“The future should be filled with magic
Dreams and wishes brought to life
But the days ahead are dark and tragic
No time for hope when all is strife”

- Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come

Rarity was lying in her bed at home on the second floor of the Carousel Boutique. No… not her bed and not the boutique. This bed was better. Much better. Luxurious silks and satins caressed every inch of her body, and the dappled beams of sunlight colored mauve, periwinkle, and gold danced their slow kaleidoscopic dance through the windows and onto her face. Somepony lay next to her, radiant in every way, mane tossed messily across the pillows, with beads of sweat pearling on her neck and brow.

This other pony was still sleeping. Her soft warm breath tickled Rarity’s face and ruffled the few strands of wayward mane that had fallen across her cheek during the night. A blissful peace swelled in her heart. Everything was as it should be, and she knew with absolute certainty that this was her true home.

A strong lurching motion rocked her awake and tore the beautiful dream from her mind. She rubbed her eyes and rolled over in her tiny wall-mounted cot. Pinkie was already awake and was brushing her teeth over the steel sink they were forced to share. She met Pinkie’s eyes in the mirror over said sink for a moment before shoving her face back into her pillow.

“Morning, Rarity! Did you sleep well? You were, uhm, making noises.”

Rarity flung her pillow at Pinkie’s head with all the force her newly wakened horn could muster, which was to say, not much. It struck true, but Pinkie just giggled and threw it back.

“Breakfast is on in ten,” she said. “I know you like to take your time, but I think you better hurry. They didn’t make very much yesterday, and that Willow Spark has a super-duper appetite.”

Willow Spark was a kirin, and one of only two other passengers on the commercial fishing vessel they’d booked passage on. Not many ships travelled between Parish-By-The-Sea and Baltimare, so pickings had been slim.

Rarity sat up and stared miserably at the wall. She hated that dream. If she’d been less prideful, she’d have asked Luna to get rid of it a long time ago. At least, that’s what she told herself. It was definitely a matter of pride not embarrassment, and certainly not a matter of secretly wishing every night that she’d once again be drawn into its taunting embrace. She groaned at her own weakness and pushed herself out of the cot.

“See you at breakfast,” Pinkie said, smiling at her as she bounced out of their little room. It only took Rarity twenty minutes to get ready, which in her opinion was a blistering pace. She was about to head out to join Pinkie when she noticed the book on morse code sticking out of her bag. She’d neglected it for two whole days. She had several large orders waiting for her when she got back to Carousel Boutique, and she’d been busy drawing up designs and going over the budget reports that Haute Pommel had sent her Spike. She grabbed both the book and the mysterious letter before leaving.

Pinkie was on her third helping of pancakes when Rarity stepped into the cramped kitchen. Willow Spark and their other travel companion, an old and rather gruff looking unicorn called Sinker, were nowhere to be seen.

“I think I need to worry more about you than I do Willow Spark, Pinkie. Did you leave any pancakes for me?”

Without looking up from her own meal Pinkie pulled a plate covered in a dinged up cloche over and placed it in front of Rarity, who was just getting seated on the bench across from her.

“An orange and two pancakes with blueberry syrup. I peeled the orange for you.”

Rarity smiled tenderly at Pinkie. “Darling, you know me so well.”

Trying to eat and translate morse code at the same time proved futile, so Rarity downed her meal as quickly as propriety allowed and retired to the deck to see if she could make heads or tails of the letter. She felt suddenly possessed by an urgent need to know what it said and could scarcely believe she’d been so unconcerned with it for two full days. What if it contained some ominous warning or threat? Though, she thought, the sender really shouldn’t have encrypted it if it was time sensitive, or they should have at least indicated in some way that time was off the essence.

For some reason she didn’t understand, there were a multitude of cushioned lounge chairs spread across the deck near the bow. It was nice since the fishing operations were primarily handled on the afterdeck, and this allowed the passengers some reprieve from the smell, but Rarity had no idea why the Captain felt he needed so many of them. The wizened old pony had seemed genuinely surprised at having even just four passengers for this trip.

The sky was bright and blue, and the breeze was salty and brisk but not strong enough to be a nuisance. Rarity had brought a large sun hat with her that she cinched tightly beneath her chin—it had been a gift from Fluttershy, and it wouldn’t do to have it fly overboard—and a pair of yellow shades. She knew she should be using her red sewing glasses which worked quite excellently for reading as well, but the sun-glare off the ocean waves was too strong for anything but shades.

Translating the message turned out to be easier than she’d expected. Her biggest obstacle was simply keeping the letter from blowing away in the wind.

“Who’s Salt?” Pinkie asked, while glancing over Rarity’s shoulder from the adjacent lounge chair.

“I haven’t the foggiest, Pinkie. I’m not even sure it’s referring to anypony. It might just mean… salt?” The message had been short and read as follows: “Hollow Shades beware of salt”, which seemed to Rarity both frustratingly vague and intentionally obtuse. “Whoever sent this,” she said, “has certainly got a flair for the dramatic.” She’d copied down the translation under the original message and placed the letter on the inside of the front cover of the morse code book. “This is useless right now. Best just to hold on to it and give it to Twilight when we get home.”

Pinkie scrunched her eyebrows together and tapped her mouth with her hoofs a few times. “Maybe we should just go to Hollow Shades and see if anything happens?”

Rarity gave Pinkie a flat and unimpressed stare. “You can’t be serious.”

The pink pony shrugged her shoulders and made a non-committal sound.

“Pinkie, we’ve been away from Ponyville and the others for almost six weeks now. Six weeks! I want to… no I need to go home. And frankly, so do you. You know we get… odd when we’re away from each other for too long.” It was true. It had taken them several years to figure out that their so-called friendship mission always required at least two of them not only because of the combination of their unique talents, but also to keep them, well, normal was the only way Rarity knew to describe it.

The table-map-thing in Twilight’s castle had stopped sending them on missions decades ago, and with no formal structure but Twilight’s discretion and the needs of the citizenry to determine how and where to go, their missions had grown longer. They’d often travel alone or with a guard contingency, or sometimes with another friend and ally, like Capper, Sunburst, or even Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Fluttershy had gone on several missions with just Discord for company.

Years after Twilight’s ascension, Pinkie had travelled to Yakyakistan to assist an aging Prince Rutherford set some things in order and prepare the court for the transfer of power to his son. Yona had come with her. Three months later, Yona had sent a letter to Ponyville asking for emergency assistance.

They’d found Pinkie in a small shack from which none of the yaks had been able to move her. She’d been drawing intricate circles on the wall with multi-hued crayons that she kept pulling from her mane. She hadn’t eaten for several days and hadn’t responded to any of the yaks who tried to speak to her.

Twilight had entered the room first, and as soon as she did, Pinkie had flung herself at the confused alicorn, weeping inconsolably. Several weeks of testing had revealed only a handful of concrete things. Firstly, the Elements of Harmony seemed somehow dependent on one another and proximity was very much a factor. Secondly, this dependency seemed connected to the same magic that granted them their powers and longevity. That was about it.

Twilight couldn’t say why they fell apart when they were separated for too long, or exactly how long they could be away from each other, or if there was any way to mitigate the effects. They all agreed that it was unfortunate but also agreed that they all loved each other very much and would try to make it work as best as they could. And they had. Incidents had thankfully been few and far between. The one time it had happened to Rarity… she shuddered and pushed the thought away. Twilight called it a curse, and Rarity had to agree.

Six weeks was not that long, especially when there were two of them, but Rarity wanted very much to return home and feared–rightfully, she thought–how long they might get side-tracked if they pursued this mystery alone.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Pinkie conceded, looking considerably more morose than she usually did.

“Honestly! I don’t know what you were thinking.”

Pinkie looked down at the deck and refused to meet Rarity’s eyes. Suddenly, Rarity was filled with concern. “Pinkie, are you alright?”

“I just thought it might be fun, and...”

“Darling, what is it?”

“It’s just hard sometimes, to go home I mean. He... he doesn’t really recognize me anymore.”

Rarity’s heart melted for her friend, and she grabbed Pinkie in a tight hug. “It’s ok,” she said. “I’m here, I’m here.”
“I feel so... so guilty for not wanting to see him,” Pinkie said, between sobs, and for once Rarity didn’t mind the tears soaking into her mane. “I’m a bad pony,” Pinkie wept.

“No, no, hush. You’re a wonderful pony. It’s normal to be scared. You have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.” She patted Pinkie’s tangled curls gently and kissed her on the head.

They sat like that for the rest of the morning until long after Pinkie had calmed down. Sometimes, in her darker moods, Rarity felt certain that things would be better another hundred years from now when all their immediate friends and family had passed on and the specter of death didn’t hover menacingly over so many of their heads. And when she thought things like that, it was her turn to feel guilty. She wrestled down the pain in her chest before it paralyzed her, as it sometimes did.

The others all had their unique ways of dealing with, well, everything, and Rarity tried her best to not judge them for it. Applejack seemed permanently locked in a frown, speaking almost as little as Big Mac used to, and Rainbow Dash was barely sober enough on most days to fly in a straight line. Fluttershy was a mess, physically and mentally, and Pinkie suffered such swift and terrible mood swings she might as well be strapped to a roller coaster with a rocket on her back.

And Twilight… Oh, Twilight. Wonderful as their darling Princess was, she was beginning to scare them all just a little. When Rarity caught her in her unguarded moments, she could see in her eyes that same old manic energy from their younger years amplified a hundredfold, unsettling and focused like a lance. There was an unfamiliar intensity to her now that Rarity wished desperately to soothe. She just didn't know how. As for herself, she refused to get dragged down. She couldn’t help anypony if she didn’t keep a clear mind and a positive attitude. For her own benefit, and for the rest of the girls… she just had to soldier on.

-

Drill Bit mocked Winter incessantly as he fumbled with the bottle of painkillers on the counter and did his best to ignore her. His hangover wasn’t as bad as she presumed but still bad enough that he needed to do something about his headache before the first trial started. Headaches could be crippling for unicorns. Even the most basic levitation spells became nightmares of pain and exertion. So here he was, trying to use his unpracticed hooves to open a pill bottle.

Winter cursed Commander Dash for the magical malady she was. Apparently, the pegasus was immune to drunkenness–or near enough at least–and had taken no little pleasure in drinking him under the table. He knew she wasn’t actually impervious to the stuff. He’d heard enough to know better, but he couldn’t figure out how somepony so small could pack away so much cider?

Finally, he gave up, convinced that the bottle was broken and flung it across the commons area he shared with the rest of his troop. The door that the orb had led him to the day before had opened into a communal kitchen and dining area that itself split into individual rooms for each of the competitors. Some part of his mind wouldn’t let go of the fact that from the outside none of this should have fit in the coliseum but thinking about it too much just made his headache worse.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll help.” Drill Bit rolled her eyes and walked over to fetch the bottle, but as she stooped to pick it up, there was a loud knock on their door. She shot him a curious look but walked over and opened it. Winter’s first impression was that of a very large hummingbird, and it took him a moment to realize it was actually a young colt, beating his wings furiously to stay aloft.

“Uhm, can I help you?” Drill Bit asked.

The little colt tried to smile, but the physical strain caused by his absurd flying method made it look more like a grimace. “No,” he said, “but I can help you. Or him, at least.” The colt nodded towards Winter. The kid was still without his cute mark and had a pale brown coat and a long periwinkle mane that kept falling into his eyes. “You’re Winter Shield, right?”

“You betcha. And you?”

“My name is Flash Flood. Grams said to give this to you. Said it’s supposed to help with your head or something.” Flash Flood tossed an envelope onto the counter and Winter eyed it suspiciously. Still, he opened it to find that it contained one large golden gel capsule and a small note on blue stationary. Thought you might need this. Hope you perform better today than you did last night. The note was signed with a red lightning bolt.

Drill Bit, who’d come around the counter to stand next to Winter, read the note and grinned wickedly. “Your performance not up to snuff, Captain?”

Winter smacked Drill Bit on the back of the head. “Oh, for… We just had a few drinks. No need to get any funny ideas.” Drill Bit chuckled, and Winter looked over at Flash Flood, who was still hovering in place. “You, uh, you maybe want to sit down, I don’t know, take a rest. That looks uncomfortable.”

“Nu uh. I’m training. Dad says Grams could make a sonic rainboom when she was my age, so that means I’m already way behind. I told her I was gonna beat her in a race and become a Wonderbolt! And she promised she’d race me, so I gotta practice all the time so I can do a rainboom too and beat her.”

Drill Bit, who was standing behind Flash Flood, was laughing silently, and Winter was quite sure it had more to do with his own uncomfortable expression than the exuberance of this very energetic little pegasus. He didn’t mind children per se, but this one was a lot.

“So, let me make sure I’ve got all my ducks in a row here. You’re saying Commander Dash is your… grandma? And that she sent you here with this medicine for me? And that the reason you won’t sit down is because you think hovering around like a bumblebee in spring is somehow going to let you beat your grandma, who is actually faster than lightning, in a race?”

Flash Flood’s expression fell, and Drill Bit smacked her face with her hoof. Winter sighed and, with great pain, levitated the pill and a glass of water over to one of the tables in the dining area and sat down.

“Come here, kid, sit down. You’ll only hurt yourself if you keep going like that.” He downed the pill and most of the water in his cup and watched as the dejected looking Flash Flood flew over and landed on the chair across from him. He was about to say something when he realized his hangover was completely gone.

“Wow,” Winter said. “That’s one heck of pill.”

“Grams’ friend made it.”

“You mean the Saint?” Drill Bit asked.

“I just call her Auntie Shy. She gave me one when I hurt this part,” he pointed at the inside of his right foreleg, “and it fixed it right away. She’s really nice.”

“So I’ve heard.” They sat in silence for a moment, Winter thinking about what to say and Flash Flood looking at everything but him. “Look, kid, I’m sorry. What I said was downright inconsiderate.”

“What’s that mean?” Flash Flood asked, eyeing Winter suspiciously.

“It means that, unlike your Auntie Shy, I wasn’t being very nice. Who knows, maybe since you’re related to her, some of her… whatever it is that makes her be the way she is, is in you too. The only way to find out is to train hard and do your best. But buzzing around like you were doing just now is just going to hurt you. You’ve got to be smart about how you train.”

Flash Flood immediately perked up. “Really? You think I can beat her?”

“Now hold up there, I said maybe. You’ve got to remember; your grandma is very special. She isn’t like you or me or any other ponies for that matter. I’m sure they taught you about her in school, right?”

Flash nodded. “Tulip talked about Grams and her friends last year in class, but... I didn’t really understand a lot of it.”

Winter chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s difficult stuff.” He got up and nodded towards the door. “You better get going. I’m sure you’ve got places to be, and we all need to get ready for our own stuff.”

Flash Flood nodded and hopped up from his chair, except this time he walked. On his way out he stopped.

“Are you gonna fight in the arena?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know about fighting, but yeah, I’ll be in the trials.”

Flash Flood’s eyes went wide. “Wow! I really wanna watch, but Grandma Jack says there’s gonna be too much blood and that it,” he affected the worst imitation of an Appleloosan accent Winter had ever heard, “ain’t ‘propriate for children tuh see.”

Winter wasn’t sure how to feel about that other than maybe terrified, and from Drill Bit’s nervous laughter, he could tell he wasn’t alone.

“Oh, well, she’s probably just joking, right?” Drill Bit asked.

“Grandma Jack doesn’t really joke… or smile much for that matter, and she never lies.”

They all stood there in awkward silence for a moment before the tension grew too much for Flash Flood to take.

“Well, uh, gotta go,” he said before rushing out the door.

Winter closed the door after him and tried not to think about what he’d said. He knew the trials would be hard, but would they be actually dangerous? Whatever Flash Flood said, it was a hard thing to believe. The Princess would never knowingly put other creatures in harms way, right? Especially not for something that essentially functioned as glorified try-outs. He vaguely remembered Commander Dash saying something similar to him the night before, but that was Rainbow Dash, and she was famous for exaggerating.

“So, you don’t think this is anything more than a painkiller, do you?”

He turned to see that Drill Bit had wandered over to the card his medicine had come with. She was looking at it with some concern in her eyes.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Like a performance enhancer?”

Winter wasn’t going to lie and say he hadn’t thought the exact same thing, but it seemed unlikely that a consummate sports pony like Rainbow Dash—and Element of Harmony, he reminded himself—would be party to something so dishonest.

“I don’t think so. She’d sabotage the whole event and possibly endanger the Princess at some future point if I made it through juiced up on magic pills. It’s probably just for the hangover, which I’ve got to say, it did wonders for.” He flipped the stationary around, and sure enough, on the back was another note written in much more elegant penmanship. Don’t worry, it’s just headache medicine. I made it myself. You’ll find it works quickly. This note had no signature, but Winter had to assume it was written by the Saint.

“Gee, Captain. Didn’t realize you were so chummy with the Elements. Makes me feel like the rest of us don’t really stand a chance.” Drill Bit looked dispirited, but Winter just shook his head.

“I’m not really. I just know Commander Dash, same as the other officers.”

“Well, she must’ve taken a shine to you since she went out of her way to ask her friends to make you medicine.”

Winter didn’t like where the conversation was heading and shrugged his shoulders. “She probably just feels guilty about last night?”

The pill had worked as advertised. Winter felt as fresh as a daisy, a little better than normal actually. A persistent ache in his left hock that had plagued him since he hurt it in Flame Geyser Swamp last year had almost completely vanished, and he felt more well rested than he remembered having felt in years. Drill Bit, seeing the effects, soured even more, and barely spoke to him for the rest of the morning. When the rest of their unit started to emerge from their rooms, she barely spoke to them either.

The trials were supposed to start at noon, and as the morning wound on, it became clear that they were all feeling the pressure. Checkers and Forelle Pear had pulled out a chess board, but after a few cursory moves, neither of them had touched the pieces for well over fifteen minutes, both opting instead to stare at the board and not talk to each other.

Swallowtail had snuck a flask out and was sipping on it in the corner, looking out a set of massive windows that gave them an excellent vantage of the castle grounds, the School of Friendship, and Ponyville in the distance. The spectators were swarming into the coliseum below and looked more like a writhing multi-hued ocean than actual living beings. How looking at that could possibly be soothing, Winter couldn’t say.

He himself had retired to a large red bean bag and was doing his best to clear his mind. Normally, before an engagement or battle, he liked to run imaginary scenarios, trying his best to predict and anticipate as many outcomes as possible. Unfortunately, that was more or less useless under the current circumstances, as nopony knew what the trial was actually going to be. Instead, he just focused on his breathing and tried to calm his nerves as much as he could.

At eleven thirty, Swallowtail got up and retreated to the restroom. This was followed by loud vomiting noises, and Winter decided he was better off wandering the coliseum than hanging around doing nothing. The upper level was almost entirely deserted. Most creatures were likely preparing or waiting in their own rooms, just like his own squad. The arches leading from this floor into the stands of the coliseum’s interior were still covered in force fields, which was disappointing but expected.

With nothing better to do–and unable to enter the trial area–he started walking counter-clockwise through the coliseum halls. He’d almost circled halfway round the whole building when he finally saw somepony else.

Or, well, someone else. It was a changeling, easily the biggest one he’d ever seen. Well, Thorax was bigger by quite a bit, but he was a king, so it didn’t seem fair to compare. The changeling was sitting in front of one of the force fields and kept tapping it with one of his horns. He’d never seen horns like that on a changeling either. There was one on his nose that swept forward and curved up slightly and another larger one on his brow that curved forward and down. They looked very dangerous.

The changeling didn’t look up but spoke to Winter with a deep and warm voice. “Your princess likes her secrets.”

Winter frowned. The last thing he wanted was to get in another argument with a foreigner; Skarn had been plenty. “You don’t like that she’s keeping us in the dark about the first trial?” he asked, trying to sound diplomatic. It made perfect sense to keep the trials hidden, but he suspected the changeling was speaking about something else.

The changeling still didn’t look at him and kept tapping away at the force field with his horn. “What, the trial? Oh, yes. That is, of course, a secret also... Very clever of her.” Finally, the changeling stopped tapping and looked up at Winter. “I’m Cercus, Under-Lieutenant of Hive Thorax.” Cercus smiled a broad and friendly smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle just slightly.

“I’m Captain Shield. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah yes, Solar Auxiliary, if I’m not mistaken. You’ll have to excuse me. To my shame, I didn’t have time to research as much as I’d hoped prior to journeying to Ponyville. I was only able to memorize some of the officers that seemed most likely to apply and get accepted. I should have known you from your cutie mark. Ilex aquifolium leaves and berries over a slanted gray escutcheon. It’s very distinct, and speaks of a long and noble lineage, as I believe cutie marks incorporating shields have long been indicative of powerful ancestors or family members. Like the great Shining Armor before you–or even the Ladies Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle–you’re destined to protect others. I hope I haven’t offended by being so slow to recognize you.”

Winter stared at the changeling, slightly slack jawed. He’d never heard anything quite so absurd and simultaneously sincere before. He spoke with the same reverent cadence Saint Fluttershy used while performing the benediction during Hearth’s Warming Eve. Cercus must have recognized the befuddlement in Winter’s expression because he quickly continued in a slightly embarrassed tone.

“Perhaps, I was a bit overzealous in my preparations. My brood siblings reprimand me for it on occasion, but it seems I’m a slow learner. I think the study of cutie marks is particularly fascinating. It seems to indicate a myriad of thought provoking things regarding the nature of pre-destination and agency.”

“Yeah, no. That’s alright,” he said. If the Princess was looking for applicants who were as excited about research as she was, well, Cercus was a shoe-in. “I’ve never heard anyone describe my cutie mark like that before. As far as I can tell, it’s just a shield with a holly twig and some berries. It’s nice enough, I guess. Suitably festive during the holidays.”

“Ah, yes,” Cercus said, clearly a little disappointed that Winter didn’t share his enthusiasm for the subject. “I guess it must all feel rather pedestrian and common to you.”

Winter felt a little off balance, and he didn’t like it. For all that Cercus seemed incredibly friendly and well-meaning, his behavior when Winter had run into him was still suspicious. “Why were you tapping on the force field?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s really fascinating, isn’t it?” Cercus said, either missing or ignoring the suspicious tone in Winter’s voice. “I mean, it’s definitely the Princess’ magic,” he said with a chuckle, “but she really can do some unusual things. I wonder how she pulled this one off. Some external artifact, maybe?”

“Look, uh, Cercus. I’m not really sure what you’re talking about, but you’ll probably get in trouble if anypony catches you sitting around poking at magic specifically designed to keep us from entering the stands.” Winter found that he enjoyed Cercus’ genial personality, and though they were competitors, he didn’t want to see the changeling disqualified over something dumb like this.

“Your concern is appreciated but unnecessary. While sitting here, I’ve been passed twice already by the Princess’ floating security orbs, and I’m certain they’d have intervened already had they found my behavior to fall outside the realms of propriety.” Cercus stood up as he spoke, and Winter felt an involuntary urge to take a step back. Nothing about Cercus personality indicated malice in the slightest, but his sheer bulk and impressive armor and horns were more than enough to make up for it. Winter was quite proud that he stood his ground and maintained his composure.

“Well, that’s fair then I suppose,” he said. Was that also part of the trials, trying to get through the force fields to gain some advantage? That didn’t seem right. It felt too much like cheating, which the Principles of Harmony specifically counselled against. As far as he understood it was neither honest nor kind.

“I can sense you’re still concerned.” Cercus said, frowning. “I hope it’s not because I seem untrustworthy to you, but rather that you’re worried about my well-being.”

Winter thought it was probably a little bit of both but didn’t want to say so. “I guess, I just don’t want you tossed out of the tournament,” he said lamely, “you seem like a nice fellow.”

An expression that Winter struggled to read stole over Cercus face. “Not all changelings are so quick to seek advantage through dishonest means. But as you say, you’re simply worried on my behalf, and it would be ungracious of me to flout that concern. Let me be on my way so as to ease your mind. After all, we do have a game to prepare for.”

Cercus turned and walked away from Winter, leaving the pony feeling like both an idiot and a jerk. He knew he should probably hurry after the changeling and try to explain himself, but as he’d just demonstrated, he possessed all the social tact of a rampaging bugbear. Like as not, he’d just make the whole situation worse. Maybe he could talk to him after the first trial.

He sat down and looked over the force field Cercus had been poking at. Winter hadn’t really thought about it since he asked the orb about them, but they sure did look different. All unicorn magic had a unique color signature specific to the unicorn who cast it. Princess Twilight’s was magenta, and Winter’s was gray. That didn’t mean tied off spells had to be that color. Most physical magic outside of rudimentary shields appeared the same no matter who cast it. But this was dark magic, and though he was quite sure the shields were tied off–nopony could actively maintain this much magic for this long–they seemed to be almost alive, swirling and undulating in a hypnotic way then suddenly hissing or crackling every few seconds.

He reached out a hoof to touch the force field. It felt normal at first, but after a few seconds, he could feel a numbness start creeping up his leg, as if he were actually touching something very cold that was also vibrating at high speeds. Disconcerting was an understatement.

He shook his head and stood to continue pacing but had only taken a few steps when a loud voice reverberated through the coliseum.

“Applicants, please make your way to the first floor and enter the trial grounds from the south side! Guidance orbs have been dispatched to show you the way!”

Winter felt a great roiling in his stomach. It was time.

-

Winter’s heart beat a million beats per second. He’d thought he was prepared for this, but he’d been wrong. This was… insane was the only word that came to mind. After the announcement had been made, he and the other applicants were herded into a large room adjacent to the first floor arcade that Winter assumed opened up into the coliseum itself. The room had been dimly lit and full of a screaming nauseating silence. One or two whispers had floated through the air, but most of the creatures present had been hyper-focused on what was about to happen and had possessed little appetite for conversation.

After everyone had been gathered and the orbs had left, the announcement voice had spoken to them again, giving them instructions. After the doors opened, the voice told them, they were to make their way to one of the many purple squares that had been painted on the grass. There were to be no more than five creatures per square, and they were advised to not congregate with any creature they were already well acquainted with.

The wide double-doors had then opened, and they’d been admitted to the field. Winter had been standing close to the doors and was one of the first creatures to enter. The bright light of the noon sun had been almost blinding but worse than that was the noise. There must have been at least a hundred thousand creatures from all across the world packed into the massive coliseum. And they were all cheering and shouting, some even jumping up and down in their seats. Fireworks were blasting from the coliseums top tier and painted the sky in vivid colors that shone brightly despite the light, and a loud fanfare of trumpets accompanied their entry.

The grounds themselves were painted like a buckball field–though easily a hundred times as big as a regular one–and in the air above the field floated a colossal and slowly rotating knot. The rope of the knot was thick enough for twenty ponies to march along it, or inside it, which seemed to be more likely, as it was all transparent and clearly hollow. It was tied so intricately that it was impossible to see exactly where the rope entered the knot, and where it came back out. It was sort of like a tangled ball of yarn... or a three dimensional labyrinth!

He’d been standing there staring for several seconds when he felt a nudge on his shoulder. It was Drill Bit, who looked just as awestruck as Winter felt.

“Go find a square!” she hissed at him before hurrying off in a different direction. Winter did as he was bid and hurried off to one of the nearby squares. They were easily identifiable against the dark grass, as they were painted in brightly glowing paint, and all seemed to be located on the south side of the giant knot.

To Winter’s surprise Cercus joined him in his square, quickly followed by Skarn. The latter grinned at his surprised expression.

“Figured it’s better to team up with someone I’ve actually spoken too,” she said. “Plus, this changeling here looks big enough to handle any other threat.”

Winter conceded to the logic of that, and Cercus nodded in agreement.

“Alternatively,” the Changeling said, “if we must battle against the others in our square, I’m at least somewhat familiar with one of them.”

Skarn chuckled, and Winter sighed. That was logical too.

“I’m Skarn,” the gargoyle said, holding out a hand for Cercus to shake. Cercus nodded graciously and took her hand with his large hoof.

“I’m Cercus, Under-Lieutenant of Hive Thorax, and it seems we’re both familiar with the good Captain here.”

It took several more minutes for the rest of the applicants to split off into squares. Winter’s group was eventually joined by a very stately looking deer with ribes draped over her brow and an unusually short parrot decked out in an excessive amount of gold jewelry.

The deer bowed deeply to the rest of them when she introduced herself. “I am Linden, Warden of the Circle, and this little one is Asterope.”

The parrot frowned at the deer. “Little one?” she asked. “I’ll have you know I’m almost as tall as that... uh, creature.” She pointed at Skarn, to which the deer chuckled. Winter thought she sounded awfully young which would account for her height but was a little disturbed by the notion of teenagers participating in the trial.

Asterope continued. “I met Linden in the visitor’s camp yesterday and thought it was probably best to stick together with someone until we knew what’s what.”

The rest of them introduced themselves as well, Skarn somewhat icily, and set to waiting for the five hundred other participants to finish splitting up.

After several more minutes a loud trumpet sounded off, and the announcement voice echoed out across the field. “Please stand and face the south end of the coliseum, as we welcome Princess Twilight Sparkle, Commander Rainbow Dash, Saint Fluttershy, and Dame Applejack.”

The coliseum grew instantly silent, as all of the spectators stood, and the applicants turned to face the large skybox above the stands on the south side. Even though the skybox was located high above the field, the interior was perfectly visible to every creature in attendance, likely through the use of magic.

The first to enter was Commander Dash. Winter could hardly believe that the pony in the skybox was the same one he'd shared drinks with just the night before. Everypony knew that Rainbow Dash was a little on the shorter side, but at that moment, she looked larger than life. Her tail, mane, and cutie mark were all glowing fiercely, more vivid and real than any actual rainbow. She was dressed in a brown leather flight jacket and wore shades that somehow seemed to match all of her colors simultaneously. Winter had expected armor or something more formal, but the casual attire did nothing to detract from her imposing presence.

She was followed by Dame Applejack, and Winter was sure he’d never seen a more physically imposing pony in his life. Some tiny part of his mind marveled that the stadium didn't tremble and shake with her every step. Every inch of her muscled body rippled with barely contained power. She wore only a simple red scarf, and–unlike Rainbow Dash, who was smiling at the crowd–her scarred face seemed perpetually stuck in a disapproving frown. Applejack's blond mane and red cutie mark were illuminated as well, but the glow looked muted compared to Rainbow Dash.

Saint Fluttershy followed right on Applejack's tail. She was smiling, but Winter thought it looked strained, like it took a considerable amount of effort. Drill Bit had told Winter one time that Fluttershy had once been a model years before either of them had been born, but as Fluttershy famously derided clothes and spent most of her time in the wild with animals, he’d dismissed it as more of Drill Bit's regular nonsense. That being said, she was certainly beautiful.

There was something warm and soothing about her as well. Just looking at her long pink mane and large cyan eyes made him relax, overcome with a desire to lie down and sleep, safe in the knowledge that he’d be fine, no matter what.

“They look so sad,” Linden said next to Winter.

“What are you talking about? They're all smiling. Well, not Dame Applejack, but the other two.” Winter furrowed his brow and tried to get a better look at their faces, but they all looked happy enough to him.

“No, look at their eyes. Those are pained eyes. I think none of them really wanted any of this.”

Any of what? The trials? Winter was about to respond but was interrupted by a loud fanfare playing the familiar tune Behold, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Winter's breath caught in his throat, and he felt a chill creep up his spine. A darkness seemed to settle over the entire coliseum broken only by the brilliant blazing star that was Princess Twilight. Her radiance made his eyes water, and he felt his knees threaten to give out beneath him.

She entered the skybox wearing her gold regalia and a long ocean teal cape embroidered in gold thread and lined with white fur. Her eyes were white furnaces of magic held high on a proud and intelligent face, and the setting sun and all the constellations in the sky made merriment in her mane. The air around her warped and sparkled with the power of her magic, and as she took her place next to the other Elements, Winter knew with a certainty that this incredible creature was meant to rule.

And then it stopped. The darkness went away, and the magic ceased. Her eyes were just normal magenta eyes, and though she looked as regal and imposing as ever, it was just the kind of regality that accompanied age and experience. She smiled down at all of them, but Winter felt as if the smile was meant just for him, and his heart swelled with a desire to serve her and stand by her side.

“She could kill every single one of us in like a second, and I don't think she'd even break a sweat.” It was Asterope who’d spoken, and the rest of them looked down at her with shocked expressions.

“That is... probably true,” Cercus finally said, “but you shouldn’t say such things.”

Though Asterope looked a little ashamed, she didn’t back down. “It's just the truth! What the heck does she need with any of us? I mean look at all of you! You're a little too elite to just patrol the streets of Ponyville while the Princess is off fighting monsters and saving the world.”

Winter had, of course, entertained those very same thoughts, but he didn’t like hearing them repeated back at him. Skarn must have been feeling the same way because she looked livid.

“Don't question the methods of the Great Vanquisher,” she said, between clenched teeth. “You're a child, and she is a goddess!”

Winter wasn't sure he liked Skarn's definition of Princess Twilight as a goddess any more than he liked Asterope's casual comments about the Princess killing them all. He was starting to think that working with any of these strangers might turn out to be more difficult than actually fighting them, and silently he wished for the trials to not be a group effort.

“Cool your temper, Skarn.” It was Linden who spoke, and surprisingly, the gargoyle immediately backed off.

“Yes, wise one, I apologize. To you as well, uh, Asterope.” Skarn bowed her head to the little parrot and then kept her silence. Winter shook his head and tried to remain non-judgmental. The Book of Friendship spent a lot of time detailing the pitfalls of making assumptions and judging those who were different, but damn him if these foreigners weren't just the weirdest creatures he'd ever met.

Behold, Princess Twilight Sparkle stopped playing and all the creatures in the stands took their seats. The Princess and the Elements sat down on large white thrones, each engraved with their cutie mark. There were two empty thrones for the Duchess and the Prelate, as well as a much larger empty chair a little to the right and back of the Princess' throne. Likely for Lord Spike, Winter thought.

After a few moments, Princess Twilight stood back up and spoke. Her voice boomed into every corner of the coliseum. “Citizens of Equestria and beyond, welcome to Ponyville!”

Her proclamation was met by thunderous applause and roars of affirmation from the spectators. Most of the applicants remained silent, and Winter could see that many of their faces had taken on a sickly shade of green.

“We’re all thrilled,” the Princess gestured to herself and her friends, “to have so many of you with us here today. I know the journey for some of you was long and difficult. Trust me when I say that we are honored by your effort.”

Winter thought she sounded like she meant it. The Princess paused for a short moment before continuing. “As I’m sure you all know, my friends and I have worked hard for many years now to ensure the safety and stability of Equestria, and I speak for all of us when I say it’s been a blessing beyond anything we could’ve imagined when we were fillies. The world has changed much since then, and in most ways, those changes have been for the better. Equestria is less insular now than it once was, and the relationships we've formed with our neighbors continue to grow stronger as the years pass. If you ever have a chance to stop by the School of Friendship and speak to Headmare Belle I am sure she would love to tell you all about it.”

Her last comment drew chuckles from most of the locals in the crowd, but Winter wasn't sure why. He knew Headmare Belle–or Lady Belle, as most ponies referred to her–was the Duchess' younger sister, and he knew she’d presided over the School of Friendship since before Winter was born, but he’d never met her. Surprisingly, Asterope had been one of those who laughed.

“To help us better deal with this changing world, the time has come for Ponyville to establish its own regiment of the Equestrian Royal Guard. I want to assure everyone gathered here today that they have nothing to fear. This decision was made with the full support of the Council of Friendship and is not a response to any particular danger or threat. We hope, in fact, that the peacekeeping efforts of this new force will serve a primarily utilitarian purpose, one that will afford my friends and I the opportunity to focus on other much needed aspects of governance. As much as Rainbow Dash would like to deny it, bureaucracy is an unfortunate but necessary part of any functioning nation.”

Again, the Princess' comments drew laughter from many of the spectators, including Commander Dash. Princess Twilight turned her attention to the gathered applicants, and for a brief moment Winter was sure her eyes were made of ice and steel. “To you who have been chosen...” The sound of the crowd grew muted, and though the Princess still spoke, Winter could no longer hear or make sense of her words. Her eyes drilled into his soul, anchoring deep in his mind, refusing to let go. An explosion of sound and color echoed through his skull, accompanied by a voice he felt sure only he and the other applicants could hear.

“Be still. Be still and hear what I must say.” The voice clearly belonged to the Princess, but the words reverberated as if spoken in a large and empty chamber. “Evil moves against us. A dark hand reaches out to steal the light of life from these lands.” A flower appeared in his mind and began to rapidly wilt and decay. “But I have faith. I have faith in the strength of your souls and your commitment to Harmony. I know that together, there is no threat we cannot face. You are all dear to me, whether you know it or not, but at the end of these ordeals, only one hundred of you will still be standing here by my side. I expect greatness.”

Winter’s senses returned to him with a fierce suddenness that had him blinking away tears and struggling for breath. One glance at his compatriots told him they’d all experienced the same strange vision, or at least something similar. Linden and Cercus both glanced at him meaningfully, but he had no idea what they were thinking. Skarn was on her knees weeping, and Asterope looked like someone had punched her in the stomach.

“...would please turn your attention to the middle of the field the trial administrators will go over the rules for the first trial.”

Winter looked up in time to see the Princess retake her seat and lean over to whisper something to Dame Applejack, who still looked less than pleased to be present. The Dame nodded and sighed, losing some of the sourness in her face. The last thing he saw before the magnification spell vanished was the Element of Honesty leaning in and pressing her forehead against the Princess’ neck.

“I feel like a fish on dry land,” Cercus said. Winter agreed. Something was going on, something far beyond his understanding, and he felt less sure of himself than ever.

“You think it’s real then?” he asked. “What the Princess said I mean? Not just part of the trials?”

Linden was close enough to hear them both and shook her head. “No, I think whatever is happening is very serious. Serious enough for the Starchild to want to keep it from her subjects. I do not like it, but I suspected... well, it is why we are all here, after all, so we might as well pay attention.” She nodded towards the center of the field, where a purple and green dragon the size of three full-grown yaks had just landed. He was accompanied by an elderly and, by the look of his eyes, severely jaundiced unicorn with a grey coat and upside down umbrella for a cutie mark.

“Alright,” the dragon said once the applicants had all recovered and turned to face him. “I’m guessing most of you know who I am. If you don’t my name is Spike. I’ll be administrating the first trial.” Spike’s voice sounded something like a boulder smashing into another boulder, and Winter felt certain even without magical amplification everyone in the stadium would have been able to hear him just fine. “I’m not going to lie to any of you, this trial is going to be dangerous, but if you’re half as smart as Twilight seems to think you are and you listen to my instructions, Fluttershy should have very little to worry about today.”

Asterope laughed nervously. “He’s kidding, right?”

Winter was reminded of Drill Bit. Linden raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t respond.

“As you’ve all guessed already, you’ll be conducting your trial inside of that thing.” Spike pointed up at the giant floating knot. “It’s a three dimensional labyrinth made of hollow ropes. Gravity will be normalized for you, so you’ll be able to walk around inside the ropes, but they’re only transparent from the outside, so once you’re in there, you won’t be able to see out of your rope or into any adjacent ropes.” Spike held out his hand, and a small ball of light appeared above it.

“One of these is going to be assigned to each group, and it will be your only source of light. It will last for two hours, so I highly recommend you attempt to finish before then, otherwise you’ll be working in the dark.” He closed his hand and the ball disappeared. “The goal of this trial is to collect these.” He opened his hand again, and this time two small tablets appeared. One had an orange apple shaped crystal embedded in it, the other a red lightning bolt.

“There are a hundred each of these in the labyrinth, and your group needs to get one of each before you can exit. After you find your tablets, you need to bring them to the center of the labyrinth where you’ll be able to use them to exit. You’ll have three hours to complete the trial. Once that time has expired, we’ll bring you out and you’ll be disqualified.” Spike waved his hands to make the tablets disappear. So far, Winter thought it sounded fairly straight forward.

“A few more things before we get started, and this is important. First of all, only one member of your group needs to be present for the escape mechanism to work. Secondly, there’ll be a bunch of obstacles in your way. Magic puzzles, non-magic puzzles, dangerous creatures, you get the idea. If at any time you feel like you’re in actual mortal danger, place an appendage on your light orb and ask for help. You’ll be instantly teleported out of the labyrinth. This can be done on an individual basis, and only the person who asked for help and anyone they are touching will be teleported out. Also, if I or any of the Elements feel like it’s warranted, we will remove you from the trial even if you don’t ask for help.” Spike paused for a moment and looked up at the skybox. After a moment he sighed and continued.

“Lastly, and this may very well be the most important thing for you to remember, as you progress through the labyrinth, keep in mind why you’re here and what the Elements of Harmony stand for. If you find yourselves in trouble, remember that pretty much any problem can be solved with the proper application of laughter, kindness, loyalty, honesty, generosity, and of course, by working together.”

When Spike finished speaking, the grey unicorn stepped forward and let his gaze travel over the collected applicants. Winter thought he saw a mischievous glimmer in the pony’s yellow eyes, and for a second, he was sure the fellow had grinned at him specifically.

“Are you all ready?” the unicorn asked in a raspy sing-song voice. “I really hope you are, for your sake. Oh, this will be so much fun.”

Author's Note

This whole project started as a fluffy romance prompt. I never really meant for things to get so grim, or I guess start off so grim, but here we are ^^. I hope the absence of a Sad tag and the story summary gives some hints about what's to come.