”

“Destiny has never applied to me,” Doctor Sparkle said.

“We have a problem,” Sunset said. “The wounded and dead are starting to come back.” She watched as one of the golden-armored royal guards staggered to his feet, eyes burning with the purple light of dark magic. Crystals were already starting to grow through the skin along his spine.

“I--I heard that’s what happened with Shining Armor, but I never thought…” Cadance whispered.

“It happened to some of my--” She thought back to Manehattan. Friends was too generous a term for the bunch of crooks she’d been using as minions. “Co-workers. There’s no cure.”

“I can’t--” Cadance looked at Sunset, her eyes wet with tears.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re a good pony,” Sunset said. “Stay behind me and try to keep those nurses covered.” She nodded towards a knot of nurses trying to move bedridden patients. “You know shield spells, right?”

“Of course. Shining Armor taught me everything there is to know about them.”

“Thank the stars. I already had to give remedial lessons on that once.” Sunset cracked her neck. “This shouldn’t take long.” Her horn swirled with firey energy.

Marble squeaked as the wall above her head was punctured from the other side by stray crystal blades, ducking even further, curling into a ball.

“Lightning Dust is going to lose and die,” Sparkle said. “Why aren’t you fighting?”

“I can’t fight another pony,” Marbe gasped, shaking.

“I see. I’m sorry about this, but there’s more at stake than you know. Unity Project Command Code: The Black Moon Howls.”

The yoke around Marble’s neck beeped, and darkness consumed her vision.

“This has not gone as planned,” Dust said, struggling to free her wing. It was pinned to the wall like she was a giant butterfly by a thin, impossibly strong needle of black glass.

Spitfire’s wing swept at her neck like a scythe, and Dust caught it with her hooves, the edge sinking in, blood running down her legs as she fought to keep it from her jugular.

“She’ll never get to know her father, all because of you!” Spitfire growled. “I hate you!”

“I feel sorry for her,” Dust said, gasping as she lost her grip for a moment, the jagged edge starting to press against her neck. “Her mom’s a total bitch!”

Spitfire reared up, bringing her other wing around. Dust didn’t have a way to stop it. She braced herself for pain.

Spitfire’s motion stopped suddenly, jerking to a halt as something ensnared her like a blue web.

“Sombra,” purred a voice from behind Spitfire. “What crude work.” Spitfire’s eyes went wide with surprised as she was tossed to the side effortlessly. Marble’s mane was billowing like a cloud of stars around her as she watched the pegasus slam into pipes, ice-cold water spraying into the air from the ruptured main.

“Marble?” Lightning Dust asked. Marble looked at her, her eyes glowing from within. When she smiled, Dust thought she saw fangs.

“Why don’t you just… hang around while I finish this?” Marble said, her voice full of cruel confidence. It didn’t sound like her at all.

“What happened to you?” Dust asked. Marble ignored her and walked - no, stalked towards Spitfire, the earth pony light on her hooves, menacing and larger than life, her mane making her look like she stood at the center of a storm.

“Sombra, I’m sure you can see through your little crystal slaves,” Marble said. Dust tried to warn her, seeing the attack coming. Spitfire rolled to her hooves and swept her wing in an arc, throwing a scattered storm of black darts.

Marble raised her hoof, and the darts stopped in midair, surrounded in a flickering blue and green aura.

“Pathetic,” Marble said, sounding bored. The blades shattered into dust and fell to the ground as she stalked forward.

“I’m not a slave!” Spitfire growled, her voice changing, going deeper with the last word.

Marble smiled. “Of course not.” She reared up, and Spitfire tripped, her hooves entangled with Marble’s animated mane. “I think I see the problem. And I know just how to cure it!”

Spitfire struggled, unable to escape the net.

Marble grabbed her wings, one in each forehoof, twisting them until something snapped. Dust winced in sympathetic pain as they went limp, tendons and bone torn out of place. Spitfire screamed and slammed her head forward, cracking her skull against Marble’s.

Marble didn’t even flinch, just grinning, even as blood ran down both of their faces.

Still holding the broken wings, she lifted Spitfire up and slammed her down onto the floor, back-first, the broken bones in her wings cutting through her skin.

“Hold still,” Marble said, planting her rear hoof on Spitfire’s stomach. The pegasus’ chest was still open, the dark metal gleaming and glowing in her chest, Flim and Flam never having a chance to close it properly.

Spitfire screamed as Marble grabbed for the edges of that wound and pulled, tearing her open, reaching inside and grabbing the Engine Heart, ripping it free, blood spraying over Marble’s coat, surges of green light making her look like she’d turned almost black.

Spitfire sputtered, reaching for the beating heart weakly.

Marble crushed it, motes of light surging out like an arterial spray of magic, sparks that died before they hit the ground.

Spitfire gasped and went still.

Marble took a deep breath, as if savoring the destruction, then turned to where Dust was pinned. Her eyes gleamed in the darkness, pupils slitted like a dragon’s. “Next, I think I’ll--”

She took a step and the yoke around her neck lit up. Marble gasped, and the air suddenly became lighter, lifting an oppressive aura that Dust hadn’t even noticed until it was gone. Marble stumbled towards a wall, her mane’s movement slowing and stopping. She slammed her forehead into the brick, screaming, hitting it hard enough to leave a crack.

When she opened her eyes again, still leaning against the wall, they looked normal. Marble panted for breath, looking around confused. Her eyes met Dust’s, then she looked down at herself, seeing the gore coating her body, the mutilated body of Spitfire.

She screamed.

Author's Note

The heat was incredible. Even Celestia was sweating in the inferno as she worked at her personal forge, a place of closely-guarded secrets, kept half because few other ponies would survive even a few seconds where she stood, and half because of the knowledge needed to use it. Molten rock flowed underneath the metal platform she stood upon, the steel glowing with heat despite the talismans glowing along it and trying to keep it cool. Celestia had abandoned her regalia before entering. It would never have survived, and so she was left working naked in the blaze, her hide repelling splatters of magma like they were raindrops.

Eight mirrors, even more heavily enchanted than the platform, reflected golden sunlight from above into the crucible she worked with. The air was thick with magical flux, dense enough to be toxic to ponies and collapse common spells.

All of it was focused in one spot, on a pool of molten gold, changing the nature of the metal itself. Shifting from mere glitter into something greater.

Celestia waited for the right moment, and started working the metal, shaping it with her magic even as it was still molten. It was a complex shape, one she’d had to study for long hours to ensure she could hold every detail in her mind.

Hours passed as she formed it, and when she was satisfied, she plunged the metal into the lava, holding it there, tempering it for a few seconds more before retrieving it.

Despite how much effort she’d had to put into it, Celestia knew this had been the easy part of her task. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She'd made a mistake with Spitfire. The wrong pony. The wrong tools. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Part of her wanted to stop here, to abandon what she was doing or put it off for another day or at least think about what she was about to do. She had to go through with it, though. It was practical, but it was penance, too, for not being there when she was needed.

Celestia opened her mouth, focusing on magic she had been forced to learn simply to defend herself against, and her living magic flowed out of her mouth like a slow stream of white-hot fire. Her horn flared, and with a violent twist that brought tears to her eyes, a tiny portion was pinched off, a mote burning like a star, singing faintly with the sound of her soul. She could still feel it. It was like being in two places at once.

Princess Celestia stared at it for a few long seconds, thinking of Twilight Sparkle. What the mare must have done.

Before she could second-guess herself she forced the light into the golden thing she’d formed. The plasma sank inside, and the Orichalcum Heart beat for the first time, ringing with a pure, bright sound.

In The Still Darkness

“You wanted to talk?” Starlight Glimmer asked, sitting down across from Celestia. A tea set was arranged on the low table, along with a metal case.

“You’re aware of what happened at Canterlot General?” Celestia asked, pouring two cups of tea and passing one over to her student.

“I know the public story and a few juicy details. There are a few things that I’m not entirely clear on.” Starlight admitted. “I take it you want me to look into it?”

“Eventually. But today I wanted to discuss something more… sensitive.” She looked at the steel case, gesturing to it with her hoof. Starlight’s horn lit up and she tried to open it, but her magic just slid off the metal, unable to find a grip.

“Huh,” Starlight said, quietly. “That's a powerful warding. So I’m guessing whatever’s in there is pretty dangerous if you have to use an anti-magic field?”

“It’s a precaution,” Celestia said. “More to protect it than to protect from it. I wanted to ensure it remained free of outside influence.”

“May I?” Starlight asked. When Celestia nodded, Starlight stood and opened it up manually. Golden light spilled out from within. Starlight was shocked into silence, needing a deep, sharp breath to compose herself.

“Are you interested?” Celestia asked.

“Get out!” Marble screamed, her voice echoing unnaturally. The glass in the windows shook from the volume of her shout, unnaturally, magically loud. Sparkle fled, ducking under a pillow thrown hard enough to explode in a cloud of feathers when it hit the wall.

“She’s mad,” Sunburst said, watching from the hallway.

“Thank you for the expert opinion,” Doctor Sparkle said. “She still blames me for what happened at the hospital. She’s… been under some stress because of it.”

“Isn’t she allowed to be upset?” Sunburst asked. “She had to kill a pony, with her bare hooves.” He looked around to make sure they were alone and lowered his voice. “I saw the reports. You activated the override and disabled the safety system. You let her get taken over by- by that thing!”

“I had to,” Sparkle said. “There were so many lives at stake… Dust just wasn’t enough on her own, and if Spitfire had gotten loose...”

“There had to be another way. Sunset was--”

“On the other side of the hospital, and she kept the infected royal guard from spreading the corruption. It was something she was suited for. Do you think Miss Pie would have been able to defeat a dozen ponies when just one has affected her this badly?”

“That’s not the point and you know it!” Sunburst said, getting angry.

Doctor Sparkle deflated, looking down. “You’re right. I didn’t want to hurt her, Sunburst. She’s a good pony, and I broke something inside her. It’s something I have to live with. Can you talk to her? Maybe something you can say will… help her. I don’t know if she can be better, but at least maybe you can comfort her.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Sunburst said. “If she’ll even want to talk to me.”

Dust jerked, suddenly alert, surprise and fear crashing through her like a bucket of ice water thrown in her face. Adrenaline filled her veins for a long moment, and given the amount of blood left in those veins it was almost the only thing her heart was pumping.

“Calm down,” Doctor Sparkle said, lowering her hoof. She’d knocked on the doorframe to announce her presence. “You almost had a heart attack. Again.” She stepped into Dust’s room. The pegasus sighed and lowered herself back down onto the bed, trying to get comfortable. It was difficult with the bandages wrapping her like she was a mummy.

“Again.” Dust groaned. “You know, Doc, you’ve been inside my chest a couple of times, you’d think you could fix things.”

“I did,” Sparkle retorted. “The problem is you keep breaking them.” She paused. “But if you’re actually worried, don’t be. As long as your Engine Heart is working and overcharging your thaumatic field, your cardiovascular system barely matters.”

“Sure doesn’t feel that way,” Dust said. She was quiet for a long moment, the machines beeping around them. “I lost twice in a row. Sunset had to save me the first time, and Marble saved me the second time. It’s pretty pathetic.”

“I wouldn’t say that. You’ve done well.” Doctor Sparkle sat at her bedside. “I’ve been very pleased by your performance.”

“Wow, is that sympathy? I’m that pathetic?” Dust snorted. “I didn’t think you’d be sympathetic for anypony.”

“I’ve been… reminded repeatedly that I need to work at being a decent pony.” Sparkle admitted. “I get obsessed with my work. And I’m often frustrated. Too often, these days. Having to keep Celestia from interfering is more difficult than you can imagine.”

“Why don’t you get along with her, anyway? Most ponies worship the ground she walks on. Some do it literally. Had one of them in the old unit. Prayed before every battle, though it didn’t really help when the fighting started.”

“It’s complicated,” Doctor Sparkle said, quietly. “When I was a foal I was able to do a little magic. Enough for light spells, a little telekinesis, that sort of thing.”

“What happened?” Dust frowned.

“I tried to get into her school. Strained myself too hard, and ended up doing permanent damage. Or at least that’s what I was told afterwards. I don’t remember anything from that day. When I woke up, I had this… terrible emptiness. Like all the color had faded from the world.”

“And Celestia?” Dust asked.

“She delivered me to the hospital personally. Paid for the treatment herself. And refuses to ever discuss what happened.”

“You think she crippled you.” Dust said, folding her hooves. “But you don’t even know for sure--”

“Things happen for a reason,” Sparkle said, cutting her off.

“Right, touchy subject.” Lightning Dust smiled.

“I came in here to check up on you,” Sparkle sighed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’d love to lie and say I feel fine but I know I look like I’ve gone three rounds with a blender.”

“You’re healing well,” Sparkle said. “Though you probably know that. You’re getting a lot of experience at that.”

“What about Spitfire? What happened?” Lightning Dust looked worried for a moment. “Could it happen to me?”

“No.” Doctor Sparkle put a hoof on her shoulder. “She wasn’t compatible. I warned Celestia about it.”

“She mentioned a foal.”

“She was pregnant during the battle that saw you dishonorably discharged, yes. Don’t ask me if it affected her judgment. While you were drummed out of the service she was discharged quietly with all honors.”

“They sent her home to have her foal,” Dust muttered.

“She’s named Sky Skimmer,” Sparkle said. “I’ve seen pictures. Cute kid, I suppose. I’ve never liked foals.”

“Can you make sure she’s taken care of?” Lightning Dust asked.

“I’m sure Celestia already handled it.”

“Yeah, and both of us trust Celestia so much. I want you, personally, to make sure that Sky Skimmer is taken care of. It’s our fault her Mom can't do it herself.”

“...Fine.” Sparkle said, looking away. “I promise. I’ll appoint somepony to look after her. Somepony I trust.”

“Better with kids than either of us, I hope.”

“Oh yes. She’s had quite a few of her own,” Sparkle assured her.

Sunset felt the last few runes dissolve under her gently prying, and the door clicked as it opened on its own. She smiled. It had only taken a few minutes to break through Sparkle’s wards without setting off any alarms.

Sunset wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to find within, but nopony put that much protection on something unless they wanted to keep ponies away. She imagined a vault of secret files, prototypes, maybe even evil tomes of black magic. Sunset was particularly interested in the last of these as she was something of a connoisseur in the dark arts.

Consequently when she found it was just a conference room she was disappointed, until she saw the black mirror fixed in place at what would be the head of the long, imposing table.

“What do we have here?” Sunset asked, quietly, trotting up to it and leaning in to look at the smooth, obsidian surface.

“I don’t believe you’re allowed in this room.”

Sunset blinked in surprise. A mare was in the mirror, looking at her. Well, a mare that wasn’t her. She was only rarely surprised by her own reflection. Unfortunately, with the dark surface and the glare, it was hard to make out just who the mare was.

“What is this?” Sunset muttered.

The mare cleared her throat, and Sunset realized abruptly that the sound was coming from behind her. She turned around to see Moondancer in the doorway. A quick check on the mirror confirmed that, yes, she’d been looking at the mare’s reflection.

“It’s a mirror,” Moondancer said. “If you’d like I can recommend a few good books on optics for foals, if you’re not familiar with the concept.”

“It’s enchanted. Heavily enchanted.” Sunset tapped it with her hoof, and it rang like a bell. “I know magic mirrors when I see them.”

“Undoubtedly.” Moondancer stepped aside and motioned for Sunset to leave. “Now if you’d please get out. That room is private.”

“How did you know I was in here?” Sunset asked, examining the mirror.

“The room is warded,” Moondancer replied.

“It was warded. I removed the wards.” Sunset’s horn lit up. “Hm. Divination and abjuration…”

“They’re very good wards, Miss Shimmer. Now I have to ask you to leave.”

“And if I refuse?” Sunset smirked. “You’re not exactly a match for me. You’ve done, what, a few years at Celestia’s school? I bet you’d be a grad student for life and never get a job outside the faculty if it wasn’t for the war.”

Moondancer blushed. “I took all the basic combat magic classes--”

“You know, Cadance asked me why I hurt ponies,” Sunset said, apparently not listening. “I didn’t give her a real answer. The truth is that it was just easier. Talking ponies down or trying to reason with them, that's hard. Most ponies Celestia hires can't even be bribed. It's much easier just to overpower them -- and most of them had more than just ‘basic combat magic classes’.”

Sunset turned to the door and stalked towards Moondancer, stopping uncomfortably close, meeting her gaze. Moondancer blinked. Sunset walked past her.

“Why did she have me helping with the evacuation?” Sunset asked, changing the subject. “I could have dealt with Spitfire easily.”

“She--” Moondancer swallowed, her mouth feeling dry. “She did what she thought was best.”

“Did she want to cause an incident?” Sunset asked. “Why? To embarrass Celestia?”

“It was a disaster, and she did what she could to save lives,” Moondancer said, looking away. “She’s a good pony.”

“Wow, and I thought you were just lousy at magic, but you’re naive, too,” Sunset said. “Someone told me something, once. There aren’t good and bad people. There are only bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.”

Dust slammed a hoof into the sandbag. The material was unfortunately only designed to withstand a lifetime of pummeling from ponies that could break rocks using their biceps, and so it predictably failed from the force of her blow, fabric tearing and sand spilling out onto the floor of the lab’s small gym, tracing a pattern on the floor as the remains of the bag swung in a wide pendulum arc.

“Gotta stop doing that,” Dust muttered. She sighed and stopped the bag, flying up to unhook it from the hanging chain. “Hey Marble, wanna give me a hoof? Maybe we could spar a little and I could show you some--”

“No,” Marble said, an edge of anger in her tone.

“Come on, it’s been days since the hospital, and you really saved my flank.” Dust flew over to land next to her. “I know it sucks having to kill a pony. It can help if you talk about--”

Marble struck her hard enough that Dust felt the hoof against her cheek, then she was abruptly on the floor and couldn’t remember anything that happened between those two moments.

“Ow,” Dust muttered, tasting blood. “Okay, still a little touchy.”

“You don’t have any idea what it’s like!” Marble hissed. “I keep losing control! It’s like I fall asleep and I see myself doing all these terrible things from the outside and there’s nothing I can do to stop it! It’s a nightmare and when I wake up ponies are dead and it’s my fault!”

“Did you tell Doctor Sparkle?” Dust asked, quietly.

“She made this to control it.” Marble nudged the yoke around her neck. “Not that it matters. She turned it off. She wanted me to lose control. How am I supposed to trust her when she could make me do terrible things whenever she wants?”

“...I don’t know,” Dust admitted. “But I do know that you saved me.”

“It’s not enough,” Marble whispered. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

“Come on…” Sunset worked at the dial, trying to figure out the combination to the safe she’d found in Doctor Sparkle’s office. She’d been at it for a few minutes - after making doubly sure that there weren’t any secret wards this time.

“Thirty-one right, forty-one left, fifty-nine right, sixty-seven left,” Doctor Sparkle said, from the doorway.

Sunset glared at her. Sparkle raised an eyebrow and nodded to the safe. Sunset begrudgingly turned the knob as instructed, and the steel door popped open. The inside of the safe was lined with a dull grey metal. It had to be lead.

“I don’t really care all that much if you go through my things, but Moondancer is getting annoyed that you aren’t listening to her,” Sparkle noted, walking past Sunset to the cabinet where she kept her drinks, taking out a glass and pouring herself a stiff double bourbon.

“Uncensored versions of your papers, bags full of bits…” Sunset muttered.

“There’s not much there that’s particularly valuable. A few early prototypes in the back, though since you’ve seen the diagrams for the completed devices, you’ll only see some creative failures rather than anything useful.” Sparkle stopped to sip at the whiskey, grimacing at the taste. “I swear they’ve started making this in a bathtub. It was much better before the war.”

“Weren’t you underage before the war?” Sunset asked, as she flipped through the papers.

“I don’t see how that matters,” Sparkle said. “Both of us are aware that age and the expectations of others are hardly an issue when we want something badly enough.”

The door opened. Dust stepped halfway into the room and looked around awkwardly. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Not really,” Sparkle said. “I was just letting Sunset look at some of my private papers. Would you like a drink? Feel free to serve yourself.”

“Might not be the worst idea I’ve heard today,” Dust muttered, ducking into the cabinet and shuffling bottles around. “So, Marble is pretty messed up.”

“I know,” Sparkle said, glumly.

Dust pulled a half-dozen bottles out of the depths of the cabinet, some of which hadn’t been touched in so long Twilight had forgotten she had them. With surprising deftness, she started mixing them in a steel tumbler.

“So I was thinking we need to do something for morale,” Dust said. “I don’t know if a party is really appropriate, but maybe just some leave. Give her a week to cool down where she doesn’t have to see us, you know?”

Dust shook the tumbler for a few moments before decanting it into a tall glass.

“Not bad,” She said, after tasting her work. “Could use more Griffonian Ale. I’m surprised you have the real stuff. It’s illegal, you know.”

“I have a source,” Twilight said. “...I didn’t know you could mix drinks.”

“I had way too much time on my hooves after getting drummed out. But what do you think? Maybe we can get away for a while. Go to the Seapony Islands or something.”

“It’s a sorely tempting prospect,” Doctor Sparkle admitted. She considered it for a few moments, starting to pace. “I don’t think all of us could go at once. It’s two days there by airship, and two back. That’s too long if there’s a crisis.”

“I could get there in--”

“I’ve seen you fly and I’ve read your record. You’re not taking passengers.”

“Spoilsport.”

“I’ll do some threat assessments and consult with some people. At the very least maybe we can send Marble for a week. I don’t think she’s combat-ready anyway.”

“Works for me,” Lightning Dust said, tilting her glass back and finishing her cocktail. “You might wanna let somepony else give her the news though. I don’t think she likes you much.”

“My assistant can break the news to her. Maybe he can improve her mood-- where are you going?”

Sunset paused at the door and looked back. “I’ll let you know if I want to go through your papers again.”

Sparkle nodded. “Good. You’re always welcome to ask.”

“Always welcome my ass,” Sunset muttered, working on the arcane lock. The lab was ten times as large underground as it was on the surface, built into the mines under Canterlot and extending in every direction as long as that direction was down.

There were the normal restricted labs, isolated to prevent cross-contamination between enchantments. Those had barely been protected, the doors open and anything valuable in locked cabinets.

The secure labs held remains of Linnorms, held in magical stasis, binding circles, and thick enough chains that they might at least be slowed down enough for ponies to run if they somehow came back to life. Nopony was willing to say they were definitely dead for sure until they’d been disassembled entirely.

Officially, that was the end of it.

Unofficially, Sunset had found more doors, like the one she was working on now. It wasn’t labeled, there was no window, and it was out of the way.

It also had the second-best lock she’d ever seen. The best had been in the castle, and she’d managed to crack that one.

The runes fell apart, and a metal bar moved. Sunset touched the door, stopped herself, took a step back, and cast a scanning spell.

She decided Sparkle was either extremely paranoid or extremely sane. She spent a few more minutes disabling the traps and alarms, some of which were very subtle and some of which were not subtle and included plastic explosive.

Sunset was prepared for almost anything to be beyond the door. Ponies used as living experiments. Ancient evil beings in bondage. Sombra reading the Canterlot Times.

What she could not possibly have been prepared to find was another pony trying to pick the lock to the next door. Sunset closed the door behind her, glaring down the length of the small corridor.

Starlight looked up from what she was doing and glanced back at her. “Did I come at a bad time?”

Sunset threw a bolt of force across the room. Starlight countered with her own attack, the two blasts of magic meeting in the middle of the room and deflecting into the floor.

“You’re pretty good,” Sunset said, narrowing her eyes.

“I’m the best,” Starlight countered. Her eyes started to glow faintly with golden light, sparks leaking from her horn.

Sunset glanced at her chest and saw the scars.

“You’ve got an Engine Heart.”

“Solar Furance,” Starlight corrected. “Or at least that’s what my employer called it.”

“With a name like that I can’t possibly imagine who you could be working for,” Sunset said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s not exactly a secret, but I don’t have time to get caught here today. If you walk away I can put in a good word for you. You need it. She really doesn’t like you.”

“Or I can beat you until you tell me what Celestia is planning,” Sunset noted, her horn blazing with light. “I’ve got a good thing going here. I don’t want her messing it up.”

Starlight matched her, forming her own spell. There was no telling what would happen with so much magic in the room but it was rapidly looking like Equestria’s map would need to be updated with a new lake called something ironic like ‘Starlight’s Folly’.

Then everything went black.

The spells collapsed.

There was silence for a few moments.

“Did you do that?” Starlight ventured.

“No,” Sunset admitted.

She tried to cast a light spell. Nothing happened.

“I think this might be a problem.”

“No, it’s definitely a problem,” Doctor Sparkle said. She looked around the room. “The emergency lights aren’t working.”

“So what does that mean?” Dust asked.

“I believe--” Sparkle opened a drawer and took out a flashlight, trying to turn it on. It didn’t even flicker. “Hm. Can you fly?” She looked at Dust.

Dust snorted and flapped her wings. Then, looking annoyed, flapped harder, barely getting off the ground. Doctor Sparkle was mildly surprised she managed that.

“It’s an antimagic field,” Sparkle said. “I have to admit that I didn’t expect this.”

“I mean it could be a null-magic zone, but those are natural phenomena and I can’t see one appearing right here and now,” Sunset said. The room was windowless and pitch black. She leaned against the wall to give her a sense of space. The door she’d come through was locked. And a steel shutter had dropped down over it. She’d have a better time trying to break through a bank vault.

Which meant she’d be through in a second once she had her magic back.

“Must be a surprise from Doctor Sparkle. She’ll probably be around to collect us soon,” Starlight sighed.

“...Think you can finish picking the lock on your door without magic?” Sunset asked.

“In the dark? With only my hooves?” Sunset could hear Starlight’s smug grin. “Make me stand upside down with my head in a bucket of water and it might be a real challenge.”

“At least the glow-sticks work,” Dust said.

“Technically they’re military-issue chemical lights,” Sparkle said, not really paying attention as they walked down the hallway. “Damn!”

A steel door was in the middle of the hallway. It hadn’t been there last time Dust had walked past.

“I should have known,” Sparkle sighed. “I wanted fail-closed doors for emergencies and here they are.”

Lightning Dust looked around. “Maybe we can get out through the infirmary?”

Sunburst rattled the bars across the window. Only a tiny amount of light managed to make its way through the armored shutters that had slammed down over the glass.

“Well, whatever’s going on, we aren’t getting out that way,” he said. “Even if my magic was working I couldn’t lift that much metal.”

“Mm…” Marble made a noncommital noise from where she was sitting. She seemed subdued - she hadn’t really said anything since things went dark.

Sunburst felt like he’d dodged a bullet there. With the magic cut off, Marble’s restraining yoke wasn’t working either. He’d rather be trapped with the cute, shy Marble than the insane, screaming version.

“Light…” Marble muttered, looking at the door. If it hadn’t been so quiet, Sunburst wouldn’t have been able to make out what she said.

There was a green glow in the hallway outside.

“Stay here,” Sunburst whispered. He padded towards the door and grabbed an IV stand, holding it like a club. He took a deep breath, wondered how one went about girding their loins, then charged out, ready to-

Lightning Dust grabbed the stand, twisted him around, and pushed him to the ground, putting a hoof on his chest to keep him still for a moment.

“Hey there,” she said. “So I guess you haven’t found a way out either?”

Something was thrown into the wall, the sound echoing through the silent corridors. Doctor Sparkle huffed and walked out of the nurse’s station.

“The controls aren’t working here either,” she said. She was wearing a lanyard with a glowstick, explaining the unearthly light.

“What happened?” Sunburst asked, once Dust let him stand up.

“That’s an excellent question,” Sparkle said. “Has anypony seen Sunset Shimmer?”

There was another crash down the corridor, heavier and louder, with the squeal of twisting metal.

“Think that was her?” Dust asked.

There was a terrible, choking roar that shook the ground.

“Ah,” Sparkle said. “We’re under attack.”

“Did you hear something?” Sunset asked.

“Only a mare complaining about me not working fast enough,” Starlight muttered.

“If you let me make some light, you could see what you’re doing.”

“You’d be surprised how little that matters,” Starlight said. “It’s all by feel. It’s delicate. What won’t help is you starting a fire and using up all the air.”

“There are air vents.”

“And with the power out they’re not helping very much. I don’t want to suffocate, thanks.” Starlight felt the lock slip into place, and she forced the door open, the locked bearings squealing.

“You got it open?”

“Yeah, but… I got some bad news.” Starlight’s hoof found nothing past the doorframe. She tossed a bit ahead of her, and it took a long time to hit the bottom.

“It’s going to tear through the security doors,” Sparkle said, marching down the corridor. “If we can get into one of the alchemy labs we might be able to find something.”

“Like what?” Dust asked, flapping her wings. “Damnit I hate this…”

“Having a difficult time without magic?” Sparkle asked.

“It’s terrible!”

“It’s every day for me. Try to keep up.” The unicorn stopped, looking left and making a displeased sound at the steel door across the corridor there. “The emergency chemical lights we’re wearing prove that alchemical reactions aren’t being suppressed by the anti-magic.”

“That’s the only way to the lab,” Sunburst said. “Got a plan B?”

“It’s not the only way…” Sparkle muttered, looking at a vent on the wall. “Help me with this.”

“If there’s a ladder I can’t find it,” Starlight declared. “And I’m not going to try climbing down in the dark with no magic and no idea what’s at the bottom.”

“Wonderful. So we’re stuck here together until somepony comes to rescue us,” Sunset muttered. “I guess I could still push you into the elevator shaft--”

She was rewarded with the sound of Starlight quickly stepping away from the door.

“The boss is gonna be angry that this got screwed up,” Starlight sighed.

“She’s always angry,” Sunset said. “Look, here’s some friendly advice -- nothing is ever good enough for Celestia. I don’t know what she promised you, but she’s just gonna dangle it over your head forever.”

“What did she dangle over your head?”

“The same thing Sparkle did.”

“Just push!” Dust yelled.

“It’s not a matter of effort, it’s geometry!” Sparkle grunted, trying to get her hips past the tight bend in the ventilation duct. “I am never eating Hayburger Princess take-out at midnight ever again if we survive this.”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake--” Dust growled and shoved on Sparkle’s back hooves, the scientist popping through and into the alchemy lab beyond. She groaned and rubbed her bruised, scraped hips.

“Are you okay?” Sunburst asked, helping her up.

“Fine,” Sparkle muttered. “Be careful you don’t hit the manual release on the bulkhead when you’re coming through. It closes off the vents in case of a chemical spill.”

“She needs to spend some time in the gym,” Dust said, wiggling through the vent without issue. When it became clear nopony else was coming, she reached back and pulled Marble through.

“At least we found a way in,” Sparkle muttered. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” She stepped haughtily to the chemical cabinet and started pulling out vials and bottles, squinting in the dim light.

“What are you making?” Dust asked.

“Firebombs,” Sparkle said. “A mild explosive is the best I can do with what I have here.” She held up a glass bottle and the floor shook hard enough that she lost her grip. Dust caught it on the way down, just before it would have smashed.

“Mm…” Marble made a noise, tugging on her own hair. “We should…”

“What is it?” Sunburst asked, sitting next to her and stroking her back.

“W-we should- we shouldn’t fight here,” she spat out. “I-if there’s no magic… we should leave!”

“She’s not wrong,” Dust said. “We might be able to get outside through the vents. Then we can figure out what’s causing the anti-magic stuff.”

“No,” Sparkle growled. “We aren’t running away.”

“It’s sort of a tactical--”

“We aren’t running!” Sparkle snapped. “Try something different and think for a change! It can cause incalculable damage!”

“They’re hard enough to kill even when we have magic,” Dust countered, pushing a hoof into Sparkle’s chest. “We could end up dead.”

“If it destroys the lab… we’ll never be able to rebuild,” Sparkle muttered, looking away. “All the sacrifices I made will have been for nothing. Even dying is better.”

The door to the lab screeched, the metal starting to tear.

“I think it found us!” Dust yelled, “Are those bombs ready?”

“They’ll work,” Sparkle assured her.

“I-I’m--” Marble ducked into the vent.

“Be careful you don’t hit the--” Sparkle started, then a steel shutter slammed down over the vent entrance. “Damnit! She hit the emergency switch!”

The door started to bend inwards.

Marble gasped and panted, fleeing with a speed and strength born from terror. The vent walls pressed down around her, too tight, threatening to pin her here in the dark, alone. Something tiny and furry ran past her hoof and she squeaked out a scream, muffled only by the fear something would hear her.

In the pitch black, she turned a twisting, tight corner on her knees and saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Her pace quickened to a fevered peak, driving her away from the dark. Part of her mane caught in a rivet, and she tore it free, ignoring the pain as she opened a long cut on her fetlock on a rough weld.

A vent cover was between her and freedom. She kicked once, twice, three times, and the cover popped free, Marble following without looking, tumbling out into the light and falling two stories to land in grass and dirt.

She coughed and tried to stand, her limbs shaking.

“You look like you need a hoof,” somepony said, helping her up. She blinked and looked up at a charcoal-grey unicorn with piercing green eyes. “I’m Kevin. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Can you get it open or not?” Dust asked, wincing as claws tore through the laboratory door. It wasn’t going to last long. And she had a feeling that shortly afterwards, neither would they.

“Of course I can,” Sparkle said. “I just need time.”

“We don’t have much of that,” Dust muttered. “Hey Sunburst, you any good in a fight?”

“I had a doctor’s excuse to get out of gym class every year I was in school,” Sunburst muttered.

“Let’s call that a no,” Lightning Dust sighed.

“What am I doing?” Sparkle groaned. “Acid! Sunburst, get me the sulfuric acid and something to neutralize it!”

Sunburst started rummaging around in the closet. Dust took a deep breath and faced the door as it finally failed, the security door torn from its hinges. The creature outside was hunched over, not able to stand up completely in the tight quarters of the building. The bipedal thing was covered in eyes growing like tumors all over its body, four arms trying to tear the doorframe apart to let it squeeze into the alchemy lab, two ending in crablike pincers and two in talons.

“Here goes nothing,” Dust muttered, throwing the first bottle Sparkle had prepared. The firebomb exploded in a cloud of dirty flame, glass shards flying like shrapnel.

The creature roared, a couple of the eyes closing, crying tears of blood.

“I think it’s working!” Dust yelled. Then the flames spread to one of the benches filled with beakers, and things started to smoke and spark. “Um.”

“Good! Just a few more seconds,” Sparkle said.

Dust shrugged and threw another firebomb at it. She figured it couldn’t get much worse. She was wrong. This time the liquid flames spread to the locked cabinet, and smoke in many exciting, deadly colors started pouring into the air.

“Done yet?” Dust asked, taking a step back.

“A few seconds,” Sparkle repeated.

Something started burning greenish-purple, sparks flying. Even the Linnorm stepped back, trying to shield its eyes from the noxious smoke.

“We really need to go!” Dust said.

“I got it!” Sparkle yelled, the lock popping open as the acid ate through the catch. She splashed the base Sunburst had given her onto it to keep it from burning anypony. “Sunburst, go!”

Dust looked back and waited for Sparkle to start wiggling into the vent, giving her a hard kick to get her through the tight spot before following, slamming the shutter behind them as they escaped the spreading flames.

“I have to admit, you’re not the type that I expected Doctor Sparkle to recruit,” Kevin said, as he tended to the small garden. He seemed entirely calm, despite the disaster going on inside the lab.

“Mm…” Marble looked down.

“Not that that’s a bad thing,” Kevin continued. “I think she’s a little uptight. In the same way that the ocean is a little wet. You’re a good pony, which might be why you don’t quite fit in.”

Marble looked around. “Melons?” She asked, eventually.

“It’s a hobby,” Kevin shrugged. “I heard it’s good to have a hobby. It makes a pony more well-rounded. Where I’m from, most of us just did our jobs and didn’t have time for anything else. Even in the middle of a war, this place is a lot more relaxed.”

“A-are you from--”

“The Empire? No.” Kevin laughed. “Those guys are pretty awful. The way I see it it’s like… well, take this patch of melons. They’re delicious, right? But it takes time and work to make them grow. Sombra and his Empire, they’re like weeds trying to choke the life out of everything.” He grabbed a weed with his lime-green magic and tugged it out of the ground, tossing it aside. “So they need to be taken care of.”

“I’m not… I’m not strong enough…” Marble whispered. Something about Kevin was making her open up.

“You know, I met Doctor Sparkle back when she was just a grad student, before all of this.” Kevin picked up a trowel, working the earth. “Things could have gone a few different ways, but… she impressed my employer. I think in some ways they ended up being each other’s first friends. If her brother hadn’t been so intimidating I might have made a pass at our dear Doctor, but even I know when to leave well enough alone.”

Marble stepped closer, watching Kevin work.

“It’s hard when you can’t protect ponies you care about. But unlike me, you do still have that chance.” He glanced at her, then back at the lab. “All I can do is wait here and hope, but Doctor Sparkle saw something in you.”

“But I can’t… my magic isn’t even working!” That was about the point when Marble stopped panicking and actually looked, and she managed to realize that something was wrong with the way Kevin was using his own magic to hold the watering can.

“My magic is a little different,” Kevin said, apologetic. “But I can’t intervene directly. Believe it or not the Linnorm is even more dangerous to me than it is to you.”

“What should I do?” Marble asked, quietly.

“You have to decide that for yourself. But if you want a suggestion, I think you can get back in that vent if I give you a boost.”

“Where are we?” Dust asked, as she helped Sparkle down to the floor.

“Storage room for failed prototype Unity suits,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I was thinking about something -- the Linnorm shouldn’t be able to survive in a low-magic area like this. They rely on magic to keep themselves going. Most of them don’t even have proper internal organs.”

“Maybe this one is made better?” Dust shrugged.

“Have you ever seen deep-sea divers?” Sparkle asked, as she started pulling sheets aside, looking for something. Under the tarps were suits, most incomplete, some just a wiring harness strapped to a ponyquin, others nearly complete.

“Sure,” Dust shrugged.

“They have to carry their air along with them. The Linnorm is doing the same thing- Sunburst, help me with this.” She moved a white cloth aside to reveal armor Dust was familiar with. It had a hole right through the chest. It matched the scars over her heart.

“Just for reference, the armor's not as tough as it looks,” Dust muttered.

“Your Engine Heart isn’t producing magic because it works on the same principle as a pony’s natural wellspring. The dark magic in a Linnorm ultimately works the same way as well.” Sparkle started checking connections. “From what I’ve read about anti-magic fields, they prevent the free movement of neutral thaumatic particles…”

Dust groaned and waited for Sparkle to finish explaining something that was so far over her head that she felt like she actually understood it less now that Sparkle had tried explaining it.

“...so the batteries should still work,” Sparkle finished. “Sunburst, help me get this hooked up, then set the feed to a minimum so we can check for broken connections.”

“Wait, are you saying these suits will work?” Dust asked.

“I just explained--” Sparkle groaned. “Yes, they’ll work. The thaumatic batteries work on alchemical principles. But the drain is going to be very, very high. Like trying to exercise and hold your breath at the same time.”

“Great!” Dust said. “Help me with the straps and I’ll fly over there and kick its ass.”

“You won’t be able to fly,” Sparkle said. “Your natural magic won’t work.”

“...So what’s the point?”

“You’ll be able to use some earth pony magic. A few seconds of strength and endurance. As long as you act quickly it should be enough.” Sparkle looked over the rows of suits. “Help her get suited up, Sunburst. One of these must be good enough…” She started looking under the sheets, going down the rows.

“What are you looking for?” Sunburst asked, as he helped settle the main weight of the armor on Dust’s back. It was a lot harder without magic to get the straps.

“I think there’s a pegasus suit here somewhere that’s mostly finished,” Sparkle said. “The one where we did the artificial wing tests.”

“It’s, um…” Sunburst pulled a strap tight and pointed. Sparkle nodded and walked over to it, revealing a suit with one metal wing attached, armored on the left side, and with the right just straps and wires over the bodysuit.

“When you’re finished with Dust, we'll check the connections on this suit,” Sparkle said.

“What are you going to do with it?”

“A good scientist stands behind her work.”

“That was a good line,” Dust said. “About a scientist standing behind her work.” She stopped at the end of the corridor and waited. Sparkle struggled, sweating, the armor heavy enough without having to carry battery tanks in a makeshift harness.

“I am… not a soldier…” Sparkle gasped, panting for breath. “I just need a few minutes to get used to the weight. I only did this once before, and it almost killed me!”

“Cool. You’ve got about thirty seconds.”

“Why do you--” The walls shook with an echoing roar. “Ah. I see. Stupid question.”

The Linnorm crashed through a wall, half-blind, though that didn’t mean much when you remembered that half-blind for something covered in eyes still meant it could see a few dozen times better than you.

“Three minutes!” Sparkle warned. “Then we’re out of power!”

“That’s plenty of time to get myself killed.”

Lightning Dust charged, hitting the button to activate the suit. Strength flooded her limbs, and she ducked, skidding on the floor, her momentum carrying her under a wild swing from the draconic monster.

Bleary eyes refocused on her, and it half-turned, stomping. Dust caught the foot, pushing up and knocking the monster off-balance.

“A little help?!” Dust yelled.

“Hold on, I’ve only read about this.” Sparkle muttered. Her one metal wing was extended, foil feathers twitching. Sparks crackled along the edge. The air split with a thunderclap as she launched a bolt at the monster. At the same time, one of the batteries she carried exploded, spraying gem dust and green slime across the floor.

The lightning went between the monster’s flailing arms, missing entirely.

“Damnit!” Sparkle swore, coughing up blood and falling to one knee. “Too much feedback. These prototypes are all rough edges.”

“Nice shooting, Tex!” Dust snarked, rolling away from the monster as it backed away from the flare of light and sound.

“L-Lightning Dust!” Somepony yelled. A long shape skidded across the floor. Dust grabbed it instinctively. A fireaxe.

She looked up to see Marble, near a box mounted on the wall that read ‘break in case of fire’. The earth pony hefted a fire extinguisher and threw it towards the Linnorm.

The monster batted at it, and the pressurized metal exploded into a cloud of foam and dust. It stumbled back, blinded.

On the second step it caught an axe blade to the back of the knee, tendons severing and sending it down to the ground.

A bolt of electric power smashed into the prone creature, blasting a hole through its gut.

“Nice teamwork!” Dust yelled. She jumped on top of the moaning monster and brought the axe down.

“Well that's twice now that I've almost had my heart stop,” Sparkle said, her voice weak. She looked at her side, the fur burned and scorched. “I don't think I can manage that again unless I can find a way to make the forced leyline flow easier on my body. The side effects of using a theoretical technique in an incomplete set of armor are quite a reminder that I need to finish a complete model before risking myself again.”

“And Marble is doing better?” Moondancer asked.

“Miss Pie is doing quite well. We exchanged some heartfelt apologies.” Doctor Sparkle smiled. “Overall, less of a disaster than it could have been. How was the meeting in Canterlot?”

“As you expected,” Moondancer sighed. “They’re completely unprepared. It was a waste of time. I should have been here instead.”

“Poor timing,” Doctor Sparkle said, looking away. “Did you find it?”

“Yes. Exactly where you suspected.” Moondancer led her to a table. “It was in with the daily deliveries. I’ve already had the ponies inspecting the parcels replaced.”

She revealed an open briefcase. Inside, rubber tubes and pumps circulated blue alchemical fluids around a complicated circuit, centered on a large gemstone, now cracked and dull.

“I want this investigated closely for clues to who made it,” Sparkles aid. “Get Kevin to help you.”

“You’re assuming the Seelie Court isn’t behind this in the first place?”

“I have enough enemies already. No need to invent more.” Doctor Sparkle looked at the arrangement for a few more moments. “Mm. I’m impressed with how the design was miniaturized.”

“High praise. Given the Linnorm, shouldn’t we assume this is Sombra?”

“The timing is quite suspicious. So is the fact it got here without anypony raising an alarm. And we were under an anti-magic field for hours -- why didn’t the EUP investigate?”

“You think they were planning something?”

“Together? No. I just want to know who attacked first and who decided to kick while we were down.”

“Is she alive?” Starlight asked.

“She has to be. Can’t you feel it?” Sunset looked up at the chrysalis. “That pressure. The only other time I felt it was when I was with Celestia.”

“Real family resemblance, too,” Starlight agreed. “I think both of us need to have a chat with our employers.”

“Does she even know you’re here?” Sunset asked.

“She ordered me to keep away.”

“That was always the fastest way to make sure I did something.”

Author's Note

Lunar Titanium is an archaic magical material similar to modern Orichalcum. It's light, strong, durable, and almost impossibly expensive. No new Lunar Titanium has been forged for over a thousand years, and any modern items made of the material come at the cost of melting down an older work.

The exact process of creating Lunar Titanium is unknown, though what records survive suggest the ore itself came from the moon. This is of course impossible, as nopony has ever traveled to the moon, but it is suggestive of the truth.

While ponies have never gone to the moon, there are rocks that have fallen from the sky - meteorites. Some are almost entirely composed of metal. It is possible that the original Lunar Titanium source were these meteorites, with ancient ponies comparing their cratered appearance to the moon and assuming that as the source.

These items, made of iron (possibly even primitive steel) would have been far superior to what could be mined from the local and typically iron-poor rocks available to ponies at the time, who largely used bronze. Additionally, meteoric iron is known to have intrinsic magical properties.

Thus, it is my conclusion that so-called Lunar Titanium is simply what we would call Meteoric Iron, refined in some way that was kept secret and has been lost to time.

It is truly a loss, as modern steelmaking would mean we could easily mass-produce the substance if we just knew whatever secret the ancients did. A ritual site? Some certain conflux of leylines? A special kiln? Perhaps it's as simple as all Lunar Titanium coming from the same meteorite, which had some unknown, perfect mixture of metals.

Of course, if it did somehow come from the moon, we might never be able to make more.

Weaving A Story

“Thank you all for coming,” Celestia said. “We have a lot to go over today. I believe everypony here already has Level White clearance?”

The ponies around the table nodded.

“Good, there are some sensitive subjects and it’s easier if we’re able to speak freely,” Celestia continued. “The war is poised to enter a new phase, and there are a number of connected events that have been intentionally kept quiet in the press.”

“Is this related to the... accident in the hospital recently?” Fancy Pants asked.

“The events there are related, but we need to go back further than that,” Celestia said. “As you know, the war started after the return of the Crystal Empire. There was a narrow window between the Empire reappearing and Sombra taking it over, and we were unable to take advantage of it.”

“If we were willing to use lethal force, we could have nipped it in the bud,” General Nickel muttered.

“That’s a topic for another time, General.”

“It’s too bad Princess Cadance couldn’t join is,” Jet Set said.

“Some of these events were too difficult for her on a personal level,” Celestia said. “Speaking of which, the first incident involves the loss of Captain Shining Armor.”

“A tragedy,” Fancy Pants said, shaking his head.

“Indeed. He was killed in an attack on his sister’s laboratory outside of Canterlot. While other events in her testimony are suspect, our own investigations support her version of events regarding his death.”

“She killed her own brother,” General Nickel growled.

“Autopsy of his body proved that he was under an invasive form of magical control,” Celestia said. “However, this does not explain the other pony on the scene, one Lightning Dust, formerly Lieutenant Lightning Dust.”

“She was court-martialed, wasn’t she?” Fancy Pants asked.

“Yes, but on the day in question she was in Doctor Sparkle’s lab, taking place in an ethically unsound magical enhancement experiment.”

“How do we know the experiment didn’t cause the attack?” Jet Set asked.

“We could spend all day going over what we don’t know.”

“Let’s leave speculation to the experts at the EIS.”

“Agreed. What’s next on the agenda?”

“The next incident was at the Cloudsdale games.”

“Hundreds of injuries. Multiple fatalities. Not to mention Lightning Dust made a mockery of the games.”

“The athletic committee already decided not to allow her records to stand. The destruction of the weather factory is a concern, but with a lack of pegasi to actually do weather work, it probably doesn’t matter. In the long run, they’ll have the machinery back up and running at the same time they have ponies to work it - when the war is over and not a minute sooner.”

“Overall given the public nature of the event we have to consider this a PR disaster but a successful military operation. Things would have been a lot worse without Sparkle there, which is something I can rarely say.”

“It seems suspicious that she showed up and there was an attack right away.”

“It’s not suspicious when you remember that the Games were a natural target. It's our own fault for thinking Sombra didn’t have enough air support to be a threat to Cloudsdale.”

“The same can’t be said for Manehattan.”

“No. That was resolved with considerably more grace. There were only a few casualties, in the actual attack.”

“What’s more concerning is the pony involved in Manehattan and the Iron Pegasus demonstration.”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

“She was supposed to be gone.”

“We can’t make her go away by wishing it and appealing to how things are ‘supposed’ to be. She’s here and allied with Doctor Sparkle.”

“She’s also spending a lot of time in the palace, by all reports.”

“I’d rather have her in the palace where I can keep eyes on her at all times than have her pursuing whatever goals Doctor Sparkle has in mind.”

“Goals like saving us from a monster attack sent up the river?”

“That was an unmitigated military disaster,” General Nickel said. “We weren’t given any information about the target and Doctor Sparkle didn’t even bother trying to step in until we’d lost a good number of ponies.”

“It’s a lot like the incident in the north. She sacrificed hundreds of ponies. As if our losses in the first stage of the battle weren’t bad enough, we had over fifty percent losses in her so-called joint operation, which is better described as Twilight Sparkle throwing lives away just to cast a few spells.”

“There were reports of unusual solar activity that morning. Were you involved, Princess?”

“No. We have reason to believe that it was also part of Doctor Sparkle’s plan.”

“Was the hospital planned, too?”

“I seriously hope not,” Celestia said. “We’re still investigating some of the details. The EIS was monitoring their communications through the event and they say that it seems like Doctor Sparkle did what she could to mitigate the effects of a disaster involving technology we don’t entirely understand.”

“Her technology.”

“Yes.”

“So why wasn’t she ordered to assist? Tartarus, even if she wasn’t directly responsible, she still built the damn thing that killed Spitfire. She should be locked up! It’s like she made a bomb, somepony else accidentally set it off, and we’re blaming the second pony!”

“Professor Flim has suffered enough with the loss of his brother,” Celestia said, quietly. “We aren’t pursuing any kind of punishment at this time. As for Doctor Sparkle, we’re shuffling EIS resources to keep watching her.”

“Speaking of the EIS, there was an incident involving your student not long ago.”

“Yes,” Celestia sighed. “Near the beginning of the war, we managed to capture one of the creatures we’ve come to call Linnorms. Despite what Doctor Sparkle may think, we’ve been doing our best to find a way to stop them. It was relocated to what we considered a safe area, an unused silver mine. The ore traces made it somewhat insulated from outside magic, the rock made it easy to build defenses, and we had considerable resources on-site in the worst-case scenario.”

“A scenario which seems to have come to pass.”

“The linnorm had been in some kind of coma but became active during an experiment to disable its crystal core. My student was able to destroy it before it could escape. The nearby towns weren’t even aware that anything happened, so we can consider our precautions a success.”

“How many ponies died?”

“All the members of the investigating team. Because of the damage to the area during the linnorm’s escape, we’re not able to determine exactly what caused it to wake up. Best guess is some kind of fail-safe on tampering with the core.”

“I’ve instituted a memorandum on further experimentation if we capture another,” Celestia said.

“We have one last operation to discuss. The recent use of an antimagic field generator against Doctor Sparkle’s lab.”

“Yes, it appears our timing was poor. My student had taken her own initiative to infiltrate and was stymied by the antimagic field. There was one valuable piece of information we were able to discover, though. Miss Sparkle’s Engine Hearts seem to suffer from the same magical drain as natural magic sources. This means an antimagic field provides a potential defense if we need to take action.”

“Is action being planned?”

“That’s what I wanted to discuss today. We have other concerns, but we need to consider some kind of response.”

“Trying to step in caused the death of Captain Spitfire and the disaster at Canterlot General Hospital.”

“Doing nothing could be like letting a rabid dog run free in your pasture. It might keep wolves away, but it will only hurt you in the end. This could be a chance to stop this before it goes further.”

“We’ll take a vote. All in favor of military action being undertaken?”

A quick count of hooves was taken.

“All opposed?”

A second count.

“The nays have it by a slim margin,” Celestia said. “We’ll refrain from taking action, for now. If things change significantly, we’ll review our options again and take another vote.”

Ponies around the table nodded.

“One last thing -- you mentioned your student got into Doctor Sparkle’s lab.”

“Yes.”

“Did she find anything worth mention?”

“No. Nothing we didn’t already know about.”

Doctor Sparkle was younger than Eff Stop was, though looking at her you might not know it. There was something prematurely old in her face, the wrinkles from her furrowed brow and the bags under her eyes speaking volumes of a life spent pushing herself to exhaustion.

Eff Stop had interviewed hundreds of ponies over the years. Ponies who were as disheveled as her usually had a dozen degrees or a long criminal record.

“Thanks for letting me speak to you today,” Eff Stop said, reaching across the desk and offering his hoof.

Doctor Sparkle looked at it and an expression flashed across her face, just for the blink of an eye, that Eff Stop was used to. He’d seen the same expression a hundred times before on ponies who really didn’t want to deal with the press but found themselves stuck in the same room.

“I felt it was necessary,” Doctor Sparkle said. She shook his hoof after only that moment of hesitation.

“Those are some nasty scars,” Eff Stop said. Her frogs were rough, and he could see the coat was patchy almost to her knees. “Can I ask how you got them? Off the record, if it bothers you.”

“I don’t mind telling you,” Sparkle said, sitting back and looking at her own hooves. “I was injured fighting against one of Sombra’s minions.”

Eff stop pulled out a notepad and pencil, taking notes in shorthand. “I didn’t know you were in the military. According to my sources, you’re just in an advisory position.”

“This is total war. All of us should be willing to get our hooves dirty. Even Princess Celestia isn’t afraid to be on the front lines where she’s needed. She should be an inspiration to us all.”

“Did you know that some ponies say your relationship with the Princess is a cause for concern?” Eff Stop asked. “There are reports that the two of you have had screaming matches behind closed doors.”

“We have different opinions on how to handle problems,” Doctor Sparkle said. “But both of us want what’s best for Equestria. For example, she has tried to keep my team out of the press, and I invited you here against her wishes.”

Eff Stop hesitated, his pencil slowing. “Are there military secrets involved? I don’t want to end up with a story I can’t publish.”

“I just told you. I’m not part of the military. Everything I do here is private, and whatever funding I get from the Crown does not preclude publication of my results. All that I ask is that you report honestly on what you see.” She smiled slightly. “And maybe send me a copy of the paper when it’s printed. We don’t get regular deliveries out here.”

“Look, I apologized already. I’ve just had a lot of bad experiences with the press,” Lightning Dust said. “You guys basically ruined my life.”

Lightning Dust was one of the few ponies at the lab that Eff Stop had actually spoken to before, though at the time she’d attempted to shove his notepad down his throat for asking too many questions after her dishonorable discharge.

“Ponies have strong feelings about the Wonderbolts. All the reporting we did was based on the official record,” Eff Stop said, picking up his hat. The brim was shredded and scorched from her greeting when he’d entered the room, a near-miss with a thunderbolt that still had his ears ringing.

“Yeah, the official record. As opposed to the facts. You know what? I’m not gonna get into it. Every time I dip my hooves into that pond I just end up covered in mud. Just ask whatever you’re going to ask.”

“Should I avoid sensitive topics? I don’t think my hat can take another hit like that.”

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. “If the Doc hadn’t ordered me to talk to you I’d have gone on patrol somewhere a hundred miles away until you were gone.”

“How did you and Doctor Sparkle meet?” Eff Stop asked.

“She was looking for a candidate for this whole project and my name was on top of the list. Pretty much proves she has good judgment, since I’ve saved Equestria…” She started counting on her feathers. “Like five or six times, depending on how you count it.”

“Do you think that makes up for your record?”

“I think nothing is ever gonna be good enough for some ponies. I could personally save them, their family, and their favorite pet and they’d find something to complain about and blame me for. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m not doing this for them.”

“Who are you doing it for, then?”

“I’m doing it for myself. I can’t prove myself to anypony else but I can try to be my best. The Doc is giving me a chance to do things I’d never manage on my own. She pulled me out of a bad place. I owe her, but all she really wants is for me to push the limits as fast and hard as I can.” Dust smiled. “Nopony is better at that than I am.”

Eff Stop had met royalty who were less difficult to deal with than Sunset Shimmer. She’d made him wait for her, keeping him in the hallway and relaying messages through one of Doctor Sparkle’s assistants. It wasn’t because she was busy. It was merely to demonstrate to him that she had the power to make him sit and do nothing at all.

“You misspelled ‘thaumatic’,” Sunset Shimmer said. “It’s thaumatic with a ‘u’, not thawmatic with a ‘w’.”

Eff stop looked at his crabbed shorthand. “Did you read that upside-down and backwards?”

“I pay attention to details,” the unicorn said. She seemed larger than life, with a kind of regal posture sitting at casual ease in a folding chair like it was a grand throne. She wore her armor, brass wings flexing and feeling at the air like they were truly alive.

“I’m surprised you know shorthand.”

“I was a student for a long time. I learned it on my own to take notes. The same reason you did, I suspect.” She smiled.

She tried to smile like Celestia, but there was something too lean and hungry about it. It made Eff Stop nervous.

“You know come to think of it, nopony knows where you’ve been for the last, what, decade? Can I ask exactly where you’ve been hidden away?”

“You can ask.” Sunset’s smile grew a little wider. “I don’t think the answer would be interesting. The truth is, I was… attending a different school.”

“Really? Where?”

"You know, I've seen the headlines your paper put out about my return. 'Equestria's Prodigal Daughter Returns.'" Sunset tilted her head. "It's funny. That's almost exactly the wrong in every possible way."

"Is it?" Eff Stop tilted his notepad, trying to keep her from reading everything he wrote.

"In the original story, the prodigal son is given everything he ever asked for and wastes it all. He comes back home with nothing and begs for forgiveness but is welcomed warmly."

"A lot of ponies would say the first part describes your history with Princess Celestia."

"That's because they don't know me at all," Sunset snapped. "I fought for everything. And now that I'm back? She just wishes I'd vanish again."

It took Eff Stop almost an hour to track down the last of Doctor Sparkle’s test subjects. Marble Pie had been sitting in a dark room, and he wasn’t quite sure what she’d been doing. He’d heard voices, but when he finally started asking questions, he started to doubt his own senses.

“And have you been working with Doctor Sparkle for long?”

“Mm…” The earth pony sat facing away from him, her long, flat mane like a wall between them.

“She mentioned you were a rock farmer. What was that like?”

“Mmmmm…”

“Maybe we could talk about your family?”

“Nn.”

Eff Stop groaned.

“I started Project A while I was still attending classes, before I got my doctorate,” Sparkle said. “It’s been a difficult path. Originally, my studies were focused on trying to fix what nature had broken. There have been some wonderful breakthroughs in augmentation, working wings for pegasus ponies, legs for earth ponies-”

“Did you do anything to develop those?”

“I’m not going to take credit for something another pony did, no. I have had long in-pony discussions with the ponies who made the breakthroughs, but we all stand on the shoulders of giants.”

“I did notice that Sunset Shimmer had artificial wings.”

“Yes. She’s rather fond of wearing that armor.”

“So Project A is just about putting ponies in magical armor?”

“Just like how the Canterlot Times is about putting ink on paper. It’s technically part of the job, but it totally ignores the point of the exercise. What you’re picturing is experienced soldiers with the best equipment.”

“So you’re telling me that’s not the case?”

“The point of Project A is to change the way we think about magic and about ourselves. It’s about getting rid of the limits nature put on us.”

“Some ponies would suggest those limits are there for a reason.”

“Thousands of years ago we were limited by what we could find to eat in the wild. We invented farming to secure our food sources. Then our limits were the seasons and weather, and the pegasus ponies invented ways to bring rain and shine. Everything we’ve done has been to fight against the limits nature imposed on us. Animals can’t read, write, create civilization. We do that. The great limitation we have now is in ourselves. We’ve changed the world to suit us, but Project A is about changing ponies so we can reach even farther.”

Eff Stop’s next question was interrupted by blaring alarms. Sparkle looked relieved.

“An enemy must be attacking,” she said. “Come. We’ll go to the control room. It’ll be good for your story, yes?”

Eff Stop made a few sketches of the ponies around the central table in what he’d already labeled the War Room, even if that wasn’t the name on the door. Calling it a conference room didn’t really fit with the way the ponies were discussing life and death, a harsh light hanging over the center of the table and throwing light directly down onto maps and hoof-written notes.

“Where is it?” Sparkle asked. “We aren’t nearly done with repairs, so it had better not be here.”

Eff Stop followed her into the room, taking notes and staying at the back of the room, unnoticed.

“We got lucky with this,” Sunburst said. “It’s in Ponyville. We still have some ponies on the ground there, so we’re getting the news first-hoof instead of being drip-fed by EIS.”

“I wouldn’t call attacking a town ‘lucky’,” Doctor Sparkle muttered.

“It’s not in the town proper. There’s an apple orchard--”

“I’m familiar with it.”

“It’s a few miles of apple trees and dirt roads from town. The locals are already evacuating. If we move quickly we can keep it from getting anywhere more developed.”

Doctor Sparkle nodded and spoke without turning. “Mister Eff Stop, would you care to join us and see just why Project A isn’t about ponies in fancy armor?.”

Eff Stop wasn’t a slow pegasus. By most measures he was fast, though the more accurate word would be slippery. He was used to having to rush to get a story while it was hot, rush to get his words on paper, rush to get out of the office before the editor could see his expense report.

No matter how large the expense report had been and how many drinks he’d tried to justify after the fact, he’d never gone this quickly before.

“Is this safe?!” he yelled over the wind. Lightning Dust dragged the cart through the sky at a speed that the cart very much did not like, and it was trying its level best to shake apart before they could arrive.

“Would I be here if it wasn’t safe?” Doctor Sparkle asked. She was making minute adjustments to Marble Pie’s armor.

Eff Stop wasn’t sure how to answer her question. He looked down at his notepad and wrote that she was like an artist who was never quite satisfied with their work, because it made him feel like they had something in common that wasn’t just an attempt to distract themselves with busywork.

“Where am I putting us down?” Lightning Dust asked, looking back.

“Near the river. We’ll call that the final defensive line,” Sparkle yelled.

“Hang on to your butts!” Dust shouted, going into a sharp dive. Eff Stop was caught between two instincts. Part of him wanted to take to the air and escape what felt like a fall to his death. The other part wanted to duck and cover and pray to whoever was listening (he’d once tried praying to Celestia but professional experience had taught him she didn’t even answer direct questions at a press conference, much less prayers).

The dark steel horn on Marble’s brow lit, and Eff Stop made a sound like a tea kettle as the air was squeezed from his lungs, gripped with strength akin to a dragon holding onto its gold in the face of a tax collector.

He watched the ground rush towards them, then their path twisted, and they were parallel to the road below, bouncing twice before coming to a stop, the wagon’s wheels dragging long ruts in the dirt.

The magic around Eff Stop winked out, and he gasped for breath.

“Did you have to do that?!” he asked.

Marble smiled so slightly he wasn’t sure it was really there.

The monster wasn’t at all what Eff Stop had expected. He knew a few things, more than what had been officially disclosed to the press, and more than was unofficially leaked with the understanding that part of the leak was what not to say to the public.

Linnorm were supposedly something like dragons, twisted by magic and being controlled by Sombra’s dark sorcery. Eff Stop had seen more than a few dragons. He’d once covered a dragon migration for his college newspaper.

The thing lumbering towards town with a wake of churned earth in its path was nothing like the deadly, majestic creatures he’d seen before. It was more like a turtle, with a shell of thick crystal studded with scales, studded with tooth-filled holes and moving on a number of stump-like legs. Eff Stop couldn’t quite tell how many legs it had, but it was definitely too many.

“So how does this work?” Eff Stop asked.

Lightning Dust was quiet, leaning on her axe and looking across the river, deep in thought. She was a picture of contemplation and careful wisdom, no doubt thinking of battle plans and strategies with her long experience with the Wonderbolts and in the war.

“We’ll just wing it,” she decided. “Hey, Sunset! You wanna try--”

A blast of fire and lightning crashed through the air a dozen paces from where Eff Stop stood and even the wake from this distance was so hot it scorched the pages of his notebook.

The bolt hit the monster and bounced off, bounding into the sky and fading away.

“Well that wasn’t what I was gonna suggest but that’s cool too,” Dust sighed. “You can’t solve everything with giant spell attacks, Sunset!”

“That’s something a quitter would say,” Sunset retorted.

“Now we know it’s immune to magic,” Doctor Sparkle said. “That’s valuable information. I would still prefer if you at least pretended to use teamwork. That blast decalibrated all my thaumometers!”

“What’s a--” Eff Stop started.

“It measures magical fields,” Sparkle said. “And now we don’t have a reading of the ambient fields, because somepony had to throw a level seven evocation out as a greeting!”

“You don’t complain when it works,” Sunset said, rolling her eyes.

Sparkle sighed and rubbed her temples. “Lightning Dust, go hit it with your axe.”

“Oh sure, sophisticated magic attacks are a bad plan, but hitting it with stick, that’s what a real genius like you comes up with,” Sunset mumbled.

Lightning Dust smiled. “Hey, sometimes what you need isn’t brute force, it’s the delicate sophistication of a chunk of sharp steel moving at high speed.” She winked at Eff Stop. “Make sure to tell your readers how I cut this thing in half.”

Eff Stop flipped to a new page, lightly browned around the edges, and took notes. He wished he’d been born a poet, just so he could capture the way Lightning Dust effortlessly hefted the huge axe, the edge glowing with heat. The wind of her passage, the thunder as she slammed the blade into the monster, the way it was deflected as easily as the spell, and the frantic retreat as the dozen maws studding the shell opened and started blindly spitting fireballs into the air.

“Does this happen a lot?” Eff Stop asked. A fireball hit the magical shield Marble was projecting, the earth pony’s hair slowly waving in the air like she was underwater. She looked bored.

“Mm.” Her snout scrunched with annoyance, and she angled the shield to bounce a fireball away from a house.

“I just thought there would be more…” he hesitated. “Ponies kept telling me Doctor Sparkle is a genius but she’s just sort of…”

He gestured to the unicorn. She was shouting into the radio, her lab coat singed from a near-miss.

Marble mumbled something that Eff Stop couldn’t make out over the roar of flames.

“What?” Eff Stop yelled.

Marble glanced at him, her eyes glowing blue, and the roar of the Linnorm’s attack cut out halfway through her repeating herself. “-ing idiots!” she snapped. “All of them!”

“I don’t think I can print that,” Eff Stop said, his cheeks coloring.

“Marble! Watch your six!” Dust yelled.

Eff Stop and Marble looked behind her. There was nothing except the town they were trying to defend. While they were looking, the Linnorm slammed into Marble’s shield, the feedback hitting her like a sledgehammer, driving her back on her hooves.

“On what planet is that my bucking six?!” Marble yelled, her horn flashing as she redoubled her efforts, trying to hold the monster back.

“I’m not good with clocks!” Lightning Dust shouted.

Light flashed above them, Sunset appearing out of the flash of a teleport spell and swooping down, grabbing Doctor Sparkle and Eff Stop.

“Wouldn’t look good if we got our embedded reporter killed,” Sunset said. She took a turn so tight Eff Stop almost blacked out. A half-mile up, she crashed to a halt, bursts of magic firing from her wings and canceling her momentum. “Marble, they’re clear!”

Marble let the shield drop, the Linnorm stumbling a step forward before she caught it, front hooves pressed against its crystal shell. A glow started where she touched it and worked its way around the monster, lighting it from below.

The earth pony roared and threw the monster up into the air, the turtle-like linnorm wailing in surprise as it flipped like a pancake.

“Nice! I got this!” Lightning Dust flew down in a trail of lightning and fire, the blade of her axe trailing until she was on top of the monster, spinning in midair to slam the red-hot edge into the linnorm’s soft underbelly.

“The core is exposed!” Doctor Sparkle yelled, pointing at the creature. Eff Stop could just make out a crystal sphere glowing dimly in the exposed viscera.

“I got it,” Sunset said. She let go of Sparkle and Eff Stop. Eff Stop’s wings opened and caught her wake as she blasted off, throwing him wildly through the air like a leaf in a hurricane.

Dust twisted her axe in the linnorm’s wound, spreading the cut wide. Sunset’s star saber erupted from her hoof. She tucked her wings in tight and threw herself at the enemy with a burst of telekinesis, launching her own body like a shot from a cannon.

The tip of the sword cut through the crystal, and the monster went limp.

Eff Stop’s out-of-control flight stopped like he hit a brick wall, navy blue magic seizing him in place.

“Nice catch, Marble,” Doctor Sparkle said, as she was lowered to the ground in the same aura. “Good work, everypony.”

Eff Stop was gently placed down on the dirt, his legs shaking with adrenaline and terror. Marble Pie stepped up to him, looming over him with a menacing aura, her face cast into shadow. His notepad was pressed into his chest, and he grabbed it on instinct.

Marble leaned forward, and he flinched like she might bite.

“I hope you have enough material,” she whispered.

Eff Stop nodded mutely.

“Thank you for this opportunity, your highness,” Eff Stop said. He bowed deeply. Maybe too deeply. He was glad to be in the palace, and anywhere without monsters, pony-shaped or otherwise.

Celestia laughed. “Please, this is supposed to be an informal interview,” she said. “I’ve been stuck in meetings all day. We can dispose of some formalities.”

Eff Stop nodded, sitting when she motioned to the empty seat across from her at the small table. “I’ll try not to waste your free time then, your highness. I’m sure as you’re aware, I’ve been working on a story about Doctor Twilight Sparkle.”

“She does seem to attract a lot of attention.”

“I’m told you and she are close.”

“In many ways. Doctor Sparkle’s late brother was Princess Cadance’s fiance. In some ways she’s almost family. When she attended my school, I took a close interest in her studies and acted as a mentor.”

“I’ve heard some ponies accuse you of favoritism.”

Celestia laughed. “I don’t think Twilight would agree with that. I even took control of the review board for her proposals just to ensure other ponies didn’t give her grants simply to try and get my favor. I’ve tried to push her to excel and guide her gently in the right direction. It hasn’t always worked.”

“It hasn’t?”

“I’m told you had a chance to see her work up close,” Princess Celestia said. “You’re very dedicated. Most ponies wouldn’t have been willing to chase a story all the way to the battlefield.”

“Well, there’s a war on,” Eff Stop, with a very small smile. “I wouldn’t be much of a reporter if I was afraid to be near the front. I just wasn’t prepared for it this time.”

Celestia nodded and smiled, closing her eyes serenely. “You were in a unique position. That’s why I invited you here. I wanted to help you with your story.”

“Really?” His ears perked up. “How?”

The door behind him opened, and two ponies in dark suits stepped into the room.

“It’s important that ponies see the right news in these troubled times,” Celestia said. “These ponies are going to help you remember everything that happened, and then they’ll help you decide what the public is allowed to know.”

Eff Stop swallowed.

Author's Note

One of the ultimate truths about this world is that magic lives in all places, in all things. You can block it, even trap it for a time, but Magic will find a way.

When I was a filly, a year or two after my accident, my vision started to blur. Too many long nights with too little light and too many words had taken their toll.

The diagnosis from the optomitrist was terrifying. I'd already lost so much when my magic was taken. The only real joy in my life was in escaping for a time into books, and it seemed like that was going to be lost. For a time I was afraid to read anything, thinking I only had so many more words before everything went dark.

I spent a week making my parents read menus and storybooks to me before my glasses were ready. The first time the doctor put those lenses in front of my eyes and everything snapped into focus again, I nearly cried. It was a revelation. Something wrong with me could be fixed by the right device.

So I asked my parents, what did I need to do to fix my horn?

It took me a long time to understand that the technology simply didn't exist. My magic was locked inside of me like an underground lake that had been sealed off, unreachable and unable to flow out.

I took it upon myself to create what didn't yet exist. Not just for myself, but for the whole world.

That was the beginning of Project A.

~ Portion of an unreleased interview.

Daring Do Dies In Magma!

Lightning Dust knocked on the doorframe.

Doctor Sparkle didn’t look up, gesturing for Dust to come in. As usual, she was surrounded by papers ranging from scrolls old enough that they’d probably been dug out of tombs to the morning edition of the Canterlot Times.

“Thank you for coming,” Sparkle said. “There’s a touchy situation in the north.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dust leaned on the wall. “I know you don’t get out of this office much but there’s this whole war thing going on. King Sombra, Crystal Empire… ringing any bells?”

Doctor Sparkle threw a paperweight at her.

“Careful! If I get hurt I might not be able to handle your big important mission!”

“Do you want details or not?” Sparkle asked. “I came to you first because Marble can’t get there in time and I don’t trust Sunset not to do something stupid. She’d probably try and set everything on fire and pretend violence was only a last resort.”

“I guess I’m happy that you trust me not to bugger everything up.”

“I’m spoiled for choice,” Sparkle sighed.

“So what’s the plan?”

The town, whose name Dust hadn't bothered learning since she wasn't planning on coming back, wasn’t far from the front lines. It had to be. It was the kind of place that flourished close enough to soldiers to be tempting but far away enough that fighting wasn’t likely to spill into the tent-lined streets.

Merchants yelled in about six different languages, trying to get Dusts' attention, offering everything from drugs to weapons (some of which looked suspiciously like army-issue equipment) to mares and stallions. Dust wasn’t sure if they were for rent or sale.

“It’s the finest spice,” repeated the zebra that had stepped in front of her. He had an amazing lack of self-preservation instincts. “Equestrian rations are so bland, yes? This makes even plain bread and water taste like the greatest meal.”

“I dunno. The new ration packs are pretty good. Especially the cheese omelet,” Dust said absently, looking past the zebra - an easy task since she was almost a full head taller than he was - and across the marketplace.

“I have heard quite a bit about those from the soldiers that have passed through,” the zebra nodded.

Dust suspected, given the weapons the next stall over, that most of the soldiers he’d seen were quartermasters making a few bits on the side by selling off their surplus. Technically it was probably treason but most good quartermasters did a little barter on the side with places like this.

“One thing the stories had in common was the need for hot sauce, something increasingly rare to come by.”

Dust paused and turned to really look at the zebra. He held up a small bottle filled with fiery-red sauce, seeds from the chili peppers floating in the thick paste.

“How much?” She asked.

The zebra named a price that, during peacetime, would have bought a gallon of the stuff.

“Why don’t you let me pick that up for you?”

An acid-green aura dropped a pouch of bits in front of the zebra. When he knelt down, Dust caught sight of the charcoal-grey unicorn that had put it there.

“Oh hey,” Dust said. “I wasn’t expecting you, Kevin. Doc said it was an archaeologist, and you don’t look nearly old enough to get dug out of an ancient tomb.”

“I’m just here to escort you to the site,” Kevin explained. “Our contact is waiting there to keep an eye on things. If they change, she’ll send word or come herself. I assume you brought your luggage?”

“If you mean the suit, yeah. It’s in a crate down by the docks.”

“You just left it?” Kevin groaned. “Come on. If we’re lucky it won’t have been stolen yet.”

Dust sat on her suitcase, looking at the map spread out on the table between her and Kevin. The corners were weighed down with a collection of glasses and bottles that was slowly accumulating as Dust demonstrated her ability to drink enough to give a donkey liver failure. The bar was little more than a bunch of random folding tables in a dirty tent with awful lighting, but it was out of the sun and gave them at least the illusion of privacy.

“The place where we need to go is here,” Kevin tapped on the map. “It’s in the Barrier Peaks between the Empire and Yakyakistan. According to my contact, the site is on the north face of a volcano known to the local Yaks by some appropriately floral name and by our rather unimaginative cartographers as V12.”

“That’s the middle of nowhere,” Dust mumbled, narrowing her eyes. Kevin was impressed she could even focus on the map enough to tell the volcano wasn’t in Trottingham.

“We believe the reason the site hasn’t been discovered before is because it’s so remote. The only people out there are sherpas and a few yeti.”

“So why was your contact there?” Dust asked, settling back on her trunk and downing another shot of what was surprisingly good tequila. “Let me guess, he was spying on the sherpas to learn the secret of how to go up and down mountains real good.”

“She’s not interested in the war, to be honest,” Kevin said. “She’s an archaeologist. Certainly no friend of Sombra’s, but she doesn’t want to be involved at all. According to the letter she sent me, she was originally there to ensure Sombra’s invasion of Yakyakistan didn’t result in the destruction of some important historical artifacts.”

“When you say archaeologist, do you mean the grave-robbing kind that sells their grandma’s bones, or the other kind?”

“The other kind. I know about her because she has funding problems due to her reluctance to be involved with private collectors. It’s occasionally been useful to have her in our back pocket, and she does find the most interesting tidbits in the most obscure places, like she did today.”

“I just don’t get why Doc Sparkle is interested in some pottery and bones. I didn’t think she gave a damn about it.”

Kevin smiled. “Actually, Doctor Sparkle has a great interest in many subjects. She and I have spent a considerable amount of time in Canterlot’s museums just enjoying the sights. That said, you’re absolutely right that she wouldn’t dispatch either of us to this kind of danger if there wasn’t something important at the end.”

Dust sighed. “Just get to the punchline, dude.”

“The Barrier Peaks are, according to myth, also the site of the legendary city of Shangri’llama. My contact thinks that she might have found the front door.”

“You’re joking.”

“I often do, but not in this case. If half the stories about Shangri’llama are true, Sombra cannot be allowed to get his hooves anywhere near it. Doctor Sparkle wants us to investigate and learn as much as we can. We might even learn a way to--”

Kevin stopped and looked to the tent flap.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think trouble is on the way,” he muttered.

A zebra mercenary ran inside, speaking breathlessly. “Imperial troops. The camp will be overrun. Get out while you can!"

Ponies, griffons, and people of assorted other shapes and sizes started pouring out of the bar, the bartender yelling for them to pay their tabs at the same time he was throwing a few choice bottles in a bag before fleeing himself.

“What’s the plan?” Dust asked. “You can’t fly.”

Kevin hesitated. “Follow me. Bring your armor.” A spark of green magic set the map on fire, the alcohol soaked into the corners helping it burn. He ran to where a number of carts were parked, looking them over.

Dust looked around. “Which one is yours?”

“None of them. We’re going to borrow one.” He pointed. “That one can be pulled by one pegasus and has the right enchantments for air travel. Get strapped in.”

“Did I ever tell you how much I hate snow?” Dust yelled, trying to be heard over the wind.

“Why are you complaining?” Kevin was shivering despite the layers of clothing they’d bought from the sherpas, the mountain goats easily carrying their luggage and apparently immune to the cold. “You’re a pegasus! You should love weather!”

“I didn’t go to school for weather duty, and this is a bucking blizzard! We should have waited for the weather to clear up!”

“It doesn’t!” Kevin laughed. “It’s been snowing for as long as anyone’s kept records! My contact thinks it’s one reason the city stayed lost! Look at it this way, Dust -- the Empire isn’t going to be able to track us all the way out here!”

Dust almost walked right into the goat in front of her when he stopped dead in its tracks.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

The goat looked back at her, his expression unreadable. He pointed, and Dust could just make out something moving through the snow, just a shadow.

“Yeti,” the goat said, with a thick accent.

“Is that good or bad?” Dust asked.

“It is an omen,” the goat said. “It means interesting times ahead.”

“That seems good.”

The goat didn’t look so sure about that. They climbed past, the yeti vanishing along the snowdrifts.

“Dust, take a look at this,” Kevin yelled. Dust trotted ahead, the sherpas moving past them as Kevin swept the snow aside with his magic. “These are steps carved into the rock. We must be getting close.”

“Couldn’t the goats have done it?” Dust asked.

“No, they don’t come up here. I had to bribe them quite a bit to get them this far. This is old. Thousands of years old.”

“If you wanna bring a staircase home you’re carrying it,” Dust said.

“Unfortunately I don’t have that much room in my luggage!” Kevin laughed, patting her on the back. “I think I see our destination up ahead!”

Dust couldn’t make out anything, following Kevin and the goats through the endless white. They went nearly a mile along the edge of a drop down a few thousand feet right to rocks before the path curved, sweeping through a cleft in the dark rock walls to a sheltered cove, the sky barely visible through a gap above.

“Warmer in here,” Dust said.

“It’s the geothermal heat,” somepony called out.

Dust’s wings snapped out, static dancing along the feathers as she searched for the unexpected intruder.

“Calm down,” Kevin said. “It’s my contact.”

Dust frowned, relaxing. An earth-tone pegasus with a monochrome mane stepped out of the shadows, wearing a parka and pith helmet.

“Daring Do, at your service,” she held out a hoof to shake.

Kevin shook her hoof, then motioned for Dust to do the same. “Daring, this is Lightning Dust. She’s one of Doctor Sparkle’s troubleshooters.”

“Nice grip,” Daring Do said. “I’m surprised the Doctor didn’t come herself.”

“She’s occupied with the war.” Kevin shrugged. “She’s taking this very seriously. Miss Lightning Dust is one of her most trusted agents.”

Daring Do leaned in to give Dust a hard look. “Are you sure she’s not just dumb muscle?”

“I’m pretty sure I am dumb muscle,” Dust said.

“Good!” Daring smiled. “Between me and Kevin here, we already have enough brains. I need somepony who can move rocks around.”

“Thank buck for that,” Dust laughed. “I’m your mare.”

“Awesome. You two wanna see something cool?”

Daring led them further into the cave.

“This was a lava channel,” she explained. “Sort of like a river bed for molten rock. The volcano is still live, but the active parts have shifted around so this has been dry for a few hundred years.”

She stripped off her parka as they passed a few tools and bedrolls.

“I’ve been camping out here because I know I won’t accidentally damage something of historical importance,” Daring explained. “It’s gonna get warm in there, so take off your coats here.”

Dust and Kevin followed her advice, and were glad for it. Less than a hundred feet away, they crossed a ledge looking over a boiling stream of water edged in yellow crystals. The whole area was filled with foul-smelling steam.

“Don’t fall in,” Daring warned. “You’re gonna love what’s up ahead.”

“How did you even find this place?” Dust asked.

“I didn’t. The sherpas did. They use places like this to rest away from the snow and wind. This mountain is sort of off-limits because of the curse, but they’ve been going further in just keeping away from Imperial entanglements.”

“Wait, what curse?” Dust asked. “Kevin, you didn’t mention a curse.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Curses aren’t real.”

“Curses are totally real,” Daring Do countered. She hopped up some stairs, half-hidden under long-cooled magma. “I got turned into a frog once.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I got better! Anyway, here we are!” Dust waved her wing dramatically. At the top of the stairs, set deeply into a sheer wall of rock, was a set of doors so big they put the front gate of Canterlot Palace to shame.

“What is this?” Kevin asked. “Obsidian?”

“Good eye.” Daring nodded. “I haven’t been able to get it open. It’s not locked, just stuck. I’ve been working at it, but what I really need is an extra pair of hooves and the locals refuse to get this close.”

“Let me get my suit on and I’ll get it open,” Dust said.

“You know,” Kevin said, as Dust heaved and put her back into it. “There are some interesting carvings around the door.”

“These represent spirits of some kind,” Daring said, hovering at one of the exposed carvings and tapping. “The lines coming out of them are supposed to be light or magic. Do you see how the figures are never fully depicted, just kind of trailing off? In the traditional art forms of the area, that means they’re either metaphorical or otherwise not really of this world.”

“And this part?” Kevin nodded.

“It shows them staying here in secret, apart from the world. None of the carvings actually show what’s beyond the gate, but the implications in the symbolism indicate that it’s not part of the world at large, sort of like Elysium.”

“It’s moving!” Dust yelled. There was a sound like the biggest knife in the world scraping against a plate the size of a country as the obsidian door was forced open.

“There’s another place that comes to mind,” Kevin said quietly. “Tartarus.”

“Nah, gates to Tartarus are way different,” Daring Do assured him.

“I’m somewhat worried that you’re familiar with them.”

“It comes with the job. Nice job, Lightning Dust!” Daring Do patted the armored pegasus on the shoulder and stepped up to the entrance and the darkness beyond was suddenly pierced by a ghostly blue light, crystals set into the walls flickering to life and revealing a wide corridor carved out of the same black stone. “Let’s see what we found.”

“Interesting…” Kevin muttered, not moving any closer and proving that he was the smartest pony in the group.

“Looks like the magma didn’t get inside,” Daring said. “Come on. It seems safe.”

Dust followed her inside, looking at the walls. “What language is that?”

“I’m not sure,” Kevin said. “Daring?”

“It’s Early Alpacan,” Daring said, stopping to squint at the walls. “I only know a little, but look here. Horse Viking runes, and I think it’s the same message. And below that is Classical Neighgyptian.”

“Cool,” Dust said, standing next to her with Kevin. “And it says…?”

“Like I said, I only know a little,” Daring said. “So I can’t give you a full translation. These parts are something about great power or wisdom. There’s a warning, but I can’t make out exactly what it’s saying, just the general sense of a warning.”

“It’s warning the unworthy not to proceed further because of the great power within,” whispered a soft voice from behind the three.

They turned slowly to see a tall unicorn. She was so tall her hooves didn’t even quite reach the ground, floating like gravity was just a suggestion.

Some ponies would have screamed. Dust lunged at her, throwing her weight into a headbutt that would have been hard enough to give a minotaur a concussion if she’d connected. Instead, she went right through the unicorn and out the other side, running head-first into the far wall and collapsing in a heap.

“Ow,” Dust mumbled.

“Are you okay?” the unicorn asked. “I’m sorry. My body isn’t here. This is just a projection of my spirit.”

“A projection of your spirit?” Daring Do asked. “Of course! Astral projection is one of the legendary abilities of the monks of Shangri’llama!”

“It’s something like that,” the unicorn agreed. She smiled. “I’m Shine. I sensed that we finally had visitors after so many years, and I just had to get a look!”

“I’m Daring Do. I came here to learn about your culture. These are, um, my assistants.” She waved to Lightning Dust and Kevin.

“I’m so happy to meet all of you.” Shine bowed, her image flickering slightly. “We haven’t hosted guests in a very long time. As you can imagine, we’re just as eager to learn from you as you are from us. I can’t even remember the last time we knew what was going on in the outside world.”

“The same thing as always,” Dust said. “Some guy named Sombra is trying to take over the world and we’re looking to stop him. Some of us, anyway. Daring Do just likes playing in the dirt. I don’t suppose you have some old pots you can lend her to make her happy?”

“Sombra, huh?” Shine rubbed her chin. “Oh! I know! Come with me!”

The ghostly form flitted down the corridor.

"This looks safe," Dust said. Her voice echoed around the huge room. A rumble from below shook the mountain like a reply from the earth itself.

The passage opened up into the caldera of the volcano, to a stone platform hanging over the center of the magma pit. A narrow stone bridge connected the passage to the platform, suspended in place by crystal spires like toothpicks holding a cracker from falling into a fondue pot.

"To open the gate you have to pass a trial," Shine explained. "I'm not supposed to explain it to you, but..." She pointed. "It's over there."

"It's on the ominous platform hanging over lava," Dust said. "The one that's probably ready to fall in at any moment."

"That's the one!" Shine smiled.

"I've seen this kinda thing before," Daring said. "I think I can manage. Come on, guys. Might need an extra set of hooves."

Daring and Shine flew off to the platform, leaving Dust and Kevin behind.

"She's lying about something," Kevin muttered.

"You think?" Dust rolled her eyes and followed Daring Do up.

The surface of the stone platform was covered in ash. Daring Do was brushing some of it away, revealing a mosaic of brightly-colored tiles. "Hmmm... okay, I know what to do. See, there's basically four types of puzzles in old ruins. You got stacking rings, moving cubes, mazes, and this one here. Sliding tiles."

"Sliding tiles."

"Right. You reveal a hidden picture and then it opens up a locked door," Daring said.

Dust frowned. "You can't be serious."

"Once in a while you'll get a puzzle where you have to copy a series of lights or musical notes," Daring continued, as she shifted tiles around. "Sorta like Simon says."

Dust looked back at Kevin. The charcoal-black unicorn shrugged.

"Are you sure you're an archaeologist?" Dust asked. "I thought old stuff was just, like, buried. And you dig really slowly and carefully."

"Nope, it's mostly solving basic puzzles," Daring Do said. There was a click as she finished the tile puzzle. "See?"

She stepped back to let them see the completed image.

“Does that look like evil spirits of darkness to you?” Dust asked.

Daring Do flew up a little higher to get a look. “Huh.”

“That’s what it looks like to me,” Kevin said.

Shine giggled. “That’s silly! We’re not evil spirits of darkness!”

“Good,” Daring Do said. “See? You guys were worried about nothing.”

“We’re Umbra Ponies! Sombra was supposed to release us but apparently, the stupid little runt decided to take power for himself,” Shine continued, her grin twisting. There was a deep rumble from below, and the platform started to split in half, opening like a giant gateway into an abyss that couldn’t be seen from the side, a hole in the very air itself.

Kevin, being the smartest pony for miles, was already running.

“What’s the plan?” Dust yelled, taking to the air.

“You have armor, so, uh…” Daring Do looked around. “Do you see any other puzzles?”

“No!”

“Okay, then you fight and if you see stacking rings or something, give me a yell!” Daring winked and flew after Kevin.

“You guys are worse than Sparkle!” Dust hovered in front of the gate. “I don’t even know how to fight Umbra Ponies!”

A dozen streams of shadow poured from the gateway like smoke. One swirled around itself, gaining some amount of substance.

“It feels so good to be in my own body again,” Shine sighed, stretching. “You can’t imagine how awful it is to be imprisoned in Limbo for a few thousand years.”

“I bet it’s pretty bad,” Dust agreed.

“Since you were so kind to let us out, we’ll take care of Sombra for you before we destroy the world. Isn’t that nice of us?”

“Yeah. I was okay with this up until the Sombra part.”

“We managed to get that little shade free and he didn’t even try to get us out!” Shine sighed. “Can you imagine? And we went to so much trouble squeezing him through that tiny crack! We could have plunged the world into eternal darkness a thousand years ago!”

“Hey, you wanna see something cool?” Dust asked. “Doctor Sparkle showed me a pretty awesome trick.”

Shine laughed. “Sure. I’ll indulge you.”

“Now I haven’t done this myself, but I saw it done from pretty close by, and she explained it well.” Lightning cracked along Dust’s wings.

Shine’s body collapsed into smoke as twin bolts of magical lightning smashed through her.

“Ow! Buck! She was right, the feedback stings!” Dust floundered left and right, barely staying in the air.

"Dust!" Daring Do yelled. "We found something!"

"I'm sort of dealing with a lot right now!" Dust called back. "Is this something important? Because if it's some old vases I'm gonna kick your bucking flank all the way down to the magma!"

"Technically it's lava!"

"Okay, I'm coming over there just to smack you," Dust said, flying to them, keeping an eye on the open portal. Kevin was working on something next to the passage.

"There's a hidden door here," Kevin said. "I think the method of opening it involves-"

Dust bucked the wall hard enough to shatter the stone.

"Well that's an alternate method, certainly," Kevin admitted. "I was going to suggest that we solve the puzzle but it involved a tiny amount of math and I suppose that's not your forte quite as much as breaking things."

"We did the puzzle last time," Dust mumbled, shoving broken stone out of the way.

"Now it looks like, possibly, I was wrong about this being Shangri'llama," Daring Do admitted. "I'll come up with a cool name for it later. Maybe The Umbral Fortress? The Umbral Prison? I'll workshop it with my editor if she isn't still in mourning over her son."

"Your editor?" Dust asked.

"Archaeology doesn't pay the bills. Writing is way harder but I get enough from the advances to cover expeditions like this."

"Ladies," Kevin coughed politely. "There's a world-ending threat currently escaping from prison. If I might suggest..." He leaned in to brush dust away, revealing a steel lever.

"These runes indicate--"

"That it closes the gate, right?" Dust asked, grabbing it and yanking.

The volcano rumbled.

"It closes the gate in a certain sense," Daring Do said, her voice tense. "It prevents the Umbra Ponies from escaping by, uh, making the volcano erupt."

"...The volcano we're in?" Dust asked.

Daring sighed. The floor cracked as the volcano rumbled again, steam hissing into the air. "What do you think?"

"Why the buck would somepony build a lever that makes a volcano erupt?!" Dust demanded. "That's so dumb!"

"To be fair about half my adventures end like this," Daring said. "We, um. We should really be running. Kevin left a minute ago."

"You know that was a really neat trick," Shine said, leaning down between them. "Can I show you one of my own?"

Dust shoved Daring Do to the side.

A blade of pure darkness flit through the space she'd been, slicing right through the steel lever.

Shine made a sad sound. "You need to stand still for the trick to work!"

Dust lunged at her, passing right through Shine's body.

"Once the others wake up, we're going to have fun with you," the umbra pony promised. "I was the only one still waiting for somepony like you to come along and get us out. You know how grumpy ponies are first thing in the morning, so try not to be offended when they torture you for a century or two."

A blast of lightning cut her in two, the shadows pooling around Dust's fetlocks like particularly unpleasant mud.

Dust helped Daring Do up. "Follow Kevin out of here. I'm gonna hold her off."

"I think you broke my wing when you shoved me into the wall," Daring groaned. "I swear this happens every time I go out of the house."

"Drink more milk and run!" Dust yelled, the whole tunnel shaking continuously now.

Daring Do ran past Dust, skirting the pool of shadows.

Dust jumped back as sharp-edged tendrils lanced out of the darkness like razor ribbons, Shine pulling herself back together.

"That was rude," Shine growled, her face reforming, her mouth filled with jagged fangs. "Haven't I been polite this whole time?"

"Sorry, you're just not my type," Dust said. "You wanna try explaining your evil plan to me in detail?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Well honestly at this point I'm just stalling for time so the--" Before Dust could explain her own evil plan, a wave of steam and pressure rushed down the tunnel, hot enough to scorch her even through the armor.

Shine looked back to see fire and molten rock coming, and Dust blasted her with lightning again, hitting her in the back and fleeing before the deadly tide.

The heat nipped at her hooves as she flew, dodging falling rocks. The sides of the tunnel cracked, rubble falling into the passage.

Dust looked back and saw Shine reaching for her, the umbra pony partly submerged in the lava, molten rock covering her like a second skin as she screamed in fury and pain.

Dust got through the narrow doorway just before the lava.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Shine roared. She struggled, pulling herself through the gateway, a river of magma surging around her as she crawled into the open.

Dust grabbed Daring from the ground and got into the air with her to keep her away from the deadly flow.

"Looks like round two is gonna be a doozy," Dust mumbled.

"Don't fight while you're holding me!" Daring demanded. "Put me down somewhere!"

"No!" Shine screamed as lines started glowing around her. A sound like a glass bell rang out, and the doorway started glowing just as the umbra pony crossed the threshold. "I was so close!"

An invisible force pulled her back, dragging her into the tunnel. Shine wailed until the stone gate slammed shut, cutting off the sound and the flowing lava.

"What the buck?" Dust blinked.

"It must have been some kind of warding," Daring said, panting with exhaustion.

"It'd be a poor prison if it just let them escape," Kevin said, stepping out from where he'd been hiding.

"Where the buck were you?" Dust demanded.

Kevin held up a white box. "I was just getting a first-aid kit for Daring."

"She didn't get hurt until after you ran!"

Kevin smiled. "I was pretty sure somepony would need a band-aid before things were over."

"So the lava burned all our coats and supplies, and the sherpas were long gone," Dust said. "Getting back down the mountain was a hassle. We had to--"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure it was exciting," Doctor Sparkle said. "Just as long as everypony is safe."

"Don't you think you should send somepony out to deal with that prison?" Dust asked. "Even if it's sealed off, those things are worse than Sombra!"

"I'll make sure Celestia is alerted to the threat. This is more in her wheelhouse. I don't want to ruin all her fun."

"You don't even sound like you care!" Dust accused.

"Well, to be honest..." Sparkle blushed. "The reason I had you do all this was for my mom."

"Your mom?!"

"She's sort of a big fan of Daring Do. We've been falling out a little, recently, and when she asked me for a favor..." Doctor Sparkle shrugged. "I couldn't say no. I'm sure after Yearling submits her next manuscript my mom will press me for details, so make sure your written report is factual and accurate."

"Are you serious?"

"Mm. Anyway, glad to have you back safely. I'll try to make sure she spells your name correctly in the book."

Author's Note

"What happened in the Empire wasn't your fault," Celestia said.

"Yes it is," Cadance whispered. She winced as silver forceps tugged a shard of black crystal out of her forehead. Celestia pressed a towel against the ache, and it came away stained with a few crimson drops.

"Even I didn't beat him when we fought." Celestia looked at the crystal, holding it in the light and letting the candlelight glint from its faucets. "He decided to end the game in a draw, and trap innocent ponies for a thousand years."

Celestia put the shard of crystal on a tray and forgot about it.

"Despite the appearance, it's more like a metallic glass than a crystal," Sparkle said, holding the test tube up to the light. The shard within vibrated like it was trying to escape.

It had been stolen from one of the EIS deep storage vaults. She suspected her contact was just grabbing anything that looked interesting instead of operating with some sort of plan.

"It can channel magic well enough, though I'm not sure to what end. I suppose it could be used for anti-magic shielding or a thaumatic distortion blanket. If I had a way to make more with a reasonable amount of purity, a decade to study the material, and some way to be sure Sombra couldn't reach right through it, I might try using it."

She tossed it back into the box.

"How's Cadance doing?" Starlight asked.

"What happened at the hospital shook Princess Cadance badly," Celestia said, with particular emphasis on the title. "I find myself in the awkward position of being thankful my former student was there." She was too distracted by her work to see the flicker of annoyance across Starlight's face.

"Yeah, Sunset Shimmer is just so great," Starlight sighed.

Celestia carefully peeled bent metal away from the shattered Engine Heart she was disassembling. The rest of Spitfire was in quarantine, too dangerous even to bury. "You told me you liked her when you two met."

"And you told me she was dangerous, but then you have her spending all this time with Cadance."

"I'm hoping Princess Cadance will be a good influence on her." Celestia tilted her head and maneuvered silver forceps into the exposed cavity, pulling something free, a familiar shard of black crystal, vibrating in the light with malign potential.

White Reflection

Princess Cadance wasn’t usually given to wandering around the palace in the middle of the night, but she also wasn’t used to an empty, cold bed, and it was far easier on her wounded soul to walk through the empty, silent corridors away from the public parts of the palace than try to sleep alone and remember everything she lost. She was only getting a few hours of slumber every day, but it came upon her instantly, and she was too tired and sleeping too poorly for nightmares to find her.

Something else found her, instead.

“Hm. Fifteen thousand SMUs,” muttered the pony. They were wearing a black cloak, which was somewhat unusual, but not quite as strange as the device they were manipulating with their hooves, clumsily. “That’s the strongest I’ve seen by a factor of almost a thousand! You’ll do nicely.”

Cadance blinked, looking around. There weren’t any guards in this part of the castle. Or at least, there weren’t any now. The castle staff was stretched a little thin, certainly, but somepony should have been here.

“Who are you?” She asked, cautiously.

“I’m not from around here,” the cloaked pony said. “But I have some complaints.”

She pushed back her hood, and Cadance’s eyes shot open, her exhaustion replaced by shock.

“Sunset?!” She asked.

“Oh good, that will make this part less awkward.” She reached into her cloak and produced a small canister, throwing it at Cadance’s hooves. The end burst open, and a cloud of gas that smelled a lot like chloroform surrounded her.

“What do you mean, foalnapped?” Twilight asked, frowning.

“Exactly what I said,” Princess Celestia said. “Princess Cadance is gone, and according to the guards -- many of them quite badly injured -- Sunset Shimmer was the culprit.”

“That’s impossible,” Twilight said, defensively. “She was with me. There are at least two other ponies that can back up our story, and I’m willing to submit to truth spells--”

“There’s no need for anything that extreme,” Celestia assured her. “I believe you. I didn’t call you and my former student here to accuse you of the crime.” She glanced at Sunset, who was sitting as far from Celestia as she could manage at the small table, wearing her armor even in the relative safety of the castle.

“What’s this about, then?” Sunset asked. “If Sombra has her, we need to get her back. We can probably hack together a tracking spell that can get through any kind of nondetection charm he might have on her.”

“I tried that already, but unfortunately I suspect Cadance is no longer in this world. Sunset already knows what I’m referring to.”

“...The magic mirror,” Sunset muttered.

“Indeed. It would explain why my own tracking spells failed, how the actual foalnapper was able to penetrate our defenses, and why she appeared to be a double of you, Sunset.”

“Perhaps somepony could explain?” Doctor Sparkle gave Sunset a significant look.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t told you already,” Celestia said. “Sunset Shimmer spent the last decade in another dimension. She decided she would rather flee this entire world than stay here and face the consequences of her actions.”

“Is that how you remember it? Because I remember it as escaping a prison sentence handed down by an insane tyrant who wanted to throw a kid in prison because she read some books she didn’t approve of.” Sunset folded her hooves.

“I suppose things can look that way when you don’t understand the big picture,” Celestia allowed. “Can we both agree that Cadance is more important than our disagreement?”

“Of course she is,” Doctor Sparkle muttered.

Celestia ignored her and looked pointedly at Sunset.

“Yes! Fine!” Sunset huffed. “You know I’ve been trying to be her friend, damnit.”

“You’ll need to go through the portal and retrieve her,” Celestia said.

“Wait, there’s something that stinks about this,” Sunset said. “The portal only opens once every thirty moons on this end. It shouldn’t be open now at all!”

“Ah, yes, under most circumstances you’d be right,” Celestia agreed. She stood. “Follow me.”

“We call it the embarkation room,” Celestia said. Sparkle walked past her to look at the array of humming devices surrounding the mirror, shoving a guard aside when he tried to stop her.

“You’re forcing the portal to stay open?” Sunset asked.

“Last year, when the war was at its worst, I decided to try looking elsewhere for solutions to my problems,” Celestia explained. “It was shortly after you decided to return to Equestria, but the mirror had already slammed its door shut when I wanted to see what the other side had to offer. Thankfully, I had Star Swirl’s original notes on the creation of the mirror portals.”

“Clever,” Sparkle said. “Who built this? I assume it wasn’t the idiot brothers, or it would have gotten somepony killed.”

“I did most of the work myself,” Celestia admitted. “This portal is a state secret. Only the EIS and my most trusted Magi are aware it exists. And of course, you and Sunset Shimmer.”

“Mm.” Sparkle nodded. “Wise. Did you get anything useful from the other side?”

“Yes, and no,” Celestia sighed. “Knowledge and information are easy to obtain, but we don’t have the manufacturing or materials needed to do anything with it. I have been using lessons learned from their history to improve our own strategy and tactics, but…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What, guns are too complicated?”

“Methods to kill other ponies aren’t what we need,” Celestia said. “I’m trying to win the war with as few casualties as possible on both sides. I was hoping they would have less lethal options than bows and swords.”

“It’d be nice to get cell phones but I guess we’re a while away from managing that,” Sunset said.

“What’s important is that you’re familiar with the other world,” Celestia said. “Even my best agents have only a few weeks of exposure to their culture. You know it better than anypony. And…” she tilted her head.

“And I know how I think,” Sunset said. “So I’m the natural choice.”

“Indeed. I want you to find Cadance and bring her back, by any means necessary. If needed, I can provide you with any supplies or additional personnel you require, though I have been keeping our efforts there a secret from the natives, so I’d suggest you try and keep things from getting to the attention of the local authorities.”

“Yeah,” Sunset muttered. “Okay. And you can keep the portal open on this end indefinitely?”

“Even if it closes, we can get it back open relatively easily,” Celestia assures her. “It does get more difficult over time, but you will have days or weeks before there’s a real strain on this equipment.”

Sunset chuckled. “I remember when you refused to tell me anything about this bucking thing, and now you want to throw me through it. I always hated how much more you liked Cadance.”

“You also like her better than you like me,” Celestia said, not bothering to argue with Sunset.

“Yeah, and that’s the only reason I’m doing this. Sparkle, make sure she keeps the lights on.” Sunset waited for the Doctor to nod, then stepped up to the mirror, touching it with her hoof. The mirror surface rippled like water. Her brass wings fluttered at her sides, and she stepped through.

Sunset stumbled as her sense of balance fought to make sense of her body. Four legs, two legs, wings, it had been forced to deal with more changes to a body than the vast majority of people in her age group.

She caught herself and tried to look casual, glancing around to make sure no one had seen her step out of what was apparently the solid marble face of a statue. Thankfully, it seemed Sunset was alone for the moment. She brushed herself off, glancing down at her clothing.

“Guess it was too much to hope the armor would survive the trip,” she muttered. Instead, she had a white leather coat and pants, with neon green stitching.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Someone asked, sounding surprised.

Sunset turned. Vice-Principal Luna was looking at her in open shock. She seemed shorter, somehow.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen me come through here lately, have you?” Sunset asked. “It would have been last night, probably. I think time is synced up right now.”

“Why aren’t you in class?” She demanded. “And are you wearing heels? You know they’re not in the-” She stormed up to Sunset and looked at her boots. “You’re not? Then why are you…?” She looked perplexed.

“Oh, guess I did hit a bit of a growth spurt,” Sunset shrugged. “Anyway, like I was saying, I’m looking for me. When’s the last time you saw me?”

“Yesterday?” Luna still looked perplexed.

“Awesome. Time probably is synched up. Do you know where I’m living, currently?”

“Are you having some kind of medical problem?” Luna’s brow furrowed. “Did you hit your head?”

“If that makes you feel better, sure.” Sunset put her hands on the older woman’s shoulders. “Now focus! Where do I live?!”

Cadance woke up slowly and, unfortunately, painfully. Her head was pounding, but she was okay with that because she was still alive, and sometimes you weren’t sure if that was going to be the case. She was also, at least for the moment, still able to think for herself, so she was two for two.

“Subject is starting to wake up. As noted, she assumed human form after exiting the portal. A cursory examination hasn’t revealed anything unusual in her physiology, but her blood tests are returning odd results. More detailed examinations will have to wait as I don’t have access to an MRI.”

Cadance opened her eyes and was immediately disoriented. She couldn’t see her muzzle! And her sense of smell and hearing were terrible! She was in some kind of basement or dungeon, tied to a chair and surrounded by strangely flickering and beeping devices that she didn’t have a hope of identifying.

“What--” she asked, her mouth feeling strange. “What happened?”

“Do not attempt to escape,” the thing in front of her said. It took a long few moments for Cadance to recognize her, and without hearing her voice, she might never have managed it.

“Sunset?” She asked, squinting at the strange figure.

The strange thing spoke into a small box, staring at Cadance. “The subject is able to recognize me even though I’m back in my normal human shape. Did she ever see my doppelganger while on this side of the dimensional fold? I’ll investigate further once there’s time. Establishing an exact timeline is a tertiary objective.”

“What’s going on?” Cadance asked. “Where am I?”

“I suppose I might as well explain things to you,” the strange version of Sunset said. She’d called herself… human? Was that what she was? “I need to borrow something from you.”

“I am not giving you my car keys,” Flash said. “Do you even have a driver’s license?”

“Not on me, no,” Sunset said. Poor Flash was backed into the lockers, Sunset cornering him, arm against the wall next to his head. “Look, this is an emergency.”

“Did you get taller? And…” He looked at her chest and blushed. She followed his gaze.

“...huh. Are they bigger? I hadn’t noticed.” She bounced a little. “It’s not important. Flattering, though. Flash, people are going to get hurt if you don’t help.”

“I don’t--”

“Starting with you,” she said. Her eyes flared with green light, and Flash yelped.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Hm?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Y-your eyes!”

“Oh.” Sunset shrugged. “I’ve been busy… how long has it been?” She paused, thinking. “Maybe… a couple months? Yeah, that seems right.”

“I just saw you in school two days ago! And you-- you weren’t--”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I don’t have time to explain things to you, okay? Car keys!”

Flash fumbled in his pockets and produced a set of car keys. Sunset snatched them from his hand. Sunset took a few steps to leave and stopped, sighing.

“I’m sorry about this. I’d just ask for a drive but I really am worried about someone else and if you’re involved, you might get…”

“Hurt?” Sunset asked. She considered the device she was holding. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to test it. However, if I had to guess, I would assume that, yes, this will hurt.”

Before her captive could ask another question, Sunset activated the siphon. It had taken weeks - ages, for someone who could slap together a particle accelerator in her sleep. Literally. She’d gotten in a lot of trouble for that, especially since welding while sleepwalking was one of the fastest and most unusual ways to cause a major fire.

The siphon used technology that really shouldn’t work - it would be impossible to explain all the details to a layperson (and since no one else in the world was studying magic, as far as Sunset was aware, she was the only non-layperson.) If one could allow a metaphor, it was like trying to turn a circuit into an optical illusion that would fool the laws of physics long enough to do what she wanted.

Her captive - Sunset still hadn’t bothered learning her name, not that it mattered when she wasn’t even human - screamed, and pale blue energy emerged from her body like mist, flowing into the siphon Sunset had built.

The crystal array at the center started glowing.

“It’s working!”

“And where do you think you’re going?” Principal Celestia asked.

Sunset turned to look at her. She wasn’t nearly as intimidating as her pony counterpart. It was hard to be afraid of a mere school principal when you were regularly facing down somepony who looked and sounded like her but had the might of an entire nation (and a massive grudge) behind her.

“You know class isn’t dismissed until three, and according to Luna, you’ve been acting even more strangely than usual,” Celestia said. “I want an explanation, now.”

“I really don’t have time for this,” Sunset sighed, rolling her eyes and turning away. Celestia stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, holding her back, just a few feet from the front door.

Sunset spun, knocking her hand away.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Sunset spat.

Cadance panted, sweat dripping down her face, the pain fading but still leaving a dull, empty feeling in her chest.

“W-why are you doing all this?” Cadance asked.

“Why?” Sunset sneered. “Do you even know what you aliens have done to my life? That duplicate you sent to take my place ruined my academic career! When I tried to transfer to Canterlot High, they already had my records! She stole my identity! She ruined my reputation!”

“Y-you can always explain it, and make new friends--”

“You think I care about friends?! She skipped weeks of classes! Because of her, they want me to repeat a year! ME!” She threw the wrench she was using across the room, and it hit the concrete wall of the basement hard enough to throw sparks.

“I’m going to use your magic to get my revenge.” She stormed over to the corner of the room, pulling the tarp off of a workbench and revealing a golden tiara. “It doesn’t look like much now,” she admitted. “But…”

She pulled on a thick rubber glove and carefully removed the glowing crystal from the siphon, gently securing it in a socket at the front of the tiara. Blue sparks traced along hair-thin gaps, revealing that the tiara was made of several interlocking panels.

“This will do just nicely,” she said, before putting it on. “What do you think? It’s a good look for someone about to prove that magic exists, make a few million dollars, and then stop your invasion!”

“W-we aren’t… invasion?”

“I’ve kept the portal under surveillance for several months. Agents from your world have been infiltrating at regular intervals.” Sunset tapped her new crown. “Now let’s see, I just need to…”

The crystal at the center started glowing, and the wrench she’d thrown floated upwards in a sky-blue aura.

“Hah! Perfect! Imagine what I’ll be able to do once I’ve had a chance to practice!”

Principal Celestia rubbed her sore wrist, looking at Sunset with concern. There was something very wrong with her student, and it wasn’t just that she was surrounded by swirling winds and green sparks, like a lightning storm in miniature.

“At least give me an explanation,” Celestia said. “You owe me that.”

“I don’t owe you…” Sunset started, then her expression softened. “You know what, maybe you’re right. You’ve always been a good principal. I shouldn’t blame you.” She offered Celestia a hand up, the dangerous aura around her fading. “Sorry.”

Principal Celestia accepted her help.

“A few months ago, at the start of the new school year, you weren’t acting like yourself,” Celestia said. “It was like you’d forgotten everything about your time here. I take it this is related?”

“Yeah…” Sunset rubbed her nose, thinking. “I don’t know how much you’d believe if I tried to explain.”

“Try me.”

Sunset shrugged. “You met the human Sunset, I think. I’m not from around here. I mean, I am Sunset Shimmer, and I’ve been attending classes until like a year ago, but I’m originally from pretty far away.”

“And if you aren’t human, then you’re, what, the last daughter of krypton? A shapeshifting bug from mars?” Celestia raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“I’m sort of…” Sunset coughed. “I’m a unicorn.”

“A unicorn?”

“About this tall…” Sunset sighed and put her hand at the right, very short height. “Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh. It only sounds stupid because this world has weird connotations about unicorns! I’m one of the most powerful spellcasters in the world!”

“The most powerful human alive,” Sunset muttered, feeling the power flow through her body. Her body felt weightless, like gravity was only a suggestion. She flexed her fingers, sparks crackling between her palms harmlessly. She hadn’t had much time to actually research what magic could do, but direct experimentation was already proving to be-

A horn blared. She’d stepped out into the street to cross without looking both ways. Instinctively she threw her hand out to protect herself, as if she could stop the truck.

There was an explosion as a bolt of blue light tore through the pickup, ripping it and its driver to shreds, the shrapnel breaking windows on both sides of the street.

Sunset was totally unharmed. Fire alarms blared, and she started laughing.

“Did you feel that?” Sunset asked.

“Feel what?” Celestia questioned, distracted by the need to keep her car on the road. Driving Sunset where she needed to go would at least answer a few questions one way or the other, and she wasn’t about to give her student her car keys.

“There was a huge magical surge, right over-”

The sound of the explosion rumbled in the air, and a plume of smoke rose into the sky.

“You know what, you can probably figure it out,” Sunset muttered.

Sunset clutched the tiara around her head, the metal burning and humming.

“Come on!” She screamed, forcing it to still, getting her control back. “This is… harder than I thought it would be.”

The street around her would agree. Fires were already starting in a half-dozen buildings, cars were flipped over and thrown around like toys, there wasn’t an unbroken window in sight, and sirens were closing in from all directions.

Sunset took a deep breath. It smelled like smoke and blood.

“Okay, not the best way to start things off, but definitely impressive!” She smiled. “I just have to learn to control it.”

“Aren’t you a little short to be a natural disaster?”

The voice was familiar. She heard it all the time, when she was having an intelligent conversation. Sunset spun to see herself standing at the opposite end of the block, smirking at her like she was the subject of some private joke.

“You,” Sunset hissed.

“Gotta say, this isn’t what I’d be doing in your position,” her doppelganger said, indicating the destruction with one hand, her eyes never leaving Sunset’s. “Where’s Cadance?”

“Your disgustingly pink friend?” Sunset asked. “She’s alive, for now.”

“Give her to me and I’ll leave,” her double offered. “I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about this world. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. You give me Cadance, and I’ll just walk away. If not…”

“After what you did to me, I’d rather do things the hard way,” Sunset growled. She gestured to a flipped coupe and flung it at her mirror image. It smashed through where she was standing and into the building beyond, embedded halfway through the concrete, the car’s alarm blaring and distorted by the damage.

Her double stood on top of the car, having avoided it entirely.

“Sorry, kid, you’ll have to be a lot faster than that.”

Principal Celestia pulled out her phone, turning on the camera and hitting record.

The Sunset with the crown was getting more frustrated, tearing a streetlamp from the sidewalk with some kind of telekinetic force and throwing it like a spear at the Sunset in white, the slightly older Sunset dodging with superhuman speed, making it look casual and easy, frustrating her double even more.

“Sunset, you need to stop before people get hurt!” Celestia yelled. Both of them looked at her.

“And now you’re getting her involved?!” The crowned Sunset growled, the tiara sparking, moats of light trailing from it as she moved.

“For the record, that’s what it looks like just before a mega-capacitive storage crystal fails,” the taller Sunset said. “It’s why we don’t try to contain that many thaums in a single enchanted object, but someone who didn’t really understand magic might make the mistake. Even a lab-grown crystal isn’t good enough, no matter what the equations say.”

“Shut up!” The other Sunset yelled.

“Yeah, I have problems when I meet someone smarter than me, too,” Sunset said, circling her double.

“You aren’t smarter than me!”

“I’m not the one with an unstable magic capacitor strapped to their head, so excuse me if I have some difficulty believing you thought your brilliant plan all the way through. What’s the next step after you finish destroying downtown Canterlot? Gonna try and explain to the police that it was just a minor magical accident? I bet they’d love to hear that excuse.”

“Shut up!” The smaller Sunset roared, and her skin flushed red, then stayed there, darkening as the storm of uncontrolled magic around her flared up brighter.

Sunset gasped, the pain getting worse. She fell to her knees. Everything was going wrong. She felt her skin tear as wings erupted from her back.

“You need to get out of here,” Sunset said, suddenly next to Celestia. “This is bad.”

“What’s happening to her?” Celestia asked, as the smaller, or formerly smaller, Sunset screamed, her teeth visibly lengthening into fangs. She slammed a fist into the sidewalk, and the concrete cracked.

“I’m an expert in magical conditions and feedback, and I can assure you that, uh…” Sunset frowned. “She’s turning into a monster, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“It’s not like I’ve had to deal with some crazy human version of me trying to overdose on alicorn magic! This is a new one on me, too. I’m not even a hundred percent sure on the laws of thaumaturgical physics in this dimension.”

“So much for expertise.”

“Sure, complain at the person trying to save your life,” Sunset muttered. “That’s just like you.”

“Sunset, promise me you won’t hurt her,” Celestia said. “I can’t really stop you, but…”

Sunset sighed. “I won’t kill her. Good enough?”

“I just don’t want you to do anything you’d regret.”

Sunset started laughing. She was all-powerful! Sure, it had hurt at first, but now all she could feel was the magic surging through her body. Everything looked so small, now. Small and fragile. Especially her double.

“How do you like me now?” Sunset asked, grinning.

“I’m just not all that impressed,” her doppelganger shrugged. It was infuriating. How dare she act like she mattered? She was just a pathetic double, a wannabe!

Sunset flung a fireball at her, not even having to think about how to do it - she was so powerful now that the laws of physics were mere suggestions.

Her duplicate swept it aside with one hand, the flames disappearing, fizzling out with acid-green sparks.

“You’re like a foal having a tantrum,” she said. “I’d make some kinda joke about giving you a spanking, but you have this whole succubus thing going and I’m worried you’d take it the wrong way. I like myself, but not in that way.”

Sunset yelled and threw another ball of fire.

Princess Celestia wrinkled her nose in concern. An aurora of green and blue lightning surrounded the mirror, the once-calm surface roiling like a storm.

“This is getting too dangerous,” Celestia said. “Whatever is happening, it’s destabilizing the link between our worlds.”

Celestia’s horn flashed with light as she threw the emergency switches, shutting down the array holding the portal open.

“What are you doing?!” Sparkle demanded. “Sunset and Cadance are still on the other side! We can’t shut it down until they return!”

“If we don’t close the portal now, they might never return at all,” Celestia said, more sharply than she intended. “Star Swirl isn’t here to make more mirrors. We can’t risk damaging this one in whatever disaster is taking place over there.”

“You’re stranding them on purpose!” Sparkle growled and ran to the switches, trying to throw them manually. An aura of golden light surrounded her, casually dragging her away before she could act.

“We don’t know what’s happening,” Celestia reminded her. “That entire world might be ending! That’s the kind of power you’ve been playing around with. If something is destroying their reality it’s my duty to keep it from ruining ours as well. Can’t you at least understand that?”

“What I understand is that it’s very convenient that a copy of Sunset Shimmer managed to get through this heavily guarded portal without anypony noticing, kidnap an alicorn without a single guard raising an alarm, and escape with nopony challenging them,” Sparkle said. “It’s so convenient that it feels a lot more like it was planned by somepony else. Somepony who might not mind stranding Cadance in another world as long as it would get rid of Sunset for a few years.”

“Is that really how little you think of me?” Celestia looked offended. “Cadance is like a daughter to me!”

“So was Sunset, by all accounts, and that turned out rather poorly.”

“I’ll make every effort to save them, when it doesn’t put Equestria at risk.”

“And when will that be?”

Celestia didn’t answer.

Sunset stood at the edge of a parking garage, looking down at where her human (or formerly human, depending on how one counted a demonic transformation) double was flying, trying to figure out where she’d gotten to.

Having made a promise not to kill her was going to make things difficult. Not having a proper horn made forming more than the most basic spells nearly impossible. Pegasus magic worked fine, at least. She felt like gravity was only a mild suggestion - she’d been able to run right up the side of the building.

“If I’d been able to do this last time I was here…” Sunset mused. “I wonder if I would have bothered with school or gone right to trying to conquer the world?”

She looked down at her evil twin.

“I guess empirical evidence suggests I’d go mad with power.”

“THERE YOU ARE!”

Whoops. She’d gotten distracted. Sunset dodged to the side, the world slowing down as a blast of blue fire tore the facade of the building she’d been standing on to rubble.

The crown on her double’s head glinted in the flaring light of the barely-formed spell.

“Right, attack the weak point. Duh.”

Sunset tried to follow her duplicate’s movements, firing another blast of heat and missing by a country mile - she was moving too erratically for her to lead the attack.

And then her doppelganger was gone again.

“STOP RUNNING!” Sunset screamed, frustrated - and with how strong she was, her anger had a very real effect on the world. The asphalt under where she flew started to heat up, bubbling as the tar turned back to liquid.

A bolt of lightning struck her, not a full-size thunderbolt, really little more than a spark.

She looked up.

Her double’s foot slammed into her crown, the heel blazing with electric light. The crystal shattered under the impact.

Everything went white.

Sunset landed lightly, almost managing to negate the force of impact with pegasus magic. If they were good at anything, it was crashing into things and walking away.

Rain poured down, the wild clouds above reacting to the magic she’d unleashed and starting a torrential downpour. The fires across the few blocks of downtown started to go out.

Sunset ignored the storm and looked down to where the other Sunset had fallen, the human lying face-down in the street, her clothes torn to shreds.

“Hope I didn’t kill her,” Sunset muttered. She walked over and rolled her over with her foot.

Her double coughed and started coughing, curling up on herself and shivering in the weather.

“Should have known no version of me would die from a little magical feedback,” Sunset said. “Too bad you were born on this side of the portal. You would have been a pretty decent spellcaster. I should know.”

“Is she…?” Principal Celestia asked.

Sunset turned to look at the woman.

“She’s fine, but I’m pretty sure I told you to get out of here.”

“I wasn’t just going to leave. If something happened…” She trailed off.

“Were you making sure I didn’t kill her, or that she didn’t kill me?”

“I wouldn’t want either to happen.”

Cadance looked up at the sound of the basement door splintering.

Sunset ran down the stairs. Not the crazed one that had locked her up, the crazed one that had come to rescue her, and was slightly taller and with a bigger bust. Cadance noticed the bust right away. It was probably an alicorn of love thing.

“Sunset!” She gasped. “How did you find me?”

“I asked around for my own address,” Sunset said. She started untying Cadance’s bonds. “Had to make a pit stop and beat myself up a little.”

“Did you really spend years here?” Cadance asked, rubbing her wrists once they were free. “This place seems…”

“Awful?” Sunset asked. “It’s not great. No magic, the weather is terrible, and you have to get used to eating meat because let me tell you, these bodies really crave it. Fingers are nice, though.” She finished freeing Cadance and helped her up.

“Oof--” Cadance stumbled as she took a step, not used to being bipedal. “I’m glad I don’t have to get used to this.”

“Come on, Celestia is going to drive us back to the portal.”

“Princess Celestia is here?!”

“Not exactly.”

Principal Celestia raised her eyebrows as Cadance was helped into the back seat of her car.

“That’s the dean of Crystal Prep,” Principal Celestia said.

“H-hello,” Cadance said. “I’m Mi Amore Cadanza, but you can just call me--”

“Let me guess,” Celestia sighed. “Another double from horseland.”

“Oh. I guess Sunset filled you in.”

Sunset slid into the front seat.

“It’s funny, but I like this Celestia a lot more than the one I grew up with,” she said. “I’d try and come up with some clever plan to swap them, but it’ll have to wait until after the war.”

“War?” Principal Celestia frowned.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Sunset said. “We’re at war back home.”

“No, you didn’t tell me.” Celestia tapped her fingers on the wheel, thinking.

“Let’s just get everyone and everypony back where they belong.”

Sunset put her hand on the statue. “Son of a MULE!” Sunset growled, kicking the marble. “Why is it closed?!”

“This is the portal?” Cadance asked. She ran a hand over it. “I can just barely feel the magic…”

“It’s supposed to be the portal,” Sunset said. “And it’s supposed to be open! Celestia was supposed to…” Her expression twisted into a sneer. “That clever bitch.”

Principal Celestia coughed.

“Not you,” Sunset sighed. She gave the woman an apologetic smile. “The other Celestia.”

“You shouldn’t use language like that. And…” Celestia hesitated. “Maybe it’s for the best. If the other world is at war, staying here would be safer. You could get hurt, even killed. If there are problems because of your… origin, I’m sure Luna and I can work something out.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Cadance said. She didn’t need to say ‘thanks but no thanks’ - her tone and sad smile did that for her.

“We need to get back,” Sunset said. “I have to make sure Doc Sparkle lives long enough to keep her promises, and Cadance is helping run the country.”

“Only when Princess Celestia is away. She doesn’t really let me do anything myself when she’s around.”

“Luna would probably agree that micromanaging is one of my worst habits,” Principal Celestia sighed.

“Luna?” Cadance tilted her head.

“Her sister,” Sunset explained.

“But she doesn’t have a sister in Equestria…”

Sunset snorted. “Anyway, I don’t think we have much of a choice. Unless we can figure out some way to pop this sucker open from this side, I’m going to have to go back to studying AP Bio, and you’re going to need to get a job.”

Principal Celestia’s trunk started making noise. It sounded a lot like a girl trying to escape by kicking near the latch.

“Oh right,” Sunset said. “I forgot about her.”

“You put her in my trunk?” Celestia groaned.

“I needed to make sure she didn’t run away!”

Celestia pressed a button on her keys, and the trunk popped open, the human Sunset gasping for air as she awkwardly scrambled out of the tight, dark space.

“You almost killed me!”

“No one has ever died from being locked in a trunk,” the taller Sunset said.

“Yes, they have!” human Sunset growled.

“No one important has ever died that way,” Sunset corrected.

“I guess that means you don’t want my help, then.”

“How could you possibly help?”

Her double crossed her arms. “I can get the portal open.”

“Prove it.”

“But I want something from you.” A cold breeze blew down the street. “Two things. First, something to wear so I’m not standing around naked in the middle of the street.”

“So you’re probably wondering why you were all called to this emergency assembly,” Sunset said, looking down at the assembled student body. “First, I just want to say that I’ve been blackmailing and bullying most of you for a couple years. Before you start looking at each other and wondering what dirt I have on the people sitting next to you, I’m not planning on releasing any of it.”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“It isn’t because I’m turning over a new leaf,” Sunset assured them. “It’s because I don’t care. I haven’t even been here for months.”

The sigh of relief turned to confusion.

“You, get out here.”

She waved, and her double came out on stage. She was wearing some borrowed gym clothing and looking unhappy.

“This is the Sunset Shimmer that’s been here since I left, and you’ve been treating her like crap. She didn’t do anything to you. I just wanted you all to know that she isn’t me, you’re all buttholes for treating her like me, and I’m gonna check up on her in a couple weeks and if you aren’t treating her better, I’m gonna put everything I have online and you’ll all get to know each other’s secrets.”

She looked over the crowd.

“As a preview, here are some hints. Bedwetting. Janitor’s closet during lunch. Two people in the boy’s locker room before school. A certain teacher and what someone did for a better grade. I’m gonna guess based on the expressions I see out there that I’m understood.”

She dropped the microphone and walked off stage.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Sunset asked. Her human double was taping electrodes and probes into place on the stone surface of Canterlot High’s statue.

“Look, the portal opens up on its own as it aligns. It isn’t a matter of needing to recharge or cool down, it’s more like a combination lock that cycles through all the combinations.” The other Sunset tapped a few times on the keyboard of a laptop hooked up to the mess. “What I’m doing it forcing it to the open alignment and holding it there. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a device or spell specifically for this somewhere on your side.”

“Celestia had her own method,” Sunset said. “She didn’t make the original portal, though. It was Star Swirl the Bearded.”

“You had one of him, too? I should have known.” She huffed. “Of course it would be someone like him. He was either a genius or madman or both.”

“He was considered the greatest sorcerer of all time in Equestria.” Sunset smirked. “Of course that’s only because-”

“Are you really going to brag about this now?” Her double shot her a look. “I’m you. I know what our egos are like. Yes, you’re smart, How wonderful. I’m still the one who figured this out, so that makes me-”

“Better at technology and worse at magic.”

“You spent years here. Give me a decade in horseland and I’d be just as good.”

“No arguing,” Principal Celestia sighed. “Please.”

“Now, I don’t know for sure how stable this is going to be,” the human Sunset said. “There’s a lot of interference from the other end.”

“When you say stable, do you mean it won’t last long, or it might be a rough ride, or that it might kill us?” Cadance asked.

Sunset stopped typing and considered. “Yeah. All of those.”

There was a smell like ozone, and the portal cracked open, visible as a distortion like a heat haze in the very marble of the statue itself.

“I’m not sure about this,” Cadance said.

“Don’t worry!” Sunset took her hand, grinning. “You’re immortal, right?”

“Sunset!”

The world was spinning around her. It took a long moment for things to make sense, for her own two feet to realign themselves in her mind as her own four hooves.

Doctor Sparkle was being dragged out of the room by two guards in gold armor. They turned to look at Sunset, and from the fear in their eyes they realized precisely how much danger they were in.

She lunged forward on instinct.

A golden wall of magic rose up in her path.

Sunset’s cyan magic flared as her horn hit it, trying to push through. For a moment, the wall held, green sparks flying where the two met.

Sunset pushed harder, and her magic flared, color shifting to deep red. The wall shattered, and from the other side of the room Celestia cried out in surprise.

The two guards were thrown against the wall. A dozen more around the room leveled their spears.

“Halt!”

Sunset turned. Cadance had come through after her, though she hadn’t handled the transition as well, looking sick, sweating and pale.

“Let her go,” Cadance said. “Sunset Shimmer saved my life.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, Princess Celestia--”

“It’s fine,” Celestia snapped. She took a deep breath. “It’s good to see you, Cadance. I was worried we’d lost you. When you’ve had a chance to rest and recover, I’d like to hear what happened.”

She walked out, her expression, for those who could read through her, as sour as if she’d been sucking on a lemon.

In a small lab packed with equipment in a windowless room at Crystal Prep, the guiding laser of a unique and hand-calibrated machine made quick passes over the remains of a shattered gemstone, the golden remains of the tiara it had been set into lying under a microscope.

“Interesting,” Twilight Sparkle said, adjusting her glasses.

A spark of blue magic pulsed from the broken gem.

“Very interesting.”

Author's Note

"Explain it to me again," Sunburst sighed. "You keep skipping over parts."

"I thought you read the abstract. I put it in your mailbox." Twilight Sparkle, grad student and still years from being a doctor, shoveled food into her mouth at the same time she spoke. It was unforgivably rude, but she'd caught the Princess's eye and nopony was going to correct her poor table manners.

"I looked over it," Sunburst said. He didn't want to say he hadn't understood a great deal of the paper.

"Okay, okay," Twilight sighed. "So you wear glasses. You know how a lens works."

"It bends light."

"Mm. Exactly. Optics are a complicated subject. There's a lot to do with the refractive index of materials. Convex and concave shapes. Focal points. That sort of thing."

"What does that have to do with magic, though? I could see how you were trying to combine the two but magic doesn't go through a lens like that."

"That's the point. My paper was about building a lens that magic can be focused through. The problem is that it requires an extra spacial dimension. If you think of a lens as a two-dimensional shape distorted through the third, this would require a three-dimensional shape that can be distorted through the fourth."

"So all you need are materials that don't exist, in an impossible shape."

"If you'd read the abstract you'd know I've outlined a few materials that would work. Really any of the magical materials, but Orichalcum would be best. Lunar titanium would be a close second--"

Sunburst was staring at her with such a flat look that it actually got Twilight to go quiet on her own.

Twilight frowned. "What?"

"Do those even really exist?"

Sparkle scoffed and reached into her saddlebags, throwing a misshapen scrap of metal onto the table between them. it was twisted and bent but had clearly been part of something larger. The metal was as dull as lead but had a blue shimmer to it like worked silver.

"Where did you get that?" Sunburst asked.

"An archaeology student. She owed my mother a favor."

"It can't really be..."

"Read the abstract," Twilight said, putting her hoof on the coin-sized scrap when Sunburst tried to take it. "And then we'll talk."

Where The Sweet Bird Sang

The history of the Wonderbolts began almost a thousand years ago. In the wake of Equestria’s darkest hour, they lifted the hearts and spirits of ponies and let them know that things were going to get better.

Over the centuries, their duties changed along with the need of the times. In times of peace, they’re the most polished and practiced flight team in the world. In times of war, those same skills make them an elite strike team, the vanguard of the air cavalry.

If you were going to write a book on the heroes that served with the Wonderbolts, you could make an argument for almost every single pony to have ever worn the uniform.

The most common thread in that book would be just how short those chapters were, with sudden, tragic endings.

Lightning Dust grimaced as she took a sip of the booze.

“Are you sure this is scotch? Because it tastes a lot like bathtub gin with some old coffee in it for color.” She held the glass up, looking at the murky liquid.

“If you don’t like it, you’re free to go somewhere else,” the mare behind the bar said, a grey earth pony with black hair whose decorum was at odds with the neon lights and techno music of the half-empty Canterlot nightclub Dust had snuck off to.

“I’m just saying it’s not exactly what I’d expect for ten whole bits,” Dust said.

“You’re lucky you can get anything,” the bartender snapped, half-turning to look at the shelves behind her. There was a lot of empty space where bottles should have been. “There’s a shortage of anything with a real vintage.”

Dust necked the rest of the glass, the liquid burning her throat the whole way down.

“Thanks anyway,” Dust said, pushing her stool away from the bar.

“Not so fast.” A wing pushed her back into place, and a mare sat down next to her with the same motion.

“I’m not here to-” Dust stopped mid-sentence as she recognized the white mane and, more than that, the uniform. Blue, with yellow lightning bolts along the edges. “Fleetfoot?”

“It’s been a while, Dust!” Fleetfoot said. “Last time I saw you was just after the war broke out when we were pulling the reserves and cadets together for combat training.”

Dust shrugged, on edge. “If this is about Spitfire…”

“It’s not. Not entirely, anyway,” Fleetfoot said. She held up her hooves. “I’m not here to fight. I want to make you an offer.”

“Let’s hear it,” Dust said, relaxing a little and leaning against the bar.

“First, let’s get some drinks.” Fleetfoot tossed some bits on the bar. “I’ll have one of whatever she was drinking-- no, wait, belay that. I saw the look on her face when she tasted it. I’ll have whatever the bartender would recommend, and one for my friend here, too, so she’ll listen without making any funny faces.”

The bartender rolled her eyes and took the bits, pouring two small glasses from an unmarked bottle kept out of sight behind the bar. While she might have been quiet, Fleetfoot's loud entrance was already attracting the wrong kind of attention. The thing every Wonderbolt feared most when they were off-duty and trying to mind their own business.

“Oh wow!” An orange foal with enough glowing necklaces to serve as a light display all on her own hopped up towards them, wings buzzing. “You’re a Wonderbolt! Fleetfoot, right? You have the all-time record for the hundred-yard storm sprint!”

“Guilty as charged,” Fleetfoot said, smiling.

“Can I have your autograph?” the foal asked.

Fleetfoot looked at the bartender, who sighed and slid a paper napkin and a leaky pen across the bartop. Fleetfoot quickly scribbled her name.

“Make it out to Scootaloo!” the foal interjected.

Fleetfoot added a quick message to the foal and passed it over.

“Stay out of trouble, kid,” Fleetfoot said. “When things calm down, maybe you’ll want to try out for the Bolts yourself. I’d love to have ponies as enthusiastic as you.”

“I will!” Scootaloo said, clutching the napkin to her chest and running off, starstruck.

"I was a Wonderbolt," Dust mumbled. "What about my autograph?"

"Not one with official merch," Fleetfoot countered.

“You really think she’s Wonderbolts material?” Dust asked, changing the topic.

“Right now? More than you are.” Fleetfoot said, bluntly. “You’ve got a dishonorable discharge and a lot of ponies pissed off at you. I don’t know how much of it’s true and I’m not going to try and figure that out, because Spitfire was my friend but I don’t wanna think you’re a bad pony either.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Lightning Dust said, taking a careful sip of what turned out to be apple brandy, and decent brandy at that.

“Something you don't know, huh? How about... I can fix it for you,” Fleetfoot said. “I can get the black marks removed and give you a clean slate. Even an officer slot if you want it.”

“I got a new job.”

“Is your new job better than being a Wonderbolt?” Fleetfoot asked.

Lightning Dust was going to say yes on instinct, but when she looked into the reflections in the glass she saw the look on Spitfire’s face when Marble Pie had torn her apart.

“Even if you don’t want to be part of the team again, I could use your help getting the band back together,” Fleetfoot said. “Celestia needs us for a mission, and it could turn the whole war around if we do it right. You in?”

“Your resignation?” Doctor Sparkle asked, surprised, as she looked over the poorly-typed letter. Lightning Dust had many amazing skills and academy records and apparently using a typewriter wasn't among them.

“I have to go on this mission,” Dust said.

“You don’t even know what the mission is,” Sparkle pointed out.

“It’s not about the goal, it’s about who I’m doing it with.” Lightning Dust looked to the side, feeling guilty. “I really messed things up for the Wonderbolts once already, and then this whole thing with Spitfire…”

“I understand.” Sparkle sighed. “But I’m not accepting this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dust frowned, turning back to the unicorn.

“If you want to resign, do it when you get back,” Sparkle said. “You’ve earned a vacation. If you want to spend it on a military operation instead of fishing, that’s your own business.”

“Thanks,” Dust said, quietly.

“Just be careful,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I haven’t heard anything about a mission or the Wonderbolts getting back together. You won’t have any of us to help you on this one.”

“I know.” Dust smiled and stood. “That’s part of it too. I’ve been relying on you girls too much. I need to stand on my own hooves for a while.”

“I see.” Sparkle nodded, turning her chair around. “Come back in one piece. You’re carrying some very expensive equipment inside you.”

Lightning Dust checked the slip of paper again. The Canterlot airship port were divided in two parts, one military and the other civilian, with a fortified checkpoint between them. The dock number she’d been given was on the civilian side.

“Welcome to the Velocitas Veritas,” Fleetfoot said, waving from the deck of a slim airship. “Get on-board and I’ll introduce you around!”

Dust got a good look at the boat as she landed. The gas envelope had several obvious patches, and the whole thing had been hastily painted in blue and yellow to cover up the damage and give it Wonderbolts colors. Even the deck of the ship proper was more plywood and patch job than actual decking.

“She’s a bit of a fixer-upper,” Fleetfoot admitted. “Resources are stretched thin.”

“That’s for sure,” Dust muttered. Maybe she was getting spoiled by the apparently unlimited funding Sparkle was able to pull out of her flank at a moment’s notice.

“Now, I’m sure you recognize some of these ponies,” Fleetfoot said, ushering her over to the gathered group with a wing.

“Fire Streak,” Dust said, nodding to the stallion. “And Wind Rider? I thought you were retired.”

“Streaky is going to end up retiring before I do,” Wind Rider said, smiling. “I’ve been working with the Equestrian Information Service, but I couldn’t refuse one last ride with the Bolts.” He shook Dusts’ hoof. “It’s good to see you. I know how hard it can be when rumors get a life of their own.”

“So this is the mare that ruined my daughter’s life?” An older mare pushed past Fire Streak before he could say anything. For a moment Dust thought she was looking at Spitfire, though with an extra two decades on her.

“Stormy Flare,” Fleetfoot said, getting between them. “This isn’t the time or place. We need Lightning Dust, and you promised me--”

“I know,” Flare said, glaring past her. “I’m doing this for Spitfire. She’d want the Wonderbolts to make a comeback.”

“It's something your granddaughter can be proud of,” Fleetfoot said. “Once we’ve got this mission under our belts she can be proud of her mother's legacy.”

Flare huffed and trotted to the railing, refusing to look at Lightning Dust.

Fleetfoot sighed, wiping her brow. Wind Rider shook his head and leaned against a small crate, taking a flask from his jacket and taking a long sip from it.

“Are you sure about bringing the cadets along?” Fire Streak asked.

“Cadets?” Dust asked.

“With the Academy shut down there aren’t a lot of ponies with Wonderbolts training,” Fleetfoot said. “Some of them have even less training than you. Don’t worry. Sky Stinger had great scores in all the teamwork tests, Angel Wings is solid at the fundamentals, and Vapor Trail… well, she volunteered, and we need all the help we can get, so she’s in.”

“Do they have any experience?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Yes and no,” Fleetfoot admitted. “Nothing on the front lines. Angel Wings was attached to a field medic team for a little while, but the others were second-line support. Logistics, mostly.”

“Sitting on their flanks and making sure the rations don’t walk away,” Dust snorted.

“Somepony’s got to do it,” Fleetfoot shrugged. “Everypony, listen up!”

The cadets came to attention, Fire Streak and Wind Rider straightening a little, and Flare looked back at Fleetfoot from the railing, not turning around entirely.

“Since the whole team is here, I’m going to go over the briefing. All of you volunteered for a mission sight unseen, and for that, I am very thankful. The information we have from the EIS, thanks to Wind Rider, is classified and I didn’t want it getting around if you said no. Good news, none of you hesitated, and that tells me you’re all Wonderbolt material. Wind Rider?”

Wind Rider smiled and kicked the crate he’d been leaning on, revealing that it contained a half dozen blue and yellow uniforms.

“These are for you. Consider it a payment in advance. You’re going to either earn this uniform and come back wearing it proudly, or you won’t be coming back. This is going to be a dangerous mission, and we’ll probably have some injuries. Some of you might not make it.”

Fire Streak gave Dust a uniform, and she looked at the folded fabric.

“Now I know what you’re thinking - what’s worth risking our lives for?” Fleetfoot asked. “Take a look at this!” She unrolled a map, and Wind Rider helped her hold it down. “This is the North Star Rehabilitation Facility. It’s a military prison. Sombra got control of it a while ago, and according to the reports, it’s where he’s doing a lot of dark magic to turn prisoners into slaves for his army.”

“So prisoners go in, and soldiers come out,” Wind Rider said. “It’s why we’ve been having so much trouble beating Sombra. Every soldier or civilian of ours that gets captured ends up fighting us later. He can replace his losses and grow his army much faster than we can.”

“What we’re going to do is bring the Velocitas Veritas in, deep behind enemy lines, and hit the prison hard and fast.” Fleetfoot traced a route. “According to the Weather Service there’s a wild storm hitting the area - they won’t see us coming. We can just get in there, rescue anypony they haven’t converted, and make sure Sombra can’t use the place ever again.”

“And our extraction plan?” Lightning Dust asked.

“As long as the ship is intact, run for the border. If not, we’ll go across the mountains to the East.” Fleetfoot pointed. “It’ll be hard for their earth and unicorn forces to follow us, and we can carry anypony we have to. Even one ravine or cliff and they’ll never catch up. We make our way to the coast and from there, we’ve got plenty of options.”

“Could be a worse plan,” Dust admitted. “What about enemy forces?”

“The soldiers are sent to the front, not kept in reserve,” Fleetfoot said. “Minimal resistance. Now everypony go and get changed, and we’ll get this show in the air!”

The extremely early history of the Wonderbolts, around the time of their formation, is well-known to military scholars, as is their modern history, but the two groups have almost nothing in common aside from the name.

From the beginning of the Solar calendar a thousand years ago, there has been an age of peace and prosperity. What wars Equestria has had were limited, just tiny border skirmishes between our nation and the much weaker neighbors around it. It's impossible to call them more than policing actions compared to the grand engagements of the past.

The Wonderbolts are something of a symbol of peace, really. The military could spare their best and brightest soldiers purely for a ceremonial duty, much like the Royal Guard. We'll know Equestria is really in trouble if they're ever called back to active duty and away from their more pressing schedule of airshows and recruiting drives.

Dust had to admit it felt good being in uniform again. It had been a long time, and back then she'd only been a cadet at the academy. If they'd had a mirror onboard she might have sat in front of it for a while just enjoying the sight, even if there was one little issue.

"I still can't believe you made me wear a stallion's uniform," Dust sighed, as she poked at the food they'd brought. It was a military ration that had gone out of date years ago. In theory it might be safe to eat, but the years had turned it into glop.

"You realize you're a head taller than anypony else here, right?" Fleetfoot asked. "If you really wanna try squeezing into something that's fitted to a pony my size, feel free, but don't complain about it being too tight to breathe."

"Yeah, yeah," Dust sighed.

"You know, I was at the Cloudsdale games, so was Fire Streak," Fleetfoot said. "I was pretty impressed. Honestly, all the reports I heard were that you got discharged, got out of practice, couldn't be trusted, whatever."

"That's probably all true," Dust admitted.

"Of course it is," Stormy Flare said, from the corner. She looked like she wanted a drink, but all Fleetfoot had brought was water. "They won't even tell me how my daughter died, but I know it had something to do with you."

"I--" Dust looked away. "It's complicated."

"If it's complicated, explain it to me!" Flare demanded. "Give me something. Anything."

"Sombra killed her. He enslaved her. Somepony I know had to kill Spitfire to keep her from hurting anypony."

Flare growled. "You mean they killed her to save you, when she was twice the pony you are."

"Except by body weight," Fleetfoot mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Dust said. "It wasn't my call."

"Wow, the atmosphere down here is tense!" Wind Rider trotted in. "I think we could all use a few drinks. I know Fleetfoot didn't bother packing anything good, but I hid a fifth of scotch down here somewhere. I was hoping to save it for the victory celebration!"

"You want to wash down terrible old rations with scotch?" Lightning Dust asked.

"It's practically tradition!" Wind Rider said.

He felt around behind the piled supplies, something skittering when he moved.

"Damn rats..." he muttered, before smiling as his hoof closed around the bottle. "Now let me tell you a story. It was more than twenty years ago, right after the Princess ordered the Wonderbolts expanded back to full strength. We got sent out to the Academy to get it in shape and train with the veterans, and when we got there we found out that nopony had replaced the supplies since the Griffonstone War, and our blankets were older than we were..."

"I can't believe we're serving together again," Vapor Trail said, looking over the railing at the bow of the ship. It was the middle of the day, so they were using the clouds for cover. Following the storm front would make the trip longer, but safer until they were ready for the dash towards the target. "It's been a while since we were in the same place at the same time."

Sky Stinger smiled. "Hey, we kept in touch."

"Letters aren't the same," Vapor Trail pouted. "Even if they do make ponies happy. I was on mail delivery for a while."

"Not a bad posting."

"You say that, but it's constant travel and a tight schedule. I was barely even able to stop long enough to sleep, some days."

"At least you had plenty to read."

Vapor Trail punched his shoulder. "Don't say that! I'd get in all kinds of trouble if I opened somepony else's mail!"

"I got stuck in a tent doing paperwork. After we left the academy I guess I lost my touch. I was barely able to fly."

Vapor Trail looked away. "That sounds... tough."

"Yeah. But I'm gonna prove I can still do it! I just need a chance to show it. With you cheering me on there'll be no doubt!"

Vapor Trail laughed nervously. "Yeah!"

"So how'd they rope you in?" Dust asked, as she wobbled over to the railing. "I asked Fleetfoot but she's too busy emptying her stomach over the side of the ship. Turns out scotch really doesn't settle on top of spoiled baked beans."

Fire Streak smiled at her as he worked the tiller. "Would you believe me if I said that I thought somepony had to be an adult with this bunch of foals?"

"You know, I wouldn't believe that line from most ponies," Dust admitted. "You were retired, though."

"Yep. For a whole year this time!" He laughed. "It's hard staying on the sidelines when there are ponies fighting and dying. To be honest, you sort of helped me decide to try one last time."

"Me?" Dust frowned.

"You got discharged. Not on good terms, sure, but you were out and you couldn't come back. Then you turn up out of nowhere and I hear all sorts of rumors about adventures and fighting monsters." Fire Streak shook his head. "Probably a lot of it isn't true, but I know you're doing something, and you had to work hard just to be allowed to fight in the war."

"Buck knows that's true," Dust mumbled. "Ugh. Even I'm getting airsick from that freaking rotgut. Scotch my flank!"

"I figure this way, I'll go out with a bang either way," he said. "Either the Bolts are coming back and I'm in all the history books, or my final mission is a daring raid behind enemy lines. Unfortunately, if I end up teaching recruits I'll have to tell them it's bucking stupid to do what I'm doing."

"Do as I say, not as I do?"

Fire Streak laughed. "That should be the motto of the Wonderbolts."

More than once, it seemed like the history of the Wonderbolts had reached an end. The ranks would be depleted, ponies would be reassigned, and they’d just be a footnote and a phantom regiment existing on the official roster without a single active member.

The modern incarnation of the Wonderbolts had been reduced to less than a half-dozen pegasi until they were expanded by royal order less than two decades ago, with Princess Celestia ordering them into service to find the best and brightest and inspire them to fly higher.

Nopony knows exactly what motivated her, but rumors suggested it was either at the request of Princess Cadance, who had been a pegasus foal before her ascension, or a result of the so-called ‘Cloudsdale Incident’

The storm howled around them, the entire ship rocking and creaking with the force of the wind.

Dust paced below deck, trying to stay out of the driving rain for as long as possible. It didn’t help that much -- the ship was so poorly sealed that there were puddles under her hooves where it was dripping through from above. Thunder cracked, lightning throwing shadows across the dim room.

Something moved in the dark where nothing was supposed to be, and Dust’s train of thought derailed. Her body acted purely on instinct, pouncing through the crates of supplies to tackle the form hiding there.

“Don’t hurt me!”

Dust blinked, looking for the first time at what she was about to stomp. An orange filly was pinned under one of her hooves, wearing a Wonderbolts windbreaker and baseball cap.

“You’re that foal that was begging for autographs,” Lightning Dust said, confused.

“Get away from her!”

Stormy Flare slammed into Dust’s side, bouncing off. She was only an average-sized pegasus, a full head smaller than Dust had grown. With the difference in their weight and strength, Dust hadn’t even really felt the impact.

Still, she wasn’t going to squash an innocent filly. She stepped back.

“What’s going on down here?” Fleetfoot demanded, flying down the stairs. “Stormy Flare, stand down!”

“But she was--” Flare growled at Lightning Dust.

“I found a stowaway,” Lightning Dust reported, keeping her tone flat and professional. “It looks like it’s your fan from the other night, Ma’am.”

“Wait a minute…” Fleetfoot narrowed her eyes. “Scootaloo, right?”

“You remember me?” The filly sounded surprised.

“I remember all my fans,” Fleetfoot assured her. “What are you doing here? We’re in the middle of a dangerous mission!”

“I wanted to see the Wonderbolts in action!” Scootaloo hopped to her hooves. “I promise I’ll stay out of the way!”

“We can’t take her with us,” Lightning Dust said. “We’ll have to turn back.”

“Negatory on that,” Fleetfoot said. “We’re already in the final straight run -- we're too far behind enemy lines. If we pull back now they’ll increase security at the prison. We don’t get a second shot at turning the war around. We’ll have to keep going, and leave her onboard the ship with some of the cadets or something.”

“Ma’am, we’re within visual distance of the prison! Fire Streak confirmed he saw it through the storm!” Vapor Trail hovered on the stairs, just inside the hatch, her mane buffeted by the wind and rain making her uniform cling to her body.

“Good,” Fleetfoot said. “According to Wind Rider’s information, they won’t have any serious anti-air ability. The kid'll be safe. I'll have Angel Wings stay behind to watch her. She's a medic, she must know how to take care of foals.”

The ship rocked as something impacted the hull.

“They’re just throwing rocks,” Fleetfoot said.

The ship shuddered and listed.

“Big rocks?” she corrected, smiling nervously.

A section of the hull exploded, the icy wind howling as it filled the cabin, rain drenching everypony instantly. Fleetfoot might have tried to say something after that, but the ship dropped straight down, free-falling. Stormy Flare grabbed Scootaloo, shielding her as crates bounced around, Vapor Trail hitting her head on the deck and going limp.

The fall stopped suddenly with a jerk.

Dust shoved a crate away, the wood shattering when it hit the far bulkhead, old military rations spilling out.

“Is everypony okay?” She asked.

“I think so,” Fleetfoot said, helping Vapor Trail up. “I guess they had some surprises we didn’t know about.”

“Nopony ever said this job would be safe,” Lightning Dust said. She took a step, and the deck shifted under her, the entire ship creaking. “Oh horseapples.”

The boards cracked with a sound almost exactly like the thunder overhead, and the ship fell apart.

Fire Streak coughed, dust and rot filling his nostrils as he pulled himself free of the wreckage of the airship’s gas envelope. Sky Stinger grunted with effort as he tried to wiggle free.

“Hold on,” Fire Streak said, grabbing a bent metal rod and using it as a lever to lift the debris enough to free the cadet.

Sky Stinger looked around. “What the heck is this place?”

“Some kind of dungeon?” Fire Streak shrugged. “It’s a prison. I think we broke through to an underground level.” He nodded up at the roof, where rain poured in through a hole in the stone.

“And the ship?” Sky Stinger asked.

“I don’t think that she’ll fly again,” Wind Rider said. He winced as Angel Wings helped him up. “Thank you, my dear.”

“Your wing is broken in two places,” she said. “We need a splint and bandages to keep it from getting worse, or it might get worse.”

“Oh, a broken wing is the least of your problems.”

Something in the dark started to glow, and something almost entirely unlike a pony stepped out of the shadows, a massive white shape almost as tall as Celestia, with crystals jutting out of his spine and huge prisms growing from his shoulders. He grinned madly, showing fangs, his head surrounded by a gold-blond mane that hung almost all the way to the ground.

“Is that one of Sombra’s soldiers?” Sky Stinger whispered.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Wind Rider hissed, taking a step back.

Angel Wings froze in place, shivering with fear.

“My name is Adamant and I’m very happy to see you.”

“It’s nice to meet you?” Angel Wings said, unsure of what to do.

The crystal-encrusted pony smiled. The crystal cluster on his head started shimmering, and a bolt of magic blew Angel Wings’ head apart like a watermelon in a hydraulic press.

“Run,” Adamant whispered, still smiling, his pale coat dripping with gore. “It won’t be fun otherwise!”

The Last Stand of the Wonderbolts

“We’re here,” Fleetfoot said, looking through a hole in the hull. “This is the prison. We need to figure out where the others are and meet up with them, then we’ll take out the conversion room and rescue anypony here.”

“Where’s the rest of the ship?!” Vapor Trail gasped. The entire front half of the airship was simply gone, the aft end groaning as it tried to settle, beams still cracking under the strain.

“Hopefully in better condition than we are,” Lightning Dust said. “I don’t think we’re sailing out of here.”

“That’s fine,” Fleetfoot said. “We’re the Wonderbolts! We can fly back on our own. Flare, how’s the kid?”

“She’s fine,” Stormy Flare said. “Just a little scraped up.”

“Good, because we need to move,” Fleetfoot said. “The roof collapsed on top of us when we crashed. I don’t want to end up buried alive.”

“I’ll second that,” Dust said. “That way clear?” She nodded to the hole.

“Looks clear,” Fleetfoot said.

A crossbow bolt went through her mane and stuck in the deck next to Vapor Trail, vibrating.

“Though I have been wrong from time to time,” Fleetfoot admitted, taking cover as a volley of bolts hit the remains of the Velocitas Veritas and managed to wound no one.

“They’ve got terrible aim,” Scootaloo said, trying to sound brave.

“They don’t need to hit us, they just need to keep us from going anywhere,” Lightning Dust said. She grabbed a crate and flew out, using it as a shield, catching a few bolts before throwing it at the ragged ranks opposing them.

“Move!” Fleetfoot yelled. Stormy Flare took off with Scootaloo hanging onto her back. Vapor Trail hesitated until Fleetfoot shoved her. “I said move!”

“But what if Sky Stinger--”

“Worry about him after we’re done being shot at!” Fleetfoot yelled.

Dust tore into the line of troops, breaking their lines like a living cannonball. Fleetfoot took one flank while they were distracted, hitting the ponies holding crossbows before they could reload.

Stormy Flare stopped, not even trying to stop the enemy as the other flank fired on Lightning Dust, three of the crossbow bolts striking true.

Dust cried out in pain, turning and spreading her wings, electricity crackling from the edges as she threw herself at the rest of the soldiers, the pegasus’ whole body glowing with a corona of electricity.

“Holy Sunlight,” Fleetfoot muttered. “When did you learn to do that?!” She kicked one of the soldiers that was starting to wake up, knocking him back out.

“I picked up a few tricks at my new job,” Lightning Dust said, tearing the bolts free with her teeth.

“Hold on, we need to get a medic to--” Fleetfoot said. “Or you can just rip them out, sure.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t have time to hurt,” Lightning Dust said. “Besides, they weren’t that deep. All I need is a little spit to wipe away a scratch like that.”

“Weren’t that deep my flank,” Stormy Flare muttered.

“These weren’t Empire soldiers,” Vapor Trail said, quietly. “Look at them. They’re just normal ponies!”

“What in Tartarus was going on here?” Lightning Dust asked, lifting one of them up to look at his ragged prison uniform, patched with bits and pieces of armor and trash. When he started to stir, she swung him like a club into the wall a few times until he stopped moving.

“Dark magic,” Fleetfoot said, dismissively.

Dust bit back a complaint, just following Fleetfoot down the hallway.

“Why is all the furniture out here?” Stormy Flare asked. Most of it was broken, but enough remained that they had to fly over some of it, the older mare still carrying Scootaloo.

“Barricades,” Lightning Dust said. “Look at how it's stacked.”

“The prisoners and guards must have been trying to keep Sombra out,” Fleetfoot guessed. “We don’t have great intel about the exact sequence of events. Maybe this was one of the last holdouts?”

“Were they even being controlled?” Vapor Trail asked, quietly.

“Yes,” Dust said. “I could feel it.”

“You could feel it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Cut the chatter,” Fleetfoot said, holding up a hoof. “We got something.”

They flew out into what had been a prison block, a large common area surrounded by cells, half of the room filled with rain thanks to the roof collapsing.

“Don’t look,” Stormy Flare said, trying to cover Scootaloo’s eyes.

She’d spotted what was at the bottom of the common area. Ditches, filled with bones.

“Must be hundreds of them,” Lightning Dust guessed. “I thought they were converting ponies into soldiers here?” She looked at a pile of shattered crystal and stained tables covered in tarnished surgical tools.

“They were,” Fleetfoot said. “Look! There’s a bunch of armor over there!” She pointed. The armor was sitting in the rain, rusted and weatherbeaten. Fleetfoot landed as the weight of the glares on her quickly outpaced the strength of her wings. “Being candid, my information isn’t exactly… fresh.”

“How out of date is it?” Dust asked. “Months? This is old, and it looks more like he was doing surgery...”

“You can measure it in months,” Fleetfoot said. “If, uh, you use a couple dozen of them.”

“Years?!” Vapor Trail squeaked.

“Wind Rider got kicked out of the EIS and this was the best he could get me!” Fleetfoot yelled. “This is his chance to redeem himself, too!”

“This is even more feathered than the crap Doctor Sparkle feeds me,” Dust growled, throwing her forehooves up to gesture to the prison. Just as she did, a flash of light illuminated something outside.

“What was that?” Vapor Trail asked.

“Something to put us back into business,” Fleetfoot said, grinning.

“Faster!” Fire Streak urged, pushing Sky Stinger.

“I think I sprained something in the fall!” Sky Stinger yelled. “I can’t fly right!”

A spray of magical energy like a storm of sparks flashed past them.

“Hurry!” Adamant yelled. “It’s not very sporting to fire at unarmed opponents but nothing else seems to motivate you! I want to have a little fun before the hunt ends!”

The basement or dungeon or whatever it was was like a maze, and the further the Wonderbolts ran through it, the less sure of where they were.

“We should have stayed in the big room! We could have gone out the top!” Sky Stinger hissed.

“That’s easy for you to say!” Wind Rider screamed. “You have two working wings!”

“I think we lost him,” Fire Streak said, looking back at the empty corridor behind them. The ponies slowed, keeping their ears open, though it was hard to hear through the water busily working its way through the cracked foundation.

“The kid was right about one thing,” Wind Rider whispered, leaning closer to Fire Streak. “We need to find a way outside.”

“He might have been right about that big room, too,” Fire Streak said, quietly. “It’s the only way up we’ve seen so far, and that monster has been chasing us away from it. We need to get past whatever it is and then fly out. One of us can carry you. If we’re careful maybe it won’t even know we doubled back.”

There was a berserk cry from further into the twisting, dark corridors. All three pegasi jumped, paling as ponies in patchwork armor and carrying knives of scrap metal galloped towards them, their eyes burning like coals.

The wall next to the berserk ponies exploded, a crystal-crowned head breaking through and blasting them apart with a storm of magic.

“You better hurry up, or I’m going to have to kill you!” The giant monster started pushing through the wall, and the ponies ran, terror filling them.

“I’ve seen this before,” Fleetfoot said. “Lightning cannon. It’s how Sombra was keeping the airship fleet from just dropping soldiers right into the middle of his empire.”

The contraption was like a telescope made of crystals and metal, standing out in the rain with mind-controlled ponies slowly walking in circles around it. The platform it stood on had once been a landing zone for secure sky-wagons, but dark crystal battlements had transformed it into its own tiny fortress on top of the prison.

“Those things there--” Fleetfoot pointed at something, a half-circle of something between ancient monoliths and aquariums, standing stones of crystal filled with bubbling, hissing fluid. “They power the cannon. I bet this thing is how they shot down my ship.”

“We’ll need to take it out to leave?” Stormy Flare asked.

“Unless you want to risk them shooting us down,” Fleetfoot said. “I don't think they're just going to wave goodbye.”

“We’ll take it down,” Dust decided. “Then once we find the others we can get out of this Tartarus pit. Go over the mountains like in the original plan.”

“We aren’t just going to bail,” Fleetfoot protested. “We can still salvage this!”

“There’s nothing to salvage!” Dust hissed. “There’s no mission!”

Before Fleetfoot could protest, Lightning Dust flew out into the storm.

“There are a half-dozen ponies out there!” Vapor Trail gasped.

“More like eight,” Fleetfoot said. “I spotted a couple extra on the far tower past the cannon.”

“We need to help,” Vapor Trail said. “At least try to even the odds!”

The brick wall next to the doorway cracked. Fleetfoot risked sticking her head outside to look. One of the guards had been thrown so hard he’d been embedded in the masonry.

“She’ll be fine,” Fleetfoot said. “Whatever the hell she is.”

“Which way do we go?” Sky Stinger asked.

“We’ve been here before,” Wind Rider said, pointing to a feather in the mud. “That’s from my wing. Losing my damn coverts with it flapping around.”

“We’ll get it taken care of,” Fire Streak assured him. “We just need to find the way back out. Remember the Wonderbolt code. Rule Two -- stick together.”

The floor shook.

“He’s coming,” Sky Stinger hissed.

Wind Rider limped to one of the doorways. “I have an idea. You’ll need to hear me out on this.” He bucked the wall, wincing in pain, breaking a chain loose from the wall. With a squeal of rusted metal forced into motion by gravity, a portcullis slammed down between him and the others.

“What are you doing?” Fire Streak asked.

“Rule two was meant to be broken,” Wind Rider said, smiling.

“You can’t hold him off by yourself,” Sky Stinger whispered.

“He doesn’t have to. That thing is on our side of that gate,” Fire Streak growled.

“Unfortunately,” Wind Rider agreed, nodding. “I’m really sorry about this.” His ears twitched as the hoofsteps got closer. “Sorry. I just-- I can’t die here. Not in a place like this. I’m a hero, not a pony that dies in some dark hole!”

“You can’t do this!” Sky Stinger grabbed the bars, trying to move them.

“Sorry,” Wind Rider repeated, scuttling away in the darkness and around a corner.

“What are we going to do?” Sky Stinger asked, holding onto the metal for support. “That probably was the way out…”

“I don’t think so,” Fire Streak said. “Spread your wings. There’s a breeze coming from this way.” He fanned his feathers out.

“So-- so that’s the right way?” Sky asked.

“Probably. You need to go, as fast as you can, and find the others. That’s rule three -- if you get split up, find the rest of your team.” Fire Streak patted Sky’s shoulder. “I’m gonna buy you time. I’ll catch up when I can.”

“But you’ll catch up, right?” Sky Stinger asked.

Fire Streak was silent for a moment, weighing the question. “I’m gonna teach this monster a lesson about how a Wonderbolt fights.”

“But--”

“Get out of here, kid,” Fire Streak said, pushing him to get him moving. He watched him go, even as the footsteps came up right behind him and stopped, hot breath on his neck.

The Cloudsdale Incident remains the stuff of legend. Or more accurately, it remains the stuff of conspiracy theories.

According to witnesses at the time of the incident, unknown ponies of extraordinary power fought in the skies after emerging from something between the eye of a hurricane and a glowing doorway. Unfortunately, most of these witnesses were foals, and their testimony, while remarkably consistent for ponies of their age, is suspect.

One detail that all the ponies agreed on was that one of the two unknown assailants was an alicorn, and not one of the Princesses - not even the at-the-time largely unknown Princess Cadance.

The official report on the incident calls it mass hysteria. Why Princess Celestia was required to investigate mass hysteria in person and why the official reports of the additional investigating magi have been sealed are left to the imagination of the reader.

Wind Rider tried to move quietly, despite the pain insisting he either lie down and whimper in a corner or scream with every motion. The edge of his wing was dragging along the floor and part of him was sure that meant tendons were severed and he was as likely to fly again as the average unicorn. He tried not to think about it. He just had to get out and then he could fix things. Make up a big story about how he sacrificed himself trying to save the others and come back a hero and wear that limp wing like a badge of honor all the way to a high-ranking position whispering in Celestia’s ear.

It was what he deserved.

What he definitely didn’t deserve was to be wandering around in the bowels of a place that had to be closer to Tartarus than anywhere else on the planet.

Flickering light caught his attention, and his hope surged. Anything was better than the dark.

He pushed open a heavy wooden door, the timbers half-rotten from the damp, and stumbled as a wall of heat washed over him, like he was walking into an oven. Smoke filled his lungs, and he had to suppress a cough, holding a forehoof over his snout as he looked in with bleary eyes, looking for details in a haze of smoke and dim light.

“What in Celestia’s name…?” He whispered and walked in.

An altar held a bonfire of prison debris, and torches lined the walls. Candles, oil lamps, anything that would burn, all of it was piled up and lit, like the whole room was on fire, all under one central image, a statue of crystal hung overhead by chains, the flames around the room reflecting from it like it, too, was burning.

“All of it is in her name,” said a voice from the darkness behind Wind Rider. He started to turn and was kicked in the side, falling and landing on his broken wing, crying out in pain.

The older pegasus gasped and looked up, right into that statue’s face. A twisted version of Celestia’s serene smile, warped into a mad, pyromaniacal grin.

“I begged for her to come and keep Sombra from doing this,” Adamant said. “She gave me the strength! The strength to fight his control!”

“You’re insane!” Wind Rider gasped.

“For a time I thought she abandoned me, but now I see so clearly. She tests us! Only in the greatest darkness do we really appreciate the light!” The huge pony stepped over Wind Rider. “And she sent you to me.”

“If-- if you let me go, I’ll talk to her for you!” Wind Rider offered. “We’re good friends! I work for her personally!”

Adamant’s face twisted into a scowl. “Good friends?! You’re nothing! Nothing to her! Nothing to me! No cowardly friend is anything, compared to family.”

Wind Rider started to make another offer, but before the lie could leave his lips, a huge hoof slammed down on his ribs, snapping them like dry twigs.

“Vapor Trail!”

Vapor Trail flew higher, looking over the wall, her heart soaring. She could just make him out through the petering remains of the storm, the rain slowing and thunder only a distant rumble.

“Sky Stinger!” She cried out, waving. “You’re okay!”

“I’m not okay,” Sky Stinger said, struggling as a sudden gust almost carried him away. Vapor Trail flew out to pull him back to the wall and the limited cover it provided.

“Are you hurt? How did you find us?” Vapor Trail asked.

“I think everypony else is dead,” Sky Stinger whispered. “And, um, I just followed the explosions.”

He looked to the side, where Lightning Dust was hefting the third of the batteries, using her wings for balance as she actually lifted the huge mass of stone over her head for a moment before throwing it.

“Yeah!” Lightning Dust yelled. “Best distance yet!”

There was a wet, electric explosion as it smashed into the ground below, shattering in a burst of rainbow-colored sparks.

“How in Tartarus can she do that?!” Sky Stinger asked.

“If you mean the technique I’ve seen it before,” Fleetfoot said, setting down next to the two embracing ponies. “It’s called a caber toss. Usually done with logs, but she makes it work. If you mean how she’s so strong, I got no bucking clue. Where’s the rest of the team?”

“We-- they--” Sky Stinger swallowed, pushing Vapor Trail away. “They’re dead, Ma’am. There’s something horrible here. It’s a pony but he isn’t normal. He’s huge and impossibly strong and we don’t… we don’t stand a chance. We need to get out of here before he finds us!”

“Dead?” Scootaloo gasped.

“A foal?” Sky Stinger blinked.

“This huge pony, he have crystals all over him?” Lightning Dust asked, pausing in front of the last menhir.

“You’ve seen something like it?” Fleetfoot asked.

“...Maybe,” Dust said, after a moment and a guilty look at Stormy Flare. “I don’t know for sure.”

“Is he dangerous?” Fleetfoot asked. When Dust didn’t answer, Fleetfoot stepped around her and grabbed her face, pulling it down so they were looking eye to eye. “Lives are at stake! Focus! I need to know what you know!”

“A normal pony doesn’t stand a chance,” Dust said. “You all need to get out of here.”

“This is my mission,” Fleetfoot said. “If he’s that dangerous then he’s the new mission target. We’ll take him out.”

“Your mission?” Dust asked. “What mission? We’ve got nothing! This isn’t even authorized! You’re totally rogue, aren’t you?!”

“I--” Fleetfoot sputtered. “The Wonderbolts don’t need permission! We’re gonna come back heroes! That’s what you signed up for! That’s what we all signed up for!”

Fleetfoot looked at the others, her eyes wild.

“Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail, you get what I’m saying, right? When we go home ponies are gonna look up to you! They’re gonna see that you’ve got the right stuff!”

The cadets looked away.

“If this isn’t even a real mission…” Vapor Trail swallowed. “Are we AWOL?”

“Stormy Flare, you know how important this is! It’s about a legacy!”

“It’s not worth wasting more lives,” the older mare said.

“Dust?” Fleetfoot asked, getting desperate. “Come on. Don’t abandon the Wonderbolts. Not again. I brought you along so you could prove you aren’t the same coward that got the Bolts disbanded!”

Lightning Dust slapped Fleetfoot, and the smaller pony was flung to the ground like she’d been run over by a yak.

Dust looked down at her for a long moment, eyes glowing faintly green.

“Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail,” Dust said. “You two are going to take point. Stormy Flare is going to stay in the middle with the kid. Fleetfoot will watch your flanks once she can get her hooves out of her bucking mouth.”

She looked up at the sky and the slowly roiling clouds.

“It looks like the sky is lighter in that direction.” She pointed. “So that’s East. You get out of here and if Fleetfoot tries to convince you to come back, gag her and don’t let her talk until you’re in Canterlot.”

“Watch out!” Scootloo yelled.

The warning came just in time. Crystal shards crashed down on the weapon platform like razor hail. Stormy Flare rolled, pulling Scootaloo under her body and shielding her from the shrapnel as she got out of the way. Vapor Trail flapped hard, pushing Sky Stinger into the air with her own backdraft and knocking them both out of the area of effect. Fleetfoot, already on the ground thanks to Lightning Dust, had to take cover under the lightning cannon.

Dust knocked a huge crystal out of the air with her hoof, deflecting it and ignoring the smaller ones opening tiny cuts on her skin, shredding her Wonderbolts uniform. The cuts closed almost as quickly as they formed, sealing with faint flashes of green light.

“I must be losing my touch,” said a huge pony as he pulled himself over the edge of the wall, crystals growing from his hooves and anchoring him in place, letting him walk up the stone like a spider. “I didn’t kill anypony.”

Stormy Flare gasped in pain as she got up, one of her wings shredded, a hole as big as a hoof right through it.

“Oh no,” Sky Stinger gasped.

“Is this the one you saw before?” Dust asked, putting herself between the monster and the rest of the Bolts.

“Oh yes,” Adamant answered for the paralyzed pony. “I let the little one escape so I could follow him back and find more
worthy prey. I’ve been disappointed so far. None of you are putting up much of a fight!”

“I’ll be your huckleberry,” Dust said, rearing up so she could crack her fetlocks. “But I’m more fight than you can handle.”
Adamant grinned. “Come over here and say that.”

Perhaps nopony represents the current Wonderbolts better than their leader, Spitfire. While she doesn’t hold any of the current Academy records, she has a comfortable second or third place in every ranked list. Rather than being a specialist, Spitfire is a pony who can fly any routine asked of her, and uses her great versatility to train new recruits.

Before the war, Spitfire was a public figure, known for rubbing shoulders with the nobility, shaking hooves, kissing foals, and otherwise making ponies remember that the Wonderbolts existed and that they were on the way up. Indeed, it was Spitfire that took over the reins from veteran ponies like Wind Rider and reformed the Wonderbolts from a team focused on fundamentals and record-breaking into one more focused on formation flying and spectacle, incorporating elements from aerial ballet and expending shows to locations outside of Cloudsdale and Canterlot.

After the Thunderbolt Disaster, Spitfire has left the public eye. It seems the Wonderbolts are once again on the way to becoming a footnote in history, though if we can be sure of anything, it’s that they’ll rise again when Equestria needs them.

Interestingly, Spitfire, along with most of the ponies in the Wonderbolts serving under her, were witnesses to the Cloudsdale Incident. While it’s not uncommon for ponies in a tight-knit group like the Wonderbolts to have previous connections, one wonders if this is merely a coincidence or something more.

Dust dodged to the side as a crystal blade swept through the air, barely missing her. Before the monster in front of her could bring it back around, she charged him, headbutting the growth of crystal jutting out of his skull like a glittering crown.

She bounced off, both of them groaning and clutching their skulls.

“Let’s get out of here while it’s busy!” Sky Stinger hissed, grabbing Vapor Trail’s hoof.

“Wonderbolts don’t quit,” Fleetfoot retorted, getting up slowly, using the lightning cannon to brace herself. She looked up at it. “Help me get this thing turned around!”

Lightning Dust ducked low and swept Adamant’s legs, toppling him.

“So what’s your story, huh?” She asked. “Another one of Sombra’s monsters? I’ve killed plenty like you!”

“You’ve never killed anything like me,” he assured Dust.

“Horseapples!” Dust bucked his chest, revealing an old, ragged scar.

“He abandoned this place because he couldn’t control me. I drove him away!” Adamant yelled, forcing Dust away with a blast of liquid crystal that quickly hardened into a rock-hard net holding her to the weapon platform. “I’m the hero here! Celestia chose me! She always told me I’d find my place and I have!”

A blast of blue lightning slammed into his side, exploding the growths on his shoulder and hips, the prisms shattering and revealing raw pink skin underneath. And on his flank, a compass cutie mark.

“That hurt!” Adamant hissed, turning to glare at Fleetfoot.

“Celestia’s Polka-Dot Knickers, I know that cutie mark,” Stormy Flare gasped. “That’s Prince Blueblood! He went missing three years ago after he took half the Royal Guard and tried to counter-invade the Empire!”

“Looks like we found him!” Sky Stinger said, backing way as the pony stomped towards them.

Fleetfoot pulled the trigger for the cannon again, but the single remaining battery simply fizzled, a few sparks pouring from the weapon’s business end.

Blueblood tore the cannon free with his bare hooves, swinging it like a bat at Fleetfoot as she tried to escape. She dodged easily, spinning in midair like a ballerina.

“Come on, Blueblood! I heard you used to play hoofball! Can’t you move with a little hustle?” Fleetfoot teased.

“I’m going to turn you inside out and scrape you clean,” Blueblood growled.

The crystal shell around Dust started to crack as she strained at her bolds. It wasn’t fast enough. Fleetfoot dodged another wild swing, but never saw the second blow coming from behind, a crystal spear held in a shaky telekinetic grip.

She hit the ground, pinned in place like an insect under glass, twitching and bleeding.

Ultimately, the story of the Wonderbolts is one of ponies fighting for something bigger than their own lives. It’s about heroes, and villains. It’s about how a fire that burns twice as bright burns twice as quickly, and how so many good ponies burned so, so brightly that even as they turned to ashes they lit up the whole world.

It’s also about sacrifice, betrayal, and good ponies dying in stupid ways.

Lightning Dust broke free, leaving a half-dozen feathers behind as she lunged at Blueblood, pulling him to the ground and rolling until she was on top of him, forehoof in the air and crackling with electricity.

“Just die already!” She yelled, slamming it down on his crown, shattering it and the horn within.

Blueblood howled, throwing her off and clutching his ruined spire.

“How’d you like that?!” Dust screamed.

“You’re the most annoying pest I’ve ever met!” Blueblood hissed. “I can’t believe Celestia sent ponies like you!”

“Celestia?” Dust smirked. “She doesn’t even know we’re here.”

“But-- she must have sent you!” Blueblood got to his hooves, blood running down his face. “She sent you to find me! I’m her nephew!”

“Blueblood, you were never worthy of calling her Aunt,” Stormy Flare said, sternly. “I’ve seen you disappoint her at every Gala since you were old enough to start attending and insulting every pony in earshot.”

Blueblood lunged for them, Lightning Dust pouncing on his back and rolling, driving a hoof into his ribs and making him cry out in pain.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to anger the giant crazy pony!” Sky Stinger hissed.

“It isn’t,” Stormy Flare agreed.

“We need to help her,” Vapor Trail said.

“She’s doing fine!” Sky Stinger protested.

“Kill all of you!” Blueblood screamed, the remaining crystals on his body flaring with dark light and starting to ring like bells. Lightning Dust was thrown away from his body, spasming with dark lightning.

“Take care of Scootaloo,” Stormy Flare said, pushing the foal into Vapor Trail’s hooves and running into the open, getting Blueblood’s attention. She started fanning her wings, the temperature dropping.

“What’s she doing?” Sky Stinger asked.

“Come on!” Stormy yelled. “Come and get me! You-- you two-bit mudblood in a cheap suit!”

Blueblood roared and charged, not even noticing that Stormy Flare had frozen a thin layer of rain to ice. His hooves lost traction, and he skidded, slamming into the older pony and going over the edge.

Scootaloo screamed.

Lightning Dust got up slowly, limbs shaking from the shock. She stumbled towards the edge, smoke pouring from burned feathers and fur as she looked down into the courtyard.

Blueblood twitched, the crystals along his back and side glowing.

Lightning Dust, half-blind, stumbled towards the last crystal battery, still hissing and sizzling with potential, and lifted it, having to brace herself, taking it in stages, then threw it over the edge.

There was a wet, crackling explosion.

“Now it’s finished,” she said, gasping for breath.

Maybe the Thunderbolt Disaster will mark the end of the road for the Wonderbolts. With the deaths of Soarin, Blaze, High Winds, Misty Fly, and Thunderlane, along with Spitfire’s semi-retirement, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere left to go. After all, everything has its limit. Despite the royal order that put them back into action, it’s hard to imagine them recovering.

But maybe this isn’t the end of the road. Maybe it’s just an intermission between acts, a place to pause and reflect before moving on.

“That’s a sight for sore eyes,” Sky Stinger said, quietly, the spires of Canterlot finally coming into view as the train made its way around the mountain.

“Can you two get Scootaloo back to her aunts?” Dust asked.

“Of course,” Vapor Trail said. The foal hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words since they’d gotten away from the prison. She’d barely even slept or eaten. Only on the train ride back from Manehattan had she really started to relax, falling into a sleep that had lasted twelve hours so far.

“Good,” Dust sighed. “I’ll talk to some ponies about you two going AWOL. You were tricked into it.”

“I didn’t think you had any, um…” Vapor Trail blushed.

“Any friends in the military? Tartarus, most of them want me dead! No, I’m going to talk to sneaky ponies who can get things done.” She grinned and patted the burlap sack at her side. “I think she’ll be willing to do me a favor for this little souvenir.”

“You’re right,” Doctor Sparkle said. She put her glasses back on as she backed away from the microscope. “This core you pulled out of Prince Blueblood’s remains is exactly the sort of thing Sombra uses in Linnorms. Good instincts.”

“Thanks,” Dust said. “It was right in his chest. You know. Just like…”

“Just like Spitfire,” Sparkle said. “And like you. Though you have an Engine Heart, not a crude little dark magic trinket like this.”

Dust nodded.

“He must have experimented with this years ago,” Sparkle mused. “When I was just putting my own prototypes together. I wonder why he did it…”

“That’s above my pay grade,” Dust said. “He wasn’t under Sombra’s control, though. He wasn’t under anypony’s control, not even his own. Blueblood was completely insane.”

“Dark magic does that. It corrupts ponies, mind, body, and soul. It’s one reason I don’t use it in my own designs.”

“So since I got you a present, could you…?”

“I’ll handle things,” Sparkle said, with a shrug. “I’ll have my contacts get those two assigned to something off the front lines. Together.” She smiled a little with genuine mirth. “There isn’t much I can do about your stowaway foal. I fear even my resources aren’t going to be enough to keep her from being grounded for the rest of her natural life.”

“There is one thing,” Dust said. “You told me you did a lot of research into helping ponies who needed it.”

“Yes?”

“She can’t fly. I want you to do what you can to fix that.”

Sparkle raised her eyebrows, adjusting her glasses and giving Lightning Dust an appraising look. “Really? Well, as long as her parents don’t mind, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Just like that?”

“I’m not as heartless as you seem to think,” Sparkle said. “My research was originally for helping ponies like myself. Ponies with magical disabilities.” Her voice softened. “I sympathize with her.”

“Maybe it’ll make up for everything she had to see,” Dust said.

“No,” Sparkle said, quickly. “It won’t. But it might be a reminder that things can get better. And a reminder to myself about just why I’m doing all this.”

The story of the Wonderbolts has lasted a thousand years, and they’ve only managed that by moving forwards, and honoring those who have given their lives by remembering their names and using their feats as inspiration to excel.

They’ll be back. The Wonderbolts have always been there to help heal the soul of the nation, and we’ll need them more than ever.

The Dreaming Stone

The farm was in the middle of nowhere. Marble hadn’t ever thought about just how far it was from anything important until now, pulling into a train station miles from anything except a post office and a general store. They didn’t even have a Hayburger Princess within a day’s travel, which was hardly an impressive beacon of civilization but...

She dragged her luggage from the train.

“You shouldn’t get off here, Ma’am,” the conductor warned. The stout earth pony tried to lift up her trunk, almost throwing out his back. “What the heck? Are you carrying bricks in this thing or something?”

“Mm…” Marble looked away, easily hefting it.

“Look, the thing is, the Imperial Army is going to be coming through here soon. You don’t want to be here when they do. If you want, I’ll take you to any other stop up the line. It isn’t safe.”

“Thank you,” Marble muttered. “But I have business here. Family matters.”

She would have said nothing ever changed, but that was only true for somepony who didn’t have her careful eye for detail. Marble could tell that the west field hadn’t been worked in too long, and the fence they’d put up to mark the trail to the crystal cavern was broken, and had been for a while if the foliage growing around the weatherbeaten boards was any indication.

It should have been fixed. The fact it hadn’t been worried Marble, and she hurried her steps, barely feeling the heavy luggage on her back.

A shadow passed over her, and she reacted without thinking, dropping and rolling, her trunk falling to the side. Marble grabbed a rock when she hit the ground and threw it blindly.

“Woah!” A rainbow-maned pegasus dodged the stone, the rock barely missing her. “Easy there, I’m a friend, not foe!”

Marble stood up, feeling stupid now. The pegasus mare was in an EUP uniform, and she looked like she’d been gnawed on by a dragon. One of her wings was missing entirely, replaced with a steel prosthetic.

“I’m Sergeant Dash. I’m guessing you’re the one Pie sister I haven’t met. Maud and Pinkie are part of my squad.” She landed and offered a hoof to shake

Marble shook it gingerly.

“I really hope you’re here for the same reason we are,” Dash said, glancing towards the farmhouse.

“I came to get my parents out,” Marble said, nervously.

“Good,” Dash said, nodding sharply. “Maybe you can talk some sense into ‘em. They’ve been acting like a couple of foals! Your sisters are inside. I decided to stay out here and keep an eye on things from up top.”

Marble tilted her head.

Dash coughed. “Alright, I skipped out because all this family junk is super awkward. Please just go and help them? If it was my folks I’d just drag them out by their tails or push their house somewhere safe but, uh, it’s harder to push a house that isn’t made of clouds and I don’t think your folks would like being foalnapped to safety. My parents would probably give me a bucking award for being the number one foalnapper.”

Marble sighed and moved to grab her trunk.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get it.”

“It’s kind of heavy…” Marble waned.

“I said I got this!” Dash snapped, struggling to try and lift it.

Marble backed away and stepped up to the door, knocking and glancing back to see Dash pushing it, an inch at a time, grunting and struggling for traction.

The door opened, and Limestone glared out.

“Of course you show up now when we don’t need you,” she muttered, spitting the words.

Marble didn’t say anything, just staring down at her and letting the silence become awkward.

“Fine!” Limestone snapped, looking away. “Just-- don’t cause trouble! Maud and Pinkie are doing enough of that already.”

Marble waited for Limestone to back up, then walked in, stalking past her and into the kitchen, where she could hear the sounds of cooking and quiet conversation.

“You have to leave, Dad! There’s an entire army coming this way!”

“We must trust in faith to protect us.”

“Celestia isn’t a Goddess, and even if she was, she’s the one who ordered ponies to evacuate! Dash, tell them--”

Marble stepped into the kitchen in the middle of the argument, Pinkie looking at her and expecting somepony else.

“Marble?” She asked, surprised. "Wow. You got taller!"

"Mm." Marble smiled a little.

Their mother looked up from her cooking.

“She’s here to try and kick us out too,” Limestone muttered, trying to shove past Marble and failing to move her. Marble stepped aside after giving her a chance to ask nicely, which Limestone decided not to take, preferring to seethe internally instead.

“I heard about the evacuation,” Marble said, quietly. “Why aren’t you leaving?”

“This is our land,” her father said. “We aren’t going to be forced off of it by anypony. Not even an army. They may well pass by entirely. There is nothing to forage here, and nothing of military import.”

“They want ponies,” Maud stated. “They use mind control and make you part of their army. With no defenses, this farm would be a minimal gain, but at no risk. They aren’t going to just ignore you.”

“The military can’t hold all the empty land in this part of Equestria. There aren’t any forts or walls or anything,” Pinkie explained. “They’re pulling back to cities and some of the larger towns.”

“If you don’t go, you’ll die,” Marble said. “Please listen to them.”

“I will not leave, and that is final,” her father said, folding his hooves. “If I die, then I will be buried with my ancestors.”

“And you want mother and Limestone to be buried with you?” Marble asked.

He glared at her, having to look up. Marble didn’t visibly react. She’d been scared of him, a long time ago. He wasn't so intimidating after the things she'd seen.

“Can somepony give me a hoof with this?” Dash yelled, from the front door. "I changed my mind about being able to do this myself!"

Marble turned and stomped off towards her, the windows rattling with her deliberate steps.

The pegasus was sweating, having somehow managed to get the trunk up to the door and halfway through. Marble put a hoof on it and pulled in a way that should have been impossible without grip or leverage. The suitcase moved easily, like it was weightless.

“Thanks,” Dash said. “I bit off more than I could chew there.”

“Mm…” Marble set it to the side.

“What’s in there, anyway?”

Marble considered answering but was saved from having to decide what to say by her mother.

“Marble, you have to understand,” she said. “We can’t just leave. This farm is like part of the family. I know you and Maud and Pinkie are all trying to find your way in life, but what about Limestone? Running this farm has been her dream. Would we even be able to come back after the war was over?”

“Lady, you’re all crazy,” Dash said. “It’s just a bunch of rocks! Tell you what, come to Canterlot and I’ll get you some rocks myself! All the gravel you want! I'll even throw it in your bucking yard so you can farm it! I just wanna get my squad out of here before the feathering Imperial Army comes and they have to end up fighting you because you’re a crystal slave!”

“Young lady, in this house we do not swear.”

“I’m not part of your family and I don’t give a flying feather if you disapprove or not,” Dash retorted.

“If you want dinner tonight, you’ll apologize.”

“I’ll survive without boiled rocks, thanks,” Dash said. “Pretty sure I saw a Hayburger Princess a town over. Hey, tell you what, I’ll buy all of you a Big Sun Burger if everypony comes with me -- they’re pretty great!”

“We aren’t going to leave.”

“Your loss. I’m gettin’ one for Maud and Pinkie since they’ve got some common sense.” She hopped into the air and took off, vanishing into the distance in seconds.

Marble’s mother closed the door.

“Dinner will be at the usual time,” she said. “There will be a plate for you if you wish it.”

Marble sat in front of the open suitcase, tugging lightly at cables and tubes on the armor within, making sure nothing had come loose on the train ride.

Somepony whistled from the doorway, and Marble looked back at Dash, the pegasus leaning casually against the doorframe.

“I’ve never seen armor like that,” she said. “Where’d you get something like that? EIS?”

“It’s my job,” Marble said, quietly. “Doctor Sparkle told me to take it in case there was trouble.” More accurately, she’d insisted Marble take it, because she had been absolutely sure there would be trouble.

“You want a burger?” Dash asked, holding up a bag.

Marble blinked. “You were serious about…?”

“Of course I was. I love these things.”

“...But the town is…”

“Pretty far,” Dash finished for her. “Yeah, but I happen to be the fastest thing in the air.” She flexed her prosthetic wing. “Even this doesn’t slow me down.”

“Mm.” Marble took the bag. It was cold, naturally, but there was a certain guilty pleasure in eating it. She wouldn’t have to show up to the dinner table later. Maybe the empty seat would remind her parents that she didn’t support their decision to stay.

“So since I’m bribing you,” Dash grinned, waiting until Marble was halfway done with her hayburger. “You wanna go on a quick patrol? I got a feeling in my primaries that something’s wrong and I won’t be able to sleep until I check it out.”

Marble kept chewing. She tilted her head and looked significantly down the hall.

“Maud and Pinks? I’m relying on them to yell at your parents enough to make them listen,” Dash admitted. “And if that trouble comes here while we’re gone, I trust them to fight it. You, you’re kinda quiet and I got no idea if you’re any good in a fight, but you know the land, your head isn’t rammed up under your tail, and you’re an extra pair of eyes.”

Marble stomped down the passage, feeling more secure with her armor on, an inch of alloy plating between her and the world did wonders for her confidence.

“Gotta admit this wasn’t what I had in mind,” Dash muttered, as she followed along, the crystals providing a dim glow. Marble looked back and down at the pegasus, the mare seeming smaller now. Maybe it was just her stance, lower than usual like she was afraid the ceiling would collapse.

“These tunnels need to be checked,” Marble said, her voice echoing, the silence and darkness making her voice sound loud and booming by contrast.

“At least if there’s something down here I can just hide behind you.” Dash rapped a hoof against the thick armor.

Marble nodded, taking it as good tactical thinking instead of a joke.

“When Pinks and Maud told me it was a rock farm this is definitely more of what I was expecting,” she said, changing the subject and stopping to look at a huge crystal. “Most ponies call it a mine, though.”

“It is a mine,” Marble said. “The farm is on the surface.”

“Okay, but… you know you can’t grow rocks, right?”

Marble smiled knowingly. “Mmm.”

“Is this some kind of family secret or-- you know what, forget it. I don’t wanna know. I’ve gotten too many answers I didn’t want from your sisters.”

Marble nodded.

“So I don’t know anything about tunnels. Is there anything different or weird or evil? Because I’m gettin’ the creeps down here and I really don’t like being stuck somewhere I can’t fly.”

“They haven’t worked down here at all since I left,” Marble said, mostly to herself. A pick rested against the wall just where she’d left it, the minecart still half-full.

“Hey, take a look at this!” Dash said, from the other side of a wall of crystals. Marble trotted around to look and stopped in place.

“Don’t touch it,” she warned.

There was a black crystal erupting from the ground, as wrong as a boil or broken bone, the stone cracked from its unnaturally quick growth.

“I’m guessing this is new,” Dash said, keeping her distance.

Marble nodded, feeling a chill rush down her spine.

The black crystal made a sound like a leaden bell when Marble threw it into the middle of the table.

“We are having dinner,” her mother said, glaring.

Limestone growled, her front covered with soup and her bowl overturned.

“We found this under the farm,” Dash said.

“What is it?” Pinkie asked sitting up to see.

Maud leaned closer to look. “This isn’t a natural crystal. It’s unstable except in the presence of dark magic. I’ve seen this before in the north. It’s a very worrying sign.”

“That does not give you the right to be rude,” her father said. “Any business about this, if it is to be discussed at all, can wait until after dinner.”

“After dinner might be too late. You need to leave,” Marble said.

“Don’t talk back to your father,” her mother said, glaring at her.

“Fine, I’ll talk back to him,” Dash snapped. “You’re sitting here eating dinner while enemy troops are close enough you can practically smell them! Are you gonna sit on your flanks while they drag your daughter away to be a slave soldier?”

“What happens is what is fated to happen,” Marble’s father said. “If you cannot give us peace while we eat then you are not welcome in this house.”

“You could have convinced him to let you stay,” Maud said, with concern that only somepony very familiar with her could have detected.

“I won’t back down,” Marble muttered. She stopped at a fork in the tunnel and looked both ways, picking one at random.

“Have you been well since we left?” Maud asked. “I hope you didn’t worry about us too much. Princess Celestia--”

“I don’t want to talk about Celestia,” Marble cut in, interrupting Maud.

They walked in silence for a while, the loudest sound Marble’s heavy footsteps.

“You’re not okay,” Maud said, quietly.

“I’m fine,” Marble assured her. “This is where we found the crystal.”

Maud nodded and gave Marble a sideways look as she passed her to start checking every corner of the room for more.
Marble looked at the reflective face of one of the huge glowing crystal spires -- quartz and a few impurities, here for longer than she’d been alive and left in place not because they were beautiful but simply because the light they provided was useful enough to be worth the trouble of working around them.

“This tunnel wasn’t here before,” Maud said.

Marble looked away from her snake-eyed reflection and followed Maud’s voice around a corner to a shadowy alcove. Maud was looking into a rough hole in the wall, the edges left jagged and ugly.

“This was done with claws, not tools,” Maud noted, pointing at marks in the rock. Marble nodded in agreement.

“Mmm...” Marble stopped, turning even before she really heard the sound, moving more on intuition than anything else.

A dozen diamond dogs, in rough armor and poorly-fitted steel helms, tore out of the floor and came at them, screaming.

Marble acted first, slamming the first aside with her hip before it could reach them. It fell, and she picked it up, the dog surrounded by acid-green magic as she threw it into a wall, snapping bones. She didn’t let it fall again, using it as a weapon to bat others aside before they could reach her sister.

“Be careful,” Maud warned. “You might--”

Marble snapped its neck and threw the corpse aside.

“You killed it.” Maud said, so shocked she nearly emoted.

“It was going to kill us,” Marble noted, shoving more away with a shield.

“How are you doing that?”

“I’ve grown up a lot since I left,” Marble said. Maud met her eyes and paled.

Marble glanced to the side and threw another dog at a crystal spire erupting from the wall like a spear.

Maud grabbed it in midair, barely pulling it out of the way of certain death. It bit her hoof as thanks, forcing Maud to kick it into unconsciousness.

“We don’t kill,” Maud said, blood dripping from her wounded leg.

Marble frowned.

Marble was still frowning while the barn door closed, cutting off her view of the mostly-unconscious diamond dogs they’d left tied up in there.

“We shouldn’t have left them,” she muttered.

“We didn’t leave them, we brought them here where we can watch them,” Maud said. “Dash is going to try and get a prisoner transport so we can move them somewhere safer.”

Marble gave her a look, making a sound at the back of her throat somewhere between a growl and a note of disapproval.

“I know. You meant to say we shouldn’t have left them alive.” Maud’s tone was even. She wasn’t even looking at Marble. But Marble could feel the judgment radiating off of her.

“You’re just as stupid and stubborn as Father,” Marble spat, feeling rage welling up from somewhere deep inside. It barely even sounded like her voice, more like somepony else speaking through her. “What if they escape? What if they get out and kill everypony in the house because you wanted to play at having mercy on a pack of mindless monsters?!”

“They won’t. And maybe Father will listen to reason now that the enemy is here.”

“He won’t,” Marble countered.

Maud stopped and looked at her carefully, the way she’d examine a rock, her gaze peeling it back layer by layer, imagining a history of dirt and dark and pressure.

“What happened?” Maud asked. “You changed.”

“You don’t know how bad it can get,” Marble whispered, looking down, her resolve breaking. Monsters were easier to fight than family.

“Let’s go inside,” Maud said, carefully leading her sister away from the barn.

Dash paced, hating the need to stay in one spot for hours at a time, just to make sure the diamond dogs didn’t escape. Half of her missions had the rest of the army right behind them to take care of the boring parts of the war, and the other half of her missions were griffon-style blitzkrieg strikes where they disabled opponents and left them where they fell.

“Rainbow Dash.”

The pegasus jumped, uneven weight and lift turning instinct into folly and throwing her into the barn wall when she tried to get into the air.

Something soft and cloudlike caught her, putting her down easily. It took Dash a long moment of panic to realize it was Marble’s mane, somehow a dozen times longer and moving like it was made of snakes instead of hair.

“What the buck?! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Dash spat, trying not to shiver from the adrenaline flooding her body.

“You should have been paying better attention,” Marble admonished. “If I can sneak up on you there’s no telling what your prisoners have gotten up to.”

“Let me guess, you’re gonna offer to check on them.”

“Maybe I should,” Marble said. Her eyes gleamed in the dark, glowing faintly.

“And when you go in to look, they’ll have gotten loose, and you’ll have to put them down to stop them,” Dash continued. “I’m not a feathering idiot, kid. I know what you’re thinking. You think I don’t get tempted to play for keeps? It’s against orders, and most of the ponies I fight are being mind-bucked by Sombra. If we start killing, it might be me that ends up dead sometime.”

Marble tilted her head. “You’ve put a lot of thought into it.”

“I almost got caught once already.” Dash rubbed her metal wing. “And I lost a lot of friends. Sometimes I think I see them out there, but I’m never sure. Just go back to the house, Marble. I got this.”

“Mmm… I have a better idea. You go for a walk.”

“A walk.”

“Mmm.”

“And when I come back it’ll be all over, right? And it’s not my fault?”

“I’m trying to make it easy for you.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I want you to understand this is the hard way for me,” Marble whispered. “The easy way is that I come back to the house with a story about how they escaped and killed you, and I had to stop them.”

Dash met her eyes. She saw something in them that let her know Marble was very serious. Dash looked down. Marble shoved the door open and stepped inside. When the sound started, Dash covered her ears and tried to block it out.

When morning came, it brought company.

“There are hundreds of them,” Dash said. “I took a quick look over the ridge. We’ve got maybe half an hour before they get here.”

Sometime before dawn, the army had crossed dozens of open miles of land and was at the outskirts of the farm.

“We’ll have to move the prisoners,” Maud said.

“Hmm.” Marble smiled.

Dash couldn’t meet her knowing gaze. “I don’t think the prisoners are an issue. The problem is we can’t run. They’re too close and even if we got to the train station with the civs slowing us down, we can’t get away. Even if a train was waiting for us, they’d be able to wreck the track.”

“If we can’t run, we have to hide or fight,” Pinks said. “And we’re a little too badly outnumbered to fight.”

“They’re only ponies,” Marble said.

“So are we,” Dash reminded her. “Pinks, Maud, I saw a storm cellar. Is it big enough to hold all of us?”

Pinkie nodded.

“It has supplies too,” Maud added. “Mother does a lot of canning.”

“It’s more stone soup, isn’t it?” Dash groaned.

Pinkie shrugged. “I think there are some vegetables too.”

There weren’t any vegetables unless you were willing to count potatoes, of some varietal that closely resembled rocks and were, frustratingly, also mixed with rocks that closely resembled potatoes.

“We shouldn’t have hidden down here,” Marble mumbled, looking at the door leading out and trying to ignore the whispered arguments around her. Rainbow Dash hated being underground. Her mother and father refused to admit anything was wrong. Maud’s dry remarks were getting blunter and blunter and, somehow, at the same time, cutting. Pinkie was trying to keep everypony’s mood up and was just slowly driving them crazy.

“You haven’t taken off that armor since yesterday,” her mother said. “You’ve been acting crazy since you came back and it’s only been getting worse!”

Marble felt the ground shaking subtly under her hooves, the army coming at them, the impossibility that anypony would think the Imperials would somehow miss this tiny shelter.

“Suppose if one day you suddenly gained goddess-like power. How would you use that power?” Marble asked. “Would you become a devil and destroy the world with it? Or would you become a hero and save the world?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Her mother demanded.

“You can’t not use it,” Marble whispered. “If you have power and refuse to use it, you’re responsible for everything that you could have done. That’s even worse than being blamed for what you did.”

“Marble, you’re scaring me. Just sit down and we’ll wait it out. We’ll weather this storm like all the others-”

“Maud, Miss Dash, keep my family safe.” Marble’s horn lit up, and the trapdoor above the storm cellar tore open.

“Wait, where are you going?” Dash asked. “You don’t get it, there’s an entire army--”

“I’ll be back,” Marble said, before slamming the trap door shut behind her, leaving her family in the dark.

The noise didn’t stop for hours. Steel on steel. Screaming.

There was a lot of screaming.

“We should be out there helping her,” Dash mumbled.

“You just don’t want to be indoors,” Maud corrected, quietly.

“I don’t like being cooped up,” Dash admitted. “Remember when I was in the hospital--”

“Which time?” Pinkie asked. “You go to the hospital a lot.”

“No I don’t.”

“Well there was that time when you got hit by lightning. And that time you flew through a brick wall. And that time you lost your wing -- that was really scary. And that time you got angry at a stray cat and tried to kick it but it was a lot tougher than it looked and it bit your ear and wouldn’t let go--”

“For Celestia’s sake, Pinks--” Dash growled. “Shut up! Okay! I get it! But I was talking about the time after I broke both of my back legs!”

“Which time?”

“...The first time.” Dash hesitated. “I really am in the hospital a lot, aren’t I?”

Maud and Pinkie nodded.

“Dang. Anyway, do you remember how crazy I was getting looking for something to do? And then you brought me a cake and Maud brought a rock?”

“It was a nice rock,” Maud muttered. “Which you threw out a window.”

“I threw it through a window,” Dash corrected. “And made my escape.”

“You were heavily sedated and ended up with a concussion when you forgot how to fly,” Maud replied. “It wasn’t much of an escape.”

“The doctors were really impressed with how far I got on instinct. They said I had a great glide ratio.”

There was a heavy slam against the storm door.

Dash motioned for everypony to be silent, pushing the Pies back with her wing. They took what cover was available in the basement, half-hidden behind shelves. Pinkie and Maud formed up behind Dash, rocks in hoof.

The door, barred and locked, tore free.

Marble looked down at her family, blood dripping from her hooves. Very little of it was her own.

“It’s over,” she whispered. “Now get out. You’re leaving.”

“Marble? Are you--” Her mother started.

Marble screamed, a corona of green lightning surrounding her body. The floorboards splintered under her, as if her weight had multiplied.

Her family, wisely, fled the basement before it collapsed in on them. Marble stormed outside, and they followed.

The fields were planted from end to end with the dead. The ground had been trampled and burned and finally beaten into red mud that stank of iron and death.

“Oh Celestia,” her mother gasped.

“Pack up your things and go,” Marble ordered.

“We can’t go!” Limestone protested. “Holder’s Boulder--”

“No one cares about it,” Marble growled, her mane whipping around as though she stood in the center of a storm.

It was amazing how Limestone could ignore the obvious signs of danger despite being literally surrounded by the recently dead.

“It’s important!” Limestone snapped, with the anger that only comes when someone knows they’re wrong and is getting frustrated at themselves and the world and isn’t sure which is to blame.

“Important.” Marble stared at her. “More important than your life.”

Limestone nodded.

Marble’s steel horn blared with acid-green light, and Limestone was dragged from the house. Not levitated, not pulled gently, dragged with claws of magic and light out into the light.

“You,” Marble spat, shoving Limestone across the field. She slid through what used to be an Imperial soldier, getting covered in rust-red mud. “Want to die. For a rock!” She picked her up again and threw her towards Holder’s Boulder, Limestone landing badly and crying out in pain.

“Marble Pie, you will stop this foolishness!” Her father yelled. Marble turned on him slowly.

“That’s what I’m doing,” Marble hissed. “I’m stopping. The foolishness!”

She stomped up next to her sister, her mane twisting around Limestone’s neck and forcing her gaze to Holder’s Boulder.

“Watch,” Marble ordered.

Tears trickled down Limestone’s cheeks as Marble cracked Holder’s Boulder in half, then crushed each half to gravel.

They’d never speak to her again, but at least they’d agreed to leave. Marble had made sure they’d gotten on a train somewhere safe before she’d done the same.

“Ma’am?”

“Mm?” Marble looked up. She’d been staring at her hooves and trying not to think about what she’d done. It required intense concentration, right now, just to force herself not to think of anything at all.

The conductor leaned in to speak quietly. “We’re being told there might be a delay on the line. There’s a security alert in Canterlot.”

“What kind of alert?” Marble asked.

“I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about.”

The sky flared red and orange as it filled with fire.

Marble looked at the conductor.

“We might want to get to cover,” he admitted.

Something large slammed into the ground next to the train car. Marble could see windows and bricks.

“That’s a house,” she noted, dumbly.

The Conductor raised his voice to address the whole car. “Stay in your seats and don’t panic!”

Despite his words, when the other passengers saw part of the city sliding from the mountain towards the train, they spent the last few moments before it hit panicking quite a bit.

Author's Note

"Most ponies would have been smart enough to leave," the griffon said.

"I'm not like most ponies," his guest said. "I came here to learn."

"You won't like what I teach."

"I came here. To learn." Her voice was firm.

The griffon smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'd be a poor host if I turned you away without a conversation and a meal. I just never expected a pony to care about griffon magic. Some of them don't even think we have magic."

The griffon walked back to the other side of his home, stirred the bubbling pot over the woodburning stove. Most of the smoke made its way outside. The rest was a haze that hovered in the air and stained the ceiling black.

"I've met stupid ponies too. I heard you're a scholar, though."

"A scholar, yes. Of the Talon Logic."

The griffon fetched two carved bowls from beside the stove. They were old, stained, and had been made crudely even to begin with. The tool marks matched his claws, if anypony cared enough to look. His guest did, and she noticed, and said nothing.

"Talon Logic is the core of all griffon magic," the old bird said. "Your pony magic is all about friendship and special talents and fitting in. Griffon magic isn't like that."

He ladled soup out into the bowls.

"Talon Logic is about strength. It's about the struggle to exist. You have to be sharp to survive in the world, and the only way to become sharp is to prove it. You have to dominate others by force, to prove you're stronger than they are and to become stronger still in the struggle. Ponies try to deny it by controlling their world and making things live in harmony, but when you go somewhere wild, somewhere natural, you remember the truth of Talon Logic, that the world is eat..."

He put a bowl in front of his guest. There were things in it that a pony would eat. Potatoes. Carrots.

There were other parts, lumps of fat and meat, that he knew a pony would never touch. He'd left them in the bowl anyway.

"Or be eaten," his guest said, finishing his sentence for him.

"Griffons used to hunt ponies. Now we just hunt rabbits."

"You also used to have an empire." The pony stabbed a fork into the bowl, impaling a chunk of meat and pulling it free. "Tell me more about how you get sharper."

She bit into the meat, and the griffon smiled.

The Value of a Miracle Is

“Okay so explain this to me again,” Lightning Dust said. She held up a hoof. “This time without using really long words.”

Doctor Sparkle gave her an annoyed look. “Stop moving around so much. Adjusting this new armor is difficult enough while you’re standing still, much less when you're wiggling like a bored foal.”

“I just wanna know what’s happening so when it explodes and kills me I know what to scream while I’m on fire.” Dust put her hoof down and tried to stay still, wincing as a strap was pulled tight. The new suit was sleeker than her usual armor, but managed to make up for it by being heavier and having a bunch of odd protrusions.

“Do you remember the antimagic field? You were able to use a suit with a battery,” Sparkle said. “It still worked even with your own magic cut off.”

“Right.”

“This suit is a prototype designed with integrated batteries. They’ll recharge from your Engine Heart over time. But when you need it, you’ll be able to activate them and reverse the flow to force mana into your leylines.”

“So what? If we run into another dead magic zone I’ll be able to keep going for a while?”

“It was an anti-magic field, it’s totally different--” Sparkle sighed. “Yes. It would let you keep going.”

“That seems kind of like a limited application.”

“It would be, if it was the only point of the system. By temporarily increasing the density of your thaumatic particle field…” Sparkle stopped, watching Dust’s eyes glaze over. She sighed and tried again. “It will work as a power booster for a limited time.”

“And you got a new suit of armor together already? What, did you have the parts just lying around?”

“I’ve been planning this for some time as an, ah…” Sparkle thought for a moment, then the word came to her. “An incremental upgrade, let’s say. When I had you on the table after your cardiac arrest we adjusted your Engine Heart to handle the flow reversal. Now that the armor is finished we can test the system.”

“Neat. So it won’t work for Sunset? Won’t she be upset?”

“Once we’ve proven the practical application I’ll be happy to work on an upgrade for her as well,” Doctor Sparkle said. “You’re the best test subject, though. Without Earth Pony magic Sunset is too fragile in case something goes wrong, and Marble has stability issues.” Sparkle paused. “With her Engine Heart, among other things.”

“Sure, that’s one way to put it,” Dust snorted. Sunburst lowered a helmet over her head.

“Let’s do some pressurization tests,” Sparkle said. “Better to blow a seal here than at sixty thousand feet.”

“Your Highness, we have the field report you requested.” Ensign Alias had knocked three times before coming in. Almost everypony who had served under Princess Cadance had learned to knock first just in case there was somepony -- usually Shining Armor -- serving under her in the immediate sense.

Thankfully Cadance’s dignity wasn’t at risk with what she was doing now. Well, unless seeing her drinking coffee caused some kind of moral shock among the tea hardliners. She never could resist a pumpkin spice latte, though.

“Thank you, Ensign,” Cadance said, taking the report in her magic.

"It's never a problem, Ma'am. You're a pleasure to serve."

Sunset Shimmer sat across from Cadance, wearing her white armor. Bronze wings fluttered at her side quite naturally, as if she’d always had them. The Ensign smiled at her. Sunset couldn't tell if it was smug or genuine.

“Is there anything else I can get you, Ma'am?" Alias asked. "You haven't had lunch yet."

"Oh, that would be lovely, thank you," Cadance smiled. "Bring something for Sunset as well."

"Of course, Ma'am." The Ensign saluted and left, quietly closing the door behind her.

“What’s in the report?” Sunset asked, after the pony left.

“Celestia started a new counter-offensive,” Cadance said, opening the folder. “I thought you should know.”

Sunset had known already, of course. Doctor Sparkle's sources had gotten their hooves on the plans already. “Is it going well?”

“Sombra is having supply line issues, and they’ve broken through almost all the way to the Empire’s front doorstep.” Cadance smiled. “The war might actually be over soon. I just wish we didn’t have to…”

“She’s making progress because she’s finally started using lethal force on the conscripts,” Sunset said. It wasn’t a guess. She’d seen the papers. “It took her long enough.”

“I don’t know the details, but they say it’s better in the long run.”

Sunset had seen the numbers. EIS projected that using lethal force now would result in less than fifteen percent of the total casualties involved in a longer, drawn-out war. The difference was that it was all at once, and the blood was on Equestrian hooves instead of Sombra’s.

She shrugged. There was no point getting into an argument with Cadance about the methods when she was getting a free lunch just by being pleasant.

“It’ll be good for things to get back to normal,” Sunset said. “Maybe Celestia will be easier to deal with if she’s not so stressed out.”

Cadance smiled. “It’s always worst when two people that care about each other start fighting. Everything is personal and things get blown out of proportion… but I know part of her still loves you.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“I’m serious. I’m the expert, you know. If you want a second opinion you’ll need to dig up another pony that can sense love.”

Ensign Alias knocked on the door, bringing in their lunch.

“Sixty thousand feet,” Sunburst reported. “Altitude holding steady.”

“How does the suit feel?” Doctor Sparkle asked. At this distance, the crystal radio spat and crackled with the amplification needed to push a signal through. She watched Dust on the monitor, the scrying spells showing her as little more than a glowing dot.

“Not bad,” Dust said, her breathing heavy when she spoke. “A little harder to get lift with the air this thin, but I feel like I could go a million miles an hour.”

“Just keep it under control. When you’re comfortable, we’ll activate the booster system.”

"Do we have a name for it yet?"

"Not really. I've just been calling it a battery booster."

“It needs a cooler name than that.”

Sparkle sighed. “You can name it when you get back.”

“Yes! Thank you! That’s the smartest decision you’ve made today.”

“Whatever she comes up with, don’t put it in the official report,” Sparkle noted, whispering to Sunburst. He nodded in agreement.

“The radio is still live,” Dust said. “I can hear you.”

“Activate the battery booster,” Sparkle ordered. “At maximum power you’ll get five minutes. Shut it down immediately if the readings fall outside the safe zone. I'm worried about the heat it might generate. We haven't properly tested all the components.”

“I remember the briefing,” Dust sighed. “I’m a professional.”

“Activating booster,” Sparkle said, pressing a big red button. She watched as the thaumatic readings shot up, like fuel thrown on a fire.

“She’s starting to accelerate,” Sunburst noted.

“Try to keep your pace down, Lightning Dust,” Doctor Sparkle said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dust said.

"How's the heat output?" Sparkle asked.

“It's barely within tolerance. But she's still accelerating,” Sunburst said. “Lightning Dust, you need to slow down and turn around. You’re going to leave radio range.”

“I’m trying to!” Lightning Dust’s voice had an edge of panic. “I can’t stop!”

“Shut down the booster,” Sparkle ordered. Sunburst hit a safety switch. Nothing happened. He hit it again. Sparkle shoved him out of the way and hit it herself just in case her lab assistant couldn't press a button correctly. She didn't have a lot of faith in other ponies.

“I could use some help here, Doc!” Dust screamed.

“She’s almost out of detection range!” Sunburst said. Sparkle glanced up at the display, then pried the control panel off, bypassing the switch and pressing wires together.

“Anything?” she asked.

“The batteries are still dumping! It’s some kind of cascade reaction!” Sunburst’s eyes went wide. “She’s going so fast…”

"Damn!" Sparkle swore. "Can you get through to Sunset? Maybe she can--"

“Doctor!” Dust yelled, her voice dissolving into static as she left radio range. The blip on the sensors shot right off the charts.

Sunburst swallowed as everything went silent. “All readings are dead. She’s… completely left our screens.”

Dust was gone.

"Doctor Sparkle's detection range is far better than the military's," Ensign Alias reported. "I've already alerted the EIS as per your instructions, Ma'am, but they say there's nothing they can do."

"What about the Magus Corps?" Cadance asked. She looked down at the map of the world in the War Room as if she could find Lightning Dust just by squinting.

"No results on scrying spells," Alias said.

"Of course not," Sunset said. "I didn't have any luck trying to track her. If I couldn't do it, the magi are a waste of time."

"Sorry," Cadance said, quietly.

"No, it's..." Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. "You've been a big help, Cadance. If Celestia was here she'd probably have made things more difficult instead of helping us look."

"Ma'am, if I might suggest?" Ensign Alias waited for Cadance to nod before continuing. "If she was anywhere in Equestria, we'd have found her. The whole country is on high alert. We should consider contacting our allies and coordinating efforts with them."

“I don’t care if she’s in a crater in Yakyakistan, the middle of the ocean, or vacationing in Zebrica!” Sparkle yelled, throwing a clipboard at Sunburst. “I want her found!”

“If she lost control at that speed she’s probably…” he trailed off.

“She isn’t dead,” Sparkle said, firmly. “Do you know how hard it is for a pegasus to die when crashing under their own power?”

“I don’t think that applies at several times the speed of sound,” Sunburst replied.

“Regardless,” Sparkle said, adjusting her glasses. “She has an engine heart. She’s probably close to being immortal. Lightning Dust won’t die even if she’s killed.”

“Her real heart stopped twice already, and some of the readings we had before she vanished suggested it might be happening again from the stress.”

“Her real heart stopped twice and started back up without much help from either of us,” Sparkle retorted. “And if she is dead, I want her back to find out how it happened.”

“Ma’am?” Moondancer said, pulling herself out of the bowels of the lab’s sensor system. “I have a snapshot of the last readings before she vanished.” She put down a few tools and sighed, passing over some papers. “I only did some back of the hoof calculations, but with her speed and that trajectory, we might have a bigger concern than finding her in a crater.”

“As long as we can narrow it down to a target zone we can start a search pattern,” Sparkle said. She frowned as she read some of the numbers.

“That might be difficult,” Moondancer said. “According to this, she was hitting orbital velocity. Lightning Dust might still be up there.”

Doctor Sparkle looked at the simple grave. It was identical to the hundreds of others around it, a knee-high white stone standing in formation. It had been a park a few years ago, during the war. Now it was just tombstones, as far as the eye could see.

“How long has it been since you came here?” Asked Night Light.

Doctor Sparkle didn’t look at her father. “This is the first time. He’s not buried here. The grave is just for show.”

“Your brother was always proud of you,” Night Light said, standing next to her. “He requested a transfer off the front lines just so he could keep you and Cadance safe.”

“I miss him,” Sparkle admitted.

“I do too. Your mother wishes you’d come home once in a while.”

“I can’t.”

“Work again?”

“Yes.” Twilight glanced over at him. “I need a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“There was an accident during a test. I need access to the Royal Canterlot Observatory to check some calculations using the equipment there.”

Night Light sighed. “I should have known this would just be about work. You can submit a project proposal like everypony else. If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’ll be going.”

“Wait!” Twilight said. She hesitated. “I… Dad, it’s one of my friends. She’s gone missing.”

“You have friends?” He stopped mid-step to look at her in surprise.

“He told you to do it yourself?” Night Light asked, as they walked through the streets. They were busy, or at least as busy as they got these days. It was almost all children and the elderly. Everypony who could fight had been called to service.

“Kevin told me it was for my own good,” Sparkle said, sourly. "I think he just hates public speaking. He could have easily taken my place at the conference."

Night Light laughed. “Sounds like he’s looking out for you. You need to get out more. Odd name though.”

“He’s foreign,” Twilight said. She stopped, looking across the street. There was an old bookstore there, hardcovers in the windows fading in the sunlight. The mailslot was stuffed full of flyers and junkmail, papers of condemnation taped up behind the glass.

“When did they close?” Twilight asked, quietly.

“A few years ago,” Night Light said. “You used to shop there, didn’t you?”

“Mom used to have to dangle a book in front of me to get me to follow her out,” Twilight said, smiling sadly. “I can’t even remember the last time I read a book just for fun.”

“You’ve been working too hard,” Night Light sighed. “You’re going to burn out. I’m worried about you. Why don’t you take some time off and come home? Invite your friends over, even. It’d be nice to have you there.”

“I…” She nodded. “Once I can rescue Lightning Dust. I promise. I'd love to have dinner at home again.”

The Canterlot Observatory was the largest in the nation, located in Canterlot not just to be close to the center of political power but also so that they could stay updated from Princess Celestia on planned times for astrological events. Unlike on most worlds, in Equestria meteor showers were by appointment only.

Doctor Sparkle frowned as she looked around the dusty halls.

“Shouldn’t there be more ponies here?” she asked.

“Most of the interns either joined the military or found a way to get out of it. I think my lab assistant fled to Zebrica and claimed it was for her thesis research.” He chuckled. “The rest of us are fighting over the last scraps of the grants we’ve still got.”

“Sorry,” Twilight muttered.

“You don’t go into pure science to make money, but it sure does help if you have enough to keep the lights on. Doing math in the dark is really hard!” He shrugged. “Come on. You said you brought some data?”

“We were tracking Lightning Dust with several types of scrying spells. We have readings right until she left our detection range.” She pulled open her saddlebags and started pulling out papers until her father helped, opening up a folder with his magic.

“Are these numbers accurate?” He whistled as he flipped the page. “Honey, I knew you were working on something big but I didn’t think ponies could even go that fast.”

“It was a magical cascade event. At most it could have lasted five minutes from the marked time on the graph.” She pointed with her hoof. Her father almost dropped the folder.

“What happened? You’ve got burns all over--”

Sparkle looked away, feeling an odd urge to hide the scars on her fetlocks and hooves.

“It was… during the attack. The one that killed Shiny.” She couldn’t meet his gaze. She’d burned her hooves killing her own brother when he’d been turned into a slave. Her parents had never known the details. Nopony had. It had all been covered up by better hooves than hers.

“I didn’t know you got hurt,” Night Light said, frowning.

“We hadn’t been talking even before that,” Twilight shrugged. “Please, Dad. One thing at a time.” She tapped the paper.

“Right,” he sighed. “Let’s just run some quick calculations…”

Night Light took her into a lab and started writing on the blackboard there, referencing the papers she had, looking more and more concerned as he got closer to a conclusion.

“You’re serious about this just being a pony? The figures are more like some of the experimental rockets they've been flying over in Germane.” Night Light asked. “You said a five-minute time limit. Fuel?”

“Batteries. It wouldn’t change her weight significantly.”

He crossed out a few numbers on his blackboard. “So we don’t need to worry about further acceleration due to loss of fuel weight. What’s the exhaust velocity?”

“It was pegasus magic. We can only guess based on calculated wingpower, but there are unique circumstances with her thaumatic field. It could be anything up to the speed of light, depending on how you want to assign variables.”

“Well, not that fast.” He held up some papers. “Relativistic exhaust would create some very impressive radiation plumes. No sign of that.”

“So we’ve been able to eliminate the most extreme possibility,” Sparkle snorted. “Dad, this is time-sensitive. Can you tell if her flight path would take her into orbit?”

He sighed and put down his chalk, taking a deep breath. Sparkle felt unsure now. He usually only had that expression when he was about to give bad news.

“If I’m right, no.”

“That’s good!” Sparkle sighed. “Now we just need to figure out where she landed.”

“It’s worse than that,” Night Light said. “With this speed, she was on the way out. This is a hyperbolic trajectory, Twilight. She hit escape velocity and kept going.”

“That can’t be right!” Twilight’s eyes went wide. She ran to the chalkboard and started checking the math.

“There’s one thing we can try to check it,” Night Light said.

“It’s the pride of the observatory!” Night Light yelled, over the sound of the gears. Around him and his daughter, the stars and planets danced around a nearly spherical room fifty paces across, with only a small area clear of mechanisms and forming a walkway to the central console. "Ignore the sound! She needs a little oil! We need to get a fresh batch of grad students in to lubricate everything!"

It was an orrery, the largest in the world, and as accurate of centuries of work could make it. In some ways one could say it was more accurate than reality -- Celestia had on several occasions made minor adjustments to the path of sun and moon to make the sky match the wheels of bronze and silver here. It had started as a desk model and had, with countless unicorns adding to it, become rather larger and more exact over the years.

“I’ve been here before,” Sparkle reminded him.

“Yes, but you’ve never seen it in action,” Night Light smiled. “Right now it’s idling and just showing what we’d see in the sky if the sun was down. But what we can do is run this back to the exact time of the accident and calculate where she is now.”

“How?” Sparkle asked, surprised.

“Same way we track comets -- we’ve got some tracers and automatic elements so all we need to do is provide the numbers and it’ll do the work for us.” He started entering information he’d jotted down into the dial. “Give my compliments to whoever built your tracking spells. Even most professors only bother with a few significant digits.”

“Moondancer,” Doctor Sparkle said. “She’s… invaluable.”

“I remember when I had a lab assistant like that. Not like the ones we get these days. I swear the interns could get amnesia every morning and nothing would change. I ended up marrying her, but I couldn't keep her in the lab!”

Twilight blushed but refused to answer that teasing barb. She got enough from Cadance.

“Okay, here we go--” Night Light pressed a button, and things started to change quickly, delicate mechanisms spinning into action and wheeling things backwards in time. A bright red line appeared near the planet, and it took Twilight a moment and a lot of squinting to make out that no magic was involved - it was actually thread being strung along very fine wire.

“It’s showing us the path she would have taken,” he explained. “Any inaccuracy is going to be mine, not the machine’s. We used this once to calculate the exact landing spot of a small comet. Or at least it would have been the landing spot if it hadn’t exploded in midair.”

Sparkle watched anxiously as it looped part-way around the planet, then kept going into the void.

“No…” she whispered.

The building shook.

“Was that you?” She asked, looking at her father.

“I hope this thing hasn’t thrown a gear. We haven’t had the funding to give it a proper maintenance check in a while…” he looked around, trying to spot a stuck gear.

“Don’t bother,” Sparkle said. “I can hear the sirens. It’s an attack.”

“What’s going on?” Cadance demanded as the whole War Room shook, knocking over the plate of snacks Ensign Alias had brought her while she read over the papers Celestia would normally have taken care of.

“We’ve got an unknown enemy contact!” Yelled Commander Raker, who had one hoof on a crystal radio set and was trying to drag information out of it with volume. “It’s just broken through the old Everfree defense line and it’s coming right towards the castle!”

Cadance flew to the main table, looking at what was being displayed there.

“It blasted through the reserve unit.” General Nickel Plated said. “They barely even had time to warn us. We’ve mobilized everything we have to try and slow it down.”

“I felt the shockwave from the throne room, General. How bad is it?”

Lieutenant Gopher Pile answered for him, paling as he listened to the report from the field. “The eighth and ninth divisions are wiped out! No reply from any of the intercept units from Cloudsdale!”

“Declare a red alert,” Cadance said. “Raise the city shields and get every weapon we have firing at the target. Somepony try and get word to Celestia!”

“We can’t, ma’am! Long-range communications are cut off!”

“Get a courier dispatched before the city shields come up, then somepony get me Twilight Sparkle! If anypony knows how to kill a monster it’s her!”

“We need to get to a shelter,” Night Light said. “There’s one not far from here--”

“I’m not leaving until this sequence is complete,” Sparkle said, watching the red line. “I need to know where she ended up!”

“She wouldn’t want you to die trying to find her, honey,” Night Light said, softly.

“I owe her,” Sparkle said, firmly.

It took a dozen unicorns to match Shining Armor’s ability to project a shield around the city, They stood in a ritual circle, powering the huge bubble around the capital.

“Get more blessed oil onto those circles!” The crew chief yelled. “Move the mirrors into place! Facing north, damn you! Use the bucking compass, don't eyeball it!”

“Rough day?” Starlight asked.

“Bunch of bucking foals,” the chief muttered. “All the good ponies in the guard are a thousand miles away in the bucking north. All we’ve got are the reserves. Half of them shouldn't even be in the Magus Corps. They're bucking children.”

The castle shook, and half of the ritual casters collapsed, horns smoking.

“Get the backups into place!” the chief yelled. He bit his lip and continued more quietly. “That much feedback… this thing is more powerful than anything we were prepared for. I don’t know how long we can keep the city safe. If Captain Armor was here we might be able to hold out for a little longer, but...”

“You can’t win just by defending,” Starlight said. “Get somepony to help me with the suit.”

“Come on!” Night Light grabbed his daughter as the observatory shook again.

“Oh my stars,” Sparkle whispered, looking back at where the red line had ended, the thread pointing right at the surface of the moon.

Bronze gears rained down as the dome cracked open, the centuries-old mechanism exploding in a shower of springs and sparks.

“What is that thing?” Night Light gasped, looking through the open dome at the huge creature flying above Canterlot. It had to be almost a full-grown dragon, its body wrapped in layers of black crystal.

“It’s a Linnorm,” Doctor Sparkle said, just before the sky erupted with fire.

Author's Note

My greatest foes have always been the ponies closest to me.

Is it bad luck? Poor judge of character? What failing on my part turns my family and friends against me time and again?

Now I find myself with a dangerous question - do I allow this little game with Twilight Sparkle to continue? It's a danger to everything I've built, in more ways than one.

She's combined ancient magic with the latest discoveries and she has either invented techniques with the aptitude of a true genius or she has access to information that I've kept suppressed for centuries. The truth is, I'm not smart enough to know which it is.

Sparkle claims to be on the path to turning ponies into alicorns. She hasn't managed it yet. The signs would be obvious if she had - there have certainly been odd magical events, but nothing so grand as a rift to the Ascendant Plane. I know she's closer to success than she's told me.

I could stop her now. Perhaps I should. How close is she to that final gateway? Years? Months? Maybe it's just a matter of flipping the right switch and the fabric of reality will rend apart even as I pen this.

What she has created, those half-immortal soldiers, they might turn the tide of the war. It's flirting with disaster to even allow them to exist. I tell myself it's worth the risk. if I allow her to continue perhaps it won't end in the disaster I fear. Perhaps she'll help end the war before more ponies die.

I should never have let it get this far. I was focused on Sombra. The mystery of what happened to my sister. Other old enemies being too quiet for too long. Sparkle felt like a distraction. Something I could deal with at any time. I thought - even now, part of me still thinks - she could be an asset, like a dog to keep the wolves at bay from the herd.

Instead, I think she may be a wolf herself. She offered me the leash herself but I wonder if the other end is tied to anything or if it is simply the illusion of control.

I'll watch her. I'll watch the ponies she's gathered into her orbit. I'll find the ones helping her from the shadows. If she's going down the wrong path, if she becomes more of a threat to my ponies than the war raging around us, I will shut her down.

Princess Celestia, personal journal

Tumbling Down

“The battle magi are reporting direct hits!” The coordinator projected an illusion over the planning table, displaying a simplified map of the city with geometric shapes spinning in place as points of interest. One huge red triangle loomed overhead, and Cadance didn't need to be told what that was. “No effect on the target!”

"How can they have no effect?" Lieutenant Raker muttered, half-wearing a set of headphones and listening to the radio.

“All we have left are the damn recruits from the Princess' school. Get somepony down there to whip them into shape!” General Nickel Plated ordered. “Even if they’re not hurting it, they might distract it. We need to get the civilians time to get to shelter.”

“Any word from Doctor Sparkle?” Cadance asked.

“When I got through to the lab she wasn't in. According to her assistant, she’s in the city. She suggests checking the observatory,” replied Lt. Raker. "I don't know if we'll get through again. That monster is throwing out a ton of interference."

“Her father works there,” Cadance muttered. “Get a unit over there to secure her. Can her assistant give us anything?”

“She said they can get one agent ready for combat.”

“That’s better than nothing. Ensign Alias!"

"Ma'am!" The pale unicorn saluted Cadance.

"Is Sunset Shimmer still in the castle?"

“We have guards on her, Ma’am. Should we take her into custody?”

“Take her to the battle magi to assist with their efforts,” Cadance said. “She’s better at pyrokinesis than anypony else alive. Maybe she can do something.”

The Linnorm opened its maw, and fire poured onto the city shield, dirty and thick. The focus tightened, the sputtering greasy flame turning into a lance of plasma, and the raspberry field of magic collapsed like a soap bubble, the Linnorm’s breath slashing into the city like a swift and terrible sword, clipping the observatory before swinging down into the lower city.

Ancient foundations melted like butter, and thousands screamed as parts of Canterlot started tumbling down to the valley below.

“We lost everything west of Diamond Street!” Lieutenant Raker yelled.

“Get radio contact back with them!” General Nickel ordered.

“No, I mean… we lost it. The city is starting to lose structural integrity!”

“We need a miracle,” Cadance whispered.

“Activate interlock.” Starlight said, going through the armor checklist in her head. She sealed the leyline guide wires.

“Dynatherms connected.” Reported one of the assistants, screwing conduits into place. A few quick taps on the peytral confirmed the armor’s internal systems were feeding from the Orichalcum heart beating in her chest.

“Infracells up!” Yelled the crew chief, magical energy pouring into the armor to jump-start the systems.

“Megathrusters are go!” Golden wings of magical force extended from Starlight’s sides. “Let’s do this!”

“Wake up!”

Twilight groaned. Somepony was shaking her. Her whole body was sore. It was a struggle just to open her eyes. When she did, her father was looking at her, blood dripping from a cut above his eyebrow.

“Can you walk?” he asked. “We need to get to the shelter.”

“What happened?” she asked, getting to her hooves with his help.

“The ceiling came down. I got us away from the fire but we need to make it a few more blocks.”

Everything was coming back now. Doctor Sparkle steadied herself and took control. “Right. And I need a radio. I have to get in contact with my lab. They couldn’t have missed this disaster. Even without Lightning Dust, Sunset Shimmer should be able to--”

“Sunset Shimmer?” Night Light looked shocked.

“I’ll explain later,” Doctor Sparkle said. “Which way is the civilian shelter?”

Night Light led her outside, and into hell. The city was collapsing, buildings centuries old folding in on themselves as the foundations under them crumbled. Ponies were running in panic, stampeding away from danger.

“The shelter is--” Night Light looked down the street, and at the sheer cliff that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago, the stone burning red and molten at the edges, smoke and screams pouring from along the edge. He bit his lip.

“What’s wrong?” Sparkle asked.

“This way,” Night Light said, pulling her another direction, stumbling as another shockwave from above hit them like a fist. “We might be able to get to the small one under the post office.”

A golden light flashed across the sky, hitting the crystalline dragon with a sound like a ringing bell.

“Princess Celestia?” Night Light asked, looking up.

“No,” Sparkle said, narrowing her eyes. “Somepony else.”

“This really does feel good. I can see why Doctor Sparkle has everypony so worked up,” Starlight said, flexing the magical constructs that served as wings. She could feel them like they were a part of her body, but unlike mere flesh and blood, they were limited only by her imagination.

Ahead of her, the Linnorm emerged from the smoke, dark crystal gleaming. From this distance, she could see the tell-tale light of a magical barrier.

“No wonder the EUP was totally useless,” she scoffed. “Now it's up to me or Canterlot is toast!”

She launched a magical bolt at it, the spell rebounding from the barrier, making the shield visible for a moment as a distortion in the air, the monster not even blinking.

“Come on, at least pay attention!” Starlight scoffed. She flipped in the air, vertigo and excitement warring to outdo each other. Feathers peeled from her wings of light, folding over themselves into simple geometric shapes. “Try this on for size!”

The shapes shot away in all directions, surrounding the Linnorm before firing their own energy bolts, expending the energy inside them in a rapid-fire blitz, popping like soap bubbles and reappearing on the planes of light that served Starlight as wings.

Every single one impacted a plane of hardened magic.

“That’s one heck of a strong ward,” Starlight muttered. “I’m never going to get anywhere like this.”

Princess Celestia and Doctor Sparkle had one thing in common -- neither believed that overkill was anything but a word. When they were designing and equipping their chosen champions, they had spared no expense. The difference here was that while Doctor Sparkle had a few more months to prepare things, Princess Celestia had effectively unlimited resources and more than a thousand years of experience.

Starlight held out her hoof, and the feathers that had turned into mobile weapons fell into place like panes of stained glass.
Rather than spend effort forging a dozen weapons for Starlight, Celestia had made a weapon that would take a dozen shapes.

She charged with speed impossible for a mortal pony, and drove the blade of hardened sunlight, slamming into the magical shields with a sound like a silver bell the size of a city ringing, the sound alone enough to kill a normal pony too close to its source.

Canterlot shook to its foundations, and the monster fell, Starlight pressing along with it, driving it into the side of the mountain, the rock shattering.

“Hah! That’s--” Starlight’s expression fell. The point of her blade skittered along the monster’s magical shield, the point boiling and roiling with energy inches away from its armored flesh.

“What in Tartarus-- how tough did they make you?!” She snarled. “Let’s try it at point-blank range, you motherbucker!”

The sword shone with the light of its own unmaking, the stored magical energy discharging all at once in a torrent of magical bolts focused on a single point. The shield shattered, and the bolts impacted on the crystal armor, shearing off a thin layer of adamant plating before dissipating.

Enraged, the Linnorm opened its maw, and Starlight had just barely enough time to bring her wings in front of her as a shield before it breathed out, fire focusing into a lance of plasma and launching her backwards into the ruined city.

“I should have known Celestia’s work would be first-rate,” Sunset said, watching the distant golden mote get completely bodied and end up disappearing into a smoking crater. “Too bad she wasted it on an idiot.”

The castle battlements were more ceremonial than practical. Fortress design had been perfected by minotaurs and then immediately rendered obsolete the moment they faced an enemy that could fly over walls and teleport past moats. In the modern era the most important factors for defense were clear sight lines and integrated magical warding.

The castle's highest tower had been retrofitted into something like the spell battery of a combat airship, with silver circles hammered into the floor to reduce interference between closely-packed spellcasters and only the barest suggestion of walls, one-way magical barriers running from floor to ceiling instead of stone or glass to provide the widest possible firing arcs for the casters.

Not that Sunset had much hope for them.

She turned to the ranks of pyromancers. Or at least volunteers. Half of them were students from the school instead of real trained battlemages. Either Celestia had taken the best and brightest with her when she left or else standards had really fallen since the last time she’d been in Equestria.

"Okay, so I'm supposed to give you a motivational speech or something," Sunset said. "That's not something I'm good at. Frankly, none of you are doing any good casting fireballs. What I saw on the way up was a pretty poor effort."

The assembled mages started muttering, half angry at her and the other half starting to panic.

"So here's the plan. You can't hurt it, but you can probably annoy it. I want you to cast smokescreens, large illusion effects, flashing lights, whatever you've got that will keep it from being able to pick a target in the city."

The crowd didn't look excited. Sunset scowled.

"If you're not going to cooperate, leave!" She snapped. "If you're not useless, get to your circles and start casting! I want enough cover that it's not going to see my barrage incoming!"

Sunset stormed over to the edge of the tower, bracing her hooves and spreading metal wings, green sparks arcing from the feathers.

Starlight gasped and sputtered as what had to be ten gallons of the coldest water in the world splashed across her face, snapping her to full wakefulness. What she saw made her wish she hadn’t woken up in the first place.

“Hey Doctor Sparkle,” Starlight said, weakly. “I don’t think we’ve actually been formally introduced. My name is--”

“It doesn’t matter what your name is,” Sparkle said. She threw the bucket she was holding aside. “Get up.”

Starlight groaned and wiggled, then looked down at her body. She’d managed to come down right through a wall and the bricks had helpfully tried to bury her and got all the way up to her neck. It would have been polite if she’d actually been dead. She focused her will and levitated the mass off of herself without disturbing it too much, lifting it as a single unit while she slipped out to avoid causing more of the building to come down around her.

“Hmph. She criticizes my work and then copies it anyway,” Sparkle noted, looking over Starlight’s armor. “And gold? How pointlessly gaudy.”

“Well, it’s supposed to be some kind of anti-spell coating…” Starlight looked at her chest, where the blast from the creature had worn the gold down to the bare metal. “And I guess that it works since I don’t have a big hole through me.”

“Bah.” Sparkle huffed. She hadn’t thought of a coating like that. Maybe she could adapt something from the anti-magic field generator they’d found...

“Stand back,” Starlight said. “Thanks for the wake-up call but I have to get back to work. If I don’t kill at least one monster today I won’t get a Hearth’s Warming bonus this year.” She tried to spread her wings, and the left one came out fine, planes of light and magic appearing and flapping. A shower of sparks was all that emerged from her right side.

“It’s overloaded,” Sparkle said, narrowing her eyes. “If I had some tools I might be able to repair the leylines.”

“What kind of tools? Like a hammer?” Starlight asked.

“Mm. I’d need a thaumometer and a gemstone rectifier.”

“Going to have to wait until I can get it back into the shop then,” Starlight said.

The sky overhead erupted in flames.

“Twilight, we need to get to the shelter!” Night Light yelled.

“Go on ahead,” Doctor Sparkle said. “That looked like one of Sunset Shimmer's spells. If she has a radio--”

Sparkle didn’t get to expand on her plans. The Linnorm above shook off the barrage of pyromancy spells and spotted Starlight, her magic output shining like a beacon in the wreckage. The fact she was painted shiny gold chrome only helped.
With a terrifying roar, it breathed again, the beam of energy slicing across the street, the monster correcting its aim and bringing the death ray to bear on Starlight.

Starlight saw it in time, the shards of her remaining wing flying ahead and up, becoming the focal points of a warding shield as she tried to protect Doctor Sparkle and Night Light from the blast. And herself, of course. She wasn’t totally selfless.

“Run!” Starlight screamed. It was too late. The initial sweep had done some kind of structural damage, and the street tilted, crumbling as gravity took hold. Sparkle saw the beam sweep through her father as he reached for her, and he vanished into blinding light.

Sunset shielded her eyes against the sudden glare of the plasma beam. The energy swept across the city and cut through the illusion spells the students were casting, disrupting them with enough backlash some of the unicorns around her were thrown back by the resonance.

"What's it doing?" she muttered. The beam swept apparently at random, touching one spell, then another, ignoring some of the simpler ones even when they were a bigger, brighter target.

Sunset threw a fireball at the monster and it cut the evocation out of the air.

"It's targeting magical energy!" She gasped. "Just like the Linnorm that was attacking from extreme range!"

Sunset spun on the students and volunteers.

"Everypony evacuate! Scatter! It's targeting magical emissions!"

The air turned hot, and the castle warding collapsed around her. Sunset reflexively cast a shield, trying to make it as wide as possible to shield the foals.

"Get moving!" She roared. Just beyond the reach of her shield, the stone was growing soft and glowing red. Sunset launched magical flares straight up, trying to get some of the terrible pressure off her defenses. "I'll buy you as much time as I can!"

“Where’s that Sparkle when you need her,” huffed General Nickel. “Her brother was ten times the pony she is. If he was still here, the shield would never have fallen. We could have waited this out until we could get word to Princess Celestia!”

“The Linnorm is changing course,” Lieutenant Pile reported. “It’s coming here!”

“Here?!” Cadance gasped. “Evacuate the castle! Get everypony to the shelters!”

The floor shook, and cracks formed on the walls.

“Move!” Cadance screamed. Ponies fled as the wall crumbled, rubble flying in as the monster smashed its way into the most secure room in Equestria. Cadance couldn’t move. She couldn’t cast a spell. She froze, and the monster opened its mouth, a baleful glow forming in the back of its throat.

A white shape slammed into the black crystal armor, the maw snapping shut hard enough to crack around the edges, light flaring as it contained its own blast of energy.

“Celestia?” Cadance asked. Then she got a better look at who it was. The white was armor. The wings were bronze. “Sunset?!”

“Your pyromancers were useless!” Sunset yelled. “I’m gonna have to take care of this myself!”

Sparkle started to wake up, and part of her mind forced her to remember about the correlation between repeated concussions and permanent brain damage. She’d have to make sure she took care of that once she became immortal. She put it on a checklist in her mind that vanished as soon as it appeared, her thoughts having trouble keeping any shape at all in her confused state.

“How the mighty have fallen,” purred a pleased voice from not very far away, but at least further than the confines of her own head.

Sparkle opened her eyes, as much as she could, and saw Marble Pie standing over her, her pupils slits in a sinister gaze.

Sunset had one advantage, and only one. She knew the castle. She’d been raised there.

The two smashed through the far wall, Sunset riding the dragon like a surfer on a wave, balancing herself with her wings as they plunged down a set of stairs, rubble and dust turning the air opaque around them.

Royal guards fled before the tide of destruction, but even the monster’s own attack wasn’t going to keep it stunned for long.

Sunset formed her Star Saber and slashed across the monster’s chest, the blade of pure will tearing at the dark crystal armor. Stunned, its wardings were down, the armor breaking like countless layers of glass. A second slash formed an X, and Sunset could see into the creature now, to the crystal core nestled in the bones of the dragon Sombra had killed in the egg to become his monster.

She raised the blade in her left hoof, and a beam of ultraviolet magic tore her limb free at the elbow, the Star Saber spiraling away, still attached to the hoof, sputtering and dying as it vanished among the debris.

Sunset screamed.

Doctor Sparkle recoiled in fear from Marble, and then a more mature terror took over from her primal fear. “Dad? Where’s my--”

She remembered him, vanishing in the light.

“Gone,” Marble said, her voice as cold as stone. “You nearly died too. When I said you’d fallen I meant it quite literally.” She looked up, and Sparkle followed her gaze.

They were in the valley below Canterlot. It was a fall longer and harder than from a skyscraper. Above them, the city burned.

“I saved you, of course,” Marble said. “There wasn’t anything I could do for your father.”

“...” Doctor Sparkle felt her chest tighten. “We need to get back. The destructive power of this Linnorm is beyond anything we could have imagined.”

“There’s no need,” Marble said, smiling. “Sunset has everything… well in hoof. More or less.”

An ancient stained glass window shattered as Sunset Shimmer and the Linnorm fell out of it. It had once depicted some grand battle between light and dark, but Celestia had never bothered explaining the details. She never explained anything. Not until it was too late to matter and you were being punished for something you never had a chance to understand.

Sunset grabbed the monster’s head with her magic and slammed it into the castle wall as they fell, the creature’s own weight scraping the armor away from the left side of its face in a shower of sparks and broken crystal as they fell, landing in what had been a sculpture garden.

The pain came now. Horrible and sickening, the shock making her knees - only three of them now - wobble as she tried to keep herself steady. If she hadn’t had so much practice as a biped and developed the instincts she needed, she’d already have fallen.

“Don’t-- don’t have time to bleed,” Sunset gasped, closing her eyes and centering herself, trying to block out the agony. When she opened them again the world swam, turning black around the edges. She limped towards the fallen monster, getting onto its chest. The core pulsed with magic.

Sunset tried to form another Star Saber, her focus wavering as much as her vision. It took precious seconds to form a blade as long as her hoof.

Seconds that the Linnorm had to recover.

The monster tried to grab her, talons as long and sharp as scimtars closing on Sunset. If she’d been in better shape, with a little less blood loss and shock, she would have laughed at the clumsy attack.

She tried to get out of the way, and a swipe caught her across the face, ripping through her helmet. The vision on her right side went black. A talon tore into her side, and she went flying, smashing into a fountain, her blood mixing with the cold water.

“Move!” Cadance yelled, shoving the guards ahead of her. Her hooves splashed as she pushed past the soldiers, freezing water running like a river past the broken cobblestones and leaking into the cracked ground.

“The noncombatants are evacuating the other way, Ma’am,” advised one of the guards. “I strongly suggest you go with them. We’ll try to hold the creature off.”

“I can fight,” Cadance said. “Celestia taught me that you have to be willing to lead, not manage.” She spread her wings and flapped, blowing away some of the dust and smoke. The hedgerows were on fire, trees and topiary centuries-old turning into ashes as she watched. That wasn’t nearly as terrible as what was in the fountain.

Propped up like she was sitting against the cracked marble, Sunset was bleeding out into the water, the ice-cold water under Cadance’s hooves now matching the chill in her veins.

“We need to get her out of there!” Cadance gasped. A soldier grabbed her before she could run out into the open, a shadow falling over them as the Linnorm stood, armor cracked and broken but otherwise whole.

Behind it, the sky turned red.

The water turned red.

The sun turned red.

Cadance looked straight up, at the sun. Crimson crept over its surface, vermillion replacing half of the yellow until it looked familiar. Too familiar. Just like--

Sunset’s eye opened, burning from within with the same light. The linnorm turned to face her, feeling the same terrible pressure that pushed on Cadance’s horn, the feeling of her own magic being shoved out of the way by something too big for the world to contain it properly.

Shaking, clearly moving purely on willpower instead of some reserve of strength, Sunset forced herself up, the water boiling around her remaining hooves. The magic around her horn burned with the red of hot iron.

“I won’t lose,” Sunset gasped. “I won’t lose!” The aura around her horn redoubled, a corona of energy forming around her metallic wings as well.

The linnorm breathed, the bar of light and death blasting at Sunset from point-blank range. The stone under its path cracked and melted, water turning into steam and then vanishing, the air cracking with the heat of its passage.

Sunset stood in the torrent, head lowered, and took a step forward, pushing against it like she was just walking against a stiff wind.

She flapped her glowing wings, and the force of the wind caught the linnorm, the beam faltering as the beast pitched back into the castle, bodily hitting a tower and sending it crashing down like a felled tree.

“By the stars, how can she have that kind of power?” One of the guards whispered, as Sunset limped towards it, untouched by the tainted dragon’s breath.

Light boiled from the stump where Sunset had lost her left foreleg, the blood evaporating. A limb of pure, crimson magic touched the ground with her next step, her limp evening out.

The linnorm tried to stand, shaking, something broken inside it. The air shimmered as it erected wardings, trying to protect itself.

Sunset’s horn flashed, and a pencil-thin beam of balefire slashed through the air, ripping through the magical shields and cutting them like they were physical things, tearing at the linnorm’s chest and exposing its magical core.

“She can do it!” Cadance gasped. “She’s going to beat it!”

“But then what’s she going to do to us?” asked one of the soldiers.

“I believe in you!” Cadance yelled.

Sunset stepped over the ailing beast, the thing twitching like broken clockwork. It tried to raise a claw, and the limb was bent back with a twist of magical force, the crystal armor outside shattering at the same time as the bones within.

The core, exposed, was halfway between a tumor and an inverted geode. Pulses of violet light flashed through it like a heartbeat, one that sped up as Sunset tore it free, trailing veins still attached.

Sunset’s magic pressed at it from all directions, and it crumpled, magic flooding out of it in a surge of dark light.

A pinpoint of light appeared above Sunset, glowing with every color of the rainbow at once, expanding slowly into a ring.

“That light,” Twilight said, watching the display from afar. “That’s it! That’s the light of the Astral Plane! We’ve done it!”

“Done what?” Marble asked. “Ruined most of the city?”

“This is what I wanted to see all along! She’s going to ascend! The Unity is enough to push them to the next level. The plan is almost complete.”

“You must be joking. The old mare won’t take this lying down.”

“It’s the birth of a divine life form. Just like when Cadance ascended. Weaving together heavens and earth, casting aside mortality to become a being of magical energy. This is only the beginning.”

“That light…” Cadance said, quietly. “Oh, Sunset…”

“It’s like the end of the world,” the soldier at her side said.

Sunset rose up, glowing from within, the joints of her armor shining. The ring of light above her kept expanding, and somehow there was more space within it than outside, a place of gently glowing mist and stars.

Cadance had seen it before. Just once. Just for a few moments, or maybe they’d been years, or both at the same time.

A star descended from above.

The vision of the other side vanished, shattered like a breaking mirror as something broke through it from above, piercing Sunset and sending her back down to the earth. The crimson glow sputtered out, and she lay as still as a pinned butterfly, impaled on a slender length of gold.

“It appears I arrived just in time,” Princess Celestia said, as she touched down lightly.

Moondancer walked in just as the nurse rushed out, chased by a thrown steel tray and lurid cursing.

“I don’t think I know what half those words even mean,” Moondancer said, as she looked over Doctor Sparkle. The mare had bandages around most of her body, looking more like a mummy than a scientist.

“What they mean is that I don’t need to be sedated,” Sparkle growled. “Trying to slip me Thorazine and telling me it’s to help me heal!”

“Bed rest might not be a terrible idea,” Moondancer countered, gently. “You’ve had a rough day.”

“I can rest when I’m dead!” Doctor Sparkle spat. “How’s Sunset?”

“I haven’t checked on her yet. She’s still in surgery--”

“In surgery?” Sparkle frowned. “For what?”

Sparkle kicked in the door to find a ring of doctors surrounding Sunset, all of them in scrubs and looking both surprised and befuddled.

“What in Tartarus is this?” Sparkle demanded. “Get away from her!”

“Who are you?” the head surgeon stepped between Sparkle and Sunset. “This is an active operating theatre! You can’t just barge in here! This patient is in a delicate state!”

“You aren’t qualified to operate,” Doctor Sparkle said. “You don’t even know what she is!”

“I know exactly what she is,” the surgeon said, pushing her back. “She’s a unicorn who has had multiple experimental and unethical surgeries, is suffering from wounds that should have killed her three times over, and has the worst case of thaumatic contamination I’ve ever seen!”

“Unethical?!” Sparkle reared up and was about to slap the stupid out of his mouth when Moondancer pulled her to the side.

“Don’t,” Moondancer said. “There are bigger issues.”

“Bigger than letting these idiots poke around inside Sunset?” Sparkle demanded. “I need to see her with my own eyes!”

“Twilight,” Kevin said, walking into the room with a stack of paperwork. “Calm down. I swear I can taste the frustration on you from halfway down the hallway. I’m having her transferred to the lab.”

“Right,” Sparkle sighed. “Thank you, Kevin. I should have known somepony sane would be handling this mess.”

“Speaking of which, the transfer is immediate and all of you are going to need to back away,” Kevin noted. “I’m not sure what the right term is. Close her up? Put down your tools? I’ve never had to try and order a doctor around.”

“And you never will,” Sparkle snorted.

“Untrue,” Kevin said. “A certain member of royalty has rather pointedly told me to tell you that you need to get some sleep before you get sloppy. She's already in the city and taking care of things.”

“She can’t--” Sparkle started.

“Please, Doctor Sparkle,” Moondancer sighed. “We’re worried about you.”

“Does she know how close I am to finishing the work?” Sparkle hissed.

“It can wait,” Kevin said. “There was interference at the end. Sunset needs help, and you need to be in shape to help her.”

“How can she need help?” Sparkle asked. She glared at Kevin and bullied her way to the surgical table. She froze when she saw Sunset. “Oh my stars…”

“She’ll live,” the surgeon said. “I don’t know how. She should be dead already. The cranial wound alone should be fatal. Severe skull fracture extending all the way from the base of the horn to the eye socket and back across the parietal bone and occiptal, along with the damage to the eye and face. Her forehoof is gone, and the thaumatic contamination at the edge is going to totally prevent any attempt at reconstructive surgery even if we had the limb here and on ice. Then there are the two wounds to the torso, one here to the right side of the chest, and a puncture wound here--”

“It just barely missed her heart,” Doctor Sparkle muttered. “If it had hit dead-on her magic would fail and her biology would realize that it shouldn’t still be working.”

She stepped away, her manic excitement falling away.

“What happened?” Sparkle asked, quietly, looking at Kevin.

“That’s the first thing you ask?” Starlight groaned, as she struggled free of the damaged and twisted armor. Celestia bent some of the metal away, helping her escape. Starlight didn't even notice the healing spells the Princess wove around her, mending aches and scratches the armor hadn't protected against.

“I can be more specific,” Princess Celestia offered. “I can ask what happened to my city, or what happened to you, or what happened that almost caused the end of the world, but I left it open so you could tell me at your own pace.”

“The linnorm was way stronger than we expected,” Starlight admitted. “It really kicked my flank out there. If Sombra has another one of those in his back pocket, I don’t think we’ve got it in us to stop it.”

“You weren’t able to handle it?”

“I’m not a miracle worker,” Starlight huffed. “What was that light show at the end?”

“Another threat to Equestria,” Celestia said. “I arrived barely in time to stop it. I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been if I hadn’t gotten here as soon as possible.”

“As soon as possible from the time you heard about the linnorm, or about--”

Celestia gave her a look.

“Right, I’m not getting a straight answer to that one.” Starlight sighed. “Did you find Sombra?”

“No. We were able to get a strike team into the palace itself and… his throne is vacant. He hasn’t been ruling from the Empire. We’re trying to find him, but the war might be moving to a new phase.” Celestia sighed. “As long as he lives, he can command the crystal slave soldiers. They’re going to ground. This might turn into a protracted guerilla war if we can’t find him soon.”

“I should have known you’d still be awake,” Moondancer sighed. Sparkle looked up from what she was doing, drawing rough diagrams on scrap paper in her office, the only light a single dim lamp.

“I was working out some ideas on how to help Sunset,” Sparkle said. “The enchantments are relatively straightforward for prostethic limbs, and we can get some of the baseline work done before she even wakes up--”

“If she ever does,” Moondancer said, gently. “We don’t know if she’ll come out of that coma.”

“She’ll be up and about soon enough,” Sparkle said, firmly. “I can feel it. And once she is, I need to know what she saw. What she felt. She touched the astral plane, Moondancer! We’ve only got inches to go before--”

“You need rest,” Moondancer said, trotting around the desk and helping Sparkle out of her chair. “I heard about your father.”

“...It was instant,” Sparkle said. “I saw it myself. He didn’t suffer.”

“That doesn’t make it easy,” Moondancer whispered. “You’re just pushing yourself and working to distract yourself.” Half of the designs she’d seen on the paper didn’t even make sense. Claws like a minotaur, a drill instead of a hoof, bizarre shapes and ideas that a sane mare wouldn’t even consider.

“I…” Sparkle swallowed. “I didn’t think it could hurt more, Moondancer. When Shining Armor--” Sparkle stumbled over her words, suppressing a sob. “You don’t know how hard it’s been. I need to keep going forward.”

“It’s your father, Twilight.” Moondancer started leading her towards the couch in the office.

“He said he was proud of me,” Sparkle muttered. “He never-- I never told him the truth about what happened with Shiny.” She stopped and almost collapsed. Moondancer helped her up and onto the couch.

“It’s not your fault,” Moondancer said, quietly.

“It is!” Sparkle sobbed, suddenly tearing up. “If I hadn’t asked him to meet me, if I hadn’t had Shiny guarding me--”

“You didn’t know what would happen.” Moondancer hugged her, and Sparkle sobbed into her shoulder.

“Please, just… stay tonight,” Sparkle said, her voice trembling and vulnerable. “I don’t want to be alone anymore…”

Author's Note

Once upon a time, two sisters lived together in a garden.

They labored, because they had to labor. They were given every comfort for their work, though in truth even those comforts were merely symbolic, offerings to beings that didn't truly need them.

In the morning, the elder sister raised the sun and sent the light of growth and life across the land for her subjects to enjoy.

In the evening, the younger sister raised the moon and in its gentle night, ushered her subjects to rest under her safe watch.

The day was brighter then, and the night was full of monsters. Fairies buzzed between the flowers, and great beasts nested in the shadows where the sun couldn't find them. It was the world all the storybooks and fantasies took place in, a world full of places still to be explored.

And in time, the younger sister became vexed.

"Isn't it wonderful?" the elder asked. "We are adored and the world is at peace."

The world is at peace because we work to make it so, I said. I watched them place laurels at her hooves. None were placed at mine. It was not my time. I guarded by night, and it was the middle of the day. We had our assigned domains and always would.

"Just because it has to be maintained doesn't mean it isn't real," the elder said. "They're worth it."

I thought about what I saw in the places she couldn't touch. The monsters she didn't know existed. Some of them were in the crowd praising her, horrible in ways she couldn't understand because she could only see the surface.

Are they? I asked, looking at the offerings at her hooves, and the empty space in front of mine.

Fourth Gear

Dust covered the moon, in a number of senses. There was the literal dust, dark and scratchy and somehow managing to infiltrate her armor and irritate her where it rubbed against her coat. Behind her, Lightning Dust’s hoofprints stretched to the horizon, covering it in another sense, though the airless surface and strange light made it hard to tell how far that was.

Really, she was just glad she’d woken up in a crater instead of spread out as a fine pate all over the rocks.
Dust looked up at the world she’d come from. From here she couldn't see the war. No borders between the Empire and Equestria. It all just blurred together, one tiny world that had everypony that she'd ever known or loved or heard about. Looking down on it, it seemed so fragile.

“This is total horseapples,” she muttered. Not that anypony could hear her even if she'd screamed.

“So I suppose this is the Royalty’s way of sending me help in my time of need, slipping me a folder and a stallion without even being asked,” Doctor Sparkle said, looking over the file. It didn’t take her long. It wouldn’t have taken anypony long to read blank sheets and unfilled forms stuffed into a folder.

“Veil Vestige,” Moondancer said, glancing at her own copy. “Apparently high aptitude and magical strength, no loyalty issues. No military record. No police record. No intelligence reports mention him. All we have is a birth certificate, a medical examination that shows no problems aside from the one obvious issue, and a letter of recommendation.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad sign,” Sparkle admitted. “We do need the help. It’s been three days and Sunset hasn’t come out of her coma yet.”

“If she ever will. The cranial trauma alone…”

“She’ll wake up,” Sparkle assured her. “I know it in my bones. Until then, though, we could use some help. Send him in. I want to at least speak with the stallion, no matter what the Seelie Court thinks of him.”

Doctor Sparkle’s first impression of Veil Vestige was that she was looking at a ghost. The unicorn was stark white, the white of something that would never see the sun, with eyes the color of rubies. His mane was braided carefully, an odd affectation.

“You’re an albino,” she said. It was one of the very few facts from the files she’d been given. It was nice that at least that one thing was correct.

“An unfortunate condition,” Veil said, smiling. “On the other hoof, it means you and I share a common bond.”

“Hm?” Sparkle frowned.

Veil turned to the side so she could see his flank, which was bare and white, totally blank.

“Neither of us was able to get a cutie mark,” Veil said. “Though for different reasons. In my case, it’s a result of my albinism. It’s possible I have one, but…”

“With your condition, it would be invisible,” Sparkle noted. “I’m aware. I did a lot of research into adult blank-flanked ponies. Albinism presents in roughly 0.0005 percent of the population. One in two million, a rate significantly lower than in other mammals by orders of magnitude. I can quote statistics all day if needed.”

“I assure you it isn’t,” Veil laughed. “Though you are likely better informed than most of the doctors I have spoken to.”

“That’s a near certainty,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I’m the smartest pony in Equestria.”

“Certainly the most confident,” Veil smiled.

“Only because Sunset Shimmer is unconscious.” She gave a grim smile. “Do you know the risks of what you’re signing up for?”

“I’ve been briefed, but may I go over my understanding of the situation?” He waited a moment until Sparkle nodded for him to continue. “The procedure will involve experimental surgery, which could kill me. The device implanted could malfunction and kill me. Even if it works properly, only a small portion of the population can handle the strain of having additional leylines in their body. And then, assuming everything works properly, you’d like me to go into battle against the most dangerous monsters ever assembled in history, and if my sources are correct, that might include Princess Celestia herself.”

“That would be it in a nutshell, yes,” Sparkle admitted.

“Let me ask you something, Doctor -- do you know what sunlight does to an albino?”

“Terrible sunburn,” Sparkle said, shrugging. “Increased chance of skin cancer. Eventual blindness, I believe, because the body isn’t able to protect itself properly.”

“All true. My whole life, I had to hide from the sun. I don’t have any particular love of Celestia. There’s something I want -- I want the power to decide my own fate. Maybe that’s what it means, to not have a cutie mark. My fate is only what I make.”

“The Court apparently vouches for you,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I assume you’ve done them some favors that they’re repaying.”

“I can’t talk about most of it,” Veil admitted. “I’m relying on a good first impression.”

“Hmph,” Sparkle looked away. “All I care about is talent.”

“Then I think we will be good friends,” Veil said, with a smile.

“You’re sure?” Sparkle asked, watching through the armored glass as Veil sat in a magical circle, meditating, his horn glowing with an aura that flickered white and black, somehow both at once, like each eye was seeing something the other wasn’t. It made it painful to stare at for long.

“The readings are showing a thaumatic output of fifty thousand, and holding steady,” Moondancer said. “And when I say steady, I mean perfectly steady. The augur isn’t even twitching.”

“Sunset Shimmer had a peak output in the eighty thousand range,” Doctor Sparkle muttered. “So it’s not impossible. Even so, that much power and to have never even heard of him… where did Chrysalis dig him up from?”

“We also ran bloodwork to check for the usual,” Moondancer reported. “He’s not a changeling, if you were curious.”

“I already knew he wasn’t,” Doctor Sparkle admitted. “One of the earliest experiments involved a changeling. They don’t react well to the way the Engine Hearts work. It short-circuits something in their physiology. They end up, well, melting. Volunteering him for that would be suicide.”

“So what is he, then?” Moondancer asked.

“If I had to guess?” Sparkle tapped her chin. “The changelings keep ponies captive to drain them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Court had a few ponies that were born and raised in the hive. It would be nice if the Court was willing to contact me directly about this, but Kevin hasn't been around to arrange a meeting. Definitely not one of Celestia's, though.”

“It would explain the lack of documentation,” Moondancer admitted. “He wouldn’t even be an Equestrian citizen.”

“Maybe,” Sparkle sighed. “Get him prepped for surgery.”

“We’re going to use him, then?” Moondancer seemed surprised.

“We don’t have much of a choice.”

On the moon, time passed slowly. Dust made her way to the rim of a crater, and looked down, expecting another bowl full of ice and dust.

Instead, she found the castle.

Marble shuddered. It felt like somepony was walking over her grave.

“Are you okay?” Sunburst asked. She looked up and gave him a small smile, nodding. Whatever that had been, she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She was having lunch with somepony that liked her, and the nagging doubt in the back of her mind wasn’t going to ruin things.

“Thank you for... “ She looked at the food. Sunburst wasn’t much of a cook, but he had gone out of his way to get some fresh food, which was becoming scarce. With the war, most ponies were having to make do with factory seconds and processed, canned food, with the best of everything going to the front lines. He’d somehow managed to get some real, fresh apples.

“It’s nothing,” Sunburst smiled. “Kevin did the hard work. Last I heard from him he was at an apple farm looking into something for Doctor Sparkle.”

“Why an apple farm?” Marble tilted her head.

“I’m not sure. Probably looking into a new recruit. I doubt Doctor Sparkle cares much about the details involved with growing fruit.”

“Mm.” Marble nodded. She bit into the apple, closing her eyes as she savored the taste, the juice running down her chin. It had been so long since she’d eaten, a thousand years of--

She blinked and shoved the stray thought away.

“Are you sure this is-” Veil grunted under the strain. “Safe?” He finished, once he’d caught his breath.

Sparkle looked up at him. Veil was on his back, and a machine press was trying to crush him, and he was doing his best to keep it away while the pressure slowly increased. He was already holding enough weight up that it was like bench-pressing a small house.

“If the press slips more than a certain amount, it powers down automatically,” Sparkle assured him.

“I’m more worried about my spine!” Veil admitted. “How long do I have to keep this up?”

“Just a little longer. I want to make sure your heart won’t explode or tear out of your body.” Sparkle tapped a button, and the illusory display changed to show the leylines in Veil’s chest and legs.

“It can do that?” Veil’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“In theory. Your magic is far stronger than your flesh. Imagine an iron girder anchored in jelly. The iron is strong enough for a bridge, but if you put any real weight onto it, the jelly won’t support it and it tears free.”

“That doesn’t sound good for the jelly.”

“Not good at all.” Sparkle pulled a lever, and the press shut down, steam venting from the pneumatics as the pressure was released. Veil slumped and panted, sweat running down his face.

“Are you satisfied yet that it was a success?” Veil asked. “More tests like this and I might not make it all the way to the battlefield.”

“Good enough for now,” Sparkle said. “I’m not worried about the mechanism, just you. The Engine Heart in your chest previously belonged to Lightning Dust, and it’s a proven success.”

“Er…” Veil looked down at the healing scar on his sternum. “If it’s a success, why isn’t it in her?”

“It was damaged in combat and I took the time to give her some upgrades. Don’t worry.” Sparkle tapped his chest. “It’s been completely refurbished, better than brand new.”

“I have total confidence in you,” Veil Vestige said, smiling a little.

“Easier to say after the surgery than before,” Sparkle snorted.

“If I can ask, though…” Veil nodded to some papers on her desk. “What’s this?”

“Ah, a little side project.” Sparkle pushed the blueprints towards him. “I pulled the design specifications of current prosthetic limbs from the Canterlot Patent Office quite a while ago. I’ve been trying to come up with something for Sunset Shimmer.”

“The sleeping princess,” Veil smiled.

“Don’t let her hear you say that or she’ll wake up just to set you on fire,” Sparkle muttered. “The problem I’ve been running into is that most are too fragile, even the ones designed for the military. And the ones that aren’t fragile, I have concerns about anchoring it to Sunset’s body.”

Veil’s eyes twinkled, and he laughed a little. “Like an iron girder in jelly?”

“Just so.” Sparkle shrugged. “I’ve got a few ideas, though I might have to start thinking outside the box.” She smiled and tapped her hooves together. “Now, get on the treadmill. I want to get readings on long-term endurance.”

Alarms blared, giving Doctor Sparkle a terrible headache before she managed to get to the lab’s command room, carrying a packet of papers in her mouth that she tossed onto a desk as she glared at the red lights flashing on the consoles.

“What happened?” She demanded. “And shut off those alarms! I’m already getting a migraine. If this isn’t a life or death situation, I’ll tear the alarm bells out myself!”

“It was triggered by the Canterlot Royal Guard,” Moondancer said, levitating a strip of paper where Sparkle could see it. “They spotted a Linnorm within the Canterlot Defense Area.”

“It’s been two weeks since the last attack. I suppose this is right on time.” Sparkle sighed. “What forces do they have in the area?”

“None,” Moondancer said. Sparkle looked up at her for confirmation, as if she’d misspoken. “They don’t have anything, Twilight. There’s nothing left after the attack on Canterlot. A few dozen new recruits at best, and they’re better served doing crowd control and making ponies feel safe.”

“Of course.” Sparkle shook her head. “Get a fix on the location and we’ll send…” She hesitated. “Hm. We’ll send Marble out as the primary, and Veil as secondary. But neither of them can manage a fast attack…”

She considered the terrain for a moment.

“We’ll have it come to us. With a proper ambush maybe we can avoid a drawn-out battle.”

Marble Pie sat on the ridge, watching the monster below her limp in circles. The monster inside of her was starting to grow bored just observing the thing. It was a patchwork thing, like somepony had found a bin of leftover parts and stitched them together. No two legs were the same, and it seemed like the only thing keeping it in one piece was magic, pulsing out of the crystal core embedded in one shoulder that seemed to have once been a torso, if the ribs breaking through the skin were any indication.

“It’s not going to come any closer,” Marble muttered.

“What an interesting creature,” Veil said, sounding somewhere between excited and serene. “It doesn’t seem quite as impressive as I was expecting from the stories.”

Marble frowned and glanced at the white unicorn. He was watching her, like he wanted her approval.

“You know, we’re a lot alike,” Veil said. “I’m a unicorn using earth pony magic, and you’re an earth pony with unicorn magic.”

She stared silently, only one eye visible behind her mane.

“We’re nothing alike,” she said, after a few seconds, cutting Veil off before he could say anything else.

“What’s the target doing?” Doctor Sparkle asked. “From here it looks like it’s just milling around.”

“Interestingly, that’s also what it looks like from here,” Veil said. “Though…”

“What is it?” Sparkle asked.

“I think there’s something wrong with it.”

Marble nodded silently, agreeing with the assessment. The linnorm was moving like clockwork. Badly made, damaged clockwork. It was going in a circle mostly because one leg was longer than the others and it didn’t seem entirely aware of what was going on around it. The linnorm wandered into a tree and stopped for a moment, one leg lagging behind and taking a few extra steps before it got the signal to halt.

“This is ridiculous,” Marble said, starting down the trail along the ridge.

“Where are you going?” Veil asked. “Doctor Sparkle’s plan-”

Marble shot him a look, and his mouth snapped shut, her glare catching him cleanly on the chin.

“Okay, I see your point,” Veil admitted, trailing along behind her, cowed.

The linnorm managed to rub together enough brain cells to get frustrated at the tree in front of it, slamming its skull into it like a battering ram, knocking it over and continuing on its way, stumbling on the trunk as it walked over the fallen tree.

Marble knew she should be afraid. It was a monster, after all. She felt more frustrated than anything, though. With Lightning Dust and Sunset Shimmer out of action all the responsibility had fallen onto her shoulders, a burden she’d never really wanted in the first place. She wasn’t even supposed to be here today.

Marble stomped, and a boulder almost as big as she was leapt out of the ground like a salmon from a stream, the flickering green aura of her magic around it. She turned on her hooves and bucked the hovering stone, sending it flying like a shot from a catapult.

The rock slammed into the linnorm’s back legs, the right limb snapping like timber made out of glass what was especially fragile in many structurally significant ways.

It took a moment for the monster to react to the pain, roaring through its mismatched teeth and trying to turn to see what was happening, a combination of three uneven legs and one broken one turning the maneuver into a tumbling fall.

Marble narrowed her eyes, unamused.

The linnorm started to stand, and the entire clearing dimmed like a cloud was passing in front of the sun. A spot of light appeared in the monster’s eyes, and it backed away, trying to escape the illumination.

“It’s a spell I developed to help with my sunburn problems,” Veil said, his horn glowing with its flickering black and white glow. “It’s a lensing effect. It’s very hard to make darkness, but moving light around isn’t too hard. You just take some from all around and focus it…”

The glow around his horn grew, and the darkness strengthened, like a patch of Equestria had fallen into endless night. Marble looked up at the blue sky. It was oddly out of place, far brighter than the ground now.

At the same time, the spotlight in the monster’s eyes grew brighter and tighter, smoke rising as it grew hot enough to burn even dragonflesh.

Veil smiled with amusement, like a foal with an anthill, a magnifying glass, and enough cruelty to turn suffering into a show.

“If you’re not going to follow the plan at least make it quick,” Doctor Sparkle said, radio crackling. “The core is exposed, so stop playing around and take it out.”

“I’m not sure if I can do much damage like this,” Veil admitted.

“Just keep it distracted,” Marble muttered, mentally considering her options. As awkward and fragile as the monster was, getting close would be foalish -- it was strong enough to knock down a tree. She hadn’t had much of a chance to actually learn spells, either. Her horn wasn’t good for much more than telekinesis and the shields Sunset had gone out of her way to make sure she knew.

Marble knew she should be able to do more. Otherwise what was the point? What was the point of having all this power when she didn’t even know how to use it?!

A lash of magical energy tore free of her horn, crackling and hissing as it struck the linnorm.

The corners of Marble’s mouth twisted into a smile. It wasn’t really a spell. She could barely control it. It was perfect.

“At least she’s having fun,” Sunburst offered.

Doctor Sparkle sighed as she watched through the scrying sensor as Marble chased the linnorm around in a spiral, the blind monster harried by lashes and burning light.

“This is a good thing,” Moondancer put in. “Morale has been terrible, and an easy win is good for us and especially for Marble. Giving Veil a chance to run that armor through its paces means if we have a real fight, there won’t be any surprises.”

“I don’t disagree,” Doctor Sparkle admitted. “We’ll let her play a little longer.”

Marble dropped the corpse on the lab table, the steel creaking and protesting at the weight.

“Thank you,” Sparkle said. She walked around the linnorm, noting its injuries. The shattered limb, the minor burns, the flayed scales. No serious injuries, aside from the cracked and broken core.

Marble nodded silently, looking pleased.

“You managed to bring this in relatively intact,” Sparkle noted. “We might learn something from it.”

“Like what?” Veil asked, from the doorway. Sparkle flinched. She hadn’t heard him come in.

“Mostly I’d like to know why Sombra sent such a pathetic effort at us,” she said, recovering quickly.

“Maybe it was just a distraction to get Celestia away from the field again?” Veil suggested. “I’ve heard that she’s nearly tracked him down.”

“...That would make sense,” Sparkle said, nodding. “Look here.” She grabbed a long metal probe and used it to prod the joint at its shoulder. The flesh there was bare, scaleless, and barely holding together.

“You can see a partly formed spine where the bones of the upper leg should be,” Sparkle said. “Partly fused together. Ribs with uneven length growing from it… this linnorm is a factory reject. Probably a failed experiment, and thrown into service because it could walk, if nothing else.”

“What will you do with the body?” Veil leaned over her shoulder.

“I’ll dissect it later,” Doctor Sparkle said. “For now, let’s check the data from your armor’s wardings.”

“...More tests?” Veil said, his expression falling.

“More tests!” Sparkle said, happily.

Sunset groaned.

Everything hurt.

Everything was heavy.

She tried to open her eyes, and it seemed to take days.

“She’s starting to come around,” somepony said, a million miles away. They kept talking, but it was impossible to focus on the words.

An eternity passed between heartbeats.

“...the dosage again.”

“Again? It could do real damage.”

“She’s practically immortal. After what she did do you really think anything can kill her?”

Something warm flooded her body, like she’d put on a sweater and had a nice warm cup of coffee, pulling her out of the comfortable, dark pit she was lying in.

She opened her left eye, her right side staying stubbornly dark, and looked up at the blurry form of Doctor Twilight Sparkle. She blinked a few times and the blur went away, but the Doctor didn’t.

Sunset spent a few moments trying to think of something sarcastic to say.

“You’re not an angel,” she said, not having found a better line to use.

“And you’re not dead,” Sparkle noted. “Living patients should be happy they’re seeing a physician and not the Elysian Fields.”

“...Isn’t your doctorate in biology, not medicine?”

“If you can criticize my credentials you’re doing better than I expected,” Doctor Sparkle said. “You’ve been in a coma for two weeks. I’d tell you to rest, but you’ve been in bed the whole time and I want you on your hooves as soon as possible.”

“You’re a real taskmaster,” Sunset said, smiling a little. She was definitely on the good drugs.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Sparkle asked.

“Better start with the bad news before this stuff wears off,” Sunset admitted. “Are these drugs legal?”

“They’re legal in Zebrica where I bought them,” Sparkle said. “Fine, bad news first. You were injured in a linnorm attack. We found a hundred and eight foreign bodies from your body, mostly crystal shards, but also dragon bone, glass, and metal. We were able to remove most of them. The worst should work their way out in time.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Sunset said.

“Mm. The truth is I’m not good at giving bad news to ponies.”

“Yes you are. You’re blunt and don’t care about their feelings.”

“Most of them can’t kill me with their mind.” She paused. “Or at least won’t.”

“Better hurry before the drugs wear off,” Sunset advised.

Sparkle took a deep breath. “You’d better look down. It’s better to get it over with quickly and… get used to your situation.”

Sunset tried to sit up. It was difficult with no depth perception. And then the memories started to come back. Her head exploding with pain. Her hoof…

She looked down. Her left foreleg ended at the elbow.

Sunset touched her face. “I can’t--”

“Brace yourself,” Sparkle said. She picked up a small mirror. Sunset yanked it out of her hoof, her magic snatching it and almost knocking Doctor Sparkle over.

Bandages were wrapped around her head, scars running across her snout and cheeks, one line going all the way from a new notch in her ear down her cheek and ending under her jaw.

“Your eye is…” Sparkle hesitated.

“I guess I should just be thankful I’m not dead,” Sunset said, starting to shake.

“The scarring will go down,” Sparkle said. “And before you ask, no, I didn’t do the work myself. I brought in a specialist in reconstructive work. She said your coat will cover the worst of the damage. For most ponies it would take a few months, but for you… another week, at this rate.”

Sunset tossed the mirror aside. She didn’t want to look at herself.

“The good news is, we got a lot of data you might be interested in. For a little while we were able to get readings--”

“From the aethereal plane,” Sunset whispered.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Some of it. Like a fading dream.” Sunset closed her eye. “I could feel it, Sparkle. I was turning into pure energy.”

“You were ascending. I wish I could have seen it all with my own eyes, but I’ll have to satisfy myself by going through the data.” She smiled grimly. “You’ll be getting new armor, by the way. I had to disassemble your old suit to get at all the black boxes.”

“It was so beautiful…” Sunset said, a tear dripping down her cheek, the scars on her muzzle giving it a crooked path. “What went wrong?”

“It might be better to wait until you’re feeling better,” Sparkle said. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Tell me now,” Sunset said, opening her eye and sitting up. She was fighting off the drugs, endless willpower and anger dragging her out of the haze.

“Princess Celestia,” Sparkle said, stepping over. “She… almost killed you doing it. I don’t know if she was trying to finish you off or not, but it was a near thing.” She pulled the sheet down and pointed at a new scar on Sunset’s chest. “Through and through. Missed both your hearts.”

“Her mistake, then,” Sunset spat. “I’m going to go up there and tear her horn off and--”

“Don’t be stupid,” Sparkle said.

“Are you going to stop me?” Sunset asked. Her horn started to glow. “You think you can?”

“I think you need to finish healing if you want a fair fight,” Sparkle said, before tapping one of the machines attached to Sunset. There was a pneumatic hiss as something was released into her IV, a chill flooding her veins and making it hard to focus.

“Did you just sedate me?” Sunset asked.

“It doesn’t seem to have worked as well as I’d like,” Doctor Sparkle muttered.

“Sunset!” The door slammed open and a pink whirlwind flashed into the room. Sparkle was pushed out of the way as Cadance practically jumped onto the bed, pulling Sunset into a hug.

“Mmmgphmph--” Sunset said, muffled by Cadance’s chest.

“I see you got word she was waking up,” Doctor Sparkle sighed, picking herself off the ground. “Try not to put her back into a coma. It was hard enough getting her up the first time.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever wake up,” Cadance sniffled, letting Sunset go. “I thought I lost you too. I couldn’t handle it. Not again.”

“I’m pretty hard to kill,” Sunset said, putting on a brave smile. “That thing did its best but even with Celestia coming in at the end it only got partway there.”

“Is our sleeping beauty finally awake?” Veil asked.

“When did you get here?” Doctor Sparkle demanded.

“I walked in after Miss Cadance,” Veil said. “I admit she does attract attention, but I didn’t think it would make me invisible.”

Doctor Sparkle took off her glasses to rub at her temples, continuing as she tried to massage the stress out of her sinuses. “Princess Cadance, Sunset, this is Veil Vestige. I don’t think you’ve had the chance to meet. He’s our newest recruit.”

Cadance stood up, puffing out her chest and spreading her wings, blocking Veil’s view of Sunset.

“You can come back later,” Cadance said, firmly. “This is private.”

“I didn’t realize,” Veil said. “I’m glad you were able to find somepony so quickly after what happened to your husband, Miss Cadance.”

“Princess Cadance,” she said, emphasizing the title.

“I apologize,” Veil said, bowing politely without any apparent hint of sarcasm. “Things are rather informal here and I let it become a bad habit.”

“Thank you,” Cadance said, sighing. “Just please leave us alone for now.”

“Of course.” Veil stood. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know.” He bowed again and left, his hoofsteps silent on the hard tile.

“Creepy,” Sunset muttered. “You couldn’t find anypony better?”

“He was recommended to me,” Doctor Sparkle said. “And he’s been doing quite well. Odd habits, but I suspect he didn’t have a normal foalhood.”

“Who here did have a normal foalhood?” Sunset asked.

“Exceptional ponies come from exceptional beginnings,” Sparkle said. “I’ll leave you two alone and make sure Veil keeps out of trouble. Cadance, try not to break her. I already had to put her back together once.”

“It’s surprisingly intact,” Sparkle said, poking a probe into the deep crack in the linnorm’s core. “We’ve never been able to study one that hasn’t been completely destroyed.”

“Look at this,” Sunburst said. He carefully lifted away a section of cracked crystal to reveal the underlayer. “It’s pure adamant. No breaks in it. Or at least there weren’t any until Marble started hitting it with that rock.”

“The structure is somewhere between a geode and a machine,” Sparkle said. “In fact, I bet that layer of adamant acts as a thaumatic distortion blanket, just like the lunar titanium shielding in an Engine Heart.”

“You think this is an artificial wellspring?”

“It would explain why they’re so powerful. A wellspring would give orders of magnitude more thaumatic load than a simple enchantment.” She motioned to the crack and Sunburst helped her pull it open.

“You’re right,” Sunburst said, shining a light inside. Rainbow-colored dust drifted in the revealed cavity. “Look at the residuum.”

“Mm. A byproduct of an active wellspring. Definitely closed shut now, but maybe we can learn something from the technique. It seems significantly different from mine.”

Sunburst stopped, and Sparkle frowned as the light moved away.

“I need to see what I’m doing,” she said.

“Twilight, I think…” Sunburst gasped and grabbed her, pulling her away. The linnorm twitched, shivering and shaking, making hissing sounds like a boiler about to explode.

“That’s impossible,” Doctor Sparkle said. “The core is ruptured! We just verified it ourselves! It can’t be moving!”

Impossible or not, she backed away, deciding she’d rather put a wall between herself and whatever was happening than face it on her own. The linnorm jerked and started to stand, rolling over and landing heavily on its mismatched claws.

Sparkle swore and hit the alarm.

“You can’t be serious,” Cadance said, even as she helped Sunset. As it turned out, trying to get a prosthetic leg attached was best done with a second pony.

“It’s a red alert,” Sunset retorted. “And I’m the best pony they’ve got. Is that thing attached yet?”

“I’ve never had to do this before,” Cadance protested. “I think it’s on right.”

Sunset took an experimental step, and started to slip, barely catching herself. It didn’t help that she was having problems telling how far away the ground was.

“Piece of junk,” she muttered.

“It’s the same kind the military uses,” Cadance noted.

“That explains why it’s a piece of junk. I think it’s shorter than my leg used to be.”

“Sunset, you’re practically as tall as I am.” Cadance paused at that. “Actually, you’re a little taller. When did you get so big?”

“Magical growth spurt,” Sunset shrugged. She lifted the leg and tried flexing it, the enchantment on the limb responding to her will and moving. It was stiff and awkward, but at least she could walk. “How do I look?” She struck a pose, more bandages visible than fur, one leg shorter than the others, and ready to get into trouble.

Cadance looked her over.

“Beautiful,” she said honestly. “And also brave, hurt, and a little overconfident. If you decide to really go and fight you’ll get upgraded all the way to foolhardy and stupid.”

“I stopped listening after beautiful.”

“I know,” Cadance sighed.

“I killed it,” Marble said, firmly.

“You did,” Veil agreed. “Doctor Sparkle warned us that they’re particularly hard to keep down.”

Marble kicked the door open as a reply, the heavy steel door crumpling under the blow. The linnorm had been kept in the secure section of the labs, which was increasingly proving to be worthless at keeping anything safe. Maybe it would keep out a foal.

“I hope Doctor Sparkle is alive,” Veil continued. “Maybe she knows what happened.”

“Of course she does,” Marble muttered. “She probably caused it.”

The corridor was torn apart, less like it had been methodically destroyed and more like a train had run through it.

“...I can’t remember…” Marble whispered.

“Remember what?” Veil asked, lighting up his horn to shine a beam onto the walls, looking at long scratches through the wallboard and plaster.

“There was… another attack,” Marble said, hesitantly. “It got into the labs and did a lot of damage. Some of this damage is from then.”

“You didn’t even have a chance to clean up before something else happened,” Veil sighed, shaking his head and sending the beam of light scything wildly through the darkness. It stopped on something terrifying.

Veil screamed at a surprisingly high pitch, and Marble threw a wild bolt of magic at it, the jittering beam blocked by a ruby-red shield.

“Wow, a little wound up, are you?” Sunset asked, limping out of the dark.

“Why are you here?” Veil asked. He sounded concerned. “You’re injured. You should be resting.”

“I was in a coma. If that’s not enough rest I don’t know what is.” Sunset smirked. “Besides, you clearly need a hoof actually killing this one.”

Marble frowned at that.

“You don’t have armor,” Veil pointed out.

“Congratulations. You get to see me kill a monster while I’m practically naked.” Sunset blinked. Then she paused. “I was trying to wink there. It, uh, you know. One eye. Didn’t work out.”

“Well, I certainly feel better having some backup,” Veil said. He was clearly trying to put a good spin on things. “For safety’s sake, though, Marble and I should go first. Doctor Sparkle would be cross if we let you get hurt while you’re supposed to be in the infirmary.”

“Lead the way,” Sunset said, waving a hoof.

Veil looked at Marble. She snorted and waved for him to take point.

“I suppose I did literally ask for it,” Veil sighed, walking ahead of the two mares.

Sunset let him get ahead of them a bit.

“How are you?” Sunset asked, looking over Marble. “Heard you took out a monster on your own. Nice work!”

“Are you trying to… bond with me?” Marble asked, confused.

“A smart pony once told me I wouldn’t get far if I only made enemies,” Sunset said. “I’m starting to think she was right.”

Marble nodded.

“Anyway, you’re doing better than I expected,” Sunset continued. “I’m proud of you.”

“...You’re still on a lot of painkillers, aren’t you?” Marble asked, slowly.

“Oh stars, yes. Enough to kill a normal pony!”

“That explains a lot.”

“Girls?” Veil hissed. “I think I found it.” He pointed into the next room.

Sunset and Marble crept up on the door, looking into what had been a storage room for the bits and pieces of linnorms that had managed to survive whatever horrible trauma was needed to finish them off.

The only one still intact, for a very liberal definition of intact, was clumsily trying to pull open containers and crates. It was moving even more awkwardly than before, like a puppet with half its strings cut.

“How is it still alive?” Sunset asked. “You cracked the core open!”

“Look at the flesh,” Veil said. “It’s starting to rot right on the bone. I don’t think it is alive.”

“Oh!” Sunset said, “I get it! That’s clever. There must have been some necromancy in that old silk hat they found~”

Marble gave her a confused look.

“It’s a reference from--” Sunset sighed. “Never mind. All we need to do is use Holy magic.”

“Um…” Veil hesitated.

“You know. Magic drawn from the Elysian Fields.” Sunset looked at Marble and Veil.

“It’s somewhat out of my field of expertise,” Veil said.

“I never learned anything about…” Marble shrugged.

“Why can’t you do it?” Veil asked. “You seem to know about it.”

“Ah, well, you know…” Sunset coughed. “There was this thing with Tartarus and- look, I can’t do Holy magic.”

“Why did you even suggest it, then?” Marble muttered.

“I’ve got a great plan B.”

Lightning Dust looked up at the looming statue, cut crudely out of the charcoal-black rock of the regolith, not that she knew what a regolith was, nor would she use the proper term even if she did know it.

The twisted alicorn looked familiar, like something she’d seen in a dream.

Marble glared at Sunset through her dripping mane.

Sunset said something. Marble shook her head and pointed to her ears.

“I SAID AT LEAST THE FIRE ALARMS WORK!” Sunset shouted over the blaring siren.

Marble’s eye twitched and she considered trying to strangle the unicorn. It probably wouldn’t be that hard. She was sort of tall and gangly and already injured.

The alarm cut off, and Veil trotted down the corridor, his once-braided mane hanging loose and plastered to his head and neck by the water.

“I found the switch,” he sighed. “Now we can hear ourselves think.”

“Not that some of us do much thinking,” Marble said quietly.

“We’ve already established that I’m very heavily drugged right now,” Sunset pointed out. “Besides, it’s got to be dead now.” She gestured to the room, the walls and floor blackened by the fireballs she’d thrown indiscriminately into it, the linnorm lying prone, crispy, and unmoving.

The deep-fried monster started moving, forcing itself to its mismatched claws.

“That’s just not right,” Sunset frowned. “It should be cooked through!”

“It’s mostly a dragon, right?” Veil asked. “Maybe fire doesn’t work.”

“Fire always works,” Sunset retorted. “I’ll just have to use more!”

Marble winced as a wave of heat washed over her, Sunset filling the storage room with flame. Sunset paused, narrowed her eye as something blackened twitched among the ashes, and let loose with another wash of searing heat.

“I think you got it,” Veil said, trying to gently push her back. “Let’s take a look before you end up destroying the building, okay?”

Sunset snorted and stepped away.

Veil looked inside. “Well, all that’s left is bone and ash. Whatever was keeping it going, we’ll never--”

He’d spoken too soon. Impossibly, the charcoal and carbon, all that was left of the linnorm, stirred, cracking and breaking as frozen joints and shattered limbs tried to move.

“I’m not an expert,” Veil admitted. “But I don’t think even zombies do that.”

“Then what is it?” Sunset demanded.

As if it had been waiting for somepony to ask, tendrils of light tore themselves free of the crematorium, solid streams that moved and waved in the air like tentacles, surrounding a floating sphere of crystal and magic that revealed itself as it ripped free of the linnorm’s charred ribs.

“This is new,” Sunset said.

“Doctor Sparkle wants to know why we’re setting her lab on fire,” Marble chimed in. “And she says we should hurry up and kill the monster.” Her expression twisted. “Again.”

“She’s on the radio?” Sunset asked. “Give me your earpiece.”

“I--” Marble hesitated, then shrugged and gave Sunset the twist of wire and gems. “I don’t like listening to her anyway,” Marble muttered.

“--ble?” Sparkle said, in Sunset’s ear. “Marble? Stop ignoring me and tell me what’s going on!”

“Hey Doc,” Sunset said. “So I’m looking at a monster that’s all wiggly lights and, if the buzzing in my horn is right, it’s basically pure magic.”

“Sunset?” Sparkle asked. “Why are you on Marble’s radio?”

“I asked nicely and she let me borrow it.”

“You didn’t seriously injure her, did you?”

“What? No! I just said, I asked nicely--”

“Those drugs must have finally kicked in,” Sparkle said to herself. “I need a better description than wiggly lights.”

“Well, it’s like an octopus made of magic, and it’s got a core in the middle.” Sunset shrugged, looking at Veil for support. “It’s just kind of floating there and spinning.”

“Just a core?” Sparkle asked. “I suppose that’s possible. Where did it come from? I know the linnorm’s core was inactive. We even got partway through disassembly before it came back to life.”

“It was inside the chest,” Veil supplied. “The one we broke was on the shoulder.”

“Clever. Two cores. I wonder if this was the plan all along, to give us a weak, easily beaten enemy just to get a Trojan Horse into my lab…”

“You know, that’s rather rude to the Trojans. They’re not all spies,” Veil said.

The line was silent for a moment. Sunset could picture Sparkle’s expression of annoyance.

“Just kill it,” Sparkle said. “Be careful. If I’m correct, those tendrils are loose leylines. They shouldn’t even be stable without a body, so that linnorm is putting out an astronomical amount of energy just to move around.”

“Hah! You know who else puts out astronomical amounts of energy?” Sunset smirked, puffing out her chest.

“Princess Celestia,” Marble said, immediately.

Sunset deflated and glared at Marble. It took her a few extra moments to come up with a suitable response, and before she could fight through the drug-induced haze to find her reserves of spite and sarcasm, the linnorm made its move.

The tendrils of light stabbed through Marble and Sunset, Veil managing to dodge the first attack by virtue of being the only pony paying attention. His backflip, while graceful and an impressive feat that combined strength and a small amount of magical self-levitation for attitude control, did not get him out of the way of the second attack, catching his back leg.

It was like ants crawling under his skin, invading his body, trying to find something.

“What’s going on?!” Sparkle demanded. “I’m getting bizarre readings!”

“It’s got Marble and Veil pretty good,” Sunset said. “Made a mistake with me, though!” She formed a blade and slashed, severing her prosthetic leg, the limb impaled on the questing tentacle of light. She had to hop back on her rear legs, getting some distance.

“The readings I’m seeing are indicating backflow in their leylines,” Sparkle said. “Can you confirm?”

“I think it’s trying to get into them, like how it was controlling that corpse like a puppet!” Sunset said. “I can see…” She struggled for words. Marble and Veil were glowing, lines running across their bodies with the color of their magic, slowly being pushed back along where the linnorm had penetrated them, like an infection crawling along their veins.

“You need to take out the core,” Sparkle said. “The rest isn’t even real, it’s just a projection.”

“Not as easy as you make it sound,” Sunset muttered, parrying a strike from the creature. “It won’t cut!”

“Of course not,” Sparkle said. “It’s like trying to cut through a stream of water. Just attack the core! It’s only vulnerable where it’s solid!”

“Stop butting in!” Sunset spat. Then a metal hoof slapped her. She blinked, and it struck her other cheek. The thing still had her leg, and was hitting her with it. “Oh that’s it. No mercy!”

“Ma’am?” Sunburst asked. “We don’t have any way of getting readings on Sunset Shimmer, but what we’ve got for Marble and Veil aren’t good. The suits are reporting significant encroachment. I think it’s going for their hearts.”

“It might be able to assume control, like with the heart they put in Spitfire,” Sparkle said. “Try using the override and flooding their leylines. Keep it out for as long as possible!”

Veil jerked as magic flooded through his body like heartburn, acidic and hot.

“That is incredibly unpleasant!” He hissed, though the feeling of invasion was slowly being pushed away.

Sunset jumped into the air, an impressive feat considering she was doing it with two hooves, trying to get to the floating core. She nearly made it, and might have made short work of the monster, but she was fighting a new and even more dangerous foe, depth perception. She came up short, and nearly got impaled for her efforts.

“Crap!” Sunset ducked away, knocking a few questing tendrils aside with her star sabre. “Give me a hoof, you two!”

The metal leg smacked into her face.

“I hate this monster,” Sunset muttered.

Veil fired a barrage of magical bolts at the linnorm, but with the intense magical field around it, they never got close to the target before dissipating.

“It’s shielded,” Veil said. “Should have expected that.” He winced at the pain in his leg and fired a bolt at the impaling tendril, the leyline just flowing around the attack spell. “Sunset, think more quickly, if you could! This is getting very painful, and Marble isn’t looking too good!”

Sunset glanced at the mare. She was trying to keep the leyline from burrowing into her chest, holding it with both forehooves, the armor degrading rapidly, eroding away like a sugarcube in hot tea.

“Sunset!” Marble hissed. “Use that…” she grunted in pain. “That stupid spell you used when I was protecting you!”

“When you were…” Sunset hesitated. “Oh! The one I used to attack beyond visual range!”

“So that’s how you did it…” Veil muttered.

“It’ll go through the shield, right?” Marble asked, between gritted teeth.

“Yeah! But I’ll need a minute to charge, and the thing has to stay still! It’s not easy to aim!”

“I can… hold out that long.” Marble closed her eyes, and her horn lit up, a barrier appearing around her and the linnorm.

“What’s she doing?” Sparkle demanded. “She’s casting an inverted repulsion barrier! She’s--”

“She’s drawing the creature to her instead of pushing it away!” Veil finished for her. “That’s practically suicide!”

Sunset spread her back legs, balancing carefully on her forehoof. Runes appeared in a circle around her, burning into the floor, a magic circle holding her in place. “Stabilization circle locked. Thaumatic pressure rising normally…” She winced. “This isn’t gonna be easy with all these sedatives.”

“Just don’t hit me!” Marble yelled, biting back a scream as another tendril hit her shoulder, burrowing in.

“I’ll be fine! I still have my left eye!”

“I’m gonna die, aren’t I?” Marble whispered.

“Trust me!” Sunset blinked. “I was trying to wink again there!” She focused, the light from her horn burning through crimson to white, too bright for the naked eye to even see a color beyond the glare.

“Just give me some warning before you--”

Sunset fired the moment the energy started circulating. It was smaller than the blast she’d used to attack before at the very limit of spellcasting physics, a pencil-thin beam surrounded by a spiral of ionized gas, hitting the floating core dead-on while Marble was holding it, passing through like a bastilla bolt through a watermelon and with much the same effect.

The core exploded in a blast of released magical power and a shower of rainbow sparks a fraction of a second before the wall beyond it, Sunset’s attack blasting through the lab walls.

Marble wobbled and collapsed.

“I said give me warning!” She moaned, before passing out.

“I feel awful,” Marble whispered. Sunburst replaced the towel on her head with a fresh one, damp and cold to help with her fever.

“Doctor Sparkle says you had critical infiltration of your leylines,” Sunburst said. “What you did was incredibly dangerous. A few more seconds and you would have… I don’t even want to think about what it would have done.”

“That’s not why I feel awful,” Marble said, looking across the room at the other hospital bed.

“Hah! We kicked its ass!” Sunset crowed. “Well, I did, anyway. And that was without armor! Hey, has anyone seen Cadance? I need to tell her about this one.”

“I see what you mean,” Sunburst sighed.

“The lab really looks wrecked from here,” Moondancer said, looking up the mountain to where it was nestled.

“Of course it does,” Sparkle shrugged. “After the earthquake from the fall of Canterlot, it suffered serious structural damage. We might have to think about moving to another location sooner rather than later.”

“Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you,” she said, leading Sparkle off the path. The Doctor glanced at the flags to either side of them.

“The Royal Combat Engineers found something?” She asked.

“They solved a little mystery,” Moondancer said. “Too late to help, but it concerns me somewhat.” She helped Twilight over a stream to a clearing that had recently been cut back, caution tape and tools marking the area out.

A sinkhole the size of a small home had opened in the forest, leading down to tunnels that had already collapsed. A half-dozen bodies were strewn around the site, each of them marked and numbered like a crime scene.

“Diamond Dogs,” Moondancer said, nodding to the corpses. “They’ve been enslaved by Sombra.”

Doctor Sparkle got closer, not quite touching the nearest body as she looked it over.

“Severe malnutrition,” she noted. “As thin as a rail and with ribs showing. He hasn’t been eating.”

“According to preliminary reports, they weren’t eating, sleeping, or resting. They were enslaved and worked to death digging tunnels. We think this group died before they could cover up the sinkhole.”

“It’s how he got the linnorm into Equestria,” Sparkle said, with sudden insight. “Pegasi patrols would have seen them otherwise.”

“Exactly,” Moondancer said. “But what worries me is that if they’re digging, they might be able to approach… you know… without going through any security checkpoints. Sombra could get in there without us even knowing.”

“It would be difficult,” Sparkle said. “The caverns under Canterlot are a maze, and we sealed them as much as possible. He would have to know almost exactly where she is before he could get the dogs beyond our defenses. It’s not a matter of finding a tunnel and walking in the right direction.”

“It’s still a possibility we can’t ignore,” Moondancer said.

“You’re right,” Sparkle sighed. “Get some proposals on my desk on how to secure ourselves against this. At least we know what we’re up against.”

Kevin tapped his chitinous hoof against the edge of the magical barrier. Maybe, eventually, he’d be able to break free, but right now he couldn’t change shape, cast a spell, or walk away. It was a very well-crafted spell.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you want?” Kevin asked. He waited, the only sound in the room the dripping of water from a leaking pipe.

His captor told him what they wanted.

“Oh, I see,” Kevin said. “I didn’t think you’d be the one to remove me from the board. I’m a little honored you came in person. I don’t suppose I get any last requests?”

Lightning Dust knocked on the door. To her great surprise, it opened.

A black-sheathed horror looked out at her.

“You must be Lightning Dust,” the changeling said. “Come on in! We’ve been expecting you. My name’s Thorax!”

Author's Note

"What do you mean?" the elder asked.

Something to inspire them. They have all the glories of the world when you rule, and when it is my time, they have to hide away from the terrors of the night. I want to give them a gift, something where they can see things that don't exist but could.

"All you will do is confuse them. They don't need change. Do you remember the chaos?"

Of course I remember it. But without some change, things will be like this, forever. They'll just be foals looking to us as the only adults. With my gift they can imagine ways to improve themselves. They can see the world as it could be instead of as it is.

"They're not foals. They'll grow up and live happy lives. If they don't know something can exist, they won't suffer when they can't have it. Your new gift will only make great false hopes full of horror when they fail, disappointment and jealousy and anger. What ponies have now is enough for them."

No, I said. It isn't enough.

"They can rest safely. They fear the monsters in the dark only enough to praise us for saving them from the shadows. They don't know what it means to be truly terrified. Do not introduce some great knot of uncertainty into the world. Things are good. They are what they must be."

Please, sister, I begged. You give them everything good. I rule only over darkness. Let me give them at least one thing they can be happy for.

"You need to grow up, sister. You'll learn that our purpose is to keep things in harmony, not to cause our own chaos."

She turned away from me. She didn't see the expression that crossed my face. The decision that was made between moments.

The day passed.

I raised the moon.

I created the first dream.

In The Very Beginning

Sunburst tried to sit up, but the hoofcuffs behind his back were at an awkward angle that kept him from doing more than slouching forward unless he wanted to end up dislocating his shoulder.

“If you cooperate with our investigation this will go much more smoothly,” said the dark-suited pony, barely visible in the gloom. Even if Sunburst still had his glasses, the bright light shining in his eyes would have made the rest of the room impossible to make out.

“I don’t even know what you want,” Sunburst said. “I’m an Equestrian citizen! I have rights!”

“You’ve been working closely with Doctor Twilight Sparkle for a number of years now,” the suited pony continued, ignoring Sunburst. “We’d like to get your perspective on a number of events.”

Solar Year 988

“Whenever you’re ready, Miss Sparkle,” the proctor said, checking something off on her clipboard.

Twilight looked up at her parents in the gallery. They smiled down supportively. It didn’t help calm her pounding heart. It was the biggest, most important day in her life, the day that would determine if she got into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. The written test had been one thing, even if she’d barely been able to keep the quill in her grip as she wrote down answers in her shaky hornwriting.

“And I’m supposed to… hatch it?” Twilight asked, looking at the huge egg. It was even bigger than she was. Almost the same color purple, though.

“That’s correct,” the proctor replied. “You may use any method you wish.”

Twilight swallowed and nodded. She bit her lip, thinking. Maybe a warming spell? Or was she just supposed to crack it open?

“Any time you’re ready,” the proctor prompted her, sounding annoyed. Twilight’s cheeks flushed red as she realized she’d just been staring at the egg for several minutes without doing anything.

Twilight took a deep breath and held it, her horn sparking, the aura pulsing as she strained to gather up enough magic to cast a spell. The stress was making her little heart beat like a hummingbird’s, and she could feel it, just out of reach.

“You can do it, Twilight!” Her mother was cheering her on. That made it even worse. She was going to fail in front of everypony. She could never cast a spell correctly when ponies were looking - even when she did it right it took her ten times as long as it should have to get it formed perfectly.

It had been one of many reasons Magic Kindergarten had been like being locked away in Tartarus. The other reasons had four hooves and laughed every time she tried to answer one of the teacher’s questions in detail or do the increasingly-difficult magic exercises.

They should have gotten easier and easier but instead, they seemed to just get harder every time. Her brother said it was stress and she needed to relax, but how could anypony relax when their entire life was on the line?

She pushed, straining for that last inch, trying to cross that gap that separated her from her magic.

There was a spark, and everything vanished in blinding light and pain.

“I think she’s starting to wake up!”

Twilight groaned. Her whole body felt dry, itchy, and empty, like she’d been running a marathon in the desert.

“Mom?” She asked, opening her eyes and looking around.

“I’m right here, Twilight,” the gray mare said, grabbing her hoof and squeezing. “Oh thank the stars. We were so scared…”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid something went wrong in your entrance examination.”

Twilight sat up straight at that voice. Princess Celestia took a step forward, her presence filling the room in a way that even her size couldn’t match.

“I spoke to the doctors,” Princess Celestia said, in carefully measured tones. “I’m so sorry, Twilight Sparkle. You had a very serious magical surge, and nopony was able to stop it until it flared out on its own.”

“A-a magical surge?” Twilight asked. She gingerly touched her horn and winced. It was still there, but it felt numb, all pins and needles.

Celestia sat down next to the bed. “Your body tried to focus more magical power than it was ready to handle. Did you learn about leylines in your studies? I’m told you’re quite the reader.”

“They’re conduits for magical energy through the body,” Twilight said. “They join the various chakra of the thaumatobiological system, centered at the wellspring and branching to the brow and heart chakra in all ponies and then from there to other locations depending on the tribe of the pony--”

“That’s right,” Celestia said, cutting off Twilight’s memorized passage. “And they can be, in rare cases, damaged. Sometimes it’s the result of a birth defect, but most commonly because of injury.”

“Something happened to my leylines?” Twilight asked, quietly.

“I’m afraid that because of your magical surge a huge amount of damage has been done,” Celestia said, putting a wing around the foal. “I’ve already ordered the doctors here to do everything possible to try and help you, but I’m afraid…” She closed her eyes. “You will likely never be able to cast spells again, Twilight. The connections to your wellspring are almost entirely severed.”

Twilight’s heart jumped, almost stopping.

“Because of your condition, it’s… also likely you will never get a cutie mark,” Celestia continued. “I’m so sorry, Twilight.”

“N-no!” Twilight gasped, her eyes blurring, tears trickling down her cheeks.

“The important thing is not to lose hope,” Celestia said. “You’re still young. It’s possible they could heal, at least in part, in a few years time. Even if they don’t, there are many unicorns who lead perfectly happy lives--”

“No!” Twilight repeated. “I won’t accept that! I-I will get my magic back, no matter what!”

“Nothing is impossible,” Celestia said, cautiously. “But you need to be prepared to--”

“I will find a way,” Twilight said, firmly, with the stubbornness of a foal.

Celestia sighed and stood. “I hope you do. Even if you don’t, though, there is always a place for a pony like you, Twilight. You’re one of the most intelligent fillies I’ve ever met. I saw your test scores, and I’d like to offer you a full tuition to the School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“How am I even supposed to take classes when I can’t do magic?” Twilight asked, bitterly.

“It’s entirely possible to get a doctorate purely on theory and research, two things that I know you already excel at,” Celestia assured her. “Your life is only beginning, Twilight. You get to decide what you do with it, but I think you have much you can still offer the world.”

“Twilight, thank the Princess for her kind offer,” her mother whispered.

Twilight glared at her for a moment, then looked away. “Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll give you some time alone with your daughter.”

The Princess stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her before she started breathing again.

“I hate having to give bad news,” Princess Celestia said, in a whisper.

“How is she?” Cadance asked, from where she was waiting next to the door.

“Upset,” Celestia said. “Partly at me, but it’s for the best. It’s terrible news for anypony to hear, especially such a promising young pony.”

“You look like you feel guilty,” Cadance said.

“I do,” Celestia admitted, starting down the hallway. Cadance glanced at the door, then followed. “I should have been there at the school. Instead I was halfway to Cloudsdale responding to an emergency report from the EIS. I didn’t get there in time to do anything, and I wasn’t here to help a pony that needed it.”

“Cloudsdale?”

“There was some sort of temporal disturbance. The only witnesses were foals.” Celestia sighed. “I could have let the agents there take care of it, and then I would have been here to stop Twilight Sparkle’s surge…” she shook her head. “Too many what-ifs.”

“If you want my advice, the best thing is to look forward instead of back,” Cadance offered.

“You’re absolutely right,” Celestia agreed. “And I hope Twilight can do the same. I’ll keep an eye on her. I expect great things, and I’ll make sure she has every opportunity I can give her to prove me right.”

Now

Sunburst looked at the glass of water they’d put on the table in front of him. With the suppression ring on his horn and the hoofcuffs it might as well have been a hundred miles away. They’d just put it there to mock him.

“Now, from what we can tell, your first meeting with Doctor Twilight Sparkle was at the school. You were a few years ahead of her, I believe.”

“Nopony was ahead of her,” Sunburst said, trying not to think about how thirsty he was. He didn’t even know how long he’d been in that dark room. A day? Two? Maybe it had only been a few hours.

“Oh?”

“She’s a genius. Even back then, everypony knew it. Just because I’d been in school longer than her didn’t mean I was closer to graduating. She’d skipped ahead half a decade of classes by the time I’d even learned her name…”

Solar Year 994

“You got almost everything right,” Sunburst said, looking down the list of answers. “The one thing you have wrong here is that it was Neighpon, not Thesselonia, that supported the Lunar Rebellion. Remember, they hadn’t reformed the government yet.”

“Right, right,” Moondancer said, groaning. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize!” Sunburst said. “This would still be an A! You’re going to end up with almost a perfect grade in the class, at this rate.”

They’d been studying for two hours already in Donut Joe’s. Sunburst couldn’t complain -- he was only getting paid in pastries and coffee but that was practically all he’d spend money on anyway, as a student.

“Almost perfect isn’t good enough,” Moondancer said, putting her head down on the table and taking off her thick glasses, pushing empty cups of coffee away. “I need to get it all absolutely right if I want to ask the professors about testing out of the 200-level class.”

“You want to test out of it? Why?” Sunburst asked.

“Well, um…” Moondancer blushed and looked away. “You have to promise not to tell anypony.”

“As your official history tutor, I promise nothing you tell me leaves this room,” Sunburst assured her. He looked around. “And I won’t tell anypony else in the coffee shop either, even if they ask nicely.”

“Thanks,” Moondancer said. She sat up and looked around, as if expecting spies. “It’s because of Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight Sparkle? Is that one of your teachers?” Sunburst asked.

“No, she’s another student. We have a lot of advanced classes together, but she’s going to start the grad-level courses and I need to get in the same courses or else I’ll never see her again!” Moondancer picked up her glasses, cleaning them absently. “S-she’s really brilliant, and I want to show her that I can keep up with her if I try hard enough.”

“Brilliant, huh?” Sunburst smiled. “I think you have a crush.”

“Maybe a little one,” Moondancer admitted. “It’s about proving it to myself, too. If she can do it, so can I!”

“Sunburst!”

The young stallion turned, and his jaw dropped in surprise.

“Starlight?!” He gasped. The pink unicorn pulled him into a hug with her magic, almost crushing him with her tight grip.

“I knew it was you! I’d recognize you anywhere!”

“Can’t… breathe…” Sunburst gasped out.

“Oops!” Starlight blushed and dropped him. “I sometimes forget how fragile ponies are. Tell you what, how about I treat you to some lunch?”

“Neighponese?” Sunburst asked.

“You don’t like seaweed?” Starlight asked, as she added a dangerous amount of soy sauce to her mushroom stir fry.

“No, it’s just kind of an odd coincidence,” Sunburst said. “I was tutoring somepony and- it’s not all that important.” He blushed. “Are you visiting Canterlot? It’s really good to see you. I know I haven’t been great about writing letters…”

“You’ve been awful about writing letters,” Starlight corrected. “And if you weren’t my best friend I’d be really peeved, but I’ve been kinda busy too. I’ve actually been in town for almost a month now, but the Princess has kept me running around too much to get a day off until now.”

“The Princess?!” Sunburst’s eyes went wide, and he jerked to his hooves, knocking over his teacup. Starlight caught it in midair, even saving the contents before they could hit the ground.

“Didn’t you hear?” Starlight smiled smugly. “I’m her new personal student.”

“You’re her--”

Starlight rolled her eyes and Sunburst was surrounded by her magic. He sat down, body not entirely under his control.

“There we go,” Starlight sighed. “Let’s not cause a scene. I’m still trying to make a good impression on Princess Celestia. I’m sort of on probation until I prove I can handle the academic side of the job. The raw power I’ve got in spades, but she wants me to be more well-rounded.”

“That’s really great, though,” Sunburst smiled. “This is huge! I knew you had the talent to get into the school.”

“One in a million,” Starlight agreed, shamelessly. “So what’s this about being a tutor? Should I be jealous?”

“Oh, no need to worry,” Sunburst laughed. “She’s already got her heart set on somepony named Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight Sparkle…” Starlight’s expression fell. “I heard about her.”

“Seems like everypony has but me,” Sunburst joked.

“She’s dangerous,” Starlight warned him. “Tia is always talking about her. Half the time I think she wants to put her in prison and the other half of the time I think she’s going to replace me.”

“Then let’s talk about something else,” Sunburst said. “I want to hear about you, not other mares. What’s been going on back in town since I left?”

Starlight grinned. “Well, you remember that clock tower we used to have?”

“Used to?”

“Let me tell you how I figured out my special talent wasn’t mechanical engineering…”

Sunburst looked over the grant papers again. He hated having to beg the school for money, but even if he could get the funds himself (and he couldn’t unless he wanted to get a job and stop sleeping entirely) he needed lab space even more, and that was something he needed permission for. The one time he’d tried doing things in his dorm room it had gone poorly. They weren’t thaumatically clean, and, well, with so many unicorns practicing spells in one building with unshielded walls…

The fires had been purple. He wasn’t even sure what would make fire turn purple, but it also smelled so bad that everypony was having to sleep in the gym for a week until the cleaning staff could air everything out.

The door to the room slammed open.

“You ingrates totally lack vision!” Spat the young pony in the doorway. “This is important research!”

“It’s expensive and unnecessary,” corrected a serene voice from within, though it was tinged with a heavy dose of annoyance. “This is an order of magnitude more than you require, and we will not be allowing you to conduct research on cadavers. Necromancy is strictly against the school rules.”

“It isn’t necromancy! I need to study thaumobiology in a real subject, not just charts that haven’t been updated in a century!”

“That is more than enough, Twilight Sparkle,” said the voice from within.

Sunburst cautiously looked around the open door. The panel of professors within were largely cowering away from Celestia, who was standing with her wings half-spread, like she was ready to pounce, or trying to intimidate the pony in front of her.

Somehow, though, the teenage mare she was confronting loomed almost as large in the mind’s eye, despite the difference in size. She was obviously totally unafraid of the Princess.

“I am always happy to grant reasonable funding requests, especially from you, but this is not reasonable and I do not like having my generosity abused,” Celestia said. “Your request is officially denied. If you still want to pursue research, spend a week and come up with a more reasonable request and I will listen to it. Until then, you are on academic probation. Again.”

“You can take your academic probation and--”

“Miss Sparkle I suggest you choose your next words carefully.”

Twilight growled and threw her papers to the floor, stomping past Sunburst and slamming the door behind her.

“Stupid Princess…” Twilight mumbled, her voice shaking as she held back angry tears.

Sunburst took several quick steps back as Twilight took a deep breath, sniffling and rubbing her eyes before putting on a set of glasses nearly as thick as Moondancer’s. She glanced at him and quickly composed herself.

“What do you want?” She asked.

“N-nothing,” Sunburst said. “I’m just, um, the next appointment.”

“Ah,” Twilight said. She narrowed her eyes. “I recognize you. You’re Moondancer’s history tutor.”

“Sunburst,” he said.

“Mm.” Sparkle nodded. “If you want to get anything approved I suggest you wait a few minutes for them to calm down. Then again, they’ll probably approve anything right now just to spite me.”

“You, um, didn’t make a good impression on them, I think.”

“I’m used to making poor impressions, Sunspot. I don’t care as long as I get what I want in the end.” She turned on her hooves and stomped away.

“Sunburst,” he corrected, too quietly for her to hear, as she left.

“I don’t know what you see in her,” Sunburst said, as he ate another donut. “She was even yelling at the Princess!”

“From what I understand they’ve known each other personally since she was a very young foal,” Moondancer said. “I guess they’re just familiar like that. The rumors are that Princess Cadenza even used to foalsit for her.”

“For Twilight Sparkle?” Sunburst blinked. “But why?”

“I don’t know,” Moondancer admitted. “Somepony in her family must be really important to get that kind of royal attention. Just… give her a chance. She’s a good pony. She’d never admit it, but she hates being alone.”

Now

“And that was your first encounter with Doctor Sparkle?” The agent asked.

“My grant was approved, in case you were curious,” Sunburst mumbled.

“That was shortly before she graduated. Her activities started to become extremely difficult to track around that time,” the pony continued. “She’s on record as graduating in 997, with a sterling academic record and without a single professor writing her a letter of recommendation. She burned almost every bridge.”

“She always said that they kicked her out and threw a diploma at her to keep her away,” Sunburst said, smiling faintly.

“Her thesis, the Universal Harmony Project, was classified and restricted by orders of the Crown. Do you know even I don’t have clearance to read it?”

“It would probably be a little dry if you didn’t have the background,” Sunburst said, trying to sound coy. “If you ask nicely I’ll get you the annotated version.”

“You graduated a year later, I believe, still ahead of the average. Your own record is quite impressive. Did you keep in touch with any of your school friends?”

“I know Moondancer graduated at the same time I did, but I lost track of her after that for a few years. Starlight and I sort of lost touch with each other again. She never had time to do anything except study…”

Solar Year 998

“I wasn’t expecting all this,” Moondancer said, as Twilight held open the chain-link fence with her hoof, letting her through into the construction zone. “And you did all this in just a year?”

“Put this on,” Twilight said, giving her a hard hat. “Your mind is your most valuable asset, and we can’t afford any bumps.”

Moondancer blushed at the compliment and put it on, securing it tightly.

“This was the least expensive plot of land within a few miles of the capital,” Twilight explained. “It used to be a mine for the crystals under the capital, until the sinkholes opened up and the company was sued into oblivion for unsafe mining practices and failure to secure mineral rights. I’m converting the barracks and office into lab space.”

“This is more than just converting a few buildings,” Moondancer said.

“Some of the experiments I have planned could involve high-energy magic. I need to add secure walls and doors,” Twilight said, dismissively. “And this far from the city I don’t need permits. It’s extremely convenient.”

“Where did you get all the money for this?”

“I was able to secure a few government grants. Not much, but enough to get started.” Twilight pushed past construction ponies carrying plates of armored glass and turned a corner to a mostly-finished office. “Please sit. I’d offer you tea but…”

“N-no, it’s okay,” Moondancer assured her.

“I was pleased to see your application,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you. There’s a lot going on right now and it took some time for my partners to do their own background checks on you to make sure you could be trusted.”

Moondancer’s ears perked up. “Partners?”

“They helped me secure the land, and they’ve been very useful in making sure I stay informed.” She paused. “They’re willing to trust you, if I personally vouch for you. Anything you do to betray them would come back on me. I’m taking a risk in doing this.”

“I won’t let you down,” Moondancer said. “But…” she shuffled nervously. “You aren’t doing anything wrong, are you?”

“Mm. No. I wouldn’t think so. As long as my plans proceed smoothly, the end result will be far better for Equestria than if I did nothing.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Just please, keep an open mind until everything is explained.”

“You’re afraid,” the unicorn -- it was easiest to think of it as a unicorn, even if it hadn’t been one when she walked into the room -- said. It sounded amused.

“I’m not--” Moondancer started, trying to deny it. It was not an easy thing to deny, down here in the mines, with blue eyes in the dark watching her every move.

“Don’t lie, please,” the unicorn said. She was tall, with a pristine white coat a few shades cooler than Celestia’s. “I can taste your fear. It’s natural for prey to be afraid in front of a predator.”

“This is Queen Chrysalis,” Twilight said. “She’s been sponsoring me to help fill in the gaps where my own funding is insufficient.”

“Luckily for Sparkle, my people have little need of bits.” Chrysalis smirked.

“I sought her people out based on old research papers that described them in detail,” Twilight said. “They can transform into unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies…”

Chrysalis indulged her by transforming as Twilight spoke, wings and horn appearing and disappearing.

“And alicorns, of course,” Twilight finished. Chrysalis turned into Celestia for a moment before dropping back into her normal, hole-ridden form.

Moondancer shivered.

“Their ability to use the magic of all the pony tribes fascinates me. They actually rearrange their own leylines! It’s not precise enough to emulate cutie mark talents, but it’s quite elegant.” Sparkle smiled.

“The flattery has helped keep her in my good graces,” Chrysalis said. “I never thought I’d say this about a pony, but she is exceptionally efficient. If her plans work and I recoup my investment, I’ll be quite pleased. If not…” Chrysalis smiled, showing fangs. “I’ll find another way for her to repay me.”

“We’re leaps and bounds ahead of where Celestia thinks we are,” Sparkle said, leading Moondancer into a workshop. Strange devices covered every surface, from incomplete bodysuits to sets of Royal Guard armor with boxes bolted to the sides to bundles of wire and cable in the rough shape of a pony. In the very center of it all was a ponyquin with prosthetic wings secured to a harness and a thick row of vertical fins running down the spine.

“What is all this?” Moondancer asked.

“Rectifiers, mostly,” Sparkle explained, pulling on a lab coat. “They’re designed to force magic into artificial leylines and align them to a pony’s body. I haven’t had much luck with changing existing leylines, but creating new ones seems much more fruitful.”

“Creating new leylines?” Moondancer tapped her chin. “But where would you get the magic from?”

“I’m working on a solution to that. For now, I have thaumatic batteries.” Sparkle frowned. “It’s not nearly enough. The best design I have only lasts a minute, and the suits burn out even before that. I need ponies who can help me, ones that know more about magic than Chrysalis’ changelings.”

“W-well, I was top of my class,” Moondancer offered.

“Some of the highest scores recorded,” Sparkle agreed. “And you’re one of the few ponies that… doesn’t mind working with me.” She looked away, embarrassed. “I know I can be difficult.”

“You get frustrated easily.”

“Especially with stupid ponies, yes. One more reason I need smart ponies around me. Most of the changelings have an education roughly on par with being raised by wolves.”

“And you promise you aren’t going to, like, go insane and try to destroy Equestria?” Moondancer asked, her tone light but really only half-joking.

“I plan on saving it. Tell me, how much do you know about Nightmare Moon?”

“I know it’s a legend.”

“She’s very real. And I have a plan to save Equestria from her. Let me tell you about Operation Tabitha…”

Now

“We’re still not sure how much she managed to hide from us,” the agent said, sitting down across from Sunburst. He could make out a little more, now. She was a mare, a pegasus, and clearly getting tired standing up and looming while asking questions.

“She probably hid almost as much from me,” Sunburst admitted. “You know I didn’t even see her for a long time, right? I was working on my own post-graduate stuff at the School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“We know. Unlike Doctor Sparkle, we have pretty good records on you. Your relationship with Starlight Glimmer made you a person of interest. At the time you were considered extremely low-threat and a possible asset.”

“What am I now?”

“We’re still deciding that. The result of this interview will tell us if you’re going to walk out of here with a medal or a prison sentence.”

“What’s your personal opinion?”

“I think we should lock you up anyway until it’s all over. No offense. I’d give you a nice prison cell, though. One without rats.”

“Really nice of you.”

“Trust me, it’s nicer than some ponies would want any of Doctor Sparkle’s associates to get.” She shuffled some of the papers on the table. “I’m sure you remember the disappearance of the Mare in the Moon?”

“One of the great mysteries of the time,” Sunburst nodded.

“And you personally looked into it. Let’s talk about that…”

Solar Year 1000

Sunburst groaned as he stumbled to the door. His room was covered in papers, empty coffee cups from Donut Joe’s, and books. His head was just as cluttered, and pounding in time with the knocks coming from outside.

“One minute…” he mumbled, reaching for the knob. It opened just before he had a chance to do it himself.

“Hey, there you are!” Starlight said, looking far too happy and chipper for the morning after one of the longest nights Sunburst could remember. Maybe being Celestia’s personal student came with access to some kind of secret super-coffee.

Starlight waved her hoof in front of his bleary eyes and he realized he’d been staring for a few seconds without saying anything.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice croaking. “I was kinda up all night--”

“Everypony was!” Starlight teased. “It was the Summer Sun Celebration. Can I come in?” She pushed past him without asking permission. “Wow! Looks like you’re way ahead of me. These books are all on lunar astronomy, right?”

“Um. Also optics, but that didn’t go anywhere…” Sunburst mumbled, closing the door.

“I knew you were the right pony for the job,” Starlight said. “Celestia has asked me to investigate the mystery of the mare in the moon! And I could use some help. You’ve always been good with research, and the big mare is always telling me I need to rely on my friends more…” She smiled widely.

“Well I can’t say no if it’s an order from the Princess,” Sunburst said, yawning. “Can we stop for coffee before we go to the library?”

“We’re not going to the library. We’re going somewhere much more fun.”

“This is not fun,” Sunburst said.

“Doesn’t it remind you of home?” Starlight asked, stopping to gesture grandly at the town. It was certainly small enough that a single motion managed to more or less indicate the whole place.

“I’d say it’s a hamlet, but they have a Hayburger Princess, so I think it’s technically a village,” Sunburst commented, yawning and sipping at the awful coffee they’d gotten from the fast-food place. “And the Princess really thinks we’ll find clues here?”

“She gets these visions,” Starlight explained. “She seemed really disturbed about this one. I think the disappearance of the Mare in the Moon is some kind of prophecy. She spent the whole night looking like she was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.”

“That sounds bad.”

“Sure, but then… nothing happened.” Starlight frowned. “She seemed even more worried about that. It’s like she wanted something bad to happen, and when it didn’t…” Starlight shrugged.

“Like studying for a big test and then the professor cancels at the last minute?” Sunburst guessed.

“Yeah!” Starlight nodded. “That’s a good way to put it. All dressed up and nowhere to go. I asked her how I could help and she sent me here looking for clues.”

“Where do we even start? If we were in Canterlot we could ask around the Observatory, but I doubt there are many astronomers here.”

“I have a hunch,” Starlight said, leading Sunburst into a building that looked like it had been built using more sugar and frosting than brick and mortar.

“Is that from Hayburger Princess?” Asked a blur of pink that managed to appear between Sunburst’s eyes and his glasses. “Oh wow, I think you’re the only pony I’ve ever seen drinking their coffee! Especially since we don’t usually allow outside food or drinks.”

“Um--” Sunburst said, as the cup was taken from his magical grip.

“Try this instead!” A mug was pressed into his hooves. “You’ll thank me.”

Sunburst squinted down at it.

“Oh! You’ll want these!” The glasses were placed back on his face, and the mug resolved into something brown and swirled, with whipped cream on top. He looked up at the pink thing, which was apparently a pony, though he’d never seen one quite so… poofy and excited.

She wiggled her eyebrows and gestured at the mug.

Sunburst took a sip.

“Oh wow, that’s good,” he said, in surprise, looking down at it again. “Chocolate and coffee?”

“Espresso and hot chocolate with a little cinnamon and nutmeg!” The pink pony smiled. “I’ve been trying out a lot of coffee drinks!” That probably explained the way she was vibrating. “I’m Pinkie Pie! You two must be new in town!”

“We’re just visiting,” Starlight said. “But yeah, we’re new. Do you know a lot of ponies around town? We were looking for somepony and I could use some help.”

“Sure! I know everypony!” Pinkie grinned.

“We’re looking for somepony?” Sunburst whispered. Starlight ignored him.

“Have you seen this mare?” She pulled a photo out of her saddlebags and gave it to Pinkie.

“Oh.” Pinkie frowned a little. “I remember her.”

Sunburst craned his neck to look. The photo was a mare he hadn’t seen or thought about in years, a purple unicorn with thick glasses and a lab coat. Doctor Twilight Sparkle. The picture looked recent, and like it had been taken without Doctor Sparkle being aware of it.

Pinkie gave the picture back.

“She was really grumpy and in a hurry,” Pinkie said. “She had a bunch of really unfriendly ponies with her, too. They wouldn’t even try our free Summer Sun Celebration cupcakes! What kind of pony can resist free cupcakes?”

“Definitely not a normal one,” Starlight said, with a small, sympathetic smile. “Do you know if she’s still in town?”

“No, she went into the Everfree Forest,” Pinkie said. “You don’t think she’s in danger, do you? Usually, I plan birthday parties but I bet I could do a really great search party! Is cake or pie more appropriate?”

“It’s okay,” Starlight assured her. “I’m sure she’s fine. Did any of the other ponies give their names?”

“No. It’s weird, actually.” Pinkie leaned closer. “They didn’t seem normal. Maybe because they were with the government.”

“The government?” Sunburst asked.

“The pony in charge was named Kevin. He said they were with the Equestrian Information Service, Division Six.” Pinkie explained. “Oh! Were they not allowed to have cupcakes because they were on duty? That seems like a really awful job.”

“I’m sure it was nothing personal,” Starlight said. “In fact, can I get a half-dozen to go? We could use a snack since we’ll be taking a little walk.”

“What flavor?” Pinkie asked, running behind the counter. “We’ve got yellow cake, chocolate, red velvet--”

“Surprise me,” Starlight said. “I like surprises.”

Pinkie’s grin went even wider, somehow.

“Blueberry, ginger, and rose petals should not work together this well,” Starlight groaned, as she bit into the cupcake, tossing the paper wrapper into the woods. “That mare knows how to bake better than the palace chefs!”

“Starlight, are you sure we should be here? If the EIS is involved…” Sunburst looked around the woods nervously, the possibility of government agents not really the danger forefront in his thoughts. Everypony knew about the Everfree. Ponies who went into it didn’t come out.

“They aren’t,” Starlight said, with absolute assurance. “There is no Division Six.”

“How do you know that?” Sunburst asked.

“Just trust me on this one.”

“And what about Twilight Sparkle? What’s she got to do with it?”

“I had a hunch. Of course, there’s one big problem.” Starlight took another bite of the cupcake. “Twilight Sparkle was in Canterlot, not here. Her brother’s in the Royal Guard and was with her the whole night. Either she figured out how to be in two places at the same time or else something really funny is going on.”

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Sunburst asked.

“That pegasus said it was this way,” Starlight said. “And I gave her three cupcakes, which I’m starting to regret. These are really good.”

“I’m just not sure if she’s reliable. I mean… she said the animals told her there was something scary. That’s kind of…”

“It’s kind of the only lead we’ve got,” Starlight said. “Besides, she seemed nice, and she confirmed what that baker said about Twilight being here.”

“Do you smell that?” Sunburst asked.

“No. All I can smell right now is ginger and berries.”

“It’s something burned,” Sunburst said, looking around. “That way, I think.” He pointed, and they pushed through the brush until the trees suddenly cleared out, the smell of smoke getting stronger. The ground gave out under Sunburst’s hooves, loose dirt and rocks sliding down a steep slope.

“Careful!” Starlight yelled, grabbing Sunburst when he started to trip. “Looks like we found something.”

They looked into the crater, as big as a house and surrounded by burned foliage, then at each other.

“Meteorite?” Sunburst guessed.

Starlight’s horn lit up. “No way. Not with these magical readings. Whatever happened here was big. Really big.”

“Big enough to worry Celestia?” Sunburst asked.

“Definitely,” Starlight agreed. “And there are hoofprints all over. There had to be at least a dozen ponies here before us.”

“Those EIS members?”

Starlight picked something up, a black shard of something that looked unpleasantly organic, covered in green goo.

“Maybe,” Starlight muttered. “But I don’t think they’re on any government payroll.”

“There’s more over here,” Sunburst said. “It looks like they set fire to something.” There were perfect circles of ashes and blackened grass in the clearing.

“The magic signature is really weird,” Starlight said. “Can you grab some samples? I’m gonna take a look around, then we’ll get out of here.”

“Before it starts to get dark, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Starlight smiled. “We definitely don’t wanna spend the night.”

Now

“We went back to Canterlot after that,” Sunburst said. “I did research on it for a little while but I had my own studies to worry about and I sort of lost track of things.”

“Starlight Glimmer kept you out of her official report to the Princess,” the agent said. “Did you ask her not to mention you?”

“No. I wish I could have helped more.”

“I see,” the pegasus tapped her hoof on the table idly. “And not long after that, you were offered a job to work with Doctor Sparkle. Is that true?”

“Why are you even asking when you know the answer?”

“It’s how you answer that interests me,” she said. “Why did you take the job? You must have known that whatever she was doing, it was dangerous.”

“Definitely dangerous,” Sunburst agreed. “It even got me foalnapped right off the streets of Canterlot and dragged into a dungeon somewhere. I wasn’t even able to get lunch before your goons grabbed me.”

“We used to rely on Shining Armor for reports on Doctor Sparkle, but he was… never in her inner circle. She kept him too far from her real secrets. She didn’t trust him. And then with his death…”

“He was a good stallion,” Sunburst said, quietly.

“Until his sister killed him.”

“Sombra killed him,” Sunburst corrected.

“All of Sombra’s magically-controlled slaves were freed. If she’d used non-lethal force, he’d be with us today.”

“You weren’t there.”

“No. But you were there, for almost every awful thing she did. Why would you work for a pony like that?”

“She’s a genius,” Sunburst said. “At first it was exciting. We were doing things in practice that hadn’t even been theory a few years before. We didn’t even have to answer to anypony! We just worked and tested things and let them blow up or fail because we learned more going quickly and making mistakes.”

“So that was it? All you cared about was the work?”

Sunburst looked up at her. “We saved Equestria a bunch of times. You might not like our methods -- I didn’t even like our methods -- but we did it.”

“Somehow.”

“Sparkle was an awful boss. She was constantly demanding and yelling, I think I was working twenty-hour days and she’d probably try and get Celestia to add an extra hour in the day if she thought she could get away with it.” Sunburst smiled grimly. “But she was almost always right.”

There was a knock on the door.

The agent blinked in surprise.

“Nopony is supposed to-- why don’t you just relax and I’ll see who it is?” She smiled. “Maybe somepony is here to offer you a better job. Sparkle won’t be in business for much longer.”

Sunburst glared at her as she stood, the suited pony opening the door.

“What are you--” before she could finish asking, a blast of cyan and gold magic slammed her into the far wall.

“Whoops,” said a familiar voice from the doorway. Starlight walked in, checking the corners of the room. “Used a little more force than I meant to. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Concussions are practically a way of life for pegasi anyway.”

“Starlight?” Sunburst asked, surprised.

“Long time no see!” Starlight smiled sadly. “I, uh. I’m here to rescue you.”

“Rescue me? But-- aren’t you on their side?”

“When it comes to my friends, there’s only one side,” Starlight said. “This is probably going to look really bad when I have to explain it to the big mare later, but I’m not going to let you end up dead or in a dungeon.”

Starlight’s horn flashed, and the hoofcuffs snapped. Sunburst groaned and moved his stiff shoulders, trying to get the ache out of them.

“Celestia is acting totally nuts,” Starlight whispered. “I don’t know everything, but I know it’s not going to be safe anywhere around here. I’m getting you out of here.”

“I don’t think we can just walk away,” Sunburst said, while she worked the ring off of his horn carefully.

“There isn’t a pony alive who can stop me,” Starlight said. “We’ll leave Equestria, go see the world. Zebrica, Griffonstone, the Dragon Lands, Saddle Arabia… I’ve always wanted to travel anyway.”

“Starlight--”

“Don’t, okay?” Starlight’s smile fell. “I know… I know you’re in love with somepony else. I’m doing this anyway because I’m kinda stupid and… I guess I wish I’d spent more time with you and less with Celestia.”

“I wish I’d made more time for you, too.”

“Let’s save the sappy stuff for after we’re in Zebrica. I don’t know how long the stun spells are going to last and I’d really rather not have to fight my way out,” Starlight smirked.

“You should have been more worried about the alarms,” said a tired voice from the corridor. Starlight froze up and turned slowly to look behind her.

Princess Cadance looked like she hadn’t slept for a week. Her eyes were heavy, and even her wings were disheveled.

“P-Princess, what a surprise to see you here…”

“Don’t,” Cadance groaned. “I’m not here to stop you. I disabled the alarms. Being a Princess does have some perks.”

“You disabled the alarms?” Sunburst asked, surprised.

“I know it’s not a lot of help, but I can’t do anything drastic yet,” Cadance said. “Celestia has been… she’s not acting like herself. I need to keep her from doing something we’ll all regret. After what happened with Sunset I can’t even talk to her.”

“Are you going to tell her about this?” Starlight asked.

“I won’t. She’ll find out anyway.” Cadance pointed down a corridor with her wing. “There are no guards that way. It leads out to a canal that empties into a waterfall. You can use it to get out of the city without being seen. Shiny and I used to use the canals all the time when we wanted to avoid the rest of the Guards talking about us.”

“Thank you,” Sunburst whispered. “About Shining Armor--”

“I already know,” Cadance said, shaking her head. “I know a lot of the awful things that happened. Twilight is still like a little sister to me, though. I know how much it hurt her, doing all those things. Not just her heart, but her soul. You need to warn her that Celestia is coming for her. With the war over, Celestia is going to crush her and her dreams, and I don’t even know why. It’s like… Twilight did something to personally offend her.”

“I’ll warn her,” Sunburst said.

“There isn’t much time,” Cadance said. “Tell her I forgive her. For everything. In case I can’t tell her in person.”

“You’re going to do something stupid too, huh?” Starlight asked.

“I’m the Princess of Love,” Cadance said. “I’d do anything to protect the ponies that I care about.”

Author's Note

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I know how history paints me and my very brief rebellion.

Most ponies can't even hear me anymore. No, that's not quite correct. Most don't know I even exist, even though I've done so much for all of you.

Over the last thousand years and all the millions of ponies who have been born and lived and died, all of them had dreams that I sent them. I wanted to make Equestria a better place. It slowly has gotten better.

Did you ever wonder why every invention is local? Why amazing, advanced technology appears with no precedent? It's because ponies see it in their dreams. Dreams I sent them. Ponies forget things, and they don't write everything down, and even some things that are written down are censored. I don't forget. I take the best and brightest and inspire them.

This has been good, and bad, I admit. Skyscrapers and night clubs are monuments to progress, but ponies have also cleared forests for lumber and done terrible things in the name of ambition.

You now confront the basic problem of morality. Is it better for ponies to conform and fit it, or excel and let their inspirations guide them?

Society only works because ponies make an effort to fit in. They used to move as a herd, just following whatever strong leader made the first move. Now they have rough edges. They have desires of their owns. They have cutie marks for talents in what they want instead of what they were born into.

Some ponies never fit in. They have a talent their family doesn't approve of. They dream of things they can't have. The bigger the dream, the more likely it is to be crushed by reality. But if ponies didn't have big dreams, where would we be today?

Well, probably not the moon, but that's not the point.

My question is, was my sister right, or was I?

The End of Equestria

"I'm disappointed," Princess Celestia said. "I thought you had better judgment."

"You were holding an innocent pony illegally," Cadance retorted. "You act like you're above the law."

"I am above the law. That's what being a Princess means." Celestia sighed. "I do everything for the ponies of Equestria. I've made personal sacrifices you can't even begin to imagine. I've sent friends to their deaths, I've let ponies die when I could have saved them. Even my own family..." She shook her head.

"What you want to do is wrong. The war is over and you want to start another one."

"Cadance, do you know what my duty is?"

"You raise the sun."

"And ponies have been able to count on that for a thousand years. It wasn't always so. I won't allow the world to be plunged into chaos again. I led Equestria through its darkest hour, and I swore I wouldn't let it get that far again." She sighed. "I'm doing this for your own good, Cadance. You're not, officially, a prisoner."

"But unofficially if I try to leave the guards will stop me," Cadance guessed.

"They'll keep you here for your own protection until the operation is over. After that, we can talk about your situation."

The sky was a flat wall of grey, as complete as if somepony had poured concrete over the heavens, stretching from horizon to horizon. Doctor Sparkle didn't usually think much about the weather, but today she was watching it closely.

"The clouds were moved in overnight," Moondancer reported. "The Court's sources in Cloudsdale say there was a rush order. It was a big deal, locally, since the weather factory was destroyed and they had to mostly make them by hoof."

"Of course that news won't hit the Canterlot papers for quite a while, if it hasn't been intentionally suppressed already," Doctor Sparkle said. "I'm insulted by the plan, though."

"It's the same one she was planning on using in the North," Moondancer confirmed. "Moving airships into position using the cloud cover, then attack from a position of air superiority."

"I'd send Sunset up to have a look but I fear we'd lose whatever time we have left." Doctor Sparkle turned from the window. "I need options. Any word from Chrysalis?"

"According to her drones, she's taking care of something herself." Moondancer sighed. "I think she just doesn't want to be stuck here when the fighting starts. I can't blame her."

"Mm. She always was smart about political matters."

"Do you think she'll turn on us?"

Sparkle shook her head. "No. I think at this point she's realized that despite how much the Changelings have helped the war effort from the shadows, Celestia will never negotiate with her."

"What are we going to do, though? We can't fight the entire army, and they're ponies like us."

Flam stared into the maw of the beast he'd designed. A stone sphere inscribed with the image of a gem floated in place in the center of a mass of machinery he'd built based on half-remembered schematics.

"It's a bit bigger than Sparkle's, brother," he said. "But I don't have her talent. Not without you helping me."

He adjusted a few bolts and closed the mirror-lined cavity.

"Still, I think the artefact thaumoetheric generator is quite an impressive achievement. I know you'd be proud if you were here. I just wish I knew where Celestia got these things..."

"Flam or Flim, whichever one of you it is!"

Flam flinched at the shout, coming from far too close to be comfortable or polite. He dropped the wrench he was holding, the steel clattering against the airship deck.

"Captain Tiller," he said, turning around and forcing himself to look pleasant. "I'm in the middle of some delicate adjustments."

"These toys are taking up more than half my deck space!" The greying pegasus Captain glared at them. "I don't like having them around. I wouldn't stand for it if the Princess herself hadn't ordered them moved to the HRMS Sunny Day."

"I'm sure. But she did order it. Is there something you needed help with?" Flim grit his teeth.

"I'm supposed to order you to make them ready for deployment," Tiller said. "Bloody things cost almost as much as an airship each. I'll be writing up the performance evaluation on them, Flim, and I expect results. If they don't bucking amaze me, I'll make sure you don't get even one more bit of military funding."

"Flam," Flam corrected.

"Whatever. I don't care. These things are going to be bucking useless anyway in a few weeks." Tiller huffed and turned away. "If we had the funding they spent on you the Shining Armor wouldn't be stuck in drydock and we'd have the full fleet."

"Sparkle is going to prove a more difficult target than you think, Captain," Flam said. "You'll be glad for the Iron Pegasus units before the day is over."

"I doubt that," Tiller said, walking off. "This whole operation stinks of politics. Nopony is going to be happy at the end of the day."

Rainbow Dash lived life on the edge. Sometimes that meant pushing herself to her limits and beyond.

Today it meant perching at a very literal edge.

Canterlot looked like cake somepony had carved apart with a red-hot knife. Broken water and sewer lines sprayed out of the half-melted, half-cut edges into the abyss, falling a straight mile down to the pile of debris that had once been half the city.

The ponies who had been searching for survivors had been recalled after a week. There was too much to do elsewhere to waste ponies on retrieving corpses. There'd even been talk about just covering it all up with sod and concrete and making it a memorial park.

Dash kicked a loose cobblestone, letting it sail out into the air before vanishing into the distance.

"This sucks," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Pinkie said.

Dash almost fell over the cliff in surprise.

"What the buck?! Where did you come from?!"

"Donut Joe's." Pinkie held out a cup. "You want some coffee?"

Dash took it. "I'm already all nerves, but yeah." She took a long sip. "Whooo! This is a million times better than the instant stuff in our ration packs!"

Pinkie smiled. "No kidding! I can't believe how much I missed good food."

"That's why I always sneak off to Hayburger Princess and stuff when we're anywhere near town."

"And sneaking off is why you keep getting busted down to Sargeant," Pinkie giggled.

"Eh, I always get my bars back. Ponies know I'm the best at what I do."

"Are you going to stay in after the war's over?" Pinkie asked.

"Nah. Maybe. I donno." Dash shrugged. "I mean, I don't like hurting ponies but the military during peacetime is just paperwork and drills."

"Maud is gonna go back and get her degree," Pinkie said. "I'm trying to figure out what I wanna do. I'm not going back to the farm, that's for sure."

"You'll figure something out," Dash said. "I think you could practically do anything you wanted. Or at least you'll make ponies smile while you do your best."

Pinkie laughed. "Yeah!"

There was a terrible crash as one of the walls of debris blocking the streets was shoved aside, Maud standing where it had been and looking around.

"There you are," Maud said. She seemed winded. She was almost sweating. "I was sent to find you."

"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked.

"We're being recalled from leave. We need to report in immediately and get ready to be deployed," Maud said.

"Deployed where?" Dash asked, confused.

"Hello, everypony," Celestia said, as she sat down at the head of the long table. "It's good to see you. I was worried some of you might have been killed."

"We nearly were," Fancy Pants said. "Thankfully Fleur and myself were out shopping when the attack happened, and we didn't go to our personal shelter. That one is currently in the valley below. We lost a lot of friends."

Celestia's expression fell. "I'm sorry for your loss. The scale of the attack was beyond anything we could have predicted."

"We're fortunate it wasn't worse," Jet Set said. "I assume we've gathered here to come up with some sort of plan for the Empire, now they're no longer a threat?"

"There are going to be scared ponies on both sides," Fancy Pants sighed.

"First we need to find out which ones are still a threat," Jet Set continued. "Not all of them were being controlled by black magic. I've read the reports."

"Our first priority should be stabilizing the situation, not starting a witch hunt," Fancy Pants countered.

"We should put them all in camps under military control until we know if they're a threat or not," General Nickel said gruffly. "Even if they weren't in command of their own actions they could still be a threat. Who knows what kind of effect being under dark magic spells could have on them in the long term?"

"You all make valid points," Princess Celestia said. "We do need to decide what to do with the Crystal Ponies. It's important to remember that they are ponies, and we need to treat them like the victims they are."

"Sorry, Princess, but I disagree," Jet Set said. "They may be victims, but they're also the aggressors. We should be making them work to rebuild what they destroyed."

"I hardly think making starving conscripts into slaves is in the spirit of Harmony," Fancy Pants stood up, angry. "If you want to push for that, I'll go to the press--"

"And what? I don't care," Jet Set shrugged. "There are a lot of ponies that would agree with me."

"Gentleponies!" Celestia yelled. "The situation with the Imperials is well in hoof for the moment. We have more important things to discuss!"

"You mean Sparkle's little workshop of horrors," General Nickel said. He waved, and Ensign Alias stepped forward, passing out documents. "EIS cleared this report for today's meeting."

"It's more black boxes than text," Fancy Pants said, as he flipped through the sheets.

"We find ourselves in an awkward position," Celestia said. "Doctor Sparkle certainly did help end the war more quickly, but it was largely through unsanctioned, unethical means."

"It's an embarrassment to the Crown," Jet Set muttered. "Spending all these bits and so little to show for it."

"Now that we're no longer on a full war footing, I cannot support her efforts, even implicitly," Celestia said. "Whatever good she may have done in wartime, now that we're trying to move back to the peaceful Harmony that our ponies desire, her experiments are intolerable."

"We don't think she'll just shut the doors and go quietly," General Nickel said. "It's touchy. Ideally, we'd give her a chance to stand down, but the more time we give her to think it over, the more likely she is to double down and refuse."

"And if she does refuse?" Fancy Pants asked.

"She has enough firepower at her disposal to send the rest of Canterlot down the mountain," General Nickel sighed.

"After carefully considering the options, I think the only viable course of action is to shut her down by force." Celestia sat back, watching the other ponies. "We have to use overwhelming strength, the kind it would be impossible for her to resist. If she can't fight back, she might concede."

"You're talking about a full assault," Fancy Pants said.

"We have to be prepared to use lethal force," General Nickel added. "The danger can't be overstated. According to the EIS reports, her resources are exhausted. We've been keeping her from hiring any additional personnel to limit the number of ponies in the line of fire. If we strike now, we might be able to take them with no casualties at all on either side."

Fancy Pants frowned. "This is already being done, isn't it? You've already gotten everything into place and you're just going to backdate our meeting to make it look like it was approved in advance."

"It's necessary, in order to move with the needed speed," Celestia said.

"Where's Princess Cadance?" Fancy Pants asked. "What's her opinion on this?"

"She's not available."

"Neither am I, then. I refuse to sign this. I can't stop you but I won't have a part in this disaster." Fancy Pants stood up and stomped towards the door, Royal Guards moving to stop him. "Oh, I see. She's 'unavailable'. I going to be 'unavailable' too?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Celestia said. "Until the operation is over. I'm sorry."

"Ensign Alias?"

The uniformed mare turned to look at the two black-suited ponies. They'd found her walking from one office to another.
That was a bad sign. It meant they'd been actively looking for her. Even waiting in her office would have been less ominous.

"Can I help you?" Alias asked, keeping her tone and face pleasant. "I'm in the middle of something for General Nickel Plated."

"Not anymore. We need you to come with us."

"What's this about?" Alias asked.

One of the suited ponies adjusted her dark glasses. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you're not authorized for that information."

Alias narrowed her eyes. "I don't think I caught your names?"

"I'm Agent Sweetie Drops, this is my partner Agent Argent. We're with EIS and we have a few questions. This won't take long, and then you can get back to your duties."

Alias nodded. "Well, lead the way."

"We're going to need to have you wear a magic suppressor," Sweetie Drops said. "It's a standard precaution."

Her partner took a ring from his coat and walked towards Alias. She dropped her head, as if to allow him to put the ring around her horn. There was a long moment of tension, the EIS agents sure that something was going to happen, Sweetie Drops reaching into her suitjacket to touch something that was almost definitely a weapon sheathed at her side.

And then the ring slipped over Alias's horn, and they relaxed. The aura around the papers Alias had been holding vanished, and the folder fell to the floor, papers scattering.

"Shoot!" Alias sighed. "Could you help me with this really quickly? These are sensitive and I'm not supposed to let them get loose."

"Of course, Ma'am. Thank you for being cooperative." Sweetie Drops and her partner started picking papers up.

"Do either of you see a paper with a heading in blue?" Alias asked, looking down.

"No, why?" Sweetie Drops asked. Her partner shook his head.

"It mentions how these rings only work on unicorn magic."

Alias's horn blazed with acid-green light. Darts of wet fire slammed through the two EIS ponies, dropping them almost silently and setting the papers ablaze.

"It's too bad you didn't see it," Alias said. "It's a fascinating read."

Somepony shouted about the noise, and Alias smiled. Sweetie Drops's body sank into the earth within a circle of green flame, and the same fire washed over Alias, leaving her a perfect copy of the EIS mare.

When the guards came, following the smoke and noise, they found Sweetie Drops collapsed at the edge of the obvious magical attack.

"My partner?" She asked, weakly.

The Royal Guard shook his head, helping her to her hooves.

"We don't have much time," Sweetie Drops said. "They said they were going after Princess Cadance. We need to make sure she's secure. You take point."

He nodded and ran off.

Chrysalis smiled and followed.

"All the working security shutters are engaged, and the changelings have managed to set up barricades in the remaining corridors," Moondancer said, as she entered the room.

"Can you get another cup of tea for Sunburst?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "We were discussing his experience with the EIS. Apparently, they make rather poor hosts."

"Princess Cadance wanted me to make sure you knew about them," Sunburst said. "Things are really bad. They're mobilizing the military. Starlight said she wasn't going to stick around and that we'd leave too if we were smart."

"Mm. I thought Celestia's student would have more backbone," Sparkle said. "She didn't do poorly in the Fall of Canterlot."

"We can't fight this," Sunburst said. "We should surrender. At least then we won't be executed."

"They wouldn't execute Equestrian citizens," Moondancer retorted.

"If you want to leave, do it now." Doctor Sparkle got up from her desk. "Tell Sunset to meet me in Lab Three on your way out."

"I'm not leaving," Moondancer said.

"Good. Otherwise I'd dock you half a day of pay for leaving early."

Dash appeared in a flash of light and immediately ran behind a tree, retching.

"Oh god I frigging hate teleportation," she groaned, depositing her lunch on the forest floor. "I feel like I'm gonna turn inside out!"

"I'm also sick," Maud said, not that she looked or acted like it.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Pinkie asked.

Dash nodded. "Just gimme a sec. I really shouldn't have eaten anything." She coughed, trying not to heave. "Are the newbies okay?"

"Private Rickety and Corporal Sameday are both following your example and emptying their stomachs," Pinkie said.

"Awesome," Dash sighed. "Pinkie, you keep an eye on them until they're able to stand up on their own."
Pinkie saluted and hopped off towards them.

Dash steadied herself using the tree for support. "Maud, if we run into your sister and you and Pinks can't talk her down, I want you to clear out. You shouldn't have to fight your own sister."

Maud nodded silently.

"This whole thing is bucking stupid, but it's our orders. Let's get dug in and wait for the signal."

"Maud, Dash! Help!"

Dash bolted, ignoring her rumbling stomach and running towards Pinkie's voice. She found her standing over three ponies out of uniform.

"Private Rickety saw them moving in the woods," Pinkie said, once Dash had gotten caught up to them. "They tried to run and Sameday had to put a crossbow bolt into one of them. They were carrying these."

Pinkie held up satchel charges.

"Sappers, huh?" Dash sighed. "Guess they knew we were coming. Radio it in. Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll want us to come back to base instead of fighting."

"Thaumatic field reinforcement equipment, huh?" Sunset asked, as Doctor Sparkle helped her strap on the new armor. "Why do I have a feeling you grabbed this off your lab bench and never really tested it?"

"Because you're almost as smart as I am," Sparkle said. "Consider it a field test in extremis."

"I do love a new dress," Sunset joked. "So tell me about the hemline."

Doctor Sparkle rolled her eyes. "This is going to decrease your maneuverability because of the weight. It incorporates some of the technology used in the Type U equipment Marble wears and the leyline deflectors we put together when you were sniping targets at extreme range."

"The armor is thicker."

"It's reinforced. You'll thank me later."

"I can barely move."

"That's what decreased maneuverability means. You can divert power freely. If you need speed, you have speed. If you need magic, you have magic. There are also several weapons incorporated directly into the armor."

"Doctor!" Moondancer shoved the door open. "You need to see this."

"What is it?" Sparkle asked without looking.

"Somepony waving a white flag."

Doctor Sparkle didn't stop, but her hooves slowed. "They want to talk?"

"Celestia likes talking," Sunset said. "If you don't talk, she'll use your refusal to attack immediately."

"Mm." Sparkle plugged in one last wire. "Moondancer, make sure the changelings stay disguised. I'll see what they have to say. Sunset, you're with me."

The pony was literally carrying a white flag. Sparkle glanced at Sunset, who was casting several spells.

"As far as I can tell they're really there, and I don't think it's Princess Celestia in disguise," she said. "I can't be sure. She taught me a lot but she held back even more."

"I wish Chrysalis was here," Sparkle muttered. "She'd be able to tell."

"How do you want to handle this?" Sunset asked. "I could blast him from here. That'd be a pretty strong reply."

"Mm..." Sparkle sighed. "Moondancer, put me through the PA system."

Moondancer nodded confirmation.

"This is Doctor Twilight Sparkle," she said, her voice echoing through the speakers. "Since you're carrying a white flag I assume you want to talk, though I also find it worrying that you find a need to treat me like an enemy. If the military wanted to speak to me, I do have a mailbox."

"I was sent here to discuss terms of surrender," the pony outside yelled. "Princess Celestia is shutting down this facility. She wants to give you a chance to solve this without bloodshed."

Sparkle tapped her hoof. "Fine. I'm willing to talk."

"You are?" Sunset frowned.

"If I don't talk, she attacks immediately, right?" Doctor Sparkle asked. "Moondancer isn't wrong that we can't fight the entire country."

Sunset cleared her throat.

"Fine, we probably could fight the entire country, but I'd rather avoid it." Sparkle switched on the PA again. "Come to my office. We'll talk there."

Pinkie frowned as she listened in on the radio. "Other teams are reporting they're finding sappers in the woods too."

"Think we have a mole somewhere?" Dash asked. "Even we didn't know about this plan until like ten minutes ago."

"Sergeant, something's wrong with the prisoners," Private Rickety said.

"Yeah, they're dumb enough to work for a mad scientist," Dash said, not turning to look at him.

"No I mean... they won't let us treat their wounds. You know Sameday shot one of them? They need medical attention. If we don't do something it's against regulations."

"Fine. Maud! Make sure they're not gonna die before we get permission from HQ to drag them back to base."

Maud nodded and stepped over. One of the three ponies got between Maud and the pony on the ground. She sighed and pushed him away, Private Ricky grabbing and holding him while Maud looked.

"There's something wrong," Maud said.

Dash snorted. "Yeah, he got shot."

"No. His blood is green."

"What?"

The pony in Ricky's hooves burst into green fire, revealing an insectoid horror. The thing hissed and lunged, showing fangs.

"Princess Celestia has authorized me to make limited decisions for the Equestrian government," the pony said, offering a hoof to shake. "Lieutenant High Altitude. The rank is only a formality."

"You were an ambassador to Saddle Arabia," Doctor Sparkle said. "You negotiated with their leaders during the civil war."

"I'm surprised you know. We did everything we could to keep anypony from knowing there was a war at all. It was all in side-streets and back-alleys with no real military action."

"My contacts were impressed by the use of spies and assassins on all sides. It's interesting how there were some incidents that neither side took credit for."

High Altitude smiled. "So what do we need to do to make this unfortunate incident come to a close?"

"Blanket pardons would be a start," Doctor Sparkle said.

"That's going to be difficult to arrange," Altitude replied. "You realize there are some serious accusations being thrown around. Nothing official yet, or we couldn't talk at all."

Sparkle sat back. "I won't even entertain an agreement that doesn't start with Moondancer and Sunburst walking away. If she needs a scapegoat it's me, not them."

"I think if nothing else, making that offer will help reassure her you're serious."

Dash shoved the fanged maw away from her face, the horrible bug-pony hissing and thrashing, trying to get closer.

"I hate this!" Dash yelled. "I hate this more than I've hated anything else in my entire life!" She kicked it away.

Pinkie gasped. "Watch out!" The third pony changed shape in a burst of green fire, grabbing the satchel charges from where the'd been dropped and pulling a string before flinging them at Maud.

Pinkie intercepted them, throwing herself on top of the explosives.

There was a dull thump as they went off.

"PINKIE!" Dash screamed.

Celestia landed on the expansive deck of her gold-trimmed flagship, the HMS Sunny Day. Most of the space was taken up by the six crouched forms of the Iron Pegasus units, each of them connected by thick wires to generators keeping them on standby.

"Your Highness," Flam nodded.

Celestia was mildly annoyed that he didn't bow or at least salute. "Are your machines ready in case they're needed?"

Flam patted one of the armored golems on the side. "Of course. They're more reliable than ponies."

"Yes, I've been rather disappointed by other ponies lately," Celestia said. She didn't look at Flam while she spoke, obviously thinking about other things. "Keep them on standby."

"Princess Celestia!" Captain Tiller ran across the flight deck. "We have word from the ground forces that were teleported ahead of the fleet. They encountered resistance in the woods."

"That's not unexpected. Doctor Sparkle has to have predicted we would do this."

"They're not ponies, though," Tiller hissed, keeping his voice low. "I don't want to alarm the crew so I haven't spread it around, but apparently they're some kind of insect creatures that can disguise themselves. The special operations units took some casualties in surprise attacks."

Celestia's eyes narrowed. "Changelings."

"Well, isn't this a nice little gilded cage," Chrysalis said. She tried to close the door behind her, and it caught on a limp hoof. She rolled her eyes and her horn pulsed with energy, the fallen pony sinking into the ground, all evidence of his death disappearing with him.

Cadance backed away, caught between fear and disgust. The same reaction she had to spiders, really, and for similar reasons.

"Who are you?" She asked, bracing herself. "I warn you, I can defend myself far better than the guards--"

Chrysalis snorted. "If I wanted to hurt you I wouldn't have dispatched the ponies they set to guard you. Really an unpleasant bunch. More thugs than guards, but I suppose that's what happens when Celestia has been sending the best and brightest to die in the north and has to start recruiting what's left."

Cadance narrowed her eyes as the lanky changeling queen came closer.

"They stopped even bothering with real background checks. You'd be amazed at what kind of degenerates were able to slip through the cracks."

Chrysalis' body erupted with green fire, leaving her in the familiar guise Cadance was familiar with.

"Ensign Alias?" Cadance blinked.

"Mm." The white mare smiled. "I don't usually take such a direct hoof in events but I lost some of my best operatives. If you need something done right, do it yourself."

"And what are you here to do, exactly?"

"Ruining Celestia's plans. The first step involves rescuing you."

Cadance relaxed a little. "And after that?"

"I'm going to have you talk some sense into her."

"You can't be serious!" Captain Tiller stared up at Celestia. "We have a pony in there talking to her under a flag of peace!"

"Most likely, he's already been killed and replaced," Celestia explained.

"Then why did you send him in?"

"It was before I knew how low Doctor Sparkle had fallen." The Princess looked around, raising her voice to address the bridge crew of the Sunny Day. "We're dealing with Changelings. They can assume almost any shape, and are experts at deception and betrayal. Anypony in that lab could be a changeling in disguise. Most likely, almost all of them are just that."

"How do we tell them apart from the real ponies?"

"It's impossible in the middle of combat," Celestia said. "Tell ground forces that they're authorized to use lethal force. Prioritize securing the lab. Prisoners aren't a concern."

"No prisoners? But--"

"You don't understand the stakes we're fighting for."

"Respectfully, Ma'am, I won't give that order. I don't care what they're fighting, I'm not going to order them to take no prisoners when there are civilians, and I'm not going to order an assault in the middle of peace negotiations."

"You're relieved of duty," Celestia said.

"I believe your orders are illegal and immoral," he said, almost shouting to make sure the bridge crew couldn't ignore it. "Anypony who follows that command is going to be a war criminal!"

"Captain, I suggest you quietly return to quarters and stay there. If you continue, I'll add a charge of attempted mutiny to your records."

Captain Tiller threw his hat down at her hooves and left, shoving through her security detail.

"Commander... Ascent, I believe it was?" Celestia asked, turning to the First Officer. "Please relay my orders to the troops."

He saluted. "Yes, Ma'am."

"You've been helping the war effort?" Cadance asked, confused. "But I thought the changelings were..."

"Enemies of Equestria?" Chrysalis guessed. "We're certainly not friends. This wasn't because I particularly care. I'd be happy for Celestia's head on a platter. This is about survival."

Cadance followed her up the gangplank to the waiting airship.

"If Sombra took over, we'd be unable to feed," Chrysalis explained. "We need love. That means you Equestrians have to be fat and happy and safe or else we starve to death. This war has already pushed us to the edge and it was only a few years. I've been trying to end it early."

"And Twilight?"

Chrysalis shrugged. "She's useful and smart. She doesn't mind working with me and getting her hooves dirty. I suppose of all you ponies, she's the one I dislike the least."

Ponies saluted as they made their way to the bridge.

"Why are we on the Shining Armor?" Cadance asked.

"I made sure it was kept in dry dock and marked as not ready for combat," Chrysalis said. She dropped her disguise, and the ponies at the stations around the bridge didn't react.

Cadance looked at Chrysalis in surprise.

"I had the crew replaced over time. The benefit of doing all of General Nickel Plated's paperwork was that I could slip a few of my own orders in. Reassigning crew, for example. Aside from you, everyone on board is a changeling."

"And what are we going to do with this ship?"

"One little ship can make a big difference when it's in the right place."

Sclera stood at something like attention. The back door of the lab was sealed and barred, so it wasn't like he was really protecting much. Mostly he was just there to yell and raise an alarm if somepony breached it.

Back in the hive he'd just mixed the slime pools. He really wished he was still doing that. He was learning to really hate guard duty. Hours of boredom with an undercurrent of bitter fear did not make for a tasty meal. Having to mantain a disguise was proving difficult too.

He heard a noise, and after looking around for a moment, Sclera moved to take a look. A bolt was rolling on the ground in the corner. If the lab hadn't been falling apart from disrepair, it would have been more notable.

A hoof covered his mouth, and he was pulled back, a knife blade sliding into his side. He tried to struggle free, and the knife stabbed again and again until it hit something vital.

Rainbow Dash dropped the dead changeling and pulled the bar down from the door, popping it open. Maud and Private Rickety rushed in, closing it behind themselves.

"Okay, remember the orders," Dash said. "They're not ponies, so take no prisoners. We're gonna get some payback for Pinkie."

Twilight's ear twitched as she listened to the radio.

"What's wrong?" High Altitude asked.

Twilight stood. "Celestia has just ordered the lab purged, along with everypony inside. I see this negotiation was just one of her games to waste my time while she got her pawns in place."

"That's not true! I was sent here in good faith!" High Altitude raised his hooves defensively. "Maybe she thinks something happened to me? I can go out there and explain that everything is okay!"

"Oh yes, I'd love to see you try," Sparkle said. "Be my guest. I won't stop you from leaving. Moondancer, get Marble to the Periapsis. We have to keep ponies from getting down there."

"Marble hasn't been responding to radio calls," Moondancer said. "I've been trying to raise her for a while now."

"Sunburst!" Doctor Sparkle snapped. "Go and get her! If she can't fight..." Sparkle's expression fell. "If she can't fight get her out of here and take care of her. Is that understood?"

Sunburst nodded.

"What about me?" Sunset asked. "I'm not going to stick around and play bodyguard."

"I'd appreciate it if you would escort Mister High Altitude outside," Sparkle said.

"They're going to attack the second they see me."

"I'm counting on that."

"Marble?" Sunburst wedged the door open, having to force it. Something in the repeated damage and abuse to the lab buildings had ended up warping the doorframe. Even something as simple as a door couldn't be counted on anymore.

Marble was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She'd barely moved or spoken since the whole debacle with Sombra.

"We need to go," Sunburst said. He helped her sit up. "There are ponies coming here, and they're going to try and hurt you."

"Mm..." She just sat limply, not even looking up.

"Doctor Sparkle wanted you to protect the lab," he said. "But you don't have to. You don't have to fight anymore. We can just leave!"

Marble shrugged.

Sunburst picked up part of Marble's armor, the suit lying spread out on the floor, sticky notes still attached from when Doctor Sparkle had been making repairs.

"There are a couple of tunnels the changelings built that go right into the forest around the lab. We can take one of those and be far away from here before anypony even knows we're gone."

Marble looked at the pauldron Sunburst was holding.

He looked down at it.

"I guess you don't really need this if we're just leaving, huh?" He said, quietly. "It would keep you safe but... I don't think you've ever wanted to fight. You just got caught up in all this."

Marble rubbed at her eyes.

"I keep hurting ponies. I just want it to stop," she whispered.

"Come on, we'll get out of here. No fighting, no hurting ponies. We'll go somewhere safe and quiet." Sunburst took her hoof and led her out of the room. Or at least he tried. The moment he stepped out, steel bolts clattered against the wall next to him.

Sunburst ducked back, his mane on end.

"This could be a problem."

"Ma'am, we have word from the ground observers," Commander Ascent said. "They've got eyes on one of the secondary targets."

"A secondary target?" Celestia turned away from staring at the clouds as if she could see through them. "Which one?"

"It sounds like Sunset Shimmer. She's exiting the facility with Lieutenant High Altitude, the one the Council demanded we send in to negotiate."

Celestia's expression hardened. "Of course they'd send her out."

"He's got the white flag with him and he's waving it. The ground elements are holding fire and asking for orders. Should I have a chariot sent down to bring them up to us?"

"Focus fire on her," Celestia said. "I want every weapon we have ready."

"Ma'am, we're still configured for conducting large-scale attacks, and from this altitude with the cloud cover--"

"Lay down suppressing fire and bring the fleet down below the clouds to give the gunners visual contact," Celestia said, with a tone like she was explaining things to a particularly slow foal.

"But Ma'am, Lieutenant High Altitude is with her!"

"He's almost certainly already been replaced. Follow your orders."

Sunset felt the change in the air.

"So that's the game," she said, looking up. Behind her eyepatch, something was glowing faintly.

High Altitude was about to ask her what she was talking about when the clouds overhead lit up, bursting into nothing in the wake of a screaming torrent of energy. A terrible force threw him back, and his life flashed before his eyes. He landed, rolling in the dirt, and it was like throwing open the door of an oven, a wave of scorching heat washing over his body.

A breath. Two. Death didn't claim him.

He opened his eyes against the glare.

Sunset Shimmer had stepped in front of him. A shimmering energy barrier held back enough spellfire to level a fortress. She stood tall on her hind legs, her forelegs folded while she balanced in the air with wings spread and her mane whipping around her head like living flame.

"You never wanted me to be an alicorn," Sunset called out, even as more spells hit her barrier and stuck like flies in amber, frozen at the moment before detonation. "You were afraid of what change would mean to your perfect little world! You were even afraid of Cadance!"

The shimmering constellation of spells shifted and spun, circling around Sunset before surging in, shrinking into twinkling motes of light.

Sunset reached into the center of that tiny galaxy and grabbed onto something, drawing it out and revealing a sword of pure magical energy, crimson red and burning like a nova. The pressure and heat in the air vanished, and High Altitude was able to look up to see the airships hovering above.

"True power comes to those who reach out and take it," Sunset declared, pointing the star sabre at the flagship. "Now come down here and face me yourself!"

Author's Note

It has become fashionable, among those in the know - and despite what some have claimed, there are many who know - to analyze Nightmare Moon and myself as if our disagreement was a political one, with values that can be weighed and opined. Some ponies even go to little secret societies and cults to flirt with the transgression of siding with my sister.

I despise this flirtation.

I cannot speak against it, though. To speak of something is to give it power. Those ponies already think I stomp down on the truth with an iron hoof. They don't understand that sometimes one has to be ready for the truth, and that a foal's life is happiest before they learn about death.

I've asked the great philosophers of the last thousand years about the decisions I've made. One, whose works are almost impenetrable to modern ponies but who was kind and understanding in life, told me that ponies were made in conflict. My sister and I were born in the wake of Discord.

He never knew a world that wasn't full of harmony and, yes, ambition and dreams and nightmares. The kind of philosophy he did hadn't existed before my sister's rebellion. He looked over Canterlot, which was still new and growing at the time, and reminded me that I even made my own home in a city that represented growth and novelty. He said we needed balance like trees need the seasons to grow.

He told me that we all needed a little chaos. A little unpredictability. A little change from one day to the next. Alcohol is a poison, but in moderation one has wine. Cheese is spoiled milk. Medicine and toxin are the same except for dosage.

I think a world in balance would fight chaos, because chaos unchecked disrupts that harmony of everything. I think that ponies truly seeking truth would never mistake the excitement of transgression or the grim necessity of trespass for a genuinely good act.

We once lived in a world where ponies knew every day would be the same and that was a source of joy to them. They didn't need anything to be different because every day was as perfect as they could imagine it. I raise the sun every day because I made a promise to do it. I've never broken it, and as long as I live I never will.

Princess Celestia, Private Journals

(Death) and Re:Birth

Lightning Dust sat on a balcony under a roof of stars. A faint glimmer was the only indication it wasn’t open to space. There wasn’t even enough air for the lights in the sky to twinkle properly. The stars were as cold and hard as the rest of the moon and the black castle clinging spider-like to the jagged peaks of the mountain range.

“Still looking at Equestria?” Thorax asked.

“Yeah,” Dust said.

“It’s a lot safer here. We don’t have to worry about fighting or hurting anypony. Even if everything goes bad, we’ll be out of the way!”

“Yeah. I’m just not the kind of pony who wants to be somewhere safe. This feels more like a prison than a castle. Which I guess it sort of is?” Dust turned around to look up at the impossibly tall, thin spires. “I can’t believe Nightmare Moon was stuck here for a thousand years.”

“It’s not so bad! We’ve got a lot more room since we started mining Lunar Titanium, and we take turns turning into board games and decks of cards for everyling else to play with.”

Dust smiled. “Yeah. But I need to get back. I got this feeling like my heart is beating a hundred times a second. Like the rush right before a race is due to start. I can tell my friends are in trouble. Big trouble. I just can’t figure out how to get back to them.”

Thorax rubbed his chin. “There might be one way, but it’s dangerous.”

“Cool. I like dangerous.”

“We can launch you in the mass driver. It would be like being fired from a cannon. You’d get back to Equestria really quickly, but… it isn’t designed for passengers.” Thorax looked uncomfortable. “The force might turn you into jelly. Even if you survive the launch, I have no idea how you’ll land.”

“I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it,” Dust said. “How long will it take you to set it up?”

Sunset pushed, and the armor responded. Panels slid from one position to another as she moved, the magically-conductive material underneath glowing through the cracks. A wave of lightning bolts cracked through the air and she was already gone, taking a right turn at Mach speed and flitting through the ionized air faster than the magi onboard the airships could take aim.

Her hooves slammed into the deck of one of the ships, raising sparks as she skidded to a halt. Ponies stared at her for a fraction of a second, frozen in confusion.

Sunset’s gaze locked with an unfortunate recruit and she grinned, her horn erupting with light. The stray firebolts and lightning strikes that had missed her curved towards the ship, and she backflipped away off the deck as they cut through the space where she’d been a moment ago, the hull cracking apart as she caught the air with her wings again.

“One down!” Sunset yelled, over the open comm channel.

A flight of pegasi were between her and the next ship. She spread her wings, using what she’d learned from Dust to catch the wind, drag it along with her in a massive wake that caught the ponies as she shot past them and through the next ship’s rigging, the unfortunate soldiers crashing into the ship with bone-shattering force before she flipped in midair, her horn flaring. Her spell cut the ship in half, sending it towards the ground along with the first.

“That’s two!”

“I can’t,” Marble whispered. “I can’t fight ponies.”

“You don’t have to,” Sunburst assured her. “We’re going to get to the safest part of the lab and wait this out.”

“Mm…” Marble shook her head in denial.

“We just have to figure out a way to get out of this room,” Sunburst whispered. “Come on, Sunburst. Think. There has to be some way…”

He held a pillow up to the slim gap left between the door and the frame, and a crossbow bolt ripped through it, tearing it out of his grasp.

“Okay, so they haven’t stopped shooting. Good to know.”

The floor shook. There was screaming outside. The situation was so bad Sunburst wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. He put his ear against the door just in time to get thrown aside as it was kicked open, something rounded and mottled blue-green lumbering into the room. It was like a steel frog crossed with a pony, all smooth edges and rubberized seals.

Sunburst stood protectively in front of Marble, his horn lighting up until--

“Is that the prototype underwater armor?” he asked, after a moment.

The helmet hissed and popped open. A black horror looked out from within. It offered a friendly grin.

“We decided to raid the lab for supplies,” the changeling said. “You need to move. I don’t know how long I can keep this thing going!”

Sunburst grabbed Marble’s hoof, leading her to the door. The changeling stepped out, crossbow bolts bouncing from the heavy diving suit. It raised a hoof and spears launched down the corridor with a pneumatic hiss.

“Go!” The changeling yelled. Down the corridor, a unicorn threw a spell that tossed the armored changeling into the wall, sparks erupting from the prototype armor.

Sunburst didn’t need to be told twice. He ran out, tripping over his own hooves. Marble held him up, stepping between him and the danger. A force bolt hit her armor, not even rocking her, the same force that had thrown the changeling just collapsing against her.

She turned on the threat, and the few lights in the corridor shattered, a wave of undirected force crumpling the walls and tiled floor.

“Slowing to one-half power,” the navigator said.

“That’s right, let’s be friends,” Chrysalis hissed. “Try not to make any sudden moves. There are enough ships here they’ll never even notice there’s one more. We’re just one big happy fleet. What’s the status of the other ships?”

The communications officer listened for a few moments. “Two are falling. A third has taken heavy damage. The battle lines are broken.”

“Of course they are. These are soldiers.” Chrysalis scoffed. “They came here expecting a war.”

“And this isn’t a war?” Cadance asked.

“A war has rules. Orders. A chain of command.” Chrysalis looked amused. “When you don’t like taking lives, it protects you. Ponies giving the orders don’t dirty their own hands, and the ones doing the deed are just following orders. Both feel blameless. It’s dishonest, which I almost respect, but I much prefer to be more direct.”

“What’s happening out there?”

Chrysalis looked to the communications officer.

“Sunset Shimmer is inside the ranks,” the changeling said. “It sounds like they can’t get enough force in one place to actually deal with her!”

“Good. She’ll be an excellent distraction. Get positions of the remaining ships and provide them to the firing team.” Chrysalis raised her chin. “Make them as precise as possible. We only have one chance with Operation Glass Houses.”

“When you attack, they’ll shoot us down, even if I’m on board,” Cadance said.

“Yes, but just think of it-- Celestia would make a big speech about sacrifice and how she’d spend the next hundred years making it up to you, and she’d find a way to make everypony think it was all your fault. Maybe she'd even get you to believe you were wrong all along, in the end.”

Sunset wrapped her wings around her body, projecting a tight shield just before the wave of attack spells hit, coming from too many angles for her to deflect or counter. If it had been one big evocation she could have taken it head-on, like a batter squaring their shoulders and swinging at a fastball. Dozens were hitting her from every angle, so instead of a single fastball it was like trying to defend against a swarm of ping-pong balls.

The attacks bounced off, but they were pinning her in place.

“Where were you when that big dragon attacked Canterlot?” Sunset mumbled. “Cadance had me trying to organize ponies that were barely out of magic kindergarten!”

Attacks bounced away until they faded like a hailstorm coming to a sudden end.

Sunset frowned, opening her wings up to look.

Six silver figures circled her like vultures, each twice the size of a pony. The boxy form told her immediately that they weren’t just suits of armor, but in place of the bulky oil-burning engine each had carried in its belly was a compact sphere, and the only thing venting from their wings were motes of pure magic.

“Cute. Tin soldiers.” Sunset rolled her eyes and dropped her shield, throwing a bolt of force at one of them.

A plane of magical force deflected it, ringing like a bell as the spell bounced away harmlessly.

“Okay. That’s a little more like it,” she admitted. “Come and get me!”

“The good thing is, your armor was still in okay shape when you got here,” Thorax said, as he helped Dust pull the heavy suit back on. “We’ve refilled your air supply and those big packs of changeling slime you were carrying.”

“What changeling slime?” Dust asked, confused.

“You know. These.” Thorax tapped the battery pack. “It’s kind of clever! We store love energy in the slime. I never thought about adding powdered crystal to it. It turns the stored energy into pure magic!”

“She had me carrying around changeling slime this whole time?” Dust mumbled. “Gross.”

“Hey, some of us produce that slime in our glands!”

“Yeah and I make snot in my glands, that doesn’t mean I wanna carry around a bottle full of it.” Dust groaned. “Whatever. I might need the boost.”

“The big problem is that when we launch you, um, you’re going to land pretty hard.” Thorax frowned. “We’ve had some practice shipping ore to Equestria, and as soon as it hits the air it breaks apart and catches on fire if it’s not protected.”

“Good thing I’ve got armor,” Dust said.

“It can’t hurt to have a few extra layers,” Thorax said. “We’ve got some tarps that’ll help deflect some of the heat.”

The changeling held up a silvery sheet. Dust took it and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cloak.

“It’s kinda thick.”

“It needs to be thick. The outer layers will burn off one by one. It should help a lot, especially if you rotate to keep hot spots from forming.” Thorax bit his lip, looking worried. “Are you sure about this? If we wait until everything is settled, it would be a lot safer!”

“I’m sure,” Dust said.

“Then you’d better take this too,” Thorax sighed. He pulled another tarp off of a long shape on the ground, then struggled with trying to pick it up, even in the lighter gravity.

Dust stepped past the changeling and hefted it in one hoof.

“A spear?” she asked. The entire thing was made of dark metal shot through with veins of silver. Behind the sharp head, a tangle of metal like wrapped sheets of foil bent around the shaft. As if responding to her touch, it unfolded like a steel flower into twin heads of a battleaxe.

“It was Nightmare Moon’s weapon,” Thorax said. “A legendary, enchanted weapon named--”

“I’m gonna call it Carvin’ Marvin,” Dust decided.

Sunset jumped, kicking off the back of a charging Iron Pegasus and flipping in the air, taking aim and--

She caught a flash to her left, and turned her attack spell into a burst of force, deflecting a shot from another one of the six machines. Sunset landed heavily, her hooves skidding on gravel as she came to a stop, the clockwork constructs in a ring around her and preventing easy escape.

“Cute, but you’re still just machines,” she said. She flicked her hoof to the side, her star sabre spell activating and creating a blazing red beam. Sunset charged at the nearest of them, and it threw a shield in her path.

Sunset vanished. A flash of light appeared behind the Iron Pegasus, and she reappeared, slicing through its neck before it could react.

“If you can’t even handle teleportation, you’re never going to get very far against me.”

A second unit flew at her, a rune-covered sword snapping into place from a recessed sheath along its foreleg. Sunset blocked the attack, the enchanted edge of the golem’s weapon stopping her spell from cutting through. Their blades locked.

Sunset smiled and raised her other hoof, creating a second star sabre and stabbing it into the Iron Pegasus’ body and pulling sideways, opening up a huge rent filled with sparks.

“I can’t be beaten by a doll!” Sunset yelled. She threw the disabled machine into one of its allies, following it up with a spell that blasted a red-hot hole through both of them.

Stabilizers snapped into the ground and armor plates shifted, Sunset’s wings spreading wide and glowing with heat. The air around her shimmered like a desert mirage. “I have magic you’ve never even dreamed of!”

The remaining three units came together, a shield wall snapping into place.

Sunset’s spell hit them like a solar flare, their shields flickering and failing against the incredible heat. Two of them fell in cherry-red heaps, armor starting to deform and run, venting steam from ruptured plumbing.

The last Iron Pegasus dropped its shield and held up its sword as if challenging Sunset.

“You’re not even a warm-up!” Sunset yelled. She flapped her wings, kicking up off the ground and pointing her prosthetic leg at the machine. Energy surrounded her hoof, and it tore free, rocketing into the mute construct and punching straight through it.

The Iron Pegasus fell, and Sunset’s hoof flew through the air back to her, snapping into place.

“If that’s all you’ve got, I might be able to clock out early today,” Sunset said.

Lightning Dust adjusted her helmet. Thorax was talking at her side. She could barely hear him with all the seals engaged. Two dozen changelings worked in pairs to create a series of rings in a gently curving line. Each one was made entirely of magic, circles of fire hovering in midair like the most ambitious carnival trick ever attempted.

“So all I have to do is fly through the rings, right?” Dust asked, interrupting whatever safety lecture he was giving.

“They’re telekinetic boosters,” Thorax said. “It’s how we got the ore back to Equestria. We’d load it into a crate and throw it. Usually, that would be enough to get it to Equestria in about three days.”

“It didn’t take three days to get here.”

“You were going a lot faster than we can throw a box. The faster you’re going when you hit the first ring, the more it’ll boost you. Either you’ll be going so fast you’ll be back on Equestria before you know it, or you’ll be torn limb from limb by the force.”

“You’d be amazed what I can survive,” Dust said. She cracked her neck.

“Good luck,” Thorax said. “And… try not to forget about us. It’s been fun on the moon but it’d be nice to get back.”

“Can’t you go back this way?”

“Some of us would need to stay here to keep the mass driver going. We also haven’t really been brave enough to try it. None of us are willing to risk the whole ‘ripped limb from limb’ thing.”

Dust grinned. “I’ll let you know what the ride is like. You better stand back, just in case.”

Thorax took a few steps back. Dust motioned for him to move more. He stepped back more. Then behind a chest-high rock wall.

Dust raised her wings, letting green lightning crackle along the edges, the same color as the rings ahead of her. She dug her hooves into the regolith, took a deep breath.

On the exhale, she moved. The air split. The ground under her hooves cracked and broke away. Dust hit the first ring. For an instant, her head was moving faster than her body. She could feel the force trying to pull her apart. The changelings holding the ring were blown away by the sonic boom.

She hit the second ring before the hypersonic shockwave could knock the next set of changelings over, before their reaction time would even let them flinch. The bone-creaking force hit her again. The next ring. And the next. Only a second had gone by. The air was burning around her.

The pressure vanished as she hit the edge of the air pocket and rocketed away, the moon’s gravity giving up the fight.

“Hold on guys,” Dust whispered. “I’m coming!”

“Your highness, the magi are signaling a warning!”

Celestia looked away from the armored windows of the flagship’s command deck. Below them, Sunset was making short work of the improved Iron Pegasus units.

“Thank you, Lieutenant, but I can see well enough,” she muttered, an edge to her voice. “Tell Flim that I am less than impressed with his creations. I was expecting more.”

“I believe it’s Flam, Ma’am, but that’s not the problem. They’re reporting incoming long-range teleportation effects!”

Celestia frowned and cast several detection spells of her own, frowning at the results. Tracing teleportation spells was a difficult process even in good conditions, and in the middle of a battlefield it was practically impossible. Her concentration wasn’t helped when the first spell opened up and a boulder rocketed out of nowhere, slamming into the window in front of her.

The whole ship shuddered and the armored window shattered, shards of glass raining over the crew.

“Where did that come from?!” General Nickel yelled. “They don’t have any artillery!”

“The teleportation spells. They must have built a portal trebuchet.” Celestia caught the looks the bridge crew gave each other and had to remind herself that she was among ponies whose chief accomplishment in life involved being assigned to the safest posting in the war. “It’s a theoretical weapon, essentially redirecting objects falling from a great height by teleporting them before they would land.”

“We need to get out of range,” General Nickel said. “Engines to full!”

“It’s an all-range attack. As long as they have accurate targeting information they can attack us from anywhere. The facility could be a hundred miles away.” The ship rocked again as another boulder slammed into it at an oblique angle. The wind rushed past Celestia as she watched one rock after another slam into the assembled fleet, knocking out one ship after another.

“How do we defend against it?” the General asked.

“Order all ships to fire on the Shining Armor,” Celestia said. “It’s providing the targeting data.”

“How can you tell?”

“It’s the only ship not under attack.”

“All this because Celestia decided the best way to handle Sparkle was to crush her and make her beg.” Sunset shook her head. “She should’ve known better. It wouldn’t work on me and that pony’s even crazier than I am.”

Above her, ships moved in slow spirals, trailing smoke. The flagship turned, and Sunset threw up a shield on instinct. The ship threw out a barrage of spells, but instead of landing on her barrier, they lanced across the sky toward an unassuming ship at the rear of the formation.

Just before reaching it, a blue light deflected the attack, scattering the spells.

Sunset narrowed her eye. “Is that Cadance's magic? I guess nopony is sitting this one out. I’d better give her a hoof before she messes something up.”

She spread her wings, and a steel thorn the general size and shape of a railroad spike tore through the feathers on her left side, bronze quills ripping out of the prosthetic in a shower of sparks. Sunset stumbled forward, twisting on her good leg and turning the motion into a spin to face her enemy.

One of the Iron Pegasus units lurched to its hooves like a puppet with half its strings cut. As she watched, the rent metal twisted back into shape, clockwork snapping together. The six units surrounded her again, wounds sealing with flashes of multicolored light.

“That’s new,” Sunset muttered, trying to block out her own pain.

“What do you think?” A voice came out of all six at nearly the same time, echoing around her. “I’ve surpassed what Doctor Sparkle made!”

“Flam, I presume,” Sunset said.

“Flim!” he snapped.

“Sorry, you two are just so alike,” Sunset said, turning slowly and trying to figure out which was going to rush her first. “You’re both second-rate engineers who died an early death. You almost escaped that fate but then you decided to mess with me.”

“I haven’t even begun,” Flim said. “The Elemental Engine has a peak output even higher than your Engine Heart, and it’s a six on one fight!”

“Please. It’s like six foals against an adult.” Sunset squared her shoulders, igniting her star sabre. “I’ll just break them again and again until they can’t be fixed anymore!”

The glow around the constructs grew brighter, and Sunset felt something, like her heart skipped a beat. In an instant, the pressure around her grew to bone-crushing force. She fell to her knees and the air filled with an aurora swirling in a slow tornado around her, shining with all the colors of the rainbow.

She could feel it, something trying to force its way into her, pressing against her mind and heart and magic.

Sunset spread her wings, trying to get to her hooves, filled with primal flight or fight instinct.

Her right wing exploded, tearing apart at the joint. Wires and shattered pneumatics rained down around her.

She screamed, collapsing.

Doctor Sparkle looked up at Nightmare Moon, hanging from the ceiling of the cavern like a butterfly ready to emerge at any moment.

“This isn’t how I wanted all of this to turn out,” she whispered.

Moondancer poured a cup of lukewarm tea into a tin cup, holding it out to her.

Sparkle took it on instinct, just holding it.

“I thought I could make Celestia understand. I thought she’d see me save the world and she’d admit I was right all along.” The unicorn laughed bitterly. “She just wants to bury me and my research, and all I can think to do is help her by crawling into the deepest, darkest hole I can find.”

“This is the most secure part of the lab,” Moondancer muttered.

“Yes, it’s technically a bunker, but it’s still a hole in the ground,” Sparkle said.

“There’s nothing we can do now except wait.”

“Nothing we can do…” Sparkle muttered.

“We should plan what we’re going to do when Celestia gets down here,” Moondancer said. “Maybe if we just surrender, she’ll be merciful. We’d probably be put under arrest for the rest of our lives, but…”

“You said when, not if,” Sparkle said.

“Twilight, I love you, but you’re an idiot. What was your plan? What’s your endgame here? Overthrow Celestia? Destroy Equestria?”

“I tried to negotiate! She attacked!” Twilight snapped. “I didn’t choose this! I know Sunset can’t beat her! I know! And Marble is either useless or more dangerous to us than our enemy! And Lightning Dust…”

Doctor Sparkle shrugged.

“And there’s nothing I can do to help them. We’re stuck down here with nothing but cold tea and…” Sparkle looked up.

“What is it?” Moondancer asked.

“Nightmare Moon,” Sparkle said. “Maybe that’s the answer.”

“That sounds more like an additional problem rather than an answer.”

“No, listen! The Engine Hearts resonate with her power. We used her magic and leyline patterns to design them. If we cause a magical flare, they’ll pick up on it, like the antenna in a radio! It could act as a power boost!”

“That sounds absurdly dangerous,” Moondancer said.

“It is. Are you going to help me, or am I going to do it alone?”

Moondancer sighed. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

Rainbow Dash jumped, throwing herself into a wall to avoid a beam of magical force. The changeling that had fired it hissed and dropped the wire-covered weapon it had fired, sparks erupting from poorly-shielded wires.

“Maud, take it out!” Dash yelled.

A hoof-sized rock smashed through the weapon the changeling held, something inside the rifle exploding with a burst of multicolored sparks and sending shrapnel across the corridor. The changeling fell in an ichor-covered heap.

“This is nuts,” Dash said, taking Ensign Ricky’s hoof to help her stand. “No briefing, no plan, no intel! It’s a feathering bug hunt and the bugs are better equipped than we are!”

“Should we pull back?” Maud asked.

“I don’t think anypony else got this far,” Dash said. “And… I kinda want us to be the ones to find your sister. Maybe we can talk her down and end this without hurting her.”

“I hope so,” Maud said.

Ensign Ricky moved to the next turn while they spoke, peeking around the corner.

“This place is a mess,” Dash mumbled. A steel security door was lying against the wall, burned and ripped by huge claws.

“This damage is weeks old,” Maud said. “You can see how the exposed surfaces started to rust.” She pointed, not that Dash could really make anything out.

“I’ll take your word for it. Think the changelings did that when they took this place over? I bet the real mission is a rescue mission and we’re gonna find everypony tied up in the basement.”

“Shhhh!” Ensign Ricky hissed. “We’ve got movement!”

Dash went silent and pressed flat against the wall, digging a throwing knife out of her combat webbing.

“We’re not gonna take chances,” she whispered. “On three we take the corner and hit anything that moves. No warning, lethal force. You ready?”

Maud and Ricky nodded.

“One… three!” Dash, Maud, and Ricky moved like the well-trained unit they were, even with a missing mare in the formation. They took the corner, saw something massive and angular, and attacked.

Ricky’s stone went wide. Maud’s slammed into the thing’s head, just enough to keep it from casting any kind of shield spell.

Dash’s throwing knife hit the second, smaller target that jumped between them.

Sunburst crumpled to his knees, looking at the knife in his chest. Blood poured onto the ground, red and steaming and a stark contrast to the ichor a changeling bled.

“Oh buck,” Dash whispered.

Celestia was almost thrown off her hooves when the deck listed under her. The entire hull rang like a bell, a shockwave cracking every pane of armored glass at the same time.

“What was that?!” she demanded. “Are the magi still suppressing teleportation?!”

“It wasn’t their portal weapon, Ma’am!” the comm officer yelled, straining to be heard over the echoing thunder and the wind rushing through the violated hull. “Damage control is reporting a meteor strike!”

“A meteor?!”

Dust stumbled through the smoke, trying to find her footing in the heavier gravity. Her armor’s paint was burned charcoal black, the silver cloak tattered around her and still burning at the edges.

She pulled herself out of the crater she’d made and cracked open her faceplate, taking deep breaths of the sweet, fresh air.

“Hey! I made it!” Dust said, happily surprised. “Good thing I aimed for this ship. It was a softer landing than the ground.”

She looked around, the world slowly spinning as the ship under her listed from one side to another.

“I hope I’m in the right place.”

Alarms sounded around her. A fireball flashed past her head and a team of pegasus ponies took to the sky, aiming at her with weapons drawn.

“Oh good,” Dust said. She drew Carvin Marvin, flicking it out to the side. The variable blade expanded into a double-headed axe. “I was worried I’d gotten lost.”

Marble knelt down, holding Sunburst. He gasped, sucking in air like he couldn’t fill his lungs, his life spilling over Marble’s hooves and onto the floor in time with his heartbeat.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I really messed up…”

Marble sniffled, wiping at her eyes. She shook her head wordlessly.

Behind her, the three ponies argued in harsh hisses and pointed hooves before Dash ran out of patience and hovered over to Marble.

“Okay look, this whole situation is bucked up,” Dash said, scratching her head. “We’ve got medics. If you surrender we can get him out there and maybe they can-”

Dash stopped talking when a magical grip snapped tight around her neck, slowly strangling her.

Marble stood up. Sunburst was limp, his chest still.

“You killed him,” she growled, the edges of her mane starting to move on their own.

“Put Rainbow down!” Ricky ordered. He raised his crossbow.

Maud grabbed for him, trying to shove the weapon to the side. A wave of force slammed through the space like a freight train. Maud’s reaching forehooves caught the edge of it. Ricky hit the far wall hard enough that he ended up painting it.

Maud fell, her forelegs crumpling under her like empty shirt sleeves. She made a pained, choked gasp before passing out.

“Stop it!” Dash demanded, using the last of her breath, trying to struggle free.

Marble glared at her. She tore the knife from Sunburst’s side.

“You should have this back,” Marble hissed through clenched teeth, slamming it home in Dash’s skull, just off-center, before tossing her aside in a twitching heap.

It was the weight of all her sins. The weight of the whole world bearing down on her. The magical pressure was so high it threatened to crush her leylines. It would have, if she was a normal pony.

The crushing force on her mind and body was so much it made Sunset want to give up, to lie there and let go, close her eyes and wait for the world to be in a better place. It was the feeling of being in bed on a cold day, a fever burning in your chest and your head pounding. Even thinking of standing up was too much.

And yet everything started to swell, her whole body singing and resonating with an insistence greater than any alarm clock.

“Can’t a girl get any rest around here?” Sunset mumbled. Her whole body shook with weakness, and when she got her legs under her they threatened to fold instantly, numb with the terrible effort. Her prosthetic shifted and changed, spikes driving into the ground to stabilize her and root her in place.

One of the six units suddenly dropped, a black spear impaled through its body. A cloaked figure slammed into it a moment later, grabbing the spear with armored hooves and twisting, the spear growing spikes and tearing the wound open as she ripped it free. The pressure released, and Sunset almost fell over again from the change.

“How’s it hanging?” Lightning Dust asked.

“I thought you were dead,” Sunset said. “Where were you?”

“The Moon,” Dust said, casually, planting her weapon’s tip in the ground and leaning on it. “It was pretty cool. You miss me?”

“You know, it’s funny. I actually did miss you.” Sunset smiled.

“Want a hoof with these guys? I could use a stretch.” Dust batted a steel spike to the side with her polearm, wide axe blades snapping into place to act like a tennis racquet.

“Usually I’d tell you to go to Tartarus and take care of it myself,” Sunset said. “But I’ll do you a favor and let you help. I need to save my good stuff for Celestia anyway.”

“You gonna be able to keep up with your wings messed up like that?”

“Who do you think I am?” Sunset smirked. She spread what was left of her wings, stripped to the metal bones on one side and just a stump on the other. They exploded from within, wings of light emerging from her back, the remaining bronze orbiting the glowing constructs. “Let’s do this.”

“That last hit from above broke every hydraulic line in the keel,” the Captain reported, saluting and not looking directly at Celestia. “We can’t do anything except try to put her down gently. She’s sunk and just doesn’t know it yet.”

“I should never have tried relying on all of you,” Celestia muttered.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” the stallion said, close to tears.

“No, don’t--” Celestia sighed. “It’s not your fault. I meant that I’ve used you poorly. Ponies lost their lives today and it’s my mistake that killed them. A show of overwhelming force would have worked anywhere else, against any other pony. All I’ve done here is drive a dangerous animal into a corner and forced it to bite instead of flee.”

The Captain kept saluting, saying nothing.

“Order all hooves to abandon ship,” Celestia said. “That includes you, Captain. If you try and go down with the ship I’ll drag you out myself.”

“But what are you going to do, Ma’am?”

“I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place and face them myself.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Dust asked. “I remember you having like, twice as many limbs”

She ducked under a blade made of equal parts fire and steel without even looking at it, kicking backwards and flipping over to cleave through the limb holding said blade.

“It’s a little late to be worried now,” Sunset retorted. “Do you know how many monsters I had to fight practically on my own after you vanished?”

Sunset threw a wave of entropy and wind at one of the Type Six units, the metal discoloring and starting to freeze up as rust ate away at the steel plates, going right through every protective enchantment it had.

“You had Marble here! Besides, I’m more concerned about, you know. Flight characteristics.”

Dust glanced back at Sunset and gave a small nod. They charged at a third unit together, Sunset teleporting behind it at the last moment and impaling it with her prosthetic hoof, the limb twisting into a bladed drill and slicing through its insides. Dust’s axe slammed into its exposed midsection, cutting it in two.

“Owch. Now you’re insulting my wings?”

Sunset teleported again before one of the last two units connected with its attack, spikes launching into the bisected Iron Pegasus instead of the intended target.

“You don’t have wings. You’ve got a few bits of wings and a lot of glowing lines. You’ve got no feathering control surfaces!”

Dust zipped, cracking past the speed of sound to cut deep wounds into the confused clockwork construct, half-frozen trying to figure out what to do after attacking one of its own.

“Okay, yes, it’s a little bit like maneuvering with rockets instead of wings, but I’ve got it under control!”

The last Iron Pegasus deflected a spell blast from Sunset and started glowing. All five damaged units put themselves back together, staggering back to their hooves and self-repairing until they were as good as new.

“This reminds me of something,” Dust said, retreating back to where Sunset was firing from. She raised a barrier to protect them while the Iron Pegasus units regrouped.

“The twins?” Sunset asked. “The Linnorms that healed each other?”

“Yeah!” Dust pointed with her axe. “Think we can take all of them out at once?”

“It’s going to be hard to catch all six with just the two of us.”

Behind them, the armored wall of the lab exploded, the rubble hovering in midair on a thousand strands of magic the dark blue color of the night sky. Marble stomped out, cheeks streaked with tears and blood splattered across her armor. The look on her face could have turned a cockatrice to stone.

“Well that’s convenient,” Dust said, waving. “Hey, Marble! I’m not dead!”

Marble turned to look at the noise and her expression softened in surprise.

“You’re back?” Marble walked over to her friends, her terrifying mein dissolving. A barrage of steel bolts ripped through the air and shattered against her barrier without the earth pony even noticing. “I thought… you were…”

“I couldn’t leave you hanging when you needed me,” Dust said. “Are you okay? You looked…”

“Sunburst…” Marble shook her head, unable to continue.

Dust frowned. “Sorry.”

“If you want revenge, step one is breaking Celestia’s annoying toys,” Sunset cut in. “They’re persistent, I’ll give them that.”

Marble glanced up at the circling constructs.

“They repair each other magically,” Dust explained. “Sunset thinks if we break all of them at once, they won’t be able to revive. It was gonna be tricky doing that with just two of us, but if you’re here we can definitely do it, no problem!”

“Three of us can pin them down,” Sunset agreed. “Here’s the plan - spread out into a triangle and keep them between us. Then, uh…” she hesitated. “Improvise. Sorry. I’m still not amazing at this whole teamwork thing.”

“That’s okay!” Dust patted her on the back. “I’m terrible at taking orders anyway. It’s in all my official reports. And Marble’s haunted!”

“Mm.” Marble frowned but couldn’t really disagree.

Dust put out her hoof. “Okay, everypony! Hooves in!”

“Are we-- are you trying to do a team thing?” Sunset groaned. “Really?”

Marble sighed and just stuck her hoof on top of Dust’s. Dust looked at Sunset and wiggled her eyebrows. “The Wonderbolts would have done it.”

“Fine! Whatever!” Sunset put her hoof in.

“Do we have a team name?” Dust whispered. Marble shook her head. “We really should have come up with a name.”

“The only thing we need to do is get Princess Celestia,” Sunset said. “Then the rest will work out for itself.”

“Okay! Team Get-Her! On three! One… three!” As one very reluctant team, they raised their hooves in what would be a triumphant team-building gesture if they weren’t, if one pardons the Prench, a bunch of jerks.

Dust did a backflip, like she did every day of her life, and started circling around the Iron Pegasus units to one side. Sunset did the same, relying more on short bursts of teleportation than wingpower to get her around the machines.

“Let’s start with some heavy weather!” Sunset yelled, skidding to a halt and digging her hooves into the ground for leverage. Her horn flashed, sparks running from base to tip and cracking into the sky as neon-green lightning. The clouds that had shielded the airship fleet from view started curling down, forming a hook and then twisting in a spiral towards the ground, the vortex filled with arcane energy that lit it from within.

The Iron Pegasus units were just machines but they weren’t stupid enough machines not to notice doom coming down on them. They spread their wings to take flight and tendrils of darkness grabbed then from the shadows, wrapping them up like a net.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Marble growled. Her mane had lengthened down past her hooves, down into a puddle of gloom that had formed around her fetlocks in defiance of the light of day.

The tornado came down on the Iron Pegasi, tearing them off the ground one by one and slamming them into each other, metal bending and twisting as the force of the wind and magic squeezed them into a ball.

Dust nodded and took off, straight up, disappearing into the clouds.

“Where in Tartarus is Dust going?” Sunset yelled over the tempest.

Dust burst through the storm layer right in the center of the tornado, following the calm center of the twisting vortex and holding Carvin’ Marvin in both hooves, the black blade transformed into an axe with a head broader than her wingspan. She put on a burst of speed and the tornado exploded behind her from the supersonic shockwave, the pegasus spinning despite the wind resistance and G-force to slam her axe into the house-sized mass of metal and sorcery.

The sphere fell neatly in half, six twinking gems erupting from ruptured casings and landing in the dirt around Dust when she touched down.

“Sorted,” Dust said.

“Not bad,” Sunset admitted, landing heavily next to her. “I mean it was all that fancy weapon, but you’re quite a tool yourself!”

Dust smiled. “Thanks, I-- heeey…”

Sunset punched her shoulder. “I’m kidding.”

Marble slowly made her way over, her heavy armor weighing her down. “What’s next?” she whispered, looking equal parts tired and angry.

From above, a sound rang out like thunder. Slow, mocking, repeated claps of thunder. The temperature around the three ponies increased, everything growing brighter.

“I have to admit, I underestimated you badly,” Princess Celestia said, hovering high above and slowly applauding. Her voice had the bass-boosted rumble of magical enhancement. Golden armor wrapped around her form, thin but with the sheen of orichalcum that implied it was quite unbreakable. “Doctor Sparkle made claims that I thought were impossible, and I was wrong to dismiss her. Each of you really is worth an entire army.”

“What’s the plan for beating her?” Dust whispered.

“You don’t have to whisper, she can’t hear us from up there,” Sunset said.

“I can hear you,” Celestia corrected. “I might have underestimated you, but you’ve also always been mistaken about me, Sunset. You were my most ambitious student, but in some ways the most disappointing.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t,” Marble said. “She’s just trying to make you angry.”

“It’s working,” Sunset said.

“It ends here,” Celestia said. “I need to safeguard Equestria. You can’t even imagine how much chaos you’ll cause just by existing.”

“We won your war!” Sunset snapped. “I killed Sombra myself!”

“You did?” Dust asked, quietly.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, it was a whole thing with him being in disguise and then betraying us and this big fight at the end. You really missed a lot, didn’t you?”

“Apparently I missed all the cool parts!” Dust groaned.

“I know,” Celestia said. “I wish your contributions and sacrifices could be public. For the sake of the future, they can’t be. Nothing that happens here today will be recorded in history. All this suffering, all this tragedy, it has to happen so ponies a century from now can live under the sun unburdened by the sins of the past.”

“You can’t do that!” Marble snapped, her mane moving in angry waves. “You can’t just make them forget me!”

“I’ve done it before, to somepony I loved,” Celestia said. “This will be easier.”

A beam of spellfire lanced through the air at her, and just stopped a hoof-width away from her, vibrating in place in the air. Sunset grunted, her horn blazing, trying to force it closer. Celestia glanced at her, and in that moment of apparent distraction, Dust got behind her, swinging the giant blade she was holding down even before the sonic boom of her motion had started ruffling Celestia’s feathers.

It stopped behind the Princess’ head, fixed in place in the air like she’d driven it into stone.

“That doesn’t belong to you,” Celestia said, still appearing totally at ease.

Black tendrils wrapped around her right hoof, and Marble strained, trying to throw her off-balance. Celestia effortlessly raised her leg, lifting the earth pony off the ground by her mane.

“The only reason the three of you were needed to fight in the war at all was because I was being merciful,” Celestia said, holding all of them in place. “I could have ended it in a day if I was willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent ponies. I could have turned the Crystal Empire into a frozen grave and nopony in Equestria would even know it had returned. I didn’t, because I am a kind and merciful pony. I give ponies second chances. Third chances. That time is over.”

Above the Princess, the sky tore open and a boulder punched out of the rift in space. Celestia glanced up in surprise and let go of the three ponies, firing a bolt of solar energy up at the rock and shattering it into a rain of pebbles.

The bolt hanging in the air fizzled out, and Dust scrambled back under the cover of the smokescreen. Marble dropped to the ground, groaning and limping away from Celestia.

“I don’t know who’s throwing those rocks through portals but I really like their style,” Dust said.

“I’d like it more if they did anything to her,” Sunset said when Dust and Marble got to her side. She was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her neck.

“I’m starting to think I was safer on the moon,” Dust said.

“She doesn’t deal well with surprises,” Marble said, her voice firm. “She was watching us fight the constructs.”

“So we have to do something she’s never seen before?” Sunset asked. “No problem.”

“If there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s making things up in a pinch,” Dust agreed.

Marble nodded. “Mm. Follow my lead.”

Celestia cleared the air with a burst of golden magic, the dust exploding away from her and leaving her pristine and annoyed. “Is it too much to ask that you have a little dignity?” she asked.

Marble’s response was already on the way. A chunk of rubble wrapped in her magic streaked towards Celestia. The alicorn split it in half with a wave of her hoof, intending to use the absolute minimum energy necessary.

Carvin Marvin erupted from the cracking rubble, Dust emerging from right behind the broken rubble to slam the weapon into Celestia, the alicorn flinching back in surprise and barely holding the weapon back, visibly straining.

Sunset burst up out of Dust’s jet stream, firing a bolt of black magic right through Celestia’s defenses. It hit her full in the face, sparks flying from the impact.

Celestia slipped back an inch.

Dust strained, Carvin Marvin twisting into a needle-sharp lance and slowly piercing the magic between it and Celestia, the air warping from the force of the shield.

Sunset put every ounce of power she had into her spell. Her wings of light flickered.

“ENOUGH!” Celestia bellowed. A wave of force threw Sunset and Dust back, flinging them away.

Marble grabbed them out of the air with her animated mane just before they would have had an unfortunate crash landing.

Celestia touched her cheek with a hoof. A single bead of red stained her armor when she looked at it.

“All that for a drop of blood,” she muttered.

Her horn blazed brighter than the sun.

“We’re getting a reading,” Moondancer said. “Whatever’s going on, all three of them are using so much magic we can detect it from here.”

“Perfect,” Doctor Sparkle said. She grunted and hefted a steel probe, shoving it into the hanging chrysalis as deeply as she could. “Get me the exact frequencies.”

“They’re on screen three,” Moondancer said. “Doctor… Twilight, I don’t think this is a good idea.” She looked at her mentor. “I ran the numbers. I know you did, too. Even if we can keep things from going out of control, that much thaumatic radiation--”

“I know,” Doctor Sparkle said. She paused, then sighed. “The localized effects…”

“Organic tissue can’t survive,” Moondancer said. “Anything living would be alchemically rendered.”

Sparkle looked at the screens in front of her. “You’ve seen the same things I have, Moondancer. Signs and portents. The Cloudsdale Report. The rumors from Ponyville. Lightning Dust’s vision! Everything Celestia has been doing to stop me!”

“I’ve seen it,” Moondancer whispered. “But what if it’s not fate? It could just be one possible future, not our destiny. Not… your destiny.”

Doctor Sparkle laughed.

“It’s not funny, Twilight,” Moondancer said. “And even if all those things are true, I wasn’t in any of those futures. What does that mean for me?”

“I wasn’t laughing at you. I’m sorry.” Doctor Sparkle walked over to her oldest, best friend still in the world, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’ve seen it twice, Moondancer. Once when my heart stopped, once when Sunset came so close to ascending in Canterlot. We’re on a knife-edge between stagnation and growth. If we do nothing, the world will end. Not with a bang, but like a carefully tended bonsai tree. Stunted and tiny and beautiful in its own way. If we fight for it, and we go the other way. We fight for our future, and we never stop fighting. There will be beauty, but also struggle, and death, and horror. It means leaving the garden and entering the jungle.”

“You’re being awfully poetic,” Moondancer said, shaking just a little.

“I’ve had the conversation before. With a mirror. When it gets really late at night, sometimes I like to imagine I’m talking to Celestia, or my Dad, or Shining Armor, and I try to explain why I do what I do,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I know I won’t get the chance but I wish I could… I wish I could get them to forgive me.”

“You know I’ll always be there for you,” Moondancer said.

“Yeah,” Twilight smiled. “That’s why I want you to go. The radiation is going to be deadly. I want you to go back to the Core Assembly Room. That place is shielded better than anywhere else in the lab. You’ll be safe there.”

“Me? What about you?”

“I’m going to trust in destiny one more time,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I choose whatever happens to me. Life or death. I’ll risk it with the rest of Equestria.”

She kissed Moondancer on the cheek.

“In case I don’t make it back,” she said. “Now go!”

The Shining Armor rocked, nearly throwing Cadance off her hooves.

“What’s going on?” Cadance asked. The changelings worked in near-silence.

“We’re taking fire from the rest of the fleet,” Chrysalis said, narrowing her eyes. “The idiots decided they’d shoot at us all the way down instead of evacuating their ships.”

“What? Why? If their airships are crashing--”

“Because Celestia ordered it!” Chrysalis snapped. “They’d die for her. More importantly, they’ll kill for her. That’s the part she cares about right now.” She furrowed her brow and walked over to the armored bridge windows, looking outside.

“You know, I’m just going to keep asking questions if you don’t explain things as they’re happening,” Cadance said, following the changeling queen over to look.

The largest ship in the fleet was wreathed in golden light, and was slowly turning, its fall lurching to a halt.

“That’s the Sunny Day,” Cadance said. “Why is it glowing like that?”

“Celestia,” Chrysalis muttered.

“She can’t levitate something that big!” Cadance protested. “It’s impossible!”

“She literally makes the sun rise. A boat isn’t nearly as difficult. We’re changing course. Get us between that ship and the lab and direct whatever we have left at it.”

Cadance looked confused. “Why? I already saw the lifeboats launch. They evacuated.”

“Because she’s decided she needs a bigger boot to squash the bugs,” Chrysalis said.

“I’m going out there to help them,” Cadance said. “They can’t fight her alone.”

“Neither can you,” Chrysalis said.

“No, but maybe we could if we had help from somepony with experience at fighting Celestia?” Cadance asked, offering Chrysalis her hoof.

“I always lost,” Chrysalis reminded her.

“You were alone before,” Cadance said. “This time, we’re all in it together.”

“Oh that’s not good,” Dust said, watching the Sunny Day shiver and lurch higher, the stern creaking and shifting as the broken airship started to move, the structure twisting as it was forced sideways with the keel already snapped in two.

“Even if we run, it’s going to crush the lab,” Sunset said. “That insane bitch…”

Celestia’s voice echoed around them. “Language, Sunset. I taught you better than that.” She swung her head around, and the massive airship screamed with the sound of tearing metal. The air parted around it, a shockwave forming on the crumpled bow as it accelerated.

“We have to stop it!” Dust yelled, taking off.

“Where are you--” Sunset started, before taking off after her.

Marble just groaned with frustration. “Idiots,” she mumbled.

Dust slammed into the ship shoulder-first. “I can push this giant hunk of metal! No problem!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Sunset yelled. She hit the ship next to Dust, straining with the effort to even keep herself in place. “You don’t even know what you’re doing! If you just do it with your hooves all you’ll do is fly right through the ship’s hull from the force!”

“You never know until you try!” Dust yelled, over the rushing wind. Her hooves sank in an inch, metal crumpling under her. “Besides, Celestia was able to throw it!”

“That’s because she used magic to spread the force out over the whole ship, and it still caused a ton of damage!” Sunset shouted, her hooves slipping for a moment as she fought to hold on.

“Then maybe you can try helping!” Dust retorted. “I didn’t think you were all talk!”

Sunset scoffed and smiled. Red light spread out from her horn, a shield forming around what was left of the Sunny Day’s front end. “My magic isn’t just for show!”

Dust grunted and flew harder, trying to slow the airship’s descent. With Sunset dispersing the force, she stopped sinking in. But it wasn’t enough. The ship wasn’t even slowing down.

Black talons bigger than she was slammed into the hull to either side of her. Dust looked down, and Marble nodded from the ground, her artificial horn white-hot as she fought with every inch of power she had left.

“It’s not working!” Sunset growled through gritted teeth. “We’re slowing it down but she’s still pushing!”

Blue light reinforced Sunset’s shield, and Cadance pressed against the ship next to her, flapping hard. “You look like you could use some help!”

“What are you doing here?!” Sunset demanded. “You’re going to get killed!”

“Lots of ponies are getting killed,” Cadance said. “I won’t hide while it happens!”

“This is a terrible idea!” Chrysalis buzzed, landing lightly on the ship and sticking to it before applying her own magic. “We don’t have nearly as much power as she does!”

“You still came to help!” Cadance reminded her.

“That’s because bad ideas are infectious!” Chrysalis yelled.

“Shut up and push!” Dust screamed. “We can do it! Everypony together!”

Around them, the air vibrated with magic, like notes coming together to play a chord.

“Resonance,” Sparkle whispered, watching the readings come together. “Just like before, but with all of them at once.”

She looked at the other monitor. The one watching the sleeping alicorn. The thaumatic waves were like a heartbeat, and as she watched, they started beating in sync.

“Just like I predicted,” she said. “It’s all based on her leyline patterns. Like a hoofprint, or two tuning forks playing the same note…” Doctor Sparkle watched for a moment longer, her stomach twisting with doubt.

A flashing red light caught her attention. It was a warning, trying to tell her that what she was going to do was irreversible. Even the machines around her doubted Sparkle.

She grunted and forced herself to trot over to the manual override. She kicked the panel open and grabbed the bright red valve release. If she’d given herself time to sit there and think about it, about the weight behind the decision, she’d never have been able to pull it. Sparkle yanked it down.

Alarms blared, and the temperature in the room started to rise like somepony had turned it into an oven. Blue light began pouring from the chrysalis at the center of it all.

Sparkle shielded her eyes and walked over to the console, trying to read the displays.

“The power is doubling every second… oh, Moondancer, I wish you could see this.” She risked a glance at the alicorn, heat and cold washing over her skin in waves like night and day. Cracks started forming in the containment.

A crystal screen exploded. Doctor Sparkle didn’t even feel the cut that opened on her cheek from the shrapnel.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.

The alicorn moved, and the light filled everything to bursting.

Author's Note

Most ponies don't matter. They dream tiny dreams and can't even achieve their goal of mediocrity.

When we speak of fighting against the current, or rising above the doubting masses, most ponies are that current, those doubters. They're the background noise of history. They come as close to not existing as is possible, just fixtures no more important or real than a single tree sketched into a painting of a forest.

My sister believes that the only thing that matters is base contentment and peace. As long as ponies are happy, it doesn't matter if things don't get better. She doesn't mourn for those that never had a chance to exist, for the great edifices and works that can never come to pass.

Unlike her, I have seen them whole. I've seen art that will never be made, because the painter developed a palsy and the only thing that remained of his skill was his beautiful mind. I've walked though buildings that will never be built because the materials and methods don't yet exist. I've eaten feasts that will never be cooked because the ingredients are too precious to gather.

I grieve these things that will never be born, because I've lived among their shadows. I've tasted the sorrow of their would-be creators. I think my sister is incapable of understanding it. It's why she's so slow to act, why she so stubbornly resists change. Until something is real, she doubts it can exist at all. She has no faith.

Alicorns are a unique existence. We bring energy into the universe. Our power boils the primordial sea of the world and makes things unseen bubble to the surface. Before my sister and I were born, there was no solar magic, no dream magic, because we are the source.

Fate chose us. Maybe we were always meant to be a part of the working of things.

Not you, though. You were chosen from the ranks of mortals, mortals never meant to ascend. It's the biggest dream I can imagine, and it brings me joy to be a part of it, even if I am decidedly not pleased with how I was made an unwilling participant.

It might be the final argument against my sister. To stand in the center of the world and shout "I" into the void and be answered by the universe itself.

My sister is all in. She cannot afford to lose this fight. She wants every day to be the same as the one preceding it, a perfect crystal in time that can endure forever against entropy and change. She will fail. Even if I am wrong, even if it is best for ponies to be content with what they have, I believe destiny cannot be so written in stone.

Neither my sister nor I know for certain that we're eternally, universally right. But we are old, and set in our ways. We can be nothing except what we are. You, though, have a choice.

You represent what ponies could become. It would mean everything if you could convince her that you are the path forward.

I truly value you. Each of you is a part of me. To my sister, you are an abomination, a flaw that has to be corrected. To me, you are majestic. Majestic. You are full of the only thing worth anything at all.

I am, by the only standard that matters or will ever matter, the winning team. Part of you must recognize that. You wouldn't struggle so against your fate if you didn't count yourself among the victorious few.

Will you join me? Will you help me overthrow what is and replace it with what comes next? Will you embrace change? Are you willing to let some few suffer so others can have even greater joy?

Don't hurry to deliver your answer. I'll come over and hear it myself.

The Pony Who Shouted "I" At The Heart Of The World

Apple Bloom looked up at the sky. Grey clouds were closing in, racing in sheets across the heavens. The trees in the orchard were losing the last of their leaves, the dry wood creaking in the wind.

“Apple Bloom, stop yer lollygaggin’!” Applejack shouted. “A storm’s rollin’ in!”

“Are you sure?” Apple Bloom asked. “It don’t look like any storm I’ve ever seen.”

Applejack didn’t quite gallop for her, but she walked with the measured haste of somepony on the edge of panic and fighting to keep herself together. She took her sister’s hoof and started leading her back towards the house.

“Bloom, I don’t rightly know what kind of storm this is,” Applejack said. “What I do know is, we’re gonna be safer riding it out in the basement. I already got the blankets and lantern down there. How about you grab a few books an’ we’ll take turns readin’ stories to each other?”

Apple Bloom was only half-listening. Something else had caught her attention.

On a clear day, a pony could see all the way to Canterlot from the farm. It wasn’t a clear day by anypony’s reckoning, but against the darkening sky she could see something. A growing light, in every color of the rainbow.

“So we’re in the Astral Plane,” Dust asked. “And none of this is really real?”

“That’s a crude way of putting it, but yes,” Doctor Sparkle said. “It’s more accurate to say that the Astral Plane is a kind of Recognition Superspace where nothing exists unless it is in the mind’s eye of at least one observer.”

Dust looked over at Sunset.

“She means if you imagine something it becomes real,” Sunset said. She waved a hoof and for a moment her whole body changed into a weird hairless biped before shifting back into the much more sensible pony form.

“So which one of us is imagining this table?” Dust asked.

They were seated at a circular table, part wood and part glass.

“I felt a table meant we could begin with a discussion,” Princess Celestia said. “And a round table means nopony is sitting at the head of the table.”

“Easy to claim when you’ve got the biggest chair,” Chrysalis grumbled. “I’m a Queen. I should rate a bigger chair than you.”

“Feel free to change your seating as you wish,” Celestia said. She glanced past Chrysalis into the darkness swirling around them. “Or one could deign to sit at all, sister.”

“You say that as though I was at fault,” Nightmare Moon crooned from the shadows, her eyes briefly visible in one spot, then another, like she was all around them. “As I recall, you were in the middle of trying to murder all of these poor ponies. Now you want them to sit down and talk. I wonder what changed?”

“She’s going to try and convince us to help her destroy you,” Doctor Sparkle said, entirely at ease. “She can probably defeat the rest of us, eventually, but not if she also has to face you.”

“Correct!” Nightmare Moon crowed, laughing. “We’re evenly matched. All it takes is a tiny tipping point, a distraction at the right time, and the victor is decided. And you poor little things are just perfect for it.”

“I’m liking this,” Dust grinned.

“You shouldn’t,” Celestia warned. “She will betray you. As soon as I am dealt with, you will be next.”

“Big words for somepony who literally did just that,” Nightmare Moon said. “You let them deal with Sombra and then stabbed them in the back.” She appeared behind Marble and whispered in her ear. “She let your coltfriend die.”

Marble shivered in her seat and said nothing.

“Hm. I think she’s a little traumatized from not having my shade keeping her company,” Nightmare Moon said.

“Is that what was going on with her?” Dust asked. “I thought she was just going cuckoo from having too much power.”

“I used our connection to hitch a ride,” Nightmare Moon said, reaching forward and pinching Marble’s cheeks. “I do apologize if I caused any trouble. I just got so excited for a bit of time outside.”

“Speaking of which, I’m concerned about your feelings towards us for imprisoning you,” Doctor Sparkle said.

Nightmare Moon sighed and let go of Marble. “Yes, there is a need to clear the air between us, isn’t there? You kept me in a changeling pod for years and extracted bits of my essence just to use in your tests. It wasn’t pleasant.”

She turned to look at Chrysalis.

“And you. You’ve been using me as a puppet to invade pony dreams. Clever, I admit. But they are my ponies. My dreams!”

“And I was feeding my subjects,” Chrysalis countered. “We did no lasting harm. Just happy dreams. You should be thanking us!”

“You and I both know that isn’t the point,” Nightmare Moon growled. “But! I am magnanimous. With all the losses my sister has inflicted on your hive, I suspect you want revenge. We can settle up afterwards, hm?”

Chrysalis deflated.

Cadance coughed. “Miss, um, Moon…”

“Please, call me Auntie,” Nightmare Moon said.

Cadance smiled. “Auntie, then. Maybe there’s some way we can resolve all of this without violence? I mean, we’re all sitting down at the negotiating table. Can’t we just talk out our differences and then all leave happy?”

“An excellent idea,” Celestia agreed.

“That’s what the losing side always says,” Nightmare Moon noted. “But why not? I need a chance to stretch my legs anyway.”

“You don’t even have legs here,” Doctor Sparkle muttered. “They’re just part of a temporary body created by your subconscious. They’re more like phantom limbs that other ponies can see.”

“If we’re going to talk about anything, how about we talk about why Celestia decided to murder all of us,” Sunset said, folding her hooves and sitting back. “We saved Equestria and she immediately decided it was time to take us out.”

Celestia sighed. “How much do you know about alicorns?”

“A lot,” Sunset and Doctor Sparkle said, at the same time.

“You might think that, but there is one fact you don’t know,” Celestia said. “Alicorns cause instability in the world by raising the ambient magical level. Actually, let me…”

She looked back and a blackboard appeared. She started drawing on it with chalk.

“Imagine the ambient magic level of the world is like the sea. Before there were alicorns, before Luna and myself, it was shallow, far more than you can imagine today. Magic was weaker, and even cutie marks weren’t entirely common. I believe we were just barely at the baseline required for sentience to develop at all. Imagination, dreaming, complex thought, all of those are to some extent magical.”

“Counterpoint, I’ve been to a world where there’s very little, if any, local magic. There’s still sentient life,” Sunset said.

“That world isn’t without magic,” Celestia said. “Though the level of magic is extremely low, as you say. It’s even lower than it was before Luna and I became alicorns. That’s why only one species there achieved sentience.”

“Please stop calling me Luna,” Nightmare Moon sighed. “But continue. I want to see where you’re going with this.”

“You don’t know either?” Cadance asked, surprised.

“No, clearly this is something she discovered after I was banished.”

“It is,” Celestia agreed. “Lun- Nightmare Moon, you remember when we were ruling, we defeated Discord and then it seemed like every few years something new would come out of the woodwork, every time more horrible than the last?”

“Yes. And I never got any credit for stopping them!” Nightmare Moon spat.

“After you were banished, it stopped happening. It was almost a thousand years of almost total peace. From magical disasters, anyway. The usual cycle of empires rising and falling and pressing at borders happened, but nothing like Discord or Sombra or Tirek.”

Celestia sketched a side-view of a shoreline.

“Like I said, imagine a sea. At first, it was down here, only in a few puddles and low spots. Our birth and ascension was something not seen in history, a one-in-a-billion chance. Like waiting for the right movement of the continents and weather to produce a puddle that lasts long enough and is filled deep enough to allow a fish to crawl onto land.”

“Discord,” Nightmare Moon said. “You’re implying he stirred things up.”

“Yes. The natural force of Harmony is to balance things, to flatten. Discord… I’m not entirely sure he is even native to this universe, but he changed the fabric of the universe. It’s like he reached down into the primordial ooze and swirled it around...”

She turned the smooth floor of her seabed sketch into jagged, uneven terrain.

“And in that chaotic environment, conditions became right for us to ascend and imprison him,” Celestia said. “But the moment we ascended, something else changed. The sea level rose.”

She drew the ocean creeping onto land, covering everything, a single body of water now instead of thin puddles.

“It seemed like a golden age. Ponies were learning more about magic than ever before. Great civilizations rose. And terrible threats to match them. You see, even though each pony had more access to magic than before too, the world was suitable now for terrible creatures that we’d never seen hence, and we were forced to lock them away in Tartarus.”

“I had to lock them away in Tartarus,” Nightmare Moon corrected. “While you assured ponies nothing was wrong.”

“Think of it like the water being deep enough that sharks could swim in it now,” Celestia continued, ignoring her sister. “When my sister was banished, though, the sea level dropped… and the sharks found themselves beached.”

She erased the waves and drew them again, lower.

“And like that, it was perfect. Ponies could grow and be happy and use their special talents to the fullest.”

“It was a thousand years in the dark ages!” Doctor Sparkle snapped. “Star Swirl made more discoveries ten centuries ago than every scholar since then! Didn’t you ever think that this might be why?!”

“It’s true,” Celestia admitted. “It was simpler. Less challenging. But ponies were happy and leading full lives. That’s all that mattered.”

“Centuries of stasis,” Nightmare Moon shook her head. “How sad.”

“And then I was born,” Cadance said, quietly. “That’s when it all changed, didn’t it?”

“It changed when you ascended,” Celestia agreed. “I… shouldn’t have allowed it, but my attention lapsed, and I was too late to stop it.”

“You would have-- you wouldn’t have let me become an alicorn?”

“It’s nothing personal, I’m sure,” Sunset scoffed. “She just showed up five minutes late. Just think, you could have been the same stifled, bitter pony she wanted me to become.”

Celestia glared at Sunset and continued her story, raising her voice to speak over any other quips. “And then there were two alicorns again. It took aeons and the intervention of an outsider for the first ascension, then less than a thousand years for the second. Orders of magnitude less.”

“I ascend, and then Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Sombra…” Cadance whispered. “Is the war my fault?”

“...Indirectly,” Celestia admitted. “Don’t blame yourself.”

“She’s also responsible for us, then,” Dust said. “You said it yourself. The more magic around, the more talented ponies can be. If there wasn’t enough pegasus magic in me I’d fly like a regular brick instead of a majestic winged brick.”

Sunset glared at Celestia. “Why don’t we get to the point? You’ve been keeping ponies from ascending. On purpose. You made me your student just to make sure I wouldn’t become an alicorn and wreck your little fake peace!”

Celestia looked down, saying nothing.

“It’s true?” Cadance asked. “I thought she just said that before because she was jealous and mad but… what she said all those years ago was true?!”

“I was protecting my little ponies!” Celestia snapped. “I had to do it! I treated you like my own daughter, Sunset! I just guided you onto paths that wouldn’t destroy the world!”

She angrily started drawing waves higher and higher.

“The more alicorns in Equestria, the more dangerous the situation becomes! With one alicorn, disasters come once in a lifetime for mortal ponies. Two and they come annually like the seasons. It gets exponentially worse from there. Worse, every pony that becomes an alicorn makes it easier for others to follow. A pony just below the borderline suddenly has access to enough magic to make that leap. And then the one below them can do the same. It’s a chain reaction, and in the end…”

“In the end we’re all immortal,” Doctor Sparkle noted. “What a tragic fate.”

“All immortal?” Celestia asked. “Twilight Sparkle, how many ponies do you think would survive that long? You surround yourself with the best and brightest, but you forget that most ponies are average. How many alicorns can exist before the world becomes too harsh for a normal pony to survive?”

“The strong will survive,” Nightmare Moon said. “As always. It’s natural selection.”

“Natural selection is for animals,” Celestia retorted. “We aren’t beasts. When a pony is nearsighted we make glasses for them to wear. When a pony is cold they wear a coat. When a pony is sick or injured, we care for them. The strong serve the weak. That’s how society functions.”

“This is the real problem,” Sparkle said. “Lecturing us. Expecting us to sit and listen when you killed ponies we cared about. When you were trying to kill us. Spouting justifications about the strong serving the weak when you would never follow through! If it was so important to stop alicorns from existing, why didn’t you seal yourself away, too?”

“Somepony has to tend to the garden, or it grows wild,” Chrysalis purred.

“If I didn’t, where would the world be?” Celestia asked. “Look at you, Sparkle. Your lust for power has brought us to the edge of disaster. This could be the end of the world, and you wonder why I take drastic action?”

“Lust for power?” Sparkle scoffed.

“What else would you call it?” Celestia asked. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been a brilliant pony who could never accept her own limitations. All you’ve ever wanted was power.”

“You’ve never understood me,” Doctor Sparkle said, shaking her head. “I never cared about power. I wanted to be healed! I wanted to make things right! I wanted to be whole again!”

“You could have been happy without magic,” Celestia said, her voice soft. “You could have had friends, done research that helped ponies, found love. Instead you’ve brought ruin to Equestria.”

Celestia motioned with her wing, and windows appeared in the air, showing scenes all over Equestria. Pillars of light shone down over the sky, the heavens caught between day and night, a spreading sickly rainbow growing from the border between them.

“What is this?” Cadance whispered.

In one window, ponies huddled together under palm trees as a blizzard came down around them, the waves behind them frozen solid on the beach.

“Even with all of us here, removed by a half-step from the world, the increased magical pressure is threatening to crash down on Equestria like a tidal wave,” Celestia said. “Each of those pillars of light is an uncontrolled magical event, like a spell going off uncontrolled, with no caster and no target.”

Reflected in another shard looking out into the world, rifts tore open in the air, showing other places and times. Ponies fled from the things that shambled through into the half-light of the shattering world.

“I’ve seen this before,” Dust said. “No. I’ve seen the aftermath.”

“Your dream,” Nightmare Moon agreed. “Yes. It was a vision of a possible future.”

A window drifted in front of Marble, and she looked up to see the streets of a town somewhere in Equestria. Ponies, half-transparent and wearing clothing decades or hundreds of years out of date appeared on the streets, walking through the crowds and ponies watching like the ghosts they were.

“Is it the future that has to come to pass?” Sparkle asked.

“No,” Nightmare Moon and Celestia said at once. Both of them glanced at each other and frowned in annoyance before looking away. Nightmare Moon gestured and Celestia continued.

“Luna and I had visions like that before many disasters,” Celestia said. “They’re warnings, not something set in stone. It can be changed. For the sake of Equestria we must change it. Every moment we debate, the effect strengthens and spreads.”

“Because they’re ascending right now, aren’t they?” Sparkle asked. “Or at least, they’re on the cusp of it.”

“In this place, the initial burst of magic can be contained,” Celestia explained. “If the process cannot be halted.”

Doctor Sparkle stood in silence, looking at the windows into the world. After a long moment, she swiped her hoof through the nearest one, shattering it into motes of light.

“I had my magic taken from me by fate. I had so many ponies I care about taken from me by destiny. I had my home destroyed. And now you want to take my work from me.” Sparkle turned to glare at Celestia. “I refuse. I won’t lay down and take it. Not from you. Not from anypony.”

“The future she saw--”

“You said it yourself! The future can be changed! Either it will change, and we can fight for something better than being imprisoned and crippled, or it will refuse to change and you can’t hope to stop it!”

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. “I didn’t say I was giving you a choice about this. For the good of Equestria, you will never leave this place.”

“I don’t think so,” Sunset growled. She stood up, and the others stood one by one along with her. “If the ponies out there are so important to you, maybe you should be the one to stay here instead!”

“Without someone to tend to them, they wouldn’t survive,” Celestia said. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not going to get a chance to do anything,” Chrysalis snorted. “We have your sister, your equal, on our side!”

“She was my equal a thousand years ago, before her magic was sealed for centuries, before she was captured and drained.” Celestia spread her wings, and the round table collapsed into stardust.

Lightning Dust got into the air just in time for the wave of force to hit them like the tide rolling in, a sudden crushing pressure that forced her back and down to the ground. Nightmare Moon managed to take a step forward, and the pressure redoubled, forcing her back.

“I’m going to seal you in the deepest part of the Astral Plane,” Celestia said. “You won’t suffer. It will be like a waking dream, for the rest of eternity.”

The ground, what they thought of as the ground, collapsed like the table, the support it had given vanishing as the maw of an infinite void opened up under them.

“This doesn’t look good,” Starlight Glimmer sighed. “Here I am, like an idiot, wanting to help and too late to do anything but look at the pretty lights…”

She walked casually onto what had been a battlefield. The sky above her was cut in half between night and day, and multicolored auroras spread like the surface of an oil slick across the heavens. Stars twinkled and fell, others rose to take their place, and the less said about the weather the better.

Ponies in EUP uniforms and black-shelled monsters both worked to treat the wounded where they lay, helping some of them up and getting as many as they could into tents and on blankets. The ground was blasted and burned as if from some great heat, and whatever fighting had been going on was over now, ended in the face of something too great for an army to wage war against. Now they were all simply trying to survive.

“Who’s in charge here?” she yelled over the din.

“I am.” A pony in a ragged labcoat stepped away from where she was putting boxes and wires together. “I’m Moondancer. I’m Doctor Sparkle’s--”

“I know. Celestia made me read all your files,” Starlight said. She offered a hoof to shake. “And I’m--”

“Starlight Glimmer, Princess Celestia’s current student. I’ve read your file, too,” Moondancer countered, giving her hoof a firm shake.

Starlight smiled wryly. “So aside from the end of the world, what happened? I was halfway to a country without an extradition treaty with Equestria when everything went nuts. For some reason, I got the bright idea to come back here instead of finding a sunny place to wait it out.”

“The EUP launched a large-scale invasion of the lab with the intent to capture any valuable assets and suppress Doctor Sparkle’s research,” Moondancer explained. “The situation rapidly became chaotic.”

Starlight looked at the fire and flames around them and nodded. That story checked out.

“The assembled fleet was destroyed, mostly by Sunset Shimmer, but Lightning Dust arrived back from the moon in the middle of the battle and used the Sunny Day as an impromptu lithobraking target. The invading troops were repelled by an allied changeling hive, there are massive casualties on both sides.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It gets worse. Celestia took to the field, there was a short exchange of spells, and then Doctor Sparkle…” Moondancer hesitated. “She released a large-scale threat. There was a huge eruption of thaumatic radiation, the Sunny Day vanished, and that appeared. That was hours ago, and I’m still trying to get any useful data.”

Moondancer gestured to the massive rift in space. The edges were twisted and bent like the light around it was passing through a lens and the inside of the portal was a twinkling mass of light and crackling sparks.

“That doesn’t look particularly healthy,” Starlight said.

“And I don’t have Doctor Sparkle here to try and explain it,” she said. “If you’re here to help, I need antennas pointed at that thing so I can get some readings on just what’s happening.”

“I’m guessing the fighting is over?” Starlight guessed.

“After Celestia vanished and that rift opened, everything went crazy,” Moondancer said. “Nopony is up to fighting right now. Things are happening all over Equestria and it seemed stupid to keep trying to kill each other when we’re not sure there’s going to be anything to fight over.”

“Great,” Starlight said. She picked up one of the scattered antennae. “So much for a vacation. Where do I put this thing?”

“Rarity, what’s happening?” Sweetie Belle asked. Her sister stood at the entrance to their tent like a sentry on guard, watching outside through a window she’d sewn into the fabric. It had once been a standard Royal Guard issue refugee tent, but she’d spent every spare moment making things more comfortable since it had become their temporary home.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Rarity said. She was lying. Sweetie Belle had heard her lie over and over again, and she always did it the same way. When she sounded like nothing was wrong and she wasn’t bothered at all, it meant something was deeply wrong.

“You just don’t want to tell me,” Sweetie mumbled. “You never tell me anything! I’m not an idiot! I know something’s wrong! Don’t treat me like I’m stupid!”

“It’s an adult’s job to worry so foals don’t have to,” Rarity said. She sighed and turned to her sister, kneeling down so they were on eye-level with each other. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I just… I want to protect you.”

“How am I safer if I don’t know anything?” Sweetie asked.

Rarity smiled sadly. “Part of protecting you is protecting your innocence. There are things fillies shouldn’t have to know until they’re older. Mother and Father asked me to take care of you because Canterlot was supposed to be the safest place in Equestria, and I haven’t been able to keep a roof over your head, I’ve barely been able to feed you, and…” Rarity closed her eyes, wiping away tears before they could fall. “I’m sorry, Sweetie. I’ve done an awful job as a sister.”

Sweetie hugged her tightly.

“You’re a great sister,” Sweetie said.

Rarity laughed a little as if that was an absurd notion.

“At the moment I’m not much of anything,” she said. “Maybe we’ll feel better if we have some warm tea.”

Rarity reached for the teapot, and her aura flickered, the strain increasing like the teapot weighed ten times as much, like her magic became an order of magnitude weaker. Her vision started to go black around the edges.

Lightning Dust tried to stand, and the crushing force crashed down on her, driving her back to her knees, the ground under her sinking lower.

“I don’t understand it,” she gasped. “What’s going on?”

“It’s like being at the bottom of the ocean,” Cadance said, her horn blazing. “I’m trying to keep up a shield, but--”

“I knew that mule was always holding back,” Sunset said. She struggled to her hooves, joining her magic to Cadance’s. “If we can’t find a way out of this, we’ll be crushed flat!”

“It’s worse than that,” Doctor Sparkle said. She looked up, far up, at the glimmer of light shining above them like the light of a distant sun. “The Astral Plane is a recognition space. Death is the least of what can happen here.”

“Indeed,” Nightmare Moon agreed. “This isn’t a real space. It’s a place where dreams and thoughts form the basis of reality in the way matter does in Equestria. If we lose sight of our senses of self, we can suffer total ego collapse and the loss of our physical forms.”

“That sounds bad,” Lightning Dust groaned.

“It is,” Doctor Sparkle said. “You would become less than nothing. Even the space you occupy would stop existing.”

“That makes me worried for Marble,” Dust muttered. “She spent more time being possessed than being herself. How long can she hold up?”

She glanced at the earth pony. Marble sat silently, either deep in thought or near-comatose.

“All ponies pretend to be something they’re not,” Sparkle said. “None of us are in control of ourselves all the time. She had to learn how the hard way. Marble might be better suited to surviving this than the rest of us.”

“I admit, I’m impressed by the little team of friends you put together,” Nightmare Moon said. “Most ponies would have lost themselves entirely by now.”

“Like I told Moondancer, I wanted wolves, not sheep.”

“It begs the question of how you’re still alive at all,” Nightmare Moon continued. “You’re neither immortal nor augmented by sorcery.”

Doctor Sparkle’s body flickered, a line of magenta magic and sparkling twinkles racing across her body like a pencil drawing her form.

“It’s recognition space,” Sparkle said. “What matters here is my ego. I remember my body perfectly.”

“I see,” Nightmare Moon said.

“You two could help,” Sunset growled. “This isn’t as easy as it looks!”

“I’m conserving my strength,” Nightmare Moon retorted. “It’s not over yet. It’s not enough to fight just to survive this one moment. To win, we have to fight for victory.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Marble asked quietly, the first thing she’d said in a while.

“We need to wait for the right moment,” Nightmare Moon said. “Even from here, I am not a helpless foal.”

“Oh my stars,” Moondancer whispered, as she looked at the readings. She put down the radio she’d been listening to.

“What’s wrong?” Starlight asked. “Aside from the obvious.”

“The disasters all over Equestria -- they’re being caused by discontinuities in a changing magical field,” Moondancer said. “Like bubbles appearing in water when it starts to boil.”

“And that’s bad?” Starlight asked.

“Bad and worse,” Moondancer said. “For the first few hours, when the disasters were starting, the average background thaumatic field across Equestria had nearly doubled. It peaked and suddenly dropped, and now…”

“Now?”

“It’s going below normal,” Moondancer said.

“Pretend I don’t know a lot about thaumatic cosmology. How bad is that?”

“You’re Celestia’s student! You should know this! It’s awful! As the background thaumatic field drops… the magic goes away. If this continues, unicorns will stop being able to cast spells, pegasus ponies will fall from the sky, and earth ponies will lose their strength.”

“What’s causing it?”

“I have no idea,” Moondancer said. “Something in there.” She pointed to the gate.

Starlight picked up a rock and threw it at the gate. One of the sparks dancing around the portal hit the stone and cracked it, shattering it into red-hot pebbles.

“It might be tough getting a look,” Starlight said.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Moondancer said. “That barrier is caused by another discontinuity. Whatever is on the other side of the gate has massive potential thaumatic energy, and with the background thaums dropping here, it’s forming a kind of pressure curtain.”

“And that’s bad,” Starlight said.

“It’s… well, you saw what it did to the rock. A normal pony doesn’t have the internal thaumatic pressure to survive entry.”

“Right,” Starlight said. She stared at the portal for a long moment. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you--” Moondancer asked, before Starlight vanished in a burst of teleportation magic that sent a wave of static across all her sensors. “Great. She’s as bad as the ones Twilight hired. If I was in charge of Horse Resources I’d have hired ponies that had citations for excellence, or long resumes involving charity work, or at least a college degree to prove they can listen to somepony long enough to get a diploma.”

“What was that about a diploma?” Starlight asked, from behind her.

Moondancer jumped and turned to see Starlight holding a suit of golden armor.

“I figured this would still be in the castle where I left it,” Starlight said. “Help me put it on.”

She set it down, and Moondancer started opening panels and joints, marveling at the construction within.

“This is a work of art,” she said. “Half the suits I built with Doctor Sparkle were just rough bench models, but this… even the wiring is clean!”

“Celestia spared no expense,” Starlight agreed. She pulled on the peytral. “The most important thing right now is the paint job.”

“It’s a little gaudy,” Moondancer said, helping her with the shoes.

“It’s some kind of fancy and extremely expensive anti-spell coating,” Starlight said. “Maybe it’ll hold up for a few extra seconds so I can get through.”

“It’d be nice to run some tests,” Moondancer said. She connected the last part, and lines of magical light flickered across the armor like veins pumping luminous blood.

“Do we have time for tests?” Starlight asked.

“No,” Moondancer said. “The best I can do is wish you luck.”

Starlight winked. “That’s gonna have to be enough. Stand back.” Starlight gave her a moment to step back and unfolded her wings, planes of magical energy flickering to life at her sides and sketching out polygonal feathers in the air.

Moondancer nodded in approval as Starlight took off.

Starlight had plenty of experience with magical barriers, but she’d never felt anything like this before. The lightning was like a solid wall of wind, like trying to fly into a hurricane. The average shield was more like a steel plate, something that could be broken, something rigid and solid. It could be broken with enough force. But you couldn’t just smash aside an avalanche.

The golden coating on her armor was starting to heat up. Sparks crawled around the edges.

“A little thing like the impossible never stopped me before!” Starlight shouted. Her magical wings folded in, the feathers coming together in front of her like the bow on a ship, focusing everything she had to a single point of contact.

She slipped forward, just a tiny bit. The force deflected to the sides, straining to crush her shields in.

“This is nothing!” Starlight shouted, her horn blazing as she poured more energy into her armor. A conduit over her flank exploded, shrapnel not even making it to the ground before the energy around her vaporized it.

Starlight grinned madly and started rotating her shields, twisting them so the crush went around her, not letting it settle. She slipped a little closer to the event horizon.

“Who do you think I am?!” She yelled, ignoring the metal of her armor twisting from the warring magic inside and outside it, the foil-thin layer of orichalcum plating flaking away.

The very tip of her wedge-shaped shield passed through. She could feel everything about to fail. She let the rotating drill-wings explode in every direction, a burst of force like setting off dynamite in a tornado, blowing out the winds for just a moment, disrupting the vortex. Starlight kicked herself through with one last telekinetic burst, just before it collapsed again.

Celestia watched the windows into the world, trying to divine what the future would hold. She could only get a glimpse of it from here, even with all the power in the world at her disposal. Threads of magic wove together in great waves across Equestria, and every flaw in the weave was twisting into a new horror. It was slowly abating, but how many of her ponies would suffer before the storm ended?

And then space itself tore apart.

She turned, ready to defend herself with spells that hadn’t been cast in centuries. The Astral strained as something transitioned from the real space outside to recognition and thought, imagination replacing matter and form shaved away in favor of habit.

Starlight Glimmer was ejected into the starry expanse, her armor vanishing from around her as she fell to the ground, bouncing twice and landing at Celestia’s hooves.

She looked up. “Oh, hey, Princess.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Starlight, I have to admit this is a surprise. Not an unpleasant one.” She helped her student up. “I wasn’t sure where you were. I’m so relieved!”

“You are?” Starlight asked, dazed. She looked around. “Where are we?”

“On another plane,” Celestia said. “It’s alright now. I was so scared for you.”

“You were… scared for me?”

“I thought I’d have to track you down myself and drag you here against your will,” Celestia said, picking up her student in her golden aura. “You were the one missing piece of the puzzle. If I seal you here, Equestria will finally be at peace again.”

“You--” Starlight’s dizziness went away in a hurry. She teleported, tearing herself out of Celestia’s grip. “Seal me away?! What are you talking about?!”

“It’s my fault, and I hope you can someday forgive me,” Celestia said, stepping towards her. She seemed to cover more ground than the motion would have allowed, like the world slid them closer at her will. “You were merely a powerful unicorn, perhaps near your own ascent to a higher level, but I pushed you too far. I played with the same primal force as Doctor Sparkle because I thought I could control it.”

Starlight touched her chest. The scar over her heart flickered in and out of sight.

“You mean you want to lock me away in a dungeon because I’m too strong for you to control?”

“I need to seal you and your magic here because you’re too strong for the universe to control,” Celestia corrected. “It isn’t your fault, and that’s why this hurts so much.”

“Oh yeah, I just bet me being locked up for a thousand years is going to hurt you more than it’ll hurt me,” Starlight scoffed, trying to get away, blinking from place to place and finding Celestia a little closer each time despite her efforts.

“You have no idea what it’s like, being forced into that kind of responsibility,” Celestia whispered.

Starlight caught her glimpse and followed her gaze to the side, where a rippling ball of black became visible through the mist. Something about it seemed to eat at her, like it was sucking at her attention but also muting her perception, like just looking at it was making her lose time in the same oblivion as a deep sleep.

“What is that?” Starlight whispered.

“It’s where I had to put them,” Celestia said. “There aren’t many prisons that can hold alicorns. They’ll stay there, forgotten, until I can find a way to safely allow them to exist. Perhaps they can even become mortal again, and lead normal, happy lives…”

“You’re crazy!” Starlight snapped. “Do you even know what’s happening out there?! Magic is draining out of the world, there are disasters everywhere and--”

“It’s a painful transition,” Celestia said. “And ponies will be… less talented than they were. It has to be done. They’ll have centuries of quiet peace instead of a few years of turmoil.”

“Great, so it’s up to me to save the world from my crazy teacher,” Starlight muttered.

“It’s not crazy,” Celestia said. “You don’t understand the horrors I’ve seen. This war was the final straw.”

Starlight snapped off a spell, and Celestia didn’t even block it, simply leaning slightly to the side to avoid it.

“That wasn’t anywhere near the target,” Celestia said. “I thought you were a better student.”

“I learned a lot,” Starlight agreed. “Like when you decided to teach me about the magic of friendship. You told me I’d run into walls in life that I couldn’t break through on my own, but that with friends at my side, nothing would stand in my way.”

Celestia felt the texture of the Astral change, and turned to see Starlight’s magic embedded in the black sphere like a harpoon, the spell burrowing down into the depths and leaving a trail through it.

“What have you done?!” Celestia demanded.

Starlight rose into the air, a golden aura surrounding her and choking her in a way that was actually metaphorical but felt very real and very much like being strangled in the moment.

“I have no idea,” Starlight admitted, struggling for breath. “But if I don’t know what I’m doing, you probably don’t have a plan to stop it!”

The black sphere cracked like an egg.

There was a flash of light in every color of the rainbow, from Sunset’s crimson magic to Twilight Sparkle’s magenta aura to the green of Chrysalis’ toxic sorcery and the blue of Cadance’s glow. The light peeled back the dark, and there was a rush like a vacuum being filled up, a sonic boom as the pressure equalized.

“I told you, we just had to wait for the right moment,” Nightmare Moon said, stepping forward. “All I could do was send out a few daydreams, but they were more than enough to inspire my little ponies to free me.”

“Impressive,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I thought there was a zero percent probability that anypony could get here to save us from the outside, but I guess the odds don’t count around ponies like this.”

“You haven’t done anything except delay things,” Celestia said. “I’ll just put you back where you belong!”

Her horn blazed with solar light, and the mists around them started swirling in a magical wind.

“You have no right!” Sunset shouted, appearing next to her. A long blade of roaring magical energy extended from her hoof, and she swept it down at Celestia. The alicorn jerked back, raising a hoof to defend herself, a sabre of her own appearing just in time to block it, the rough, moving edge of Sunset’s blade chewing into hers.

“I have every right!” Celestia retorted. She pressed forward, and Sunset’s blade started to fizzle out, the teeth dulling and breaking against Celestia’s will. Sunset’s star sabre started to crack and--

“SNEAK ATTACK!” Lightning Dust yelled. The blade of her massive black axe came down on Celestia’s sword, breaking the lock between her and Sunset and slicing right through the Princess’ spell like it was butter. Dust twisted it around, the blade reforming into a spear as she jabbed with it. The tip hit Celestia as she tried to dodge, cutting into her peytral and shattering it, the armor breaking away when the Princess moved.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sunset demanded, glaring at Lightning Dust.

“Mad I interfered in your duel?” Dust guessed.

“No, I’m mad you didn’t go for the head while she was distracted!”

Dust shrugged and twirled the axe around, the edge snapping out like a switchblade into a scythe. “I decided to save you from being cut in half instead. You’re welcome.”

“How naive,” Celestia said, touching her shoulder. A tiny trickle of blood leaked from a scratch where the weapon had broken through the armor entirely. “I’ve kept to my duty for a thousand years. A thousand years where the sun rose every day, where ponies could live in peace and know tomorrow would be just like today!”

“That’s not enough!” Cadance shouted from above, diving towards her. “Ponies should be able to look forward to the future! They should have hope that tomorrow won’t be like today because it’s going to be better instead!”

She let loose with a magical blast at point blank range, just before she would have impacted with Celestia. The force of it kept her in the air, her momentum adding to the force of the acid-green blast of magic.

It took Celestia a moment to realize what the color meant, and by then, the real Cadance was right next to her.

“You’ve been poisoned by hate and anger!” Cadance shouted. “Remember your love for all the ponies that look up to you!”

A wave of soft blue washed over Celestia. The elder Princess’ expression softened.

“Oh Cadance, that’s just like you, trying to solve this without violence,” Celestia said, her voice kind and quiet. Then she turned back to Chrysalis and redoubled her efforts, blasting her out of the air. The disguised changeling queen lost her focus, shifting back to normal as she careened back across the Astral.

“No, don’t!” Cadance yelled.

“Everything I’ve done is out of love, Cadance,” Celestia said. “That’s why I didn’t simply kill all of you and be done with it. I couldn’t bring myself to do such a thing. But I will do what I must to protect my little ponies!”

She fired an energy blast at Cadance’s hooves, knocking the Princess of love up and away, giving herself space.

“Which one of you is next?” Celestia asked. “Maybe you’d like to throw yourself at me, Twilight? Or maybe you want to try, Luna!”

Her horn lit up with golden light, blazing brighter and brighter.

“Thank you for reminding me, Cadance!” Celestia said. “I can’t be afraid to make sacrifices! If I have to sacrifice all your lives, I’ll bear that burden!”

Celestia’s mane erupted in flame, the soft colors being consumed by the burning pyre of a solar flare raging across her body.

“I can’t even cast this spell in Equestria without risking burning half of the continent away! Take this! Supernova!”

Everything turned into flame, not just like the heat was so intense that the air caught fire, but that her spell aggressively transmuted everything, every thought, every atom of an idea, into fire.

Except where Marble was blocking it.

The plasma cascaded back from her shield in wide wings, cutting through the void and leaving a sliver of space between them that was safe, a sliver holding all of her friends. She took a step forward, pressing against the attack, her shield refusing to buckle.

“You took everything from me,” Marble hissed. “My family, my friends, my life…”

“The war did that!” Celestia snapped, her voice deepening. “A war that only happened because I allowed you ponies too much freedom! Too much power!”

“Tell that to Sunburst, you son of a bitch!” Marble screamed, shoving herself right into the spell and slugging Celestia in the face, the Princess’ crown falling away and melting in the lingering flames as the spell sputtered to a stop.

“This is it!” Starlight yelled. “Everypony get in, get in!” She launched a spell, a stream of pure magic slamming into Celestia with all the force she could muster. It was joined by a twin from Sunset, and Celestia stumbled back, fighting to keep upright.

“We’ve got to keep up the momentum!” Sunset shouted.

“Put everything into it!” Chrysalis ordered, as her wavering beam joined the others. “I’ve fought her more than any of you, and she always has another trick planned!”

“What you’re doing isn’t out of love, it’s out of fear,” Cadance said, adding her magic to the wave. “Ponies need to be loved like people, not like pets kept in a gilded cage!”

Dust focused her pegasus magic, launching a bolt of crackling lightning at Celestia. “You want to keep ponies from being the best they can be, and that’s something I can’t stand!”

“This is for all the ponies like me,” Marble whispered. “All the ponies that you want to step on!” A beam of almost-uncontrolled force ripped from her body, a horn flickering in and out of visibility on her forehead.

“No!” Celestia shouted, as she was shoved back. “You can’t do this! I’m the only one keeping Equestria safe! You don’t have the willpower to do all the things I had to do!”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Nightmare Moon said, flying up above the torrent of energy. “It’s time for you to go to sleep, sister! Dream about your beloved, backwards world where ponies never change!”

Her horn burned with black light, and a beam of pure night shot down at Celestia from above, hitting her and wrapping around her, the spell spinning around her like a spider spinning a web around its prey.

“You have no idea what you’re unleashing!” Celestia shouted. “They’ll never accept you! They’ll never love you! They’ll just remember all of you as the ones who overthrew the pony they loved!”

“Everypony in Equestria knows the truth,” Doctor Sparkle said. “While you’ve been ranting and raving, I’ve been using these windows of yours. They were surprisingly easy to reverse-engineer. While we’ve been talking and fighting, I gave the ponies in every town and major city a show they’ll never forget.”

She waved a hoof, and a window appeared between them, flashing between Las Pegasus, Manehattan, Seasaddle, and all the towns between them. Floating over them, huge fields of light broadcast what was going on to every corner of Equestria.

“And you think that’s enough to win their hearts and minds?” Celestia spat, as black silky tendrils wrapped around her. “They know who their real ruler is!”

“They don’t need a ruler like you,” Doctor Sparkle said. “Maybe they need to rule themselves for a while. I heard democracy is all the rage in some countries. And with all our magic, they’ll be strong enough to decide for themselves.”

Celestia scoffed. “It will never work.”

“Maybe, but they deserve a chance,” Sparkle said.

The Princess’ expression changed, as the last few links of the spell fell into place. “Promise me… that you’ll take care of Equestria? Don’t let everything fall into ruin!”

“Of course we will,” Sparkle said. “Believe in us. Have faith in your little ponies.”

“You’re sure she won’t escape?” Dust asked. “Because it wasn’t easy getting her in there.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed at the notion, adjusting the way the cocoon hung in space, tendrils of darkness stretching off of it and into the misty distance. “This is the same sorcery Queen Chrysalis used on me. It’s almost impossible to break from within, I assure you.”

“No hard feelings, I hope,” Chrysalis said.

Nightmare Moon took a deep breath. “No. It seems I’ll have to learn to live alongside quite a few other immortals. It will take some effort, but I will have to learn to let go of a few small grudges.”

“You’re not going to betray us and leave us all here?” Sunset asked.

“That seems more like the kind of thing you’d do,” Starlight quipped.

“Nah,” Sunset smiled and tossed her mane, uncovering her once-missing eye. It was just a glowing ball of light now, like a small star in her face. “I’m starting to really appreciate having all of you around, even if some of you are idiots with muscles where their brain should be.”

“You’re just jealous I can bench press more than you,” Dust retorted.

“When we get back…” Cadance hesitated, looking at Nightmare Moon.

“I liked that democracy idea Doctor Sparkle had,” Nightmare Moon said. “All the paperwork and ceremony… from what I’ve seen in dreams it’s only gotten worse since I sat on the throne. I gave ponies inspiration and ambition, it’s only fair with my return that I allow them to exercise them.”

“A really free Equestria,” Marble whispered.

“It could be interesting,” Dust said. “Ponies chasing their own dreams. Deciding what’s right or wrong on their own instead of listening to royalty.”

“Mm. Democracy wouldn’t work with my hive, but maybe you ponies will surprise me.” Chrysalis shrugged. “If you don’t collapse into anarchy, that is.”

“I wish I could see it,” Doctor Sparkle said.

“You can,” Dust said. She pointed to the rift Starlight had used to enter. “That’s the way out, remember?”

Doctor Sparkle smiled at her. Twilight’s whole body flickered and shimmered.

“I can’t leave,” Doctor Sparkle explained. “When I freed Nightmare Moon, the thaumatic radiation… well, if I wasn’t standing in the rift portal when it opened, I’d be completely gone already.”

“You mean… your body was destroyed,” Sunset said. “Total thaumatic conversion. Like a disintegrate spell all the way down to the subatomic level…”

“Yes,” Sparkle said, turning away from them. “I can maintain myself here, as long as I maintain my focus.”

“There has to be some way to fix it,” Marble said. “I can’t… I don’t want to lose anypony else.”

“If she ascends, she’ll be able to leave,” Nightmare Moon said. “But it could take some time. It doesn’t happen on a schedule.”

“When you leave, tell Moondancer--” Sparkle swallowed, getting choked up.

“If we did things right, you’ll be able to tell her yourself,” Dust said. “She’ll be waiting for you when you figure out a way out of here.”

Doctor Sparkle wiped at her eyes and nodded.

“It’s not goodbye, it’s just ‘see you later’,” Cadance said, pulling her into a hug. “I’ll be waiting for you, too.”

“We all will,” Sunset said. “I don’t want the only pony smarter than I am to be stuck here forever.”

“And I’ll need you around for my next scheme,” Chrysalis said. “I haven’t planned one out, but I’m sure you’ll be an asset.”

“Marble and I will be there too,” Dust promised.

Marble nodded. “Mm.”

“Huh?” Starlight asked, after a moment. “What? Am I supposed to say something sappy?”

“Idiot,” Sparkle scoffed. “Get out of here. I’ll be watching you, so you’d better not do anything too stupid! That goes for all of you!”

Dust saluted and turned to the portal.

“Let’s go see what kind of Equestria we can build,” Dust said.

They walked into the sunlight, and the future.

Author's Note

Scootaloo sighed and looked up at the sky, watching the stars. Some of them were moving, flashing around so quickly the eye could barely follow, slamming into each other and bouncing away. She could only see the brightest from here on the ground, with the lights of the city behind her, with all its nightlife and noise, washing it out.

“What’s wrong, kid?”

Scootaloo turned to look at the pony behind her. It was some mare in a dull grey cloak that was burned around the edges like it’d been pulled out of a fire. The teal mare sat down next to her, and Scootaloo tried not to look at her horn, or the shifting of wings under her cloak.

“I’m stuck down here,” Scootaloo admitted, looking away. She was ashamed to say it, but the stranger was… well, a stranger. A pony who wouldn’t judge her. “My friends are up there playing starball.”

“That’s an alicorn game, isn’t it?” the stranger asked. “I haven’t kept up with all the sports you kids invented.”

“Yeah, alicorns only,” Scootaloo said. “You need magic and wings, or you can’t play. And I guess it’s not really safe if you’re not immortal but that’s what they say about hoofball now and it didn’t stop anypony from playing it before when they just had helmets.” She huffed.

“So you can’t play until you become an alicorn, huh?” the stranger asked, looking up at the spectacle.

“My friends and I were supposed to ascend together,” Scootaloo explained. “But it didn’t work out that way. They left me behind…”

The stranger nodded. “Okay, then. It sounds to me like you just need a little help.” She stood up, and offered a hoof to Scootaloo.

“Why would you want to help me?” Scootaloo asked, taking her hoof and standing.

“Sometimes there are arguments or fights, but real friendship is forever,” the stranger said. “We’re all in this together.”

“So what’s the first lesson? Magic lasers? Punching boulders? Beating up monsters?”

Lightning Dust tossed back her hood and smiled. “You look like you’re pretty fast, kid. How about a race?”

Scootaloo grinned. “You’re about to lose, old lady!”

“That’s what I want to hear,” Dust said. “On three. One--”

Scootaloo took off, flying right past her and turning to blow a raspberry.

Dust grinned and chased after her.

Prologue

Twenty-four hours ago, Private Cobalt Shield had been listening to an inspirational speech from General Nickel Plated.
It had been a really great speech, about how what they were doing was important for Equestria, how sacrificing their time and safety meant others could live in peace.

He was trying to recall the exact words the General had used, because they’d made him feel brave and proud, and both bravery and pride were in short supply right now, pulling a cargo wagon through ice-cold mud halfway up his fetlocks. They were part of a convoy of a half-dozen bringing food and clean water to the front.

“Do you see anything?” he asked the soldier next to him, shouting to be heard over the driving rain and distant crash of thunder. They’d sent a team of pegasi to clear the skies and they hadn’t come back.

He couldn’t remember the name of the stallion he was sharing the trench with. If he could see his cutie mark, maybe it would have jogged his memory, but the armor they were wearing - piecemeal junk that was half surplus from centuries ago and half forged quickly and poorly in factories out of recycled scrap - covered the red stallion’s flank, even if the rest was clearly uncomfortably tight.

“Nope,” the big stallion said, peering into the dark. Cobalt could barely even see the path ahead of them, a narrow pass through the hills. Lightning flashed, the scraggly trees on the ridges looking like stretched-out shadows of arcane horrors for a nightmarish moment.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” Cobalt muttered, not even able to hear himself over the rain pattering on his ill-fitting helmet like a kettle drum. "I'm not even supposed to be here today! I was supposed to be in logistics!"

The other stallion might have murmured something in reply.

"Well, I thought it meant paperwork, not heavy lifting," Cobalt retorted.

Lightning flashed again, and one of the bedraggled trees was gone. Cobalt would have slowed to look, if he wasn’t lashed to a wagon with another pony, if he wasn’t part of a convoy packed close together on the road and stopping meant wagons crashing into each other, if he could have seen anything anyway.

It occurred to him, not for the first time, that this was a bad place to be if the enemy was planning an ambush.

The wagon ahead of them drifted to the side, wheels wobbling.

“Did the Lieutenant call for a break?” Cobalt asked. Maybe he’d missed it.

“Nope,” the other stallion said. He sounded worried.

“Go around them and see if they’re okay?” Cobalt suggested. It was the only thing they could do without stopping, untying their yokes, and delaying things even further.

The big red stallion nodded, and they leaned, fighting the wagon through the mud. Usually the lightest wagon would go first, the others following in its ruts like a train following tracks. Trying to pull through the mud without that path was ten times harder and fifty times as annoying, armored shoes slipping in the uneven terrain and every step a struggle to make sure they didn’t come to a full stop and get stuck.

“Give us some light up here!” Cobalt yelled back. A unicorn somewhere down the line sent up a flare, a twinkling star against the grey clouds.

They came around to the front of the other wagon, and Cobalt felt his bowels loosen.

The ponies that had been pulling it were twitching in their harnesses, legs spasming in pure automatic reflex. Blood spurted into the dark from their necks, which ended abruptly in a ragged edge where their heads should have been.

“Oh buck me,” Cobalt swore. He went pale, not that it was easy to tell under the mud. “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” He screamed.

Something stepped into the circle of light from the flare, inertia carrying Cobalt towards it even as he tried to skid to a stop.

It was huge, with an elongated, skull-like face and iron horns filed to a razor-sharp edge.

Cobalt struggled with the harness, trying to undo the knots.

A massive metal blade scythed down and smashed through the wood between him and the other stallion. The wagon’s front axle decided to become a fulcrum as it was slammed down into the mud, the rear of the wagon rose into the air. Cobalt struggled, snapping what remained of his restraints and scrabbling to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed as the wagon came crashing down.

Cobalt’s spear was on the wagon, where it wouldn’t get in the way. If he had a few minutes he might have been able to salvage it.

He didn’t have a few minutes.

He drew his backup knife, holding it between his teeth.

The looming monster looked at him with corpse candle eyes.

Cobalt dropped the knife and it vanished into the mud, sucked down never to be seen again. He scrambled through the muck, throwing himself behind what was left of the convoy, little more than a chest-high wall of weather-worn planks. He looked up the hill, trying to find a path to escape.

A monster peered down at him from the top of the hill, a draconian head on a long neck. A second head joined it, spitting a barbed spike that narrowly missed his head. He flinched and shielded his face.

Something slammed into the mud in front of him.

He looked through his hooves, expecting some new horror, and was almost blinded by acid-green light. A half-dozen spikes made of bone entwined with steel barbs were suspended in the air over him, vibrating and barely held back by unstable magic.

"Control, I'm on scene." It was a mare's voice, and when Cobalt's eyes got used to the glare and he was able to see again, he saw it came from the armored form above him, shielding him with steel wings spread wide, feathers blued around the edges from some terrible heat.

"Who are you?" Cobalt whispered.

He couldn't see the mare's face, hidden behind a heavy visor. She flapped her wings, and the spikes tumbled down to the ground, released from her magical grip.

"I know it's dangerous!" the mare snapped, speaking to the air. "You're the one who was giving me grief about abusing the test subjects! I'm running in minimum gain mode. My body should last longer than the batteries."

The monster roared. The armored mare's dark glass visor turned to Cobalt.

"Stay here," she ordered, this time actually speaking to him.

He nodded, and she jumped into the air with a burst of magic that left the mud sizzling and bubbling in its wake. Cobalt covered his head and waited for the noises to stop.

The wagon shifted behind him, and he jumped.

"Are you still alive?" the mare asked. She sounded exhausted, with an edge of pain in her voice.

Cobalt nodded and looked up.

"Good," the mare said. She touched a release on the side of her helmet and the visor popped open with a hiss, revealing a lavender unicorn that had to have been a decade younger than he was. She coughed, blood flecking her lips.

"Are you hurt?" Cobalt asked, worried.

She tapped the side of her helmet, and a tiny red symbol flashed in front of her eyes. "Mm. If I'm reading the sensors correctly, I'm having a heart attack."

“Hey, hey! We have another one alive!”

Cobalt opened his eyes, wincing at the sunlight.

A pony was standing over him, trying to pull him up out of the mud.

Cobalt took his hoof, standing up on shaking legs.

“Hold,” said a voice, clear and resonant.

Cobalt looked up to see her, the sun at her back, shining through her mane.

"What happened here?" Princess Celestia asked.

Cobalt looked around them, at the huge inequine claw-marks in the mud.

He tried to speak, his mouth suddenly dry. Celestia nodded to one of the gold-armored guards at her side, and a canteen was pressed against his lips. He greedily lapped at it, clearing the dust and dried mud from his lips.

"There was an attack," Cobalt croaked. "Monsters. I've never seen anything like them."

"And then?" Celestia asked.

"She was like an angel," Cobalt whispered. He took another long drink. "She saved me and vanished."

"Is that so?" Princess Celestia asked. "I'd like to hear about this 'angel'."

Author's Note

It's been more than half a decade since the war really started and we still don't see an end to it.

When the Empire first appeared, we were told Princess Cadance would have the situation resolved within a week. Then a month. Then she was back in Canterlot and the EUP was mobilized. We were told they'd be back home before Hearth's Warming.

My draft notice came two years later. It was after the mess in Manehattan. That was when ponies started to realize we might be on the losing side of things.

Somepony told me once that the average pony just wants for tomorrow to be basically the same as yesterday. It seemed like overnight we lost that kind of hope. War wasn't something far away, it was right here.

I don't know if there's anything waiting for me back home. Nopony had been buying quills, much less sofas. I didn't want this war. I'm no soldier. When it's over, though, how do we go back to the way it was?

- Fragment from a journal

Absolute Borderline

Equestria hadn’t fought a real war in so long that only immortal ponies could remember the last one, and before the Empire had attacked the most action they saw involved the Everfree forest and ponies that weren’t smart enough to keep out.

That said, they weren’t entirely unprepared. While the military had become more of a defensive and peacekeeping force, they still knew which end of a sword went into the enemy, and Equestria’s long history gave them a lot of study material, even if it was in the abstract. Here, on the fields to the north of Canterlot, in a sparsely populated area that had the misfortune of being on the wrong side of a mountain range for easy train travel and was too far for the coasts for shipping, the enemy was playing right into their hooves.

Every military commander in history has fantasized about the perfect battlefield. The abstract battlefield. Something as flat as a table and with just as few features, where they could push their troops into the enemy and not have to worry about unpredictable events. This was almost that ideal field, save for a range of high, steep hills.

The Imperial forces had arrayed around them, sitting in their shadow in preparation for a push further into Equestria, moving the front lines south. It wasn’t strategically important, not really, but there was an opportunity here - Sombra only had a limited population, and even if it was entirely focused on war, it was barely a tenth of Equestria’s.

“They’ve got yaks among their formations,” Lieutenant Pile noted. “I guess that confirms the rumors about Yakyakistan.”

“If they’d accepted our offer for help we could have done something to prevent that,” General Nickel said. “I told the Princess we needed to step in.”

“It shouldn’t make a difference, sir,” Shield said, shrugging. “We outnumber them almost three to one, and we could win even with only equal numbers.”

“That’s the difference between slaves fighting because they’re ordered to and brave ponies fighting to defend their homeland,” Nickel agreed. “Let’s take care of this before nightfall.”

Orders were given, and ponies closed on the formation, keeping to the coordinated fighting blocs that had served well in open engagements for hundreds of years. Oddly, the Imperial forces didn’t come out to meet them, staying in the shadow of the mountain.

“Push forward,” Nickel ordered. “If they want us to just overrun their camp, that’s fine with me. Keep the pegasi back in case they have archers.”

“Sir, what’s that?” Pile asked, pointing above them, to the mountain looming over the plains. Nickel looked up and frowned. There was something glittering near the top, as if somepony had set jewels into the rock.

“Could be ice, or scouts with telescopes,” Nickel said. “From that distance, there’s no way anypony could attack.”

“I’ll send a wing of pegasi to check it out,” Pile said, passing the order along. A team of winged ponies took off, but they didn’t even get halfway there. There was a flash of violet light, and the gleam at the top of the mountain hardened. A sweeping beam of light cut the pegasi out of the air, the ponies bursting into flames, some of them not even hit directly, the air around the beam flash-heating enough to set feathers aflame.

“Endless night!” Nickel yelled. “It’s some kind of warding! Get the artillery up and have the warmages shield our troops!”

Semaphore flags moved through the air, a scattering of magical shields forming in the air, artillery trying to recalibrate for an almost vertical shot.

“Can we even reach that?” Pile asked, quietly.

“We have to try,” Nickel said. He waved a hoof, and a brace of bastillas fired. Most fell short but a few reached up and-
-slammed into hardened planes of magical force.

“Oh no,” Nickel muttered.

The mountain flared with light, and a beam of heat tore through the shields around his forces, the force overwhelming the warmages almost instantly, the spells failing explosively as the wards collapsed under the assault. Heat washed over the army, hot enough that even at this distance, Nickel felt his skin flush like he was standing in front of an oven, the high-energy magic instantly tanning his skin from the radiation flux.

“Pull back!” Nickel yelled. “Get them out of there--”

The beam twitched to the side, slicing through the command formation on its way to pick off the artillery and mages.

“The entire sixth brigade has been lost,” Commander Leaf Raker noted, the stallion unable to meet Princess Celestia’s gaze. “Only a few survivors made it back. We’re not sure how to counter this new threat, your highness. General Nickel was badly hurt, many of his staff were killed.”

“Please have the names sent to my desk,” Celestia said, quietly. “I’ll take care of informing their families myself.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Commander Raker saluted.

“I have a pony in mind to handle this,” Celestia said, narrowing her eyes. “If Twilight Sparkle really wants to prove herself then this will be another opportunity for her and the… ponies under her command.”

“Twilight?” Cadance asked. Celestia closed her eyes and breathed out, trying not to show her frustration. She’d forgotten the younger princess was in the room. For some reason, she’d started inviting herself to military meetings in Shining Armor's place, and Celestia couldn’t forbid her. That was, she could, certainly, but she wasn’t going to try and play the seniority card. Not yet.

“Yes,” Celestia said. “Doctor Sparkle has been… running certain projects. She has recently demonstrated greater progress than I expected.”

“This is about Sunset, isn’t it?” Cadance asked, frowning. Celestia’s composure slipped, and her eye twitched.

“Please excuse us, Commander,” Celestia said. “I’m sure you have work to do. I’ll ensure things are taken care of regarding the situation. Don’t let me detain you.”

The Commander nodded and left as quickly as possible, not even pretending he was doing anything except running away.
Celestia watched her go and waited for a few long moments, the silence growing uncomfortable.

“I wasn’t aware you knew about Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said.

“So she is working with Twilight,” Cadance said quickly, pouncing on that. “I knew it. They always were so similar…”

“Don’t,” Celestia warned. “I know you’re fond of Twilight, but she is dangerous. Sunset is worse. I won’t forbid you from seeing them but you should take my advice and stay far away. They are going to crash and burn. Both of them are arrogant and they are going to suffer for the folly.”

“They’re not dangerous,” Cadance retorted. “You just don’t get along with them because you’re all so alike. Sunset was practically your daughter!”

“And she left,” Celestia said, firmly. “Do you know what she’s been doing while she was gone? How many ponies are have been hurt because of her? I’d be within my rights to have her imprisoned or executed.”

“If that was true, you’d already have done it.”

“Fortunately for her, my hooves are full with other matters.”

“Do you see it yet?” Doctor Sparkle asked, the radio crackling in Lightning Dust’s ear. The distance and ambient magical interference was causing a lot of distortion and noise on the signal.

“I see the mountain, yeah,” Lightning Dust said. “It’s kinda hard to miss.”

“Don’t get too close. This is just a scouting mission. We have time to approach this more carefully and I’d like to use it.”

Dust let the wind whip around her. With the altitude and speed she had, it’d be bitterly cold even in the Badlands. This far north, with all the wild weather, ice would be a serious concern. She flexed her wings, the turbulence from the shrug almost sending her into a spin, her magic the only thing keeping her stable for a few moments.

“They have a lot of troops,” Dust reported, looking down. “I can see them from here. It looks like they’re fortifying the area.”

“It makes sense,” Sparkle noted. “With the reports from the survivors, it seems like they’ve deployed a linnorm for long-range area denial. It’s the same idea as a high tower with archers. Provide enough cover and your enemies can’t approach.”

“I can see the marks on the ground where it was attacking the Equestrian troops,” Dust said. “That’ll give me a good landmark for how close I can circle.”

“How far is it?”

“Pretty far. Looks like a couple miles.”

“Approaching it conventionally will be difficult, then. We’ll need to consider options.”

“Stealth spells,” Sunset said, butting in on the conversation.

“It was able to detect and track targets from miles away with enough accuracy for spell targeting,” Doctor Sparkle countered. “It’s probably using divination effects. Conventional stealth might be ineffective.”

“A long-range teleportation to avoid the entire distance, then,” Sunset suggested.

“That sounds good,” Dust noted. “I bet it’s got a blind spot if we’re close enough to the mountain.”

“The amount of interference makes me concerned about accuracy,” Doctor Sparkle said, obviously thinking. “I wonder if an attack from directly above would work…”

“What are you thinking, maybe use clouds as visual cover?” Dust asked.

“Not a terrible plan. It’s probably focused on watching for large troop movements. With the full helmets we can go up higher than just about any pegasus,” Sunset said. “Practically like a ballistic missile.”

“What’s a ballistic missile?” Dust asked.

“Never mind,” Sunset said, quickly. “It’s, uh. Complicated.”

“Whatever,” Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna swing in closer, right at the edge of the attacks. I’ll be careful not to get any closer.”

“Mm,” Doctor Sparkle was deep in thought. “I just feel like there’s something we’re missing. We know it’s positioned at the top of that mountain, and they’re using it for area denial, a line in the sand the troops can’t cross.”

“Sparkle,” Sunset said, with some urgency. “How high is that winged idiot? If that thing is attacking everything in a spherical radius instead of a cylinder, and it’s at the top of a mountain--”

“The angular difference-- Lightning Dust, pull back!”

“Angular--?”

“The sphere isn’t centered at ground level! It’s wider at the altitude you’re at!” Just as Sparkle said that, there was a twinkle at the top of the mountain. Lightning Dust pulled her wings in tight, dropping like a rock. A beam of magical energy shot right above her, the heat blistering even from a near miss.

“A dive is the wrong move!” Sunset snapped “You were above it before, and you’re only going deeper into the targeted zone!”

“Shut up! I need the speed of the dive to get away!” Dust flared out one wing and went into a spin, the g-force from the sudden twist hard enough that it would have knocked out most pegasi. She could feel the heat above her, tracking closer.

A second move and she turned the dive into a split-s, trading altitude for airspeed and sweeping to the side, the roll changing her direction faster than a normal banking turn. The beam missed, going past her as the linnorm misjudged her movements.

“I think I got this!” Dust yelled. Maybe it was the overconfidence. Maybe it was just bad luck, but that was when the linnorm got a bead on her, a wide, sweeping beam clipping her, her feathers turning black in the wake of the attack.

She screamed as she fell, slamming into the dirt hard enough to knock her out instantly in a reprieve from the pain.

“That’s bad,” Sunset muttered, watching over Doctor Sparkle’s shoulder in the tent they’d sent up in what little cover they could find on the open plain, far away from the possible firing range of the linnorm. “Is she dead? If she’s dead we’ll be out of guinea pigs.”

“She’s alive. Barely.” Doctor Sparkle tapped a few crystal buttons on the console, the divination displays and enchanted windows changing. “Her heart stopped for several seconds. She needs medical attention as soon as possible.”

“It’s worse than that,” Sunset said. “If I’m reading this correctly, that tailspin she went down in means she’s still in range of that thing. It might think she’s dead, but if we send in somepony to get her back...”

“They’ll be attacked. There’s only one real option.” Doctor Sparkle turned to look into Sunset’s eyes. “You wanted to try teleporting in close enough to attack? Get her out of there and we’ll consider it a test run.”

“No problem,” Sunset said. She stepped back and stretched the bronze wings affixed to her armor. Lightning crackled around her.

“Not so close to the equipment!” Sparkle snapped.

“Don’t worry, I’m a professional,” Sunset retorted, vanishing in a burst of sparks and light.

There was a sensation of being crushed and torn apart at the same time as Sunset reappeared, the flash of her appearance on the heat-scarred battlefield more like a bomb going off, the air splitting as she was forced back out into the world.

Sunset was thrown through the air, bouncing along the ground, tumbling head over hooves. Sparks filled the air around her as high-energy mana condensed out of the atmosphere.

“Buck my life!” Sunset swore, finally coming to a rest in a shallow gully. The divot in the ground was lined with glass and blackened rock. “The interference is an order of magnitude worse than expected. The enemy’s beam attacks are causing mana saturation.”

“Understood,” Doctor Sparkle said, her voice distorted over the weak radio signal. “You’ll have to fly Lightning Dust out of the operation area.”

“Thanks for that brilliant observation,” Sunset muttered. “Where is the idiot?”

“She should be near your location. Standard divination spells should work even through the interference at that range.”

“Right, right,” Sunset said, casting a pathfinding spell. A mote of light flitted along the ground, and she followed it for a few steps until she felt the shift in the air. There wasn’t time for anything sophisticated. She threw everything she had into a hardened shield and braced herself for impact.

The air erupted into flame, as hot as an open oven even behind her shields. She couldn’t see anything beyond the burning light.

“I think it found me!” Sunset yelled, over the roar.

“It must have sensed the active spellwork,” Doctor Sparkle said.

Sunset squinted against the light, and saw something on the ground, still steaming and twitching.

“I think I see Lightning Dust!”

“Good. Get her out of there.”

“Easy for you to say!” Sunset was already at her limit. One of the layered shield spells she was holding failed, dissolving under the pressure. The shock as it hit the next spell almost knocked her over, the bronze wings on her back growing uncomfortably warm.

She extended her shield as far as it would go and ran for it, scooping Lightning Dust up and taking off at a dead run, metal wings starting to glow.

The second spell failed, the hardened weave shattering even more quickly than the first spell. Only one was still holding, and Sunset could feel it ablating, shrinking and growing smaller as it tried to hold itself together against the onslaught.

“Faster!” Sunset whispered, forcing herself to move. Every thaum that she put into flying was one she couldn’t divert to try and keep the last shield propped up. It was an equation that spelled out the difference between life and death.

The pressure suddenly cut off, and she was free, the beam of heat trailing them before winking out entirely.

“Stay near the ground,” Sparkle advised. “Otherwise you’ll enter the engagement range again.”

“Remind me never to take these things lightly again,” Sunset said, trailing steam like a comet.

“The suit was partially fused to her skin from the heat. There are burns over most of her body.” Sparkle stripped the gloves from her hooves, tossing them aside. “Even with the healing she’s demonstrated, I’m not sure if she’ll wake up from her coma.”

“Should we start looking for a replacement?” Sunburst asked, helping her take off her surgical scrubs.

“One thing at a time,” Doctor Sparkle said. “Put her in the same observation room as Miss Pie.”

“But that’s not set up for an ICU,” Sunburst protested.

“Mm. And we're not a hospital,” Sparkle said. “Do it. I think it will be helpful.”

“Is she…” Marble whispered. She looked across the room at Lightning Dust. The pegasus was covered in bandages, connected to enough tubes and wires to make it difficult to tell where the machines ended and the pony began.

“She’s stable,” Sunburst said. He sighed and looked at Marble, worried. “Sorry about this.”

“N-no, you shouldn’t--” Marble swallowed. “What happened?”

“There’s a monster that she couldn’t handle on her own,” Sunburst said. “We really underestimated it. I don’t know what Doctor Sparkle is thinking! She’s not usually so reckless, but she’s acting like this isn’t even a setback.”

“Was she able to stop it?” Marble asked.

“No. It’s still sitting there. And we almost lost somepony else rescuing her, because she went at it with no plan at all.”

“Mmm,” Marble muttered, looking down.

“Look, the nurses need to set up some things in here and change her bandages,” Sunburst said. “How about we get out of here for a few minutes and get some drinks at the vending machine?”

Marble nodded silently, hiding behind her curtain of long hair. She followed him out of the room, pausing on the doorstep to look back at Lightning Dust.

“You know, you don’t really seem like the type to fight,” Sunburst said, opening a bottle of cheap tea from the vending machine and passing it over to Marble. “Why did you even agree to the tests?”

“My sisters…” Marble whispered. She looked down at the tea in silence for a minute, trying to gather herself, Sunburst sipping on his own drink and waiting for her to get the courage to continue. “I have three sisters. Marble and Pinkie are out there fighting and... I-I get these nightmares about being on the farm, and somepony comes to tell us that they got hurt somewhere far away, and I didn’t do anything to help because I was too afraid.”

“That’s a pretty big thing to have hanging over you.”

“I’m more afraid of them getting hurt than I am of being hurt,” Marble said. “Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. I’m still really scared.” She tried to give Sunburst a smile, but it wavered like jello in an earthquake.

“...You know, when the war started, I was still a student,” Sunburst said. “A lot of my friends decided to join the military. It was before things got really bad, when it was just being patriotic and ponies thought it’d be over in a few weeks.”

He sat down next to Marble, more heavily than he intended, his drink splashing on his coat. Sunburst wiped it away as he continued.

“I tried joining, but I couldn’t pass the physical or the thaumatic tests. I thought it was fine, you know? They just didn’t need me. I wasn’t good enough, and that was okay. I didn’t really want to get hurt, and this was like a free pass.” He sighed. “Everything changed when I found out Dreamweaver was dead. She was the first friend I made after leaving home and then one day, I’m sitting there in the lab, and I get the news she’s been dead for a week. I didn’t even know. I’d been so busy living in my own little world that I didn’t see the real world changing around me.”

He shook his head.

“I couldn’t even join the military at that point. The rejection was still in my file. And then Doctor Sparkle made me an offer, that I could do something to try and help ponies, even if it wasn’t on the front lines.”

“She’s…” Marble hesitated.

“I know. She’s intimidating. And she has no social skills. But she needed a lab assistant and nopony else was willing to work with her, so I took the job.”

“Was it worth it?” Marble asked.

“I still can’t fight but… if it wasn’t for me she’d never have gotten this far.” He smiled. “And we’ve beaten some monsters that would have taken an alicorn to fight.”

“W-what about…” Marble looked back, towards her room.

“Lightning Dust? She was the first recruit for the project. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony as bold as she is. Or maybe reckless is the right word.” Sunburst shook his head. “She was in the military before and got kicked out. She’s seen some really awful fighting and jumped at the chance to do it again. I think she really wants to prove herself.”

“But she got hurt so badly…”

“It’s not the first time.” Sunburst said, quietly. “Probably not the last either. Sparkle says that Lightning and Sunset are half-immortal but it’s looking a lot more like half-immortal doesn’t do a whole lot.”

Marble shivered, losing her grip on the can of tea she was holding. It tumbled to the ground, the sharp sound startling her.

“Hold on, I’ll go get something to clean that up,” Sunburst said, standing and trotting away quickly.

Marble looked down into the dark puddle.

“You’re such a coward,” her reflection said. Marble’s breath caught in her throat. The expression on her reflection’s face was nothing like hers, the eyes hard and piercing, almost glowing, the pupils slitted like a cat’s.

“I’m… a coward…” Marble said, or tried to say, barely able to get the words out even in a whisper, like she was being choked.

“You did all that to get strong and now you won’t even use that power?” The reflection touched her chest, and Marble felt herself doing the same, feeling the scar under her grey coat.

The reflection dissolved into ripples.

“Sorry about that,” Sunburst said. “It took a minute to find something I could use.” He mopped up the rest of the tea with the towel he’d found, and looked up at Marble. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” The question made her start, like she had been on the verge of falling asleep.

“You’re holding your chest,” Sunburst explained.

Marble shook her head. “I need to talk to Doctor Sparkle.”

“Get the U-type armor ready,” Sparkle said, tossing a sheaf of papers at Sunburst.

“But that’s--” Sunburst blinked. “You can’t be serious. We don’t have anypony to wear it! Are you going to volunteer and give yourself another heart attack?”

“Marble Pie will wear it,” Sparkle said.

“She already said she doesn’t want to fight. We can’t force her.” Sunburst put the papers down. “It’s immoral!”

Sparkle raised an eyebrow slowly. “I wasn’t aware morality was a concern. There are more important things on the line - like the lives of every mare, stallion, and foal in Equestria. And the Empire, I suppose. They’re our enemies but they’re not fighting because they want to.” She shrugged. “On the other hoof, Marble Pie is. She came to me and asked to be put on active duty.”

“She came to you? But…” Sunburst frowned. “The transfer to her room. You put Lightning Dust there on purpose.”

“I had to ensure she understood the gravity of the situation,” Doctor Sparkle said. “She couldn’t be bribed with power or glory. But she is a very kind pony. And a kind pony will fight to protect others.”

Sunset looked at Marble skeptically. The mare’s armor was heavier than hers, layered with safety measures to vent magic and thick plates that would have made Sunset unable to fly. The horn that Doctor Sparkle had created to use as a focus was irregular, twisted, almost more like a blade than a proper mana channel.

“Alright, look, Doctor Sparkle asked me to teach you some shield spells,” Sunset said, starting to pace back and forth. They were in the courtyard outside the lab, with the thought that it was close enough in case of an accident, but also far away enough that said accident wouldn’t cause irreparable damage.

It was sort of a silly measure. Sunset could have brought the building down in her sleep even before the Engine Heart in her chest had given her a second mana pool.

“Shield spells are pretty basic, and apparently I don’t have a long time to teach you enough to keep you alive.” Sunset’s horn lit up, and a sphere formed around her. “This is the most basic magical shield. It’s something unicorns can do on instinct. Assuming they can use magic, anyway.” She glanced at where Doctor Sparkle was watching the lesson.

Sparkle glared, her expression darkening.

“It’s sort of formless because it’s just pushing everything away,” Sunset continued. “It’s not a real spell as much as it is just telekinesis. The good thing is, it works against average threats - falling rocks, a pony running into you, arrows, whatever. The problem is that it’s worthless against spells. It’d be like trying to catch steam in your hooves, they’ll just slip through.”

Marble made a worried sound.

“What you’ll need for this operation is a hardened magical shield,” Sunset said. Her horn flashed, and the diffuse glow around her body shifted to a solid-looking bubble. “It’s the only way to keep yourself from being hurt. You have to keep it as solid as possible and totally seamless, at least on the face where the beam is hitting you. The trick with a magical shield is to avoid discontinuities. It’s like, uh, you worked on a rock farm, right?”

Marble nodded.

“Okay. So a smooth shield is like a perfect gem. One that’s uneven is more like a gem with flaws or inclusions. Those are weak points, and it’s where the shield will break apart.” Sunset’s shield cracked and shattered. “Just like that. You can’t make it perfect. I can’t even make it perfect. It’s like how no gem is really perfect - if you look at it under a microscope you’ll still find all sorts of tiny flaws that you can’t see.”

“B-but then--”

“Of course you’re probably strong enough that it won’t matter against normal attacks, but this thing’s a real monster. Your best option is multiple layers, like an onion. It won’t stop them from shattering, but it’s a multiplier effect, you know? You can either try to make the shield better, and get maybe a few more seconds before it breaks, or have three shields between you and it. You’ll last longer with the latter, even if they’re just ablative at that point--”

“Sunset,” Sparkle said, sharply. “Stop scaring the girl. She’s been good enough to volunteer for this operation. The last thing you need is to give her a panic attack.”

“She’s going to need to know how to cast the spells if she’s going to be part of it at all!” Sunset retorted.

“No, she doesn’t,” Doctor Sparkle said, calmly. “That’s what the armor is for. It was considerably more difficult to develop because it incorporates several spell circles into its structure. You need to teach her how to use them, not how to cast them.”

“Um…” Marble looked between Sparkle and Sunset.

“You can create a shield just by using command word functions,” Doctor Sparkle explained. “It’s the difference between writing a paper by hoof and using a printing press. As long as you provide energy to it, it’ll cast the spell for you.”

“With no way to vary it,” Sunset said. “And the matrix will only be as good as what you have in the armor.”

“It’s limited,” Sparkle admitted. “But it’s all we need for this plan to work.”

“Excuse me,” Marble said, hesitantly. “You never… you never actually explained the plan to me.”

“So the enemy has a maximum range,” Doctor Sparkle said, drawing a circle on the map. “This is roughly what it will detect and attack at ground level. I’ve confirmed this with some volunteers, and I’ve also confirmed it targets magic. It starts with active magic effects like spells, but it will target your wellspring if there aren’t any other sources in range.”

“Volunteers?” Sunset asked.

“You’d be surprised what a pony will do for a pay bonus and a new ribbon to pin to their chest,” Sparkle muttered. "Cadance always yelled at Shining Armor when... bah." She took a deep breath before continuing. "The important thing is the data is reliable."

“That’s right at the theoretical limit for direct-target spellcasting,” Sunset said, tracing the circle with her hoof. “You can scry targets for something like teleportation, but you need line of effect for something like attack spells.”

“Exactly. Once I determined that, it made the rest of the plan rather simple.” Doctor Sparkle looked at Marble. “You and Sunset will deploy at the very edge of this range. Sunset will attack from the theoretical limit and destroy the target.”

“To attack from that range, I’ll need time to cast the spell,” Sunset said. “Because of the extreme distance I’ll need to account for local leylines, weather patterns, the position of sun and moon, and the geothaumatic field. We’ll have to attack from a single, predetermined location.”

“I’ve had a few pegasi clear the skies around the operation area without entering it,” Doctor Sparkle said. “The leylines are already well-mapped. The sun and moon place a strict time limit on the operation. We’ll be starting just before dawn. Assuming the Princess can keep to her schedule.”

“You’re going to deflect the enemy’s beam attack,” Sunset said. “Because we’ll be inside the enemy’s range, we’ll become a target very quickly.”

“I’m planning on trying to divert its attention with flares and secondary targets,” Doctor Sparkle said. “But it won’t work for long.”

“We’re going to be cutting it close,” Sunset muttered. “Even getting one or two shots off is asking a lot.”

“I don’t understand,” Marble said. “You know much more about magic than I do. Why don’t you make the shield--”

“I can’t split my attention like that,” Sunset said, dismissively. “I mean, I could. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the best. The problem is I need to make sure to kill the stupid thing in one shot. Because this is hitting physical laws as part of the limits, I need every scrap of magic I can get.”

“We have to deploy quickly,” Doctor Sparkle said, sliding a few papers across the desk. “Intelligence reports say the Imperial forces are already on the move. With the linnorm providing area denial, they’ll be able to use this as a staging ground.”

“Can you do this?” Sunset asked, bluntly. “I don’t need you folding like a Chinese laundry.”

“A what?” Marble asked, confused (and scared, though the scared part was just sort of a state of being).

“Never mind,” Sunset sighed.

“Sorry about the repairs,” Sunburst said, as he adjusted straps along her side. “We didn’t have time to manufacture extra parts we’d need for a mana booster.”

Sunset shifted, uncomfortable, as he hooked up external wires and electrodes, the bronze wings stripped down to skeletons of bare metal.

“I helped with the designs myself,” Sunset said. “The conductors will give an extra two or three percent efficiency, even if it feels like I’ve got my wings in a vice.” She laughed. “Which is even worse than you’d think since I don’t have real wings. Phantom pain through leylines is extremely unpleasant.”

“It's not just phantom pain. The prosthetics have tactile feedback. With all these surfaces removed, it’s screwing up your senses. It’s less like you’re in a vice and more like you’ve been plucked.” He laughed, patting her on the back. "Sorry. We don't have the time to recalibrate everything. Try to bear with it."

“Are you ready yet?” Doctor Sparkle demanded, from the entrance to the tent. “You need to start moving towards point alpha. The EUP forces will be making a tactical strike on the target zone in five minutes.”

"How’d you convince Sunbutt to throw their lives away?” Sunset asked.

“She can be very practical when she thinks innocent lives are at stake. I let her have some input into the planning phase, and I'm confident that most of them will survive,” Sparkle said, shrugging. “The plan gives them better than even odds of being entirely unharmed.”

“And how much room for error is there in ‘exactly’?”

“...A realistic estimate, given how poorly they’re trained?” The purple unicorn sighed, shaking her head. “One in ten might make it back without a hospital stay. The disciplined soldiers are doing real fighting, not missions like this. Most of them are as bad as you and Lightning Dust. I hate doing it, but we don't have many other options.”

“Sounds like even Celestia is just using them to buy time,” Sunset muttered.

There was a crack like thunder. Sparkle looked outside. “That’s the signal. Get into position!”

Marble winced as a flare of green light lit up the dark sky, overpowering the pale light of the moon for a few moments. She followed the trace of light as it fell.

“Ready?” Sunset asked, startling her. Marble hadn’t heard her coming. The unicorn was unnaturally light on her hooves, barely touching the ground.

“Begin Operation Imbrium!” Sparkle yelled, making Marble jump. “EUP status?”

“Pegasi have entered the operation area,” Moondancer said, from where she was sitting in a tangle of radio equipment and scrying tools. “They’re deploying flares now.”

The sky filled with falling stars, and Marble felt a pressure on her horn.

“That’s the thaumopotential charge,” Sunset said, tapping her own horn with a hoof in sympathy. “They’re based on light spells--” Before she could explain, a beam of heat and fire struck out from the top of the mountain like a baleful eye, scything into the flares and turning to follow, cutting through them as they fell.

“It’s taken the bait. Move to the operation area!” Sparkle yelled.

“Come on,” Sunset said, urging Marble forwards. “We’re really cutting this close. We’re within walking distance of the estimated targeting range. If we screw up, we’ll be close enough for Sparkle to come over and yell at us before we get killed!”

Marble nodded, her mouth too dry to answer aloud, running forwards. They’d gone over it in detail. She didn’t have to be worried about the exact spot. She just had to stay in front of Sunset. All she was good for was being a living shield.

But the fate of Equestria depended on it.

“In position!” Sunset declared, sliding to a halt. “Shifting Unity Armor to thaumatic boost mode!” The wires along her sides started to glow, runes appearing in the air around her, spinning slowly in a wide halo.

“Marble, the shield.” Doctor Sparkle prompted, over the radio. Marble could feel the unicorn glaring at her from only a hundred paces away.

“R-right,” Marble said. “Ablative shield, full power!” She closed her eyes, forcing the magic she felt inside her through the armor, a wall of light appearing in front of her.

“Confirmed as seven ablative layers,” Moondancer said. “Continue providing power. We’ll try to maintain integrity with the remote controls.”

“Like we discussed, you don’t need to worry about the details of the spell,” Sparkle assured her. “Just stay there, and try to keep a mental focus.”

“I can do this,” Marble whispered.

“Engine Hearts are operating at full potential,” Sunburst said. “Control collar is keeping the instability in the U-type contained.”

The energy beam from the enemy sputtered and died out.

“Unicorn forces are starting mass shield deployment and attack spell run,” Moondancer said. Bolts of lightning, shards of ice, and fireballs launched at the mountain, most falling short, sputtering out. The monster must have noticed, though, because a moment later the beam of magical power swept down, scything across the dark land, illuminating formations of ponies for a brief instant before the air caught fire and exploded.

“They’re all dying,” Marble whispered.

“They’re expendable,” Sparkle said. “Don’t concern yourself with them. Focus on the mission.”

Casting spells required a talent that even most unicorns didn’t really possess in great measure. It wasn’t memorizing passages from a book, it was more like trying to sculpt while blindfolded. It was tactile and exacting, which was why finding a good tutor was so important - learning from books was like carving marble to instructions from a blueprint. A teacher, though, could hold your hoof and show you the right shape.

To do what she needed to destroy the linnorm, Sunset Shimmer had to sculpt her spell to precise specifications. It couldn’t be almost right. It couldn’t be ‘close enough’. She had to get it perfect, the first time.

She had to block out the voices coming over the crystal radio, focusing on the runes around her, the rotating rings speeding up to a blur.

Sunset almost missed the warning.

“We’re reading scrying spells focusing on your location,” Moondancer warned.

“Sunset?” Sparkle asked.

“Just need a few seconds,” Sunset muttered.

“Pick up the pace,” Sparkle scolded. “The EUP are already almost depleted entirely. They’re no longer providing a distraction.”

There was a flare from the top of the mountain. Sunset launched her spell, entirely on instinct. The air ripped open, the night banished as the spells clashed in midair, energy twisting into knots around lines of force.

“You idiot!” Sparkle yelled. “The beams are going to--” before she could finish, the knot was severed, the energy grounding itself, both spells going off-target and slamming into the ground, splitting the earth open.

Sunset fell as the rock and earth under her shifted in an earthquake, the bedrock splitting open, a rift into the depths of the earth tearing open in a huge eruption of rock dust and magical sparks. She was forced to scramble back as the soil crumbled under her, falling into that pit.

“The leyline,” she gasped. The radio was all static. The huge amount of interference jamming the crystal radio. “It grounded into the leyline!”

Her hooves slipped as a secondary tremor shook the world. She fell back, spreading her wings instinctively. The damaged prosthetics were slow to respond, generating no lift and just shaking in place, throwing off green sparks from where the feathers should have been.

“No no no--” Sunset gasped, looking down into the pit, feeling the surge of vertigo as she started to tumble into the dark.

A hoof grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, tossing her into firmer ground.

Marble looked at her and whispered something, her voice inaudible over the turmoil.

“What?” Sunset asked, heart pounding.

“I-” Marble swallowed, raising her voice. “I wanted to know if you were okay.”

“Yeah.” Sunset looked over at the still-growing crack. “Thanks. That was close.”

“Stop standing around and re-cast the spell!” Doctor Sparkle yelled, throwing her radio headset at Sunset’s hooves as she stomped over. “There’s no time! We didn’t plan for a second shot!”

“It’ll be fine,” Sunset said. “I can just reuse--”

“That blast cooked the leyline!” Doctor Sparkle snapped. “You need to recalibrate for the new local values!”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job!” Sunset retorted. “Unlike you, I was taught by the best!”

“I don’t remember tutoring you,” Sparkle replied, coldly.

“STOP ARGUING!” Marble screamed. Sunset turned to look at her, shocked. There was something about her eyes. Had they always been teal? And her pupils--

“She’s right,” Doctor Sparkle said, interrupting the thought. “Get into position. And finish the spell matrix before casting. Marble is going to be protecting you. Don’t reflex fire. You didn’t even let Marble block it last time, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sunset growled, planting her feet and starting the mental calculations for the spell.

“The control collar,” Sparkle said, as she returned to the command tent. “Get me readings on it now. We can’t risk losing control.”

“There was a dip, but the wards kicked in and increased power,” Moondancer reported. “Augury spells give a very low chance of a possession event.”

“Tell me if the readings change,” Sparkle muttered, rubbing her brow. “Everything always seems to come at the worst possible moment.”

“It’s coming.” Marble said, quietly. Her head felt like a vice was squeezing tight around it. She spread her stance, feeling the earth under her. Usually it was a source of strength and stability, but the rift in front of her, the broken pathways of magic under the bedrock still reeling from the surge of magical energy that had flooded them, made the earth feel more like a wounded animal, bleeding and frightened, ready to strike out at anything that scared it.

The yoke around her neck felt tight, tingling with static. Part of her wanted to tear the annoying bit of metal off and throw it away. One less distraction. She reached up to touch it.

“What am I doing?” Marble chastised herself. “I need to focus.” She closed her eyes and pictured the shield, power surging as the layers formed, one after another, green fire hanging in the sky, each layer a faintly different shade.

“It’s going to fire before I’m ready!” Sunset said, an edge of panic in her voice. “You better hold it back, newbie!”

Marble fixed her gaze on the mountain, black against the brightening sky. Dawn was coming. Something brighter than the sun bloomed, and the dust hanging in the air around her was washed out in a blast of pressure and heat.

Seven layers. Six. The first layer exploded outwards, simply shattering at a fault in the spell shape. The same kind of flaw Sunset had tried to teach her about.

A pocket of air heated to plasma, three more layers burning away one after another dissipating the heat. Marble tried to force more power into her shield, and warnings flashed in the corner of her eye, a message appearing in floating runes as safety systems in the armor tripped. It was heating up around her, the flawed components starting to glow hot from resistance to the magical flow.

“No, no, no-” Sunset was yelling behind her. “That sun-flanked bitch is raising the sun! It’s throwing off all my calculations!”

“We don’t have time to start from scratch!” Marble said, the pain in her head feeding anger and frustration.

“Tell that to Celestia! The sun is the single largest mana source! We started before dawn to minimize--”

“Stop complaining!” Marble yelled. Another layer of the shield failed. Only two left, and the heat from the enemy’s attack was like standing in front of a bonfire.

Of course the sun would be what got her killed.

Part of her knew what to do. The control yoke around her neck cracked, the central gem darkening as the wards failed. Her mane flared out around her, edges shimmering with stars.

The sun slammed down beneath the horizon, the sky darkening as the coming of dawn was refused.

“What--” Sunset said. “Hah! Some luck for once! Alright, here we go! Hold it steady, Marble!”

A flare of green and cyan lanced out, almost exactly parallel to the beam pressing against her shield. Marble could feel what Sunset was doing, using the enemy’s attack this time, following it like a river instead of fighting against it.

The top of the mountain erupted, the peak vanishing, the soil blasted away to reveal rocks already heated to glowing just for a moment before the superheated air exploded outwards in a fireball, the entire plain lighting up like dawn hadn’t been delayed at all.

The pressure against Marble’s shield vanished, and she collapsed, sweat boiling into steam on her superheated armor.

“Did we do it?” She asked.

“Marble!” Sunburst ran to her side, trying to pull her armor away. He gasped, wincing as his hoof touched the surface.

“Use magic, idiot,” Doctor Sparkle said. Marble watched Sunburst blush as he started working to free her from the damaged armor. “And yes, it worked. You did well.” She turned away. “I’ll try to avoid putting this kind of pressure on you in the future.”

“It’s fine,” Marble said, “We saved a lot of ponies, right?”

“...All of Equestria,” Sparkle reassured her. “You can rest for now.”

Marble sighed with relief as cooler air washed over her, the heavy armor tossed aside. When she felt Sunburst pull her into a hug, she finally let herself relax, passing out.

“No doubt about it,” Moondancer said. “We had a near-breach. We’ll need to check in the lab to make sure it won’t get worse. The control yoke wasn’t enough to completely cut out her influence.”

“It’s the best we can do without making her useless,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I wish we had more control, but any more warding and we’d have all been killed today.”

“Celestia can’t have missed what happened,” Moondancer said. “You saw it. Marble wrested control of the sun away from her.”

“Just for a few seconds, but yes.” Doctor Sparkle looked at the reports on her desk. “She’s going to step up her own investigations and efforts. I’ll talk to the Court and see if we can increase counterintelligence operations.”

“I don’t like working against the Princess,” Moondancer said, quietly.

“Neither do I,” Sparkle admitted. Moondancer looked at her, surprised. “It’s true. I looked up to her. And even if I didn’t, I’d be insane to want her as an enemy. I just don’t have a choice right now.”

Celestia looked up at the sky from her balcony, thinking. It hadn’t been hard to right things, but the sheer surprise of it had almost knocked the world off-balance.

“Is that her game?” Celestia asked the stars. “Return Equestria to its darkest hour? I won’t let it happen again. No matter the cost.”

Author's Note

Dear Princess Celestia,

I haven't written to you in a long time. I used to do it every day. Even while I was here, I felt that temptation. There's a stack of letters in my apartment that I wrote, all to you. I wrote them knowing you'd never be able to read them.

Has it been longer for you, or me? More years passed for you, but they don't really mean anything to somepony who's lived as long as you have. I think I've changed a lot, but Equestria changed too.

Even when I was a foal I knew you couldn't make something happen by wishing it. I knew that the point of life was the struggle to keep living. Ponies that got too comfortable might as well have been dead. I kept trying to challenge myself. I threw myself into your lessons. I gave you everything.

And one day you just stopped teaching me.

I thought I failed you somehow, and I did, but now I understand why. I was never supposed to be your equal.

Ponies do that too. They raise things that aren't their family, teach them, feed them. Smile at the cute things they do. Punish them when they do something wrong.

Was I just a pet to you?

No matter how much a dog comes to the dinner table, they don't get to sit down and have a plate. They only get whatever scraps their master leaves them.

I thought getting the scraps meant I was working my way towards a seat at the table. The truth was, you only ever intended for me to learn a few tricks and amuse you. You loved me, I think. Not the same way I loved you.

I won't be your dog anymore.

- Sunset Shimmer (Unsent letter)

At Least, Be Equine

Sparkle checked the circle for the third time, making sure every detail was correct. She’d had to pull a half-dozen books out of the restricted archives to get the information she needed to construct it, a task made more difficult by the lack of her usual resources. Kevin still hadn’t shown up, and his absence was making things much more difficult.

“The Necrodashcon, Das Equuis Mysteris, The Sign in Marigold…” Sunset shook her head. “Do you know what happened when I tried to borrow these?”

“Celestia kicked you out,” Sparkle said. “They are very dangerous, in the wrong hooves. Each is a book of the blackest magic known to ponykind.”

“So how did you get them?”

“I asked nicely,” Sparkle shrugged. “And a few ponies might have gotten a small donation of bits in consideration for their kind efforts.”

“You bribed them,” Sunset snorted. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you would prefer to threaten them,” Sparkle pointed out. “Regardless, these circles seem to be designed correctly. Very good work.”

“You think it’ll help?” Sunset looked to the center of the circle, where Marble was lying in as much comfort as they could give her, the mare sweating like she was running a high fever.

“The Engine Heart would purge the dark magic eventually anyway,” Doctor Sparkle said. “But the contact she had with the linnorm’s magic was an extensive violation of her leylines. This will cut it down from weeks to days. The wounds on her chest and shoulder are already closing up, thankfully. The physical damage was extremely minor compared to the thaumatic trauma.”

Sunset sighed. “Hang in there, Marble.”

“So the operation was a total failure,” Cadance sighed.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Celestia said. She took a long sip of the hot tea in front of her. “I missed the small comforts like this. I haven’t had to go to the field in centuries.”

“But you said you weren’t able to find Sombra,” Cadance said. She tilted her head. “Wasn’t finding him the whole point of the counter-invasion?”

“Yes and no,” Celestia said, after a few more quiet moments enjoying her drink. “We didn’t find Sombra, that’s true, but we were able to shatter his lines and get into the Empire. His supply lines are broken and we freed as many slaves as we could. His soldiers were being controlled with dark magic, but many of the workers were enslaved the old fashioned way with shackles and whips. They’d still be there if we hadn’t saved them.”

“You’re right,” Cadance sighed. “Even if we only saved one pony it would be worth it.”

“Exactly,” Celestia smiled. “But it worries me that we might have taken the war into a new phase. His troops are going to ground, and reports from the Royal Combat Engineers suggest that it might be very literally underground. We may be dealing with raiders and small-scale attacks for years.”

“And Sombra?”

“He’s probably found some safe place to hide,” Celestia said. “I had agents trying to find him, and while they did find quite a few interesting things, he wasn’t among them.”

The floor vibrated under them, the window across from them in the study cracking, a long line of broken glass piercing through an image of the sun.

“Another aftershock,” Cadance sighed, after a moment of terror.

“Some of my advisors are suggesting we move the capital,” Celestia said. “Naturally every major city has offered to build some grand castle.” She paused. “Except for Manehattan. They just want to rename an office building and cover it in gold.”

“I saw the sketches,” Cadance said, giggling. “I think it would blind everypony in the city.”

“I’m not convinced an office and cubicles will have quite the same effect as a throne room,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “This castle isn’t going to fall. I already made my decision - we’re going to rebuild Canterlot, exactly as it was before.”

“Not going to make any improvements?” Cadance asked.

“It’s a statement,” Celestia said. “No matter what happens, no matter what threats come to harm my little ponies, we will overcome and outlast them, and things get back to normal. We won’t change our values or our lifestyle.”

“But we could add more defenses,” Cadance countered.

“Right now there are foals growing up thinking war is normal,” Celestia said, quietly. “They’re spending their foalhoods afraid, hungry, and dealing with the loss of ponies they care about. I can’t ever make it up to them. But I can make sure the next generation thinks of Equestria as a land of peace. That won’t happen if they grow up in the shadow of war machines with soldiers at every streetcorner.”

“And the Imperial Army? What if they attack?”

“They’ll be beaten back, for as long as it takes. And someday ponies will only know the Empire as a name in a history book, and the war a footnote.”

The most beautiful pony in Equestria walked into the lab like she owned it. One thing in the previous sentence was a lie. She did own it, since she’d supplied even more funding and materiel to Doctor Sparkle’s project than Princess Celestia. She was certainly beautiful, and even definitely the most beautiful in Equestria, because while individual tastes varied, she could always be the pony of their dreams.

The lie was calling her a pony.

“Where’s Sparkle?” she demanded.

Moondancer looked up at the slim white pony. She’d seen her before, in fashion magazines and posters supposed to encourage the troops.

“Do you have an appointment?” Moondancer asked. “Miss…?”

“Of course not,” the pony snorted, her expression twisted with annoyance in a way that a fashion model’s shouldn’t be. “I don’t need to make appointments.”

“At least give me a name,” Moondancer sighed.

“Tell Doctor Sparkle that her mentor is here.” The model vanished in a rush of green flame, replaced with a horror in black chitin and a hanging, corpse-like mane.

“Now try rotating it,” Doctor Sparkle said. Sunset bit her lip and moved her hoof, spinning her fetlock in a complete circle.

“Wow, that feels weird,” Sunset said.

Sparkle smiled. “You’ve gotten the hang of it quite well.”

“There’s something strange about it,” Sunset frowned. “I shouldn’t be able to feel anything at all.”

“That’s because I designed this prosthetic.” Doctor Sparkle sat back. “The standard model isn’t strong enough. This one is made of the same morphic alloy as your unity armor and incorporates some of the same enchantment structure. With practice, you should be able to make it change shape.”

“Hm…” Sunset put her hoof down, testing the weight. “How did you make it stronger without making it heavier?”

“You’ll probably figure it out yourself in a few moments,” Sparkle said.

“Hm…” Sunset smirked, taking that as a challenge. “It feels like… you didn’t.”

“Ah, you’ve got it, I think.”

“You put earth pony leylines in it!” Sunset gasped. “But there’s no way in Tartarus that’s stable!”

“I’ve had months to gather real data, but the breakthrough was what I learned from your near-ascension. I’m much closer to cracking the last barrier. This--” she tapped the metal hoof. “Is only the first step. Once we can mass produce--”

She stopped as a bell sounded in the lab.

“Hm. Apparently we have a guest. We’ll have to continue this later.”

To her credit, Moondancer didn’t panic. This was impressive, because it was even worse than just having a monster appear at her desk. The monster was her boss’ boss.

“I’ll page her to the conference room,” Moondancer said, trying to maintain her composure. “Would you come this way?”

She stood up and started leading Queen Chrysalis through the broken halls, attempting to control her emotions with only limited success.

“Considering how many bits I gave Sparkle, I’m surprised she let the lab get this bad,” Chrysalis muttered, as they passed by a hallway that had filled with debris.

“Even if we had the funding, ponies are needed in Canterlot more than here,” Moondancer said. “Or at least it’s impossible to convince them a lab on the other side of the mountain is worth their time even if we dangle double the usual rate in front of them.”

“I assumed as much. Twilight Sparkle has made many enemies in Equestria,” Chrysalis sneered. “She shouldn’t trust anypony who would take her up on her offer. They’ll be spies or saboteurs.”

Moondancer couldn’t disagree with the assessment. She held the door to the dark conference room open while Chrysalis stepped in.

“It’s either pathetic or cute,” Chrysalis said, with dangerous casualness. “Your affection for Sparkle, I mean. You realize she doesn’t feel the same way, don’t you?”

Moondancer’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s not your fault,” Chrysalis said, almost sounding apologetic. “I’m sure you’re quite affectionate. She’s just a pony that can’t love herself. You can’t love anyone else until you can manage that first.”

“You don’t know her as well as you think you do,” Moondancer said.

Chrysalis laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “I’ll send word to my own people to start repairs here. They’re much more reliable than anypony you’d get in Canterlot, and the only ones you can trust to not be on the Princess’s payroll.”

“Thank you,” Moondancer said.

Chrysalis turned from her, nodding distantly.

“Why did you come in person?” Moondancer asked.

“Many reasons,” Chrysalis said. “You could say I've been keeping an eye on things from where I was needed most. I hate what you ponies have done with the place. You used to be able to taste the love in the air, and now it's a ghost town.”

“Half of the city fell off the mountain,” Doctor Sparkle said, pushing past Moondancer. “I wish I could say it was good to see you.”

“Would you prefer a visit from Celestia?” Chrysalis asked.

“Mm. Consider the point taken,” Sparkle said. “I trust you haven’t been mistreating my assistant?”

“Of course not,” Chrysalis said. “I have a vested interest in making sure you succeed. Aside from our personal arrangement, Sombra has to be stopped. He would turn Equestria into a loveless land of slaves.”

“You’d go hungry.”

“We have enough difficulty feeding as-is,” Chrysalis said. “Some of my advisors have even suggested we start supporting the war effort openly. I’m not convinced that the long-term consequences are worth having Celestia watching our every move.”

“She’s causing trouble. Did you hear about Sunset?”

“I heard eventually. And not in as much detail as I’d want.”

“I swear she doesn’t even want the war to end,” Sparkle muttered. “And where’s Kevin? He was supposed to handle some contractor issues and the paperwork is still on my desk!”

“Queen Chrysalis has offered some aid with the reconstruction,” Moondancer offered. “I can deal with the paperwork if we don’t need to worry about bids or background checks.”

“Sparkle had a wonderful question,” Chrysalis said. “Where is Kevin?”

“You didn’t recall him?” Sparkle asked. Her expression changed from annoyance to confusion. “I assumed…”

“You assumed I was keeping him.”

Sparkle nodded.

“And I assumed you had him kept too busy to report back to me,” Chrysalis said.

“The last time I saw him it was in the hospital after the battle,” Moondancer offered.

“That was around the time I lost track of him,” Chrysalis admitted.

“Same,” Sparkle agreed. “And I can’t imagine him dying in an accident.”

“Nor can I. He was among my best agents, and considering the quality of my agents that is a very prestigious thing to be.”

“I assume you can afford to detail a few of your other agents to locate him?” Sparkle asked. “Kevin knows quite a few things that neither of us would want in the wrong hooves.”

“Already done,” Chrysalis assured her. “That’s why I like you, Sparkle. We think alike.”

“As long as we’re discussing personnel issues, I wanted to talk about Veil Vestige.” Sparkle looked at Moondancer, and she pulled his file from the various paperwork she was carrying and put it on the conference room table, flipping it open.

“Hmm…” Chrysalis looked at the mostly-blank file. “Interesting.”

“Interesting?” Sparkle raised an eyebrow.

“No real paperwork? Almost no details at all in his file? There wasn’t even height and weight until you did your own medical exam,” Chrysalis said. “This is bad comedy. Where did you dig up a pony like this?”

“Where did I…?” Sparkle blinked. “I thought you sent him.”

“Don’t be stupid! I have been infiltrating Equestria for as long as it has existed. If I was going to put together a fake file I’d put some effort into it. A blank page like this is too obvious.” Chrysalis closed the folder.

Veil stood in the infirmary, watching Marble sleep. She looked peaceful, the spell circles around her slowly drawing the dark magic out of her body. He scuffed one with a hoof, and Marble stirred in her sleep, her expression twisting like she was in pain.

“It’s time,” Veil said. “Let's go pay a visit to Celestia’s dark shadow.”

Marble’s eyes shot open, blazing with dark fire and purple smoke.

Alarms blazed, red lights flashing in the ruined hallways.

“An Imperial agent,” Sparkle growled. “I didn’t even think they had agents!”

“They don’t,” Chrysalis said. She shoved a toppled shelving unit out of the way. “Sparkle, put the puzzle pieces together! Sombra wasn’t in the Empire when Celestia moved her forces in. He’s been trying to get in here for months now. You opened the door and let him just walk on inside when he asked nicely!”

“Why would he come in person?!”

“He must be impressed with your work,” Chrysalis said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s attacked you directly more than once.”

“His attacks started just after I performed a personal field test. It failed, in case you're curious. I went into cardiac arrest before the condenser tanks were even empty,” Sparkle said.

“Your suits have the same magical signature as our sleeping Princess, don’t they?” Chrysalis asked. “It’s not you he really wants. It’s what we put in your basement.”

“Veil can’t open the doors,” Sparkle said. “I never bothered changing the warding spells to let him through. Myself, Moondancer, Sunset Shimmer, and Marble Pie are the only ones who can get past them.”

“Really? You’re paranoid enough to put up wards and you still allow Sunset Shimmer past them?”

“It saves me the trouble of having to put them back up after she breaks them down,” Sparkle said. “Moondancer suggested it. Sombra was deploying forces through tunnels, and we needed to be able to get ponies on-site in case of a breach from underground.”

“And what was your plan if this happened?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on Veil.”

“Well, well, well,” Sunset said. She smiled at the ponies in the hallway from where she casually leaned against the wall. “I have to admit, I am impressed. I’d do a slow clap here, but I’m still getting used to the new hoof.”

“Ah, Miss Shimmer.” Veil smiled at her. “How are you?”

“I was having a pretty good day, but you know what?” Sunset tilted her head. “Somepony had to go and ruin it.”

Veil sighed. “That wasn’t my intent, I assure you. Actually, I quite value our friendship. It sounds trite, but I haven’t had real friends since I was a foal. I’d be a liar if I said this didn’t all mean something to me.” He smiled. “I wish it could have been real.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “You could always give up. Ditch the mind control and we might be able to work something out.”

“I was going to make you a similar offer,” Veil replied. “If you stand aside I’d be more than happy to let you rule at my side.”

“Sorry, Sombra, but I’ve got my own plans,” Sunset said.

“We all do,” Chrysalis hissed, as she stepped out of the shadows of a side corridor. “It’s funny, really. Every pony here has their own exclusive plan for taking over Equestria. I doubt a more diverse and resourceful group of traitors and villains has ever been assembled.”

“Queen Chrysalis,” Veil, or Sombra rather, said, bowing slightly. “I think this is the first time we’ve met.”

“You’re alive, for the moment, so it must be,” Chrysalis agreed.

“Hey Sparkle, we’re working with the Changeling, right?” Sunset asked, craning her neck to look past the lanky figure.

“They’re lying, evil shapeshifters that eat love, so I trust them more than I trust you,” Doctor Sparkle said, her voice flat.

“That’s fair,” Sunset agreed, nodding.

“Will you please do us all a favor and kill Sombra?” Sparkle asked.

“On it.”

Sunset’s horn blazed with crimson, the eyepatch over her missing eye lit from behind as something glittered in the empty socket, hidden by the black patch.

The air was split by fire and lightning as Sunset threw magic down the corridor, not really a proper spell as much as it was just a torrent of energy, pegasus magic mixing with unicorn spellcasting.

It hit a wall of green and blue energy, stopping cold before even reaching Veil Vestige.

“Thank you, Marble,” he said, glancing back.

Marble Pie stepped forward, her eyes blank.

“She’s even more quiet like this,” Veil said. “My dark magic would have had some problems controlling her, but the Linnorm did quite a good job. I was hoping it might be able to infect more of you, but she’ll be enough.”

“Is that really what you think?” Chrysalis asked. “Because I think you’re up against a Changeling Queen. I’m amazed you had the gall to come here. Foolhardy doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

“That’s why I invested in a little insurance,” Veil said. A bright aura surrounded his horn, and smoke poured from his eyes. Runes lit up on the walls, barely-visible etchings in the steel and concrete shining with light.

“Magic amplification?” Sparkle asked.

“I’ve been spending my spare time getting ready for this little act,” Veil said. A crackle of green lightning from Chrysalis cracked the shield around him, and he poured more energy into the spell.

Sparkle listed, collapsing into the wall, her eyelids getting heavy.

“You’ll all take a little nap, and when you wake up, you’ll be happily serving me,” Veil smiled.

Sunset threw another wave of energy at him before she collapsed, Marble’s shield holding up against the weak attack despite the cracks through the spell.

Chrysalis fell to her knees, horn sparking as she fought to keep control. Veil turned to face her, and the pressure on her mind doubled, her back legs going numb.

“It doesn’t have to be difficult,” Veil said. “Just go to sleep.”

“I live just to make things difficult,” Chrysalis hissed, using the last of her strength to shatter a pane of glass and grab the lever within, collapsing and using her weight to pull the switch.

Steel shutters slammed down all over the lab, blocking every route.

Veil frowned and walked up to the doors.

“Annoying.”

“Sunset, wake up.” Somepony gently nudged her. She really didn’t want to get up. Her bed was too comfortable.

“Sunset,” the voice became more firm. “If you don’t get up, I’ll have to use force.”

Sunset mumbled and turned over in her sleep.

“So be it, then.”

The covers were yanked away from her, and a blast of cold air washed over her fur and feathers. Sunset yelped and tried to pull them back up, but before she could even focus enough to move with more coordination than shivering, golden magic was playing along her belly, sending her into laughing fits as she was tickled until she was out of breath.

“I give, I give!” She yelled, between the laughs.

“Well I wouldn’t have to do it if somepony would remember to get up on time for Court,” Celestia said, leaning over and kneeling on the bed to kiss Sunset’s forehead. “It’s Tuesday, dear. You need to get ready to actually work.”

“Tuesdays are the worst,” Sunset said, grumbling with only half-hearted indignation as she stretched her wings.

“I let you choose between Monday and Tuesday and this is what you wanted.” Celestia said, calmly. She started running a brush through Sunset’s mane. “You know the deal. I take Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and you get Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Then we both do Sunday and end court early.”

“I know, I know,” Sunset sighed. “I’m just not a morning pony.”

“Believe me, I figured that mystery out long ago, my daughter.”

Sunset tried to smile as she looked across the table at the griffin ambassador. They’d brought her delicacies from their homeland.

Or at least that’s what they said the stuff on the plates was supposed to be. She was pretty sure that this was either a test to see if alicorns were really immortal, or they were trying to have a bit of fun at her by putting the worst stuff they could think of on the table.

“And these are…?” Sunset asked, looking at a bowl of pasta. Or at least she hoped it was pasta.

“Serpent worms,” the griffin said. “Live, of course. Once they die they’re no good to eat and start turning into poison.”

“That explains why the food is still moving,” she replied.

“The more they squirm, the fresher they are,” he assured her. The ambassador used a two-tined fork to carefully extract a few of the worms, swallowing them whole while Sunset watched.

Sunset looked him in the eyes and copied him, trying not to gag as the worms squirmed the whole way down. It left a flavor like raw earth behind in her mouth, and she took a sip of the wine he’d brought along with him.

That, at least, was pleasant and sweet, unlike everything else about the dinner.

“Hah!” The ambassador grinned. “I just lost fifty bits. I didn’t think you’d be able to actually eat that.”

“Not all ponies are soft,” Sunset reminded him.

“You’ve taught us that more than once,” the griffin agreed. “It’s why we’re here, after all. You can’t imagine how divided the Empire is about all this. Disarmament treaties and cease-fires are one thing. The mutual defense act was an obvious move with the troubles in Zebrica and the Caliphate. But what you and Celestia proposed is a much bigger change.”

“Joining the Empire and Equestria is bold,” Sunset admitted. “But it’s best for everypony, and everybird. I know you need the trade and the crops. Earth ponies and pegasi would solve your crop failure problems within a generation.”

“It’s why we’re giving it serious consideration,” the ambassador said. “A ruler gets their power from the people, and the people are hungry and demand change. They don’t want to have to fight to fill their bellies every day.”

“Celestia thinks easing your famine problems will also ease tension with Zebrica. We know half the reason you were pressing for old territory claims was to try and get some fertile farmland and forests that still had some game in them.”

“To think we have to come to the negotiation table as beggars…” he sighed.

“Don’t be silly,” Sunset said. “Equestria and the Empire are already friends. You should never be afraid to ask a friend for help before its too late.”

“We’d just like to congratulate you in person,” Fancy Pants said, tipping his glass of wine slightly in a salute. “The treaty with the Griffonian Empire is a big step towards that vision of a united world you talked about during your coronation speech.”

Sunset couldn’t remember the speech, for some reason, but nodded anyway. She didn’t want to make a scene at the party that they were throwing to encourage griffons and ponies to mingle. Thankfully, there weren’t any serpent worms on the buffet table.

“Celestia always wanted me to make more friends,” she said. “I guess I’m just doing that on a larger scale.”

“And I couldn’t be prouder,” Celestia assured her. “This treaty is all your work, Sunset.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Sunset said.

“Of course we’re all just lucky we were able to get you out of bed that morning,” Celestia continued. Sunset’s cheeks burned red. “I’m only kidding, dear. You probably could have impressed them even if you were actually asleep. They really respect you, you know, and I hear the Emperor’s son is available and quite attractive…”

“In that case, I’d be surprised if Celestia wouldn’t just snap him up herself,” a voice said from the crowd, though nopony around Sunset reacted to it. “She always did seem like the type to prefer younger men.”

A dark shape moved between the nobles like a panther stalking through trees.

“I know you from somewhere,” Sunset said, the voices of the other ponies becoming distant like they were several rooms away despite being right next to her.

“Chrysalis,” the horror said, as it emerged from the crowd, taller and slimmer than Celestia, covered in chitin and with a mane that hung in ragged, knotted clumps. For some reason, Sunset wasn’t afraid, though she should have been. “Queen Chrysalis.”

“What are you doing here?” Sunset asked.

“A poor question. This isn’t a here.” Chrysalis’ horn lit up, and most of the nobility was swept away like dust in the wind. “You’re dreaming.”

“Dreaming?”

“Not a bad dream either,” Chrysalis said, turning slowly to look around the empty room, the walls hung with banners alternating between the Equestrian flag, the Griffon Empire’s sigil, and Sunset’s cutie mark. “Absolute power, loved by everyone around you, and enjoying your greatest triumph to date. It’s the kind of dream I might make for myself, if I was so inclined.”

Sunset closed her eyes. “The last thing I remember is… I was in a corridor. Veil was right in front of me. No, not Veil. Sombra!”

When she opened her eye, she was in her armor, the feathery wings at her side replaced with bronze.

“You know, this is a dream. You don’t have to imagine yourself as broken as you really are.” Chrysalis nodded to Sunset’s hoof and eye.

“I don’t like to deny reality.”

“One could argue that trying to become an alicorn is just that.”

“How did you even get into my dream?” Sunset asked. “I’ve never heard of magic like that.”

“You’ve seen the sleeping Princess in Sparkle’s basement?” Chrysalis asked. “Don’t bother answering, you’d probably deny it and I already know you’ve been trying to find answers.”

“She’s Nightmare Moon,” Sunset said. “I figured that out already. I just don’t know how or why.”

“Nightmare Moon was imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years--”

“After trying to overthrow Celestia. I know.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“The thousand years were almost up,” Chrysalis sighed. “I wasn’t going to interfere, but Sparkle made a very convincing argument. Getting the drones to the moon was difficult--”

“You went to the moon?!”

“The difficult part was doing so without Celestia noticing,” Chrysalis said. “I don’t like to brag.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, I love to brag,” Chrysalis said, smiling and showing long fangs. “I’m sure after this little escapade we can compare notes. The important thing is that she was on the moon and trapped with only a fraction of her power. We used the opportunity to capture her.”

“I’m guessing Sparkle wanted to study her. Or dissect her.”

“A little of both, I think,” Chrysalis shrugged. “I was more interested in the possibilities of having an alicorn under my control. To bring this little discussion full circle, I’m in your dream because Nightmare Moon’s magic is, in part, under my control. It’s been a rather lucrative arrangement -- it’s far easier and safer to feed on ponies in their dreams.”

“Cute,” Sunset said. “And then when Sombra is defeated?”

“Depending on how it goes, we’ll either reveal we’ve been supporting the war effort and be praised as heroes, or we’ll return to the shadows until we’re strong enough to conquer you on our own,” Chrysalis shrugged. “We need to break this spell. Come along.”

Chrysalis dipped her head and stabbed forward with her horn, using it like a knife to carve open the air, creating a glowing portal.

“Yeah, one second,” Sunset said. She looked back at the only pony still in her dream scene, Princess Celestia standing frozen and placid, smiling at her.

Sunset charged up a spell and blew her apart.

Moondancer checked the two copies of the book, going line by line.

“They’re identical,” she said, after a few minutes.

“Did you double-check?” Twilight asked, looking over her shoulder.

“You know better than that,” Moondancer said, adjusting her glasses. “I triple-checked. All two hundred and twelve pages are perfectly identical to each other -- including the annotation you wrote correcting page thirty!”

“That’s great!” Twilight smiled and hugged her. “We can call that a roaring success! Do you know how accessible this is going to make rare books? No need to set up large print runs. All you need is a blank book and a quick spell!”

“We’ll have to test with damaged and dirty pages,” Moondancer said. “But I think this is cause to celebrate!”

“Maybe we could do dinner out, then come back here and…” Twilight blushed, the golden ring on her horn glinting in the light. “Well, I have my own experiment I wanted to run. Have you ever thought about having foals?”

The door burst open, the latch shattering, and Sunset Shimmer walked in, looking around the small room.

“This is Canterlot University,” she said. “The teachers’ quarters, I think. Whose dream are we in?”

“It should be obvious,” Chrysalis said, looking inside. Moondancer froze up at the sight of the Queen.

“Who are these ponies?” Twilight asked.

Moondancer looked at her, and gently stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Is this really what you wanted?” Sunset asked. “I guess I expected a little more ambition from somepony working for Doctor Sparkle.”

“I think it’s quite ambitious,” Chrysalis offered. “Taming a pony like Doctor Sparkle is an impressive feat.”

“This was just a dream, wasn’t it?” Moondancer asked, looking away from them. “I should have known. In the real world, I’d never be able to…” She clung to the dream copy of Twilight.

Sunset looked back at Chrysalis, feeling awkward.

“Let’s go,” Moondancer said. “I’d rather be of use to the real Twilight. She’d never approve of these fantasies.” She wiped her eyes, trying to pretend there hadn’t been tears there.

Sunburst squinted through his glasses as he checked the chalk diagram for the third time. He was living alone these days, which had its charms. Nopony expected anything of him, and he had all the time in the world to read through his books and practice magic.

One book in particular had caught his attention. It was probably illegal to own, but he was far from anypony who would care and it was kind of exciting to own something he wasn’t supposed to have.

The cover of the book depicted, mostly abstractly, a slender and attractive and extremely female form, and the slim volume detailed how to summon a servant for various purposes, and the lurid descriptions left nothing to the imagination and had left Sunburst unable to cast anything for a few hours while he recovered.

He started casting, slowly spinning his limited thaum reserve out to cast the complicated spell, unable to risk wasting even a single mote of power.

Space tore open in the center of the diagram.

“I bind you and command you!” Sunburst said. “I order you to submit to my will!”

Mist filled the space, obscuring the figure that stepped into the circle.

“Oh wow, it worked!” Sunburst whispered.

“Huh. These diagrams are almost perfect. That’s kind of impressive, considering where we are.” The figure turned slowly, looking at the chalk circle, then flapped its wings, dispersing the mist.

“You don’t look like the one in the book,” Sunburst blurted out.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Just what were you doing, anyway?” She grabbed the book with her magic, the spell circle sparking and failing to hold up against her strength.

“How did you do that?!”

“Hm?” Sunset glanced up at him. “Oh, you’re just not nearly strong enough to hold me. It’s very well made, but ultimately useless.” She stepped out of the circle, and what was left of the spell shattered, the chalk turning black in spots as energy grounded along it.

“You should have let me go first,” Chrysalis said, as she stepped through the still-open portal. “He was trying to summon a succubus, and I have a lot of experience.”

“We’re trying to end the sleep spell, not get you a snack,” Sunset retorted, tossing the book at her.

“Sleep spell?” Sunburst asked. “Oh my stars, this is just a dream! Thank Celestia! I’ll wake up in the morning and--”

“And we’ll all still know about your hobbies,” Chrysalis said. “Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural for ponies your age to have fantasies, especially when they don’t have any experience.”

Sunset snorted with laughter.

Moondancer looked at the cobblestones under her hooves, and the sky above them.

“It all seems real,” she said.

“It’s a perfect representation of Canterlot,” Chrysalis agreed. “I’ve been in a lot of dreams, and I’ve never seen one this detailed. Usually the details get fuzzy, especially in places where the dreamer isn’t looking.”

“Gotta be Doctor Sparkle,” Sunset said. “She’s the only one who would insist on perfect fidelity even in her sleep.”

“It’s her house,” Chrysalis said. “I’ve been here a few times.” She glanced at Moondancer and smiled. “Don’t worry, they were for business, not pleasure.”

“Let’s just try to handle this gently,” Moondancer said. She trotted up to the door and knocked.

Sparkle opened the door, glancing past Moondancer at everypony else.

“It took you long enough,” Sparkle said. “Come in.”

Moondancer blinked in surprise as Sparkle walked deeper into the house, leaving the door open.

“Wipe your hooves,” Spakle ordered. “I don’t want you tracking anything into my dream.”

“She already knows?” Moondancer asked, surprised.

“For someone in love you underestimate her quite a bit,” Chrysalis said.

“I just didn’t think the gap between us was this big,” Moondancer muttered, her cheeks turning red.

“Can we please go inside?” Sunburst asked. “I’m pretty sure this is the middle of winter!”

Chrysalis nudged Moondancer, pushing her over the threshold, and the motley group walked inside, the Queen having to slouch to avoid scraping the ceiling with her horn.

“This is Hearth’s Warming, isn’t it?” Sunset asked, looking at the decorations.

“Come in, there are more seats around the table!” Yelled a friendly voice from the dining room.

The table was filled with all manner of foods, less like one meal and more like a timeless tableu of the greatest hits of holidays past, with breadfruit loaves, wheatberry salad, roasted pumpkin, grilled salad, and more.

Shining Armor waved as they walked in, from where he was sitting.

“Oh,” Sunburst said.

“Everypony--” Sparkle started. Chrysalis coughed. “Everyone, this is my family. I’ve just been… enjoying some quality time with them. Mom, Dad, Shiny, these are my co-workers.”

“This is awkward,” Sunburst muttered.

“It’s… not quite accurate,” Sparkle admitted. “I remember killing Shining Armor, and my father is dead. I haven’t spoken to my mother in weeks, and she blames me for everything even though…”

She trailed off into silence, looking at the smiles of the ghosts seated at the other side of the table.

“I suppose it’s time to go anyway,” Sparkle said, wiping her mouth politely with a napkin. “Even I can’t help but have a sappy dream once in a while.”

“We need to find the focus of the sleep spell,” Sunset said. “There has to be a representation of it in here somewhere or else we could wake up on our own.”

“It’s in the bathroom.” Sparkle nodded to a door. “I haven’t touched it yet. I was waiting to make sure you were all lucid. Otherwise you might end up in a coma and be useless to me.”

“A coma?!” Sunburst blurted out.

“Sleep spells have some dangerous side effects,” Sparkle said. “Especially with how much power Sombra had to put into it. I got a good look at the sigils on the walls before we passed out.”

“Is that what happened?” Sunburst asked. “I was in the workshop putting the, um…” he hesitated.

“This is hardly the time to be shy. An upgraded suit of armor for you, Miss Shimmer, in case you’re curious.” Sparkle said. “Unfinished but we’ll probably have need for it soon.”

“I don’t think Sombra is going to last long enough to fit me with a new suit,” Sunset said, poking at a mushroom risotto.

“You’re right,” Sparkle said. She got up. “Come along.”

“Just after we sat down?” Chrysalis asked.

Sparkle led them to the bathroom, opening the door. Beyond, the tiny room was filled with glittering web like spun glass.

“In the corner.” The unicorn pointed with a hoof. A spider sat there, a lump of coal in the shape of an arachnid, twitching just a little.

“Anything special we need to do?” Sunset asked.

“Just kill it,” Sparkle said.

“Don’t you want to say goodbye?” Moondancer asked, looking back at her family, still sitting at the table.

“I’ll see them again,” Sparkle muttered, grimly. “I see them every time I close my eyes. Just end it, Sunset.”

“Can do.”

The bathroom exploded into flames, and there was a sudden jerking motion as everything was plunged into blackness.

Sunset gasped, opening her eyes, her heart racing.

“That wasn’t fun,” she said, slowly getting to her hooves.

“You need to get to the Periapsis,” Doctor Sparkle said, helping her up. “There’s no telling how much of a head start they have. The security doors aren’t designed to withstand the kind of energy Sombra is able to put out.”

Sparkle gestured to the broken steel shutter, the thick slats still burning red-hot at the edges.

“If he can get to the Periapsis--”

“You mean Nightmare Moon?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, I mean Nightmare Moon,” Sparkle rolled her eyes. “You know the way, stop asking questions and go save the world.”

Sombra looked into Marble’s eyes. The control collar around her neck beeped slowly, the gems on it slowly changing from yellow to red in alarm.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep control of you for much longer,” Sombra admitted, patting her cheek. “You’ve done very well in getting me here. Thank you. I know you didn’t like me much, but I really do think we had a lot in common. If all goes as planned, maybe we can discuss things in a more amicable setting.”

Sombra pulled open the last door.

“Really?” Sunset said. “A giant cannon?”

“It was a modified portal trebuchet,” Sparkle corrected, her voice tinny from the damaged radio unit she was using. “I purchased an old salt mine that had particularly deep shafts. Add telekinetic boosters along the walls being fed changeling magic, evacuate all the air, and let the payload drop from the top. Portal at the bottom sends it back to the top until the speed is high enough, and then you redirect the exit point. No above-ground infrastructure needed, and using a portal meant we had flexibility with aiming the device.”

“Only changelings could manage it,” Chrysalis added. The radio distortion made her sound almost normal, the low quality evening out the buzzing undertones. “They were in suspended animation in pods. The trip still took days.”

“Getting her back was easier,” Sparkle noted. “Chrysalis’ agents subdued her, put her in a pod, and when the thousand years were up she was returned to Equestria by the same magic that put her on the moon.”

“My changelings are still stuck there, unfortunately,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Something that may prove to be a good investment,” Sparkle muttered. “Have you found Sombra yet?”

“No,” Sunset said. “But I think I found something else.” She lit up her horn, the dark shape at the end of the hall coming into focus.

Marble stood there, as still as a statue.

“Hey.”

Marble didn’t respond.

“So are you still being controlled by dark magic?”

Marble’s steel horn crackled with energy.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Sunset teleported to the side, or at least tried to, the spell fizzling as it tried to put her right into a wall on her blind side, only moving her a half-step.

“Ow!” She hissed, the feedback spike sending lancing pain down her horn. She was going to make a sarcastic quip about her own injuries, but she was distracted by the lash of green energy throwing her into the steel wall hard enough to leave a dent.

Sunset put up a shield before Marble could strike again, the controlled pony moving stiffly and slowly.

“At least you’re not as vicious as you usually are,” Sunset said, deflecting the energy whip. “I guess Sombra can’t handle your rough edges.”

Sunset teleported, this time picking somewhere she could actually see, appearing next to Marble and kicking her in the side, trying to take her by surprise.

Marble didn’t even flinch. She slowly turned her head to look at Sunset.

“Huh. You’re, uh, stronger than I thought,” Sunset said.

Marble lunged, grabbing Sunset’s collar, green energy surrounding her as she was caught, Marble’s grip with her hoof enhanced by a telekinetic field. Sunset made a strangled sound as Marble shoved her to the ground and stomped, cracking one of her ribs even through the armor.

Sunset fired a blast of unfocused magic, and a plate tore away from Marble’s armor, the thick allow trailing green goo and sparks.

Marble brought her free forehoof up and stomped down again.

Sunset blocked with her new prostethic, the joints whirring and glowing with magic as she fought to push Marble away.

“I’m pretty strong too,” Sunset growled, between gritted teeth.

Sombra looked up at Nightmare Moon, sleeping in the emerald pod, floating in thick slime.

“It took so long to come this far,” he said. “Over a thousand years, so many battles, and I think we only spoke once, the first time you and your sister stopped me. You know what the worst part is? These last few weeks were the most fun I’ve had since I was a foal. I had to lie through my teeth, and fight monsters I made with my own hooves. But I think they actually started to like me.”

He laughed.

“I’ll have to make sure to apologize once I finish taking over Equestria,” he decided. “Maybe they’ll forgive me if I bribe them enough. It seems to have been how Doctor Sparkle brought them into the project to begin with.”

The door behind him buckled and popped open, the welded edges shattering.

Marble fell through, her armor broken.

“Turns out all I had to do was get her to use up her magic,” Sunset said, stepping over her body, not caring about treading on the fallen mare. “Your dark magic was the only thing keeping her awake.”

“Hello, Miss Shimmer,” Sombra said, turning to face Sunset with a pleasant, honest smile. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to leave a friend hanging." Sunset cracked her neck.

"We are friends, aren't we?" Sombra asked. "We don't have to fight. You could just let this happen. I'll take the Nightmare's power, we'll defeat Celestia, and then we can rule Equestria together."

"Tempting."

Sombra held out his hoof.

Sunset smiled and shook her head. "Nah. We'd just end up doing this dance again later."

"Well you can't say I didn't make the attempt," Sombra said, matching Sunset's sad smile.

"The one thing I don't understand about all this is why you wasted so much time. You could have gone straight here instead of playing around with your last few rejected monsters."

“I wanted to be sure I had at least some chance of success. And now I'm here, only a few moments from my final victory."

"Yeah, sure, that's gonna happen." Sunset's horn lit up for a moment, and the red glow fizzled out like a candle dropped into water. "...what?"

"There's a reason I waited for you here. Doctor Sparkle recently made changes to this chamber's defenses. Magic is heavily suppressed here. You couldn't cast a spell if your life depended on it." Sombra tapped his hoof against the floor and a blade sprang out of his armor, snapping into place along his right elbow. "Unfortunately for you, without magic I am a warrior and a king and you are a little filly who ran away from home!"

He charged, jumping and spinning in the air.

Sunset caught the blow with her prosthetic.

"Really?" she asked. "I just beat Marble. Her heart wasn't in it, but she's still a hundred times stronger than you are, Weenie Hut Jr."

"What?"

Sunset growled and pushed, forcing Sombra back a step. "I'm getting sick and tired of nobody getting my references!"

"You should make better ones, then!" Sombra broke free from her grip and tried to knock her off balance with a high slash at her blind side.

The blade hit air, Sunset blurring and fading from sight.

"What?" he gasped.

Somepony tapped his shoulder, and he turned in a panic just in time to catch a punch that sent him flying back into the cavern wall.

"How did you create an illusion with your magic suppressed?" Sombra demanded. He struggled to his hooves, head ringing like a bell. He was sure some of his teeth were loose.

"It's a little trick I've been working on," Sunset said, circling closer to him, not walking directly towards Sombra. "Most of your Linnorm only really saw magic. Don't get me wrong, it makes sense. It was an easy way to prioritize targets. Simple, but effective."

"So?" Sombra growled.

"Even if my magic is blocked, it's still circulating through my body. Just like your monsters, ponies sense magic too. It's a little subconscious but every pony can still feel it in their bones. If I alter the circulation of magic in my body while I'm moving--"

She ducked from one side to the other, and Sombra found himself looking at where she had been instead of where she was.

"They just follow my afterimage!" Sunset shouted, suddenly closer than Sombra was prepared for. Her prosthetic flaring with green fire and changing into a serrated blade, sweeping up towards his neck.

Sombra stumbled back in surprise, raising his leg to parry the attack. The blade along his elbow shattered, the edge of Sunset's blade cutting deep into his wrist. His hooves slipped out from under him, and Sombra fell to the cavern floor.

Sunset rested the edge of her bladed hoof against his neck.

"I'm not impressed," she said.

Sombra chuckled. "No, I suppose you wouldn't be."

Smoke spilled out of Sombra's mouth and eyes, and Sunset hopped back out of the way, expecting an attack. The pale form of Veil Vestige collapsed into shadow and mist, Sombra's body dissolving and rising up in a twisting column of black vapor. His armor fell to the ground in a heap.

"I rule an Empire! I've enslaved thousands with my magic!" Sombra yelled, his eyes glowing through the haze, growing larger and larger with every moment. "You think you can stand against me just because you have a few toys?"

A tendril lashed out at Sunset, and her blade cut through it like it was water, just sliding through and hitting nothing solid. It whipped into her chest and sent her flying back. Sunset spread her wings, twisting in midair and landing like a cat.

"I guess I'll have to get serious," Sunset said. She looked up at the next tendril whipping down at her and vanished in a blur.

Sombra's smoky form rolled forward like a tied, his glowing eyes piercing through the smog and trying to catch sight of the unicorn.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'you can't take it with you?'" Sunset asked. Sombra spun around to find her standing over his discarded armor. She reached inside and pulled out a lumpy metal sphere, the seams glowing with shifting lights. "Looks like you lost this when you decided to become incorporeal."

Sombra growled, narrowing his eyes.

"What, you want it back?" Sunset asked. "Sure!"

She tossed it into the air. Sombra's eyes followed it as it curved up, started down, and Sunset hit it with the bladed edge of her hoof like she was batting a baseball.

It held together just long enough to cross the distance between them before exploding like a frag grenade. Sunset shielded her eye from the light and heat, shrapnel plinking from her prosthetic and armor, one stray shard putting a hole through her right ear.

When the blaze stopped, she lowered her hoof.

The blast had cleared the air, and Sombra, fully solid, was lying on the ground, trying to breathe.

Sunset walked over and looked him over.

"I guess that means enchanted lunar titanium works pretty good against ghosts," Sunset said. She looked over at where Nightmare Moon was sleeping. "You never even got a chance to start enchanting her, did you?"

Sombra coughed, spitting up blood. "It's pathetic."

"Yeah, you are," Sunset agreed.

"How could I lose to a foal like you... now you’re going to turn me over to your master. Or maybe you’ll give me to Celestia yourself and try to find a new place under the sun.”

“Hm?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I never planned on turning you over to anyone.”

She raised her hoof, the blade gleaming.

“Highness, we have an urgent report from the front,” the courier ran to Celestia’s side without asking permission, a half-dozen guards in golden armor converging on him just before he got within reach.

“Hold,” Celestia said, before they could drag him away. She plucked the scroll from his saddlebags and unrolled it.

After a moment, Celestia put the scroll down on the desk in front of her.

“Sombra’s grip on his crystal slaves has been broken,” she said, frowning.

“That seems like excellent news, highness,” her secretary said. “The war is over!”

“I need to speak with the EIS,” Celestia said, standing. “It might be time to take care of a few loose ends.”

Author's Note

We wrestled in the throne room, her magic clashing against mine. The ponies who had come to pay her tribute fled when they saw her wrath, as afraid of her as they were of me. We trampled the world beneath our hooves. We flung the sun and moon across the sky and shadows ran wild in every direction.

The woods around the castle twisted and warped from the fallout left in our wake, creating flora and fauna and things in between that had no real taxonomy except for monster.

There is no struggle more desperate than that of two immortals. Death is just a moment of pain followed by peace. When there is no release, being bound or crippled or lessened lends far more terror. We were playing for everything.

Our castle, filled with memories of our foalhood, of summers spent chasing each other through corridors, of games played in the stone halls, was ravaged by our battle. We fought, and towers were toppled, and walls turned to rubble, and our servants ran never to return to the blighted place.

Horns crossed, we fought in the heavens. Hooves flailing, we grappled in the dirt. We fought with everything we had, every bit of magic we possessed, and things were done to the foundations of the world that can never be undone.

And I won.

I won, because my sister always stops to offer peace. She always tries to return things to how they used to be. And in that moment, I struck.

I won. But in the end it didn't matter. I'd struck in a moment of hesitation and weakness on her part, but I had been playing by the rules. It had been her against me. My magic and will against hers. I was stronger. I cast her down from the heavens. I was going to win, and the world would change, forever.

So she cheated.