Apple Bloom, Harbinger of Darknessby EquimortoChaptersAre You Sure About This?Now What?Found Anything?Are You Sure About This?"So... Why exactly am I here?" Apple Bloom asked, looking up from the table. "And why are my daughter and her friends here as well?" She pointed a hoof at Applejack sitting at the side of the room, surrounded by her friends. "Your what?" Rainbow asked. "She's my mother, I'm her daughter from the future," Applejack replied, "technically I'm Twilight's half-sister as well." "What the what?" "Exactly." Rarity gave an awkward half-laugh, looking between Apple Bloom and her daughter. "Okay, I'm sure you'll have time to explain all of this at some point." She turned to Luna. "Anyway, why are we here? And why did we bring the Elements with us?" she asked, pointing at the jewel around her neck. Luna cleared her throat, then pointed at Apple Bloom. "She is a creature of darkness!" Twilight decided to see if the floor of the room they were in felt any different from that of Applejack's kitchen when she pressed her face on it. At her side, Fluttershy was first startled by the thud of the impact, then leaned closer to check if the alicorn was alright. Applejack rubbed her temple. "What is it this time?" Apple Bloom appeared rather apathetic to the whole situation, though a little confused. Rainbow Dash was scratching her head, perplexed. Pinkie had entered a long monologue comprised of a series of questions and digressions on the nature of Apple Bloom's true nature, during which she popped up and disappeared from various places in the room, including Luna's mane. Twilight noted to herself that she had to ask Cadence if the pink earth pony was the result of another one of her escapades. Luna cleared her throat and began to explain. "Back when I was still Nightmare Moon, I created a series of creatures to defeat my sister and sent them to Equestria. Apple Bloom was the last one. That is why you're here, to use the Elements of Harmony and purge her of her darkness, turning her into a normal pony." Rainbow looked at the filly. "She looks pretty normal to me." "That is just deception," Luna explained. "I created her so she would blend in with the ponies of Equestria and trick them, and once she became powerful enough and the conditions were favourable she would reveal her true self and defeat Celestia." She turned towards Apple Bloom. "Her personality is actually just a cover. It's real, and she can't remember her true origins, but once the Darkness within her awakens it will all be relegated at the back of her mind." "So... Why are we here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Can't you just, I don't know, take the Darkness out?" Luna shook her head. "I cannot. Only the power of the Elements can purge her of Nightmare Moon's essence." "Okay then." Rainbow Dash got in position. "So we just zap her and that's it, right?" "No." Rarity cocked her head to the side. "Why not?" "Her current status is designed as a shield. If you use the Elements now, they will be completely ineffective. We need to bring her dark side to show itself, and then strike it down when it's at its most vulnerable!" Luna raised a hoof and pointed it to the ceiling to emphasize her point. "Hold on a second," Applejack intervened, "are you trying to get us to hurt my sist-er... my mother-which is also technically your daughter now that I think about it-Wait, does this mean I'm your granddaughter? Does that make me a princess? Do I get-No! No, no, AJ, focus!" She pressed her hat down on her head. "Anyway, are you saying we should hurt her?" Luna lifted Applejack's chin. "Worry not, my dear, she will not be harmed. The Elements will simply restore her, like they did to me." She looked down at the pony and smiled. "And yes, you are technically a member of the royal family. Yes, we can get you your own princess dress." The orange of Applejack's face suddenly lost some yellow. "How did you..." she whispered out. "I see dreams, remember?" Luna turned to Apple Bloom and lifted her up in her hooves, much to the filly's surprise, and then tightly hugged her technically daughter she'd forgotten about after creating her while she was possessed by the magical manifestation of her own jealousy and resentment and sending her to crash-land on Equestria where she was supposed to syphon out the magic of the world around her and then use it to defeat her aunt. She did not talk about that part during the hug, as she felt it would have been slightly deleterious to the emotional moment. She then set her down and turned to the other ponies. "Are you ready?" "No," Rainbow Dash replied. Luna raised an eyebrow, curious and somewhat annoyed. Rainbow pointed a hoof at the vibrating pink earth pony at Luna's side. Luna turned towards Pinkie. "What is it?" she asked to the blurry figure. Pinkie took a strong, large inhale and- Luna raised a hoof to stop her. "Only one question." Pinkie stopped inhaling. She stood there, her mouth still open wide enough for a filly to fit inside, as the accumulated air slowly exited through unspecified holes in her head, ruffling her mane as it did. "How did she get here?" she finally asked. "I... may have propelled her from the Moon to Equestria with magic." Luna avoided looking at Pinkie. "So you launched her here," Rainbow Dash said. Luna's cheeks picked up some of the colour of her daughter's bow. "Yes," she admitted with barely moving lips. "Oh my, was she hurt?" Fluttershy asked. "No, she was fine," Applejack replied. "The train, though... Not so much." "Didn't two ponies die in that accident?" Rainbow asked, turning to Applejack. "Well, actually, that was believed to be the case since Apple Bloom's parents were never found, the theory was that they'd sneaked on there in secret. But it turns out there was nobody to find there in the first place. So nobody got hurt." "Okay then, it's all set. Now we just need to get the Darkness to come out." Luna turned to Apple Bloom and prepared to fire a spell. Twilight finally detached her face from the floor. "Wait." Luna stopped and looked at her. "What is it, Twilight?" "Are you sure this won't hurt her?" she asked, raising a hoof. Applejack looked at her. "What's the matter, Twilight? If what she said about the Elements is true, there should be nothing to worry about." "Well, I mean..." Twilight waved her hoof around. She exhaled. "She's purely a creature of darkness, if what Luna says is true. And she also says the Apple Bloom we know won't be there once her true nature is revealed. How do we know the Elements won't just destroy her completely?" The ponies around the room looked at each other, thoughtful. "She's got a point," Applejack pointed out, talking to Luna. "Yeah!" echoed Rainbow Dash. "Can't we just leave her be, and only use the Elements if she ever actually does reveal herself on her own?" Rarity asked. Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid that is not a possibility. She may look harmless, and there's no telling when the Darkness will reveal itself, but if it does it will be too late." She pointed at Apple Bloom with a wing. "You see, I created her with the purpose of defeating my sister even when empowered by the Elements. And while I don't remember how I attained such a result, I'm certain I did. It may not look like it, but she's constantly growing stronger by syphoning the unused magic around her. There's the risk we might hurt her, but..." She held her head low. "It's a risk we have to take." "Now hold on a second, if you think I will-" "No," Apple Bloom interrupted her daughter, and the rest of her friends. "Do it," she said. Everypony looked at her. "Are..." Twilight hesitated. "Are you sure, Apple Bloom?" The filly nodded. Luna went to her and hugged her. "Well, if there are no other questions, we can proceed." The rest of the ponies exchanged glances, then they all nodded. Luna prepared herself, her horn lighting up. Apple Bloom was enveloped in her magical aura, her body being lifted off of the chair and floating in the air. The filly was brought face to face with Luna, who stared at her intensely. And then stared at her some more. And then kept staring. "Now if only I could figure out how to get the Darkness to come out," the alicorn murmured. Twilight groaned. Luna looked back, offended, then went back to staring at Apple Bloom. "Maybe we could politely ask it to come out?" Fluttershy tentatively suggested. Luna shook her head. "No. We need to trick it into thinking that there is a chance to accomplish its mission." She rubbed her chin. "Maybe if we got Celestia and asked her to pretend she was weak and vulnerable..." Twilight frowned in concentration. "Isn't there some way for you to have your magic resonate with the magic inside her and bring her to transform? ...Luna?" She looked up. "...Luna, are you listening?" "...on the ground, weeping, saying I was the greatest of fools to ever consider myself thine equal, I now see that you are far above me, and that your powers far eclipse mine, please have mercy of your unworthy supplicant, begging to be spared from the magnificence of my incredible power, all her pride gone as she-" "LUNA!" The princess turned. "Oh. Oh sorry Twilight, I got a little carried away. What were you saying?" A low growl was heard coming from the bottom of Twilight's throat. "I was saying, isn't there some way for you to use your magic to make her transform? Maybe some command you left in case you came back and needed her help?" Luna rubbed her chin, giving a side-way glance at the filly still floating in her magic. "Now that I think about it, I believe there is," she said after a moment of contemplation. "Good. Everypony, get in position!" Twilight called, and in little time her friends were at her side, ready to use the Elements. Apple Bloom was held in front of them, at a short distance, while Luna stood to the side, out of the way of the imminent friendship rainbow laser thingy of evil dispelling and purification. "Are you ready?" the blue alicorn asked to the filly. Apple Bloom nodded. "Well then. Apple Bloom-" Luna cleared her throat and assumed a more archaic-sounding tone "-Your Queen has returned, it's time to awaken." Apple Bloom looked at herself. "Are you sure that was right? Because I don't feel anything." Everypony stared at Luna. "Give it, like, a couple more seconds." "I don't think it's wo-" Apple Bloom was suddenly interrupted. Her body began to float on its own, while Luna retreated her magic, and darkness began to glow from the filly's eyes. A detail ponies had a lot of questions about when the presents recounted the facts. More darkness began to pour from all over her body, coating her, enveloping her into a black cocoon of dark magical energy. The magic around her started to twirl and twist on itself, spinning faster and closing in on its centre, collapsing around her as she was reborn as her new dark self while strands of black and purple smoke formed around her. Finally, the darkness crystallized in a single black dot floating in mid-air, the purple mist on the ground slowly spreading out. Then, in the resulting silence, the dot pulsated a single time, expanding to a sphere about the size of a pony, then retreated, and in doing so left behind the new Apple Bloom. The filly, now taller than before though still not as tall as her daughter, looked over herself. Her body was now a dark shade of purple and red, muted, and her mane and tail floated as a billowing and sparkling mass of nebulas and stardust. After having observed her new body, noticing how her cutie mark was still there though a little different, she blinked once with her new slitted eyes and opened her fanged mouth to speak in her new and slightly distorted voice. "Mum, are you sure this worked? Because I don't feel any different." Luna ignored her, and instead nodded to the other ponies, who immediately began to use the Elements. "Oh well." Apple Bloom sat down and patiently waited for them to fully charge. Luna observed as the six ponies began to lift off the ground and glow. Then a sensation struck her, like she'd forgotten something, and she curved her brow in thought. Apple Bloom cleaned a speck of dust from the floor. "How is it that you got hit by this, mum? It seems pretty slow to me." Twilight's eyes snapped open, and finally a rainbow-coloured ray of light was released from the six ponies, heading towards Apple Bloom. "Uh, pretty!" the filly commented. Luna had a sudden moment of enlightenment and victoriously lifted her hoof. "Ah! Now I remember!" The magical rainbow thingy of friendship crashed over Apple Bloom. The entire room was filled by a blinding light, and everypony closed their eyes. Apple Bloom was the first to reopen them. "Er... Girls?" The rest of them opened their eyes as well, and shortly thereafter their mouths too opened for the shock. Apple Bloom did a couple of twirls, looking over herself, confirming that she was indeed the same she'd been after her transformation just less than a minute before, the dark creature created by Nightmare Moon to overpower Celestia. Twilight was about to ask something, but a sound from Luna clearing her throat interrupted her. "So, hem..." The alicorn pressed her front hooves together in front of herself and bounced them off of each other guiltily. "I sort of forgot about it before, but, uh... I might have designed her specifically to be immune to the Elements. Maybe." Twilight, feeling creative and wanting to go for something different for a change, gave a powerful push of her wings and moved to bash her face against the ceiling for the occasion. The other ponies all looked at each other, not sure of what to say. "So, like..." Apple Bloom gave a small cough. "What now, mum? Do I get to go back for dinner or do I have to stay here?" Applejack grabbed her own face and pulled down. "My mother's stuck as space demon," she lamented in a low tone. Rarity, not finding a couch on to which she could dramatically collapse, took a few deep breaths and addressed Luna. "Princess, what's the plan now?" Luna looked at Apple Bloom. "Oh..." The filly ran her hoof through her new mane, seeing how it parted around it and rejoined together behind it. "That's cool." Pinkie was doing the same with the filly's tail. Applejack was sulking in a corner. Twilight was still pressed against the ceiling. Luna looked back at Rarity, now flanked by Rainbow and Fluttershy. "Er..." Now What?"So you're like a demon or something?" "I guess, yeah." "And are you stuck like that? Forever?" "We haven't found a way to change me back yet, and I can't do it on my own, so it seems like I am." "Oh." Scootaloo toyed with her glass, as Sweetie Belle took another bite out of her aubergines. The three sat there silently for a bit, looking at the table. "Is it a problem?" the unicorn finally asked. "Well, Luna says I'm an evil monster who will overthrow Celestia one day and we need to find a cure as soon as possible." Apple Bloom rested her chin on her hooves. "But I don't really feel any different. Just a little taller." "Hmm. That's good to know." Sweetie Belle took another bite. "Your mane's really pretty, you know?" Apple Bloom ran a hoof through her ethereal and star-filled mane. "It is." Another brief pause filled with silence. "Hey, did you like... get any powers or something?" Scootaloo said after a moment of hesitation, looking up at Apple Bloom. "Not that I know of." Applejack's not-yet-mother looked down to the table, then her face lit up. "Wanna go outside and try to find out?" The other two fillies lit up as well, and smiled to her. After a brief look between each other, they quickly finished their food and got up. "Sure!" they answered together. Apple Bloom got up as well, and walked out with them. In the adjacent room, Big Mac took a deep breath and swallowed. "Applejack? Why does our sister look like Nightmare Moon?" Applejack took an equally deep breath. She sat down in front of him, hat held in her hooves, and looked at him. Then she pointed at the jewel hanging around her neck. "You know what this is, right?" He nodded. "And do you think I'd be able to lie about something so important and make up a barely believable story while wearing it without there being any consequences?" she asked. Big Mac took a moment to reflect, then shook his head. "Good." Applejack took another deep breath, then began to speak. "She's not our sister, technically, though you already knew that. Let me rephrase." She swallowed and put her hat back on. "She’s not a normal pony. She was created by Nightmare Moon to defeat Celestia, and sent here from the Moon in that meteor that caused the train crash. There were no parents to find. When Luna remembered about it she called us to Canterlot so we could purge her of her inner darkness with the Elements of Harmony. To do so, Luna had to first awaken that darkness, which caused her transformation. Unfortunately, the Elements proved ineffective, and now we have to find another way to fix things. Also, she's my mother in the future. Cadence and Celestia once did drugs and time travel. I'm technically Twilight's half-sister as well." Big Mac looked at her, and at the Element of Honesty she was wearing. "Well, now we know why we found you in a basket made of gold." He collapsed to the side with a dull thud. Applejack grabbed him and put him to rest on the sofa. "Do you think he'll be alright?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah." Applejack turned around. "Now let's-Hey wait a minute!" She pointed at Pinkie. "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on Apple Bloom?" "Oh, don't worry, I left her with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo," the pink pony replied. Outside of the house came a bang, and the room trembled. Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck. "Oops." Applejack growled and ran out of the room, followed by the other two ponies. "That was awesome!" Scootaloo ran circles around the tall black nightmarish creature, her small and possibly atrophic wings excitedly buzzing but still unable to lift her body off of the ground. Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool." "Can you do it again? Can you? Can you?" Scootaloo excitedly bounced in front of the creature. "I'm not sure actually. I don't really know how I did it." "Well, that's for the better," Sweetie Belle said, fixing her now extremely messy mane. "And please warn us next time." Scootaloo pouted. "What's going on here?" Applejack shouted as she exited the house. "What are you three up to?" "Oh my!" Fluttershy covered her mouth as she noticed what was on the ground in front of the house's wall. Applejack turned towards what the pegasus was looking at. "What?" she exclaimed, "What is that?" "Oh silly Applejack!" Pinkie gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "It's a hole!" "I can see that!" Applejack shouted, "How did it get there is the question!" She turned towards the two fillies and the being created by Nightmare Moon to overthrow Celestia who would also one day be brought back in time to give birth to her, who smiled awkwardly. "And how deep is this thing anyway?" she said, turning back towards the large hole left in the ground. "Oh, I'll check!" Pinkie jumped into the hole. "Pinkie, wait!" Applejack called, trying to catch her, but it was already too late. Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie was already falling down the hole, yelling a prolonged "Wheeeeeeeeeee..." Applejack and Fluttershy leaned in to the edge of the hole. "What's that mare thinking?" the first asked. "...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." "I don't know," the other replied. "...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." The two leaned even closer. "Pinkie?" Applejack called. "Whew, that's deep!" answered the pink pony from behind her. Applejack jumped back with a yell, and was thankfully caught by Fluttershy before she could fall in the hole. "How..." she tried to ask. "I didn't find the end, though I think there were already some natural tunnels and galleries there and the hole ended up leading into into them." She put her hooves inside her mane. "But I did find this!" she said, taking out a clothed white rabbit with a pocket watch. Applejack, now back on the ground, scratched her head, then headed towards the three responsible for the hole. "What did you do?" she asked. Apple Bloom gulped. "Well, you see, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo wanted to see if my new transformation gave me any special powers or something, so we went out and tried and..." "And?" Applejack raised an eyebrow, an unamused expression on her face. Apple Bloom pointed at the hole behind her daughter. "That." Applejack kept staring at the three. "...Sorry?" Apple Bloom tried. "Go back inside, we'll have a talk later." Apple Bloom began to walk back inside, head held low. "Well, if that's all then we-" "You stop right there, don't think I'm letting you get away when it's your fault too!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stopped in their tracks and turned back towards Applejack. "We're sorry," Scootaloo said, walking back towards the farm. "It was her idea!" Sweetie Belle raised a hoof and pointed at the orange pegasus. "Hey, what?" Scootaloo turned towards her. "Then why didn't you stop us, huh?" "Well I would have, but-" "Silence!" The two fillies gulped and looked back at Applejack. "We... We're sorry," they said together. Applejack walked up to them. "Look, I get that you were just trying to have fun, but this is a serious issue. We don't know what will happen to Apple Bloom now that she's like this, we need to be careful. Somepony might get hurt if we aren't. Understood?" The two looked up and nodded. "Good." Applejack smiled. "So we're free to go then?" Scootaloo asked. "Of course." "Are you sure you don't need help patching up that hole?" Sweetie Belle asked. "No, I don't want you two to get in danger, I'll ask Mac to help me once he wakes up." "So we can go, right?" "Of course you can, just promise you won't ask Apple Bloom to blow up anything else in the future, okay?" Applejack smiled. The two fillies smiled and nodded, then began to excitedly run away. "I'll be telling about it to your parents," Applejack said behind them. The two stopped and grimaced, looking at each other, then began to walk away at a slower pace. Applejack smiled as she watched them walk away. "Um, Applejack?" "What is it, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, still looking at the two fillies. "Well, I don't want to alarm you, but, uh, you see, I think you should, I mean-" "Hi Apple Bloom!" Pinkie cheerfully exclaimed, waving towards a point behind and above Applejack. The orange pony turned around, to find that the pony in question was walking on top of her house's roof. "Apple Bloom! What are you doing there? Get down here immediately!" she yelled. Apple Bloom looked down towards her. "No." "What?" "I said no," Apple Bloom replied. Applejack took on an angry frown. "Listen here. As your-" "As my what? As my daughter? I should be the one telling you you're grounded!" Apple Bloom sat down and pouted in Applejack's direction. "I'm not moving from here until I decide to." "That filly!" Applejack muttered to herself. "Well she does have a point," Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. Applejack sighed. "Pinkie, please, this is really not the time." "Apple Bloom, you should get down, you might get hurt," Fluttershy tentatively said, lifting herself upwards with her wings just a bit. Apple Bloom looked at her. "I was built to fight Celestia, I'm pretty sure I won't get hurt by staying on top of a roof." "Oh, well, I guess if you put it like that you do have a point." The pegasus went back to the ground and remained silent afterwards. "Oh not you too! Apple Bloom, listen to me!" Apple Bloom laid down and turned her head away from Applejack. Applejack growled. "Fine!" She began to walk towards the barn. "Are you giving up?" Pinkie asked. "I'm getting the ladder." Found Anything?Rainbow zoomed between the rows upon rows of bookshelves, carrying a bundle of books in her hooves. She took a sudden turn to the right, and shortly after screeched to a halt in mid-air, then gently floated down to deposit the books on the table at which Luna, Twilight and Rarity were sitting. "Thanks, Rainbow," the second said without looking up from the tome she was reading. "Is that all of the books Celestia listed?" Rarity asked, flipping several pages on a book while glancing at another opened one lying on the table. "I believe so, yes," Luna replied, her face half-hidden behind several opened volumes floating in front of her. Rainbow perched atop a precariously constructed and barely stable tower of books, built too close to the edge of the table, and lazily studied the accidental architecture of the piles of old large tomes the three magic users had placed to the side as they focused on other volumes they considered more likely to hold the answers they were looking for. "Anything else I can do?" she asked as she rolled to the side with cat-like motions. Twilight, still without looking up from the page, levitated a blank piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down a long list of titles. "This are all the books I know of that might be useful and Celestia didn't mention. It's unlikely we'll find anything in them, but I still suggest we gather them in case we can't find something useful in the ones we already have," she said while passing the list to the pegasus. "Yes ma'am!" Rainbow replied as grabbed the list, then lifted herself up and prepared to dash off. "Rainbow, could you please fetch me this as well?" Luna asked, momentarily stopping the pegasus as she lifted a single piece of paper with a lone title elegantly written on it towards her with her magic. The pegasus stopped for a moment, grabbed the paper and then flew away, starting to gather the books the others had listed. "What was that, Princess?" Twilight asked, closing the book and switching it out for another. "Nothing important, but as you said it's better to cover all possibilities," the alicorn replied behind her curtain of books, swapping several of them out for new ones. Silence reigned for a while, the only sounds those of pages turning and the occasional thud from Rainbow dropping some of the books she'd recovered from the depths of the library on the table. "Still nothing here," Rarity sighed, opening up another book in front of her, "what about you." "Nothing," the alicorns replied in unison. Rainbow left some books, then flew away again. "Twilight," Luna suddenly asked, "do you know what a headstall is?" Twilight was taken aback by the suddenness of the question, and stopped reading for a moment, almost looking up. "I... Yes. Why do you ask?" "I assume you're only familiar with the traditional use, right?" Luna turned a few pages on different books. "I... There's another use for them?" Twilight asked, confused. "Yes. It's not important now though, go back to your research." Luna picked up a few new books. Rarity looked between the two, and chuckled inwardly. Rainbow came back in that moment, carrying yet more books. "Did something funny happen?" she asked. "It's nothing, darling," Rarity dismissively replied, waving a hoof, her eyes still focused on the books. The pegasus shrugged, and flew away once more. Twilight's book closed with a thud, as another took its place. The alicorn sighed. "This really feels like it's going nowhere. Princess Luna, are you sure you don't remember anything else about how you created Apple Bloom? Anything at all?" Luna grimly shook her head. "I am afraid not, Twilight. My memory of my time as Nightmare Moon is rather foggy, I must admit. It is not a part of my life I ever particularly wished to remember since I came back, so I believe I might have let myself forget portions of it. I see now how that was a mistake." "Don't say something like that," Twilight replied in a gentle tone, "nopony can blame you for this." More books landed on the books. "Actually, Twilight, I'm pretty sure we can blame her for this." Rainbow left again. "I meant... Oh, never mind," Twilight huffed, deciding it was pointless to discuss with someone when they only heard a third of what you said at best. Rarity clicked her tongue. "Actually, Your Majesty, there could be a way for you to recover some of your memories about this." Luna set some volumes aside, shifting her glance towards the unicorn. "Such as?" she asked. "Well..." Rarity closed her book for a moment, leaning towards Luna to whisper in her ear. "It would be about-" "Princess?" Luna looked up. "Yes, Rainbow Dash?" "I, huh, found the book you asked for." The pegasus flew down to land in front of the alicorn, holding the large dark blue tome in her hooves. "Are you sure you gave me the correct title?" Luna took the book in her magic, studying the cover. "Yes, this is exactly the book I was thinking about. Thank you, Rainbow." "Oh." The pegasus pulled back slightly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. Luna glanced at her. "Are you familiar with it, by chance?" "I'm-" Rainbow Dash looked to the side "-familiar with the author. Does this happen to be, well, in line with their other works?" Luna looked back at the book. "I believe so. I remember this being one of my favourites before I was banished, I believe there might be something here that might make it clearer to me what exactly my thoughts were like during my time on the Moon. It does approach a similar subject to what we are dealing with, after all." "Understood." Rainbow sat back on a particularly large encyclopedia, staring at the ceiling. Luna looked back at her with a smile. "I'd recommend it to you, when this is over of course. I'm sure you'll find it enjoyable." Rainbow stared back for a moment. "Thank you. I'll consider it." She pulled out her list once more, making sure she hadn't missed any book on it. "Is there anything else I can help with?" she asked. "Actually..." Rarity grabbed a quill for herself and began to scribble something on a piece of parchment. Luna looked at the list over her shoulder. "Oh! Of course, I should have thought of this myself, it does seem like a way worth trying." As Rarity finished the list, she grabbed it for herself and added a couple of titles. "Good idea, Rarity. Were you thinking of doing this yourself or-" The unicorn shook her head. "I am usually on the receiving end of such things. Part of my spa treatments, Aloe and Lotus introduced it to me on a particularly stressful day. I was thinking Twilight could do it." Luna nodded, passing the paper to Rainbow, who took off immediately, somewhat puzzled by the titles she was reading on it. "That would certainly work. Even if I must admit I would have thought the roles to be inverted if me and her ever were to do something like that." Twilight looked up from her book, as if startled. "I'm sorry, what were you two saying?" "Rarity was suggesting an alternative method with which to attempt a recovery of my memories, and we were thinking you'd be the perfect candidate for it," Luna explained. "Oh." Twilight turned a new page, looking back to the book. "What does it consist of?" "You'll see once Rainbow has found the books we requested." "About that," Rainbow cut in, depositing a new batch of books over the towers of literature. "I couldn't find this one," she said, passing down the list she'd received, folded as to only show one specific title. Luna put a hoof to her chin. "Curious." Twilight grabbed the list in her magic. "Oh, this is- Oh, well, yes, that is a good idea- Anyway, this book is in the restricted section, I believe it was moved there a little over two hundred years ago, after a small rebellion broke outnear the northern border." "Whyever would Celestia think about putting a book like that in the restricted section?" Luna pondered. Twilight stared at her. Luna stared back. "Well, yes, I do suppose there might be a valid reason for that. Anyway, Rainbow, don't worry about it, I'll fetch it myself later. For now we should focus on the present task." "Exactly," Twilight echoed her. "Even if that will likely help, we're still looking for something else here. Knowing what Nightmare Moon was thinking could certainly restrict our field of research, but we still need to find a way to purge Apple Bloom, and that probably means finding something she didn't know about in the first place." Rainbow shrugged, then had to stop a pile of books she'd accidentally touched with her wings. "So do I just stay here doing nothing or what?" "Well you could start doing some research yourself, we could certainly use a helping hoof," Rarity replied from behind a stack of volumes. Rainbow Dash huffed. "I can't understand anything about this magic stuff, I probably wouldn't be of any help." She sat on top of books, pretty much the only thing she could possibly sit on given how they covered everything on the table and around it. After a few moments of waiting, the only sound that of pages turning, she perked up. "Hey, what if I went to Ponyville to check on the situation there? I can go there and back pretty fast." "Oh, please, darling," Rarity chided her. "There's no need for something like that. I'm sure Applejack and the others are doing a fantastic job at taking care of Apple Bloom, there's nothing to worry about." "If you say so." Rainbow sat back down. Suddenly, after minutes of boring silence, a flash of light lit the room, followed by a small boom. "I am terribly sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Celestia said, stepping forward. "State matters are such a taxing part of my schedule, and some nobles are just too stubborn. But I should be free for a while now, here to lend a hoof. This seems to be a most serious matter indeed." She looked over the four ponies, their gazes wide and pointed at something behind her. "Is everything alright?" She turned back, just in time to see the towers of books her teleportation had disturbed collapsing towards her in a tsunami of knowledge, inked paper and bindings. At the thought of being buried under a mountain of books, Twilight found it to at least be an amusing way for her to go, given its irony when viewed from the outside. Rarity appeared much less entertained by the prospect, given her screaming.
Are You Sure About This?"So... Why exactly am I here?" Apple Bloom asked, looking up from the table. "And why are my daughter and her friends here as well?" She pointed a hoof at Applejack sitting at the side of the room, surrounded by her friends. "Your what?" Rainbow asked. "She's my mother, I'm her daughter from the future," Applejack replied, "technically I'm Twilight's half-sister as well." "What the what?" "Exactly." Rarity gave an awkward half-laugh, looking between Apple Bloom and her daughter. "Okay, I'm sure you'll have time to explain all of this at some point." She turned to Luna. "Anyway, why are we here? And why did we bring the Elements with us?" she asked, pointing at the jewel around her neck. Luna cleared her throat, then pointed at Apple Bloom. "She is a creature of darkness!" Twilight decided to see if the floor of the room they were in felt any different from that of Applejack's kitchen when she pressed her face on it. At her side, Fluttershy was first startled by the thud of the impact, then leaned closer to check if the alicorn was alright. Applejack rubbed her temple. "What is it this time?" Apple Bloom appeared rather apathetic to the whole situation, though a little confused. Rainbow Dash was scratching her head, perplexed. Pinkie had entered a long monologue comprised of a series of questions and digressions on the nature of Apple Bloom's true nature, during which she popped up and disappeared from various places in the room, including Luna's mane. Twilight noted to herself that she had to ask Cadence if the pink earth pony was the result of another one of her escapades. Luna cleared her throat and began to explain. "Back when I was still Nightmare Moon, I created a series of creatures to defeat my sister and sent them to Equestria. Apple Bloom was the last one. That is why you're here, to use the Elements of Harmony and purge her of her darkness, turning her into a normal pony." Rainbow looked at the filly. "She looks pretty normal to me." "That is just deception," Luna explained. "I created her so she would blend in with the ponies of Equestria and trick them, and once she became powerful enough and the conditions were favourable she would reveal her true self and defeat Celestia." She turned towards Apple Bloom. "Her personality is actually just a cover. It's real, and she can't remember her true origins, but once the Darkness within her awakens it will all be relegated at the back of her mind." "So... Why are we here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Can't you just, I don't know, take the Darkness out?" Luna shook her head. "I cannot. Only the power of the Elements can purge her of Nightmare Moon's essence." "Okay then." Rainbow Dash got in position. "So we just zap her and that's it, right?" "No." Rarity cocked her head to the side. "Why not?" "Her current status is designed as a shield. If you use the Elements now, they will be completely ineffective. We need to bring her dark side to show itself, and then strike it down when it's at its most vulnerable!" Luna raised a hoof and pointed it to the ceiling to emphasize her point. "Hold on a second," Applejack intervened, "are you trying to get us to hurt my sist-er... my mother-which is also technically your daughter now that I think about it-Wait, does this mean I'm your granddaughter? Does that make me a princess? Do I get-No! No, no, AJ, focus!" She pressed her hat down on her head. "Anyway, are you saying we should hurt her?" Luna lifted Applejack's chin. "Worry not, my dear, she will not be harmed. The Elements will simply restore her, like they did to me." She looked down at the pony and smiled. "And yes, you are technically a member of the royal family. Yes, we can get you your own princess dress." The orange of Applejack's face suddenly lost some yellow. "How did you..." she whispered out. "I see dreams, remember?" Luna turned to Apple Bloom and lifted her up in her hooves, much to the filly's surprise, and then tightly hugged her technically daughter she'd forgotten about after creating her while she was possessed by the magical manifestation of her own jealousy and resentment and sending her to crash-land on Equestria where she was supposed to syphon out the magic of the world around her and then use it to defeat her aunt. She did not talk about that part during the hug, as she felt it would have been slightly deleterious to the emotional moment. She then set her down and turned to the other ponies. "Are you ready?" "No," Rainbow Dash replied. Luna raised an eyebrow, curious and somewhat annoyed. Rainbow pointed a hoof at the vibrating pink earth pony at Luna's side. Luna turned towards Pinkie. "What is it?" she asked to the blurry figure. Pinkie took a strong, large inhale and- Luna raised a hoof to stop her. "Only one question." Pinkie stopped inhaling. She stood there, her mouth still open wide enough for a filly to fit inside, as the accumulated air slowly exited through unspecified holes in her head, ruffling her mane as it did. "How did she get here?" she finally asked. "I... may have propelled her from the Moon to Equestria with magic." Luna avoided looking at Pinkie. "So you launched her here," Rainbow Dash said. Luna's cheeks picked up some of the colour of her daughter's bow. "Yes," she admitted with barely moving lips. "Oh my, was she hurt?" Fluttershy asked. "No, she was fine," Applejack replied. "The train, though... Not so much." "Didn't two ponies die in that accident?" Rainbow asked, turning to Applejack. "Well, actually, that was believed to be the case since Apple Bloom's parents were never found, the theory was that they'd sneaked on there in secret. But it turns out there was nobody to find there in the first place. So nobody got hurt." "Okay then, it's all set. Now we just need to get the Darkness to come out." Luna turned to Apple Bloom and prepared to fire a spell. Twilight finally detached her face from the floor. "Wait." Luna stopped and looked at her. "What is it, Twilight?" "Are you sure this won't hurt her?" she asked, raising a hoof. Applejack looked at her. "What's the matter, Twilight? If what she said about the Elements is true, there should be nothing to worry about." "Well, I mean..." Twilight waved her hoof around. She exhaled. "She's purely a creature of darkness, if what Luna says is true. And she also says the Apple Bloom we know won't be there once her true nature is revealed. How do we know the Elements won't just destroy her completely?" The ponies around the room looked at each other, thoughtful. "She's got a point," Applejack pointed out, talking to Luna. "Yeah!" echoed Rainbow Dash. "Can't we just leave her be, and only use the Elements if she ever actually does reveal herself on her own?" Rarity asked. Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid that is not a possibility. She may look harmless, and there's no telling when the Darkness will reveal itself, but if it does it will be too late." She pointed at Apple Bloom with a wing. "You see, I created her with the purpose of defeating my sister even when empowered by the Elements. And while I don't remember how I attained such a result, I'm certain I did. It may not look like it, but she's constantly growing stronger by syphoning the unused magic around her. There's the risk we might hurt her, but..." She held her head low. "It's a risk we have to take." "Now hold on a second, if you think I will-" "No," Apple Bloom interrupted her daughter, and the rest of her friends. "Do it," she said. Everypony looked at her. "Are..." Twilight hesitated. "Are you sure, Apple Bloom?" The filly nodded. Luna went to her and hugged her. "Well, if there are no other questions, we can proceed." The rest of the ponies exchanged glances, then they all nodded. Luna prepared herself, her horn lighting up. Apple Bloom was enveloped in her magical aura, her body being lifted off of the chair and floating in the air. The filly was brought face to face with Luna, who stared at her intensely. And then stared at her some more. And then kept staring. "Now if only I could figure out how to get the Darkness to come out," the alicorn murmured. Twilight groaned. Luna looked back, offended, then went back to staring at Apple Bloom. "Maybe we could politely ask it to come out?" Fluttershy tentatively suggested. Luna shook her head. "No. We need to trick it into thinking that there is a chance to accomplish its mission." She rubbed her chin. "Maybe if we got Celestia and asked her to pretend she was weak and vulnerable..." Twilight frowned in concentration. "Isn't there some way for you to have your magic resonate with the magic inside her and bring her to transform? ...Luna?" She looked up. "...Luna, are you listening?" "...on the ground, weeping, saying I was the greatest of fools to ever consider myself thine equal, I now see that you are far above me, and that your powers far eclipse mine, please have mercy of your unworthy supplicant, begging to be spared from the magnificence of my incredible power, all her pride gone as she-" "LUNA!" The princess turned. "Oh. Oh sorry Twilight, I got a little carried away. What were you saying?" A low growl was heard coming from the bottom of Twilight's throat. "I was saying, isn't there some way for you to use your magic to make her transform? Maybe some command you left in case you came back and needed her help?" Luna rubbed her chin, giving a side-way glance at the filly still floating in her magic. "Now that I think about it, I believe there is," she said after a moment of contemplation. "Good. Everypony, get in position!" Twilight called, and in little time her friends were at her side, ready to use the Elements. Apple Bloom was held in front of them, at a short distance, while Luna stood to the side, out of the way of the imminent friendship rainbow laser thingy of evil dispelling and purification. "Are you ready?" the blue alicorn asked to the filly. Apple Bloom nodded. "Well then. Apple Bloom-" Luna cleared her throat and assumed a more archaic-sounding tone "-Your Queen has returned, it's time to awaken." Apple Bloom looked at herself. "Are you sure that was right? Because I don't feel anything." Everypony stared at Luna. "Give it, like, a couple more seconds." "I don't think it's wo-" Apple Bloom was suddenly interrupted. Her body began to float on its own, while Luna retreated her magic, and darkness began to glow from the filly's eyes. A detail ponies had a lot of questions about when the presents recounted the facts. More darkness began to pour from all over her body, coating her, enveloping her into a black cocoon of dark magical energy. The magic around her started to twirl and twist on itself, spinning faster and closing in on its centre, collapsing around her as she was reborn as her new dark self while strands of black and purple smoke formed around her. Finally, the darkness crystallized in a single black dot floating in mid-air, the purple mist on the ground slowly spreading out. Then, in the resulting silence, the dot pulsated a single time, expanding to a sphere about the size of a pony, then retreated, and in doing so left behind the new Apple Bloom. The filly, now taller than before though still not as tall as her daughter, looked over herself. Her body was now a dark shade of purple and red, muted, and her mane and tail floated as a billowing and sparkling mass of nebulas and stardust. After having observed her new body, noticing how her cutie mark was still there though a little different, she blinked once with her new slitted eyes and opened her fanged mouth to speak in her new and slightly distorted voice. "Mum, are you sure this worked? Because I don't feel any different." Luna ignored her, and instead nodded to the other ponies, who immediately began to use the Elements. "Oh well." Apple Bloom sat down and patiently waited for them to fully charge. Luna observed as the six ponies began to lift off the ground and glow. Then a sensation struck her, like she'd forgotten something, and she curved her brow in thought. Apple Bloom cleaned a speck of dust from the floor. "How is it that you got hit by this, mum? It seems pretty slow to me." Twilight's eyes snapped open, and finally a rainbow-coloured ray of light was released from the six ponies, heading towards Apple Bloom. "Uh, pretty!" the filly commented. Luna had a sudden moment of enlightenment and victoriously lifted her hoof. "Ah! Now I remember!" The magical rainbow thingy of friendship crashed over Apple Bloom. The entire room was filled by a blinding light, and everypony closed their eyes. Apple Bloom was the first to reopen them. "Er... Girls?" The rest of them opened their eyes as well, and shortly thereafter their mouths too opened for the shock. Apple Bloom did a couple of twirls, looking over herself, confirming that she was indeed the same she'd been after her transformation just less than a minute before, the dark creature created by Nightmare Moon to overpower Celestia. Twilight was about to ask something, but a sound from Luna clearing her throat interrupted her. "So, hem..." The alicorn pressed her front hooves together in front of herself and bounced them off of each other guiltily. "I sort of forgot about it before, but, uh... I might have designed her specifically to be immune to the Elements. Maybe." Twilight, feeling creative and wanting to go for something different for a change, gave a powerful push of her wings and moved to bash her face against the ceiling for the occasion. The other ponies all looked at each other, not sure of what to say. "So, like..." Apple Bloom gave a small cough. "What now, mum? Do I get to go back for dinner or do I have to stay here?" Applejack grabbed her own face and pulled down. "My mother's stuck as space demon," she lamented in a low tone. Rarity, not finding a couch on to which she could dramatically collapse, took a few deep breaths and addressed Luna. "Princess, what's the plan now?" Luna looked at Apple Bloom. "Oh..." The filly ran her hoof through her new mane, seeing how it parted around it and rejoined together behind it. "That's cool." Pinkie was doing the same with the filly's tail. Applejack was sulking in a corner. Twilight was still pressed against the ceiling. Luna looked back at Rarity, now flanked by Rainbow and Fluttershy. "Er..."
Now What?"So you're like a demon or something?" "I guess, yeah." "And are you stuck like that? Forever?" "We haven't found a way to change me back yet, and I can't do it on my own, so it seems like I am." "Oh." Scootaloo toyed with her glass, as Sweetie Belle took another bite out of her aubergines. The three sat there silently for a bit, looking at the table. "Is it a problem?" the unicorn finally asked. "Well, Luna says I'm an evil monster who will overthrow Celestia one day and we need to find a cure as soon as possible." Apple Bloom rested her chin on her hooves. "But I don't really feel any different. Just a little taller." "Hmm. That's good to know." Sweetie Belle took another bite. "Your mane's really pretty, you know?" Apple Bloom ran a hoof through her ethereal and star-filled mane. "It is." Another brief pause filled with silence. "Hey, did you like... get any powers or something?" Scootaloo said after a moment of hesitation, looking up at Apple Bloom. "Not that I know of." Applejack's not-yet-mother looked down to the table, then her face lit up. "Wanna go outside and try to find out?" The other two fillies lit up as well, and smiled to her. After a brief look between each other, they quickly finished their food and got up. "Sure!" they answered together. Apple Bloom got up as well, and walked out with them. In the adjacent room, Big Mac took a deep breath and swallowed. "Applejack? Why does our sister look like Nightmare Moon?" Applejack took an equally deep breath. She sat down in front of him, hat held in her hooves, and looked at him. Then she pointed at the jewel hanging around her neck. "You know what this is, right?" He nodded. "And do you think I'd be able to lie about something so important and make up a barely believable story while wearing it without there being any consequences?" she asked. Big Mac took a moment to reflect, then shook his head. "Good." Applejack took another deep breath, then began to speak. "She's not our sister, technically, though you already knew that. Let me rephrase." She swallowed and put her hat back on. "She’s not a normal pony. She was created by Nightmare Moon to defeat Celestia, and sent here from the Moon in that meteor that caused the train crash. There were no parents to find. When Luna remembered about it she called us to Canterlot so we could purge her of her inner darkness with the Elements of Harmony. To do so, Luna had to first awaken that darkness, which caused her transformation. Unfortunately, the Elements proved ineffective, and now we have to find another way to fix things. Also, she's my mother in the future. Cadence and Celestia once did drugs and time travel. I'm technically Twilight's half-sister as well." Big Mac looked at her, and at the Element of Honesty she was wearing. "Well, now we know why we found you in a basket made of gold." He collapsed to the side with a dull thud. Applejack grabbed him and put him to rest on the sofa. "Do you think he'll be alright?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah." Applejack turned around. "Now let's-Hey wait a minute!" She pointed at Pinkie. "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on Apple Bloom?" "Oh, don't worry, I left her with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo," the pink pony replied. Outside of the house came a bang, and the room trembled. Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck. "Oops." Applejack growled and ran out of the room, followed by the other two ponies. "That was awesome!" Scootaloo ran circles around the tall black nightmarish creature, her small and possibly atrophic wings excitedly buzzing but still unable to lift her body off of the ground. Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool." "Can you do it again? Can you? Can you?" Scootaloo excitedly bounced in front of the creature. "I'm not sure actually. I don't really know how I did it." "Well, that's for the better," Sweetie Belle said, fixing her now extremely messy mane. "And please warn us next time." Scootaloo pouted. "What's going on here?" Applejack shouted as she exited the house. "What are you three up to?" "Oh my!" Fluttershy covered her mouth as she noticed what was on the ground in front of the house's wall. Applejack turned towards what the pegasus was looking at. "What?" she exclaimed, "What is that?" "Oh silly Applejack!" Pinkie gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "It's a hole!" "I can see that!" Applejack shouted, "How did it get there is the question!" She turned towards the two fillies and the being created by Nightmare Moon to overthrow Celestia who would also one day be brought back in time to give birth to her, who smiled awkwardly. "And how deep is this thing anyway?" she said, turning back towards the large hole left in the ground. "Oh, I'll check!" Pinkie jumped into the hole. "Pinkie, wait!" Applejack called, trying to catch her, but it was already too late. Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie was already falling down the hole, yelling a prolonged "Wheeeeeeeeeee..." Applejack and Fluttershy leaned in to the edge of the hole. "What's that mare thinking?" the first asked. "...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." "I don't know," the other replied. "...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." The two leaned even closer. "Pinkie?" Applejack called. "Whew, that's deep!" answered the pink pony from behind her. Applejack jumped back with a yell, and was thankfully caught by Fluttershy before she could fall in the hole. "How..." she tried to ask. "I didn't find the end, though I think there were already some natural tunnels and galleries there and the hole ended up leading into into them." She put her hooves inside her mane. "But I did find this!" she said, taking out a clothed white rabbit with a pocket watch. Applejack, now back on the ground, scratched her head, then headed towards the three responsible for the hole. "What did you do?" she asked. Apple Bloom gulped. "Well, you see, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo wanted to see if my new transformation gave me any special powers or something, so we went out and tried and..." "And?" Applejack raised an eyebrow, an unamused expression on her face. Apple Bloom pointed at the hole behind her daughter. "That." Applejack kept staring at the three. "...Sorry?" Apple Bloom tried. "Go back inside, we'll have a talk later." Apple Bloom began to walk back inside, head held low. "Well, if that's all then we-" "You stop right there, don't think I'm letting you get away when it's your fault too!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stopped in their tracks and turned back towards Applejack. "We're sorry," Scootaloo said, walking back towards the farm. "It was her idea!" Sweetie Belle raised a hoof and pointed at the orange pegasus. "Hey, what?" Scootaloo turned towards her. "Then why didn't you stop us, huh?" "Well I would have, but-" "Silence!" The two fillies gulped and looked back at Applejack. "We... We're sorry," they said together. Applejack walked up to them. "Look, I get that you were just trying to have fun, but this is a serious issue. We don't know what will happen to Apple Bloom now that she's like this, we need to be careful. Somepony might get hurt if we aren't. Understood?" The two looked up and nodded. "Good." Applejack smiled. "So we're free to go then?" Scootaloo asked. "Of course." "Are you sure you don't need help patching up that hole?" Sweetie Belle asked. "No, I don't want you two to get in danger, I'll ask Mac to help me once he wakes up." "So we can go, right?" "Of course you can, just promise you won't ask Apple Bloom to blow up anything else in the future, okay?" Applejack smiled. The two fillies smiled and nodded, then began to excitedly run away. "I'll be telling about it to your parents," Applejack said behind them. The two stopped and grimaced, looking at each other, then began to walk away at a slower pace. Applejack smiled as she watched them walk away. "Um, Applejack?" "What is it, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, still looking at the two fillies. "Well, I don't want to alarm you, but, uh, you see, I think you should, I mean-" "Hi Apple Bloom!" Pinkie cheerfully exclaimed, waving towards a point behind and above Applejack. The orange pony turned around, to find that the pony in question was walking on top of her house's roof. "Apple Bloom! What are you doing there? Get down here immediately!" she yelled. Apple Bloom looked down towards her. "No." "What?" "I said no," Apple Bloom replied. Applejack took on an angry frown. "Listen here. As your-" "As my what? As my daughter? I should be the one telling you you're grounded!" Apple Bloom sat down and pouted in Applejack's direction. "I'm not moving from here until I decide to." "That filly!" Applejack muttered to herself. "Well she does have a point," Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. Applejack sighed. "Pinkie, please, this is really not the time." "Apple Bloom, you should get down, you might get hurt," Fluttershy tentatively said, lifting herself upwards with her wings just a bit. Apple Bloom looked at her. "I was built to fight Celestia, I'm pretty sure I won't get hurt by staying on top of a roof." "Oh, well, I guess if you put it like that you do have a point." The pegasus went back to the ground and remained silent afterwards. "Oh not you too! Apple Bloom, listen to me!" Apple Bloom laid down and turned her head away from Applejack. Applejack growled. "Fine!" She began to walk towards the barn. "Are you giving up?" Pinkie asked. "I'm getting the ladder."
Found Anything?Rainbow zoomed between the rows upon rows of bookshelves, carrying a bundle of books in her hooves. She took a sudden turn to the right, and shortly after screeched to a halt in mid-air, then gently floated down to deposit the books on the table at which Luna, Twilight and Rarity were sitting. "Thanks, Rainbow," the second said without looking up from the tome she was reading. "Is that all of the books Celestia listed?" Rarity asked, flipping several pages on a book while glancing at another opened one lying on the table. "I believe so, yes," Luna replied, her face half-hidden behind several opened volumes floating in front of her. Rainbow perched atop a precariously constructed and barely stable tower of books, built too close to the edge of the table, and lazily studied the accidental architecture of the piles of old large tomes the three magic users had placed to the side as they focused on other volumes they considered more likely to hold the answers they were looking for. "Anything else I can do?" she asked as she rolled to the side with cat-like motions. Twilight, still without looking up from the page, levitated a blank piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down a long list of titles. "This are all the books I know of that might be useful and Celestia didn't mention. It's unlikely we'll find anything in them, but I still suggest we gather them in case we can't find something useful in the ones we already have," she said while passing the list to the pegasus. "Yes ma'am!" Rainbow replied as grabbed the list, then lifted herself up and prepared to dash off. "Rainbow, could you please fetch me this as well?" Luna asked, momentarily stopping the pegasus as she lifted a single piece of paper with a lone title elegantly written on it towards her with her magic. The pegasus stopped for a moment, grabbed the paper and then flew away, starting to gather the books the others had listed. "What was that, Princess?" Twilight asked, closing the book and switching it out for another. "Nothing important, but as you said it's better to cover all possibilities," the alicorn replied behind her curtain of books, swapping several of them out for new ones. Silence reigned for a while, the only sounds those of pages turning and the occasional thud from Rainbow dropping some of the books she'd recovered from the depths of the library on the table. "Still nothing here," Rarity sighed, opening up another book in front of her, "what about you." "Nothing," the alicorns replied in unison. Rainbow left some books, then flew away again. "Twilight," Luna suddenly asked, "do you know what a headstall is?" Twilight was taken aback by the suddenness of the question, and stopped reading for a moment, almost looking up. "I... Yes. Why do you ask?" "I assume you're only familiar with the traditional use, right?" Luna turned a few pages on different books. "I... There's another use for them?" Twilight asked, confused. "Yes. It's not important now though, go back to your research." Luna picked up a few new books. Rarity looked between the two, and chuckled inwardly. Rainbow came back in that moment, carrying yet more books. "Did something funny happen?" she asked. "It's nothing, darling," Rarity dismissively replied, waving a hoof, her eyes still focused on the books. The pegasus shrugged, and flew away once more. Twilight's book closed with a thud, as another took its place. The alicorn sighed. "This really feels like it's going nowhere. Princess Luna, are you sure you don't remember anything else about how you created Apple Bloom? Anything at all?" Luna grimly shook her head. "I am afraid not, Twilight. My memory of my time as Nightmare Moon is rather foggy, I must admit. It is not a part of my life I ever particularly wished to remember since I came back, so I believe I might have let myself forget portions of it. I see now how that was a mistake." "Don't say something like that," Twilight replied in a gentle tone, "nopony can blame you for this." More books landed on the books. "Actually, Twilight, I'm pretty sure we can blame her for this." Rainbow left again. "I meant... Oh, never mind," Twilight huffed, deciding it was pointless to discuss with someone when they only heard a third of what you said at best. Rarity clicked her tongue. "Actually, Your Majesty, there could be a way for you to recover some of your memories about this." Luna set some volumes aside, shifting her glance towards the unicorn. "Such as?" she asked. "Well..." Rarity closed her book for a moment, leaning towards Luna to whisper in her ear. "It would be about-" "Princess?" Luna looked up. "Yes, Rainbow Dash?" "I, huh, found the book you asked for." The pegasus flew down to land in front of the alicorn, holding the large dark blue tome in her hooves. "Are you sure you gave me the correct title?" Luna took the book in her magic, studying the cover. "Yes, this is exactly the book I was thinking about. Thank you, Rainbow." "Oh." The pegasus pulled back slightly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. Luna glanced at her. "Are you familiar with it, by chance?" "I'm-" Rainbow Dash looked to the side "-familiar with the author. Does this happen to be, well, in line with their other works?" Luna looked back at the book. "I believe so. I remember this being one of my favourites before I was banished, I believe there might be something here that might make it clearer to me what exactly my thoughts were like during my time on the Moon. It does approach a similar subject to what we are dealing with, after all." "Understood." Rainbow sat back on a particularly large encyclopedia, staring at the ceiling. Luna looked back at her with a smile. "I'd recommend it to you, when this is over of course. I'm sure you'll find it enjoyable." Rainbow stared back for a moment. "Thank you. I'll consider it." She pulled out her list once more, making sure she hadn't missed any book on it. "Is there anything else I can help with?" she asked. "Actually..." Rarity grabbed a quill for herself and began to scribble something on a piece of parchment. Luna looked at the list over her shoulder. "Oh! Of course, I should have thought of this myself, it does seem like a way worth trying." As Rarity finished the list, she grabbed it for herself and added a couple of titles. "Good idea, Rarity. Were you thinking of doing this yourself or-" The unicorn shook her head. "I am usually on the receiving end of such things. Part of my spa treatments, Aloe and Lotus introduced it to me on a particularly stressful day. I was thinking Twilight could do it." Luna nodded, passing the paper to Rainbow, who took off immediately, somewhat puzzled by the titles she was reading on it. "That would certainly work. Even if I must admit I would have thought the roles to be inverted if me and her ever were to do something like that." Twilight looked up from her book, as if startled. "I'm sorry, what were you two saying?" "Rarity was suggesting an alternative method with which to attempt a recovery of my memories, and we were thinking you'd be the perfect candidate for it," Luna explained. "Oh." Twilight turned a new page, looking back to the book. "What does it consist of?" "You'll see once Rainbow has found the books we requested." "About that," Rainbow cut in, depositing a new batch of books over the towers of literature. "I couldn't find this one," she said, passing down the list she'd received, folded as to only show one specific title. Luna put a hoof to her chin. "Curious." Twilight grabbed the list in her magic. "Oh, this is- Oh, well, yes, that is a good idea- Anyway, this book is in the restricted section, I believe it was moved there a little over two hundred years ago, after a small rebellion broke outnear the northern border." "Whyever would Celestia think about putting a book like that in the restricted section?" Luna pondered. Twilight stared at her. Luna stared back. "Well, yes, I do suppose there might be a valid reason for that. Anyway, Rainbow, don't worry about it, I'll fetch it myself later. For now we should focus on the present task." "Exactly," Twilight echoed her. "Even if that will likely help, we're still looking for something else here. Knowing what Nightmare Moon was thinking could certainly restrict our field of research, but we still need to find a way to purge Apple Bloom, and that probably means finding something she didn't know about in the first place." Rainbow shrugged, then had to stop a pile of books she'd accidentally touched with her wings. "So do I just stay here doing nothing or what?" "Well you could start doing some research yourself, we could certainly use a helping hoof," Rarity replied from behind a stack of volumes. Rainbow Dash huffed. "I can't understand anything about this magic stuff, I probably wouldn't be of any help." She sat on top of books, pretty much the only thing she could possibly sit on given how they covered everything on the table and around it. After a few moments of waiting, the only sound that of pages turning, she perked up. "Hey, what if I went to Ponyville to check on the situation there? I can go there and back pretty fast." "Oh, please, darling," Rarity chided her. "There's no need for something like that. I'm sure Applejack and the others are doing a fantastic job at taking care of Apple Bloom, there's nothing to worry about." "If you say so." Rainbow sat back down. Suddenly, after minutes of boring silence, a flash of light lit the room, followed by a small boom. "I am terribly sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Celestia said, stepping forward. "State matters are such a taxing part of my schedule, and some nobles are just too stubborn. But I should be free for a while now, here to lend a hoof. This seems to be a most serious matter indeed." She looked over the four ponies, their gazes wide and pointed at something behind her. "Is everything alright?" She turned back, just in time to see the towers of books her teleportation had disturbed collapsing towards her in a tsunami of knowledge, inked paper and bindings. At the thought of being buried under a mountain of books, Twilight found it to at least be an amusing way for her to go, given its irony when viewed from the outside. Rarity appeared much less entertained by the prospect, given her screaming.
