Friendship and Giant Worms

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Hunt
Chapter 2: Legends
Chapter 3: Freedom
Chapter 4: Change
Chapter 7: Empire
Chapter 8: Omen
Chapter 9: Lost
Chapter 11: Home
Chapter 12: History
Chapter 13: Festival
Chapter 14: Reparations
Chapter 15: War
Chapter 16: Twilight
Chapter 17: Envoy
Chapter 18: Devoured
Prologue
Chapter 5: Mind
Chapter 6: Aftermath
Chapter 10: Training

Chapter 1: The Hunt

Light Feather didn't know what was going on at all. Only a few days ago the Moon had eclipsed the Sun, a massive fight had broken out at the castle from some unknown invaders, Princess Luna was nowhere to be seen, and Princess Celestia had never looked so stressed out before. Now Light Feather stood in line with the rest of every other pegasus warrior available, waiting for some unknown reason. By the sounds of it, most of the others were confused as well, considering the mass of chatter coming from the group.

"Attention!" Came a deep voice.

All the pegasi quickly stood rapt at attention as Commander Raptor announced himself to the small army. Light Feather donned his helmet and saluted the commander, as did the rest. It was only a moment later when Princess Celestia herself stepped out into view. Instead of wearing her traditional regalia, she wore a detailed suit of armor. Obviously made specially for her, it looked both lightweight and strong, not to mention the golden sheen and well polished look, it covered most of her body. Only a few ponies had ever seen her like this, today was special indeed.

That wasn't the only thing though, even if the armor was shining brightly, Princess Celestia was not. The bags under her eyes were evident, and from the looks of it she was leaning to the side a bit.

Commander Raptor started speaking.

"Soldiers! It is here today that we avenge the fallen! That's right! Princess Luna was killed in the insurgency that took place three days ago!" Commander Raptor announced, prompting several gasps from the lineup. Princess Celestia visibly flinched at the statement. He continued, "Silence! There will be time for mourning later. In the aftermath of this great tragedy we raise arms against the last remaining assailant!" More whispers, "That's right! Of the three attackers, one of them has evaded capture. That is why we are here today! We will hunt down the insurgent, we will serve justice to this miscreant, we will show this beast that Equestria is not to be trifled with, and we will avenge Princess Luna, whose death will forever be remembered, as will this day in history!"

Several rallying cries came from the crowd, a few stomped their hooves in unison. Princess Celestia stepped up to address the soldiers, and they all fell silent.

"Thank you, Commander," She rasped, she sounded tired, and she paused to swallow heavily before continuing. "My little ponies, these past few days have not been easy... but right now the threat against Equestria is too large to leave alone." Another pause, "You have all been selected for this mission because of the circumstances. From what we know this... creature is massive, armored, capable of flight, and most importantly, adept in weather magic. A dangerous foe indeed, that is why I will be joining you all." She finished.

Gasps of shock erupted from the small army, the princesses haven't fought in any battles for at least a few decades. It made sense to Light Feather though, this thing killed her sister, no wonder she would join the hunt against it.

"Pack your things soldiers, we're taking off tomorrow at dawn!" Commander Raptor ordered.

Light Feather, along with the rest of the pegasi began to disperse, almost eager to begin this mission.

Light Feather was always the first to be ready, that earned him the nickname 'Speedy' from his squad. Today was no different, he was already standing at the doorway with his armor on and weapons holstered, munching on an apple. He had long since finished packing before any of his teammates had even woke up.

There wasn't much to actually pack, any pegasus warrior worth their salt knows to pack light at all times. Of course there would be several cart towers following behind the main force with most of the supplies, but the warriors themselves only carried their weapons, armor, and a single ration.

"Y'know Speedy, being first in everything isn't always the best." Evening Sky, deadpanned, having finally thrown off her covers and gotten up, she looked out the window. "It's not even dawn yet,"

"Mmmm?" Morning Dawn, mumbled, still half asleep, and was promptly ignored.

"Well it should be, the whole day night cycle was messed up ever since... well y'know. Besides, the early bird always get's the worm." Light Feather shot back.

"Yeah Yeah, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Evening Sky retorted.

"Hmmph. Well whatever, just get ready, I think the sun is rising." Light Feather said, peering out of the window.

"I'm going I'm going, sheesh. No need to get your feathers in a bunch. We can't all be as fast as you." Evening Sky said as she climbed out of her cot. She trotted over to the two other sleeping ponies in the room. "Hey! Sleeping beauties! Wake up! Were leaving soon." She shoved Morning Dawn out of her cot.

"Hey! What gives?!" She shouted out in surprise, which quickly turned to anger.

"We're going soon, pack your stuff and let's go." Light Feather explained, then took another bite out of his apple.

"It's dawn already?" Morning Dawn asked out loud,

"Yes, it is, now give me a hoof here." Evening Sky said, trying desperately to wake up the last pony asleep. "Get up you big oaf!"

With the teamwork of both ponies they were able to push the last squadmate out of his cot. He still didn't wake up though.

"Are you serious? C'mon Cumulo! It's time to get up!" Evening Sky shouted into his ear.

No response.

"That does it! Get me my boot." She ordered.

Light Feather sighed as Evening Sky strapped on her boot, stood over Cumulo, leaned back, and kicked him right in the stomach, jolting him awake.

"I'm up! I'm up!" He said frantically, looking around.

"Good, now get your stuff on, we're leaving soon." Evening Sky commanded,

"More like right now," Light Feather pointed out, the first few beams of sunlight started to shine through the window.

Evening Sky grumbled.

Of the squad of four ponies, there was Evening Sky, the slightly irritable squad leader. There was Morning Dawn, the perceptive archer. Next there was Light Feather, or Speedy, the newest and fastest squad member . Then there was...

"I'm hungry..." Cumulo complained,

...Cumulo, the big powerhouse of a pegasus that was always just a little bit slower than the rest, and not just in terms of speed either.

"Shut it! You should've eaten earlier," Evening Sky quipped,

"But I was asleep..." Cumulo droned on,

"Then you should've woken up earlier."

Culumo just grunted as the squad trotted towards the meeting area, it looked like most of the other squadrons had already arrived.

"Please tell me we're not the last ones to arrive..." Light Feather worried, "Again!"

Morning Dawn rolled her eyes, "Whatever Speedy. Look, the commander isn't even here yet. That's something right?" she reassured,

"Yeah..." He admitted.

"Attention!"

"Speak of the devil," Evening Sky grumbled.

"Everypony! We will be taking off soon, but first our orders." Commander Raptor paused for a moment to wait for every squadron to pay attention, "Now, we will be hunting the beast for an unknown amount of time, it could be only a few hours, or upwards of a week. Fortunately for us, it happens to leave storm wisps wherever it goes, making it incredibly easy to track. Now when we actually meet the thing in combat our mission will be to attempt to incapacitate it, but if it comes down to it we will slay the beast. Understood?"

"SIR YES SIR!" The crowd responded.

"Good. Now let's fly!" Commander Raptor shouted out, spreading his wings.

Battle cries came from the army of pegasi, and a hundred wing flaps soon drowned out any other noise as the majority took flight, a select few staying behind to tow the supply carts as well as Princess Celestia's carriage.

The Commander was right, storm wisps littered the sky around the destroyed castle, there definitely needed to be a cleanup team to prevent any dangerous storms from forming afterwards. Light Feather also got a good view of the aftermath from the huge battle that had taken place four days ago. It was anything but pretty.

Laser scorch marks streaked across some parts of the castle, and what looked like lightning strikes littered the partially collapsed roof. One of the towers had collapsed and now lay in a pile off to the side. The inside was even worse. From what Light Feather could see, almost every window was shattered, and the huge cracks in the stone floor along with the rubble from the ceiling completely destroyed the large mosaic that once decorated the floor.

"Jeez, the thing we're hunting did all that?" Cumulo commented,

"There were three of them remember? Not to mention both Princesses were in the fight as well, it would be impossible not to cause collateral damage." Morning Dawn explained.

"Still though..." Cumulo trailed off.

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure we can take it." Evening Sky announced.

"I hope so," Light Feather joined in.

Silence soon fell over the group as they passed the castle, now following the sparse trail of swirling storm wisps, the flock of pegasi warriors started heading Southward in search of the beast.

It was only after an hour of travel when they found something of interest. A large metal plate sat wedged in the ground, seemingly fallen from a great height. It was strange to be sure, nopony in the entire army could tell what metal it was, but whatever it was, it was lighter than iron, stronger than it, and seemed to hold a strong electric charge.

"This is what we're up against?" Morning Dawn asked, taking out a small blade and running it along the surface, it barely even left a scratch, "How are we even going to fight this thing?"

"Every set of armor has its weak point," Light Feather explained, "We just have to find it. Besides, this plate fell off right?"

"Yeah well... I wouldn't mind having armor made out of this stuff," Morning Dawn said, then kicked the plate. She was rewarded with a small jolt as all the leftover charge in it passed through her.

"I'm getting less and less excited about this mission by the moment," Evening Sky said as she watched Morning Dawn attempted to smooth down her now spiky mane. "Let's get going, the rest are moving on without us."

During the travel time the pegasi found even more clues along their path. An armor plate here, or a lightning strike mark there, the storm wisps continued to persist, and were becoming quite dense. Everypony could feel the change in pressure around them as the storm wisps slowly drifted about.

It was almost sundown when they finally reached their destination.

All pegasi had an innate sense of weather, even storms conjured from magic were perceptible to a certain degree, but this, this was something else. Dread passed over everypony as they grew closer, Light Feather steeled his nerves, and tried not to turn away. Nopony had ever seen a storm this powerful before, not even storms conjured by the most vile of Windigos held any merit to this. A massive storm cloud loomed high in the sky, it looked dark, and angry. Every now and then a bright flash of lightning could be seen, but nothing else. It truly was the perfect storm, and they were about to dive head first into it.

They had all stopped a fair distance from it to prepare. The supply carts set down, and several tents were being set up. Princess Celestia's carriage landed nearby, and was quickly directed towards the largest tent.

"Most likely talking to the commander," Evening Sky explained out loud, "and we're just supposed to wait out here?" She asked while staring intently at the storm.

"Apparently... Look at that thing, just how are we supposed to fight something in that?" Light Feather asked.

"I mean, whatever's in there has to fight us in it too." Cumulo deducted,

"Yes, I'm sure whatever is creating that storm is having trouble seeing in it." Morning Dawn said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying." Cumulo defended himself.

An awkward silence fell over the group, then Light Feather saw a squad of ponies moving towards the storm.

"Are those... scouts? Wow, I do not envy them." He said.

"Don't get too comfortable, we'll be going in there soon enough. In the meantime we should use what little time we have left to rest and prepare." Evening Sky announced, she took off her helmet and began to lay down on the ground.

Upon hearing that, Cumulo promptly took out his day's ration, a single piece of hard tack, and ate it in one bite, then walked off presumably to find for more. Morning Dawn took the time to inspect her bow, testing the string and pulling it back to check the sight. Light Feather took off his helmet as well and sat down, he gazed as the scouts continued to near the storm.

First they flew low, just barely above the trees, then they ascended higher in order to avoid the pelting rains falling from underneath the clouds. When the finally reached the edge of the storm, they spent some time inspecting the perimeter, testing it. They then grouped back together, and dove into the dark clouds, disappearing from sight.

"Good luck to them," Light Feather said to himself.

It was over an hour of waiting in anticipation before anything notable happened. A bell started ringing in the center of the camp, prompting everypony to gather around. Commander Raptor stood outside the main tent along with Princess Celestia, completely armored,

"Fall in! It is time for debriefing!" He shouted.

All the soldiers got in line, then separated into their individual squadrons.

"Here's what we know, the storm is dense, wild, and dangerous, but it's hollow. We will need to push through the outer shell to get inside, there it should become easier to see and move, there will also be less rain and slower winds. That doesn't mean it won't be easy though, the beast is circling somewhere around the inside of the storm, patrolling. When we get in there it will be hard to keep track of each other, so stick to your squads, and when you encounter the beast stay at a fair distance and retreat if you must. You will bide your time until the majority of the army arrives, where we will then attack using hit and run tactics, we hope to confuse and overrun it before we take it down. Understood?" He explained.

"SIR YES SIR!" The squads replied.

"And one more thing, it's still very much a storm in there, so keep your guard up. Now get ready for takeoff!" Commander Raptor finished.

Some gave rallying cries, but Light Feather stayed silent, he was getting nervous about the storm, but he pushed his fears down. He had his duties to Equestria, and when this was all over he could go home and be with his family. He followed his squad as they equipped their armor and weapons. He made sure his sword was in its scabbard, and that his helmet was securely strapped on, then got ready to take off.

"You all ready for this?" Morning Dawn asked, also getting into take off position.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Evening Sky deadpanned.

"Uh-huh." Cumulo said simply.

Light Feather just nodded, not taking his eyes of the storm.

"CHARGE!" Came the call from Commander Raptor.

In an instant they all took off towards the storm, which continued to thrash wildly in every direction. Time seemed to slow as they drew nearer, in just a few short moments they would dive headfirst into the storm and partake in the fight of their life. Light Feather wanted to turn around, but he couldn't, he had to do this.

They flew closer, the massive clouds taking up nearly all of his vision. He checked on his squadmates, they were still flying in formation, that was good. Light Feather could feel the ambient charge in the air as they continued to draw closer.

They were almost upon the storm now, or maybe it was almost upon them. Rogue winds began to interrupt their flight path, and Light Feather found it harder and harder to adjust and stay in position. A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder stunned him for a second, but he quickly recovered. They were so close now, the massive storm loomed in front of them.

Light Feather put his hooves in front of him trying to be as aerodynamic as possible, and to try and force himself through the cloud as easy as possible. They were seconds away from impact with the storm, he sped up to try and push through as fast as possible.

3...

2...

1...

Impact!

Darkness immediately engulfed Light Feather's vision as he dove into the cloud. He flapped his wings harder to push through the thick cloud. He had never felt clouds this dense before, it was like flying through sludge. His squadmates were no longer visible, but they were close enough together that they should end up in the same place... right?

Normally diving through clouds left you a bit damp, but Light Feather was already soaking wet. He worked overtime to keep flight as rain pelted his wings and armored back. Thankfully the small visor he had on his helmet kept most of it out of his eyes, but not all of it.

Another flash of lightning nearby, barely lighting up the thick clouds surrounding Light Feather, and the thundercrack was deafening, even through the dampening of the clouds. He thought he saw the shadows of his squadmates nearby in the clouds, but couldn't be sure.

'Just a bit further.' He thought to himself, pushing harder through the clouds. It was painstaking work, and his wings already felt sore, but he had to keep going, he was on a mission. It was getting harder to breathe, it was as if they were gaining altitude, but Light Feather couldn't tell.

He kept going, pushing through the cloud as fast as he could. It felt like he had been flying for forever, but he knew it had only a few moments. The storm persisted, and Light Feather kept pushing through, it was getting to the point where he was unsure if he got turned around or not. It was taking too long, something must have gone wrong, they should be inside by now.

Just when Light Feather was about to stop pushing, he broke through.

Inside the storm was... awe inspiring.

It was dark, but not as dark as the border, the winds had let up a bit, and the clouds had become less dense, like a mist had engulfed the entire area. Every now and then a flash of lightning would light up the swirling clouds, and Light Feather could see just how large this storm was. He looked around for his squadmates, and spotted Cumulo's large figure a fair distance away, the storm had deviated them more than Light Feather thought.

Quickly flying past some other recovering squadrons, he eventually made it to where Cumulo was hovering.

"Cumulo!" Light Feather shouted for his attention.

"Hey!" Cumulo responded, "Where are the others?"

"I have no idea, they're not with you?" Light Feather asked, peering through the clouds.

Just at that moment Morning Dawn burst through the border of the storm. She looked a little worse for wear, having spent more time in the turmoil.

"Hey, what's up?" Light Feather said, trying to look as cool as possible.

"What?" Morning Dawn asked in confusion, before coming to her wits, "This isn't a time for jokes Speedy... Where is Evening?" She asked, having noticed Cumulo's presence.

"We hoped you would know," Cumulo simply said.

"No, I lost track of her as soon as we entered the storm." Morning Dawn admitted.

"We all did," Light Feather said reassuringly.

"Should we look for her?" Cumulo suggested.

"I would like to, but we can't wait around for her for long. We have to regroup with the army, we have a mission to complete." Morning Dawn commanded, taking temporary charge in place of Evening.

A shrill roar came from above, and a massive shadow passed over the group.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! Break! Now!" Morning Dawn shouted,

All three of them dove in different directions as the beast surged down where they once were, thundercracks were heard, and gigantic lightning bolts rained down from above, causing more disarray as the squad members attempted to dodge them.

Morning Dawn let loose a couple arrows towards the monster, but they only bounced off its thick armor plating. Light Feather flew up and attempted to slash at it, but only managed to scratch it. He flew back towards his squad.

"Armor's too thick! We need to find a hole in it!" He shouted,

Cumulo nodded, and Morning Dawn grunted in understanding. The beast turned around for another go at the squad, and they got ready to dodge once again. It dashed forwards with surprising speed, both Light Feather and Morning dawn were able to move out of the way in time. Cumulo wasn't fast enough however, and he was clipped by its large mandibles as it passed. He was flung forward, his helmet flew off and he dropped his sword. He began tumbling midair as he fell.

"Cumulo!" Light Feather shouted,

"He's fine! Look!" Morning Dawn shouted back,

Despite getting hit hard, Cumulo managed to right himself and land haphazardly on a more solid cloud in the storm, which cushioned his fall. He had fallen far, but Light Feather could see him get up and wave at them from the bottom of the storm. It would take some time for him to return to the battle.

“We can’t fight this thing! Where is the rest of the army?” Light Feather demanded.

“We just have to hold out for now, did you see any other squads when you came in?” Morning Dawn asked,

“A few, but not enough to fight!” Light Feather answered, he looked for the worm “Look out! Here it comes again!”

Just as it was about to charge once more, a brilliant beam of yellow light impacted its side, then traveled up its body before stopping close to the head. It shrieked a high pitched wail, but when the smoke cleared it showed the barely damaged armor underneath. The beam must have slipped through a crack to actually hurt it.

“Yeah!” Light Feather shouted in joy, “They’re here!”

Emerging from the fog, Princess Celestia led the charge as the majority of the army followed through. Another beam of light was fired at the beast, while a volley of arrows came from the archers in the back. Another wail told them that they at least did some damage.

The worm reeled back, then curled up mid air as if to protect itself. In an instant the storm turned violent. What was once mild winds and obscuring fog turned into a raging typhoon. Both Light Feather and Morning Dawn were blown into each other along with most of the army. There was no way you could use a bow in these conditions, Morning Dawn realized that quickly.

“This thing is smarter than it looks!” She commented, shouting over the wind.

“I can see that!” Light Feather shouted back, but was unsure if Morning Dawn actually heard him.

Another beam dragged across the armored shell of the beast, but it still didn’t do much. Light Feather realized something.

“We have to get through its armor!” He deducted,

“How are we going to manage that?” Morning Dawn asked, looking intently at the worm,

Light Feather remembered something. "The plates that fell off! Where did they fall from?"

"Look for an opening!" Morning Dawn commanded,

"Going!" Light Feather shouted, then flew high.

Rising far above the battle, Light Feather watched as the worm charged through a squad of ponies, plowing through them like it was nothing. None of them appeared to recover as they fell, he gulped, he did not want to end up like them.

Following the worm from above, Light Feather carefully watched it as it continued to twist and turn, looking for an missing plates or uncovered areas. The blue-ish spiked armor covered the worm from head all the way down to the tail. Wait a minute, the tail! It was a more purple color than the rest of the body, it was still just as jagged and sharp, if not more so than the armor, but it was unarmored, which meant they could attack it.

Just as Light Feather was about to dive down with his findings, his hair stood on ends. Thinking quickly, he dove to the side just as a lightning bolt flashed right where he once was. The crack of thunder above was indication enough that he had just dodged his imminent doom.

"I just dodged lightning..." He said to himself in shock. "Awesome!"

With newfound vigor, Light Feather sped back to where Morning Dawn was hovering. Even despite the wind, she was still managing to aim her bow with enough accuracy to hit the worm.

"Dawn!" Light Feather shouted.

"What?" She shouted back.

"The tail! It's unarmored. Aim for the tail!" He told her.

Morning Dawn's eyes widened, "Behind you!" She shouted,

Light Feather immediately rolled to the left right as the worm came rushing past. He was jostled in the air as he was caught in the slipstream of the worm. Tumbling to and from he managed to keep himself from getting slashed by its armor. He frantically righted himself and looked around for Morning Dawn.

"Over here!" Light Feather heard her call out.

He turned just in time to see her get struck in the back by lightning.

A flash, a scream, then a smoldering form falling from the sky.

"Dawn!" He cried out, and dove once more, intent on catching her.

Downward Morning Dawn fell, but Light Feather was faster, and in a few moments had caught up to her. He held out his hooves and wrapped them around her limp body. He flared his wings to slow down, he winced and closed his eyes as the weight of two ponies pulled hard on his wings, but he managed to slow down enough to just barely hover.

"I've got you!" He shouted, then opened his eyes, only to immediately regret doing so.

Morning Dawn was dead, no doubt about it. The lightning bolt had traveled through her back and out her chest, almost vaporizing everything in the way, leaving only charred flesh and bone. Gasping in shock, Light Feather accidentally dropped Morning Dawn's body, then he watched as her wing snapped off as she tumbled through the air. He suppressed a gag.

Her body fell right past Cumulo, who had just flown up to return to the battle.

"Uhm..." Cumulo trailed off in confusion.

"She's dead." Light Feather said quickly

"Oh."

"What are we going to do?!" Light Feather blurted out, he was starting to lose composure. "Morning Dawn's dead! Evening is nowhere to be seen! And this thing is killing ponies by the second!"

Neither spoke for a moment, though it was far from silent with the sounds of battle in the storm around them.

"Listen Speedy, no, Light Feather. I'll tell you what we're going to do," Cumulo started, causing Light Feather to look up at him. "We're going to get back up there, and finish this fight!" He shouted, trying to reassure him.

"Right..." Light Feather said, "Right, ok. Let's do this."

"That's what I'm talking about. Now what do we need to do?" Cumulo asked,

"What?"

"You're smart, come up with a plan. What do we need to do?" Cumulo clarified.

"Well, there isn't much we can do form here, and the army can't do much against that thing's armor. So we need to find a way to take off its armor." Light Feather deduced.

"And how do we do that?" Cumulo asked.

"Well... its tail somehow lost its plating, meaning it could lose more. Which means..." Light Feather trailed off in realization.

"Which means what?" Cumulo didn't understand.

"We might have to land on the beast." Light Feather explained.

"Wow... Some plan kid. Let's do it." Cumulo said.

"What!? Really?! That's suicide!" Light Feather argued.

"So? If it'll work then let's do it!"

Light Feather was speechless, this was insane. They were really going to go through with it.

"Okay, first things first, we need to get behind it." He started.

Both looked up and watched as the worm bowled through another squad of ponies. Then another beam from Princess Celestia sliced across its side, it still did not do much. Light Feather saw a few more bodies fall.

"Easier said than done, we'll have to get near it when it's turning." Light Feather explained.

"Then let's go!" Cumulo shouted, then charged towards the worm.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Light Feather admitted, then followed Cumulo into the fray.

A lot had happened during their temporary excursion from the battle, more squads had arrived, and more squads had fallen. It seemed the total number of ponies in the fight had remained relatively equal the entire time, but that wouldn't last much longer. They needed to get the worm's armor off soon.

Light Feather watched it as it fought, it would charge a group of ponies, then somehow send lightning strikes nearby. Every time the worm finished an attack run, it would take some time to turn around, not much, but enough to probably get close to it... probably.

They would have to be quick and quiet, something Light Feather could do easily, but Cumulo not so much. Quickly collecting enough fog to make a small cloud cover, Light Feather hoped it would be enough to obscure them from the worm's vision. He motioned for Cumulo to come hide with him, then maneuvered the cloud towards the edge of the battle, behind another horribly unfortunate squad, then sat in wait.

The battle continued to rage on, arrows flew, swords broke against the armor, and every once in a while Princess Celestia's beam would strike. The worm continued to fly across the battlefield, attacking whoever was in front of it. Not many were able to dodge it as easily as Light Feather could.

Eventually, the worm made it to the opposite end of the battlefield, then seemed to spot the squad hovering in front of them.

"Get ready!" Light Feather shouted.

The worm began its run, Light Feather watched it charge head on straight towards them. It was terrifying, it was like it was locked onto the squad in front of them. As it began to pick up speed the squad noticed the dangerous situation they were in and immediately broke apart. A smart move, but not one Light Feather wanted them to do. Now they could only hope the worm chased after the closest pony.

Light Feather began to tense up, what if it noticed them? What if they were too far away? What if they died? He was frozen in place as the worm zipped past them, knocking them out of the cloud as it began to turn around for another go.

“We gotta go!” Cumulo shouted, flying towards the worm.

That broke Light Feather out of his hesitation, he gathered his bearings, it was now or never, and dashed off towards the worm as well, hoping it wouldn’t see them approach.

They were still a small distance away as the worm finished turning, the fact that it didn’t immediately attack meant it probably didn’t see them. It began picking up speed once more, it was going to be close. Light Feather pushed himself hard, managing to overtake Cumulo as he sped towards the worm.

“C’mon, c’mon!” Light Feather said to himself as he pushed himself even harder.

Light Feather slammed into the tail of the worm, just barely avoiding one of the many sharp spines protruding from it, and gripped on tight. The worm sensed the disturbance, and lashed its tail trying to dislodge Light Feather. He was nearly flung off and tried to hold on even tighter, but the unarmored body of the worm was slick, and he began slipping. As a last ditch effort to stay on the worm, Light Feather bit down on its soft flesh, and actually managed to break the skin.

Dark purple blood filled his mouth, which tasted awful, but Light Feather kept holding on. The worm screeched and began thrashing wildly, trying desperately to shake Light Feather off. The momentary pause in its movements allowed Cumulo to close the distance as well, who promptly latched on as well, clamping down hard on its tail next to Light Feather.

It began thrashing even harder, but both of them managed to hold on. Then the buzzing started, it started as a slight tingle, then gradually grew into a minor prickling, until it finally became a pulsing pain. Both Light Feather and Cumulo began to be electrocuted by the worm, which meant it wasn’t just the armor that held a charge, the whole worm was capable of producing electricity.

Now most pegasi have a pretty good resistance to electricity, working in clouds all the time will do that, but this was different. It was like flying in the middle of the most charged cloud possible, and staying in it. Which is extremely similar to what they just did earlier.

Pain rocked through Light Feather’s body, and he had to struggle to keep his muscles in check as the electricity forced them to twitch and spasm. His arms were being locked into the gripping position, so he could at least still hold on. Light Feather imagined Cumulo was experiencing the same thing, and he wondered how much longer this would last, or how much longer he could last.

After what seemed like forever, the pain finally subsided as the worm stopped generating an electric charge. Light Feather looked up, releasing the chunk he had very nearly bitten completely off, he spat out the sour taste in his mouth. The worm had stopped thrashing, and seemed to be moving slower, as if recovering from its outburst.

Light Feather then spent the next moment closely inspecting the armor plates in front of him. From this angle he could clearly see the plates interlocking together, along with the gigantic binding holding them together. The whole system seemed to be laced under tension, which is why it was so hard to knock any other plates loose. That meant there was a possibility that there was a point that could release the whole structure, they just had to find it.

“Now’s our chance!” He shouted, looking at Cumulo.

“Ok! How do we get the armor off?” He shouted back,

“Look for some sort of latch or hook! Find whatever is securing the plates to the body and remove it!” Light Feather explained.

“Gotcha!” Cumulo responded.

Since the worm was moving slower, Light Feather was actually able to sort of shimmy his way down the tail, searching for whatever was holding the armor in place. The skin was still slick however, and Light Feather slipped and lost his grip again. Now sliding down the tail, Light Feather quickly slammed his left hoof back down, right onto one of the ridiculously sharp spines.

The spine sliced right through his armored boot, then his hoof, completely chopping off the tip of it.

“Aagh!” He shouted in surprise, but not pain.

He pulled his hoof closer for inspection and saw that the spine didn’t actually cut too deep, and the more vulnerable flesh and bone underneath was relatively fine, if not exposed. He certainly wouldn’t be able to put any weight on it, and he would be walking lopsided for a while, but he wasn’t seriously injured.

Then Light Feather felt the buzzing start again. Reacting quickly, he braced by clamping down once again as the worm delivered another round of electrocution to the both of them. This time however, being forced to grip harder wasn’t very helpful. Light Feather could feel his damaged hoof begin to crack and split as he unwillingly put more and more force into gripping the worm. He cried out through clenched teeth not only from the electricity, but also as his hoof split in half and the sensitive bones and nerves were now being pushed upon.

Light Feather wanted to let go, he really wanted to let go, but his stimulated muscles would not let him, he just had to sit there and endure the pain as he crushed his own hoof. Every second was torture as Light Feather was continuously barraged with electric shocks all the while being forced to severely damage his hoof.

Just when he felt he was going to pass out, it stopped, the worm let up on the electrocution. Light Feather gasped, trying to suck in breaths while he shakily pulled his now destroyed hoof away from the worm's body. He gagged when he saw the bone protruding, it was bleeding heavily. Light Feather's eyes began to water. It was too much, first the death of their princess, then the death of his squadmates, and now this?

"Speedy!" He heard Cumulo shout from above, snapping him out of his trance.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, "What?"

"Did you find the latch thing?" Cumulo asked,

Light Feather then looked around at the tail of the beast, then saw it. What looked to be a ring of metal was implanted on the side of the worm's tail tip. Some sort of cord was attached that ran all the way up the body and eventually disappeared beneath the armored plates. There were other rings as well, but it looked like their cords had already snapped off, this was the last one holding all the armor in place. Light Feather's eyes widened in surprise.

"I found it!" He shouted, "Give me a hoof with this!"

"Alright!" Cumulo responded, then proceeded to shimmy down the tail to where Light Feather was. "So what do we got to... Oooh... that looks bad," He commented,

"It feels bad!" Light Feather snapped, "But nevermind that, this is it! We just need to cut the cord and the beast's armor should fall off!" He explained,

"You have your sword?" Cumulo asked,

Light Feather whipped his head around to find an empty scabbard affixed to his side, "No..." He realized,

"Neither do I, which means we have to rip it out." Cumulo said, checking his own scabbard.

"Ok." Was all Light Feather responded with.

"Give me a hoof with... nevermind, just bite down on this and pull as hard as you can okay?" Cumulo suggested,

"Ok."

Cumulo then looped one of his hooves through the metal ring, leaving the other to grip higher up on the tail.

"1, 2, 3, PULL!" He shouted, and began pulling on the ring.

Light Feather yanked as hard as he could with his mouth, the worm's skin went taught with tension as the ring was pulled, but it didn't tear.

"C'mon!" Cumulo grunted out, and continued pulling.

Light Feather planted his good hoof against the worm, and pushed against it, and with their combined strength they tore a chunk out of the worm's tail trying to rip out the ring. The cord went slack for just a moment, then whipped past them, Light Feather just barely managed to let go in time to not get pulled along with it.

They watched as the cord disappeared underneath an armor plate, and for a moment nothing happened.

PING!

The armor plate flew off, then another, and another, until a whole cascade of plates began flying off of the worm. It traveled up the worm, completely removing all of its armor until it reached what you could call a helmet. The worm then shuddered, causing the helmet to slip off, revealing a much more streamlined head underneath.

"Yes!" Cumulo shouted, raising his hooves in triumph. Light Feather managed to smile a bit through the pain.

Then, with one big motion, both Light Feather and Cumulo were launched off of the worm in different directions. It took a few moments for Light Feather to right himself, but he managed to do it just in time to see the worm's tail whip upwards, right into Cumulo.

Light Feather gasped as Cumulo's body almost snapped in half from the impact alone, a spray of blood burst out of his stomach and mouth as the spine on the tip of its tail ripped apart his insides.

Light Feather didn't get time to react however, as the worm turned around much faster than it did while armored, and stared him down. It was going to charge right at him.

Panic filled his mind, Light Feather dived, fast. The worm chased after him and was beginning to gain speed.

Light Feather was always the fastest in the army, but this thing was faster, they both continued to dive, and the worm was gaining. He had to do something, and quick.

At the very last moment, Light Feather flared his wings, and winced as he changed his course from a straight drop to nearly horizontal in an instant. His wings burned, and his hoof throbbed, but he managed to do his signature move. The Instant Landing. He flew forwards at a blazing speed before slowing down, he had just dodged the worm.

Light Feather turned around just in time to be caught in its mandibles.

It jerked him forward, and he felt something break. Its inner jaw clamped down on his lower body, severing his lower spine. Light Feather coughed up blood, and looked right in the eyes of the worm. He didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything, he could only watch as the worm began to devour him alive.

He had failed.

That was the last thought that went through his head.

Another bright yellow beam swept across the worm, this time actually searing and burning a large portion of flesh. An ear-piercing screech came from it. The worm whipped around its head and locked directly onto Princess Celestia, who in turn stared it down from across the battle field. Then, the worm flew far faster than it had only a few minutes ago, and in only a few moments, had crossed a majority of the distance between them.

Princess Celestia didn't even have time to dodge as the worm closed in at an alarming speed. She brought up a magic shield, and braced for an impact, one that never came. She looked up, the worm was just in front of her, holding itself steady simply by coiling itself. It stared at her, unmoving, while what was left of the Pegasus army surrounded it. The worm lowered its head to be right in front of Princess Celestia.

"F E A R." It spoke in a deep, guttural, clicking voice.

Then, in only the blink of an eye it had dashed through the blockade and out of the storm, which then started to dissipate.

It was gone.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

I'm back baby! So excited to start finally working on this after all this time ( I'm not sure how it'll turn out, but I'm definitely invested in this story. Also who expected me to just drop a 7k word chapter out of nowhere, I certainly didn't. I just couldn't stop writing it and even though it was long I couldn't find a place to split it in two, hope you enjoyed it none the less, but don't expect anything this long for a long time.

Edit: Redid the ending, made it sound better.

Chapter 2: Legends

"Princess Celestia?"

"Yes little one?" She answered,

"What is this place?"

"This is the Royal Sculpture Garden my dear, every statue here tells a story." Princess Celestia explained, gesturing to the whole of the garden.

There were a lot of statues, ones of ponies, griffons, and... whatever that was. Each statue had a stone pathway leading up to and circling it, and each one had a plaque most likely describing what or who statue was about. Further in the garden, several stone pathways disappeared into what looked like a hedge maze, more statues could be seen poking out of the top.

"Woah..." The little filly was awestruck,

She ran up one, hooves clacking loudly against the stone pathway, and began staring intently at the stone eyes of the statue.

“Hey! I think I know this one!” She exclaimed, rearing up and putting her hooves on the pedestal.

“Oh you do now, do you?” Princess Celestia asked, following behind more slowly, “Who might that be then?"

The little filly thought for a moment, and looked the statue up and down, deep in concentration. She began to pace as she continued to think about who the statue was, Princess Celestia stood smiling in wait. After several moments of consideration, the little filly came to a realization.

“That’s Commander Raptor! Legendary Pegasus Commander!” She exclaimed, jumping up and down.

“That’s correct little one,” Princess Celestia smiled, then pressed further, "But do you know why he is famous?"

Another pause as she took several more moments of thought, then the little filly answered uneasily, “Um... He led the Pegasus army?”

“That he did, but so have others” Princess Celestia said, causing the filly to look down, “Alright, let me ask you this, what was his real name?”

“You mean his real name wasn’t Commander Raptor?” The filly asked confused.

“That was the name given to him, as a representation of his leadership and accomplishments.” Princess Celestia explained, “His real name was something else.”

“Oh… Then I don’t know it.” The little filly admitted. “Sorry,” she said quietly.

Quick to react, Princess Celestia reassured her “That’s ok little one, it wasn’t a test.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No, no it wasn’t. I just wanted to know how much you knew, but also to show you that each of these statues has a story to tell.” Princess Celestia explained,

“I don’t know much about Pegasus history,” the filly said,

“I wouldn’t expect you to, given your past.” Princess Celestia said.

The filly stayed silent, looking down at the ground.

Sensing the mood, Princess Celestia decided to try and fix it.

“Here, I'll tell you." She began, "Not many know this, but Commander Raptor’s real name was actually Song Bird,”

The filly perked up at this, she looked up at Princess Celestia. “Really?” She asked.

“Yes, and he had quite the voice as well, even after years of drill instructing.” Princess Celestia continued,

The little filly giggled, “That’s funny,”

“Yes, it is.” Princess Celestia said with a smile, then changed the subject “By the way, how are your magic lesson’s going?”

“Oh! Right! They’re going great, I’m learning so much about magic.” The little filly exclaimed, tapping her horn.

"That's good to here, I'm glad I'm able to help you learn about it," Celestia said, still smiling,

"Mm-Hm!" The filly hummed.

With the mood now successfully fixed, Princess Celestia decided to move along their little trip deeper into the hedges.

"So... Do you see any other statues you want to know about?" She asked,

"Well... There is that one." The filly pointed to a unicorn statue further down the path,

"That's Starswirl the Bearded, a master magician and a close friend." Princess Celestia explained,

"Ooh... And what about that one?"

"That, is Princess Platinum, she ruled Equestria before I did, that was before it was even called Equestria."

"Wow, and that one?"

"That one is..." Celestia paused, "Discord."

"Hmm, his story doesn't look fun," The filly said,

"It's not,"

"Oh."

By now they had reached the end of the pathway, which led to a small clearing that held a very strange looking wall. They both walked up to it.

"What a weird looking wall, why is it even here in the garden?" The filly asked out loud,

"Because my dear, it isn't a wall." Celestia said,

"It isn't?" The little filly was confused,

"Take a step back,” Princess Celestia suggested,

The filly did so, and took a step back to look at the wall from further away. It wasn’t very tall, but still more than enough to stop anypony from jumping over it. Or climbing it it seems, as it looked very rugged and sharp. The wall was long, but not straight, it was curved, almost as if it was surrounding something.

“Ummm…” The filly murmured, still at a loss.

“Why don’t you walk around it?” Princess Celestia said, pointing down the stone pathway that encircled the wall.

“Ok,”

She continued down the pathway, walking alongside the wall. She almost wanted to run her hoof along the side of it, but decided not to. As she continued to walk, the wall began to taper off at a point that was being held above the ground by some supports. The stone pathway wrapped around the edge of the wall and continued on the other side.

Turning the corner, the filly came face to face with the gigantic stone mandibles of the creature that this statue represented.

“Eeek!” The filly shrieked, just as Princess Celestia turned the corner as well.

“It’s okay little one, it’s just a statue,” She was quick to assure her.

The filly took a moment to catch her breath, “It’s scary looking.” She commented.

“Yes, it is,” Princess Celestia added,

“But, also… interesting,” the filly continued.

“Interesting?” Princess Celestia gave a slight frown at that, “Do you recognize it?”

“Maybe?” The filly said, “It seems… familiar.”

“Well, if you knew about Commander Raptor, then it would make sense you would know about this.” Princess Celestia deducted, “Their stories are closely intertwined,”

“Really?”

“Oh yes, ultimately, they were each other’s undoing.” Princess Celestia explained,

“Could you…” The filly began, “Tell me that story?”

Princess Celestia grimaced, “I don’t think that story is suitable for fillies,”

“Oh c’mon please?” The filly pleaded, looking up at her.

She stood her ground, “I don’t think so.”

“Pleeaasee???” The filly pleaded even harder, intentionally watering her eyes.

Now, over the time they had spent together, Princess Celestia had built up a tolerance to this, but that's all it was, a tolerance, not an immunity. So she eventually caved to the filly's desires.

“Ok, fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She said, “I’ll try to censor whatever's necessary.”

“Yay!”

“Let’s find someplace to sit, this story is a long one,” Princess Celestia said,

“Okay!”

She then guided the filly along the stone path back out of the hedges, and towards a gazebo that was placed nearby. The two walked into it, and sat down.

"Alright, are you sure you want to hear this story?" Princess Celestia asked once again.

"Yes Yes Yes!" The filly repeated, bouncing a bit.

Princess Celestia smiled, but she still wasn't so sure about telling this story, at least not just yet. Maybe she shouldn't have shown her that statue just yet. Never the less, she cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time, in the magical lands of Equestria..."

One fateful day, a great worm appeared in the sky, not one of fortune or prosperity, but one of death and destruction...

The worm's power was unmatched, for its speed was faster than any Pegasi, and its size could rival even dragons. The terrible worm descended upon Equestria with reckless abandon, proving to even be a match for the Princess herself.

In only three day’s time, the worm caused untold destruction. In the meantime, Pegasi from all over rallied together against the new threat, and when the time came, they launched a great hunt against the worm.

They delved into the worm’s storm, and a fierce battle took place, but it ended quickly. Many perished, as hundreds of Pegasi unknowingly flew into their own demise. The worm survived, now stripped of its armor, it fled to live another day.

The Pegasus commander, Raptor, was furious with their loss against the worm, and swore vengeance over his lost kin. But he could not continue the hunt, for his forces were depleted, and he was forced to wait as the worm escaped.

For three years, the worm evaded capture, and it continued to wreak havoc on Pegasus settlements. Any and all cloud cities had to be grounded for fear of being obliterated by the scourge of the skies. Commander Raptor never gave up however, and he relentlessly crusaded against it.

He was able to find allies and soldiers wherever the worm had passed through, and using the best of the best, he formed an elite team of Pegasi to specifically take down the worm. Several times they proved themselves effective, thus they were named the Wonderbolts.

Time and time again, Commander Raptor along with his Wonderbolts and army would engage the worm and time and time again, the worm would escape once more. The worm was simply too fast to chase, so they could only prepare for the next time it would appear and attack. This infuriated Commander Raptor, who began to search for ways to confront the worm and win, besides a direct conflict.

Then, an opportunity presented itself, the worm was spotted engaging in battle with a dragon. The Pegasus army was mobilized, just in time to unveil their latest weapon against the worm. The cockatrice, able to turn an opponent to stone with a single gaze, was to be utilized to defeat the worm once and for all.

The ensuing battle was by far the worst of them all, almost all had perished, save for a few lucky souls. The worm had defeated both the dragon and the Pegasus army, but still hadn't left the battle. Seeing his chance, Commander Raptor bravely took a caged cockatrice into battle, and when he faced down the worm alone, he managed to triumph against it.

The worm was turned to stone, but as some sort of last laugh, the massive stone worm fell upon Commander Raptor, crushing him underneath as they crashed into the ground below.

The filly gasped at that last part, and Princess Celestia cringed a bit, she should have probably left that part out.

“Are you okay? I told you this story wasn’t very nice.” She reminded,

“I’m fine.” The filly said, “I just didn’t expect that.”

Princess Celestia just hummed,

“So you fought that thing?” The filly asked,

“I did. Once. A long time ago,” Princess Celestia answered, “I wish I could’ve done more, but the worm was wary of my power, and would flee every time I appeared.”

“Was it afraid of you?” The filly asked,

“I believe it was. When I fought it, it spoke to me before it fled.” Princess Celestia answered.

“It spoke!?” The filly asked, flabbergasted, “What did it say?”

“One word," Princess Celestia said, "Fear.”

The filly sighed, “That’s sad,”

“I suppose it is,” Princess Celestia replied, then thought for a moment, “Though it isn’t all bad.”

“It isn’t?”

“No. There was a huge celebration after the worm’s defeat. The Pegasi of Equestria were finally able to fly once more. In fact, I know that several cloud cities still celebrate it, and every three years Cloudsdale holds a festival for it. There is a parade, specialty food, and even the 'worm dance'," Princess Celestia detailed,

"Worm dance?" The filly asked,

"Yes, it's where several ponies team up to weave around a long puppet, it can be quite the spectacle." Princess Celestia described.

"That sounds fun," the filly said, smiling.

Princess Celestia smiled back, she was glad she was able to save the mood once again. She wondered why the filly was so interested in the worm, but pushed that off to the side. There was still the rest of the castle tour to get through, and this story had eaten up a lot of their time together. Then Princess Celestia thought of something.

"You know, the festival is this year I believe," She started, looking down at the filly, who looked back up at her. She continued, "Would you like to go to it?"

The filly gasped, "Really? You mean... we could go to... Cloudsdale?"

"That's right." Princess Celestia said,

"Oh my gosh! Yes!" She beamed, almost jumping with joy.

Princess Celestia smiled at her, "Now doesn't that sound fun...?"

"...Cadance."

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Did I getcha? Probably not, I tried to make it as hard as possible to discern whether the filly was Twilight or Cadance, but given some context it might be a little easy to guess. Also the "worm dance" is based off of the dragon dance, I thought it made sense.

Chapter 3: Freedom

Cadance was drunk, no doubt about it. She was stumbling, disoriented, and a bit confused.

Now normally, she would never drink this much, maybe a little to be social, but never enough to get blackout drunk, it was seen as very unladylike, and a terrible quality for a princess. Today was different however, in only a few weeks she would be getting married to the love of her life, and today was the day of her bachelorette party, a day of celebration with her best of friends, family, and bridesmaids. So things might have gotten a little carried away.

She hiccupped, and looked around at where she was exactly. It was dark, but she could still see some identifying features. Stone statues, tall hedges, and a stone pathway, she was alone in the middle of the castle gardens.

Wait a minute, alone? Cadance quickly looked behind her for her friends. None of them were there, she was completely alone in the middle of the night. She giggled to herself at the thought, and then stumbled into one of the stone statues.

"Whoops, heh, sorry." She needlessly apologized, then picked herself back up.

She hummed to herself, then had an idea. There was that one statue that she always loved to visit, something about it was special to her, almost like she had a connection to it. So she began to wander down the wrong stone pathway, then corrected herself, and began heading down the right path.

A noise came from behind her, like somepony had kicked a pebble.

Cadance lazily turned around, just in time to see a shadowy figure dart behind a pedestal, or maybe not, her vision was starting to blur. Nevertheless, she was on a mission now, so she resumed stumbling down the stone pathway. She didn’t seem to hear the hoof steps behind her as she walked however.

Eventually, she turned a corner, and caught another glimpse of a figure trailing her. Cadance stopped again, and looked back up the path once again, nothing.

“Lyra?” She called out, “Is that you?”

No response.

Now getting a little uneasy, Cadance decided it would be best to keep walking, so she did. While continuing down the path, she heard more noises behind her, so she began to move a bit faster. This prompted more noise from behind, prompting her to start running faster and faster, until she was full on sprinting down the pathway. Or at least sprinting as fast as being drunk would allow her to.

She tripped, her hoof rolled out from underneath her and she tumbled off to the side. Luckily, she had moved to the side enough to not land on the rough cobblestone, instead landing and sliding on the slightly wet grass beside it. Cadance lay there for a moment, dazed, until she heard the noise behind her again. She clumsily picked herself up as fast as she could, not even bothering to fix her mane or wipe any grass off, and began to run once more. The noise soon followed.

Cadance was afraid, and the best solution her mind could come up with was to get to where she was going, as if the statue would protect her. She was getting close, but so was her pursuer. The statue was only a bit further, another turn there, and one there, and then…

She made it, Cadance flew past the entrance and towards the wall, no, not the wall, the statue. Following the path, she made it around towards the head. Where there was once a scary face there was now a place of refuge, an icon of protection. She smiled, and ducked into the curvature of the worm, right next to the head.

She then looked back to the pathway, and listened. Through her heavy breaths, she could hear hoof steps getting closer. Then the laughter started.

“My my! I never imagined it would be this easy!” A strange voice spoke, a large dark figure stepped around the bend.

Cadance sucked in her breath, and tried to hold it.

“Look at you, cowering like a foal.” The voice continued, then Cadance caught a glimpse of her pursuer.

Glowing green eyes, slit like a cat’s, were staring intently at her. Cadance tried to step back, but a stone spine poked her in the back, not enough to hurt, but it still stopped her from retreating any further. The dark figure took another step forward, eyes still looking directly at her.

Then, a flash of green fire erupted around the figure, and the eyes were gone, but her pursuer's figure remained. A sickly green light emanated from the figure’s horn, illuminating Cadance’s own face, her mane, colors, and eyes were all copied perfectly. Her new doppelganger took another step forward, and raised a hoof towards her.

Cadance slapped it away, and the doppelganger's hoof smacked the side of the statue, managing to get gouged by a still reasonably sharp stone spine. The copy hissed in pain, then looked back at her with a scowl.

“Why you little!” It shouted in her voice, and as it pulled its hoof away, it revealed not blood, but bright green ichor. As the figure held its injured hoof close to its chest, it smiled at her, “I’m gonna enjoy this.” It said creepily, the green glow from its horn became even brighter.

Cadance didn’t have time to react as the spell impacted her face, knocking her to the ground in a daze. She grunted, and tried to get up, only to find that she couldn’t. Her vision began to blur more, and she struggled to look up. Her doppleganger was looking down upon her, smiling evilly. Cadance saw her mouth moving, but couldn’t hear any words.

Her vision started to fade, and she could only stare as her copy drew closer. Then it paused, something distracting it, Cadance barely felt the ground tremble, then what was maybe pebbles raining down upon her, it was hard to tell. Whatever it was, it caused her doppleganger to look back up in shock, but that only lasted for a moment. Then Cadance faded to black as her copy closed in on her.

It had been… two weeks? Maybe? Cadance didn’t know, she had been down here so long she was beginning to get desensitized to the passage of time. She slept when she was tired, and she ate whenever food was given to her. Speaking of that, why was food even being given to her? Her captor clearly held no regard for her life, so why was she keeping her alive?

Cadance’s thought process was interrupted by the chime of the crystals, signaling her captor’s return. Her own face appeared on the nearest flat surface. Unfortunately, it was not a reflection.

“What do you want? Changeling.” She grumbled, and kicked a loose crystal chunk at the face. It just bounced off.

“Oh ho ho! Spicy today aren't we?” The changeling said, Cadance still didn’t know her actual name.

“I think you can guess why.” Was all she replied with.

“Yes I can. Today is the day that all my plans come to fruition.”

“Wait,” Cadance said, “What day is it?”

The changeling just smiled.

“No…”

“Oh yes. Now tell me, how does it feel to miss out on your own wedding?” The changeling asked with a sinister smile.

“You won't get away with this!” Cadance shouted, she banged her hoof against the reflection, “Somepony will stop you. Somepony has to stop you!”

The figure just smiled even more in the reflection. “Oh somepony tried to stop me.” She said, “Didn’t work out so well for them.”

“What?”

“Some little pest figured out I wasn’t you! What are the chances? So I dealt with her… What was her name again? Twiddle Sprinkle?”

Cadance thought for a moment, that name sounded similar to somepony she knew. "Twilight Sparkle?"

"Ah-ha! That's the one." The changeling replied, smiling even wider, she probably knew the entire time.

"What did you do to her!?" Cadance demanded, and slammed her hoof down on the crystal hard enough to crack it.

"Ooh hoo hoo! Struck a nerve did I?" She taunted, before continuing in a much less sinister tone "Worry or not, she isn't dead, I'm not that heartless."

"Where is she?!" Cadance pressed further,

Her reflection just hummed, "Wouldn't you like to know." Then disappeared from the crystal surface, "Tata! I still have to get ready for your wedding!" Her last sentenced echoed throughout the caves along with her mockery of Cadance's laugh.

Cadance screamed in both anger and anguish. She stomped around the cave, crystals cracked and her already ruined shoes were dented and broken beyond repair. She did this for a few seconds, then stopped as she calmed down enough to think rationally. Pulling off her destroyed shoes and checking her hooves, they were relatively undamaged, she had her alicorn attributes to thank for that.

She sighed heavily, and sat down on the cave floor again. She was stuck in what seemed like an endless maze of crystals, alone, with a doppelganger that had managed to fool everypony else and was now taking her spot in her own wedding! Cadance didn't know what the rest of her plans were, but what she had already was done enough to make her want to cave her skull in.

Cadance shook her head, she had no idea where that thought came from, and she quickly shooed it away. She then looked up at the ceiling, and felt completely and utterly hopeless. There was just nothing she could do, except maybe...

"TWILIGHT!" She yelled out,

Cadance had long since given up on crying for help, but only after she had spent her first few days down here running her voice ragged trying. But there was a chance, a chance that her captor had imprisoned Twilight in here along with her, and maybe with her help, she could finally get out.

"TWILIGHT!" She called out again, "TWILIGHT I NEED YOUR HELP!"

Only her echoes came back to her.

Cadance took a deep breath, gathering as much power as she could, and then shouted as loud as she could.

"HELP!"

"help"

The faint cry was heard.

The ground trembled, a wall of stone began to crumble and buckle, rubble and debris started showering the ground. Rock dust engulfed the area, making it harder to see. The sound of rock grinding on rock drowned out all other noises nearby.

Then, in the culmination of all of that, a resounding boom echoed throughout the garden, shards of rock and gravel flew out, severely damaging some statues and plant life. In the smoke screen of dust, a large form rose up from the ground. The worm, now free from its stone prison, coiled up on the ground, reared up like a snake, and gave an ear piercing screech.

The Storm Weaver had long since adapted to living among the clouds, but all worms originated from the ground, so to the ground the Storm Weaver shall return. With that, the massive worm dove down into the ground, easily breaking through the soft surface dirt and proceeding further and further downwards.

“Help!”

Her echo responded back to her cry for help. Cadance sighed again, closing her eyes and laying down on the floor. She sat there for a moment, but then the floor beneath her began to shake, growing in intensity until some of the smaller chunks of crystal were bouncing up and down. A larger chunk broke off from the ceiling and shattered across the ground near her, and she jumped up in surprise. Another chunk came down, a bit further away, but a shard still managed to bounce off her side.

"Uh oh..." She said, looking up.

A much larger chunk smashed down right next to her, this time much bigger shards hit her side, it stung. Cadance winced, and checked her side. She wasn't bleeding, but it still hurt none the less. The ground continued to shake, and she realized this wasn't going to end anytime soon. Panic began to set in, and she frantically searched for some sort of protection from the falling crystals.

A small crystal struck her right in the back, and she gasped in shock. Without another moment to spare she dove into a small alcove made from a large crystal, one that looked like it wouldn't budge in the slightest. It wasn't actually large enough to cover her entirely though, as she felt several smaller shards land on her flank. The shaking got even more intense, enough to the point where Cadance was starting to feel a numbness in her hooves, it was like she was standing right next to some train tracks while a train passed by.

Scratch that, five trains.

Then, it stopped, just like that. The ground ceased quaking, and crystals stopped falling from the ceiling, Cadance looked up from her hiding spot.

Thoom!

A tremor passed through the caves.

Thoom!

Another impact.

Thoom!

Whatever was creating the tremors was getting closer, Cadance chose to stay in her little alcove as larger crystals were knocked loose from the ceiling.

Thoom!

A particularly large crystal crashed to the floor, but it only cracked. Cadance was glad to at least have some shielding from something like that.

Thoom!

An absolutely massive standing crystal tipped over like a tree, having been loosened by the repeated impacts. It shattered into a million pieces as it slammed into the floor. A lot of shards were scattered at Cadance's hooves, she quickly brushed them away.

Crack!

Whatever was striking the wall was now getting close enough to where the sound didn't get dampened, Cadance covered her ears as the shrieking sound of crystals grinding into each other filled the cave.

Crack!

BOOM!

Cadance yelped as chunks of rock and crystal flew across the room, one pinged off of the crystal that she was cowering under. She quickly moved to the side as the chunk fell next to her.

Looking towards the wall that just exploded outwards, she watched as something big slithered out of it. The dust obscured it slightly as it smacked loudly onto the ground as it fully entered the cave. Its body was long, and Cadance watched as its form curled up like a snake, raising higher and higher until it nearly touched the ceiling.

It breathed loudly, with a heavy and guttural wheezing, as if it was in pain. The dust began to settle, and Cadance got a good look at just what exactly had entered the cave.

It was the statue! Or at least what the statue depicted, it had the same mandibles, same eyes, same body, and it was looking right at her. She would’ve taken a step back if she could've, but she was already against the wall. The massive worm leaned forward, its scarred mandibles coming only within inches of her face. She pressed up further against the wall. Thick saliva dripped from the worm’s mouth, and splashed down on the floor. The worm shuddered, and breathed in.

“F A B S O L.” It spoke in a deep, clicky voice. It was hard to understand.

Cadance didn’t know what to do, the worm was inches away from her, and could strike at any moment, but it didn’t, it simply stood there, waiting.

“Uh… Hello?” She tested.

The worm shuddered again, and pulled back a bit, causing Cadance to flinch.

“H E L L O.” It responded

Cadance realized the worm just did in fact speak, and hadn’t actually just grunted at her. What did it call her? ‘Fabsol’? What does that even mean?

“Ok… Um… My name is Cadance.” She spoke slowly.

“C A - D A N C E.” The worm repeated.

It was at this point that she noticed the worm was bleeding, heavily. Large gashes ran down the entirety of the worm’s body, and thick purple blood was seeping from each wound. Cadance looked at the hole the worm had come through, and noticed a steady stream of dirty blood flowing from it and pooling on the crystal floor below. The crystals that permeated the ground must have shredded the worm as it tunneled, yet it still came here, for her? It didn’t seem to be too phased by it’s injuries.

“You came down here… for me?” Cadance asked,

The worm chirped, or made a noise that sounded like a chirp, so Cadance assumed that it had.

“Um... Could you take me to the surface?” She tentatively asked.

“S U R - F A C E.” The worm repeated.

“Yes, the surface.” Cadance reinstated, “Can you take me there?”

With a loud screech, the worm turned its whole body back towards the hole it had just come out of, and dove back into it. Cadance watched for a moment, then cautiously following suit. She flew up to the hole in the wall and carefully set down into it, immediately stepping into the small stream of blood, staining her hoof dark purple. She went to wipe it off on the wall, only to realize that more blood was dripping down it. There was even blood on the ceiling, thankfully not enough to drip onto her.

“Yikes.” Cadance said to herself, continuing up the worm’s hole.

After a few moments of walking, the sharp crystalline structure of the caves gave way to solid rock, and the thick flow of blood ceased, though the rocks were still smeared with it, probably from the worm coming back through. The entire time, Cadance was walking at a steep incline, and she had no idea where she would actually end up. Then, a glimpse of light became visible at the end of the tunnel, and the walls gave way to softer dirt. Realizing that she was close, Cadance began to run up the tunnel, and in only a few moments she burst out of the entrance.

Sunlight reached her face for the first time in weeks, and she was nearly blinded by it, but she didn’t care, she was out.

She was out! The wedding! She had to stop the wedding! Cadance looked around at where she was at, the tunnel entrance was surrounded by grass, stone rubble and pathways, and tall hedges. She was in the statue garden.

Canterlot Castle rose in front of her, along with Shining Armor’s shield. She paused to admire it, but then the sound of bells reached her ears. Remembering her situation and moving quickly, she launched from the ground into the air, intent on flying all the way to the altar. Then she noticed the massive purple form floating above her.

The worm was hovering in mid air, and looked to be following her. Cadance stopped, so did the worm. So she flew up to confront it.

“Stay here,” She commanded. She couldn’t have the worm follow her into the castle.

“S T A Y?” The worm asked, confused,

“Yes, stay” Cadance repeated,

The worm writhed around in the air a bit.

“P R O T E C T.” It explained,

“Protect? From what?” Cadance asked, she was fairly confident she could handle a single changeling.

The worm writhed a bit more, before repeating what it said, “P R O T E C T.”

Cadance didn’t have time for this, she was about to command the worm again when she looked up. A huge black swarm hovered above the shield bubble. Changelings. Hundreds of them.

“Oh my Celestia…” She gasped.

“P R O T E C T.” The worm repeated again.

“O-o-k ok!” Cadance stuttered, “Protect! Um...! P-protect the city!”

“P R O T E C T.” The worm repeated, flying up higher into the air.

“Umm... UMM!” Cadance panicked, “I have to warn everypony!”

She flew as fast as she could towards the castle. It wasn’t very far, but every second wasted was another second they didn’t have to prepare. She wanted to fly faster, but her tired wings simply wouldn’t let her. The large doors of the castle came into view, and Cadance worried that she wouldn’t make it in time. The bells continued to ring, but that was all that she heard, nothing else.

Slamming into the pavement, most likely leaving some cracks, Cadance rushed up to the large double doors, turned, and bucked them as hard as she could. With her alicorn strength, both doors buckled, wood splintering and metal tearing, they flew open while also being partially ripped off of their hinges. They probably weren't even locked to begin with, but she didn't care.

"STOP THE WEDDING!" Cadance shouted into the castle, prompting gasps from all around.

Everypony present turned to look in shock. Nobles, family, friends, all dressed for the occasion. Manes done up, coats brushed, expensive clothing, and here Cadance stood, mane frazzled, a manic look in her eye, and partially covered in worm's blood. Her eyes frantically scanned the room, she saw Princess Celestia, no Twilight, and Shining Armor, standing at the altar with...

"YOU!" Cadance growled, malice dripping from her voice.

The changeling disguised as her looked shocked to say the least.

"How did yo-" The changeling started,

"Changeling!" Cadance interrupted, "I, will, not, let, you, take, any, more, from, ME!" Each word was punctuated with a stomp forwards.

The imposter took a step back in surprise, but quickly regained her composure.

"You're too late! I've already weakened the shield! Any moment now my minions will break through, and we will take all of Equestria!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Princess Celestia demanded, stepping forward.

"Hmph! I suppose there is no need for disguises anymore." The false Cadance announced.

She erupted in a vibrant green inferno. Ponies gasped and Princess Celestia took a step back. Cadance saw the shadow of her form shift and twist, growing larger and more crooked. Evil laughter permeated the room, causing several ponies to look around in confusion, before tracing it back to its source.

Where one Cadance once stood, a much taller form appeared, blackened as if they were burned, with holes in its hooves, horn, hair, and wings. With a sinister laugh, Queen Chrysalis addressed the crowd.

"You precious little ponies are too naïve! Equestria holds more love and magic power than anywhere else that I have ever seen! And because of all your foolishness, my loyal changelings I and will use that power to take over the world!" She began to laugh once more.

"No."

Princess Celestia was surprised as Cadance spoke first. She continued, “I told you earlier that somepony will stop you, so I will.” She leveled her horn,

“Oh ho ho! Are you challenging me?” Queen Chrysalis asked, smiling widely, “Very well then, you’d best hope you love your husband more than he loved you.” She also leveled her horn.

Before anypony had a chance to interject, Queen Chrysalis fired a beam of sickly green energy straight towards Cadance, who barely had any time to react. Rolling to the side, her wing was just grazed by the beam, burning off several feathers. She recovered quickly, and made a mad dash towards Queen Chrysalis, charging up her horn at the same time.

Despite having been an alicorn for quite some time, Cadance still wasn’t very adept in magic, but sometimes you didn’t have to be skillful just to sling power around. A light blue blast hit Queen Chrysalis in the side, knocking her back, but doing little damage overall. That allowed Cadance to close the gap between them, and deliver a mean kick to Queen Chrysalis’s leg, causing her to topple over. She didn’t hit the ground however, as her insect-like wings buzzed into action, preventing her from falling. Queen Chrysalis rose up into the air and away from Cadance.

“Clever, I’ll give you that little princess, but this ends here!” Queen Chrysalis stated.

Cadance was enveloped in green magic, and lifted off of her hooves, she struggled in mid air, but gained no leverage against Queen Chrysalis’ magic. She struggled even more when a tickling sensation prickled her whole body. It starting lightly, then it grew in intensity. Then it started to burn. Cadance screamed in pain as her entire body was engulfed in magical green flames, she desperately tried to twist around to put it out, but Queen Chrysalis’ magic held her still. Ponies in the crowd gasped in horror as she was tortured in front of them.

“ENOUGH!” A loud voice cut through the pain, and the flames were extinguished, Cadance opened her eyes and blinked away the tears.

Princess Celestia stood menacingly at the altar, stance wide and eyes locked onto Queen Chrysalis.

“I will not, cannot! Allow you to continue,” She spoke in a low voice, “Since you have so foolishly revealed yourself and your plans to me, I will do my duty to Equestria and prevent you from doing anything more here today!”

Princess Celestia fired a brilliant beam of yellow light straight at Queen Chrysalis. Cadance felt the magic gripping her change, and then she was whipped around until she was in front of Queen Chrysalis, shielding her from the beam. Princess Celestia noticed this in an instant, and redirected the beam to ‘harmlessly’ blast through a stained glass window. Cadance heard Queen Chrysalis breathe a sigh of relief behind her.

“Ah Ah Ah, Celestia! You wouldn’t want your precious little Cadance to get hurt would you?” Queen Chrysalis taunted after regaining her composure, and began tipping Cadance back and forth in her magic like a toy.

“Put me down!” She yelped out.

“Oh be quiet you!” Queen Chrysalis said, and Cadance felt more magic clamp down on her mouth, forcing it closed. “This day was going to be perfect.” She said in a sing-song voice, “But you almost ruined it.” She started walking backwards, not taking her eyes off Princess Celestia and making sure to keep her Cadance shield between them. She stopped by a window, pulling Cadance along with her. “And now… Any minute, that shield will come crashing down, and all of my plans will come to fruition.”

“You are truly despicable,” Princess Celestia commented,

“Oh I know.” Queen Chrysalis said, “And I, for one, can’t wait to watch as your precious little city burns.”

Crack!

A massive crack appeared across the shield, creating quite a bit of noise. Cadance had to strain her eyes just to look at it since she couldn’t turn her head.

“Yes!” Queen Chrysalis said, her smile growing wider.

The crowd began to panic, ponies got up from their seats and tried to exit the castle, only to get caught up on each other. More and more cracks appeared on the bubble, the strange reverberations were probably audible from all of Canterlot. Queen Chrysalis just laughed.

“Look at you all! So incompetent you can’t even run away.” She gloated.

POP!

The shield popped, and shattered, large shards of solid magic began falling into the city until they thankfully dissolved into thin air. But the shield was gone, and the massive swarm of changelings began to descend upon Canterlot, intent on taking it over. Queen Chrysalis began laughing maniacally.

Boom!

A flash of lightning, and a thunderclap, Queen Chrysalis stopped laughing, and looked towards the sky.

An ominous storm cloud loomed above the swarm of changelings, flashes of lightning and thunderclaps were becoming more frequent and intense. A majority of the swarm actually stopped in confusion.

"What trickery is this?!" Queen Chrysalis demanded, she turned to look at Princess Celestia, "Even you wouldn't be so stupid as to summon a storm above your own city!"

Princess Celestia took a small glance at the storm, but kept most of her attention at Queen Chrysalis. "You are right in that matter, this storm is not ours."

"Then who-!"

Bang!

Queen Chrysalis was interrupted again as lightning struck directly outside, shattering several of the stained glass windows. Multi-colored glass rained down upon her, but simply bounced off of her chitin. The wind picked up, forcing its way into the building as rain began to pour outside. The entire room darkened as the storm began to blot out the sun, only the few remaining lanterns could only partially illuminate the room.

In the resulting confusion, Queen Chrysalis loosened her grip on Cadance, something Princess Celestia immediately took advantage of. Cadance felt the warm golden glow of Princess Celestia's magic overpower Queen Chrysalis' slimy bitterness for control over her body. She was pulled away from the changeling queen and gently set down next to Princess Celestia. Cadance breathed in sharply as the tightness from being held lifted from her, allowing her to relax her entire body.

"Thank you," She managed to whisper, Princess Celestia just nodded.

Queen Chrysalis noticed that her one and only source of protection from the most powerful pony in Equestria had just disappeared from her grasp, and just like that her confidence was gone. Realizing her situation was now much less than ideal, she immediately took a step back and threw up a bizarre looking magic shield. Princess Celestia took a step forward, Queen Chrysalis took another step back.

"Stay back!" Queen Chrysalis shouted, "I'm warning you!"

Princess Celestia took another step forward, "You will pay for you crimes against Equestria,"

Looking behind her, Queen Chrysalis realized she was backing up against a wall. Frantically looking around, she noticed the shattered windows, and immediately flew over and out of one. Instead of retreating further however, she turned back around to address the ponies one last time.

"You may have won this time ponies!" She began, barely audible above the storm. "But you haven't seen the last of me! I will be ba-"

And for the third time, Queen Chrysalis was interrupted as an echoing screech sounded off from somewhere outside the building, not visible to any of the ponies inside. Queen Chrysalis saw it however, and her eyes went wide with fear.

"The statue?" She asked in shock.

That was all she was able to speak however, as in the next moment, the worm sped down and slammed into her, grabbing her in its gigantic mandibles. Its massive shadow blocked the rest of what little light that was coming through the windows as it passed by, the faint screams of the changeling queen could barely be heard over the rush of wind. Then, the next moment it was gone, along with Queen Chrysalis, leaving everypony in a state of shock.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Yippie, another chapter out, for those of you wondering what the worm roar sounds like, I thought it might've sounded a bit like this.

And for it speaking, probably a little more like this.

Also, remember when I said to not expect any super long chapters? Because this one was going to be 8000+, before I decided to split it into two parts. Next one will be coming out soon enough.

Chapter 4: Change

“The worm has returned?!” Princess Celestia was most definitely shocked and confused now.

Just then, Shining Armor, who had been standing upright the entire time, blinked, shook his head, stumbled, and then fell over with a grunt. Cadance immediately noticed this and rushed over to him, she started to check him for any injuries. His eyes had returned to their normal color, any evidence of mind control had completely left, except for the resulting confusion.

“Ugh… my head... Uhh... Cadance?” He groaned

“Shining Armor! Are you okay? How do you feel? What did she do to you?” Cadance asked rapid fire.

“I’ve got a killer headache,” Shining Armor complained, putting a hoof to the base of his horn, “What happened?”

“You were being controlled by a changeling, she was posing as me.” Cadance explained slowly,

“What really? A changeling? For how long?”

“I think two weeks,”

“Two weeks!” He sat up in surprise, “Wha-what about the wedding?” It was at this point that Shining Armor noticed what he was wearing, and where exactly he was. “Oh… Oh no...”

Cadance embraced Shining Armor, “Oh Shining, I don't care about the wedding anymore! I’m just happy to have you back!”

Shining Armor returned the embrace, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Cadance replied,

They held each other for a moment.

Shining Armor sniffed, and then looked down at Cadance's hooves. “Is that… blood?”

Cadance also looking down, and noticed that she was covered in purple blood, which had also seemed to collect all manner of dirt and dust, and was now also beginning to dry, it would be a pain to get it out of her coat now.

“It’s been a very interesting day.” She laughed,

They kissed, and held each other in even tighter. Eventually though, they were broken up by Princess Celestia as spoke up next to them.

“Captain Armor, are you well?” She asked,

Shining Armor pulled away and stood up, “Well enough, what’s going on?”

“I’m declaring a state of emergency, right now we appear to be in a three way conflict, fortunately for us, the other two sides are preoccupied with each other.” Princess Celestia explained,

“Okay,” Shining Armor acknowledged,

“What I need you to do is assemble the guard, evacuate the city to the storm shelters, and contact Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, tell her it’s a code W,”

“Understood Princess, I’ll get it done.” Shining Armor saluted.

Then everything that Princess Celestia said caught up to Cadance.

“Wait! Celestia! The worm is on our side.” She exclaimed,

“WHAT!?” Princess Celestia asked in shock, her composure completely lost, she took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Cadance, forgive me if I don't believe you, but that thing is a beast, it has killed hundreds of ponies and caused untold amounts of destruction.”

“I know that, but it also helped me.” Cadance argued.

“Explain,” Princess Celestia demanded,

“That worm is the reason I’m here right now, it broke me out of the crystal caves, and now it’s protecting the city because I told it to.” Cadance explained, right as another lightning strike nearby blasted out another window. “Sort of,” She added.

“It listens to you?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Yes, I don’t know why, but it does.” Cadance said.

Princess Celestia sighed, “Cadance, I trust you, but how do you know you can trust that thing?”

Cadance thought for a moment, about everything the worm had done so far. It had put her in danger, by accident, but then it also rescued her, and now it was currently fending off the changeling invasion, alone, at her command.

“I know I can,” she answered confidently.

“Alright then,” Princess Celestia still looked uncertain, she turned to address Shining Armor, “Change of plans Captain, continue the assembly of the guard, and the preparation of the city for evacuation but…” She looked at Cadance, “Tell Captain Spitfire to be on standby instead.”

“Yes Princess” Shining Armor replied, then stepped away to start directing ponies on where to go. Then five very familiar ponies walked up.

“Uh, Princess, Ah hate to be a burden, but uh, what should we be doing?” Applejack asked.

“Oh yes. Applejack," Princess Celestia turned to address the group, "The situation right now is very tense, and we may need the Elements of Harmony. Have any of you seen Twilight? I fear that her disappearance was not a coincidence.”

They all shook their heads.

Cadance spoke up, “That changeling did something to her! She told me about how she ‘dealt’ with Twilight after she discovered her true intentions, but she said she didn’t kill her,” She felt wrong saying those words, “I could only assume she trapped her somewhere in the crystal mines along with me, but I didn’t see her down there at all.”

“Still, a lead is a lead.” Princess Celestia said, “Applejack, there is an entrance to the mines in the basement of the castle. You and the other elements will go there and search for Twilight, the door is heavy but it shouldn’t be locked.”

"There is also now an entrance in the statue gardens, if that helps." Cadance added, causing Princess Celestia to give her a strange look.

"That too..."

"Okay Princess, but are y'all gonna be alright on your own?" Applejack worriedly asked,

"We shall be fine. Now go, Twilight needs you." Princess Celestia ordered.

As the five Elements of Harmony ran out of the room, Princess Celestia turned back to Cadance, “If the worm really does follow what you say, then can you get it to dissipate the storm? Canterlot is a very carefully managed city, a storm like this will cause severe damage.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Cadance said,

“Please do,”

Cadance fully stood up, and began walking determinately towards the entrance she had destroyed just a few moments earlier. The crowd trying to push through had long since been moved away at Shining Armor’s directions, so Cadance was able to exit the building without a problem, Princess Celestia soon followed her out from behind.

It was utter turmoil outside, the wind immediately whipped Cadance’s mane into her face, and rain started pelting her whole body. Princess Celestia’s mane remained unaffected, most likely from the magic flowing through keeping it under control. She brought up a simple shield to keep the rain off of the both of them.

“Can you call it?!” Princess Celestia shouted over the winds.

“I’ll try!” Cadance shouted back.

Taking another deep breath, Cadance once again gathered her power to shout into the air.

“HELP!”

Her voice appeared to be lost in the wind, but then it shifted. In an instant, the wind changed direction. Cadance’s mane was once again whipped into her face, now soaking wet. She quickly pulled it back to the side and looked back into the dark clouds looming above Canterlot, they swirled around violently.

Right at that moment, the worm tore through the cloud layer at an alarming speed, it dove downwards until it neared the ground. It began to approach where Cadance was standing, but then it noticed Princess Celestia standing next to her. It reared back, and screeched, before diving forward at the shield that Princess Celestia had conjured.

“Stop!” Cadance commanded,

The worm stopped mid air, Princess Celestia’s jaw dropped.

“She’s a friend!” Cadance shouted

“F R I E N D?” The worm asked tilting its head

“Yes! Yes, she won’t hurt you!” Cadance explained.

The worm seemed to relax a bit, and lowered to the ground. Cadance noticed that most of the gashes from earlier had already clotted and scabbed over, and while most likely still weak, had stopped bleeding. There was also a few new burn marks along its hide.

“F A B S O L.” It said,

“What did it just call you?” Princess Celestia asked,

“No idea, but it called me that earlier.” Cadance spoke back, then she took another deep breath to shout, “My name is Cadance, remember?!”

“C A - D A N C E.” The worm repeated

Cadance nodded, before moving on, “Can you remove the storm?!”

“S T O R M?” It asked,

“Yes the storm, can you remove it?!” Cadance shouted.

The worm twirled a bit, and grunted, “S T O R M.” It said, supposedly in disagreement.

“No! No storm.” Cadance tried to convince it.

The worm writhed more, it sounded unhappy, “S T O R M!” It reinstated

Princess Celestia took a step forward, but Cadance stopped her.

“Hold on.” She said, before looking back up at the worm. “Please?!”

The worm stopped writhing mid air, and seemed to sigh. Then, with a whip of its massive tail, it created a deafening crack and a shockwave that passed over them, then the storm.

The effects were immediate, the clouds seemed to condense, the rainfall tripled in volume, but the lightning and thunder calmed considerably. Cadance felt the pressure begin to equalize, and in only a few moments, the nearly pitch black storm turned light enough to the point that sunlight started breaking through. Most of the water in the storm had fallen to the ground, completely soaking everything. Any remaining clouds thinned and dispersed, leaving a light fog that slowly drifted away in the now much calmer winds.

“Amazing…” Princess Celestia trailed off, allowing the shield to disappear.

“Ummm…” Cadance also trailed off, but not in amazement.

“What is...?” Princess Celestia also saw what Cadance was looking at, “Oh my,”

Changelings, hundreds of them, were now gathering around the trio. Now that the storm was gone, they weren’t being thrown around or disoriented, which allowed them to now converge on their location. They appeared on the streets, on buildings, in the air. They were being completely surrounded by them.

“You!” A familiar voice screamed,

There, standing on the main road, was Queen Chrysalis, and she looked mad. She was limping, and had to be supported by two changeling drones as she walked. A massive gash ran up her side, right where the worm had struck her, it wasn't actively bleeding, but the flesh looked raw and her entire side was smeared with green blood.

She took a raspy breath before continuing. "So this was your plan all this time?!" She laughed maniacally, "To set loose your little beast upon me?!" She coughed hard into her hoof, green droplets dripped through the holes, she sounded like she was starting to loose it. "You have taken so many of my little drones from me." She said in a low voice.

"That was your choice!" Princess Celestia shouted to her, "You brought them here, you chose this path."

"I chose this path?!" Queen Chrysalis yelled, "What choice did I have?! We changelings have been starving for far longer than any of us can even remember! Then I find the opportunity to end our suffering forever! What do you expect me to do?"

"You resolve your problems peacefully, as we have for generations!" Princess Celestia countered, "There is still a chance for redemption!"

Queen Chrysalis snarled, "No! You lost your chance for redemption the moment your beast killed one of my precious little subjects. This is no longer about our survival, this is personal." She spat,

"So be it..." Princess Celestia said, and lowered her stance.

Before she was able to do anything else, Queen Chrysalis immediately fired a green beam of magic directly towards Cadance. Princess Celestia scrambled to put up a shield, but it didn't form fast enough, the beam broke through it before it became solid. Princess Celestia watched in horror as the beam edged closer and closer to Cadance while not being able to do anything about it.

Slam!

The worm's tail smashed down into the ground at blinding speed, right in front of Cadance, just in time to block the beam. The hateful green magic burned into its flesh, leaving a smoking crater in the worm's body. It screeched in agony, and whipped its tail back and forth.

"Bah! That stupid beast has done enough! Kill them!" Queen Chrysalis commanded.

Hundreds of changelings launched into the air, horns all glowing the same sickly green color. Bolts of green fire and magic flew across the sky. Most seemed to be directed at the worm, seeing as it was probably the most dangerous thing in the city now turned battlefield. A few bolts did manage to make their way towards Princess Celestia and Cadance however, but were blocked by a now fully formed shield.

Another screech of pain, the worm was thrashing around as it was pelted with bolt after bolt. With no storm to dampen the effects or to lose the changelings in, it was at a major disadvantage. With a tremendous roar, it gathered up electricity in its mandibles and slung a massive sphere of lightning towards the nearest clump of changelings.

Despite being made of pure electricity, the ball moved rather slowly. That didn't stop it from arcing towards the nearest twenty or so changelings, frying all of them. More bolts hit the worm, and it realized it couldn't stay still, it coiled up, and launched down the street, flying fast and low.

A majority of the changelings followed, including Queen Chrysalis, who appeared to have a personal vendetta against it. Some changelings remained however, and they closed in on Princess Celestia and Cadance, who were still hiding behind a small shield bubble.

The bolts started coming in rapid fire, hitting the shield and spreading fire across it. Soon enough both of the alicorns inside couldn't see past the flames piled on top of the shield, which started to sag and deform from the stress. Princess Celestia dropped to her knees and closed her eyes in concentration, trying desperately to keep the shield up despite all the damage being inflicted upon it.

"Cadance!" She gasped out, "I can't hold it for much longer!"

"Oh!" She responded, surprised, "Um... Um! Hang on!"

Igniting her horn, Cadance began weaving the most powerful shield spell she knew, one that Shining had taught her when they first got into a relationship. The matrixes were complex, but the spell was strong and resilient. She finished the first part, then began copying it until it formed a small sphere, where she then blew it up to cover the both of them. The magic was hard, but Cadance had more than enough reserves to complete the spell, yet it still felt sloppy. She would definitely be refining her magic skills when this was over.

"I got it!" She shouted, and stood up straight to try and brace for an impact.

Princess Celestia just grunted, and dropped her spell. The golden glow on the outside of Cadance's shield popped and disappeared, which fortunately dispersed the fire set against it. Cadance heard Princess Celestia fall over beside her, but didn't dare to turn her head in fear of losing concentration and dropping the spell. Instead she continued to look forward, and was terrified by what she saw.

The changelings were right on top of them, having moved forward while they were obscured from view. They were standing so close together it was hard to see past them. Cadance could only assume that they were surrounded from all sides, but she still wouldn't turn her head. They began to laugh some sort of chittering giggle, and began to advance even further.

One of the changelings in front of Cadance slung another fire ball at the shield. It impacted, and spread across the shield, then it simply slid off, causing the changeling to look at it in confusion. Cadance sighed in relief, the shield's composition prevented the fire from sticking to it, so they were safe from that at least.

Bang!

Something struck the shield from behind, Cadance couldn't tell what.

Bang!

Another strike, this one to the left, Cadance strained her eyes to look, but saw only changelings.

Bang!

Cadance flinched as a changeling literally body slammed the shield in front of her, it slid off and picked itself up from the ground.

Bang!

Another changeling slammed into the shield.

Bang!
Bang!
Bang!

The strain of the increasing impacts was really starting to get to Cadance, but she kept the shield up.

Bang!
Crack

A small crack appeared in front of Cadance where a changeling had struck. In a panic, she accidentally focused too much on trying to repair it.

Bang!
Chink!

Another changeling struck the shield from behind, which had been weakened due to the lack of focus. Cadance couldn't see, but she could feel in her magic the spider web of cracks that formed in it from the impact. She immediately realized her mistake, and focused on spreading the repairs throughout the whole shield. Slowly but surely, the cracks began to mend.

Bang!

Before they could finish mending, the cracks were worsened as more strikes continued to hit the shield, there just wasn't enough time to repair it as more and more changelings began to slam into the shield.

Bang!
Bang!

Cadance saw cracks begin to from in her peripheral vision, a terrifying sight.

Bang!

One changeling had taken the liberty to fly above the shield and start jumping up and down on it. Impacts were coming from all around now, and the cracks were worsening by the second. Cadance focused hard on keeping the shield together, but quickly noticed that she was losing the battle. She strained herself harder, and managed to mend the shield a little more.

Chink!

Part of the shield was dented inwards as a changeling punched it, a couple small shards broke off and dissolved. Several nearby changelings immediately noticed this, and began to focus around the dent, punching or kicking it in an attempt to damage it more.

Cadance had learned from her earlier mistake, and only semi focused on keeping the dent from worsening. It wasn't enough however, and soon enough, a black holed hoof punctured the shield, forcing its way inside. Cadance yelped as the changeling forced itself up to its shoulder to attempt to reach her. It was only inches away from actually touching her, yet it couldn't. It hissed as it thrashed its hoof back and forth, but still couldn't make any leeway.

It stopped after a few moments, then retracted its arm from the hole. Cadance quickly tried to close it, but then the changeling gouged its horn through it. It rocked its head back and forth, trying to widen the hole so that it could get through it. Cadance watched in horror as its horn then burst into green flames, which began to lick at the edges of the hole.

The blue colored shield began to bubble and brown as the magic burned through it. Another hiss from the changeling, and this time when it pushed forwards its head actually broke through. Cadance screamed as the changeling pushed itself further and further past her shield, pawing violently at the edges of the hole with it's hooves to make more space. It bared its fangs as it gnashed at her. They wouldn't last much longer.

As a last ditch effort to survive, Cadance took a deep breath once more.

"HELP!" She shouted,

The changeling recoiled for a moment from the sheer volume, but quickly recovered, and resumed tearing at the shield again.

"Oh no no no no." Cadance closed her eyes and braced for a strike from the changeling.

Thunk!

The changeling screeched in pain, Cadance opened her eyes. The changeling that was reaching for her had stopped and was now desperately trying to pull itself back out of the hole in the shield. She looked at its side, and saw an arrow sticking out of it.

Thunk!

A different changeling dropped to the floor, an arrow stuck in its neck. There was the clang of metal, and what sounded like several ponies shouting. That got the rest of the changelings' attention, most turned and hissed at the offending party. Cadance focused on repairing the shield as much as she could while the changelings were distracted. She heard a blast of magic, and then a yelp from a changeling as it was sent flying past her view.

Several changelings still stood around Cadance's shield, one in particular decided to try to stab its horn through the shield, which pierced right through. This prompted the others to do the same, and soon enough, there were multiple changeling horns piercing her shield. Cadance winced at the magical strain as each changeling ignited their horn, she managed to power through it, but she knew she couldn't stay that way for long though.

Slowly but surely, the green flames burned through parts of her shield, weakening the whole structure.

Thunk!

One horn stopped glowing and slipped out of the hole it had just made.

"Graaagh!" Somepony shouted,

A changeling yelped as it was struck by some sort of weapon, and another horn retracted back through the shield.

They weren't being dealt with fast enough however, and at the other side of the shield, a pretty sizeable hole had already been burned into it. A changeling on the other side took a step back and dove into it, just managing to slip inside. Cadance reacted by blasting it with magic, which stunned it, but also caused the shield to drop. The changeling shook its head to clear it, and then charged towards her. Cadance moved to the side to dodge it, and the changeling just barely grazed her as it flew past, right into a royal guard.

The royal guard! They were here! Relief flooded Cadance, but she couldn't relax just yet. She turned around, and saw two more changelings now standing over Princess Celestia, who was still recovering on the ground. Thinking quickly, Cadance leaped into the air and tackled one of the changelings, sending the two of them sprawling across the pavement.

She recovered quickly, and stood up to attempt to get the other changeling away from Princess Celestia. But it turned out she didn’t need to, as Cadance watched another royal guard stab the changeling with a spear, gouging it while also shoving it back.

Then the changeling that she had tackled earlier jumped on her back, causing her to yelp in surprise. Cadance was then wrestled back to the ground. She rolled over, and managed to come face to face with the changeling as it gnashed and spat at her. It was on top of her, and Cadance barely held it back as it tried to bite her anywhere it could. She placed her hooves on its chest so that it couldn’t reach them, but she couldn't push it off. Hey eyes went wide as its horn began to glow green.

Thunk

An arrow embedded itself into the changeling’s neck, its whole body spasmed then tensed on top of her, and then it went limp. Cadance shoved the body off to the side and got up from the ground, she looked behind her to see just who had shot the changeling, and was surprised at what she saw. An orange pegasus guard stood there, he was holding a bow in one hoof and an arrow in his mouth. She didn’t recognize him, but she did recognize the pony standing next to him.

“Good work Flash, now regroup with the rest of the guard,” Shining Armor commanded.

“Sir yes Sir!” Flash saluted and flew off.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance shouted, and ran up to him.

“Cadance!” He shouted back smiling.

They hugged.

“You came just in time,” Cadance told him.

“Oh I did, did I?” Shining Armor asked smiling.

Cadance just laughed and kissed him.

"I was so worried, there were a lot of changelings. Thank you." She said,

“Well I'm glad I could be of service.” Shining Armor jokingly said,

They held each other for a moment, only for their embrace to be interrupted for the second time today.

"Captain Armor, how nice of you to show up.“ Princess Celestia greeted, having picked herself up from the ground.

“Your highness,” Shining Armor bowed, "I've mobilized the guard,"

"Oh my goodness! Are you going to be okay Celestia?" Cadance asked

Princess Celestia gave a weak smile, “I will be fine in due time,” she said, though she was listing to the side, her horn was darkened, and her mane had fallen limp. She was clearly still recovering from the severe magic stress she had experienced earlier.

“What are we to do now? Your highness?” Shining Armor asked,

“An excellent question captain. Though it appears that the battle here is won, the majority of the changeling force seems to be occupied with our new ally...” She hung on that last word for a moment before continuing, “We need make sure that the entirety of their invading force has been quelled,” Princess Celestia deducted,

Cadance gasped in realization, "The worm!"

Shining Armor briefly looked at Cadance, then turned back to Princess Celestia. “What are your orders Princess?” he asked,

Princess Celestia thought for a moment. “Captain Armor, have the guard split, have one part secure the city, and bring another part along with yourself in order to accompany us as we check in on our ally.” She ordered.

“Understood, your highness,” Shining Armor saluted,

He let out a whistle, which caught the attention of every guard in the vicinity.

“Alright men! This fight isn’t over yet, so here is what we’re going to do! First, we need to secure Canterlot. Platoons one and two will secure the South side of the city, three and four will secure the West, five and six the East, and seven and eight will secure the North. Lock down all entrances and exits, do not let anypony in or out of the city until the all clear is given!” Shining Armor ordered to the guards

“Sir yes Sir!” About half of the guards present responded.

“Now! Platoons nine through twelve, you're with me, and be ready for a fight. Finally, Platoons thirteen through sixteen, you are to stay here and set up a defensive position in the castle, keep the civilians safe but also keep them under constant watch, we don’t want any changelings popping up when we least expect it.”

The rest of the guards saluted, “Sir yes Sir!”

At once, hundreds of guards began to shuffle back and forth, separating into their respective platoons, ready for action, Princess Celestia looked impressed at how expedient they were. Shining Armor turned to his second in command.

“Major Ash, I’m putting you in charge of platoons one through eight. As per Princess Celestia’s and my orders, secure Canterlot, but be wary of everypony you come across, anypony could be a changeling.”

Major Ash saluted, “Yes sir, it’ll get done.”

Shining Armor nodded, then turned his attention back towards Princess Celestia and Cadance, he along with the other hundred or so guards that were behind him were ready to move at a moment's notice.

“Which way your highness?” He asked,

“I do believe I saw our quarry fly down that street,” Princess Celestia was quick to answer as she gestured down the road. “Right Cadance?”

“Oh uh… Yeah that street,” Cadance answered, then she realized something. “Do you think the worm is okay?” She asked, having remembered how said worm was facing hundreds of changelings, along with their queen.

Princess Celestia grimaced, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’ve seen what that worm can do...” She said in a low voice.

Both Cadance and Shining Armor looked at her strangely, but didn’t press the issue.

“Alright! Let's move!” Shining Armor gave out the command a moment later.

And they were off, two Alicorns, the captain of the royal guard, along with about one hundred of the guard themselves, all versus an unknown amount of changelings, and then there was the worm.

They certainly didn’t have to travel long, Canterlot was a big city, but not absolutely massive. It was only after a minute of marching that they came across their first body.

It was obviously a changeling, though it was mangled and charred. Having most likely crashed into the ground after being struck by a lightning bolt. Cadance chose not to look at it for too long and move on, only to nearly step on a second corpse. It was crumpled, broken, and had a huge slash across its barrel, which was most likely the cause of the absolutely massive pool of green blood surrounding it. Cadance quickly pulled her hoof away, she was already covered in enough blood.

“The worm did this?” Shining Armor asked as he inspected the body.

“The spines that run along its body are sharp enough to cut through steel.” Princess Celestia answered, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they could cut through changeling armor.”

“Which means they could probably cut through the guard’s armor too.” Shining Armor deducted.

“Correct.”

Cadance scoffed, “The worm is on our side, remember?”

“I have not forgotten Cadance, but anything could happen.” Princess Celestia said,

The group continued to pass more corpses, every single one of them were changelings, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Their frequency only increased as they continued up the road, not to mention the extremely brutal injuries each one seemed to suffer. It got to the point where it looked like several of the guards were becoming uneasy.

Of course the guards are trained in violence, as it normally comes with the job, but this was extreme. Blood and guts littered the streets, and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air. It was so much that even Princess Celestia started to look disgusted, Cadance had to stop to gag several times. Though other than that the whole group continued in silence, not wanting to interrupt the death in the air.

The decimation continued up the street and around a corner, where their view was blocked off by a building, one that was heavily damaged. Shards of glass and brick rubble littered the street along with several more changeling corpses. Thankfully there were no ponies visible in or around the rubble, which seemed to remind Shining Armor of something.

“I’m glad that nopony got caught up in this.” He said

“As am I, it seems that the worm’s storm has also done some good. It is good to know that not many will have to see this.” Princess Celestia added.

They continued until around the corner, passed the destroyed building, and were met with an even more gruesome sight.

Far, far more bodies lay in the street, so much that it almost looked like the cobblestones were painted green. Corpses and body parts were strewn all about, some hanging from decorative trees while others were thrown through walls or windows. It was a massacre in every sense of the word.

Cadance immediately turned and tried to stop herself from vomiting, and was successful mainly due to how little she had eaten recently. Shining Armor started to look as green as the street, but managed to keep it down. Princess Celestia just looked ahead sternly.

“This is what I was afraid of,” She said, “Are you alright Cadance?”

Cadance heaved, “I’m uhh… I’m okay,” She said weakly, “I just didn’t expect… so much…”

“Violence?”

“Mmm-Hmm,” Cadance answered.

Princess Celestia sighed, “This is something I never wanted you to have to experience.”

Cadance looked up at her, “I’m okay Celestia, really I am,” she reaffirmed,

Princess Celestia looked at her with uncertainty, but eventually kept walking, making sure to take extra care not to step in or on any changelings.

“This is just like it was a thousand years ago, pure devastation, I feel sorry for that changeling queen.”

“What do you think happened to her?” Shining Armor asked,

Cadance abruptly stopped in walking, causing both Shining Armor and Princess Celestia to look back at her, and then to what she was staring at.

A singular black foreleg, holed like all the rest, but much too large to be any drone’s. It sat limp on the cobblestone, green ichor slowly leaking out of it. They had their answer, Shining Armor chose not to make a comment on it.

It was further up the road at an intersection where the cause of it all lay.

The worm, surrounded by death and destruction. An entire building lay in ruins, while others had major damage, either due to physical impacts, magical blasts, or lightning strikes. The streets were covered with blood and guts, though there was a suspicious lack of corpses. The reason why was quickly revealed as the worm dove down and snatched up a body in its mandibles. An audible crunch was heard as the changeling’s chitin was broken and shattered, green blood rained down as the worm feasted on any remaining changeling corpses.

Cadance fought down the urge to vomit once more, and managed to hold it down. Shining Armor was not so lucky however, and he turned away to vomit on the pavement. Even Princess Celestia looked sick to her stomach.

“Cadance?” Princess Celestia began, “Do you think you could get it to stop?”

“Uhh… Sure,” Cadance answered unsurely, and slowly began approaching the worm.

Shining Armor looked back up, “Wha-wait a minute! Shouldn’t I come with?” He asked, trying to follow Cadance, only to be stopped by Princess Celestia.

“Perhaps it isn’t the best idea to accompany her. That worm seems to be very protective of her, it nearly attacked me when it saw us together. It would be better to let her do this alone.” She explained.

“Oh...” Shining Armor said,

Cadance continued to approach the worm, and tried desperately not to step into any remains, but there was no way she could avoid all of it, the dried purple blood of the worm mixed with the green ichor from the changelings to create an awful brown concoction that smelled like death. As she approached, Cadance got a good look at the worm, and it certainly looked worse for wear. There were pockmarks of burns all along its body, each one deep enough to bleed, and sickly dark blood oozed out and dripped onto the ground.

Similar to before, the worm’s breathing was extremely laboured, but that didn’t seem to stop it from devouring another changeling corpse. With another sickening crunch more green ichor splashed to the ground from the worm’s head. Cadance tried not to gag at the sight.

Squelch

Cadance was too busy staring at the worm to notice where she was walking, and she stepped onto something squishy. Whatever it was, it obviously came from a changeling, but other than that it was unidentifiable, nonetheless, it still covered her hoof in green guts. With a yelp Cadance quickly pulled her hoof away and jumped back. The noise alerted the worm, and it whipped around to see whatever was sneaking up on it. It visibly relaxed when it saw Cadance, and it even looked a bit surprised to her.

“Uh, hello again.” Cadance spoke up.

The worm paused and looked back at her, then it also spoke.

“H E L L O” It greeted back,

Cadance grimaced as green blood flowed freely from its mouth,

“Can you stop?” Cadance tried,

The worm just tilted its head in confusion at her for a moment, and after a moment of silent staring, the worm decided to go back to feeding.

“Can you stop eating?” Cadance clarified.

The worm paused, and looked back up at Cadance, another corpse in its mouth.

“Please?” She added on

The worm crunched down onto the corpse, breaking its chitin loudly, Cadance cringed at the noise. It took a moment to finish breaking it down and eventually swallowed it, the entire time blood dripped down its mandibles. When it was finished, it spoke to her.

“H U N G R Y” It said, spraying flecks of blood and saliva onto Cadance, who recoiled in disgust.

She would’ve tried to wipe it off her face and mane, but her hooves were already covered in blood, which would have created an even larger mess.

“F A B S O L” The worm repeated again.

Cadance would have been annoyed if she wasn’t so disgusted.

“It’s Cadance,” She corrected.

The worm looked like it was about to respond, but it stopped and shuddered. Then it groaned, and Cadance looked up at it in confusion. The worm lightly thrashed about, not in pain, more like it was in discomfort.

“Ummm..?”

Cadance was about to say something more, but was interrupted as the worm burst into green flames.

“Ack!” She jumped back in surprise.

The worm continued to thrash back and forth, but it didn’t make much noise, clearly it wasn’t in any pain, even though it was on fire. The initial surprise began to wane, and Cadance realized that both Shining Armor and Princess Celestia had run up beside her.

“What happened?!” Shining Armor asked,

“I don’t know!” Cadance exclaimed, “I was just talking to it when it caught fire.”

Princess Celestia also looked surprised, though she was a lot more calm about the situation than the other two.

“It looks like changeling magic, could they still be attacking it?” She wondered.

“It’s possible, but we didn’t see any live changelings around,” Shining Armor said after regaining some composure. “Could they be poisonous?”

“Guys look!” Cadance interrupted, pointing at the worm.

Said worm had stopped thrashing around, and simply sat there ablaze. Then something strange started to happen, the flames surrounding it started to change color. Their previous sickly green color darkened into a matte brown, and continued to lose any trace of a green hue, then the flames lightened back up into a vibrant magenta, and at the end of the process they were accented with light blue highlights. An incredible display, if not incredibly confusing.

The worm’s form was barely visible inside the inferno, but that didn’t last long, as soon after the they changed color the flames began to die out, revealing something entirely new. Instead of soft flesh, chitinous plates now ran down the worm’s body, they were pitch black and shiny, just like the changeling’s, but as they were exposed to the open air the blackness faded, turning into a familiar purple, similar to the worm’s original flesh. All in all it looked the same, just a bit thicker and smoother, with convenient slots in its armor for its spines.

All three of the ponies were speechless as they gawked at the worm.

“It copied the changelings?!” Princess Celestia exclaimed, having lost nearly all of her composure. She stared up and down the new and improved worm.

But that wasn’t all.

The worm burst into purple flames once more, and after a moment its form began to shrink and compress, almost as if it was burning away, yet it wasn’t. What was once a massive beast that spanned nearly the whole street shrunk down until it was nearly the same size as a pony. Then, in a flash, the flames were whisked away, revealing something nopony was expecting.

A pony stood there, except it wasn’t a pony. Sure it had hooves, four legs, even a snout, but there was more. Smaller but still likely razor sharp spines stuck out from its body, a worm-like tail swayed behind it, and large unmistakable mandibles jutted out from its mouth. As it opened its eyes they were revealed to be completely teal, with no pupils to speak of. It was very similar to its original form, and only a little less terrifying, if not more so in a completely different manner.

Speechless once more, all three ponies stared in silence as the worm, if you could call it that now, slowly stumbled and tripped over itself as it learned to walk on four legs. It seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, and soon walked over to Cadance to stand in front of her.

She could only stare as the worm opened its mouth and spoke.

“Ca-dance,” It said in a much easier to understand voice, one that was familiar actually. It sounded just like the changeling queen’s.

That was the tipping point, it was just too much. Cadance had been confined for weeks, slowly starved, and was constantly taunted by her captor. Then she was finally let out by a monster, only to be subjected to torture by her captor, and when she was finally reunited with the love of her life, it had to be cut short as the fate of Equestria came first. Then the same monster that freed her brutally killed and ate most of the invading changelings and then seemed to copy their abilities. Now said monster was standing before her, trying to smile, with rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth visible within its maw.

Cadance felt tired, the adrenaline that she had been subsisting off of for the past hour or so had finally wore off. The battle was won, or at least she hoped so, and right now she just wanted to sleep, and maybe eat something. But sleep came first, so Cadance fainted on the spot.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Sorry for the incredibly long wait, I had stupidly fooled myself into thinking this chapter was far from completion, when the opposite was true. I was too busy working on something else that you may see in the future than putting the finishing touches on this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed! I know I did while writing this.

Chapter 7: Empire

“The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The Crystal Empire?” Twilight gasped, “I’m sorry I-I thought I’d studied. Ooh I don’t think there’s anything in any of my books!”

“There wouldn’t be,” Princess Celestia said, prompting a very confused look from Twilight, “Few remember it even existed at all.” She continued, carefully removing the glass covering from a pedestal, a large, oddly shaped crystal sat upright on it.

Quickly removing said crystal, Princess Celestia set it down on the floor, right in front of Twilight, “Even my knowledge of the empire is limited,” She infused it with magic, allowing it to project a diorama of an intricate looking city, in which a large crystal spire rose above in the center.

“But what I do know, is that it contains a powerful magic. One thousand years ago King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night, took over the Crystal Empire.” Princess Celestia explained as the miniature city was enveloped in dark crystals, a menacing face appeared at the top, snarling.

“Ultimately, he only ruled for a short time, but before he was about to be overthrown, he cast a curse. A curse that caused him, along with the rest of the Crystal Empire, to vanish into thin air.” Princess Celestia concluded, the crystal flashed, and the projection was sucked back into it.

Twilight looked on in amazement.

“If the empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria.” Princess Celestia shot a beam of magic into the crystal, which began to emanate a beautiful rainbow. “If hatred and fear take hold.” Princess Celestia continued, and began to focus, a much darker, malicious magic began to emanate from her, and she soon shot a darkened beam into the crystal.

This time, the crystal emitted a shadow, even in the well lit room, it stretched across the floor, with blackened crystals shooting up wherever it diverged, nearly surrounding Twilight. Princess Celestia quickly switched back though, and ended the display with a blast of solar light, disintegrating the crystals.

“Which is why I need your help finding a way to protect it.” She finished.

“You want my help protecting an entire empire?” Twilight asked, unsure of herself.

“It is as I said,” Princess Celestia began, replacing the crystal back on its pedestal, covering it once more. “A different kind of test. One that I would've hoped to postpone for your recovery, but time is of the essence, and I am certain you will pass.”

Twilight simply stood there for a moment in confusion, before a determined look appeared on her face.

“How do I begin?” She asked confidently.

Princess Celestia smiled, “By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.”

“My brother is there?” Twilight asked

“He is,” Princess Celestia answered, “And your Ponyville friends will join you as well.”

Twilight smiled, but it soon faltered as she realized something.

“Is that thing going to be there?” She asked

Princess Celestia paused, and looked towards Twilight for a moment, “Yes, it will be, but Princess Cadance has proven herself capable at keeping it under control. Nevertheless, I have every confidence that you will succeed, and when you do, I’ll know you are ready to move onto the next level of your studies.”

Twilight trailed behind Princess Celestia as they exited the throne room, and she gave her a worried look.

“But, what if I fail?” She asked,

“You won't,” Princess Celestia reassured

“But, what if-” Twilight stopped as Princess Celestia touched her lightly with her hoof.

“You won’t,” Princess Celestia repeated, standing next to her sister, “But Twilight, in the end it must be you and you alone who ultimately assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in doing what needs to be done in order to protect the empire. Do you understand?”

Twilight regained her confidence, and gave a quick nod, “Mm-hm!”

“Then go, there is no time to lose,” and with that, Princess Celestia shut the doors to the castle, a bit more abruptly than what was probably necessary.

A moment of silence passed.

“I don’t know about you sister, but I for one am glad that the worm is out of the castle, at least for the time being.” Princess Luna spoke,

“I have to agree with you on that,” Princess Celestia replied, “Though I am worried that it might interfere with Twilight’s test.”

“Indeed.”

“My this weather is awful!” Rarity complained, “I can hardly see a thing.”

“You want me to take care of it?” Rrainbow Dash asked, looking a bit smug.

Rarity peered out of the window, but wasn’t able to see much in the severe blizzard.

“I don’t think even you could take care of this.” She stated,

“Hmm,” Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof to her chin, “I could probably do it in say… fifteen no sixteen seconds flat.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash held her serious expression for a moment, but then it began to falter, then she snorted, and soon began to snicker uncontrollably.

“Yeah right”! She said through laughs, “I can hardly imagine even flying in that, much less clearing it.”

Rarity also cracked a smile, and soon joined in with the laughter.

“I’m glad I brought enough scarves, I can’t imagine what it would be like without them.” She commented,

“Enough? Rarity, you brought like fifty of them.” Rainbow Dash said, “I think that’s more than enough for one pony.”

Rarity scoffed, “One can never be too fashionable Rainbow Dash, and besides, I can share too!” She defended herself.

“Pfft! Like I need a scarf just to handle the cold.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes

The whistling of the train prevented any more conversation, and signaled that they were nearing their destination.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked the group as the train slowed to a stop

Several nods and agreements were given.

“Great.” Twilight continued, and proceeded to open the door to the train.

Immediately the wind forced its way inside, nearly knocking Twilight off her hooves, but she held firm, and slowly began to walk out into the blizzard, closely followed by her friends, and Spike. Outside it was nearly impossible to see, the darkness from the storm compounded with the wind whipping back and forth made simply walking in a straight line more than difficult.

“How are we supposed to find an empire in this?!” Applejack tried to ask.

“What?!” Twilight shouted over the wind.

“Ah said!” Applejack shouted back, “How are we supposed to find this empire?!”

Twilight frowned, and with a quick flash of magic a transparent bubble surrounded the group. The wind was immediately cut off, and for the moment they were protected from the raging blizzard.

“There,” she concluded, “Now what did you say?”

“Thanks, but how are we gonna find the Crystal Empire in this storm?” Applejack asked again.

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight said, “The train was supposed to take us within walking distance, but I can’t see a thing in this storm! Can any of you see anything?”

Every one of them each took turns peering out into the storm, trying to make out anything besides the train station in the snow, but not much else could be seen. That is, until a dark outline appeared, and began to approach them. Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the mysterious figure as it ventured ever closer.

It stopped right in front of the dome, and knocked on it twice, but Twilight didn’t let it in. Then it reached up, and pulled its scarf down, as well as taking off its snow goggles, revealing a very familiar face.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight exclaimed,

”Twily!” He responded, though it was a bit muffled.

Quickly expanding the dome they were in, Twilight enveloped her brother with it, allowing him to speak normally as well.

“You made it!” He said, and reached forward to hug her.

“We did," Twilight returned the gesture, "But how are we supposed to get to the Crystal Empire?”

“Yes, this blizzard has prevented us from doing much of anything at all.” Rarity complained,

“Actually.” Shining Armor said, “We do have something for that,” He looked towards Twilight again, “If you would,”

Twilight looked to her friends, “Ready?” she asked,

They all nodded, and so did Twilight, then with another spark of magic, the dome faded, and they were once more surrounded by the blizzard. The wind whipped past them, with flakes of snow stinging anything exposed. Squinting her eyes and glancing at her brother, Twilight waited for what he would do next.

Shining Armor brought a hoof up to his mouth, and gave out a shrill whistle, which seemed to pierce through the storm’s howling winds. A few moments passed, and nothing notable happened, but right as Twilight was about to reform the protective dome, something incredible occurred.

Some sort of shockwave passed over them, and in the next instant, the blizzard seemed to just vanish. The area immediately started to lighten, the wind died down quite a bit, and the snowfall calmed considerably. A few seconds later faint beams of sunlight began to break through, and an evening sky was visible through the holes in the clouds.

Everypony was in varying degrees of shock, except for Shining Armor of course, but the most surprised of all, was Rainbow Dash, who sat there slack-jawed in amazement at the display.

They all looked across the now visible landscape, the snow drifts casting long shadows across the tundra with the aid of the setting sun. A fair distance away was a brightly shining blue dome, acting as a centerpiece for the whole scene.

“It’s beautiful.” Rarity commented,

“Just wait till you see the inside,” Shining Armor said.

Rainbow Dash then shook herself out of her stupor, “What was that?!”

“You remember the worm don’t you?” Shining Armor asked,

“The worm did that?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed,

“Well yeah, how else do you think that storm over Canterlot appeared and disappeared so quickly?”

“That's…” Rainbow Dash paused as she remembered, “Totally awesome!”

Shining Armor nodded, “It has been helpful.” Then he cast a glance towards the horizon, “Though we’d best get moving, the storm will reform eventually, and there are things out here that we really don’t want to run into after dark.”

There were some nervous looks from the group, but they all nodded eventually, except for Twilight, who just looked across the snowy landscape with uncertainty.

“Twily?” Shining Armor asked,

“I-I don’t know,” She said, “I’m still rehabilitating, I can’t even walk up the stairs without help!” She looked at the braces on her hind legs, “I don’t think I can make it across the snow.”

“Hey, look at me,” Shining Armor said, putting a hoof on her shoulder, “You can make it, you just need a little bit of help is all.” His horn began to glow, and Twilight was lifted up a few inches as a magic sled appeared beneath her. “Remember when we used to do this as kids?” Shining Armor asked,

Twilight looked down at the half sphere she was now sitting on and smiled, “Yes.”

A distant howling overtook the moment however, and Shining Armor got a very stern look on his face.

“We better hurry,” he said, and began pulling the sled Twilight was on, with the rest of her friends soon following.

The wind began to pick again as the group traveled, and as the sun sank the rest of the way below the horizon, the air grew chilly. They were about halfway to the empire when the eerie howling returned.

“What is that?” Twilight asked,

“Not the wind,” Shining Armor answered, picking up the pace a bit, “We think it’s the unicorn king who used to rule the empire back before it disappeared. He keeps trying to get in, but so far he hasn’t been able to.”

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the empire. If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected.” Twilight deduced.

The howling came again, this time sounding much closer, causing everypony to stop and look behind them. A dark, looming cloud separated from the encroaching storm, dropping low to the ground and quickly approaching them. Everypony stopped to look at it for a moment, either in fear or fascination until Shining Armor cut in.

“Move!” He commanded, and he quickly yanked the sled forward, nearly causing Twilight to fall off.

That seemed to jostle the rest of the group into moving as well, and soon enough they were sprinting the rest of the way to the Crystal Empire. As they neared the shimmering blue dome however, it became evident that the black mist was gaining on them, the rough terrain not helping in the slightest.

Twilight took initiative, and turned to face the dark cloud as she was being dragged along, horn charged. The first few bolts missed by quite a large margin, but as Twilight got used to being bumped and bounced, her aim got better. However, what magic attacks that did land gave little pause to the entity at all, and the mist continued to edge closer and closer.

Twilight unleashed a beam instead, sweeping across the cloud, managing to separate it into pieces, which took some time to reform, delaying it. She continued this action in bursts, cutting away any part that was getting too close, but it wasn’t enough, and the cloud drew ever closer.

Then Shining Armor tripped.

The magic sled continued forward, but soon caught on another piece of the terrain, up-ending itself and sending Twilight flailing through the air. It took her a moment to realize what happened, but before she could react in any way, a wave of hot air passed over her, and the next moment she landed in a heap on some grass.

Wait a minute… grass?

Twilight got up as fast as she could, and frantically looked around. A sprawling city lay before her, made completely of crystal, a familiar spire rose in the center, with a light blue dome encompassing the whole thing, somehow illuminating the entire area, making it seem like it was day. Twilight followed the dome wall with her eyes all the way until it was behind her, just in time to see her friends pass through along with Spike, but not her brother.

“Where’s Shining Armor?” She demanded

“He’s-” Applejack took a moment to catch her breath, “He’s still out there!”

“What?!” Twilight shouted, and she quickly hobbled over to the wall of the dome.

Just as she was about to peak back outside, Shining Armor was apparently thrown through the dome. Twilight was knocked back, and they tumbled together into a pile of limbs.

Shining Armor shook his head, and carefully untangled himself from his sister, making sure to help her up as well.

“Are you okay?” He asked,

“I think so,” Twilight answered, checking herself quickly, “Nothing broken at least.” But as she looked up at her brother she gasped, “Your horn!”

Shining Armor looked up, and felt his horn with a hoof, small, black crystals seemed to have sprouted out of it, and as he tried to gather magic, they dispersed it.

“That’s not good,” He said.

“What should we do?” Twilight asked worriedly,

Shining Armor inhaled, “There isn’t much time to lose, we should go see Cadance,” He said, ignoring his condition.

Twilight gave him an uncertain look, but nonetheless followed him towards the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, where the rest of her friends were waiting. The intricate gateway alluding to the beauty of the rest of the empire.

“This is absolutely awe inspiring.” Rarity gushed,

“Sparklerific,” Pinkie Pie said,

Even Rainbow Dash seemed to admire the view, though she didn’t show it much.

“Come on girls, lets actually go inside,” Twilight announced,

“No disagreements here, I can’t wait to see the inside of the city.” Rarity said, closely following Twilight and Shining Armor past the gate.

The rest of the group soon followed as well, Spike included, and they entered the Crystal Empire proper.

Sparkling crystal buildings rose on each side of the glittering street, each one seemingly carved out of a massive gem. However as the group travelled down the main road, one thing became apparent. The streets were completely empty, devoid of any life, and even as they neared the castle in the center, there was not a single soul present besides themselves. Well, except for one soul, the worm.

It lazily circled the castle’s spire, letting out periodic chirps and trills. Twilight gave it a very uneasy look, but paid it little more mind in favor of seeing her sister in law. The group entered the crystalline castle and easily navigated the empty hallways with the help of Shining Armor. They entered the throne room, and upon seeing Cadance sitting on the throne, Twilight rushed to see her as fast as she could.

“Cadance!” She called out.

“Twilight!” She called back,

Even from across the room Twilight could tell Cadance looked miserable, she had obvious bags under her eyes and looked to be having trouble just sitting, much less standing. She seemed to lighten up quite a bit when she saw Twilight approaching though. She shakily got up from the throne and went to meet her halfway.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They both repeated to each other, the motions… not so much.

“It’s been so long,” Cadance said, “How have you been?”

“Better, but I’m still a long way away from a full recovery.” Twilight said, looking towards the braces on her legs once more.

Cadance gave Twilight a sad look, “I’m sorry,” She said, then cringed immediately after, the glow on her horn flickering slightly. She exhaled as she focused her magic some more.

“Nevermind that,” Twilight said, now looking at Cadance with worry, “Are you okay?”

“Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light,” Shining Armor stepped in to explain, “That seems to be what is protecting the Empire. But she hasn’t slept, barely eats, I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra.”

Cadance stood up a bit straighter, “It’s alright Shining Armor, I’m fine.”

He gave her a stern look. “You’re not fine. You can’t go on like this forever, and if your magic were to fade…” He looked towards Twilight, “Well you saw what’s out there waiting for that to happen.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Twilight concluded,

“Why we’re all here,” Applejack added in, followed closely with the rest of Twilight’s friends.

“Well with Cadance putting all her strength into keeping her spell going, and me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic. We haven’t been able to gather much information from the crystal ponies.” Shining Armor explained.

“Crystal ponies!” Rarity exclaimed, surprising the group, “There are crystal ponies?!”

A very awkward silence fell over the group, Rarity laughed nervously, “Please continue.”

“But we have to believe that one of them knows how to protect the empire, without having to use Cadance’s magic.” Shining Armor continued,

Twilight perked up at this, “A research paper!” She said,

“Huh?”

“That must be part of my test.” Twilight deduced, “To gather information from the crystal ponies and deliver it to you! This is going to be great! I love research papers!”

“Yeah… who doesn’t?” Rainbow Dash said jokingly.

“Oh Oh Oh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Let me guess! Is it Spike? No no! Fluttershy? Rarity?” She asked rapidfire, "Maybe even big wormy?"

“Don’t worry big brother,” Twilight said, ignoring Pinkie Pie’s outburst, “I am really good at this sort of thing.”

“Great,” Shining Armor said after a moment, “Then you can get started right away.”

“We will!” Twilight affirmed, “Right girls?”

A plethora of nods came from her friends.

“Then let's go!” Twilight announced,

She briskly walked back out of the throne room, closely followed by her friends, all of them had determined looks on their faces.

That determination left rather quickly.

“Are you sure? Absolutely sure?” Twilight asked, hoping for any piece of information that might have been helpful.

“I’m sorry…” The crystal pony said, “I wish I could help you, but I can’t seem to remember anything before King Sombra came to power.” She visibly flinched after saying that, “And I don’t want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us.”

Twilight leaned over to Spike to whisper, “King Sombra’s spell must be why their coats aren’t… Crystally.”

“Have we really been gone over a thousand years?” The crystal pony asked,

“Yes,” Twilight answered.

“It feels like it was just yesterday”

“If you think of anything, even the smallest thing.” Twilight said, hoping to gleam at least something from this pony.

“Of course.” The crystal pony nodded, then turned back into their house, closing the door behind them.

“Well that was a total bust.” Spike exclaimed, quickly hopping down the steps,

Twilight frowned, “Maybe the others are having better luck, let's head back for now.”

On their way back to the castle though, Twilight noticed something odd. In the time it took her to question a few crystal ponies, the worm had dropped lower to the ground, flying just high enough to pass over the buildings. Twilight would have given it a wide berth if it wasn’t for the small crowd of crystal ponies trailing behind it. She watched as more and more would congregate behind the worm until it would notice and snap back at them, shooing them away, but soon after the crowd would reform and begin to follow it again.

With curiosity getting the better of her fear, Twilight approached the crowd, making sure to keep an eye on the worm as it flew overhead. She knew it wouldn’t attack her unless provoked, but Twilight was still wary of it, especially since she had experienced first hoof what it could do.

“Why are you following that… thing?” Twilight asked, pulling one of the ponies from the entourage.

The pony stared at her blankly with dull eyes, “I don’t know…” She said slowly, “Something about it is familiar…”

“Familiar how?” Twilight asked,

The crystal pony just shrugged, then walked away to rejoin the crowd, which had moved a fair bit away.

“That was something,” Spike commented, “Still not very helpful.”

Twilight furrowed her brows, “Come on Spike, let’s go regroup with the others,”

It seemed that the rest of her friends each found a similar outcome, seeing as the rest of them were all gathered there looking disappointed.

Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh, “I got nothing so far.”

“Me neither.” Rarity added

Fluttershy just nodded, while Pinkie Pie glanced left and right rapidly, she got up real close to Twilight, “My cover has been blown, I repeat, my cover has been blown!”

“Oookay?” Twilight said, giving her a strange look

“Sorry Twilight,” Applejack began, “These crystal ponies seem to have some kind of collective amnesia or something. Only thing ah was able to get out of them was something about a library.”

“A library?!” Twilight exclaimed, “Well why didn’t you say so?”

“Ah thought I just did,” Applejack said

“C’mon girls!” Twilight announced, “This is going to be great!”

It was not great.

“I can’t seem to remember,” The crystal pony said, “I’m not sure I actually work here.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled and facehooved.

“We’ll just take a look around, I’m sure we can find it on our own.” Twilight said,

“Let me know if you find anything,” The crystal pony replied as they walked off, and then she began to look around in confusion.

“I like her,” Pinkie Pie said, then quickly followed the others into the library proper.

The group then spent the next few minutes searching for a history book, which was easier said than done. Despite being quite a large library, its organizational structure was not very refined, and even though there were categorized sections, the books themselves were mismatched and misplaced, much to the annoyance of the group, especially Twilight.

It boiled down to each pony taking on a different area of the library, sorting through every book in hopes of finding the right one, if there even was a right one. Rainbow Dash haphazardly flew down the shelves, barely giving the books a glance as she went over each one. Fluttershy went down each row a bit more slowly, and carefully inspected each book before putting it back. Applejack gathered piles and quickly sifted through each one, while Rarity enlisted the help of Spike to go over several at a time. Twilight was by far the fastest, having a constant stream of books to review that ended in a large pile off to the side. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was randomly picking out books, from anywhere, whatever was the most eye-catching was what she singled out next.

“What about this one?” She suggested, holding a book with a matte maroon cover, “A Tale of a Cruel World? What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, reading the title out loud.

“That sounds like fiction Pinkie Pie, not what we’re looking for darling,” Rarity replied as she glossed over a few more books.

“It doesn’t look like fiction.” Pinkie Pie said, and she cracked it open, “Who is this Bray-lore? Stah-tise? Seal-vah?” She listed, a confused look on her face, “This guy doesn’t look too nice, Yarr-”

“I found it!” Twilight interrupted, holding up a large book, “History of the Crystal Empire” She read out loud. The others gathered around as Twilight opened it, “I just hope it has the answers we need…”

“A crystal fair,” Twilight began, “According to this book, it was established by their first queen, and became their most important tradition. The fair was held every year to…” She paused to read directly from the book, “Renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could protect it from harm.” She stated, “My friends and I could put it together, everything we need to know is in the book.”

“That sounds promising,” Shining Armor responded, smiling a bit, but as he looked towards Cadance, his smile dropped.

She didn’t even look awake, her eyes were closed and she was obviously swaying back and forth. Only the constant glowing of her horn showing that she was actually conscious, if you could call it that.

“We’ll get started right away!” Twilight said, “C’mon Spike, we’ve got a crystal fair to put together!”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I'd like to say that I don't take much joy in copying down dialogue and scenes directly from the episodes, but it certainly helps fill the chapter. I've had and am currently having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out exactly how to write this part, but so far I've been getting it done, so you have this to enjoy for now.

Chapter 8: Omen

The fair had been going pretty well, emphasis on had. Up until that moment everything had been going swimmingly, the fair was set up in record time, it started without a hitch, and the crystal ponies seemed happy. Now though…

“I didn’t know it was an actual relic!” Twilight exclaimed, flipping through the book, “The book doesn’t say much about it-” She stopped, flipping to the last page, or rather, the lack thereof, only tatters connected to the binding remained, “There’s a page missing!” Twilight gasped.

“It’s okay Twilight,” Cadance reassured, “We’ll-” She trailed off, swaying and stumbling before falling backwards. Shining Armor was quick to catch her.

Twilight rushed forward, and noticed the glow from Cadance’s horn begin to fade, receding all the way to the tip before dissipating completely. The effects were immediate, the shining dome surrounding the city flickered, holes opening up across the surface until it fell apart completely, leaving the Crystal Empire exposed to the outside world.

Dark storm clouds had been surrounding the empire, and as soon as its protection wore off they began to seep in, quickly engulfing the buildings towards the outskirts. Quick on the response, Shining Armor carefully set Cadance down and brought up his hoof to let out another whistle. Twilight flattened her ears, wincing from the proximity.

A moment later there was a rush of air and a chirp, causing Twilight to turn around, only to catch an eyeful of the worm. Recoiling so hard she nearly fell over, she just barely stopped herself from tripping over herself as she shrank back. Shining Armor paid little mind to this display, rather paying more attention to the current situation instead.

“Clear the storm!” He shouted to the worm.

The worm clicked, but hesitated, obviously looking at Cadance.

“She’s fine!” Shining Armor said, then also looked down at her, “I hope,” He said a bit more quietly.

Acknowledging this, the worm cast another glance at the fallen alicorn before flying up, and with a whip of its massive tail, another shockwave passed over them, then the fair, then the rest of the empire. Upon reaching the storm, the dark clouds were utterly destroyed, broken apart and shredded in every direction, and for a moment it looked like everything was well, but then the clouds started to reform, much too quickly for it to be natural.

“Again!” Shining Armor commanded.

The worm chuffed, but once again whipped its tail, another shockwave rang out. The clouds were decimated once more, yet they still reformed like before, faster even. The worm gave an annoyed chitter, and got ready to try again, but was stopped.

Cadance had stood up, rather slowly actually, and she was using her husband as a support. Still, she concentrated hard, and charged her horn, which took some time, but eventually she shot a beam straight up, and another dome began to form. As the walls touched down however, they just barely made it to the edge of the empire, as opposed to reaching further out as they once did. The clouds on the inside were dissipated, and the Crystal Empire was safe once more, for now.

The defiant stand that Cadance took soon faltered, and even with the support of Shining Armor she nearly fell over once more, but the glow on her horn remained constant, and the dome held. Shining Armor then got a determined look on his face.

“I have to find the Crystal Heart.” He concluded.

“No,” Twilight interjected, “You stay here with Cadance, she needs you Shining Armor. I’ll retrieve the heart.”

He gave her a bit of an uncertain look, but then nodded.

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “Let’s do this!”

The two quickly left the balcony, heading back into the castle towards the multitude of stairs leading down.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m meant to pass Celestia’s test.” Twilight began, “Retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it.”

“So what about us?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying alongside Twilight as they began to descend.

“There is something else you can do.” She said,

“Name it.”

“You and the rest of our friends have to keep the fair going,” Twilight said,

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion, “With that thing moving into the empire?”

“The whole purpose of the crystal fair is to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart.” Twilight explained,

“Yeah, and?”

“If the crystal ponies find out that King Sombra is trying to take over the empire again, their spirits are going to be anything but lifted. It won’t matter if I find the Crystal Heart, they won't be able to make it work. You have to keep them happy at the fair.”

“Keep the fair going and the crystal ponies spirits high,” Rainbow Dash repeated, “Done and done!”

They descended down the last set of stairs and exited the castle, in the center Applejack sat next to the fake Crystal Heart, desperately trying to keep ponies away. Twilight gave her a nod, and she walked out from underneath the castle as Rainbow Dash flew off ahead of her.

“Twily!” Shining Armor called from the balcony above, causing her to stop and look up, “Be careful.”

“I will.” She replied, before quickly moving into the city.

Dark magic welled up inside of her, and Twilight focused harder, trying to both guide it and contain it. She couldn’t let it overtake her, but she had to use it. A moment later a dark beam shot out of her horn, striking the crystal atop the throne, it then cast a shadow, just like the demonstration that Princess Celestia had shown before.

The shadow stretched across the floor, not just removing its luster but also tinting it darker. Both Twilight and Spike moved out of the way as it continued, revealing a massive hole in the floor.

“What was that?” Spike asked,

“That was a little trick I learned from Celestia,” Twilight beamed. She excitedly walked over to the edge of the hole, but her face dropped upon looking down it.

“What’s…?” Spike began, before he also looked down the hole, “Oh.”

“Stairs…” Twilight muttered, “Why did it have to be stairs?”

Spike looked at her, then the braces on her legs. “Do you want me t-”

“Not a claw Spike.” Twilight reminded, interrupting him

He crossed his arms, but still looked at her with worry, “Then what are you going to do?”

“Umm… go down these stairs,” Twilight answered, “Just slowly, I’ll get to the bottom… eventually.”

Through the many windows in the throne room, both Twilight and Spike could see the dome flicker, revealing an orange sky with the ever-present dark clouds.

“Do you have time for that?” Spike asked

Twilight bit her lip, “You’re right, new plan,” And with that, she leapt into the pit.

“Twilight!” Spike shouted, and he scrambled back to the edge of the hole, only to find her much closer than she should be, falling a lot slower than normal.

“Feather Fall Spike!” Twilight shouted up to him, “One of the spells I studied for the test!”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Spike called back, “Okay!” but he still peered down the hole as she descended.

And descend she did, albeit at a slower pace that she would’ve liked, but it was certainly faster than struggling down the hundreds of steps surrounding her. After about a minute of this, Twilight looked back up.

“How’s it looking out there?” She asked, a slight echo to her voice.

It took a moment, but eventually Spike answered,

“Not good, you’d better hurry!”

Twilight frowned, then looked downwards, the bottom of the whole still wasn’t visible, so she decided to do something risky. Decreasing the power in the spell, Twilight felt the effects of it begin to dampen, and she started to fall faster, yet there was still no end in sight. Lessening the spell even more, Twilight began falling almost as fast as she would’ve without the spell. The motion made her a bit nervous, but the hole just kept going and going.

Then she caught a glimpse of something, a sparkle in the dark, and it was approaching, fast. Eyes wide, she cranked the Feather Fall spell to the max, and grinded to a near halt mid-air. The change in speed was intense, so much so that Twilight barely noticed that she had landed at the bottom of the hole.

Shaking her head, she looked around, and in the light from her horn she saw a simple door. Twilight reached forward to pull the handle, but the door jerked upwards, and then slid along the wall, touching down on the other side of the pit.

“Huh?”

Moving across the hole, Twilight reached for the door again, only for it to slip out of her grasp once more, coming to a stop opposite of her.

She huffed, but went to try again for a third time. This time the door shot upwards, and spun around the room so many times it nearly made her dizzy. Twilight glared at it as it finally touched down where it originally was to begin with, but then she noticed the crystal at the top of its frame, and she smiled.

Summoning another bout of dark magic, Twilight shot it into the crystal, and the door shuddered before opening. Light flooded out of it, and her smile grew wider. Quickly stepping into the doorway, she entered another crystal room, however this one was different. Unlike the bottom of the pit, large blue crystals sprouted out of the walls and ceiling, creating a multitude of uneven surfaces as the room continued forwards.

It was a lot lighter as well, but as Twilight turned around to look back she realized that the doorway was gone, leaving her with no apparent way out. She shuddered, and looked around again, the walls reminded her of the ones in the crystal caves below Canterlot. She shook her head, this was another one of Sombra’s tricks, surely she was still beneath the Crystal Empire.

Right?

The ground trembled once, which resulted in the whole room shaking slightly, several small crystals were knocked loose, clinking to the floor below. Twilight nervously continued forward down the corridor, glancing back and forth often, but then she spotted something on the floor. It was a white feather, which was a strange thing to find deep underground, yet further ahead there was another, then another.

Twilight moved to investigate further, but the ground shook again, giving momentary pause to her actions. Then she heard a grunt, one of pain, and in a voice that she recognized. Rushing forwards, Twilight turned the corner to see something she never expected.

There, laying next to a large crystal boulder, and in a pool of her own blood, was Princess Celestia.

She was breathing heavily, and appeared to be looking around in a state of confusion. There were several large gashes along her body, staining her once pristine white coat, and marring her cutie mark.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, running as fast as she could up to her,

She slowly turned her head, and stared blankly at Twilight as she approached. Then her eyes focused.

“Twilight.” She half said, half mumbled,

“What are you doing here!? Wha-”

The ground trembled again, interrupting Twilight, it was a lot more intense this time, and more crystal chunks were shaken loose, falling to the floor.

Princess Celestia either did not notice or did not care, so she spoke. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Twilight looked towards her teacher in confusion, “I-I’m looking for the Crystal Heart.”

She snorted, “You wouldn’t find it here.”

“What?” Twilight asked, before shaking her head, “Nevermind that! What happened?”

Princess Celestia looked down at herself, and opened and closed her wing, which only served to further smear her blood everywhere. Her expression hardened, “You failed the test. That’s what happened.”

Twilight sat back in confusion, agape, wondering how and why. Then the ground quaked, and a large portion of the crystal walls buckled and cracked, causing shards and pebbles to rain upon the two. That shook Twilight out of her stupor, and she looked around the cave with worry.

“We better get out of here.” She said, extending a hoof towards Princess Celestia.

She looked at it for a moment, then reached out, only to smack it away.

“You’ve done enough help.” She said coldly.

Twilight recoiled, then watched as Princess Celestia tried to stand up on her own, yet she couldn’t, and Twilight soon saw why. Princess Celestia wasn’t just laying next to a boulder, she was trapped under it, as the entirety of her right wing was crushed underneath, which prevented any attempt to pull away. Twilight gasped, while Princess Celestia just flopped back on the ground.

The ground shook, hard, and more of the walls began to crumble, huge chunks of crystal began to fall from the ceiling, and Twilight started to panic.

“I can help! I can lift the boulder!” She pleaded.

Princess Celestia looked her dead in the eyes. “I’d rather die.”

Those words hit Twilight like a bag of bricks, but before she could do anything else, the ground shook again, and the whole cavern started to rumble. The tunnel she had come through collapsed behind her, and the instability of the ceiling travelled throughout the cave. Twilight didn’t have any time to react as the stone above her and Princess Celestia crumbled and fell.

"Twilight!"

She gasped, but only caught a lungful of rock dust, causing her to cough and sputter. Opening her eyes revealed pitch black darkness, as well as a stinging sensation as the rest of the dust settled. Twilight blinked rapidly, then lit her horn, but that didn’t help much as rock, stone, and crystals surrounded her completely, giving her just a few inches of breathing room.

Then she felt something warm run down her leg, and she tried to move it, only to find she couldn’t. Twilight felt the panic return in full force, and she tried to move the rest of her legs, and only succeeded in moving her hoof, able to just tap it against the stone floor, but nothing else. Then the ground trembled again, and the mass of stone above her shifted slightly, settling further.

"Twilight!"

An immense pressure was set upon her entire body, and Twilight was forced to cry out as her lungs were slowly crushed. She tried to breath back in, but was only able to get half a breath in her constricted chest. She looked around frantically, rapidly tapping her hoof against the floor in an attempt to do something, anything to get her out of this situation.

"Twilight!"

The ground shook once more, which caused everything to settle further, putting more weight upon Twilight, crushing her even more. The last of her breath was forced out of her body, and she could no longer move at all. All she could do now was look, and at the edge of her blurring vision she saw something white. Straining herself, Twilight was able to see the long, white horn of Princess Celestia, completely separate from the rest of her body.

"Twilight!"

Tears from the dust were replaced with tears of hopelessness, and as Twilight’s body desperately tried to suck in a breath, it couldn’t, leaving her there, slowly suffocating.

“Twilight!”

She blinked, and pulled away from the door, breaking the illusion. Gasping for breath, Twilight felt the pressure leave her face, and she looked up to see Spike hurriedly running down the stairs of the pit.

“Twilight!” He shouted again, “I know you told me to stay up there but you were down here for such a long time and you weren’t answering and I got worried so I came down here and you were just staring at that wall and I was calling your name but I couldn’t seem to get your attention and… What were you looking at?” He finished with a question.

Twilight looked back at the doorway, which actually had just a solid wall behind it,

“I mean,” Spike continued, getting closer, “It’s just a wall.”

Just then, the crystal sitting atop the doorway flashed a bit of dark magic, and Twilight noticed Spike’s eyes change color.

“Ponyville?” He asked, “Well how did I get-? No! I don’t wanna go! Please Twilight! Don’t make me!”

Twilight pushed the door closed, and the illusion was broken once again.

“King Sombra’s dark magic,” She deduced, “A doorway that leads to your worst fear.”

Spike wiped his eyes with his claws, and looked at her with still teary eyes. “We were home, you told me you didn’t need me anymore. You were sending me away.”

“A fear that will never come to pass. I’m never going to send you away” Twilight assured, reaching out and hugging him close, “And I’m not going to fail my test!”

Charging her horn with harmonic magic rather than dark magic this time, Twilight shot it into the crystal above the doorway. A faint rainbow seemed to emanate from it, and two lights travelled down each side of the door, cutting through the wall and allowing it to actually open instead of showing falsehoods.

“What’s in there?” Spike asked as Twilight stepped through.

She looked up, and cried out in anguish, “More stairs!”

Fluttershy was sent flying backwards once more.

Luckily there were a few piles of straw placed about to cushion any fall, but after several repeated impacts, they were beginning to wear down.

“And the winner is…” Somepony announced, less than enthusiastically, “Rainbow Dash. Again.”

She gave a victory pose, and basked in the few muted cheers that came from the bleachers for a moment, she then dropped her lance, and went to go check to see if her friend was okay.

“Isn’t there somepony else who can take over the jousting demonstration with you?” Fluttershy asked, exasperated.

“The fate of an entire empire rests on us showing these ponies a good time, but y’know, if that isn’t important to you.” Rainbow Dash said, looking down upon Fluttershy as she lay there.

“It is!” She responded, “It’s just.” She pointed to the bleachers.

Where once every seat was filled, there were now less than half of the original attendees, and they didn’t look very entertained either. Most of them appeared to have left over the course of the last few matches, seeing how it was pretty boring watching the same outcome every single time.

“Yeah this is getting boring.” Rainbow Dash agreed, “We should do something else.”

Fluttershy looked up at her hopefully.

“How about a race?” Rrainbow Dash suggested,

Fluttershy’s face dropped.

“Not with you,” Rainbow Dash quickly waved her off, already knowing the outcome. “I was thinking something more of my speed.” She looked towards the sky.

The relief Fluttershy felt soon turned to worry. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because um… The worm seems pretty dangerous”

“Pfft, Danger is my middle name.” Rainbow Dash said, standing boldly.

She quickly removed the ornate jousting armor and took off, flying over to a crowd of fair goers.

“Attention everypony!” She announced, “We have something special lined up for you! I, Rainbow Dash, will be racing…” She paused for dramatic effect, “The worm!” She shouted, pointing towards it in the sky.

That certainly got a reaction, those in the crowd talked amongst themselves in excitement, which only further fueled Rainbow Dash’s sentiment, so she flew up higher, intent on racing the worm.

Said worm had risen back up into the sky a fair bit, and was simply wandering the sky again, seemingly bored. Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to fly up close to it, making sure to stop right in front of it.

“Hey! Big guy!” She shouted, “Wanna race?”

The worm paused to look at her for a moment, it then snorted, and flew past her, nearly knocking her out of the sky.

“Wha-Hey!” Rainbow Dash complained, she zipped back in front of the worm, “I promised those ponies a show, so either we’re gonna race or…”

“W H A T?” The worm demanded.

Rainbow Dash stopped, she knew the worm could talk, but she didn’t expect it to sound like that. Quickly regaining her composure, she continued, “Or… I don’t know what, but I wanna race!”

The worm stared at her for another moment.

“N O.”

It flew past her again.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, and she caught up once more, landing on the worm’s head.

It chirped, and immediately shook her off, and as she recovered in the air, she smiled. “You don’t like that do you?”

“What is she doing up there?” Rarity asked,

“Ah don’t know, but it sure is makin my job easier.” Applejack responded, gesturing across the plaza, where most if not all of the crystal ponies in the area were paying attention to the spectacle in the air, as opposed to wandering near the fake Crystal Heart.

“I hate to admit it, but she’s making mine easier as well.” Rarity said, “I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth, I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw.” She pointed it out in the crowd, “I made it work, but still!”

“We have to do everything we can to keep this thing going.” Applejack said, “Ah guess Rainbow Dash is doin just that.”

“I suppose, but what does she hope to accomplish with the…” Rarity paused as she looked up. “Oh my goodness!”

“What!?” Applejack demanded, also looking up, “Oh…”

Up in the sky, a rainbow streak repeatedly struck the worm, obviously aggravating it, but every time it tried to snap back at it, it would nimbly evade. There were a few oohs and ahs in the crowd as this continued for a few seconds, however it was clear that the worm was quickly getting fed up with the annoyance. Purple flames lit up along its body, growing and spreading out much further than they should, enveloping the entire area in a blazing fireball.

Apparently Rainbow Dash wasn’t expecting this, as soon enough a smoking form fell from the sky. Ponies gasped at the sight, but then the form stopped, and streaked back upwards into the dissipating smoke.

An echoing screech was heard throughout the empire, and a moment later Rainbow Dash tore out of the smokescreen, soon followed by a much, much larger form. Both Applejack and Rarity stood there slack jawed as the race officially began.

Spike clawed his way up the next step, clearly winded, he took a moment to catch his breath before moving forward to tackle the next one. Twilight wasn’t faring much better, only being a few steps ahead of Spike as they both climbed the seemingly perpetual staircase.

“How do we know that this isn’t another one of Sombra’s tricks?” Spike asked, swallowing a bit as he crested the next step. “I mean, a door that shows you your worst fears? Why not a staircase that goes on forever?”

Twilight looked back at him, then down the massive spiral they were ascending. They were clearly making progress, just not very fast. She then looked up the staircase, trying to see the top, which was actually visible, just really far up. Twilight then tilted her head, and noticed the flat slope that was the underside of the stairs. It would be much easier to go down rather than up, and with the help of a gravity spell that would be possible.

Then Twilight looked at her braces and immediately shot down the idea. It would be incredibly hard to control her descent, even without them. There wouldn’t be much to stop her from falling off, and while Twilight was confident in her abilities to possibly catch herself, Spike was there as well. It just wasn’t worth the risk, but perhaps a gravity spell could still help, just not the reverse gravity spell.

Enveloping both Spike and herself in magic, she weaved together the spell and cast it, and all of a sudden they both felt a whole lot lighter.

“Woah.” Spike said, not expecting the sudden change.

“C’mon. We just have to keep going.” Twilight called out, bounding up several steps at a time.

Spike jumped, and was able to clear a lot more steps than earlier. He landed and had to catch his balance, but soon got used to the decrease in downwards pull.

“Cool.” He said, before following Twilight around the spiral.

“Missed me!” Rainbow Dash taunted, pulling back and watching as the worm continued past her.

It roared, and turned around for another go at the infuriating Pegasus. Dashing forwards with surprising speed, the worm only felt air as Rainbow Dash moved out of the way yet again.

“Too slow!”

The worm grumbled and clicked, and then a purple blaze shrouded it once more. Rainbow Dash sat there hovering, waiting for its next move. The next moment it came barreling toward her through the smoke, which she had expected, yet she still just barely managed to dodge it. The worm was moving fast, far faster than it was earlier, and as it turned around for another run, Rainbow Dash realized why.

The armorless, and much more streamlined body of the worm charged forwards with reckless abandon, and Rainbow Dash barely had enough time to get out of the way.

“Now this is getting interesting!” She said, watching as the worm turned once again.

In an instant she was moving, flying away as fast as she could, with the worm soon following.

More and more ponies joined the crowd as the two ‘racers’ continued, soaring through the air at blinding speeds as they made their way around the empire again and again. A few cheers came from the crowd as they viewed the high paced action going on above.

It was at this point that both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie made their way to the center of the fair, seeing as how a majority of the crystal ponies were now preoccupied with the race. They joined the other two underneath the castle.

“Woah! Look at them go!” Pinkie Pie commented, following the pair above with her eyes.

“That doesn’t look very safe,” Fluttershy added on.

“Yeah well it’s workin,” Applejack said, “Though I’m not sure for how much longer, let’s hope Twilight gets here with the real Crystal Heart soon.”

The others gave some murmurs of agreement, and they continued to watch the spectacle above them.

Rainbow Dash remained ahead of the worm, but it looked to be keeping pace with her quite well, and as they zipped around the empire they went both high and low. That is, until Rainbow Dash led the race down to the streets, flying low and in some cases, between buildings. Then Applejack noticed them level out along one of the main streets, which led straight to the castle.

“She isn’t seriously thinking of doing that is she?” She asked,

They began to make their way up the street, flying fast and low, with no intentions of pulling up. Applejack realized what was about to happen, and she jumped into action, running towards the racers waving her hooves, desperately trying to stop them before they ruined everything, but it wasn’t enough.

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash streaked through the space underneath the castle, and a moment later the worm rushed through. Wind whipped over the crowd, hats were blown off, and traditional crafts were sent soaring through the air. Applejack was just barely able to keep her Stetson from uncovering her head, but not the other thing that was supposed to stay covered.

The flag used to obscure the fake Crystal Heart was torn away, immediately tipping over the pedestal it sat upon. The poorly cut crystal was sent flying, it arced across the plaza before landing and sliding until it lightly tapped a crystal pony on the hoof. They, along with several other crystal ponies who had noticed the commotion, stared at the heart as it cracked and chipped.

“Uh oh…”

Rainbow Dash was having a blast, the wind was in her mane, the crowd was cheering, and the air was alive with electricity!

Wait a minute.

Quickly rolling to the side, Rainbow Dash looked just in time to see a lightning bolt strike where she once was. Looking back, she was met with the sight of an apex predator closely following her, one that she had provoked earlier, and looked to be only a few seconds behind at all times. It was then that she realized that maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas.

Pushing herself faster, Rainbow Dash flew even lower, weaving through buildings, zipping past corners, and frequently changing directions in hopes of maybe losing the worm. However none of it seemed to work, as the worm just didn't care, it followed her relentlessly, entire buildings were torn asunder in its chase, and the two continued around the empire once more.

Every so often Rainbow Dash would dodge another lightning bolt, and every time she did she had to rush forwards to keep her distance from the worm, which was on her tail the entire time. She could already feel the strain on her wings, and she began to frantically look around for a place of refuge from the worm.

The castle!

Rainbow Dash ducked down low, diving underneath another bolt as she began to pick up speed. The castle was straight ahead, but there wasn’t any place for her to enter it without slowing down, which was worrying. She’d have to somehow shake the worm for a few seconds before going inside. Perhaps she could use her size to her advantage.

Another bolt of lightning struck past her, and she redoubled her efforts, Rainbow Dash flew back down to the bottom of the castle, and entered the space beneath it again. This time however, she looped around the supports a few times, hoping the worm would get tangled within.

Ponies below dove out of the way as the both of them swooped past. Rainbow Dash turned inwards and outwards, only catching glimpses of the worm behind her as she weaved through the castle supports. After a few seconds of this, she broke away, flying high up and towards the balcony where Princess Cadance was.

Glancing behind her, Rainbow Dash did not immediately see the worm, so she began to slow a bit, angling herself to dash into the castle. She would be coming in fast, but there was more than enough room inside to account for that, she just needed to get there first.

As soon as she moved to enter the castle Rainbow Dash realized her mistake. The worm had indeed been slowed by the complex movements under the castle, but that only gave it the perfect opportunity to intercept her from below.

The worm rocketed upwards, giving her only a split second to react, not that she could've done much. There was no way for her to ascend in time, nor could she move away enough so that the worm couldn’t account for it. She was done for.

“STOP!”

Surprisingly, the worm stopped, and so did Rainbow Dash, only for her to tumble onto the balcony a moment later.

“Rainbow Dash!”

She turned to see Cadance looking at her with a bit of a miffed expression.

“Don’t antagonize the worm.” She chastised.

She nodded rapidly, quickly picking herself up from the floor.

“And you mister!” Cadance turned, staring at the worm.

It very obviously shrunk back from her gaze.

“We don’t kill ponies.” She said sternly.

The worm chirped weakly, while Rainbow Dash just stared wide-eyed at the possibility.

“We need to-” Cadance stopped mid-sentence and swayed a bit.

Shining Armor was quick to run up and support her, but that didn’t stop Cadance from dropping to the floor as her legs gave out from under her. In a flash of purple fire, the worm also landed on the balcony and quickly rushed to check on Cadance as well, mainly by nudging her and chittering. It was hardly effective, and soon enough the soft glow from her horn disappeared entirely, and did not come back.

The sky reverted to a pale orange color, which clearly caused distress in the ponies gathered below. In the outskirts of the empire, more and more crystal structures were corrupted and darkened, forcing any straggling crystal ponies towards the center. The rest of Twilight’s friends soon barged in on the balcony.

“We’re out of time!” Applejack said,

“We noticed.” Shining Armor said, still holding Cadance, “Has Twilight gotten the Crystal Heart?”

“She hasn’t come back yet.”

Shining Armor grunted, “Then try to keep the situation under control.”

Applejack gulped, then walked to the edge of the balcony along with Rarity. By now quite a large crowd had gathered, and the mood was quickly changing from happy to panicked.

“Now don’t you worry your pretty little crystal heads,” Applejack called out, forcing a smile. “The real Crystal Heart will be here soon.”

“I don’t know if they believe you.” Rarity whispered,

“I don’t know if ah believe me either.” Applejack whispered back.

The situation was becoming more and more dire, and ponies were starting to run around in a panic. Dark crystal outcroppings began to pop up around the entire area, effectively herding the crystal ponies to the last bastion in the Crystal Empire. They wouldn’t last much longer.

“Hey guys! Up here!”

They all looked up.

“I have the Crystal Heart!” Spike shouted down from the top of a spire.

Before anypony else could respond, a deep voice called out.

“That’s mine!”

The ground shook as massive black crystals shot out of it, shaking the foundation of the castle. Spike teetered at the top of the spire, then was pushed off as crystals grew all around him. Everypony gasped as he fell, the real Crystal Heart slipping from his grip, but then Cadance got a glint in her eye.

“Go!” She commanded, pointing at the falling objects.

Ponies shielded their eyes as a blaze of purple flames erupted to her side, and the next moment the worm launched from the balcony, soaring through the air directly towards Spike and the Crystal Heart. In an instant, the two were jerked to the side as they were caught by the worm midair. It banked around the crystal spire, Crystal Heart within its maw, and Spike clinging on to it for dear life. Below them, jagged crystals shot up from the ground, surrounding the castle and every pony in it, trapping them. A few of the larger outcroppings then broke apart, the large shards angling themselves towards the flying pair before shooting off in an attempt to intercept them.

A few missed, and most that hit simply bounced off of the worm’s chitinous armor, but the few that managed to pierce through it embedded themselves deep within the worm’s flesh. Then they began to grow, the dark crystals expanding and tearing further into the worm’s body, no doubt causing it a lot of pain, and restricting its movement. It bellowed, and thrashed around, managing to shatter some of the infestation, but that only seemed to worsen the effects, as the infectious shards were pushed deeper inside.

Seeing this, and with some newfound vigor, Cadance jumped up on top of the balcony’s railing, she teetered slightly, but then leapt from it, spreading her wings

“Here!” She called out, shakily gliding through an opening in the newly formed crystal wall and landing inside.

The worm turned in an instant, and shot towards the base of the spire, however more crystals began to grow from the wall, reinforcing it, hoping to stop the worm from returning the Crystal Heart. However it seemed that Sombra severely underestimated both the strength and digging capabilities of the worm, as it blasted right through the crystal wall, showering the ponies inside with shards and debris.

A particularly heart shaped crystal along with an incredibly disoriented dragon were also launched across the plaza, skidding to a halt near the far side of it. Cadance watched as Spike slowly got up, trying to find his balance, then she turned and looked to the impact zone, and saw the worm embedded in the wall, with more crystals growing around it, holding it in place. It struggled a bit, but stopped as purple blood began to flow down the crystals. Cadance cringed at the sight, and moved to maybe try and help free the worm.

Just then, the walls shifted, and an opening was made, allowing a single form inside. One that was almost ethereal, intimidating, and only seemed to cause fear and panic in the crystal ponies. Sombra was here. He looked across the crowd of fair-goers, each one shrinking under his gaze, until he locked eyes with Cadance. They stared at each other for a moment, before he moved on to the Crystal Heart behind her.

Cadance also glanced back at it, she was closer than Sombra was, but even then she wasn’t sure she could beat him to it, and a quick look back revealed he had come to a similar conclusion as well. For another moment they stared at each other, before both of them broke off into a sprint. Cadance turned and dashed towards the heart, intent on getting to it first, but her fatigued body protested, and she could already feel herself slowing down. Meanwhile Sombra had already passed most of the distance, and was about to pass her completely.

“Spike!” Cadance shouted as she was passed, “The heart!”

Spike looked at Cadance, then the Crystal Heart by his feet, then at the dark stallion charging towards him with murderous intent, and with some effort, he lifted the heart, set it on his back, and began to run along the crystal wall. Obviously he couldn’t outrun Sombra, but it gave Cadance an opportunity, she turned and ran to where Spike was heading, hoping to intercept him before Sombra could.

With a snort, he leveled his horn, and a dark crystal jutted out from the wall in front of Spike, he just barely avoided smacking into it, and instead turned and began to run in the opposite direction, only for another crystal to appear and block him from doing so. Spike then turned back towards the center of the plaza, and dashed towards Cadance just as a third crystal sprouted from beneath him, catching his feet and tripping him.

The crystal heart soared from his grasp, landing on the ground and sliding between a few crystal ponies before coming to a stop at Cadance’s hooves. She quickly picked it up in her magic, and while it was a bit hefty, it resonated well with her, and she held it up high. A number of crystal ponies gasped at the sight.

“It’s the true Crystal Princess,” One of them stated,

They were quickly shoved to the side by Sombra as he tore through the crowd. He stopped right in front of Cadance, and reached out with his magic, attempting to yank the heart out of her magic. It clearly resisted Sombra’s magic, and even in her tired state Cadance didn’t have to do much to hold on, so much so that a moment later Sombra gave up completely, a bit winded. But that didn't stop him, and he leaped forward and checked Cadance, sending her to the ground and the Crystal Heart flying once more.

Wincing from the impact, Cadance felt Sombra step over her, and from her position on the ground she could see him walking towards where the heart now lay. She pushed herself up slowly, and stumbled her way towards the heart as well, but Sombra was already there. Just as he was about to pick it up however, there was a crack of thunder, then an explosion as a bolt of lightning struck the heart, launching the now smoking crystal across the plaza.

It once again landed near Cadance, seemingly drawn to her, a quick look up revealed the origin of the lightning, as the remnants of an electric charge dissipated from the worm’s mandibles. Sombra snarled angrily, and the crystals holding the worm constricted further, more blood began to flow freely down, but the worm held strong, erupting into purple flames, and a moment later disappearing from view, leaving a hole in the crystal wall.

However before it could do anything else, black crystals shot out, quickly covering up the hole, effectively sealing it. Sombra then turned back towards Cadance, and they both glanced at the Crystal Heart once more. A second later they both jumped into action, gunning for the heart, trying to outrun the other, it would be close this time.

Time seemed to slow as they both drew nearer and nearer, Cadance could already feel the fatigue, but she pushed herself through it, leaping forward in an attempt to clear the remaining distance. It seemed Sombra had a similar idea as well, as he surged forward as well, opposite of Cadance. They both reached out, and they both touched the heart, and in a flash of light, they both disappeared, leaving only the slightly charred Crystal Heart on the floor.

Cadance opened her eyes, revealing a seemingly endless expanse of white in front of her. She frowned, and got up from the floor, or at least what she thought was the floor, considering it blended perfectly with the horizon. Blinking, she realized that she no longer felt any tiredness, the aching feeling in her mind was gone, and she didn’t feel as sluggish anymore.

Glancing around the void of white, Cadance realized it was not as empty as she once thought, as the Crystal Heart sat in what could be called the middle of it, it hovered slightly above the ground, spinning slowly. Cadance approached it, and as she reached out the heart stopped, allowing her to touch one of its facets.

It blinked once, and as Cadance pulled back, it started to spin once more. She looked at in confusion for a moment, before taking another look around, only for her eyes to land on another figure, Sombra, and he looked absolutely furious.

Cadance tensed, and got into a defensive stance, flaring her wings, but Sombra just stood there, looking at her menacingly.

“It’s over,” Cadance stated, “Don’t try anything.”

He snarled, and Cadance noticed the Crystal Heart behind her begin to spin faster, but then Sombra forced himself to calm down, which also appeared to calm the heart.

Growling, he spoke, “I know when I am beaten, Love-spawn!” He spat.

Cadance frowned at the insult, then Sombra continued.

“As infuriating as it is, I will not attack you, as apparently I still have a purpose here.” He said, turning to look out into the endless white expanse,

“What do you mean?” Cadance asked,

Sombra turned back towards her, scowling. “Where do you think we are?”

Cadance also glanced at the pure white horizon, then back to the Crystal Heart behind her, the only other thing here with them.

“The Crystal Heart?” She guessed

“Perceptive,” Sombra remarked snidely, “We are indeed in the Crystal Heart, and there is only one reason I can think of why.”

“Why?” Cadance repeated

“It wants us to talk.”

“Talk?” Cadance asked, “About what?”

“Is it not obvious?!” Sombra snapped, causing the Crystal Heart to speed up again, he forced himself to calm down again. “The crystal ponies have accepted you as their rightful ruler, I can see that now.”

“Me?” Cadance asked in surprise, “Their ruler?”

“Yes you!” Sombra exclaimed, “The resemblance is almost uncanny! You are the spitting image of her.”

“Who?” Cadance asked, thoroughly confused.

Sombra stared at her in disbelief, “Her!” He shouted, “Your progenitrix! Your ancestrix! The previous ruler to the Crystal Empire! Do you know nothing of your family lineage?!”

Cadance recoiled at the outburst, but then matched it, “No I don’t okay!” She also exclaimed, “I don’t even know my real parents!”

Sombra’s expression hardened, “Then this will not be easy.”

This time Cadance forced herself to calm down. “Then talk,” She said, “Tell me what I need to know to rule the Crystal Empire.”

Sombra snorted, “You do not need me for that information, most of the empire’s history before my rule was well documented. Your new subjects can help you with that well enough.”

“Then what are we supposed to talk about?” Cadance asked, a bit exasperated.

“I can only assume that the Crystal Heart wants me to tell you what happened after my rule.” Sombra explained,

“Wait.” Cadance said, “You mean the Crystal Empire didn’t just vanish into thin air?”

Another look of disbelief, “Do you really believe that an entire empire simply stopped existing for over a thousand years? That is preposterous!” Sombra almost cracked a smile, “No, the Crystal Empire was merely on another world, and only now has it returned to its origin.”

“Another world? Why?” Cadance asked,

Sombra exhaled, and had an almost somber look on his face. “I knew my rule over the empire was unstable,” He began, “And that it would only be a matter of time before it was taken from me. So using the magic I had gathered from the empire, I tried to take it to a world where I would not be seen as a tyrant.” He spat that last word.

Cadance just listened cautiously.

“Unfortunately the magic seemed to have had a cruel sense of humor, and while the empire made it across the divide, I did not. I was trapped between worlds, the king of nowhere, unable to act but able to view, and the things I’ve seen…” Sombra trailed off.

Cadance cleared her throat, “What about the empire?”

Sombra looked back to her, and the scowl returned to his face, “I was forced to sit and watch as She undid my work.”

“My ances-trix?” Cadance asked.

Sombra just grunted.

“What was her name?”

“She went by many,” Sombra answered, “But the one I was most familiar with… was Amore.” He said, voice filled with malice. “I don’t know how she escaped my imprisonment, but she tried her best to turn my empire back to the way it was, though even with the help of an archmage, she didn’t get far.” Then he got an evil grin on his face, and Cadance felt the Crystal Heart begin to spin faster behind her, “I think it was rather befitting what became of her.”

“What…” Cadance was almost scared to ask, “...Happened?”

Sombra looked her right in the eyes, “She encountered a worm, much like yours, and paid the ultimate price for it.”

“You know about the worm?” Cadance asked,

“Not yours specifically,” Sombra said, “But I know of their species, and I will tell you this. They are a bad omen.”

Cadance gulped,

“Not that you need to worry about that much longer,” Sombra continued, causing her to look at him in confusion.

He lowered his horn, concentrating hard before a pillar of dark magic erupted from it. A large shadow spread across the white void with darkened crystals beginning to grow, threatening to overtake the entire area. The Crystal Heart began to spin even faster, so fast that it started to blur, Cadance turned just in time to see it emit a bright light.

Her body was lifted, and her vision flashed, and the next moment she was back under the castle, the crowd of crystal ponies staring at her in awe. The awe soon turned to horror however, as a dark mist began to spread around them. Turning around, Cadance saw Sombra take form, the Crystal Heart held within his magic.

He began to laugh, and more black crystals began to sprout from beneath him, but Cadance just gave him an odd look, and reaching forward with her magic, she easily wrenching the heart from his own. In that moment of confusion, she pushed it towards the center of the castle, where two stabilizers shot out to catch it, completing it.

“The Crystal Heart has returned!” She announced, “Use the light and love within you to ensure that Sombra does not.”

“What?! NO!” Sombra shouted, but it was too late.

The crystal ponies were already bowing, charging the heart with their magic, the streets began to glow blue, and their coats returned to their original, sparkly color. Sombra yelled out in a rage, and he surged forward, but was stopped. The Crystal Heart spun, creating a sphere of positive magic, which began to expand rapidly.

Cadance felt a wave of relief wash over her, literally, and that same wave passed over Sombra as well. He tried to push against it, but it was too much, his body started to crack, light pouring out of each one. He roared, but the light had completely engulfed his body, he was torn apart, and blasted backwards in pieces, which broke through the crystal wall he had summoned earlier.

The wave of magic continued, undoing all the hate and malice that had been seeded into the Crystal Empire. Outcroppings of onyx and obsidian were shattered, curses were broken, ancient spells were undone, injuries were healed, and love and light were once more spread throughout the city, then all of Equestria.

It was over.

The Crystal Empire was safe, returned to its original world and restored to its original glory. King Sombra was defeated, and his influence over the crystal ponies was gone. Certainly, this was a cause for celebration.

The crowd gathered around Cadance bowed to her once more, and she looked over them all awkwardly, but then Shining Armor exited the castle along with the rest of Twilight’s friends.

“Cadance!” He shouted, quickly running over to her

“Shining Armor!” She responded, “You look so sparkly!”

He laughed, “So do you.”

Cadance looked down, and noticed that her coat was just as crystalline as everything else, if not moreso.

“So.” Shining Armor continued, “What happened?”

“We won,” Cadance said, looking over to the Crystal Heart, which spun steadily.

“That’s great!” Shining Armor exclaimed, and he reached forward to hug her.

Cadance readily returned the embrace, and they both held each other for a moment. When they finally separated, she looked over each of Twilight’s friends, and quickly noticed her absence, but before she could say anything about it, a flash of purple light caught her attention. Turning, Cadance expected to see Twilight standing there, not the large form of the worm as it coiled up, the last few wisps of flame burning out along its body.

Still, Cadance was also glad to see that it was alright as well, considering the injuries it sustained earlier. That, and it was a bit funny to see such a menacing creature look so sparkly. She went to approach it, but stopped as it went rigid. The worm then looked around frantically, waving its massive head back and forth before it screeched, loudly. Everypony in the immediate area covered their ears from the noise, the next moment there was a rush of wind, and the worm was gone, leaving everypony in a state of confusion.

“What was that all about?” Rainbow Dash asked,

“I don’t know,” Cadance answered, looking towards the horizon with a bit of worry.

The worm flew faster, following the trail of smoke that only it seemed to notice. It led all the way out of the Crystal Empire, eventually touching down to the ground a fair distance away in the snow, where a certain red tinted horn lay. Descending quickly and losing its crystal sheen, the worm began to closely inspect the area, hovering just barely above the snow.

It started to growl, the smoke trail receded, and several wisps began to coalesce around the horn. The worm pulled back, poised and ready to strike as the smoke continued to gather, the top most layer of snow shifting from the movement. Then the horn started to move, jittering slightly from the smoke before it was lifted up into it, together they raised a bit higher. Small arcs of electricity began to dance between the worm’s mandibles.

There was a hiss, and steam began to emanate from the ground, all the snow in the immediate area started to melt, and the smoke grew turbulent. There was a rumbling, and the now uncovered stone ground cracked, and split, the snow and runoff that flowed into it was vaporized instantly, with large plumes of steam soon billowing out of it.

Heat radiated from the crack, which had begun to glow orange, and more of the surrounding snow and ice began to melt, creating more steam. Along with the steam however, more smoke began to spew out of the crack, adding to the total mass above it, which began to darken considerably. Dark purple cloth fragments then flowed from the hole in the ground, joining the mass of smoke. They patched together to form a single, complete cloak, which the smoke soon filled, creating an almost solid form. Six glowing purple eyes lit up the hood, and the worm growled louder.

Its growl was matched with another, and as the clothed entity finished forming, it evolved into a more of a voice.

“...what a waste.” The wraith spoke, turning the horn fragment in its claws, inspecting it. “Someone like that would’ve had a lot of potential.”

“L E A V E.” The worm spoke.

“So this is where you’ve been all this time.” The wraith continued, ignoring the worm, it carelessly flicked the horn off into the snow. “Back with these ponies.”

“L E A V E.” The worm repeated, getting more agitated.

“And I see you’ve made some new friends.”

“L E A V E.”

“Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to do that?” The wraith asked in a sinister tone.

The worm had had enough, a bolt of lightning shot from it, but the wraith simply teleported out of the way. In the next moment it reappeared next to the worm, and several bladed tentacles whipped out from underneath the cloak, stopping just inches from the worm’s neck.

“You’re lucky I was only sent here to find you!” The wraith sneered, “I’d much rather kill you myself, but that’s not what The Master wants.”

The worm froze,

“Do not think your disappearance went unnoticed! The Master is less than pleased with your absence, even moreso now that you have broken your pact.”

The worm tried to shift, but the tentacles closed in, just barely touching the unarmored skin in between its plating. Then in a flash of purple flames, the worm shrunk down slightly and quickly pulled out of the wraith’s grasp, it then turned to face it before growing back to its original size.

“So you’ve learned a new trick.” The wraith observed, “But that won’t save you.”

The worm charged, mandibles crackling with electricity, and its body now alight with flame. It hit the hooded figure, and it exploded back into smoke and cloth fragments.

“Your impending doom approaches…” Was spoken as the wraith receded back into the crack in the ground.

Then it was gone, with only the crack remaining, the heat that emanated once before had dissipated, leaving only a small trace that something was even there to begin with, and it would just be covered up come next snowfall anyway. The worm just hovered there, staring at the crack.

It chittered nervously.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

This was more fun to write than the previous chapter, also it's longer. I have finally figured out how I want the past to go, and that affects the future, funny how that works. That also gave me the idea to maybe create a prequel of sorts, explaining what happened beforehand a bit better. Also, while writing this, I felt that I was maybe laying on a little too thick, but then I realized that not everybody who reads this will know the Calamity lore, so these mentions won't do much, but for those who do get them...

Yall know what's going on :ajsmug:

Chapter 9: Lost

“I must say Cadance, this place is certainly… Ornate.” Princess Celestia said.

Cadance glanced up at her as they walked down one of the many crystal corridors within the castle. Though they were rather sparse in furniture at the moment, it was more than made up for with the fascinating array of colors and designs that lined the walls, floors, and ceiling.

“Do you not like it?” She asked,

“Oh I never said that.” Princess Celestia quickly replied, “It’s just not much of my style.”

Cadance gave a slight frown, “I like it,”

“Then it’s a good thing it’s yours.” Princess Celestia said with a smile.

Cadance’s frown deepened, “Are you sure I should be the one ruling the Crystal Empire?”

“Why not you?” Princess Celestia asked, “The ponies here see you as their rightful ruler do they not?”

“They do…” Cadance answered, “It’s just that I don’t feel like I can rule, at least not yet.”

“Cadance.” Princess Celestia said, stopping in the middle of the hallway to look at her, “You are a very capable pony, I believe you can do it, you just need a little help, which is why I am here.”

Cadance gave her a weak smile. “Okay, how would I go about ruling an empire?”

Princess Celestia looked at her in bemusement, “Don’t tell me you’ve learned nothing after all these years of living as a princess in Canterlot.”

Cadance quickly shook her head, “I remember my training. It’s just that the empire doesn’t seem to work like Equestria does.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t run it like it,” Princess Celestia replied, “You are a monarch now, or a diarch should you choose to include Shining Armor, but that means you can rule the Crystal Empire however you see fit.”

Cadance just nodded,

“And I trust that you won't take after the previous ruler will you?” Princess Celestia asked in a jovial tone, elbowing Cadance in the side.

“Of course not,” she said with a smile, but it soon faded, “I just don’t know where to even begin.”

“Then how about we start,” Princess Celestia paused, looking forward, “With finding out what the empire has. A ruler who doesn’t know what they rule surely isn’t a very good ruler.”

Nodding once again at the statement, Cadance continued down the hallway with Princess Celestia, presumably to go and find a tour guide of sorts.

Just like the furniture, the castle staff was also a little sparse, though the castle did in fact have a staff, they just weren’t previously present due to obvious reasons. It was difficult to actually find anypony really, mainly due to the fact that the castle was massive, and that several of the higher up castle staff were reported missing, with no apparent knowledge on their whereabouts. Still, eventually Cadance was able to find somepony to help them around the empire.

“Yes, your highness,” The crystal pony bowed to her, then gave a curt nod to Princess Celestia before turning to lead them.

She raised an eyebrow at this, then spoke a moment later, “I’m beginning to like this place more and more.”

“How so?” Cadance asked, a bit confused.

“The ponies here don’t bow to me.” Princess Celestia explained, “It’s a rather refreshing change of environment. I might have to visit here more often.”

“You’re still going to visit anyway right?”

“Of course.”

Cadance smiled at that, then moved to follow their guide as they began their tour.

Unsurprisingly, the Crystal Empire was only an empire by name, and it more closely resembled a city-state in function. If the large amounts of farmland surrounding the empire were to be excluded, then it would barely surpass some of Equestria’s larger cities in size, and yet the population was closer to a smaller city, a town even.

They were first led out of the castle and into the district surrounding it, which held what could be considered the upper echelon of the Crystal Empire. There wasn’t actually much of a divide between the population, as they all lived in relative equality, but a select few had risen to pseudo-nobility and therefore lived near the castle. However most of which appeared to be missing as well, but before they could focus on that the two alicorns were led into the next district.

“This is the business district, where the majority of all the Crystal Empire’s commerce takes place.” The tour guide began. “You’ll be able to find most anything here… Though if we really have been gone for over a thousand years then you might find some things… lacking.”

“That’s quite alright,” Princess Celestia said, “We have plans to fully reintegrate the Crystal Empire into the world’s economy.”

“We do?” Cadance asked, looking at Princess Celestia.

She just nodded.

“Oh,” Cadance looked back to the tour guide, “Then we do.”

“Excellent, then would you like to visit a few shops before we move on?”

Cadance looked to Princess Celestia again, who gave another slight nod.

“Very well then,” The tour guide said, and they began leading the two further into the business district.

Unfortunately, most of the shops were not open, which made sense. It had really only been a few days since the liberation of the Crystal Empire, and the crystal ponies were still gathering their bearings. So even though the physical status of the empire was ready to start functioning, it would still take some time for everything to start running smoothly once more.

Still, what was open was certainly a good impression for the rest to come. Nothing could be described as simple, as the crystal properties of almost every material prevented anything from looking less than exquisite, which was the status quo anyway. Cadance mused over a few shiny wool garments, while Princess Celestia eyed an intricate crystal tea set, despite her previous statement.

Though neither of them were carrying any money, the crystal ponies were more than willing to give their princess and savior the items for free. Cadance refused of course, saying that she would gladly pay for it later, Princess Celestia though…

“Call it a souvenir,” She said, whisking away the tea set in a plume of magical smoke, “I want to have something to remind me of you.”

Cadance just rolled her eyes, then promised compensation to the shopkeeper.

“Well then, if that concludes our business within the district, then shall we move onto the next?” The tour guide asked.

“Let’s.”

And so the two were led into the next district, though as they were walking, Princess Celestia pulled Cadance to the side.

“I’m not doing anything wrong am I?” Cadance asked preemptively.

“A bit yes,” Princess Celestia admitted, “I understand that you are still new to this, and that you are looking to me for advice, but you are the ruler of these ponies, not me.” She explained, “Try not to refer to me too often in public, it doesn’t exactly paint you in the best light.”

“Right,” Cadance nodded, “So I should lead then?” She asked,

“For the most part, I trust your judgement Cadance, and think of this as a sort of practice, as you won't always have my guidance in the future.”

“Okay…” Cadance said a bit nervously, before standing up straight and turning towards the tour guide. “So tell me about this district.”

“Ah, well this is the residential district,” The tour guide started, “This is where the majority of the population is housed.”

Cadance nodded, “How much housing is there?”

The tour guide stopped “Hmm, by my estimate, I’d say there’s enough space for around one thousand ponies to live comfortably, but at the moment I don’t think we’re even half of that.”

Cadance and Princess Celestia shared a look.

“And how much room would you say there is for expansion?”

“An excellent question your highness, one I unfortunately don’t have the answer to. Would you like me to have a surveyor find out?”

“Yes, that information will be useful in transitioning the empire to a more modern system.” Cadance said, looking towards Princess Celestia again.

She nodded with a smile.

“However at the moment we should continue the tour, there are still some things I would like to see.” Cadance finished.

“Very well your highness,” The tour guide bowed slightly, “Then let us continue.”

As they made their way through the rest of the residential district, the size of each building and the space in between them changed. The layout went from urban, to suburban, then all the way to rural as the two were guided into the last and largest district.

“And this is the agricultural district,” The tour guide said, “Most, if not all of our empire’s food is grown here.”

“Like what?” Cadance asked, gazing across the fields.

“Mostly the empire’s staples, such as crystal corn or crystal wheat, though there are some smaller plots that grow several crystal spices, and the entire Eastern plot is a vineyard dedicated to growing crystal fruit.”

“Crystal fruit? I’ve heard those make a pretty good jam.” Cadance recounted,

“Indeed, though the main reason why they’re grown is for use in crystal wine.” The tour guide explained,

“Crystal wine you say?” Cadance asked, interest peaked.

Princess Celestia raised her eyebrow at this, but otherwise stayed silent.

“Yes, your highness. Would you like to tour the winery as well?” The tour guide asked,

Cadance didn’t even glance at Princess Celestia before answering, “Yes please.”

“Very well then, follow me.”

Princess Celestia gave a slight frown as they were led through the countryside, but continued to keep quiet as they passed fields of crops and pens for livestock. That is, until another worry began to make itself known.

“Cadance,” She began, pulling her to the side once again, “Where is the worm?”

“I don’t know.” Cadance admitted, looking up to the sky, “I haven’t seen him since we saved the Crystal Empire.”

“Him?” Princess Celestia asked,

Cadance turned and looked at her in confusion for a moment, before realizing what she meant. “Oh. I’m just assuming at the moment, since I don’t know how to uh… check.”

Princess Celestia nodded at the answer, “But aren’t you worried about it?”

“A little yes, but I know he’s more than capable of taking care of himself,”

“So you’re just letting it run free?” Princess Celestia demanded, more than a little worried,

“No,” Cadance answered quickly, “I’ve tried calling out to him, but no matter how hard I try he just won’t respond.”

“And it just up and left?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Not exactly,” Cadance said, “Right before he disappeared something freaked him out, majorly, and he just… flew off.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but it’s happened before.”

“It has?”

Cadance nodded, “Never on this scale though, I think he’s hiding something from me, something he doesn't want me to know.”

“Hmm,” Princess Celestia said, “And you aren’t worried in the slightest about what it’s doing without you?”

“Well… I know he won’t hurt any ponies.”

“Cadance, you are aware that there are more than just ponies up here?”

“There are?” Cadance asked,

“Yes, besides the sparse wildlife, Yakyakistan borders are only a few miles West of here, and there are several nomadic caribou tribes in the surrounding area. While none of them have a particularly strong presence in the sky, I shudder to think of what might happen should the worm be forced to hunt on the ground.”

“Oh,” Cadance realized, “Then I should probably find the worm soon then.”

“Sooner would be much more preferable than later,” Princess Celestia said,

“If I may interrupt,” The tour guide joined in, “We have arrived at our destination.”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Though for now I suppose we should finish the tour.”

The crystal winery was one of the larger buildings on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, with rows upon rows of crystal trellises in every direction, each adorned with crystalline vines. It was certainly a sight to behold, but the excitement of it all didn’t last long.

“I’m sorry your majesty, we don’t have any wine.”

“You don’t?” Cadance asked, incredibly disappointed, “Why not?”

“Unfortunately, all of our previous stock is just gone.” The vintner said, “We don’t know where or why, it just is.”

Even Princess Celestia looked disappointed at the missed opportunity to try a thousand year wine.

“Actually,” The vintner continued, “We are in the process of making our first batch in what…? Over a thousand years?”

“Oh?” Cadance’s ears perked back up a bit, “And how long will that take?” She asked,

“About three months,”

“I see…”

The vintner awkwardly cleared their throat, “Would you like us to notify you when the first batch is ready to taste?”

“That would be…” Cadance quickly glanced towards Princess Celestia, “Greatly appreciated, thank you.”

Princess Celestia just continued to look bemused at the whole situation.

“It will be done, your highness,” The tour guide said, “Now shall we continue the tour?”

“Yes, we shall,” Cadance said rather quickly, “Where to next?”

“Your castle,”

Though the two already had a good idea of the castle interior, the in depth tour showed them just how extravagant it really was. There was the expansive throne which occupied nearly an entire floor, and the multitude of utilities and staff rooms that allowed the castle to function, not to mention the lavish living accommodations for anypony staying in the castle.

Then there was the royal suite, the last room in the castle tour.

“Oh my.” Princess Celestia commented,

Nearing the top of the spire, the collection of rooms took up the entire floorspace. A truly massive bed sat in the center of the bedroom, obviously heart-shaped, and with plenty of pillows and blankets to use. Surrounding it were doors that led to things such as an extravagant bathroom, if a little outdated, a nice study, with several filled bookshelves lining the walls, a simple lounge, which was sparsely decorated, and a staircase leading to the top of the spire, where the entire Crystal Empire could be seen from it.

“I will admit I am a little envious.” Princess Celestia said, reentering the bedroom from the spire, “My personal chambers barely hold a candle to this.”

“It’s certainly a lot,” Cadance replied, peering through each doorway again, “Though the lack of plumbing might be an issue.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to outfit this place with more modern accommodations.” Princess Celestia mused, looking over the bed once more. “Well,” She concluded, “I suppose that finishes the tour?”

“Yeah...” Cadance turned towards Princess Celestia, then stopped, her nose twitching.

“Is something the matter?

“No?” Cadance wondered, sniffing more, “I just smell something.”

Princess Celestia paused and sniffed the air once, but it was just as crisp as it was before, not dusty or stale in the slightest. “I don’t smell anything.” She said,

“Hang on.” Cadance abruptly leaned down, nose almost touching the floor as she traced the smell.

Tilting her head in confusion, Princess Celestia just watched as Cadance circled the room a few times. Eventually moving over to the bed, then stepping up on it and ruining the once straightened covers in her quest.

“Ummm?”

Cadance continued, ignoring Princess Celestia as she made her way to the wall behind the bed. Lifting up, she placed her hooves on the wall and sniffed it carefully, then she pushed, and a portion of the wall sank back and clicked. It then slid away, revealing a small compartment behind it.

“Is that..?” Princess Celestia asked,

Cadance’s eyes lit up, “A mini-bar!” She exclaimed.

Princess Celestia stopped, sitting there for a moment and staring as Cadance rummaged through the cabinet, pulling out a multitude of crystal glasses and bottles, most of which looked and sounded empty.

“Aha!”

From the back of the shelf Cadance pulled out a pink crystal bottle, the only thing that set it apart from the others was that it still had a cork, and that a little bit of liquid could be seen swirling inside. Princess Celestia looked on in interest as Cadance quickly uncorked the bottle and took a whiff. Her face instantly scrunched up and she pulled away.

“Whew! That’s strong.” She said, “But that’s definitely what I was smelling.”

“Has it gone bad?” Princess Celestia asked,

“I don’t think so,” Cadance replied, hopping off the bed and smelling it again now that she was used to it, “Do you want to try it?”

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea,”

“Why not?” Cadance asked, “Can’t you hold your liquor?”

Princess Celestia looked at her strangely, “I can… But we don’t know exactly what that is, or what it could do.”

Cadance took another whiff, “It smells alright to me.”

Princess Celestia gave her an incredulous look, but eventually sighed and relented. “A toast then?”

“To what?” Cadance asked, bringing up two glasses.

“To a long and successful rulership?”

Cadance smiled, and poured an equal amount of magenta liquid in both glasses, which was all that was left in the bottle.

“To long and successful rulerships” She revised, passing a glass to Princess Celestia.

She took it, and gave the opaque purple liquid inside another uncertain look, but she still tapped her glass with Cadance’s, and they both took a sip.

It burned, badly, as a strong liquor should, but Princess Celestia wasn’t entirely expecting it. She winced, but quickly pushed it down, and as the stinging sensation left, a pleasant flavor remained, something she also wasn’t expecting. It was unique, unlike anything she had ever tasted before, with a pure flavor and a lingering sweetness that was not overpowering in the slightest.

The second sip went down much easier, draining the rest of the glass and leaving Princess Celestia with a bit of longing for more. A quick glance towards Cadance revealed that she had finished hers as well, and the two of them sat there for a moment, waiting to see what would happen next.

It started with a tingle, starting in the pit of Princess Celestia’s stomach, before it moved up her body. She felt it move to her head, which was normal, and soon enough the effects of the alcohol descended upon her, but then it moved to the base of her horn, which was not normal. The tingling sensation resided there for a moment, then it faded completely, leaving Princess Celestia with a strange feeling of emptiness around her horn.

Moving the glass slightly, Princess Celestia felt her magic flow much faster than it did before, and she had to stop herself from sending the crystal cup halfway across the room. She stared at it for a moment as she slowly pulled it back, and Princess Celestia realized that the drink must have done something to her magic. For how long she didn’t know, but given the circumstances of the effects they would probably wear off at the same time as her buzz, and Princess Celestia could easily burn the alcohol out of her system.

Cadance however, was a different story.

Princess Celestia looked at the much smaller, and most likely less tolerant alicorn in front of her, whose eyes began to defocus.

“How are you feeling?” She asked worriedly,

Cadance swayed slightly, but quickly righted herself to answer.

“I feel fabulous.” She semi-slurred, blushing lightly.

Princess Celestia hummed, “Perhaps this wasn’t the best of ideas, it might be best to wait a few moments.”

“No!” Cadance said abruptly, she shook her head, fighting through her haziness “I’m fine, let’s continue.”

“Are you certain?” Princess Celestia asked,

“No.” Cadance repeated, before shaking her head again, “I mean yes.”

Princess Celestia gave her an uncertain look, but otherwise continued as she carefully set her glass down. Then she watched as Cadance nearly smashed her own glass against a table in an attempt to put it down, and from there she took the liberty of guiding her over to the lounge connected to the bedroom.

“Let’s talk,” Princess Celestia said as they both sat down.

“About what?” Cadance asked,

“To start,” Princess Celestia began, “Are you alright?”

Cadance paused for a moment, swaying slightly before answering, “Fine, why do you ask?”

“It’s just… I’m beginning to worry about you. I’ve never seen you seek out alcohol so actively.”

“Oh… That…” Cadance slumped slightly, “Um…” She then paused for another few moments, most likely trying to find the words to respond with. “I may have been drinking more than usual.”

There was a pregnant pause, but before Princess Celestia could respond Cadance found more words.

“It's just that ever since the invasion I just haven’t been feeling normal, and I know that things will never be the same as they were before, but I still feel… stuck.”

“I see,” Princess Celestia tried to begin, but Cadance continued,

“And I’ve been under a lot of stress recently, freeing the empire was hard, yet gratifying, but the idea of ruling over it is nerve wracking. Then the worm left and I haven’t seen him since and both me and Shining have been super busy just trying to figure all of this out!” She finished, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Then-”

“Not to mention there was that thing that Sombra told me!” Cadance tacked on.

…

“You spoke with Sombra?” Princess Celestia asked, surprised.

“Yes!” Cadance exclaimed, “The Crystal Heart forced us to have a conversation.”

Princess Celestia frowned deeply, “What did he tell you?”

“He told me about the empire, and how it didn’t just disappear,” Cadance sniffled, “Then he told me about the worms.”

“Worms?” Princess Celestia asked, enunciating the plural part of the word.

“Mm-Hm,” Cadance nodded, “He told me that they are bad omens, and that I shouldn’t associate myself with the species.”

“I find that accurate,” Princess Celestia muttered, perhaps a bit too loudly.

Cadance sniffed again, and looked up towards her, “Can you tell me about the worm? Everything you know?”

“I already have.” Princess Celestia answered simply.

Cadance stared at her for a moment, “I don’t believe that.”

Princess Celestia winced slightly, even when drunk, Cadance could be incredibly persuasive, if not more so from an increased intimidation factor.

She let out a sigh, then spoke, “Very well, you deserve to know everything about the worm, so I will tell you all I know about it.”

Cadance gave a small smile, “Thank you.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, and began to formulate everything she knew into sentences. “History has been kind to the stories of many. Some things are better left forgotten, but sometimes they can’t be.” She began

Cadance just leaned in to listen.

“The worm didn’t just appear a thousand years ago. It was summoned. By Nightmare Moon.”

Cadance gasped, “Auntie Luna!?”

“No,” Princess Celestia corrected, “Nightmare Moon. Despite their relation they were in fact separate entities.”

“Oh.”

Princess Celestia continued, “In an attempt to find a way to usurp me, Nightmare Moon somehow travelled to another world and found a tablet. One that when used, summoned the worm, along with two others.”

“There were more worms?” Cadance asked,

“No,” Princess Celestia said again, “They were three different beings, but they all served the same purpose, to hunt the sun.”

“What were they?”

Princess Celestia paused for a moment, recalling her assailants. “There was a pitch black mirror, given life and the ability to control darkness. Then there was the spectre, seemingly amorphous yet full of malice. Finally, there was the worm, though it wasn’t the same as it was today.”

“It wasn’t?” Cadance repeated,

Princess Celestia nodded, “When it first appeared it was covered in full plate armor, and it was nearly impenetrable.”

“Nearly?” Cadance asked, “So I guess that’s why the worm isn’t wearing armor today?”

“Correct, if you remember, the first crusade against it managed to strip it of its armor.”

“You wouldn’t happen to still uhh… have it?”

“Unfortunately not. While it was useless in the beginning, experiments with the metal pioneered the creation of all modern weather machines, and almost all of it has been used since then.”

Cadance hummed, “Do you know anything else?”

“Yes, as of more recently, and at my request, Luna delved into its dreams to try and find out more about it.”

Cadance frowned slightly, “What did she find out?”

“Well…” Princess Celestia began, looking down slightly, “It truly does love you… among other things, but it’s also afraid.”

“Of me?” Cadance asked,

“Possibly. It is… complicated,” Princess Celestia explained, “From what Luna was able to gather, something happened in the worm’s past that makes it wary of you, yet it loves you all the same.”

Cadance gave a worried smile.

“But there’s more,” Princess Celestia continued, “There was something else, something that absolutely terrified the worm.”

A worried expression overtook Cadance’s smile.

“You don’t think that’s why he ran away do you?” She asked,

“It doesn’t seem likely, Luna described it as an overwhelming force, with an intimidating aura to match, which certainly sounds like something that others would notice.”

Cadance nodded, then leaned back, “Why do you think he ran away?”

Princess Celestia put a hoof to her chin in thought, “I believe the worm might be distancing itself from you. If something were to have spooked it as you said, then it may have become apprehensive towards you, and is simply being cautious by keeping its distance.”

“So it would be a bad idea to try and find him?” Cadance asked,

“That is something I do not know the answer to,” Princess Celestia admitted, “We both know that the worm is incredibly dangerous, and is most likely unstable at this moment. The idea of going out and calming it seems plausible, but so is it lashing out from fear.”

“What do you think I should do then?”

“Now that is something I cannot answer,” Princess Celestia said, “I have only known the worm through its actions on the opposite end of the battlefield, but you don’t. I cannot tell you how to proceed with this, but you can decide for yourself. What do you believe is the right course of action here?” She finished by asking.

Cadance sat there for a moment, clearly in thought, and it had become evident that through their conversation she had sobered up a bit. She then stood up on her chair proudly with her wings outstretched.

“Let’s go find the worm!” She announced, before wobbling slightly, clearly still a little tipsy.

Princess Celestia smiled at that.

Cadance then gracefully fell out of her chair with a whumpf, then picked herself up and galloped out of the room.

“Right now?” Princess Celestia called out in confusion

She sat there for a moment, waiting for a response, however none came. She then stood up and followed in a brisk trot, going back through the rest of the suite and making it to the top of the spire just in time to see Cadance leap from it, wings open and flapping. Continuing to follow the smaller alicorn, Princess Celestia took her own stance on top of the spire, opening up her massive wings and flapping them a few times before getting a running start and jumping as well.

Initially the air was decently warm, considering they were still in the Crystal Empire, but as the two exited its projected field, it turned much colder. Thankfully the weather was mostly clear, and Princess Celestia could feel the warmth of her sun on her back as she trailed behind Cadance, who appeared to be moving towards a cluster of clouds in the distance, which was probably the best place to start looking.

Other than that though, the frozen North was hardly something to look at. Layers upon layers of snow blanketed the entire landscape, with only a select few outcroppings of stone or ice poking through. At first glance it looked like a wasteland, but the closer you looked, the more you could see.

Princess Celestia dropped down slightly, flying closer to the ground, but still tailing Cadance. She hadn’t been this far North in generations, though it hasn’t changed much, other than the shimmering city behind them of course. A multitude of finer details were visible as they passed below, and while there was minimal plant life, that didn’t mean there wasn’t other life. Princess Celestia could see tracks and evidence of animals, pathways carved into the snow by the locals, maybe even the crystal ponies, there was even an empty campsite that was probably the settling spot for a nearby tribe at the base of the mountain.

Base of the mountain?

Princess Celestia looked up, and immediately began flapping her wings harder to gain altitude, she came closer to crashing than she’d like to admit, but eventually she crested the top of the mountain, and saw Cadance standing nearby.

Quickly touching down, she spoke, “I might have to do this more often, I haven’t flown like that in quite some time, though I rarely get time to do so.”

Cadance just nodded in acknowledgement, then continued to gaze out across the horizon.

“See anything?” Princess Celestia asked,

“There,” Cadance pointed.

Over the next stretch of snowy tundra, a decent amount of clouds had gathered near the peak of another mountain. However what was most catching about it though was the faint flashes of lightning visible within, though none of them actually made it to the ground.

Princess Celestia gave a small grimace, while this storm was a far cry from the first one she delved into all those years ago, it was still unsettling to think she might have to do it again, even if it was for a different reason. She looked towards Cadance, who was already preparing for the next flight, she certainly didn’t look any nervous, perhaps it was her relationship with the worm, or maybe that was just the residual alcohol.

Nonetheless, the two both took off a moment later for the next part of the flight. The storm was quite a distance away, further than the last stretch, so they would be flying for quite some time. There wasn’t much to look at either, unlike the previous flight, the landscape was entirely flat, leaving it looking even more barren, with only a few pathways of tracks to break it up.

Except for one thing.

Further ahead, a larger pair of tracks, most likely belonging to something akin to a polar bear, just stopped in the middle of a field, with a huge amount of displaced snow around them. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what happened here, at least the worm wouldn’t be hungry when they met.

The storm only seemed to grow larger as they approached, and not just because they were getting closer. The wind began to pick up as both Cadance and Princess Celestia began to ascend the mountain, and they soon noticed the hailstorm that was taking place underneath the storm. Though before any ice pellets could even get near the alicorns, two shields apparated around them, protecting them from the more than adverse weather.

The sun was blotted out as they fully entered the storm, and even with the reflected light from the surrounding landscape, it grew dark fast. Luckily the repeated flashes of lightning above gave them some indication of how much further they had to go. Countless chunks of ice and hail bounced off the shields, but the two eventually made it to the top.

A coarse mixture of snow and hailstones awaited them, and while it was a bit awkward to stand in, both Princess Celestia and Cadance landed in it. They both looked around for a moment, then into the storm above, which was hovering just above the peak of the mountain.

“I’m going in!” Cadance shouted over the rumbling of thunder.

“Are you sure?!” Princess Celestia asked back

“Yes!” Cadance replied, then got ready to take off again.

“Do you want me to come with you?!”

Cadance paused, and looked towards Princess Celestia for a moment.

“No! I need to do this alone!”

Princess Celestia would’ve sighed in relief, but she was still worried about Cadance, but she didn’t stop her as she leapt into the air, disappearing into the storm a moment later.

Then she waited, and waited, and waited. The everpresent hail creating a cacophony of noise against her shield, not to mention the roars of thunder sounding out above. A minute later a screech echoed out from the clouds, causing Princess Celestia to begin searching through the clouds with her eyes. She hoped to see a figure, a silhouette, or a form of any kind, but through the flashes of lightning in the dark storm, there was nothing.

Until there was.

Another flash of lightning revealed a massive shape in the clouds, much closer than Princess Celestia was expecting, causing her to take a cautious step back.

A moment later the worm descended through the clouds, with Cadance nowhere in sight. The remnants of an electric charge faded from its body as the hail bounced off its armor. It shuddered, and clicked a few times as it stared at Princess Celestia, who stared back intensely. Then she noticed something, in the frozen North it would be nearly impossible for water to precipitate, yet the worm’s mandibles were slick and dripping.

It was blood, red blood, meaning it had come from another creature.

Princess Celestia let out a small gasp as the worm moved closer, and she quickly switched her shield to a more combat focused one, charging her horn a moment later. The worm growled at this, and Princess Celestia began to feel the storm turn from turbulent to violent.

“Celestia!” Cadance called out, “What are you doing?!”

She stopped, and looked more closely at the worm, where Cadance’s voice had come from. There, peeking out from behind its head and actively shielding herself from the hail, was Cadance.

This time Princess Celestia actually sighed in relief, and she let the charge in her horn drop. Cadance was alive, a bit beaten and battered from the hail, but alive.

“What happened?!” She shouted.

Cadance went to reply, but she stopped, then tapped the worm a few times on its head. Princess Celestia didn’t hear what she said, but a moment later the worm chittered and whipped its tail. Just like before, the storm above immediately shifted, and the hail began to lessen, shrinking in size before it eventually turned to snow. That, along with the rest of the clouds, soon gave the entire area a new blanket of snow, partially covering any disturbances from earlier.

The worm lowered even more, and Cadance leapt from its back, gliding down and landing next to Princess Celestia.

“Whew.” She began, shaking some snow from her coat, “I sure startled him.”

“You did?” Princess Celestia asked, confused

“Yeah, I don’t think he was expecting me to appear behind him while he was eating.” Cadance said,

Princess Celestia looked from Cadance to the worm, then its bloody mandibles, “So that’s…?”

“From earlier,” Cadance answered, before she too looked at the worm, “Could you clean yourself up please?”

The worm huffed, then erupted into purple flames, quickly vaporizing anything on it.

“So,” Princess Celestia continued, “What happened?” She asked again.

“Well,” Cadance began, “I snuck up on him somehow, and I scared him pretty bad, which in turn scared me.” She then outstretched her wings, revealing quite a lot of damage. “Then I got hit by some hail.”

Princess Celestia cringed, “Are you alright?”

“Fine for now, though I’m not sure about flying all the way back.”

Princess Celestia looked back over the large stretches of land they had flown across earlier.

“Maybe you could carry me.” Cadance said,

“I don’t-” Princess Celestia began, frowning, only to stop as soon as she turned around.

Cadance was no longer facing her, rather she was looking at the worm.

“-oh.”

“But first,” Cadance continued, “You have to tell me why you disappeared earlier.”

The worm froze.

“And don’t even think about running away again.” She chastised, “Now spill it.”

The worm shrank back a bit, but didn’t do anything else. It then inhaled deeply, before speaking.

“S I G N U S.”

There was a moment of pause.

“Sickness?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Signus,” Cadance clarified, then she turned back to the worm, “What is that?”

Princess Celestia thought for a moment, “Who is that?” She reiterated.

The worm shuddered, “E N V O Y.”

“Envoy of who?” Cadance asked

The worm was actively shaking now, and had dropped so low that it was almost resting on the mountainside. A very long moment of silence descended over the mountain’s peak as they waited for the answer.

“M A S T E R.”

Princess Celestia and Cadance shared a look, before they both looked at the worm again, which was clearly displaying its fear. Cadance took this moment to go over and try to comfort it, while Princess Celestia just stood there in thought.

“Could it be?” She wondered, looking up to the sky.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Umm, not too sure what to say about this one. I could've released it earlier, but I wanted to give it some time before I proof read it, hope you guys like this one, and I have a few more filler type chapters lined up before we get back into the main story, because who doesn't love filler?

DO NOT ASK ABOUT THE BEACH CHAPTER.

Chapter 11: Home

The wind whipped past at insane speeds, causing Cadance’s hair to blow backwards with such force she had to fight to keep her head from doing the same. Luckily her pegasus morphology allowed her to at least see and breathe in these conditions, albeit with watery eyes and cheeks flapping in the wind. Similar to before, the worm simply continued flying, the fast paced rocking of its body forcing her to hold on for dear life with only the tips of her hooves as it swam through the air. Any attempt to gain more traction was quickly lost due to the extreme speeds they were travelling at.

This continued for several moments, Cadance holding on by only a sliver, and the worm flying in whatever direction it chose.

“Stop!” She shouted out,

It appeared to be lost to the wind.

“Please!” She tried again.

The worm turned particularly hard, causing Cadance to jerk to the side, losing grip with one of her hooves. Anything more like that would certainly cause her to fly off, and while she wasn’t worried about staying in the air, it was keeping up with the worm that really worried her.

She sucked in a large breath, then shouted with as much might as she could muster.

“SLOW DOWN!”

The worm heeded the command in an instant, and reduced its speed by such a degree that it sent Cadance flying forwards. Thankfully it didn’t come to a complete stop, or else she wouldn’t have been able to hold on. Cadance practically flipped over on top of the worm and landed on her back with a whumph. She laid there for a moment, processing everything while looking up at the clear sky.

She shook her head, and stood up on the now much slower worm as it gently weaved from side to side. It wasn’t enough to knock her off balance, but enough to make her plant all four hooves on it to keep steady. Then for the first time since they started flying, which Cadance had no idea how long it had been, though it could really have only been a couple minutes at least, she looked around at where they were.

“Oh… Wow…” She trailed off, looking down towards the ground.

From her high vantage point, she could see they were no longer anywhere near the Crystal Empire. This was made evident by the vastly different environment that laid below them. In only the supposed few minutes they had flown, the worm had managed to make it far enough to leave the arctic circle entirely, as a large expanse of taiga stretched out underneath. The countless evergreens that made up the forest below akin to the size of grass from their view.

Cadance looked back, and was just able to see the peaks of the mountains that surrounded the empire, though the empire itself was no longer visible. If it only took a few minutes to get this far, then it should only take a few minutes to get back.

Although…

Cadance bit her lip, and looked forwards, where an almost endless expanse of blue sky laid before the two of them, only the occasional rogue cloud dotted the sky, and by now the sun was just beginning to descend from its apex. If it only took a few minutes to travel here, then it would only take a few minutes to travel anywhere, within reason of course.

Today had been exceptionally slow as well, enough for Cadance to even be out here in the first place, and while she was looking forward to training with her husband, there were other things she wanted to do as well. Specifically right now. Besides, she deserved some time off, especially after all that had happened, even if things had calmed down recently.

With that, she tapped the worm twice.

“Okay, let’s go somewhere,” She said, gazing out across the horizon, where in the distance she could see something she recognized.

Sitting far above the ground, was the distant silhouette of Cloudsdale. Cadance didn’t visit the city often, once a year at most, but she knew where it was, and while the city moved from time to time, it generally kept its position the same, close to Canterlot.

“You see that cloud over there?” Cadance asked,

The worm chirped in response.

“Go to it,” Cadance commanded as she reaffirmed her grip on the worm. “Slowly!” She added on at the last second.

With a click, the worm started to accelerate, albeit at a much slower pace this time. Cadance was able to actually stay upright as they travelled. Though after a few moments of this, one thing became apparent.

Tapping the worm again, Cadance leaned down to speak.

“Um, you can go a bit faster, just not as fast as before please.” She said,

One annoyed chitter later, they began to pick up speed, and Cadance leaned forward to keep her position. She watched as the ground below them passed by faster and faster until they were at a decently fast speed. It was far from comfortable, but she wasn’t at any risk of falling off, and it was certainly much faster than she could fly.

In only about fifteen or so minutes, the pair managed to cross quite the distance, as the once far away cloud city was now directly in front of them, which is when Cadance realized something, something bad. She looked down at the massive worm she was riding, the one that not only had a frightening appearance, but also once terrorized Pegasi for nearly three years straight in the past, not to mention based on what she had seen, the worm could probably destroy the entire city in mere moments. To simply show up and expect nothing to happen would be foolish.

Cadance grimaced, and tapped the worm on its head.

“Could you go around the city please?”

It huffed, and turned sharply to the right, almost knocking her off while giving the delicate city a wide berth as they passed it, revealing a whole new sight.

Canterlot, in all its glory, sat upon the same mountainside it always did. The pearly white spires extending a fair bit outwards and upwards, held aloft by the massive marble platform beneath. It truly was a marvel of architecture, considering it was constructed well over a few centuries ago. It was still quite the distance away, but at the worm’s speed, it would really only take a few moments to get there.

“Let’s go.” Cadance commanded.

By now the worm recognized where they were, and without any further direction, it began to fly in the direction of Equestria’s capitol. In only a minute, the pair were upon the city, flying high above it. This time Cadance wasn’t too worried about the worm’s appearance, while it had been months since they had been there, the general populous had more than enough time to get used to it, though the physical city was a bit less accommodating.

As the worm circled in the sky, Cadance stood up on its back, lifting off a moment later.

"Alright," She began, "I'm going to head down for…” She paused to think, “A bit. If you could stay up here that would be great, but if you need me then… Well I guess just come down, but if you do please try to do it quietly, we don’t need to cause another commotion, like last time.”

The worm just chirped in understanding, and with that, Cadance flipped into a dive, and began heading towards Canterlot proper.

The city approached rapidly, and soon went from a small part of her vision to nearly taking up all of it. Once she was close enough, Cadance banked to the right, and started gliding towards the largest structure in the city, Canterlot Castle. Winding around the tallest spire, she made her way towards one of the many balconies that dotted the castle. Cadance hadn’t flown around Canterlot often, but she did it enough to at least know which balconies led where.

As she came in for a landing, she got some strange looks from some of the guards atop the walls, but none of them actually went to stop or confront her, either due to her previous status or her current one. Still, no move was made against Cadance as she landed, galloping slightly as she lost speed. When it was done she stood proudly at the small feat, then looked up, where she saw the worm still circling high in the sky.

Nodding, she turned towards the glass doors that led into the castle, and she went to open them, only to catch a glimpse of her reflection. Eyes wide in surprise, she quickly combed her hooves through her wind whipped mane in an attempt to fix it, or at least make it look semi-presentable, then she went through a similar process with her tail. It was far from perfect, but it was good enough for Cadance, who then proceeded to open the doors without a second thought

Before she could walk in though, a group of passersby cut her off. A majority of them were actually griffons, but there was a pony among them, specifically one very important pony, as Princess Celestia herself walked past, leading the rest of the group down the corridor. She glanced at Cadance as she passed by, and gave her a small nod before continuing on. She just watched as the rest of the group followed for a few seconds before stopping abruptly. Then they all looked on in confusion as Princess Celestia walked backwards the entire length she had already travelled until she was face to face with Cadance.

“Cadance?” She asked, thoroughly confused,

“Hi Celestia,” She responded.

“...Good afternoon…” Princess Celestia said slowly.

There was a moment of silence as everyone there stared silently at each other.

“Uh Princess? Who is this?” One of the griffons eventually asked,

That jolted her out of her trance, and Princess Celestia quickly shook her head before answering. “Ahem. This is Princess Cadance, the new ruler of the Crystal Empire.”

“The Crystal Empire?” Several of the griffons asked at once, all of them staring at Cadance.

She gave a small wave.

Princess Celestia nudged her in the side a bit.

“Oh! Right!” Cadance realized, she then turned back to the griffons, clearing her throat, “Greetings. I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, of the Crystal Empire.” She said much more formally, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” One of the griffons responded.

Another moment of awkward silence followed, until Princess Celestia decided to break it.

“I was not informed of your visit.” She began, “Perhaps the message was lost?”

“Actually, this was supposed to be more of an… um… surprise,” Cadance answered, “So uh… Surprise…” She said, the enthusiasm quickly leaving her voice. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

“Yes, you are.” Princess Celestia said, “I’m currently entertaining these emissaries from Griffonstone.” She gestured to the several griffons beside her.

“Oh,” Cadance said, looking down slightly.

Princess Celestia gave a small sigh before turning back to the griffons. “Would it be of any issue if Princess Cadance were to join us for the rest of your visit?”

The griffons huddled together and started whispering, giving the two alicorns a moment to glance at each other. When a decision appeared to have been made, they broke apart and the lead griffon stepped forward.

“There is no problem,” He spoke, “Though we would like to hear more about this… Crystal Empire.”

Cadance immediately looked towards Princess Celestia, who just shrugged and said, “Let us continue then shall we?”

Gulping, Cadance followed the group as they resumed making their way through the castle. Thankfully she did at least some research into her own country, and was able to accurately answer most of the questions the griffons had, all the while dutifully dodging ones she didn’t know the answer to, or ones that were too intrusive for her liking. By the end of it she was pretty proud of herself, and by the looks of it so was Princess Celestia.

It wasn’t until they were in the castle gardens that she asked Cadance her own question.

“I have been meaning to ask. How did you get here? Surely a surprise visit such as this one isn’t worth over a day’s worth of train travel is it?”

“Yeah, that doesn’t seem very logical.” One of the griffons piped up.

“You’re right,” Cadance answered, “I actually got here thanks to the worm.”

A very confused moment of silence followed.

“The worm?” Another griffon asked,

“It’s here?” Princess Celestia asked, slightly more wide eyed than usual.

“Yeah, he’s just up there.” Cadance said, pointing upwards.

They all looked up, where the distant purple form of the worm could be seen circling the sky above the city, a few clouds seemed to have gathered passively in the time they spent, and while it was nowhere near precipitating, it certainly looked odd. All of the griffons looked at it with varying levels of confusion, with some not caring while one particular one looked like he had just seen a ghost.

They huddled together again, and spent a much longer time discussing something before coming to a decision. The lead griffon stepped forward once more, but this time looking a slight bit frazzled.

“We thank you for your time,” He said quickly, “But it appears that we are done here.”

“Ah.” Princess Celestia responded, “Well should you want to stay a bit longer we could-”

“It is fine.” The griffon interrupted, “We will see ourselves out.”

And with that, the entire group of griffons quickly left the gardens, leaving both princesses in a state of confusion.

“Oh no…” Cadance was the first to speak, “I didn’t mess up did I?” She asked worriedly,

“No, you did exceptionally well actually. It’s just…” Princess Celestia sighed, her forced smile dropping, “What are the chances?”

“Chances of what?”

“Of you coming on the same day as the griffons.” Another sigh, “I fear that our relations with them have just soured.”

“How?”

“Come now, do I really have to answer that?” Princess Celestia asked, gesturing upwards.

Cadance looked at her, then up at the worm, then back at her. “You might have to yeah.”

With one last sigh, Princess Celestia began to explain. “A thousand years ago the worm didn’t just terrorize Pegasi, it was a menace to all flight capable species. There’s no doubt that includes the griffons. Here is the thing though, Pegasi make up only a third of all ponies, so the scars of the past can only go so deep. The griffons though, their entire population is flight capable.”

Cadance’s face dropped, but Princess Celestia continued.

“And what do you think might happen when they find out we have control over something that threatens their entire way of life?” She finished by asking.

“Oh,” Was all Cadance responded with, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,”

“Why?”

“Because this incident is entirely blameless,” Princess Celestia said, chuckling dryly, “Which is what makes it so infuriating. There is nothing to blame except chance, and that never goes well.”

“So what do we do?” Cadance asked,

“For now…” Princess Celestia said, “I am going to finish the day, then I am going to try and find out just how much damage was dealt.”

“Okay, but what should I do?”

“Hmm, I recommend you actually plan out visits, because while surprises can be nice, they can lead to things like this.”

“Oh.”

“It’s nice to see you by the way,” Princess Celestia said, dropping her regal tone.

“It’s nice to see you too.” Cadance replied,

They hugged for a moment.

“I don’t suppose you have time to talk do you?” Cadance asked,

“Not really no, I have quite the schedule today, and even with the previous meeting cut short, it doesn’t add much, but we can walk and talk for a bit, unless of course it’s something important.” Princess Celestia said as she began to walk.

Cadance quickly trotted up to her and matched her speed, “No it’s nothing important, I just thought it was a good idea to stop by and talk, and maybe do some other things while I’m here.”

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow, “I’m surprised you have time for a trip like this. I hardly get an hour of free time on a good day.”

“Well the Crystal Empire is a lot smaller than Equestria,” Cadance said, chuckling a bit, “That and I got here pretty fast.”

“You said you came here on the worm right? How long did it take you two?”

Cadance furrowed her brow, counting up the time that was spent travelling.

“About twenty minutes. At least.” She answered,

Princess Celestia slowed to a near stop as they re-entered the castle, “You’re kidding.”

“No, and the worm could probably do it even faster.”

“Really?”

“If I wasn’t with him…” Cadance paused to think again, “Then he could probably make the trip in only five minutes.”

“Cadance,” Princess Celestia began, “That’s faster than several forms of teleportation.”

“You’re joking,” This time Cadance was at a loss.

“Sigil based teleports take time to activate, ranging from an hour to about a minute at least.” Princess Celestia explained, “How does it not break the sound barrier every time it flies?”

“I think he does,” Cadance answered, “He just doesn't produce enough sound to… you know. Have you noticed how quietly he can fly?”

“Hardly,” Princess Celestia said, laughing at her own joke a bit, “If it weren’t for its size, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it living in the castle,”

“He can change his size you know,”

“I doubt it would want to stay that way for long though.”

Cadance nodded, but otherwise stayed silent as they continued down one of the many corridors in the castle. The conversation lulled a bit, and a few moments were spent in silent thought.

“How is Shining Armor?” Princess Celestia asked, “You know I have been having trouble finding a replacement for him.”

Cadance laughed, “He is one of a kind isn’t he? But he’s fine, at least I hope so, adjusting to life in the empire isn’t easy for either of us. I think we both miss our old lives here.”

Princess Celestia smirked, “Well if you have the time and transport…”

“I don’t think he’s going to ride the worm anytime soon,” Cadance said with a smile, “But he’s warming up to him, though it is taking a while.”

“Mmm, well I don’t blame him, first impressions are worth a lot.”

“What do you mean?”

Princess Celestia gave a dry chuckle, “My first impression of the worm was as a means to my end, but yours was as a savior, and as such our views on it are very different. I’m sure you remember Shining Armor’s first impression of the worm…”

Cadance shuddered, recalling what happened “I see.”

“But that will all change in due time. I know I’ve changed a lot already.”

“Yeah…”

They turned a corner, and by now Cadance recognized where they were headed, which meant they really only had a few minutes left to talk.

“So what else have you been doing as of late?” Princess Celestia asked first, “I trust that the monotonous work of running a country hasn’t turned you into somepony like me yet has it?”

“No, not yet.” Cadance said with a laugh, “But other than researching the Crystal Empire and its culture there hasn’t been much to do…” She paused for a moment, “Oh! I started training with Shining Armor.”

“Training?” Princess Celestia asked, slowing a bit.

“Yeah, we’ve been going over magic combat and combat magic.” Cadance said, frowning slightly at the accidental palindrome.

“Combat magic?” Princess Celestia stopped in the middle of the hallway, prompting Cadance to do the same. “I can’t say that I disapprove, but do you really believe it is necessary?”

“Definitely,” Cadance answered, “After what happened with the changelings, and then that encounter with Sombra, I figured I should at least know how to defend myself. I don’t want to be the damsel in distress anymore.”

Princess Celestia nodded, “But if you aren’t the damsel in distress, then what of your knight in shining armor?” She asked with a smirk.

Cadance snorted with laughter, “I already have him, and the ring to prove it. Besides, I don’t see why we both can’t be fighters.”

Smiling, Princess Celestia began walking again, “So tell me, what part of magic combat are you most fond of?”

“Oh…” Cadance said, picking up her pace to keep up with Princess Celestia, “We were going to go over our first combat spell today, but I’m not very good with most spells. Pure magic fighting is fun, but I’ve really been enjoying our sparring matches with swords.”

“Sword fighting huh?” Princess Celestia said, putting a hoof to her chin, “I could see that,” She nodded.

They both stopped, as the corridor ended in a pair of double doors, ones that led to the throne room, where the afternoon day court would be held.

“Well, it was good to talk with you, Cadance, and I’m sorry that it had to be so short. You should definitely visit again sometime, though some forewarning would be nice.”

“For sure.” She responded,

“Now, before I go, tell me, what are you going to do next?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Oooh…” Cadance began, thinking hard, she gazed around the corridor for a moment, “I… am going to get a donut.” She finished.

“Excellent choice,” Princess Celestia said with a smile, “Goodbye Cadance,”

“Goodbye Celestia,”

And with that, she passed through the doors into the throne room, presumably to begin court, leaving Cadance to her own devices. She took another quick look around the hallway, reminiscing about all the time she had lived here before letting out a sigh. She could really go for that donut about now.

Thankfully that was already the plan, and all Cadance needed to do was leave the castle and go get it. The quickest way to do so was actually going out through the throne room, but she decided against it, mainly due to the fact that it would be awkward to see Princess Celestia again right after they said their goodbyes. So Cadance turned around, more in favor of taking the long way out, besides, it gave her more time to take in the sights of her old home.

Unsurprisingly, the streets of Canterlot remained the same as the last time, after all it wasn’t like anything major could change in only a few months. Cadance had spent a lot of time pony watching back when she lived here, and as such she could recognize several recurring bystanders as she walked past. She paid them little mind however, which could not be said on the opposite end.

A lot of ponies ended up staring at Cadance, probably for the same reason the guards from earlier were looking at her the way they were. News spread fast, and it made her feel more like a stranger than anything else, especially since only a short time ago she would’ve easily been recognized as their princess, if not just another citizen.

Cadance tried to put that in the back of her mind though, ignoring the looks she was getting, and focusing more on the task ahead of her. At least until a shadow fell over her, prompting nearly everypony around to stare. Looking up as well, she was only met with a mass of purple.

“Oh! It’s you,” She greeted the worm,

It chirped back to her.

Looking around at all the onlookers, Cadance turned back up towards the worm.

“Come down here, and…” She lowered her voice a bit as the worm descended, “Transform please.”

It clicked once, and then burst into flames, causing quite a few of their viewers to step back. A moment later the worm landed heavily on the cobblestone road, its hooves clacking loudly. The entire display probably caused a lot more ponies to stare, but an odd looking pony was much less eye-catching than a gigantic floating worm, at least when they started moving again.

“Okay,” Cadance continued, “Why did you come down?” She asked,

“Hungry,” Was all the worm responded with,

“Ah,” Cadance nodded, “Well so am I. Come, let’s eat together.” She said, walking forward again, it wasn’t like she was going to just feed the worm in the middle of public, even if it only looked like an overly long hug.

The worm huffed slightly, but eventually began following, quickly catching up to Cadance before walking alongside her. Together they made it the rest of the way to the donut shop without much issue, though some staring persisted. Cadance was ready to put it all behind her, both figuratively and literally as they entered Donut Joe’s, it was a place that she frequented a lot back when she lived here.

That meant it wasn’t much of a surprise when she was recognized.

“Cadance!?” Donut Joe asked, obviously surprised, causing quite a few other patrons to turn and look.

“Uh… Hey.” She responded, giving a small wave.

Donut Joe quickly shook his head, “Um, long time no see. How have you been? What's going on? Who is…" He trailed off as the worm entered the establishment.

Cadance looked towards the worm as well, and started to regret her decision to bring it in with her.

"This is…" She thought on how to answer for a moment, "My companion. Don't worry about him."

"Him?" Donut Joe asked, looking confused.

“...Yes,” Cadance answered, tilting her head, she then looked at the worm, and noticed that despite the several ‘additions’, it had a rather feminine figure in that form. “...Him.” She affirmed.

“Well… Alright then.” Donut Joe didn’t press any further, “So what’ll you have? The usual?”

“Oh a pink frosted sprinkled donut? Yes please.” Cadance readily answered, “Though, do you have anything new?”

“As a matter of fact we do. A couple new flavours of jelly have been added to our collection of jelly donuts, including an apple jelly straight from Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville. And of course your choice of frosting, glaze, and sprinkles.”

Cadance’s face twitched slightly at the mention of Ponyville, but she didn’t dwell on it for long.

“Uh, sure I’ll try the apple jelly with a cinnamon glaze, and could I get a cream filled donut with a chocolate glaze? And no sprinkles on either please.”

“Absolutely,” Donut Joe said with a smile as he began moving behind the counter, “Coming right up,”

It was then that the worm nudged Cadance, almost causing her to fall over. It trilled slightly.

“Actually,” Cadance began after regaining her footing, and a miffed look towards the worm, “Could I get two of each?”

Donut Joe paused for a moment, “Sure, do you want them in a box then?” He asked as he doubled back to collect a few more pastries.

“Yes please.”

“That’ll be just a moment then.”

Cadance moved off to the side as she watched him work, with the worm soon following. With practiced efficiency Donut Joe made quick work of the order, managing to finish it in only a few moments. From filling each donut to glazing them, then finally boxing them up and setting them on the counter.

“That’ll be twelve bits.”

“Oh!” Cadance realized, and she gave a sheepish grin as she bit her lip slightly. “I uh… forgot to bring money.”

Donut Joe gave her a long look before sighing, he put his hoof to his face. “Ughhh…, come on Cadance. Fine, it’s on the house, but only because it’s been a while, and it’s not like I can just unmake these donuts.” He slid the box forward.

“Oh!” Cadance repeated herself, “Thank you!”

“Just enjoy them before I change my mind, and please try not to make a habit of it.”

Cadance quickly grabbed the half dozen donuts, and with another ‘thank you’, she was on her way to one of the many booths in the shop, with the worm following closely behind. She ended up choosing one of the more secluded booths on the opposite side of the room, though it was still up next to a window. Cadance set the box on the table and sat down, then gestured for the worm to do the same.

“Sit,” She commanded,

The worm sat.

Cadance rolled her eyes, “In the booth silly,”

With a huff, the worm stood up and began awkwardly trying to slide into the booth.

“Wait.” Cadance said, “No spines, we don’t want to have to owe Joe much more do we?”

The worm gave her a long look, before stepping back out of the booth to transform.

“And try not to make it too flashy please, I don’t want to attract any more attention.” Cadance added on, looking past the worm, where they were already getting looks from half the restaurant.

It sighed, then stood up straight supposedly to concentrate, and eventually the spines running along its body started to fizzle and smoke, then slowly evaporate away, leaving only a smooth carapace behind, which was hardly distinguishable from a normal coat, save for a slight sheen.

Cadance smiled, and gestured for the worm to sit down again, “There we go, now we don’t have to worry about where you sit.”

“Hungry,” Was all the worm said as it shuffled into the booth, its large tail drooping over the side of the seat.

“Yes I know, but that’s why we came here, now here.” Cadance said, opening up the box and passing over one of the donuts. “Try one of these.”

The worm just stared at the donut on the table, while Cadance grabbed one of her own. She took a small bite as she watched the worm lean down to try and pick up its own, with its mouth.

“With your-” Cadance stopped to cover her mouth so she didn’t spray crumbs everywhere, and the message didn’t appear to make it through either.

Rather gingerly, the worm picked up the donut in its mandibles, then leaned back to try and eat it. It went about as well as you would expect, considering the donut was a lot more fragile than what the worm normally ate. A shower of crumbs and chunks fell to the table and floor below, causing Cadance to cringe slightly, more at the loss of the confection rather than the mess.

She quickly finished chewing and swallowed, “Well… Better a mess than property damage I guess.”

She looked back up to the worm and watched as it licked what little was left of the donut from its lips. It was hard to imagine that any of it got into its mouth, but apparently some did.

“Hungry.” It said once more.

Cadance grimaced, she didn’t want another donut to go to waste, but she did get six of them for a reason.

“Here.” She said, setting another donut on the table, an apple cinnamon one. “But eat it with your hooves this time, like this,” Cadance demonstrated by clearly picking up her donut again and slowly bringing it to her mouth, where she took another bite.

The worm tilted its head, but nonetheless brought one of its hooves up over the table. It moved it up and down as a test, then set it over the donut, pressing into it slightly. Cadance giggled as the worm lifted up the donut, only for the glaze to give way, causing it to fall back onto the table. The worm just stared at its now glaze covered hoof for a moment, before giving it a lick.

“Hold your hoof out,” Cadance said with a smile.

The worm did so, and Cadance tilted its hoof upwards, where she then set the slightly smooshed donut onto it so that the worm could actually hold it.

“There.” She concluded, satisfied with her work.

The worm stared at the donut in its hoof for a moment, then slowly brought it up to its mouth, where it promptly shoved the whole thing into. There weren’t as many crumbs this time, though it was still pretty messy. A lot more of the donut was actually consumed this time, and it appeared that the worm liked it, though it was hard for Cadance to tell exactly.

It spent a few moments licking its chops to get all of the residual glaze, then the worm looked at Cadance.

“Hungry,”

Her smile dropped a bit, though she knew there was no way that two donuts could feed such a massive creature, Cadance hoped it would at least tide it over for a little bit.

“Okay fine,” She relented, “Come here.”

They both stepped out of the booth, and quickly met in the middle, where they promptly hugged. Cadance grimaced, normally she wasn’t one to forgo public affection, in fact she encouraged it sometimes, but this time felt a little more awkward considering how it looked versus what was actually going on.

Cue more odd looks from the other patrons.

Cadance quickly brushed them to the side again, then she pulled away from the worm as she felt it finish.

“Alright, let’s get going.” She said,

Collecting the rest of the donuts in the box, Cadance made sure to wipe the pile of crumbs off the table and into a napkin to throw away, though a small pile on the floor would remain. She then placed the donut box on her back, and began walking out of the restaurant, giving a quick wave goodbye to Joe on the way out.

The worm just followed her every move, and as they both exited the restaurant Cadance looked up towards the sky and sighed. This trip was becoming less and less like she imagined by the second. She then turned to the worm.

“I don’t suppose there’s anywhere you would want to go while we’re out here is there?” She asked,

The worm tilted its head.

“You know, someplace you’ve been before, a home?” Cadance reiterated.

Pausing, the worm sat there for a moment in thought, then it chirped loudly.

“Follow.” It spoke, and it jumped into the air.

“Oh!” Cadance said, she grabbed the box from her back and flared her wings, lifting off a few moments later.

Rising steadily, she looked at the worm as it flew above her, which was certainly a strange sight. Considering it didn’t have any wings, it quite literally stepped through the air, though the action was more akin to a combination of both trotting and swimming. Together the two rose out of the city and into the sky, but not before Cadance grabbed another donut to munch on.

It was only when they were level with the clouds that the worm transformed, in a flash of purple flame, it was back to its signature massive form. Quickly finishing off the rest of the donut, Cadance landed on the worm’s back.

“Okay,” She began, mouth half full, she took a moment to swallow. “Where are we going?”

The worm chirped and clicked, then spoke.

“Home.”

Cadance tilted her head in confusion for a moment.

“The Crystal Empire?” She wondered,

Instead of answering, the worm just jerked forward, knocking her off balance and causing her to drop the donut box. Reacting quickly, Cadance was able to catch it before they lost the donuts forever.

“Ooph-Hey!” She said, irritated.

The worm didn’t respond, so Cadance just rolled her eyes and held on tighter. They began to bob up and down, picking up speed, and soon enough the pair were out of Canterlot airspace, heading in the opposite direction of the Crystal Empire.

By the time the sun was about half way down from the sky, Cadance could see that they had reached their destination. There, standing tall among the clouds, completely alone and desolate, was a single mountain. Only the tips of its craggy peaks had snow, and several long dead trees dotted its face. The entire place just screamed foreboding, but considering who inhabited it long ago, it made sense.

“It looks um… Nice?” Cadance said as they circled the mountain a few times. She gazed across the landscape surrounding it, which was blanketed with fog. “The view is certainly… something.”

The worm just grunted, and banked inwards, heading towards the mountain. Cadance held on, but she couldn’t shake her sense of unease, they probably weren’t even in Equestria anymore. As they neared the tallest peak, the mouth of a cave came into view, which the worm soon turned towards.

There weren’t any places to land outside, seeing as the cave was literally on the side of the mountain, which meant it was a long and bumpy way down. Cadance gulped at the sight, and flexed her wings a few times just in case. They slowed down near the entrance, and the worm carefully threaded its head into and slithered the rest of the way in. Cadance had to duck in order to avoid the jagged ceiling, but once that was cleared she was able to stand up fully on the worm’s back.

They came to a stop, and she jumped to the cave floor.

“So this is where you lived?” Cadance asked, barely noticing her breath in the darkness.

The worm clicked,

“It’s fitting…” Cadance continued, squinting in the darkness, she then lit up her horn to see better.

She could hear the worm shifting around behind her, and a bit more light soon entered the cave as the entrance was unblocked. A few small snow drifts were dusted around the immediate area of the entrance, and a slight breeze shifted them as it passed over. Cadance shivered as it did the same to her, it was cold here, empire cold, but in the cave there was no sun nor heart to warm them up.

“I don’t suppose there’s anything specific you want to show me?” She asked, her breath nearly opaque in the light.

The worm just clicked again, and Cadance saw its eyes flash in the dark, but then it turned away, and began slithering even deeper into the cave. Grimacing, she followed alongside the part of the worm she could see. It started to get tighter, and as the walls constricted she was barely able to walk without touching either the wall or the worm, Cadance chose the worm, considering it was a whole lot warmer than the wall. That allowed her to notice the scratches in the stone.

What were once probably smooth cave walls were now marred and scored with countless lines, most likely created by the repeated movements of the worm so long ago. Cadance was just glad the worm could sheath its spines now, though they’ve had to repair parts of the castle a few times now due to some incidents. Luckily none of them were very major, which could not be said about the cave, Cadance almost tripped a few times due to the sheer unevenness of the floor, and she had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on anything particularly jagged or sharp.

Thankfully the cave began to open up again, which meant that the severe damage to the floor began to lessen, allowing Cadance to focus on what she could see, or more accurately what she couldn’t see. Increasing the intensity of her light, more and more of the cave became visible, the rough grey stone expanding further outwards, with stalactites and stalagmites barely visible on the ceiling and outskirts of the light respectively, but other than that it was rather empty. Turning around, Cadance was able to see the mass of purple that was the worm as it fully entered the room, its dimly lit eyes revealing where its head was as it coiled up in the cavern.

“Homey,” She described, giving another quick glance at all that was visible, “I guess you don’t have much use for most things do you?”

The worm chirped in response.

Cadance gave it a nod, then she turned back around to inspect the cave further. Following the more ‘trafficked’ areas of the cave, she noted that some of the walls were untouched, while others were cleared away, made evident by the remaining rubble of stalactites and stalagmites. Several frozen streams lined the walls, most of which appeared to have formed after the worm had left, seeing as how they followed the scratches. Speaking of the scratches, near one of the walls the ones on the floor just stopped, yet the wall itself was heavily scratched.

Tilting her head, Cadance took a step back, making sure to get the entire wall in the light, which only served to confuse her further. The lines weren’t just horizontal, like the ones on almost every other wall that was marred. There were definite shapes and designs etched into the wall. Cadance’s eyes widened as she looked at the entirety of the crudely carved mural.

It was hard to make out, but right in the center of the wall was a figure, it had four legs, what looked like wings on its back, along with a horn on its head, and what was maybe a flowing mane. Cadance squinted, there weren’t any finer details, but it looked like the whole figure was radiating… something, as a multitude of lines emanated out from it.

“Did you make this?” Cadance asked, not looking away from the carving.

She heard the worm shift a bit, before letting out a long trill.

“Someone you knew?”

Another trill, pitched a bit higher.

Cadance took another step back and increased her light even further, however any further inspection of the wall was interrupted as something glinted off to the side, catching her attention. Moving over to the other side of the cave, a lot more glints flashed in the light, and as Cadance moved towards them, an absolutely massive pile of gold coins came into view.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, gazing over the immense wealth in front of her, “I didn’t take you for a collector of uh… gold.”

The worm let out a puzzled chirp, causing Cadance to become confused as well.

That statement didn’t make much sense, in all their time together the worm never collected anything, much less gold. Frowning, Cadance looked down at the floor, and noticed more scratches, only these ones were different.

“You haven’t been here in over a thousand years right?” She asked,

The worm gave a chirp of affirmation.

“And in that time,” She continued, staring at the scratches on the floor, which were too short and uniform to be the worm’s. “Do you think anything else could have lived here?”

The worm remained silent, while Cadance glanced up and around the cave once more, among the countless pieces of evidence of the worm there were some ‘newer’ things. Things such as pools of partially frozen water, inaccurate scratch marks, and a slight smoke residue on the ceiling. A sense of unease descended upon her, and she turned around to look at the gold pile again.

A breeze flowed throughout the cavern, causing every hair on Cadance’s body to stand up, not because it was cold, but because it was warm. The worm went rigid, and on the edge of her vision Cadance could see its spines begin to stick out. They both slowly turned towards the entrance to the cave, and waited.

Another wave of warm air blew through, and it smelled acidic, or smokey.

“Oh I hope that’s not what I think it is…” Cadance said quietly, then she dimmed the light from her horn, causing most of the cave to fall into darkness.

The worm clicked a few times, then shifted slightly in the dark.

Again, hot air was forced through the room, and Cadance felt her eyes begin to tear up because of it. Blinking them away, she lowered her stance and got ready to move.

It was getting hotter, not enough to be uncomfortable, but it was a stark difference from the freezing cold they were just in.

A breathe in, a breathe out.

Cadance heard small drops of water fall around her, and soon enough she felt a couple land on her.

A breathe in, a breathe out.

She found herself alternating against whatever was approaching, it would inhale, and Cadance would hold her breath, then it would exhale, and she would inhale. The cycle continued all the while the temperature was increasing. The worm made no noise, seeming to not even breathe as it remained absolutely still.

A breathe in, a breathe out.

Orange light flickered at the entrance of the cavern, before disappearing from sight.

A breathe in, a breathe out.

Again, brighter, closer.

A breathe in, a breathe out.

Cadance held her breath as the light danced ever closer.

Then it stopped, just like that. Leaving them both waiting anxiously. Cadance squinted in the darkness, staring at the cave entrance, until she heard a clicking, which did not come from the worm. Eyes wide, she quickly extinguished what little light was coming from her horn, leaving them in complete darkness, save for the slight glow from the worm’s eyes. It then squinted, leaving only two small slits in the dark.

Only the rapid drops of water filled the cave, and they both stayed alert for any difference.

A step, and a series of taps, Cadance’s ears flicked towards the noise. Another step, along with the same set of taps, then the sound of something sliding across stone. The water droplets began to soak several parts of her, but Cadance didn’t dare move or make a sound. There was another step, which was accompanied by the taps once more, they almost sounded like claws against stone.

It shifted once more, the noise coming eerily close to the entrance. It stepped two more times, then stopped, just like the light, and there was no more noise aside from the cacophony of water dripping.

A few seconds passed, then an orange light illuminated the cavern. Cadance flinched slightly at the sudden change, then she looked for the source. Her eyes travelled up, and up, and up, until they reached the ceiling of the cave, where the flame filled mouth of the fully grown black dragon that had entered the cave stood.

Before Cadance could even react, the worm let out a screech and lunged towards the dragon. It let out a roar, a large bout of flame immediately melting any nearby ice. Undeterred, the worm flew through the fire, slamming into the dragon and crashing into the wall. The entire room shook, and several stalactites came loose, shattering on the floor around Cadance. This jolted her into action.

“Wait!” She shouted in vain, then she moved over to the side to try and get out of the way.

The dragon shook its head from the impact, then it hissed and went to grab the worm’s mandibles around its neck. It couldn’t pry them apart, so instead the dragon twisted around and slammed the worm into the floor, stepping on it to get better leverage. The worm growled, its tail lashing across the floor before whipping forward, striking the dragon in the back. It howled, flames washing across the ceiling before it raked its claws against the worm’s head, which only served to mark its chitinous armor.

Still, the worm let go and tried to squirm out from underneath the dragon, though it had other plans. It reached down and grabbed the worm’s mandibles, then with one swift motion, it turned and threw the worm across the cave. Cadance ducked as it smashed into the wall with the carving, causing the entire cave to shake once more and a large crack to form across the wall.

“No!” She exclaimed, before quickly moving out of the way of a few more falling stalactites. “Stop!”

The worm slowly got up, shaking its head to rid itself of any disorientation. From the other side of the cave the dragon puffed a few times, the orange light casting long shadows all around them. Then the worm lit itself up in a blaze, completely eliminating them as it charged forwards once more. The dragon moved to react, but the worm was faster, it swung to the side, flying around the dragon as it wrapped its body around it like a snake. The dragon tried to roar, but it was cut short as the worm began to constrict, its flaming spikes clearly grinding into the dragon’s scales.

Unaffected by the fire, the dragon brought its head down and bit into the worm’s neck as hard as it could, desperately trying to free itself. Together they thrashed around, before falling to the floor, sending another small quake throughout the room, though nothing else immediately broke. Cadance frantically looked around as the fight was quickly coming to a close, she was not expecting their visit to the cave to turn into such a violent battle. In only a few short moments, what was once a relatively clean cave was now littered with rubble and puddles, with the mural ruined and the gold pile scattered. Eventually she looked towards the two fighters, and watched as the worm squeezed the struggling dragon even tighter.

She drew in a breath, then shouted.

"STOP!"

The yell echoed throughout the cave, and a final stalactite smashed down next to Cadance, but she didn’t care. At her command the worm stopped, and surprisingly so did the dragon, both of them lay still as their flames began to flicker out, but before darkness could fall Cadance lit her horn again. She stared at the two, as they did her, the worm still coiled around the dragon’s body. Then the dragon reared back with what little breath it could, and tried to spew fire at Cadance.

“Ah!” She yelped, flinching, but only a wave of hot air passed over her.

Opening her eyes, Cadance was met with the sight of the worm constricting the dragon even tighter, it remained there, open-mouthed, struggling just to breathe. Cadance quickly summoned a shield around her, then spoke again.

“Let him breathe.” She commanded,

The worm relented ever slightly, allowing the dragon to suck in a breath. It then responded by blowing fire all around Cadance, which was thankfully blocked by the shield. Steam rose from the puddles surrounding her, and she tried her best to look calm and unaffected.

“Well?” She asked,

“It’s her thank you very much,” The dragon retorted, struggling against the worm again, but it held strong.

Cadance paused for a moment, then responded, “Sorry.”

“Grah!” The dragon exclaimed as she twisted around unsuccessfully, her tail lashing around behind them. “Release me!” She demanded.

“Are you going to attack us again?” Cadance asked, an eyebrow raised.

The dragon remained silent.

“Speaking of…” Cadance continued, “Why did you attack us in the first place?”

“You’re in my cave!” The dragon grunted, “What did you expect?”

“Well sorry.” Cadance responded, exasperated, “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

“That’s what they all say!” The dragon said, jerking back and forth, “But I know you’re really here to take my hoard. Now let me go!”

“No really. We’re only here because this is where he lived a long time ago.” Cadance gestured to the worm, “We didn’t even know this place was occupied until we saw your hoard. Even then we weren’t going to take anything.”

The dragon calmed slightly at the explanation, but she still resisted, “Well who am I to interrupt your little homecoming?” She said sarcastically.

Cadance rolled her eyes. “In fact, the only thing worth taking for us was the carving on the wall, but…” She turned to look at it, right as it lost all structural integrity, causing it to collapse into a pile of rubble. “Now it’s ruined.”

“I always wondered what that was.” The dragon murmured, also looking at where the mural once was, then she snapped back to Cadance, “Well it’s gone now, so will you please get out of my cave?”

She sighed, disheartened, “Alright, okay. Release her please.” She said, looking at the floor.

The worm chittered, then slowly relaxed, its body unwinding from the dragon. She shoved one of the curls off of her, then got up. Cadance was then able to see the injuries that both of them had sustained during the fight. Both had scars marking their natural armor, and while none of them appeared too bad, there were some other notable injuries. Several gashes ran across the worm’s head, which had thankfully missed its eyes, but they still bled slightly. Blood openly flowed from its neck where the dragon had bitten it, however Cadance wasn’t too worried about the sight, seeing as the worm had recovered from a lot worse before.

The dragon, though, seemed to have gotten the shorter end of the stick. Scratches lined her black scales nearly from head to tail, some of which actively bled. As she stood up fully though, two large marks became visible on each side of her neck, every scale in the area was crushed, and blood seeped from the wounds. Cadance watched as the dragon rubbed the area with her claws, then she stopped and grabbed her shoulder, nursing her arm as she walked passed. Cadance’s eyes lingered on the dragon, and she spied a large puncture wound on her back, along with the fact that her wing membrane was shredded.

“Sorry for…” Cadance grimaced, “You know… attacking you.”

The dragon turned her head, growling, “Just leave.” She snarled.

Cadance didn’t respond, but she did turn to the worm, “Come on,” She whispered before moving towards the exit.

The worm gave a soft chirp, then it gave one last look at the dragon before following Cadance out of the cavern. Together they made their way back through the tight corridor, before exiting the cave entirely. Apparently a lot of heat had escaped before them, as the entire entrance was slick with runoff, though Cadance paid little mind to that. She flared her wings and took off, with the worm lifting off right behind her.

“What do you say we head home? Our current home.” She clarified.

The worm just chittered.

“You’re right,” Cadance replied, carefully setting down on the worm’s back, making sure to avoid its wounds. “We have been away a while.”

Before they could begin moving again, a rumbling sound came from behind them. Confused, they both turned to see the cave entrance shaking, or more the entire mountain top shaking. A cascade of loose stones flowed in between the indents of the mountain face, and pretty soon larger rocks and boulders began to break loose. Apparently the fight caused more damage than they thought, as the entire cave collapsed behind them, a massive rockslide following in its wake.

A muffled roar was heard.

“Time to go!” Cadance said quickly.

The worm agreed, seeing as it sped off without a moment’s notice.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I'm back baby! Again!
Sorry for the long wait, I just was not expecting the "Summer Stagnation". But now that it's fall again, the school year has started, and here I am saying hello from University! How exciting is that?

Anyway.

It occurred to me while writing this chapter that not much is known about Cadance's history. Other than literally a few sentences in an obscure chapter-book, there wasn't much to go on. The only reason I'm saying this is because a large part of this chapter was actually cut out, and replaced with the dragon fight. Originally I had them go to Cadance's home, and meet her parents, but I had issues with fitting it into the narrative, and it's not like it's very important to the narrative either, so there. I'm going to try and keep up a schedule now, considering I'm back in my "element", meaning I can write uninterrupted.

Expect more chapters, but I wouldn't exactly say soon.

Chapter 12: History

“Aaaaand… done!” Cadance announced to herself, closing the large book that sat on the desk, “That’s section four done, which leaves just sections five and six.”

Moving the book over to the side, where a few more sat, Cadance then looked at the other side of the desk, where a much larger pile of books was.

“Getting there…” She said, her smile faltering a bit, but it soon returned as she scribbled some more notes into her notebook.

Gathering information about the Crystal Empire was hard, with almost no outside sources, and no previous research projects, every piece of info had to come from the empire itself. That didn’t mean it was inaccurate, but since Cadance was not the most studious of ponies, that made it all the more difficult to find and compile everything.

She had started by dividing everything into different categories, ranging from culture to tradition to even differences in language, everything was important to know in order for her to continue to rule the empire. Currently she was working on history, and thanks to a good recommendation from Twilight, Cadance was able to finish that section quickly.

A knock on the door resounded throughout the bedroom, eventually reaching the study and interrupting her thought process.

“Come in!” Cadance called out, not taking her eyes off her notebook.

The sound of the crystal doors opening along with hurried steps came from the bedroom, then a crystal pony appeared in the doorway to the study.

“Your majesty,” The advisor bowed, “I’m just here to remind you that the welcoming committee is scheduled to arrive soon, and that your appointment with the stylist is in an hour.”

“Oh, thank you very much.” Cadance replied, turning to look at her, “I’ll be out in just a moment.”

The advisor nodded, bowed again, then quickly scuttled back out of the chambers.

“Right,” Cadance said to herself, looking back towards the finished pile of books on the desk, “I’d better put you all away.”

The books gave no response as they were lifted in her magic, then she floated them over to one of the bookcases at the other end of the study.

“Let’s see…”

Sliding several books over to the side, she cleared enough space on the shelf to slot her own books in for later. However as she did so, a slight clicking noise came from behind the shelf. Confused, Cadance leaned down to see what happened.

“Oh no.”

A crack had appeared in the back of the bookshelf, running along the crystal surface, and as she pulled the books back out she was able to see it had even spread to the shelf below. From the looks of it the structural integrity of the whole bookcase was now questionable at best, though Cadance was in no way a crystal expert, at least not yet anyway. Still, it would have to be replaced soon, lest she want to store her books in a pile of shards.

She ran her hoof along the surface, and a loose chip was pushed back, causing it to fall out the back. She frowned, that shouldn’t be possible, for the bookshelf was flush with the wall, or at least it should be. Pulling away and looking at the side, Cadance reaffirmed that there was little to no space between the bookcase and the wall, yet there was some behind it. Was there something behind this bookcase?

Their suite already had one secret compartment, what are the chances of another? Though Cadance stopped herself from getting her hopes too high, as she got a detailed look at the floor plans of the suite when it was retrofitted, and there was no space for an entire secret room.

With that in mind she stepped back, then carefully pulled the bookshelf away in her magic, making sure not to scratch the floor, she’d leave that to the worm. When there was just enough space for her to walk behind it easily, she stopped, then moved around to see what was behind it. Cadance had expected another hidden storage space, with possibly a few secret things stowed away, or maybe just a hole in the wall that was meant to be covered up. What she did not expect was the unlit, narrow corridor that led away from the study.

She gasped, her hopes quickly rising, “Secret room!” She exclaimed,

Not wanting to waste another moment, Cadance grabbed a crystal lantern from the wall and delved into the tunnel. It was rather tight, seeing as it was hidden between the walls, and she found herself pulling her wings closer to avoid rubbing them against the sides. Eventually though, the tunnel ended, leaving Cadance in a dark, musty room, which was certainly odd for the empire. That must’ve meant that something uncommon was kept here.

Her smile only growing, Cadance brought the lantern forward to illuminate the whole room.

Newly disturbed dust lingered in the air, which made the fact that everything else was covered in it all the more obvious. Towards one side of the room were several bookshelves, though they were far from filled, with books only lining about a third of the space, and only another quarter occupied by several jars or containers of some sort. On the other side of the room, a large desk sat, adorned with several mysterious artifacts, at least from what Cadance could tell, and at the end of the room, there were a couple larger items, along with a large discolored panel on the wall.

Seeing as how she saw the bookcases first, it was the first thing Cadance went to inspect. However any hopes of finding and reading some forbidden secrets were soon lost as nothing was comprehensible in the slightest. From what little books that did have text on their spines at least, the language was completely alien, and to Cadance it just looked like a bunch of strange symbols. The other contents of the bookshelf weren’t much better. Several jars were simply empty, and most of them were unlabeled, with those that were being written in the same language as before.

Except for one.

Moving past all the mystery materials or specimens, Cadance instead chose to focus on one particular jar, seeing as how she could actually read it. “Swammwyrm”, whatever that meant, was clearly scribbled across the label on the jar, and on the inside, suspended in some mystery fluid probably meant to preserve it, was a Swammwyrm. It was about the size of a snake, though a bit shorter and thicker, taking up nearly half of the jar space, and having to curl up to do so.

Its flesh looked pale, though it had some brownish-blue highlights at several points, including a large blue mass at the tip of its tail, but due to the discoloration of the fluid it was hard to tell for sure. Large eyes dominated its head, but Cadance could see a set of small mandibles underneath. The creature as a whole was strange to look at, Cadance had never seen it or anything like it before. Her gaze lingered for a moment, before moving on.

Instead of going to the second thing she noticed, she decided to go for a more straightforward approach, and went to examine what was at the end of the room. Closest to the bookshelves was a large globe, encased in a wooden frame. One thing that was immediately obvious among the beige and brown cartography though, was that it was not Equus, made evident by the lack of Equestria, or even their continent as a whole. Cadance spun it around a bit to make sure, but was only met with more of the unknown language, along with unrecognizable oceans and landmasses.

Moving to the next item, Cadance was confused to find a simple telescope, it was supported by three legs, and was pointed at the darkened panel on the wall. It was certainly an odd place to set up a telescope, the only thing you’d be able to view was the wall…

Unless…

Cadance took a step back to look at the whole wall. The black panel covered most of it, but there was an obvious trim around it, where the “normal” wall continued away from it. She traced it with her eyes, before finding an irregularity, off to the side there was something sticking out of the wall. It looked like a switch of some sort, so Cadance moved over and flicked it. Light then flooded the room, as the once opaque crystal panel turned crystal clear.

Giving a small gasp, Cadance went to look out the newly revealed window. It appeared to be lined up with the front of the castle, allowing her to see all the way down the main street and towards the Southern entrance to the empire. At this time of day, the street was bustling with activity, more than usual actually, considering what was happening today.

Cadance gasped a bit louder this time, realizing just how sidetracked she had gotten. She frantically looked back and forth, but there wasn’t anything to give her an accurate reference of time. Then she stopped, brought a hoof to her chest, inhaled, then exhaled. Her advisor had said an hour, she had an hour before she had to be anywhere, not accounting for travel time or earliness factor.

Still, there was no way that she had spent that much time yet, though she should probably get going soon. However her curious mind got the better of her, and not wanting to leave anything unknown, Cadance stopped to look at the spread of items on the desk first, but not before quickly going over the standing mirror in the corner.

The desk only held a few items, and going from left to right, there was a collection of more jars, only two of them were filled though. A calligraphy set, with what looked like a couple of crystal styluses and some long dried out ink. There was a deep red covered book, with a lighter lining and a blue teardrop on the cover. Finally, at the end of the desk there was a small chest, closed, but not locked.

Taking a quick glance over everything, Cadance noted that the larger of the two filled jars held a bunch of dead insects, which by the looks of it… probably weren’t dead when first put there. The other jar appeared to only have a small pile of ashes, though their coloration was off, ranging from brown to a pale purple in some places. She was surprised to find the jar was warm to the touch.

The calligraphy set wasn’t as interesting however, as it was extremely similar, if not identical to the ones being used in the empire right now. Cadance should know, she had one in her study at that very moment, though she typically used a more modern pen and pencil for her work. What was interesting though, was how the set was related to the book.

Like all the others on the shelf, the red book was written in the same unknown language, save for a strip of yellowed paper pasted underneath the original title. Cadance could only assume it was a translation of sorts, though the translation in itself didn’t mean much to her either. Her limited knowledge of the Crystal Empire's script only helping slightly.

Wæter þōþor

“Wayter popor?” She attempted to read aloud,

Lifting the cover, she was only met with more of the strange symbols and text, though their organization was strange to say the least. As opposed to a traditional prose, with sentences and paragraphs, the words appeared to be arranged more geometrically, with lines bridging the gaps between them, forming odd shapes and patterns. This continued onto the next page, then the next, and Cadance could only assume they filled the whole book.

They almost looked like spell sigils, though she couldn’t tell for sure. Although somepony who probably could would be arriving very shortly.

Cadance smiled at the thought, and she closed the book, but before she could move onto the chest, another knock resounded throughout the suite, echoing all the way down into the room she was in. It seemed like it was designed that way, though she didn’t pay much mind to that.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “Time to go.”

She glanced at the chest for a moment, before sliding it forwards for later. Then she turned and began walking quickly back through the corridor.

With the secret room still fresh on her mind, Cadance didn’t pay much attention to the empire around her as she travelled. That didn’t mean it wasn’t attention catching though. In preparation for the games inspector, all the crystal ponies were trying their hardest to make the city look as good as possible, which mainly meant cleaning and polishing every surface. On a sunny day like today however, it was almost a double edged sword, and Cadance found herself squinting from the brightness. Any more and it could be considered a hazard, but she wasn’t worried, it was just about midday in the middle of summer, so it wouldn’t be getting any brighter. Thankfully the empire was situated so far from the equator.

As seen from the hidden observatory, the streets were alive with activity from crystal ponies and non-crystal ponies alike, though that wasn’t very surprising. Ever since the train line was extended to the empire and opened to the public, tourism was steadily on the rise. Along with it came a massive influx to the economy, but that was all planned, Cadance was just happy to see it working so well. It was no wonder why they were nominated as a host for the next Equestria Games.

All they had to do now was win over the inspector, which given how today was going already, would be a piece of cake.

A smile on her face, Cadance continued the rest of the way to the spa so she could go get her ceremonial headdress done. Having just discovered it only a few days ago, it seemed fitting to have it today. Everypony was doing their part, so she would do her’s, besides, it gave her a free excuse to use the spa, not that she really needed one to begin with.

Soon enough the building came into view, its crystal dome roof making it stand out against its surroundings. Pushing open the doors, Cadance was met with the dazzling interior, and she was greeted almost immediately by the ponies inside.

“Ah princess, welcome.” One of the masseuses bowed, “Are you ready for your appointment?”

“Just about,” She answered, “Is everything ready here?”

The masseuse shook her head, “Not quite, the head stylist seems to be running a bit late, though we’re ready to get started on some of the other things.”

“What time is it?” Cadance asked, regretting not checking earlier.

“About five after.”

She winced, turns out she was a bit late as well, but considering so was the stylist, it was probably alright.

“Should we begin?” The masseuse continued,

Cadance thought for a moment, “Yes, we want everything to be as good as we can get it, if my headdress can’t be done until later then so be it. We still have to prepare for-”

The doors opening behind them interrupted her, and they both turned to see who it was.

“There are my girls,” Cadance announced, a big smile on her face.

Twilight, along with the rest of her friends, filtered into the building, coming face to face with each other.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Cadance started.
“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight mirrored.

The others continued past them as they finished the charade, each with varying levels of amazement, ranging from none at all to… well…

“Everypony step back!” Rarity announced, “I need air.”

Cadance chuckled a bit, then walked up to her, “Go ahead and try whatever you like, it’s all complimentary for the welcoming committee.”

“Oooh,” They all gazed around the room,

“That over there is a crystal mud bath,” Cadance explained, pointing over to it, “It relaxes your body and rejuvenates your coat. Now I realize it can be kind of strange to climb into mud, but if you’ll just give it a chance I’m sure you-”

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie interrupted as she swung past, dangling from one of the hanging lights

“Pinkie no!” Twilight exclaimed, but it was too late.

She released from the light, soaring through the air, and looking to land dead center in the pool of crystal mud. They all prepared for a splash, except for Cadance of course, but none came, as the pool simply absorbed the impact, rebounding slightly like jello. Pinkie then sunk all the way in, resurfacing only a moment later.

“Ah… So relaxing,” She said,

“Honestly,” Twilight began, only to be stopped by Cadance,

She brought her hoof to her chest again, inhaling, then motioned for Twilight to do the same. She did so, and together they exhaled, smiling lightly. Cadance then turned to face the rest of her friends.

“Now go ahead, have a good time while I get my ceremonial headdress done.” She said, moving over to one of the styling seats.

“Ceremonial... headdress?” Rarity asked, looking up from the facilities she was using.

Cadance smiled, then began imparting what she had discovered, “When meeting with important guests, it was tradition for the royalty of the Crystal Empire to weave crystals into their manes in a very specific way. I’ve heard that the Games Inspector is known for doing her homework. She'll certainly be expecting my look to reflect the importance of her visit.”

The others all looked on with interest, but before anything else could be said, the door was thrown open, its bell ringing loudly.

“Your highness!” A messenger exclaimed, “Please excuse the interruption, but I have two pieces of news for you. First, the head stylist has the flu and won't be able to make it for fear of you catching it, too.”

“Oh.” Cadance said, “Well that explains that. I hope she gets better soon.” She turned to look at all the employees present. “Do any of the other stylists here know how to do the traditional royal ceremonial headdress?”

A variety of negative responses came back, along with a good amount of humming and hawing

“Sorry your highness, but no.” A coherent answer eventually came back.

“Oh.” Cadance repeated, she quickly did her breathing exercise again, “It’s okay, it’s just a… small detail we could probably omit.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Rainbow Dash butted in, “You're trying to land the Equestria Games here. There is no such thing as leaving out a small detail!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight began again, only to be stopped a second time,

“I suppose... I could give it a shot.” Rarity said,

“Oh Rarity, you would do that for me?” Cadance asked,

“Way to step it up, Rare!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed,

It was then that a couple of the other stylists brought over a chest, which appeared to have all the materials necessary to do the headdress, along with a scroll. Cadance pulled it out, causing it to unravel across the floor, and she gave the top a quick once over.

“Oh good, it looks like we have all the precise instructions right here.”

Rarity just stared at the extended length as it continued to roll across the floor, stopping just before her hooves, “Oh my.”

Cadance bit her lip in realization, “Are you sure you're up to do this?”

Rarity’s expression turned stern, “Working on the hair of royalty on such an auspicious occasion is the opportunity of a lifetime! I will give it everything I've got!

Twilight visibly relaxed at this, “See? No worries,”

“Besides, the Games Inspector isn't expected for several hours.” Rarity continued, picking up the scroll and rolling most of it back up, “I should have plenty of time to figure out exactly how to... do... this…” She trailed off, reading it more closely

“That's wonderful!” Cadance said, then she looked back to the messenger, “Though you said you had a second bit of news for me?”

“Yes, quite. The Games Inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving on the next train.”

They all gasped.

“What!? You couldn't have told her that first!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, getting right up into the messenger’s face, “That's like fifteen minutes from now!”

Panic quickly began to descend upon the room, Pinkie Pie began pacing in place, while Applejack rushed to the doors, trying to make sure that nopony arrived any sooner than they thought. Rarity was busy reading the long list of instructions, while both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovered in place, with very disproportionate levels of hysteria. Cadance just stood there, a bit slack jawed at the revelation.

She shook her head, right as Twilight appeared to get on top of things.

“How long before Cadance is ready?” She asked Rarity.

“Hmmm... I'm sure to find some shortcuts here somewhere.” She responded, quickly going over the rest of the scroll.

“Can you have her back at the castle when we're done?”

“I think I can do that.”

“Okay, we'll be fine.” Twilight continued, taking a note from the messenger and reading it, she then turned to the rest of her friends, “Everypony, just be on the lookout for the pony with the flower print luggage.”

They all nodded, and quickly began filtering back out of the building, with Twilight closing the doors behind them. Cadance smiled as they left.

“Right then,” Rarity began, setting the instructions to the side, “Should we get started?”

“Yes, right away,” Cadance answered, laying down on the seat once more, “I don’t think we have another moment to lose.”

“Okay!” Rarity exclaimed, turning to address all the other stylists, “I need brushes, ties, water, dryers, clamps, combs, curlers, and for the love of everything sparkly, I need crystals! Pronto!” She demanded, clapping her hooves together for emphasis.

They all spurred into action at the command, and as everything was being gathered, Rarity pulled out her own measuring tape.

“So how does it start?” Cadance asked, trying to sound hopeful.

“Well first I need to measure your mane.”

“Oh I hope it isn’t too long,”

“The design actually accounts for that,” Rarity explained, pulling up several parts of Cadance’s mane and marking down the measurements, “It’s dynamic, meaning the centerpiece can be adjusted for several different lengths, with any extra being worked in down the back.”

“That’s good,”

“At least that’s what I think this says.” Rarity admitted,

Cadance frowned, looking up at her, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” Rarity began, and she pulled up the scroll again, “This text is pretty archaic, I can read it, just not very well.”

“Can’t one of the crystal ponies read it for you?”

“Probably, but I need space to work, and I don’t think I can get this done in time if I were constantly asking what meant what. I’ll just have to get through this on my own.”

“Okay… So how is my mane length?” Cadance changed the subject,

“Good, it looks like there’s just enough to fit into a medium piece”

“I’m only a medium?!” Cadance sat up in surprise, pulling her hair out of Rarity’s grasp, “Oops, sorry, but how big is a large?”

“It doesn’t quite work like that,” Rarity said, grabbing her mane again, “Though I wouldn’t recommend growing your mane out any longer, unless you want to go for the ‘afro’ look.” She floated the scroll over, allowing Cadance to look at the diagrams for the different sizes.

“Wow.” Was all she said,

Silence then fell over them, giving Cadance a moment to think, save for the slight distractions from her mane getting pulled. From what she could tell, Rarity was sectioning it off based on either location or color.

“Y’know,” She started again, “Since I’ve got you here, I have a couple of questions I’ve wanted to ask.”

Rarity didn’t immediately respond.

“Are you okay to talk? Or do you need to focus.” Cadance asked,

“Hmm? Oh sorry, but um… I’m not too sure yet, I’ll let you know if I need silence though. What did you want to ask?”

“I take it you don’t style other pony’s manes often?”

“Not really no, other than my own and my little sister’s of course. Though she isn’t usually one for conversation while I do it.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Definitely, she’d much rather brush it and be done with it. I practically have to strap her down when I work on it.”

“You don’t force her do you?”

“Oh goodness no!” Rarity exclaimed, “She knows how important it is to get it done, and while she doesn’t do it as much as she probably should, I know she’s asked me to do it for her a couple of times. She says it’s an unnecessary hassle most of the time.”

“It is a hassle most of the time,” Cadance said, “Though I wouldn’t call it unnecessary,”

“You said it,” Rarity agreed, “My sister’s only a two tone, I can’t imagine working with a tri-color mane every day, much less somepony like Rainbow Dash,”

“How does she manage?”

“She doesn’t. The only time I’ve ever seen her do anything different with her mane was when we went to the gala, and even then I pretty much forced her to do it to better fit the dress I made her.”

“The Grand Galloping Gala? I stopped going to those a while ago.”

“I can see why, the one we went to was an absolute calamity.”

“They all are.” Cadance said, laughing a bit.

Rarity joined her for a bit, then she went back to working on her mane.

“Do you get your mane styled often? Being a princess and all.” She asked

“I usually do it myself, though on special occasions, like this one, I typically get a professional to do it.”

“Well thank you for letting me do it this time. Though I have to know, do you straighten or curl at all?”

“I don’t,” Cadance said proudly, “It’s all natural, though I remember a few times when I tried to change it up.”

“I’m so envious,” Rarity said, “But please continue.”

“When I was younger, I used to simply tie it up in the back, and there was that one time I tried to braid it.”

“And how well did that work?”

“Not very, three colors does not mean your mane is braidable.”

“I would imagine, now hold on for a moment, this part doesn’t look very easy.”

Cadance paused, and glanced up to see what was happening, but she wasn’t able to see much. “What do you have to do?” She asked

“I think I have to interlay this lattice with your hair, the only problem is it doesn't look like it’ll fit.”

“What do the instructions say?”

“Just that, ‘Interlay the lattice with the sections.’ Nothing else,” Rarity said, “I’m going to try it now.”

“Okay…” Was all Cadance said,

Several moments passed, and while she wasn’t able to see Rarity work, Cadance could feel what she was doing. Something pressed into the back of her head, which she could only assume was the lattice, then she felt Rarity begin to try and weave her mane through it. An egregious amount of pulling soon followed, enough to the point where she started wincing, and the hints of tears began to form in her eyes.

“Do you have to pull so hard?” Cadance asked, trying not to sound harsh.

“Sorry dearie, it’s just that I… Can’t… Seem… To…” She trailed off, voice straining from effort.

Cadance winced as her mane was pulled particularly hard, then set under tension, causing quite a bit of discomfort. Rarity then stepped in front of her, a multitude of styling equipment and crystals floating in her magic around her.

“Uh oh…”

“Uh oh?” Cadance repeated, “What happened?”

“Oh, I'm so sorry... It's just... oh so complicated.” Rarity laughed nervously, “I can fix it!”

“Fix what?!”

“Well, I-I figured out why the lattice wont fit, I was looking for shortcuts and I thought step twelve was optional! But it's not!” She held up a mirror.

Cadance’s face dropped as she looked at the mess atop her head, “Fix it please!”

“I will!” Rarity said frantically, “Just as soon as I figure out how…”

Cadance started to hyperventilate, but stopped herself. She took a shaky breath in, held it for a moment, then let it out. “Can you start over?”

“We don’t have time for that,” Rarity replied, “Though I think I can take the lattice out and actually do step twelve.”

“Okay,” Cadance nodded, “Do it then.”

“Alright… Let me just… untangl-Unweave!” Rarity quickly corrected herself, “...your mane from the lattice. Give me a moment.”

She stepped back and began to work, though Cadance didn’t feel anything change, not even the tension. That was until it got even worse, she grit her teeth, and hoped that whatever Rarity was doing was working.

“So…” She began, trying to ignore the pain, “Did you know I found out about the headdress only a couple of days ago?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and when the nomination came through, I figured it would be a good idea to try it. In fact, I think I even saw the game’s inspector at the library, ‘doing her homework’.”

“Did you talk to her at all?”

“I didn’t get the chance, and I wasn’t completely sure either, but she did end up picking up several of the books I dropped off.”

“You were borrowing books from the library? I didn’t take you as an avid reader, though it isn’t like I know that much about you anyway.”

“I’m usually not actually, but when you come into rule of an empire you know practically nothing about. It certainly helps to learn a few things about it.”

“That makes sense.” Rarity said, then she fell silent for a moment. “So what’s the weirdest piece of history or trivia you’ve found so far?”

“Oooh… Good question.” Cadance replied, thinking for a moment “I think I’ll have to go with the yule log.”

“Yule log?” Rarity repeated, “What’s that?”

“I’m sure you know that wood isn’t very common in the empire right? Or at least it wasn’t. So towards the end of the year, it was tradition for families to go out and get a log. They would then bring it into their homes, and care for it like a pet, keeping it warm with blankets, giving it food and water, even playing with it.”

“That sounds… Really odd.” Rarity commented,

“That’s not all. They would do this for thirteen days, or the ‘yule period’ in hopes that at the end of it, the log would give them presents, such as candies or toys.”

“Presents at the end of the year? That sounds an awful lot like Hearthswarming.”

“It does,” Cadance agreed, “But the crystal ponies don’t celebrate Hearthswarming, the yule tradition comes from something completely different.”

“Really?” Rarity asked, “What would they do with the log afterwards?”

“They’d burn it,” Cadance answered simply.

“Oh. Why would they do that to something they cared so much for?”

“I’m actually not too sure. I think it has something to do with keeping their spirits up for the Crystal Heart, or maybe just to keep warm. The tradition probably stems from a time when the temperature in the empire wasn’t so constant.”

“Huh…” Rarity said, “Are you going to get a yule log this year?”

“I just might.” Cadance laughed, “Though I’d have to explain to Shining why I’m keeping a chunk of wood under the bed.”

Rarity laughed for a bit as well, but then she abruptly stopped, something Cadance noticed.

“Is everything okay?”

“No. This isn’t working.” Rarity admitted,

“Is the lattice stuck or something?”

“Pretty much, I really jammed it in there.”

“Well how are you going to get it out?”

“Not by just pulling, that’s for sure.” She stepped back around, and a lot of the tension was eased. “Okay, new plan.” She turned to one of the other stylists, “I need the smoothest, slickest, most sudsiest conditioner you can find. I’m going to try and slide it out.”

The stylist ran off, and Rarity began moving Cadance over to the salon sink.

“We’re going to see if this works before resorting to drastic measures.” She said, “Now just lay your head back and hope.”

“Okay…” Cadance replied uneasily,

“When was the last time you conditioned?” Rarity asked, turning on the water.

“Just yesterday, I was hoping to skip anything like that today and just get the headdress done.” Cadance explained,

Rarity laughed nervously, “Funny, how that works.”

By the time her hair was sufficiently wet, the stylist had returned with the conditioner. Rarity then used a generous amount, and began working it into her mane. Cadance could only watch and hope as she worked. Partway through however, the bell above the door ringed, and Rarity looked up and gasped, before disappearing from view. One of the other stylists soon took over, and Cadance wasn’t able to see where she went, she was only able to hear the muffled conversation from across the room.

“W-What are you doing here?”

“We finished the welcome committee song and we just wanted to introduce Ms. Harshwhinny to–”

“No, no! Princess Cadance isn't ready. Something's gone terribly wrong!”

“I need to speak to the Princess.”
“You can't! You mustn't! She's in the middle of a delicate conditioning rinse that must go perfectly if there's to be any hope for her hair!”

“Come on, how bad can it be?”

…

“Imagine her mane turned into a porcupine.”

“Oh.”

“Please! I will bring her back from the brink of tragedy, but you have got to buy me some time! There's no other way!”

The door was slammed, and a moment later Rarity returned, taking back over.

“Was that Twilight?” Cadance asked, still not able to see, “Can I talk to her?”

“Oh she just left, they finished the song and dance, and now she’s going to try and buy us some more time.”

“Are they done already?!” Cadance asked, “I need to get out there.”

She tried to sit up, only for Rarity to push her down.

“With your mane looking like that? Not a chance. We’re just going to have to hope I can fix this in however much time we have left.”

“Wha-” She stopped, a slight frown on her face, and she laid back down, “Alright fine, how is the conditioner working?”

“It’s…” Rarity trailed off in concentration, and Cadance felt her hair get pulled in every direction.

Rarity then sighed, “...not.” She finished, “I’m going to need some scissors.”

Cadance’s eyes went wide, “Are you going to cut my mane?”

“I was actually going to cut the lattice, but if you want me to preserve it then I can cut your mane instead.”

“Cut the lattice.” Cadance replied quickly. “I’d rather go out without the headdress and an intact mane than with it and an uneven one.”

“There’s actually a few spare,” Rarity said, beginning to rinse her hair, “I was just hoping to salvage this one. At least your hair looks nice”

“Well if we’re out of time…” Cadance reminded

“Yes I know, now just hold still for a moment.”

Rarity brought the scissors to the back of her head, and with a single snip and a snap, the rest of the tension was immediately released, and Cadance’s bunched up hair flopped back down.

“Alright. Let’s dry your hair and start over from step twelve.”

She nodded, then sat back up, spreading her mane out so it would be as fast as possible. Thankfully the sections were still tied apart, and as a ridiculous amount of hair dryers sprung into action, her mane was dried in what was probably record time. Rarity then moved over and began working on the back again, this time actually doing step twelve.

“How are things in Ponyville?”

“Oh you know…” Rarity gave a bit of a laugh, “Reforming villains, vengeful rivals, clone invasion, the works. Though it’s actually been a bit quiet recently, which makes me a bit worried.”

“Yeesh,”

“You should come visit sometime, before half the town gets destroyed again of course.” Rarity suggested,

“I actually have been meaning to, but I’ve been having a hard time finding enough free time to actually do so.”

“You’d need what? Almost a full day free to visit?” Rarity guessed,

“If I were taking the train, yes, although I have… other forms of transport, but those have their own issues.”

“Well what’s keeping you busy?”

“Running the empire mostly, though I can usually fit an hour or two off on most days. Still, that time usually gets eaten up by more personal affairs.”

“I know what you mean, we all had a hard time figuring out our schedules just for this visit. We had to get Spike to sit for all of our pets, at once.”

“Sorry about that.” Cadance said,

“Oh no, it’s an honor to be here, don’t think you were hassling us in the slightest. We all wanted to come, it just isn’t the easiest to find the time.”

“Mmm,” Cadance nodded, “And did you say Spike was petsitting? Do you think he could…?” She trailed off intentionally.

Rarity took a moment to get what she was insinuating. “I think that would be a little too much, even for him.”

“Oh well,” Cadance smiled, “Though I have been having trouble finding a petsitter for him,”

“Can you even petsit the um… worm?”

“More or less. He’s usually fine on his own, for the most part. The real trouble comes when it is time to feed him.”

“What does…” Rarity trailed off, and she audibly gagged, “What does he eat?”

“Love actually, like a changeling.” Cadance responded, she tried to look back again, “Are you alright?”

Rarity gave a sigh of relief, “Yeah, it’s just that I’ve heard rumors of what happened at Canterlot.”

“Oh, yeah, that was… not a good day. You know I was right in the middle of it?”

“I can’t imagine. Though it wasn’t like we were in a very good place either.”

They both fell silent as thoughts and memories came back, almost none of them good.

“There was one more thing I wanted to ask.” Cadance eventually said, “About Twilight.”

“Well if you’re asking me then it probably isn’t something you want to bring up with her directly.”

“You’re right. If I asked her then she’d probably deny it, I just need to know for sure.”

“What did you want to know then?”

“Do you think she’s afraid… of the worm?” Cadance asked,

“The worm?” Rarity repeated,

“Yeah,”

“I can’t say for sure, the topic doesn’t exactly come up very often in conversation.”

“Mmm,” Cadance said, “Well what do you think?”

Rarity paused for a moment, “She’s never talked about it, and it’s not like I pay attention to her every move whenever the worm is nearby. I don’t rightly know, you might just have to ask her directly. Sorry.”

“Hmm,” she contemplated,

“Where is the worm? I kind of expected to have seen him by now.”

“Shining Armor is keeping him busy,” Cadance answered, “I didn’t want him to interfere with the welcome, just in case.”

“You don’t think he would do you?”

“Not on purpose, that’s for sure, but he kind of has a habit of making a mess of things. As long as Shining is with him then it should be fine.”

There was a crack of thunder outside.

“Well that certainly wasn’t ominous.” Rarity commented,

“Right,” Cadance said, “How’s the headdress coming along?”

“Great!” Rarity responded cheerfully, “Everything’s fitting together nicely, and I think I just need to do a few more finishing touches before we can get you dressed up and out of here.”

“Oh good. Then hopefully we can meet the inspector at the castle like we planned,”

“Hopefully,” Rarity repeated, “And… Done!”

“It’s done?” Cadance asked, “Can I see?”

“Take a look,” Rarity said, smiling as she walked around holding the mirror up again.

Cadance gasped, “Oh… Rarity, it’s beautiful!”

“I know darling,” She beamed, “Now let’s get you changed, quickly! I don’t know how much time we have left.”

“Yes of course,” Cadance quickly got up, immediately noticing the absence of her mane in its usual spot. She didn’t dwell on it though, and rushed over to the privacy screen to get dressed, where her outfit was already waiting.

“Oh my!” Rarity gushed, “That dress is glorious! Was it made here?”

“Of course,” Cadance replied, putting it on, “Though it isn’t exactly tradition, I want to look my best, and be as authentic as possible. Everything it’s made of was sourced directly from the empire, including the crystal fabric.”

“Crystal… fabric…?” Rarity was agape, “Where can I get some?!” She demanded,

Cadance giggled, “I can get you in touch with the producer if you’d like.”

“Please do so!” Rarity begged,

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted them however, and Rarity stepped back to see who had entered while Cadance finished. She smiled, then moved away from the privacy screen.

“Wonderful news, look! Princess Cadance, better than new!”

She stepped out as well, ready to greet Twilight and the rest of her friends.

“Princess Cadance?” Somepony said from the other side of the spa, “So, this is where you've been!” They all looked at her, “I will have you know this is by far the worst welcome I've had in all my years!”

Cadance stopped, flabbergasted, “I-I can't believe it... What was wrong with your welcome?”

“There wasn't one!” The newly revealed Ms. Harshwhinny exclaimed,

“What is going on?” Cadance demanded,

Rainbow Dash stepped to the front of the group, “Princess, we gave our welcome to the wrong pony, left the right one waiting at the station, and completely ruined everything.” She admitted,

Pinkie Pie held up a half eaten pastry “Cinnamon bun?”

“When I was a little filly,” Rainbow Dash continued, “I wanted so badly for Cloudsdale to win the Equestria Games. But it didn't happen. So I thought I could make up for that disappointment by helping the Crystal Empire win the chance to host the Games. But it looks like I ruined your chances instead.”

“Not so fast, speedy.” Another pony joined the conversation, standing next to Ms. Harshwhinny

“I just finished hearing about how this pony was just treated to the warmest, finest, most fabulous reception she ever had.” She began,

“Darn tootin'!”

“Courtesy of these fine ponies right here.” She continued, gesturing towards the group, Cadance looked at them and smiled, “Which, in my expert opinion, amounts to the first ever unvarnished, unrehearsed, and unbiased appraisal of a potential host of the Equestria Games. Which can only mean one thing…”

They all anxiously awaited the answer.

“The Crystal Empire will be the next host of the Equestria Games!”

“YES!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying up into the air.

The others began cheering as well, and Cadance just smiled, happy that it all worked out.

“This calls for a party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “In the spa! A sparty! Cinnamon buns for everypony!”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Cadance said with a laugh, “But thank you, everypony. I knew I could count on you girls to get this right.”

“We almost didn’t,” Applejack said,

“Don’t sell yourself short. Despite the mixup, it sounds like you all did a wonderful job. Now, shall we go to the castle and make the announcement?”

A variety of affirmative responses came from the group, and they all began heading out of the spa. Cadance did too, though she stopped for a moment.

“Hey Twilight.” She called out.

Twilight stopped, “Yes?” She asked,

Cadance walked over to her, and lowered her voice, “Come see me when we’re done, there’s something I’d like to show you”

Twilight nodded, a curious expression now on her face as she followed Cadance along with the rest of her friends.

A train rolled to a stop at the train station, allowing several ponies both off and on. On one car in particular though, the door remained shut. Then it started to rattle, and eventually being thrust open as a small purple form rolled through.

Spike collapsed on the ground in a heap, gasping for breath with tears in his eyes. Following him, three fillies rushed out of the train car, along with a multitude of animals.

“Told’ya Spike,” Applebloom said, very nearly stepping over him, “We didn’t come all this way just to not look around.”

He caught his breath, and wiped a tear from his eye, “Come on guys! We’re not even supposed to be here. We need to get back on the train and back to Ponyville before anypony notices.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in with an eye roll, “Wonder who’s fault that is.”

“Besides, I don’t see our sisters anywhere, it’s not like we’re going to get caught.” Sweetie Belle finished,

“You don’t know that!” Spike argued, trying desperately to wrangle all of the pets, “They’re here somewhere, what do you think would happen if we ran into them?”

“We’re not going to run into them,” Applebloom waved off, “And more importantly, what are you going to do to stop us?” She asked smugly,

Spike looked around, realizing he was already having trouble enough with the animals, much less the three fillies.

“Alright, fine!” He relented, “Look around, enjoy your crystals, but you have to stay at the train station, and keep a low profile. When the time comes, we’re all going to get back on that train when it leaves for Ponyville. Okay?”

They each shared a glance, before looking back towards Spike.

“Your terms are… acceptable.” Applebloom decided, “Now let’s go check out the gift shop!”

The three of them ran off, giggling, while Spike let out a sigh of relief. Relief that would not last very long, as Angel quickly weaseled himself out of his grip, dropping to the ground and of course, immediately running away.

“Hey!” Spike shouted, attempting to give chase, only for the rest of the critters to slow him down, “Stop that bunny!”

Not many responded to the plea, and those that could weren’t fast enough to help, Spike could only watch as Angel weaved in and around the crowd and baggage. He grit his teeth nervously, and began frantically looking around for anything that could help him. Spying a crystal post off to the side, he quickly ran over to it and tied all the other leashes to it.

“Sit tight,” Spike said, before dashing off as well.

He was not able to navigate the crowd quite as well however, having to push through gaps and avoid larger obstacles. By the time Angel had made it around the corner, Spike had only just pushed through the crowd. He quickly got off the platform and turned the corner, only to be met with the sight of nothing.

“Where’d you go…?” Spike asked aloud, squinting his eyes.

Something landed in the grass behind him. Whipping around, Spike met Angel’s gaze, and they stared at each other for a moment.

“Angel.” He said,

Angel cracked his neck, then got into a ready stance.

“It’s just you and me, Slick,” Spike said, doing the same, “Let’s do this.”

A crystal tumbleweed rolled between them.

Spike dove forwards, intent on catching the bunny. Angel expected this, and ducked down low, causing Spike to sail overhead, catching a mouthful of grass and dirt a moment later. He grunted, and looked up, only for Angel to jump on top of him, and disappear back around the corner.

“Not so fast!” Spike exclaimed, quickly getting up off the ground.

He turned the corner, and seeing Angel just a few paces away, he dove once more. This time he slid across the crystal floor, slipping in between some poor pony’s legs, and catching up to the bunny in an instant.

“Gotcha!” He shouted, snatching Angel from the ground.

He squeeked, and started thrashing around, but Spike held his grip.

“Now listen here buddy.” He ordered, “I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but it’s my responsibility to care for you while Fluttershy’s away. We’re not even supposed to be here right now, and if it wasn’t for you we would still be back in Ponyville. So will you please work with me here so we can both go home happy?”

Angel twisted around to look at him, then scowled, and bit down on his finger.

“Pfft, you’re going to have to try harder than that.” Spike said, though a single tear still appeared in his eye.

Angel rolled his eyes, then wrenched one of his arms free and pointed at his tail.

“Oh,” Spike realized, his face dropping, he quickly pulled the curlers free. “Sorry.”

With a huff, Angel just crossed his arms, but didn’t make any more attempts to escape.

“Good, now let’s get back to-”

A large shadow passed over them, causing quite a few ponies in the crowd to gasp. They both looked up, right as it disappeared overhead, accompanied by a slight breeze. Both Spike and Angel looked at each other for a moment in confusion, then they heard a scream, one that they recognized.

“Uh oh,” Spike said, and he began rushing back through the crowd.

It was a lot harder this time, considering some of the ponies were actively moving away from the disturbance. Eventually though, they made it to the end of the station, and saw what happened. Sitting there, coiled up off the end of the platform, was the worm, its head hovering just above three cowering fillies. Off to the side, all of the other pet’s leashes were taught against the pole in an attempt to get as far away as possible.

Spike observed the scene for a moment, then he felt Angel struggling in his grasp, also trying to get away from the worm.

“Wait!” He called out, running up to the group.

Each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders peaked their eyes open to look at him, then they dashed forward to tackle him.

“Spike!”
“Help!”
“Save us!

They landed in a heap, with Spike underneath all of them.

He grunted, “Calm down will you? I know this guy.”

They all stopped and stared at him, even the critters.

“That’s the worm, he’s friendly… I think.”

“You sure about that?” Applebloom asked, still not getting off.

Spike just shoved them off, “He saved me back when the Crystal Empire was first freed.” He got up and walked over to the worm, “In fact, if it weren’t for us, I don’t think the empire would even be freed.”

“Woah,” Scootaloo was the first to stand up,

“Yeah I know, we’re kind of like its saviors.” Spike gloated, nonchalantly inspecting his claws while leaning against the worm’s curls.

It then lifted up slightly, causing him to fall flat on his face.

“So he’s like, your friend or something?” Applebloom asked,

“Something like that.” Spike said through grit teeth, he got up again. “Though he’s impartial to most ponies, I guess dragons too. He really only listens to what Princess Cadance tells him.”

“Is he her pet?” Sweetie Belle wondered,

The worm let out a single chirp, causing everybody except Spike to flinch.

“I wouldn’t put it that way.” He said,

“Does he know any tricks?” Scootaloo asked,

“Uh…” Spike began.

“Sit!” Applebloom commanded,

Strangely enough, the worm humored them, and lowered itself back to the ground, curling up again.

“Roll over!” Sweetie Belle tried,

Despite it being mostly curled up, the worm laid its head on the platform, and rolled, its curls twisting around in the grass behind it. Sweetie Belle giggled.

“Speak!” Scootaloo finished.

“H E L L O.” It spoke.

They all stood there for a moment in shock, before the three fillies got excited smiles on their faces.

“What else can he do?!”

“The next host of the Equestria Games is... the Crystal Empire!” Cadance announced from the castle’s balcony.

The crowd cheered, the streets literally lighting up with magic, filling the Crystal Heart, then being dispersed throughout the whole world.

“Congratulations, Crystal Ponies!” Cadance finished, taking another moment to gaze out at her subjects.

Smiling, she then turned and left the balcony, followed by Ms. Harshwhinny and Shining Armor. Inside, Twilight stood there expectantly.

“Please stay as long as you’d like,” Cadance began, “As thanks.”

Ms. Harshwhinny held her hoof up, “I’ve already done my job, and I got to do it at the spa. Besides, I would like to catch the next train home.”

“Very well,” Cadance nodded, “Shining, would you please accompany Ms. Harshwinny to the train station?”

“Oh I don’t need you to go that far, although I would like some help leaving this castle.”

Shining Armor nodded, “This way then.”

They both walked off.

“Now Twilight.” Cadance said,

“You said you had something to show me?” She asked,

“Something I think you’d like, now follow me.”

Cadance began walking in the direction of her bedchambers, with Twilight soon following.

“What is it?” She asked,

“I can’t just tell you,” Cadance said, “That’d ruin the surprise, though I will say I need your expertise.”

“My expertise?” Twilight repeated,

Cadance just nodded, and continued down the corridors.

It didn’t take long to get to the royal suite, but by the time they got there, Twilight was beginning to look worried.

“Uh Cadance? How long is this going to take?” She asked, “I don’t want to miss the train with my friends.”

She looked at her, “Don’t worry, it won’t be long, and besides, I’ll cover any travel expenses should you miss your train.”

“It’s not that, I’m worried about leaving Spike alone with all our pets longer than expected.”

“Oh,” Cadance said, “Then this way, quickly.”

She led her into her study, and while Twilight paid some attention to the bedchambers, she gawked at the miniature library that Cadance used.

“This is incredible, you have all this to yourself?”

“And your brother,” Cadance reminded, “But yes, all these books are mine, except for the few library books on the desk.” She gestured to them, only for her eyes to go wide.

She quickly floated the wine bottle and glass into a drawer and closed it, hoping that Twilight didn’t see what it was.

“What was-”

“Don’t worry about it,” She interrupted, then cleared her throat, “What I wanted to show you is over here.” She pointed to the out of place bookshelf.

“Is that…?” Twilight began.

“A secret room,” Cadance answered, “I found it earlier this morning.”

“What’s inside?”

Cadance smiled, “Well let me show you.”

Entering the tunnel between the walls once more, Cadance led Twilight all the way down into the secret observatory. The entire time looking back to try and gauge her reaction. The panel on the wall seemed to have automatically shut off, but the room was still lit on account of the lantern Cadance had left in here. That let Twilight get a good look at everything in the room.

She was speechless.

In a similar fashion to Cadance, she inspected everything in the room, starting with the bookshelf, she frowned at the language, muttered ‘Swammwyrm’ at the jar, and tried to pick out a few books to read. When that went nowhere, she moved to the globe, spun it, looked at it for a moment, then went to the telescope. Cadance flicked the switch on the wall while she was looking through it, causing Twilight to jerk back in surprise. She smiled at the action, only to frown a moment later when Twilight did it again.

“What did you see?” She asked worriedly.

“The-nothing!” Twilight said quickly, before moving over to the mirror.

Her frown only deepening, Cadance went to look through the telescope as well. She was only met with the view of a clear sky, but after moving it around a little, she spotted something.

Flying around in the air, was the worm, which was normal, but what wasn’t normal were the several forms that appeared to be clinging to the back of it as it flew. Squinting, Cadance zoomed in a little, and did her best to track the worm’s movements. Now more clear, she could see the forms of Spike, along with three fillies and a multitude of animals on the worm’s back.

“Huh,” was all she said, then they flew out of the telescope’s viewing angle.

“This stuff isn’t Equestrian is it?” She heard Twilight ask.

“I don’t believe so,” Cadance answered, avoiding what happened in the telescope, “I don’t think it’s even from this world.”

“That’s… Unbelievable.” Twilight responded, closely inspecting the jars on the desk, “How did it get here?”

“I think it would be better to ask, where the empire went when it disappeared.” Cadance said, looking up.

Twilight paused in thought for a moment, contemplating the meaning of what she said.

“I certainly didn’t expect all this when you said you had something to show me.” She eventually said,

“That’s not all,” Cadance smiled, she moved over to the desk as well, “Look at this,” she pointed at the book.

Twilight looked at the cover, then the pasted script below it.

“Wat-er thothor,” she read,

Cadance did a double take, “You can read it?!”

“Just the translation,” Twilight said, “It’s in Old-Equestrian.”

“What does it mean?”

Twilight thought for a moment, “Water Sphere.”

Cadance frowned, trying to read the translation again, “Huh, so what does Swammwyrm mean?”

Another pause.

“Mushroom worm.”

They both looked at the specimen on the bookshelf again, before going back to the book.

“Here, this is what I needed your magic expertise on.” Cadance said, flipping it open.

“Oh… that expertise,”

“Yes, now look at this. It looks like spellcraft right?”

“You’re right.” Twilight said, inspecting the text on the pages, “In fact, this looks like the beginnings of any basic spell, but without knowing what the words mean then there isn’t much we can do with it.”

“Oh,” Cadance said,

“Wait a minute,”

“What?”

“Look,” Twilight pointed out, “See how the lines cross onto the next page?”

“Yeah?” Cadance asked, confused,

“The spell keeps going,” She flipped a few more pages, “I think it spans the whole book.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means this is a spellbook,” Twilight said simply,

“Really.” Cadance said sarcastically,

“Not like that,” Twilight waved off, “I mean this whole book is a spell. This is dangerous.”

“Is it a combat spell?” Cadance asked,

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “But it’s dangerous because anypony could use it.”

Cadance nodded a bit in understanding, “Well yeah, if it’s really basic then…”

“Not like that either,” Twilight continued, “It’s dangerous because the book does all the spellwork for you, meaning not just you or I could do it, but literally anypony who picked up this book could cast the spell, as long as they have enough magic.”

“Even… non-unicorns?” Cadance tried,

“Even non-ponies,” Twilight added on, “That’s what makes it so dangerous, but also revolutionary.” She began to rant, “I mean, stuff like this has been theorized for hundreds of years, but never actually done. The fact that this is here right now is awe-inspiring, and the fact that it came from another world makes it feel like cheating. If this knowledge were to get out to the public, then it would change the way magic is both used and thought of entirely.”

Cadance frowned at the explanation, “So… what should we do with it?”

Twilight stopped to take a breath, “I-I don’t know. Part of me wants to study this, maybe try to replicate it, but another part is telling me it’s not fair, and that now just knowing it’s possible means I shouldn’t work on it.” She began to hyperventilate.

“Twilight,” Cadance said, nudging her. She then went through the motions of her breathing exercise, prompting Twilight to do the same. “How about this, we’ll keep it here for now, and think about it for a while. It’s not going anywhere.”

“Okay,” She paused to take a deep breath, “That sounds good, let’s do that.”

“Good,” Cadance said, closing the book, “Now let’s get you out of here, I believe you have a train-” She abruptly stopped, feeling a slight tug on her magic.

“Cadance?” Twilight asked,

She just stared at the book as its pages began to glow blue. “Uh oh,”

There was the sound of splashing water, and a bright blue sphere shot out of the closed book. It traveled across the desk, dripping water all across it before bouncing off of the chest, knocking it down. The ball then raced up and hit the ceiling, bouncing off again and heading towards the bookcase.

“Woah!” Twilight exclaimed,

It hit the shelf, causing it to rock back and forth, thankfully not enough to fall over.

Then it hit Twilight.

Specifically in her leg, passing through it, and knocking it out from under her.

“Gyah!” She cried out, falling to the floor hard,

That spurred Cadance into action, and she dove underneath the desk for cover, pulling Twilight under a moment later. Together they watched and listened as the water ball continued to bounce around the room, water dripping from wherever it went. A couple of jars were knocked off to the side, they shattered on the floor, thankfully most of them were empty, except for one. They didn’t have time to think about that however, as the ball impacted the mirror, cracking it and causing it to rotate along its axis.

For several moments, the water ball continued to wreak havoc upon the room, knocking stuff over, breaking things, dripping water everywhere. Then it simply popped, a larger amount of water splashing around where it once was. Still, the two waited for a few moments to make sure it was over, then they crawled out from under the desk.

“Oh my goodness!” Cadance exclaimed, not wasting another moment, “Are you okay.”

Twilight’s face was scrunched up from pain, and she held her foreleg close to her, “I think so, that just really hurt.”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I didn’t know it was going to do that!” Cadance calmed herself down with the breathing exercise, twice actually. “Can you walk?” She eventually asked,

Twilight carefully put her foreleg on the ground, then winced as she tried to put her weight on it, but she didn’t pull it back up.

“I can,” She said through gritted teeth.

“Alright, then let’s get you to your friends, then I’ll see what I can do about cleaning up this mess.” Cadance said, looking around at the room,

Twilight just nodded, then began to hobble towards the exit corridor with Cadance following closely behind. Then they stopped, a noise behind them catching their attention.

Turning around, they were both able to see the cracked mirror in the corner rattling wildly, the strange ashes from the jar rising up and seeping into it. Darkness then began to creep in from the edges, travelling faster through the cracks, eventually making it to the center, enveloping the whole surface. The mirror then jerked, and shot off of the floor, tearing away from its frame and floating mid air, bouts of shadow shooting out from the back.

“What the-” Was all that was able to be said, as a moment later multiple dark orbs flowed out from the mirror.

Cadance had only a moment to react as they began to approach her.

She blasted the closest one with magic, shattering it, only for the next one to fly at her. She ducked low, but not low enough, and the mass of dark energy grazed the top of her headdress, breaking it. Several woven locks of her mane dropped down the side of her head, but Cadance remained focused. Charging up her horn more, she shot three more of the orbs, shattering them as well. A few magenta blasts came sailing from behind as Twilight joined the fight, though her first few shots weren’t able to completely destroy the orbs that they hit.

A few more blasts, and about half of the energy was destroyed, though the rest were coming around fast. Cadance watched as they traversed the room, carving through anything in their path, leaving only scorched indents in their wake, she could only assume the same thing happened to the top of her mane. Angry at the thought, she shattered a few more, but there were too many.

Pulling up a shield, Cadance waited for the energy to hit it, only for them to literally eat right through it. She gasped, and leaped forwards, dodging the incoming orbs. A quick turn around revealed Twilight had upped her blasts, and she shattered the remaining orbs. With them all gone, the mirror began to vibrate, but Cadance wasn’t going to let it do anything more.

“Shoot the mirror!” She commanded,

Twilight didn’t need to be told twice, and together they unloaded onto it, knocking it back against the wall and cracking the once smooth black surface. They were not able to destroy it however, and more dark energy was soon released from the mirror. Cadance didn’t let up though, and she shot the mirror again, only for the magic blast to get absorbed, with seemingly no effect.

The lesson learnt, both she and Twilight went back to shattering the orbs as quickly as possible, doing their best to avoid them whenever they got close. When they were cleared a second time, the mirror was left vulnerable again, and once again they blasted it, the crack becoming even more pronounced. By the time more of the orbs were released, the mirror was barely able to stay aloft, yet it was still not down.

“Come on!” Cadance complained as she dashed around with what little space she had, breaking more of the energy.

Twilight was not as mobile however, and as several of the dark orbs surrounded her, she wasn’t able to shatter them all. She yelped as one flew just above her, then she tripped trying to avoid the next. Cadance turned just in time to blast the third, but she quickly realized it wouldn’t be enough.

Grabbing Twilight in her magic, she pulled her across the floor and out of harm’s way, then she cleared up the remaining orbs. The mirror rattled again, and they both turned to attack it.

Twin beams of magic pierced right through the shadowy surface, going all the way through and coming out the back of it. What was left of the mirror simply floated there for a second, before it dropped to the floor, snapping in two from the weakened structure.

They both let out a sigh of relief. Relief that would once again, not last, as Cadance felt a breeze begin to pick up in the room. Turning around, the edges of her dress and the tips of her mane and tail began to get picked up in the rush of air. Twilight soon noticed it too, and when the spellbook on the table blew open, its pages flipping wildly in the wind, they figured out where it was all going.

The glass shards from the jars began to slide across the room, towards the remnants of the mirror, it was pulling them in.

“Hold onto something!” Cadance exclaimed, and she rushed forward towards the corridor, grabbing hold of the crystal frame. Twilight did the same, and they braced as the wind picked up even more. The remaining jars on the desk began to inch off of it, and so did the spellbook, and by the time books were being torn out of the shelf, Cadance began to feel more pull sideways than downwards. Her hind legs lifted into the air, but she held strong, she had practice… sort of.

Twilight did not, and she was down a hoof. This was made evident as she slipped, leaving her with only one leg holding the frame.

“I can’t hold on!” She desperately called out.

Cadance strained to look at her, right as her other hoof gave way. Acting fast, she grabbed Twilight in her magic, immediately feeling the pull. Thankfully her training had paid off, and she was able to hold their position, though it was unclear as to exactly how long or how hard. By now the desk was beginning to scrape across the floor, which is when Cadance realized something.

“The chest!” She exclaimed,

Looking around, she was able to see it still caught on the side of the desk, the one that was quickly approaching oblivion. Reaching out with her magic once more, she grabbed it, adding even more to the strain on her magic. She just hoped she could hold out long enough.

The Swammwyrm jar was pulled out of the case, it then dropped to the floor and shattered, only for the specimen to be pulled into the mirror as well. The now empty bookcase then overturned, and slammed into the floor, before being dragged across it. When the desk finally touched the mirror, a loud cracking noise came from it as it was stretched and contorted, forcing it smaller so it could fit. A horrible end to whatever else got sucked in.

Cadance began to feel the stress, and started to plead for it to end soon, but it simply would not, and soon enough she felt herself slipping.

“No no no no no no!” She yelled, thinking desperately for anything she could do to save them,

Just as she was about to let go of the chest, it stopped. The darkness that was pulling them in poofed into a shower of sparkles, and the suction left.

Cadance fell to the floor, causing her to drop what she was holding. Twilight then hit the floor for the second time, and the chest popped open, a folded piece of paper sticking out. They both took a moment to regain their senses, before Cadance turned to see what had become of the room.

Everything was gone, save for an embalming fluid-stained bookshelf, and a quarter of a desk, which now tapered off to a single point.

Twilight picked herself up, and looked over the room as well.

“Maybe that’s not the only reason why it’s dangerous.” She said,

“It’s all… gone.” Cadance said, “Everything.”

Though she was the one that said it, Twilight looked even more disappointed at the loss, then she shook her head.

“You said something about a chest?”

“The chest yeah,” Cadance said, looking down for a moment, “Wait a minute. The chest! I saved it!” She exclaimed,

Twilight gave her an odd look.

Cadance quickly walked over to the chest and pulled out the folded paper, which was unfortunately the only thing in there. Holding it up, she began to unfold it, and unfold it, and unfold it until it was nearly the previous size of the desk it once sat upon. She laid it across the barren floor, smoothing out the edges so they could see it better.

“Oh… My… Celestia…” Cadance trailed off.

Clearly drawn across the massive sheet of paper, was an anatomical diagram of the worm, or at least a type of worm, but the similarities were unmistakable. Large mandibles, large size, spines along its body. What was most interesting however, was the text at the very top, acting as a title of sorts.

Jörmungandr

Megascolex-Assimilatus

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Couple things.

For one:
Readers that are more of the studious type beware, as there is a rift in the Calamity Wiki/Wikis. As of right now, the first search result in google is:
https://calamitymod.fandom.com/wiki/Calamity_Mod_Wiki
This is the Fandom wiki, which means it is maintained by fans exclusively, so the information on there is no longer trustworthy.
A while ago, the Official Calamity Wiki was moved to:
https://calamitymod.wiki.gg/wiki/Calamity_Mod_Wiki
An important distinction, so if you ever see something on the wikis that doesn't look accurate, make sure you're on the right one. The same goes for the regular Terraria wikis.

Second:
It has come to my attention that a majority, if not all of the Official Out-of-game Calamity lore has been axed, and is no longer canon. So as of right now, the only official canon lore can be found in-game. As you might guess, this makes it difficult for me to write since I'm missing canon details on major characters and events. So what am I going to do? Break canon. That's right, I'm sticking with what I know, so this story is no longer canon until further notice. You can find the archived lore here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14H0fmHigzvTxbQ1ipWOhD9bpN-49tN6cCs6Jb4QZRLw/edit#
Just be careful where you look.

So language is a thing. I spent a bit of time trying to find the right translations for the "Old-Equestrian" text, which is just Old-English. As some Terraria players might guess, "Wæter þōþor" or "Water Sphere", is a translation for "Water Bolt" an iconic spellbook from the Terraria world. Veteran players might even guess that "Swammwyrm", which literally translates to "Mushroom worm", is supposed to be a "Truffle Worm", also from Terraria.

Lastly, for those who might be confused about the mirror fight, you might draw similarities to one of the sentinels from the prologue, and you would be right, because they are the same entity. The difference in abilities is because of mod updates, because when the prologue was written that was how "The Ceaseless Void" fought. At the time of this writing, the mechanics have changed a bit, I've also come up with an in-universe reason for that, so look forward to it.

Chapter 13: Festival

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with?” Cadance asked, pulling a pair of saddlebags over her back.

“No thanks,” Shining Armor said simply, “You have fun though,”

“Oh come on please?” Cadance pouted, “I planned the whole day off just for this.”

“Well I didn’t,” He retorted, “I’ll just plan for it next year.”

She frowned, “You know there’s not going to be one next year.”

“What, are they cancelling it?”

“No dear, it happens every three years, remember? It’s a triennial event.”

“Oh, so the next one is in…”

“Three years.” Cadance repeated, “So will you please come with? Didn’t you have fun at the last one we went to?”

“When was that again?”

“Nine years ago.”

“Ah,” Shining Armor nodded, “Then I don’t remember.”

Cadance rolled her eyes.

“Besides,” He continued, “I feel odd going to a festival I know nothing about nor have any relation to, that and I don’t know a cloud-walking spell off the top of my head either.”

“You could just enjoy it for what it is, not what it’s for.” Cadance said, “But fine, I’m still going, we’ll try to be back before dark,”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, “Are you really thinking of staying that long?”

“Some of the festivities last all night long. So maybe.”

“Speaking of, are you sure it’s a good idea to bring him along? Considering… You know.”

“I’ve thought about it,” Cadance said, “I think it’s a good idea to at least have him interact with other ponies, and maybe get used to them. Besides, I’ll make sure we leave before anything drastic happens.”

“What about the Crystal Ponies?” Shining Armor asked, “Doesn’t he interact with them?”

“That’s different, they treat him with more…” Cadance paused to find the right word, “Respect, it’s almost like they revere him.”

“Well he did help save them,”

Cadance only gave a half nod, she couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it, but before she could spend any more time thinking about it, Shining Armor kissed her.

“I hope you have fun honey, and I’ll try to go with you next time, if you’d like.”

She smiled, “Thanks, and I would. See you later today,”

“Hopefully,” He smiled as well,

They embraced for a moment, then Cadance turned to leave,

“Don’t burn down the empire while I’m gone!” She called out, giggling as she exited their bedroom through the balcony.

Going up the staircase, Cadance reached the uppermost platform under the spire, where the worm was already waiting.

“Well,” She began, “Are you ready to go?”

The worm just chirped, then lowered to the floor.

“Good!” Cadance smiled as she climbed on, “Then let’s get going!”

Together they lifted off, flying away from the castle and eventually the Crystal Empire itself.

“You remember where to go?”

The worm gave a confused click,

“Remember the cloud city near Canterlot? That’s where we’re going.”

Touching down lightly on a cloud in the outskirts of Cloudsdale, Cadance took a moment to rifle through her bags, making sure she had everything she needed. A couple of water bottles, some snacks, a roll of gauze just in case, and of course a bag of bits, she’d learned from last time.

With a flash of purple, the worm landed heavily behind her, rocking the cloud they were standing on, denting it.

“Woah,” Cadance took a moment to find her balance, “Let’s do that more softly from now on okay?”

The worm simply grunted and followed as she leapt across to another cloud. From their position, they could tell the festival was already well underway. A large cloud platform had been prepared, with several stalls and activities lining it, though some other things were dotted around on a few smaller clouds surrounding it. Pegasi flew to and from, partaking in everything by the looks of it, Cadance was excited to join in as well, though she was also a bit worried.

“I know you don’t like most ponies,” She began, looking back to the worm as it trailed her, “But this will be a good learning experience,”

The worm grunted again,

Cadance sighed as she jumped to the next cloud, flapping her wings once to help cover the distance, “I want you to at least try, can you do that for me?”

The worm also sighed, before giving an affirmative chirp.

“Good,” She smiled, “Do you remember your sentences?”

“...I… Do…” The worm responded after a couple moments of thought.

“Excellent, now when we get there don’t feel like you have to stay next to me the entire time, feel free to break off and experience the festival on your own, but if anything comes up that you don’t think you can handle, come to me.”

Another chirp,

“And no hurting anypony either, that means keep your spines sheathed, or don’t have them at all, understood?”

The worm grunted, but Cadance didn’t see another flash of purple.

“Oh, and one more thing,” She said, stopping and turning at the last cloud,

Landing next to her, the worm waited expectantly,

“No weather magic, at all.” Cadance ordered, “Not here, not ever,”

The worm recoiled slightly at the shift in tone, then tilted its head in confusion.

“So no storms, and no clearing, I don’t want to see you changing the weather at all. Okay?”

The worm chirped lightly,

“Say it.”

“...O-kay.” It repeated,

Cadance eased up at that, and her smile returned, “Good, then let’s get up there.”

Flapping her wings, she led the way back up the distance they had descended slightly on their way over. Together they crested the edge of the cloud, and landed softly at the edge of the fairgrounds. They were met with a crowd of ponies, most if not all pegasi, the festival was packed, though there was definitely enough space to walk around.

“Wow,” Cadance commented, “I haven’t seen it be this full since the few times I went with Celestia. I wonder if anything big is happening this year?”

The worm, in its infinite wisdom, simply clicked in response.

Cadance rolled her eyes, then started forward, “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

As they entered the festival proper, they began to take in what was happening around them. A distant band was playing a jaunty tune, and the smell of fried food permeated the air. Looking around, there were several vendors selling all manner of things, from candies to funnel cakes to even fried clouds, an interesting pegasus delicacy. Among the countless food items though, there were a couple of other items and commodities as well, all of them themed around… you guessed it, the worm.

Stuffed animals, balloons, stickers, badges, wood carvings, cloud sculptures, toys, keychains, hats, masks, paintings, pictures, comics, knick knacks, even a couple of food items were made to look like the worm. Artistic liberties were a given of course, and even from a distance Cadance could tell there were several inconsistencies with the real deal.

Still, it was a fun experience, and she quickly walked up to a stall to get something to eat, she definitely wouldn’t be needing her snacks.

“Hello! Could I get some cloud candy please?” She asked,

“Sure ya can!” The vendor responded, “That’ll be one bit, let me just get it for ya.”

Cadance nodded, then went to fiddle with her bags to get the money while the vendor dipped a stick into a tub, pulling out a full puff of cloud candy a moment later.

“Here ya go,” the vendor said as they exchanged what was necessary, “Though, does your friend want any? I’ve gotta say, they’ve got a great costume.”

“Oh!” Cadance said, turning to look at the worm, “It’s not-” She paused, thinking about what she was about to say.

The vendor raised an eyebrow.

“It’s fine,” Cadance corrected, “We can share. Thank you though,”

“Well hope you two enjoy it,” The vendor said, nodding, a bit of confusion on her face.

Also nodding, Cadance turned and began to go back to the middle of the area.

“A costume huh?” She chuckled, taking a bite of her candy and glancing at the worm, “This might be the one place in Equestria where you could get away with that. Maybe Nightmare Night as well.”

The worm just clicked a few times, and it followed her to the center so they could see what other stalls were available.

Something started to make itself known to them however, and as Cadance glanced around, she noticed they were getting a lot of looks, more than normal. At first she assumed it was because she was a princess, walking around a public area as one will do that, but she had made an effort to attend nearly every festival since she first heard of them, she was a known regular. Her second thought led to the worm, the worm that was even taller than her, and she peaked above the heads of most of the crowd. It was certainly eye-catching, and considering it was a themed festival, the worm probably looked like some diehard cosplayer, or maybe an out of place actor from some official event.

The attention was far from bad, but Cadance doubted if the worm saw it that way.

Before they could dwell on it any longer however, a pair of kids dashed through the crowd in front of them. A filly and a colt, decked out in armor made from the finest of cardboard, with an equally made sword and bow set. They chased each other around for a bit, and not paying much attention to where they were going, they soon skidded to a stop at the hooves of the worm. It looked down at them curiously, while they looked up at it in awe.

“Woah…” The filly trailed off,

The colt was in a similar state, then he quickly shook his head and got a confident look, “Vile beast! I will slay you!” He announced, bringing his sword around and whacking the worm’s leg.

The flimsy cardboard did not do much, and it bent out of shape immediately. The worm lifted its leg up cautiously, but didn’t do anything else.

Cadance knocked the carapace on its side.

“Play along!” She whispered, smiling

The worm looked at her for a moment, then back at the colt staring at it expectantly. It then reared its head back, let out a gargling wail, and fell heavily to the side. Several ponies watching winced at the impact, but Cadance knew the worm was fine.

“Victory is mine!” The colt exclaimed, standing triumphantly with his bent sword, “Commander Raptor always wins!”

“Hey!” The filly said, “I thought I was Commander Raptor,”

“No, I am!”

“Nu-uh!”

“Ya-huh!”

“Nu-uh!”

“Ya-huh!”

“Nu-uh!”

“Ya-huh!”

“Nu-uh!”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” The colt interrupted, running off a moment later.

The filly scoffed, but quickly gave chase, giggling all the way. Cadance watched them continue through the crowd, then she turned back to the worm.

“See? That wasn’t so bad was it?” She asked, a smile never leaving her face

The worm just grunted, then pulled itself out of the cloud, leaving a large dip in it. Cadance pursed her lips, then tried to smooth it over as best she could.

“So,” she began, “Do you want to get anything to eat? Or we could see what else is for sale, and I think I saw some games over-”

“Princess Cadance?”

She paused as her name was called, then she turned to see who it was.

“Rainbow Dash?” She asked

There, standing amongst the other pegasi of the fair, was Rainbow Dash, she was holding what looked like a fried cloud kabob.

“Hey,” She stepped forward, “How’s it going?”

“Hello,” Cadance responded, “I’m doing good, what about you?”

Rainbow Dash took a bite of her food, “I’m alright, just a bit surprised to see you here.”

“I could say the same.”

“And miss out on one of Cloudsdale’s biggest events?!” She frowned, “This is my home city!”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve been coming here since I was a little filly,” She continued, beaming

Cadance smiled, “So have I.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Wait a minute…” She trailed off, thinking, then it dawned on her. “I knew it! I’ve seen you before!”

“What?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash took another bite, “Back at the wedding, when I first saw you… Or y’know… the changeling posing as you, I thought I recognized you from somewhere else. It was here! At the festival!” She deduced, “Awesome.”

“Now that you mention it,” Cadance said, remembering herself, “I think I’ve seen you here as well, though that was before I knew you of course.”

“What, like three years ago? Definitely,” Rainbow Dash said,

“Funny, how that works,”

“Yeah... So what’s your favorite thing to do here?”

“Ooo,” Cadance contemplated for a moment, “You know I’ve always liked the worm dance.”

Rainbow Dash nodded,

“What about you?” Cadance asked,

“Hmmm…” It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to think, “Food’s good, games are fun, shows are awesome, art is expensive…” She listed, “I’m going to have to go with the museum exhibit.”

“You? Museum?” Cadance questioned, “I’ve always gotten the impression that you don’t like history.”

“Yeah well, most history is boring nerdy stuff,” Rainbow Dash explained, “But this is cool history, lots of action and stuff, that and I don’t have to get it from a boring old textbook.”

“Have you been to it yet?”

“Not this year, though I hear that they brought a couple of things for the exhibit this time.”

“Oh?” Cadance asked, “Do you think that’s why it’s so packed this year?”

“Eh,” Rainbow Dash ate the last piece of her kabob, “Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

Cadance nodded, “So, did you come with anypony?”

“Nah, I’m just here by myself. None of my friends really wanted to come, something about ‘not knowing anything about it or having any relation.’”

“Tell me about it.” Cadance sighed, “But what about Fluttershy?”

“Ummm…” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her hoof, “She’s not much of a fair-goer, I’ve gotten her to come before, but I don’t think she’d want to stick around with a crowd like this. What about you?”

“I actually came with the worm,” Cadance said, “In fact, he’s right…” She trailed off as she turned, noticing that the worm was no longer behind her.

“Was that who you were talking to earlier?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Because he left a while ago.”

“Oh.” Cadance stared at the empty space behind her for a moment, ”Well that’s fine, I did tell him it was okay to go off on his own.”

“Why would you bring him of all… uh… people?”

She turned back around, “It’s a learning experience, I want him to get used to being around ponies. I’m sure you remember what happened last time.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced, “Yeah, thanks for stopping him by the way.”

“Yes well, he shouldn’t have done that, but neither should’ve you.”

She just nodded, “But hey, it’s kind of funny, the worm at the worm festival…” She paused for a moment, “Wait a minute.”

Cadance tilted her head,

“Is the worm-?” Rainbow Dash looked around, “Is he-?” She frowned, deep in thought, her eyes landed on a large balloon animal that an eerily familiar white pegasus was in the middle of making. “Is he related to the worm that this whole festival is about?” She pieced together.

“They’re actually the same,” Cadance corrected,

Rainbow Dash did a double take, then stared at her in shock,

“Hold on!” She exclaimed, “You’re telling me you brought the same worm to the festival that is celebrating his defeat? And you didn’t think anything would happen?”

“I did!” Cadance replied, hurt, “I expressly told him not to hurt anypony, and to come to me if there was anything he couldn’t handle.”

“Okay, but what if somepony finds out?”

“Finds out about what?” Cadance asked,

“That the worm this whole festival is about that was supposedly defeated a thousand years ago is still around! How do you think ponies would react?!”

“Ah,” Cadance said, “Then you probably shouldn’t have shouted that out loud,”

Rainbow Dash immediately stopped, clamping her hooves over her mouth. Looking around, they both noticed that multiple pairs of eyes were on them.

“Nothing to see here.” Rainbow Dash announced nervously, “It’s all good.”

Cadance adopted a nervous smile of her own, the realization of what might happen dawning on her. She did her best to wave off the crowd, and when that didn’t work she grabbed Rainbow Dash and pulled her through so that they weren’t the center of attention anymore.

“I should probably go find him.” She said, walking briskly,

“You don’t want my help?” Rainbow Dash asked, matching her speed,

“Do you want to help?”

“I mean,” She took a moment to throw her empty stick in a garbage can, “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Besides the festival?” Cadance asked,

“I feel like this is a bit more important than that, and it’s not like I was gonna do much more here than look around, eat some unhealthy food, play a few games, maybe buy something, then wait for them to start serving alcohol and enjoy the show.”

“They start serving after three right?”

“Serving? Yeah, but there’s a vendor that sells liquor the whole day.”

“Do you know where they are?” Cadance asked, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically,

“I think they’re set up on one of the separate islands, something about preventing too many minors from getting to it,”

She nodded, “I’ll have to check that out later, but we should focus on the worm.”

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash agreed, “So how do we find him?”

Cadance glanced around a bit, “Well he’s big, so it shouldn’t be that hard to find him in a crowd. I was hoping that he hadn’t wandered far, but it looks like…” She craned her neck to try and see further, “He isn’t nearby.”

“Can’t you call him or something?”

“That would be very loud, and if we’re trying to avoid attention…” She explained, “Not to mention if I did, he would not be walking towards me.”

“Ah,”

Doing her breathing exercise once, Cadance started to slow down. “We should have some time though, one of the vendors thought he was in a costume, so most others would probably think that as well. Though if somepony were to get too close then they might see that…”

“He’s not?” Rainbow Dash guessed,

Cadance nodded, “Even then, they might not even connect the dots, and think that he just isn’t a pony.”

“Is that any better?”

“Probably not, but here’s hoping. Though word might already be spreading.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head, “Sorry about that,”

“Well you’re making up for it now. Let’s just hope that we either find him soon, or that ponies don’t care that the worm is among them.”

The next few minutes were spent searching, though it was far from effective. The crowd was unyielding and unpredictable. Ponies blocked nearly every move, and for every space they cleared, the previous one would be shuffled as individuals went about their business. It quickly became clear that they weren’t going to make much progress.

“There!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, pointing,

Cadance looked to where she was gesturing, and saw a purple form bobbing in between the rest of the crowd. They quickly began making their way toward it, weaving through the crowd as best they could. It only seemed to get denser as they got closer, and by the end of it Rainbow Dash was nearly pushing ponies out of the way, though Cadance kept a more reserved pace.

“There you are!” Cadance called out once they were in earshot, only to be immediately disappointed.

“What?” The pony in costume asked, turning to look at them.

Rainbow Dash facehooved,

“Oh,” Cadance said, forcing a smile, “I just wanted to say nice costume,”

“Well thank you!” The cosplayer said, before quickly turning back around.

It was not a nice costume.

“Ugh! This is going nowhere!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “How do we know if the worm is even still here?

“I was thinking about that, and I’m unsure if it would be better or worse if he left the festival.”

“Well where would he go?”

“Exactly,” Cadance said, “If he isn’t here, we don’t have to worry about him getting recognized, but if he’s not at the fairgrounds, then where else would he go?”

“Home?” Rainbow Dash tried,

“Not without me,” Cadance answered, “I could only think he’d leave for the open sky,” she gestured out to it, “Or he’d go to…” She turned around,

“The rest of Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash finished,

“Only if he left the festival to begin with, and I don’t think he has or will.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m here,”

Rainbow Dash nodded,

Cadance let out a sigh, but then she looked up, “Do you want to fly up and try and spot him from the air?”

“We could if it wasn’t for the low fly mandate. Stupid rules.” Rainbow Dash grumbled,

Cadance took a moment to think of what else they could do.

“Should we split up or something? Cover more ground?” Rainbow Dash suggested,

“Yeah, but then you would have to find me again as well, and get the worm to follow you.”

“Point taken,”

“Okay,” Cadance began, closing her eyes and doing her breathing exercise again, “Let’s not get too worried about it. Nothing has happened yet, and the festival is still going. How about we just keep going around, experiencing the festival while also keeping an eye out? That way we can do what we came for and find the worm in the process.”

“We’ll do both? Okay sure, that works for me.”

“Great, then was there anything specific you wanted to do? Because there were a few things I saw earlier that I wanted to look at.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, “Other than the exhibit nothing really. Though it’s on the other side of the fair.”

“We’ll make our way around to it again,” Cadance said, “That is, if you still want to come with me.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

Cadance smiled, then brought forward her previously forgotten cloud candy to take another bite. They resumed walking down the main path in a much calmer yet still alert fashion, allowing them to actually stop and see what else the festival had to offer. Rainbow Dash only appeared to care about food at the moment, while Cadance began tracking down some of the items she saw earlier.

“So,” she began, clipping a badge she’d bought to her bags, “How’s Twilight?”

“Totally awesome,” Rainbow Dash replied, “Now that she’s got wings and all. Her coronation type thing wasn’t too bad either.”

Cadance gave her an odd look, “I know, I was there.”

Rainbow Dash paused, “Oh yeah… You were.”

“How is she adjusting?” Cadance rephrased, chuckling lightly,

“She can’t fly yet, unless you call falling flat on your face every time flying.”

“She is learning though isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I’ve been helping her, and I know she’s got her books as well. I’m just glad I didn’t have to teach her how to preen,”

Cadance shuddered, “You know I went through a similar experience when I became an alicorn.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash asked, “What, did you also just pop out wings someday and have to learn how to use them?”

“Ha!” Cadance laughed, “No actually, it was the opposite,”

“What do you mean?”

She pointed to her horn, and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened,

“Try learning the fundamentals of magic at the same age that most unicorns start learning intermediate spells.”

“So you were a…” Rainbow Dash began, “Oh… That’s why you go to this festival.”

“Not quite,” Cadance shook her head, “I only learned about the festival about the same time I started learning magic. Before I lived in Canterlot, I actually came from a predominantly earth pony town. In fact, both of my parents were earth ponies.”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow, and looked like she was about to say something,

“I was adopted,” Cadance preemptively answered, holding up a hoof.

“Oh, so why go to the festival?”

“If you were a pegasus that grew up around earth ponies, wouldn’t you want to find out more about your lineage?” Cadance asked, “That, and I was fascinated with the worm,”

“You knew the worm when you were a kid?”

“I knew of the worm as a kid, but I didn’t actually meet him until the wedding. Before that he was one of the statues in the garden, like Discord.”

“Jeez, how many of those things aren’t actually statues?”

“Too many,”

They both laughed a bit, only to be stopped a moment later. A pulse flowed throughout the cloud, shaking it slightly. Stands wobbled, and ponies tensed, causing the whole festival to fall silent. Several moments passed as everypony waited to see if anything else happened.

“Uh oh,” Cadance said as the festivities slowly began picking up again,

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Is something wrong with the cloud? Do you think its structure rating is too low?”

“It’s not,” Cadance answered, “That’s the worm’s doing, I’m sure of it,”

Rainbow Dash gasped, “He’s not going to destroy the whole festival is he?”

“He shouldn’t if he knows what’s good for him, I specifically told him not to change the weather, but…” Cadance bit her lip, “It’s his first instinct to do so, something must have happened,”

“Something bad?”

“Most likely, though considering nothing else has happened yet, it was probably something minor.”

“So should we focus on finding the worm?”

Cadance thought for a moment, “If it happens again, but keep your eyes open, I have a feeling that ponies may be catching on.”

“Okay…” Rainbow Dash said, looking unsure, “I know what it’s like to fight your instincts, it’s hard,”

“I can imagine,” Cadance said, “What happened?”

“I was challenged to a race, a ground race,” Rainbow Dash explained, “My wings were tied for fairness, but the entire time I was just itching to use them.”

“Did you win?”

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head, “It actually was a tie, and I did end up using my wings at the end.”

“Oh,”

They continued walking for a moment, then another pulse swept over the festival. This one was stronger, and ponies struggled to find their balance. The stands were rattled, and thankfully none of them fell, which could not be said for what was inside them. Merchandise of all kinds were knocked down, with only the most stable of items staying where they were.

Deathly silence fell over everything, and Cadance and Rainbow Dash looked at each other for a moment.

“We should go find the worm,” Cadance said,

Rainbow Dash nodded, “How?”

“We follow his trail, come on, it came from this way,”

Making their way through the now uneasy crowd, they found it much easier to navigate due to the lack of movement. It took a much longer time for the activities to resume, though they were far from their original strength, and whispers started to permeate the air.

“We’re near the exhibit,” Rainbow Dash realized, “You don’t think that’s why…”

“It’s possible,” Cadance replied, “From what I understand the worm’s past is… not very good, and to be reminded of it… I don’t know, but keep a look out for him.”

The closer they got to the disturbances, the thinner the crowd got, and by the time they made it to the museum exhibit, there was hardly another pony in sight.

“He’s not here,” Cadance quickly noticed after looking around,

Rainbow Dash was hardly paying attention to her, she was more focused on what was displayed in the exhibit.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Cadance turned to look as well, and her jaw nearly dropped.

Right in the center of the display, held aloft by a multitude of supports and sectioned off with rope barriers, was a helmet. Not just any helmet however, it was massive, dull purple, and jagged. Two lightning-esque protrusions were fitted on each side, accented by small covered eye slits and an open mouth piece. It was clear just who it once fit.

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash was amazed, “They weren’t kidding when they said they brought something big.”

“He must’ve seen this,” Cadance deduced, reaching over to try and touch it, though it was just out of her reach,

“Look at what else there is,”

Off to the side, there was a much smaller helmet as a comparison, clearly one of the ones used by the pegasus army. Both helmets were bordered by huge plaques, with one going into detail about the properties and composition of the worm’s old helmet, including a diagram of its full plate armor. The other however, was different. It was a simple list of names, one that just kept going and going, with two large words written at the top.

Death Toll

Cadance stared at it, her eyes going down the incredibly long list, there must have been hundreds of names.

“You know…” Rainbow Dash began, her tone dropping as she looked over the plaque as well, “My great great great great… whatever grandfather died in the first battle,”

Cadance shook her head and looked at her, mouth open, “I-I’ve heard the stories, I know the numbers, but I’ve never imagined the scale. How?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

She was speechless, and could only look at the floor as she thought.

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash turned away, “Let’s go find the worm,”

That knocked her out of her trance, “How?” Cadance repeated, “Why?”

“What?”

She looked back up, “Why do you still want to help me? Help the worm? How can you do that even after everything he’s done?”

Rainbow Dash stopped, “Look… I haven’t really thought about it, okay? But he has done some good right? That’s gotta mean something.”

Cadance didn’t immediately respond, and she cast glances back and forth between the helmet and Rainbow Dash. Before she could do anything though, a third pulse rocked the cloud, knocking both of them off balance. The rope barriers surrounding the exhibit thrashed wildly, and the pegasus helmet was actually knocked off its pedestal, though everything else managed to stay upright. There were no stalls or ponies nearby to give a better gauge of the severity, but off in the distance they could both see several stalls collapse in on themselves.

Screams followed.

“Something’s definitely wrong,” Cadance said, “We need to go, now!”

She dashed forward in the direction of the destruction, with Rainbow Dash following a moment after. By the time they made it back to the festival proper, another wave shook the foundation of the cloud, but it was not a mere pulse. The pressure in the air began to change, building tension all around them. Cadance stumbled as the cloud sank beneath her hoof, if nothing was done then the whole platform would either buckle from the stress or dissolve away underneath them.

Pushing passed the now disoriented fairgoers and recovering vendors, they both headed towards the epicenter of the disturbances. Despite what was happening to the rest of the festival, a crowd was gathered ahead of them. As they drew near, shouts and yelling filled the air, distinctly not ones of fear.

They both shared a look, then entered the mob. Pegasi of all types were riled up, stomping, shouting, jumping over each other to try and get a better view. All of it directed further inwards. Cadance bit her lip, and began making her way through the crowd.

It was tough, ponies refused to get out of the way, with others pushing past to get further themselves. Trying her best to keep her reserved demeanor, Cadance found herself being shoved and jostled, with Rainbow Dash experiencing the same thing not far behind, though she fought back harder.

Another pulse shot through the festival, and a wave of shock reverberated throughout the crowd, though they quickly returned to their agitation. Realizing that they won't be deterred, a new sense of urgency came upon Cadance, and she too began fighting her way forwards, something she found quite easy.

Rainbow Dash fell behind as Cadance made her way to the middle of the crowd, where a small clearing was. Pushing past the last few ponies, she gasped. She had expected the worm to be at the center, but she did not expect what laid around it. Paper bags and cups littered the ground around it, the food and drink that they contained strewn about, a lot of it splattered across the worm. There were also a few smaller pieces of merchandise, and a torn stuffed worm sat at the front.

Atop the blood stained cloud.

Things were still being actively thrown from the crowd, and a couple of ponies stepped forward menacingly. The worm snapped back, keeping them at bay, but the mob was coming in from all sides. Cadance saw electricity begin to arc between the worm’s mandible, and she decided to intervene.

"STOP!" She shouted, slipping into the clearing and running up to the worm.

It jerked around to look at her, clearly surprised, the charge it had gathered quickly dissipating. The crowd also stopped, falling silent and still as they stared. Rainbow Dash soon appeared at the front, and she eyed the whole scene as she took a step forward.

Cadance slowly turned, looking across the bewildered crowd one by one.

"Get away from it!" Somepony shouted, breaking the silence.

"Yeah!" Another voice called out.

"Wait!" Cadance responded, but the hate was already picking up again.

"Monster!"

"Beast!"

"No!" Cadance tried again.

"Murderer!"

"Destroyer!"

"You don't underst-" Cadance was interrupted as a bag of popcorn sailing through the air smacked her in the face.

Buttery puffs scattered across her mane, staining it, though she just stared at the bag as it simply fell to the ground. Deathly silence followed, the mob quickly falling quiet in both shock and anticipation.

Cadance reached up to pick a single kernel out of her hair, when a noise broke the silence. Frowning, she turned around, only to stumble as the cloud shifted beneath her. She steadied herself, then looked back up.

Electricity crackled within the worm’s mandibles, gathering in intensity until it could hold it no longer. It gave a low growl as arcs broke away and into the cloud, which began darkening rapidly. The area around the worm turned turbulent, and the wind picked up. A scowl upon its face, its spines fully extended, the worm began to rise up, the partially transformed storm cloud swirling up to meet it.

The worm was furious.

“Hey, hey,” Cadance began, trying to approach the angry beast, but found it difficult to do so. “No. What did I tell you? Stop right now.”

Her pleading went ignored, and the worm rose further, leveling its gaze with the crowd, particularly in the direction the popcorn came from. A deafening thundercrack echoed throughout the festival, causing the crowd to recoil in waves. Cadance winced at the sheer volume, but quickly went back to the worm.

“Hey! Look at me!” She desperately tried to get its attention, “You have to stop!”

The worm screeched, lighting ablaze, presumably to transform.

Cadance put her hoof down, literally, punching a hole in the cloud in the process. “I said STOP!” She commanded,

Immediately, the fire along the worm’s body extinguished, and the lightning arcing around it dissipated. It clicked a few times, then looked down at Cadance and tilted its head.

“Come down here right now mister.”

The worm chirped, before slowly lowering itself back down, the dark clouds falling with it a moment later, lightening ever so slightly

“That’s better,” Cadance said, “Now remember what I told you?”

The worm nodded weakly, holding its head down.

“Good, we’ll talk about it later.” Cadance nodded, turning around, “Now let’s-”

“Hey!” Somepony in the crowd shouted,

“What was that all about?!” Another joined in,

Cadance stopped, staring at the crowd in confusion.

“You control that thing?!” Somepony demanded,

“I-” She began,

“Get it out of here!”

“Make it leave!”

“Punish the beast!”

“What?” Cadance asked,

More and more ponies began casting their demands, shouting over each other, trying to be heard. Cadance frantically looked around, trying to process the requests, but there were simply too many, the constant shouting turning into an unintelligible mess. Just as she was about to put her hoof down for a second time though, one demand caught her attention.

“Kill it!” A voice was heard over the cacophony of others.

She did a double take, and quickly glanced in the general direction of the voice, eyes wide. She was only able to make out Rainbow Dash in front of the crowd, she was looking back, shocked, also trying to find the source of the demand.

“Kill it!” A new voice called out, behind them.

“Kill it!” Another off to the side.

“Kill it!” More caught onto the chant.

Rainbow Dash looked back at Cadance with a worried expression, which she returned. She glanced back at the worm, which was turning every which way as more and more ponies joined the chant.

“Kill it!”

“Screw this!” Rainbow Dash shouted,

Cadance turned to her in confusion, and watched as she dashed forwards. She took a step back as she began to circle them, her wing cutting into the softened cloud. Faster and faster she went, her telltale rainbow trail beginning to mix with the forming cyclone. Soon enough they were obscured from the mob, but before Cadance could breathe a sigh of relief, the ground shifted below them. It dropped a few inches, then slipped beneath the main platform, falling a fair distance as Rainbow Dash sealed the hole above them.

“Woah,” Cadance steadied herself as the cloud evened out,

The worm just looked around curiously.

“There,” Rainbow Dash dropped down next to them, “That won’t hold them for long though. You two should leave.”

Cadance looked at her for a moment, then gazed up at the cloud above them.

“No,”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash sputtered, “Didn’t you hear what they were saying up there?!”

“Yes,” Cadance nodded, “But we can’t leave, not yet, not like this.”

“I-” Rainbow Dash paused to think for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth. “Okay,”

Cadance raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash nodded, “Yeah, I get why, it’s just… how?”

“Well you forgave him,” Cadance gestured to the worm, “Or at least you tolerate him. Why?”

“I still haven’t thought about it.”

“Then do so,” Cadance suggested, “And in the meantime…” She turned to the worm, passing her hoof over the smeared blood on the cloud, it had warped during the commotion. “You, are going to tell me what happened,”

The worm grunted, shaking its head.

Cadance just kept her gaze level with it, raising an eyebrow.

It whined, before finally speaking.

“I… leave… Ca-dance.” It began

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

More split chapters, look forward for the next part soon.

Sorry for the delay, but this time I have a legitimate reason for it: Jinglemas. So no complaining.

Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 14: Reparations

“Princess Cadance?” The annoying rainbow pony asked,

The Storm Weaver snorted, of course she was here.

“Rainbow Dash?” The amazing Cadance turned to look at her,

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Hello. I’m doing good, what about you?”

With a huff, the Storm Weaver stepped away, despite its reservations against leaving Cadance, it didn’t want to deal with the ‘Rainbow Dash’ any more, especially if the pretty pink pony wasn’t going to shoo her away any time soon.

“I’m alright, just a bit surprised to see you here.”

“I could say the same…”

Their conversation faded into the rest of the crowd, leaving the Storm Weaver alone to do as it pleased. For the most part, Cadance had made it quite clear what it could and couldn’t do, meaning for now, the Storm Weaver would just wander.

Ponies, or more specifically pegasi, were everywhere, simply mulling around or going about their businesses. The Storm Weaver could feel every one of their steps through the cloud, it vibrated slightly with every little motion, in a crowd like this, the cloud was buzzing with activity. However that wasn’t the only way the worm could sense them.

They smelled… bad.

The sourness permeated the air, not enough to turn away, but it wasn’t very pleasant either. There was a reason the Storm Weaver typically didn't associate itself with ponies.

Nor did they taste very good.

Quite a few were staring, but the Storm Weaver couldn't care less. It just continued forward in search of something to do.

The smell of pony-food briefly overcame their stench, though the Storm Weaver was far from hungry. It had eaten a much better meal earlier, and pony-food always tasted off, lacking in substance, being too sweet or bland, and the miniscule proportions certainly didn't help either.

The Storm Weaver snorted, and moved past the food stalls. Somepony stopped to say something to it, though they were quickly ignored.

Ahead were some games, though they were pointless in the eyes of the disguised worm. It understood the concept of playing, just not in such a matter. Tossing objects at other objects, relying purely on chance, participating in gimmicks, and all for what? Some trivial prize? A sense of enjoyment over your own skills or luck? The Storm Weaver turned away, it didn’t want to play any games. Though… it could not remember the last time it even could play.

“Woah… Dude, nice costume.” A random pony stepped in front of the worm, stopping it.

It looked down at the fairgoer, tilting its head in confusion. Just as it was about to push past however, Cadance’s words echoed through its mind.

“I want you to at least try.”

The Storm Weaver grumbled, and began formulating a response. Speech was never an interest for it, while it could understand what the ponies were saying easily enough, it was responding that was difficult.

The pegasus in front of it made an exclamation; ‘woah’, then referred to the Storm Weaver as ‘dude’, a label of sorts. Finally, they commented on its ‘costume’, and the word ‘nice’ meant it was a compliment, no hidden messages detected.

What was a costume?

Cadance had said something earlier about a costume, and how this was a place where the Storm Weaver could get away with it. Was a costume something it took? Was it supposed to take something from this place?

No, there was a different meaning to her words. To get away would be to leave without repercussions, but to have done something that would incite them. Was a costume a deception? Were they deceiving the ponies here? If that were the case, then perhaps it would be best for the Storm Weaver to keep it up, so they could… get away. That meant it had to respond as if it did have a… costume.

“Thanks…” It responded, after a full minute of silently staring at the pegasus.

“Cool voice…” The pegasus said slowly, “I like it. It must’ve taken a long time to put that all together.”

The Storm Weaver clicked, of course the pony was continuing the conversation.

“Yes,” The worm answered, thinking, “Years…” So many years.

“Really?” The pegasus was taken aback, “Did you make it all yourself?”

Looking down at itself, the Storm Weaver clicked its mandibles together, “Yes.”

The pegasus drew closer, “Wow… What did you use? Foam? Wood? Plastic?”

Now they were asking about the material of its costume, the one it didn’t have. The Storm Weaver tilted its head, what was it made up of?

Blood, flesh, bone.

Happiness, sadness, anger, hatred.

Fear.

…Love…

What was plastic?

The pegasus was looking at it expectantly, so the Storm Weaver slowly nodded.

“Plas-tic.”

“Ah, that explains the smoothness,” The pegasus started walking around it, inspecting closer, “I see you’ve got a few knicks and scratches here and there, they look great, and your painting skills are amazing! I can’t see any brush marks or dull spots.”

“Thanks?”

“It doesn’t look very heavy either, though I guess on somepony as big as you it wouldn’t be. I like your prosthetics, I can tell you’re going for a very realistic look, points for accuracy too. Where’d you get your contacts? Wait!” They stopped rambling to gasp, “Are you using magic at all?”

“N-No,” The Storm Weaver carefully responded.

This was getting awkward, fast.

“What are you wearing underneath?” The pegasus asked, touching the worm on the side.

The Storm Weaver quickly pulled away, thinking of a way to end this.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Is it insulated? Ventilated? Does it get hot at all? It must be awfully uncomfortable to have your wings bound underneath.”

“Goodbye.”

“What?”

“Good-” The Storm Weaver stopped, it had to say something before that to make sense. “I… have to… go.” It started again, “Goodbye.”

“Oh.” The pegasus said, stepping back,

The Storm Weaver huffed, then started to walk away.

“Wait! One more thing.” The pegasus called out, “Can I ask how you made your undersuit? It looks so seamless. Or your tail, how did you get it to look so life-like? It all looks…” They trailed off, “So real…”

The Storm Weaver turned around to stare at the pegasus.

“Goodbye.” It repeated,

“Hold on.”

It twitched.

“Who are you?”

The Storm Weaver tensed, “Goodbye,” It reaffirmed with a snort,

“No no no no no,” The pegasus shook their head, they stepped in front of the worm. “You need to tell me who you are.”

“No. I go. Goodbye.”

The pegasus did not move out of the way, instead it just stared the worm up and down. Their eyes widened.

“What are you…?”

The Storm Weaver lurched forward, slamming its two front hooves down in front of the offending pegasus. Immediately the air shifted, and the cloud around them trembled, every single pony nearby stumbled, then turned to stare at the display. The pegasus in front of the worm was knocked on their back, and they quickly scrambled to their hooves to get away. What was once a semi-private encounter now had an entire audience.

The deception was falling apart.

Cadance was going to be mad.

Whining, the Storm Weaver dragged a hoof across its muzzle. Then it shook its head, it could still handle this, it just had to… get away. The worm started forward briskly, the ponies ahead quickly getting out of the way. As long as it avoided the repercussions, then everything would be fine, and Cadance wouldn’t get upset at the Storm Weaver for messing up.

It stopped dead in its tracks.

It had messed up, it had affected the weather, after Cadance had expressly told it not to.

She was definitely going to be mad.

Picking up speed again, the worm continued through the crowds, the new faces barely paying attention to it in favor of wondering what had happened earlier. For the first time since it got here, the activity in the cloud settled to a stop, though the vibrations slowly returned in the next few moments.

The crowd thinned ahead of the Storm Weaver, and it followed the path of least resistance, making its way past ponies and stalls alike. Eventually it led to a clearing, with the edge of the platform visible just behind some… objects. There were hardly any pegasi around, with only a few individuals around.

The Storm Weaver slowed down, taking a moment to recuperate, it wasn’t used to moving like that. Then it spied its surroundings, making sure there were no angry Cadances or repercussions about. It would’ve sighed in relief, only for its eyes to land on the object in front of it.

Its helmet.

The worm froze, staring at its armor to make sure it was real. It carefully stepped forward, the visor seemingly staring back as it approached. It was effective, iconic, and useful, but the armor was never worn with pride. Even though it was only the helmet, it was what it represented that counted.

Servitude.

Letting out a long exhale, the Storm Weaver stepped closer, stopping right at the rope barrier. It doubted the helmet would even fit anymore, at least without changing first. The worm was glad to have shed it so long ago, for if it still had the armor today, it would only serve as a reminder of what is yet to come.

What is yet to come…

The Storm Weaver tensed, and its breathing quickened as it began to frantically look around.

There was no smoke, and more importantly there wasn’t any sign of master, there was only the ponies of the fair, and all they were doing was-

“There it is!” A call came from behind

The Storm Weaver growled as it turned around. The pegasus from earlier was approaching, along with several others, they came to a stop just in front of it.

“What are you and what are you doing here?” They wasted no time in starting a conversation.

The Storm Weaver grunted, the repercussions were here. Maybe it could still try to get away, though in a different manner than last time, the Storm Weaver would much rather deal with simple ponies than an angry Cadance.

What did she call this again?

“I… am…” The Storm Weaver began, “Learning experience.”

“Oh yeah? And what are you learning exactly?” The pegasus demanded,

The Storm Weaver tilted its head. Was it learning something? Maybe that’s what learning experience meant. Maybe it was supposed to take something from here after all. But what was it learning?

“Well?”

Ignoring the pegasus, the Storm Weaver went over all that it had been doing today. What was it supposed to be learning? It was walking around, talking, and acting like a pony, maybe that was it.

“Learning… how to…” It struggled to find the words, “Be… pony?” The worm tried,

“Oh?” The pegasus raised an eyebrow, “So what? You can pretend to be one and then eat us when you get the chance?” They turned around to get support from the others.

Apparently that was the wrong answer, as a few rallying cries came from the group of pegasi.

“No.” The Storm Weaver replied, frowning. It didn’t want to eat them, especially now, “Not… eat.”

“Yeah right, because you’re learning to be a pony just because you can.”

That answer seemed accurate.

“Yes,” it nodded,

“I don’t believe you.”

The Storm Weaver tilted its head, this pony had come to it, asked it questions, and it answered, what was not to believe? What did they want with it?

“You know what I think.” The pegasus continued, “I think you should leave, before things get messy…” They snorted, a few sounds of affirmation coming from their posse.

“Yes,” The Storm Weaver also agreed, “Goodbye,” and it simply walked past them.

Not even a second later the pegasus moved to stand in front of the worm.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me right,” They said, the rest of the group spreading out to surround it, “I said you should leave… the festival.”

The Storm Weaver stopped, and looked around at the pegasi preventing it from moving forward. They wanted it to leave the festival, a tempting choice, but then what would Cadance think? If it left now then she would be upset, even more on top of what she already would be.

“No.”

It stepped forward, though the pegasus did not move. Moving to the side towards a small gap, the Storm Weaver was thwarted once more as the group closed in around it. It clicked, pulling back towards the center of the encirclement.

It was a trap.

Though what could they do against it? They were all unarmed and unarmored, and even though it was seven against one, the Storm Weaver could kill them all, easily.

“You should reconsider.” The leader of the group said,

“And no hurting anypony either, that means keep your spines sheathed, or don’t have them at all, understood?”

Ignoring the pony once more, the Storm Weaver paused to think. It wasn’t allowed to hurt them, even if they were the aggressors, then it could only avoid them. The pegasi were making that difficult however, and as the Storm Weaver looked around at the seven surrounding it, it flexed its spines.

Cadance said not to hurt anypony, but she didn’t say anything about just touching or moving.

Sheathing its spines, the Storm Weaver moved forward once more, the ponies in front of it held their ground, only to be easily shoved to the side.

“Hey!” The leader shouted, “Stop that thing!”

Those that were behind quickly flew over, two landing up front with two more following on each side. They were hesitant to get physical as the worm continued forward, but they still drew closer and closer as they went.

A sudden pulling from behind caused the Storm Weaver to stop, and with a chirp of surprise it turned around.

“You’re not going anywhere,” The leader said, holding on tightly to its tail.

With a confused click it easily lifted the pony off the cloud, it took them a moment to register what happened, but by then they were already shaken off, and the Storm Weaver continued forward.

The two ponies up front stopped and held up their hooves, trying to block it once more. The Storm Weaver stopped, reached up with its own hooves, and pushed them away.

“Come back here!” One of them called out.

A moment later a pony landed on its back, wrapping their legs around its neck and awkwardly trying to wrestle it to the ground. With a screech the Storm Weaver stood straight up, then started trying to shuck the pony off. Another one came up on the side and latched onto its leg, spurring the whole group to try and dog pile the worm to the ground.

The Storm Weaver stumbled under the weight, but managed to keep standing. It grunted, then swung a leg out, knocking one of the pegasi off. Then it shook, forcing most of the others off as well, leaving just the one on its back. Reaching up, it pried the pony off of its neck and pulled them over its shoulders.

The pegasus scrambled up, looked up at the worm, cocked a hoof back, and slugged it in the face. The whole area fell silent, and the Storm Weaver rolled its jaw, unaffected by the blow. The pegasus however, winced and shook their hoof. The Storm Weaver then let out a low growl, causing the attackers to step back, except for the leader, who quickly ran up and bucked it in the side.

It stumbled, but didn’t fall, and a moment later the Storm Weaver snapped back at the pegasus, its mandibles coming dangerously close to their neck as it stomped down. They tripped backwards, falling square on their back, and the others struggled to find their footing.

It took the Storm Weaver a moment to realize what it just did, the stillness of the cloud returning once again.

It could no longer handle this.

Whining, the Storm Weaver ran past the now stunned ponies back towards the festival proper. The crowd readily got out of the way, most of which having just observed the confrontation.

“Hey!” The pegasus leader called out, attempting to follow the worm.

They were quickly lost in the crowd, the Storm Weaver quickly making its way through the festival, past the repercussions, past the staring bystanders, past the past with only one goal in mind.

It needed to find Cadance.

She could help, she could fix this. Even though she would be mad, it would be better to stop now than to make it worse later. The Storm Weaver just had to find her first, a pink pony in a crowd of vibrant and similar smelling ponies. It groaned, but continued forward nonetheless, at least Cadance was tall enough to stand out in a crowd.

Silence followed every step the Storm Weaver took. It seemed the festival had died, the ponies had all stopped what they were doing. Most, if not all, were staring at the worm as it went by. Whispers soon followed in its wake, and a couple ponies began to trail behind. If all those ponies wanted to confront it as well, then not only would it have to avoid them to please Cadance, but it would have to converse with them as well. Moving faster, eyes up and alert, the Storm Weaver tore its way through the crowd as it searched, a growing movement of pegasi behind it.

It wasn’t long before it was stopped, the crowd had come together to form a wall. The Storm Weaver paced around the clump of ponies, eager to pass through. Just as it was about to step in and force its way forward, it paused.

There was a child.

A small one, smaller than the two from before. It gazed up in awe at the Storm Weaver, a stuffed worm held in its hooves. The Storm Weaver, who’s hoof was hovering just above it, ready to step down at a moment’s notice, slowly pulled it back and tilted its head. They locked eyes, and stared at each other for a moment.

Of all the ponies, adolescents were the Storm Weaver’s most favorable. They always seemed so open and inclusive, and their shortcomings were always forgivable due to their lack of experience. Ignorant minds capable of unconditional love and unaware of the whole of reality.

How pitiable.

The little pony stepped forward, never breaking eye contact, it reached up, presenting the stuffed replica to the Storm Weaver. It carefully reached down and picked it up, inspecting it closely. Pink and purple fabrics were stitched together to form the body, with harder felt sewn on to make up the spines. Two beaded eyes stared outward aimlessly, giving the stuffed animal an odd look, though not entirely inaccurate.

A gift?

What was it supposed to do when it was given one of those again?

The Storm Weaver looked down at the pony and gave a crooked smile.

“Thanks…”

The child smiled back.

“Get away from that thing!”

The Storm Weaver whipped around, placing the stuffed animal on its back.

“Yeah! It’s dangerous!”

“It’ll hurt you!”

It was the pegasus from earlier, along with a much bigger group. They fanned out to block the Storm Weaver in against the rest of the crowd as it widened its stance. The child, spooked, scrambled between the worm’s legs and huddled under it. The action gave it pause, and did little to appease the forming mob.

“It’s got that kid!”

“Let them go!”

The Storm Weaver frowned, and tried to step away, but the little pony was adamant to stay underneath it. Clearly the others didn’t want it near the child, nor did it want to be near them either.

Ponies from the other side began to notice what was transpiring, and some joined in as they realized what was happening. The Storm Weaver turned in place, assaulted on both sides, it shuffled off to the side, the child refusing to break away as they moved. The crowd closed in around them, trapping them in the middle of the festival.

Snapping at any that drew too near, the Storm Weaver began looking for ways to alleviate the situation. Flying away was quickly becoming more and more appealing, but the consequences of doing so were ever present. Cadance was nowhere to be seen, which meant no easy way out either. It clicked rapidly, then looked down.

The child.

They were cowering underneath the Storm Weaver, shaking wildly and glancing around frantically. With a single motion, the Storm Weaver grabbed the pony and pulled them out in front of it. It then reached back, and the crowd grew agitated, only to calm a moment later as the Storm Weaver retrieved the plush from its back. It presented it back to the child, only for them to latch onto the worm’s leg.

It let out a surprised chirp, and the crowd went silent. The Storm Weaver moved its leg, yet the child remained wrapped tightly, squeezing the stuffed worm around it.

“No!” They protested,

“...Yes…” The Storm Weaver argued, “You… go.”

It held the child up, trying to get them to drop off. The crowd watched and waited, until one particular pony broke away to approach. Unabated by the situation, they reached forward and grabbed the child, pulling them away from the worm.

Something caught on one of its spines, and the plush tore as it was pulled away. The child dropped it, its stuffing spilling out across the cloud, a good amount of blood following after.

They screamed.

Cadance winced, “And then we showed up, and now we’re here.” She finished.

The worm gave a weak nod.

“Alright,” Cadance began, taking a moment to think, “I’m sorry.”

The worm tilted its head and chirped,

“I didn’t mean for it to go this way, what I told you and what I expected of everypony was wrong, so I want to apologize.” She answered, “You could’ve left at any moment, especially if things were this bad, and if ponies were attacking you first, then yes you could’ve defended yourself, even if it meant hurting them. Did you happen to see where the kid went after you-” Cadance stopped herself, “After the accident?”

The worm clicked and shook its head.

“Mmm…” Cadance pursed her lips, “Well I hope they’re alright, wherever they are.” She turned, “Hey Rainbow Dash,”

“Yeah?” She answered,

“What do you think?”

“Uh… I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening.”

“Not that,” Cadance said, “I meant what have you thought of so far?”

“Oh, then yes I’ve got something.”

“Go ahead then.”

“So, I know the worm has killed ponies, a lot of ponies, family members included. But I also know that he has saved ponies at the wedding and the empire. Yes he’s done bad, but also good. I mean we reformed Discord of all people, surely something like the worm is eligible for redemption.”

Cadance nodded, “You’ve got something there, we’ll just have to see if everypony else can understand that.”

“That’s one tall order.” Rainbow Dash said,

“But first.” Cadance continued, turning to the worm.

It tilted its head.

“You need a better disguise. We can’t have you standing out anymore, especially if everypony is going to be looking out for you.”

“How’s he going to do that?” Rainbow Dash asked,

“Well, he went from this to that already,” Cadance said, using her hooves to make a comparison. “Can you go smaller?”

The worm grumbled.

“Try.”

Magenta flames washed across its form, fading a moment later to reveal the same worm, only it matched Cadance in height.

“Keep going.” She commanded,

Another flash, and the worm shrunk further.

“Just a little more.”

More fire, and it was just barely taller than Rainbow Dash.

“Okay, that will work. Now we just need to get rid of your… features.”

“Pincers,” Rainbow Dash suggested,

Cadance nodded, “And spines.”

The worm blazed them away.

“Tail too,” Cadance said, stepping to the side to get a better view.

In a flash of fire it was gone, completely.

Cadance suppressed a smile, “No, you need a tail, make it like ours.”

The worm grunted, but complied, and a tail of scraggly hair poofed out of the flames.

“Good, now color. I have a feeling they’re going to be looking for anything pink.”

“Can you do green?”

“How about blue?”

“Yellow?”

“Orange?”

“Red and Black?”

Cadance frowned, and shot a look towards Rainbow Dash. “What about white? Try to blend in with the cloud,”

“What about a crowd?”

“Just try it.”

The worm clicked and erupted into flames again, they both watched as they extinguished, revealing an off-white carapace with only a twinge of pink and a slightly darker mane that retained a bit more of the worm’s original color.

“Looks nice,” Cadance commented, “Now all that’s left is your eyes.”

The worm blinked, then flashed once more, though its eyes didn’t change.

“Uh oh. Try again,”

Again, its eyes remained unchanged.

“One more time.”

A final flame, but the same pupilless, teal eyes never left.

“That’s going to be an issue.”

“What about this?” Rainbow Dash suggested, pulling out a pair of sunglasses, “Go for that albino look.”

“That’s hardly inconspicuous,” Cadance said,

“At least it’s not worm related,”

“Mm, you’re right, that might work.”

“Here,” Rainbow Dash passed the sunglasses over.

Cadance took them and carefully slotted them onto the worm’s face. It looked around cautiously as its view changed.

“Okay, now keep those on and stay with Rainbow Dash.”

She blinked, “What? Why? What about you?”

“I’m pretty sure everypony saw me up there with the worm.” Cadance explained, “I’m definitely going to be stopped and questioned, anypony with me will just be put under suspicion.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, “So what do you want me… or us… to do?”

“Wait here for a few moments, I’m going to go back up and hopefully draw everypony’s attention, then I want you two to head for the stage.”

“That’s on the other side of the festival!”

“I know, just… try to keep out of the crowd. I’ll try to meet you there so we can… make an announcement.” Cadance said, then she turned to the worm, “And if you get surrounded like that again, leave, I won’t be mad.”

The worm chirped,

“I know, but we can’t just leave without trying to make things right. I’m going up now, follow Rainbow Dash and listen to her if she tells you something. We’ll meet back up again soon.”

“Which way are you going?” Rainbow Dash asked,

Cadance looked around and pointed at the closest edge.

“There,” she turned around, “You two should go up over there after a minute, but if anypony drops down then just go.”

“Got it,”

They both nodded, then Cadance took a deep breath, jumping off the cloud a moment later.

“Catch you top-side,” Rainbow Dash called out after her,

Gliding over to the edge, Cadance flapped her wings to get up and over it, only to come face to face with somepony who was looking to do the opposite.

“Gah!” The mare stumbled back,

“Oh!” Cadance stopped, hanging off the edge of the cloud for a moment before pulling herself up.

She looked around, seeing that a majority of the crowd had made their way towards the edge, presumably to get underneath it.

“It’s you…” The mare said,

“Yes,” Cadance cleared her throat, “I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, can you tell me-”

“Where’s the beast?!” Somepony interrupted,

“Yeah! Tell us where it is!”

“It’s gone!” Cadance shouted, “I sent him away.”

“Where?!” Somepony else demanded, “I want to see that damned thing dead,”

“Me too!”

“Yeah!”

“EVERYPONY PLEASE!” Cadance called out, causing most, if not all of the nearby fair-goers to stop and gather around her. “If you would all just wait for a moment,” she continued, “I am going to make an announcement, and I will be addressing questions then.”

That seemed to please the mob for now, and with their attention now gathered, Cadance began leading them across the festival. It didn’t take long for those following to start asking questions again, though she ignored them, she had a speech to draft.

Off to the side, two figures crested the platform, and quickly began making their way towards the stage from the other side.

“Okay,” Cadance whispered to herself, “There’s the wedding and the empire, a thousand years in stone, weather machines maybe, and then…” She frowned, “Signus…”

Looking back, the mob had steadily grown as they traveled, those that were ahead quickly fell in line, and those that were behind most likely noticing the empty festival left in its wake. By the time they made it to the stage, nearly all of the festival was in attendance with a small amount trickling in every moment.

Cadance was off to the side of the stage, waiting for the band to clear off. Thankfully both them and the festival staff understood what was happening, and as the band worked the staff were keeping the crowd contained and non-violent.

There were a few torches, and there was one pony with a pitchfork, but it was quickly confiscated.

“We’re almost done,” One of the musicians said, “We left a mic up there for you.”

“Thanks,” Cadance nodded, not taking her eyes off the crowd.

This was hardly her first time addressing the public, even an angry public, however this time it felt a little more personal, on both sides.

Doing her breathing exercise, she stepped up on stage as the last of the band equipment was taken off. The crowd’s volume rose sharply as she appeared, there were some cheers, some heckling, and a lot of demands. Cadance continued towards the center of the stage, looking across the crowd, she managed to spot a cyan and a white figure close to the front, and did a double take.

Yes the worm didn’t look like itself, and yes its current look stood out in the crowd, but that was only because it was missing wings and a cutie mark. She nearly facehooved, how could they have forgotten something as simple as that? At least nopony else seemed to be noticing it.

Cadance came to a stop at the center of the stage, the whole festival eagerly awaiting her to begin. She tapped the microphone to make sure it was working, cleared her throat, and took a deep breath.

“Good afternoon pegasi of Cloudsdale,” She spoke loud and clear, “and any others that may be attending. It has come to my attention that there has been, and still is hostility in this festival.”

There were a few gasps of shock, though not as many as she was expecting.

“Allow me to preface this by saying that the sky worm this festival celebrates the defeat of one thousand years ago, is still alive.”

That elicited a much bigger reaction, a lot more gasps, but also quite a few boos. Cadance waited for the crowd to calm for a moment before continuing.

“As the caretaker of the worm, it is my responsibility to ensure not only that he does no harm, but that no harm comes to him.”

“Why are you protecting it?!” Somepony in the crowd demanded,

“I will be answering questions towards the end. I ask that you listen to what I have to say, as I may answer them in the process.” Cadance waited for a reaction, then continued when there was none, “I assume many of you know the general history of the worm, but that is not his whole story. Let me tell you how I know the worm…”

“I first learned of the worm when I was a little filly. Like many of you, I heard the story of a terrible sky worm that terrorized pegasi kind for three years, only to be stopped after a series of difficult battles. But that is not the whole story, nor where it ends. After being sealed in stone for a thousand years, it was only during my wedding and subsequent invasion of Canterlot that he was released. The first thing he did was come to my aid, and with his help, we managed to protect not only Canterlot, but all of Equestria from ruin.

“After that I learned more about him. I was scared at first, but over time I began to understand just what he is. We lived in Canterlot incident free, and when the Crystal Empire appeared a few months later, we were among the first to arrive and begin helping. Again, he was instrumental in the liberation of the empire I now rule. I cannot thank him enough, nor can the entirety of the Crystal Empire, and I know Canterlot appreciates him as well.”

Cadance concluded with a nod.

The crowd remained silent for a moment, processing everything she just said.

“So?! Are you expecting us to just forgive the worm after killing hundreds of pegasi?”

“I am not asking you to forgive him, I am only asking you to understand that he has changed. And yes, while he did kill many in the past, he has saved countless others in the present.”

“And what now?!” Another demanded, “This thing does good now so it can just walk around as if nothing’s happened? What of every single life this thing has taken? What do they get?”

Cadance sighed, “Do you have any idea what it’s like to spend a thousand years trapped in stone? To be thrust into an unfamiliar environment? To be fearful of not only for yourself, but for your loved ones as well? To be hunted by your own past? The worm has not gone unpunished for what he has done, and while you may not find that satisfactory, you will have to accept it.”

The crowd pondered her questions for a moment.

“Umm… Don’t you mean ‘haunted by your own past’?” Somepony asked,

“I do not.” Cadance said, “There are things from the worm’s past that are working against it, and I do not mean you.”

That sparked more activity in the crowd, and as she waited for them to calm back down, she made eye contact with the worm. She bit her lip, this wasn’t going as well as she hoped, but at least it wasn’t a disaster. Now she just had to keep it from becoming one.

“Come on up,” Cadance beckoned, speaking away from the microphone.

The worm tilted its head.

“It’s okay, just come up here.”

It began carefully stepping through the crowd, Rainbow Dash attempted to follow, only to stop as the worm leapt up onto the stage. It landed hard on the raised platform, the noise catching the attention of the rest of the crowd, they all watched as the white figure walked to stand next to Cadance.

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to know that the worm is here, in the festival.”

There were a few gasps, but overall it remained quiet.

“This was supposed to be a learning experience, and I suppose we all learned something today. Do not be alarmed, the worm’s true form can be frightening.” She turned to it and nodded, “Go ahead.”

The worm gave a low chirp then erupted into flames. Ponies gasped as its form stretched and lengthened, quickly reaching the end of the stage and wrapping around behind Cadance. Giant mandibles shot out and its body swelled in size. When the purple flames died out, the worm took up most of the stage, hovering just above it.

Shock rolled across the crowd, and there were a few screams, but overall they remained collected.

“I want you all to look, and see that the worm is not the same as he once was. You do not have to like him, but I will not tolerate any aggression towards him, nor will I tolerate any unwarranted aggression from him. That is my guarantee.”

“How can you guarantee that?!”

Cadance looked in the direction of the demand, then she looked towards the worm.

“Sit.” She commanded,

The worm coiled up and set down on the stage.

“Lay down.”

The worm put its head down, flattening its curls against the floor.

“Speak.”

“C A D A N C E.”

“Does that answer your question?” She asked,

“Why does it listen to you?!”

“Because he loves me, and I love him.” Cadance didn’t miss a beat, “Coming from the Princess of Love who is married.” She paused for emphasis, “You should know what I mean. He’s saved me, and I’ve saved him. I trust him with my life, and I trust that he has changed. I give you my word that nothing like what happened one thousand years ago will ever happen again. Can all of you accept that?”

Silence, Cadance looked over the crowd as the last echoes of her question rang out. They began to talk amongst each other, yet there was no definite response. A minute passed, and Cadance’s hopeful look started to fall.

“I can!” A familiar voice spoke up.

Heads turned as Rainbow Dash took a step forward in the crowd, standing defiantly. Cadance gave a small smile.

“I can!”

Surprised, Cadance stared in the direction of the new voice, it wasn’t anypony she recognized, but they took a step forward as well.

“I can!” Another voice, Cadance looked, and it was the cloud candy vendor from earlier.

“I can!”

Her smile grew wider as more ponies stepped forward.

“I can!”

“I cannot!”

Everypony turned to look, and a different pony stepped forward. Cadance didn’t recognize them either, but a click from the worm indicated that it might.

“I cannot!” Another voice called out.

“I can!”

“I cannot!”

“I can!”

“I cannot!”

A chorus of voices followed, and though hard to make out, it sounded like the majority could indeed accept what Cadance was saying. She gave a half smile, it was unfortunate that there were those that could not, but that was the case with most situations like this. It was still disheartening to hear just so many though.

Silence soon filled the air once more as the majority finished voicing their opinions. Cadance waited a few more moments for any stragglers before speaking again.

“Verywell.” She nodded, “Then let me say it was never my intention to interrupt this wonderful festival, and it was never my intention to incite such negative feelings in those that attend. I hope that should I step away now, we can continue this momentous occasion, regardless of who is in attendance.”

Waves of agreement were returned back to her, and Cadance smiled fully.

The puppet surged forward, spiraling across the stage as it danced back and forth. Its rapid undulating motion expertly carried out by the team of puppeteers underneath to the fast paced beat of the drum. The music picked up, and so did the dance, the streamers lining the sides of the puppet billowed outwards, and it started slithering through the air. There was a flash of light, a crack of thunder from a metal sheet, and fake clouds were rolled across the stage, an unseen fog machine tying the whole thing together.

“Think you could dance like that?” Cadance asked, chuckling lightly.

The worm chirped and tilted its head.

“You’re right, you would be much better.” Cadance laughed,

She let out a sigh, then looked up at the stars. This year’s festival had gone… alright. An okay start that led to a disastrous middle which eventually fell to a long unwind. Items were bought, liquor was acquired, the injured child was given proper medical attention, food was eaten, apologies were received, gifts were given, heckles were ignored, and now, they sat where an angry mob once stood, watching the impressive performance in front of them.

“Definitely could’ve gone better,” Cadance said, “But I’m not complaining.”

Rainbow Dash snorted from off to the side, but otherwise kept quiet. Cadance gave her a side eyed look, but kept her smile. She was the only pony sitting close to them anyway, with all the others staying a sizable distance away. Though it was a little disappointing, it was expected, and it gave the worm a break from all that happened today.

“Just wait till Shining hears about all he missed,”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I've noticed a pattern, and I'm sure you all have too. Unfortunately I will not be writing a chapter with each of the mane six. I might've if I properly planned for it, but I have not, however there is one more chapter that includes an element bearer, you'll just have to wait and see which one.

I'm sure you can understand why I've been hesitant to write a large portion of worm-o-vision. Explaining the thought process of a stoic and seemingly unintelligent character is difficult. From my point of view the Storm Weaver is simple-minded but wise with a big temper, which is always an interesting aspect to work with.

Almost to 100,000...

Chapter 15: War

Storm clouds toiled in the distance, their dark shapes contrasting heavily against the open sky.

Cadance simply watched from where she was perched.

“Three, two, one…” She counted down,

A flash of light, and a second later a crash of thunder. Cadance smiled, she was getting better at predicting lightning strikes.

“-two, one…”

Another strike lit up the cloud, then another. Furrowing her brow, Cadance stood up from the cloud she was sitting on. Two more strikes, followed by their cracks of thunder. The storm was intensifying.

Her smile returned.

There was a chirp off to the side, and Cadance turned to look, only to see nothing. A second chirp, on the opposite side. Turning again, there was still nothing. She tilted her head, then spun around to check every direction.

Nothing.

The chirp came again, behind her.

Cadance whipped around, and nothing, only the raging storm in the distance.

Boom

A thunderwave rocked the cloud beneath her, and it began to crumble.

Cadance smiled again.

The storm, maybe that’s where the chirping was coming from. It only made sense, the worm chirped, and the worm made storms, so if there was chirping in the storm, that meant the worm was there.

Cadance leapt from the decaying cloud, flying in the direction of the storm. It churned and roiled, wrought with wind, charged with lightning, soaked with rain.

How exhilarating.

Cadance readied herself to dive headfirst into the dark clouds.

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock

She mumbled at the rapid disturbance, shifting under her sheets.

Knock-knock-knock-knock-

“Mmmm-what?” She called out, closing her eyes tightly. Just when she was finally getting a good dream it had to be interrupted.

“May I come in your majesty? It is urgent.” A voice came through the bedroom door.

Cadance blinked in the darkness, then sat up, only to flop back down a moment later.

“Enter.”

She picked herself up again as a servant opened the door, the faint light from the hallway bleeding through.

“I am sorry for the disturbance your majesty, it’s just that this came earlier this morning and I figured you should see it as soon as possible.”

“See what?” Cadance asked, haphazardly throwing her sheets off, “Bring it here”

She squinted at the servant as they shuffled across the room, then she activated the crystal lamp on her bedside table.

Shining Armor groaned on the other side of the bed, “Mmm… What’s going on,”

Ignoring him, Cadance stepped halfway out of bed to accept the scroll the servant was bringing. She unfurled the first roll, then spread the rest of it open as she began reading. She blinked to clear her vision, then furrowed her brow, then she went wide-eyed as her eyes traveled down the paper.

“What should we do about this, your majesty?”

Princess Celestia was having a good morning. She raised the sun without issue, spoke to her sister before she went to bed, and had a nice breakfast, a spread of fruits, pastries, and plenty of pancakes.

Now she sat on her throne, ready to begin the morning day-court. The doors opened, and the first of her little ponies began to trickle in.

“CELESTIA!” Her name was called,

Her expression turned, and she looked around to try and find the source, as did everypony else in the throne room. A shadow then flew past the stained glass windows and what sounded like a crash came from the front of the castle. All the guards in the room tensed, some drawing their spears.

“Celestia!” The voice came again, getting closer and sounding increasingly familiar.

Ponies at the entrance turned around and quickly got out of the way as Cadance tore past them, the guards immediately returning to their positions upon seeing who it was.

“Cadance?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Celestia!” She called out again, galloping across the room, tripping over herself several times in the process.

She skidded to a halt at the base of the throne.

“What is-?” Princess Celestia began,

“Look!” Cadance interrupted, practically shoving the scroll in her face.

Princess Celestia took it, opened it, read the first line, then immediately closed it and took a deep breath.

“The morning day-court is cancelled until further notice,” She announced “I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” She then turned to one of the nearby guards, “Wake my sister, have her meet us in my study.”

“Yes, your majesty,”

She turned back to the disheveled mare in front of her.

“Cadance?”

She stopped hyperventilating to look at her.

“Follow me,” Princess Celestia ordered, “And please try to calm yourself.”

“Hmmm…” Princess Luna pondered, looking over the scroll once more, “What do you think, sister?”

Princess Celestia took the scroll and went over it again, even checking the back, “Well, I certainly expected some sort of reaction from the griffins, but a declaration of war seems excessive.”

“I would be inclined to agree, but given the context of their situation they might be justified in their decision.”

“Perhaps…” Princess Celestia nodded, setting the scroll down and sipping her tea.

“That’s great and all,” Cadance said, “But what are we going to do about it?!”

They both looked at her.

“It is more along the lines of: what are you going to do about it?” Princess Luna said,

“What?”

“Unfortunately, it is true,” Princess Celestia added on, “As much as I hate to say it, there is not much we can do to help. The griffins made that quite clear in their stipulations.”

“They did?” Cadance asked,

Princess Celestia frowned, “Have you actually read the whole declaration?”

“I uh… skimmed it… right after being woken up.” Cadance answered, “Then I came straight here.”

“Right, well it says here that should Equestria intervene at any point, then war will be declared on it as well.” Princess Celestia passed the scroll over for Cadance to check.

“I thought the Crystal Empire was apart of Equestria,” She said,

“Technically you are only an ally, and a close one at that, which is why all of the crystal ponies are eligible for Equestrian citizenship, and there is no need for passports or visas. The Crystal Empire was independent in the past, and it remains so today, but that is your decision to make, Cadance.”

“Is there anything stopping me from joining the rest of Equestria right now?”

“The stipulations,” Princess Luna answered, gesturing to the scroll, “If you declare dependence now, it will be seen as Equestrian intervention.”

“So you’re not going to help me if the Crystal Empire goes to war?” Cadance asked,

“I never said that,” Princess Celestia said, “Should, heavens forbid, war break out, then Equestria will be right by your side in defending the Crystal Empire.”

“But only if war breaks out?”

“If it comes to that, yes.”

“Oh…”

For the first time since she got there, Cadance sat down, she stared blankly at the parchment in front of her.

“Cadance,” Princess Celestia began, “I am assuming you do not want this war?”

“Definitely not,” she answered,

“Then you should act to prevent it, look at the griffin’s demands and see what is asked of the Crystal Empire, then find out what can be done to satisfy them.”

“Okay…” Cadance said, reading more closely into the declaration, “What are their demands?”

“Their main one is the execution of the worm,” Princess Luna said,

“Nope.”

“Then you will have to negotiate. The griffins, while aggressive, are not unreasonable, I am sure that you will find some way to compromise. You already did with the pegasi.”

“You’ve heard about that?” Cadance asked, looking up.

“Of course, you made headlines across every cloud city, there was even an article about the festival here in Canterlot.” Princess Celestia said,

Princess Luna nodded, “I have to congratulate you on your success, it is not easy to get good public reception after a thousand year gap, especially if you leave on less desirable terms.”

“Indeed, though we will have to talk more on that later. Right now, Cadance, you should prepare in any way you deem necessary. You have said you researched how the Crystal Empire works, then how did it operate in times of war? That information will be invaluable to you, and so will any others in the empire that can help.”

“Especially since you have stolen our Captain of the Royal Guard.” Princess Luna added on,

“I didn’t steal him!” Cadance replied, “He came willingly!”

“And because of that I am sure he will help you every step of the way.” Princess Celestia concluded with a small smile, “Now you should go, I believe you have to respond by the end of the week.”

Cadance quickly read through the scroll again, “Oh yeah, I gotta go, Shining Armor doesn’t even know about this yet.” She stood up and began heading for the door.

“Oh, and Cadance?” Princess Celestia called out,

She turned around.

“Remember, it is important to stay calm during this whole ordeal, and while we may not be able to help you that much physically, we are always open to giving advice.”

“Thank you,” Cadance said, “I hope that I can resolve this peacefully.”

“As do we, for everyone’s sake.”

“War?!” Shining Armor gawked, “I don’t believe it!”

“You should,” Cadance replied, giving him the scroll to read, “It seems the griffins don’t like us having the worm.”

“I’ll say. I can see why you left so quickly. What did Princess Celestia say?”

“They can’t help us, we’re on our own.” Cadance answered, pointing to the stipulation on the declaration.

Shining Armor grimaced, but kept reading.

“So, what do we do?” Cadance asked,

“Well,” Shining Armor sighed, rolling the scroll back up, “I guess we prepare for war.”

“What?! But what about preventing it? Shouldn’t we try to avoid fighting?”

“We should,” Shining Armor nodded, “But the war has already been declared, fighting is now expected.”

Cadance frowned, “Why? Why can’t we just refuse to fight?”

“Like a protest? That might work, for any other reason.”

“Why?”

“Given what you told me happened at the festival, and what I know of the griffins, then not doing anything will go poorly. What do you think might happen when the griffin army shows up and finds we won't fight, and that there is nothing in the way of getting what they want?” Shining Armor asked,

“The worm would definitely get in their way.” Cadance argued,

“Granted, he would, but I have a feeling they’ve prepared for that seeing as how he’s their main clause.”

“Alright fine, so we should prepare for war, but try to avoid it?”

“That’s the idea!” Shining Armor exclaimed, smiling, “When dealing with griffins you want to think like a griffin. If we try to match their demeanor, we’ll be a less appealing target, and they’ll be more open to reason.”

Cadance nodded, “Okay, so we get the Crystal Empire ready for war, then negotiate. How should we do that?”

“You tell me Mrs. Researcher.” Shining Armor replied, “I can organize the Crystal Guard just like the Royal Guard, but the empire might have a better way of doing things around here. Has the empire fought in any wars in the past?”

“Not really no,” Cadance answered, thinking, “It has repelled a few invasions though.”

“And how did it do that?”

“The Crystal Heart. It was used to protect the empire with the hopes of outlasting any invading force.”

“That sounds… effective.” Shining Armor said, “Especially during winter.”

“It’s spring.”

“I know, just…” Shining Armor brought a hoof to his chin, “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll get ready to confront the Griffins, but if they aren’t willing to negotiate…”

“We hunker down and wait. Possibly getting help from Equestria.” Cadance added,

“With the hopes that after all that, the griffins will be more open to talking.”

“And there will be little, if any fighting at all.” Cadance finished,

Shining Armor nodded, only to bite his lip a moment later. “Wow, that sounded a lot simpler in my head.”

“How should we start then?”

He took a deep breath, “Let’s declare Martial law first, inform the crystal ponies about the preparations and start fortifying the city. I’ll begin organizing our military, while you should gather some advisors. After that, we’ll look at this in more detail,” he held up the scroll, “and start formulating a response.”

“Okay,” Cadance said, breathing deeply as well, “Let’s do this.”

“And honey?” Shining Armor continued,

“Yes?”

“We’ll get through this, no matter what.”

What was once a calm, early morning in the Crystal Empire was now bustling with activity. Ponies of all types were making their way through the streets, whether it be buying supplies, securing their homes, or contributing to the total preparation of the city. Once they knew about the incoming war, and who it was for, the crystal ponies seemed determined in doing the best that they could for the effort, with all the others simply packing up and going home to avoid the conflict.

Cadance watched the empire work beneath her for another moment before heading back in from the balcony. An impromptu war room had been set up, though it remained sparsely populated. In the time they had ruled, very few had been promoted to the advisory position, something Cadance realized needed to change. At the moment, it was just her, Shining Armor, and two others, an economist and a historian.

“So.” Shining Armor began, “Let’s start this meeting by going over what the griffins have sent us.”

“A declaration of war?” The historian asked,

“Yes,” Cadance answered as she took her seat, “We are looking to know exactly what is asked of us, then what can be done about it.”

“Negotiate, not conform.” Shining Armor clarified,

“Verywell,” The economist said, “What does it say?”

“Let’s see…” Shining Armor said, pulling up the scroll to read, “‘We, the lords of the High Council of Griffinstone, formally declare war against the Crystal Empire in order to ensure the safety and security of our citizens…’”

“Safety and security?” The economist asked, “What threat do we pose to the griffins?”

“We don't,” Cadance said, “But the worm does, which is why I believe the empire is being targeted specifically.”

“Oh, then I suppose we do pose a threat.”

“Yes, though moving on,” Shining Armor said, going back to the scroll, “‘Under pretense of ancient history, we reserve the right to-’ Blah blah blah,” He skipped forward, “More fluff… unnecessary… uh…”

They all shared a look.

“Aha!” Shining Armor exclaimed, “Demands, here we go. Number one: The immediate and swift termination of the so called ‘worm’”

Cadance shook her head, “Not happening,”

“Second.” The historian agreed,

“Third,” so did the economist,

Shining Armor remained silent, causing them to all look at him.

“I mean,” He began, “It would be easier.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow.

“Kidding.” Shining Armor said. He sighed, “Whatever, let’s just keep going. Number two: The continuous payment of reparations regarding the extreme loss of life in the last millennium.”

“That’s ridiculous,”

“I’ll say,”

“Number three: The disassembly of any and all military powers. Number four: The signing and validation of a non aggression pact.”

“Really?” Cadance asked,

“This is absurd!”

Shining Armor threw the scroll onto the table, “So they want to kill the worm, take our money, then gimp us so we can’t fight back?”

“How is that not just outright pillaging?” The historian demanded,

“It’s all done officially,” Shining Armor said,

Cadance snorted, “Official pillaging. What are their stipulations?”

“There’s more?!”

“Yup,” Shining Armor leaned back, a hoof on the bridge of his muzzle, he picked up the scroll again. “Stipulation one: Any attempts at subterfuge will result in harsher action. Two: The exploitation of the weather is forbidden. Three: Should the nation of Equestria intervene at any moment, whether it be by military, financial aid, or by any other relation, then this declaration will extend to it as well.”

“So there will be no outside help?”

“Not quite,” Cadance held up a hoof, “It doesn’t matter what is said in the declaration, Equestria will help us, but only if war breaks out.” She frowned, then turned to Shining Armor, “The griffins have to know that, right?”

“They should,” He answered, “I could only assume they are trying to exert control over something they can’t. Y’know, make this as quick and clean as possible.”

“Quick and clean?” The economist asked, “Not like that’s an option for us.”

“What about the second stipulation?” The historian asked, “About the weather.”

“I assume that’s referring to the worm, they don’t want him in the fight and I can see why. I don’t think we’re going to follow that one.” Cadance said,

“I think they know that too.” Shining Armor said, “This whole thing seems excessive, clearly they don’t like the worm, and they want it gone, I guess this is how they’re going to do it.”

“And now we have to deal with it.” Cadance concluded, then she clapped her hooves together, “Okay! Tactics, let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

Both of the advisors shared a look.

“Your highness,” The economist said, “I’m not sure that we are the best choices for battle strategies.”

Cadance nodded, “We’re leaving the battle plans to my wonderful husband, however you both have useful information that will be helpful elsewhere.”

“Yes,” Shining Armor added, “Such as deciding how to negotiate this war.”

They both nodded.

“Right, so we’re all in agreement over the first demand? We are not executing the worm.”

Another round of nods.

“Good, then what about the second? The reparations.” Shining Armor asked,

“Ridiculous,” Cadance said again,

“I agree,” The historian said, “We aren’t responsible for acts committed a thousand years ago.”

“But the worm is,” Shining Armor said, he then turned to the economist, “What if we were to actually pay them?”

“Without specifics? I can’t say for sure, but any amount will put a strain on the Crystal Empire. Worst case scenario, it’ll bankrupt us, and without financial help from Equestria…”

“That’s more of an after war situation, though I doubt Equestria will be willing to pay our debts.” Cadance said,

“Then we decide. All in favor of not paying the reparations?”

“Aye.” The historian said,

“Aye.” The economist said,

“Aye.” Shining Armor said,

Cadance remained silent for a moment.

“Princess?”

“We can’t just refuse every one of their demands,” She answered, “I know it’s unprompted and unfair, but if we’re looking to negotiate then we have to find something to compromise on. This is the only one I’m willing to go through with.”

“Forgive me for disagreeing, your highness, but every one of the griffin’s demands will be extremely detrimental to the empire.”

“Which is why we won’t be paying them in full, if at all. It depends on how the negotiations go.”

“Okay…” Shining Armor said, “All in favor of negotiating the reparation payments then?”

“Aye.”

“Alright, now demand number three.”

“We can’t just disassemble our military,” Cadance said, “We’d be defenseless, sitting ducks.”

“What about the Crystal Heart?” The historian asked,

“Turtles then.” Cadance reiterated, “Look, it doesn't matter, without the ability to retaliate, what's to stop the griffins from just going through with the rest of their demands?”

“Equestria?” The economist tried,

Cadance opened her mouth to argue, but stopped to ponder that answer. She brought a hoof to her chin, “That would make us dependents then, which… We’ll have to discuss that more later.”

“I don’t really want to get rid of the guard either, I’ve put a lot of work into it.” Shining Armor said,

“What about the fourth demand?” Cadance asked with an eye roll.

“The non aggression pact?”

“Yeah, that’s… actually a preferable option. Without any of the other demands I would agree to it, but with them…”

“It’s like they're just trying to prevent any retaliation after this is all over.”

“Why didn’t they just come to us with a non aggression pact in the first place? It would have been so much easier than going to war.”

“Maybe the griffins don’t trust us… or the worm to upkeep it?”

“Like we’d upkeep it after they started a war with us.”

“Yes, though if the griffins got their way then they wouldn’t have to worry about the worm in any future conflicts.”

“They shouldn’t have to at all! Why would we, a peaceful, far away nation, have any reason to attack or invade the griffins?” Cadance demanded,

The historian cleared her throat, “Perhaps they are simply afraid, and this is only a precautionary action in order to guarantee their safety.”

“Then we’ll just have to show them they don’t have to be scared.” Cadance concluded,

“Like you did with the pegasi.” Shining Armor added,

“Yeah,” Cadance nodded, “But we’ll have to do it on their terms, I don’t think just showing up in the middle of Griffinstone asking for peace will go very well.”

“Especially if we’re technically at war.”

“But that’s something to work on later, we should work on the here and now.” Cadance said, “What is being done to secure the empire?”

“The ponies are currently securing their homes and workplaces,” Shining Armor answered,

“And we are currently stockpiling essential resources,” the economist added,

“Good, see to it that we have enough to last, perhaps we could buy from Equestria, I’m sure that’s allowed.” Cadance turned to the historian, “Has the Crystal Empire had any relations with the griffins in the past?”

She paused to think for a moment, “With the species yes, but not their current form of government, this is essentially first contact.”

Cadance bit her lip, “Alright, and you would know better than I, has the Crystal Empire fought in any wars?”

“Never on the offensive,” the historian shook her head, “The only case I can think of is when crystal soldiers were sent to clear out nearby barbarian encampments.”

“And how well did that work?”

“There were… some casualties.”

“So we were always on the defensive, and I’m assuming the Crystal Heart was used for that?” Cadance deduced,

The historian nodded.

“What was the longest use of it?”

“About six days.”

“And what was attacking?”

“A dragon.”

Cadance pursed her lips, “How well does that compare to the griffin army?”

“We don’t have a census on the current griffin army,” Shining Armor joined in, “But from what I knew as Captain of the Royal Guard, there’s no way the Crystal Empire could win in a direct confrontation, not without help anyway.”

“How long do you think the Crystal Heart could last against a prolonged siege?” Cadance asked,

The historian shook her head, “I’m not sure, it’s never been tested.”

“Well how does it work?” Shining Armor asked,

“From what is known, the Crystal Heart repels those who have ill intent with the empire itself.”

“Does that include the crystal ponies?”

The historian shrugged.

“What about physical objects?”

“There have been cases where arrows and rocks have been stopped, but others where they have not.”

Cadance and Shining Armor shared a look.

“Are we willing to risk the worm being counted as a part of the Crystal Empire?” Cadance asked,

“It’s plausible, but even then the Crystal Heart may not be enough.” Shining Armor said, “There’s no way to guarantee that it will stop every griffin, nor if its charge will last. It will be hard to keep up spirits in wartime.”

“What else can be done then?” Cadance furrowed her brow, “Can we like… build a wall?”

There was a moment of silence.

“That…” Shining Armor began, “Might help. It’ll stop any ground units from reaching the empire.”

“But since the griffins can fly,” The historian added, “It might not be the most effective.”

“Then we ground them.” The economist piped up,

They all looked at him.

“If we’re not following the stipulation, then we alter the weather, and force them on the ground.”

“Yeah,” Shining Armor nodded, beginning to understand, “And since the Crystal Heart also protects from the weather, we don’t have to bear a storm, but the griffins will.”

“And that will reduce how long they can last, meaning negotiations will improve.” Cadance finished, “Quicker and cleaner.”

There was a round of small smiles.

“Okay, that’s the plan, we just need to start it.” Cadance said, “How much will it cost to build a wall around the empire?”

“It’ll certainly cost us,” the economist said, “But it’s a better use of funds than reparations.”

“Can it be done by the end of the week?”

The economist did a double take, then paused to think, “If we enlist enough builders, probably, but it won’t be the strongest.”

“It won’t have to be,” Shining Armor said, “We just need it finished by the time the griffins get here, then we can reinforce it later.”

“We’ll still need workers within the empire,” the historian pointed out, “Can we spare a few for other fortifications?”

“Maybe, we’ll have to see how quickly the wall can be constructed,” the economist answered,

“I’m sure we can recruit more,” Cadance said, “the crystal ponies seem eager to help.”

“For the guard too,” Shining Armor said, “Though I’m not sure how effective a week’s worth of training will be.”

“Anything will help, now let’s get to work,” Cadance turned to the historian, “Start recruiting, see how many ponies are willing to help.” Then the economist, “Begin constructing the wall, use any resources necessary.” Finally her husband, “Start training, get the guard ready for war. I need to speak with the worm, and see about this week’s forecast.”

On the dawn of the third day, the Crystal Empire was still abuzz with activity, it didn’t even seem to sleep. With a record amount of recruits coming in over the past few days, they actually had to deny some to keep the general population in working order. Because of this, construction of the wall was already well underway, with the brand new front gates already completed along with several sections, and new supports were already being driven into the ground around the entire border.

The guard wasn’t fairing as well, though it was still doing alright. Not as many wanted to take up arms against an invading force, but there was an entire regiment worth of recruits that was already being trained. They had also started patrols, just in case any unwanted visitors showed up earlier than expected.

Along with that there were a number of other activities happening as well, industry was booming, production was skyrocketing, and commerce was commencing. A majority of the money was being funneled back into the preparations, but it was just that little surplus that made everything come together nicely.

It wasn’t all going great however. At their current progress, the wall’s completion would be dangerously close to when the griffins were supposed to arrive, the new recruits still had to be put through full training, even if it was at an accelerated pace, and they had to be careful not to use too much of the moisture in the air.

Speaking of, it was currently snowing, which wasn’t exactly uncommon towards the tail end of spring, but it was an odd amount. Cadance wanted every advantage possible for the coming conflict, and that meant the griffins would be working through chest high snow, possibly even head high snow.

“Honey?” Shining Armor called out behind her.

“Yeah?” Cadance called back, turning slightly.

“How are you feeling?”

She sighed, and flicked the switch on the wall, darkening the window. “Fine, just a little stressed is all.” She responded, walking back through the corridor.

“Well I would tell you not to worry, but that wouldn’t really help would it.”

“I guess not. How are things with the guard?”

“Eh,” Shining Armor shrugged, “Most of the other stuff is taken care of, leaving just the recruits. They’re certainly eager, but basic training is a lot. I don’t think they’re all going to stay in the guard once this is over.”

“But they are committing?”

“Yup, not one has dropped out yet.”

“Good,” Cadance said, finally making it back to the study.

“How are things up here?”

“Slow.” Cadance responded, giving a quick kiss to Shining Armor before heading over to her desk. “I started writing an encouraging speech to hopefully speed things up, or at least keep things going they way they are, but I’m having trouble finding things to talk about.”

“You don’t think things will slow down do you?”

“I’m hoping not, but it’s good to be prepared. I’m also working on our argument to the griffins, but it’s not going well either.”

“Have you added anything new?”

“A bit, just an argument over the first demand, and ‘How the worm is a respected individual and is invaluable to the Crystal Empire.’”

Shining Armor nodded, “Then have you started on the second demand? It should be pretty easy to dispute.”

Cadance sighed, sitting down, “I thought so too, but it’s harder than you would think. It’s easy enough to say that the Crystal Empire wasn’t responsible for the actions of a worm a millennia ago, and that it doesn’t have to pay, but then who does?”

“The worm?”

“Exactly, then how will he pay?”

Shining Armor paused for a moment, “I see your point, but we’ll figure it out.”

Cadance just grunted, “If we have to pay reparations we will, but I’m going to try and prevent that, I just have to figure out how to word it.”

“Try to keep it flexible, we don’t know what the griffins will say in response to any of this, and if you need any help, you know where to find me.” Shining Armor said, “Now I gotta get back to training.”

“Actually,” Cadance began, “There was one more thing I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s about the griffin’s third demand, or rather what was said when discussing it.”

Shining Armor frowned, “About how we could rely solely on Equestria?”

“Yeah,” Cadance nodded, “Do you think we should become dependent on them?”

“Well… It would certainly make it easier, but then the Crystal Empire would be subject to Equestrian law.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Not necessarily, but then you would be just another Princess of Equestria again.”

“You don’t think I’d stay the ruler of the empire?”

“Not like you are now, I think you’d be demoted to ‘Mayor of the Crystal Empire.’” Shining Armor said, making quotation marks with his hooves. “You’d probably be a ruler in name only.”

Cadance grimaced.

“It would be like going back to our old lives, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

“Why not? Don’t you ever think about going back?” Cadance asked,

“Sometimes yeah, but if we turned back at every challenge ahead of us, what would we be?”

“Failures?” Cadance guessed,

“Maybe,” Shining Armor said, “or maybe something even worse.”

Cadance stayed silent.

“It’s just something to think about,” Shining Armor concluded, stepping over to the door, “I love you honey.”

“I love you too,” Cadance replied, not looking back,

The door clicked behind her, and she sighed a moment later. Picking up a pen in her magic, she brought it over to the several pieces of parchment in front of her, trying to decide which one to continue. She glanced to the side, where several empty bottles of wine were gathered.

Another sigh, she was going to need more soon.

Day five, the wall was just over halfway done, it now wrapped around the front of the empire. At their current pace it was looking to be completed the day after the griffins arrived. A worrying thought, but Cadance was hopeful that their other precautions would give them enough time.

“Are you sure this is necessary?” She asked, experimentally lifting her hooves.

Other things were going better at least. The first few trainloads of rations from Equestria were beginning to arrive, they certainly felt it in the budget, but at least they had enough to last a while. The recruits were also doing well, with basic training looking to be finished in the next few days, Shining Armor seemed especially proud of that.

“Of course, honey. Now hold still.” He responded,

Cadance did so, only to wobble slightly as a heavy plate was placed on her back. She flexed her wings, then licked her lips. The air was getting dryer, though the depth of the snow was now sufficient, the constant snowfall created an arid environment around the entire empire, and everypony was feeling it.

“It just feels… excessive.” Cadance argued,

Shining Armor stepped in front of her. “Are you telling me you got a headdress done for the games inspector, but you’re not wearing armor for the griffins?”

“Well-” Cadance paused as two crystal pauldrons were placed on her shoulders. “It’s like insinuating that I want to fight, when I don’t. I really don’t.”

“Honey, this follows the same philosophy as everything else we’re doing.” Shining Armor explained, “When you’re facing the general of the griffin army you want him to know we mean business, even if we aren’t looking to fight.”

Cadance huffed, “It’s still a lot.”

“At least we aren’t putting you in full plate armor,” Shining Armor moved off to the side, “This is what? Traditional…” He trailed off.

“Traditional Royal Crystal Armour Set.” The armorer answered,

Cadance shivered as a crystal mail was draped over her haunches, it was hooked under the plate on her back then latched in place at the base of her tail.

“Yeah, that.” Shining Armor said,

“How much more is there?” Cadance asked,

“Just the flank guards and the helmet.”

She sighed, feeling two more weights being hooked in at her sides. Then Shining Armor walked in front of her again, a helmet in his magic.

“Do you want to put it on yourself?”

“Uh… sure.” Cadance took the helmet and turned it in her magic.

It was glaringly bare, just the same solid light blue crystal as the rest of the armor. Lowering her head, she slotted her horn into it and pulled it over her head, the straps on the side hung loosely, but she quickly fastened them into her peytral. Cadance turned her head side to side to make sure it wasn’t too tight, and felt the weight of it on the bridge of her muzzle. It was like she was wearing a giant pair of glasses, only they slightly obstructed her view.

“Well?” Shining Armor said, “What do you think? I think it looks good.” He stepped to the side, revealing a mirror.

Cadance stared at herself in the mirror. She was armored from horn to hoof, from crystalline boots, shin guards, a thick peytral, large pauldrons, a crystal mail skirt, and a layered helmet. It looked quite effective, though a bit bulky and sharp in some areas. But most of all, it was just simply-

“Plain,” Cadance said aloud, “It’s really plain.”

“Yes well, when working with such short notice…” The armorer began, “There isn’t much that can be done for… stylizing. It isn’t everyday that a new royal armor set is made.”

“How does it feel?” Shining Armor asked,

“It’s certainly heavy.” Cadance said, taking a step forward to get used to the weight.

“I know you’re strong enough for it,”

“True, but I was hoping to maybe be able to… y’know…” She opened her wings, the crystal coverings on them clicking loudly, “Fly.”

“Ah,” the armorer butted in, he practically ripped her wing armor off, “A simple modification, we open up the back, and if you think you can fly well we reduce weight and armor elsewhere. In fact, I had to do something similar to the last set I made.”

“Really?” Cadance asked, she turned her head to look, but the helmet started pinching her neck. “Can we make this more mobile too?”

“More movement, less protection,” the armorer stated, nodding.

“Who was the last pony you made a Traditional Royal Crystal Armor Set for?” Shining Armor asked,

“Last Crystal Princess,” the armorer waved off, “Her’s was more stylized though, lots of diamonds and hearts on that one.”

“Ooo, can you do something like that for mine?” Cadance asked,

“Later, dear. For now we should just make sure it works and you like it.” Shining Armor said,

“I would like it with hearts…” Cadance said quietly.

“Simple engravings can be done easily.” The armorer said, removing one of her pauldrons, “Though I should tell you they probably won't last.”

They both tilted their heads.

“Why’s that?” Shining Armor asked,

“Because the armor evolves,” the armorer began, removing the other pauldron, “It changes to suit the user, and the engravings probably will too.”

“What, like magically?” Cadance asked,

“No.” The armorer shook his head, frowning, “I make the changes, and you will ask for them.”

“How do you know that?”

“You asked for it to be changed already.” The armorer shrugged, “You’ll probably ask again after this is all over.”

“Huh, I guess it depends on how often I wear it,” Cadance said,

“Probably.” The armorer walked around front, “Helmet please.”

“Oh, here.” Cadance quickly took it off,

The armorer snatched it out of her grasp and immediately began removing some of the lower plating.

“Okay, I took off some weight and opened it up for better movement,” he passed the helmet back over, “Try it now.”

Cadance nodded and slipped it back on, fastening it. She rolled her shoulders, which felt a lot lighter, then flapped her wings a couple times. It took a bit of effort, but she was able to lift up from the ground.

“This works for me,”

“Good, then I shouldn’t have to tell you, without as much armor, you have to be better at dodging.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Cadance said, she landed and tested her helmet. “Flying certainly helps.”

“Now take it all off,”

“What?”

“You want engravings? I give you engravings, but not while you’re still wearing it.”

“Alright then,” Cadance nodded, taking her helmet off again, then she stopped, “Uh… a little help with the rest?”

“Here,” Shining Armor said, quickly going around to begin undoing her backside,

“You seem to be pretty good at this,” the armorer said,

“Well my name is Shining Armor, I think I would know my way around a suit of armor.”

“Have you ever had to make your own set?”

“Yes actually,” Shining Armor said, “It was a while ago, actually when I was ten, and it was made out of cardboard… But the design was good.”

Cadance let out a small laugh. “Have you ever worn full plate before?”

“Yup,” Shining Armor smacked his lips, “When I was a recruit I wanted to join the heavy armor division, they said okay, suited me up, then bashed me around with everything they had.”

Cadance winced, then continued unstrapping her leg armor, “Did it hurt?”

“Not physically.”

“Oh,”

Lifting the heavy peytral over her head, Cadance exchanged it with the regal one she typically wore. She then stepped out of her boots and pulled the plate off her back.

“Okay,” the armorer said, “I will have this done by tomorrow, you come pick it up then and then we go to war, yes?”

“Yeah,” Cadance pursed her lips, “That’s what we’re trying to avoid… This still feels wrong,”

“What, does the armor not fit or something? Do we need to make more adjustments?”

“No it’s just…” Cadance turned towards Shining Armor, “How do you know this will help with negotiations?

“Well we’re trying to make the Crystal Empire as unappealing to attack as possible…” He leaned forward, raising his eyebrows.

Cadance paused, thinking. “Then the same goes for me as well,” she realized, “I’m representing the whole of the Crystal Empire, I should look the part.”

“Exactly,” Shining Armor said, “Everypony needs a good suit of armor.”

“Maybe not everypony,” the armorer butted in, “That would be a lot of work,”

“And a weapon too,” Shining Armor finished,

Cadance frowned, “Uh oh,”

“What?”

“It feels like you’re going somewhere with this.”

Shining Armor’s expression quickly turned to a small smile, “Well yeah, we need to get you a sword too.”

Cadance groaned,

“Unless you want something else, like a halberd or something.”

Taking a sip of tea, Cadance tried desperately to savor the flavor, but it was gone all too soon. She set the cup down, it clattered against the tray in her grip and she steadied herself.

“So, what do you think?” Princess Celestia asked,

“About the tea?”

“Of course,” Princess Celestia said, lifting the teapot and refilling Cadance’s cup, “It is a special blend that is known to help calm the nerves.”

Cadance nodded and picked up her teacup, “I usually go for something a bit… stronger.”

Princess Celestia raised her eyebrows, “Not this early in the morning I hope.”

Cadance bit her lip and looked away.

Sighing, Princess Celestia continued, “How are things going in the Crystal Empire?”

“Hectic. We’re almost done with the preparations for,” Cadance gulped, “Tomorrow, but things aren’t going as quickly as I hoped.”

“What are your preparations? What is your plan?”

“We are looking to make the empire as hard to attack as possible, and force the griffins to endure the arctic for as long as it takes, but we’re also hoping to avoid all of that by negotiating first.”

Princess Celestia nodded, “An excellent strategy, but it is not completed yet?”

“No, construction isn’t expected to finish for another two days and,” Cadance shuddered, “We’ve already spotted scouts.”

“Then I understand your anxiety, however you should have faith in the negotiations.”

“Yes, I have an argument prepared that addresses the demands, but the declaration doesn’t exactly have many alternatives, and the griffin lords seem determined in their goals.”

“Ah,” Princess Celestia began, “But you will not be speaking with the lords of the High Council, they may have declared this war, but they will not be fighting in it. You will be facing the general of the griffin army.”

Cadance tilted her head, “Oh yeah, Shining Armor said something about that. Who is he?”

Princess Celestia exhaled, “I regret not having you do more in foreign relations before, but the griffin general is surprisingly reasonable compared to some other griffins. His name is General Gavis Garfield, and he has been leading the griffin military for almost thirty years now.”

“Garfield?” Cadance asked, “Does he like lasagna?”

“Don’t.”

“Sorry,”

“Anyway, General Garfield is highly aware of the costs of war, for both sides. The griffins may be passionate about their stance against the worm, but he will weigh the costs of the situation and determine whether or not a war is truly the best option. If you were to provide a solid argument, and perhaps even build trust with him, then you may be able to convince General Garfield to agree to the addressed demands, especially if the empire is as ‘hard to attack’ as you say.”

“And what if I can’t get him to compromise?”

“Then unfortunately, you will be forced to war,” Princess Celestia looked down, “But that is what you have been preparing for, and if your strategy is effective enough, then you will not have to spend much to resolve it.”

“I’m worried about any cost,”

“Then do tell me right away if negotiations break down. If General Garfield accepts the cost of attacking the Crystal Empire, then he surely understands the risk of engaging with Equestria as well. I cannot say for sure what will happen, but you will have my full support in fighting this war.”

Cadance frowned, “How long will it take for Equestria to help once fighting breaks out?”

“Not long, but it will take time,” Princess Celestia began, “Equestria is most likely under surveillance, any preemptive mobilization of forces will be taken into consideration. However, if you truly need help, then troops will be on their way within the day, though I estimate travel time to take around two to three.”

“Then we have to last four days?”

“That is only if war breaks out, I have confidence in your abilities, Cadance. No matter which way this goes it will be difficult, but I trust you to make the right choice, and to carry through with it.”

“It will be hard to avoid violence if the griffins start it,” Cadance said,

“But I know you will have tried, and that is worth more than you know.”

Cadance simply stared silently into her teacup.

“Now,” Princess Celestia continued, “What else have you been doing?”

“Heh. Well, Shining Armor made me get a custom set of armor.” Cadance replied, “And a sword,” She added on.

“I expect he would, but you’re not looking to fight, are you?”

“That’s what I said, but he said it would help with negotiations.”

Princess Celestia gave a small smile, “It definitely will, and here I thought it was a passing fad nowadays. You know I have my own set?”

“You do?” Cadance asked,

Princess Celestia nodded and stood up, “I have not worn it in years. Would you like to see it before you go?”

Cadance sat there for a moment, then she took a deep breath, finished off her tea, and stood up. “Sure.”

The seventh day, it was eerily quiet in the Crystal Empire. Public business had ground to a halt, with only the sporadic guard patrol to fill the streets. At the back, builders were working furiously to finish the wall, driving crystals into the ground and fusing them together to create a single, solid object. There was still a large gap.

As such, a large number of guards were posted to oversee the construction and to make sure that no one got through until it was closed. More guards populated the wall, standing atop hastily constructed walkways and parapets, bows at the ready.

Towards the front of the empire, the rest of the guard was gathering. Entire regiments stood atop the fields of slightly yellowed grass, waiting. Crystal barricades were set up in a semicircle around the front gate, though it remained closed for now. Atop it, Cadance and Shining Armor waited along with the finest guards in the Crystal Empire. They gazed out into the frozen tundra.

“Are you ready for this?” Shining Armor asked,

Cadance let out a sigh, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

She looked up. The heavily overcast sky darkened what should be a bright morning into an almost somber one, bringing a chill to the air. The clouds looked to start snowing at any moment, but they waited for the worm’s call, and it waited for Cadance’s signal. Every once in a while there was the dull rolling of thunder, but there was a distinct lack of charge in the air.

Everything was calm, still almost. It was as if time had stopped.

“There!” One of the sentries called out, pointing.

Looking off into the distance, there was movement along the horizon, a mass of brown began to crest one of the frozen hills to the Southeast. It didn’t take long for individual flecks to take to the skies, though some stayed on the ground, distinctly larger ones. They all watched as the approaching army simply grew and grew, seemingly unending as it flowed down the snowy slope.

Cadance let out a whistle, starting low then pitching it higher before dropping back down.

The clouds darkened in response.

“Get ready!” Shining Armor called out, “They’re almost here!”

Cadance turned to a guard, “What’s the status on the wall?”

The guard shook his head, “They’re rushing, but there are still at least five segments open.”

“Okay, then we’ll delay here as long as possible,” Cadance then turned to Shining Armor. “How long do you think we can go without responding?”

“Well…” He began, looking over as the tail end of the army trickled through, “I’m not an expert on the griffin army, but look,” he pointed over to them, they were hardly organized, “They’re traveling right now, but they’ll most likely stop to get into formation before arriving. From there I’d say we could maybe wait an hour… two at most. We do not want them to surround the empire before we’re ready.”

Cadance nodded, “So an hour, maybe two, then we… talk.”

“Parley,” Shining Armor corrected,

“Right, we parley. How should we do that? We can’t just go out by ourselves right?”

“Absolutely not, unless you’re wanting to be held hostage. Here’s what we’ll do;” Shining Armor stepped back and looked down, “We open the gate, then come out with platoons one and two, archers on the wall. They form a defensive perimeter outside of the wall while we parley. If things go poorly, we rush back in and get ready.”

“What if we can’t get through in time?” Cadance worried,

“We won’t stray far from the gate, we can even keep it open if you want, and I’ll have a shield spell ready just in case.”

“Wouldn’t leaving the gate open be a bad thing?”

“Not as bad as you might think,” Shining Armor waved his hoof, “It’s a bottleneck, if the griffins try to follow us through, they’ll be forced into a bad position, that’s why we have the rest of the guard standing ready behind the gate.”

“And we can do the same thing at the back of the empire.” Cadance deduced,

“I’d rather not divide our forces, which is why we should delay as long as possible.”

“But the griffins would divide their forces too.”

“True, though by the looks of it,” Shining Armor squinted at the approaching army, “They outnumber us five to one, maybe even more.”

Cadance’s eyes widened.

“Don’t focus on the numbers, focus on our advantages. We’re in a highly defensible position with devoted soldiers, a master shielder, an alicorn princess, and… a giant worm,” Shining Armor shrugged, “Against an army that has to cross rough terrain in a tough environment with,” he pointed upward, “adverse weather.”

“Doesn’t exactly calm the nerves.” Cadance said,

“I know… But it’s what we have, and we’re working with it. Do you want to go over what you’re going to say to them again?”

“No.” Cadance shook her head, “No, if I do that then I’ll be too focused and go straight to the main points. If we’re trying to delay, then I’m going to have to… ugh… filibuster.”

Shining Armor grimaced, “I take it you don’t like doing that?”

“It’s obnoxious and stupid. I hate it and I hate that I know how to do it, but it works.”

“Just try to remember why you’re doing it,” Shining Armor said,

Cadance nodded, but otherwise stayed silent. Joining her, Shining Armor watched as the griffins drew closer, even at this distance, they could tell they were already struggling with the snow, the flyers dropping below the cloud cover. By the time the army was halfway to the empire, it stopped. However any hopes of it staying that way were soon dashed as the griffins assumed a tight formation, continuing their march a moment later.

Onward they went, crossing the snowy landscape slowly but steadily.

“It looks like they’ll be here within the hour, sir.” One of the sentries announced,

Shining Armor grit his teeth, he turned to another guard, “Check in with the back wall, tell them to go as fast as they can without compromising the base structure. We need the wall done now.”

The guard saluted, then dashed to get off the wall and through the empire.

“Ugh, if only we had an illusionist, then we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

“Is there anything else we can do?” Cadance asked,

“Not really,” Shining Armor said, “Unless you want to go and help them yourself, but it’s a little late for that.”

“Mmm,” Cadance sighed,

“Last chance to rehearse, are you sure you don’t even want to go over what to avoid?” Shining Armor asked,

Cadance inhaled deeply, “Shining, I appreciate the effort, but this is something I find I do better by myself, so let me think for a moment.”

And think she did, all the while watching the ever encroaching army draw closer. Their plan was working, as the griffin’s formation began to falter in the heavy snow. The lighter units up front managed to cross the tundra without much issue, but that left the snow weaker to those behind, including the much larger units towards the back. It was hard to tell exactly what they were from a distance, but it was clear they were some sort of war machines. Still, the wooden platforms struggled in the snow, and it caused the whole army to lag behind with them in an attempt to keep together.

Yet they never stopped.

There came a point in time where Cadance had to duck down and get off the wall, as it would have been hard to make the griffins wait another hour if she was clearly just standing there, watching them. They arrived soon after, the guards on the wall fidgeting in place as they waited.

Though she could not see them, Cadance could hear the army on the other side of the wall. Dull conversations, the clanking of weapons and armor, the creaking of wood, the flapping of fabric, and especially the crunching of snow. She turned her brand new helmet in her hooves, it was hard to sit idly by when what was quite possibly the Crystal Empire’s largest conflict was waiting on the other side of the gate.

The seconds ticked by one by one, quite slowly at that. The hushed whispers inside compounded with the noises outside only added to the pressure. Cadance stood up, then sat back down, then stood up, moved forward slightly, and sat down again, stand, sit, stand, move, sit, stand, move, sit. She could hardly decide whether to wait exactly an hour or to vary it a little, much less what to say.

It didn’t help that there was a distinct lack of alcohol today, she didn’t want to let it loosen her tongue, but now she was at risk of tying it in a knot.

This whole thing felt wrong, but they were working to set it right.

Cadance stood, donning her helmet. She looked towards Shining Armor and nodded, who in turn signaled the guards around him to form up.

“Open the gate!” He called out as they were surrounded by a protective troop.

There was a wave of response from the griffins outside, and the guards atop the wall set about unlocking the gate. The crystal cross bar was lifted out of the way, and a team began pushing it open. The large crystal panels groaned as they moved, and not long after a crack of light began shining through them. Cadance watched as it grew wider, revealing legions upon legions of soldiers, all standing at attention in the snow.

Though they were all armored, there was a general lack of insulation, with only light coats to keep them warm. Every breath was visible in the air, and while Cadance didn’t know what natural protection the griffins had, if she had to guess it was only a matter of time before they started shivering, especially if the weather worsened.

Perhaps this would go better than expected.

There was a divide at the center of the army, leaving a clear path towards a large tent, its flaps open. Cadance looked towards Shining Armor, he looked to the tent, looked back, then shook his head.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Cadance took another step forward, the rest of her entourage following suit. She took a deep breath, but before she could begin, the sound of thunder rolled in the distance. A number of griffins looked up at the disturbance, and Cadance suppressed a frown, they were probably under suspicion of refusing the demand, and this certainly wasn’t helping.

“I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, formally refuse war with Griffinstone,” She began loudly,

All of the griffins jolted into attention, and there was movement inside the tent.

“I seek nothing but to fully resolve this conflict as peacefully as possible. It is my duty as both the ruler of the Crystal Empire and the caretaker of the worm to ensure their safety as well as prevent any-”

Boom

Cadance was interrupted by a crack of thunder directly overhead. It was loud, just below deafening, and every griffin tensed in reaction, so did some of the crystal guards.

“Not now,” Cadance whispered under her breath, risking a look upwards.

A single raindrop plinked across her armor plated snout.

Gritting her teeth, Cadance brought her gaze back down to the griffins. This was going too fast, if they wanted to delay as long as possible, then the weather would have to hold, but there was no way to communicate that to the worm now.

A few more droplets landed around her, but Cadance ignored it,

“In order to prevent any harm from coming to them or going out…” Cadance trailed off, a dark spec flew past her vision, causing her to blink,

Boom

One of her guards gasped to her side, but she hesitated to turn her head. It didn’t last long, and she looked to see him staring at the ground, following the guard’s gaze, Cadance took notice of the many red spots littering the snow around them. Frowning, she crossed her eyes, watching as crimson liquid seeped through her armor and into her fur.

That was not rain.

By now others from both sides had begun to take notice, more and more looking up as the droplets continued to fall. Cadance looked up, right as the clouds above were lit up with orange light.

Nor was that lightning.

A familiar screech echoed down, followed by a roar. An actual lightning bolt flashed, revealing a dark shape in the clouds.

There was a sudden increase in red rain.

Another flash of lightning with a deafening crack of thunder, and the shape was a lot closer.

“EVERYPONY GET DOWN!” Shining Armor shouted right as two forms tore through the clouds.

They screamed through the air, slamming down onto the ground with such force that Cadance had to fight to stay upright, others were not so lucky. Shielding her eyes against the incoming onslaught of snow, ice, and even dirt, Cadance looked over to see what had just fallen from the sky.

The worm, atop a black dragon. They thrashed together, rolling across the ground for a bit before coming to a stop near the crystal wall. Pressing the advantage, the worm coiled its body around the dragon, causing it to struggle and release a bout of flames. Undeterred, the worm lunged forward, grasping the dragon’s head tightly within its pincers. It roared, and attempted to claw up at the worm.

With a simple twist, its neck was snapped.

The sickening crunch was heard throughout the crowd, and Cadance shuddered as the black dragon fell limp. The worm then lifted up from the body, and breathing heavily, it let out a triumphant screech.

Roars echoed down from the storm clouds as a response.

There were more.

The worm shot back up into the storm, leaving the two sides at a loss. Cadance looked around frantically, this was not part of the plan, and based on the reaction of the griffins, nor was it a part of theirs.

“Move! Move! Move!” Shining Armor was the first to speak, “There are dragons about! Get to cover and assume defensive positions!”

A crack of thunder followed his orders, spurring the crystal guard into action, they flattened out against the wall, some retreating back through the gate. Cadance only followed loosely, she stared up at the clouds in shock as Shining Armor directed them. The griffins took a bit longer to respond, their army scrambling together and reforming into a more defensive formation, shields raised and bows drawn, larger targets being abandoned.

Just then a lightning bolt lit up a shape in the clouds, and a moment later another dragon dipped through. This one yellow, it gazed across the outspread army, then unleashed a torrent of flame. Many were outright torched, but many more were set ablaze, screams and shouts soon filled the air.

“Archers!” Shining Armor demanded,

Arrows were released up into the air, arcing towards the dragon, those that hit simply bounced off its scales, with most missing completely. Still, its attention was grabbed, and it turned to spew fire at the wall. Crystal guards dove out of the way, only for the flames to wash across an invisible dome, the Crystal Heart was protecting them for now.

“This is not how I expected negotiations to go!”

“I realize!” Cadance shouted back, she looked at the dragon as it went back to assaulting the griffin army.

It was then a blue dragon descended through the clouds.

“We have to do something!”

“Won’t this make things easier though?” Shining Armor argued,

Cadance stared at him, “Not if it means they all die.”

A hail of arrows rose to meet the two dragons, but didn’t do much against them.

“Alright fine,” Shining Armor said, “Ballistae! Up front and center, aim high!” He turned back towards Cadance, “Are we letting them in?”

She nodded, “A sign of goodwill, we never intended to fight.”

Shining Armor sucked in a breath, “Okay. Soldiers! Form a perimeter and open the gate!”

The ballistae fired, the crystal bolts flying through the air, only one managed to hit, but it was certainly more effective than an arrow. The yellow dragon roared, and they both turned their attention back to the empire. The blue one breathed fire, while the yellow one tried a different approach, it dove towards the wall, only to smack against the same invisible dome.

The sound reverberated through the empire, and everypony inside winced as the dragon slid down the side. Once it reached the ground it got back up and pushed against the dome, clawing and biting in an attempt to get through.

By now griffins were already funneling through the gates, but it was slow going, the bottleneck design showing its drawbacks. Seeing the opportunity, the blue dragon swooped down and landed close to its fallen ally. It reared back, flames licking at the sides of its mouth.

Cadance shot a beam at it, hitting the side of its head and causing it to stumble and cough smoke.

“Help them in,” She said, “I’m going out there.”

“What?!” Shining Armor exclaimed, “No.”

“I have to.”

“No.” Shining Armor repeated, he stomped his hoof, “It’s too dangerous,”

“The worm needs my help,” Cadance pleaded, “And it might distract the dragons.”

She pointed to the blue one as it recovered and shook its head, only for one of the ballistae to shoot it. The bolt shattered across its back, and it roared as more arrows came from the griffins. Ducking below the wall, the dragon leapt back into the air to begin another run.

“You’re talking about fighting dragons, Cadance!” Shining Armor replied, “That’s not something you just do!”

“I know, but there’s at least more than three dragons. Two now,” She gestured in the direction of the dead one, “But the worm had trouble with just one before! Who knows how long he could handle five, six, maybe more!”

“That was in a cave though! Who’s to say the storm won’t be enough help?”

“I’m not taking that risk,” Cadance said, she stepped forward and flared her wings. “Do all that you can to protect the griffins as they enter, then the empire once they're in.”

“Wait!” Shining Armor stepped in front of her, he set a hoof on her shoulder, “Who’s going to protect you?”

Cadance sighed, then leaned in to hug him, “We’ll protect each other, and hopefully make it through this.” She pulled away, “If things get too bad then we’ll come right back, okay?”

Shining Armor sniffled, “Okay. Please be careful.”

“I will, I love you.”

With that, Cadance took off. Flapping hard, she quickly left the protection of the Crystal Heart and rose to enter the storm, but not before sending a few magic blasts towards the blue dragon. It roared, then spotted her in the air, and followed her in.

Inside was turbulent, but not oppressively so, Cadance was able to keep a level path in the storm, though in no way was it straight. The dark clouds made it hard to see, and the crossing winds made it hard to keep a bearing, but she continued nonetheless, heading towards the heart of the storm.

Her coat grew damp, and water began to precipitate on her armor, only for it to freeze a moment later. She shook some of the frost off, but it would only get worse in these conditions, she had to find the worm soon.

The center of the storm moved.

Cadance blinked, then changed her orientation to follow it, that was a clear indication of where the worm is. She didn’t get very far before it moved again, raising up, she beat her wings harder to match its altitude, only for it to shoot back down to the right. Grunting, she entered a steep glide, but the worm moved again, away from her, completely outpacing her.

There was no way for her to keep up with the worm in the storm, which meant the dragons were probably experiencing the same thing, though since the worm kept moving, they might not be having as much trouble as she was. If only they could cross paths.

It seemed Cadance’s wish would come true, as the center of the storm rocketed towards her position. Eyes wide, she only had a moment to dive down as the worm tore through the clouds. In an instant the air was crackling with electricity, and Cadance’s fur stood on end.

“Wait!” She called out,

The worm stopped dead in the air, then circled around to look at her, clicking wildly.

“I’m here to help. How many are- Oooo…” Cadance cringed, now that she had a better look at the worm, she could see it was already injured.

There were a multitude of claw marks along its body along with quite a few bites as well. Some of its plates were scorched, though they were only minor burns.

Cadance reaffirmed herself, “How many dragons are there?”

Before the worm could respond, a bolt of lightning revealed another shape in the clouds behind the worm, a puff of orange light to their side announced a second dragon, and a roar behind Cadance signified a third.

“Oh dear.” She said,

The worm screeched, launching past Cadance and into the dragon behind her. She only caught a glimpse of blue scales before they disappeared back into the storm. The first dragon followed suit, a flash of red scales appearing in her peripherals. The second dragon also let out a roar and attempted to do the same, only for Cadance to blast it with magic. Her light blue bolts splashed across its green scales, and it turned to look at her, smoke billowing from its maw, that was when she realized something.

She didn’t know how to fight a dragon.

It blew fire in her direction, and she quickly brought up a shield to block it. Then they just hovered there for a few moments. Cadance drew her sword, then tilted her head.

Rule one: Stay focused

Narrowing her eyes, she breathed in sharply. This fight was happening right here, right now, no distractions.

The dragon roared and lunged forward, Cadance dove down to dodge.

Rule two: Be aware

Cadance turned around to look at the dragon. Large body, tough scales, capable of flight, fire breath, sharp teeth and claws, strong, angry, and maybe smart. She looked down at herself. Comparatively small, reduced armor, also flight capable, hooves, sword, and magic. Speed was up for debate, though Cadance was fairly sure she was more nimble.

Looking around, they were surrounded by the storm. Reduced vision, wet environment, occasional cloud cover, high wind, and weather hazards. Cadance certainly had the advantage there.

With a mighty bellow, the dragon spewed flames in a wide arc. Cadance brought up another shield and grit her teeth from the strain, but otherwise remained unharmed.

Rule three: Offense and defense

Another bout of fire, though Cadance rolled to the side to avoid it. She continued with the momentum and spiraled around the pillar of fire closer to the dragon. Once she was right up next to it she brought her sword around and slashed at its head.

It bounced right off its snout.

“Uh oh,”

The dragon snarled.

Cadance flipped backwards, sending a few more magic bolts upwards as she dived down. The dragon shielded its face with its claws, then dove after her. It started gaining, fast, and Cadance flattened herself to go even faster.

Downward they went, racing through the clouds with reckless abandon, Cadance squinted as more frost began to build up around the edges of her helmet, but she didn’t dare try to clear it now. The dragon roared behind her, sounding closer and closer by the second. Maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas.

Before she could pull out of the dive however, Cadance pierced through the bottom of the storm. She then immediately curved back up and latched onto the bottom of the cloud. Not even a moment later the dragon burst through, it continued down further before stopping to hover and look around.

Cadance dropped.

Flipping through the air, she landed square on the dragon’s back. It yelped in surprise as she swung her sword as hard as she could into the back of its neck.

Chck

The sword cracked. Cadance’s face dropped.

The dragon rolled its shoulders, but Cadance remained on top of it. Then it turned its head to try and look at her, and when that didn’t work it reached back and swiped blindly with its claws. Cadance stepped back and nearly lost her balance, then began looking around frantically. Spotting a new target, she turned to the side and plunged her damaged sword into the membranous wing of the dragon instead.

There was no immediate reaction, but as Cadance pulled her sword upward a large hole was ripped into the wing near the base. A small amount of blood began to seep from the tissue, and as the dragon flapped the hole grew wider, the membrane flapping uselessly in the wind. They both listed to the side, and with a growl the dragon continued into the turn, forcing Cadance off.

Flying up above it, she gave a small smile at her first successful strike, only for the dragon to turn in the air and blast her with fire. Not having time to pull up a shield, Cadance held up her hooves as the flames washed over her. Her face tightened from the heat, it wasn’t enough to burn her, only singing her fur. She blinked, watching as steam rose from her armor. Maybe the frost buildup wasn’t so bad after all.

A roar came from below, followed by the heavy flapping of wings. Cadance summoned a shield just in time to block another burst of flames, but before she could fly back up into the storm, she heard a second, distant roar. Looking down, a yellow figure was also making its way upwards.

It looked like everything was done on the ground.

Cadance whistled, alternating between a low and high pitch several times. The effects were immediate, the thunder increased in volume, both intensity and quantity, electricity began actively arcing through the clouds, and it started to snow.

Then sleet.

Then hail.

A few ice chunks plinked off her armor, and Cadance surrounded herself in a full body shield. The wind picked up, and she used it to rise back into the storm, two roars from below meant it wouldn’t be long before the dragons got back as well. Closing her eyes, Cadance felt through the storm, it was a bit harder to tell, but the worm was still zipping around rapidly. It must still be busy with its dragons, and now Cadance had to face two as well.

She bit her lip.

Flames erupted from below her, engulfing her completely. Her shield held for the duration, but fizzled out along with the rest of the flames. Cadance shook her head and rolled to the side, tracking her movement, the dragon spewed more fire, but it was easily dodged.

Cadance shielded herself again to avoid more hail damage, then flew out of the dragon’s effective range.

This wasn’t going to work. If she couldn’t deal with her dragons effectively, and the worm couldn’t with its two, then things would progressively get worse. A bad case scenario, they would have to retreat back to the empire and go from there.

Cadance sent a few magic blasts at the green dragon, then a wave of fire came from her left. Just barely dodging to the side, she turned to see the yellow dragon closing in on her. She flapped hard, turning and continuing deeper into the storm.

There were four of them, and if it took six days for one dragon in the past, then depending on that outcome they could get in in less than two, or they would have to last nearly a month before they were driven off.

Both dragons gave chase, and though the green one was lagging behind slightly, they were both gaining.

The armies would help, but if they were truly hosting the griffins then they would have to support more than double what they planned for, even if they brought their own supplies. And with Equestria at least four days away, depending on how fast she could get the message out, this was certainly looking like a worst case scenario.

Rule one: Stay focused

Cadance jolted in her flight, and blinked rapidly as she looked around. That wasn’t helping, right now she had to figure out whether to fight or flight, then communicate that to the worm. She looked behind her, the two dragons tailing her were ever present, and unchanged in their demeanor. She couldn’t attack them directly, the crack in her sword attested to that, but she could damage their wings. Slow them down or ground them, that would certainly make this fight easier.

Looking back, the dragons’ wings flapped in tandem, beating hard and fast, certainly a difficult target for a sword. Cadance doubted her magic blasts would do much either, at least at her current output, but any higher would require more concentration, something she didn’t have much to spare.

Dodging another column of fire, she began to look for more options. She only managed to score a hit from a sneak attack, something she doubted the green dragon would let her do again, and it was too risky to try with the yellow one when they were together. That meant she had to separate them enough to outmaneuver their attacks and get up close and personal, where things got even more deadly.

Or she could just keep going, avoid the fight and return to the empire with the worm so they could stage a better defense. However speed was an issue, Cadance couldn’t escape the dragons alone, she would have to go with the worm, provided she could get to it first, and it was still racing around the storm.

Rule two: Be aware

The storm! The worm used it to its advantage, so why shouldn’t she?

Scooping up pieces of cloud as she flew, Cadance formed a large ball in her hooves. Once it was big enough to hold a decent charge, she turned around and squeezed. Her arms buzzed from the electricity as it surged, and a bolt of lightning shot out towards the yellow dragon. It exploded across its chest, residual electricity crackling along its scales. Cadance could see its arms lock up before the dragon regained control a moment later.

It didn’t do much, but it was certainly more than she could do with a sword.

With a mighty bellow, it hurled a fireball towards her. Reacting quickly, Cadance chucked the now spent cloud upwards, it intercepted the fireball and in a puff of steam it flickered out. She continued deeper into the storm, utilizing the new tactic against the dragons. They followed, though they remained at a steady distance thanks to her efforts.

The worm must be doing something similar, only it could hit harder and take harder hits. Cadance could not, meaning she had to keep her distance and wait for the right opportunity to strike.

Rule three: Offense and defense

The dragons were too close together, their combined attacks proving too much to get through. Since they didn’t appear to want to let up anytime soon, Cadance had to find another way. She flipped upward, balling up another cloud along the way. Angling it down, she launched another lightning bolt at the yellow dragon, specifically its wings.

A glancing blow, though she could see them still freeze up for a moment. The green dragon rose to intercept her, while the yellow one entered a straight glide.

That was all she needed. Cadance dove down to meet the green one, using the cloud to shield herself from a burst of flames. Pulling up at the last second, she avoided its awaiting claws and teeth and swooped down behind it. Her sword in her magic, she dragged it across a larger portion of the dragon’s wing. It was only a shallow cut, but as the wing flapped it was pulled apart.

It roared, and whipped around to slash at her, only to find it was now below her, and still dropping. The dragon flapped harder, managing to just hover, it then looked up and unleashed another gout of flame. Cadance expected this, and easily moved to the side, only for a second bout to come from the side.

The yellow dragon had come back around. Cadance’s shield was wrapped in flames, burning away along with them. She looked around to try and see where the dragon was, and spotted it closing in rapidly, mouth open and claws outstretched. Eyes wide, she just barely ducked beneath its charge, only for the dragon to whip its tail downwards.

It struck Cadance on her hind leg, sending her spinning out of control. She reeled from the impact, then extended her wings to right herself. Still a little dizzy, she flew up and into a thicker part of the storm, the hail not making it easy to stay aloft.

Fire came from below again, lighting up her hooves and forcing her to pull up further. Cadance shook her head, then looked around quickly to get her bearings. The yellow dragon was coming around for another run, and the green one was struggling to get to her. It was close, another hit to the wings and it would be forced to land, then she could focus on dealing with the yellow one.

Provided she could avoid it first.

Cadance took a deep breath, pulled her sword close, then summoned another shield. Her armor protected her body from the hail, but not her wings, and she didn’t want a repeat of the last time she was caught in a hailstorm.

The yellow dragon was getting close, its claws and teeth preceded by a wall of fire. Increasing the intensity of her shield, Cadance brunted the heat and got ready to dodge again. Once the dragon was near she feigned to the left, then dove to the right. It fell for it, though Cadance continued down to avoid its tail as it passed by. She then flipped back up and swung far at its wings. Her sword only clipped them, leaving just a small nick in the membrane.

A pillar of flames rose up beneath her, and with a roar the green dragon lunged upwards. Cadance just barely avoided the swipes of its claws, and she kicked down on its nose. It snapped back at her hooves, but she just blasted it in the face with magic. Keeping an eye on the yellow one, Cadance moved over and fired a few magic bolts in its direction as well, but not before blasting the green one again.

Two roars meant two angry dragons, and Cadance watched as the yellow one lined itself up again for another attack. Similar to before, Cadance prepared herself to try and dodge. She dipped below the flames this time then got back up to see which direction the dragon would favor this time.

Only to find it had stopped its run and was hovering right in front of her.

She only managed to gasp before it slashed at her. Her shield shattered, the dragon’s claws coming within inches of her face. Jumping back, Cadance brought her sword up and swung it wildly, the first few swings missed entirely, but the third one hit and got stuck. She looked up, seeing her crystal blade caught in the dragon’s mouth. It then bit down, snapping the sword at the base, Cadance pulled the hilt away and dropped it, watching it fall through the clouds. The dragon growled, then inhaled for another bout of fire. Cadance quickly rolled to the side, trying to get as much distance as possible in order to avoid it, only to be caught in a different fire stream from behind.

It burned.

She writhed in agony, screaming out in pain as she fell through the smoke. Her whole body pulsed as the cool air rushed by her, and she curled into a ball.

Downward she went, falling faster and faster. The dragons followed.

The sound of thunder assaulted her ears.

Cadance didn’t respond.

She broke through the bottom of the storm and into the open air.

Still no response.

She fell faster than the hail, the air whipping by and nearly forcing her limbs apart.

Nothing.

Only a few seconds before hitting the ground.

Cadance opened her eyes, and flared her wings, her singed feathers just barely catching the air. She entered a steep glide, gritting her teeth from the strain before looking down to the still fast approaching ground. She held her hooves out and braced for a rough landing. Her hoof caught snow and she continued in a running motion, only to trip and tumble into the deep snow.

She quickly came to a stop on her back, and then laid there for a moment as loose snow trickled onto her. The biting cold soothed her burns, and even though hail was raining down around her, and her armor was digging into her back, Cadance was content with just laying there.

That was until she heard the roar of the dragons.

Rocking from side to side, she turned over and got up, her burnt fur cracking with her movements. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she noticed her tail was on fire, and she quickly kicked some snow onto it before looking up. Two figures were dropping from the storm, one yellow, and one green.

Turning back around, Cadance saw that the empire was further away than she would’ve hoped, they must have moved a lot in the storm. The dragons drew closer, and Cadance stepped away. There wasn’t enough time for her to run to safety, but if she started now there might be enough time for something else.

Breaking into a full sprint towards the empire, Cadance whistled a single, high pitch note for a few seconds. She then continued to run, stumbling through the snow, her plan was working a little too well. Looking back, the yellow dragon was making headway to her position, while the green dragon followed slowly, it looked to be having trouble keeping speed and height.

Cadance trundled on, flapping her wings for that little bit of extra thrust, but it wasn’t enough. The dragons were approaching fast, and they were going to reach her in only a few seconds.

There was a screech from the storm, and the worm tore through the clouds. It streaked downwards towards Cadance, and in only a moment it was upon her. Several dragons roared in the distance, and the worm coiled around her protectively.

“We have to go,” she began. “There’s too many and I don’t think I can fly anymore.” She extended her wing to reveal most of her feathers were only shafts. “We should return to the empire and go from there.”

The worm turned to look at her, and she gasped.

Blood poured from its head, most of it coming from a massive wound where one of its mandibles once was. Cuts, scrapes, slashes, and gashes lined its body, with several burn and bite marks to go along with them. Purple blood oozed from its wounds, pooling in the snow around them.

“We’re leaving.” Cadance concluded, “Let’s go, now.”

The worm grunted, but otherwise lowered its head. Cadance quickly climbed on, but before she could get settled the worm jerked back upwards, nearly causing her to fly off. Gripping hard on the worm’s back plate, Cadance looked around frantically. The yellow dragon flew overhead, circling around and landing on their side. The green dragon approached on the other side, having landed earlier to run instead.

The worm looked back and forth between them, Cadance being forced to follow its movements. They both reared back and unleashed fire on both sides. Cadance brought up a shield against the green one, while in one swift movement the worm unfurled its tail and swept it across the ground, spraying a wave of snow up to dampen the yellow dragon’s breath. It then continued the motion, twisting around and whipping the green dragon in the face. Cadance winced at the impact as it was sent sprawling across the snow.

The yellow dragon roared, but before it could attack Cadance lasered it across the chest. The worm turned and spit lightning, hitting the dragon dead center and causing it to fall to the ground spasming.

“Okay, now let’s get out of here before the-”

She was interrupted by the sound of beating wings, and in a puff of snow, the blue dragon landed at their side. A moment later the red one arrived as well, settling down opposite of the blue one.

They were surrounded.

Cadance looked at the two new arrivals, they were a lot more worse for wear than the other two. This was made evident by the streaks of red flowing down the blue dragon’s scales, and while it was a bit harder to tell, the red one looked even worse, considering one of its hands was ripped off.

The snow took on even more blood.

They both roared, and in that time the other two dragons recovered enough to block any escape in all four directions.

Except for up.

Both Cadance and the worm seemed to realize this at the same time, and together they attacked. The worm hawked a giant ice ball towards the blue dragon, knocking it back while Cadance dragged a beam between the green and red dragons, specifically aiming for any openings, be it eyes, mouths, or severed wrists. The yellow dragon charged forward, intent on sinking its claws into the worm, only to meet air as they shot up into the sky.

At first the worm turned towards the empire, but it was moving slower than normal, giving the blue dragon enough time to shove the ice off of itself and fly up to meet them. Its fire breath came soon after, searing the underside of the worm and causing it to veer upwards. It screeched and picked up speed, ascending back into the storm with most of the dragons following closely behind.

Cadance tapped the worm, “We just need to get into the empire and we’ll be fine.”

It either ignored her or couldn’t hear her, as it continued further into the storm. Cadance frowned, then pulled up another shield for the hail. Looking back, she could see three figures in the clouds, keeping up with them rather well.

“Don’t push yourself, but please go faster.”

Again she didn’t get a response, and the worm turned, beginning to growl. Her hooves started to buzz like earlier, and as they finished turning to face the coming dragons, Cadance could see electricity crackling around the worm’s head.

The first to arrive was the blue one, and it was rewarded with intense electrocution, as lightning came from both the worm and the storm. It let out a pained roar, dropping as its wings locked up, only for it to recover a few seconds later.

The yellow dragon then came into the fray, and it blew fire along the worm’s body. Cadance did the best she could to block it, but her shield wasn’t big enough to stop everything.

Finally, the red dragon arrived, but as it went to breathe fire, the worm retaliated. It spun around, forcing the wind to come together and form a small tornado, it then flicked its tail and sent it spiraling towards the dragon. It didn’t have any time to react before it was sucked in and twirled around, disorientating it.

The blue dragon came back up, belching fire at their underside again. The worm screeched as it was burned, and Cadance winced from the shared feeling. She sent a few magic blasts downwards, but only a few hit. The worm then dipped down as well, forcing Cadance to hold on tight as they charged the dragon.

She shielded another fireblast from the yellow one, then braced as they struck the blue one. With only one mandible to attack with however, the worm couldn’t grip onto the dragon, and it slipped off to the side, biting and clawing as it thrashed, a large gash left in its shoulder.

They turned back around, where the red dragon finally exited the tornado. Its flight path unstable, it dove down to get to them, claw extended. The worm simply stopped in the air, and the dragon flew past in front of them, missing entirely. The yellow dragon then came down, and it did not miss. Claws raked across the worm’s body, just barely getting through its armor. The fresh wound began to bleed, and Cadance turned to fire much larger blasts of magic in return.

They didn’t do as much as she liked, and Cadance began to regret breaking her only weapon, now all she had was her magic. Her eyes then lit up, and she summoned forth a magic dagger. The light blue ethereal blade turned in her grip, and with nothing else to do she lobbed it at the dragon. It went decently far, but quickly began tumbling in the wind before fizzling out.

With a huff, she brought up another one and threw it harder, it soared through the air before pinging off the dragon’s yellow scales. It looked at her strangely, then a second dagger hit, followed by another, and another, and another until Cadance was throwing them too fast to count. Most didn’t do much, but as time went on more and more began to find purchase, hitting between scales or piercing them entirely.

The dragon roared, getting ready to attack, but the worm beat them to it. With a screech it whipped its tail, and the hail started increasing in size. What started at marble size soon grew to golf ball size, then hoof size, and finally to the size of a softball. Cadance could feel each chunk of ice pounding off her shield, and pretty soon the dragons started feeling it too. She never let up on her attack, and neither did the worm.

Enraged by the countless peppering, the yellow dragon bellowed, flames shooting out of its mouth, it turned to them to unleash as much fire as it could, only for a wave of frost to explode in its mouth. Ice curled around its teeth, freezing its jaw open and blocking any more attempts at fire. Cadance aimed higher, sending her magic daggers into the dragon’s wings. Though they could not slash, they began puncturing many holes in the membrane.

The yellow dragon flew backwards to retreat, and they would’ve followed if the blue dragon didn’t spew fire behind them. A wave of heat washed over Cadance, and she stopped throwing daggers to make sure her shield held. The worm whipped around, and the blue dragon slashed at its face. Even though that’s where its armor was the thickest, there were still deep marks left in the chitin.

Bringing up another dagger to throw, Cadance paused as the worm dove down. The dragon attempted to follow, only to be smacked in the face by the worm’s tail. The worm then turned back up and charged from below, clipping the belly of the dragon and continuing forward, dragging its spines along the entire time.

With a roar the dragon fired back, but they were already out of its range. Turning around, the worm lined up another charge, but not with the blue dragon, with the red one below it. Rocketing forward, Cadance held on for dear life as they began to spin, gaining speed and momentum. She couldn’t tell if they were on target, but the worm kept spinning faster and faster.

She braced, and a moment later they hit. Cadance shot forward from the impact, but managed to keep holding on. Blinking, she shook the dizziness from her head and looked up.

The red dragon was gasping, holding onto the worm’s mandible as it impaled it just below the ribcage. Blood began to pour from its mouth as it tried to pull itself free. The worm jerked its head upwards, forcing itself further in. The dragon froze, then fell limp, a final sigh leaving its body.

The worm then righted itself, allowing the body to slip off its mandible and fall through the storm below. Cadance pressed her lips together, unsure if this was a cheer worthy moment. Before she could finish deciding however, a roar came from behind them.

Turning around, the blue dragon was approaching fast. The worm began to move again, but it was too slow, that was when Cadance realized it was looking at her. It raised a claw, then swiped at her as it swooped by.

Once again her shield was shattered, but the claws did not miss. Three razor sharp talons dragged across her body, one slicing up her leg and into her shoulder, another going along the side of her neck, and a third scraping across her side, continuing into her armor.

She was knocked off the worm, pieces of armor flying off due to the damage, and she was falling through the storm again, without the ability to fly.

Flailing wildly, Cadance attempted to catch herself on something, anything, but she was going too fast to find any reliable purchase in the clouds. There was a screech above her, and the wind shifted in her favor, but a moment later a roar followed, and it reverted back. Ignoring the searing pain along her left side, Cadance flipped in the air, spreading her wings out as far as possible then her arms and legs to get as much drag as possible.

She broke through the bottom of the storm again, and when the tall spires of her crystal castle came into view she realized they were right above the Crystal Empire.

She wasn’t going to land in the soft snow.

Her breathing quickened, and she began looking for any alternatives. A tree, a bush, even a haystack, anything to break her fall. Nothing came into view nor mind, and the ground was getting closer every second. Cadance flapped her wings frantically, and similar to before they weren’t able to generate much lift. Her trajectory barely changed, and she looked down at where she was going to hit.

An open field, certainly better than a crystal building or the road.

She closed her eyes, tensing every muscle in her legs as she plummeted, preparing for the inevitable.

Except she didn’t hit the ground. Her hooves sank into something smooth and stretchy, and she slowed down, her momentum being absorbed. Opening her eyes, she watched as a shimmering pink bubble bowed around her, stopping her just above the ground before raising her back up a little. A hole then opened on the side, allowing the air to rush out and causing it to start deflating.

Looking around, Cadance saw Shining Armor approaching her, horn glowing. She quickly crawled across the shield and dropped to the ground, then ran up and hugged him.

“Thank you.” She squeezed him hard despite her seething cuts.

“What happened to protecting each other?” Shining Armor raised an eyebrow.

Cadance sniffled, and blinked fresh tears out of her eyes. “Things are bad, really bad.” She looked up, “We tried to come back but they wouldn’t let us. I’m hurt and so is the worm and he’s still up there and there’s still dragons and…” She paused to take a deep breath,

“Whoa whoa,” Shining Armor interrupted, “You’re hurt?” He pushed her away and looked her up and down, from the charred fur to the skeletal wings to the mass of blood flowing down her side. “Oh my goodness that’s your blood.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Cadance exhaled,

“It just seems you have a habit of getting covered in… Nevermind that, are you okay!?” Shining Armor asked, then turned to the side, “I need a medic over here!”

“It hurts, but I’m trying not to focus on that right now,” Cadance strained, “We have to get the worm inside, it’s too much for him up there.”

“I don’t know, he’s been through some pretty rough situations.”

“Not like this, there’s just too much risk, and I don’t want him to die while we do nothing about it.”

“Can you call him down?” Shining Armor asked,

“I’ll try,” Cadance said, she took a deep breath, then winced and stopped.

She only managed a weak whistle before losing her breath completely.

“You do it,” she whimpered,

“He might not respond,”

“Just try,”

Shining Armor breathed in deeply, then brought a hoof to his mouth, letting out a shrill whistle. They both looked up into the storm, waiting for anything to change, and yet there was nothing. The same dark clouds curled in on each other, a periodic flash of lightning followed by a thundercrack, the gigantic hail bouncing off the invisible dome surrounding them.

“Some hail,” Shining Armor said,

By now a medic had arrived, forcing Cadance to look away as she was treated. She winced at every turn of the bandages, and began working on undoing any obstructing armor. She slipped off her helmet, a clear outline of it left by her darkened fur, and clenched her teeth as the cut on her neck was cleaned and dressed.

“This is surprisingly shallow,” the medic began, “Any deeper and we might’ve needed more than just bandages. I guess that armor works huh?”

“I don’t want to think about it,” Cadance shook her head,

“I don’t think he’s coming down, honey,” Shining Armor said,

She didn’t look up, instead staring at her helmet as she turned it in her hooves again. Brand new and already battlescarred, surely that meant something. She sighed, she didn’t want to ponder that right now.

“Wait a minute,” Shining Armor began,

Cadance’s ears flicked, and a strange feeling started building up in her, one that was oddly familiar.

Three

Two

“One,” She said aloud,

Boom

A deafening thundercrack sounded overhead, one that echoed across the empire. She looked up, barely catching the tail end of lightning arcing through the clouds. Shining Armor turned to look at her.

“What?” He asked,

Cadance blinked, “Three, two, one…”

A flash of lightning quickly followed by thunder.

“Whoa, how are you doing that?”

Standing, Cadance continued, “-two, one…”

The storm was lit up once more, then again, then two more times. It was intensifying.

Cadance gave a small smile.

That was when the first body fell.

A large yellow form dropped through the clouds, passing through the dome and crashing into the ground nearby. A spray of grass and dirt exploded outwards from the impact, and everypony nearby stared in shock as it settled.

Cadance and Shining Armor shared a look, then quickly moved over to see what had happened.

It was the yellow dragon, still twitching as the remnants of an electric charge dissipated. Large patches of its scales were blackened and burnt, some falling away to ash as blood seeped from its wounds. Cadance looked towards its head, where there was still a crust of ice around its mouth. Smoke and steam rose from the body, but not from the head.

“Is it…? Is it dead?” Shining Armor asked,

“Let’s check,” Cadance said, summoning a magic dagger and flinging it into the dragon’s open eye.

Shining Armor looked away as the blade sunk into the eyeball before disappearing, leaving a large slit in its place. There was no additional movement besides the occasional spasm or twitch.

“Its dead,” Cadance confirmed,

“Then that means…” Shining Armor said, still averting his gaze.

“He’s still fighting,” Cadance said, looking up, “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Well if he’s doing this to them…”

“But what are the dragons doing to him? He was already badly injured when I fell.”

Shining Armor bit his lip, “How many are left?”

“Two,” Cadance answered, “One green and one blue.”

“So that makes five right? Black, red, yellow, green, and blue.” Shining Armor counted, “If most of them are already… gone… then it should be easier for him to fend off the last two.”

“Maybe, but some of them looked really nasty. I just wish I helped more before…” Cadance extended her wings.

“I’m sure you did all you could,” Shining Armor reassured, “and it’s not like there’s much that one pony can do against five dragons.”

“Mmm, what about one worm?”

“That’s different, he’s just like that. This may be a lot for him, but it doesn’t seem like it’s impossible. You did your best, have faith that he’ll do his.”

“Okay,” Cadance nodded, “But it’s hard without knowing how he’s doing.”

“Well if this is anything to go by…” Shining Armor gestured to the corpse, “Then clearly not the worst.”

A thundercrack sounded above the rest, and a moment later a portion of the crystal wall exploded. They all shielded their eyes from the rain of debris, soldiers drawing weapons and looking towards the disturbance. As the rubble and dust settled, a glimpse of green scales was visible amongst the crumbling wall.

“There’s another one.” Shining Armor commented,

“One left…” Cadance realized, “He might actually do it.

Shining Armor nodded, and looked up into the storm, “I guess we wait and see.”

Cadance also looked up and watched.

It didn’t take long before an echoing screech came from the turbulent storm. The high pitched wailing forced everyone on the ground to cover their ears for the entirety of its duration. When it was over Cadance opened her eyes and watched as a third form fell through the clouds, dropping fast and impacting on the other side of the field.

She ran over, Shining Armor quickly following behind. Her wounds flashed with every step, but she pushed through it to go see what had fallen.

Her breath of relief was cut short as she arrived. It was too small to be the worm, but purple blood painted the blue dragon’s scales. It flowed down its broken body, limbs snapped and bent to the point that they were torn open, bones showing. Its wings were folded in all the wrong ways and its entire torso was crooked and misshapen, crushed under an immense weight. They walked around the side to the head, and saw bulging eyes and an open maw, expression locked in pain as red blood poured out of its mouth.

“That’s the last one! So where’s the worm?” Shining Armor asked,

They both looked up again, but nothing else came from the storm. It growled and flashed, sending countless chunks of ice downward in a seemingly uncontrolled anger. Then it started to die down, first the lightning went, flickering in and out before stopping completely. The hail shrunk down to a gentle snow, which began to cover the beaten landscape. The thunder trailed off, creating larger and larger gaps between each crack before leaving them in silence. Cadance shook her head as the clouds lightened, their movement soothing as the wind slowed.

“That’s not right. That shouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Something’s wrong,” Shining Armor deduced,

Cadance tried to whistle again, and managed to give a short note before being forced to let it go.

The clouds above gave no response.

“Come on, where is he?” She asked, her eyes frantically scanning the sky,

“There!” Shining Armor pointed,

She looked, and a long purple shape broke through the clouds. The worm coasted downwards, flying over them and curving back around as it dropped. It wavered as it flew, and it crashed into the ground before them, sliding through the grass and dirt and coming to a stop just a few meters away.

Cadance gasped, and immediately ran over.

“No no no no no.” She muttered, stepping up to feel the worm.

It groaned at her touch, and seemed to deflate across the ground. Cadance looked it up and down, numerous cuts actively bled, and purple blood was already pooling around it, mixing with the loose soil to create a thick mud. There were many burns across its body, blackening the worm’s armor and skin and leaving it cracked and crispy. A large chunk of flesh was torn out of its underside, going so deep that what looked like organs were exposed. Cadance covered her mouth at the sight, then almost fell backwards as she continued.

The worm’s tail was gone, the entire tip was ripped off along with a few segments, leaving a pulsing mass of flesh that leaked blood every second. By now the small crater it had created had started to overflow, and purple blood began to spill out and across the grass. Cadance paid no mind to it, even as it flowed around her hooves, instead she moved around to get in its view. Thankfully the worm’s eyes were untouched, but they remained unblinking as blood dribbled in and out of them.

“You did it,” Cadance whispered, “Thank you.”

The worm clicked slowly, each intake of breath stuttered and painful.

“It’ll be okay, you can rest now.”

It continued its guttural breathing, but it grew fainter every moment. Cadance blinked, fresh tears beginning to gather around her eyes, and she hugged up against the worm.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay,” She repeated, taking a shaky breath, “It’s okay,”

The worm gave a single, low whine before falling silent again. Cadance put her ear up against its body, ignoring the fact that she was getting coated with blood.

There was only the faintest of breaths, a slow in and out that each lasted a few seconds. She couldn’t discern any heartbeat, and the worm wasn’t making any other noise, it was only its breathing and the distant sounds of conversation.

“It’s okay.” Cadance continued,

She felt a weak pulling sensation.

Opening her eyes, her vision was blurry from the tears and turning purple from the blood.

“Go ahead,” She pressed up tighter against the worm, “Take as much as you need.”

It pulled more, but it was slow going, the worm either unwilling or unable to feed faster. Cadance never once broke contact however, and she stood with the worm for minutes on end as it fed. Eventually her eyes grew heavy, and a strong urge to yawn overcame her, but the worm’s breathing returned, taking long, even breaths.

The sensation stopped, and Cadance stumbled backwards, bloody mud splashing across her legs. Looking down the worm, its wounds had stopped bleeding, with only residual blood dripping down its body. It was still seriously injured, but it was stable.

“You’ll be okay.”

A smile on her face, Cadance turned around with half lidded eyes, and just now noticed the crowd that had grown around them, most of them griffins.

The worm was also incredibly vulnerable right now.

With a sharp intake of breath, Cadance raised a gigantic shield around them. She scanned the crowd with wide eyes, summoning several magic daggers around her. Several griffins stepped back, and several stepped forward, weapons raised.

“I won’t let you hurt him!”

They started murmuring, which was quickly followed by shouts, and a few stepped even closer, stopping just before the shield.

“Enough!” A voice cut through the crowd, “Stand down.”

The griffins stopped and lowered their weapons, some begrudgingly so, and they moved away from Cadance and the worm. The crowd then split, and a well dressed griffin stepped through followed by Shining Armor.

“Cadance,” he began slowly, “They won’t hurt you, or the worm.”

“They won’t?” She asked, her orbiting daggers fading.

“If they don’t want to be court-martialed they won’t.” The griffin announced, then he turned to Cadance, “You have my word that they won’t harm the sky worm.”

She looked towards Shining Armor, and he nodded.

“We talked while you were in the storm, and came to an agreement of sorts.”

“Okay…” Cadance slowly lowered the shield, “General Gavis Garfield I presume?”

He gave a small bow, “And I presume you are Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”

“I am,” She returned it, clearing her throat, “You’ll have to forgive my presentation, this is not how I expected today to go.”

“Easily overlooked. What matters is that you are here now.”

Cadance tilted her head, “What is the agreement you have come to?”

“Straight to the point eh? Verywell then.” General Garfield said, “I have decided to return to Griffinstone and convince the council to approach this matter in a different way.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Cadance immediately relaxed, dropping her stance.

“Yes,” General Garfield continued, “They may not like it, and my men may not like it, but I cannot deny the hospitality you have shown today. I recognize the opportunity you had when the dragons attacked and I am grateful you chose otherwise. It means a lot to let an enemy into your borders in the face of a mutual threat.”

Cadance just nodded along,

“Our casualties are high, but they would have been higher. I will not forget what you have done, and I assure you there will be no military action against you in the immediate future, regardless of the sky worm’s outcome.”

“I… Thank you,”

“Now I will take my leave, there are many things to prepare for.

Cadance blinked, “But what about the demands?”

General Garfield chuckled, “They are hardly relevant now, and I have a feeling that you are in no condition to discuss them right now anyway. Neither am I, but there will be time in the coming days. Will you allow us to reside in the empire while we recover?”

“Of course, though it’s not like there’s much we can do to stop you.”

“There is a difference, but it is appreciated.” He bowed again, then turned to leave.

Cadance bowed as well, when a wave of dizziness fell over her. A familiar feeling, the sound of her heartbeat in her ears, and an intense fatigue filling her legs and body. She wobbled, then promptly fell face first into the grass.

“Ow… Shining please help me up,” She extended a hoof in his general direction, “I want to go back to bed.”

“Sure,” Shining Armor said, grabbing her hoof, “But let’s get you cleaned up first. I don’t think you want to track blood throughout the castle do you?”

Cadance just mumbled into the ground.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I can't believe I couldn't find a place to split this into two chapters. 18,000 words is a lot, and honestly, I can't read all that in one sitting. I have been working on this chapter pretty regularly since the last, and am surprised at how long it is considering how much time has passed. Finally past the 100,000 word mark for a fic, and am expecting my award within the next 5-10 business days.

Also Calamity lore update go brrr.

Chapter 16: Twilight

“Help!”

The cry was heard. Twilight’s ears perked, and she quickly stood up, looking in the direction of the voice. It echoed around her, but its origin was clear, it had come through the crystal wall behind her.

“Hello?” She called back, running over to the wall to inspect its surface, “Is somepony there?”

There was no reply.

She tapped the crystal with her hoof, and it sounded like there was space on the other side.

“Who’s there?!” She tried again, louder,

Looking back and forth, the cave extended off to her right, disappearing around a corner in the direction of the next room over. Turning the corner, she was rewarded with a larger room along with another tunnel further down in the voice's general direction. She followed it, lighting up her horn in the darkness as the tunnel started to curve away.

“I’m here!” She stopped, shouted, then waited,

Nothing.

With a huff she continued down the tunnel as it led away from the voice, coming into another room with large crystals lining the walls. A small amount of light filtered through one surface, but Twilight wasn’t able to make out anything on the other side. A tunnel to her side curved in the same direction, but entering it quickly saw it folding back around. Backtracking, she stared at the crystal wall before simply blasting it with magic.

It cracked and crumbled to pieces, and she jumped through the hole into the next room.

“Hello?!”

She was greeted with the slight ringing of her own voice and an empty space. She continued running forwards, blasting through the next wall and the next. She only stopped as the cave trembled around her, and looking back there were rocks falling from the ceiling. After a few moments of waiting they didn’t stop, and only seemed to increase in intensity.

A chunk of crystal smashed down next to Twilight, causing her to jump back. She looked up, where a number of crystals grew out of the ceiling, just waiting to fall. Another one fell, shattering across the stone nearby, and she stepped away from it.

Then the trembles stopped, and a single shockwave shot throughout the ground. The crystal wall behind her cracked, screaming as it sheared apart. Turning around to look at it, a flash of pain lit up the back of her head.

Her vision flickered, and the next moment she was on the floor, head throbbing.

Twilight blinked, there were more crystals on the floor surrounding her than before. She slowly got up, the constant shaking of the ground making it hard to do so. She stumbled around for a moment, then took a deep breath and enveloped herself in a protective barrier, just in time for a falling crystal to bounce off.

Blinking more, she shook her head to clear her vision when the crystal wall behind her shattered, showering her shield with shards. Twilight then turned to the wall she came through and moved to go back.

The trembles stopped.

Another large tremor rocked the cave system, and stone and crystal rubble piled down to block her. Turning back around, another crystal pinged off her shield, and Twilight looked through the other hole in the wall. There was dust and gravel falling from the ceiling, but no large crystals.

Without a second thought she jumped through, landing squarely on the crystal floor as it cracked. She then slipped on the smooth surface, falling down and sliding until she got caught on one of the cracks, scraping the underside of her leg badly.

Twilight hissed, but then the floor rumbled beneath her, and she scrambled to get back up. The ceiling exploded above her. Rock, stone, and crystal shards rained down onto her, and she instinctively shielded her eyes, only for her shield to block them. Lowering her hooves, she caught a glimpse of something else moving above.

A large, purple, spiny body.

It forced its way further through the earth, the walls cracking from the pressure. A single drop of thick, purple liquid splashed across Twilight’s shield, and the floor gave way beneath her.

“Gah!” She flailed in her sheets,

They restricted her movement, but she kept thrashing until she slid off her bed and onto the hardwood floor. She continued wriggling around and gasping like a fish for a moment before finally stopping and groaning. Once still on the floor, Twilight began the slow process of untangling herself from her blanket. She got her hoof free, then pulled it away from her face, and finally twisted and unwrapped it from her wings.

Standing up, she winced as her joints popped, an uncomfortable reminder of what happened after she fell. Draping the blanket back over her bed, she picked up all the loose feathers on it with her magic and dropped them in a bin off to the side with a sigh. She then wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“Bad dream?” Spike asked from across the room, a stack of books in his hands.

“Yeah,”

“The cave one again?”

“Yeah…”

“With the worm?”

“...Yeah…” Twilight muttered, looking down,

Spike set the stack of books down and leaned against them, “You wanna talk about it?”

Twilight shook her head, “Not right now,” she looked at the clock on the wall. “I should get ready for today.”

“Why not just go as you are now? I’m sure Princess Cadance would be fine with you being all unkempt and sweaty.”

“Very funny, Spike,” Twilight flapped her wings and folded them, “But I’m also sending off Fluttershy today with the rest of the girls, I should at least look presentable.”

“You thought about it though,” Spike said with a grin,

Twilight rolled her eyes, “I’m going to take a shower,” She stepped towards the bathroom,

“You should talk to Cadance about them though.”

“Huh?”

“About your dreams I mean, she should at least know about them.” Spike said,

Twilight bit her lip, “Later, I don’t want to ruin our day together with my problems.”

“But you will tell her?”

“Eventually…” Twilight nodded,

“You mean today, right?”

Twilight froze.

Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe not today…”

“Oh come on Twilight, you’re alone with Cadance all day today, it’s the perfect chance to tell her about your scoleciphobia.”

“My what?”

“I looked it up recently,” Spike shrugged, “It’s the fear of worms.”

“Spike, that is something completely different. I am not afraid of worms.”

“But you are afraid of the worm,”

“I-” Twilight abruptly shut her mouth,

“It’ll help to talk about it,” Spike pressed, “Heck, you could even bring up your turophobia while you’re at it.”

“I don’t have that either!”

“Say that next time we have quesadillas for dinner.”

Twilight grumbled, then shut the bathroom door.

“Will you at least tell her about it?” Spike pleaded through it,

Twilight sighed, “I will,”

“Here’s a wrap, in case it gets cold.” Rarity said, tucking the cloth into Fluttershy’s bag,

“And I packed you a basket of nice, fresh apples in case you get hungry.” Applejack slid it over,

“I hope you have a great time,” Twilight finished,

Fluttershy nodded, “Oh, I will. And I hope you have fun with Cadance.”

The train whistled, and its bell started ringing.

“All aboard!” The conductor announced,

“Oh!” Fluttershy exclaimed, and she carefully picked up all her bags and the basket of apples, “Good-” she spat out the basket, “Goodbye everypony.”

They all waved as she shuffled onto the train.

“I’ll never forget you, Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie called out, jumping up and down from the back of the group.

She smiled and waved as the doors closed, then she appeared on the caboose as the train began to leave the station.

“Goodbye!”

“Never forget!” Pinkie Pie repeated, “Oh hey! A balloon!”

She quickly wandered off to follow it, leaving the rest of her friends to smile and laugh.

“So, now we wait for Princess Cadance to get here?” Rarity asked.

“Yup, though I’m a bit nervous about it.” Twilight answered,

“What could you be nervous about, Twilight? Cadance just loves you to pieces!”

She smiled, “I know, but I really want her visit to go without a hitch.”

“Well why wouldn’t it?” Pinkie Pie asked, coming out of nowhere.

“Well… the last three times we’ve seen each other haven’t exactly been… worry free.”

“The fate of Equestria has hung in the balance during most of your visits with her.” Rarity said,

“Exactly. As fun as that is, we haven’t really had the chance to just enjoy being friends again. Which is why it is so important that this visit be about the two of us having some real quality time together.”

“You sound like you’ve got a plan that’ll keep it that way.”

Twilight smiled wider, “The timing couldn’t be more perfect. For one day only, right here in Ponyville, the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum!” She gestured to the flier on the train station wall. “Cadance and I can spend the whole day looking at Star Swirl the Bearded artifacts!”

“That sounds like a perfect, drama free way to spend the day with her.”

“Not counting the drama surrounding which of the bells of his cloak they’ve chosen to put on display. Spoiler alert: it’s this one!” She pointed to one of the bells on the poster, “There’s rumors that each one was enchanted for a different purpose, from light to sound to-”

Rainbow Dash choked and coughed.

“Sorry, something in my throat… like a big ball of lame!”

“Well I think it sounds delightful,” Rarity said,

“Yup, definitely sounds like you two will have some real quality time together.”

“Exactly. Just quiet, quality time together.”

A train whistle sounded in the distance, soon followed by the squealing of brakes as it screeched down the track. They all covered their ears as a crystalline train came to a stop at the station, steam hissing from the wheels.

“Ooo-”

Pinkie Pie was interrupted by several trumpets playing, and the doors to the nearest train car opened, a carpet flowing out. Two guards stepped out to flank the opening, and a moment later Cadance walked through the doors.

“Your highness.” She bowed,

“Uh…” Twilight also bowed, “Your highness.”

Cadance giggled, “I’m only teasing, Twilight. We don’t have to be so formal, we’re sisters in law.”

She turned and nodded to the guards, they saluted, pulled the carpet back in, closed the doors, and a moment later the train sped down the tracks.

“Knowing you, you’ve made some plans for today,”

“Boy have I.” Twilight then frowned, “Hang on just one second.” She turned to the rest of her friends,

“Now, now,” Rarity held up a hoof, “Don’t you worry about a thing. We will make sure that nothing, but nothing! Interferes with your visit.”

“Go on, have a hootenanny with yer kinfolk.” Applejack said,

Twilight smiled, “You really are the best friends a pony could ever have. Coming, Cadance!” She quickly walked back to where she was standing,

“Well alright then, do you not want your friends to tag along?”

Twilight shook her head, “Not this time, it should just be you and me for the entire day.”

“Sounds fun, now care to tell me what you have planned? Or is it going to be a surprise?”

“No surprises here, the Star Swirl the Bearded Travelling Museum is here in Ponyville for today only. I was planning on going there first.”

“Ooh, now that sounds like something we can both enjoy.”

“Exactly, the stars have aligned for us today.” Twilight made a motion with her hooves,

Cadance laughed, “Let’s not keep them waiting then, come on.”

“Right behind you!” Twilight said, smiling.

Yet she hesitated as Cadance stepped off the platform, her smile soon faltering. She watched Cadance continue down the path for a few seconds before shaking her head and running after her.

“So, where is this travelling museum?” Cadance asked,

“Oh, it’s on the other side of town.” Twilight answered, “We can fly if you want,”

“No, it's fine. I don’t mind a walk,” Cadance breathed in deeply and sighed, “and I’d like to enjoy the scenery.”

“How so?”

“Well, look at the trees, aren’t they pretty?”

Twilight looked across the landscape, “They’re pretty orange, yeah.”

Cadance laughed, “You’ll have to understand, there aren’t exactly a lot of trees in the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh, then feel free to look at as many as you want.”

“It’s not just trees,” Cadance shook her head, “It’s Autumn, the cool breeze, the changing of the leaves, the holidays, the food, the ponies.” She took another deep breath, “It’s just nice to see it all.”

“I didn’t realize you liked the Fall so much.”

“Not more than the other seasons,” Cadance smiled, “But when your only choices are permanent Summer or permanent Winter, you start to miss them.”

Twilight nodded, “You could always come by in the Spring too, Winter Wrap Up gets pretty crazy here.”

“Ooo, I’d like that,” Cadance said, “And I’ve been wanting to see the rest of Ponyville as well. I haven’t been here in… gosh… ten or so years.”

“Wow, what was the reason?”

“It was for my princess training, I was expected to understand the differences between Equestria’s cities and towns, and not only how they are represented, but how to represent them as well. Since Ponyville is the closest town to Canterlot, it was the first one I visited, but I ended up going to half the towns in Equestria.”

“Was it fun?”

“Yeah, it was.” Cadance paused, “Speaking of, when are you starting your training?”

“My training?” Twilight repeated, “This is the first I’ve heard of it, but I’m hoping I already know enough to avoid going to school again. Rarity will definitely help me with presentation.”

“Being a princess is so much more than presentation though,” Cadance wrapped a wing around Twilight, “You get to learn about royalty…”

Twilight nodded,

“History,”

Twilight nodded,

“Economics,”

Twilight nodded,

“Culture,”

Twilight grimaced,

“And most importantly, politics.” Cadance finished,

Twilight puckered her lips.

“It’ll be like getting a degree in princess-ics.”

“Like my bachelor’s in magic?”

“It definitely won’t take that long though, my training lasted just under a year, and there was plenty of time for other stuff in between. The rest of it comes from hooves on experience, and that comes…” Cadance trailed off, slowing to a stop, “Is that building made of candy?”

Twilight followed her gaze, “Oh, that’s Sugarcube corner, and…” She paused to think, “I don’t actually know. It’s a bakery, and Pinkie both lives and works there. So my guess is at any given point in time, some part of the main structure may or may not be made up of candy, pastry, or some other confection.”

“Wow.” Cadance said, walking forward, “How does it compare to Donut Joe’s?”

“Well, they don’t sell donuts, but they have some pretty good cupcakes.”

“Oooh, let’s go there after the museum.”

“Sure, we can even get lunch there, though there are a few other places we can go to as well.”

“You’ll have to show me what’s good around here.”

“There’s a Hayburger down the street.”

Cadance shook her head, “Something that’s good, Twilight,” She reiterated, “I don’t like their food,”

Twilight pouted, “I like it,” she said quietly,

“I know you do,” Cadance smiled, “I still remember you asking me to go there all the time when you were younger. You used to get the kid’s meal and try to collect all the toys that came with, and then we would play with them.”

Twilight blushed and looked away, “I still have some of them.”

“We’ll figure it out after we go to the museum, because I think it’s just up ahead.”

Twilight looked forward, where several carts were parked in a semicircle. Dark blue banners and streamers lined the area, and a multitude of pedestals were situated nearby. Several ponies wandered throughout the museum, most of which wearing a familiar hat and cloak. It was then that Twilight gasped.

“I forgot my costume!”

“You have a costume?”

“Yeah!” Twilight stopped to take a deep breath, “Yeah, it’s free admission if you have one.”

Cadance blinked, “Shoot, can you go back and get it?”

“Uh… Sure, be right back,” Twilight lit up her horn,

“Wait!” Cadance interrupted,

“What?”

“Do you have a spare?”

“Oh, no sorry,”

“Okay, that’s fine, I have money.”

Twilight just nodded, then disappeared in a flash of purple light. She reappeared in the middle of the library, causing Spike to jump back in surprise, launching another stack of books into the air. Twilight quickly caught them in the air and set them back on the ground next to Spike.

“Back already?” He asked, a claw on his chest, “What’d you forget something?”

“Yes actually, do you know where my Star Swirl the Bearded costume is?”

“It’s probably in the closet, why?”

“‘Kay thanks! Bye!” Twilight said before running up the stairs.

“Don’t forget!” Spike called after her.

She paused in her steps, then hurried into the bedroom. Throwing open the closet, Twilight rifled through her outfits until she found her costume. She pulled it off the hanger, threw it over her back, and teleported back.

“That was quick,” Cadance commented, unmoved from where she last stood.

“I found it fast,” Twilight replied,

She put on the hat and set the beard in place, then pulled the cloak around her shoulders and clipped it together.

“Okay, we’re good.”

“How much is admission anyways?”

“I think like five bits.”

“Oh. It’s not even that much,”

“I know, but it’s fun to show appreciation as well.”

Cadance nodded, “Yeah, it can be. Now let’s go see how authentic their displays are.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Twilight announced,

They both giggled, then walked into the museum, paid the admission fee, and got colored bracelets to prove it. The next few minutes were spent wandering around, looking at the various artifacts, and taking in the dense history.

“A whole day to celebrate Star Swirl the Bearded. What could be better?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Cadance answered, “Look at all this stuff! Clothing,” She pointed to a piece of folded blue cloth, “Items,” an embroidered satchel, “Relics,” a gilded tuning fork, “and the bell…”

“The bell…” Twilight repeated,

They both pressed up against the display case, staring at the magical wonder inside.

“Amazing.”

Cadance gasped, “Is that the candlestick he used to light the way when he was exploring the caverns of Maretania?”

“It sure is!” Twilight confirmed,

“I can’t believe I’m getting to see it in real life!”

As soon as she said that, it moved, rattling in its case. It quickly spun into a blur before popping into a small, blue-

“Discord!” Twilight exclaimed, “What are you doing here?!”

He looked up at them, lower lip quivering and rubbing his claws together.

“Well, I- I- I- ah- ah- Achoo!” He sneezed, and exploded into goo.

It coated the inside of the case, which clicked open as it pulsated, letting the mass flow out and onto the ground, reforming back into a regular sized, blue Discord.

“Oh, dear, dear Princesses, I’m sorry to say that I’m sick.” He coughed loudly into his fist, “Blue Flu.”

“Blue Flu?” Cadance asked,

Discord nodded sluggishly, “I fear I’ve already given it to poor Applejack and Rarity.” He sniffled,

Twilight and Cadance looked at each other, and Discord sniffled louder, rearing back and taking a deep breath.

“Achoo!” He announced,

Slimy mucus splattered across a newly apparated light blue dome. It dripped down to the ground and fizzled away. Twilight lowered her hoof from her face, and Cadance grimaced.

“I think a magic health bubble would work better than a shield spell.” She said, her shield faded away, letting the rest of the snot drop to the ground as well.

“Good thinking,” Twilight said, and she quickly cast the spell, enveloping the both of them in a lavender barrier.

“Indeed.” Discord pressed up against the shimmering field, “How else would Twilight nurse me back to health if she were sick too?”

They shared a look again,

“You will be letting me stay at your place until I’m all better, won’t you?” Discord asked,

“Stay? With me? Uh, now is not really the best time, though I’m sure you already knew that…”

Discord slumped down onto the ground, “But taking in the sick and desperate, isn’t that something Fluttershy would do? Isn’t helping something that friends do for friends? Unless of course, you’re really saying that you’re not my friend.”

Twilight looked around and clenched her teeth, “No, that is not what I’m saying.”

“Oh, how elated I am to hear that. Shall the three of us head back to your place then? I don’t want to get anypony else sick.” Discord said, he dropped his arms and legs as he slithered around the health bubble.

Twilight sighed, “I guess we don’t have much choice.”

She gestured with her head, and both Cadance and her started walking out of the museum area, causing Discord to slip off into a pile.

“Carry me?” He asked, his wings breaking off.

“I think you can manage.” Cadance turned back,

“Oh poo.” Discord said, dragging himself behind them, his face dragging in the dirt.

Together they walked to the Golden Oaks Library, quite a few onlookers staring at the two princesses, one in costume, followed by what looked like a giant blue snake. Twilight looked back every so often, but found herself glancing at Cadance more instead. She didn’t seem to take notice during their trip, and by the time they got to the front door, she abruptly threw it open.

“Okay mister,” Cadance said, lifting Discord up in her magic, “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Whoa!” He wriggled in her grip, “What gives?”

“Oh, so now you don’t want to be carried?” Twilight asked,

Discord shut his mouth and crossed his arms, “Just be careful with the goods, princess.”

Cadance rolled her eyes, then unceremoniously coiled him up and slotted him through the door.

“Oomph!” Discord exclaimed as he rolled across the floor, “You’re surprisingly good at this.”

“I’ve got experience,” Cadance replied, carrying him up the stairs.

Twilight just followed loosely behind, watching as Cadance practically manhandled Discord’s lithe form. His long, slithering body. Serpentine, worm-like. Blue, not purple. Mismatched horns, not jagged mandibles. Fur and scales, not spines and chitin.

“Twilight?” Cadance asked from the top of the stairs, breaking her out of her trance, “Do you have any spare beds?”

She shook her head, “No, just…” She realized, “Ugh, mine. It’s the first door on the right.”

“You sure?”

Twilight just nodded, lips pressed tightly together and eyes wide. She then quickly set her costume off to the side and made her way up the stairs as Cadance entered her bedroom. Once inside herself, she saw Discord being laid down on her bed, her pillow and blanket arranging themselves around him.

“Thank you, my dear friends.” Discord said, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

“Need anything else?” Twilight asked,

Discord smiled, “Just knowing that I have a good friend like you to take care of me has made me feel better already.” He pulled the covers down a bit to begin rifling through her bedside table. “I’ll be fine here on my own.”

Twilight sighed in relief, “Good,” She nodded to Cadance, and they both began walking towards the door.

“Oh, just before you go, just a little small request.”

She groaned.

“It’ll be fine,” Cadance whispered to her, “We’ll just get him what he wants and be back to the exhibit in no time.” She turned, “What was it that you needed?”

“A little glass of water please…”

Twilight blew upwards to clear her vision, then pulled some of the spaghetti off of her face.

“...The tea though…” Cadance muttered,

Out of the corner of her vision, Twilight saw Spike appear in the doorway with a laundry basket. He looked around at the mess of things before making eye contact with Twilight. He set the basket down, pointed to her, then Cadance, made a talking motion with his hand, then used his arm to mimic a slither.

Twilight winced and shook her head, noodles flopping wildly.

‘When?’ Spike mouthed,

‘Later.’ She replied, pointing towards Discord as he danced around in the air.

Spike looked up at him, then just shrugged and nodded, taking the laundry basket back downstairs.

Twilight held up a hoof to stop him when a pair of red glasses manifested over her eyes, and she suddenly found herself wearing a waitress’ uniform.

“Here we go again.” She complained.

Hiss

Click

Beep

Hiss

Beep

Click

Beep

Hiss

Click

Twilight shut her eyes tight at the noise, the offbeat beeps clashing hard with the rhythmic hissing.

Her head ached, and her entire body felt hot, yet she didn’t feel sick. She went to remove her covers, but found her limbs bound, her arms held back by something. She frowned, and tried to open her eyes, only to wince from the intake of light. She ran her tongue around her dry mouth and found more than she was expecting, a mess of wires and springs threatening to catch her tongue with every movement.

Beep
Hiss
Beep
Click

The noise was getting faster, prompting Twilight to flick her ears. They moved, but were restricted by something, it was cool, smooth, and solid. Something metal.

There was a small gasp in front of her.

“Twilight?” Somepony whispered,

She could not open her mouth to respond, instead resorting to a low moan. Trying once more to open her eyes, the harsh light kept them shut. Moving her head was unsuccessful as well, as she quickly met resistance, along with a wall of pain.

She winced, and grunted.

“Oh, the lights. I’ll get them,” the voice said,

A switch was flipped, and the intense light assaulting her eyes dimmed, allowing Twilight to finally open them. A blurry world met her vision, a mass of pink standing out in a sea of white. She blinked, and slowly her vision cleared, she gained more color, depth, and detail, and the pink blur in front of her sharpened into a figure.

It was Cadance.

She was crying.

Twilight gave a confused mumble and shifted, quickly growing frustrated with her lack of movement.

“No no, don’t try to move.” Cadance moved closer, “You’re still healing.”

Twilight paused, glancing around at her surroundings again. A plain white room, a sterile smell, the sounds of medical equipment.

Hiss

Click

Beep

She looked down, bandages wrapped her muzzle, a metal cage present in her peripherals, her limbs encased in casts.

“Mmm!” Twilight groaned, she tried to move again, only for a flash of pain to shoot up her shoulder.

Cadance got even closer, just barely leaning over her bed, “It’s okay! It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe now.” She sighed, “Oh, Twilight, I’m so sorry.”

Sorry for what?

What happened?

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in. Something must have happened, but what? The last thing she remembered was going to Canterlot with her friends under invitation to her brother’s wedding. He was getting married to Cadance, except she wasn’t Cadance, she didn’t recognize her, acted strangely, why?

She inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, the heart monitor to her side going wild.

She was an imposter!

Twilight tried to move again, managing to jostle herself under her covers. Her body felt stiff, and every movement burned, but she continued to fight against her restraints.

‘Cadance’ moved back, surprised, “It’s me, Twilight! It’s me!”

She gave up on trying to move, and instead started charging her horn.

“It’s me!” ‘Cadance’ shielded her face with bandaged hooves.

Twilight paused, and looked closer, she was in a wheelchair with bandages along her arms and legs. Her mane was frazzled, her movements were shaky, and she looked to have been crying recently. It all looked so real, but then again, so did the imposter.

‘Cadance’ opened her eyes and looked at Twilight through her arms. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake.”

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat, and a burning sensation filled her eyes as she began to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Cadance repeated, fresh tears appearing on her face, “I’m sorry.”

The door clicked open behind her, and an unfamiliar pony walked in.

“Oh…” She stopped mid stride, “Is everything okay in here? We got a warning on the monitor.”

Cadance sniffled, and looked up to swallow. “Yeah, everything’s okay. We’re fine.”

“I’ll leave you to it then.” The pony quickly ducked back out,

“Actually, could you go get the rest of her friends? I think they’re waiting in the lobby.”

“Sure, dearie.”

Twilight inhaled deeply, then blinked to clear her vision. She grunted lightly, causing Cadance to look back at her. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hoof, then winced at the motion.

“Still getting used to that.” She muttered,

Twilight grunted again,

“What is it?” Cadance asked, “Oh, right.” she realized, “You’re probably confused,”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well, I’m okay, you’re okay, your brother is okay, Princess Celestia is okay, your friends are okay, everypony is okay.”

“Mm,”

“You’ve been out for almost a week now, but repairs are already well underway.”

“Mm mm!”

“Oh? Do you need something?”

“Mm-mm, mm.”

“Do you want something?”

“Mm-mm.”

Cadance furrowed her brow, “Do you want… to know something?”

“Mm-hm.”

“What happened?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Okay,” Cadance nodded, then paused to think for a moment, “You were caught in a cave in.”

“Mm-mm,” Twilight grunted, “Mm.”

“Do you want to know what happened before that?”

“Mm-hm,”

“Alright, so I was replaced by a changeling.”

Twilight gave a confused grunt.

Cadance tilted her head, “Oh! Well they are… were a race of shapeshifters. They feed… fed off of love. The one that replaced me was their queen I think, and she planned to take over Equestria with the power of love.” She frowned, “That doesn’t sound as bad as it actually was.” She shook her head, “They didn’t have good intentions.”

Twilight grunted,

“Right, I was trapped in the crystal caves, but I got out with the help of a…” Cadance trailed off. “...worm…”

Twilight would’ve tilted her head if she could’ve, a sense of unease descending over her.

“I stopped the wedding just in time, but the changelings were already invading.”

Twilight gave a worried grunt.

“But we managed to…” Cadance stopped again, “...defeat… them, and now things are currently going back to normal.”

“Mmm,”

“You haven’t missed much, the changelings were um… defeated, Canterlot was saved, I’m still getting married to your brother, and your friends are sorry.”

“Mm!” Twilight mumbled,

“What?!” Cadance asked, “Your friends?”

“Mm-hm, mm.”

“And your brother?”

“Mm-hm.”

Cadance nodded, “They’re all fine. Shining Armor was cleared of any mind control, and your friends are extremely sorry for how they treated you.”

“Mm?”

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I also know how much you hate surprises. Look, your friends are planning to throw you an apology party, I’m assuming they’re coming up to do it right now, so don’t tell them I said anything.”

“Mmm,” Twilight smiled,

“Though, before they get here,” Cadance turned away, “There is someone I’d like you to meet first, who is also very sorry.”

“Mm?”

Cadance just wheeled herself to the door and opened it, then peered around the corner, “Could you come in please?”

“Ca-dance.”

Twilight shivered,

“Twilight,” Cadance continued, “This is the worm I was talking about.”

She moved out of the way, allowing a large, purple, spiny figure in. Twilight froze, watching as the monster of a pony walked across the floor with long, slow steps. Shiny, bulky skin, segmented along its entire body. Sharp spines jutted out of every recess, moving, flexing. A fleshy tail dragged behind, leaving scores in the tiled floor, the faintest hint of electricity crackling at the tip. Large mandibles dominated the head, chittering and clicking, rows upon rows of sharp teeth waiting further in. Piercing teal eyes, pupiless but focused. A mess of a mane coming out the back, dirty and scraggled.

Twilight immediately recognized it. She started shaking, minor flashes of pain lighting up through her body.

Cadance didn’t notice, “This is… the worm, and it’s very sorry. Can you say sorry please?”

The creature’s almost wall eyed gaze soon pointed to Twilight, and it exhaled, clicking its mandibles together.

“Sor-ry.”

“Mm!” Twilight jolted back, the heart monitor to her side picking up again.

She couldn’t move, but that didn’t stop her from trying. She jerked and twitched, ignoring the searing pain lighting up her limbs and back. She clenched her jaw, bending the wires and stabbing her gums. The cast along her arm cracked, and with newfound freedom Twilight wrenched her arm free. White hot pain traveled throughout her body, originating in her shoulder, yet she continued.

“Twilight?!” Cadance gaped, she frantically looked back and forth between her and the worm, “It’s okay! It’s not a changeling!”

She ignored her, a fracture appearing on her other cast. She wriggled, trying to break free from that one as well.

“Stop!” Cadance pleaded, “You’re hurting yourself!”

The plaster crumbled, and she regained movement. Bringing both hooves up to her head, she clasped the cage surrounding it and pulled. Metal prongs dug into the side of her head and neck, but she continued, turning it from side to side. It came free in the back, but pulled at the wires in her mouth, cutting her lips and straining her teeth.

“Stop!” Cadance glanced back to the worm, “Get out now!”

It chirped, backing out of the room and standing just outside the doorway.

“Down the hall!” Cadance commanded,

It disappeared from view, yet Twilight continued, leaning forward to try and get out of bed.

“Twilight! Please!” Cadance moved in front of her, she placed her hooves on her chest.

She smacked them away, causing her to yell out in pain. That finally made her pause for a moment, and she stared as Cadance reeled, holding her hooves close to her body.

“You have to stop,” She gasped out,

Twilight just kept staring, breathing rapidly and leaning forward. She finally looked down, watching as blood poured from her mouth and onto her bedsheets. What remained of the plaster casts around her shoulders was stained red, which slowly grew downwards with every second. The pain finally caught up to her, and she screamed, muffled by her mouth brace before trying to ease back into the bed.

Cadance looked at her, even more tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Who’s ready for an apology party?!”

Twilight ran her tongue through her mouth as she huffed, the shape of her bite had been permanently altered thanks to the brace. It took a while to get used to it, but at least it didn’t affect her outward appearance. Nor her speech very much, save for a slight lisp that she easily got around. She opened and closed her mouth and puffed, pulling against the harness and flapping harder. Her wings were starting to get sore.

Ignoring the strain, she watched the arid landscape pass underneath her. It was a far cry from the area around Ponyville, yellowed grass sat atop gentle hills, only to be broken up by chasms and ravines. Spires of rock and hoodoos stood in for trees, and a barren path winded around the landscape, just barely going in the same direction they were.

The sun was setting, casting the clouds around them in pink and orange. It was also glinting heavily off of the golden chariot behind them, preventing her from looking back for too long.

“How are you holding up?” Twilight finally looked up, feeling the sweat drip down her brow.

“Not too bad,” Cadance replied, breathing evenly, “Though I’m not very used carrying heavy loads.”

“Well, then lucky for you. We’re here.” Discord pointed ahead from his cushy seat.

Twilight and Cadance glanced at each other for a moment before descending, bringing Discord’s chariot all the way to the ground and setting it down with a thud. Looking back, he was draped haphazardly over the seat.

“It’s just at the top of that hill.” He pointed behind them,

Turning back around, the path from before continued upwards into a foggy peak, obscuring what was at the top.

“Alright,” Cadance unhooked herself from the chariot,

“Let’s get this over with.” Twilight did the same,

They began trekking up the path, following its curves higher and higher.

“I’m really sorry about all this. All I wanted was to have some peaceful quality time together.

“I know,” Cadance replied, “I was looking forward to it too, but at least we can talk.”

“Yeah…” Twilight trailed off, “Talk.”

“Is there anything you want to talk about?” Cadance asked,

“Uh,” Twilight looked away, “Yes, there is something.”

“Well we still have a hill to climb, care to share?”

Twilight took a deep breath, “I um… There is… It’s just that…”

“It doesn't sound like you want to talk.” Cadance said,

“I don’t.” Twilight sighed, “But I need to.”

“It must be important then,”

“It is.”

“Then go on, I’m listening.” Cadance gave a small smile,

Twilight tried to return it, “The thing is… I am…” She paused to breathe, “It’s about the worm.”

Cadance’s face fell, “What about him?”

“It’s just… I am… sca-” Twilight shut her eyes tight, “I am… a-afraid. Of him.”

“Oh dear,” Cadance sighed, “So it’s true?”

Twilight blinked and looked up at her, “You knew?”

“I had a feeling. I was hoping it wasn’t the case, but after talking to your friends and seeing you around him…”

“I haven’t told my friends about it.” Twilight said, confused,

“Yes, well, you aren’t exactly the best at hiding your fears.”

Twilight looked down,

“I was actually going to bring it up with you today as well, but then Discord got in the way and then…” Cadance shook her head, “Thank you for coming to me about it.”

“What should I do about it?”

“We,” Cadance corrected, “Are going to work through it.”

“Right now?”

“We’ll start right now. So, what about him makes him scary? Besides the obvious. Unless it is the obvious, is it?”

“Sort of,” Twilight answered, “I know he looks scary, but it…” She trailed off again, “It’s just that he’s so violent. He kills, he maims, he mutilates, he consumes, he fights, and…”

“Twilight,” Cadance interrupted, “It’s perfectly rational to be wary of something like that. I was scared of him at first too.”

“It’s just that! It’s irrational! I know for a fact that the worm won’t hurt me. I know he listens to you, and I know that you don’t want to hurt me either! That’s what makes it so infuriating! Against all my rational thought! Everything telling me that I shouldn’t be afraid! Every time I look at him, I know deep down, that he could, and would, kill me without a second thought. Every time I’ve seen him, at the empire, over Canterlot, in Canterlot, in the hospital, even in the caves…”

Cadance’s eyes went wide. “You saw him in the caves?”

Twilight sniffled, “Mm-hm. It’s why I know, because if what you told me was true, if my friends hadn’t found me, then I would be gone, and the worm wouldn’t even have cared.”

Cadance wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close. “Again, that’s a perfectly rational line of thinking. And you’re right, he would’ve killed you without a second thought.”

Twilight looked at her strangely,

“Note the past tense. He’s learning, changing for the better. I get why you’re afraid, I was too, but then he changed, and so did I, and I know you can too.”

Twilight nodded slightly.

“Now I know just saying that won’t fix your fears, but it’s a start, and just knowing you can change is instrumental in dealing with trauma.”

“Trauma?”

Cadance nodded, “I have it too, and while I don’t have the same fears you do…” She paused to take a breath, “I still can’t eat green jello, and thanks to some more recent developments, I’m finding myself staying away fire, or anything that burns.” She shuddered,

“I-” Twilight sniffled again, “Thank you.”

“Just know that I, your family, and all of your friends are here for you.” Cadance finished, “When you stressed that you only wanted to spend time with me in your letter, I figured you didn’t want your brother to get in the way, but now that I know for sure, I’m glad I chose to travel by train.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I’m sure you know the worm is very fast, and because of that he is very good at getting from place to place…”

“Oh, I think I see where this is going.”

Cadance nodded again, “He’s much faster than any train ride, even compared to what the crystal ponies have made. Celestia said he was even comparable to teleportation.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped,

“In fact, well, I don’t want to worry you, but he could have come at almost any point in the day.”

“Wouldn’t he have to find you first?”

“He’s kind of got a knack for that, but yes.” Cadance answered,

“Even here, at the edge of Equestria?”

“He could probably get here within the hour,”

Twilight stared blankly ahead,

“But,” Cadance continued, “I made sure to keep him busy today, he shouldn’t be a problem, unless you want to confront your fears right now.”

“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.” Twilight admitted,

“I wouldn’t expect you to. Small steps.”

They pushed through the last bit of fog, coming to a flat peak with an excellent view of the sunset. Other than a large tree in the center though, it was empty, barren of all other life. Twilight gave a quick look around.

“This is the top, but where is that flower?”

Something akin to a bedsheet fell over her, nearly dragging her to the ground. She struggled against the weight, only for it to disappear in a light blue glow. Looking up, they realized the trunk of the tree in the center was actually the stem of a giant flower.

“Oh.” Twilight said, she then flared her wings and took off. “Come on, if we hurry we can still have some time together.”

Cadance nodded, flew up as well, and together they enveloped the flower in their magic. Now glowing purple and blue, the flower shifted and tilted as it was lifted upwards. Its roots pulled taught, and the ground held strong. They pulled harder, causing cracks to form in the packed dirt.

“Just… a little… more!” Cadance strained,

The ground trembled, and in one quick motion the flower was uprooted, taking a good chunk of earth with it. Twilight exhaled, flying over to Cadance as they held the flower aloft.

“Good, now let’s get Discord and this flower back home, then-”

The ground trembled more, the loose dirt and gravel around the new hole in the ground quickly falling in. A low growling emanated from it, and something shifted inside.

“What in Equestria?” Cadance asked,

Rock and stone exploded outward, and a gigantic pink head rose into the sky soon followed by a purple scaled body. They both stared as the creature surfaced, three pairs of eyes locking onto them, each separated by its tripartite jaw. It leaned down and stared back at them before roaring, its high pitched screech accompanied by black tendrils writhing in its mouth.

They both screamed.

The tatzlwurm snapped at them, Cadance dove out of the way, Twilight dropped like a rock. She fell for a moment, then remembered to flap her wings, only to crash into the ground a second later. The tatzlwurm tracked her movements, and dove downwards to strike. Twilight scrambled up and started running away, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Before the tatzlwurm could close its jaws around her though, Cadance flew by and pushed her out of the way. Twilight tumbled down the hill, and as Cadance rose back up, a tendril wrapped around her leg, restraining her.

She grunted, quickly summoning a magic dagger and slashing it. Dark blue blood spurted out of the cut, and the tatzlwurm screeched, the rest of its tentacles coming around to ensnare her.

“Twilight!” She called out, “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of this worm too!”

Twilight just stared as Cadance slashed another tendril, paralyzed. The third tendril then wrapped around Cadance’s body, and she was pulled closer to the tatzlwurm’s maw.

“A little help would be nice!”

Shaking her head, Twilight leapt into the air, firing a beam at one of the tendrils, searing it. Another screech, and the tatzlwurm turned towards her, mouth wide open. It lunged, only to be blasted in the side of the head by Cadance, causing it to slam into the ground. It rolled down the slope a bit before slithering back up, shooting its tendrils back out and grabbing her again.

“Let go of my sister in law!” Twilight shouted, blasting it as well,

Only one let go, the other two continuing to reel Cadance in. The tatzlwurm then surged forwards, snapping its jaws around her. Twilight gasped, then shot again, flying up and around it, scorching the base of its head. It grumbled, but refused to open its mouth again. Its cheeks then bulged out, and it jerked to the side, then back, and then it lifted up and slammed its head onto the ground.

Cadance was spit back out, now smeared with blue blood. She tumbled across the ground, still wrapped in a now dismembered tendril that leaked blood out the end. The tatzlwurm hissed, whipping its remaining tendrils back and forth as it reared up. It dove back down to strike, and Cadance quickly rolled out of the way, sending a few magic bolts its way.

They impacted, causing it to turn its vision to Twilight instead. She froze, again, watching as the tatzlwurm stared her down. It lunged forward again, mouth agape. She moved too late, and she was caught by its tentacles, its jaws then closing around her.

It was tight, uncomfortably so, and Twilight struggled against the tendrils wrapping around her. They just kept coiling and coiling, wrapping around her again and again, restricting her movements. The jaws closed further, sharp teeth moving just inches away from her. It got warm and slimy fast, though it quickly gave way to just a thick liquid as the tatzlwurm’s mouth filled with blood.

There were muffled sounds outside, from the high pitched whine of magic beams to the impacts of bolts. Every so often the tatzlwurm would jolt to the side, taking Twilight with it, and she quickly became disoriented as it twisted and moved. Eventually there was a large impact on its head, so much so that its teeth grazed Twilight’s side. She grunted, but didn’t open her mouth.

A sliver of light then illuminated the inside of the tatzlwurm, and a crack appeared along one of its mouth lines. A pink hoof then jutted in before searching around frantically. Twilight wriggled around some more, getting her own hoof free and grabbing ahold of Cadance’s. She pulled, slipping through one of the tendrils before getting stuck on the second.

With a blast of her own magic, it let go, letting Cadance pull Twilight to the edge of the tatzlwurm’s mouth before bringing her out completely. Once free, they jumped away, gliding down back to the top of the hill.

“Thanks,” Twilight coughed, flicking a mixture of saliva and blood off her hooves.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Cadance said,

They both looked over, where the tatzlwurm was getting ready for another go at them. A screech then came from behind them, and with a crack of thunder the worm shot overhead, slamming into the tatzlwurm and sending both of them off the hill, over the cliff face, and into the ravine below.

“Ah yeah!” Cadance cheered,

Twilight just sat agape.

The ground shook as the fight continued out of view, a few spires of rock raising above the chasm falling into it.

“Take that!” Cadance continued, “That’s what you get for messing with us princesses!”

She glanced at Twilight for a moment, and her smile dropped,

“Oh, sorry, that must have been pretty uh, scary. Are you okay?”

“It’s f-fine. I’m fine.” Twilight replied, wiping the excess blood off her face and wringing her mane. “I should have expected something like that to happen.”

Cadance gave her an unsure look, “I don’t think the fight’s going to last much longer, do you want to… talk to him maybe?”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed, she shook her head, “No. I’m not ready for that yet. Let’s just get back to Ponyville, make the elixir, get cleaned up, and finally get a chance to spend some quality time together.”

“Okay, small steps,” Cadance repeated, “Let’s go then, help me with this flower.”

They both heaved, raising the giant plant back into the air before flying back down the hill, watching as more rock pillars collapsed into the ravine, an occasional arc of lightning shooting out.

Once at the bottom, they found a mysteriously empty chariot, and the faint sound of cheering.

“To the ends of Equestria! To face such great danger! And she did it for me! She did it all for me, for me, for me!” Discord chanted, doing a little dance, and more importantly no longer blue.

Twilight dropped the flower right in front of him, catching his attention. “You were faking?!”

He looked at the flower for a moment before looking up at them, “Whoa, you two look like you had fun.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, I was faking, but I had a very good reason.”

“We’re listening.”

“Well,” Discord began, a mauve tree rising up beneath him, “I was in my thinking tree, that’s where I do most of my really deep thinking. I was there, and I said to myself, I said, ‘Discord, your friend Twilight says that she’s your pal, but she never writes and she never pops in for a visit.”

Twilight tilted her head, “I don’t even know where you live.”

“Now that she’s a princess, maybe she’s decided that she’s too good for you.” Discord continued, ignoring her.

“I have never considered myself too-”

“But how was I supposed to know, for sure, that I’m truly still friends with one of the most important ponies around?”

“I’m not more important-”

Discord waved his hand, a gigantic handkerchief dropping in front of Twilight, “By seeing if you would go to the ends of Equestria for me, of course. Which you did, literally.”

Twilight lifted up a corner of the cloth and used it to wipe a bit more blood from her face.

“Congratulations Twilight, you passed my friendship test!” Discord wrapped a necklace around her head,

She looked down at it, then looked up with a frown.

“Why the angry eyes? You love passing tests. It’s not because my little exam put a damper on your visit with Princess Cadance, is it? Made it so that there was no time for you two to focus on your friendship? Or maybe it’s because you got covered in whatever that is.”

“It’s blood,” Cadance answered,

“Oh.” Discord grimaced,

“And you didn’t put a damper on our visit at all.”

“I didn’t?!”

“He didn’t?!”

“No,” Cadance continued, “Spending the day at the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibit would’ve been more relaxing, but doing anything together is just as fun.”

“It is?” Twilight asked,

“Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things that I don’t want to do, but a little action now and then is a great way to get your blood pumping. Getting to do everything today with you made me realize even more how lucky I am to have somepony like you as a sister. We may not be able to see each other very often, but I know you’ll always be there when I need you. Just like she was there for you, Discord.”

He pouted, “Yes, she’s a real sweetheart. We’re all so lucky to have her in our lives.”

The ground trembled, and a gigantic purple form shot out of the ravine, arcing into the air and stopping just above them. The worm then clicked, blue blood dripping from its mouth and body, several clumps of red hair sticking to it.

“Woah,” Cadance called out, “Easy there.”

Every muscle in Twilight’s body tensed, and she slowly began backing away.

“Hey…” Discord squinted at the worm, “You seem familiar.”

Twilight hazarded a glance in his direction, the worm also turning to look at him.

“Yeah,” He nodded, “I know you, you were a statue, like me. Good to see that we’re getting on in the world. Say,” he rubbed his chin, “You seem pretty fun. Do you want to do something with me?”

“Uh, Discord,” Cadance said,

The worm leaned down closer, clicking its mandibles in his face.

“Us reformies gotta stick together,” He extended a claw, “Why don’t we ditch these princesses and go do something else?”

“You really shouldn’t-”

Twilight finally gained control of her breathing, and she held up a hoof in front of Cadance, “Let him find out.”

Cadance gave her a look, but otherwise stayed silent. The worm inched closer, arcs of electricity crackling around it.

“They really aren’t as cracked up to be as they seem,” Discord waved them off, “There are so many better things to do. Oh, we could prank Celestia, make nachos, play poker, heck, even eating dirt would be better than hanging out with these two.”

“Hey!” Twilight exclaimed,

“We could even for a secret club, only allow serpents to join, we’ll call it… The Serpenteam!” Discord said, he opened his eyes, looking up at the worm as it stopped just in front of him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

It rushed forward, slamming Discord into the dirt and dragging him down the path. They stopped once they hit a large rock, and the worm started coiling up as it thrashed around, kicking up a cloud of dust. Both Twilight and Cadance winced as the sound of snapping and cracking filled the air, and they recoiled even further as lightning struck.

Something was flung out of the dust cloud, a trail of smoke following it as it landed at their hooves.

“You could’ve warned me y’know,” Discord’s disembodied head said,

“I tried too!” Cadance replied,

Twilight cracked a small smile, but she still watched the worm intently as it thoroughly obliterated Discord’s body.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

To post, or not to post. That is the dilemma I have whenever I finish a chapter. Of course I'm going to post regardless, but then you may not get the best writing I have to offer. Once I've finished a chapter, I get tired of writing, and I look to post immediately, but that means I can't review it.

Hopefully this one is good enough, because it's the last intermediate chapter. That is all I'll say, look forward to the next one.

The end is nigh.

Chapter 17: Envoy

Cadance peered down from her seat, the crowd around her cheering. To her sides, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight also watched with interest, each giving their own minor cheers.

The Equestria Games were well underway. Ponies from all over were competing against each other in all manner of events. There was running, jumping, throwing, lifting, pulling, swimming, racing, and even dancing. Currently they were on archery, with individual archers stationed in a row shooting at targets.

The Crystal Empire seemed to be particularly good in this sport, and Cadance had to keep her smile in check as the crystal pony representing them finished covering half the target. The ice arrows were a little strange, but it was an interesting take compared to conventional archery.

That was until a stray arrow flew straight up, disappearing into one of the clouds above.

The little distraction quickly turned into the main spectacle as ice spikes pierced through the cloud, growing in size until it was frozen solid.

“Oh dear,” Cadance said as it started to drop.

Ponies in the crowd gasped, more and more looking up as the frozen cloud fell. Pegasi from all over the colosseum flew up to intercept it, but struggled to find purchase against the slippery spikes. It lowered even more, its shadow drifting over the seats as ponies scrambled away. Commands were shouted all around, but no progress appeared to be made. The cloud dropped closer to the ground, the ponies underneath failing to disperse effectively.

Just as Cadance was about to whistle, the pegasi cleared out from underneath it, and a small, purple figure began jumping up to the cloud. In a flash, Spike blew green fire underneath the cloud. With flames licking up the sides and smoke billowing out, it slowed.

But didn’t stop.

Cadance whistled, and a second later a screech echoed across the colosseum. The worm then soared over the wall, immediately arcing down towards the ice chunk. It slipped underneath it, undeterred by Spike’s dying flame and brunted its weight.

It stopped, then was lifted back up as the worm coiled underneath. Water droplets fell in cascades as the worm pushed the icy cloud higher. It then spun, launching it up into the air before turning and whipping it with its tail.

The cloud shattered, shards of ice exploding outwards and upwards, but the worm wasn’t done yet. It growled, orienting its head upward before belching a pillar of fire into the air. Anything left was immediately vaporized, and the crowd had to shield their eyes from the intense brightness. When it was all over, all that was left was the worm, smoke pouring out of its mouth as it settled down on the field.

A moment of silence passed, followed by an eruption of cheers. Cadance let out a sigh of relief, then looked over to see Princess Celestia in complete awe, staring at the worm. Giving a small smile, Cadance then looked past her to see Twilight’s seat empty, and it quickly fell. A quick look around the area revealed she wasn’t nearby, and it was only when Caadance started searching throughout the crowd below that she saw a familiar purple figure poking out on the edge of the field.

“Excuse me for one moment,” she announced, spreading her wings and taking flight,

She fluttered down to the bottom of the colosseum, landing on the opposite of Spike as he talked with Twilight. Looking back showed both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna following her while the rest of Twilight’s friends filtered in behind her.

“That’s the third time now,” Spike hung his head and kicked the dirt.

“Really?” Twilight raised an eyebrow,

Cadance gave a small eye roll, then stepped forward to put a hoof on Spike’s shoulder, “Thank you, Spike.”

He shied away from her touch, “Why are you thanking me? I barely did anything.”

“Nonsense,” Cadance said, “The worm may have taken care of the ice, but if you weren't there, then he may not have made it in time to do so.”

“Actually, if I may,” Princess Celestia interjected,

“You may not,” Cadance held up a hoof,

“Hey, if we’re speaking of who’s helping who, then what about all the pegasi that helped first?” Rainbow Dash demanded,

“You have my thanks as well, all of you do.” Cadance nodded, “Take pride in knowing that you’ve done good today.”

Spike let out a sigh, “It’s a little hard to do that when you’re overshadowed by…” He pointed to the worm as it drifted over to them, “That.”

“Ah,” Cadance began, “Well if you’re feeling underappreciated, then would you do me the great honor of lighting fireworks at the closing ceremonies tonight?”

“Can’t the worm do it for you?” Spike asked,

“If I wanted to burn half the field to a crisp.” Cadance brought a hoof back to Spike’s shoulder and smiled, “I know you have much finer control over your fire.”

He gave a small smile.

“Speaking of the worm,” Princess Luna interrupted, “Why does he look like that?”

“Indeed,” Rarity added, “I don’t remember him looking so… scaly… or flammable.”

“Oh, well…” Cadance began, turning to look at the worm.

Large chitinous plates still dominated its body, but upon closer inspection there was a newfound roughness to its skin. Scales now lined the more flexible sections of the worm, fusing with the plates to create an odd, yet natural set of composite armor. Aside from that, there were two large spots on its body that showed a lighter color, one patch residing on its underside, and the other enveloping the entirety of its tail.

“I’m sure you all know of the little… conflict the Crystal Empire was in a while back, right?”

They all nodded,

“During that, a couple of…” Cadance glanced towards Spike, “Mean dragons showed up, and we had to deal with them. The worm helped… clean them up, and as a result…”

“He has taken on even more abilities.” Princess Celestia realized, “I am unsure on how I feel about that.”

Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak, then frowned and stayed silent.

“Oh,” Cadance continued, looking away slightly, “There’s more. When I was out with Twilight more recently,” she gestured to her,

She was fidgeting in place.

“There was another instance, at the edge of Equestria. Show them please.”

The worm opened its mouth, and several flaming tendrils shot out. They quickly flopped down and extinguished, saliva soon dripping down them. They twitched and curled, probing the air and ground around them. Several of the group averted their gaze, though Princess Luna tilted her head.

“You encountered a Tatzlwurm?”

Cadance just shrugged as the worm retracted its new extremities. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” She looked around at the group as they stared awkwardly at each other. “Now who’s ready to finish the Equestria Games?”

Fireworks crackled above, dazzling sparks and trails lighting up the sky. Cadance looked on with a smile, watching as a range of colors and a multitude of shapes flashed above. Some blew big, creating massive balls of sparkles in the sky. Others popped smaller, leaving glittering trails to arc through the air. Spike moved onto the next row, igniting the line of fuses in just a single breath. More rockets flew up into the air, screaming through the clouds before exploding like all the rest.

Smoke drifted down, faint trails and puffs falling to the field. The acrid scent reached Cadance’s nose, and she scrunched her face. She got up from her position on the field, moving closer to the edge. She passed through a particularly dense cloud, the metallic smoke making her eyes water. Stifling a cough, she settled down on the other side of the firework array, watching as the smoke flowed away with the wind.

Spike lit the next row of fireworks, and Cadance watched as they streaked into the sky, exploding brilliantly.

The stench reached her again, and she winced before holding her breath. The smoke quickly passed, and she sighed in relief, and for a time she was able to breathe comfortably and continue watching the show. Then it came back with a vengeance, a thick cloud of smoke enveloping her completely. The rancid smell invaded her nostrils, causing Cadance to rear up and try to escape from its clutches.

It seemed to follow her every move.

Tears poured from her eyes as the hot gas threatened to burn her airways. The rotten smell nearly forcing her to stop and gag.

Rotten…

Rotten eggs…

Sulfur.

Cadance fell into a coughing fit, wisps of black smoke still lingering around her. She flapped her wings excessively, heaving and hacking to try and expel the foul air. It semi worked, but the tainted smell remained in her sinuses.

She took a deep breath, snorting to try and clear them when she took note of her surroundings.

Spike had stopped lighting fireworks and was looking at her strangely, a good amount of the crowd also noticing the disturbance.

“I’m fine,” Cadance said, stifling another cough, “Really, keep go-” She doubled over for another bout. “Keep going,” she eventually wheezed, “I’m going to- get off the field.”

Spike just gave a single nod, then slowly moved to the next set of fireworks to light them. Cadance quickly vacated the area as they shot off, more smoke filling the air around them. A breath of fresh air awaited her at the sidelines, but she kept going until she was all the way back up to her seat, where the rest of the princesses were sitting.

“Are you alright?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Fine,” Cadance cleared her throat, “Just got caught up in the smoke.”

“I can see what you gave that job to Spike then,” Princess Luna commented,

“No, no,” Cadance waved her hoof, “It’s not because of that. He wanted to be helpful, and now he’s helping.”

They just nodded, then looked back up as the last barrage was set off. Deafening booms filled the air, quickly followed by crackles and sparkles. A cascade of light filtered down onto the crowd, basking them in a range of colors. Cadance tried to smile, but it was gone all too soon, and only smoke remained, the faint trails slowly falling back down to the ground.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like, all of you.” Cadance said, “The Crystal Empire would be glad to house you.”

“Thank you, Cadance,” Twilight began, “But we’d better get back to Ponyville as soon as possible.”

The rest of her friends nodded, Spike included,

“I appreciate the offer, but I cannot shy away from my duties for much longer,” Princess Celestia added,

Cadance exhaled, “Verywell, I wish you safe travels.”

“I appreciate the offer as well,” Princess Luna joined in, “And I will take you up on it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it has been a long time since I have been able to experience the Crystal Empire on my own.”

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow, “And your duties?”

“Do not require my presence in Canterlot.” Princess Luna answered, “Though I shall return on the morrow.”

“Verywell then, sister, I shall see you then. In the meantime, this year’s Equestria Games were some of the best I’ve ever seen. Congratulations to all of you, I do not believe any of this would have been possible without all of your efforts.”

There was a multitude of smiles and thanks from the group, which continued as Princess Celestia led them through the doors and out the castle, leaving just Cadance and Princess Luna.

She took a deep breath, “Let me show you where the guest rooms are.”

“Quite,” Princess Luna responded, “Though I should tell you that there is more to my decision than just wanting to see the empire.”

“Oh?” Cadance starting moving ahead, prompting Princess Luna to follow.

She nodded, “There is something I would like to discuss with you.”

Cadance gave a quick look around, “In private?”

“More or less,” Princess Luna gave a slight shrug, “The matter is not extensively private, but I would be careful of who hears it.”

“Can Shining Armor hear it?”

“Of course, it is relevant to him as well.”

“Then should we go find him?”

“Guest rooms first,” Princess Luna said, “Then we shall talk.”

“So what’s this about now?” Shining Armor asked as he took a seat,

“Important matters regarding the future of the Crystal Empire.” Princess Luna answered,

“Stuff that shouldn’t be talked about openly.” Cadance added,

“Oh.” Shining Armor sighed, “I think I see where this is going. It’s about the worm, isn’t it.”

“Partly,” Princess Luna said,

“Knew it,” Shining Armor said to himself, “So what would you like to discuss, Princess?”

Princess Luna gave a single nod, “In regards to my sister’s earlier statement about the worm,”

“About being unsure of him ‘gaining abilities’?” Cadance tried,

“Precisely.”

“Wait, we’re talking about the worm’s power level?”

“Power level?” Cadance asked,

“I would not put it so simply, but yes.” Princess Luna continued, “It has gotten to a point where something needs to be done about it.”

“Are you saying the worm is getting too strong?”

“I do not believe there is such a thing as too much strength, only the consequences from getting stronger.”

Shining Armor frowned, “What kind of consequences?”

Princess Luna inhaled deeply, “In my time I have seen many things, and been a part of many more, and one thing that has been a part of all of them, is power.”

Both Shining Armor and Cadance listened intently.

“When Equestria was still young, the world around it was… less organized so to speak, and the only way to get the things you wanted was to have enough power to take them.”

“That sounds… barbaric,”

“And not too different from today,” Shining Armor said,

“True, but it was in a different sense back then.” Princess Luna continued, “As alicorns we held quite a lot of power, and upon forming Equestria it only continued to grow. This allowed us to accumulate a great deal, but it also brought increasing opposition.”

“How so?”

“Small communities were easily taken care of, however as our power continued to expand, larger and larger threats started to appear around us. We went to war several times, I will not deny it, but as more and more kingdoms fell, the others around them grew larger.”

“You make it sound like Equestria was out conquering and taking as much as possible.”

“For a time it was, we were looking to expand, and we did, there is a reason Equestria is one of the largest nations there is today. But there came a point where we could conquest no longer, the other nations had grown too powerful.”

“So you achieved peace?” Cadance tried,

“Relatively. It simply became more viable to trade rather than to take, but the increasing threats never left.”

“Really?”

Princess Luna nodded, “When other nations stopped opposing, beings of great power rose in their place. Dragons, warlocks, cultists, Discord, Sombra, and eventually… me…” She trailed off,

“And then what?” Shining Armor asked,

Princess Luna shook her head, “It stopped, after my… outburst, my sister took steps to avoid provoking such beings. You may have noticed how much power we carry, yet how little we use. That is by design. The whole world seemed to have entered a new era, one that unfortunately… may be coming to a close.”

Cadance gulped, “Is this where the worm comes in?”

“Unfortunately, yes. What I am saying is that power attracts power, and since the worm has done nothing but grow more powerful, and nothing has been done to conceal his power, I fear that something big may be on the horizon.”

“But if he has beaten dragons, changelings, tatzlwurms, and armies, what else could the world throw at him?” Shining Armor wondered,

“Do not tempt fate,” Princess Luna warned, “Though there is truth to your words. Our world is finite, I am certain of it, and to my knowledge the worm has bested most of it. However, considering that the worm is not of our world, other beings of power may follow suit, and I should not have to tell you that will not end well.”

Cadance stared past her, “So what should we do?”

“It is important to show restraint, I understand that may be difficult for the worm, but many preventative measures are.”

“Wait wait wait wait wait,” Shining Armor began, “Go back a bit, you said something about an era coming to an end. What do you mean by that?”

“Is the worm the cause of that? I hope not.”

“No, he is not” Princess Luna assured, “As far as I am aware, he is a symptom of it.”

“Then… what is the cause?”

“I am.”

Cadance blinked, while Shining Armor frowned,

“Upon my return to Equestria, the Elements of Harmony were reintroduced to the world. Artifacts of that power simply cannot be used clandestinely, ever since our appearances, things have only seemed to escalate.”

“So the worm is here because of you?” Shining Armor wondered,

Princess Luna’s breath briefly caught in her throat, and she quickly recomposed herself.

“It is difficult to connect separate events as cause and effect, but there is reason to believe that they may be related. I will not say that the reemergence of power within Equestria directly caused the changelings to invade, as there appeared to be a number of reasons for their actions, but our power may have led to us being a more ideal target to them.”

“Which caused the worm to be released, and he holds a lot of power.” Shining Armor continued,

“He also gains it alarmingly quickly,” Princess Luna added,

“Right,” Cadance joined in, “Which leads to the Crystal Empire, then war, dragons, and wurms.”

“Hold on a sec, what makes you think the empire has had any part in this?” Shining Armor turned to Princess Luna, “Do you think the worm… or Equestria’s power is the reason the Crystal Empire returned at all?”

She inhaled deeply, bringing a hoof to her chin, “No, I believe the empire’s return was due to outside causes.”

“What kind of outside causes?”

“There could be many reasons, from the decay of binding magics to the intervention of other forces. Or, we could actually be the cause, the errant attraction to our power being enough to bring the empire back.”

“Well what do you think?”

“I am not one hundred percent certain, but given that we know the Crystal Empire was sent to another world, my best guess is that something released it, and its tethers to our world brought it back.”

Cadance pursed her lips and nodded, while Shining Armor just frowned,

“How long have you thought about this?” He asked,

“Only a few moments, this all stemmed from my sister’s earlier statement, it simply made too much sense to not bring up.”

“Well what does she think about it?” Cadance asked,

“I have not had the chance to bring it up with her yet, though I am certain she knows something is going on. I am going to discuss it further with her upon my return to Canterlot.”

Shining Armor stared at her, mouth agape, “You don’t think this is urgent enough to tell her right away?!”

Princess Luna shook her head, “There is not much that can be done in only a single day, but I understand your logic, I will return to my sister with my findings before the sun rises tomorrow. I still have my own reasons for staying here after all.”

“Alright, so what can we do right now?” Cadance demanded,

“It is as I said earlier, restraint. Simply grounding the worm or preventing any outward appearances will help in this endeavor.”

“That hardly seems fair,”

“It is not,” Princess Luna agreed, “But it may be the best and only option if we wish to preserve relative peace. This certainly is not final, we shall seek guidance from my sister, and from there we shall plan a course of future action.”

Cadance let out an exhale and nodded, “Until then, Luna, I hope you enjoy your stay.”

She stood, “I hope to as well.”

“Ca-dance.”

She grumbled, flexing her legs, wings, neck, and jaw before eventually letting out a sigh.

“Not this again,”

“Ca-dance.”

She opened her eyes, looking around at the crystal caverns, the vibrant walls once again acting as her prison.

“Ca-dance.” The voice came a third time, echoing throughout the room.

She stood, watching and waiting, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Ca-dance.”

The chime of the crystals, right on time. The room flashed, and her reflection copied itself onto every surface. Cadance sighed again, looking downwards at the mostly barren floor, covering a reflection with her hoof.

“Ca-dance.” The chorus beckoned, the one she covered actually being muffled by her hoof.

It would’ve been funny if she hadn’t been through this same song and dance dozens of times before. Cadance had tried just about everything to get out, running, hiding, ignoring, talking, fighting, even accepting, diving headfirst into whatever was thrown at her.

“Ca-dance.”

Yet it just wouldn’t stop.

“What do you want from me!?” Cadance demanded, she stomped down on the crystal beneath it, cracking it.

The reflection only multiplied.

“Ca-dance.”

She huffed, but she couldn’t stop herself from shivering every time they spoke.

Splat

Her nostrils flared, and she turned to glare as the monster stepped out of the crystal.

“Do you want an apology?! Do you want me to say I’m sorry?!” Cadance took a step forward,

Step

Splat

“Well guess what!? I am sorry! I am sorry your kind came to Canterlot! I am sorry they got slaughtered! And I am sorry that changelings may be gone for good!” Cadance stepped forward.

Step

Splat

“But I am not sorry for you.” Cadance punctuated with another step.

Step

Splat

The walking corpse breathed heavily, the awkward wheezing causing a sucking sound from its open wounds.

“After what you did to me, everything you put me through, what you had planned for all of Equestria.”

A gurgling sound started to rise up from its throat.

“I think you deserved it.”

The abomination lurched forward, gagging and retching as green sludge spilled out of its mouth. From where Cadance was standing, a lot of stray flecks and droplets landed on her legs as the liquid splashed across the floor.

It stung, but Cadance only stepped back when the puddle neared her hooves. She then looked forward, staring into the soulless eyes once more. They were glazed over, almost foggy with a wall-eyed glare. Each eye moved independently from each other, looking around blankly and unfocused. A single cloudy pupil met her gaze, and the body tilted its head, a sickening crack coming from its neck.

It then stood up to its full height, wobbling slightly as it raised above Cadance. It leaned over her, mouth still dripping. Cadance tried her best to remain undeterred, but the acidic slime dripping on her was coming dangerously close to her face.

“Ca-dance.”

She closed her eyes, shook her head, scrunched up her face, took a deep breath and held it.

Hot, sticky breath washed over her.

“Ca-dance.”

Cadance opened her eyes, scowling, and blasted the monster back with magic. It reeled, immediately falling over and crashing to the ground in a heap, flesh sizzling and smoking. Then, with a low moan, it pulled itself back up and started shambling back to her.

Looks like she was fighting her way out of this.

Again.

Step Splat

She took a step back, circling it as it loosely followed her, its pace quickened, but still slow.

Step Splat

Cadance fired another bolt, striking it across the face and causing the tongue to hang even lower. Loose muscles twitched and spasmed as more green goo dribbled down.

Step Splat

Even at its faster speed, Cadance could easily keep out of its reach. In such a small room however, the only hazard was the acidic trail the thing left behind. Cadance carefully stepped over a smear on the floor, she knew what would happen if she got stuck, it almost never ended well.

Step Splat

Another blast of magic caused it to stumble and fall, where it then started dragging itself across the floor. Cadance reacted by shooting a beam at it, searing all the way through its chest and body before coming out the other end. A rancid smell started to fill the room.

And yet it still kept going.

Cadance huffed, she’d beaten this thing so many times before she knew that the only way to stop it was to either destroy it completely, or…

She angled her horn downwards and shot a beam straight at its head, piercing the skull and hopefully the brain as well.

It finally fell still, almost deflating to the ground as more green goo seeped out of every orifice and wound. Steam or smoke emanated from wherever she struck it, and there was a slight gurgling noise as any air inside escaped, but it otherwise remained unmoving.

Then it sank further, literally melting into the ground. Semisolid organs poured out of its mouth, creating an awful smelling pool that quickly joined the rest of it, once solid chitin began to bend and bow, dissolving into a deep black sludge. Chunks of flesh and slime slopped off, revealing a decrepit skeleton which quickly began to melt as well. In only a few seconds the monster was simply a puddle on the ground, a horrendous mix of black and green.

Cadance let out a sigh of relief, but steeled herself all the same. Of all her times fighting that thing, she knew the corpse was no fighter.

It was what came afterward that was difficult.

A cacophony of chitters echoed throughout the cavern, bouncing off the walls and reverberating through the crystals. Her reflections moved, jumping between surfaces rapidly and without direction. They began to change, darkening in coloration and changing shape similarly to when she first saw it happen.

The rest of the changelings were coming. Cadance charged her horn, turning in place as she watched the crystal surfaces vibrate and flash.

A black hoof reached out of one, others began to leak green blood, a broken horn followed by a crushed skull rose out of another. Cadance started shooting immediately, they weren’t fighters either, but she was up against hundreds, if not thousands of them.

She’d never gotten through them before.

“Guess I’ll see how far I get this time,” Cadance said, shuddering,

Chittering filtered down each corridor, soon followed by moaning, then hissing. It came from the floor, the walls, the ceiling. More and more changelings came out of the crystals, quickly surrounding her. Cadance swept her magic in a wide arc, injuring, but not killing many of them.

Each one was dripping the same green ichor, which was quickly coming close to flooding the room, only a few raised mounds remained dry, and Cadance found herself jumping between them.

She couldn’t stay here for much longer.

The shambling horde drew ever closer, and Cadance whipped around, searching for any sort of exit. She sent a large blast through a thicker part of the crowd, clearing the way to one of the corridors leading out of the room. Jumping across the rising sludge around her, she kicked off one of the changelings as it writhed beneath her. Flapping her wings, she soared just below the ceiling as she drew closer to the exit.

She landed on another outcropping of stone, turning and blasting the closest changeling. She then stepped back, preparing to leap to the next part, only to find her back hoof stuck.

It started to burn, and Cadance grit her teeth as she wrenched her leg free from the sticky slime. Firing a bolt at another changeling, she jumped back into the air, teetering slightly as she glided over to the next safe space, one that was quickly shrinking. Without another second to waste, she bounded off of it and continued all the way to the entrance of the corridor.

It thankfully led upwards, but only after a small dip, one that was filled with goo. Cadance landed dead center in the puddle, immediately getting all four hooves stuck. She thrashed to keep moving before the tingling even started, then redoubled her efforts when it did. She seethed as it burned, trudging onwards with each painful step. The changelings drew nearer, unaffected. Cadance turned and dragged another beam across the horde, dismembering the majority and slowing them down for a few seconds.

She took another step forward, just inches from the edge of the puddle, but the sludge held strong, pulling against her every movement and slowing her down to a crawl. Another step, and her hoof hovered just barely over dry ground. She leaned forward, fighting with all her strength to try and get out. Her hooves burned, and her legs started to ache, she didn’t know if the sludge was doing actual damage or if it was just pain, either way it hurt, and she needed to get out.

Her front left hoof pulled free, quickly slamming down on the dusty floor, her back right hoof soon followed, setting down in a much shallower part of the slime. Next came her front right hoof, then her back left, and she was out.

“Yes!” She cheered, taking a step forward, and her tail pulled taut.

Turning around, she realized just how deep it had sunken in, and even as she pulled, the slime rose to pull back harder. She grunted as hairs pulled loose, gritting her teeth from the shooting pain in her hindquarters, but it never came loose.

She was stuck.

Cadance blinked the tears from her eyes, then turned her body with what little space she had. At least she had some sort of funnel to fight from as opposed to being surrounded. The corpses shambled onward, and Cadance watched them.

Every single one of them was changeling, but that was where their similarities ended. Some were slashed, cut, gouged, and stabbed, others were shredded, crushed, or mangled, and finally, some were burned, seared, or ripped to pieces. It didn’t matter, they all pursued her just the same.

Cadance took a deep breath, then started shooting. Waves upon waves of them fell, most getting back up again. The entrance to the corridor soon became clogged with bodies, but the seemingly unending horde pressed further, a cascade of acidic sludge following suit. Bit by bit, inch by inch, Cadance’s free space was taken away as the tunnel started to flood.

She realized this quickly, once again pulling her tail taut to get as much space as possible, but it wouldn’t last long. She kept up the attacks, but in only a few seconds the sludge was once again touching the tips of her hooves. Already sensitive from before, there was a flash of sensation which quickly turned to pain as the goo started to envelope her hooves completely.

Quickly pulling them free again, Cadance tried to step onto higher ground, only to end up leaning precariously over the edge of the slime, the rest of her body hovering just inches above it.

She couldn’t get out.

Cadance laxed, her flanks barely grazing the surface of the acid. She couldn’t continue, and the more she fought back, the more stuck she would be, and the more pain she would feel. Changelings clambered over the mound of corpses, quickly falling and splashing into the puddle below. The waves didn’t travel far in the viscous liquid, but as more and more was displaced, the higher it rose along Cadance’s legs.

She breathed hard, hissing as she clenched her teeth. From where she was now, there were only two things she could do, either wait for the changelings to get her, or to end the nightmare right then and there. She instinctively breathed in to shout, but stopped herself.

If there was one thing she’d learned from this, it was that you never, ever called for help, no matter what.

Because help never came.

A brilliant blue light shined from behind her, and a moment later a piercing teal beam swept across the horde, evaporating them into smoke. The crystal walls crumbled and fell away, the dusty and rotten air whisking away in a slight breeze. The burning sensation along Cadance’s legs left, the green sludge surrounding her spreading out and darkening as blades of grass began poking through.

“Cadance,” A familiar voice came from behind her, “You will have to forgive me for-”

Then it was gone, just like that.

“Luna?” Cadance called out,

She turned around, the breeze immediately dying down, the air getting colder around her.

A mist was gathering behind her, undulating and rising as it grew denser and more opaque. Cadance squinted her eyes, the faintest hint of blue light flashing through the cloud. It darkened, quickly turning black before spreading across the ground, whatever inside it was now gone.

“Luna?” Cadance tried again, tilting her head,

The dark mist split, flowing around and behind her. A familiar smell danced at the edge of her nose.

The smell of sulfur.

She immediately held her breath, slowly turning to where the smoke was now gathering.

A darkened Crystal Empire rose in front of her, trails and wisps of smoke weaving through the buildings and streets. There was no fire, no embers, no ash. Only smoke, with the occasional sparkle of deep purple.

Cadance shook her head, staring at the dilapidated empire before her. The crystals were dull and grey, but not dark and corrupted like before. Simply lifeless.

“What?” She asked aloud,

The ground trembled around her, nearly knocking her off her hooves as a large crack appeared in the crystal road. It travelled up it, errant and uncontrolled, yet intent on its path. Lanterns fell, walls tipped, and entire buildings were shattered as the crack continued. In only a few seconds it reached her castle, hitting one of its supports.

For a moment everything was still again, then the crack started growing up the castle itself, quickly spreading across its surface.

“No!” Cadance shouted in vain,

The spire shifted and twisted, then crumbled to pieces as the entire castle collapsed in on itself, only a small plume of dust left in its wake.

“What is this!? Luna?!” Cadance demanded,

She looked around frantically, but only the chill night air met her gaze, that and the smoke that surrounded her. She stared at it, watching as it twirled and twisted. Firing a beam, it harmlessly passed through, leaving a small hole that quickly closed.

Nothing.

No reaction, not anything, just Cadance and the smoke and destruction around her.

She looked up into the sky.

“Luna!” She yelled desperately,

The moon wasn’t even visible, just the twinkling stars in the sky. Then they fell still too, becoming just spots in the void. Cadance blinked, so did the stars, one by one disappearing into the darkness.

It grew even darker, yet the air grew warmer. Cadance inhaled, a newfound warmth surrounding her. The smell of sulfur grew stronger, invading her nostrils and forcing her to cough. She snorted, then ignited her horn, illuminating the grass around her. The smoke shifted, then quickly retreated to the darkness again.

Tilting her head, Cadance increased the intensity of her magic, casting the field around her in a light blue glow. The smoke receded even further, dancing just on the edge of her light. She turned slowly, looking out across the black horizon and the rubble of the empire. Small blips of purple met her gaze, moving smoothly through the smoke, almost as if they were watching her.

“Who are you?” Cadance called out experimentally, “What are you?”

Death

A whisper in the dark. Cadance’s ears flicked towards the faint noise.

Death

It came from her side.

“What?” She asked, leaning forward and squinting,

Death

Her other side.

Death

Behind her.

Death

Cadance strained herself trying to listen to the whispers around her, sweat starting to drip from her brow.

Death

Her eyes went wide, and she spun around as six purple lights came together in front of her. The smoke turned violent around her, toiling and rolling in an unfelt wind. It seeped into her light, creeping closer and closer.

Death

Cadance paced in place, looking around frantically as the smoke closed in around her. She quickly enveloped herself in a shield just in time to watch the smoke press up against it. Tendrils wrapped around it, feeling it, probing it, tasting it. The six eyes drew closer, staring right through her. The air turned hot, quickly becoming stuffy from being in an enclosed space.

The smell of sulfur reached her nose again.

Brimstone.

Cadance acted, charging her horn to the extreme, she surged more magic into the shield, sending outwards in every direction. The smoke was beaten back, nearly destroyed as the light from Cadance’s horn grew brighter and brighter. She felt herself quickly nearing overloading, but she continued sending wave after wave of energy outwards.

Slowly but surely, a small bit of light returned to the world, the black sky turning blue. Cadance squinted from underneath her own bright light, watching as the smoke disappeared from view, sinking into the ground around her.

At the risk of burning out, she sent one last pulse of magic before slumping to the ground, sweat dripping from her body. Cool air soon met her fur, a stark difference from the heat of the smoke. She breathed heavily, gasping for breath as she stood again. Peering around quickly, she made sure there was not even a hint of smoke left, and was immediately relieved to find nothing, not even a wisp. Cadance looked up to the sky and sighed, only to frown a moment later.

It was the wrong color.

An expanse of teal shined down, creating just enough light to not be dark, but nowhere near the brightness of a regular day. There was no sun, no stars, and still no moon.

“What does this mean?!” Cadance begged,

Death

The sky turned purple, and the ground shook. Cadance stumbled and fell.

And fell.

As the ground vanished beneath her. She flailed, eventually finding herself just floating in the midst of an endless void of purple, a faint mist present all around her. Struggling in place, she turned and blasted the thickest part of it, yet her magic simply passed through, and the mist remained unmoving.

Cadance flapped her wings, quickly sending herself into a spiral. She immediately stopped, disorientated, only to find that there was no up, and there was no down.

There was only the mist.

The breeze picked up, soon turning to a turbulent wind. Something massive was moving in the mist, the displaced air sending her spinning out of control. As she spun, Cadance caught a glimpse of something, something pink, teal, and dull purple.

She righted herself, finding once again no sense of direction. She huffed, when a flash of pain lit up her hoof. She gasped, quickly bringing it up to her face.

It was on fire, pink flames flickering brightly as they burned her hoof. Though nothing appeared to actually be happening, yet it was a pain unlike any she’d ever felt, and she needed it to stop. Cadance waved her hoof around wildly, yet the burning sensation never left, and only seemed to increase in intensity. She stopped, bringing her other hoof up and trying to pat out the flames.

As soon as they touched, her other hoof alit immediately, doubling the pain. She gasped out again, then started breathing hard through her mouth, she extended her legs fully, keeping the flames as far away from any other part of her.

Slowly but surely, the flames grew larger, fully encompassing her hooves and travelling up her legs. Cadance went back to flailing them wildly, only to overcompensate, and accidentally smack herself in the leg. The flames spread, engulfing her entire right foreleg.

It burned.

She held it as far away as possible, using her other flaming hoof to try and wipe the flames away. It was hardly effective, and as she continued, she noticed that her fur and entire leg looked fine, if not on fire, yet she found herself unable to move her hooves, only her elbows, and as her left one burned, she lost control of it as well.

It burned.

Yet the pain never left. Cadance grunted, grinding her teeth as the fire continued to spread. It reached her shoulder, searing, white hot pain lighting up her entire side. She yelled out, gasping for breath as her muscles seized. Eventually her entire arm was burnt away, leaving it just floating there limply.

It burned.

Cadance leaned her head back, straining as the flames licked their way up her neck. By now her other arm was completely aflame, but her focus was on something closer.

It burned.

The flames burned inside her body, spreading past her skin and muscle and into bone and organs. She felt her lung catch fire, every breath sending scorching air through her throat and mouth. She began to see pink flames lick out of her lips.

It burned.

She thrashed with everything she had left. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t breath, she couldn’t move her arms, she couldn’t even move her head, and as the fire spread to the base of her right wing, she lost her balance as well, tumbling through the purple mist.

It burned.

Tears streamed down her face, gliding through the flames seemingly without issue, she risked a glance down at her hooves again. Through the pink blaze surrounding them, they looked dry, dull and grey, cracked.

Lifeless.

It burned.

Her stomach was engulfed, it felt as if lava was melting through her insides. Cadance doubled over, kicking out with her back legs.

It burned.

The flames reached her heart.

Cadance screamed.

She kicked out with her legs, flailing wildly in her bed. Her covers were sent flying off the end, her pillow knocked to the side. She tossed and turned with reckless abandon, eventually tipping over the side and landing hard on the crystal floor.

She stopped, holding her breath as she stared at the blue crystal surface pressing into her face.

“Cadance, honey?” Shining Armor asked from somewhere in the room,

She didn’t respond, just bringing her hooves up to her face and touching it, then her neck, hooves, arms, shoulders, and chest, right where her heart was.

“Cadance?” Shining Armor asked again, sounding increasingly worried,

She stood slowly, grabbing her wings and pulling them open. She checked her sides, back, and midsection. Everything was fine.

“Cadance, talk to me.”

She was breathing hard, her throat and mouth felt dry, and she smacked her lips a few times as she turned around. Her eyes traced the entire room, every corner, every recess, every inch of darkened light. Her frantic gaze eventually landed on Shining Armor, who was leaning against the far wall with a hoof over his eye.

“Are you okay?” He asked,

She swallowed, switching to her nose as she inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

“Yes,” She choked out, “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?”

She shuddered, “No.”

“Okay…” Shining Armor said slowly, “What was that all about then?”

“A-” Cadance paused to control her breathing, “A bad dream.”

“Was it the changeling one again?”

“No, well yes, but then it changed…” Cadance began, “Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“Well what happened?”

Cadance flinched, then turned her attention back to her husband, and frowned, “What happened to you?”

“Oh! Uh…” Shining Armor looked away for a moment, he then slowly lowered his hoof, revealing a half closed red eye that was already starting to swell.

“Oh my goodness!” Cadance stepped around their bed to get a closer look,

Shining Armor actually stepped away from her.

Cadance froze mid step, then looked around the room again. Their bed was a mess, covers and pillows thrown everywhere.

She was the one that did that.

“Did…” Cadance asked slowly, “Did I do that?”

Shining Armor nodded weakly, “Yeah,”

Cadance’s face dropped, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“It’s okay,” Shining Armor interrupted her, “Are you okay now?”

It was at this point that a crash came from the balcony, causing the entire room to shake. A moment later there was a screech, and two giant mandibles broke through the door as the worm tried to squeeze through the frame.

“Stop stop stop!” Cadance rushed forward as the wall started to crack around it.

The worm relaxed slightly, but started clicking rapidly as it wriggled forward, causing even more cracks to form around the doorframe.

“Smaller! Smaller!” Cadance ordered, “Please don’t destroy the wall.”

The worm stopped, then in a blaze of purple flame it slithered through the doorway. Cadance immediately took a step back, but quickly noticed the color difference in the fire.

“I’m okay,” She said, “I’m okay,”

The worm coiled up and chirped, bringing its head down close to her.

“I’m okay-”

The scent of sulfur lingered on her senses. Cadance inhaled sharply, tensing and standing straight up, ears alert. The worm reacted in a similar manner, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of her reaction or if it smelled it too.

“Cadance?” Shining Armor asked, noticing the disturbance.

“It’s here.” Cadance replied, just barely above a whisper.

She peered around the room, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

“What?”

“It’s here!” Cadance leaped onto their bed, turning in place again and again.

The worm followed her every move, hovering just behind her and following her gaze with almost no delay.

“What’s here?”

“The thing! The thing from my dream,” Cadance exclaimed, “The- The smoke!”

“The smoke?” Shining Armor repeated,

At the edge of Cadance’s vision, a wisp trailed out of her bedside table. She snapped to attention, grabbing the table in her magic and throwing it across the room. It smashed against the far wall, crumbling to the floor and leaving a small crack in its wake. The smoke followed, tendrils whipping past before spilling out across the floor.

“There!” Cadance pointed,

Shining Armor stared in shock, then ducked down and covered his head as the worm crackled with electricity. It breathed lightning, sweeping a continuous bolt across the room, arcs scattered every which way, shards of crystal flying out as what was left of the bedside table was destroyed.

After almost a minute of electrocution, the worm let up. When the steam cleared, the corner of the room was blackened and burnt, solid crystal scorched and cracked. The table was reduced to a pile of ashy shards, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding floor. A faint trail of smoke rose from the pile, and Cadance stared at it intently, horn glowing brightly. She sniffed the air again, relishing in the fact that there was only a heavy ionizing smell in the room.

“Will you please tell me what is going on?!” Shining Armor pleaded,

Cadance glanced at him, then back to the smoke for another few moments before eventually focusing on him.

“The smoke was in my dream,”

“The smoke, from your dream?” Shining Armor asked, “Here? In the real world?”

“Other way around,” Cadance said, “I saw it before, and then it was in my dream, and now it’s here.”

“Is it just smoke?”

“I don’t know what it is, but…” She trailed off,

A pounding came from their doors.

“Your highness, are you alright?!”

“For now,” Cadance called back, “Enter.”

The doors burst open, and a multitude of crystal guards flooded into the room. They spread out, aligning themselves along the edges of the room, giving the scorched section a wide berth. They all had their weapons drawn, keeping vigilant watch as the others cleared the bedroom.

“This isn’t necessary,” Shining Armor began,

“Search the entire floor,” Cadance ordered, “Be on the lookout for smoke in the air, and pay attention to smells, report anything unusual.”

Several more guards entered, flanking Princess Luna.

“Am I interrupting anything?” She asked,

“Kind of...? Come in.” Shining Armor said,

Cadance eyed her for a moment, squinting, “Can you explain what just happened?”

“Partially,” Princess Luna answered, she then looked around the room, “Preferably privately as well.”

Shining Armor nodded, then turned to one of the guards searching, “Report.”

“Sir, no smoke except for the corner, and no odd smells in any of the rooms.” He saluted,

“Alright then, you heard her, clear out for the moment.” Shining Armor ordered,

Cadance held up a hoof, “Have two stand guard outside.”

All the other guards saluted as well, quickly leaving the room and closing the doors behind them. Princess Luna lingered at the doors for a moment before she eventually turned back to the others.

“So, let us talk.”

“First,” Cadance interjected, “Please tell me that you didn’t do it.”

Princess Luna shook her head, “I can guarantee you that my only involvement was with my intervention, nothing more.”

“Intervention? Smoke? Smells? Can somepony please tell me what is going on here?!” Shining Armor asked, exasperated,

“In a moment,” Princess Luna assured, “Do you have a place to sit? This might be difficult to hear.”

Cadance sighed, “This way,” She gestured, leading them into the side room.

Once they were all situated, Princess Luna began again.

“To start, that was no mere dream. It was a vision, a vision of the future.”

Cadance’s expression dropped even further, “You mean…?”

“Yes, whatever that was, whatever you saw, whatever you might have experienced may very well happen.”

“Wait!” Shining Armor began, “How can you be sure?”

Princess Luna looked at him, “Alicorn’s bodies are extremely sensitive to magic. As such, we are very in tune with the magic of the world. The world is very wise, it can sense when change is approaching, there are times when it shares this sense with us.”

“But how do you know that was what happened?” Cadance asked,

“Even before the smoke came between us, I could tell there was a motive behind your dream. I had hoped to console you throughout the process, however questions have only been mounting.”

“Like the smoke?” Cadance tried,

Princess Luna sighed, then averted her gaze, “Partly, though my main question is why I didn’t get a vision.”

“Were you expecting one?” Shining Armor questioned,

Princess Luna leaned forward, “Generally, when the world shares its insight with us, it is regarding major events that will affect most, if not the entire world. We are not usually privy to the details, though we will learn of important figures and dates. I can only assume that this coming… event, is not relevant to me.”

“How is something world-changing not relevant to you?”

Princess Luna finally looked at them, “I do not know.”

There was a moment of silence.

“However that is besides the point,” Princess Luna took a deep breath, “What is it that you saw, Cadance?”

She sucked in a breath, shuddering as the memories freshened themselves in her mind. Her mouth grew dry, and she remembered the feeling of the flames burning her throat.

“Perhaps… It would be better for you to start, Luna,” Cadance eventually began, “What did you see when you came to my dream?”

“I saw your nightmare. It saddens me to see that you are still plagued by them.”

Cadance gave a small nod, “What did you mean when you said ‘forgive me’?”

“Ah, that.” Princess Luna pressed her lips together, “I’ll still have to ask for your forgiveness, for I was watching the entire time.”

“Oh… And then?”

“When you got stuck, I decided it was time to intervene, which is when I felt the charged presence in your dream.”

“The vision?” Shining Armor asked,

“Precisely, and almost immediately after, the smoke came.”

“What did it do to you?”

“It blocked me from moving forward, in any sense.” Princess Luna answered, “It had surrounded me, pushing me back until I was forced out of the dream entirely. Even then I tried several times to reenter, though something was keeping me out.”

Shining Armor tilted his head, “Can smoke even do that?”

“It is possible, yes. Though I will admit that it has confused me to no end, there are not many things that can contend with me in the dreamscape. Whatever happened afterwards was seen by Cadance and Cadance alone.”

“Right… I suppose I should tell it then…”

“Only if you’re comfortable with it,” Shining Armor leaned closer to her,

Princess Luna shook her head, “If it is of grave importance, then you may have to forgo comfort.”

“Okay. Okay,” Cadance repeated, taking a deep breath, “After you disappeared, things changed. I saw the Crystal Empire, only it was… dead.”

“Dead?” Shining Armor asked,

“Dead how?” Princess Luna added,

“Everything, the streets, the buildings, even our castle. I-I didn’t see any crystal ponies, but I could only assume…”

“Did you go into it at all?” Princess Luna asked,

“No! No, I hardly moved,” Cadance answered, “B-But then an earthquake hit, and… Everything crumbled around me.”

Both Shining Armor and Princess Luna shared a look.

“The empire was destroyed?”

Cadance nodded weakly, “But… it didn’t end there. The smoke, i-it was the smoke. It surrounded me, a-and it spoke to me.”

Princess Luna’s gaze narrowed, “What did it say?”

“One word, over and over. Death.”

Death

Cadance went rigid in her seat, and she glanced around frantically.

Nothing.

She inhaled deeply.

Nothing.

“Honey?” Shining Armor asked,

They were both looking at her with worry. She quickly calmed herself down.

“It’s nothing… I hope.”

“Then continue, if you would.” Princess Luna said,

“I um, I-I beat it back, using my magic, and for a moment I thought everything was fine, but the sky was wrong. I-It was the wrong color.”

“A drastic change?”

“No, just the wrong shade of blue, b-but it didn’t last long. It changed to purple, and I-I was somewhere else, an endless expanse of purple mist. T-There was something m-massive in there with m-me, but I-I couldn’t see it. And then… And then…” Cadance realized she was shaking, “And then the f-fire.” She squeezed her eyes shut, “It burned, so bad.”

“Was that why you screamed?” Shining Armor asked,

“It felt so real, it hurt so much.” Cadance said, tears gathering at the edges of her vision.

Princess Luna closed her eyes, a solemn expression on her face, “It very well may become real.”

Cadance blinked, “What do we do, what do I do?”

“Whatever you do,” Princess Luna began, “You must not try to avoid it.”

“What?!” Shining Armor demanded,

“I have seen enough visions to know that avoiding them never works. What you must do is prepare yourself for the future.”

“Against death?!” Cadance exclaimed,

Princess Luna winced, “The future is not set in stone. Regardless of what you saw, with enough action, things may be influenced in your favor. Not doing anything only guarantees what you saw.”

“So what?! I write a will or something?! This isn’t exactly something I thought I would have to be doing right now!”

“Cadance,” Princess Luna held up a hoof, “We are dealing with the destruction of the entire Crystal Empire, possibly more. Do you want that to happen?”

“Of course not!”

“Then you have to take steps to counteract it.”

“What steps?! What do I do?!”

“It is hard to ascertain specifics, the only thing I can tell you right now, is to train yourself. From what I can tell from your vision, something is coming. Something you will have to fight.”

“Fight what?! The smoke? And its eyes?!”

Princess Luna froze, staring at Cadance, “The smoke had a form?”

She paused, “Yes?” She responded, confused,

“What did it look like?” Princess Luna demanded,

Cadance paused, thinking back, “It had tentacles, and eyes, but I couldn’t see much more than that.”

“How many?”

“How many what?”

“Eyes!” Princess Luna nearly shouted, “How many eyes did it have!?”

Cadance recoiled slightly, “Six, six eyes.”

Princess Luna’s eyes widened, “It may already be too late.”

Cadance blinked, “For what?”

Princess Luna stood, “We must speak with my sister as soon as possible. I must leave immediately to inform her of this.”

“Are you going to fly all the way to Canterlot?” Shining Armor asked,

“If I wish to get there by morning, yes.”

“Wait!” Cadance said, “Do you want to get there by morning, or do you want to get there now?”

Princess Luna paused to look at her, “Do you have long range teleportation on hoof?”

“Not quite.”

The worm coasted to a stop above Canterlot castle. This early in the morning, only a sparse few windows showed light, the rest remaining dark, as did the rest of Canterlot.

Princess Luna quickly pulled herself up from her hold on the worm, more than a little frazzled.

“How useful, if not extraordinarily dangerous.”

“You kind of get used to it,” Cadance responded, also standing.

“We shall see, however we should make haste, time is not something we have an abundance of.”

She leapt off the worm, gliding down to the uppermost spire of the castle. Cadance followed close behind, and soon found herself tilting her head, as Princess Celestia was already out on the balcony pacing back and forth.

She looked up as they approached, a frown on her face. Princess Luna landed first, and Princess Celestia immediately walked up to her.

“Dear sister of mine, please tell me you did not have a dream this night, a dream of fire and flames.”

“I did not,” Princess Luna said as Cadance touched down behind her,

Princess Celestia relaxed, her once tense stance giving way to a much calmer demeanor.

“She did,” Princess Luna gestured to Cadance,

Princess Celestia froze, her hopeful smile fell and her face filled with despair as she stared at Cadance. She slumped down, falling into a sitting position as her gaze unfocused and her head hung.

“Sister?”

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go…” She murmured, her ethereal mane slowed to a stop, falling still across the balcony.

“Sister,” Princess Luna moved to stand beside her, “Sister, we must act.”

Princess Celestia blinked, making eye contact with her sister. She then slowly stood back up and shook her head, “You are right.” She sniffled, “I am sorry, that was… just a bit to take in is all.”

“Celestia, it’s okay,” Cadance assured,

“No, it is not.” She said, “The simple fact that you had a vision makes it so. There is much we need to do.”

“Okay,” Cadance responded simply, “Where do we start?”

Princess Celestia remained silent for a moment, and she looked at her sister a few times. “We need information. What is already known.”

Princess Luna glanced at Cadance, “Powers we had hoped to have been destroyed in the past have returned.”

“I think we both know what is coming,” Princess Celestia also glanced at her,

“The insatiable hunger, the unending greed for power.”

“And the power to take it.”

Cadance tilted her head, “Who?”

They both looked at her,

“The worm’s master.”

“Oh,” Cadance said, “Oh.” She realized,

Princess Celestia turned, pulling the door to her bedroom open, “Come, there is somebody we must talk to.”

Cadance stepped forward, sharing a glance with Princess Luna as they entered the castle.

“Who might that be, sister?”

She moved over to her desk, pulling open the top drawer and reaching inside. “If the worm’s master is anything like him, then we must not risk anything being lost to it.”

“Being lost?” Cadance repeated,

Something clicked into place behind the desk, and Princess Celestia pulled it away from the wall in her magic. Cadance looked at the wall for a moment, then followed Princess Celestia’s actions as she reached behind and opened a now unlocked compartment on the back side of the desk.

“There’s only one being in Equestria that might know how to defeat this coming threat.”

Princess Luna’s eyes widened in realization, “Oh sister, please don’t tell me.”

Princess Celestia pulled out an incredibly well worn scroll, yellowed paper and cracked edges showed its age. She unfurled it onto her desk, revealing a map of sorts, with one word popping out in the center.

Tartarus

“Must we speak to… him?” Princess Luna pleaded,

“It is only one question, sister.” Princess Celestia responded, “Either he helps or he does not.”

Cadance looked between them, “Who? Who are we talking to?”

Princess Luna tilted her head back, “An ancient villain, he came to Equestria with the intent to steal its magic.

“Only to be thwarted by his own brother, with his aid we managed to repel him.” Princess Celestia continued,

“And lock him in Tartarus for his crimes.” Princess Luna finished, gesturing in front of them.

A large set of double doors sat on a raised section of stone. Jet black, only crimson runes etched into them gave them any depth. A square lock held it all together, four smaller pieces tipping each corner. Wicked branches and roots rose out of the ground to hold the frame, a series of geothermal vents lining the crooked stairs leading to the doors.

A familiar stench lingered in the air, and Cadance found herself glancing around frantically at every movement, but only the soft vapors coming from the stone met her gaze.

“Okay…” She said slowly, “So why are we seeking him out?”

“Because his dark power grants him the unique ability to steal the magic from almost any source, granting him more power.” Princess Luna explained,

“It is not an exact match,” Princess Celestia said, “However, his insight will provide a better strategy on how to deal with anything… worm-like.”

“How do we even know the worm’s master is like him?” Cadance asked,

“There is a correlation between their forms, at least from what I was able to see. We do not know much more than that.”

“Regardless, it will be useful information.”

Cadance just stared at the other alicorns, shortening her breath to try and avoid the sulfurous smell as much as possible. It was also decently hot in the area, but that was not what was making her sweat uncontrollably.

Princess Celestia stepped up to the door, lowering her horn to the lock and flashing her magic. Marks in the metal began to glow, and the doors groaned as the lock rotated. A moment later they shifted, bowing outwards as a growling noise came from inside.

Before they could do anything else, the doors were pushed open, and the snarling head of a dog peered out, followed by two more.

“Cerberus,” Princess Celestia called out, “We seek an audience with one of the imprisoned.”

Each head focused on a different alicorn, Princess Celestia stood strong under their scrutiny, as did Princess Luna, though Cadance shifted under the intense gaze. Eventually Cerberus stopped, closing its mouths and pulling back out of the doorway.

“We must be quick,” Princess Celestia said, gesturing towards the entrance.

“Why?” Cadance asked,

“A number of reasons,” Princess Luna answered, “Too many to go into right now. The point being, it is dangerous.”

“Follow me closely, do not fall behind.”

Cadance just nodded, quickly following Princess Celestia into Tartarus. Once inside, the smell actually got better, as opposed to the harsh sulfur outside, a stale air met them inside. Spires of crystalline rock rose out of a dark void, only a few glints of a far away surface visible in the darkness. Winding paths connected each part, and they started down the first of many on their journey.

Cages upon cages of creatures were stacked in every space imaginable, even then, some hung from the ceiling, while others teetered precariously off the edge. Not many took notice of their approach, though Cadance still avoided eye contact with any creature that looked her way.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached one of the tallest spires visible, where only a single cage sat, chained to the center of the platform. Whatever was inside did not move, even as they reached the top of the stairs. Cadance went to get closer, but Princess Luna held her back.

“Tirek.” Princess Celestia began, “We need to talk.”

The form in the cage shifted, a mess of cracks and pops coming from its body as an incredibly lithe form stood up.

“One, two, three. Three princesses have come to me, to me.” The figure said, “To what do I owe the honor of this?”

Princess Celestia kept her gaze level, her expression flat. “We seek advice.”

“Oh, but what advice can I give? How to deal with betrayal? How to cope with millennia of solitude?”

Princess Luna stepped forward, “We seek advice on how to deal with an adversary similar to yourself.”

“Ah, now there’s something I do know.” Tirek stepped forward, a long white beard coming out of the shadows, soon followed by red and black skin. Glowing yellow eyes remained in the dark, though they still pierced through each and every one of them.

Cadance averted her eyes.

“This threat is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, except for you. So you are going to tell us how best to defeat it.”

“Now why would I go and do that? Why would I help those that have imprisoned me?”

Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other.

“We could-”

“Make it worth my while?” Tirek interrupted, “Ha! Don’t make me laugh. You cannot let me out, and you won’t give me what is rightfully mine. There is nothing you have to offer, and so there is nothing I’m offering to you.”

“I told you this was a waste of time,” Princess Luna whispered,

“But…” Tirek continued, “You must truly be desperate if you’re coming to me with these questions.”

“Do not press your luck, Tirek.” Princess Celestia said,

“This threat must be… destructive.” A wicked smile flashed in the darkness. “Verywell, I offer you this, but only to safeguard what is mine for a later date.”

Cadance looked up, only to find two yellow eyes staring right at her.

“If this opponent is as similar to me as you say, then do not risk fighting it together. There must be one, and only one to match this foe. If not, then you will find yourselves divided, and conquered.”

“Are you asking us to put all of our hopes on a single individual?” Princess Luna asked,

“I am telling you, that if you cannot match an enemy like me upon first meeting, then it will grow in power until it becomes unstoppable to anything.” Tirek shrugged, “It’s what I would do. Now, care to let me in on the details?”

“You have given us enough,” Princess Celestia said, “If all goes well, then you may be entitled to a reward.”

“Oh… You don’t actually know, do you?”

Laughter echoed throughout the cavern.

“Well then, you have my best, and finest wishes. You know why.”

“Come, we are leaving.” Princess Celestia concluded,

Cadance readily followed her back down the path.

Tirek watched them go, all the way until they were out of sight before laying back down.

The scent of sulfur reached his nose, but he just closed his eyes and curled up in the middle of the cage.

“...So… You told them to gather their power under a single pony.” A voice came from behind.

His eyes shot open, and he quickly picked himself back up again. A mass of smoke was gathering just outside his cage, a moment later purple cloth billowing out, forming a hood of sorts. Six purple eyes shifted into view.

“The mysterious threat, I presume,” He bowed with a smile.

“Only the envoy.” The wraith returned a curt nod,

Tirek dropped his smile, “I take it you didn’t like my advice?”

Whispering laughs emanated from all around him.

“No, quite the opposite. It will only speed up the process, saving my master from having to gather it all up. Besides, we’ve been looking for a proper fight for some time now.”

“A proper fight?” Tirek snorted, he reached out and grabbed the bars to his cage. “Those ponies will put up anything but a fight. If you’re looking for something proper, let me out, see what I can do with all that magic.”

The wraith moved closer, tendrils lapping at the corners of the cage. Tirek smiled again.

“Under other circumstances, maybe. But right now, there are only two things that must be consumed, and you are not one of them.”

He scowled, “What?! Afraid I’ll pose too much of a threat to your master? Are you scared or something?”

The tendrils wrapped around the bars of the cage, snapping the enchanted rock. Tirek took a step back as smoke began to pour through the gaps.

“You are of no threat to the master, and the master is of no threat to you. Neither are the ponies.”

“What makes you say that?” Tirek demanded, “Once I get out of here I’m not only going to take all the magic in Equestria, but all the magic in the world! Maybe then we’ll see who’s a threat to who.”

“The master is of no threat to you,” The wraith repeated, the purple cloak phasing through the bars, “Because the only threat to you,” The six eyes pushed forwards, coming out of the cloak. “Is me.”

The tendrils the eyes were attached to pressed together, contorting what might be a face together. Almost like gnashing teeth.

Tirek stepped back, but soon found himself pressed up against the other side of the cage.

Death

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Who doesn't love debuffs? Quite a lot of people I'd imagine. There is a discrepancy in descriptions, for the longest time I thought the tooltip for God Slayer Inferno said "Your soul is on fire", hence the interesting effects it has on Cadance.

Oh boy, we're reaching a climax here folks, and that is all I will say on that matter.

Tirek, the end all, be all. At least for me. Season four is kinda where I dropped the show, I watched a little of season five, maybe some season six, but I simply lost interest in it for a time. I never got to watch all eight seasons, and I have absolutely no idea about the student six or the triple triad, meaning Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow.

To clarify, Tirek is 100% dead, and he never escaped Tartarus earlier. Twilight v. Tirek will not happen. Cadance v. ... Will however.

🎇Happy American Independence Day!🎇

Chapter 18: Devoured

Breathe in, breathe out. Go up, go down.

Cadance pushed with her wings, lifting herself up to an apex before slowly lowering herself down.

In out, up down. In out, up down.

“...Twenty three…” She grunted, “...Twenty four…”

In out, up down.

“Twenty five!” She flopped to the floor, breathing hard,

“Onto the next set then?” Shining Armor guessed,

“Yup,” Cadance responded, rolling on the ground and getting in a position to do sit ups, which she promptly started doing, “One… Two… Three…”

“And this is the last one?”

“For now,” Cadance paused between breaths, “I’ve got more later though.”

“Right,” Shining Armor said, “Well your armor should be done today.”

“Six… Seven… Good, we can go pick it up after I’m done here. Eight…”

“Okay, I’ll be just outside then,” Shining Armor replied curtly,

Cadance frowned, watching as her husband left the room. She quickly finished her workout, going all the way up to thirty before stopping. Grabbing her water bottle from off to the side, she slung a towel over her shoulders before making her way to the door.

“Ready?” She pushed out the door, taking a drink of her water.

“Sure.” Shining Armor responded, looking down,

Cadance gave him another look, but otherwise stayed silent.

“Okay, armor is done, when are you going to use it?” The armorer asked,

“We’re not sure, all we know is that I am going to need it soon, did you do the modifications I asked for?” Cadance asked,

“Yes, yes, and with great difficulty.” The armorer nodded rapidly, “To insulate not only against the cold but against the lightning? Not an easy task, but this ‘rubber’ material from Equestria has been quite useful. It covers most of the body now.”

“A rubber suit?” Shining Armor asked, “That hardly seems protective.”

“-With armor plates!” The armorer added, “And integrated crystal mail.”

“Can we see it?” Cadance wondered,

“Right this way, your highness,” The armorer said, “I have managed to create a one hundred percent sealed environment, complete protection from the outside elements, streamlined plating for enhanced flight capabilities, self-sealing helmet with wide view, flame retardant coating, attachment points for additional items…”

Cadance opened her mouth to say something.

“And yes, I have detailed it the way you asked.” The armorer finished, practically beaming.

Cadance smiled and nodded.

“How will she breathe if it’s completely sealed?”

The armorer scoffed, “There is toggleable option in the helmet along with connections for… what was it called again? Scuba?”

Cadance’s eyes widened, “I can go diving with it?”

“Not its intended purpose, but yes… probably… I haven’t tested it.” The armorer led them through a door, “Take a look for yourself.”

Cadance eagerly entered the room, only to stop just inside, “Woah.” Was all she said,

Shining Armor squeezed past her, “What is…? Oh. Oh wow.”

A heavily modified set of Traditional Royal Crystal Armor sat on a mannequin in the center of the workshop. What looked like a solid rubber piece covered almost every inch of the model, with raises in the surface revealing crystal plates embedded into it. Each one was smoothed over, completely removing the angularity that the previous set had, only for it to be added in other places. Spikes jutted out of recesses in the armor, pointed backwards, they weren’t sharpened, but they were certainly a deterrent for being grabbed. A lot of the bulk had been removed as well, making the whole thing look slimmer and more flexible.

“Really?” Shining Armor asked,

Cadance just stayed silent, a growing smile appearing on her face.

“You had to go with mandibles?”

Then there was the helmet. It was similar in design to the rest of the armor, smoothed over with spikes, flaps of rubber hanging loosely around the neck. Light blue crystal goggles dominated the top, allowing whoever was wearing it an incredibly wide view. They were slanted slightly, coming to points along the snout, giving the whole ensemble an intense look.

And of course, there were the mandibles.

Two crystal blades came out each side of the mouth, protruding past the actual helmet a few inches. Then there was the color, the rubber being a dull purple, while the crystal pieces were colored a dark pink. It was clear just who the design was based off of, if one only got a glance, they might think the worm was in the room with them.

“It looks amazing!” Cadance gushed, “It’s perfect!”

“Good,” the armorer said, “Then put it on, make sure everything fits.”

“With pleasure!” Cadance stepped forward giddily. She quickly pulled the helmet off the mannequin, then stretched it over her own head and zipped it tight before looking around experimentally.

“Do you need any help?” Shining Armor asked,

“Uhh…” Cadance began, drawing out her speech as the helmet affected it. “Maybe with the body.”

“It is only one piece now,” the armorer said, “It won’t be as complicated,”

“You say that…” Cadance stepped closer to the mannequin, “How do I get it off of this?”

“Ah, there is opening in the back, just undo latch and unzip.”

“Okay…” Cadance picked the mannequin up in her magic, turning it slightly as she began taking the armor off.

Once it was off, she spread it out across the floor before carefully stepping into it. She then pulled it up, struggling to slip her legs into each hole.

Shining Armor moved closer to help.

“I got it.” Cadance said, pulling the suit over her shoulders.

Only one wing came out of the slots in the back, the other fumbling underneath. Her tail got caught in the zipper, and when Cadance fixed it, she realized the helmet was supposed to go on last, so that it was over the suit.

After a few minutes of continued struggling, she eventually got it on right.

“Well?” She asked, “How do I look?” She struck a pose,

“You look like a worm,” Shining Armor deadpanned, “Does everything fit okay?”

“Just fine,” Cadance answered, stretching her legs and flapping her wings, “I feel like I could wear this all day.”

“Do you want to wear it all day?”

“...Kind of.”

Their trip back to the castle was silent. Even the nearby hustle and bustle of the Crystal Empire wasn’t enough to break it. Shining Armor just looked ahead as he walked, even as Cadance repeatedly glanced at him.

“Alright.” She eventually said, “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Shining Armor blinked, finally looking at Cadance, “N-Nothing’s wrong.”

She just gave him the look, “Okay, well if nothing’s wrong, then what’s not right?”

“I-” Shining Armor stopped, then sighed, “Don’t you feel like this is all a bit excessive?”

“Excessive?!”

“Yeah, as much as I like watching you work out, or getting awesome new armor, I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit… much.”

“A bit much?!” Cadance exclaimed, “Shining, dear, do you know what I saw in that vision? What happened? What’s coming for us?! I don’t want to waste a single moment getting ready for it.”

“I know,” Shining Armor said sincerely, “But Cadance, it’s been two months since you’ve had that dream, and you’ve been working ever since.”

“And? If we have time to prepare then we should be preparing.”

“But aren’t you tired at all?”

“Of course I am!” Cadance replied, “I never expected to be training non-stop, but it's something I need to do.”

“Would it kill you to take a break once in a while?” Shining Armor pleaded,

“It just might! This is a potentially world-ending threat.”

“That’s exactly my point!”

Cadance paused, then tilted her head.

“Whatever is coming is going to change the world regardless of what happens,” Shining Armor began, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that things will change, I’m just worried that we might not be able to do things the way we used to.”

“Change is hard,” Cadance shifted her tone and leaned into Shining Armor, “and this coming change, will probably be the most difficult we’ve ever faced, but we’ll find a way, we always do.”

“Yeah…” Shining Armor mumbled, “But… I keep thinking. What if something happens? To us. What if we get hurt? What if we get separated? Or… What if one of us doesn’t make it?”

Cadance stepped back, her eyes widening as she inhaled deeply. “I-”

“I just want to do something with you before everything changes, and we won’t be able to anymore.” Shining Armor said, his eyes starting to tear up.

“Of course we can do something!” Cadance wrapped him in a hug, she fought back tears of her own, “I didn’t realize all this preparation stuff was getting to you so much.”

Shining Armor readily returned the hug, and for the next few moments they stayed in the embrace.

“Your highness,” A voice announced,

Cadance blinked, then cleared her throat as she pulled away, “Yes?”

The crystal pony addressing her pulled out a rolled parchment from their bag, “A message from Canterlot, they are requesting a meeting tonight.”

“Tonight?” Cadance repeated, “Well then… I suppose… Tell you what.” She turned to Shining Armor, “I have some more training to do in Canterlot, why don’t you come with me, and we can go out to dinner after the meeting?”

“That sounds… nice,” Shining Armor sniffed, “When are you leaving?”

“Soon,” Cadance answered, “I would like to get there before noon.”

“Oh,” Shining Armor realized, “I think I’ll take the train.”

Cadance gave a small eye roll and smiled, “I’ll see you there then, and Shining?”

“Yeah?”

“No matter what happens, I will always love you.”

“Are you ready?” Princess Luna asked,

“Ready!” Cadance replied,

“Then let us begin,” Princess Luna said, turning her rapier to align with her stance.

She held it up to her face for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before thrusting the sword forward. A flap of her wings sent the rest of her after it, quickly closing the distance between them. Cadance flared her wings, bringing her own rapier up at an angle before jumping backwards.

The two swords clashed, a distinct ringing coming from them as they slid against each other. Cadance quickly parried the blow, forcing their blades to the side as she retreated further, sending a few of her own jabs back. Princess Luna easily blocked the attacks, then advanced further, keeping up the pressure.

They reached the edge of the training area, and with a single look back Cadance moved to the left. Princess Luna followed her movements and slashed, but met only open air as Cadance feigned to the right. In the momentary confusion she thrust forward, with Princess Luna scrambling to block the attack. She stepped back, Cadance gained ground.

They circled each other for a moment, their breaths picking up. Cadance struck first, unleashing an unrelenting flurry of blows with her sword. Princess Luna expertly avoided each one, dodging, ducking, side-stepping, blocking, and parrying. She followed up with a few counterattacks, halting Cadance’s advance. Their blades clashed again and again, almost a secondary action as they each searched for openings in their opponent’s defense. Eventually Princess Luna found one, twirling her sword around Cadance’s and throwing it out of the way. She stepped back, and the momentum switched as Princess Luna continued. She aimed low, forcing Cadance off her hooves and pushing, forcing her back again.

She reared up, and Princess Luna prepared a devastating strike, only for Cadance to flare her wings and take to the air. With a single flap she was above her, and Princess Luna raised her blade high. Another clash, and a single pink feather flittered down. Cadance then landed behind Princess Luna and with an immediate thrust, her blade sank into her tail, disappearing into the starscape.

That certainly gave her a jolt, and she leapt forward, turning mid air to match Cadance again, but she was already upon her. Almost face to face, Cadance whipped her rapier forward, the point searing past Princess Luna’s cheek. Her fur was parted, a line flashed across her muzzle, which ever so slightly began to sting.

She landed hard as Cadance retreated, watching with anticipation. Princess Luna touched her face, feeling the area. No blood, but it was still a solid hit. Her gaze softened, and the magic around her sword dulled out as it lowered to the ground.

“I suppose I will yield at that,” She conceded, “Excellent form, dear Cadance.”

She exhaled, allowing her own sword to drop, “Thank you, Luna, and thank you for doing this with me.”

“But of course,” Princess Luna said, “Despite my apparent relevance to this coming event, I will never stop trying to help. You are quickly becoming an excellent swordfighter, we will have to… Raise the stakes, as you say, for our next lesson.” She picked up both rapiers and set them on a rack off to the side.

Cadance gave a half nod, exiting the little arena they had. Princess Luna followed behind, quickly matching pace with her.

“There was something I wanted to ask you,” Cadance began,

“Oh? What might that be?”

“Do you know what tonight’s meeting is going to be about? There wasn’t any information in the message.”

“Ah yes, that.” Princess Luna said, “We will be deciding who will be our champion against this threat,”

“Oh!” Cadance’s eyes widened, “I thought it was just going to be… well… me. It’s why I’ve been training so hard,”

“Which has been taken into account,” Princess Luna nodded, “But there are others eligible, mainly my sister and I, and Twilight Sparkle.”

“Of course!” Cadance nearly facehooved, “I’ve gotten the feeling that she might be feeling a bit… left out recently, this could be a good chance for her.”

“As grim as it would seem, I have to agree.” Princess Luna replied, “Though there has been much more deliberation in this decision than that.”

Cadance tilted her head, “You guys have already decided? Don’t I, or Twilight get a say in this?”

“You will, during the meeting, it will be the last debate before the choice is final.”

“Alright, so who’s going to be there? Just us four?”

Princess Luna looked ahead, “We have requested aid from many sources, allies and enemies alike. Not many have responded,” Her face tightened, “Though there will be some in attendance. They will not hold sway over our decision, they will only provide what they can for this endeavor.”

“I see…” Cadance said, “And then what? One of us just fights the worm’s master?”

“In essence, yes, though there will be special preparations before that.”

“And what time is the meeting?”

“It shall start as soon as the sun sets, from there we will decide and prepare.”

Cadance just nodded, biting her tongue.

The moon rose, peaking above the horizon before separating from it entirely. The soft orange glow disappeared at the other end of the sky, leaving a darker purple which eventually faded to black. The stars then shone, quickly mirrored by the city on the ground.

All four princesses of Equestria sat at a round table, completely barren save for themselves. There were a few uneasy looks from the younger half, and more steady ones from the elders.

“Let us begin,” Princess Celestia announced,

They all nodded, and another moment was spent in silence.

“In wake of a vision of doom, we have decided to appoint one of us as a defender of the world, to take on the sole responsibility of countering this coming threat.” Princess Luna began,

“Before we reveal our decision,” Princess Celestia continued, “We shall all say who we believe is the most capable of receiving this mantle, starting with myself.” She inhaled deeply, “I believe, it should be me.”

Princess Luna nodded solemnly, Cadance stared at her, while Twilight gave a small gasp.

“I believe,” Princess Luna said, “Princess Cadance is best suited for this role.”

Princess Celestia winced, but otherwise stayed silent. They then all looked at Cadance, it was her turn.

“I believe…” She began, looking at each of them nervously. Her gaze eventually landed on Twilight, and she pursed her lips for a moment, “I believe that Twilight would do the best here.” She ended with a small smile.

Then it was Twilight’s turn. She took a much longer time to think, repeatedly looking at each of them, including her own hooves. She had the power to make or break this vote, either ending it in a tie, or choosing one of the three already voted for. She frowned, sweat starting to appear on her brow as she frantically glanced around.

Eventually, she placed a hoof on her chest, inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “Cadance, I believe Cadance will be best.”

She gawked, while Princess Luna nodded again. Princess Celestia though, she just closed her eyes tight and held her face in her hooves.

“Then it coincides with our initial decision,” Princess Luna announced, “Princess Cadance will be our champion.”

“What?!” Cadance exclaimed, “Really?! Me?!”

Princess Celestia let out a long and shaky sigh, “The decision was not an easy one, there has been much deliberation between history, relationships, power, and will, but in the end, Cadance was revealed to be the best choice.”

“I- I don’t know what to say. I mean, I kind of expected to fight, but I never expected to be chosen, especially when I was given a choice.”

“You do have a choice,” Princess Celestia said, “You do not have to accept this burden, you do not have to fight.” She pleaded,

Cadance stared at her, watching as her aunt broke down in front of them all. “No.” She stated, “I do, I have to fight.”

“Then,” Princess Celestia choked out, “The decision is final.”

“We will begin preparations immediately,” Princess Luna stepped in, “Then we shall speak to the delegates that have chosen to support us.”

Cadance only gave a half nod, she was more focused on Princess Celestia. She quickly moved over to her, wrapping her in a hug. “It’ll be okay, Celestia. Everything will be okay,”

“Will it?” She asked, “Every step we take only seems to bring us closer and closer to…” She trailed off, burying her face in her hooves.

Twilight soon reached her other side, and stretched out an uneasy hoof. Cadance readily grabbed it and guided her into a group hug.

“Sister,” Princess Luna said from off to the side, “We have been over this.”

Cadance glared at her.

She sighed, “Verywell,” and she came over to complete the hug, “We have discussed this for a long time, sister. There is no better alternative.”

“I know,” Princess Celestia sniffed, “But it doesn’t excuse the unfairness of it all.”

“Life… is unfair,” Twilight said slowly, “but we just have to keep going.”

“Have faith that everything will turn out okay,” Cadance finished, squeezing tighter,

A sniffle, “Right, right.” Princess Celestia stood straighter,

They all broke away, “Everything will be fine,” Cadance said,

“I do hope so.”

“Onto the preparations then?” Princess Luna asked,

“Onto the preparations,” Princess Celestia repeated, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Cadance blinked, “What more is there to prepare for? I’ve been training almost non-stop since the vision, I got the empire prepared, and I even got new armor made.”

“Wow,” Twilight said, “I definitely didn’t go that far.”

Princess Luna nodded, “All excellent developments, however you will need more than that. You may be standing alone against this threat, but that does not mean we cannot help you.”

“There is a spell-” Princess Celestia began, pausing due to the lump in her throat.

Another nod from Princess Luna, “A spell that will transfer our magic to you, granting you the power needed to face this foe.”

“All of our magic?” Twilight asked, eyes wide,

“Indeed, there is nothing to be gained from selfishness in this scenario, we must do all that we can to aid Princess Cadance,”

Twilight gave it a moment of thought, “Okay then, I’m ready,”

“As am I,” Cadance added,

“Good, though the spell will still take time to set up. In the meantime, we shall confer with what allies we have gathered.” Princess Luna said,

“How many are gathered?” Cadance asked,

Princess Celestia finally spoke clearly, “Of the many, many requests we have sent out, only three have responded in time. A member of the Saddle Arabian royalty, the Griffinstone general, and Discord.”

“Discord…” Cadance muttered, “Alright, let’s go see them then,”

“This way,” Princess Luna turned, “The spell will be prepared while we speak. Sister, if you would.”

“Of course,” Princess Celestia said, “Twilight, how about I show you how the spell works.”

She readily moved over to begin, but still cast an uncertain look towards Cadance, who mirrored it before the closing doors separated them. Princess Luna then quickly led her through the castle, and she soon realized where they were going.

The massive throne room opened up around them, the darkened windows contrasting heavily with the interior lighting. It made the stained glass look more like a simple mosaic. Aside from that, it was almost completely empty, save for three prominent figures, and a small number of guards at every entrance.

“It’s about time!” Discord said, tapping his foot, he checked his wrist, where there was no watch.

“I apologize for the lack of pleasantries,” Princess Luna announced, “However we are dealing with a matter of grave importance, which is why we have requested you here today.”

“What is it that you request of us?” An heavily accented voice spoke up,

Cadance looked towards its owner, and saw an incredibly young pony decorated in foreign jewelry sitting across the room. She then spied General Gavis Garfield near the entrance, and gave a small wave. He returned it.

“To put it simply,” Princess Luna continued, “We are requesting any magics or powers you are willing to give to us. Any amount will help, and should we prove successful, they will be returned with haste.”

“Oh goodie,” Discord slumped, “I had a feeling this was going to happen,”

“Hmph, is that all?” The Saddle Arabian princess asked, she removed one of her many necklaces and threw it across the room.

Princess Luna quickly caught it in her magic, bringing it close before looking up, “This is-”

“A family heirloom, said to bring good luck, very valuable.” The princess interrupted, “I expect it back.”

Princess Luna sighed, passing the necklace over for Cadance to inspect, “It will be returned,”

Cadance looked it over, admiring the beautifully cut emerald in the center, which was surrounded by incredibly intricate golden weave. It was pretty large, about the size of her hoof, and the whole thing was set upon a golden chain with silver inlay. She couldn’t tell if there was anything magical about the necklace, but she wasn’t good at detecting that sort of thing anyway.

The princess gave another harumph, and immediately exited the throne room, allowing the griffin general to approach.

“My apologies,” He began, “Griffinstone can only provide its military as support, but given what you have told us, it won’t be much help. Other than that, I can only wish you good luck in dealing with whatever this is.”

“Thank you,” Cadance said, she quickly set the necklace off to the side and bowed a little. “That means a lot to me.”

General Garfield returned it, before leaving the throne room as well, leaving just Discord.

“And what of you, Discord?” Princess Luna asked, “What are you willing to give?”

He just shrugged, “I dunno.”

“You are here for a reason, surely you are willing to give something. You, out of all that have come, are the most capable of helping, are you not?”

“I know,” Discord held up a claw, he slithered across the room until he was face to face with them, “I just don’t know what I want to give yet.”

“Well then, if you are dedicated to the cause, and are truly with us, then you will give everything.” Princess Luna said, “As are we, we are surrendering all of our power to Cadance for this threat.”

“All of my power huh?” Discord asked, tapping his chin, “Maybe, but maybe not.”

“Why not?” Cadance demanded,

“Because you wouldn’t be able to use it.”

“Again, why not?” Princess Luna asked,

“Because it’s my magic, all that fun chaos stuff. You probably know how to use all that pony magic just fine, but you will have no idea how to work my stuff.”

“That may be, but is there any passive benefit to your power?”

“Passive benefits…?” Discord tapped his chin again, this time with several more fingers. “I suppose you’d get larger, and probably lose a bit of symmetry.”

“How much larger?” Cadance asked,

“Hmm…” Discord began, he closed one eye and brought a thumb up as a paint brush appeared in his grip. He then began sizing her up, moving his arm back and forth as a sense of scale. “You’d probably be on the same standing as good ol’ Celestia.”

Princess Luna and Cadance shared a look.

“That is not a drastic change, but anything will help.”

“Will it?” Cadance asked, “I don’t know if I can fight as well like that.”

“Well you did ask,” Discord said, “I’ll still give it if you want.”

Princess Luna inhaled deeply, “Is there anything more specific you can give? Something more useful to our cause?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I might have something…” Discord trailed off, he then zipped open a hole in reality and peaked inside. “Let’s see here.” He began rummaging through it.

An excessive amount of noise came out, banging pots and pans, the beginnings of some song, high pitched squeaking, a chorus of rubber chickens, a kazoo.

“No, no, no…” Discord sorted, pulling out an obscene amount of fabergé eggs, “Aha! Here we go.”

He pulled out a stick, only for it to get caught on something. With a mighty tug, and the sound of something ceramic shattering, Discord presented what he had acquired. It was a staff of some sort, a long, metallic rod creating the handle, while a large pink orb sat on the end, a faint spiral visible within. Several petal shaped extremities came out of the base of the orb, while a small cross rose from the top. Cadance carefully grabbed the object and held it at an awkward angle

“There you are, my very own Rod™!”

“A rod, from Discord,” Princess Luna said,

“A Rod of Discord™.” He corrected,

“What does it do?” Cadance asked,

“It moves you,” Discord answered, “Just wave it around and say ‘Shamoogie’.”

“Shamoogie,” Cadance said hesitantly, waving the rod around,

Nothing happened, except for Discord snickering.

“Discord, please.” Princess Luna pleaded,

“Alright fine,” He relented, “Just wave it around a bunch.”

Cadance gave him a side eyed glance, but quickened her pace, twirling the rod around like a baton. The orb started emitting some sparkles, and the vortex within shone brighter. Just as Cadance was about to say something, her vision flashed, and suddenly she was on the other side of the throne room.

“Woah!” She called out, causing both of them to look at her.

“See, it works.” Discord said,

Princess Luna nodded, “A method of teleportation will certainly be helpful.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Discord began, “Without a better understanding of chaos magic, she won’t be able to control where she ends up.”

Cadance waved the rod again, reappearing a bit closer to the others.

“It also rarely goes past what you can see.”

“I think I’m getting the hang of this.” Cadance twirled the rod once more, and then she was outside, midair. “Whoop!” She flared her wings, managing to glide down to the ground safely.

Once she was still again, she looked up at the slightly illuminated windows of the castle and swung the rod again. Another flash, and she was even further away, almost to the entrance of the castle gardens.

Cadance grumbled and sighed, before quickly running back to the front of the castle to enter it properly. Discord and Princess Luna were still conversing inside, though she missed a bit of their conversation.

“-Still, short range teleportation will be useful, regardless of its endpoint.” Princess Luna concluded,

“Thank you, Discord,” Cadance joined in, “But can I really not control where I go?”

“You can probably figure it out,” He shrugged, then simply walked out of the castle.

Cadance stared at him as he left, “Did he just…?”

Even Princess Luna looked surprised, “Besides all of his power, that is a lot to give.”

“I’ll say,” Cadance said, tucking the Rod of Discord™ under her wing, “What about the other thing? The necklace, what is it?”

Princess Luna’s expression quickly turned, and she brought the necklace in question in front of them again, “This was… a gift, from Equestria. We gave it to them, last year.”

“Oh.” Cadance said, “Is it-?”

“It is not helpful, no.” Princess Luna sighed, putting it away, “At least we got something of worth from this. Come then, let us finish the spell.”

“Okay,” Cadance replied,

She trailed behind Princess Luna as they made their way back through the castle, hanging her head slightly. Just like the throne room, the corridors of the castle were almost completely empty, and the echoes of their steps followed their every move. Eventually they made it back to the meeting room, but Cadance stopped Princess Luna right before she opened the door.

“Celestia is really distraught over all this, isn’t she?”

Princess Luna looked at her, “She is.”

“I get that she never wanted any of this to happen, but she has to know that I have to do this,”

“She does, and that is what pains her most. It saddens me deeply as well, being forced to sit idly by as my past mistakes are resolved by another, but it must be done, and there is no alternative.” Princess Luna pushed open the doors.

In the room, Princess Celestia and Twilight stood amongst an array of sigils, finely drawn lines that encircled the entire room. The table had been moved, and a large open space sat in the center, with three smaller spaces surrounding it. It looked like everything was ready.

“Welcome back,” Princess Celestia greeted, “We are almost ready to begin,”

“How were things with the delegates?” Twilight asked,

Cadance pursed her lips, “Not the best,”

“We have managed to procure a useful item, from Discord of all people.”

“And the others?” Princess Celestia asked,

“Have unfortunately fallen through,” Princess Luna responded, “Remind me to brand all our gifts from now on.”

Princess Celestia looked up from her work for a moment, then finished sketching the final line on the floor. A soft glow came from the chalk-laden stone.

“It is ready.” She announced,

“Then let us begin,” Princess Luna said,

“Okay,” Cadance nodded, “Do I… just stand in the center?”

“Yes, it is where all of our magic will be funneled,”

“Do I need to do anything, or…?” Cadance asked as she carefully stepped over the lines.

The others also got into their respective circles.

“Simply open your mind, and accept our magic.” Princess Celestia said, “I am starting the spell now.”

Her horn flashed, and the chalk surrounding her and Cadance shined brighter. Cadance watched intently as Princess Celestia took a deep breath, and the magic around her horn extended. A tendril of light, it arced its way across the room before connecting with Cadance’s horn. She immediately felt the warm golden glow of Princess Celestia’s magic touch her, then spread throughout her body as it poured into her. She closed her eyes, shuddering at the unfamiliar feeling, the entire process took about a minute, much longer than she was expecting.

The cool serenity that was Princess Luna followed afterwards, and though Cadance kept her eyes shut, her brow raised in surprise. The magics mixed within her, creating an entirely new feeling, a slight prickliness as she started to feel a bit oversaturated.

Then came Twilight’s magic, a lively concoction that flowed smooth, yet steady, pushing Cadance even further. Light reached her eyes even though she held them closed, and it took her a moment to realize they were glowing. She opened them, just in time to see the last sliver of magic separate from Twilight’s horn, disappearing into her own a moment later.

The spell was complete, she had their magic.

Cadance took a deep breath, the air crackling in her lungs. She felt ecstatic, full of energy, ready to take on the world. Everywhere she looked was full of light, and she blinked a couple times to try and dull the effect. Slowly, the magic settled within her, and it was then that she realized her mane had been flowing as it dropped back down.

“I feel… great!” She said, beginning to pace around the innermost sigil, “This is weird! I feel so full, yet so… Powerful! I don’t know what else to say!”

Cadance finally looked around the room, and realized the others were quite the opposite. She stopped and stood still, though a faint jittering remained around her legs.

“Are you guys going to be okay?”

Princess Celestia blinked with half-lidded eyes, ever so slightly swaying back and forth, Princess Luna had sat down and hung her head, while Twilight appeared to get the best of it, managing to stay standing straight, but she still looked exhausted.

“We will be fine,” Princess Celestia said, “It is merely a reaction to the magic deficit.”

“How long will it last? How long will this last?” Cadance gestured to herself,

“As long as is required,” Princess Luna mumbled, “Then you may return our magic to us.”

“What… What else is there to do?” Twilight asked,

“Cadance has our magic now,” Princess Celestia responded, “There is little more we can do now besides wait.” Her eyes widened, “Oh, I do have one more thing, one moment.”

She turned to another door in the room and disappeared through it. Princess Luna then left the room without another word, and Princess Celestia came back a moment later, carrying a long wooden case. She stumbled a bit through the doorway, and Cadance rushed to help her, grabbing the case in her magic.

“What is this?” She asked,

“A while ago you asked me if we still had the worm’s armor, and I told you that it had been used up. While that is true, the only pieces left you can find are trace elements and replicas, the treasury has always kept some for future use. I figured now would be a good time to use it.”

Princess Celestia flicked open the latch on the case, allowing Cadance to open it. Velvet lined the inside, and sitting atop a cushion of fabric, was a heavily wrapped sword. Cadance gasped, carefully setting down the case as she pulled it out.

Twilight stepped over to her side, “What is that?”

Only the hilt was visible at the moment, but Cadance could already tell its quality. A dull violet hoof guard protected the handle, its intricate weaves creating a durable grip. The guard widened as it met the blade, forming a full cup hilt that merged with the crossguard. A heart-shaped pommel completed the whole thing, with crystalline facets etched into the metal.

Cadance moved upwards, untying the bow at the base and unravelling the fabric covering the blade. Slowly but surely, the whole sword was revealed, with only one sharpened edge, the blade curved away from the hilt, leading into a point almost a meter away. It was a more vibrant purple than the guard, and it shined brightly in the room’s lighting, clearly polished.

In awe, Cadance simply dropped the bunches of fabric to the floor as she stared at the blade, agape.

“I had it commissioned not long after your engagement with the griffins. It was supposed to be an anniversary gift for you and Shining Armor, but now…” Princess Celestia averted her gaze, “It seems as good a time as any.”

“This… Is… Amazing!” Cadance exclaimed, she quickly began testing it.

The sabre was well balanced, impossibly light, and held an edge so sharp she could cut a hair by simply dropping it over it. Twilight watched the two pieces of Cadance’s mane fall away from the blade.

“That’s pretty cool.” She said,

“Isn’t it?!” Cadance gushed, “Thank you soooooo much!” She wrapped Princess Celestia in a hug,

“Do use it well, and may it aid you in victory.”

“I will, I promise,” Cadance pulled away, she looked at the case again and pulled out an equally fine scabbard, with one simple motion, the blade was sheathed. “Now, is there anything else I need to do right now? Because I have a date.”

Princess Luna stepped out onto the balcony, quickly closing the door behind her. The cool night air met her fur, but it didn’t feel as welcoming as it once did. She looked up in the stars with a bit of despondency, watching as the moon shifted and shook as it was scooted across the sky. It stopped just below its apex, then it moved to the side a bit, then back, then further in the wrong direction until it was finally placed back in its set path.

It was then adjusted forward slightly, before it was corrected again.

With a sigh, Princess Luna focused more on the stars that were no longer under her control. She should probably be helping Cadance with that, but right now she just wanted quiet.

A chirp came from her left.

Her ears flicked to the noise, “It is only logical that you would be here, greetings.” Princess Luna spoke, not even bothering to look,

A click.

“I would assume you would be monitoring Cadance, but even I get lost in this castle sometimes.

A click.

“Tell me, do you know why she is here?”

Two clicks.

“You do, then you must know what is coming.”

A sigh.

Princess Luna sighed as well, “Look at us, two strangers to these lands, trying to integrate ourselves into an unfamiliar world.”

A puzzled chirp.

“Of course, some attempts are more successful than others.” Princess Luna paused for a moment, “Do you remember me? Do you remember what I have done?”

A click.

“There are many things I regret doing, falling to darkness, betraying my sister, unleashing such evils upon the world.”

A light growl.

“But I do not regret bringing you here.”

Silence.

“It is clear to me that you do not originate from here, you have come from a world of animosity and annihilation.”

A sigh.

“Yet, you belong here.”

A chirp.

“There are words to be said about your actions, and your place, but I have no qualms about your continued existence here.”

Silence. Followed by more silence, and it remained silent for a long time, but Princess Luna didn’t object, she simply leaned against the railing and watched the stars.

“S T O R M - W E A V E R”

“Pardon?”

The worm grumbled, and she finally looked at it. It then lit itself up, transforming before landing hard on the balcony, causing her to stumble a bit.

“Storm Weaver.” It spoke,

Princess Luna tilted her head, “Your name?”

Two clicks.

“Perhaps it was, and it is certainly fitting, but perhaps it is yours no longer, or rather, it will be.”

This time the worm tilted its head,

Princess Luna smiled, “May you survive your liberation, friend.”

Something is approaching…

Come dawn the next day, and the sun failed to rise, only for it to streak into the sky a few minutes later.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this.” Cadance said, angling her head as the sun lifted an inch higher.

“Do not expect to get it perfect on the first try,” Princess Celestia said, “There is fine, you will have to move it again in an hour anyway.”

“Every hour?” Cadance asked,

“Until you learn to move it gradually, yes.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

“Then you understand my life,” Princess Celestia cracked a small smile, but it quickly disappeared, “Hopefully this arrangement will not have to last, but until this threat has passed, you will have to bear our responsibilities.”

“Even ruling Equestria?”

“No. We are still capable of that.” Princess Luna interrupted,

“Your highnesses!” A guard burst out onto the balcony they were on, causing Twilight to jump,

She tripped over her legs midair, landing hard on her side. Cadance winced, and quickly moved over to help her.

“What is it?” Princess Celestia demanded,

“We’ve detected something in the North.”

They all shared a look.

“How far North?” Cadance asked worriedly,

“About-” The guard began,

The worm then crashed onto the balcony, actually causing its supports to buckle. The stone cracked, and the platform tilted, but it otherwise stayed attached to the castle. Cadance kept her stance wide, managing to stay upright as the others held on for dear life. The worm clicked wildly, its mandibles gnashing together rapidly and without direction.

“Woah woah woah!” She called out, “I need you to stop!”

It did not.

“STOP!” Cadance ordered, flying up closer to it

The worm refused.

The balcony lowered a bit more, teetering over the edge of the castle.

“STOP! PLEASE!” Cadance pleaded,

The worm stopped, and it relinquished its weight from the balcony. Pieces of rubble trickled down as metal groaned, but the platform held stable.

“Everypony okay?” Cadance asked,

“Fine, for now!” Princess Luna answered from off to the side,

“I am alright.” Princess Celestia said, holding onto a crack in the stone.

Twilight, who had slid down the furthest, was pressed up against the metal railing. “I’m okay!”

“Great,” Cadance turned to the guard in the doorway, “Can you help me get them up please?”

“Of course,” The guard said, eyeing the worm,

Cadance then grabbed Twilight in her magic and lifted her up to the door, once she was inside she moved onto Princess Luna, who managed to get in around the same time as Princess Celestia thanks to the guard.

“Good,” Cadance concluded before turning to the worm, “Now what is it?”

It was shaking, glancing around frantically, and chittering incessantly. Cadance’s eyes widened in realization.

“It’s here, isn’t it?”

The worm started coiling around her, “C A - D A N C E, G O, D A N G E R, M A S T E R”

“Hey, look at me,” She said, touching the worm’s head,

It stopped to look at her.

“Take me there.”

The worm reared back, screeching, “N O, C A - D A N C E, G O, D A N G E R”

She flew up, grabbed it by the head and looked it in the eyes, “You know we can’t run from this.”

The worm froze, falling limp in Cadance’s grip, it dragged her down slightly, but she was surprised to find she could hold it steady in the air.

“Please take us there.”

“Us?!” Twilight exclaimed, “I am not getting on that… him…” She trailed off,

Cadance looked at her, “You don’t want to come with?”

Twilight vehemently shook her head, and Cadance looked towards the other two.

“I will come with,” Princess Celestia bowed her head,

“I wish to spectate as well,” Princess Luna said, “There will not be much point in staying behind if we fail anyway.”

“Wha-” Twilight looked at each of them repeatedly, “Fine! I’ll go! But I won’t be happy about it.”

“Then get whatever you need, we’re going.” Cadance concluded,

The flight North was eerily quiet. Besides the rushing of the wind, no one dared make a sound. The worm moved slower due to its passengers, the other princesses weren’t flight capable anymore, and they certainly didn’t want to fall from this height.

The further North they got, the more nervous Cadance became. The landscape turned to a taiga below them, and it wouldn’t be long before they reached the tundra around the Crystal Empire, yet there was still nothing in sight, and the worm continued onward, showing its own anxieties. Every once in a while it would turn away, trying to go in another direction before Cadance reassured it. It would slow down, drop suddenly, or begin shaking wildly, and as snow appeared on the horizon, Cadance wasn’t sure she could control it much longer.

The frozen mountains of the North came into view, and the spires of the Crystal Empire came not long after. Cadance felt her heart sink as they continued further still with nothing out of the ordinary.

The worm abruptly stopped, jolting them all forward. Cadance felt Twilight press into her back, a similar chain of events happening down the worm’s segments. Despite the wave of complaints, everything went still, and Cadance felt them drop slightly as the worm shuddered.

She reached down and tapped its head, “Hey now, we have to keep-”

Then she saw it. A twinkle in the distance, high above the ground. An odd mix of dread and relief filled her heart, it wasn’t too close to the Crystal Empire, but they were here.

“This is it.” Cadance called out behind her, she nudged the worm again, “Come on, let’s go.”

It didn’t move, at least, not forward. The worm started shivering, dropping even further. A sense of weightlessness overcame them as they descended, the ground approaching rapidly.

“Work with me here,” Cadance said, “Stay up.”

The worm entered a downward spiral, the wind quickly picking up around them.

“Uh… Cadance?” Twilight asked worriedly,

“Please!” She pleaded, “At least land safely for them,”

Nothing.

“For us!”

The ground grew ever closer.

“For me!”

With a sudden jerk upwards, the worm leveled out enough to not immediately crash into the lightly snowed forest. It clipped a tree, then another, and another, and another as a singular path was carved through the forest. They dropped further, even as entire trees were snapped in half or upended, they did nothing to stop the worm’s trajectory. A spray of snow, sap, and pine needles awaited its passengers, and Cadance shielded her eyes as they finally touched down on the ground, creating cascades of snowy dirt to the sides.

They coasted to a stop close to the edge of the forest, the worm’s mandibles piercing into a final tree, causing it to slowly tip over. It never stopped shivering, which quickly became uncomfortable now that they were on solid ground. Cadance quickly dismounted the worm, helping Twilight off a moment later as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna slid off on the other side.

“Sorry about that! Is everypony okay?”

“We are doing fine over here!” Came from the other side of the worm,

Cadance nodded, then turned to Twilight, “Are you doing okay?”

She was quaking, almost outpacing the worm with her vibrations.

“No.”

“Are you dying?” Cadance reiterated,

“N-No.” Twilight said,

“Then you’re fine,” Cadance said,

She looked back where they landed, where a mess of broken trees and churned soil stretched behind them. It was at this point where the other two came around the front of the worm. Cadance spotted the twinkle in the sky again, then looked at everyone else.

“I’m going to go check whatever that is out, are you guys okay staying here for now?” She fixed her helmet into place, zipping it tight and making sure it was sealed.

Princess Celestia just stared at her armor, while Princess Luna held up a hoof, “For now, I believe I have spotted a better location for us to reside to the East, it is a small hill with decent cover.”

Cadance nodded, “If things go that way, I’ll try to steer around it.”

“That would be much appreciated, we should be off soon.”

Inhaling deeply, Cadance smelled the air around them. It was crisp, with a rising hint of pine, she wondered how long that would last. Then without a second thought, she flared her wings and took off, ascending into the sky again.

“Stay here, or stay with them.” Cadance commanded, pointing at the others as they started to walk away.

The worm let out a long, high pitched whine that ended in a low chittering, but it otherwise didn’t move.

With one last look at it, Cadance continued, flying higher and higher above the ground. From a distance, it looked like a twinkle in the air, now that she was closer, she could immediately tell it was much larger. She checked her sword, it was securely clipped onto her left side, the scabbard holding the blade well. To her right, the Rod of Discord™ was looped through one of her armor’s attachment points; it wasn’t as secure, but it remained in place even as she twisted and turned.

Drawing closer, flashes of light turned to beams, the purple color turned to an ever present glow, this was no mere sparkle in the air, it was like a miniature star, just hanging in the sky. Cadance approached it, hovering alongside it as it twinkled and flashed. It was completely silent, and it didn’t move, it just spun like a pinwheel. Despite its brightness, Cadance peered into it, squinting at its source.

Amidst the purple light, the radiant beams, and the constant rotation, there was a hole. A hole not unlike the one Discord created before giving her his rod. She circled it slightly, watching as the depth on the other side followed her gaze, like a broken mirror. There wasn’t much visible through it, just a splotch of purple, darker than the glow.

Something moved within, and Cadance’s eyes widened. The purple was transparent, a haze that blanketed the entire area in view.

Just like her dream.

Every hair on her body stood on end, stifled by her armor. Her breathing quickened, and she felt herself begin to sweat, despite it being quite chilly in the air. Cadance slowly backed away, not daring to take her eyes off the portal.

She froze, a new feeling rising up from within her.

Something was watching her from the other side.

Cadance dove, and not even a second later the portal exploded, a wave of heat washing over her. Giant balls of pink flame soared past her vision, arcing down to the ground and exploding down below. A small forest fire quickly started.

Pink flame.

Cadance steeled herself, descending for a few more seconds before leveling out and turning around. The sky turned teal, and the sun dulled, darkening as far as the eye could see. A massive form appeared in the sky, its tail end just exiting the portal below.

“You are no god… but I shall feast upon your essence regardless!”

A booming voice echoed down, sending shivers down Cadance’s spine.

This was it. This was the worm’s master. This is what she had to fight.

She looked at it more closely, seeing the glowing pink mandibles at its head, surrounded by gigantic pincers, easily able to crush her whole; if she wasn’t bisected entirely by them first. Four eyes stared back at her, shining the same light blue as the worm, only this worm was much, much larger. Complex metallic skin was layered down its entire body, blades upon blades lined its sides, and it radiated a strange essence.

Cadance felt heavy, her armor dragged and she struggled to stay hovering in the air.

The worm’s master moved, slithering through the air far faster than she would’ve believed. It soared above her, beginning a gradual loop in the sky, seemingly waiting for something. Cadance looked down where the worm was, and it was gone.

Or maybe it wasn’t. Large mounds of white occupied the space it once was, arranged in the general shape of the worm. It was just a bit too spikey to be snow. It had camouflaged itself, it didn’t want to be seen. Over to the side, further East, a small hill with multiple trees sat a fair distance from the rest of the forest, where three colored specs resided. The fighting would have to be kept away from there.

Cadance controlled her breathing, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly, gathering up the courage for her next action. She called upon the magic within her, firing up a beacon of light from her horn. If the worm’s master didn’t know she was here, it did now.

“What are you?!” She called out, her voice amplified majorly.

There was a slight pause to the larger worm’s actions, and it slowly turned to look at her again.

“I am,” the booming voice came again, a slight hissing following every syllable. “The Devourer of Gods, and you look… Delicious.”

Despite that, despite everything that was said before, and against Cadance’s greater judgement, she continued.

“Why are you here?”

“To cash in on a… return investment,” A rumbling laugh echoed down, the self proclaimed Devourer of Gods’ mandibles clacking loudly, Cadance imagined it would be smiling if it could. “You have something that belongs to me.”

Cadance pursed her lips, her hoof hovering over her sword hilt, “And what might that be?”

“A little birdie told me…” The haughty tone quickly turned menacing, “That a servant of mine has gone rogue… I require their termination, along with any other… consorts.”

The goggles of her helmet obscured her eyes pretty well, but Cadance still avoided looking in the direction of the worm.

The Devourer of Gods continued, entering the space directly above her, “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Cadance considered her options. Giving the worm’s master what it wanted meant death, of how many she didn’t know, but both she and the worm would be first on the list, that was off the table. Diplomacy could be the answer, but that required they stood on equal footing, something Cadance wasn’t sure about just yet. The same went for fighting, and given The Devourer of Gods in its entirety, it was looking to be the most likely outcome.

Nevertheless, Cadance prepared herself, “I cannot give you what you want, but I am willing to negotiate.”

“Then you have chosen… Death.”

The sky turned purple, and The Devourer of Gods’ head angled down to face her. It moved, accelerating fast and halving the distance between them in only a second. Cadance’s eyes went wide, and instead of reaching for her sword, she pulled the Rod of Discord™ out and whipped it around. Her vision flickered just in time to see The Devourer of Gods pass through where she once was, the particles left over swirling from the huge amount of displaced air.

So it begins.

With a grimace, Cadance unsheathed her sword, watching as The Devourer of Gods slammed into the earth, a spray of dirt and stone flying out as it burrowed deeper, quickly disappearing beneath the surface. Cadance stared at the hole left behind, watching, waiting. From her position in the sky, she couldn’t see exactly what was happening on the ground, but nearby trees dumped their snow, and a cascade of rubble flowed into the hole.

Beams of light appeared around her, forming a web of sorts as they each led to her exact position. Energy started to gather at the ends, and not a second later each bolt rocketed forwards. Cadance dove, rolling to the side in order to avoid a stray pathway as the lasers converged. The air heated up around her, and she watched as the lasers spread out again, following their paths until they faded away.

The ground bulged beneath her, cracks quickly appearing in the snow covered soil. A moment later The Devourer of Gods burst out, heading straight towards her. Simultaneously, another array of lasers lined themselves up with her, and she entered a glide, quickly picking up speed and distance.

The lasers were easily avoided, but The Devourer of Gods was undeterred. Cadance felt her stomach turn as it approached, and she turned into a steep glide, almost tumbling in the air as The Devourer of Gods seared past her. She brought her sword around, slashing down against the worm’s body.

The metals clashed violently, and Cadance struggled to keep hold of her sword, even with her enhanced grip. Her blade slid across several sections, bumping against every spike and protrusion.

Only a shallow gash was left behind.

Blue covered the sky once more, and The Devourer of Gods returned to the air, another web of lasers appearing around Cadance. She continued downwards, almost touching the ground as she flew between trees. She readied herself for another incoming strike, but The Devourer of Gods remained in the air.

More lasers were dodged, yet it just coiled above her, waiting. The sky then turned purple, and The Devourer of Gods dove, once again aiming for her. Cadance quickly realized the pattern, and she ascended steadily to meet the incoming worm. A feign to the right afforded her another strike, and this time her sword slipped through to the complex mechanisms underneath, and still only a scratch was left.

This was going nowhere.

Cadance sheathed her sword, and before The Devourer of Gods could slip beneath the earth again, she charged her horn. The well, now ocean of magic within her coalesced into a beaming point of light at the tip of her horn. With a single thought, an intense multicolored beam shot down, striking The Devourer of Gods along the side before ending at its tail.

A warbling impact sounded out, but when the smoke disappeared, The Devourer of Gods was gone, another large hole left in the ground. Cadance watched the landscape carefully, there wasn’t much indication as to where the worm was tunneling, but the ground shook all the same. What little trees kept snow quickly lost it, and a few began to uproot and tip over from the disturbances, she could only imagine what it was like for others.

More lasers came, and soon enough the ground burst open. This time Cadance was ready, she twirled the Rod of Discord™ and teleported out of the way again, only to end up right alongside The Devourer of Gods as it rushed by. She was immediately caught in the turbulence and sent tumbling through the air. She was keenly aware of how close to the razor sharp armor she was, but as she fought to regain control, her hoof grazed it. Her whole body began to angle towards it as well, and with no other immediate options, she kicked off The Devourer of Gods.

A sharp pain enveloped her back leg, but Cadance quickly gained distance, entering the open air once again. Beams of light pinpointed on her again, but she kept going, easily avoiding the lasers. A glance back revealed The Devourer of Gods arcing back to the ground, slamming into it and forcing its way underneath.

Cadance took a moment to check her leg, gawking at the fact that it was on fire, with the same pink flames as her dream. The burning sensation engulfed her hoof, and it slowly crawled up her leg. She reached down to touch it, but stopped, that didn’t work before, nothing did, not even water.

Keeping an eye on the ground as she thought, Cadance did her best to ignore the growing pain. What was different this time? What did she have now that could help her?

Her gaze shifted to her sword, and a grim thought entered her mind. She turned the blade towards herself, but quickly shook her head, the flame was still small, that would be a last resort. Instead, she sheathed her sword and channeled her magic, concentrating at her back hoof. There, the magics in her were at odds with the flame, practically boiling as it spread. She quickly noted how slowly it was spreading, much slower than it was in her dream, almost as if the magic was blocking it.

Cadance inhaled sharply, then focused, pushing the magic against the flame. It stopped, then started receding as the magic beat it back. The fire shrank back to her hoof, then just the tip, and with a final shove, it was snuffed out. She didn’t cheer though, she felt the massive amount of magic it had eaten through just to do that, if she didn’t have the tidal wave of energy from the others then she doubted she could do it more than just once.

Looking back again, her jaw dropped. Now that the flames were gone, she could see just how badly hurt she was. Bad was an understatement. Her back hoof was split down the middle, the cut going so deep it almost reached her ankle. Cadance gagged at the sight of visible bone, and a new pain reached her senses, one much more physical and piercing. She grimaced, shuddering as blood poured from the wound, then paused.

The magic was active in her leg once more. The pain subsided, and ever so slightly the wound began to close, the two halves of her hoof coming together and stitching closed. It was disgusting to look at, yet Cadance couldn’t look away.

With a rumble and a boom, the ground exploded outwards beneath her, The Devourer of Gods once again rearing to strike. Cadance’s eyes went wide with panic, and she scrambled to get out of the way, but it was too late. She had lost focus for a moment and it had cost her everything.

She closed her eyes and braced.

A sharp pain lit up her side, most definitely cracking a rib or two. She was jerked to the side as two gigantic mandibles clamped down on her, holding her securely. That was it, no mortal wounds, no inferno of the soul, and distinctly no death. Cadance opened her eyes again and gasped as the sound of thunder reached her ears.

These were not the hungry mandibles of The Devourer of Gods, rather they were the streamlined mandibles of the worm, her worm. It had come to help, shedding its camouflage and flying into the midst of the fight, and now it was carrying her to safety, or what could be considered safety in their current situation.

It had saved her.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She twisted in its grip, pausing as her back popped awkwardly.

She winced, the worm had saved her, partially. It had caught her in its mandibles, which it was currently keeping its inner mouth pieces closed tightly, but it was hard to catch anything softly when travelling at that speed. Still, she was alive, and hopefully she would recover from that injury as well; the pain in her hoof was already dying down to a throb.

The sky turned blue, the other giant worm rising into the sky behind them. The Devourer of Gods’ mandibles clacked, and its laughter echoed out around them.

“There you are…” It said, “Ready to fulfill your purpose? Or do you need to lose another one?”

The worm screeched in response, or at least it tried to, it was shaking so bad the sound came out as a jittery mess. Unintelligible, even for the worm. Cadance twisted in its grip, wincing again as pain flashed in her side. She placed a hoof on its face, just below an eye.

“We can do this. We’ll do it together.”

A shaky set of clicks was all she got, but the worm lessened its grip on her, allowing her to climb onto its head where she usually sat. It took a bit of coaxing, but they eventually started banking back around, taking care to avoid more lasers as they appeared. Together, they faced The Devourer of Gods, ready to continue the fight.

It disappeared.

Fading from view, all that was left was the highlights of its eyes as it moved away from them. A ridiculous amount of lines appeared around them, forming a gigantic grid of lasers. The worm kicked into action, zipping through the gaps with reckless abandon. By the time the bolts were travelling along the pathways, they were nearing the edge.

It wouldn’t be enough, the worm was much too large to fit in the spaces between, and far from dexterous enough to avoid intersecting with multiple paths. The lasers closed in, carving lines through the worm’s flesh, just barely missing Cadance, the extreme heat washing over her as one streaked past her face.

The worm screeched, but they were clear for the moment. Cadance looked back, and her eyes widened. The worm was ablaze with the same pink flame. It spread across its hide, sinking deeper into its wounds, crackling, burning. They started to slow, the worm’s once rapid and panicked actions reducing to just a sway.

Without a second thought, Cadance planted her hooves on the back of the worm’s neck and concentrated. Her magic surged, and she pushed it forward, quickly filling the worm’s body. She felt everything, the deep lungs it used to breathe, the not one but several hearts that gave it life, and the complex digestive tract that not only nourished it, but empowered it. Then she felt the flames burning deeper and deeper into its layers of muscle and flesh. Cadance pushed harder, feeling the ocean of magic within get divided in two from the action, but the flames were once again extinguished.

Sweat pooled in her armor, but she pulled herself together and took in a deep breath. Newly rejuvenated, the worm sped forwards to where The Devourer of Gods was.

The smell of sulfur reached Cadance’s nose. The worm abruptly stopped, nearly causing her to fly off.

Death

They both looked around frantically. Smoke began to gather behind them from the ground, nearby trees steaming and burning as any snow in the immediate area was vaporized. Ahead of them, a dark spot lingered in the air, growing in size as shadowy wings sprouted and crooked metal creaked into view around it. With a single flap, it disconnected from whatever was anchoring it in place while the beginnings of a cloak began to wrap around the mass of smoke.

Faint memories of familiar descriptions entered Cadance’s mind. A pitch black mirror, given life and the ability to control darkness. A spectre, amorphous and full of malice. She glanced down, and the worm. Together they were the sun hunters. The servants of the Devourer.

Darkness seeped from the mirror, diverging into many black spheres, they began to orbit it in odd patterns. The wraith finished forming, a wave of whispers echoing outwards. Beads of light blinked into view, encased in a strange metal; a multitude of lanterns hovered in the air around them.

Cadance bit her lip, and looked ahead. The Devourer of Gods’ eyes remained unmoving, watching from a distance as the two sentinels surrounded them. Looks like they had to be taken care of first.

The worm growled deeply, turning back around to face the spectre, a crack of thunder sounding out in the distance. Cadance exhaled, standing upright and leaping from the worm’s back, her back hoof giving a dull throb. She banked around, facing the other assailant as she charged her horn.

A single moment of silence passed, then everything devolved into chaos. The worm disappeared from beneath her, rushing forward to engage with the wraith. Meanwhile, Cadance started forward, rolling to the side to avoid an incoming ball of dark energy.

She reflexively pulled out her sword to slash, but a sense of familiarity fell over her. She had fought something like this before, and she stopped herself. Physical objects were eaten by those things, and she did not want to get her brand new sword destroyed. Instead, Cadance pulled back, unleashing a beam of energy upon the closest sphere.

It brunted the entire attack, only cracking slightly as it moved towards her. Eyes wide, she flipped backwards and tried again, managing to pop it. Several more enclosed around her, twisting and shifting in unpredictable directions, creating a minefield in the air. Cadance dove, aiming for the largest gap between energies, but the spaces opened and closed rapidly, and even past the initial few, there was no clear safe space.

The center of it all hovered closer to her, jerking the rest of the dark energy to the side. One sphere came dangerously close to her, so she rolled to the side and blew it up with magic. This time she used much more energy, resulting in a bigger blast, one that she was right next to. The dark energy exploded, sending her careening through the air, thankfully out of the way of any other balls, but the void followed after her.

Cadance quickly regained control, orientating herself and looking around. She was still surrounded by energy, and the dark mirror hovered just out of reach, not that she could have done much to it yet anyway. She ducked to dodge an incoming orb, turning and blasting another, she continued with the motion, picking up speed and sending more magic bolts to other orbs. Not all hit, and those that did weren’t enough to shatter, only damage.

Still, progress was being made, and Cadance deftly avoided another dark energy; she could heal cuts and breaks in a matter of minutes, but she was not confident in her ability to recover from what the energy did. Another orb lay in her path, and she moved to the right to avoid it, only for it to follow her movements. Instead, she reared the Rod of Discord™ again, reappearing on the other side of it. She whipped around and blasted it, shattering it.

With the odd orbits of the energy, there was a semblance of a pattern. Groups would both diverge and converge at regular intervals, never in the same location, but always an equal distance from each other. If it wasn’t so dangerous and deadly, Cadance imagined it could be quite the spectacle. She arced a beam across a particularly dense area, breaking a few and damaging many more.

By now, most had been sufficiently damaged that she could shatter them with a single hit. Cadance could spend a few moments attacking the greater whole, then focus down any dark energy that got too close without having to worry about dodging. The skies were beginning to clear, and though they remained teal in color, they became less crowded.

The void suddenly flashed, and all the remaining dark energy shot off into the distance. It then moved over close to Cadance, and she felt the breeze begin to pick up.

It was pulling her in.

She flapped her wings, quickly increasing the distance between them, but the wind dragged her forward, and the distance was already closing. Magic surged from her horn, streaking through the air and striking the void dead center. A distinct impact sound told her that it was vulnerable now, and she kept up the attack, sending blast after blast to slam into the encased darkness. It was only when a black sphere crossed her vision that she let up.

Cadance risked a look backwards, where more dark energy was gathered, much more. The orbs were lined up in patterns, each getting pulled towards the center as well. Several trajectories crossed paths with Cadance, so she moved, weaving her way through the air while struggling to keep her distance from the void.

With all this happening, she struggled to find many openings for attack, but with a few more well placed hits, the void let up. It emitted a shower of sparkles, and all the dark energy coalesced back into it, only to split back out a moment later. The strange orbits began again, only this time the pattern was denser.

There were more of them.

Cadance sucked in a breath, and started moving again. She began to regret not training much in aerial combat, but her wings flapped hard, and the magic within her seemed to correct her movements. Yet it wasn’t perfect, and the movements of the energy certainly didn’t help. At times the orbs would chase after her, and she would shoot forward, only to fly into her path, forcing her to stop. Cadance was pushed and pulled along invisible boundaries as she desperately tried to avoid the dark energy all the while retaliating with her own attacks.

It was agonizingly slow going, especially for a fast paced fight. Cadance would attempt to focus on a singular orb, whittling it down until it broke, but the complex movements prevented her from keeping a lock on it, and it wouldn’t be long before it flew out of her effective range, replaced by two more pristine orbs. Still, the overall damage was mounting, and soon enough the energy started to drop like flies.

Until Cadance was surrounded. Relatively strong dark energy enclosed around her, preventing any easy escape. She slowed, keeping in the center of the encirclement as it oscillated and shifted, the energies flattening around her as the pattern moved. She blasted the closest one, but it remained steady, so she hit it again, and again, and again until it finally cracked and shattered.

With the rapidly dwindling opening in sight, Cadance rushed towards it, flattening out her body. It closed all too soon, and she flared her wings to stop, quickly returning to the safest place in the center. All round her, the dark energy squeezed, the gaps between each sphere becoming too small and too risky to try to slip through. That was when Cadance remembered her other option, and she pulled out the Rod of Discord™ and swung it.

In an instant she was out of the frying pan and into the fire. A storm of dark energy swarmed around her, the dark mirror at the center of it, closing in on her. She ascended initially, rolling to the right to avoid an incoming orb and diving back down as it followed her. A few blasts of magic relinquished it of its existence, and Cadance turned to another orb. This time they came in pairs, circling around her and almost bouncing off each other. She carefully slipped through the gap between them and grabbed them, something that felt incredibly odd.

They pulled at her magic, lapping hungrily at any excess that wasn’t being focused on. She didn’t hold them for long, instead choosing to smash them into each other. An action she would quickly regret. The two dark energies slammed together, and for a moment they occupied the same space. They didn’t quite merge, rather they grew in size and intensity, forming their own miniature vacuum before exploding violently, sending Cadance tumbling through the air once again.

Her vision flashed as she righted herself, and she blinked rapidly to try and clear it. A dark blur entered her sight, and she leaned to the side to avoid it, only to sail directly into another one. She barely had any time to react as she stopped herself, but it wasn’t enough.

Her entire right leg sunk into the energy. Cadance gasped in surprise, which quickly turned into a scream as white hot pain immediately enveloped her arm. She reached over to try and brace herself against the energy but stopped, gravity seemed to flip for a moment, and she used that to wrench her arm free and pull back.

As she suspected, the armor around her hoof was gone, eaten away by the darkness within. Her leg however… was at least still there, albeit partially disintegrated. Patches of fur and skin looked to have been carved away, with deeper holes in the flesh beginning to drip blood. There wasn’t any damage to the tissue, just that parts of it were simply gone, and now the body was reacting to that.

This time Cadance couldn’t stop herself, bile rising in the back of her throat and filling her mouth. She just barely prevented herself from filling her helmet with vomit, and for a split second she debated whether to try and swallow it back down or try and take off her helmet mid battle.

That line of thinking jolted her into action, and she flapped her wings hard to get back up to speed. Dark energy still faced her from all sides, though most if not all of them were damaged. With her mouth still full, Cadance went about clearing the rest of the energy before continuing, the wounds along her leg already closing.

Similar to before, once enough of the energy was destroyed, the void in the center flashed, sending all the remaining orbs flying outwards. Cadance watched where they ended up for a moment, then quickly focused back on the void.

It had moved directly below her, and was beginning to suck her in again. That, compounded with gravity meant that Cadance was rapidly approaching unending darkness, no matter how hard she flapped her wings. She gulped, choking down some vomit and sending a bit through her nose. Wincing, she angled forwards to try and at least get to the side of the void, but it was then that the dark energy returned.

Giant spheres of black plasma shot past her vision, quickly being absorbed back into the void. Cadance didn’t have time to ponder the action, and as she dodged left and right, she failed to move forward. The downward pull tugged at her body, her armor sagged and her hair fell flat, her wings struggled to lift and the heavy breeze certainly didn’t help. She couldn’t even call for help. With her mouth effectively blocked and the worm busy with its own fight, it was do or die.

Looking up, the remaining orbs swirled in the air, waiting to return to their origin, but there were none above her, she was in the clear for the moment. Cadance turned and unleashed a beam of pure magic, leaning heavily into the recoil. The lance of pure energy slammed into the void’s casing, causing a multitude of cracks to form in the glass and the metal to glow orange with heat. It began to sag and deform from the unrelenting attack, and in only a few moments it yielded, puffing out more dust and sparkles.

Cadance only had a moment of respite before things began again. Countless orbs of dark energy filtered from the void, swirling and swaying in a dense pattern. It grew in size, quickly circling around to encapsulate her. She steeled herself, this fight was getting exponentially harder, but the dark mirror looked to be standing on its last legs, and one more large attack would be enough to hopefully defeat it once and for all. Provided she could get through the swarm of energy first. The one that was already closing in around her.

A distant screech reached her ears, and Cadance turned to look back. A fair distance away, the worm was fighting with the other entity, unleashing a variety of attacks, from ice to wind to water to lightning and fire, even going as far as to engage in melee combat. All to little effect, as the spectre twisted and turned unnaturally, disappearing and reappearing around the worm, taking only glancing blows. Though its robe looked more tattered, with smoke pouring out of puncture holes and cuts.

The worm showed much more damage, with many, many cuts lining its body, a steady trickle of purple blood flowing from each one. There was almost a pattern to them: lines trailing along flesh, specifically running between armor plates. It was hard to tell, but none of the cuts looked to be deep, only shallow slashes that most likely caused the worm quite a lot of pain.

It was being toyed with.

Cadance dove out of the way of an incoming orb, managing to gain more distance from the void at the center. Ripping off her helmet, she spit the rest of the puke out and gagged, then she inhaled deeply and whistled a single, low tone. The worm whipped around to look at her, immediately disengaging with the wraith and racing over. With that done, Cadance turned and blasted a few orbs that were getting too close.

A flurry of lightning bolts accented her attack, and several more dark energies were destroyed, signaling the arrival of the worm. It was breathing hard, a slight growl trailing after each breath, electricity crackled between its mandibles, and it had to wrench its view away from their attackers just to look at her.

“Can we switch?” Cadance asked, spitting more of the sour taste out of her mouth. “It seems like you’d do better here and…” She looked at the approaching servants, the void was more or less aimless, while the spectre moved towards them slowly, clearly trying to draw this out. “Whatever, maybe we can try fighting them together.”

The worm gave a single click between its growls, and surged towards the void, a wave of lightning following suit. Several more orbs were destroyed, which left Cadance with a clear view of the wraith as it approached. She hastily refastened her helmet and gathered some distance from the other fight.

The scent of sulfur reached her nose, overpowering the sour smell that now resided in her helmet. Cadance inhaled slowly, drawing her sword. Once they were close enough they began to circle each other slowly. She didn’t dare take her eyes off of the wraith, while it simply stared through her, its six eyes unmoving from within the hood. Its cloak billowed with smoke, bulging out in all the wrong places as something shifted inside. Odd lanterns hung in the air around them, more apparating around them every second.

Cadance didn’t know what it was, what it could do, or what compelled it to be here. But she did know who it was, and more importantly what it had done.

“Payback,” She muttered, angling her sword between them.

She moved first, thrusting forward with a downward slash. The wraith did nothing to avoid the blow, simply letting the sword sink into its cloak. The smallest of tears appeared in the fabric, smoke billowing out as it warped and shifted. Cadance readied another strike, but jumped back as a tentacle shot out of the hole, several more sprouting from other openings. The entire head portion of the cloak was replaced with a writhing mass of tendrils, each one tipped with jagged blades. A crooked mouth appeared within the lower folds, just below the crescent clasp.

Cadance watched in shock at the transformation, but readied herself all the same. Not a moment later the tentacles twirled and whipped, launching curved blades in her direction. She dropped, letting the projectiles pass over without much issue, only for another wave to come after her. Cadance flapped her wings, banking over to the side and rotating around the spectre. It hardly tracked her movements, more in favor of just filling the air with spinning blades.

As she dodged and weaved, the lanterns around them shifted. Those that were closer to her began to drift towards her, gaining speed until they were trailing behind her every move. The flickering flames inside remained unaffected by the high speeds, and as the distance between them closed, Cadance turned and brought her sword down upon the closed one. Her blade cleaved through the metal, causing the whole thing to snap in half, the flame inside immediately going out. The two halves then dropped, falling through the air before simply fading away.

The lanterns were certainly easier to take care of than the dark energy, but Cadance still didn’t tempt letting them touch her. It was then that a spinning blade shot past her vision, followed by several more. She immediately dove, feeling the edge of one clip her tail.

Death

With a shudder, Cadance looked around frantically, the attack had come from the complete opposite direction of the spectre, and looking over revealed more waiting to intercept her. Or rather, return, as several blades were still flying away, only for them to arc back and reorient themselves with her path again. An interesting attack, one that Cadance was quick to exploit, she immediately doubled back around, making sure to place herself between the blades and the spectre. Just as before, they came in waves, some more easily avoided than others, but eventually she was in the clear, with multiple blades flying straight towards the spectre instead.

Much to her disappointment, they were easily caught by its tentacles, which quickly retracted back into the cloak. Six purple eyes glared at her from beneath the hood, and the spectre disappeared. Cadance didn’t have time to wonder where it went, as several more lanterns were closing in on her.

She flipped around, smashing the first with her sword and dodging the second. The third met the bite of her blade, with the fourth following suit not long after. As the second reared around for another go, Cadance turned and blasted it, destroying it. Not a moment later did the wraith apparate above her, two glowing rings of energy separating from it. They each approached, the rings following her much more aggressively than the lanterns.

Cadance dove, quickly gaining distance as she slung her own bolts back. Those that impacted the rings didn’t do much, just causing them to swell in size as they tailed her. The bolts that hit the spectre however hit hard, creating large dents in its cloak and causing it to hesitate a little. Then it disappeared again, reappearing off to the side ahead of Cadance. Two more rings diverged from the residual energy.

Turning, Cadance began picking up speed as the rings followed her relentlessly. The first two had grown large enough for her to fit through the hole in the center, not that she would try to, as they collapsed in on themselves, exploding a moment later. In the wake of the smoke and sparkles, the other two rings approached rapidly, trailed by a few more lanterns, and with another teleport from the wraith, two more rings.

On a straight path, the rings gained speed much faster than Cadance did, so she rolled to the side, continuing into the turn while doing her best to keep the mines off her tail. Two were already increasing in size, bumping into each other at regular intervals. That did nothing to diminish their speed, but it certainly helped her avoid them when she turned.

Two more explosions, which left only two more rings, plus a number of lanterns. Instead, Cadance turned her attention back towards the wraith, pummeling it with bolt after bolt of magic. As fun as it was to watch the fabric of its cloak bulge and deform, Cadance knew it wasn’t her that was causing it. The spectre’s eyes warbled, and its hood warped and opened, a gaping maw taking its place.

With newfound speed, it charged towards Cadance. She barely had enough time to adjust her course as the last rings exploded, glowing teeth snapping at where she once was. She flew through the smoke, bringing her sword around and releasing a few slashes upon the back of the wraith’s cloak. It was upon her in an instant, whipping around and gnashing its teeth at her. Cadance just barely managed to avoid it clamping down on her wing, then her leg, even her whole head as it pushed forward ferociously.

With such an offense, it was hard to find any opportunities to strike, but Cadance managed to find purchase along its mouth, or catch the edges of its cloak every now and then. She continued to back up, focusing entirely on what was happening in front of her. More of the strange lanterns began to enter the sides of her view, but went ignored as Cadance defended herself. It was only when some drifted glaringly close that she decided to break away.

The wraith lunged forward, but Cadance was ready for it, she dove to the left and retaliated with another slash, opening up a larger hole in the fabric. Then she noticed the mass of lanterns behind her, each one picking up speed as they drew closer. With a deep breath, she pulled her sword close and readied herself.

The first lantern entered her range, and she cut it in two. The next two were taken in one fell swoop, but before the fourth could arrive, the spectre took its place. Cadance brought her sabre up and deflected the bite, the blade grinding against the needle-like teeth. The spectre surged past her, allowing her a moment to destroy a few more lanterns before turning to face it again. It lunged once more, but Cadance kept her sword between them, using it as a barrier.

A few more pokes and stabs, and the wraith pulled away, its maw receding back into the hood, teeth returning to eyes. Cadance rushed forward to slash it again, but before she could even complete the swing the wraith was gone.

It appeared above her, more rings of energy forming around it. They quickly gave chase, and Cadance was on the move again, alternating between attacking the spectre wherever it appeared, avoiding the incoming mines, and clearing out the lanterns that permeated the air.

Explosions littered the area around them, with minor pops and crackles coming from the destroyed lantern’s dying flames. It didn’t take long for the wraith to shift again, its grotesque mouth pushing out of the hood once more. Before Cadance could even dodge out of the way, a line of lanterns entered her vision, much closer than she would have expected. Like every other time, the first one fell easily, but with the wraith rapidly approaching from behind, Cadance decided to take her chances with the lanterns.

She pushed through a small gap in the center of the formation, only for one to slam into her side.

With all the mystical and otherworldly happenings as of late, it was a bit jarring to just be bludgeoned like that. That certainly didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, as the lantern had an ethereal weight to it, and it most definitely cracked a few bones. Pain lit up her entire left side, and Cadance was knocked out of the air. She desperately tried to right herself, but her left shoulder refused to move with her wings as she tumbled.

It took a bit of coaxing, but she was eventually able to even herself out, wincing at the newfound strain. She brought her left leg up to her chest, several parts of her shoulder popping and grinding as the joint moved. Looking back, the wraith was still after her, keeping pace with her every move, nipping at her heels.

They neared the ground, and Cadance sheathed her sword, instead bringing out the Rod of Discord™. With a single wave, her vision flickered, and she was behind the wraith as it bit down right where she once was. Flaring her wings, she slowed down enough to hover, then back up as the spectre turned to face her again.

Her horn flashed, and a nearby tree was ripped out of the ground, a spray of dirt and snow following in its wake. In a single movement, it was brought between them as the wraith lunged forwards. It clamped down hard on the trunk, easily biting through it. The log that was left in its mouth burst into pink flame, turning the once brown bark into a dull grey. With another flex of its jaw, the log crumbled to dust, and the wraith pressed onwards.

Cadance was ready for it, unleashing a flurry of blows upon its head with her sword, carving away chunks and patches of cloth all the while blasting it with the occasional bolt of magic. A single tooth came loose, which quickly dissipated into smoke. The wraith growled, and its mouth disappeared back under its now tattered hood, a mess of tentacles taking its place. Cadance continued backward, slashing through another lantern as she gained distance, a hail of blades following in her wake.

Ducking down, she soared just above the ground, watching as the curved blades embedded into the snow, only to wiggle a bit, then launch back towards her with fervor. Then they curved away, carried by the wind as it began to pick up. Cadance’s mane flew into her view, and the smoke billowing from the wraith began to flow in a single direction.

They both looked up, watching as countless orbs of darkness were absorbed by the dark void. The worm was among them, expertly dodging each one while not only keeping its distance, but gaining it as well, even as the wind near Cadance turned violent.

A scythe sank into her flank, causing her to gasp out.

Death

She couldn’t focus on her injury right now however, as the pull of the void was ever present, and ever increasing. By now the snow on the ground was being picked up, with the first layer of topsoil following soon after. Twigs and branches were lifted into the air, with the stray forest critter being taken along with them. Cadance flapped her wings hard, managing to stay stationary in the air. At the very least she didn’t have to dodge incoming orbs.

The wraith, although it was glaring at her, was too busy with its own escape to try and attack her. More and more smoke appeared to be pulled out of it, funneling all the way to the void. It shifted several times, alternating between a mix of flying away and teleporting, the lanterns that appeared around it simply being pulled away.

The suction grew stronger, and Cadance looked back as she started losing ground. Two cones had formed above and below the void, one made of snow, dirt, and other particles from the ground, the other from the storm clouds above. They crackled with electricity, surging every single volt downwards. Even from a distance, Cadance could tell the void was barely holding together. The metal casing around it shuddered, threatening to give way and collapse, a spiderweb of cracks interrupted the perfect dark in the center, and its wings of shadow flickered as they flapped, barely holding the thing aloft.

There was never a point where Cadance felt tired, the massive amount of energy within her keeping her active, yet she just wasn’t fast enough to escape the void’s pull. Soon enough she was being pulled back faster than she could flap, and even with a few cautionary swings of the Rod of Discord™, there was no progress being made. Trees began to bend and sway in the wind, with some being uprooted entirely, all approaching the unstable black hole in the sky. Even the worm appeared to be struggling, where once it excelled in flying away, it was now only holding its ground, and looked to be struggling just to do so.

After nearly a minute of this, Cadance felt the blade in her flesh slip out, flying towards unknown oblivion. Blood was leached from the wound, flowing in a thin stream along with lines of smoke from the wraith, and more blood from the worm. The pull grew stronger ever still, steadily increasing as time went on. The wind threatened to knock Cadance off balance, push her back, send her tumbling through the air. Through pain and strain she held steady, even as she was pulled further and further back. The last time this happened, the effect had lasted under a minute, now they were reaching for two.

They wouldn’t last much longer.

Cadance turned to face it, immediately getting pulled closer as she adjusted her wings. Charging her horn, she fired another beam straight towards the center, only for it to simply reflect off. The glass then shattered, and the metal casing collapsed in on itself. It exploded, creating a giant cloud of dust before a flash of light carved out a large sphere in the center of it. Then it was just gone, the suction immediately stopped, and the air flow normalized, pulling the dust back inwards in swirls and curves. The storm clouds rose back into the sky, while a gigantic pile of dust and snow began to settle on the now exposed bedrock below.

Cadance landed hard on the barren ground, a flash of pain lighting up her shoulder, which quickly magnified as it popped back into place. Bones clicked together like pieces of a puzzle, and she suppressed a gag as she looked around. The entire forest around her had been picked clean of anything loose. The trees that remained in the ground had their branches pulled upwards, and there was a distinct lack of snow anywhere nearby.

Looking ahead, she noticed the hill where the others resided, which thankfully still had some snow on it, though one of the trees had tipped over. The faintest flash of blue and purple was visible on the embankment, and there was movement of white among the snow. Cadance sighed in relief, and took off again to begin flying over.

A tentacle wrapped around her lag, slamming her back down to the ground. She yelled out, rolling across the dirt and facing up. The wraith hovered above her, several bladed tentacles pointed down at her, ready to strike. A crooked smile flashed within the lower folds of the cloak, and several more snaked around to hold her arms and legs.

Cadance flashed her horn to attack, but the spectre was quicker. It brought a single tendril down to the base of her neck, the blade pressing into her armor. It then tilted it, dragging the tip of it down across her chest, easily ripping through the rubber but getting caught on the crystal plates. Still it continued, tearing a hole in the armor and digging into her skin. Blood began to pour from the wound, and Cadance grunted and struggled, desperately trying to find a way out.

She gripped the Rod of Discord™ in her magic, but before she could swing it the blade pushed deeper, hitting one of her ribs. She let out a muffled cry, doing her best not to inhale in the slightest. The tentacle twisted, lining up the blade with her other ribs, ready to push deeper at a moment’s notice.

Whispering laughs echoed out.

Death

Death…

Slowly, ever so slowly, the blade lowered. Cadance could feel it gradually cutting through her flesh, spreading her ribs apart, and coming dangerously close to her lung, which lay just in front of her heart.

A screech came from off to the side, followed by the crack of thunder. The tentacle jolted to the side, knocking into her sternum. Cadance rolled with it, using it as leverage to force the blade out of her body. Not even a moment later the worm slammed into the side of the wraith, knocking it away from her and carrying it back into the sky.

Cadance finally breathed, clutching her chest as pain lit up her ribs with each inhale and exhale. The wound was already healing, but it would still take some time, a steady stream of blood pouring from the hole in her chest. She began to feel light-headed, but couldn’t tell if it was from blood loss, over exertion, or just the near-death experience she just had. Either way she slowly stood, several parts of her armor dangling uselessly from her body.

Looked up, the worm continued to thrash the wraith around, pounding it with bolt after bolt of lightning. It, in turn, repeatedly stabbed around the worm’s neck and head with its tentacles, puncturing its armor and digging deep into its flesh. Cadance stumbled forward and flared her wings, but then the wraith teleported, disappearing out of the worm’s grasp and reappearing behind it. The two mines that came with it flying towards the worm and exploding along its tail.

Another screech, and the worm turned around to strike, but it was already gone. By the time Cadance got her bearings it was above her, and she immediately took off, just barely missing the incoming rings of energy. She flew over to the worm, listening for the sound of two explosions before turning around as well.

Together they faced the spectre, while it just stared at them, unmoving. They were all hurt, the worm had all of its cuts from earlier, which looked to have barely scabbed over, along with a few patches of holed flesh and the multitude of new stabs. Cadance was looking the best out of all of them, with her most recent injury already clotted and closing, leaving just a streak of bare skin along her chest. Internally however, her magic reserves were dwindling, and even though some had recharged throughout the fight, any more drastic actions would leave her spent.

The wraith… was difficult to tell. Its cloak was lined with tatters, with a couple of larger holes opened up along its sides. Smoke poured from each one, filling the air with the scent of sulfur, but it was hard to tell if it was actually injured. The only giveaway being that its eyes were now slightly askew.

During this time, Cadance noticed one thing. The hill was behind the wraith, and well within the combat zone, especially if the fighting continued the way it was. She only glanced at it for a moment, but that was enough. The wraith followed her vision, its own eyes landing on the hill behind it.

Then it was gone, reappearing just above it.

“NO!” Cadance screamed, and she rushed forward,

The worm immediately outpaced her, but with a flash of chaotic magic, she was closer. They both raced through the air, aiming directly at the spectre. It took less than a second to close the distance, but in that time the spectre was already reaching for one of the others. Cadance charged forwards, drawing her sword and slicing straight through the offending tendril. It dropped, fizzling into smoke a moment later.

She then turned and thrusted her sword straight into the depths of the cloak. It pushed back like rubber, but she pierced something, so she turned the blade up and pushed, snagging the clasp and breaking it.

The cloak fell open, and Cadance had the foresight to avert her gaze. An unholy shriek filled the air, a mass of writhing tentacles lingering on the edge of her vision. The scent of sulfur became overpowering, and harsh whispers echoed around them.

“You will die!” The wraith roared, “And I will relish in erasing every last memory of you!”

With a final exhale, smoke flooded the area, and what remained of the cloak fell limp, drifting down in the slight breeze. The others stepped away as it settled on the ground, fizzling and burning away. Twilight just kicked some snow onto it, watching as it melted and boiled.

“That was…” Princess Luna began, “Quite the spectacle.”

“It’s not over yet.” Cadance said, “Speaking of…”

The sky turned purple, a massive form reappearing on the horizon.

“Gotta go, stay safe!” She finished,

“The same goes for you,” Princess Celestia called after her, but she was already gone.

They all watched as Cadance and the worm rushed towards its master. Though they initially travelled together; Cadance riding on top of the worm, they quickly split as they drew near. It didn’t take long for flashes of light to fill the air, beams, bolts, lasers, fire, and lightning clearly illuminated the battle as it raged in the distance, even as more storm clouds gathered overhead.

“This is hard to watch.” Twilight said,

“You do not have to do so.” Princess Luna stated,

“I-” Twilight fell silent.

With a sigh, Princess Luna tore her gaze away from the ongoing fight. “I will admit this is stressful. Never in my life have I ever seen a foe such as this, and to watch Cadance, our one hope against it, struggle this hard is difficult.”

Twilight looked at her with a worried expression,

“But we have to have faith in her. I doubt the damage we saw on her armor was just superficial, I am at least glad our magic allows her to survive such mortal wounds.”

“It is not enough…” Princess Celestia muttered, not taking her eyes off the distant fight, “It never was.”

Princess Luna frowned at her, “They have gotten this far, have they not? And I know Cadance is not one to give up so easily.”

“This far.” Princess Celestia repeated, she gave a weak snort. “This whole thing has been a test. That… thing has been testing them, and they have only made it this far. They will not make it much further.” She hung her head, “We should have given them more.”

“Sister,” Princess Luna began, “We have given everything we realistically could have. Sure we could have used all the magic in Equestria, but in the time we had there would have been no way to acquire it all, and it would have taken more than one hundred unicorns just to make a difference. There is nothing else to give.”

Princess Celestia inhaled deeply, “That is where you are wrong, sister.”

She opened her eyes, bright, yellow flame bursting out of them. Her mane began to move again, gathering energy before it too burst into flames. Nearby snow began to melt, and a great deal of light began to emanate from her. Twilight stood in awe, while Princess Luna quickly stepped in front of her sister.

“Sister?” She began, “What are you doing?”

“In order to prevail we must be willing to sacrifice everything.”

“Please tell me you are not- Please think about what you are doing!”

“I have, Luna.”

“But this is dangerous, there is no telling what could happen if things go wrong!”

“And the alternative?!” Princess Celestia shot back,

Princess Luna shrank a bit, but held her ground, “Please think about yourself, sister, think about what this could do to you.”

“You said it yourself, there is no room for selfishness.”

With that, foreign magic enveloped Princess Celestia, and a bright flash of light shot out of her horn. The others covered their eyes, watching as the trees on the hill started to shift and bow. Trunks raised, roots pulling from the ground, stones and rocks brought up with them. Another flash of light, and all the pine needles fizzled away, leaving just blazing wood. Each tree split, the wood curving down and weaving itself through the unearthed stone. Bright veins of energy bulged out of the bark, seeping into the rock and turning it a light brown.

Three forms ignited with the same bright, yellow flame, and they wrenched themselves from the ground, raising up into the air. Iridescent crystals grew out of the first, the most prominent setting itself in the center. The second assembled a bulwark of solar stone, protecting from all but the most piercing attacks. Finally, the third spouted a deadly spike, dripping with energy.

Princess Luna and Twilight took several steps back as they began to radiate an intense heat. Princess Celestia just stood in the center of it as they began to circle her. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, her blazing mane flickering ever so slightly.

“Go,” She said, her voice carrying a new weight, “Extinguish the invader and protect our champion.”

And they were off, leaving a trail of melted snow in their wake.

“What…” Twilight began, “Was that?!”

“Guardians.” Princess Celestia breathed, roots of her own snaking up her legs, carrying small rocks and pieces of stone.

“They come from another world,” Princess Luna added, “And are incredibly dangerous.”

“But that’s good, right? They’ll help in the fight?”

“For now…” Princess Celestia grunted, her previous peytral snapping off as the beginnings of a new one formed underneath.

“The cons heavily outweigh the pros. They are not hers to control, and should they find that out...”

“They will not.” Princess Celestia interrupted, “There is only one thing that cannot find out about this, and they get closer to doing so every second this flame burns.”

The roots finished around her neck, spreading to other parts of her body. Another iridescent crystal formed at the center, it shined brightly.

“Oh,” Twilight said, “So they need to hurry it along?”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Cadance heaved, dragging another beam of energy across The Devourer of Gods’ body. An array of lightning bolts followed in her wake, leaving faint scorch marks in the metal. The magic within her was reaching its limit, threatening to give out with every attack. Yet she continued, for without it, she didn’t have a way to deal damage effectively.

The Devourer of Gods was tough, but with their combined attacks it was beginning to look a bit battered and beaten. It fought back relentlessly, filling the air with lasers and charging at whoever was closest. Between the two of them, it seemed to focus on Cadance the most.

That was until three more combatants entered the fray, immediately attacking the larger worm. They held a tight formation, the one with crystals and the one with thicker armor circled the third, each letting loose their own sets of attacks in order. As the blaze of flares and fires impacted along The Devourer of Gods, it let out a deep roar.

“So the light of Providence reaches here too? No matter, you will all fall before me.”

The sky turned black, shrouding the area in darkness. Only the periodic flashes of lightning and the bright glow from the guardians provided any light. Amidst them, the highlights of The Devourer of Gods surged downwards, disappearing beneath the earth a moment later. That gave Cadance time to regroup with the worm, and more importantly figure out just what their new allies were, if they could even be considered as such.

The three of them stood unwavering in the storm, great bouts of steam rising from the flames as countless raindrops vaporized around them. In the center of the formation, surrounded by a shield of fire, was an odd figure made of brown stone. Pulsing roots interlaced its body, and it was ablaze with yellow flame, a ball of light acted as a head, with a circle in the center serving as an eye. A spike jutted from its chest, and it watched the ground intently for any movement in the dark.

The others retained similar forms, with another flaming shield encapsulating the more armored of the three. A field of brownish rocks orbited it as it stuck close to the first, protecting them both. The only one without any form of protection was the one with crystals, as it hovered out in the open, though it still remained on the edge of the others.

The worm growled deeply when it saw them, and the rainfall began to increase considerably.

“You know them?” Cadance asked, “Are they good or bad?”

Before it could answer, the crystalline one turned to look at them. Though its wings of fire beat smoothly, the rest of its movements were almost robotic. The large crystal centered in its chest shined brightly, and two great streams of light shot towards them. Cadance reacted, and so did the worm, she dove to the side as it screeched, but the light followed their every move, moving much faster than they could.

It struck Cadance in the chest, and the worm atop its head. A great wave of heat washed over her, as if she had just stepped outside on a hot day, but after it subsided she felt… fine, good even. The dull aches and pains that remained from her injuries disappeared, and the wound on her chest finished healing in an instant, smoothing over as if it was never there at all. Looking towards the worm, a similar reaction took place, cuts thinned, stabs shallowed, and patches filled out. There was too much damage to mend all of it, but the worm was in significantly better standing than it once was.

It gave a puzzled click mixed with a growl.

“They’re here to help,” Cadance realized,

Lines traced the sky, congregating more around the guardians. Cadance welcomed the respite, watching as their formation tightened, when the lasers came, the orbiting rocks moved to intercept most, and those that broke through were simply absorbed by the shields. The crystal guardian remained undefended however, and it was hit hard; cracks beginning to line its body. Pink flames washed over its form, but with a flash of light they were repelled, the yellow fire beneath flickering slightly.

Cadance wasn’t an expert on tactics, but leaving your support vulnerable like that seemed… easily exploitable. There wasn’t time to discuss the issue however, as The Devourer of Gods burst from the ground once more, rocketing upwards to meet them. Cadance took her seat atop the worm, and together they moved, racing into the storm with The Devourer of Gods right behind them, the guardians following suit a moment later.

Clouds enveloped their vision, a dark fog that reduced it to only a few meters in every direction. Lightning flashed in the distance, periodically giving depth and contrast in the storm, but it was never enough to see clearly. Rain pattered against Cadance’s armor, quickly seeping into any cuts and openings that were made. Her goggles at least kept her eyes clear, and she peered around rapidly to try and get a bearing. The worm just sped ahead, twisting and turning at random intervals, yet never completely doubling back.

Cadance soon saw why.

Through the thick precipitation of the storm, four glowing eyes followed their every move, hovering just on the edge of their vision. They never gained nor fell back, preferring to simply keep pace with them. Turning slightly, Cadance prepared herself, now that she wasn’t healing from an injury, wasn’t expelling any fire, or wasn’t attacking whenever she could, the magic within her was surging, refilling much faster than it was before.

She focused, feeling the air crackle around her as her own arcs of electricity danced around. As soon as she felt it finish, she fired, unleashing a torrent of magic backwards. The pure, uninterrupted beam collided with the face in the storm, and as the worm ducked and weaved, Cadance fought to keep it centered.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds of continuous fire, and a roar echoed throughout the storm. The eyes turned away, but Cadance kept up the attack until they were well out of view. Once she stopped, she reeled, breathing heavily as the heat from her horn threatened to melt the rubber atop her head. It didn’t take long for more lasers to intersect their path, but they were easily outpaced as the worm refused to slow down.

It banked around the storm, eyes wide and observant. Cadance did much of the same, but even after several seconds, things remained eerily quiet even as the storm raged on. The worm suddenly jerked to the left, and Cadance tumbled to the side, barely keeping her grip. Not a moment later The Devourer of Gods shot through the clouds, an inferno of flame trailing behind. A golden glow began to shine through the storm, and a beam of light pierced the darkness, arcing across the now visible shadow above them.

Another roar sounded out, and as the light faded The Devourer of Gods’ shadow turned around and charged back down. The worm tilted up in response, steering clear of the attack as it continued away from them.

The distinct sound of something shattering met their ears.

“Do you know where it is?!” Cadance asked, shouting over the storm,

The worm gave a series of clicks, its eyes focused on something else entirely.

“Show me!”

It grunted, and several flashes of lightning shined through the clouds, illuminating a distant figure. Cadance squinted, the brief line of sight quickly obscured again.

“Let’s go!”

The worm clicked worriedly, but still began heading in the general direction. Sparkles lingered in the air as they traveled, beads of yellow light, faint embers in the wind that refused to die out in the pressing rain. Cadance looked at them solemnly, one of the guardians had fallen, and she had a pretty good guess as to which one.

Another flash of lightning lit up the storm, and The Devourer of Gods’ shadow was closer, along with two other figures. Stray attacks began to pierce through the clouds, the blue lasers from The Devourer of Gods, then floating boulders and sourceless fire from the rest of the guardians. When Cadance and the worm entered the battlefield, all the attacks shifted around them. Flames shied away, while the rocks would temporarily circle them during their orbits. On the other end, countless lines traced themselves to their position, the lasers following not long after.

Cadance jumped from atop the worm, coiling around a laser and sending a few blasts of her own at The Devourer of Gods. The worm disengaged, flanking off to the side as several lightning bolts struck out of the storm. The armored guardian flashed, chunks of rock freezing in place around it, they began to spin, picking up speed as they were sent careening upwards, dozens of flames following in their wake.

The Devourer of Gods simply charged through them, absorbing the impacts without a second thought. It struck the armored guardian dead center, completely obliterating it and continuing straight towards Cadance as she flew. Eyes wide, she flapped her wings, jumping back just in time for a near miss. The Devourer of Gods then turned around, ready to snap back at her. She pulled out the Rod of Discord™ and swung it, reappearing higher in the air. Another miss, but Cadance didn’t have enough time to react as The Devourer of Gods doubled back again.

Rolling to the side, she drew her sword, ready to plunge it into the slower moving segments below. Another violent clash, her blade met the damaged metal, and actually managed to bend it out of shape and scratch mechanisms below.

“Ha!” Was all Cadance said before she was on the move again.

The Devourer of Gods was quickly closing in, its turns becoming tighter and its movement becoming smarter. Cadance flipped through the air, struggling to gain any distance, and sometimes coming within inches of the giant worm’s awaiting maw. She used her blade to deflect glancing blows, once again using it as a barrier between her and her attacker, yet she continued to dodge. Her sword was made from the remnants of a nigh impenetrable armor, yet somehow she doubted it would survive a direct attack.

More lasers pinpointed on her position, and she didn’t have time to look for a suitable opening. The Devourer of Gods pressed her harder, and she tried desperately to move in the direction that looked the least dense. A wave of heat washed over her, and for a moment Cadance thought she was in the clear, until a laser pierced her wing, immediately disintegrating her feathers and setting her entire right side ablaze.

She yelled out, and simply dropped, The Devourer of Gods readily following behind.

A sinister laugh filled the air, though Cadance could only catch glimpses as she flailed. Every turn in the air showed giant mandibles getting closer, closer to killing her, closer to winning the fight. Cadance controlled her breathing, stabilizing herself with her legs. She could ignore the burning pain along her side if it meant not dying, so she turned to face The Devourer of Gods, enveloped herself in a shield, and unleashed every last bit of her magic

A delightfully colorful explosion lit up the storm, visible from even the Crystal Empire. Water was vaporized, clouds were parted, and nearby allies were most definitely caught as collateral, but the center of the blast was the most powerful, and only two beings were close to that point.

Cadance fell through the air, her vision quickly fading to black. She barely registered landing hard on something smooth, only to immediately slip off a moment later. Air rushed past her ears once more, she could feel it, yet she couldn’t hear it, only a high pitched whining that never changed tone. Something solid caught her again, coiling around her for a more secure hold.

It was damp, slick even, but undoubtedly warm. Cadance found herself snuggling up to it, even as several protrusions got in her way. They began to move, slowly at first, but picking up speed with every second, resulting in a nice rocking motion. Cadance smiled, relishing in the extreme comfort that she was feeling.

A new feeling began to rise up in her. The trickle of magic, completely familiar, yet unfamiliar with just how much there was. It pulsed throughout her body, congregating along her right side, and the top of her head. Like a heartbeat, it made her feel like she was holding her breath, yet she was breathing just fine, even through her helmet.

Helmet…

Why was she wearing a helmet? Cadance blinked, crossing her eyes, though still blurry, she became keenly aware of the light blue goggles that encapsulated her eyes.

That wasn’t normal. Something was wrong.

Her breathing quickened, and she blinked more to clear her vision. Barely illuminated clouds passed by overhead, and she frowned. Sitting up into a better position, Cadance looked around. She was wrapped up in one of the worm’s coils, shifting from side to side as it flew away awkwardly. A look backwards revealed a storm cleaved in two, another giant worm flying high in the darkened sky, and a glowing figure trailing behind it.

“Oh…” Cadance mumbled, “Oh.” She said, “Oh!” She realized,

She grabbed her head and shook it, only to stop and watch as ash dropped into view. Looking up, there was nothing where there should have been, and reaching up to feel, something crumbled at her touch. A flash of pain pierced her skull, and she groaned, pulling her hoof down to look. A black streak was smeared across it.

She definitely burnt herself out with that last attack.

Planting her hooves on the worm, she twisted to check her side. It was no longer on fire, but a huge patch of seared flesh awaited her, travelling from her midsection to the base of her wing. Speaking of, her wing was almost completely bare, with only a few shafts left, with more poking through every second.

Cadance blinked, watching as the tips of pink feathers pushed out of the fully formed shafts. They were regrowing, already, and rapidly. She had a much harder time looking away from the process, it was completely different from the previous injuries she had healed, and not to mention incredibly itchy.

Surely the same must be happening to her horn?

Looking up, Cadance was given no indication besides another dusting of ash.

The worm twisted, barely managing to avoid an array of lasers. Cadance clutched the coils as they shifted, and leaned forward when things evened out.

“Hey!” She called out, pausing as her own voice failed to reach her ears.

She was deaf. At least for the moment.

Still, her voice was heard, and the worm slowed a bit, allowing her to climb into her usual spot. Checking her armor, Cadance noted an empty scabbard, and a damaged Rod of Discord™: the entire lower handle being burnt away, leaving it to dangle oddly at her side. She quickly grabbed it, clutching it close so it wouldn’t fall.

Another look back revealed The Devourer of Gods was closer, though as the worm began to pick up speed again they matched its pace. Behind it, the remaining guardian followed relentlessly, sending blazing spears after it, only a few impacting its tail.

The Devourer of Gods though, was fine. After a point-blank explosion to the face, Cadance was disappointed to find it was only partially damaged, and very much still alive. At the very least its mouth was hurt, with only bare pincers remaining, and very real blood dripping from its mandibles.

At least she hoped it was its blood.

It was the same color as the worm’s blood, and it looked to be doing just fine. Cadance was out of commission though, and only time would tell if she could return to the fight. By now her secondary feathers had finished forming, and her primaries were quickly nearing completion. At least she could act as a distraction so the others could keep up their attacks.

Tapping the side of the worm, Cadance leaned down again, “C’mon, let’s finish this.”

She could only imagine its reply, and it slowly turned back around, the beginnings of an electric charge gathering around its mandibles. Cadance only felt it in one leg, and was glad to know her armor would have worked if it wasn’t so damaged.

Once again they faced The Devourer of Gods, and this time it didn’t disappear. Both sides began picking up speed, weaving through the air on a collision course with each other. The worm was fast, but The Devourer of Gods was faster, and they were looking to meet much sooner than Cadance would’ve liked. The wind shifted, quickly turning from a speedy breeze to all out turbulent, and it didn’t take long for a multitude of tornadoes to form.

Cadance struggled to keep her grip in the high winds, but watched as several tornadoes pressed up against The Devourer of Gods, the razor air grinding against its armor. But that was all it did, grind against its armor, it didn’t stop it, or even slow it down, and it certainly didn’t damage it in any meaningful way.

With a screech, the worm flipped, throwing Cadance off of it. She barely had time to extend her newly formed wing as the two worm’s collided mid air. Their jaws locked for a second, then they fell apart as the worm crumpled from the force. It was as if it had collided with an immovable object, though to its credit, The Devourer of Gods did slow down and veer off course.

“No!” Cadance cried out,

The worm fell limp, but The Devourer of Gods held strong, clamping down around its head and dragging it through the air, beginning to thrash a moment later. Cadance could only watch, tears forming around her eyes as she clutched the broken Rod of Discord™.

The air around her began to heat up, and a quick look back revealed the last guardian ready to give chase.

“Help him! Please!”

It gave no response, other than continuing its pursuit of The Devourer of Gods, which was now jerking the worm from side to side as if to tear it apart. It didn’t get far with its damaged pincers, but the motions seemed to breathe new life into the worm. It stiffened, then coiled, pushing back from The Devourer of Gods’ iron grip.

The two worms struggled with each other, which quickly devolved in them twirling around each other. It was a very one sided fight, The Devourer of Gods was longer, it was bigger, it was stronger, and its cosmic armor certainly didn’t help. It quickly began to overpower the worm, more and more of its flesh catching fire with pink flame. It screeched and thrashed, getting cut repeatedly with blades and jagged edges.

Then it erupted into purple flame, whisking away the pink and redoubling its efforts. In a matter of moments, the size issue was resolved, but strength was another thing. For every inch the worm pushed, The Devourer of Gods pushed back harder, squeezing, constricting, threatening to shred the worm to pieces.

Maybe it wasn’t a threat.

By now the guardian was in range, and it quickly unleashed a barrage of attacks. The holy spears impacted across the two worms, and their tightly woven fight loosened, allowing the worm to pull away. Electricity arced between its mandibles, sparks jumping up from the flames of its body. With a single motion, it breathed lightning at The Devourer of Gods. The fire came not long after, mixing with the charge and creating a low buzzing sound as the superheated plasma seared into it.

The Devourer of Gods roared, twisting in the air as patches of its metallic skin came away glowing white hot, the mechanisms underneath sagging and deforming with any movement. Yet still, it pulled away, retreating from the attack and retaliating with its own. Lasers filled the air, every single one aimed at the worm. It didn’t have time to get away, instead choosing to take it head on.

Countless bolts impacted the worm, striking its head, body, and tail. It screeched loudly, but kept itself ablaze, its own flames repelling the pink ones. It then shrank back to its normal size, a tidal wave of blood dripping from the fire.

“Don’t get cocky!”

Cadance’s eyes widened, her hearing was returning. They widened further when The Devourer of Gods turned to her, rocketing towards her position a moment later. She gasped, flaring her wings and flapping backwards.

Bright purple light entered her peripherals, and the next instant the world around her changed. Gone was the darkened sky, gone was the destroyed storm, gone was the worm, the guardians, and The Devourer of Gods. All that surrounded Cadance now was an endless expanse of purple mist.

The Devourer of Gods disappeared through the portal, quickly followed by the worm, and then it was gone. Light then returned to the work as the darkness faded from the sky.

“They’re gone!” Twilight exclaimed, “What happened?!”

“They entered a portal,” Princess Luna deduced, squinting at the distant battlefield, “One of that ‘Devourer of Gods’ own creation I believe.”

“That is not good,” Princess Celestia added, she scratched idly at her newly made stone gauntlets, “Wherever they end up, it is sure to be at their disadvantage.”

Cadance flailed, quickly getting used to the lack of gravity. She righted herself, completely upside-down from when she first arrived. Looking around, she was greeted with purple, purple, and more purple.

Off in the distance a pink orb floated through the mist, the once faint vortex inside glowing brightly. Cadance gasped, and began awkwardly swimming over to it. She scooped up what remained of the Rod of Discord™ and tucked it under her shoulder. Once that was done, she looked around again, only to find a whole lot of nothing else.

She whistled, the single note piercing the mist and echoing back to her. It didn’t take long for her to get a response. A screech came from the distance, and Cadance squinted in its direction, watching as a faint figure slithered through the void towards her.

Relief flooded her heart, but so did worry. They were both here, but where was here?

The worm coasted to a stop in front of her, beads of blood filling the area around it. Cadance gasped, quickly making her way towards it. Deep cuts lined its body, marring chitin, scales, and flesh alike. Blood poured from the wounds, and with no direction to flow it simply gathered around the worm like a sheen.

Cadance touched its head, feeling it. Though she couldn’t cast spells, that didn’t mean she couldn’t use magic. She sent it forward again with a new purpose, to mend and heal. The process was undoubtedly slow, but the worm purred at her touch, its countless wounds closing once again. When she was finished however, she was faced with a glaring issue.

Her magic wasn’t recharging.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she looked around for any sort of cause, but only the purple mist was in view. She inhaled deeply, taking in the mix of odd smells that permeated the void. There was a difference to the air, a lack of most things, that included magic. The magic within her wouldn’t recover because there was no magic to recover from.

“Where are we?” Cadance finally asked,

The worm clicked shakily.

“Welcome… to my domain.”

Cadance’s face fell, and she moved closer to the worm.

“It’s not over yet!”

She tensed, flipping over its head and settling along its back. It sped ahead, travelling aimlessly in the endless expanse. The mist shifted around them, air flowing in ways it shouldn’t, fog coalescing into different shapes and figures.

There was something in there with them.

Something big.

Looking around frantically, Cadance couldn’t see anything, no direction, no safe space, nowhere to go. They had to get out of there, but how? The last thing she remembered was a flash of purple light, similar to the portal at the beginning.

The one used by The Devourer of Gods.

“I’ve a feeling we’re not in Equestria anymore.”

A flash of movement entered Cadance’s vision, and she whipped around to look at it.

Nothing.

Laughter echoed out, and another grid of lasers appeared around them.

“Go small!” Cadance commanded,

She leapt off the worm just in time for it to change, and together they squeezed through the gaps in the array. Once the lasers passed, the worm returned to its regular size, and Cadance latched onto its back again. They continued moving.

The presence never left them however, and more and more Cadance would see something appear in her peripherals, but every time she went to look it was gone.

“How do we get out of here?!”

The worm chittered, keeping straight.

Cadance frowned, and began thinking of what they could do. She didn’t know teleportation, much less any portal spells, not to mention she wouldn’t have the time nor magic to figure it out, and it wasn’t like she could cast a spell right now anyway. A glance up revealed that the tip of her horn was now in view… maybe, because her focus was on something much further away.

A gigantic form was trailing from above. Only slightly obscured by the mist, Cadance could tell it was much, much larger than The Devourer of Gods was before. Brand new body, brand new mandibles, brand new armor. They wouldn’t even come close to winning this fight.

“GO GO GO! Down!” Cadance commanded,

The worm turned downwards, speeding in a completely new, arbitrary direction. The Devourer of Gods simply followed from a distance.

In a panic, Cadance looked at what else they had. The worm didn’t know magic, and it certainly couldn’t tunnel between worlds. Her sword was missing, probably still in Equestria somewhere, not that it would’ve helped much. Her gaze eventually landed on the orb in her grip, and her eyes widened just a bit more.

The Rod of Discord™ could teleport, randomly, and only within view, but Discord said it could go past that, rarely.

Could it teleport between dimensions? Could it take both of them? Could it even still work?

It didn’t matter, it was their only option and it was either that or death. All Cadance knew was that it would take an extraordinary amount of energy to work, and she had already used half her magic healing the worm. Still, she focused, pouring the remaining magic into the orb, it glowed brighter, the vortex inside spinning and twirling faster.

“Home…” She whispered to it,

Just as she was about to swing it around, a familiar smell caught her senses. Cadance paused, breathing deeply to try and find it again. She only got a lingering trace, but it was stronger on one side than the other.

“There is no escape!”

Ignoring their pursuer for the moment, Cadance turned in the direction of the scent, sniffing.

“Go that way!” She pointed,

The worm begrudgingly followed her directions, only to jerk out of the way as a pink fireball tore the mist in front of them. Looking back, several more were coming in hot. Cadance called upon her magic, which was no longer there. She gulped.

“Left!” She called out,

The worm turned to the left.

“Right!”

The worm turned to the right.

Fireballs seared through the mist, some coming much closer than others.

“Up!” Cadance inhaled, “No down!”

And so they continued, narrowly avoiding the incoming fire all the while tracking the familiar scent. When the last fireball disappeared into the void, an otherworldly hiss assaulted their ears, and the large figure finally revealed itself. Four eyes, ablaze with desire, multiple mandibles surrounded by layered pincers, each massive and sharper than a razor, a terrifying amount of teeth laid behind them, gnashing, grinding, hungrily awaiting their next meal.

It took a long time for Cadance to move on to its other features. A multicolored bead resided at the top of its head, a swirling mix of pink and blue. The bladed armor returned, this time with the blades pointing forward instead of backward, ready to rend and tear whatever dared to get close.

Cadance certainly didn’t, and she doubted the worm did either.

They needed to leave.

She looked down at the glowing orb in her hooves again, it shined with magic, ready to activate on a moment's notice. Then the scent entered her nose again, stronger, somehow even more familiar. It was something she had only smelled once before, and it started to bring back memories.

Memories of family, love, wonder, and joy. Her first day ruling the Crystal Empire, her second, real wedding, meeting the worm, meeting Shining Armor, going to the worm festival with Celestia.

It could have been a trick, but now she had to make sure.

“Keep going!” She called out, not daring to take her eyes off their pursuer.

A grid of lasers formed around them again, their formation much tighter. Cadance readied herself, gripping the orb hard and tensing her legs. The worm screeched, and she jumped, soaring through the matrix as it shrunk back down. Her angle was off however, and she was quickly approaching the laser lines. Flapping her wings, she rolled, flattening her figure as she spiraled forward. Like a circus trick, she slotted through the last gap just as the lasers passed, completely unharmed.

A burning sensation started to crawl up her hind leg again.

Or maybe not…

Cadance quickly joined with the worm again, glancing back as the pink flames licked at her fur. She didn’t have enough magic to put it out, they needed to leave soon.

Yet again, the smell came, so strong it almost made her scrunch up. They had to be getting close, just a little further.

She had a hard time believing herself, but they continued to press on nonetheless, the worm now moving without her directions. The Devourer of Gods was noticeably absent, and that made her worried.

By now the smell was almost overpowering, and the purple mist of the void took on a pink hue. Despite the searing pain in her leg, Cadance began to search the area. The worm slowed a bit, but kept itself tense and ready to move at a moment’s notice.

A saccharine sweetness hung in the air, but behind it was the sharp smell of alcohol. Cadance immediately recognized what it was, and not long after she spotted something floating through the mist.

“There.” She spoke in a strained whisper,

The worm moved closer to the object, and when the last bit of purple fog cleared away, they saw what it was.

A bottle, light purple glass with a cylindrical shape. It was filled with a deep magenta liquid, completely opaque, a ribbon of fine purple silk was tied around the neck, and it was corked securely.

Cadance breathed in, and recoiled from the sheer intensity of the smell. This was definitely the source, but what was it doing here?

With laboured breaths, she snatched the bottle out of the air and held it along with the Rod of Discord™. As she did that, the mist shifted around them, and a bright light shined down. Looking up, another portal had formed above them, a blue sky waiting on the other side.

Definitely a trap.

“We’re done here.” Cadance said, cringing as the fire reached her thigh. “Let’s go!”

The worm took off, in the complete opposite direction of the portal. A growl echoed throughout the expanse, and a moment later it exploded, The Devourer of Gods slithering through. Cadance only gave it a single glance before focusing back on what was left of the Rod of Discord™. Tucking the bottle under her wing, she held the orb tightly in her hooves.

“Home,” She repeated, “Home. Home…”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and swung the orb as hard as she could. She almost fell off the worm, but nothing happened, not even a change in the orb. Cadance swung it again, and again, and still the void inside just swirled and spun. She stopped to stare at it, then she looked back.

The Devourer of Gods was getting closer.

“Come on!” She said, shaking the orb like a snowglobe.

Its glow only increased for a moment, the energy inside refusing to be released. Cadance frowned, raised it above her head, and slammed it down on the worm’s back. It bounced off the chitinous plate, and glowed a bit brighter. The worm chirped in surprise, and she did it again, lifting it up and smashing it down. The orb started shining brighter, the vortex shuddering inside.

Hammering it against the worm, Cadance repeated the action again and again. The Rod of Discord™ becoming a beacon in the void. Then it cracked, the well of magic inside brimming at the edge. Lifting it up one final time, Cadance prepared to shatter it, and with one final triumphant motion, nothing happened. The orb simply absorbed the blow.

The Devourer of Gods roared behind them, sounding closer than ever.

She couldn’t do it fast enough, so instead, Cadance leaned back, cocked her arm back, and chucked the orb ahead of them.

“Break it!” She shouted, ducking forward and hugging the worm tightly.

It snapped upward and caught it between its mandibles, and with a tremendous screech a bolt of lightning struck it, shattering it. The empowered chaotic magic surrounded them, twisting and pulling in different directions. Cadance felt her stomach turn, literally, as the energy seeped into their bodies.

It hurt. A lot.

After several agonizing seconds, Cadance’s vision flashed, and they were somewhere else. The worm smacked down on the ground, skidding across the barren stone a fair distance before coming to a stop. Cadance simply let go, sliding down its side and landing hard against the solid ground.

She laid there for a second, holding her breath and waiting, until a familiar sensation welled up in her throat. Ripping off her helmet, she coughed and sputtered, blood spilling out of her mouth. Purple blood, the worm’s blood.

Cadance stared at the viscous puddle on the ground before checking the rest of her body. Everything looked fine, but she still felt warped, that was when she noticed her entire behind was on fire.

“AGH!” She exclaimed, pacing in circles for a moment.

Then she stopped and focused, pushing her magic against it. The fire stopped, and it took a lot of effort to push it back. Cadance strained, fighting a war within her own body as more magic entered her system.

She had magic.

Gasping, she snuffed the last of the flame out before looking around. A clear blue sky greeted her vision, and though they were in the middle of a barren wasteland, a boreal forest extended out in the distance.

They were back.

“Yes!” Cadance cheered, “We did it! We got out! We-” She realized something. Quickly turning to the worm, she poked it in the side. “Come on! Get up, get up, get up! The Devourer of Gods is still after us!”

It groaned, and struggled to pick itself back up, clearly still reeling from the teleport.

“Okay! Umm….!” Cadance desperately tried to control her breathing, she watched the sky intently, summoning a shield around them and waiting.

Then she waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

It was hard to tell an exact time, but after several minutes had passed with nothing happening, Cadance slowly relaxed, keeping an eye on the sky the entire time. During that time, the worm slowly recovered, spitting up its own vile concoction, a mix of red blood and its stomach contents, Cadance was lucky enough to have already voided hers. It then coiled up from its limp position on the ground, chittering slowly and weakly.

A knock on her shield startled her, causing Cadance to jump up and release a bout of magic. It soared up into the air, bursting like a firework. She whipped around, horn charged and ready to attack.

Princess Luna flinched, looking at her strangely, “It is us, Cadance! Please calm yourself.”

She stared at them for a moment, Twilight and Princess Luna stood together, while a blazing Princess Celestia hung in the back.

“Right.” Cadance’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, then she took a deep breath, and another, “Okay, okay.”

Her shield slowly faded, and the other princesses walked up to her.

“Well? Did you do it?” Twilight carefully asked, “Did you win?”

“No.”

“What?!” Princess Luna stepped back, “What do you mean?”

“We didn’t win.” Cadance shook her head, “We just… escaped… and have been waiting here for it to come back.”

“Yet it has not…” Princess Luna pondered, “Were you at least close to prevailing?”

“No…” Cadance trailed off, staring at the ground, “Not at all.”

“Then… What happened? Surely you must have done something to ward off that… monster.”

Cadance shook her head again, “All we did was…” She unfurled her wing, levitating the bottle in front of her, “Take this bottle and… break Discord’s rod.”

“So either the bottle is of grave importance or…” Princess Luna looked towards Twilight,

She just shrugged,

“Or Discord’s rod has trapped it somehow?”

“Maybe.” Was all Cadance said,

That earned her a couple of uncertain looks, “How are you feeling?”

She took a moment to think about it. There was no pain, her superfast healing took care of that, and there wasn’t any fatigue, another benefit of having so much magic.

“Tired.” She eventually answered, “Scared, worried, happy, confused. I want to go home.”

“As do we all.” Princess Luna nodded, “But we must make sure things are finished first. Perhaps there may be some answers in whatever you have recovered.”

“What’s in there anyway?” Twilight pointed to the bottle.

“Liquor, I think.” Cadance answered, “I only found it because of its smell, it was familiar.”

“You have had it before?”

“I think so… there was something like it at the Crystal Empire. I um… drank it. It was good.”

Princess Luna let out a loud exhale, “Well then, perhaps we can have a toast with it once this is all over.”

“Yeah…” Cadance muttered, “That sounds good.”

She uncorked the bottle.

Immediately, the liquid inside bubbled out the top, overflowing and cascading down the sides. Cadance almost dropped it, then quickly tried to stuff the cork back in. The liquid pushed back, turning viscous and thick, clinging to the sides of the bottle. It increased in volume, soon equaling the bottle then dwarfing it with no sign of stopping.

“You drank that?” Twilight asked, backing away.

“No! This is different!” Cadance said, taking a step back of her own, “What do I do?”

“Put it down,” Princess Luna said calmly, “We don’t know what it is, so contain it.”

Nodding, Cadance carefully set the bottle down and surrounded it with a small bubble shield. They then watched as the liquid churned and frothed. It continued to expand, certain parts of it turning transparent as it thinned. Small tendrils began to form, snaking their way around the bottle and wrapping around each other.

Like a growing vine, the liquid rose, taking the bottle with it, and a figure started to take shape. Four legs reached down, a hoof coming together at each tip, a goopy tail spouted out the back, and two wings took shape on the sides. The liquid bulged towards the front, and a neck extended upwards, a head forming not long after, ending in a point with a horn.

The semisolid pony stood to its full height, and promptly bonked its head on the top of the shield.

“Ow!” A deep, womanly voice spoke, “What the fuck?”

She brought a hoof up to her head to rub it, the surface losing its shimmer and sharpening to fur, though it never lost its transparency. The tail and newly formed mane darkened considerably, turning a shiny purple as they bounced and curled. A similarly colored, heart shaped cutie mark formed on her flank. Eyes blinked and focused, staying almost the exact same color as her fur.

“What the fuck do you want this time? You overgrown earthworm.” She muttered,

“Umm…” Cadance began,

The unknown pony blinked again, and her eyes snapped upwards to look at Cadance, then she slowly spun in a circle.

“Ohhhh shit… I’m gonna need a drink for this.”

Princess Luna just stared at her.

“Uh, who are you?” Twilight asked,

“Hold on.” The pony said, she rubbed her eyes, muttering to herself for a few seconds, “You… will… have to… forgive my… words…” She nodded once, “It has been a long time since I have last spoken to another pony, I was certain I would never have the chance again.”

“And you are?” Princess Luna asked,

“I am Cirrus. Wait no! Fab- No. Mount- No.” Her face scrunched up as she thought. “What would you know me as? Aha! I am Amore! Princess Amore of the Crystal Empire.”

Cadance’s jaw dropped.

“Impossible…” Princess Luna trailed off,

“Who might you all be?” Amore asked, “I have not seen another Alicorn in quite some time, nor quite so many in one place.”

“I’m uh… Twilight,” She gave a small wave. “Hello.”

“L-Luna.”

“And I’m Cadance, also Princess of the Crystal Empire.”

Amore’s eyes widened as she said that, “Oh my.” She took a step forward, only to be stopped by the shield, “Uh, do you mind?”

Cadance pursed her lips, “Yes actually. I just met you and we’ve uh… been through a lot.”

“I would imagine,” Amore sat down, “It’s just…” She looked down at herself, then back at Cadance, “I don’t remember having any children…”

Cadance felt her face flush, “I uh…”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not possible!” Amore quickly tacked on, she then brought a hoof to her chin, “Then again… I might’ve had a sister.”

Princess Luna frowned, “Might have?”

“It’s been a long, long time.” Her face turned somber, “I don’t really remember, and there are times I choose to forget.”

“So…” Cadance trailed off, “You think we’re related?”

Amore’s expression quickly changed, “Of course! I mean look at you! Look at me!” she exclaimed, “Look, turn,” She motioned with her hoof.

Cadance shifted to the side a bit.

“Aha! See!” She also turned, pointing between their cutie marks.

“That could just be a coincidence.” Twilight said,

Amore rolled her eyes, “Alright fine, here.” She reached for her side, and her hoof disappeared into her body. A moment later it came back out with the bottle, her skin warbling from the disturbance. All the others cringed at the action, but she just pressed the bottle to the edge of the shield. “You can smell this, right?”

Cadance gave a small nod,

“Then there you have it. You’re effectively my niece.”

Cadance paused, then sat down, “Another aunt…” She whispered,

“You are not actually here, are you?” Princess Luna stated,

Amore whipped around and stared at her, her face twitching on the edge of a frown. “Ah yes, that.” She exhaled loudly, “I am here, just not… fully.” She pushed her hooves together, causing them to pass through each other. “This is all that’s left of me.”

“So you are… a soul?” Princess Luna asked,

“A spirit.” Amore corrected,

“In a bottle?” Twilight finished,

“That about sums it up,” She clapped her hooves together, “Now let’s move on, shall we?”

“How did you get like that?” Twilight continued,

“Let’s move on.” Amore repeated, her smile quickly turning forced,

She spun around again, her eyes landing on the large purple form curled up off to the side. She frowned, before her eyes went wide with recognition. Gasping, a much larger, more genuine smile appeared on her face.

“There she is!”

“She?” Cadance asked, looking between Amore and the worm, “Oh my goodness, I’ve been calling him the wrong thing this entire time.”

Amore glanced at her, then snickered, before falling into laughter.

Cadance frowned, “I didn’t know!”

“No no, it’s not that.” Amore chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. “They’re asexual. It doesn’t matter which you use, just what they prefer. If she’s been letting you call her a he, then maybe he prefers it now.”

“Huh.” Cadance blinked, then realized something, “Wait! You know the worm?!”

“I should hope so! She’s my little baby! I practically raised her from the ground up!” Amore pressed up against the shield again, then huffed, “Can you please let me out now?”

Cadance took a moment to make sure her jaw was still attached before shaking her head. With a flash of her horn, the bubble split down the middle, falling away to the ground.

“Thank you,” Amore said before trotting up to the worm, she placed a hoof on its side, prodding it lightly. “Hey you, remember me?”

It shifted, slowly turning around to look. As soon as Amore entered its vision it froze, and stared at her for several moments, a slight jitter building up in its body.

“Yeah you do.” She smiled, “C’mere.”

It screeched, diving down and wrapping her in its mandibles. It then lifted her up, coiling tightly around her. Its tail began to wag, smashing up and down rapidly and causing the ground to shake with each turn.

“F A B S O L!”

“Easy there! Easy there! I know you like to play rough, and that I can’t be hurt like that anymore, but please be careful! We don’t want to set a bad example do we?”

The worm settled slightly, letting out the longest chirp Cadance had ever heard from it, it ended with a purr, continuing to twist around the other pink pony.

“Look how big you’ve grown! And what’s this?” Amore tapped on its armor plates and rubbed its scales, “What have you eaten?!”

The worm clicked excitedly.

“Show me.”

The worm burst into flames, blowing a stream of fire straight up into the air.

“Wow!” Amore exclaimed, completely unfazed by the fire around her. Her eyes then went wide, and she looked up at the worm with a bit of worry. “You’ve eaten dragons?”

“Dragons from our world!” Princess Luna called out,

“Right right, okay.” Amore paused to think, “I suppose that’s fine,” She then hugged the worm’s face, “Oh how I’ve missed you, Neyrune.”

“Neyrune?” Cadance asked,

“Neyrune.” Amore answered back, “It is the name I have given her, him.”

“N E Y - R U N E!” The worm repeated, ecstatic.

“Yes, I bet it has been a long time since you’ve last heard that.” Amore leaned in close, “You did it. You’ve broken your chains.”

“Actually…” Cadance stepped closer, “We might not be quite done yet.”

Amore looked at her and nodded, “Yes, I suppose there are many things to do now. Although…” She brought a hoof to her chin.

Pulling herself out of the worm’s grasp, she jumped back down to the ground to stand before them. She gave each of them a hard look, taking especially long with Cadance as she stared at her longingly. Sighing, her gaze eventually landed on Princess Celestia in the back, and her brow furrowed.

“You should rid yourself of that magic immediately.”

Princess Celestia, who looked to be actively obscuring herself from the others, averted her gaze. “Were it so easy. I would need my magic to begin the process, and that is something I do not have at the moment.”

Cadance finally got a good look at her, and she tilted her head. A blaze of yellow flame replaced her mane and tail, crackling in the light breeze. That was the most immediate change, but a closer look revealed much more. A mess of root and stone coiled around her body, covering most of her pristine white fur, with only a few spots visible around her joints. Even her cutie mark was obscured, but at least her face was visible, for what it was worth. Princess Celestia held a look of shame, keeping her face down and refusing to make eye contact as her eyes flickered and flashed with fire. Looking down at her hooves, the stone ground was beginning to turn orange from her touch.

“Oh, then let me-” Cadance took a step forward,

“No.” Princess Celestia interrupted, “Not yet.”

“She is correct,” Princess Luna nodded, “as dangerous as it is, we must make sure that the beast is gone, and will not come back in the near future.”

Amore’s expression of concern turned to one of confusion, “What do you mean by that? You’ve defeated The Devourer of Gods. It is finished.”

“Well… The- I- we didn’t- it’s not-” Cadance fumbled her words, “The Devourer of Gods isn’t dead.”

Like a switch, the cheery demeanor was gone. Amore’s posture changed, she leaned forward almost menacingly. Her face contorted, eyes losing their brightness and gaining a new hardness. Creases and wrinkles appeared around them, accentuating her already stern expression.

She looked older, distressed even.

“What?! How?!” She demanded, “You have my bottle! How else did you get my bottle?”

Cadance recoiled slightly, “We uh… we stole it.” She nodded, “Yeah, we stole it from the uh, the mist.”

“You were in…? But now you’re… But that’s impos… How are you not…?” Amore brought a hoof to her chin in deep contemplation.

“We were hoping to get answers from… well from you actually,” Princess Luna said,

Amore ignored her, beginning to pace in circles as she muttered to herself, a permanent frown affixed to her face. She made motions with her hooves, scraped shapes in the stone, and counted under her breath. Eventually she looked to the sky and inhaled, closing her eyes.

“Wait…” She opened them again and stared across the horizon, “This is Equus, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Twilight nodded slowly,

“The Devourer of Gods came here, right?” She pointed downwards,

“Also correct,” Princess Luna answered,

“And you fought him, together?” Amore gestured between Cadance and the worm.

“We did…” Cadance finished,

Amore immediately let out a sigh of relief, “Then that explains it.”

They all tilted their heads at that.

“How?” Princess Luna was the first to speak up, “What is this Devourer of Gods anyway?”

“Does it- he really eat gods?” Twilight shuddered,

“Pfft,” Amore waved a hoof, “The name is only a technicality, the only gods he’s managed to eat are demigods and primitive ones. While achievements in their own right, there’s no way he could go up against an actual one.”

“Primitive… gods?” Princess Celestia asked from the back,

“Yes, but what is he?” Princess Luna reiterated,

Amore glanced back at the worm, “A worm, the same as Neyrune, one that has had much more to… assimilate. And with aid from…” She audibly grit her teeth, “That bastard and his little cronies, he became what you saw today.”

“Then why isn’t he here right now?” Cadance asked, “Why isn’t he finishing what he started?”

“Because he started it,” Amore said, a hint of a smile crawling up her face, “Of all that power and potential, pride is his biggest weakness. When challenged to a fight, he is never one to back down, and you’d best be prepared to fight till the end. But if he were to start a fight, then lose at the hands- sorry, hooves of one of his own subordinates no less.” She let out a dry laugh, “I can only imagine the humiliation he’s feeling right now.”

“Then… He’ll leave us alone?”

“Oh absolutely not!” Amore exclaimed, “You may have won today, but you didn’t kill him. The Devourer of Gods is not one to forget, and I’m sure he’s salivating for the day when he will finally kill you.”

Cadance grimaced, “But, I can’t just wait around with all this magic forever!” She gestured to Princess Celestia, “It’s needed elsewhere.”

Amore snorted, “He’ll wait until you’re strong enough to face him again. Whether it’s honor, greed, or laziness, you’ll have time, I’ll give him that much.”

“What else can you tell us about him?” Princess Luna asked, “There were others with that monster, we only have surface knowledge on them, what are they?”

“Oh right, the sentinels, servants, whatever.” Amore sighed, “They are representatives of The Devourer of Gods’ largest spheres of influence. There is Signus, the envoy, representative of his ruthless killing power. The Ceaseless Void, the unending hunger for power. And finally,” She pointed to the worm, “The Storm Weaver, representing limitless potential. Together they formed a pact, in return for eternal servitude, they received part of The Devourer of Gods’ undying nature.”

“Undying?” Cadance repeated, eyes wide,

“That doesn’t mean he can’t be killed, you just have to try really hard.” Amore assured, “But make no mistake, you will meet them again, and while the Void is nothing more than a mindless killing machine, I know for certain that Signus holds a grudge.”

“Oh…” Cadance muttered, looking down.

Princess Luna stepped in front of her, “Why did The Devourer of Gods have possession of you?”

Amore scowled and snorted, “I was being used as a bargaining chip. A method of keeping others in line.”

“Neyrune?” Princess Luna guessed,

“Correct, he knew that she would not serve him without me, but instead of just killing us where we stood, he decided to try a different method to get what he wanted. That’s where my eternal servitude began.”

“But how did he acquire you like that?”

“He killed me.” Amore answered simply, “Though with no shortage of underhooved tactics.”

“But why go through all that trouble for the worm?” Twilight asked, “No offense.”

“They are the same species, and The Devourer of Gods had plans for the future.”

Twilight blushed, “Oh…”

Amore shook her head, “Not like that, it would be a cold year in hell when The Devourer of Gods decided to have children, not that he would even need Neyrune to do that. No, he wanted her for a little project of his.”

Cadance looked up, “What kind of project.”

“In the eyes of the Devourer, stagnation is abhorrent. He could not sit comfortably atop a mountain of corpses, but he could not reach higher without first descending to the bottom. So instead of sinking to that level, he decided to have someone else do the work for him, to gather the power he so desperately needed to reach the next level.” Amore gave a small smile, “It’s nice to know that came back to bite him so severely.”

“But wouldn’t that mean the worm- Neyrune is also on a pile of… bodies?” Twilight wondered,

“Oh he most definitely is,” Princess Celestia said,

“And therein lies a conundrum,” Amore added, “For The Devourer of Gods, power is a goal, and thus he kills, the enjoyment is merely a bonus. For Neyrune, killing is a consequence of survival. He is not among those that you can fault for simply existing.”

Princess Celestia let out an exhale, and the air heated up around them. She then gasped, and hurriedly shuffled away from the group.

“Celestia?” Cadance called out,

The sun above grew brighter, oppressively so, forcing Cadance to cover her eyes with a hoof.

Amore sighed, “She has finally come.”

“Cadance! Her magic!” Princess Luna shouted,

“R-Right! Celestia!” Cadance called out again, “Come here!”

“I can’t!” She responded, “You will be hurt!”

“But-”

A dazzling aurora shimmered above them, another figure of stone, root, and crystal descending from the light. This one was much, much larger.

“Wait!” Cadance yelled, she leapt into action, rushing over to Princess Celestia.

She tried to back away, but she wasn’t fast enough. Despite the blazing heat, the scorching stone, and the blinding light, Cadance continued, nearly tackling Princess Celestia as she neared.

“Your magic! Hurry!” She separated the golden glow within her, thrusting it out her horn.

Princess Celestia pushed her away, “It’s too late!”

“No!” Cadance cried, “Please!”

Burning tears streamed down Princess Celestia’s face, leaving trails of fire across her cheeks.

“I’m sorry.”

In a flash of light she was gone, the light overhead dimming ever so slightly. Cadance just stood there as the heat dispersed, the only thing left being a sparkle above the ground.

A familiar laugh echoed through the air, and the sparkle changed, its color morphing from a yellow to a light purple as it grew in size, creating another portal in front of her. There was no expanse of purple mist behind this one, just a serene landscape. Rolling hills, a small stream, and the edges of a forest off to the side.

Cadance slumped and fell, landing hard on her behind, her vision going blurry as tears filled her eyes. The others rushed up behind her, Twilight quickly wrapping her in a hug while Princess Luna and Amore inspected the portal.

“Well, there’s your invitation.” Amore spoke,

“To where?” Princess Luna demanded, struggling to keep her voice clear.

“Terraria.”

Cadance was hardly paying attention, she just sat there, leaning hard into Twilight as Princess Celestia’s magic returned to her reserves. She struggled to breathe, contemplating ripping off her helmet and destroying it, or at the very least throwing it away.

“She’s not gone, you know.”

“Then where is she?! Where is my sister?!”

“On the other side of that portal,” Amore said calmly, “I would advise against going in without preparing though. That world is full of malice and mistrust, and your sister is not the only thing that awaits you.”

“Th-The D-Devourer of G-G-Gods?” Twilight stuttered out,

“The tip of the iceberg. Now I’m going to take my leave.”

The blur of pink left Cadance’s vision.

“What?” She asked, standing shakily, “You’re leaving?! Just like that!”

“In a sense.”

“WHERE?!” Cadance demanded,

“That’s not for me to decide.”

Blinking, she watched as Amore approached the worm again; it had slithered up behind them during the commotion.

“It’s okay,” She whispered to it, “I’m ready.”

It was then that Cadance realized exactly what she meant.

“Wait! Why?!”

Amore turned to look at her, her face looking even more ancient.

“I should have died a long, long time ago.” She glanced at the worm, “There’s nothing more for me to do.”

“But-!” Cadance began,

The hint of a frown appeared across Amore’s eyes. “You want my knowledge?” She placed a hoof on the worm, “Neyrune’ll have it. He’s yours now, goodbye.” She closed her eyes and inhaled, then opened them again, “Oh wait, one more thing.”

Cadance hung on her every word,

“My vodka, someone needs to keep the recipe.”

“W-What…?”

“Just distill any alcohol with pure magic, genuine crystal catalyst, and horn shavings. It grows back, I promise.”

With that, her form shimmered and shifted, quickly flowing back into the bottle. It teetered slightly as it settled back on the ground, and not a moment later the worm picked it up in its mandibles.

“Wait!” Cadance tried again,

The glass cracked, then shattered, the pink essence flowing into the worm’s mouth. It shuddered, jerking in odd ways as its body absorbed the soul.

And Amore was gone, leaving nothing but a pile of glass shards across the stone, the ribbon of purple silk fluttering away in the breeze. Cadance caught it, and pulled it close.

The end.

Author's Note

For now...

So there you have it, the end of this fun little story. I suppose it's anything but little now, with over 150,000 words, it's certainly not a short read.

To my readers, thank you, it has been a joy to flesh out this story of mine, and I eagerly await its continuation. That's right, that cliffhanger is not the end, I mean come on, who do you take me for?

Yes this will be continued in a sequels at a later date, but don't expect it soon, there are other things I want to work on before that. Now I understand that a lot of you may have questions, and for a limited time only you may ask them: I will be hosting a Q&A in the form of a discussion post here

Prologue

"The night shall last forever!" Proclaimed Nightmare Moon.

The moon raised in the sky and eclipsed the sun.

"Please sister, come to your senses, we can still fix this." Princess Celestia tried to reason.

"Fix this?" She scoffed, "After what you put me through? No chance, dear sister, this ends now." Nightmare Moon shot back.

"You stand no chance to defeat me, you know that!" Princess Celestia yelled out.

"You think I did not come prepared? I thought you knew me better, sister," Nightmare Moon shouted back, before pulling out a strange tablet.

She held it up, and then it started shining. A small light coalesced just above it, while several yellow crystals floated below, spinning around as the whole ensemble seemingly gained power.

"Come forth! Sentinels of the Sun's Bane!" Nightmare Moon shouted, then began cackling wildly.

The light diverged into three parts, each accompanied by several of the yellow crystals.

The first light moved towards the ground, where large cracks burst forth and started glowing a hateful orange. Spires of ashen stone then rose out of them, dripping with lava. Black smoke began to gather as tatters of purple cloth emanated out of the cracks, coalescing into a shifting form.

The second light moved towards the castle walls, where several stained glass windows shattered. The shards were gripped in some unknown force, and quickly melted and brought together into a large circular glass pane. Several nearby armor stands were then ripped apart as the metal was shaped and morphed into a housing for the glass, crude wings of shadow held the thing aloft as a black void began to fill the space behind the glass.

The final light moved through a hole in the castle's ceiling, and continued up into the sky. There, dark storm clouds began to gather, and lighting began striking faster and faster. Through each flash, a long, serpentine form was visible flying through the air as rain began to fall.

Nightmare Moon continued to laugh as the three sentinels took form, while Princess Celestia's gaze hardened.

"I hope you know I come prepared as well sister, these tricks of yours will get you nowhere." She spoke.

Her horn flashed brightly, and all three sentinels focused on it, before any were able to act however, the ground trembled.

The floor ruptured as large roots grew rapidly, bringing up chunks of stone which were then overloaded with solar energy, turning a brownish color with several pulsing veins of energy visible in between the cracks.

Three more figures began to take form, the first coming together with deadly spikes jutting out of its form, the most prominent one clearly infused with energy. The second formed with a solid wall of solar stone, the roots and rock packing together so tightly that they were nearly impenetrable. The third grew several iridescent crystals, each with a hint of purple, a small bead of energy coming together above it.

Bright, orange fire ignited atop all three of the guardians, forming balls that looked like eyes. They all disconnected from the ground and quickly began to circle Princess Celestia in a tight formation.

Nightmare Moon scowled, "ATTACK!" She bellowed, lighting up her horn.

Princess Celestia didn't say anything, but lit her own horn as well.

Both sides charged, with the purple clothed entity quickly teleporting behind Princess Celestia and attempted to slash at her. The attack was quickly intercepted by the stone guardian however, and the spiked guardian then turned and dashed towards the clothed sentinel. Though it was able to teleport away in time to dodge the attack.

With the battle now started, the void seeped out of the glass pane, forming several balls of dark energy, which quickly began to home in on Princess Celestia. She deftly pierced them all with a laser from her horn, which then continued until it hit the void. Though it didn't take much damage.

The clothed sentinel shifted around, and its glowing purple eyes moved to another position in the cloth as tentacles forced their way through several openings. Large scythes formed at the end of each tentacle, which were subsequently flung towards Princess Celestia in an inaccurate fashion. Several impacted the guardians instead, the crystal one taking the brunt of the damage.

The spiked guardian then charged at the void, its large spike hitting it directly, causing a large crack to form in the glass. The void retreated, summoning several more dark energy balls to protect itself. The stone guardian then launched itself towards the clothed sentinel, bashing into it, but not doing much overall.

The crystal guardian then rose up higher in the room and flashed a bright white, and the cracks and damage on all the guardians began to slowly regenerate. Though before it could finish, the stone ceiling above was destroyed as the worm in the sky broke through. Several bolts of lightning followed, striking the guardians and the ground around them.

The crystal guardian didn't have time to react as the sky worm lunged forward and collided with it, gripping it with its large mandibles. The worm then rushed back up into the air, breaking through the stone ceiling once again using the guardian, which began to crumble from the damage.

The clothed entity shifted once more, a large maw appeared in one of the openings, dripping with glowing purple energy. It quickly turned and charged at the stone guardian, biting and tearing at its armor. It was stopped however, as a bolt of white magic from Princess Celestia impacted its side, leaving a mark but not piercing the fabric, though it still let go and retreated.

Nightmare Moon then took a moment to survey the battle, and decided to shoot a beam straight toward Princess Celestia, it grazed her side, causing her to drop and land hard on the ground. Nightmare Moon then charged right for her, just managing to evade the other two guardians. Princess Celestia was quick to get up however, and took flight again, flying through the new hole in the ceiling, firing bolts back towards Nightmare Moon as she gave chase.

The void's dark energy balls surrounded the spiked guardian, which flew up and dashed back down, leaving floating spheres of blazing light, they then exploded, destroying most of the dark energy. Gathering energy once more, the void then fired out a large blast of energy, which began to slowly trail the guardian while dispersing several volleys of lasers itself.

Breaking through the ceiling once again, the crystal guardian still in its maw, the sky worm sent more bolts of lightning striking down around the area. It then proceeded to slam the guardian into the stone floor, shattering its crystals and destroying it completely. Arcing back up into the sky, the worm then disappeared back into the storm.

The remaining guardians redoubled their efforts following the destruction of their bretheren. Slashing through the rest of the dark energy and continuing at the void, the spiked guardian managed to strike it once again, and the crack grew even more pronounced. Shadows began to seep out of it, warping the light around them.

The stone guardian slammed into the clothed sentinel again, causing it to shift and teleport away. Then it shifted once more and began firing scythes in quick succession at the stone guardian, doing even more damage to its armor. The attack went ignored, as the void was now the closer threat, so the stone guardian charged at it instead.

It couldn't dodge out of the way in time, and was smashed by the stone guardian. Its glass pane shattered, and reality seemed to shift for a moment. The immediate area appeared to collapse in on itself, sucking in the stone guardian with it. In a flash of darkness, the only things that remained were fragments of stone, roots, and the now empty housing.

The clothed sentinel shifted again, and charged at the spiked guardian, which also charged. They collided together, the clothed sentinel being impaled by the guardian's spike, as it, in turn, bit down hard onto the guardian. A large chunk of root and stone fell off of the guardian as the sentinel finally dissolved, its cloth fragments flowing back into the cracks from which they came, the orange glow fading a moment later.

Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia then flew back into the battle, with bolts and beams of magic flying about. Chasing them was the sky worm, though it was impossible to tell just who it was aiming for. Unable to keep up with the main assailant, the spiked guardian charged at the worm instead, just managing to strike its tail end.

A chain reaction occurred, and several plates of armor either shattered or fell off the worm, but not all of them. Its attention was then turned on the guardian, the worm turned and dashed, a volley of lightning bolts following in its wake. Several hit, and the worm then grabbed the guardian in its mouth and began to thrash around violently, causing chunks of roots and stone to fly everywhere as it was torn apart.

Then for a few moments it was calm, the battle was over. Seeing that its fellow sentinels were downed, the worm quickly flew around and attempted to consume any remaining essence that was left from them, but there was hardly a morsel left. It shuddered for a bit, and began looking around, with the guardians taken care of the only thing that was left was Providence.

The worm paused for a moment, seemingly in thought, which definitely wasn't normal. It was under orders to hunt down and destroy Providence, not this pony that had appeared before them. And who was the pony that had summoned them? Why did it know they were ponies? There were too many strange things going on around it.

Suddenly, a large beam of rainbow light arced through the sky, and impacted the ground a moment later. Sensing the rest of the fight was now over, the worm did something it had never done before in its lifetime. It disobeyed orders.

Flying off into the stormfront, the worm noticed the strange arrangement of craters appearing on the moon as it moved back out of the way of the sun.

Princess Celestia returned to the battlefield, looking worse for wear, she took a moment to inspect it, revealing the husk of the void, some small tatters of purple cloth that lingered, the crumbling remains of the guardians, along with some metal plating littering the floor. There was no sign of the worm however, and that made her worried.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Sorry to say that this story will be on Hiatus until further notice, I am not going to take on the monumental task of trying to write two different stories at once. Just know that I will continue this one day, or not, depending on if I'm allowed to continue writing it, as I really don't know if Fabsol wants me to use their content. In the meantime, why don't you check out my other story? I'm actually writing it right now, and has more than 20 chapters done already.

Chapter 5: Mind

Darkness, that was all there was, just darkness. There was simply nothing else, only the unwelcoming void of pitch black darkness. No sense of direction, no feelings, not even the passage of time…

Beep

The veil of darkness was pierced by a sound, soon realization dawned, and the darkness began to ebb, revealing a small amount of light.

Beep

The same sound, it beat the rest of the darkness back, allowing great streaks of light to come through, creating an endless space of white. It was a blank canvas, which soon allowed the threads of consciousness to come through.

Beep

Again, the sound reverberated throughout the mind, seemingly encouraging it to work faster. The threads weaved together, creating a great structure, and just like that…

Beep

Cadance was awake. She was aware. She was confused.

Beep

A world of feelings flooded her mind, confusing her even further. Her head ached, her mouth felt incredibly dry, her entire body was sore, and her hooves stung. A bright light was shining directly over her eyes, preventing her from opening them. She shifted a bit, and immediately regretted it as every muscle in her body lit up with a dull, throbbing pain. Cadance winced and tried to relax her body, and the pain slowly began to fade.

Beep

That sound… What was it? Her alarm clock certainly didn’t sound like that, and Cadance could tell she was in a bed, but it wasn't her bed. Just where was she?

Beep

Cadance then noticed the sterile smell that permeated the room, and her heart sank. Oh no... was she in the hospital? For what? More confusion filled her mind, just what had happened?

Beep

A stream of memories began to trickle into her mind, and Cadance began to remember what happened.

She was captured, she was imprisoned! But she was rescued?... No, she got out on her own… Wait no, she was rescued… By a worm?... Then there was a wedding... Her wedding?... But she wasn’t attending it… And after all of that there was a fight? A battle?

Beep

There was something missing, some unknown force, something frightening that related to it all. Her capture, her captor, the wedding, the battle, even the worm… What was it?

Beep

In an instant, the rest of it all came crashing down upon Cadance.

Beep Beep

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up in a flash.

“Changelings!” She blurted out, then immediately winced as her sore muscles protested.

Beep Beep Beep

No reaction, all except for the increased frequency of the beeping. Squinting her eyes against the harsh artificial lighting, Cadance looked around the room in confusion.

Beep Beep Beep

Nothing, it was completely devoid of any life save for herself. Sterile white tiles, sterile white walls, and the sterile white ceiling were all that accompanied her in the hospital room. Cadance was completely alone.

Beep Beep Beep

She was alone!

Panic rising once more, Cadance gave the room another once over trying to find any changelings that could be stalking her, but there were no obvious black shapes against the stark white room.

Beep Beep Beep

There were no threats in sight.

Beep Beep

She was okay.

Beep Beep

She was safe.

Beep

Cadance looked towards the now much calmer machine that stood at the side of her bed, the frequency of its beeps having resumed their normal pace. Next to it was a bag of clear fluid up on a stand, and a thin tube coming from it that led directly into her foreleg, which was covered in bandages. Cadance grimaced, she didn’t like the idea of some unknown fluid being in her body, but she knew it was probably necessary.

Beep

Looking up, Cadance gave a closer inspection to the room she was in. There was a window on the far wall, but the blinds were drawn, so it was impossible to tell what time of day it was. Further to the right, and in the corner of the room, there was a white door, which also had a window, but at the angle she was at Cadance couldn’t see through it. Closer to her bed a white nightstand stood, and on top of it there was a small white vase. This room certainly had a theme, but that was it.

Beep

There were no other beds, no other patients, and that meant there weren’t any privacy curtains, which meant there was no way to have a dramatic reveal. This was nothing like any of those romance novels Cadance had read, she would’ve huffed if she could, but at least having a private room was nice.

Beep

Then the door clicked, and the knob started to turn. Cadance snapped to attention as the door slowly started to open.

Beep Beep

“Oh my, who left the lights on in here?” A soft voice said quietly,

Any worries soon vanished as a pony clearly wearing nurse attire entered the room, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Cadance was sitting awake right there.

Beep

“Hmm, must’ve been one of the interns,” The nurse continued, turning to fiddle with the light switch on the wall.

Beep

“And they didn’t put the ECG on silent?” The nurse complained, “Don’t they know it’s supposed to be sleeping hours?”

Beep

The nurse turned around to check on the machine next to Cadance, and immediately locked eyes with her.

Beep

They both stood there for a moment in complete silence, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Beep

Cadance tried to breathe in to speak, but it immediately caught in her throat, and she was forced into a coughing fit.

The nurse’s expression immediately shifted, “Oh don’t try to speak dearie, you’re still recovering. You just frightened me a bit, I didn’t know you were awake,”

Beep

The nurse looked to the open door, then back to Cadance, “I didn’t wake you up did I?” She asked, looking a bit worried.

Cadance shook her head rapidly, then pointed towards the machine with a bandaged hoof.

Beep

“Ugh, figures,” The nurse rolled her eyes, “Well let me get that for you dearie.” The nurse said as she walked around the bed to mess with the machine, a simple click of a button silenced it. “There, peace and quiet, now you can go back to sleep,”

Cadance cleared her throat, trying to get the nurse's attention, then she tapped the top of her fetlock, as if she was wearing a watch, only to wince as a small jolt of pain shot through her leg.

The nurse looked up and down at Cadance in confusion, then realized what she meant. “Oh! You want to know what time it is. Well it’s about midnight dearie,” She walked over to the window and flipped the shutters, revealing a starry night sky, then continued, “So you should try to go back to sleep, the doctor will be able to see you in the morning.”

Cadance opened her mouth to reply, but the dryness persisted, so she chose not to.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?” The nurse asked, not entirely understanding what Cadance was conveying.

She just shrugged, and immediately cringed from pain.

The nurse gave her an odd look, “Well okay dearie,” She said slowly, “If you need anything there is a call button to your left.

Nodding, Cadance carefully laid back down on the bed, and the nurse soon left the room, but not before flicking off the lights, leaving Cadance in near complete silence and darkness. Unsurprisingly, she did not fall asleep immediately, and was stuck with a lot of questions about what had happened, but those could wait till tomorrow.

Probably…

Hospital food was… Not the best. The soup was watery, the bread was a bit stale, and the celery stalks were floppy, but none of that stopped Cadance from devouring it all. Well, almost all of it, the dessert remained untouched, and while it was probably the best part of the whole meal, Cadance just couldn’t bring herself to eat it.

Green Jello

The sight of it made her sick to her stomach, it only served as a sick reminder of what happened on her wedding day. The consistency and color were eerily similar to changeling insides, and it jiggled and wobbled with every slight movement. Cadance couldn’t stand to even look at it, so she pushed it off to the side of her tray, trying not to focus on it.

Thankfully, only a few moments later the door to her room opened, and in walked what was obviously the doctor, stereotypical stethoscope and all, along with a larger, and much more familiar figure.

“Celestia!” Cadance rasped, quickly moving her tray over to the table beside her bed.

Princess Celestia smiled as she entered the room, “Hello Cadance, it is good to see you awake,”

Cadance’s voice caught in her throat again as she tried to respond, and another fit of coughing soon followed. Princess Celestia’s smile faltered, and she floated a cup of water to Cadance, who graciously accepted it, and while she was busy drinking, Princess Celestia turned to the doctor.

“How is her condition doctor?” She asked,

“Well… Nothing too bad,” The doctor began, flipping through a clipboard, “Let’s see… Cadance appears to be suffering from some minor dehydration and malnutrition along with some minor bruising along the body. Despite that, the only real major issues present are the stress fractures sustained within her legs, the moderate cracking of her hooves, and the slight nerve damage throughout her whole body.”

Cadance’s ears perked, and she stopped drinking for a moment to look up, “Stress fractures? Cracked hooves? How did that happen?” She asked, carefully inspecting the coverings on her hooves.

Princess Celestia gave her an odd look “Cadance,” she said, “You bucked the castle’s front doors off their hinges.”

“Oh yeah…” Cadance smiled sheepishly, remembering just what happened and what she had done, “Sorry,”

Princess Celestia’s expression softened, “I’m just glad you're alright,” then she turned back to the doctor, “But did you say nerve damage?”

The doctor adjusted his glasses, “Yes, almost every nerve ending along Cadance’s body appears to have suffered some very minor damage. This damage is consistent with that of electrocution or severe burns, but only the nerves are damaged, the surrounding area is fine, which leaves only one other cause...” He paused to flip a page, “Exposure to malicious magic.”

Princess Celestia furrowed her brows, “Of course the changeling queen would do something like that…” She trailed off.

Cadance glanced at her for a moment before looking worriedly at the doctor. “That’s not permanent is it?”

“It’s unlikely, the damage sustained is only minor, meaning you should be able to fully recover with little if any long term effects, though in the meantime you might experience either hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, or a combination of both.” The doctor said,

Cadance breathed a sigh of relief, “That explains a lot,” she said, “But what about everything else?”

“Well, malnutrition and dehydration are easy enough to treat, just make sure you are eating and drinking enough. For the nerve damage there isn’t much we can do besides simply letting it heal, of course we can give you some pain medication if you need it, and the same goes for the minor bruising. As for your legs and hooves, just keep pressure off of them, and since you have wings, I recommend lots of flying, and while you should be able to stand for a short amount of time, you shouldn’t pick up anything heavy, nor should you be walking, at all, as otherwise you might have to wear special boots. Overall, I’d say you’re looking at at least five to six months of recovery time.” The doctor tapped his clipboard,

Cadance’s face dropped.

“Actually doctor,” Princess Celestia joined in, “It should really only take two months at most.”

“Really?” Cadance asked,

“I’m sorry?” The doctor asked.

Princess Celestia nodded to the doctor, “Cadance is an alicorn, which brings many benefits, including a faster metabolism.”

“Hrmm” The doctor put a hoof to his chin, “Well if that is the case, then please disregard my previous estimate. If you truly do recover that fast then you could even be discharged within the next few days. Though I recommend you still exercise caution, your wounds are still healing, even if it's at an accelerated rate.”

“Thank you doctor,” Princess Celestia bowed slightly, “Though now I must ask that you leave us, there are some rather important things I must discuss with my niece in private.”

“Oh, uhh… Of course your highness,” The doctor returned a bow, then quickly shuffled out of the room. Princess Celestia made sure to close the door behind him, and to check through the door’s window to make sure nopony else was actively listening in on their conversation.

“Do alicorns really heal that fast?” Cadance asked, breaking the moment of silence.

Princess Celestia turned back towards her, “Yes, we do.” She answered, “It’s a lesser known attribute that can be incredibly useful, but that is not what I would like to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” Cadance said, carefully setting her cup on the bedside table. “Then what did you want to talk about?”

“I am sure that you can guess,” Princess Celestia said as she sat down next to the bed.

Cadance put a hoof to her chin and spent the next few moments thinking.

“The worm?” She said after a moment

Princess Celestia nodded, “Precisely,”

Cadance hummed, “Where is it?”

“It is asleep,” Princess Celestia said, and after a very confused look from Cadance, she elaborated. “We were worried about what it might do without you there to control it, so I had Luna put it under a powerful sleeping spell.”

“How long has it been asleep?” Cadance asked with a frown.

Princess Celestia looked up in thought for a moment, “We put it to sleep only a few hours after you went unconscious.” She answered.

“Wait…” Cadance paused, “How long have I been asleep?” She asked worriedly.

Princess Celestia once again paused for a moment of thought, which only made Cadance more anxious about what the answer would be. She didn’t feel like it was that long, but her sense of time at the moment was far from accurate, just how long had she been out of it? Cadance braced herself for whatever Princess Celestia would say next.

“It has been about two days since the wedding and subsequent invasion.” Princess Celestia said,

“Oh.” Cadance immediately relaxed, “That’s not too bad.”

Princess Celestia frowned, “You almost sound disappointed.”

“Well… It’s just that I was expecting it to be much...” Cadance trailed off.

“Longer?” Princess Celestia suggested,

“Yeah…” Cadance admitted, “Something more like weeks, even months. I was thinking about how much I would’ve missed.”

“Well, I’m glad you only missed out on a few days rather than a few months.” Princess Celestia said with a smile, eliciting a similar reaction from Cadance, “Besides, there were several things these past few days that you would have wanted to miss anyway.”

“Oh? Like what?” Cadance wondered.

Princess Celestia leaned forward and said one word, “Cleanup.”

Cadance grimaced and looked away, “I see,”

Princess Celestia frowned, and decided to change the subject, “There is some good news.” She said, causing Cadance to look back at her, “Everypony is safe and accounted for, and only a few were injured.”

“That is good.” Cadance said. Then her eyes widened in realization, and she sat up straight in her bed, “What about Twilight!” She nearly shouted, “Is she alright? Is she okay? Where is she?” Cadance asked rapid fire.

Princess Celestia looked down, “Twilight is… Alive, but she is far from okay.” She said somberly, “Her condition is stable, but unlike you she has yet to wake up, and her injuries will take months, maybe even years to completely recover from.”

Cadance recoiled in horror, “Oh my goodness! What happened?”

“You were right,” Princess Celestia said, “The changeling queen did trap Twilight within the crystal caves, but she was nearly crushed by a cave in. She was barely alive when her friends found her.”

“A cave in?” Cadance asked, then gasped loudly, surprising Princess Celestia

“What is it?” She asked,

“It was the worm!” Cadance exclaimed,

“Pardon?”

“The worm caused the cave in!”

“What? Why?” Princess Celestia demanded, standing up.

Cadance took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. “When the worm helped me escape it did it by tunneling through the earth, it had to smash through the crystal walls just to get to me.” She explained.

The explanation seemed to calm Princess Celestia a bit, and she sat back down, though she looked uncertain.

“The cave I was in nearly collapsed,” Cadance continued, “I guess the worm did more damage than I thought…” She put her head in her hooves, “Oh no, it’s all my fault.”

A moment of silence passed over the two.

“No. It isn't,” Princess Celestia spoke up in a serious tone, causing Cadance to look back up, “You are not the one at fault.”

“But I summoned the worm.” Cadance argued, “And it caused the cave to collapse.”

“Did you know Twilight was in the cave with you?” Princess Celestia asked,

Cadance paused, “No, I didn’t, but I had assumed, which is why I called out for help in the first place. I guess the worm just responded first.”

“Hmmm. So you did not mean to call for the worm?”

“Of course not!” Cadance exclaimed, “I didn’t even know it was alive, much less that I could call for it.”

Princess Celestia reached over and put a hoof on Cadance, “Then it was an accident, you were not the one at fault, if anything it was the changeling queen’s fault.” She said, “Or mine… Since I allowed all of this to happen in the first place, but the blame is not on you Cadance, you had no way of knowing, you only did what you could’ve, and there is nothing wrong with that.”

Cadance looked down, “I still feel terrible about it,”

“And that is a good thing. It shows that you care, and Twilight will understand that.” Princess Celestia said,

“What should I tell her?” Cadance asked, looking back up.

“Everything,” Princess Celestia said simply, “She will no doubtedly be confused when she wakes up, but we shall be there for her when she does, as well as her friends.”

Cadance smiled, “Okay, that sounds good,”

“However that brings me back to my main question, regarding the worm,” Princess Celestia added,

“Oh?” Cadance asked, leaning forward to listen more closely,

Princess Celestia continued, “What do you hope to do with it?”

...

“I’m sorry?” Cadance asked after a moment of confusion

“What do you hope to do with the worm?” Princess Celestia repeated the question.

Cadance shook her head, “No no, I heard you the first time, I’m just not sure what you mean by it.” She explained.

“Hmm…” Princess Celestia paused to think, “Then let me put it like this. The worm has very obviously formed a bond with you, for whatever reason I do not know, but right now you are the sole reason why it has yet to be either resealed in stone or exterminated.”

“What!?” Cadance asked in surprise, “Why?”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Because the worm poses a great danger, a thousand years ago there were entire crusades against it, and hundreds lost their lives because of it. Now it has come back, and it has proven itself to be just as lethal and dangerous as it was in the past. I care a lot about my little ponies Cadance, and I do not wish to risk their lives by keeping this worm around.” She said sternly.

Cadance just stared at Princess Celestia, slowly taking in everything she said.

She continued, “But, I also care a lot about you, and your input. It is clear to me that you have also formed a bond with the worm, however minor it might be. So I am asking for your input on what should be done about the worm. However I must warn you, since its bond is shared with you, it will be placed directly under your responsibility.”

“I…” Cadance was at a loss, “I… I don’t know. This is all so sudden. I... need more time to think about this.” She finally said,

Princess Celestia stood up, “I understand, this is a difficult situation, and those take time, but time might not be something that we have much of. I do not wish to rush you on your decision, but I am unsure as to how much longer we can keep the worm subdued, so please think about it soon.” She finished, then began to walk out of the room. “I am sorry to leave you on such an important decision, but there are many things that still require my attention.”

Cadance watched as Princess Celestia exited the room, her thought process full of everything that she had been told, then something new bubbled up to the surface.

“Wait!” She called out, hoping that Princess Celestia was still in earshot.

A moment later Princess Celestia peeked back into the room with a confused expression on her face.

“Is there something else you need?” She asked.

“How is Shining Armor?” Cadance asked in return.

Princess Celestia smiled, “He is fine, if not busy with the guard. He should be able to come visit you soon.”

Cadance also smiled, “Thank you,”

“Goodbye Cadance,” Princess Celestia concluded, then disappeared back out the door, closing it behind her.

Once again Cadance was left alone with her thoughts, only this time with much more information, along with a major decision to make. What should she do with the worm? Cadance laid back down on the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling in thought. This would certainly take some time.

The sun lazily yet gracefully dipped below the horizon, and the moon soon rose to begin its long journey across the sky. Princess Celestia similarly walked gracefully down the hallways of the castle, passing all manner of staff, guards, and nobles, all of which bowing at the sight of her as they retired for the night. She gave only a curt nod to everypony she passed, and continued down her path through the corridors.

The twists and turns of the castle interior were almost like a maze, but Princess Celestia knew them by heart, and soon enough, a familiar set of double doors appeared before her. Paying little mind to the intricate designs on each door, Princess Celestia simply pushed them open, revealing a cozy study. It was warmly lit, and decently decorated, several bookshelves lined one side of the room, while a large desk sat on the other, plenty of parchment, ink, and quills were set upon it. Towards the center of the room however, was a set of lounge chairs along with a small table, a tray consisting of plenty of tea accessories and an array of baked goods.

As soon as Princess Celestia closed the door behind her, her demeanor immediately changed, she exhaled and relaxed her body, clearly slouching, even her mane seemed to droop a bit.

“Tired this evening, sister?” Princess Luna asked, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, a steaming cup of coffee held within her magic.

Princess Celestia sighed, and took up a seat of her own, “Yes, today has been a long one.” She replied as she began to set things up to steep her own tea.

“How so?” Princess Luna asked, taking a sip from her coffee.

The tea started to steep, so Princess Celestia answered her sister while she waited, “There is no end to the amount of things that require my attention, especially in these past few days. This whole invasion debacle is harder to put to rest than I originally thought.”

“Can you not just simply speak out and set things right?”

“Oh how I wish it were that easy,” Princess Celestia said, leaning back into the seat. “But it simply does not work that way anymore, ponies today must know what is going on, and while the press does a good job at that, they are also excellent at brewing paranoia.”

“I see…” Princess Luna said, then took another sip of her coffee.

“But I do not wish to talk about those matters, for they have consumed too much of my day already,” Princess Celestia spoke, checking the progress of her tea before setting the cup back down.

“Mmm… Then what would you like to talk about sister?” Princess Luna asked,

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, sinking further back into the chair, “I spoke with Cadance today, she has finally woken up.”

“Wondrous,” Princess Luna said, “What, pray tell, did you two speak about?”

“I informed her of the more important events that had happened in the last few days, as well as reassuring her that mostly everything was alright. Though the conversation did turn towards Twilight.” Princess Celestia looked down

Princess Luna also looked down, “Poor Twilight Sparkle, she deserved none of what happened to her.”

“Yet it still happened, and the blame falls mostly on me.” Princess Celestia stated.

“Nonsense!” Princess Luna said, taken aback, “What of the late changeling queen? Surely she is the one to blame here.”

Princess Celestia sighed, “That may be true, but it was because of my ignorance that this entire ordeal made it this far in the first place. Tell me, do you know how long the changeling queen had been impersonating Cadance?”

Princess Luna paused to think, “I cannot say for sure, for I am not particularly close to Cadance herself.”

“But I am,” Princess Celestia exclaimed, “and I did not have any suspicions until the wedding day itself.”

“Then the changeling was an excellent impersonator.” Princess Luna deducted,

“No, she wasn’t. Yet she still had me fooled the entire time,” Princess Celestia admitted, “I had noticed the change in attitude and personality, but I only assumed it was stress from the upcoming wedding, only in hindsight do I realize just how obvious it was.”

“Then how long was the changeling in place of Cadance?” Princess Luna asked, “Surely if it were that obvious it could have only been a couple of days.”

Princess Celestia looked away in shame, “I believe that Cadance was replaced on the night of her bachelorette party, nearly three weeks before the wedding.”

Princess Luna lurched forward, and nearly spat out a mouthful of coffee, thankfully she was able to hold it in, and she took a moment to swallow it before speaking. “That is preposterous! How could such a thing like that happen?”

“I do not know,” Princess Celestia said, “But what I do know, is that I failed, as a ruler, as an aunt, and as a teacher.”

An uncomfortable silence descended over the study, and it no longer felt as welcoming as it once did. Princess Celestia continued to stare blankly at the floor, while Princess Luna took a much longer than necessary sip of her coffee.

“Perhaps we should talk about something else.” Princess Luna suggested

“Yes, perhaps we should,” Princess Celestia agreed.

Princess Luna thought for a moment on what to ask, or to wait to see if her sister would ask her anything, but after several more moments of silence, she decided to break it.

“What else did you and Cadance talk about?” She tested.

Princess Celestia looked back up, “We spoke about the worm, and what was to be done about it. I’m having her decide upon its fate.”

Princess Luna visibly flinched at the mention of the worm, “Could we possibly talk about something else?” She asked,

Princess Celestia immediately noticed this, so she decided to press further, “Is something wrong Luna?”

“N-no,” Princess Luna said quickly, then took another unnecessarily long sip of her coffee, so long in fact, that she finished it, yet she did not put the cup down. Instead she used it as a shield from Princess Celestia’s scrutinizing gaze.

It was hardly effective, and soon enough Princess Celestia continued. “Is it about the worm?” She asked,

Princess Luna paused, then set her cup down before replying, “Yes, it is.”

“Shall we talk about it?” Princess Celestia sincerely asked,

Princess Luna looked uncertain, and stared intently at Princess Celestia as she thought about it for a moment, her mouth silently forming words and sentences before she finally sighed in defeat.

“Alright,” She agreed slowly,

Princess Celestia softened her expression, “Tell me about it,”

Sighing once more, Princess Luna spoke, “The worm is… an uncomfortable reminder of my past, and my legacy.” She began, “Every time I see it I am reminded of the mistakes I made so long ago, and I can only imagine what our subjects think of me now that it has returned.”

Princess Celestia listened carefully to what her sister was saying, then responded, “Except the worm is not tied to your legacy,”

Princess Luna looked at Princess Celestia strangely, “But it is, sister… I was the one that summoned it.”

She nodded, “That may be, but I changed history, the worm’s story simply fell into mere legends and folktales.”

“Just like my banishment?”

Princess Celestia cringed, “Yes… but just like yourself, those legends evolved into something else, traditions and holidays, completely separate from your legacy. Nopony nowadays would ever assume you had anything to do with the worm.”

“I am unsure if that is a good thing or a bad thing,” Princess Luna said,

“Mmm.” Princess Celestia hummed,

The two sat there for a moment, neither speaking.

“What ever happened to the other two beings that were summoned?” Princess Luna asked with worry,

“They were both destroyed in the fight, only the worm survived and escaped.”

“And what happened afterwards?”

“It went on a rampage, and it took nearly three years to stop it.” Princess Celestia explained,

Princess Luna gawked, and stared straight at Princess Celestia, “Three years?! Is the worm really that powerful?”

Princess Celestia looked stern, “No, it isn’t, but it was a paranoid and fearful creature, and it would flee the moment it knew the fight could not be won, it valued its life above all else…” Then Princess Celestia realized something, “At least until it met Cadance.”

“What is their relation? They have only just met, have they not?” Princess Luna asked confusedly.

“That is one thing I do not yet understand,” Princess Celestia said, “The worm is far, far older than Cadance, maybe even more powerful than her, yet it would still defend her with its life if it had to. There must be something to it, bonds like that do not simply form after a first meeting.”

“That is quite strange,” Princess Luna agreed,

Another moment of pause.

“What of the golems? Could you not have used them against the worm?” Princess Luna asked

Princess Celestia stopped for a moment, unsure of what her sister meant, then she remembered, “I could’ve, but that would’ve only caused more problems,”

“How so?”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Because the power they hold is not my own.”

Now Princess Luna was really confused, “Yet you can control them?”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Because it is not your power?”

“Because the power comes with a risk,” Princess Celestia corrected, “You know how I am, I love and care for all of the little ponies within Equestria, and my magic reflects that. But that power… It does not seek to bring prosperity, or to help anything at all. No, all that power wants to do is to burn the world into sinless ash. Every time I use it, I can feel its original master, and the more I use it, the higher the chance is that the power’s master finds out.”

Princess Luna looked at Princess Celestia in surprise and confusion, “Then how can you use that power? If you and it are so different, there should be no connection between you two.”

Princess Celestia looked up to the ceiling of the study, the well made designs were barely visible in the soft light of the room. “It’s because the power resides within a sun,”

“A sun? So not your sun?” Princess Luna quickly pointed out.

“Correct, I believe that the power comes from another world.” Princess Celestia said,

“Then I understand why you are so hesitant to use it, bringing forces from another world is incredibly dangerous, something I wish I knew before I summoned the worm and its colleagues.” Princess Luna said

Princess Celestia did a double take, “The worm is from another world!?”

Princess Luna just gave her a blank stare.

“Right,” Princess Celestia said after a moment, “It is a little obvious.”

They both sat there for a moment, unsure as to what to say next.

“What else do you know about the worm, or its origin?” Princess Celestia asked,

Princess Luna sighed, “Unfortunately, not much, I sparsely remember even having the summoning tablet in the first place, much less where or how I obtained it.”

“How is that possible?” Princess Celestia asked, confused, “Surely traveling to another world is not something one would forget so easily.”

“I do not remember because of the nightmare,” Princess Luna explained, “It held sway over my mind for far longer than you might think, and in that time it implanted itself deep within it. Many memories have been locked away, some lasting years at a time. Only now that I have been freed from its control that they are coming back, but as of now it is safe to say that I would not remember anything the nightmare had done before.”

Princess Celestia looked towards her sister with worry, but one particular question came to mind, “But you remember our fight?” she asked.

“The nightmare was a malignant and evil entity,” Princess Luna said with a serious expression, “It had no mercy, not even to me as its host. It let me remember our fight because it knew it would tear me apart inside, and had I broken because of it, then the nightmare would have assumed complete control over me.”

Princess Celestia was at a loss for words, she had never known that side of the story, she didn’t even know where to begin.

“Thankfully,” Princess Luna continued, “Deep down I still held onto the belief that everything would turn out okay, that you still loved me, and that I still loved you. And look at what has happened because of it, we are both still here, together again, and in a far better place than all those years ago.” Princess Luna finished with a small smile.

Princess Celestia felt her eyes begin to water, and she also smiled, she took a moment to recollect herself before speaking once more. “That is wonderful to hear sister, and thank you for telling me all of that. I had not expected today’s talk to be so heavy.”

“Neither did I, but I’m glad we were able to talk through it” Princess Luna said,

“As am I” Princess Celestia agreed

Princess Luna glanced at the clock on the wall, “Though now I believe I must attend to my duties.”

Princess Celestia also looked to the clock, “Oh my, perhaps it is also time for me to turn in as well,” She said, “Though, there is still one more thing I would like to ask of you sister, regarding the worm.”

“Oh? What might that be?” Princess Luna asked, having gotten out of her chair.

“I feel that there is still too much that is unknown about the worm.” Princess Celestia began, “Is it possible for you to delve into its mind to try to find out more about it, specifically regarding its relationship with Cadance, or its past?”

Princess Luna paused for a moment, “It is not as simple as that sister, the dreamscape may be connected to a creature’s mind, but they are not one in the same, there is only so much that I can do.” She explained, “But, I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you Luna,” Princess Celestia nodded,

And with that, Princess Luna left the room, leaving Princess Celestia alone in the study. She looked down, and noticed her forgotten cup of tea sitting on the table, the one she had set to steep earlier. She pulled the tea bag out of the cup, and went to taste it, only to be met with lukewarm bitterness. It had definitely been steeped for too long, but that was okay, everypony makes mistakes.

The dreamscape

A realm of imagination and visions, a concept that is hard to grasp by most, yet easily navigable for some. For Princess Luna however, who had been working with it nearly her entire life, it was almost second nature for her to slip in and out of the dreams that appeared within the dreamscape.

Each one was entirely unique, based entirely off of the memories and subconscious of whatever entity they originated from. And they each held characteristics that reflected that of their owners. The size of the dream showed how imaginative the dreamer was, the larger it was, the more imagination the dreamer had, and the same went for how small they were.

Both the color and shape dictated what was happening within the dream. Colors tended to show emotion, and shapes showed how active the dream was. A smoother, mostly blue dream would most likely take place somewhere calm and relaxing, while a spiked, yellowish dream would most likely show an adventure, with plenty of action and excitement.

Hundreds if not thousands of dreams lay across the expanse of the dreamscape, floating about, with very rough correlation to their real world counterparts. Princess Luna drifted past dreams of all sorts, ignoring all of them in search of one particular. She certainly wouldn’t have to look for long, nor travel very far, as the worm was being held in the castle gardens, which was typically devoid of any dreamers.

Soon enough her quarry was within view. It was quite a bit different from the other dreams meandering about in the distance. For one the dream was quite massive, clearly displaying the worm’s imagination, yet it was a complete sphere, devoid of any activity whatsoever. Further yet, it showed only a matte grey, meaning there was little if any emotion present inside the dream. But all of this was typical for any soul who had been deprived of consciousness for long periods of time, though it did mean that the worm’s memories were harder to access.

That was not a problem for Princess Luna however, and as she inspected the dream closely from the outside, she lit a spark beneath it. Ever so slowly, the grey dream of the worm began to shift and warp, small waves began to ripple across the surface as its mind became active once more. The dull grey color faded, revealing an interesting mix of nearly every color as the world inside the dream began to take shape. After several moments however, only four colors remained visible. A great deal of yellow, indicating happiness, along with a good amount of light blue, whatever was happening inside the worm’s dream was far from the worst, at least from its point of view.

But there was more, unlike the larger amounts of yellow and light blue, there was also a smaller splotch of a deeper blue, along with an equal amount of purple, which was worrying. The darker blue indicated sadness, which wasn’t uncommon among dreams, but it was odd that it was accented by both happiness and calmness. Then there was the purple, which confused Princess Luna the most. Purple represented fear, and it was most common among nightmares, yet the worm did not appear to be having one. This was far from normal, Princess Luna had to get a closer look.

Peering into the dream, Princess Luna could only see clouds, sky, and nothing else. But that couldn’t be right, the shape of the dream had progressed from small ripples to much larger and choppy waves, which meant something had to be happening within the dream. Yet there was nothing, only the endless expanse of the sky.

Just then, a flash of white zipped past, Princess Luna couldn’t make out what it was, but it certainly caught her attention. Something was happening in the dream, but Princess Luna couldn’t tell what, she would have to enter it to find out.

Of course Princess Luna was going to enter the dream anyway, but she hesitated, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to appear as herself within the dream. Normally when she entered dreams it was to quell fears and dispel nightmares, and Princess Luna would normally appear as herself. Of course the ponies of Equestria recognized her, and of course they are grateful for her, but this was different.

The worm wasn’t having a nightmare, Princess Luna would be entering a normal dream, which she almost never did, especially since most saw it as a huge breach of privacy. Still, she would be intruding upon the worm's mind, nevermind the fact that it probably didn’t even know who she was, much less respect her in any way. So it was probably best not to appear before the worm as herself, lest it find out she was the one messing with its mind.

Princess Luna peered back into the dream, the endless expanse of sky unchanged since she last looked in. Focusing, she turned into a blue mist, and entered the dream.

Clouds and sky were the only thing in Princess Luna’s vision, there was no ground beneath her, and no sun above her, even though it was clearly day within the dream, but most importantly, there was no worm. Which was impossible, a creature cannot have a dream without themselves in it, which meant the worm had to be somewhere, it just wasn’t visible for whatever reason.

Still, this gave Princess Luna time to hide herself, as a blue mist was actually pretty visible against the backdrop of the sky. Spying a cloud that was particularly close, Princess Luna moved over and possessed it, giving it a slight blue tint.

It appeared that she did it just in time too, as not even a second later, a white form dashed passed her, throwing the cloud into a spiral, nearly dissipating it. Quickly recovering, Princess Luna kept the cloud from completely disappearing, and instead turned to see what had flown past just a moment ago.

To say it was an odd creature was an understatement. It had a long and lithe body, nearly pure white fur with a scaled light pink underbelly. Green feathers followed the dorsal side of the creature, running from a crest on its head all the way down to a plume on its tail. There were only four short legs, two close to the head, and two more towards the tail. It looked both mammalian and reptilian, and its morphology was eerily similar to a certain chaotic entity, only it was much larger and much more uniform.

Despite its apparent lack of wings, the odd creature flew gracefully to and fro in the sky, seemingly wandering about. After a few moments of this however, the weather started to turn, rather fast actually, Princess Luna noticed a sudden increase in clouds, so much so that they started to blot out the sun. The creature noticed this as well, and began to move more cautiously, keeping an eye on the cloud cover forming above it.

Soon enough, rain started to fall, and Princess Luna could feel water droplets start to pierce through her cloud, focusing once more, she made the cloud more resilient, enough to not worry about being torn apart in the rains. The creature, on the other hoof, let out a distressed wail, and it began to fly in a single direction, trying to distance itself from the storm above it. Princess Luna decided to follow it at a distance.

There was a flash of lightning, and a crack of thunder, which spooked the creature enough for it to make a break for the open skies. It dashed forwards at an alarming speed, intent on escaping the turmoil, Princess Luna didn’t have any trouble keeping up, but it certainly surprised her for it to start moving so fast.

An ear piercing screech echoed through the storm, and a split second later, the worm dove through the storm clouds above. Its previous armor donned, the massive beast descended upon the fleeing creature, intent on catching it. The hunt was on, and Princess Luna was right in the middle of it.

The creature was quite fast, but so was the worm, though it was clear that its heavy armor plating was slowing it down. Still, they looked to be traveling at about the same speed, though after a while it was obvious that the creature was just a slight bit faster than the worm, and it looked to be making headway against it. At least that was before the lightning strikes.

Bolts of lightning flashed down with increasing frequency, some nearby the creature, while others further away. The creature was able to nimbly avoid most of them, but there were simply too many to dodge, and several bolts managed to strike it. Though it appeared that the creature was resistant to the lightning, as the bolts only bounced off, leaving minimal damage. Still, it was damage nonetheless, and the creature started to lose speed, allowing the worm to catch up.

The pair burst out of the storm, seeing as how it was unable to keep pace with the high speed chase, this didn’t deter the worm however, as it kept up the attack, relentlessly sending bolt after bolt of lightning without the aid of clouds. The creature was in a losing battle, and it desperately tried to escape, weaving back and forth trying to dodge the lightning onslaught. The worm neared ever closer, and soon enough it was right on top of the creature.

Without warning, the worm thrust down upon the creature, giving it barely any time to react. The creature pulled to the side, but it wasn’t fast enough, and it was clipped by the worm as it passed by. The creature screamed, and it tried to start flying once more, but the gash on its side was deep, and it prevented it from going anywhere near as fast as it once was.

Coming up from below, the worm struck the creature once more, this time not missing its mark. The creature jerked, and gave out a low death moan, then fell limp within the worm's mandibles, its once pristine coat was now stained with burn marks and its own blood. The hunt was over, the worm had secured the kill. Crimson droplets rained down as the worm began to feast on its meal, but Princess Luna had seen enough.

Using her power, Princess Luna took more control over the dream, and forced the immediate area to fade out, effectively cleaning the slate of the dream. Only the worm and a light blue cloud remained, most likely causing it quite a bit of confusion. Normally when Princess Luna did this, she would inform the dreamer, but this was a different case, it would be better to keep the worm in the dark as she worked.

Extracting memories and information through dreams was not easy, it wasn’t just like she could file through each individual memory within the worm’s mind. It was more like testing, Princess Luna could create an image or emotion within the dream, and the worm’s mind would use its memories to build around it. It wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, but it was enough to get a general idea on where the worm had come from, and why it did the things it did.

Gathering her power once more, Princess Luna began with a small test, just creating a single figure out of dream matter, Princess Celestia. The worm gazed upon the imaginary pony, and a new dream began to take shape. Dark storm clouds gathered, and the periodic flashes of lightning created an incredibly similar environment to the first dream, however this one was different. There was shouting, the clashing of metal, and screams. Princess Luna watched as inconspicuous forms dashed back and forth in the storm, obviously pony in nature, but with no other discernible features.

A great battle was taking place, squads of soldiers would engage in hit and run tactics, and then try desperately to avoid an incoming attack from the worm, most were unsuccessful, and many bodies soon fell through the storm. But then, there was a great beam of light, which lit up the storm, and swept across the worm’s now unarmored hide. With an echoing screech, the worm whipped its head around, and spotted a much larger target, Princess Luna recognized this target. In a flash, the worm was in front of dream Princess Celestia, and they both stood there, hovering within the storm. Then the worm spoke.

“F E A R”

Princess Luna paused, fear, the worm had said fear. Quickly looking past the rain, through the clouds, and out of the storm to the outskirts of the dream, Princess Luna focused on the colors showing. Red, pure red. The worm was outright furious at Princess Celestia, and it showed, but the splotch of purple and blue remained constant, the exact same size they were when Princess Luna first saw them. The worm was clearly not afraid of her sister, no, it was afraid of something else entirely.

Focusing back in on the dream, Princess Luna realized that they were no longer in the storm, in fact, the worm was flying at an alarming speed away from it. So fast in fact, that after only a few seconds of flying, the storm had gone from an overwhelming typhoon to a simple spot in the distance. Whether the worm was exaggerating its own speed within the dream or it actually flew that fast Princess Luna didn’t know, but this part of the dream was over.

Princess Luna forced another clean slate, then conjured up another figure. A single changeling drone, she would’ve made the changeling queen but she didn’t actually know what she looked like, considering her body was never found, but there were plenty of drones to clean up in the aftermath, Princess Luna got an uncomfortably close look at some of them. Nonetheless, the worm viewed the imaginary figure, and a new dream began to take shape.

Once again it started within a storm, but this time, instead of armored ponies fighting for revenge, there were changeling drones fighting for their lives. From the looks of it, none of them really knew what was going on, and in that confusion the worm excelled, managing to pick off entire groups at a time as it disappeared and reappeared in the storm. That is, until a single voice pierced the roar of the storm.

“Help!”

The worm stopped, and in the next instant was rocketing towards the origin of the call, Princess Luna followed closely behind. They broke through the storm, and soon arrived at the entrance of Canterlot castle, with two very prominent figures standing right outside. While the worm went to confront them, Princess Luna looked back to the outskirts of the dream. Some red still persisted, but there was also some yellow, and a great amount of pink began to form as the worm met with Cadance down below. As the pink increased however, so did the purple, along with the blue. The worm clearly cared for Cadance, yet something about her made the worm wary.

A moment later a shockwave passed over Princess Luna, and the cloud she was possessing was nearly torn apart, the previous resilience she had added barely kept it together. As Princess Luna reformed the cloud, she noticed a similar reaction to all of the storm around her, nearly every cloud was torn apart, causing most of it to simply dump any remaining precipitation down below. In only a few moments the storm had faded away to a clear blue sky.

Even though Princess Luna had been told what happened, to actually view the storm be so effortlessly destroyed was still amazing, but the absence of a storm made one thing apparent. Hundreds of changelings were gathering around the trio, and while Princess Luna knew the outcome, it was still a bit of a worrying sight.

Soon enough, the changeling queen appeared before them, shouting something incomprehensible, Princess Celestia returned with something equally non understandable, and from there it was clear that the worm cared little for their argument. However in the next few moments, things really picked up. The changeling queen attacked Cadance, but the worm blocked it, and Princess Luna could see red begin to overtake the dream.

Then the real fight began, the worm was pelted with offensive spells, which only seemed to enrage it further. Princess Luna watched as the dream turned completely red, even blotting out the previous purple and blue. The worm was about to go on a rampage, and unleash a primal fury. Princess Luna did not want to see what happened next, so she forced the dream to fade.

Giving the worm a moment to calm, Princess Luna prepared the next test. Instead of producing a single figure, she would force the dream to feel a certain emotion, and the worm’s mind should reflect that with memories. So to start, Princess Luna flooded the dream with yellow, happiness.

The dream soon morphed back towards the endless sky expanse that Princess Luna had first arrived in, and a quick look around gave her the answer she needed. The worm was absolutely devouring the creature it had killed, and it seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. It was obvious that some time had passed since they had left, as the creature now carcass was nearly completely eaten with not even bones remaining, the worm just seemed to consume everything, midair even. Princess Luna only watched for another second before forcing the dream to change.

The next scene was even more gruesome, and one that Princess Luna recognized. As expected, the worm was happily chowing down on its prey, however this time, they were changelings. Princess Luna immediately forced the dream to close, she didn’t want to see anymore, it was obvious enough that the worm enjoyed eating.

Princess Luna took a moment to recover from what she had witnessed, then continued with the tests. This time, she flooded the dream with pink, which typically represented love and compassion. However instead of forming a new dream, the worm’s mind seemed to conjure two figures. The first one was easily recognizable as Cadance, but the second one remained a mystery.

Princess Luna flew down closer to inspect the figure, unfortunately it wasn’t very clear, the finer features seemed to blur together, meaning this memory was an old one. One thing was for certain however, they were obviously a pony, and the worm held quite a bit of love for them as well. This was very confusing, considering the worm came from another world where ponies might not even exist, yet it knew of one, and loved it.

Isolating the blurry figure, Princess Luna hoped to see just what memories the worm had left of it, and a new dream began to form. It was dark and still, nothing seemed to move or make a sound. Princess Luna could actually see very well, but this came from the worm’s memory, meaning it couldn’t. Looking out of the dream, Princess Luna could see a great deal of purple, and little else. It was obvious that the worm was afraid at this moment, but it wasn’t as vibrant as before, meaning this wasn’t what kept the worm afraid, this was something else.

There was a sound, a thumping, something in the dream was making noise, a noise that quite obviously terrified the worm, as the purple surrounding the dream seemed to deepen. The noise drew near, and it became louder, along with the volume came motion, as the entire area around the worm seemed to reverberate as the sound continued to get closer and closer, the worm’s fear ever increasing.

Just then, something broke through the wall, and light flooded into the cave, which was now visible to both the worm and Princess Luna. Looking around quickly, Princess Luna could see that everything was just as blurry as before, meaning this entire memory was old, and nearly forgotten. However one thing caught Princess Luna’s attention as she looked around the cave, the worm, the tiny worm.

It now made sense why this memory was so blurred, as it looked like it took place when the worm was only an infant. For a creature such as the worm to have remembered something like this, it must’ve been important.

There was a muffled shouting, and another thump, and more light entered the cave. Princess Luna looked towards the source of the light, but couldn’t make out much, most likely because the worm’s eyes were still undeveloped. The fear the worm felt only increased as whatever was breaking through the cave wall continued.

There was a final thump, and what was probably the crumbling of stone, and the cave was completely filled with light. The worm could only squirm on the floor in terror, not able to do anything at all. Two blurred figures stepped into the cave, far too unclear to tell what they were, but then they started shouting again, once again too muffled to make out.

Then one of them raised something above its head like a weapon, and it looked like it was just about to bring it down upon the helpless baby worm, but then something stopped them. A voice, clearer than the others, but still incomprehensible spoke, the two figures stopped, and appeared to turn around as another figure entered the cave. It was the pony, still blurred like the rest of this memory, but less so than it. The worm obviously held this pony in high regard.

The pony seemed to speak with the two figures, calming them, which also seemed to calm the worm. Princess Luna watched as the fear began to ebb away. Then the pony approached the worm, and looked down upon it. The worm looked back up, and they stared at each other for a moment, Princess Luna tried as hard as she could to discern any identifying features on the pony, yet she couldn’t, this memory was just too old and faded. Still, the pony appeared to reach down, pick up the worm, and cradle it. Pink and yellow flooded the dream, but so did purple and dark blue.

The dream began to fade, and the worm changed back into its current form, yet the figure remained. The worm continued to stare at the figure, and dark blue began to overtake the dream. Princess Luna continued to focus hard on the figure, ignoring the state of the dream. The dark blue nearly enveloped the whole dream, but stopped. The only thing left was the small splotch of purple that was persistent with the worm’s modern mind.

Then it started to grow, slowly at first, but it started to pick up speed. In only a few moments it equaled the dark blue, then it surpassed it. The blurred figure was then engulfed in shadows, and only then did Princess Luna notice the intense fear the worm was experiencing. Thinking fast, Princess Luna tried to stop it, she tried to clear the dream, yet it didn’t work, and the fear only intensified. The shadows that wrapped the figure grew and distorted, then raised up above Princess Luna and the worm.

Princess Luna dropped her focus on the cloud, and reverted back to her original form, then she tried harder to quell the rising fear of the worm. The shadows persisted however, and only continued to grow, enveloping more and more of the dream. Princess Luna took a step back, and watched as the shadows just seemed to keep going, growing bigger and bigger as an absolutely gigantic figure began to take shape.

It was large, far larger than the worm, not to mention longer too, and even though it was cloaked in shadows, several things were apparent. Four eyes, ablaze with desire, multiple mandibles, each massive and sharper than a razor, with a terrifying amount of teeth behind them. But what was most intimidating about it, was the essence it radiated. Princess Luna could feel its menacing power, even through the dream. She had never seen anything like it.

The worm was having a nightmare, and Princess Luna could do nothing to stop it. Normally nightmares came from within, a manifestation of the mind’s fears, and Princess Luna would help quell those fears, but this was different. The fear the worm was feeling couldn’t be quelled, it wouldn’t let it be quelled. Whatever was being manifested in front of them was what the worm feared most, and it believed nothing could overcome it, which meant Princess Luna couldn’t help stop it.

The dream was completely engulfed in purple, which then darkened to black. The entire dream world began to shake and crumble, and Princess Luna realized something bad. Even though there was a spell keeping the worm asleep, it could be broken, even from within, any emotion, if it were powerful enough, can break a spell, even fear. The dream crumbled and shattered, then sunk below the surface of the dreamscape, disappearing beneath it, and Princess Luna was left alone.

The worm was about to wake up, full of fear, with nothing to stop it.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Oh my, I broke the 10000 word record, except it wasn't this chapter, an unpublished one actually broke it first, and you might see that later. I'm actually surprised at how long this one is, and I wanted to break it up, but I just couldn't find a good enough place to do it, so have an extra long chapter today. Though this does mean that the next one will be a bit shorter, but that is okay.

Chapter 6: Aftermath

“Ca-dance”

Cadance’s eyes shot open, and she quickly looked around to find out who called her, only to realize something terrifying.

“Oh no. No no no NO NO!” She shouted, quickly getting up off the ground.

She was back in the crystal caverns, the vibrant walls once again acting as her prison.

“Ca-dance,” the voice said again, echoing throughout the room.

“This can’t be real.” Cadance said, quickly running back and forth, trying to find some sort of exit, “This can’t be real.” She repeated.

“Ca-dance,” the voice mocked her.

She knew that voice, she knew it well. It was only the one that taunted her relentlessly while she was trapped down here before. It was the voice of the changeling queen.

“No!” Cadance shouted, “This isn’t real. You’re dead!” and with a great leap, she jumped across a ravine in the cave system, and began running blindly down whatever pathway she could find.

“Ca-dance,” the voice taunted again.

Ignoring the searing pain in her hooves and legs, Cadance continued running, trying to escape, but the maze of crystal before her was unyielding, and soon enough Cadance found herself back within the room she woke up in.

“Ca-dance,” the voice said again, but this time it was accompanied by the chime of crystals.

She froze, every visible surface within the crystal cave flashed, before her own face once again appeared, on every single crystal.

“Ca-dance,” each one spoke, the chorus of voices forcing her to cover her ears.

“NO!” Cadance tried to shout, only to be drowned out. “STOP!” She backpedaled, only to bump into a large crystal behind her. Turning around, she only came face to face with herself.

“Ca-dance,” Her reflection said, louder than the rest.

It scowled at her, then it started to change. Cadance watched in horror as her reflection’s hair and fur lost its color, turning a dull grey, with clumps and patches beginning to fall off. Her skin beneath turned pale and wrinkled, and seemed to sag and stretch over her face. Cadance tried to look away, but found that she couldn’t, her whole body was locked in position, and she was forced to watch as her reflection decayed right before her eyes, the ever present chorus behind her chanting her name. Chunks of skin and tissue slopped off of her face, revealing pitch black chitin below, her eyes glazed over, with green fluid pouring out of every orifice.

“Ca-dance,” It sputtered and spat as more strips of skin flaked off.

When it was over, only the changeling queen remained, and Cadance watched as it reached forward, actually passing through the crystal wall trying to reach her. Cadance immediately took a step back, and tripped over the uneven floor, landing in a heap. She curled up and closed her eyes, covering her head, trying to drown out the constant chanting of her name.

Then it stopped, and absolute silence fell over the cave, but Cadance didn’t dare open her eyes once more.

Step

Splat

Laboured breathing could be heard, along with the small drips of some liquid falling to the floor.

Step

Splat

It coughed and retched, and the loud splashing of vomit could be heard.

Step

Splat

It was getting closer, Cadance curled up tighter, trying desperately to ignore the approaching entity.

Step

Splat

It was right on top of her, so close that Cadance could feel its uneven and hot breath. More drops of liquid splashed down, a few specks landing on her, which soon started to sting. Then it heaved, and vomited once more, right next to her. Cadance felt the warm liquid begin to surround her in a pool.

Then it started to burn.

In an instant, Cadance’s eyes snapped open, and she tried to jump out of the pool, only for it to hold onto her. It was sticky, far stickier than it should have been, and it held her in place. Panicking, Cadance whipped her head back, only to come face to face with the dead, soulless eyes of the changeling queen.

“Ca-dance,” the two toned voice emanated from somewhere within its body, not even bothering to speak with its mouth, not that it could’ve.

It only had half a face, with the other half not even being there. There was no bone, only pulsing green guts. Part of the lower jaw was missing, with the long green tongue hanging limply off to the side, dripping a mix of saliva and blood. The damage continued down the body, with a wicked gash travelling all the way down its torso. Its left leg was torn apart, leaving only a few strands of sinew to awkwardly drag across the floor as it walked, leaving a green trail wherever it went.

Cadance desperately wanted to look away, yet she couldn’t, the green goo was still holding her in place. She was forced to confront the walking corpse in front of her. It let out a low hiss, and inched closer to Cadance’s face. She pulled and pulled and pulled, trying to free herself, or at least put some distance between her and it, but the goo held strong, and continued to burn.

As a last ditch effort, Cadance raised her head up as high as it would go and screamed,

”HELP!”

Everything stopped, the corpse, the reflections, even the burning sensation, Cadance could see them all look up at the ceiling in anticipation.

The ground started to tremble, just like it did before, only this time Cadance couldn’t move, the goo still prevented her from doing so in the slightest. Small stones and crystals were already being jostled, and the intensity was only increasing.

Then the reflections began to laugh, it started with some giggling, then others joined in with chuckling, until finally every face in the cavern was erupting with laughter. By now larger chunks of crystals were beginning to break loose, some falling frighteningly close to where Cadance was stuck, prompting her to try even harder to free herself and find some cover.

Then the corpse started to laugh, causing Cadance to stop and stare at it. It was a deep, guttural laugh that rasped out of it. The cave continued to shake relentlessly, and the once solid rock and crystal walls started to buckle and crumble. Rock dust flooded the area, with Cadance caught in the middle of it, it stung her eyes and nose.

Pebbles soon rained down upon her, and Cadance looked up. The ceiling was moving, crumbling, falling apart. More large chunks down, shattering across the floor all around her, peppering her with chips and debris, but she could only look up.

“Ca-dance,” The corpse spoke a final time, right as the ceiling collapsed.

Both were buried under several tons of rock and crystal, crushed to death and redeath.

…

“Ca-dance,”

…

“Ca-dance,”

…

Cadance awoke with a start, and immediately sat back up in her bed to frantically look around. She was met with the same white hospital room she had fallen asleep in earlier. The lights were still off, and the machine to her side was still silent, it was completely quiet.

“It was…” Cadance paused to catch her breath, “A nightmare?”

Only the silence of the night answered her.

With a sigh of relief, Cadance flopped back down on the bed. Never in her life had she had a nightmare like that before, it was terrifying. Putting a hoof to her chest, she realized her heart was racing. So she took a few moments to pace herself.

“Ca-dance,”

Her breath immediately caught in her throat. It was the voice, the same one in her nightmare, the changeling queen’s voice. Cadance didn’t dare move a muscle, lest that monster would come out again, though if it did, she would be ready to leap into action immediately. She did not want to get stuck in that goo again.

There was a shifting, like something was getting up off of the floor, but there was no heavy breathing, nor the periodic drips of ichor.

“Ca-dance,” something said at the foot of her bed.

Straining her eyes, Cadance looked down, and was met with glowing blue eyes, a piercing gaze, despite the lack of pupils. It was certainly a frightening face, but one that brought back faint memories.

“Oh…” She said, sitting up fully, “It’s you.”

“Ca-dance,” The worm, in its pony form, repeated, rising up from its position. When Cadance’s eyes adjusted more to the darkness, she could see it was actually taller than her at its full height, though it was a bit shorter than Princess Celestia herself. Still, the rather intimidating figure approached her bedside.

“Ummm…” Cadance said, pulling back a bit.

The worm didn’t seem to understand what she was conveying, and eventually sat down right next to her bed. It leaned forward and laid its head down on the mattress, much like a dog.

“Hungry,” the worm mumbled.

“Oh,” Cadance stopped, “Uhhh…” She looked to her bedside table, but any food she would’ve set aside earlier had long since been taken away by the hospital staff. “Uh sorry… I don’t have any umm… food.”

The worm trilled, which sort of sounded like a sigh. Cadance stared at it for a moment, then cautiously moved her hoof over to it and gently set it on its head in an attempt to comfort it. She wasn’t able to feel much through her bandages, but Cadance was not expecting to feel a sort of pulling sensation. She stopped, and immediately retracted her hoof, but the only thing different was the small amount of dirt now smeared on her bandages. The motion also caused the worm to look back up at her.

“What was that?” She asked,

“Hungry,” was all the worm responded with.

Was it… feeding off of her? Like her life force? Like a vampony? She had heard of vamponies before, even read an awful romance novel with a horribly unfortunate name about them, but the worm didn’t seem very vampiric, in fact it even existed in the sunlight. Cadance tentatively reached over and set her hoof down on the worm again, and soon felt the pulling sensation return.

It didn’t hurt in the slightest, and after a few moments the worm stopped, seemingly finished with whatever it was doing. Though Cadance didn’t feel any weaker, at least not what she could tell. Perhaps the worm wasn’t consuming her life, rather something else, but what? It wasn’t like she could just ask it.

Cadance paused, and looked towards the worm, which was very much capable of speech.

“Uhh,” she began, “Are you still hungry?” She asked.

“No,” the worm answered.

“What uhh… What did you eat? Cadance asked.

The worm took some time to respond, probably trying to find the right word.

“L’ove,” it said, seeming to have some trouble pronouncing it.

“Love?” Cadance repeated. The worm had fed off of her love? Like a changeling? Had the worm also copied the changeling’s ability to feed off of love?

The worm just chirped.

“Huh,” Cadance said to herself, and she silently stared at the worm for a few seconds, then she slowly began petting the worm again, which it seemed to very much enjoy, despite it already having its apparent fill.

The next few moments were spent in silence, with Cadance in extreme thought, mostly regarding the worm, and what to do with it. She watched as it simply enjoyed the gentle movements of her hoof, and that made her realize something. The worm wasn’t just a rampaging beast, it was an animal, albeit a very strange one, but an animal nonetheless. One that could feel love and compassion, as well as fear and anger. Sure it was dangerous, but it was only lashing out against those nearby because it was scared, and maybe a little angry. But that all changed because of Cadance, now that she was here, the worm had calmed considerably, and while it was still incredibly violent, it was only to protect her.

Cadance’s thought process was interrupted however, as the sound of hurried hoofsteps quickly approaching came from behind the door, and only a moment later the doorknob was enveloped in a deep blue glow.

The door was thrust open, and Princess Luna quickly stepped inside the hospital room.

“Cadance! Cadance!” She called out in a hushed shout, and immediately noticed that she was already awake. Princess Luna then took a moment to catch her breath, and continued. “Cadance, I desperately require your assistance. The worm is loose, and I am currently unable to find it, would you per chance know… where… to… find it?” She trailed off, having just noticed the figure sitting at her bedside. “Who is that?”

Cadance looked from the very disheveled Princess Luna to the worm, then back at Princess Luna. “This is the worm.” She gestured to it.

Princess Luna stopped, “That is the worm?”

Cadance nodded. “This is the worm.” She repeated

Princess Luna stared at them for a moment, “My goodness, I was told it had obtained the ability to change its form, but I never expected it to be so drastic.” She squinted in the darkness, “Or so unsettling,”

“Yeah…” Cadance agreed, trailing off a bit.

Princess Luna then cleared her throat, “Right, anyway, I assume everything is taken care of then? Especially since you have the worm under control.” She said, “I must thank you for acting so swiftly in this matter, as I do not know what else I could’ve done to resolve this.”

Cadance just stared at Princess Luna as she said all of this, “Uhh… Actually,”

It was at this point that Princess Luna realized just how unlikely for what she said to have actually happened.

“Wait… You didn’t call the worm here?” She asked,

“No.” Cadance admitted, “Actually I think it just came to me. In fact I think it even woke me up from my nightmare.”

“You were having a nightmare?” Princess Luna asked in surprise, though she quickly regained her composure, “Well I am terribly sorry for not coming to your aid sooner, I was a bit preoccupied.”

Cadance looked at Princess Luna with confusion, “I thought you came here for help with the worm?”

“I did.” She answered slowly, “But I also came to help deal with your nightmare,” Princess Luna tacked on quickly

Cadance continued to stare at her incredulously.

“Aaannd...” Princess Luna continued, “To maybe… talk to you?”

“In the middle of the night?” Cadance asked.

“Well…” Princess Luna trailed off, “My schedule doesn’t usually permit me to visit during the day, and since you are already awake I was thinking we could possibly talk a bit… You know… about things.” She explained.

Cadance decided not to press the issue with that logic, and simply let Princess Luna continue.

“Or you could go back to sleep, should you want to do that. I have no issue with leaving you be for the rest of your night” She finished.

“Okay.” Cadance said after a moment, “Let’s talk. Besides, I’ve been asleep for enough time recently, and I don’t think I can go back to sleep just yet after a nightmare like that.”

“Excellent,” Princess Luna said, “Then should we start with your nightmare? I do specialize in dreams after all.”

“Uhh, sure.”

Princess Luna smiled, “To start, what was it about?”

“Umm…” Cadance began, trying to remember what had happened. “I was back in the crystal caves, and the changeling queen was there, calling my name, and no matter which way I ran I would always end up in the same area.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Princess Luna commented,

“There was more to it.” Cadance said, then continued, “Eventually I was surrounded by reflections of myself, with each one chanting my name, taunting me. Then I was confronted by the queen, who was disguised as me, but that didn’t last for very long…” Cadance trailed off as she recounted the details.

Princess Luna’s expression slowly changed as Cadance went on, but she didn’t interject with anything else.

“I tried to back away, but I tripped, so I closed my eyes and tried to wish it all away. Then It appeared,” Cadance finished.

“It?” Princess Luna asked.

“The changeling queen.” Cadance answered, “Or at least… it was. She was dead, yet still moving, a walking corpse. It vomited this… burning… goo stuff on me, and I tried to get away, but I was stuck.”

“And then what happened?” Princess Luna asked with morbid curiosity.

“I called for help. Just like I did before” Cadance replied, “But then the laughter started, everything in the cave seemed to laugh at me. Then the ground started to shake-” She paused to sniffle, “And I was caught in a cave in, crushed under a thousand pounds of rock and stone.”

…

“Oh my,” Princess Luna began after a moment, “It has been a long time since I have heard of anypony having a nightmare of that caliber.”

Cadance nodded slightly in understanding, “Does it mean anything?” She asked.

Princess Luna put a hoof to her chin, “Well, nightmares such as the one you described are typically common after traumatic events. Considering it has really only been three days since the invasion, I’d say it is safe to say you might be experiencing some form of trauma.”

“Well what can I do?” Cadance asked,

Sighing, Princess Luna continued, “There is no easy way to deal with trauma, Cadance, such things take a long time to recover from. Luckily you have friends and family to help you deal with it.” she said, then glanced at the worm, “Even the worm can help, as it does seem very affectionate towards you.”

Cadance looked down at the worm as she continued to stroke it, and after a moment of thought she spoke.

“I think I’m going to keep it,”

“I’m sorry?” Princess Luna asked, not expecting the change in subject

“The worm,” Cadance clarified, “I want to keep it. Celestia made it my decision, so I am deciding now.”

Princess Luna stared at her in shock for a moment, “Are you certain?”

“Look at it,” Cadance said, prompting Princess Luna to do so.

They both watched as the worm breathed, the gentle rises and falls coinciding with the audible inhales and exhales.

“It is so much more than just a monster.” Cadance began, “Sure it is dangerous, but I can tell that it feels love, and sadness. It doesn’t feel right for me to condemn it, especially for all that it has done for me, and for something that happened so far in the past.”

Princess Luna looked at Cadance with uncertainty, but also with a modicum of understanding, “I see… Well, if you are confident in your decision, then I will not oppose it.”

Cadance looked back towards Princess Luna, “Thank you.”

It was then that Princess Luna noticed something, “Also, Cadance, you appear to be bleeding.”

“Huh?” She asked, confused, and quickly checked herself, only to immediately notice the large red splotch on her bandages, one that was increasing in size. “Uh oh,” Cadance said, she must have nicked one of the worm’s spines while she was petting it, she didn’t even feel it.

“Are you going to be alright?” Princess Luna asked with worry.

“Umm…” Cadance said as she undid a bit of the ample bandaging further up her leg and reapplied it over the small cut. “I should be fine,”

“If you say so,” Princess Luna said, “However I do believe I should take my leave now, the night is still young, and many of my duties still need to be attended to.”

Cadance frowned, “Okay then…”

“Are you fine with watching over the worm for now?” Princess Luna added, “Proper accommodations will take some time to be made.”

“Uhh…” Cadance looked towards the worm again. It had closed its eyes, and appeared to be sleeping, or possibly just resting. “I’m okay with it.”

“Excellent, then I bid you farewell Cadance.” Princess Luna said as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

That made Cadance realize something.

“How did you get in here?” She asked the worm.

The worm did not respond, which prompted Cadance to look around the room. Her search ended fast though, as she spotted the rather large hole now present in the ceiling, along with the small pile of rubble on the floor, both of which Cadance and Princess Luna failed to notice during their conversation. A cool breeze passed through the room, and Cadance pulled her covers back up, taking extra care to not smear blood on them.

The worm appeared unfazed by this, and it simply continued to lay there. Its rhythmic breathing served as a sort of comfort for Cadance as she also laid down. Surprisingly, sleep came rather fast for her, and soon enough both of them were fast asleep, with no more nightmares to be had.

The hospital staff were certainly surprised to see the worm at least, and even more so at the new skylight, but they were most surprised to find the additional laceration that Cadance had somehow suffered during the night. Luckily, none of it was too serious, so Cadance was able to simply get a few new dressings, and move into another room, which happened to look exactly like the first one. Of course the worm closely followed her the entire time, which made the staff a little uneasy, but Cadance made sure to prevent any incidents from happening.

Soon after though, her list of visitors increased by one, as one very familiar pony arrived.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance called out.

“Cadance!” He responded, practically running across the room to get to her.

As they embraced, Cadance cringed at the touch, sucking in a breath, “Ow…”

Shining Armor immediately pulled back, “Oh sorry, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“I’m fine,” Cadance said, “It’s just a little nerve damage.”

…

“Nerve damage?” Shining Armor asked, shocked.

Cadance smiled, “It’s only minor. The doctor said I could be hypersensitive while I heal.”

“Sooo…” Shining Armor began,

“So be gentle,” Cadance answered.

“Alright,” Shining Armor said slowly, and he carefully caressed Cadance’s face, “So how are you?”

“I’ve been better.” Cadance began, “But sitting around in this hospital is much better than being stuck in that cave.”

“Glad to hear it,”

“What about you?” Cadance asked, “What have you been up to? How have you been?”

“Where do I start?” Shining Armor wondered. “Cleaning up this whole mess has been a pain. Ponies are still in a panic, the press is going wild, and the guard can only do so much.” He complained, “I’m just glad I’m not in charge of repairs.”

Cadance huffed, “Okay, but how are you?” She reiterated.

“Oh! Uhh, I’m alright I guess, a bit tired, and confused. I’m still trying to make sense of some things, but I feel a whole lot better now that I’m with you again.” Shining Armor said, “The real you of course,” He added on

“I’m glad to be with you again too,”

They drew closer together, and kissed. Weeks of separation seemed to be undone in mere moments. Cadance ignored the throbbing pain from being touched, and the two of them simply held each other for what seemed like hours. However, as with most good things, they don’t last forever.

A short trill coming from their side caused the both of them to stop and look. There sat the worm, with what could be considered a curious expression, though it was hard to tell. Cadance was relatively used to the sight by now, but Shining Armor was not, and he quickly pulled back.

“Oh!” He nearly shouted from surprise. “Who is-” Shining Armor stopped, a look of recognition began to show on his face, “Is that? That worm thing?”

“It is.” Cadance answered.

“Is it safe?” Shining Armor asked.

“Uhh…” Cadance said, “Probably.”

“Probably?” Shining Armor repeated worriedly, tensing a bit.

“I know the worm won’t hurt me on purpose.” Cadance stated.

“Okay…” Shining Armor said slowly, “What do you think it wants?”

Cadance looked back towards the worm, which was just staring at the two of them blankly.

“It might be hungry.” She suggested

“Hungry.” The worm repeated.

Shining Armor shuddered, “That voice.”

Cadance frowned, “Do you recognize it?”

“I don’t know…” Shining Armor trailed off, “It sounds familiar, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before, yet something in the back of my mind knows it.”

“Mmm, well it was the changeling queen’s voice,” Cadance said.

“That explains a lot,” Shining Armor said, “I don't think I like it too much.”

“I’m not too fond of it either.” Cadance admitted quietly.

The worm tilted its head in confusion, then it chirped once, and repeated itself, “Hungry.”

“Uh, what does it eat?” Shining Armor asked.

“Actually…” Cadance began as she beckoned the worm towards her, which it immediately obliged. She then hugged it, making sure to not touch any of the spines, and soon enough the pulling sensation from before returned. A moment later the worm was finished, and Cadance pulled away.

“What was that all about?” Shining Armor asked.

“I think it can eat love.” Cadance finished, “Like a changeling.”

Shining Armor grimaced, and looked towards Cadance with worry, “Is that healthy? For you?”

“I have no idea.” Cadance said, “But it doesn’t hurt, and I don’t feel any worse.”

“Well, if you are okay with it…” Shining Armor said slowly

Cadance laughed a bit, “You’re adorable,”

Shining Armor blushed, but kept his wits about him, “And you love me for it.” He retorted.

“You’re right,” Cadance said, “I do.”

The moment she said that she paused, then realization dawned on her.

“Oh my goodness!” She blurted out.

“What?” Shining Armor asked,

“We still have to get married! The wedding! The invasion! Everything! We aren’t actually married yet!” Cadance exclaimed.

Shining Armor stared at her for a moment, then he started to laugh.

“That’s what you're panicking about?” He asked, still chuckling.

“What?” Cadance asked, almost offended

“Cadance,” Shining Armor began, using a more serious tone. “Just because we aren’t married doesn’t mean we aren’t together. We can still have a wedding, just later… After all of this blows over.”

“Promise?” Cadance asked.

“Promise.” Shining Armor replied sincerely.

“Okay, and we better have a great honeymoon afterwards.”

“Don’t test your luck,” Shining Armor said.

Cadance just laughed, and the two embraced each other again.

“So how long can you stay?” Cadance asked, still holding Shining Armor

“I still have a few hours.” He replied, “I was told not to overwork myself, especially because I’m technically recovering as well.”

Cadance pulled back, “From what?” She asked worriedly,

“Mind control, I’m being monitored to make sure there are no lasting effects.” Shining Armor answered.

“Are there any?”

“None so far,” Shining Armor said with a smile, “Though it is a great excuse to avoid doing work.”

Cadance scoffed, “Oh you.” and lightly slugged him in the shoulder, though she probably felt it more than he did.

Shining Armor laughed, but then a more serious expression came across his face. “Though there is somepony else I would like to see here.”

Cadance also stopped, “Your sister?” She guessed.

“Yes,” Shining Armor said,

Cadance sighed, “I would like to see her too, even if she isn’t awake.”

Shining Armor nodded, “Are you able to walk?”

“No, I’m not actually, could you go get me a wheelchair?” Cadance asked,

“Sure, be right back.” Shining Armor said, and with another quick kiss, he left the room.

Once again Cadance was left alone, or rather, left with the worm. She looked towards it, and much like a dog, it looked back, devolving into a sort of staring contest. Through the worm’s piercing gaze Cadance noticed one thing, there was no innocence behind those eyes.

Thankfully, Shining Armor returned quickly, and Cadance was able to break away from the little contest, with no clear winner. She carefully got out of the bed, and gently set herself down on the wheelchair, allowing Shining Armor to push her. Cadance didn’t need him to, but it was nice to have him so close.

The two made their way down the pristine corridors of the hospital, with the worm trailing a bit behind them. It was a fairly large hospital, being in Canterlot after all, but apparently both Cadance’s and Twilight’s rooms were close together, or at least they were, until Cadance had to move to a new one. Their trip was stopped however, as five familiar ponies appeared before them in the hallway, they all stopped at the sight of the trio.

“Oh hello, you must be the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” The white one greeted, bowing slightly.

“Ahem,” Cadance awkwardly began, “I am… Though just Princess Cadance is fine.” She paused, “Are you all Twilight’s friends? I recognize you from the wedding.”

The orange one, Applejack, Cadance believed, spoke next. “We are, and we just came from her room.”

Cadance’s smile faltered, “How is she?”

“She is…” The white one continued, looking down, “Still asleep… But the doctor said she should be waking up soon.”

“Yeah, and when she does, we’re going to throw her an apology party.” The pink one joined in.

“An apology party?” Shining Armor asked.

“Um, yes, we all feel terrible for what happened.” The yellow one said.

They all nodded.

Cadance was confused, “Why are you apologizing?”

That certainly got a reaction out of the group.

“For not being loyal!” The rainbow one exclaimed,

“For not believing her.” Applejack said,

“For not trusting her.” The white one added.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for us, Twilight wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place.” The pink one finished, her mane drooping.

They all looked down.

“Wasn’t the changeling queen the one who put Twilight in harm’s way?” Cadance asked, specifically avoiding mentioning the cave in.

“We’re the reason she confronted the queen alone in the first place.” Applejack said, “If we were there then… well… Ah don’t know what would’ve happened.”

Cadance looked over them, and remembered what Princess Celestia had told her earlier.

“I think it’s a great idea to have an apology party,” She began, “I know there are several things I would like to apologize to her for. Could I possibly join you all when it happens?”

“Sure ya can Princess,” Applejack said,

Cadance smiled as the rest nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Ca-dance” An increasingly familiar voice came from behind her.

The reaction was instantaneous.

“AH! Monster!” The pink one shouted

“It’s the queen! Get her!” The rainbow one exclaimed, prompting both Applejack and the white one to drop into defensive stances.

Just as they were about to leap into action, Cadance nearly fell out of her chair as she waved her hooves in an attempt to stop them.

“WAIT!” She shouted, “This isn’t the changeling queen!”

There was a momentary pause, then Applejack spoke, “Oh yeah? How do you know that?” She demanded.

“I-” Cadance paused, she knew for a fact that the worm wasn’t the changeling queen, but the others didn’t. “Because…” She tried again, but her indecision didn’t seem to help the situation. “Because this is the worm.” Cadance finally said.

Another pause.

“The worm?”

“Yeah,” Cadance confirmed, “At the wedding… It was the one who…” She trailed off.

“Wait…” The rainbow one pieced together, “That is the thing that took out the queen?”

“Yes,” Cadance nodded rapidly.

That calmed the group down a little bit, but also created some confusion.

“Why does it look like that?” Applejack asked

“And why does it sound so similar to that dreadful queen?” The white one added.

Cadance looked back to the worm, which was just standing there, taking in all that was happening. “Because, uh… It may have taken some of the changeling’s abilities, and when it took out the queen, it… might have taken her voice.” Cadance explained.

A small gasp was heard from the back of the group, and Cadance could see the yellow one from earlier hiding behind her friends.

“Oh my…” The white one trailed off.

“Alright, but what’s it doing here?” Applejack asked.

“It just follows me around,” Cadance answered simply, “I think it likes me.”

That seemed to satisfy her curiosity.

“Does it have a name?” The white one asked.

Cadance paused, and looked back towards the worm again, “Not one that I know of.”

“Speaking of names…” Shining Armor took over, “What are all of yours?”

“Oh how impolite of us!” The white one exclaimed, “We haven’t introduced ourselves yet have we? Well, I’m Rarity.” She began

“I’m Rainbow Dash!”

“I’m Applejack,” She tipped her hat

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“And she’s Fluttershy,” Rarity gestured to the last pony in the group, she gave a small wave.

Shining Armor nodded, “Well I’m Shining Armor, though I’m sure you knew that already.”

“And you know to just call me Princess Cadance,” Cadance concluded.

The rest nodded as well.

“Well it was nice meeting the real you Princess,” Applejack said, “But we should best be headin on our way.”

Cadance gave a slight nod, “I understand, it was nice meeting you guys as well.”

Shining Armor pulled the wheelchair to the side to better allow the other group to pass by, each one giving a small goodbye of their own. Cadance waved them all off, and as they turned the corner and disappeared, she was left with just one question.

“Do you have a name?” She asked, turning to the worm.

The worm was just staring straight ahead, not paying attention in the slightest. Cadance cleared her throat, which caused the worm to look at her, letting out a short chirping sound.

“Do you have a name?” She repeated.

“Name?” The worm mirrored.

“Yes.” Cadance affirmed,

The worm snorted, and shook its head.

“Was that a no?” Shining Armor asked,

“I don’t think so…” Cadance replied, she looked back towards the worm, “What is your name?” She asked.

The worm turned its head away, and avoided looking directly at Cadance.

“I don’t think it wants to tell you.” Shining Armor deducted

Cadance frowned, but continued, “Please?” She tried.

The worm gave Cadance a cursory glance, then continued to ignore her.

“Maybe it doesn’t like its name?” Shining Armor suggested,

Cadance hummed, “But why?” She wondered.

Shining Armor just shrugged, and continued to push Cadance down the hallway. She didn’t object, but the question still lingered. However, they were soon back on track to Twilight’s room, with the worm following a bit further behind than it did before.

Upon arriving at Twilight’s room however, Cadance and Shining Armor were met with a horrifying sight.

Lying there on the hospital bed, covered from horn to tail in bandages, was Twilight. Three of her legs were in casts, each one held up with supports. There were a multitude of tubes and lines hooked up to her, and obvious neck and back braces lining her whole body. Her jaw looked to be wired shut, with wiring and metal bands encompassing her muzzle. Only a select few parts of her weren’t covered, with only patches of fur showing through the sparsest of spaces, but the most notable thing were her eyes, and the obvious tear streaks surrounding each one.

“Oh my Celestia!” Cadance blurted out, and she quickly wheeled herself up to the bed, with Shining Armor close behind.

“Twily!” He exclaimed,

She was still unconscious, with only the heart monitor and ventilator showing she was still alive. The rhythmic sounds clashing with the baseline beeps.

Cadance felt tears start to overwhelm her eyes, and a quick look to her fiancé showed a similar reaction.

Guilt.

Princess Celestia had told her not to blame herself, but that was all Cadance could do right now. She leaned down close, careful to not put her weight against Twilight.

“I’m sorry,” She choked out

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

What an annoying little experience.

Dialogue is either my bane, or my forte. Sometimes I can do great things with a conversation, and other times I can barely have ponies say goodbye. Sorry for the lower quality, but I was in a dash to get this finished, and I really didn't want to add much more. This is probably going to be the last 'filler' chapter right now, I really want to continue the story, so look forward to that I guess.

Hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 10: Training

“Shining Armor?” Cadance called out,

“Yes honey?” He responded, walking back out of the suite’s study,

“I have a question for you,”

“What is it?”

“How much do you know about…” Cadance paused for a second, “...combat magic?”

Shining Armor took a moment to respond, obviously taken aback by the question, “Uh, more than most, why?”

“I was just wondering…” Cadance paused again, “If you could maybe teach me some.”

“Sure I guess,” Shining Armor gave her a strange look, “But why?”

Cadance looked at him with a deadpan stare, “Do I really need to answer that question?”

Shining Armor thought for a moment, then spoke, “You’re not looking to start picking fights are you?” He asked worriedly.

“No no,” Cadance quickly shook her head, “I just want to be prepared is all, considering all that has happened so far and well… Let’s just say some things have come up that I want to be ready for.”

“Combat ready?” The explanation did nothing to ease Shining Armor’s worry, “What could you possibly need to be combat ready for? Do I need to be ready? What has come up?! Is everything okay?! How-!”

He was interrupted as Cadance embraced him.

“Everything is fine, Shining,” She said, “It’s just regarding the worm.”

“Oh, well that explains everything then.” He said sarcastically,

“It does,” Cadance affirmed,

Shining Armor took a moment to calm down, “What is going on?” He asked again slowly.

“You remember when the worm freaked out and ran away? Right after we saved the empire?”

“Yeah…” Shining Armor said, confused on where this was going.

“Well it was for a reason.”

“What reason?”

Cadance sighed, “Something or someone from the worm’s past caught up with him, and he got so scared that he didn’t just run away from it, but from me as well.”

“Some-one?” Shining Armor repeated, then he shook his head, “Why did it run away from you?”

“I’m not too sure, but I think he was worried about what might happen to me.”

“Well now I’m worried about what might happen to you!” Shining Armor exclaimed, holding Cadance tighter,

“Which is why I want to learn combat magic.” She finished

Shining Armor took a deep breath, then looked Cadance in the eyes, “Okay, what do you already know?”

“Other than the defensive stuff you’ve taught me before, not much.”

With a small sigh, Shining Armor broke the embrace and put a hoof to the bridge of his snout,

“Alright, let’s start with the beginning.”

Cadance sat in a crystal stool in the middle of the lounge area, which had now been converted into a small classroom. Shining Armor stood across the room, with a large chalkboard that had been wheeled in from the study. She giggled as he began to draw certain shapes and figures on the board.

“What?” Shining Armor asked, looking back at her,

“Oh nothing, I just find it funny how similar you and your sister can be. She used to do this all the time when I foalsat her.”

A bit of a blush appeared on Shining Armor’s face, but he quickly forced it down, “That may be so, but I think you’ll find our teaching styles are a little different from each other.”

“Oh?” Cadance asked, “How so?”

“My lectures tend to get physical.” Was all Shining Armor said,

“Oooh,” Cadance said with a smile, but otherwise fell silent as her husband finished preparing.

“Right, first things first.” He began, raising his voice slightly. “Magic combat and non-magic combat are very similar, and as such they follow a lot of the same rules. Do you know what any of those rules are?”

Cadance raised her hoof, and Shining Armor let out a dejected sigh before calling on her.

“Yes, Cadance?”

“Um… Don’t get distracted?” She tried,

“Correct,” Shining Armor said, “Staying focused is an integral part of any battle,” He wrote that along with a number one beside it, then the numbers two through five below. “Any others?”

“Oh! Uh…” Cadance wracked her brain, “Know your enemy?”

“Partly,” Shining Armor answered, “There is more to the full rule though,”

Cadance frowned deeply in thought, “Know yourself?”

“Correct, though there is a third part as well.” Shining Armor explained, he then wrote ‘Be aware’ on the board, “This rule is a big one, in combat you have to be aware, not just of yourself and the enemy, but also your surroundings, as they can play a huge role in how you fight.”

Cadance nodded rapidly, then wished she had something to take notes in.

“Do you know any other rules?”

Almost immediately Cadance shook her head,

“Alright that’s fine, just take care to memorize these,” Shining Armor said as he wrote the last three rules down. “Third there’s offense and defense, you have to know when to fight offensively or defensively. Next, stay calm, emotions can make you hit harder, but they can also blind you as well, keeping your emotions in check is one of the most important things to do in battle. Finally, there is the rule of Don’t over-.”

There was a moment of silence

“Don’t over what?” Cadance asked,

“There are a lot of words that fit, but the main few are overextend, overexert, and overcompensate. You never want to leave yourself open to attack by doing these.” Shining Armor explained,

Cadance thought back to her previous fights, and realized pretty quickly what she had been doing wrong.

“Okay, what next?” She asked,

“Now,” Shining Armor said, taking a moment to rewrite the rules off to the side before erasing them, “We move onto actual combat magic.”

“Oooh,” Cadance clapped her hooves together,

“To start, there are several different ways to fight with magic. The first, and most common, is to simply use magic to fight with normal weapons, such as swords or bows.” He drew an image of a sword in a magic aura. “The second, which is also pretty common, is to fight with pure magic itself,” He then drew an empty magic aura. “Now these last two are pretty similar, but there is a key difference.

Shining Armor took another moment to draw two more magic auras, one with a circle inside, and another with an X. Cadance just watched on with interest.

“Both of these are fighting with spells, though they use different types of spells.” Shining Armor explained, he pointed to the circle one first. “This is to fight with weaponized spells, spells whose purpose was turned into one more combat oriented, think of it like using a freezing spell on somepony. Not the spell’s intended purpose, but it still works.”

Cadance winced at the mental image.

“The next one though, is probably the rarest form of magic fighting, at least in this day and age.” Shining Armor pointed to the X aura, “This is the use of combat spells, spells specifically designed to inflict damage upon a target, and the reason why it’s so rare is because these types of spells are heavily restricted, so only ponies like you and I can get access to them.”

“Wow,” Cadance said, “So how many combat spells do you know?” She asked,

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, “My name is Shining Armor, not Shining Sword, I only know a few combat spells.”

“Well what are they?”

Shining Armor exhaled, “All unicorn guards are taught Magic Dagger during their training,” He began, and in a flash of magic, a small ethereal blade appeared in front of him, another flash and it disappeared. “The other is… too large to demonstrate in this room.”

Cadance tilted her head, “What’s it called?”

Shining Armor mumbled something and started pawing the floor with a hoof.

“What was that?” Cadance asked, leaning forward slightly.

”Fireball,”

“C’mon you can tell me.” Cadance insisted

Shining Armor sighed, then looked up, “Fireball.”

“Fireball?” Cadance asked, “Why would you… Wait… That’s from your game isn’t it!” She said excitedly.

“It is,” Shining Armor said quietly, blushing.

“Oh that’s so cute!” She continued, then she gasped, “Can you show me!”

“Perhaps some other time,” Shining Armor said, clearing his throat and regaining his composure. “We should finish the lesson.”

“Right, okay,” Cadance said, sitting straighter, though she still held a smile.

“Now,” Shining Armor continued, trying to stay focused on teaching. “There are pros and cons to each type of fighting. Fighting with weapons is the easiest, though you are limited by your ability to handle the weapons and the weapons themselves. Pure magic is also easy, but it will burn through your magic pool quickly, however the more magic you use the more damage it will do. Both spell types are similar, you just have to know the spell and how to use it, though that usually requires a lot more control and discipline.” He punctuated each point with a mark on the board. “Understand?”

Cadance looked over each style for a moment, then nodded.

“Good, now let's see how well you can practice each type.”

“Wai- wha- Already?!” Cadance blinked in confusion.

“What? Did you think you’d have to write an essay about this?”

Cadance gave a weak nod,

Shining Armor let out a laugh, “Think of this more like training rather than an education.” Then he stopped for a moment, “Actually, are you sure you really want to learn this?” He asked sincerely.

“Absolutely,” Cadance replied,

“Good, then I’m gonna work you like my drill instructor did to me.” Was all Shining Armor said,

Cadance gulped, and immediately regretted her decision.

“Grip it harder,” Shining Armor commanded,

“I’m trying!” Cadance exclaimed, forcing more magic around the handle.

Shining Armor inspected the aura surrounding the crystal ladle they were using in lieu of an actual weapon.

“Adjust your stance.”

Cadance straightened up,

“Keep it rigid,”

“Okay.”

Shining Armor placed his hoof on the tip of the large spoon and tilted it.

“Hold it tighter.”

He moved it again, though there was some resistance.

“Tighter.”

He did it once more, and the ladle barely moved,

“Better, but tighter.”

Sweat was starting to appear on Cadance’s face, and she closed her eyes to concentrate.

“Keep your eyes open,” Shining Armor ordered, “Now hold it flat.”

Cadance did so.

“Okay, now I’m going to add some weight.”

“What? Why?!” Cadance asked,

“To increase your strength,” Shining Armor answered, “An actual sword will weigh much more than this spoon, and you’ll learn to fight the leverage. Now keep it flat.” He then hung a basket on the ladle, and began to fill it with objects.

Cadance began to sweat more from the strain, “How long do I have to hold it like this?” She asked,

“Five minutes.” Shining Armor said simply.

“What?!”

“Or until you drop it,” He added.

Cadance almost dropped the ladle then and there, but Shining Armor stopped her,

“But if you do, I'm doubling the amount of time you have to hold it next time.”

Gulping, Cadance held the ladle straighter, and for the next five minutes she forced her way through the strain and continued to hold it, the magic around her horn glowing brightly the entire time.

“Aaaand time!” Shining Armor said.

Cadance immediately let the ladle drop, causing it to clatter to the floor along with the rest of the stuff hanging from it.

“I did it!” She cheered,

Shining Armor stayed silent, and as he looked at the mess on the floor a smirk appeared on his face.

“Looks like you dropped it.” He said,

Cadance’s face dropped, just like the ladle, “B-b-but I held it for five minutes!” She argued,

“And?” Shining Armor replied, “That doesn’t mean you should drop it, imagine if that was a real weapon.”

“Oh,” Cadance said, looking down at the pile of items on the floor, “Are you still going to double my time?”

“Yes,” Was all Shining Armor said,

“Oh come on please?” Cadance whined, and she nuzzled up close to her husband, “I’ll make it worth your while…”

He blushed heavily, and coughed into his hoof, “This is endurance training dear, you need to do this, the time was going to increase anyway.”

Cadance pouted, and pulled away from Shining Armor, “You’re no fun.”

“This isn’t supposed to be fun,” he responded, “Now get ready for the next part of your training.”

Cadance sucked in a breath through her teeth, “Sorry honey, but it’s princess time.”

“What time?” Shining Armor asked,

“You know, time to be a princess, royal duties and all that,” Cadance explained quickly, and she began to walk out of the room.

“This isn’t just an excuse to get out of training is it?” Shining Armor called out from behind,

Cadance looked back, and gave a small smirk, “Only partly.” She responded, then she ran the rest of the way out of the room giggling, leaving Shining Armor alone with a small mess to clean up.

He shook his head, “Next time I’m gonna triple it.”

A few hours later, after a few major things had been taken care of, the princess of love’s training resumed. Since Shining Armor had more time to prepare, an actual training ground had been set up. Well, it was borrowed from the crystal guard, so the pair was currently training next to the barracks, where quite a few onlookers had gathered to spectate.

“Okay, what are we doing now?” Cadance asked as she finished tying her mane up.

“Now,” Shining Armor began, “We are going to work on your form.”

“My what?”

“How you fight.” He clarified, then he picked up a crystal sword and tossed it over.

Cadance yelped, and stepped back as it landed on the straw covered ground in front of her.

“It’s just a training sword dear, it isn’t dangerous.” Shining Armor said,

Cadance picked it up in her magic and realized it didn’t even have an edge.

“What am I doing with this?” She asked,

“Here,” Shining Armor said, and he moved a training dummy in front of her, “Hit this.”

Cadance looked from the sword to the dummy, then to her husband, “You just want me to whack it a few times?”

Shining Armor nodded, “I want to see how you fight before we really start training.”

“Okay,” Cadance said, and she turned back towards the dummy, she then floated the sword over to it and raised it to strike.

“Get closer,” Shining Armor interrupted,

“Why?” Cadance asked,

“The further you are away the less control you have over your magic, it’s an excellent way to lose your weapon, not to mention it leaves you exposed to any other combatants.”

“Alright then,” Cadance said as she shuffled closer to the dummy.

She looked at Shining Armor again, and when he nodded she raised the sword to strike again. With a simple downward slash, the training sword hit the dummy, and bounced off, completely out of Cadance’s grip. With another yelp, she flinched as the sword landed next to her again.

“Hold it like the ladle dear!” Shining Armor called out.

Cadance nodded, and picked up the sword once more, grasping it far harder than she did before.

“Hit the dummy several times,” Shining Armor ordered.

Nodding again, Cadance moved the sword over and just started wailing on the dummy.

A hit to the head, one to the left shoulder, a swipe to the right leg, a slash to the neck, and finally a stab to the chest. When it was over Cadance was just starting to break into a sweat, but the dummy showed little damage except for a few new dents in the fabric.

Cadance took a moment to calm her breathing, then she turned to Shining Armor, “How’d I do?”

His expression was completely neutral, and he took a moment to think before responding. “That was uh… not the worst I’ve seen.” He began,

Cadance lost her smile,

Shining Armor continued, “Couple things, one you didn’t move in the slightest, two you attacked randomly and without direction, three you weren’t watching your weapon.” He listed, “Luckily we can work on all of those.”

“Why do I need to watch my weapon?” Cadance asked,

“Because some of those hits were too close to the handle, and you weren’t paying attention to which side of the blade you were using. Thankfully that sword is supposed to be double sided, but others are not, so you have to know which side you're using.”

“Okay…” Cadance said, acknowledging the criticism,

“Other than that though, some of those hits were pretty nice, you hit hard and fast, and you didn’t drop the blade again, so that’s a plus.”

A smaller smile returned to Cadance’s face.

“We will definitely be working on those later, but for now let’s move onto pure magic.”

Cadance readily moved the sword off to the side and dropped it.

“I assume you already know how to do this, but I still want to see how you do it.” Shining Armor said, “Go ahead and hit the dummy a few more times.

In a flash Cadance’s horn ignited, large amounts of light blue magic gathering around it. A moment later three bolts shot out, each one flying across the training grounds and impacting the dummy, nearly causing it to tip over in the process. Small amounts of either smoke or steam began to emanate from the impacts, it was hard to tell.

“Very nice,” Shining Armor commented, observing the dummy for a moment, “Now most guards are restricted to certain sizes and amounts to help conserve magic, but I don’t think that’s much of an issue for you is it?”

“Nope!” Cadance answered, smiling wider.

“Alright, now hit the dummy with the biggest blast you can manage.”

Cadance lost her smile, “Are you sure?” She asked, looking a bit uncertain herself.

Shining Armor hesitated for a moment, then answered, “Yes, it’ll help me gauge exactly what you can do.”

“You might want to take a step back then,” Cadance said

“Are you sure?” Shining Armor asked this time.

Cadance nodded, and Shining Armor took a few steps back, then so did she. Just like before, she began to gather a charge in her horn again, only this time she let it grow way past the amount from earlier, then continued to grow it until she felt a pressure around the base of her horn. Cadance held it there for a moment, the vast amount of blue light nearly acting like a second sun. Shining Armor took that moment to cast a small shield around himself, just in time to see her release.

The massive ball of magic flew towards the dummy, the huge amounts of air it displaced sweeping most of the straw on the ground away, creating a sort of trail behind it.

It then hit the dummy.

And exploded.

Violently.

Both Cadance and Shining Armor shielded their eyes, and a wave of hot air passed over them, and for a moment everything was silent, then Cadance felt a few pieces of straw land on her, and she opened her eyes to look.

The dummy was gone, obliterated beyond recognition, both the stuffing and fabric that made its shape had burnt away, leaving only a charred crystal frame behind, which promptly crumbled to pieces. A small crater surrounded where the dummy once stood, and there were a few small fires on any remaining pieces of nearby straw.

It was then that Shining Armor dropped his shield, and he took a moment to regain his composure and more importantly stop gaping before walking over to Cadance.

“I don’t know what I expected from an alicorn,” He said, “But it wasn’t that.”

“How was that?” Cadance asked,

Shining Armor shook his head, “Amazing. It makes me wonder what Princess Celestia could do, I certainly wouldn’t want to get on her bad side, but never mind that, how are you feeling? How much magic did you use?”

“A lot,” Cadance answered, closing her eyes to concentrate, “But I still have some.”

Shining Armor whistled, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you chose to only fight like that, that much magic at that power is just… wow…” He looked over to the crater, “We’re going to need a new dummy,”

“How about you?” Cadance asked, elbowing her husband in the side.

“Wha-hey!” He said, before smiling, “You can’t use me, at least not yet!” He leaned in close, wiggling his eyebrows, “That’s for later,”

Cadance burst out laughing, so hard in fact that she had to use Shining Armor for support as she ran out of breath. When she was finished, she took a moment to get past any remaining giggle fits, then she looked him in the eyes.

“After what you pulled earlier, you’d be lucky for me not to use you as a training dummy.” Cadance said with a smile.

That caused Shining Armor’s smile to falter a bit, but he quickly recovered, “You’re no fun.” He whispered.

Cadance snorted, then pushed him away, “We’ll see when we’re done here, what are we doing next?”

Shining Armor cleared his throat, “Right, next up is spell fighting.”

“Oooh,” Cadance said, smiling a bit, but then she gasped, “But I don’t know any combat spells!”

Shining Armor chuckled, “I wouldn’t expect you to, but you can use more than just combat spells, what other ones do you know, ones that you think you can weaponize?”

“Oh, um…” Cadance trailed off, thinking hard, “I know levitation…”

“Levitation works,” Shining Armor nodded,

“And well…” She frowned, “There’s my love spell.”

“I know you’ve probably told me this before,” Shining Armor said, “But how does that spell work again?”

“To put it simply,” Cadance began, “I can’t force ponies fall in love, but I can nurture the spark that turns into love, it just has to be there, and my spell is like squirting a bottle of lighter fluid on it.”

“An interesting analogy,” Shining Armor commented, “Do you think you could weaponize it?”

“I mean it can end fights, but I can’t fight with it,” Cadance said,

“Ah, well let’s just start with levitation shall we?”

“Okay,” Cadance responded, then she got a confused look on her face, “How does levitation differ from using magic to fight with weapons?”

“It doesn’t,” Shining Armor said, “It’s like thinking about it in a more broader term, when using levitation, anything you pick up can be used as a weapon.”

“Even straw?” Cadance asked, moving a small pile of it with her hoof.

Shining Armor looked down at the ground, and lifted up a piece of straw in his magic, “Sure I guess, it really depends on how you use it.” He prodded his foreleg a few times with it, “Though some things work better as tools than weapons.”

“Ohhh,” Cadance said, “Like this?” She asked, and her horn flashed once more.

In an instant, all the surrounding straw on the ground was pulled inward and thrown up into the air around Shining Armor. He stood there for a moment in shock, before he spit out a few pieces that managed to end up in his mouth.

“Yes… Like that,” he said, pulling out one of many pieces stuck in his mane.

Cadance giggled a bit.

Shaking his head, Shining Armor managed to dislodge a majority of the straw, “Does this make us even?”

Cadance smirked, “Not even close.”

With a sigh, Shining Armor brushed his mane back with a hoof, “Alright, let’s move onto the last part for today.”

“Oh? What might that be?” Cadance asked,

Shining Armor’s horn lit, and the training sword from earlier flew over and landed by Cadance’s hooves, then a second one appeared, which Shining Armor held in his magic.

“A test of what you’ve learned so far.” He answered,

Cadance’s eyes widened, “A test already?!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be graded,” Shining Armor said, “And practicing against a real opponent is much better than a dummy.”

“Okay…” Cadance said uneasily, slowly picking up the other sword on the ground.

“The rules are simple, three hits and you’re out, any magic is allowed” Shining Armor explained, “Oh, and don’t hit too hard please.”

Cadance nodded, and got into a lower stance, holding the training sword in front of her. Shining Armor mirrored her slightly, and they began to circle each other. Rather than wait for a first strike, Cadance took initiative and moved forward to try and hit her husband. Shining Armor quickly moved to the side and dodged the attack, before retaliating with one of his own. Cadance leaped back as the sword came within inches of herself, then retreated further as she dropped her own blade.

Shining Armor looked at her in confusion before realizing what was about to happen, right as Cadance sent a volley of magic bolts. He rolled to the side, managing to evade the first bolt, then blocking the second with his sword, only for the third one to sneak past and hit him squarely in the chest.

“Ooh! Ah! Hot hot!” He exclaimed, rubbing his now slightly charred fur with a hoof.

Cadance winced, “Sorry honey!” She called out.

“No, that was good!” Shining Armor responded, “I’m gonna have to up my game.”

He picked up his sword again, and quickly made his way closer to Cadance, watching her the entire time. She took up a more defensive stance, and charged her horn for another volley. However Shining Armor was expecting this, and as three more magic blasts were sent his way, he pulled up a shield and blocked all three of them. Cadance began to back away, but Shining Armor closed the distance fast, and it was then that she realized that she left her sword on the ground, which was now behind her approaching opponent.

With a flash another burst of magic was fired, only for it to be blocked once more, and by that time it was too late, Shining Armor was upon her. With a quick tap to her side with the sword, Cadance was hit.

“One to one,” Shining Armor said,

Thinking quickly, Cadance grabbed her sword from behind him and pulled it back, intent on hitting him from behind. Shining Armor immediately noticed this however, and turned to smack the incoming sword away with his own.

“Not gonna happen,” He said as he tapped Cadance’s other side. “Two to one.”

She scoffed, and grabbed her blade before running around to the opposite side the training ground, trying to get some distance between her and Shining Armor. He looked at her for a moment, then shot some magic blasts of his own. With a yelp, Cadance ducked down low, and managed to dodge two of the magic blasts, with the third one accidentally hitting her sword, knocking it out of her grip.

“Uh oh,” She said, then looked forward, where Shining Armor was already closing the gap between them.

With another flash of magic, Cadance’s horn lit up, causing Shining Armor to pull up another shield in preparation, but instead of firing more magic, Cadance created her own shield to surround her, completely protecting her from all sides.

“Is that one of my shield spells?” Shining Armor asked after taking a moment to observe it.

“Uh… no?” Cadance said, failing miserably to lie.

“Mm-hm,” Shining Armor nodded, absolutely completely most definitely believing her, “I guess I haven’t told you the weakness to that one yet have I?”

“Weakness?” Cadance asked, eyes widening

Shining Armor ignited his horn, and in a fashion much similar to earlier, all the straw on the ground inside the shield was thrown up into the air. Cadance flinched, and sneezed, then began trying to spit out the pieces in her mouth, causing her to immediately lose concentration on the spell. Of course she realized this as soon as it happened, and she opened her eyes to try and spot her husband.

He was gone, having moved while she was blinded. Cadance looked left and right, but still didn’t see him, which could only mean one thing.

“Gotcha,” Shining Armor said, directly behind her.

Cadance squeaked, and instinctively kicked out with her hind legs, they felt purchase on something hard, which immediately broke, then she hit something much softer.

With a grunt, Shining Armor was sent sprawling across the ground, Cadance whipped around in an instant.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?!” She asked, “I’m so sorry!”

Shining Armor just laid there, holding a hoof over his snout as a small amount of blood began to trickle out of each nostril.

“Ugh,” He said, a bit nasally, “I forgot how strong you are.”

“Are you alright?” Cadance asked, standing over him with worry, “I didn’t break your nose did I?”

Shining Armor looked up from the ground, looking his wife directly in the eyes.

“Are we even now?” He asked,

“Sit.”

The worm sat,

“Lay down.”

The worm laid down.

“Now roll over,” Cadance commanded,

With a small huff, the worm rolled over, managing to scratch the crystal floor quite a bit. Cadance didn’t seem to mind it, but Shining Armor did.

“Why are you doing that?” He asked,

“To try and teach an old dog some new tricks,” Cadance answered, “And it helps with obedience.”

“Is it-”

Cadance glanced at Shining Armor.

“-sorry. Is he not obedient enough already?” He tried again,

“Apparently not,” Cadance said, glaring at the worm “Stand up.”

The worm stood up.

“Do you not feel weird doing that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean having him do tricks when he looks like a pony?”

“He isn’t a pony.” Cadance stated,

“He isn’t a dog either,” Shining Armor commented,

“Mm, well I can’t really train him like this when he’s a worm.”

“The real question is though,” Shining Armor began, “Does he need that training?”

Cadance stayed silent for a moment.

“Speaking of training,” Shining Armor quickly changed the subject, “Are you ready for today’s session?”

“Oh!” Cadance exclaimed, “Is it really that time already?”

“Just about.” Shining Armor answered, “And I have something special planned for today.”

“Like what?”

“I managed to get a copy of Magic Dagger, and if we have time later I might even show you a fireball.”

“Oooh,” Cadance said, “Sure we can head over there in a moment. There’s just one more thing I would like to try. Follow.” She commanded.

The worm followed Cadance as she walked out of the room, and so did Shining Armor, considering he couldn’t really start training without her. They made their way through the castle, they weren’t very deep inside, so the group quickly found themselves out on the main balcony.

“Transform,” Cadance ordered.

Shining Armor just barely had enough time to move to the side and avoid the inferno that surrounded the worm as it changed shape. He would’ve complained, but there have been closer calls before, so instead he chose to just sit and watch.

“Down,”

Lowering its massive head closer to the floor, both the worm and Shining Armor watched as Cadance fluttered over and landed on it. She stood there for a moment, just behind the worm’s head, before crouching down slightly, partially fitting in the space between its armor plates.

“What are you doing?” Shining Armor asked, watching the display with interest.

“We’ve done this before… Once.” Cadance answered, “And I kind of want to do it again.”

“Do what exactly?”

Cadance just smirked, then tapped the worm’s head twice.

“Fly!” She shouted.

One moment they were there, the next they were not. Only the slight gust of wind keying Shining Armor into what just happened.

“Woah!” Cadance cried out, and she grabbed the edge of the armor plate harder as she was nearly thrown out of her little spot.

The worm, either unaware or uncaring of her predicament, continued to fly at breakneck speeds, something Cadance was not used to, despite having had wings her entire life. They began to bank, and Cadance started to slip, but she quickly pulled herself back into a more secure position, right as the worm began to slow down a bit.

When they leveled out, Cadance was able to sit up and pay more attention to where they had gone in such a short time.

“Wow…” She said, looking down.

The entire Crystal Empire was visible below them, every district, every building, even the large amounts of farmland surrounding them. The castle was especially visible as they circled hundreds of meters above it, something the worm tended to do quite often. Cadance had never had the chance to fly up to the top of the spire, much less this high. It was certainly breathtaking.

The worm chirped, catching her attention.

“What is it?” She asked,

Responding with a quick thrash of its head, the worm essentially bucked Cadance off, sending her further up into the air. She yelped, and quickly flared her wings to begin hovering, then glared at the worm. Before she could say anything though, the worm erupted into magenta flames once more, showing Cadance just why she had been thrown off.

When the smoke cleared, a much slimmer worm remained hovering mid-air, it held still, allowing Cadance to fly over and land on it once more, where a conveniently placed armor plate remained for her to hold on to.

“Ohhh.” Cadance realized, “Did you just want to fly faster?”

The worm chirped again, this time at a higher pitch.

Nodding, Cadance gripped the edges of the plate hard in preparation for what was to come, if she almost slipped when the worm was weighted, then it would be even harder to stay on when it wasn’t.

“Ready?” She asked, a tiny bit of uncertainty in her voice.

The worm clicked in agreement.

Gulping, Cadance reaffirmed her grip on the armor plate.

“Go!”

Shining Armor watched as the pair disappeared into the horizon, flying so fast it was hard to track them even from the ground. He waited for a few more moments before walking back into the castle with a sigh. Looks like another training session would be canceled.

Again.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

So this one was fun, quick too. Though the next few might not be. Due to reasons I am losing my ability to write on the go, which means I am restricted to writing at home, where I can easily get distracted. Hopefully though, since in return I will be getting a lot more free time, I can write more, but if I don't, feel free to tell me how lazy I am... within reason of course.