Twilight sat uncomfortably in a rickety chair in Study Guide’s office. The drunk mare had questioned Twilight ever since her friends went to go speak with the zebras. The room was a bit barebones. No motivational posters, no decoration whatsoever to brighten up the room.

Study Guide had left the room to grab some documents, leaving Twilight to wait here. In the middle of the room was an old rug that would spit out dust whenever somepony stepped on it, making it obvious that Twilight was indeed still in the post-apocalypse. On the side of the room, across from Twilight, was a small desk with another of those fancy terminals.

Talking with Study Guide had helped Twilight learn a lot about these things. They were used for information storage and even communication. Twilight was impressed by this, remembering her world’s method of communicating with far-away friends. It would’ve been useful if they had made one of these.

Of course, the invention of the terminal was only a result of the war, the need for communication becoming greater than ever before, so, naturally, the terminal was brought into production. Twilight stared at the boxy machine, her curiosity nagging at her. It wouldn’t hurt to take a small look at it, right? It wasn’t like she was hurting anything.

She slowly got out of her chair, slowly walking across the dusty rug and over to the desk, her eyes on the terminal the entire time. Her ear twitched as she held in her excitement. This was a device from a universe that wasn’t hers. It was only natural to be curious as to how exactly it operated.

Study Guide’s chair looked a lot more comfortable than the one Twilight had been given to sit on earlier. It had a black, leathery surface, with what looked like a fair amount of cushioning. It was one of the rolling chairs one would see in a fancy cubicle at an office of a large corporation.

Twilight’s eyes looked left, then right, the mare making sure there was nopony else in the room with her. Slowly climbing into the seat, the chair make a creaking, squeaking noise, making her feathers stand on end. She looked at the doorway of the office, and after a few seconds of silence, she settled into the seat, looking at the screen of the terminal in front of her.

She stared, more like it, trying to figure out how to turn it on. She noticed a knob in the corner of the terminal screen, and instinctively, she turned it, the screen flickering to life in a sickly-green color before the majority of that color vanished, leaving behind green text instead.

Booting Up…

Bootup Complete.

User: Study Guide

Password:

Uh-oh… What was the password?

Twilight thought deeply about this, going over what she and Study Guide had often talked about. It was mostly questions about Twilight herself, but… Study Guide obviously didn’t use ‘Twilight’ as her password. Let’s see… she… was often drinking that strange liquid.

What was it she kept calling it…?

Password: Booz

Password Incorrect.

Password: Boose.

Password Incorrect.

Password: Booze

Password Accepted. Welcome, Study Guide.

Twilight’s face lit up with a pleased smile, the mare a little surprised at her own thinking. But, then again, she was top of her class back in Canterlot. The screen flickered a little more before showing up a menu of options to choose from. There was a lot to choose from, like files, videos, and… music? Who knew Study Guide was into that?

Twilight selected the files, the monitor taking her to an entire list of numbered documents. There was little-to-no indication as to what any of these documents were about, all of them only having a mix of numbers and letters in their titles.

Geez…

Twilight scrolled down the list for a while, the mare looking for well over five minutes until she reached the bottom of the list. Ugh… it didn’t seem very efficient, unless…

Were they going by date?

She clicked the bottom file, and immediately, the computer made a buzzing noise as it brought up a slew of text that almost instantly rearranged itself into a more comprehensible visual. Twilight looked over the entire file, her eyes glued to the screen.

File Created: 2 Hours ago.

Subject: Twilight Sporkface

Twilight wrinkled her nose and muttered, “Sporkface?” before reading on.

Day two, no progress with Twilight Sparkle. Although she claims to be Twilight Sparkle, she lacks the knowledge of anything involving the ministries. It is currently assumed that she is either from a parallel universe where the ministries never existed, or she’s a really clever cosplayer. As of now, there is no real evidence of her claim other than the presence of a certain infamous draconequus.

Her group of friends are currently off to the zebras’ homelands, where they are attempting (and most likely failing) to fix the relationship between ponies and zebras. Their optimism can be described as ‘sickeningly sweet.’

The supposed draconequus is currently in the form of the average earth pony, and while his looks may be deceiving, he still seems capable of spawning random objects for the sake of comedy. I found my booze replaced with tea this morning, and I hadn’t even turned away from it when it had happened. Either the earth pony is secretly a unicorn, Twilight is casting the spell, or I’m battier than I had initially thought. Otherwise, I can currently assume that this, along with the other random events occurring, are the work of chaos magic.

Questioning Twilight about her realm seems to get me nowhere, as she only states events that seem to be completely different from what we’ve seen, so this universe is likely one that has changed so drastically that the war had never actually happened.

Most of her knowledge of magic seems to work on a slightly different set of rules. She had stated that time travel was actually a thing, and that she’d gone through various alternate timelines to stop a random psychotic unicorn with seemingly no history of proper training. A gifted unicorn is one thing, but a unicorn to just suddenly understand such a complex spell that not even the most skilled can begin to grasp is beyond my personal belief. I’m no bull but I do smell its shit.

The differences in magical mechanics is getting astoundingly wider and wider, and I’m beginning to question whether or not I’m being lied to. I had attempted to recreate several magical experiments alongside Ms. Sparkle, using unicorn “volunteers”. Both our results were, surprisingly, different, despite their same set circumstances. There appear to be different laws of magic operating around Twilight specifically, and because of this, I can say it’s safe to assume that in the event of things going wrong, Twilight Sparkle could indeed be assumed to be a threat.

“...A threat?” questioned Twilight to herself. “Sh-She’s calling me a threat? Of all the–, really?”

In the event that she ever decides to take action on her own, I may find it necessary to utilize everything I can to contain her and keep her from causing damage.

“Havin’ a good read there, cuntnugget?” Study guide asked in Twilight's ear causing Twilight to jump up and have a small heart attack.

“GAH! What’s this you’re saying about me being a threat?!” asked Twilight as she tried to regain control of her heart’s beating.

“What’s this about you accessing classified documents?” asked Study in return.

“I-I was just curious,” Twilight responded.

“Curiosity doesn’t justify illegal activity,” said Study.

Twilight stood up from the chair, walking back to her own. “This whole place is crazy… Everything’s revolving around secrets here.”

“It literally has to, or else enemies could get the upper hoof,” said Study. “I’m sorry to say, Miss Sparkle, that this is not your pretty, perfect world. This is Hell, and you will find that out in all of its molten glory if you touch my shit again.”

“This is… just ridiculous,” said Twilight. “Whatever happened to friendship? It’s what’s kept my world together! It’s like you all just decided to throw it out the window the moment relations went bad!

Study Guide stared at her for a long moment, then said, “That’s exactly what happened.”

“Who was in charge of making that call?!” asked Twilight.

Study then proceeded to respond in a highland horse accent, “The princess upstairs, ya fockin’ cunt.”

“C-Celestia?” stuttered Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight. Your precious princess made the call.” answered Study. “She made the decision to simply leave when Equestria needed her most.”

“The Celestia I know would never drop friendship at any moment,” said Twilight.

“Hard reminder: This isn’t your world,” said Study.

“I know and it’s so frustrating that your world is so aggressively stupid.” Twilight groaned with a face hoof.

“And it's not even the tip of the iceberg,” Study replied. “Sit the fuck down, please, or I’m bringing in security.

Twilight blew a bit of her mane out her face, rolling her eyes as she walked back over to her chair, sitting down. Study Guide grumbled as she returned to her computer, muttering something about the lack of alcohol.

“So, Miss Sparkle…” said Study. “I have a few more questions for you, and this time, they will revolve around something that is likely going to get me killed. While I did not originally have access to this information, I decided to say ‘fuck it’ and peek around Enclave databases anyway… I literally have nothing to live for except my own satisfaction.”

“Can we get on with it, then?” asked Twilight, growing impatient.

Study turned to her computer, the tips of her wings typing into the keyboard with heavy clacking. When she finished, she simply said three words: “Gardens of Equestria.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“It’s not exactly encouraged to talk about the project,” said Study. “Only a few ponies knew about the project back when the war was in full swing. Hell, hardly anyone knows about it now. It’s still classified as a ‘rumor’ according to Enclave top secret records.”

“Um, could you explain?” asked Twilight.

“Gardens of Equestria is a rumored megaspell made to restore the wasteland to a more pristine state, a state where plants can grow, water is pure again, and the land can flourish with life,” explained Study, seeming to go into a sort of teacher mode. “It requires the six Elements of Harmony to activate, or at least, that’s what the files say.”

“Why are you bringing this up?” asked Twilight. “I had nothing to do with it. This isn’t my universe.”

“While it may not be your universe, you are still an Element of Harmony,” said Study. “When your friends come back, I want to coordinate an attempt to locate and activate the Gardens of Equestria.”

“And you’re asking this… or…?” said Twilight.

“I initially said I’d ask,” said Study Guide. “But now I’m out of booze, so fuck it. I’m no longer asking. I’m in a very moody state today. You will be helping, if you are who you say you are.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Fine… Are we done?”

“No,” Study bluntly replied.

“Ugh…”

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

The village was just now within view and Zone looked absolutely nervous from Fluttershy’s perspective. The zebra dragon hybrid, finally returning home, looked as though she were returning to the scene of a grizzly murder.

Fluttershy picked up her pace, walking side-by-side and asking Zone, “Will you be okay?”

Zone put on what Fluttershy could only see as a fake smile and said, “Yes, Miss Shy! I am… right as rain. I am just nervous. The last time I was here, there was merely a… disagreement.”

Fluttershy’s concern only grew more from there. Zone was obviously not looking forward to any of this, and knowing about her story, Fluttershy was now a little nervous as well, especially if these zebras were going to treat Zone with malice.

Fluttershy slowed her pace, eventually keeping a consistent pace with Taipan. She whispered to her, “I don’t think Zone’s ready to do this. Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“Yes, Zone strong,” Taipan replied out loud, not even trying to keep her voice quiet. “Zone has pack to back her up should something go wrong, skywalker.”

Zone looked back and said, “Really, Miss Shy, I am fine. You have nothing to worry about.”

Fluttershy stayed quiet until they reached the village. She didn’t want to show doubt to her friend any further, at least… for now. This was indeed a most delicate scenario. As they crossed the outside boundary of the village, zebras began to stare, not at the group as expected, but at Zone.

Fluttershy could hear the whispers of some of the zebras as they walked by.

“It’s returned.”

“Monster.”

“Doesn’t belong here.”

All of these comments unsettled her, but obviously not as much as they unsettled Zone, who was gritting her teeth as they walked towards the hut in the center of the village. There was tension in the air, especially even more so as an older zebra walked out of the hut, long, unkempt mane trailing down onto his back. His eyes were grayed out, having seemingly no pupils.

Applejack leaned over to Fluttershy, whispering, “This certainly don't look like a reasonable fella.”

“Oh, I’m sure he can be reasonable,” Fluttershy whispered back.

“He looks pretty serious,” said Dash, not even whispering.

The old zebra looked at Zone and told her, “Leave, now.”

Taipan snorted at the old Zebra. ”Why should she?”

Fluttershy immediately turned towards Taipan, her mind going, “Taipan, noooo!”

Almost everypony else also began looking at Taipan in the same manner.

The zebra stated, “I wouldn’t expect an outsider to understand a matter like this. In fact, you of all species are definitely not welcome in my village, small one…”

Taipan took a deep breath, something Fluttershy had taught her on their journey to help with her temper. “One. One chance to take that comment back.”

“Fine,” he said. “You are rather big… for a rat.”

Fluttershy, seeing Taipan about to lose her temper completely, pulled her close into a hug. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not true, I promise.”

Zone squinted at the village leader. “I have come to negotiate terms of peace on behalf of ponies.”

The zebra stared at her as if she’d just told him the sky was falling. “Ridiculous. First it was dragons, and now you want to represent a mortal enemy?”

“You used to tolerate my father,” she said. “Why can you not tolerate my friends here?”

“Because we used to work together,” said the leader. “Yes, we’ve hired dragon mercenaries during the war, but the reason I will tolerate your father and not you is because you are simply an abomination. Zebra and dragons knew well enough not to interbreed. Your father made a mistake. When he died, I sought to rid the village of that mistake. You shouldn’t have come back, and you will leave now.”

Taipan had enough, sprinting past everyone and tackling the elderly Zebra and stung the leader multiple times until Zone pulled her off. “Stop, Taipan! Stop!” shouted Zone, doing her best to push Taipan away from the elder.

The elder, surprisingly, stood up just fine, the wounds on his side and his back bleeding slightly, but from what Fluttershy could see, Taipan’s venom had done nothing to keep this ancient zebra down.

“How is that possible?” asked Dash. “Didn’t Taipan one-shot that one zebra way back with her poison?”

“Venom,” corrected Fluttershy, well-versed in the way of how animals work.

“I have fought and killed many a scorpony,” said the leader. “They fight bravely, yes, and their venom leaves you with the crippling paralysis, sometimes even the touch of death, but I have been stung so many times, it is nothing more than a bee’s sting to me.”

“So, wait, you’re immune?” asked Applejack.

“He’s resistant,” said Fluttershy. “But not immune. Enough could hurt him, but it would have to be more than two or three scorponies at once, I’m guessing.”

The elder walked over to Zone as the hybrid was trying to keep Taipan back. Without a warning, he spun around and Zone was suddenly hit from behind with a precision kick which left her reeling on the ground.

The elder looked down at the scorpony and said with a serious tone. “If you want to stay alive long enough to become an alpha, I suggest you stay out of zebra business. This is between her and I. You have no place here, and the only place the abomination belongs is six feet under.”

Dash seemed to be a little riled up as well. “Hold on! We came here to discuss peace!” she shouted, running up beside Taipan, looking the elder in the eye. “You can’t just start beating up ponies like that!”

“Do you think war has room for peace?” asked the elder. “Especially if it is still ongoing?”

“It’s over, though!” shouted Dusk Feather from behind Dash.

“Far from it,” said the elder. “We’re merely dormant for now.”

Fluttershy ran over to Zone as the others tried to talk sense into the elder, putting a hoof under Zone’s head and raising her slightly. “Zone! Are you okay?!”

Zone couldn’t even put on a fake smile. She tried, but it appeared that shame had hit her harder than before. “I do not know why I tried,” she said. “This is a foolish endeavor. I should have tried harder to convince you all that he would not listen. Instead, I decided to trust you. I thought, that because the Ministry Mare of Peace had returned, we might have actually had a chance, but I was wrong. Look at this scene! Ponies, zebras, even scorponies are about to have an all-out brawl to the death in this village! Once a fight breaks out, it’s over. There is no convincing. We will have only left with other zebra villages joining forces against us.”

Fluttershy could see that both the village elder and Taipan were most definitely about to fight. She knew how the scorpony was. Pride was everything to the culture, it seemed, and stubbornness to the zebra culture as well. With such chaotic forces joining up, it almost seemed impossible to get either side to see reason. She had to do something, anything to keep negotiations peaceful.

Taipan’s pincers glowed, and the elder got up on his hind legs, both in an offensive position. With the sheer tenacity of a scorpony and the calculating cold mind of an experienced zebra warrior both now put into play, Fluttershy was sure this whole situation was about to go up a creek without a paddle.

Fluttershy quickly stepped in between the two, shouting, “Stop! This isn’t going to help anything! We’re here to discuss peace!”

The elder looked at Fluttershy with a disgusted expression on his face. “Peace? With who? Scorponies?”

“Ponies!” corrected Fluttershy.

The elder had an amused expression now. “Peace…? With ponies?!”

“Yes!” said Fluttershy with a quick nod.

The elder stepped back. “Leave now. This isn’t a matter that will be resolved anytime soon,” he said. He glanced over at Zone, his gaze narrowing. “Especially not with this one here with you.”

Zone stood quietly behind Fluttershy, nudging her hoof at Fluttershy’s shoulder, but Fluttershy wasn’t listening. “You can’t just leave this for future generations!” Fluttershy argued. “Think of everycreature’s future!”

“The only future I need to think about is the future of zebrakind,” the elder replied. “Unless you can somehow repair the damages that have already been done, I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”

“Miss Shy, please…” said Zone. “This is hopeless.”

“I thought you wanted to fix things,” said Fluttershy, looking to the hybrid with a concerned expression. “You said you wanted to help!”

“I do wish to help, Miss Shy,” Zone responded. “But… this was something I overlooked. I was more confident knowing you were with us. You are the Ministry Mare of Peace, the Element of Kindness.”

Taipan went over and put a hoof on Zone’s leg. “Kindness only goes so far Zone for this. Alphas must talk, or fight things out.”

Fluttershy was, frankly, getting sick of this talk. This talk of alphas and fighting. “That’s enough!” she finally said. “Kindness can get you anywhere! We just have to keep talking! No offense to you, Taipan! I’m sure you have your reason for seeing things the way you do, but I think fighting will continue to make things worse! Zone, please… Don’t give up hope just yet.”

Zone and Taipan exchanged glances, both with uncertainty. Zone then looked at Fluttershy and muttered, “Alright, Miss Shy… Then, by all means, please talk to him.”

Fluttershy looked at the elder as he was walking away, quickly running over to him and saying, “W-Wait! Please! What is your name?”

“I am Elder Zander,” replied the zebra. “And you are…?”

“F-Fluttershy,” the timid pegasus answered.

“Is… is this a joke?” asked Zander, turning around to face her. “I was led to believe the Ministry Mares were long dead.”

“We’re… not, kind of…?” said Fluttershy with uncertainty. She wasn’t sure how to explain the whole ‘we’re from an alternate reality’ bit. “Please, speak with me on this matter. I only want to see peace between both ponies and zebras.”

“Miss Shy,” said Zander. “You are looking for that which cannot possibly exist. I have heard of your efforts in the war to try and bring peace between both nations, but after all the damage done…? Now? It is almost futile. You would have to do a lot to get my full attention, to prove that you really wish for peace.”

“We’re willing to do anything to end this rivalry,” said Fluttershy with determination on her face.

“Anything, hm…?” muttered Zander, his eyes glancing to the right as he thought to himself. “Well… if you truly do wish to bring peace, then I have a favor to ask of you, one that none of my warriors have ever been able to accomplish.”

Fluttershy nodded, listening intently to his words.

Zander’s lips slowly upturned, a grin appearing on his tired face. “I need you to speak with the last remaining dragons in the dragon lands. I wish to have a question answered.”

Fluttershy nodded again. “And that question is…?”

“A dragon I’m looking for… He’s been gone for a while, but I know he is still alive,” said Zander. “He goes by the name of Ashes. I feel these dragons may know his whereabouts, but no matter how many warriors I send, these dragons refuse to talk. Some warriors do not even come back alive.”

“Why do you want to find this dragon?” asked Fluttershy.

“There is no need to worry about it,” said the elder. “There is… no ill intent. I have to know his location so that I may give him a message in person, as requested by… his late brother.”

Fluttershy thought about this for but a single moment. The dragon lands? She’d helped out dragons before back in her world. How hard could it be in this one? Perhaps if she helped these dragons out, they’d give her answers.

Fluttershy nodded and said, “I will do this for you. And my friends will come along with me.”

“Even the outcast…?” asked Zander. “She is more trouble than she is worth… I do not think she belongs to either zebra or dragon… She belongs to something more insidious.”

“I’m sorry, but my friend deserves more respect than that,” said Fluttershy. “I’m willing to help her out, no matter what she looks like!”

“Hmph… Fine by me… Just keep her away from me,” said Zander, turning around. “Feel free to come back when you’ve accomplished the mission…”

Fluttershy stood there as the elder walked away, a lot of thoughts running through her head. What was the state of the dragon lands? How many were remaining? More importantly, how would Zone handle it? Perhaps things would be smoother while they were there?

Fluttershy turned around to face her friends. “Okay, so… we’re going to the Dragon Lands.

Taipan glared at Fluttershy, but said nothing as she marched past the group.

“Going to the Dragons Lands?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “Imagine how it must look in a world like this!”

“Ah reckon’ it’s probably still the same,” Applejack stated.

After some thought, Dash replied, “Yeah, you’re probably right. I mean, it was mostly rock and lava.”

“We should probably go back to the tower before heading out to the Dragon Lands,” said Rarity. “Twilight would probably want to come along, considering she’s stuck back there with Miss Study Guide.”

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

“No, Twilight. I don’t care what your intentions are or how justified you think it is. You can’t just take our guards' weapons just so you can study them,” Study Guide said as she scolded the purple alicorn for what seemed like the dozenth time.

“I have not seen your guards even pay attention to these weapons when on duty. They never even have them out,” countered Twilight, the weapon before her disassembling itself.

“They’re not spears,” said Study. “They’re weapons that can be put away at any time. You’re disrupting the peace in this building.”

“Like you did when you took it over?” double-countered Twilight. “I’m tired of doing nothing but answer your questions. The least I can do is answer my own questions, like how these devices work.”

“They go bang. The enemy is dead,” said Study. “Plain and simple enough for you to understand, right?”

“But what makes it go bang?” asked Twilight. “Why is there a need for a weapon like this when pegasi can manipulate the weather to their own advantage?”

“Pegasi have resorted to using technology for the past two centuries,” said Study. “We don’t always have use for the weather when we can make something to do it for us.”

“Sounds like you’ve gotten pretty lazy, don’t you think?” asked Twilight with a raised brow. She looked at the many floating components of the weapon, examining each piece from different angles. “I think you should go back to manipulating weather, because Rainbow Dash could do so much more with those abilities than with these little devices.”

Study Guide watched as the alicorn took apart the precious equipment, responding, “War was what spurred these inventions. The conventional pony methods wouldn’t have been enough against the zebras.”

“Are you sure?” asked Twilight. “Our ‘conventional methods’ were fine against every other villain we’ve faced.”

“What is one so-called villain versus a well-armed army?” Study guide shot back. “Even if you weren’t the ‘chosen ones’, some hero would have come along and beaten them at one point or another.”

“One villain, namely Tirek, was able to absorb the magic of all living creatures and add that power to his own!” said Twilight. “No army was able to defeat him, and I doubt anything other than the magic of friendship could have beaten him!”

Study Guide was skeptical, of course. She couldn’t imagine a creature capable of absorbing magic and using it against them all, but then again, megaspells were a thing, so it wasn’t too unbelievable. “Just stop taking apart weapons,” she said. “That’s all I’m asking.”

“I only need this one,” said Twilight, going back to inspecting the pieces.

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

Chrysalis was beyond pissed at this point. “Can anypony tell me why my lifelong rivals still persist to bug me across dimensions?!”

Cozy Glow rubbed her chin in thought. Ever since their defeat at Tenpony Tower, they were forced to recede back to the hateling village to recover. “I feel like Discord could be behind this. Even Twilight, with all her knowledge, couldn’t possibly know about where we ended up unless someone told her.”

“Even Discord can’t see everything,” said Tirek, crossing his now-beefy arms. Cozy had noticed that his physical stature had gone back to what it had been before at the three villains’ final battle. He was in fit shape to go on a rampage once more.

“I mean, it has to be, right?” said Cozy. “Only Discord could know where we are, right?”

“Twilight’s magic can be rather effective,” said Tirek. “That new crystal castle of hers could no doubt be holding some magical clairvoyant artifact we don’t know about. The magic of the Tree of Harmony has always been crafty… But, if it is Discord, then I have a few choice words for him…”

“To think, Discord had us all fooled when he was pretending to be Grogar,” Chrysalis muttered. “It really gets on my nerves whenever I think about it! He has to be behind this!”

Cozy noticed something wrong. “Chrysalis, are you… bigger than usual?”

Chrysalis gave the pink filly a glare. “Are you making some kind of fat joke?!”

Cozy rubbed the back of her neck as she replied, “No, that’s not it. You seem… taller, I guess? Like, there’s something different about you, and I can’t quite put my hoof on it.”

“There is nothing wrong with me,” said Chrysalis with a hiss. “If anything, I’d be more worried about how Tirek was able to regain full strength so quickly!”

“I have not been feeding off of anypony,” said Tirek. “I think it’s residual magic I’m passively absorbing.”

“Suuuure, suuure,” said Chrysalis. “And I’m Princess Celestia.”

“Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated here,” said Tirek.

“And your lying isn’t appreciated either!” said Chrysalis. “I bet you were feeding off of the magic from my changelings! It’s no wonder they lost!”

“Are you implying I was the cause of our loss?” asked Tirek, not looking pleased with these accusations.

“I’m not implying it,” said Chrysalis. “I’m saying it outright!”

“Do not test me,” said Tirek. “I won’t hesitate to take your magic from you. You are falsely accusing me, but if you want to make me out as the antagonist here, I’ll be that antagonist!”

Cozy quickly stepped in between the two. “M-Maybe we need a break from all of this!” she said. “Don’t you think things are escalating too quickly?!”

“Things are escalating just fine!” shouted Chrysalis, her eyes, to Cozy’s surprise, briefly flashing red before going back to their usual green coloring.

“Alright, alright, sheesh! No need to lose your cool!” Cozy said, waving her hooves around defensively.

Chrysalis’ bared her sharp teeth, making Cozy step back. The changeling queen looked like she’d had enough nonsense. “You’re lucky you’re on my side…”

Cozy glanced over at Tirek, who simply stared with an annoyed expression on his face. It was only a matter of time until there was an all-out fight. How long it would be until then, Cozy didn’t know, but it was a scary thought. The image of these two battling it out in the wasteland was unnerving to Cozy.

“I will go elsewhere for a while,” said Tirek suddenly. “I think you need some alone time with yourself. Cozy, come on. Let us not waste the precious queen’s time…”

“Fine!” shouted Chrysalis. “Go do that! And when you return, you’d better have a better attitude!”

Cozy hesitantly went along with Tirek, not saying a word, the two wandering away from the hateling village quite a ways. When they were far enough away, Tirek said, “I’m thinking of knocking her down a few ladders…”

Cozy’s eyes widened. “What?! But she’s essential to our plans to get back at Twilight!”

Tirek’s face donned a smug smirk. “From what I’ve seen, she’s becoming more and more of a liability than an ally. Plus, my strength has returned in full! I could easily go to any derelict village and take as much magic as I want.”

“Tirek, listen to yourself!” said Cozy. “You’re casting aside something that could save you later down the line! We need to be smart about this!”

“I am being smart about this,” said Tirek. “I have noticed that this wasteland has magical signatures passively floating around, and I’m soaking it all up like a sponge. This is the opportunity I need to become all-powerful. It’s either sooner or later, Cozy, and I’d like for you to keep it a secret. Stay on my side, like you always have from the beginning. After all, we are pen pals, aren’t we…?”

Cozy wasn’t liking this. The plan was falling apart and fast. Tirek may be strong, but with the Mane Six here in the wasteland, who knew what they could be capable of? They had surprised them during the battle for Equestria, so what if they pulled the same trick?

She had to put a stop to this, somehow. “Tirek, hear me out, okay? A-As a pen pal?”

Tirek stopped walking, then turned to face Cozy Glow, looking down at her with a skeptical look. “Well?”

“Let’s say… you did gain ultimate power?” said Cozy. “They still have Discord, right? And even without him, Twilight and her stupid friends were able to defeat us using the Magic of Friendship! You were at full strength, weren’t you?!”

“I don’t know,” said Tirek. “I can only hold so much magic, but I’ve slowly noticed that I’m past my usual limit in this world. It’s like it’s forcefeeding me magic. I’ve seen no ill effects so far, but if and when I ever do spot one, I want to be able to take it out on somepony. If I don’t, I’m not sure what will happen to me.”

“Th-Then let’s stick with Chrysalis for now,” said Cozy. “She’ll be sure to take over pony villages, and you can be useful in place of her army if you go into overdrive, right? You’re more powerful than her changelings!”

Tirek chuckled. “You flatter me, Cozy. Yes, yes… I could strike fear into the hearts of ponies as a one-centaur army. Hm… I’ll tell you what. If I stick around, and if Chrysalis gives me the respect I deserve, I won’t go rogue, but if she keeps giving me flak… I’ll take her spot and rule over both her army and the rest of the wasteland.”

Cozy shivered at this. “Tirek… I don’t understand. I thought we could beat those ponies with our own brand of friendship!”

“And what friends don’t fight?” questioned Tirek. “It was always inevitable that fights would occur. Friends come and go, Cozy. You of all ponies should know that. I remember what you wrote in your letters.”

He had to bring that up…? That stung her, but she kept her cool. “Fine,” she said. “Come back with us and we can keep working together! Hopefully, we can even work on splitting up rulership evenly! You can have your own land, Chrysalis can have hers, and I can have mine!”

Tirek slowly nodded, and they went back to the hateling village, where Chrysalis seemed to have red eyes as she watched two hatelings argue.

“You a bitch,” said a hateling to the other.

“No, you a bitch!” said the other hateling.

“No, you!”

“No, you!”

“I’m more handsome!”

“You ugly as shit, whatchu talkin’ about?!”

“At least I don’t have half my ear missing!”

As Cozy approached Chrysalis, Chrysalis giggled to herself as she watched the fight. Chrysalis then said to Cozy, “You know, feeding on hate isn’t too bad. It’s keeping me sustained, for now.”

“I thought you were in favor on feeding off of love?” questioned Cozy.

“Yes, but… when there’s no love to go around, I tend to starve,” said Chrysalis. “I craved something, anything, so I decided hate was a… somewhat acceptable flavor.”

“What happened to your eyes?” asked Cozy. “Th-They’re red.”

“Are you judging my looks?” asked Chrysalis, glaring.

“N-No, I’m not!” said Cozy. “I’m not, I’m not!”

“Chrysalis,” Tirek interrupted. “I’d like to propose an idea.”

“And why should I listen to you?!” shouted Chrysalis.

“Because we still have the same goal: to destroy Twilight Sparkle and her pitiful friends,” reasoned Tirek.

Chrysalis stared at the hateling fight a bit more before asking, “Fine, what is it?”

“We went far too big with our target,” said Tirek. “Obviously, we bit off more than we could chew.”

“Don’t rub it in,” said Chrysalis.

“I propose going after solo villages, settlements, one at a time,” said Tirek. “Enslave the ponies, make our own army.”

“Use ponies in place of my changelings?” said Chrysalis. “Preposterous!”

“Chrysalis, listen to me,” said Tirek. “This isn’t the same army you used to have! They’re shells of their former selves! You need ponies, at least until you can find more changelings!”

Chrysalis dragged her hoof around the dirt, slowly drawing a heart with a crack in the middle as she kept watching the fight. “You… may be right…” she said. “I have been a little… stubborn.”

“So, it’s agreed…?” said Tirek. “We’ll go after settlements and villages for now?”

“For now,” said Chrysalis. “But I’m still going to keep actively searching for changelings in the meanwhile.”

“Fine,” said Tirek. “We will keep on, then. This is one small step towards greatness.”

Okay, whew… Things were going well. Cozy couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened had Tirek gone off on his own. Of course, Cozy could have gone with him, but… she was beginning to doubt herself and her own friends. Twilight had really one-upped them, and it was a mindshaking defeat, making her question how she went about things.

Maybe they didn’t do friendship right?

Or maybe… they didn’t try hard enough.

Author's Note

Sorry for the short chapter. I was going through a few things that hindered me, but now I have a lot of free time. Bear with me.