Magical Harmony Spec Ops Friendship

Chapters

CH3: Reflex
CH4: Really Good Pie
CH5: First Engagement
CH6: Secret Recipe
CH7: Task Force Cupcake
CH8: Facing Yourself
CH9: Arson and Mall Crawling
CH10: Sky Pirates
CH11: The Ship and its Captain
CH12: Two Libraries and a Dungeon
CH13: Smith
CH14: In Orbit
CH15: Schedules to Keep, Tyrants to Beat
CH16: Afterparty
CH17: The Return
CH18: Prologue
CH1: Retirement
CH2: The Element of Magic

CH3: Reflex

“You’re so funny!” Pinkie shrieked, patting the shoulder of a stallion in a tweed suit.

“Er, I suppose there is a dry humor to the study of pre-Equestrian history,” he replied.

Their conversation was hidden beneath the other ponies talking around the room. The art gallery gala at the Canterlot Castle Museum had attracted fancy ponies from everywhere, all of them eager to socialize and be seen.

Pinkie was there in a simple red dress, her mane up, and wearing her usual necklace. Most everypony knew her, or at least knew of her. It wasn’t Pinkie’s party, but it was still a party, so she was there.

She disengaged from the history professor and made a circuit through the gallery. Soft music played to set the atmosphere. The event that evening was a special early viewing party of the newest exhibit for museum members. A collection of rare works from Andy Warhoof had been found and the gallery was dotted with splashes of color around the walls.

The paintings were nice. Pinkie did love nonsense pictures. But that wasn’t why she was here, or at least not the whole reason. A party meant there were ponies, and if there was one thing Pinkie was good at, it was talking. It just took a little subtle encouraging to steer a conversation any way she wanted. If she did it right, a conversation partner wouldn’t even realize that they had told her something she could use.

Putting clues together had led her to the gallery that evening. Collecting intel and building ops was a lot of work and incorporated a lot of intuition and leaps of faith. That was okay with Pinkie.

She said hello to a few acquaintances as she made her way through the crowd. The windows looked out on the city below, the museum being located on the castle grounds on the mountain above Canterlot. Spinning in place for a moment to the music, Pinkie bumped into a white unicorn in an extravagant dress.

“Oh, sorry,” said Pinkie, grinning regardless. “I was just on the way to the little fillies’ room.”

“Quite,” replied the other mare flatly.

Pinkie slipped to the edge of the crowd and down a hallway marked with restroom signs. However, the door she entered read staff only.

The event that evening meant that the museum was not only open late, but security was distracted. Based on what Pinkie had gathered, it was a perfect time for a heist.

She went up a floor and exited from the staff corridor into a darkened exhibit hall. This one held various stone carvings from ancient pony civilizations. Doing her best to move without a sound, Pinkie made her way through the room to one display in particular.

That was where she found a pegasus mare carefully cutting a hole in a glass box that displayed a number of round stones. The caption noted that they had been discovered in the Castle Everfree and were thought to have been left there by ancient magical scholars, well before Nightmare Moon had used the location as a base of operations.

“Whatcha doin’?” Pinkie asked, hovering over the mare’s shoulder.

“Eek!” The cutter slipped in her hoof. The glass shimmered with yellow magic, popping a few sparks as the cut lines fixed themselves.

The mare leaped away from Pinkie, who picked up the tool she had been using. “Huh, this looks like some kind of science project. I bet somepony was trying to fuse technology and magic in order to defeat the museum’s sophisticated security systems and break into the box that was holding these old rocks.”

Pinkie tossed it over her shoulder and put her hooves on her hips. “Wow, stealing should be a crime. And talk about unwise! Why, these particular rocks were probably put here to keep them out of the hooves of evildoers who would bring about eternal night or something. Aren’t you glad I came by and prevented that?”

The pegasus shook her head. “Are you dense or something?”

“Nope, I was just giving you plausible deniability, but maybe you’re dense for not just going with it.” Pinkie shrugged. “Well, I guess I should probably call the police if you’re going to be like that.”

In response, the other mare dashed for the exit. The narrow corridors prevented her from simply flying away, and Pinkie, despite her dress, was easily able to keep up utilizing her bouncing stride.

“You know, if you keep running, you’re only going to go to jail tired,” Pinkie advised.

In response, the pegasus turned in midair, only she wasn’t a pony of skin and feathers anymore, but an insectlike creature with black, chitinous features. It fired a bolt of green magic, which Pinkie ducked, before slamming through an emergency exit.

“Spike, connect,” said Pinkie. A different view overlaid her own vision, a perspective from the air over the museum. She could examine it by refocusing her eyes; otherwise it pretty much stayed out of the way. The alternate viewpoint clearly showed somepony flying away.

“Be advised, the target is a changeling,” Pinkie remarked.

Since the changeling infiltrator was no longer in disguise, Pinkie saw no reason to be, either. The grinning theater mask on her necklace began to glow.

The magic swept over her body, leaving behind red, paneled armor on her body and legs, and two curved swords belted at her side. The crowning touch, however, was the mask. Unlike the red armor and horned helmet, the mask was painted white, with bulging eyes and a snarling, toothy mouth.

Pinkie hopped through the emergency exit and began to head down the mountain.

Minutes earlier, Rarity had been enjoying herself at the party.

“Spike, could you please check to see if my dress is still in place?” she murmured, quieter than the conversation around her.

Right away! said Spike’s enthusiastic voice, which she heard clearly, but not exactly with her ears. The connection was mental.

Rarity checked his view, looking in the window. The fabric still flowed grandly over her body; she needn’t have worried.

Sipping punch, Rarity approached a stallion in a particularly well-tailored suit. “My dear gentlecolt, where did you have this made?”

“In my own shop,” he said, smiling. “I’m a tailor.” His eyes roved her dress. “And you are?”

“A seamstress,” Rarity replied. “I see our professional eyes are working perfectly.”

He laughed. “One professional to another, you’ve really put together an interesting ensemble tonight.”

Just then, somepony bumped into Rarity from behind.

“Oh, sorry,” said Pinkie, not looking sorry at all, “I was just on the way to the little fillies’ room.”

“Quite,” said Rarity. Did Pinkie have to treat everything like a joke?

Pinkie wandered away. Rarity reluctantly returned to her own conversation. “I must beg your pardon. I want to check that nothing about that interaction has spoiled this dress.”

“I could help you,” he quickly offered.

“Oh no, I have certain...trade secrets. I’m sure you understand.”

“No problem. Have a good evening.”

Rarity excused herself. As she walked away, she sensed something that had the feel of jealousy, from Spike. Down boy, she thought. He isn’t exactly a competitor.

She walked out onto the patio. There was nopony around, as it wasn’t technically open for the party. Reaching into a hidden pocket of her dress, she took out her portable sewing kit for on-the-spot tailoring. Unzipping the case, she took out her silver thimble and held it in her hoof, waiting.

She sensed Pinkie pop into the link, Spike bridging communication between the two. Be advised, the target is a changeling.

Rarity clamped her hoof on the thimble as it began to glow with magic. She didn’t transform, but a hefty purple lance with a barbed golden tip materialized in the air beside her. Rarity grabbed it just as the fleeing changeling came into view.

She hurled the lance skyward. Perhaps her aim wasn’t as good as it would have been if she was fully kitted, but it still ripped through the changeling’s wing and sent it tumbling into the darkness off the side of the mountain.

“Spike, follow it,” said Rarity. She peered into the darkness below, trying to decide how she was going to descend. Her dress wouldn’t survive it.

With a sigh, she transformed. Interlocking metal plates coalesced from the magic, covering every inch of her body in steel. The armor was royal purple with patterned gold trim. Not even the smiths of the Royal Guard could have made such a well-fitted suit of armor. However, it wasn’t complete without the concave shield that the thimble had become.

Rarity gingerly stepped onto the shield and tipped it over the edge of the mountain. While she would never do anything so unladylike as surfing for fun, practicality did have its place. Magic cushioned the ride over mountain rocks, assisting her balance on the way down.

She pulled up at a slight flattening of the slope, where the changeling had come to rest. Aside from the destroyed wing, it hadn’t fared well in the tumble down the mountain.

Rarity picked up her shield, which was undamaged by the rocks, and walked over. She appropriated another lance from the aether and lowered the point to the groaning changeling’s throat.

“I...I thought the Elements had broken up,” they said.

“Nope,” said Pinkie, arriving just then. “Well, okay, we kiiind of did, officially. I just got out so that I could honestly say that I wasn’t with them anymore, which makes it way easier to lie about other stuff when I need to.” She shrugged. “If you’re gonna spy, you gotta lie.”

“I’m just a contractor; employment as needed.” said Rarity. She shook her head. “But back to the point: who sent you?”

The changeling’s eyes cut back and forth between the two of them. “If I tell you, are you going to let me go?”

“Yes,” said Pinkie.

The changeling licked its lips with a forked tongue. “We’ve been doing a few jobs for an outsider. Maybe like being a contractor. They wanted to steal those rocks.”

“Who are they?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just doing what the queen told me to do.”

“What will the rocks be used for?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm. Well, you’re not being very helpful,” said Pinkie. She drew one of her swords, flourished it in the air, and decapitated the changeling so precisely that the blade didn’t touch the ground.

She and Rarity changed back, something Rarity instantly regretted due to her dress dragging in the dirt. She looked back up at the castle lights in the distance. “Well, I suppose I’m not going back to the party.”

Pinkie waved a hoof. “We can party on our own. I’ll take you to this donut shop I know. It’s right near Twilight and Fluttershy’s school.”

“I’d rather spend my evening in,” said Rarity. “Though, talking of Twilight, how are we going to convince her to return to the group? I think Cadance is growing more frustrated than she lets on.”

“It would help if Cadance would share why she cares in the first place,” Pinkie pointed out.

“It would. I admit, I’m curious too. I don’t envy Twilight for returning to school with drama, and math, and acne, but I have to agree that being ‘out’ does alleviate one of much responsibility. I’ve found that distancing myself has done wonders for my beauty sleep.”

“Well, if that’s how you see it.” Pinkie frowned briefly before brightening again. “So, how about donuts?”

“Darling, I said no already.” Rarity hiked up her dress and began the rest of the trip back into Canterlot proper.

Pinkie walked with her, but more because they were going the same direction than anything else. They didn’t speak. As they came down off the rough mountainside and entered the blocks of homes and business again, Rarity glanced sideways in the glow of a streetlight. The small charm on Pinkie’s necklace wasn’t the happy theater mask, but instead the sad one.

Not her business, Rarity reminded herself.

The class was on its way to the Spring School Sojourn, heading for Baltimare Beach. The school sponsored a day out for students as a reward and incentive for hard work, and to get some of the more introverted ones some sunshine.

Lyra and Moon Dancer sat next to Twilight on the train. Both of them stared at her as she looked out the window and fidgeted.

Lyra picked up her drink from the seat tray table because it was rattling as Twilight’s hoof tapped the floor. “Uh...something on your mind?”

“What?” Twilight blurted, turning away from the window.

“You seem distracted,” said Moon Dancer. “You shouldn’t forget your lunch.”

Twilight glanced down at the sandwich she had packed. She wasn’t hungry. Her stomach hurt for a different reason. Well, okay, maybe it was a little bit of hunger, because she’d been so anxious about Cadance’s proposal that this wasn’t the first meal she’d almost missed.

“Sorry,” said Twilight. She picked up the sandwich.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing. You’re the one who seems to have a problem,” Moon Dancer said. “Can we help?”

Twilight’s mouth was full and she shook her head instead of replying.

“Seriously,” said Lyra. “It’s pretty clear something’s eating you.” She suppressed a smirk at her unintended pun.

For a moment, Twilight considered talking to them. Not providing details, of course, but framing it in some way that it was understandable but leaving out the part about her fighting monsters. She hadn’t come up with anything by the time she finished chewing.

Fortunately from the conversation standpoint, but unfortunately for her anxiety, Fluttershy came by just then, swaying as the train moved. “Can I sit here?” she asked.

“Sure,” said Lyra, scooting over. “So are you two already hanging out, both of you being transfer students?”

“Maybe a little,” said Fluttershy, sitting down. She looked at Twilight, who took another bite of her lunch. As she chewed, she calculated in her head how much conversation she could stall by constantly having her mouth full and glumly concluded that she should have packed a bigger sandwich.

She managed to stretch it out enough that the rest of the ride to the beach was quiet. Maybe she could find snacks to buy for the ride back.

Upon arrival, everypony disembarked and were called to huddle up by the teacher, who gave them the time to meet back for the ride home. The train station was within a block of the beach. The shops and restaurants around were touristy and festive.

“Come on,” said Lyra, “Let’s get to the beach and grab a good changing tent.” She ushered Twilight, Fluttershy, and Moon Dancer down the street to where the cobblestones turned to sand. Beyond, the blue sea stretched to the horizon.

“Why do we need a place to change?” Twilight asked as they walked . “We’re not taking anything off to put our bathing suits on. I’m not even sure why ponies have bathing suits in the first place.”

“Tradition, and the desire to appear fancy, which filtered down from upper to lower classes until it created a new paradigm of social requirement,” said Moon Dancer.

Twilight nodded. “I should have known.”

Moon Dancer went on. “Princess Celestia has typically been an island of stability in pony society, able to provide long-term continuity between generations in things like language and popular culture. With that in mind, I find it interesting that she doesn’t typically wear anything besides her royal regalia. Fashion seems to have evolved separately from her.”

“Princesses move in mysterious ways,” Twilight replied noncommittally.

“What would her swimsuit even look like?” Lyra laughed. “I guess she’s going to have to be the center of culture or whatever you said. In terms of immortal alicorns, two died in the Nightmare War. Well, Nightmare Moon was evil, so I guess it doesn’t really matter what she knew about fashion or how old she was.” Lyra put a hoof to her chin. “How old was she?”

“She was imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years, so older than that,” Twilight said. This conversation was, if anything, even more uncomfortable than before, but she hoped that by taking charge of it, she could steer the topic.

“Where does somepony like that even come from?” said Lyra. “Like, there can’t be too many immortals, right? I wonder if Princess Celestia knew her before.”

“Aren’t you overthinking this?” said Twilight.

“She does that,” said Moon Dancer. “Let’s just get changed.”

As they approached the brightly colored changing tents, Twilight looked inside her school bag, into which she’d packed everything she needed for the beach. Her swimsuit was one piece, dark blue and plain. She’d also brought a book.

“What is that!?” somepony shouted

Twilight’s head jerked up, eyes following her ears. The water just offshore bubbled as four scaly heads rose from the waves. They kept rising, carried on long necks. The rest of the beast emerged, all four necks connected to one body. The entire monster was the size of a three story building.

“Hydra!” Fluttershy screamed.

“Run!” shouted Lyra. She and Moon Dancer galloped back across the beach as the hydra stepped forward out of the water.

Twilight had been frozen, but took one more glance at the monster and turned to follow them. Fluttershy grabbed her shoulder. “We have to do something!”

“Aren’t you good with animals or something?” Twilight said, without looking at her, eyes on the hydra.

“Look! Somepony’s hypnotized it!” Fluttershy pointed.

Now that she said something, Twilight noticed the red glow flickering in all eight of the hydra's eyes. It snapped its teeth and charged towards the fleeing beach crowd.

“We need to do something!” Fluttershy urged.

“The police-”

“Aren’t here! Ponies are going to die!” Fluttershy shot into a changing tent and had transformed by the time she came out the other side. Her outfit was white and flowing, paired with a folded hat and accented with red crosses. Pouches of various supplies and medicines were secured around her body, along with a bandoleer of syringes across her chest. Other than the two-inch needles on the syringes, she had nothing resembling a weapon, certainly nothing that would hurt a hydra.

Twilight stared for a moment longer. Her hooves were moving before her mind caught up, the rush of conflicting emotion coming before logic, but long after her instincts had already commanded her to do something.

She tore into the tent, hoof plunging into her school bag. Tossing aside the bag, she held up her pen, and pulled off the cap.

The magic hit her like a tidal wave, somehow harder than she remembered, but moving her in its wake less than ever. There was no time to feel it, only fleeting moments to act. The tent came apart around her, shreds of fabric parting like tissue paper before the sea.

The Element was like a drug, the feeling intoxicating. Twilight squared her shoulders. Taller, stronger, powerful.

The hydra had already made it to the street off the beach and was heading for the train station when Twilight caught up with it. Fluttershy darted back and forth in the air in front of it, trying to slow it down and distract it from panicking citizens. Twilight saw one of the hydra’s eyes had half a syringe sticking out of it and one of the other heads had some sort of chemical burn. If anything, though, it had only made the monster angrier.

With its several viewpoints, the hydra noticed Twilight sprinting at it from behind and turned around. This succeeded in preventing it from going any deeper in the city, but now it put its full attention on her.

From her off hoof, Twilight snatched a throwing knife from her kit. She didn’t know where they came from, but the magic of the Element meant they were always there when she grabbed for them. She whipped the knife forward and scored a hit on the other eye of the head Fluttershy had already partially blinded. That head roared in pain as the others dove towards Twilight.

She raised a hoof, supporting a magic shield that one gaping maw bounced off. From behind her cover, she stabbed her sword forward, driving it through the palette of the next head. The third head came at her from the side and she only had time to smack it away with the flat of her blade and leap out of the way.

Her dive brought her to the edge of the street, closest to the blinded head and Twilight took the opportunity for a mighty swing that sliced cleanly through the neck, toppling it into the street. Her sword ran with the monster’s blood, turning dark as it dripped off the blade, magically changed to ink by the time it splattered on the ground.

Twilight began setting up her next attack, but paused in surprise as the stump of the amputated neck bulged and two new heads emerged, each just as angry as those before, and unlike the severed head, with functioning eyes. Now, five heads glared down at her.

There was no time to be shocked. It helped that this wasn’t the most horrifying monster Twilight had ever faced. If cutting off a head didn’t work, then she would have to try something else. She rushed forward, ducking low to aim for the belly. The head she had sliced earlier came at her, and she had to smack it away to avoid chopping it off and creating yet another problem.

However, five heads proved too many, and though Twilight made the hydra pay for its defense in small slashes, she couldn’t get through.

She backed off to reassess. There was something she hadn’t tried yet, but it took a few moments under pressure for the knowledge to come back to her. It was time for another approach. She was the Element of Magic, after all.

She pointed her sword forward, aiming for the pavement beneath the hydra. It chomped at her again, but she kept it back with slashes. However, her swordwork doubled for another maneuver. Her movements were careful, and precise, distantly scribing a rune on the stone beneath the hydra’s feet.

Twilight let the magic go. With a flash of purple light, the spell released, throwing the Hydra into the air higher than the roofs of the surrounding buildings and cracking the street beneath it. Twilight rushed forward, leaping upwards as the monster reached its apogee and began to come down again. Her sword sliced through its body for longer than she was tall. As it hit the ground, the hydra’s guts spilled out into the street, its body collapsing and heads falling to the cobblestones.

Twilight flicked her sword forward again, stabbing downwards through its heart. The muscle tried, and failed, to beat against the steel, and expired. The blood ran black with ink.

She pulled her sword out and stepped back, taking a breath. The hydra didn’t move. Twilight checked her surroundings, looking for other enemies, but the coast was clear. Everything was quiet.

She saw a face in a window, eyes wide. A hovering pegasus was visible in the distance, unwilling to get any closer. A block away, at the gate of the train station, she saw Lyra and Moon Dancer.

Twilight’s heart rate accelerated again and she turned away, walking quickly. She was still transformed. They wouldn’t recognize her. But-

The Element gave her the strength, the ability, and the look to be a hero. But under the glamour, she was still a scared filly.

She broke into a run.

Back on the beach, Twilight avoided the hydra’s huge footprints in the sand and grabbed up her school bag from the remains of the changing tent. She ducked into the next tent, and changed back.

She slumped there on the sand, breathing hard in the darkness of the tent. The light wasn’t good, but she could see that no blood remained on her pen. It had absorbed every drop fed to it, as usual. She put the pen back and hugged the school bag to her chest. Twilight squeezed her eyes closed.

That was how Fluttershy found her a few minutes later. “Girls, she’s over here!”

Twilight looked up to see Fluttershy, Moon Dancer, and Lyra crowding into the tent.

“Oh my gosh, are you alright?” Moon Dancer exclaimed.

Twilight had managed to get herself under control enough to smile weakly. “I’ve been here. What about you?”

“The Elements came!” said Lyra. “I couldn’t believe it, I thought they’d broken up.”

“Just two of them,” amended Moon Dancer. She suddenly looked disquieted.

This was a look Twilight knew, a feeling she’d felt, and she got up. “But you’re okay, right?”

“Yeah,” said Moon Dancer. “I’m not hurt.”

That wasn’t what Twilight was asking, but she didn’t push it. The four of them walked back towards the train station, but took a circuitous route blocks away from the dead hydra. Twilight caught a glimpse of it in the distance, but didn’t even want to see that.

Emergency ponies were already arriving. The sound that had disappeared in the moments following the battle seemed to have come back louder.

Nopony had been killed, it seemed. The four of them sat on a bench at the train station. The rest of their class slowly drifted in from wherever they had survived the attack.

Twilight sat between Moon Dancer and Lyra. She didn’t touch either of them. Maybe she should. Maybe they should talk about this. But she couldn’t bring herself to do either.

Lyra had calmed down again, somehow managing not to get mood whiplash along the way. She looked around the station at the still-terrified faces. “Tomorrow, this is going to be on the front page of every newspaper in Equestria.”

Tomorrow seemed a long way away. Especially considering the nightmares Twilight was sure she would have that night.

CH4: Really Good Pie

School was preemptively canceled the next day following the hydra attack. Everypony from Twilight’s class was safe, but some administrator decided that maybe they should take a pause to do another headcount.

With no class the next day, Twilight brewed some coffee and decided to stay up all night. It was better than the alternative.

That still didn’t mean choosing not to sleep was easy. For one, she had to be alone with her thoughts, which had taken a decidedly more paranoid bent as of late.

Fighting the hydra was the first time Twilight had transformed since...she didn’t remember, months, at least. She was rusty. She shouldn’t have been so terrified. She should have finished the fight sooner. She shouldn’t have hesitated.

But what worried her more was how sharp she still was.

Twilight worked out, training her body because she couldn’t face being weak again. This battle had shown that she hadn’t lost anything, but for some reason, that upset her even more. Maybe because it provided a good reason that Cadance and the development group wanted her back.

She had picked up a new book from the library, this one about ancient minotaur migrations and their effects on modern road construction. In retrospect, maybe that wasn’t a topic that helped with her objective of staying awake.

Twilight woke up aching, having apparently dozed off and fallen forward into the book, spending the rest of the night bent in half and with her face pressed to the pages. Her reading light was still on.

She stood up unsteadily, groggily reflecting that at least she hadn’t dreamed. She looked at her half-full cup of coffee, long cold, but then picked it up and slugged it anyway. She retched, though it did wake her up.

She stumbled out to the front room and jerked to a halt, startled. Cadance sat on the couch, a newspaper spread out in front of her.

Cadance looked up, but Twilight dropped her head and went into the kitchen. The coffee maker was already on and filled with fresh grounds. Twilight yanked the pot off and poured a cup.

She stomped back into the living room. “How did you get in here?”

“Maybe you forgot that I arranged for you to have an apartment in this neighborhood so you could go to school here,” said Cadance. She held up a key.

She folded her newspaper and put it down on the coffee table. True to Lyra’s prediction, Twilight was on the front page. The picture must have been taken shortly after the battle, before she’d remembered to make herself scarce. Whoever had taken it had thoughtfully not included the dead hydra in the frame.

The headline read:

Element of Magic Returns?

Trackers excited.

Trackers. Twilight’s lip curled just thinking about it.

When the Elements first burst onto the scene, it was the biggest news story of the day. They were Equestria’s secret weapon. They were going to save everypony. In pictures, all of them appeared as powerful, beautiful mares with extravagant outfits.

Despite the overarching threat of Nightmare Moon, the public lost its collective mind. Element merchandise was everywhere. Ponies endlessly compared each of the Elements, judging their relative prowess. While the secret to the Elements was never revealed, it didn’t stop speculation. An early theory became popularly known as the Witchiness Testing Scale, supposedly measuring some unknown, arcane trait that could indicate that a mare was qualified to be an Element. Misguided scientists, acknowledged scammers, and everypony in between was searching for something that the Crown eventually had to declare false.

That was the first time the Equestrian government had officially commented on Element matters, though subsequent press releases became much more nuanced once Celestia realized how information on the Elements could be controlled. She had the sole source of truth, and could provide or withhold it as needed for public morale

Unfortunately, creeps will be creeps. Some ponies found themselves so fascinated with the Elements that they fell in love - with mares they’d never met who had better things to be doing than dating. An entirely new category of tabloids popped up to speculate on the Elements’ private lives, who they might really be, and the best way one might meet, date, and ultimately wife them. The entire industry became derogatorily referred to as the Waifu Tracking System, a joking derivative of the Witchiness Testing Scale, and its consumers became known as trackers.

Twilight still couldn’t imagine why Rainbow had willingly revealed her real name to the world.

“You made quite an impression in Baltimare,” said Cadance.

“So?” Twilight sipped her coffee, which was still too hot. “This isn’t exactly news to me. I was there.”

“So you’ll fight for your school friends?” Cadance said.

“I don’t have-” Twilight came up short, teeth clenching. “I was right there, I couldn’t not help!”

What would she have done if Fluttershy hadn’t been there to demand that she do so?

“And you can’t help the rest of Equestria?” Cadance asked.

“Why are you trying to guilt trip me?” Twilight demanded. She gestured. Her coffee sloshed. “Why don’t I guilt trip you for lying to me? Pinkie and Rarity didn’t retire like me, did they? What about the others?” Twilight shook her head. “Actually no, don’t tell me.”

“Why do you care if I lie to you?” Cadance asked. She tilted her head, staring at Twilight.

“Because you’re my-” Twilight came up short, face pinched as she cut off her reply.

Cadance got up and crossed the room. Twilight stood her ground, glaring. Cadance stopped just inches away, close enough to touch, but she didn’t.

“I asked you not to leave the group,” Cadance said quietly. “I begged you to come back. I did what I could, but you wouldn’t listen. Fluttershy and I arranged for her to transfer to your school, to remind you. I tried to set up a reunion with the girls to lure you back. I need you back, Twilight. I’ve even had to resort to playing dirty.”

“You make it sound like this is my fault.”

“You’re the one who decided to close her eyes and cover her ears instead of using her power to stop evil. But now, maybe that you’ve seen what we’re up against, now that your new friends have been touched by it, you might finally have a reason, after ignoring so many others.”

“Did you rehearse that?” Twilight said.

“Yes, actually. I do need you back.” Cadance stared at her for a moment longer. Twilight thought she was going to go for a hug, but she didn’t. She just walked out the door.

Twilight stared after her. In spite of herself, she couldn’t help but be moved by Candance’s words, though she was still trying to decide if she was livid, worried, or touched.

She looked down at the coffee spots on the rug. What was the development group “up against?” Hypnotized hydras? How had that happened? Who could be behind it?

Did...did Cadance do it? Twilight involuntary exhaled as if punched. She wouldn’t, would she? Not threaten an entire city just for Twilight?

She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t think Cadance had implied it. But she had also never seen this side of Cadance before. Her old foalsitter, her sister in law, was being driven to admitted desperation... because of Twilight?

Even if Cadance hadn’t sent the hydra, what she was doing was still emotional terrorism. Twilight took a sip of her coffee. No, she wouldn’t cave. But she needed more information. She saw through Cadance’s plan, stringing Twilight along to get her to take the bait and ask what was going on.

Who would she ask? Twilight’s first thought was Princess Celestia. Straight to the top. But no. As much as Twilight hated to admit it, her old mentor was not the best choice. She was too close to the issue. Perhaps Cadance was even acting on Celestia’s orders.

Twilight put her paranoia aside. Fluttershy was definitely acting on Cadance’s orders, but Twilight was also sure she could work the truth out of her. Then again, she’d displayed about as much spine the previous day as Twilight had ever seen from her. Also, Twilight didn’t know where she lived.

She considered it for a few more minutes, but paused to pour out the rest of the coffee in the sink. As much as caffeine was a tool to wake up, she had a greater desire to be clear-headed. The beginnings of an idea had started to come to her.

Twilight grabbed a muffin and left the apartment. At the train station, she bought a ticket to Ponyville.

Elsewhere on the Equestrian rail system, Rainbow Dash sat in a private compartment with Spitfire and Soarin’. A copy of the morning newspaper was spread out between them.

“Well, it’s definitely Twilight,” said Rainbow, indicating the picture on the front page.

“Is it that easy to recognize her?” Spitfire asked.

“The glamour doesn’t work on other Elements.” Rainbow studied the text of the article. “I didn’t think she’d moved to Baltimare, though. This says Fluttershy was also there. Oh wait, it says here ‘the monster chased ponies indiscriminately, including a group of schoolchildren on holiday from Canterlot.’”

“Lucky they were there,” Soarin’ observed. “But I’m worried now that this shadow enemy has decided to go public, we might not be so fortunate next time.”

“On the other hoof, maybe this setback will make them think we’re everywhere,” Spitfire suggested. “Though the issue of the Element of Magic reemerging will complicate things.”

Soarin’ gestured to the headline. “But is she actually back?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I haven’t talked to Twilight since she left and I went into this covert stuff. Cadance said that she’d been trying to get Twilight back, but Twilight was resisting. I’ll bet Celestia had this newspaper story authorized to use as more pressure to get Twilight to come back.”

“It did say something about a press release,” said Spitfire.

“I would almost bet Celestia effectively wrote the whole article herself. She basically did every headline back during the war, to the point that I’m surprised she admitted any Element was killed in action instead of listing them as permanently missing.”

“Well, she certainly kept the Element of Magic’s retirement quiet, though the newspapers did notice she hadn’t been seen in a while,” Soarin’ noted.

“I still can’t believe Twilight would rather go to high school, but then, she always was a nerd.”

“How well do you know her?” Spitfire asked.

“Well enough, I guess.” Rainbow sat back in her seat. “The group of us trained together a little so we knew everypony’s abilities. Twilight’s good with that sword of hers. She’s got more tricks up her sleeve than you’d expect, too.”

“What did Kindness do?” Spitfire asked. “The paper says she was there, but doesn’t say anything else.”

“Sounds about right. Fluttershy doesn’t really do combat. She’s not good at it at all. But she’s a great medic. That’s why I picked her.”

“I’ve never really been clear how becoming an Element works,” said Soarin’.

“Well, first off, it doesn’t work on dudes. But when you find a mare that you want to give the power to, you just have to concentrate and focus yourself. You pick their Element, they pick their Element item, and the magic does the rest.” Rainbow raised a hoof. “Keep that to yourself, by the way. I may have ‘come out’ as the Element of Loyalty, but no way am I telling everypony I can do that and getting swarmed by wannabe Elements.”

“Would you want to be an Element?” Soarin’ asked Spitfire.

“I don’t know. I feel like it...wouldn’t be me.” Spitfire paused, apparently deep in introspection. “I appreciate the Elements, but I’m not sure I would want that, power aside.”

“Well, they told me to knock it off anyway,” said Rainbow. “Plus, I think Fluttershy is the only one I made who survived the war. To be fair, though, if I had to pick just one, it would have been her. She and I go way back.”

The train began to slow down. The conductor called out, “Now arriving at Canterlot.”

The three of them got up as the train stopped. Rainbow put on a pair of dark sunglasses. She stretched after the long ride, careful to keep her cutie marks concealed under her saddlebags. “Let’s go see what Cadance wanted to talk to us about. She said something about a dessert shop.”

Soarin’s ears perked up.

“Now arriving at Ponyville.”

Twilight looked up and closed her book, putting it in her bag. She got up from her seat and stepped out of the train car onto the platform.

The station had been fixed up. The last time she’d seen it, a shadow creature taller than the building had torn through it. Twilight turned her head, as if that would help her turn away from the memory, and started to walk.

She remembered the apple orchard at the edge of town. It had served as a forward base during the war. There was enough food to feed a small army and enough room for them to assemble. Other than the trees, though, it hadn’t been very defensible.

Everything seemed to have been repaired and gussied up. The fences were straight. The trees had been pruned. The barn was freshly painted. Twilight, however, focused on the house. She walked up onto the porch and knocked on the front door.

Hoofsteps crossed the floor, easily audible on the wood. Everything was wood. There was a rustic charm to it, but Twilight had already discovered that she couldn’t live in the country anymore.

Applejack opened the door, eyes opening in surprise. “Twilight?”

“Applejack.” Twilight shifted her hooves. She’d come this far that morning on nothing but a mental plan, and suddenly second-guessed herself. Did she really need to do this?

“I was hoping I could ask you a few questions,” Twilight said.

“Why sure. Come in.” Applejack stood back from the door.

The inside of the house seemed emptier than Twilight remembered. It had never been just two of them there. She followed Applejack into the kitchen. Applejack opened the icebox and took out a jug, from which she poured two glasses of cider.

“Thank you,” said Twilight, accepting one of them as they sat down at the table.

“Ain’t no problem.”

Twilight remembered the first time they had met. Applejack was willing to do anything to defend her home and family, but wasn’t shy about voicing her opinion of the Royal Guard commandeering the farm. Just like other Elements before, Twilight and Cadance had both sensed it - here was somepony special. Country bumpkin without tact she may have been, but Applejack was worthy. Cadance named her the Element of Honesty.

“I wanted to ask you what you know about the Element Warfare Development Group,” said Twilight.

“Don’t you have ponies closer than Ponyville you can ask?”

“Closer, but none that I’m willing to ask.”

Applejack frowed, but let it go. “Well, I don’t know much about the group seein’ as I’m not an official member, but I hear a few things.”

“You aren’t?” interrupted Twilight.

“You and me went opposite directions,” Applejack said. “You wouldn’t fight, and wanted to go. I wanted to keep at it, but wouldn’t leave Ponyville. You retired. I got retired.” She shrugged. “Well, at any rate, Cadance doesn’t tell me what to do anymore, but we still talk occasionally. I may not answer to her, but I do keep the Everfree clear. We have a kind of unspoken agreement.”

“Have you noticed any change recently?” Twilight asked. “Cadance seems to have suddenly redoubled her efforts to get me back.”

“Noticed a change,” Applejack confirmed. Twilight’s mouth opened, so she preempted her question. “Don’t know what it is. Don’t care.”

“Do you think...do you think the shadows might be coming back again?” asked Twilight.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

“How can you not?” said Twilight. “All of Equestria could be at stake - again!”

“Well, I’m doin’ more about it than you.”

“I don’t even know what’s going on! Monsters are attacking. Cadance is lying to me. I just wanted what ponies my age are supposed to have! I’m not supposed to be some saviour of Equestria! I’m not supposed to be an orph-” Twilight bit off the rest of her retort. She’d passed the Apple family cemetery on the way in.

“Just who are you trying to convince, sugarcube?”

Twilight let out a long sigh, staring at the glass of cider in front of her that she still hadn’t touched. “I don’t know how I can go back. I don’t know how I can stay away.”

“Get over it.”

Twilight shot her a look. “Says the agoraphobe.”

“The what?”

“The pony who refuses to leave home.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?” said Applejack. “You refuse to make a decision on refusing to join the group or going back.”

“I didn’t refuse to choose!” Twilight protested. “I made the choice! Then Cadance shows up trying to drag me back! She won’t quit, even after I keep telling her no!”

“She thinks you chose wrong.”

“I know!”

“Do you know better than her about threats to Equestria?”

Twilight seized up, trying to vent her anger, but unable to counter the question. “I-I just don’t want this to be my life! I shouldn’t be made to do this! It’s just not fair!”

Applejack put down her empty glass. She stood up and leaned forward across the table until she was nose to nose with Twilight. “Ain’t nopony cares.”

She drew back and glanced at the clock. “The train back to Canterlot leaves in twenty minutes. Next one’s tomorrow.”

Still seeing red, Twilight got up and stalked past Applejack without a word. Her pace didn’t change until she got back into town and bought a train ticket.

Standing on the platform, tapping her hoof angrily as she waited, everypony made a wide berth around her. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was mad at Applejack or just at the situation, and that only drove her anger deeper.

She sat on the train, mood brewing the whole way back to Canterlot. She didn’t get off at the local station near her apartment. Instead, she rode until the station just at the foot of the mountain.

It was a long climb up the well-paved but steep path to the castle. Twilight didn’t feel any fatigue. Her rage had cooled, at least to the point she could keep a straight face, but it had been replaced by blind, maniacal determination.

A subconscious voice warned that she shouldn’t do things rashly. It reminded her that talking to Cadance and talking to Applejack hadn’t helped, so she may not get results this time. It begged her to use some common sense.

Buck common sense. That hadn’t worked.

Twilight walked up to the castle gate. The tall wooden doors were open, but attended by Royal Guards in polished armor.

“I want to see the Princess,” said Twilight.

“Uh, your name, miss?” asked one of the guards, apparently taken aback by her attitude.

She gave it and a nearby guard consulted a clipboard. He shook his head. “Sorry, you’re not on here.”

She’d halfway hoped Princess Celestia would have kept a permanent pass for her. No matter. “I want to see the Princess,” she repeated.

“I’m sorry, if you’re not on here, you’ll have to make an appointment,” said the nearest guard.

Twilight started to respond, but he cut her off. “There’s no other way. A lot of ponies say they need to see the Princess, but there are no exceptions. She’s busy, and you can’t just barge in. Now leave. Nothing you have to say is going to be important enough.”

Twilight punched him in the face.

As she was dog-piled by half a dozen guards, Twilight reflected that at least she was going to be in the castle now. She’d figure out the next step from there.

Moon Dancer approached the door carefully, checking the peephole. Seeing who was on the other side, she opened the door.

“Didn’t you hear my knock?” Lyra said, walking in.

“I was just being careful,” Moon Dancer replied.

“Hydras don’t knock.” Lyra glanced at Moon Dancer, who still wore a troubled look. “I mean, okay, I can see how yesterday messed everypony up.” She hesitated, and then added, “This morning, I jumped when a bird chirped.”

“I wonder how Twilight is doing,” said Moon Dancer. “I think...she might have seen things like that before. She told me her parents died in the Nightmare War.”

“Fluttershy was also weird about it,” said Lyra. “But for different reasons, I think.”

She chewed her lip for a moment in thought and then shrugged. “That was pretty messed up, though. Still, I can’t believe the Elements showed up!”

“They just...killed it,” said Moon Dancer, voice small.

“Well...I guess rather it than us.”

“I suppose so.”

There was a moment of silence that apparently got to Lyra before it did Moon Dancer. “I wonder who the Elements are? I mean, Rainbow Dash revealed herself, but the rest are still covert. Do you think Magic and Kindness live in Baltimare? I wonder if we have any living near us? You don’t hear much about them since the war.”

“You sound like a tracker.”

“No way! Those guys are weird. I just think the Elements are cool.”

Moon Dancer hmm’d in vaguely feigned interest. “So why did you come over?”

“Well, we have the day off and I heard about this new dessert bar. Do you want to go?”

Cadance had told Fluttershy to be expecting somepony. Still, she was surprised to see Rainbow.

“So these are the new digs?” Rainbow said, as Fluttershy let her in the front door of Café Cadenza. Rainbow was followed by a mare and a stallion, who Fluttershy vaguely recognized but didn’t know well.

“Cadance and Princess Celestia came up with it,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow looked her up and down. “Did they come up with those outfits?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow smirked. “I’m glad I’m off doing the spec ops dirty work, because there’s no way you could get me into that.”

Fluttershy showed them to the private, secure room in the back. She saw Soarin’ eying the pie in the glass case out front and brought him a slice.

“So where’s Cadance?” Rainbow asked. “She said she wanted to talk to us.”

“She just left,” said Fluttershy. “Though I think she planned to be here. She seemed in a hurry, and was muttering about Twilight.”

“What happened with you and Twilight in Baltimare?” Rainbow asked.

“We were on a class trip and the hydra attacked. Somepony was controlling it. It’s a good thing we were there, or somepony might have been hurt.”

“So is Twilight back?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I only barely convinced her to fight. We need her back, but she isn’t having it. I don’t know what we can do.”

“I could beat some sense into her,” Rainbow offered. Maybe even seriously.

Fluttershy glanced at the security monitor, which showed two ponies approaching the front door. “I’ll be right back.”

She’d forgotten to lock the door after letting the others in. Well, she would just have to give the customers some treats and then close up after them. Fluttershy didn’t mind working at the shop, it was a nice change of pace really, but she didn’t want to keep Rainbow waiting.

Unfortunately, it was two of her classmates that came in.

“Oh hey Fluttershy, I didn’t know you worked here,” said Lyra. She grinned and raised her eyebrows. “Do you do discounts for friends?”

“Uh...sure,” Fluttershy said. “But only on the pie.” She pulled out the one that had a single slice cut out of it.

“Nice!” said Lyra, not even bothering to ask what flavor it was.

“Just a second!” Soarin’ stuck his head out of the back room. “I wasn’t finished with that!” Somepony tried to tug him back, but was unsuccessful.

“Who’s that?” said Moon Dancer.

“Maintenance,” said Fluttershy. “We, um, pay him in pie. He’s...here to fix the dishwasher. That’s why you can’t eat here, because we have no clean plates today.”

“I’ll just eat it out of the tin,” Lyra offered.

“No, can’t do that, it’s a health code violation.” Fluttershy cut one more slice from the pie, crammed it in Soarin’s mouth with one hoof, and thrust the rest at Lyra with the other. “Five bits.”

“You had the money, right?” Lyra said to Moon Dancer, who dutifully paid, though she looked considerably more suspicious than her friend. Fluttershy escorted them to the door, and then locked it.

With a sigh of relief, she turned and walked to the back room again. Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “That must be some really good pie.”

As the hours passed, Twilight sat in a cell and thought about what she’d done.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

But now, watching the moon rise through the barred window, she had really begun to regret punching that Royal Guard. It wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t Twilight’s fault that Cadance wanted her to fight monsters. No, that wasn’t exactly comparable to Twilight hitting a Guard, but a couple of hours sitting on a hard cot in a bare stone room had given her time to think.

There was a scrape of keys in the lock and the door swung open. Twilight wasn’t really surprised to see Princess Celestia standing there. Once her name had filtered up from the Guards to the Princess, of course she would want to see Twilight. She was a little surprised to see Cadance standing next to Celestia.

“Let’s go to my office,” said Celestia.

As she followed them out of the cell, Twilight paused to speak with the Guard who had unlocked the door. “I need to apologize to who I hit. That was uncalled for.”

He stared at her for a moment, but said, “I’ll tell him.”

Apologetic as she was, this was still probably the fastest way to get in to see Celestia, Twilight reflected. She hurried along, catching up to the two longer-legged mares.

Twilight remembered the way to Celestia’s office, though she hadn’t been there since before the war. The three of them walked in silence the whole way. Having had time to think while in the cell, Twilight now began to overthink. Celestia had obviously called Cadance. What had Cadance said to her? What would the two of them say to Twilight? Would they, together, demand that she rejoin the group?

Twilight wondered what she would say.

Celestia led the two of them into her office and nodded to chairs on the front side of her desk. She went around and sat down in her own chair. Not a throne, that was downstairs, just a fancy office chair, the same as the guest chairs. But it was still clear whose office this was.

Celestia put her hooves together, resting them on the desk. “Twilight, why did you come here today?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the Element Warfare Development Group.”

“Could you have asked Cadance?”

“Maybe, but-” Twilight glanced at Cadance, suddenly unwilling to throw her under the train. Or maybe she just didn’t want to sound like a tattling filly. She decided to see how involved Celestia was, first. “You may have heard what’s happened in the last few days.”

“I heard that you saved your classmates from a monster,” said Celestia. “Cadance tells me that she’s running out of ideas to get you to do that for other ponies, too.”

Lyra, Moon Dancer, the rest of her classmates. How fortunate they were to have an Element as a classmate. They’d won the lottery when it came to picking schools. Twilight couldn’t not help them, not if she was there and able.

Could she not help everypony else? Could she swallow her pride and accept that she’d lost the argument and couldn’t get what she wanted? As self-acknowledgedly selfish as it was, no, not just yet.

Twilight met Celestia’s eyes. “I want to know why I should. What’s changed, and why can’t somepony else handle it?”

Celestia paused, as if summarizing her thoughts. She said, “We believe somepony is attempting to create counterfeit Elements.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Celestia went on. “Unfortunately, they are not friendly. While what we have been able to deduce indicates that their magic may not be as pure or effective as ours, their methods seem to be more diverse, as you saw with an enchanted hydra. In addition, we believe they may have greater aspirations than this world.”

“Wh-what’s beyond this world?” Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia touched a button on a small intercom that sat atop her desk. “Could you please send in Sunset Shimmer?”

Twilight’s mind raced. She was slightly relieved that Nightmare Moon or her army wasn’t coming back, but this was somehow almost worse. Counterfeit Elements. The enormous power which she had been granted, in the wrong hooves, could be catastrophic. Literally world-rending, if she’d heard the Princess correctly.

The door opened and a unicorn mare the color of a creamsicle came in. Her mane was streaked in red and yellow, and she wore a pair of glasses that almost resembled Moon Dancer’s. Her cutie mark, like Celestia’s, was a sun.

Sunset introduced herself. “I’ve been working on research for the Princess for several years now.”

Now that she said it, Twilight vaguely recalled Sunset’s name. Maybe from the School for Gifted Unicorns. She might have even known Sunset if Twilight hadn’t been taken from the school to fight a war.

“Perhaps you’ve heard of the concept of parallel universes?” Sunset said. Twilight nodded. “Our world has a stable connection to another. We keep it here in the castle.”

One stunning blow after another. Twilight reminded herself to not let her mouth hang open too far.

“Their world is called Terra. The locals who we’ve contacted come from a country called Pedestria. It’s really rather remarkable how alike we are, even if they’re completely different physically than us. They call themselves humans.”

“Unfortunately,” Sunset went on, “The existing link between our worlds also makes it far easier for random, uncontrolled, as well as intentional connections to form. A pony with knowledge of this other place, as well as enough magic power and spell skill, could go there without our knowledge by creating their own portal.”

“Now that we’ve noticed counterfeit Elements,” Celestia said, “We’ve become concerned that they may be targeting this other universe. The denizens there don’t have magic, or at least not any in a form they can use. Suddenly adding it, especially by those who wish evil, could tear their world apart.”

There were so many questions Twilight wanted to ask. She fought to narrow it down, and eventually said, “What have you done so far?”

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of our best and brightest,” Cadance said flatly.

In a much more gentle tone, Celestia added, “We’re also developing a way to preemptively counter any bad Elements by selecting a small group of worthy humans to wield the magic for defense.”

“But isn’t that still giving magic to a species that doesn’t, or isn’t supposed to, have it?” said Twilight. “What if one of them isn’t trustworthy? What happens if the others find out about it?”

“Already asking good questions,” said Celestia.

Twilight was instantly on the defensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Celestia looked at Twilight. “Now that you know everything, are you in?”

Twilight swallowed. The direct question. Yes or no. She said, “On one condition.”

She looked at Cadance and back to Celestia. “That we will do everything we can to contain this here before even thinking about exporting the Elements. I know why they exist here, but I wish they didn’t have to. I’m not going to put anypony in a different world through what I and the rest of us have gone through here.”

“Very well-”

“Promise me,” Twilight insisted. “If I’m doing this, then we’re doing it my way.”

She’d never snapped at Celestia before in her life. She couldn’t have imagined doing it ten seconds before. Celestia was surprised, too. However, she bowed her head. “I promise that I will do everything in my power to avoid tainting another world with this. I know how you feel, Twilight. You have my word.

“Now, I believe Cadance would like to talk to you privately.”

Author's Note

Source

CH5: First Engagement

It was a slow day at Rarity’s shop. That gave her some time to work on other projects that the public would never see.

While the Elements’ spontaneous clothing generation was part of the power, the group still had need of other garments. For Cadance herself, for some of Rainbow’s non-Element associates, and others. Cadance's contacts had also yielded a few other customers from other places around the Guard and associated groups.

Most of what Rarity made was functional, armored. It hurt her soul a little to do it, but it was what the customer wanted, and she did take some solace in the fact that she was the best at what she did. At least Cadance had let her design the uniforms for Café Cadenza.

She did sometimes consider going public, like Rainbow. That would almost certainly drive business through the roof no matter what she made. But Rarity reminded herself that a lady needed standards. And she didn’t need any cretin trackers after her.

“Do you need anything else, Rarity?” Spike asked. He floated near a rack of dresses she’d asked him to straighten. He was squinting, looking at the rack lengthwise to make sure they were all in line down to the millimeter.

“Once you’re done there, could you be a dear and trim the straggling threads on this rough-cut bolt?” She indicated some fabric on the counter.

“No problem!” Spike picked up a tiny pair of scissors and went to work clipping the fuzzy threads that seemed to get everywhere on loose clothing.

Everypony needed to do something, Rarity supposed. Spike, while not exactly a combat asset, had at least seen the rest of them through thick and thin during the war. He seemed happy now, just being her assistant. She was certainly much happier making dresses than battling the forces of evil.

Though, Rarity had noticed a recent subtle change in what Cadance was doing and the things Cadance had her doing. It was none of her business, but she wondered.

The front door opened, the bell jingling. Rarity glanced sideways, seeing that Spike was already out of sight. She turned to address the visitor. “Welcome to my shop.”

A pale blue unicorn mare had come in. She wore a rather heavy-looking necklace and the expression of somepony used to getting what they wanted, or at least one who thought they should.

“I’m here to commission an outfit worthy of somepony of my stature,” she said.

Rarity had no idea who she was, which meant that she was nopony worth knowing. Still, she put on her customer service smile. “But of course, darling.”

“I want something purple,” the customer said. “Maybe some decorations like stars. I want a cape, too. And it can’t cost more than fifty bits. Or else.”

What a strange, entitled mare. Fortunately, she’d already said “cape” so Rarity knew she was nopony to take seriously.

“Come this way,” said Rarity. “I think I have just the fabric for you. I’ve even got a design in mind.”

In just minutes, Rarity had whipped up a long cape and a pointed hat, both of the same kiddie fabric she’d been trying to sell for ages. It wasn’t worth anything, and wound up looking ridiculous, but the customer already convinced herself that it was all her idea, and bought it.

“And one last thing. Monogram the collar with ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie.’”

“Whatever you say,” Rarity replied, internally holding back a laugh.

When the so-called Trixie had departed, Spike emerged from his hiding place. He chuckled, matching Rarity’s mood. “Wow, I wonder what she needed that for?”

“One could only hope she was going to a costume party,” Rarity replied. “As a parody of a stage magician, perhaps.”

“Did somepony say party!?” Pinkie yelled as she walked in the door.

Rarity’s ears folded back. “We were just discussing an unusual customer.”

“Well, it’s good that you were talking about parties because I came here to talk to you about a party,” said Pinkie. She grinned hugely. “Twilight’s back!”

“Oh really? What did it finally take?”

“Cadance told me she stormed the castle and got into a fight with the Guards just so Celestia could tell her about the looming secret evil we face.”

“What looming secret evil?” Rarity asked. She looked at Spike.

“Um, well, Cadance and the Princess wouldn’t want me to tell you,” he said, “Since you’re a contractor.”

Right, not her business. Rarity turned back to Pinkie. “Well, knowing Twilight as I do, you may not want to rub it in with a party. Something low key.”

“Maybe Cadance will make Twilight work at the café,” Pinkie speculated. “Either way, we could have it there. Fluttershy works there. Rainbow’s in town right now. That just leaves out Applejack.”

“Getting her back might be a harder sell than Twilight,” Rarity said. “Though last I heard she’s still active, but only in Ponyville.”

“Who else can we invite?” said Pinkie. “How many friends does Twilight have?”

“That also know about the Elements?” said Rarity. “I think you’ve already named all of them.”

“Wow, that’s kind of sad,” said Pinkie.

Sitting in class, Twilight considered her situation.

She’d made a decision. She was changing her path. But right now, after the leap of faith, she still didn’t know where she would land.

The night before, Celestia had left her and Cadance alone to talk. It had been brief.

“Why did you go over my head, straight to Celestia?”

“Why did you lie and decieve me to get me back in the group?”

“I was running out of options,” said Cadance.

By way of reply, Twilight just gestured back to her.

Cadance sighed and looked away. “It hurts that this is what our relationship has become.”

It did, at least they agreed on that. Twilight had a few ideas about why that had happened. But she decided not to twist the knife. Maybe Cadance had a few ideas of her own.

“What do you need me to do?” Twilight asked.

“Come by the café tomorrow after school. We’ll talk.”

Perhaps the most surprising part of that was that Cadance was willing to concede Twilight’s desire. So she went to school that morning. There was no telling what would happen afterwards, or if Cadance would eventually ask Twilight to devote herself to the group full time, but at least she had today.

“What did you do on your day off?” Moon Dancer asked at lunch.

“I started a new book,” said Twilight. She showed Moon Dancer.

Moon Dancer looked around. “We saw Fluttershy. Did you know she has a job?”

Twilight saw that Fluttershy was apparently not having her lunch in the classroom that day.

“Yeah, she works at this dessert place,” said Lyra, coming over.

Had they gone there? “Maybe it’s just a résumé builder,” said Twilight. “I don’t know if she’ll be there very often. I don’t think she even bakes.”

“Well, whoever made the pie, it was awesome.” A dreamy look went across Lyra’s face. “I’m totally going back!”

Oh, this was bad. Twilight herself was going there after school, and she didn’t want anypony she knew to see her there. Elemental disguise or not, more evidence was never a good thing. She would also suggest to Cadance that they either “go out of business” or at least put up an F health grade or something.

“You should come with us,” said Moon Dancer.

That actually might be a better idea. Twilight could pretend to be with them, and then double back later. That way, she wouldn’t have to either beat them there after school or wait around until they had left.

Twilight agreed to go. Maybe she could even finish a whole dessert this time.

After school, the three of them left for Café Cadenza. Lyra did most of the talking, as usual. Twilight focused her attention elsewhere. It would be a good idea to let Cadance know that she wasn’t coming alone.

She hesitated before calling out to Spike, though. It had been so long. But if she’d already agreed to return, then there was no point in doing it piecemeal. In for a penny, in for a pound. She’d already killed a hydra, so talking with a friendly spirit should be easy.

Spike, connect.

Huh? Twilight!? Wow, it’s been so long!

It’s good to talk to you again, said Twilight, honestly. Listen, I need you to pass a message. Two ponies I know from school found out about the café and I couldn’t figure out how to stop them. I’m on my way there now, but they’re with me. Cadance should really make the place less attractive to civilians.

Civilians. Twilight had said it unconsciously, but, well, it was true. Strange how her mind was already changing back to the rhythm of being an active Element. Or, maybe it had never left and she had just suppressed it while she was out.

I’ll tell her, said Spike. Do you want us to do anything about them? Scare them away?

No, they’re my- Forget it, Twilight thought. She was done being afraid of words. They’re my friends. Plus, the desserts are really good. We’ll be there in five minutes.

“Hey, what’s that?” Lyra suddenly said, pulling Twilight’s attention out of her other conversation.

The three of them stopped on the sidewalk, looking at the sign Lyra had spotted. It pointed to an otherwise unmarked door and read Free Magic Show.

“That could be cool,” said Lyra.

“All three of us are unicorns,” Moon Dancer pointed out.

“Yeah, and two of you are eggheads. Come on, what could it hurt?” Lyra was already walking towards the door.

“Why don’t we have a snack first?” Twilight suggested.

“Just a quick look. We can always come back and see the whole thing later.” Lyra opened the door. Twilight and Moon Dancer followed her impatiently.

The inside of the building seemed empty. It may have been an office, but wasn’t currently occupied. The reception room was bare. The three of them walked into the larger area beyond.

A set of curtains were strung at the other end of the room. Otherwise, there was nothing to see. Lyra said, “Where’s the magic show?”

As if in answer, the curtains drew back to reveal a mare in costume. She raised her head, under her purple, pointed hat, and smirked. “I see we have visitors.”

Twilight’s instincts were instantly on edge, a push against her subconscious that she hadn’t felt outside of combat. She was sure that this was not a magic show, but more importantly, that it was trouble. “Girls, we should go.”

There was a click behind them as two large male griffons shut the doors.

“What’s going on?” Moon Dancer said, apparently reading the room not long after Twilight.

“Well, first of all,” said the mare, walking out from the curtains. “My name is the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

She held up a hoof. “And you are Twilight Sparkle.”

“Um,” said Twilight, “do I know you?”

“Trixie knows you, Twilight Sparkle. Is this not you?” She pulled out a rolled up newspaper and opened it to reveal the same picture Twilight had kept seeing on the cover of every newspaper in Equestria. Her.

“Uh…” Twilight stalled.

Spike, get somepony over here right now! Twilight mentally pushed her location to him.

“I guess maybe I was in the background?” Twilight said weakly. “We were on a school trip there at the time.”

“I was in the background,” Lyra volunteered. “I saw myself.”

“Is that so?” Trixie said, looking at her. “Yes, Trixie can use you, too.”

One of the griffons grabbed her from behind, holding her off the ground by the throat and barrel. Moon Dancer started forward, but the other one grabbed her too.

“Stop!” shouted Twilight. “What do you want!?”

“Want?” said Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie merely wants what she deserves: to be the one and only Element of Magic in Equestria.”

“What is she-” Lyra began. The griffon holding her opened his talons and a spherical ball of water materialized. Twilight could vaguely feel the magic behind it. She didn’t know griffons even had magic.

Before Lyra could finish her outburst, the griffon slapped the water down her muzzle, the globular ball held in place with magic around her nose and mouth. Lyra kicked in place, eyes wide as she began to drown in midair.

“No!” screamed Moon Dancer. The griffon who held her activated magic of his own. The talons on one of his forelegs began to glow as if hot steel. There was a wisp of smoke from Moon Dancer’s coat. She jerked in pain, but he moved his talons up under her chin. If she opened her mouth to scream again, she would only be burned worse.

Lyra had perhaps tens of seconds left. Moon Dancer was also in danger. Twilight was alone against three opponents. There was no time to stall, or wait for help.

She grabbed her pen.

Twilight had already thrown her school bag to the side and was moving even before the transformation finished, but the Element magic boosted her speed and senses. Trixie grinned in maniacal delight as the transformed Twilight rushed her. Lyra and Moon Dancer were so stunned that they had even stopped resisting.

Trixie’s eyes and horn flashed red and Twilight hit a magic shield that she really should have seen coming. Her momentum knocked her off to the side, and she was already turning as Trixie went on the offensive. Twilight’s own shield deflected the blast from Trixie’s horn, but it astonished her how much power was behind it.

There was no time to pause and think, or her friends would die. Twilight dove back into the fight.

She expected Trixie’s block this time, but her sword was ready and she thrust past, barely missing Trixie. Twilight tried to analyze Trixie’s magic, but couldn’t afford to spend much time on it, only learning as she went.

Trixie hit her with magic again and Twilight slid backwards across the floor, blocking with all she had. But she stood. Trixie’s cocky look had disappeared, replaced with frustration. It seemed that both of them were surprised by their opponent’s power.

Twilight realized that the necklace Trixie wore also seemed to be glowing along with her eyes and horn. Was that her source of power? But it wasn’t an Element, not a real one. Twilight hit her again, just a glancing blow to keep Trixie moving. She ducked a shot from Trixie.

Despite her bluster, Trixie wasn’t an Element. Despite her power, she had no Element item to serve as a weapon. That meant her only offense and defense was magic. Despite being Magic personified, even Twilight knew there was more to combat than that.

Twilight made another rush, taking hits off her shield, but working angles to minimize the force she had to actually endure. At close range, she went back to swinging her sword at Trixie, forcing the other mare to block.

“Don’t just stand there!” Trixie shouted at the griffons. “You said you were the best magical mercenaries in Griffonstone!”

The pair of them dropped Twilight’s friends and attacked her from behind. She teleported out of the way, putting herself between them and Lyra and Moon Dancer.

She fired a magic blast at the one on the right, the fire user. He put up a magic shield and successfully blocked it, though he jerked at the force. The other griffon threw a ball of water at her, which seemed to sprout wings as it crossed the distance, taking on the appearance of a griffon itself. Twilight made to block it, but with a flick of its wings, the water changed direction and zipped around her shield. It hit her in the face hard enough to knock her back, but more alarmingly, started to force its way down her throat.

Twilight choked, panic shooting through her as she felt her esophagus and everything attached to it being stretched even as her airway was cut off. She whipped her sword up, taking the blade in her teeth. The water surged around it, but the magic of the Element was stronger.

She felt the attack on her guts slack as the blade worked its magic, transmutation. It wasn’t water anymore, but ink, and ink - that was Twilight’s domain.

Twilight coughed it up. She tasted some drops still on her lips, but most of it formed a shiny black ball in the air beside her. There was no point in delaying her attack for show - she was no stage magician - and didn’t hesitate to fire it back. By the time it got there, though, the spherical ball had flattened itself to a disk no thicker than a sheet of paper and it split the griffon in half top to bottom, neat as if measured with a ruler.

The turning tide of the battle was all the diversion she needed to press her attack, distracted as the other griffon was from seeing his partner killed. The fire he threw at her washed over her shield, but Twilight pushed through it, driving her sword forward through his body.

She shook him off the blade and he fell beside his partner. Twilight faced Trixie again.

“You think you’re so good? I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie! I deserve this!” Trixie snarled, hurling an attack at Twilight, and following up with another and another. Twilight could do nothing but block, but she kept advancing.

Trixie started to lose ground, and seemed to grow angier. “Die!” She seemed to put everything she had into her next attack, the entire room lighting up with the color of her magic.

It was now, even despite the eye-searing magic being thrown around, that Twilight’s sword finally got through, though she only struck a glancing blow along Trixie’s shoulder. Trixie gasped and it was as if a delusion had been instantly broken. She fell back into the corner where Twilight had backed her, horn smoking in exertion.

Twilight walked forward, sword held level. Trixie grabbed the slice on her shoulder. “No! Please don’t kill me!”

Twilight paused. In all the enemies she had ever fought before, not a one of them had ever asked for mercy. Most of them had been monsters, evil shadows created or twisted by Nightmare Moon.

She wasn’t so stunned that she couldn’t block the next magic blast Trixie threw at her. It bounced off Twilight’s shield, the magic still unable to touch her.

Trixie’s face dropped even more at her failed sneak attack.

“You wanted to kill my friends,” said Twilight, lip curling. “You wanted to kill me. You picked a magic fight with the Element of Magic. What did you think was going to happen?”

Trixie’s wound ran black with ink, her injured foreleg twitching as she tried and failed to move it. The rest of her body began to seize, spreading outward from the cut Twilight’s sword had made. Trixie looked down in horror, watching everything as it happened to her, right up until the point her eyes turned black and her body fell to the floor.

Twilight sheathed her sword and turned away, but before she could take another step, the front of the building seemed to explode. The doors tore off their hinges as a pony moving faster than the eye could see erupted into the room. There was no doubt - the cavalry had arrived, and there was no doubt who it could be - Rainbow Dash.

She was already transformed and swept the room with her eyes in a fraction of a second. There were three bodies and three still living. One of them was Twilight. The other two-

Rainbow pulled her knife and launched herself at the closest target, who happened to be Moon Dancer. She hadn’t made it halfway there before an invisible force slammed her into the floor so hard the building shook.

Moon Dancer jerked and blinked, half a second too slow.

“What are you doing!?” Twilight demanded at a shout, stomping over to Rainbow.

Rainbow twitched, stunned and definitely bruised. She finally managed to take a breath as Twilight stopped beside her.

“They’re with me!” Twilight shouted in her face, sweeping her hoof at her friends. “Everypony else is dead, I killed them, you’re late!”

Rainbow blinked at her slowly, unable to summon a reaction, possibly even more surprised by Twilight’s outburst than being crushed.

“Um, could we maybe attend to the problem at hoof?” said Fluttershy, coming in. She too was transformed.

“Loyalty and Kindness,” Lyra whispered. Her eyes swung to Twilight. “...and Magic?”

Reality came back to Twilight. She was standing in the middle of a destroyed building, surrounded by lives she had just taken. Moon Dancer and Lyra had seen her transform. They had seen...well, everything.

Fluttershy helped Rainbow up. Twilight apparently hadn’t broken any of Rainbow’s bones, though she hadn’t been holding back. It was probably only Rainbow’s Element constitution that had kept her from being crushed like a grape.

“Here, take this,” said Fluttershy, passing Rainbow a small tablet. One of the magic internal bleeding cure-alls she had developed, if Twilight remembered correctly.

“Are either of you two hurt?” Fluttershy asked. Lyra seemed in one piece, but the burn marks on Moon Dancer’s neck were obvious. Fluttershy went over and took out a tube of cream that Moon Dancer hesitantly let her spread over her skin. “It should be fixed in a few minutes.”

Rainbow seemed to have recovered, but her attitude turned pragmatic first. “Well, what are we going to do with them?”

“They saw me,” said Twilight.

Fluttershy and Rainbow both looked at her.

Lyra, meanwhile, had carried on whispering under her breath. “Loyalty’s real name is Rainbow Dash. And she knows...Twilight...Twilight is Magic?”

“Well?” said Rainbow. “Your problem, you deal with it.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Moon Dancer. She looked nearly as terrified as she had during the fight. Terrified of Twilight.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, who just said, “You’re the Element of Magic,” and looked away.

“Are you going to do a memory spell?” said Lyra, walking over to stand next to Moon Dancer.

“I...yes,” said Twilight.

“Cool.” Lyra frowned. “Wait, I’m not going to remember it.”

Twilight looked at Moon Dancer, who had skipped the wonderment stage Lyra was currently in and had gone straight to horror.

“I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “But trust me, you really don’t want to remember this.”

“What’s going to happen?” Moon Dancer asked.

“We’ll take you home,” said Twilight. “You’ll think you had a nice afternoon.”

“Will I see you again?”

“I don’t know,” said Twilight, honestly.

She lit her horn. Moon Dancer squeezed her eyes shut.

CH6: Secret Recipe

“Hey Twiley, studying magic?” Shining Armor stuck his head into his little sister’s bedroom.

She smiled. “Yep! What are you learning at the Guard Academy?”

He walked into the room. “I’m getting pretty good at shield spells.”

“I was reading about them,” said Twilight, referencing her book. She hopped out of her chair and stood before him in the bedroom. Scrunching her face in concentration, she conjured a light pink hemisphere just a little bit larger than herself.

“Wow,” said Shining, tapping a hoof on the transparent barrier. It rippled under his touch, but held. “I think that’s better than some of the other students in my class.”

“Well, I did practice,” said Twilight canceling the spell and blushing modestly.

“Do you know anything about other races’ magic?” Shining asked. “The next lesson is supposed to be about cross training, so we know what our fellow Guards can do and how to catch bad guys off guard.”

“What do you mean?”

“As a unicorn, I know magic. But I also need to know how to charge like a pegasus or use my body like an earth pony.”

Twilight put her hoof to her chin. “I understand how pegasi go fast, but what do earth ponies do?”

“Well, for example, the signature earth pony move is bucking.” Shining pitched forward and kicked his hind legs in the air.

Twilight mimicked him, though nearly lost her balance. Laughing, she tried it again.

“A little more power, like you’re kicking a tree,” said Shining.

Twilight bucked again, knocking her reading lamp off the desk and shattering it against the wall.

“Twilight, what was that noise?”

Twilight and Shining exchanged wide-eyed looks. “Nothing, mom!” called Shining. Twilight hastily attempted to fix the lamp with magic.

The lamp was never quite the same, but every time Twilight looked at it from then on, she was reminded of Shining Armor.

Twilight woke up in her apartment in Canterlot surprised, but not at all displeased, with the extraordinarily good dream.

It was a little bit of sweetness before stomaching the sour of the rest of her day.

Pinkie took the tray of cupcakes out of the oven and set them to cool.

“Thank you,” said Fluttershy. “It’s nice to have contractors on-site.”

“I’m basically a regular employee at this point,” Pinkie said. “Maybe we should drop the pretense and just go back to being a unified group. That would really simplify the command and control and build esprit de corps.”

Fluttershy paused, eyebrows knitting, but before she could respond, Pinkie went on. “Speaking of dropping pretense, if you’re here at this time of day I take it you stopped going to school? Do you miss it?”

“It...was fun for a while,” said Fluttershy.

The two of them came out of the back room to put the cupcakes out to cool so they could be decorated.

“Speaking of, where is Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “I was all ready to do a welcome party, but Cadance told me to wait until the afternoon.”

“She’s taking care of some personal business,” said Fluttershy.

“Well, I’m certainly not going to get involved in her personal business,” said Pinkie. “I saw what happened to that poser Element. All of Twilight’s pent up anger has to go somewhere, and expressing it in a healthy environment against evildoers is good therapy.”

“I’m not sure you know anything about therapy.”

“I don’t.”

Moon Dancer woke up feeling refreshed. Yesterday had been excellent. Shame about the café being closed forever, but excellent nonetheless.

She got ready and headed for school. She saw Lyra in the classroom and the two of them said hello. Twilight came in just before the bell.

“Good morning,” said Moon Dancer.

“Somepony’s happy,” Twilight observed.

“What are you reading today?” Moon Dancer asked.

Twilight hesitated, but then reached into a new backpack and pulled out a comic book. “I wanted to try something different. Something lighter.”

“Oh.” Moon Dancer paused in surprise. “Well, let me know how that goes.”

“Though I could work my way through something else if you had any suggestions,” Twilight quickly interjected.

“Well, there was the reading list I gave you,” said Moon Dancer.

“Sorry, I lost it.”

“No problem.” Moon Dancer began to rewrite it. Her quill snapped.

“Here,” said Twilight, giving her a new quill.

Moon Dancer was forced to pause her writing as the lesson began. As the teacher turned around to write on the chalkboard, a note landed on her desk. The writing was clearly Lyra’s. Ask Twilight what we’re doing after school.

Strange how Twilight, the new student, had suddenly become the hub of their small friendship group, but someone had to be, Moon Dancer supposed.

Twilight headed for the dessert shop. She detoured around the remains of the building where she’d fought Trixie. The area was cordoned off because the magic blasts had fractured and holed the walls, but she would have avoided it anyway.

It was a minor blessing that Twilight had discovered a small amount of peace after the battle. She hadn’t second guessed herself in the slightest. She’d stepped up and been the Element she needed to be in the face of a threat.

Of course, her confidence started to erode after Trixie had been defeated, but in the heat of the battle, she felt right, and just. Feeling like she was doing the right thing was something Twilight hadn’t enjoyed in a while.

She hadn’t gotten the same emotion from going to school. Well, that’s because everypony her age did that. It was normal. Being normal was a reward in itself. But if she had to fight...then Twilight figured she could respect herself for it.

She’d resisted her new direction, returning to the Elements, for so long. While she was still uncomfortable with returning, and there may have been some pride at stake, Twilight also recognized that she’d given her word, and had no excuse to drag her hooves.

That was part of why the first thing she wanted to do was get to the bottom of how Trixie knew who she was. In for a penny, in for a pound. Twilight was back.

She avoided the reporters gathered around the damaged building. The newspaper that morning had carried a Crown press release, identifying Trixie as a powerful but misguided ne’er do well who had challenged the Element of Magic to a duel and lost. Moon Dancer and Lyra, or any hints of involved civilians, were not mentioned.

Two stories in a row now about Magic. If anything, this just made her return official. Twilight wasn’t sure if that made her feel better. Maybe the public would appreciate her being back. She grimaced. Especially trackers.

She walked up to the front door of the café. There was a purple sticky note on the glass that read surprise party.

Twilight paused, and then smiled. Well, that was nice of them. She opened the door.

“Surprise!” said Pinkie, popping up from behind the counter to toss confetti in the air. Cadance, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sunset Shimmer filed out of the back room. Pinkie, and Fluttershy wore café uniforms. Cadance wore a jacket, though with the same color pattern.

Pinkie bounced over to Twilight and showed her a selection of cupcakes on a platter. “Just for you! This is a little more low key than most surprise parties, but when I heard about yesterday, it didn’t seem like a good idea to startle you.”

“I appreciate it,” said Twilight, taking a cupcake.

“Fluttershy said you held back a little bit during the fight.”

“Well…maybe. I’m still brushing the dust off.” If she’d had a little more time to plan and gauge her approach, Twilight was sure she could have performed better. She was out of practice.

Her eyes went to Sunset, who was holding back from the group and wearing an awkward expression behind her glasses. It was a familiar look to Twilight, not knowing anypony in a crowd. It didn’t explain why she was there, however.

Cadance caught her look. “The Princess thought Sunset could use some fresh air and told her to come make some friends.”

“That sounds familiar,” Twilight observed. “Though when she said it to me, she meant it literally. As Nightmare Moon was creating her army, Cadance and I went to Ponyville to create the rest of the Elements.”

“Speaking of Elements, would you two mind joining me?” Cadance said, gesturing to the other room.

“I’ve never been clear on the history of the Elements,” said Sunset. “It’s not written down, of course.”

A fellow book reader? Twilight grabbed another cupcake to walk with. She and Sunset followed Cadance into the back room.

“Cadance was the first, aside from Celestia herself.” said Twilight. “I guess from Celestia’s perspective, that made sense: another alicorn and with an inherently powerful quality like Love. Celestia made me. Cadance made Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack.”

“There were...um, others, right?” Sunset looked awkward again.

“Rainbow made most of them. As far as I know, Fluttershy is the only one who wasn’t killed or missing after the war.”

“Firefly, Surprise, Night Glider,” said Cadance. “I would have chosen more carefully, but at the end we didn’t have time to search for more candidates.”

The oven was on, and in the warm room, Cadance took off her jacket. Sunset stared at her scars, but averted her eyes. Cadance noticed, though.

“There may be a vulnerability in the Elements if a pony loses the quality for which they were named,” she explained. “I lost the power the moment my husband was killed. No Love, no Element. It hasn’t happened to anypony else, however, so it’s only a theory.”

“Princess Celestia attempted to make Shining Armor an Element, too,” said Twilight. “It didn’t work on him, or any stallion for that matter.”

“Did she choose you because you were strong?” Sunset asked.

“That depends on what you mean by ‘strong,’” Twilight replied after a moment of thought. “Though, for a general definition, I do think I’ve gotten stronger since I was chosen.” She raised her head to look at Cadance. “I always wondered, was I the next choice because he was my brother?”

“That may have been part of the reason, but more important I think was your own talent and already knowing me,” Cadence replied.

“We found all the rest in Ponyville,” Twilight said. “What are the odds we’d discover all the best possible choices for Elements clustered together in one small town? There’s no way. It could have been anypony, and it would have been if we’d gone somewhere else. Celestia could have chosen anypony.”

That was threatening to pull down Twilght’s relatively stable mood, and she changed the subject. “Cadance, what did you want to talk about?”

Cadance gestured them to chairs. When they were seated and focused, she began. “Not counting Celestia, the three of us probably know more about the situation than anypony. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unknowns to uncover before we can solve the problem. Sunset will continue her research at the castle. I’ll be leading the development group. Twilight, I need you to take a more tactical command, leading the Elements directly in battle.”

“Uh…” Twilight looked away. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. I only just came back. Plus, I don’t know if I’m…”

“Strong enough?” Cadance prompted.

“Well, I mean going straight to the top of the group wasn’t what I thought you wanted. I’m here. I’ll fight.”

“It isn’t just about fighting monsters. It’s not about you or what you want. You should know that by now. It’s about saving Equestria. I need you to think of the bigger picture, Twilight. Look past the battle in front of your nose to see the war. I know you can do it. I know you’d be good at it.”

“But is there another choice?”

Cadance crossed her hooves. “I was...promoted to management after I lost the power. Can you think of somepony who would be better at battle command than you?”

Twilight considered it. Pinkie and Fluttershy were non-starters. Applejack refused to leave her farm.

“Rainbow.”

“Rainbow is too instinctive, and gets frustrated too easily.”

“Rarity then.”

“Rarity is too focused on details. She’s a micromanager.”

Twilight looked at Cadance. “Was this ever really a choice?”

“Not yours.” Cadance pointed her hoof. “I manage the Element Warfare Development Group. I’m appointing you the leader of field operations.”

“Why do you do this?” said Twilight. “You played dirty to get me back and even now you’re only asking me as a formality before you go ahead and decide things for me anyway.”

Sunset stood up. “I need to get back to the castle.” She hurried out.

“Who should be making your decisions for you?” said Cadance.

“Me!”

“How do you know what’s best? You aren’t legally an adult. I’m the closest thing to family you have, and I’m telling you to do what’s best for Equestria.”

“And how do you know? You aren’t anypony’s mother.”

Cadance flinched.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight quickly corrected. “That has nothing to do with this.”

Cadance composed herself, and when she began again, her tone had softened. “I picked you to lead the others because I trust you. But I need you to follow and trust me.”

The Elements were technically part of the military, though a far cry from the Royal Guard. Twilight remembered when her brother had joined the Guards, remembered thinking it was unfair that he sometimes had to do things he didn’t want to do. What a naive filly she had been. She thought fighting in the war had changed her, but had it really?

Caught between her own desires and those of others once again, Twilight conceded. No matter what she thought, they did need to focus on getting to the bottom of the threat to Equestria.

“Okay,” she said, bowing her head. “I’m in.”

“Alright,” said Cadance. “You’ll need to be near the others to be ready at a moment’s notice. Rarity brought a uniform for you. I’ll show you how to make cupcakes so you can keep your cover at the shop.”

Twilight almost protested. Almost, but she held her tongue.

At least there shouldn’t be a problem with working there. Unless Moon Dancer and Lyra stumbled on Café Cadenza again. Twilight got to work in an attempt to distract herself from that. Being that Rarity had designed them, the uniforms for the shop were unnecessarily frilly and almost resembled maid outfits, which was only marginally better than Twilight’s Element clothing. At least the uniform fit well, though Twilight didn’t know when Rarity had taken her measurements.

Still, as Twilight committed herself to learning how to bake cupcakes as the first step to saving the world, it was hard to forget the friends she’d left behind. A memory charm meant never having to say you’re sorry.

The idea of tampering with somepony’s brain repulsed Twilight, even though she had a talent for it. But it was necessary. She’d meant what she said to Moon Dancer: nopony should want to remember a fight like that, their life a plaything of those more powerful.

Twilight hadn’t taken all their memories of her. She couldn’t bring herself to do that, not to mention the fact that if she was trying to erase evidence of her existence she’d have to modify the memory of literally half the school. So she’d just taken that last afternoon from Moon Dancer and Lyra, and replaced it as she’d promised with an otherwise pleasant day.

She should have “told” them via implanted memories that she was treating them to the day out because she had to move away. She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye in person, not after what she had done to them. Instead, she had spent the morning alone in her apartment writing them both goodbye letters. It wasn’t a replacement, though, for them or her.

Cadance took Twilight on a quick tour of the back rooms of the shop to familiarize her with the development group headquarters. There was a kitchen, as expected, but also a surveillance room and a locker room. The basement was heavily soundproofed, and Twilight could sense additional spells on top of that. There was a small gym in the basement, a storage room, and a room that was made of featureless concrete, save for a drain in the floor.

Aside from learning about the secret headquarters and receiving a key from Cadance, Twilight did actually learn how to make desserts.

“So anyway, then you just stick ‘em in the oven for a while,” said Pinkie, finishing up her cupcake-baking spiel. While Cadance may have been Twilight’s boss, she left the baking part of the instruction to the expert.

“What’s ‘a while?’” Twilight asked.

“Long enough to be done, but before they burn,” Pinkie explained. “Ovens vary in temperature and convection, so this one has a different setting than any other.”

“Or we could just time them now and use that as a reference for the future.” Twilight pointed at the clock.

“Wow, Cadance said she brought you into fix things and you sure are!”

Twilight couldn’t tell if Pinkie was being serious, melodramatic, or just herself. Either way, the minor act of standardizing the baking did feel like an accomplishment, however small.

In a quieter voice, Pinkie also walked Twilight through what she had been doing for Cadance. “So with my connections, I get invited to all the parties. That’s a good place to meet ponies and ask them questions. Even if they aren’t hiding anything or don’t know any standout intel, a small detail combined with others could add up to something important. For example, I met a mare who claimed that her powdered nose candy was coming with weird symbols on the package. I talked to a cop who knew about common smuggling routes. Putting information together, we had enough for Rainbow to go down to Mexicolt and kill a bunch of ponies who were supporting some really suspicious ritual.”

“Wait, go back,” said Twilight. “Powdered nose candy?”

“Drugs.” Pinkie shook her head. “Sometimes I forget that despite fighting the forces of evil, you’re kind of a square.”

The chimes on the front door dinged. “That could be a customer,” said Pinkie. “Fluttershy will show you how to be a waitress.”

Back in the front room, a young couple had come in. Fluttershy gave Twilight a notepad. “Do you have something to write with?”

It was only after she had summoned her fountain pen that Twilight realized how weird it would be to take dessert orders with an instrument that literally used the blood of her enemies as ink. Though, somehow that felt slightly less weird than using it for homework.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

The stallion consulted the menu. “How is the flan?”

“It’s good,” said Twilight. She’d recently discovered that they employed Spike to do the flambé part of it.

“Are these cupcakes fresh?” asked the mare, looking at the glass display.

“We made them this morning,” said Fluttershy over Twilight’s shoulder.

The customers didn’t ask any more questions. Twilight got the mare her cupcake and went to get the stallion his flan. On the way into the back room, she realized she’d unconciously tucked her pen behind her ear.

It was convenient and quick to access there. That was usually where she had carried it during the war, when she wasn’t using it. That reminded Twilight that the group still didn’t know how Trixie had found her. Until they figured it out, especially if there might be more like her out there, it would be best to stay prepared.

That was something else concerning about Trixie. She was unlike any enemy Twilight had ever faced before. She had to be involved in the wider plot, it was too big a coincidence if she wasn’t. But the thought of having to face thinking, pony enemies set Twilight on edge. Killing monsters was one thing. Trixie had begged for her life.

Twilight shook her head. Flan. Back to work.

Author's Note

Source

CH7: Task Force Cupcake

Bright and early next morning, Twilight opened the shop. She turned on the lights, started the coffee pot brewing, and put on her uniform.

Cadance was the first to show up, and had her key in the door before realizing it wasn’t locked.
She came in, nodding to Twilight. “I always thought you were more of a night owl than an early riser.”

“Coffee,” said Twilight. “Also, I don’t really like the night anymore.”

Cadance nodded, understanding. She headed for the back room.

Pinkie was the next to arrive. She said hello to the other two and went straight to the back to begin the day’s baking, humming as she went.

Twilight hadn’t seen her very often since the end of the war, but Pinkie seemed more cheerful than she remembered. Maybe it came with purpose.

Spitfire and Soarin’ came in a few minutes later. They both got coffee and sat at the counter, quiet.

Fluttershy came in exactly on time for “work,” early enough to put on her uniform and do some prep before the shop officially opened.

Rarity was a few minutes after that, Spike drifting along behind her. She yawned. “Twilight, could you make me a quad skinny hazelnut macchiato with sugar-free syrup?”

“I could pour you a coffee,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy helped Twilight figure out Rarity’s order, which Rarity appreciated when she tasted it.

Rainbow arrived in another fifteen minutes. Twilight saw her coming in. “All right, everypony’s here, let’s get started.”

Twilight would have liked Sunset Shimmer to attend, to maintain the liaison back to Princess Celestia, but decided it wasn’t strictly necessary. Sunset wasn’t on the operations side of the group. Those that were gathered around warm breakfast croissants in a fake sweet shop in Canterlot to discuss how they were going to protect the country from evils unknown.

Twilight hadn’t put much thought into a speech, but now that she was in front of them, that seemed like an oversight. She decided to go with what was on her mind. “Thank you all for meeting today. I know Cadance has run this organization with everypony under various assignments, but I hope we can evaluate the overarching goals and bring our efforts together. Here’s the layout of the organization, for clarity.”

Twilight summoned a chart in midair and showed it to them.

Princess Celestia

Spike - Facilitator

Sunset Shimmer - Research Lead

Cadance - Commander, Element Warfare Development Group

Twilight Sparkle - Leader, field operations

Applejack

Fluttershy

Pinkie Pie

Rainbow Dash

Rarity

Royal Guard Special Forces detachment

Soarin'

Spitfire

“Who’s Sunset Shimmer?” said Rainbow.

“The Princess’ top researcher,” Twilight explained. “She’s discovered a portal to another universe and believes that is is the target of an as-yet unknown evil group.”

There were a few surprised mutters from the group. Secret magic, sure, that made sense. Interdimensional portals were another thing.

“Why is she above everypony else?” Rainbow asked.

“She isn’t. This chart shows hierarchy of leadership. Spike, Sunset, and Cadance all work directly for Princess Celestia. Cadance also has ponies working for her.”

“I should have ponies working for me.”

“We can break down further into tactical units as needed by situation,” said Twilight.

“We should at least have cool codenames.”

“Cupcake!” Pinkie shouted, banging her hooves on the counter.

Everypony else was too surprised by the outburst to argue. Twilight glanced around, sighed, and then crossed out field operations with her pen and replaced it with Task Force Cupcake.

“Moving on, we should discuss the mission of the development group. As we’ve heard, we’re facing an unknown enemy. We’re going to need information.” Twilight turned the organization chart around to show them the back. Intelligence and operations was written on it, with arrows from each pointing to the other. She briefly transformed her pen to its sword form to use as a pointer. “Intel drives ops, and ops collect intel. We need to find leads, and we need use those leads to find more leads until we eventually solve the problem.”

“The hydra attack seems that it was intended to hurt or kill ponies. Hydras don’t live on the coast, and it was being magically controlled, so this was no accident. Combining that with Trixie coming after me, I believe there is something bigger at work here.”

“Could Trixie have been the one to compel the hydra?” Rarity asked.

“It’s possible.”

“Well, she’s dead now,” Rainbow pointed out. “Case closed.”

“Something is bothering me about that,” said Twilight. “She wasn’t an Element, not a real one, yet she seemed to know me from the newspaper. Not being an Element, she shouldn’t have been able to see through the glamour. She also found me so quickly. Whether she had a kind of magic we still don’t understand or if somepony is helping her, I want to investigate it further. I’m leaning towards Trixie not being the end of the chain. We need to dig into anything we can find about her. Also, that artifact she was wearing. It’s locked up tight in the basement. However, we already have a lead on the two griffons who were working for her. Their names have connections to Griffonstone.”

“Roadtrip!” cheered Pinkie, thrusting a hoof in the air.

“We don’t know what we’ll find there,” said Twilight. “Two magic-using griffons was a surprise. I don’t want a surprise like that again.” She hesitated, and then added, “Plus, it could be a good teambuilding event.”

Rainbow burst out laughing. “What is this, a self-help seminar?”

“I’m just saying, we’re out of practice in working together. We could take the whole group.”

“Like I want to go to Griffonstone,” said Rainbow.

“It’s not about you,” said Twilight, realizing she was echoing Cadance.

Rainbow picked up on it, too. “So when did you decide to start working for the greater good?”

“Well, better late than never,” Twilight replied, more cooley than she felt.

Rainbow snorted and got up. “Call me when you need somepony killed.” She started for the door, pausing to look back at Spitfire and Soarin’. Instead, it was Twilight who crossed the room to her, crowding Rainbow out the door.

Outside, Twilight put her foreleg around Rainbow’s neck and steered them both around the corner, away from the front window. Twilight let her go, but stood nose to nose with her. “I could see you had something on your mind. We’re alone now, if you want to say it.”

Rainbow was only momentarily put off by Twilight’s forwardness. “Okay. I guess I just think it’s stupid that somepony who turned her back on Equestria to go live in a dream world thinks she can just come back and expect everypony else to just go along with what she says.”

“So is that why the self-professed fastest pony in Equestria was late this morning, when I told her what time to show up?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” said Rainbow. She smirked.

“I’ll acknowledge that I didn’t expect Cadance to appoint me,” said Twilight. “But she did. So here I am. If you have an issue with how things are run, you could try making constructive suggestions.”

“Okay.” Rainbow poked Twilight in the chest. “Stay out of my way.”

“Do you talk to Cadance this way?”

Rainbow paused, but said, “I’ll talk to her - or you - any way I want.”

“I might ask her to come out here to call you on that, but I shouldn’t have to rely on her authority. She told me, so I’m telling you.” Twilight paused for a breath, and then decided to press her point. “You know, maybe she chose wrong, calling you the Element of Loyalty.”

“What do you know about it? You haven’t even been here!”

“You weren’t there for Firefly, or Surprise, or Night Glider.”

Rainbow’s eyes opened wider, apparently stunned that Twilight would go there. “Well, Spitfire and Soarin’ would do anything for me!”

“They’re soldiers. Their commanding officer - who isn’t you, by the way - told them to.” Twilight decided not to point out that neither of them had come to Rainbow’s defense on this matter. “We’re going to go to Griffonstone. If you know a better way of saving Equestria, then show me.”

“Fine!” Rainbow snapped. “If I’m all in, then so are you. If you want to be a hero Element so much, then get rid of your school friends.”

“I did,” said Twilight. She gave Rainbow one more look, and walked past her back into the shop.

Spike hastily looked away as she came in. Twilight realized she had forgotten to disconnect him. Fortunately, it seemed like he hadn’t passed it to anypony else.

Thanks.

Uh, yeah. No problem.

Twilight went to see Cadance. “We’re going to go track those griffons down. Are you coming?”

“I’ll watch the shop,” said Cadance. “But I’ll arrange transport for you.”

Twilight’s internal tension, already vibrating from her own feelings and the argument with Rainbow, tightened further. No Cadance, no hoof holding. It was her team now.

The train car was nice. At Cadance’s call, the rail company had hooked up a government VIP car to the next train to Griffonstone. It wasn’t Celestia’s personal car - that would have attracted too much attention - but one that was fairly inconspicuous with tinted windows and muted paint, yet plush. There was a small kitchen and a few bedrooms in the back.

Rainbow was grumbling under her breath, and not just about lack of snacks, Fluttershy thought. Rainbow had come to sit with her. Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice that she was on the opposite side of the car from Twilight.

Fluttershy hadn’t heard the conversation between the two of them outside the café, but was concerned. Rainbow usually didn’t let anything bother her. She usually didn’t turn to Fluttershy for comfort.

Not that Rainbow was now, but Fluttershy could see the cycle already starting. Rainbow was definitely in the anger stage now. She might come around to accepting whatever was on her mind, and would appreciate Fluttershy being there.

About halfway to Griffonstone, Fluttershy felt her blood sugar beginning to drop. “I’m going to go forward to find a snack. Do you want anything?”

“No.” Rainbow paused. “Well, maybe I’ll come with you.”

The two of them got up and walked forward. Rainbow slipped on some sunglasses and a ball cap. Her saddlebags covered her cutie mark.

They walked into the next car, coming out of a door marked private. Rainbow led the way, her head turning back and forth to scan faces as they passed. Finding a conductor with a cart of snacks, Rainbow waited while Fluttershy bought some fruit.

On the walk back, Rainbow stopped suddenly between the two cars, the doors on either side of them closed and the walkway protected by weather curtains.

“Did you ever think I abandoned you?” she asked, voice just audible over the sound of the train.

There it was, Fluttershy thought. “I can tell you’re worried about this,” said Fluttershy. “But you’re my oldest friend, and you’ve always come back, eventually.”

“I…” Rainbow looked away. “Just wondering. Thank you.”

The two of them walked back into the private car together and sat in their original seats. Rainbow didn’t take her sunglasses off and leaned back, pretending to sleep.

What had Twilight said to her that morning? Whatever it was, it was Rainbow’s business, but Fluttershy was there for her. Somepony had to be.

Stepping off the train in Griffonstone, Twilight felt prepared. She’d read her history and a few other books along the way. She was still slightly surprised by the sight of the place. Maybe griffon architecture was just different on a basic level than pony.

“Okay everypony, we’ve got two names. Let’s find a griffon that knows one or both of them and see where it leads.”

“Ooh!” said Pinkie. “I heard about griffon scone shops! There’s got to be a happening scene there, because they sure don’t have much of anything else going on around here.”

“The scone shops could be work a look,” Twilight agreed. “I would also think the library and the local records office would be good places. Let’s use the buddy system, though.”

“Given my choices, I think I’ll go with Pinkie,” said Rarity, casting a disparaging eye around town.

“I’ll check the library,” said Twilight.

“Then I’m with Fluttershy,” Rainbow quickly put in.

“Spike?” said Twilight. He snapped a salute and came over.

“We can set up an overwatch and reaction force,” offered Spitfire, gesturing to Soarin’ beside her.

The group divided up. Twilight headed for the library. Ground-bound as she was, Spike flew above her, staying out of sight.

I remember you like libraries, he said.

Twilight chuckled. You sure remember correctly.

After memorizing a map of the town, finding the library was fairly easy. The outside was completely alike every building near it. The door creaked as Twilight walked in.

It was a library in the sense that it had more books than Twilight would have expected to find if she walked into any random building, but that was about it. An elderly griffon sat behind a desk, and seemed surprised to see her.

“I’m looking for local family information,” said Twilight, walking up to the desk.

“That’ll be five bits.”

Twilight frowned. “Isn’t this a public library?”

“I’ve got to get paid.”

“But isn’t this a public library with salaries for employees?”

“Yes. But I’ve got to get paid.”

Twilight sighed. One of her books said griffons were like this. She put the money on the desk.

The librarian put a large, dusty book in front of her that seemed to be older than dirt, and also full of it. The cover creaked open just like the library door and dust poured out.

Twilight spent a few minutes searching. Her pulse quickened when she found the first name. She glumly glanced at the rest of the book, not even being a quarter of the way through. This was going to take a while.

She started to turn the page, but then blinked in surprise. There was the second name, just one line down from the first. Brothers? She traced the line between the two of them back. There was a third sibling, named Gilda.

“Do you know where Gilda lives?” Twilight asked the librarian.

“No.”

“Do you know anypony who might?”

“Five bits.”

Twilight paid.

“No.”

Twilight sighed in exasperation and closed the book. On her way out of the library, she transmitted Gilda’s name to Spike, and had him push it to the others.

After a few minutes, there was a reply. Fluttershy says they have an address for Gilda.

Oh really?

Rainbow doesn’t think it’s accurate, though.

Well, give it to me and we can see for ourselves. Twilight paused. Why doesn’t Rainbow think it’s accurate?

Don’t know. She heard the shrug in his voice. I asked.

Twilight followed the directions and came to a small house with a thatched roof that looked much like every other one on the block. With an unspoken look between them, Spike flew around back to get a view through the windows. Watching, Twilight didn’t see anything to indicate that anypony was home. She still knocked on the door, though.

There was no answer, but just then Rainbow showed up, followed distantly by Fluttershy.

“I don’t think she’s here,” Rainbow blurted.

“She probably isn’t,” Twilight replied. “Do you know where she is?”

“Nope.” Rainbow shook her head.

“Hey girls,” said Spike, coming down to them. “Pinkie says she has a lead.”

The group of them met back up at the train station. Pinkie explained what she had learned, once she’d been given Gilda’s name.

“She sells scones, and because everygriff hates each other, the scone shop always did their best to keep track of their rivals. They said she was headed towards Ponyville.”

The others traded looks.

“Did they say why?” Twilight asked.

“No, but apparently she’s always off to every corner of Equestria for weird ingredients and yet never sells many scones.”

“Can we get a message to Applejack?” said Twilight, looking at Spike.

“No, she left the network,” he said, tapping the side of his head. “I’m not sure I could reach her from this distance anyway.”

Their train car had been dropped off on a siding near the station when they arrived. They got the train company to hook it to the next train bound for Ponyville.

The trip would be another long ride, getting them there after dark. Night and Ponyville was a combination Twilight was not looking forward to with enthusiasm. She distracted herself on the trip by puzzling through a few details. Why had Rainbow reacted to Gilda? It hadn’t even seemed subversive to get back at Twilight for their altercation that morning. She glanced down the length of the car, but Rainbow appeared asleep. Twilight decided to ask her later.

Applejack sat on the back porch, drinking cider and listening to the crickets chirp. She stared at the darkness, rocking in an old chair that used to be her Granny’s, the slow creak-creak of wood on wood rhythmic and soothing.

It was good for thinking, though she rarely did much. Mostly it was just good. She took another sip.

Something had been poking at the back of her mind all day. She hadn’t figured out what it was yet. Something forgotten, maybe. A change in the weather? Maybe she was coming down with something.

Applejack let her thoughts drift that way. She considered it, but didn’t push it. Whatever it was would come eventually, and she would deal with it then.

She abruptly stopped rocking. In the silence, she realized...well, the silence. The crickets had stopped.

A different feeling slowly slid up her spine, prickling the back of her head. No, Applejack decided, it was the same feeling, just stronger.

She got up and drained her glass. She went into the kitchen to wash it, but didn’t turn on the lights. After setting the glass to dry, she went back out on the porch.

Leaning against one of the support beams at the edge of the porch, she stared at the darkness again, looking out towards the trees of the Everfree. She still didn’t know exactly what some part of her senses had picked up, or what it was telling her, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was something just plain evil.

What it was remained to be seen. Though it didn’t much matter. Applejack took out her knife and stepped off the porch, heading for the forest.

Stepping off the platform, Twilight cast a wary eye on the darkened homes of Ponyville. There was something comforting about the town still standing, having endured the forces of evil that nearly tore apart all of Equestria. She was even grateful that it was too dark to see the scars in the earth.

That wasn’t quite enough to get over her apprehensiveness, though. Better to be doing something about it.

“Alright everypony, we need to find Gilda. This far south in Equestria, griffons are rare, so she shouldn’t be difficult to spot, though maybe she’s already turned in for the night. Check public spaces, any place still open, and the hotel.”

The others began to break off into groups. Twilight called out, “Rainbow, can I talk to you?”

There was no place to get away from the crowd, so Twilight just kept her voice low as Rainbow came over. “Do you know something about Gilda?”

Rainbow paused, unwilling, but said, “We went to flight school together. That’s been more than ten years ago now.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you.” Though she wished Rainbow would have volunteered the information. She also wondered about Rainbow’s comment regarding Gilda’s address.

The group split up. Twilight was with Spike again. They made a sweep through the public spaces of town. There were a few new buildings, and a few under construction. Twilight walked through the town square, with its fountain. Late as it was, only a few ponies were out.

Twilight was just turning down the next street when Soarin’ descended beside her. “I think we’ve got her. Follow me.”

Twilight quickened her pace, while still appearing nonchalant. A couple of blocks away, she spotted a griffon, down near where the street ended.

Spike, take the other side.

She watched as he skirted the rooftops, slowly circling around. From down a different street came Rainbow and Fluttershy, with Spitfire. When they had linked up with Twilight, Spitfire flew off to get Pinkie and Rarity.

Gilda, if that’s who it was, seemed to be waiting. Spike showed the rest how she was shifting her feet and grumbling to herself. The houses in this part of town had been literally crushed under some enormous elephant-looking creature of shadow, if Twilight remembered correctly, and were only now in the midst of rebuilding. At night, the bare skeletons of wood sat empty and dark.

Twilight spotted some movement in the darkness. A hooded figure emerged, from the direction of the Everfree Forest, she noticed. They were pony-shaped and had an odd gait, but Twilight couldn’t tell anything else about them from under their cloak.

“There you are,” Gilda snapped as the unknown visitor approached. “Why do you only ever want to meet here, on this end of this one dinky town?”

The reply from under the cloak was vaguely female, but mostly overlaid with the sound of a cement mixer churning gravel. “We both serve the Commander.”

“I just lost both my brothers to the Elements,” Gilda snarled. “What’s the Commander done for you lately? If you could have done something, why weren’t you there?”

“Do you have the ingredients?”

Gilda’s hackles went up at being ignored, but she handed over a bag. Her conversation partner abruptly turned and began to walk away.

The others weren’t here yet, but whoever the cloaked figure was had started to leave. Gilda would probably not hang around long, either. It was time to act.

“Rainbow, Fluttershy, get after that pony. Soarin’, we’re going after Gilda.” Twilight transformed and started down the street at a trot. “Hey, Gilda!”

“You!” Gilda roared upon spotting Twilight.

“I want to ask you a few questions,” said Twilight. But Gilda had already charged.

Knowing what her brothers could do, Twilight was prepared with a shield. Gilda didn't hesitate to close the distance, her talons raked off the shield as she tried to claw her way over it. Soarin’ dove at her from above, keeping her back.

Gilda came at Twilight again. She grabbed something in her palm and slammed it forward, hammering against Twilight’s shield. It must have been a small explosive, because the concussion started Twilight’s ears ringing and put a crack in her shield, despite not seeming to hurt Gilda in the contact. Simultaneously, she reached forward for Twilight’s face with her other foreleg, leading with talons.

Twilight got her head back in time, swinging her sword and cutting the tips off Gilda’s talons. It didn’t hurt her, but it definitely inhibited her fighting style. Pressing her advantage, Twilight reversed her sword and cracked Gilda between the eyes with the pommel.

She should have expected Gilda to be hardheaded, as it only shook her, but didn’t put her on the ground. Gilda grabbed something else and threw it to the ground, smoke filling the air.

Soarin’ gained altitude to keep out of it. Gilda emerged from the cloud of the smoke bomb, using it to buy time and space. She spotted an unassuming unicorn coming around the corner of one of the buildings and seized her by the throat, lifting her into the air. Soarin’ leveled his crossbow, but held back to avoid hitting the hostage.

“Don’t come any closer,” warned Gilda, hovering across from him. “Turn around and leave, or I’ll kill her.”

“That’s what I was waiting to hear,” said Twilight. Gilda jerked in surprise at the mare she didn’t recognize suddenly transforming into an Element, but didn’t have time to react. Twilight’s sword cut off the talons Gilda still had, and the foreleg along with them, releasing Twilight’s throat. The next slice took her wing.

Twilight kicked off Gilda, landing on the ground a few feet away. Gilda fell in a heap, the breath and fight taken from her. Blood began to pool.

“Um…” said Fluttershy.

Twilight glanced up at her, as she hovered over the scene, and then looked after the hooded figure who had switched to a run upon noticing Twilight’s fight with Gilda. Twilight glanced back through the dissipating smoke and saw Rainbow still standing where she had been.

“What is wrong with you!?” Twilight shouted at her. New plan. “Fluttershy, take care of Gilda. Soarin’, come with me.” Twilight charged into the darkness after the vanishing cloak.

Rainbow turned and sat down heavily with her back to a half-finished house’s foundation, breathing hard though she hadn’t even been walking in the last few minutes. After a long minute, hoofsteps approached, and Fluttershy came into view. “Are you okay?”

Rainbow swallowed. “Y...yes.”

“You don’t look okay. What’s wrong?”

Rainbow met Fluttershy’s eyes. “I know her.”

“Gilda?” said Fluttershy. She glanced back down the street. When she looked back to Rainbow, her expression had softened. “She’s alive.”

Rainbow let out a breath and leaned her head back, staring at the starry sky.

“Is she important to you?”

“I met her at flight school, even before I knew you. She’s basically my first friend, but I haven’t seen her in years. I didn’t know what happened to her.”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably. “I think Twilight didn’t kill her so that we could find out what she knows.”

“What if she…” Rainbow gulped. She looked at Fluttershy again. “I don’t know if I can face Gilda again. I feel like I abandoned her, and then she got involved in whatever this is. It’s...it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Fluttershy.

“What if I have to prove it? What if...she needs to be interrogated? Persuaded. I don’t know if I could do that to her, but I know her, so I might have to-”

“I’ll do it,” said Fluttershy.

“What?”

“I know this is hard for you. I know you’re not used to feeling this way. But I’m here to help you, Rainbow. You’re my friend. And if that means interrogating Gilda, I’ll do it.”

Rainbow closed her eyes and her forehead dropped to Fluttershy’s chest. “I-I can’t believe…”

Fluttershy put her hoof on the side of Rainbow’s face. They stayed like that for a few seconds.

There was a small sound from down the street. Fluttershy’s head turned. She gently lifted Rainbow’s head. “I’ll be right back. I think I didn’t use enough anesthetic. Will you be alright?”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow. “Thanks.”

Fluttershy walked away, pulling out a syringe. Rainbow didn’t watch.

As Twilight left town with Soarin’, racing after the cloaked figure who had met with Gilda, she saw Spitfire come in from the sky to join them, leading Rarity and Pinkie. Good. Looking ahead, she saw the looming trees of the Everfree. Without knowing who - or what - they were after, Twilight much preferred to keep the fight out in the open. “Soarin’, take them down!”

Soarin’ aimed his crossbow and fired, the bolt going through the thigh area of their target. Amazingly, it stuck in something, but the enemy wasn’t slowed in the slightest. To be fair, with their shambling gait, it was hard to tell.

Over their shoulder, and with barely a look, the cloaked figure threw a glass vial. Twilight swatted it away with her sword. The glass broke, the green liquid inside sizzling off the enchanted steel.

“Shall we use something a little bigger?” called Rarity, hefting her lance.

Skewering somepony with a javelin was generally counterproductive to leaving them in a state where they could talk, but as the trees got closer, Twilight replied, “Do it!”

Rarity hurled it forward. She made a good throw, and the lance came came down at an angle, spearing through the cloaked figure from the lower back to the chest.

And it didn’t stop them.

Pinkie had started to draw one of her katanas, but put it back. “Well, I’m out of ideas.”

Twilight readied herself for a spell, but up ahead somepony appeared out of the forest. The scythe...Applejack?

The running target veered away as Applejack emerged from the trees. Applejack seemed surprised to see the rest of them, but fell in pace as they came by.

“No idea what we’re up against,” said Twilight, dropping the greeting to save time.

“No idea,” said Applejack. “But trust me, nothin’ good.”

Twilight realized that if they went much further, they would run into the Apple farm. She charged her horn and let the blast go just as the front gate came into view.

Her aim was true and it knocked the target off their hooves and right over the fence. Everypony crowded through the gate and had set up in a circle around their quarry by the time they got up. Twilight lit her horn to give the group some light.

“Right, give me that back,” said Rarity, starting forward. She tugged at her lance with magic, still stuck.

Surrounded, the figure in the cloak had no choice but to go on the offensive. It lashed forward at Rarity, hood falling back to reveal a decaying grey coat and the remains of a striped mane, eyes nothing but a mass of wispy black, like shadows made whole.

“What is that, a zebra?” said Twilight.

“Was, more like,” growled Applejack.

“Some kind of lich held together with magic?” Pinkie put in.

Rarity had blocked the decaying zebra’s first attack with her shield, but reaching for her lance left her foreleg exposed, even encased in armor as it was. The zebra’s hooves clanged off it, but when she opened her mouth, shadows poured out in the shape of fangs and snapped shut.

Rarity screamed and swung her shield around, knocking the zebra over. She stumbled back, limping on her foreleg, even though the armor was intact.

Twilight readied one of her force spells, but tendrils of shadow began to pour off the zebra as she stood up. Closer to Applejack’s house, something began to rise from the ground.

Spitfire and Soarin’, with a height advantage from hovering over the scene, were the first to realize what had happened and began to frantically fire crossbow bolts in that direction. Stumbling into the light of the circle, Twilight realized to her horror, were the dead-and-previously-buried remains of Applejack’s family.

Applejack let out a strangled cry, too emotional and enraged to put words to it, and charged forward. She swung her scythe with such force that it lopped off one of the zebra’s forelegs and still had enough momentum to dig a furrow as deep as the blade in the gravel path, throwing off sparks.

The zebra leaped forward, grabbing onto Applejack. The point of Rarity’s lance, still stuck in her body, stabbed into Applejack’s side and the zebra opened her rotting mouth, aiming for Applejack’s neck.

Twilight hammered the zebra with a force spell that tore her away from Applejack and slammed her into an apple tree a hundred feet away, showering her with fruit shaken off. Twilight’s next spell lit aflame the approaching bodies of Applejack’s family, risen from their graves.

That seemed to do the trick, at least. Encouraged, Twilight ran towards where the zebra was just getting up. Somehow, despite all the punishment her dead body had endured, some shadow magic still powered it.

But not for much longer. Twilight fired another flame spell, lighting up the zebra and the tree behind her. And this time, the attack actually had an effect.

There was some sort of otherworldly groan as the zebra raised her head. The shadows they’d seen before poured out of her nose and mouth, rising into the sky. In a flash of inspiration, Twilight conjured up a large, magically-reinforced glass jar and a focused whirlwind, shoving the substance inside and capping the jar. Whatever it was seemed to have much less power when without a body.

The zebra fell over as she continued to burn. Her eyes, no longer clouded with shadows, were milky and septic, but they focused on Twilight and her mouth seemed to briefly smile. “From this shadow, I could not flee; thank you, Element, for releasing me.”

The fire took the rest of her.

Twilight turned, keeping the jarred shadow where she could see it. Applejack sat on the ground in stunned silence, ignoring the bleeding wound in her side. Rarity was hyperventilating and holding her foreleg, upon which a bite mark had appeared, the shadow apparently able to phase through metal armor. Pinkie had come over and was casting worried glances at them both, but seemed hesitant to touch either. Spitfire and Soarin’ kept a respectful distance but close watch on the other burning bodies.

Spike, we need Fluttershy!

Already on it!

Twilight hurried over. Applejack got up slowly, looking down at her scythe buried in the ground and then over to the nearest fires. Spitfire and Soarin’ inconspicuously moved sideways in front of them.

Applejack looked at Twilight and blinked a couple of times. “So I see you’re back with the group.”

That wasn’t the important thing right now, but Twilight nodded. “That’s right.”

Applejack looked at the fire again, and then back to her. “Well, I reckon I’ll come on up to Canterlot. There ain’t nothing left for me here anymore.”

CH8: Facing Yourself

Gilda inhaled sharply as she awoke. Fluttershy had already removed the needle of stimulant and stood behind her.

With the limbs Twilight’s sword had cut off, it had been more difficult to restrain Gilda. Fluttershy had managed by wrapping her from head to tail in gauze around an old chair that should have been discarded ages ago. There was no use using a nice one for this.

Gilda tried to turn her head. Not that she would have seen anything but more of the bare concrete walls. Fluttershy took a step forward, letting her shadow fall over Gilda.

“Who’s there?” Gilda jerked, but couldn’t move.

Fluttershy, in her Element transformation, walked around, stopping in front of Gilda. “Do you know who I am?”

“The Element of Kindness.” There may have been relief in Gilda’s eyes.

Fluttershy leaned forward. The single lightbulb on the ceiling glinted on the row of needles strapped across her chest and left her eyes shadowed as her head came closer to Gilda’s. “The Element of Loyalty tells me that you know each other.”

“Rainbow Dash? Where is she?”

“She didn’t want to see you.” Fluttershy turned away, walking around behind Gilda again.

“I want to talk to her!”

Fluttershy’s face appeared, leaning over Gilda’s shoulder, their eyes only inches apart. “She doesn’t. Want to talk. To you.”

Fluttershy pulled back. Gilda tried to move her head again. “Where am I?”

“The place where we take people we don’t like. The ones that live, anyway.”

“What did you do to me?” There was a rise in Gilda’s voice. Last night was coming back to her.

“What do you remember?”

Gilda’s beak opened, but then she closed it again. “I’m not saying anything to you.”

“What about just the highlights?” Fluttershy touched her gently on the shoulder and slowly moved downwards. Gilda jerked as her hoof ran over the stub of Gilda’s wing and again when Fluttershy reached her amputated foreleg.

Fluttershy pulled back abruptly and turned to grab a plastic cooler. She dragged it around in front of Gilda, scraping on the floor. She opened the lid, presenting Gilda with her own severed limbs, packed in ice.

“I could probably still reattach them,” said Fluttershy. She closed the lid, and looked at Gilda.

Gilda looked away, as much as she could with the bindings. “You ponies are all so self-righteous, but you’re just like anyone else.”

“I know,” said Fluttershy. She sat down on the cooler. “With as many friends as I’ve watched die, I realized that virtue only affects how you’re remembered. It doesn’t save you in life. I’m the Element of Kindness, but have you ever heard the expression ‘killed by kindness?’ I don’t mean to make a pun. This isn’t funny. Life isn’t supposed to be this way. But you know that, don’t you?”

It was strange how interrogation was a two way street. It was the only place Fluttershy could tell someone how she really felt. Things that she couldn’t tell Rainbow. Fluttershy had to be strong for her, to be Rainbow’s rock and immortal friend.

But Gilda started talking, so Fluttershy didn’t have to spill out any more of her soul that day.

Applejack had ignored the sunlight on her eyelids for too long. When she could roll over no longer, she sat up.

Twilight’s living room was sparse, but cast in cheerful tones with sunlit windows. It figured for the favorite student of Celestia.

Applejack had insisted on the couch, even though Twilight had offered her the bed. She knew that nothing would be as comfortable as her hay-stuffed mattress in her own bedroom, so it didn’t really matter where she slept. She was already missing home.

Well, no, not if she was being honest.

Applejack sighed and stood up to stretch. Some Element of Honesty she had been. Talking to dead bodies? They were gone, but she hadn’t let them go. And somehow it had taken evil magic making their flesh literally come back out of the grave to drive that home.

She grit her teeth at flashbacks of last night. Her hide had healed, but not her mind. Why had she agreed to this again?

Was a clean break better? Applejack turned around and moved the curtain aside. Canterlot was stone and glass. They said a long journey began with a single step, but she was already feeling pretty far away.

Applejack sat back down, head in hooves. She was still there ten minutes later when Twilight came out of the bedroom. It was a Saturday, so the café wasn’t opening until later.

“Good morning.”

“Mornin.’”

“Coffee?”

“Nah.”

Twilight sat down across from her. Applejack raised her head.

“How are you this morning?” Twilight asked. Not a casual greeting, a direct question.

“Had better. Had worse,” Applejack replied after a moment.

“We should get you down to the shop and briefed up,” said Twilight. She glanced at the clock. “Maybe Fluttershy’s done with Gilda now.”

Applejack nodded, looking at the floor.

“I think I recognize your look,” said Twilight. “It’s a lot to reorient yourself to.”

“How did you deal with it?” Applejack asked.

“Still dealing with it. Having a sense of purpose helps. So does having somepony to talk to that has a shared experience. I’m getting better.” Twilight glanced away. “But if I can be honest with you for a moment, I still feel like I’m a wreck held together by a thin shell.”

“We’re all wrecks, sugarcube. We just get on with it.”

“Well thanks for telling me my feelings don’t matter,” Twilight huffed.

“Not what I said. Your feelings don’t matter to nopony but you, but who else should they matter to?” Applejack took a deep breath. If she said it, maybe she could believe it.

“I guess,” said Twilight. “I’d be happier if I could let it go, but then...I wouldn’t be me.”

Applejack nodded. She breathed out and stood up. “Well, let’s get going.”

Down at the shop, Cadance was going over what Fluttershy had learned. The two of them sat behind the counter, as the place was empty of customers. A copy of the newspaper lay on the counter, the front page devoid of any news of the Elements of what had transpired in Ponyville. Celestia was apparently being careful about what information she parceled out.

“The Commander,” Cadance mused.

“Gilda didn’t know who they were,” Fluttershy explained. That’s just what they called themselves in instructions, but the two of them had never met.”

“I’ll have one of our contacts clean out Gilda’s house and check for anything else useful,” said Cadance. “I hope there’s something of value there, but as careful as this Commander seems to be, I’m not sure Gilda is in possession of anything else useful.”

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment before asking, “What would you like to do with Gilda?”

“Leave her for now. I’ll have Twilight do a memory charm on her and we’ll drop her off at a max security Guard prison under an assumed name and crime.”

Speaking of, Twilight came through the front door just then, leading Applejack.

“Ma’am,” said Applejack, taking off her hat.

“Don’t call me that,” said Cadance. She put her hoof out and in a different tone of voice, she said, “It’s been awhile.”

Applejack bumped Cadance’s hoof and put her hat back on. “I reckon it has.”

“We’ll have to discuss how we’ll utilize your talents,” said Cadance.

While they talked, Twilight had disappeared into the back room to put on her uniform. Applejack stared at it as she came back out, shifting her glance to Cadance and Fluttershy, also in uniform.

Twilight said, “Girls, I wanted to talk to you about a proposal I have to capture data and increase our collective knowledge of the operations we’ve run. If everypony writes a detailed report after every engagement, we can build them into a library of information that could help us learn and be more prepared in the future.”

Twilight was taking her leadership role seriously, Cadance noted.

“Writing reports?” said Applejack. “If you were there too, why does it matter?”

“Because everypony might have experienced something different,” Twilight said. “That’s the point. We all need to learn from each other.”

Just then, the door opened and Rarity came in. “Oh there you are, Applejack. Try this on.”

Applejack stared at the identical frilly waitress uniform Rarity had brought and said dryly, “Can I wear my hat with it?”

Pinkie popped out of the kitchen. “That’s a great idea! Cadance, we should all get to wear funny hats. Also, hey Applejack. While you’re here, can I get your apple pie recipe?”

“My hat ain’t funny.”

“If you insist on it, I can get you one that matches the outfit,” said Rarity. “In fact, I think I should get started. It will help me keep my mind off how I was bitten by a zombie.”

“Technically, it was a nebulous shadow being possessing and animating the dead body of a poor zebra,” said Twilight.

“That just makes it worse!” Rarity exclaimed.

“You’re fine,” said Fluttershy.

Rarity sniffed. “If you say so, darling. But...a zombie. So undignified.”

Applejack’s jaw had tightened up through this exchange. Rarity noticed. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She put her hoof on Applejack’s foreleg. “That was insensitive of me.”

“It’s fine,” Applejack muttered.

Rarity opened her mouth again, but the rest of her apology was cut off by Rainbow kicking the door open and stomping in. She pointed her hoof at Twilight. “You lied to me!”

“...not that I recall,” said Twilight.

“You said you got rid of those friends of yours from school.”

Twilight’s confusion changed to annoyance. “I did. After I wiped their memories of the Trixie incident, I wrote them letters about how I had to leave.”

“Then why did I see you with them in the park twenty minutes ago!?”

“That’s ridiculous,” said Twilight. “Twenty minutes ago, I was at my place.”

“With me,” Applejack put in. She tilted her head at Rainbow. “Though I don’t reckon you’d be so stirred up if you didn’t see somethin.’”

“But...it looked like Twilight!” Rainbow said.

Twilight traded a look with Cadance. She turned to Rainbow. “Which park?”

“Okay, I have to admit, sometimes this egghead stuff is really cool,” said Lyra.

Moon Dancer smiled as she set up the model rocket. “I’ll keep that in mind, for the next time I need your help.”

They’d set up in Canterlot Central Park. The area was a no pegasus flying zone, which was intended to make it a place where foals could fly their kites, though there was nopony around this early in the morning. Moon Dancer had been sure to check with park management about the rocket.

Twilight seemed to catch some of Lyra’s enthusiasm. She’d undergone a change recently, becoming more distant. Moon Dancer wasn’t sure why, but Twilight becoming more distant only meant she was back to her usual transfer-student level. And anyway, it wasn’t like Moon Dancer was uncomfortable with introversion.

“Beg your pardon, girls.”

The three of them turned. Moon Dancer’s jaw dropped. Lyra sucked in a huge gasp. The Elements of Magic and Honesty stood before them.

“I was hoping I could talk to Twilight,” said Magic. Twilight’s eyes, already huge in surprise, somehow got bigger.

“Whoa! What about?” said Lyra.

“I’m afraid that’s a rather private matter, but this won’t take long.” Magic put her foreleg around Twilight’s withers and guided her away, towards a clump of tall bushes.

Moon Dancer and Lyra turned back to look at Honesty.

“The Element of Honesty,” Lyra gushed. “I didn’t know you were back. First Magic comes back - this is the second time I’ve seen her in person! - and now you. This is so cool!”

“What does the Element of Magic want with Twilight?” Moon Dancer asked.

“Like she said,” Honestly replied. “It’s a subject just for them, so they’d probably rather you didn’t ask. Or mention it to anypony else.”

“I just love your accent,” said Lyra.

“I ain’t got no accent.”

Lyra continued to grin.

“I’m just having a hard time processing this,” said Moon Dancer. “I know you just said we shouldn’t ask, but I feel like my brain’s seized up.”

“What if it’s related to that hydra attack in Baltimare?” Lyra said. “Twilight wasn’t with us, so maybe she saw something different.”

“Maybe,” said Honesty.

As soon as Twilight and the imposter Twilight were out of sight of the others, she cast a bubble of silence and then turned nose to nose to her doppleganger. “You aren’t Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”

“W-what are you talking about? Who else would I be?” the fake Twilight said, with a little too much desperation and not enough conviction.

“Look, I try to be a reasonable pony,” said Twilight. “But I’m not even the Element of Honesty and I know you’re lying to me. My patience is getting a little thin, so if you don’t tell me your secrets, I’m going to light you up like a Hearth’s Warming tree.”

Not-Twilight winced. She took a step back and closed her eyes. A flash of green flame around her body revealed a different one underneath.

When it came to imposters, a changeling didn’t surprise Twilight too much. But this didn’t seem to be any ordinary changeling. She was the tallest Twilight had ever seen.

“I am Chrysalis, Queen of the changelings.”

“Why is somepony like you impersonating a high school student?”

“I have my reasons.”

Twilight stared at her flatly. Her horn crackled with magic.

“Okay! I agreed to do it in exchange for love for my hive.”

“Who did you make the agreement with?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never met them. They call themselves the Commander.”

Interesting. Twilight asked, “Where do they get the love?”

“There’s a village up north, but to stay there, we have to do anything the Commander wants. Or...else.” Chrysalis looked away.

Twilight stared at her for several seconds, thinking. “Go back to those two fillies. We wouldn’t want to make them suspicious. But, I want you to meet me back here tonight at ten p.m. We’re going to have a long talk. Maybe I can help you.”

Chrysalis nodded and turned back into a purple schoolfilly with a flash of green magic. So weird to see such an exact replica of herself, thought Twilight. How had Chrysalis even known how to get the details so perfect?

She started to go, but Twilight held up a hoof. “And Chrysalis? Don’t tell anypony. It could mean your life.”

Chrysalis nodded soberly and walked with Twilight back to Moon Dancer and Lyra.

After talking with Applejack, they think you wanted to ask “Twilight” about what happened in Baltimare, Spike helpfully provided.

“Okay girls, thanks for lending me your friend,” said Twilight. “I just wanted to ask about Baltimare.”

Moon Dancer seemed satisfied with that explanation. Lyra’s head was nodding as if on a spring. Such a fangirl. Twilight realized she missed them both. She wished she could drop the disguise for a moment and just say hello or something. So close to them, yet so far.

Twilight looked at the model rocket on its launchpad. “Oh hey, is that a Nestes Skygyro with twin-stage C engines?”

“Ye-yes,” said Moon Dancer.

“That’s a nice rocket. You should be able to get almost to the height of the first tower of the castle.” Twilight pointed up the alabaster castle on the mountainside. “The prevailing winds get a little unpredictable up there, though.”

Regrettably, there was no time to continue the conversation. “Well, we need to go,” said Twilight. “Be good,” She tossed a quick glance at Chrysalis. Lighting up her horn, she teleported away with Applejack.

“She’s so cool,” whispered Moon Dancer.

Back at the shop, the group of them met to go over what they had learned so far. From the outside, it may have looked like a staff meeting at a café - which it technically was - but Equestria’s fate might hinge on this a little bit more than that time another dessert shop had run out of Celestia’s favorite cake.

“It definitely looks as if this new wave of evil keeps getting deeper and deeper,” said Twilight. “We’ve now had three separate sources claim knowledge of some ‘Commander.’ While we didn’t get a chance to ask Trixie, it seems more and more likely that somepony pointed her at me.”

“The changeling angle is interesting. We’ve occasionally encountered them around before, as infiltrators, but never seen their organization. If Chrysalis is telling the truth, they’re employed by the Commander.”

“I can’t believe you let her go,” said Rainbow.

Twilight shouldn’t have, she reluctantly admitted. “If we can get information out of her before her boss finds out, we’ll be ahead. The best way to do that was let Chrysalis keep her cover. Er, as me.”

“I also can’t believe you’re making us write reports!” said Rainbow.

“Intel drives ops,” Twilight reminded her. “After the ops, you write the report, thereby consolidating what we learned.” She looked around at the rest. “I’m serious, by the way. I expect written reports from you all, regularly.”

Over their grumbling, Twilight said, “But in the meantime, back to the matter at hoof, Chrysalis.”

“She could have set a trap,” said Rarity. “Either Chrysalis pretended to be you to see if your school friends knew anything, or she pretended to be you reasoning that you’d eventually show up to confront her.”

“I have Spike keeping an eye on her until tonight,” said Twilight. “But it would be a good idea for a group of us to go together to meet her.”

Rarity looked off into space for a moment. Twilight realized she must be connecting to Spike. “Oh, I see her.”

“Do you still use Spike to see how your own flank looks in a dress?” Applejack asked.

“He’s happy to do it. Plus, in armor, my helmet obstructs my peripheral vision. ” Rarity turned to Twilight, away from Spike’s view of Chrysalis. “That’s a rather unflattering depiction of you, darling.”

Twilight, who thought it had been scarily accurate, said, “I’ve never really thought much about disguises.”

“We all have built-in disguises with the Elements,” Pinkie pointed out.

“Yes, but if it weren’t for the glamour, it wouldn’t work very well. Or at least mine wouldn’t. I mean-” Twilight transformed “-what kind of illogical magic is this? Why would it give me this fetishistic schoolfilly outfit as a combat uniform!? I know the magic chooses for you, but sometimes I really wish I could have picked the clothes too. At least Rarity’s is practical armor.”

“Practical. I didn’t get a choice either,” Rarity reminded her.

“Didn’t you say Princess Celestia was the original Element?” said Rainbow. “What’s hers like?”

“Still kind of a sunny theme, just...moreso,” said Twilight. “Fire. Again, practical armor.” She rolled her eyes and changed back.

“I wonder what Daring Do would be like as an Element,” said Rainbow, crossing her hooves behind her head and leaning back in her chair. “You think I could make her into an Element? I wonder what she would be, the Element of Adventure?”

“That seems like a really bad idea,” said Twilight. She looked around. “Can we make this a rule: no more new Elements? At least not unless we all agree on them. We don’t have a training program and I don’t want some rookie getting killed on my conscience.”

“I think that would be wise,” said Cadance.

The oven timer dinged.

“Pie’s done!” said Pinkie.

Author's Note

Source

CH9: Arson and Mall Crawling

Twilight sat on a park bench beneath a street light and read Northern Equestria Geography volume 2. The sun was down, but she wasn’t in any hurry to get home. With her current priorities, it was mildly remarkable the things that didn’t bother her anymore. No parents to impose a curfew. She didn’t even think about getting mugged.

She’s here, noted Spike. He was somewhere high up in the night sky, carrying a pair of binoculars to survey the meeting area. Chrysalis had shown up after all.

Okay girls, thought Twilight, getting up from the bench. She glanced around, seeing nopony. If all the Elements had stuck to their plan, they should be in place around the park. Twilight focused, and teleported.

She was already in her Element guise when she arrived at the other end. It wasn’t the easiest thing to transform while simultaneously teleporting, but she wasn’t the Element of Magic for nothing.

Her book was gone, but she didn’t question it. The Element magic seemed to “store” whatever personal effects she had until she changed back. All the more reason Twilight was convinced that somepony had intentionally designed the magic that went into the Elements. Considering what else the magic did, such as the outfits, that pony must have also been insane.

Chrysalis jumped a little when Twilight arrived out of thin air. She was still wearing Twilight’s face, the real Twilight was cross to note, but put it out of her mind for the moment.

“I’m glad you came,” said Twilight.

“Are you really going to help me?” said Chrysalis.

“That depends on how much you help me.” Twilight glanced around pointedly. “Are you alone?”

“And who would have come with me? Part of being an infiltrator is that nopony knows.”

That wasn’t a straight answer, but Spike hadn’t identified anypony with Chrysalis and the other Elements were just a moment away. “Alright. Tell me everything you know about this so-called Commander.”

“They wield quite a bit of implied power,” said Chrysalis. “As I said, I’ve never met them, but considering who all they command, I should say they are powerful enough in their own right.”

“How do you communicate?”

“Cut-outs and go-betweens. Usually through the village.”

“You mentioned it before. Where is it?”

“It’s not on any map. Northeast of Canterlot, west of Manehattan, at the foot of the northern mountains.”

That was exactly why Twilight had been reading the geography book. She didn’t remember very many towns in that area, which likely made it a great place for a villain to lie low. “What’s it called?”

At this point, Chrysalis’ previous willingness to talk began to falter. “I don’t think it has a name. Everypony who lives there just calls it ‘our town.’ It’s...not natural. And this is coming from somepony who grew up in a cave.”

“What do you mean?”

Chrysalis hesitated. “Everypony has the exact same cutie mark. It’s an equals sign. They’re all equal.”

Twilight blinked. “What? How is that possible?”

“I wouldn’t know, changelings don’t have cutie marks. And aren’t you the Element of Magic?”

Twilight wanted to anchor on the topic and demand more information. How could an entire village have the exact same cutie mark? What kind of special talent was equality, anyway? But that wasn’t the most important thing here, she reminded herself. “You mentioned everypony the Commander commands. Who are they? Are they all the villagers?”

“Just as I haven’t met the Commander, I don’t know how far their network spreads.” Chrysalis smirked. “But I wouldn’t be Queen of the changelings if I didn’t have my own ways and means. I’ve heard whispers of the Commander through the underground. Dangerous magical items. Potions. Surviving fragments of Nightmare Moon’s army. Individuals with too much power and no cause.”

“Do you have any actual names?” Twilight prompted.

“They have a mayor that seems to manage things in the village. Many of the townsponies are actually my changelings, living there by arrangement to collect love. That gives me insight and ears to hear gossip.”

“So you must know of a few others, then.”

“Well, I’ve heard that a particular stage magician named Trixie recently started missing scheduled performances. Did you have anything to do with that?”

Twilight forced her face to remain impassive. Chrysalis smirked again. “There were a few magic-wielding griffons she had associated with. A hoofful of others.”

“Names?” Twilight stressed again.

“Your name isn’t ‘the Element of Magic,’” Chrysalis pointed out. “My name isn’t Twilight Sparkle. A name isn’t everything.”

“Well, what else have you given me so far?” said Twilight. “A town I still have to search for?”

“I think you’ll understand that I have to hedge my bets,” said Chrysalis. “And I can still get word to my changelings that you’re on the way.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Twilight snarled. “Don’t you trust the Elements?”

“I trust power,” said Chrysalis. “You may have defeated Nightmare Moon, but how many of your number did it cost? What have you done since then? I’m with the lot that is actually doing something.”

“Then why are you talking to me now?”

“Maybe I want to believe. You just haven’t convinced me yet.”

What could Twilight say? She could ask the girls via Spike, but she already knew how they would vote: probably half in favor of playing the game, and the other half in favor of caving in Chrysalis’ leering mug.

Doing something was better than doing nothing.

“What can I do to earn your trust?” Twilight asked.

Chrysalis may have been an underdog, and knew it, but she also knew when somepony was willing to come down to her level. She flashed that maddening grin again. “You just have to even the balance of power. Kill the Commander’s top enforcer.”

“Who is named…?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “I’m not giving you that. What I’m going to do instead is let slip that I know something about the Elements, but I’ll do you the favor of helping me choose what I say. The Commander’s lieutenant will find you, and you may even be able to influence where and when.”

This was going to require thought and planning. “I’ll get back to you,” Twilight decided.

“Don’t take too long.” Chrysalis gave her one last simpering smile and turned away.

Cadance came through the front gate at the castle often enough that the guards knew her. Well, recognized her assumed identity, anyway. She had written her own name on the list of those killed in action during the Battle of the Everfree, right beside Shining Armor.

Princess Celestia was waiting when Cadance came into her office. She had just lowered the sun and appeared to be finishing up some paperwork. Her mood appeared to improve considerably when she saw that Cadance had brought cake.

“Bringing Pinkie Pie on full time was an excellent decision,” said Celestia. “Though I’m sure there have been other benefits besides on-call baking.”

“Certainly,” said Cadance, setting the Café Cadenza gift box down on Celestia’s desk. “Though it’s been Twilight who has moved the group forward, as we hoped. In fact, they’re out tonight running an operation to move forward as we speak.”

“Would you like some?” Celestia asked, gesturing to the cake as she opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out two forks.

Cadance shook her head. “I’m in close proximity to Pinkie on a daily basis.”

Celestia touched a button on her intercom. “Sunset, come in here and have some delicious cake.”

Sunset appeared, looking at least as weary of a long day as Celestia. “What’s this about cake?”

“Pinkie Pie made it,” said Cadance.

“Well, if it’s half as good as the cake the Pinkie Pie in the other world makes, then count me in.” Sunset accepted a fork from Celestia, but waited until the Princess had taken the first bite.

“I’ve never been quite clear on how this other world works,” said Cadance. “Do I understand correctly that there are duplicates in personality between us here and the creatures in the other universe?”

Sunset nodded as she chewed. Swallowing, she said, “I think Cadance the human is a dean at a private academy.”

That didn’t sound so bad, Cadance thought. She wanted to ask about Shining Armor. She stopped herself.

“You said the group was moving forward?” Celestia prompted between bites.

Cadance nodded. “They discovered that Chrysalis, a Queen of changelings, was impersonating Twilight at school on orders from this mysterious Commander. They’ve gone to meet her and gain information. We think we have some leverage, but we’re waiting to see how the night plays out.”

Celestia frowned, even as she continued to eat cake. “It’s good to hear of the success, but I’m worried about the implications.”

“You have a country to run,” said Cadance. “Leave the worrying to me.”

“So you’ve always said. And in that case, Sunset has a proposal for you.” Celestia gestured.

“I wanted to help the Elements understand more about the other world,” said Sunset. “I know Twilight refused to consider exporting the magic, but you’ve been able to convince her of things before. I know she’s a mare of science, so she’s willing to change her opinions based on new information.”

“What are you suggesting?” Cadance said.

Sunset grew even more reluctant. “Well, I don’t know if she would agree to it...but I want to show her that world.”

“I’ll ask her,” said Cadance. “But you may want to think about how you sell it. Also, depending on how successful tonight is, we may have a lot on our plate.”

“As long as you can keep coming by with full plates,” Celestia said.

“I still don’t like it,” said Applejack as she and Twilight prepared for bed.

The group hadn’t had time to find Applejack her own place yet. For now, she was spending another night on Twilight’s couch.

“Chrysalis has information we need,” Twilight said.

“And between the group of us, I’m pretty sure we could get it out of her without playing any games.”

Twilight paused, shamed that she had actually considered it. “We’re better than that.”

“She is a criminal by Equestrian laws,” Applejack pointed out. “Not to mention what her changelings have done.”

“And what is torture? Chrysalis isn’t...well, evil. Not on the scale of Nightmare Moon. Not on the scale of anypony we’ve faced in the last week.”

“Can you afford bein’ such a white knight?” said Applejack. “Puns on Rarity aside, this is a war in everything but name, a war the public ain’t seen yet, but if we don’t do everything we can to solve this, they might.”

“What’s the alternative?” said Twilight. “We go survey Equestria until we find that village, and then fight and capture everypony there, some of whom are changelings? That could be dozens, or hundreds. If we work with Chrysalis, she can give us intel and get noncombatants out of the way.”

“She can also feed us a load of hooey and get us all killed.”

“I acknowledge your concern.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Sugarcube, I ain’t tryin’ to reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ if this goes sideways. I’m tryin’ to keep that from happenin.’ How many deaths do you want on your conscience?”

Twilight looked at her. “As many as it takes to save Equestria - which is a number we can choose. I didn’t become an Element wanting to kill anypony. I don’t want to kill anypony. I don’t want to throw friends’ lives away for a goal, either. When taking a life is the easiest way to do something, then we aren’t any better than evil, we’re just the ones in power.”

There was at least one lesson Twilight had taken from Chrysalis.

Applejack sighed. “You always could pull out the speeches when you needed to. Alright. But please, Twilight, don’t be contrary on everything just because you can. Evil’s evil and good’s good, but there’s a grey area in the middle we all live in. Sometimes you have to settle.”

“When you’re right, I wish you didn’t have to be so depressing about it.”

Spike headed back to his place beneath the eaves of Café Cadenza. It had been a productive night. While Chrysalis hadn’t spilled as many beans as they all hoped, it was a start.

He slipped through the peak vent of the building into the attic. The space below the roof was small, but he was a small guy - though he preferred the term “cozy” for both.

Spike liked to joke that his nest was an “open plan loft,” which was technically true. Though, as a spirit guide to the Elements of Harmony, he didn’t exactly get out much. Being a semietheral being composed primarily of magic, and being busy besides, there wasn’t a lot of dating going on. Well, that just meant more time for chilling.

His bed was a particularly nice dog mattress that Cadance had bought for him. His breakfast, lunch, and dinner were day-old pastries from the café, plus a handful of gems now and again that Rarity treated him. All in all, life was pretty good.

He lay down and pulled his blanket over him.

The building exploded.

Fluttershy jerked awake. Hard to miss a boom so loud it raddled her windows. She sat up in bed, turning to look at the skyline. A faint red glow rose between darkened buildings.

She threw off the covers and grabbed her first aid kit, and then flew out the window. Ponies from all around the city were at their windows, looking, trying to see what had happened. Most of them weren’t doing anything.

As Fluttershy got closer, a feeling of dread built in her stomach. It reached full crescendo as she arrived at the shop - or what was left of it.

A bystander or two were already there, but keeping their distance from the flaming wreckage. Fluttershy debated internally, but decided to leave her disguise off. No need to cast this as Element business, at least not yet.

She landed and brandished her medical kit. “Is anypony hurt?”

There were no replies from the onlookers, so she turned and trotted closer to the fire. “Hello?” she shouted into the flames. There could be nopony left alive in that inferno. Nopony.

Fluttershy saw a dark shape in the fire and continued around the corner of the building. Spike came stumbling out, blackened scales steaming in the cool night.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy gasped.

“Whaaat?” Spike replied. He shook his head, patting his ears. “What happened?”

“You would know better than me. Were you home at the time?” Fluttershy said.

“Sorry. My ears are still ringing,” Spike said, after making Fluttershy repeat herself. “But wow, this was the best time for me to be fireproof.”

He seemed to have cooled enough that Fluttershy could touch him gently with her hooves and she did a through examination, even through his protests that he was fine.

“Fluttershy? Spike?” It was Cadance, wearing a housecoat. She looked with incredulous eyes at the burning building. “What happened?”

“No idea,” said Spike. “I was just about to go to sleep when all of a sudden the place blew in. It was…” He frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “...blue.”

Cadance and Fluttershy traded glances. Cadance said, “We need to secure everything before the fire department arrives.” She looked at Spike.

He sighed and waded back into the fire.

Spike, if you have time, could you tell the girls what happened? Fluttershy asked him.

I could show them.

Morbidly curious, Fluttershy took a peek through Spike’s view. As fascinating as it was to see inside a fire, she decided that she was glad it was him, not her.

Spike made his way down into the basement. He paused at the heavy door to the storage room. The sturdy metal door was slightly open. Despite the fire, the surface was still intact, except for a circle around the lock which had slagged away. Spike looked into the room. Uh, the glass jar with that fragment of shadow we captured is broken, but wasn’t that guy flammable? A couple of things are missing, including that amulet Trixie had. I don’t think they burned up, though.

This was no accident, came Twilight’s voice over the group link. Apparently she was watching, too. They know who we are.

A wave of panic crashed through Fluttershy. Whoever had done this must know the shop was a front for the Element Warfare Development Group. And if they knew that, then it wasn’t unlikely they knew the Element’s real faces.

“We need to get out of here,” Fluttershy whispered.

The rest of us might not be safe at home, Twilight said grimly.

Sleepover party at the castle!

Pinkie! That’s...not a terrible idea.

The morning sunlight fell through the stained glass windows. Twilight blinked slowly, too comfortable to move from the huge, plush mattress. But then she remembered why she was there.

It wasn’t so much a sleepover as a pilgrimage. She and the others had grabbed what they could and headed for the castle in the middle of the night. Considering the situation, Celestia had been willing to put them up for the night.

Twilight had spent a lot of time at the castle. She used to go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. For a few years at least, she’d probably spent more time in the classroom and library than at her own home.

But she’d never lived at the castle. Waking up that morning in a bedroom in one of the castle towers that was the size of her old apartment, she decided that maybe she could get used to it.

Well, she better not. This was temporary, she reminded herself, until they found who was responsible for the attack. Slipping out of bed, Twilight left the room and headed downstairs to search out some breakfast. There were a few Royal Guards who remembered her from her time at school and she said hello. Fortunately, none of them asked what she was doing there. Twilight realized that she was going to have to craft a cover for her continued presence in the castle.

The loss of Café Cadenza was a significant setback. All the Element Warfare Development Group’s operatives were safe for now, but potentially compromised. The shop had been convenient as a base of operations. Based on what had been taken from the basement, and the limited details Spike could provide, it was clear that somepony had found them out.

Twilight was already mentally turning over how the information had leaked out. Rainbow was open about being an Element. Had somepony seen her? Or had it been Twilight herself? Chrysalis was impersonating Twilight as a high school student, but could it have been a coincidence and somepony saw the real Twilight working at the café? And how had Trixie gotten her information?

Twilight was still mentally designing an intelligence board with string connections to put up in her bedroom when she walked into the kitchen. She was derailed from that line of thought when she realized Sunset was already there.

The castle kitchen was primarily focused on preparing food for other dining rooms, but it did have a few small tables for busy castle staff who wanted to skip the formality. Sunset looked up as Twilight came in and gestured to the chair across from her. “Good morning.”

“Hello,” said Twilight, sitting down.

“We should talk,” said Sunset. “Not here, but when we’re done we can use my lab.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “You have your own laboratory? That’s interesting. I’d like to see it.”

Sunset flushed. “Well, Princess Celestia gives me a stipend and I pretty much have free rein to research just about anything. It’s become especially important since...well, you know.”

Twilight nodded, also unwilling to discuss secret matters in the kitchen. The two of them made small talk until they’d both eaten and then went back upstairs together.

Sunset’s lab was in the same tower as Princess Celestia’s office, which spoke to Twilight about how much the Princess valued her research. A pang of longing went through her. If it weren’t for the Elements, it could have been Twilight.

Sunset began unlocking the door, which was secured with a greater variety of locks and wards that Twilight had ever seen before.

“Wow, at this point, it might be easier for somepony to just go through the wall,” Twilight joked.

“We thought of that,” Sunset replied.

She opened the door and turned on the lights, but even in the darkness the circular room had been lit by all manner of strange gadgets and blinking devices. Twilight felt a slight wave of disorientation, the same as she would have experienced in a flea market or crowded junk shop, so many things to look at that her vision jumped erratically across the room.

Sunset walked over to a tall, elegant mirror that stood on a raised platform in the center of the room and was clearly the focus of research. Various wires and magical devices were attached to it or spread out behind it.

“So...this is it,” said Sunset. “The portal to the other dimension.”

“Oh my gosh,” said Twilight, any other thoughts about Sunset’s lab fleeting in the face of what lay before her. “How does it work? Does it go other places besides that one world? Did you make it?” She trotted over, her nerd brain kicking into high gear as she got a closeup look at the equipment attached to the mirror.

“Well, in order: lots of magic some of which we still don’t understand; maybe, though that will take more study; and I built the auxiliary equipment.”

This was the most interesting thing Twilight had ever seen. Despite her comments against exporting the Elements to the other world, that didn’t mean she wasn’t intensely interested in the implications of the technology and/or magic. Moon Dancer would love it.

Twilight forced herself back to strictly business. “If you only built the rest of the equipment, where did the mirror come from?”

“We recovered it from the old castle in the Everfree Forest,” said Sunset.

Twilight turned, and Sunset anticipated her next question. “We don’t know how Nightmare Moon may have used it. I personally don’t see any evidence that she did, or knew how. She’d been trapped in the moon for a thousand years, after all.”

“But whoever is causing this next wave of evil apparently does,” said Twilight.

“Maybe,” Sunset acknowledged. “But they don’t have access to the mirror, which is why we’ve seen evidence that they’re trying to connect the two universes in other ways.”

Twilight considered it. “Are you absolutely certain that the mirror is safe?”

“Yes.”

“Just like that? No doubts whatsoever?”

“We all have things we’re good at,” Sunset said. “I’m trusting you to find and end any threats to this mirror. Please trust me to keep it safe.”

“Alright,” Twilight said. “If the Princess trusts you, that’s good enough for me.”

“I would like to show you around, though,” said Sunset. “The other world, I mean. Just so you know what we’re fighting for.”

“You want to take me to another universe?”

“That’s right.”

There was no way Twilight could decline such an opportunity, but that didn’t make the decision easy, either. She fumbled. “Now?”

“Would you rather wait?”

“No.” Twilight stood up straighter. “Let’s do it.”

“Okay,” said Sunset, seemingly delighted, but doing her best to remain professional. She began tweaking various pieces of equipment around the mirror. Lights that hadn’t already been flashing began to blink.

Twilight tried to memorize what Sunset was doing, but knew it was hopeless without more understanding of the mirror. “Did the mirror work before you attached all these devices to it?”

“It did, though only once every thirty moons,” Sunset replied. “I’ve managed to make it a little more useful.”

The reflecting surface of the mirror seemed to ripple. Twilight could feel the magic radiating from it.

“I’ll meet you on the other side, okay?” said Sunset. She stepped up to the mirror, and then walked right through as if it were a doorway, not a solid surface. She merged with her reflection, and then was gone.

Hesitantly, Twilight followed her. She paused, reaching a hoof out, but it passed through the surface of the mirror without any feeling. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward.

Her eyes widened at a blast of color streaming past her, and then she was through. A sky and clouds and concrete greeted her on the other side. Twilight blinked and exhaled. She had eyes and could breathe. That was a good start.

A face came into view, though unlike any she had ever seen before. “It’s me.”

Sunset. Twilight could see some similarities, despite the sudden jolt in species. Sunset still had glasses, even. She put out a - hand - to Twilight who instinctively raised a similar appendage to take it. Sunset pulled her up to a bipedal position.

“Think minotaur, or I suppose ape would be more appropriate,” said Sunset.

Twilight wobbled but stayed upright as Sunset let go of her hand. She looked down and was surprised to realize she was wearing clothes. She touched what was clearly a blouse over a skirt. “Where did these come from?”

“The local custom is to be clothed at all times,” said Sunset. “Maybe the mirror makes the adjustment for what is ‘normal’ in each universe. Also, spontaneous clothing generation is something the Elements do, so it may be a related kind of magic.”

Twilight turned, realizing she was standing in front of a statue of a horse, which was in front of a large brick building. “Is this where the mirror is connected?”

“It’s fascinating how all the pieces of our universe are still there, but rearranged,” said Sunset. “For example, this is still the city of Canterlot, but the castle is now a high school and Princess Celestia is now Principal Celestia.”

Twilight looked at her in surprise. “That doesn’t make any sense. You’d think she’d be a little more important.”

“There’s a certain sense of scale, too,” said Sunset. “Celestia is the ruler of Equestria, from her castle. Celestia here is still the most important person around, from her position at a school. Crazier still, most of the ponies you’ll find in Equestria have counterparts that are students here.”

“But...what happens when they graduate?” Twilight asked. “Does time flow differently and four years of high school here is the same as an entire lifetime in Equestria? How-how long have we been gone in Equestria time!?”

“Relax,” said Sunset. “I haven’t figured out the why yet, but I do know that we’re fine. Understanding your concern, we don’t want to spend too much time here, but we aren’t going to come back months later in Equestria or anything. I have a theory that this school is like an analogue for Equestria, in that regular ponies pass through, while Celestia remains eternal. Speaking of time, we probably shouldn’t loiter in front of the school if we aren’t students. The mall is a good place to hang out. We’ll have a little fun, and I’ll show you more about this world.”

Twilight glanced at the school and let Sunset lead her away down the sidewalk. “If the citizens of Equestria have counterparts as students in this school does that mean I’m here?”

“I actually haven’t seen you,” said Sunset.

“What about you?”

“Me neither.” Sunset shrugged. “Not everypony is part of this school. It’s not exact. There are too many variables to solve.”

Twilight fell silent, concentrating on the world around her. There seemed to be a lot of electric lights. A few humans that she saw seemed to have small electronic devices. A few moved through the paved streets in vehicles that had no obvious source of power. “They have so much technology.”

She found herself falling into a rhythm on two legs. The magically-generated clothing seemed to fit well and even somewhat matched her native coloring. She tried to figure out why her blouse was blue, though. Perhaps the accenting color was required for appearance’s sake, to make her fit in with the humans and not be all a solid color.

Magic with a sense of fashion? Twilight grumped again, still quietly annoyed at her Element outfit.

She glanced at Sunset. Even with the apparent necessity for accent color, she was surprised how much black Sunset’s outfit incorporated. The jacket, especially. It had chevrons of Sunset’s original coat color, though the way they were incorporated made the jacket seem vaguely military.

Twilight and Sunset both seemed to have kept their mane coloring. Twilight brushed some in front of her face to be sure. She looked down at her new fingers in fascination. Spotting a can in the gutter, she reached out to it, but it didn’t come to her.

She stopped walking, frowning, and tried again. The can didn’t rise up to meet her like she willed it. “Sunset?”

Sunset stopped and turned. “Huh?”

“Is there not magic in this world?”

“No. Humans don’t have magic. Or wings, for that matter.”

Twilight looked at her sharply. Sunset tapped her own forehead, where there was clearly no horn.

“But you know, with that in mind, I’m actually really interested to see how your transformation works in this universe,” said Sunset, nodding to Twilight’s fountain pen, which she just now realized was perfectly intact and still tucked behind her now much smaller ear.

“We’re here,” said Sunset, turning to open a glass door. They’d arrived at the largest building Twilight had yet seen, and as she walked inside, that assessment held up. It was a mall, alright.

“Over here,” said Sunset. She walked through a door marked women. Twilight followed her in, discovering a restroom. Sunset quickly checked each stall, and then turned to Twilight. “Try it out. Transform.”

Twilight hesitantly took her pen from behind her ear. Holding it in front of her, she removed the cap.

The magic was there, exactly as she’d felt it before, though affecting different parts of her body of course. Twilight looked in the mirror. She was a head taller than Sunset now, though some of that may have been due to the high heeled shoes she wore. The outfit was remarkably similar to what she was used to, though now tailored for a different body. The sword in her hand was the same.

The outfit seemed to have shrunk from her previous clothing, now being shorter on both the top and bottom, not to mention tighter. Twilight had a sudden, irrational flash of self-consciousness about being seen as the Element of Magic in a small restroom in a mall on another planet and changed back.

“Well, it works,” Sunset observed.

Twilight tucked her pen back behind her ear and lowered her hand. “Are you saying that right now I might have the only magic in this entire universe?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s why we need the Elements here. If evil manages to find its way in, these people will have no way to defend themselves.”

“What about their technology?”

“It might help, or it might not. You know how effective the Royal Guard was against Nightmare Moon’s army without Element power.”

“I’m feeling a little on the spot here,” said Twilight. “I might even think you brought me here specifically to make this pitch.”

“It was the best way I knew how.”

“I understand what you’re trying to say, what point you’re trying to make,” said Twilight. “But I still think the best way to defend this place is to stop the threat before it makes it here. I can’t, in good conscience, let the Elements spread to another world. I know they helped me save Equestria from Nightmare Moon. But I’m not willing to let power like that go anywhere else. I hate that it exists, that it has to exist. I don’t like being the tallest tentpole of magic. It means I can’t be myself. It puts a target on my back. I can’t do that to anypony else.”

Sunset nodded, though it was more of an acknowledgement than an acceptance. She didn’t look like she was going to take that for an answer.

But Twilight saw her stuff it down and put on a different expression. “Come on, let’s go see the mall. They have great pretzels.”

CH10: Sky Pirates

By the end of the first day in the castle most everypony knew Pinkie Pie, especially in the kitchen.

But to Pinkie’s great regret, there was no time to throw a castle-appropriate party. She had the venue, she had the cavernous kitchen, but the development group had a mission coming up, so her priority was on that.

Twilight had come up with an plan to go after the village Chrysalis had told them about. Since they didn’t know where it was, it might be a long trip. Best to be prepared.

Princess Celestia was lending them a railcar again. They would be living out of it. Pinkie was packing food for a week. If the search took longer than that, they would have to resupply. Of course, they could just bring along an entire boxcar of food, but, well, maybe not everypony had Pinkie’s appetite.

Packing up the final crate for delivery to the Canterlot railyard, Pinkie looked upon her work. Not everything she wanted, but plenty of high-energy long-lasting meals that would give the team the fuel they needed to kill everypony that stood in their way.

Well, at least to get them to that point. Pinkie reminded herself that killing wasn’t the end, it was a means to an end. Well, okay, killing was the end of somepony, but in this context she was referring to war plans and that was Twilight’s territory, not hers.

Twilight was going to kill Chrysalis.

There hadn’t been much time to analyze the attack on the café, what with everything else going on. After looking the evidence over from every angle Twilight could conceive, there really was no better candidate than Chrysalis for who had sold them out.

At least the others seemed willing to help her, if only to correct what they saw as her misguided trust in Chrysalis. Twilight asked Cadance to post at the school gate to wait for Chrysalis-as-Twilight to come out that afternoon. Moon Dancer and Lyra thought Cadance was Twilight’s sister. Whether Chrysalis knew who Cadance really was or not, she would be compelled to go along with Cadance’s request to walk together, whereupon Twilight and the others would intercept them when they were alone.

But Cadance eventually showed up without Chrysalis. “Those two fillies came up to me and asked where ‘Twilight’ was. Apparently she didn’t come to school today, and didn’t even contact the school to explain an illness.”

Chrysalis must have intercepted the goodbye letters that Twilight had written to her friends in order to take Twilight’s place, but then couldn’t be bothered to leave one of her own.

It wasn’t even the betrayal. Without Chrysalis’ information, finding the village would be more difficult, and there would be changelings among the villagers. Would they fight the Elements? Or had Chrysalis decided to be truthful about that one aspect?

Well, first they had to locate the village and that was going to be task enough.

The next morning, the private railcar was hooked to the back of a train headed for Fillydelphia. From there, they managed to convince a freighting company to let them use a siding north of the city in a small clearing of friendly trees. It was in the middle of nowhere, but that was the point.

A trip in a train car was one thing, but cramming in six mares and one spirit of magic started to feel a lot more like camping. At least they’d left Spitfire and Soarin’ in Canterlot, on assignment with Cadance.

Twilight handed out maps and compasses to them all. She’d already divided up search areas in a radius around the car and assigned them based on relative speed. “Okay, if you find a town out there somewhere, mark it down and we’ll review it when meet up for dinner.”

“Mark it down with what?” said Rarity.

Twilight blushed. “Sorry. Let me get everypony else some pens.”

She quickly went back inside the train car to grab them from the charting equipment she’d brought. If necessary, they could use one wall of the car to put up a large chart or investigation board.

Ater handing out pens, they broke off into their groups. Twilight was with Rarity this time, which was good from a conversation standpoint, though most of that was her monologuing about the outdoors. The low, tree-covered mountains made for a healthy hike, but, “This is just going to ruin my hooficure!”

Twilight kept silent. Rarity’s problems were not really problems, in the grand life-threatening scale, so as long as she wasn’t complaining about something more pressing, it faded into the background.

She read the map as they walked. There was a small cluster of mostly-abandoned ruins to the west known as Hollow Shades. Twilight had deliberately given herself that sector, just to see it. While the geography wasn’t quite right and she didn’t think it was the hidden village Chrysalis had mentioned, it was a possibility. But mostly she justed wanted to see the ruins.

Another hour of walking brought Twilight and Rarity within sight of Hollow Shades. The place had mostly crumbled to dust, to Twilight’s disappointment, but at least that meant nopony was around. They moved on before Rarity started a new line of complaining.

They finished up the area Twilight had assigned them and headed back without finding anything else. There was always the possibility that Chrysalis had been lying outright and there was nothing to find.

Back at the car, Rainbow and Fluttershy had gotten there first.

“We saw some smoke,” said Rainbow.

“It was outside the boundary, though, so it seemed like a good idea to tell somepony first,” Fluttershy added. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Did you mark the location?” Twilight asked, reaching for their map.

Applejack and Pinkie arrived just then. They joined the others around the map. Twilight held it so they could all see.

“That’s pretty far out there,” said Twilight, looking at the X on the map. “Rainbow and Fluttershy could maybe get there and back in one day. The rest of us...well, I guess we could transform for extra stamina and keep up a fast jog all day, but really I should probably look at getting the car moved and we’ll try this again from another angle.”

“I call first dibs on the shower,” said Rainbow.

“We could wait and see what Spike made for dinner first,” said Applejack. The rest headed towards the car.

Twilight stood by herself for a moment longer to examine the map. They could probably catch a mountain spur line out of Manehattan. Better remember to bring some wheel chocks.

She folded the map and started forward, but something caught the corner of her eye. She looked up, staring as a purple and black airship descended out of the clouds where it had been hidden. Two cannons on the bow fired.

Twilight barely had time to throw up a shield big enough to protect herself and the car inside it. With the limited prep time and as big as the hemisphere of magic had to be, it wasn’t hardly enough.

The cannon shells hit her shield and exploded, shattering it, the interrupted force still great enough to knock the car off the rails and toss Twilight head over heels back into the trees.

It took Twilight too long to get up, even though it was probably a matter of seconds. She was already transformed, which had apparently happened on instinct. There was no pain yet, so she used the lull to sprint across the clearing to the upended car.

The others were in various states. Fluttershy and Applejack were just getting to their hooves, apparently unhurt. Rainbow crawled out of the bathroom, which was now turned sideways. Pinkie was trying to extricate herself from a pile of broken window glass by figuring out which approach would cut her least, even though her blood was already everywhere.

“Again!” said Spike. “I get blown up twice in one week!” He seemed fine.

“What happened?” Rarity demanded, picking herself up. “I was just in the middle of slicing the carrots.” She looked down at the kitchen knife sticking out of her upper chest. “Oh.”

Twilight looked up at the sky through what was left of the wall. If the airship was reloading its guns, they were all sitting ducks. “Fluttershy, are you good?”

Fluttershy was already pulling the knife out of Rarity.

“Rainbow, Applejack?”

“Up.”

“Come on, we’ve got to get to that thing before they fire again! Spike, you too.”

Without waiting, Twilight yanked them into a teleport. Her face promptly slammed into the wooden side of the airship, hovering several hundred feet in the air.

Stunned, she started to fall, but Applejack grabbed her hoof. Applejack had stuck her scythe into the wood, hanging from it with her other foreleg.

“What-” Twilight blinked. “There must be some kind of antimagic shielding.”

“I’m going to take it down!” shouted Rainbow.

“Take out the weapons first!” Twilight yelled. She pulled harder on Applejack’s hoof, and, getting the message, Applejack put all her effort into swinging Twilight up.

She landed on the wooden deck, sword out. Applejack swung up behind her. Through her connection to Spike, Twilight could see Rainbow was already zooming in circles around the crew of the airship, who were either overgrown gorillas that needed haircuts or very overgrown hedgehogs.

Twilight started forward, but her sword clunked to the deck. She tried to lift it again, but only managed to roll it over with her magic. In desperation, she picked it up with her hoof, though it wasn’t nearly as secure as it had felt in her hand in the other world. Was the entire airship built to block magic?

Applejack and Rainbow didn’t seem to be having any trouble, and all three of their Elements were functioning. Rainbow hadn’t touched the airship, though, and Applejack’s earth pony magic was more subtle. With warning from Spike, Twilight dodged an attack by one of the beastly hedgehog creatures, rolling out of the way but unable to counter.

“Duck!” called Rainbow. Twilight did, and Rainbow slit the creature’s stomach open with her knife as she went by.

Twilight turned and managed to put her sword through another of the beasts, but its sheer mass kept it coming at her. She managed to get her weapon free and get out of its way before it fell over the side of the airship.

“Twilight, get-” Applejack shouted before she was hit from behind by a...more of a blue splash of magic than anything else, which seized her body. One of the hulking deck creatures punched her, knocking her all the way to the back of the airship.

A pony in a sleek set of maroon and black armor strode forward. Their body was completely covered, including a steel helmet with slits for eyes. There was a cage at the top for a horn, and Twilight could see a blue glow from inside.

Rainbow came around, firing her crossbow, but the bolts simply bounced off the pony’s armor. The opposing unicorn tossed their head and one of the lumbering henchcreatures reacted as if under direct control, pulling down a sail and rigging from one side of the airship that Rainbow had to abort her attack to avoid. She killed the beast in the exchange, though.

Twilight used the opportunity to advance from the other direction, but in her magicless caution wasn’t fast enough. The pony in armor turned to hit her with more of that strange, goopy magic that Twilight blocked with her sword, but just barely.

She stepped back but her hindquarters bumped into a furry belly. Without turning around, Twilight thrust her sword upward, spearing it through the jaw and cranium of the overgrown hedgehog creature. With as much muscle strength as she could muster, she leaned forward and used the flat of the sword to flip its body over her. It landed with a thud that shook the entire ship, though not on top of the armored pony as Twilight had hoped. They were too fast.

The barrier between them did give Twilight time for a quick glance over her shoulder. The beast she had just killed seemed to be the last of any help the presumably-captain of the airship had left, save for a much smaller hedgehog closer to the back of the vessel that merely looked on from a distance instead of joining the combat. The decks were slick with blood and scattered with bodies. Twilight still didn’t see Applejack, but Rainbow was coming around again. She tried to time her attack to arrive simultaneously.

The quickest way was right over the adversary she’d just killed, and the armored pony realized that too. They spread magic over its back, coating the spikes and having the intended effect of deterring Twilight from taking that route. Her timing off, she wasn’t there when Rainbow arrived.

Rainbow ducked a ball of blue magic, which was too slow to hit her, but threw off her own attack. With their opponent sidestepping and managing to get a light hit into her side, Rainbow was now at terminal velocity without a target under her. Twilight heard the bones in her foreleg snap as Rainbow slammed into the deck.

Without a pause, though, Rainbow rolled to her back, raising her crossbow with her other hoof. The bolt glowed white hot with magic as she aimed it point blank for the center of her opponent’s helmet. She fired, but the bolt bounced off. A wave of absorbing magic washed over the armor, spreading out from the impact point.

It’s Element-resistant too!? Twilight could see only a small scorch that Rainbow’s attack had made. She’d seen those bolts go through several trees with no problem. And that probably stunned Rainbow more than Twilight.

The armored pony grabbed Rainbow by the throat, raising their other hoof. They stomped downward so hard the deck plank on the other side of Rainbow’s head cracked.

The only Element left standing, Twilight raised her sword as the pony in armor advanced. Twilight’s mind raced as she tried to plot a way to doing something to her opponent. Rainbow’s attack had, well, done something, but not nearly enough. Twilight was going to have to come up with more power, a lot more.

At least she had less to think about now, no attacks from the rear. Twilight tried an exploratory strike with her sword that her opponent simply blocked with their armored foreleg with the sound of steel on steel. They kept coming. Grabbing one of her throwing knives, she aimed for an eye slit in the helmet but was a quarter-inch off, the blade bouncing harmlessly away.

Twilight tried again, aiming her sword for a joint in the armor, but was unsuccessful. What was this stuff made of? She could see her attacks being absorbed, so if only there was some way to disrupt that counter-magic.

One more attack was blocked, but this time the armored pony tried to disarm her. Twilight kept her sword, but learned a lesson. Unfortunately, she suspected her adversary had too.

“Hiii-yah!” Spike came plummeting from the sky and tackled the small hedgehog. The armored pony, even though they’d been facing Twilight, seemed to sense it and turned to look. Twilight used the opportunity to charge again.

Her attack was either expected or the same sense warned the armored pony to counter. This time, Twilight’s sword didn’t even find the steel of their armor before being twisted out of her hoof. She received a glancing blow across the face that nevertheless spun her in a stunned half-circle.

Twilight had never been in this position before, unarmed, with an enemy at her back, and losing a fight. Worse, they had her sword, and if they tried to use it… Wait, would it even work? Could Twilight turn it back to a pen without touching it herself? You could still kill somepony with a pen…

It was strange the multitude of thoughts that forced themselves through her mind in that instant when she really should have been concentrating. But one memory broke away from the pack and rose above the rest, of Shining Armor visiting her years ago. Twilight had never used what he taught her because she’d never been in this position before.

Twilight put all her strength into it. Her forelegs bent and then released. Her hind legs kicked. She felt the crash of armor on her hooves, louder than any strike before.

The armored pony was knocked completely off their hooves, involuntarily flipping backwards. Twilight noted that there hadn’t even been any ripple of Element-absorbing magic this time. She reversed her position and dove forward, grabbing up her sword.

There was another crash as the armored pony landed on the deck. Their helmet seemed loose, and Twilight could clearly see two dents in it. She swung her sword low, the edge catching the bottom of the helmet and popping it loose.

Underneath was a mulberry-colored mare with a lighter mane. Her eyes were turquoise, one of them scarred. But the most striking thing Twilight found about her opponent’s face was the broken horn, blue magic dripping as if blood. The wound was sealed - it wasn’t fresh.

Twilight put the point of her sword to the other mare’s throat. She stood there for several seconds, both of them breathing hard.

The mare in armor said, “I yield.”

Twilight heard hooves stumbling towards her, but didn’t look up. Applejack said, “Boy howdy, I ain’t never seen a buck like that outside the farm.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll live, I reckon, but you should be more concerned about Rainbow.”

“We need to get this airship on the ground.”

“I’ll figure it out, one way or another.” Applejack went to find the controls.

Spike?

I’m here.

Who was that you fought?

He’s like some sort of dark spirit of magic! I’m holding him.

Now that was interesting. Twilight looked at the mare on the deck before her. No, not an Element, but was her armor powered by the same kind of magic? Twilight made a mental note to thank Spike for disrupting it.

Twilight felt the airship turn and begin to descend. Have Fluttershy meet us on the way. Rainbow really needs help.

She still hadn’t taken her eyes from those of her prisoner. Neither had the other mare.

Author's Note

Source

CH11: The Ship and its Captain

Twilight stepped off the airship, back onto solid ground. She had already decided to commandeer it, because there was no way they were getting out of here on the destroyed train car.

Pinkie and Rarity seemed fine, though they were still bandaged to give Fluttershy’s treatment time to work. Back aboard the airship, Fluttershy was tending to Rainbow, who Twilight already knew must be in bad shape. Applejack was battered, but waved off treatment until Rainbow was stable. She was currently watching the former captain of the airship, having hogtied and blindfolded her.

The strange mare with the broken horn gave Twilight pause. There was something inherently imposing about her. Stripping the prisoner’s armor, they’d discovered how powerfully built she was, and the multitude of scars laid across her body.

With all that in mind, Twilight wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone for any length of time, even with another Element, and so she scavenged whatever materials she could from the wrecked car and then herded Pinkie and Rarity onto the airship.

Applejack seemed to have gotten the hang of flying the machine, so Twilight had Pinkie and Rarity replace her on guard duty. Twilight herself went to explore the rest of the ship, to see if she could determine how it nullified magic.

On the way, she encountered Spike, who was standing guard over his own prisoner.

“This guy’s name is Grubber,” said Spike. “The Commander sent him to help Tempest Shadow. That’s her name, by the way.”

“Once the Commander hears about this, you’re all dead!” Grubber said, his face pressed to the deck by Spike’s foot.

Spike wasn’t even that big, but at least he wasn’t a pushover.

“Thanks, Spike, keep an eye on him,” Twilight said.

The airship was a little bigger than the train car, but also made more efficient use of space. Twilight stayed cautious on her self-guided tour, but didn’t encounter any unexpected hostiles. Better yet, she discovered a matrix of wires lining the hull that seemed to be humming with a kind of...negative magic was the best way Twilight could describe the feel.

Tracing them backwards, Twilight opened a panel on the lower deck and discovered a chunk of black stone that seemed to be the nexus. She pried it out of its place inside the keel with her sword and instantly found the magic blocking removed.

She couldn’t pick up the rock with her magic, and it seemed to slowly be draining magic from her the closer she got. Twilight resolved to keep it hidden away and left it deep in the lower deck. She couldn’t feel its effects by the time she returned topside.

“What do you want to bet Tempest Shadow knows where that village is?” Applejack said. She held still as Fluttershy treated her most pressing injuries. “We could get it out of her and go there right now. If we’re quick enough, and flyin’ this ship, we’ll probably still have the advantage of surprise.”

Fluttershy said, “Rainbow isn’t in any condition to fight. Everypony else is tired.”

Not to mention, they had two prisoners to manage. Twilight shook her head. “No, too much risk. Let’s go back to Canterlot and regroup.”

Moon Dancer was getting worried. Twilight still hadn’t shown up for school.

She didn’t want to think it was related to the visit from the Elements, but there really wasn’t a better explanation.

Lyra had no such doubts. “I bet the Elements recruited Twilight,” she said over lunch.

“But why?” said Moon Dancer.

“She’s in shape, she’s smart, she’s good with magic, she has a tragic origin story.”

“Origin story?”

“Well, she’s an orphan.” Lyra shrugged.

“But...but why?”

“Now that’s the question.” Lyra glanced around and leaned forward. “I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but I think the Elements are making a comeback.”

“Just because we saw them with our own eyes twice in one week is not a correlation,” said Moon Dancer.

“No correlation - just like how Twilight disappeared after talking one-on-one with the Element of Magic?”

“Well, alright, but why would the Elements need to come back?”

“What do the Elements do?” Lyra asked.

“They fight evil.”

Lyra spread her hooves and leaned back in her chair.

Moon Dancer took a moment to absorb that, eyes widening slowly the more she thought. She leaned forward and said in a high whisper, “This is crazy!”

“I mean, if the Elements are coming back, they’ll protect us, right? After the last war, they know what they’re doing now and I’m interested to see what they pull off this time.”

“War is not a spectator sport!”

Several other students looked in Moon Dancer’s direction. She blushed and lowered her voice. “I just want to make sure Twilight’s okay.”

“She’s with the Elements; she’s fine.”

“We don’t know that!”

“Well, where do you want to start looking?” Lyra asked. “In the few weeks we knew her, she never told us her address. We don’t know where she goes to hang out alone. She’s an orphan so we can’t find out anything about her family.”

“She does have a sister,” said Moon Dancer.

“Oh right,” said Lyra. “What was her name, Cadance or something?”

The airship cruised through the night towards Canterlot. It was nice, Twilight had to admit. She leaned on the railing and watched the clouds go by. Fluttershy had managed to pull down enough of them to wash the deck clean of blood with the help of the other girls.

Rainbow was resting. Twilight winced as she thought about the hit she had taken during the battle. Tempest Shadow had nearly killed them all, and she wasn’t even one of the rumored counterfeit Elements. Her attack had been well planned and deadly efficient.

Fluttershy didn’t get enough appreciation, Twilight thought. The Elements were winning battles, but they were only able to keep doing so because of her healing talent. Twilight wasn’t sure if she herself was that vital to the group.

Best not to think about who was better. Rainbow would claim it was herself, anyway.

Twilight’s thoughts turned towards Tempest. Twilight had been the one to finally take her down, though if she judged the situation correctly, she owed Spike thanks. He’d taken out Grubber, who was apparently some kind of dark spirit of magic and may have had something to do with Tempest’s Element-cancelling armor.

Twilight debated, but decided to go see Tempest before they arrived in Canterlot. Maybe they would get something useful out of her and have something to give to Cadance when they arrived.

Tempest was tied up down in the airship’s hold. They’d removed her armor, but left the black bodysuit she wore underneath. Even broken, it had also seemed prudent to inhibit her horn. Rarity was watching her when Twilight appeared. The lamps in the cargo hold swung and flickered slightly with the airship’s movement.

Twilight nodded. Rarity got up from where she had been knitting to pass the time and went up to the main deck.

Twilight transformed into her Element form and pulled Tempest’s blindfold off with magic. Tempest blinked at her, but didn’t move.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions,” said Twilight. “I take it you know who I am?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh. Well. That makes this easier.” Twilight transformed back.

Tempest was a head taller than her, and quite a bit more muscular and battle-scarred. Even being tied up on the deck, Twilight still felt slightly intimidated. She pushed past it. She’d already beaten Tempest in combat.

“Who is the Commander?” Twilight asked.

Tempest looked away.

Twilight walked back into her field of vision. “How did you know where to find us?”

Tempest again ignored Twilight. Her jaw was set, and she seemed to have gained some tension in her bindings, though they were still easily holding.

Twilight knelt, getting close enough to Tempest’s face that she could no longer turn her head away. “You seem well informed. So you know what we can do to you if you don’t start sharing that information.”

Tempest looked at her directly this time. “Do it.”

Her expression hadn’t changed, perhaps only gaining a sense of grim acceptance. She knew she might be tortured. It didn’t phase her.

“Now that’s interesting,” said Twilight, thinking aloud. “I don’t think I’ve seen conviction like yours before. Trixie was arrogant to her own purpose. Gilda was following the family business. Chrysalis had her hive at stake. What drives you?”

“The Commander.”

“Some sense of loyalty? What could the Commander have given you that they had to coerce out of everypony else?”

Tempest looked away again.

“You know, you’re on the wrong side here. The Elements are trying to save lives and maintain the peace.”

“Don’t feed me your ideology of love and tolerance.”

Wow, a whole sentence, Twilight thought.

Tempest was looking at her again, glaring. “It’s easy to to believe in good and evil when you think there’s a difference. When you haven’t suffered at the hooves of ponies who call themselves good. When ponies haven’t pushed you away for who you are. Open up your eyes. The only pony looking out for you is you.”

Twilight advanced on her, suddenly furious. “So you said you know me? You know how I had a life before the war, before most of my family was killed. You know how I quit the Elements and tried to go back to having friends and a life of my own. But now I’m with the Elements again. I didn’t want to come back! I didn’t want to fight! But I have to, because there is nopony else who can protect innocent lives from ponies like you. You think it’s okay to hurt others because you were hurt? Those girls are all I have because of ponies like you!” Twilight pointed to the upper deck to emphasize her point, though hoping the others hadn’t heard her outburst.

Twilight noted with some satisfaction that Tempest seemed at least slightly taken aback.

Spike opened the door to the cargo hold. “Uh, is this a bad time?”

“No, what is it?” said Twilight, temper cooling.

Spike pulled Grubber down the stairs by one foot, thumping on each step. He dragged the bedraggled hedgehog over to Tempest and stood him up. “Tell her what you told me.”

“Do we have to do this again?” whined Grubber. “The Commander picked Tempest because she was easy to manipulate due to her deep-seated insecurities and withdrawn personality revolving around her childhood trauma.”

“What trauma?” said Twilight.

“She got attacked by an ursa while she was a filly. That’s how her horn got broken. The Commander only had to promise her a new one and she was like a trained dog.” Grubber snorted.

“Why are we even talking to her?” Spike asked. “This guy has all the answers.”

Spike dragged him back out again.

Twilight looked at Tempest, whose entire composure had shattered. Surprised by the sudden turnaround, Twilight took a step closer.

“Kill me,” whispered Tempest. She closed her eyes.

“Wouldn’t you rather see the Commander defeated?”

“I don’t care.”

Twilight was silent for several seconds. “This may be a little insensitive given the conversation of the last few minutes, but what if I offered to look for a way to fix your horn?”

Tempest’s eyes opened and she locked stares with Twilight. “So you can use me?”

“Broadly and honestly, I suppose you could interpret it that way. Though, I’d really like to define it as ‘help you help yourself.’ It doesn’t mean you’d get nothing out of it. Either way, you could help us take down the Commander.”

Tempest stared at her for several more seconds. “Do you promise to fix it?”

“I promise to try.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“What do you have to lose?”

Cadance walked through the castle gate and headed for Celestia’s office. She’d read through the reports Twilight had the Elements write. While she didn’t mark them up for points, it did feel a little like grading papers. Well, Sunset had said she was some kind of teacher in an alternate universe.

Still, in this universe, she was unexpectedly distraught over the loss of the café. She could almost have called it her own. Well, yes, and it set the development group back, too. But her thoughts kept turning to cupcake recipes instead of spec ops and secrets.

Celestia invited Cadance into her office and the two of them went over the reports. Cadance had already highlighted the most pertinent sections. Celestia called Sunset to also read them.

“I think I like Twilight’s system,” said Celestia. “It allows those of us who weren’t there to get a better feel for what transpired.”

“If we could only ensure consistent quality across all writers,” said Cadance. They all knew whose reports she was talking about.

“I like the documentation,” said Sunset, reading with interest. “Can I keep copies?”

“Be sure to secure them,” Celestia said.

The intercom beeped. “Princess, we have an airship requesting to land in the castle courtyard. The captain identified themselves as Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia frowned, but said, “Permission granted.” She got up from her desk, followed by Cadance and Sunset.

Glancing out the window, Cadance saw a purple and black airship that stood silhouetted against the moon. She followed Celestia downstairs.

The courtyard was not a standard landing pad. A few Royal Guards shuffled around as the craft began to descend. Cadance had time to wonder where had Twilight gotten an airship

The wooden keel touched down on the cobblestones with a gentle thud. A gangplank lowered off the side, coming to rest before Celestia. Twilight emerged, trailed slightly by a tall unicorn with a frightfully shattered horn. Whoever she was, she stayed behind Twilight and kept her head down as if somepony had told her that making eye contact would turn her to stone.

“We need to talk,” said Twilight to Celestia, Sunset, and Cadance. “I mean, I’ll be writing a report, too, but we still need to talk.”

CH12: Two Libraries and a Dungeon

Cadance was sitting in the castle kitchen reading the newspaper when Twilight walked in. The two of them had been up for a while the previous night following Twilight’s arrival in Canterlot with the captured airship, but anything that wasn’t of pressing concern then, Twilight had said she was going to put in her report.

Twilight put a binder down on the table. Cadance looked at it, and then at Twilight, whose eyes were bloodshot. “Did you sleep?”

“I’m not sure.” Twilight grabbed a cup of coffee.

“You shouldn’t overwork yourself.”

“Do you want Equestria saved or not?”

“You can’t save Equestria if you die of exhaustion.”

Twilight’s horn fired and the two of them were suddenly cut off from the sounds of the kitchen. Twilight said, “After walking around the wilderness all day yesterday looking for that village, fighting Tempest, staying up all night to fly her airship back to Canterlot and write my report…” Twilight wavered “...I’m as tired as I’ve ever been and I can barely keep my eyes open.”

Her head drooped. Cadance scooted her chair sideways and Twilight leaned into her.

“Then why aren’t you in bed?”

“I can’t remember the last time I ate. That seemed more important.”

Cadance hadn’t eaten her toast yet and slid the plate over. Twilight picked up one slice with her magic, but missed her mouth on the first try. Cadance helped her. Twilight mumbled something that sounded like a thanks while she chewed.

Cadance knew she had made the right choice in picking Twilight to lead the team, but she also feared something like this would happen. Twilight didn’t do things halfway. She was fully against rejoining the development group right up until she was fully committed to returning. Stubborn, like her brother. Cadance closed her eyes for a moment, resting her chin atop Twilight’s head, allowing herself the memory. Twilight even smelled slightly like Shining Armor.

“‘s this?” Twilight muttered through her full mouth. She slid the newspaper closer. There was a picture of the airship on the front page.

“We didn’t want to acknowledge the Commander, so we said the Elements captured some sky pirates’ vessel,” Cadance said. “Technically true, even.”

“Did we have to?” Twilight blinked as she read down the page, struggling to focus her eyes through her fatigue. “At least there isn’t much here for trackers.”

She yawned. “And I still have to go to the library. I promised Tempest to look for a way to fix her horn. I’m sure there’s something in the books there. It’ll just take time.”

Three seconds later she started to snore, still leaning on Cadance’s shoulder.

Cadance smiled to herself, again an old memory coming to her. It was just like old times, as if she was Twilight's babysitter again and no one was trying to kill them.

She picked up the newspaper, Twilight’s report, and Twilight herself, walking out of the kitchen.

“Did we have to pick a dungeon for this?” said Fluttershy, glancing around at the rough stone corridors lit by torch.

“It’s secure,” said Applejack.

“Though I think Tempest may well share some of Fluttershy’s feelings,” said Rarity. “It’s not exactly conducive to a non-threatening interview.”

“Who said this was going to be a non-threatening interview?” said Rainbow.

“Twilight did,” Pinkie provided. “So I brought cupcakes.”

“She could have at least been here,” muttered Rainbow. “What did Cadance say she was doing?”

“Sleeping in the library, I think,” Rarity replied.

The five of them arrived at an iron door guarded by Spitfire and Soarin’. Pinkie had extra cupcakes for them, too.

Inside the room behind the door were six chairs and Tempest. She wasn’t bound, but it was clear from her expression that it barely changed her view of the situation.

“Cupcake?” said Pinkie.

“No,” Tempest replied.

“Well jeez.” Pinkie popped the entire thing into her own mouth. She and the others took their seats in a semicircle around Tempest.

“We have some questions,” said Applejack. Tempest met her eyes, but didn’t reply.

“Why should we trust you?” said Rainbow.

“Twilight Sparkle said she would attempt to fix my horn.”

“No, I meant that rhetorically.” Rainbow looked around at the rest of them and pointed a hoof at Tempest. “She tried to kill us.”

Tempest’s mouth twisted as if she wanted to spit out something particularly foul-tasting. “I’m...sorry.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me,” said Pinkie, “which is what I would say if it actually was.”

“Do you have any questions, or are you just here to repeat what all of us already know?” Tempest asked, an edge in her usually neutral voice.

“How long ago was your horn broken?” Fluttershy asked.

“Seventeen years. The piece is long gone, probably back where it broke.” Tempest paused. “Could you fix it?”

“I’m afraid not.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I can fix a lot of things, but not something so sensitive or so long ago injured.”

“Who made your armor?” asked Rarity, taking the conversation a different direction.

“The Commander.”

“Who is the Commander?” said Applejack.

“I don’t know.”

“What do they look like?” asked Rarity.

Tempest frowned in thought. “I can’t really...describe what I’ve seen. I think she’s either an Element or has the same glamour. I think she wears a mask.”

“Definitely female?” said Applejack.

“Yes.”

“What happened the night the café blew up?” said Rainbow.

“The Commander told me where to find it. I broke into the basement to retrieve the items you’d captured and then I set the building on fire.”

“How?” said Pinkie.

Tempest touched what remained of her horn. “That’s about all I can do now.”

“How did the Commander know what was in the basement?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t know, but her information is always very good.”

“Does she have spies?” said Rainbow.

“There may be more like Grubber, or it may be someone else.”

The Elements traded glances. The implications could be huge. Anypony could be the Commander’s eyes.

“What about Chrysalis?” said Applejack. “She’s vanished.”

“I’m guessing the Commander called her back to the village,” said Tempest. “I was expecting to get the order to kill her because she knew too much.”

Fluttershy grimaced at Tempest’s matter-of-fact tone. Pinkie said, “So who all lives in the village?”

“Starlight Glimmer is the mayor. She controls everypony with some kind of cutie mark magic. Everyone else who lives there is a changeling.”

“Tell us about Starlight,” said Rarity.

Tempest paused. “She’s powerful, and emotional. She recruits ponies to join the village.”

“Like some kind of cult leader?” said Pinkie.

“Maybe.”

“What’s her relationship to the Commander?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know. Starlight normally wouldn’t tolerate somepony more powerful than herself, so maybe the Commander is the source of her power, or can take it away. The village serves as a dumping ground for ponies who are no longer needed and a place to sustain changelings so they can do the Commander’s bidding.”

“What do you know about runes painted in blood?” Rainbow asked.

“One of the Commander’s experiments. She explores a lot of diverse magic.”

“What about that shadow being we were keeping in a jar in the basement?” said Pinkie.

“We found it in the Everfree Forest, probably left over from the war, and bound it to a body. It wasn’t bright, but followed the Commander’s orders.”

“What happened to it?” Applejack asked.

“Burned up in the fire. I left it in the jar when I set off the building. Too weak, the Commander said.”

“What’s she got that’s stronger?” said Rainbow.

“I don’t know. The Commander wasn’t finished with it yet.”

“Where does the Commander keep things like that?” Applejack asked.

“The village?” Pinkie guessed.

“I don’t know. The Commander always met me, never invited me anywhere. If she has a hideout, I don’t know where it is.”

“But you do know where the village is?” said Rarity.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go find Twilight and get going,” said Rainbow.

“You need at least another day to heal, since you refused to wear the sling I gave you for that broken leg,” said Fluttershy.

“You didn’t need to say that in front of her!” Rainbow gestured. She glared at Tempest, whose face remained impassive. “You just got lucky.”

“Luck is a superstition,” said Tempest. “Everything bad that happens is someone’s fault.” her eyes dropped. “Sometimes mine.”

Twilight jerked awake. She was slumped on a library table. She didn’t remember going to the library, though it wouldn’t be the first time she’d woken up there. She looked down, seeing that her head had been resting on a carefully folded copy of the newspaper. Maybe Cadance had dropped her off.

Well, she’d wanted to come to the library anyway. She got up, feeling more energetic than she should. Checking the clock on the wall, she saw that she’d gotten almost four hours of sleep. Hey, that was practically enough.

Turning her mind to the task in front of her, Twilight waded into the stacks of books.

Twilight had been the number one student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns not because she was powerful - though she was - but because she was a fanatical researcher. The librarians remembered her from school, and mostly left her alone. She already knew where everything was.

In the first two hours, she’d gone through magical medicine, bone fractures, prosthetics, and kept adding other possibilities to her list. Twilight was already theorising that there might not be one simple answer. She should also probably consult Fluttershy.

Coming back to her table, she was surprised to find Sunset sitting there, bent over the table, with her glasses sitting low on her nose. Upon seeing Twilight, Sunset stood up and slipped her glasses back on. She’d apparently been examining Twilight’s notes.

“Something I can help you with?” Twilight said, setting down the next load of books.

“I just wanted to talk to you again about my project,” said Sunset. “Maybe stop by the lab?”

“I’ll see if I can make time,” said Twilight.

“What are you working on?”

“I’m developing a way to compensate for a unicorn’s broken horn. I’m still trying to figure out whether repair or replace or some other method would be the best course of action.”

“Is that the most pressing thing on your mind?”

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing,” said Sunset. “Come see me, if you get time.” She walked away.

Twilight frowned, not sure what to make of the conversation. She’d expected Sunset would still try to push for exporting the Elements, and maybe she would try to convince Twilight again.

She sat down and went back to work. Apparently, the brief break in study reenergized Twilight’s creativity because an idea came to her in a flash of inspiration. In the old days, a broken vase might be repaired by filling the cracks between pieces with a molten metal like gold. The nerve core of a unicorn’s horn was contained and directed by the conical bone structure. What if there was some artificial substance that could fill in the broken area and conduct magic?

Metal? Not normal metal. Maybe a previously enchanted artifact could be adapted. Where would she get something like that, something with which somepony would be willing to part? What about the Alicorn Amulet?

No, terrible idea. After Trixie had used it, Twilight had done some research. The amulet amplified both the user’s power and evil tendencies. That was the last thing they wanted to pair permanently with a pony like Tempest Shadow.

But the more she thought about it, the more the idea nagged at her. They already had the amulet, recovered from one of the crates on the airship. If they just had some way to remove its undesirable traits.

She dove into another wave of research.

In a dusty book in the charms section that nopony had looked at in a hundred years - Twilight noted the checkout card - she found a few scripts from Starswirl the Bearded. He was everywhere, it seemed. Twilight had always treated it as a private scavenger hunt, looking for books by him around the library.

Starswirl had dabbled in curse breaking. Sufficiently powerful magic could alter the properties of an artifact. If one could overpower an item, then one could force it to change. The effect was enhanced with the additional act of substantially changing the object’s form.

How much magic would it take to alter the Alicorn Amulet? Twilight frowned. A lot.

She grabbed a book on magical artifact construction and another on metallurgy. The clock indicated that it was lunchtime, but she didn’t look at it. She was on the cusp of something. It would just take a little more time.

Moon Dancer couldn’t believe she had agreed to this. All they had was the name Cadance, who Twilight had told them was her sister. In a society where many didn’t share familial names, that made it extremely difficult to find ponies via household data.

Still, Moon Dancer was nothing if not a willing researcher. She was going to prove to Lyra that there was nothing to be found. She hoped. It already felt dishonorable enough to be looking into Twilight’s personal life without her knowledge.

After school, at the library’s city records section, Moon Dancer took the formal documents while Lyra went for more lifestyle pieces. There wasn’t likely to be much in newspapers, but she had called dibs on that over boring government paperwork.

In the first hour, Moon Dancer found a record of Twilight’s birth. Her parents were Night Light and Twilight Velvet. She added the names and their relationship to a pad of paper between her and Lyra.

Running records for Twilight’s parents, it wasn’t difficult to find records of their deaths. They died on same day, cause: “nightmare.”

Moon Dancer hadn’t remembered the exact date, but she did remember what had happened when Nightmare Moon came to Canterlot. There were so many casualties that many victims hadn’t even received a proper autopsy. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before moving on.

Further searching for Twilight’s parents uncovered a second birth certificate for Shining Armor, apparently Twilight’s older brother. He, too, was dead, though in battle in the Everfree Forest.

At this point, Moon Dancer wasn’t sure how much more she wanted to search. She pressed on, though, because it might mean the difference in seeing Twilight again. If she was going to be there for her friend, she was going to have to be there for the bad parts, too.

“Oh my sweet Celestia!” Lyra suddenly burst out, holding her hooves to the side of her head. Her eyes were huge, staring at the newspaper in front of her. A librarian shushed her.

“What is it?” Moon Dancer asked. She leaned over. A full-color picture showed the newest inductees to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns from a few years ago. Twilight, though much younger, was clearly visible.

“So she went to some prestigious school,” said Moon Dancer. “It’s weird that she transferred to our school, but it doesn’t prove anything.”

Lyra still looked too stupefied to speak. She merely pointed to the back row.

Arranged with the crowd of young foals were Princess Celestia and - at the time - the newly crowned Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza.

“That…” Moon Dancer leaned closer to the page.

“That’s Twilight’s sister!” Lyra hissed. “The mane was cut differently and she was covered up, but I’m sure of it.”

“But I remember Mi Amore Cadenza died only months after her coronation, in in the Battle of the Everfree…” Moon Dancer grabbed her notes. “...where the Elements were also present, and where Twilight’s brother was killed. I mean, there might be some resemblance, but-”

“And remember, there’s Café Cadenza,” said Lyra.

“I remember we tried to go, but it was closed. What does that have to do with anything? It’s just a name.”

Lyra pulled another newspaper out of her pile, this one much more recent, and pointed to the headline. “Café Cadenza burned down the same night Twilight met with the Element of Magic!” The librarian shushed her again.

“But...but...Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is dead.”

“What if she’s not?”

“But she’s not Twilight’s sister.”

“What if Twilight lied to us because she didn’t want to admit she was meeting with a Princess who is supposed to be dead?”

Moon Dancer could do nothing but gape for several seconds. “This is ridiculous.”

“But what if it’s true?”

Lyra had her there, Moon Dancer had to admit.

Author's Note

Source

CH13: Smith

“Twilight,” Cadance said slowly, “put down the hammer.”

Startled, even though Cadance had been trying not to, Twilight jerked back from the forge. She raised the dark goggles she had been wearing, sweat and soot on her face.

“What are you even doing at the castle blacksmith?” said Cadance. “If you needed a new pair of shoes, you didn’t have to forge them yourself!”

“That’s what I told her,” the Guard smith said, coming over. “She told me to mind my own business.”

Twilight waved him away again. “I’ve almost got this figured out,” she said to Cadance. She put the hammer down and the two of them walked out of the blacksmith shop. “We need to get Princess Celestia down here. Rarity, probably, too. Not to mention Fluttershy and Tempest herself.”

“Slow down, backtrack, what are you doing?” Cadance said.

Twilight took a deep breath. “I’m going to get rid of the Alicorn Amulet by stripping its powers and using the metal to make a new horn for Tempest.”

Cadance took a moment to consider it. If it had come from anypony else, she would have protested immediately. Instead, she asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I’ve considered that question myself. I’m pretty sure it’ll work.”

“Remind me why you’re helping Tempest at all.”

“Another good question.” Twilight paused. “I want to believe in second chances. I want to maybe hope that karma will give me one. In addition to that, Tempest already knows about the group. She has valuable information about the Commander. After capturing her, we’d have to neutralize her somehow. Or...we could use her.”

“I read your report,” said Cadance. “Do you trust her?”

Twilight considered that for a long moment. “I’m willing to let her earn it.”

Cadance looked at her. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” moving on. “What do you need?”

Twilight gave her the list. Most of the tools were already found in the blacksmith shop or Fluttershy’s kit. There was one item that needed further explanation.

“What’s the plaster for?” Cadance asked.

“Um.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “We need a horn model to make the cast. I think you’re probably closest in size.”

If anypony but Twilight had asked, Cadance probably would have said no. She still didn’t enjoy it, but let Twilight grease her horn so the plaster wouldn’t stick and set up the mold.

“Thanks again,” said Twilight. “I need to go get everything else ready. I’ll need you and the rest back down at the blacksmith soon. Oh, and bring the Alicorn Amulet.”

She left Cadance with the hardening mold still on and trotted off to find Fluttershy and explained the plan to her. She went along more willingly than Cadance, but still had her reservations. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Nopony’s ever done anything like this before, as far as I know.” Twilight took a deep breath. “If it works, though, I’m definitely going to get a paper out of this. I haven’t published anything since...before.” She shook her head and looked back at Fluttershy. “It’s going to work.”

Twilight made a trip around the castle, rounding up everypony else she needed. Celestia managed to find some time to come to the blacksmith, seeming more amused at Twilight’s enthusiasm than anything. Rarity was put off by the thought of manual labor, but was interested to see the result.

That just left Tempest herself. She’d been given...well, it wasn’t a bedroom, it was still the dungeon, but there was a bed in the room. Spitfire and Soarin’ still guarded the door.

“Come with me,” said Twilight. “I think I’ve figured it out.”

“My horn?”

“That’s right.”

She’d never seen Tempest look excited before. It was strange, but it amused Twilight.

Everypony met at the blacksmith. Princess Celestia told the smiths to take a break. They had the place to themselves.

Cadance had gotten her horn cleaned up and the plaster had set. As requested, she’d also brought the Alicorn Amulet.

“Okay,” said Twilight. “Here’s how this is going to work.”

“The group of us, working together, can overpower the magic of the Alicorn Amulet and change it. We’ll focus our magic on completely melting it down. Throw the jewel and the other material away, we just need the metal to carry magic. We’re going to mold the metal into the shape of a horn.”

She turned to Tempest. “This is the invasive part. We’re going to have to dig into the scar tissue of your horn to get at the nerves that interface with magic. It’s probably going to require some cutting. On top of that, we’re going to have to mold the metal to match the broken edges. We probably aren’t going to be able to use anesthetic because we need you to be able to tell us what you feel.”

“I don’t care,” said Tempest. “Do it.”

Twilight nodded and turned back to the group. “After we’ve got it custom fitted, it’s going to require some specific annealing to get the crystalline structure of the metal oriented to conduct magic, kind of like how the structure of a magnet makes it able to alter magnetic fields.”

“Darling, if Rainbow were here, she would call you an egghead and tell you to get to the point,” said Rarity lightly.

“Well, alright, that wasn’t even the long version, I just wanted everypony to understand what was going to be required. Anyway, let’s get started.”

Twilight passed out tinted goggles to them all. She used a sticking spell on a block of wood to make sure the plaster mold would stand upright.

Finally, Twilight picked up the Alicorn Amulet. “Ladies, I’m going to need your horns on this. Start low, and we’ll increase power slowly. Oh, and think happy thoughts.”

Twilight and Rarity transformed. The two of them, plus Cadance and Celestia, aimed their magic at the amulet. Each had a different level of relative power, though Twilight figured with four of them together they could overpower the Alicorn Amulet’s magic.

Twilight slowly called out increases in power. The four of them shifted position slightly to better keep the amulet between them with the vector force of their magic but still apply maximum power. Slowly, the metal began to glow a dull red, gradually getting brighter.

The gem in the center of the amulet shattered. The accoutrements began to slag off. By this point, the metal was practically glowing white with heat.

Rarity was sweating with the effort. Cadance had her jaw set in concentration. Twilight asked for more power. She said, “Tempest, get the mold ready.”

Tempest pushed the plaster mold under the glowing amulet with a piece of wood. The first drops of molten metal fell into it. It took careful coordination to keep holding the amulet up as it slowly melted away, until the last drop of white hot metal had fallen into the mold.

“Okay,” said Twilight. “We’ll give it a few minutes to cool. Stay with us, Rarity, we’ll need you again soon.”

She set up a few tools while they waited. The metal visible in the mold was already back down to a dull red color. It cooled further as Twilight picked up a hammer and chipped the plaster away, then grabbing a wire brush to get the final bits of material off.

“Fluttershy, if you could get started over there,” Twilight said as she worked.

“Sorry,” said Fluttershy preemptively as she turned to Tempest, pulling out a scalpel.

Tempest looked at the blade, and then away. She knelt to let Fluttershy work and kept perfectly still as the cutting began. The years-old wound had sealed roughly. Fluttershy peeled back skin and other tissue, dabbing blood as she worked, eventually exposing bare bone of the horn shell and the nerve tissue which she was careful not to disturb. It was the next thing to brain surgery, and one wrong move could make things worse than just a broken horn, particularly when operating on a conscious patient in a blacksmith shop.

Twilight heated the base of the metal prosthetic with a torch until it was glowing again. She came over, the item held protectively with her magic. “I’ve got the heat blocked, but I’m going to need to bring it down on your injury to get it sealed to everything.”

Tempest held still and Twilight did as she said. Twilight couldn’t imagine the sensation it must be causing, the molten metal squishing over her long-ago broken horn.

When Twilight was satisfied, she quenched the new horn and then brought it back to Tempest. The base had made an imprint of Tempest’s injury. “Okay, a mockup test. Fluttershy, do you have the sensation chemicals?”

Fluttershy squirted a substance meant to enhance feeling from a syringe into the open wound. Tempest squirmed, but stayed silent. Twilight brought the horn down and held it in place with her hooves. “Okay Tempest, try it out.”

Still bracing against the pain and other sensations she’d probably never experienced before, Tempest looked down at the workbench. A slow trickle of blue magic oozed out of the joint between her horn and the metal, but it seemed to defy gravity and drip upwards. It slowly dissolved, and had turned into an aura by the time it reached the tip.

The hammer on the table rose an inch. Tempest gasped.

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed. “As you get healed up and used to it, I’m sure it’ll come back to you. But the concept works! Let me just finish it off.”

She pulled the horn away. The hammer fell back to the table to Tempest’s disappointment. Twilight, meanwhile, was back working with the torch and her own magic, reheating the horn. The light of both reflected off her goggles and she was still grinning. She lightly quenched the horn a few times, alternating between close examination of the metal and a table of metallurgical figures from a book.

After cooling it off again, she picked up a polishing wheel and worked on the surface for several minutes, knocking down the rough edges left by the mold and eventually producing an even, though matte finish.

Tempest had been growing visibly more excited. Twilight noticed, and smiled. “One last touch. I’ve been wanting to try this.”

The horn went back into the flame for a quick, measured surface heat and then Twilight quenched it one last time. It emerged case-hardened, leaving the smooth surface not silver, but dark and streaked with purples, browns, and blues. It wasn’t a match to Tempest’s natural color, but it was subdued and left a unique pattern.

“One last fitting,” said Twilight. “Rarity, I’ll need you.”

Working with some of the smaller, more intricate tools in the blacksmith shop, they did a final fit on the metal prosthetic and secured it to the bone of Tempest’s horn with small screws. Rarity’s experience with delicate magic was a help here.

Twilight stepped back, taking a look at her work. “I think that’s it.” She smiled.

Fluttershy applied one of her magic bandages, the skin that had been peeled back already beginning to reattach itself, securing the seam where metal met flesh. Given time, the bone should also bond itself more strongly to the new horn, and given practice with magic, the nerves that carried it should become accustomed to transmitting it up the metal.

Rarity took out her makeup compact and opened it. Tempest could do nothing but stare at herself. She reached up, touching her new horn.

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.

She had a false start, but got her magic going, a blue glow that traveled all the way up her horn. She started touching everything in sight with magic: pieces of broken plaster from the floor, leftover screws, the ladle for the quench bucket. She giggled.

Twilight smiled. Maybe it was too early to tell, but it looked like smelting the evil out of the amulet had worked. If anything, Tempest’s mood had actually improved.

That was backed up when Tempest came over and hugged her. “Oh, um…!” Twilight exclaimed as she was lifted off the ground and had the breath squeezed out of her by powerful forelegs.

Tempest pulled back, though still holding Twilight by the shoulders. “I cannot thank you enough. Words are not enough. I…”

She put Twilight down and took a step back, bowing her head. “I owe you. I’m willing to do whatever you ask. I worked for the Commander on false promises, but you kept your word. You shall be my new master.”

“Um, I...I’m not really comfortable with that,” said Twilight, taken aback.

Tempest looked up. “Mistress?”

“Just call me Twilight.”

Tempest hesitated. “I took my name because I left my old life behind. I feel like I’ve turned a corner. It’s not really who I was anymore, but since I’m calling you by your name...you can call me Fizzlepop Berrytwist, if you want.”

“I’ll call you whatever you want to be called,” said Twilight. She paused. “So...what’s your special talent?”

Tempest reached back with a hoof, but then stopped herself. She instead unzipped her bodysuit with magic. It fell away to reveal an ice cream sundae on her hip.

Pinkie tore into the blacksmith shop. “That is so cool!” She gasped so deeply that she seemed to inflate and grabbed Twilight and Candance by their necks, pulling them close. “We need to open an ice cream parlor!”

Author's Note

Case hardening

CH14: In Orbit

“Okay,” said Lyra. “We may have accidentally uncovered a conspiracy between the Elements, a Princess who faked her own death, and our weird transfer student friend.”

“Twilight’s not weird,” said Moon Dancer.

The two of them leaned on the railing around the school roof. They were alone, using the roof for privacy before classes.

“I know a guy who could help us,” said Lyra. “He’s really up on tracker stuff and he may know how to make connections to other places if we brought this to him.”

“If Twilight really is bound up in this, would she want us to spread her name around?” Moon Dancer gave Lyra a look.

Lyra sighed. “I just feel like I need to tell somepony! This is so cool, and I’m happy for her.”

“Should we be?” Moon Dancer asked. “She looked freaked out when Magic and Honesty came to talk to her the other day.”

“Well, it’s not like the Elements are bad or anything,” said Lyra.

“I guess, but no matter how Twilight is involved, we can’t tell anypony. It could be dangerous for her. It could be dangerous for us.”

Lyra frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She bounced back. “So what about Fluttershy?”

“At this point, I think we have to assume she’s with Twilight. Fluttershy also stopped coming to school, and we know she worked at Café Cadenza.” Moon Dancer frowned. “I hope she wasn’t there when it burned.”

“The newspaper said the place was closed for the night and there weren’t any bodies found.”

“I went back to the library to search for anything about Fluttershy,” said Moon Dancer. “I didn’t really find anything, though she did at one point live in Ponyville. That’s near where the final battle of the war took place. That’s not much of a connection, though.”

They were silent for several seconds. Lyra said, “You know, the Elements of Magic and Kindness were both in Baltimare, and we didn’t see Twilight or Fluttershy during the hydra attack.”

“We saw Magic meet Twilight,” Moon Dancer reminded her.

“Yeah, it sounded silly even as I said it.”

Twilight actually got a good night’s sleep. It surprised her as much as anypony else. However, as she got out of bed that morning, she was already planning on another long day.

The development group met around the table in one of the castle’s smaller dining rooms. They were there to plan the operation against Starlight Glimmer’s village. Well, and have breakfast.

Twilight was late to arrive, having stopped to compile some notes. The interview the other girls had done with Tempest had been submitted as one report, not the individual documents Twilight had requested, but at least they’d had Rarity write it so it was thorough.

The issue of what to call Tempest had ultimately come down to security and convenience. The name she'd chosen for herself was made up and had no connection to her previous life. Not to mention, “Fizzlepop Berrytwist” was a mouthful.

When Twilight walked into the dining room, Tempest promptly stood up from the table and pulled a chair out for her. “Thank you,” said Twilight, sitting down to breakfast. Tempest sat directly to Twilight’s right. She was back to wearing her form-fitting black uniform.

Tempest’s pledge of loyalty had caught Twilight off guard, but it seemed genuine. Twilight was still cautious, though. She was aware of the potential of a pony like Tempest fused with the magic of the former Alicorn Amulet. If Twilight’s calculations were correct, it wasn’t going to be a problem, but they were in uncharted magical and medical territory and it would pay to keep an eye on Tempest. Though, if she was going to keep acting like Twilight’s butler or something, that wouldn’t be difficult.

As she ate, Twilight put the finishing touches on her plan, taking a few notes with her pen. When her plate was empty, she stood up to address the room, pulling a map of the area around the village from her notes and magically enlarging it for everypony to see. With Tempest’s information, they’d pinpointed the location of the village and she had told them about the layout, which was primarily one street with a row of identical houses down each side.

“We’ll take the airship and should arrive in the early evening. According to the weather schedule, we'll have a few clouds for cover. We’ll do some reconnaissance to make sure nothing has changed. If Chrysalis is there, our best bet would be to try and link up with her to get intel and see if she’ll keep her word of evacuating changelings. Other than that, our priority is Starlight Glimmer. With no information on her power or abilities, we should avoid engaging her one-on-one.

“This is going to be difficult because there may be quite a few innocent ponies in the way, which is another reason we should avoid a direct conflict. If it comes to it, we can use the airship as a fire support platform.”

“So we’ll be infiltrating?” said Rarity.

“They’ll notice that we don’t have the equals-sign cutie marks. Infiltration will have to be only with disguises. We’ll have to be restrained, though. In a small town, one new face might not be noteworthy, but half a dozen at once would be.”

“What’s our plan for prisoners?” said Applejack. “There might be a lot.”

“I’m hoping that once we take out Starlight, the rest will be free of whatever control she had over them. We don’t really have the resources to do anything else.”

“We could distract them with a party.”

“It would have to be a really good party, Pinkie.”

Twilight turned to begin speaking again, but Pinkie kept talking. “Yeah, it would be,” said Pinkie, rubbing her chin and apparently seriously considering it. “I’d have to pull out, like, all the stops. Punch and cake and ice cream.” She looked at Tempest. “You’ve got the ice cream.”

Tempest looked at Twilight. “Is that what you want?”

“I don’t think a party is really what we need right now,” said Twilight.

“If we could figure out how to do it without arousing the townsfolk’s suspicions, it would be a great way to get them all in one place and maybe talk to a few of them,” said Pinkie.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Twilight asked.

“If it’s a good enough party, nopony will care. Tempest, you get the ice cream.”

“Wait, Tempest is going?” said Rainbow.

“She knows the town better than any of us,” Twilight said. “And if we don’t even have enough hooves to sort out prisoners, we can’t really spare anypony to keep her here under guard.”

Rainbow looked like she wanted to argue, but dropped her head and closed her mouth.

“I do have a job for you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow perked up.

“If we’re going to get going this morning, I think we should have a diversion. If any of the Commander’s contacts see the airship leave, they’ll probably take a guess where it’s going. Why don’t you go down to the shopping district and sign a few autographs to draw reporters away? You can catch up with us.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Fine with me.”

“Everypony else, let’s go load up.”

The meeting concluded. Save for Rainbow, everypony headed for the Guard transportation shop. The airship had been brought in for refit, still under the cover story that it had been seized from pirates.

Tempest stopped in the doorway, staring. The entire airship had been washed in a light blue-grey. The Crown seal had been painted in gold on each side of the bow.

“For cover, they converted it to a Guard ship,” said Twilight. “They did some work to change the profile, but there wasn’t enough time to do too much more than paint it.”

“I don’t think the Commander has too many more of them,” said Tempest.

“Oh, I meant to ask, did it have a name?”

“No.”

“Well, what do you want to name it?”

“It’s not my ship anymore,” said Tempest. “Though, not that it ever was.”

“We could call it Friendship.”

“If it pleases you.”

“That was a joke, Tempest. Let’s just do like the Guard does and look up a random positive character trait in the dictionary and call it good.”

Twilight turned away to supervise loading of supplies for the trip. She didn’t anticipate it the expedition taking more than a day or two, but that depended on how much they wanted to recon the town before making a move.

When the airship was ready to go, they guided it out of the maintenance shed and promptly set off. Twilight ordered a course that put the bulk of the castle between the airship and the city of Canterlot below. Once around the mountain, they headed up into the patchy clouds. The new paint job helped with concealment against the sky.

They were going to wait at a predesignated spot north of Canterlot for half an hour for Rainbow. Once she’d come aboard, the airship would turn east for the trip to Starlight’s village.

Twilight decided to have a nap. The trip would be several hours, and she should probably catch up on the sleep she’d missed over the past few days.

“Hey, check that out!” Lyra jumped out of her desk and pressed her nose to the window. Around her, other students were doing the same. The teacher called for order, but nopony was listening, all distracted by the faint rainbow trail in the distance.

“That had to be Rainbow Dash!” said Lyra. “It looked like she was heading downtown!”

Excited murmuring broke out in the classroom. It was only a few minutes until lunch, so the teacher just gave up.

“Come on!” said Lyra, seizing Moon Dancer’s hoof. “If we hurry, we can get there and back during lunch period.”

The two of them left the school and trotted in the direction they’d seen Rainbow Dash go. “We don’t know where she went,” said Moon Dancer. “We can’t spend too much time looking.”

“Somehow, I don’t think it’ll be hard to find a pony like that.”

Lyra’s prediction turned out to be prophetic. Arriving downtown, they found who they were looking for.

Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, was surrounded by a small crowd. She seemed to be busy talking with them and signing autographs.

“I just realized I don’t have anything to get her signature!” Lyra turned a pleading look at her friend. Moon Dancer rolled her eyes and gave Lyra a notebook.

“Do you...think we could maybe ask her about Twilight?” said Moon Dancer.

“Maybe. I don’t know if she would tell us.”

Moon Dancer frowned. “Especially with all these ponies around.”

Still, they kept going, entering the outskirts of the crowd. Everypony was pushing and shoving, trying to get closer. Flashbulbs were going off.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” Lyra called, waving and grinning.

She actually looked up, eyes moving from Lyra to Moon Dancer. She purposefully looked away. “Alright everypony, that’s all the time I have, gotta go!”

Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash zoomed skyward, disappearing faster than the eye could see, to the wonderment of the crowd.

“Was it just me, or did it feel like...she recognized us?” said Lyra.

“It wasn’t just you,” Moon Dancer replied, still looking after Rainbow Dash even after she had gone.

“That is so cool!”

“But...why?”

Lyra only just stopped to consider it. “That’s a really good question, actually. If Twilight and Fluttershy somehow know the Elements, do you think they mentioned us to them?” Her eyes started to sparkle again. “Do you think they would introduce us?”

“I’m more concerned about what the Elements would think about our research. What are they going to do if they find out what we know?”

“I’m not worried,” said Lyra. “The worst thing would probably be just a memory charm.”

Moon Dancer looked at her, eyes suddenly wide. “What if...that’s already happened? What if that’s how Rainbow Dash knows us - because we’ve met before?”

Lyra snorted. “I would remember if somepony put a memory cha...oh.” She frowned suddenly. “What could have happened? Where could we possibly have been to have seen Rainbow Dash before? What could we have seen that made them modify our memory?”

“Think hard,” said Moon Dancer. “At any point since Twilight first showed up did you get the sense that you had lost time or something?”

“It’s been weeks since Twilight transferred. That’s a lot to remember..”

“I guess we don’t really have time to think about it now,” Moon Dancer reluctantly conceded. “Come on, we need to get back to school.”

Twilight jerked awake, from the folded blanket she’d slept on in the hold of the airship. She’d turned it into a makeshift office for the trip.

You need to get to Manehattan right away. There are reports of shadow creatures inside the city.

It was Celestia’s voice that had awakened her. Princess?

I know you set out for the village, but this is a threat right now.

We’re on it!

All grogginess from being asleep faded instantly. “Where are we?” Twilight called out, getting up. The others should have gotten the same message.

“West of Manehattan,” said Tempest.

Twilight jumped, not realizing she had been sharing the room. “How fast can we get there?”

Tempest glanced at a map. “Twenty minutes.”

“Not fast enough. Rainbow!”

“I’m on it,” Rainbow replied distantly from the upper deck. Twilight felt a surge to the airship’s speed.

“What’s going on?” said Tempest.

Oh right, she wasn’t connected to the network. “Change of plans. There’s an active attack of shadow creatures in Manehattan right now.”

“This doesn’t sound like a coincidence,” Tempest replied. “Especially when taken with the time you were in Baltimare during the attack there.”

“A good point, but why would somepony attempt destruction of places while Elements were there to stop it?”

“To test you. To distract you.”

Twilight looked at her. “Do you think they knew we were after Starlight’s village and this was meant to draw us away?”

“It could be.”

Twilight grit her teeth. “And it’s working. We can’t just let this happen.” She headed for the upper deck.

The Manehattan skyline was already in sight. The setting sun from the west cast long shadows out to sea from the tall buildings. Rainbow was behind the airship, pushing for all she was worth and Twilight could feel the increased wind over the deck.

The radio crackled, apparently just barely within range of Manehattan Air Control. “Unknown airship inbound from the west, this is Manehattan Control. Be advised that Manehattan is under attack from monsters! Strongly advise you reverse course!”

Twilight grabbed the microphone. “Manehattan Control, this is Guard airship-”

“I named it Service,” said Tempest.

“This is Guard airship Service. We’re here to help. Tell us where the monsters are, and anything else you know.”

“Oh thank Celestia. They’re down near the harbor in the eastern district. There are reports that they’re k-killing ponies. Somepony said they’re made of shadows, like from N-Nightm...from the shadow army.”

“Roger that, we’re on our way.” Twilight put the microphone down and stared at the horizon. “We just have to get a little closer and I can teleport us there.”

She glanced at Tempest. “Nice name, by the way. It sounds exactly like what the Guard would have called a ship. Good job.”

She turned away, missing the expression on Tempest’s face. “Alright everypony, get ready. We’re going to go as a single unit. Spike, take high cover and watch our backs. Spitfire, Soarin’, I’m going to need you to stay back to help Tempest with the ship.”

“Do you need me to go?” Tempest said. “I can have my armor on in thirty seconds.”

Twilight shook her head. “We have no idea what we’re going to find down there. Stand by to provide fire support if we call for it.”

She transformed. Grabbing a guard-issued walkie-talkie from the supplies they’d brought onboard, Twilight tested it against the airship’s radio and then dropped it into one of her pockets.

“Alright girls!” The other Elements came to her. Twilight lit up her horn.

“Stay safe!” Tempest said.

“You too,” Twilight replied reflexively, wondering where that had come from. She didn’t have time to think about it, though, as the next instant she had teleported to the ground with the other five Elements.

The street was covered in broken masonry and glass. It wasn’t exactly covered in bodies, but there were still dozens.

Three creatures of shadow, each standing as tall as an abandoned taxi at the end of the street and appearing vaguely canine, were clawing at buildings, screams marking their targets.

It was strange to see them in broad daylight, and perhaps that made them weaker than they would have been otherwise. That didn’t mean they could be allowed to continue their assault any longer.

The six Elements charged forward. Rainbow’s crossbow began firing, injuring each of the monsters, but more importantly distracting them from civilians.

As the three of them turned, the Elements broke into unspoken formation. Pinkie took the monster on the left, hitting the pavement and sliding on her armored knees beneath its belly where she turned into a whirling tornado of blades. Applejack ducked an attack from the middle beast and swung her scythe, blade ripping its chest open. Rarity thrust her shield up to meet the jaws of the righthand monster, deflecting its momentum sideways. Seeing an opportunity, Twilight met it from the other direction, swinging her sword down to meet the anvil of Rarity’s shield and taking the monster’s head completely off.

Spike, are there more?

There are two a block north, those size-changing chicken-looking things after civilians. Also an elephantine-thing three blocks west and moving fast through buildings.

“Rarity, with me! Everypony else go west!” Twilight ran to the corner and turned north. In the distance, she could see a creature looming over the rooftops. Where was the other one?

The tall monster turned its head, red eyes on them. A limp body dangled from its beak. Just as Shining Armor had…

There was a sudden impact as Rarity was knocked into Twilight’s side. The smaller monster, apparently cued by the other, had rushed them from an alley. Rarity had managed to block it, but not keep her balance.

Twilight turned, sword lashing out. The monster stepped back, beginning to grow.

“Rarity, stay here!” Twilight checked to make sure she was back on her hooves, and then teleported.

She appeared in the air, several stories above the smaller, and still shrinking, monster. Twilight conjured a force rune, adding her own momentum as gravity carried her down. The spell released and hammered the creature flat. Twilight used the recoil to catch herself and land lightly on the pavement.

A chunk of something that seemed to be both fleshy and shadowy landed next to her, and another fell a fraction of a second later. Oh right, the creatures were linked. Through a gentle patter of gore falling from the sky, Twilight headed back to where she’d last seen Rarity and found her completely covered in dark ichor.

Rarity wiped her helmet’s eye slits. “Lovely. Warn me next time?”

We’re done over here, Rainbow reported. The thing fell on its face when we cut its legs out from under it.

Alright, Twilight replied. Just a-

A sound like nothing she’d ever heard before made Twilight wince and flatten her ears. It seemed to carry a physical force with it and even rattled the plates of Rarity’s armor. “What in the wide world of Equestria…”

Out in Manehattan bay was a creature Twilight had never seen before, not in any book or any battle of the previous war. It rose slowly from the water, out near Manehattan’s signature mare statue. As Twilight watched, however, she realized she was only looking at the creature’s head. More of its body appeared as it moved towards land. It resembled a dragon, but she had never seen any nearly so large.

Twilight grabbed the radio, but had to pause as whatever the monster was let out another ear-piercing roar. When the reverberations had died away, she called “We need those cannons now!”

She ran to the water’s edge. Over the buildings to the west, she could see the airship. Seconds later, the guns fired. The two explosions against its hide distracted it, but didn’t stop it. The distance to the creature had played with Twilight’s perception, but the relative size of the explosions told her how big it was. It was taller than the mare statue, and had begun to pick up speed towards shore as the water shallowed.

Rainbow, do what you can to stop it before it makes landfall! On the radio, Twilight said, “Keep shooting and try to draw it away!”

How were they ever going to stop a creature this massive?

Lumbering as it was, Twilight figured she might have as much as a minute before it got to her position. Her eyes searched sea and sky, looking for something, anything. She realized the shadows on the buildings had actually shortened. Had Celestia paused the sunset to aid their battle?

A solution came to her in a flash. Princess, please put down the sun and raise the moon.

Are you sure, Twilight?

I need it. She didn’t bother with further explanation, only beginning to charge her horn.

Teleportation was tricky for most unicorns. Most didn’t have the power or talent to do it. Teleporting things besides oneself was easier. Twilight could transport herself several miles, even with friends, but she had to be able to visualize her target, so that meant either someplace she had been before or could directly see. Trying to over-exert herself would result in dropping short of her intended target.

With time to prepare, Twilight was able to draw a series of runes with her sword, setting up a magical construct to act as a reserve of power. She could charge it, and then release it for additional fuel for a spell that she may not have been able to apply enough power directly.

She kept channeling magic, starting to sweat even though she wasn’t moving. Her eyes remained locked with the colossal monster as it came closer.

A sliver of moon appeared on the horizon as the sky darkened. Just a little more. Twilight’s breath was getting ragged as she kept going, pouring out magic. It felt like her horn was on fire.

The monster roared again. Being much closer, the force nearly knocked Twilight back. She was sure her ears would be ringing. It raised one of its giant clawed feet to take a step onto the seawall. Twilight looked at the moon, and let the spell go.

She blinded herself with the flash, her mane flying everywhere in a sudden rush of displaced air. Blinking spots out of her eyes, Twilight fell to her rump in exhaustion. The monster was gone.

Twilight squinted, barely able to focus her eyes through fatigue. No, it wasn’t gone. A small black speck drifted past the rising moon. Her spell hadn’t had enough power and had fizzled out somewhere along the way. She’d only sent it to orbit.

Well, that was good enough for now. She’d just have to make sure it didn’t reenter somewhere near a populated area. There hadn’t been time to do the astrodynamics calculations on the fly while putting it up there.

“I think I need a nap,” Twilight muttered. Rarity caught her as she fell over.

After school, Moon Dancer insisted that they go to the library.

“Something’s been bothering me,” she said as they went over to what was becoming their usual research table. “Do you remember that afternoon Twilight took us out? We tried to go to Café Cadenza but it was closed, right?”

Moon Dancer grabbed an older copy of the newspaper off the rack and showed it to Lyra. The headline carried a picture of a wrecked building, where a powerful but misguided former stage magician had challenged the Element of Magic to a duel and lost.

“This fight happened only blocks from the café.” Her hoof pointed at the details in the article. “It happened at almost exactly the same time we were there. We should have heard it. We should have seen giant blasts of magic going into the air. In fact, looking at the route from the school, we probably walked by that exact building.” Moon Dancer raised her hooves. “But that’s not what I remember.”

“Are you saying...we were there?” said Lyra. She tipped her head. “But what if, instead, we didn’t go to the café at all and somepony planted that false memory to make us think we were in the area?”

“If so, that’s a different, but equally troubling can of worms. Instead of trying to cover up Element activity, they would be trying to make us think they were covering it up. Given that Rainbow Dash seemed to recognize us, though, I think it’s more likely that it’s the former.”

“I guess.”

“So if we were actually there, what reason would anypony have to modify our memories? What could we have seen that somepony didn’t want us to see? The Elements don’t just wipe memories from everypony who sees them fight.”

“What if we saw an Element transform and realized their true identity?” Lyra tapped the newspaper. “Especially if it was the Element of Magic. Who else would be better at a memory charm?”

The implications that she had seen an Element’s true face with her own eyes made Moon Dancer weak-kneed. “It just seems so strange that we might have seen this, known this, but can’t remember. I can’t stand it! I wonder who she is?”

Lyra was silent for a moment. “You know...there’s a ton of evidence that Magic is actually Twilight herself, aside from that one time we saw them together in the park.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes widened. “If that’s true...and we saw her fight that magician, and she wiped our memories of it, she could have arranged that incident in the park to purposely throw us off if this ever came up again. The Element of Magic is probably powerful enough to pull that off, right? And...and if we accept that Magic is really Twilight, it becomes pretty easy to believe that Kindness is Fluttershy.”

“Oh my sweet Celestia,” Lyra whispered.

CH15: Schedules to Keep, Tyrants to Beat

Elements Throw Down in Manehattan
Astronomers and Trackers Equally Excited

Twilight read the morning newspaper as she sat in her pile of blankets aboard the airship Service. She’d slept fourteen hours and awoken the next morning to find herself - only her Element self, thankfully - solidly back in the public eye.

“Is something wrong?” Tempest asked, startling Twilight by being in the room.

Twilight gestured to the newspaper. “I can’t believe some of what they’re writing. I can see the details from the Crown press release, but it’s pretty clear that this reporter is a hardcore tracker. He used waifu as if that’s something you can say in polite conversation.”

Twilight paused, but felt like she needed to get it out. “The way some ponies talk about Elements, it makes me feel like I’m just a thing to them, not a real pony. More like a fancy piece of cake to be looked at and...enjoyed.”

She shook her head and stood up, stretching the kinks out after her long rest. “We should get going. Our objective is back to the village.”

“I’m here for you, for whatever you need,” said Tempest.

“I appreciate it,” said Twilight. She touched a few scattered pieces of paper on the card table they’d brought aboard as a desk. “I’m going to need to write a report by the time we get there.”

“I wrote a report,” said Tempest. She showed Twilight a folder of paperwork. “You can fill in your own details if you have anything to add.”

“Wow, thanks,” said Twilight, glancing inside the folder. “This looks pretty detailed.”

“Pinkie Pie insisted on having a celebratory ice cream social last night,” said Tempest. “So I had time. Of course, you weren’t available, so I saved you some ice cream, though it may not be the best breakfast.”

“It wouldn't be the worst thing I’ve ever done to my body. That sounds so good right now I could hug you. Oh, what the heck.” Twilight leaned in and put her hooves around Tempest, a gesture that lasted a second, but left Tempest stunned for several more.

“Thanks again,” said Twilight, turning away with the report. “I need to get Spike to send this.”

The airship had spent the night hovering over Manehattan. Having participated in the battle, it probably did the citizens some good to see it in the sky. Spitfire and Soarin’ had already had to turn away half a dozen pegasus reporters requesting interviews. Twilight asked them to get the ship moving, setting a course for Starlight’s village.

At this point, she figured they’d lost the strategic element of surprise. It seemed safe to assume the Commander and Starlight knew the development group had captured Tempest and gotten the location of the the village from her.

Twilight wasn’t sure what was worse: that the Commander might have set such powerful creatures on Manehattan as a mere distraction, or that they deemed protecting the village important enough to do so. Either way, the village now had time to reinforce defenses and would be ready.

Twilight wasn’t considering any kind of frontal attack. However, just because the Commander might know they were coming didn’t mean she knew exactly when. They could still do reconnaissance and look for weak points.

There was still the issue of how the Commander got their information. The more Twilight considered it, the more she suspected a leak. But who could it be?

Ironically, Tempest was probably the least likely suspect. Information had been getting out since before she’d joined the group. Everypony else… Twilight shook her head. Now was not the time to be persecuting allies, so whatever she did about it, it had to remain impartial and impersonal.

In the meantime, she refocused on what lay ahead. The sky was cloudless and blue, not useful cover for the airship. They would have to put it down somewhere and proceed by land.

She flipped through the report, just skimming. As thick as it was, it must have been fairly comprehensive. Twilight wondered if it must have been written with the other Elements’ help. Maybe they figured answering a few questions for Tempest was easier than writing their own reports.

Twilight’s stomach growled. She hesitated, pen poised to write, but the few pages she’d seen looked good. She closed the cover and went to find Spike.

He sent the report off by burning it with his fire breath. That was a remarkably effective way of transporting small combustible objects, as they would reappear wherever he wanted them. In this case, Celestia had an inbox in her office dedicated especially for him.

“She’s making me write my own reports now,” Spike said glumly. “So thanks for giving her the idea.”

“Nopony ever said, ‘wow, this is too much documentation,’” Twilight quipped.

She headed for the small galley aboard the airship and grabbed a couple of things for breakfast, sitting down. It was a rare occasion nowadays when she wasn’t tired, actively researching, or fighting, so she took the few minutes she had to eat and read a book about nautical traditions.

She paused, taking the spoon out of her mouth after a bite. “Wow, that is really good ice cream.”

After Spike had sent the report, Celestia invited Cadance up to her office to read it. They went over it together.

“There’s a note here from Rainbow Dash that before she left Canterlot the other day, she saw Twilight’s school friends,” said Cadance.

“If I remember correctly, they had their memories modified?” said Celestia.

“Right.” Cadance read the note again. “It looks like they were just there for Rainbow’s autograph.”

“Coincidence, then.” Celestia turned the page.

“It may be worth following up on them,” said Cadance. “With the sudden departure of Chrysalis-as-Twilight, we don’t know how they might take it. She could have even told them something.”

Celestia looked up. “Such as?”

“Chrysalis had information, but for a price. I don’t know if she would have told civilians anything. I’m just stating the possibility.”

Celestia continued reading silently for several seconds before asking, “So when does Scoop de Cadenza open?”

Cadance chuckled. “Not that we were ever for profit, but adding ice cream would increase overhead significantly. At any rate, we have to ensure security first.”

“Speaking of which,” said Celestia, “I want to ask you for the Elements’ help to ensure security for the summit.”

“The international summit happening in two days?” Cadance shook her head. “This is sudden. I don’t know if they’ll even be back by then, much less in any condition to protect dozens of diplomats.”

“I wouldn’t have asked before this incident in Manehattan,” Celestia replied. “But now, there’s really no hiding the fact that something is going on, even if it doesn’t have a face like Nightmare Moon. The delegates coming for the summit are going to ask what I’m doing to protect them while they’re in Canterlot.”

“What’s your priority? Going after the village, or protecting the summit?”

Celestia considered it, looking back down at the report. “The summit. The Elements don’t have to come back to Canterlot immediately, but they do have to be in place by then. I’ll have Spike tell them.”

Cadance, no longer an Element and thereby unable to connect to Spike, felt left out of the loop. She was in charge of the development group, but had to get Celestia’s help to manage it.

She vaguely realized she was seeing Twilight’s situation from the opposite perspective: wanting to be involved but forced out. She was even self-aware enough to see the irony in that. Worse, illogically, Cadance had started to feel guilty about what she’d done to get Twilight back despite being proven right by Twilight’s actions and the lives she’d already saved.

“Is something the matter?” Celestia said, glancing up from the report.

“No,” Cadance replied, “I’m just thinking about how we’ll handle this. We’ll need a plan. I’ll get started.”

She nodded to Celestia and left the office as Celestia continued to read the report.

As Cadance closed the door, Celestia burst out “In orbit!?”

“So, to summarize, Celestia wants you back to Canterlot to protect some international meeting,” Spike reported. The others had gathered around him aboard the airship.

“But we’re almost there!” Twilight argued.

“She just said we had to come back, she didn’t say exactly when,” Rainbow pointed out.

Twilight looked at her, and then nodded after a moment of consideration. Being the leader in tactical command of Task Force Cupcake was more responsibility than she had wanted, but it did allow her to make her own decisions. “Alright. We’ll still do the recon, and then head back.”

She turned to Tempest. “Where’s a good place to land out of sight of the village, but close?”

“The foothills to the north should hide our approach. It may be a little dicey to stay in the cover of the valleys.”

“Can you do it?”

Tempest glanced at the airship’s wheel. “Yes.” She walked over to the controls. “You may want to hang on.”

That turned out to be good advice. Twilight braced her hooves on the deck. Under Tempest’s touch, the airship went careening towards the ground, dropping into one of the forested valleys northeast of the village. It banked hard to stay within the snaking channel of the valley, occasionally brushing the very tops of trees with its hull. Rainbow was the only one who seemed to be enjoying the ride.

Tempest eventually reduced speed and brought them in for a hover. If Twilight had been keeping up with the map correctly, the village was a little further down, probably just over the next ridge. To the other side, mountains rose up to the frozen north.

“Alright,” said Twilight. “Spitfire, Soarin’, take my astronomy telescope and head up the mountain. Find a place to hole up and set up overwatch. Fluttershy, go with them for comms. Rainbow, fly along the mountains and loop around to the west side of the village. Applejack do you still do that tree thing?”

“Yes.”

“Good, take the south. Pinkie, Rarity, just go straight west until you get to the village’s east side. I’ll take the north side.”

“I can go,” said Tempest.

Twilight considered it. “Alright, come with me. Spike, watch the airship.”

“As long as we’ve still got ice cream,” said Spike.

The group split off. Twilight and Tempest moved fast, occasionally teleporting to cover ground. The village seemed to be positioned about where the trees of the foothills gave way, so there was nothing around it to hide their approach. She settled for keeping just inside the treeline and observing from a distance.

Twilight and Tempest settled down into the grass. Twilight pulled a notebook out of her saddlebags and set up a couple of spells, applying small tweaks to lens the air in front of the two of them. It took some fiddling, but she managed to set up what was effectively a wide-view magic telescope for them both to look through, albeit slightly tinged the color of her magic.

They saw a few ponies moving around, though nothing too out of the ordinary for a town. Twilight kept fiddling with her spells, gradually increasing the zoom and clarity. Squinting, she saw what Tempest had mentioned before: everypony had the same cutie mark. Even seeing it, she still couldn’t believe it.

“There’s Starlight Glimmer,” said Tempest, indicating a pale pink unicorn.

Twilight repeated it for the benefit of the network, making sure the others knew what she looked like. They continued to watch Starlight, who seemed to happily interact with the townsponies.

“She seems...more energetic or something,” Twilight said. “I can’t quite put my hoof on it, but there’s something different about her than the rest.”

“I got that sense, too,” Tempest replied.

I’ve got changelings over here, said Rainbow. If I hadn’t caught them changing disguises, though, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. They all seemed to come out of one house.

She projected across which house it was on the west side of the village. Twilight made a mental note.

Um, we found a cave up here and...it’s something big, said Fluttershy.

What is it?

It’s...well, just let me show you. Fluttershy projected what she was seeing.

Twilight gasped. A glowing blue spell matrix stood against the wall of the cave. Within its cells were a variety of what she could only assume were cutie marks.

“So they don’t have equal cutie marks...all their cutie marks were taken.”

Twilight briefly described for Tempest what was going on. To the network, she said, “We need to save those ponies.”

Do we have time? Rarity said. The Princess wanted us to return.

“She doesn’t know about this.” Twilight could have waited for Spike to tell her, but pressed forward. She was in charge on the ground, and this was the new mission. “Tempest, go back to the airship and stand by. Rainbow, I’m coming to you.”

Twilight headed that direction and met up with Rainbow in a few minutes. “Watch my back, I’m going in there.”

“Are you crazy?” Rainbow asked mildly.

Twilight gestured to herself. “No, I’m Queen Chrysalis.” She teleported.

Arriving to the backside of the house Rainbow had earlier designated, Twilight took a deep breath, doublechecked that her saddlebags covered her flanks, and then strode confidently around the corner into the street.

Yes, this was stupid. Starlight probably knew they were coming. The Commander had probably told Starlight what all the Elements looked like. But that didn’t mean the tactical element of surprise was entirely lost.

In the few seconds Twilight spent on the street, nopony looked twice at her. Seeing all the identical cutie marks up close somehow only made the feeling stranger. There was something definitely wrong here.

She walked through the front door of the house like she owned the place. A stallion was slumped in a chair, bouncing a paddle ball. He stood up in surprise. “My queen, what-”

Twilight silenced him with a raised hoof. “Listen carefully. I’m the real Twilight Sparkle. I came to get you all out of here. I need to speak with Chrysalis.”

He gaped at her for several seconds in surprise before shaking his head as if to clear it. “O-of course! Sure. Um, come with me.”

He led her back out of the house. This guy must not have been a great changeling, because he wore his feelings on his face, looking visibly nervous as he led Twilight across the street.

“Hi there!” said blue stallion, stopping Twilight. “You only just arrived a few days ago, right?”

Twilight did her best to impersonate Chrysalis impersonating herself. “With the ability to count like that, one wonders why you aren’t a mathematician.”

“Well, that’s because Starlight Glimmer put me in charge of party planning around here. I mean, my name is Party Favor. I guess I’m not great at it, but hey, we’re all equal here.”

He waved goodbye. Twilight and the changeling moved on. Coming to the next house, her escort knocked on the door.

It opened to reveal Twilight.

“Hi,” said Twilight. “Nice place you have here.” She pushed through the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Chrysalis exclaimed. Apparently feeling just as weird about the matching faces as Twilight herself, she turned back to her usual form as soon as the door was closed. So did the other changeling.

“We were in the neighborhood, after having captured Tempest Shadow, and thought you might like to get out of here,” said Twilight. She tilted her head. “Have I earned your trust yet?”

Chrysalis blinked, absorbing it. “So you’re the Element of Magic?”

This time, it was Twilight’s turn to transform. As Chrysalis stared at her, Twilight said, “I’m not sure if you pretending to be me was the smartest or dumbest thing you’ve ever done. Either way, here we are. We’re going to take down Starlight Glimmer. It would help if you told me what we’re dealing with.”

“You really beat Tempest Shadow?”

“It wasn’t easy. She even had a system to cancel magic, but we got around it.”

Chrysalis nodded. “The black stone? That used to be part of my throne, before we were driven from our home. The stone absorbs pony magic, which I thought was enough to keep us safe.”

“What kind of magic does Starlight have?”

“I doubt I’ve seen even a fraction of her power. She uses what she calls the Staff of Sameness to remove cutie marks.”

“We found where they’re kept, a cave up in the mountains.”

Chrysalis nodded. “The ponies...they’re not whole. They love, they feel emotion, but they feel like poor imitations of themselves.”

“We’re going to put a stop to that here and now.” Ready, everypony?

Heck yes.

Yep.

Okie-dokie!

If you insist, darling.

“Get going,” Twilight said to Chrysalis. To everypony else she said, converge on the town. She walked out of the house.

In the street, standing there as the Element of Magic, the townsponies definitely noticed Twilight this time. She started walking towards the house at the end of the row, the one that stood apart, where Tempest had pointed out the mayor. She called, “Starlight Glimmer!”

There were excited whispers from awestruck townsponies in the street behind her, which she ignored. If they proved to be a problem, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity were already surrounding the town, and the rest wouldn’t be far behind.

Starlight came out of her house. She carried a long, straight stick with a forked end loosely with one foreleg and walked, no, strolled over to meet Twilight. “Well, the Element of Magic here to see little old me! What could have brought you here?” She smiled, a look Twilight found more annoying that any Chrysalis had ever worn.

“You’re going to release all those cutie marks you’re holding in that cave and give these ponies their lives back.”

“Oh?” Starlight’s smirk somehow deepened. “Or what?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Or I’m going to kill you like every other abomination I’ve ever met.”

She was actually surprised when her words seemed to cut Starlight. Did the villain have a conscience?

However, they were interrupted just then. “Starlight, are they finally here?”

A blue pegasus mare with a pale mane approached, landing beside Starlight. Between the equality cutie mark and different haircut, it took Twilight several seconds to recognize her, and a few more to believe it. “Night Glider!?”

There was a general chorus of disbelief from the voices on the network. Rainbow appeared just then, skidding into a landing beside Twilight. If anything, she was even more dumbfounded.

“What happened to you?” said Rainbow. “I thought you were dead!”

“Maybe I was.” Night Glider shrugged. “Either way, I’m here now, and I have only Starlight to thank.”

“She was very generous in thanking me,” said Starlight, smiling again. She lifted her staff, and transformed.

Her outfit seemed geometric, with purples and blues. A diamond-shaped chest plate appeared designed to deflect frontal attacks. Kitelike wings seemed to jut upwards as part of the ensemble.

“I’m the Element of Equality,” she said, raising her staff. A ball of magic formed at its tip. “And it’s time I showed you how average you really are.”

She struck so quickly Twilight only had a shield up out of reflex than conscious decision. Still, the attack carried enough force to knock her over backwards. Even when Trixie had been charged up by the amulet she hadn’t hit this hard. Who was this mare?

When the fight broke out, Rainbow dove for Night Glider. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie - arriving just then - scattered to get out of the firing line.

By the time Twilight rolled and came up standing, she was already preparing an attack of her own. Her shot of magic went straight to where Starlight wasn’t - she had teleported. Not seeing Starlight in front of her, Twilight instinctively whirled, just barely getting her sword up to block an attack from Starlight’s staff that might have taken her head off.

Starlight jumped back out of range of Twilight’s counterattack, her magic powering the wings of her outfit. She hovered there for a second, as if taunting Twilight. It took the house next to her exploding to wipe the expression off her face.

Not a bad shot, but not quite on target!

Hey, I’m too short to see the cannon sights! Spike complained.

Starlight teleported again, appearing further down the street. Twilight teleported after her, extending her sword - but hitting nothing. Starlight was gone again.

“Hey!”

Twilight didn’t even have time to turn before getting hammered with magic so hard that she destroyed another house by going through the front wall and out the back.

It felt like her lungs had seized and every single part of her body hurt simultaneously. She struggled to roll over and had to visually check that all her legs were still attached.

Starlight wiped the wreckage of the building away with a toss of her horn. She advanced on Twilight, only to fend off a banzai attack from Pinkie. Losing ground to Pinkie’s swords, she counterattacked with magic, sending Pinkie straight up into the air.

Rarity drove forward, bouncing one of Starlight’s spells off her shield. Starlight teleported, and then hit Rarity from behind.

Pinkie returned from however high she had gone, landing squarely atop Starlight. She managed to tear one of the wings off Starlight’s costume before she was swept off and slammed to the ground. Starlight slammed her staff down across Pinkie’s midsection, which drove the breath from her, but also folded her body up like an armadillo.

Applejack rushed at Starlight, whose staff Pinkie was still holding tightly to. Starlight managed to duck, losing part of her mane to Applejack’s scythe. She hit Applejack with a glancing shot of magic that knocked her over. Applejack rolled and dug her scythe into the ground to slow her momentum, charging back at Starlight only to meet a head-on blast of magic that knocked her clear across the street without touching the ground.

Starlight kicked Pinkie in the head, which finally made her let go of Starlight’s staff. As Rarity made another charge, Starlight threw her staff into Rarity’s path, forcing her to highstep, and then hit her shield straight on with enough magic to send Rarity flying, too.

All this happened in the time that it took Twilight to get up. Applejack and Rarity would also need time to get back into the fight. Pinkie might be down for the count. Where was Rainbow, still fighting Night Glider?

Another cannon shell arrived just then, but Starlight didn’t even flinch as it exploded off a magic shield she threw up. She walked towards Twilight, beginning to smile again as she charged her horn.

Twilight conjured a v-shaped shield with as much magic as she could, but also placed a shield behind her. Starlight hit her with a spell that felt like getting hit with a train. Twilight’s shield only barely held, even as it deflected the attack, cutting deep trenches to either side of her. Her hindquarters slammed into her secondary shield, the only thing keeping her from being knocked down.

Something had to give. There was no way Twilight could fight her on parity. A sudden idea came to her. Spike, load that black rock into the cannon!

“You’re something of a magical prodigy, aren’t you?” Starlight called to Twilight as she kept walking forward. “Aren’t you special?”

Twilight wasn’t sure where she was going with this, and tried an attack while Starlight seemed distracted. Starlight easily blocked it.

“But that wasn’t good enough,” Starlight went on. “You became an Element. You made more Elements. But you know what? If everypony is special, nopony is special.”

She struck a glancing blow at Twilight with her staff, playing with her.

“Then why are you an Element?” said Twilight. “Are you going to convert others? What are you going to do when the majority of ponies have been converted into Elements? ‘Everypony is special, so nopony is special?’ What are you going to do when everypony is equally as powerful, and then they decide they don’t like you?”

“That’s the beauty of true equality. There is no like, there is no hate.” Starlight kept coming, levitating over the scars in the ground her magic had made.

Twilight walked backwards. “So, some hypocrisy, then? I can see the makeup you used to cover your cutie mark coming off. I guess some ponies are more equal than others, then?”

“It’s not a perfect system, it just works for me.” Starlight raised her staff.

Another shot came screaming in. Starlight annoyedly shot it down, but her eyes widened in surprise as it didn’t explode like the others, instead turning into a black puff that blanketed the area.

Her staff fell to the ground as her magic was pulled away. Twilight, prepared for it, already had her sword in hoof and charged.

Starlight managed to grab up her staff and block Twilight’s attack, but was nearly knocked over in the process. Twilight pressed forward, this time the one taking ground. She was aware, however, that they were getting close to the edge of the cloud of stone dust.

Using as much strength as she could, Twilight chopped downwards, cutting through the staff and disarming Starlight. She followed up with a clinch, taking the other mare to the ground on her back. Twilight stabbed her sword through Starlight’s foreleg to pin it to the ground, used her weight to hold down the other, and then began to rain punches direct to her face.

Starlight kicked at Twilight feebly, but her resistance died away around the same time Twilight broke her cheekbone. Had Twilight been thinking rationally through this, she would have recognized the point that the structural integrity of Starlight’s skull was compromised, and perhaps stopped there. Or perhaps not.

It was only when Starlight stopped moving at all that Twilight paused in realization, her hoof still raised. She sat there heaving with breath, blood dripping off her hoof, for a few seconds before rolling off Starlight’s body and lying on her back.

She lay there breathing hard for several seconds. Maybe she'd be getting back to Canterlot on time after all.

Author's Note

Source

CH16: Afterparty

Lyra put a flyer down on Moon Dancer’s desk. It was an invitation from the school’s Model Summit Society to observe a real summit, happening soon at the castle.

“This’ll get us in,” said Lyra.

Normally, Moon Dancer would have asked what she meant by that. Normally, she wasn’t trying to rationalize a friend being an Element and/or somehow tied to a risen-from-the-dead Princess.

“They probably won’t just let us wander around,” said Moon Dancer.

“Well, who knows? Either way, it gets us in, and we can figure it out from there.”

“We don’t have to.” Moon Dancer set a heavy book on her desk. “The castle blueprints are a state secret, but Prince Blueblood’s diary is exhaustive enough in detail that we may be able to piece together an idea of the layout.”

“Where did you get his diary?”

“He sells it.”

“Yeah, he does seem like that kind of guy.”

After the battle in the village, and once Starlight’s magic had faded, the cutie marks stored up in the mountain cave came streaming back to their owners, leaving trails of magic in the sky. The townsponies all seemed to have immediate changes in attitude. The stallion Twilight had met earlier, Party Favor, was in fact pretty good at parties now that he had his mark back. Pinkie seemed to resent not being the one to throw the liberation celebration, but she was nursing a concussion and some cracked ribs, so she conceded.

The Elements didn’t really have time to stick around. They took possession of Starlight’s body and loaded up on the airship. Chrysalis came to see them off.

The changelings had stayed out of the way during the battle. Relations were slightly prickly with the other residents of the town, but it was clear that both parties had been victims of Starlight.

“I believe in you now,” Chrysalis said to Twilight.

“Thank you. Keep in touch.”

“Maybe I will.”

Twilight gave her a look that carried considerably more weight than it should have, coming from a purple schoolfilly. “That’s an order, not a friendly offer. You’re lucky I’m letting you go.”

She boarded the airship and Tempest set a course for Canterlot. On the way, Twilight plodded around in a circle on the airship’s deck, marking out runes and charging the spell to maintain itself without input. She was exhausted after the battle, and didn’t want to keep expending her own magic. It was a spell to block heat, keeping the wooden deck fireproof for what was to come next.

They laid out Starlight’s body and Spike lit it on fire. The Commander had shown they were willing to use the undead, so this was a prudent precaution.

Twilight lamented that Starlight might have been able to tell them quite a bit, if she’d lived. Granted, that was Twilight's fault, but she hadn't been willing to take chances at the time. At least they still had one prisoner.

Night Glider was not the mare they remembered. Whether it was the effects of brainwashing or a genuine animosity to the Elements from the perception they’d left her for dead, she had to be restrained. With a little tinkering, they’d managed to figure out how Tempest’s Element-cancelling armor worked. Instead of Grubber, this time Spike powered it, and they bound Night Glider inside the armor.

She wouldn’t stop screaming curses until Fluttershy sedated her.

The question about what had happened to Night Glider kept Twilight up, even as tired as she was. She went to find Rainbow, and eventually located her on the forward deck, staring into the last glow of the setting sun as the airship sailed west.

Twilight stepped up beside her, adopting a similar posture of leaning on the rail because she was too sore to stand up straight. “When was the last time you saw Night Glider?”

Rainbow considered it. “Everfree. We were both flying recon. It was dark. There was one of those giant shadow eagle things. I saw her get hit and go down in the trees. After that, I was fighting for my life. I didn’t try to find her. An injured pony alone was as good as dead in the Everfree then, and I had to get back and tell everypony else that I’d found the castle.”

Rainbow didn’t seem to be done. Twilight gave her a moment.

“I feel like I need to confess,” Rainbow said.

“It doesn’t sound like you do. Anyway, I’m not your counselor.”

“Yeah, but who else do I have?” Rainbow glanced around pointedly. “I put too much of my worry on Fluttershy. Applejack is just a ball of sunshine. Rarity won’t give me the time of day. Pinkie doesn’t take anything seriously.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. Somehow this responsibility seemed even more taxing than being appointed leader of the task force.

“Plus, Tempest basically rolled over and gave you the end of her leash. I may not be any good at living up to my Element of Loyalty, but I recognize it when I see it. You know, I was actually kind of jealous.”

“Of who?”

“The relationship. I’m around Spitfire and Soarin’ all the time, but it’s just business. Even the sex is just business.”

“The what?”

“It gets boring on the road, and we’ve all got urges. We’d do it all the time, sometimes all together. But it was just so...utilitarian” Rainbow shook her head. “I never thought I’d grow up to realize sex wasn’t all that.”

“It isn’t.”

“Not that you’d know. But that’s not the point. I think I’m missing something. It’s weird that Tempest giving herself to you was what made me realize it.”

“She didn’t...well, not like that.”

“I bet you she would if you asked her.”

“I wouldn’t!”

“I would if you asked me.”

Twilight stared at her. “I’m in high school! Actually, no, that isn’t even the main issue here. I have way more important things to be doing.” Seeing Rainbow’s grin, Twilight amended, “More important things to accomplish.”

She started to turn away, but then pointed at Starlight’s body and said, “Also, asking me in front of a burning corpse? Maybe this is why you don’t have any romance in your life.”

Rainbow was still grinning. “Maybe being picky is why you’re going to die a virgin.”

“Well, we all have problems.” Twilight sighed. “Okay, I guess I’m flattered by your offer. But that’s not what I’m looking for. Sorry.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Well, at least this conversation distracted me for a little while from my other problems. I don’t know what I’m going to say to Night Glider.”

“Just tell her how you feel, platonically.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Thanks, Twi.”

Cadance had heard what happened, relayed from Spike via Celestia of course. The girls all seemed to be in one piece, though, so she put worry out of her mind for the moment and focused instead on surveying the castle.

She was secretly pleased with the outcome of the battle. Either the Elements had already been in position to strike when the order came down to return, or Twilight was more of a cowpony than she let on. They would find out when the report was published, but Cadance was still proud of her.

Making another circuit through the event hall, Cadance did her best to mentally wargame potential attacks against the castle, or even just accidents. There would be plenty of Royal Guard and foreign security, but with the Elements joining in, it would be best to position them where they could be inconspicuous yet respond quickly.

She’d already decided to pose Rarity as a castle secretary in the midst of the summit. Applejack and Rainbow, along with Spitfire and Soarin’, would put on formal Guard armor and disguise themselves in plain sight. Pinkie would be in the kitchen, doing her thing there, but ready to respond to anything on the lower levels. Fluttershy was going to the castle infirmary to be prepared for any casualties. Twilight was assigned to the upper levels, to include Princess Celestia’s tower.

Of course, she was going to run all of this by Twilight. Cadance felt another pang of regret at the thought, remembering the argument they’d had on whose right it was to make decisions. She needed to make up with Twilight, formally. The two of them needed to have a long talk.

She might even get her chance quicker than expected. Cadance glanced outside as she passed a window, spotting an airship inbound. Reversing her course, she went to meet it.

“Spike, do you think you could handle being shot out of a cannon?” Twilight asked. She was almost finished with her report on the battle at Starlight’s village and had turned to a few thoughts she’d been working on. It was a development group, after all.

“Um, maybe?” Spike replied. “I guess if you needed me to go somewhere really fast. But if that was the case, wouldn’t it be easier to just teleport me?”

“Good point. See, that’s why I asked first.” Twilight paused, reluctant to ask the next question, but it really was important. “Speaking of questions, I wanted to ask you about Night Glider.”

“I think I know what you’re going to ask.” He sighed. “You know how the connection works: she could hear everything I was sharing, and I could have heard her if she chose to share. After she was gone, I could have broken the connection. I should have. But we all thought she was dead. I guess I had hope for a while, but after a while I forgot. I wanted to forget. With some of the others...you don’t know what it’s like being connected to somepony’s senses while they die.”

Twilight didn’t, but didn’t appreciate the sentiment that she didn’t know what it felt like to be close to somepony as they breathed their last. Spike hadn’t meant it that way, though, and she had another question to ask. “Do you think she’s been listening this whole time, feeding information to the Commander?”

Spike swallowed hard. “...maybe.”

“It would explain a lot,” Twilight said. “And that’s why I’m going to need you to consciously shut down everything, save for the Elements on this airship, and Princess Celestia.”

Spike nodded. “Done.” He added, “I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have left that kind of vulnerability. Maybe things would have turned out differently with Night Glider. I’m really sorry.”

“I think we all are,” said Twilight.

They would have to save answering some questions for the interrogation of Night Glider, but Twilight could speculate on a few answers now. Perhaps Night Glider was how Starlight Glimmer had become an Element and where the Commander kept getting their information.

Twilight hoped Night Glider could be helped, rehabilitated. She hoped Night Glider was only under some kind of spell or brainwashing. She didn’t want to think about what would happen otherwise.

She finished up the report as Canterlot came into view. She had a copy ready to go as they came in for a landing. Cadance was waiting.

“I heard what happened,” Cadance said as Twilight walked down the gangplank to meet her.

Twilight gave her the report. “It was a lot.”

Cadance paused, and asked in a quieter voice, “Night Glider?”

Twilight nodded and looked away. “Yeah.” She turned back to Cadance, intent on changing the subject. “So, a summit?”

“Right,” Cadance said. “Let me show you around.”

“Just a sec.” Twilight turned to survey unloading the airship. Tempest came down the ramp with Night Glider, still restrained.

“The dungeon?” Tempest guessed.

“It’s where we keep all our guests,” said Twilight dryly. “By the way, I’m pretty sure I could get the Princess to give you a room somewhere else.”

“I like it; it’s quiet. Don’t worry about me.” Tempest nodded to her and went on.

Twilight turned to find Cadance giving her an odd look - or thought she did. The expression was gone off Cadance’s face quickly enough that she wasn’t sure she had actually seen it.

Cadance took her on a tour to point out how the summit would be set up. Twilight agreed with most of her points. Since Tempest seemed to prefer the dungeon, she could handle security there. Though, Twilight of all ponies was cognizant of the dangers of too much introversion.

Pinkie’s offer of a party was starting to sound good, which was how Twilight knew she’d been working too hard lately. Manehattan and then the village, two fights in two days. Plus, getting some sleep was a perfect excuse to leave the party whenever she wanted.

Twilight brought it up when Cadance ended the security survey at Celestia’s office. After discussing the new mission and dropping her report off with the Princess, Twilight said, “Do you mind if we use the royal lounge tonight? You know how Pinkie is, and she might vibrate apart if we don’t let her throw a party once in a while. I feel like we’ve earned it.”

“The royal lounge?” said Celestia.

“It’s pretty small, right? We don’t need that much room. Both of you are invited, of course. Sunset, too.”

“I could say no, but I suspect Pinkie is probably already at work,” said Celestia. “Very well.”

Twilight started to turn, but Celestia called her back. “Speaking of Sunset, she wanted me to talk to you about something.”

Twilight looked around pointedly. “She can talk to me herself.”

“It’s about the other universe, and the Elements.”

“I’ve already told her no on allowing the Elements over there,” said Twilight. “And frankly, I’m a little annoyed that she wanted you to try and convince me.”

Celestia nodded. “Sunset wanted me to ask you, and so I did. You’ve again made your stance very clear, and I told her that would probably be the case.”

“I just don’t know why she is so set on it,” said Twilight. She shook her head. “Anyway, I’ll see you both later.”

Twilight went to spread the word about the party, and then stopped by her room to have a shower. The airship did have a bathroom, but there was nothing like the experience of a castle bathing facility.

Freshened up, she headed for the royal lounge. It was tucked at the base of Celestia’s tower, close to the kitchens and her office, but behind an unmarked door that few noticed and fewer knew.

Twilight had read about it in Prince Blueblood’s diary and divined the location from context clues. She’d never been inside, though.

When the group showed up at the appointed hour, the door was open. Twilight walked in with the others, stepping from the stone of the castle into a room that was half polished wood and half velvet. The lighting was soft and quiet music played from somewhere.

Celestia stood behind the bar and greeted them as they came in. “Wow,” said Twilight, “I didn’t know what I was asking.”

Celestia smiled in amusement. “Well, I don’t get very many chances to host. What would you like?” She swept her foreleg over the selection behind the bar and winked. “Choose carefully, most of these bottles are older than you.”

“Oh, um, that’s the problem, isn’t it? I’m not old enough.”

“I forget sometimes. But no matter. I’m the Princess, I make the laws.”

“Still,” Twilight demurred. “I guess just some juice.”

Despite not knowing what she was getting into, the lounge turned out to be an excellent place to relax after what Twilight had gone through in the last few days. Everypony else also seemed to be enjoying themselves, particularly at the expense of Celestia’s private stock.

“How are things?” Cadance asked, coming over to where Twilight had settled herself into an armchair that practically swallowed her.

“Hmm?” Twilight looked at her. “You read my report.”

“That’s not what I meant. Maybe I should have asked: how are you?”

Twilight considered it. “Well, I’m surviving.” She hesitated, but then went on. “I know we’re doing good work, but I feel a little bit like a blunt object. Ironic, given that I’m the leader of a lightweight, fast-moving surgical strike team and my magical object is a sword. And that’s another thing, they say the pen is mightier than the sword, but my pen is a sword.” Twilight covered her eyes and groaned. “Why is my life a joke?”

She had to mentally make sure she was in fact drinking juice. Maybe it was just the relaxing setting and the company. She had opened up more than she expected.

“I don’t think you’re a joke,” said Cadance. She touched Twilight’s shoulder.

“Then you should see what the trackers are writing. When the press release about Starlight comes out tomorrow, I’ll be surprised if they don’t publish a bracket of all the waifus I’ve killed so far.” Twilight sighed deeply. “Maybe I should have been drinking after all.”

Despite her mood, she followed up with a yawn so deep that Cadance might as well have been her dentist. “I should probably get to bed. Sounds like a big day tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk with you,” said Cadance. “I’m going that way.”

The two of them said goodnight to the others. Twilight was surprised Celestia was still awake, given her daily responsibilities, but hosting an intimate party must have been as rare as she said.

Out in the hall, they turned for the bedrooms. Twilight glanced at Cadance, who appeared deep in thought, frowning to herself. “Is there something on your mind?”

“You said you were just surviving.” Cadance was silent for a few moments as they walked. “I feel...rather, I am responsible. You’re not even old enough to drink and we put you on the front lines of saving Equestria again.”

“I mean...I’m still not really cool with it, but I understand why you did what you did. Maybe I was selfish.”

“That doesn’t excuse what I did.”

Twilight looked at her. “Tell me I was selfish, Cadance. I’ll tell you that you were underhanded. Let’s just let it be water under the bridge.”

Cadance lowered her eyes. “Thank you. You know, I missed just being us.”

Twilight smiled. “I know that feeling. The nursery rhymes you taught me. The fun we had together.”

Cadance also smiled at the memories. “I missed you. I didn’t like the feeling that we couldn’t even talk to each other because we’d gone our separate ways. Our bond was supposed to be stronger than that, stronger than war.”

Twilight hesitated, but then committed. “It is. We just didn’t see it. I’m glad I do now.”

“Me too.”

They came to the corner where each would split off to go their separate ways. Cadance stopped and Twilight turned to face her.

“I did miss us,” said Cadance. She smiled.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “You know...I’m glad it was you. I wouldn’t have come back for anypony else. I just should have remembered who you were earlier.”

She paused, but then threw herself into Cadance’s hooves. The two of them stood there for several long seconds, just embracing. Cadance rested her chin on Twilight’s head. The moment could have lasted forever.

They slowly began to separate on unspoken cue. Twilight looked into Cadance’s eyes, still remembering the moments they’d had together and what it meant to her. It could have been anypony, but this was who she had for a sister in law, and it couldn’t have been anypony better.

Cadance leaned forward and kissed her lips.

“Wh-wha…?” Twilight pushed away, eyes wide.

“I’m so sorry!” Cadance gasped. “That was wrong! I...I mistook closeness for romance and…” She shook her head, putting her hoof to her face. “It was creepy, and I’m sorry. I’m not good at love anymore.” She sighed. “I’m a long way from who I used to be.”

Twilight composed herself, wiping the taste of Cadance’s drink away. She looked at the floor. “Well, I agree with you, that was creepy. But also, I think we’re all a long way from who we used to be.”

“Sorry.”

Twilight lifted her eyes to look at Cadance again. “You know...I bet if Shining were here he would have thought it was hilarious.”

Cadance’s mouth twitched, but after a moment she couldn’t hold herself back and burst out laughing. Twilight couldn’t help but join her.

The way things used to be. No, not quite. But close. If anything, this latest incident just reinforced the need to forgive and remember what they had.

They both stood there for a moment longer. Twilight opened her mouth to say goodnight, but paused. “If you’re just looking for casual sex, though, Rainbow propositioned me earlier today.”

Cadance’s face changed instantly. “She what!?” I’m going to kill her!”

CH17: The Return

Twilight watched from one of the tower windows as dignitaries began to arrive. Creatures of all kinds were alighting in the courtyard from carriages or airships.

She agreed with most parts of the plan Cadance had set up, and felt that it provided coverage for the whole event, should the Elements be required for security. Of course, that meant they weren’t prepared to respond to an attack anywhere else in Equestria. That was balanced by the importance of the summit, and how they had severed the Commander’s flow of information by capturing Night Glider. Twilight hoped, anyway.

Her mind wandered a little as she stepped back from the window. She thought of Cadance. Last night had been good. Well, it had ended on a weird note, but overall it brought them back together, so she had to acknowledge that. She did love Cadance, but not carnally. Almost certainly, anyway. As Rainbow had noted, Twilight didn’t actually have any hooves-on experience to know the difference.

She tried to mentally change the subject, but it nagged at her. Eventually, she made a quick trip downstairs.

Rarity was in the middle of setting up the ballroom where the event was being held. It seemed that she was taking her roleplay seriously. Twilight interrupted her in the middle of sorting and folding table napkins. “Rarity, I have a question for you.”

“I’m Diamond Jubilee, ma’am,” Rarity replied, in an affected Manehattan accent. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m little busy right now.”

“Please. I really need your expertise and discretion.”

Rarity looked at her, raising her eyebrows.

Twilight said, “Why does everypony keep hitting on me?”

It looked like Rarity wanted to burst out laughing, but stuffed it down and turned back to the napkins. “Several factors. You’re in shape, you’re pleasant, you’re intelligent - in that order. But recently? It’s because you’re confident, darling.”

Twilight turned that over in her mind. “How do I make it stop?”

This time, Rarity did laugh. “There’s really no way to prevent it. Just be clear and upfront about how you want to be treated to get things straight early. There are quite a few similarities between love and war, so at least you know something about one of them. I will say that love requires less physical exertion, but has the drawback that it’s rather impolite to kill your adversaries.”

Twilight finally laughed too, though that was tempered by reluctance. “Thanks. I just needed some context. So I really can’t do anything about being in this situation?”

“You can either learn to like it, or learn to deal with it. Same applies to love, too.”

The group of students filed in. Somepony had set up a small roped-off viewing area to the side of the main summit space. Though the two of them weren’t there for the politics, Moon Dancer and Lyra couldn’t help but look around the palace in wonder. Well, also searching for opportunities to escape the group.

“If this is the main ballroom, there should be a staircase going up and down just outside,” Moon Dancer noted, just loud enough for Lyra to hear among the crowd.

“Where are we going to try and go?” Lyra said.

“I don’t know. Do you think they would keep things related to the Elements in the dungeon or upper towers?” Moon Dancer frowned. “Now that we’re here, though, I’m not sure I actually want to do this. What if we get caught? I mean, we’ll probably get caught, there’s security everywhere for an event like this.”

“Did you remember to write your backup note?”

Moon Dancer nodded. They’d each written down what they knew and stowed it in a secure place that they accessed often, as insurance against further mind spells. Moon Dancer had put hers in a bottle of morning vitamins in her medicine cabinet.

“If we both wrote down what we knew, then no problem.”

“But what if they charge us as Element conspiracy theorists and give us a civil sentence?”

“Um...well, that would be a problem.”

Glumly, they stood there as the crowd of students began to find their seats. The summit wouldn’t begin for another few minutes. A good number of foreign diplomats were already in the room, mingling.

Among all the creatures moving around, one stood out in particular. Through the crowd, Moon Dancer and Lyra caught sight of a pink unicorn, tall, and wearing a plain suit jacket. Cadance.

“What’s she doing here?” Lyra said. “I mean, okay, it’s obvious what a princess is doing at a castle event, but like, what is quote-unquote ‘Cadance’ doing here?”

“If she works with the Elements...are they here?” Moon Dancer said. “Is Twilight?”

Just then, Cadance noticed them, too. The three of them locked eyes across the room. After a moment, Cadance jerked her head towards one of the ballroom doors. She broke eye contact as she turned away.

“Are we going after her?” Lyra said. “She might be leading us into a trap. We’re safe here, where everypony can see us.”

“She also might know where Twilight is,” Moon Dancer pointed out.

The two of them hesitated, but followed Cadance.

With all the guests coming in the front entrance, the other doors out from the ballroom led to quiet, deserted hallways. That was where Cadance met them.

She was waiting when they came through the door. It closed behind them and Lyra said, “Where’s Twilight?”

“She’s...currently engaged in other pursuits right now,” Cadance said.

“Is she an Element?”

Cadance’s expression didn’t change, as if she had anticipated the question. “What makes you think that?”

“Long story,” said Moon Dancer. She paused, and then asked, “Can we see her?”

That seemed to finally get through Cadance’s impassive expression. She shifted her hooves and seemed about to reply when a small but expressive reptilian creature arrived, flying down the nearby staircase. “Cadance! There’s a problem in-” He pulled up short upon seeing Moon Dancer and Lyra.

“Where?” said Cadance.

“The lab.”

“Go get Tempest.”

He zoomed away, down the next set of stairs.

“What’s going on?” said Moon Dancer.

“What-slash-who was that?” said Lyra still looking towards where the messenger had disappeared.

“I’m going to need you to stay here for now,” said Cadance. “But...I will try to find Twilight for you.”

There was a thunder of hooves as a powerfully-built mare with a metal horn charged up the stairs and slid to a halt on the landing.

“These are Twilight’s friends,” said Cadance. “Keep them here.” Without another word, she hurried up the next flight of stairs, leaving Moon Dancer and Lyra alone with a pony who looked like she ate bowls of nails for breakfast.

There was an awkward silence.

“So…” said Lyra. “You know Twilight?”

Minutes earlier, Twilight had been making another round of the upstairs. She could hear the low murmur of hundreds of voices from the crowd below. Princess Celestia was still getting ready, and would go to open the ceremony shortly. Twilight was mentally timing her route to pass by the tower as Celestia came down, just to say hello.

As she rounded the corner, a strange...pulse swept through the air. Twilight had never felt anything like it, or had she? It seemed magical of some kind, and powerful.

However, as she was considering it, Sunset suddenly slammed open the door of her lab, dashing out into the hallway. She spotted Twilight. “I need help! Something...something is trying to come through the mirror!” Strange colors of light flashed out of the lab behind her.

Twilight transformed and rushed forward. She pushed past Sunset, entering the room. The mirror seemed to be going haywire, its surface rippling as the attached equipment threw off sparks.

Not knowing anything about it, Twilight did her best to sense the magic in the air. It was definitely related to the portal, as she remembered from when she went through it, but that didn’t give her enough insight to stop whatever was happening. Sunset was the expert, and if she wanted Twilight’s help…

Twilight had started to turn her head and ask, but the mirror suddenly calmed. No sparks, no ripples, nothing. Curious, Twilight took a step closer. “That’s weird. It’s like the energy suddenly diverted.”

“You could say that,” a voice replied.

Twilight turned.

Standing before her was an Element Twilight had never seen before. She was a unicorn, the color of a creamsicle, and somehow looking just as cold despite the fiery color of her mane, which contrasted with a black trenchcoat and armor. There was a featureless black mask on her face, and a hammer as tall as herself held in her magic.

Despite her appearance...there was no mistaking her. “Sunset!?”

She snorted, amusement and contempt. “I’m the Sunset Shimmer. This idiot foal thought she was worthy of the name.” Her head tilted.

Twilight risked a glance in that direction. Sunset - the one she knew - was laid out on the floor over by the wall, glasses broken. Twilight took a step in that direction, but the Element before her raised her hammer. In response, Twilight drew her sword. Her lip curled as she stared down the other Sunset. “What did you do to her?”

“She’ll live. You might, too.”

“Aside from your name, who are you?”

“You haven’t figured that out already? Why don’t we wait for Celestia? She tells it better than I do.”

Rivulets of ink began to run the length of Twilight’s blade, dripping off the tip onto the floor. She snarled and started forwards, but pulled up short as a long shadow filled the doorway.

“You needn't wait any longer,” said Princess Celestia. She walked into the room, her body flashing with fire as she transformed, her Element form appearing just as Twilight remembered.

“So go on then.” The masked mare gestured with her hammer. “Tell your precious student who Sunset Shimmer really is.”

“Sunset-” Celestia nodded to the one in front of her “-was a top student. She was interested in the mirror and its potential. But after she couldn’t learn to control herself or her lust for power, I banished her from the castle. Imagine our surprise when one day her human counterpart managed to contact us via the mirror. She was much more stable and humble than the Sunset I had known. She did much better research with the mirror, too.”

“Well, the original me figured out the portals without any need for a mirror at all.” Sunset tapped her hammer to her armored breastplate. “I’m here now. And as you can see, I’ve far surpassed any human. But why should I expect you to acknowledge me, Celestia? You didn’t even mention how I was the first Element.”

“What?” said Twilight. “It was Cadance, after the Princess!”

“Cadance was the first real Element,” said Celestia. “And I’m afraid this is what failure looks like.”

The Sunset before them threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, so it’s my fault? You never even told Twilight I existed! I wonder what other secrets you could be keeping from her? How about Nightmare Moon’s true identity?”

“Like I haven’t been lied to before,” said Twilight. “If you’re so smart, then you know exactly what I’ve been through. I don’t enjoy it - nopony does - but that’s kind of small potatoes compared to dealing ponies like you.”

That seemed to give Sunset pause. “Seriously? Are you really-”

Twilight leaped at her.

She managed to raise her hammer to block Twilight’s sword, but it was a close thing. Sparks showered the room.

There was a commotion from outside the room, presumably as the other Elements arrived. Sunset flicked her head and the door slammed shut, a wave of magic blanketing the room. That gave Twilight a chance to try a spell of her own, which Sunset blocked with her hammer.

Celestia attacked Sunset from the other side, which she blocked by trading places via teleport with her hammer. The sudden move also made Twilight too slow to duck a hind hoof to the side of her head that knocked her over. She rolled back up and charged in coordination with Celestia.

Under their combined attack, Sunset could do little but let her hammer take the bulk of the punishment and pull back. Twilight’s sword thrust forward, feinting, as Twilight teleported to the side. Sunset teleported a fraction of a second ahead of the blade, simultaneously ducking a punch from Celestia. Her counterattack swept Celestia’s hind hooves with her hammer.

Twilight fired another magical blast at Sunset, who bounced it off a magic shield. The diverted spell hit the wall near where the other Sunset still lay. Twilight gritted her teeth and pressed forward instead with her sword as Celestia teleported to Sunset’s other side. There was another clash that Sunset barely ducked out of. She backed away, towards the mirror.

Twilight and Celestia had the same thought at the same time, and preemptively fired magic over Sunset’s head, their combined spells destroying the frame to deny her escape route. They kept advancing.

Sunset was breathing hard now. Her trenchcoat was torn in at least two places and she was splattered with ink. “Alright,” she said. “If that’s how it’s going to be.”

She raised her hammer, but before Twilight or Celestia could press an attack, Sunset brought the hammer down with as much power as she could muster onto the stone floor. The shockwave took all three of them off their feet and cracked the floor wide open.

Twilight fell into the room below, which turned out to be the royal lounge. She bounced off a sofa and hit the floor, which still ended up hurting a lot more than she expected it to.

Celestia fell across an armchair, something cracking as she landed. She struggled to get to her hooves, dragging a wing. Her Element form had also dissipated. Twilight tried to get up from the floor, only to realize that it had happened to her, too. She looked around wildly for her sword, only finding her pen.

Sunset descended into the room from above, carrying herself with magic. Her hammer had cracked, but beneath the surface Twilight saw a vein of black stone. A network of glowing runes had also lit up along Sunset’s armor and mask.

Twilight’s magic didn’t seem to work. She grabbed her pen with her hooves and yanked the cap off. Nothing happened.

Sunset laughed. “Surely when you fought Tempest you saw how I had learned to negate magic. Surely you saw how I designed armor to even negate Elements.”

Celestia tried to light her horn, but nothing happened. Meanwhile, Sunset still had full command of her magic and her Element. She said, “Kneel. Grovel before me, Celestia. I’m the new Queen of Equestria, and soon, the other world as well.”

“Don’t do it!” Twilight said.

Sunset struck forward with a hoof, hitting Twilight in the chest and knocking her over on her back. She looked at Celestia. “Kneel.”

“No!” Twilight shouted.

Sunset stepped forward, putting her hoof on Twilight’s neck. She looked at Celestia again. “You can do whatever you want, Celestia, but whether you like it or not, I’m in charge now. If you don’t obey me, I’m going to start taking away things you like. Starting with the student you aren’t ashamed of.” She raised her hammer.

Twilight struggled, trying to get her hooves on anything nearby - a stone from the destroyed floor, a broken bottle, anything. Her hoof found her pen. She looked at it, desperately willing it to transform. Nothing happened.

Twilight swung her hoof, driving the fountain pen into Sunset’s throat.

Sunset stumbled away, her gasp of surprise turning into a gurgle as blood began to well at her lips. Her hoof went to her neck, feeling desperately for the writing utensil embedded there, and pulled it out. A gout of blood came out the open wound, spilling over the carpet. Sunset fell to her knees, wavered, and then fell forward into her own blood. Her hammer hit the floor beside her.

The door flew off its hinges and everypony piled through at once. Fluttershy went to Celestia. Rainbow covered Sunset with her crossbow, just in case she moved again. Applejack picked up the door and set it loosely back in the frame. Cadance came straight to Twilight. “Are you okay?”

Twilight blinked, collecting herself. “Yes. This-” she surveyed the damaged room, looking up through the hole in the ceiling to the lab “-is going to take some explaining.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Cadance moved forward, but then hesitated. Twilight closed the rest of the distance and the two of them embraced.

Kissing her sister-in-law: weird. Hugging one of her best friends: excellent. Very important to make distinctions.

Twilight suddenly pulled back. “Wait a second!” She teleported back upstairs. “Somepony get Fluttershy up here!”

Sunset still lay where she had been. Twilight touched her shoulder and she moaned. “Ugh, my head.”

Twilight did a quick repair spell on her glasses and set them on her face. Sunset blinked. “Did I really just see my counterpart?”

“Long story,” said Twilight.

Sunset looked past her at the destroyed mirror. Twilight had a twinge of regret. If this was the Sunset from the other word, she now had no way to get home. Well, they’d seen what the other Sunset could do with magic, and this one was no stranger to technology. Twilight was sure they could come up with something to fix or replace the mirror.

Twilight got out of the way as Fluttershy arrived and walked to the edge of the hole in the floor. The faces of the ponies below all looked up at her.

Somepony had thrown one of the velvet wall hangings over Sunset’s body. Celestia’s wing was wrapped, but she was mobile. Twilight met her eyes. If even half of what Sunset had said was true, then Twilight and Celestia were going to need to have a talk. A long one. Twilight looked at Cadance. She would definitely ask her to come to that meeting, to hear it too.

And then, to Twilight’s utter surprise, Tempest walked in with Moon Dancer and Lyra. If she thought Celestia had some explaining to do, that was nothing compared to what Twilight herself owed.

But they were safe, that was the important thing. What were they even doing here?

Twilight teleported down to them. Explanations could wait, her friends were here now.

Author's Note

Source

CH18: Prologue

The Ponyville Hayburger was proving to be one of Twilight’s favorite restaurants. It was probably a good thing the franchise wasn’t as popular in Canterlot. She sat around the table with her new friends. She didn’t know where Rainbow kept finding new ponies, but that wasn’t a pressing issue.

They all knew what they were facing. Princess Cadenza - Cadance to her friends - had been picked to lead the Element group and had pinpointed Nightmare Moon’s forces in the Everfree Forest. The shadow enemies hadn’t succeeded in overthrowing Equestria in one fell swoop, but that didn’t mean they were content to concede defeat. When night fell, the Elements were going after them.

“I don’t know how I feel about changin’ up the diurnal cycle,” said Applejack. “Sure, I get that the forces of darkness are more powerful in the darkness, but it’s bad for the trees.”

“You worry too much,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Although, evening lasting extra long is nice,” said Firefly.

“So what does everypony want to do after the war?” asked Pinkie.

“Um, maybe that’s a little too far ahead to be thinking right now,” said Fluttershy. “The town has some buildings destroyed from the last attack. I’m still surprised this restaurant is even open.”

“Probably because nopony can sleep because the sun is still up,” Applejack said.

“Well,” said Rarity, “to answer your question, I’m going to open another gallery, but bigger and grander. Perhaps in Canterlot, or Manehattan.”

“I’m going to still be here on the farm,” said Applejack.

“Dream a little bigger,” Rainbow chided.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking what you have,” said Night Glider. “I still want to be a weatherpony.”

“What about you, Twilight?” said Surprise. “You’ve been quiet.”

“I don’t really know,” Twilight replied. “Maybe go back to school. I still feel like I have a lot to learn.”

“Didn’t you come from a fancy school in Canterlot?” said Rainbow. “What do you have left to learn?”

“Well, I haven’t graduated yet,” said Twilight.

“Did you have friends there?” said Rarity.

“Well...not really. Too busy. Maybe I’ll have time after the war. Mom and dad-” Twilight paused, swallowed, and continued in a quieter voice. “-they said I should try to make friends wherever I happened to be. I should try harder. For them.”

“I think we all might have somepony we’re workin’ for here,” said Applejack, matching her tone. “I guess all we’ve really got is family and friends, or at least memories.”

“This is depressing,” said Pinkie. “I’m going to go pay the bill.” She winked and clicked her tongue. “It’s all on me.”

There was a general chorus of thank-yous from around the table. Twilight smiled.

As innocent as the moment was, it stuck with Twilight. It had been the last time she smiled for a long while after.

Twelve hours later, some of their number were dead and Twilight was stumbling out of the castle in the Everfree Forest covered in blood, only some of it hers.

The war was over. Her life felt like it was over, shattered. From the bottom looking up, there wasn’t much of a view. Despite what had just happened, climbing out might be the hardest thing she would ever do. She just wanted out.

Twilight entered the classroom before the bell. She smiled briefly at Fluttershy as she walked past, heading for her desk near the window at the other side of the room.

She took a seat and started pulling books out of her school bag, placing Quantum Physics for Geniuses and Tuba for Teens on top her desk.

Moon Dancer leaned over. “Are you busy this weekend?”

“Another rocket launch?” Twilight guessed.

“We got a bigger one,” said Lyra, grinning.

Twilight smiled with her. “Sure, I’ll be there if I can.” She scribbled a reminder note and put her pen back behind her ear. “It’s good to get out with you girls. Applejack always says ’all work and no play makes you dull’ which is ironic considering all she does is work, so I think there’s a lesson to be taken there.”

“Speaking of fun, are we going for ice cream after school?” Lyra asked in a lower voice.

“It is good ice cream,” said Moon Dancer, “but do you think you might be getting a little bit too much of it?”

“I’ll just run a few more laps.” Lyra shrugged.

“If you ever run as many laps as me, then maybe it’ll compensate for the ice cream you eat,” Twilight chuckled.

“I’ll just stick to the calisthenics and once-a-week aikido,” said Moon Dancer. “I don’t think either of us are really ready to work out like the Elements do.”

“That’s nothing compared to band,” said Twilight. “Whose idea was a tuba?”

“Hey, I run, you play,” said Lyra. “That was the deal.”

“Well, I’m sure these new hobbies we agreed on will be good for all of us,” Moon Dancer said.

Twilight nodded and smiled. “Sure. What are friends for?”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. It's been an adventure to write.
Thanks especially to Backslasherton and Kamikakushi for their effort and expertise.
All art can be found in one folder

CH1: Retirement

Twilight sat at her desk against the window, reading in the sunlight with the few minutes she had before the homeroom teacher showed up. She tuned out the quiet conversations around her as the other students found their seats and got ready for the school day.

She had just turned a page when a hesitant voice said, “Um, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight looked up, meeting the eyes of the young mare who had approached her desk.

“I’m Moon Dancer,” she said. “I just wanted to say hello, since you just transferred to Canterlot.”

“Hello,” Twilight replied. She started to turn back to her book.

“Is that The Complete History of Griffonia?” Moon Dancer asked.

Surprised, Twilight looked up again, actually pausing to notice Moon Dancer for the first time. The two of them had nearly the same straight-cut mane style, though Moon Dancer’s color was more magenta and Twilight’s was more purple. Aside from both being unicorns, their appearance diverged from there. Twilight’s coat was lavender while Moon Dancer was pale. Moon Dancer also wore thick black glasses.

Twilight showed her the cover of the book. “Have you read it?”

“It’s a good summary, but I think some of the translated griffon works do a better job explaining the minutia,” Moon Dancer replied. “If you’re interested, I could recommend a few.”

Just then a hoof grabbed Moon Dancer around the neck. “Hey nerd, what are you and the transfer student talking about?”

The newcomer was a mint and white unicorn mare with eager golden eyes. She grinned at Twilight, her foreleg still draped over Moon Dancer’s withers.

“Lyra, this is Twilight Sparkle,” said Moon Dancer.

“Lyra Heartstrings.” She offered her hoof to Twilight, who returned the gesture. Lyra said, “You look like you’re in shape. We need somepony to play the tuba in the marching band.”

“I don’t think I’m quite who you’re seeking,” said Twilight.

“Playing music is easy,” said Lyra. “You just have to remember directions and follow them. I bet a neat freak like you would be great at it.” She gestured to Twilight’s desk, which contained a notepad, pencil, eraser, and inkpen perfectly arranged on top.

Twilight flushed. Moon Dancer elbowed Lyra and apologized to Twilight. “She just says whatever’s on her mind, but I assure you, she means well. If you’re looking for an extracurricular, though, I’m part of the library club.”

“Maybe,” said Twilight. “I haven’t really gotten settled in Canterlot yet.”

“Well, if you need anything, just let us know. I know all the best places for all the best things. And don’t forget, the Spring School Sojourn is coming up. I think we’re going to the beach this year.” Lyra waved goodbye and turned to go to her desk. She promptly tripped over Twilight’s school bag, which sat neatly beside her desk.

The bag upended on the floor, scattering supplies everywhere. “Oh, sorry!” Lyra exclaimed, immediately grabbing at the various debris to stuff them back in the bag. Moon Dancer helped. Twilight also began to pick up her things.

“Whoa, check this out,” said Lyra, uncovering a capped fountain pen in the clutter. It was black and silver, ornately engraved, and polished to a mirror finish.

Twilight’s magic yanked it out from under Lyra’s nose and she threw it into her bag without a word. Just then, the teacher walked into the room and the students began to take their seats. Lyra and Moon Dancer scrambled back to theirs.

Twilight slumped at her desk as the lecture began. She touched her chest briefly and took a breath, getting her heart rate under control. She’d panicked for a moment when Lyra had found that particular pen. She kept it with her, always, but never used it.

The lesson began. Twilight’s mind wandered, which was uncharacteristic of her, but she’d self-taught well in advance of this lesson, trying to make up for transferring mid-year. She looked out the window.

The school day trickled by. At lunch, Twilight didn’t leave her desk, instead turning back to her book while eating.

A desk scraped across the floor and bumped into Twilight’s. She looked up to see Lyra pushing it over.

“Hey, I’m sorry again about this morning,” said Lyra as she sat down.

“It’s no problem,” said Twilight.

She braced for Lyra to ask about the pen, but Moon Dancer appeared just then. She looked between the two of them. “Are we eating together?”

Lyra looked at Twilight. What would it hurt? “Sure,” Twilight said.

Moon Dancer grabbed a desk and sat down. She opened her lunchbox, but paused. “Oh, did you copy down that last trigonometry function? I was busy with another one when the chalkboard was erased.”

Twilight checked her notes and found that she had the requested equation. She spent the rest of lunch talking math with Moon Dancer, noticing that Lyra’s eyes had glazed over. Something about that amused her.

The conversation was better than nothing, Twilight supposed. It surprised her that she missed talking to ponies. It wasn’t better than books, but really, what was?

While they talked, Moon Dancer accidentally bumped an apple at the edge of her desk with her fetlock. She’d set it aside to work on math. Twilight’s hoof shot out almost before it had finished rolling off the desk, snagging the apple without even using magic.

“Whoa, those are some reflexes,” said Lyra. “Maybe you should play the drums instead.”

“Thank you,” said Moon Dancer as Twilight returned the apple to her. “Do you play sports?”

“I exercise,” Twilight said. “I don’t really play anything, instruments or sports.”

“What’s your workout like?” Lyra asked.

“I blend a mix of practical routines and endurance. I don’t build, I just work to exhaustion.” Twilight flushed, not intending to say so much.

“Wow, a super smart, super athletic loner moves to our school? Are you the protagonist of some kind of Saturday morning cartoon?”

Lyra roared with laughter at her own joke, distracting herself from Twilight’s brief but panicked expression.

At the end of the day, a wave of students swept from the building, Twilight washed along with them. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of a tall pink unicorn standing at the school gate. She was dressed in a jacket too warm for the weather. Their eyes met.

“What are you doing here, Cadance?” Twilight asked in a low voice as she approached.

“I need to talk to you,” Cadance replied. She glanced around. “Not here, of course.”

“I’m not going to go anywhere with you.”

Cadance tipped her head. “Just for a beverage?”

Twilight hesitated. “Alright.”

Two blocks down the street was a small donut shop. The two of them got a coffee and a donut each and sat in a nook in the back. Out of sight from the front door, Cadance took her jacket off. Her back was scarred, raw skin where there should have been wings.

“It looks like your surgery went well,” said Twilight.

“As well as could be expected,” said Candance neutrally. “I think we both knew they weren’t going to be able to save anything, so they just smoothed out what remained as best they could.”

Twilight took a sip of her coffee. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to ask about your school. We’re moving the development group to Canterlot.”

Twilight stared at her. “You don’t mean…”

“Fluttershy will have to pick a new school. Yours is on the list for consideration.”

“You know that’s not really a consideration at all,” said Twilight. “She’s going to choose my school. I just know it.”

Cadance dipped her head. “While you’re probably right, I am doing my due diligence getting information about several possible schools for her.”

“The whole point of me moving to Canterlot was to get away from this,” said Twilight. “I got out. I don’t want to be a part of the Element Warfare Development Group. Nightmare Moon is dead, and I am done.”

“I understand,” said Cadance.

Twilight stared at her. “Please don’t do this. Don’t insult my intelligence. The development group coming to Canterlot and Fluttershy coming to my school? The pressure is going to be on me to rejoin even if it isn’t stated.”

“You can keep saying no, just like you’ve been doing.”

“You know how bad I am at saying no.” Twilight sighed, her eyes going to Cadance’s scarred back again. “We all are.”

She paused, opened her mouth, but then closed it again. Cadance said, “You look like you want to say something else.”

“I do,” said Twilight. “I want to ask why the group is moving to Canterlot. Why now? But I don’t want to know.”

Cadance’s eyebrows lifted. “You’ve never been one to deliberately turn away from knowledge.”

“They say knowledge is power,” muttered Twilight. “And I don’t need it.”

Twilight got up abruptly, dropping a few bits on the table but leaving her donut uneaten and coffee half finished. She paused, hoof on the back of the chair. “Is there anypony else besides Fluttershy?”

“Me,” said Cadance. “A few soldiers.”

Twilight considered it. “Well, it was good to see you, Cadance. I wish you hadn’t come, but it was good to see you.” She turned and walked away.

Leaving the coffee shop, Twilight kept walking, head down. She’d transferred to Canterlot to lose herself in the anonymity of a city. She’d tried going back to the country, but it didn’t suit her nerves. It was too quiet. There wasn’t enough to do to keep her mind occupied, so now she was trying out school in Canterlot.

Stopping at a crosswalk, Twilight looked at a newspaper machine on the corner. She stared in surprise. The headline picture was a grainy shot of a brightly colored pegasus, spotted overseas on some type of mercenary operation, the headline indicated.

Twilight dropped her eyes. Rainbow Dash was the only one of the Elements to ever reveal her given name to the public. She, Fluttershy, Twilight, and the others had gone their separate ways. It was for the best. Twilight was done.

With the others lying low, Rainbow was now the center of attention, as she probably wanted it. The newspapers certainly followed her closely enough. When the traffic light changed, Twilight crossed the street and didn’t stop walking until she’d reached her apartment and let herself in.

Setting down her school bag, she took out her homework and did it automatically, without distraction. Afterwards, she opened her history book again and read until long after the sun had gone down.

She kept track of the clock out of the corner of her eye, dreading as it ticked onwards. Seeing Cadance today, hearing about Fluttershy, reading rumors of Rainbow...tonight was not going to be pleasant.

But she needed sleep. Knowing what was coming didn’t mean she didn’t have to face it. Eventually, with a sigh, Twilight put her book down and got ready for bed. She put her fountain pen on the bedside table and reluctantly crawled beneath the sheets.

Twilight was often right, but wished that she wasn’t. As predicted, her sleep was restless and tortured. That night, it wasn’t dreams that came for her, but memories.

The dying filly in Twilight’s hooves choked on her own blood and couldn’t summon the strength to cough it up. Twilight stared blankly. They’d already done all they could.

Twilight’s eyes held Surprise’s, but only for a moment, and then she was gone.

Twilight got up, the dirt squelching with blood. Another Element dead. Her mind started to do the math to figure out how many were left, but she forcibly stopped herself.

She took a few steps out of the trees to rejoin the others. Her eyes went around the circle. She had to stop herself from counting, but she could tell at a glance that there were fewer than there used to be.

“Surprise is dead,” she said.

“Firefly’s gone, too,” said Applejack.

When had that happened? Twilight raised her head, aware that her focus was slipping. She didn’t remember the last time she had slept, or eaten.

Around them, the battle still raged, but Twilight could only hear the clash of steel and terrified screams. The moon was full, but it didn’t illuminate anything through the thick trees of the forest.

Rainbow Dash skidded into the clearing. Her feathers were singed and there was blood on her hooves. “I saw the castle!”

That got everypony’s attention. Rainbow quickly gave them her report. Nightmare Moon’s army was one thing, but the Everfree Forest was an opponent all its own, and navigating at night was next to impossible even when there wasn’t a war raging inside it.

“Let’s go,” Cadance called. The - Twilight reminded herself not to count - group of them got moving towards their final objective. She couldn’t help but note a few faces, though. Several of her friends from Ponyville. Cadance, her old babysitter. Shining Armor, her brother.

Shining was not an Element. Stallions weren’t, couldn’t. Twilight had never gotten a sufficient explanation as to why, but this was hardly the time to think about it now.

He did seem to be the perfect complement to Cadance, though. His shields and her Elemental weapons had been humming in perfect sync through the battle.

The group broke into a main thoroughfare through the forest. Twilight knew it by the ground - the spongy feel under her hooves of bodies crushed into the soil. She didn’t look to see whose side they had been on. It didn’t matter.

Unicorn lights provided flashes of meager illumination through the trees. Somewhere ahead, there was a roar and a bloom of fire, seemingly from the darkness itself. The army of shadows seemed to absorb light, phantoms in the night.

Rainbow, up front, paused, and then leaped sideways out of the way of something whipping a furrow through the dirt. Twilight had never seen whatever it was before, but had time to lift her sword and flip the point downward to meet the creature as it surfaced in front of her. The blade cleft it in two, each half flopping to either side of her.

Something splattered on Twilight’s face. She immediately wiped at it, lighting her horn. Fluttershy hurried over. Her face was worried, but she didn’t reach for her remedies. “Just ink.”

Relieved, Twilight silently thanked her weapon, her Element. Even if she’d been trying to count, she probably couldn’t have tallied the number of times it had saved her. The ink was a minor inconvenience, but that was better than getting splashed with something else. Some of the creatures had poisonous blood.

During Twilight’s minor distraction, something parted the trees ahead. She aimed the light of her horn at it, but only saw feathers and darkness. Her head tilted back, reaching the tops of the trees before she found the glowing red eyes.

Cadance was closest to it and the charm bracelet on her foreleg flashed with magic, transforming into a flail with long silver strands. Beside her, Shining threw up a magic shield.

However, whatever the shadow creature was, it began to shrink. In just a moment, it was only a little taller than a pony.

Something huge with a wickedly curved beak reached down from behind them and clamped onto Cadance’s wings. She shouted in pain and anger at the ruse and turned her weapon on the monster, which was just as big as the other one had started out. A strike to its face sent it reeling. It released her, for all the good that did. She fell to the ground, wings mangled and bleeding, but still able to get to her hooves.

As Shining turned to engage, the monster that had attacked Cadance began to shrink. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw the other one begin to grow.

She galloped forward, leading with her sword, but was too late. It bit into Shining’s flanks, beak big enough to fit around his body and still growing as it picked him up.

Cadance made a noise Twilight would never have imagined coming out of her throat and charged forward. She and Twilight converged on the monster that had taken Shining. It shrank as Twilight leaped at its head, ducking her attack. Its body rotated past her, spinning in place like a top, and released Shining like a bullet towards Cadance. He slammed into her, knocking them both into a tree with a crunch of bone.

Twilight, looking down at her dwindling target, sliced a pattern in the air, the blade tracing lines of magic. It was a spell she’d developed herself, and it released an unseen force from the glowing rune, crushing the monster between it and the ground. Simultaneously, the creature’s twin seemed to explode like a balloon.

Pleased by the dual effect, but with no time to show it, Twilight ran to where she’d last seen Shining and Cadance. She pulled up short, staring in horror. Shining’s spine had been severed, his front half held to his rear half by little more than intestines. He was already gone.

His body lay across Cadance, who seemed stunned. Her bracelet was scattered across the ground beside her, broken.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted, even though she knew it was too late. Cadance blinked, seeming to internalize what had happened. She looked up to Twilight, grabbing her foreleg. “Get to the castle.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but Candace screamed in her face, “Go! There’s no time!”

They could have gotten her up. Maybe she could have been healed enough to carry on. Maybe she could have fought with her own magic and hooves.

Maybe she would have slowed everypony else down and gotten them all killed. Maybe she knew that.

The others, those that remained, headed for the castle.

Twilight rolled out of bed in the morning with red eyes and a pit in her stomach. It wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.

Hundreds had fought. Most died. Just six had survived to leave the castle. Twilight was one of them. Was. That had been her last battle.

And now, she was a high school student. Why couldn’t they let her have that? A normality that everypony deserved?

She wasn’t rested, but hurried off to school so she wouldn’t have to be alone with her own thoughts.

Moon Dancer smiled as she came into the classroom. Without realizing it, Twilight returned the smile. It was amazing how a welcoming face could unconsciously and automatically inspire that kind of reaction.

“Hey,” said Lyra. “Who was that you were meeting at the school gate yesterday?”

Twilight’s heart seized.

“Your sister or something?”

“Yes,” said Twilight. The lie had been automatic, for how could she explain? Her lips kept moving. “My sister, Cadance. Big sister best friend forever.”

There was pain in her heart again, but for a different reason. Meanwhile, Lyra laughed, knowing nothing of what it meant to Twilight.

The thought of family and friends almost whiplashed her back to last night and Twilight was already rushing to bury her nose in a book by the time she got to her seat.

At least the memories had been in her past. What came next was here and now. The teacher walked in, leading a yellow pegasus who hid behind her long pink mane.

She was introduced to the class as Fluttershy, but Twilight already knew who she was. She was one of the six.

Fluttershy said her name to the class in a voice that just barely carried to the back row. She didn’t make eye contact with anypony, not even Twilight.

The world knew Fluttershy as the Element of Kindness. The magic of the Elements kept all their identities concealed under a glamour, well, save for Rainbow who’d voluntarily divulged it. Twilight was not about to reveal her secret identity, and Fluttershy probably even less. If the battle had been rough on Twilight, she couldn’t imagine how the timid Fluttershy had fared. She hadn’t asked.

Twilight bit back the emotion. This was part of the reason why she didn’t want to see any of them again. She didn’t want to have to care about them.

“Um, I need to visit the nurse to explain my condition,” Fluttershy said to the teacher, somehow even quieter than before.

“Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight started as her name was called.

“You had the tour of the school most recently, why don’t you show Miss Fluttershy to the nurse?”

What could she say? Twilight did as she was told.

The two of them walked out of the classroom and paused in the hallway as the door closed. Twilight faced Fluttershy.

“It’s good to see you,” said Fluttershy.

“You too,” Twilight replied.

There was an awkward silence.

“You need to talk to the nurse?” said Twilight. She gestured. “I thought you could handle it yourself.”

“Well, my civilian medical records still say that I’m diabetic,” Fluttershy explained. “I keep my needles with me, but I have to at least tell the nurse.”

Twilight nodded. “The office is this way.”

Fluttershy glanced at her as they walked. “You used to keep your pen behind your ear.”

Twilight grimaced. “I don’t need it anymore.” She thought about how that might sound insensitive. Fluttershy still needed her needles. They arrived to the nurse’s office before she could think of a way to backpedal.

She let Fluttershy go in by herself. While Twilight waited, she pondered Fluttershy’s use of the word “civilian.” She knew Fluttershy was involved in the Element Warfare Development Group, what Equestria’s Harmony program had come to be called. It was vaguely tied to the Royal Guard now, Twilight had heard, a military unit.

Inside the nurse’s office, Fluttershy was made to show the nurse her medicine and kit. The sleek, brushed silver case contained a syringe and several vials marked as insulin. Some of them were.

The nurse glanced at it, apparently impressed by the quality of what most ponies considered disposable. “Do you know how to use it?”

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” Fluttershy replied.

She probably had more medical knowledge than most any pony in Equestria, particularly more than a school nurse, cutie mark or not. Most of that technique and skill was magically augmented by her Element. But Fluttershy didn’t say that.

Moving to Canterlot had been a cautious thing for her. It was where the development group needed her, but Fluttershy didn’t like the city. There was too much noise and not enough nature. But if that’s where they needed her to go, she couldn’t say no.

Seeing Twilight again was nice. The two of them hadn’t been especially close, but Fluttershy seemed to be able to release a breath and relax slightly when she was around somepony else who shared the secret of the Elements. Though, if she could have chosen which of the other girls to see again, Fluttershy knew who she’d rather.

Fluttershy managed to convince the nurse that she was no threat. She’d gotten good at that. She went back to class with Twilight. The two of them didn’t talk. Fluttershy didn’t know if Twilight was trying to respect her, or if she was trying to avoid the topic of the Elements, what she had run away from. Retirement from the Elements...it sounded nice, Fluttershy had to admit, but she couldn’t do it. Twilight apparently could.

The afternoon classes went by. After school, Fluttershy saw Twilight in the hallway. Without planning it, the two of them had ended up walking together.

“I wonder if the teacher went light on the homework because of you,” said Twilight, though mostly to herself.

“Maybe,” Fluttershy replied.

“Without homework, I don’t know what I’m going to do after school,” said Twilight. She paused, and then asked, “What do you do?”

“I have a job.”

That seemed to catch Twilight by surprise, though her eyes narrowed. “Wait, the...group?”

“Well, yes. But they have a dessert bar they use as cover, so I tell ponies I work there.” Fluttershy paused, and then added, “The desserts are really good, though. There are getting to be almost too many customers.”

Twilight smiled, catching the implied humor. “That does sound good.”

“You should come and try them.”

Twilight stopped suddenly, causing a pileup of students in the hallway which she ignored. Fluttershy quickly backpedaled. “Oh, no, I know how you feel about the group. I was just asking you as a friend.”

Twilight’s face suddenly developed a tic.

“Don’t do this, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, just loud enough to be heard over the hubbub of students in the hallway. “That word isn’t poison just by saying it. I meant...just somepony you know.”

Twilight took a breath and the tension went out of her shoulders. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go. I could use something sweet.”

Downtown, Fluttershy showed Twilight to a confectionary that was practically hidden behind larger buildings. The small sign beside the door read Café Cadenza. Fluttershy had a key to the front door, which brushed against chimes as she opened it.

“The menu is on the counter,” said Fluttershy. “Let me go get my outfit.”

“You don’t need to do that for me,” Twilight replied.

“Would it help you feel more like a casual customer?” Fluttershy asked. She didn’t wait for Twilight’s reply, because she suspected she already knew the answer.

In the back room, Fluttershy put on a frilly outfit with an apron, an overdone dress of a waitress. Of all the uniforms in Equestria’s military forces, this was by far the most ridiculous, though it was perfect camouflage for a covert café.

She found Cadance sitting in front of a security suite, which contained several camera feeds. Twilight was visible on one of them, examining a menu. Cadance wore a trimmed jacket in the same colors as Fluttershy’s uniform. She was the boss, after all.

“Twilight’s just here for a snack,” said Fluttershy. “She made that clear.”

“Still, good job bringing her here,” said Cadance.

Fluttershy went back out into the front room. Twilight looked up from the menu. “I think this flambé flan sounds interesting.”

“Right away,” said Fluttershy, turning for the kitchen. Deliberately, she pulled up short, and turned again. “Um, Twilight, Cadence is here. I just wanted to let you know.”

Twilight stiffened, but nodded. She didn’t get up or start to leave. Good.

Fluttershy went to get the dessert. Cadance walked into the front room, passing Twilight without a word, to flip the sign on the door to open. She walked back behind the counter and took up a position leaning on it down by the cash register.

“You have a nice place here,” said Twilight, without looking at her.

“Would you believe, this is kind of what I always wanted to do?” said Cadance, looking out the window. “Just have a little bakery or something. A place where you can smile and help others to do the same.”

“You must have been pretty young when you wanted that,” said Twilight.

“I was. You remember when I became an alicorn. That was also about the time Celestia made me the Element of Love.”

Twilight swallowed, wanting to say something, but not wanting to hear it come out of her own mouth. Cadance had talked about the good things. Twilight didn’t want to mention how they had gone bad.

Instead, Twilight said, “So this shop was your idea?”

Cadance smirked. “Once Celestia heard there would be cake, it sure wasn’t my idea anymore.”

Twilight snorted, but then broke into laughter, failing to keep it inside. It felt good. It felt like the time before the Battle of Everfree. It felt like when her brother was still alive, when Cadance had somepony to love, and when everypony was just a little bit happier.

Thankfully, Fluttershy brought the dessert before Twilight could come down from those thoughts. Twilight picked up the tiny spoon and took a bite. Her eyes closed. “Mmm, wow, I can see why you might have trouble keeping your cover if you make stuff like this.” She took another bite.

As she kept eating, the doorbell tinkled. Twilight subtly moved her spoon, glancing at the shiny convex side.

She dropped the spoon and spun around. “Rarity!”

The white unicorn coming through the door met her eyes. The expertly coiffed wave of her purple mane was exactly as Twilight remembered. She carried several garment bags with her.

Twilight turned to glare at Cadance. “You told me it was just you and Fluttershy.”

“Darling, I’m a contractor,” said Rarity. “I’m as out of the group as you are, I just happen to be selling what Cadance is buying.”

Cadance nodded. “As you might expect, we need quite a few outfits, tactical and otherwise. It helps to have a supplier who is read in.”

Twilight relaxed, but only slightly. Rarity sat down beside her and placed the clothing on the counter, along with an alteration kit. An ornate silver thimble rested on top.

Twilight glanced at her dessert again and picked up the spoon, but put it down again after a moment.

She got up. “It’s a lovely place you have here,” she said, “but I need to be going.”

Twilight pulled out her coin purse, but Cadance held up a hoof. “Don’t worry about it. Doing our taxes will only get harder if we don’t take a loss now and again.”

Twilight nodded to her and turned for the door.

A pink-on-pink earth pony slammed into the glass. “Hey, does this look like a party or what!”

Twilight disappeared in a flash of purple.

“Huh,” said Pinkie Pie as she opened the door and came it. “She could have at least said hello.”

Rarity crossed her hooves. “You could have at least waited until we called you.”

Pinkie shrugged. She sat down where Twilight had been and picked up the spoon, digging into the dessert. Her smile matched that of the small silver theater mask she wore on a necklace.

Miles away, Twilight flashed back into existence on a street corner. With the panic shot of teleport magic and her own surprise, she stood there for several seconds, breathing hard. Yesterday, she was the only Element around. Today, there were four, almost five if one counted Cadance.

This could not be a coincidence.

Her curiosity at the reason was tempered by her anger that it was happening. They wanted her back. They wanted her back.

The conflict that had claimed so many lives, including those of Twilight’s parents and brother, was over. Nightmare Moon was dead and her army of shadows finished. Twilight had personally seen to it. So why did they want her back? Why didn’t they approach Rainbow Dash or Applejack instead? Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?

It was going to be another rough night, Twilight could already tell.

Author's Note

Welcome to the story, and thanks for reading.
I'll drop some art like this every few chapters.

Source

CH2: The Element of Magic

Three pegasi landed on a particular block of a dusty back street in Mexicolt. They each wore sunglasses and carried saddlebags that covered their cutie marks.

The few locals within sight began to vacate the street and shut their windows.

Rainbow Dash noticed this, but was more focused on her objective. The three of them opened their saddlebags.

Spitfire and Soarin’ were her teammates for this op. They were good together, experienced in special operations, opposites that filled opposite roles: female and male, yellow and blue, light and heavy. They each took out compact crossbows and fitted bolts.

And then there was Rainbow herself, the finest pointmare the world had ever seen. Nopony was faster, nopony had better hoof-eye coordination, nopony was more awesome.

She took out her own weapon, a slingshot that looked far too nice to be a child’s toy, because it wasn’t.

In her grip, it began to glow. The shimmering magic spread up over her foreleg and briefly surrounded her entire body in ribbons of multicolored light. When the transformation dissipated, it left behind a sleek tactical outfit.

Rainbow felt taller, stronger. Powerful. To ponies’ eyes and to cameras, she looked it, too.

Soarin’ shook his head. “No matter how many times I see you do that, it’s still weird.”

“The glamour magic messes with your mind,” said Rainbow. “You just watched me transform, but your brain tells you that you don’t recognize me.”

She hefted her weapon. As with her body, the slingshot had received an upgrade in the transformation, turning into a finely engraved automatic crossbow with a spring-loaded revolving magazine. It was strapped to her right foreleg. With her other hoof, she held a clipped-point fighting knife. Rainbow didn’t know where it had come from; it was just part of the outfit, which was was part of the Element item’s magic.

With nods of readiness from Spitfire and Soarin’, Rainbow slammed the knife into the doorjamb and tore the lock out of the door. Tossing it open, she flew in.

The three of them swept the first floor of the building. Rainbow reminded herself not to outrun her cover. The other two protected the flanks of their formation, letting her concentrate on whatever was in front. The three of them kept off the floor, eliminating hoofsteps and avoiding any pressure plates.

Finding nothing and nopony in response to their entry, the group moved upstairs. They nearly ran into a stallion armed with a sword, but Rainbow put a bolt through his face before he even had time to feel surprise.

It seemed that they were on the right track. Soarin’ let the body down slowly, so it didn’t thud to the floor. In the silence, they heard low voices coming from the other side of the door the guard had stood by.

Rainbow tore it off its hinges and blazed in, her crossbow spitting steel. There were a dozen ponies in the room, all armed. They had been in the middle of a discussion of some kind. Packages of white powder, weapons, and other contraband filled out the room.

Spitfire and Soarin’ added their attacks to the sides of Rainbow’s main thrust. The loudest sound were bolts hitting bodies and lungs being emptied involuntarily.

It was over in fractions of seconds. Rainbow paused, hovering over the scene and trying to decide where to land. Blood was already beginning to run, as hearts that had not already stopped pumped their last. She looked up, glancing through the back door of the room at one more pony caught unaware who stood frozen by the carnage.

Rainbow fired at him, but he was already in motion by the time her crossbow was level and it only shattered his hip. He screamed but kept moving despite the pain, stumbling out the window and beginning to desperately fly away.

Rainbow sighed in annoyance. She walked into the back room and over to the window. In a flash of magic, her automatic crossbow transformed into a longbow taller than her. She drew it back casually and loosed an arrow that went straight through the escapee from flank to front. He fell onto a nearby roof.

That done, she turned to examine the rest of the back room. Spitfire and Soarin’ came in. The three of them stood looking at a sigil painted in blood that stretched the entire length of the wall.

“Well,” said Rainbow, “I’ve never seen that one before.”

The morning sun warmed up the land and the trees began to respond. Applejack stood on her front porch, drinking a mug of mulled cider. It was going to be a good day. There was no pressing farm work, so she resolved to take a walk in the woods.

Applejack walked back into the house, making sure it was in order before she left. There wasn’t much to do, as it was already clean, but it would be a mite rude if she died out there somewhere and left a dirty house behind. After washing her mug and setting it to dry, she went to say goodbye to her family.

The headstones were clustered in a shady grove near the house, perfectly landscaped and free of any lichen or weathering. Applejack paused there on her way to the forest.

“It’s been a little while,” she said. “Well, a couple of days since we talked last, if I’m bein’ honest. There’s nothin’ much goin’ on. The south orchard is growin’ up real nice this year. I’m thinkin’ we might need the harvest a little early, even.”

There was no response, but she went on. “I saw Scootaloo the other day, AB. Didn’t talk to her, she seemed busy. She’s still ridin’ that scooter. Cheerilee still teaches up at the school. Lots of ponies back to what they were doin’ before. Really, not much has changed since y’all left.”

The conversation seemed like it was at a natural resting point. “Well, I better be gettin’ on,” said Applejack. “Take care, now.”

She didn’t find anything strange about talking to them. They were still her family, after all, and she loved them.

Applejack headed for the Everfree. The forest had always held a reputation as a place where nopony went voluntarily. It was a place that was just wrong. Things didn’t work like they should. It was a place where the old maps said here be monsters. They didn’t put that on maps anymore; it was now just implied.

She paused at the treeline, already able to feel the tinges of darkness in the air, as if it was a fog or mist. Applejack took out her Element, which took the form of a practical folding knife, and opened the blade.

She had never paused to consider that hooves shouldn’t have been able to manipulate the small parts of such an item. Applejack was good with her hooves, sure, but it didn’t seem designed for that. Not that it mattered. Whether the knife was made for a unicorn, it was hers now and Applejack didn’t question how it worked. She didn’t question a lot of things, and liked it better that way.

As the blade clicked open, the magic washed over her. Her transformed outfit was maybe a little flashier than Applejack herself would have picked, but she appreciated the practical nature of the fabric and armor. The knife transformed into a scythe taller than she was. Again, maybe not what she would have picked, but at least she knew how to use it.

She walked into the forest. The environment here was different. Some would say even the trees themselves were dangerous. Well, they were. But one just had to know them, and Applejack did. She probably knew trees better than she knew ponies. Plus, trees offered a few advantages over ponies.

She touched her hoof to a particularly straight and tall oak and stepped inside. There wasn’t a door or anything, but why should that matter? Doors were made of wood. It made sense to Applejack.

She stepped out of a pine a hundred paces away. The softwoods were a little more tricky, but Applejack had a lot of practice. She glanced around, and then continued her movement, walking at an easy pace, but covering a lot of ground and stopping each time to scan the area. It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for.

Despite the sun being up, a bearlike creature the size of a locomotive grazed quietly in a berry patch, chewing up entire bushes. Its body was nebulous and dappled as if a starry night sky. Applejack surveyed the area, to ensure that it was alone.

This was an ursa minor. Applejack didn’t see its parents anywhere, so it must have just graduated to adulthood. Ursas were not inherently creatures of evil, but so many of them had been enlisted by Nightmare Moon’s forces of darkness that they might as well have been. If nothing else, they were threats to Harmony because of how easy they were to manipulate into violence.

Applejack walked forward. “Hello there, little feller.”

Seeing her approach, the ursa immediately stood up on its hind legs, raising its clawed forelegs. Was it trying to make itself look bigger? It was already big enough, and that still hadn’t phased Applejack.

She stepped sideways into a tree, confusing the ursa, who took a step towards where it had last seen her. That cleared Applejack to emerge from a tree behind it and perform a surprise slice to the tendons on the back of one of its legs.

The ursa roared in pain, even as it began to topple over. As its leg collapsed, rolling its body sideways, Applejack flicked her scythe upwards, making a clean and complete slice through its neck.

“Nothin’ personal,” said Applejack to the creature’s empty eyes. “It’s just how life is.”

The other high schoolers were starting to give Twilight looks as she continued to gallop on the treadmill. That was probably a good indication that she was getting close to the half hour limit for equipment use imposed by the school gym.

Twilight slowed down, glancing at the clock. She’d timed her cooldown perfectly and stepped off just as her time limit was up. The other students didn’t seem to appreciate this, but she hadn’t exceeded the limit. Rules were rules. At least some of them seemed to notice that she got full use out of her workout time.

Strictly speaking, the Elements made their wielders better in every physical respect than normal ponies. It was part of the job. But still, Twilight trained, even though she was retired. It had become a habit. Working out was also a good way to to keep herself occupied. But most important...Twilight was terrified of being weak again.

It was a contradiction and she knew it. Why have the power if she refused to use it?

Twilight headed for the showers to wash off the heavy lather she’d sweat. As she opened her locker, there was a snap and something hit her from behind.

Twilight whirled, drawing back her hoof. Behind her was Lyra, holding a towel. She chuckled. “Wow, sorry, Twi, if I’d known you’d react like that I wouldn’t have done it. You look like you were going to kill me.”

If Lyra knew how close to the truth she was, she wouldn’t have been laughing.

“I took some aikido once,” said Twilight, turning away for the showers.

“Whoa, that’s really cool,” said Lyra, tagging along. “Can you teach me?”

“I was never really good at defensive fighting.”

“I saw you running, so are you practicing to run away?”

“Sometimes,” Twilight replied after consideration.

“Well, it’s really doing wonders for your flanks.”

Twilight looked at Lyra, who was still grinning. She sighed and got on with showering.

Back in the classroom later, Twilight encountered Moon Dancer. She looked up as Twilight sat down and smiled.

Moon Dancer was doing the crossword. Twilight glanced at it. “Seventeen across: an instrument of pirate persuasion: cutlass.”

“That fits,” Moon Dancer agreed. She started to write it down, but the point of her quill broke. She looked at it glumly. There wasn’t enough left to resharpen. She looked at Twilight. “Can I borrow something to write with? I’ll need it for class, too.”

“I switched to pens, but you can borrow one,” said Twilight. She opened her school bag, revealing three pens, all neatly arranged in loops inside her bag. She plucked one out, a black ballpoint, and offered it.

Moon Dancer took it, but was distracted by the third pen in the row. “That’s a really nice one. Where did you get it?”

“Th-” Twilight closed her bag. She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s personal.”

“If you have such a nice pen, why don’t you use it? I bet the calligraphy would be beautiful.”

“Same answer.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask you anything uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” said Twilight. She turned suddenly. “Speaking of uncomfortable, is Lyra into me?”

Moon Dancer blushed. “She didn’t say anything to me about it.”

“Well, I hope not,” said Twilight.

“Would your parents not approve?”

Twilight’s heart sped up. She’d already lied that Cadance was her sister. But there wasn’t really any lying away why she lived in an apartment of her own, if that topic were ever to come up in the future.

Out with it, then. “My parents were both killed in the Nightmare War.”

Moon Dancer covered her mouth with her hoof. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. I didn’t think. I...don’t know anypony in this neighborhood that was affected.”

“Well, now you do.”

Moon Dancer composed herself. “Twilight, if you ever need anything, or just somepony to talk to, I want to be there for you.”

“Thank you.” What else could Twilight say?

At the end of the school day, Twilight walked back to her apartment. As she passed a hedge, a voice whispered, “Hey Twilight!”

She turned to find a small, scaly face framed by the leaves of the bush. “Spike! What are you doing here?”

Though most of his body was currently concealed, Twilight remembered him perfectly. Spike was a jolly round-bodied spirit of magic who resembled a cute lizard. He may have been closer to a dragon in shape, but was far too small and jovial for the comparison. No one seemed to know where he came from, including Spike himself, but Princess Celestia had introduced him to the Elements and he’d been a valuable support asset, able to act as a messenger, spy, and all-around helper.

“Did Cadance ask you to come talk to me?” Twilight said accusingly. “I know she wants me back in the group.”

“Nope,” said Spike.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You were never a good liar.”

“I’m not lying,” Spike protested.

“Maybe...” Twilight cocked her head. “So who did put you up to it?”

Spike’s mouth twitched and he sighed. “Princess Celestia.”

He came out of the hedge, hovering in front of her on his small wings. “But this is for a good cause, I promise.”

“Aren’t they all?” said Twilight. “Why would anypony do anything for a bad cause?”

“Do you want to hear what the Princess has to say?”

“Is it any different than what Cadance had to say?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“Are you going to give the Princess’ word any more weight than your sister in law’s?”

Twilight’s lips curled. “When did you get so sharp-tongued?”

Spike blushed. “I’ve been doing a lot of work with Rarity.”

Twilight paused. “Wait, I thought she was also out of the group.”

“She is. But she still connects with me. She uses my perspective to self-model.”

“Are you kidding me?” Twilight said. She shook her head. “This is what you came to tell me? That the group needs me because everypony else is too busy so it’s okay to take me away from high school again?”

“Fluttershy is going to school, too. This doesn’t have to be either-or.”

“At school, they want me to join the band or library club. You want me to kill things.”

“Your country and your ponies need you to protect them,” said Spike. “If you have that power, can your conscience handle turning away from those in need?”

Twilight stared at him. “Are you connected to Celestia right now?”

Spike suddenly looked guilty.

“I have protected Equestria,” said Twilight, speaking to Spike, but also speaking through him. “I know too many ponies who have died protecting Equestria. What did the other ninety nine percent of citizens do? Why can’t I have a normal life like them?”

“Princess Celestia wants you to come to the castle,” said Spike, his eyes turned to the side as if listening to somepony. “She wants to talk to you.”

“She can come to me,” said Twilight. “But I’ll tell her the same thing to her face.”

She turned and walked away.

“Y-you wanted to see me, Princess?” Twilight asked. She’d been escorted upstairs by a pair of guards. What could Princess Celestia want with a student?

To be fair, Twilight wasn’t just a student. She was the top student of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Twilight had seen the Princess around, of course, but had never received a personal invitation to her office.

Celestia’s office was just about as Twilight had always pictured it: large, bright, welcoming. That didn’t mean she wasn’t fascinated by the sight of the place the moment she saw it with her own eyes.

“Please, sit down,” said Celestia, gesturing to a chair. Twilight did so, her trepidation still spiking.

Celestia sat down across the desk from her. She clasped her hooves in front of her mouth for a moment before speaking. “I have a problem.”

“Can I help?” Twilight asked immediately.

“That’s why I’ve brought you here. Are you familiar with the Mare in the Moon?”

“Of course,” said Twilight. “I think everypony knows that old pony tale.”

“She isn’t an old pony tale.” Celestia placed a heavy, old book on the desk. On one page, there was an intricate, golden bookmark intricately engraved with the Princesses’s cutie mark. She opened the book and slid it across the desk.

Twilight looked at the old pages and read aloud. “A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony, and imprisoned in the moon. On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal.”

She looked at the date notation. She looked up at Princess Celestia. In a tiny voice, she said, “That’s...next week during the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“You are correct,” Celestia said. “However, the Elements of Harmony worked before, and can work again.”

“But what are they?” Twilight asked.

“Let me show you.” Celestia got up from her desk, walking to an open space in her office. Her crown began to glow, a shimmer of magic that spread down her body. Twilight’s mouth dropped open at the mare who now stood before her. Her wings and body were armored with red and gilt plates. Her mane and tail were not hair, but fire. She was powerful and beautiful, but difficult to look at, as if staring at the sun.

“Who-” Twilight said.

“It’s still me,” said Celestia. “This is the power of the Elements. I am the Element of the Sun. You, Twilight, will be the Element of Magic.”

“Do-do I get a choice?”

Celestia smiled. “Magic is your special talent, is it not? Would you choose something else?”

“I suppose not,” Twilight replied after a moment of consideration.

“You can choose your Element item, though,” said Celestia, walking closer. “Something to keep near you, an avatar of the power of the Elements.”

“Something to keep near me,” Twilight said, thinking. “I think I would like something mundane, something nopony would think was out of place. How about...a pen? It’s practical, and being newer technology it will be awhile before it’s obsolete.”

“Very well.” Celestia knelt to Twilight. “Give me your hoof.” Celestia closed her eyes in concentration. Her crown glowed with magic that Twilight could feel, though it was unlike any she had ever experienced before. A ball of light coalesced in the air between the two of them. Celestia poured more magic into the spell. An object began to materialize, slowly building into an ornate fountain pen. It dropped into Twilight’s outstretched hoof.

Celestia opened her eyes. She smiled. “Why don’t you try it out? I choose the Element, you choose the object. The magic chooses what happens next.”

Twilight gulped. She, too, took a few steps to an open area of the floor. Holding the pen in front of her, she uncapped it.

Nothing happened.

“You have to will it,” Celestia advised, concealing a smile. “Otherwise, how would you write with the pen?”

That made sense. Twilight capped the pen again, took a deep breath to focus herself, and then repeated the process.

The magic hit her, literally lifting her hooves from the floor, though it wasn’t unpleasant. Twilight could almost feel her body changing shape. Clothes that hadn’t been there before appeared, a white blouse and green skirt surprisingly well matched with utility pouches. The cap of the pen lengthened into a sheath belted onto her side. The fountain pen became a sword, thicker than a rapier, but with unbelievable intricacy about the handle and blade. No hooves could have made such a thing, and they hadn’t, because it was magic.

“This is amazing!” Twilight gushed. Reality hit her. “But-but I don’t know how to use any of this!”

“It’s very personal to you,” Celestia assured her, coming over. They embraced. “Some of it is instinctive, some of it is learned. I know you’ll figure it out, and surpass what you or anypony thought possible.”

The scene was rather rudely interrupted by Twilight’s alarm clock going off.

She sat up in bed. Unlike the previous nights, she hadn’t woken with memories of painful sadness or ache of loss. Today, she was angry.

At no point had Celestia even asked if Twilight wanted to become an Element.