Piece of Parchment

Twilight sat on the floor, under the trees, with her friends. Once she processed another cycle had begun, she noticed the Harpy next to her. The griffoness groaned into her paws before she started walking with an additional frustrated sigh. Not to mention a mumbling string of swear words that drew a shocked ‘goodness’ out of Rarity.

Wasting no time, Twilight and her friends followed the griffoness. To their surprise, as much as the Harpy’s, crashing waves reached them through the trees. And as the griffoness still complained under her breath with renewed exasperation, Twilight led the ponies, rushing ahead to the limit of the forest. Trees became thin, the soil sandy. Salty humidity rode a breeze to replace the still warmness of the forest. Before she knew, a deep blue sea sparkled beyond the white sand past the slender trees.

She also found the alicorn. No longer a conjunction of two magical beasts. The fiery alicorn of the day was back to her old self, and with her was another magical creature. While the first was as glorious as before, the other left nothing to be desired on the matter of awe-striking wonder. Black like the night sky, with silver eyes radiating magical energies in the glow of moonlight. A deep blue mane flowed in the sunny day like the night took offense to it. Silver specks of connected dots mimicked constellations in the sky; it was Luna’s mane, nothing more, nothing less.

Like true individuals, each had their own body and moved with as much ease as Twilight herself. The white alicorn still enthusiastically stirred the mud with her ladle, now by the beach. Meanwhile, the other was performing a craniotomy on a pony sitting before her. Twilight and her companions gasped, cried and halted mid gallop.

The alicorn of the night looked down at the pony’s open head, telekinetically fiddling with their brain while sitting on the sand. Her subject was the pink and purple pegasus from before. She simply sat on the sand and held the most bored expression in existence. No blood streamed, and the top of her head sat nearby like the lid of a pot. The alicorn had her silvery tongue showing with a focused frown while the light of the stars danced around her horn.

Overpowered by curiosity, Twilight walked closer while the others balked. What did she really expect to see? It was a brain. Fleshy, pink, and crisscrossed by red, throbbing blood vessels. A cut reached deep, and tiny motes of blue magic poked around. Twilight’s initial shock at the unsanitary meddling inside somepony’s head subdued. It was a precision instrument only magic could make.

“What is so difficult about this?” Fiery White complained with Celestia’s very own voice. She rested her ladle at the edge of the pond and then placed her chin on her hooves on top of it. “I already laid all the underlying physiology.”

Blue mumbled an ill-behaved response under her breath, but it did not keep white from talking more. “They must be missing something.”

Bluey tossed her head with an exasperated sigh. “What could they possibly be missing? Stallion looks at mare, neuron activation, physiological changes happen, behavior follows.”

“Eleven-something moons later, a foal should be born.” Not-Luna grimaced, pulling at something with her magic. “Rinse and repeat after ten moons, and then they should be able to replenish their numbers. Their numbers should increase, in fact.”

Promising. They had figured out they needed ponies to make more ponies, and they were also two separate entities this time. Twilight supposed that was probably what drew a shocked squawk out of the Harpy as she stormed out of the forest.

“What in the blazes of the Scorch are you two doing now?” she cried like they had broken her favorite vase.

However, Twilight made a mental note along with a frown. Their change in physical appearance didn’t surprise her. She reacted much, as though she had already seen both alicorns with that appearance before. Not even the alicorns seemed to have noticed they were different, and that made Twilight tilt her head slightly.

“What the…?”

“Oh… She’s here again.” Not-Celestia groaned while the other alicorn of fiery magic simply focused on her pony.

That the angry griffoness kept meeting with them deepened Twilight’s frown. Wasn’t she defeated? Maybe it was just the cyclical nature of things that made it happen. Maybe the Harpy was simply special. Entitled, even. Or maybe there was a hidden meaning behind it all. If there was one thing Twilight had learned about this crazy world of hers, was that things happened for a reason. Logically, if she had no further purpose, the Harpy should not be showing up at each cycle simply to harass and bother the others. It wetted Twilight’s inquisitive nature.

“Although, why a beach?” The angry griffoness’ expression changed to curiosity, and that was good because Twilight too was curious about that change in scenery.

“Because beaches are romantic!” Blue raised her head and grinned.

That did not help. The griffoness screamed and went back to her habit of accusing the two of stealing her world, demanding they returned it. While Nightly Blue seemed more interested in her open-headed pony, Fiery White entertained the discussion with the Harpy. Although she refused to engage with the same anger. She deflected it with a hefty dose of Celestia-like calm, serenity, and good humor.

“Now, this is not a fair interpretation.” The very Celestia-like alicorn raised her muddy ladle to interrupt the griffoness’ tirade.

Raging, the Harpy yelled and took the ladle from her telekinetic magic. She tossed it away at the sea and grabbed the alicorn by her neck. “Now listen here, you infuriating nag! I have been much more patient than I should, and you have been abusing—”

Whatever she was going to say never left her beak. The ladle plunged into the water and made it fizz and bubble. A dense foam steadily rose and then sprouted from the water. It took tens of hooves from the shoreline and held all the confused stares. Particularly from the griffoness, while she was still holding the alicorn’s neck, and both of them stared slack jawed. A giant pearly shell rose from the foam. It opened with a rose perfume and revealed a velvety red stage adorned with a giant, golden horseshoe as background. A glorious platform for the creature sitting within.

As the alicorns of the sun and the moon, the equine creature inside the shell was made of a passionately fiery magic, but in pink flames. It shared the same gravitas from the other divine creatures, with its wings flared open and a beating heart of deep crimson showing in its chest. A raised hoof greeted the others, and its head remained high with all the pride of a goddess.

“I have arrived!” the pink creature gracefully hopped from her platform with a beat of her flaming wings to stand on the sand with an outstretched leg. “And I have brought my Gift of Love!”

“What the feather is this?” the astonished griffoness gasped, still holding the white alicorn’s neck.

“Now, that is just silly,” Applejack deadpanned at the sight.

“Oh, my!” the white alicorn cheered, despite the fingers and talons around her neck. “Another sister!”

As reactions ranged from stunned silence to giggling euphoria, the pink alicorn paraded about Luna’s ‘prototype pony’. Twilight really hoped she knew what she was doing, because the magical alicorn too started to fiddle with the pony’s brain.

When the blue one complained, she raised her hoof. “Fret not! I will teach them to love. And through the most divine art of lovemaking, our little ponies will strengthen their bonds and bring new ponies to grace the world with Love!”

“Harmony,” Not-Luna grumbled. “They will bring Harmony to the world.”

“Yes, yes…” Not-Cadance waved an absentminded hoof at her. “Same thing.”

“It is not the same thing,” the Harpy grumbled, having let go of the other to watch.

The white alicorn shrugged. “If it works, it works.”

The three magical alicorns and the griffoness all joined around the bored pony. Like they had completely forgotten that one was a murderous monster. The pony herself just stood there, sitting on the sand and looking bored while they peered into her brain. Twilight and the others joined. They crowded under the larger beings to watch.

Instead of seeing the pink, gelatinous brain, the world around them shifted in a snap. They were back inside the crystal palace from before. Ponies jumped, others squealed; Twilight gasped, but she was expecting it.

More important than that, the Alicorn of Love had made changes: she added a pillar next to the water mirror. A typical pegasus column, the kind one could find in almost all pegasus cloud buildings but made of marble. It had a pretty, golden embroidery, a complex and elegant decoration, but the top was missing something and, as all eyes aimed there, Love quickly explained.

“There will be a representation of this pony’s loved one.” She did a little tap-dance of excitement, grinning like a foal with a new toy. “Their soulmate, the one whose Love will tie them with devotion to share their lives and make new ponies. As we envisioned.”

While Twilight raised an eyebrow at the magical alicorn talking as though she was an integral part of the process since the start. While Twilight’s friends shared a prolonged, silent stare, the divine beings which were present when those events failed to react. At best, the Harpy shut her eyes tightly and massaged her temple with a tired sigh.

“You dullards are piling things on top of this poor creature’s self. There won’t be a single sane one left by the time they are done developing into adulthood.”

“You’re just jealous of my brilliance!” Cadence’s ancient version put a hoof on her chest.

“You cannot tell romance from lust.” The griffoness retorted.

“I’m not seeing any problems!” the blue alicorn piped as she looked down, one way and another, at the water mirror beneath their hooves. “Everything is working fine! Good job, Love!”

“We did it!” the white one hopped and flapped her wings. “Let’s get them ready to trot!”

As suddenly as it had happened before, they found themselves back at the beach. The sudden change caused less of a commotion than before, but it was not without complaining.

“You know, I’d mighty appreciate a warning or something before this unicorn nonsense.”

“Oh, this is quite different from teleportation, darling.”

As Rarity went on an extensive declamation about the subjective sensations of teleportation, Twilight was more interested in the alicorns going about their business. The white one worked with absolute zeal and a radiant grin. She pulled pony after pony from her magical pond using a new ladle. Twilight had no idea where it had come from, but that barely deterred the alicorn. Meanwhile, Luna and Cadance’s fiery versions turned their attention to their pony with an open head. All ignored the Harpy’s rant, which also failed to grab Twilight’s attention.

“Is this… Alicorn the same you saw yourself as, Cadie?” Shining asked. “In your dream?”

“It sure is! Isn’t this amazing?” She giggled at him and then put her nose up with a mock conceited grin. “Well, do you believe me now?”

“Ain’t nopony disbelieved you, princess.” Applejack gave Cadance her ‘I’m being dead serious’ stare. “This thing is a mess, is all.”

And speaking of a mess, Luna’s shocked cry stopped them. “Oh, my stars! What are they doing?!”

The ponies had already taken over the beach and the transition into the forest. They had their little homes, their central burning hearth. And they had indeed learned how to make new ponies. Unabashedly and shamelessly so.

“Yes! It worked!” Cadance’s fiery version cheered, flapping her wings up and down.

“Wow! Look at them go!” the flesh and bones Cadance added.

“Wait!” Not-Celestia gasped and immediately magicked her notebook into her telekinetic grasp, frowning at it. “Are you sure that is how those are supposed to work?”

Pinkie frowned at the unfolding scene and grimaced. “Ah… This is kinda…”

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash added.

“That is a somewhat crude technique, though.” Cadance added with a pensive frown.

The others? They needn’t say anything, Twilight could see in their faces and the only one not about to lose their marbles was Cadance, and the former felt like slapping her silly. Meanwhile, the Harpy had taken flight and nestled herself at the top of a tree. An oneiric version of a coconut tree. Surveying the scene from above with the haughtiness only a cat could muster. Away from the ‘filthy grasseaters’.

“I am not sure you three are old enough to be watching this sort of thing,” the griffoness said from high up. “Can you please cease with this nonsense and give me back my world? This is becoming ridiculous.”

“Neigh!” Not-Celestia stood triumphantly in the middle of the sea of fornicating ponies. “We shall prevail this time!”

“Even with three of you, you are still heading towards a disaster.” She stopped for a second and waved her paw at the impromptu festivity on the ground. “And I don’t even mean this!”

Despite the ridiculous situation, Twilight could see the issue too. But before she could even mention it to her friends, the blue alicorn of flames interjected dramatically, hovering above the mass of shameless ponies.

“Ah, but fear not, I see the issue. They must be made to expire with old age to avoid overcrowding.”

Celestia-Made-of-Flames rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Easy enough to implement, I suppose.”

“No, no.” The pink alicorn of flames shook her head. “All they need is a different ratio between male and female. By my calculations, six females to one male should be sufficient.”

“That makes little sense.” Luna-of-flames glared from the air. “If there were more males than females, then that might make a difference.”

“Yes.” Cadence relented. “But the stallions will love it! Have a look at the—”

“Riveting. One makes their bodies and forgets how sex works, the smart one misses the mortality issue, and the breeding one is wiring them for wanton lust.”

The white alicorn glared at the griffoness up on her perch. “Don’t be hypocritical. Your griffons were like that.”

“Please.” The catbird scoffed. “They learned naturally, unlike this idiot’s cheap knockoff.”

The Harpy’s comment caused the pink alicorn of flames to gasp and throw a little fit of stomping hooves and outraged accusations at the griffoness. Their exchange barely interested Twilight. What caught her attention was that while they exchanged barbs, the fiery alicorn that looked like Celestia casually dropped her new ladle. She was watching the two, but out of nowhere, the alicorn’s gaze snapped to the sky, and her horn flared to life. A whoosh plunged the sun behind the top of the trees. Almost immediately, the other brought the moon up. Twilight barely had time to look at the blue fiery alicorn before she went back to watch the ponies below.

That the alicorns controlled the skies filled Twilight with awkwardness. It shouldn’t, and such thoughts made Twilight twist her muzzle. Sure, the princesses did in her time, but the unicorns were supposed to be doing that during that vision. Right? At least that was how it worked in the history she knew, but that it might have been a lie was the point.

“Maybe I am letting my preconceptions steer my thoughts.” She stared at her hoof.

With a groan, Twilight shifted her attention back to the pink alicorn and the black and white griffoness. Something about the Harpy’s patience and aloofness—even with the ridiculousness of her remaining at the top of a tree—bothered the princess.

She should be angry because they figured it out. They had even understood that they needed ponies to be mortal or they would cause another disaster. But she was just ranting about ‘her world’. Unfortunately, there was nothing Twilight could do other than watch as the griffoness kept criticizing every little detail of biology and psychology that not even Twilight understood. Maybe she was just picking on the pink alicorn.

“But I got it right, didn’t I?” Not-Cadance grinned up from their prototype.

“And it’s called ‘fucking’, not ‘lovemaking’, you glorified estrus.” The Harpy yelled her into cowering. “You don’t even understand the difference between love and arousal, for feather’s sake! Make them stop!”

“Look at this mess! Give me back my world!”

Her words turned into a feral hiss that pushed back the magical alicorns and gave them distressed grimaces. Still, the white one stomped her hoof at the sand, and she stood her ground with a snort.

“You had your chance!”

“So had you… Look around!” the griffoness offered her paw. “Let us avoid another disaster. For the sake of your precious little ponies and all of Creation. You do not understand what you are doing!”

“You’re exaggerating.” The white alicorn looked around at the sea of unabashed ponies. “This will fix itself once we advance to the next phase.”

The griffoness never responded. Instead, she showed an arrogant smile and rested her paws beneath her.

“Fine.” She hissed. “Suit yourself.”

Sitting in front of her palm tree and looking up, Twilight glared like the infuriating chimera could see her. She also silently agreed with her friends’ renewed commentary on the aggressive need for comeuppance. Twilight was also confused. She turned to see Not-Celestia eagerly scooping more ponies out of her muddy pond while the blue and the pink ones disagreed with something. They busied themselves with their prototype pony, even if it was night. Fortunately, all the surrounding furor had subsided. The Harpy, though, remained in her high ground refuge. Seething.

The alicorns completely ignored the griffoness once they got themselves busy with ‘mass producing’ additional ponies. The three of them worked in unison. As though they had known each other for ages. What was inside the Harpy’s head, other than spite and disdain, was hard to fathom.

Twilight’s friends talked to Naminé, and Cadance took further interest in what her ancient version was doing with Luna’s. As before, it happened without warning. Twilight was lying with her back in a pool of serene water. Ghostly flames surrounded her, but they idled. Soft. Soothing. All the others quieted, even though they, too, were there. She couldn’t see her friends, but she felt they were there.

It was so peaceful the alicorn of magic simply accepted it, but soon waved her hooves on the paradoxical watery flames. Looking up was the same as looking down. Somehow. She didn’t understand it, but she saw the landmass, both above and below. Rain fell gently against her face either way. Her thoughts were slow and only after an undefinable long time, she realized the flames were truly a manifestation of magic. Again, Dainty Mellow’s Fire.

It couldn’t truly be fire, because it was raining, and the rain was on fire. A soft drizzle drained from the landmass of Equestria, but the most surprising thing was the voices. They weren’t speaking to her, yet the drops of rain carried words to her. Some sounded shocked. Others were angry. A few exclaimed with surprise, and many were sorrowful. But all of them fell into a serene slumber, dissolving into the lake of magical flames.

“What is this place?” Fluttershy’s disembodied whisper crept into the peaceful stillness and Rarity shushed her softly.

Like Twilight, the others were not ready for the overbearing joy brimming her soul like the flames of the sun itself. Their minds touched the goddess’ like the last time, but this time the sight made Pinkie Pie giggle. Where was the dark land castigated by a rain of chaos? No tormenting sky of mad colors to be seen. The world bristled with light. The magic of Life took over the land. Everywhere. Not a single corner remained dark. From the depths of the Mareana Trenches to the heights of Mount Canterlot, the gleaming magic of Life shone in every recess, nook and cranny.

“Holy guacamole…” Pinkie’s cheerful voice echoed inside Twilight’s thoughts.

Then it was Rarity’s voice among a chorus of amazed exclamations. “They did it! Look.”

Although Shining Armor’s and Naminé’s voices were missing. Even if Twilight felt their presence. But that was barely a distraction.

They really did. Even Twilight could barely hold the excitement. Her metaphorical head would not stand still, and her eyes pierced the distance so easily it shocked her. It was like being anywhere she wanted, immediately. How did that work? She could probably figure out a theory, or Princess Celestia could explain, but it didn’t matter. To all practical effects, she teleported next to a ravine where two groups of ponies met each other. Their hooves clopped together to seal their new friendship.

They traveled from their caves and founded villages, then cities. They found the zebras and the yaks. The buffalos, the griffons, and the dragons. Twilight didn’t truly understand how it worked, but the magic of Life took root and broke through a threshold. All manner of creatures manifested. Simply came into being. The plan went on without a hitch.

“What the fudge?! Where did these griffons come from? There were not supposed to be any griffons! It’s full of predators! It should not be!” Celestia’s voice echoed amid Twilight’s thoughts.

She complained, but as sudden as the outburst was, it softly drifted into compliance. Acceptance. Everything was peaceful, even if carnivores hunted. She was disappointed, but she complied.

Death had become a part of life. It was for the better, as Harmony needed. After all, predators balanced the wild populations. It was reasonable. Not ideal, but reasonable. And so, time flowed, things happened, and Twilight almost slept. Silence reigned in their peaceful pool of resting souls. Until something happened that shocked her into full awareness again. It was so sudden the goddess’ shock and surprise overflowed into Twilight like a bolt of lightning.

A pony murdered another.

It baffled Twilight as much as the goddess’ confusion too filled her. Gasps and cries echoed around her. Murder. Straight out of the blue, and the serene pool of magic rippled with shock and horror. It happened at an outlying colony of the Pegasi. They thought their earth pony associate was withholding food. But then, Twilight had barely understood, and it happened again. An earth pony thought their unicorn partner was stealing gems from their joint venture in mining. And then again. And again, until Twilight gave up trying to count all the times they murdered each other over petty suspicions. Her throat hurt and her head throbbed at the shocking callousness.

They had gone through the entire Stone Age with no trouble. They spread all over the world before they even understood how to build with mortar. Problems started after they organized into the Three Tribes. And that, by itself, baffled the goddess. Twilight again felt her confusion like a creeping shiver. Why did they feel the need to segregate one another like that?

Even if the goddess, which shared Twilight’s thoughts, didn’t understand it, Twilight herself did. There was no real reason, they simply catered to their differences. Pegasi could fly, and it was simply easier to live in the clouds. The others expected them to provide the rain and care for the weather. It was practical. Earth ponies made their food grow and unicorns were good at all the bureaucratic things that made their combined nations work. It was just how ponies worked and not likely to be the reason they became murderous to each other. They were just doing what their cutie marks told them in the best way they could. Fulfilling their destinies.

The Harpy’s laughter didn’t help their confusion at all. Even if Twilight herself and the disembodied alicorns ignored her to the best of their ability. They watched, studied. Wracked their brains, trying to understand what had gone wrong.

The next moment, Twilight felt her body again. She shook her head and found she stood at the surface of the pool of magical fire before she noticed. She gasped at the sudden change, and rather than being lost in its serenity, she was ‘normal’ again. So were all her friends, and along with them were the three alicorns of untethered magic. They looked down at Equestria from their perch in the sky, through the lake of magical flames.

“What is happening?” Not-Cadance paced about and flapped her wings, desperately scrutinizing the landmass beyond their lake. “Why are they hurting each other?”

The other two sat at the surface. Their horns shimmered while they plucked little motes of light from the magical pool. The white alicorn frowned and turned them every way around, pulled and prodded with her magic. Blue even shook one in her magic and held it near her ear, but her confusion only grew. And behind them, Cadance, flesh and bones, was similarly distressed, running around, taking part in the scene as if she were really there. But Twilight had little time to ponder about that other than the emotions really hit her too.

“I think they’re afraid,” Luna’s magical doppelgänger finally told the others. “Oh no! We have made a terrible mistake!”

Her confused frown creeped into sorrow. Her ears flopped while she bit her ethereal lips, and she looked at her older sister. The white one couldn’t offer any comfort.

“What could they possibly be afraid of to the point they will end each other’s lives?” the pink one hurried to Not-Celestia’s side.

“Their lives are now limited.” The alicorn of the night said. “They know their lives will end eventually and… They fear for their descendants and for their loved ones. They see too many creatures, and too few resources.”

“But this is not true!” Pinkie whined like she was part of the discussion.

Rarity too. “They make resources! They literally make food grow from the land. Why are they so afraid? This makes no sense!”

“Have you given up yet?” The griffoness sat a safe distance away from the grass-smelling magical ponies. “This has been another waste. I would rather we resumed our important work. Hopefully, the damage you already caused will not be permanent.”

The white alicorn was ready to unleash some choice words on the odious catbird, but sorrow held her tongue. The magical flames which made her tremble. It grasped Twilight’s spine. A shiver made every hair in her body stand.

Cold. The rain of magical motes turned to a dense snowfall. The chill washed over Twilight and numbed her body. Radiating all the way from the land mass and claiming her heart. Spreading over her limbs like it claimed the mountains and rivers. Groans and shudders replaced shocked gasps from Twilight’s friends. Much like the alicorns made of magic, they instinctively sought proximity to ward off the horrendous cold.

“I fear we failed again.” Not-Celestia said in a trembling whisper.

Her eyes shot from one side to the other with a pained frown. Below, tendrils of unimaginable cold spread over the land, claiming for themselves all they touched. The white from the mountaintops grew and covered land. Rivers and sea froze under a white too beautiful for the unholy cold it carried. Summer storms and peaceful breezes turned into gray, impenetrable blizzards to hide it from their perch in the sky.

“Is that the Windigos, Twilight?” Applejack came closer to Twilight, bringing some more of the metaphorical warmth, while all the princess did was nod an uncertain affirmative.

“This is horrible!” Not-Cadance cried. “These monsters are feeding off their disharmonious psychic energy. The more damage they cause, the more our little ponies feed them! Oh, no—”

Cold. Gruesome cold and hurricane winds. A torrential blizzard washed over their once serene pool. Twilight’s ears filled with screams, weeping, and cold shudders. Rot infested her nose. Twilight’s friends screamed and cowered. Even the magical alicorns did. The white one prostrated herself on the disorderly surface of the pool and covered her ears with hooves and her head with her ethereal wings.

“Why is this happening?” The blood and flesh Cadance cried.

She shouted above the cacophony of suffering, along with the magical version of herself. They mirrored each other in a way Twilight couldn’t decide was meaningful or improperly funny.

“It is their limited life span!” the magical version of Luna shouted too. “I believe it made them selfish and bred contempt. They are afraid, and these monsters are making it all worse. They never had to deal with so many creatures, and they noticed resources are limited.”

“But where did these horrible things come from?”

“You made them, you idiots.” The Harpy all but jammed her talon on the pink one’s muzzle. “Your constructs have the power to move magic, and you gave them reason to create conflict.”

As the winds intensified. The storm of souls upon their disturbed lake became a blizzard.

“But that is a fact of life in any situation.” Twilight told herself.

The Harpy interrupted her thoughts and any response her friends could have produced.

“All of this is your fault!” The griffoness’ stormy eyes hardened under a scowl.

“Nothing happens without Harmony’s consent.” Celestia said, raising from her cowering stance to challenge the griffoness in body and tone. “This is part of the process!”

It was as though everything ceased to be important to her. Only the Harpy bothered her now. And yet, the griffoness closed her wings around herself as well as her forelimbs, ever so slightly shrinking in the cold.

“You were supposed to be a string of magic responsible for the heavens. Nothing more. Every cycle, Creation deteriorates further. The time has come. Admit you know not what you are doing and relinquish it all.”

“Help us make it right, then.” The magical alicorn of the night yelled at her but was ignored.

A burst of fiery magic and a furious ‘neigh’ scared away the blue one. Not-Celestia, once again, turned into an unsettling shape of nothing-magic with a mane made with the sickly light of a dying sun. The others undid themselves into motes of sparkling light. A rational understanding that she was safe kept Twilight from panicking. Barely. The world undid itself and darkness claimed existence around her. Another cycle ended.

A grinding growl, like a crumbling mountain. An all-consuming flash. Twilight stood with her friends, once again witnessing the first moments of creation rushing past them. The grass rose from the dark soil and turned it to a healthy yellow brown. It tunneled and sprouted green blades. Bushes followed, and then the towering giants of the forest. Mighty trees again surrounded them. Instead of the sunny summer day, a drizzling mass of deep gray clouds covered the sky above the clearing. The group of ghostly ponies came closer to Twilight, and among them Rainbow Dash held a not nonplussed expression as though Twilight had any power over their situation.

“That looked bad.”

“Understatement of the age!” Pinkie cried.

“I’m kind of scared!” Naminé whined. “None of this comes even close to what I was expecting!”