Soul's Poison: Into the Dark World

by White Corbie

Rating: mature
Tags: Narcotics, Other, Drama, Original Character, Violence, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Anthro, Main 6, Profanity, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe
Length: 92258

Alternative version of well-known story. Equestria is an opposite to itself, while Twilight and her friends are a bunch of thugs and criminals.

Each and everyone of you knows the story of Twilight and her friends. I believe, it would be a lie to say otherwise. A story of a righteous mares that saved Equestria numerous times. The brave adventurers that walked Equestria back and forth. And all of this in the bright world of Equestria, an utopia. Paradise.

But... There is another story. A story where Equestria drowns in waves of corruption and brigandage. A darker Equestria, where honest ponies live like garbage and die young, while thieves and burglars, bandits and thugs prosper.

Maybe, there is a hope. Maybe, Twilight, the star pupil of Princess Celestia, will come to Ponyville, find friends and Elements of Harmony, defeat Nightmare Moon and start to cleanse their world. To treat it, that illness that consumed them completely.

But there isn't. Twilight and her friends are a part of this system. The gears that twist in that hideous machine. Though, they still managed to find the Elements of Harmony. But it's more like being in wrong place and in the wrong time, so, basically, the consequences of using the artifacts are not the one they would like to have.

…So, take a sit. This story begins.

Author's notes. I have no proofreaders, so I need all your feedbacks, corrections and criticism.
Author of the original cover-art is darkflame75
About the settings of the story.
I was inspired by the Forge World and also by the Blackguards game series,
(So it's a Arcane/Clockpunk Equestria, in which the hope of the world lies in the hands of misfits and criminals).
The Sex tag is for sexual innuendos. This story has no actual description of sex.
Outtake chapters are not obligatory to read. They have information about certain aspects about the setting or lore, which I don't know how to add to the actual story. By the way, if you don't like what you read in them or you don't understand the information in them, you can apply your own ideas to the story.
*All the copyrights belongs to their owners*

Published 2019-03-30 00:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-05-16 05:04:52 UTC

Chapter 14. The Spider Duo.

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 16. A Canterlot Wedding

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 15. Trottingham showdown.

Author's Note

This got published faster than chapter 13, right?

Chapter 15. Trottingham showdown.

Luna grabbed another piece of paper, ready to note the same style of writing with lots of subtext and undertone. As she expected, the request form of yet another noble was just a fiction just to get richer. She already got disapproving stamp, when someone knocked.

"Come in," Luna shouted. Two ponies entered her cabinet.

"Who of us shall report first?" Unicorn asked. Luna looked at him and nodded. Bat pony standing by unicorn side stepped aside. Unicorn meanwhile came closer and put a package.

"What is this?" Luna asked.

"A report. From Las Pegagus," he said.

"Oh, finally," Luna sighed. "The last one was made five years ago."

"It's not official," he replied. Luna sighed again and massaged her temples.

"Tell me its content, then," she said.

"Well, I can't say much..." he took a pause. "I've been for a month there and I can't say anything changed... Oh, how can I forgot. There was cases of murder."

"Murder?" Luna bowed an eyebrow. "Las Pegasus is a city of sin. Isn't that ordinary for Las Pegasus?"

"Maybe in slums..." He took another pause. "In other part of the city, there is other sins... This time it's different, though. The murder took place in upper part of the city and...There is something interesting about it."

"We listen," she said.

"I managed to see one of the corpses before it was shoved up somewhere by others," he said. "He resembles those killed by our 'bounty hunter' practically one to one... Except two things. First, his wounds are deeper and made by something else other than a regular axe. Second, there was a piece of paper, I managed to grab. Here it is."

In Luna's hands, a little piece of paper appeared. It had a word 'greed' written on it. "Hmm, what a peculiar finding. Is that it?"

"That's it, mistress," he replied.

"Get back to your unit, then. Soon, you'll be assigned to a new task," Luna said. When unicorn exit the room, she turned to bat-pony. "Star Brawler. Any report?"

"Yes, here it is," he replied and pulled two sheets out of his cloak. "This is psychic portrait of Shadow Web, the current governor of Oasis Bliss."

"Yes... And the second one?" Luna asked, taking the second sheet.

"This is contract," he answered. "She will accept our every condition, but she have her own conditions."

It took half a minute for Luna to get the whole content. "Huh, I don't see why we shan't fulfill her requests... But the letters?"

"Here," he put a couple of envelopes in front of Luna. "Anything else?"

"No. We don't require your service for now," she replied. "We know who will be up to the task."

"Oh, fine," he turned to the door. "I'll go buy a drink to our sorcerer."

When Luna was alone, she took an envelope. "Trottingham? Isn't that too far?"

"What a nice tree," Twilight said, looking at strange looking tree, which had both apples and pears growing on its branches. "Oh, wait... It's just two trees, isn't?"

"Yup..." Applejack replied, not even looking at her. She turned after some moments, though, "Twi?.."

"Why, yes, it's me," Twilight said. Looking at the situation as whole, she asked, "you are mourning someone?"

After a little pause, Applejack replied, "mah parents..."

"Oh, I... And I was even wandering about that," she looked at Applejack, feeling her sorrow. "Well, nopony is protected from that."

"Ye are right..." Applejack agreed, still looking a bit sullen. "So, another task?"

"How did you?.." Twilight gawked at her.

"With life like ours, it would be a miracle if things like that wouldn't happen every now and then," Applejack replied. Twilight only nodded at the logical statement. "Where we gather up?"

"Oh..." Twilight hadn't heard Applejack, being too deeply in sudden thoughts. "Uh, at train station."

"Fine," she turned around and headed to farm. "Ah'll tell my family."

"I will get others," Twilight turned to the gates. "Remember, at the train station!"

After twenty minutes, they are standing before the train and after five minutes they were on the way to Canterlot.

"What's the deal?" Rainbow asked, looking at the used tickets.

"I wouldn't mind visiting Canterlot yet another time..." Rarity said, as she put her makeup. "We are not going to stay at the city, right?"

"Right..." Twilight replied. "We will end up in Trottingham."

"Argh... Trottingham..." Rarity stopped with making up. "We really are going in that... Village?!"

"It's bigger than Ponyville..." Applejack retorted. "Besides, the town is one of the main lumber producers in Equestria."

"Yeah, yeah..." Rarity sighed and continued to make up. "Well, lady should always be a lady, after all... Even if you are in the middle of nowhere..."

Everyone turned to their own things except one of them. "Uh, Twilight... Where is briefing?" Pinkie asked.

"Ah..." Twilight turned to Pinkie.

"Huh," Rainbow meanwhile turned to both of them. "Oh, really! Where is briefing."

"Oh, right..." Twilight agreed and gathered her thoughts. "Well, listen. At Trottingham, we will get the picture of what is happening there... And do a little job of a courier. There is an envelope and it should be in the hands of a unicorn. Her name is Water Splash and we should find her."

"Uh, so we just go there and pass the letter?" Rainbow asked.

"Don't forget that we need to get the picture of the city," after saying that, Twilight took her bag in her hands. Opening it, she got a notebook out of there, "I might have a picture of the city already but it's old and well... It's all just words."

"Oh, when had ya?.." Applejack was about to ask about notebook and Twilight's knowledge, but Twilight was faster.

"I talked with someone," she said. "You see, when I received the message from Luna about Trottingham, I was at town's archive. I was in the migratory section, so I went straight to Trottingham immigrants... Do you know Pipsqueak?"

"That l'il two-colored furball?" Applejack asked. When Twilight nodded, Applejack added, "yeah, ah do know him. He helped us at farm when he was lookin' for cutie-mark."

"Well, since he and his mother are from Trottingham, I had a little talk with his mother," Twilight said and looked at the notebook. "Look here. The city from the skies looks like an ellipse and it is flattened against the sea. It is built around the crossing like Ponyville, but unlike our city, Trottingham is built around four roads instead three roads. The eastern and western roads together are called the Water Way, while the northern and southern are called Sky Way. Sky Way, the longer street goes from one gate to other, Water Way, the shorter street, ends at ocean in west. The other side of the Water Way is other gates, if you need to know. Well, uh... Oh, right. Listen, it's important. Sky Way as our refugee said is a 'frontline'. But if it's a frontline, than who is on both sides? Well, in the city there is two factions traditionalists and innovators. At least, it was like this three years. We should check this out the same time we look for the mare in question. This is clear?"

"Clear as skies after ten seconds of my work," Rainbow boasted.

"Yeah, ten seconds of work and two hours of sleep," Applejack noted. To that Rainbow replied something, but Twilight didn't hear it. She had her notebook but instead of writing down some notes, she read a story from the box, she stuffed in between the pages of notebooks.

Yesterday, she was up till late solving a puzzle from the box. With each time, box got her a puzzle harder than one before. Yesterday and a day before, she was given a paper with an old ponyish text. Her goal was to translate and give the box the translation. An absolutely accurate translation as the box rejected one of her works where a couple of words were taken out of nowhere, since Twilight thought they would fit. They hadn't, so Twilight lost another couple of hours to translate another text since box eliminates old text and translation after each fail.

Well, at least, box was giving spells, she thought, while remembering every note box gave her to translate. Each note was about a spell. So, let's see... Lightning catcher, smell neutralizer... Goodness, I thought they were better when I was translating them. I even break them up into components.

She even created new spells with these components. Right at the moment, between her fingers was a little glob of raw energy, which attracts every lightning of magic or natural origin. This was the way Twilight received from the box. She also had a lightning attracting disk and ray. The first one was useless because it expended more energy than original glob. The other one was useless because the lightning would go all the way from the beginning of the ray right into the horn.

It wasn't the only spells she received from the box. There were also dust blower, rust cleaner...

With disappointment, she turned to the story. She already read the beginning of the story. After some time, she read it and sighed. There, in the piece of paper she just read, was nothing.

She remembered other stories of the snake adventurer and, how it turned out, researcher. She remembered how he discovered a strange book on something he was calling 'Void'. That book on 'Void' theme was also referred in the following story. What was strange is that Sethra was already finishing first one and discovered a couple more of these.

After that, Twilight noted an important detail about these stories is that. All of them seemed to be incomplete and fragmented. It was either because Sethra made them so or because box was giving her so. The last variant made her uncomfortable because she didn't knew from who she received these stories and for which reason. That demon who gave her the box might be someone's minion.

Meanwhile, the train tooted, signaling everypony that the train is going to the stop. Five minutes and they were at Canterlot's train station. With no troubles, they were on the road to the north.

The road was quiet for some time. Somewhere in the middle of it, though, Pinkie made an interesting discover. The train was almost empty.

Well, not really empty. There was quite a few ponies in each carriage, but everyone of them either got off earlier or will get off sooner but not at Trottingham.

At Trottingham's train station, there were only six friends.

"It's quite lively here," Rarity noted. On the contrary, the train station was almost empty . With them, there was a bored ticket salespony.

"Well, maybe it's better in the city?" Pinkie suggested. It really get livelier when they entered the city.

"Gah..." Rarity face gets green immediately. The city had a bad smell. The smell of a sewer. "How is that possible?"

"Let's get into middle of the city," Twilight said and headed towards destination. Her thoughts though were about how box managed to make such an incredible guess. The very first time, she received the foul smell, she put the spell on her.

"With this stink?" she unintentionally sniffed and turned even greener. Twilight sighed and turned around. Rarity's nose shone with green light which turned transparent but blurry. She breathed in without a hitch and turned to normal.

Soon, they stood in the middle of Trottingham.

"Look, before and behind us, there is road made of blue stones. It's a Water Way. It doesn't matter for us right at the moment. Sky Way, the road to the left and right, is more important as both sides belonged to rivals. We should investigate them and see if they still belongs to these rivaling factions and if they does, then we should stop them. In the same time, we should look for a mare in question." Twilight said and headed backwards. "I'll look for information at library. Be here after an hour."

"I... I believe, I will help you," Fluttershy said and followed Twilight. Others looked at them.

"Nah, I'd better beat someone. Ponies can tell many things if you untie the knot in their mouth," Rainbow punched her fists and headed forward. "Applejack, wanna go with me?"

"Ah don't see why Ah shouldn't go," she sighed and go after Rainbow.

"Well, I will look for that mare, Water Splash. Pinkie?" Rarity turned her head looking for a cheerful mare. Seeing no presence, she sighed much like Applejack.

Twilight grunted as she closed the book and put it on top of the high stack.

Almost every book on Trottingham's history hadn't the required information. Practically, all of them ends on the date which was fifty years ago.

Unlike Ponyville, Appleloosa or Oasis Bliss, Trottingham is an old town, which was a bit younger than Canterlot. It's rich history wasn't interesting for Twilight at the moment.

Fluttershy meanwhile was also reading a book... On herbology. Twilight also took a couple of books on magic but after seeing that every one of them were redacted the same way like books in her library, she put them away. Twilight had already read every book which was allowed in Equestria.

She was about to grab another book, when she heard someone asking, "Interested in our history, as I see?.. Maybe, you're looking for something in particular?"

"Huh," she huffed, as she turned to a unicorn. She looked like a piece of fine steel. Cold and relentless. "Well, I do look for... some modern history..."

"Of our city?" She broke in. "Why, I can help with it... But not here."

"Not here?" She looked quizzically at him. He slightly nodded. "Fine, but I need to talk with my friend first."

When Fluttershy put books aside and agreed to follow her, they exited the library and headed somewhere. All the way, Twilight was trying to ask questions but mysterious unicorn ignored her. With each second, Twilight started to regret that she agreed with unknown unicorn.

When she and Fluttershy were about to leave her, she turned to them. "Already leaving? But weren't you having some business here?"

Twilight didn't want to answer both questions, but after seeing unexpected guests everywhere, she sighed and turned to her. "Well... We do..."

"I believe, I can help with your business... But first, you must help with our business. Am I clear?"

"Very..." Twilight narrowed her glance. "Speak."

"Oh, I just require something to be delivered," She said. "A little package. We need you to be on the crossing. In two hours after noon. To make sure you wouldn't unpack it, here, a little sum to ensure that to not happen."

Twilight looked at the package unknown mare gave her. It felt... off.

When they were in the distance, Fluttershy whispered to Twilight, "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course, I am not," she replied. "This box... Something wrong about it."

"Then, why we do this in the first place?" Fluttershy asked.

"To be honest, I don't know," Twilight looked around. "Are they following?"

Fluttershy looked around like Twilight. "It's a city, not a forest... But I feel no presence there. They are not following."

"It's strange..." Twilight murmured.

"This is an absolute delight," Rainbow smirked, as she drank cold water. The empty glass bottle soon was used as weapon and was broken with one strike.

Her opponent was on a verge of falling without consciousness. After Rainbow's strike, his body was dropped on the ground as nothing kept it on legs.

"Won't ya agree, AJ?" Rainbow shouted. Applejack meanwhile throw her bottle into trash can nearby.

"It was the third, whom you beat into next day," Applejack noted. "No one of them knew a thing about those guys, we are lookin' for."

"Well, at least it's interesting for some degree," Rainbow replied. "I know you, you wouldn't just go and read books?"

"Hmm, ye're right..." She replied. They walked forward, trying to stumble on somepony. To their misfortune, that somepony stumbled on them.

When they turned to some alley, someone whizzed behind them. Rainbow wasn't going to react to that but Applejack strangely swayed. "What's up?"

"My wallet... He stole my wallet!" Applejack shouted. When Rainbow turned to Applejack, she was nowhere to be seen. When Rainbow get to crossroads, she saw backs of the thief and Applejack to the side.

She was ready to run after them when she remembered that she has wings. She took off into the skies and flew over the alley.

When the road ended, Applejack was on other alley. This one was bigger and it was easier to lose a thief. Thief though wasn't trying to hide and Applejack immediately followed him.

Rainbow meanwhile was looking at them from the roof. She followed suddenly quick earthpony right until he got closer to a hatch, from which a unicorn was looking out. When he run by, he threw a purse to unicorn and unicorn dived into a hatch right away. Earthpony meanwhile ran somewhere else.

Without a second thought, Rainbow and Applejack followed. What they hadn't noticed is that streets had little to no passersby. Little of ponies who was outside were watching them, and soon after Rainbow and Applejack goes down into the hatch a couple of ponies went to a hatch and closed it.

Down there in the sewers Applejack and Rainbow were running through tunnels. To their surprise, Trottingham sewers were quite clean.

Thief was running somewhere ahead and both Applejack and Rainbow were hearing his steps.

Both ponies were feeling bad about the situation and it turned out that their concerns weren't for nothing.

When they saw, thief turning the corner they followed. There they found him catching break.

"Give it back!" Applejack shouted. He turned to her and threw a glance past her. It was a mere glimpse so not Applejack or Rainbow noticed it. "Did ya hear?"

"Of course," he looked right into her eyes. Then, he threw her purse to her.

"That's it?" She asked and he smirked. She didn't liked it and started to recede.

"Why, of course!" He smirked. Applejack immediately stumbled on something or rather someone.

When she and Rainbow turned around, they saw three ponies. Well, two ponies by the side and a hulking figure in the middle. His identity was hidden, but under the hood there was a pony snout... And gloves were torn by dragon claws.

"You can go..." He giggled. "We are allowing... But only if you make a favor for us. You see, we have something with us, but we need to pass over it to someone else. We might get it ourselves but I believe it would be better to have someone else to do it. Do you agree?"

Rainbow and Applejack silently glanced at each other, and then nodded to a mysterious pony.

"In that case... Give them," he nodded to one of the ponies behind mares and that pony handed over a package to Applejack. "We don't want to have you open the package so we will do something to ensure that... Say, will a little pouch of money make you clever enough to not unwrap that bundle?"

"Clever enough?" Rainbow flared up. She and Applejack agreed though and went away with package and money.

Rarity was surprised.

Sky Way, the longest road of Trottingham, wasn't what Rarity expected it to be. At first glance, it was just a street, no matter how long it was. Now, after walking it for a couple of hours, she saw that the city even being in the middle of nowhere is still a city.

Sky Way looked to her as is Manehatten's Saddle Row and Bridleway. Here and there, different boutiques and clothing stores, theaters and classes. It was mixed with the occasional restaurants and what surprised Rarity carpentries. Woodwork which resided in showcases however were amazing. Rarity even considered them almost inspiring.

For Rarity, though, something was outstanding. She couldn't put a hand on it at first but then she understood. If in Manehatten, one's look dispersed for the sheer amount of shining signboards and advertisements, here in Trottingham there was nothing more than nameplates.

Having little money on her, she was just walking the street and eyeing what she may or may not afford.

Suddenly, she was startled. Pinkie who was very cheerful and very loud. Now, she was really sneaky and silent without a cause.

"Rars!" She shouted. "Rars... Are you fine?"

"Pinkie..." She looked at her, trying to catch her breath. She muffled her scream, however, as she believed it to be quite unladylike. "I swear, you wish death for everypony... And me especially."

"Huh? No. I wish our quest to be done," she looked at her with a big grin. "I found a place where they might help us. Follow me!"

And she was gone. Rarity made a lot of efforts not to burn away with anger and to find the pink earth pony.

"What is that place of yours is?" Rarity asked as she caught up with Pinkie. Both were running up to the northern gates, dodging the passersby.

"A brothel..." She casually said, not bothering to stop. Rarity only breathed out... And looked at Pinkie with a look that could kill.

When they reached the place, Rarity looked at Pinkie once again. "This?.."

"This!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"It's... A milk store," Rarity mumbled.

"Yes, it is!" Pinkie exclaimed again.

"You said it's a brothel!" Rarity screamed if she wasn't mumbling.

"You doubt me?" She asked with a smug grin. Rarity was taken aback immediately with sudden revelation. She looked at the milk store in a new lights.

The building was like any other on the street. Actually, when she was studying Sky Way and comparing it with Manehatten's ones, she found that every single building was a twin to others with a little exception. In Manehatten, two matching buildings could be hardly found in the whole city. Here, there is hundreds on the one street.

The store's name was "On Milky Way" as sign said. When they entered the 'store', it immediately had welcoming effect on Rarity, despite what Pinkie said. The wooden interior, the glass bottles and all too familiar bell sound.

"Sorry but I'm kinda busy!" A mare yelled from some place behind the stall. "Can you come at the different time?"

"Milky! It's me, Pinkie!" Pinkie replied. There was a thud sound afterwards.

"Pinkie?!" Mare's voice rang again. After a little pause, mare said, "I already said that I'm busy... But, Brass is here. She will help!"

Right after these words, the door behind the stall opened. Mare with a coat of bronze color and in plumber's slop.

"Hi, Pinkie..." She greeted Pinkie, as if she knew pink earth pony. She then noticed white unicorn, "I see, you've come with a friend."

"Rarity..." Pinkie introduced her friend with plumber. "You can trust her, Brass Pipe."

She was looking at Rarity for some time, before she made a gesture to go after her. She led them to some room with mounts of crates and behind one of them, there was a trapdoor.

Down there, they found themselves in an enormous basement, which... Was an actual brothel.

Both Pinkie and Rarity took seats behind the table, while Pipe went to somewhere. Soon after they took seats, a waitress come to them.

"You need something?" She said in playful tone, looking at them with half lidded eyes. "We have an assortment of various snacks, drinks... and entertainment."

Rarity was looking at everything with open mouth, not believing what she got herself into. Waitress made her feeling only worse.

"No, we require nothing," Pinkie replied. Waitress was about to continue offering their wares and amenities, but she went all silent. Pinkie was about to question it but then she looked in the direction waitress was looking.

"Oh... Who is she?" Pinkie asked. Everypony in the room was looking in the direction of two mares. One of those mares was Pipe, the other one was unknown to Pinkie or Rarity. To waitress and other ponies in that place, the mare's identity was very well known.

"It's..." she was about to answer but someone in the crowd made it first.

"Laughing Queen!" Some stallion exclaimed. She meanwhile jumped on the table in one swift motion. After that, she turned to the crowd and made a gesture to keep silence. Room that become loud in no time returned to previous level of calmness.

Laughing Queen after that turned to Rarity and Pinkie. She put her hand forward pointing at the table. After a couple of steps, she pointed at waitress and made a gesture for her to go. In one moment, waitress was gone. In two, Queen took a seat with Pinkie and Rarity.

She was sitting quietly for a couple of seconds, so Rarity was able to get a portrait of the mare before her... Or lack of the portrait, since mare's face was hidden behind the mask. White mask covers her face completely and cutouts for eyes, mouth and nostrils were pitch black. At first glance, Rarity thought that she had black fabric under her mask, but almost immediately she understood that Queen had some kind of spell on her.

After these couple of seconds of sitting in one pose, she eventually moved. Her first move was a strange gesture, where she depicted an arc with her hands. Right away, three of them found themselves in some kind of bubble.

"No other ears, except yours," she said. Her facial expression made no move, no twitch.

"What do you want?" Rarity asked, putting a smile on her face.

"I want a lot of things..." she replied. "I know, you want too... The thing I want to ask is something you want, not me."

"And what that should be?" Pinkie looked at her, closing to a pony in mask.

She didn't reply at first. Instead, she turned her head to Pinkie and had a little staring contest with her. Pinkie lost no matter her incredible skills at that game. It's hard to look at someone's eyes and seeing pure blackness.

"You have four friends." She asked, looking at her opponent. Rarity silently nodded in agreement, seeing that for mare in mask it was a statement, not a question. "Right now, your friends will pass over two packages to each other. I do not know what they were given but in my opinion, it's not safe for your friends. Go and get your friends and their packages. If they say anything about their hirers, just tell them it's all covered... Actually, let Pipe say that. She will go with you, you will go now... You will meet your friends at the crossing."

After saying that, she sat up and clapped. Bubble around them dissipated. Ponies in the brothel started to liven up, so Queen turned to Pipe and with gestures told her to go after them. Soon, they were gone and Queen was left all alone with a crowd.

Twilight and Fluttershy came to their destination. Crossing of two roads, center of Trottingham. Rainbow and Applejack did the same.

After they met, they start to speak of their advancements. Soon enough, they reached the moment of hiring.

"Stop right there!" They heard a voice of Pinkie and soon were able to see her and Pinkie beside her with some unknown mare.

"Why we should?" Twilight asked, not clearly understanding the situation.

"You must give us these packages, you were given," she replied.

"What?! But, how do you know?" Twilight was taken aback.

"It's not important," Brass said. "Pass over these packages..."

"Why we should..." Twilight was about to retort, but then she noticed that this mare wasn't paying attention. She was about to look in that direction, but she didn't make it in time.

"Quick, let's move," another mare moved by. Not even bothering to check if anypony followed her. Fortunately, there was Pipe.

Soon, they were in the alley, behind milk store. There, a backdoor was opened for them and when they entered they were said to move on the second floor. There, the packages were taken from them and they were led to a room. In the room, two mares were already waiting for them. One of them was that mare who broke in their meeting. The other was unknown to the team except for Rarity and Pinkie... Laughing Queen.

"So, new ones," Queen looked at Twilight and her companions. Her dark eyes made everypony shudder, even those who already felt her look on them. "It's quite surprising of you to appear in our city right before the... 'civil war'."

"Civil, what?!" Twilight was shocked second time that day. "You... How that happened."

"Oh, girl..." She made a little pause, gathering her memories. "Five years ago, a new pony emerged. He was absolutely ordinary pony and he wasn't standing out... At least, for a couple of months. Then, he faced an absolute power of a certain pony. They call him "Father". He is making things here running for twenty years straight, even though he is not a legit ruler. The one who must be in charge is gone to Las Pegasus and his deputy... Well, there wasn't a single case of him doing something for himself. Each his decision was "Father's" decision."

"And what's up with that new pony?" Twilight asked, returning the conversation to the beginning.

"After a couple of months, that pony started to pull out different devices which was helping out different artisans. Saws for lumberjacks, looms for weavers and so on. Even though, it really helped out our artisans and even increased our month's production value, "Father" with his conservative vision didn't liked it. Deputy or, as you understand, "Father" started to organize checkups which always ended in confiscation of all innovations. After a month though, they started to take devices without any justifications. In a matter of weeks, there was nothing left and we returned to the way, we used to live. The new one however was surprised by that since he come to town because someone asked him to bring modern devices. When he understood that ponies lost his gifts, he become really mad. At first, he disappeared but soon, all Trottingham learned the name Chimera Strike..." Queen told a history as reply. "Or Chimera S. as he signs."

"So, can we help you in any way?" Rainbow asked.

"It's hard to come up with a way you can help us..." Other mare looked at Rainbow. "It may looks like you should go and help Chimera since he is a victim but it's not all that easy. You see, that smell outside..."

"Outside? There is no bad smell in here?" Twilight immediately noted the single word and asked about it.

"You haven't noticed?" Unknown mare asked. After a nod from Twilight, she pointed to the closed window. There, over the window an amulet of some sort was hanging. "This house and lavatory down there in the basement we got these things."

"What's about the packages?" Rainbow asked when the room get silent. Queen looked at her and then at the mare. Mare looked at Queen in response and received a nod from her. She then turned to the door and went outside. After a moment, she come with the one of the packages, that were taken from the team.

"Look here," Queen said and took a knife from her holster. With it, she punctured the package and then made a cut. "See?"

"What we should see?" Rainbow asked and moved to the package but Twilight stopped her.

"We mustn't see... We must feel," she rubbed her temples, showing that she is not fine. Turning to everyone in the room, she said, "Pure magic. This thing is a bomb isn't?"

"A bomb?" Unknown mare burst.

"Bad side of it is that it would've explode after five minutes. Good side - only if we cut open it like I did," Queen made a little giggle. "Another bad side is that it would eventually explode after five more minutes after getting initial charge."

"That's..." Unknown mare with a shocked expression was about to say something but then she realized something. "Wait... If both fractions bought explosives and were going to exchange with them..."

While that mare was making gestures and murmuring something, Twilight noticed something. That mare had a peculiar cutie mark.

"Water Splash?" She asked. Mare was shocked at sudden question. Before she was able to say something about that, Queen broke in.

"You could make it out later. Now let's get back to something more actual," she said. "Since our fillies with guns started to go harsh, we need to think something out so they wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Ya have anythin' on mind?" Applejack asked, ignoring Twilight and Splash looks.

"If I had anything, this city wouldn't have been a shit hole," Queen punched the table she was sitting at. She raised from her seat and moved to the window. "Poor city... It was very livable and lively."

"We should overthrow the government?" Twilight asked.

"What? No, of course not," Queen replied, after she looked at Twilight. "You see, if we get old bones gone, new ones will take seat at the city hall. We don't want them cuz they don't consider wishes and lives of citizens. They might eventually get rid of a bad smell, they made, but they'll replace it with the smell of smokes."

"Old ones don't consider lives of citizens either..." Twilight was about to continue Queen's thought but she abruptly stopped it.

"Old ones care about us more than innovators do... In their own ways," Queen turned to her. "At least, they will not poison us and say it's fine."

"They do that?" Twilight asked.

"Until you wouldn't get your nose in their business, they'll allow you anything," Queen said. "They are keeping us at one level of production for thirty years. Now, even villages like Vanhoover. Manehatten - five times more of clothes. There is many more things we could do but conservators don't allow. Innovators on the other side will let us become one of the most productive cities in the ways we are good at and even in ways we've no progression at all."

"Uh, if both are fine at something and bad at the other thing... Maybe, we should make them unite?" Twilight suggested.

"An interesting idea... But how?" Queen asked.

"Why is that so?" Splash asked. "What makes you think it's possible? They are enemies!"

"They are enemies, it's a fact... But maybe they don't want it?" Twilight suggested. "We need a someone ready to talk about that and I have someone in mind... I believe Rainbow and AJ have too."

"Yeah... But how do you imagine us to do that?" Rainbow asked.

"Listen here..."

"Where are they?" This and other whispers were here and there. With each minute ponies sitting in ambush had more wish to simply go and abandon the mission.

"They are here," someone yelled and everyone calmed down. Looking in two direction they saw a gang with Twilight leading them towards the ambush. When they finally arrived a hatch opened and a someone bulky looked out of there.

"What are you doing here?" One of the mares from the gang asked.

"I wish to ask the same," a half-blood replied. "I believe though you know who you need to ask that question."

"Yeah, we both know," she said and then turned to Twilight. "You don't want to say something?"

A little crowd sitting on roof of the building were listening to the little murmurs and sayings between two gangs. Waiting for a sign.

"Where is our bomb?" She asked, not aware of what will happen quite soon. "I said, where is- Ah!"

After mentioning a bomb, the little crowd come to motion. In a quick swoop, both gang were neutralized and everyone was tied up. Even half-blooded brute had reinforced ropes on his wrists.

"You, bastards!" Mare that was interrogating Twilight immediately started to scream. "How dare - Umph."

She didn't summon any trouble as gag was placed firmly in her mouth. Much to Twilight's amusement, it caused a reaction from the brute.

"Get that thing out, bitch!" Twilight heard from him. Since it was something, she was looking for, she dig for it further. She took a knife from Rarity and stood next to muffled mare. She was screaming something in the gag but she become quiet after Twilight put a knife next to her neck. Brute meanwhile become loud again, "Don't you dare!"

"A jackpot," Twilight mumbled, looking at two enemies suddenly having feeling for each other. Suddenly for everyone, especially to the mates of these two. Those ponies, who were about tear each other, were now seeing how their leaders tried to save each other. "Go get them to the safe spot. Soon, there will quite a showdown... I hope, without bloodshed."

Soon, she was staying before Queen. "You've got what you need?" She asked.

"I did and it has ensured me that my affair will be successful... Though, I can't predict that it will be absolutely successful."

"What you've got there?" She asked.

"Look here... There was a couple of ponies in both gangs who showed compassion for each other," Twilight replied.

"Who were they?" Queen asked, though not really waiting for something worthy.

"Well, there was brute, who was half-dragon and half-pony and steel mare inside and out," she told her. Queen meanwhile was absolutely shocked.

"Steel... Mare?" She said in some kind of abstraction. "You understand that it's really amazing! At first, I was thinking in any case just kill both leaders and their seconds in command, but now... I still will have someone to aim in these ponies' heads, but your idea now feels more reliable."

"Those two are really important?" Twilight asked, seeing Queen's reaction.

"Very!" She shined. "There are seconds in command, but you see: both fractions have two ponies who is one step down the leader. In case of innovators, there is two non-ponies. Now, we have only four targets."

"Wouldn't someone just take the lead instead of dead leaders?" Twilight asked.

"Both fractions are not that decentralized. There will be chaos which could be used by us so we can just kill everyone," Queen said. "We still will check out if they really hate each other."

"We need them in one place though," Twilight noted.

"Oh, don't worry. I know where and how I should push," she said.

At six in the evening, Twilight and the gang sit in the little cafe next to the edge of the city. There behind a couple of buildings, a green forest could be seen.

Right at six o'clock, their heard a crowd. Soon, that crowd come in sight.

Thirty ponies were armed to the teeth and ready to fight... Even though they were told that today's deal is all peaceful.

Right after a minute or so, another gang showed up. Somewhere the same amount of combatants, everyone with weapons. Quickly running up to the place in front of the crowd.

"What are you doing here, old fart," The one of them stood up in front of the gang. He bore coat of clear gold color and mane of black mane. His eyes were soft pink.

"Good evening to you too," An old stallion replied. His coat was of a dark grey color and his eyes were acid green. The look of them though was bored and his mane was silvered of age. "You were calling us?"

"No it wasn't him," Door opened and a masked mare came out. "It was me. Hello everyone."

"Queen?" The young one asked. "What do you want?"

"I want many things, Chimy. First of all, I want to tell you that I'll never gonna give you up..." She began.

"And you never gonna let us down," Chimy replied. "We all know that, Queen. Get to the second thing."

"Oh, the second thing... Well, both you and me are not native to this city. Yet, we still love it and we love the way, everyone live in here. They met you with despite and misunderstanding..." She begin to tell a story.

"What is she doing?" Meanwhile, in the cafe, two ponies with guns pointing in windows started to argue.

"I don't know. Maybe we should..."

"You should do nothing!" Twilight who was also sitting in the cafe replied to two ponies' bickering. "She has it."

Meanwhile, Queen told a story of how Chimera came to be. "Very interesting, but what is the purpose of this?" Chimera said after she ended the story.

"You are not really a merchant, Chimy," she smiled. "A true would flee and abandon any deal if he would sense that he is losing money. You stayed in here even though they took a lot."

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means that you want this town to be better," she said.

"No, he doesn't!" Someone suddenly shouted.

"Shut the fuck up!" Someone replied. Right after that things quickly escalated. Feeling that she was losing it, she glanced at the cafe. Hopefully, this glance was noticed by Twilight and not by two rifleponies.

"Stop this nonsense!" Twilight screamed. Seeing no effect, she waved with a hand. Right after that, door swayed as two bodies were thrown from them.

"Steel Nerve?" "Father" confusedly asked.

"Zenox?" Chimera did the same. This put the quarrel to stop. "What does that mean?"

"These two were making deals behind your backs," Twilight replied. It caused both crowds to burst another time.

"Is that true?!" "Father" asked. It brought both crowds to stop.

"Let's check this out," Chimera pulled out a shiny stone. Magical energy flowed out of it into his horn right away, and his horn lit with white light. "She told the truth?"

"She did," half-blood said. Nothing happened.

"It means, he lied?" 'Father' asked.

"No, it means that he is not lying. It's all the truth," Chimera said. "If he lied, my horn would shine with red light."

"Oh, also check if they have feeling for each other," Twilight suggested. Her sentence shocked everyone, but Chimera and "Father" showed no emotion.

"This stone is going to discharge soon," Chimera grumbled. Right after this words, his horn lit up again and he asked, "You love her, Zenox?"

He went completely silent. For a minute or so he and Steel weren't saying anything, until "Father" spoke, "Steel, can you tell me, what's up with that love thing?"

"Father..." Steel mumbled. "I... I do love Zenox..."

After that sudden revelation and a gasp from now single mob, which was formed from two, the charging gem shattered. "Father" turned to Chimera seeing white light quickly dying out. "So..."

He waited for his reply. Not turning to anyone, Chimera said, "This gem cost me three hundred bits... By the way, when you are going to marry?"

Sudden revelation was met with less amount of emotions. Shouts that two were traitors still were there, but they died down due to outnumbering shouts of congratulation.

"Father" and Chimera meanwhile turned to Queen and Twilight. "Why?" They both asked.

"Oh, that's a good question," Queen said. "Still, I would like to assure you that we have no malicious intent."

"It's actually was done for the sake of the city," Twilight added.

"We saw that despite what you claim about each other, you have many things in common," Queen said.

"Instead of forming bonds between each other, you started pointless warfare which was leading this city into nothing," Twilight stated.

"But here and now, we suggest you an alternative way," Queen said. "Stop this."

"Let this city breath both figuratively and literally," Twilight ended.

"Hmm," Chimera smirked. "One question. You was cramming this?"

"Um, to be honest, it just come like this," Twilight said.

"Wow, cool," Chimera said. "Well, I believe I'm all up for this idea, but one problem. Grey mane?"

"I believe that problem is me, right?" "Father" asked. "Well, let me shock everyone another time. I actually wasn't against you that much. I was up for you as I am up for this idea. I still should admit two problems. First one is current mayor, who..."

"Who is dead," Chimera broke in. After admitting the look on 'Father's face, he continued, "they say, it was Silver Mouse, but one reliable source of information told me that corpses of mayor and his fellows had spear wound and this wounds, which resemble ones from an axe but they are too deep."

"Why I learned that from you?" "Father" asked. "Well, nevertheless, the second problem is a single pony out there. He probably knows that I supported you and now he is waiting for me... With weapon."

"Another grey mane?" Chimera asked.

"You may say that," "Father" replied. "Late Date is someone who actually hates you because of your modern thinking. His grandparents come from another city because their business there was put down, with the help of technologies, so that explains why they hates all gadgets. Here, those two quickly contacted us and they joined us. By now, his grandkid is a shadow leader of our fraction."

"If you don't like him, why you just don't get rid of him?" Chimera asked.

"I wish things were that simple," "Father" sighed. "His influence is unbelievably strong even though my parents were standing in the very beginning."

"Heh, fine!" Chimera smirked. "I'll help. Queen? You and your guys are in?"

"Why of course. It will better for our city," she replied.

"By the way, Queen," Chimera was about to turn around but turned to Queen instead. "Would you like to tell me who is behind the mask?"

This question get Queen surprised. This also get by surprise the crowd around as everyone thought that today there will be no other surprises.

"Well, I see no problem with this," she replied. Her mask went off in a swift motion. Twilight immediately looked at the mare next to her. "Hello there."

"Far Sail?" He quizzically looked at her.

"You know her?" Twilight asked, looking at the mare whose appearance was resembling of the ocean. Coat of navy blue color and white mane that looked like sailcloth. Only the eyes were of that bluish green as if the swamp's water.

"Of course, I do," he smirked, this time playfully. "A courageous traveler, a masterful sailor and a fierce trader. She is good at it all, but since she stayed here the last one is false."

"Huh, are you using my stuff against me?" Far Sail asked.

"You ask?" He smiled. After hearing a cough from "Father", he turned to the crowd and shouted, "Oak Leaf! Get my gun!"

Deer only sighed to it and passed over a rifle, that she get right away she heard about helping "Father".

"Now, I'm ready to help," he stood next to "Father". "By the way, Oak, you don't have any feelings for that?.."

"Chain Lightning?" "Father" broke in and pointed at firmly built stallion with noble white coat and mane slightly darker mane. Around his left arm, a chain was wrapped and the chain was attached to a short blade, which was held by right arm. When he was called, that chain had a lightning coming through it.

"Yes, him. Do you like him?" He addressed question to the deer. She shook her head negatively. "Huh, fine. But be careful there. I wouldn't sponsor the second wedding so look for money by yourselves."

With this they went to someplace at the north of the city, which was a two-storey mansion. A couple of ponies who went out of the mansion immediately got tied up and after a quick interrogation, they get an image of the rooms and estimated number of enemy forces. After that, they began an assault.

Even though, they outnumber the defenders but hastily done traps and surprise attacks, still get some casualties.

In the end, only one room was left. "Father" who already told to leave this room for him. He knew every room where Late Date might be hiding from previous times so he rather quickly estimated the room where Late probably was.

The door must be pulled to be open and when "Father" pulled, the door had a blade of the knife sticking out. Someone threw it.

"I know exactly who was practicing knife throwing, Late!" He shouted.

"I'm good at it, right?" An old pony in the chair with old and creaky voice asked. A calm look of "Father" was met by the angry look of grey eyes. He was adorned with rich black fur which had lost all colors like his mane due to age.

"This says the opposite," "Father" pointed out to the knife behind him.

"Then let me prove you wrong," he took the knife which was stuck in the table. After that, he made a mistake. He lost a couple of seconds just to rise from his chair. It was enough to someone outside to make his move and make the body fell to the side with the chair, since the corpse tackled it while falling. His brains meanwhile painted the walls in red.

"Father" was about to observe the corpse but decided to look into the window. There he saw a rifle pointing right at him.

He stood there for some moments. Waiting for Chimera's move.

His move was to lower the gun. He smiled right away and put the thumb up. "Father" made the same though his look was grim.

After a couple of seconds, they forced to broke that silent picture. Due to magic drip on Chimera faded away and he fell right onto the road.

Chapter 17. Return of the Crystal Empire.

“So, about all this,” Twilight was looking at how Rarity was tailoring in her own boutique. She herself was solving another riddle from the box. Both tailoring and riddle weren’t the case she was here. The case was running back and forth before her and Rarity. Mostly Rarity. “Are you interested in dragons or what?”

“Well, I fillydelphian,” Rarity replied Twilight’s question. Twilight eyes immediately got bigger even though ponies’ eyes big by themselves.

“Oh, that explains so much,” Twilight mumbled.

“But, darling! I must admit that even though I’ve learned a lot about dragons and I even had a halfblood as a friend, dragons were not my kind of love interest,” Rarity revealed some truth about herself. “I can certainly see why mares of Fillydelphia try to find a dragon as a mate, as a lot of dragons are successful in life, even more are in bed and probably all of them tend to stay with one mate for all their life, but something was off for me.”

“Off?” Twilight asked.

“I found them pretty rough…” She said, as if tasting the word. She frowned as the word was just wrong, “No, not rough… They are outwardly brute, that have no dignity and respect for any mare. In my opinion, mares may feel like they are behind the stonewall when they are with dragons, but that stonewall is crumbling and its parts either falling on mare one by one or crushing her with all stones at once.”

“But Spike?” Twilight pointed at her little helper that was helping Rarity. It’s not like she need any help at that moment but all Spike’s attention was on Rarity.

“You already said that he is not like other dragons,” Rarity pointed out.

“Well, I was saying that but I believe somewhere deep in his heart there is still some draconic aspects, that I can’t simply cut out,” Twilight answered. Although, she missed the fact that she already faced a couple of times when Spike was acting rude if not plainly cruel.

“Whatever,” Rarity said. “We will see it after a couple of years. If he will find someone else and will look after her instead, then it’s fine. If he would be still trying to get my attention… You should be so proud of him, in this case. I would be happy to share the rest of my life with him. I fear one thing though.”

“Yeah? And what that could be?” Twilight inquired, feeling that something was wrong.

“If you haven’t noticed, I have said that I’m fine if he found another admirable mare,” Rarity reminded Twilight of what she said earlier. “The problem here is that I can’t answer Spike’s feelings. I don’t feel anything about him and I fear that I’m not going to change my opinion even after a couple of years.”

“Oh, don’t fear about this,” Twilight assured her that it was okay, but deep in her heart she wasn’t sure herself. “When a couple of years will pass, you will see if you can return that compassion to Spike.”

“Oh, I hope so, darling,” Rarity said. After that, she lost all her attention since she got her sewing machine running.

Twilight meanwhile drew her attention to puzzle from the box. Ever since Cadence and Shining have made a bond between each other, she was solving puzzles from the box. She was on the streak of quick puzzles. One day she even managed to solve two of them.

This time she was solving riddles. The sheet that the box gave her was somewhat alive. At least, the first text on it told her the rules and after examining them, she was asked to agree with them. When she tried to ask some questions, all words she wrote disappeared. When she finally agreed, not only her words disappeared but everything on it. The sheet became blank, but not for long. The first riddle appeared on it and she immediately answered it. The sheet didn’t accepted it, but after a little thought she changed her answer a bit and there was another question.

Some riddles were quick to answer. Some… It can’t be bought but can be stolen with a glance. It’s worthless to one, but priceless for two. Who am I? Twilight mumbled who knew how many times this day. She was solving that one ever since she came to Rarity’s place. She then looked at Rarity who got her finger poked by a needle and Spike who was now bandaging said finger. Seeing this, Twilight got a glimpse of an idea. She looked at the riddle and realized the answer. Love! That’s love, right.

Sheet agreed with her. Sheet also told her that the last question was solved and it needs to be retrieved to the box. She was about to stuff it to the box and get back to the Golden Oak Library but in a golden flash a letter popped into existence before her.

Celestia? What does she need? Twilight thought before taking the letter and breaking the seal. She read it and turned to both Spike and Rarity who now was overreacting about her finger. “Guys, get up! The train is going after two hours.”

“What train?” Rarity asked, forgetting about the finger that instant.

“A simple train to Canterlot,” Twilight replied. “A new task. I’ll tell the girls about it. Here is your ticket.”

“Oh, I believe Spike needs to go too,” Rarity accepted the ticket.

“Um, I think not…” Spike mumbled.

“The library must be working this day since it’s not a weekend,” Rarity looked at him, but she saw he still didn’t want to leave her. “Twilight already worked this whole week. Tomorrow you can stay with me all day I hope. Just stay warm. You are coldblooded and winds are blowing so hard. I don’t want you to get cold.”

Spike was about to retort something, but when Rarity got a red fabric tied around Spike’s neck, he accepted it.

The new destination had different reactions from her friends. Applejack found it rather indifferent. Pretty much, like Rarity. When Twilight asked, Applejack told her that her family had another Apple as a guest and all her thoughts are driven to that moment. She was more bothered of how their distant relative was thinking of them and another task meant little to her.

Rainbow was interrupted from her slumber so she was grumpy all the way to Canterlot. Pinkie meanwhile was… Pinkie. Even if she didn’t like being interrupted from whatever she was doing, she didn’t show it. Fluttershy meanwhile didn’t like the sudden work either. She noted that her animals started to see Dr. Fauna more frequently and she is afraid that they might refuse to come with her when she would come to retrieve them one day.

When they arrived to Canterlot, a couple of guards met them. Twilight told her friends that they were going to meet some guards and the guards will lead them to other train that will take them all to their destination.

The other train was not far from the train, they’ve came by. Twilight immediately noticed that something was off. Train looked too bleak. All trains in Equestria were dyed into bright colors but this one was dark green.

Interior was different in there. There were even rooms, completely functional rooms, where one can rest for a day or two. One wagon was even made into a restaurant.

When Twilight asked about it, guards said that it was a special train for their own use. Its special coloring makes it different from other trains so workers on railroad stations didn’t stop them every now and then.

This train specialty was in its speed and its ability to move non-stop for a long time. At least, one can do it from one end of Equestria to other without staying at every city on their way. Civilian trains always stops on each railway station until they reach the final station on their way.

“Now, you can rest. We will reach the Frozen North only by the end of the day,” one of the guards said. Twilight immediately raised a brow, pointing that she and her friends had more questions. “We will stay there for the night. That’s what I can say.”

“Oh, if so…” Twilight stretching out the last vowel. She meanwhile thought of what to ask, but then she looked at Rarity. “What’s about…”

“Your warm clothes and special pendants,” guard immediately broke in, passing said items to Twilight. Other guards in the train did the same. “Don’t put on the pendants. Their magic charges meant to last for twenty four hours of active use. Please, while in action, check the charge via asking the unicorns at our camp. If there is need for recharge ask those unicorns.”

With this, they went silent and they said practically nothing if one would not count girls speeches between each other.

As the guard said, the road took all the time until the deep evening. The moon had been risen like an hour ago, when they finally reached their destination. A little camp has been settled around some buildings, which included the railway station, a house for the station keeper and house for the guards. This place wasn’t meant for extra guards and mages contingency, so there were those tents.

“What is our task?” She asked the guard. Surprisingly to her, someone else answered.

“Look over there,” a very familiar voice said. It was the voice of Shining Armor, her brother. When Twilight looked in the direction, from which voice came she saw her brother standing against a column, which was holding the roof over the railway station platform.

“Where…” She was about to ask but she saw his brother glance. When she looked at the distance before her, she saw nothing but then she noticed a grey fog that was forming a wall. She looked at it better and noticed lines of different colors that were travelling throughout the wall. They were very subtle and Twilight wondered how she noticed them. She wondered not because of lines’ subtlety, but because of the lines very dim colors and there was a mile or two between her and the wall. “What… Is that?”

“Stasis field,” Shining replied. “Tomorrow, we will obliterate it and we will see what’s hiding behind it. You and your girls should better rest.”

“What can be there?” Twilight asked. Her friend meanwhile got from the train and she only made a gesture to move into the camp. She then turned to her brother,
“Don’t you say that there is unlimited amount of riches and gold.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say so, then,” he smirked. “Celestia said though, that there should be a whole city underneath the veil. Crystal Empire.”

“Empire? You said city,” Twilight was bewildered.

“Yes, technically it was a city,” Shining Armor replied. “But Celestia said that once it was another country and this whole snowed valley belonged to it. She then mentioned that it was snowed even then so how you will call your single city if the living place of your country stays within that city’s borders.”

“That’s… Logical,” Twilight pointed out. “What happened to the city?”

“Change of the government happened,” Shining replied. “Previous ruler died or was killed, I don’t know. Celestia said nothing about it. She said that the new ruler that came afterwards was cruel and he practically enslaved the nation of local ponies. His twisted experiments on mind magic lead to traumatized civilians who were afraid of everything and brainwashed soldiers, who were mindless minions that don’t value their lives.”

“What a story,” Twilight said. “Cadence is here?”

“In that house,” Shining pointed at house of station owner. “She tries herself at cooking. Station owner and his wife are two nice old ponies. She is safe with them.”

“I’ll check on her,” Twilight moved to the house and really found there her ex-babysitter trying to cook something by the stove. There also was a couple of elder ponies. Twilight presumed that those were the station owners. “Hey, Cadence… Were you trying to make pancakes?”

“Hello, Twilight,” Cadence smiled at her. “Yes, of course. When I saw a kitchen, I wished to cook something. I immediately remembered you and your love to your mother’s pancakes.”

“They were amazing,” she remembered herself about mother’s pancakes. “These… Uh, let me see. This one is overcooked, this is undercooked, this… Huh, not bad. There were better pancakes in my life, though.”

“If you wish for better pancakes, then help me,” Cadence retorted.

“Oh, watch and learn,” Twilight took pan, tasted the dough and together with Cadence that made some pancakes, hay fries and other food. Actual owners of the house didn’t mind as Canterlot was providing them with everything.

Later that day, Twilight got into the camp after her friends. Cadence suggested staying with them, but Twilight replied that for the house four was already a crowd.

In the camp, she quickly found her friends and told them plans. She then was fast asleep.

“So, any ideas?” Twilight asked as she looked at the stasis field before her. Rainbow Dash being the hothead of the team rushed to the wall right away as she heard about it. When she arrived to the camp, only thing she said was that the invisible wall is a great thing to crush into it headfirst and then dull sword’s blade. She didn’t use such wording though.

“We’ve been freezing our croups here for a reason,” one of the mages from the camp said. He and his colleagues were preparing a ritual of some sort. “We’ve made a spell to destroy that stasis field once and for all.”

“You’ve made? With what?” Twilight asked.

“A shield-breaking spell,” he replied.

“A shield-breaking? Wow, it’s a bit illegal, if I’m not mistaken,” Twilight mentioned.

“You can learn some spells when you are in the military,” a unicorn told her. “However, I’ll admit that there aren’t many spells. To be honest I would kill just for a little peek in those books from the closed library section.”

Twilight said nothing. She looked at their preparation. She noticed that the ritual was the one she could actually has some profit. Via that ritual, casters merged their magic resources in order to empower the spell, but only if spell allows it, as a simple spell has limits and it wouldn’t get more powerful even if unicorn put all the mana in the spell. A spell for such ritual must have special addition in the matrix that allows the spell to scale with magic that caster put into the spell, or in this case, casters.

The spell that is going to be used in ritual was inscribed into scroll that lay in the middle of the ritual circle. She could have a look into it but it would take some time to find the spell itself. She don’t require the scaling part or anything else. The shield-breaking spell though… Twilight fixed her look on the scroll, but then she noticed how mages were tending to the scroll.

She might have a little peek in the scroll but she doubt that those magicians would allow her to look at it more than mere seconds let alone having a full research of the scroll.

“Tell Shining that we are ready,” one of the mages said and the other unicorn run to the camp. Unicorn that has been talking to her went to the ritual circle. Other unicorns that were standing aside did the same. Soon, there was quite a crowd around the ritual circle.

In total, there was seven mages, who had formed two circles. Three mages inside the ritual circle, four outside. Aside from them, there was Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Guard contingency consisted from four guards from the elite corps, eight night guards and two stallions that were local guards. Two mares who were with stallions, stayed with station keeper. There were also reporter Hard Quill with his assistant Survival Risk. Rarity was quick to guess that they were from the Royal News as they were the only ones so close to Celestia that someone from them could be in places such as these frozen wastes in right time.

“Start the ritual,” Shining commanded. Three mages in the middle got each other’s hands and started to create the spell. Four other mages standing outside the circle started to fill the magic construction that started to glow in the very middle. It went without a hitch… Well, almost.

When the glow in the middle became so bright it was impossible to look at it, from it a ray shot. Nothing was happening to the wall for a minute or so. Mages started to lose consciousness one by one and the last ones standing were those three in the middle. They held each other’s hand, keeping each other but they were not far away from joining their colleagues outside the circle. To their delight, Twilight noticed something.

“Stop the ritual,” she shouted. Unicorns were quick at stopping the ritual and the ray dissolved.

“Why, Twilight? The stasis field is still there,” Shining asked. Stasis field was still there but it was a bit brighter.

“The stasis field is no more,” she replied. “This is… Something else. Try to get in.”

Shining bowed his brow at this but went to the wall nevertheless. He pushed his hand in. At first, it was like stone, but immediately it became like jelly. He put some efforts and his hand was on the other side.

“Wow,” he exclaimed at this. Right away, he felt something more interesting. “Hey, it’s warmer there.”

He went with his body and it was a lot easier than pushing the hand in. When he disappeared behind the wall, it rippled. A light grey wall became fog-like and then fully transparent. The only thing that divided this and that side was white snow and green grass.

This took everyone aback. Like logs, they stood in front of the wall until one of the elite guards came alive and rushed to the other side. In a moment, everyone went and there and now stood in warm green valleys.

“Wow, this looks so gorgeous. Never thought, I would consider grass as something beautiful,” Rarity said, bowing to touch the green floor beneath her. She then raised her eyes. “Are those sheep?”

“They are definitely sheep,” Survival Risk replied. “And if I’m not mistaken, they just woke up.”

“Everything underneath the stasis field was in a state close to sleep. It’s no wonder,” Twilight mentioned. “We’d better get into that Crystal Empire and see what we can do.”

“Maybe, we should get to that mountain?” Someone from the guards pointed at the big crystal cone in the distance.

“That’s not a mountain,” Survival Risk clarified. “That’s rather small for mountain.”

“Yeah, look. There is something beneath it. Those looks like houses,” Twilight noted.

“We should have a closer look at them,” Shining also noticed little structures under the mountain.

“Wait, didn’t we forget something?” Hard Quill asked. His eyes immediately got bigger, as he remembered. “Have we just left mages outside?”

“You, you and you. Go get them into the camp and then get back here,” Shining commanded. Two local guards and a night guard went on the other side of the wall. Other ponies went to the structures ahead.

After some minutes of walking, they reached a crystalline floor or something. Even more sparkling stone suddenly cut sparkling grass. Those crystals were a foundation to the houses made from crystals. Technically, there were big crystals that were carved into houses. Among them, an enormous palace was standing out. Its size easily contested with the size of Canterlot castle though comparing it with a mountain would be incorrect. It has mountain’s form but it lacked those truly gigantic proportions which nature formed after so many years.

The city was looking dead. Well, almost. Citizens were slowly shuffling out of their homes. Their manes were very stylish and they were fitting with their clothing, even though they consisted of different togas. This was a surprise to each pony, since it may be dead cold here in the north. The answer to this was due to temperature inside the transparent sphere. It was warm there.

Even with such welcoming atmosphere that place had, absolutely everyone was depressed. Pinkie pointed that out right away.

“Let’s get to this castle. I believe we will find our answers there,” Twilight suggested and all of them went there.

Guards that were standing next to castle let them get in, or to be more precisely, under. Four pillars kept the giant crystal pyramid. Between them, there was platform and company were standing there. When Twilight looked at pillars, she saw doors.

“Can we get upstairs somehow?” Cadence asked.

“Yeah, there is doors on each pillar,” Twilight replied.

“Pillar? It’s too little for it,” Cadence said, making Twilight yelp in exclamation. “Wait, each? There is only one… Oh, you also meant that one above?”

“I meant those pillars that castle stand on,” Twilight said and everyone looked on these pillars. Twilight herself meanwhile looked at the pillar in the middle of the platform. “Huh, interesting…”

“What’s there?” Shining asked, already noticing those doors. “All of you. Go get inside. Twilight, what’s up with this?”

“I don’t know. Something is missing here. I can feel some magic emanating from both of those structures. I believe an artifact of some kind was in the middle,” Twilight pointed out.

“Hmm, I see. Well, you and your girls can go check this out in library. We will liven things up here,” Shining suggested. Twilight agreed with him and she with girls went to the library. Before that, they asked local guard about library’s location and somehow managed to get answer. Guards like other ponies there were having memory problems, which definitely was due to some kind of magic.

In library, they spent couple of hours looking for the information they needed. The local librarian, an aged mare was trying to help them but memory loss, which probably was even worse because of her age, made her efforts less helpful. At least she remembered where history section was.

Books there were looking new. The information in them weren’t new at all, though. They spent some of their time just to find most recent information and they did found some.

Book they found told them the story about royal family that were ruling in Crystal Empire for centuries. The last rulers of Crystal Empire, Amore sisters came to rule after an accident where their parents died.

Author then noted that technically the older sister came to rule. The younger one was nowhere to found at first, then when strong opposition arose, the older one told that her sister is somewhere, where none of their enemies will found her. She then disappeared like her sister, leaving the throne empty for her opponent.

The opponent, some unicorn named Sombra, came to rule after her. His rule quickly became tyrannical. Many tried to oppose and prove his rule illegal but as author said, “Their further fate is better left untold”.

Sombra wasn’t also a tyrant, but a dark magician as well. Twilight pointed that dark arts are strongly divided and there are many variations. After reading the description given by the author, Twilight said that he was using advanced mental magic. Dark crystals that Sombra was forming didn’t say much information to Twilight as any magic energy can form crystals. Crystal farms are built on this feature.

The book ended abruptly. When they tried to ask librarian about author of this book, she hardly recognized the name. The name of Sombra, though… Her face immediately turned to shocked one, which quickly developed into face of utter horror.

Twilight and her friends were forced into treatment of sudden memories and flashbacks. It took them some of their time but after coming to senses, librarian asked what time of a year was it today. When they said that it was the end of the autumn, she told them that they hadn’t arranged their annual Crystal Faire. Twilight asked about it and librarian told them that long time ago ancient ancestors of Amore’s royal family settled a celebration that should renew the spirit of love and unity between the citizens. It must be held each year and there must be an important event that is happening or already happened.

“This sounds like quite a party!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I agree that this is interesting,” Twilight said. “But, missis…”

“Uh?” Librarian hesitated, not quite understanding what Twilight wanted. She quickly took the hint though. “Oh, it’s Ms. Amethyst Maresbury. Oh, I know what you are thinking. Even after seventy years of life I haven’t found that special somepony of mine.”

“Well, Ms. Maresbury, is there some kind of magical relic that is of an absolute importance to Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked.

“Relic?” Amethyst Maresbury looked into space, while looking for the answer. “You mean, Crystal Heart? It should in the middle of Crystal Palace Plaza. Is it there?”

“Of course, it’s there,” Twilight rushed with answer before her friends would say something. “We are just asking. Now we should go.”

After they exited the library, everyone looked at Twilight, “What was that thing?”

“Girls, I have a plan,” Twilight proclaimed, ignoring their question. “You should go to Shining and got everypony organizing the Crystal Faire. We must liven up everyone in this city, but not via mentioning the name of Sombra. I believe the Crystal Faire will cause good emotions and memories to come. I’m not sure how they’ll react to the news that they were out of the world for millennia. Try to come with something.”

“And where are ye headin’?” Applejack asked when Twilight went with them. She even was trying to get ahead of them but the whole group was catching up.

“I will for Crystal Heart,” Twilight replied.

Twilight was somewhere in the castle. Her scanner, which she relied on, was actually pointless there. Everything was filled with the same type of magic. She wasn’t sure if Crystal Heart was a powerful magic source and she should move in the direction where there is an enormous amounts of magic energy. Maybe it has the same magic in it as the castle’s walls and while at work it is amplified by some structures. The only thing she knew, the relic must be protected by either dark or mental magic.

She’d got to the room of the royal family. The touch of tyrant Sombra could be felt in the whole design of the room but Cadence that was in the room already got her way with things here and there. Some parts of the room were already feeling out of place probably due to absence of some things. The bed should have dark bedclothes, but they lay in the pile nearby. The same could be said about different weapons, which must reside all over. There were many stands for weapon standing on floor and hanging on the walls. Now there was just a pile of pointy stuff in the corner.

“Hey, Cadence,” Twilight called her ex-babysitter, who now was sitting behind the desk while pondering over something.

“Twilight? What are you doing here?” Cadence asked, turning to her sister-in-law. “Oh, my manners. Hello Twilight.”

“Manners, hah,” Twilight smirked. “Can you help me with something?”

“Why, of course,” Cadence agreed. “What do you need help with?”

“You did a little clean-up here, as I can see,” Twilight looked around her. “Have you found any books by the way?”

“Books? No, there is not a single bookshelf in this place,” Cadence looked around. “If being honest, this place was a bedroom of some kind of sadist, not a ruler. So many weapons and torturing tools were here.”

“There must be some book or diary that belonged to previous owner,” Twilight said. “It is vital to find one.”

“Well, if there is any book around here, then it’s hidden in some kind of a stash,” Cadence replied, looking around now with concerned look. “Do you really thing he is that kind of person?”

“Well, he is. Those who were before him by the way were also those types of person,” Twilight replied while looking at the ceiling. Cadence noticed that.

“There is something up there?” Cadence asked, looking up as Twilight did.

“My magic says that there is something in there,” Twilight replied. “Something that radiates different magic. Haven’t you noticed the magic of this place?”

“I’m not sure but I believe it was easier to breath here than anywhere in Equestria,” Cadence told Twilight of her observations. “This room though… When I came here, I almost choked myself.”

“Then look after yourself,” Twilight warned Cadence. “That place should have even worse atmosphere. Look after something that can be used as a lever.”

“Lever? Those crystals on the walls could be it?” Cadence asked, pointing somewhere. When Twilight looked there, she saw two crystal hooks or something pointing out of the wall. “Those were used as another weapon stand. On those horns there was yet another sword.”

“Hmm, let’s see,” Twilight mumbled, as she came closer. She observed both of them and then noticed that the tip of one hook can be rotated. “And… It clicked. Is it…”

She was interrupted. A little rumble and sound of gears fused into a loud unison. It quickly died out and both ponies noticed the entrance. There they found a tunnel with the spiral staircase in the end. Next to the entrance, there was another hook. Twilight and Cadence immediately did the same with that hook as they did with previous. Door, which was raised to the ceiling, lowered and soon the entrance was closed.

“We should left it open,” Twilight said and rotated the tip of hook once again. “If anything happens.”

They went to the staircase. Nor the tunnel, nor the stairs were trapped and soon they were in the empty room.

“Um… And where it is?” Cadence asked.

“It is there,” Twilight pointed to some wall. She then quickly got to the wall and made her hand slip into it as if there wasn’t wall at all. She quickly grabbed something and drew it.

“There was… A wall,” Cadence mentioned.

“That what magic here makes you think,” Twilight replied. “Let’s better find out what is written here.”

“Well, fine,” Cadence said and they delved into reading the diary of the tyrant ruler of Crystal Empire.

Soon, they departed. Twilight quickly looked at the ending of the diary and gave it to Cadence. Twilight meanwhile was looking for Crystal Heart.

She was expecting anything and after she read, she understood that Sombra wasn’t stupid. It didn’t say where Sombra had hidden the relic. Not a single hint or word about Crystal Heart… Only a single sentence, “I hid the treasure down there”.

What treasure? Is it Crystal Heart? Or maybe the oldest one of the Amore sisters? Maybe it’s just a one big pile of gold? Twilight wasn’t sure. Twilight wasn’t even sure where this down was.

Twilight was moving from one pillar to other. Three pillars, three staircases and every single one of them were leading upstairs. Fourth one was… Like others, but something was wrong. Magic was telling that somewhere underneath there was something. She couldn’t say what was wrong. She was looking at the stairs until she understood that there was something. Floor next to the stairs had edges.

She looked closely at the emptiness surrounding a piece of floor and found out that it was like another stair but too broad. She checked if it could be moved and understood that it could be moved. A bit of her magic and soon there was a way leading downstairs. She quickly went there.

Stairs here didn’t have any banisters, so Twilight was really cautious here. Her way down took about five or ten minutes but eventually, she was there. Before her was single door. Twilight felt bad when she touched the door handle, but opened the door nevertheless. There she saw a little wooden closet that had a single lectern. Book that rested on the lectern for some reason felt familiar to Twilight. She was about to open it but soon the room was engulfed by the green smokes.

“You have arrived” An eerie voice whispered in her ear. “You will be the Sssssolution.”

“Sssssolution? Venom, is that you?” Twilight looked around but didn’t see the source of that voice. After that, she felt someone gripping her hand.

“A sssssolution to my new ssssspell,” voice rang again and Twilight was pulled back. She didn’t hit the door though. When Twilight raised from the floor, she noticed that there was some kind of the ritual circle. She couldn’t understand which one though.

“Who are you?” Twilight looked up at the one of the snake people. He wore adorned gown and had golden scepter in his hand.

“Not important,” he replied. Quickly, he raised his scepter and a green lightning struck the circle before her. The magic tensed up around Twilight and very soon, everything went blurry. When she came to her senses, Twilight saw the snake looking at someone above her.

“Magnificccccent,” he slithered, then fell to his knees. “Lord, grant me your power.”

“Power?” a very familiar voice asked. “I will grant you power.”

A click near her ear. The snake vaporized before her eyes, leaving a cloud of white dust.

“Discord?” Twilight said with shaky voice. “What?... But how?”

“Now, you, my darling…” he said. “Do you need my gift?”

“What gift?” Twilight asked. Her tone got even higher octave, “I already got something from you.”

She tried to remember what Discord gave to her but failed.

“No, that’s not it. I’m talking about something greater. Power that you can take the whole world with, knowledge that will not be learned in this world in the upcoming millennia…” He stopped, even though Twilight saw clearly that he had something else to say. “And, of course, authority. A way bigger than Celestia has.”

“What is the price?” Twilight asked, even though it wasn’t what she wanted.

“The most expensive, most darling and most needed thing you have,” he replied. Twilight only blinked, not understanding what he meant. “You!”

Twilight felt bad. Really bad. The floor disappeared. She fell, and fell, and fell. She could not comprehend how long she was falling.

Everything around her was silent at first. Then it’s started to laugh, to creak and to whistle. She didn’t know if everything around her whirled and twisted or it was her who was whirling and twisting. She was lost in that madness, in that mangled imagination.

“Twilight,” something changed. Something was there. Something had… Spoken?

“Twilight,” There definitely was a voice. A familiar voice, “Twilight. Here you are, Twilight… Twilight? Answer me, darling!”

“What… What happened?” Twilight grunted.

“I’m not sure but we found you here staring at this…” Rarity began but stumbled when she tried to describe the door before Twilight. The door was a fake since behind it there was a wall. “Door.”

“I believe it was a trap,” Twilight said, gathering the scattered memories. “How much time has passed?”

“Well, ever since you asked us to organize the celebration, two hours has passed,” Rarity replied.

“Two hours?” Twilight exclaimed. Then two hours of sitting came to her. “Oh, fine. Let’s get up.”

Rarity helped Twilight to raise and then she helped her to get upstairs. On the way there, she told her what things they made for the celebration. Many events, many tournaments were going to be on the celebration. Many foods and drinks are going to be there. Everything like in a book Pinkie borrowed from library.

“I hope I will find that Crystal Heart when we will start the celebration,” Twilight sighed.

“Oh, well, darling… There might be tiny wee problem,” Rarity replied.

“What… What do you mean?” Twilight brow twitched.

“There is some dark smoke out there and a dark figure. It is clear that he can’t pass,” Rarity said. “We don’t know what he will do but everyone thinks that he has bad intentions.”

They finally reached the top. Friends found them there and Twilight met her needs.

“So, he is just standing there?” Twilight said as she munched the crystal corn. Right after she asked, there was a sound of glass breaking.

“What is that?” one of the guards who were with them asked. Everyone who were with Twilight immediately headed outside.

Outside, they met cold wind and snowflakes. A minute ago, there was a warm weather even though clouds had covered the skies.

“What happened?” Hard Quill asked as he warmed himself up.

“That bubble was keeping us from bad weather outside. Now it’s gone,” Survival Risk replied.

“You’d better get yourself in the house. We will try to fix that,” Twilight said and headed to castle. Friends came with them.

“Twilight!” Cadence exclaimed. “It’s horrible. The protection field is down. It’s getting worse, and… And there is someone. In the dark mist.”

“We must find Crystal Heart. It will help,” Twilight replied. “I tried but…”

“Crystal Heart?” Cadence asked. “I believe I know where it is.”

“What!?” Twilight yelled. “W-where?”

“Well, there is pretty much a lot of magic in here,” Cadence began. “But it suddenly depleted, after the field was gone. Now, not a single piece of furniture or wall has magic in it, but there is still something up there.”

She was pointing at the highest point of the crystal palace. Twilight couldn’t see anything there, but when she checked and felt a weak source of magic, she considered that Cadence was true.

“Well, fly and get it,” Twilight said.

“I will, but what you will do?” Cadence asked. After that, a grim laugh could be heard from the dark mist that was on the plaza in front of the castle.

“We will be buying you some time,” Twilight replied. “Now, fly!”

Cadence immediately took off into the air. Twilight meanwhile looked into the dark mist. She was about to say something but Rainbow was first.

“You know, I will do it a way faster than she will,” she said.

“And what she will be doing here. If you forgot, she is not a fighter,” Twilight blurted out, even though she admitted that she made a mistake.

“Sister, I believe we should go there. If we met him here, it will be a lot harder for Cadence to retrieve the heart,” Shining Armor said.

“You are right,” Twilight said and stood in front of them. “Remember, we are doing this not only for those poor ponies, but also the country we love and live in. The tyrant we are going to face is not going to stop with Crystal Empire. Even with technologies we have, his magic will simply allow him to enslave the strongest and turn the tide of battle.”

With those words, they headed to the mist. When they made half of the way, something or rather someone emerged from the mist. Many figures were slowly shuffling towards them.

“That’s…” one of the night guards looked more closely but his glance immediately turned to a shocked one. “That’s the citizens. They look even worse now.”

“I said he will enslave the strongest…” Twilight looked at zombie-like crystal ponies. “Well, in this case a crowd but nevertheless. Be careful, we don’t want to kill anyone of them. Our target is the tyrant.”

Soon, they were fighting the crowd. It was really hard due to impossibility of killing. Non-lethal blows were bringing a lot of pain but the only thing crystal ponies were doing afterwards was gritting their teeth. They were clearly showing that they were feeling pain but still tried to get guards down.

“Target!” One of the night guard shouted as a tall pony figure was unhurriedly heading to the castle. He was a black unicorn with red curved horn. Under his red royal cape, adorned with white fur, an armor of black steel was showing. The guard rushed at that unicorn but it was a mistake. The brute from the elite guards that was next to him now was dealing with twice as many enemies, while the night guard was entrapped in the crystalline cage.

“He’s mine,” Twilight shouted and shot a dark purple ray. When it hit the muscular body, an orb of pure blackness emerged from it. When orb landed next to the tyrant a copy of him appeared in that place. It got dissolved as a dark crystal grow in that place and pierced the body of a mimic like a spear.

Twilight then shot a simple beam but the figure simply ignored it. The stronger one made him to look at her briefly. When she was charging the escalating one, something appeared at her ankle. Actually, something hit her both ankles and she fell forward. Her unfinished beam shot into the ground.

“Don’t you dare…” Rainbow wasn’t able to finish her sentence when tyrant throw a spherical crystal at her. If it was pointy, Rainbow would’ve been dead. His combat tactics do not involve killing. “Eat the lead!”

She got her revolver out of the sheath. Sombra was thinking differently, and a crystal impaled the revolver, cutting the barrel off.

Sombra was heading to the castle. After Rainbow, Shining tried to stop the tyrant. He put the barrier in front of him, but Sombra showed why he wasn’t killing anyone. Shining immediately fell for the mental attack. The barrier disappeared while Shining started to see things.

Sombra was about to admire his work when he sensed something.

“Crystal Heart…” He wheezed. He was about to step up but he quickly turned around. Crystal dagger in his hand blocked the blade.

“No, you won’t,” Twilight said. Rainbow’s blade in Twilight’s hand quickly changed its place and soon it was swinging at the tyrant. Each swing was blocked, though. Twilight was doing the same when Sombra was swinging at her back.

“I’m not sure what magic you use to ignore my magic,” he said. In the quick motion, the crystal dagger flew into her and got into the stomach. “I can’t waste my time.”

He turned around. In that place where he was, a crystal spike grew. In the direction of Twilight grew another one, this time bigger. With each spike a crystal stockade grew. Twilight noticed that but pain in the stomach paralyzed her. Soon she felt that someone pushed her away.

When she was on the ground, she saw female bat pony hanging on one of the spike. Originally black, now the tip of spike was slowly becoming red.

Twilight wasn’t looking at the dead guard for too long. She quickly turned her head to the crowd and saw them heading to the castle. She was about to look how her friends or guards were doing but then she saw Applejack in the same state as other crystal ponies. She turned her towards Sombra.

“Stop right there,” Twilight mumbled. Putting all her efforts she shot the cloning ray into him. It barely made it, but the clone’s position was just right.

Sombra was rushing to the castle. Even in such rush, he had some arrogant posture in him. The clone, which appeared in front of him, stopped him with a punch into the face.

Another crystal spike. Meanwhile in the castle Cadence was flying down with Crystal Heart, which was just a stone, chiseled into a heart shape. Cadence felt though that deep within there was some magic.

When she reached her destination, she noticed the dark mist what had a form of a pony. She didn’t want to learn who was that so she quickly put the Crystal Heart in place.

A bright light started to emerge from the relic. It was soft and reassuring for Cadence but for Sombra it was like a fire. He tried to touch it, to corrupt it and to remove it. His hand even almost touched the Heart but in the powerful surge, a wave of light washed the city. His hand was gone and the body became the lump of pain. With the second one, his body evaporated, leaving only a curved horn. After the third wave, the horn was also gone.

Twilight slowly stood up. Everything around her shone, reflecting the light of the sun. Magic of the Crystal Heart cleared the skies, destroyed every dark crystal and healed everyone. Except one.

“Rue?” One of the night guards mumbled. He quickly stood over her body trying to do something. “Rue, please, wake up… Wake up! You can’t… What will I tell to Dream? To a little Sap? To your father?”

“She’s a hero,” Shining Armor stood by him and put his hand on bar pony’s shoulder. “But there is nothing we can do about it. No magic can make her alive again. Now, Twilight… A pony sacrificed herself and let you live. I hope you’d made this bastard pay for that.”

“My spell barely hit him,” Twilight said, rubbing the place where crystal was. “but it was enough… By the way, about Rue…”

“We need her alive,” Shining interrupted her. “Not a ghost or a zombie… By the way, I’m not sure if you even know this. I’ve been in guards for some years and never saw a book about necromancy. Believe me, I’ve seen quite a lot of books, so I don’t think you’ve got one by yourself.”

“You don’t trust me?” Twilight looked at his eyes for some time.

“I wanted to ask that ever since we arrived,” Rainbow interrupted them. “How we are going to get back?”

“Train is going to arrive in couple of days,” Shining replied, turning his gaze away from Twilight. After replying to Rainbow, he turned to the crowd. “I believe, until then we are going to celebrate.”

“We can’t,” one crystal pony from the crowd said. Other repeated.

“Why is that so?” Shining asked.

“That’s the tradition,” one of the elderly ponies who was put in front of the crowd said. “When someone dies in the borders of the Crystal Empire, no celebration can be started until the relatives of the dead one stop with the mourning.”

“Oh, then we will do something,” Shining Armor looked at the crowd. “You can go and do your chores or take a rest.”

Soon, the crowd dissolved.

Chapter 18. Little break.

Twilight was sitting in front of another riddle. This time the box gave her a simple tic-tac-toe game. She remembered when she played with her mother. Then, she was only three.

When Twilight finished it three times, she was given an advanced version of that game. Now she needed to get five crosses or zeros in a row. This time it was harder, but she still managed to solve it.

The last game. Well, it had the same design, but it was something different. A grid of squares became a grid of hexagons. A single zero was in the middle of the grid and, as Twilight understood, her goal in that game was to surround the zero with her crosses. Zero was making a move into one of the surrounding hexagons but only after she puts a cross. Like other games, three rounds and she was off. The grid became a single sentence, “bring me back to the box.”

This time box was not as quite as it was last times. Soon, there was light which came from the opening on the upper side of the box that was not there before. Quickly that opening started to widen and soon the upper side was gone leaving only a light coming from the box.

A package flew out of this box. The box itself disappeared.

“What it is?” Twilight asked, even though she was the only one in the room. The package, as if it heard her, unraveled itself, showing to Twilight a bunch of items.

A lot of papers were in there and Twilight noticed that all of them were spells. Twilight found that intriguing as box wasn’t giving any spells for a really long time. Now, there was so many scrolls to look at.

When she was looking through them, she found one that had red words on it. It is said, “please cast this as soon as possible”.

She was about to look more precisely at it but then she yawned.

“When will you go to sssssleep?” Twilight heard the voice in her head.

“Venom?” Twilight looked at her table, noticing her snake-familiar next to the single candle. “What are you doing here? If I am correct, Dusk is already sleeping.”

“Dusssk is sssleeping. You are right,” she raised her head. “But I found Owlowiccciousss an interesssting interlocutor.”

“Hoo,” as if admitting it, an owl sitting on perch over the table hooted.

“Go to sssleep,” snake suggested and Twilight had to agree with her due to another yawn. “You have a plenty of time, tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, Twilight didn’t had a plenty of time. Some things happened that day, like return of the showmare Trixie, who was now a way stronger due to an artifact, she wore. It was called “Alicorn Amulet” and it was giving an immense amount of power. Twilight found herself facing an opponent not of her level of power so she was made to use her brains fighting her. She not only managed to won the duel but she also checked something out. She is not going to have any profit soon.

When she got back to the library, it was two hours past the noon. She met Spike there sitting at the counter. She clearly saw that he was outwardly freezing there.

“Would you like to get some warm clothes on?” Twilight asked. He had only the dark cape that she once wore and small little T-shirt with short sleeves. Only thing that was warm were trousers.

“Hmm, well I just got that warm coat from Rarity,” he said looking up at their with Twilight room.

“Then put it. You are not that small,” Twilight rebuked Spike lightly. “I’ll look after the counter.”

“Fine,” he said and headed to their room. Twilight meanwhile sit at the desk. She quickly looked at the register before her. The job of the librarian is quite and aside from her friends, only a certain number of visitors were in the library. In the register, there were only a couple of pages were filled in. “How do I look?”

Spike was in the emerald overcoat, which were the same with his eyes and looked good with his beige trousers. Rarity also added a zip, so Spike could attach a hood from the cape. Unlike her cape, Spike’s cape had hood on a zip.

“They look magnificent on you,” Twilight replied. Right after that, a letter appeared before Twilight. Twilight grabbed it and broke the seal, which she found was Luna’s. She quickly learned what was in there and sighed. Another train trip, another bad guys to beat. She remembered the spell, she was going to cast and suddenly to herself she decided to cast it. She thought that it’s probably not going to take much time, especially when the train is not going to arrive in a couple of hours.

She went down in the basement. After a quick preparation, she started a ritual, which was written in the scroll. It requires a single item, which will keep the magic in it. It is said to keep the item in the safe place, as it will became very fragile no matter the original material the item made from. The item will gain an ability to do the same thing as the box did. There was also a note that the second item created this way will resonate with the first one and both will be destroyed, but on a certain distance. The distance of that effect was colossal, though. Four hundred miles.

When she started the ritual, she admitted that it was a way easier than that revealing spell. Matrix wasn’t really too long, even though she wasn’t recognizing the parts. There was also a feeling as if that ritual was actively consuming the given magic, while revealing spell was taking the magic in unsteadily and reluctantly. Twilight also admitted that this was a full ritual with the circle painted by chalk, so it should use much more energy, but this ritual and revealing spell both took from her an equal amount of energy.

After a minute of spell casting under the look of her snake-familiar Venom, she finally managed to end the ritual. A diamond, which was a part of gem collection that Rarity once gifted to her, didn’t change a bit. Something magical could be felt about it. That feeling was oddly familiar to Twilight.

“Well, I had a lot of trust in you,” an all too familiar voice came from behind her. “As I can see, I wasn’t wrong… Ouch, look after your viper. It spit something on me.”

“How did...” Twilight turned around and was about to ask something but a mismatched creature, which was summoned in the caverns beneath the Canterlot castle put his eagle claw on her mouth.

“Put aside your questions, my dear,” he smiled, but something was in this smile. “It was said that the stone should work like a box. Well, it’s not going to work that way, but let’s make a deal. I will doing what that box was doing. I will suggest a puzzle each time I would come and provide you with information that you need. You meanwhile will allow me to come every now and then via that stone. These conditions are fine with you?... Oh, wait. Before you ask questions, I will tell you the rules. Each time, I appear in this world, I will give you an ability to ask me three questions and I will give an answer. The point here is that the answer is going to satisfy me, so ask a question carefully. Answer to your question must satisfy both of us. Let’s go with first three question, shall we?”

“What? What does this whole thing mean? What do you want?” Twilight blubbered, not really getting his words.

“Well, you want to learn from your mistakes? Fine,” he looked maliciously at her. “This whole thing means that I am going to give you knowledge beyond what you could have imagined. I want to give you some knowledge but only if you show me you are worthy enough for it. One question left.”

“What?… Oh, don’t count that,” only now, she realized it. “Any ques… No, don’t count this either.”

A lot of things were happening in Twilight head. Circuits of her brains were turning and twisting generating tons of questions, some absurd, some obvious and some about universe and existence. Sometimes, a question belonged to all three. This action was accompanied by the sudden feelings of regret, anxiety and fear.

“So,” he looked right in her eyes.

“Can you tell me about Sethra?” Twilight suddenly remembered a snake fellow that had a diary, parts of which were provided to her by box. “No! Tell me about Sethra. Everything you know.”

“Everything? Well, you will learn his whole story in the meantime, as I am going to give you the whole diary, but not now. Now, I’ll just tell you a bit, just not to spoil it when you will be reading a diary.”

“Take a seat, dear,” he suggested, getting an armchair appear behind Twilight. While sitting in the similar armchair, he began, “he was scientist with a keen intellect and warrior with a brave heart. He was also selfish and too self-independent. This was noticed by his father so he decided that his title, the ruler of the nation, will be inherited by the oldest daughter, Asthra. There was also a younger daughter and the middle son Sethra. If Sethra was seeking for knowledge, the younger sister Aspera was looking for satisfaction. She was a wanton and she spent a horrible amount of money on different celebrations and parties. Well, no matter. Sethra since he liked to learn new things quickly got ahold of the whole library and read every book he found there, which is an impressive amount I’ll say. He had little prejudices so he learned almost everything not only different sciences and martial arts but he also knew how to cook and how to sew. If it wasn’t for his father than he will probably even learn how to grow crops and how to look after cattle. Well, since he had such abilities and had a lot of money with him he started to learn the world around. Father noticed that and got him to work as a diplomat. His new job got quickly boring and he started to look for specific knowledge. There was a traveling merchant, who sold him a book and after he found interest in that book, he got a couple more. Those books were not really legal so that merchant quickly got arrested. Sethra helped him escape but he was caught and was sent back to father. He was made to give all books and then they asked him to ask for his return in the previous job. He didn’t do so and instead he started to gather an expedition to look for treasures in different ruins. That what he was saying, but he actually needed someone to protect him while he was looking for forgotten knowledge. In one of his expedition, he found a book on the Void. That’s when he started to learn about Void. After a couple of years, I found him and helped him a bit. After I saw him doing things pretty well, I thought he would find little problem with casting a little spell. He… Well, that spell required specific preparations and he hadn’t done them. I believe you know what happened to him afterwards.

“I can guess,” Twilight replied. “He passed, right?”

“Of course,” he sighed. “What a pity. I had a lot of trust in him. Well, as I can see, you are going to learn all these new spells. I won’t be taking any of your time, then.”

“Wait,” Twilight shouted, but he was gone.

“Who wasss that?” Venom asked.

“A friend of mine,” Twilight replied. “He gave that box since he couldn’t solve a single riddle.”

“Really?” Venom said, not really believing her mistress.

“Well, I’ll just learn from these scrolls,” Twilight turned to the scrolls with spells. Venom only sighed at this demeanor.

Meanwhile, Twilight started to do her favorite thing. Learning spells. Those one were complicated but each had some fantastic effect. The new ray was disintegrating metals. The cloud should cause hysterics or vomit but Twilight couldn’t check that out.

She was about to learn next spell but she heard voice. “Twilight, Luna told us to arrive at Canterlot.”

“Rainbow, how?” She looked at the basement’s entrance and noticed Rainbow descending the stairs.

“Spike told me,” she said. “You are lucky, since I could’ve been up there.”

“Oh, I was just teaching Venom new spells,” Twilight made an excuse for herself.

“Huh?” Rainbow bowed her eyebrow, but when she noticed the snake, she understood. “Oh, will you bring them with you? You’ve been keeping them here for month.”

“Yeah, will do,” Twilight said, casting one of her spells. “Good. Fang is nearby. I’ll bring all three… Where?”

“Girls are on the train station,” Rainbow said as she went upstairs. Twilight meanwhile grabbed leash and collar, which were laying there.

Another stallion was thrown on the streets. He tried to raise, but since he was drunk into a complete mess, the process was taking too much time. Only when he received help from his pals who were with him in the bar. They were also drunk but not in that horrible state which their friend was. They were also kicked out of the bar but unlike their friend, they were talked into leaving from that place.

“Why there are so many of ponies, who likes to lose sense of reality?” Blaze asked a rhetorical question, when he returned to his place in front of bar stand. A rabbit, who was behind the stand smiled.

“Many things happen each day,” Jonathan said. “Not all of them are good.”

“Right,” he said and looked at the crowd. At first, he thought that two rabbits’ bar shouldn’t be that popular in Canterlot, but seeing the crowd in the hall, he started to thought differently.

“By the way,” Jonathan smiled and took a sip of his ale. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Huh… Wait, what?” Blaze looked at him.

“I needed two weeks to spend somewhere,” he said. “Two weeks has passed and my relatives solved some problems and sent letter to me. Now I can return to my home.”

“So, about…” After an instance of silence, he opened his mouth to ask something.

“Your payment is there,” Jonathan pointed at the entrance. When Blaze looked at the entrance, he noticed captain Solar Lance. “Ask him.”

“Fine,” Blaze said and headed to Lance. He noticed Blaze and headed to him, but when they get closer, he made gestures to Bright Mind and headed to the pantry. “So, what’s up?”

“Well, Blaze… I’m not sure how to say that, but your sister is kidnapped,” he said.

“What? How?” Blaze looked at him like as if he saw him for the first time. Then he looked at him with fury in his eyes.

“She just didn’t came one day,” he replied. “I started to look for her and Zip, one of my rivals sent me a letter in which he said that he wanted a lot of money for her. I immediately headed to the castle, but there were only night guards. I asked them, but they started to look for her recently. They found three places, but my pony there told me that they keep all captives in one place. You should be there first.”

“Where?” Blaze abruptly asked.

“Here, but that not really what I wanted,” he said while pulling out a piece of paper out of his pocket. “You see, night guards are going to raid all three places, but you should get your sister first. You see, that detective, who must solve your case and who was going to take place instead your sister hadn’t had enough time to start working when bats started to get everywhere. Bats has all materials on you and they shouldn’t get their hands on your sister… Or, they are going to be very persistent with questions.”

“You can stop there. I understand,” Blaze sighed and looked at Bright. She nodded and Blaze asked Lance, “When?”

“At six,” he replied.

“We will grab our stuff and be there,” he said and they went upstairs. There in one room, they got their weapons. In the hall, they found that Lance already left while Jonathan and May were also gathering their stuff. They said their farewells and they parted.

Chapter 19. When two lines collides.

It was rather risky to walk around the place, where drug dealers were keeping captives. Blaze was thinking that everypony he met were looking at him back. It wasn’t really that untruthful, since a stallion with huge sack on his back wasn’t a sight to see each day.

Less risky it was for six mares to do the same. They separated and also were eyeing the house. It was a miracle that they haven’t met and only a couple of bat-ponies flying over the roofs noticed him. One of them was watching him precisely.

Only when girls gathered in one place and one of two bat-ponies descended to them, Rainbow noticed a familiar unicorn. “Is it me or this unicorn is oddly familiar?”

By that time, Blaze already found a place, which he could use. He needed a dark alley where he could put his battle outfit on. There was such a place nearby. When he was about to go there he heard Rainbow. When he looked there, Twilight already noticed him. “Familiar? This is Blazing Spear. You definitely should know him.”

“Blazing?... Oh, right. I remember now,” she said. “Hey, come over here, big guy.”

“What’s up?” A bat-pony hissed as he got down from the roof. His partner also got down alongside with him. “Who in Tartarus is he?”

“He is Blazing Spear. He is guard…” Rainbow was about to say more things about him, but Blaze was first.

“I’m retired. As my whole crew aside from our commander,” he said.

“Oh, so why you have retired in the first place? Any serious reasons?” the female bat-pony who was a second bat-pony in their team asked. She had bright scarlet mane and eyes to match that color. Her coat was pitch black. Her cutie-mark as well as her teammate's one were hidden.

“Oh, there was just that disturbance with “Three Circles”,” he replied.

“Ah, I see,” she nodded and rubbed her chin in thought. “You all did it pretty well back at Whitetail. I’ve seen the reports.”

“Are we going to get in there, or what?” the male bat-pony looked at them.

“You are no fun,” female bat-pony said in reply. “This is standard mission infiltration mission. Anypony or anycreature in there who would be tied up is not an enemy and they must stay alive until the end of the mission. Other are expendable, aside from those who are not trying to kill you. Look after the latter, though. They might turned out to be enemies, who are planning to strike in the back. So, since it’s clear than the mission starts in…”

“Actually, I believe I need a moment,” Blaze said, pointing at the sack on his back.

“Oh, really?” Male bat-pony he looked at him, a bit angrily.

“Well, we also need a moment,” Rainbow said.

“Alright, five minutes,” he sighed.

After five minutes, they stood before the house. All the windows were nailed up with planks. This wasn’t the same for windows on the second floor, so both bat-ponies were going to go on the second floor. Rainbow Dash will aid them. Others will breach the flimsy wooden door.

To rise the chances of getting in, Twilight brought Applejack’s power suit. Applejack was training with it every now and then. Now she decided to try it out. It was unfortunate for Twilight since a train couldn’t carry such weight and Twilight was forced to get the suit into her dimensional pocket. It barely fit there.

Twilight wasn’t using her dimensional pocket ever since she moved into the library. She had stored money there but now they are in the safe place in her bedroom on the second floor.

One feature made the usage of dimensional pocket a bit problematic not only for Twilight, but for all unicorns in Equestria.

To use dimensional pocket properly, a unicorn must keep in mind everything he put there. If he or she forgets what they put in there, then they will both the item and the space in the pocket.

It wasn’t hard for Twilight to remember the suit, but as it always happens, when the time comes, you must be reminded about the important stuff.

Aside from the power suit, Twilight also brought her familiars. If Venom, the snake familiar, had coiled herself around Twilight’s arm and now resembled an armlet, then raven, who was flying around girls, was a bit outstanding for Canterlot’s cityscape, since it’s on the mountain and any bird is a rare sight there. Fang was… Well, the wolf resembles a normal Canterlot’s dog very poorly. If they were in a village like Ponyville, then Fang would look like a fine hound, but in the city like Canterlot, a mass of muscles and grey fur is not it.

Now, Twilight, Fluttershy and others were about to break the door and get in but they agreed that flying ones were first. Soon they heard the breaking of the glass and they added the sound of wood cracking.

“Fang! You know what to do!” Twilight shouted as she released the wolf, who immediately vanished in one of the dimly lit rooms. When they were on the train, Twilight taught Fang a stunning ray. Twilight wasn’t very fond of stunning ray, a ray of simple magic and other combat spells, which were allowed. In her opinion, a few spells that were called “combat magic” is not enough for a mage and it put certain boundaries on every unicorn. Twilight still gave that spell to the wolf familiar since she couldn’t disarm enemies with little harm done to them.

“There is a basement!” Blaze called everyone. First room was almost empty, aside from two guards. What was on the second floor, no one of them knew but Pinkie immediately climbed up the staircase when she found it. Other went down.

“Let’s check one by one,” Twilight suggested as they found themselves in the wide hallway with several doors on each side. Behind the first door, a muffled conversation could have been heard, but when Twilight and others got closer to it, they changed to steps. The door opened but no one exited.

“What the?...” Blaze looked in bewilderment as a stallion fell to the ground.

“Tree Hugger?” Fluttershy asked, as she looked at green earth-pony, who stood in the doorframe.

“Huh, Flutters?” Tree Hugger asked in her laid back tone. Fluttershy immediately rushed and hugged her friend, “Oh, sis… I thought I would never see you again.”

“But why you are here?” Fluttershy asked. Before Tree Hugger answered, she pointed at the body lying on the ground. “And…”

“It’s quite a bummer for you and especially for me, but they were clear that I should do as they say,” Tree Hugger said, her tone showing regret. “I don’t know how I managed to make them give me this club.”

She showed a baton, which had handle, sticking from the side. Tree Hugger held the baton by handle and the baton itself was placed under her hand in longitudinal position to her arm. That construction allowed Tree Hugger to hide more than a half of the baton in her sleeve.

“Are you working for night guards?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah,” Tree Hugger replied. “They caught me but instead of sending me to gallows, they made me work for them. As I understood, only single criminals are offered that. So, don’t think, they had some business with those fellas.”

“Let’s check all the rooms,” Twilight broke in. “Is there anything here?”

“All hostages the gang caught,” Tree Hugger replied. “The last mare they got yesterday is there.”

She pointed at the farthest door on the right. Blaze immediately moved there, Twilight by his side. When Blaze got there he was about to break the door, but Twilight stopped him. She said that it’s better to do together. On three, they get in.

In the room, they found what Blaze was looking for. Her sister was there but one of the gangers was there, holding her in his hands.

“Let me leave or her brains will be on walls,” an earth pony from the gang threatened them. The effect was empowered by the gun pointing in the head of Blazing Brush.

That had an effect on Blaze. A moment ago, he was ready to reap and tear everypony, who dared to touch his sister even a single time and now he stood there frozen. Twilight meanwhile was waiting for something like this and had prepared a spell.

Click.

“What?...” Stallion asked. When he looked at his revolver, he saw a missing barrel.

“Hiya,” when Blazing Brush understood what happened, she used the situation for her own benefit. Elbow strike and then drop to the ground. Her brother showed no hesitation.

Stallion from the gang fell with an axe in his skull. “How are you? Didn’t they…”

“I’m fine, big bro,” Brush said, standing up with a help of Blaze. She immediately pull away the ring from her horn. “If it wasn’t for ring, for eyeglasses and for food, then it’s a way better than many hotels in Canterlot’s Undercity. They didn’t even do that to me,” she pointed between her legs.

“Oh, that’s good,” he said. “They probably wanted you to be in a better condition.”

“That’s right,” she replied. “Who wants to receive a violated mess, who hardly resembles a relative from before?... There are plenty of prisoners here and we must free them.”

“We are on it,” Twilight said.

“Oh, Twilight, right?” Brush asked and Twilight nodded in reply. “Hello there. I’m happy to see you, even if you are blurry purple figure.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “Glasses?”

“I have spare ones at home, don’t worry,” he said. “I believe I can get there. Especially, since there are some prisoners here.”

“Night guards will help you,” Twilight said.

“Night guards?” her face changed to an annoyed one. “Well, I believe there is hardly a place, where they haven’t been.”

After half an hour, they get all the hostages free. The male bat-pony took hostages and accompanied them to their homes. Girls also went somewhere. Only three left.

Brush was in hurry, as she wanted to see Solar Lance. She didn’t leave immediately as Blaze stopped her. He needed to retrieve his clothes, so he went in that alleyway. There in the trashcan he gathered his sack and was about to begin to put normal clothes on him, but Brush rushed him. He only managed to hide his chain mail under his shirt.

Female bat-pony stayed in the house. That unnerved Brush and when Blaze went after his clothes, she asked her about what she was going to do. Bat-pony said that she will clean up the place, but when both of them were about to leave, bat-pony all of sudden desired to accompany them.

“And, why?…” Brush was about to retort, but bat-pony was already moving the way they wanted to move, as if she knew where they are intending to go to. Brush looked at the house and saw couple of bat-ponies, entering the building.

“I don’t like it,” Blaze said.

“I don’t like it either,” Brush agreed with him. Nevertheless, they went with their uncalled companion.

She meanwhile stood on the road as if waiting for them. “Are you waiting for us?”

“Not really,” she said, not turning around. “I just remembered that we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. I’m Scarlet Study, at your service.”

“Well, Scarlet Study…” Blazing Brush looked at her directly, but all her attention was her brother. “Can we go on?”

“Yeah-yeah, we can, Blazing Brush,” She made a brief glance at her, and then looked at Blazing Spear once again. “Blazing Spear… Or maybe, Bounty Hunter?”

“But how?” Even in a hushed tone, the question sounded rather loud.

“I’m a detective, who took your case,” she replied. “Don’t worry though. Let’s just say, those ponies, you murdered, are not really what this world needs. We can also say we know some ponies like the ones you murdered and we can pretend someone of them was Bounty Hunter.”

“And I?” He looked quizzically at her.

“You?” She replied with the same look. “Oh, you can be a clever boy and don’t repeat all that. If you don’t know, moneybags started to be afraid of Bounty Hunter and started to look for mercs. Also, your mask is now known by a certain amount of people, so don’t try to wear it every now and then.”

“Huh, I see,” Blaze sighed. “Well, come with me, Brush.”

“Are you worried about something?” Brush said. Bat-pony didn’t follow them and stayed behind.

“Too many ponies know who I am,” he answered. “I don’t like it.”

To the house of Solar Lance, they came in a disquieted state. When Lance saw them, he understood that something was wrong. When he asked them, Brush replied that bats are just flying everywhere and seeing what they shouldn’t.

“Bats?” He cocked a brow, but then realized it. “Oh, they were at that vermin pit, right?”

“Worse,” she sighed. “They know.”

“Fuck!” He swore. “We have problems or…”

“Problems are in both cases,” She replied, before hearing the ending. “Your second suggestion is right though. They know but they looked at it with blind eye.”

“Well, I see,” Lance nodded. “So, what do you want?”

“Do you have that weed?” Brush mumbled.

“The one you are smoking?” Lance asked. “Nah, but I got beer.”

“Wow, I wouldn’t mind,” Blaze said.

“Do you know, your beer is just pee with spirit,” Brush commented. Nevertheless, she went with them.

Soon, they were at the kitchen. The scene quickly became idyllic. Booze, two friends, a mare that was snuggling with one of them. Even though, Blaze learned that his sister is in relationship with Solar Lance, that view still made him rather uncomfortable. So, most of the booze was guzzled by Blaze solely. He then remembered something.

“Hey, care to tell me one story?” Blaze voiced out. That got both Lance and Brush shiver.

“Sure. What shall it be?” Solar Lance asked.

“Why Jonathan needed to stay here for two weeks?” Blaze asked.

“You’ve been working for him for two weeks,” Lance looked at him in amazement. “Haven’t you asked him if that bothered you?”

“That bothered me only when he said I’m free,” Blaze honestly replied.

“Well, if you want to know, then I’ll tell everything I know,” Lance looked Blaze dead in his eyes. “You are lucky, I asked him about it. He told me his story, but I will not tell if it’s truthful or not.”

“Just begin,” Blaze looked back at his ex-boss eyes.

“So, let’s get to the very beginning of the story,” Lance rubbed his chin. “As you can understand, it all started in Wood Kingdom, or if being exact, in Everdell.

“Everdell?” Blaze raised a brow.

“Yes. It’s the southern region of Wood Kingdom,” Lance replied. “Actually, Everdell is known for being a land of valleys. That’s where they grow crops.”

“So, and what happened there?” Blaze asked.

“A love story,” Lance smiled. “He was invited to the dinner by one of the noble families in Everdell. He, his father and another guest. At first, his father wanted to decide, but Jonathan convinced him to give him the ability to choose. His father agreed and so Jonathan’s new friend was able to see what it is a dinner of a nobility. His new friend was a mercenary, a bounty hunter and a sharpshooter. His name is Robert Hood and he is known for his outstanding accuracy. Jonathan spent a little time with him and decided that he is worthy of it. On the dinner, they met Marian, daughter of the dinner’s host. Host of the dinner immediately proclaimed a wedding between Marian and Jonathan and Jonathan’s father agreed. As you probably understand, Jonathan wasn’t the one to fall in love with Marian. Robert fell in love with Marian and she fell for Robert. Both Robert and Marian took the action of the host with hostility as you can understand. Just not to screw relationship with both, Jonathan decided to leave somewhere for two weeks.”

“Why?” Blaze asked. Both Blaze and Brush had little idea about the reason of such a decision.

“That’s the tradition. If two engaged lovebirds haven’t seen each other for at least two weeks, there will be no marriage,” Lance said.

“So, this way spouses would love each other and wouldn’t find it troubling to say yes at the altar, right?” Brush suggested.

“That’s how things are, but Jonathan said that there are still an amount of weddings happening because of parents’ wish and not kids’ love,” Lance said. “I wonder now if Robert actually married Marian or he is still trying change Marian’s father decision.”

“Maybe, they ran together into the night?” Brush suggested once again.

“Maybe,” Lance replied. “By the way, Blaze! Haven’t you asked Jonathan if he is fine about working at Rabbit Hole?”

“I haven’t asked but he actually was showing more and more irritation and disappointment each day. I believe, it’s because, he was an actor and performer and he didn’t receive what he wanted from the drunkards of Undercity.”

“That’s Canterlot’s Undercity for you,” Lance nodded. “And even if he gets to noble’s Canterlot, he wouldn’t receive much ovations either. Mages and aristocrats are not whom will be amazed by tricks and focuses.”

“At least, he complimented our ale,” Blaze added.

“Our ale?” Lance raised a brow. “You think his mouse grace would appreciate what simple ponies drink?”

“Don’t you want to say that?...” Blaze looked at him with bewilderment.

“He also had a bed in VIP room, right?” Lance smirked. “If you never seen it, then I’ll describe it to you. A bed there is royal-size, sturdy and with one of the softest bedclothes, you will find in the city. All other furniture there is the same quality. If other rooms are… Well, you have find out what are they, but the VIP room there is just something fitting any noble.”

“Is he…” Blaze looked at him with a look of disbelief and disappointment.

“He is of no high standards, though,” Lance replied, already guessing a question. “I once made him a bed on the floor and he didn’t complain about it. At least, until morning when I said that there is a plenty of beds in my house.”

“Well, I see,” Blaze nodded. “A noble is a noble, no matter where they come from.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Lance retorted. “Even though Jonathan is blueblood, he is much different from all other bluebloods in all kingdoms.”

“Whatever,” Blaze mumbled.

Soon they departed. Blaze went to his home and on the way back, he thought what he should do. There was no way he could continue his fight against injustice, not only because it would get harder and harder each time but also because night guards would probably kill Bounty Hunter and further continuation of the spree would going to be an unwise decision.

Those thought were infesting the mind right until he came to his home. Well, not absolutely his, as Bright Mind, who started to live with Blaze, opened the door.

“Hello, Blaze,” she said. “So, how it went?”

“Without a hitch,” he replied and sat on the little coach in the living room. Bright immediately sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. This scene reminded him his sister and Lance. “At least, the beginning was fine. In the end… Celestia damn it, bats came in. They got all the secrets out of me. Now I can’t continue my fight with the malicious nobles and other corrupted forces in the city. Bounty Hunter is officially dead.”

“Oh, that’s horrible,” Bright looked at Blaze and after seeing him upset, she became quite upset too. “And what do you plan to do?”

“I’m probably going back to guards. Are you with me?” Blaze asked.

“Not really,” she replied.

“You know, I wonder how you survived the academy,” Blaze said.

“Sometimes, I wonder myself,” Bright nodded. “I think, it’s because… Well, around you, I feel like I don’t need to fight, don’t need to defend myself and… Well, that sort of things. I feel like I can be a simple mare with simple dreams. In the academy, I wanted to show what I am capable of, since I didn’t do great at school. Now with you…”

“Don’t continue,” Blaze said, encasing her in a warm hug. Outside, the first snow started to fall on the earth.

The weather was fine. It was the middle of the winter, so the temperature was going to its lowest position. Each year, pegasi remembers how it was thousand years ago, when they had no ability to control the weather. In that time, winter was the part of the year when fearsome windigoes froze things over. Only with the help of unicorn mages, ponies could take a rest for a moment and grow some food until new windigoes came back to the land of ponies. In the remembrance of those days, pegasi create snow and ice, while Celestia weakens the power of the sun. This way ponies are made to remember what their ancestors passed through.

Earth ponies and unicorns though use this time of the year as a little respite from their day-to-day routine. Especially, when there is an official holiday in the middle of that season. Hearth’s Warming.

Twilight was preparing for the dinner at Applejack’s place. She was invited this morning but she had a feeling that something wasn’t right.

“Hello there, Twilight,” she heard all too familiar voice behind her. “I thought, it was a good time to visit my friend here.”

“Discord, what do you want?” Twilight quickly turned around.

“Why, Twilight?!” he exclaimed. “It’s been just a month and a half since the last time we met and you already forgot our deal?”

“Oh, well…” Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts. Meanwhile, she went to a commode it the room and got notepad from it. “Care to give me some time to formulate… Actually, tell me about that Void. Tell me everything you know.”

“Oh, and are you ready for some philosophy, then?” Discord asked. Twilight only nodded in reply. “Hmm, OK, listen to me. If you never noticed that before, everything in this world is built on contradiction. White and black, light and darkness, good and evil. This goes so far that the reality itself is built on this rule. You see, all universes are connected with each other by Harmony and Void or, as someone call it, Chaos. All worlds connected with those places since because of them world has such things like mass, time and magic. Void is a place out there, it’s absolutely empty, but with special power you can create anything there. Those who has such power are called Void Lords. That’s what I know about Void.”

“I see,” Twilight pondered. Then, she remembered something. “You are the Great Snake, aren’t you?”

“You mean, if I had created the whole nation of snake people?” Discord raised a brow. When Twilight confirmed it with a nod, Discord said, “Hmm, you know… I might’ve given you a simple no, but I don’t feel it’s a complete answer. Therefore, I will also add that I haven’t started all your pony races. I also didn’t start gryphon, kirin, hippogriff, yaks, buffalo, dragon, changeling, centaur, gargoyle, breezie, cyclops, diamond dog, mouse, rat, deer, kelpie, minotaur, roc, siren, sphinx, windigo races or any other races out there. Is that satisfying?”

“Very…” She rubbed her chin. “I don’t believe, I heard about some of these races before.”

“Well, what is your last question for today?” Discord smiled.

“Last?” She was in thought again. “Oh, tell me, why your spells don’t have regular patterns that normal spells have. I checked it and that destructive ray of yours don’t have a ray pattern in its matrix.

“Because they are mine,” Discord casually said. When Twilight raised a brow, he sighed, “well, not really mine. They are more accurately described as spells from my world. Since they are from my world, why do you think, they must use patterns similar to ones that is used in your world?”

“Oh, it makes sense,” Twilight nodded to herself.

“I’m quite surprised it did,” Discord noted. “With me, things often lose sense, but I guess, not today. Have nice days, then. We will probably met sometime later.”

“Oh, goodbye,” Twilight mumbled in reply, but Discord was gone by that time.

Never she knew, they would meet quite soon.

Author's Note

If you have feelings that this chapter should've been published on Christmas or New Year, then you are mistaken. I'm not a big fan of thematic chapters and stories.

Chapter 20. Ascension.

The sun shone brightly warming the ground of Equestria. With the beginning of the spring, the weather started to change to a softer and more welcoming one. Spring was the time of the year when ponies of all of the Equestria started coming back to life and work.

In a southern part of the country, though, spring isn’t a time of the year when everything was coming back to life and work. Southern lands was always the land of unstoppable life, the land of unstoppable motion. It was an unpleasant discovery for the royal guards.

The motion of things here stops only at night or especially hot day. Some places like local markets are more overcrowded than other places and guards quickly learned that they shouldn’t go there alone.

In the towns, guards were met with interest. Locals, especially kids, wanted to learn mundane things from guards and guards wanted to give the same in return but Mualim and Suelmann’s allies used that. Ever since, guards were forced to use the violence, which developed into raids of commoners’ houses, weaponry and sharp tool confiscation and quite violent interrogations.

They had to learn some important rules. The main ones were: a guard must always be on… well, on guard. Also, the only weapons must be guard’s weapon and only in guards’ hands, and probably the most important one, never show your back to abyssynians or saddle arabians. Blaze was made to learn those rules after arriving to the town of Meowzara… Or, if being correct, to the camp near Meowzara.

After a week since his arrival, Blaze was at the camp. He was cleaning his shield. The armor and sword were already cleaned, sharpened, patched up and ready for use. On that day, some of his new companions were also at the camp, bustling over the boiling pot. They were also making quite a noise and Blaze reluctantly listened.

“…I broke up with her,” One of the guards replied. Blaze skipped the question, they asked.

“What? You broke up with… But, she has the beauty of a muse and she is also such a sweetheart,” his friend said.

“You are describing her as if you know her,” he looked at his companion with doubtful look. “Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if you know her that well. That’s why I left her. Here, though…”

“You want to go to that abyssinian...?” His friend asked. This made Blaze to raise his glance from the shield to the company of four guards. “Uhm, what was her name…”

“Djameowla,” guard replied. “But I would like to end with cooking before going to her.”

“Are you with an abyssinian?” Blaze suddenly asked. The whole crew sitting there immediately jumped in the sits.

“Huh,” the guard, who was speaking about an abyssinian and who was actually the main cook in the camp also jumped but after noticing Blaze, he quickly remembered everything. “Oh, you are the new guard that came a week ago, right?”

“Yes. Blazing Spear is my name,” he introduced himself. The only one with whom Blaze had spoken was Captain Jay Bourbon, an old friend of Solar Lance. He was the one who was teaching Blaze when he arrived. “My question is still open.”

“Yeah, I’m fancying an abyssinian,” the guard replied.

“Is that safe?” Blaze asked.

“Why, come with us and learn it for yourself. The soup…” He bow down and took and spoonful from the pot. “Is ready. Guys, you know what to do. Don’t you dare to not leave us some. Rapid Fire, come with me.”

“You are really eager to see her,” Blaze noted when they were out of the camp. The guard was in a real hurry. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Oh, I forgot that?” He quickly muttered. “Well, I’m glad to meet you, Blazing Spear. I am Kitchen Knife. This is Rapid Fire, my friend and companion.”

“Glad to meet you,” Blaze said.

“That’s good,” Kitchen Knife replied. Soon they were in the town. The little clay shack of the Djameowla wasn’t too far from the edge of the town and they quickly came to stop. For some reason, Blaze got a really bad feeling, so when Knife knocked on the door, Blaze quickly drew his sword.

“Hello, darling,” Kitchen said when the door opened only a little. Then, the door swung quickly. Female abyssinian with white coat jumped out of the house and into the hands of Kitchen.

“Watch out!” She said but Blaze was already in motion. He knocked both of them to the ground and hide behind the shield. It was the right decision because a crossbow bolt dented the golden shield.

“Well, let’s rock, baby,” Blaze said after seeing Rapid Fire already helping both Knife and abyssinian. With those words, he went into the house. Fight there ended quickly. When Knife and Rapid get into the house, Blaze already dealt with a trio of abyssinians.

Meanwhile, Twilight was at her own house. She had a sealed package, which was delivered to her by a lonesome night guard. In the letter, which came along with the package it was said that lunar guards had raided a shelter of certain “ex personal student of Celestia”. Luna didn’t described what they found there exactly but the most peculiar thing is sent to her.

When Twilight unraveled the package, she found a scroll. When she looked at it she found some hieroglyphs. For some reason, when she looked at it, her gaze was set frozen on it. Only after a minute, she managed to get the delusion away.

What was that? She thought to herself. Well, I believe I need to do more studies to see if that spell is about… Wait, a minute… A spell!?

She was at the loss of words. She looked at the scroll again, but hieroglyphs were still there to decipher. This time, there also wasn’t any delusions. Twilight meanwhile checked everything out but still couldn’t find why she thought that behind those symbols, a spell is hidden.

No, she thought. I didn’t just thought this out. After that delusion, this thought is stuck in my head.

After a little musing, she made an incredible discovery. Saying that the thought stuck in Twilight’s head firmly is the same as saying nothing, since it was as if her own brain refused to accept any kind of explanation.

It was unexpected and Twilight even got into a little prostration. She didn’t knew what happened and what she needs to do. She quickly came to sense and decided to go to Luna.

Twilight quickly got Spike to work at library instead of her and without telling her friends about it, she got a train straight to Canterlot.

In Canterlot, she didn’t spent any time and went straight to the castle. Night guards that met her in the castle were going to throw her out of the castle at first, since Luna wasn’t waiting for guests. Twilight however showed them the letter and the Luna’s wax seal, which she kept with her. Guards after seeing that, decided to accompany Twilight to Luna.

When they came to Luna, they found Luna dealing with mountains of paperwork. She then raised her look to Twilight and night guards, she immediately cheered up, “Twilight! You came right on time. Guards, proceed to your duties. We would like to have a talk with this unicorn.”

When they left, Twilight put a chair next to the table and took a seat. “I see that you busy.”

“Busy?” Luna raised a brow. “This work is worse than Tartarus, Twilight. If galley slaves must do one task of rowing while I put in use my brain and eyes… For what?”

“Well,” began Twilight. “The work of the ruler is to make their subjects work for the country.”

“Country. Yeah, for the country,” she sighed. Then, she grabbed a sheet of paper from one of the piles and passed it to Twilight. “Look.”

“Um…” Twilight hummed as she researched the paper. “It’s an application about funding.”

“And?” Luna looked at her, waiting for something.

“And?” Twilight replied, not knowing what Luna requires.

“Oh,” Luna sighed once again. “Listen here. It’s from Steel Fetlock’s Production. It’s a concern that produce metallic trinkets and garments, armor and regalia. They are one of the wealthiest companies in Baltimare. By the way, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve been hiding in there, right?”

“Well, yes,” Twilight replied. “Still, what’s the matter?”

“You see, owner was asking for more funds. He wanted to introduce new technologies of merchandise’s production,” Luna said.

“You’ve seriously improved your vocabulary since our last meet,” Twilight noticed.

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Luna replied as she passed another sheet to her. “Here. It’s a petition. Would you guess from who?”

“From who?” Twilight asked.

“From workers of that company,” Luna answered. “They say, owner of the company didn’t pay them for quite a while and they ask for justice.”

“And?” Twilight said observing the petition.

“What and?” Luna asked. “What do you mean?”

“Do you believe to those “workers”?” Twilight asked, highlighting the word “workers”. “Cause, I’m not really sure about this. Look here. At first, it didn’t say which amount of time those workers weren’t receiving payment. Then, there is those mentioning of all those new technologies, owner already introduced into the production. It wouldn’t bother me, if it wasn’t for the amount of mentioning this, as if they are more concerned about them instead of lack of payment.”

“So?” Luna asked, trying to get Twilight’s idea. “You want to say that someone out there wants me to deal with the owner of the company just because of new technologies?”

“Well, yes,” Twilight agreed. “In my opinion, some of workers are afraid of losing their jobs, because something like conveyor belts or something since it’s requires less workers and more specific knowledge required for the users. They probably think if owner would start to deal with the problems this petition will cast on him, they will stay on their work for a longer time.”

“I see,” Luna mused. “And what do you suggest?”

“Get some night guards,” Twilight replied. “They will quickly learn the situation and will make the right decision.”

“Oh, it is wise,” Luna grinned. Then, her look turned to bothered one. “Hmm, why we haven’t thought of these. It’s probably due to our lack of sleep. We’ve been dealing with that for hours… Well, what do you want, our savior?”

“Savior?” Twilight repeated. “Meh, too sophisticated… Whatever, I want to ask you about this.”

She showed her the letter and the Luna sent to her. “So, you already found a solution?”

“Not really,” Twilight replied. “I just want to learn everything there. Who? Where? Why? I also want to know what exactly I should do with all of these… Oh, and why me?

“Well, some of these questions will be left unanswered, since they require details of mission, night guards undertook. As you can understand, we can’t tell them to you,” Luna replied. “For your other questions… Listen, we choose you because other mages failed to learn secrets that scroll has.”

“They failed?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” Luna agreed. “Some said that those hieroglyphs are from language unknown to them, other said that those aren’t words at all.”

“I see,” Twilight nodded. “I would have decided myself that this is a joke, but if there wasn’t for that thing. You see, when I looked on the scroll, I lost myself for a minute. After I had got myself snapped out of it, I found that in my head, there is a thought that the scroll is the spell. I tried to make an explanation, why this couldn’t be a spell, but I failed. This thought is now stuck in my head.”

“Oh, is that so?” Luna asked. After Twilight confirmed it with a nod, Luna grinned. “Yes! I thought, there was much more about this spell!”

“You had a bet?” Twilight asked, judging by the princess’ reaction.

“What? No! Of course not,” Luna declined. “How could even have a thought like this?”

“Whatever…” Twilight replied. After a moment of thought, she said, “So I need to make some research on that spell and… Tell you?”

“Right,” Luna said. “We require you to learn all from the information from the scroll in order to make a clear decision if the spell is useful or not. If you are successful, then we even allow you to use that spell but only with altruistic motives, or when we, with the sister, would have benefits from it. After you will decipher the scroll, though, you need to pass it to us and keep in mind that the spell here mustn’t be learned by anyone except you or mages, that we point out. Are these conditions satisfying you?”

“Yeah,” Twilight after a little thought agreed. She decided that for a prank, this scroll has too many spells on it. “I agree.”

After that, Twilight left her. On her way, back to Ponyville nothing extraordinary happened. In Ponyville though…

“Pinkie Pie?!” Twilight gaped, as her friend stood there. On her face, there is an embittered look.

“How could you?!” Pinkie immediately accused Twilight. For some reason, Twilight felt guilty, even though, Pinkie hadn’t tell her the reason of her reaction. “How could you go somewhere when I wanted to throw a secret party for all my friends?”

“But…” Twilight was about to say something, when she just realized something. “But, Pinkie! How could I know that you are planning a party if it’s a secret?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But, at least, you came early. Come. Everyone is at my place.”

“Wa-ait!” Twilight was about to retort but she was fiercely pulled by Pinkie. Soon, Twilight found herself in Sugar Cube Corner. In there, she found all her friends and even Spike. “Guys, I… What all of you are doing here?”

“Havin’ fun?” Applejack replied. She with the Rainbow were arm-wrestling. “Ya can’t see?”

“I can,” Twilight said. “Even you Spike?”

“Yeah,” Spike looked at Twilight, not liking her tone. “After a good day of working, a little refreshment won’t harm… Especially with Rarity.”

“Oh, you are spoiling me, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity replied, cooing with Spike. Twilight felt weird looking at this particular scene and the party their friends were throwing. Her thoughts were about other matters.

“Well, it’s just… I have an important task to undertake,” Twilight replied. “I must go.”

Everyone in the café turned to her. Loving and caring before, now they were for some reason quite embittered by that. Before and after, they probably would understand and let her go, but now for some reason, they thoughts were fogged. Only one way of thinking, each of them saw.

“You… Y-you don’t want,” Pinkie mumbled. Her mane and coat immediately lost color, her curly mane got flat and her whole become limp. She drooped and almost cried, but Rainbow immediately rushed in for help. She got a glass of punch to her and started to soothe her.

All looked accusingly on her. Twilight suddenly felt really bad. In normal case, she would have sensed something strange in the actions of her friends. That party all of a sudden and that weird reaction. This time, Twilight’s brain was too wrapped around the scroll. She couldn’t think straight.

Twilight ran out the Sugar Cube corner. She was feeling really bad but she had little thought about friends and their party. Even when she stormed into her own house and awoke Dusk this way, she paid little attention to his complaints. Dusk after seeing his efforts in vain, he sighed and flew off to the forest. In winter, when he had nothing to do, he found out a new hobby of helping Fang in foraging.

“What do you need, miss?…” Venom was about to hiss out but Twilight refused her help.

“Don’t bother,” she said, not bothering herself about Venom. After saying that, she immediately got to the desk and grabbed the scroll. After getting the scroll into her view, she get that delusion right away. This time, it wasn’t just a minute a standing still, but actually controllable hallucination. Twilight was absolutely aware of herself, she could move, cast spells and even could get her look away from the scroll without anyone’s help.

Delusion was also different this time. Instead of freezing her in place, making her watch nothing, the magic made hieroglyphs translate themselves. She was reading it but the words were telling nothing.

It was a spell and in the scroll, there was even a description of what the spell does. Description though was something like “after casting the spell, everything will be good, all your values will be satisfied and there will be only harmony.”

I̴ ̷n̸e̵e̸d̶ ̵t̶o̶ ̷l̷e̵a̷r̵n̵ ̸w̶h̷a̶t̴ ̷e̴x̶a̷c̸t̵l̷y̸ ̵t̷h̶i̸s̵ ̸s̶p̸e̸l̷l̷ ̷d̶o̶e̷s̵, she thought. Wait, what? What was that?

The thought felt alien.

Hmm, despite how I feel about, I must learn what that spell do exactly before I report the results to Luna, she thought.

She looked at the matrix. It was strange, pretty much like those spells from Discord. It didn’t increase her confidence in safety of casting it but she decided to cast it nevertheless.

It wasn’t really hard or long. Her horn lit with all-colored light and the feeling from the magic was all too familiar.

When she tried to remember when she used such magic, it suddenly stopped. Twilight started to look around, trying to find anything. When she saw nothing, she was about to look for a mistake she did and cast the spell once again, when in the middle of the room a rainbow light shone. When it disappeared, Twilight saw Elements of Harmony in her room.

“What,” Twilight stood there, while being shocked.

“What are thossssse?” Venom was already there. While being astonished, she was looking at the golden attire.

“These…” Twilight gulped. “Elements of Harmony… But they mustn’t be here.”

“I sssssee,” the snake-familiar replied. “Calm down. Your heart will jump out of your body.”

“How?!” Twilight almost screamed. Her hands though were already gathering the Elements. “I-I…”

“Hide it,” Venom said.

“That’s obvious,” Twilight replied. On the other hand, she quickly shoved the elements into the cupboard. “What’s next?”

“Thisssss act isssss illegal,” Venom said. “Go hiding.”

“Celestia will reach for me even if I go to Tartarus,” Twilight looked out of the window. “I’ll go to my friends, probably. I believe they know a better solution.”

“Fine, missssstresssss,” Venom said, while already crawling to the open door. When the room was empty, she closed the door and was on her way to the Sugar Cube Corner. Not only because she needed their opinion on what happened but also to amend for her actions. In Sugar Cube Corner, though…

At first, Twilight noticed that ponies were looking weirdly at the confectionary. They were whispering of something and the entourage was screaming of something extraordinary happened.p-[

What?... What happened? Twilight asked herself as she hurried to the doors of the Sugar Cube Corner. When the door swung, she saw it. “Girls?! What… What happened?”

“That’s horrible!” Rarity screamed but her shout was muffled. A tablecloth was wrapped around her head. “I’m not sure what happened but that’s horrible. My pretty face is gone. I was just sitting here after you have gone and suddenly Pinkie Pie started giggling. That got everyone attention but I then started to smell smoke. Then, there was pain and when it ended, I find my face deformed, disfigured, burnt and scorched… Don’t look at me, I’m ugly!”

“I can’t see your face,” Twilight replied. After seeing that she didn’t change her mind and she continued with crying and mourning, she turned to other friends.

“Ha-Hah-Ha!” As Rarity mentioned, Pinkie was giggling and her laugh was loud, unstoppable and there was no clear reason why she was laughing. Twilight was sure that magic was the reason but simple folk was already guessing if Pinkie was attacked by ghost of tickling or someone told her a good joke.

“Pinkie… Pinkie…” Twilight was raising her voice each time. “Pinkie!”

“Yeah! Yeahahah! Twili-ahhahah!” Pinkie tried to stop laughing and come to senses but failed to do so. Twilight sighed and gave up. Applejack and Rainbow Dash ended their strength contest and looking at them, Twilight made two suggestions. It was definitely magic and that magic was the cause why Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped their competition.

Applejack was floating in midair. She tried to get her hat but her hand was getting through as if she was a ghost. Twilight still noted that other gear was on her, which Twilight found quite strange.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was looking similar to Pinkie, except from the unstoppable laughing, she had unstoppable twitching. Spasms and convulsion hit every body-parts and Rainbow Dash was a sorry sight to behold. Her hands were hitting table, her face, the other hand. Her legs were constantly stepping.

“Girls! What happened?” Twilight asked, even she already guessed the cause. Applejack had a brief glance on her and continued with her actions.

“A moment, Twi,” she said as she tried to grab her hat once again. Twilight quickly grabbed the hat with magic and put on her head. “Twi! Get mah hat back to me.”

Instead of saying anything, she used her magic and placed it on Applejack’s head… Or if being correct, she placed it in air above her and it fell on the ground. When Applejack sadly looked on the hat, Twilight put it on her own head.

Rainbow right after that had her fingers in the mouth. Twilight quickly pulled out Rainbow’s fingers out of her mouth, right before her teeth grinded into each other.

“Rainbow, where is Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Rainbow pointed but the palm quickly straighten up and slapped her in the face. When Twilight approached the coach, where Fluttershy was sitting, she found her in the deep sleep. “I believe, I can’t wake you up, sleeping beauty... Rainbow, can you walk?”

“I will try,” she said and tried to stand up. She was successful at first but then her knees bent. After she sat back on the coach, her wings started flapping and she raised from the coach again. After making a step, she made a step back.

After seeing that, Twilight only sighed. Twilight get her magic working. She already had Fluttershy in her magic grip and very soon, Rainbow Dash was floating next to Fluttershy behind Twilight. Unlike Fluttershy, Rainbow was harder to carry around since she was constantly twitching and convulsing.

“Pinkie, I hope you can move,” Twilight said, looking at giggling mare. She raised from her seat.

“I-hah-I ca-ca-Hahahah!” She tried to reply, but had another surge of laugh. Nevertheless, she followed her. Applejack and Rarity also was there going after Twilight.

“So, Twi,” Applejack began. When they were going through the city, everypony were staring at them. Applejack and Pinkie Pie didn’t bother, even though they were having the second most eyes-catching looks right after Twilight with two mares in her telekinesis. Rarity who was shuffling right behind them and who was trying to cover her face even though it was hidden under the layer of tablecloth. Due to it, she was constantly stumbling at Pinkie. “What happened?”

“Listen here,” Twilight looked around at her friends sitting in her library. “This began back at…”

“Get ready,” voice empowered by the magic rang over soon-to-be battlefield. Elite forces of royal guards stood in front of an army consisting from saddle arabian mercenaries, local abyssinian militia and other vagabonds. Equestrian party was highly outnumbered, but they had more technologically advanced gear, more developed tactics, fighters that are more experienced and discipline. “We will win because those beggars has no chance against our superior tactics!”

The guards stood on the sand dune, enemy camp that stood ahead was situated on another. Right now, the camp was removed due to the upcoming fight and first shots were taken at the shields that were the first things set up in guards’ position. Guards meanwhile were waiting for shields to be put down since most of them were already aiming at the enemy while the melee minority was ready to raise the shields and cover their shooters.

Celestia and general Grim Dawn who replaced Shining Armor were cleansing the Abyssinia and they recently brought order to major city Purra. After that, they received an information that a large number of troops were gathering nearby and this way, they were lead to their current place.

“Aim precisely,” the voice of Grim Dawn rang again as he stood among the troops. “Put the shields down on three. Three. Two! One!”

When the shield were down, the great explosion burst in the place of enemy’s position. A ray of light shot from the skies.

“What…” Dawn mumbled. Then, he understood something and turned around. “Celestia!”

Celestia was in front of them, constantly flapping with her gorgeous and broad wings. Her horn was lit up but since spell was already casted, the light was fading away.

Then, she open her eyes and look on the guards with her purple eyes. “I announce the end to this crusade. We are going back to Canterlot.”

This got everyone by surprise. They just stood there, some of them looking back at the sand dune, where their survived enemies were fleeing.

Grim Dawn was confused for far less time. “Are you all deaf? Pack your things up and march to Purra. While in the city, you have an hour to do whatever you need to do there.”

That get everyone out of their trance. They quickly started to pack things up but then they quickly realized that they had nothing and nowhere to pack things up since they left most of their noncombat gear in the camp near Purra.

After that realization, they suddenly noticed Grim Dawn and Celestia far ahead. They organized the marching line and went to catch up their commanders.

Soon, they were in the camp next to Purra. Before Celestia and Grim Dawn had managed to get to their tents, the camp bustled with an activity. Someone was picking the tents, other were arranging groups that will be sent to other camps in order to tell them about the end of crusade. There was many more activities but two haven’t paid attention.

When Grim Dawn entered his tent, he found two of his friends and companions that were of great service here in the deserts of two southern countries. They both were well-known monster slayers that Grim Dawn knew well, and who accepted his offer to look for any kind of creatures in here.

“What is all the fuss over there?” Harold, male gryphon with grey coat dressed in mail over linen garment, asked. He was armed with two blades sheathed behind his back. When Grim Dawn asked about it, Harold said that there was a moment when a blade got broken in the worst moment possible.

“Crusade is over,” Grim Dawn casually said as he get to his table.

“Over?” Hell Song, male unicorn with white coat raised his brow. He wore a simple brown jacket and a brimmed hat. On his belt, there were two revolvers holstered.

“Yeah, we are going back,” Grim mumbled as he put his belongings into the camp bag. Sleeping bag, the map of local area, tokens and other small things went into the empty space of Grim Dawn’s bag. The little furniture, which are a couple of tables and a chest, would be sold at Purra on the way back north.

“Hmm, I see,” Harold grumbled. “Look, I really liked our times, but I am leaving you. I am a hunter, not a mercenary.”

“Consciousness doesn’t make us less beasts,” Hell Song smirked. “I will stay with you. I liked our time together.”

“Nah, I’ll quit,” Harold grumbled once again after seeing that Hell clearly wanted to continue accompanying Grim. After saying these words, he went to exit and from outside, Grim and Hell heard, “clear the way, fatass.”

“What’s wrong with him?” A chubby guard, who clearly was the one that stumbled upon the Harold, entered the tent.

“He is always like this. Don’t worry,” Hell snickered.

“What do you want, guard?” Grim asked.

“Well, general Grim, you see…” Guard hesitated. “There are some issues that requires your attention.”

“Are you kidding me,” Grim roared, but the guard was already nowhere to be seen. “And I wanted to check that new exotic brothel in Canterlot.”

“Exotic, you say?” Hell rubbed his chin. “And what exotic is there in that… Brothel of yours?”

“I’m not sure but they were saying something about bunnies,” Grim replied.

“Bunnies?” Hell raised his brow, and then the realization hit him immediately. “Woodlanders?”

“Probably, I don’t know,” he said. “They also said that this brothel in Undercity.”

“Undercity…” His tone lowered. “You know, I’m not so eager about it all of a sudden.”

“I understand,” Grim nodded. “Well, if night guards didn’t break this place down then there is nothing to be afraid about. At least, owners don’t hide anything. Besides, owners allows customers stay incognito. One of my friend wanted to learn about another who went there on other day and owner didn’t tell a thing about him.”

“Well, at least that…” He replied. “Still, I don’t think I would like to try it out. I would rather spent my time in Canterlot.”

“Well, it’s your decision,” Grim said as he headed towards the exit. Outside, he found the fat guard and another guard. They lead them towards the crowd of guards, who were the source of the camp’s ruckus.

Curious… Blaze wondered. He was that second guard who was with the fat one. He heard the whole conversation and now was thinking about that place Grim was talking about. I believe I know that place.

“…So,” Rainbow began. She was sitting unsteadily, making hectic moves with her head and body. Her appendages were tied up to her seat. “Do you mean to say that Luna sent you that damned spell, which is responsible for all of this?”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “At least, I think so.”

“Hmm…” Applejack hummed. “Don’t ya think…”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied. “We’d better ask Luna ourselves… But not in the state, all of you are at the moment.”

“And what do you suggest, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Well, the spell summoned Elements of Harmony,” Twilight noted. She put aside the hat of Applejack and brought the golden crown, her Element, closer to herself. “I believe we can use them to… Heal ourselves as we did to Luna.”

“Twi… Ah hope, ya didn’t forget somethin’,” Applejack said. Twilight at that only smirked. She quickly grabbed Applejack’s necklace and throw to her. Applejack due to her reflexes grabbed the thing flying to her.

“I had my doubts about that,” Twilight said as the ghost Applejack actually was able to touch and keep the necklace in her hands. “Well, here, get them on yourselves and we will…”

Twilight didn’t say the end of the sentence, though. Immediately, after she put the crown on her head, her eyes lit with white light.

Their friends shrugged after that, but put on their necklaces. The last one of all of them was Rarity as she put Fluttershy’s one on its owner.

Light…

There was only Light… And Tranquility.

Tranquility, yes!

…And, Peacefulness.

It’s Peaceful here…

No worries… No dark thoughts… No fears…

Keep it up!

In the place devoid of anything, clear of anything bad and good alike, a soul was sailing. Not a single being would tell you why that soul appeared in that place or where that place was.

There it was… Just existing. Without purpose, without troubles or concerns… There wasn’t anything that could change that, until…

What… What is that?

A blob of light… Pretty much like that soul…

The soul looked at it… Something was off.

To understand what that thing was, the soul tried to get closer to it… But to no avail. Even though, that place, where the soul was, had an illusion applied to all objects, which made them move, everything in there was stationary. The concept of movement was lacking in there, so the soul had to put all the efforts in order to embrace the concept. And it did.

It didn’t require creation of legs of wings. To appear somewhere, one must think of appearing in that place. As strange as it is, it is a simple way to move around in that place. Probably it’s the only way to move there.

When the soul looked closer on the sudden object, it noticed how the said object was similar to it, but in the same time, the object was quite different. Both of them were blobs of light, but the soul was bigger and sentient, while the object was little and there was a feel that it is a part of something… Something similar to the soul?

What if… The soul jumped into the said object. It became suddenly dark, which startled the soul a bit. Then, the world around get more colorful. Huh?

The place around was different. For some reason, the soul recognized this as the school. But for whom?... And what is a school?... No, wait. I know what a school is. It’s a place where I study and learn… But what did I learn here.

Then, she saw what a purple creature. Pony. Unicorn. A little one. The soul thought. It didn’t recognize the unicorn, but for some reason it was somewhat familiar.

Is this a memory? The soul asked itself, while watching a little unicorn performing a magic feet in front of other unicorns. Are they testing her?

The little unicorn was failing their expectations. She was trying but she couldn’t find the right spell or maybe the spell was too complicated. She was on the verge of an absolute failure but then…

A multicolored explosion happened. It could be not only seen from the big window above but also heard and felt.

That explosion didn’t only startled everypony in the room but also caused a sudden surge of magic from Twilight. Many things started to happen there. Twilight was glowing like candle in the pure darkness. Ponies in the room started to turn into different thing. The egg that probably must be turned into something instead was hatched. The little lizard then suddenly grew.

All kind of things were happening right until a high white unicorn with wings came in. Her horn lit and the magic surge stopped. Then, one by one, all of magic mishaps were nullified.

“I never seen such a powerful surge,” that high winged unicorn said. She then turned to the little purple unicorn. “Especially from the little one like you. I see a great potential within you. Would you like to become my personal student?”

“Uh, princess,” one of the testers called princess. “What about another…”

“She will be fine with that,” princess replied, already guessing about whom the mage worried. “Don’t worry.”

With that, the vision has ended and the soul was in the whiteness once again. This time, there was much more of white spots, which were memories.

The soul started to check memories one by one. All of them were about that purple unicorn. For the soul, it was just an entertainment right until something changed.

After watching the last memory, the soul thought that it would return to its previous existence but something appeared in there. In the pure whiteness, there was a black spot.

The soul was scared to come closer. Something was malicious about it. It was evil. It would bring only pain.

For a long period of time, the soul was hesitating. It tried to look for something else, to find white spots, but to no avail. The soul even thought that the black spot had been anchored to her. No matter what it tried to do, it couldn’t get further than… A certain distance.

Eventually, the soul accepted its fate and embraced the black spot.

It was a memory, pretty much like the previous ones. It showed Twilight once again in some kind of library with little Spike by her side.

Twilight was shown at different ages all other times. This times, she was somewhere at the age of nine and she was anxious about something.

It was strange that the soul knew that pony and could even tell her age. There was some kind of familiarity and with each memory piece, this feeling was getting stronger and stronger.

That dark memory, as soul called them, showed how Celestia, the big white alicorn, found out about books on forbidden magic.

When Celestia was checking Twilight’s homework, she noticed how anxious Twilight was. Since homework was once again done perfectly, Celestia grew suspicious.

After Celestia affirmed the good grade, she let Twilight go, while looking somewhere else. When Twilight got Spike in her backpack and together they went out, the soul followed and it had no ability to peek on Celestia.

After receiving knowledge of Twilight secret stashes, soul guessed what is going to happen though. For some time, all was fine but then it happened.

Suddenly, there was a strange feeling in the horn. It tingled. An abyss has opened in her stomach and skin get pale. She ran.

With this, the memory ended. Soul returned to its world and it found some more black spots of memories.

After that, the soul was seeing only black spots.

She saw it all. Streets of Canterlot and streets of Baltimare and other cities. Parents sighing at her, knowing that they might get into troubles, if they don’t arrange things right. Gangsters of Baltimare, bandits on the roads and other pirates, thieves and thugs.

Little white spots were also there. Each time, it was like a breath of fresh air. The soul was savoring those especially longer.

As any line of misfortunes, this one ended. One big white memory appeared afterwards. It was about defeating Nightmare Moon and finally finding friends.

After that, there wasn’t really much any bad memories. Twilight finally has found her place in the world, her home and most importantly, someone, she can rely on.

The soul was looking at the memories. The last memory from that line of memories was about a strange thing happened to her. Twilight was tasked to research some kind of spell and after casting it, some weird stuff happened to her friends. Trying to solve this out, Twilight and her friends put on Elements of Harmony...

With that, memory ended. Soul was abuzz, in a complete welter of thoughts. Something was wrong. Twilight’s thoughts didn’t fade away. They actually grew in quantity and the soul started to learn things that were never mentioned in those memory pieces. Spells, Discord and his tricks, other stuff.

Then, suddenly, the soul looked around. What? Where… Where am I? What is this place? Twilight! Twilight!

The soul stirred to sudden feeling of how wrong things were around.

It watched the memories once again and found out that episodes from Twilight’s life now were an uncut line that showed Twilight’s life.

Who am I? Who is Twilight? Why I have her memories?... The soul thought as it went through existential crisis. With no memories of its own, the soul was affected quite badly by Twilight’s memories.

In normal circumstances, one would panic at sudden overtake by someone else memories, but the soul after thinking a little bit, has calmed.

Twilight is… The soul went through memories once again. The last one, about Elements of Harmony induced a realization. Twilight is… Me? Am I Twilight Sparkle?

Things suddenly felt normal.Twilight quickly raised her hands and there they were. Hands felt like hands. She flexed the fingers, touched her face and other parts of her body.

Then, it came once again.

What... What is wrong? Why it came back?

Twilight looked around. A white light around and nothing else. She looked back, trying to find the answer in her memories. The realization hit her quite quickly.

“My friends! Where… Are they?” Twilight shouted. The sense of wrongness only grew stronger. Then, something went wrong.

The white world became black, then once again white. That switch of colors started to accelerate with each time and after reaching probably the highest speed, everything turned black.

After a second or so, the blackness dissolved. Before her, stood a mansion, abandoned and forgotten. The land around though, didn’t stood out. It could’ve been looking absolutely dead, if it wasn’t for an enormous amount of greenery. Green color of plants however was dull and faded.

Behind a mansion, an abrupt cliff could be seen. Twilight didn’t know what was there, but judging from the sound of a waves, the sea was there.

After looking around, a sudden need to look at mansion arose. If being correct, to look at certain window. When Twilight raise her eyes to that window, she saw a familiar pink face. Pinkie Pie stood there, but only briefly and soon Pinkie disappeared from the Twilight’s sight.

Twilight immediately headed into the mansion. Before she entered, someone else stopped her.

“Don’t enter,” the feminine voice said. “It’s too dangerous!”

“Why is it so?” Twilight asked, as she turned around.

Before her, stood a earth-pony mare, a way younger than Twilight. Grey dirty coat, brown hair with twigs and other litter and only eyes were emerald green and were looking flawless compared to the rest of the body. There were also a lot of scars and bruises, and her mundane clothes were ragged and torn.

“A ghost,” she replied.

“Are you sure?” Twilight raised her eyebrow. “This mansion don’t look like it’s inhabited by anyone living but ghosts?”

“I’ve been there just now,” she said. “There are many ghosts, but the main one, with pink coat… She threw me out. That’s why I’m so beat up.”

“Well, I can help,” Twilight offered her help, even though she was anxious about that mare’s words.

“There is my mother. I must help her,” the mare said. “You can go with me, just make it sure, you won’t get hurt.”

After saying this, that mare quickly opened the door and entered the mansion. Twilight followed and right after she got in, the door shut without any effort from both ponies.

After a minute of going through dark corridors, Twilight suddenly asked something. “Hey, what is your name?”

“Weeping Willow,” After a little pause, the young mare said.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said. When Twilight was about to say something else, an amulet on Willow’s neck glowed with blue light. “Huh, what’s wrong with your… Amulet?”

A transparent pony has went through a door. “Oh, mister Lamp Light, how are you?”

The figure was quite old, somewhere at the age forty. Short silver mane was too bright. The body was rounded and plump, but since there wasn’t grease spots on the clothes. Actually, clothes were spick and span if it wasn’t for the blood on white shirt.

“Oh, Willow, it’s you…” The figure said with otherworldly voice. “Missis Pie there have gone completely mad. She has stormed through the whole mansion… Then… And then.”

“Don’t worry, I know what happened,” Willow assured him. “I’ve been there. She actually was following me.”

“Oh, I didn’t know,” he said. Then, the ghost quickly changed the topic after noticing the other mare, “Hmm, and who are you, miss?...”

“Twilight Sparkle,” she replied. “Excuse me, sir… Are you a ghost?”

“If you were first to ask me that question, I’d been offended,” he said. “Yes, I am a ghost, though, if it wasn’t for this young lady, I’d still would think I’m alive. She helped me understand what I am. With her help, I even regained some memory regarding my death.”

“Yeah, that’s all interesting and stuff, but me and Twilight have some important business with missis Pie,” Willow quickly spluttered.

“Good luck to you, then,” Lamp Light said, looking at the backs of mares, moving away.

Two mares went through the hallways and stairs. They met much more ghosts, and each time, the amulet of Willow glowed.

Eventually, they raised to the level of the attic. They tried to look for missis Pie on the level, where Twilight saw Pinkie but it was absolutely empty. On the attic though…

Right after they raised, they heard a laughter. They quickly rushed through an awfully littered attic. Both Willow and Twilight almost fell here and there a couple of times, but they managed to get to their destination.

Behind one of the doors, they found a middle-aged earth-pony mare with similar color scheme as Willow. She was tied up and unconscious. Around her was a drawn circle and judging by it, Twilight quickly realized that it was a ritual of some sort. A figure who stood or rather float over the body though…

Pinkie! Twilight mentally shouted.

“Mommy!” Willow tried to get to the mare but stopped in the middle of her track. A barrier of some sort was on her way.

“It was about time,” the ghost said. Without that eerie and otherworldly effect, her voice was the same voice Pinkie Pie had. The ghost was looking like Pinkie, aside from the clothes, which were old-fashioned. There was also an aura of some sort around her. “You shall witness how my dear sister will return to this world!”

“No, you can’t!” Willow shouted as she tore her amulet’s string and with it in her hand, she tried to get past barrier. She failed, but amulet made the ghostly figure wince a little bit. Also for some reason it was able to pass through the barrier. “I won’t let you.”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. That got the ghost’s attention. “I don’t understand what you up to, but don’t do that.”

“Oh, and I don’t know who are you, or how you come to know that name,” the ghost said, as she turned to Twilight. “But I believe you also scheming something against me. So, get lost.”

She swept her hand. Even though, Pinkie was an earth-pony, that gesture of hers created a magical forcewave. Twilight flew through the room and smashed the wall. The wood creaked, but still managed to withstand the force of the hit.

Twilight tried to arise. Something held her pinned to the ground and despite putting all her efforts, she couldn’t stand up.

All she was able to do was rising her head. When she looked at her friend, she felt sudden magical surge. She didn’t like the feeling of it and her brain started feverishly looking for a solution.

A couple of times, Twilight looked at Willow’s amulet. An idea in her head sprang to life eventually and Twilight looked for the barrier-breaking spell. She find one and cast it. The ray shot next to the amulet.

It lead to an explosion. Willow’s amulet shot its tendrils into the hole and there the magic of an amulet met with magic of the ritual and that lead an explosion with a flash of blinding light.

Twilight lied there, blind and unable to do anything. In her ear, there was some kind of sound, some voice.

When the deafness, blindness went off, Twilight felt that magic that kept her in one place wear off. She raise from the floor and looked around.

The room was empty, except for the ritual’s remains and a lonely pink ghost that stood by the window. Twilight came closer to her and looked outside. There she saw Willow and her mother.

“Pinkie,” Twilight quietly called for the ghost, when two earth-ponies disappeared from the sight.

“Twilight,” Pinkie suddenly turned around. An evil looking ghost now suddenly was that easygoing and chaotic pony that she knew. “It’s been so long… Wait, no. It… Wasn’t?”

“Hey, Pinkie!” Twilight grabbed Pinkie by her forearms and looked into Pinkie’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Memories…” Pinkie mumbled. “The last thing was when we put those garments, right?”

“Of course,” Twilight nodded.

“I…” Pinkie shrugged as her eyes went big and wide. “It’s just… I remember how I was… a countess of these lands. I remember how I lost my sister… Why I can’t remember her face, though?”

“It’s okay, Pinkie…” Twilight soothed, not thinking much what she said. When she realized her words, though, she quickly corrected herself. “Um, it’s not okay, but… Just shrug it off. It’ll probably go away soon.”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie replied. Her face had that sad look and her poofy mane deflated a bit.

“We still need to help other girls,” Twilight said. “They are probably in the same situation like you.”

“I guess so,” Pinkie said, and that got the pink earth-pony out of her state. “By the way, how we will… get to girls?”

Around them, there was nothing. A white light.

It soon dissolved, leaving them in another place. This time they were in a city of some kind. Well, the city was actually outside and two of them were on a railway station.

Quite soon, they heard the sound of combat. They headed to the source of the sound. The station looked abandoned at first look, but after getting a better look on things, they saw it was livened and used previously. Actually, they saw open lockers with fresh things and trashcans filled to half with different litter, which actually made them think that even if it was abandoned, it happened not long time ago.

At the exit, there was a strange device. When they came closer, Twilight noticed a magical laser. Twilight was about to warn Pinkie when she actually hit it. It didn’t cause an explosion or something, but instead a hologram appeared. It showed a unicorn stallion. The hologram couldn’t tell much more, but unicorn looked old, with short white mane and little wrinkles on his face.

“Welcome,” suddenly, the hologram started to speak. “Welcome to Sunset-city. You have chosen or have been chosen to relocate to the safest place in whole Maretonia. We, The Party, are trying to restore peace and order in other parts of the country, but that is not something you must bother now. You must bother now about how you could be of use to us, The Party, unless you are expecting rightful death, rebel. As of now, I, James O’Bright, wish you to have a good day. Please, keep in mind that we are watching. The Party… Is… Watching…”

“Wow,” Pinkie said at the sudden hologram. After the welcome speech was said, Pinkie commented, “Grim.”

“I guess so,” Twilight agreed with Pinkie. “I wonder what is happening here…”

Another shot and a cry of pain returned them to reality. They went to the exit and when they were outside, they saw gigantic building that oppressed them with all their size and proportions.

They didn’t keep attention on that for a long period of time, since quickly they found the place of battle.

They stumbled upon that place by accident. Around the corner, they saw three stallions beating the other into a pulp. Stallion on the ground was, judging by his look, a simple commoner. Other three stallions though had the same uniform. It was clothes with patches of hard material. On their sleeves were ribbons of bright red colors with some kind of an emblem.

One of them, after hearing girls’ steps, turned his head and noticed them. He patted on his comrades’ shoulders and after they raised their heads, he made a gesture towards them. The three of them stopped beating the lying stallion and they moved towards them.

“Stop right there, citizens,” one of them said. “A curfew in the city. You are arrested until the further investigation.”

Both girls just stood there, confused. Suddenly, one of the stallions raised his stun baton and ran towards girls. Girls tried to reacted, but even more suddenly a gunshot was made and another two followed it.

Three stallions fell dead. Then, some ponies have come out of one of the building. A couple of them helped the lying stallion to rise up and get to the building, while others were pointing guns at girls.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“It’s not your cause,” one of them said. “Move along and mind your business somewhere else.”

“You know…” Pinkie was about to retort, but Twilight rather rudely silenced her.

“We understand,” Twilight quickly replied. “Continue with your business now.”

Girls actually went away. “Why?!” Pinkie whispered loudly.

“Let’s just say, we didn’t want to get into troubles,” Twilight said. “Besides, we’re not going to lose them, so don’t worry.”

Twilight lead Pinkie to somewhere. When they returned to the railway station, Pinkie asked, “Um, and why we returned?”

“They are here,” Twilight replied. “And something big is incoming. Look at how ponies are coming here.”

Like she said, ponies were flooding the little square in front of a railway station. Though, you wouldn’t say that those ponies were coming because they were excited about something. By the looks of it, you would say that those ponies were escorted here since there were many armed ponies, who were constantly overlooking the crowd.

After five or ten minutes, a train arrived to the station. Some sort of a carriage has arrived to the station.

Everything was still for a minute. After that, all of a sudden, two ponies ran out of the station and said something to someone in the carriage. Their conversation was short and the carriage started to move away after the end of the conversation.

Things escalated quickly from that point. Twilight felt a magic impulse and before she understood the nature of it, the carriage exploded.

Then, gunshots were made. Twilight looked at the crowd and saw them screaming and panicking. Many fled.

Guards despite the efforts couldn’t do anything much about ponies. Actually, unknown attackers have taken care of most of them.

“Look there,” Pinkie said, pointing at station. Plenty of guards came out of the building. Then, among the crowd of guards, they noticed a hooded figure, accompanied by couple of guards. “Let’s follow.”

Twilight silently followed. No one has noticed them, since they ran through the crowd, but with all the hustle, they couldn’t move quickly through the crowd.

When they actually made it to the station, they thought that the one they were following was gone. Rather quickly, they found out, he wasn’t.

Four brave ponies were engaged in combat with those three. They were armed with homemade arms.

Even though they were outnumbered, those three ponies actually prevailed in the combat. They were using arms of better quality. They wore armor, which was even better than the ones, those guards from the alleyway had. The one in the middle, who hid his identity, used his firearm.

When only one brave stallion was left, a window over them broke. Easily recognizable orange pony jumped out of that window and fell on one of the elite guards. When Twilight looked closer, she noticed a kitchen knife that went deep in the neck of that guard.

Applejack raised up, knife at the ready. She then saw a gun pointing at her.

She never took the shot. The last living from the followers took the shot instead of her.

Everyone were standing in their places for a couple of seconds, until realization him them all. The incognito and his guard ran away, Applejack followed them and Twilight with Pinkie ran after Applejack.

Their run ended quickly. After the two in lead took a turn, they stumbled into piles of rubbish. They might’ve get over it, but incognito was quickly running out of energy. Besides, that pile had a lot pointy stuff on its surface.

A little pause was enough for Applejack and others to catch up with the two. After Applejack heard the steps behind her, she turned around but she glared there only briefly and a stern look was thrown to the incognito.

“Your agents?” She spat out.

“If they were mine, you would’ve been dead by now,” he said dryly and coughed a couple times. After he breathed in a couple of times, he continued, “And I would’ve been back at quarters.”

“Well, this is over, then,” Applejack said. “Nothing will stop me!”

“Before we check that out… Care to answer my question?” He wheezed. Applejack raised her eyebrow, but still nodded. “Good… Well, miss Applejack… There was a question, which I wanted to ask you personally… You are so good at destroying things. Have you ever created anything?”

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked him.

“What I mean…” He smirked. At this point, he managed to calm his breath and removed the signs of dyspnea. “The history never liked destroyers. I can name you many, who created a lot, who invented a lot, who built a lot, but destroyers… Bad news for you, miss Applejack. Since you failed at everything I named, you and your little rebellion have failed too. Goodbye, miss Applejack.”

With those words, he aimed a gun at Applejack. Twilight was at the ready though.

A ball of energy flew at the guard standing next to still incognito pony. An explosion still made it and incognito flew into the pile of rubbish. The gun fell out of his hand.

When the bolts of electricity stopped to strike out of the body of the guard, Applejack ran to incognito. She started smashing him with her fists. When Twilight and Pinkie come closer, the entire disguise was removed from incognito stallion. They saw an old and pretty familiar face. James O’Bright.

“Let me tell you something,” Applejack said, with gritted teeth. “To create, build or invent things, ponies must be happy and confident in future. You haven’t provided us with that. Ponies also must be educated. You haven’t provided us with that either. At last, you, instead of helping us, commanded us to do impossible things and then you whipped us for every “fail”. So, let me spell it for you. We are not destructing what you have built. We are bringing justice.”

After every word, she hit him. When she ended, James was dead.

“Now, you,” Applejack said, addressing to Twilight and Pinkie, but not turning to them. Only now, Twilight noticed the lack of accent in Applejack’s speech. “Who are you?”

“Applejack,” Twilight replied, not really understand what to say to her friend. “It’s us, your friends.”

“Twi?” Applejack turned around. “What?... Wait, where are we?”

“What is the last thing you remember, Applejack?” Pinkie asked.

“Ah…” Applejack was about to reply, when she remembered things. “What the hay?”

“This is fine,” Pinkie assured her friend. “I’m going through the same. Don’t worry, it will pass soon.”

“Ah…” Applejack was at loss of words. She snapped out of it quite soon. “Twi, what do we need to do?”

“We need to help to others,” Twilight replied.

“But how?” Applejack asked.

“You will see,” Twilight said, while looking around.

The city around them started to vanish before their very eyes. Rather quickly, they were met by pure whiteness, which then started to turn into another city. In moments, three stood in a city, which was awfully similar to Canterlot.

When girls looked around, they noticed ponies. All with sly, arrogant looks. In real Canterlot, not every noble can be seen with such face. At least, not all the time.

Everyone in that city, though, had such face. If nobles had a more subtle look, commoners had clear faces that say, “I’ll stab you in the back”.

“Humph,” Applejack hummed, as she looked around. “What should we do, Twi?”

“At first, we need to find our friend,” Twilight replied.

“I found her,” Pinkie called, pointing at a wall.

“Yeah, let me have a look,” Twilight whispered, noticing how with each second they drew more and more attention. When they went to that wall, they saw a poster there with a white unicorn on it. “I guess she looks like her.”

“Ah think the same,” Applejack nodded. “Too bad, I ain’t seeing her cutie-marks.”

“So, you are interested in Elusive’s show?” A voice of the unknown came from behind.

“Who is speaking?” Twilight asked, as she turned around. Before her was a unicorn with navy blue coat, black mane, with some of it dyed into pink and brown eyes.

“Oh, I’m nothing, but a simple servant of arts,” he replied. His words like his glance were sweet like a summer day or a spoonful of honey. “But if you interested in my name, then call me Trickster.”

“So, Trickster,” Twilight was about to formulate the question when Trickster impatiently replied.

“Yeah,” he said.

“We would like,” Twilight didn’t like his habit to interrupt speeches.

“You would like to visit the show?” Trickster interrupted her.

“Argh…” Twilight grumbled. “Yes, we would highly appreciate that. What would you like us…”

“To do?” He raised his eyebrow. “Are you mercenaries, girls?”

“Well, we are,” Twilight said. She briefly glanced on her friends and she saw they weren’t against the idea.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he looked at them reassuringly. “Actually, I have a special offer. You will help in my play and I will let you to get into the backstage. Maybe I even would arrange a meeting with miss Elusive.”

“Well, we really need to meet her, so I guess we will accept your deal,” Twilight said, looking at her friends. They nodded.

“Then, follow me,” he said, making a gesture to follow him. They weren’t going for far too long. The theatre was in five minute of walk. When they entered it via a backdoor, he turned to them and whispered. “Please, wait for some time. I will look if I can arrange a meeting. Also, our performance starts in thirty minutes.”

They haven’t managed to get a meeting with Elusive, but they managed to talk with a couple of other actors and actresses.

At first, they tried to get someone describe how Elusive looked. They wanted to get description of Elusive’s cutie-mark. Eventually, one actor remembered three blue gems, which served her as a cutie-mark. He commented that her talent is probably being as beautiful and refined as the gems are.

While they were looking for information about Elusive, they gathered additional information and they didn’t like it.

For a couple of months, ponies were disappearing. All who had been found, were dead.

Many victims were guests who were invited to backstage. Some ponies started to blame Trickster for that, but there were no proof of it.

Girls quickly thought of Trickster and shrugged. Even though he was kind and sweet, after hearing those words from actors mouths, girls thought how fake his behavior was.

They agreed to be more cautious around Trickster each time he was with them.

In their waiting, they encountered Trickster a lot. He tried to be helpful, telling about the meeting with Elusive, the beginning of their play and doing other small things.

With new knowledge about Trickster though, girls tried to be at distance from him. In their straying, they stumbled upon interesting thing. Twilight, for instance, a script. She didn't like what she read there.

The script suggested some kind of drama with Elusive and Trickster in main roles. At some point, characters of Trickster and Elusive will be not only alone, but he also will shoot her.

This was probably one of the scariest moments there. Twilight noted a another couple of moments, where they or Rarity’s life is at the stake, but that was the most dangerous one.

When Twilight put the script aside, someone shouted that the first act is about to begin. Twilight rushed outside. When she met, Pinkie and Applejack she asked them, “Have you found anything?”

“Ah found props,” Applejack said. “They were getting’ it on stage, though.”

“Did they get a gun?” Twilight asked.

“They did,” Applejack remembered, as she scratched her head. “An ancient one with a single bullet in barrel.”

“And you, Pinkie?” Twilight called Pinkie, who was looking around with suspicious eyes.

“Oh, I found something,” she nodded. “Just follow me.”

When they came to that place, Pinkie found, there were a door and a Trickster.

“Oh, girls,” he smiled. “I’ve been trying to found you. I wanted to tell you about a nice place, where you could’ve seen the whole play.”

“And,” Twilight raised his eyebrow.

“Here,” he pointed at the door. “This leads under the stage. There at the very end, you can find a seat and a lever. That is a prompter’s booth. Sit there, pull the lever and you are closest audience to see the play.”

“Um, thanks,” Twilight replied. “Is that…”

“Here is the key,” he put it in front of them. After girls stood in their places for a second or two, Trickster got suddenly angry. He put them in hand of Twilight and said, “Just get in there. I have other important stuff to attend to.”

Girls didn’t wait for another shout out like this. They quickly get into the little chamber under the stage. Suddenly, the door behind them closed and the distinct sound of lock’s snap.

Twilight quickly rushed in. When steps on the other sides got distant, she put her key into the lock. As she expected, the key didn’t fit.

“What should we do, Twi?” Applejack asked, as she watched how effortlessly the key was moving in the keyhole.

“Let me think,” Actually, Twilight already got a plan in her mind. “We shall be breaking in.”

With this said, she threw useless key to Applejack and casted a spell. The gray ray shot into the key hole and soon there was nothing. No lock now kept the door closed.

“Go there,” Twilight said, as she opened the door. “Get to the stage, but don’t intervene until I tell you to. I shall be there.”

With this said, Pinkie and Applejack were gone, while Twilight moved to the door on the other side. The little chamber had a couple of doors on both sides with another door was on the very end. It was closed pretty much like the door behind Twilight, but with her spell, she quickly get to the other side.

Trickster at least was truthful about prompter booth. Some stairs lead to a little platform with a mechanism that fit into description given by Trickster. A seat on the floor with a lever by the side. A seat was a fine armchair with some kind of a lectern there. Lever had three position, the closest to chair was “Up”, in the middle, there was “Stop” and the third one was “Down”. Over chair a hole in ceiling was situated.

When Twilight got closer, she heard voices. When she sat on the seat, the muffled voices became clear voice of actors in play.

Meanwhile, Twilight was measuring the height of the room. If she stood on the chair, her head would’ve been sticking out of that hole. Chair was suggesting that she needed to be sitting there.

Eventually, she pulled the lever. The mechanism started to move up. Soon, she quickly pulled the lever back, so seat stopped moving. Actors could’ve seen only the tip of Twilight horn.

Twilight waited, trying to remember the words from the script. She was listening and at some moment, when she recognized the words, she pulled the lever. Eventually it stopped by itself, probably due to reaching the mechanism’s maximal capacity. Twilight in that position was only head over the stage. She looked at how she was sitting and noted that the lectern was situated not so awkwardly and she could read the script easily if she had one.

She quickly returned to the play. It would’ve been interesting if it wasn’t for Trickster. Actually, his play was quite good, if not masterfully.

Soon, the time came to the decisive moment. Actors got out of the sight, leaving only Trickster. Soon, Elusive with another actor came and Elusive lied on the coach there. Her elbow into the armrest, her hand against the palm.

“Why you were calling me, my “beloved” fiancé,” she said, emphasizing the word beloved. In the play’s plot, she was a daughter of a very rich noble and he was giving her in marriage to another rich noble. She was in love with another noble, drastically poorer then her fiancé.

Their dialogue was going by the script. Eventually they came to the moment when he with words “Then, let no one marry you” aimed his dueling pistol at her.

Twilight pushed the lever making the chair descend. Meanwhile, she also shoot a simple tackle spell, which probably known by all the unicorn in Equestria. She heard the shot and someone’s scream. Her heart sank at that, but she quickly understood that scream didn’t belong to Rarity.

“Who was that?!” Trickster shouted. Twilight only saw how he fiercely turned to the audience and to prompter’s booth especially.

“What do you mean by “who was that”?” Someone replied to Trickster.

“Oh, Mister Patron,” his voice suddenly become meek. “I meant, who was that misfit, who put the real gun among the props.”

Twilight didn’t hear a thing after that point. She ran, quickly remembering the layout of the rooms. Her memory didn’t let her down and she quickly get to Applejack and Pinkie, who stood behind the stage curtains.

“…I’ve lost lots of money,” Mister Patron said. He briefly glanced back at Twilight and said to Trickster, “And there are someone, who told me that you are one to blame.”

“Who?” He said, in his eyes a feigned astonishment. Twilight and other girls went on a stage and stand next to Patron. Twilight looked around. Guests gasped, but many of them had their doubts about Trickster. “Them? You… You believe them?”

“I have no reason to believe them, I know,” he said. “Their actions even costed me some bits, but actions of that murderer costed incomparably higher. Ponies are dying and most importantly, they are dying in my theatre. It’s unacceptable.”

“That’s logical,” Trickster replied.

“These mares would like to talk to you,” he said, letting girls to get in front of Trickster. He scowled at them, but remained stoic.

“Well, first of all, why you have locked us up in that room under stage?” Twilight yelled.

“I haven’t done that,” Trickster yelled in reply. “Actually, I’ve never even been there.”

“You came from that direction,” one of the actors said. “It’s unlikely, you’ve missed the door, that leads under stage.”

“I’ve been really excited about our play, so I’ve missed their yells,” Trickster parried. “Besides, since you’re here, you broke the door. You’re sabotaging us!”

“They’ve been peacefully asking us before the play,” someone put their words.

“You put the real gun instead of fake one,” Trickster accused girls.

“I’ve seen you yesterday hanging around props,” someone said.

“And I remember that you brought some suitcase yesterday,” the other one said.

Suddenly, Trickster growled and crouched. Twilight quickly put up defense and almost immediately, a thrown knife deflected from the shield, Twilight put up in front of her.

Trickster got angry at such display and rushed towards Twilight. She cast a stunning spell at him and the limp body fell in front of her.

Someone whistled. Soon, some armed ponies get on the stage and put shackles on Trickster. Mister Patron gave a little speech to the audience, where he said that the play is over and there isn’t going to be one for week or two, since they need to restore everything. He also suggested free tickets for their next play to everyone.

Before he left to make tickets for all, he made a little conversation with Twilight.

“…And tickets to you, especially,” he said and tried to pass her, but Twilight replied.

“Um, we would like to have a personal conversation with Elusive,” she said.

“She will give as much time as you needed,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

Twilight nodded and she with Pinkie and Applejack headed to Elusive. She asked them how she could be of service and they asked her to get to some place where they could speak in person. She led them to her dressing room.

“So, and what do you want to speak about?” She asked, as she sat in front of a table with mirror and makeup stuff.

“Hey, Rarity,” Twilight began. Before continuing, she looked at, waiting for the reaction.

“Yes, darling,” her look changed in some way. She then looked around and startled a bit. “What…”

“What is that thing, ya remember, sugar cube?” Suddenly, Applejack asked.

“I remember…” She said, before her eyes widened. “Oh.”

“It will pass,” Twilight assured Rarity. “Don’t worry. Girls already forgot all those fake memories.”

“I see,” she replied, as she watched her friends nodding to Twilight. “So, what we need to do?”

“We need to help the rest of our friends,” Twilight said. She then looked around and as she expected the reality was slowly vanishing, transporting them to whereabouts of another friend of theirs.

The place they found themselves in was a way different from previous places. Comparing to previous locations, that place was a complete wilderness. Woods were around them, hiding even more woods.

“Ah guess, we should go foragin’,” Applejack suggested.

“Are you hungry?” Rarity asked.

“Nope,” Applejack replied, but still looking around for something edible.

“It’s all an illusion,” Twilight said. “It’s unlikely that we will die of hunger.”

“Ah understand, but still,” Applejack nodded. She then moved through the foliage. Girls followed.

Applejack was running in front of them. She was constantly stopping only to start moving once again. Eventually she stopped.

“What is there?” Twilight asked, as she fell out of bushes.

“Ah’m not sure,” Applejack replied. “Those bushes moved, so ah decided to follow. Ah lost it, though.”

Looking around, they found themselves in a clearing. Nothing was weird or outstanding until they noticed a motion somewhere in the bushes. Twilight went there and some animal jumped in front of her.

Panther was ready to make another jump to end Twilight, but something happened. A swift shadow ran past panther and something poked at animal’s leg. This gave Twilight and other a moment to end the predator’s life first.

Twilight then looked at bushes behind panther, but everything was still. Twilight went there and after a little search, she found tracks.

“Someone been here,” Twilight stated. “Let’s follow them.”

“Wait,” Rarity screeched. When everyone turned to her, she said, “can’t you see? Those bushes are so dense. I fear my clothes don’t fit for the task on hand.”

Only now, Twilight noticed that her friends were dressed the same way as they were back when she was retrieving their memories. She in the same time, kept her usual attire.

“Don’t be afraid to ruin them,” Twilight replied. “It’s unlikely, that you will keep these clothes when we will return.

“Still, there is also Rainbow Dash to save and who knows where we will end up,” Rarity said, but went into the debris nevertheless.

When Twilight ran, she understood why Rarity was complaining about clothes. Only her leather pants were durable enough to withstand the twigs and thorn. Her cloak and shirt were constantly stuck by pointy things, that vegetation around grew. Soon enough, neat clothes of every girl were thorn and dirty.

Eventually they found themselves on the edge of the ravine. On the very bottom, a water brook passed. Two rabbits were sitting next to the brook and a pony figure was standing over them. Since said pony didn’t wore any kind of hood or something like that, girls quickly identified her as Fluttershy.

Fluttershy stood there with a spear at the ready. Her spear though was nothing but a sharpened branch.

After seeing how tense Fluttershy was, Twilight started to look in the direction Fluttershy was looking. She saw there several caves in the walls of the ravine. Out of the caves, a couple of manticores were coming out.

Girls startled at that, but Twilight quickly snapped out of it. She was about to jump into the ravine when she saw how actually deep the ravine was. Instead of jumping, she started to climb down the cliff.

She was descending quite quickly, but she thought that when she would be down there, Fluttershy would be already dead. She looked down there and saw how manticores were slowly moving towards Fluttershy.

Twilight stopped. She looked down at her friend, not knowing what to do. Then, it hit her.

She quickly casted the very same spell, she once casted back when she was helping Applejack. In her hand, a ball of energy appeared. Soon, it flew through the air and exploded after hitting the head of manticore.

Fluttershy used the situation for her own advantage. The spell hit the manticore in the back, but the one in front still lost its attention. Fluttershy jumped and prodded the paw with her spear. The manticore roared and swung with its paws.

Fluttershy flew back to two rabbits. The spear was stuck in manticore’s paw firmly.

Fluttershy, after losing her weapon, grabbed both rabbits and ran in the opposite direction. Twilight looked there and found a way up on a cliff.

Twilight raised her look and saw Pinkie and Applejack on the way down. “Girls! Get back on the cliff and move to Fluttershy.”

They quickly got back on the cliff and looked around. After they noticed where Fluttershy was running, they rushed to meet them.

Twilight meanwhile shot another ball of energy into already wounded manticore. Rarity meanwhile was throwing stones at the other manticore, which was getting out of the shock.

Eventually Twilight get back on the cliff and she with Rarity ran towards the forest. When Twilight threw a quick glance to Fluttershy, she was already up on a cliff and ran towards the forest with Applejack and Pinkie. Manticores down in the ravine were only getting out of the shock. By the time they themselves would get up on the cliff, girls would disappear in the woods.

Soon after Twilight entered the city, they stumbled upon Fluttershy and other girls.

“Oh, that was close,” Fluttershy sighed in relief. “Who are you? I’ve never seen anypony in a really long time.”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight called.

“Yes, Twilight,” Fluttershy looked at her. She blinked a couple of times and then she gasped. “What? Where are we?”

“What is the last thing, ya remember, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.

“I… What?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “What are… These?”

“Don’t worry. You will forget that,” Twilight said and looked around. “Hmm, something’s wrong.”

Something definitely was wrong. Reality didn’t change even a little.

“Hmm,” Fluttershy also looked around waiting for something to happen. Then, she turned to Twilight and called for her. “Twilight. I’m not sure what needs to happen, but I guess there is still something for me to do. I promised to the parents of these two rabbits, that I will get them home safe and sound.”

“Well, let’s do this,” Twilight sighed in agreement. “It’s not like we have a better solution.”

“Wait, Fluttershy,” before they started moving, Applejack called Fluttershy. “Ya said, ya promised somethin’ to two rabbits?”

“Hmm, this might sound weird,” Fluttershy began. “But, I guess, I understand animals now.”

“What?” Applejack raised her eyebrow at that strange sentiment.

“Let’s just get these little cute puffballs back to their parents,” Twilight suggested.

“Quick Paw don’t agree with you,” Fluttershy said, as she grabbed both rabbits and one of them squeaked into Fluttershy’s ear.

“Whatever,” Twilight replied. Meanwhile, she thought if Fluttershy’s going crazy or maybe Elements of Harmony gave her some specific abilities.

Soon after, they went deeper into the forest. Eventually, they found the little clearing. There were a couple of rabbit holes and two rabbits in Fluttershy’s hands started squeaking and squirming. Fluttershy put them in front of one and more mature rabbit come out. They had a conversation, but for girls, that conversation was one-sided, since they couldn’t understand what rabbit was saying.

They moved aside and reality started to fade. Fluttershy gasped, but quickly came to senses. Soon, they came to Rainbow’s place.

They found themselves in a dark place. They waited for some time to become acquainted with darkness.

At first, they saw wood around them, over them and under them. The room around them was a ship’s cabin at the bow of the ship. The wall in front of the door was inclined in a strange way. That wall was much closer to the opposite wall in the bottom rather than at the top.

The interior of the room wasn’t something extraordinary. A hammock, a couple of drawers and that was it. There weren’t any windows or portholes in the room.

Then, there was a sound of descending the stairs. Girls sat in the room in a complete silence, waiting for the newcomers.

Gibberish sound came from behind the door and suddenly it was opened wide. Two swashbucklers threw somepony into the room, while guffawing abhorrently. They shut the door and went upstairs.

Female pony tried to raise, but she failed since she was tied up. She didn’t fail to swear and curse.

“You, fucking betrayers,” she cursed. “When I will cut these ropes, you shall drown in your blood. Bastards! Scurvy dogs! Sons of the bitches! I will make you walk the plank! All of you! I will maroon you somewhere in the desert!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted. She tried to call for Rainbow Dash a couple of times before, but Rainbow Dash was too busy at reviling the cutthroats, that threw her there. After Twilight increased the volume of her voice, Rainbow Dash finally looked at the pony figures engulfed in the darkness of the cabin.

“I shall…” Rainbow Dash choked on another curse and turned around. “What, where?… Who are you?”

“It’s us, Rainbow Dash” Twilight replied.

“Eh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said, as memories came back to rainbow-maned pegasus.

“What can you remember?” Twilight asked.

“What do you?…” She mumbled, rubbed her mane and all of a sudden her eyes widened. “What the hay! These…”

“Don’t worry, darling,” Rarity said. “It doesn’t matter. Soon, we will be home…”

“I’m not sure, but I guess, there is still something we should do,” Twilight said as she looked around her. “The change of reality is a quick process. Here, even after half a minute, nothing changed… Rainbow Dash!”

“Yes,” Rainbow jumped from a sudden call.

“Tell me, Rainbow,” she began. “Where are we exactly?”

“We are on the board of Grim Stripe, the fastest air corsair that ever flew in the skies of Equestria. Captain Swift Wind once owned it. She was my… That Rainbow Dash’s friend. After the rebel of the crew, she was slain and I was thrown here. They said, I’m gonna be a good slave to some moneybag. Ugh.”

“Don’t worry,” Applejack assured Rainbow. “Just show us the armory and we will clean the ship from snakes.”

“Wait!” Rainbow shouted. “They are going to feast soon. Let’s wait and strike when they won’t be waiting for it.”

Girls agreed and waited. Pirates actually feasted and girls were hearing that, despite the muffling.

One time, two pirates from before came into the room. They throw a dish with some leftovers and threw a couple of comments about Rainbow. Rainbow threw a couple of comments in reply and took the dish. Girls meanwhile hid behind the door, which was opening inside the room.

Soon, the sounds of reveling pirates came to halt. Twilight shot the door’s lock and they were free.

Immediately, they split into pairs and went to deal with pirates. Luckily, pirates kept their weapons with them, so their liquidation was quick.

When other girls were slowly killing drunk pirates, Rainbow and Twilight were looking for specific pirate. They found him in Swift Wind quarter.

Blade Horn was unicorn who stood behind the rebel. He had silver coat and brown mane. He was laying in luxurious bed. He held a bottle of booze in one hand and a masterwork saber, with golden handle and inlaid gems.

Rainbow didn’t spend a lot of time and hit the head of Blade Horn with the bottle of booze. Then, she took the limp body by hands, while Twilight took the body by legs. They brought him on the board.

Soon, the unicorn was brought back to life with some booze spilt on his face. The first thing he saw was the infuriated face of Rainbow.

“Swift Wind wants you at her place,” she said to him.

“Wait, wait!” he started panicking, but the chair that he was tied up to, was already flying to the ground below.

“We might’ve thrown him into a propeller,” Twilight said, as she looked how unicorn figure was shrinking. “At least, we wouldn’t spend the magic inhibitor.”

“Let’s not wear out the mechanisms,” Rainbow replied. The air ship had two giant propellers that allowed it to stay in air and additional one that moved it.

“Look,” Twilight asked Rainbow to stay. “The ground below is already disappearing.”

Rainbow only smirked at that. They looked at that for some time and they go to girls. After they combined, reality around them started dissolving until they were left in a complete blackness. Soon, they disappeared from there in a white flash.

Back in Twilight’s room, five ponies grunted, awakening and rising from their places.

“Girls,” suddenly, Spike’s voice came from behind the door. “Are you fine there? Do you need help?”

“Spikey-darling!” Rarity was the first to come to her senses. “Please, bring some water.”

“Right away,” he yelled. Soon he came in with a tray. “Here you go!”

“Thanks,” Rarity thanked Spike, but she found it impossible to drink. The fabric was covering her head completely, so she took it off. “That’s better.”

“Look,” Rainbow yelled. “I don’t twitch like I’m zapped… And, Rarity, your face don’t look like it was put into an oven.”

“Oh, is it?” Rarity said, not believing Rainbow out of surprise. When her fingers assured her that the coat on her face restored, she laughed delightfully. “Yes, it is!”

They were having fun until they noticed someone missing. They looked at the bed and saw that Twilight was still lying there senseless.

Girls tried to do anything about it, but it was for vain. Suddenly, Twilight stood up and opened her eyes. Her eyes though were concealed with a white light.

Then, a flash of light shot from her eyes, blinding everyone. When the light died out, girls found that the tiara, the Element of Magic, which was on Twilight’s head, was connected with other Elements by rays of light.

Magic started swirling around them. The sudden influx of magic was so powerful that even earth ponies and pegasi felt the changes.

That magic started to gather around Twilight. Her coat started to glow and in the end, everything exploded.

When the magic suddenly started to gather in the room, Spike started panicking. When everything exploded, he yelled and rushed into the room. Girls were thrown into the walls.

Luckily, every girl was fine and with grunts, they raised. They gasped when they saw that the place, where Twilight was, there was nothing except the Element of Magic.

“Where am I?” She looked around. She was nowhere, in the black nothing. She tried to remember where she was back when she tried to help her friends, but she failed. She was losing memory of her time back she was helping her friends to retrieve their memories.

At first, she was swimming through the void, but at one moment, she found some kind of a road. It was a platform of slightly brighter matter, which was going somewhere forward.

After she stepped on the platform, something started to happen. To her right and left many screens appeared. They started to show her life from the very birth to her recent adventures with her friends.

“What is this place?” Twilight asked no one in particular, but she still received a reply.

“I don’t know. I never was here,” a very familiar voice came from behind. “Hello, Twilight. Long time, no see, eh?”

“Not really,” Twilight replied to Discord’s question. “What is… Wait, you never was here?”

“Tsk, tsk… I’m not sure where you was, but I guess it wasn’t good for your ears,” Discord said. Then, he got a weird black box with a stick pointing out of it, and he said, “Agent Purple Butt, I repeat I never was here. I repeat I never was here.”

“I understood,” Twilight sighed. Discord had been a little bit chaotic before, but now he was just childish.

“Good,” he replied, as the weird boxy thing disappeared. “By the way, it’s not good that you understand a mundane thing, which was repeated a three times. It’s good to keep at least a little portion of my remaining strength.”

“What?!” Twilight yelled at the sudden revelation. “You don’t have powers in here?”

“Yes, I don’t,” he replied. “Or, no, I do… Eh, well, whatever.”

“Hmm, strange,” she said to herself. She quickly checked and found out that her magic was working fine and there weren’t any limitations. “Do you know what’s wrong with your magic?”

“Nothing I can think of,” he said. “Except, there is that white ball, which sucks all of my magic.”

“Sucks? Where…” She was about to ask him, but she saw how Discord was pointing somewhere.

In that direction, at the very end of the platform, she saw it. A white ball of light, flying on the same level as her head.

“What is this?” she asked herself, as she slowly approached.

“The only thing I know is that I don’t like it at all,” Discord grumbled. Then, he looked at Twilight and saw how she was dangerously close to the ball. “Twilight, wait.”

However, she already touched it. The light consumed all. Discord tried to shield away from it, but it consumed him completely.

Twilight, who was in the middle of this, was feverishly looking around trying to find a way to escape. Quite soon, she stopped that, because the light was soothing. She started relaxing from that. Then, the light before her became even brighter. In the last moment, some figure appeared in front of her. The only things that Twilight remembered were a warm smile and crimson mane.

Twilight gained consciousness quickly as if she awoke from a quick dreamless slumber.

She looked around. It was her house in the hollow-out tree, which also served as Golden Oak Library to the city of Ponyville. Something was weird about the scenery though. It was… Clean?

She remembered how it was a bit dusty in here. She was either reading or hanging out with girls, so she kind of didn’t had time to clean in here. Only Spike comes into that room once a week, while doing an annual wash-up. She also kept a lot of worthless garbage here as well as books and stuff she had no time to deal with.

Her room though was clean and neat.

Then, a strange sensation came. Something was on her back. When she observed the feeling, she understood that that something was pulling her backwards and therefore it was connected to her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw… Feathers?

Feathers. Purple feathers. Purple feathers on a purple wing. The same thing was on the other shoulder.

She has wings.

She is alicorn now.

Twilight was in the middle of thinking whether it’s going to be troublesome or beneficial to her when someone opened the door.

“Who… Twilight?” Rainbow Dash meekly said, not believing her eyes. Then, she exclaimed, “Girls! Twilight is her and… She is an alicorn?”

“Right. I am…” She replied, though not with the same happy mood, which Rainbow had.

“Why the sour look? That’s great,” she tried to assure her friend. “Flying is so great. You will love every second spent in the air.”

“I guess, I will,” she mumbled. “The only thing is… How I will learn to fly? I never seen a book about that.”

“And you never will,” Rainbow replied. Sounds started to come from the door behind Rainbow. “Young pegasi were thought personally by their parents… But, I guess, I can teach you.”

“Wow, that’s would’ve been great,” she said. “By the way, how you are dealing with them every day?”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow raised her eyebrow.

“It’s just…” Twilight tried to look for a way to impress her dissatisfaction. “Those things on your back. They are big and take a lot of space.”

“What?” Rainbow didn’t understand her at first, but after she saw how Twilight’s wings were fidgeting and flapping against each other, she smirked. “Well, just fondle ‘em.”

“Fondle?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, like this,” she turned around. One of Rainbow’s wing was turned to the other wing and it was also pressed by it. The other wing was also turned to other one and it was covering it.

“I shall try,” Twilight said. It took her a couple of minutes to find out how to control the appendages. Other girls and Spike were already in the room, silently marveling the sight of their friend. “I… I guess, I have a problem here?”

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow said, as examined her friend’s back. She quickly understood the problem. “Oh, I… I don’t know Twilight. I never met anypony with these.”

Twilight’s wings were enormous. If Rainbow’s wings while folded by her back, only barely touched each other bases. Twilight’s ones due to their size just simply didn’t fit in the cavity between her wings.

“Umm,” Rainbow brushed her hair. “We will think something later.”

When Twilight looked around, she saw her friends. All of them were looking at her with awe, as Twilight expected, but she noticed something else. There, in their eyes, she saw relief and disbelief as well.

“Hello, girls,” Twilight smiled, even though she didn’t like the faces, her friends had. “By the way, why do you have faces like these?”

“Like what, darling?” Rarity asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s like you are seeing a ghost.” Twilight replied.

“Well, that’s pretty… Accurate,” Applejack said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well, you see…” Applejack began.

“You see, there was this light, that started swirling around,” Pinkie continued. “Then, there was this strange sensation, like static electricity, and then, boom! We were blinded by the lights, and we couldn’t sleep until you appeared in our sights.”

“I see,” Twilight nodded. “Well, back, after we retrieved Rainbow’s memories, I found myself in the dark place. I was moving through it and found a platform. When I stepped on it, there was a white sphere and when I touched it, I appeared here, in that appearance.”

“And what do you plan to do?” Rarity asked.

“I’m not sure, but I guess, I need help,” Twilight suggested. “I plan to ask Cadence and maybe Celestia?”

“Celestia?” Everyone repeated.

“Are you sure about that decision?” Rarity added.

“Well, yeah,” Twilight nodded. “Firstly, because it will piss her off completely. Secondly, I’m not sure how I can hide this from her or anyone who will tell her. Thirdly, it’s not likely that she will kill… Besides, we still need to retrieve the Elements.”

“Sounds fair,” Applejack said. “But when?”

“In time…” Twilight replied. “Now, I want a relief. Let’s celebrate!”

“Let’s celebrate!” Other girls shouted.

Blaze looked at the building in front of him. It was familiar… No, it was the same as he remembered. The Rabbit Hole.

He stood there for like a minute, before entering. Inside the place however, he saw a scene quite different from what he used to see. First of all, waitresses.

After he took a seat, a pony waitress came by. There was also a rabbit waitress. Both of them were dressed quite freely and her dress was revealing as much as hiding.

“What do you want, sir?” The pony waitress asked. She put a menu in front of him.

“Bring some beer,” he said. He didn’t open the menu and this confused the waitress. “Ask Basil which one. Also tell him that Blaze came.”

“Fine, sir… Blaze?” She said. After Blaze nodded, she took the menu, turned around and went upstairs. Soon, familiar rabbit came down with that waitress. He showed the waitress the beer mark, Blaze liked and headed to him. Basil had a newspaper with him.

“So, you are now qualify as brothel, yeah?” Blaze asked, as he looked around once again.

“You guessed right,” Basil nodded. “Now, the name is quite symbolic.”

“Uhm, by any chance, haven’t the client under the name of Grim Dawn come to this place?” Blaze asked.

“Sorry. Confidential information,” Basil said. “Our clients come incognito and stay incognito.”

“Well,” he mused. He noted the newspaper and made decision to ask about it later. “Then, is there any other exotic brothel here in Undercity?”

“Not those, I heard off,” Basil rubbed his chin. “A plenty is in Canterlot up there, I’m sure of it, but here there is definitely no other aside from us.”

“And…” Blaze looked around trying to find what he would like to know more about. He quickly noticed the target, as she had a magnetizing look. “Girls… How they got here?”

“Jeremy got them here,” Basil replied. “That’s a long story, but soon after you and Lance parted ways, Jeremy returned with her and another rabbit. He told us that there was an unsuccessful pirate raid on their ship. It ended with pirates’ complete defeat and liberation of many galley slaves. Those two got along well with Jeremy, but he couldn’t think up a way pay up to him. They had nothing on them and they didn’t know anything that will be useful to him, so he decided to… “Invest” into our facility. I had been thinking a lot about making a good brothel out of our little place.”

“Are they fine with…” Blaze asked, but Basil understood the question by its half.

“Don’t worry,” Basil said. “They say nothing really changed to them. They’ve been living like this before the slavery.”

“Oh,” Blaze looked differently at the rabbits-waitresses.

“They say, what really changed is their popularity,” Basil added. “We are offering a more fair and cheap prices. For exotic girls up there, you must pay really a lot, so many of our customers are those, who aren’t squeamish to go down here.”

“I see… Is it Royal News?” Blaze suddenly asked, looking at the newspaper that Basil was reading.

“No, it’s Canterlot Daily,” Basil replied. “You will hardly find any Royal News in Undercity.”

“I see,” Blaze said. “What article?”

“About that crusade of yours,” Basil replied. “The author predicts a heavy rebellion in Abyssinia and Saddle Arabia. He suspect that they might even overthrow government. What do you think about it?”

“Another crusade and this rebellion there will come to an end. New king will be even more loyal to Celestia,” Blaze replied. Then, after a little thought, he asked, “Have you heard about Twilight Sparkle?”

“She is on the first page, if you haven’t noticed,” Basil replied, while putting his newspaper so Blaze would have a better look.

“What do you think about it?” Blaze asked.

“I?” Basil pointed at him. After Blaze nodded, he rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, I can only hope that this Twilight don’t have anything against the Wood Kingdom or its residents… And, if she do, then I hope, she isn’t too much into politics.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Twilight is a good pony. Besides, Celestia isn’t really the one who will share the power willingly,” Blaze said.

“She gave power to her sister, Luna,” Basil pointed out.

“Not to Twilight. That I can be sure of,” Blaze replied. He then looked at the mug, from which he took a sip every now and then. It was empty and Blaze got some bits on the table. “Well. It was a nice talk. Have a nice day.”

“You too, friend,” Basil replied to Blaze, as he was heading to the exit. “You too.”

Author's Note

So, this is the end of the book... But not the end of our story.
The second book is on the way.

Outtake 1. How the magic works.

Author's Note

As I already mentioned, this chapter isn't obligatory. You can skip this.
If you still read this and for some reason you didn't like it or you didn't understand the information in here, you are able to apply your own vision on the topic on hand... On hoof? Eh, whatever!

Outtake 1. How the magic works.

Preamble.

Magic. It is probably the most mysterious, arcane phenomenon in the nature. Even after millennia, there are still many more things to discover. As an example, we still do not know how it happen to appear or how exactly it cooperates with other natural phenomenon like energy or momentum.
So, what do we know of it at the moment?
We know that magic is actually kind of energy, pretty much like kinetical or potential energy. It exists everywhere and intertwine with almost everything that is happening in the world, beginning from the simple thinking and ending with the luminescence of the stars.
It could be find everywhere. Even earth ponies and pegasi possess a certain amount of magic, which allows them to fly and create weather or grow crops with maximal results. Actually, unlike unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies do not require concentration or specific trainings in order to use magic as they are planning.
…

Chapter 2. Living beings and their magic.

Every sentient living being has magic of its own, be it a pony, a griffon or a dragon. I, Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest mage of whole ponykind, understood that after years of studying, researching and experimenting.
We, ponies, can do a lot of things with our magic. Earth ponies can grow any crops unbelievably fast and harvest an immense amount of said crops, due to their magic gained strength and stamina. Pegasi on the other hand use their magic so they can fly, since their wings, in normal circumstances, will not allow them to fly. They also use it in order to control the weather throughout the whole Equestria. The usage of unicorn’s magic can be seen every day, as it is our main and most wonderful art. Further, in the book, there will be a short introduction into that peculiar and arcane art of spellcrafting.
Now, though, I need to tell more about magic of every creature, since there are still many things to tell to all of you.
First of all, there are also many flying creatures like gryphons or dragons. Pretty much like pegasi, their magic allows them to fly. Gryphons, unlike pegasi, though, cannot use their magic to control the weather. They can be taught how to walk on the clouds, but that is their limit. Dragons, meanwhile, cannot be taught any weather controlling technique, but they are able to breathe fire, which is magical in its nature and can be enchanted into something else. However, only experienced unicorn enchanter can do this and it is an extremely rare occasion.
There are many more creatures, which possess specific magic. For example, there are zebras that live in the Zebrica. Their magic is very strange and for many it is connected to the vile necromancy. That, to our great disdain, is seemed to be truthful. Zebras obtain features and demeanor of the dead if they wear things that were with them. This includes the bones and coats. Zebras are also able to make some rituals that may connect them with the dead. Not to mention, that odd thing imitation of our cutie-marks. They barely represent their owners, since they do not show their talents. Besides, little zebras are born with them and they do not require achieving them via daily labor.
Our fellow brothers and sisters from Maretonia and Prance do not differ from us. To be fair, their magic is exactly the same that we use. Saddle arabians on the other hand… They might share looks with us, but not the magic. The magic of Saddle arabians is based on their voice and their speech. Their words are alluring while their battlecries strike hearts of their enemies with fear, making them tremble and shiver.
Now, there are much more creatures that are more magical than they seem. Snake people, creatures that live to the west of Zebrica on the continent of Austailia, despite their words that they were granted with power from their god, The Great Snake, have magic, which is actually similar to the magic of our unicorns. There is also a continent of Northnia. It is also to the west but now from our own continent of Equestria. Many inhabitants lives in these land and they belonged to many races that can be found there. What is peculiar about this is that all of the races has a similarity with some kind of an animal. For example, there are rabbits, mice, and different avian creatures. Each of them has their specific magic that is connected to the animals-predecessors. Rabbits are fast, mice are hard to notice and parrots are able to copy any voice and produce a lot of sounds.
There are many more creatures out there with magical powers like abyssinians or diamond dogs, but we need to move to the next topic.

Chapter 3. Magic of our cutie-marks.

Now, I would like to tell about something that is mundane, but yet something that very important and nevertheless magical. Our cutie-marks.
Sooner or later, every pony will eventually earn one. These little paintings on the backs of our palms shows to everyone your talent, be it magic or growing crops.
The nature of cutie-mark is indeed magical. It appears with a specific glow that emerge from the place of its appearance.
What is also worth to mention is that talents that are shown on cutie-marks are somewhat amplified. If someone do a thing, shown on his or her cutie-mark, they will do it better than anyone else will. They might create an art without any kind of preparations and experience.
…

Chapter 4. Magic of our emotions.

As I mentioned before, magic is everywhere and even the thoughts are magical. What is also magical is our very emotions.
Unicorn that read this are probably remembering how it is easier to cast certain spells, when they are either angry or happy.
Well, emotions are a part of every conscious being. Certain emotion cause magical mishaps. Anger for instance can cause unicorn to use what he or she considers an attacking spell at the source of their anger. What is spectacular about this is that unicorns are using the spell subconsciously, without a portion of concentration. A similar phenomenon happens with little unicorn that may cast spells without even knowing the spell. I must say, though, that we will return to that topic later in this book.
Now, I would like to return to the topic of magic. There are certain spells that make any creature feel certain emotions, love for example. It is worth mentioning that such magic as well as potions is forbidden for certain scenarios, mentioned in several legends.
…

Chapter 7. Spellcrafting.

Now, the part, which all of the unicorns reading this were waiting for. The basics of spellcrafting.
Every unicorn in Equestria and beyond probably knows them, but for others, we will begin from the very beginning.
Now, a spell is a magical energy that is gathered in the horn and is released in a specific way. The way spell is released is determined by special magical pattern, which is called a matrix.
A matrix is a complex shape that is formed from dots and lines. When a unicorn want to cast a spell, he or she remembers the correct matrix and starts filling the matrix with magic. Filling matrix with magic is not a difficult task, since one simply should circulate the magic in the direction of the horn. While casting a spell, unicorn also must keep in mind all the object that will be affected by the spell and how said objects must be affected.
Now, what is spellcrafting? Spellcrafting is a special form of science, which is aimed to make matrixes. There are still many spells to discover still, as spellcrafting is not an easy feat.
There are two ways of making matrixes. The complex one is to draw the matrix by oneself and fill it with magic. This method often fails, as the matrix requires correct details, even so little as the angle between lines and dots. It is important to know the right positions of lines and dots, in order to make a matrix. There is a trick though. Since all spells use the same patterns, you can come up with a spell that use pattern from other spells. For example, if you want a ray that lights candles, then you must cut the pattern that makes a ray and stick it to the spell that lights the candles. However, keep in mind that you need to stick them correctly, since the wrong angle, wrong position of the dots or the excess dots will ruin the spell.
There is another way and it is easier, but there is a certain issue with it. This way is called natural. In order to make a spell this way, unicorn must think of what he or she needs. The more you think of required action, the more likely you will receive a spell that will help.
Yes, this is how natural spellcrafting works. Just think of what you need. The right spell, or to be precise, the right matrix, will appear in the mind. To increase chances, one should get the maximum concentration. Meditation will help. In addition, the natural may take time, since a unicorn can be shown only a portion of a matrix.
Now, an issue. It is connected to the aforementioned problem with little foals that are able to cast spells. Newborn unicorn as well as newborn pegasi are able to use their magic, so newborn pegasi can fly and newborn unicorn can cast spell.
Since natural spellcrafting might seem to be easy, you might think that this is not much of an issue. Little foals just think of something and magic just work on itself. It is not how it is.
Firstly, the natural spellcrafting requires concentration, which in case of little foals lacks. Secondly, as it was mentioned, natural spellcrafting rarely gives the full matrix right away and unicorn must gather the matrix from the given parts. Thirdly and most importantly, unicorn foals as well as little pegasi do not keep these abilities for long and after a year or more, they lose them without a trace. They must be retrained to fly or to cast magic after they grew a little.
…

From “Nature of Magic” written by Starswirl the Bearded.
Redacted by Mages Directorate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

Chapter 9. Before the storm.

"What the most recent news, sister?" Celestia said, as the nonexistent breeze blew in her face, getting her ephemeral flying in the air.

"Well... Doest thou happen to know about the new case of murdering?" Luna asked.

"Hmm... No, I haven't," Celestia replied.

"Oh, then listen. Investigators had find another corpse. When they found it... They said that it hast been on the third day of rotting away," she told Celestia.

"Who was killed?" Celestia asked.

"Baron Fractured Heart," she answered

"Something about the case?" Celestia asked, as her face goes sour on the memory of the baron.

"Another 'bounty' was found on the corpse. Like the 'bounty' we had find, that one wast written really bad as if by foal but had some very fascinating art on it," Luna said.

"So... We are dealing with not just an angry subject but a serial murderer," Celestia suggested. "At least, actions of that subject of my own is understandable..."

"When dost we miss the moral degradation of the high society?" Luna asked.

"I don't know... I don't know, sister," Celestia said. After sometime Luna opened her mouth and spoke.

"Actually, sister. There is also something we have for you," she said, making Celestia to draw all the attention to her. "There are gossips that this Bright Mind who was in the Ponyville... Well, they said that she is making business with 'Three Circles'."

"Oh, really?.." Celestia queried. Then, she goes to the door and called out for the guards. "Find the guard named Bright Mind and get her here. Now!" She ordered, while the guards vanished like they never was there leaving only a clouds of dust. "Wait. Is she truly with them?"

"We dost not know. We art not aware of the matter. Though, we believe that the gossip cannot be born out of nowhere. Dost not thou forget that the Bright Mind was the one thou had send to Ponyville?" Luna said.

"Ponyville?.. Oh, I believe the gossips have the ground beneath them," Celestia said.

After some minutes of talking a very scared mare entered their apartments. "W-what... W-what c-can I-I d-do for you?" she stuttered.

"You can do a lot of things, but..." Celestia started to speak but stopped.

"But now we need thou to do one thing," Luna continued.

"We had heard that you've been with the gang called 'Three Circles'," Celestia told Bright Mind about gossips she already knows of.

"This is the crime against the law of the state," Luna told her the known fact.

"But you can indemnify yourself for that," she offered. "Are you interested?"

"Yes! Y-yes, p-princesses. I'll do whatever you wish me to do," she even got on her knees when saying so.

She is so easy to work with, Celestia thought. "Then, if you truly with those scoundrels, it will be nothing for you to infiltrate their ranks. While doing so, you mustn't sabotage their inner business, since there is high chances of failure. No, your task is telling us the useful information. Schedules of patrols, current locations of everyone who can be suggested as important in their ranks, and their day-to-day lives, et cetera."

"Oh, but... How am I going to be in touch w-with you, Princess... And, how I would know when t-to stop," she said.

"Oh, we will tell you, when your service would be out of our concern. About connection between you and us... Well," she goes to the little of drawer and get pendant out of it. "A useful trinket over here. Here you are. Just press down on the both ends of the crystal and your voice will be heard from another that is connected to it... Wait, let me."

Bright Mind tossed the pendant back to Celestia. After a sometime of magical stuff, she throw it back to Bright Mind. "Now, you go and prepare yourself for the task. If you wouldn't come after an hour, then you should proceed to us in the next morning."

Bright Mind nodded and run away.

"You will get your cutie-marks, Apllebloom," cream colored earth pony filly said.

"Yeah. Applejack already told me that, Twist." Yellow colored filly grunted as she looked at her hands. Both fillies looked the same but Twist had whiter coat, rectangle glasses and curlier mane. Both had blank palms.

The summer's holidays ended a week ago. Now every filly is in school and adults have time for their own... 'business'.

"Hey, Bloom. Have you heard that two new fillies will come to our school?" Twist asked.

"Will they abuse me like other cause mah hands are barren empty?" Applebloom asked a question as reply.

"No, I think. They say that those new fillies have blank hands..." Twist said.

"Wow, that would be really nice to get along with them, now wouldn't it, Twist?" she asked.

"I dunno," she answered.

They get closer to the Sweet Apple Acres. "Well, thank you, Twist, for accompanying me," Applebloom said.

"It's nothing, Apllebloom. I still live near here," Twist said as she turned around and goes into town. Applebloom in the same time goes to the farm.

There was some free place in front of the house and the barns. Right now, there was Applejack and not-so-new-to-town Twilight Sparkle. They were fixing some really tough looking suit of armor.

"I already have seen the boiling spell, so check. Now, how the steam powered engine?" Twilight asked.

"Fixed and well goin' and even filled with water," AJ assured her.

"Huh, that's check. So, runes of movement... That's magical stuff, so check, check and check. Now, that's not checked so how is the helmet connecting mechanism?" she mumbled before asking a question.

"You think Ah'll be wearin' it?" Applejack asked, crossed her hands and looked at Twilight with an expression that says 'are you serious?'

"Yeah, Twilight. Applejack already have her stetson that she received from dad," Applebloom said as she stood in the same position with crossed hands.

Twilight only smirked at that and said, "Well, stetson is all good and well, but... It wouldn't keep your head safe and sound. Even, if you would manage to survive after all that stuff Celestia will throw us in, there is little chances of your hat's survival. I believe you wouldn't like it to be destroyed, now would you, Applejack?"

"Y'all proofs are... believable, Twi," Applejack replied, as she processed what Twilight said.

"Yeah, Twilig... Wait, what? Why do you agreeing with her?" Applebloom shouted.

"Well, AB, ya don't know which adventures we've already been through. And if she says that we will be through more, then Ah'd better listen to her," Applejack replied.

"Oh... Then, what that thing is?" Applebloom asked.

"This? Oh, this here is present from the lads at royal guards," Applejack said.

"Ya have friends at royal service?" she asked.

"Well... The 'friends' would be the wrong... Ah," she hesitated.

"Term?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, term," she admitted. "The guards actually give me that thing fer something... Ah dunno for what actually."

"Wow... Oh, may Ah see how it works?" She exclaimed and made those puppy eyes every filly and some adults knows how to do. No one can stand against those eyes.

"Oh, of course you can, Applebloom," Twilight said.

"Wouldn't these little fillies at mah house kinda get sad for missing that?" Applejack said.

"Miss what?" The voice from somewhere out of sight of everyone called out.

When everyone turned to where the voice come out, they say two fillies. A white unicorn with two-colored mane, dull pink and mulberry, and also orange pegasus with cerise mane.

"Miss something that fillies like wouldn't saw much these days," Applejack said as she hopped into the costume. The hissing sound were made as the runes were making the part of the costume to move. When everything was ready the first step was made.

"So we've done everything right?" Twilight said, as she observed the costume and its work, looking for any flaws.

"Ah believe so," Applejack said as her suit was fizzling and hissing. The steam and magic was making Applejack able to move in the steel costume that weighs way lot of kilos. It weighs a way more than Applejack could bear but the right work that was done to the costume made it possible to make movements in it. Of course, it wasn't professional somersaults that's wonderbolts does on their performances but still.

"Wow, that's so cool!" The little pegasus exclaimed.

"Yeah, it... it looks amazing!" The unicorn said.

"This thing looks like harvesters in our orchards," Applebloom said.

"Harvesters?" Unicorn asked.

"Oh, it's a spider-like machines that's used on the farms so the everyday work would be easy. Such mechanisms are used worldwide because they could be used in many ways. Their semi-sapience allows them to start their work as soon as they were created. Completely sapient mechs... are illegal," Twilight told everyone.

"Sapient? This thing that Ah'm wearing is sapient?" Applejack asked, while looking worriedly at the costume on her.

"If this costume would be sapient then it would be completely illegal," Twilight answered.

"Illegal? Why?" Applejack asked.

"Why? Hah. It's illegal for the same reason the necromancy is outlawed," she chuckled.

"Necromancy? What is necromancy?" Unicorn asked.

"It's something you, young lady, better not know about," Twilight replied. Her expression frowned a bit. This moment, Applebloom eyed them and found out that they had blank palms.

"Wow, girls. Yer hands are empty as mine," Applebloom exclaimed, drawing their attention to her. "Mah name is Applebloom by the way and what's yours?"

"My name is Scootaloo and her is Sweetie Belle," the orange pegasus said.

"Wow... Wait, Ah haven't seen y'all before. Where are ya from?" Applebloom asked.

"Oh, we both had come from Manehattan. She come with her parents and I with my aunts," Scootaloo answered.

"Aunts? Why not parents?" Applebloom asked.

"Hmm, I don't know where my parents at? Auntie Holiday and Auntie Lofty never talked about them much," Scootaloo said. "But let's not speak about sad things. Let's rather play tags. You are on, Applebloom!" She shouted and ran away. Sweetie Belle wasn't able to react as quickly so in the next moment she was touched by Applebloom.

"Now ya are on, Sweetie," she said and ran away in the other direction. She only grunted and ran after Applebloom soon followed by Scootaloo.

"Wow, the kids get along pretty fast, now aren't they?" Applejack said, as she get from the exoskeleton.

"Yes, they are," Twilight replied. "Did the costume works well?"

"Yeah. Works like well oiled gears," Applejack said. After sometime, she said, "Ah believe, Ah will go look how Big Mac doing there."

After sometime, Twilight stood there alone... With the costume. She just thought about going to her library when she looked at the costume. She facepalmed and levitated it to the main barn.

Chapter 10. Storm (Part 1).

"Here you are, Twi," Pinkie said, as she served another tray of cupcakes to Twilight.

"Oh, Pinkie. I can't spend a lot right now!" Twilight objected and put the tray aside.

"No, silly Twi. It's on the house," Pinkie said, as she put the tray before Twilight.

"On the house? Fine. But if I know that it isn't..." She accented the last sentence and got one cupcake in her mouth. "Wow, it's... Meat?"

"Yeah. Finest pork from Applejack's farm," she blurted, while some of the customers in the shop bulged their eyes. "Wait? Where do you know the meat's flavor?"

"When you are roaming freely the food isn't something you would care about," Twilight replied, mentally shuddered to what she was having as a dinner. "Hey, Pinkie. Is that really pork? You could put anything in those pastries.

Pinkie put a sheet of paper on the table before Twilight. I believe I'll never take this in, Twilight thought as she read the contract. A pretty simple and a bit crooked signature of Applejack and really entangled signature of Pinkie. After reading it, she clung into cupcake, biting off a half of it.

"Pinkie, that contract says that half of the payment you receive from the selling those cupcakes is going straight to AJ," Twilight noticed. "Isn't me eating those cupcakes kind of..."

"It's on the house. On the house, Twi!" Pinkie said, while widely smiling.

When the pastries came to end, and Twilight was ready to leave, Pinkie's expression changed to confused one. "Huh? Pinkie, what's up?" Twilight asked

"What's up? What's up... If I only... Wait, just a twitchy tail," Pinkie replied.

"Twitchy tail?" Twilight asked another question and looked around. Ponies in the shop for some reason started to look up. "And, what are they doing?"

"They? They are looking for something that will fall," Pinkie said.

"Will fall? Is that making any sense?" Twilight said. Then, a realization come to her. "Wait. Did they believe that's you had foreseen..." She started to laugh, while opening the door of the Sugar Cube Corner. She screamed into the crowd before the building, "Pinkie the predictor... Can you believe it?"

She raised her face to the skies, while laughing madly. Then, something really oozy had landed right onto her muzzle.

"Ugh! What is that thing?" She said, as she got the thing on her hand, revealing a simple frog. "A frog? What the..."

"Oh, sorry, Twilight. I was just... Helping my friends. The Ponyville's pond became a little overran by these little creatures. I'm relocating them to Froggy Bottom Bog," Fluttershy said. Suddenly, Twilight began to laugh.

"This... This is i-impossible... T-there is no way... Pinkie just... Just foreseen the future," Twilight said in the gaps of laughing bursts.

"But she did, Twi," Fluttershy said. Twilight only glared at her in utter disbelief. "She was doing that from time to time as long as I remember. Her prophesies were always correct... But as I remember they weren't such a common thing."

"Yeah, they weren't," Pinkie said, as she looked at twitching forelock. When Pinkie's mane stopped twitching, she raised her hands, revealing twitching fingers. "I wonder what this means... Oh, wait somepony will got hurt."

"Out of the way!" The voice come from somewhere over their heads. That moment a cyan colored blur crushed into ground near them.

"Rainbow! Are you alright?" Twilight screams as she looked for any signs of heavy injuries.

"I'm... I'm f-fine," she grunted, as she tried to rise up from the ground. "No, I'm not fine... There is only one Twilight."

"Quickly! Get her to the hospital!.. Wait, don't do anything, guys! I'll do it myself," She shouted, as she levitated the body above. Soon, she, Pinkie and Fluttershy were at the local hospital while waiting for the doctor to say anything. The doctor come out of the door and go directly to the girls.

"Well, miss Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. I must tell you that it was very nice of you to bring Rainbow Dash into our custody. She wasn't visiting the hospital for a very long time and I believe if it wasn't for you, then she would miss the visit, even now. Still, I must admit that miss Dash have really tough head and bones. She will be fine, especially after our treatment," doctor told them.

"Oh, fine. I believe Rainbow wouldn't be angry with us because we left her here," Twilight said. "Now, I think I would like to learn more that foreseeing. Pinkie?"

"Yeah, let's go to my lab under the library. I would like to look into it more precisely," Twilight addressed to Pinkie.

"Okie-dokie, Twi. Let's go," Pinkie cheered as she exited the hospital.

"Oh, I think my presence isn't necessary. Wouldn't you mind if I go back to my frog business?" Fluttershy asked. After Twilight's nod, she goes for exit, but turned around, "and, Twilight. Don't question Pinkie much."

"Oh, fine," Twilight goes for the exit, not even looking at Fluttershy completely consumed with her thoughts. When, Pinkie and Twilight were at Twilight's library they goes into the kitchen. There was another door that leads to the storage room. There within the spoiled and unusable books was a door. Behind it, there was a ladder that leads downstairs.

"Wow! How much of the stuff here. What these books about?" Pinkie shouted as she got the pile of books in her hands. " "The Matter of Souls" by Soul Binder. "Oblivion, or where the demons come from?" by Calm Owner. Wow! "Necronomicon" By Raven Loft," Pinkie said, as she read the book covers.

"It's Rarity's. She gave them to me since there was no way, she can sell them right now. She stashed away all of her things but some of the stuff was given to me," Twilight answered.

"Oh," She beamed, as she looked through the other things. "Wow, what's that? A skull? Why the candle is on it? Oh, is that a knife? And, the robes? Ha, nice turban," She said, as she put on the turban on her head.

"I don't know where it comes from, but I believe Book Cover had more secrets behind her. Or, maybe she didn't even know about that. Still, I find the machinery over here rather usable even if they were here for Goddess know how long. Now, please, come to me," Twilight said, as she was standing near some of the machines.

"What is that thing for?" Pinkie cheered in her common demeanor while Twilight was strapping her with ropes.

"It's supposed to look into one's aura. In the advanced way. The way, a normal pony couldn't do," Twilight told, as she looked at what the crystals were showing. The thing over the crystals drew all Pinkie's attention immediately. An amazing holographic projection. "Huh... No! How that can be?"

"What can be?" Pinkie asked.

"It says that you are completely normal... But, it isn't. It can't be so... No offence, Pinkie," Twilight said.

"None taken," Pinkie assured Twilight. "So... What you'll do?"

"I don't know. Just... Just let's go check for Rainbow..." Twilight suggested but saw that Pinkie's knees started to shake. "What is it now?"

"Shaking knees... That's... This means that someone is in real danger, like... Like facing a dragon, or something like that..." She answered, in a really panicked manner. "The thing is... My prophesies are about things that's happens somewhere near."

"Near? Like how near?" Twilight asked.

"Well... From here, They are going straight to the Everfree forest... And covers some of its territory. At least, the Swamps at the south... Including the Froggy Bottom Bog," Pinkie told.

"And, Fluttershy was heading to Froggy Bottom Bog. Didn't you mean that..." Twilight started to say, but Pinkie silenced her.

"We'd better go there and look into it, Twi," she said. Without a word, they left the basement and headed to the swamps.

***

"How? Just how you of all ponies, could leave me in such terribly, ridiculously and unbelievably boring place like Ponyville's hospital?" Rainbow shouted as she was performing the stunts near the ground.

"We left you there cuz you was like 'Out of my way' and then you crushed near us. Then, you was like 'Twilight, I'm not feeling good', and you lose consciousness," Pinkie told Rainbow, while watching at her stunts. "Me and Twilight and Flutters immediately got you to... Oh, twitchy tail. Twi?"

"Here you are," she said as the magical barrier appeared over them. Rainbow immediately looked up. There in the skies was a lonesome figure. When it got closer they saw that it was a guard. When he landed, Pinkie's tale stopped twitching.

"Twilight Sparkle. I'm here to tell you that transport to the Cloudsdale is ready," he said.

"What? Twi, what he means?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh, this morning princess Celestia send a letter about it. She said that I'm invited to Wonderbolts' performance in Cloudsdale," Twilight told them.

"Wow, Wonderbolts? Back when I was a child I wished to become a Wonderbolt. I even go to the summer flight camp... Twi, you know, can I go with you, please," Rainbow pleaded.

"Actually, miss Rainbow Dash. Your presence is also required," the guard said.

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked. Then, Spike ran to them with a scroll in hands. When she read it, she sighed. "Well, Rainbow. You are in luck, since all of the girls invited. Now, could you get the girls here?"

"Not a prob," She shouted, as she already take off into the skies. Soon, all the ponies were there.

"What princess Celestia wishes us to do right now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, Ah wish to know the same," Applejack said.

"Well, girls. Everyone of you is invited to Wonderbolts' performance in Cloudsdale," Twilight told them.

"What? Cloudsdale? But we are not pegasi. The city is made out of clouds, so we will just fall from them and crush." Applejack said.

"Don't worry. We have already covered it. Just proceed to our sky vessel," guard told them and they followed him. When they got to the ship, the unicorn guard walks to them.

"So, since you are here, you will go to the Cloudsdale. Here, this will help in the city," he said, while passing them the necklaces. "We have unicorns all over the city, and they could put the spell of cloudwalking on you, but these things and our pegasi is more faithful than that."

"Yeah, now take sits, everypony. We are about to leave," one of the guards screamed. Girls, Spike and the unicorn guard entered the ship, and in the same moment the ship took off in to the air.

"Wow, that view out of this window," Pinkie said, as she looked into the porthole. "This thing is cool."

"Nebula is way cooler than this rubbish, Pinkie," Twilight noted.

"Nebula? What is that?" Pinkie asked, as she looked at the blades of the ship's rotor.

"The most magnificent airship that's ever existed. When, I've seen it when I was child. Since then, I wished to be the captain of it," Twilight said.

"You? A captain?" Rainbow laughed. "I imagine that... Wait, Nebula?"

"Yes, Rainbow," she grunted.

"The name's familiar... Oh. Back then, when I was a sky pirate, one of the raids screwed up in the beginning because of the ship called Nebula... Wait. Is your Nebula big and purple?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, it is. It's also so gracious and beautiful. Still it isn't the biggest or most powerful. Star Conqueror and Iron Warrior are bigger and they have more weapons. But when I look at them, I feel so disgusted," Twilight said.

No one finds what to speak about after that, so the rest of their way was done in complete silence. Pinkie continued to watch the view from the porthole. Applejack wasn't listening to them since she was already snoring. Rainbow Dash at first was feeling nostalgia, but then she just go into sleep like Applejack. Rarity and Twilight were thinking about matters of their own. Fluttershy in the same time was nervously walking from one side to another. The guards were silently watching everyone of them.

The cabin they were in, actually was a bit small. It takes only some seconds for Fluttershy to go from the door at their backs to the door in front of them. The front door leads to the captain's cabin, and the one at the back leads to the engine room.

Soon, they were at Cloudsdale. Everypony put their necklaces on and exited the machine. The sight that opens behind the door was breathtaking.

"Wow! These are clouds. They really feels like clouds. Oh, my Goodness," Pinkie exclaimed while burrowing into the clouds.

"Pinkie, be more careful. You may fall after that," Rainbow warned Pinkie, but she wasn't successful, since Pinkie was swim in the white mass of the clouds. "Argh... Wait, is that?.. Whoa... Hey, Twi. That's Nebula, isn't it?"

"Where?" Twilight asked, while watching in the direction that Rainbow was showing. When she saw a magnificence of a ship, she murmured in excitement, "Oh, it's it... It's Nebula. What a splendor!"

"Splendor? Where?" Rarity asked, while throwing a glance at a ship in the distant docs. "Wow! That's Nebula?.. What a marvelous masterpiece... I think, I began to understand you, Twilight. I myself wouldn't mind serving on a such wonderful thing."

"Watching Celestia's personal ship, girls?" The voice come from behind. The voice that for some reason reminds of Canterlot. When they turned around, they saw a pegasus in his middle ages. Everything in him spoke that a true pegasus stood before them. Everything, except the eyes. They were filled with superiority and greatness. The glances they were throwing were arrogant, and everything in such glances was reduced to the mere dirt. "Well, if I guess from your looks, I may say that you don't know me. If so, then it's such a pity. Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Wind Rider, the one and only. After my name, there is countless achievements."

"Wow! Cool... Wait, Wind Rider? Oh, back in the classes everypony were talking only about you. They wished to be like you someday," Rainbow said.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Actually, I'm not here just for pointless talking. You see, I have extra ticket so I would highly appreciate if anyone of you would like to go with me," he said.

"Actually, we have tickets of our own," Twilight replied.

"That's even better," he said. After some moments of awkward silence, Wind Rider spoke again, "Well, if no one of you don't wish to go on the Wonderbolts' performance with me, then I'll choose by myself. You!"

"Me?" Rarity shouted. "Why me?"

"Yeah, why her?!" Spike shouted after Rarity.

"Hah, how hilarious. Well, I'll be waiting for you at the stadium," He said and went away. Before he disappeared from their sights, he threw the glance that expressed rather clearly that it would be better for Rarity to present herself.

"Wow, what a jerk," Rainbow said, while everyone of them were watching at Wind Rider's back.

"Hey, you are kinda familiar," another voice came from somewhere above. "Yeah, definitely familiar."

"Who is... Spitfire?!" Rainbow already looked up and put her hand on the revolver in the holster but stopped when she saw who was above.

"The one and only," she proudly pronounced. "You are the one and only too. Rainbow Dash, if I remember correctly?"

"Yeah," Rainbow answered. "But, why of all ponies you are the one to notice us?"

"Huh, why?.. Well, I would be damned if I wouldn't meet with the fastest flyer in the whole Equestria. You were almost a legend, between the Wonderbolts ranks. A filly, who managed to perform that incredible... Uh, magical boom back then. Where did you go after that?"

"Me?.. Uh, I've been lost in that forest down there..." Rainbow answered.

"Huh, really?.. Well, no matter. I wish to know more if you would be participating in our performance?" She asked.

"What? In your performance?! I-I... Of course I will," Rainbow said.

"Oh, but I would like to see that exploding thing. I'm not saying that you must to do it, but everyone will be so delighted," Spitfire said, while turning around. "The show will be in two hours. Don't be late."

"We wouldn't. I assure you, we wouldn't," Rainbow confidently stated. After two hours, on the stadium she immediately lost all of her confidence. "I wish, we would..."

"Don't be afraid, sugarcube," Applejack said. The Wonderbolts' performance will be in minutes.

"What if I fail? What if I..." Rainbow wailed, but stopped after Applejack slammed her in her cheek.

"Ya'd better go there and show those feathered brains what ya made from," Applejack said. Rainbow swallowed but exited the preparing room. Both of them go in the stadium's or rather Cloudeseum's hallways. Not for too long, since the first crossroad divided them. Applejack after sometime of wandering find their balcony. "Hey, Twi. Where's Rars?"

"She is right below us, AJ" Twilight replied. She looked at the participators, searching the rainbow mane. "Don't try to look for her. It's impossible, I checked."

After Celestia announced the start of the event, the Wonderbolts immediately flied up and started to make air stunts. Even Applejack was watching with open mouth.

The time come for the non-Wonderbolts to perform what they have prepared. At first, there was a varicolored crowd, but Rainbow wasn't there. But soon, the cyan colored pegasus flied out of the crowd and goes straight to the higher point.

This moment, Rarity was looking from the bottom of the lowest stage. Wind Rider left some time ago, leaving her alone. Then, a brief burst of air come from behind, "Wind Rider? Is that you... AAAAA!"

She fell through the cloud. Someone from behind cut the necklace and without a spell on the necklace, the clouds didn't keep her in the sky.

Rainbow saw the falling body, though. Without hesitation, she dropped like a rock, while quickly flapping with her wings. The speed was rising at the incredible rate, but Rainbow didn't feel it. She also didn't feel how the air before her started to tense up and form the circle. Soon, the circle blown up. Everyone hold their breathes.

"She... She has done it!" Spike shouted. Everyone happily screamed after that. Rainbow soon flied up to her friends with Rarity in her grasp. "Rainbow! You've saved Rarity."

"Well, I'm Rainbow Dash. I must do cool things," Rainbow replied.

"And, Rarity. How are you?" He asked.

"I'm... I'm fine. It was really unexpected," Rarity answered. "Still, I must admit that this whole thing will be unforgettable."

"But who had done this?" Spike asked, as the guard with a spare necklace in his hands already entered their stage. He passed it to Rarity and exited the room. Then, in a flash of light, Celestia appeared before them.

"Greetings Twilight. Greetings Twilight's friends. I hope, you hadn't much trouble staying in Cloudsdale?" She asked, while everyone looked at her dumbfoundedly. "Well... No matter. Miss Rarity, we apologize for the life-threatening incident that you was put under. We promise you that the one who was responsible for that will be found and will be punished."

"It's nothing, princess Celestia," Rarity said. "I believe, that we should go to home..."

"No. I need to bask in the glory of my victory," Rainbow objected.

"Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash, for reminding me. I believe, no one would be against me, for proclaiming you the best non-Wonderbolt flier. I bestow you this trophy for... How you call that thing you had performed?" Celestia said.

"Sonic Rainboom," Rainbow proudly said.

"Well, I bestow you this trophy for your Sonic Rainboom," she give her the golden trophy. With it in her hands, she flied out of stage and in the mid-air, she raised the cup. Everypony's cheers and applauses come from everywhere.

***

"Rarity, are you alright?" Spike asked.

"Of course I am. Like the previous dozen times, you asked that," She replied in a slightly annoyed manner. After the incident in Cloudsdale, Spike started to spend a lot of time around her. Nor Twilight, nor Rarity didn't mind it, but as the week passed Rarity started to regret it.

"Yeah, Spike. You are caring about my sister like she isn't pony but rather a gem. Why is that so, Spike?" Sweetie Belle, that was walking beside them, asked.

"That doesn't matter, Sweetie," Spike refused to answer.

"Well, I believe I know, but I'll tell when you're older," Rarity teased her sister even though the love isn't forbidden theme to talk around fillies. Maybe the intercourse that's love leads to is a forbidden theme, but definitely not the love. "Hmm, I believe Fluttershy got everything's ready by now. It would be rude to be late."

After sometime of walking, they've come to Fluttershy's place. There was not only Fluttershy, but also Applejack and Rainbow Dash. When Rarity and others come closer, everyone greeted them. They've take sits and began the little tea party, on which everyone was invited by Fluttershy.

"Where's Pinkie and Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Pinkie's working in Sugar Cube Corner. Today, is rather busy day for her. There was a lot of customers," Rainbow said what's about Pinkie.

"And Twilight is in Everfree. She is exploring the forest," Spike said what's about Twilight.

"Everfree? I hope, she didn't got hurt there," Rarity said.

"I asked her about it, but she assured me that she got things covered," Fluttershy said.

"Hey, sister. I'm bored," Sweetie Belle said, as she stood to her side, since there wasn't chair for her.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle. It's you," the voice of Applebloom come from Fluttershy's house. Turning her head in that direction, she saw her friends. "Since, we are all together we can do some Cutie-mark crusading."

After a group yay of three of them, they went in a random direction. The friendship of three of them became stronger recently. Strong enough to create so called "Cutie-mark Crusaders". Cutie-mark Crusaders not only played together but also did the cutie-mark crusading. It means that they accomplish different deeds to see if it's their destination in life.

"Ah, and here I thought, that I will be solving her troubles," Rarity sighed in relief. "Hey, Fluttershy, would you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course not. Ask away," Fluttershy replied.

"Um, you see... I will highly appreciate it, if you take Sweetie Belle under your wing... At least, for now?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, of course I will. Why do you think, Applebloom and Scootaloo are here in the first place?" Fluttershy said.

"Oh, I understand... Well, let's not focus on that matter, and instead have our little tea party," Rarity suggested. With everyone's agreement, they started.

As the morning slowly turned to noon and tea party come to an end, everyone left Fluttershy's place. Fluttershy had a little trouble with three fillies. She just look if they started to do a thing fillies mustn't do, and in that case, stop them.

Now, they decided to go to Zecora. Applebloom suggested, if they can find their cutie-mark in the Everfree forest. After hearing this, Fluttershy proclaimed that they wouldn't make a step in the forest's boundary without her watch.

When they were half the way to Zecora's place, they heard muffled sounds to their side. "Hey, miss Fluttershy. What's that sound?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "It's better to ignore it,"

"Maybe, it's somepony that we doesn't know, and she or he is in need," Sweetie suggested.

"It's not our problem," Fluttershy tried to be stubborn, but when she looked at them, the puppy eyes they made changed her decision. "With only one eye."

They started to walk slowly. When, Fluttershy cleared the view by pushing the bush's branches to left and right, she saw the scene not too admiring.

There was Twilight... With a creature, she had no clue about. It had the serpentine's body and for some reason it had the chicken's head. There were also dragonlike wings.

Right now, it had circled Twilight's body. It was looking directly in her eyes and it was hitting her with a beak if she closed her eyes. After that, Fluttershy also saw that Twilight's legs were slowly covering with a stone.

"Hey, what are you?.. And, what are you doing here?" She shouted. Then, the creature turned its head and looked in her eyes. Then, she felt a pain in her chest as if her heart missed a beat. Looking down, she saw that halves of her legs were covered in stone, and the stone was covering her quickly. "What is... Argh, you are doing? Stop this!"

"Why I must? You are my prey... I'm predator... Argh" He grunted, as the grey wolf clasped its teeth onto the creature neck.

"Because, my friends will help me," She said, while the wolf pressed her teeth deeper. Some of the blood flowed out from the little wound.

"It's my friend, Flutter," Twilight said, as she come closer to them, with her eyes closed. "Also, this creature is a cockatrice. Don't look in his eyes. He can turn to stone with his glance."

"I understood it. Now, mister... Could you turn my legs back to normal?.. Please," she said. At first, cockatrice bickered, but wolf pressed the teeth even harder, so the little blood droplets become the red trail, that flows out of the wound. The stone started to disappear. When there was no stone, the wolf released him.

"Here you are... Hope, your death will be followed by pain and suffers," he said, while slipping in the nearest bushes.

"So... I've never heard of those cockatrices before... And what with 'my friend' thing?" Fluttershy asked.

"They are able to turn anycreature into stone with their eyes. In the book, it said that they lived in the Everfree, but I had no clue that I'll met the one," Twilight answered. "If speaking about my friend, then... Well, Fluttershy, you see it's Valour. Valour, it's Fluttershy."

"Huh, I've seen how slow he was turning you to stone. How?.. Wait, Valour?" Fluttershy asked. The wolf in the same time get closer to Twilight.

"There is a spell. I haven't mastered it, so I wasn't able to kill him on my own... Oh, yes, Valour. My familiar," she answered, as she rubbed behind the wolf ears. "Aren't you a good girl?"

"Oh, a familiar? But, it's wolf..." Fluttershy said.

"Well, yeah. Actually, any animal can become a familiar. Some animals are made familiars rarely because of their usual lifestyle or behavior. Some animals are beginning to live not as the mage needed to. The others starts to overuse the learned spells, whenever some of the animals aren't using spells at all, or they at least tries to," Twilight told her.

"Oh, I... Understand. Well, would you like to accompany me... Us, to Zecora's?" She asked.

"Wouldn't mind it... Wait, us?" Twilight answered and asked a question on her own.

"You'll see," Fluttershy answered.

After that, they picked up the fillies which were still sitting in the bushes and continued their way to Zecora's hut.

Chapter 11. Storm (Part 2)

Author's Note

I've finally done it.
P.S. IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!!
(Sorry, couldn't hold myself)

Chapter 11. Storm (Part 2)

"I'm sorry, Rarity," Spike apologized.

"Spike, I said, I appreciate that you are sorry for the deeds, you've done, but now I need you to dig," Rarity sighed, after hearing Spike's apologizes for she-didn't-count how many times. "Now, there is some gems to the left."

Spike bend down and clang his claws into cold ground. After a moment, he raised up with some emeralds in his claws. He threw them into the truck and started to warm up his claws.

It was the beginning of October, and the temperature started to cool down. For cold-blooded dragon, cold temperatures aren't pleasant.

He was rubbing his scarf, when Rarity put some of the gems she dug up herself. She put her shovel into the ground.

"Spike, haven't you frozen up here?" Rarity asked him. Before Spike was able to answer, from somewhere behind the grumbles came. Turning around, she saw three tough looking figures, jumping out of the ground. They looked really tough, yet a bit poor. Their gear looked too rough and Rarity immediately noted all the flaws in the armors and weapons.

Then, without any words they attacked her. Hah. What an ugliness of a fight, she thought, as she dodged their attacks by simply stepping aside. Then, she saw the distant figure of three of them instead of charging her started to prepare his gun. It was rusty as if it has been in the damp cellar for years, but Rarity didn't want to check if it's able to shoot or not.

The creature howled as the knife go directly into his eye. The other one tried to attack her from behind but got only a punctured shoulder, as Rarity swung her pickaxe in the telekinetical grip. The last of their trio got a hit in the head. Instead of a crackled skull, he got stunned, since there was a bucket-like helmet. The following strike get the helmet off of his head, revealing the dog's head.

"This is the lesson for you. Hope, you learned it rather well?" She asked, as they started to retreat. Then, out of sudden they dug up into the ground. "Huh... That's unexpected. Spike, are you fine there?.. Spike?"

She looked around only to see... Nothing and no one. There wasn't truck but most importantly there wasn't Spike. Instead, there was a big hole in the ground.

"Spike?.. Oh, no... Oh, no!" She screamed. Then, without a word she ran to Ponyville.

Ponies were rather anxious about Rarity's hurry. They've seen, how recently she and Spike were heading to the ridge at the east. The scene of Rarity running like wind and without Spike beside her wasn't something everypony expected.

"Twilight! Twilight! We have a lot of troubles! Devastating troubles, that must be solved as soon as possible!" She shouted, as she banged the door of the library. She stopped only when she found that she was hitting air.

"Well, miss Rarity, I believe you forgot that it's a library, a public place, so the door is open in the day," Solar Lance said, as he opened the door. "What's the urgency?" He asked, when the white blur whizzed its way near him.

"I need Twilight! Actually, I need all my friends... And I believe, your guys too," She said, as she was eyeing the whole library.

"Us?" Soul Flames asked, as he put his eyes from the book on his knees to the white unicorn. After a confirming nod, he opened his mouth in a surprised way, "Whoa, what a fuss it must be so you need our help?"

"Yeah, I wonder the same," the voice Rarity so needed to hear come from behind. "What you need me to talk about?"

"They!.. They took Spike! And, my gems!" Rarity wailed, as she take Twilight by her hands and shake her. "Those ruffians."

"Ruffians? Who?.. And where?" She asked, as she looked at her.

"There... There on that ridge were the dogs... Diamond Dogs," she told her.

"Diamond Dogs? What did they forget in our lands?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, what have you meant by that?" The Soul Flames asked. "Their clans in the Badlands lived without any troubles. There is no way they will be this far to the north-west."

"But it is. I've seen them with my own eyes. I-I even fought with them. You see, I don't have a knife here," she said, as she pointed to her belts where the knives resides. In one of the two lines, the knife's spot was empty.

"Ha-hah, where did you lose it?" He chuckled. "I already imagine that: you two sitting beside the tree, then you scribble that Rarity plus Spike equals love and then you two... Ouch."

"We can't state anything like this before we have facts, Soul Flames," Solar Lance said, as Soul Flames rubbed the back of his head.

"But this is clear without facts," he said.

"What is clear without facts?" Twilight asked him, making him go silent. "Captain, we will go and gather up the girls."

"Fine. Do what you must. If there is really Diamond Dogs out there, then we are really endangered... " Captain said.

"Oh, Captain, do you really believe her?" Soul Flames complained.

"Right now, it's better to be too cautious rather than too reckless, Soul," captain told them. "Now, you two are free to go."

"Yes, sir," Twilight told him. Then, she headed to the door that's already was opened by Rarity. When they were outside, Twilight asked about details, "Now, I wish to hear what happened there... And, what actually you two were doing there?"

"Oh, Spike have done something he had... Regretted in the future. If to be correct, then he hadn't keep himself and ate all the gems in my stash. There back on that ridge, we were gathering up some more gems instead of those that's gone. Then, those ruffians jumped out of the ground. We were taken aback but recovered quickly. Thereafter, those jerks lashed out on us, but I fought them off. Yet, I must admit that the whole thing was just a trick, a gimmick. They made me to keep my eyes on those three, while the other snatched up Spike and our collected gems somewhere underground," she told Twilight what happened.

"They took away, Spike?" Twilight asked. After Rarity nodded, she said, "That's... Too bad. We must save him. Go get the AJ and Rainbow. I'll grab Fluttershy and Pinkie. We will met up on the eastern road."

"Fine," Rarity answered and ran away to Applejack's farm. Then, when they were on the town border, and Rarity told them what they were supposed to do, Solar Lance in full gear have walks after them.

When Rarity asked him why he walks after them, he said, "Well, you know that I was a fighter before. This stallion here just needs to remember how it was. You wouldn't mind the old stallion such as me?"

"Well, we wouldn't, but doesn't that mean that Ponyville is left without guards?" Twilight asked.

"Of course not. Calm Fight will look after village in my absence," he replied.

"Oh, Calm Fight? That fella is good. She isn't a nasty doer like Flames," Applejack said.

"Yeah, I've never understand it why he is like that," he said. "Though, I must admit that Soul Flames isn't a nasty doer. I would rather call him a nasty sayer."

When they were on the dusty wasteland that stood beside the ridge, Applejack asked, "So, what are we lookin' out for here?"

"A mine, probably?" Pinkie suggested.

"Mine? Haven't heard of it," Applejack said.

"But I did," Rarity said. When everyone's attention was on her, she continued, "They were trying to find anything out here. Not only gems, but also iron, coal, gold, silver, copper and so on... But, they were too unlucky. The little amounts of gems were nothing, if compared to what the rock farms brought out, so the mine was abandoned. Me, I just knew what I was looking for... And, you know, at first I haven't think that here was anything, but then my horn show me that boulder. When, it was broken in half, there I find so many jewels."

"Well, that's quite a story," Lance said. "But, can you show us where the entrance to that mine?"

"Well... If I remember it correctly, then it must be... Actually, it's right over here," She replied, while pointing at the closest point of the cliff side. There, in the little gap between two boulders, a dark emptiness could be seen.

"Huh... Miss Twilight, can you help me a bit?" Lance asked, while taking one of the boulders in his telekinetical grip.

"Of course," Twilight answered, while taking the other boulder. With some efforts the dimly-lit path, that leads downstairs, was opened.

"Hey, Ah thought over here... Those dogs can be anywhere right now. Are we sure, that those fellas in the mines below?" Applejack shared her thoughts, while looking in the darkness before her.

"There is one way to find that out," captain said, as he took his greatsword by its blade. "And, if thinking logically... The dogs attacked from the ground, and by the looks of it dragged the hostage and stolen gems under the ground. That means, that somewhere there their tunnels are located. Yes?"

"Yeah, ya're right..." She agreed with him. "Interesting way to hold the sword by the way."

"Hah, yes it is. Some gryphon taught me, how to fight like that. They called it the 'mordhau' style, since it come from the place called the Mordhau Valleys," He said to her. "When we met those scoundrels, I'll show you how it's done."

They walked through the caverns, as the echo brings captain's words deeper into the darkness. They weren't walking in utter darkness though. Twilight created the little wisps of light. But, soon they come to a... Room. At least, it was wider than the cavern they've been walking through. When the Twilight's orbs lit the room, they saw the miner's gear. Pickaxes and shovels, ropes and miner's helmets. Everything is old and either covered in rust or completely out of use.

"You know, girls... I believe we should take some of these, since... Well, anything may happen," captain said, as he swung with one of the pickaxes. He then heard something in the back. Before he was able to turn around, a hoarse voice barked at them.

"Halt," the voice thundered. "Ponies! I see no payment. You see no hostage. You understand?"

Turning around, he saw a bulky figure in the crude armor plates. They didn't cover the figure completely, so everyone could see a dirty black fur, that hadn't been under required treatment at all by the looks of it. In the gap of helmet, the dog's face had been exposed.

"Oh, fella, let me tell ya something. We come here for a friend. F-r-i-e-n-d. If you don't understand it, then Ah'll tell ya in a more understandable way," Applejack said. She walked forward with her weapon at ready. Lance come after her and stopped her.

"Don't worry, Applejack. I'll deal here," he murmured to her. When she didn't move an inch back, he continued to murmur, "you'd better go to girls and back them up. Dogs may attack from anywhere."

She already had a thought of objecting, but the look in captain's eyes made her quickly retire. Soon, she was standing among girls, constantly looking back or at the ground. Captain at the same time was waiting for the dog for any action. When none come, he decided to make him to make some.

He throw him a taunting glance. The one, that says 'show me, what you worth'. It was enough.

The dog lowly growled. Then, he charged at him. Captain in the same time did the same... And, when they were close, he sidesteped and kicked with his hoof. The dog stumbled upon it and fell. He tried to rise, but captain prevent all the attempts by hitting him in the head with elbow. Then, the other dog appeared behind him.

The sword of the dog was high in the air, which was a mistake. Captain made only a half of the turn, but it was enough for his sword to reach the farthest point of his body and in one slight motion make a crimson line on it.

His body immediately curved in pain. Captain haven't seen that, since he blocked the blow of another dog. Like previous one, the other dog attacked while rising the blade up. It met not the chainmail or plates on it, but a wide guard of captain's blade. The strong push and the dog's blade is high in the air. The captain's sword in the same cut the dog's shoulder. Then, he bucked him to the ground and headed to the girls.

There was at least the dozen of hairy brutes. But as captain was quickly observing the battlefield, he become more and more about the success of their task. Half of the brutes was lying either senseless or dead.

Out of all living dogs, he chose the closest. The dog shouted as captain hacked on his shoulder blade, but to no avail. All of his lads were dealt with.

"You've done it great," he said, as he approached them. "The question is, what's next?"

"What's next? Of course, we go and save Spike. Isn't that obvious?" Twilight replied.

"It is, but... We don't where to go. It will eternity to find the way in those caverns, and the same eternity to find the way out," Lance said.

"But he does," Rarity said, as she aimed with her shovel at the neck of the dog below her. "Don't try to fool us, barbarian. I know you're just pretending to be unconscious."

When he didn't move an inch in any way, Rarity poked lightly at his neck with her shovel, marking the place where the next strike will fall onto. The dog immediately tried to shook Rarity away, but she stepped away. When he stood up, everypony around him were on guard with weapons at ready.

"You. Show us where yours," captain commanded him, but he shook only with his head. Then, Twilight horn ignited with purple flames. The dog only whined a little, yet in the same time his legs quiver like a pinched sheet of paper in stream of wild wind.

"Now, you would," she said. The dog turned away the same moment and they followed him.

"What have you done?"Captain asked her. "Also, mark the way out of here. Don't wish to be straying in those caverns."

"You'd better don't know, captain," she answered, not completely trusting him on such a theme. He only smirked at that.

They were walking for a ten or so minutes. Ponies started to think that the dog was leading them to nowhere, but after some time, they entered something that looked like a room. The dog howl at the entrance, but Rarity slammed with flat part of her shovel.

The room turned Tartarus in mere moments. The darkness in the other end of the room lit up with a dim light, revealing a true size of the room. It was mostly empty except several cages. In one of them, Spike was contained.

"Spike!" Twilight and Rarity screamed. But if Rarity stayed in one place, Twilight had run toward the cage. She stopped only when she saw the amount of dogs on her way. She stopped and yanked under the axe, that was on the way to her neck. She attacked the attacker with a spell and was luckier than him.

Everyone followed Twilight. They backed Twilight up as an army of dogs tried to oppress and destroy every intruder in their home. Dogs were unskillful fighters, but the number provides an additional pressure on ponies.

Since everyone was fighting and were concentrated on it, no one noticed how Rarity instead of fighting was sneaking up to Spike's cage, while throwing daggers at the occasional dogs, that notice her. Spike was literally trembling in the shackles the dogs put him in. When, Rarity was near the cage he called for him.

"Spike, don't worry. We're he to save you," she assured the frightened dragon. When he rose his head and tried to say something, but Rarity shooed him. When she inspected the lock and find no way to open it, she use the telekinesis and aimed the pickaxe at the lock.

No strike followed, since something interrupted Rarity's spell. The voice followed in the same moment, "pesky pony do not wish to fight. She wishes to take the captive and buzz off, now does not she?"

Rarity turned around and saw three dogs. The gigantic one who was massive even for dog's standard, the little one whose eyes were on the level of Rarity's chest and a normal dog, who kept Rarity's pickaxe. She wasn't even able to say anything, when the middle dog bumped with the butt of the pickaxe in the middle of Rarity's chest. She stumbled and fell on the solid stone and a dull pain shot through her flanks.

The dog was ready to strike one another time, this time more powerful... When the lightning stroke him. It didn't kill him but it had distracted him and made him to drop the pickaxe. Rarity used the moment to take pickaxe and broke the lock. The little one tried to mess the things up but when he jumped, ready to point his two daggers into the white unicorn, but the only thing he did was kiss to the shovel.

Now, she and Spike were running for their lives from the very angry mass of muscles, who was storming after them. Rarity yanked under the club that was flying into her face. The mass knocked the clubber down and followed the unicorn. She hopped the stack of bodies. He threw them around and go after her. He stopped only when Twilight cast the frightening spell on him, when they left.

When they were on the surface, no one followed them. Even after some minutes no dogs were crushing through the entrance into the caves.

"Twilight, go get the lieutenant Sky Spire and his guys. They'll do more than Calm Fight and Soul Flames would do. Also, sent a letter to Celestia," Lance commanded, and Twilight disappeared with an audible snap of the air.

The week had past. The case of dogs was solved. They wouldn't be bothering Ponyville and its residents. At least, that's what Rover, the leader of 'Diamond Dogs' , says.

As Twilight guessed, the dogs were the outcasts from the clans in the Badlands. They found the safe spot in the caves under Ponyville, and after some time of getting around they started a criminal activities... Only to fail at the first affair. It was funny to see the faces of dogs when the Celestia's guards have attacked the caves. Rover and his fellows were made to pay for everything, they've done.

Now, Twilight's mind was on the other matter. She was spending all of her time either with friend or books. She hadn't paid any attention to guards, Celestia had hooked to them. She hadn't noticed that there is a little shortage of them. The little meant three out of fifteen or after a little calculation eighty percent of them.

She asked captain about it, but his answer was, "they are on the important task." That wasn't enough for her to satisfy her curiosity, but she didn't continue with questions.

She was ready to leave for the business of hers. The investigation of the Everfree, actually. Venom circled around her hand like a circlet. Twilight didn't complain about it much. Dusk already sitting at the branch near the exit and Valour was waiting for them in the Everfree.

The door wasn't opened by her, when she was about to leave. The Fluttershy run in the library and everyone of their friends followed her.

"Twilight, there is a trouble," she said. "We need your help to solve it."

"Now, keep calm and tell me for what you need my help exactly," Twilight replied. Instead of answering, Fluttershy pointed at something behind her. Turning around, Twilight saw Soul, who exited the kitchen with a bowl of fresh hay. So, you do have a stash over there, Soul.

He didn't pay any attention to them. He often sees them crowding the entrance of the library. At first, he found it a bit suspicious, but now he didn't care.

"Oh, fine. I'll come with you, but before this, I... Oh, Spike, I needed you. Look over the library while I help the girls," She said to Spike, who was walking down the stairs.

"Fine. Be careful over there," he said and Twilight after those words followed the girls, who exited the library.

"So, what's up?" Twilight asked.

"Look over here," Fluttershy said, as she pass to her the green arrow. Twilight remembered those from the times, when she was helping Fluttershy with the 'Three Circles'. But, the one Fluttershy passed to her had the black spiral on it.

"The black spiral? What it means?" Twilight noted and asked about it.

"It means something really bad. I need you to go with me to Whitetail forest," Fluttershy replied. After that, she turned around not even giving time for Twilight to say anything.

"Bad? Like how bad?" Twilight asked, while quickly catching up her. Soon, everyone was following her.

"Like... Well, that could be everything. The only thing I know, that I must be there..." Fluttershy said. "And be there with everypony, I could reach to."

Hmm, what a treat it could possibly be in the first place? She asked herself, already thinking of the matter. "Hmm, Dusk, you've heard that? Fly over there and tell me of the situation..."

She sent another note, this time to Valour, saying to her that she needs to wander a bit at the edge of the Whitetail forest, just in case. As she was sending the note, she looked at the skies spotting the black blot of the Dusk. He soar through the air high in the sky toward the green trees of the Whitetail.

They were entering the forest now. As expected, no one was meeting them, since it is something really rare to meet one of the members of the gang so close to the edge of the forest. But now...

Fluttershy keep says that something feels too odd. She didn't like the feeling at all, and that tensions in the air put everyone of their team on the edge. Then, Dusk's voice rumbled in Twilight's head.

"Some ponies before you. Wait... Six ponies... From the gang. High circle," he said.

"Thank you, Dusk. I'll tell the girls," she replied, but wasn't able to say the info to the girls. The bushes before them had shaken and two mares had jumped from them.

If one of the mares looked like one from that crowd, girls saw many months ago, the other... She looked rather cool. The blade so deadly looking and so masterfully made resides in its sheath and a curved bow was held in her hands. It doesn't mean that Celestia's guard have parts of equipment, worse than this ones. Actually, Twilight believed that nothing could be compared to those masterpieces, but these ones that the mare bears were something to notice. As for the armor, that mare used the mail with a tough looking surcoat, which had the 'Three Circles' insignia and insignia of the lesser circle. The face hidden behind the battle-mask.

"Oh, it's you. That's great!" That mare shouted. "Glide, you were right. It's them. Now, we must go to Oak, so..."

She wasn't able to complete the sentence, since Fluttershy interrupted her, "what's happened?"

"We have no..." she was interrupted again. This time, it was her companion's holler. When everyone looked at her, the crossbow's bolt was sticking out of the middle of her chest. The limp body fall the same moment, and several arrows and bolts pierced the air.

No targets were founded though. Everyone got down quite fast, and now everypony was fighting back.

Fluttershy admitted the mastery of the mare. The first kill was done by her. She also remembered something. Not the name of the mare since she hadn't meet her before, but... The armor on that mare. These are the armor of the elites. Only the most trusted ones own those on the lifelong basis. The trusted ones receive them when there is an exigency in it. Fluttershy remembered when Oak give her one of those but she refused.

As these memories passed, Fluttershy noticed the arrow in the ground near her. It was green which caused her to have a grim thoughts. Another arrow flew over her head. An arrow of her was an answer, and if judging by the scream, she got... her.

Soon, it have ended. The arrow of purple energy charged and hit the hiding pony. When everyone exited the bushes they were in and got in the bushes where their enemies were hiding, they found bodies. When they dragged them out of the greenery, everyone saw the insignias of the 'Three Circles' and the high circle.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked, as the bodies were looked through. Nothing that could give a clue about the situation , but some bits were sent into the pockets of Twilight's friends.

"I... I can't say much. You'd better ask Oak about it," She said. After some time she added, "One thing though. Don't trust anyone. Especially, the members of the high circle..."

"Hmm, let's go then," Twilight said. Before they even made a step towards their destination, the mare stopped them and point at the body of her companion. Applejack throw her on the shoulder and followed the mare.

The mare, whose name was Steel Will, led them through the forest and soon they were at the little campsite, somewhere deep in the forest. When they were walking through it, a rather depressing ambiance could be felt around. Everyone held weapon at ready, waiting for something to happen. Many was in the elite armor.

The body of Air Glide was taken at the very entrance in the campsite. When they got to the middle of the campsite, no one was meeting them. Steel Will immediately go in the tent before them, and soon she stick out the head and the hand, showing them they could enter.

"Greetings to all of you, my friends," they heard a familiar voice. There before them stood one of the leaders. Oak hadn't change a bit. That determined glance of her brown eyes. "I am glad you've manage to come here. What troubles you've come across on the way here?"

"There was guys from the high circle," Rainbow replied. "I wonder why."

"No need to wonder," The mare that stood by the side said. The crimson ornament of her armor and two blades that looks like butcher's knives, give some clue of whom was that mare. Yet, the voice which couldn't be forgotten give out the Blood Tree. "Those are the traitors. Let the death be their destiny."

"Traitors? But who needed to betray you?" Rainbow asked.

"Many... Way more than we thought," Oak said. "They strike all of sudden and we hadn't have time to regroup and strike back... But, their plans went south, cause Celestia's guards strike even more suddenly."

"Oh... So, ye're between hammer and anvil?" Applejack asked.

"Yes," Blood Tree replied. "But you're here, so we have more chances to melt the anvil and break the hammer!"

"Don't be so sure," with one sentence, Oak ceased Blood's moment of exultation. "The hammer will be broken no matter what... But, the anvil is of a metal, we have no chance to melt. I'm not even sure if we are going to heat it up."

"Hah, a lot of our enemies have fallen and many will fall. Those pesky guards wouldn't be an exception." Blood replied.

"They knew when to strike, Blood," Oak dropped the words, quickly reminding Blood of the fact that made everypony in the gang mad. "None of us is sure what to expect of them."

"Argh... Fine. Let's just get back to the task over here," Blood Tree said and headed to the exit.

"What you expect us to do?" Fluttershy asked, as Blood Tree and another pony whose face was hidden behind the mask exited the tent.

"I'm going to have a speech. It will help everyone to be in the right mood and increase morale. After that, we'll have time to get you into the whole thing."

The speech was very brief. Though, after a speech the fire in everyone's eyes lit even stronger. The betrayal had gotten everyone too sudden and many had fallen to the hands of the traitors. No one had told anything of the guards though, so everyone didn't know what to do about them.

"So, how did you end up in something like that?" Fluttershy asked. After the speech had ended, Oak Branch go to them, so they could ask her the questions. After like five minutes, Blood Tree had joined them. When everyone in the camp was ready to leave and strike the traitors' positions, an incident happened.

"Miss Oak, everyone's ready. What's the orders," the mare, who had come to them spoken. Surprisingly, the voice was familiar to Twilight... And, not only for her.

"Bright?" A stallion, who was following Blood said. Even more surprisingly was the fact, that Twilight knew this stallion.

Bright Mind immediately take the sword from its sheath. She wasn't able to use it, since Blazing Spear bucked Bright. She dropped the sword and hugged herself, trying to stop the pain, but an uppercut from stallion made her to fall to the ground.

After some moments, the mare in question was risen from the ground. She wasn't even able to grunt, before a stallion put the axe's blade to her neck. After a moment, he put away the mare's mask.

"So, Bright. What did you forget over here?" Stallion asked, while glancing in the eyes of the mare. As he expected, a consuming fear was in them.

"I wonder the same about you, Blazing Spear," Twilight said, remembering the owner of the voice.

"Well, I wouldn't leave you wondering, Twilight," Spear said in reply. "I come here cuz Blood Tree asked me."

"Well, if so... Then, what is she doing here?" Twilight asked, while looking down at Bright.

"Well... I would like to know myself," he replied. "Will you tell us?"

The question went directly to Bright, but she wavered even stronger. After a moment, he forced her to stand. Blood Tree asked one of her henchponies and she quickly emptied the bag, Bright Mind hold. The documents in there got everyone's eyes on her, and a particular pony to get the sword out its sheath.

"It's your fault!" Blood Tree shouted. "Celestia's dogs are here because you've given up all of us!"

"N-no! It... I-it's not o-only me..." She mumbled. "T-there was s-six of us."

"Who else?" Blood Tree asked, still angry at the mare before her.

"I d-don't know... They h-hadn't tell their names..." She said. "But we h-had... k-kinda split up... I haven't s-seen anyone in the c-camp..."

"Hmm... But we have you," Blood Tree said with a devious smile. Spear stopped her with a hand, though.

"Don't do that, Blood," he said. "I know Bright. She wouldn't do something like that even she wished so... That means that someone forced her."

"Even so she needs to be punished," she narrowed her gaze. Spear sighed but continued to argue nonetheless.

"Look at how she trembles. Don't you see? She is a coward," he said.

"You know what is done to cowards, so it's a bad argument," she replied. "Though, I think, I can show some pity."

In a one swift motion, she stood in front of Bright Mind, and with another motion she forced Bright to hold the flask of something. Then, she said her to drink. She lingered so Blood barked on her. She was about to drink whatever Blood had given to her, but in the last moment something struck her.

"Wait! Spear, I-I... There i-is something I-I need to show you," she screeched and gave the potion back to Blood. She fell on the pile of the paperwork, that fell from her sack. After a moment, she rise up with a sheet of paper. "Here, I found something interesting."

The document found itself in the hand of Spear, while Bright returned to Blood and in one motion guzzled the content of the flask. She found out the thing as something so flavorless, that even water was tastier. She was about to ask a question, when there was nothing, after she drank the stuff, but she wasn't able to do so. The blackness consumed the mind and without a hold the body fell to the ground. After some moments, an unconscious mare started to mumbled under her breath. Blood Tree in the same time had come closer and looked in her face.

"Afraid of the darkness? How trivial, but that's okay," she said. Then, the lifeless eyes opened while the mare shouted. The moment didn't last long, since in the same moment Bright fell into the bliss of unconsciousness again. It looked like she died, but that wasn't so. The chest was still rising as the unconscious mare was breathing.

Then, the body of the mare started to jerk. Blood immediately told the nearest mobsters to take Bright away. It took them sometime, since the mare's jerk were uncontrollable. One time, she even bucked one of them, but the stallion was a tough one and didn't even flinch. He only grabbed her more convenient, so she wasn't able to hit him.

"Well, that's done. Hey, Spear, what's up with document?" Blood Tree said, as her gaze followed the pair of ponies carrying the body of the mare. Hands in the same moments were putting away the empty flask.

"Nothing good..." He uttered. "Well, I have been thinking that something wasn't right about Lost Word, but... This! W-who knew that captain was such a bastard."

"What's up with the guy and the document?" Rainbow asked, while grabbing the paper from him.

"He sold us... All the four platoons..." He said, through his teeth. After some moments, his angered face turned into a calm one and after receiving the parchment, he opened his mouth, "Well, the past is the past and nothing could be done about it... Though, as far as I remember, Lost Word is still alive, so I believe I could make a visit to the former captain."

"Well, it's interesting, but the heck happened to you, guys? The traitors, the guards, all of that stuff," Rainbow said, pointing at everything around.

"Um, Rainbow... I think everyone have understood what has happened to the gang. I'd better ask how much of the gang is still in contact?.. And, how we can help?"

"Well... The state of the gang is rather lamentable," Oak sighed. "We have like... quarter of our former power, so we need all the help that is available. You, um... You can't help my mates right now, since we got everything covered... Though, you could participate in our operation."

"Where do we sign up?" Rainbow asked, making Oak to smirk. She pointed at Blood, who've made a gesture to follow her. Soon, no one was standing at the little clearing.

With a thud, the body of betrayer had fallen to the ground. The mare next to him hadn't even peeped, but when she realized what happened she found out that she wasn't able to peep at all. The air from the lungs flew right out of the slice on her neck. The bodies were dragged into the nearest bushes.

"That's the last," Fluttershy said, as she looked into the gap between the trees, where a bit of a camp could be seen. "Whoa, it's been a long time since I've been into something like that... Well, shall we get together with the rest of the team?"

"Of course. Just gimme a sec," the one of her companion replied, as he goes through the pockets of the dead. The other was silently watching. Soon, after the pockets have been emptied completely, they went to others.

"So, everything's ready? We can go to the camp of the deceitful scumbags?" Blood Tree complained. When Fluttershy joined them, the mood of Blood Tree had rocketed.

"Everything is ready. Our not-so-faithful friends are now blind as the kittens," she said. Oak only nodded and went straight in the direction of the camp. When she was looking at it, her face twisted.

"Look! Their protect the whole perimeter, so my idea of double strike is more fitting, that just surrounding the encampment," Oak said.

"That's not important, Oak. Just follow me, we are gonna have some fun!" She screamed and rushed the enemies. The other followed. After that, Oak sighed and sheathed the green horn. When a signal to attack was given, she and Fluttershy followed Blood Tree and others.

When they got into the battle, the campground was turning into a place of great bloodshed. Power of each side was equal, but Oak had attacked suddenly. Many was unprepared for the battle.

The arrows were everywhere. The gang never had enough archers to create an all covering barrage of death, but they actually never need any. One must use all the benefits of the territory, so in the forest, where tree's leaves covers the skies and the trees themselves stood as an insuperable barrier, one should hide and strike when enemy don't see. This time, the strategy worked, though the time of the waiting was rather long.

With a holler, two stallions fell to the ground as two arrows stuck in their necks, blocking the way for the air. Blood Tree growled as her prey was taken away from her, so all the anger was directed at closest enemy. She wasn't even able to do anything, as her head was gone.

Soon, an angered stallion stood in front of them. To her amusement, Blood found in him one of the inheritors. He charged her, but she blocked the hit, though the stallion's maul had caused a lot of pressure, and her crossed blades were at the verge of broking. The next strike was dodged and the blade cut his flank.

Then, he swing his maul... And another time and another. He was swinging non-stop but at each swing, she was just stepping back, so the maul wasn't able to hit her. He was doing that for some time, but then he stopped out of sudden. That surprised her, but the next move was even more surprising.

He bashed her in the stomach with his head. It was a mistake, since a thought of ending the fight quickly crossed Blood Tree's mind. He wasn't even able to get from the strike, when Blood hit him with both swords. Both in the stomach. Then she got both of the swords, from his body and scissored the head off.

Then, the pain of the strike got her, since the level of the adrenaline was decreasing. She didn't do anything about, since she blocked an attack of two handed blade.

She remembered the mare, who attacked her. That was the other inheritor. Blood Tree hadn't any energy to fight the mare.

"You will face that slug, Snow Tree, right now!" She screamed and rushed her. The mare's glance turned from angered one into a surprised one, as the point of an arrow was sticking out of her chest. The body of the mare fell before Blood.

Blood hadn't said anything. Fluttershy had come closer to her. She hadn't reached her, as Blood darted off from her place, took her by the shoulder and made her to duck. The arrow flew over them. Fluttershy hadn't a moment lost and sent an arrow to unlucky archer.

"You'd better watch your surroundings," Blood said. Fluttershy only nodded. Soon, they were going in the middle of camp, but they stopped in the middle of their way. Fluttershy had noticed a very prominent figure. That moment, the figure was pulling out his halberd from the body of a stallion.

"Hans! I'm so glad, you are still alive and well," Fluttershy hollered. The white griffon only nodded.

"I have no time to talk, Flutter," he replied, as he knocked over a mare who rushed at him. The following stallion only got himself dead as the blade of the halberd stood on his way. Then, after getting the halberd out of stallion's body, he dropped it on the mare's spine. Then, another mare fell before him, "Oh, no... No, Unyielding Task!.. You will pay for that!"

"Who?.. There is no one," Fluttershy said. Hans immediately started to look for anyone to get his anger at. Finding none, he understood that the only way was to calm himself on his own. It was hard but he has done it. After that, he saw the everyone heading toward the center. He then grabbed the mare's body and the crushed mask. When he looked at her face, he admitted that actually if it wasn't for that narrow trail of blood, the mare could be assumed to be alive. But when he took off the hood, the delusion vanished. The blood was flowing from the crack on top of her head. He gritted his beak, but stayed calm.

Soon, Fluttershy and Hans were standing before Oak. Actually, many of the gang was standing here, and Twilight with others were here too. That made Oak slightly irritated. "Gather the bodies, guys! I don't wish to leave anyone out here."

After those words, everypony had scattered around. Soon, the mess was cleaned, though the bodies of the traitors were left as they were. Several hours have passed as the bodies were buried. After that, everyone returned to Oak.

"Hmm, a good job. When, we would be on the other side, at least we will be looking in their eyes without worry," she said, as she overlooked everyone before her. "Well, I'm not sure what to say, but... What if we say, that the gang is no more."

As she expected, a lot of outraged bawls were the answer. An outstanding figure of the Hans had come closer to Oak. "What does this means, Oak?"

"It means what it means, Hans. I'm not sure how to restore the gang to what it once was. Even if I try... Even if all of us try, remember that Celestia and her sister could wipe us out like it's nothing. Remember that everything we've made could be destroyed because of those who we allowed to be close to us. There is too many ifs. I... I couldn't," she said to him. "A lot have suffered recently, many have suffered in the past... And, probably, many will suffer in the future. I don't want anything like that." After waiting some moments, she screamed to the crowd, "if anyone of you wants to leave right now, they are free. I don't keep anyone here."

No one had done a single step or a single flap of the wings. Oak was surprised but only a bit, but even more surprised she become after Fluttershy come closer to her and said, "Well, forest keeper Oak, those ponies had given everything they possess for the sake of the gang. They couldn't go anywhere without you."

"What? A forest keeper? But, I'm no..." She tried to object but everyone interrupted her. She had no words left, looking at how everyone wished her to be the leader of the gang. "But, the rules..."

"We're not the one to follow them, Oak," Fluttershy said.

"That's still wouldn't change your mind, Oak?" Blood Tree's question was ignored even though it was unexpected and audible.

"Yeah, it wouldn't," she said.

"Change your mind about what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Her mind about... Something," Blood Tree answered vaguely. Then, she said more specifically, "she's gonna give herself up to Celestia."

Her words got everyone silent. "Yeah, Blood Tree's right. That's why I told ya to go away... Don't worry about me, though. No matter how Celestia despise the outlaws, the only thing she can do to me is getting me into prison cell."

Then, Hans stood before Oak. He lowered his head, and spoke, "well, it was a pleasure to serve you, Oak. I would be looking for a meeting, when you will be out of prison."

"Oh, where are you heading to, Hans?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm heading to Griffonstone and from there I'll go to Griffonia," he answered. "And, if you have nothing to do in the prison, you'd better go somewhere safe or somewhere you can do business. Now, am I right, Oak?"

"Yes, you are, Hans," Oak said. Then, she started to watch the ponies of the former gang. Everyone stood at their places and no one even flinched, but the time passed and first ponies started to chip from the crowd. At first, it was individuals, but then the pairs of ponies started to walk off into the forest. In mere minutes, the big crowd of several hundreds ponies become a little gathering of somewhere like half of a hundred. Hans was the last to go away, and before he was gone, he wished luck to everyone.

"Well, I believe, it's over. Wish you luck too, Oak," with those words, Fluttershy went in the direction of Ponyville. Her friends followed her.

"Yeah, Oak, Blood, all the best," Spear said, while taking dead-like Bright in his hands. Without any words, he goes to the edge of the forest.

Then, the guards, who was in the forest, saw probably the most unexpected thing. Many took it as a wonder. The white flag. Almost all the guards believed that they would kill everyone of the gang, because 'Three Circles' were always showing themselves as someone who goes till the end. No one had ever imagined the gang members to simply give up, especially to Celestia, or in that case to Luna.

Soon, a lot of gossips about it started to crawl over the lands. Not many had a truthful information.

"We heard that rumor, you've spread recently, Code Talker. The others may be fine with it, but we wouldn't mind hearing more accurate version," the pegasus mare asked, while putting the clanking sack before elder stallion. He only smirked and gulped the rest of his fifteen-years-old 'Magnifique'.

"Well, well... Firefly, you still talk of business, as I see... Does this mean that your marefriend, Night Dream, is still talking of nonsense, huh?" Code Talker said, making some of the stallions who had come with Night Dream and Firefly to snicker. Under the accusing glance of Night Dream, the snickers faded away quickly.

"We are listening, Code Talker," Night Dream said.

"Then, listen carefully... Huh, where to begin... Uh, yeah. Recently, a some ponies started to speak of 'Three Circles'. Some said that the gang is dead, the other that the gang is sent behind the bars. After that, many started to retort, since such a gang that has been doing business for fifty years now... But, then I started to dig into the matter and found something... And, it may sound unexpected, but the gang is really behind the bars. What mostly unexpected is the amount of the gang. My sources told me that there in the prison is only fifty ponies. No one knows where the other thousand and half. After that, I tried to dig up deeper, but it was fruitless," He told them, leaving everyone speechless. "Well, you know me, and when I say that my efforts are fruitless, they are definitely fruitless." Then, he stood and headed to the exit. He nodded to the waiter and left the building.

"Your bill," the waiter said, while putting the notebook before them. Seeing no one around to pay for it, Firefly took her wallet. In the same time, she thought that Talker started to become more and more impudent.

"Y'all don't like it here, now are ye?" Applejack asked everyone, as she watched the dusty land behind the glass of the window. Now, after a week since that thing in the Whitetail happened, another thing happened now in the Appleloosa. Twilight and her friends were sent there to solve it.

"We have no other choice, AJ," Twilight coughed the words. Her spell may be cooling off her fur and cloak, but the air still stays dry and hot.

"Don't know, what you two are talking about," Spike said.

"I know that it's really hot in here, but nothing could be done about it, darlings," Rarity said, as she waved the little fan in her face. Then, the train's whistle interrupted everyone's thoughts.

"We are arrivin' soon. Prepare your stuff," Applejack said to everyone, as she started to gather her stuff. Everyone followed her example and when the conductor announced the next stop at the station of Appleloosa, they were packed up and ready to exit the train. When, they exited the train, Applejack quickly looked around, "So, what do ya' think is happenin' over here?"

"Yer arrival's happening," the voice of the stallion with a southern accent come from the side. When Applejack looked there, she saw a very familiar pony.

"Well, Braeburn... Ah haven't been thinkin' y'all of all ponies will be meeting me and mah friends," She said.

"Ah haven't been thinkin' either," He replied. "Well, what are ye here for?"

"Oh, how rude. True gentlecolts never speaks like this around ladies," Rarity noted. Braeburn only raised his eyebrow on this, as if asking 'really?'. Rarity huffed, but continued to speak nevertheless, "we are here looking for a trouble happening in your city... Now, is there any?"

"No, there isn't. We are absolutely fine over..." He was interrupted.

"Oh, Braeburn! Ah've been lookin' for ya for Celestia knows how long! Come, we need to get the saloon's windows repaired and fortified by the noon, so we will have no need to be fryin' under the sun... Oh, Ah haven't seen ye there," a middle aged stallion with a peach colored coat panted, as he appeared behind the back of Braeburn. "Huh, Ah haven't seen you there, ladies. Ah... Applejack?"

"Uncle Hub!" Applejack exclaim and hugged her uncle. "Hey, girls! This here is my uncle, Apple Hub!"

"Wow... Um, it's nice to see your little family reunion, but... We have a task to perform," Rainbow said. Then, she turned to Hub, "We heard you've been dealing with some problems. Can we know what you are dealing with?"

"Problems... Uh, you know, we are dealing with... Buffalos. Their tribes are going wild and no one knows what to do about it," middle aged stallion answered.

"Buffalos?.. Fine, we will deal with them. Girls, let's go," Rainbow said, while taking off from the ground and making a gesture to follow her.

"Ah'll go with ya. Don't wish ye to mess up things," Braeburn said, while taking a step in the direction of Rainbow Dash. Everyone looked at each other and then they looked at Hub. He was slightly irritated but let him go nevertheless.

Soon, they were in the desert miles away from the city. At first, it was a simple walk, except for the fact that the sand always have been sinking under their steps. Though, after sometime it becomes harder since the buffalo warriors were walking from one place to another. It was good that the sands started to become a sandstone and rocks were sticking from the surface here and there. The cousin of Applejack, Braeburn, was walking as if he knew the way, much to the mistrust of everyone.

"Here they are," Braeburn said.

"I see," Twilight said, as she watched the little wigwams in the distance. "What's the plan?"

They've started to whisper between each other. Their hiding spot was good since many buffalos were ignoring their place. But then, the tremendous voice come from behind.

"Hey, you there!" When they looked around, the saw a the warrior of the buffalos. He stood a good head taller than Braeburn, the highest of them. "This is no place for ponies!"

"Oh...Um, the big one... We've came here because there is some... misunderstanding between us, ponies, and your tribe. We are looking for some way to solve them," Twilight explained. The buffalo huffed but spoke nevertheless.

"Come with me. You'll be allowed to speak with chief but don't expect much from it," He said and led them toward the wigwams. They were catching glances, as they walked, but as expected, no one had said anything. As Twilight believed, the buffalo before them had a lot of influence on the tribe.

"Spike, look! Is it me, or those buffalos looks a bit... skinny?" Twilight told to the little dragon near her.

"I don't know, Twilight," Spike replied.

"Chief Thunderhooves! Some ponies were skulking around. I led them here for you to revise," the warrior said, as he stood before another buffalo.

"Hmm, I see," The deep voice of the chief thundered. "What the little ponies wished to do on our ancestors' lands?"

"We... Um, want to know why you are attacking the settlement of Appleloosa?" Twilight told him.

"Why? Hmm..." He lost in thoughts a bit, before answering. "A good question. The answer is... Some ponies are attacking our turquoise miners."

"And you assumed it was Appleloosians?" Twilight said.

"And who else?" Thunderhooves said.

"Tackle and his gang, maybe?" Braeburn said, as he passed an apple to the little buffalo.

"Strongheart? What are you doing here?" He asked question to the little buffalo. But instead of an answer, the realization come. "Wait, you know each other."

"Yeah. Ah've met Strongheart, when Ah was sneakin' upon Tackle's guys," Braeburn explained.

"Well, that's answering the question of why Strongheart have more strength, than others," the chief said.

"Why is it so?" Twilight asked.

"It is so because our food supply is running low. Each year, our crops give less and less products. We have no hope in other tribes, since many of them instead of helping us would make it worse," Thunderhooves told them.

"Why not comin' to us?" Braeburn asked. Thunderhooves only raised his eyebrows, and after that he come to realization.

"Oh... Well, would you consider that when we would deal with Tackle?" Braeburn asked. Thunderhooves nodded and after finding that they have nothing to say to the chief, they left him and soon they left the settlement. On the way to the Appleloosa, Twilight wished to ask Braeburn off but she was interrupted by Spike's chompings. When she turned around, she saw him, eating some turquoises.

"Um... Braeburn. Is that really Tackle, we are looking for?" She said, while returning to her thoughts.

"Hmm... Ah think so, but Ah haven't really checked. He just appeared with a lot of money and then that fella started to spend them on saloon. Ya know, booze, games and girls... Ah've looked after his guys back then and they had some suspicious talkin' and other stuff. Would y'all help me to get more about them?" Braeburn asked them.

"Yes, we will... And, I believe, I know how," Twilight said. "But, we need to talk a bit with this Tackle."

"Well, by this time, he should be at saloon," Braeburn said. When they were there, and they saw stallion, surrounded by two precious mares, Twilight told them the plan. Though, she ended with a thing, suddenly coming in her mind.

"And, girls... The next week," She said, making them asking about the next week. "The Gala would be held the next week." At least, Cadence will be there.

Wait, really? Argh... It's so uncool, I couldn't just pass by...

Hmm, maybe... Ah could get some profit there?

Huh... Well, I wouldn't lose anything by spending sometime around nobles, am I?

Oh, the Gala is no fun... But, that's only without me.

I heard of Canterlot gardens and animals in there. I hope, no one wouldn't mind if I would visit it.

Chapter 12. The night of Gala.

As the evening slowly came instead of the day, Canterlot with the same slowness started to come to life. Grand Galloping Gala might be a one night stand but such an event leads to a whole bunch of other events which were hold by different nobles.

"Guys," Twilight called for her friends, drawing their attention to her. A moment before, they were simply dying from a boredom. Fluttershy was emotionlessly looking into the window pshawing everytime she notice a stuck-up noble. Pinkie was playing with a straw in anyway, she could possibly think off. Applejack was lying on the coach with her stetson covering her face. Rainbow was cleansing her gun, while looking at several hideous looking ponies. In the cafe, they were in, the weapons were allowed as long the ammo and gunpowder is stashed away and no guards were in sight. Rarity was drawing something in her notebook, while from time to time giving some of her attention to Spike."How do you feel about the whole thing? We are in Canterlot, waiting for one of the greatest festivity ever. The one that made all the wealthy ponies from all the Equestria to gather in the city."

"Hmm... You know, Twilight. Back in the childhood, I had dreams to be at the Gala. When I become older, I thought I could afford a visit. But now... I could be one in that crowd over there..." She pointed at the bunch of beggars. No, they actually looked fine, but if a noble would be nearby, the contrast between him and them would be seen with a naked eye. For some reason, Gala actually was magnetizing even for not so rich and wealthy.

"Twi... Ah'm anxious like anyone here," Applejack replied for everyone. It may be rude but no one complained. Nopony had found what to talk about, but soon Rainbow's eye caught something in the crowd of customers.

"Hey... Those are the night guards?" She said, while watching the pair of ponies that's been sitting behind the table next to their own.

"Hmm... It's highly unlikely. Night guards are a few. I believe, those are civilians," Twilight answered. After several minutes of nothing, they started to gather the stuff. Five minutes more and they leaved the cafeteria. As soon, as they leaved, night ponies exhaled.

"That was close," one of them whispered. "Cosmos, it's because of you. Why you were eyeing them?"

"No time for that, Shriek. We can't lose them," the only male bat-pony in their company said, hindering any further bickering, and rose up from his seat.

"But, I haven't eaten my donut," one of the bat-ponies said.

"I'll pay for another one. Let's go," he said, while quickly exiting the cafe. The other followed and only food reminded of them, which was quickly gathered by the cafe worker.

Twilight's friends were heading to the house of Twilight's parents. Parents had already helped and they wouldn't mind to help another time. Actually, when they arrived to the city, they got their bearings to Twilight's parents. Now, when the festivity was soon to happen, Twilight and her friends were preparing themselves at the house. Everything and weapons especially was stuffed in all corners of the house, though Rarity had grabbed some of her knives with her.

Now, they were heading towards their destination. At the entrance, they met the guards, which actually stood rather stoically. None of the girls didn't even receive a glance in the back.

The throne room stood rather empty. An occasional nobles stood here and there, but the most important pony of all of them stood right in the middle of the throne room.

"Cadence!" With that shout, Twilight had ran to the pink alicorn and hugged her as tightly as she could.

"Oh... Twilight, I know you was waiting for that just to meet me... But, you can possibly can kill me right in this place..." She whispered it, but Twilight still was keeping her, though after sometime she released her. "Phew, that's better... Sunshine, sunshine..."

"Ladybugs awake..." Twilight immediately pronounced.

"Clap your hands and do a little shake," they clapped each other's hands, and then shook their flanks.

"Wow, great... The heck that thing was?" Rainbow said, as she looked at the childish play.

"Oh, we just remembered of the good old times together. Now, you are Rainbow Dash, aren't you?" pink alicorn asked. After receiving an approving nod, she continued, "and, you are Twilight's friends. Twilight told me a lot about you. Hmm, that's some fine outfits you wear there, by the way. Who've did those them?"

"Oh, thank you for the compliment, princess Cadence. I'm glad that someone finally had noticed those masterpieces, I've put my soul into," Rarity replied.

"Well, you're just in the wrong company, Rarity," Fluttershy noted. "And, I think they are very lovely."

"Well, no matter," Cadence said. "Rarity, I wish you to do some for me. Can you?"

"Oh, of course. I'll make sure that all of the dresses would simply marvelous," Rarity replied.

"Yes, I believe I can trust you in that case. Especially, since I'll have a wedding in the end of the Spring," she said. Everyone become silent. "Hmm, I was expecting that. Well, Twilight, my dear future sister-in-law, can you guess who will be my husband?"

"Um, I... Wait, sister-in-law? Are you marrying my brother?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. Isn't that great?" Cadence smirked. After that, their conversation continued in personal way, so Twilight's friends got off from the surrounding of two mares.

A surprise it was for Rarity to find only Fluttershy near her. "Where's others?" She asked.

"Applejack and Rainbow go outside to find some space for sparring. Guards must have some. Pinkie... I don't know. I haven't noticed when she had disappeared," she replied.

"Oh... Fine. Let's find some way to... Don't you dare say that you wish to leave me alone," Rarity said, as she looked at the face of Fluttershy.

"I just wished to..." she prattled. "...To go to the garden."

After a pause, Rarity sighed and spoken, "that's fine. You can go wherever you want. I'm not keeping you." Fluttershy wordlessly squealed and ran toward the garden. Rarity only looked at her back mumbled under her breath, "well, Rarity... You're all alone in here at Canterlot Castle with all those nobles from the high society. Now, is that my way toward my dream?.. If so, where do I start?"

She looked around. When she saw the little crowds of nobles chatting between themselves, she started to build up plans in her mind. They broke down when her stomach reminded her of its emptiness with a soft grumble.

"Oh, I believe I'd better get some food. Now, where was a buffet?" She questioned herself, as she wandered through the halls of the amazing views and grand luxury. Stained glass, marble and gold. Statues, columns, drapes and the ceiling which was somewhere up there. This all was mixed with nobles of all the kinds and in all variety of clothes, pompous guards. Here and there, the blots of night guards were scurrying around, though. On that celebrity of colours, their gloominess was off. After sometime, she got to her destination. A long table with all kinds of pastries and snacks.

"Do my eyes playing tricks to me, or such magnificence really standing before me?" The stallion's voice from behind her interrupted her from eating that canape in her hands.

"Oh, mister, I must tell you that I'm as real as you," she breathed out and quickly gulped that canape in one motion. Then, before she turned around, she asked the stallion, "but, I couldn't leave that compliment of yours without attention, Mister..."

She turned around.

"Prince Blueblood. You shall know of that name, since I am the ancestor of ancient unicorn family, which goes into the ages straight to the Princess Platinum. Sister of the Princess Celestia and after the latest events Princess Luna. You probably knew but nevertheless," tall stallion with rich white coat and pompous clothing over the body stood before her. Adorned with so much gold that the costume was almost shining in the castle's lights. "My lady..." He threw a glance to Rarity's palm, which so luckily was turned with backside to him. "...My precious gem, would you like me to show you the castle?"

"...Wow! You all have so amazing adventures together! Just hearing about something like these makes my heart flutter but also imagining you amidst all of these stories," Cadence wandered off. She was doing that since she took Twilight away from her friends, since she was telling of all things happening to her recently.

"Yeah, they all were pretty amazing. You know, this one is pretty amazing too. It's about our last raid on Tackle's guys in Dodge-City. Me, some Apples vigilantes, a local sheriff and his guys. We were stormimg through the coridors, getting these bastard lying on the ground either dead or senseless. Then, that Tackle guy and he got out Applejack, sheriff's guys and was about to get on Apples... But then Pinkie taunted him, and then she somehow fight him back. She and him were fighting like equals. But Pinkie then went all dirty..." She paused, making Cadence lost in guess what trick did Pinkie pulled out. "She shot him. She had the little barrel attached to her glove and managed to not shot her only bullet in the melee fight. Not that this thing was needed, since I was about to blast the guy down, but I'll say they've made quite a show. With not the best ending."

"Oh, so Pinkie can do the melee fighting?" Cadence asked.

"Yes, she can. I'd say more, she have a special combat style," Twilight answered, grinning with a sheer smile on her face.

"Wow, can she teach me? No, I'm not sure, if I will ever use it anywhere. Can she teach Shining? He've been relying too much on his magic recently. Even though, he is only good at shield spells," Cadence asked.

"Hm, doesn't look like him..." She took a pause, and looked around suspiciously. Her ears under a hood widened. "But, nevertheless. Another story... About a zebra in the Everfree. There is a thing about her..."

"What thing we talk about?" Cadence whispered, since Twilight began whispering too.

"She is a slave on the run. And a shaman of her tribe, but she haven't gone through the tribe's ritual, so she don't have any right to be called so. I believe she had ran from Saingal or somewhere..." Twilight was telling story when Cadence broke into the middle of it.

"Saingal? You know, there was a zebrican delegation around a month ago and they were rather sneaky and omnious. I'm not sure what they were speaking off with Celestia and what they were looking for but maybe sla..." Cadence was telling her story and now it was a time for Twilight to stop Cadence before she was able to end a story. Unlike Cadence though, Twilight hadn't blurted something out but placed a palm on Cadence muzzle.

"Someone's ahead. Is it still empty behind the curtains?" Twilight asked. Cadence was about to say something but only noded instead. Soon, the chamber was completely empty.

At first, no one was heard of and Cadence was about to say something but the voices come out from behind the curtains. A sly male voice said, "...They're not sure. Saafdir didn't got any clues on who was able to interrupt our surveys. Unless, you would be satisfied with local's tales of someone called Hope Giver."

"Of course not..." Deep mighty voice answered. Their chatting went on and on. So lucky were Twilight and Cadence since an abyssinian and a saddle arabian stood in front of them. All things they said could be considered, if not outright criminal, then rather suspicious. A unicorn and alicorn may stay in their hideout, listening to their conversations, if not last thing, they said.

"Not so pleasantly..." An abyssinian, Mualim Al-Jafari, said. "But, tell me, Suel. Have you get militia ready?"

"Why, I did of course," Suelmann, tall, muscular and martial saddle arabian answered. "And, you'd better to tell them to strike sooner, since I'm running low on gold."

"Don't worry. Soon, this land will be at our disposal and with land we will have all gold and all mares" A sly voice got a pinch of dreaminess. "Your question is good, though. Uh, tell them to strike at the beginning of the next week."

"Fine. I will give the orders," the other voice huffed. "Pray to heaven, this affaire will successed..."

"You are being too hectic, my friend. Just think of the gold and power we would have... And not only that, but also mares. A lot of mares and... Maybe, some royal mares. Do you want that pink one, huh?" A first one shamelessly asked not really thinking what his question may lead to.

"You told me how much you wanted her. Why you are asking me?" He wondered.

"I just wanted to find out why they call her a princess of love. I believe, it will be simply..." He was answering, when...

"Painful!" Cadence break in.

"Heck!" Applejack breathed out, as her soar body recieved another blow from Rainbow. Another one... Another.

"You wish your body to hurt everywhere? Don't overestimate yourself, AJ," Rainbow taunted. The very moment, Rainbow regretted her words. She was knocked down to a ground. AJ smashed herself into Rainbow's stomach like a cannon ball.

Very soon, a pair of mares was a nothing but a colored pile, which was looked at by everyone in the hall. Only, when the instructor break in, they stopped. Both of them were sent to the bench.

"Gosh, AJ. That was hard. Really hard, argh..." Rainbow whined, as she rubbed her bruised coccyx and butt cheeks, which took all the force of the hit.

"Hah. Well, Ah may say the same to ya, Rainbow. Ya know how to swing that stick," Applejack smirked. Her expression immediately changed to a pained one, after that.

They were about to watch nobles and guards, as they mastered their combat skills, but someone started to clap near them. It got attention of both of them and they turned their heads towards the source. "Pretty rough and but for you it's fine."

"My, my. Solar Lance. Wasn't expecting you here," Rainbow looked over the captain. Gold of his armor basked in castle's lights. A fancy looking of his sight didn't help with sence of danger that appears when one looks in his eyes... Or on two-handed longsword on his back. "Why are you here in the first place?"

"Well, all high ranked guards are called here from all the corners of Equestria. And, since every guard is in here, the most popular outlaws must be here either, so their deeds would be at the minute's notice," He looked at them with trifle of disapproval. A trifle, which disappeared without a trace. His lips curved into a little bow of a smile, as he whispered, "I'm speaking about these arrogant bastards from upper classes, of course."

It was two days ago. It was when Solar Lance revealed his true self.

Rainbow came to Twilight for the next book in the Daring Do's series, which were inculcated to her by Twilight and other admirers. Twilight commented A. K. Yearling writings as 'unscientific fiction... Which still is well written and makes one feel dangers and thrills of adventure!'

When Rainbow came to Twilight's place, she hadn't find Twilight there. Instead, there was Solar Lance and he was reading the book. The book from Daring Do book series. The last one on the current moment. When Rainbow asked about he answered that, he said, "It is the way better then Canterlot's love stories. Trust me."

"Love stories? Hah, where the hell you found those?" She asked.

"Well, I had nothing to do and I found those things. Honestly, I regret that moment." He sighed, and Rainbow laughed the very moment. He looked at her and asked her not laugh. After seeing that his words had no effect, he added, "Well, in Canterlot, you will not find a book that isn't love story or schoolbooks. Everything is censured and if it is not censured then no one needs it and no one sell it. Do you know how I stumbled upon the series? There was some shady dealer, who had a couple of them, and you know, he didn't have the first book in..."

"A shady dealer?" Rainbow asked, though her eyebrows told him she was surprised. "Don't you want to say that all that time you was doing shady business?"

"Did I? Of course, I did. It's not that big in size, as you may believed, though. I know a couple of guys who control over cartels, while I just gather bits from some unhonest Canterlotians," he answered. "If you have a thought to tell that to Celestia, then you'd probably would be believed... And, even if you are, I still have my ways of getting out of the trouble."

He smiled. The smile though made Rainbow shudder and believe in his words. The very moment, the door opened and Soul Flames stood in the door frame.

"Solar? What are you doing there?" He shouted, slamming the door shut. "Were you seducing little mares?"

"I'm not little!" Rainbow complained at the joke about her height, but when she noticed how Soul Flames was smiling and how angrily Lance looked at her, she receded, "He wasn't doing anything like that."

"Oh, yeah. I listen to your every word," he snickered.

When both mares get rid of sore feelings, Rainbow remembered something she wanted to ask for a long time, "Hey, Sol... What's about that combat style, uh... Mordakhu, dormahu, eh..."

"Oh, half-swording?" He bended his mouth in a smile.

"Yeah... Wait, what?!" She stumbled upon the change of word. Lance only smirked.

"Half-swording. Our name for that style. Both gryphons and ponies came with the idea..." He proclaimed. Then, before girls asked any questions, he added, "we fight more effective though, since gryphons are too obstinate to change things that became old hundreds years ago."

"Are you joking? Why lie to us?" Rainbow retorted.

"Oh, did I?" He snickered. Rainbow only frowned even more, so Lance stopped snickering. "Eh, well, I did. I... Uh, I lied. Um, do you need a favor?"

"A favor?" Rainbow immediately calmed down. "Hm, show us more of this combat style!"

"Show you more? Fine, I will. Enjoy yourself," he said and really showed them. He also explained why gryphons were bad at halfswording. He told how gryphons were obsessed with grabling a sword by both claws, how they apply the style only to double-handed swords and also how they were ignoring cross-guard and never use it as a weapon.

"... The only way, they used the cross-guard was when there were a couple of times they caught weapons on cross-guard. Cross-guards may be dulled, I know, but with enough power an additional hole would help with living another moment," he was telling his story while beating a doll with his sword. A stab into a chest, a cross-guard into shoulder and a slash on a side. Next combo starting with an axe-like strike with cross-guard and so on. "Hey, girls. Actually about that cross-guard thingie. When we were in the mines, I've did it and I did it wrong. It's not like..."

"Hey, you!" A bat-pony broke in. "Your presence is needed. Come with me."

"You looks oddly familiar, bat-pony," Rainbow immediately looked at her, not being too offended or surprised by sudden breaking in.

"No time to talk. Go!" She shushed at her and they went. A bat-pony lead them through the hallways and through the crowds of nobles which were in hurry like them. Everyone were heading to the same place. Except one.

The duo and the bat-pony never noticed how they lost captain. He went aside right after Rainbow looked back for him. The well built stallion whenever get to a room with maid's stuff. As he expected, he wasn't there so alone.

"Why, hello there, young lady," he said while the mare before him sent out a ring of smoke. Captain smirked at his companion new trick. "So, what have you done over there that caused such a fuss?"

"Me? I've did nothing, captain!" Mare giggled. "You haven't done anything either, have you?.. But, you are here, still. I'm here too. And that's makes up some thoughts."

"Maybe," captain's smirked. "What's are these thoughts of you?"

"We know each other long enough so we now have some common thoughts. There is one thought we don't share at the moment. Where is my brother?"

"Your brother?" Captain stared at her. Green eyes behind glasses stared back. He felt how they pressed him. He wasn't keeping it long. "Well, my dear detective. Your brother is in Las Pegasus with that mare, uh, Bright Mind."

"Let's hope he wouldn't get into any troubles," Blazing Brush smiled at him.

"Your brother is a fine warrior," Lance said.

"But I still worried," Brush face immediately saddened. It changed the very moment though, and with a neutral look on her muzzle, she looked at him, "Well, wanna go and have a look at thing happening there? I sure want."

"Oh, and how can I say no..." He said, and stepped aside. "Mares are first."

"...And then he hast... Argh, we will never get a hold on the modern language," Luna screamed at what seemed nothing. "Why my sister changed that..."

"Mistress?" a soft voice came from nowhere, as it seemed. For Luna that nowhere actually was in the direction of balcony's door. When she turned in that direction, the look on her face turned to relieved one.

"Oh, Night Storm, our general," she addressed to the air. Soon, out of that air, a night pony popped up, "So, any good news."

A night pony smiled and immediately pull a bottle out of her bag. "You were right about these six. Someone of them really get into an affaire."

"Why, tell us," Luna excitedly looked at night pony and a bottle of wine. A wine, which immediately get Luna's attention since only one glance was enough to made out an estimated price. "You haven't poured in some liqiud in this?"

"How I possibly can, my princess?" Night Storm looked at her with a shocked expression. It changed right after a moment, as she took a sip from a glass, "You wouldn't mind taking a glass of your wine before telling out who was caught."

"We don't mind," Luna agreed with her and watched her drinking wine. "It's pink one, huh?"

"You can't hide secrets from you, right?" Storm looked at her. "It's pink one and she sold some drugs to some dealer... Well, not some drugs and not some dealer."

"Who and how much?" Luna intimidated.

"A green pegasus with red mane and tail. Her name is Tree Hugger and what is strange about her is her demeanor. She acts as if she is high on her own drugs. This requires further investigation, though," she took a sip. "As of the amount of sold drugs, there we found like five full crates. From, what we understand, she had a stash somewhere here which was established before. By the way, the deal was about Night Stars."

"Night Stars..." Luna looked up dreamily.

"Five crates full of dust," Storm added. Luna's face cringed right away. "Yeah, I know. No elixirs."

"No elixirs..." Luna grunted. "These elixirs can really help in interrogation since dream state caused by that elixir twists any action in most terrific way. Just imagine what others will tell right after a minute of such torment."

"Our interrogator causes the same nightmare while speaking with bad guys. The same result and the same time," Storm said with an unsurprised grin.

"But what if you mix these two," Luna tempted.

"Hm, sometimes, her look is enough for other to give away every secret. If we give to that other one that potion, it's one hundred percent win... But, every some captives don't survive the interrogation, so with this potion, we will a way more corpses... Uh, you know, we will do absolutely fine even without these, but thank you."

"And we also have five crates of dust and not extract which is required for potion. I also remember that extract shall be used as ingridient in twenty four hours, or it will be just another just to sell," Luna's mood get down a bit but she still turned to Night Storm. "Why you've come to me?"

"What to do with that drug dealer?" Storm asked.

"We need to expand out network," Luna tell her a solution. General only nodded and disappeared right away. Soon, the door opened and closed, so Luna stood there alone. A knock on the door interrupted that silence.

"Come in," Luna shouted. A guard come in.

"Princess Luna," he said, "Princess Celestia requires your presence. Can you come with me."

"Of course," Luna said and she followed him.

When Luna came wherever the guard was leading her, she stood before quite a scene. A lot of today guests had circled something, and when Luna come closer she found out that this something was a silent staring duel between Twilight, Cadene and two of the foreigners. Guards were holding both pairs from getting closer to each other.

"Sister, what has happened here?" Luna asked Celestia of the situation.

"Look at that couple of foreigners," Luna showed at abyssinian and a saddle arabian both wearing fancy clothes, the design of which catched eyes of night princess. She admitted the possibility of hiding something in them. "They were accused for scheming. Since, they were accused by Twilight, I would be glad to help them, but it can't be that easy, right? With Twilight there is Cadence, so we need someone who could get out of this."

"I see," she looked at the whole situation and head to the empty space between foreigners and unlucky couple. "Don't be that harsh to Twilight, sister."

Celestia didn't answer. Luna however made that to the center and looked at both side of the conflict. Luna had no doubts about a couple of ponies, especially after sensing their feelings of pure anger and indignation. In foreigners she felt mostly the same but she also felt worry. Most importantly she felt every emotion as if it was muffled. Since, she saw clearly that none of them were able to use magic, she understood that they were using some sort of artifacts. She put more strenght in her magic so she could overcome their defence and get into their memories of the past. The magi power increased, increased and increased and...

"Princess Luna!" The scream interrupted her and she wasn't able to even open her eyes when something or someone poke her and she lost control and stumbled. Then, the was another scream, this time full of pain.

Luna opened her eyes only to see abyssinian standing with his back toward her. His fist was aimed for her chest and when he removed his fist, Luna gasped. To his fist, or glove to be exact, a blade was attached. Bloodstained blade.

"Twilight! No!" Cadence rushed to abyssinian and collapsed Twilight. Abyssinian in the same time got both of his hands shot and guards were on the way to pin him to the ground. Before Cadence reached Twilight, abyssinian was already on the ground.

Luna raised from the ground. Seeing no possibility to help two ponies, she headed to abyssinian. "Scheming, right? What exactly?"

"You think, I'll say?" feline replied with a weak voice. Luna didn't like it.

"If you don't want any pain, you'd better tell us everything right," Luna intimidated. It had no effect on him, though.

"I'm not afraid of any pain. Soon, I'll be there where is no pain exist," he said with even weaker pain. He raised his hand, showing a mechanism on his glove. There she noticed a little container. "Not a... Word..."

He giggled, but not for too long. The next moment, he was screeching like he was burned alive, which wasn't too far from reality. Soon, there was nothing but ashes, where Luna noticed an amulet which had a broken gem in it. That amulet is probably what muffles magic.

"Sister," Celestia came to her.

"What of the second one?" Luna asked.

"Dead," Celestia said. She pointed at the ashes, "killed by his own compatriot."

"And, what of Twi..." Luna hadn't said what she was going to say, because...

"Celesti-AHHHHH!" Twilight screamed. She heard a soft murmurs from Cadence and soon she heard Twilight saying, "Oh, Cadence... You're best princess..."

"And, what's the plan," Luna looked at her. She couldn't read anything on her emotionless face.

"Plan?" She looked back. Then, she turned to guest, "I have a plan... Or rather, the ultimatum. Kings of both countries. We've witnessed today that you have no control over your subjects which lead us to this. And I fear to say this, but such insolence is unacceptable. In order to protect my subjects and prevent any aggresive actions we need to take preventive measures against them. You hear me, two kings! I am forced to sent my guards to your lands and follow them in their crusade. As much as I don't like the idea, I need to teach a lesson not only to your nations but to you as well. Everyone one who would resist, will feel the wrath of the Sun, so don't even consider to interrupt us. Till the crusade ends, the country will be ruled by my sister Luna."

With no more words, she went towards the throne room. Luna only gawped already feeling the weight of the oncoming responsibility.

"Ah think, the evening's over," Applejack said.

"Looks like it," Rainbow replied. Both ponies saw what has happened to Twilight and were about to help their friend but Cadence was faster. Now, they looked how Cadence was nurturing Twilight as if she was her mom.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the castle, Rarity was hiding from malevolent prince, whom she find nothing special ever since she read articles in the news. Meeting the prince face to face worsen every impression she had on him. Rarity also witnessed how quite a number of mares were giving the prince some loving stares. He was giving them the same stare back but still was on his search for her.

Even short, but it still was quite a night.

Chapter 13. Enigmatic riddle.

An axe was embedded into a shoulder with quite an ease. And was taken out of there with the same ease. Only to be put into a body again. A different body and different place. A stomach.

A first one who got an axe was a lanky ratling. Before Blaze rushed off to the second guy, a dirty looking earth pony, he threw ratling off to the ground. Till the end of the battle, he was lying there grunting and cursing while the blood was gushing.

The second one wasn't as lucky as his companion. At first, an axe in a stomach which means heavy blood loss from organs being cut. And, secondly, when he ran up to him an archer, the only one in the crowd, shot.

After throwing the body away, Blaze looked around. There on a dirty narrow street different creatures circled them.

They were ambushed. They got into a trap... Or, maybe, they weren't into a trap. Maybe, it was these creatures around, since there was quite a lot of corpses and near dead beings.

Blaze lost his attention for a moment. But, when he kicked someone in the teeth, he noticed something.

Archer... And, he was aiming over him.

Bright... Oh, no! I wouldn't be able to reach her. She... he started to panic. Then, it boomed for all the street. And arrow flew into a wall. A little thud and quite a scream were caught by his left ear.

A glimpse of a body was enough that someone was standing beside him. He turned around only after another boom and a holler. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a newcomer pointing a gun at Bright Mind. Bright was fine though. A bullet killed not his friend but one of these rascals.

"Halt! You'd better stay away!" A newcomer shouted. The voice was of a mare and it sounded like a string torn apart.

"And why would we need to listen?" The bravest one from this mob busted. He even stood in a daring posture. He retreated after a newcomer pointed a gun towards him.

After she holstered her gun, she get another thing. A silver piece of fabric. In a matter of second, every creature in the mob started to talk between each other. Soon, the mob disappeared and all the corpses likewise.

"They are gone?" Bright Mind looked around herself. When she found no one around her, she leave the spear.

"You are right," the newcomer replied. "Come. We need to talk. In a better place."

"Should we listen?" Bright whispered. Really quietly. Newcomer's ear stirred nevertheless.

"You should," she blurted.

"Looks like it," Blaze looked at the figure moving forward. "We don't have a better solution."

The gray figure lead them to a shack on the edge of the town. It was quite modest, with a lot of dust, dirt and there was also cobweb. Blazing Spear and Bright Mind weren't squeamish, though.

"It's not the best apartments in the city," the gray figure told them. She pulled off her cloak and revealed that she also wears mask. Hidden beneath the mask there was a face of a pretty mouse. "I'm Silvia, by the way."

"It's fine, Silvia," Blaze replied. "But... Maybe, we should pay you?"

"Pay? Hmm..." She hummed. "I'm glad to help someone selflessly but actually I might seek some help in the near future... If you help me, I would repay the debt generously."

"Deal," Blaze agreed. Then, looking at her, he opened his mouth again, "If that wouldn't disturb you."

"Helping others couldn't be disturbing at all. My uncle made sure I wouldn't have a single thought like that one."

"Not a single thought? Hmm..." Now, Blaze hummed. "Who he was?"

"My uncle," mouse looked into nothing before returning to Blaze and Bright. "Well, then, have a sit for I will tell you a story of Silver Mouse, the defender of poor and innocent. A hero, who..."

"... Possess an imaginable power. Power, that bend the reality itself. If we set him free, he will help us to take over Equestria," a figure under the black hooded robe giggled. An echo sent his words flying throughout the crystalline caverns, meanwhile his finger dashed through the papers of the book. "Do you understand what we try to accomplish here?"

"We do," a little crowd of unicorns, all of whom were dressed in the same gown as their leader. Well, not exactly the same, since some of them had been dressed in expensive looking robes adorned with different accessories, while other had coarse looking cloaks with motley patches. Nevertheless, after they replied, they scattered around the caverns.

Leader meanwhile turned to other unicorn, who stood beside him, "Eerie Voice! Make sure these imbeciles do what they supposed to do."

No matter, how he was displeased with everypony around him he still admitted how much efforts and funds other put into their case. Especially, Eerie Voice and Pickaxe Strike. Now, only thing he should do is to wait.

After several hours, everything was done. After all preparations, leader now stood before the ritual drawing. He admitted every single flaw of it but after a simple check, he made everyone to start the ritual.

In the process of the ritual lines of the drawing were starting to glow and they also started to reform, fixing all the flaws.

In middle of the ritual, a gem in the middle of the drawing started to fly and at then it started to glow. At the end, when everyone, except the leader was at the edge of falling without sense, and the stone was filled to the brim with magic, it started to shoot with magic. All the magic arrows were pulled to the earth.

After some minutes of filling the drawing and the gem the ritual ended. The gem with clanking sound fell to the ground. Leader's followers did the same. Leader though stood before the drawing and before the creature.

The creature was weird, if not calling abominable. A fine piece of attire was looking fine on him, since it matched the common... mismatching. The body of the creature was patchy. The left hand was actually a gryphon's talon, while the right was muscular, with claws and the end of each appendage and actually reminded of abyssinians. And, that was just hands. All his body from the tips of two different horns to his toes and the end of his snake's tail that had a little tassel. If it was all, but the creature also floated over the absolutely clear ground, while all his attention was on the gem.

Hmm... And what I have been expecting from a demon? Leader thought to himself after some seconds of observing. "Well, demon! What of the deal?"

"A deal?" the creature said inquiringly but when he understood what he said, he turned his head to him. "A demon?! Huh, I think I need to be reminded of what I wrote in that book. Would you?"

"Well, this book said that there is a mighty demon from deepest pits of the Tartarus. Here is some several rituals and this one have summoned you," leader showed him the book. "It also says you are all-powerful and you will be grateful to whomever would summon you."

"Ah, that's the case, isn't it..." Demon looked at him disappointedly. "Well, do I look like some genie. Some blue ghost with bare chest. A ghost who makes wonders with the snap of fingers."

He snapped. And disappeared.

"Well, no!" he said from somewhere behind. When leader turned his head, he saw that every single detail the creature have spoken of was actually there, on him. He disappeared. "I'm someone else."

He appeared by his other shoulder. His appearance turned to the old one. "No! I'm not!" He stood before him. "I am Discord! Lord of All-Consuming Destruction and Bloody Madness!.. Wait? Or was bloody Destruction and all-consuming Madness?.. Nevertheless! I'm free and I shall be grateful... There is something behind that door. Bye!"

Right after he disappeared, the door burst. "Lunar guards! Open up!"

When he understood that he was lacking magic energy and actually was very exhausted, leader fell to his knees. And what have I just did?

"Look thoroughly!" Luna gave orders in Royal voice. Everypony around her was in hurry. "That foul demon shan't do a single thing in our kingdom!"

"Were you calling for us?" Twilight asked as she passed through the archway. Her friends followed right after her.

"I did!" Luna turned to them and dropped all the force of her magic enhanced voice on Twilight's ears. "Oh... Sorry."

"Well, since it's you who assaulted our ears, we would dare asking retribution," Twilight said and rubbed her ears. "So, what's up?"

"What's... Up?.." Luna mumbled, savoring the new phrase to her. "Uh, so, let's me to show rather than say."

She teleported herself and Twilight's company to somewhere. Twilight immediately noticed the little beacon's sigil under them. Before them, however, was a single bat-pony who was looking at the window before him.

"Is this an interrogation room?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It is," the bat-pony answered, and before him was a window that lead to a room which looked indeed like an interrogation room.

"Unicorn before you was caught this morning. It's not clear but he says he summoned some demon in Equestria. We would highly respect if you find out the truth behind it," Luna said.

"Why ya haven't used that fancy magic of yers?" Applejack immediately noticed and retorted.

"Oh, we... Find out that we actually can't perform our mental magic. There is some sort of the block," Luna replied.

"Block? That's not too advanced for some demonologist?" Twilight said. "And against princess magic? Well, I'm thrilled. Let's get into this!"

"If you haven't noticed yet, the room has too little for everypony. Only two in the room," Luna pointed out, so with Twilight entered only Rainbow.

"Wow! We really here interrogating villains like in Daring Do books?" Rainbow gleed. She bend over the table in front of chained unicorn. "Where were you yesterday at five p.m.?"

"Ugh, Rainbow A. K. Yearling never wrote a detective story in Daring Do series," Twilight said and Rainbow turned to her right away. "That book wasn't part of Daring Do series and is a side-story which was written by someone else. You know what Yearling said about it. She said it's the worst detective book she had ever read. And let me be clear: she had read a lot of them. She said herself that she is a fan of Canon Daily and that griffin, eh... Hagatha Christen."

"Oh, uh, you know... That book actually was actually boring. I- Uh, I actually haven't read the half," Rainbow stuttered.

"If you say..." Twilight sighed. She sat on a chair in front of the unicorn afterward. "So, let's begin again. Your name? What's your name?" After some time of silence, she continued. "You aren't a talking one, yeah? You aren't mute by the way?"

"Spell Nexus. My name is Spell Nexus," unicorn looked at her with his eyes of pure aquamarine, which reminded Twilight of Nightmare Moon for some reason.

"So, Spell Nexus..." Twilight made a pause for a brief observation. "They say, you've summoned some demon here into Equstria. Is that true?"

"That is," He answered but not right away.

"So, demon... What is his name?.. Or her, perhaps?"

"Discord. His name is Discord."

"Discord then..." Twilight paused for a moment. "So, uh... What was his appearance? Anything particular... He hasn't looked like a pony?"

"No!.. No, it wasn't. It was... Anything, but the pony..."

"Oh, that's interesting. So, how you've come across with that Discord?.. Maybe, you had a dream or something?"

"There was a book... About him and written by him."

"There is a book..." Twilight took another moment. "So, can you tell us where it is. I would like to have a look."

Before answering, Spell was taking a little pauses, but this one was longer. "It's... It's gone, as far I remember. At least, before lunar guards took me and my assistants, I looked at the chamber we were in. I've noticed that something was amiss. With the ritual gem, the book was also gone."

"So, the book is gone?" Twilight looked suspiciously at him, which confused Spell for a bit. "Or, it isn't? Maybe, you are just hiding it, because of something particular which isn't allowed for the little like me and Rainbow, huh?"

"What?" Spell's face immediately reddened. "Of course, not! I'm not hiding it anywhere!"

"So, the book is gone... But maybe you left some notes?"

Spell's face lost a shade or two, as realization was coming to him. "Notes?" He grunted. "Well, you are in luck. I actually made some."

Twilight was about to shoot another question but was interrupted by Luna. "Your opponent don't resist in the finest, as we see."

When she looked in the direction of the voice, she saw princess. What she hadn't seen is the door and window, which literally weren't there. Only then she noticed that the room was practically a trap, with no ability to exit.

I should be more careful next time, she said to herself. To Princess Luna, she said, "In his situation, it's a wise decision ."

"Maybe," Luna replied. "In any case, we've came to tell you that the demon was sighted here in the castle."

"Oh, and what's the plan?" Twilight asked.

"We don't know of demon's powers, but with a mental block like that, we suggest you to use Elements of Harmony," Luna replied.

"Oh, fine," Twilight agreed with her, but then something came to her mind. "Hey, Princess Luna, eh... It's just, you are an almighty alicorn. Wouldn't you be able to seal that demon off?"

"Oh, that's quite a question... As much as we'd like to be able to fight demons alone, but that's not possible unless it's some lesser minions but the presumed power which that demon possess, leave us to no choice but to have you use the artifacts." Luna answered, making her position clear. Right after that, she made a logical addition, "Also, in a situation, you and your friends are in, it would be a wise decision to solve any troubles of royalties."

"Well, unless it's some dirty or insignificant work, I think we will do that," Twilight here also agreed, but then noted, "I'm not sure, though, if Celestia would ever give us an amnesty..."

"Maybe, someday it will change," Luna shrugged. "Well, let me lead the way."

And she led. The hallways went on and on and Twilight had troubles with recognizing the path and the place of their destination. When they came to stop, Twilight hardly remembered anything, so she wasn't ready when the walls revealed a archway leading to dimly lit room. She was expecting something like that though.

After a minute, which Luna take to get the Elements and then they come into a place where the demon's presence was noticed.

The living quarters haven't changed a bit and stayed the way as Twilight remembered them... But only if you expel flying furniture and food.

"That's... Interesting," Twilight mumbled.

"Oh, thank you for compliment," the voice replied, which took everyone aback. Meanwhile, some gryphon from the stained glass of window changed his posture. "I haven't put my best efforts into that, though."

"So, you're that fool demon, summoned by Spell Nexus!" Luna immediately proclaimed, pointing at stained glass.

"Oh no, don't use your cruel magic on a weak demon such as I..." the gryphon yelled at her, but the image quickly turned to one that was before. "... Or your magic might lead to this!"

This time, words came from behind and when they backed up a little bit.

The gryphon from before was now here in a stone. His half, at least. Which was sticking out of the wall with talons trying to grab them. Talons stopped to move when everyone was looking at statue. The whole statue then started to move into a wall.

"Those faces... Absolutely hilarious," The demon, now in his true mismatched form, was laughing his lungs off, while the body float over the ground. "And I just froze myself in a stone."

"You dare to make fun out of us?" Princess immediately burst with feeling, mostly with anger and indignation. "Twilight, get this bastard to where he belong. Now!"

Twilight already was on a way getting her Element to work. When her friends put their necklaces where they should be, she hold her diadem in hands, not mentally fitting with wearing a sign of royalty. Not now, she thought to herself.

And they gone through familiar feelings. World around become more and more insignificant and then nothing, while Twilight had the spell to fill.

Meanwhile, the rainbow cocoon shot with a little magic ray. "How... Interesting," creature mumbled as the ray reached him. "That's quite familiar energy."

Then, a bigger ray not only hit him, but it created a colorful whirlwind which hid him from the other world. The same thing happened with Twilight and her friends.

A minute or so and Elements landed. The demon stood in his whirlwind for a little bit more time, but then...

"Nice try," demon giggled. "I must tell your artifacts quite interesting, though, and I fear, I can't give something like this. But, still... Catch."

He throw something but it flew like bullet. No one was able to catch it and when it landed, no one had a wish to touch that something, which was a bomb. A bomb that had original upon impact.

Well, it was obviously an explosion. An explosion caused magical surge. Magic wasn't hurtful as ponies believed. Instead it made them to teleport uncontrollably throughout the corridor.

When it ended, everypony were wobbly but still on the ground. Twilight however find herself touching ceiling with her nose.

Oh, crap! Twilight cursed by herself as she came to her senses. Argh, so we have wall, light, glass... Stained glass. Something strange...

"This demon will pay greatly for that trick," Luna growled as she dusted herself. "By the way, nice composition."

"Uh, Princess..." one of the maid pointed at the stained glass. "These weren't there this morning. It's... It was made by demon..."

By demon? She looked at three pieces of glassy mosaic. Let's look at this composition as whole. Three pictures. Different heroes: a crowd of ponies, a gryphon king and diamond dogs digging the ground. Is it about wealth? It's quite a lot of gold in here... Nah, he isn't into that. But, maybe... Wait, not only gold. There is, uh... Gems?.. Wait, gem-gem-gem, hmm. Nexus said something about gems... Uh, he said one was used for summoning.

"I understand! We need to find that gem Nexus was speaking of," Twilight blurted out an idea that came to her mind. Which was right, since...

"Ah, a clever girl. I like that," voice of the demon flew through Twilight's ears. "You don't have a clue as to where the gem is, though."

"And, where to find that gem of yers, Twi?" Applejack asked Twilight as if no one had said anything which give Twilight a shudder.

"I think, I know," a bat-pony, that came right in time to give an insight. "Mistress Luna, the demon was observed in the castle's library."

They've followed that bat-pony right to the library, where they find demon... Peacefully reading a book, while sitting behind a desk. All things float in the air, though, and he flew higher than before. If he was at six inches over the ground, now he was somewhere like five feet. So, when he raised his head, he looked at them from above.

"A foul demon..." Luna was about to shout at him, but she rudely interrupted by demon's magic.

"No sound in the library," he tossed away any night guards with magic, while demanding silence. "If you have not read the rules... Then, don't worry. I haven't either."

"You will pay for that," Luna said through the teeth, as she casted away her magic.

"Catch me first," He said and vanished out of the seat. The table float there for a minute and then flew... But, not down but towards the princess. After table bashing Luna's shield, library came alive.

Books were flying at ponies, but after hitting a pony they stopped any further assault. Night guards were looking after each book lying on the ground though.

Twilight was also fighting off every book with her magic, but no matter how hard she was fighting books were increasing their onslaught. Eventually she skipped a book, which slapped her hard with its binding.

After that books eased their strike and soon it come to an end.

"It ended?" one of the bat-ponies asked.

"It looks like it," Applejack replied. Then, she turned around, "Twi! Are ya fine?"

"Probably," Twilight grunted, as she touched her bruised noise. When she opened her eyes, she looked at the first line. ...criminal always returns to the place of crime.

"Catch me," Luna mumbled. "I will catch you, just tell me where you are."

Where you are... Wait, criminal, place of crime... Twilight feverishly thought and then turned to Luna. "I think, I know where he is."

"We listen," Luna looked at her.

"Let's look the place of crime," Twilight said and Luna bowed a eye brow in incomprehension. "That place, where demon was summoned."

Luna turned to one of the bat-ponies. He smirked and made a gesture to follow him. After some minutes of walking, they've get to crystal caverns beneath Canterlot. Soon, they have come across a door.

"In that room, we found a Spell Nexus and others... But it closed, darn it," he swore as he looked at the door. "I've been thinking about that I forgot something."

"I don't think like its needed," Twilight disagreed with him and stood before the door. She pulled the door handle and the door opened. Twilight hadn't put much force, so the door opened only for a bit.

"What the..." A bat-pony was about to swear again, but Twilight went on with her observation.

"I also don't think that key is required now," she said. "There is no lock here, look."

"It's open," Rarity stated.

"And very welcoming," Twilight said as she peered into an absolute darkness behind the door.

"So, who's first?" Rainbow asked.

"I will be," Twilight said and stepped into nothing. "Follow..."

"Twi!" Rainbow screamed as the door closed behind Twilight.

"The door is closed," now, the bat-pony stated. "Will your friend do what she wanted?"

"I'm not sure," Rainbow said. "That's why we need to get there."

While other were readying themselves for breakthrough, Twilight get into a big room, where she found... Herself. A lot of her. A lot... of her reflections.

The room was full of mirrors. As she walked forward, she was noticing more and more and what is quite unnerving about these mirrors was that that these mirrors were moving making their mirror sides looking towards Twilight.

Suddenly, she felt a weird sensation. Not even turning her head towards that direction, she shoot with a ray of raw magic.

"Wow. I didn't even tell you the rules of this trial and you still managed to pass," a demon came to existence and get his hand over her shoulders. "Have I said, you are clever girl?"

"Yes, you have," she said. "So, let's end with this now... Please."

"Oh, and polite, even," he said. "My heart just melted. Wanna be my fiance?"

"Nah, don't think so..." She immediately rejected. Then, she looked at him, considering her thoughts, "at least... You know, you'll get out of this world to wherever you are from, so it's a dead affaire."

"Well, at least, I tried," he sighed. Then, he got to a broken mirror, restored it and get a almost perfectly egg-shaped gem. The mirror was identical to others but unlike the other from time to time its reflection distorts and deforms making the normal reflection crooked. "Hey, maybe, if not my fiance, then my partner. You have wealth and knowledge and I got that beautiful gem, huh."

"I feel tempted..." Twilight honestly replied. "But, I can't believe a demon like you, can I?"

"To a demon, you can't," he said. "But let me tell you something. I'm not a demon. I'm something else."

"And what exactly this something else must be?" Twilight looked at him, not very confident with what demon have in his mind.

"Oh, you know," He held a pause there. "That shall be my secret, for which I will grant you with two solace prizes. You already have that gem for passing two of my trial so I give a possibility to ask two questions before we pass to that part where I'm sent to wherever I've come, as you said."

"Two questions, huh?" She looked at him quizzically, so he nodded in reply. "Well, you're not going to tell me who are you so tell me your name at least."

"Oh, that's easy," he smirked. "I've got many names but they call me Discord."

"Discord," she looked at him, making up the second question. "Hmm, you said two trials, but there was more. Why?"

"That's even easier," he grinned. "First one was one with mirrors. The other was now when you rejected both of my offering even being affected by my magic."

"By your magic?" She looked at angrily. In her sudden outburst, she crushed the gem she held in her hand.

"Oops, sorry then," he apologized. It did nothing with the sound of tearing fabric, though. "For this fact getting out of the box - here, another prize." He give her a little cube, a little big bigger then a rolling dice. "If you pass everything in there, you will learn, you will learn who I really aaaaa..."

"Twi, are ya fine?" Applejack worriedly asked, as she and other entered the room. The door opened on its own after Discord disappeared.

"Yeah, I'm," Twilight said. "Let's get out of here.

"And what you should be?" Twilight said, residing at her place in Ponyville. A comfy and not that old armchair in the basement. And strange, enigmatic box. Twilight must solve the riddle behind it.

"A piece of a riddle, you are," she examined the box. The upper part of the cube had a button, which Twilight, having no other choice, pushed.

The button disappeared after she pushed, but then it get bigger, started to glow and float. Actually, it stopped and then an upper part shot with a part of it. When, Twilight looked at it, there was a bird-shaped slot. She looked at the parts that shot out of the box, and she saw different parts that were colored differently.

After some minutes she understood what she needed to do. She got these parts in the slots and when the last part get in... Nothing happened.

"What?!" She looked at the mosaic. One of the triangle had a free space in there."Are you serious?! Is these even possible?"

After some more she actually came with another way to solve that riddle. That time it actually had no free space. The box buzzed, the mosaic became a part of the box and then it float. It shone and then it shot with two sheets of paper and the pencil.

"Another one? Let's see."

Prologue. Those under the hoods.

The day in the Equestria was beginning. Sun was rising and birds with other critters were awakening. The same goes for ponies. As always, they did everything gradually. Not everyone though.

The story begins on a dusty road at the south of a village called Ponyville. Over there, two lonesome figures were slowly making their way to a forenamed village.

A tall figure and a small non-pony figure. Both of them under the dark cloaks, but the little one had his hood thrown back. An uncoverd head showed that the this was a little drake. He was mere three feet at height, even several inches shorter. The taller figure was hidden under the hood and the clock but the purple hands of the figure held a map.

"Hey, Spike," the taller figure said, turning his head toward the smaller figure, "After twenty minutes, we'll be a town of Ponyville."

"Um, a very... original name," he said. After some moments he asked a question that bothered him for some time, "Twi. Do you think that... our friends were honest with that that the Ponyville village is really a good to place to hide? It's so close to Canterlot."

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight said. "But they have no point in lying to us."

Twilight started to think over the matter. Spike in the same time only sighed. He wasn't too keen on the idea of trusting to the bandits, but they had no alternatives. How our lives could be if Twilight didn't drag those books into the Canterlot's castle? he mentally asked the question, that he has been asking for some time. If she didn't have those books then we will probably have a warm bed, a good food and a lot of money, we could spend on everything we want to. Instead of that, we are sleeping anywhere we are able to sleep and sometimes we aren't sleeping at all. We are eating everything that is edible, and counting every little bit we have...

"Hey, Spike," The train of Spike's thoughts have been stopped when Twilight called him. "Didn't you forget what I said to you about behavior when we are in town, did you?.. If you did, then let me repeat: don't draw too much attention to us, don't try to speak much to the locals before we get along with them, and of course don't speak with guards. Don't even get yourself spotted by them."

"Yes, yes. "Don't try to speak with locals before we get along with them"," Spike parodied Twilight. The sentence didn't get away from Twilight ears.

"What have you just said?" Twilight asked him, even though she heard what Spike said. Then, with a sigh, she said. "Spike, I just want to be sure, that you will be fine. I'm perfectly capable of standing for myself, but not you".

"Yeah, I know, Twilight... I know," Spike said, completely ignoring Twilight's words about his inability of standing for himself.

After some time of walking, Twilight stopped as if she'd stumbled upon an invisible obstacle. She turned her head to her right, glancing to the nearby bushes.

Spike, who walked by the side stopped in the same moment. Throwing a glance toward the greenery to the right, he asked. "Is there a trouble?"

"Probably... Not," Twilight replied, looking precisely into forest. "I just... There was someone, I just lost their tracks... It's probably better to follow them. Who knows, maybe they would be blabbering about important things?" She suggested, while getting closer to the edge of the forest.

"Now, Spike," Twilight continued. "I've found them. Two ponies ahead. Pegasus and earth pony, and they are increasing distance between us. It would be better to follow them, if we want to catch them up."

After this words, Twilight put off her map into dimensional pocket and quickly ran into the shrubbery, Spike not that far away. They immediately muffled their steps, though their stealth wasn't perfect, but for them it was enough.

"Over there," she whispered loudly, while pointing somewhere forward. "They're over there, somewhere like one hundred and fifty yards or something like that. Remember, Spike, move quietly and don't draw any attention. We don't know if that's an ambush."

Spike slightly nodded, while memories drawed a picture in his consciousness. Back at Canterlot, they were caught in a rather tricky trap. She and Spike were packing their stuff and was readying themselves for a trip to the Baltimare with ponies from the Syndicate*, all thanks to her brother, Shining Armor. The spell showed that in the place where they and Syndicate's intermediaries supposed to meet was only two persons. Those two and another dozen of ponies, that were hidden from her spell, were guards.

*(A bit of a history: Syndicate is a gang, which is everywhere in the Baltimare and some other cities. They lives like royalties, and everyone else is under their hooves. Their words are the law. Their deals are untouchable... But, those days are in past. Now, the mates are at each other's throat, and who knows who will get out of the whole thing.)

It was a great fortune that Firefly and Night Dream were nearby. There was a rule that Syndicate's members are not allowed to have a business with anyone who connected to royalty. That rule saved a lot of lives of Syndicate's members centuries ago. Now, not that much of ponies remembered those rules, but Firefly and Night Dream did. They got them by surprise, put all the contracts on fire and disappeared into the darkness with Twilight and Spike.

After that, they worked a bit on Syndicate or Firefly and Night Dream to be more precisely, since they had a debt. It was... an interesting time to say the least. That was a long time ago but the memory still fresh in mind.

"Twilight, isn't that a hidden pathway, we're going on," Spike said, interrupting Twilight from her thoughts. Twilight immediately looked down to the ground, and indeed there was a narrow pathway between bushes. There was different hoofprints on a ground. Some were old and unreadable, other were fresh but all prints were mixed so it was impossible to read them. At least, both of them didn't have enough experience in tracking.

"Yes, it is," Twilight stated while watching hoofprints thoroughly. "And, by the looks of it, this pathway is being used for a long period of time." Then, she looked forward, while checking her spell. "They're not far from here. Actually they're right after those bushes, and for some reason, they have stopped."

"An ambush?" Spike guessed.

"I don't know, but it would be better to have a look," Twilight said, closing the distance between her and the bushes, she pointed earlier. The scene before her wasn't the one she expected.

"Oh, crap... Ah swear, that Flutter's gonna kill me someday," an orange earth pony said, while coughing her lungs out.

"Probably," a blue pegasus mare, who was standing to the side, chuckled. After sometime, an earth pony stopped coughing and managed to stand properly. "Now, come on, take these bags and move. If nothing happens today, then I will probably take a nap."

"Ya having quite a lot of those naps, ya know?" An earth pony snarled, while taking two bags, that lay on the ground, in her hands. Twilight was impressed with a mare's strength. She had seen quite a lot of earth ponies carrying heavy things, but that mare not only was carrying heavy sacks, but also was wearing armor. It wasn't magic or steam powered exoskeleton, so there is no power boost from the armor. Instead, she wore the plate armor that was quite old and patched up, who knows how many times. By the looks of it, it also weighs a lot

"Yes, I do. You know, how much of energy..." But Twilight didn't hear the last words. Mares have gone forward.

"Well, shall we follow them, Spike?" Twilight said to the little dragon that was standing to the side.

"As if I have any kind of a choice," Spike replied, already knowing that there is no point in trying to convince Twilight in doing otherwise.

Chapter 1. Welcome to Ponyville.

Two of them have been following those mares till they reach the edge of the forest. Twilight have been thinking that those mares were from Ponyville, and mares have confirmed her guesses. Another question is what have those mares doing in the southern part of Everfree forest. Something tells her that, it wasn't quite... lawful.

Some of the information, they give were useful. They mostly spoke about common and useless stuff, but a portion of their personal information except the names were being told from time to time. And from time to time they spoke about Ponyville's residents.

There wasn't a word about that Flutter, an earth pony had mentioned, but they've talked a bit about somepony called Rarity. Based on their words, that pony is a dealer, and have contacts in several cities of Equestria. It's obvious that her clients aren't the most... honest ponies in Equestria.

There is also somepony called Pinkie. She was a dealer like Rarity, but unlike her, Pinkie have a certain reputation in the town. Twilight had no idea what reputation they were speaking about, but definitely not the good one. A quick mental note in Twilight mind said that, it would be better to be cautious when she would meet that Pinkie.

Their ways have gone apart, when they reached the edge of the forest, so now Twilight and Spike were heading to the village. The other two mares have quickly run through an empty plain, toward an apple orchard that could be seen from Twilight's spot.

The village was to the left not that much faraway. It took them several minutes to get into town's boundary. The village was rather typical, unless it was quite big for a village. Also, her eye got a glance on the architecture. There wasn't anything about houses in general, but several of them were quite catchy.

They have chosen the circular route when they started to walk through the city. They started from the eastern part and go from there to the north and from the north to the west. The ponies they met on their way were rather calm about a new folks in town. Maybe, a bit welcoming.

On their way, they went past the huge tree in the middle of the road, and bakery that looked like one big pastry.

Practically at the end of their walk, when they've been walking through the market, they had met, probably, the most weirdest resident of a town. Met in a rather close meaning of a word.

They've been walking past the many trading booths that's situated to the south, when something pink have crushed into her side. Twilight didn't keep herself on her two feet, and fall to the ground, with all the sudden extra weight.

"Whopsie, didn't see you there, sorry," pink earth pony apologized, while getting on her feet. Soon, she looked down and lend her hand to Twilight. "Here, take my hand."

When Twilight have rised from the ground, a pink pony continued to speak in a rather rapid manner, "hey, you're a new in a town. I've never seen your faces before, and believe me, I know everyone in this town. And, you know," she said, while taking a quick glance at Twilight and Spike. "Something just tells me that you need a proper party so that you can become acquainted with the town and it's residents... Yeah, I believe that's what I'm gonna do, so get to go, bye."

"That was... weird," Spike said, while watching the back of a pink pony fading into crowd. When the pink pony was nowhere to be seen, he turned his head towards Twilight. "Hey, Twilight, are you fine there?"

"Yes, Spike, I... I'm fine," Twilight answered, while dusting herself. "If that is Pinkie, then I understand why those mares didn't want to have a business with her. She, probably, have unsuccessful deals, or..." She paused, while quickly checking pockets of her outfit. "Or, her clients are walking off with empty pockets..."

"Wait, did she robbed you?!" Spike was amazed with such insolence. How was she having her deals if everypony's being robbed by her. And no one, cares about her thievery?"How?"

"I don't know, but don't worry," Twilight said. "There is only holes in my pockets, and my purse is gone, but there wasn't much in it."

"How much?" Spike asked.

"Actually, there was nothing. That purse was completely empty..." Twilight answered. "That purse was more like a memory. I didn't use it much. It's more about my pockets. It's highly likely that I will find where to use them, so, let's find somewhere to fix them," Twilight said to Spike. Then, she turned around and went down the street. Not for too long, though, since she asked the first pony about the way.

"Hey there, we are new to this town, so we don't know the place yet, and I have kind of trouble." Twilight asked a cream colored earth pony mare with dual colored mane, that have been wandering about. When the mare turned her head, she continued, "Is there someone who can patch up my clothes?"

The mare chuckled, but answered, "Well, then you'd better go to the Rarity's Carousel boutique. It's in the end of this street down this road. Don't worry about missing the building. It's quite memorable."

"Oh, fine, we will go then, thank you" Twilight thanked the mare.

"You're welcome," the mare said.

And now they've been standing at a front door of a boutique. The mare was truthful in her words. The Carousel boutique wasn't a building to miss. A master in the architecture from a big city wouldn't call a building stylish, but for Ponyville's level, it would be absolutely fine. A round shape of a building combined really good with showcases' locations all around the building. Watching the dresses on the mannequins makes head dizzy since one must go around the building to see them all. Also, the purple and white colors of the building combined with each other pretty well.

A voice of a mare come from behind the door, when Twilight knocked on it. "Yes, I'm coming, darling or darlings." Then a unicorn mare opened a door. "Come in, my dear customers. What can I offer you."

"Well, uh, you are Rarity, yes?" After a nod from Rarity, she continued. "My cloak have pockets here, here and here, and as you can see, there is holes in each one of them. I would like you to sew them up." She said, while showing her black cloak to Rarity. "So how much does it cost?"

"Three bits for one pocket, so nine bits in total..." But then she stared at her more precisely. "But you know, I will do that for free, if you get a certain package to one of my friends. So, what do you say?"

"Let me get my... Wait, what did you say?" Twilight already move her hand forward, so bits may fall in her open palm from a dimensional pocket, but when she heard her offer she put it back. She wasn't greedy, but nine bits is nine bits. She for herself have two hundred of them, and based on prices even in such a remote place like Ponyville, every bit was very valuable, and that if not taking into the account all the bribes and other... investments.

"What you heard," she answered while keeping her eyes on a Twilight's cloak, as if she was curious about material, but Twilight understand that it wasn't like that. "So, It's money then, Darling."

"No, no, I don't meant it, I..." She panicked a bit, but quickly take herself in her hands. "I... Let me take some time. I would like to discuss things with Spike."

"Spike? Who is him?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, Spike is my son," Twilight answered.

"Son?.. Oh, fine, I will wait for you," Rarity said and went to the back of boutique, while Twilight exited the place. She immediately found Spike, and told him to look after Rarity and her cloak, while she was going to someplace else. She also told him that Dusk will be there either, having his eye on him.

Spike becomes strained in a moment, but gets more relaxed when he heard that Dusk's going to look after him. "So, Dusk will be there if she try something to do to me?"

"Yes, he will..." Twilight answered, while looking all around. "If only I find that feathered meat bag." Then, she closed her eyes. She stood like that for some time, while making Spike uneasy again.

Spike's worries gone quite fast when he heard familiar voice. Twilight's familiar's voice. "Hey, Spike, what's up, friend?!" The voice in Spike's head ranged.

"Hi Dusk. All's fine. So, how are you?.. And, where are you?" Spike's mentally said, while he was turning his head from one side to other.

"Over here. No, not there. Turn your head and... Oh, Twilight's awake." Dusk's hoarse voice have been ringing in Spike's head as he have been trying to find where's Dusk.

"Spike! I go to that Rarity's friend. Stay here with her. Dusk will be here for you, so don't worry about yourself."Twilight told Spike what to do. "Now... I missed something... Oh, yes. The package! Now, Spike, I will go get that package to this friend. Find a thing to enjoy yourself, and remember, don't highlight your true self." And with these words she walked in the boutique, making sign for a Spike to come in.

"Rarity, where is the package? I will get it to that friend's of yours," She shouted into the depth of a boutique. Rarity for herself walk in from somewhere behind the stage. The sealed package in her hands.

"It's here, darling. You need get this to the small cottage on the other side of the village. My friend, Fluttershy, is living in that cottage. I couldn't find time to go to her myself, so I asking you to do the flavor. Also, darling, you probably understand that it wouldn't be good, if that package would be lost on your way to Fluttershy's." Rarity dropped a hint.

"Yes. I do understand," Twilight said, not showing any sign of worry. "Spike, stay here, I will come back in a moment."

"Oh, that's Spike?" Rarity looked at little drake that's hidden under a materials of his own cloak. "Wow, you look cute in that outfit."

"Oh... Umm, Yo-ou... Uh, you look t-too, m-miss Rarity," he stuttered a bit, so he'd become even more cute for Rarity.

"Such a manners," Rarity said.

Twilight only smirked at that, and when Rarity's attention was completely drawn to Spike, she opened the window's latch and sent a mental thought to her familiar about it.

It took her a good ten minutes to find the house of that Fluttershy, thanks to the town folks. A little cottage that looked like a hill, with door and several windows gouged in it. So, what do you have in stock for me, Fluttershy? She stood before the little cottage, making sure everything is fine with Spike. Dusk answers her that all's fine.

She got closer to the door, but saw something in the window. That get her attention, so this took her some time before she knocked on the door.

But when she put her fist up and was ready to knock on the door, the door was opened by yellow pegasus.

"Oh, hello there. What can I do for you?" she said, while eyeing her completely from the feet to the tip of her horn.

"Uh, I'm from Rarity with a package," Twilight answered.

"Rarity? I didn't order anything from her," Fluttershy replied, instantly becoming cautious, but Twilight raised her palm and a gap in reality appeared. From there, Rarity's package falls. Fluttershy tried to close the door, but when she saw what Twilight had in her hand, she'd become quite shocked. She immediately ducked into the depths of her house with Twilight. She then quickly closed her door.

"Are you mad?! You cannot just be walking the streets with that thing! Not right now, at least," she exclaimed in a hushed tone, while quickly getting a look into the closest window. She got calmer, when she saw that no one was in the area of her sight.

"Why not? I have the package in my dimensional pocket," She said, while watching how Fluttershy attend some of her attention to her pets. Twilight knew that dimensional pocket doesn't save things, hidden in there, from those unicorn guards since they have special spell for that. does that pegasus know that guards have such a spell? If yes, then how? In that moment, she understand that pets were everywhere. She saw how animals quickly got into a little hole in the wall.

"Cause there'll be a certain event in the town. Amount of guards is increased," She said, while watching out of her window.

"I've seen none of them... And which event?" Twilight asked.

"You're new, yes?" Fluttershy responded with another question. After receiving a confirming nod, she continued, "Tomorrow, there'll be Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia's going to be in town herself. That's why there are more guards in town, then it should be."

"Summer Sun Celebration?! And, Celestia's going to be here?!" She shouted in utter shock.

Wrong place was picked... And, the wrong time too.

Chapter 2. Friends?

It wasn't the end of the world, but it's still something she had to endure.

Now, she was on the way to Rarity's place. Fluttershy accepted the package without a word. The question about package's content was left unanswered, but that was obvious.

On her way back, she noticed that Fluttershy's words about guards were truthful. Here and there, pairs of guards have been patrolling, and in general, guards were everywhere.

When she was at Fluttershy's place, she asked Dusk if everything's fine in a boutique. She asked the same question, when she was going back to Rarity. Both times, he answered that's everything's fine, and that's she doesn't need to worry. But her gut feelings tell her otherwise.

She was confused with it and failed to understand it, but when she got back to Rarity, she understood why her inner feeling have taken its place.

Spike was there... with no cloak to cover him, and no hood so his head was bare.

"I'm not sure, with whom a pony needs to sleep so her kid would be a dragon, but I still sure that Spike's probably the cutest little thing, I've seen in my life. Except, my little sister, of course." Rarity said, getting everything out of Twilight. She didn't notice her, when she got into the building, so Rarity's words from somewhere to her side was unexpected. "Also, that's... Uh, familiar of yours is really a gentlepony or, maybe, a gentlebird."

"And she is a good pony, Twilight. I feel it in her." Twilight heard Dusk's words in her head.

"As if I believe you," She mentally answered. "What the hay, Dusk. You supposed to tell me every time if something is about to happen."

"My inner self tells me, that it's fine to believe her," He replied.

"Screw you with your inner self, feathered butthole," She sent a mental note, before she got into real world. She instantly turned around, teleporting behind the back of Spike, and grab him with hands.

"Come on, Spike, we'd better go," she said before teleporting them to the door. Spike immediately started to straggle.

"Oh, you are leaving yet?" Rarity said, while moving in to the depths of her boutique as if looking for something.

"No, we are not, Rarity!" Spike screamed.

"Yes, we are," Twilight said, starting a little quarrel with a Spike, while pulling him in the direction of the door.

"Hey, darlings, it's quite interesting to hear that you both have the same relationship as me and my sister, but..." She said, while starting to look through some designs at the back of a boutique. Then, she turned to them and shouted, "WOULD YOU BE SO KIND TO ANSWER MY QUESTION!.. Please."

Her shouting immediately stopped them from their little verbal skirmish. "Um... Uh, p-probably." Spike said. Twilight stay silenced.

"Good... Now, can you tell me, where you two are heading to?" She asked, while remembering something and walking to the market's stall.

"Oh, yeah, we can. We are heading to..." He started to speak, only to come to that that he doesn't know where they are going to. "Uh, where are we heading to, Twilight?"

Twilight only stayed silenced, watching Rarity precisely, but she just moved to her stall and started to get through the things in the drawer under her stall, obviously looking for something. "It's just... If you're heading to the mayor... Urgh, where in the hay, that thing is?.. Aha, here it is. Well, if you're heading to the mayor, then can you take this to her?" She said, rising a sealed letter up to her muzzle.

They stay in an awkward silence for some time. Then Rarity decided to break it. "There'll be no guards in there. Trust me." She said, trying to reassure Twilight and having some success in it, since Twilight didn't just pick up Spike and go away.

Twilight have been silent for some time, but then she opened her mouth, "What's about the letter?"

"It's about a deal I had few days ago. Her piece of a cake is ready to be picked up," she answered.

"Her... piece?" She said in confusion, but take the letter nevertheless.

"Yes, her piece," Rarity said. "Me and Ivory Scroll, our mayor, have a deal. She doesn't mess up with my deals and I give her a piece of a money I got from those deals... Not an info to share, I know, but I can believe you I guess."

"Oh, I... That's unexpected, but... Thank you. Didn't believe that I would hear that from anyone." Twilight said.

"Well, that's what friends are for, darling," Rarity said, giving a hug to Twilight getting her by surprise, then kissing a Spike after she quickly departed from Twilight. "Well, goodbye sweeties. It was pleasure to meet you two."

Both of them said their goodbye and then they departed.

"Now, isn't Rarity a lovely mare?" Spike said, when they got to the city hall.

"Only after eleven years, Spike," Twilight answered. "I don't want to worsen up our relationship with her just because someone got her in a love session with immature dragon."

"Hey, Twilight, I'm quite mature," Spike complained.

"Even for a pony standard of eighteen years, you are not of age," Twilight said. "And that if not saying that a dragon standard is twenty five... Still, I can't keep you away from her. I'm not against the love between you and her, but... Just don't get into any close relationship. It'll cause a lot of troubles if someone catch you both... Heck, even to keep your relationship hidden would be little troublesome."

"Twilight, I believe we are not the ones to complain about the troubles of life and how hard life is," Spike said.

"Yeah," Twilight replied, before getting a close look onto the city hall. Quite a big building it was. Rarity was a honest in her words. There wasn't guards on the entry, and when they got into the building there wasn't any guards too. Only workers and some tough looking ponies.

They found the mayor's cabinet pretty quickly. In there, they found an old mare, with dark-cream colored coat and grey mane. There is something odd about her. I wonder what.

"Why, hello there! What can I do for you?" Mayor said, being quite welcoming.

After taking a seat, Twilight replied, "Oh, there is two issues. The first one is... Here, take this," She give a letter to mayor.

"Oh, Is that from Rarity?" Mayor asked, but answered the question herself, "Yes, it is. This handwriting is hers. And what's your second issue?"

"We would like to get a house and a job, if that's possible," Twilight said.

"Oh, that's it," mayor said, then she replied "Well, then answer my question. Do you like books?"

"Books? Why, of course,"Twilight replied, being quite confused with unexpected question. "But how is this question connected to our issue?"

"And are you calm in nature?" Mayor asked, ignoring her question completely.

"Yes, but I still don't understand why you asking these questions," Twilight replied, having no clue why she is asking such questions. Then, a realization hit like a train.

"A librarian? You need... A librarian," Twilight told the mayor her guess.

"Yes, you're right," mayor replied.

"But, where we would..." Twilight said, but she was interrupted by the mayor.

"In the same place you'll be working," mayor said in reply. "Our librarian, the one that was before you, got married and as you understand, she'd gone with her husband to another city. Trottingham, if you want to know."

"Wow, impressive, I... I believe that I can work as a local librarian, but how much money we'll be receiving?" Twilight said.

"Fifteen bits every week," mayor said, but before Twilight can say her decision, she continued. "You may be receiving more if you would take a participation in the town's events."

"Um, well, that's... That's fine, so..." Twilight agreed, now thinking about something that she forgot.

"Documents?.." Mayor said, getting Twilight on the right track of thoughts. "Coming right now with the keys... Now, what's your names?"

"Dusk Shine, that's my name and down here is my son, Humdrum," Twilight said, getting a smirk from mayor.

"Humdrum?.. Huh, if that's the name you give him... Then, he will be a good librarian," mayor chuckled at her little joke. "Now the rent for the next month. Forty bits."

After those word, Twilight opened her dimensional pocket right over the mayor's table, letting the bits fall on the table. That spook mayor a little bit, but she calmed down herself pretty fast.

When forty bits fall onto the table, dimensional pocket disappeared. Mayor quickly counted all the coins and took them. "Well, then I must greet a new residents of Ponyville. Here's the keys from library and your new house," mayor said, before giving a handshake to Twilight. Pretty energetic for a pony of her age.

When Twilight and Spike were ready to go, the mayor called for them, "before you go, I must tell you that our library was staying closed for two weeks, so when you get there, the place probably should be cleaned completely."

"Fine, we will take that into account," Twilight answered and she exit the room with Spike.

When they got to the place, they understood why the place should have a proper cleaning. The door leads into the dusty inners of hollowed oak tree, but all the inners looked untouched. That got her confused but she started cleaning nevertheless.

"Spike, how do you think, why things here were left untouched? Why nopony ever tried to steal something from here?" Twilight asked Spike about what she didn't understand, checking if he have something on his mind.

"I dunno." Spike answered. "But, you know, if they have guards all over the place some of them may be here watching the library."

"There is no o..." In that moment, someone knocked on the door. Twilight stood there for a moment, but when someone knocked in the second time, Twilight rushed to the door.

"Who is there?" She said.

"Royal guards. Ponyville's department. Please, open the door," the voice behind the door banged, reminding Twilight of the time when she lived in Canterlot. Of the time when Shining Armor, Twilight's brother, was a cadet in royal's guard academy.

"What do you want?.. Privates," Twilight said, when she opened the door, and got a look on the signs on the guard's breastplates.

"Miss, what are you doing in here. This is the town's property," one of the guards said.

"Not anymore... At least, some part of this building belongs to me now. The other part, that is a public library, will start working as it was working before. Is that clear?" Twilight said, with a confident and loud voice, that she heard from a brother and other guards, she had met before.

"Oh, that's it... Hmm, we believe you've already done all the paperwork in the city hall?" The other guard said.

"Maybe. We was there for five minutes and only gave our names. By the way, about this place: why the things here were left untouched?" Twilight replied and asked a question in return.

"Oh, if so then, you will be called in the city hall sometime in the future. As for your question... Well, when no one lived in here... There were several cases of thievery. Five time to be sure. Every time thieves were stopped and punished, while guards were getting promotions," the guard said with a strange expression on his face. It was a mix of pride and envy, as some of those guards were his pals.

"Wow, that's interesting... Wait, you said... Oh, sweet Goddess, this place is such a sweet spot for you... Well, since now, it wouldn't be so," Twilight said with a sly smirk.

"Well, I believe that's every tale have its ending... Well, we will go then. We wish you a good day," the guard said, before they two went away.

"Wish you the same," she shouted them in the backs and got back into the library. After several hours, someone knocked again. After going through the same stuff, she opened the door, though the voice was high-pitched and somewhat familiar. When she opened the door, she immediately understood who it was.

"Hello, what can I... Wait, that's you!" Twilight said, when she saw the pony who was standing behind the door.

"Yes, my dear friend, that's me your auntie Pinkie," pink pony said.

"Urgh, what do you need, Pinkie?" Twilight grunted.

"What do I need? No, the question is what do you need?" Pinkie rephrazed Twilight and before Twilight was able to answer, she continued. "You need a good party!"

"I need nothing," Twilight answered and tried to close the door.

"Oh, but you need a party," Pinkie said, putting her hoof into a gap, making Twilight unable to close it completely. "Twilight, please... I-I have something for ya."

"What's that?" Twilight said, opening the door and letting Pinkie Pie in.

"Oh, here you are," she said, getting a glass from somewhere .

Wait, what? Twilight thought.

Twilight accepted glass, and looked precisely at it. Then she threw a glance at Pinkie. Then... She spilled the stuff from the glass onto the ground.

"What are you doing, Twilight?" Spike exclaimed from the behind.

"Dream Givers. This punch contains an extract from the Dream Givers. Drugs, if you want," Twilight answered.

"Don't worry about it. I have a plenty of this stuff. This also says that I need to be more cautious with you, Twilight." Pinkie said as she entered the library. "Now, we are going to have a proper party. AJ, Flutter, Dashie and Rars will come in the next minutes."

"Wait, who?!" Twilight shouted, then they heard a knock on the door.

"Oh, that's must be them," Pinkie said, ignoring Twilight. She quickly ran to the door and opened it, "Hello guys, you got everything we need?"

"Yeah, we've got everything covered," a familiar voice with a southern accent could be heard from the library's entrance. Then, Twilight and Spike saw familiar ponies.

"Then let's make this party started," Pinkie shouted.

A lot of ponies have entered the library. Rarity and Fluttershy were familiar to Twilight and Spike, but the other two mares were... Still familiar to Twilight and Spike.

Wait, are those the ponies from the forest?! Twilight thought.

Chapter 3. Getting into the troubles.

(Twilight's POV)

"Wow! Is that really a truth?" Spike said, being quite amazed with the story that these ponies around me are telling. I, for myself, must admit that those ponies were telling quite useful things. "If it is, then... Then, this town ... This town..."

"Is the one big snake pit. Yes, that's true. The Ponyville founders, Pears and Apples, which come here from Appleloosa* were not the most honest around here an' stuff." Applejack said, taking a bite from an apple she borrowed. "Kinda, unpleasant to talk about the family, but this here is a truth and it needs ta' be told. Even, if it's hurtful as freshly made cut."

*(Piece of history: Appleloosa had two troubles by that time. Train robbings and 'rotten' apples. Both of them were solved
by settling a town of Ponyville. Though, only one of those troubles was solved as it should.)

"Yeah, AJ is right," Rainbow Dash said, taking a sip of cider. "But one cannot forget about a loyalty. Whoever you be, you need to be loyal to his or her captain and crew. Without those, I would be dead long ago, with a severed neck or maybe with a bullet hole. They appreciated that in me, so because of this I was always getting a bigger piece of the cake when we were dividing the loot. I... I was loyal to them till the end. They... Were not. That's how I end up here, in that Goddess forgotten dump."

"Hah... If the guards would hear us talking, they would probably got us under a lock and the key." Spike said. Thereafter, Applejack raised a purse and shook it, making the money in there to chink.

"This here will make them do all the things you want, ain't that true, Dash?" She said.

"As right as you always are, AJ" Rainbow Dash replied. The two highfived without even looking at eachother. A sign of years of cooperation.

Hmph, they were through quite a lot... And that story about Ponyville... I thought as I was watching them having a good time. Need to say my thanks to Pinkie for the punch and purse. Another thought crossed my mind, when my telekinesis got a glass closer to my lips, so I took sip, while my hand gripped my purse tighter.

I didn't force Pinkie into returning it to me. Instead, I found it in one of the pockets of the cloak. I've never noticed, when she put it into a pocket.

This moment someone knocked on the door.

"Coming, coming!" Pinkie said in her common attitude, and opened the door letting the one who was outside to come in.

"Good day, ladies! You all are having a good time, as I see," a masculine voice come from the door. "Well, no matter what I'd come here for a book, so I need a librarian."

"Yes, what can I do for you," I said, while coming to him. The guard was there, and he strained when he saw me. "Hey, what can I do for, mister..."

"Twilight Sparkle?" The guard said.

(Narrator's POV)

Saint Saber's comrades never understand why he loved the books so much. He couldn't say about it much either. He just got a book to read someday and since then he couldn't stop.

As the time goes by, the book's affection of the Saint Saber, the second lieutenant of the Royal guards, didn't weaken but became stronger. Yet, as one of those guards, who was after the known outlaw, Twilight Sparkle, he knows where was the point that couldn't be crossed.

Not all the knowledge is allowed to be known. The knowledge that possess a threat for society, must be destroyed, and those who possess the said knowledge must be arrested and punished.

He has never understood the librarians in a restricted area of Canterlot's library. They're good ponies, he thought. Well, not all of them, but that's still doesn't change my opinion that the thing they're doing is useless. The whole place needs to be put onto the fire.

That very moment, he got closer to the local library. He didn't get anything with him when they accompanied Celestia to the Ponyville. So, now he wished for the local library to have something he would find interesting.

It was quite the bad news when he heard that the local librarian, Hard Cover, was out of town and will never come back. Then, he heard a gossip that there is a new librarian.

The library itself looked rather unique. At first, Saber didn't notice it, since a big oak tree in the middle of the street looked... Well, it looked outstanding, but still for the newcomer it was impossible to say that this place was a local library.

There, standing in front of the door, he heard the mares talking behind it. Mares were talking loud enough, so the door can muffle their voices and make them inaudible.

When he knocked on the door, the voices immediately silenced. Then, a cheered up voice comes from behind the door, "coming, coming!" Then, a pink earth pony opened the door.

Saint Saber entered the library, looked around and said, " Good day, ladies! You all are having a good time, as I see." After some time, he added, "Well, no matter what I'd come here for a book, so I need a librarian."

A purple unicorn came closer to the guard and said, " yes, what can I do for you." After that, the guard was lost in thoughts. Something looked oddly familiar in that unicorn. He tried to remember it, but nothing came into a head, then it hit him. After that, she said something, but he wasn't listening.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Saber said. That's definitely her. He thought. Then, his gut feeling told him that is there is a danger. "The bitch is in game, yeah?" He said, while dodging the ray which flew, from the tip of Twilight's horn, towards him. "You'd better surrender now, or..."

"Or what, bastard?" Rainbow Dash said, thrusting him to the ground.

"Or Celestia..." He was interrupted, as a Applejack's heavy fist fell on the top of a his uncovered head.

"Celestia will start an orgy with you, bastards? Well, I wouldn't be surprised," Rarity said.

"Wow, Rarity, this... This sounded rather vulgar." Twilight said.

"Well, as I already said, how can one be a lady if those ruffians are around?" Rarity said, rising her head as if she's being disgruntled, but she changed in seconds, when she looked at the unconscious body of guard.

"An', what are we gonna do with him," Applejack said.

"The answer is simple," Rainbow Dash said, taking the handgun from the holster. Then, with a click, she pulled back the hammer and aimed it at his head.

"No!.." Twilight shouted, putting away the Rainbow's hand with a handgun. "He is the second lieutenant of the Canterlot's department of the royal guard. If he's gonna die, then..."

"But he can't be left alive, either," Rainbow replied with grumble, yet she holstered the handgun. "He will told about us, and then we all would be hunted down. You, Twilight, especially, as far as I can understand."

"Maybe... Just maybe... We could flee..." Twilight said with uncertain voice.

"Flee? Where?" Rainbow said, putting a pressure onto the Twilight. "Maybe, just maybe, you have a hideout somewhere?"

"Well... I... I have friends, Firefly and Night Dream, in Baltimare," Twilight replied.

"Oh, friends... I wonder who are those... Wait! You said Baltimare?!" Rainbow tried to mock Twilight, but was taken aback when she realized where Twilight's friends are from. "You mean... You mean that your friends are..."

"From the Syndicate?" Fluttershy said, to the surprise of everyone in the room. "That's wonderful. I always wished to know how they are making their schemes, how they are doing their shady deals... At least, since I left the Three Circles.*"

*(Bit of history: 'Three Circles'. Those are a somewhat legendary band of bandits from the Whitetail forest. They are known for being somewhat of a country in a country. They have their laws, leaders, mentality and symbols. Though, one should admit that the gang is in need of changes... But, which ones?)

"Wait, you are from the Three Circles?" Spike said.

"Yes, I am. Where do you think, I got my skills at potion making?" Fluttershy replied.

"Wow, that's so cool," Spike said, being amazed by her words. "They are... They are like myth or legend in the Syndicate... Wait, they says that those guys reside in the Whitetail Woods, and it's not far from Ponyville... It means that..."

"Yes, you are right, little drake," Fluttershy confirmed his words, making him squeak in glee.

This moment, all of them heard the groaning sounds from the side where unconscious guard was laying, but they were short-lived, since the guard's head meet with Dash's elbow.

"Huh, take this you, bastard," She said. "Guys, I... I believe, that it would be better to head to somewhere safe. We can't kill him, so then it's better to hide for the time being."

"Oh, I know! I know!" Pinkie immediately started bouncing, "I have a hideout! I have a hideout in Everfree!"

"Everfree?" Dash said, "not a bad choice but isn't the forest kinda dangerous?"

"Well, it is, but if we are gonna be armed then..." Pinkie said, but was interrupted.

"Armed? Fine, let's go then. Three out of seven is okay, I think," Rainbow said, opening the door, but not exiting the building. She started watching the streets, instead "Also, take note to yourself, Twi. Be more accurate."

"Three out of seven? It's you, me and..." Twilight said.

"AJ. She's able to take anyone with her bare hands, and that's if not saying that the branches could be a good weapon, if used correctly, and believe me, AJ knows how to use them."

"Our way crosses mah farm, so me and Dash gonna take our tools anyway," AJ said.

"Darling, you know that's everyone of us, actually, has weapons and mastered combat skills with those weapons," Rarity emphasized.

"And where are they?" Twilight asked a question.

"They were left in our homes, since none of us expected something like this," Rarity said, then she looked at their surroundings. "You know, since Celestia will arrive only by the dusk, I think we have an hour or so."

"No. Every minute may cost us dearly. If you're going to pick up your items, then go get them. Thirty minutes is enough?" Twilight replied.

"Yes, more than so. Isn't that true, Fluttershy?" Rarity said.

"Yeah, but we need to hurry, so I'll go then," Fluttershy replied and went to the door.

"I'll too, goodbye everypony!" Pinkie shouted and went right after Fluttershy.

"See you at the farm," with those words Rarity left the building. Soon after that, the library was left empty, except for the guard who was left tied up and unconscious.

They were ready to leave. The forest stand in front of them. Twisted forest with a twisted trees. It was impossible to see a thing farther than ten yards.

"Celestia is on the way, so she will be going to arrive after thirty minutes ," Rarity said, checking the sharpness of her knife. Belts and pockets, that were all over her body, contains a dozens of knives, and as she showed me earlier, their owner knows how to quickly grab them and throw them so the blade would pierce the target. Her other tools were floating nearby her, and Twilight admitted that, no matter how strange it was, the others tools Rarity was using were a shovel and a pickaxe

"We'd better hurry. Town's becoming a big disturbed vespiary. We're not sure if it's because the guards find our lieutenant or because Celestia is so close." Fluttershy said, putting the arrows into a quiver. Next to her, Pinkie was cleansing her rifle.

"Fine," Twilight said, looking into the forest. When the squad was standing by her side, they started their path into the Everfree forest. "So... What's about the forest? Why you said that it's dangerous?"

"Ah dunno, but folks in town keep talking about these here woods," Applejack answered.

"They say, that those who have gone into a forest... Have never come back," Rainbow said, turning her voice to a more dreary one, as if trying to scare someone, but nopony finds her frightening a bit.

"Hmph... There is really something in the air," Twilight said. "I can't get a grip on it, but there is something. Some kind of energy, but I can't say what it is."

"And you don't need to," Rarity said, dusting herself. Twilight admitted, that they were not going through any shrubs, so they was no possible way that she get dirty. "The main fact is that that there is something in the forest, and because of it..."

She was interrupted by the howl. "Timberwolves! Now, everypony, prepare yourselves," Rainbow screamed, already aiming into the forest.

When Twilight prepared her spell, the wooden wolf already jumped in front of her. When she released the spell, a ray of dark purple have jumped off of Twilight's horn into the wolf.

When the ray hit the wolf, a piece of green energy have flied out of the wolf's body and have gone away with a black energy that starts condensating around its body. When the ray of green and black energy hit the ground, a shadowy copy of a wolf popped up in the place.

A shadowy wolf immediately attacked its normal copy. They started fighting but the result was clear. A normal wolf was weakened by Twilight spell and he was constantly missing attacks of his copy.

Twilight in the same time already threw that spell into another bunch of wolves making them to fight they own copies.

Twilight's friends were fighting alongside her. The gunshots were fired, and the wooden pieces were flying in the different sides. Applejack's sledgehammer was shattering the bodies of timberwolves. Rarity's pickaxe was cracking the wooden heads, while she was striking the bodies with a shovel. Fluttershy was shooting the arrows at anyone who was nearing itself to her and Spike who was hiding by her side.

The fight ends fast. When they only get the rhythm of a battle, the last of the wolves died. "It was fast," Rainbow said, reloading her gun.

"This pack was little," Applejack said, looking into the forest, if more of the wolves will come. "Two dozens is nothin'. I had heard that there is a pack of seventy wolves with three alphas, but that's somewhere near the heart of this here forest."

"That's quite interesting to hear, darling, but I believe we'd better move forward. The stink's killing me," Rarity said, closing her nose theatrically.

After some time of walking, Dash asked Twilight a question that have been bothering her. "Twi, can you tell me, why you're so afraid of Celestia?"

"Oh, it's a long story but if being short, then imagine yourself, if your favorite pupil would be doing something, you're strictly against," Twilight replied.

"I've never had a pupil, but I believe, I understand you," Rainbow said. Then after sometime, she realized what Twilight said, "Wait, you mean... You were Celestia's favorite pupil?"

"Star pupil," she replied.

"Wow, this is so..." This moment, they heard rumbling. Then, the pathway had crumbled and a good piece of the earth, they all were on, had slid down into the fracture in the ground.

The pegasi of the team immediately flied off the ground, taking Rarity and Spike with them. Twilight and Applejack had slipped down, and while AJ dug herself into the ground near the edge of a fracture, Twilight managed to hang on the said edge.

"Twilight, hang on in there, I'm coming," Applejack screamed, while slipping down a bit. "Twi... Oh, no, Twi! I-I d-don't know how to..." Then, she looked upside. "Oh, Twi, I... You'd better believe me, now. You... You need ta let go, Twi."

"What?! Are you mad? You want to kill me?" She screamed.

"Ah've never lied to anyone in mah entire life, so believe me now, Twi," She answered in a calm voice. It soothed her a little bit, and after some seconds, she decided to believe her. She let go of her grip and fell into an abyss freely.

The fall was short though. Both of the pegasi had caught her, and with her they slowly descended onto the ground. When they were on the ground, Dash and Flutter had flied back to pick up AJ.

After short-lived shock, she looked at her teammates. Everyone of them was in a good condition, though Fluttershy looked a bit exhausted. Everyone, except... "Hey, where's Pinkie?"

"I'm here, don't worry," She shouted from behind.

"What? Where was..." Twilight said, but was interrupted.

"There is a path that leads downhill," she answered, before Twilight was able to answer the question. "But, you know, it's kind of strange, since I used that pathway over there for some time, so I don't know why the whole thing fell apart."

"It's all interesting, but I believe, we'd better hurry..." A roar interrupted her. Looking to the side, they saw a manticore on their way.

"Oh, great..." Dash said, picking up a gun in one hand, and a saber in another. The other prepared their weapons too.

Then, Fluttershy saw something in manticore's behavior. A suffering. Pain. She slowly lowered her bow, looking directly at a manticore.

"Girls, cover me, I'm going to check something," she said, while putting away her weapon.

She started to slowly closing to the beast. "Now, little thing, I'm not a threat and not a treat either. I just want to see what's wrong," she started to soothe the manticore.

When she stand beside the manticore, she watched the manticore precisely. Nothing. How strange. Wait, what if I...

She looked to the paws of the manticore. She sighed, when she saw nothing, but that didn't stop her.

Then, the manticore raised the paw she already watched. Looking at it, she saw that the was a little splinter.

Bingo, She thought. "Now, little thing, you'd better stand still or you would worsen up everything," She said, as she was taking away the splinter. When, the beast roared at her, the ponies and a dragon behind her become alarmed and started to quickly closing to Fluttershy, ready to kill the beast if he would hurt their friend.

"Now, Mr. I-Roar-At-Ponies-Because-I-Can, You'd better go, before my friends find you as a threat," Fluttershy said. The beast quickly looked at ponies and ran away.

"Flutter, is the beast taken care of?" Dash said, aiming at a retiring beast.

"Yeah, the little thing, just had a splinter of wood in his paw. That's nothing," She replied.

"Wow, that was... kind of you," Twilight said.

"Oh, it's nothing. Every creature needs a bit of a kindness, even if they don't deserve it," Fluttershy replied.

"Well, let's not waste our time," Rainbow said. No one finds anything to say against, so they continued their path.

After some time, Pinkie broke the silence, "Hey, girls, I wondered, if the splinter and avalanche was in the first place because of the Zecora."

"Zecora? Who's she... or he," Twilight said.

"We don't know ourselves, but everyone call her a witch, and she lives here in that forest." Rarity said.

"Yeah, that fella is someone ta be feared of. She's spooky as... as that thing over yonder." Applejack said, pointing at something forward.

Everyone took the weapons and looked in the direction Applejack was pointing at.

There was a spooky face. A bunch of them.

Then, a laugh from behind could be heard. Looking there, girls had find only madly laughing Pinkie.

"Ha-hah, you'd better look at your faces..." She said, while pointing at them. "Those... Those are just mere trees. Twisted, but nevertheless."

"Trees... But, Pinkie..." Twilight said.

"Ha-hah, if... If you don't see it, Twi... Then, just giggle at them... Giggle at the ghostly." She interrupted her, saying things in the breaks between the laugh outbursts.

"Giggle... as if ha-hah," Twilight said, giggling falsely. Then, as if by the magical click, the a spooky face become a tree. Wait, really?

When, she come closer to the place where the faces must be, there was only trees. How is that possible? She thought for herself. "Pinkie, where in Tartarus you've known that."

"Oh, my grandma told me. Actually, she told me a lot of things," She replied.

"Oh, and where does she live? I think, I would like to talk with her a bit," Twilight said.

"She's dead. Someone put the house on fire. Galloping blaze consumed it with everyone in there," She said, immediately turning sad, while her poofy mane straightened up.

"Oh no, Pinkie! Look here, your frown wouldn't help us. We need that bubbly mare, you always was. Not that grumpy and repulsive mare, you can become," Rainbow said, trying to cheer Pinkie up, and she was quite successful, since Pinkie's mane poofed up.

"Yeah... Y-you are right, Dashie... You are right," Pinkie said.

"Hey, Rainbow, what's up with Pinkie?" Twilight asked Rainbow after sometime of walking.

"Oh, she have those things happen to her from time to time. When she have moments like this, it's better to cheer her up, cuz in a state like, she may speak about... Certain things," She said, while the shudder come across her body.

"Oh, fine," Twilight said, while she understand that for a pony like a Rainbow Dash, such a shudder isn't something common. After some time of walking, Twilight spoke up again, "You know, thinking back of that magic..."

"Yeah, sugarcube?" Applejack replied.

"It was something! I believe it was combination of illusion and dark magic. But is it really a dark magic, and not a shadow magic? If it so, then this illusions probably the most valuable thing for the magic researches in the last several centuries or so. It's really a pity, though, since the researchers would find those illusions forbidden."

"Woah, Ah'm not sure if understand ya in yer fancy tale, but it's about the magic we'd encountered, yeah," Applejack said.

"Yes, it is. I would like to learn more about it. I want to understand why the spell is dispelling itself if the one laughs at it. If I would understand it, then I would be able to remove it from the spell matrix," She said, only to face the silence, as no one in her gang understand her. "Well, forget everypony. Still, take a note to yourselves - some day, I'm going to make a little trip into that forest and I'll find those trees."

After some time, they walked into a river with really strong current. When Applejack put her hand into the water, it was near to be torn apart from her.

"Right here, was a bridge. I don't know where it is. Also, the torrent wasn't that intense," Pinkie said. Then, Rarity's voice come out suddenly.

"Hey, darlings, I know that stream's creating really loud sound, but I believe that there is someone crying," Rarity said, pointing somewhere up the stream. When, they go through the bushes, an odd scene appeared before they eyes.

A water dragon was crying his eyes out. He also was complaining about a piece of a mustache.

"Hey, fella, whatcha crying over," Applejack said to the water dragon, but was unable to catch his attention.

"Hey, darling, I believe it's not how you speak with someone like him," Rarity said, while getting closer to the water dragon. "Hey, big one," She screamed, making the dragon to interrupt his crying session. "As I can you are the one to look after oneself. What made you so sad?"

"There... There was that b-black cloud that... That whizzed and... And torn up half of my mustache clean-n off!" He complained.

"Oh, that's all? Well, now, listen to me, mister..." Rarity said, but stumbled upon his name.

"Steven Magnet. My name's Steven Magnet," He answered.

"Well, Mr. Steven Magnet, the pony like me cannot leave something like this unattended. With that piece of mustache you look so horrible," Rarity said, causing even more weeping from Steven.

"I know! I know!" He complained.

"It takes so much time to give them attended properly," Rarity continued.

"I know! I..." He was interrupted.

"But fret not. I'm here and I believe I have solution to your problem," Rarity said.

"You do?" he said, while being confused.

"Yes, now give me a second," She said, getting a knife on her belt. She levitated it to her tail, while grabbing the tail into the telekinetical grip. In one motion, she sliced off her tail and then she levitated it to Steven Magnet's piece of a mustache.

"Here, it's not permanent solution but your problem isn't permanent too," she said, while tying up the piece of her tail to the Steven's mustache.

"Oh, my mustache! It's back! My precious mustache!.. Now, how can I repay you, my dear ponies?" He said, being really glad, that they done such a good deed for him. Even, if it's was only one pony that helped him.

"Oh, dear Steven Magnet, we wish to cross that river, but there is no bridge. We can see that you strong enough to stay in that stream, so we would like to ask if we can use..."Twilight said, but Steven answered faster than her.

"Me as a bridge. Why, of course. It's the least I can do to you," He said, while putting his body so it makes a path that leads to the other bank of a river.

When they got to the other coast of the river, Twilight was the first to speak, "Rarity, your tail..."

"Well, darling. If you didn't understand it before, I will say it to you now. I, by the very nature, am quite a generous pony. I would give way more of things than my tale, if needed." She replied, with pride in her words.

Twilight hesitated, trying to find some topic and words, but found that she have no way to continue the dialogue, so they continued their path in silence.

After walking through some bushes on their way, they faced another fracture, but on the other side of it was their destination. The Castle of Two Sisters.

"So, that's it?" Twilight queried.

"Yeah, it is. I owns a stash in the dungeons of this castle. I'm not sure if anypony used it before me," Pinkie answered. When they got to the edge of a cliff, Pinkie called out again. "Hey, I used to walk on that bridge, but someone cut the ropes," she said, pointing on a rope bridge that was hanging on their side of the cliff.

"Woah nelly, that a big of a divide over here," Applejack said, looking into fracture in front of her.

"That bridge... Someone really wishes for us to never get to that castle," Twilight stated, looking at the bridge.

"I'll get that bridge for you, girls!" Rainbow shouted as she already was heading for the hanging bridge. The fog immediately fill the gap between Rainbow and the gang. That get everyone suspicious except Rainbow.

When she was on the other side of the fracture with one of the ropes, she heard someone whispering to her. "Rainbow Dash, right?"

"Ah? Who said that?" Rainbow said into fog. Three silhouettes have come out of the fog. The on in the middle started to speak with mare's voice.

"Oh, the glorious Rainbow Dash, we are the rising star of the equestrian nation, The Shadowbolts. One must remember that name, since we're the one who will raise higher than those damned Wonderbolts," The silhouette said, that actually was a mare in the darker version of the wonderbolt's outfit. The other two was stallions in the same outfit.

"Oh, I'm grateful for you, guys, but you see here, I need to fix this bridge," She pointed at the bridge beside her. The mare stopped her though.

"No! Rainbow Dash, please, listen to us," She pleaded. "We are the outcasts like you. Why do you think we are hiding our hides in that forest, instead of shining in the glory of Celestia's Sun. Because, we were suppressed by those wonderbolts when we were weak. But we have power now. We will rise up higher than they could ever hope to."

"Wow, cool story!" She said, then she heard her friends from the opposite cliff. "Uh, guys?.. Oh, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Huh, Rainbow Dash, wait! We have an offer for such a magnificent, swift and brave mare like you. You are becoming our captain, receiving all the glory, the money... Everything you ever hope to get. You... Need to abandon those mares." She said, pointing at Rainbow's friends. They tried to caution Rainbow not to do whatever the shadowbolts wanted her to do, but the fog immediately thickened so it become impossible for Rainbow to hear anything her friends tried to say to her.

"No, Rainbow, don't listen to them. Those fellas, want nothin but to hurt us!.. Argh, Twilight, that smoke suppressin' all the shoutin' we're doing. Do something 'bout it." Applejack scolded.

"I'm trying! I'm trying! That spell is too complex, and I also never encountered the magic like this. At least, some part of it." Twilight replied abruptly.

Meanwhile on the other cliff, the shadowbolts were trying to entice Rainbow, so it was for the Rainbow to decide.

"Well, I must tell ya, your offer sounds really good and stuff..." Rainbow hesitated, "But I will tell you one thing," she said, drawing their attention to her. "You want me to betray my friends. I never did something like this, I'll never do," she said, while taking the handgun and shooting into the mare's heart. The bullet goes through, but no blood has flown out. Rainbow immediately started to tying up the rope and when the bridge was hanging firmly, she ran over it, not noticing that the shadowbolts started to slowly fading.

"Oh, Rainbow, it's you! we were so afraid of you. First, you fly into the abyss and then you popped up on the other cliff, and then you started to tying up the ropes, and then some grim meanies appeared and they started to say something to you, and the cloud become dense and! And!.." Pinkie babbled in excitement.

"Yes, Pinkie, I know," Rainbow replied.

"So what did those fellas tried you to do?" Applejack asked.

"They wanted me to abandon you, guys. Can you imagine it to yourself. They wanted me to join their team and abandon you," Rainbow replied.

"As Ah can see, you choose ta be with us instead," AJ mentioned.

"Yeah, I do. They outfit looks cool, though," Rainbow said.

"I haven't seen it for myself but I believe that they looked simply awful," Rarity voiced her thoughts.

"Whatever. We still have to go that castle. Twilight, how are you in there?" Rainbow said.

"Yeah, I'm going. It's just this spell... Oh, screw it," she said, when she got closer to her friends. "I still need to warn you, guys. Someone in that castle don't want us to get in there, and by the looks of it, this someone is a master in magic. At least, he or she was able to combine three different types of magic."

"That bastard tried to question my loyalty. Nothing will save him from me, cuz I'g gonna kick his butt into the next week in ten seconds flat," Rainbow screamed in anger and flied to the castle. Others followed her.

No one of them knew what was waiting for them in those ruins.

Author's Note

I always wondered, how the writers make big chapters. After this, I have no questions on the matter.

Chapter 4. Consequences.

They've stormed through the empty halls of the castle that for a long time lies in ruins. While doing so, they couldn't shake a feeling that the shadows and darkness was mockingly laughing at them.

"Show yourself, coward! Your tricks are nothing for us," Rainbow screamed into the dark depth of a castle. That time, they've gone through the halls that reminds of throne room in the Canterlot's castle. Old tapestries hang behind something that someday was the thrones. Now, they are old and on the verge of crumbling.

"Pinkie! You'd been in here before, so I believe you know the place where that nasty sorcerer could be hiding," Rarity said, while taking a look at the tapestries.

"Huh? Why, of course! I... Lemme remember... There is enough space in the library... Uh, there is a lot of hidden catacombs... Oh! I know! I know! Behind those doors, there is a pedestal with some strange stones. Every time I walk in there I always feels content," she pointed at the farthest door to their right.

"Why, let's get this scum and sent him right where he belongs!" Dash said as she banged the door with a one kick. She immediately got into the room and started pointing at everything around with a revolver. The room was empty, though. Everyone entered right after Rainbow and got under the aura of the artifact. Even Rainbow lowered her gun.

"Woah, Pinkie, are you tendin' the place? This door movin' so smoothly..." Applejack noticed.

"Why not, I was here a week ago. I needed to restock the Dream Givers, and I was like, oh, I need to oil every door in that castle, and well... That what I did it," She replied.

"Now, ah understand, why ya disappear from time to time," Applejack said. "At least, it's anyway better than those gossips that you're receiving extra payment from your clients and paying your purveyors with specific ways..."

"Which ways?" Pinkie asked with innocent eyes and smile on her face.

"Definitely not the same as yer smile right now," Applejack answered.

In the same time, Twilight was inspecting the stones and the pedestal, they were on. Spherical in shape and with some engravements on the side. Looking at them in arcane sight, she saw that the powerful magic resides in the stones dormant.

The aura must be the byproduct of this magic. Twilight thought. And if aura is so strong, than I wonder how powerful this magic must be, not in the dormant state.

She sent a pulse of magic into one of the stones, to see if something happens, but nothing did. She sent some more only to come to the same conclusion.

"It's nothing in here, Pinks! So we'd better head to somewhere else. What'cha said about cata..." Rainbow was interrupted by the grim laugh. Everyone started to looking around with raised weapons even though the aura started to intensify.

"Ha-hah, foals," The voice laughed as if from everywhere. "If my dear sister sent someone like you all on your own, than this millennia have softened her, and unfortunately to say as it is, my subjects were true."

Dark mist started to congregate in the opposite side to the door. Everypony in the room immediately ran up to Rainbow, who was standing in front of the place where the dark clouds started to thicken. Out of the cloud a tall dark figure stepped out.

"So, it's you who've been throwing the tricks around here, isn't you?" Rainbow said, pointing her handgun at the dark mare in a clad black armor. It wasn't covering her from head to toes, so accurate shot may end her quickly.

"Tricks?! How dare thou speakest of us in such inappropriate tone, foal! We art Nightmare Moon, the monster of the darkest dreams and the one who will bring the nighttime eternal on the land of Equestria," Nightmare Moon's exalted speech sent chills down the spines. Rainbow gulped down but remembered that the gun was still in her hand. The bullet fly right into unprotected neck...

...Only to disappear in the little black cloud that appeared in mere inches from the neck. The bullet flied out of the cloud, though. In the reverse direction.

Rainbow only hissed as the bullet draw a red line on her cheek, and hit the floor in the back. "You really thought that your pathetic weapon really would be able to hit me?! You are way more foolish then I expected. It would such a pity if a feather brain is applicable for all the pegasi that serves my sister," she mocked, while looking at the slowly bleeding cyan pegasus. "Even if some of you looks more stupid then those snobs that tried to ingratiate my sister, I still would like to play with you all, but I must kill you, because you are standing on my way."

What to do?! What to do?! She's gonna kill us! She's gonna kill. Twilight was mentally panicking. And why I'm feeling so good?.. Wait... What the...

There was a slight movement in the shadows behind Nightmare. Then, out of shadows a lightning strike right into the dark mare. The black cloud consumed it though.

Nightmare didn't even looked at him, when the wave of black clouds flied right where Dusk was hiding. The raven falls on floor and it's body started to writhe. It takes a lot to Twilight just not to run towards the body. Sending a pulse by the connection between her and her familiar, and it said that Dusk was using the healing spell like crazy.

"Everything... Hurts..." Dusk sent a mental to Twilight and she felt a bright glimpse of pain behind it. It's good that the connection brings the feelings briefly. If she would feel the same pain, she'll probably writhe on the ground like Dusk did.

"Such a worm," Nightmare said, while Twilight stood in front of Rainbow. "Oh, and it's must be the owner, not isn't it?"

Twilight remained silenced. She tried to gather all the fury, only to find that all of it was solaced. In Nightmare Moon's hand a ball of black fire appeared.

"You're good toys to play with, but every toy must broke someday. Your time is over!" She proclaimed and the ball, that was in size of a small corn, started to expand.

Twilight only calmed down a bit more, and by the looks of it, her companions were in the same condition. No one noticed how the stones on the pedestal started to crumble, and the light started to shine through the gaps.

When the sphere of fire was the size of a buckball, Nightmare throw it at Twilight, but Twilight put a shield. When the two things collide, a little explosion happened.

The spell didn't look like something strong. At least, it wasn't at its maximum. She thought, as she wipe off the blood that flowed out of her nose and she take away the crumbling shield.

"And that's all? Are you going to use something stronger?" She shouted, not sure where that bravery come from.

"Stronger?! Foal! Thou shall going to regret these words!" Nightmare replied as she summoned another ball. This time it grows faster and bigger.

An explosion destroyed her shield like it was nothing but the remaining power were consumed by the unknown power. The other ball, that fly right after that one, met another shield, but the shield was weaker, so its disappearance was obvious.

The second wasn't there, so dark spheres flied straight into them, but it's more like disappearing right in front of their faces in the blast of colors.

"What in tarnation? Twilight are ya doing that stuff?" Applejack asked, while watching all the beauty before her.

"I am little low on magic, so my answer is no," she replied, while watching as the black orbs were fruitless at damaging them.

"I'm not sure what with the whole thing, but if it messes all the projectiles then I don't mind it," Rainbow said, watching the rapid bombardment on their invisible shield.

When Nightmare Moon stopped, she saw that the mares were standing as if nothing happened. "What?! Argh, no matter what you use, we will still... Wait, don't you dare... Don't you dare!" She realized that something's wrong. Something definitely wrong. She tried to make a step back only to find out that she can't move in the slightest.

The power started to envelop them. The color of ray around them was changing from white to all color of the rainbow. The whole thing makes Nightmare Moon to struggle in panic and fear, but she can't do anything rather than watch and see how she would be defeated by the same cursed artifacts, that were used against her before.

They took off from the ground, but they didn't feel it. An euphoric feelings took over them and the whole world gone blurry. They tried to focus on something... Anything, but all the things they could think in the same moment was defeating their enemy. The artifacts give them the feelings as if they already won, and technically this is what it is.

They were in the midair as the rays connected them, making them drown in the good feeling, while Twilight felt a rush of power. For her, everything becomes a simple spell, and the only thing she needs to do is to fill the matrix. That's what she has done.

It takes moments, but the white ray of power strikes Nightmare Moon. To be honest, it hits the ground beneath the Nightmare. The power started to envelop her too.

By the end of it all, the loud bang was made.

For Rainbow, the awakening was hurtful. All the body parts were aching. The memories were all faded. With grumbling, she raised though.

A sudden facilitation hit her when she was raising from the ground. It was as if there was no pain at all.

When she managed to stood properly, she saw what was around. Unconscious bodies of her friends but not dead, to her relief.

Twilight though was hovering over the ground beside the body of a blue unicorn, but when she looked precisely at the body, she understand that unicorn was an alicorn.

Also, she felt extra weight on her neck. When she looked down there, she saw that on her neck was a golden necklace, with a red gemstone encrusted in it. It wasn't circular in shape. Instead, it was like the thunderbolt that was on her cutie-mark.

Her friends had the same necklaces but different stones. Pink butterfly was on Fluttershy, blue balloon on Pinkie, orange apple on Applejack and purple diamond on Rarity. Twilight for herself had a golden tiara with purple six-point star.

Ponies started to awaken. By the looks of it, they were through the same as Rainbow. Twilight was in that meditating state over the earth, though.

After some minutes, Twilight awakes. The strange alicorn awakens too.

"What... What happened? Who are you?.. Wait! You are... You are..." An alicorn started to blubber. Then, everyone heard the hoofsteps. A golden wave of guards have broke the door to their back.

Celestia walked through the door. "WHO DARES TO PILLAGE THE RUINS, THAT I ONCE CALLED HOME?!" She shouted, while glancing those who was in the hall. Her expression turned to the shocked one, when she saw the blue alicorn. "Luna? What... Is that you?"

"Sister!" Blue alicorn screamed as she approached her sister. They made a true sisterly hugs. Celestia left her eyes open, though. Her expression turned to grim one as she saw six ponies and a dragon.

When they broke the hugs, Celestia spoken, "So, is that the famous Twilight Sparkle, that managed to run away from my fair judge and caused my wrath with it. Are you going to confess in your committed crimes and receive an appropriate punishment or are you going to run off again and probably be killed in the process." After some time she added, "The same goes for your accomplices."

"What? Sister what are you talking about. Those mares saved us from Nightmare Moon's affection... They were chosen by the Elements! Sister, how can they be criminals?" Luna defended the mares.

"You don't know them, Luna. Those mares committed numerous crimes. At least, that purple unicorn," She replied and pointed at Twilight.

"That purple unicorn was the one who activated the Elements of Harmony. Don't you see. She becomes an embodiment of Magic," Luna protested.

Celestia stayed silenced. The mares before her stood waiting for her decision.

Chapter 5. What's next?

"And what're we gonna write her?!" Rainbow screamed to everyone in the Golden Oak library.

"I don't know. She said that we need to send reports every week, but even I'm not sure what are we going to write in them," Twilight replied, while rubbing the scroll and a quill.

"Well, definitely not everything we will do in the future," Rarity put her word in their dispute.

"Hey, aren't our words would get to Celestia no matter what? Aren't there someone... I don't know, someone like spies?" Spike said.

"There is no one, believe me. The guards, that would be looking after us, will arrive this evening. S.M.I.L.E. agents... Well, Celestia said, that we are not their level so there will be none of them," Twilight answered his question.

"What?! Not their level?! I'll show them, 'not our level'." Rainbow growled in anger, while taking out her gun.

"Rainbow, keep calm. This is not going to help our occasion," Twilight calmed Rainbow and was successful in it.

Luna's words back than have its effect on Celestia. The cause of Twilight and her friends have been overlooked and instead of their punishment, they will be looked after by the royal guards.

From now on, they are not wanted criminals in the whole Equestria, but the bloodhounds of the crown, instead. That means, if Celestia wanted them in the certain flashpoint, they are going to be in that flashpoint, and also they will do whatever Celestia says them to do.

If any mistake were made, then their state will be changed to the one they had before. So, basically, they were left to not that much of a choice.

So, now our heroes were just a simple citizens, that were going on the occasional adventures, when Celestia needed it. No more drug dealing, no smuggling or robbing.

"So, guys, have you already find a job, since there is no way you would return to whatever you was doing before?" Twilight asked her friends.

"Yeah, Ah will be doin' mah chores on the farm. Big Mac was good at keepin' the farm at work, while Ah was doin'... Illegal stuff," Applejack said.

"Oh! Oh! I will work as fellow baker in the Sugar Cube Corner. They wasn't allowing me to bake but, 'coz I had some stuff I may add up into the baking, but now since I have my goods confiscated, I believe they'll allow me to be more than just a waiter," She said in her cheery attitude. After sometime, she added, "Oh, wait! Fluttershy, you were saying something about being a veterinary?"

"Veterinary? Aren't we have Fauna already?" Applejack noticed.

"Oh, I've been helping her before. I believe, that she'll find me a place where I could be working... Legally," Fluttershy replied.

"Well, darling, I'm going to run the boutique, I believe," Rarity said. "When I was making the deals and performing... Certain outlawed actions, I had no time to sew. I believe that now, I'm going to make outfits and, who knows, may be become a famous in the high classes."

"Oh, and you, Rainbow?" Twilight said.

"Me?.. Uh, I'll just stick to the weather team, I believe," she answered.

"Weather team? " Twilight asked again. After a confirming nod, she said, "Oh, fine."

She opened the scroll with her magic, and put the quill on its white surface; An inkwell not that far away from her. Yet, she growled as nothing come to her mind. "Spike, bring more scrolls. I believe, that I'll spend quite a lot of them. Also, after that, I'll give you some money to you and you'll buy some more quills and ink... Hmm, girls, where Spike may buy some quills and ink?"

"There is a shop "Quills and Sofas", down the Dale's street. I can go with Spike and show him," Rainbow replied.

"Oh, it would nice of you. Spike, have you heard that!" Twilight screamed to Spike, after thanking Rainbow.

"Yes, Twi," Spike shouted in reply. After some time, Spike came running to Twilight with a bunch of scrolls. After receiving scrolls, Twilight opened the dimensional pocket and make some bits to fall into Spike's hands. When he had fifteen of them, the pocket have been closed. "Okay, Twi, we will come as soon as possible."

When they were gone, Twilight started to write something, but the scroll becomes a lump of paper after some minutes.

Half an hour have passed. When Spike and Rainbow have entered the library, they saw Twilight with a worn out quill and inkwell, that is close to be empty. Around her, was rumpled lumps, that some time ago were clear scrolls.

"Some quills and ink for purple unicorn, named Twilight Sparkle," Rainbow shouted. Twilight take bottles with ink and quills. "Good, now sing up here and here."

"Where? On your face? Fine, let me take my indelible inks," she replied.

"What? No, my pretty face would be more useful if it wouldn't be spoiled with your signature!" She protested.

"Hmm, fine. So, guys. I believe that you can go. I'll come to something eventually," Twilight said. When everyone were ready to go, she remembered something, "hey, girls. Before you go, I have to say something to you."

She opened her pocket and a pile of golden tickets have fallen from it. "Here, it's tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala," Twilight said, but all her friends only scrutinized at them. "Yeah, I know that we're not the one to be in there, but Celestia really wants us on the event."

"And what are we supposed to do in there?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm not sure," Twilight replied. "But the fact is the fact. Here is seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, and seven of us. Celestia herself wants us to be present on the event."

"Okay, Twi," Rainbow said. Then a certain idea hit her, "Hmm, guys! What do you think about the living up the whole thing."

"Living up? That boring event of stuck-up nobles? This is definitely not the best idea," Rarity replied.

"Yeah, if we try then..." Twilight tried to agree, but the realization come into her head. "Huh, you know, this is definitely not the worst idea. If we show an unfitting behavior on the Gala, then nobles would be highly against us on the event. That means, that Celestia will have troubles in inviting us on the next events."

"Wow, that's quite... Interesting thought," Rarity said. "I believe, that plan would work. I just... That trick may worsen up my reputation..."

"Don't worry, Rarity. Young nobles are not fond of the Gala, like us. Also, there isn't much of the vindictive ponies," Twilight said in reassurance.

"Well, okay Twilight. We will go then," Rainbow said, and exited the library. The others followed her and soon the library was empty, except for Twilight and Spike.

"Hey, Twi. Can I... Look, if Rarity needs my help with anything? It's just, that I don't see if I can help you in any way. This is definitely not because I adore her at work." Spike said.

"Hah... Of course you can," she chuckled before replying.

"Thank you, Twi," he said, and exited the library too. After that, Twilight heard Spike's shouting, "Rarity, wait. Do you have anything, that I can help you with..."

"Cannot we just kill them, somehow," Luna said.

"How?" Celestia replied. "If you think, that you will be able to do something about them, then you're allowed to do so. Just remember, that they are not fools, and they'll eventually find how to fight your illusions."

"Huh? If that's true, and we couldn't fight against those outlaws, than you can, sister," Luna said.

"And what are you suggesting? You wish me to burn down the whole forest with everyone in there? I can, sister. One spell, and this forest will turn into a barren wastelands," Celestia scolded. After some time, she continued, "And, don't forget that I actually have tried to cleanse this forest."

"You tried, or rather your guards tried. You know, I read the guard's reports of the last months. Every time, I found something related to 'Three Circles' and Whitetail forest, It's always says that some guards were lost in there. When I was reading those reports, I was feeling as if you send those guards on slaughtering," Luna exposed.

"It's not me. It's captain Lost Word. Shining Armor already kicked him out of his guard's position," Celestia replied, taking the blame away from her.

That moment, a scroll appeared before Celestia. "What's that?" Luna asked.

"That's..." Celestia looked at the scroll. "Oh, that's from your 'dear savior'. A report, she must be sending every week... Though, I admit, I would like to never recieve those at all. Criminals are all the same and that had never changed and never will. And, Twilight with her abilities and her possibilities... Sister, you know, I wouldn't mind if you send one of your guards to her at night."

"Read, already," Luna said, while rolling her eyes.

Luna saw, that Celestia was reading the report quite precisely. She saw, how Celestia's eyes were widening as her gaze goes up and down. Her expression turned to wrathful one. She throw away the scroll.

"What is in there?" Luna asked.

"You may read for yourself," Celestia muttered.

Luna picked up a scroll, and started to read.

Dear, princess Celestia.

Today, I found that it's a great blessing, to be able to share something with your friends. But sometimes, you have more friends, then things you could share with.

Your former student, Twilight Sparkle.

"Huh," Luna huffed. "Maybe... It's a mistake."

"No, my dear sister. This unicorn was my student, and I have some of her notes. Her magic-writing didn't change a bit. Also, the spell, she used, was given to her by me, though I said her to use an enchantment, I've done to her dragon." Celestia replied.

Celestia raised from her seat, and goes for the door. "Huh? Sister, where are you going?" Luna asked.

"Something tells me, that those guards that's going into Ponyville's department, this evening will arrive to their destination a bit faster, then they're supposed to." Celestia replied.

After some time, they were at Canterlot's train station. Fifteen guards standing before her. When, captain made sure that all of his subordinates fall into the rank, all of them disappeared in flash of teleportation spell.

Spike was dusting the shelves, when he heard knocks on the door. When he opened the door, he saw princesses and fifteen guards, behind them.

"Um, what can I do for you, princesses," he said.

"Where is Twilight?" Celestia asked.

"Twilight?.. Um, she left like an hour... Oh, here she is," He answered, while pointing in the distance. When Celestia look there, she saw Twilight walking to them. When Twilight got closer, Celesta saw that on her arm was something like a bracelet.

"Good evening, princess Celestia. You wanted something?" She said, when she got close enough. Celestia saw that Twilight's bracelet, wasn't a bracelet in any way, but instead, it was snake, that roped itself around Twilight's wrist.

"What is it?" Celestia asked, pointing at snake.

"Oh, that's? That's Venom, my new familiar," Twilight replied.

"New familiar? And, where is an old one?" Celestia continued with her questions.

"Dusk? He is... Somewhere. I can call him, if you want," Twilight replied.

"No, this is not needed. I just wanted to ask you about this!" Celestia said, showing Twilight a scroll, she had sent her.

"And, what's about it?" She said, as if not knowing an issue.

"What you can say about its content?" Celestia started to push.

"Content?.. A content, like content. Nothing extraordinary, as far as I can see," Twilight replied.

"Nothing extraordinary?.. Argh, Twilight! Don't even try to fool me around. This is not..." She started to scold Twilight, but was interrupted.

"Not what you wanted from me? Then please, can you tell me, what you desire from me more specifically. I may write a total bawdry, and say that this is a report of what happened," Twilight said.

Look on Celestia changed to one, that is able if not to kill, then to burn everything then got under this gaze. Twilight thought for a moment, that such an answer was unnecessary.

"... Just make sure, that you'll send anything every week," she grumbled, and turned away. "Luna! We are over here. Captain Solar Lance! You, and your subordinates expected to look over the village, and especially several mares and a dragon. Proceed to your tasks!"

"Yes, ma-am!" The captain saluted Celestia as she teleported herself and her sister to Canterlot, then he turned to his subordinates. "Those of you, who are not bounded to this mare, must proceed to the local garrison and find the place, where your mares are living," He shouted, and ten of them goes in the random direction. A majority of them started to ask where to go, and one, who prepared the most, showed right direction. A captain, in the same time, returned to those, who were left. "Bright Mind, Blazing Spear, Broadsword and Grim Glance, you need to create a schedule of watching. Now, milady, would you like us to look over you?"

"Huh... Y-yeah, I believe, there is no other option, Captain," Twilight replied. "You and your subordinates may enter, I believe."

"Thank you, milady," Solar said, and entered the library.

"I don't like thhhhhose guards, missssstresssss,"a voice hissed in Twilight voice.

"I don't like it either, Venom. But I don't have much of a choice," she sighed. "Now, who wants to learn some spells."

"Yesssss, missssstresssss," The voice hissed in reply.

Author's Note

Sweet Faust... I'm not sure, why this chapter take me so long to write.

Chapter 6. 'Three Circles'.

Several days have passed since the day, when new guards arrived to Ponyville. The time slowly closing to the sending a new report to princess Celestia.

Ardent Shield and Misty Thoughts were going to their post at Fluttershy's place.

"Hey Ard, how do you think, where Fluttershy's hiding her lab?" Misty asked his companion.

"I dunno. We've been looking for it like... Uh, Three days and find nothing," He replied. "And Fluttershy is all like smiling and don't giving a fuck. You're like: please, Fluttershy, can you tell us where is a lab? What lab? I don't know, what you're talking about. And then, I'm like: show us where you hiding a place, where you doing potions and stuff? Which potions?"

"Yeah," Misty said. They got closer to Fluttershy's house. It was really early in the morning, so Fluttershy was sleeping now. Her pets and animals were not. I wonder, how Fluttershy is dealing with all those creatures. Charred Paw from my battalion have two dogs and she says that it's such a big headache. Standing in front of the door, she, instead of knocking, asked his companion about Fluttershy's pets, "Hey, Ard, do you know how Fluttershy's dealing with those creature around."

Instead of an answer, she heard a thud. When she turned around, she saw that Ardent was trying to stop blood, that flows from an open wound on his throat. She squeaked and run toward her companion. When she was in front of him, someone put his hand over her mouth. She tried to struggle, but the pain in the neck interrupted her. She tried to suck on the air, but not much of it can go through a palm, and none of it would reach the lungs anyway.

An energy was leaving Misty's body quite fast, and after a seconds in the hands of the intruder was a limp body. After that, another figure appeared out of the thin air. They put the body so they were forming grotesque object of art. Ardent's body was on the ground, while Misty's body was laying on top. One of the figures pinned a piece of paper between the Misty's breasts with an arrow. The other one knocked on the door. After that, both figures disappeared.

After fifteen minutes, a shy and sleepy pegasus opened the door. At first, nothing catch her eye due to her sleepiness, but then she saw her guards. When a shocked mare got closer to the corpses, she saw the picture on the pinned piece of paper.

Three green circles.

Instead of standing there in shock, or run in panic, Fluttershy removed an arrow and take the piece of paper. Arrow had a note, circled around the shaft. The note and a sign of the 'Three circles' goes into Fluttershy's pocket. An arrow placed in the place where it was. The bodies were dragged into the house.

When the bodies were placed in the kitchen, with the bandaged necks so the blood would not cover every piece of furniture and her pets, she locked the home with key and run to Twilight.

At Twilight's place, she found not only Twilight and Spike, but also the guards. It was impossible to persuade guards to leave Twilight without escort, but to decrease the amount of guard was a possible task.

At her house, she was examining the note, while Twilight was examining the bodies. The guards, Bright Mind and Blazing Spear, were at the exit. Though, Fluttershy saw the Bright Mind's head in the window.

"Missssstresssss, thossssse corpsssssesssss ssssstarted to rot," the voice in Twilight's head said.

"Hmm, I see. Well, let's stop these processes. It's good that necromancers have such a spell," Twilight replied and started to cast the spell.

"Necromancers? You know necromancer's spells?" Fluttershy asked, as she watched how Twilight shoot the black orbs from her horn.

"I know how to open the portal to the Tartarus. To change the energy to the necromantic one and then channel it into your spell, it's not something too complicated," Twilight replied.

"Does that mean, that you can resurrect them," Fluttershy said.

"Only, if you want them to be brainless zombies. The proper resurrection needs their souls to be in their bodies. The soul flies away from the body after like a minute, or so. I may do a soul-seeking ritual, but that would take some time, because my inner pool of magic is not enough, so to perform the ritual, I need the mana-keeping stones. And that if not talking that I need to perform the soul binding ritual. So what the note says?" Twilight said.

"Huh? Oh, it's just... My old friends want to talk a bit with me," She said.

"To talk?" Twilight said, why looking at the corpses. "I believe, that it would be better for us to be in there, in case of something happens. Also, I believe it would be impossible to hide the bodies, we'd better tell the Captain about them."

After those words, she looked in the window and saw Bright's head. She pointed at her with a finger, and then she make a sign for her to enter. She heard the door opening and then she heard a gasp from the kitchen's entrance.

"What the!.. Ardent? Misty?" Twilight's heard the stallion's voice. She turned around and saw shocked Bright Mind and Blazing Spear that's slowly begins to become angry.

"Well, as you can see, your friends here are dead. We need to tell your Captain about it, so he can ask for new guards," Twilight said.

"But... H-how? Why a-are they d-dead in the first place?" Bright stuttered.

"The answer is simple. They killed them," Spear barked and showed at them.

"Not us. It's 'Three Circles'" Fluttershy showed them the sign.

"Huh?" Spear huffed and took the piece of paper. Then, he looked closer on the Misty's body and removed an arrow. "Oh, that's... That's definitely 'Three Circles'. At least, that arrow is something they would make."

"Oh... Um, Spear? Where d-do you kn-know that this arrow was made by someone from 'Three Circles'?" Bright asked.

"I... I've been in the fourth 'green platoon'," He answered.

"Oh... That's the one, t-that..." She stuttered, but was interrupted.

"That was sent in the middle of the Whitetail forest. One day, when we woke up, we found that there is only five of us. The platoon had twenty five. The other twenty had an arrows, where the heart must be... And, those damned pieces of paper!" He shouted and threw away the sign.

"Oh, interesting story, but we need tell Captain about it," Twilight said and exited the kitchen. The other followed her, and soon they were in the library. "Captain! We have troubles."

"Troubles? Which troubles?" Captain asked her.

"Not now. We'd better call everyone under command, captain," Twilight replied.

"Um... Fine. Broadsword! Grim Glance!" Captain roared. When his subordinates, stood before him, he said, "Your task for now. Find your companions, and got them here. The mares should follow them..."

"And don't try to get Ardent Shield and Misty Thoughts... Just don't," Twilight said.

"Huh, why not, Twilight Sparkle," Captain said and watched as his subordinates exited library.

"That's the problem, captain. I'll tell more, but only when my friends and your guys would be here," Twilight replied.

After fifteen minutes, everyone except Applejack, Mighty Kick and Water Splash was at Twilight's place. They've made it to Twilight's library a minute after. Or rather, the guards brought AJ in to the library, since she was sleeping. "Now, Twilight Sparkle. Everyone is in here, so tell me what the problem is," captain asked.

"Well... There is some bad news, captain Solar Lance. Ardent Shield and Misty Thoughts, that were under your command... Were killed," Twilight announced.

"W-what?! But... B-but how?" Captain stuttered.

"You may send someone to the Fluttershy's cottage. The corpses are there," Twilight replied.

"Argh... There is four pegasi in here. Go get the bodies," Lance barked and four pegasi under his command exited the library and took off into the distance. "Now, can you tell me, miss Twilight Sparkle. Why my people are dead?"

"Oh, just some of Fluttershy's old friends, that wanted to talk a bit with her, but didn't know how to draw her attention. Your people just were close, so they decided to leave a message in such a grotesque way," Twilight replied.

"What? And who is those old friends?" He continued.

"'Three Circles'," she replied.

Captain immediately turned pale, but started to speak nevertheless, "to speak... Well, I believe that what we will do," he said.

"Wouldn't that be like really dangerous?" Spear said.

"That would be so, you moron! And, because you ask such stupid question, you will come with those mares," captain shouted at him.

"What? No! I'm not going to go in there and kill myself," he screamed.

"You will. And, because you're objecting, you'll be punished... Or rather, someone else going to be punished. Bright Mind, you're going with Spear," he said.

"... Roger that. Bright, let's go," He replied.

"Oh, no. Please, I-I don't want to d-die... Please," she muttered, but the captain's glance made her to exit.

"Well, I understand only one thing. Fluttershy is in danger and she need our help. Let's go," Rainbow said. The everypony's screech and an Applejack's snoring was an answer, than they followed the guards.

***

"How long we're supposed to go?" Spear asked Fluttershy. They entered the forest like five minutes ago.

"If we continue to walk with such pace, than we will be walking... Fifteen minutes," She replied. "They say to meet them on the Everfree clearing. That's in the east of the forest."

"Everfree clearing? There is like five clearing and they are not named," He said.

"That's the one which closer to Everfree. There is also Sunlight clearing, clearing of small circle, of middle circle and..."

A green arrow hit the ground before them. Then, a voice come from behind, "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in our forest?" Everyone turned to see three figures, standing behind them. All of the figures pointing the weapons at them. "Well, you see us now, so please answer my question or... Hey, the tallest one! Why you didn't turn around?"

Blazing Spear really didn't turn around. "Quick Shot?" He said suddenly.

The mare in the middle shuddered and after some time lowered her crossbow. "Blaze? Is that you?" She said.

He didn't answer immediately, and Bright Mind use the moment. "W-wait... y-you know each other?" She asked.

"Huh? Yes, of course," Spear said. "She was with me in the 'green platoon'... But, they say, that Quick Shot didn't make it out of the forest."

"Yes. She didn't make out of the forest," Quick Shot replied. "You see, there was no way I could make it out of this damned forest. Back then, I ran right into the middle of it. When these ponies got me, I had no choice but to desert... So, now I'm with them."

"I... See," he said.

"So, Spear. Who are you with these lovely mares? As far as I remember, you were not the flirty one," she said.

"Oh... You see, it's not them, who walks with me, but rather me, who walks with them. They need to... Talk with your superiors," he replied.

"Superiors... I have only one superior," she said.

"What? What happened? Before I left, there was three leaders in the gang," Fluttershy said.

Quick Shot looked precisely at her. "Well, I'm a bit surprised... Huh, you said, you've been with us?" After receiving a confirming nod, she continued, "Hmm, you see... You know, I believe, it's better to get into our hiding spot. Who know, what the trees may hear."

After these words, the foresters got into the bushes. Fluttershy followed them and others followed her.

***

From the first glance, it may looked like they were lead into the nothingness or trap. The narrow pathways and excess greenery creates a delusion of numerous killers and murderers, hiding behind every tree and a bush. Especially for the guards, and if Spear was hiding the little fear he have, then Bright was literally shivering.

After sometime of walking, they entered into little clearing. At first, nothing catches their eye, but for Fluttershy a big tree stood out at the end of the clearing.

"Hey, that tree reminds me of the main building in the clearing of high circle," Fluttershy said.

"It reminds you of it, because this tree used for the same goal. Now, let me welcome you to our humble Domain of the Outcasts," Quick said. "Now, wait here. I'll call Oak Branch."

Oak Branch? Why she is here? And, why this place is called 'Domain of the Outcasts' Fluttershy thought.

After some time, since Quick Shot climbed the ladder and disappeared into the foliage of the tree, a green pegasus with peach colored mane jumped from the tree.

She landed before them. Her brown eyes were showing no emotions. The light mail was on her, and the plate have been attached to the mail. The plate have a picture of a skull and an oak tree behind the skull on it. The other parts of her set were made of a thick fabric and wasn't much memorable, except for the cloak with a sign of gang.

"So, Quick said, that... Wait! Fluttershy?!" she cried out, then she give her a hug. Her eyes lit up with a fire of joy. "Flutty!.. It was so long since we've been together the last time!"

"Oak... The air..." Fluttershy uttered. Oak pushed even stronger but for a second, and after that, she released Fluttershy from her bear hugs.

"So, Flutts. Why are you in here in the first place?" She asked.

"I... I've got a note from you, guys," she said, as she got the note from the bandits. She take a note and checked it very thoroughly.

"You know... It'd been better for you, to not answer it," she said, as she returned the note.

"Huh? Why?.. And what actually happened here?" Fluttershy said.

"A lot of things happened... A lot of things," she replied. "Hey, Flutter. You know, that I believe that you wouldn't mind to help us a bit?"

"Help? With what?" Fluttershy asked.

"With Bitten Leaf," Oak replied.

"Bitten Leaf? Why?" Fluttershy asked.

"You see, Fluttershy. Bitten Leaf just started to do things the wrong way. He said that all the towns, except Canterlot, from now and on belongs to the gang. Your Ponyville is included," Oak replied.

"Belongs to the gang? What that means?" Fluttershy asked.

"That means that the towns now are the objects of racketeering. He doesn't care that Celly's gonna turn him into a pile of dust, if anything gonna left of him after her wrath," she replied.

Hmm, the Bitten Leaf was a bit harsh in the past, but he didn't do anything to me, Fluttershy thought. "Um... I believe, I'll help you. My friends probably too. Isn't that truth, girls?"

"Don't worry. We will be there for you, no matter what," Twilight assured her.

"So, since everyone's okay with your idea, then it's time to get a bit sense in the head of Bitten Leaf," she said. "Well, I agreed about the meeting, so only thing you need to do, is to put on the disguise."

The answer was... A Applejack's snoring. It take her aback a bit.

"Um... Why she's sleeping?" She asked.

"Oh. AJ here just overworked... And didn't sleep since yesterday," Rainbow answered.

"Overworked?.. And didn't sleep?.." She hesitated. "Well, I believe we have a resting place for her... Hey! Quick Shot! Get someone from there! We have a sleepyhead and no bed!"

"Uh... Ah'm... Ah'm not sleepin'... Ya hear..." She blurted and fall into sleep again.

"I see... Well, guys. Quick Shot is getting... Oh, here she is. Well, let's get you some proper clothes. Also, since your... Um, thrasher is out of game, we need a replacement, and I know just a good option."

As she talked, she was looking at Fluttershy, as if she was saying something to her.

"It just... It just..." Fluttershy squeaked. A green finger silenced her.

"Hey, pal! Did the young little Fluttershy woke up in you again?" The green earth pony mumbled.

Her appearance wasn't much catchy. The Fluttershy was in the same outfit. It's more about her facial expression. Those half-closed eyes and a calm glance. If her eyes were bloodshot, then it would be the face of a total junkie.

"So, are we ready to go?" Rainbow said. It was so offbeat to use a dual blades instead of her favorite duo of saber and a handgun. "We'd better do this early, cuz they may not accept us if we would be late."

"Yeah. Yours friend right. We'd better hurry," Fluttershy's friend said. After half a minute, Fluttershy nodded and they exited the shack, they were in.

"So... You're Fluttershy's friend, Yeah? Cool dreadlocks," Rainbow said.

"Oh, thank you, dude. I'm Treehugger," she said.

"Rainbow Dash," she said. When they got to their company, all of them were ready to go. Not all of them were actually going to participate in the conversation between the leaders of the gang. When Fluttershy, Treehugger and Rainbow Dash got to them, they without a word go to their destination.

"So, where are we going?" Twilight asked.

"Our main tree in the clearing of the high circle. It was used to be my home before Bitten Leaf got me out of there," Branch replied.

"Oh... And, who else we are going to meet there?" Twilight continued with question.

"Blood Tree, of course," she replied.

"Blood Tree?"

"Oh, didn't anyone tell? If so, then let me tell you. Blood Tree is the third leader of the gang," she said.

"Third leader?"

"Yeah. Don't you think that it would be a bit odd, if a 'Three Circles' gang would have only two leaders," she said. "If to speak about Blood Tree, then you must know one thing. She's a total freak."

"Total freak?"

"Total freak. No one knows the whole story behind it, but everypony say that she was raped by the guard, when she was little. That didn't change the fact, that she is an orator since she was born. When you listen to her, you can't shake off the feeling, that whatever she say is a truth."

After that, no question followed. When they were closing to their destination, they felt an eyes stare at them from the deep of the woods.

The clearing opened up before them as a barren area, with no trees and dusty ground beneath them. A big stump in the middle of it and a tree that is similar to the one they've seen in the Domain of the Outcasts. Oak Branch without a second thought ran to the stump, and soon she stood on it.

"Bitten Leaf! I've come to bargain!" She shouted.

The forest immediately come to life. Different thugs started to walk out of the woods, with weapons aimed at them. Near Branch a peach colored unicorn with a crazed glance materialized.

"So, our little traitor wants back into its place... Don't worry, little toy. I would always support you," she said, but Oak felt a cold edge of Blood Tree's blade on her neck. The point if Blood Tree's other blade was on Branch's stomach.

"The mail wouldn't let you harm my body, Blood," she said.

"That only if I would slice, but sometimes, Oak, those blades could prod bodies," she said. Then, after a brief glance in the main tree's direction, she put down her weapon, "Also, yours neck uncovered."

A green earth pony with a mane of a darker shades of green stood there. A massive axe was in his hands. "So? What do you wish, Oak Branch?" He said.

"I wish you to stop this madness. Celestia will crush us all, if you will do everything you said, you will do," She said.

"Huh... So, you didn't change your mind... Does that mean, that they were right about that that any amount of time would be not enough for you to muse things over?" He mocked.

"I'm not musing things over because there is no point in it. Everything's clear as day," Oak replied.

"Why? We can be swimming in gold and fame, making every noble and guard shiver in fear," he said, as he slowly got closer to her. "But you still keep saying, that we're not supposed to do what I say."

"We wouldn't be swimming in gold and fame, Bitten Leaf. We will, rather, be drown in our blood," Oak replied.

"And who will be drowning us? Celestia? She will rather share her bed with some of her guards, or maybe that new princess, everypony keeps talking about," Leaf said.

"That's only if things will be left the way they are. If we will come into action, the guards and Celestia will come into action too. They'll..." She was interrupted by Bitten Leaf's laughter. Actually laughing and snickering were heard from everywhere, even Pinkie was laughing his eyes out.

"Ha-hah... A good joke, Branch," Pinkie shouted and a new wave of laughter come over her.

"Your actions is a complete crime against the forest's laws," everyone stopped laughing except Pinkie, but she come to sense rather quickly.

"Forest's laws? What are those?" Twilight asked in the hushed voice.

"The laws of the forest keeper, the only leader of our gang. Five hundred years ago, he created our gang. He was mighty, clever and charismatic pony... But, he was probably the biggest mystery in the history of our gang. No one knows even his name," the member of the gang to her side tell her.

"Name? But, you are calling him a Forest Keeper. Isn't that his name?" She asked.

"No, it isn't. It's his title," he answered. After that, she returned to Oak.

"Oak... You know, that throwing such accusations without evidence is not something to throw so easily," he said.

"But everyone knows what you said. It's enough for me to accuse you in the crime!" she shouted.

"It's not about it! You can't blame me in violating the law that doesn't exist!" He barked, becoming nervous, but he don't show anything.

"Doesn't exist? You mean, that this doesn't exist," she said, as she take the book from her shoulder bag. Everyone was taken aback by the look of the book.

"His book of laws? You... You can't have it! He said that no one..." He screamed.

"Who said? Wooden Crust said? Why I must listen him? And why do I must listen to you?.. Huh, you know I understand now, why Wooden Crust didn't want you to be the leader of the high circle," she said, while Leaf scrubbed his teeth. "Night Woods and Iron Splinter were far more reasonable choice as a leaders, and yet when Wooden Crust was on the edge of dying, there was only you. Four other candidates were nowhere to be found."

He stayed silence. "Not only that but I can blame you also in several other cases," she said, as she opened the book. "The rule number one. The forest keeper is the highest point in 'Three Circles' hierarchy. No one is allowed to be higher than that. You, with all the things you've done, can be blamed by this clause. The rule number four. No one is allowed to have a business outside the forest, except for the deals of different natures. You've been sending the members of our gangs out to kill and rob on the roads..."

The blaming goes on and on. "The rule number seventy three. No one is allowed to hide the book of the laws from the gang. That was started by the Wooden Crust to receiving more authority. You continued his job, and so the blames from him are given to you," she ended. "So, this allows me to deliver a verdict..."

"This allows you nothing. Who are you to deliver verdicts?" He shouted, interrupting her.

"Oh, I was waiting for the question. You see, this book have, not only the rules to keep the gang in place, but also some of the forest keeper's insight on what is the purpose of the gang and what the gang should be. Here, when I've been reading, I've found what he said about the 'Three Circles' segregation. He said that the three different parts ease things for the newbies. Lemme quote. 'The high circle is hands, they perform fighting. The middle circle is the tongue, they perform the deals. The lesser circle is the brain, they perform tactics and judging, planning and preserving. When there is no forest keeper, the leader of the lesser circle is the judge of all the gang'. So, this here means that I as an authority of the gang is able to proclaim you, Bitten Leaf, a criminal and that in turn shall lead to a punishment..." She said and opened the eyes, she closed while she was explaining. The Bitten Leaf was charging at her with his axe. She wasn't able to even squeak as the earth pony's body was changed into a hedgehog's body, as dozens of arrows pierced him in different places. His body fall before her.

"Well... Um, the punishment was done... But who will be the new leader of the high circle? Did Bitten Leaf had inheritors?" She shouted in the crowd.

Three ponies come out of the crowd. One mare and a wwo stallions. If stallion and a mare, that both belonged to the earth pony tribe, were looking like Bitten Leaf, but with different hide and mane's colors. A brown unicorn with dark-grey mane with crimson strands and with yellow eyes.

He wasn't showing any malice. Like the earth ponies, he was calm, but deep in his eyes there were no ill will. "I believe that Bitten Leaf wasn't able to chose who will be his inheritor out of all of you," she said, and after a confirming nod, she continued. "If the predecessor didn't chose the inheritor, then the forest keeper will chose, and since there is no one with this title the leaders of other circles will chose. So, Blood Tree, what do you think about those?"

"Whoever you think is suitable," she said, as she get back to talking with the Blazing Spear.

"Huh? Okay, fine. So, you, what's your name?" she said, while pointing at the unicorn.

"Mine? Oh, my name's Snow Tree, ma'am," he said.

"Okay, Snow Tree. I believe that you'll be the suitable choice for being someone equal to me," she said. Then, she got closer and she whispered to his ear, "just tell me about the other two?"

"The other two? Wrecking Strike and Power Blow? They are like Bitten Leaf, so it's highly likely to expect a strike in the back," he whispered in the reply.

"And, what can make me to not expect a backstab from you?" she replied with question.

"Maybe, because of the fact that I become an inheritor, because the most of high circle's members wanted me to be leader, not because I've sucked up to Bitten Leaf," he said.

"Oh? A nice fact to know," she replied. Then, she turned to the crowd, "So, the honest and the dishonest members of the 'Three Circle'. The official matters are done. Now, me and my companions will return to our place, and then the lesser circle will return. The great revel will start after that!"

Meanwhile, Blood Tree and Blazing Spear have come to agreement. It's started with Blazing Spear asking the question, "So, who was that?"

She remained silent, but he still tried to get the information, he wanted, "Light Flicker? It's must be him, huh? There is no other options..."

As silent, as she was, but shivering nevertheless, "I'm going to Canterlot after all these... Things. I'll start the intrigues against him, and find..."

"You'd better kill him," she said silencing him with a finger on his lips. "In the most painful way, you could imagine."

"Kill? But that's illegal..." He said, while she pull out the flask.

"Here, you can put this into his drink or food, or whatever. Also, you could put this deep down his throat. He will die either way, but if I were you, I'd choose the latter," she said. Then the Oak shouted to her about the inheritors.

"So, I'll got this with me," he said. "I'll kill him with this. And that's all?"

"Bring me a souvenir, maybe?" She said. "I would be pleased to have his head, but you can't get it, so maybe something else?"

"Oh, fine. I'll look into it," he said.

After Oak declared that they are going back to the domain, everyone gather in one place. Without any words they walked off. When Twilight, friends and the guards were going back to Ponyville, Bright Mind neared the Blazing Spear.

"Blaze. H-hey, Blaze," she murmured to him. When, he looked at her, she continued, "When you will g-got b-back to Ponyville, what you'll do?"

"Me? I'll ask captain if I'm able to go back to Canterlot," he replied.

"Oh, c-can I-I go w-with you?" She asked.

"Yes, of course," he replied. "But why?"

"I-I j-just can't... T-this is our f-first task and... And, we were under s-such pressure," she sobbed.

"I wouldn't say so... Wait, you hadn't gone with us. You stayed with AJ... Did anyone..." he said.

"No! They didn't! But those two w-were eyeing me... I was thinking t-that they would r-rape me..." she whimpered.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll look into getting you into Canterlot safe and sound," he said.

What if Celestia discovers that I've been with 'Three Circles'? She thought. No. This operation must be a secret.

Chapter 7. The dragon matters.

Several weeks have past. Celestia had been receiving the letters both from Twilight and captain Solar Lance. Nothing really happened in the town recently. Some griffin and a showmare. Both were trying to bully the locals, but were stopped by Twilight and her company.

Also she received the news that here at Canterlot a guard was killed. It's was some days before today.

Blazing Spear had been waiting for Light Flicker at his own house. Today will be the day when the bastard will pay for everything, he had done, He thought.

He planned everything. He has been watching him the last two weeks and know every piece of his day-to-day life.

Before he goes to sleep, there is always an hour, which he spends for some light snacks.

"Here, he is," he mumbled, when he heard the door opening. The phial with poison was in his hand. No, it wasn't like Blazing was afraid to slice the throat of the bastard. He have a solution even after scenario where Celestia's investigators got the clues, that leads to him. No, he just wanted to see the last minutes of Light Flicker's life and to spend his time to see the pain, the agony in those eyes.

Like the days before, today he got the table served before taking shower. So, he had a plenty of time to put the poison in the wine, Flicker had prepared.

Light Flicker have been ranting all along. Spear was becoming nervous every second, but it was unnecessary. He take a sip and then another one and another, so he guzzled all the liquid in the glass in the moment, but his thirst was not satisfied.

He already questioned it, when the sudden pain hits his throat and lungs. He falls to the floor and then he heard the voice. "You have fifteen minutes left, mister Light Flicker," disguised stallion said. Blazing Spear put the full cover and only his eyes were left uncovered. Light Flicker saw only hatred in his amber eyes.

"Who are you?.. Scumbag," he coughed out the words.

"You know that you are not the one to curse around," Spear said. "My name... is not important, but the name of a certain little filly does. Blood Tree says hello."

After some time he stood outside the house. "Tomorrow, Light Flicker's pals will find his body and tell everyone about it. Investigation will start, but I don't care for it. I left no traces there, and if I do then nothing could be done about it," he muttered under his breath, than he looked into the night lights of the city. "Well, Light Flicker, the town have a lot of ponies like you. I believe the city wouldn't mind the little clean up."

With that he disappeared in the darkness of the night. The story of the 'bounty hunter' begins.

The killed guard doesn't bother Celestia a lot. A corporal with nasty reputation. Actually, she was really glad that someone have dealt with him, even in such illegal form.

The lights of the morning sun was dancing on the white glistering coat. The bliss made her to close her eyes. "Um, sister. Doest thou allowed someone to create a manufacture near Ponyville?"

The words of her sister get her from the height of her bliss. She looked up in the skies and saw the black fogs in the distance. At first, Celestia becomes quite indignant with the fact of it, but when she finds out the nature of the fog she'd become even more pissed off.

How this lizard dared to have even one glance at my precious lands? She was mentally swearing and cursing. Torch had become really reckless in the matter of his subject's resettlement.

"With how thee looks, we come to conclusion that the matter on hands was left unattended," Luna said, being quite truthful in what she said. "So, what can we do about it? I suggest that we send Twilight and her friends there."

The answer didn't come immediately, but after some time Celestia's glance turned to more malicious one. "Yes, we will... We will."

***

The population of Ponyville was terrified. The black smokes high in the skies were concealing the sun. The local government tried to soothe all the population, but fails to do so.

Applejack and Rainbow arrived to the Twilight's library in the full combat gear. Weapons were sheathed, but in any moment, ponies would be able to bring the weapons out.

On the entrance they were stopped by the new pair of guards, Soul Flames and Calm Fight. It could become a scandal, but Twilight stopped the whole thing before it could start.

"So, what the whole fuss is about? What with those smokes in the skies?" Rainbow shouted.

"Well, at first, where is your guards, miss Dash? Miss Applejack?" Solar Lance answered.

"They'll come soon," she said, then a door opened.

"Actually, we're right here," Air Stream barked. Jet Burst, Mighty Kick and Water Splash entered the library after him.

Rainbow already opened her mouth, but Twilight interrupted her, "no. Let's wait for the others."

After some time everyone was in library except Pinkie. Everyone suggested to start without her, even if Twilight didn't like it. "So, the problem we have here is really important. As you can see the skies covered in the black fogs..."

"Twi! Had you seen those on the train station?" The voice of the bubbly mare come with the banging on the door. The door shined with purple glow and opened, so pink mare entered the library. Two guards, a mare and a stallion, entered the library after Pinkie.

"Who?" She asked.

"I dunno. Just some really tough looking guys," she replied.

"Miss, Twilight. I know those ponies," a mare, Heaven Joy, said. Everypony's attention have been drawn to her. "Those are the elite corps. The second battalion of the Canterlot's elite corps. Five hundred units, if I remember correctly."

"A battalion? Elite corps? What the hay, those guys forget in this province?" Solar Lance said.

"Yeah, I wish to know the same," Twilight said. "Well, why not just go there and ask those guys, instead of pointless wondering? On the way there, I'll tell you about the task."

Everyone agreed and they left Spike in the library. After fifteen minutes, they arrived to their goal. Tough looking stallions and mares were faced on the way to the station. A lot of them were in the magic powered exoskeletons. Everyone had enchanted weapons and looks on their faces, that shows a lots of determination.

On the train station, there was even more of those elite guards, but one stallion stood out of all of them. He had been throwing orders around and every guard was coming to him if any troubles were there.

"So, you are the main here, right? The hay you are doing in here?" Twilight asked. He only shuddered and turned around. Helm with carved runes completely hid his head, but the bump on his head show that the stallion is a unicorn. Instead of an answer, the stallion took off his helmet...

"So, sister. I had heard that you somehow managed to get Celestia's mercy," the white unicorn stallion said.

"What are you doing here, Shining?" She gawped him.

"Me? I'm just performing an order from Celestia herself and those guys with me," he replied. "And, which goals you're following here, Twilight?"

"The dragon problem. We're about to solve it," she answered.

"Wow, we were about to solve it too. The question is who will be first," he said.

Spike come running from the direction of the library. "Twi... a letter..." He shouted, being physically exhausted by the running such a distance. He give her a letter with the royal seal on it. Her face paled a bit after she read it.

"What's in there?" Rainbow asked.

"Celestia..." She growled. "Guys, we need to hurry... If we are not going to be the first to solve the problem, then Celestia will simply execute us."

"What? For what reason?" Rainbow said.

"She said that this is our duty. We need to stand for Equestria with all of ourselves and be ready to die for it, so if we wouldn't do as she pleases, then she can consider us as a traitors" Twilight replied.

"You know, Twilight," Shining said. "I believe, my guys could have some spare time in this village. You will have several hours before we go there and kill that big guy."

"Have you heard that? We'd better go and solve the problem. I don't want to be a hanging corpse on the main plaza of the Canterlot!" Rainbow uttered. Without any preparations, they ran to the mountain where a dragon now resides.

"Hey, where did you run?!" Solar Lance screamed them in the backs, but no response followed.

"It's useless, Captain. They are gone." Shining said, wrapping his arm around his neck. "You'd better show us a place where me and my guys could have a little rest."

***

"Everyone of you know what we need accomplish!" Shining shouted. The ranks of the elite guards stood before him. "You all were given under my command because Celestia herself is confident in me. She knows that I'll not let you to perish. You must listen to me if you want to get..."

"Hey, is that a dragon?" One of the guards from the first rank asked, pointing to the mountain before them. When Shining turned around, he saw the red dragon flying away from the mountain.

"Huh? That's... Definitely a dragon..." He muttered. "Well, no matter. Get back into the rank, soldier. Now, everyone of you, follow me. We're going to see what's happened in there."

If it's you, sister, then I really underestimated you... Seriously underestimated you. Shining thought.

After an hour of marching they met Twilight's group. They were really battered but happy and alive nevertheless. "I'm waiting for the report, Twilight Sparkle," Shining said.

"A report? I'm not one of your subordinates," She scolded her brother, but after some time she reported nevertheless. "We... We had Tartarus of a fight back there. If it's wasn't for Fluttershy's accuracy, then we will never get out of the fight alive."

He inspected everyone before him, and if Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie looked unharmed, then everyone else have been suffering several injuries. Fluttershy had half of her face gone and replaced with a big scorch mark. Applejack had some plates on her armor gone, leaving the mail frame uncovered. Rainbow had been bruised really heavy.

"What's up with the injuries?" He asked.

"Fluttershy got under dragon's fire breath. Actually, he aimed at Rarity but Fluttershy got her to the side. She made it out of the fire too... Partially. Uh, AJ got crushed by the dragon's fist. Big bruises and destroyed armor plates but nothing serious. Rainbow... Lost her watch and dragon got her thrown headfirst into the ceiling above with his wing," she told.

"And then, I fell on the gold pile... Who knows, that piles of golden coins could be so solid," she shuddered.

"Hmm, fine," he said, and then he turned around. "I believe that our weapons are out of the business."

The sigh and grumbles were the answer. Everyone didn't like it, but they couldn't anything about it. Everyone turned around and go back to Ponyville.

"A pony can make everything if it's needed to flee the death, huh?" Shining asked when they were going to the town. To survive, after recieving a punch from the dragon... That Applejack is really tough. Need to get her a reward.

"Maybe," she replied.

"Celestia really dislikes you," he said. "What do you think of your future?"

"If there will be tasks like this then our future's going to be really short," she said. "What up in the Celestia's service?"

"Nothing new, except for the Luna's guards. I've talked with their leader, general Night Storm. She is nice and all but I believe she is too fanatical."

"And, what's about Cadence?" she went on with questions.

"She... She's waiting for you," he said. "When you'll arrive to Canterlot?"

"Sorry... Celestia told me that no one is able to go to Canterlot or any other towns, until we show her that we are trustworthy enough, so not soon... But we're invited on the Grand Galloping Gala this year," she answered.

"Oh, fine. I'll tell her about it," he said. They continued their path.

"And, Shining," Twilight said, when they were close to Ponyville. "Thank you for fabricating data, when I was at Canterlot."

"It was nothing, Twily, but still wish to say to you that the whole thing was really hard," he said.

Chapter 8. The book and its cover.

"Maybe, it's better to stop," Fluttershy said, looking at Twilight trying to find the magic in the blue colored house. "This is just simple house."

"It may be a simple house, but I couldn't shake that feeling that it was bigger in the inside," she replied. After another failed mistake, Twilight gave it up, and they go to Sugar Cube Corner. "But if there is no magic in that house..."

"Then there is no magic in that house," she interrupted her, by placing her finger over the mouse of the unicorn. "Really, Twi. When we get to the Time Turner's place, the only thing you can talk about is how his house can be bigger in the inside."

"Um..." She hesitated. then, with a sigh, she said, "I believe... you're right."

Fluttershy smiled but Twilight didn't saw this. Her head was hidden completely from everyone's looks with a cloak's hood. Her cloak was the same as Twilight's own, but of a different color.

Only Fluttershy's eyes were open to the world. The gap of the hood reveals not only eyes, though. Around her left eye, a clear patch of skin situated itself.

The burns were healed without any mistakes, but the hide didn't want to grow on the barren skin.

It was really nice of Twilight to had this spell of her on me, Fluttershy thought. I'll just cooked up under this cloak without her spell.

"Hey, Flutters?" Twilight addressed to her, getting her from her thoughts away. "Why the village's so barren?"

She looked around. The streets around her were absolutely empty except for them. A recognition started to take over her. The dark figure that loomed at the end of the street making Fluttershy to quiver in fear. Twilight already opened her mouth, but someone yanked them to the side. They come to sense only when they were in the dark room of some sort.

"What... What h-happened ," Twilight stuttered. She glanced at everyone inside. Her friends and guards stood around her. The mare that owns the building was there too, but she was shaking so fiercely, that one will know that she is in there without even looking.

"Zecora happened," Rainbow said, looking in the window.

"Zecora?" She asked.

Instead of an answer, Rainbow showed a sign to come closer. When Twilight stood next to Rainbow, she saw the dark figure in the end of the road. Looking at how the figure arched, the figure was doing something with the earth.

"What is she doing?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, she is cursing these lands. Everytime she does this, something happens," she replied.

"Those were simple coincidences, I believe," Twilight suggested. "There is no magic in here, so it can't be a curse in any way."

"Maybe she do this without magic," Rainbow assumed.

Twilight only laughed at this. After sometime she come to sense and said, "This is ridiculous, Rainbow." After that, she offered ,"Do you wish me to raze all your prejudices?"

Everyone shook their heads, saying their no. Twilight on the contrary opened the door with her magic and ran outside. Everyone followed her. The last one, the guard had closed the door, much to the relief of the house owner.

"Who are you?!" She shouted to the figure. She felt how everypony behind her got the weapons out of sheathes and prepared to use them if needed.

The figure was standing to them with her back. The figure have raised her hands higher showing the striped hide. The figure turned around and pulled her hood off revealing a female zebra. She immediately frowned at the look of ponies behind her.

"The ponies I haven't seen before. Don't you mind me to know about you more?" she rhymed.

"We are guards in Celestia's service, so yes. We do mind," one of the guard said.

"Well, since we are not serving Celestia, I believe we can communicate with you. Isn't that truth, girls?" Twilight said.

"I think it isn't..." Rainbow mumbled.

"Wait, you're the purple unicorn, they spoke recently? I'm not sure I saw anyone like you apparently," she asked.

"And what they say?" Twilight asked her question in reply.

"They say that because of you, the things here were replaced with something new. That the old business can't be done, with the guards who looms since the rise of the Celestia's sun. They say that in the past the night patrol was the local pun, now it's something one needs to take into account," she told Twilight, much to her surprise.

The things in Ponyville really were changed. All the old guards were sent out to more provincial settlements, than Ponyville ever was. The new town guards in the town were sent by Celestia herself. It could be felt by their almost maniacal faith in Celestia. They've made it clear that they wouldn't tolerate anything if it's needed to be done out of Celestia's sight.

"Wow... And that's because of me..." She whispered. Then, with a normal tone, she said, "Well, I believe I have a debt before those who lives in this town."

"Yeah, but what's done is done and you mustn't have that frown. I would like it better if you say how you are called, don't wish to be rude and wonder what to say when I and you met when you or me have a talk," she said.

"Oh, my name's Twilight. This here is Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy," Twilight said. Zecora immediately noticed the clear patch of skin, where no fur were growing.

"Oh, you, poor little mare. You are in luck since such a blight for me isn't rare," she said.

"Wow, you are able to restore the fur on my face?" Fluttershy asked. Zecora nodded. "Oh, if this wouldn't bother you then can we treat my furless skin?"

"That's definitely good idea. On the way to your house, we can ask the questions that we have," Twilight added. "By the way, can you tell me where are you from? It's Zebrica, isn't it? I can't remember any other place where zebras like you lives."

"It's not unexpected to me that you haven't heard of any places zebras roams free. Our homeland, Zebrica, is a very secluded land faraway. Me, I'm an outcast, since my tribe didn't like my deviant display," She rhymed. She has been rhyming all the way to her place. The guards followed them on their silent watch.

***

"Please, stop?" The aged yellow mare with a bloodied face mumbled, as she fell to the ground after an uppercut.

"Stop? After everything you've done?" The masked stallion barked as he stood over her."You're so pathetic."

"Please... I-I can give you m-money..." She mewled, while wiping off the blood from her broken nose. This movement revealed a mark of a hand in the whirlwind of golden coins on the backside of her palm. The mark got stallion slightly angered, but he didn't show it.

"Hah. I thought you were smart enough to understand that I care not about myself but for the justice that had been suffering because of you," he accused her. "The justice will grant me with a smile when your blood will be spilt on the ground below!"

One movement of his axe, and its blade was practically at half of cutting off the mare's head.

Blazing Spear remembered how he killed Corrupting Touch, while cleansing his mask.

It was a present from Blood Tree. Today, she also sent him a box with gas grenades. Some had the simple smoke, while the others...

They are painted in the same green like arrows. The gas in these little things can cause hallucinations, big confusion and a hay lotta troubles for those who will be breathing with it, He thought, while putting away the mask. The mask have an air cleaning spell on it so it wouldn't allow him to breathe with that poison.

That moment someone knocked on the door. He quickly put away the mask and the box in his little stash under planks below and put a rug over it.

When he got to the door, the one behind it knocked the second time. When he opened the door, a cheered yet familiar voice screamed at him, "Brother! It was so long since the last time we met, and I started to miss you!"

He was tacked by someone really excited. When he come to sense he recognized his little sister in the figure in front of him. Light cream fur was brighter if matched to his own coat, while her mane was a bit darker then his. His light crimson mane and her deep crimson. Her green eyes behind round eyeglasses were completely different to his amber ones. That's how Blazing Brush looked if next to her was her brother, Blazing Spear.

"So, am I able to enter your home or I would be standing her all the time?" she asked.

"Uh, of course you can," he replied. When she was in, he asked, "It was just really sudden... Do you want some tea?"

"Wouldn't mind," she said. He headed to his kitchen and got some water in the teapot. One lighted match later and a bright flame was beneath teapot. He got the packet with tealeaves from the cupboard, after that.

Turning around he saw his sister sitting at his table. All her attention drawn to the flames in the furnace. His eyes in the same were drawn to his cutie-mark. A spear in flames. So, daddy. How are you there damned pyromaniac? Do you burn everything in your afterlife?.. I still miss you, even after everything you've done, He thought. Then, his sister called for him, out of sudden.

"Hey, big bro," she said, drawing his attention to him. "Have you heard that Light Flicker and Corrupting Touch are dead?"

"Huh, no," he lied.

"Are you sure?" She didn't trust him. "The clues they find tells rightly opposite."

"As if, you know what clues, they find," he said, then he remembered something. Wait. No, no. Don't you dare say that...

"Those arts were really good, but those scribbling... That isn't your handwriting. I know how you write things, but those were hardly words." she told him.

"Why me? It could be anyone else," he tried to be evasive.

"I'm the only one who had seen you drawing stuff," she said. "Our drawing is similar, and that art... Why did you draw her mane like a flame? I believe, it's corrupting it."

"She corrupts everything... They corrupt... And in this freaking city there is many like him or her. I just... Give them what they deserve," he said, already seeing that he is busted.

"But they didn't. No one else in this world deserve such a fate. Even Light Flicker and Corrupting Touch," she said, while putting her hand between her hind legs, since their names opens an old wound.

He come closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. After a minute she come to her sense, while he asked her, "You are still able to forgive both of them, even after what they've done to you?"

"If not me, then who? Everyone is allowed to live and this statement couldn't be questioned. Life is the greatest virtue," she said.

"If only everyone were like you..." He said. Then, he changed the topic, "so, how it's at Double Flower and Pear Luggage?"

"The same as it is," she said. "Nothing happened recently."

"How are they?" he asked.

"Oh, they are fine. Rinsed Wind is fine too," she said. Then she added, "Luggage is still mourning Pear Butter."

"Is he still angry at Grand Pear?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if there is something that will change it," she replied. He smirked at it. His sister didn't have a house like him. Instead, she is renting a room at Double Flower's shop. She, her husband, Pear Luggage, and their adopted son, Rinsed Wind, are really nice ponies from what he remembered from times he encountered them.

This moment the teapot started to whistle. He put out the fire in the furnace and got the kettle by the handle. Soon they were chatting about everything in the world. The time went by.

"Hey, Big Bro," she called out for him when she was at the door. When all of his attention was on her, she said, "One thing you must remember. It's four ponies that solve your case. If not counting me, than those three who is left... Well, let's just say that they would be solving it for years. But few words from this mouth and you will be behind the bars. I wouldn't give you up right now, but if something goes wrong, this mouth wouldn't be kept shut."

"Yes, yes. I understand. Bye," he said.

"Yeah. Well, goodbye, big brother. Would highly appreciate to meet sometime later," she said and exited his house. The doorknob flashed with amber aura and soon the door closed.

So, who's gonna be next? He thought, as he goes up to his room on the second floor.

Author's Note

So, guys. What do you feel about cutie-marks on the backside of the palm? I feel, that it's kinda unfitting to have them on the flanks. A cutie-mark is something that shows the nature of a pony and isn't something to hide from everyone. The cutie-mark on the flank is hidden under pants and them walking without pants... Let's just say that, It works for ponies, but not here.